1910] Notes on Insect and Fungus Pests. 479 



is interesting to note that in the last mentioned place the tits 

 were said to have taken a large number of the larvae from 

 the infested shoots. 



A saw fly found about thirty yards from a larch plantation 

 near Auchterarder, Perthshire, was forwarded to the Board 

 for examination, on the chance that it might prove a pest. 

 It proved to be Cimbex sylvarum, the caterpillar of which 

 feeds on birch in July, August and September. The body of 

 the larva is green with a black stripe down the back, which, 

 however, is bluish along the centre, and tapers at either 

 end. The head is pale yellow, and the feet white with the 

 claws brown. When young the larva is green-white and 

 lacks the dark stripe on the back. It is of wide distribution 

 in Great Britain and Europe. 



On two occasions specimens of the Giant Wood Wasp 

 (Sirex gigas) were submitted to the Board, once from North 

 Wales, and once from South Scotland. In each case the 

 "wasp" was supposed to be the Large Larch Sawfly. An 

 account of this injurious insect was given in the Board's 

 Journal for May, 1907. 



Specimens of willow leaves attacked by the Sawfly 

 Nematus gallicola were sent from Glasgow. This insect is 

 very common, and trees are very liable to reinfection. In 

 the case of isolated trees the fallen galled leaves may be 

 swept together in the autumn and burnt. The pupal stage 

 of this Nematus may be passed in the soil or in crevices in 

 the bark of the trees. While this is not a serious enemy, 

 several pests attacking willows have been reported which 

 have caused considerable damage during the past year. A 

 crop of osiers in the neighbourhood of Stratford-on-Avon 

 was seriously damaged by a Cecidomyid fly, which lays its 

 eggs on the apices of the shoots. The larvae on hatching 

 attack the tips, so that the shoots fail to lengthen normally. 

 The result is that several weak shoots break out, instead of 

 the usual straight, healthy stems. The only treatment which 

 can be recommended is the removal and destruction of the 

 galls in which the brood lives. (See Leaflet 165.) 



In another case some willows in the neighbourhood of 

 Hampstead were found to be attacked, and one, at any rate, 

 killed, by the caterpillars of the Goat Moth. 



