THE INSECT WORLD. 



187 



cane ever ripens a fair set of berries, and it might as well be cut 

 out at once. Another satisfactory method is to cut off all the 

 new shoots at the surface of the ground about the end of June. 

 At this time all the beetles have laid their eggs, and the shoots 

 which come up in July cannot become infested. The best results 

 will be obtained by combining both methods. Cutting the new 



Fig. 172. 



Blackberry-gall maker. — a, gall just beginning to form over recent borings ; h, section 

 through an old stem to show the character of the gall. 



shoots causes the death of the young larvae, which are unable to 

 subsist on dead wood, and being footless are unable to migrate 

 to new stalks. 



Another species of Agrilus seriously injurious in parts of the 

 Eastern United States is the "sinuate pear-borer," A. sinuatus, 

 imported from Europe within recent years. This feeds between 

 bark and wood in pear-trees, making immensely long zig-zag 

 galleries, finally girdling the tree and killing it. It lives two 

 years in the larval stage. 



In general we are very helpless against boring larvae once they 

 get into the trunk of a tree. Cutting out is a tedious process, 

 even if the location of the larva is easily discoverable, which it 

 often is not. We must, therefore, try to prevent their entrance, 



