THE PLUM. 113 



plum she makes a crescent-like incision under 

 the skin of the fruit, into which she pushes a sin- 

 gle egg ; then passing to another fruit, deposit- 

 ing from five to ten daily, until her stock of fifty 

 to a hundred is exhausted. The egg hatches in 

 a few days, and the larva feeds upon the fruit, 

 gradually boring to the stone. The grub ma- 

 tures in from three to five weeks, and is then 

 about two fifths of an inch long, and of a glossy 

 yellowish color. Usually the working of the 

 grub causes the plum to drop prematurely, and 

 before the larva is full grown. It is therefore 

 important to collect and destroy this fruit at 

 once. If this is neglected the larva descends 

 from four to six inches into the earth, and in 

 from three to six weeks the chrysalis is trans- 

 formed to the beetle, which hibernates under the 

 loose bark of trees. As soon as the plum is in 

 blossom the moths begin 

 to fly, and their work com- 

 mences as soon as the fruit 

 begins to form. Fig. 6 

 shows the size of the bee- 

 tle, and the puncture of 

 the fruit. If alarmed, it 

 drops to the ground, feign- Fig. 



ing death. This peculiarity affords an effectual 

 method of destroying it. A large cotton sheet 



