INSECT AND FUNGOUS ENEMIES OF THE APPLE. 13 
spreading from and enlarging the cavity, as shown in the figure, and 
soon rendering the fruit worthless, except for immediate use. Fruit 
thus punctured in the fall will not, as a rule, keep well in storage 
and should not, of course, be included in the best grades. 
Although the curculio larva is able to develop on the trees in 
peaches, plums, and cherries, it does not appear to be able to do so in 
apples and pears. The larve, however, develop perfectly in apples 
which fall to the ground, and orchards are thus kept well stocked 
with the insect. 
PERIOD OF OVIPOSITION AND NUMBER OF EGGS LAID. 
The adult beetles are out and ovipositing on plums and other early 
fruit before apples, as a rule, are of sufficient size to be used. As 
soon as the apple is grown to the size of a small marble, however, it 
is attacked by the curculio for egg-laying purposes, and most of the 
eggs are deposited during the first six or eight weeks after egg 
laying begins. A large number of records of the number of eggs 
deposited by the curculio in plums, peaches, apples, etc., has been 
obtained in different localities, as well as other data on the life and 
habits of the insect. 
It has been found that the greatest number of eggs deposited by 
any one female was 557, and the minimum 1, with an average of 
144.85 eggs per beetle for all the individuals under observation. 
While there is much variation in the number of eggs deposited within 
a given time in the several localities, there is a general agreement in 
that the great majority of the eggs are placed by the end of eight 
weeks; approximately one-fourth of the total eggs are deposited 
during the first two weeks; one-half have been deposited by the close 
of the first month; three-fourths within six weeks, and about 88 
per cent of the total within eight weeks after oviposition began. The 
value of these data will appear when it is remembered that the injury 
to the apple results from the egg and feeding punctures, which it is 
desired to prevent. To accomplish this best, sprays must be applied 
with timeliness and be in effect over a considerable period. 
TIME REQUIRED FOR TRANSFORMATION FROM EGG TO ADULT. 
Many observations have been made in different localities, which 
show the time spent in the fruit by the curculio larva, and also the 
time spent in the ground, before and during pupation, until the 
emergence of the beetle. Thus the average time spent in the fruit 
(egg and larval stages combined), for the several localities investi- 
gated, proved to be 19.48 days, and the average time spent in the 
ground (as larva, pupa, and adult) was found to be 30.89 days, giv- 
ing an average life-cycle period for the insect of 50.27 days. 
492 
