2l8 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I905. 



Wireworms are slender grubs of yellowish white color and) 

 very hard bodies. They are the young (larvae) of click-beetles^ 

 or snapping beetles, so called from the fact that when placed 

 upon their backs they will suddenly bend the body and, with a 

 sharp clicking sound, throw themselves a considerable distance 

 into the air. They are among the most troublesome of crop 

 pests and as they live underground it is difficult to combat them. 



At the New York, Cornell, Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 exhaustive experiments covering a period of three years were 

 made fOr the purpose of testing remedial measures. The state- 

 ments here made are based largely upon the results of those 

 experiments. Many methods that had previously been recom- 

 mended for the destruction of these pests were found to be ineffi- 

 cient. To cite but one example : It was found that the wire 

 worms were still alive in soil to which salt enough had been 

 applied to kill the vegetation. 



One method, especially approved, was fall . plowing. The 

 explanation of the beneficial results that follow fall plowing is 

 believed to be found in the following facts. Wire worms live 

 for at least three years in the worm or larval state. When the 

 worms are full grown they change to soft white pupae during 

 July. The pupal stage lasts only about three weeks, the insect 

 assuming the adult form in August. But, strange to say, 

 although the adult state is reached at this time, the insect 

 remains in the cell in the ground till the following April or May, 

 nearly a year. This period of quiescence is apparently neces- 

 sary to the life of the beetle, for in every case where the soil was 

 disturbed after the insects had transformed, the beetles perished. 

 By fall plowing we can destroy the beetles in the soil and thus 

 prevent their depositing eggs the following season. After 

 plowing (at least six inches deep) the soil should be well pulver- 

 ized and kept stirred so that the earthen cells of the pupae and 

 adults may be destroyed. It will usually require at least three 

 years to render the soil comparatively free from wire worms, 

 as only the pupas and adults are killed, the young larvae remain- 

 ing uninjured. 



Nematode worm. Late in November specimens of diseased 

 gardenia from one of the nurseries in the State were received at 

 this Station. The trouble seemed to be caused neither by insect 

 or fungus attack and the material was sent to the United States 



