2:52 



INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS OP CALIFORNIA. 



ELATERID^ (Family) 



WIREWORMS, CLICK-BEETLES, SNAP-BEETLES 



(Fig. 221) 



The booties belonging to this family greatly resemble the buprestids 

 in general appearance, but may be at once separated from them by 

 the sharp-pointed posterior angles of the prothorax, the lack of metal- 

 lic colors and the apparatus on the ventral surface of the prothorax 

 and mesothorax which enables the beetles to throw themselves con- 

 siderable distances when lying on the back. This ability to jump 

 has given rise to the common names "click-beetles" and "snap- 

 beetles.'-' The larvas are cylindrical and have a hard shiny covering 

 which is distinctly segmented. They are known everywhere as "wire- 

 worms. ' ' 



Fig. 221. — Wireworms, the larvae of click-beetles, in a 

 potato. Slightly enlarged. (Original) 



THE SUGAR-BEET WIREWORM' 4 

 Limonius californicus (Mannerheim) l85 

 ( Cardiophorus californicus Mannerheim) 



(Fig. 222) 



Description. — The adults are elongate, light or dark brown, covered 

 with fine hair and the dorsum is coarsely punctured. The length 

 averages about § inch, the width one third the length. The eggs are 



,::, .\11 of the information regarding this pest has been taken from Bui. No. 123, 

 Bur. Bnt., U. S. Dept. Agric, 1914, by J. E. Graf. Mr. Graf also furnished specimens 

 of the beetles for Illustrative purposes. 



1 Di. E. ( '. Van Dyke reports two closely allied species which are also injurious 

 id sugar heels. Limonius infuscatus Mots, has the same general distribution and is 

 usually associated with the above, but is often the most injurious, it is especially 

 common In the interior valleys and the sandy coast river valleys. Limonius canus Lee. 

 has a similar distribution, but is more restricted to sandy dunes and river banks. It 

 is also probably less harmful. 



