24 BULLETIN 889, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
SUMMARY. 
The clover stem-borer has been known for a good many years as an 
enemy of red clover. Recently it has attracted attention as an 
enemy of alfalfa, especially in the southwestern semiarid regions of 
the United States where irrigation has made possible the growing of 
large acreages of alfalfa. The larvee or young of the borer injure the 
plant by boring out the center of the stems of both alfalfa and clover. 
The insect is widely distributed throughout the United States and 
parts of Canada and Mexico, and has a large cosmopolitan list of food 
plants. se 
The eggs are deposited in the stem through a small opening pre- 
pared in the host plant by the adult female. 
The larve are found feeding within the stems of the host plant, © 
first upon the pith and then upon the plant tissues surrounding the 
pith, and they move up and down the stem throughout its length. 
The pupal stage is passed in cells, 6 to 8 inches long, within the 
stems where the larve have passed their lives. 
The adults hibernate under rubbish along fence rows, ditch banks, 
or other waste places. 
In the eastern United States this insect has one generation each year; 
in the southwestern United States there werefound to be three distinct 
generationseachyear. The first generationin the southwestern United 
States is passed almost entirely upon yellow sweet clover, and the 
beetle can be greatly reduced in numbers by destroying this weed pest. 
~The injury to alfalfa and red clover can be partially eliminated by 
destroying sweet clover, weeds, and waste alfalfa. The damage also 
can be reduced greatly by cutting a hay crop before the larve have 
had an opportunity to complete their development. The practicing 
of proper methods of crop rotation as well as cleanliness of farming, 
such as burning rubbish, etc., will also cause a reduction in numbers 
of this beetle. The beetle is unable to develop where pasturing is 
practiced continuously. 
LITERATURE CITED. 
(1) Larrerye, P. A. 
1807. Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum.  v. 3. 
Q) eS aves 
1828. American Entomology.  v. 3. 
(3) Lamarck, J. B. DE. 
1835. Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertébres. 2d edit., v. 4. 
(4) MetsHEmer, F. E. 
1853. Catalogue of the described Coleoptera of the United States. 
(5) Leconte, J. L. 
1854. Synopsis of the Erotylide of the United States. Jn Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 
Phila., v. 7, p. 158-163. 
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