StiiiiDiO' Meeting. 



67 



ai*c made (.11 Xu. i appks, it is very easy to understand the serious situa- 

 tion caused by this pest. Several orchardists claim that this insect has 

 caused them more trouble than that of all other insects and fungous 

 diseases combined, not excepting the bitter rot. 



The so-called "sting" in the apple is caused by the beetle eating 

 holes through the skin for purposes of feeding or for purposes of laying 

 eggs. The long beak on which the mouth parts are situated is shown 

 in Fig. I, which is a photograph of an adult plum curculio magnified 

 five diameters. The beetles begin to cause the "sting" on the apples 

 about the middle of ^day, while the apples are about the size of large 

 cherries, and by the first of June begin to attract attention by the many 

 punctures or "stings" they now make. The male beetles make only feed- 

 ing punctures in the apples, while the female beetles make both feeding 

 punctures and egg punctures. From my observations, I estimate that 

 during May the females make from four to five times as many feeding 

 punctures as egg punctures, and that as a result of the work of both males 

 and females, we find about twelve times as many feeding punctures as 

 tgg punctures on the apple. In all cases these punctures, whether for 

 feeding or for the depositing of eggs, are known as "stings" among 

 horticulturists. During June the females make almost as many egg 

 punctures as feeding punctures. 



In making a feeding puncture the beetle eats a small hole through 

 the skin by means of its mandibles or jaws, this hole being about one- 

 tenth of an inch in diameter. It then eats the pulp about one-tenth of 



Fig. 1. 

 an inch in depth, thus leaving a small cylindrical hole in the apple. Dur- 

 ing July and August the beetles also have a habit of eating the pulp 

 back under the skin as far as they can reach around the hole. These 

 feeding holes then become very conspicuous, since the undermined skin 

 withers, shrinks and turns dark, and the apple usually commences to 

 rot at this place, thus absolutely ruining the apple for storage purposes. 

 In making the punctures for the purpose of depositing eggs the 

 female also eats the tissues of the apple and this is probably the reason 



