392 



ANNUAL, REPORT OF THE 



Off. Doc. 



pillars has proved useful. When the army is large, two furrows a 

 few feet apart may be needed to check its advance. 



Sometimes the progress of the caterpillars can be checked by 

 heavily spraying a strij) of field at the edge they are approaching, 

 with Paris green. The insects coming to this strip first, feed upon 

 it and are poisoned. Care should be taken, however, in such cases, 

 not to feed any of that part of the crop thus sprayed, to stock. 



WIRE W OEMS. 



(Elater sp.). 



The injuries caused by wire worms are frequently quite serious, 

 and as the work of these insects is upon the roots of plants it is diflfl- 

 cult to control them. In reality, wire worms are not adult insects, 

 but the young of "Snapping beetles" or "Click beetles" as they are 



Fig. 4. — Wire Worms. B, side view of a wire worm: A and C. 

 adult of wire worm (click-beetles). 



often called, from the habit they have when placed on their backs, of 

 suddenly "snapping" themselves in such a manner as to throw them- 

 selves into the air, when they in most cases can fall on their feet. 



There are many kinds of snapping beetles in the United States 

 and a corresponding number of kinds of wire worms, their young. A 

 few live under the bark of trees or in decaying wood; most, however, 

 live in the ground and feed upon seeds and the roots of various plants, 

 often causing much loss. 



Life History. 



The eggs of these insects appear to be laid in the spring usually 

 and from them the little wire worms soon hatch and begin to feed. 

 It generally takes several years before the little wire worms have 

 fed enough to become full grown, but when this condition has been 

 it^ached each forms a little cell in the ground, during the latter part 

 of the summer, and in this cell changes to an adult snapping beetle, 

 which remains in the cell till the following spring. 



