INSECTS AND DISEASES. 267 



own observation inclines us to the belief that this insect emi- 

 grates just in proportion as it finds in more or less abundance 

 the tender fruit for depositing its eggs. Very rarely do we see 

 more than one puncture in a plum, and, if the insects are abun- 

 dant, the trees of a single spot will not afford a sufficient num- 

 ber for the purpose ; then there is little doubt (as we have seen 

 them flying through the air,) that the insect flies farther in 

 search of a larger supply. But usually, we think it remains 

 nearly in the same neighbourhood, or migrates but slowly. 



About a week or two after the blossoms have fallen from the 

 trees, if we examine the fruit of the plum in a district where 

 this insect abounds, we shall find the small, newly formed fruit, 

 beginning to be punctured by the proboscis of the plum-weevil. 

 The insect is so small and shy, that unless we watch closely it 

 is very likely to escape our notice. But if we strike or shake 

 the tree suddenly, it will fall in considerable numbers on the 

 ground, drawn up as if dead, and resembling a small raisin, or, 

 perhaps more nearly, a ripe hemp seed. From the first of April 

 until August, this insect may be found, though we think its de- 

 predations on fruit, and indeed its appearance in any quantity, 

 is confined to the month of May in this climate. In places 

 where it is very abundant, it also attacks to some extent the 

 cherry, the peach, and even the apple. 



Early in July the punctured plums begin to fall rapidly from 

 the tree. The egg deposited in each, at first invisible, has be- 

 come a white grub or larva, which slowly eats its way towards 

 the stone or pit. As soon as it reaches this point, the fruit falls 

 to the ground. Here, if left undisturbed, the grub soon finds 

 its way into the soil. 



There, according to most cultivators of fruit, and to our own 

 observations, the grubs or larvae remain till the ensuing spring, 

 when in their perfect form they again emerge as beetles and 

 renew their ravages on the fruit. It is true that Harris, and 

 some other naturalists, have proved that the insect does some- 

 times undergo its final transformation and emerge from the 

 ground in twenty days, but we are inclined to the opinion that 

 this only takes place with a small portion of the brood, which, 

 perhaps, have penetrated but a very short distance below the 

 surface of the soil. These making their appearance in mid- 

 summer, and finding no young fruit, deposit their eggs in the 

 young branches of trees, etc. But it is undeniable that the 

 season of the plum- weevil is early spring, and that most of the 

 larvse which produce this annual swarm, remain in the soil 

 during the whole period intervening since the fall of the previ- 

 ous year's fruit. 



There are several modes of destroying this troublesome in- 

 sect. Before detailing them, we will again allude to the fact, 

 that we have never known an instance of its being troublesome 



