83 
Clover Leaf-weevil 
Phytonomus punctatus Fab. 
Tho this insect must be counted among the most important clover 
pests, it has not as yet estabhshed itself as an annual menace to the 
hay crop. Indeed, it is ordinarily held in check by a great variety of 
adverse influences, and seldom gets control of the plant — reminding 
one, in this respect, of the army-worm. 
In early spring the larvae make small round holes in the leaves of 
second-year clover, as soon as the leaves have begun to grow ; later, 
they eat inward from the margin, the injury increasing in April and 
May. Thruout the summer the beetles gnaw the clover leaves in a 
ragged fashion and may even eat the plant down to the roots. 
The larv?s and beetles are not seen in the daytime, unless one 
hunts for them ; they are nocturnal in their activity. The larvae, curled 
up under rubbish on the ground, are green with a white stripe along 
the middle of the back ; they have no legs and arc sluglike when in- 
active. The adults — tough, oval, brown beetles — are also found on 
the ground during the day, motionless, with the legs and antennae 
drawn up against the body, or else moving away sluggishly when ex- 
posed to the light. 
Distribution. — Tho this species has been familiar to European en- 
tomologists for more than a century, occurring as it does thruout 
Europe and in western Siberia, it was not recognized in this country* 
until 1881, when its ruinous work was reported from Yates county. 
New York. At present the species is known to occur in Vermont, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, M^aryland, District of Columbia, West Virginia, North Car- 
olina, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and also in 
Ontario, Canada. From the data collected by F. M. Webster, the in- 
sect appears to have spread from New York into Ohio, then westward ; 
also from New York into Canada. At Ridgeway, Ont., Mr. A. H. 
Kilman found that the beetles were being brought by the east wind, 
August 10, 1884. On the same day, at Buffalo, N. Y., ten miles due 
east of Ridgeway and across the lake, the beetles swarmed on the 
pavements and could be collected by the quart along the lake shore. 
Reinecke noted their abundance in Buffalo following a heavy east 
wind. 
Food Plants and Injuries. — The food plants in Europe are given as 
Trifoliiim (clover) and Medicago sativa (lucerne, alfalfa). In the 
United States the insect eats all kinds of clovers, and alfalfa as well. 
The other food plants that have been named, are beans and timothy for 
the larva, and burdock and the flowers of goldenrod for the beetle. 
Webster observed a preference for white clover over red. In 
central Illinois red clover is most heavily infested, alfalfa coming sec- 
ond, and white clover third. Mammoth clover and alsike are freely 
eaten if they happen to be available. 
European accounts refer but scantily to this species as a pest, 
aside from references to its devastations in Italy in the years 1867-70; 
