The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-27
shot-Hole or Pin-Hole Borer.

shOt-Hole or Pin-HoIe BOrex.
 By Ralph I. Smith in Cotton Journal: About this season of the year or chardists are liable to find dying trees in their orchards. the cause of which may not be apparent. Many of such trees may be found infested with the shot-hole borer or pin-hole borer, as 1t is frequently called. Still another name is given to this insect. namely, fruit-tree bark-beetle. This latter name is the only one by which the in- sect was first known, though orchard- "shot-hole" or pin hole borer. These names seem more appropriate as they describe, in way, the nature of the injury caused by this little pest.
 Fruit growers who are not familiar with the work of the shot-hole porer should give this subject careful con- sideration. By removing infested trees when the trees are first com mencing to die, thousands of borers will be killed, and thus be prevented from increasing to injurious numbers.
 The adult shot -hole borer Is a small cylindrical beetle, about one-eighth of an inch long and only about one- third as broad The color Is uniform ly black, except for the tips of the wing covers and portion of the legs, which are dull red. The body Is bluntly pointed at the posterior end Examined under the magnifying glass the entire upper surface of the beetle is seen to be finely punctured like the end of thimble.
 The young borer, or grub, is white, except for a brown horny head. When full grown, they are slightly less than one-fourth of an inch in length. Ma turally they assume a curved position when lying in their channels under the bark. The pupa-the form as- sumed by the larvae before changing to the adult beetle--is also white in color.
 Winter stage and Life History.
 The winter Is passed by this Insect in the larval or grub stage in their channels under the bark. In spring the change to the adult takes place These adult beetles eat their way out from under the bark, making small round holes barely one-sixteenth inch in diameter. The first brood of bee ties appear during March or April. &C., cording to the latitude, and soon com mence eto bore into the trees for the purpose of feeding or to construct egg chambers. They seem to prefer to enter at the base of smell limbs, or at forks made by lateral spurs. and frequently at the base of buds near the extremities of the small branches.
 An egg chamber varies from one inch, or less, to an inch and a half in length. It is formed partly in the under layer of bark and partly in the wood just beneath Eggs are depos- tied in rows on each side of this chamber. It is supposed that each female lays about eighty eggs. The minute borers matching from these eggs burrow at right angles to the egg chamber At first the little bor- CTS keep their channels separate from one another, but in badly infested limbs, the channels soon cross and re- cross until the cambium layer of bark and the wood just beneath is reduced almost to a powder.
 The young borers continue to feed until they become full grown, after which they change to pupae, and then to adults as already described. In the Southern States there are prob- ably three and often four broods each year The last brood remains in the trees over winter.
 Look for Infested Trees.
 From the above description the fruit grower will be enabled to deter mine if any of the shot-hole borers in the orchards Badly infested trees will show hundreds and thousands of the characteristic round holes made by the adult beetles. As each beetle must make a hole when escaping from the tree, and another when feeding or constructing an egg chamber. one can readily see how an infested tree soon becomes full of holes. By break ing some Of the small branches where exit holes are found, young borers in all stages of development will usually be discovered. WiaCn these are found no Argument R n'dded to show that