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Wood Wasps. 



common and widely distributed in the British Islands, and 

 is sometimes harmful to various garden plants. No record 

 of their attacking chrysanthemums was hitherto known, 

 although the correspondent forwarding che insect states that 

 they were not injuring any other plants. Several other 

 species of Lygus are injurious, including the so-called 

 <; potato bugs/' L. f alulinm and L. contaminatus. These 

 bugs injure the plants by puncturing stem, leaf, and blossom, 

 and sucking out the juices. 



The life-history of L. pratensis is not known ; but eggs are 

 usually laid upon the plants on which the insects feed. 

 The larva is much like the adult, but has no wings ; the 

 pupa differs in having two bud-like processes — wing-buds — 

 on each side of the body. These plant bugs are injurious in 

 all three stages. Some winter as eggs, others hibernate 

 among rubbish, in hedgerows, etc. 



The only treatment of any avail against these creatures is 

 to collect them by "jarring" the plants over tarred boards 

 held on each side, and treatment by washing. The only 

 washes of any use are soft-soap washes, especially paraffin 

 emulsion with an extra 3 lb. of soft soap to the 100 gallons. 

 To be of much service the wash should be used when the 

 insects are in the larval or pupal stages. Where the insect 

 is found to hibernate as an adult, steps should be taken to 

 destroy it before the spring ; if it passes the winter in the 

 egg stage, the plants should be sprayed with paraffin emul- 

 sion as soon as the young appear. 



Wood Wasps. 



The Board have received reports of damage caused to fir 

 trees in the neighbourhood of Bath by the two common 

 British wood-wasps known as the Steel Blue Sirex [Sirex 

 juvencus) and the Gian t Sirex {Sirex gigas). 



These flies chiefly attack damaged or unhealthy trees. 

 They burrow into the timber, and their larvae remain and 

 pupate in the wood, where they may be found in the winter. 



