Il6 . Insect Pests. 



noticed to be imich bitten in small holes and it was thought that 

 the Meligethes were the cause. 



Numbers were collected and kept in cages with a supply of open 

 and opening blossom tufts, but in no case was any harm caused by 

 the beetles. Similar observations were made in the College orchards 

 and the same conclusion arrived at. The beetles were feeding upon 

 both the pollen and the liquid. It is thus possible that they may 

 cause some slight loss by feeding on the former, but at the same 

 time they fly from blossom to blossom and, as was observed, carry 

 the pollen with them, and so do as much good in fertilisation as the 

 bees. 



It was feared that they might work in the same way as this 

 species does in mustard and other cruciferous plants, but such has 

 not proved to be the case. 



The Mustard Blossom Beetle {Meligethes ceneus) lays its eggs 

 in the blossom buds of mustard, and the larva which hatch from 

 them feed upon the various parts of the flowers, especially at the 

 base. They also attack the flower stalks and even the young pods, 

 and when mature fall to the ground to pupate, just under the soil. 

 Miss Ormerod also noticed that the beetles fed entirely on the pollen 

 of plants of the cabbage kind. 



The maggots feed at the base of the blossom of cruciferse, but 

 prolonged search did not reveal any in the apple blossom. 



The larvffi of these beetles are to be; found in June and early 

 July. The pupal stage is entered about ten days after the larvEe 

 burrow into the soil. An earthen cell is formed by the larvee in 

 which to pupate. 



Besides Meligethes ceneus, Mr. C. 0. Waterhouse kindly named 

 for me others found in fewer numbers in the apple blossom, including 

 M. picvpes. 



The first-named species {cnicus) is j^ inch long and of a dull deep 

 greenish hue. Its eggs are long, bluntly cylindrical and very trans- 

 parent. They take four or five (Miss Ormerod) to eight days to hatch. 

 The maggots reach about J^ inch in length, they are yellowish- 

 white in colour, with a few dull indistinct spots, three pairs of jointed 

 legs in front and an anal proleg ; the head is dark and large. 



The small holes eaten in the blossoms on apple were traced at 

 Wye to the Flea Beetles {Haltica oleracea and Phyllotrcta nemorum). 



