ALFALFA ATTACKED BY THE CLOVER-ROOT CURCULIO. 5 
_- The larve of this beetle feed on the roots of all the plants mentioned as food plants. 
The smaller, more tender, or fibrous roots are eaten by the younger larvee which, as 
they become more mature, attack the larger roots. Large cavities are eaten along 
the main roots, and often these are in the form of a groove containing the feeding 
larva [fig. 3, a]. An examination of clover roots, made on September 23, showed 
clearly the after effects of the work of the larve. The roots were eaten at various 
places, some of them appearing as though the whole surface had been eaten off, the 
roots being scabby and brown, the damage having evidently been done during late 
spring or early in the summer. 
The adults feed on the leaves, eating out irregular patches from the margin of the 
leaf [fig. 3, b]. They are not as hearty eaters as some of the allied species of beetles 
that live on clover, and hence their work is not so noticeable, except when the beetles 
have developed in excessively large numbers, as was the case at Corning, N. Y: 
FOOD PLANTS. 
The following paragraphs relating to the food plants of the clover- 
root curculio are quoted, in substance, from Mr. Wildermuth: 
While the clovers seem to provide the natural food plants of this insect, there are 
reasons for believing that others may in future be added. This insect, when first 
observed in this country by Dr. LeConte, was reported by him as present around the 
roots of grasses growing on sand dunes. Stephens, in 1831, reported itin England 
as being abundant on sandy heaths, which were no doubt grown up with grass. 
The writer, in the spring of 1908, found the larve in large numbers in a blue-grass 
pasture. These were, to all appearances, feeding partly on blue-grass roots, as the 
only clover present was the white, and this was rather scattering in the field. From 
this it would seem that some of the grasses may be host plants. 
Of the clovers, red clover appears to be the most common choice as a food, while 
white clover, crimson clover, and alsike clover are all fed upon to a greater or less extent 
by both the adults and larve. Alfalfa seems to be a common food plant for both 
larvee and adults. On June 17 the writer collected numerous larve from among 
alfalfa roots in a field at Somerset Heights, Md., and while sweeping over a field of 
alfalfa with an insect net at Muirkirk, Md., on April 28, experienced no difficulty 
whatever in securing from six to eight adults with each sweep of the net. It seems 
likely that, with the increasing acreage of alfalfa, this insect may become a destruc- 
tive pest and also menace thiscrop. The fact that alfalfa isalways grown continuously 
on the same land for a fairly long period, from three to six years, or even longer, may 
greatly accelerate the rapidity with which the insect will be able to increase in 
numbers. 
RECENT DEPREDATIONS IN ALFALFA FIELDS. 
Now it will be noted that at the time Mr. Wildermuth’s paper was 
prepared the insect had not been observed as seriously affecting 
alfalfa. The first absolute proof that we were able to secure in this 
direction was on May 29, 1914, when Mr. J. L. Graybill, county demon- 
strator, of Phoenix, Md., brought to the bureau office specimens of 
the beetle, and also alfalfa plants that had been irretrievably dam- 
aged by some insect, either identical with the larvee of this species 
or some other one working precisely like them. Mr. A. B. Gahan was 
at once dispatched to the infested fields and took up the investiga- 
tion of the difficulty on June 4. On visiting an infested field it was 
