EE CLOVER-SEED CHALE»: 
Bruchophagus funebris Howard 
By WarRREN WILLIAMSON 
The clover seed chalcid first attracted the attention of entomologists 
in 1879 when Prof. J. H. Comstock at Washington, D. C., reared it from 
clover heads infested with the clover seed midge, Dasyneura legumini- 
cola Lint. He believed it to be parasitic upon the latter species. Speci- 
mens were submitted to L. O. Howard who described it as a new 
species, naming it Eurytoma funebris. Dr. W. H. Ashmead in 1894 
referred the species to a new genus which he named Bruchophagus, 
believing all the species of this genus to be parasitic on the seed weevils, 
Bruchidae. Evidently the clover seed chalcid was generally considered 
as a parasite until Dr. A. D. Hopkins (1898), in West Virginia, proved 
that instead of being a parasite, it is itself a serious clover seed pest. 
Other workers whose publications have contributed much to our 
knowledge of the subject are R. H. Pettit of Michigan, E. G. S. Titus 
of the Bureau of Entomology, who collected data on the distribution 
of the pest as well as contributing other important data, F. M. Webster, 
Bureau of Entomology, who published the first illustrations, Dr. J. W. 
Folsom of Illinois who gave the most complete account of the species 
yet published, and T. D. Urbahns who gave, in Farmers’ Bulletin 
636, the most recent account of original work with control methods. 
The study of the clover seed 
chalcid in Minnesota was begun 
in 1907 by A. G. Ruggles and 
continued by him until 1910 when 
T. D. Urbahns had charge of the 
investigations for one year. The 
work of the writer was begun in 
July, 1911, but after 1914 it was 
so frequently interrupted by 
others duties that it was finally 
discontinued altogether. 
DESCRIPTION OF INSECT 
The following description of 
the different stages is quoted 
Fig. 16. Clover head showing openings i Be 
‘made by adult chalcids in emerging. if from Folsom (1909). 
1 Published with the approval of the Director as Paper No. 155 of the Journal 
Series of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. 
95 
