19 
Other legumes, such as sesbania (Se sba nia macrocarp a) and guar (Cy- 
amopsis tetragonoloba) . are widely grown as green-manure crops during the 
summer months v/hen the weevil is aestivating, and their status as hosts is 
not known. 
Triplicate plantings of the following 10 legumes were made with a view 
to learning something about host range and preference; alfalfa ( Med i cage 
sa tiva ) , bur-clover (Med icago hispida) , hubam (annual form of Meli lotus alba ) , 
sovrc^cver (Mel ilo tus ind ica ) . berseem clover (T ri fo lium alexandrinum ) , 
v'bite Dutch clover (Trifolium alba), fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) . 
vetch (Vicia sp . ) . Canadian field peas (Pisum sp.), and wedge peas ( Lathy rus 
^P)' Hyeera brunneipennis adults congregated naturally in these plots 
early in the season, making artificial infestation unnecessary. 
Larvae fed to some extent upon all these species of plants except 
wedge peas and Canadian field peas. The total absence of feeding on those 
plants indicated that peas and possibly beans may not be suitable hosts. 
On the other hand, it appeared that the species can mature successfully on 
alfalfa, the clovers, vetch, and fenugreek. More complete tests v;ith other 
legumes would doubtless reveal many that would serve as hosts, at least 
to a limited extent. 
Larvae failed to survive and develop in numbers on any of these 10 
legumes, thus obscuring any real differences in attractiveness. Early in 
the season larvae were most easily found on alfalfa, but later this host 
harbored no more larvae than the clovers, and feeding on all was entirely 
negligible. Late in the season a large number of larvae were introduced in 
an effort to obtain definite indications as to the preferred host, but most 
of them apparently died within a short time. 
Under natural field conditions weevil populations were considerably 
larger on sourclover than on alfalfa, but only a minor portion of the larvae 
survived to become adults. Therefore sourclover should not be considered 
a perfect host but rather the most suitable of those available. Further 
study must be given this phase before final conclusions can be made. 
PARASITES 
Incubation of Hypera brunneipennis eggs from field samples and inde- 
pendent field collections failed to reveal a single parasite of this stage. 
Parasites were reared from both the larval and pupal stages. These included 
at least one dipterous and three hymenopterous species, and positive identi- 
fication of the quantity of material collected may reveal several others. 
Some of them may prove to be secondary parasites. 
Late in March and early in April parasites appeared to be of consider- 
able importance, as almost one-third cf the cocooned individuals from sour- 
clover samples were affected, Thereafter, however, the combined effective- 
ness of parasites declined to a relatively unimportant level. Larval para- 
sitization was at all times negligible and confined to maturing individuals. 
These findings indicate that parasites may become a potent factor in cur- 
tailing the production of adults, but further studies must be made before 
their importance can be established conclusively. 
