79 



the losses occasioned by it are scarcely recognized, the scarcity of seed 

 at the time of hulling being usually put down as caused by the clover- 

 flower midge. 



Heads attacked by this latter insect fail to flower properly, and can 

 be easily recognized in the tield by the lack of flowers in all or a por- 

 tion of the head. "Where only a portion of a head is attacked it 

 becomes dwarfed and contorted, the undisturbed florets going on and 

 maturing their seed. 



Heads attacked by the chalcis-fly do not apparently differ from 

 sound heads, and seed becomes sufficiently mature before the adult 

 insect emerges to allow it to hull out when thrashed. These light 

 shells are of course instantly swept away in the cleaner, and the grower 

 has no means of ascertaining the true cause of the shortage of the crop. 

 In a large number of heads examined, selected at random from various 

 lots, the percentage of injured seed varied from 10 to 85 per cent, the 

 average being fully 50 per cent to a head. There are at least two 

 generations of the chalcis-fly during the year, the second wintering 

 both as larva and pupa in the seed. 



This species was originally described in 1879 by Dr. L. O. Howard 

 as Eurytoma funebris. a The types Avere males and females bred from 

 clover in heads, and at that time were presumed to be parasitic on the 

 clover-flower midge {Cecidomyla leguminicola Lint.). Dr. W. H. 

 Ashmead, in 1894, 6 referred the species to a new genus which he 

 named Bruchophagus, believing the species of this genus to be all 

 parasitic on the seed weevils (Bruchida?). 



At present the genus contains, besides B. funehrls How. , the spe- 

 cies here treated: Brucho-phag-us oorealis Ashm., reported by W. H. 

 Harrington from Canada as bred from Bruchus sp. ; B. ?nexicdmts 

 Ashm., reported by "Prof. Tyler Townsend" from New Mexico as 

 bred from Bruchus scutellctris Horn [= chlnensis Linn.] and B. herrerde 

 Ashm., originally sent from Mexico by Dr. A. L. Herrera, who 

 stated that it bred from the cotton-boll weevil (Anthonomus graridis 

 Boh). Thus far no Bruchus is known to naturally attack clover seed 

 in this country, and it would seem that the clover-seed chalcis-fly, if 

 ever a coleopterous parasite, has changed its diet. A more complete 

 stud}^ of the other species of the genus and future rearings may prove 

 that all are simply true seed-miners. 



Nothing further was published on this chalcis-fly until 1895/ when 

 Dr. A. D. Hopkins, at the eight annual meeting of the Association of 

 Economic Entomologists, reported finding (June 13) numerous chalcis- 

 flies on and in a paper bag in which were stored ripened heads of 

 crimson clover. The flies proved to belong to this species, and Dr. 



a U. S. Dept. Agr. Rpt. 1879, p. 196. 



b Trans. Amer. Entom. Soc, v. 21, 1894, p. 328. 



cBxd. 6, n. s., Div. Entom., L T . S. Dept., Agr., 1896, p. 73. 



