208 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
discover the little hiders, so long as they lay per¬ 
fectly motionless, which they are quite wise 
enough to do. 
“ At the first hint of blossom-time, the hunch¬ 
backs rouse up and hike for the nearest fruit 
trees. They do not have much appetite at first, 
but they nibble a little here and there at the 
j^oung leaves and blossoms. By and by their 
sluggish interest warms up, and when the fruit 
begins to form, unless they have chanced into the 
trees of a progressive orchardist, they are in fine, 
hearty condition, and the mother curculio begins 
to lay her eggs. 
“With her long snout she makes a small cut 
through the skin, running down into the fruit 
about one-sixteenth of an inch. In this cavity the 
egg is placed. Then, with wise foresight, the lit¬ 
tle mother cuts a crescent-shaped slit in front of 
the egg chamber, the object being to cause the 
fruit about the tiny egg to wilt, and thus prevent 
the crushing of the larvse by the swelling of a 
fast-growing cradle. With so much food close at 
hand, the little white footless grub grows mirac¬ 
ulously, and in from three to five weeks, when the 
fruit, shriveled and crippled by its voraciousness, 
falls to the ground, it is ready to vacate the use¬ 
less hull. Quickly and surely it burrows into the 
earth to a depth of from four to six inches, and 
there takes its pupa sleep. The nap is not a long 
