THE ORANGE LEAF-NOTCHER. 

 ODONTOTA RUBRA (Web.) 



133 



FIG. 52. Noto- 

 lomus basalig. 

 (Original.) 



A beetle of the leaf-eating family Chrysomelidae is occasionally found 

 eating the leaves of Orange, but never to an injurious extent. Like the 

 preceding, its larva is a leaf- miner, and is found on various plants, 

 but not upon the Orange. 



NOTOLOMUS BASALIS Leconte. 



[Fig. 52.] 



A weevil or snout-beetle (family Curculionidce) of small 

 size and light straw color, frequently found upon the 

 trees, usually hiding in dead leaves or tangles of spider- 

 web. It has been seen to eat the leaves and tender bark, 

 but it nibbles rather than feeds upon the Orange, and 

 cannot be convicted of doing serious harm. When the Orange is in 

 bloom the beetle is quite common upon the flowers, and it feeds upon 

 the pollen and nectar without injury to the plant. The early stages 

 are not known, but it is suspected of a connection with the Saw-pal- 

 nietto, upon the bloom of which the beetle is always found in abund- 

 ance. 



THE ORANGE LEAF-NOTCHER. 



(Artipus floridanm Horn.) 

 [Fig. 53.] 



This is a snout-beetle of bluish-white color, stout, cylindrical form, 

 6 mm (J inch) in length. It is said to eat jagged notches in the edges of 

 orange leaves (see Report of Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture for 1879, p. 207), 

 and was also found by Ashmead on the 

 Florida Keys feeding upon the Lime 

 and other plants. (Orange Insects, p. 

 62.) The beetle is confined to the penin- 

 sula of Florida, and is rare except in the 

 extreme southern portions of the State. 



PACHN^EUS OPALUS, Olivier. 



FIG. 53. Artipus fioridanus, and orange 

 leaf with edges gnawed by the beetle. 

 (AfterComstock.) 



A weevil similar in form and color 

 to the preceding, but one-half larger. 

 Ashmead, in his Orange Insects, p. 61, 

 says : " This weevil was caught by me 

 in great quantities in South Florida on the Keys, feeding on the leaves 

 of the lime-tree (Citrus). I also found it eating the leaves of Baccharis 

 halimifolia and Borrichia frutescens, which I think are its natural food 

 plants." It is certainly very rare on the mainland, and does not occur 



