INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 



565 



larvae of these two species cannot be separated, though the young of this 

 form appear to excrete the milky fluid more freely than its ally. The 

 parent insect niay be recognized by its red color 

 above and conspicuous black markings, and were it 

 not for its rather elongated, pear-shaped form, it 

 might be mistaken for a lady- 

 beetle. This insect feeds on 

 willows and poplars and appar- 

 ently has very similar habits to 

 those of M. s c r i p t a Fabr. 

 Mr Chittenden states that in 

 some seasons it is just as abun- 



140 spotted wiiiow leaf d an t as the more injurious cot- 



beetle, Melasoma lap- J 



tonwood leaf beetle. Mr F. W. 



p n i c a, southern form, five 

 times natural size. (After 

 Chittenden, U. S. Dep't 

 Agric. Bur. For. Bui. 46. 

 1904) 



F 'S- r 39 Melasoma lapponica, 

 common New York form, en- 

 larged (original) 



Hubbard recorded it as being destructive to willows at 

 Lyons N. Y. in 1902. It has been reported as gener- 

 ally distributed in New Jersey by Dr Smith, who also gives alder as a 

 food plant. 



Remedial measures. This species, like its ally, is a leaf feeder and can 

 be controlled by a thorough application of a poisoned spray. 



Melasoma tremulae Fabr. 



This species is very closely allied to M. s c r i p t a Fabr. 

 It may be recognized by its brownish, finely punc- 

 tured elytra, and greenish head and thorax. This form 

 is exceedinglyab undant and injurious in the northwest- 

 ern states writes Dr Lugger, who adds that it sometimes 

 strips the leaves from willows of Minnesota windbreaks. 



F ig . 14 t Melasoma trem- He ranks {t asnext to M - s' c r i p t a Fabr. ineconomic 

 uiae enlarged (original) i mport ance. This species was taken by Mr D. B. Young 



at Newport N. Y. in 1898, where it was stripping the leaves from small 

 poplars and willows. 



