THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 43 



crease our knowledge of this pest; for there is much yet to learn of 

 its habits, and consequently of the best means of fighting it. 



From the middle of June to the middle of July in Southern Illi- 

 nois, and later further north, the larva hatches from an egg which, in 

 all probability, is deposited in the crown of the plant, and it imme- 

 diately commences to bore its way downwards, into the pith. Here 

 it remains till it has acquired its full size, working in the thick bul- 

 bous root and often eating through the more woody portions; so that 

 when frost sets in, the plant easily breaks off and is heaved out of the 

 ground. When full grown it presents the appearance of Figure 14> <z, 

 being a white grub with arched back and tawny-yellow head, and 

 measuring about one-fiftb of an inch when stretched out. It under* 

 goes its transformations to the pupa and perfect beetle states within 

 the root, and the latter makes its appearance above ground during the 

 month of August. 



The beetle (Fig. 14, b side view; c back view) is about l-6th of an 

 inch in length, of a chestnut-brown color, and marked and punctured 

 as in the figure. 



From analogy we may infer that the beetle feeds on the leaves of 

 the strawberry, for it is a very general rule with snout-beetles, that 

 the perfect insects feed on the leaves of such plants as they infest in 

 the larva state. But whether it lives on through the winter as a 

 beetle and does not commence depositing eggs again till the follow- 

 ing June ; or whether it is double-brooded and produces a second lot 

 of larvre which pass the winter in the roots, are questions which are 

 not yet decided; and until we get a more comprehensive knowledge 

 of this insect's ways and doings, we shall be in a measure powerless 

 before it. From all the facts that can be obtained, the first hypothesis 

 is the correct one, and in that event we can, in an emergency, easily 

 get rid of this pest by plowing up and destroying the plants soon 

 after they have done bearing, or say about the latter part of June in 

 the latitude of St. Louis. By doing this the whole brood of borers 

 will perish with the plants. Most strawberry-growers renew 

 their plants, in some way or another, about every three years, and 

 where this insect abounds, it will be best subdued by destroying the 

 whole bed at the time already suggested and afterwards planting a 

 new one; rather than by annually thinning out the old and leaving 

 the new plants in the same bed. Here we have an effectual means of 

 extirpating the little pest, if, as I believe, the first hypothesis is the 

 correct one ; but if the second hypothesis be correct — i. e., if the insect 

 be double-brooded — then it will avail nothing to carry out the above 

 suggestions, and we thus see how important it is to thoroughly under- 

 stand an insect's habits in order to properly cope with it. Though we 

 may occasionally hit upon some plan of remedying or of preventing an 

 insect's injuries without knowing its habits, yet as a general rule we 

 but grope in the dark until we have learned its natural history! 



According to Mr. Miller, all plants infested with this larva are 



