35 



devoured from 4 to 6 first and second instar chinch-bugs a day ; 

 Reduviolus ferus (damsel bug), the nymphs and adults of which feed 

 on chinch-bugs, preferably nymphs in the third or fourth instar, two 

 a day being eaten on an average ; Blechrus glabratus, a small active 

 beetle found in all grain fields after the middle of June, which feeds 

 only on chinch-bugs in the first and second instars, 88 being eaten by 

 one beetle in 26 days ; a Nabid bug, Pagasa fusca., which seems to prefer 

 the later stages and has been several times seen in the field feeding 

 upon adults, one or two a day being devoured by specimens in the 

 insectary ; an Anthocorid bug, Triphleps insidiosus, which is one of 

 the most efficient enemies of the second brood during the hatching 

 period, being found in abundance during late July, August and 

 September feeding on first and second instar chinch-bugs ; a ground 

 beetle, Casnonia pennsylvanica, which insectary experiments have 

 shown to be of not much importance ; another ground beetle, 

 Agonoderus pallipes, which is very common in all grain fields in 

 central and southern Illinois, but eats only dead chinch-bugs ; and 

 Coccinellid larvae, which are frequently seen to feed upon chinch-bugo 

 in the field, but which in the laboratory gave no definite results. 



A comit of the number of predatory insects occurring in one square 

 yard of a stubble field in July, showed on an average enough to eat 

 eleven chinch-bugs per day per square yard, or about 2,000,000 "per 

 day for a 40-acre field. It seems probable from the abundance of these 

 insects in the fields, and the numbers of chinch-bugs known to be 

 eaten by them, that when, after a period of abundance, the chinch- 

 bug increase is checked by adverse weather conditions, these predatory 

 species, together with the egg-parasites, may keep it from causing 

 damage for a number of years, Reduviolus ferus and Pagasa fusca 

 were unusually abundant in infested fields during the summer of 1918. 



Pettey (F. W.). a New Species of Sciara bred from Red Clover 

 Crowns. --JZ. Econ. Entom., Concord, N.H., xi, no. 5, October 

 1918, p. 420, 1 plate, 1 fig. 



Sciara trifolii, sp. n., reared in October from crowns of red clover in 

 Idaho and closely related to S. 2)auciseta, Felt, is described. 



BuRRiLL (A. C). New Economic Pests of Red Clover.-^^ Econ. 

 Entom., Concord, N.H., xi, no. 5, October 1918, pp. 421-424. 



The third successive epidemic of the clover aphis {Aphis bakeri, 

 Cowen) in Idaho, in 1916, considerably reduced the seed yield in red 

 clover, and also in white and alsike clovers, in some cases by as much 

 as 50 per cent. The 1917 crop seems to have been saved from excessive 

 damage by great cold in January following on unusual numbers of 

 Aphid enemies. When the clover heads are very sticky from the 

 presence of Aphids, preliminary thorough drying is necessary before 

 the seed can be threshed, and usually the heat caused by threshing 

 melts the crystallised honeydew, so that whole sacks may cake nearly 

 solid. 



The enemies of this Aphid are very numerous, but seem unable to 

 check its increase till the third or fourth week in August, by which 

 time crop damage is almost complete. Larval Coccinellids in the 



