. Circular. Insects. 3 the leaf weevil from subjugating or exterminating the midge, by causing the death of the young weevils. All of this conflict is going on to a greater or less degree each year in the clover fields of the farmer, and for the most part without his knowledge; nevertheless he is a gainer or a loser in proportion as each insect increases or decreases in abundance. A knowledge of these conditions will better enable him to devise practical means to protect his crop and avoid loss. THE CLOVER-FLOWER MIDGE. (Dasyneura [^Cecidomyia] leguminicola Lint.) This minute insect, shown in
. Circular. Insects. 3 the leaf weevil from subjugating or exterminating the midge, by causing the death of the young weevils. All of this conflict is going on to a greater or less degree each year in the clover fields of the farmer, and for the most part without his knowledge; nevertheless he is a gainer or a loser in proportion as each insect increases or decreases in abundance. A knowledge of these conditions will better enable him to devise practical means to protect his crop and avoid loss. THE CLOVER-FLOWER MIDGE. (Dasyneura [^Cecidomyia] leguminicola Lint.) This minute insect, shown in figures 2 and 3, is a near relative of the wheat midge,1 which it re- sembles in form and color. The larva, or maggot, also bears a similar resemblance in shape and color; hence farmers, in searching for the clover-flower midge, should look for something very like what has been long, though erroneously, known as the l' red weevil " in wheat, and will frequently find it in suffi- cient abundance among the hulled clover seed to attract their attention. In drawing in clover hay these maggots are frequently shaken from the cured blossoms in such numbers that the bottoms of the wagon racks become literally covered with their reddish bodies. The adult insect (fig. 2, female; fig. 3, male) is a minute two-winged fly. The head and thorax are black, the latter clothed with rather long hairs. The antennae are long, those of the female (fig. 2) sixteen or seventeen jointed and those of the male (fig. 3) fifteen-jointed. The wings are nearly transparent and clothed with numerous short, curved, blackish hairs, giving them a dusky appearance, each wing having three longitudinal veins, the third vein being either forked or more or less obsolete toward the tip. The wings are also fringed with hairs that are longer and paler than those on the surface. The abdomen of the female 1 Contarinia {Diplovis) iritici Fig. 2.—The clover-flower midge < Dasyneura leguminicola): o, enlarge
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishe, booksubjectinsects
