THE APPLE BLOSSOM AND CABBAGE-GALL WEEVILS. 23 



PREVENTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. 



Spraying with a soda and potash wash early in February, 

 will destroy all lichens and mosses, beneath which the weevils 

 hybernate. 



All rubbish, leaves, long grass, etc., beneath the trees should 

 be cleared away and burnt. 



Spraying the trees before the blossom buds burst with paraffin 

 emulsion, tends to prevent the insects laying their eggs. 



Jarring the trees so as to shake off the dead blossoms before 

 the larval or pupal stages are over, will rid the trees of nearly all 

 the pests. An old rick-cloth should first be placed beneath the 

 tree, and after a vigorous jarring,the blossoms and beetles should 

 be swept up, collected and burnt. 



THE CABBAGE-GALL WEEVIL. 



Ceuthorhynchus sulcicollis, Gyll. 



The larvae and beetles of this species have been very much in 

 evidence in the Evesham district, and generally throughout South 

 Worcestershire and Warwickshire. But little attention has 

 been paid to preventive and remedial measures in these dis- 

 tricts, though much has been done in the w r ay of encouraging 

 the pest, as a result this beetle is undoubtedly increasing in 

 numbers and spreading itself over a wider area. 



LIFE-HISTORY. 



The female deposits her eggs either on the roots of Cabbages 

 and Turnips, or with her proboscis excavates small holes, into 

 each of which she places usually a single egg. In about ten 

 days the larvae hatch out, as short, thick, legless, yellowish- 

 white maggots, and around each a small swelling arises knovvn as 

 a gall. Within this the larvae passes the winter, and when full- 

 fed it leaves the gall, and in the earth makes a cocoon consisting 

 of an internal gummy-like substance, surrounded by particles of 

 earth. It remains in the pupal stage for about eight weeks. 



In the early part of the year this life-cycle takes place on 

 such cruciferous plants as Charlock, and later on the cabbage 

 and turnip. 



PREVENTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. 



Charlock and all cruciferous weeds should be destroyed. 



All infected cabbage stalks should be burnt. The lackadaisical 

 method of throwing them into heaps to rot, or burying them in the 

 ground (unless deeply buried) is typical of British farming 

 methods. The larvae make their way from the galls into the 

 earth, pupate, and later the beetles appear ready for the cab- 

 bage crop. 



