118 
June, 1890. 
AoRCHRRD ?'* N GARDEN \ 
Conducted by A. B. Cordlev, 
Agricultural College, Michigan. 
Apple-lroe Borers ami Bark-licc. 
During the hot sunshiny days of June 
and July one ihay frequently see running 
rapidly up and down the trunks of apple 
trees or basking iu the hot sunshine, small 
beetles about one half inch long, of a dark 
greenish color above and with a coppery re- 
flection beneath. These beetles are the 
imagoes of the Flat-headed Apple tree Bor- 
er Chrysobothris femorata, which is such a 
formidable enemy to apple culture through- 
out the United States and Canada. The 
pear, the plum, the peach, the oak, and es- 
Sapkrda crktata. 
Fig. tot. 
SAPERDA CANDIDA. Fig. 100. 
peeially the maple, are also made to pay 
tribute to its voracious appetite. 
The female deposits her small, yellow 
eggs in cracks and crevices or under loose 
scales of bark, preferably on the south or 
west sides of the trunk or large branches. 
These soon hatch and the larvae quickly eat 
their way through the bark and commence 
to feed upon the sapwood beneath, where 
they bore broad flat channels, often com- 
pletely girdling small trees and causing 
their death. The larvae when full grown 
are about one half inch long and are easily 
distinguished by the greatly enlarged seg- 
ment. just back of the head, which is about 
twice the width of the 
rest of the body and 
much flattened. As the 
insect bores a hole the 
,\ .shape of this segment 
v through which to leave 
the tree, we can easily 
distinguish its work 
from that of the Round- 
headed Apple-tree Bor- 
er which bores a round 
hole. 
These may he the larvae of either one of 
two very beautiful beetles, Saperda Candida 
Saperda ere tat a. The former is generally 
spoken of in works on economic entomol- 
ogy, but in Michigan the latter is found to 
be equally destructive ( Prof. Cook, Report 
Mich. Board of Agriculture, 1888, p. 168). 
Saperda Candida, Fig. 100, commonly called 
the two striped borer, is cylindrical in form 
and is about three-fourths of an inch long. 
Above, it is pale brown in color, marked 
longitudinally by two broad, creamv-white 
bands. The face and under surface are 
hoary white, the legs and antennae gray. In 
form and color S. cretata closely resembles 
S. caadida, except that it is perhaps a trifle 
larger, and the creamy bands are inter- 
rupted as shown in Fig. 101. 
Like C. femorata, these beetles appear in 
June and July and deposit their eggs on the 
rough bark of the trunk, and the larva as 
soon as hatched eats through to the sap- 
wood upon which it feeds. Unlike i r , how- 
ever, the larvae do not attain their full size 
the first year but probably require three 
years in which to complete their transfor- 
mations. When full grown they are about 
one inch long and the diameter of a goose 
quill. During the first two years they feed 
almost exclusively upon the sapwood in 
which they bore broad flat cavities the size 
of a silver dollar. It is at this period that 
they do the most damage, 
small trees often being 
completely girdled by 
them As it approaches 
K\J maturit y the larva bores 
into the heart wood and 
there completes its trans- 
formations, the mature in 
sects emerging in June or 
July, when they may fre- 
C quently be found feeding 
upon the foliage. 
The first, and probably all of these borers, 
are partial to trees of diminished vigor, 
hence we should give particular attention 
to trees that have been injured in any man- 
ner and especially to young trees that have 
recently been transplanted. Many young 
orchards have been entirely ruined by bor- 
ers the first season after planting, when a 
little precaution would have saved all 'lie 
trees. The same is true of many shade 
trees, especially maples. 
The presence of borers can generally be 
detected by the dark color of the bark or by 
the chips which are sometimes push >d from 
their burrows. When these suggest that 
the enemy is present we 
can easily determine 
whether it is so or not by 
sticking a knife into the 
suspected spot. If it goes 
easily through the bark 
and a little farther it is al- 
most certain that the bor- 
er is present. If so it 
should be cut out and de- 
stroyed or if beyond the 
reach of a knife, probing 
will usually prove effec- 
tive. The best remedy, however, is to wash 
the trunks and large branches early in June 
with a mixture of soft soap and carbolic 
acid in the following proportions: One 
quart soft soap, one pint crude carbolic acid 
.and two gallons of water heated and thor- 
oughly mixed. This should be thoroughly 
applied with a cloth or scrubbing brush. 
Experiments have shown that this wash is 
repulsive to the beetle and she willl not de- 
Bark Lice. 
Fig. 103. 
posit her eggs upon trees so treated. This 
wash, applied at this time, is also effective 
in destroying the 
Apple-tree Bark Louse which is so de- 
structive to apple trees throughout the 
Northern United States and 
Canada. Fig. 102 represents 
the insects in early Spring, 
when they appear as inanimate 
brownish scales on the bark. 
If -we raise one of these scales 
a whitish powder will he re- 
vealed which consists of the 
eggs of these lice. Late in May 
or early in June, these hatch, 
and the minute yellowish lice 
run hither and thither upon 
the bark seeking places on 
which to locate. Soon most 
of them become settled on the 
terminal twigs and commence 
to pump the sap from the tree. 
They now grow rapidly, and in 
a few days secrete a fringe of waxy threads 
which adhere to the body giving it the ap- 
pearance shown at 3, Fig. 102. This 
waxy secretion forms the scale which grad- 
ually assumes the forms shown at 4, 5, 6, 7, 
Fig. 102. By the middle of August the fe- 
male louse has become little more than a 
bag of eggs covered by this scale, and as 
she deposits her eggs her body becomes 
smaller and smaller until it is a scarcely 
visible speck at the small end of the scale. 
The eggs.as we have seen, remain under the 
scale until the next May or June when they 
hatch and the young lice pass out into the 
world. 
This is when they are the most suscept- 
ible to injury as they are not yet protected 
by scales: and fortunately it is just at the 
time when the fern. tie beetles are seeking 
places on which to deposit their eggs. 
Hence if we now thoroughly scrub our 
trees with the soap carbolic acid mixture, 
we will kill two birds with one stone, i. e.. 
kill the lice and prevent the beetles from 
depositing their eggs. 
Bark Lick. Fig. 102. 
BiNiilptiidc of Carbon. 
In bulletin 58 of the Michigan Agricultur- 
al College Experiment Station, Prof. Cook 
treats very fully of an insecticide which 
should be brought more prominently before 
the public than it has been in the past. We 
refer to bisulphide of carbon. This is espec- 
ially useful in destroying insects which, 
from the nature of their surroundings or 
from then- habits, can neither be poisoned 
