422 



Insect Pesti 



FIG. 277. — THE EASPJ^ERHY BEETT.K iBijti' 



wild blackberry. lu the mature stage it may be found feeding 



upon apple, pear and hawthorn blossoms. 



The damage done Ijv these 

 pests is twofold : first, the 

 beetles nip off the blossoms ; 

 and, secondly, the larvi-e eat 

 into and destroy the fruit, or 

 if they do not destroy it, they 

 too often render it unfit for 

 table. Infested fruit, even if 

 it appears sound, soon decays, 

 and a few in a sie^'e or Ijarrel 

 will wet those surrounding 

 them and soon form a moist 

 squashy mass. 



Life-Histijky axd Habits. 



The beetle is I inch long, 

 and when young is covered 

 with a dense golden-brown 

 pubescence, which later Ijecomes of a dull greyish appearance ; 

 the underlying colour is dark brown, and the beetle is that 

 colour when old and the pubescence has been rubbed off. The 

 legs are reddish-brown, sometimes with a j'cllowish hue; the 

 antenna- are yellowisli-brown to buff; beneath the elytra are folded 

 two ample wings. They are very active insects, flying from flower 

 to flower with great rapidity in bright weather, but soon become 

 sluggish when it is dull and damp. The earliest date I have of their 

 appearance in numbers is the 2nd of May, when liundreds were seen 

 flying about amongst the laspljerry canes at 

 Cambridge in 1890. The majority seem to occur 

 in the first week in June in Kent, and may be 

 found until the end of the month in small 

 numbers, Ijut I have found them at work in the 

 middle of May eating the blossoms, and a fe\\- 

 quite early in the month. As soon as tlie 

 blossoms open the l:ieetles feed on them, and, 

 moreover, they bite off' the blossoms and buds 

 just below their base. Whitehead (l!) says that 

 they also iced upon tlie shoots. 



When the blossoms eonnuencc to open the beetles begin to lay 

 tlieir eggs in them. As a rule a single eeg only in each Ijlossom, but 



¥1<-,. 27S,^r.ASrBEKEY 

 BEETEE- 



( Natural size.) 



