17 



covers is a black shining hump behind which is a dull yellow band 

 and a few white markings. The thorax and wing covers are rough- 

 ened and uneven, and the snout is about as long as the thorax. 



There is only one brood in a year. The beetles pass the winter in 

 the perfect state, hiding under the loose bark of trees, rubbish, and 

 in other convenient places ; and are first seen in May or June when 

 the fruit is fairly set. The female at once lays her eggs, from fifty 

 to a hundred in number, in the young fruit, making a small hole with 

 her snout, and depositing only one egg in a single plum. She then 

 cuts a crescent shaped slit in front of the hole, fig. 8, d, thus under- 

 mining the egg and preventing the growing fruit from crushing it. 

 The eggs are of an oblong-oval form, pearly white, and can be 

 plainly seen with the naked eye. If the weather is warm, the eggs 

 will hatch in three or four days, but if cold and rainy, they will 

 remain sometimes over a week before hatching. 



The young larvae, or grubs, fig. 8, a, are gmall, white and foot- 

 less, and as soon as hatched eat their way to the centre of the fruit 

 causing it to fall before it is ripe. The grubs are fully grown in 

 from three to five weeks, being about two-fifths of an inch long, with 

 a brownish head and a yellowish white body, with a pale line on each 

 side, and a few minute black bristles. They now leave the fruit, 

 burrow into the ground, pass into the pupit state, fig. 8, &, and in six 

 weeks emerge as perfect beetles. These insects are natives of this 

 country, and when first discovered fed on wild plums, and are now 

 sometimes found upon them. As the insect feigns death when dis- 

 turbed, by jarring the trees under which a sheet has been spread, a 

 great many may be captured and destroyed. It has been recom- 

 mended to allow poultry to run under the trees as they will eat the 

 grubs and beetles, and thus hold them in check. It has also been 

 recommended by some to shower the trees with Paris green in water 

 as soon as the fruit is fairly set, and before the eggs are laid, so that 

 the beetles in feeding on the leaves may be destroyed. Others claim 

 that this is of no value, but my experiments thus far have not settled 

 the point either wa}'. 



THE ONION MAGGOT. 



Phorbia ceparum (Meig.) 

 Early in June a somewhat hairy fly. Fig. 9, may be seen flying 

 about, and depositing its eggs on the leaves of the young onion plants, 

 near the roots. Fig. 10. 

 3 



