THE COLEOPTERA 



143 



they feed on the bark and soon cut tiny holes in it, placing their eggs in the holes. 

 The borers which hatch from these eggs tunnel downward through the leader 

 (Fig. 137) and by August have finished feeding and pupate in the tunnels. After 

 transformation to the beetle has been completed, these escape to the outside by 

 making round holes through the stems they are in. Later they hibernate for the 

 winter. 



The adult beetle is about a quarter of an inch long, reddish-brown or some- 

 what darker, with a white spot on each elytron not far from its outer end, which 

 when the elytra are at rest brings these spots 

 not far from the end of the body. There 

 are also several irregular areas on the eFytra 

 somewhat lighter than the ground color. 



Control. — Spraying the leaders before the 

 beetles gather on them in the spring, with 

 arsenate of lead, using one pound more than 

 the standard formula for the paste, is one 

 method of control. Collecting the beetles 

 after they have begun to gather on the 

 leaders is also practiced, jarring them off into 



Fig. 136. Fig. 137. 



Fig. 136. — Adult White Pine Weevil {Pissodes strohi Peck), enlarged nearly three 

 times. {After Felt: N. Y. State Mus. Mem. 8.) 



Fig. 137. — Work of White Pine Weevil in terminal twigs of pine. {After Felt: N. Y. 

 State Miis. Mem. 8.) 



a net held beneath, as they generally drop instead of flying when disturbed 

 then. This treatment should be repeated several times at 4 or 5-day intervals. 

 It can hardly be done except on small trees. 



The injury caused by these insects aside from their feeding, is the kiUing of the 

 leader which stunts the growth of the tree. Usually a side branch grows up to 

 replace the lost leader and makes the tree deformed, or when two do this, a fork 

 is produced. In either case the value of the tree either for timber or as an orna- 

 ment is largely lost. The work of the weevil is most serious and also most 

 frequent on young trees, making its injuries more serious on this account. 



The Alfalfa Weevil {Phytonomus postic^is Gyll.). — This European insect was 

 discovered in this country about 1904 and is now found in parts of Utah, Idaho 

 and Wyoming, and is gradually spreading. The adult (Fig. 138) is a snout 

 beetle only about three-sixteenths of an inch long, brown when fresh but almost 



