The Plum and Apple Curculio. 



255 



where they form a rounded burrow and pupate therein. In about four 

 weeks the adult beetles emerge and immediately fly to the fruit, 

 continuing to feed thereon as long as there is any upon the trees and 

 doing much harm. These feeding punctures or "stings" are also made 

 by the old beetles during the spring and summer along with the- 

 egg punctures, and are large, cylindrical holes surrounded by a ring 

 of discolored skin, which leaves permanent blemishes upon the fruit.- 

 As " winter approaches the adult curculios of the new generation 

 seek hibernating quarters, where they remain until the following 

 spring. The entire period from the egg to the adult of this curculio 

 covers about seven weeks. 



LIFE HISTORY OP THE APPLE CURCULIO. 



Like the plum curculio this species hibernates in protected nooka 

 as adult beetles and appears upon the trees in the spring at about the 

 same time, i. e., the middle of May. Mating takes place and ovipositiou 

 immediately begins, the process being essentially similar to that 

 of the preceding species except that no crescent-shaped cut is made> 

 but the egg cavity is larger and deeper with a bulb-shaped bottom, 

 and the egg is sealed therein by a deposit of excrement over the 

 opening. The apple curculio consumes much more time in the operation 



Punctures by Apple and Plum Curculios. 



of oviposition than does the plum curculio, requiring about an hour 

 and a half while the plum curculio completes the process in fifteen or 

 twenty minutes. This work of egg laying continues through June and 

 July, and each female deposits about fifty to one hundred eggs 

 during this period. The eggs are oval, whitish, one-twenty-fifth of 



