thp: straw hkrrv weevil in Minnesota 117 



weeks of warm weather brought them out of their hil)eruating- 

 quarters. In 1916. the beetles were observed on the plants on May 

 5, but no buds were cut. 



From Emergence to Hibernation. 



Throughout the whole month, excepting a few days, a period 

 of cold, wet and rainy weather occurred, with two rather heavy 

 frosts, May 9 and ]\Iay 17, 1915. On the latter date, a heavy snow- 

 storm occurred, but the larvae in the buds were not killed. By 

 May 9, the weevils were fairly numerous on a two-year-old patch, 

 although none were found on the new patches. ( )n the same day 

 cut buds of a wild strawberry plant were found. (Jn May 12 buds 

 were found cut in some of the new patches, while a great many 

 were cut in the old single row. It appears that the weevils do most 

 of their work after Alay 12. By May 17 they were present in great 

 numbers and rapidly increased in the new^ patches. On June 2, 

 1*U5. the weevils were particularly abundant on a two-year-old 

 patch, while on June 7. 85 per cent of the buds were cut. On June 



19, 1916, 95 per cent of the buds in one patch were cut. Many buds 

 of the red raspberry were found to have been cut on June 7, 1915. 

 but blackberries near by were not harmed. On June 14 and June 



20, 1915, the weevils were still cutting buds, while on June 30, 1916 

 (about the middle of the picking- season), an egg was found. When 

 picking had just been completed, July 11, 1916. an examination of 

 the buds showed hfteen adults, nineteen pupae and five larvae. 

 About 50 per cent of the buds contained nothing, the weevil had 

 either emerged or been killed by parasites. Some weevils were yet 

 present in the fields on z\ugust 11 on both strawberry and rasp- 

 berry plants. No weevils could be found August 2?. 



Hibernation. 



Concerning hibernation, Sherman, of North Carolina, wrote in 

 1904 as follows: "As yet it is impossible to say definitely just how 

 and where the insect passes the winter. It seems certain that they 

 winter in the adult stage, and it also seems certain that they hiber- 

 nate around the edges of the field or in woods, but exactly where, 

 whether in stumps, rotten logs, under brush, rubbish, and leaves, or 

 under the surface of the ground, remains a question. Two whole 

 days of careful search on March 9 and 10, looking under ])ark, sift- 

 ing dirt, trash and pine straw, failed to throw any light on this 

 question." 



