CHAPTER VII 



PLUM INSECTS 



Plums and prunes are subject to attack by the same set of 

 insects. The most troublesome enemies of these fruits are the 

 plum curculio, the San Jose scale (p. 162) and the European 

 fruit lecanium. The curculio is primarily an enemy of stone 

 fruits, but also attacks the apple, pear and quince. The fruit 

 lecanium, while a very general feeder, seems to be most destruc- 

 tive to the plum. With the possible exception of curculio injury 

 in some locations, it is not difficult to effectively protect a plum 

 crop from insect attack by following a proper system of spray- 

 ing. 



The Plum Curculio 

 Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst 



This native American snout-beetle or weevil whose original 

 food was the fruit of the wild plum and hawthorn is generally 

 distributed over the Eastern states and Canada, east of the 

 Rocky Mountains, and is a serious pest east of the 100th me- 

 ridian and occurs southward to Texas and Florida. It attacks 

 plums, prunes, cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots among 

 stone fruits, and is also a serious enemy of apples and will at- 

 tack pears and quinces. We have also reared it from goose- 

 berries in New York. 



It is by far the most destructive insect with which the grower 

 of stone fruits has to contend, particularly in the South, where it 

 is especially injurious to peaches, often destroying the entire 

 crop in unprotected orchards. Quaintance estimates the 



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