508 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



beetles; the first emerge about ten weeks after the apples 

 blossom, the majority appear two or three weeks later, and the 

 rest continue to emerge until October. If the weather is dry 



the beetles may remain in the 

 cells much longer than normally, 

 while a shower will bring out 

 numbers of them. Upon emerg- 

 ing the beetles feed upon the 

 ripening fruit. In many sections 

 the injury to apples by the feed- 

 ing punctures then made is worse 

 than the spring injury, as the 

 surface of the fruit is injured 

 and entrance places for rot are 

 furnished. The beetles average 

 about one puncture a day for six 

 weeks after emergence in central 

 Illinois and commence to enter 

 hibernation with the first frosts. 

 In New Hampshire we have 

 seen no evidence of injury by 

 the beetles in late summer or 

 fall. 



Injury, Injured plums and 

 peaches usually drop to the 

 ground, or if they remain on 

 the tree, ripen prematurely, 

 and rot more quickly. Cherries 



stick to the tree, but the fruit is 

 FIG. 437. Work of the plum curcuho .. ,, , , -. , , 



on apple: d, feeding punctures from often small and gnarled from the 

 surface and in section; e, egg punc- egg-scars, or eaten out by the 

 ture from surface; e., same in sec- , _ . ,. . . 



tion all enlarged. (After C. S. larva. In apples the larvae only 

 Crandall.) develop in those which drop to 



the ground, the rapid growth of the apples probably crushing the 

 eggs. The egg-scars and feeding-punctures cause apples to be- 

 come gnarly, this being particularly true of summer varieties, which 

 are often rendered worthless, and even winter sorts are blemished 

 by the scars which also furnish points of attack for rots. 



