1098 



THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



10 mm. 



which give trouble later. Next all nests should be treated to 

 cyanide of potassium when found. This is a deadly poison, but 

 it is very effectual in stamping out Wasp-colonies. loz. of 

 cyanide to half a pint of water will make a solution of sufficient 

 strength. In this should be dipped something fairly absorbent — 

 a piece of flannel — and this should be thrust well down the hole 

 in the evening, when most of the Wasps are at home. Many other 



mixtures are advocated, but none are so 

 effective as cyanide of potassium, which the 

 gardener must take care not to inhale. 



In fruit-houses, despite every precaution, 

 Wasps manage to gain an entrance. If, 

 however, a wide-mouthed bottle containing 

 some syrupy liquid be hung in the vicinity 

 of the ripening fruits, the Wasps are almost 

 certain to be attracted thither, and be caught. 

 Outdoors it will also pay to hang similar 

 bottles in the trees. 



There are yet other Wasps which are 

 of the greatest service. Those, however, 

 are Solitary, and are popularly known as 

 Sand - Wasps. There are a number of 

 species, all of which are smaller than their 

 Social relatives, while the body is far more 

 peg-top like. These are all carnivorous, 

 and collect vast numbers of injurious cater- 

 pillars, &:c., which, after paralysing them, they take ' to their 

 underground nests to furnish the young with food. 



Weevils. — Belonging to several families 

 of the Rhyiicophora are three or four 

 species more than ordinarily destructive, 

 and popularly described as Weevils, a name 

 which by coleopterists is reserved for the 

 CurculionidcE alone. The leading characters 

 of the group are the prolongation of the 

 head in front to form a snout or beak, 

 and the four-jointed tarsi. The species 

 calling for mention here by reason of their 

 omnivorous propensities and their abundance 

 are the Black Vine Weevil (Otior?-hynchus 

 suicatiis, Fig. 710), Apricot Weevil {O. tene- 

 bricosiis, Fig. 711), Clay-coloured Vine 

 Weevil ((9. picipes, Fig. 712), and the 

 Apple Blossom Weevil. 



The first three have much in common, and will be dealt with 

 together. O. siilcatiis is the one most to be dreaded, as nothing 

 seems to come amiss to it ; in length it is about -^in., and black 

 and furrowed. The perfect Beetle may be found upon a 



Fig. 710. — Black Vine 

 Weevil. 



ivs 



Fig. 



711. — Apricot 

 Weevil. 



