206 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



It was first noticed in America nsar Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1904, 

 and has been increasing and spreading until it now occupies an 

 area of fully 100 square miles around Salt Lake City. 



The beetles are from one-eighth to three-sixteenth inch long, 

 dark brown, marked with black and gray hairs which gives them 

 a mottled appearance as shown in Fig. 149e. These hairs or scales 



are gradually rubbed 

 off, so that in spring 

 many individuals are 

 entirely black with 

 small grayish spots. 



Life History. The 

 beetles seek shelter for 

 hibernation before 

 frost in the autumn, 

 either in the crowns 

 of the alfalfa plants, 

 or under thick grass, 

 weeds, rubbish, leaves, 

 or in hay or straw 

 stacks. Often they 

 winter in barns where 

 the hay is stored, the 

 floors of which are 

 often found covered 

 with the beetles in 

 winter and spring. It is estimated that fully 80 per cent of the 

 weevils survive the winter in Utah. In the spring the beetles emerge 

 and attack the young alfalfa plants as soon as there is sufficient food 

 for them, usually late in March. - The females commence laying 

 eggs in early April and continue oviposition until early July. In 

 early spring while the plants are small the females often push 

 their eggs down between the leaves, but the usual method is to 

 insert them in punctures made in the stem. This puncturing of 

 the young stems often results in considerable damage in early 

 spring. A single alfalfa plant which had escaped from cultiva- 



FIG. 148. The alfalfa weevil, adults, clustering 

 on and attacking sprig of alfalfa natural size. 

 (After Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



