Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1923-05-17

6CNl1Ct
control.
May Beetle Or June Bug
Gachnesterna HOpe)
The June bug or May beetle is the
parent of the white grub which lives
largely in the soil OF grass lands. AS
these beetles feed at night on the foil
age of various trees and shrubs, small
trees can be partially or completely
defoliated before their owners dis
cover the cause Before daylight they
make their way to the grass lands to
hide and lay their eggs. From the
time the egg is laid until the new
adult beetle will appear is a period OF
8 years. This does not mean that we
do not have these beetles emerging
yearly, for some come out every year.
Control
If trees and shrubs are being SER
iously injured by this insect, coating
the foliage with arsenate Of lead,
either as a powder or as a suspension
in water, will ordinarily stop the trou-
BILE. The coating should be repeated
in case damage is renewed after the
first coating has been washed off by
the rains. The beetle is apt to do
damage to foliage from the present
time until about the middle of June.
Because of the danger of burning,
arsenate of lead must not be used
alone upon peach foliage but should
be applied either with the New Jersey
dry-mix sulphur-lime or with self
boiled lime-sulphur. When a~rsenate of
lead is t. be used as a suspension in
water for this purpose, from 3 to 4
pounds to 100 gallons is about the
right dosage.
Tent Caterpillar
1t now seems likely that this year
will be marked by an unusually Sc
we're outbreak of the tent caterpillar.
The white, silken nests are now ap-
pearing in the forks of various species
of trees and have nests a size in
general fully as large as the hui
man hand. These nests are appear
ing very largely upon wild cherry,
but may occur on apple, peach, pear,
cherry, etc. The young caterpillars
are feeding voraciously on the rapidly
growing foliage and, considering the
numbers of silken nests that may be
seen, it is likely that the mount of
defoliation of trees done by the tent
caterpillar will be very large this year,
AS these caterpillars consume foil
age and grow, they increase the size
of their nests by spinning new silken
additions to them. After becoming
fully grown in late May or June, the
caterpillars will desert the trees and
crawl into hiding places wherever
they may be found. In these hiding
places each caterpillar will spin a
sulphur-yellow, silken cocoon.
In the latter part of June and in
early July the moth will emerge, and
eggs will be laid on the twigs and
smaller branches of the trees which
serve the caterpillar for food plants.
Each female moth lays a mass of eggs,
arranged as a more oil less complete
cylinder around the branch on which
it is deposited. The tent caterpillar
will remain in the egg stage from that
time until the spring of 1924.
The caterpillars feed during the
bright parts of the day and are apt
to be found within their home in the
evening and at night, or during cloudy
days. If the nests are torn out of the
trees at such times, practically 100
per cent of the c%aterpillars will be
brought out with them. If they are
put in the fire and burned or crushed
under foot the infestation on trees
treated in this way will be eliminated.
On the other hand, if the nests are
torn out when the caterpillars are
outside feeding on the foliage the
time and labor will largely be lost.
Coating the foliage on which the
caterpillars are feeding with arsenate
Of lead delivered either as a powder
or as a suspension in water will prom
pity destroy the worms, because they
consume the a%rsenate of lead along
with the foliage on which it lies and
are poisoned. This treatment will
answer well for all of the common
shade and fruit trees likely to be in
tested other than peach. Again, if
this material is to be used on peach
trees, it should be applied with the
New Jersey dry-mix sulphur-lime or
with ~self-boiled lime-sulphur. When the
arsenate Of lead is applied as a spray,
about 8 pounds of the powder should
be suspended in 100 gallons of spray
material.
If the owner of a small planting of
peach, apple, peal or cherry should
destroy all the caterpillars feeding
upon his trees, and there should be
large numbers of wild cherry trees
nearby on which the caterpillars are
not destroyed, it is possible that when
they have completely defoliated the