REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1901 751 



destroyed, the insects waited with more or less patience for the 

 appearance of something green. It is well known that this and 

 allied species thrive on weeds, and, while clean culture may not 

 be possible in a grain field, there is rarely a necessity of sowing 

 after grain a crop which these little pests can 

 seriously injure. If such a course be unavoid- 

 able, they can be controlled by spraying the 

 plants early with a poisoned bordeaux mix- 

 ture. 



Fringed anthomyian, Phorbia ? fusci- 

 c e p s Zett. The bean fields in several parts m 23 Pale strlped flea 

 of the state suffered considerably from the beet e > enIarged < origInal) 

 attack of some insect. The trouble was first brought to 

 our attention by J. F. Rose, South Byron, Genesee co., and 

 July 10 a number of fields were visited in his company. A 

 great many bare stalks occurred in several fields, and on inves- 

 tigation it was found that much of the injury of this character 

 must have been caused by a maggot working on the delicate 

 plumule before the plants broke ground and probably before the 

 process of germination had much more than begun. A number 

 of these bare stems were found to be even then infested with 

 dipterous maggots, which were working in the stalks and pro- 

 ducing large cavities surrounded by brownish, partly decayed 

 tissues. The species was identified provisionally from larvae 

 taken under such conditions. Unfortunately, we were not able 

 to obtain adults and thus make an authentic determination pos- 

 sible. The greatest injury was observed in a field which had 

 been sown to wheat the previous fall and through the activity 

 of the Hessian fly had been destroyed. This field had been 

 plowed and planted to beans. The reason for greater injury on 

 such fields is probably found in the fact that grain offers abun- 

 dant food for such insects, and, when this is suddenly destroyed, 

 the insects naturally turn to the most available crop, and In 

 the case of a thinly planted one like beans, serious injuries may 

 result. Newspaper reports mention a similar trouble in Orleans 

 county. 



