LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Bureau of Entomology, 
Washington, D. C, February 24, 1913. 
Sm: I have tlie honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of a 
paper entitled ''The Sugar-Beet Wire worm {Limonius calif ornicus 
Mannh.)," by John E. Graf, an entomological assistant of this 
bureau. 
This very active enemy to the sugar beet in the Pacific region has 
been the subject of study in the Bureau of Entomology since 1909. 
The present paper is somewhat preliminary in character, but so many 
facts have been learned that it is believed advisable to submit them 
for publication at the present time. While this wire worm has been 
known in America for many years, no good report of its injuries was 
available until very recently. The paper sets forth the manner of 
injury, the history of the species, the insects associated with it in 
the destruction of the beet roots in different stages of growth, the 
number of its food plants, its life history and habits, suggestions as 
to the methods for its control, and other useful data, and is well 
illustrated. 
I recommend the publication of this manuscript as Bulletin No. 
123 of this bureau and would urge that it be issued at an early date, 
as there is great demand for information on the part of the sugar- 
beet growers of the country, all of whom are more or less troubled 
by the ravages of wire worms. 
Respectfully, C. L. Marlatt, 
Entomologist and Acting Chief of Bureau. 
Hon. James Wilson, 
Secretary of Agriculture. 
3 
