316 



INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS OP CALIFORNIA. 



THE ROSE SNOUT-BEETLE 



Rhynchitea bicolor Fabricius (Family Ehynchitid®) 



i Pigs. 311, 312) 



Description. — The beetles or weevils are bright red with the head, 

 ventral surface, snout and Legs black. The snout is one third as long 



as the body. The females 

 average about } inch in 

 length, while the males are 

 considerably smaller. The 

 eggs are light yellowish- 

 white, oval, slightly larger 

 at one end and 1-20 inch 

 bum. The grubs are white 

 and legless. 



Life History. — The win- 

 ter is passed in the pupal 

 stage in the soil, and the 

 adults appear in April and 

 .May an 1 at once begin to 

 injure the rcses, by pune- 



Fig. 311.— Rose buds showing the work and 

 adults of the rose snout-beetle, Rhynchitea bicolor 

 Fab. Natural size. (Original) 



turing the young buds with their long 

 snouts. So many punctures may be 

 made in a single bud as to prevent its 

 opening, or to entirely spoil the flower if 

 blooming is accomplished. They also 

 make holes in the seed capsules and the 

 tender fleshy stems, into which the eggs 

 arc inserted. Occasionally an egg is 

 deposited in the flower, near the base of 

 the petals. The grubs hatch in a very 

 short time and feed within the seed cap- 

 sule until fully developed, when, accord- 

 in- to II. II. Knighl of Cornell Univer- 

 sity, they leave the seed capsules and enter the -round foi 

 ■•'iid hibernation. There is but one brood a year. 



Nature of Work. The punctures made by the beetles in the spring 

 are well illustrated in pig. 311. j n 111;inv ( .. ls ,, s th( , 1)11(]s m . e ki]] ^, 



Pig. 312.— Egg of the rose snout- 

 beetle, Rhynchitea bicolor Fab., in 

 natural position at base of the petals 

 after the sepals had been removed. 

 Enlarged twice. (Original) 



pupation 



