. The insect and other allied pests of orchard, bush and hothouse fruits and their prevention and treatment . Insect pests; Fruit. 422 Insect Pesti. FIG. 277.—THE EASPJ^ERHY iBijti' wild blackberry. lu the mature stage it may be found feeding upon apple, pear and hawthorn blossoms. The damage done Ijv these pests is twofold : first, the beetles nip off the blossoms ; and, secondly, the larvi-e eat into and destroy the fruit, or if they do not destroy it, they too often render it unfit for table. Infested fruit, even if it appears sound, soon decays, and a few in a sie^'e or Ijarrel wil
. The insect and other allied pests of orchard, bush and hothouse fruits and their prevention and treatment . Insect pests; Fruit. 422 Insect Pesti. FIG. 277.—THE EASPJ^ERHY iBijti' wild blackberry. lu the mature stage it may be found feeding upon apple, pear and hawthorn blossoms. The damage done Ijv these pests is twofold : first, the beetles nip off the blossoms ; and, secondly, the larvi-e eat into and destroy the fruit, or if they do not destroy it, they too often render it unfit for table. Infested fruit, even if it appears sound, soon decays, and a few in a sie^'e or Ijarrel will wet those surrounding them and soon form a moist squashy mass. Life-Histijky axd Habits. The beetle is I inch long, and when young is covered with a dense golden-brown pubescence, which later Ijecomes of a dull greyish appearance; the underlying colour is dark brown, and the beetle is that colour when old and the pubescence has been rubbed off. The legs are reddish-brown, sometimes with a j'cllowish hue; the antenna- are yellowisli-brown to buff; beneath the elytra are folded two ample wings. They are very active insects, flying from flower to flower with great rapidity in bright weather, but soon become sluggish when it is dull and damp. The earliest date I have of their appearance in numbers is the 2nd of May, when liundreds were seen flying about amongst the laspljerry canes at Cambridge in 1890. The majority seem to occur in the first week in June in Kent, and may be found until the end of the month in small numbers, Ijut I have found them at work in the middle of May eating the blossoms, and a fe\\- quite early in the month. As soon as tlie blossoms open the l:ieetles feed on them, and, moreover, they bite off' the blossoms and buds just below their base. Whitehead (l!) says that they also iced upon tlie shoots. When the blossoms eonnuencc to open the beetles begin to lay tlieir eggs in them. As a rule a single eeg only in each Ijlossom, but. Please note that these ima
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectinsectpests, bookyear
