THE WESTERN GRASS-STEM SAWFLY. 
this name it was mentioned in his report for 1 896 1 with the further 
statement that wheat straws containing Cephus larvae had been sent 
in by Mr. John Wenman of Souris, Manitoba, who stated that the in- 
jury done by them was very slight. Nevertheless the prophecy of five 
years before had been fulfilled, since these grass feeders actually had 
attacked small grain. 
In 1902 Dr. Fletcher reported, in a private letter, that he had found 
the larvae numerous in grasses in the Northwest. In 1905 and 1906 
Mr. G. I. Reeves, an agent of the Bureau of Entomology, noted the work 
of the larvae in various grasses, chiefly Agropyron sp., in Wyoming 
and the Dakotas, and in 1906 the same observer found the larvae 
attacking wheat sparingly near Kulm, N. Dak. 
Pig. 2. — Distribution of the western grass-stem sawfly in the United States. 
August 31, 1907, Mr. E. O. G. Kelly, then an agent of this bureau, 
noted a few wheat straws near Minot, N. Dak., that had been bur- 
rowed by the larvae of Cephus. 
In 1908 Messrs. F. M. Webster and G. I. Reeves found the larvae of 
Cephus working in grasses in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. In the 
same year Dr. Fletcher again called attention to this insect, stating 
that in the previous autumn it had appeared in central Manitoba and 
in the southeastern part of Saskatchewan in much more serious num- 
bers than ever before, and that the quantity of broken straws in the 
fields was causing the farmers some alarm. Mr. Norman Criddle of 
Aweme, Manitoba, a close observer and practical farmer, wrote to 
Dr. Fletcher that this fly had increased considerably during the 
last year or two, and was turning its attention to wheat and rye. 
1 Fletcher, J. Report of the Entomologist and Botanist, 1896. 
p. 229-230 ) 
Can. Dept. Agr. Exp. Farm, 1897. (See 
