Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-09-12
ABOUT THE ELM-LEAF BEETLE.
His History, His Ravages and His De-
StructiOn.

II it will afford any one satisfaction
to call the elm-leaf beetle, that is such
pest in the east this season. hard
names, that satisfaction is warranted
by the dictionaries, the cyclopedias
and Harris On Insects Injurious TO
Vegetation. You may go back as far
as the great branch of animate nature
to which the creature belongs, the
arthrOpoda, or joint-footed creatures
Holsters and crabs and other crusta-
ceanS are arthropoda. He is of the
class insecta, as most of us would sus-
pect; and the order coleoptera, or bee
ties, which includes all the insects
whose gauzy wings are shea thed be-
meath hard cases called elytra. More
definitely he is one of the chrysome-
idae, or little golden beetles, so called
from the metallic sheen of their wing
cases, to which the yellow bug that
raYages the cucumber vine, the ''po-
tato bug" and other leaf-eati ting insects
belong. Specifically he is called galer-
uca XanthOmelaena, or galeruca cal
mariensis, and he doesn't mind these
names at all.
Now as to his history Like the
great majority of the insect pests of
this country, he is an immigrant from
Europe. The Colorado beetle. or go
tato bug" is one of the few ravagers
OF American origin, and becomes
pest for the same reason, because find
ing new fields where his hereditary
enemies are unknown He is first re-
ported as visiting Baltimore in 1888.
The year before the elm-leaf beetle de-
scended upon Sevres, France. and
wrought great havoc ON the elms. It
Is presumed that the plaguey insects
were brought over to Maryland in elms
from France or England, or both,
and i'm 1888 and 1889 the devastation
IN Baltimore was great. They swept
the trees as they are doing in so many
places now, and when the elms had
grown a second crop of leaves, there
was second crop of worms ready to
deVOur them, and the trees were
stripped a second time the first year.
DR.. Harris describes them in his re-
port for 1868 just as they are seen
today, as of Oblong shape, three
eighths OF an inch long, with slightly
convex body, short and rather narrow
or uneven thOrax, or chest division,
forward of the wings: with antennae
more than half the length of the body
implanted close together; the wing
cases dark, with gold stripes, with
six slender legs equal in size, with
claws split at the ends. The beetles
fly by night, and are ''timid''-that
is, sensitive when touched, and tum-
bling quickly. The larvae are short
cylindrical grubs, blackish in hue, with
six legs, and they feed in colonies,
making a very complete business of
destroying the leaves, as our present
observation teaches US. Up to 1868
these insects were unknown in New
England, and probably UP to this very
year; certainly they never were pest
before in New England, though they
have been busy in the middle states,
wherever elms are known. Last year
they had crossed the Hudson and were
making mischief in Westchester coun-
ty. Now with great rapidity they
have spread over Connecticut, up the
Connecticut valley, and even into Yer
mont.
There seems no reason why they
should be allowed to ruin the trees
season after season. The plants af-
fected-elm trees are simply big
plants-Will usually recover from the
ravages Of one destruction, sometimes
from two, even in the same year, but
with the effect of putting back the
growth, Of course. Owing to their
habits, it is not difficult to cope with
them. The plans now being adopted
will be effective if thoroughly carried
out in the cities, but of course in the
wide country there will be thousands
of elmS which will receive no protec-
ton. Now is the time to save our
trees for next year, and against a
second visitation this season.
The chairman of a park committee
is taking an active interest in the pres
ervatiOn of the trees. AS an expert
ment he bought some creolin. a pow
erful German preparation from tar
products. Diluting it in 80 parts of
water, he tried it on the mass of
larvae and beetles that surrounded the