202 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



The Clover-seed Chalcid * 



Evidence accumulates that the shortage of the clover-seed 

 crop may frequently be due to the larva of a little chalcis-fly 



which hollows out the 

 ripening, seed, leaving 

 it brown, brittle and 

 hollow, so that the af- 

 fected hulls are blown 

 away with the chaff in 

 threshing. As there is 

 no evidence of the pest 

 in the appearance of 

 the heads, and as the 

 worst affected seed is 



FIG. 168. The clover-seed chalcis (Bruchophagus thus overlooked i n 



funebris): adult female, much enlarged; , , . . . ... 



antenna of male at left, more enlarged, threshing, its work will 



(After Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.) o f ten eva d e detection. 



If the seed crop is short it will be well to examine seed for the 

 larvae; many of the seed will be found shriveled and misshapen, 

 and frequently considerable numbers of the adults will issue from 

 the seed soon after threshing. 



The adult is a small, wasp-like fly one-twelfth to one-sixteenth 

 inch long, black in color, and with four wings, the hind-wings very 

 small and the fore- wings with but a single vein. It belongs to a 

 family almost all of which are parasitic on other insects, and for 

 many years it was 

 thought to be a para- 

 site of the clover-seed 



midge, until its true \f / I;/ l/"""\ 



role was discovered. 

 In recent years exam- 

 inations o f ripening 

 heads from all parts of 

 the country show it is 

 nrnhahlv HiVrihiitpH FlQ - 169 - The clover-seed chalcis: a, egg highly 



probably distributed magnified . 6> larva an> head more en i arge d; c , 

 wherever clover is pupa much enlarged. (After Webster, U. S. 

 grown and that from Dept. Agr.) 



* Bruchophagus funebris Howard. Family Chalddidas. 



