320  Annual  Report  for  1910  of  the  Zoologist. 
afforded  an  opportunity  of  testing  various  remedies,  and  also 
led  to  a close  study  of  the  insect,  which  resulted  in  the 
conviction  that  something  is  still  to  be  learnt  about  its  life- 
history.  As  ordinarily  stated,  this  is  straightforward  enough. 
The  beetle  appears  in  May  and  June,  at  first  eating  the 
buds  and  later  on  laying  eggs  in  the  blossoms.  The  larvas 
feed  on  the  fruit — living  for  the  most  part  inside  the  receptacle 
— and,  when  fully  fed,  crawl  away  to  turn  to  pupae  under 
the  soil,  or  under  the  bark  of  the  canes  or  the  stakes  used  to 
support  them.  The  principal  facts  observed  which  require 
explanation  are  these.  First,  the  very  early  date  at  which 
beetles  were  found  in  the  ground  at  the  roots  of  the  plants. 
The  first  time  they  were  noticed  was  February  14,  and  from 
that  time  onward  they  were  fairly  numerous.  Moreover  grubs 
of  the  beetle  were  found  in  the  ground  on  April  10.  Now 
why  the  beetle  should  appear  months  before  there  are  any 
blossoms  to  feed  on  requires  explanation,  and  the  presence  of 
larvae  in  April  is  still  more  unexpected.  A possible  root- 
feeding brood  was  suspected,  but  no  evidence  was*  found  of 
it.  Beetles  were  kept  in  captivity  in  the  early  spring  and 
supplied  with  raspberry  roots  and  soil,  but  they  were  not 
observed  to  feed  upon  the  roots  or  to  lay  eggs  on  them.  Then 
the  pup*  (chrysalids)  evaded  all  attempts  to  find  them.  In 
the  spring  numerous  cocoons  were  found  among  the  raspberry 
roots,  but  they  were  not  those  of  the  beetle,  but  of  a lace- wing 
fly — one  of  the  insects  which  live  upon  green-fly.  Nor, 
curiously  enough,  could  the  pupae  be  found  after  the  attack, 
though  the  bark,  the  roots,  and  the  soil  were  carefully  ex- 
amined. Some  infested  bushes  were  imprisoned  under  a 
structure  of  glass,  perforated  zinc,  and  gauze,  and  many 
additional  grubs  placed  upon  them,  but  a careful  examination 
in  October  failed  to  reveal  a single  beetle  in  any  stage  of  its 
life-history.  Observations  will  be  continued  next  year,  and, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  with  more  success.  In  the  search  for  the 
insect  and  in  the  application  of  various  remedies  the  help 
of  Mr.  Sidney  C.  Lamb  was  most  valuable,  and  with  his  aid 
a variety  of  dressings  were  experimented  with,  either  in  order 
to  kill  the  beetles  in  the  soil  or  to  intercept  the  grubs  when 
leaving  the  fruit  for  their  winter  quarters. 
The  subterraneous  injection  of  carbon-bisulphide  (four 
quarter  ounce  doses  to  each  plant)  seemed  to  have  a beneficial 
effect.  The  plants  so  treated  suffered  a little  in  general  con- 
dition, but  this  was  probably  because  the  injections  were  made 
so  late  in  the  season,  namely,  March  26.  Probably  it  could 
be  used  a month  earlier  without  harming  the  plants. 
Further  experiments  will  be  made  in  dealing  with  this 
pest,  and  it  is  hoped  that  a careful  observation  of  it  throughout 
