REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST, 277 



serious matter; there are many other growers in this place that are badly troubled 

 by this pest. The strawberries will be cut short and will amount to thousands of 

 dollars' loss on account of these pests. If we do not find a remedy to exterminate thcii' 

 they will be so numerous by another year that they will take the entire crop, not 

 only here but in many other places, for they have made their appearance, I am told, 

 in New Jersey. • » » They are now (June 15) quite hard to find. 



Further facts may be jrathered from the following extract from an 

 article published in the Westfield (Staten Island) Times of about June 

 13,1885: 



The Strawberry Beetle still continues its ravages, and gradually spreads from farm 

 to farm, and unless something is done to check its career it is doubtful whether any 

 strawberries can be raised in the town of Westfield two years hence. Two years ago 

 they made their first appearance on Mr. S. G. Winant's vines ; last year they destroyed 

 more than half his crop, and this year they have utterly destroyed his entire crop of 

 Sliurpless. Mr. Wiuant thinks he will not be able to pick one crate of berries from 

 2 acres of very vigorous vines, and a careful inspection of the vines convinces us that 

 he has not overestimated the damage. 



Mr. Robert Barton, who lives on an adjoining farm, has half an aero of vines, and will 

 not have beiTies enough for his own table. 



Tho beetles appeared last year on Isaac Wort's and John Kern's vines, and this year 

 they have destroyed aboiat one-half of lilr. Kern's crop, and have entirely destroyed 

 li acres of Mr. Wort's old beds so that he has plowed them up. Mr. Winant has also 

 begun plowing under some of liis finest vines. This pest seems to be limited to a 

 small territory lying between Kreischerville, Rossville, and Pleasant Plains, but it is 

 slowly enlarging its sphere of usefulness (?), and has this year made its first appear- 

 ance on a number of other farms. 



Our growers have tried experiments with a view to destroying the beetle ; but they 

 cannot use poisons without destroying the fruit, and they know so little of the nature 

 and habits of this beetle that they are working entirely in the dark. The Strawberry 

 Beetle is black, one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch in length, and pierces the 

 stems just below the blossoms. The blossom invariably dies from the wound. In 

 examining a field where they have been at work, it is no unusual thing to see a stem 

 that originally bore fifteen or twenty blossoms. standing perfectly bare. 



HABITS AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



Mr. Smith visited Mr. Winant on June 15, and his observations are 

 given in his own words, as follows : 



In the strawberry patch, about 2 aeres in size, I found perfect imagines of the 

 Anthonomus in abundance on the few remaining blossoms. I send in the box some 

 samples of the work done by the insect, and also a vial containing a number of liv- 

 ing specimens, many taken in coitu. All were on the blossoms, and on many blos- 

 soms there were three or four beetles, and all the remaining flowers were more or less 

 eaten. A large proportion of the berries grown by Mr. Winant are the " Sharpless" 

 variety, and this is most severely attacked. Scarcely a berry had set, and most of 

 the plants showed the fruit stalk with several dried-up buds, as you will see by the 

 specimens of which I send a number in the box referred to. 



My observations and questions have given me the following information : Previous 

 to 1884 the insect had not been observed, and had certainly done no appreciable dam- 

 age. In the spring of 1884 it appeared in large numbers and at once attacked the 

 buds, piercing the stem a short distance below the bud, sometimes causing the bud to 

 drop, or again to shrivel and dry up. The specimens in the box show, better than I 

 can describe, the work of this insect. About half the crop was taken last year ( 1884 ) ; 

 this year berries of the Sharpless variety are a rarity. The vines are fine and tbrifty 

 and nothing bothers them except this pest. It is said to be cmfined to a limited dis- 

 trict, but I believe it has simply been overlooked elsewhere, and not reported, for I 

 have for some time heard complaints at second or third hand of an insect working as 

 this does. The beetle first appeared this season, some three weeks ago, with the tiisfc 

 buds of the " Sharpless," and has continued since, moving from place to place as it 

 completes its work of destruction. I searched carefully for eggs and larvio in tlio 

 buds that had been cut ofl:', but without success. I send some of the buds in the box, 

 hoping you may have better success. 



This sums up the information obtainable as to its history and habits. The beotlo 

 has always been taken commonly enough sweeping in flowery meadows. Not all the 

 varieties of strawberries are equally subject to attack. The " Sharpless," and all 

 those varieties which like it are " perfect" bearers, and have similar flowers, suffer 

 moat. The "Manchester," "Jersey Queen," "Gypsy," and others of the ao-called 



