THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 233 



In both the potato and cyanide methods tlic two- and three-year-old 

 worms are eliminated, as well as large numbers of one-year-old worms. 

 Therefore, if work is done very thoronyhly one year, it should not be 

 necessary to treat tiie following year. In figuring out the l)enefits to 

 be derived from wireworm control Avork this point should not be 

 overlooked. 



WORK AGAINST THE PUPAL STAGE. 



Fall plowing has been advocated to some extent as a means of 

 destroying the worm in the pupal stage, a time when it is very 

 sensitive to disturbance of any kind. It is the writer's opinion that 

 this has little value when applied to bean fields in this section, OAving 

 to the fact that it is usually about the first of November before the 

 beans are off the ground and the land available for plowing. By this 

 time a large majority of the pupas have transformed into the beetle 

 stage and would be influenced yery little by plowing. If this plowing 

 could be done earlier, it would undoubtedly be of considerable value. 



WORK AGAINST THE ADULT. 



When the wireworm beetles hatch from the pupjB during the early 

 fall months, they usually lie in the old pupal cells in a dormant con- 

 dition until the cold weather commences to dissipate in the spring. 

 There is then a period of several weeks in which the beetles gradually 

 emerge and seek any shelter available, such as weeds, old bean straw, 

 old beets, or crevasses in the ground, where they stay for some time. 

 This is termed the secondary hibernation period. There is always a 

 percentage of these beetles which has been disturbed by plowing 

 which goes into secondary hibernation, and this continues for a period 

 of several weeks. Any warm simshiny day thereafter the beetles may 

 be seen walking around over the ground or in flight. If the weather 

 turns cold, they all seek shelter and remain until the warm days 

 return, and as the weather warms up the beetles increase their 

 activities. The beetles are very strong fliers, some being noted to 

 fly across a 200-acre field. Hundreds may be seen in the air at once 

 at this time, and active mating begins soon after. The females com- 

 mence laying eggs about the middle of April. 



Last year when the beetles commenced to emerge from the ground 

 in numbers, about the 5th of March, an attempt was made to collect 

 them under small piles of bean straw. The writer obtained this idea 

 from finding large numbers of beetles collected in bean straw used 

 as a mulch around young lemon trees. These piles of straw were 

 placed 150 feet apart in a field on the 8th of March. Examination on 

 the 15th day of March of ten piles of straw selected at random in the 

 field showed an average of 50 beetles to each pile. The least number 

 of beetles collected under any pile was 23 and the most 80. As the 

 beetles were becoming quite active, it was feared that they would 

 emerge from these piles, so the piles were burned with the exception 

 of one. These piles of straw burned up clean in every case, and not 



