THE BEETLES: ORDER COLEOPTERA 147 



eggs ? Can you find any holes where the Curculios have been simply 

 feeding? 



2. Cut open some of the fallen plums. Can you find eggs or larvae 

 in the green pulp ? Can you trace the holes made by the larvae in bur- 

 rowing through the pulp? 



3. Place a few freshly fallen plums on two or three inches of garden 

 soil in the bottom of a glass jar or a wooden box. A week later see if 

 you can find any larvae or pupae in the soil. Leave some of them and 

 see if you can rear the adult beetles. 



4. Hold a sheet or a large piece of paper under a plum tree and jar 

 the limbs above. See if you can get any of the Curculios in this way. 

 You may know them by their hard shells and curious snouts. Place a 

 few of them under a bell glass with a branch of green plums held in a 

 bottle of water. Watch the beetles eating and ovipositing. 



5 . Examine peaches, cherries, apples, and pears to find similar injuries 

 of the Curculios. Do you find any live Curculio larvae in green apples 

 and pears ? 



B 



1 . Write or tell a little story with this title : The Life of the Plum 

 Curculio. Follow this outline : 



The beetle in winter. 



The beetle in spring. 



The laying of the egg. 



The hatching of the egg. 



The growth of the larva. 



The change to the pupa. 



The change to the adult. 



Remedies for injuries by Curculios. 



2. Make some or all of these drawings : A plum showing feeding 

 holes and crescent holes ; a section of an injured plum with larva in- 

 side ; an apple or a peach injured by Curculios. 



3. Read Circular 73, U. S. Bureau of Entomology. 



MAY BEETLES 



1 . Have you ever seen white grubs in the soil turned over in plow- 

 ing or spading ? 



2. Are these grubs more likely to be found in sod land than in that 

 which has been cultivated for several years ? 



