184 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 12 



importance until 1908. In the fall of that year several instances of 

 injury were noted in western Kansas and considerable injury occurred 

 in southwestern Nebraska (Swenk, 1909). Since the first recognized 

 outbreak in 1908 there have been three well-marked outbreaks and re- 

 ports of minor injury have been received every year. With the in- 

 creasing importance of this insect it was deemed advisable to undertake 

 a study of its life economy and accordingly in 1915 it was incorporated 

 in one of the experiment station projects. The life-history has been 

 thoroughly worked out, and insofar as time would permit, field studies 

 have been made. 



Distribution 



Eleodes opaca has a wide distribution throughout the Great Plains 

 area. Blaisdell (1909, pp. 177-178) records it from Texas, Oklahoma, 

 Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and South Dakota. Wickham (1899, 

 p. 60) reports it from Lyon County, Iowa. Fall and Cockerell (1907, 

 p. 204) list it from Coolidge, New Mexico, and Evans (1903, p. 318) 

 says it was taken in the Northwest Territories in 1879-80. Prof. R. A. 

 Cooley recently furnished the writer with a single female taken at Cul- 

 bertson, Montana. 



In Kansas, this species is generally distributed over the western two- 

 thirds of the state. Popenoe (1877, p. 36) says it occurs from Louis- 

 ville westward. In the vicinity of Manhattan it is found in rather 

 limited numbers and increases in numbers as one progresses westward 

 across the state. 



History and Importance 



Previous to 1908, Eleodes opaca was not recognized as an insect of 

 economic importance. It was known to occur in large numbers in the 

 native grass lands throughout the Great Plains area but had never been 

 mentioned as injurious. In the fall of 1908, a large number of worms, 

 reported to be seriously injuring germinating wheat in western Kansas, 

 were received by the Department of Entomology and determined as 

 tenebrionid larvae. According to Swenk (1909) severe damage also 

 occurred in several Nebraska counties. He determined the larvae as 

 Eleodes opaca. 



During 1909 and 1910 a few specimens of false wireworms were re- 

 ceived with the information that they were doing a slight amount of 

 damage to fall sown wheat. In the fall of 191 1 a well-marked outbreak 

 of this insect occurred in western Kansas, resulting in the destruction of 

 several thousands of acres of wheat. 



Again in the fall of 1914 and the spring of 1915, considerable injury 

 was reported in several localities. The last and most severe outbreak 



