. Manual of fruit insects. iedprojecting obliquely forwardand does not hang do^^^l likean elephants trunk as in the Fig. 39. — The apple curculio (X 4). plum Curculio. The beetles hibernate ingrass, under rubbish and in other sheltered places, and ap-pear on the trees soon after the petals fall. They beginto feed on the young apples as soon as they are as largeas small peas, and the female begins egg-lajnng soon feeding the beetle punctures the skin of the apple bymeans of the small jaws at the tip of the beak and then eatsout a cylindrical cavity in the pulp as deep as the length of
. Manual of fruit insects. iedprojecting obliquely forwardand does not hang do^^^l likean elephants trunk as in the Fig. 39. — The apple curculio (X 4). plum Curculio. The beetles hibernate ingrass, under rubbish and in other sheltered places, and ap-pear on the trees soon after the petals fall. They beginto feed on the young apples as soon as they are as largeas small peas, and the female begins egg-lajnng soon feeding the beetle punctures the skin of the apple bymeans of the small jaws at the tip of the beak and then eatsout a cylindrical cavity in the pulp as deep as the length of thebeak. Growth is stopped around the puncture, the surround-ing tissue hardens and a knotty deformity results. The cavity excavated by the female for the reception of theegg is similar to the one made in feeding but is considerablyenlarged at the bottom. After placing the oval white or yellow-ish egg, ttV inch in length, at the bottom of the cavity the femaleseals up the small external opening \vith a drop of APPLE INSECTS 37 In feeding and in excavating the egg-cavity very little of theskin is swallowed ; it is merely torn back out of the way. Thisis one reason why it is so difficult to kill the beetles with anarsenical spray. In southern Illinois oviposition extends from late May toabout the middle of July, and the average number of eggs laidby each female is about 65. The eggs hatch in four or fivedays and the larva feeds on the pulp, becoming full-grown inabout 20 days. When full-grown it is nearly one half inch inlength, footless, and owing to the enlargement of certain seg-ments on the back is so strongly curved that it is unable tostraighten out. It pupates within the cavity in which it hasfed and in about one week the beetle emerges. The new broodof beetles, unlike the plum curculio, feed very little, but go intohibernation by the first of August. Remedial measures. Spraying with an arsenical as is practiced for the codlin-moth will destroy a small percen
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbenefic, bookyear1915
