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n front of the middle of the snout. Thorax narrowed in front, wide- 

 behind, slightly expanding in the middle, narrower behind than 

 the elytra. General color, a dull rust color varied with whitish. 

 Three indistinct longitudinal whitish lines, on the thorax, one med- 

 ian, and one on each side. Elytra with double series of punctures, 

 the intersitial lines alternately elevated, the two inner ones on each 

 wing-case have on them two or three compressed elevations or tu- 

 bercles, of which the posterior one on the inner line is generally the 

 most prominent, but the specimen now before me has the one next 

 the lastthe largest ; the posterior depressed portion paler than the 

 rest. The anterior thighs two-toothed, the posterior tooth prominent. 

 Length of the body about one-eighth to one sixth of an inch. 



Anthonomus prunicida — Walsh. (The Plum Gouger.) 



This may be distinguished from other weevils by its ochre-yellow 

 thorax and legs, its brown wing-cases which have a dull grayish 

 tint and are without tubercles. The snout is not much longer than 

 the thorax; the length exclusive of the snout, about one-eighth of an 

 inch. 



Mr. Walsh, who first described this species, has given in his first re- 

 port a very full account of its habits, of which I give the following 

 summary : 



It appears to be a Western species, very generally distributed 

 throughout the Mississippi Valley, and, although found in consider- 

 able numbers at certain points, is much less injurious than the plum 

 curculio, for which it is often mistaken. 



The perfect insects make their appearance about the same time as 

 the plum curculio, but continue to deposit eggs only while the stone, 

 which they penetrate, is soft and tender, hence the time for deposit- 

 ing is much more limited with this species than with the other. The 

 mode in which this is performed by the plum gouger differs very ma- 

 terially from that adopted by the curculio, and enables us at once to 

 distinguish the puncture of one species from that of the other. 



Instead of forming a crescent slit, the female eats through the skin, 

 forming a cylindrical hole the size of her snout; this she enlarges at 

 the bottom in the same manner as the previous species. 



Having deposited an egg with her snout she thrusts it into the ori- 

 fice below the surface of the skin, but not to the bottom. As soon as 

 the larva is hatched it penetrates to the stone, the shell of which is 

 vet soft, through which it bores to the kernel, where it remains until 

 it is full grown. It is now about one-eighth of an inch long, curved 

 in the usual semi-circular form; of a milk-white color, without the 

 glassy lustre or rust-red stomach of the curculio larva; the head of 

 yellowish white, mandibles tipped with brown. 



Having completed its growth, it cuts a round hole through the 

 stone, which, by this time, has become hard, and then returns to the 

 inside, where it undergoes its transformations into the beetle state, 

 after which it escapes through the opening made for its exit. 



The principal diffeiences between this species and the plum cur- 

 culio are as follows : The latter is streaked and spotted with black 

 and white, and has two shining black humps or tubercles on the wing 



