234 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



Food Plants. — This beetle has become a pest to walnut" trees, which 

 are often greatly injured by the attacks of the grubs. 



Control. — As the burrows are not very deep the grubs can be easily 

 cut out or killed with a wire as soon as discovered. 



ELATERID.E (Family). 



WIREWORMS. 

 (Fig. 231.) 



Wireworms are the larvae or grubs of the click beetles belonging to 

 the family Elateridce. They are cylindrical in shape with hard shiny 

 cuticle enabling them to slip easily through the soil. There are six 

 small legs near the head and many segments. The color varies from 

 yellow to dark brown. 



In some species the larvse develop into adults in one year while 

 in others several years are spent in the larval stage. 



Fig. 231. — Wireworms or larva of the click beetles 

 (.Elateridce). f Original.) 



Food Plants. — Wireworms work upon the planted seed and roots of 

 a great variety of plants destroying the former before germination 

 and often killing the plant when it is very young, or greatly reducing 

 its vigor. Corn, beans, beets and many other crops suffer seriously in 

 California, while a great variety of other crops are also attacked. 



Control. — The fact that the larvfe work in the soil makes control 

 uncertain and difficult. Salty fertilizers, such as Kainit or nitrate of 

 soda have been used with good effect as repellents to wireworms. 

 Clean cultivation and the use of poisoned baits, such as green alfalfa 

 treated with strychnine and placed under boards or buried in the 

 ground are effective; poisoned slices of potatoes, carrots or other 

 vegetables are also excellent baits. 



