62 



MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



Fig. 25. Larva (enlarged). Fig. 27. Adult (enlarged). 



Fig. 26. Pupa (enlarged). 



It does not seem possible for an apple one-fourth inch or 

 less in diameter to supply nourishment enough to bring a larva 

 to full maturity, but it has been learned that larvae can and do 

 develop in just such apples. To gather them in a large orchard 

 would be impracticable, but if clean culture is practiced they 

 and the larvae they contain could be largely destroyed by use of 

 the disk harrow or some other tool that would chop them up or 

 bury them. If the ground is clean and the orchard sufficiently 

 open, so that the sun can shine upon the apples as they lie upon 

 the ground, nothing further is necessary, because direct sunlight 

 upon the apples will kill the contained larvae. Superficial tillage 

 of the surface soil can be commended as an effective method of 

 attacking curculio. This tillage should be carried on continu- 

 ously or at frequent intervals for a period of from 30 to 40 

 days, during which the great bulk of the new crop of plum cur- 

 culios is in the ground. The object of tillage is to turn the 

 pupae out, kill some in the process, and expose the rest to the 

 elements and to birds and insects that prey upon them. 



Arsenate of lead sprays are said to be of use in poisoning 

 the adult beetles. 



Tarnished Plant-Bug. 



(Lygus pratensis.) 



This insect is a very destructive one, and injuriously affects 

 a large number of cultivated plants. It passes the winter in the 

 perfect state, taking shelter among rubbish, or in other con- 

 venient hiding places, and early in May, as soon as vegetation 

 starts, it begins its depredations. 



These insects are partial to the unopened buds, piercing them 

 from the outside and sucking them nearly dry, which causes 



