22 



BULLETIN 156, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



doing considerable damage to wheat at "Wellington. Kans. These 

 larva? attack the wheat in a very unique manner for wireworms. 

 They do not seem to attack the roots, but bore into the cavity of the 

 wheat stem and feed on its inner wall. In some fields as many 

 as one-eighth of 1 per cent of the wheat stems were infested. A 

 large number of these larvae were placed in a rearing cage on 

 May 6, 1910, and on June 21 four adults were found in the cage. 

 Mr. Kelly found the adult beetles of this species numerous on corn 

 plants in the field from July 3 to August 23. Early in March, 1910, 

 an adult of this species was found in a clump of grass (Andropogon 

 scoparius). In 1911 Mr. Kelly succeeded in rearing an adult from 

 a pupa collected among the roots of corn. This adult emerged on 

 July 19. Mr. T. H. Parks, at that time with this office, found the 

 beetles very numerous on young corn at Winfield, Kans., and Okla- 

 homa City, Okla., in 

 June, 1910, and Mr. 

 E. A. Vickery, also of 

 this office, found the 

 beetles very numerous 

 on corn at Browns- 

 ville, Tex., in June. 

 Mr. Pergande records 1 

 the injury to these bee- 

 tles to cotton at We- 

 tumpka, Ala., and Dr. 

 J. B. Smith found the 

 larva? injuring beans 

 at Da Costa, N. J. 2 

 Mr. W. E. McConnell, 

 of this office, found the 

 larva? of these beetles very numerous in alfalfa fields at Carlsbad, 

 N. Mex. 



Owing to the superficial resemblance of the larva of Drasterius 

 to those of Crj-ptohypnus, the notes in the files of the Bureau of 

 Entomology relative to these two genera are very unreliable. Web- 

 ster records 3 Drasterius elegans Fab. as a serious pest to corn and 

 wheat in Indiana, and Forbes records finding larva? attacking corn 

 in Illinois. 



Drasterius elegans is found throughout the northern half of 

 the United States. Drasterius amabUis Lee. is common in the 

 Middle Atlantic States and has also been collected in New England 

 and the Mississippi Valley. All of the beetles in this genus are 



Fig. 6. — The southern corn wireworm (Monocrepidius 

 vespertinus) : a, Side view of larva ; 6, top view of 

 larva; c, adult beetle; d, pupa. All enlarged. (After 

 Chittenden.) 



1 F. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Ent., Notes, v. 11, No. 8668, July 11, 1899. 



2 Smith, J. B. Annual Report of the New Jersey State Museum. Including a Report of 

 the Insects of New Jersey, p. 285. Trenton, 1909. 



3 Webster, F. M. Report of observations upon insects affecting grains. In U. S. Dept. 

 Agr., Div. Ent., Bui. (Old Ser.) 22, p. 52, 1890. 



