Snout Beetles That Injure Nuts 



FRED E. BROOKS 



INTRODUCTION 



The forests of West Virginia are rich in native nut-bearing 

 trees and shrubs. At least twenty-seven species are found that 

 bear nuts which are used as food by man or by the animals that 

 are of value to man. The nut-bearing trees furnish also the bulk 

 of hard-wood timber that is produced in the State. 



With the probable exception of the beechnut, all the more 

 common varieties of nuts, and, presumably, those that are less 

 common as well, are attacked by the larvae, or grubs, of over a 

 dozen different species of snout beetles. Some of these larvae 

 feed on the husks and inner tissues of immature nuts and others 

 on the kernels of nuts that are more nearly ripe. Young walnuts 

 and hickorynuts are frequently attacked soon after the blossoms 

 fall from the trees and the infested nuts drop to the ground be- 

 fore they are half grown. Chestnuts, acorns and some other va- 

 rieties sustain the greatest injury as they approach maturity. It 

 is not unusual for chestnuts that are kept a week or two after 

 gathering to become from 50 per cent to 75 per cent ''wormy" 

 and acorns often suffer to even a greater extent. The infested 

 nuts are rendered unfit for food and in many cases are so badly 

 eaten that they will not germinate when planted. 



The injury which these insects do to a valuable article of 

 food and their direct detriment to natural forest development, in 

 causing the failure of many nuts to germinate, make the group an 

 important one from an economic standpoint. 



