CUR 



[268 ] 



CUR 



O. betuleti. Vine Weevil. Colour steel- 

 blue. Attacks the leaf, rolling it up as a 

 nest for its eggs. The pear is liable to 

 its attacks also. Appears in June and 

 July. 



C. cupreus. Copper-coloured Weevil. 

 Attacks the leaves and young shoots of 

 the plum and apricot, as well as their 

 fruit. June and July. 



C. lineatus. Striped Pea Weevil. Every 

 gardener must have observed the edges 

 of the young leaves of his peas, and some- 

 times of his beans, eaten away in scollops, 



or semicircular pieces. This is often 

 done by the Sitona libialis, but still more 

 frequently by another of the short-snouted 

 beetles, Curculio lineatus. In Scotland 

 it is commonly called " the Cuddy," or 

 Donkey, from its grey colour. In our 

 drawing it is magnified ; but the line by 

 its side shows the natural length. Tho 

 whole body is grey, and marked with black 

 lines; the antennae reddish; the eyes black. 

 They survive the winter sheltered beneatli 

 moss, &c., and in bad weather at all 

 seasons retire under stones, only to re- 

 appear with the sunshine. 



C. macularius. Spotted Weevil. Grey 

 colour. April. Also destroys the pea. 

 Soot or lime sprinkled over peas early 

 in the morning before the dew is off from 

 them, and so thickly as to cover the soil 

 about them, would probably save them. 

 To mitigate the attack of the weevils upon 

 trees, the only mode is to spread a sheet 

 beneath them, to shake each branch, 

 wad to destroy those beetles which fall. 

 They usually feed at night. 



C. nucum. Nut Weevil, of which the 

 maggot is so frequent in our filberts. 

 Mr. Curtis thus describes it : " The in- 

 ect is brown, with darker bands; is 

 about a quarter of an inch long, and has 

 a long horny beak, about the middle of 

 which are placed antennae. When the 

 nut is in a young state the female weevil 



deposits a single egg. The maggot is 

 hatched in about a fortnight, and con- 

 tinues feeding in the interior of the nnt 

 till it is full grown, when the nut falls. 

 The maggot has no legs, nor, indeed, has 

 it any use for them, being hatched in the 

 midst of its food; and when the nut 

 remains on the tree, it forces itself out of 

 the hole it eats in the nut, and falls 

 almost immediately to the ground. The 

 only remedy we are aware of is, in the 

 course of the summer, to frequently 

 shake the trees, which will cause all the 

 eaten nuts to fall to the ground, when 

 they must be collected and burned." 



<7. oblongus. Oblong Weevil. Reddish- 

 brown colour. Feeds on the young leaves 

 of the peach, apricot, plum, pear, and 

 apple. Appears in May. 



C. picipct is a dull black, and is very 

 injurious in the vinery. 



C. pomorum. Apple Weevil. Colour, 

 dark brown. Attacks the blossom of the 

 apple, and often destroys the whole crop. 

 More rarely it attacks the pear blossom. 

 Appears iu March and April. 



G. pyri. Pear Weevil. Dark brown, 

 very like the Apple Weevil. April. 



(7. suleatus. During the winter months, 

 succulent plants, suoh as Sedums, &c., 

 become sickly, and die, apparently without 

 a cause. They are thus destroyed by a 

 small, footless grub feeding upon them 

 just below the surface of the earth. This 

 grub is about half an inch long, colour 

 dirty white, fleshy, slightly cm-ved, bristly, 

 and without legs, but furnished at the 

 sides with tubercles, which aid it in 

 moving. At the latter part of May, these 

 grubs enter the chrysalis state, becoming 



white, and having the appearance of tha 

 body of a beetle stripped of its wings, 

 and in a mummy state. From this atate 

 the perfect insect comes forth, at the eod. 



