I20 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



on the distribution of the insect. However, no such insect has ever been 

 mentioned by our Eastern winters on the Strawbeny, and w^e must 

 necessarily conclude that it does not exist in the Atlantic States. 



[Figure ii.] 



Strawberry Crown Borer — (a) larva ; (b) beetle, side view ; (c) same, back view. 



This insect has done considerable damage to the straw^berry crop in 

 the Southern portion of your own State, especially along the line of the 

 Illinois Central R. R. ; and I have seen evidence of its work in St. Louis 

 County, Mo. At the meeting of the Southern Illinois Fruit Growers' 

 Association, held at South Pass in November IS67, several complaints 

 were made by parties from Anna and Makanda, of a white worm which 

 worked in the roots of their strawberries; and in 1868, the greater 

 portion of the plants of a ten-acre field at Anna, belonging to Mr. 

 Parker Earle, was destroyed by it. 



In the fall of 1869 I had some correspondence with Mr. Walsh on 

 this insect, and learned that he had succeeded in breeding it to the perfect 

 state; and had it not been for his untimely death, its history would no 

 doubt have been published a year ago. Through the kindness of Jos. 

 M. Wilson of Sterling, Whiteside Co., and of J. B. Miller of Anna, 

 Union Co., I received during the past year specimens of the larv^ from 

 which I succeeded in rearing the perfect beetle. It is therefore by the 

 aid of these gentlemen, and especially from the experience of Mr. Miller, 

 that I am enabled to give you the above illustrations (Fig. 11) of the 

 Strawberry Crown Borer, and the following necessarily imperfect account 

 of its mode of working. I give them in the hope that they will prompt 

 further investigation, and serve as a clue to enable our excellent friend 

 Dr. Le Baron to increase our knowledge of this pest; for there is much 

 yet to learn of its habits, and consequently of the best means of fighting 

 it. 



From the middle of June to the middle of July in Southern Illinois, and 

 later further north, the larva hatches from an egg which, in all probabil- 

 ity, is deposited in the crown of the plant, and it immediately commences 

 to bore its way downwards, into the pith. Here it remains till it has ac- 

 quired its full size, working in the thick bulbous root and often eating 

 through the more woody portions, so that when frost sets in, the plant 

 easily breaks off and is heaved out of the ground. When full grown it 

 presents the appearance of Figure ii, a, being a white grub with arched 

 back and tawny-yellow head, and measuring about i-5th of an inch when 



