REPORT OF THE E2sT0M0L0<JlfiT A^B BOTAMST 241 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



The remedies for this iii^ect aim at either fillin^r up the entrances to the holes iu 

 which the broods are being reared, so as to suffocate the Lirvae, or in applying some 

 liquid which will penetrate and destroy the fungous food or the larvae and mature beetles 

 while in the holes. For this purpose, kerosene oil and carbolic washes have been used 

 with success; crude petroleum could probably be used with even greater effect, as on 

 account of its extreme subtility it would penetrate the burrow^s more deeply than most 

 liquids, and also would act as a deterrent wash which would keep the mature beetles 

 away from the trees when seeking places to make their breeding burrows. 



The carbolic wash which has given good results in Nova Scotia is soft soap, 1 

 gallon, water 3 gallons, crude carbolic acid J pint; the trees to be washed two or three 

 times when the beetles are known to be prevalent. A difficulty with this insect will be 

 found in the intermittent nature of its occurrence. Ao it is pretty sure to be present 

 in soniiC numbers in the same orchards where it was troublesome last spring, it will bo 

 wise for the owners to spray or wash their trees with a deterrent wash next season. 

 Trees noticed to be badly infested at the time of winter pruning should be cut out and 

 burnt before the beetles appear in spring, imless considered to be of special value, when 

 they may be treated. 



The Black Vine AYeevil (Otiorhynclius sulcatus. Fab.). — This weevil seems to 

 have become a' regularly occurring pest in gardens around Victoria and some other 

 places on Vancouver Island, and also near New Westminister and Vancouver on tho 

 mainland. It is a black snout-beetle, three-tenths of an inch in length, of a dull black, 

 the wing cases being deeply grooved and spotted with fine white points. The grubs are 

 yellowish white, with dark heads, and have the body somewhat curved; they feed on 

 the roots of several kinds of plants. These beetles have no true wings and the two 

 wing-covers are connate or joined together in the middle, so their only means of 

 spreading from place to place is by crawling. The beetle occurs near the coast on both 

 sides of the continent and is sometimes a destructive pest in strawberry beds in Nova 

 Scotia and British Columbia. The plants which have been reported to me as injure! 

 by the Black Vine Weevil in Canada do not include the grape vine; the name Black 

 Vine Weevil is taken from European publications, where it is the recognized popular 

 name, and will answer here until a better is suggested. The grubs probably do more 

 hai-m than the adult weevils and have been found attacking the roots of Cyclamens 

 anil other plants in greenhouses, particularly Gloxinias, Primulas and Maiden-hair 

 ferns. The most important injury so far recorded against this weevil is of its attacks 

 upon strawberry beds. Mr. J. R. Anderson, reporting on the insects of the season, says 

 * the Black Vine Weevil did a considerable amount of injury to strawberry beds. This 

 was principally on the lower Fraser. It also attacked the roots of Primroses in some 

 localities.' 



'New Westminster, B.C., May 30. — The Strawberry Weevil {OtiorhijncTius sul- 

 catus) is very bad in several places this spring, and I find that in every case where 

 straw-berries are infested, they have been planted on land where the sod had been 

 turned in previously, and that in neighbouring patches where no sod had been turned 

 in they are comparatively few.' — W. D. Dasiiwood-Jones. 



' Victoria, B.C., May 30. — I send you specimens of larvae and pupae of an insect 

 which is in large numbers in a strawberry bed at Esqulmalt, near here. I take these to be 

 Otiorhynclius sulcatus; am I right ? There are many complaints of injury to straw- 

 berry plants this spring from this or a similar pest, chiefly along the Fraser at Ham- 

 mond, Haney and Mission, but also in the Victoria district.' 



' June 13. — I will send you further specimens of 0. sulcatus from Mr. Fleming's 

 garden near Victoria, and I will also try and get you other specimens from the lower 

 mainland, where by the bye, I am told by Mr. Cunningham that there are two dis- 

 tinct species of weevils infesting strawberry plantations.' 



' June 20. — I send you a box containing specimens of weevils, principally in the 

 pupal form, but also including some beetles which were taken from strawberry fields 



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