I tl
  REPORT QF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 11  
f   which the relation between the injury to the trees and the corn- v' 
s ll infesting habit is so evident. t  
r   _ During the years 1882 and 1883 Prof. S. A. Forbes made a . 
I thorough study of the related D. Zovtgticomtis, which affects the I ,
e roots of corn in Illinois and other Middle States. In this region `· W l
e D. 12—ptmcZttict is a very common species, occurring everywhere "  
t   in gardens and fields on tlowers. VVith the thorough examina- ~   _
tf S tion of insects from the roots of corn, which, to my knowledge, ·I {
A was made by him, it is altogether unlikely that it would have i i
t V   escaped notice if its larvae had then been present in any num- I
D bers in coin-fields. A  
Q In the report for 1887(published in 1888) of the Entomologist  
tl of the National Departnient of Agriculture, Mr. F. M. lVebster t V,
e states, in a brief notice, that while in Louisiana in l886, "we V  
e frequently heard of fields of young corn being seriously in- t  ll ’
Li jared during some seasons by a small white worm which at- _  
- tacked the roots, usually during April. From the description    
` given us of the pest, and its manner of attacking the plants, we 1  
- first thought it might be the larva of D. Z072f//.CO7"}L?i·S', as the pt 3 
r habitat of that species is known to extend southward to Central    
D America. On April 12 of the present year (1887) we were .~ 
‘. enabled to solve the problem by finding considerable numbers , _ 
I of these larvte in a field of corn in Tensas Parisli. La., where  
0 they were working considerable mischief by killin! the young l
s , plants. As observed by us, their inode ot attack differed from W  
- that of their northern congener, in that they did not appear to , , t‘
. attack the fibrous roois or bur); themselves in longitudinal A , 
E channtls excavated in the larger roots. On the contrary, they _l  
s burrowed directly into the plants at ul near the upper whorl of I    
5* roots, which almost invariably resulted in the death of the I  
I plant. Both of these field-t had produced cotton the preceding h
l year. The adult beetles were frequently seen before we ob- Y 
0 served the larvae, but they were not abundant about the plants F I
e in the corniields, being usually on the yellow blossoms of a _
2 species of aster which springs up in cultivated grounds early in F .
- the spring in great abundance. No pupze were found, although  
l careful search was made for thein." F  
- The above is the earliest notice D. /.2-ptmcfrzlat as acorn . l
1 - insect of importance which I have seen. Unfortunately the  
l