-7~ 
that had "been in Sudan grass last summer. It is apparent that there 
are more chinch "bugs in hibernation than there were a yea„r ago. 
CORN 
COS!" EAR WORM ( Keliothis obsoleta Fab. ) 
Texas. T. C. Barber (January): 'The corn ear v/orm was. frequently found in 
corn in January in the vicinity of Brovmsville, though it was not ob- 
served on cotton during the month. The corn v;as planted Late in the 
fall for the winter crop. Larvae of all sizes are present and pupa- 
tion is talcing place in the insectary t 
ALFAL FA 
ALFALFA WEEVIL (Hyjoera "Xistica G-yll. ) 
California. A. E. I.lichelbacher (February £2): Larvae and adults could be 
collected throughout the fail and winter in middle lowland California. 
They were most abundant in the San Francisco Bay area, where by Janu- 
ary 17 as high as 28 larvae were collected to 100 sweeps of a net. 
On the 2Uth of January the count jumped to 95 sad on the 30th to 132. 
On the 10th of February the count remained about the same, but about 
one-fourth of the larvae were dead,, Whether this was the result of 
weather conditions or of a fungus has not yet been determined. In 
the northwestern part of the San Joaquin Valley larvae and adults 
were collected with ease. On the 2^-th of January as high as 15 
larvae and 15 adults were collected to 100 sweeps of a net. This is 
the earliest I have taken the weevil in this area- On the 17th of 
January adults of the parasite Bathyplectes cu rculionis Thorns. 
could be collected. Parasitization of the alfalfa weevil larvae, 
however, was not high. In one field in the Pan Francisco Bay area 
5 larvae out of 26 were found to be parasitized, while in another 
6 out of 3^- were parasitized. Adult parasites were plentiful, but on 
the 2Uth of January only 33 alfalfa weevil larvae cut of 3O8 were para- 
sitized, and on the 30th of January in one field 33 alfalfa weevil 
larvae out of 213 were parasitized; in another, 13 out of hi were para- 
sitized; and in a third field 25 larvae out of 63 were parasitized. 
On the 10th of February ll6 larvae out of 1Q2 were parasitized, while 
in a second field Uo out of 52 were parasitized. Up to the present 
time some fields have consistently shown higher parasitization than 
others. In all instances, however, the parasitization increased 
rapidly as is indicated by the figures given above. The extent of 
, parasitization was obtained from rearing records— that is, large alfalfa 
weevil larvae were brought into the laboratory and the extent of 
parasitization was determined on the number of alfalfa weevil cocoons 
containing cocoons of the parasite. A surprising number of the 
parasite cocoons are the dark-colored, overwintering form, and I 
suppose months will elapse before adults will emerge from them. 
Overwintering cocoons obtained from alfalfa weevil larvae collected 
during the latter part of May 1535 were placed on a window sill having 
