260 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 



adults had transformed from the pupae in the soil and were hidden 

 away among the debris around the plants. Egg laying was in 

 full swing and comparatively few larvae and pupa? were left in the 

 ground. 



The results attending this experiment showed that a great 

 many adults were destroyed by the action of the heat, but on the 

 other hand a great many survived. The best results, as to mor- 

 tality, were shown in the larger windrows were the heat appeared 

 more sustained and concentrated. A number of adults were con- 

 tained in small wooden boxes and glass vials, which were in turn 

 sunk to the level of the soil in the row, and it was shown that with- 

 out exception all perished. Careful observations were taken as 

 soon as the fire had passed over to ascertain the general results on 

 a practical scale, and it was interesting to note the remarkable 

 ingenuity displayed by the weevils to avoid destruction. Under 

 nearly every clod of earth or beneath compact piles of straw, 

 which had not become ignited, were found small groups of adults, 

 sometimes to the number of twenty, packed together as far away 

 as possible from the source of heat. These weevils were perfectly 

 normal and unharmed, and some laid eggs in captivity after re- 

 moval from the field. In some instances adults had burrowed into 

 loose soil to avoid destruction. 



The general results of the work showed that burning the 

 plantation at the time when the greatest number of adults were 

 on the surface possessed only a half measure of success. The 

 adults that survived would undoubtedly migrate to the nearby 

 strawberry plantations and this, taking place at the season of the 

 year when egg laying was in progress, was precisely what we should 

 aim to avoid. 



It may be said, however, that better results would probably 

 attend this method of control if the roots of the plantfe were shaken 

 free of soil and the lumps of earth broken and compacted in the 

 windrow. If this were done burning of old plantations might be 

 added to the control measures already mentioned. 



