The Portland daily press., 1881-11-08
The Spruce Fly.

The Bangor Commercial has the follow
ing interesting article concerning the spruce
fly which is said to be too fond of spruce
gum, and is accordingly destroying the
spruce forests in the northern part of this
State and the Provinces. i.
At the Office of E. S. Coe, Esq.,, timber
land agent in this city, there is a specimen
of the insect that is destroying the spruce
trees in northern Maine and the Provinces
This specimen insect with its grub was fur
nished Mr.. Coe by an explorer in his inter-
ests. 1t seems to entirely answer the de-
scription of the aroceras dtbicornis, of Fa-
bricius, (Sec Harris's Insects Injurious to
Vegetation, page 53S).
'fUrocerus albicornis, of Fabricius, the
white horned Urocerus, has white antenn8,
longer and more tapering than those of the
pigeon Tremex, and black at each end. The
female is of deep blue black color, with an
oval white spot behind each eye, and anoth-
er one on each side of the hinder part of the
abdomen. The horn on the tail is long and
shaped like the head of lance. The wings
are smoky brown and semi-transparent. The
legs are black with white joints. The body
measures about an inch in length and the
wings expand nearly two inches. The male
is black with white spot on each side be-
black. This species, which is not common,
has been found ON pine trees in july"
According to the above description, this
specimen in the possession of Mr.. Coe is a
female. 1t has been commonly reported
that the insect destroying the spruce trees
up the river was beetle bu if this is real
~ the pest, then it is one of the Hymenopte-
"a, the order which includes the bees, wasps,
saw flies, ants, ichneumon flies, and the
Erocerida, the ''horn-tails," or, as the Ger
mans call them the ''wood wasps," of which
this specimen is one species Although not
beetle, therefore, Harris writes. "Their
young partake of the nature of the wood
eating grnbs of the capricorn beetles, which
therefore they may be said to represent.
Their young are cylindrical and feshy grubs
of whitish color, with a small rounded,
horny head, and pointed and horny tail.
They have six very small legs under the
forepart of the body and are provided with
powerful jaws, wherewith they bore long
holes in the trunks of trees which they in
habit. Like other borers, these grubs are
wood eaters, and often do great damage to
pines and frs, wherein they are most COM
monty found.
The same author writes just before the
above, "There are not many different kinds
but they are very prolific and abound in
mountainous districts and in temperate eli
mates where forests of pines and fir pre-
vail"
He cites from Westwood, two cases in
England, one where at the seat of the Earl
of Stanhope, two hundred Scotch frs had
their trunks bored through and through by
the grubs of an insect 1.-THE urocerus luoen-
cur, related European species) and piece
of wood twenty feet long from fir in Bewd-
ley Forest so intersected with burrows as to
60 l. r. E-< EA,, l.
space of weeks, assured daily five or six OF
supposed that they attack only diseased and
decayed trees in which it must be admitted
they are often found in great number. But
many instances might be mentioned of their
appetite for sound wood also, and it is prob
able that the presence of these insects, like
that of many others, is the cause, and not
the consequence, of the decay of the trees
wherein they live.
1t will be of interest to learn the length
Of periods that this pest spends as egg, as
lava or grub, and as image or perfect insect.
laid in holes made by means of its borer in
the bark, during the month of July. Further,
our lumbermen and many others will be
anxious to gather reports that they may
form an opinion of the extent of the rava-
ges of this insect. 1t will be worth while to
inquire what section of our State is infest-
ed, and the extent of the loss in these sec
tons. The public will desire to know If the
pest is spreading rapidly or not. The re-
ports have been that the loss was serious.
1t seems difficult to imagine anything that
will diminish their numbers and the des-
truction of timber, other than that multiple
cation ofenemies, and that spread of disease,
that so often follows the extensive propa-
cation and spread of insects. 1t is impossi-
bic TO conceive any convenient method of
acc omplishing their determination directly.