PRELIMINARY REPORT Oft THE ALEALFA WEEVIL 



INTRODUCTION. 



The alfalfa weevil belongs to a genus or group of beetles all of the 

 members of which attack clover, alfalfa, and closely allied plants. 

 Even before the appearance of this one, PJiytonomus posticus 1 Gyll. 

 (fig. 1), in our midst several other species had been introduced from 

 Europe, had become established in our fields, and had spread to a 

 greater or less extent over the country. 2 After becoming fully devel- 

 oped in early summer, all apparently have the same habit of scattering 

 themselves over the country, a little later crawling into any secluded 

 place that they can find, there to pass the winter. Years ago a lady 

 residing in Michigan and spending the summer in New York, where 

 one species of these beetles, Hypera punctata (fig. 2), was at the 

 time very abundant, on her return home and on unpacking her 

 trunk found some of them ensconced among the contents. They had 

 in all probability secreted themselves, either in the trunk itself while 

 it was being packed, or else among articles of clothing exposed out of 

 doors prior to being packed in the trunk. 



The alfalfa weevil is found in Europe, western Asia, and northern 

 Africa, where, though it sometimes becomes abundant, it is not 

 especially destructive. The foregoing will illustrate the numerous 

 ways whereby it might have been introduced into this country in 

 articles of commerce, in household goods, or among other belongings 

 of immigrants coming from those countries. 



FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE ALFALFA WEEVIL IN THE UNITED 



STATES. 



The pest was first reported on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, 

 Utah, in the spring of 1904. At that time it had seriously injured 

 several acres of alfalfa, the first crop being damaged fully one-half 

 and the second crop practically destroyed. The following spring, 

 1905, its work was observed several miles way. The particular 

 locality where the pest was first observed is on the eastern border of 

 the city. Although not far distant from nurseries, it is not in close 



*In a recent paper, "The Genera Hypera and Phytonomus in North America north of Mexico" 

 (Annals of the Entomological Society of America, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 383, 473, pis. 24-34, December, 1911), 

 Prof. E. G. Titus has given this species as P. posticus Gyll. Phytonomus punctatus had already 

 been placed in the genus Hypera by European authors. 



2 Phytonomus punctatus Fab.: See Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1881-82, pp. 171-179; 

 Phytonomus nigrirostris Fab.: See Bui. 85, Part I, Bur. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., 1909. For other species of 

 the genus see paper by R. L. Webster, Ent. News, vol. 20, pp. 80-82, 1909. 



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