nf SECTS. . 4T 



In addition to the nse of sheets and jarring the cuicuKo from 

 the trees, it is recommended to place bits of bark, with the con- 

 cave side down, on the ground under the trees, as soon as the 

 spring opens. The curctdio will take shelter on the under side 

 of these pieces of bark, and by turning them over every day and 

 gathering the curculio that will be found clinging to the under 

 side, their numbers may be very rapidly diminished. The 

 number that wiU be found under these chips will be much 

 greater in some seasons than others, varying with the state of 

 the weather. If cold, wet, and storm prevail, they wiU seek 

 shelter under the chips, but if it be warm and pleasant weather 

 they will be found in the trees. 



Another mode of destroying these insects, which should be 

 employed in addition to both of the forgoing, is the gathering 

 of the injured and fallen fruit, i^ularly every day, before the 

 curculio grub or larva has time to crawl out of the fruit. Some 

 have fenced in their plum and cherry trees and turned the pigs 

 in to devour the fallen fruit, but when this cannot be done, the 

 fruit should be carefully and regularly picked up, and either fed 

 to the pigs or cooked so as to kill the insects within. 



But now for the insect itsel£ 

 In Figure 32, c is a magnified 

 representation of the perfect in- 

 sect, the line underneath it indi- 

 cating its natural length ; d 

 shows it, of the natural size, at 

 work on a cherry, on which may 

 be seen the crescent mark, and a 

 dot indicating the position of the 

 ^g ; a is the grub or larva, and 

 h the pupa, both magnified. The adjacent lines are intended 

 to show the actual length of the several forms of the curculia 

 The curculio is a rough, hump-backed beetle, of a brownish 

 gray color, about a fifth of an inch in length, with a short snout. 

 When alarmed, this snout is drawn close up to the body, and 



