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THE CANADIAN ENTOMOT.OGIST. 



PHYTONOMUS PUNCTATUS, Fabricius. 



The PunctufcU Clover-leaf Weevil. 



BY A. H. KILMAN, RIDGEWAY, ONT. 



A curculio new to Canada has appeared in this locality. Prevailing 

 east winds about Aug. loth wafted this new clover pest to our shores. 

 This beetle, as far as I know, has not been mentioned in the Entomolo- 

 gist. It was introduced from Europe Httle more than three years ago. 

 Appearing on the eastern seaboard, and taking the continent in the inverse 

 order to the movement of the Colorado Potato Beetle, it is working 

 rapidly westward. Last year no specimens were reported west of 

 Rochester, while in Eastern New York the clover crop was destroyed by 

 this insect. On the date above mentioned it appeared in Buffalo in such 

 numbers that thousands were crushed on the pavements by the feet of 

 passers-by. Simultaneous with this was its appearance in Ridgeway. 1 

 picked them from the fences and sidewalks, and found them in the grass 

 on my lawn. Mr. Reinecke could have gathered them by the quart along 

 the lake shore at Buffalo, where they had stranded after being carried by 

 the wind far out upon the water. They have the extraordinary faculty of 

 closing their tracheae and suspending respiration while in the water, and 

 an hour's sunshine on the sandy beach leaves them none the worse for a 

 good soaking. 



The beetle is two-fifths of an inch long, has a stout body of a dark 

 brown color ; sides of thorax and elytra dull yellow, a central yellow line 

 on thorax, rows of black raised points along inner half of elytra with 

 dashes of the same muddy yellow towards the rear. Each female has a 

 " depositing power " of from 200 to 300 eggs. She punctures the clover 

 stem and places an egg therein, or sometimes attaches it to the surface of 

 the stem. The larva feeds upon the leaves, which it destroys rapidly, 

 eating only during the night and hiding in the day time. 



I am of the opinion that the advance guard of this insect invasion 

 arrived last year, and it is the main body now ; and further that those now 

 arriving will go into winter quarters and open up a lively campaign in the 

 spring. I am led to these conclusions by the fact that many clover fields 

 in this and adjoining counties failed this season to blossom fully, the 

 Clover Midge getting the blame. Whatever the sequel may show, we fear 



