198 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



as with everything else. Now as to the plowing of the field. Profes- 

 sor Webster, then of the Ohio Station, advised plowing immediately 

 after cutting, and before the larvae had pupated, if possible, exposing 

 the roots to the drying influence of the wind and sun, thus drying 

 out the larvse and starving them. 



Clover Stem-Borer. Of minor importance as a crop destroyer 

 is the stem-borer. The adult is a smooth, polished and slender bee- 

 tle, about one-fourth of an inch long, with red head and thorax and 

 with dark, steel-blue wing-covers. This beetle lays its eggs inside 

 the clover stem in the spring, and the larvse from the eggs tunnel 

 up and down through the stem, maturing and emerging in the fall. 

 They injure the plant somewhat by weakening the stem. It is an 

 insect to be found scattered over the clover fields, but w r e have never 

 seen it in numbers sufficient to do appreciable injury. 



White-Clover Stem-Weevil. On one or two occasions reports of 

 marked injury to white clover have been made, accompanied . by a 

 number of specimens of the small snout-beetle known as Sitones. 

 It is a yellowish-brown snout-beetle, about three-sixteenths of an 

 inch in length, and with a short, thick beak. The body and the legs 

 are covered with very short, dense hairs, those on the underside 

 sometimes having a coppery tinge. Professor Webster reports se- 

 vere injuries to white clover and to alsike ; circular or semi-circular 

 pieces being eaten out of the leaves by adult beetles. The larvae are 

 described as about three-sixteenths of an inch in length, with a dirt- 

 colored head and white body, tapering quite markedly at the hind 

 end. The work of the larvse is normally in or on the stems, where 

 they feed on the soft inner parts. The winter is said to be passed 

 in the partly grown larval stage, pupation occurring early in spring. 

 Occasionally, Professor Webster says, adults may hibernate. On July 

 5th adults were plentiful, and larvae that were no doubt the larvae of 

 this creature, were reported present in the soil. It is likely that a 

 drenching with kerosene emulsion may prove useful in case of in- 

 fested lawns. 



Clover Butterfly. Closely resembling the common cabbage- 

 butterfly, in size and general appearance, is the yellow butterfly or 

 clouded sulphur. Many believe that the cabbage butterfly is either 

 white or yellow, but this is a mistake. The cabbage-butterfly is 

 white and gray, or white and black, and the yellow one is an alto- 

 gether different creature, living in its larval condition on clover, 

 and its relatives; vetch, lupine, peas, etc. The larva resembles the 

 cabbage-worm somewhat, being green with .either yellowish or pink- 

 ish stripes, bordered below with black on the sides. 



There are three generations each year, but the injury wrought 

 by these dainty yellow creatures is not known to be anywhere near 

 as serious as that inflicted by their white relatives, the cabbage but- 

 terflies, perhaps because they are distributed over such wide areas 

 and because their work is more obscure. 



Clover Drasteria. This measuring-worm is fairly common in 

 clover fields. The larva is brown and gray, striped, and about one 

 and one-fourth inches long. It progresses by a method of looping 



