

272 BUSH-FRUITS 



this plant for some time. The injury to these plants is done by 

 the female in the course of bviposition, and is produced by punc- 

 turing the stems just beneath the buds, causing the death of the 

 plant above the point of attack. A single egg is deposited at this 

 time in each flower-bud. The larvae are believed to hatch within 

 from three to five or six days after the egg is deposited in the bud, 

 and probably attain their full growth three or four weeks there- 

 after, when they transform to pupse. The pupal stage lasts from 

 about five to eight days, according to thermometric conditions, 

 and the first mature insects of the new brood begin to issue from 

 the strawberry buds toward the end of May, continuing through 

 the month of June, and in exceptional cases into July. The 

 beetles are so seldom seen after the middle of July that they are 

 believed to begin to hibernate at this time. Our observations 

 indicate only a single annual generation. All of the earlier stages 

 of the insect are passed in the bud. It never attacks the fruit. 



The larva, which in general appearance resembles the grubs or 

 "worms" found in plums, cherries and nuts, feeds at first on pollen 

 and the stamens and pistils of the unopened flower, but if these 

 are consumed before it completes its growth, the receptacle is 

 attacked. Pollen is thought to furnish the greater portion of the 

 food of the adults also, a fact which accounts for the greater in- 

 jury to staminate varieties of strawberries, and .especially those 

 which are the most prolific pollen bearers. 



Remedies. Four species of parasites have been bred from the 

 insect, and these will doubtless aid in checking their multiplica- 

 tion to a certain extent. Few practical remedies seem thus far to 

 have been tried, and the most that is offered is in the line of 

 suggestions. Kerosene emulsion and pyrethrum, applied when the 

 beetles are at work, may be found satisfactory. The planting of 

 very early staminate varieties as a decoy or trap crop for the 

 hibernating brood, and wild bergamot or horse-mint for the new 

 brood, is suggested. The beetles are said to fairly swarm on this 

 plant when in bloom, and can be readily captured with a sweeping 

 net or reached with insecticides. 



Mr. Chittenden's investigations show the insect to be averse to 

 working or feeding in shady places, and he suggests a protecting 



