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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
the egg deposited in a natural cell. (PL 5, fig. 3.) Rarely, an egg was 
found deposited between leaf-sheaths. Several eggs are frequently 
found in a single leaf, some leaves in this collection having four. 
On May 29, Mr. J. H. Jenkins wrote of the “Big Field” as open 
marsh land, formerly covered with tall grass, some of it growing to a 
height of 15 feet. Of his corn, he writes: “I am having considerable 
trouble with my corn on this land and hardly think that the trouble is 
due entirely to billbugs. The corn comes up and grows to 3 or 4 
inches in height, then turns yellow. Some stalks die and others 
finally grow out, later in the summer, but not in time to make an ear. 
Pumpkins and turnips, in the same locality where the corn dies, make 
a fine crop.” 
On June 4, Mr. Jenkins wrote again concerning his corn. His ten¬ 
ants were complaining considerably, which led him to make a personal 
investigation. His letter, in part, is as follows: “I find that most all 
of the blue flags have the billbugs, usually' from one to as many as 
six on each plant, and I find some injury in the corn resembles the 
billbug injury in the flags. However, in the infested places all the 
corn looks bad, the leaves cut and wilted, and of a yellow color. On 
some of the corn plants I can find the effect of the bugs and can find 
some bugs on the corn plants, but on other plants that look just as bad, 
I cannot find any sign of the bugs. I have about 300 acres of corn 
planted. Of this amount, I have about 50 acres that now looks like it 
will be a total loss, as the corn is turning yellow and dying. I planted 
some over last year and the second planting did about as bad as the 
first planting. I have made a pretty close study of this trouble and I 
am impressed that there is some cause other than billbugs, such as lice, 
ants or gnats. I found a few chinch bugs today, however, not enough 
to cause any material trouble. The water level is very close to the 
surface, which fact makes it appear to me that, if the land was tiled, 
there would be less of the above named insects. I find also quite a lot 
of green gnats and green insects like lice, which may account for the 
leaves of the corn being withered and eaten as you will see from the 
samples I am sending you in today’s mail. ... In selecting this 
corn today, I pulled up all the damaged plants in the row, in order 
that you could see that some of the plants had the sign of the bugs and 
that some did not show the place of injury. I found most of the bugs 
1 have in the sack with the corn on blue flag. However, I found some 
bugs on the corn plants. I found two worms that had entered the 
corn plants at the root and worked out all the center of the plant.” 
The letter, specimens of injured corn and the insects were received 
June 5. The billbugs collected on blue flags and corn were C. pertinax, 
2 males and 10 females. As blue flags occur in the “Big Field,” they 
