136 COLEOPTEKA OR BEETLES, 



pupa gives rise to the beetle in from five (Chittenden) to ten 

 days,'^ and this beetle lays her eggs on the feathery fronds of 

 the asparagus in detached rows, sticking them on by their ends. 

 Prevention and Remedies. — Neither chickens nor ducks eat 

 asparagus, and thus can be turned on the beds that are infested, 

 and will then soon clear off these pests. " An excellent practice 

 among prominent growers [in America] is to cut down all 

 plants, including seedlings and volunteer growth, in early spring, 

 so as to force the parent beetles to deposit their eggs upon new 

 shoots, which are then cut every few days before the eggs have 

 time to hatch for the first new brood." — (Chittenden.) Fresh 

 air-slaked lime dusted over the plants early in the morning soon 

 kills the larvae. 



The Curculionidee, or Ehynchophora, the family of "Weevils, 

 are destructive to crops, seed, and stored goods. The weevils 

 form a very extensive group of beetles, in which the head is - 

 more or less prolonged into a snout or rostrum upon which the 

 antennae are placed. There are two chief sub-families, the 

 Guroulionidm and the Bruchidce — the former having elbowed 

 antennae, the latter straight. "Weevils are all vegetable-feeders. 

 The larvae are in the form of footless grubs, which are creamy- 

 white, curved, and wrinkled, and generally sparsely covered with 

 pale hairs. The head is provided with a biting mouth, and is 

 brown in colour. "We find them living in galls, seeds, buds, 

 fruit, and on the roots of plants. The following are the most 

 injurious species : — 



The Applb-BijOssom "Weevil (Anthonomus poMOEUjr). 



This weevil is a serious apple pest in the southern and south- 

 eastern counties. The adult beetles, which are reddish-grey, 

 with a V-shaped pale mark on the elytra and with a longish 

 curved proboscis, are about one - sixth of an inch in length, 

 '■ Miss Ormerod says from two to three weeks. 



