INSECT ENEMIES OF EASTERN FORESTS 2Y 1 
attacks the roots, and the adult chews the needles of pines. This 
weevil hibernates as an adult and in the spring deposits its eggs in the 
root systems of young trees. As a rule, the injury is of little im- 
portance. 
Two species of Brachyrhinus are at times pests in nurseries. The 
larvae of the black vine weevil (2. sulcatus (F.)), and the straw- 
berry root weevil (2B. ovatus (L.)) were reported in recent years to 
have done considerable damage to the roots of young yew plants in 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio. Britton (67) 
stated that in 1934 the larvae of B. ovatus destroyed the roots of 
75,000 young hemlock and several hundred thousand blue spruce seed- 
lings near Hartford, Conn. Occasionally damage also occurs in 
nurseries in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. 
Gambrell (780) obtained good results with poisoned baits. Smear- 
ing the sides of bed boards in nurseries with a sticky material will 
prevent attack, as the adults are wingless and spread to new areas 
by crawling. Clean cultivation and the rotation of seedbeds and 
transplant beds, allowing the infested areas to lie fallow and be thor- 
oughly cultivated in alternate years, provide the most satisfactory and 
logical control measures. 
The New York weevil (Jthycerus noveboracensis (Forst.)) is the 
largest species of the group Ithycerinae found in the Northeastern 
States. The adult is black, modified by ash-gray and pale-brown 
prostrate hairs, which give it a mottled appearance. The individuals 
range in length from 12 to 18 mm. The adult beetles may be found 
from May to July gnawing the tender bark on the twigs and eating 
into the buds of various hardwoods, such as oak, hickory, and beech. 
This may cause the twigs to die back, or they may break at the wound 
through wind action. The larvae are reported to breed in the twigs 
of hardwoods. Control measures in the forest are not practicable, 
but on young shade trees and fruit trees the beetles may be jarred 
into a net and destroyed. 
Phyllobius oblongus (1.), the European snout beetle was first col- 
lected in the United States in 1923 at Rochester, N. Y., when it was 
found injuring elm leaves. It was not again mentioned from the 
United States until 1934, when it was found in the same area feed- 
ing on the fohage of pear, apple, plum, and chokecherry. In 1936 
adults were collected in this same area on the foliage of apple, pear, 
and plum. Apparently it is most common in neglected orchards. In 
1935 adults were found feeding at Paimesville, northern Ohio, on the 
leaves of maple and elm, and in 1987 damage was extensive near this 
area, especially on the young shoots of willow, maple, and cottonwood. 
In Europe it is not usually a serious pest in forests, but Carruth (87) 
reported it as being at times a serious pest in orchards. 
Rhynchophorus cruentatus (F.), the palmetto bill bug is at times 
a common insect on weakened trees in Florida, being common on the 
cabbage palmetto and other palms. It is found from North Carolina 
to Louisiana. It breeds in the trunks of decadent trees, and Chitten- 
den (87) stated that the adult fed on bruised terminal buds and the 
sap which exudes from recently felled or wounded trees. The adult is 
from 20 to 31 mm. long and has shiny, black elytra, with deep but not 
punctured striae. The thorax is red, fringed with black margins, and 
the legs are fringed with long yellowish hairs. 
