D4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 14, UNIVERSITY PARK The typical Pennsylvania weather that we’ve been having, with its un predictable shifts from cold winds and rain to sweltenngly hot and humid days, plays an important part in controlling the ac tivities of the plum curculio. This insect is an injurious pest in plum, apple, peach, and cherry orchards throughout Pennsylvania, says Robert Tetrault, Penn State Extension en tomologist. The first curculios make their grand entrance in apple orchards right about the time of apple blossom festivities, according to Tetrault. Dressed in a dark brown costume with whitish pat ches and four humps on its back, the beetle is about V* inch long. This beetle could be nicknamed Pinochio, because one third of its total body length is ‘nose’. Its long snout projects forward and downward from the head. How does the weather harness this bug’s ac tivities? It seems that periods of cool, rainy weather with maximum temperatures below 70 degrees Farenheit are not ideal for curculio activity. This bug begins to bus' le when the first warm period arrives, generally right after the petals fall from the trees, and when the maximum temperature reaches 75 degrees Farenheit or higher. The adult curcuhos can usually be found in orchards for 5-7 weeks, and are generally more abundant on fruit trees next to woods, fence rows and trashy fields. Small, pearly-white eggs, which hatch m 7 days, are laid singly by the female curculio in a small cavity underneath the skin of the young fruit. After the week long in POURED SOLID • Cistern Walls • Barnyard Walls • Concrete Pit Tops • Silage Pit Walls • Retaining Walls Let Balmer Bros Do YOUR Next Concrete Project! Bctlmcr Bras. (71 7) 859-2074 or (717) 733-91 96 After SPM Control plum curculio in orchards cubation, the yellowish white larva poke their brown heads toward the center of the fruit. There they begin to burrow large irregular cavities. After gorging themselves at the fnuts’s expense for 16 days, the larva reach maturity. At this point, the V* inch long pest flees its host and enters the soil where it is transformed into an adult curculio. The new adult emerges sometime m August and feeds for a short time before seeking Winter quarters its damage for the year completed. According to Tetrault, both feeding punctures and egg punctures are made in the fruit by the adult. The feeding punctures are small round holes extending into the fruit about 1/8 inch. Egg punctures are distinguished by a characteristic crescent shaped cut which partially surrounds the sunken egg. Adults make an average of over 100 feeding and/or egg punctures during their normal life. Feeding punc tures cause misshapen or gnarly fruit. Fruit tree varieties that bloom the earliest are first to provide .suitable locations for feeding and depositing eggs. 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Work the hugs out of your crops weather after petal fall when the temperature climbs to about 75 degrees for several days. Tetrault warns that when f eedmg is greatly reduced by low temperatures and moderate rams wash spray deposits from fruit and foliage, as growers noted during the Spring of 1978 and 1979, curculio control is more difficult. He also pomted out the cooler weather means the active pest will be around the orchard for an extended period. Penn State advises or chardists to monitor tem peratures in order to time curculio Sprays, with spraymg schedules for trees bordering woods or fence rows being more frequent. Tetrault said most of the insecticide combinations suggested m Penn State’s commercial production guide have provided com mercially acceptable con trol. However, the Guthion plus Penncap-M com bination, he said, has a slight edge. Along with getting the right insecticide com- Let Us Know Your Service Problems HOOVER DIESEL SERVICE PH 717-656-6133 2998 West Newport Rd Ronks, PA 17572 bination, Penn State reminds growers that the length of time between sprays is also important. Where growers have noticed a history of plum eurciho injury, the following LIQUID GLASS ITS WATERPROOF, ACID AND SALT PROOF Apply like paint, when dry has a surface like porcelain. Has lasted for 11 years in milk houses and still is in good shape • Poultry & Cattle water troughs • Farrowing & Finishing Houses • Water Proofing Basements USDA APPROVED FOR MEAT PROCESSING ESTABLISHMENTS. AT A FRACTION OF THE COST OF GLASSBOARD AND TILING! LANCASTER CO J.B. ZIMMERMAN & SONS Blue Ball & Strasburg, PA 717-354-4955 BRANDT'S SUPPLY INC. 601 E. High St. Elizabethtown, PA 717-367-1221 LANCASTER & CHESTER CO LAPP'S HARDWARE AND DAIRY SUPPLIES RD 4, Box 96, Loop Road Quarryvilie, Pa. 17566 717-786-3970 BEDFORD CO BENCE FARM EQ. 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Box 3146, York, PA 17402 Call Jeff -717-755-8062 —increase the insecticide rate during peak activity and, —select the most effective insecticides without sacrificing control of other pests. • Bunk Feeders • Milking Parlors • Mangers • Use instead of White wash YORK & ADAMS CO PARADISE FARM & HOME CENTER RD 1, Box 265 Thomasville, PA 717-225-1064 LEBANON CO. HUBER'S ANIMAL HEALTH SUPPLIES 810 Tulpehocken Road Myerstown, PA 17067 BRADFORD CO HARLAN MARTIN'S SURGE SALES Troy, PA 717-297-3972 NORTHAMPTON CO ARTHUR MILLER SURGE DAIRY SUPPLIES Wind Gap, PA 215-863-9712 FRANKLIN CO. VIRGINIA JOHNG. DALLAIN RD 1 Box 113 Remington, VA 22734 703-439-3842 CENTRE CO. HENRY M. CLICK Box 203 C, RD 2 Howard, PA 16841 SOMERSET CO.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers