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WIREWORMS ATTACKING CEREAL AND FORAGE CROPS. 9 
Rolling land infested by this insect presents a patchy appearance, the sandy 
knolls standing out distinct and bare, being overgrown later with weeds, par- 
ticularly crab grass, briers, and morning-glory. 
The infestation seems to be worst after a crop of cowpeas, but the 
exact significance of this crop in relation to wireworm injury has yet to 
be determined. Applications of barnyard manure and of wood ashes have had 
no effect in checking this pest. On account of the susceptibility of the larvee 
and pupz to exposure, plowing the soil in the heat of the sun would un- 
doubtedly destroy many of the wireworms. The objection to this method, 
however, would be that the planter is occupied with other farm operations at 
that time, and also there would be difficulty in getting at these areas, which 
are often scattered, irregular, and isolated. From the data thus far gathered 
we can not say what effect fall plowing would have on this insect. Further 
investigation, however, will in all probability give a clue to remedial measures. 
WIREWORMS OF THE GENUS CORYMBITES. 
In the literature of American economic entomology there is no ref- 
erence to beetles of the genus Corymbites as pests to cereal and forage 
crops. In the Pacific Northwest two species (C. inflatus Say and C. 
noxious Hyslop) are among the worst pests to cereal crops. The 
habits of the two species are quite distinct and will be treated sepa- 
rately. The occurrence of Corymbites cylindriformis Ubst. in enor- 
mous numbers in alfalfa and wheat fields about Hagerstown, Md., 
this spring (1914), and the finding of Corymbites larvee in these 
fields at various times, might indicate that the genus is represented 
among the cereal and forage pests in this region also. 
In Europe the habits of several species of this genus have been 
recorded by Schiodte and Perris. (. pectinicornis L., C. castaneus 
L., and C. sjlandicus Mill. are found living in woody meadows and 
C’. eneus Fal. is found in fields.+ 
C. latus Fab. is recorded ? as living “in the ground like other insect 
larve, feeding on roots * * *, They cause great damage to car- 
nations in flower gardens.” Following is a note by Mr. Pergande 
from the Bureau of Entomology files: * “ Elaterid larva in apple tree, 
received from B. C. Hawkins, Horse Cove, Macon County, N.C. A 
larva of an elaterid found in a boring in trunk of apple with a dead 
larva of Saperda bivittata.” 
_ This note, though the correctness of the determination of the wire- 
worm is not certain, is interesting, Inasmuch as it seems to indicate 
that some species of Elateride now classified as Corymbites are 
1 Schiodte, J. C. De metamorphosi eleutheratorum observationes, pt. 5, p. 520-522, pl. 
8, fig. 9-10, pl. 10, fig. 4, 1871. 
2 Perris, Edouard. Larves des Coléoptéres, p. 179. Paris, 1877. ‘‘ Cette larve vit dans 
la terree soit d’autres larves ou insectes, soit de racines. M. de Bonvouloir, en m’en en- 
voyant des echantillons, me l’a signalée comme causant de grands degaits aux eillets de 
son parterre.”’ 
3U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Ent., Notes, v. 8, No. 6187, Apr. 3, 1894. 
61121°—Bull. 156—15 2 
