74 Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



-A click- 

 beetle. 



for a time as if dead. Suddenly there is a click, and the insect pops 

 up into the air several inches. If it comes down on its back, it tries 

 again and again until it succeeds in striking on its feet, 

 and then runs off. We remember well carrying these 

 creatures into the old district schoolhouse, where all les- 

 sons had to be learned from books, and where nature was 

 never given a chance to teach us anything. Here with 

 one eye on the teacher and one on this interesting jumper 



laid on our book 

 behind the desk, 

 we found a most 

 fascinating occu- 

 pation for the 

 tedious moments. 

 But tlie end was always the same ; 

 the beetle jumped so high that it 

 betrayed us and was liberated, 

 and we were disgraced." {From 

 ComstocTc's Manxicil for the 

 Stvdy of Insects, j)- 543). 



Many species 

 of wire worms are 

 not at all injuri- 

 u s to agricul- 

 ture, but certain 

 others live in the 

 soil and feed on 

 the roots o f ^ 

 plants, and on 

 seeds. The lat- 

 ter 6])ecies are "^ - 



f. - 18.— The Kyed Elater 



1 1 e n exceed- (Aiaus ocuiatus). 

 ingly injurious ; and as they work 



16.— Aconiplarittcro will},' in an )ot-cage infested in tllC gl'OUUd OUt of sight, they 

 by wireworins ai'd click-beetles (from a j-.v ^ 



specimen in tlie Cornell Insectary). are Very dllllCult tO COmbat. 



During three years (1880, 1890 and 1891) we made numerous 

 experiments to ascertain a practical method of preventing the 

 ravages of these pests. Unfortunately our efforts were not attended 



