The Sloe-Weevil 



is absolutely disdained. Therefore the 

 pregnant mother, thoroughly versed in her 

 household affairs, refuses for (her family 

 any stone fruit other than the sloe. 



Let us watch her at work. During the 

 first fortnight of June, the egg-laying is in 

 full swing. At this period the sloes begin 

 to assume a purple hue. They are hard, 

 about as large as a pea, which is not far 

 from their final size. The stone is woody 

 and resists the knife; the kernel has acquired 

 consistency. 



The fruits attacked show two kinds of 

 pit, turned brown by the decayed tissues. 

 Some, the more numerous, are shallow 

 funnels nearly always filled up with a drop 

 of hardened gum. At these points the insect 

 has simply made a meal and has not gone 

 deeper than about half the thickness of the 

 pulpy layer. Later, the exudations from the 

 wound have filled the cavity with a gummy 

 plug. 



The other cavities, which are wider and 

 form irregular polygons, penetrate to the 

 stone. The opening measures nearly four 

 millimetres^; and the walls, instead of slant- 



1 .156 inch. — Translator's Note. 

 209 



