CLOVER AND ALFALFA SEED CHALCIS-FLY. 
13 
to the adult stage to be from 26 days to 24 months, and, in a few 
cases, to carry the individuals through two winters before the adult 
stage is reached. 
RELATIVE INFESTATION THROUGHOUT THE SEASON. 
During the season of 1915 newly formed alfalfa seed pods were 
taken at Bard, Calif., at intervals of about one week, and examined 
for infestation by the seed chalcis-fly. It was found that the seed 
pods taken as early as April 24 showed 39 per cent of the seeds to be 
infested. On May 8, as many as 52 per cent showed infestation by 
the chalcis-fly. This was undoubtedly due to the increased emer- 
gence of the chalcis-fly. The period from the middle of May to the 
middle of July, at which time the pods were forming in great 
Alfalfa. along fence /me*, ditch A/ f sgee/ - /t/s 
banhs and Wa&te areas ' 
Mo. 
£>s* 
Larvae 
Pu/oae 
Adults 
fyas 
Larvae 
Pupae 
Adults 
Feeding 
Resting 
Feeding 
Resting 
Feb. 
' 
1 
Mar. 
^Mj 
- 
T 
m 
Ap". 
it 
V 
Ma* 
ZSL 
k 
Jur, 
Jul- 
SBT 
i^ 
z*. 
■ 
kom^^ 
% 
Sep. 
Oct 
Nov. 
=r ~ 
rH 
— 
m 
■r ' 
Dec. 
' 
■ 
Jan. 
' 
f 
Feb. 
Fig. 2. — Diagram showing comparative abundance of 
6ns during the different months 
the stages of Bruchophagus fune- 
of the year. 
abundance, showed the infestation dropping to an average of 28 
per cent. 
The average infestation for the period from the middle of July 
to the end of September increased to 49.5 per cent. This was un- 
doubtedly due to the increased number of the chalcis-flies and to the 
rapid decrease in the seed pods caused by the cutting of alfalfa on 
many of the seed fields. 
By October all the seed fields had been harvested, and the chalcis- 
flies were forced to breed in the green pods still forming along the 
edges of the fields. Seed pods collected on October 12 showed 85 
per cent of the seeds to be infested. 
Figure 2 shows the comparative abundance of the stages of B. 
funehris during the different months of the year. 
It will be noted by the chart that eggs of B. funehris are found 
earlier along fence lines than in the seed field. This is due to the 
