MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 343 



from assumption to theory ; from theory to advice, which — it 

 is unnecessary here to say — is of a most pernicious character. 



ITS TIME OP APPEARANCE. 



This beetle appears in the spring about the same time as the 

 Plum Curculio, but as no eggs are deposited after the stone of 

 the fruit becomes hard, and as its larva requires a longer 

 period to mature than that of the latter, its time of depositing 

 is shorter, and the old beetles generally die off and disappear 

 before the new ones eat their way out of the "fruit, which they 

 do during August, September, and October, according to the 

 latitude. 



ITS NATURAL HISTORY. 



Though we have no absolute proof of the fact, analogy 

 would lead us to believe, and in my own mind there is no 

 doubt, that this insect passes the winter in the beetle state, 

 and that it is, like the other species, single-brooded. Both 

 sexes bore cylindrical holes in the fruit for food, and these 

 holes are of the exact diameter of the snout, and consequently 

 somewhat larger than those of the Apple Curculio. These 

 holes are broadened at the bottom, or gouged out in the shape 

 of a gourd; and especially is this the case with those intended 

 by the female for the reception of an egg. The egg, in this 

 case also, enlarges from eudosmosis, and it is probable that all 

 weevils that make a puncture for the reception of their eggs, 

 gnaw and enlarge the bottom, not only to give the egg room 

 to swell, but to deaden the surrounding fruit, and prevent its 

 crushing such egg, — the same object being attained by the- 

 deadened flap made by the crescent of the little Turk 

 Wherever this insect abounds, plums will be found covered 

 with its holes, the great majority of them, however, made for 

 feeding purposes. The gum exudes from each puncture, and 

 the fruit either drops or becomes knotty and worthless. 



The young larva which hatches from the egg, instead of 

 rioting in the flesh of the plum, or remaining around the 



