128 THE PLUM CUKCULIO. 
fruits is grown, as apples, pears, late peaches, plums, etc., this exi- 
gency in the life of the insect does not occur. Nevertheless, the weevil 
in the Southern States is able to maintain itself in extended areas 
largely devoted to peach growing, as shown by the fact that the 
insect is here perhaps most abundant and destructive. 
The jarring records presented on page 120 show the beetles to be 
present in peach orchards until quite late in the season, but not in 
such numbers as during spring and early summer, indicating a con- 
siderable diffusion or early seeking of hibernation quarters. During 
September, 1905, Mr. Beattie, at Fort Valley, Ga., jarred 400 peach 
trees, securing 600 beetles, which he states were very active and 
were captured on the sheets with difficulty. 
Beetles kept in confinement from time of emergence until hiberna- 
tion have fed freely on fruit when present or on foliage when supplied 
with this alone. Their forced feeding on foliage, as in the South, 
suggests the possibility of destroying them in large numbers by 
thorough spraying with arsenicals after the fruit has been har- 
vested, insuring their material reduction another season. 
In the more northern States the beetles feed freely on various 
fruits but are especially destructive to the apple. The so-called fall 
feeding puncture, in fact, constitutes an important injury to apples, 
pears, plums, etc. The puncture differs somewhat from that made 
in the spring by the overwintering generation. The cavity is cylin- 
drical, as in the case of the spring puncture, but somewhat deeper, 
and is usually excavated beneath the skin all around, as far as the 
length of the snout of the beetle will permit. The opening through 
the skin, about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, is surrounded 
with a darkened circle, due to the cavity beneath, which, if the skin 
be removed, will be found to be from one-eighth to one-fourth inch 
across. A single cavity is rarely more than one-eighth inch deep, 
but where the insects are numerous and the fruit scarce the feeding 
punctures may be so abundant as to run together, with the result 
that the injured area of the apple, due to the evaporation through 
the broken skin, collapses, quite destroying the fruit for market 
purposes. (See PI. XIII.) Wasps and other agencies, following the 
curculio, may further excavate these feeding punctures, which may 
be invaded by rot-producing fungi and bacteria, soon bringing 
about the decay of the fruit. Often the punctures become so 
enlarged that the beetles are able to get inside, where they feed and 
rest, perhaps spending days there at a time. This character of 
injury was noted years ago by Prof. Comstock. 1 
The extent to which the beetles feed in the late summer was 
determined by Crandall for 10 individuals, separately confined, and 
furnished fresh food, 5 of them daily, the balance about once each 
i Bui. 3, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 40 (1888). 
