280 Agricultural Gazette of S.S.W. [April 3, 1920. 



Notes on the Dicky Rice Weevil 



{Prosayleus phytohjmns Ollitt"). 



L. (tALLARD, Fruit Inspector. 



Dicky Kice Weevil {Prosaylens 'phytolymus) has been a serious pest in our 

 orchards and nurseries for the last fifteen years, but so far it has baffled 

 all attem])ts to find its larvae. As the weevil, although only about one-twelfth 

 the size, is very luuch like Leptops hopei in form and habits (see " Notes 

 on the Apple Root Weevil," by W. W. Froggatt, F.L.S., in the January 

 Gazette), the idea occurred to me that probably the larvae would also be 

 similar. On 30th October, 1919, Mr. F. Spurway, of Ermington, gave me 

 permission to search for larvae in an old discarded bed in his nursery. I 

 tried digging round the young trees and examining the soil carefully, but 

 failed to find any larvae. However, I collected a number of adult weevils 

 and took them home. These I put away in a tube in which I had placed 

 some soil, to try and get them to lay eggs, with the hope of securing the 

 larvae in that way. After about four days they laid quite a number of eggs 

 on the side of the tube under the soil. The eggs were cylindrical and 

 slightly oval in shape, and of a darkish-amber colour. They were so small 

 that it was almost impossible to discern them with the naked eye in the 

 free soil, but as most of them were laid on the side of the tube, they 

 adhered to the glass, arid it was possible to detect them easily. On 

 1st December two young larvae could be seen crawling about the tube. 

 They were small, white, hairy, legless grubs about 1 mm. in length. 

 Although void of legs they could move along freely by means of their 

 mouths and muscular contractions, aided by a sucker-like anal appendage. 

 After they had grown a little I compared them with a full-fed larva which I 

 had found at the same place in September, 1919, and which I thought at that 

 time was a dicky rice. This had a row of reddish bristles, forming a round 

 crown, on the dorsal surface of the anal segment, which proved a very marked 

 characteristic. When very small I could not notice this on the larvae hatched 

 from the eggs, but as they grew it became apparent, under the microscope, 

 that some of the hairs were turned backward on that particular segment. 



On 9th December I collected over 100 adult weevils off some young 

 trees ; they were at that time eating the leaves vigorously and pairing freely. 

 These yielded another lot of eggs from which more larvae were bred. 



On 14th December I took more larvae out of the original tube. These were 

 larger, and the hairy crown on the anal segment referred to above could be 

 more easily observed. 



On 2nd January, 1920, I decided to try the soil again for larvae and to go 

 deeper for them. I dug up some stocks, and then dug down immediately 



