82 ORCHARD AND HOPS. 



taken that the " pointing " of the wall, whether it is of brick or stone, 

 is in good order. Crevices where mortar has fallen out of old garden 

 walls often swarm with Otiorhynchus beetles ; and with regard to the 

 Pear tree above noticed, as it is mentioned that is a " brick ^flft/e" 

 against which it grows, very probably there may be pointing or 

 plastering needed beneath the tiles, or between the tiles and the top 

 of the wall, to prevent the weevils having the convenience of a shelter 

 for the daylight hours at hand. 



Where attack on wall trees has to be guarded against, the state of 

 the ground at the foot of the wall requires examination, both as to it 

 being a possible day shelter for the beetles during the time of their 

 attack, and likewise a nursery-ground for the maggots during the 

 winter.* 



Oblong Leaf Weevil ; Downy Brown Leaf Weevil. 

 Phyllobius oblongus, Linn. : P. [Nemoicus] oblongus, Stephens. 



Phyllobius oblongus, magnified and natural size. 



The Brown Leaf Weevil, figured above, is only about the sixth 

 of an inch or a little more in length, and somewhat elongate or 

 parallel- sided in shape. The head and thorax are usually black; the 

 wing-cases variable in colour, pale dull red or brown, with the 

 margins often black, or sometimes they may be entirely pale, — my 

 own specimens, from Kent, have been with reddish wing-cases and 

 black borders, also I have them with reddish brown, and yellower 

 brown elytra, without borders ; the head, thorax, and wing-cases are 

 covered more or less with a rather long grey pubescence. The antennae 



* The attack of 0. picipes is entered on at length in my ' Handbook of Insects 

 Injurious to Orchard and Bush Fruits,' pp. 210-216, relatively to its harmfulness 

 as a fruit pest ; but it is referred to again above consequently on its being noted as 

 a troublesome Hop pest. 



