Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1848-09-15
From the Commercial.
WILMINGTON, Sept, 18th, 1913.


| WILMINGTON, Sept 18th, 1913.
Mr. Editorials the dreadful destruction,
now, and last year, amongst our pines, offers
a subject for consideration of the gravest i'm
portan ce, to the dealers in turpentine, timber
and lum Der; send you for publication, short
account of similar havoc in other countries, by
what, have little doubt, is the same little bug
| that has laid waste so many miles square OF
our beautiful and valuable pine forest land
| in this vicinity.
| The following extracts are from Kirby's
Entymology, work of high authority upon
such subjects.
"Tn 1891 the oaks in France were terribly
devastated by the larva of Hypogynna d'spar,
and in 1897 many OF the pine foTes's ABOUT
Bayreuth suffered similar injury from that OF
! II M,nocha." re Weiner EerZelch, $40. IS"
"Tne mischief however produced by any
! or all of these, is not to be compared with
that sometimes sustained In Germany from the
attacks of small beetle, (BOStr1chuS Typo
prophus) SO called on account of fancied re-
sembance between the paths it erodes and let
tiers, which bores into the fir This insect, in
its preparatory state, feeds upon the soft IN
ner bark only: but it attacks this important
part in vast numbers, $4,000 being sometimes
/ found in a single treet that it is infinitely
more noxious than any of those that bore in
| to the wood: and such is its vitality, that
though the bark be battered and the tree plum
ged into water, or laid upon the ice or snow,
| it remains alive and unhurt. The leaves of the
trees infested by these insects first become yell
low, the trees themselves then die at the top,
and soon entirely perish. Their ravages have
| long been known in Germany under the name
! of Wurm IrokniSS decay caused by worms%
and in the old liturgies OF that country the an
imal itselfs formally mentioned under its Vul-
gar appelIation, g The Turk This pest was
| particularly prevalent and caused incaIcuIable
mischief about the year l665. In the begin
ming Of the last century it again showed itself
in the Harlz fOrests-it reappeared in 1863,
and arrived at its height in 1888, when the
number oftrees destroyed by ltIn the above for
ests alone was calculated al million & a half, &
the Inhabitants were threatened with at toal sus-
pension of The working Of their mines, 4 conse
guent ruin. At this period these BoStrChl, when
arrived at their perfect state, migrated III
sWarmS like bees into Sudbla and franconIa.
At length, between the years 1884 and 1889,
in consequence of a succession OF cold and
moist seasons, the numbers OF this scourge
were sensibly diminished. 1t appeared again
however in 1890, and so late as 1906 there
was great reason 10 fear for the fr-trees that
were left" [" Wilhelm's RecreationS from
Not. Hot. 4Ne,eA Wy LN,reine HIST Nat. XII.
1927
The Fir (Abees) is family of trees TO which
our pine belongs. You will observe that the
destruction of the pines at Beyrouth Tin Syria
| suppose, on the MeiterraneGn0 occurred
only the year after it had ceased in the HartS
forest.
Description of the Insect" Anten clavat,
club solid, Thorax, convex with slight mar
gin-Head infected and concealed under tho
rax."