2 PAPERS ON CEREAL AND FORAGE INSECTS. ? 
In 1905 the writer found numbers of larve inhabiting timothy at 
Richmond, Ind. Some time in the fall infested stems were collected 
and sent to the Department for rearing, but it was the same story 
nothing issued. 
Early in the spring of 1906 observations were begun with a view 
to rearing the adult. Infested stems were collected in May, and on 
June 8 the first adult appeared. Specimens were later submitted to 
the Department and were found to belong to the above species. 
Since that time they have been reared repeatedly. 

DISTRIBUTION. 
The habitat of this insect has 
been given as the middle and 
southern United States. Adults 
have been captured as far east 
as Pennsylvania, and they have 
been reared from material col- 
lected in Indiana, Ohio, and Vir- 
ginia. ‘Timothy stems contain- 
ing mordellid larve that were 
not identified, but which were 
probably Mordellistena ustulata, 
were found in Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Illinois, and, this year, 
Mr. T. H. Parks, of the Bureau 
of Entomology, found them at 
Chillicothe, Mo. 

CHARACTER OF ATTACK. 
Fic. 1.—The timothy stem-borer (Mordellistena ustu- 
lata): a, Adult or beetle, dorsal view; 6, same, lateral ‘ 
view. Greatly enlarged. (Original). As a rule the egg is deposited 
at or slightly below the center of 
the first or second joint in timothy, but much farther down the stem in 
other grasses. From here the larva bores into the center of the stem 
and then begins its downward journey to the bulb or root. It feeds 
upon the pith and the walls of the stem as it passes downward, and 
when it encounters a joint it tunnels completely through it, leaving a 
mass of detritus behind. Plate I is anillustration of its workmanship. 
HOST PLANTS. 
This species has been reared from timothy, orchard grass (Dac- 
tylis glomerata), quack grass (Agropyron sp.), and Agrostis alba, while 
larve that were supposedly this species have been found in bluegrass 
(Poa spp.) and cheat (Bromus secalinus). 
