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Bembecia Marginata
The insect, which is popularly known as the "Blackberry-borer," is not at all uncommon. The grub-like larvae infest the roots of blackberries and raspberries, and when mature eat their way up about three inches through the pith of the dead cane, and cutting their way outwardly, leave only a thin layer of the epidermis between themselves and the outer air. The pupa is armed at its head with a triangular chisel-shaped process, with which it cuts through the epidermis of the plant, and then wriggling forward, until half of the body is extruded, the pupal case bursts, and the moth emerges. The males come out in the early afternoon, the females about four o'clock, copulation occurs almost immediately, and the female begins to oviposit before the sun sets. The moths appear at the end of July and throughout August in Pennsylvania. The larvae overwinter in the canes.