Tue Insect FAUNA OF THE GENUS CRATAEGUS 1071 
The period between the opening of the blossom clusters and the opening 
of the blossoms themselves is the time of oviposition, and the length of 
this period probably influences the amount of injury to a considerable 
extent. If it is prolonged by cool, cloudy weather, then eggs may be 
placed in more of the blossoms before they open. In central New York 
the oviposition period is about May 15. 
After selecting a suitable blossom bud, the female makes a hole in the 
side of the calyx with her beak. Then, turning around, she thrusts the 
egg into the hole with her ovipositor, and moves to another bud to repeat 
the process. A clear liquid fills the hole where the egg is thrust in, which 
soon hardens and seals the opening completely. The act of oviposition 
requires about ten minutes when the temperature is 68° or 70°, but it 
requires an hour at 54°. 
The egg is pearly white, 0.6 millimeter long, 0.36 millimeter wide, 
elliptical, generally the same size at both ends but when tucked in tightly 
between the anthers it may be narrower at one end to conform to the 
space it fills. It is of almost the same size and color as the anthers and 
is difficult to distinguish from them. The corium is smooth, unsculp- 
tured, and delicate, drying and collapsing when exposed to the air for 
one hour. 
After about a week the young, white, curved, legless larva is found within 
the bud. It feeds on the anthers, and, as it grows, consumes all the internal 
parts of the flower but leaves intact the wall of the receptacle and the 
closed petals which form the roof of its house. The petals become stiff 
as if they were starched, and do not shrink away as they turn brown. 
After feeding for a couple of weeks the larva is dirty white, is from 6 to- 
8 millimeters long, is still legless, has a small brown head, and lies in a 
curved position. At about this time it molts and changes to a white, 
free pupa 6 millimeters long, with a dark caudal spine, two dark promi- 
nent spines on the apex of the head, and several smaller spines farther 
back on the head. After pupating during a week or a little longer, the 
beetle makes a hole in the top or the side of its house with its beak, and 
emerges. 
It begins to feed a few minutes after emergence, choosing for its food 
the first young thorn or fruit in its pathway as it wanders along the 
branch. The thorns of the current season’s growth seem to be a very 
attractive food. A hole is drilled near the base of the thorn, and the 
beetle spends hours with its beak inserted in the hole completely up to its 
eyes, prying and straining to enlarge the cavity within the thorn. The 
round hole at the base of a thorn does not heal during the season’s growth, 
and the presence of such holes will indicate at any time of the year the 
presence of the blossom weevils. The beetles attack the fruit also and 
make several round holes in a single fruit before seeking another. The 
holes become brown almost immediately. The writer has never found 
