12 



roots and the top layer of the soil, and when any marauder is found send it to the 

 experiment station for study and identification. 



Directions for sending such specimens I copy from Bulletin XIV on " Insects Inju- 

 rious to Young Trees on Tree Claims," just issued: 



"Whenever possible, insects should be packed alive in some tight tin box — the 

 tighter the better, as air-holes are not needed — along with a supply of their appro- 

 priate food sufficient to last them on the journey ; otherwise they generally die on 

 the road and shrivel up. 



" Send as full an account as possible of their habits; what part of the plant they 

 infest, time of day when they are most active, amount of damage done, etc. 



" Packages should be marked with the name of the sender and should be addressed 

 to the entomologist of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Lincoln, Nebr." 



It will aid very materially in forming conclusions if all people who have planted 

 seed this season will send from time to time reports of the conditions of their beets 

 to the experiment station 6 



Address : 



H. H. Nicholson, 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, Lincoln, Nebr. 



The very dry summer may have had considerable to do towards 

 influencing much of the insect injury to the beets grown within the 

 region designated, and some species of insects may have worked upon 

 this plant that ordinarily would not have done so. In many localities 

 various insects were observed to congregate among the leaf stems just 

 above the ground that could not have been there for mischief, since 

 they were such forms as do not feed upon growing plants. Especially 

 was this true in portions of the State where the drought was severest 

 and where other refugees from the burning sun and parched soil were 

 scarce or entirely wanting. In many of these localities a great variety 

 of insect life was always sure to be found hidden away during the day- 

 time in such places. Not only beetles but also representatives of such 

 other orders as the Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Neuroptera, Orthoptera, 

 Diptera, and Lepidoptera were quite common in such localities. Even 

 many water-inhabiting forms frequently occurred in company with the 

 others. 



Of course all of these insects that were found on or about the roots 

 of the beets were sent in to the station both by the field agents and 

 by the various correspondents, who took an interest in the investiga- 

 tions under way. To separate most of these "refugees" from such 

 other forms as might possibly be there for mischief was, of course, quite 

 easily done at the station by those who were accustomed to the habits 

 of most of the insects under consideration. A few of them were, how- 

 ever, more difficult to single out, and required special study to decide 

 positively, which in nearly every case was accomplished. 



In the study of this subject it was quickly demonstrated that almost 

 all of the insect enemies of the sugar beet, as well as of the common 

 garden and other varieties, were either weed feeders or else were such 

 as are very general feeders. It was also ascertained that nearly if not 

 quite all of the insects of whatsoever description that attack other 



