204 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



in May and early June. They feed mostly at night and are 

 hardly noticeable in the day, when they 'lie protected around 

 the base of the plant, lying curled up head to tail. The injury 

 to the foliage is quite characteristic, the edges of the leaves being 

 eaten in a regular manner as shown in Fig. 147. When full grown 



FIG. 147. Clover leaf-weevil (Phytonomus punctatus Fabr.) : a, egg magnified 

 and natural size; bbbb, larvae; c, recently hatched larva; d, head of 

 larva; e, jaws of the same; /, cocoon; g, same magnified to show the 

 meshes; h, pupa; i, weevil, natural size; j, the same magnified; k, top 

 view of the beetle; I, tarsus and claws of the beetle; m, antenna of the 

 beetle. (After Riley.) 



the larva buries itself just under the surface of the soil and makes 

 an oval cell, in which it spins a delicate cocoon consisting of a 

 coarse network of pale yellow threads, which later turn brown, 

 as shown in Fig. 147. Occasionally the cocoon is made on the 

 surface or among the bases of the stems. In this the pupal 

 stage is passed, lasting two or three weeks; the beetles being 

 most common in July and August. The damage which the 



