296 



INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS OF CALIFORNIA. 



than the prothorax. There arc no wings present. The eggs are cylin- 

 drical or lozenge shaped, being somewhat curved in the middle and T V 

 inch long. They are shiny white and laid side by side in masses of 

 irregular rows, all being glued together. 



Life History. — Nothing is known of the life history except that 

 during May the adults sometimes appear in the orchards and eat the 

 foliage of fruit trees. 



Nature of Work. — The adults eat the edges of the leaves, making 

 I hem appear very ragged. 



Distribution. — The weevils have been collected in orchards of San 

 Luis Obispo County by C. L. Flint, in May, 1914, but are normally 

 found in the northern and central coast counties. 



Food Plants. — The almond is the only orchard tree so far recorded 

 as a host. The adults feed normally upon such native plants as live 

 oak and Ceanothus sp. 



Control. — The adults may be jarred from the trees and, as they are 

 wingless, their reascending may be prevented by bands of cotton or 

 tanglefoot around the trunks. 



THE WHITE BUD-WEEVIL 

 Eupayoderes mortivallis Fall (Family Qtiorhynchidae) 



(Fig. 291) 



Description.— Most of the weevils of this species are faint bluish- 

 white with fairly constant black markings as shown in Fig. 291. 



Some specimens, however, 

 are decidedly brown instead 

 of white. The abdomen is 

 very large and nearly hem- 

 ispherical in shape, while 

 the head and prothorax are 

 quite narrow. The snout is 

 wide and short. The an- 

 tenna 1 are scarely longer 

 than the snout and head to- 

 gether. The length varies 

 from J to f inch. 



Life History. — This weevil 

 is rather a rare species and 

 little is known concerning 

 its habits, except that it nor- 

 mally feeds upon sage brush, 

 hut has, during the past two 

 years appeared in great 

 numbers in April and May 

 and destroyed fruit buds 

 just as they were beginning 

 to open. 



Nature of Work.— The adults eat the entire fruit buds just as they 

 aie beginning to open in the spring of the year. 



Fig. 291. The 

 mortivallis Fall, 

 mens received fro 



while bud-weevil, Eupagoderes 

 Adults, enlarged twice. Speci- 

 n A. It. Baird, Inyo. < < (riginal I 



