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l8g2. 

 OSBORN, Herbert, and Gossard, H. A.- Corn Bill-bugs. (Bull. Iowa Agr. 

 Exper. Station, Aug. i8g2. No. i8, pp. 507-509.) 

 Describes injuries to corn and other crops by the clay-colored bill-bug, 

 S/>/ie/!o/>/ior us oc/tret/s, and the Utile hrown hill-hug, S. pafvu/us. Quotes from 

 Webster ( 'Sg) and copies his figures of .5". ochreiis. Also quotes from Forbes ( go) 

 with respect to failure of beetles to breed in corn. Advises that bulbous roots of 

 shrubs on recently drained land be examined, and that if larvae of 6". ochreiis are 

 found the ground be broken as early in summer as possible, preferably 

 before June i. Quotes Webster's statement ( '8g ) concerning early plowing. Re- 

 gards S. parvulus as likely to become a much more permanent and serious pest 

 than the preceding. Quotes life history from Forbes ( 'go ) and summarizes facts 

 concerning injury to wheat and rye from Webster ( 'g2). Says losses to corn due 

 to this species are often serious, and quotes letter giving description of injuries 

 to field of corn near Massena, Iowa, i8g2. Damaged crop was planted on old 

 timothy sod broken up in March. First planting taken almost entirely; second 

 planting, finished June 17, seriously injured but not entirely destroyed. Osborn 

 concludes that the bill-bug had developed in the timothy or perhaps in other 

 grasses near the affected fields. Probably in most cases found largely in the im- 

 mediate locality where issuing. Regards outlook for preventive measures as by 

 no means encouraging. Suggests, however, that since worse injuries are likely 

 to occur on land previously in grass or adjacent to such land plowing should be 

 done as early in the previous season as possible, and that such ground should be 

 planted late and rather heavy at first. Crop of sod corn might be raised by break- 

 ing ground first of June and planting at once. 



Osborn, Herbert. — Notes on Injurious Insects of i8g2. ( Insect Life, Now 

 1892, Vol. 5, p. 112.) 

 Bill-bugs have for the first time caused serious injury in Iowa, Sphenophorus 

 pari'uhis being the most wide-spread and destructive. Seems to have increased 

 rapidly in late years, and threatens to become a very serious pest. S. ochreus 

 often seen, but not likely to cause extensive damage in Iowa because of compara- 

 tive scarcity of swampy land bearing rushes. 



Beckwith, M. H. — The Corn Bill-bug, Sphenophorus sculptilis. (5th Ann. 



Rep. Del. Coll. Agr. Exper. Station, p. 102. ) 

 Describes injuries to corn. Says life history is not known. Supposes that 

 eggs are deposited among the roots of timothy grass, and that the larva feeds up- 

 on such roots. Describes injury to cornfield in Delaware observed May 20, corn 

 being about three inches high. Experiments with London purple applied to corn, 

 and with poisoned bunches of clover placed between the rows produced no ap- 

 parent result. Cultivation of corn began May 24, and this seemed to arrest in- 

 jury June I. Scarcely any beetles could be found in corn fields, although con- 

 siderable numbers were seen among the roots of timothy on a field adjoining. Be- 

 lieves that beetles may be driven out of field by cultivation. 

 Webster, F. M.— Insects which Burrow in the Stems of Wheat. ( Bull. 40, 



Ohio Agr. Exper. Station, p. 72. ) 

 Brief article on Sphenophorus parvtclus,'heve called the grain Sphenophorus. 

 Speaks of it as doing a little injury in the larval state to wheat, oats, and barley, 

 also having eaten tne bulbous roots of timothy, and puncturing the young roots of 

 corn. Says female lays eggs in or a little above the roots, probably late in May 

 or in June, but oviposition had been observed as late as July i. Larva feeds with- 



