96 THE PLUM CURCULIO. 
Considering the proportion of sexes of those reared, there are found, 
of the total 681, 306 males and 375 females, a percentage of females 
of 55. 
Of those jarred from the trees and which had thus passed the winter, 
there is a total of 1,180, of which 688 are females and 492 males, a 
percentage of females of 58.3, showing a slight increase in mortality 
during winter of males over females. 
CHOICE OF FOOD BY CURCULIO. 
Practically all writers agree that plums are the preferred food of 
the curculio. Under orchard conditions, where several fruits are 
present, as apple, plum, peach, etc., taking the season as a whole, 
the plum is perhaps somewhat more injured than the others. Varie- 
ties of plums, especially Japanese sorts, are early to develop fruit, 
and consequently are first attacked by the beetles, and on these 
they seem for a while to concentrate. With the development of 
peaches, apples, and pears, these are also attacked for feeding and 
ege-laying purposes. In general, however, it is undoubtedly true 
that plums are the favorite food of the curculio, and are also pre- 
ferred for oviposition places. 
Attempts have been made to obtain data on the fruits preferred 
by the insect by supplying beetles with various fruits at the same 
time. 
Tests were made by Mr. Girault, May 17, 1905, in which 5 fruits 
each of plum, peach, quince, and pear were placed in jars and each 
supplied with 10 curculios. Upon examination, May 20, 72 hours 
later, results were as follows: On plum, the egg and feeding punc- 
tures were so abundant as practically to cover the whole surface of 
the fruit; on peach there were numerous punctures, but they were 
less abundant than on plum; on pear there were no punctures on 
fruit, but a few were on the fruit stems; on quince no punctures were 
seen on fruit, but a few were on fruit stems. Expressed in percent- 
ages of injury, plum would be 100, peach 50, pear 10, and quince 10. 
Mr. J. H. Beattie placed 100 beetles in a jar containing foliage of 
peach, plum, pear, and quince. Two days later peach leaves had 
been riddled by feeding; plum leaves were moderately eaten; the 
quince showed a few feeding marks, while the pear foliage had not 
been touched. 
June 7, 1906, 12 beetles were confined with two large Elberta 
peaches and five wild plums. After 12 hours, punctures were noted 
as follows: On plum, egg punctures 37, feeding punctures 30; on 
peach, no feeding or egg punctures found. 
April 23, 1906, 15 curculios were confined under a jar with three 
fruits each of apple, peach, wild plum, pear, and cherry. The results 
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