94 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



stems, leaves, or fruits of plants, and the beetles feeding on the same. 

 So whenever you find an insect w^ith the characters just given, you may 

 rest morally certain that it is injurious, and should be destroyed without 

 mercy. This family is not only one of the most injurious, but, on 

 account of the secretive habits of the larvre, the insects comprising it are 

 the most difficult to control. When a worm Is openly and above board 

 denuding our trees, we at least readily become aware of the fact, and 

 can, if we choose, apply the remedy; but when it surreptitiously, and 

 always under cover, gnaws away at the heart of our grains and fruits, 

 we become in a measure helpless to defend ourselves. But even here 

 where the enemy is so well ambushed and hidden, the proper tactics, 

 based on thorough knowledge, will frequently enable us to penetrate the 

 defenses and conquer the foe. 



Before leaving this subject of Families, let me impress upon your 

 minds another important fact, namely, that the Family Is not peculiar to 

 any one country, and that while species vary, the Family has the same 

 habits and characteristics all over the world. Thus in Europe we find 

 the snout-beetles as injurious, and as difficult to manage — if not more 

 so — than they are in this country. One species, [Rhynchites conicus^ 

 Hbst.) deposits eggs in the twigs of Pear, Plum, Cherry, and Apricot, 

 and girdles the twig to make it fall; another, (^Rhynchites bacchus^ 

 ScHCEN,) infests the fruit, and still another, (An/honomzis pyri, Schcen,) 

 the flower bud of the Pear. One, [Rhynchites betuleti^ rolls up grape 

 leaves and partly cuts their stems, so that they perish, while another, 

 [Anthonomus pomornm, Sch.,) infests the blossom bud of the Apple, 

 and renders It unfertile. Still another inhabits the blossom bud of the 

 CheiTy. Balaninus nucum is found In the common Hazel-nut, and B. 

 cerasoru?n in Cherry pits; Afion apricans devours the seed of Clover; 

 Otiorhynchiis sulcatus, Sch., infests the crown of Strawberries, and two 

 different species, [Baris chlorizans, Schcen, and Ceutorhynchus napi, 

 Schcen,) Infest the stems of cabbages and turnips. 



But after all, a single species — the " little Turk," for instance — some- 

 times causes more loss of fruit in this country than all the above 

 enumerated species do to the European cultivator, and though much of 

 this comparative incapaclt}^ for harm, on the part of their insects, may 

 be in a measure due to the better knowledge of his foes, which the 

 transatlantic cultivator possesses, to the more careful culture which he 

 pursues, and the usually limited extent of his orchard, compared with 

 ours; vet it greatly depends on other causes, which the time allowed will 

 not permit me to dwell upon. So I will at once proceed to say a few 

 words about those of our own Snout-beetles, which more particularly 

 interest you. 



THE COMMON PLUM CURCULIO. 



{Conotrachelus nenuphar, Herbst.) 

 IT IS SINGLE-BROODED, AND HIBERNATES AS A BEETLE. 



At your last annual meeting, at Ottawa, I read an essay on this 

 insect, giving the established facts In its history, the artificial remedies to 



