BULLETIN OF THE 
C 
No. 184 
Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology, L. O. Howard, Chief, 
April 8, 1915. 
(PROFESSIONAL PAPER.) 
THE HUISACHE GIRDLER. 1 
By M. M. High, 
Entomological Assistant, Truck Crop and Stored Product Insect Investigations. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
The huisache tree is one of a variety of trees and shrubs horti- 
culturally called " wattles " and is probably a native of Texas, 
although it occurs in Asia, Australia, and to a certain extent in 
Africa. The flowers furnish the perfume known as frangipanni 
and the plant is cultivated in southern Europe for the manufacture 
of perfume. The pods are valuable in tanning and dyeing and 
the plant is used as an ornamental for the formation of hedges and 
for shade throughout the Tropics. The bright yellow flowers which 
are produced in abundance and are large in comparison with those 
of other acacias render it one of the most beautiful of flowering 
shrubs of this type. The tree reaches a maximum height of about 
35 feet, with a trunk diameter of about 1 foot when properly trained. 
The trunk is short, the branches somewhat drooping and wide- 
spreading, forming a beautiful roundheaded tree with light-green 
feathery foliage. 
The huisache tree {Acacia farnesiana) of the Southwest has a 
number of insect enemies, but none is so injurious as a girdler 
which often damages young trees in such a way as to eradicate them 
for a time, completely severing them a few inches above ground. 
During the summer of 1910, while the writer was engaged, under 
the direction of Dr. F. H. Chittenden, in the investigation of in- 
sects that attack the pecan, this insect, which may be called the 
huisache girdler, first came under observation. It seemed advisable 
to keep the species under surveillance in its attacks on the huisache, 
since it was not known but that pecan trees in the vicinity might 
become a center of attack at any time, for the reason that two 
near relatives, Oncideres cingulata Say and Oncideres texana Horn, 
1 Oncideres putator Thorn., a beetle of the family Cerambycidse. 
Note. — This bulletin contains a technical description of an insect infesting the huisache 
tree of the Southwest. The form of injury is discussed and methods of control are given. 
75718°— 15 
