the hole made in its progress closing up behind, leaving no mark or scar. Although I have taken hundreds of these weevils on chestnut trees, I never have been so fortunate as to take one in the act of ovipositing, but have come so near it as to find the ovipositor still extended as the insect crawled out from among the spines. [Illustration: FIG. 36. CHESTNUT WEEVIL.] The chestnut weevil usually appears in great numbers soon after the trees bloom in spring, but they continue to come out all through the summer; I have occasionally found them late in September, which probably 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 jaws, they readily cut through a layer of leaves or soft wood, and I have known them to cut holes in sheets of dry cork. These grubs remain in the ground until the following season, then come forth in their winged or weevil stage, except the belated, broods, or those that have not reached full size in the autumn; these remain in the ground the entire summer, coming out late in the fall, or pass over until the second year, as I have proved by burying the grubs in a barrel sunk in the ground, covering the top with fine wire netting, to prevent the escape of the weevils as they emerged from time to time during the season.