The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-12-27

are predaceous. Note that they are not
parasitic. A parasite feeds on or with
in another animal without killing it:
but a predaceous Insect first kills and
then devours its prey.
Snout Beetles, or WeeviIs.
Beetles are divided then into the or
binary beetles, whose jaws work side
wise like a pair of shears. and snout
beetles, whose jaws, enclosed in more
or less elongated snout or proboscis.
work I'D and down like vertical saws.
The first group has already been treat
ed. The second great group may be
recognized by the presence of this beak
or snout hanging down from the head
like the trunk of an elephant. This
beak-like mouth is the main character
istic of the group. Shout beetles are
called true weevils to distinguish them
from the pea and bean weevils, which
are in a class by themselves, though
they also have beaks.
All the snout beetles feed on plant
tissues, and so are nearly all Injurious.
They may be known by their odd
shaped, narrow, and hard bodies, as
well as by the long, hard beak, in which
the mouth parts are concealed. They
are an ancient group; fossil remains of
them, three to four inches long, lived on
vegetation of the carboniferous era;
and some of the extinct forms were of
immense size. Several of them are now
called bill bugs, especially those that
feed on corn. The bill bug is a biting
insect, yet it extracts sap from the
cornstalk- Nearly all the bill bugs are
very destructive.
The Plum CurcuIio.
This beetle is called also the little
hn s.,l,
beetle makes in the fruit for the larva.
The plum Curculio is very destructive
to the plum. 1t is a small species, about
one-fourth of an inch long, with gray
ish black spots. 1t winters in the adult
stage and reappears early in the spring
feeding first on the buds and leaves
The female beetle cuts a crescent
shaped slit on the plum, when the fruit
is about the size of a marble, raises the
flap and lays its eggs under it. In a
few days the egg matches; then the
young larva bores into the plum ana
feeds around the pit, causing the fruit
to fall prematurely. Next to the cod
ding moth this is perhaps the most
serious of the orchard pests, since the
larva is beyond the reach of insecti-
cides- By Earring the trees the beetles
will drop to the ground and can be de-
stroyed
The Corn BilI-Bug.
OF some Importance among Weeyils
are the corn bill-bugs, which infesr
corn planted in sod and bottom lands,
or after timothy or in the vicinity or
streams in which are sedges, grasses
and rushes. 1t is at the roots of sedey
plants that these larvae live When
corn is only a few inches high these
larvae perforate the stalks at or below
the ground surface. The beetles sink
their beaks through the EMBODIED blades,
which are rolled up in the stalk, and
when the leaves unfold, little rows of
round or elongated holes are seen in the
leaf. Where the insects are numerous
blowing up and burning the infested
stuhble is recommended. This should |
be done late in July or early in August
before the insects have matured and |
issued from the stalks as adults. Where |
have started corn should not |
be planted after timothy.
Pea WeeViIs.
1t is not generally known that in eat |
ing green peas we may also eat a tiny