CLOVER ROOT-BORER 



197 



seed crop. As is very evident, cooperation among farmers in the 

 neighborhood is very necessary. These recommendations apply 

 to medium red clover, not to mammoth clover, since in this variety 

 the first cutting is utilized for seed. One should also cut all volun- 

 teer red clover along roadsides and fences, and all waste about the 

 huller should be swept up and destroyed, since many of the in- 

 fested seeds are separated out by the huller. 



FIG. 215. Alfalfa-seed or clover-seed chalcis fly: a, adult; b, larva; c, pupa. Much enlarged. 

 (Urbahns, U. S. Bu. Ent.) 



The Clover Root-borer. The adult insect is a reddish-brown 

 beetle (Hylastinus obscurus Marsh) about one-eighth of an inch 

 long. These insects hibernate in the clover roots, beginning their 

 work in the roots when warm weather begins. Eggs are deposited 

 along the sides of the burrow in the spring. Frequently, however, 

 they are laid on the crown of the plant and sometimes even at 

 the sides of roots two or three inches below the ground. Fre- 

 quently the larvae feed in the excavation made by the mother, but 

 soon start burrows on their own account. By the middle of summer 



