NOTES FROM TEXAS, 69 



Nysius sp. — The species of Nysius which caused so much damage 

 in 1904 were remarkable for their absence during the past season. 

 They attack all of the cruciferous plants, and have injured Irish 

 potatoes, wheat, and mesquite. No remedy is known to me. 



Plectrodera scalator Fab. — This beetle is the most serious drawback 

 to the growing of cottonwood as a shade tree. Its life history was 

 worked out in northern Texas last season. The eggs are laid in 

 cavities made by the adult on the trunk of the tree in June and are 

 easily located by their cottony appearance. The larva? become full 

 grown by the following May. A tree less than 2 inches in diameter 

 will invariably be killed. Thousands of young cottonwood trees are 

 killed annually in this manner. A thoroughly effective method of 

 destruction is the crushing of the eggs in spring and digging out 

 the young larvae. Examination should be made in southern Texas in 

 the middle part of May, and in northern Texas in the first part of 

 June. 



C onotrachelus nenuphar Hbst. — The plum curculio is becoming 

 very destructive to the peach orchards of Texas and the injury in- 

 creases every year. In many cases over 25 per cent of the crop has 

 been injured to such an extent as to be rendered unmarketable. 



Corn weevils. — The rice weevil (Calandra oryza L.), Angoumois 

 grain moth (Sitotroga cerealella 01.), and granary weevil {Calandra 

 granaria L.) are the most injurious insects of stored corn in Texas, 

 and are here named in the order of their destructiveness. During 

 the past two seasons the rice weevil has caused serious injury in the 

 field and in the bin. During the past season it was found that the 

 rice weevil began to migrate into the field during the second week in 

 June. The Angoumois grain moth became very active a week later. 

 On June IT over 75 per cent of the adults of the rice weevil, as well 

 as the grain moth, were entirely willing to leave the corn in the bin 

 and migrate to the field. It is therefore important that the bins be 

 fumigated twice after the warm weather sets in in spring, making 

 the fumigations twelve days apart. In like manner, before the corn 

 is stored in the fall the bin should be thoroughly cleaned and fumi- 

 gated and every wagonload of corn before leaving the field should 

 receive a charge of carbon bisulphid at the rate of 3 pounds to 50 

 bushels of corn. The wagon bed should be gas tight and covered 

 with canvas or with a muslin previously saturated in linseed oil 

 and dried. The fumigation should be continued while the grain is 

 hauled home, as the shaking and jolting of the load will enable the 

 fumes to penetrate every crevice. As soon as these recommenda- 

 tions are observed, the loss to corn in Texas will be considerably 

 lessened. 



