August, '22] DAVIS : insect problems in Indiana 277 



Mr. Z. p. Metcalf: In North Carolina the custom is to put the can- 

 vas over the bed a short time after the seed is sown. 



Mr. W. E. Britton: I would like to ask about dipping the plants at 

 the time of seeding? 



Mr. Z. p. Metcalf: We have secured excellent results from dip- 

 ping the plants at the time of seeding. I think that is a necessary part 

 of the program as far as North Carolina is concerned. 



Adjournment. 



INSECT PROBLEMS IN INDIANA DURING 1921 



{Condensed) 

 By John J. Davis, West LaFayette, Indiana 



The past season has been one of unusual insect activity in Indiana, 

 as in other sections of the United States, due apparently to a combina- 

 tion of causes, important of which were the mild winter of 1920-21 

 and the unusual seasonal weather conditions the past summer. On 

 the other hand, the scarcity and alm.ost total absence of grasshoppers; 

 in destructive nimibers throughout the state was very noticeable. 

 The weather conditions favoring insects were the high temperatures 

 which ranged from 2° to 10° F. above normal through the season, ex- 

 cepting for a short period the latter part of July, the excessive rainfall 

 which averaged nearly two inches above normal, excepting a period 

 during midsummer, and the long developm.ental season which began 

 early in March and continued late. In other words Indiana moved 

 two to three hundred miles south so far as weather conditions were 

 concerned and insects had ideal conditions to increase and develop. 



The first crop pest of importance to be noticed was the clover leaf 

 weevil (Phytonomus punctatus) , which occurred in destructive abundance 

 throughout the southern half to two-thirds of the state. The first 

 reports were received from the extreme southern end March 21 and 

 frequent reports were received from that date until the end of April. 

 In some sections large acreages of both red and mammoth clover were 

 killed by this insect. 



Hardly had the leaf-weevil outbreak subsided until we began to 

 receive reports of serious damage to red and English clover by the so- 

 called lesser clover-leaf weevil but which we prefer, because of its im- 

 portance and feeding habits, to call the clover-bud worm {Phytonomus- 

 nigrirostris) . Reports of injury were m_ost numerous from May 17 

 to June 16 and were confined largely to central Indiana. The clover- 

 bud worm is a pest of comparatively recent prominence in Indiana but 



