186 CENtJINE SNOUT-BEETLEi^. 



fuller's rose-beetle. 

 { Arainiges FuUeri Horn). 



Some years ago this insect, (Fig. 194), became very injurious 

 in the east in some green-houses devoted to roses. It is an oval, 

 dark, smoky-brown snout-beetle, lightly covered with scales, with 

 a short and obtuse snout ; it is about one-fourth of an inch in 

 length. The eggs are laid in masses under any sort of shelter on 

 rose-bushes, and the white and grub-like larvae hatching from 

 them feed on the tender roots of roses, while the adults destroy 

 leaves, flowers and buds. The attacks of the larvae weaken the 

 plants, or kill them outright. 



Since the long-lived beetles hide during the day on the under- 

 side of the leaves they can be collected and destroyed ; the free use 

 of a tobacco extract on the ground will act both as a fertilizer and 

 as a destroyer of the subterranean grubs. The same beetle is 

 sometimes a pest in the orange groves of California, and is re- 

 placed by another similar one in those of Florida. 



A number of other similar beetles might be mentioned as 

 being sometimes injurious to our fruit-producing plants, but as 

 they are very uncommon in Minnesota, it is not necessary, as all 

 can be destroyed by the remedies already given. 



FAMILY CCRCULIONIDAE. 



( Genuine Snont-heeiles) . 



The family Curculiouidae is the most important of the fam- 

 ilies of snout-beetles, including more than one-half of all the in- 

 sects of this character found in the United States, and a large 

 number of them are most destructive insects. In this family 

 there is a strong fold on the lower side of each wing-cover near the 

 outer margin, which limits a deep groove into which the upper 

 edge of the abdomen fits ; the mandibles have no scar ; the antennae 

 are usually elbowed, and have a ringed or solid club ; the tarsi are 

 usually dilated, with the third segment bi-lobed and spongy be- 

 neath ; in a few cases the tarsi are narrow, but not spinose be- 

 neath. (Comstock). 



