U. S. D. A., B. E. Bui. 95, Part IV. 



C. F. I. I., April 10, 1912. 



PAPERS ON CEREAL AND FORAGE INSECTS. 



THE SO-CALLED "CURLEW BUG." 



(Sphenophorus callosus Oliv.) 



By F. M. Webster, 

 In Charge of Cereal and Forage Insect Investigations. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The so-called "curlew bug" (Sphenophorus callosus Oliv.) (fig. 16) is 

 allied to the maize billbug, Sphenophorus maidis Chittn., the subject of 

 Part II of this bulletin. It is commonly known in the Carolinas as the 

 curlew bugj sometimes as the"klew" or "clewbug," and the^kloobug/' 

 all probably contractions of "curlew bug." The curlew is a shore 

 bird, having a long, curved bill, while 

 the insect, Sphenophorus callosus, which 

 is provided with a long, curved snout, is 

 found plentifully under rubbish along 

 the shores of sounds and rivers, especially 

 those of North Carolina. Intelligent 

 fishermen, who are familiar with it, claim 

 that it is often found clinging to their 

 fish nets spread in Albemarle Sound. 



The information herein given, in so 

 far as it is original, has been accumulat- 

 ing for a number of years, some of the 

 facts having been taken from the general 

 correspondence of the bureau and others 

 from the results of more or less frag- 

 mentary and more recent studies by 

 several assistants engaged in the investi- 

 gations of cereal and forage insects. 

 While not complete in all of the scientific 



details, so much of this information is of economic value to the farmer, 

 pointing out to him a practical method of prevention, and will also 

 prove of assistance to station and State entomologists who may desire 

 to study the pest in their own States, that it seems an injustice to 

 withhold publication longer with the object of securing details of 



53 



Fig. 16.— The " curlew bug" (Spheno- 

 phorus callosus): Adult. Four times 

 natural size. (Original.) 



