CURE FOR BORER.

Grey River Argus, 27 June 1922, Page 3

CURE FOR BORER.

AMERICAN’S IDEA. KILLER INSECTS. Writing in the “Lyttelton Times,” Air J. Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S., quotes au American authority on wood borers, Mr A. B. Champlain. Curator of Inset- 's i : the Pennsylvania Department • of Agriculture, who takes an interest in wood borers that damage and destroy New Zealand timbers, buildings and furniture. He has watched and structcd a group of beetles, the Cieridac in entomological language, that attack borers in North America. He slates in a letter. dated Apjil IS last, that several species of these beetles might be introduced into New Zealand with advantage. He particularly two species. One of these, Monophylla terminata, attacks many other insects. but favours for its attentions borers found in dead trees and seasoned wood. The other, Tarsostenus univittatus, seems to attack bor?rs ii. the same kind of wood. The two species have a two-fold recommendation, as in both their grub form and their adult form thev carry on war agains- the borers. The grubs feed on the borers' eggs and broods in the woo*!, and the adults attack borers that have reached the perfect insert stage. “ Ciends may have only nominal importance under natural conditions,” Air ’ .. -i-.[miin explains, “but natural conditKms may be overbalanced in their ia\ and th.-y can be turned to considerable account. The dissemination of quantities of Clerids in badly infested districts, iu addition to control work, would be of great value. Adult Clerids sometimes attack insects much larger than tiu ins«-lves. In the usual method, a Ch-rid ri'U.nirs motionless on a tree until another insect approaches. Eunwith a rapidity that resembles a h-:-b. it sv’.zes its prey. The Ciend grasps it with the front and middle pair of legs, and holds on to ’ 'C Lark l.y the hind pair. With its strung--jaws it breaks Hie chitin or separates the segments, and feuds on the soft tissue and viscera inside. In the larval. or <’i - ub form, Clerids feed voraciously and grow rapidly; they devour the eggs, grubs and sometimes the adult "bodies of their prey.” A letter on the same subject has be-.-n sent by Dr T. E. Snyder, Specialist in Forest Entomology, in the Unit-, ed States Bureau of Entomology. Writing from Washington on April 21. he states that the Clerids mentioned by Mr Champlain might attack species of Anobium which are the common borers in New Zealand. They are known p..puiarlv as the white pine borer. ••We have nine of these Ciernl:reaiiug in any quantity, and we have no supply available f<»r s 4 iipmin*. n adds. His work in this direction has b.-.-n directed mainly to destruction d bv the yellowish white grubs of small, slender, somewhat fi.iiiei.ed. reddish brown, nr nearly black bet tics, •-—< known 1., entomologies a> Lyctus, and pnpularlv as P .wder-pust beetles, which e .-no to* New Z-aland in wooden furniture and. packing cases, but do n IU have esrabiisht pcrmanentlv here. Wood that has been seasoned a year or longer is very liable to be destroyed by these beetles. The destruction, in tin I ui-ed r-.at- * + - - • . t in sometimes amounts to ii- m - per cent of neglected material in store. Dr Snyder, dealing ” of Lyctus beetles, states/ that the adults fly or crawl about in search ot suitable wood material in v>! . o to posit- their eggs. The minute gr..t» hatched from the egg begins W ...’ -ow rhrough the wood n all • ) ■ ? feeding and growing all the Jme, u»til it attains its full size. As many females lay in a single of wood, the combined work oi their numerous progenv, burrowing through the wood in search of food for th< i_r dev< 1 pment, converts the interior uf the woo.into a mass of fine powder. One of the most destructive Lyctus beetles in the I eited Nates, it is be lieved, was introduced from Europe. It is Lyctus lineris, the same species that comes to New Zealand. It L.ts a wide distribution in temperate zones, and has a strong hold in many.- northern districts of the United States, but does not survive in southern district;. In addition to the Clerids, Dr Snycer has noted that a few parasites belonging to the Hymenoptera attack Lye' .s beetles, but he adds: ‘‘Even theso combined insects do not appear <o oo able completely to control Lyc :.s, either iu 1 1 nr breeding cages or m infected woodwork. In general, i- - 1 - enemies, although beneficial, eanuo. bo depended upon to keep the destrm- . • ' beetles under control.” He divides methods of controlling Lyctus beetles under two heads: Remedies, anti piv.vention. As to the first, when the beetles are in the wood, he suggests drenching with kerosene oil to kill the grubs. Pure kerosene oil may be applied liberally with a brush, or the infested wood may be immersed m vats of kerosene. Several treatments max be necessary. The only objection he sees to this remedy is the fire risk, but he points out that as kerosene soon evaporates, the material treasu . not near th? danger point for long. It is not possible to use kerosene lU.n fire. For prevention, he states that, as the winged adult females lay their eggs in the poi's of the wood, measures of prevention may be put into effect easilv bv merely treating the wood with any substance that closes the pores, notably paraffin wax. linseed oil, and almost' any other filler. The same remedies and measures of prevention, probably, will be effective against the Anobium beetles.