478 



Insect, Fungus and other Pests. [now,. 



moth of the genus Retinia. The caterpillars tunnel in both 

 buds and terminal and side shoots. Young growth alone is 

 attacked. The best method of treatment consists in hand- 

 picking and burning the affected shoots. The moths of 

 Retinia buoliana lay eggs towards the end of June and in July. 

 The resulting caterpillars feed from August to October, and 

 hibernate from November to March. They resume feeding in 

 April and May, and then pupate, the moths from the pupae 

 proceeding to egg-laying towards the end of June, as before. 

 The life history of R. turionana is similar. 



Sawflies, &c. — From Luton the Board received in August 

 specimens of oak leaves, the backs of which were covered 

 with the galls made by the little hymenopterous insect, 

 Neuroterus lenticularis. The life history of this insect is very 

 interesting, because two generations and two kinds of gall are 

 produced in the year. 



The galls produced later in the year yield in spring the small 

 insect N. lenticularis, which pricks the buds of the oak and lays 

 eggs in them. As these develop, a roundish and greenish gall 

 appears not only on the leaf of the oak but also on the flower 

 stalks of the male inflorescences. In June, male and female 

 insects issue from these galls (known as Spathegaster baccarum), 

 and after pairing lay eggs in the leaves of the oak, which in 

 their turn produce galls. These are quite different in appear- 

 ance from the earlier galls, and are those which yield in the 

 following spring the insect N. lenticularis. 



Corn Sawfly. — Wheat specimens sent from Grantham 

 were found to be infested by the corn sawfly — Cephus pygmaeus. 

 The Board's correspondent remarked on the thinness of the 

 crop and the fact that it was badly laid. This is the result of 

 the work of the larvae of the sawfly. The adult sawflies appear 

 in summer. They are small dark-coloured insects, bearing 

 yellow spots. The females pierce the stems of the attacked 

 crop (wheat, and sometimes barley) and lay an egg at each 

 place of puncture. The grub that hatches tunnels in the stem,, 

 and when full grown passes to the lower part of it and bites 

 round the stem in a circle, so that the slightest wind makes the 

 stem topple over at that place. Below this (further down the 

 inside of the stalk or stem, i.e., in the stubble) the grub makes 

 a cocoon and lies sheltered until the next season, when it 

 becomes a fly. 



