144 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



LIFE HISTORY. 



The beetles hybernate in secluded spots during the winter and 

 appear on the wing about the time the plum trees blossom, and, as 

 soon as the young fruit forms, begin to deposit their eggs. The 

 female, when about to lay an egg makes a minute incision with her 

 jaws, and then, inserting the snout, enlarges the hole sufficiently to 

 hold the egg, turns around, deposits the egg, thrusts it to the 

 bottom of the hole with the snout, then cuts a crescent-shaped 

 incision around one side of the opening, as shown in Fig. 28, d. 



Only one egg is laid in a place, though on the apple several 

 punctures ma}- occur on the same fruit. Each beetle laj's from 

 fifty to one hundred eggs, and deposits fiom five to ten a day. The 

 time of depositing eggs by earl}- and late beetles probably occupies 

 about two months. The first apples examined July first were badly 

 punctured, and no new cuts were found after the twentieth of the 

 month. The eggs hatch in a few days and the larva is full grown 

 in from three to five weeks. The infested apples or plums usually 

 drop to the ground before the larva is grown, and when mature it 

 leaves the fruit, enters the ground four to six inches, forms an oval 

 cavity, changes to the chrysalis and in from three to six weeks the 

 perfect insect is formed and makes its way to the surface, complet- 

 ing the life histor}'. There seems to be some reason for believing a 

 few remain in the ground all winter. The specimens we transformed 

 appeared in September, about four weeks from the time the larvoe 

 were mature. We are inclined to believe that those apples in 

 which the eggs hatch and the larvte grow, drop early. Abortive cuts 

 shrivel and deface the fruit and check its growth, but it may mature. 



REMEDIES. 



Jar the trees and catch the beetles that fall on sheets spread under 

 the trees. The jarring should begin early, as the beetles appear with 

 the blossoms, and be continued morning and evening for a month, 

 or until the beetles become scarce. Dr. Hull of Illinois devised a 

 "Curculio Catcher" which consists of an inverted umbrella on a 

 wheelbarrow and provided with a slit in one side to receive the 

 trunk of the tree. The machine is provided with a padded bumper 

 in front and is driven against the tree with force enough to dislodge 

 the beetles and cause them to fall into the umbrella, from which 

 they are collected and destroyed. 



