88 INSECTS AFFECTING THE STRAWBERRY. 



The larva (Fig. 36, a) is a whitish, footless, yellow- 

 headed grub, about one-fifth of an inch long, that 

 lives in the crowns of strawberry plants, frequently 

 hollowing them out so much that the vines are 

 weakened or destroyed. The adult insect is a small, 



dark-colo red, 



snout-beetle, 



about a fifth of an 



'j |JJ2=| 1/ wl 1 fiff j |n inch long, and of 



the form repre- 

 sented at Fig. 36, 

 b, c. It is unable 



Fig. 36. Strawberry Crown-borer : a, larva ; „ , r 



b, beetle, side-view ; e, beetle, back view. to fly, because Ot 



the rudimentary condition of its membranous wings. 

 According to Professor Forbes " the eggs are laid on 

 the crown in spring, being pushed down among the 

 bases of the leaves. The larvae penetrate the crowns 

 soon after hatching, and excavate the interior all 

 summer, until they get their growth. A single larva 

 does not wholly destroy a plant, as it matures about 

 the time a quarter or a third of the substance of the 

 crown is devoured. Frequently two or three or 

 more beetles will attack a single stool, and they then 

 leave behind them only a hollow shell to which the 

 roots are attached. Still in its subterranean cavity 

 the worm transforms to a pupa, and in the same safe 

 retreat effects also the final change to the mature 

 beetle, this last transformation occurring all the way 

 along from August to October, during a period of 

 about two mouths. The beetles all escape from the 



