2 PAPERS ON CEREAL AND FORAGE INSECTS. 



In 1905 the writer found numbers of larvae inhabiting timothy at 

 Richmond, Ind. Some time in the fall infested stems were collected 

 and sent to the Department for rearing, but it was the same story- 

 nothing issued. 



Early in the spring of 1906 observations were begun with a view 

 to rearing the adult. Infested stems were collected in May, and on 

 June 8 the first adult appeared. Specimens were later submitted to 

 the Department and were found to belong to the above species. 

 Since that time they have been reared repeatedly. 



Fig. 1. — The timothy stem-borer (MordeUistena ustu- 

 lata) : a, Adult or beetle, dorsal view; o, same, lateral 

 view. Greatly enlarged. (Original). 



DISTRIBUTION. 



The habitat of this insect has 

 been -given as the middle and 

 southern United States. Adults 

 have been captured as far east 

 as Pennsylvania, and they have 

 been reared from material col- 

 lected in Indiana, Ohio, and Vir- 

 ginia. Timothy stems contain- 

 ing mordellid larvae that were 

 not identified, but which were 

 probably MordeUistena ustulata, 

 were found in Kentucky, Ten- 

 nessee, Illinois, and, this }^ear, 

 Mr. T. H. Parks, of the Bureau 

 of Entomology, found them at 

 Chillicothe, Mo. 



CHARACTER OF ATTACK. 



As a rule the egg is deposited 

 at or slightly below the center of 

 the first or second joint in timothy, but much farther down the stem in 

 other grasses. From here the larva bores into the center of the stem 

 and then begins its downward journey to the bulb or root. It feeds 

 upon the pith and the walls of the stem as it passes downward, and 

 when it encounters a joint it tunnels completely through it, leaving a 

 mass of detritus behind. Plate I is an illustration of its workmanship. 



HOST PLANTS. 



This species has been reared from timothy, orchard grass (Dac- 

 tylis glornerata), quack grass (Agropyron sp.), and Agrostis alba, while 

 iarvse that were supposedly this species have been found in bluegrass 

 (Poa, spp.) and cheat (Brornus secalinus). 



