282 



THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



Weevils. In these the head is prolonged forward into a beak, on which the 

 antennae are placed. The body is generally short, flat or rounded, and very hard. 

 The larvae are usually white legless grubs with hard dark heads and strong jaws. 

 They live on leaves, shoots, and fruits, their habits varying with the species, and the 

 havoc they commit is considerable. The more important species will be treated under 

 the different fruits ; therefore an example only is here presented. 



Anthonomus pomorum (Fig. 85, 1) is a \ery small beetle, scarcely one line and 

 a half long, wing-cases dark brown, with whitish-grey stripes; antennae springing 

 from the middle of the beak ; all these parts, as well as its eyes and the upper part of 

 the body, black. The female bores a hole in the unexpanded blossom buds, laying one 



Fig. 85. APPLE-BLOSSOM WEEVIL (ANTHONOMTTS POMOEUM). ATTACKED BLOSSOM-BUDS AND TRUSSES. 



References: 1, beetle enlarged, natural size beneath; 2, grub enlarged, natural size at side ; 3, exterior of 

 attacked blossom ; 4, interior of infested blossom ; 5, attacked trees, showing holes in buds ; 6, blossoms not affected ; 

 7, blossoms affected, showing prevention of expansion. 



egg in each. In six or seven days small white maggots hatch, which feed upon the 

 fructifying organs, and in a few days turn into brown pupae, from which the weevils 

 emerge. The beetle feeds during the summer on the leaves of the trees, and in autumn 

 hibernates beneath the rough bark on the stems and branches, under stones and dead 

 leaves. 



Preventive measures should be directed against the insects hibernating on or near 

 the trees, and laying their eggs. When the leaves are all down, the trees should be 



