162 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



an even greater amount of the arsenical might be used without injury to the 

 plants and with correspondingly greater efficiency in killing the beetles." 



Papers on cereal and forage insects. — The so-called " curlew bug " (Sphe- 

 nophorus callosus), F. M. Websteb (U. 8. Dept. Agr., Bur. Ent. Bui. 95, pt. 

 4, pp. 53-11, pis. Jf, figs. 6). — This is a summarized account of the present 

 knowledge of 8. callosus and includes information received from correspondence 

 and recent studies by agents of the bureau. 



This beetle was first described by Olivier in 1807 from "Carolina."* Bureau 

 notes here presented, dating from 1880 to the present time, show it to have been 

 the source of injury at various points in Virginia, North and South Carolina, 

 Georgia, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. It seems to center in point of abundance 

 in eastern North Carolina, extending southward to southern Florida, north- 

 ward to Maryland, thence northwest to northwestern Illinois, southwest to 

 exti'eme southeastern Arizona and northern ^Mexico, and eastward to the Gulf 

 coast. It is essentially a lowland form as its food plants clearly indicate, 

 swamp and other low-lying lands being particularly subject to attack. 



In addition to the cultivated food plants, corn, rice, and peanuts, the species 

 has been found to feed upon Cyperus strigosus, C. vulpinoidea, C. esculentus, 

 C. rotundatus, C. exaltatus, Tripsacum dactyloides, Panicum capillare, and 

 Car ex frankii. 



Life history notes are given, together with descriptions of the egg, larva, 

 pupa, and adult. The egg period was found to vary from 4 to 6 days in June 

 and July and from G to 8 days in September. In one case 58 eggs wei'e secured 

 from one female. In North Carolina the eggs appeared to be deposited from 

 Jime 1 to September 20, or during a period of approximately 4 months. The 

 eggs are placed in the corn plant above the roots. Upon hatching the larva 

 works downward, through the center of the lower stem and into the main root 

 or taproot and, unless this is entirely eaten away, probably finishes its develop- 

 ment there. While the insect is not aquatic, it is capable of living and develop- 

 ing on submerged plants without suffering material inconvenience therefrom. 

 In cornfields it is often found working several inches below the surface of soil 

 thoroughly saturated with water. While the corn is injured by adults and 

 larvae, attacks by the latter are by far the most fatal to the plant 



Studies conducted at Wellington, Kans., show that the larval stage may 

 occupy from 37 to 41 days. The adult beetle is reported to have issued Sep- 

 tember 1 from, a larva which transformed to a pupa August 22. " The adults 

 evidently hibernate to some extent in corn in the chamber in which they have 

 developed, but seemingly lower down than in the case of 8. maidis. . . . 

 The numbers found, however, were far too limited to indicate that this can be 

 true of even the majority, the others probably wintering over either in or near 

 the surface of the ground. . . . The beetles probably come forth from their 

 hibernation quarters quite early in spring, as soon as the ground has be- 

 come permanently warm from the spring temperature. . . . They evidently 

 feed for a considerable time by puncturing the lower part of the stems of the 

 plants. These punctures are quite different from the egg punctures, and the 

 effect is often not so fatal as that occasioned by the downward burrowing of the 

 larva. These punctures are usually made about or a little below the surface 

 of the ground, the beetle evidently searching for a point where the stem is 

 tender and succulent. If the punctures are made lower down on the plant just 

 above the root, the result is a throwing up of a number of tillers or suckers 

 from the roots, the main stem itself having a stalky appearance, with the re- 

 sult that no ears are produced." 



An instance has come to notice which seems to indicate that the beetles can 

 survive not only in fresh water but also in salt water. The author's attention 



