l'.lll] Hypera and Phytonomus in America 393 



When the adult beetle appears it rests in the cocoon until 

 the wing-covers are somewhat hardened and then eats its way 

 out. From the descriptions given apparently some species 

 devour the entire cocoon, this has been noticed but rarely with 

 posticus and has not been reported for punctata. 



The beetles usually feed by night and rest concealed in the 

 daytime beneath rubbish or leaves or even in cracks in the 

 ground. The smaller specimens often lie in the leaves or 

 opening leaf-buds. The beetles cause considerable injury by 

 their feeding habits at this time, gnawing the parenchyma 

 from the stems and feeding upon the leaves. 



The introduced European species, and probably all the 

 species, hibernate as adults. 



The group has in common with some other Curculionidae 

 the habit of distributing themselves by flying at some stated 

 period, in Phytonomus it appears at least in three species 

 (nigrirostris, posticus, meles) to be in the spring. P. posticus 

 has two nights, the second occurring in the summer, Hypera 

 punctata has at least late summer or fall flight. 



Food- plants: Kleine has published (1910) the food plants of 

 the European species of Phytonomus so far as known. They 

 include plants in many different groups, but especially among 

 the legumes (Fabaceae) and buckwheat (Polygonaceae) families. 



The native American species whose food-plants are known 

 are comptus on Polygonum; eximus and quadricollis on Rumex; 

 trivittatus (setigerus Lee.) on Lathyrus, and maritimus on 

 "Vicia." 



The introduced species . are primarily leguminous feeders, 

 attacking especially clovers and alfalfa; probably they will feed 

 upon any species of Trifolium, Medicago or Melilotus. They will 

 .also attack the Astragalus group and the vetches. Hyp. punctata 

 will live upon beans in both larval and adult stages. Other food- 

 plants reported for them, such as golden-rod, potatoes, timothy, 

 wheat and cabbage, are doubtless more or less accidental. 



Along the Atlantic Coast the introduced species are but 

 occasionally noticed as injurious to the crops, but as they move 

 westward across the Alleghany Mountains, their injuries 

 increase. It is probable that when Hypera punctata from the 

 East and Phytonomus posticus from the West meet on the 

 western plains, we will hear much more regarding their injurious 

 feeding habits. It is certain that the alfalfa weevil (P. posticus) 



