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WINGLESS WEEVILS. 



The Clay-Coloured Weevil (Otiorrhynchus picipes, Fab.), 

 the Black Weevil (0. sulcatus, Fab.), and the Plum Weevil 

 (0. tenebricosus, Herbst.), are three species of beetle varying 

 slightly in size but not unlike in general appearance. In the 

 grub or larval stages they not only possess more or less similar 

 habits, but also resemble one another so closely that no simple 

 distinguishing characters can be given. The adult beetles are 

 wingless and therefore unable to fly. They make their appear- 

 ance in late spring and early summer, feeding upon a large 

 variety of plants and trees, attacking leaves, shoots or bark, 

 and causing much damage. During the summer eggs are 

 deposited, probably in the soil near suitable plants, and the 

 resulting white, foofless grubs find their way to the roots, 

 where they continue feeding until full-grown early in the 

 following spring. They then turn to white pupae in the soil, 

 a stage which is of comparatively short duration, the perfect 

 weevils soon emerging. This life-history is more or less typical 

 of each of the three species, but it is naturally subject to 

 variation when the insects are living under greenhouse 

 conditions. 



Description and Nature of Damage. 



(1) THE CLAY-COLOUBED WEEVIL (Otiorrhynchus picipes, 



Fab.). 



This weevil is the most harmful of the three species just 

 mentioned and the smallest in size, varying from - inch in 

 length. In colour it is chocolate-brown, speckled with light 

 brown, but from living in the soil it becomes dirty, and then 

 appears practically the same colour as the soil in the neigh- 

 bourhood which it inhabits. 



THE CLAY-COLOURED WEEVIL. 

 1. Adult Beetle. 2. Larva. 3. Pupa. 



In habits the weevils, are mainly nocturnal, spending the 

 day hidden among clods of earth and to some extent among 

 dense foliage on trees and bushes. At night they crawl out 

 to feed and much havoc is wrought to fruit blossoms, fruit 

 buds, and tender shoots of raspberries, the outer skin of the 

 latter being gnawed and not infrequently the bark of the canes 

 lower down being also devoured; the leaves are eaten into 



