246 



FRUIT INSECTS 



underneath the egg cavity so jis to leave the egg in a flap of 

 the flesh (Fig. 220). Each femah^ may hiy from 100 to over 



500 eggs, and the egg-laying 

 pcTiod may extend over nearly 

 the whoh^ season, although the 

 great majority are laid during 

 the first month after the fruit 

 sets. Fruit marked by these 

 characteristic egg punctures is 

 shown in Figures 221 and 222. 

 The eggs hatch in 3 to 7 days, 

 and the white or yellowish grub 

 burrows through the flesh, and 

 in the case of stone fruits comes 

 to lie next the pit. Infested 

 fruits, most varieties of cher- 

 usually fall to 

 the ground before the grubs 

 matur(\ In the case of apples many of the young grubs are 

 killed in their burrows by th(^ i)ressure of the growing fruit cells, 

 for the stopping of 



growth seems to be ***^^ 



necessary for their 

 proper develop- 

 ment. 



WIkmi full-grown, 

 which requires al)()ut 

 twenty days fi-om 

 the time th(^ egg is 

 laid, the larvn, leavers 

 the fruit and l)ur- 

 rows a short dis- 

 tance, not over an inch or (wo, into the ground, and there con- 

 structs an earthen cell within which it transforms to a pupa. 



Fig. 222. — Plum curculio egg-cres- Yies excepted 

 cents in young apples. 



Fit;. 223. — Feeding punctures of the plum cur- 

 culio in i)lums made in August. 



