52 GRASSHOPPERS AND OTHER INJURIOUS INSECTS OF 1911 AND 1912. 



THE CLOVER SEED CHALCID. 



Bruchophagns funebris. 



Quite a large amount of clover seed is annually harvested in 

 Minnesota, but the possible output even with the present acreage 

 is materially lessened through the work of this tiny, four-winged 

 fly, whose grub, commonly referred to as "weevil", destroys the 

 contents of many seeds which, as the result of the presence of this 

 parasite, become distorted, dull in color and are easily crushed by 

 the fingers, the seed coat having become very brittle; in fact, this 

 last acquired quality is one means of detecting the presence of the 

 insect in new seed. It is to be noted in this connection that many of 

 these distorted and poorly developed seeds, so infested, are left be- 

 hind when a clover huller is used, and while the farmer notes a de- 

 cided shortage in the yield of seed, he does not see the reason for it. 



In at least one section of our state the raising of clover for seed 

 has been abandoned on account of the work of this pest, referred 

 to, as we said above, as "the weevil," and undoubtedly the state 

 loses many thousands of dollars and the country at large many mill- 

 ions as the result of its ravages. 



This chalcid is undoubtedly distributed over Minnesota wher- 

 ever clover is raised whether for hay or seed. We have collected it 

 in the vicinity of the following places, Ada, Bemidji, Chatfield, Du- 

 luth, Fergus Falls, Hinckley, Long Lake, Meadowlands, Mont- 

 gomery, Owatonna, Shakopee, Stewartville, Verndale, Wadena, 

 Windom, Wayzata and in the neighborhood of the Twin Cities. For 

 four years, the study of this pest has been an "Adams Fund" pro- 

 ject, that is, work done under a special fund and controlled by 

 the Federal Government. As such it belongs more properly to Ex- 

 periment Station work than it does to the work of the State Ento- 

 mologist, and hence we treat of it here only in a general way, leav- 

 ing the report on details and results to a station publication which 

 we expect to appear later. 



The insect is four-winged, small, compact, blackish in color, and 

 a brownish tinge on the forelegs and all of the feet. The female 

 inserts her ovipositor into a young seed, (at the time of egg laying 

 very soft) and deposits therein a whitish egg. The grub, after 

 hatching, eats the entire contents of the seed, sometimes, it is 

 claimed, entering seeds other than the one in which the egg was 

 originally laid. The transformations from larva to pupa occur 

 within a seed. 



