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ALFALFA 
ALFALFA WEEVIL ( Hype re. t»ostica Gyll.) 
California. A. E. Michel"bacher (March 21): About Niles the alfalfa weevil 
was active throughout the entire winter. At present, counts in excess 
of IOC larvae per 100 sweeps of an insect net have "been obtained. In 
one heavily infested field on Fehruary 1Q } 7 stems out of 200 examined 
were found to .contain eggs, as compared with lH out of 30^ stems in the 
same field on March 15. In the San Joaquin Valley the weevil was col- 
lected easilv on Fehruary 25. The larvae were not very abundant , but 
were generally distributed throughout the infested area. 
VETCH • 
PEA APHID ( Illinoia pisi Ka.lt. ) 
Kansas. H. R. Bryson (March 25): No pea aphids have been found this year. 
Oregon. T. R. Chamberlin (March 11): Vetch fields near Hillsboro averaged 
1 aphid per 100 sweeps in October-seeded vetch and U per 100 in volun- 
teer vetch. The volunteer fields averaged 8 per 100 in February. Fall- 
seeded plots at Forest Grove show fewer aphids than in Februgrv or Jan- 
uary and much fewer than in November. At this time in 193*+ j damage to 
common vetch was beginning to show and aphids averaged several thousands 
per 100 sweeps. 
SUGAR CANE 
A MITE ( Tarsonemus bancrofti Michael) 
Virginia. F. ?. Smith (February): On February 5 R. D. Rands brought a 
niece of sugarcane from an Arlington Farm greenhouse to M« 2. Ewing 
to be examined for mites as the cause of a "rusted" appearance of the 
surface. This cane bore large numbers of T. bancrofti , first recognized 
as a nest of sugarcane in 1?77 and since found in many tropical coun- 
tries and islands, but not heretofore reported in continental United 
States. The examination revealed the presence of an associated species 
considered by Br, Swing to be new. It is of interest that other species 
were noted among colonies of T. bancrofti bv Michael in lgPO, but they 
were not described, and smarently no specimens were preserver. 
SUGARCANE BOILER (Liatraea saccnaralis Fab. ) 
Louisiana. W. S. Kinds (March 26): Sugarcane borer moths have b m emerg- 
ing at Baton Rouge. The first adult was taken on March 22. Survival 
has been reduced much below normal by the severe cold of the past winter. 
Cane at B*ton Rouge is about 1 foot high and early Planted corn is only 
from 6 to 8 inches high. 
