April, '17] HAYES: LIGYRUS GIBBOSUS 253 



It seems that in Kansas, destroying volunteer wheat should take 

 first rank in the war against the Hessian fly. After this is done there 

 is little doubt of the good to be secured by late sowing. Either one 

 done alone accomplishes little. 



It was for the purpose of demonstrating these facts to the farmers of 

 Central Kansas that this survey was conducted. Immediately after 

 harvest in 1916 assembly meetings were held throughout McPherson 

 county to give this information to the growers. Every effort was made 

 to have county cooperation in Hessian fly control, and organizations 

 by school districts were made to unite the farmers in an effort to con- 

 trol the Hessian fly in 1917. V. M. Emmert, County Agricultural 

 Agent, cooperated in this organization work, and soon after harvest 

 twenty-one assembly meetings were held throughout this county. 

 Many of the men who attended these meetings had been visited by us 

 during the survey, and had come to hear the results secured. These 

 were presented to them as here given, and as these men had contributed 

 toward the solution of this problem, a keen interest was felt by them. 

 At many of these meetings definite organizations were made and as a 

 result every effort was made to destroy the volunteer wheat in the seed- 

 bed before sowing in 1916. In some localities less than 5 per cent of 

 the 1917 crop was sowed before the fly-free date. At this writing some 

 of the wheat sowed in the middle of September has been plowed under 

 because of "damage by the fall brood. To Extension workers these 

 examples are an aid rather than a hinderance to the cause, for they 

 stand as object lessons to the community. It is hoped that no organi- 

 zation will become so perfect that these self-invited demonstrations 

 will be lacking. 



STUDIES ON THE LIFE-HISTORY OF LIGYRUS GIBBOSUS 

 DeG. (COLEOPTERA)i 



By Wm. p. Hayes, Assistant Entomologist, Kansas State Agricultural Experiment 



Station 



Introduction 



Ligyrus gibhosus DeG. first came into prominence as an enemy of the 

 wild sunflower. With our increasing knowledge of its habits, damage 

 to new and important food plants is continually being charged to tliis 



^ Contribution from the Entomological Laboratory, Kansas State Agricultural 

 College, No. 25. This paper embodies the results of some of the investigations under- 

 taken by the author in the prosecution of project No. 100 of the Kansas Experiment 

 Station. 



