830 



OPEN FLOWER-GARDEN. 



TORTRIX BE ROMAN NT ANA. 



mode of reducing their number is by catching 

 the perfect insect in the act of leaf-cutting; and 

 for this purpose Underwood's wasp-catcher, fig. 

 253, will be found most convenient. 



Tortrix Bergamanniana, fig. 277. — This differs 

 little in general character from Tortrix nigri- 



cana(fig.233), 

 Fig. 277. the plum- 



grub tortrix, 

 and is even 

 more injuri- 

 ous to the 

 rose than the 

 other is to the 

 plum. When 

 the plants are 

 much infest- 

 ed with the 

 larvae of this 

 insect, it is 

 better to cut 

 them down at 

 once, and burn the branches. This, and hand- 

 picking, seems the only way to get rid of it. 



The Garden beetle, Phyllopertha horticolo 

 (Melolantha hordeola), tig. 181— This pretty 

 little beetle is often found during June and July 

 feeding on the petals of roses, particularly white 

 ones. It feeds also on the leaves of the apple 

 and pear, gnawing them full of holes. In its 

 perfect state it is about half an inch long, and 

 nearly half as broad. Its wing-cases are reddish 

 brown, shining, and rather shorter than the 

 body, which, with the head, is dark green ; anten- 

 nae reddish, with a dark-green club at their ends. 

 The female descends into the ground about the 

 latter end of July, and there deposits her eggs, 

 from which the grubs are shortly produced, and 

 commence feeding upon the roots of plants. 

 The beetle is easily captured in the evening, 

 when she may be found nestling amongst the 

 petals of the white roses. During the day they 

 are very active, and are difficult to catch. Hand- 

 picking them in that state, or searching for 

 the grubs under ground, is the only means of 

 destroying them. 



The saw-fly of the rose, Tenthredo A^thiops, 

 (Kkig and Hartig), Selandria JEthiops. — Dur- 

 ing the month of June the leaves of rose-trees 

 are often found assuming a withered brown 

 colour, as if scorched by fire. The cause of 

 this may be traced, by the help of a microscope, 

 to the effects of this insect. The upper cuticle 

 of the leaf will be found nearly eaten away, 

 while the under side remains perfectly entire. 

 A closer examination will show the enemy it- 

 self, in colour so nearly resembling the foliage 

 that its detection by the naked eye is almost 

 impossible. In its larva state it is nearly half 

 an inch long, of a cylindrical form, with a dark 

 line down the middle of the back. The head is 

 orange-coloured, with a small black spot on each 

 side. These larvae change their skins several 

 times before arriving at their full size, and then 

 descend into the earth, where they form ellip- 

 tical cells, highly polished on the inside, in which 

 they pass the winter, and in which they become 

 transformed, first into a pupa state, and after- 

 wards, towards spring, into perfect insects. I 



their perfect state they are about one-sixth of 

 an inch long, of a shining black colour, the legs 

 pale buff, the thighs black, except at the tips. 

 They deposit their eggs upon the roses, and the 

 larva is hatched about the end of May. Syring- 

 ing the roses with water in which hot lime and 

 soot have been steeped, is one of the best 

 remedies for the suppression of all tender- 

 skinned insects on roses and other plants. We 

 place a bag of soot in a tub of water, and add to 

 it a few lumps of unslaked lime, allowing it to 

 stand for a day or two. The water is then 

 drawn off by a tap placed 5 inches above the 

 bottom of the tub, and is applied with the 

 syringe or garden-engine. The soot-bag may 

 remain in the tub for a week or more, and a 

 little lime is added occasionally. The tub is 

 refilled as emptied with soft cold water. 



Hylotoma rosce, in general appearance, greatly 

 resembles the gooseberry caterpillar, and is ex- 

 ceedingly injurious to the rose, often stripping 

 the entire foliage, as well as attacking the young 

 wood. Its appearance extends from the end of 

 May till the end of July, during which period 

 brood after brood of larvae are constantly feeding 

 on the leaves. They deposit their eggs on one 

 side of the shoot, the bark of which soon after 

 dies ; the sap is arrested in its upward flow on 

 one side of the shoot, while it goes on to flow 

 in the other, producing a peculiar twist in the 

 branch and deformity in the bark. From ten to 

 twenty eggs are deposited by each female under the 

 bark, and in about twenty days the young larva, 

 which is of a greenish colour, makes its appear- 

 ance, and soon afterwards reaches the leaves, 

 upon which it feeds. Where the shoots in 

 which the eggs are deposited can be spared, it 

 is well to cut them out, or otherwise to cut out 

 the nest of eggs with a sharp knife. The larva is 

 sufficiently large to be easily detected, and, fail- 

 ing other means, they should be picked off and 

 destroyed. 



The rose aphis (Aphis rosce) is so well 

 known that a very brief notice will be sufficient. 

 In their young state they are usually light- 

 green, with brown antennae and legs, and trans- 

 parent irridescent wings. As they frequently 

 change their skin, which may be seen hanging 

 about the shoots and leaves, so do they less or 

 more change their colour also. The males are 

 distinguished from the females by a double row 

 of black dots on each of their sides. 



Aphis vastator. — This, instead of being an 

 enemy, like the rest of its tribe, -to the rose 

 cultivator, is his valuable friend and assistant 

 in the destruction of all the other species of 

 aphides ; it should therefore be encouraged 

 rather than destroyed. Its appetite seems ex- 

 traordinary, as it devotes its whole time and 

 attention to sucking the vitals out of the aphi- 

 des, and attacks them in all their stages of ex- 

 istence. Besides the Aphis vastator, the follow- 

 ing are also valuable in counteracting the 

 ravages of other insects, — viz., the lady-birds, of 

 which we have already spoken, feed upon the 

 aphides both in their larva and perfect state ; 

 the aphidivorous syrphidae in their maggot 

 state live entirely on aphides ; the hemerobii, 

 whose larvae are called aphis-lions, live also upon 



