The eggs are deposited in cracks or
crevices of the bark, and soon hatch. The young larva eats its way
through the bark and sapwood, where it bores broad and flat channels,
sometimes girdling and killing the tree. As it approaches maturity, it
bores deeper into the tree, working upward, then eats out to the bark,
but not quite through the bark, where it changes into a beetle, and
then cuts through the bark and emerges to propagate its kind. This
insect is sought out when just beneath the bark, and devoured by
woodpeckers and insect enemies.
Another borer, the long-horned borer, _Leptostylus aculifer_, is
widely distributed, but is not a common insect, and does not cause
much annoyance to the fruit grower. It appears in August, and deposits
its eggs upon the trunks of apple trees. The larvae soon hatch, eat
through the bark, and burrow in the outer surface of the wood just
under the bark.
PROTECTION AGAINST BORERS.
The practical point is, What remedies can be used to prevent the
ravages of the borers? The usual means of fighting the borers is, to
seek after them in the burrows, and try to kill them by digging them
out, or by reaching them with a wire.
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