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THE GRAIN BUG. 5 
ternal appearance of ripened heads, but upon being pressed between 
the fingers are found to be nearly, if not entirely, empty. With the 
bearded varieties, the “beards” or awns stand out nearly at right 
angles from the head instead of in the vertical position assumed 
under normal conditions. (See fig. 2.) 
The stem is generally alive and green from the base to a point 
within 5 or 6 inches of the head, but is dead and yellow above this 
point. Upon grasping the head and exerting a slight pull, the stem 
breaks at the junction of the living and dead portions. During a 
wind or rain storm many of these stems are broken and the heads 
fall to the ground. The damage caused by C. sayz is frequently of 
such a nature that an unobserving person may attribute its effects to 
hail or other weather influences. 
In the case of milo maize, feterita, and many of the native food 
plants, the external appearance of injured plants does not differ 
markedly from that of the normal. 
INTERNAL APPEARANCE OF INJURED HEADS. 
The grains of affected heads are shriveled in appearance and very 
much reduced in size and weight. In some cases only a diminutive 
grain remains. This follows as the natural result of the removal by 
the insect of the liquid contents of the grain while still in the “ milk 
stage.” 
The grains from injured heads of some plants, including milo 
maize, appear normal even when damaged, but are very much 
reduced in weight, lack the nutritive properties of normal grains, 
and are totally unfit for seed. 
REDUCTION IN YIELD. 
The percentage of reduction in yield through depredations of the 
grain bug is a point not always possible of determination. Fre- 
quently the extent of the damage is not appreciated by the grower 
until the crop is thrashed. Then the poor quality of the grain 
becomes evident and the yield is far below expectations. In extreme 
cases entire fields of small grains have been destroyed completely 
and the crop was not worth harvesting. As previously stated, Dr. 
A. W. Morrill (6) records the complete loss of 18 acres of milo maize 
from grain-bug attack at Phoenix, Ariz., in 1911, and 12 acres of rye 
- were completely ruined at louder N. Mex., in 1913. From 70 to 90 
per cent of an alfalfa seed crop was destroyed at Barstow, Tex., in 
1911. Mr. H. E. Smith records that at Roswell, N. Mex., in 1913, 
at least two-thirds of the barley heads were ruined in fields that 
normally would yield from 40 to 60 bushels per acre. At Porter- 
ville, Tex., in 1918, the wheat in a 150-acre field which promised a 
