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_. REPORT 0 
F THE ENTOMOLOGIST. © 4 - 2259 
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from two-thirds grown to nearly full-grown, feeding upon strawberry plants, not 
- single, but by hundreds. So abundant were they, in fact, that by remaining sta- 
‘tionary we coul1 count them by dozens on the leaves abeut us, and we advised Mr. 
Stevens to sprinkle the infested fields with Paris green and water as a protection 
. -against them next year. 
‘The question as to what brood these larvee belonged is a perplexingone. Assuredly 
_they were not of the first, and the main point to decide is, were they the delayed 
second brood or were they a third brood. We confess being unable to decide the 
matter. 
Below is given a tabular statement of the conditions most likely to influence the 
' species during the time intervening between February 28 and September 30, although 
it seems hardly probable that meteorological influences could have caused any ma- 
terial change in the time of appearance of the first brood of larve : 
Mean monthly temperature, variation of the same, and monthly rainfall at Rich- 
mond, Ind. Lat. 39.51 N. ; elevation, 969 feet above the sea. 
1887. 
ee | 
| Mar. | Apr. May. | June July. | Aug Sept. 
: | : 
Mean temperature................. degrees..| &7.3 | 50.2 68.5 72.7 | §3.3 f1.1-| 64.7 
Pare FAT 6 | 84 84 ot 101 96 92 
UTREIAMAO. 42 Sse 8 Midis. rece cae ee. at do..;| 35.50! 95.59! 52.38| 58.36| 66.35 | 50.46 30.62 
UME i Ga 5 5 x inn = am inches..| 2.48| 4.16] 3.76] 2.32 | 2.18 | 3.45 0.84 
THE WHEAT WIRE-WORM. 
(Agriotes mancus, Say.) 
It quite frequently occurs that fields of Fall Wheat suffer severely in Indiana by 
reason of the attack of Wire-worms, and, so far as specimens have been referred to 
| us, the species has been determined as the one under consideration. The general 
verdict of farmers is, that these ravages are in fields which have the preceding year 
been broken up from the sward, and therefore it is the second crop which is injured. 
The present season appears to have favored the development of these worms, and 
serious injury to young wheat by larvee unquestionably belonging to this species 
has been reported from several parts of this State. A study of the fields infested 
reveals some interesting features, especially when considered in connection with 
remedial or preventive measures. 
On the 17th of October of the present year opportunity was offered us to exam- 
~ ine an infested field in the southwest part of La Grange County. The field con- 
sisted of 20 acres, and had been cleared of timber, excepting the larger stumps, and 
broken up several years previous, so that the present was the fifth or sixth succes- 
sive crop. The present season no crop was raised, and in June the greater portion 
o* the stumps were blown out with dynamite and the débris piled about the remain- 
der and burned. The now entirely cleared field was plowed in June and harrowed 
twice before harvest (the iatter part of June or first of July). After this it was cul- 
tivated once and harrowed once. Then, about the 15th of September, it was har- 
rowed twice and sown to wheat. The preceding crops had consisted of both corn 
and wheat, and the only vegetation growing on the ground this season was a spe- 
cies of Amaranth, the turf about the stumps being nearly all destroyed in June. 
The present crop was, at the date of examination, damaged fully 35 per cent. 
Mr. J.N. Latta, a very careful observer, residing in the vicinity of the field just 
mentioned, writes us, under date of November 17, that there are two other fields in 
the same neighborhood which are still more seriously injuredby Wire-worms. One 
of these fields was broken in the fall of 1886, and a crop of wheat sown thereon, 
the present being the second crop, both of wheat. The other field was one-half in 
clover and the other half in timothy. The first crop was of corn, the second. of 
wheat like the present. The destruction in the latter field is greatest on ground 
formerly devoted to clover and least on that portion which was set with timothy. 
Under date of October 23 Mr. F. P. Applegate, of Greensburgh, Decatur County, 
complained of serious damage to one of his fields of wheat by this pest, the injury 
being greatest on clay lands. Writing again under date of November 7, Mr- 
_. Applegate states that his field, injured by Wire-worms, was broken last March, and 
later planted with corn, having then been devoted to clover but one year. The pres- 
