25 2 Nebraska State Horticultural Society. 



THE PLUM AND APPLE CURCULIOS. 

 (Conotracheliis nenuphar Herbst and Anthononms quadrigibbus Say.) 



By Myron H. Swenk. 



About fifteen years ago these two curculios appeared In the 

 orchards of southeastern Nebraska in injurious numbers and have 

 continued their depredations from year to year ever since, the damage 

 varying according to locality and season from a mere trace of "stung"" 

 fruit to a complete loss of the crop. During the last few years both 

 species have been apparently on the increase, and it was deemed 

 advisable to carefully look into the matter. Accordingly, at Professor 

 Bruner's request, the writer spent some little time from early May, 

 1905, through the summer investigating the problem, and a condensed 

 report upon the conditions as found is herewith presented.* As a pre- 

 liminary source of investigation, a circular was sent to the leading: 

 horticulturalists of the state inquiring as to the presence and compara- 

 tive abundance of these insects, the damage perpetrated and the 

 remedies used in combating them. Very few replies were received 

 to this circular, but yet enough to clearly indicate that the curculios 

 were responsible for considerable damage to the apples and plums ia 

 1904 and 1905, varying from 10 per cent to 100 per cent of the crop 

 in different orchards, that the horticulturalists were very undecided: 

 as to which one v>as the chief depredator, and that they were also- 

 quite at sea as to what methods should be employed to reduce the 

 injur}-. The answers proved valuable, however, in helping to de- 

 termine the region in which the curculios have done most damage- 

 during the last' two years: a region approximately embracing the- 

 territory south of the Platte river and east of the ninety-seventh; 



*Those who would care for a more detailed knowledge of these in- 

 sects are referred to a very excellent and complete account recently 

 published as Bulletin No. 98 of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion, entitled "The Curculio and the Apple," by C. S. Crandall. The 

 writer has drawn largely upon this work for some of the data presented 

 in this paper. 



