114 THE XUT CULTURIST. 



has handled or eaten chestnuts raised in this country, 

 whether of the exotic or native varieties. The parents 

 of this grub are oval-shaped beetles about one-half inch 

 long or less ; wing covers, body and legs densely covered 

 with a short yellow down, and from the front or thorax 

 there extends a long, slightly curved, slender snout (Fig. 

 36), sometimes nearly an inch in length in the females, 

 but usually less in the males. The mouth parts are at 

 the extreme end of this snout or proboscis, and the fe- 

 male, with her mandibles, it is claimed, reaches down 

 among the chestnut spines and gnaws a hole 

 in the husk, into which she drops an egg ; 

 and when this hatches, the minute grub cuts 

 its way through the green husk and into the 

 nut, the hole made in. its progress closing 

 up behind, leaving no mark or scar. Al- 

 though I have taken hundreds of these wee- 

 vils on chestnut trees, I never have been so 



FIG 36. CHEST- ^ r ^ UIia ^ e aS * ^6 OTie ^ ^6 aC ^ ^ OV ^" 



NUT WEEVIL, positing, but have come so near it as to find 

 the ovipositor still extended as the insect crawled out 

 from among the spines. 



The chestnut weevil usually appears in great num- 

 bers soon after the trees bloom in spring, but they con- 

 tinue to come out all through the summer; I have 

 occasionally found them late in September, which prob- 

 ably accounts for finding small and half-grown grubs in 

 the nuts as they ripen and fall from the trees. These 

 late grubs often remain in the nuts all winter, but the. 

 greater part escape earlier, or very soon after the crop 

 is ripe. The grubs crawl out of the nuts and work their 

 way into the ground to a depth of from a few inches to 

 two feet, much depending upon the nature of the soil. 

 Having very powerful jaws, they readily cut through a 

 layer of leaves or soft wood, and I have known them to 

 cut holes in sheets of dry cork. These grubs remain in 



