. The nut culturist : a treatise on the propagation, planting and cultivation of nut-bearing trees and shrubs, adapted to the climate of the United States ... Nuts. 114 THE NUT CULTUEIST. has handled or eaten chestnuts raised in this country^ whether of the exotic or native varieties. The parents of this grub are oval-shaped beetles about one-half inch long or less; wing covers, body and legs densely covered with a short yellow down, and from the front or thorax there extends a long, slightly curved, slender snout (Fig. 36), sometimes inch in length in the females, but usually less i
. The nut culturist : a treatise on the propagation, planting and cultivation of nut-bearing trees and shrubs, adapted to the climate of the United States ... Nuts. 114 THE NUT CULTUEIST. has handled or eaten chestnuts raised in this country^ whether of the exotic or native varieties. The parents of this grub are oval-shaped beetles about one-half inch long or less; wing covers, body and legs densely covered with a short yellow down, and from the front or thorax there extends a long, slightly curved, slender snout (Fig. 36), sometimes inch in length in the females, but usually less in the males. The mouth parts are at the extreme end of this snout or proboscis, and the fe- male, with her mandibles, it is claimed, reaches down among the chestnut spines and gnaws a hole in the husk, into which she drops an egg; and when this hatches, the minute grub cuts its way through the green husk and into the nut, the hole made in its progress closing up behind, leaving no mark or scar. Al- though I have taken hundreds of these wee- vils on chestnut trees, I never have been so FIG 36 CHEST-^o^**^^^*® ^® *^ ^^^® °^^ ™ *^^ ^^ °^ °^j" NUT WEEVIL, positing, but have come so near it as to .find the ovipositor still extended as the insect crawled out from among the spines. The chestnut weevil usually appears in great num- bers soon after the trees bloom in spring, but they con- tinue to come out all thi'ough the summer; I have occasionally found them late in September, which prob- ably accounts for finding small and half-grown grubs in the nuts as they ripen and fall from the trees. These late grubs often remain in the nuts all winter, but the greater part escape earlier, or very soon after the crop is ripe. The grubs crawl out of the nuts and work their way into the ground to a depth of from a few inches to two feet, much depending upon the nature of the soil. Having very powerful ja\^ they readily cut through a layer of leaves or soft wood, and I have known the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1896
