60 
specific name may or may not prove to be appropriate in its meaning. 
At present I know of no direct evidence that the Tetrastichus feeds on 
the seed-chalcid, but the parasitic habit of other members of the 
genus, and the association of this species with the seed-chalcid, in the 
apparent absence of other possible hosts, leads one tentatively to regard 
the Tetrastichus as an enemy of the destructive clover seed-chalcid. 
Control.— AW things considered, the shortage of the seed crop, as 
a constant occurrence, is due chiefly to the seed-midge and the seed- 
chalcid, in this state. Probably the midge is a little more injurious 
than the chalcid ; at least, the larvae of the former are a little more 
abundant than those of the latter. 
The chalcid has not attracted the attention that it will from eco- 
nomic entomologists, and nothing in the way of preventive measures has 
been proposed except the cautious statement by Webster that the same 
means recommended for the midge might apply to the chalcid, and that 
the destruction of outstanding clover heads and the burning of chaflf 
and stems after hulling would in all probability greatly reduce the 
numbers of the insect. 
It is safe to say that early cutting in June would undoubtedly pre- 
vent a great amount of oviposition, and if done as soon as the field 
came into bloom, would not only forestall most of the oviposition, but 
would also dispose of any eggs or young larvse that might already be 
present in the tender green seeds ; for the green unhardened seeds dry 
out and shrivel up soon after the leaves and stems dry. Moreover, 
early cutting of the hay crop would hasten the maturity of the seed 
crop in a way to prevent most of the midsummer oviposition ; not all of 
it, of course, for some chalcids would be on the wing whenever the 
clover heads ripened. It is true, however, that the life history of the 
chalcid has become adapted to that of red clover as it is usually cul- 
tivated, and that the two periods of maximum abundance of the chal- 
cid coincide with those of the greatest abundance of ripening clover 
heads ; and it follows that the methods given would largely derange 
this adjustment. 
The fact that the insect passes the winter inside the seeds on the 
ground indicates plowing under as a preventive. This is ordinarily 
done anyway after the second year of the clover, and when done at the 
usual time — as early as practicable in spring — the plowing doubtless 
buries most of the insects beyond the possibility of emergence. 
In first-year clover the chalcid lays eggs in such heads as may be 
present in the latter part of the season, and these heads are often 
numerous. Their seeds, falling to the ground, furnish no small pro- 
portion of the chalcids that appear in the same field the following May 
and June. It would seem wise, therefore, to clip ofT or pasture ofif the 
heads of first-year red clover. In fact, something of a fodder crop 
can be obtained in the latter part of the first season without injury to 
the ])lant, if the cutting is not done too late in the season. 
Volunteer clover is always infested by the chalcid, as well as by 
other pests, and ought to be destroyed. 
