82 



numbers of eggs presently developed by the female, together with 

 the early disappearance of the winged fly, are all evidence that 

 the eggs are soon laid. The time of hatching was not ascertained. 



Our first observations on possible injuries by these insects were 

 made at Albion, in Edwards county, April 6, 1888, when these 

 larvje were found in great numbers at the roots of timothy and 

 clover which had been killed the previous year,— the injury first 

 • attracting attention shortly after the fields had been mowed. The 

 timothy had here suffered worst, the bulbs, whose roots had been 

 cut away just below the surface, lying in great numbers on the 

 ground. The larvae were at the surface in April, feeding largely 

 on dead vegetation. In some parts of the field they averaged one 

 or two to the square foot; and occasionally nearly every stool of 

 timothy was infested. April 16 a similar condition of meadows 

 was found at Edgewood, similarlj^ associated with the tipulid 

 species above described, — the injury being here much more gen- 

 eral (chiefly in timothy meadows) than in Edwards county. Here, 

 as in the other situation, the timothy bulbs could often be raked 

 up by the bushel, the roots having been generally eaten away. 

 The fields infested were of various ages, one of the worst — on 

 which there had evidently been an excellent stand — being but two 

 years old. Here, as before, the maggots varied in number from 

 one to two or three per square foot. 



As there was nothing in these observations to make it certain 

 that these larvae had done the damage with which they were con- 

 nected, experiments were made to ascertain their feeding habits. 

 Tipulid larvae from these situations were placed, April 16, in pots 

 of sand with growing oats and wheat, and ten days later were 

 dissected for a study of their food. A single larva examined had 

 the alimentary canal well filled with vegetation, full ninety per 

 cent, of it fresh roots. The dead matter was not impossibly from 

 food taken before the experiment began. 



On the other hand, two specimens from among, the dead grass 

 at Albion, collected there the 6th of April, had these proportions 

 of food reversed, about four fifths to nine tenths being now derived 

 from dead grass and the remainder from living. At Edgewood, 

 however, where the vegetation was less thoroughly killed, about 

 tw^o thirds ol: the food of two specimens and about one half that of 

 another consistrxl of fresh grass leaves. These particulars 

 create, it mnst be admitted, (mly a presumption to the effect that 

 these tipulids w^ere res])onsiblo for a considerable part of the 

 damage to meadows in Southern Illinois; but their habit of mixed 

 feeding makes evident their capacity for mischief where they are 

 exceptionally abundant, and where drouth or other unfavoralile 

 conditions render grass specially sensitive to insect attack. 



To h.'arn the extent of the phenomena above reported, a cir- 

 cular of inquiry containing a brief description of the larva and of 

 its supposed injuries was addressed to the crop correspondents of 

 the State Dej)artniont of Agriculture. In n^ply, Mr. C. L. Sweet, 

 of Oh'iiwood, Cook county, wrote Aj)ril 25 thnt ho luu1 found an 



