836 



OPEN FLOWER-GARDEN. 



ing the central or leading shoot, but killing the 

 side buds also. " By the end of October the 

 caterpillar is feasting on the interior of the 

 largest middle bud, beginning below that which 

 was formed for the following year, in which it 

 spends the winter. The larva is of a dark, 

 glossy, purplish brown colour, with the head 

 and a transverse patch on the first segment fol- 

 lowing the head black ; it has three pairs of 

 articulated legs attached in pairs to the three 

 first segments of the body ; the fourth and fifth 

 segments are legless; each of the four following 

 segments has a pair of fleshy prolegs, and there 

 is another pair of the same kind of legs attached 

 to the terminal segment of the body. The 

 caterpillar is full grown about the end of June, 

 when it descends to the lower part of the bur- 

 row which it has formed in the bud, and is 

 there transformed into a shining chestnut-brown 

 chrysalis, which, like most of those internal 

 feeding species, has the head furnished with a 

 small point between the eyes and the segments 

 of the abdomen, armed with double rows of 

 very fine points directed backwards, enabling 

 the insect to move itself about in its retreat." 

 — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



The perfect insect, which is one of our most 

 beautiful species of Tortricidse, makes its ap- 

 pearance about the middle of July. Its attacks 

 are confined, so far as we have observed, to the 

 leading bud and the side buds of the trees, and 

 which it often completely destroys, causing, in 

 many cases, secondary leaders to be formed, 

 and thereby greatly damaging the natural char- 

 acter of the tree. 



Tortrix {Coccyx) buoUanaFabr., Tortrix xylos- 

 tiana Hub., resembles the former in habits, and 

 both may be subdued by following the recom- 

 mendation given by Kollar — namely, destroy- 

 ing the turpentine tumours, with which the sil- 

 ver fir in particular abounds, about the end of 

 October, while the caterpillars are in them, or 

 cutting off" and burning every shoot infected 

 by them. The latter method may be avoided, 

 and the shoot saved, if the resinous tubercle 

 is destroyed before the caterpillar penetrates 

 through it into the alburnum of the tree. 



The pine saw-fly (Lophyrus pini Latr., Tenth- 

 redo pini Linn., Pteronus pini Klug). — The sexes 

 in this insect differ so much from each other in 

 size, form, and colour, that they might readily 

 be supposed at first sight to belong to two dis- 

 tinct species. The male is always smaller than 

 the female, head dull black, antennae resemble 

 two bunches of black feathers doubly pectinated, 

 the teeth shorter by degrees as they approach 

 the point, all of which are turned down and 

 bending inwards, so that the antennae appear 

 hollow. Thorax black, and covered with soft 

 short down, the abdomen shining black, legs 

 dirty yellow, thighs black, wings shining and 



transparent, upper ones purple and green, some- 

 times inclining to yellow. The head of the 

 female is brownish black, clothed with very short 

 fine yellowish down. The antennae consist of 

 nineteen joints, rounded and jointed into each 

 other, somewhat resembling the teeth of a saw ; 

 the three basal joints are yellow, the others 

 blackish. The thorax is divided into four grey- 

 ish yellowish compartments by impressed lines, 

 and on each of them there is a large black spot. 

 The abdomen, consisting of nine segments, is 

 black from the second to the sixth or seventh 

 segment of the upper side ; the under parts are 

 all of a yellow grey, — all the other parts resemble 

 the male. During warm weather, from April to 

 July, the perfect insect or fly appears, the brood 

 of young from May to July. The female lays 

 from eighty to one hundred and twenty eggs, 

 and deposits them where she thinks she can 

 find suitable nourishment for her young. This 

 food is either the foliage of the end of last 

 year's shoot, or that of the shoot of the present 

 season not quite expanded. Having made an 

 incision the whole length of the leaf, she lays 

 her eggs in it to the extent of one or two in 

 each leaf, which she covers over with a resinous 

 matter to prevent their falling out. Thus she 

 proceeds from leaf to leaf until her whole stock 

 of eggs is deposited. In sixteen or twenty-four 

 days the caterpillars appear. When full grown, 

 the caterpillar is rather above an inch in length. 

 The number of legs is twenty-two — six conical, 

 three jointed thoracic feet, which are black, and 

 sixteen shorter abdominal prolegs, yellow or 

 green, cylindrical, obtuse, or broad. The head 

 is of a light rusty brown or dark ochre colour ; 

 the body tapers from the head to the anal ex- 

 tremity; the colour varies according to the age 

 of the insect, the time of changing its skin, or 

 state of the weather. The whole insect is glu- 

 tinous, and when fully grown devours from six 

 to twelve leaves per day. They seldom attack 

 a tree singly, but always in immense numbers, 

 and are found in greatest numbers on the south 

 side of the tree. They choose for their pupa 

 retreat dry moss or leaves near the roots of the 

 trees, and are found congregated in great num- 

 bers together, and remain in that state from 

 eight to nine months. 



Besides the above, there are many other in- 

 sects injurious to the pine tribe ; indeed, it is 

 probable that most of those described by Kollar 

 and other German entomologists as infesting 

 the pine forests in the north of Europe, may 

 be found in those of our own country also. 

 The investigations of naturalists into our ex- 

 tensive pine woods in Scotland are as yet in 

 their infancy ; a closer examination may trace 

 the failures of our pines and larches more to 

 the ravages of insects than either to soil, situa- 

 tion, or climate. 



