INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER. 185 



one following during July and August. White and alsike 

 clover have not been molested by the midge to any extent, 

 but good judgment and a knoAvledge of the habits of the 

 insect are needed to harvest a crop of seed from the red or 

 mammoth. 



Remedies. — Two methods are in practice for controlling 

 this pest. The first, wxll adapted for dairy farms, consists 

 in pasturing the clover until the 10th or loth of June, and 

 then securing a late crop of seed. The other method is 

 to cut the clover for hay before the maggots have become 

 full-grown and left the flowers, and then harvest a late 

 crop of seed. Usually for red clover this will be any time 

 during the latter part of June, and some two wrecks earlier 

 for the mammoth, as the latter will not mature a crop of 

 seed if left later. But the exact time for cutting must 

 depend upon the latitude and season, and to secure success 

 will need good judgment on the part of the farmer. K 

 good rule for red clover is to start the seed crops a few 

 days before timothy-heads apjDcar. 



The Clover-seed Caterpillar {Grajjholitlia inter stinctana 



Clem.). 



The larva of a small moth known as the Clover-seed 

 Caterpillar [GraijholitJta inter sti7ict.ana Clem.) has also 

 done serious damage to the seed in Iowa and is common 

 in clover-fields elsewhere. The greenish-white larvse are 

 about one-fourth of an inch long, and destroy the seed by 

 gnawing through the florets at the base. The larvae pupate 

 in thin cocoons spun in the clover-head, and from them 

 emerge the small brown moths, which lay eggs for another 

 brood at the base of the head. Three broods occur in 

 Iowa; in June, August, and September. 



