1 68 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY 



with over six hundred species. With her long snout the female 



drills into fruits and stems and drops an egg in the bottom of the 



excavation. Here the larva 



feeds within the food plant, 

 well protected against attack. 

 In the northeastern states a 

 brownish beetle, about one 

 fourth of an inch long, with a 

 white spot on each wing-cover, 

 known as the white-pine weevil 

 (Pissodes strobi), lays its eggs 

 in the axis terminal of pines, 

 which the larva tunnels out and 

 kills, completely spoiling the 



shape of the tree. The plum curculio 



is the well-known little Turk which 



makes the crescent-shaped punctures 



on plums, peaches, cherries, and apples, 



and whose grubs feed within. A 



small blackish weevil, the strawberry 



weevil (Anthonomus signatus), lays 

 its eggs in the 

 strawberry buds, 

 which it then 



FIG. 251. Larva of the cotton-boll weevil 

 in opened square. (Natural size) 



FIG. 252. The chestnut weevil 



(Balaninus proboscideus Fab.). 



(Natural size) 



FIG. 2^3. A corn bill-bug 



(Sphenophorus ochreus). 



(Twice natural size) 



(After Webster) 



cuts off, and the larvae feed on the develop- 

 ing flowers, often causing serious loss. The 

 cotton-boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) is 

 probably the most important species from 

 an economic standpoint, causing a loss of 

 over twenty-five million dollars annually. 

 The most striking of all the weevils are 

 the acorn and chestnut weevils, with snouts 

 much longer than the body, enabling them 

 to drill through the chestnut bur and de- 

 posit the egg within the nut, in which the 

 larva develops. Almost all of our common 

 nuts are attacked by some species of these 

 weevils, which often are a serious nuisance. 



