INJURIOUS INSECTS OF 1904. Ill 



through the latter part of May and June, and later, as though she were 

 conscious that she had to do all she could before dying in the late 

 summer or autumn. Now, insects must eat, as we all know to our 

 cost, and while she is egg-laying she, as well as the male, feeds upon 

 tender leaf buds and leaves, and upon the fruit also. Before the fruit 

 is large enough to tempt her to lay, in fact before it has formed, and 

 probably before she has mated, she varies her diet of leaf buds by con- 

 suming the petals of the flowers as well. For obvious reasons we 

 cannot spray when the tree is in bloom. This eating of leaves and 

 leaf buds is a significant fact and a habit on the part of the insect 

 which should be taken advantage of by fruit raisers. The method of 

 egg-laying by the Plum Curculio, shared to a certain extent by other 



Fig. 120. — Minnesota Apples destroyed by the Plum Curculio. Original. 



members of the weevil family, is curious enough. She first punctures 

 and eats a small hole into the pulp of the fruit. She then turns about 

 and lays one oval, whitish egg in this hole. Her next move is to 

 make a crescentic cut on one side of the egg puncture, eating the tis- 

 sue until she gets partly around and below the egg. This is the 

 usual method followed, though it may vary in minute detail. Evi- 

 dently this crescent, which practically undermines the egg, is made 

 so that the tender egg may not be crushed by the growing pulp of the 

 apple or plum. 



