60 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 239 



I>U-t rtbiidoii (dill Food Plant.'. 



This species ranges from New England to tl-.e Rocky Mountains and Flor- 

 ida. The l)eetle is found commonly on Ijlack huckleberry and the flowers of 

 black ciiokeberry*". It feeds" on the flowers and leaves of swamp blueberry 

 as well as on cranl errv. 



Character of Jujiiri/. 



In the spring the beetles occasionally drill holes in the under side of the old 

 leaves (fig. 46) and in the dormant buds. They turn their attention to the 

 new growth as it develops, drilling into the new leaves and the growing blos- 

 som buds freely (fig. 47) and often eating the stamens. New shoots often are 

 killed by this feeding, turning dark as if frosted or breaking o\er where the 

 stem has been pimctured. 



Tlie grub devours the pistil and stamens of the flower bud, leaving the 

 excavated ovary (fig. 48) together with tiie unojjened corolla ('fig. 49) a mere 

 shell"'". If this is opened it usually is found to contain either the grub or pupa 

 and some fine brown castings. 



Many of the infested buds fall to the ground (fig. 50), some before the egg 

 hatches. The cause is not known, but probably the beetle partly severs the 

 pedicel somehow when it lays the egg. A few of the buds fall liecause the 

 grubs eat them off from within. Buds tluit show they are partly cut off by 

 shaking freely when the vines are disturbed indie, ite surely the presence of 

 this pest. 



The beetles of the new brood apj^ear while the l)erries are small and feed 

 voraciously on them (figs. 51, 52 and 53) and on the more tender foliage for 

 about three weeks, riddling both with holes. Some of their work on the backs 

 of the leaves at this time is very characteristic (fig. 54). This feeding de- 

 creases as the season advances and finally they i:nly nibble the leaves occa- 

 sionally, doing this till into Septemlier. 



Where abundant, this insect often destroys the entire pros])ective crop by 

 its work in the blossom buds, and the newly emerged beetles sometimes ruin 

 most of the small berries and by killing the tips of the uprights n>.ake a crop 

 the next year imjjossible. 



De.scriptioii ami Seasonal Hi.itori/. 



The Beetle. 



The beetle (fig. 55) is about a sixteenth of an inch long. It has a slightly 

 curved snout about a third as long as the rest of the body. This bears a 

 geniculate feeler on each side beyond the middle and small jaws at the end. 

 The wing covers are ornamented lengthwise with rows of little jiits. Narrow 

 white scales noticeable only under a microscope are scattered over the body 

 and legs and often form transverse patches on the wing covers. When the 

 beetle emerges from the pupa it is light brown, with the head and snout deep 

 reddish brown and the eves black. It chanaes to its normal color within two 



63. Pyriis melanocarpa (Michx.) Willd. 



64. .According to H. B. Scammell. 



6.5. The lobes of the corolla of an infested bud always remain closed tightly together and 

 become drv and rigid in that position, a protective cell thus being formed for the insect. 



