4 



From some infested clover heads obtained through the secretary 

 of the Club, N. J. Wheeler, we had the good fortune to breed 

 five specimens of a new parasitic enemy of this midge, — a chalcid 

 belonging to the genus Tetrastichus, and apparently of a species 

 undescribed. Previous to this, , two species of parasites have been 

 reported as preying on it, — Eiirytoma funehris, Haw., and Platy- 

 gaster error, Fitch. Additional insect enemies were detected in 

 our breeding cages, — one of them a small heteropter {Triphleps 

 insidiosus) , so abundant everywhere that it may well serve a use- 

 ful purpose in lessening the numbers of ^^y»fS .^over pest. 



The intex'esting discovery was mad^e.this summer (1886) that an 

 additional brood (majiing three in all) of the wheat bulb woem 

 (Meromyza ameri(^na) may develop in midsummer in self-sown 

 wheat. 



A very peculiar larva {Cardiophorus) of the family to which 

 the common wireworms belong, was found in June perforating and 

 mining the roots of corn in the sandy soil of the "second bottom" 

 in Alexander county, the corn as a result being not more than 

 half the size of that in adjacent fields. ^ 



The very common blister beetles (Meloidce) were far more 

 abundant in 1885 than usual, — a fact doubtless to be connected 

 with the extraordinary abundance of grasshoppers, upon the eggs 

 of which their larvae are well known to feed. The species most 

 frequently mentioned in our notes of injuries to crops are the 

 striped blister beetle {Epicaida viftcda), the margined blister 

 beetle {E. cinerea), and the common black blister beetle (jE*. 

 pennsylvcmica). The last is yearly abundant, feeding in autumn 

 upon the flowers of the golden rod and other composite plants; 

 but the other two species are more variable in their numbers, 

 Che abundance of E. pennsylvanica was noticed as early as the 

 4th of July, at which time we found it feeding upon the leaves oi 

 the honey locust. In ilugust it was very common in corn fields, 

 associated with the two other species, all of which were feeding 

 freely upon the fresh silk of 'corn, doing thus, apparently, a very 

 considerable mischief by preventing the fertilization of the kernels, 

 and partially blighting the ear. Rarely, also, we saw the black 

 species eating the kernels at the tip of the ear. The striped blis- 

 ter beetle, likewise common in corn, was still commoner upon po- 

 tatoes and tomatoes, often stripping these plants of their leaves. 

 The margined blister beetle was also noticed in July and August 

 feeding upon potatoes and tomatoes, sometimes more abundant 

 than the striped species. In corn fields it attacks an allied weed, 

 the common ground cherry (Phymlis ^riscosd). 



The ookn hoot worm (Diahrotlca longicornis) seenjs certainly 

 no less abundajit than hitherto, although farmers who have 

 adopted the practice of frequent rotation are rarely subject to its 

 injuries. Heretofore it has not been noticed in corn fi(d(is south of 

 the central region of the State; Imt I this year delected the larva' 



