53 



was again allowed to go back to its primitive state, and remained thus 

 until last season, when, after being drained, a portion was broken and the 

 remainder brought into cultivation the spring of the present year, with 

 the results here given. 



Other fields of swamp land, in the same neighborhood, have suffered 

 in the same manner as this one, but there is at present no information 

 of serious damage until within the last three or four years. 



The first published notice of the destructive habits of these insects is 

 found in a brief notice which appeared in several agricultural papers 

 during July, 18S8, to the effect that Professor 

 Forbes had found them to be very destructive 

 to corn planted on recently drained swamp 

 lauds in Illinois, the adult feeding upon a spe- 

 cies of rush (Scirpus) and a common reed (Phrag- 

 mites), and when these were destroyed they 

 transferred their attention to the young corn. 



On May 23, adult beetles were 



Fig. 1. 



SphenopJiorv.s ochreus: a. larva; b, adult — 

 enlarged (after Riley.) 



sent me by Mr. Quincy Earl, a far- 

 mer residing near Dayton, Ind., a 

 small village about 8 miles from 

 La Fayette, with the statement 

 that they were destroying his corn. 



The beetles were at once con- 

 fined with corn plants growing in 

 flower pots, the males proceeding 

 to bury their snouts into the ten- 

 der stems, near the surface of the 

 soil; but the females, to my utter astonishment, burrowed down into 

 the earth, out of sight, and staid there. 



Stormy weather prevented my visiting the locality until June 2. The 

 infested field comprised about 75 acres of recently drained swamp land, 

 plowed the present spring, except a small portion which had been de- 

 voted to corn the previous year, and the first and second planting de- 

 stroyed by the beetles. On that, portion of the field plowed this spring 

 the young corn was not yet up, but on that portion which had been cul- 

 tivated last year and planted earlier this year than the newer-plowed 

 portion, the young plants had been totally destroyed, the lack of their 

 natural food having evidently driven the insects to this part of the field, 

 as other fields in the vicinity had not suffered the second year after the 

 ground was first broken, although the first crop had been destroyed. 

 At the time of my visit the beetles were feeding on a species of rush, 

 Scirpus atrovirens, Muhi., puncturing the stems just below the surface 

 of the ground and eating out the tender, folded leaves. The sexes were 

 pairing, but I could get no eggs. A large number of adults of both 

 sexes were taken home, as also were specimens of the Scirpus, including 

 the roots, which are bulbous and exceedingly hard and compact. These 

 plants were placed in flowerpots, and on each was placed a single pair 



