U. S. Ti. A., B. K. Bull. fi4, Part I. Issued April 2, 1907. 



SOMl: MISCELLANEOUS RESULTS OE THli WORK 

 OE THE BUREAU OE ENT()M0L0(;Y-1X. 



THE MEXICAN CONCHUELA IN WESTERN TEXAS IN 1905. 



{ I'cittnioiiKi Jifiitiii Say.)" 



liy A. W. .MoKKiLL. 

 Special Field Af/eut. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In a roceiit l)iilletin of tlu' Bureau of Entomology '' the writer frave 

 an account of the Mexican conchuehi {Pentatom.d lUjata Say, fig. 1), 

 based upon an investigation conducted in northern Mexico in Septem- 

 ber, 1904. It was predicted that should the pest ever become very 

 abundant in this country, where more diversified farming is usually 

 practiced, it would be likely to affect a wide range of farm crops 

 instead of confining its attacks to cotton alone. Almost unknown in 

 1903, the conchuela, as it is called by the natives of Mexico, first be- 

 came of considerable importance as a cotton pest in the leading cotton 

 district of ^Mexico — the " Laguna " — and in 190-t established its repu- 

 tation as an enemy of alfalfa in western Texas by ruining in specific 

 instances seed valued at over $1,000, representing the loss to the crops 

 of two growers from whom definite reports were obtained. This loss 

 in western Texas was, however, first made known to entomologists in 

 July of the following year (1905), through correspondence of a resi- 

 dent of Barstow, Tex., with Mr. W. D. Hunter, in charge of the inves- 

 tigations on cotton insects conducted by this Bureau. As the writer 

 was at that time in Mexico, continuing his investigations of this pest, 

 Mr. J. C. Crawford was sent to Barstow to investigate the economic 

 status of the insect there. His preliminary observations were made 

 on July '20 to 22, inclusive, and were followed by visits to Barstow 

 by llic writer on August 11 and 12 and September 12, and by Mr. 

 Crawford on October 13 and November 14. The reports of Mr. 

 Crawford, which were duly submitted to Mr. Hunter, have been 

 freely used by the writer in preparing this paper. 



"Order Hemiptera, family Pentatoinidap. 



&Bul. 54. Bur. Ent.. W S. Dept. \%\'W.. pp. lS-.'i4. 100.1. 



