278 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, 



" pJstillato " varieties/wliich ai'e imperfect bearers, are less snbjoct to (tlionf»h rsnt ps- 

 euipt from) attack. Until tlio " Sliarplcss " and its nearer allies are alluoBiroyt«i liio 

 others are not attaclced. It seems also that only buds and flowers are injured by the 

 beetle, and -nhere a strawberry has fairly started it is safe. Further, it seems ihat 

 only buds are severed from the stalk, the flowers being simi^ly eaten out ami de- 

 stroyed. 



At this tiiue the buds are all gone, only straggling flowers appear, and here and 

 there a berry suggests what might have been. 



'I'lio probabilities are that the eggs are deposited in the buds and that 1 he larva 

 undergoes its transformations in those that fall to the ground. 



Later ia tbo season Mr. Smith made another trip to Staten Island, 

 under instructions, in order to learn something concerning the eiirlier 

 spates of the insect. Ho visited Mr. Winant on October 6 and spent some 

 tiine in the liekl, bat the most careful search in and on all parts of the 

 plants failed. to show any traces of any larva Trhich could with any de- 

 gree of probability be connected with this beetle. On the contrary, tlio 

 plants were remarkably healthy and vigorous, the only insects tbund 

 l)eing a few specimens of the adult of one of the Strawberry Eoot-worins 

 {Paria aterrima), close to the roots underground, evidently in winter 

 quarters, and three specimens of the larvte of the Strawberry Crown- 

 miner (hitherto known as Anarsia lineatdla). 



With a view of endeavoring to arrive at some knowledge of the pos- 

 sible larval habits of the species we shall presentlj^ consider its charac- 

 ters and its synonymy, the variation which the mature beetle is subject 

 to, and the known larval habits of other species of the genus. From the 

 facts set forth in those connections it is evident that the larval habits of 

 the genus Anthonomus show great diversity as to food-plant, and do not 

 offer any definite clue for the natural history of the species under con- 

 sideration. 



There is, however, a species {A. snturalis) so nearly allied to imisculus 

 that even Dr. Le Conte has considered that the two may possibly prove 

 to be the same. Now it happens that we know the larval habits of A. 

 snturalis, and the important bearing which this question of the specific 

 identity or distinctness of these two forms has on the habits of the 

 strawberry pest, as well as the insufficiency of previous descriptions, 

 justifies the classificatory and descriptive details which we have entered 

 into at the end of this article, and which lead to the conclusion that, 

 notwithstanding the great similarity of the two forms, they should be 

 considered as distinctspecies. We are justified, however, in inferring 

 that musculus, on account of its relationship with suturalis, may also 

 prove to have similar habits, i. <?., to breed in similar kinds of galls and 

 possibly in the numerous Phylloxera galls on Hickory. 



Musculus is an abundant species and is distributed throughout the 

 Atlantic States, occurring from Massachusetts and Michigan to Florida 

 and Texas. It is to be found throughout spring and summer on all sort s 

 of flowers and flowering trees and shrubs, and in winter time the beetle 

 finds shelter under old leaves and other debris in our vvoods and gar- 

 dens. That it does not breed upon the Stniwln'iTy i)i:nit is not only 

 proved by the failure of all observers to find imy trace of its larva on 

 that plant, but also by the fact that the beetles are abundant in locali- 

 ties where strawberries are comparatively rare or almost absent. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF OTHER SPECIES OF THE GENUS ANTHONOMUS. 



Mr. B. D. Walsh first records* the fact that three of our North 

 American species of AnthoHoviuH are, in the larva state, inquilinous in 



• Proceedings Entom. Soc. Philadelphia, iii, pp. 547, 619, and vol. vi, p. 265, ff. 



