Entomological Notes. 



297 



Plum Curculio. 



The accompanying cut (Fig. 7) 

 illustrates the Curculio in its dif- 

 ferent stages of development. The 

 full grown grub, or maggot, is 

 represented by a ; b gives the 

 chrysalis form ; c the perfect beetle ; 

 d the young plum, showing the 

 way the egg is deposited, with the 

 crescent incision above it, which 

 gives rise to the appellation of 

 "Little Turk." The hair lines at the sides denote the natural 

 lengths of the different forms. One of the most marked peculi- 

 arities of the form of the perfect beetle or weevil is its snout, and 

 on account of this characteristic, it is grouped with the snout beetle 

 family. This snout is short and thick, with elbowed antennas at 

 the sides. Its position resembles that of the trunk of the ele- 

 phant, hanging down from the head. When the Curculio is dis- 

 turbed this snout is drawn back close to the body and rests in a 

 groove between the forelegs, as seen in b, the chrysalis form. The 

 length of the beetle is about one-fifth of an inch ; its color is a 

 dark gray, with a yellowish white band across the back. There 

 is a glossy black elevation on each of the wing covers, which 

 gives it a hump-back form. The beetle makes its first appearance 

 in the spring about the first of May (but is occasionally seen in 

 April), and continues to come during *the months of May and 

 even June. It is now generally conceded that it is single brooded, 

 and that it passes the winter only in the perfect beetle state. The 

 fact that young beetles appear in July, August, and sometimes in 

 September, for a long time led many to infer that there were two 

 broods in a season, but careful observation has shown that the 

 egg-laying season of the parent beetle extends through two 

 months and over, and consequently the larval state is also ex- 

 tended, and also that the young beetles show no propensity to 

 propagate the first season of their existence, but forage on the 

 fruit until the advent of cold weather, when they go into quarters 

 and abide the coming of spring, then to perpetuate their species. 

 Both the parent beetle and their progeny feed throughout the 



