54 



sank, every 2 or 3 yards apart, deeper pits, where we found the wormg 

 2 and 3 inches deep, and the rest of the ditch was black with the dead 

 and living worms. From the dead a fearful stench arose in such 

 strength as to attract the buzzards, which, as we viewed the scene, 

 were proudly sailing overhead. Various carrion-beetles, too, seemed 

 to revel in the carnage — large Silphids and Staphylinids, besides nu- 

 merous smaller forms, were quite numerous, while the hard-shelled His- 

 terids were quite plentiful, working through the putrid masses.* Sev- 

 eral carabids were observed running through the ditches, preying on 

 the living and dying, Scarites subterranens Fabr. being particularly 

 noticeable, and, no doubt, with its large mandibles doing efdcient service 

 in destroying the worms. 



Mr. Porter informed us that the worms always originated in the 

 wheat and old grass-fields, and during the morning hid themselves from 

 observation, never appearing in numbers until after 3 o'clock p. m., 

 which accorded with our own observations and with those of the other 

 farmers visited. 



They ate up the Timothy and Corn clean, and after devouring the 

 blades of the Wheat, congregated, three or four together, on the heads ; 

 after devouring several of the lower grains, they ate the husks and 

 nipped oft" the upper portion of the kernel of the rest, thus almost en- 

 tirely destroying it. If the grain is well advanced and somewhat hard 

 it escapes destruction ; but as most of the wheat visited was still in the 

 milk, the destruction was great, and not less than 75 per cent, of the 

 crop had been already destroyed. 



Although several parasites are known to prey upon the worms, and 

 we kept a sharp lookout for such, none were seen except a few cocoons 

 of an Apanteles, which were discovered, together with the worms, under 

 old trash and logs in a wheat-field. A few were gathered and for- 

 warded to the Department, some of which have since hatched and prove 

 to be Apanteles militaris Walsh. 



The corn fields of all this region were found to be badly infested with 

 the larvffi of two species of beetles, and so numerous are they at times 

 as to entirely destroy the first planting and necessitate a replanting of 

 entire fields. The farmers call them the " Bud-worm " and do not seem 

 to be aware that they are two distinct species that do the injury. 



One species is a well-known corn pest, the larva of Didbrotica vittata, 

 widely distributed over the United States; the other is one of the wire- 

 worms, possibly the larva of a common beetle, Drastarius elegans Fabr., 

 which also has an extended range, extending into Mexico. I am not 

 aware that this latter species has ever before been reported as injurious 

 to corn, as the larva is supposed to be predaceous on other insects. It 

 may, though, have dual habits, not an unusual occurrence in some in- 



* None of these insects were brought back by Mr. Ashmead, or determinations would 

 be introduced. — Eds. 



