CHAPTER XXI. 



THE CURCULIO. 



The curculio or plum weevil attacks the apricot, nec- 

 tarine, apple, cherry, peach and quince, but to the plum 

 it is truly a relentless foe. Figure 81 represents the 



Fig. 81.— Curculio. Fig. 82.— Incision of curculio on plum 



magnified. 



weevil, which is a dark colored insect, about one-fourth 

 of an inch long, with varied spots, easily distinguished 

 by its peculiar beak or snout, which is bent between the 

 fore legs when the insect is at rest. Early in the Spring 

 it begins its depredations on the young fruit by flying from 

 tree to tree and depositing eggs as shown in figure 82. 

 After the incision is made, the insect lays its egg and 

 carefully conceals it in the cut, where it remains a short 

 time and develops into a white grub in which state it 

 preys upon the fruit until it drops to the ground. It 

 then works its way into the soil to come forth in the fu- 

 ture a winged weevil to repeat the same process. One of 

 the little pests will lay a large number of eggs during 

 the season, and so numerous do they become if unmoles- 

 ted, that entire plum crops are often destroyed by them. 

 The young crop may be very promising in the Spring, 

 but it often happens that not a single specimen of fruit 



