156 



COLEOPTERA OR BEETLES. 



Fig. 73. — Apple Blossoms damaged bv Apple 

 WBEvrL (AntlionQm-it^ pomomvi). 



fall until after the weevils have escaped : a small round hole 

 shows the place of exit of each beetle (fig. 73, i). The female 

 takes some time to lay her eggs, each one requiring about three- 

 quarters of an hour to 

 oviposit in a single bud. 

 As they can only live in 

 an unopened blossom, the 

 attack must necessarily be 

 of short duration. The 

 worst mischief is wrought 

 when we have cold nights 

 and bad weather, thus re- 

 tarding the opening of the 

 buds and giving a longer period for oviposition. The whole 

 life-cycle is complete in about five weeks. There is only 

 one brood in the year. The adult beetles coming from the 

 diseased blossoms feed upon the apple leafage until the time 

 arrives to hibernate. The males are endowed with considerable 

 powers of flight, but one seldom finds the females on the wing. 

 The majority crawl up the trees to lay their eggs. 



Preoention and Remedies. — The same rules for prevention of 

 this fruit pest apply to all alike — namely, the destruction of 

 winter shelter by keeping the tree trunks clean and free from 

 rough bark. Trees which are seen to be badly infested, where 

 possible, should be well shaken, and the dead blossoms collected 

 and burnt before the beetles have escaped. The adults may 

 also be jarred off the trees on to cloths and destroyed. 



Pea and Bean Weevils (Sitoxes lineatus and S. craxiTUs). 



That sparrows do an immense amount of harm is only too 

 well known, but they are not accountable for the damage done 

 to young peas and beans that is usually attributed to them. 

 When the edges of the leaves of our peas and beans are eaten 

 out in notches, it is generally said to be due to this cosmopolitan 



