188 INJUKIOUS INSECTS 



as five grubs in a single peach which had been on the 

 ground for several days. When the grub has once 

 become full grown, however, it forsakes the fruit which 

 it has ruined, and burrows from four to six inches in the 

 ground. At this time it is of a glassy yellowish-white 

 color, though it usually partakes of the color of the fruit- 

 flesh on which it was feeding. It is about two-fifths of 

 an inch long, with the head light brown; there is a 

 lighter line running along each side of its body, with a 

 row of minute black bristles below, and a less distinct 

 one above it, while the stomach is rust-red, or blackish. 

 The full grown larva presents the appearance of fig- 

 ure 116, a. 



In the ground, by turning round and round, it com- 

 presses the earth on all sides until it has formed a 

 smooth oval cavity. Within this cavity, in the course of 

 a few days, it assumes the pupa form, figure 116, b. 



After remaining in the ground in this state for just 

 about three weeks, it becomes a beetle, which, though 

 soft and uniformly reddish at first, soon assumes its 

 natural colors; and, when its several parts are sufficiently 

 hardened, works through the soil to the light of day. 



The Curculio when alarmed, like very many other 

 insects, and especially such as belong to the same great 

 Order of Beetles (Coleoptera), folds up its legs close to the 

 body, turns under its snout into a groove which receives 

 it, and drops to the ground. In doing this it feigns 

 death, so as to escape from threatened danger, and does 

 in reality very greatly resemble a dried fruit bud. It 

 attacks, either for purposes of propagation or for food, 

 the Nectarine, Plum, Apricot, Peach, Cherry, Apple, 

 Pear and Quince, preferring them in the order of their 

 naming. 



It is always most numerous in the early part of the 

 season on the outside of the orchards that are surrounded 



