48 INSECTS. 



the legs folded up, so that the insect looks like a dried bud, or a 

 little bit of bark or dirt. In this way it escapes detection, lying 

 perfectly still for a long time as though dead. A sudden jar of 

 the tree upon which it is at work frightens it, and folding up 

 its legs it drops to the ground. By spreading a white sheet 

 under the tree to receive the curculio when it falls, it is easily 

 seen and gathered up. It has wings, however, and in warm 

 weather will fly both during the day and night. The mouth is 

 placed at the extremity of the snout, and with this the female 

 bites the fruit and prepares a place for the egg. C. V. Riley, 

 State Entomologist of Missouri, says that the operation of depo- 

 siting an egg occupies about five minutes. " Having taken a 

 strong hold on the fruit, the female makes a minute cut with 

 her jaws, just through the skin of the fruit, and then runs her 

 snout under the skin to the depth of one-siKteenth of an inch, 

 and moves it back and forth until the cavity is large enough to 

 receive the egg it is to retain j she then changes her position and 

 drops an egg into the mouth of the cut ; then turning around 

 again, she pushes it by means of her snout to the end of the 

 passage, and afterwards cuts the crescent in front of the hole, so 

 as to undermine the egg and leave it in a sort of flap." 



In a few days there is hatched from this egg a smaU white 

 grub, which eats its way towards the centre of the fruit, where 

 it remains feeding upon the pulp until it has attained its full 

 growth. In the case of the plum, the natural development of 

 the fruit is brought to a premature conclusion by the presence of 

 this curculio grub, and the plums faU. to the ground before they 

 have completed their growth. This is not the case, however, 

 with the cherry, which remains on the tree until maturity, and 

 the eater is often disgusted at finding the fruit that looked so 

 tempting, tenanted and half-eaten by this grub. It would seem 

 that aU this was arranged just in this way to secure the perpe- 

 tuation of this pest, for the curculio grub attains its full growth 

 with the ripening of the cherry, but as it completes its growth 

 before the ripening of the plum, this drops off at about the time 



