INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 



635 



brown in color, the abdomen is more robust, and the wing-covers 

 bear four prominent humps, the anterior being much larger than 

 those on the plum curculio. The snout of the apple curculio is 

 as long as the rest of the body and is held straight forward from 

 the head, instead of hanging 

 down as does the snout of the 

 plum curculio. The work of 

 the apple curculio is also differ- 

 ent in that after laying the 

 egg in a small cavity in the 

 fruit, no crescent-shaped mark 

 is made around it. The apple 

 curculio is a native species 

 which breeds in wild haw, 

 wild crab, and wild cherry, 

 and has been reared in plum, 

 quince and pear. " It has 

 been reported from Connecti- 

 cut and Ontario south to 

 North Carolina and westward 

 as far as New Mexico. It 

 seems to have been more 

 troublesome in Missouri, Illi- 

 nois and other mid-western 

 States than elsewhere," but 

 has never done anything like 

 the injury due to the plum 

 curculio and can hardly be FIG. 492.-Work of the apple curculio; 



regarded as a serious pest. 



Life History. The beetles 

 commence laying eggs in the 

 fruit soon after the blossoms drop and continue for a period of sixty 

 days, an individual female laying about 65 eggs. The eggs hatch 

 in about five days and the larvae feed on the flesh of the apple 

 for about twenty days, when they transform to pupae within the 

 fruit. A week later the beetles emerge, but feed very little during 



a, a', c, c' , feeding punctures from 

 the surface and in section; b, b', egg 

 punctures from the surface and in 

 section. (After C. S. Crandall.) 



