196 



COLEOPTERA —BEETLES 



Plum Curculio {Conotrachehis nenuphar, Herbst.)- — This 

 pest is still one of the main difficulties in the way of raising 

 good crops of plums, but it may be considered at least pos- 

 sible, by proper care, to secure good crops of perfect fruit. 

 The beetles hibernate and appear on the trees shortly after 

 bloom, feeding to some extent on the leaves and young 

 fruit, and then laying their eggs in the young plums, the 

 punctures indicating point of deposition being marked with 

 a crescent-shaped cut. The larvje burrow through the pulp 



Fig. 143. — The larger chestnut weevil (Balaninns jyroboscidcus) : a, 

 female beetle; b, same in outline from side; c, head, rostrum, and antennae 

 of male. Three times natural size. (Chittenden, Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. 

 Ag.) 



of the plum, not entering the stone. The infested fruit 

 ripens prematurely and falls from the tree, and the larvae 

 for the most part lea\e the plums and pupate under ground. 

 The adult beetles appear in late summer or early autumn 

 and live over till the following spring. 



The beetles drop readily when disturbed, and the well- 

 known plan of jarring trees daily during the time of egg 

 deposition in the morning and gathering the beetles on can- 

 vas spread under the trees is a valuable means of preventing 



