102 



Frequent complaint has been made of the failure of corn to grow 

 in the South, and this explains the reason to a ver^' considerable extent. 

 Most of Mr. Schwarz's observations were made in the vicinity of 

 Victoria, and he related having seen long, uninterrupted rows of these 

 beetles on fences when warm weather tempted them from their places 

 of concealment. Mr. Schwarz brought with him specimens of corn 

 seed that had been planted showing the holes made ]\y the ravages of 

 this insect, which ate out the germ, leaving the remainder practically 

 intact. The farmers usually attributed this failure of germination to 

 crows and other birds, and the truth has never been ascertained 

 hitherto. 



The necessity of selecting good seed for planting has been pointed 



out in Farmers' Bidletin 

 45, on insects atfecting 

 stored grains, as well as in 

 a pamphlet entitled ''In- 

 sects Injurious to Beans 

 and Peas." It is now in 

 order to advise cleaner cul- 

 ture, consisting of the 

 destruction of cornstalks 

 before the insects which 

 have hibernated in them 

 issue. This is a measure 

 of the greatest value not 

 only in controlling the rice 

 weevil, luit many other 

 granary insects which lead 

 a more or less outdoor ex- 

 istence in the South, such 

 as the grain beetles, Sil- 

 van us and Cathartus, and 



..^..^Flo.^.—SjilKii: 

 of adulf. in 

 larva, from 



^rhn, 



lis iijisciiriis: a. adult, enlarged; h, head 



iilc, >till morf enlarged; c, full-grown 



</, iJiipa, ventral view, both enlarged 



(from Insect Life). 



the Hour beetles, Tribolium, etc. , and some other species 



THE SANDWICH ISLAND SUGAR-CANE BORER ACiAIN. 



It may be remembered ])y our older correspondents that we pub- 

 lished in Volume I of Insect Life, on pages 185-189, an illustrated 

 account of S2>henoj)horm ohscurux Boisd., which we may call the Sand- 

 wich Island sugar-cane borer. We have several times received this 

 species from diifi'erent sources, and some articles and shorter notes 

 have been pul)lished in regard to it, most of which are referred to in 

 the article cited. February 18, 1902, Mr. Jared G. Smith, special 

 agent of this Department in charge of the Hawaii Experimental Sta- 

 tion at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, wrote us from Spreckelsville, 

 Maui, in regard to severe injuries by this insect. As some of our 



