848 Pomona College Journal of Entomology 



ALFALFA WEEVIL 



In the ^lonthly Bulletin of Horticulture, G. E. ^Merrill preisents an inter- 

 esting paper on the Alfalfa Weevil {phijtonomus posticus). 



He says: "It passes through four complete metamorphoses. The egg'^ 

 are small, oval in shape and when first laid are lemon yellow in color. The 

 eggs average ten in number, are usually laid in the spring. The hatching 

 season varies ecnsiderahly. When first hatched, the larva feeds on the inner 

 part of the stem in which it hatches, and in a few days works its way out and 

 finds a leaf bud, upon w iiirh it feeds and grows. 



"In cold weather the weevil seeks to hide under all kinds of trash that 

 might lie found in the field. In warm weather they liecume active, mate, and 

 begin their work. 



"They spread by mc;iiis (,f crawling, tiying, wind, freight cars, wagons, 

 etc. Most of the state of I'tah is inlcsted witli this weevil, and they are making 

 different experiments to do away with, the pest. The best method so far is 

 to cultivate the field after each cutting with a spring tooth harrow with a 

 wire l)rush attachment. 



"California is protected from the pest to some extent by the high moun- 

 tains and the (juarantine law, but to make sure of the protection it is up to 

 every grower to keep a keen outlook for the pest and when he discovers some- 

 thing that is destroying his alfalfa he should notify someone whose business 

 it is to look into the case." 



C. A. Perrln. 



THE ACTIVITY OF PROSPALTELLA HERLESEI HOWARD AGAINST 

 DIAi^PIS PEXTAGOXA TARG. IN ITALY 



(Translated into English by L. 0. Howard in thi" August, 1012, Journal of 

 Economic Entomology) 



In Italy 1hc white scale of the iiiuiiicrry {Dinspis piiila()(iiia Targ. ) has 

 spread very rajiidly and done great damage since its apparent introduction 

 from Japan prior to ]\Iay 10, ISSH-. In 1891 the government, by law, enforced 

 the scraping and pruning of trunks and branches of the trees, as well as 

 spraying with insecticides, but the tri'atment, with extended use, proved vain. 



Prof. Berlese in 1 !)()(> introduced Prospallrlla bcrlcsri How., parasitic in 

 America on Diaspis amufjdaii, into the region ai)out Jlilan. The same parasite 

 was subs('<(uently brought in small numbers from Japan. With the spread of 

 ProspaUcUa in these localities and the conse{|uent reduction of Diaspis, 

 branches from parasitized trees wei-e distributed tliniugliout tlie iiiuJIicrry 

 regions of the country. 



Tile effectiveness of I'mspalifUa is attributed In the I'ai-ts tliat it is migra- 

 t(iry tiii'ough flight, tliat it seduously searches out and oviposits in the par- 

 tlienogenetic fenude of Diaspis, and that it is itself parthenogeuetic and very 

 prolific, hatching four or five gencraticuis a year. Because of these ciuirac- 

 teristics it is waging so effective a warfare on the white mulberry scale that 

 Prof. Berlese predicts the early extermination of the latter from Italy. 



Wm. liRKWSTER. 



