THE STRAWI'.l'RRV W l-:i:\- 1 1. IN MINNESOTA 119 



or covered by dirt duriny cultivation, or migrated upon heing 

 disturl)ed, is unknown. ( )n X()\em1)er 1, 1*)16, fifty wee\ils were 

 found on the ground among the dead leaves in about fortv-h\e 

 minutes, in another two-year-old patch that had not been renewed 

 or burned o^•er. In an adjoining ])atch from wdiich (jne picking 

 had been made and which had ])een burned o\er, onlv nne \\ee\il 

 was found in half an hour. 



Another fact which would tend to confirm the fact that the 

 weevils do not hil)ernate in the woods in Afiniiesota is that in May, 

 l'U6, the wee\ils could readily be found in the old i)atches and 

 feeding on the leaves, while in the new tields even though the^■ 

 adjoined a woodh^t, careful search failed to reveal their ])resence. 

 The plants were eciually mature in both helds, so that it is difficult 

 to tell why they should not be present in equal numbers if they 

 migrate from the woods in the spring. 



That the weevils can })ass the winter successfulh- in the straw- 

 berr}- i)atch was proved experimentally. Dtiring the summer of 

 I'JIS a wire cage about five feet long and three feet wide was 

 placed in the field over strawberry plants among wdiich several 

 buds containing larvae were scattered. ( )n May 20. 1916, the cage 

 was removed, and the btids were found cut in much larger numbers 

 under the cage than on the surrounding plants. The beetles, then, 

 had no chance to migrate to the woods and none could come under 

 the cage in spring, yet they passed the winter successfullv even 

 though no mulch was applied over the plants under the cage. The 

 weevils, at least in Minnesota, hibernate within the strawberry fields 

 and not in the woods, as was thought ; although it is possible that 

 a few might happen to migrate to the woods. 



EXTENT OF INFESTATION. 



After careful observation in many of the fields, it was fomid 

 that the older the beds the more heavily infested they were. Plants 

 are not usually attacked the first season, although some l)uds were 

 fountl cut on May 30 in a newdy-planted patch adjacent to an old 

 infested one. It api)ears, therefore, that the weevils spread during 

 the oviposition period. On a patch uncovered early and in full 

 bloom by May 5, no weevils were found because it was set otit 

 the ])revious year. 



A new^ patch of i)lants surrounded l)y grass land \vas found 

 to be in almost perfect condition, only one or two buds being 

 cut. In another field, on June 7, about 60 per cent of the buds were 

 cut in a two-year-old patch, wdiile on a new patch separated from 



