190 



GENUINE SNOUT- BEETLES. 



are very small, the largest not measuring' much more than one- 

 tenth of an inch, including' the beak. Their colors are b'ack, 

 grayish, dark blue, or even greenish ; only a few in the United 

 Slates are of a brighter color, such as reddish or yellowish. 



This is a good place to mention another had snout-beetle, 

 not yet found in Minnesota, but which is working its way in the 

 direction of our stale. It is the Clover Leaf-beetle (P/iytonoiiuts 

 punctatus Fab.). It is a large beetle, dull brown in color, with 

 indefinitely striped elytra, and a short, stout beak. Prof. Smith 

 says about it : 



"The larva is green, its form is well shown in the figure, 

 ( Fig. 198), and it feeds chiefly at night, eating irregular holes into 

 the leaves. When full-grown it forms a peculiar net-like cocoon, 

 at or a little beneath the surface of the ground, and pupates, be- 

 coming adult a few days thereafter. The insects hibernate in 

 the larval stage, and their injury becomes manifest quite early in 

 the season, often threatening entire destruction of the crop when 

 they are full-grown. Fortunately nature has provided a check 

 for this insect in a fungous disease, which in most localities car- 

 ries off the larvae annually, just before they mature, leaving only 

 a eomparativelv small proportion to perpetuate the species. As 

 this disease seems to occur in seasons of all kinds, and irrespective 

 of climatic conditions, it can be easily introduced into any locality 

 in which the insects become destructive. Affected larvae (Fig. 

 199), curl themselves round a spear of grass, or on the cd^e of 

 a leaf, and die, first swelling somewhat and becoming gray in 



Fig. 199. — Phytonomus killed by dis- 

 ease. After Division of Entomology, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Fig. 200. — Pissocies strobi. Peck. — 

 After Division ol Entomology, U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture" 



