BEECH-WEEVIL. 205 



The generation is usually annual, though there may be three in two years. 

 Extermination. When young shoots of plants infested by the larvae droop 

 and look sickly about July, they should be pulled up and burned ; and 

 if persevered in for several years in succession, this almost completely 

 exterminates the beetle. Poles attacked should also be felled and barked ; 

 but it is much easier to recognise attacks on young plants than on poles. 



* The Beech leaf-mining weevil, Orchestes fagi, often swarms in Beech- 

 woods, sometimes does great damage to the leaves and flower-buds, and 

 is very destructive in defoliating Beech-trees. Weevil only T ^ to ^ in. 

 long, black, and covered with fine grey hairs ; elytra with rows of coarse 

 punctures ; antenna} and legs are light-brown ; snout, when not in use, 

 bent back under the thorax ; thighs of hind-legs thick, for springing. The 

 ? bites small holes on the lower surface of young leaves in spring, and 

 lays one egg in each hole near the midrib. The larva) hatch out in 2 to 3 

 weeks, and mine in the leaf-substance, forming whitish galleries (which 

 soon turn brown), increasing in breadth as the grub grows in size, and 

 damaged leaves turn brown, as if nipped by frost. The pupal stage is 

 passed in the leaf. The beetles emerge in June, feed on the leaves and 

 nut-cupules till autumn, then descend and hibernate under dead leaves 

 on the ground. Prevention is hardly possible in woodlands ; but the 

 attacks are least in mixed woods, where insectivorous birds are always 

 most plentiful. Ornamental trees may be sprayed with arsenic solution 

 formed by stirring ^ Ib. Paris - green paste in 100 gallons water, and 

 adding 1 Ib. lime. If this is not successful, infested leaves should be 

 picked in May and burned, and beetles shaken down and killed in June. 



The Oak leaf -mining weevil (Orchestes querci) does somewhat similar 

 damage to Oak foliage. 



5. The Willow, Poplar, and Alder - weevil, Cryptorhynchus lapathi, 

 about g in. long, and strongly marked by having its elytra dark-brown for 

 their first two-thirds, and white-scaled for the last third, gnaws the bark 

 of young shoots of old Willow and Poplars and young Alder-trees ; but 

 its larva} do far more damage by burrowing into the wood and forming 

 galleries from which the bore-dust is cast out at the entrance. Beetles 

 can be shaken down from trees in May, and badly infested branches or 

 trees cut in July and burned. 



* The Crawling Hazel - weevil, Strophosomus coryli. The larva is 

 chiefly found on Hazel, Oak, Beech, and Birch, but also attacks other 

 broad-leaved trees and Conifers, and hollows out the buds before gnawing 

 the young shoots. The crawling weevil also feeds in spring on the edges 

 of needles and the bark of young Pine and Spruce, especially 2-year-old 

 seedlings, and does much damage when occurring in large numbers. 



Beetles to in. long, almost spherical, brownish-grey with greyish 

 metallic sheen ; basal junction of elytra black, without hairs or scales ; 



