110 CLOVER CULTURE. 



cent clover weevil, (Sitonesjlavescens) Allard. In the month 

 of October, 1885, Mr. F. M. Webster, then of Lafayette, 

 Indiana, special agent of the Department of Agriculture, dis- 

 covered that the foliage of white clover, and also of the alsike 

 on the grounds of the Purdue University, at Lafayette, Indi- 

 ana, were seriously injured by an insect enemy, and he de- 

 scribed and reported the insect to the Department, the de- 

 scription being* published in the annual report of 1886, pp. 

 580-2. The injury was done mainly to the leaves of the clo- 

 ver, and consisted in cutting- a circular disc in the center of the 

 leaf, and also circular spaces from the margins, in some cases 

 leaving- only the leaf stalk and the backbone of the leaf, or 

 the bases of the mid-veins. This he identified as the flaves- 

 cent clover weevil, {Sitones jlavescens.} The insect had been 

 previously described by Dr. Lintner, of New York, and also 

 by Dr. Riley, of the Department of Agriculture. It is one of 

 the beetles, and has a wide distribution, being quite frequent 

 in the Atlantic states, and in Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota. 

 The beetles are described as rather timid, and drop to the 

 ground on the slightest disturbance, hiding- among- the leaves 

 and rubbish, and, therefore, it is difficult to discover them in 

 the act of feeding- on the leaves. The peculiar circular marks 

 which they make are due to the habit of the insect when feed- 

 ing-, of moving- simply the head and neck, the body remaining 

 stationary', much after the fashion of a cow with her head be- 

 tween a barb wire fence and reaching- as far as her tong-ue 

 will enable her to take in the herbage. 



These beetles appear in the spring- of the year, about the 

 time the first tender leaves make their appearance, and carry 

 on their depredations throug-hout the summer. The eggs are 

 deposited in July and August, and the deposit continues until 

 cold weather begins. The larvae hatch out about two days 

 after the eggs are laid, and pass the winter in the larval 

 stage, pupating or undergoing their final transformation in 

 the spring, and after remaining about twenty days in this 

 stage, emerge as adults, thus completing the cycle. This 

 pest was discovered in 1891, as being quite abundant at Ames, 

 Iowa, and a full account of it may be found in Bulletin 14, 

 for August of that year. While as noticed in Indiana and 

 further east, they infest mainly the alsike and white clovers, 

 they seem to be partial to red clover in Iowa. It is not prob- 

 able that this insect will do very serious damage, and it is 

 likely common, its ravages being mistaken for those of grass- 

 hoppers. Prof. Osborn describes it as little less than one- 

 fourth of an inch in length, about one-tenth of an inch wide, 

 and with a faint light brown stripe running the length of the 



