Fruit Tree Beetle. 



479 



larvae make a small hollow, generally in the woody part, 

 to form receptacles for pupation, in which the pupse are 

 lightly covered with frass. After pupation, the beetles bore 

 holes through the bark and escape. There are at least two 

 generations of this insect during the year, and the winter is 

 passed in the larval state, so that active injury is continued 

 almost throughout the year. 



The beetle is barely one-tenth of an inch long, and black 

 in colour, except the ends of the wing covers, legs, and the 

 much-clubbed antennae, which are of a russet colour. The 

 thorax and wing covers are much wrinkled and punctured. 

 The larva is about one-tenth of an inch long when extended, 

 is milky white, without legs, and has a chestnut-coloured 

 head furnished with strong black mandibles. The upper 

 part of the body is considerably thicker than the lower part, 

 and it lies in a curved position. 



Methods of Prevention and Remedies. 



Not much can be done against this insect in the way 

 of prevention or remedy. All the branches and limbs that 

 are infested should be cut off and burned during June, before 

 the beetles have escaped. Where a tree is badly infested in 

 various places it should be cut down and burned during 

 June, so that larvae, pupae, and beetles may be destroyed. 



In orchards, fruit plantations, and gardens where there is 

 considerable infestation, it would answer to adopt the 

 American recommendation to ring, or girdle, worthless 

 trees that are either unfruitful, or already decaying. This 

 is done by cutting a strip of bark round the trunk in the 

 spring, and letting it remain until the following June, 

 to serve as a trap for the beetles, which will be attracted 

 and lay eggs in it. It should then be cut down and 

 burned during the ensuing June, before any of the beetles 

 escape from the colonies within. 



It is feared that the application of noxious compositions 

 would be quite useless as a means of preventing the beetles 

 trom boring into trees, unless all the trees in an orchard or 

 Iruit plantation were similarly treated, which -would be a 

 difficult and costly process. When the beetles have once 



