1908.] 



Apple Blossom Weevil. 



675, 



fruit growers have been discovered, or verified, and not a few 

 published statements proved to be incorrect. 



Distribution. — The Apple Blossom Weevil is widely distri- 

 buted throughout England and Wales, and is fairly plentiful 

 in Ireland, but less so (so far as records show) in Scotland, 

 Outside the British Isles it is found in France, Germany, Austria 

 and Hungary, and it is also recorded from the United States. 



It appears and disappears with remarkable suddenness, and 

 this phenomenon was noted very early in the work here recorded 

 particularly in Worcestershire, Hereford and Gloucester. Very 

 frequently it is restricted to a particular part of an orchard, or 

 to one orchard while not appearing in those closely adjoining it. 

 An instance of this was observed in two orchards adjoining 

 one another, where in one there was a splendid crop of apples, 

 whilst in the other scarcely a blossom had escaped this insect. 



Effect of the Weather. — The greatest damage is done when the 

 blossoms open slowly. Knight* states that " the depredations 

 of this insect are usually fatal to a larger proportion of the 

 blossom when the time of its expansion has been preceded by 

 hot and dry weather." Whitehead! records that in the tedious 

 cold spring of 1886 it was noticed that this pest was actively at 

 work in all directions. Early and very late blossoming varieties- 

 escape with much less damage than those of the main crop 

 which come into blossom in May. 



Life History. — Early in the spring the beetles leave their 

 winter quarters beneath fallen leaves, stones, clods of earth and 

 under dead or broken bark, and make their way to the apple 

 trees. Considerable difference of opinion prevails as to how 

 the females reach the buds, some writers state that they seldom 

 use their wings, but crawl up the stem and branches of the tree. 

 Mr. F. V. Theobald % states " the males I have often taken on 

 the wing, but never a female, although I have visited and 

 collected in orchards teeming with this beetle." Kollar§ 

 states that they are not " often seen flying from branch to 

 branch," Curtis || also makes the statement that " the females. 



* "A Treatise on the Culture of the Apple and Pear," 1801. 

 t " Insects Injurious to Fruit Crops," 1886, p. 21. 

 t "The Apple Blossom Weevil," 1897, p. 3. 



§ "A Treatise on Insects Injurious to Farmers, Foresters and Gardeners," 1 

 1837, p. 247. 



II Gardeners' Chronicle, 1844, P- 556. 



