46 



nate elsewhere. Even if this is not done until the latter part of the winter almost 

 all ot the weevils will he destroj'ed. This method, if continued in a given region 

 from year to year will almost eliminate the injury of the weevil in that region. 



Respectfully submitted. 



J. C. Bkidwell. 

 Dr. L. O. Howard, 



Division of Entomolorpj, Washington, D. C. 



REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS ON FULLER'S 

 ROSE BEETLE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



By Fdk. Maskew, HortieuUural Inspector. 



The insect found infesting and destroying the strawberry fields at 

 Tropico, and the strawberry, raspberry, and Loganberr}- vines at 

 Burnett, Los Angeles Count}^ has been identified (from specimens 

 sent) in the Division of Entomology of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture as Fuller's rose beetle, x47Y/WM(^w^^,^^ZZdW. A very complete account 

 of the biology of this insect an^^ comprehensive list of its food plants 

 may be found in Bulletin No. 27, new series, of that Division. The 

 economic points contained there may be summed up as follows: The 

 insect is wingless, probabh" one-brooded; the eggs in ])atches of from 

 10 to 60 are secreted b}^ placing them between the loose bark and the 

 stem of the plant just above the surface of the ground, and the prin- 

 cipal injur}^ to the plant attacked, in case of the strawberry'-, is accom- 

 plished during the larval period. 



The writer's attention was called to the condition of strawberry 

 fields in Burnett, May 19. At that time the vines were commencing to 

 wilt badly, and upon lifting some of them they were found infested 

 with a grub. This case was prompth^ reported, specimens sent for 

 identification and a complete inspection of all the strawberry plants 

 in Burnett commenced. Associated with me in this investigation was 

 Horticultural Commissioner Strong, and it is due to the exercise of 

 his practical judgment on man}' occasions that several of the most 

 important facts in the case have been cleared up. The number of 

 strawberry plants in this immediate vicinity ma}' be safely placed above 

 the 2,000,000 mark. These were inspected, row by row, and all the 

 dead and wilted plants lifted and examined. This surve}^ showed the 

 strawberry fields and vines with few exceptions to be in a good, thrifty 

 condition, and also showed that the insect in question was confined at 

 this time to two well-defined spots. Outside of the infested areas the 

 death of the plants had been induced by several causes; in rare instances 

 the cause could be traced to wireworms and also cutworms, and occa- 

 sionally a colony of ants had killed the plant b}- loosening and removing 

 the soil from around the roots; but by far the greatest number, fully 

 90 per cent, had succumbed to causes other than insect depredations. 

 One grower assured the writer that the cause was exhausted vitality, 

 the plant having blossomed itself to death, Another attributed the 



