114 Till': STRAW I'.i'-.um- w la'Aii. i .\ m i x.xi'.sota 



tlu-n runs lu-rxoiisK- l);ick and turtli nxcr the 1)U(1 lumtinL; ihv link' 

 with her antennae, and if successful thrusts her beak into the punc- 

 ture f(ir a few niintttes to make ^ure of the ri^ht place. The beak 

 is then renioxed and oviposition is aL;ain attempteiL This process 

 UKU' be repeated sexeral times. 



The severing of the bud. — C'rawliuL; down to the l)ase of tlie 

 l)ud, she l)eg"ins to se\er it from the stem, al)out ',(•, of an inch from 

 the I)ase of tlie bud, althoui^h stems hax'e l)een found ctit at \-arious 

 distances, u]) to one inch, from the Inid. The usual position assumed 

 is with the hind lei^s resting' against tlie base of the btid ( h'ig. 1. 

 PI. 11), while the middle and front legs rest on the stem. As the 

 beak sinks into the pedicel, the forelegs are spreatl until they nearl\ 

 clasj) the stem, wdiich is cut straight across or more often obli(|uely 

 (Fig. 2. IM. 2). luiough of the stem is cut so that the circulation 

 is cut off and the How of sap arrested, the cut end turning Idack alter 

 a short time. Within a few daxs the ])ud droops, discolors, and 

 finalh' falls to the ground. 



Time required for oviposition. — The time for making the egg- 

 Uning ])uncttires xaried from se\en to twelve minutes, w itii an 

 average of about ten minutes. The time re(|uired to la}' the egg 

 \aried from thirt\- seconds to two minutes, while the cutting of the 

 stem ^•arie(l from ten to fortv-hve minutes, according to its thickness. 

 In one case the \vee\il started the cutting so ol)lir|uel}- that the cut 

 ran into the bud proper and could not l)e completed. .\t the time, 

 a male was sitting on her ])ack and perha])s distracted her. .\ fair 

 average, then, for complete o\iposition, from the tinie the temale 

 begins to hunt for a situable ]>lace to oviposit until the ])ud is cut, 

 ai)])ears to ])e al)out thirt}'-tw'o minutes. Mr. Theobald reports that 

 in case of the ai)ple blossom weexil, oxiposition takes aliout three- 

 fourths of an hour, so that in hue weather, when the bhtssom buds 

 expand ra])i(ll\', a single feniale cannot la\ \ er\- niany eggs. The 

 weexil i^ more injurious in h'ngland in cold and unfa\-oral)le 

 weather because the opening of the ])uds is retarded. The same 

 fact ai)])ears to be true of the strawberry weevil, as i^: is similar in 

 lial)its. llowe\er, the wee\il is most actixe in warm, sunny 

 weather. The (piestion remains, therefore, whether the weevil is 

 actualh' more injurious in the short si)ace of time, when the buds 

 expand rapidlx', or in the longer i)eriod of cool weather which 

 retards the opening of the ])U(ls and the acti\it\- of the weex'il. 



Flight — Playing possum. — \\ hen disturbed, the weexil raises 

 its antennae and stands still. If further disturl)ed, it dro])S to the 

 ground and curls itself up. l'l)on Iteing still further disturbed, it 



