Insects, etc., Injurious to Nuts. 301 



Both males and females fly, especially in warm bright weather, and 

 alight on the bushes with considerable force. They do not take wing 

 when frightened, but fall to the ground. It is strange how difficult 

 they are to see when on the bushes, and one is frequently surprised 

 to find numbers falling down when the bushes are shaken. 



The female bores a hole in the young nut with her rostrum, and 

 then deposits a single egg in the hole. Sometimes this hole is made 

 through the calyx and soft shell, at others the calyx is not pierced. 

 The female is said to push the egg deep into the nut with her snout 

 and then proceed to deposit another in a fresh nut. 



The egg hatches in eight or ten days. The larva — the so-called 

 nut maggot — feeds on the kernel, which it tunnels or grooves out on 

 one side, and its moist " frass " may hasten decay, but not until the 

 maggot is mature. 



In form it is much like the larva of other weevils, but it is very 

 soft, pale creamy white, fat and curved at the tail end, slightly hairy 

 and has a quite hard brown head. In length it is rather more than 

 ^ inch. When mature it eats its way out of the nut, boring a small 

 round hole in the hard shell. It is an interesting sight seeing the 

 maggot escape, gradually squeezing itself through the hole which is 

 so much smaller than its body. It finally falls to the ground, or, if 

 the nut has fallen, escapes into the soil direct. It then forms a cell 

 in the earth where it remains in the maggot stage all the winter, 

 pupating in the early spring. The pupa is creamy white. From this 

 the weevil escapes and feeds upon the leafage until the nuts are ready 

 to receive the eggs. 



It has been suggested that those weevils which are seen in July 

 and even August, and which are thorrght not to have hatched until 

 then, may possibly hibernate (4) and appear with those that emerge 

 from the pupee in June. 



Pkevention. 



The beetle may be collected in numbers by jarring the bushes 

 over tarred sacks or boards. There is no doubt that this plan can be 

 followed with success. 



Stirring the soil in winter is sure to damage many of the soft 

 maggots and pupae and expose others to the attack of birds. Observa- 

 tions have been made which show that good cultivation under the nuts 

 is very necessary as a preventive measure. 



Mr. Fred Smith of Loddington informs me that he finds that 

 where he sprays his nuts with arsenate of lead for Winter Moth that 



