200 
TREES AS GOOD CITIZENS 
reddish or rusty brown spots on the white 
bark of trunk and larger branches; and 
under the bark will be found winding 
channels. Ridges are often to be seen on 
the bark of branches, over the burrows. 
These signs show themselves before the 
top begins to die. 
The injury is due to the burrows in the bark cutting off the passage of the 
descending sap, death resulting from girdling that may be as thorough as though 
done with an ax. 
The elimination of this borer demands neighborhood action, as the cutting of a 
single tree will do no good if other trees are infested. 
THE BOX ELDER 
SAP-SUCKING INSECTS 
Box Elder Plant-bug 
Habits This sap-sucking, red insect 
and feeds on the leaves and tender 
Damage, growth of the Box Elder. The 
bug first appears about the 
time the Box Elder buds open in the 
spring, and lays its eggs in the crevices of 
the bark. On hatching, the young travel 
to the foliage, and great numbers of them 
may be seen crawling along the trunk. 
The late summer is spent in feeding. In 
the fall the bug becomes a troublesome 
household pest, because of its habit of 
crawling up walls and into houses and 
cellars in search of winter quarters. 
Remedies. Spraying is the best means 
of controlling this insect. 
The spray should be applied as soon as 
the bugs appear in the spring. Soap 
solution or kerosene emulsion will be 
found effective. 
When the bugs appear in the fall they 
should be killed by pouring hot water or 
kerosene over them. It will also be found 
comparatively easy to sweep them in 
quantities into a vessel containing 
kerosene. 
Box Elder Aphis 
Habits This is a sap-eating insect, 
and the eggs of which hatch in the 
Damage, spring when the tree’s buds 
begin to open. The hatching 
process takes place on the bark and the 
young insects migrate at once to the 
leaves and tender twigs, where they feed. 
A half-dozen or more generations may 
develop during a single season. The 
insects are pale green in color and they 
cover the leaves and twigs with a soot-like 
coating, while a sticky liquid will be found 
on the leaves and on the ground. The 
feeding stunts the leaves and the fun¬ 
gus deposit gives the tree an unsightly 
appearance. 
Remedy. It is not difficult to control 
this insect. Spraying is the 
most effectual method. The sprays should 
be 40 per cent, nicotine sulphate and 
should be applied in the spring when the 
tree starts its growth for the new season. 
