Date of Award:

5-1-1966

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Biology

Department name when degree awarded

Entomology

Committee Chair(s)

D. W. Davis

Committee

D. W. Davis

Committee

B. Austin Haws

Committee

Le Grande C. Ellis

Committee

Arthur H. Holmgren

Abstract

The alfalfa weevil Hypera postica (Gyllenhal) was first observed in the United States in 1904 on a farm in Salt Lake City, Utah (Titus, 1907). Since that time, it has spread to 40 of the states in the Union and two provinces of Canada (USDA Leaflet 368, 1965). The alfalfa weevil is recognized as the most serious pest of alfalfa in this country, and for many years has caused millions of dollars of damage to the alfalfa industry in America (Sorensen, 1934). Since the introduction of the alfalfa weevil into Utah, various methods of control have been employed to stop the destructiveness of the weevil to the alfalfa crop. Soon after the weevil was observed in Utah, entomologists began the work of importing and colonizing the natural enemies of this pest hoping to find a means of obtaining biological control conditions which existed in the weevil's native lands (Chamberlain, 1924).

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