86 



Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



US in invoices of a thousand or more at a time. We were easily 

 able to distinguish tive different species among those sent. The 

 species were kept in separate cages, thus enabling us to make many 

 observations on the habits, etc., of each during the course of our 

 exjDeriments upon them. 



1, The Wheat Wirew^orm. 



Agriotes manGus, Say. 



This species is probably the most numerous and most destructive 

 kind of wire worm in our State ; it constituted 91 per cent, of the 

 10,000 with which we experimented. 



The beetle (Fig. 21) was described in 1823, but nothing was 

 known of its life until 1867 when Dr. Fitch described the wire- 

 worm (Fig. 19) and added a few other notes. It is widely dis- 

 tributed and has been reported as destructive in Canada and some of 

 the Western States. 



Its life-history . — It is not known where 

 any species of click-beetle lays its eggs. 

 It is the general opinion that they are laid 

 in the spring in the earth close to the roots 

 of the plants. 



We never found any of the wheat wire- 

 worms less than 4 mm. in length ; they 

 measure when full grown from 16 to 19 

 ram. They are of a waxy-yellow color ; 

 their general appearance is well represented 

 in figure 19 (a detailed^ description was 

 given in Bulletin 33, p. 257). The eye-like 

 depressions (Fig. 20, e) on the sides of the 

 last segment render it easily distinguished 

 from most other wirew^orms. How long 

 this insect remains in the wireworm state, 

 we failed to learn. We found that one 

 cannot draw accurate conclusions as to their 

 age from their size. Our observations in- 

 i9.-The wheat wireworm, back dicated that this whcat wircworm may 



and side view, enlarged five , i i ,i /• i i . .i 



diameters (after Forbes). trouble the tamier at least three years 



