Alfalfa in Kansas. 



389 



"Cooperation among all farmers is necessary to suppress an insect 

 attack completely. An occasional outbreak has been known to occur upon 

 a farm or ranch that is under the best possible condition of crop culture, 

 but in each case it was noted that the careless methods of a neighbor 

 were responsible for the reinfestation." 



THE ALFALFA WEEVIL. 



(Phytonomus murinus Fab.) 



A small, oval, dark brown snout beetle marked with black and gray hairs, 

 giving them a mottled appearance; about three-sixteenths of an inch 

 long; attacking alfalfa in Utah, the adults feeding on the stems, 

 leaves and buds for several weeks. The Iarva3 are small, footless, al- 

 falfa-green worms with a black head, about one-fourth of an inch in 

 length, and feed in the stalk, in the leaf buds and on the leaves. They 

 have the habit of feeding and resting in a curved position. (Fig. 336.) 



FIG. 336. Alfalfa weevil (Phytonomus murinus). a, eggs; b, cocoon; c, larva; d, pupa; 

 e, adult. All much enlarged. (After Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



At the present time we do not know of an infestation of this serious 

 pest in Kansas, but inasmuch as there are millions of the beetles in the 

 infested district of Utah, and since the beetles have been found in con- 

 siderable numbers in freight and passenger cars coming from the in- 

 fested regions of Utah, and since these freight and passenger cars are 

 constantly traversing the alfalfa districts of Kansas, it is probably only 

 a question of a short time until the weevil will be distributed in the 

 alfalfa fields of Kansas. It is therefore highly important that our al- 

 falfa growers be on guard, and just as soon as this insect is discovered, 

 or has gained a foothold, the entomologists of the Kansas State Experi- 

 ment Station should be notified in order that measures for its control 

 and destruction may be put in operation at once. 



History and Distribution. 



The alfalfa weevil is a native of Europe, Western Asia and Northern 

 Africa. It was first noticed in America in an alfalfa field near Salt 

 Lake City, Utah, in 1904. However, it was not brought to the attention 



