16 



so that the crop had not been worth saving. As it was first ob- 

 served by Lintner in New York in 1877, it is difficult to say 

 whether this was originally an Eastern or Western species, or 

 whether it may not have secretly pursued a less offensive course 

 for some years in various parts of the country. In northern Illi- 

 nois it has been especially injurious this year, notice of its ravages 

 coming to the office from the Farmers' Club of Marengo, in Octo- 

 ber. From some infested clover heads obtained through the Secre- 

 ry of the Club, N. J. Wheeler, we had the good fortune to breed 

 five specimens of a new parasite enemy of this midge, — a chalcid 

 belonging to the genus Tetrastichus, and apparently of a species 

 undescribed. Previous to this, two species of parasites have been 

 reported as preying on it, — Eurytoma funehris, Haw., and I'laty- 

 c/aster error, Fitch. Additional insect enemies were detected in our 

 breeding cages, — one of them a small heteropter, so abundant every- 

 where that it may well serve a useful purpose in lessening the 

 numbers of this clover pest. The facts concerning this insect were 

 well worked out by my assistant, C. M, Weed, and I give them as 

 reported in his notes. Finding in the breeding cage some larval 

 specimens of lYipldeps iiisidiosus, Mr. Weed isolated one of them 

 with a larva of the seed midge in a small glass dish October 10, 

 and found the larva dead, with shriveled skin, on the morning of 

 the 12th. Another larva was then imprisoned with the bug, and 

 this the latter immediately attacked. "As soon as the bug felt of 

 it with his antennae he pierced the skin with his beak. The larva 

 struggled violently for about twenty seconds, but the bug did not 

 let go, avoidmg the body of the writhing larva by constantly re- 

 treating. At the end of twenty seconds, the larva ceased all mo- 

 tion and apjteared perfectly dead. May it not be that a poison 

 was ejected from the beak of the bug? For six minutes the bug 

 continued sucking the body juices without removing his beak from 

 the place where it was inserted (about the middle of the body), but 

 he soon withdrew it and inserted it again near the middle, where 

 it remained for nine minutes, when it was again changed to a place 

 still nearer the middle. Eight minutes later the beak was again 

 withdrawn and inserted near the head, where the bug continued 

 vigorously sucking for six minutes, when it seemed to have enough. 

 Thus he was sucking his victim about twenty-nine minutes." 



Further, Mr. Weed determined the interesting fact that this 

 midge is likewise possibly subject to the attack of a small caterpil- 

 lar which he found lurking in one of the heads of clover. As the 

 larva was seen to feed on the midge mite only in confinement (un- 

 der which circumstances many lepidopterous larvse become carniv- 

 orous), and as it was not preserved in condition for successful 

 study, the particulars of the observation are not reported. 



The WHEAT BULB WORM {Meromyza americana), which has been 

 mentioned in my two preceding Eeports, has scarcely come to our 

 notice during the past year, but an item of information recently 

 obtained from Mr. J. J. Nussbaumer, of Okawville, Washington coun- 

 ty, is of such economic interest as to be well worthy of record. The 

 wheat of that vicinity was last year badly damaged, as supposed, 

 by the Hessian fly, but Mr. Nussbaumer tells me that, examining 



