204 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Plant-lice on Roots (ApMs maidi-radicis et al.). 



In his exhaustive report on Insects affecting Indian Corn,* Professor 

 S. A. Forbes mentions six species of plant-lice which infest the roots 

 of corn in Illinois. One of these. Aphis maidi-radicis, is considered pri- 

 marily a corn insect. We have thus far failed to meet the pest in Michi- 

 gan but we may do so at any time. Like most root-lice the species is 

 associated with ants, in the absence of which the lice would probably 

 do little harm. 



REMEDIES. 



Professor Forbes suggests several remedies, — change of crop after seri- 

 ous infestation, in a word, rotation. Plowing and thorough harrow- 

 ing in the fall to break up the ant's nest, and starvation of the young 

 lice that hatch out before the corn is planted. This is done by keeping 

 down the rrroAvth of young weeds early in the season, especially smart- 

 weed and pigeon-grass. 



June-beetles or White-grubs {Lachnosterna spp). 



White-grubs are found in the 

 soil under sod, among grass- 

 roots, in corn-fields, straw- 

 berry plats and in a great va- 

 riety of situations. They pass 

 under a number of different 

 names but are best known by 

 that of white-grub. When at 

 rest, they are curved in the 

 form of a horse-shoe, covering 

 an arc about as large as a five- 

 cent pid^ce. White and soft, ex- 

 cept for the head and six legs, 

 and a row of breathing pores 

 along the sides, they are deli- 

 cate, watery creatures, with 

 awkward gait and feeble-pow- 

 ers of locomotion. The adults 

 are snuff-brown beetles from 

 one-half to nearly an inch in 

 size; heavy bodied and blundering in flight. They come in swarms to 

 electric lights and are also attracted to lamps in living-rooms. The grub 

 feeds on the roots of grass and other vegetation, being especially fond 

 of corn roots. The adults feed on the leaves of trees and other vegeta- 

 tion. 



The eggs are said to be laid in grass land and the young probably 

 require two years to develop, the pupal stage being passed in earthen 

 cells in the soil. 



REMEDIES. 



Late fall plowing breaks up many of the cells and exposes the inmates 

 to their enemies and to the weather. As they breed most freely on sod 



Fig. 54. — June-beetles. From Riley, Rep. State Ento- 

 mologist of Missouri. 



♦Twenty-first Ann. Rep. Ill State Bd. Agr. 



