90 
The Strawberry Crown-girdlER 
(Otiorhynchus ovatiis Linn.) 
This insect is a black snout-beetle al>out one-fifth of an inch 
long, which feeds on a great variety of plants, and occasionally 
makes itself a nuisance to housekeepers by swarming into houses 
in the fall. Its larva is a small whitish grub which girdles the 
crown of the strawberry and feeds on the roots of strawberry, 
white clover, grasses and other plants. 
• Serious injury was done by this insect, in 1905, to the straw- 
berry beds of Mr. Geo. Wirt, at Alpha, 111. The excellent observa- 
tions of its peculiar habits reported at about the same time by the 
experiment stations of Maine and Montana, together with our own 
observations in connection with the Alpha outbreak, make possible 
a fairly satisfactory account of this insect and of the best methods 
of destroying it. It is northern in its distribution, occurring mostly 
in the northern half of the United States and in Canada, altho 
there is a record of its occurrence as far south as Santa Fe, X. M. 
LITERATURE 
It was first reported as a strawberry insect by C. M. Weed in 
1884 (14th Mich. Hort. Soc. Rep., p. 84). In 1895, Dr. Lintner, 
State Entomologist of New York, discussed it in his loth report, p. 
416, especially because of the annoyance caused by its peculiar 
habit of infesting houses. In 1899 its serious injuries in ]\Iinne- 
sota were noted by Mr. Lugger in his 5th report as State Ento- 
mologist. In December, 1904, Mr. R. A. Cooley, State Entomolo- 
gist of Montana, reported careful observations in connection with 
destructive outbreaks at two localities in his state, in his second re- 
port (Bull. 55 of the Montana Exper. Sta., p. 130). In Maine. 
Miss Edith M. Patch, Entomologist of the Experiment Station 
there, has published valuable observations on the life history of 
the species in Bulletin 123, and it was briefly treated as a corn in- 
sect in the 23d report of the Illinois State Entomologist. 
STAGES 
In its larval form the strawberry crown-girdler is a short, thick- 
bodied, footless, sn'iall white grub about three-eighths of an inch 
long, with a yellowish head. It is very similar in appearance to 
the larva of the plum-curculio. It devours the roots and rootlets of 
the strawberry, and gnaws the crown of the plant, mostly on the 
outside, often completely girdling it, whence its name of crown- 
girdler. There are several other small larvre which feed on the 
strawberry roots and crown, whose life histories and distinctive 
