302 



Wisconsin State Horticultural Society. 



very destructive. The following is the description given of it by- 

 Prof. Riley: "The large gray beetle, represented by c in the 

 accompanying cut, often does considerable damage to fruit trees. * * 

 It kills the twigs by gnawing off the tender bark in the early 

 part of the season, before the buds have put out, and later in the 

 year it destroys the tender shoots which start out from the old 

 wood, by entirely devouring them. It eats out the buds, and will 

 also frequently gnaw off the leaves at the 

 base of the stem, after they have expanded. 

 It attacks, by preference, the tender growth 

 of the apple, though it will also make free 

 with that of the peach, plum, pear or cherry, 

 and also of forest trees. It is the largest 

 snout beetle which occurs in our state, and 

 with the rest of the species belonging to the 

 same genus (Ithycerus — straight horn), it is 

 distinguished from most of the other snout bee- 

 tles by the antennas or feelers being straight 

 instead of elbowed or flail shaped, as they 

 are in the common plum curculio. The spe- 

 cific name, Jioveboracensis, which means " of 

 New York," was given to it one hundred 

 years ago because it was found in that state. 



* * * The general color of the beetle is ash-gray, marked 

 with black, as in Fig. 10, c, and with scutel, or small semi- 

 circular space immediately behind the thorax, between the wings, 

 of a yellowish color. Its larval habits were for a long time un- 

 known, but a number of years ago I ascertained that it breeds in 

 the twigs and tender branches of the burr oak, and have good 

 reason to believe that it also breeds in those of the pignut hickory. 

 The female, in depositing, first makes a longitudinal excavation 

 with her jaws (Fig. 16, a), eating upwards under the bark towards 

 the end of the branch, and afterwards turns around to thrust her 

 eggs in the excavation. The larva (Fig. 16, b) hatching from the 

 egg is of the usual pale yellow color, with a tawny head. I have 

 watched the whole operation of depositing, and returning to the- 

 punctured twig a few days after the operation was performed, have 

 cut out the young larva; but I do not know how long a time the 

 larva needs to come to its growth, or whether it undergoes its 



Fig. 16. 

 New York Weevil. 



