124 INSECTS OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 



imported from Europe that works on second-year 

 and older clover roots; eggs laid in May and June 

 in cavities dug in the crown or in roots and larvae 

 bore galleries in the roots, causing plants to wilt 

 and break off at crown; pup?e form in cavities in 

 roots and adults appear by October but remain in 

 roots over winter, feeding when not dormant ; some 

 of the larvcX also pass the winter in the roots; at- 

 tacks alfalfa, red clover, mammoth clover and 

 alsike. 



Control — Plow an infested field immediately 

 after hay gathered; never allow clover to stand 

 more than two years if it becomes infested. 



Clover leaf-beetle ^^ (Hypera punctata) 

 Order — Coleoptera 



A snout beetle which works on the leaves, mostly 

 at night ; the grubs also work in a similar manner ; 

 most of its injury is done in May and June; when 

 full grown the grubs change to pupse in peculiar, 

 yellowish lace-like cocoons of silk in the soil or at 

 the bases of the plants ; beetles usually hibernate but 

 many die before spring; larvae of all sizes pass the 

 winter under debris among the plants on the 

 ground; these complete their growth in spring and 

 the beetles appear in June and July ; they do not lay 

 their eggs until September; there is in the North 

 usually but one generation. 



Control — A fungous disease usually kills the 

 grubs in most localities; plow under the infested 

 fields after second season, thus destroying the early 

 stages of the insect. 



Clover flower-midge ^^ (Dasyncura 

 leguminicola) 

 Order — Diptera 

 This fly often prevents the formation of seed; 



16, 17 Folsom—Illinois Expt. Stat, Bull. 134. 



