12 



BULLETIN 156, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



badly riddled with holes. In a rearing cage the beetles were ob- 

 served eating into kernels of wheat which were exposed on the sur- 

 face of the ground. The beetles are also to be collected in large num- 

 bers in clover fields. The larvae, so far as our records show, attack 

 corn, wheat, and potatoes. They also undoubtedly attack oats and 

 barley. 



THE DRY-LAND WIREWORM. 



(Gorymbites noxius Hyslop, 1 fig. 4.) 



The dry-land wireworm, so far as we at present know, is confined 

 to the Upper Sonoran Zone of Washington State, though it will un- 

 doubtedly be found in the Upper Sonoran of Oregon. This zone is 



Fig. 4. — The dry-land wireworm (Corymbites noxius) : a, Adult; o, larva; c, under sur- 

 face of head of larva ; d, side of last segment of larva, a, o, enlarged ; c, d, more 

 enlarged. (Original.) 



characterized by the presence of sagebrush and occupies that part of 

 Washington lying south of the Columbia River, east of the Cascade 

 Mountains, and west of the semiarid Transition Zone, extending up 

 the Snake River into Idaho and across the Columbia River into 

 Oregon. This region is almost exclusively dry-farming country, 

 summer fallowing being necessary to obtain enough moisture to 

 mature wheat and other cereals. 



1 Ilyslop, J. A. Description of a new species of Corymbites from the Sonoran Zone of 

 Washington State (Coleoptera, Elateridse). In Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., v. 27, p. 69-70, 

 Mar. 20, 1914. 



