1907.] 



Orchard and Bush Fruit Pests. 



709 



The insect is certainly British, but is far more numerous on 

 the Continent, and it is quite likely that it is imported in 

 Continental fruit, but I have only once been able to detect it. 

 It attacks apples, &c., as well as the cherry. 



Unknoivn Black Citrj-ant Fniit-Moth. — Lastly, an unknown 

 Lepidopterous enemy has occurred widely in Worcestershire in 

 black currants. It lives inside the black currants and causes 

 the fruit to rem.ain as a dried husk on the bush. It was detected 

 in several gardens and plantations I visited, and had proved a 

 very serious enemy. It is hoped that next year its life-history 

 and identification will be traced. 



Plum Fruit Borer.— Amor\gs\. Hymenoptera four only have 

 been of any account. One of these is the plum fruit borer 

 {Hoplocainpa fulvicornis). The larva of this sawfly bores into 

 the green fruitlets and causes them to fall prematurely. It 

 attacks all manner of plums and greengages, and has been 

 recorded from Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Kent. At 

 present we know of no remedy ; all that can be done is to 

 remove the surface soil beneath the trees in winter and bury or 

 burn it and replace it with fresh soil. Fortunately it only seems 

 to attack a few trees in each plantation. 



Currant Sawfly. — The currant sawfly {^Nematus ribesii) has 

 occurred as usual everywhere, but it can easily be kept in hand 

 by spraying or dusting with hellebore. Reports have reached 

 me of its annoying habits from Yorkshire down to Devon. 



Shtgivorm^ — The slug worm of the pear and cherry {Erio- 

 campa limadna) was not so prevalent in 1906, but was notified 

 from widely-spread localities. Nothing but several repeated 

 dustings with hellebore or one or two sprayings with arsenate 

 of lead does any good, but either method will soon lessen 

 its ravages, which mainly take place in the autumn. Two 

 instances have been reported of the benefit derived by the 

 removal of surface soil in the winter, where Morella cherries 

 growing against walls have been attacked. 



Apple Fruit Sawfly. — The apple fruit sawfly {Hoplocainpa 

 festudinea) has again been a source of much loss in^ parts of 

 Kent and Herefordshire. In the former county it has in some 

 cases destroyed most of the crop. In the latter it only occa- 

 sional! y occurs in any numbers. Unlike the codling moth 



