THE CURCULIO. 



PLATE II* 



i. Pear, punctured May 23, 1863. 



z. Curculio cutting the crescent. 



3. The position of the Curculio when making the cavity for the reception of the egg. 



4. Plum. The first mark, May 25, 1863. 



5. Cherry. The first mark, May 25, 1863. 



6. Peach. The first mark, May 28, 1863. 



7. Apple. The first mark, June i, 1863. 



8. Apple with two perfect punctures, and others imperfect. 



9. Apple. From a bottle containing a colony of Curculios. 

 10. Siberian Crab- Apple. Marked June 10, 1863. 



THAT part of the season between May i8th and June loth, the period included 

 in the illustrations on this Plate, is an important time to the fruit-grower who has 

 determined to save his crops from the Curculio. 



All kinds of Pears and Cherries will not be large enough for the Curculio's 

 operations at these dates, and most of the Plums will be a day or two later. 



Apricots will generally be from a week to ten days earlier than any other fruit, 

 and this crop will often be attacked by the Curculio while other kinds of fruit trees 

 are still in blossom. 



Occasionally there will be a season when the blossoms on nearly all fruit trees 

 will burst together ; the Apricot, Pear, Plum, Cherry, Nectarine, and Peach, present- 

 ing their beautiful promises at the same time. 



In this case, the young Fruits will come so nearly together as to give the Curcu- 

 lio its choice, and the Nectarine will be chosen. The reason why the Apricot is so 

 generally destroyed by the Curculio, is probably owing to the fact of its being, for 

 several days, the only fruit large enough for its use. 



* The original paintings of the illustrations of the Curculio were made in the years 1863 and 1864, at 

 Newark, New Jersey, in the latitude of 40 45'. By a reference to the diaries of these two years, there 

 appears a difference of five days in the time of the first punctures by the Curculio in the same fruits. In 

 1863 it was May 23d, in 1864 it was May i8th. 



