Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 24, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 15, 1913 Page: 3 of 20
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.Oklahoma Farmer
Volume 22, Number ft
APRIL 15, 1913
Subscriptiou 50c a Year
•T
HE SPRING CANKER WORM
I- ig, i. t'aleavrita vernata: a, male
ninth h, female moth—both natural
i| ,ize; <•• jiSuts of female antenna; d,
'.f i"i"t of female abdomen; e, ovipositor
Milarged ifrom Kiiey).
THE canker worms, as we have them in Okla
lioma, are among the greatest pests known to
tlir fruit producers of this state. There are
P two * species present in Oklahoma, the spring
mker worm (Paleacrita vernata) and the fall cank-
i worm (Alsophila pometaria). These worms not
,inly prove a very troublesome pest to apple or-
chards. but often infest cherry, plum, elm. and to a
less degree other trees. These insects, thottgli wide-
!v distributed throughout the United States, usual-
ly occur ill injurious numbers quite locally, infest-
ing but one or
two orchards in
a vicinity,
where- condi-
12 • tums are hj,st
N i'\ \ for their devel-
opment. They
are sometimes
distributed in
nursery ^tock
in the egg stage,
Imt may lie carried from one orchard to another by
the moth clinging to an animal or a vehicle.
Old orchards which are in sod or have not been
cultivated for many years, and which are , not
sprayed with arsenicals, furnish ideal conditions for
tin' propagation and mutiplication of canker worms
after they have once gained a foothold.
such orchards are defoliated every spring, with
the result that the injury to the trees prevents
formation of the fruit buds. After a
few years of such injury the trees will
,begin to die.
Life History and Habits.
There is but one generation of the
spring canker worms each year and
after attaining full growth on the fol-
iage of trees in the spring, they enter
the ground to the depth of from "2 to 5
inches, and after making an earthen
ci II transform to the pupae, in which
>tage they remain until the following
spring, when they make their appear-
ance as tho adult moths.
The latter appear during the early
spring, and often during warm spells
in the late winter. The males are
winged (Fig 1, a), while the females
• ^T"nre wingless 'Fig. 1. li). and look more
like a spider than a moth to the un-
skilled eye. The females in oviposit-
ing climb the trees and place their eggs
in irregular masses in the cracks of
hark, under loose bark, and in the crotches of limbs.
The number of eggs in an individual mas- varies
from 17 to 110. the average being about 50.
An individual egg is elongate elliptical in outline,
very • much resembling a hen's egg in miniature.
When first deposited it has a 'pearly white luster,
but in the course of a few hours takes on a yel-
lowish green color. It takes about 32 to 35 days
for eggs to hatch after being deposited. ♦
The young caterpi''ar i*s of a dark olive-green or
brown color, with a black, shining head, and a horny
.plate of tlie -amc color on the t^p of the next seg-
ment; they are about 1 inch long when.full grown,
and present then the appearance as shown at a,
Fig. 2. When full grown the head is mottled and'
spotted, and has two pale, transverse lines in front,
along the sides in a wide, irregular white stripe, in-
eluding the spiracles and adjacent tubercles. The
thoracic leg? are stout and dusky externally.
There is a -ingle pair of prolegs, on the siyth ab-
dominal segment, and a pair of anal prolegs.
The larvae hatch from the eggs about the time
■the apple leaves first 'appear, and the latter are at-
tacked at once. At first onlv small holes are eaten
Life History, Habits
and Control
Written For Oklahoma Farmer by
R. R. SMITH
Ohlahoma A. and M. College, Stillwater
through the leaves, but later, a- the larvae get old-,
er, the entire leaf is devoured, excepting the mid-
Tib and the.main veins.
After the larvae have attained full growth they
will drop from the trees by means of a silken thread
and enter the ground, where they pass over until
the next spring.
* Remedies.
Every insect has -its natural enemies. There is a
small mite, (Natluus Avivorus), that destroys the
egg of the canker worm. There is a parasitic fly
that places her eggs in the eggs of the canker worm
and destroys them, in the larval stage the canker
worm is pr&yed upon by a small four-winged fly of
the Mierogaster species, which lays its eggs 'in the
body of the worm, and «ffter having obtained full
"rowth within the body, eats its way out. There
* is a species of Taehina, a two-winged fly. which is
parasitic to the canker worm. Predaceous insects
also feed upon them, especially the green caterpillar
hunter, the copper -potted Calasoma, and the rapa-
cious soldier bug.
baud sliould be applied in early March, so as to catch
the first moths a* they appear.
Where spraying and * cultivation are customary,
canker worms rarely become seriously injurious.
K
«l£( ^ ^
Time To Kil? Superfluous Trees and Shrubs. ,
Trees and shrubs that are cut to the ground dur-
ing the latter part of June and the first part of July
will die more certainly and "w ith less sprout ing than
if cut at any other time of the year. The reason for
this is based on plant physiology and its peculiari-
ties. .
During the later part of every growing season all
perennial plants are storing up plant food. This
plant food, which is usually in the form of Starch,
is stored in the lower part of the body of the plant
and in the roots. When growth starts in the
spring it is this food which is used to make the first
twigs and leaves. Without such stored food growth
would not start. When growth starts, this stored
food is drawn upon until about mid-season, wheu
with most perennial plants it is exhausted. Heuce
any injury Jo any perennial'plant at this season is
much greater than at any other time. Many farm-
ers have found that .hedges which are "lopped" at
this time are always seriously injured, and will fre-
quently die. Hence, there is a general rule among
men who are familiar with tree growth never to cut
a tree which it is desirable to preserve, during mid-
summer. and always to cut out any undesirable
growtli at {his season.
The old hedge which has been bother-
ing you for some years should be
gurbbed out thoroughly during the
next two weeks. An hour's work now
will do more than a day's work in the
winter time. The locust sprouts which
have been coming persistently from
where that locust tree was cut some
years ago should be similarly treated.
Now is the time to remove all trees
which you are thinking of getting rid
of. They will sprout very little, if
any, if cut now.
It is unfortunate that this work
comes at a time when so much other
farm work is pressing. „ ^ „ ,,
V <). Booth.
Department of horticulture and hot-
any* Oklahoma ' A. and M. College,
Stillwater.
Crop from sprayed tree, 1,0!!- Mound tipples
right. 01.7 per cent Hound apples.
on left, ll.'t scnMiy apples on
*
Of course, there are times when the natural ene-
mies of an insect do not check it. so as not to be
detrimental to foliage and fruit, and we must look
to other means for control. The best method for
control is to plow the orchard so as to break tip the
pupal cases that are in the sod. thus preventing the
appearance of adults in the spring.
Another method is to spray the trees with arsen-
ate of lead, 3 pounds
to a barrel of water.
Spray first just after
the foliage has ex-
panded. then again just
after the petals of the,
blossoms drop. The
first spraying is the
most important, and
should be done care-
fully. One thorough
spraying will usually suffice, as the caterpillars are
young, and easily killed. If for any reason spraying
is not feasible, the female moths may be prevented
from ascending the trees by encircling the trees with
. bands of tanglefoot or other sticky substance. This
m
* a?
Fig 2.—Paleacrtta vernata:
a, larva—natural size; h, eggs
—natural size and enlarged; e,
side view of segment of larva;
d, dorsal view of same—both
enlarged (from Kiley).
Does Orchard Spraying Pay?
Usually the first question a man will
ask, when urged to spray his fruit trees is', "Will it
pay me?" Near Fort Scott, Kan., there is a farmer
who has a 5-acre orchard. He sprayed it four times
and the entire cost to him, including a small sprayer,
was only $60. From this small orchard he sold 456
boxes of apples at $1.05 per box. Enough windfalls
were sold to pay for picking and packing nud in ad-
dition, 22 barrels of cider were made, which brought
$275. Deducting the $60 for spraying expenses this
orchardist has $067.40 left as his year's profit from
a 5-acre orchard.
•
Kimilat cases could be cited without number. The
Underwood orchards near Hutchinson, Kan., yielded
a crop around 100,000 bushels and were sprayed. The
Winesaps were of a quality that has never been
euualed in Reno county. "The apples were perfect
where spraying was done," says H. M. Gamble, super-
intendent of the orchard. "There was a constant
battle last year with the pests and in those orchards
where no spraying was done the yield was short, but
where care was taker, of tin* orchard there was a
good crop."
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Hartman, E. V. Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 22, No. 24, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 15, 1913, newspaper, April 15, 1913; Guthrie, Oklahoma and Topeka, Kansas. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc139817/m1/3/: accessed April 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.