FAMILY CURCULIONID.E. 109 



Balaninus rectus (Say). (Plate ii, fig. 5.) 



Color brown, mottled with lighter patches upon the thorax and elytra. Snout longer 



somewhat than the body, and curved at the extremity, slender, elbowed : antennse 



inserted below the middle, very slender. Rather less than \ inch in length. 



This nut weevil inhabits the chinquapin nut, and renders useless almost the whole crop : 



the nuts, after being kept a week, are always wormy. It may be the nascicus of Say, but 



seems to be smaller. 



Rhynchjsnus (Conotrachelus) nenuphar. Plum Weevil. (Plate ii, fig. 7.) 



Color brown, usually dark and somewhat variegated, and variable in individuals, rough 



and warty : thorax uneven ; elytra interceptedly ridged, arranged transversely in 



three rows, the most prominent in the middle ; abdomen thick, deep but short ; thighs 



toothed. 



It appears from the numerous accounts that have been published, that the mature insect 

 may appear as early as the last of March, and continue until the first of August; remain- 

 ing, therefore, for a longer period than most of the injurious beetles. 



The habits of this species are peculiar and interesting. It deposits its ova in most fruits, 

 as the plum, cherry, apple, quince, and even in the fruit of the hickory. It is also sus- 

 pected of inserting its eggs into the tender limbs of plum and cherry trees : it is not 

 known, however, whether those black excrescences are caused in this way, although it is 

 not improbable. I have found some three or four different grubs in these excrescences, 

 some of which belonged to a dipterous insect. , 



The plum weevil inserts in each fruit a single egg, having in the first place bitten a spot 

 upon its surface ; and although there may be scores of the insect upon the tree, it is very 

 rare to find more than one wound upon a plum or cherry. The grub produced from the 

 egg is small, and destitute of feet ; and when mature, it falls to the ground and imme- 

 diately buries itself in the soil : the next spring it appears in the perfect form at the usual 

 time, when the different kinds of stone fruit are setting. 



Among the remedies which have been proposed for diminishing the numbers of the 

 plum weevil, there is none so promising as the practice of shaking them from the tree early 

 in the morning and late in the evening, collecting them upon sheets, and committing them 

 to the fire : the fallen fruit should also be subjected to the same treatment. When the tree 

 is suddenly jarred, the insect folds up its legs, falls to the ground, and simulates death. It 

 is easily captured, especially in the morning and evening, when it is stiff, and indisposed 

 to take flight or attempt to escape. Strong-scented odors seem also to be disagreeable to 

 this insect, as it is rarely found upon trees situated near the hogpen. 



For a full history of this insect and the remedies proposed against it, see Harris's 

 Massachusetts Report on injurious insects, pp. 65-70. 



