able that all stubble and remaining straw in these counties be 

 burned. 



It is the especial object of this bulletin to call the attention 

 of Kansas wheat growers to the work which should be done new. 

 There should be no delaj in destroying infested straw, as in a 

 few weeks, if not days, the- adults will be emerging from the 

 straws. Not onl) will immediate action on the part of the 

 farmers be certainl) valuable with reference to next July's har- 

 vest, but it will do much toward ridding the state of this pest for 

 future years. For in the Wheat-straw Worm we have to deal 

 with a pest which by concerted action on the part of those 

 interested may be kept thoroughly in control, or even completely 

 stamped out. 



N.\ I URAL REMEDIES. 



In the economy of insect life natural remedies for over- 

 whelming numerical development of injurious species play a 

 must important part. As energetically as the Hessian Fly preys 

 upon Kansas wheat, <piite as energetically do several minute 

 Chalcid parasites prey upon the Fly. And so with the Wheat- 

 straw Worm. Prof. Webster has noted at least six insect para- 

 sites of the Wheat straw Worm. The most efficient of these and 

 the only one which we have so far observed in Kansas is a small 

 Chalcid known as Eupehnus allxui, French. This efficient friend 

 of the farmer is shown in Fig. i of' the plate. Examination of 

 twent) five stubble straws just received (Feb. .13) from the field 

 ■ >t Mr. A.nd r ess in Rush count) shows 14 straws infested by the 

 Wheat straw Worm, of which infested straws the J: '// pi ■hints has 



been bred in and escaped from eight. The Eupelmus escapes 

 tli rough a small hole which it gnaws in the stem near a node. 

 It has foui well developed wings and may easily find its way from 

 field to field. Its eggs aie laid after the larvae of the Wheat straw 

 W Mini have hatched, and the larvae of the parasite as soon as hatch- 

 ed teed upon the helpless Straw Worm larvae or pupae. By the 

 middle of September the parasite has matured and escaped from the 

 straw. Thus the burning of the straw in winter not only kills 

 the unparasiti/ed and living Wheat straw Worms but it does not 

 destroy the helpful parasites. Mere another favoring factor 

 e\ists in our fight against the pest. B) being aware of the life 

 history of the Eupelmus and 1>\ taking advantage of our know 

 Ige we work in conjunction with a mosl effective natural en- 

 < in \ of the Straw Worm. 



