INSECT ENEMIES OF EASTERN FORESTS 289 
Probably the most important species is the pecan weevil (Curculio 
caryae (Horn)). It attacks practically all species of hickory from 
Connecticut west to Iowa and south to Florida. The adults emerge 
late in the summer, and several eggs may be laid in each nut. Only 
two or three larvae survive, and the entir e kernel is devoured in about 
a month. ‘The larvae hibernate in a cell in the ground, but as a rule 
do not transform to pupae until the second summer after entering 
the soil. This weevil is not considered a very important pest in the 
northern part of the range, as hickory nuts are not of commercial 
importance. In the South, however, some pecan growers consider 
it the most destructive pest of the pecan. At times as much as 65 
percent of the crop has been reported destroyed. The insect does 
not spread very rapidly, and only occasionally is the damage severe. 
The virtual elimination of chestnut by the blight has decreased the 
importance of the large chestnut weevil (C urculio proboscideus F.) 
and the chestnut weevil (C. auriger), although they still are capable 
of considerable ey ae chestnut trees may be found. The 
acorn weevils, C. nasicus Say, C. baculi (Chitt.), and C. confusor 
(Ham), and o. obtusus (Blanch.), the hazelnut weevil, are occa- 
sionally abundant and make it difficult to collect a viable crop of seeds 
for planting. 
It is difficult to apply satisfactory control measures. Apparently 
the nuts that drop earliest are the most wormy. Therefore, the pecan 
nuts that drop should be gathered immediately and the main crop 
harvested as soon as possible. All nuts should be placed in tight- 
bottomed boxes, to prevent the larvae reaching the ground. Bissell 
(34), after 12 years’ work in Georgia, stated in 1939 that the only 
practical way to prevent damage is to jar the adults from the trees 
onto sheets before they have a chance to lay eggs in the nuts. Recent 
experiments have shown that DDT sprays are very effective. 
‘Several species of Conotrachelus are of some importance in the nut 
industry, at times becoming numerous enough to cause considerable 
loss. The genus 1s not, however, SO important. economically as the true 
Curculio genus. ‘They hibernate as adults and deposit eggs in imma- 
ture nuts, “which dr op while they are still small. The species that at- 
tack walnuts and hickory nuts often cause a heavy drop early in the 
season, and the infestation may pass unnoticed. Conotrachelus jug- 
landis Lec. on butternuts, C. retentus (Say) on walnuts, C. affinis Boh. 
on hickory nuts, and C. aratus (Germ.) on hickory shoots are very 
similar in appearance, habits, and seasonal activities. The first two 
attack the nuts, tender shoots, and leaf petioles of at least two species 
of Juglans, and are present wherever trees of this genus grow. (C. 
affinis, however, apparently confines its attacks to the immature hick- 
ory nuts, and (. avatus confines its attacks to the young shoots and 
leaf petioles (Brooks, 64). 
Conotrachelus anaglypticus (Say), the cambium curculio, is com- 
mon from Massachusetts to Florida and west to Iowa, and attacks a 
variety of fruit, shade, and forest trees, those of the latter, according to 
Brooks and Cotton (65), including in 1924 hickory, birch, beech, 
maple, chestnut, and oak. The eggs are laid ar ound fresh wounds; 
the larvae do not mine extensiv ely and, asa rule, cease feeding when 
the tissue grows old and tough. There are two generations a year 
in Georgia, “but only one in West Virginia and farther north, 
