THE PLUM CUKCULIO. 21 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE PLUM CUKCULIO. 



( Conotrachelus nenuphar. Herbst.) 



Order : Coleoptera. Family : Curculionidce. 



The Plum Curculio, wliicli belongs to the great family 

 of the so-called Weevils, amongst which is Leptops, that 

 well-known destroyer of apple and other trees in Victoria, 

 also many others too numerous to mention here. 



There is considerable doubt as to whether we have 

 this pest here or not, but years ago it will be remembered 

 that one of our best known pioneer amateurs, Mr. D. 

 Carson, of Kew, submitted specimens of an insect which 

 he found to be attacking his plums, and which if not 

 really identical with this species certainly resembles it in 

 its more important economy. In those days the study of 

 economic entomology in Australia was, for any practical 

 purposes, we may safely say little known or but imper- 

 fectly understood ; so we are in the dark as to the real 

 culprit then attacking the plums at Kew. As we may, 

 however, at no distant date have to deal with this much- 

 dreaded pest, and as we look to such a brilliant future for 

 the grower of fruits suitable for preserving and export, it 

 has been thought advisable to include in Part II. a 

 description of an insect which, in this age of fruit-tree 

 importation and rapid steam communication, may be with 

 us at any moment ; so that when we see it, should we be 

 so unfortunate as to unwittingly introduce it into Victoria, 

 we may be able at once to recognise it and to take the 

 necessary steps, which are here recommended by those 

 who have had to deal with it in America and elsewhere, 

 for its eradiction. 



The notes here given are taken from Mathew Cooke's 

 excellent work on insect pests already alluded to in Part I. 



