112 INJURIOl^S INSECTS OF 1904. 



Of course, if these "stings" are made when the fruit is well along in 

 its growth, and the egg does not hatch, or if the puncture made at that 

 time is just for feeding purposes, it does not spoil the apple, though 

 the fruit, which would show the scar, could not then be classed as first 

 grade, and if, for any reason, when the apple is small, the female does 

 not lay an egg in the puncture, or if the egg fails to hatch, the young 

 apple will probably outgrow the injury. These "stings," however, 

 and a glance at the accompanying picture shows that there may be 

 many, form starting places for decay and allow fungoid diseases, which 

 would not otherwise, perhaps, gain an entrance to the interior, to 

 enter the fruit and play such havoc that the apple is made compara- 

 tively valueless. It is said that it takes from five to seven days for the 

 egg to hatch, and that the larva or grub lives in the apple from eighteen 

 to twenty-one days. It is further claimed that if the apple does not 

 fall to the ground zvhen the contained larva is half grozvn, the de- 

 velopment of said larva stops and it dies (Stedman). 



The adult beetles have wings by means of which they fly, some- 

 times for long distances, in search of suitable places in which to 

 pass the winter. It may be said, however, that they hibernate, for the 

 m^ost part, under the fruit trees, particularly if there is rubbish there, 

 or if the ground is in sod which is not disturbed. 



Now, in the orchard to which I referred at the beginning of this 

 article, where practically all of the fruit was destroyed, ideal 

 conditions appear to exist for the encouragement of this evil ; an old 

 orchard, sprayed only one year, 1902, sod growing undisturbed for 

 several years beneath the trees, no stock of any kind allowed to run 

 in the orchard, and numerous plum trees in close proximity. This 

 is one of the oldest orchards in Southern Minnesota. 



I have given the habits and life history of this pest in some detail, 

 for you all know the necessity of knowledge upon these points in 

 order to combat any pest successfully. 



From the foregoing facts certain measures of relief appeal to us 

 as practical, for instance, spraying frequently in the early spring and 

 summer, jarring the trees in the cool of the early morning and catch- 

 ing the beetles on sheets below. One enterprising apple grower, 

 however, makes the statement that he gets more Curculios by jarring 

 between six and seven o'clock in the evening than at any other time. 

 He uses a cheap spread, about 15 feet square, attached to poles along 



