PLANT-EATING INSECTS 197 



be left to die in the ordinary course of events, and too 

 many bacteria would be called into being to remove so 

 much dead vegetable matter. Too many bacteria might re- 

 sult in great havoc being wrought in the animal kingdom, 

 with, ultimately, results no less disastrous to the vege- 

 table world itself; for it is a remarkable fact, never to 

 be forgotten in dealing with terrestrial life as a whole, 

 that animals are quite as necessary for the existence of 

 plants as plants are for animals." 



Besides the roots, stems, and foliage of plants, not a 

 few insects consume the parts of the flower. Certain 

 small caterpillars and beetles feed by preference upon 

 the petals, while others destroy the essential organs. 

 Among the latter, the apple blossom weevil (Anthonomus 

 pomorum) has gained a world-wide notoriety on account 

 of its depredations in orchards. The female insect punc- 

 tures a flower bud with her rostrum, inserts an egg, and 

 then carefully closes the hole that she has made. The 

 larva feeds upon the stamens and pistil of the incipient 

 blossom, thus destroying its power of fructification. In- 

 deed, the petals never expand, but turn brown as though 

 they had been nipped by frost. The larva changes to a 

 pupa within the bud, from which the perfect weevil even- 

 tually escapes, leaving a tell-tale hole to mark the place 

 of its exit. 



Many other insects attack fruit or seeds. Among 

 these the codlin moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) is one of 

 the best known. It appears about the end of May, and 

 flies at dusk from tree to tree, laying its minute eggs 

 singly in the "eyes" of newly formed apples when they 

 are about an inch in diameter. When the tiny caterpillar 

 hatches, it burrows into the fruit, where it feeds chiefly 

 upon the pips and core. When full-grown, it tunnels to 

 the rind, and effects its escape, hiding beneath moss, or 



