1Q^ PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGY. 



The Curculio, or plum weevil, {R/tijnchemis Nenuphar.') The 

 beetles are about one-fifth of an inch long, dark brown, with spots 

 of white and black. They are seen from first of April till middle 

 of June, and continue their operations all summer. They make a 

 puncture in the fruit with their curved snout with which they are 

 provided, and lay an egg in each puncture, which hatches, and the 

 grub, on arriving at maturity, enters the ground from which it 

 comes forth a beetle, in the space of three weeks. Its ravages are 

 not confined to the plum, but extend to all the fruits. One of the 

 methods suggested, and perhaps the most effectual one, is to jar the 

 tree in the morning, and catch the insects on a sheet as they fall. 



The rose bug, (^Macrodactylus snbsp'mosa.') The beetle is 

 about a third of an inch in length, of a blackish color above and the 

 under side of the body white. They appear in June, sometimes 

 suddenly in great numbers. The females deposit their eggs in the 

 ground which hatch in about twenty days, and the ffnibs feed on 

 tender roots &c. The beetle commits depredations on all green plants. 

 The grub comes to maturity by autumn and remains dormant in the 

 ground during the wi.^ter, and emerges as a perfect insect or beetle 

 the next spring. They have enemies in the form of insectivorous 

 birds, fowls and the largj dragon fly. It is said the only reliable 

 method of getting rid of them is to crush, burn or scald them. 



The turnip beetle, {Al/ka ijemorum ) The beetle is about one 

 tenth of an inch long, sometimes called the turnip fly. It is shiny 

 black with two yellow strips on the back. It deposits its eggs on 

 the under side of the leaf where they hatch, pierce the skin and eat 

 the pulp until they are full grown, fall to the ground and become 

 pupte, then to the beetle. Some recommend that radishes be sown 

 with the turnips as they will eat t' 3 radish and leave the turnip. 

 Dusting the plants while the dew is on with soot, lime or ashes 

 sometimes check it. The great point is to give the plants a rapid 

 growth so that the insect will not have time to do them much injury. 



Hemiptera. 

 Gooseberry saw fly, or gooseberry worm, {Nematiis trimacuta- 

 ias.) The flies are about two thirds of an inch across the ex- 

 panded wings. They come from their winter retreats the last of 

 April, and the females soon deposit their eggs on the under side of 



