The Plains False Wireworm and its Control

The last three crops of winter wheat, and especially the crop of 1922-23, have been seriously injured in southwestern Nebraska and especially on the dry land farms of Cheyenne, Kimball, Banner, Morrill, Garden, Deuel , Keith, Perkins, and Hitchcock Counties, by an abundance of hard-bodied, cylindrical, shining waxy yellow, soil-infesting larvae. These greatly resemble wireworms and are often mistaken for them, but they differ conspicuously in being more active and having well-developed, club-shaped antennae, long and stout front legs, and a less flattened body with a distinctly upturned tip. These larvae destroy the planted seed in the fall and eat off the roots of the young plants both in the fall and in the spring. In some cases the damage done amounts to the practical ruination of the crop. This pest was undoubtedly no small factor in helping to cause the large acreage of abandoned wheat in the spring of 1923 in some of our western counties. It is known as the plains false wireworm (Eleodes opaca)

Index to Volume XII

Abies lasiocarpa, 41. Alectoris graeca chukar, 2. Audubon Wildlife Screen Tours, 22, 56. Avocet, 34. Bald pate, 33. Bartramia longicauda, 2. Bittern, American, 13, 21, 33. Blackbird, Brewer’s, 38; Red-winged, 9, 13, 38; Rusty, 16, 38; Yellow-headed, 13, 21, 38. Blinco, Mrs. George, Article by, 8–9. . . . Woodpecker, Eastern Hairy, 13, 15, 16, 21, 35; Lewis’s, 35; Northern Downy, 13, 15, 16, 21, 30, 35; Red-bellied, 13, 15, 16, 21, 30, 35; Red-headed, 16, 21, 28, 35. Wren, Bewick’s, 36, 43; Carolina, 36; House, 27, 30, 36; Prairie Marsh, 36; Western House, 9, 10, 13, 16, 21, 26, 36. Yellow-legs, Greater, 34; Lesser, 34. Yellow-throat, 13; Northern, 16, 21, 28, 37. Zenidura macroura marginella, 40

Insect Pests of Stored Grains and Their Control

In Nebraska there are about 20 species of insects that injure stored grain more or less. Some are beetles and their larvae, others are the caterpillars of small moths. To the farmer all are weevil, although that name is really properly applied only to two beetle species-the granary weevil and the rice weevil. The following paragraphs and illustrations will describe the several more important stored grain pests to be found in this State, so that the farmer may recognize the particular pest or pests that are doing the injury to his grain, and may then apply the proper remedy

A NEW BEE OF THE GENUS COLLETES FROM PANAMA

In a lot of bees of the genus Colletes belonging to the British Museum, I found a well-marked new species, which may be described as follows: Colletes isthmicus sp. nov

On A New Subspecies of Otter from Nebraska

Formerly otters were very common along all of our Nebraska streams. In the winter of 1819-20 they were found frequently on the Missouri river and tributary streams near Engineer Cantonment (north of Omaha), as reported by Edwin James, that botanist and geologist of the Major S.H. Long Expedition. At Fort Kearny, Nebraska, on July 5, 1856, W.S. Wood with Lieut. F.T. Bryan\u27s survey party obtained a young female otter which is now Cat. No. 1877 (skin) and 2575 (skull) of the U.S. National Museum. Otters were also extensively and persistently trapped by the early trappers and Indians, and due to this fact, they became less and less common year by year until their local extirpation along the streams in the more settled portions of the state took place. However, as late as 1880 Aughey stated that the otter occurred more or less abundantly on all of the Nebraska rivers

Index to Volume XI

Adams, A. A., 7, 13; Miss Joyce, 13; Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J., 15. Anhinga, 33. Arbuckle, Col., 7. Armitage, Ben., 7. Asyndesmus lewis, 18. Audubon, 31. Avocet, 17. . . . Yellow-legs, Greater, 12, 40; Lesser, 10, 12, 14, 15, 40. Yellow-throat (subsp.), 14, 44; Florida, 36; Northern, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16; Western, 12. Young, Mrs., 20. Zimmer, John T., Article on Doctor’s Degree Awarded, 21–22, 49. Zwink, Chris, 7

The Cinch Bug and its Control

During the last half century there have been five separated and well-marked chinch bug outbreaks, or periods of serious damage, in Nebraska, and we are now approaching the climax of a sixth such period. As to just how serious this present outbreak will be in 1925 no one can now say, because no one can exactly forecast the weather conditions of the summer, but the present situation is sufficiently menacing to make advisable the issuing of this circular, which aims to give the essential information concerning the chinch bug as a Nebraska pest, and the locally applicable means of control

Index to Volume IX

Andropogon furcatus Muhlenberg, 3, 6; hallii Hackel, 3, 6; scoparius Michaux, 6. Agropyron smithii Rydberg, 6. Ash, green, 7. Avocet, 32, 37. Anthus spinoletta rubescens, 43. A.O.U. Meeting at Denver by Miss Mary Elsworth, 44. . . . Woodcock, 32. Woodpecker, Eastern Hairy, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24, 34, 38; Northern Downy, 15, 16, 18, 19, 24, 34; Red-bellied, 15, 16, 18, 19, 38; Red-headed, 24, 38; Pileated, 32. Wood Pewee, 34; Eastern, 24, 38. Wren, Baird’s, 44; Bewick’s, 33, 39, 44, 45; Prairie Marsh, 39; Rock, 32, 39; Short-billed Marsh, 32; Texas, 44; Western House, 24, 34, 39. Yellow-legs, Greater, 37; Lesser, 24, 37. Yellow-throat, Western, 24, 34, 40

Insect Pests of Stored Grains and Their Control

In Nebraska there are about 20 species of insects that injure stored grain more or less. Some are beetles and their larvae, others are the caterpillars of small moths. To the farmer all are weevil, although that name is really properly applied only to two beetle species-the granary weevil and the rice weevil. The following paragraphs and illustrations will describe the several more important stored grain pests to be found in this State, so that the farmer may recognize the particular pest or pests that are doing the injury to his grain, and may then apply the proper remedy

A study of subspecific variation in the Yellow Pocket-Gopher (\u3ci\u3eGeomys lutescens\u3c/i\u3e) in Nebraska, and of the geographical and ecological distribution of the variants

The Yellow Pocket-gopher (Geomys lutescens) was described by Merriam (14) in 1890, as a paler and smaller subspecies of Geomys bursarius, based on numerous specimens received from the sand hills of western Nebraska , and especially upon an adult Cjl type specimen (No. 23595, U. S. N. M.) collected in the sandhills along Birdwood Creek, Lincoln County, Nebraska, May 27, 1889, by A. B. Baker. ... Although even as late as 1931 Scheffer (17) classified Geomys lutescens as a subspecies of G. bursarius, it is without doubt specifically distinct from G. bursarius. In all of its variations it is decidedly smaller, the fully adult males averaging fully 35 to 50 mm. less, and the fully adult females 29 to 44 mm. less, in total length, than the average of full adults of the corresponding sexes of Geomys bursarius majusculus. Individuals in the Ponca River Valley represent a very well-marked subspecies of Geomys lutescens, characterized by maximum size and distinctive cranial characters. It may be known as Geomys lutescens levisagittalis subsp. nov. SMOOTH-CROWNED YELLOW POCKET-GOPHER Altogether, this form seems to have become sufficiently differentiated to warrant subspecific recognition, and it is proposed to call it Geomys lutescens vinaceus subsp. nov. PLAINS YELLOW POCKET-GOPHE