40 



7l(5vt with a liberal application of fresh gas-lime, if it can he conveniently obtaiued 

 of perhaps a hundred bushels to the acre. I believe that this would prove the best 

 possible method of arresting severe attacks of the two great clover pests, the clover- 

 seed midge (Cecidomyia legwminicola) and the clover-root borer (Hylastes Irifolii), when- 

 ever they occur within easy reach of the gas-works of our cities, &c. 



Tiiis recommendation followed Dr. Lintner's previous statement* to 

 tire effect that the best remedy he was prepared to offer was u turning 

 ^deeply under the infested fields while the larva? are most abundant n or 

 (adopting our suggestion made in the report of the Entomologist, U. S. 

 Dept. Agr. for 1878, p. 251) " cessation from clover culture for a period 

 of time." These radical plans for extermination need not, however, be 

 .adopted unless the total destruction of the seed crop has been brought 

 about, or unless the work of the midge is combined with that of the 

 Hoot-borer (Rylesinus irifolii), and both hay aud seed crops are de- 

 stroyed. Where damage by the midge alone is concerned it will be 

 srell to give the remedy first mentioned — early cutting — a fair trial. 



Colaspis flavida injuring the LeConte Pear. — The LeConte 

 "pear is a very popular fruit in parts of the South, and a great deal of 

 capital is invested in its culture, particularly in parts of Georgia, from 

 which State enormous quantities are shipped every year to northern 

 markets. Although, strictly speaking, it is a second-class fruit, its ex- 

 treme prolificacy and hardiness render it valuable. It has been claimed 

 that it is blight-proof and that insects will not injure it, but both of 

 these assertions are unwarranted, as young trees, up to four or five 

 years of age, frequently blight, and as the present season has developed 

 an insect enemy of some importance. 



This insect is the well known Colaspis flavida, commonly known as 

 the "Grape-vine Colaspis." Specimens were forwarded to us, July 23, 

 1885, by Mr. L. 0. Bryan, of Savannah, together with a newspaper ac- 

 count of the method of work and the damage done in Liberty County, 

 Georgia. The iujury complained of was simply the work of the adult 

 beetle, and consisted in riddling the young growth and the tender young 

 leaves as they unfolded in May with small holes, as close together " as 

 the holes in a pepper box." We treated this species in our Third Mis- 

 souri Report, showing that in the larva state it feeds on the roots of 

 strawberries, and, after issuing as an adult beetle, it feeds at first on 

 strawberry leaves and afterwards flies to the vineyard, where it riddles 

 the leaves of grape. It is also found feeding on clover leaves in July 

 and August near Washington, and may be found throughout the woods 

 on the wild grapevines. The species seems to be single-brooded in Mis- 

 souri, and is probably so also in Georgia. Xo other larval food-plant 

 than strawberry has been found, though doubtless such exist. 



Xo satisfactory remedy has been proposed against the insect in the 

 larva or pupa state, but where the adults occur on pear trees in any 



* The Insects of the Clover Plant, Fortieth Ann. Rept. N. Y. State Agr. Soc. for 1S80, 

 Author's Edition, pp. 11-15. 



