Cherry Weevil

(Rhynchites auratus), cherry snout beetle, a beetle of the Attelabidae family. The body is 6-9 mm long and is golden-red or golden-green. In the USSR the insect is found in the central and southern parts of the European territory and in the Caucasus, southwest Siberia, and Middle Asia. It damages cherry, gean, plum, blackthorn, apricot, myrobalan plum, and other trees. The beetles eat away the emerging buds, flower buds, flowers, and young fruits. The larvae, which feed upon the kernel of the stone fruits, do the most damage. Protective measures include treating the trees with insecticides, shaking the beetles into screens, collecting the windfall fruits, and plowing the soil around the tree trunks.