REPORT OF state; kntomologist. 199 



LIFE HISTORY. 

 The beetles appear before the strawberry bloom. The female 

 punctures the bud and deposits an egg in the opening thus 

 made. She then cuts the stem just below the bud so that it 

 droops and finally falls to the ground. Here it is kept moist 

 so that the young grub can feed until it reaches maturity. The 

 eggs are laid only in the buds of the staminate varieties, as the 

 young grub lives entirely on the pollen. In about a week from 

 the time the eggs are laid the minute grubs hatch and begin 

 feeding on the pollen. As they grow larger if there is not 

 sufficient pollen they eat the corolla and other portions of the 

 bud. When the larvae reach maturity they form a cavity within 

 the bud and change to the pupae. This stage lasts about a week 

 or ten days, when they emerge as a mature beetle. The whole 

 period from egg to adult lasts about a month. The rest of the 

 year is taken up in basking in the sunshine on the blossoms of 

 flowers for awhile, and then they disappear to hibernate until 

 the following spring. 



Fig. 8. An'honomus sig- FiG. 9. Anthonomus signatuB; 



nidus: aciint beetle from abult beetle enlai'ged. (Cliit- 



»i<1e, enlaif<e<l. (Kiley.) teiulen.) 



The life history is illustrated by Fig. 8, side view ; Fig. 9, top 

 view ; Fig. 10, a. b. strawberry spray showing work in bud and 

 stem, natural size; c, outline of egg; d, larva; e, head of larva 

 much enlarged ; f, pupa ; g, open bud, showing egg on left and 

 puncture made by snout of beetle on petals. (F. H. Chittenden.) 



