312 



INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI. [Dec. 1895. 



a carmine hue, which, however, quickly changes to the normal 

 colour of the perfect insect, and the wings are fully developed. 

 The insects are seen together in all stages, in eacli of which they 

 are able to suck up the food both from the shoots and from the 

 bodies of the aphides with their long beaks (Fig. 3). At the 

 close of the summer the perfect insects conceal themselves in 

 the ground, under rubbish and weeds, in cracks of poles, in the 

 hop stocks, in the hollows of bines, and in other similar retreats, 

 where they pass the winter. It would appear that they do not 

 use their wings at the end of the season, but hibernate close to 

 their feeding grounds. At the beginning of the season the perfect 

 insects that have hibernated fly to fresh fields and pastures new. 



It is certain that there are two generations in a year when 

 food and weather conditions are favourable ; in the summer of 

 1895 there would seem to have been three or even more genera- 

 tions, as in the second week of September larvse before the first 

 moult were taken from hop cones. 



Methods of Prevention and Remedies. 



The question arises as to whether this insect is to be protected 

 or exterminated. On the one hand, it frequently does much direct 

 mischief to the hop plants by extracting their sap and making 

 the bines bleed, thus weakening them and rendering them liable 

 to fungoid and insect attacks ; and on the other hand, in hot 

 seasons favourable to their propagation, the " Shy Bugs " are 

 certainly beneficial by destroying lice within the cones. 



It must be said, however, that it is most difiicult to discover 

 any means of preventing the recurrence of an attack. It would 

 be desirable to get the weeds round the " hills " dug in as deeply 

 as possible in the winter, and to dig round the " hills " very 

 early in the spring, and apply lime, or lime and soot. And, 

 with regard to remedies, syringing with soap and quassia mix- 

 tures have not apparently the least eflect upon these insects ; 

 sulphuring has also not the slightest influence. Syringing with 

 paraffin, or kerosene emulsion — soft soap and paraffin — might 

 keep them from the plants for a time. Or it might be well to 

 try creosin, an extract of tar, which has recently come into notice 

 as an insectifuge of some value. It is not expensive, and can 

 be put on economically with hop-washing machines, which, if 

 properly set and driven, distribute liquids over every part of the 

 plants, 



The Magpie Moth {Abraxas grossulariata). 



The caterpillars of this moth, called the " Magpie Moth " from 

 its peculiar markings, occasionally cause serious injury to the 

 gooseberry and currant crops. They are sometimes also destruc- 

 tive to apricot ti'ees, and are frequently found upon the sloe and 

 the blackthorn. 



