69 
The following letter, from Mr. Brynton, dated November 23, will 
‘be of interest in this connection: 
“T feel confident that no eggs of the crown-borer are to be found 
in plants here, at this season of the year, and I have no hesitation 
in saying that the crown-borers are not disseminated by plants re- 
moved from here-up to April 1, unless the beetles are in the earth 
adhering to the plants.” 
Mr. Brunton, Mr. Endicott and Mr. Earle are all agreed that they 
never see the larve in spring before fruiting time, nor, in fact, 
until they work the fields after the berries are picked. 
Mr, Endicott, of Villa Ridge, a large strawberry grower of several 
years’ experience, and a very close and intelligent observer, says 
that he has never noticed the worms in the roots before June, but 
that he sometimes finds them when hoeing the plants after the ber- 
ries are picked. At this time the larve have but just commenced 
to eat, forming little cavities at the bases of the leaf stalks. He 
believes that he would have been almost certain to see the borers 
if they had occurred in the crowns before April, as the time of 
transplanting extends from February to that month. He has never 
noticed the adult beetle except in the fall, and is confident that it 
is single-brooded. 
The delay in printing this report enables me to add a few facts 
relating to the spring history of this insect, obtained by my assist- 
ant, Mr. F. M. Webster, on a trip made to Southern I[llinois in 
April, 1885. On the 10th of that. month, at Centralia, in pulling 
‘away the interwoven runners in old fields, or drawing off the mulch 
which had not yet been removed, he found quite a number of the 
adult beetles on the surface of the ground near the plants, but saw 
no indication whatever that they had yet deposited their eggs. On 
the 12th instant, at Cobden, two specimens taken upon the ground 
copulated while under observation. On the following day a number 
of others were found here, and on the 1’th they were seen 
sparingly in the strawberry fields at Villa Ridge, in some cases upon 
the folhage of the plants. A careful examination of a considerable 
number of the plants taken from the worst infested fields failed to 
discover anything resembling the eggs of Tyloderma, and the ex- 
amination of a large number of crowns discovered none of the larve 
in any condition. 
Taking all these data into consideration, the pollens life history 
will doubtless be found nearly if not precisely correct. The adult 
beetle emerges from the crown all the way from July to October, 
this transformation covering a period of about two months, but all 
finally emerging before cold weather. It is barely possible that 
some of the earliest of these lay their eggs upon the plants in the 
fall, at least in late seasons, but most, if not all, winter over as 
beetles, and do not deposit their eggs until the following spring. 
The eggs are placed upon the side of the crown between the bases 
of the leaves. As soon as the larvie hatch they eat their way into 
the crowa, and remain there excavating its substance, until they 
pupate. All the transformations are passed in the crown, and from 
this the beetle emerges as a perfect insect. 
—d 
