594 THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



fruit ; the larva is also the well-known grub or " worm " 

 of " wormy " cherries. The presence of this insect in an 

 orchard can be determined early in the season by a peculiar 

 mark it makes when laying its eggs in the young fruit. The 

 female beetle makes an incision, with her snout, through 

 the skin of the fruit. In this incision she lays a single egg, 

 which she pushes with her snout to the bottom of the cav- 

 ity that she has prepared. She then makes a crescent- 

 shaped incision in front of the one containing the egg. This 

 last cut undermines the egg, leaving it in a little flap. The 

 larvae feed within the fruit. In the case of plums 'the in- 

 fested fruit falls to the ground ; but not so with cherries. 

 When full grown the larvae usually go into the ground to 

 transform ; a few transform within the fruit. This species 

 infests nectarines, apricots, and peaches as well as plums 

 and cherries. This insect is fought in two ways : the 

 beetles are jarred from the trees upon sheets in early spring, 

 and destroyed before they have laid their eggs ; they are 

 also poisoned by spraying the trees with Paris-green-water 

 before the fruit is large enough for them to oviposit in it 

 The adult beetle feeds upon the foliage, and can thus be 

 poisoned. 



As yet this species does not occur on the Pacific coast, 

 and the greatest care should be taken that it be not intro- 

 duced there. 



The Apple-weevil, AntJionomus quadrigibbus (An-thon'o- 

 musquad-ri-gib'bus), infests the fruit of apple. The specific 

 name was suggested by the fact that there are two wart-like 

 projections near the hinder end of each wing-cover. 



The Strawberry-weevil, Antlionomus signatus (A. sig- 



^^! na'tus), is sometimes a serious pest in strawberry 



*|*P"^y plantations. The adult beetle (Fig. 725) punctures 



FIG. 725. the pedicel of the flower a short distance below the 



buds, and lays her eggs within the buds. The buds drop to 



the ground, and the larvae, one in each, develop within them. 



The family BRENTHID^: (Bren'thi-dae) is confined chiefly 



