8 Farmers’ Bulletin 1270. 
The injury to the apple is chiefly confined to the egg punctures (fig. 7), 
made by the females in the spring, and the feeding punctures, made by both 
sexes in the spring and fall. The egg puncture (fig. 8) is made by the snout 
of the female and is very distinctive, consisting of a small cavity or hole in 
the flesh of the fruit just below the skin. The female then cuts with her 
snout a small crescent-shaped incision. just in front of the place where the 
egg was deposited. The feeding puncture is a small circular opening about 
the size of a pinhead, extending into the flesh of the apple for a distance of 
about one-sixteenth of an inch and is produced by the snout of the beetle 
in the course of its feeding. 
Fruit that is badly punctured early in the season is likely to drop and many 
of the larve that hatch therein develop to maturity, since the fallen fruits 
furnish conditions favorable to the growth of the grubs. The punctured fruit 
remaining on the tree is usually dwarfed and gnarly in appearance, but the 
curculio larvee seldom if ever develop to maturity in it. Late varieties of 
apples sometimes outgrow the egg punctures more or less, though many of 
them are conspicuous at harvest as irregular, yellowish brown. corky areas, 
often somewhat elevated above the surface of. the apple. The fall feeding 
puncture (fig. 9) of the ecurculio differs from the spring feeding puncture 
and is fairly characteristic... The beetles prefer the calyx or stem ends, 
where small holes are eaten through the skin, under which, with the hole as 
a center, the flesh is eaten out as far as the length of the beetle’s snout will 
permit. This results in a discolored ring of skin around the opening, which 
may later become enlarged into a shallow pit, as it becomes invaded with 
decay-producing organisms. These pits may be further excavated by the 
beetles, and the latter can often be found feeding or resting in them. The 
beetles also feed on the foliage in the spring and fall, eating out small. cir- 
cular holes. 
The plum curculio spends the winter in the adult or beetle stage, usually 
hibernating in protected places, as beneath trash in orchards or in near-by 
woods. The adult (fig. 10) is a small, brownish snout-beetle and varies some- 
what in length, averaging about one-fourth of an inch. Early in the spring 
the beetles emerge from their hibernating quarters, some of them reaching 
the apple trees before the blossoming period. As soon as the young fruit is 
set, the beetles attack it, as previously described. The curculio egg is elliptical 
in shape, whitish in color. with a smooth, shiny surface, and measures about 
ene-fortieth of an inch in length by one-sixtieth of an inch in width. A full- 
grown larva is about five-sixteenths of an inch in length, footless, yellowish 
white in color, with a brownish head. Upon completing its feeding period, 
the larva leaves the fruit and enters the soil, forming a pupal cell, in which 
it transforms successively to the pupa and adult stages. The pupa is whitish 
in color and about three-sixteenths of an inch in length. The adults emerge 
in 2 or 3 weeks, and in the far South some individuals deposit eggs giving rise 
to a second generation. The beetles feed upon the fruit and foliage until the 
approach of cold weather, when they seek hibernating quarters. 
The most practical means of control are spraying with arsenate of lead 
and the cleaning up of trash from the orchards and vicinity, as well as thorough 
cultivation during the summer. Destruction of trash removes favorable hiber- 
nating quarters, while cultivation at the proper time will kill the delicate 
pup within the soil. The prompt collection and destruction of the infested, 
fallen fruit will also aid in reducing this pest. The first spray application to 
poison the beetles should be applied in the pink cluster-bud stage, and the 
second as soon as the blossom petals have dropped, using arsenate of lead at the 
