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INSECT PESTS

E. DWIGHT SANDERSON

DEAX OF THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
DIRECTOR WEST VIRGINIA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

FIRST EDITION
TOTAL ISSUE, EIGHT THOUSAND

NEW YORK

JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.
LONDON; CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED

1915

BY
E. DWIGHT SANDERSON

PRESS OF

BRAUNWORTH * CO.

BOOK MANUFACTURERS

BROOKLYN. N. V.

PREFACE

THE edition of the writer's " Insects Injurious to Staple Crops,"
first published ten years ago, having been exhausted, the pub-
lishers requested a revision. It was found, however, that the
advances in economic entomology during the past decade were such
that it was necessary to practically rewrite the book. At the
time it was first published two other books were projected; one
to deal with the insects affecting garden crops, and the other to
discuss those affecting fruits. Pressure of regular work pre-
vented the author from completing the manuscript for these
works and in 1907 Dr. Chittenden issued his excellent book on
" Insects Injurious to Vegetables," so that there seemed to be
no immediate demand for another volume on that subject. At
the same time two other well-known entomologists were work-
ing upon books which would cover fruit insects, so that the
writer abandoned the field to them. Subsequently, the work
of one of these friends was cut short by his sudden death, and
the other abandoned the task, at least for the present.

Under these circumstances, it seemed that there was a distinct
place for a book to cover all the insects affecting the crops of
farm, garden and orchard, and having leisure to devote to it, the
author developed the work in its present form.

It has been the author's effort to discuss all of the more impor-
tant insects of farm, garden and orchard at sufficient length
to give a clear idea of their life histories and habits, and also the
best means of control, so that the book may be used as a reference
work both by the student of economic entomology and by
the practical farmer, gardener, or fruit-grower. Insects of minor

vi PREFACE

or local importance have been purposely omitted. The insects
of practically all of the leading crops are considered, except the
citrous fruits. With these the author is unfamiliar, but it is
hoped to add a chapter upon them by a competent authority
in a subsequent edition. In general, the discussion of insects
and their control as given is based upon conditions east of the
Rockies, and practically no consideration has been given to the
conditions of the Pacific Coast or of the irrigated country of the
far West.

The author is well aware that there are doubtless many errors
of fact or of wrong emphasis in these pages. Such must nec-
essarily be the case in a work the greater part of which must be
compiled. All of the leading authorities on the subjects discussed
have been consulted and the writer has endeavored to present
their evidence fairly, with such interpretation as his personal
knowledge made possible. He will be greatly indebted to those
who will aid him in securing the accuracy of the work by report-
ing any errors or by suggesting improvements in it, as it is hoped
to revise the pages from time to time so that they may serve
as a reliable reference work upon our insect pests of the farm,
the garden, and the orchard.

On the following pages are given the sources from which
the illustrations have been secured, but the author wishes to
express his special appreciation of the very large number of figures
which were furnished him by Dr. L. 0. Howard, Chief of the
Bureau of Entomology, and Mr. J. A. Arnold, Chief of the
Division of Publications, of the United States Department of
Agriculture, either as electrotypes or original drawings or photo-
graphs, and to Ginn & Company of Boston for the loan of
numerous electrotypes made for an Elementary Entomology by
Prof. C. F. Jackson and the writer, now being published by
them.

E. DWIGHT SANDERSON.

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY,
MORGANTOWN.

SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE author wishes to express his very sincere appreciation
of the courtesy extended him by those friends mentioned below
who have furnished or loaned him electrotypes, photographs or
drawings, thus making possible the ample illustration of this
volume.

From the United States Department of Agriculture, through
the courtesy of Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of
Entomology and of Mr. J. A. Arnold, Chief of the Division
of publications, the following illustrations were secured, either
as electrotypes or as new plates made from the original drawings
or photographs: Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 24, 50, 53, 55, 59, 61, 66, 83,
85, 86, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106,
110, 113, 114, 117, 124, 125, 126, 127,, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132,
133, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 148, 149,
150, 153, 154, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 167, 168, 170,
171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186,
187, 188, 189, 192, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206,
207, 208, 211, 216, 218, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228,
230, 231, 232, 235, 236, 240, 241, 242, 244, 246, 247, 248, 257, 258,
262, 264, 265, 266, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 277, 281, 283, 285,
292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 300, 304, 306, 307, 325, 326,
353, 354, 355, 356, 377, 379, 394, 395, 396, 398, 400, 401, 402,
404, 406, 413, 431, 432, 438, 446, 449, 472, 474, 475, 480, 487,
490, 496, 497, 502, 503, 504, 505, 508, and 512.

The following illustrations were originally prepared by Dr.
C. V. Riley and have been secured from various sources: Figs.
5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 54, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 69, 74, 75, 76, 77,

vii

viii SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS

78, 79, 80, 98, 99, 107, 147, 152, 212, 213, 214, 215, 220, 243,
259, 260, 261, 320, 473.

Dr. S. A. Forbes, State Entomologist of Illinois, Urbana, 111.,
kindly furnished the following: Figs. 50, 51, 56, 58, 120, 121, 122,
123, 151, 156, 157, 234, 299.

Prof. G. W. Herrick of the Cornell University Agricultural
Experiment Station furnished electrotypes and photographs of
the following illustrations by Dr. Slingerland: Figs. 57, 84, 87,
249, 250, 251, 253, 254, 338, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348, 360, 361,
362, 363, 364, 373, 381, 382, 383, 384, 422, 437, 482, 483, 485,
486, 495, 498, 499, 500, 501, 513.

Prof. F. L. Washburn, State Entomologist of Minnesota,
kindly furnished the following and also some of the figures of
Dr. Riley listed above: 81, 330, 343, 350, 351, 378, 380, 491.

Prof. H. A. Gossard of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment
Station furnished the following: 89, 108, 341, 342.

Prof. R. H. Pettit, Entomologist of the Michigan Agricultural
Experiment Station, furnished . the following: 92, 100, 245,
and 341.

Prof. C. P. Gillette, Director of the Colorado Agricultural
Experiment Station, supplied figures 229, 239, 352, 439, 450,
506, 507, and 511.

Dr. J. B. Smith, Entomologist of the New Jersey Agricultural
Experiment Station, loaned the following and also some of the
Riley figures: 13, 20, 109, 209, 210, 303, 308, 309, 323, 324,
327, 334, 335, 336, and 337.

Prof. P. J. Parrott kindly sent photographs of the following
from the files of the New York State Agricultural Experiment
Station: Figs. 340, 349, 399, 465, 466, 493, 494, 509, 510.

Prof. W. E. Rumsey of the West Virginia Agricultural Exper-
iment Station kindly loaned photographs of the following: 357,
358, 359, 367, 368, 369, 370, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 441, 444.

Prof. H. Garman of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment
Station furnished Figs. 97, 165, 166, and 238.

Director R. W. Thatcher of the Washington Agricultural
Experiment Station furnished Figs. 237, 328, 329, and 339.

SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix

Dr. S. J. Hunter of the University of Kansas loaned electro-
types of Figs. 112 and 113. .

Prof. T. B. Symons of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment
Station loaned electrotypes of Figs. 119, 267, 310, 311, 312,
313, and 314.

Prof. H. E. Summers of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment
Station loaned drawings of Figs. 154, and 333.

Director P. H. Rolfs of the Florida Agricultural Experiment
Station loaned photographs of Figs. 169 and 302.

Director T. C. Johnson of the Virginia Truck Experiment
Station furnished copy for Figs. 217 and 269.

The Orange Judd Company of New York City kindly furnished
electrotypes of Figs. 219, 301 and three of the Riley figures.

Director J. C. Kendall of the New Hampshire Agricultural
Experiment Station loaned the following electrotypes and several
of the author's illustrations: 34, 43, 49, 118, 256, 322, 397, 417,
445, 447 and 448.

Director S. W. Fletcher of the Virginia Agricultural Exper-
iment Station and Dr. E. A. Back of the Virginia Crop Pest
Commission furnished the following: Figs. 36, 393, 440, 442,
and 443.

Dr. W. E. Britton, State Entomologist of Connecticut, fur-
nished electrotypes and photographs of the following: Figs. 41,
284, 305, 390, 416, 426, 429, 430, 477, 478, 479.

Prof. R. I. Smith of the North Carolina Agricultural Exper-
iment Station furnished photographs of Figs. 280, and 291.

Prof. A. L. Quaintance furnished photographs of Figs. 282,
286, 287, 288, 289, and 290.

Director F. B. Mumford of the Missouri Agricultural Exper-
iment Station loaned Figs. 434 and 435.

Prof. C. S. Crandall of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment
Station, loaned drawings of Figs. 436 and 492.

Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. furnished Fig. 221, from the
Riverside Natural History.

The Friend Manufacturing Company contributed Fig. 45.
The Deming Company furnished Figs. 27, 28, 30, 33, and 39.

x SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS

F. E. Myers & Bro. furnished Figs. 29 and 45.

The Spramotor Company supplied Fig. 31.

E. C. Brown & Co. donated Figs. 32 and 40.

The Goulds Manufacturing Company supplied Fig. 46.

The following figures are original or are the author's illus-
trations: 6, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 25, 37, 38, 42, 44, 46,
47, 48, 52, 70, 71, 72, 73, 82, 111, 134, 135, 177, 178, 179, 190,
191, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 233r 252, 255, 263, 268, 275, 276,
278, 279, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 331, 332, 391, 392, 403, 405,
407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 412, 414, 415, 418, 419, 420, 421, 433,
451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463,
464, 465, 467, 468, 469, 470, 471, 481, 483, 488, and 489.

CONTENTS

PREFACE v

SOUKCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii

CHAPTEK PAGE

I. INJURY TO CROPS BY INSECT PESTS 1

II. BENEFICIAL INSECTS, PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC 9

III. STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS 22

IV. FARM METHODS FOR THE CONTROL OF INSECTS 32

V. INSECTICIDES 42

VI. SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS 60

VII. INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE AND MIS-
CELLANEOUS CROPS 79

VIII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 121

IX. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 157

X. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS 186

XI. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER 200

XII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO 222

XIII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON 241

XIV. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE HOP-PLANT 273

XV. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 285

XVI. InsECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 305

XVII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH 330

XVIII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS . . . 347

XIX. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. . . 379

XX. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN CROPS .... 402

XXI. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE SWEET POTATO 430

XXII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY 441

XXIII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY. . . 459

XXIV. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY 477

xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XXV. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THK GRAPE -192

.XXVI. SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 538

XXVII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 582

XXVIII. INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE PEACH, PLUM, CHERRY ANO

STONE FRUITS 645

INDEX. . . 671

INSECT PESTS

FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

CHAPTER I
THE INJURY TO CROPS BY INSECT PESTS

EVER since the locust plagues in the time of the Pharaohs his-
tory is replete with. accounts of insect scourges and the enormous
losses they have caused the agriculturists of all ages. However,
instead of diminishing with the advancement of agricultural
methods, injurious insects have undoubtedly become both more
numerous and more destructive in modern times. " In no coun-
try in the world do insects impose a heavier tax on farm products
than in the United States. The losses resulting from the depre-
dations of insects on all the plant products of the soil, both in
their growing and in their stored state, together with those on
live stock, exceed the entire expenditures of the National Gov-
ernment, including the pension roll and the maintenance of the
Army and the Navy."* " Very careful estimates, based on crop
reports and actual insect • damage over a series of years, show
that the loss due to insect pests of farm products, including
fruits and live stock, now reaches the almost inconceivable total
of $1,000,000,000, annually."! The above quotations from Mr.
C. L. Marlatt, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Entomology,

* C. L. Marlatt, Yearbook U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1904, p. 461.
t C. L. Marlatt, Journal of Economic Entomology, IV, 109.

INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

United States Department of Agriculture, may appear to the
render either ludicrous or startling, according to whether he be
more or less informed concerning the important role which insects
play in our agricultural economy, which in turn forms the warp
of American prosperity.

A brief resume of the records of damage done by insect pests,
of the cost of fighting them, and of the estimates which form the
basis of the above statement, will make it the more convinc-
ing.

Growing Cereals. — Probably no other insect docs so widespread
damage as the Hessian fly, attacking our chief staple, wheat, -as
well as rye and barley. One-tenth of the whole crop, valued
at $50,000,000 to $70,000,000, is generally conceded to be de-
stroyed by this pest every year. In certain sections the loss often
amounts to from 30 to 50 per cent, and in 1900 was estimated
at fully $100,000,000 (Marlatt, I.e.). The southern grain louse
or " green bug " caused a loss estimated at from $5,000,000 to
$10,000,000 in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas in 1907, and every
year there is a considerable shrinkage of the wheat crop due to
the work of various species of plant-lice whose injury doubtless
amounts to 2 or 3 per cent of the crop, worth $15,000,000 to
$20,000,000.

The corn crop of the United States was worth $1,720,000,000
in 1909. One of the worst pests of this crop in the Mississippi
Valley is the chinch-bug. Several years ago Professor F. M.
Webster estimated the loss from this insect since 1850 at
$330,000,000, and at present it probably destroys at least 2 per
cent of the corn crop every year, worth over $30,000,000, and in
many years the loss is much more. The western corn root-worm
and the corn root-aphis which work unnoticed on the roots
of the corn throughout the same territory cause an equal loss.
The corn ear-worm often destroys from 5 to 10 per cent of the
crop in the South, and throughout the Corn Belt it . undoubtedly
decreases the crop by 2 or 3 per cent.

The total value of cereal crops in the United States in 1909
was practically $3,000,000,000, which was undoubtedly decreased

THE INJURY TO CROPS BY INSECT PESTS 3

by 10 per cent due to the ravages of insect pests, which thus
taxed our grain growers some $300,000,000.

Hay and Forage Crops. — A host of small insects attack our
grasses and forage crops, many of them being so small that they
are unnoticed, though their aggregate injury is something enormous.
Of the larger pests of grasses and forage plants the army worms
are among the best known and have often caused a loss of over
half a million dollars to a single State in one season. Grass-
hoppers of various species are also always more or less injurious
and often become a serious menace. Probably the most serious
injury, however, is done by subterranean larvae such as the cut-
worms, wireworms, white grubs, and webworms, which breed in
sod land, and by the hordes of little leaf-hoppers which are
always prevalent, but whose injury often passes unnoticed. Ten
per cent of the hay crop was worth $65,000,000 in 1909, and this
is a fair estimate of the damage done to hay and forage crops
by their insect enemies.

Cotton. — The cotton plant has a number of injurious insect
enemies, of which the boll weevil, bollworm, and leafworm are
the most injurious. In 1904 the writer made a statistical study
of the decrease in the cotton crop of Texas due to the bofl
weevil, and showed that it was then costing that State $25,000,000
per annum.* This estimate has been confirmed by independent
investigations made by Mr. W. D. Hunter of the U. S. Bureau
of Entomology, and although the loss in Texas is not so serious
at present, the weevil has spread eastward into Alabama, so
that its total injury remains practically the same, and has
undoubtedly been a large factor in the higher price of cotton
in recent years. The bollworm is most injurious in the south-
western cotton-producing States, where it causes a loss of from
5 to 60 per cent of the crop. The total damage to cotton by
the bollworm is approximately $20,000,000 per annum and not
infrequently exceeds that amount. In 1880 the United States

* E. D. Sanderson, The Boll Weevil and the Cotton Crop of Texas. (Bul-
letin Dept. of Agriculture, Insurance, Statistics and History, Austin, Texas,
1905, p. 28, 7 maps.)

INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Entomological Commission made an investigation of the cotton
worm and valued its ravages at $30,000,000, but with the
extensive use of Paris green and arsenical poisons its injury has
been greatly reduced and now amounts to from $5,000,000 to
$10,000,000 annually. Various minor pests of the cotton plant
inflict a considerable amount of local injury and with the above
pests damage the crop at least 10 per cent, worth $85,000,000
in 1909.

Tobacco. — Tobacco is attacked by insects, which form one
of the chief " bugbears " of tobacco growing, at all stages of its
existence. Ten per cent of the crop, worth $10,000,000, is cer-
tainly destroyed by them every year.

Truck Crops. — Truck crops are peculiarly susceptible to
insect attacks, and their control forms one of the chief items in
the cost of production. It is safe to say that truck crops suffer
from insect ravages fully twice as much as do the staples, or 20
per cent of their total value. Statistics are not available for
the present value of truck crops, but they were probably worth
$300,000,000 in 1909, making the insect tax for the trucker
fully $60,000,000.

Fruits. — Fruit trees are also much more seriously injured
by insects than are the staple crops, and their control involves
a large expense to the fruit-grower. Where it is not combated,
the codling moth, or apple worm, would cause a loss of from
30 to 50 per cent of the crop, and where it is controlled by
spraying a considerable expense is involved. The loss and cost
of treatment for this pest alone amount to $20,000,000 for the
United States, and were it not for the fact that it is now largely
controlled in the principal fruit-growing sections, the loss would
be double or treble this sum. The loss due to the San Jose scale
is difficult to estimate, but it is well known that it has destroyed
millions of trees and that in the principal fruit regions where this
pest is prevalent it is necessary to treat the trees annually
at a cost of from 10 to 25 cents per tree, so that $10,000,000 a
year would be a very conservative estimate of its annual cost.
Both deciduous and citrous fruits have a host of insect pests,

THE INJURY TO CROPS BY INSECT PESTS 5

always present and doing more or less damage and occasionally
becoming so abundant as to threaten the life of the trees or their
crops. Twenty per cent of the value of our fruit products,
worth at least $30,000,000, is certainly destroyed by insect
pests every year.

Forest Insects. — Only those who have had opportunity to
observe the ravages of insects in timber and in timber products
can appreciate the enormous losses which they occasion. Prob-
ably no one is better informed upon this matter than Dr. A. D.
Hopkins, in charge of the Forest Insect Investigations of the
U. S. Bureau of Entomology, who has made a life study of these
pests in all parts of the country. In a recent circular he states *
that " the amount of insect-killed and damaged timber left in the
woods, plus the reduction in value of that utilized, to be charged
to insects is not far from an equivalent of 10 per cent of the value
of the annual output of forest products of all kinds, in the rough.
The total value of the forest products of the United States in 1907
is given as $1,280,000,000; the losses from insect depredations
would therefore represent an annual loss in cash value of more
than $100,000,000." To this should be added a similar loss to
farm woodlots, which may be estimated at an additional $10,000,-
000. The insect injury to the shade trees of city streets, parks,
and estates should also be mentioned, for such pests as the gypsy
moth, the elm leaf-beetle, tussock moths, etc., are not only causing
enormous losses and large expense for their control, but they are
often destroying the values of real estate and through, killing the
trees are destroying the scenic value of property and changing the
esthetic environment in a manner which it will require many
decades to remedy, if the previous conditions can ever be even
partially reproduced. The State Forester of Massachusetts has
recently shown that the New England States and the Federal
Government have spent fully $7,000,000 in fighting the gypsy and
brown-tail moths in New England, and at the present time the
New England States, the Federal Government, municipalities and
private individuals are spending fully $1,000,000 per annum
* A. D. Hopkins, Circular 129, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

6 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

in this warfare for the preservation of their shade and forest
trees.

Live Stock. — Insect pests, including the ticks and mites, arc
almost as important as enemies of live stock as of crops. The
principal drawback to cattle raising in the South is the Texas
fever, transmitted by the cattle tick, which has been charged by
the officials of the Bureau of Animal Industry with a loss of $100,-
000,000 annually. The ox-warble, which causes the " grubby "
hides of cattle, causes a loss estimated at from $10,000,000 to
$35,000,000 per year due to the depreciated value of the hides and
the lessened quantity and poorer quality of the beef of affected
animals. The screw-worm fly is a constant annoyance to cattle and
source of loss on the range, and numerous biting and parasitic flies
cause a considerable loss to the grower of live stock, both through
actual damage and through the annoyance preventing growth and
production. The sheep scab, sheep tick, the sheep bot — causing
"staggers" or "grub-in-the-head" — horn-fly, buffalo-fly, black-fly,
and numerous species of lice which affect all of the domestic ani-
mals, are among the pests which must be combated by the stock-
man. In 1909 the live stock products were worth $3,000,000,000,
and it is estimated that fully 10 per cent of this amount was lost
through injury from insects.

Stored Products. — Even after the crops have been gathered
and garnered, and indeed after they and animal products have
been manufactured, they are constantly subject to the attacks of
numerous "weevils," "moths," and other insect pests of stored
products. Every housewife and every merchant knows that only
through constant surveillance can they prevent these ravages.
Mills, tobacco warehouses, storage houses, and vessels, must be
frequently cleaned and often must be fumigated to prevent the
increase of insect pests peculiar to them. It is estimated that at
least 5 per cent of the cereal crops are destroyed by insects while
in storage, which would mean a loss of $150,000,000, and in many
cases the loss to corn, particularly in the South, is much greater.
The total loss due to insects in stored goods of all kinds is impos-
sible to estimate, but would fall not far short of $200,000,000.

THE INJURY TO CROPS BY INSECT PESTS

With this brief survey of the losses due to insect pests, we may
summarize them in a table which will show that the total is based
upon conservative estimates.

ANNUAL VALUES OF FARM PRODUCTS AND LOSSES CHARGEABLE
TO INSECT PESTS *

Product.

Values.

Percentage of

I -OSS.

Amount of Loss.

Cereals

$3,000,000,000

$300 000 000

Hay and forage

665,000,000

66,500,000

Cotton

850,000,000

85,000,000

Tobacco

100,000,000

10,000,003

Truck crops

f 300,000,000

150,000,000

Sugars

95,000,000

9,500,000

Fruits

t 150,000,000

30,000,000

Farm forests

110,000,000

11,000,000

Miscellaneous crops

1 100 ooo ooo

10 000000

Animal products

3,000,000,000

300,000,000

Total

$8,370,000,000

$972,000,000

Natural forests and forest
products ....

100,000,000

Products in storage

200,000,000

Grand total

$1 272 000 000

* Based upon table of C. L Marlatt, I.e., modified by statistics of the Secretary of
Agriculture, Yearbook I*. S. Department of Agriculture for 1909.
t Estimated.

One billion dollars is thus a conservative estimate of the
damage done to staple crops, fruits, truck crops, domestic animals,
timber and stored products by these apparently insignificant
insects.

Yet there is another aspect to the matter. "One man's loss
is another man's gain" is never more true than as regards these
losses occasioned by insects; for, through widespread injury by
them, prices rise, while if these injuries did not occur and corre-
spondingly large crops were placed upon the market, prices must
surely fall. These estimates of losses due to insects are then very
largely comparative. Yet, to a large extent, they are still real
losses, the same as are those occasioned by fire and storm; for

INSECT PESTS OP FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

though a small crop may bring better prices, it is usually at the
expense of individuals or communities which have sustained ex-
ceptionally heavy losses. Were these losses evenly distributed
among all those producing a given crop, there would be no real
hardship to them; but such is by no means the case.

All this, then, goes to emphasize the fact that the successful
farmer — as the successful man in any other trade or profession —
is the one who is able to overcome obstacles which, though pos-
sibly ruining his neighbor, are making a good market for his special
crop; for these insect pests can be largely overcome. The millen-
nium will doubtless come before the farmer will be able to stop
fighting them, but a large part of the damage by them can be pre-
vented at a cost which renders it profitable. Rational methods of
general farm practice with the proper use of apparatus and insecti-
cides, even such as are now known, and in which improvements
are being constantly made, if intelligently used by American
farmers, would save to them the larger part of this enormous loss.

CHAPTER II
BENEFICIAL INSECTS, PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC

Ladybird-bee ties

AFTER his strawberries have been ruined by the strawberry
weevil, the garden truck by cutworms, the wheat despoiled by the
Hessian fly, the melon-patch fallen a prey to plant-lice, and the
fruit crop has been a failure on account of the codling moth, plum
curculio, and San Jose scale, it is scarcely surprising that the
farmer does as one of my acquaintances did and " orders the hands
to kill everything that crawls."

But such would be entirely too heroic a measure, and if strictly
adhered to the remedy would be as bad as the disease, for it would
mean not only useless labor, but the destruction of the most effect-
ive means whereby insect pests are held in check. We pride
ourselves — and justly — that with our spray pumps and deadly
sprays many crops can be effectually protected; but were it not
for those other insects which' feed upon these injurious forms,
what an enormous, and, in some instances, almost futile task it
would be!

Among these beneficial insects the Jittle ladybird-beetles of
the family Coccinellidce are entitled to be in the first rank.
Almost all the beetles and larvae feed upon plant-lice and scale
insects. Of such value are those feeding upon scale insects
that not many years ago several Australian species were
imported into California that they might prey upon the San
Jose and other scales. One of these was eminently successful
and almost completely destroyed the cottony cushion-scale.

Of those feeding upon plant-lice, one of the most common
is the Nine-spotted Ladybird (Coccinella novemnotata) . Thi?

10 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

beetle is about one-fourth of an inch long, with black head and
body. The wing-covers are orange-yellow marked with nine
black spots — four on each side and one on the central suture.
The larva has been fancied to resemble a miniature alligator;
it is nearly twice as long as wide, almost black, marked with
bluish and orange spots, and has long legs, which carry it around
quite rapidly. The beetles hibernate during the winter and
come forth in the spring and lay their eggs wherever the young
will be able to find food when they hatch. When the larva
has satisfied its ravenous appetite and become full grown it
fastens itself to a leaf or twig, — seemingly by its tail, if such

Fiu. 1. — The nine-spotted ladybird (Coccinella novemnotata) , and its
larva enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

a term might be allowed, — transforms to the pupa, and in a week
or ten days the adult beetle emerges from the pupal skin. This
life-cycle is repeated several times during the summer season,
before the fall brood enters winter quarters.

Another very common form among plant-lice on garden truck
is the little Adalia bipunctata, or Two-spotted Ladybird. It is
slightly smaller than the preceding, and with only one black spot
on each wing-cover (Fig. 2) .

Several other species in the genus Hippodamia are very
useful, and among them the Convergent Ladybird (Hippo-
damia convergens) is one of the best known. Its name is received
from two white dashes on the black thorax, which converge
posteriorly. The thorax has also a white margin, and there are

BENEFICIAL INSECTS, PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC 11

thirteen black dots on its orange wing-covers. These larvae
and beetles are very common among the plant-lice on melon-
vines, and are an important factor in their extermination. They

FIG. 2. — The two-spotted ladybird (Adalia bipunctata) : a, larva; b, mouth-
parts of same; c, claw of same; d, pupa; e, adult; /, antenna of same;
all enlarged. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

FIG. 3. — The convergent ladybird (Hippodamia convergens) : a, adult; b, pupa;
c, larva; enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

have also been noted for eating the black peach aphis and many
-other plant-lice.

A form which is often very abundant among plant-lice on corn
is the Spotted Ladybird (Megilla maculata). The head, thorax,
and wing-covers are a dark pink, with two black spots on the

12 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

thorax and ten on the wing-covers. Such numbers of these
little fellows have frequently been found huddled together under
the rubbish at the base of some tree in a last year's cornfield
that they might be taken up by the handful without difficulty.

FIG. 4. — The spotted ladybird (Megilla maculata): a, larva; 6, pupa; c, adult;
enlarged. (After C-ittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

Many other species feed upon plant-lice, but the above are the
most common, and all bear a resemblance to one another, being
generally orange or red with black spots, and of a characteristic

round or oval form, flattened below,
so that the legs may be drawn in
under the wing-covers.

Those ladybirds which feed upon
scales are much smaller and are
black, though sometimes spotted
with red or orange.

As far as known, there is no
way in which these useful allies
may be encouraged or increased in numbers, but it is trusted
that the above may give such a brief view of their habits that
fewer may be killed through ignorance concerning their true
worth.

FIG. 5. — The twice-stabbed
ladybird (Chilocorus bivulne-
ru«). a, adult; 6, larva; en-
larged. (After Riley.)

BENEFICIAL INSECTS, PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC 13

Syrphus-flies

Besides the little beetles described above there is a family
of flies, the Syrphidce, many of whose larvse feed upon plant-
lice. This family is a very large one, and thus the habits of its
different members vary considerably. One of them, the drone-
fly, so closely resembles a honey-
bee as to be almost indistin-
guishable from it. The larva of
this fly (Eristalis tenax) is one
of the common rat-tailed mag-
gots which are found in putrid
matter. It is thought that the

Old "bugonia" superstition of FJG ^-Syrphus ribesii- enlarged.
the ancients that bees came from

maggots in dead aninmals, etc., was due to the confusion of this
fly with honey-bee.

In another group of the family, the adult flies of which also
quite closely resemble bees, the larvae are parasitic in the nests
of honey- and bumble-bees, feeding upon their larvse.

But the larvse of possibly the most typical portion of the
family, embracing the genus Syrphus and its near allies, are
entirely predaceous upon plant-lice. Rarely can a colony of
plant-lice be found without some of these little enemies hard
after them.

The adult syrphus-fly is a very striking insect, with its dark
green metallic thorax, and abdomen variously banded with
yellow and black. The female fly lays her eggs upon some plant
bearing plant-lice. The larvse which hatch from these are elongate,
flattened maggots, about one-half an inch long, with hardly a
trace of a head, but with four small hooks, which serve as jaws,
projecting from the more pointed end of the body. These mag-
gots are often of a light-green color, and so like the color of
the plants as to render them most difficult to recognize. The
young larvse at once commence crawling over the plant in search
of aphids, and as soon as they come in contact with one it

11 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

is firmly clasped by the small booklets until the juices are sucked
from its body. In this manner very large numbers are destroyed,
a single maggot of the American Syrphus-fly (Syrphus americanus)
having been observed to eat twenty-five apple plant-lice (Aphis
pomi) in as many minutes. When the larva is ready to pupate
it attaches itself to a leaf, and the larval skin dries up and forms
a case or puparium inside of which the pupa remains until it
transforms to the adult fly.

Though most of these Iarva3 feed upon plant-lice upon the
leaves, one of them, the Root-louse Syrphus-fly (Pipiza radicans),
lives entirely underground during that stage, and feeds upon-

FIG. 7. — The root-louse syrphus-fly (Pipiza radicans}. a, maggot; b,
puparium; c, fly. (After Riley.)

the root-lice of the apple and the grape. None of this family
are injurious, and as a large portion of them are so beneficial
as to frequently destroy whole broods of plant-lice, they should
not be disturbed in their good work if possible to avoid it.

The Ground-beetles

If, as you scrape away the loose chips at the base of a tree
in your door-yard, turn over an old log in the woodland, or pick
up a fallen fence-rail, you will scrutinize the inhabitants under
these shelters, a number of shining black beetles varying in length
from one-fourth to 1£ inches will usually be noticed. If the city
reader be not so fortunate as to be familiar with or have access
to these hiding-places, he may find large numbers of the beetles
under any electric arc light during the warm summer evenings;
for there they are having a sumptuous banquet upon the small

BENEFICIAL INSECTS, PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC 15

flies and moths attracted by the glare. They are rarely seen
at large during the day, as they are almost exclusively nocturnal
insects, and from their habit of remaining almost entirely in or
on the ground they are usually known as " Ground-beetles." As
might therefore be inferred, they are exceedingly valuable to the
farmer by destroying large numbers of noxious insects which
pass a part or all of their existence in the soil. Besides the
glossy black forms which are most commonly seen, many are
brilliantly marked with gold, green, purple, and iridescent tints.
The Fiery Ground-beetle (Calosoma caliduni), so called on

FIG. 8. — The fiery ground-beetle (Calosoma caliduni). a, beetle; b, larva;
c, " the searcher " (Calosoma scrutator). (After Riley.)

account of the wing-covers being dotted with bright gold, has
many times been of great assistance in helping to rid a corn-field
of cutworms. The larvae of this insect are about one inch in
length, of a dark brown color, with the skin of a hard, horny
texture like that of the beetle. They have strong, prominent
jaws, and at the posterior end of the body is a forked appendage
looking much like another pair of jaws. It is not only surpris-
ing that these larvae will eat so large a number of cutworms,
as they have frequently been known to do, but that they will
dare to attack such a formidable creature fully three or four
times as large as themselves, but their assault is sharp and
vigorous, and a single larva has often been seen to kill and eat

1(> INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

several full-grown cutworms in a short time. Many instances
of the good work of this beetle are on record, among which one
by the late Professor J. A. Lintner may be cited, where he found
them eating large numbers of the corn-crambus — sometimes
locally known as the corn bud-worm. Another somewhat larger
beetle, called by Professor J. H. Comstock " the Searcher " (Calo-
soma scrutator), and in fact one of the largest of the family, is a
brilliant metallic green, bordered with a dark purplish-blue, and
has the good quality of having a very particular appetite, causing
it to kill large numbers of caterpillars, but eating only part of each.
While in the earth as pupa? large numbers of the Colorado
potato-beetles are destroyed by members of
this family, and one species, Lebia grandis,
which is peculiar in that the wing-covers are
somewhat abbreviated, thus leaving the tip
of the abdomen exposed, has been noticed on
the plants eating the eggs and young larvae of
this old potato pest.

Another valuable species is one called by
Dr. Riley the Murky Ground-beetle (Harpalus caliginosus). Its
larva is of considerable assistance to fruit-growers by eating

FIG. 9 . — Lebia gran-
dis. (After Riley.)

FIG. 10. — The murky ground-beetle (Harpalus caliginosus): adult at left;
a, krva; b, head of same; c, mandible. (After Riley.)

large numbers of curculio larvae, which it secures from the plums
after they have fallen to the earth. From a glance at its formid-
able jaws, Fig. 10, b-c, it is easy to conjecture the fate of many a
curculio grub.

BENEFICIAL INSECTS, PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC 17

Thus here again are found some " bugs " that are friends and
not foes, worthy of all the protection that can be afforded them,
and well repaying such careful observation of their habits as may be
bestowed upon them.

Insect Parasites

Though large numbers of injurious insects are annually de-
stroyed by those which are purely predaceous upon them, many
more succumb to those minute forms which live parasitically
within them. A few of these parasites belong to the order Dip-
tera, or true flies, but most of them are classed in the order Hymen-
optera, in which order are also included the saw-flies, ants, wasps,
and bees.

Of the half-dozen families of hymenopterous parasites one of
the largest and most beneficial is that of the Ichneumon-flies.
The illustrations will best show the form and structure of these
insects, which the casual
observer will hardly be
able to distinguish from
other families of the group.
But it will be noticed that
the fine veins of the wings
vary considerably in the
different parasites figured,
and it is by these that the
entomologist is enabled
to separate the different

groups and often to iden- FlG- H— Maggots of Pimpla inquisitor, a

parasitic Ichneumon-fly, feeding on a cater-
tify the species at a glance. pinar which had spun its cocoon and was

Both this and the follow- ready of pupate,
ing family are peculiar in

having an exceedingly long ovipositor or egg-tube, of which they
make a very good use. It is with this extensile tube that the
female deftly punctures the skin of some unsuspecting cater-
pillar, and under it inserts her eggs. In a few days there hatch
from these a host of young maggots which feed upon the juices and

18 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

tissues of the caterpillar, hut are seemingly careful to avoid injur-
ing any of its vital organs, for as soon as the caterpillar reaches
its full growth it changes to a pupa, apparently unaffected.
When the maggots have reached their full size each spins up a
small silken cocoon inside the pupa, entirely filling up its now dead
shell, and instead of a heautiful moth appearing in the spring,
a horde of small flies are seen to emerge from a round hole in the
side of the pupa, or cocoon.

Thus large numhers of such pests as the apple-tree tent-cater-
pillar (Clisiocampa ameri-
cand), bagworms (Thyridop-
teryx ephemeraformis) , cater-
pillars of the swallow-tailed
butterflies which feed upon
parsley, carrots, etc., and a
host of others, are consumed
by members of this family.

Those belonging to the
genus Ophion are partial to
the large American silkworms
which produce some of our
largest and most beautiful
moths, and difficulty is fre-
quently experienced in rear-
ing a desired number of moths
on account of the large per
cent of cocoons parasitized.
The species of the family
Braconidce are very similar to
those of the preceding one, and contain some equally beneficial
insects, feeding as they do upon such pests as the codling moth,
webworms, plum-curculio grubs, plant-lice, etc. Some of the more
common forms of this family belong to the genus Microgaster, and
their small white cocoons may frequently be seen almost covering
one of our large tomato- or tobacco-worms (see page 234) , the pupaj
of which are often known as "horn-blowers." Many mistake

FIG. 12. — The long-tailed Ophion (Ophion
macrurum). a, adult; b, maggot;
enlarged. (After Riley.)

BENEFICIAL INSECTS, PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC 19

these cocoons for the eggs of the worms, and therefore destroy
some of their best friends. Though some thus spin their cocoons
on the outside of the host, others remain inside of the parasitized
insect until the adult fly
emerges. Thus dead plant-
lice may often be found with
a large round hole in the ab-
domen— the only evidence
of where one of these para-
sites has emerged. For this
reason dry, shrunken plant-
lice should never be de-
stroyed.

The Chalcis-flies, which
comprise another closely re-
lated family, are exceedingly
minute insects, sometimes
not over one one-hundredth FIG. 13.— A plant-louse parasite (Aphidius
of an inch lontr They are avenaphis), showing above the parasitized

louse from which it has issued. (Copied
generally of a metallic black from j B. Smith.)

color, and the usual veins of

the wings are almost entirely absent. Many of these flies are
parasitic upon plant-lice, while a large number of their larvae live
and mature in the eggs of other insects.

Very similar to the chalcis-flies in their habits of infesting
plant-lice and insect eggs are some even smaller insects — in fact
the smallest known, the largest being rarely over one-twenty-fifth
and the smallest only six- or seven- one-thousandths of an inch in
length — with a correspondingly tremendous .and unpronounceable
name, known to science as the Proctotrypidce.

During the last half century the American farmer has been
compelled to contend with an increasing number of insect pests,
which now and then have become veritable scourges. Every now
and then we hear of communities assembling for prayer and fasting
to appease the Almighty, whose wrath has hurled a new insect
plague against them, but such a procedure is by no means as com-

20 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

mon as formerly, and little reflection will show that these scourges
are entirely due to natural causes. In fact they are very largely
brought about by man himself. Some of these pests are due to the
fact that in trying to subdue nature by clearing and cultivating the
land, man has deprived the insects of their natural food plants.
They must, therefore, needs feed upon that which is substituted
by him, and as it is less abundant than the former wild vegeta-
tion, the number of insects and the injury they inflict are more
apparent.

By far the larger number of our worst pests, however, are those
which come to us from foreign shores. Foreign insects are con-
stantly being imported in one way or another, sometimes being
already established pests in other lands and sometimes only becom-
ing so under their new surroundings. These are even more injuri-
ous than those native, for whereas many of our native birds, in-
sects, and diseases constantly prey upon native insects and thus
keep their numbers in check, the enemies of imported pests rarely
accompany them, and they thus increase at an alarming rate and
do enormous damage before they are attacked by the natural
enemies of similar native pests. It is in the case of these imported
pests that the value of parasitic and predaceous insects is most
apparent. In an effort to make use of them to fight the gypsy
and brown-tail moths in New England, the U. S. Bureau of Ento-
mology has for several years been importing large numbers of the
parasites and predaceous enemies of these pests and liberating
them in affected regions, thus carrying on a practical experiment
on a large scale which may show the importance of these parasites
in combating imported pests.

Even with o.ur native pests, however, we have frequent exam-
ples of the value of parasitic and predaceous enemies. Thus the
southern grain louse, or "green bug," was soon brought under
control by the myriads of little parasites which preyed upon it
(see page 155), and these were artificially transported for some
distance and liberated in large numbers. Though these efforts at
the distribution of this parasite may be open to some question
as to their effectiveness, other parasites have been successfully

BENEFICIAL INSECTS, PREDACEOUS AND PARASITIC 21

distributed, and there can be no question that before long we
shall come to better understand how we may make use of these
valuable allies, and some day we may be able to duplicate the
apparent miracle by which Dame Nature sweeps away an insect
plague in a few days with the aid of these apparently insignificant
parasites.

CHAPTER III

STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS

THE more experience the farmer has with insect pests, the
more he conies to realize that if lie would successfully combat
them, he must have a certain amount of necessary knowledge
concerning their structure and growth.

In general, the artificial means which may be effectually
used to combat an insect pest will depend more or less upon
the anatomical structure of the insect, while control by general
methods of culture will depend upon a knowledge of the peculiar-
ities of its life-history. The value of a proper understanding of
these important factors in insect control is therefore apparent.

General Structure of an Insect

The body of an insect is composed of three separate parts,

the head, thorax, and abdomen
(Fig. 14), each of which is com-
posed of several rings or segments.
To the head are attached the
jointed antennae, or feelers, the
compound eyes, and the mouth-
parts, which are described below.
Each of the three segments of
the thorax bears a pair of legs,
and adult insects usually possess
one or two pairs of wings upon the

FiG.14.-Honey-bee, showing the last two segments of the thorax,
three principal regions of the body The abdomen is composed of nine
of an insect:-;*, head; ^thorax; segments, but bears no

abd, abdomen.

appendages save the ovipositor of

the females of certain orders.

STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS 23

Harvest-mites, or " daddy-long-legs," sow-bugs, thousand-
legged worms, and similar vermin are often popularly called
insects, but all of them can readily be distinguished from true
insects by their possessing more than six legs, the harvest-mites
and spiders having eight and the others many more.

How Insects Grow

With rare exceptions insects hatch from eggs laid by the
adult females. Upon hatching they are but little larger than
the eggs, and often bear but little resemblance to their parents.
Thus the young caterpillar would never be recognized as the
immature stage of the butterfly by one unfamiliar with its transfor-
mations. Grasshoppers and some other insects, however, upon
hatching from the egg bear a marked resemblance to the adult
form, except that they lack wings.

Complete Metamorphosis. — When the caterpillar hatches
from the egg it at once commences to feed and grows very
rapidly, but before long an obstacle to further growth arises.
Unlike higher animals, insects possess no internal skeleton or
framework for the organs of the body, but the outer skin becomes
hardened and to it the muscles and ligaments are attached. This
hardening of the skin is best seen in the horny wing-covers of the
beetles, and is due to the secretion of a hard substance called
chitin. This chitin is secreted by all parts of the skin in greater
or less degree, and thus forms a sort of shell for the whole body.
Though this hardening is not so apparent in larvae as in adult
insects, it is always present, and it is for this reason that when the
young caterpillar has made a certain growth it is forced to shed its
skin, which refuses to expand further, in order to develop more
fully. Thus the skins of insects are shed several times (see Fig. 15,
6), — usually five or six, but sometimes as many as twenty, this
process being known as molting. During its life as a caterpillar,
which is called the larval staje, and during which it is called a
larva, it is an elongate, worm-like creature, with six short,
jointed legs on the three thoracic segments, a pair of fleshy false
legs or pro-legs on the last abdominal segment, and probably

24 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

several pairs of pro-legs between these and the true legs. No
traces of wings can be seen, but the body is often covered with
hairs, spines, or warty tubercles.

With the next molt the insect changes in appearance most
radically, becoming a pupa, or chrysalis, as this stage is termed

FIG. 15. — Complete metamorphosis. The different stages of the corn ear-
worm (Heliothis obsolete Fab.): a, eggs on corn-silk; b, the first tiiree
larval stages; c, pupa from below; d, same from above; e, adult moth —
all enlarged; b, about twice natural size.

for butterflies. During the pupal stage the insect remains
dormant either in a small cell slightly under the surface of the
earth, or in a silken cocoon spun by the caterpillar, or merely
attached to the food-plant by a strand of silk or the cast larval
skin. In many of the Diptera, — the order including flies, mos-
quitoes, gnats, etc., — however, the last larval skin is not shed,

STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS

but hardens and forms a case — called a puparium — within which
the pupal stage is passed.

The typical pupa (Fig. 15, c, d) of a butterfly or moth re-
sembles neither the adult insect nor the larva, is of a more or
less oval shape, with the wings and antenna? tightly folded at

Fis. 16. — Incomplete metamorphosis of a bug (Brachymena ^-pustulata) :
a, eggs; b, adult bug; c, different stages of young bugs or nymphs.

the sides, the legs drawn up snugly together under them, and the
head and mouth-parts bent upon the breast, or sternum, though
all of these parts are not always recognizable, the legs and mouth-
parts being sometimes lacking. Gradually the adult insect
develops, and at last the pupal skin is broken open and the airy
butterfly emerges to enjoy a short life and perpetuate the species.

26 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Such a series of transformations is that commonly found among
butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), beetles (Coleoptera) , flies
(Diptera), and bees (Hymenoptera), and is known as a complete
metamorphosis. All of these insects normally pass through
four stages, of egg, larva, pupa, and adult.

Incomplete Metamorphosis. — In contrast to this mode of
development is that of the grasshoppers (Orthoptera), bugs
(Hemiptera), and some other insects. As already stated, these
are much like the adult upon emerging from the egg. With
each molt they become larger and small wing-like pads gradually
appear on the sides of the thorax. There is no dormant or pupal
stage, the adult insect differing from the previous stages in hav-
ing fully developed wings, being larger, and often by an accompany-
ing change of markings. The immature stages of such insects
are called nymphs, and this development an incomplete meta-
morphosis, having but three stages, of egg, nymph, and adult
(Fig. 16).

The time occupied by the complete life-cycle of an insect
varies from a week or ten days for the plant-lice to thirteen or
seventeen years for some cicadas, and is entirely dependent
upon the habit of the species and the climate. A correct knowl-
edge of the exact time and conditions under which the trans-
formations occur for each individual insect pest is therefore often
most essential when seeking means for its control.

How Insects Feed

The material to be used in combating a given insect is largely
dependent upon the structure of its mouth-parts. Much Paris
green is wasted upon insects unable to eat it and which it will,
therefore, never kill.

Insects may be roughly divided into two classes, those which
bite and those which suck their food. Among the former are
the beetles, grasshoppers, the larvas of butterflies and moths,
and the larvse of saw-flies ; and among the latter are butterflies,
flies, bees, and bugs, while the larvae of most flies and bees do not
possess mouth-parts homologous with those of the above.

STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS

Biting Mouth-parts.
insects are easily seen
in the grasshopper
(Figs. 17 and 18). In
brief, they consist of an
upper and a lower lip,
between which are two
pairs of jaws which
work transversely. The
upper pair of jaws, or
mandibles (md.} , are
stout, short, and horny,
usually sharpened at
the tip, slightly serrated
at the margins, and
flattened at the base.
The lower pair of jaws,
or maxillce (mx.}, are
longer, not so strong,
and to each of them is

—Mouth-parts typical of those of biting

'•A

FIG. 17. — Front-view face of grasshopper (Schizto-
cerca americana): ant., antenna; oc., ocellus;
ey., eye; cl., clypeus; Ibr., labrum, or upper
lip; mx.p., maxillary palpus; lab. p., labial pal-
pus; gal., galea, lobe of maxilla; lab., labium, or
under lip.

attached an accessory lobe, and a jointed
B

FIG. 18. — A, mouth-parts
of grasshopper sep-
arated to show posi-
tion and relation; B,
mouth-parts dissect-
ed; Ibr., labrum; md.,
mandible; hyp., hypopharynx or tongue; mx.p.,
Jb. p., labial palpus; lab., labium; max., maxillae.

maxillary palpus;

28 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

..roG.

style called a palpus or feeler. At each side of the lower lip is

another palpus, these palpi being
sensory organs.

Sucking Mouth-parts. — In the
sucking insects these mouth-parts
are prolonged into a tube through
which the juices of the food plant
— or animal — arc sucked. In the
plant-lice and other bugs the lower
lip is elongated so that it forms a
tube, and the maxillae and man-
dibles consist of long hair-like
bristles, or setae, enclosed within
this tube (Fig. 20). The tip of this
beak is rested upon the surface of a
leaf into which the setae are thrust,
lacerating the tissue, and by a
pumping process of the mouth the
juices are sucked up through the
beak. The structure of the mouth-
parts of the various orders of suck-
ing insects varies considerably, but
all agree in that they suck up the
food in a liquid state. Any appli-
cation of a poisonous spray to the

surface of foliage will be of no avail
FIG. 19. — Cicada, showing mouth-
parts of a bug, a sucking insect: against them, though sure death to
a, seen from below, beak or most biting insects which chew the
rostrum • (ro. G.) reposing be- .

tween forelegs; b, head removed : leaves, bucking insects must there-
e, eye; Ibr., labrum; md., man- fore be killed by other means,
dible-setae; mx., maxillary setae;
lab., labium.

How Insects Breathe

Along the side of a caterpillar or larva, on one thoracic seg-
ment and on each abdominal segment except the last, is a small
oval spot, in the centre of which is a slit closed by two mem-

STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS

FIG. 20. — Mouth-parts of a plant-
louse: a, the jointed beak; b, the
lancets, much enlarged ; c, antenna;
d, foot. (After J. B. Smith.)

FIG. 2 1 . — Diagram of tracheal
or breathing system of an
insect: sp., spiracles; tr.,
trachea. (After Kolbe.)

FIG. 22. — Ideal section through an insect: a, alimentary canal; h, heart;
n, nerve cord; s, spiracle; t, tracheal tubes; I, legs; w, wings. (From
Riverside Natural History.)

30 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

branous lips. These apertures are called spiracles or stigmata
(Fig. 21 sp.), and are the openings of the respiratory system.
Similar openings are to be found in all insects, though not so
easily seen in the adults. Connecting these spiracles is a pair of
tubes on each side of the body, throughout its length, from which
branch off smaller tubes to all of its organs and tissues. Fresh

•tr

,-a.v

FIG. 23. — Internal anatomy of silk-worm, from photo of Azoux Model:
A, upper or dorsal bodywall seen from within; B, the back of the silk-
worm removed, showing alimentary canal; C, alimentary canal removed,
showing nervous system and trachea! trunks; tr., trachea; d.v., dorsal
vessel or heart; ph., pharynx or mouth; su., supra-oesophageal ganglion;
sp.sp., spiracles or breathing pores; n., nerve cord; tr.t., tracheal
trunk; oes., oesophagus or throat; cr., crop; s.g., silk gland; pro.,
proventriculus ; st., stomach; h.i., hind intestine.

air is thus inhaled to all parts of the body through these tubes
(Fig.21,*r).

The blood of insects does not circulate through any system of
tubes as it does in the higher animals. Along the middle of the
back, above the alimentary canal, is a long tube popularly called
the heart (Fig. 23, dv). This heart is composed of a number of
chambers, each of which is furnished with side valves for
admitting blood from the body-cavity. The blood coming
into the heart from the body-cavity is propelled forward toward

STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF INSECTS 31

the head, where it again flows into the body-cavity. Thus various
currents of blood are maintained throughout the body, but other
than the heart there is no system of blood-vessels, the blood merely
filling the body-cavity around and through the various organs and
tissues. Constantly flowing around the respiratory tubes or
tracheae, the blood is quickly and thoroughly purified, though the
exact manner in which this is done is not definitely known. The
respiratory system has absolutely no connection with the mouth
or pharynx (Fig. 23, ph) , as have the lungs of the higher animals,
and if an insect is to be suffocated, it must be done by closing the
spiracles. It is in this way that tobacco-dust, lime, pyrethrum,
and similar insecticides kill sucking insects, by penetrating the
spiracles and choking the trachea! system. Whale-oil soap,
kerosene emulsion, and the other "contact " insecticides, or " irri-
tants," also stop up the spiracles and thus cause death, but they
may act as " irritants," penetrating the skin and thus killing the
insect. When insects are killed by means of a gas such as carbon
bisulfide or hydrocyanic acid gas, they are asphyxiated by a
substitution of these gases for air, the same as are the higher
animals.

The ugh arsenical poisons are generally used as sprays for biting
insects, soft-bodied caterpillars and similar Iarva3 are often killed
by the use of contact insecticides, which affect them the same as
sucking insects.

The reader will observe that, almost without exception, the
remedies advised for different insect pests in the following pages
are determined by some peculiarity, either of structure or develop-
ment, of the insect to be combated.

CHAPTER IV
FARM METHODS FOR THE CONTROL OF INSECTS

THE old adage " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure," is never more true than in the control of insect pests, for in
almost all cases their successful control is by prevention before the
injury has become acute, rather than by destruction after the
'injury is noticeable. Even insecticides must be applied so that
they will kill the insect before it has done serious damage, for after
damage is apparent it is too late to prevent the injury, so that
the use of insecticides for fhe protection of crops must be of a pre-
ventive nature. In the control of insects affecting the staple
crops which are grown over immense areas with a small profit per
acre, it is evidently impracticable to use insecticides and mechani-
cal methods which are used in the orchard and garden. For the
control of staple crop insects we are compelled to rely largely on
general methods of farm management, which may be carried out
in connection with the farm operations at small cost, and which
will fatally interfere with the development of the insect to be con-
trolled. To do this intelligently involves an understanding of
the life-history of the insect, revealing the time at which it is most
vulnerable and the reason for the method of control advised. The
importance of such a knowledge of the life histories and habits of
insects to be controlled by farm methods will become apparent
in the following chapters.

Though the insects affecting staple crops are more largely con-
trolled by farm methods, those of the garden and orchard may be
much reduced by the intelligent application of the same princi-
ples, and he who adapts his methods so as to prevent insect attack
will be much more successful than if he depends upon artificial
means for their destruction.

FARM METHODS FOR THE CONTROL OF INSECTS 33

Looking Ahead. — In planning the management of their land
and crops for the coming season, few farmers consider the effect
which any given procedure will have upon the injurious insects with
which they may have to contend. A field which has for several
years been in wheat, corn, or tobacco, may be sown with some
other crop for the sake of soil improvement, but how often is it
considered necessary to rotate crops to avoid insect pests? In
most cases they are left out of consideration until a crop has been
seriously injured and the necessity for a change of methods thus
impressed on the owner.

Particularly while crops are young they should be frequently
inspected and examined for any evidence of the pests which com-
monly affect them. Be prepared to attack any pests which
may be found upon their first appearance, for many of the
most destructive insects increase with amazing rapidity, and
when they have become abundant it is too late to prevent the
damage.

Crop Rotation. — One of the most important factors in insect
control is the rotation of crops in such a manner that the same
crop shall not be grown continuously on the same land. In many
cases a yearly rotation will be advantageous, while a frequent
rotation will always be found beneficial. Many insects feed on
only one crop. It is evident, therefore, that if they hibernate in
or near the field which it occupied and it is then planted to the
same crop the next year, they will be furnished food for their
increase, while if .the field be planted in a crop not attacked by
the insects peculiar to it, they will have to migrate from it, with
probably a very considerable mortality as a consequence, for they
will radiate in all directions and many will die before finding food,
while many more will have been destroyed in the preparation of
the old field for the new crop.

The western corn root-worm may be entirely controlled by a
rotation so that corn is never grown two successive years on the
same land, for the Iarva3 feed only on the roots of corn, and when
it is followed by a small grain, grass, or clover, they are starved
out. Injury by the Hessian fly to wheat is also very materially

34 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

reduced where a frequent rotation is practised, as is that of the
chinch-bug on corn.

Care should be exercised to arrange a rotation in which crops
nearly related botanically do not follow each other, for usually
the same insects attack them. Thus white grubs, cutworms,
and wireworms live normally in. grass land, and where it has not
been plowed for several years they often become exceedingly
abundant. If the sod be then turned under and the land planted
to corn these insects will attack the corn, and as there are rela-
tively few plants to the number of insects which were feeding
upon the grass, the injury will usually be serious. To avoid
this, sod land should be planted in a small grain, buckwheat,
potatoes, or some crop not affected by these pests. Similarly,
the insects which affect cabbage usually feed on all the cole crops,
and turnips, radishes, etc., following cabbage will be liable to
injury by the same pests. Clovers, cowpeas, and other leguminous
crops become of importance in rotation in this connection, as
they are not usually attacked by the insects affecting other crops,
and of course are widely used in every good rotation for the pur-
pose of storing nitrogen in the soil through their root tubercles.

Time of Planting. — Planting crops so that they may avoid
the greatest abundance of their worst insect enemies is often the
best method for their protection. Thus late-sown wheat is
usually exempt from the attack of the Hessian fly (see page 123)
and late-planted corn is much less affected by the stalk-borer
(see page 172) than that planted earlier. On the other hand
early planting of early-maturing varieties often enables the crop
to mature before its pests become most abundant. Thus early
planting and early varieties are of the greatest importance in
preventing injury by the cotton boll weevil, the cotton boll-
worm and corn ear-worm. Early cabbage plants seem to be less
injured by root-maggots, and early varieties of peas escape the
injury of the pea aphis.

Weeds. — Many insects feed upon some common weed in one
stage while in another stage they are injurious to a cultivated
crop. Thus the flea-beetles feed upon the roots of solanaceous

FARM METHODS FOR THE CONTROL OF INSECTS 35

weeds during the larval stage, while the adults attack all sorts of
garden crops. In many cases caterpillars, such as the salt marsh
caterpillar, army worms, the white-lined sphinx moth, and
grasshoppers multiply upon weeds growing in neglected fields
until they overflow and destroy crops. Many insects feed on
weeds during the early part of the s'eason or after the crop which
they injure is harvested, so that the destruction of these weeds
may often considerably shorten their breeding season or increase
their mortality. Thus the corn root-aphis lives on the roots
of smartweed and other weeds and grasses until corn is available,
and cutworms feed on whatever vegetation is found before a
crop is planted. In this connection " volunteer " plants should
be classed as weeds, as they frequently furnish food for insects
in the same way. Thus the cotton boll weevil feeds on volunteer
cotton in early spring and the Hessian fly on volunteer wheat
in late summer and early fall. Such useless trees as wild cherry
and seedling apple trees might also be considered as weeds, as they
harbor many of the insect pests of our orchards and should be
destroyed as far as possible.

Fertilization and Culture. — Although there is some evidence
that under some conditions, kainit, lime and nitrate of soda may
have some direct effect on insects, it is probable that their chief
importance is to so stimulate the plant that it will not be subject
to insect attack or will grow in spite of some injury. It is well
known that plants which have been weakened from any cause
whatsoever are much more subject to the attacks of insects and
diseases, and it is therefore obvious that plants which have had a
vigorous growth and which will mature rapidly will much better
withstand insect attack. Thorough preparation of the soil
before planting, liberal fertilization, and thorough culture are
most important in growing a crop in spite of its insect enemies.
In many cases liberal fertilization and culture will mature a good
crop where under poorer care it would have succumbed to insect
injury. In general, land covered with barnyard manure presents
more favorable conditions for the hibernation of insects than that
fertilized with mineral fertilizers, but unless this is very appreciably

FIG. 24. — Above, a poorly kept roadside with railfence overgrown with
brambles, thus affording protection for large numbers of destructive
insects during winter. Below, a well kept roadside, offering the least
protection possible for destructive insects. (After Webster, U. S.
Dept. Agr.). 36

FARM METHODS FOR THE CONTROL OF INSECTS

the case, it will usually be preferred to them as far as it is
available.

Clean Farming. — After a crop has been harvested there is
usually some portion of the plant which is allowed to remain
on the land. In this refuse the insects peculiar to the crop often
feed and multiply until killing frost and then hibernate over
winter, ensuring injury to similar crops on the same land the

FIG. 25. — A field of cabbage stumps in midwinter, affording ideal condi-
tions for the hibernation of cabbage pests.

next year. Thus the wheat joint worm and the corn stalk-borer
both winter in the stubble of those crops, and the chinch-bug
commonly hibernates in the butts of corn stalks, all of which
may be largely controlled by burning the stubble. Possibly
the most important means of control of the cotton boll weevil
is the destruction of the stalks in the fall as soon as the cotton
can be picked, thus preventing the weevils feeding and starving
them out before they are ready to hibernate, and removing the
shelter for hibernation. Thus all the remnants of a crop such as

38 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

stubble, vines, leaves, or stumps, as may be, should be removed
from the field as soon after it is harvested as possible. As many
insects hibernate in such rubbish, this fact may sometimes be
utilized by thoroughly cleaning a field and leaving one or two
piles of rubbish in which many of the insects will assemble for
hibernation, and which may then be burned or otherwise destroyed.
Many cabbage insects hibernate under the old stumps and leaves
and will congregate in piles of them. The premises upon which
the fence rows are kept free from weeds and grass and the fields
are cleaned up and plowed as soon as possible after a crop is
removed, usually suffer much less from insect pests than those of
more easy-going neighbors.

Burning. — Such cleaning up of stubble and of wild vegetation
which furnishes food and shelter for insects may often be accom-
plished by burning. The burning over of grass land aids greatly
in the control of army worms, chinch-bugs, grasshoppers and
plant-lice, while the burning of the stubble will largely control
the wheat jointworm. Strawberry beds are sometimes burned
over in early spring to destroy the eggs of the root-louse, and
aphides on small grains may sometimes be killed out on small
areas by covering with straw and burning while the plants are
small.

Plowing. — Deep plowing and thorough harrowing are the most
effective means of ridding the soil of many pests of staple crops.

Late Fall Plowing. — Where the succession of crops permits,
plowing in the late fall is most advantageous, as it destroys the
insects while hibernating, although for some insects early fall
plowing and thorough harrowing during the fall are preferable.
Where plowing is not possible, thorough disking is often used
for the same purpose, as on alfalfa. As different insects pass the
winter in different stages this method does not affect all alike.
Some will be destroyed by having the cells in which they have
gone to pass the winter broken up, and being unable to construct
new cells they will be subjected to undue freezing and thawing
and excessive moisture, and will thus be killed by the weather.
Cutworms and the corn stalk-borer pass the winter in the soil

FARM METHODS FOR THE CONTROL OF INSECTS 39

as larvae; the cotton boll worm or corn ear- worm hibernates
in the pupal stage; while May beetles and click beetles hibernate
as newly transformed beetles; but all of them will be similarly
affected by the breaking up of their winter cells, which is the
most effective manner of combating them.

Other insects lay their eggs in the ground in the fall which
may be buried too deep for the young to emerge, or larvae or pupae
which normally remain near the surface may be turned under so
deeply as to destroy them. Thus grasshopper's eggs are laid in
the fall just beneath the surface, and by plowing in late fall or
early spring they may be turned under so that but few are able to
emerge, which is the best means of combating them. The apple
maggot hibernates in the pupal stage just beneath the surface of
the soil, and by deep plowing in early spring the puparia may be
buried too deeply for the flies to emerge.

Young grasshoppers are often destroyed after they hatch by
plowing deep furrows, starting at the outside of the field and plow-
ing in a square, thus forcing them to the centre and catching large
numbers of them in the furrows.

Early plowing and thorough harrowing in the spring are of
value against cutworms by keeping the ground fallow and thus
starving them out before a crop is planted and the same method
may be used against other pests with similar habits.

Thorough cultivation in the summer has been found to be of
value against many insects, affecting them differently according to
their habits. Many which pupate in the soil during the summer
are destroyed while making their pupal cells, or these cells are
broken and they are thus subject to abnormal moisture and tem-
perature conditions and are thus killed. This has been shown to be
the case with the cotton bollworm or corn ear-worm, and is true
of the plum curculio, against which thorough cultivation has
proved to be one of the most effective means of control in apple
orchards. Thorough cultivation is also of importance in breaking
up the nests of ants which care for such aphides as the corn root-
aphis. Summer fallowing is used to starve out some pests; for
example, the clover root-borer may be eradicated by plowing up

40 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

infested clover immediately after it is cut and exposing the roots
to the sun and wind, which will soon dry them out and thus destroy
the food of the larvae, which will soon perish.

Trap Crops. — Trap crops are those which are planted as a bait
or lure to attract the early insects so that they may be destroyed
upon them before the crop to be protected is available. Doubt-
less the reason that trap crops are not more frequently used by the
farmer is because their successful use requires more or less of a
knowledge of the life history and habits of the pest to be fought.
But that is easily acquired and will make the fight against them
more interesting and successful.

South of Mason and Dixon's line the harlequin cabbage-
bug frequently becomes the most serious pest of cabbage and
related plants. When a cabbage patch has become well infested
it is an exceedingly difficult matter to prevent injury, for the adult
bugs cannot be killed by insecticides which will not injure the
plant. If, however, a crop of kale be planted the previous fall,
the bugs which hibernate over winter will attack it in the spring,
and may then be killed by spraying them with pure kerosene, and
the danger to the cabbage crop be thus largely averted.

A few rows of wheat are often planted early in the fall as a trap
for the Hessian fly, and as soon as the eggs are deposited they are
plowed under deeply and the later planting thus at least partly
protected.

One of the most successful examples of averting injury by a
trap crop is the use of corn to lure the cotton bollworm and thus
prevent its injury to cotton. Corn is the favorite food plant of
this pest, which prefers to deposit its eggs on the silk and tassels.
By planting a few strips of late-maturing corn through the cotton
field, they will come into silk about the time the brood of moths
which normally deposit their eggs on cotton are flying and they
will lay them on the corn in preference, which should then be cut
and fed to stock. In this way by planting strips composed of sev-
eral rows planted at successive dates, the cotton may be almost
entirely protected. Possibly a modification of this method may
be applied for the protection of tomatoes or tobacco, though these

FARM METHODS FOR THE CONTROL OF INSECTS 41

crops have never been thus protected from this insect to our
knowledge.

Radishes are sometimes used as a trap crop for the root-mag-
gots which affect the roots of .cabbages and onions. The same
principle is sometimes used in combating forest insects by gird-
ling a tree upon which certain kinds of forest pests will concentrate,
and it is then cut and burned.

These examples will suffice to show that very many of .the most
important insect pests may be largely controlled by simply adapt-
ing the general methods of farm management so as to avoid or
prevent injury by them. They indicate the importance of a
knowledge of the life history of any insect which is to be combated,
knowing which, some of the above or similar methods will often
suggest themselves as applicable. Such a control of insect life
through the practical use of natural agencies epitomizes the scien-
tific method in the art of agriculture; i.e., the most practical and
effective and yet simple methods based upon exact knowledge.*

* See F. M. Webster, Farm Practice in the Control of Field Crop Insects,
Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905, p. 465, and Some Things that the Grower
of Cereal and Forage Crops Should Know about Insects, Yearbook U. S.
Dept. Agr., 1908, page 367.

CHAPTER V
INSECTICIDES

MATERIALS used for the destruction of insects are commonly
called insecticides, and are roughly divisible into four classes :

1. Poisons, which kill by being eaten and are usually composed
of various forms of arsenic and are therefore often called arseni-
cals.

2. Contact insecticides, which kill by either clogging up the
spiracles, the openings of the respiratory system, or by entering
the trachea, and thus causing suffocation, or by their corrosive
action on the skin.

3. Repellants, which deter the insect from attacking the plant
or animal to which they are applied.

4. Gases, which are used for fumigating buildings, stored prod-
ucts and greenhouses where other means are not practicable.

1. Poisons

Poisons are applied to the food of the insect and must be eaten
by it to be effective. It is evident, therefore, that they are only
effective against biting (mandibulate) insects, or for those which
lap up their food from the surface, and that they are of no avail
against the true sucking insects, such as the true bugs which suck
the juices from beneath the surface of the plant. Poisons are not
always, however, the most effective means of combating biting
insects, which are sometimes more effectively controlled by con-
tact insecticides or other means.

Nearly all of the stomach poisons are derivatives of arsenic
and are therefore termed arsenicals. As they are dangerous to
human life they should be kept well labeled, locked up when not
in use, and vessels in which they have been used should be care-
fully cleaned.

INSECTICIDES 43

1. Paris green is a green crystalline powder composed of the
aceto-arsenite of copper. When properly made it should contain
at least 50 per cent arsenic oxid (As2Os), and there should be as
little water-soluble arsenic as possible, for the water-soluble arsenic
is the cause of the burning of foliage which often results from the
use of Paris green. Various State laws require that there be not
over 3£ per cent soluble arsenic, but even this amount is often
injurious to tender foliage. Paris green is rather a coarse powder
and settles readily in water, and is readily washed off by drenching
rains. It costs from 25 to 35 cents per pound. It is usually used
at a rate of from 3 to 8 ounces to a 50-gallon barrel of water; 5
ounces per barrel is satisfactory for most purposes. In mixing,
first stir up in a small vessel with a little water into a paste, which
will mix more readily. Add an equal weight of quicklime, or
slightly more will do no harm, which will take up any soluble
arsenic.

2. London purple is a waste product in the manufacture of
aniline dyes, and is principally arsenic and lime. It is quite
variable in composition and usually contains a much higher,
and quite variable, amount of soluble arsenic, so that it is apt to
scald the foliage unless thoroughly mixed with fresh stone lime.
For this reason it is now used only for rough work, such as poison-
ing grasshoppers, making poisoned bran mash, etc., and is not
to be recommended for general use on fruit trees and garden
crops. It usually costs 10 or 12 cents a pound, and is used in
the same proportions and in the same way as Paris green.

3. Arsenate of lead is usually sold in the form of a white paste,
composed of arsenic and lead, the exact chemical composition
varying with the process of manufacture. To be of standard
grade it should contain at least 12£ per cent of arsenic oxid
and not over f per cent water-soluble arsenic oxid (As2Os),
and not over 50 per cent water. Owing to the small amount
of soluble arsenic it may be used in much larger quantities than
other arsenicals and on tender foliage which others will injure.
From 2 to 8 pounds per 50-gallon barrel of water are used, 2
or 3 pounds per barrel being commonly used for most of the

44 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

pests of the orchard and garden. Arsenate of lead remains in
suspension rather better than Paris green and is exceedingly
adhesive, remaining on the foliage for two or three months.
Arsenate of lead is made from arsenate of soda and acetate of
lead or nitrate of lead, and may be made by the user if desired,
but owing to the varying composition of these chemicals when
purchased on the open market and the fact that the manufactured
article can now be purchased in quantity practically as cheap as
it can be made, its home manufacture is not recommended, and
is now but rarely practiced. The market price of arsenate of
lead has varied widely, owing to strong competition, but usually
sells at from 8 to 10 cents per pound in 100-pound kegs, and at
20 cents for single-pound packages.

Arsenate of lead is now made in a powdered form for dusting
on crops where spraying is impracticable or unsatisfactory. Most
of that manufactured in powdered form is crystalline and will
not mix as readily with water as the paste, and is therefore not
recommended for use with water. One manufacturer, however,
is producing an amorphous powder, which is bolted like flour, and
which mixes readily with water, and may be used exactly the
same as the paste, of course using approximately only half as much
weight for the same effectiveness, as half of the paste is water.

4. Arsenite of lead is a compound very similar to the arsenate,
which is made from sodium arsenite, but it contains less arsenic
and usually much more soluble arsenic, for which reason its use
has not proven satisfactory, and is rarely sold by reliable dealers.

Used in Water. — The above arsenicals are generally diluted
with water and applied as a spray, which is usually much the
most efficient method. Where Bordeaux mixture or lime-
sulfur is to be sprayed on fruit trees or garden crops for the
control of fungous diseases, the arsenical may be added to them
at the same rate as to water. The combination of arsenicals
with other common fungicides is not usually possible without
danger of serious injury to the foliage.

Used as Dust. — Under some circumstances the arsenicals are
more readily applied in the dust form. Dusting may be done

INSECTICIDES 45

most effectively by the use of a powder-gun, which consists
of a rotating fan which drives the poison from a reservoir through
a tube by which it may be directed to the desired point. The
powder-guns most commonly used are carried by a man, though
larger machines carried on a wagon are in use for orchard work.
Paris green is usually diluted with 10 to 20 parts of flour, ground
gypsum, or preferably air-slaked lime, though some prefer to
use it undiluted when machines are used which control the amount
of the application. Dusting should be done while the dew is
on the foliage in early morning, except on such plants as have a
rough or adhesive foliage. Paris green is frequently used as a
dust upon potatoes, cabbage and other garden crops, as well as
for dusting weeds and grass for grasshoppers, army worms, etc.
Powdered arsenate of lead has recently been shown to be an
effective remedy for the cotton boll weevil (see page 272), and
is used pure. Its use in dry form will doubtless be found more
practicable on other crops than has that of Paris green.

5. Arsenite of lime is a home-made arsenical, very much cheaper
than those previously mentioned, and giving very satisfactoiy
results for certain purposes. It is not as adhesive as arsenate
of lead, and as it sometimes burns foliage has been largely dis-
carded for orchard spraying. It is, however, very satisfactory
for potatoes and other low-growing crops, especially when added
to Bordeaux mixture, which sticks it to the foliage, and it may be
used to good advantage for righting grasshoppers and leaf-eating
caterpillars when it is desired to poison considerable areas of
weeds or waste grass. The so-called Kedzie formula is the most
satisfactory, as the soda hastens the complete combination of
the arsenic, and the resulting solution is in a clear liquid form
which can be readily measured.* Take 1 pound of white arsenic

* Arsenite of lime is often made by boiling 1 pound of lime with 2 pounds
of white arsenic in 1 gallon of water for thirty to forty-five minutes. This
' results in a paste of arsenite of lime, which settles in the solution. One quart
of this mixture is used per barrel of water or Bordeaux mixture, but unless
the stock solution is always stirred equally well, the amount of poison in a
quart will be quite variable, with varying effectiveness; hence the clear
solution of arsenite of soda as in the above formula is preferable.

46 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and 4 pounds of crystal salsoda (2 pounds only of anhydrous sal-
soda are necessary) , and boil together in 1 gallon of water for
twenty minutes. This forms a stock solution of arsenite of soda,
whichmaybe kept until needed. Put it in a jug and label " Poison."
When ready to spray add a quart of this solution and 3 or 4 pounds
of freshly slaked lime to each barrel of water (50 gallons) . When
used at this rate the arsenite of lime will cost about 7 cents for a
barrel, exclusive of labor in its preparation, as compared with 10
cents for an equal amount of Paris green (£ lb.), or 20 cents for
arsenite of lead (2 Ibs.). Unless large quantities are to be used
for the purposes indicated, it will hardly pay the small user to
bother with its manufacture, and the danger of poisoning in the
mixing or in the careless disposal of waste or uncleaned utensils
must also be considered, though it may sometimes be useful in an
emergency when manufactured arsenicals are not available.

6. Resin-soap Sticker.— Upon the smooth foliage of such plants
as cabbage and asparagus it is exceedingly difficult to stick
Paris green or even arsenate of lead when used as a spray. To
obviate this the addition of resin-soap acts as a sticker. Place
5 pounds of pulverized resin and 1 pint of fish-oil or any cheap
animal oil, except tallow, in an iron kettle with 1 gallon of water,
and heat until the resin is softened; add the lye solution as made
for hard soap; stir thoroughly; add enough water to make 5
gallons and boil about two hours, or until the mixture will unite
with cold water, making a clear, amber-colored liquid. If the
mixture has boiled away too much, add sufficient water to make
5 gallons. This makes a stock solution of liquid resin soap.
For use add three gallons to 50 gallons of water, and add 3 gal-
lons of milk-of-lime or whitewash (3 Ibs. stone lime in 3 gallons),
and £ pound of Paris green. The addition of lime turns the
small soap particles into hard soap to which the Paris green
adheres and is thus distributed throughout the mixture in
uniform quantity and rendered exceedingly adhesive. The
stock solution may be added directly to Bordeaux mixture with-
out the addition of extra lime, to which Paris green or arsenate
of lead may be added in the usual quantity. Similar resin soap,

INSECTICIDES 47

called sticker, is sold by James Good of Philadelphia, Pa., and may
be used in the same way at the rate of 3 pounds to 50 gallons.

7. Poisoned Bran Mash. — For combating grasshoppers and cut-
worms arsenic is often applied in the form of a bran mash. Mix
1 pound of Paris green or London purple (or white arsenic col-
ored with a dye) with 25 pounds of bran or middlings. Stir a
quart or two of cheap molasses into a gallon of water and moisten
the bran, stirring thoroughly, until it makes a stiff mash. Do
not add so much water that the mash will be thin and will cake
when exposed. Apply a heaping tablespoonful near each plant
or every 2 or 3 feet in the row. Keep poultry out of fields
thus treated. For cutworms apply a day or two before setting
plants and as near evening as possible.

8. Hellebore. — The powdered roots of the white hellebore are
often used as an insecticide in place of arsenicals, especially for
currant worms, rose slugs, and similar saw-fly larvse and for insects
affecting crops soon to be eaten, as the hellebore is much less
poison to man and animals than arsenicals. It may be applied
dry, diluted with from 5 to 10 parts of flour, or as a spray, 1 ounce
to ^, gallon of water. It is too expensive to use except for a few
plants in the yard or garden, and like pyrethrum, deteriorates
with age and if exposed to the air.

Harmlessness of Arsenicals when Properly Applied. — The ques-
tion is frequently asked whether it is safe to apply arsenicals to
vegetables and fruits to be used as food. Where sprayed or dusted
as directed the amount of arsenic which would be deposited on
the plant would not be sufficient to cause any injury, and Professor
C. P. Gillette has shown that twenty-eight cabbages dusted in the
ordinary way would have to be eaten at one meal in order to pro-
duce poisonous effects. Occasionally growers dust cabbage with an
unreasonable amount of poison, and very rarely instances of poison-
ing are recorded, but there is no value in applying any more poison
than is necessary to make a thin film over the surface, and more
than that is wasted. Because a certain amount of poison will kill
an insect does not indicate that a larger amount can kill it any
" deader," Experiments have also shown that tobacco sprayed as

48 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

recommended cannot possibly bear enough arsenic to be injurious,
and that cattle or horses may be pastured under trees sprayed
with arscnicals with impunity.*

2. Contact Insecticides

Contact insecticides are used against insects with sucking
mouth-parts and soft-bodied biting insects, which may be more
readily destroyed by this means than by arsenicals. These sub-
stances arc fatal to the insect either by clogging the spiracles
or trachea, and thus causing suffocation, or by corroding the
skin. It should be remembered that the chitinous skin of most
insects is not easily corroded, and that in most cases a material
strong enough to penetrate the skin will also injure foliage, so that
only soft-bodied insects can be combated with corrosive sub-
stances upon foliage.

In the application of contact insecticides it is absolutely essen-
tial that the spray come into contact with the insect, as a mere spray-
ing of the foliage is of no value whatever.

1. Kerosene emulsion is one of the oldest remedies for plant-
lice, and other sucking and soft-bodied insects, and is often
resorted to because it is readily made and the materials are
always at hand.

Dissolve \ pound of hard or whale-oil soap (or 1 quart soft
soap) in 1 gallon of boiling water. Add 2 gallons of kerosene and
churn with a force pump by pumping back and forth for five to
ten minutes until the oil is thoroughly emulsified, forming a
creamy mass with no drops of free oil visible. This stock solution
is now diluted so that the resulting mixture will contain the de-
sired per cent of kerosene. Thus for aphides one part of the stock
solution should be diluted with from 10 to 15 parts of water, giving
from 4 to 6 per cent of kerosene in the spray, while for a winter
wash for San Jose scale, it should be diluted only three or four

* This is not true of grass beneath trees which have been sprayed with
a straight-jet fire-hose, as is commonly done in Massachusetts in the extensive
operations against the gypsy moth, but refers to spraying which has been
done with an ordinary spray nozzle, which applies the material as a fine spray.

INSECTICIDES 49

times, giving from 16 to 22 per cent kerosene. The emulsion must
be thoroughly churned and should be applied with a nozzle throw-
ing a fine spray. Apply only enough to wet the insects. Equally
effective emulsions may be made from crude petroleum, the pro-
portion of the soap and crude oil in the stock emulsion varying
with the quality of the oil. Emulsions made with some of the
crude oils seem to be much less injurious to foliage of some plants
than when made with kerosene. Such an emulsion is made in
California from distillate oils and is known as distillate emulsion.
We have used crude Texas oils with equal success.

2. Kerosene. — Pure kerosene should never be used on foliage, for
though occasionally someone will report using it successfully
without injury, in practically all cases serious burning of the foliage
results. It was formerly recommended against the San Jose
scale on fruit trees, but such serious injury resulted that it has been
almost entirely discarded, though it may be used on apple and pear
trees if applied with a nozzle which throws a fine spray, on a bright
sunny day, and only a very thin film applied to the tree while it is
dormant, but even these trees are often injured if the application
is not made with the greatest care.

3. Crude Petroleum. — Crude petroleum is used in the same man-
ner ae kerosene against scale insects, but seems to be less injurious
to the tree, and has been extensively used in Xew Jersey against
the scale on peaches, where but little injury has resulted where it
has been carefully applied. It contains more heavy oils and con-
sequently does not penetrate the bark so readily, and the light oils
evaporating leave the heavy oils on the bark for some months,
which aid in preventing young scales from getting a foothold.
Crude oil for use as an insecticide should have a specific gravity of
from 43° to 45° Beaume scale, and is sold by certain Eastern com-
panies as " insecticide oil."

4. Oil and Water Treatment. — Spray pumps have been sold for
•several years which make a mechanical mixture of oil and water

in desired proportions. These have been thoroughly tested both
by entomologists and by extensive use by practical fruit-growers
and the general verdict is that they are unreliable and unsatisfac-

50 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

tory. None of them now on the market give a uniform percentage
of oil, and injury to foliage is therefore liable to result. With the
advent of miscible oils the oil-and-water pump is not to be recom-
mended.

5. Miscible Oils. During the last few years several manufac-
turers have placed on the market under various trade names what
are now called miscible oils. These are petroleum rendered solu-
ble by the addition of vegetable oils, cut or saponified with an
alkali, and are really a sort of liquid petroleum soap which will
combine readily with water. They have been used principally
as winter washes against the San Jose scale, for which they are
most effective when diluted 10 or 12 times. For a summer wash
they have been used effectively against plant-lice and other insects
for which kerosene emulsion would be used, diluted 25 to 30 times.
In barrel lots the miscible oils sell at 40 to 50 cents per gallon, thus
making the cost of a gallon of mixture for a winter application at
10 per cent, 4 or 5 cents per gallon.

6. Whale-oil and Other Soaps. — Any good soap is an effective
insecticide for destroying aphides and young or soft-bodied larvse.
Any good laundry soap made into a thick solution one-half pound
per gallon is an excellent remedy for such insects on house-
plants. Whale-oil or fish-oil soap has been extensively, used
against scale insects and plant-lice. The best brands are made
from caustic potash rather than caustic soda, and should contain
not over 30 per cent of water, there being wide variation in the
water content. For the pea aphis and other aphides 1 pound
to 6 gallons of water has been found very effective. For a win-
ter wash for the San Jose scale 2 pounds per gallon of water are
applied while hot, the soap being dissolved in hot water. The
soap can be bought for 3J to. 4 cents a pound in large quantities,
thus making the treatment for scale cost from 7 to 8 cents a
gallon.

7. Lime-sulfur Wash. — The lime-sulfur wash has always been
the standard remedy for the San Jose scale on the Pacific Coast,
and during the last few years has come into wide use in the East
for the same pest. It has also been found to be an efficient

INSECTICIDES 51

remedy for the pear leaf blister-mite, and the oyster-shell
bark-louse. In addition to its insecticidal properties it is an
excellent fungicide, and the spring applications just before the
buds start are very effective in killing out the wintering spores
of various fungous diseases, while the diluted wash is being used as
a summer spray for fungous diseases in place of Bordeaux mixture.

The usual formula is, unslaked stone lime, 20 pounds; flowers
(or flour) of sulfur, 15 pounds, water to make 50 gallons. Stir
up enough water with the sulfur to make a thick paste. Slake
the lime in the vessel in which it is to be cooked with a small
quantity of hot water. Then add the sulfur paste to the slaking
lime. Add 10 or 15 gallons of water and boil for forty-five min-
utes. The mixture may then be diluted to make a barrel of 45 or
50 gallons, straining it carefully into the spray barrel or tank. A
large iron kettle or hog-scalder may be used for boiling the wash,
or where steam can be made available a steam pipe may be
run into several barrels and the wash boiled in them. Such
barrels may well be placed upon a platform so that the wash
may be drawn from them directly into the spray-tank. The
materials for making the wash will cost 1^ to 1^ cents per gallon
and the labor practically as much more. The leading manufac-
turers and dealers in insecticides are now selling concentrated
lime-sulfur solution which is all ready for use by merely diluting
to the' desired strength, at a rate which will make the solution
to be used cost from 1\ to 3 cents per gallon, nearly as cheap
as it can be made at home and with the saving of time and a dis-
agreeable job. In many communities a central plant makes the
wash and can sell it with a fair profit at a low rate.

8. Home-made Concentrated Lime-sulfur. — During the last few
seasons many large growers have been making their own con-
centrated lime-sulfur solution, and where the quantity to be
used warrants, a considerable saving may be effected. The New
-York Agricultural Experiment Station has made very careful
studies* of the best methods of making and diluting the mixture
from which the following is quoted :

*Bulletins 329 and 330, N. Y. (Geneva) Agricultural Experiment Station.

52 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

GENEVA STATION FORMULA FOR CONCENTIIATED LIME-SULFUR SOLUTION.

f Pure CaO 36 Ibs.

Lime j If 95 per cent pure 38 Ibs.

[ If 90 per cent pure 40 Ibs.

Sulfur, high grade, finely divided 80 Ibs.

Water 50 gals.

DILUTIONS FOR DORMANT AND SUMMER SPRAYING WITH LIME-SULFUR

MIXTURES

Amount of Dilution. Number of Gallons of Water to One
Gallon of Lime-sulfur Solution.

hydrometer.

For San Josd Scale.

For Blister -mite.

For Summer Spray-
ing of Apples.

Degrees Beaum*:.

12*

43 i

10*

37 J

36i

341

32 J

29*

26. ..

5£

27?

24J

22 1

21i

19|

18[

12|

" In making, slake the lime in about 10 gallons of hot water,
adding the lumps of lime gradually to avoid too violent boiling and
spilling over. . . . The sulfur must be thoroughly moistened and
made into an even, fluid paste without lumps (before adding to
the lime). . . . Pour in the sulfur paste gradually during the
slaking, stirring constantly to prevent the formation of lumps,
and when the slaking has finished add the full amount of water

INSECTICIDES 53

and boil gently for one hour. If kettles and fire are used, more
than the required amount of water may be used at first, to com-
pensate for evaporation, or the volume may be kept constant by
adding successive small quantities to hold the mixture at the
original level, as shown by a notch on a stick resting on the bot-
tom of the kettle, and marked when the mixture first begins to
boil. When boiling with live steam the mixture will be more
likely to increase in volume than to decrease, so that no water
need be added.

" This concentrate will keep with little change, unless the
weather is below 5° F., if stored in filled, stoppered barrels.
Even in open receptacles there will be no loss if the surface be
covered by a layer of oil to prevent access of air. Each boiling
should be tested with a Beaume hydrometer * and its density
marked on the barrels or other containers."

The dilution is based upon the specific gravity as shown by
the hydrometer and may be safely made according to the out-
line in the above table.

In making this mixture it is important that only high-grade,
pure lime should be used, and lime with less than 90 per cent
calcium oxid (CaO) should be discarded.

9. Self-boiled Lime-sulfur. — Self-boiled lime-sulfur has proven
to be the only safe fungicide for the foliage diseases of the
peach and stone fruits, and is used extensively as a summer spray
on pome fruits. As a winter wash for San Jose scale it has not
proven as effective as the boiled mixture, but when used as a
summer spray for fungous diseases it also has considerable
insecticidal value. Its general usefulness as a summer insecticide
is in the process of experimental determination, but sufficient
results have already been secured to warrant the statement
that it will prove of considerable value as a summer insecticide
for certain pests, where it is to be used for the fungous diseases
of the host plant at the same time. This mixture has been developed

* These hydrometers, made specially for testing lime-sulfur mixture, may
be obtained from the Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, N. Y., and
other dealers in laboratory glassware.

54 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

chiefly by the work of Mr. W. M. Scott of the United States
Department of Agriculture, from whose latest bulletin * the
following is quoted:

" In order to secure the best action from the lime, the mix-
ture should be prepared in rather large quantities, at least enough
for 200 gallons of spray, using 32 pounds of lime and 32 pounds
of sulfur. The lime should be placed in a barrel and enough water
(about 6 gallons) poured on to almost cover it. As soon as the
lime begins to slake the sulfur should be added, after first running
it through a sieve to break up the lumps, if any are present.
The mixture should be constantly stirred and more water (3 or
4 gallons) added as needed to form at first a thick paste and then
gradually a thin paste. The lime will supply enough heat to
boil the mixture several minutes. As soon as it is well slaked
water should be added to cool the mixture and prevent further
cooking. It is then ready to be strained into the spray tank,
diluted, and applied.

" The stage at which cold water should be poured on to stop
the cooking varies with different limes. Some limes are so sluggish
in slaking that it is difficult to obtain enough heat from them to
cook the mixture at all, while other limes become intensely hot
on slaking, and care must be taken not to allow the boiling to
proceed too far. If the mixture is allowed to remain hot for
fifteen or twenty minutes after the slaking is completed, the sulfur
gradually goes into solution, combining with the lime to form
sulfids, which are injurious to peach foliage. It is therefore
very important, especially with hot lime, to cool the mixture
quickly by adding a few buckets of water as soon as the lumps
of lime have slaked down. The intense heat, violent boiling,
and constant stirring result in a uniform mixture of finely divided
sulfur and lime, with only a very small percentage of the sulfur
in solution. It should be strained to take ou'i the coarse particles
of lime, but the sulfur should be carefully worked through the
strainer."

10. Sulfur. — Pure sulfur is one of the best remedies for red
* Fanners' Bulletin, 440, U. S. Dept. of Agr., p. 34.

INSECTICIDES 55

spider, on whatever plants it may occur, and for other mites which
infest citrus fruits. It may be dusted on the infested plants or trees
or applied with any other insecticide, using 1 or 2 pounds to 50
gallons. For citrus-mites the .lye-sulfur wash and sulfide of lime
are extensively used. Sulfur is frequently dusted in poultry
houses to rid them of lice, and may be mixed with lard and rubbed
on the skin of domestic animals affected with lice.

11. Pyrethrum, buhach, or Persian insect powder, is made by
pulverizing the petals of the pyrethrum blossom, and kills insects
by clogging their breathing pores. It is not poisonous to man or
domestic animals and may therefore be used where other insecti-
cides would be objectionable. It is chiefly used for household
pests, and in greenhouses and small gardens. It deteriorates
rapidly with age and should be kept in tight cans. An objection
to much commonly bought is that it has been kept in stock too
long by the retailer, thus losing its strength. Large users buy
direct from the only American manufacturers, the Buhach Pro-
ducing Co., Stockton, Cal. It may be used as a dry powder,
pure or diluted with flour, or in water at the rate of 1 ounce to 2
gallons,, which should stand a day before using. For immediate
use it should be boiled in water for five or ten minutes. It is fre-
quently burnt in rooms to destroy mosquitoes and flies, for which
it is effective, without leaving any odor after the room is
aired.*

12. Tobacco. — A tobacco decoction may be made by boiling or
steeping tobacco leaves, stems, and refuse in water at the rate of
1 pound to 1 or 2 gallons. This may be diluted slightly according
to the strength of the tobacco and the insect to be combated.
Such a decoction is an excellent remedy for dipping plants affected
with aphides, and may be used as a spray for plant-lice and similar
soft-bodied insects. Various extracts and solutions of tobacco are
now sold by manufacturers which are extensively used in spraying
"against plant-lice, and which are proving more satisfactory on
account of their uniform strength. Tobacco dust has been used
successfully against root-infesting aphides by removing the sur-

* See Farmers' Bulletin, 444, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 7.

56 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

face soil and applying a liberal dressing of the dust and then
covering. The rains leaching through the tobacco carry the
tobacco water to the affected roots and destroy or repel the
aphides.

3. Repellants

Repellants include any substance which may be applied to a
plant or animal to prevent insect attack. A popular notion that
any vile-smelling substance will repel insect attack seems to have
very little evidence in its support. Tobacco dust, air-slaked lime,
or even fine road dust, thoroughly covering a plant will prevent
the attack of various flea-beetles and leaf-eating beetles, but to be
successful the plants must be frequently dusted and kept well cov-
ered. Bordeaux mixture, our most widely used fungicide, when
liberally sprayed on potatoes and tomatoes, acts as a repellant to
the little black flea-beetles which often seriously damage the
young plants.

The various fly-sprays which are used for spraying cattle to
prevent the annoyance of flies act merely as repellants.

Fruit-trees are often painted with a thick soap solution con-
taining 1 pint of crude carbolic acid to 10 gallons as a repellant
for the adult borers which lay their eggs on the bark.

A substance which has come into prominence in the fight
against the gypsy moth in New England is tree tanglefoot, a sticky
substance the same as is used to coat fly-papers. This comes in the
form of a very sticky paste, a band of which is placed around the
trunk of the tree and which prevents the ascent of caterpillars, as
it will remain sticky for some weeks. It may be used in the same
way to prevent the wingless female canker worms and other
wingless insects from ascending trees, or to prevent the ascent of
caterpillars on unaffected trees.

Various proprietary insecticides are frequently offered for sale
with wonderful claims for their effect as repellants, but only in rare
cases are they of any value except for use as a dust as already sug-
gested. One of the most common fakes of this sort is that of the
itinerant tree-doctor who offers to bore a hole in a tree and plug
it with sulfur or other offensive compounds, which will effectively

INSECTICIDES 57

prevent any insect or fungous depredations. A generous price
per tree is charged, which is the only " effect " of the treatment.

4. Gases.

Carbon Bisulfid (or disulfid) is extensively used against insects
affecting stored goods and grains, and for root-feeding insects. It
is a clear, volatile liquid giving off fumes heavier than air. It is
sold in 25- to 100-pound cans at 10 to 12 cents per pound. It may
be thrown directly onto grain without injury to it or placed in
shallow dishes. For grain in store in fairly tight rooms apply 5 to
8 pounds to every 100 bushels, distributing the bisulfid over the
surface or in pans containing not over one-half to 1 pound each.
Make the enclosure as tight as possible; covering the grain with
blankets or other tight cover, if necessary, and leave for twenty-
four hours. Recent experiments have shown that the vapor is
much less effective at low temperatures and that the dosage must
be greatly increased at temperatures below 60° F. For fumi-
gating buildings " there should be about 1 square foot of evap-
orating surface to every 25 square feet of floor area, and each
square foot of evaporating surface should receive from one-half
to 1 pound of liquid." For fumigating clothing or household
goods, place them in a tight trunk and place an ounce of liquid
in a saucer just under the cover. The gas is exceedingly explosive;
allow no fire or light of any kind around the building or enclosure
until it has been well aired. The fumes should not be inhaled, for
though not seriously poisonous, they have a suffocating effect and
will soon produce dizziness and a consequent headache. The
treatment for root-maggots and root-feeding aphides is discussed
in connection with those insects (pages 355 and 496).*

Hydrocyanic Acid Gas is extensively used for the fumigation
of nursery trees and plants, certain greenhouse insects, pests of
dwelling houses, storehouses, mills, etc., and in California for
.scale insects on fruit trees. It is made by combining cyanide of

* For a complete discussion of the use of this gas, see Farmers' Bulletin,
145, U. S. Dept. Agr., and see page 197 below.

Carbon tetrachloride is now used for some purposes in much the same
manner as carbon bisulphide, and is not so explosive.

58 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

potassium, sulfuric acid and water. The gas is slightly lighter
than air and is a most deadly poison. Its use is to be recom-
mended only by thoroughly competent and careful persons who are
fully advised as to the method of use for the particular purpose
desired. Concerning its use advice should be sought from the State
Agricultural Experiment Station, or from the State Entomologist,
or from the Bureau of Entomology of the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture. The general methods used are fully described by the late
Professor W. G. Johnson in his book " Fumigation Methods \
(Orange Judd Co.), with which should be considered the results
of more recent experiments and experience.

Sulfur Dioxid. — The fumes of burning sulfur, mostly sulfur
dioxid, have long been recognized as a standard remedy for the
fumigation of dwellings and barracks for insect pests. Successful
fumigation for the bedbug has been reported when stick sulfur has
been burned at the rate of 2 pounds per 1000 cubic feet of space.
The chief objection is the strong bleaching effect of the fumes in
presence of moisture and their destructive action on vegetation.
Recently this gas has been extensively used under the name of
" Clayton gas," for the fumigation of ships and ships' cargoes, par-
ticularly grain. It is forced into the tight hold of a ship by special
apparatus and is exceedingly penetrating and effective. The
germinating power of seeds is quickly destroyed, but they are not
injured for food. 1 to 5 per cent of the gas, with an exposure of
twenty-four hours, is effective for most -seed and grain pests. It
cannot be used on vegetation or for moist fruits.

Tobacco Fumes. — Tobacco is extensively used as a fumigant
for aphides in greenhouses and for certain plants, such as melons,
by using it under covers. Several forms are now commonly
used. Tobacco or nicotine extracts are sold under various trade
names, which are volatilized by heating either with a small lamp
or by dropping hot irons into the dishes containing the fluid.
The same material may be purchased in the form of paper which
has been saturated with the extract and which is burned accord-
ing to directions, a certain amount being sufficient for so many
cubic feet of space, which forms a. more convenient method of

INSECTICIDES 59

application. Certain finely ground tobacco powders, called
" funrgating-kind " tobacco powder, are used in the same way
and are much the cheapest form of tobacco for fumigation,
though requiring slightly more work in preparing for fumigation.
These tobacco preparations are excellent for the fumigation of
household plants, which may be placed in a closet and then
fumigated according to the directions of the particular brand
employed. Melon vines, young apple trees, bush fruits, and
similar outdoor crops may be effectively rid of plant-lice by
fumigating with tobacco-paper under a frame covered with
canvas or muslin sized with glue or linseed oil.

For further discussion of Insecticides see Farmers' Bulletin 127, U. S.
Department of Agriculture.

CHAPTER VI
SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

Atomizers. — Hand atomizers of the general style shown in
Fig. 26 may be purchased at any hardware store, and are useful
for applying soap or oil solutions to a few house or garden plants.
They are not adapted for more extensive use and to try to spray
many plants, or a tree, with them, is a waste of time.

Bucket Pumps. — The simplest type of spray pump is that
made to use in a bucket. The better types usually cost $5 to
$8, the cheaper styles, selling for $2 or $3, being inferior and
unsatisfactory.

FIG. 26. — An atomizer handy for spraying a few plants.

There is as much difference in the structure of bucket pumps
as in those of the barrel type, and many of the statements made
below concerning the latter will apply also to bucket pumps.
The bucket pump should have an air chamber, so that a steady
pressure may be maintained. Some firms are making bucket
pumps of the same general type of the barrel pump shown in Fig.
34, which are very satisfactory in this regard. A footrest attached
to the pump and a clamp to attach the pump to the bucket are
useful accessories,

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

Many firms are now selling these pumps mounted in large
galvanized-iron covered buckets, and furnished with a mechanical
agitator. This is a desirable arrangement, for the buckets are
much larger than those ordinarily used, thus saving frequent
filling, while the cover prevents slopping, and the pump is always
ready for use without the necessity of hunting up a bucket and
then cleaning it, which is necessary after using a bucket which
is used for other purposes.

Bucket pumps are useful for small gardens or for a few small
trees, or bushes.

KIG. 27. — a, a cheap type of bucket pump with no air-chamber, which
will not maintain satisfactory pressure; b, a better type of bucket
pump with small air-chamber. (Courtesy Deming Co.)

Knapsack Pumps. — The knapsack pump consists of a copper
or galvanized-iron tank carried on the back like a knapsack, in
which is mounted a bucket pump with a lever handle for pumping.
In the better makes this handle is detachable, and a plain handle
may be attached so that the tank may be used as a simple bucket
pump, for which a footrest is attached to the tank. The pump
should have a good mechanical agitator. The copper tanks
are preferable, for Bordeaux mixture will soon eat through gal-
vanized iron. Knapsack pumps are useful for spraying such

62 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

crops as tomatoes, melons, etc., which cover the ground, so that

it is difficult to drive through them without injuring the vines,

crops growing on steep hillsides, or for a small acreage of any

garden crops, small fruits, or small

trees. The main objections to

them arc that they are heavy to

carry, thus limiting their use to a

small area; they frequently slop

over, and wet the carrier's back;

and the pumps do not develop

sufficient pressure for some kinds

of work. Consequently they are

not as much used as formerly, but

are useful for the purposes indi-

FIG. 28. — Bucket pump mounted in
bucket, and mounted in tank with
agitator. (Courtesy Deming Co.)

FIG. 29. — Bucket pump with
large air-chamber, which will
maintain a good pressure.
(Courtesy F. E. Myers & Bro.)

cated, and inasmuch as they may also be used as a simple
bucket pump, they are to be preferred to them. The cost varies
from $8 to $12 or $15.

Compressed-air Sprayers. — In recent years the compressed-
air sprayer has come into favor for use in small gardens. It
consists of a brass tank which is filled with the liquid; the air

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

is compressed by an air-pump, and spraying continues until

the pressure runs down, when

a stopcock is turned and the

pressure is again raised by pump-

ing. The tank holds from

3 to 5 gallons, and is carried

beneath one arm, slung by a

strap over the other shoulder.

The chief objections to this type

are that it is not very con-

venient to fill, though the newer

models are much improved, is

not readily repaired, has no

agitator, and requires frequent

pumping. On the other hand,

they are easily carried, ' do not

leak, and leave both hands free,

so that one might be used for

spraying a small tree from a step-

ladder. These compressed-air sprayers cost from $5 to $8.

Barrel Pumps. —
The most serviceable
spray pump for the
average farm is the
barrel pump. With a
good barrel pump 100
to 150 full-grown
apple trees may be
sprayed in a day, so
that it will be found
sufficient for an or-
chard of 500 trees or
less. By using a row-
spraying attachment,
a few acres of pota-

Fl.°- ™-~°™ of the best types of
knapsack sprayers. Note foot-
rest, agitator, handle, and wide

straps> (Deming Co-)

FIG. 31.-The knapsack sprayer in use.
(Spramotor Co.)

64 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

toes or other row crops may be sprayed with a barrel pump much
more quickly than by hand. In buying a row attachment, be sure
that it is adjustable for rows of different widths. A good barrel
pump costs from $15 to $25. Most of the pumps sold -at $10
or less are too light to do effective work or are not well constructed.
Numerous pump companies advertise in the agricultural papers,
and after considering the following points one may select a
suitable pump from their catalogs:

New type of compressed-air sprayer with
separate pump. (E. C. Brown Co.)

FIG. 32.-Compressed-
air sprayer with
section of tank
removed to show
air pump within.

1. The pump should be guaranteed to furnish four nozzles
at 80 to 100 pounds' pressure with ordinary pumping.

2. It should have a large air chamber within the barrel, and
not projecting above it.

3. As few of the working parts of the pump as possible should
be above the head of the barrel, as exposed parts are. easily
broken.

4. The cylinder, plunger, valves and working parts should be of
brass. The handles and other parts commonly, made of cast iron
are much more durable when made of malleable or galvanized iron.

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

5. There should be a good mechanical agitator of the paddle
type, preferably arranged so that it can be worked with the
pump handle without operating the pump. An agitator is
essential to keeping the mixture in suspension. Agitators of the^
so-called " jet-type," in which a stream from the bottom of the

FIG. 33. — An undesirable type of
barrel sprayer — now off the
market; the air-chamber and
other parts above the barrel
render it top-heavy, and may
be easily broken.

FIG. 34. — A desirable type of barrel
pump embodying most of the
features described. (Morrill &
Morley.)

cylinder is supposed to agitate the liquid, are unsatisfactory
and allow a loss of pressure without sufficiently agitating the
liquid.

6. The pump should be so attached to the barrel that it can
be quickly removed for repairs. Those pumps which have lugs
for attaching the pump plate to the barrel are much better than
those with screws.

66 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 35. — Two types of double-acting lever pumps, to be mounted on
truck and connected with tank.

FIG. 36 — Double-acting horizontal pump mounted on 250-gallon tank.
A good type of outfit for medium sized commercial orchards. (Va.
Agr. Exp. Sta.)

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

8. The valves, with their seats or cages, should be readily
removable for cleaning, and should be so constructed that they
remain evenly ground.

All of these points may not be embodied in any one pump,
but most of the better pump manufacturers are embodying these
features in their newer models, a good example of which is shown
in Fig. 34.

Barrel, knapsack, and
bucket pumps are manufac-
tured which have separate
tanks for oil and water
which are mixed in a de-
sired proportion and sprayed
as a mechanical mixture.
They have been found un-
reliable in controlling the
amount of oil, and are not
now in general use.

Horizontal Pumps. — For
larger orchards and shade
trees, the double-acting
horizontal pumps which are
operated with a lever, as
shown' in Fig. 35, furnish
more • power and conse-
quently make more rapid
work possible. They are
-mounted on 100- or 150-
gallon tanks and may be
arranged for filling the tank where running water is not available.
These pumps cost from $30 to $50 and will maintain 100 to 125
pounds pressure with four to eight nozzles. They are usually
used with two men spraying and another driving and pumping,
or a fourth man pumps and changes places now and then with
the driver, as the operation of this type is rather too heavy for
one man constantly.

FIG. 37 .-Gasoline power sprayer, complete.
Note wide tread steel wheels, steel tower
on tank, and intake hose for filling tank
where running water is not available; 3£
h.p., 4-cycle gasoline engine, will main-
tain 10 nozzles at 200 Ihs. pressure.

68 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 38. — One of the latest three-cylinder power pumps, designed for
spraying shade-trees and woodlands.

FlG. 39. — Row-spraying attachment for use with barrel pump, adjustable
for various width of rows. (Deming Co.)

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS 69

Power Outfits. — For orchards of much over 500 trees or for
extensive shade-tree work a gasoline power outfit is more econom-
ical and enables a large area to be covered more quickly, which is
often a most important consideration. Most of the pump manu-
facturers and many gas engine companies are selling such outfits
mounted upon a truck, with spray tank, and tower complete for
from $250 to $400.

Traction Sprayers. — For a small acreage of potatoes or other

FIG. 40. — A good type of geared sprayer for row crops.

row crops, a barrel pump with row attachment is very satisfac-
tory, but for any considerable acreage, a two-wheeled traction
sprayer is much more economical of labor and time which are
the two chief items in the cost of spraying. Such traction
sprayers are made of widely different types, the power in all
cases being furnished by a gear or chain which operates the pump
from the wheels. The mechanical construction of the traction
sprayers should be carefully studied, and if possible tested, before

70 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

purchasing, as they differ greatly in efficiency. The better types
cost from $60 to $100, and usually have attachments adapting
them fcr all sorts of row crops, such as potatoes, strawberries,
bush fruits, grapes, etc., which require different styles of piping
to properly direct the nozzles.

Several traction sprayers are sold for orchard work but, though
they are fairly satisfactory for small trees, they do not develop
enough power for spraying large trees, and have a heavy draft.

Gas Sprayers. — A very handy and efficient spraying outfit is now

FIG. 41. — Row sprayer applying 'arsenate of lead to potatoes, showing
arrangement of nozzles to cover vines. (After Britton.)

made which uses carbonic-acid gas as the power (Fig. 42). The
liquid is placed in a steel-tank, to which is attached a tube of
carbonic-acid gas, the same as is used for soda fountains. The
gas is admitted to the tank by a valve until the desired pres-
sure is secured, and the gas then forces the liquid out, thus
obviating the need of a pump. The outfit is mounted on a
steel truck with steel tower, or may be mounted on any wagon,
and is also mounted on two wheels with suitable attachments
for row spraying. The cost of the gas is somewhat higher
than gasoline or hand power, but less labor is required

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

and constant high pressure is maintained. Unfortunately the
gas makes a chemical combination with lime-sulfur mixture, so
that this type of sprayer is not adapted for its use. A modifi-
cation of the gas sprayer outfit has recently been made in which
a gasoline engine operates an air-compressor, which places an air
pressure on the liquid in the tank in the same manner as would
the compressed carbonic-acid gas. It is claimed that these
outfits are superior to an ordinary gasoline engine and pump,
in that the liquid does not pass through the pump, and that

FIG. 42. — Carbonic-acid gas sprayer at work.

there is therefore less wear on the pump, and that the outfit is
lighter.

A somewhat similar use of compressed air is being made for
orchard sprayers by a few large fruit growers. The outfit
consists of two steel tanks holding 50 to 100 gallons each,
which are fitted with valves connecting them and at the outlet.
-One of these tanks is filled with liquid and in it is an agitator
operated from the wheel. The other tank is charged with com-
pressed air by an air-compressor stationed at the filling-station.
The air-pressure secured in the air-tank is sufficient to force all

72 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

of the liquid out of the other tank at a pressure never below 100
pounds, and averaging 125 to 150 pounds. The advantages of
these outfits are that they are much lighter, so that more liquid
can be carried, and that the men on the outfit need have no
mechanical ability, as is necessary with the operation ofa gasoline
engine pump. The trucks and tanks are much cheaper than the
gasoline sprayers, but the cost of the engine and air-compressor
at the charging station makes the total cost probably more. It
is also necessary for each tank to return to the charging station,
and it is not possible to use a supply tank, as is commonly done
with gasoline sprayers. However, these outfits are in successful
operation by some of the largest orchardists, who believe them to

FIG. 43. — Vermorel, bordeaux, and disk type of nozzles.

be much the best type of sprayers for large operations, so that they
merit study by those contemplating extensive spraying.

Nozzles. — A good nozzle is as essential as a good pump for suc-
cessful spraying. The best nozzles now in common use are of
three types.

The Vermorel type consists of a small chamber into which the
liquid is admitted at a tangent and leaves through a small hole in a
removable cap, thus making a fine, cone-shaped spray. A small
pin, with a spring to hold it back when not in use, serves as a dis-
gorger to remove any sediment which may clog the outlet. This
type of nozzle is made in many slightly different styles and often
sold under trade names, such as the Demorel, Mistry and others.
A slightly modified form has no spring attached to the disgorger,
but has a loose cap which is held away from the pin by the force of

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

the liquid, and the outlet is disgorged by simply pressing the cap
down on the pin. Such are the Spramotor (Spramotor Mfg. Co.)
and Vapor-Mist Nozzles (Field Force Pump Co.) and are disgorged
rather more easily than those with springs. The Vermorel type
makes the finest spray of the three types of nozzles and will there-
fore be preferred for use with oils and fungicides where a very fine
spray is desired. The liquid must be thoroughly strained, for they

are easily clogged. Usually two or
three nozzles are attached to a Y, T, or
ring, for orchard or shade tree work.

Disk Type. — An evolution from the
latter type has recently been brought
out in which the chamber has been
made much broader and flatter, thus
giving a very strong rotary motion to

FIG. 44. — A cluster of spramotor noz-
zles and single nozzle of the same
type.

FIG. 45. — Angle form of
disk type nozzle, partic-
ularly useful for orchard
spraying. (Friend Mfg.
Co.)

the liquid and breaking it into a fine spray through a large aperture,
so that no disgorger is required. This is known as the disk type of
nozzle, and was originated by the Friend Mfg. Co., but is now sold
by all the leading pump companies in various forms under different
trade names. The nozzle is light, does not catch on twigs, and the
large aperture prevents clogging, even of unstrained liquid, and
allows the passage of a large amount of liquid, one of these
nozzles spraying as much as two or three Vermorels. This type
was designed for use with power sprayers, but will give good

74 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

results with barrel or horizontal pumps which will maintain a
pressure of 85 pounds or more. One of these nozzles to each line

of hose will be sufficient with a barrel
pump, and two to a line with power.
The disk type is adapted to orchard
and shade-tree work.

The Bordeaux nozzle is of entirely
different structure, the spray being
formed by a straight stream hitting a
lip which breaks it into a fan-shaped
spray, the fineness of the spray being
governed by the width of the aperture.
To unclog the nozzle the core through
which the stream emerges is reversed,
thus giving a straight stream and clear-
ing the nozzle immediately. For this
reason the Bordeaux nozzle is partic-
ularly adapted to traction sprayers
where several nozzles are used and it is
necessary to unclog them quickly. It
is usually preferred for garden and row
crops, and some prefer it for tree work,
though it is not as widely used for that
purpose as the previous types.

At the present time these three
types of nozzles are much superior to
all others, and the user will do well to
stick to them and let others experiment
with new or cheap creations until
they have proven themselves better.
Nozzles which merely sprinkle or make a
strong long stream are undesirable for
spraying.

FIG. 46. — Bamboo extension
rod at left, and iron rod
with drip-guard at right.

Extension Rods. — In orchard spraying an extension rod is a
necessity. Most pump companies sell a bamboo rod enclosing a
light brass tube, and fitted with thread for the nozzle at the tip and

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

45-degree elbow
for attaching
nozzles to end
of rod for
orchard spray-
ing.

with a shut-off or stopcock at the lower end, so that the stream

may be cut off when moving from tree to tree and the pressure

maintained. These are light and easily handled, but the bamboo

and connections frequently break, so that many

prefer using a straight piece of three-eighths or

one-half inch galvanized-iron pipe, threaded for

the nozzle and stopcock. Wooden handle-grips,

or grips made of burlap, may be wired around the

pipe, so that it will be easier to hold. Ten feet

is a good length.

The nozzle should be attached to the rod
by a 45-degree connection, so that it points at
that angle. This enables one to spray directly over the topmost
branches and under the lower ones, making* the work much easier

and more effective than
where the nozzle is attached
straight.

In spraying low-grow-
ing crops, such as melons,
beans, etc., upon which it
is desirable to spray the
under surface of the foliage,
a short pipe about 3 feet
long is usually used, with
the nozzle attached to it
by an L, so that the noz-
zle is at right angles to
the pipe and will spray the
under surface.

Hose. — Use the best

FIG. 46. — Spraying squash with underspray

four-ply one-half-inch hose

nozzle at right angle to rod.

for barrel or power sprayers and three-eighths-inch for bucket or
'knapsack sprayers. For barrel or power sprayers use couplings
with double-length shanks which will permit the use of two clamps
or bands on either side of the union. Wire bands for attaching
hose to pump or nozzle are unsatisfactory and should be avoided.

FIG. 47. — The old way: attempting to spray tall apple-trees from the ground
and making very hard work of it.

FIG. 48. — The modern way: spraying apple-trees from a rough tower
bolted to a one-horse wagon.

SPRAYING AND DUSTING APPARATUS

Strainers. — To obviate the delay caused by nozzles clogging
with dirt and sediment, strain all mixtures through a fine copper
strainer when filling the spray tank. Have the tank tight and
see tha^ it is clean before filling.

Towers. — For orchard spraying it is essential that the operator
be high enough to spray all parts of the tree quickly and thor-
oughly. Most of the power outfits are built with a tower such
as shown in Fig. 37. A very serviceable tower may be erected on
a one- or two-horse wagon, at slight expense. It is bolted to the
body, so that it is easily removed. The floor should be as high

FIG. 49. — A powder-gun for applying insecticides in dust form. (After

Weed.)

as the weight of the wagon and roughness of the land will allow,
and the railing should be about the height of the sprayer's waist.
Dusting Apparatus. — For dusting a few plants a small powder
bellows may be used, but where crops are to be dusted a powder
gun will be found much more economical. One of the best
types is shown in Fig. 49. This has tubes which will direct
the dust onto two rows if desired and regulates the amount
of dust used. Larger traction outfits mounted on two wheels
are made for dusting row crops, but hand work with the smaller
machine has usually proven more effective. Larger outfits are
also made for carrying in a wagon for dusting orchards. These
have been used extensively in the Ozark region, but the use of
dust has not proven as effective for most purposes as the spray,
though it is superior for some purposes, as for the cotton boll

78 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

weevil (see p. 272), and may sometimes be used where it is dif-
ficult to secure or haul water.

Other mechanical device ; for combating particular insects
will be described in connection with them.*

* For further information see " Information Concerning Spraying for
Orchard Insects," A. L. Quaintance, Yearbook, U S. Dept. Agr., for 1908,
p. 267.

CHAPTER VII

Insects Affecting Grains, Grasses, Forage and Miscellaneous

Crops

SEVERAL of our worst insect pests live normally in grass land,
but when they become numerous feed upon grains and various
forage and garden crops, so that they are not readily classed as
enemies of any one crop, and will therefore be discussed together.

White Grubs *

Among the most common pests of corn, strawberry beds,
and garden crops are the large white grubs which feed upon
the roots and often kill the plants. Their habit of lying curled
up in a semicircle, and the large brown head, white body, and
enlarged abdomen, at once distinguish them from other forms
of grubs. Although they are very similar in color and form,
there are numerous species, all of which are the young of different
species of the large brown May-beetles or June-bugs, as they are
commonly called, which frequently fly into lights in iate spring.

Life History. — The eggs 'are laid mostly in June, preferably
in grass land, but also in corn fields and gardens. The egg is
of a broad oval shape, pure white, about one-tenth inch long,
and is laid in a small ball of earth a half inch in diameter, from
1 to 5 inches below the surface. The eggs hatch in about two
weeks, most of them hatching by the middle of July. The
young grubs feed upon plant roots, and grow slowly, as it
requires two years or more for them to become full-grown.
In the fall they burrow down in the soil, gradually going deeper

* Lachnosterna spp. Family — Scarabaeidce. Se.e S. A,- Forbes, Bulletin
116, Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station.

80 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

as frost approaches until by the first freeze most of them are
from- 7 to 14 inches deep. The next year they do much more
serious damage, and land which has been in sod and then
planted in corn, strawberries, or other crops of which they are
fond, is often so full of the grubs that the crops are ruined. In
1895 an Illinois field of 250 acres which had been in grass for
twenty years was so injured that the sod could be rolled up
like a carpet over the entire field. It is not surprising, therefore,
that Professor Forbes records finding as many as thirty-four grubs
to the hill of corn in another Illinois field which had previously
been in sod. Where sod is taken into greenhouses the grubs

FIG. 50. — Lachnosterna arcuata: a, beetle; b, pupa; c, egg; d, newly-hatched
larva; e, mature larva; /, anal segment of same from below, a, b,
e, enlarged one-fourth; c, d, f, more enlarged. (After Chittenden,
TJ. S. Dept. Agr.)

often become serious pests. When the grub is two, or possibly
sometimes three years old, it forms a small oval cell from 3 to
10 inches below the surface and there changes to a soft, white
pupa, sometime in June or July. The pupal stage lasts slightly
over three weeks, and in August or September the adult beetle
wriggles out of the pupal skin, but remains in the pupal cell
until the following spring, when it comes forth fully hardened.
Thus three full years are occupied by the life-cycle of each brood,
though grubs in all stages of development may be found in the
soil every year.

The adult beetles feed at night upon the foliage of various
trees. They hide in the soil during the day, migrate to the trees

JNSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 81

at dusk, and return to the fields just before daybreak. The
different species have favorite food plants, but all of our common
deciduous shade and forest trees are more or less eaten, poplar,
willow, and maple being particularly relished. On a warm evening
the beetles may often b2 heard feeding and their work may be
identified by the ragging of the foliage, as if it had been torn.

Control. — As allowing land to remain in grass for several years
is conducive to the increase of the grubs, a frequent rotation will
prevent their multiplication, the grass being followed by potatoes,
buckwheat, small grains, or some crop not seriously injured by
them.

As the beetles remain in the pupal cells over winter and are
tender and not fully hardened, deep plowing and thorough har-
rowing in fall or early spring will kill large numbers of them
by breaking open the cells and exposing them to the weather
and by burying and crushing them.

Swine will gorge themselves on grubs in badly infested land,
and if confined so that they will thoroughly root it over, will
very effectually rid it of them. Flocks of chickens or turkeys
following the plow will catch a considerable number of grubs,
as do the crows and blackbirds, which pay for the corn they eat
by the war they wage on grubs.

The beetles may be jarred from the trees upon which they are
feeding in the cooler part of the night and collected, as is exten-
sively done in Europe. Lanterns hung over pans or tubs contain-
ing water with a surface -film of kerosene placed near the trees on
which they feed, will catch large numbers on warm nights when
they are flying.

Wireworms*

Wireworms are hard, shining, slender, cylindrical, brown
Iarva3 about three-quarters to 1 inch long, which bore into
the seed of corn, wheat and other grains, often necessitating
-replanting, and also feed on their roots, as well as on potatoes,
turnips, and many garden crops. They are the young stage of

* Family Elateridce.

82 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

brownish beetles of the family Elateridce, which from their

habit of snapping their
bodies up in the air
are known as " click
beetles." The beetles
are one-half to three-
quarters inch long, de-
cidedly flattened, dark
brown, often with
darker markings, with
short heads, and shield-
shaped thoraxes, as
shown in Fig. 50. Although the
common wireworms look much
alike, examination usually re-
veals that they belong to several
species which are distinguished
by a comparison of the caudal
segments, as shown in Fig. 51.

Life History. — The life history
is very similar to that of the
white grubs, except that from
three to five years are required
fqr the complete life cycle. The
eggs are deposited in old sod
land, which is the favorite
breeding ground. The detailed
life histories have not been care-
fully studied, but the second year
after grass land has been planted

in grain is that in which the

FIG. 50. — A. beetle of wheat wireworm

(Agriotes mancus) X 4; B, D, beetle worst injury occurs, particu-
(X4) and wireworm (X7) of Draste- Jarly with corn, upon which the
rius deqans; C, the corn wireworni , . , , ,

(Mdar^tuscribulosus) x4*. (After attack 1S more concentrated than
Forbes.) with small grains. The larvae

become full grown in midsummer, form small cells in the soil

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 83

and in them transform to pupae. Three or four weeks later
the adult beetles shed the pupal skins, but few of them make
their way to the surface during the fall, most of them remaining
in the pupal cells until the following spring.

Control. — As they resemble the white grubs in life-cycle, so
the means of control are similar. By plowing in late summer
or early fall and thoroughly harrowing for a month or so, large
numbers of the pupa3 and newly transformed beetles will be
destroyed. When the wireworms are numerous in restricted
areas, as they often are on spots of low moist land, they may be
effectually trapped with but little labor by placing under boards
bunches of clover poisoned with Paris green. A short rotation

FIG. 51. — A, last segment of Melanotus communis, dorsal view (After
Forbes); B, the wheat wireworm, Agriotes mancus — a, b, c, d, details
of mouth-parts, enlarged; C, caudal segment of the wireworm of Draste-
terius elegans; D, caudal segment of the wireworm of Asaphes decoloratus,
much enlarged. (-4, C, D, after Forbes; B, after Slingerland.)

of crops in which land is not allowed to remain in grass for any
length of time will prevent their increase. Many remedies have
been suggested for these pests, but few of them have proved
to have much merit in careful tests. Coating the seed with gas
tar, as is done to protect it from crows, has been very widely
practiced, and though previous experiments indicated that it could
not be relied upon, Dr. H. T. Fernald conducted tests in Massa-
chusetts in 1908 and 1909 in which seed coated with gas-tar
and then dusted in a bucket of fine dust and Paris green suffi-
cient to give the corn a greenish color, was effectively protected,
the treatment seeming to act as a repellant, and not affecting
the germination of the seed.

84 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Cutworms*

Under the general term cutworms we commonly designate
any of the larvic of several .species of moths, which are more
or less similar in general appearance and habits, and which have
the habit of feeding on low-growing vegetation, and cutting off
the stem just at the surface of the ground. They should be
carefully distinguished from white grubs, which are sometimes

FIG. 52. — Earth removed from base of seedling to show cutworm in hiding —

natural size.

wrongly called cutworms on account of their .similar habits.
Some of the species attack certain crops more commonly than
others, but most of them are quite omnivorous in their feeding.
When they become overabundant they will eat anything green
and succulent — foliage, flowers, buds, fruit, stalks, or roots, and
sometimes migrate to other fields in armies like the army worms.
Some species commonly climb young fruit trees which have been

* Various species of the family Noctuidce.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 85
planted on grassy land or which are allowed to grow in grass

FIG. 53. — Greasy cutworm (Agrotis FIG. 54. — The dark-sided cut-

ypsilon); a, larva; 6, head of same; worm (Agrotis messoria).

c, adult — natural size. (After (After Riley.)
Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

FIG. 55. — Peridromia saucia: a, adult, b, c, d, full-grown larvae; e, f, eggs
all natural size except e, which is greatly enlarged. (After Howard,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

or weeds, and are known as climbing cutworms. Our common
species are most injurious to garden crops and to corn, cotton,

86 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

tobacco and similar crops grown in hills or rows, small grains
and forage crops being injured but rarely.

Though over a score of species are common, it is not practica-
ble to distinguish them in this discussion, and though their life
histories are somewhat different, they may be considered as a class.

The adults are moths with dark fore wings, variously marked
with darker or lighter spots and narrow bands as shown in
Figs. 52-59, and with lighter hind-wings, which are folded over
the back when at rest. Like the cutworms, they feed at night,
sipping the nectar from flowers, and are known as owlet
moths. The females deposit their eggs in grass land or where
a crop has been allowed to grow up in grass and weeds in late

FIG. 56. — The bronzed cutworm (Nephelodes minians Guen.) : back and side
views of larva — enlarged, and moth — natural size. (After Forbes.)

summer, laying them in patches on the stems or leaves of grasses
or weeds, or on stones or twigs in such places.

The little caterpillars which hatch from these eggs in August
and September feed on the roots of whatever vegetation is available
until frost, going deeper as it approaches, and finally hollow out
small cells, in which they curl up and hibernate until the next
spring. The next spring they are exceedingly hungry after their
long fast, and attack any vegetaton at hand with surprising vorac-
ity. If the land is in grass or weeds they have plenty of food,
and if it is then plowed and planted in some crop, it will
certainly be injured.

The cutworms usually become full grown during late spring
or early summer, and are then about 1^ to 2 inches long; of
a dull brown, gray or blackish color, often tinged with green-

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 87

ish, and more or less marked with longitudinal stripes, oblique
dots and dashes, the markings usually being of a subdued
tone, so that the cutworm harmonizes in color with the
soil. They are cylindrical, with the head and prothoracic plate
horny and reddish brown, and bear three pairs of jointed legs

FIG. 57. — Cutworm moths: b, the well-marked cutworm-moth (Noctua
clandestina Harris); the dingy cutworm (Feltia sitbgothica Haworth);
male (m) and female (/) moths. (After Slingerland.)

on the thorax and five pairs of prolegs on the abdomen. The
mature caterpillars pupate in cells a few inches below the sur-
face and in three or four weeks the adult moths emerge, usually
in July and early August in the Central and Northern States
and earlier farther south.

Thus there is usually but one generation a year in the North
while in the South there are commonly two generations and in
some cases three. Though other stages than the larvae of
various species are known to sometimes hibernate, nevertheless

88 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the worst injury is usually done in the tpring, when young plants
have just been set or arc just appearing.

Control. — It is evident from their life history that like the
white grubs and wireworms, cutworms may be most effectually
combated by plowing in late fall and again plowing and har-
rowing thoroughly in early spring, so as to keep the land fallow
and thus starve them out. Land which is to be planted in
corn or crops subject to cutworm injury should be plowed as
early as possible in late summer of the preceding year and kept
fallow so that the moths will not deposit their eggs upon it,
as they will if it is left in grass or weeds.

FIG. 58. — Moth of the glassy cut- Fi4.'-59. — Granulated cut-worm (Agrotis an-
worm (Hadena devastatrix nexa). a, larva; /, pupa; h. adult — natural
Brace). (After Forbes.) size. " (After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

Poisoned bran mash (see p. 47) is probably the best thing
for destroying cutworms, and if well applied a few days before
plants are set or a few days after seed is planted, will often
protect crops on infested land. On corn land it may be applied
with a seed drill, and in gardens an onion drill is sometimes
used in the same way, placing the mash on the surface near
the plants; or it may be applied by hand, placing a tablespoonful
near each plant or every 2 or 3 feet in the row. Distribute
the mash late in the afternoon, so that it will still be moist
when the worms feed at dusk. Keep poultry away from fields
so treated. Clover which has been thoroughly sprayed or dipped
in water containing one-third pound Paris green per barrel may be
used in the same way, particularly along the outside of fields to b^
protected from invasion or along borders of fields next to grass.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 89

Market gardeners frequently protect cabbage, tomato and
similar plants by knocking the bottoms out of tin cans or making
cylinders of building paper and placing these around the stems,
sinking them into the soil. Where cutworms assume the climbing
habit and attack fruit trees, distribute the bran mash or poisoned
clover liberally around the bases of the trees and put a band
of tanglefoot around the trunk of each tree, which will prevent
their ascent. Thorough cultivation of the orchard and neighbor-
ing land will also reduce their numbers. When they assume the
migratory habits of army worms, they may be controlled by the
same methods as described for them. Garden plants may some-
times be protected from cutworms, as well as flea beetles, by dip-
ping them in arsenate of lead, 3 pounds per barrel, when planting.

The Chinch-bug *

The adult Chinch-bug is about one-fifth inch long, with a
black body. Its white wings lie folded over each other on the
abdomen, and are marked by a small black triangle on their
outer margins, while the bases of the antenna and the legs are
red. The young bugs are yellowish or bright red marked with
brownish-black, becoming darker as they grow older. Along
the Atlantic coast and along the southern shores of the Great
Lakes north of a line from Pittsburg, Pa., to Toledo, Ohio, the
majority of the adults have short wings reaching but half over the
abdomen and are incapable of flight; but between the Alleghany
and Rocky Mountains the long-winged form greatly predominates.
It occurs also in restricted localities in Central America and
along the Pacific coast. The worst injury is to small grains
and corn in the Central and North Central States, but frequently
injury is done in the Eastern States, especially to timothy meadows
which have stood for several years. Though individually insig-
nificant, when assembled in countless myriads chinch-bugs have
doubtless been of greater injury to the farmers of the Mississippi
Valley than any other insect attacking grain crops, the total
damage from 1850 to 1909 being estimated at $350,000,000.f

* Blissus leucopterus Say. Family Lygceidce.

t See Circular 113, Bureau Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., F. M. Webster.

90 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Life History. — During the winter the bugs hibernate in clumps
of grass, in the butts, and in old shocks of corn, or under what-
ever rubbish is available. In early spring they assemble in
fields of grass and small grains. Soon they pair and the females
commence to lay their small yellowish-white eggs upon the
roots or bases of the stalks, each laying some 150 to 200 eggs.

The eggs are laid from the middle of April until the first of
June, depending upon the latitude and weather, and hatch in
two or three weeks. As the nymphs grow they often do serious
injury to small grains and grass, upon which they become full
grown about the time of harvest. When wheat is harvested
they spread to oats and soon to corn, but, curiously enough, though

FIG. 60. — The chinch-bug (Blissus leucopterus Say): adult at left; o, b, eggs
magnified and natural size ; c, young nymph ; e, second stage of nymph ;
/, third stage ; g, full-grown nymph or pupa ; d, h, j, legs; i, beak through
which the bug sucks its food. (After Riley.)

the adults have wings they travel from field to field on foot, were it
not for which fact we should be at a loss to cope with their migra-
tion. Eggs are now laid upon the unfolding leaves of the corn,
from which the nymphs commence to emerge in about ten days.
This second brood matures on corn in August and September and
is the one which later hibernates over winter, though where corn
is not available the whole season may be passed on grass.

Control. — The burning over of grass land, and the grass along
fences, hedges, and roads, as soon as it becomes dry enough in
late fall .and early winter, is of prime importance to destroy
the bugs after they have gone into hibernation. The removal

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 91

of all corn stalks from the fields and plowing the butts under
deeply, or where the bugs are very abundant, raking out the
butts and burning them, will rid the fields of the pest.

It is practically impossible to combat the pest in the summer

FIG. 61. — Corn-plant two feet tall infested with chinch-bugs. (After Webster,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

on grass or small grains, but its migration to corn or from field
to field may be effectually checked. In dry weather a dust
furrow may be used as a barrier to good advantage. Just before
harvest plow a deep furrow around the field to be protected,
or on the threatened sides, and thoroughly pulverize the soil by
dragging a heavy log back and forth in the furrow, making

92 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the side next the corn as steep as possible.* In attempting
to climb this barrier, the dust will slide from under the bugs
and large numbers will accumulate in the bottom of the furrow,
where they will be killed by the heat of the soil if it has a
temperature from 110° to 120° (air temperature of over 90°).
Keep the furrow clean by dragging a log through it now and
then. By sinking post-holes a foot deep every few feet in the
bottom- of the furrow the bugs will collect in them and may be
crushed or killed with kerosene. Such a dust furrow will be
of no value in showery weather, and is most effective in hot dry
weather on light soil; it ma}' often be used to advantage in
combination with the following methods.

In place of the dust furrow or in combination with it, a strip
of coaltar is often run around the field. The strip should be
about the size of one's finger, which can be made by pouring
from a watering can with the mouth stopped down, and should
be run inside the dust furrow and with post-holes sunk along
its outer edge. Sometimes it is run in a zig-zag line with the
holes at the inner angles so that the bugs will be concentrated
at the holes. These tar strips must be freshened whenever dust
or rubbish covers them. The soil may be prepared for the tar
strip by plowing a back furrow and packing the top with a
roller or beating it hard with spades; or a strip of sod may be
prepared by scraping away the grass with a farm scraper and
then smoothing carefully with .shovels or hoes; or a dead furrow
may be run and the tar strip run on the smooth bottom. To
maintain such a tar strip for four weeks costs about $2 a mile
and has proven itself entirely practical and effective.

If the bugs have already become numerous in the outer rows of
corn, most of them may be destroyed by spraying with kerosene
emulsitin (see p. 4S) made to contain four per cent kerosene, apply-
ing it in the early morning or towards night. It costs 34 cents a

* Such a furrow may possibly be made more readily by plowing several
furrows and harrowing the ground thoroughly until reduced to a fine mulch
and then plowing a dead furrow through the middle, and then dragging this
with a log, making the sides as steep as possible. With such construction
the furrow will cost about three cents per linear rod.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 93

barrel diluted, and a man will spray five acres per day, using a
barrel per acre. Whale-oil soap, one-half pound to the gallon of
water, has proven equally effective and cost $1.12 per barrel.

A blast torch, for which an attachment is furnished with
many of the compressed-air sprayers, may be used to advantage
for destroying the .bugs in a dust furrow .or along the tar line,
or a spray of pure kerosene or crude petroleum may be used for
the same purpose.

Extensive experiments have been made in Illinois and Kansas
with the use of the muscardine fungus against the chinch-bug.
Though occasionally the results seem to be profitable, and though
it is undoubtedly effective in wet seasons and it may be well
to distribute the fungus to places where it does not occur so
that it may reduce the numbers of the bugs in wet seasons,
it seems to be of very little value in dry seasons, when the
injury is worst, and cannot be relied upon to check the increase
of the pest when used according to the methods so far devised.

When chinch-bugs become abundant and their migration to
corn seems imminent, the farmer should prepare to devote himself
and as many hands as necessary to fighting them until their
advance is checked, for delay will mean ruin, while the prompt
use of the above methods will save the corn crop.

Grasshoppers or Locusts *

Plagues of destructive locusts — or what we Americans call
grasshoppers — have been recorded since the dawn of history.
In America the worst devastation was done by the flights of
the Rocky Mountain or Migratory Locust (Melanoplus spretus
Thos.), which swooped down upon the States of the western
part of the Mississippi Valley in the years 1873 to 1876 in destruc-
tive clouds.

Concerning their recent .distribution, numbers, and destruc-
tiveness, Mr. W. D. Hunter reported after the season of 1897:
" There was, this .season, a general activity of this species through-
out the 'permanent breeding region greater than at any time in
* Various species of the family Acrididce.

94 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

many years. This was brought about by a series of dry years,
which have resulted in the abandonment of farms in many places.
It is, of course, well understood that the absence of serious damage
since 1876 has been partially due to the settling up of valleys in
the permanent region. I wish to make it clear, however, that the
dryness is the primary and the abandoning a secondary cause."
" Serious injury has occasionally been done in restricted
localities in Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, and Manitoba,
but in recent years it has been difficult to find the species except
in the mountains, and it will probably never again be a plague in
the Central States."

The Rocky Mountain Locust

Let us first consider the species which has been the most
injurious, as the other locusts differ from it in but few essential
points other than in being non-migratory.

To correctly understand its habits the reader should first
divide the area which this species affected into three parts. Of
these the (1) Permanent Region, which included the highlands of
Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, formed the native breeding-
grounds, where the species was always found in greater or less
abundance;* (2) the Subpermanent Region, which included Man-
itoba, the Dakotas, and western Kansas, was frequently invaded ;
here the species might perpetuate itself for several years, but
disappeared from it in time; (3) the Temporary Region, which
included the States bordering the Mississippi River on the west,
was that only periodically visited and from which the species
generally disappeared within a year.

Spread. — When for various reasons the locusts became excess-
ively abundant in the Permanent Region they spread to the
Subpermanent Region, and from there migrated to the Tem-
porary feeding-grounds. It was the latter area which suffered
most severely from their attacks, but, fortunately, they did
not do serious injury the next year after a general migration.
In the Subpermanent Region their injuries were more frequent
than in the, Temporary, but were hardly as severe or sudden as
* Bull. 25, U. S. Dept, Agr., Div. Entomology. C. V. Riley.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 95

farther east. Migrating from their native haunts, flights of
the grasshoppers usually reached southern Dakota in early sum-
mer, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and western Kansas
during midsummer, and southeastern Kansas and Missouri
during late summer, appearing at Dallas, Texas, in 1874, and about
the middle of October, and even later in 1876. As thus indi-
cated, the flights were in a general south to southeasterly direction,
while west of the Rockies they descended to the more fertile
valleys and plains, but without any such regularity as eastward.
While the rate of these flights was variable and entirely dependent
upon local weather conditions, twenty miles per day was con-
sidered a fair average. The flights were more rapid and more
distance was covered in the early part of the season, when, while

FIG. 62. — Rocky Mountain locust; adult and different stages of growth of
young. (After Riley.)

crossing the dry prairies, a good wind often enabled them to cover
200 to 300 miles in a day. As they first commenced to alight in
their new feeding-grounds their stay was limited to but two or
three days, but later in the season it was considerably lengthened,
and, after a section was once infested, swarms were seen to be
constantly rising and dropping during the middle of the day.

Life History. — Over all the infested area, and while still sweep-
ing it bare of crops and vegetation, the females commence to lay
their eggs, and continue to deposit them from the middle of August
until frost. For this purpose " bare sandy places, especially on
high, dry ground, which is tolerably compact and not loose," are
preferred. "Meadows and pastures where the grass is closely grazed
are much used, while moist or wet ground is generally avoided."

In such places the female deposits her eggs in masses of about
thirty. These are placed about an inch below the surface in
a pod-like cavity, which is lined and the eggs are covered by a

96 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

mucous fluid excreted during oviposition. From two to five hours
are required for this operation, and an average of three of these
masses is deposited during a period of from six to eight weeks.

As the time of ovipositing varies with the latitude, so the
hatching of the eggs occurs from the middle or last of March
in Texas till the middle of May or first of June in Minnesota
and Manitoba. Until after the molt of the first skin, and often
till after the second or third molt, the young nymphs are con-
tent to feed in the immediate vicinity of their birth. When
the food becomes scarce they congregate together and in

FIG. 63. — Rocky Mountain locusts: a, a, a, females in different positions,
ovipositing; b, egg-pod extracted from ground, with end broken open;
e, a few eggs lying loose on ground ; d, e, show the earth partially removed,
to illustrate an egg-mass already in place and one being placed; / shows
where such an egg-mass has been covered up. (After Riley.)

solid bodies, sometimes as much as a mile wide, march across
the country, devouring every green crop and weed as they go.
During cold or damp weather and at night they collect under
rubbish, in stools of grass, etc., and at such times almost seem
to have disappeared; but a few hours of sunshine brings them
forth, as voracious as ever. When, on account of the immense
numbers assembled together, it becomes impossible for all to
obtain green food, the unfortunate ones first clean out the
underbrush and then feed upon the dead leaves and bark of
timber lands, and have often been known to gnaw fences and

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 97

frame buildings. Stories of their incredible appetites are legion;
a friend informs me that he still possesses a rawhide whip which
they had quite noticeably gnawed in a single night !

By mathematical computation it has been shown that such
a swarm could not reach a point over thirty miles from its
birthplace, and as a matter of fact they have never been known
to proceed over ten miles.

FIG. 64. — A swarm of grasshoppers attacking a wheat-field. (After Riley.)

As the nymphs become full grown they are increasingly
subject to the attacks of predaceous birds and insects, insect
parasites, fungous and bacterial diseases, and are also largely
reduced by the cannibalistic appetites of their own numbers.
When the mature nymphs transform to adult grasshoppers and
thus become winged, large swarms are seen rising from the
fields and flying toward their native home in the Northwest.

98 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

This usually takes place during June and early July in the
North, and as early as April in Texas, so that it is frequently
impossible to distinguish the broods of the temporary region
from the incoming brood which has migrated from the permanent
region. Although the eggs for a second brood are sometimes
laid, these seldom come to maturity, and the species is essen-
tially single-brooded.

The Lesser Migratory Locust

Besides the Rocky Mountain locust there is only one other
species that truly possesses the habit of migrating, though to
a far lesser extent, and which is therefore known as the Lesser
Migratory Locust (Melanoplus atlantis Riley). It is considerably
smaller than its western relative and somewhat resembles the
red-legged locust both in size and appearance. The species
is very widely distributed, occurring from Florida to the Arctic
Circle east of the Mississippi, and on the Pacific slope north of
the fortieth parallel to the Yukon. The habits and life history
of the species are in all essentials practically the same as the
former species, except that they have no particular breeding-
grounds. Injuries by this grasshopper were first noticed hi
1743, almost seventy-five years before the first record of the
Rocky Mountain locust, and since then it has done more
or less serious damage in some part of the territory inhabited
every few years.

Non-migratory Locusts

There are several species of locusts which, though lacking
the migratory habit, and thus being more easily controlled,
often become so numerous as to do serious damage over limited
areas. Both as regards the regions inhabited, its habits, and
life history, the common Red-legged Locust (Melanoplus femur-
rubrum Har.) hardly differs from the last species, and is often
found in company with it. It is non-migratory, however, and
though the damage it does is thus entirely local, it is often of
considerable importance.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 99

Records of locust plagues in California date back as far as
1722. Many of them were doubtless due to the California
Devastating Locust (Melanoplus devastator Scud.), and in the
last invasion of 1885 this species outnumbered all others seven
to one. Resembling the last two
species in size and markings, the
habits and life history of this species
are also supposed to be similar to
them, though they have not as vet

been thoroughly studied. Yl(f,f 65--Red - legged locust

(Melanoplus femur - rubrum
Together with the last species Harr.). (After Riley.)

the Pellucid Locust (Camnula

pellucida Scud.) has been largely responsible for the losses occa-
sioned by locusts in California, and has also been found in New
England, but is not noted there as specially destructive.

Our largest, winged Amer-
ican locust, the American
Acridium (Schistocerca ameri-
cana Scud.), is practically
confined to the Southern
States from the District of
Columbia to Texas, and thence
south through Mexico and
Central America, being rarely
found in the 'North. This
species is essentially a tropical

rp,*' , one, and has often been ex-

I-IG. 66. — The pellucid locust (Camnula

pellucida Scud.). (After Emerton.) ceedingly destructive, being

especially so in 1876 in

Missouri, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and southern Ohio.
Considerably larger than the preceding species are the Dif-
ferential Locust (Melanoplus differentialis Thos.) and the Two-
striped Locust (Melanoplus bivittatus Scud.), of which the former
is peculiar to the central States of the Mississippi Valley, Texas,
New Mexico, and California; while the latter has a more extended
range from Maine to Utah and as far south as Carolina and

100 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Texas. These two differ from the smaller species in laying
only one or two masses of eggs, and the eggs of differentialis

FIG. 67. — The American acridium (Schistocerca americana Scud.). (After

Riley.)

have often been found placed under the bark of logs, but other-
wise their habits are very similar. The two-striped locust is

characterized by two yel-
lowish stripes extending
from the eyes along, the
sides of the head and
thorax to the extremities
of the wing-covers, and

is probably th*e species
FIG. 68.— The Two-striped locust (Mela-

noplus bivittatus Scud.). (After Riley.) most commonly observed

by the farmer.

The Differential Locust. — Throughout the Mississippi Valley
from Illinois southward, the Differential Locust * is one of the

FIG. 69. — The Differential locust (Melanoplus differentialis Thos.). (After

Riley.)

most common and destructive grasshoppers, and is an excellent
example of several of our more abundant and injurious species
which have very similar habits.

* Melanoplus differentialis Thos.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 101

The little grasshoppers hatch about the middle of May, from
eggs which were laid in the fall, though we have observed
them in March in Central Texas, and are of a dusky brown

FIG. 70. — The southern lubber grasshopper (Dlctyophorus reticulatus) : nymph"
and adult, slightly enlarged.

color, marked with yellow. The head and legs are the most
prominent feature of the young nymphs. During their subse-
quent growth they molt five times at
intervals of ten days to two weeks, the
relative size and appearance of the
different stages being shown in Fig.
72. Professor H. A. Morgan, who

made a careful study of an outbreak FIG- 71— Egg-mass of the
... . . differential locust — enlarged,

of this species in Mississippi m 1900,

has given an interesting account of their growth and habits.

" The young on first emerging from the eggs are sordid
white and after an airing of an hour or two, arc darker, assuming

102 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 72. — Nymphs of the differential locust
in different stages (1 to 5) of growth —
all enlarged.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 103

a qolor not unlike the dark-gray alluvial soil over which they
feed. There are changes of color as the earlier stages are assumed,
but until the close of the third stage these changes are not
readily perceptible in the field to the naked eye. At the close
of stage four the greenish yellow color becomes prominent on
many forms, and in stage five the greenish yellow and yellow
brown colors predominate. The vigorous feeding and rapid
growth of the young in stages four and five, and the promi-
nence of the wing-pads in stage five, cause the grasshoppers
in these conditions to appear almost as conspicuous as adults.

" The "habits of the young are interesting, and a knowledge
of some of them may be helpful in developing remedies. After
hatching they remain for several hours in close proximity to
the egg-pod from which they emerged. With this period of
faint-heartedness over, they may venture out for a few yards
each day into the grass, weeds, or crop neighboring the egg-area.
Upon being disturbed they invariably make the effort to hop
in the direction of the so-called nest. Nymphs emerging from
eggs on a ditch bank, if forced into the water, will seldom make
the effort to reach the other side, but will turn back to the bank
from which they were driven. As development takes place the
extent of their peregrinations into the crop is easily traced by
the shot-hole appearance of the leaves upon which they feed.
The tender leaves of cocklebur are always preferred by the
grasshoppers in the early stages. Young Bermuda grass is also
a favorite food, and succulent grasses of all kinds are freely
eaten. In the third, fourth, and fifth stages, as grass, weeds,
and even shrubs disappear along the ditch banks and bayous,
the crops of corn and cotton adjacent begin to show signs of
vigorous attack, and the march of destruction commences. ... A
few hours before molting the grasshoppers tend to congregate
and become sluggish. Molting varies as to time, and slightly
as to manner, with different stages. In the early stages less
time is required and the operation occurs on the ground or upon
low bunches of grass and weeds. Every effort of the grass-
hoppers at this time seems to be to avoid ccnspicuity, and in

104 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

doing so spare themselves, in a manner, enmity of parasites.
After the molting of the first, second, and third stages it is not
long before the young grasshoppers are sufficiently hardened to
begin feeding again, but after the molt of the fourth and fifth
stages, particularly the last molt, - some time is required to
extend the wings and dry and harden the body before feeding

is resumed. The last molt
usually occurs on the upper
and well-exposed leaves of
corn and other plants upon
which they may be feeding,
though it is not uncommon
for the grasshoppers to drop
to the ground during the
maneuvers of the process.
The reason for the selection
of the more exposed leaves
for the last molt is obvious.
The bodies are large, and
rapid drying protects them
from fungous diseases which
lurk in the more shaded
and moist sections during
the months of June and
July. The last prominent
habit to which we call at-
tention is that of the fully
grown grasshoppers to seek
the shade offered by the
growing plants during the
hottest part of the day."
The hoppers become full grown about the first of July. The
adult is about 1£ inches long, its wings expand 2\ inches, and
it is of a bright yellowish-green color. The head and thorax
are olive-brown, and the front wings are of much the same color,
without other markings, but with a brownish shade at the base;

FIG. 73. — Differential locust: last stage of
nymph with its cast skin on tip of corn
plant.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 105

the hind-wings are tinged with green; the hind-thighs are bright
yellow, especially below, with four black marks; the hind-shanks
are yellow with black spines and a ring of the same color near
the base. The adults at once attack whatever crops are avail-
able, often finishing the destruction of those injured by them as
nymphs, but in a few days their appetites seem to become some-
what appeased and they commence to mate and wander in search
of suitable places for laying the eggs. Relatively few eggs are
laid in cultivated ground, the favorite places being neglected fields
grown up in grass and weeds, the edges of cultivated fields, private
roadways, banks of ditches and small streams, and pasture lands.
Alfalfa land is a favorite place for oviposition, and alfalfa is
frequently seriously injured by this species. It is doubtless due
these egg-laying habits and the abundance of food on uncultivated
land that this species always increases enormously on land
which has been flooded and then lies idle for a year or two.
Most of the eggs are laid in August and early September. Each
female deposits a single egg mass of about 100 eggs just beneath
the surface of the soil. During this season the females may
frequently be found with the abdomens thrust deep in the
soil, as the process of egg-laying requires some time. The
eggs are yellow and arranged irregularly in a mass which is
coated with a gluey substance to which the earth adheres, which
protects them from variable conditions of moisture and tem-
perature.

Enemies. — As before mentioned, large numbers of the nymphs
are destroyed before reaching maturity by their natural enemies.
Among these a minute fungus undoubtedly kills many of those
already somewhat exhausted, especially during damp weather.
Almost all of our common birds, as well as many of the smaller
mammals, are known to feed quite largely upon them.

A small red mite (Trombidium locustarum Riley), somewhat
.resembling the common red spider infesting greenhouses, is
often of great value not only in killing the nymphs by great
numbers of them sucking out the life-juices of the young hopper,
but also in greedily feeding upon the eggs.

106 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The maggots of several species of Tachina-flies arc of con-
siderable value in parasitizing both nymphs and adult locusts.
Their eggs are laid on the neck of a locust, and, upon hatching,

FIG. 74. — A Locust-mite (Trombidium locustarum): a, the larva as seen on
locust's wing; c, male mite; d, female, the two latter appearing as when
egg-destroyers — all greatly enlarged. (After Riley.)

the maggots pierce the skin and live inside by absorbing its
juices and tissues. When full grown the maggots leave the
locust, descend into the earth, and there transform to pupae

FIG. 75. — Anthomyia egg-parasite, a, fly; 6, puparium; c, larva; d, head of
larva. (After Riley.)

inside of their cast skins, and from the pupae the adult flies
emerge in due time.

The maggots of one of the Bee-flies (Systcechus areas) feed
upon grasshopper eggs, but their life history is not fully known.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 107

The common Flesh-fly (Sarcophaga carnaria Linn.), Fig. 77, is
also very destructive, though largely a scavenger.

FIG. 76. — Two tachina-flies. (Exorista leucnnice Kirk, and E. flavicauda
Riley). (After Riley.)

But of all the insects attacking locusts, the Blister-beetles,
which, unfortunately, are often known to us as very injurious
to various garden crops, are
probably of the most value.
The. female beetle deposits
from four to five hundred of
her yellowish eggs in irregular
masses in loose ground, and
in about ten days there hatch
from these eggs some " very
active, long - legged larvae,
with huge heads and strong

FIG. 77. — Common flesh-fly (Sarco-
phaga carnaria Linn.): a, larva; b,
pupa ; c, fly. Hair-lines show natural
size. (After Riley.)

jaws, which run about everywhere seeking the eggs of locusts."
Each of these larvae will consume one of the masses or about

1C VW&4
FIG. 78. — Various stages of a blister-beetle (Epicauta vittata). (After Riley.)

thirty eggs. The subsequent life history of these insects is very
complicated on account of their peculiar habits, but the various
stages are shown in Fig. 78.

108 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Control. — As the eggs are usually laid in the ground in the
fall, deep plowing in late fall or early spring effectually buries
them too deep for the young nymphs to emerge. On alfalfa
land thorough disking is often used for the same purpose.
Thorough harrowing in the fall so as to pulverize the soil for
the depth of an inch will break up many of the egg masses,
though it is not as sure a control as plowing them under.

When the young emerge, they may sometimes be destroyed
by burning over stubble, grass and rubbish where it is present
in sufficient quantites, or by augmenting it with straw, which
may be done to advantage on cold days when the nymphs are
congregated in such shelter. If the surface of the ground is
smooth and hard many may be killed by the use of a heavy
roller, particularly in the morning and evening, when they are
sluggish in their movements. Plowing a badly infested field
in a square, working toward the centre so as to drive the young
nymphs inward, will result in burying many of them in the furrows,
and the last may be burned or trapped in holes as described
below. Simple ditches 2 feet wdde and 2 feet deep form
effectual barriers for the young hoppers. The sides next to the
crop to be protected should be kept finely pulverized by hauling
a log or a brush of dead branches through the ditch. The ditch
may be made as described for chinch-bugs and is handled in
the same manner, the little hoppers drifting to the bottom of
the ditch, where they are killed by the heat on a hot day or
where they are caught in post-holes sunk every few feet in the
bottom of the ditch. This method may be used to advantage
in plots of corn, cotton, or garden truck which has already
become infested, by running furrows around the field and occa-
sionally through it, and then driving the young hoppers toward
them, which may be readily done by a number of children armed
with branches. Where ditches containing water are available
the young hoppers may be very effectively destroyed by oiling
the surface of the water with kerosene emulsion (p. 48) and
then driving them into the ditches, for even if they succeed in
crawling out they will succumb to the oil.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 109

Where the young hoppers have congregated in large numbers
on the edge of fields, in patches of weeds, etc., they may be
destroyed by spraying them with kerosene or crude petroleum
either pure or, preferably, in an emulsion, and the weeds and

FIG. 79. — Simple coal-oil pan or hopperdozer. (After Riley.)

FlG. 80. — The Price oil-pan or hopperdozer, with partitions to prevent
slopping. (After Riley.)

grass along fences and in neglected fields should be thoroughly
treated with a strong arsenical spray or dust.

In pastures, small grains or any crops permitting their use,
immense numbers of the nymphs may be caught by the use

110 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 111

of hopperdozers, which may be utilized where the use of poisoned
bran would not be possible. The hopperdozer consists of a
shallow pan containing water with a surface of kerosene, crude
petroleum, or coal tar, which is sometimes used without water.
The pan is mounted on runners or wheels and if larger than about
3 feet square is usually provided with partitions to prevent
slopping. The back and sides are high and sometimes are made
of canvas. " A good cheap pan is made of ordinary sheet
iron, 8 feet long, 11 inches wide at the bottom, and turned

FIG. 82. — Carolina locust killed by fungous disease. (Photo by Weed.)

up a foot high at the back and an inch high in front. A
runner at each end, extending some distance behind, and a
cord attached to each front corner, complete the pan at a cost
of about $1.50 (Fig. SO). We have known of from seven to
ten bushels of young locusts caught with one such pan in an
afternoon. It is easily pulled by two boys, and by running
several together in a row, one boy to each rope, and one to
each contiguous pair, the best work is performed with the

112 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

least labor." Larger pans arc drawn or pushed by horses. The
oil is best used on the surface of water, from which the insects
are removed with a strainer, and any which hop out will die
after having come in contact with the oil.

Destroying the Adults. — The destruction of the winged insects
is an entirely hopeless task, for, though even large numbers
are caught, so many will remain that the damage done the
crops would be but very slightly diminished. One of the most
promising means for averting the swarms of winged migratory
locusts from alighting in the fields is by a dense smudge, in
which some foul-smelling substances are placed. Where strictly
attended, and with favorable winds, this has often proved highly
successful. To accomplish the best results farmers over an
extensive area should combine in its use.

The South African Fungus. — In 1900 Professor Morgan made a
test of a fungous disease which had been found to destroy large
numbers of grasshoppers in South Africa, to determine whether,
after starting it by artificial propagation, it would spread suffi-
ciently to destroy any considerable number of locusts. The
weather was favorable, rains being frequent. Early in August
it was found that " over the areas where the liquid infection
was spread diseased hoppers were abundant." " As many as
a dozen dead grasshoppers could be found upon a single plant,
and some upon nearly every weed on ditch-banks where grass-
hoppers were numerous. From the centres of infection great
areas had become inoculated, spreading even beyond the planta-
tions first infected." The property upon which it was placed
became thoroughly infected with the fungus. Strangely, though
many other species of grasshoppers were abundant, only the
differential locust was killed by it. Dr. Howard states that this
disease has also spread and done effective work in Colorado.
However, more recent experiments made by the writer in Texas
gave only negative results, and it is doubtful if any reliance can
be placed upon the artificial use of such fungous diseases for
locust control.

Poisoning. — A mash composed of bran, molasses, water, and

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 113

arsenic or Paris green, which has been extensively used for cut-
worms, was found to be quite successful in the experiments
of Mr. D. W. Coquillet in the San Joaquin Valley, California,
during 1885, for protecting orchards, vineyards, gardens, etc.,
and might even be of some value for grain crops. Two pounds
of Paris green, 25 pounds of bran, barely moistened with
water and cheap molasses, will be about the correct propor-
tion. It should be placed in the fields, a tablespoonful to
each plant or vine. At this rate the cost per acre of vineyard,
including labor, will not exceed fifty cents. The poison acts
slowly, but if judiciously used will be found very effective,
especially for the non-migratory forms. In Texas the mash
has been found satisfactory in destroying the grasshoppers
attacking cotton. One planter writes: " We are successfully
using arsenic (for grasshoppers) at the following rates : 10 pounds
of wheat bran, 1^ gallons sorghum molasses, 1 pound arsenic.
Make a thick mash, sow broadcast on infected ground, and
it will surely kill them. I used 40 pounds last year and made
49 bales of cotton. My neighbors did not do anything and
entirely lost their crop." The writer has also seen excellent
results from the use of the mash in Texas with only one pound of
poison to 25 pounds of bran. However, Professor Morgan con-
cluded that " the mash cannot be relied upon in severe outbreaks,
such as occurred in the delta, but may be used in limited attacks
where the area affected would not warrant the more aggressive
methods."

" When grasshoppers are young or half-grown, a poisonous
bait, known as the Griddle Mixture, has proved effective in
many parts of the country (particularly for the Rocky Mountain
locust). This consists of one part of Paris green and about
one hundred parts of fresh horse manure, by measure. Enough
water is added to make the mass soft without being sloppy.
It can be taken to the field by a wagon or stone boat and
scattered about by means of a paddle." — Washburn.

114 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Army Worm*

Almost every year some locality reports serious injury to
crops by armies of caterpillars, which have not been previously
known for many years. This being the case the farmers are
at a loss to combat them, and by the time information has been
secured the pests have completed the damage. The Army
Worm occurs throughout the United States east of the Rocky
Mountains and lives in low, rank growths of grass, which form
the normal breeding-grounds. When from an abundance of
such food, or through failure of the parasites to prevent their

increase, the caterpillars be-
come overabundant, they as-
sume the army habit and
march en masse, consuming
all in their path.

The next year their natural
enemies will usually have them
under control again and there
will be but little damage, and
then they will not be observed
as injurious for a series of

FIG. 83.— Army-worm moth (Leucanm years, though the moths arc

unipuncta), pupa, and eggs in natural always fairly common,
position in a grass-leaf . Natural size. T ... TT. .

(After Comstock.) Llfe History.— In the North

the moths appear early in June

and the females lay the small yellowish eggs in rows of from
ten to fifty in the unfolded bases of the grass leaves, covering
them with a thin layer of glue. Over seven hundred may be
deposited by one female, so that when the young caterpillars
hatch in about ten days, the progeny of a few moths might
form a quite destructive army. The worms usually feed entirely
at night, and thus whole fields will sometimes be ruined before
they are discovered, though a few generally feed by day, as
they all do in cloudy weather. The leaves and stalks of grains

* Leucania unipuncta Haworth. Family Noctuidce.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 115

FIG. 84. — Army worms at work on corn-plant. (After Slingerland.)

110 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and grasses form their favorite food, the heads usually being
cut off, but various garden crops are often seriously injured if
they happen in their path. Though usually untouched, even
clover is not exempt. In from three to four weeks the
worms have become full grown and are then about 1^ to 2
inches long, of a dark gray or dingy black color, with three
narrow, yellowish stripes above, and a slightly broader and
darker one on each side, quite resembling cutworms, to
which they are nearly related. They now enter the earth and
transform to pupae, from which the adult moths emerge in about

two weeks. These lay eggs
for another brood of worms
which appear in September,
but are very rarely injuri-
ous. The moths which de-
velop from this last brood
either hibernate overwinter,
or deposit eggs, the Iarva3
from which become partially
grown before cold weather
and then hibernate. In
either case the young larva)
feed in the spring, not usu-
ally doing much damage,
pupate in May, and the
moths of the first genera-
tion appear in June as
Thus in the North there are three broods
a year, the young larva? usually hibernating, while in the
South there may be as many as six generations, and the
moths usually hibernate over winter and lay their eggs in the
spring.

The moths very often fly into lights and are among the com-
monest of our pla'n " millers." The front wings are a clay or
fawn color, specked with black scales, marked with a darker
shade or stripe at the tips, and with a distinct spot at the centre,

FIG. 85. — An army
w o r m — a bout
one -third en-
larged. (After
Chittenden, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

already described.

FIG. 86. — a, head
of fall army
worm; b, head of
army worm —
enlarged. (After
Chittenden, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 117

which gives the specific name unipuncta. The hind-wings are
somewhat lighter with blackish veins and darker margins.

Enemies. — Were it not for other insects which prey upon the
army worm, the army habit would doubtless be more often
assumed and we should have to deal with them more frequently.
Ordinarily, however, the parasitic and predaceous insects hold
them in check very efficiently and when an outbreak does occur,
the later broods of the same season are often entirely destroyed by
their insect enemies. Large numbers are always destroyed by the

FIG. 87. — The farmer's friend, the red-tailed tachina-fly (Winthemia ±-pustu-
lata): a, natural size; b, much enlarged; c, army worm on which fly
has laid eggs, natural size; d, same, much enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

predaceous ground-beetles and their larvsB (p. 14), but their
most deadly enemies are the tachina-flies (p. 106). These lay
from a dozen to fifty eggs on a caterpillar, and the maggots
from them enter the body and absorb the juices and tissues of
the host, thus soon killing it. When feeding at night the worms
are ordinarily free from these parasites, but when the marching
habit is assumed the flies swarm around them on cloudy days
and before the next year they again have the remnants of the
voracious army under subjection. Therefore, worms with the

118 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

tachina-fly eggs on them (Fig. 87) should never be destroyed
where avoidable.

Control. — When detected, all. efforts should be centred on
keeping the worms out of crops not yet attacked and confining
their injury to as small an area as possible. As a barrier to
their progress, there is nothing better than a dust furrow made
as already described for chinch-bugs (p. 91), two or three of
which may be found necessary in cool weather or where a fine
dust cannot be maintained.

Deep fall plowing and thorough harrowing will be effective
against the hibernating larvae, as will the burning of all grass
along ditches, fences, and spots where the larvae normally live.

By thorough spraying, or perhaps better by dusting, a strip
of the crop with Paris green or some arsenical, and liberally
distributing poisoned bran mash (see p. 47), large numbers
may be destroyed. Where they are massed in furrows they
may be destroyed by spraying them with pure kerosene or crude
petroleum.

As in fighting chinch-bugs the army worm must be given
immediate and conclusive combat if the loss of crops is to be
prevented, for they move rapidly and destroy all in their path.

The Fall Army Worm *

Though somewhat the same in its habits as the true army
worm, the Fall Army Worm is so called because it appears later
in the season, the former species being rarely injurious after
August 1st. It is also more omnivorous, for while the army
worm prefers grasses, and grains, the fall army worm feeds
upon a large variety of crops, including sugar-beets, cow-peas,
millet, sweet potatoes, and many other forage and truck crops.
In Nebraska and the Central West it is a serious pest of alfalfa
and is called the Alfalfa Worm. It is also sometimes very de-
structive to lawns, as was the case in Chicago in 1899. The fall
army worm is more of a native of the Southern States, but
occurs from Canada to the Gulf and west to the Rockies.
* Laphygma frugiperda S. and A. Family Noctuidoe.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRAINS, GRASSES, FORAGE 119

At first glance the caterpillars have much the same general
appearance as the army worm, but closer examination reveals
marked differences. Along each side of the body is a longitudinal
pitch-colored stripe, and along the middle is a yellowish-gray
stripe about twice as wide, which includes four black dots on
each segment. The caterpillars assume the habit of working
in armies, but usually do not feed in such large numbers as the
true army worms and thus are more difficult to combat.

Life History. — The winter is passed in the pupal state, the
pupse being about one-half
inch long and being found
in cells one-quarter to one-
half an inch below the sur-
face. The moths emerge
in the spring and the
females lay their eggs on
grass in clusters of fifty or
more, each mass being
covered with the mouse-
colored hairs from the body
of the female. The eggs
hatch in about ten days
and the caterpillars are
found1 during May and
June. The complete life
history of the insect has

FIG. 88. — The fall army-worm: a, moth,
plain gray form; b, fore wing of Pro-
denia-like form; c, larva extended; d,
abdominal segment of larva, side view ;
e, pupa; d, twice natural size, others
enlarged one-fourth. (After Chittenden,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

not been carefully followed,
but it seems probable that
there are but two complete generations in the North, three gen-
erations in the latitude of central and southern Illinois and the
District of Columbia, and four in the extreme South. In any
event, the destructive brood of caterpillars appears in August and
«arly September.

The parent moth is of a " general yellowish, ash-gray color,
with the second pair of wings almost transparent, but with a
purplish reflection. In extent of wings it measures about 1J

120 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

inches, and when closed the length of the insect is about three-
quarters of an inch. The front wings are mottled or marbled,
especially near the central area, and usually there is visible
a fine white line a short distance from the edge and parallel
to it. The hind-wings have a fringe of darker hair as well
as veins that contrast somewhat with the lighter portion "
(Fig. 88).

Control. — Deep fall plowing and thorough harrowing will
break up the pupal cells and thus largely prevent the develop-
ment of the spring brood of moths. In perennial crops like
alfalfa thorough disking may be used and on lawns deep raking
with a long-toothed steel rake will kill many of the pupse. In
fields of young grain and on lawns many of the caterpillars may
be killed by a heavy roller. When not present in too large
numbers, the worms may be destroyed by spraying the food
plants with Paris green, arsenate of lead or other arsenicals,
or by the use of poisoned bran mash. When present in large
numbers and the army habit is assumed they should be com-
bated the same as the army worm.

CHAPTER VIII

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS *
Meadow-maggots or Leather- jackets f

SEVERAL instances have been recorded in which serious injury
has been done to wheat, clover, timothy, and blue grass by
the larvae of Crane-flies. These insects are never so injurious
in this country as in Europe, where they are known as " daddy-
long-legs," the common name of our harvest-spiders, though
doubtless injury done by them is often attributed to other insects.
The farmer usually declares the work to be that of wireworms
or cutworms, the adults often being known as " cutworm-flies,"
unless the maggots are so abundant as to attract his attention.
When the maggots are abundant enough to do much injury,
they usually occur in very large numbers, but ordinarily, though
common everywhere, they are not numerous enough to attract
attention.

Several species (Tipula bicornis Loew, T. costalis Say, and
Pachyrrhinis sp.?) have at various times done considerable
damage in localities in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and elsewhere.

Life History — So far as studied, the life histories of these
species seem to be much the same. The larva) remain dormant
over winter, but evidently commence feeding again very early
in the spring, a wheat-field having shown the effects of their
injuries from February 1st to April 1st. The larvae become
full grown from the latter part of April until the middle of May,
depending upon the species and season. The full-grown maggots
are about an inch long, of a dirty-grayish color, and of a tough,

* See " The Principal Insect Enemies of Growing Wheat," C. L. Marlatt,
Farmers' Bulletin No. 132, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
f Family Tipulidce.

121

122 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

leathery texture. They are nearly cylindrical, somewhat taper-
ing in front and terminating bluntly behind. Legs are entirely
wanting, but at the blunt end are a few fleshy processes and a
pair of small, horny hooks. The larvae seem to prefer low, moist
ground, and will live for some time on land entirely flooded or
in a ditch. They feed very largely on dead vegetable matter,

but when exces-
sively abundant
they attack the roots
of wheat, grass, and
clover, so weaken-
ing them near the
surface that the
plants, deprived of
proper nourish-
ment, are killed and
loosened from the
ground.

Pupa; may be
found during the
latter part of May,
occupying small
cells in a vertical
position near the
surface of the soil.
Prior to emerging
the adult pushes
from one-half to
two-thirds of the
body above the sur-
face and remains in this pose for several hours. The males
usually emerge first, as their assistance is required by the
females, which are loaded down with eggs, to extricate them-
selves from the pupal skins. The sexes pair immediately, there
being many more males than females — one observer states one
hundred to one — and the females deposit their eggs upon grass

FIG. 89.-

-A Crane-fly (Tipula hebes Loew): male
adult. (After Weed.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 123

and clover lands, to the number of three hundred each. Eggs
are laid for another brood in September, the maggots from which
live over winter.

Remedies. — Injury to wheat-land may be largely prevented
by plowing early in September.

No satisfactory remedy for the maggots is known when
injuring clover, timothy, or grass, although large numbers have
been destroyed by driving a flock of sheep over infested
land. Dr. S. A. Forbes states that " close trampling of the
earth by the slow passage of a drove of pigs would doubtless
answer the same purpose, which is that of destroying the larva?
lying free upon the surface or barely embedded among the roots
of the grass."

Several of our common birds as well as a number of ground-
beetles feed upon the maggots and flies. The maggots are
also sometimes attacked by a fungous disease which in the
damp soil in which they live doubtless grows and spreads
rapidly. Altogether these different enemies keep them so well
in check that they rarely become of importance.

The Hessian Fly *

The Hessian fly is much the most destructive of any of the
insects attacking wheat, to which its injury is practically con-
fined; 'for though it occasionally injures barley and rye, it has
never been reared on other grains or grasses. Its name was re-
ceived from the fact that it was first noticed on Long Island in
1779, near where the Hessian troops had landed three years before.
It now occurs over the main wheat-growing area of the eastern
United States between parallels 35° and 45° westward to the 100th
meridian, on the Pacific coast, in Canada, and in many other parts
of the world where wheat is grown. Xot infrequently it destroys
25 to 50 per cent of the whole crop in some localities, and it has
been estimated that 10 per cent of the crop of the whole count ry
is lost from its ravages.

Life History. — The adult flies are little dark-colored gnats about
* Mayetiola destructor Say. Family Cecidomyidw.

124 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

one-tenth inch long, so small as to commonly escape observation.
Each female lays 100 to 150 minute reddish eggs, one-fifteenth
inch long, placing them in irregular rows of from three to five or
more, usually upon the upper surface of the leaves. In a few days
these hatch into small, reddish maggots, which soon turn white,
are cylindrical, about twice as long as broad and have no true head
or legs. The fall brood of maggots burrow beneath the sheaf of
the leaf and its base, causing a slight enlargment at the point of

FIG. 90. — The Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor): a, female fly; b, flaxseed
stage or pupa; c, larva; d, head and breast-bone of same; e, pupa:
/, puparium ; g, infested wheat-stem showing emergence of pupae and
adults. (After Marlatt,, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

attack; but in the spring they usually stop at one of the lower
joints, in both instances becoming fixed in the plant, absorbing
its sap and destroying the tissues. The first indications of the
work of the maggots on winter wheat in the fall are the tendency
of the plants to stool out, the dark color of the leaves, and the
absence of the central stems. Later many of the plants yellow
and die. The spring maggots attack the laterals, or tillers, wrhich
have escaped the previous brood, so weakening them that the

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

125

stems break and fall before ripening and cannot be readily har-
vested.

About four weeks after hatching the maggots are full grown,
and are greenish-white and about three-sixteenths inch long. The
skin then turns brown, shrivels slightly, and inside it is formed the
pupa. This outside case, composed of the cast larval skin, is known
as the " puparium," and this stage is commonly called the "flax-
seed " from the resemblance to that seed. .In this stage most of
the fall brood passes the winter, the flies emerging in April or May,
while the summer
brood remains in
the "flaxseed?' stage
in the stubble dur-
ing the late sum-
mer and emerges
when the first wheat
is planted in the
fall, emerging later
further south.

Several species
of small chalcis flies
(page 19) parasitize
thelarvseand pupae,
and we're it not for
their assistance it
would doubtless be
difficult to raise
wheat. As yet no
practical method
of increasing their abundance has been devised, though colonies
have been carried to regions where they were scarce.

Control. — The principal means of avoiding injury by the Hes-
sian fly in the winter wheat regions is late planting in the fall.
Inasmuch as the flies appear within about a week and then dis-
appear, if planting be delayed until after that time, but little of the
wheat will be injured. Dry weather in late summer and early

FIG. 91. — The Hessian fly, adult male — greatly
enlarged. (After Marlatt, U. S. D. Agr.)

126 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

fall will delay the appearance of the flies, even with normal tem-
perature conditions, and the further south, the later they appear.
From experiments being conducted by the V. S. Bureau of Ento-
mology, Professor F. M.Webster states that the following dates will
probably be found safe for sowing wheat in average seasons: in

FIG. 92. — "Flax-seeds" or puparia of the Hessian fly on young wheat —
enlarged. (After Pettit.)

northern Michigan soon after the 1st of September; in southern
Michigan and northern Ohio, about September 20th; in southern
Ohio after the first week in October; in Kentucky and Tennessee,
October 10th to 20th; in Georgia and South Carolina, October

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

127

25th to November loth. The exact time will also depend upon
altitude as well as latitude.

A rotation of the wheat crop compels the flies when they emerge
from the stubble to travel in search of the young wheat plants.
Should storms or heavy winds occur, the frail little flies will be de-
stroyed in large numbers, whereas if they found wheat immedi-
ately available the mortality would be small.

Inasmuch as most of the spring brood remain in the stubble
in the flaxseed stage after harvest, if the fields be then burned
over, large numbers will be destroyed. This may be done by cut-

FIG. 93. — Hessian fly: a, egg, greatly enlarged; b, section of wheat-leaf
showing eggs as usually deposited — less enlarged; c, larva; d, pupa
taken from puparium or "flaxseed" — e; c, d, e, much enlarged. (After
Webster and Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

ting the grain rather high at harvest, and then mowing the weeds
and grass and allowing them to dry a few days before burning.
Unfortunately this practice is often impossible, owing to the prac-
tice of seeding wheat land to grass and clover.

As early volunteer plants always become badly infested and the
pupse wintering on them give rise to a spring brood which attacks
the main crop, all volunteer plants should be destroyed by plowing
or disking before the larvae have matured. This principle has some-
times been utilized in the form of a trap crop, strips of wheat being
sown early so as to attract the flies and then being plowed under

128 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

after the bulk of the eggs had been laid upon them, thus protecting
the main crop, planted later.

The enrichment of the soil, the preparation of a good seed bed,
and the use of good seed, so as to secure a vigorous growing crop,
are all of the greatest importance in overcoming injury by the
Hessian fly. After the crop is once attacked, no truly remedial
measures are known except to apply liberally some quick-acting
fertilizer which will cause the plants to tiller freely and give them
sufficient vigor to withstand the winter and thus increase the
healthy stems the next spring.

Though none are exempt from attack, those varieties of wheat
" with large, coarse, strong straw are less liable to injury than
weak-strawed and slow-growing varieties." * In New York in
many localities in 1901 a wheat called Dawson's Golden Chaff was
found to be but little injured, where others were nearly destroyed.
However, in Canada, where this variety originated, it is as seriously
injured as other kinds, and may become so in New York. Bearded
Red Wheat No. 8 was also found to be a very resistant variety, as
were Prosperity, Democrat, Red Russian, and White Chaff Medi-
terranean. It should be remembered, however, that none of
these are invariably " fly-proof," and that though under certain
conditions they may be but little injured, in other localities and
under less favorable circumstances they may be injured as much
as any other sorts.

Among other conclusions Professor Roberts* and his colleagues
state that the fly " injures wheat more on dryish and poor land
than on moist but well-drained, rich soils." Also, " that the soil
must be so well fitted and so fertile that a strong, healthy growth
will be secured in the fall, though the sowing of the seed be delayed
ten to fifteen days beyond the usual time. Such preparation of
the soil will also help the wheat to recover from any winter injury.
Thick seeding and vigorous growth also tend to ward off the fly."
" Much stress should be laid on the proper fitting of the land for
wheat. Plowing should be done early — at least six weeks before

* Cornell University Agr. Exp. Sta., Bulletin 194: The Hessian Fly, I. P.
Roberts, M. V. Slingerland, and J. L. Stone.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 129

sowing — to give abundant time for the repeated working of the
soil in order to recompact the subsurface soil and secure a fine but
shallow seed-bed in which- there has been developed, by tillage and
the action of the atmosphere, an abundance of readily available
plant food. Manures and fertilizers should be kept near the sur-
face and the young roots encouraged to spread out on the surface
soil, thus avoiding much of the damage by heaving in winter and
leaving the deeper soil for fresh pasturage for the plants during
the following spring and summer."

In summarizing his knowledge of means of controlling this
pest, Professor F. M. Webster, who is probably our best authority
upon it ,says: " After thirteen years of study of the Hessian fly,
I am satisfied that four-fifths of its injuries may be prevented by
a better system of agriculture. For years I have seen wrheat grown
on one side of a division-fence without the loss of a bushel by
attack of this pest, while on the other side the crop was invariably
always more or less injured. No effect of climate, meteorological
conditions, or natural enemies could have brought about such a
contrast of results. The whole secret was in the management
of the soil and the seeding."

The Wheat Saw-fly Borer *

The " Corn Saw-fly " has for many years been a well-known
wheat pest throughout England, France, and the Continent,
but was not noted as injurious in this country till 1889, when
Professor J. H. Comstock published a very complete account
of its injuries upon the University Farm at Ithaca, N. Y., where
it had done more or less damage for two years, though Mr.
F. H. Chittenden states that he collected a single adult at Ithaca
in the early '80's. Specimens were also collected at Ottawa,
Canada, and Buffalo, N. Y., in 1887 and 1888, and injury has been
reported by Dr. James Fletcher from Manitoba and the Northwest
Territories. The injury under Dr. Fletcher's observation, how-
ever, was probably due to a nearly related species, the Western

* Cephus pygmceus Linn. Family Cephidce. Bulletin 11, Cornell Univ
Agr. Exp. Station.

130 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Grass-stem Saw-fly (Cephas occidcnlalis Riley and Marlatt).
This is a native species which normally lives in wild grasses and
which has been quite injurious in certain sections of the North-
west during recent years. It habits and the means of control
are practically identical with the species here discussed. f

The following is gleaned from Professor Comstock's interesting
account.

Injury. — No external indications of injury to the plant can

be seen until the larva within
has almost completely tunneled
the stalk, at which time there
is a discoloration just below the
injured joints. Thus damage by
this insect is not readily noticed,
it merely dwarfing and stunting
the growth of the plant by bor-
ing in the stem.

" If infested straws be ex-
amined a week or ten days before
the ripening of the wheat, the
cause of this injury can be found
at work within them. It is at
that time a yellowish, milky-
white worm, varying in size from
one-fifth to one-half an inch in

FIG. 94. — The wheat saw-fly borer
(Cephus pygmoeus Linn.): a, ou4-
line of larva, natural size ; b, larva,
enlarged ; c, larva in wheat-stalk,
natural size; d, frass; e, adult
female;/, Pachyonerus calcitrator,
female, a parasite — enlarged.
(After Curtis, from "Insect Life.")

length. The smaller ones may
not have bored through a single
joint; while the larger ones will
have tunneled all of them, except,
perhaps, the one next to the ground.

Life History. — " As the grain becomes ripe the larva works
its way toward the ground; and at the time of harvest the greater
number of them have penetrated the root. Here, in the lowest
part of the cavity of the straw, they make preparations for pass-
ing the winter, and even for their escape from the straw the
t See F. M. Webster, Circular 117, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 131

following year. This is clone by cutting the straw circularly
on the inside, nearly severing it a short distance, varying from
one-half to one-inch, from the ground. If the wheat were grow-
ing wild, the winter winds would cause the stalk to break at
this point; and thus the insect after it had reached the adult
state could easily escape; while but for this cut it would be very
liable to be imprisoned in the straw." Ordinarily, the straw is
cut by the reaper before it becomes broken; but a strong wind

FIG. 95, — The western grass-stem saw-fly (Cephus occidenlalis) : a, larva;
b, female saw-fly; _c, grass-stem showing work, c, enlarged, a, b, more
enlarged. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

just before harvest will cause a large number of stalks to become
broken, much as if affected by the Hessian fly.

" After the circular cut has been made, the larva fills the
cavity of the straw just below it for a short distance with a plug
of borings. Between this plug and the lower end of the cavity
of the straw there is a place about one-half an inch in length.
It is here that the insect passes the winter." This cell is lined
with silk so as to form a warm cocoon. Here the larva passes
the winter and changes to a pupa in March or April. The adult
insect emerges early in May. The adults are four-winged insects,

132 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and are popularly known as saw-flics on account of the saw-like
ovipositor of the female, by moans of which she inserts her
eggs in the tissue of the plant. This species is quite different in
some respects from the saw-flies feeding upon the leaves of wheat,
and belongs to the family Cephidce.

The female commences to lay eggs by the middle of May.
By means of her sharp ovipositor she makes a very small slit
any place in the stalk of the plant and in this thrusts a small
white egg — about I/\QQ of an inch long— which is pushed clear
through the walls of the straw and left adhering to the inside.
Though several eggs are deposited in a straw, but one larva
usually develops. " The eggs hatch soon after they are laid,
and the larvae may develop quite rapidly. A larva which
hatched from an egg laid May 13th was found to have
tunneled the entire length of the stalk in which it was " on May
28th.

Remedies. — " The most obvious method of combating the
insect is to attack it while it is in the stubble; that is, sometime
between harvest and the following May. If the stubble can be
burned in the autumn, the Iarva3 in it can be destroyed. The
same thing could be accomplished by plowing the stubble under,
which would prevent the escape of the adult flies. But as it is
(often) customary ... to sow grass-seed with wheat, it is feared
that the plowing under of infested stubble would rarely be prac-
ticable; and it is also questionable if the burning of the stubble
could be thoroughly done without destroying the young grass.
It would seem probable, therefore, that if this insect becomes
a very serious pest, it will be necessary. . . either to sow grass-
seed with oats and burn or plow under all the wheat stubble,
or to suspend growing wheat for one year, in order to destroy
the insects by starvation."

Some Wheat-maggots

Very similar to the Hessian fly in its mode of injuring the
wheat-stalk is the Wheat-stem Maggot (Meromyza americana
Fitch). The adult flies were first described by Dr. Fitch in 1856,

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

133

though the work of the maggots had probably been noticed as
early as 1821 by James Worth of Bucks County, Pa., and by the
Michigan Farmer in Michigan about 1845.

Extending from Dakota and Manitoba to Texas, the range
of this insect practically covers all the eastern United States and
southern Canada.

Unlike the Hessian fly it feeds and breeds upon wild grasses and
is thus much more difficult to control. Prof. A. J. Cook found
the larvae in both
barley and oats in
Michigan, Prof. F.
M. Webster reared
an adult from blue
grass (Poa praten-
sis), and Dr. Jas.
Fletcher records it
as breeding in
Agropyrum, Des-
champsis, Elymus,
Poa, and Setaria
viridis in Canada.

Life History. —
Like the Hessian
fly the adult flies
lay their eggs on
fall wheat in Sep-
tember and Octo-
ber, and the young maggots when hatched work their way
down into the stem, either cutting it off or causing it to discolor
or die. The eggs are about one-fortieth of an inch long and
of a glistening white color. The larvae are a light greenish
color, about one-fourth of an inch long, tapering toward the
terminal end while subcylindrical posteriorly, being quite elon-
gate. The pupae are the same color as the larvae, but more
rounded, being only one-sixth of an inch long, and reveal the
legs and wing-cases of the imago forming within them. The

FIG. <>6.— Wheat bulb-worm (Meromyzaamericana):
"' mature fly; &> larva; c, puparium; d, infested
wheat-stem — all enlarged except d. (After
Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

134 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

external case of the pupa, called the puparium, is merely the
shrunken and hardened cast skin of the last larval stage,
within which the insect transforms to the pupa. The fly is
about one-fifth of an inch long. It is of a yellowish-white
color with a black spot on the top of the head, three broad black
stripes on the thorax, and three on the abdomen, which are often
interrupted at the sutures, so that they form distinct spots.

The eyes are a bright
green.

The winter is passed
by the larva? in the
young plants and in
spring they transform
to pupsc and adult
flies. These in turn
deposit eggs in such a
position that the mag-
gots issuing from them
may readily feed upon
the succulent portions

FIG. 97.— The American frit-fly (Oscinis variabilis
Loew): a, larva or maggot; 6, puparium; c,
adult fly. (After Garman.)

of the growing stalk.
Numerous larvs thus
sapping the life of the
plant soon kill it out-
right or cause the top
and head to wither and

die. The adults of this brood emerge in July and lay eggs
on volunteer wheat and grasses, the maggots working in the
same manner as in the fall and coming to maturity so that
another brood of flies lays eggs for the fall brood on the newly
planted wheat.

Owing to the fact that this insect breeds also in grasses dur-
ing late summer it is much more difficult to combat than were it
confined to wheat as its food-plant, as is the Hessian fly.

Remedies. — " If the grain is stacked or threshed and the
straw stacked or burned," says Professor Webster, " it is clear that

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 135

the number escaping would be greatly reduced," for, as the
adults emerge soon after harvest, they would escape to deposit
their eggs were the straw left in the fields, but "it is not likely
that those in the centre of the stacks would be able to make
their way out, and the threshing-machine would destroy many
more. How much could be accomplished by late sowing of grain
is uncertain, as the females are known to occur abundantly up to
October. If plots of grain were sowed immediately after harvest
in the vicinty of the stacks, many of the females could, no doubt,
be induced to deposit their eggs therein, and these could be
destroyed by plowing under." Burning of the stubble will also
aid in keeping this pest under control.

There are several undetermined species of flies belonging
to the genus Oscinis, which have practically the same life history
as the wheat stem-maggot and injure the wheat in the same
manner. They very closely resemble the common house-fly in
miniature, being about one-fourth as large. They will not need
consideration by the practical farmer other than in applying
methods of control as already given. One species of this genus,
determined by Professor H. Carman as Oscinis variabilis Loew and
christened the American Frit-fly, has been found common in
Kentucky and Tanada, but in the larval stag? is so nearly
identical in appearance and habit with t'.ic stem-maggot that it
can with difficulty be distinguished from it.

That these pests do not do more injury is probably due, to a
considerable extent, to the fact that large numbers of them are
destroyed by a small hymenopterous parasite, known as Coelinus
meromyza; Forbes, which very commonly infests the larvae, and
by other parasites and predaceous insects.

Rarely will these pests do serious damage, but very often
it is sufficient to merit consideration, and only a knowledge of
their life history can give a key to their successful control.

136 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Wheat Joint-worm *

For the last sixty years the joint-worm has been known as
a serious pest of wheat throughout the wheat-growing region
east of the Mississippi River, the damage varying from a
slight injury which is hardly noticeable, and which may escape
observation for several years, to an almost total destruction of
the crop.

The adults appear in April, May, or early June, according to the
latitude, and are small black, four- winged flies about one-eighth
inch long, with the joints of the legs and feet yellow. They look

something like
small, winged black
ants (Fig. 99) and
curiously enough
belong to a family
whose members are
almost all parasitic
on other insects, so
that before they had
been thoroughly
studied they were
thought to be para-
sites of the Hessian
fly. The females

lay their eggs in the stems, generally selecting the uppermost
joints that have appeared at that time. " The young worms
develop rapidly, each in a little cavity within the straw. Often
knots, swellings, and twistings occur in the straw at the point
of infestation; again there is little sign of the insect's presence
except a slight discoloration or a little deviation of the fibres
and grooves of the straw from their natural course. When the
infested section is split with a knife it is found to be brittle and

* Isosoma tritici Fitch. Family Chalcididce. See J. S. Houser, Bulletin
226, Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta.; and F. M. Webster, Circular 66, Bureau of Ento-
mology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

if,

FIG. 98. — a, wheat-straw affected by joint-worm; b,
adult as seen from above. (After Riley.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

137

woody in character, and contains from 3 or 4 to 20 or more yel-
lowish larvae, about one-eighth inch long when full-grown. These
larvae remain in the straw until the following spring, when they
issue as adults and commence again the life cycle in the new crop.
The damage is done by the worms cutting off the sap supply
from the head, causing it to become shortened, containing
comparatively few kernels, and such kernels as develop are apt
to be small and shriveled from lack of nourishment. Also because
of the brittlcness of the straw high winds are apt to break much
of it down." — Gossard.

The presence of the pest is always indicated at threshing by

FIG. 99.— Wheat straw-worm (Isosoma grande Riley): a, ventral view; b, side
view of larva; c, antennae; d, mandible; e, anal segment, ventral view; /,
adult female; g, fore-wing; h, hind-wing; i, aborted wing. (After Riley.)

short, hard bits of straw, containing the larvae, which are carried
out with the grain instead of going over in the straw. It has
usually been considered necessary to separate and burn these,
but Professor F. M. Webster finds that the larvae in them are
probably killed in threshing, as he has been unable to rear
adults of cither the joint- worm or its parasites from such bits of
straw.

Control. — A rotation of the wheat crop is of primary impor-
tance in the control of this pest, and where wheat is not planted
on the same land and is sown as far from that of the previous

138 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

year as possible there will be but little damage. It is obvious
that the stubble should be plowed under where possible, or burned
during the late fall or winter. Cut infested grain as low as pos-
sible so as to remove the larva) in the straw. Where the stubble
cannot be burned, break it down by harrowing in the spring and
then collect with a hayrake and burn. Prepare the seed bed
thoroughly and fertilize well, when injury is expected, so as to

FIG. 100. — Swellings made by wheat joint-worms in straw — enlarged. (After

Pettit.)

ensure a strong growth and early ripening. Green manure
containing infested straw should not. be scattered on land to be
used for wheat, and all infested straw which has not been used
up by April should be burned.

.The Wheat Straw-worm *

" The Wheat Straw-worm," says Professor F. M.Webster/' sus-
tains the same relation to winter-wheat culture west of the Miss-
issippi River that the joint-worm does to the cultivation of this
cereal east of this river. Both, when excessively abundant,
occasion losses from slight to total. A wheat stem attacked
by the joint- worm may produce grain of a more or less inferior
quality and less of it; but the spring attack of the wheat straw-
* Isosoma grande Riley. Family Chalcidida >.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

139

worm is fatal to the plant affected, as no grain at all is produced,
and while the second generation of the same has a less disastrous
effect in the field, it nevertheless reduces the grade and weight
of the grain." Though the straw-worm occurs over much of
the same territoiy in the East as the joint- worm, it is rarely so
injurious.

Life History and Description.* " There are two generations
of the insect annually, the adults of the first generation differing
considerably in appearance from those of the second. To the
farmer they will all look like minute or large, shining black ants,

FIG. 101. — Wheat straw-worm: adult of fall generation, much enlarged.
(After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

with or without wings, their legs more or less banded with yellow,
and having red eyes. Individuals of the first generation emerge
in April from the outstanding straws and stubble. They are
very small, most of them are females, and many are wingless.
The females deposit their eggs in the young wheat plants, the
stems of which at this time extend but little above the sur-
face of the ground. The egg is placed in or just below the
embryonic wheat head and the larva or worm works within

* From Circular 106, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., by F. M.
Webster and Geo. I. Reeves.

140 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the stem, usually causing a slight enlargement. When the
worm is full grown it will be found in the crown of the plant,
having eaten out and totally destroyed the embryonic head,
its body occupying the cavity thus formed.

"The females which deposit these eggs, being small and fre-
quently wingless, are in no way fitted for traveling long dis-
tances. The larva or worm is of a very light stra\v color, indeed
almost white, with brown jaws. These worms develop very

rapidly and, as they feed
on the most nutritious part
of the plant, they become
robust and larger than
those found in the mature
straw in late summer. In
May the larva? become full
grown and pass at once
through a short pupal
stage. The pupic are at
first the same color as the
larvae, but later change -to
a shining jet black. In
a few days the fully devel-
oped insects gnaw circular
holes through the walls of
the stem and make their
way out. These adults are

much larger and more robust than the individuals of the first
generation and are provided with fully developed, serviceable wings.
That they make good use of their wings, and scatter themselves
about over fields adjacent to their place of development, is shown
by their occurrence in fields of grasses (in the stems of which
they do not breed) situated considerable distances from wheat
fields. In ovipositing, the females of this generation select
the largest and most vigorous-growing stems in which to place
their eggs.

" The adults of the second generation deposit their eggs

FIG. 102. — The wheat straw-worm:
method of oviposition of female of
summer form: «, female inserting
her eggs, b, section of wheat stem,
showing egg; c, and ovipositor, d;
c, egg, greatly magnified. (After
Riley and Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

141

from early May, in Texas, up to the middle of June, in northern
Indiana, or about the time the wheat is heading. Their aim
at this time is to place the eggs singly in the growing stem,
just above the youngest
and most succulent joints,
which are not so covered
by the enfolding leaf
sheaths as to be inaccessi-
ble to them. Thus it is
that the stage of advance-
ment in the growth of the
wheat stem at the time of
oviposition of the summer
generation of females
determines whether the
larvae will be well upward
in the straw, and there-
fore removed after har-
vest, or lower down and
consequently left in the
field in the stubble.

" The method of ovi-
position and the point
where the egg is usually

formed is shown in Fig.

_,, . . FIG. 103. — Wheat straw-worm, showing

point where female of the spring form

gall, nor does it harden deposits the egg in young wheat in early

•iU- u- i -A spring. Enlarged showing position of egg

the stem within which it a£right (Aft£ We^r, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

develops. There is nor-
mally but one larva in each joint; but if several eggs have been
placed between joints and produce larvae there will be one in the
centre of the stem just above the joint and others in the walls just
under the internal wall-covering or inner epidermis. These larvae
in the walls of the straws do not, as a rule, kill the stem, but
their effect is to curtail the yield by reducing the weight. The
larvae develop rapidly and reach their full growth before the

142 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

straw has hardened. By October, in the Middle West, though
earlier in the South, they pass into the pupal stage, in which, as a
rule, they remain until early spring, whereupon they develop to
adults and gnaw their way out." In the Northwest, where both
winter and spring wheat are grown, the injury is particularly
severe to spring wheat, as the adults of the second generation from
winter wheat oviposit upon it while it is still young and ruin it in
much the same way as the first generation does on the winter
wheat in spring. Volunteer plants which carry the pest over
winter have the same effect in increasing the injury to spring
wheat.

Control. — A rotation of crops which will eliminate the growing
of wheat two years in succession on the same land is by all means
the most successful and practicable means of control. The adults
of the first generation are very small and largely wingless; they are
unable to migrate far, so that rotation is exceedingly efficacious,
though it should be planned so that wheat is not planted next to
stubble land, for the edge will become infested by the first genera-
tion, and the second generation will then become distributed
throughout the field: The burning of stubble and outstanding
straw will be advantageous wherever practicable. Clean fallow-
ing in early summer and the abandonment of spring-wheat culture
will reduce injury in the Northwest.

Wheat Saw-flies *

Several species of saw-fly larvae sometimes feed on the leaves
and rarely on the heads of wheat, but seldom do serious injury.
Dolerus arvensis Say and Dolerus collaris Say have both been
reared upon wheat from Ohio and New Jersey, though both species
occur throughout the United States and southern Canada east of
the Rockies. The adult flies " are comparatively large, robust in-
sects, of a dull black or bluish color, varied writh yellow or reddish."
" The larvae are quite uniform in color and general characteristics.
They have twenty-two legs, are cylindrical, and generally of a

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 143

uniform grayish or slaty color, dorsally and laterally, but nearly
white ventrally." *

The adults deposit their eggs in the spring, and larvae are
to be found early in June.

The only record found of the life history is that of D. collaris
by Professor F. M. Webster, who found that a larva collected
on June 15, 1897, entered the ground in about ten days, and
the first adult emerged January 11, 1898, though the adults
usually appear later.

The most common saw-fly feeding upon wheat foliage is

FIG. 104. — A wheat saw-fly (Dolerus arvensis Say) : female — much enlarged.
(After Riley and Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

Pachynematus extensicornis Norton. " The adult insects appear
during the latter part of April and first of May, the males antedat-
ing the females several days. The eggs, when first laid, are of a
light green color. They are inserted to the number of two to five,
or more, together along the edges of the wheat-blades and just
beneath the epidermis. Some fifteen or sixteen days elapse before
hatching. The newly hatched larva is rather slender and elongate,
tapering gradually from the head to the last segment; head yel-
lowish, eyes black. Full growth is attained in about five weeks,

* Family Tenthredinidte. Wheat and Grass Saw-flies. C. V. Riley and
C. L. Marlatt, " Insect Life," Vol. IV, p. 169.

144 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the mature larva having a length of about four-fifths of an inch.
The head is of a pale clay-yellow color, the eyes are black, and the
color of the body is green or yellowish green. The larva is at once
separated from the Dolerus larva? by the possession of but seven
pairs of abdominal feet." (R. and M., I.e.) When full-grown the
larva? enter the earth and construct silken cocoons, in which they

FIG. 105. — The grass saw-fly (Pachynematus extensicornis Norton) : a, a, eggs
on wheat-blade; young larvae; c, full-grown larva; d, cocoon from
which adult has emerged; e, f, adult insects — e, male; /, female, a and
b, naturalsize; c-f, enlarged. (After Riley and Marlatt, U. S. D. Agr.)

doubtless remain unchanged over winter, transforming to pupa?
shortly before the adults emerge the next spring. The form of the
adults is well shown in the illustration. " The female is stout and
in general light yellowish or ochraceous in color. The abdomen
is for the most part dark brown or black, dorsally, except the pos-
terior lateral margin and the extreme tip. The male is much more
slender and elongate than the female, and is almost black in color,

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 145

the tip of the abdomen being reddish and part of the legs whitish."
This species has been taken on wheat in Illinois, Nebraska, Dela-
ware, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. During 1886
and 1887 it did considerable damage by cutting off the heads, —
sometimes, as stated by a Maryland man, cutting fully one-half of
them. No more recent damage has been recorded, and owing to
the slight injury usually done no remedies have received a prac-
tical test. Deep fall plowing might be of advantage by burying
the larvse so deeply that the adults would be unable to escape.

The Wheat-midge *

History. — While the Hessian fly attacks the stalk of the
wheat-plant, another species of the same genus, known as the
Wheat-midge, or " Red Weevil," often does very serious damage
to the maturing head. It, too, is a foreigner, having first been
noticed -as injurious in Suffolk, England, in 1795, though probable
references to its depredations date back as early as 1741. " In
' Ellis's Modern Husbandman ' for 1745 the attacks of the vast
numbers of black flies (the ichneumon parasites) are noticed
in the following quaint terms: ' After this we have a melancholy
sight, for, as soon as the wheat had done blooming, vast numbers
of black flies attacked the wheat-ears and blowed a little yellow
maggot, which ate up some of the kernels in other parts of them,
and which caused multitudes of ears to miss of their fulness, acting
in some measure like a sort of locust, till rain fell and washed them
off; and though this evil has happened in other summers to the
wheat in some degree, yet if the good providence of God had not
hindered it they might have ruined all the crops of wheat in the
nation.' (Hind's 'Essay on Insects and Diseases Injurious to
Wheat Crops/ page 76)". It seems probable that it was first
introduced into America near Quebec, where it " appears to have
occurred " m 1819, and was first observed in the United States

* Diplosis tritici. Family Ceddomyidce. See Bulletin No. 5, Vol. L 2d
Ser., Ohio Ag. Exp. Sta., F. M. Webster.

146 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

in northwestern Vermont in 1820. It did not become very
destructive, however, until 1828, from which time until 1835
is kept increasing in such numbers as to cause the abandonment
of the wheat crops in some localities throughout northern New
England. Serious damage was reported as due to this pest
every few years until about 1860, being most severe in 1854, in
which year Dr. Fitch estimated the loss in New York alone at
$15,000,000, and in 1857, and 1858. Since then no widespread
injury has occurred, though local outbreaks are frequent, and

FIG. 106. — Wheat-midge (Diplosis tritici): a, female fly; 6, male fly; c, larva
from below. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

it has spread south to the Gulf States and westward to Iowa,
Minnesota, and Arkansas.

Life History. — The adult flies are small, two-winged insects,
about an eighth of an inch long, of a yellow or orange color.
They appear about the middle of June and lay the eggs " in a
small cavity at the summit of, and formed by a groove in, the
outmost chaff covering the incipient kernel." They hatch in
about a week, according to Dr. Fitch, and the maggots burrow
into the forming kernels. The maggots are of a reddish color,
and when an ear is badly infested give it a reddish tinge, on
account of wrhich the- insect is often called the " red weevil."

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS 147

When full grown the larvae enter the ground and usually
form cocoons, in which they pass the winter in the pupal stage*
though they often hibernate without such protection. Though
doubtless there is usually but one brood in a season, observations
by Professor F. M. Webster and others seem to point to the fact
that there sometimes are two broods, as adults have been observed
from August into November.

Besides wheat, the wheat-midge also sometimes injures
rye, barley, and oats.

Remedies. — Plowing infested fields in the fall so deeply that
the midges will be unable to reach the surface upon developing
in the spring is by far the best means of controlling this pest,
while burning the stubble previous to plowing, and a rotation
of the crop, will also be of considerable aid.

The English Grain-louse *

The most common plant-louse affecting wheat and other small
grains is a large green species which is always to be found on
wheat plants, but which occasionally increases very rapidly, and
clustering on the ripening heads sucks the juices so as to seriously
injure the quality and weight of the wheat.

In the North the first individuals are found on young wheat
in April, though during open winters they may be found on the
plants, and in the South they continue to reproduce during most
of the winter in open seasons. The aphides feed upon the leaves
until the grain commences to head, when they assemble on the
heads among the ripening kernels. The females give birth to
live young, bearing from 40 to 50 each, which become full grown
in ten days to two weeks, and then reproduce, as is the usual
method of reproduction with plant-lice (see page 442), so that they

* Macrosiphum granaria Buckton. Family Aphidida. A nearly related
species, Macrosiphum cerealis Kaltenbach, has very similar habits, is commonly
associated with the species, and has not been distinguished from it by most
writers. It may be recognized by lacking the blackish markings on the
abdominal segments. See Pergande, Bulletin 44, Bureau of Entomology,
U. S. Dept. Agr.

148 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

multiply with great rapidity, and where so few were present as
to be hardly noticeable, in a fe\v weeks they will be swarming
over the heads in myriads. As the small grains ripen they migrate
to various grasses and are not much in evidence during midsummer,
but later migrate to volunteer oats and wheat, upon which they
subsist until fall wheat is available. Owing to the cool \veather
of fall and the fact that but few individuals survive the attacks
of their parasites during the summer, they rarely become abundant
enough to do any damage to grains in the fall. So far as knowrn,

the\" hibernate over
winter among the leaves
of the growing plants,
enough surviving both
snow and cold to infest
the crop the next spring.
Whether true males and
females produce eggs on
the grain is unknown, for
though they have been
reared under artificial
conditions, they have
never been observed in
the field. Professor F. L.
Washburn observed at
least fourteen generations
up to Xovember 8, 1907,
in southern Minnesota.
As with other aphides, both winged and wingless individuals
occur throughout the season. The wingless individuals are
about one-tenth inch long, with black antennae as long 01; longer
than the body, are of a yellowish-green color, often slightly
pruinose, and long black nectaries extend from either side of the
abdomen. The winged individuals are about the 'same length,
with a wing expanse of about three-eighths inch, with antennae
a third longer than the body, and are of the same general colora-
tion except that lobes of the thorax are brown or blackish, and

FIG. 107. — The German grain aphis (Macro-
siphum cerealis Kalt) : o, winged migrant ;
b, nymph of same; c, wingless partheno-
genetic female; d, same showing exit hole
of parasite — enlarged. (After Riley, U.
S. Dept. Agr.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

149

the abdomen is marked with four or five transverse blackish

spots in front of the nectaries.

Like the other aphides affecting small grains, this species is

held in check by parasitic insects, aided by predaceous insects and

fungous diseases. Injury by the aphides is usually due to the

parasites having been killed off, thus
giving the aphides opportunity to
multiply unchecked. Among the most
abundant parasites are species of the
genus Aphidius (family Braconidce),

FIG. 108. — Grain aphides
clustered on wheat head,
greatly enlarged. (After
Weed.)

FIG. 100. — Wheat-louse parasite (Aphiditis
avenaphis Fitch), and parasitized louse
from which it has issued. (Copied from
J. B. Smith.)

one of which is shown in Fig. 109, greatly enlarged. Cold, wet
weather in spring greatly retards the development of these para-
sites, so that the aphides are always more numerous in such
seasons. It has also been observed that an outbreak is often
preceded by several dry seasons, which may be due to the fact that
such dry seasons check the development of fungous diseases which
kill off large numbers of the aphides and which do not propagate
in hot dry weather. Thus weather conditions are very intimately

150 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

associated with the abundance of the pest. When the parasites
become abundant they will often completely rid a field of the
aphides within a few days. All of the common ladybird-beetles
(Coccinellidce), Syrphus-fly larvae, and lace- winged fly larvae
(Chrysopidce) are commonly found feeding upon the aphides.
Control. — No practical remedy for this species is known nor
are means of control easily suggested. The suppression of
volunteer wheat and oats in early fall will prevent the multiplica-
tion of the pest before fall-sown wheat is available, and the late
sowing of wheat in the fall will reduce the numbers entering
hibernation. A wise rotation and the thorough preparation
of the seed-bed and liberal fertilization will be of value in avoid-
ing injury in the same way as has been described for other pests
of small grains. Fortunately this spscies rarely does very wide-
spread injury and its parasites usually soon bring it under control.

The Spring Grain-aphis or Green Bug *

Though long known as a serious pest of small grains in Europe,
this aphis has done widespread injury in this country only during
the past ten years. Though it occurs throughout the territory
north of latitude 41°, with the exception of the North Atlantic
States, as far west as longitude 105°, the worst injury has been done
in northern Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, though it has also been
injurious in the Carolinas and Tennessee.

The habits of the insect during the winter have not been suffi-
ciently studied to- speak authoritatively, but it seems probable
that it normally passes the winter in the egg stage, the small shin-
ing black eggs, one-fortieth inch long, being laid on the leaves in
the late fall. In the South, however, it often continues to
reproduce throughout the winter, and with a mild winter the
numbers so multiply that unless checked by parasites serious
injury is done by late winter or early spring. Both wingless and
winged forms occur throughout the year. The wingless female
is from one-twenty-fifth to one-fourteenth inch long, yellowish-
green, with a median line slightly darker, eyes and most of the
* Toxoptera graminum Rond. Family Aphididce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

151

antenna) black, of the shape shown in Fig. 112. The winged
female is slightly larger, with a wing expanse of about one-
quarter inch, ancLof the same general coloration, except that the
head is brownish-yellow and the lobes of the thorax are blackish.
The aphides hatching from the eggs are all females, which give
birth to live young, no male forms occurring during the summer.
During her life of slightly over a month a female will give birth to
50 or 60 young, which commence to reproduce in the same manner

FIG. 110. — The spring grain-aphis or "green bug" (Toxoptera gramimum):
a, winged migrant; b, antenna of same, a, much enlarged; b, highly
magnified. (From Pergande, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

when about seven days old, so the numbers of the pest obviously
increase with enormous rapidity, and with thousands of tiny beaks
pumping out the sap the young grain plants soon succumb. The
rate of reproduction and growth is, of course, much slower in
colder weather, the above being the average for the growing season.
Thus in an open winter the aphides will continue to multiply, and
by February', in northern Texas, small spots of wheat and oats
will show the effect of their work, by March the injury may become
widespread and serious, and by the middle of April the crops may
be ruined. As the aphides become excessively abundant and the

152 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

food supply disappears, almost all develop wings, and immense
clouds of the winged females are carried northward by the
winds, so that an outbreak in early spring in the South leads to an
infestation farther north, and excessive multiplication will again
carry the pest still northward, progressing in that direction as it
increases during the season, rather than being spread at one time.
Thus in 1907 it became abundant in Oklahoma in April, in Kansas

FIG. 111. — Green bugs on oat-seedling — enlarged.

in May, and by July it was found in Minnesota, where it rarely
occurs and does no damage. With the maturing of wheat and oats
the aphides migrate to various grasses, being particularly fond of
Kentucky blue-grass, and may subsist on corn, on which they
may feed until oats and wheat are available in the fall. Oats are the
favorite food, and outbreaks of the pest have always been worst
where volunteer oats are generally grown, the aphides increasing
on them in the early fall and winter and later spreading to wheat.
By October loth in Minnesota and by early November in Kansas
the true winged males and wingless egg-laying females have been

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

153

observed, but strangely enough they have only been secured in
small numbers by being reared in the laboratory, and have not
been observed in the field, so that although these females laid eggs
freely on the leaves of grain, we do not know whether they are
essential or not to the life history of the insect in the field, for
while the eggs are being produced other females continue to give
birth to live young until the cold of winter, and they have been

FIG. 112. — Toxoptera graminum: a, newly born, and b, adult wingless green
bug, greatly enlarged. (After S. J. Hunter.)

observed to reproduce with a daily mean temperature barely
above freezing.

Natural Control. — The natural control of this most destructive
pest involves a most interesting relationship between temperature
and the development of the parasites which check its development.
"The 'green bug' in normal years — that is, when its breeding
begins in spring — is effectively held in check by its natural ene-
mies, and notably by a minute, black wasp-like insect, Lysiphlebus
testaceipes Cress. (Fig. 113), that deposits eggs singly in the 'green

154 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

bugs,' the grubs hatching from the eggs feeding internally on the
bug and destroying it (Figs. 115, 116). Other natural enemies are
the Iarva3 of certain predaceous flies, and the larva? and adults of
lady-beetles. The little wasp-like parasite first mentioned, how-
eve^ is the one that keeps the ' green bug ' in control in normal
years, and in years when the latter is most abundant finally over-
comes it, as was the case in 1907 in Kansas, North Carolina, and
other States in the more northern part of the range of the pest."

FlG. 113. — Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cress., adult female and antenna of male —
greatly enlarged. (After Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

"Unfortunately this parasitic wasp — as with the other bene-
ficial insects — is active only while the temperature is above 56° F.,
or at least 10° above that at which the ' green bug ' breeds freely;
and herein is the whole secret of the irregular disastrous outbreaks
of the ' green bug ' in grain fields. As accounting for the out-
break in the year 1907, the ' green bug ' had had a whole winter
and the following late spring in which to breed and multiply un-
molested, and it accomplished its principal damage, as in Texas
and southern Oklahoma, before the weather was warm enough
for the parasite to increase sufficiently to overcome it."

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO SMALL GRAINS

155

" As further illustrative of the important bearing of weather
conditions, it is found that in the case of the three important out-
breaks of this insect, namely, for the years 1890, 1901, and 1907,
the temperature for the first five months of each of these years,
including the latter part of the winter and spring, was above the
normal for the winter months and below
the normal for the spring months; in
other words, warm winters and cold, late
springs."

" The little parasitic wasp which is so
useful in the control of this pest is native
to this country, widely distributed, and
every year does its work with the ' green
bug ' and with other aphides. It is
always present in grain fields, as shown by
its appearance every year, to war on these
pests whenever the weather conditions

FIG. 115. — Dead "green
bugs," showing hole
from which the matu-
red parasite of Lysiph-
lebus emerges. The
top figure shows the
lid still attached, but
pushed back; the bot-
tom figure shows the
parasite emerging.
Enlarged. (After
Webster, U. S. Dept.
Agr.)

FIG. 114. — Lysiphlebus parasite in act of depositing
eggs in the body of a grain-aphis — much enlarged.
(After Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

make its breeding and multiplication possible, and its rate of breed-
ing is so rapid (there being a generation about every ten days) that
with a week or two of favorable weather it gains control over its
host insects and destroys them." * Extensive experiments were
'conducted in Kansas in 1907 in importing these parasites from

* From F. M. Webster, Circular 93, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept.
Agr. See also Bulletin of the University of Kansas, Vol. IX, No. 2, by
S. J. Hunter, The Green Bug and Its Natural Enemies.

150 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

farther south before they had become abundant in Kansas fields
so as to hasten their control of the aphides, but further experi-
ments will be necessary before it can be determined whether such
a method of colonizing the parasites is practically effective or not.
Control. — Most important of all methods of control is the aban-
donment of the growing of volunteer oats and the destruction of
all volunteer oats and wheat i;i the early fall. Universal experi-

FIG. 116. — Parasitized green bugs — enlarged.

S. J. Hunter.)

(From photograph, after

ence throughout the injured area shows that relatively little injury
occurs where volunteer oats are not grown.

Where small spots of grain have been injured by the pest in late
winter, which is the way an outbreak usually begins in southern
localities, the aphides on these small spots may be killed by spray-
ing with 10 per cent kerosene emulsion, or whale-oil soap, 5 pounds
to a barrel of water, by covering the spots with straw and burning,
or by plowing under the infested spots. Were this generally done
before the aphides commence to multiply rapidly, it is entirely
possible that widespread injury might be averted.

CHAPTER IX.
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN

The Western Corn Root-worm *

THROUGHOUT the corn States of the northern Mississippi Val-
ley, wherever corn is grown upon the same land it is subject to
serious injury by the Western Corn Root-worm, so called because
it first became injuri-
ous in Missouri and
Kansas and gradually
spread eastward to
Ohio, though not in-
jurious south of the
Ohio River.

Though the life
history of the insect
has not been entirely
determined, the fol-
lowing' summarizes
it as observed by
Professors S. A.

Forbes and F. M. Webster in Illinois and Indiana. The eggs
are laid in the early fall, within a few inches of the base of the stalk,
and just beneath the surface of the soil. The egg is a dirty white
color, oval in shape, and about one-fiftieth inch long. The winter is
passed in the egg stage, differing from most nearly related beetles in
this, and the eggs hatch in the spring or early summer. At first
the larvae eat the small roots entire, but later burrow under the
outer layers of the larger roots, causing the stalks on rich loam to

* Diabrotica longicornis Say. Family Chrysomelidce.

157

FIG. 117. — The western corn root -worm: a,
beetle; b, larva; c, enlarged leg of same; d,
pupa — all enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S.
D. Agr.)

158 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

be easily blown over, or dwarfing the plant on poorer land so that
it produces but small ears. The full-grown larva is nearly white
with a brown head, a little less than one-tenth inch long by about
one-tenth inch in diameter. Three pairs of short legs are found
on the thorax, but otherwise the body appears perfectly smooth
to the eye, though finely wrinkled. Before pupation the color
becomes slightly darker and the body shortens. Leaving the
roots, the larvae then form small oval cells in the soil and in them
transform to pupae, from which the adult beetles emerge in a
short time. The beetles appear from the middle of July on
through August, about two mor ths being required for development
after hatching from the egg. The beetles are of a greenish or
greenish-yellow color, about one-quarter inch long, and resemble
the common striped cucumber-beetle (page 379) in form. They
are to be found in the corn-fields feeding upon pollen and silk
until the latter becomes dry, and lay their eggs during August
and September. The beetles are often found feeding upon various
weeds, clover, beans, cucumber and Squash vines, and the blossoms
of thistle, sunflower and golden rod.

Control. — As the larvae feed only on corn, if the corn-field be
planted to some other crop, starvation results, and a simple rota-
tion in which corn is not allowed on the same land for over two
years in succession usually prevents injury, though a field in which
injury has occurred should be planted to some other crop at once.
It is imprudent to plant corn on fields in which the beetle has been
observed feeding in large numbers on clover and weeds during the
late fall of the previous year. The liberal use of manure and fer-
tilizers, and thorough cultivation will, of course, be of service in
enabling the plants to withstand attack.

The Southern Corn Root-worm *

Closely related to the last species, but with somewhat different
habits, the Southern Corn Root- worm is frequently injurious to
corn from Maryland and southern Ohio southward.

* Diabrotica 12-punctata Oliv. Family Chrysomelidae.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN

159

The adult beetle is of a bright green marked with twelve black
spots, which have given it the name of 12-Spotted Cucumber-
beetle to distinguish it f ro.m the Striped Cucumber-beetle (page 379) ,
with which it is often associated feeding on cucurbs. It is some-
what larger and more robust, than D. longicornis, and is almost
omnivorous in its food habits, feeding upon the foliage and flowers
of a long list of forage and garden crops, to which it often does

FIG. 11$. — The southern corn root-worm: a, egg; b, larva; c, work of larva
at base of cornstalk; d, pupa; e, beetle — all much enlarged except c.
(After Riley.)

considerable damage. Beans are frequently injured in much the
same way as corn and the roots of melons and other cucurbs are
often so riddled by the Iarva3 as to kill the plants.

Injury to corn is done by the larvae in the spring, when they feed
upon the roots while the corn is but a few inches high, bore into the
crown, and boring into the base of the stalk through the young
leaves eat out the " bud." The latter injury often seems to be
more serious to corn than the injury to the roots, and has given
the insect the common local name of " bud worm," which is
unfortunately applied to several other insects which do similar

160 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

injury. Larvae have been found attacking wheat, rye, millet and
Johnson grass in a similar way, the beetles seeming to be attracted
to fields containing Johnson grass before the corn appears, thus
injuring such grassy fields more severely. Injury to corn seems to
be worse on low, damp spots.

Life History. — The beetles hibernate over winter and are
among the first insects to appear in early spring, appearing by the
middle of March in the Southern States. Eggs are laid during April
in the Gulf States and from late April to early June in Kentucky
and the District of Columbia. The egg is dull yellow, oval, and
about one-fortieth inch long. The eggs are laid singly just beneath
the surface of the soil and hatch in from seven to ten days, those
laid early in the season requiring considerably longer. The
larvae become full grown and pupate about a month later, the
adult beetles of the first generation appearing during May and
early June in the Gulf States and in late June and early July in the
District of Columbia and Kentucky. Thus the complete life cycle
requires from six to nine weeks in the spring. Eggs are laid by the
first generation of beetles, the larvae being found on the roots of
corn from midsummer until fall, when the second generation of
beetles is found in October and November in Kentucky. In the
Gulf States there are undoubtedly three complete generations,
though they have not been carefully followed.* The beetles
assemble on clover and alfalfa in the late fall, upon which they feed
until winter sets in, and often come out and feed during warm
spells in January and February in the Southern States.

Control. — Although rotation of crops will not be as effective in
the control of this species as in the case of D. longicornis, it will
undoubtedly be found of value to avoid planting corn in succession
where injury is probable. By planting late after the beetles have
laid their eggs, injury has been avoided in Georgia. Liberal seed-
ing, using ten grains of seed per hill, will give a sufficient stand
free from attack, so that by thinning a good stand may be secured.

* In the Northern States, where this species is not a pest of corn, but is
common on cucurbs and garden plants, there is probably but a single genera-
tion with a life history very similar to that of the striped cucumber-beetle,
see page 379.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 161

Fields which are well infested with Johnson grass, or other thick-
stemmed grasses, should be avoided, for as already indicated the
beetles will be attracted to them before the corn is up. Both
on account of the feeding habits of the larvae and the migratory
habits of the beetles no insecticide treatment commends itself as
practicable.

The Corn-root Webworm *

Injury. — When young corn-plants are seen to stop growing,
become deformed, and to die off in such numbers as to frequently
necessitate replanting, upon examination of the roots the injury
will sometimes be found to be due to the work of a small caterpillar.
Two or three, very often five or six, and sometimes as many as
eight or nine will be found at the base of a plant about an inch
below the surface of the soil, and not over 4 to 6 inches from
the stalk, usually being in close proximity to it. If each larva is
covered with a fine, loose web, to which cling particles of earth
forming a sort of case, it is probably a corn-root web worm.

Where the webworms are present in any number they will
often necessitate a second, third, or sometimes a fourth
planting, making the corn very late and involving considerable
sxpense. The worms bore into the young stalks just above the
ground, frequently cutting them off entirely. Later on the
larger • stalks are gouged out at or slightly above the surface of
the ground, and the larvae burrow into the folded leaves, which
when they unfold have several transverse rows of three to five
holes. On account of this habit these insects are sometimes
known as " budworms." Strong plants will often make a new
start and survive the injury, but remain much behind those not
attacked, while most of the weaker plants will decay and rot off.

The Moth. — As one walks through pasture or grass land,
many little white and yellowish moths are seen flying about
on all sides, but quickly disappear as they alight on the grass.
If a single individual be watched more closely, it will be noticed
that in alighting upon a blade of grass it quickly rolls its wings
* Crambus caliginosellus Clem. Family Crambidce.

162 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

very tightly around its body, and hugs up close to the grass
so that it is hardly distinguishable from it. Projecting from the
head in front is what appears to bo a long beak or snout, on

account of which
these moths are
often known as
"snout-moths," but
which really con-
sists of the palpi
or feelers. The
" grass-moths," as
they are sometimes
called, belong to the
genus Crambus and
include several

common species,
which are marked
with silver stripes
and bands, as well
as golden lines and
markings, so that
they often present
a very handsome
appearance.

Life History. —
These are the pa-
rents of the web-
worms which do so
much injury to the
young corn-roots,

FIG. 119. — The corn-root web-worm (Crambu* the principal depre-
caliginosellus) : a, larva; b, pupa; c, moth; d, dators upon corn
segment of larva; e, parasite. (After Johnson.)

belonging to the

species Crambus caliginosellus. They lay their eggs in grass
land in May or early June, dropping them on the surface
among the rubbish or vegetation, or attaching them to the

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 163

grass. They are oval in form and of a yellowish color, each
being marked with regularly placed ridges. About two hundred
eggs are laid by each female. In from six to ten days the
eggs hatch. The young larvae soon form their loose silken webs
or tubes at or a little below the surface of the soil, burrowing
among the roots, and feeding upon the stalk and outer leaves,
or killing the plant by attacking the crown. The larvae vary
considerably in color, from a yellowish white, through pink,
to a reddish or brownish shade, and are studded with small
tubercles, each bearing a tuft of bristly hairs. The larvae become
full grown in from five to seven weeks and are then from one-
half to three-fourths of an inch long. During the latter part of
July they form cocoons, sometimes in the larval tubes, in which
they pass the pupal stage and from which the moths emerge
some twelve to fifteen days later. Eggs are laid for another
brood in grass lands during August and September, the larvae
hatching in September and October and becoming partly grown
before winter. They hibernate in their webs over winter, and as
soon as the grass commences its growth in the spring they are
to be found feeding upon it, becoming full grown early in May.
Preventive. — As the natural food of these insects is grass, it
is not surprising that corn planted on sod land should be worst
injured; and though the injury done the grass may not have been
noticeable, when the available food is so greatly diminished by
substituting for grass the comparatively few hills of corn the
injury becomes much more serious and apparent. Though the
planting of corn on sod land is a most common practice, injury
by this and many other insect pests of corn — most of whose
native food is grass — might be avoided by planting any other
crop than a grain, such as potatoes. Otherwise plowing late in
the fall and harrowing so as to expose the larvae to the weather,
or plowing so deeply that they will be buried so that they cannot
regain the surface, will do much to prevent injury the next season.
Inasmuch as the moth will not lay her eggs upon plowed land,
if the land be plowed early she will be driven to other fields;
but the exact time of oviposition varies for different latitudes.

164 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Generous fertilization will aid the plants in overcoming
injury very considerably. Dr. J. B. Smith advises " the applica-
tion of all the necessary potash in the form of kainit, put on as
a top-dressing after the field is prepared for planting," and says:
"Fall plowing and kainit as a top-dressing in spring will, I feel
convinced, destroy by all odds the greater proportion of the web-
worms that infest the sod, and would also destroy or lessen many
other pests which trouble corn during the early part of its life."

The Corn -root Aphis *

Where patches of corn become dwarfed, the leaves becoming
yellow and red, with a general lack of vigor, the grower may well
be suspicious of the presence of the Corn-root aphis. These
little aphides, which cluster on the roots of corn, are a bluish-
green color, with a white waxy bloom, and of the form shown in
Fig. 120. Two short, slender tubes project from the posterior
part of the abdomen which are commonly called honey-tubes,
because they were formerly supposed to give out the honey-dew,
which is so relished by the ants which tend the aphides to secure
it. The winged female has a black head and brownish-black
thorax, with pale green abdomen bearing three of four blackish
marginal spots and small dark specks over the surface. The
antennae are dark and the legs blackish.

The corn-root aphis occurs throughout the principal corn-
growing States, but has been most destructive where corn is
most extensively grown and is often planted year after year
on the same land. Dr. Forbes, to whom we are indebted for
most of our knowledge of this pest.f has observed fields of corn
in Illinois planted in corn for the second season totally ruined
by the root-aphis. Broom-corn and sorghum are the only other
cultivated crops which have been injured, but the list of food
plants includes smartweed, purslane, ragweed, foxtail, and crab-

* Aphis maidi-radicis Forbes. Family Aphididce.

t S. A. Forbes, 17th, 18th, and 25th Reports of the State Entomologist
of Illinois; Bulletin 60, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 29;
Bulletins 104 and 130, Illinois Agr. Exp. Sta. See also J. J. Davis, Bulletin
12, Part VIII, Technical Series, Bureau of Entomology,, U. S. Dept. Agr.,
and 7 M. Webster, Circular 86, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN

165

grasses, and many other weeds and grasses which spring up in
the corn-field. In South Carolina Professor A. F. Conradi has
found it injuring cotton.

If the nests of the small brown ant * so common in corn-fields
infested with the root-aphis, be broken open during the winter,
many of the little black aphis eggs, which have been carefully
stored by the ants, will be found. They are a glossy black color,

FIG. 120. — The corn root-aphis (Aphis maidi-radicis Forbes): at left, ovip-
arous female; a, hind tibia, showing sensoria; at right, male: a, antenna
— much enlarged. (After Forbes.)

oval in shape, and will sometimes be found in small piles in
the chambers of the ants' nests. On warm days the ants bring
them up to the warmer surface soil and in cold weather carry
them far down into the unfrozen earth. With the appearance
of young smartweed and foxtail-grass in April and May the eggs
commence to hatch. The ants at once lay bare the roots of
these plants and carry their young wards to them, where large
colonies soon become established. If the field is not planted in

* Lasius niger Linn. var. americanus Emery. See Forbes, Bulletin 131,
Illinois Agr. Exp. Sta.

166 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

corn, the lice will feed later upon the roots of pigeon-grass or
purslane. In early May the second generation of lice commence

4 5

FIG. 121. — The corn-root aphis (A phis maidi-radicis Forbes): 1, wingless
vivaparous female; a, apex of abdomen; 2, antenna of same; 3, pupa;
4, winged vivaparous female; 5, antenna of same. (After Forbes.)

to appear among them being both wingless and winged forms.
This brood and all of these during the summer are produced by
females known as agamic females, which give birth to live young

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN

167

without mating with a male. As soon as corn plants are available
the ants again transfer the aphides to their roots, and carry any
winged aphides which may have spread over the field down on
to the roots of the corn. All through the summer the ants
attend the lice, burrowing around the roots of the corn, and
carrying them from plant to plant, in return for which the
aphides give off the sweet honey-dew, when stroked by the ants'
antennae, upon which the ants feed. During the summer the
aphides continue to reproduce with extreme rapidity, an aphid
maturing and giving birth to young about eight days after it is born,

FIG. 122. — Grass root-louse (Schizoneura panicola); winged vivaparous
female, a, antenna. (After Forbes.)

each generation taking about sixteen days and there being about
twelve generations during the season. Both winged and wingless
agamic females occur throughout the summer, but late in Sep-
tember and in October wingless forms which develop into true
males and females are produced. These mate and the females
lay eggs during October, most of them being carried by the ants
to their nests, where the eggs are laid.

Control. — Owing to the fact that the aphides do not migrate
until the second generation, a rotation of crops will be of great
service in checking their injuries, as corn planted on uninfested
land will not be attacked until it has been able to secure a good
start, and if well fertilized will be able to successfully withstand

168 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 123. — The corn-field ant (Lasius niger americanus) : 1, worker; 2, larva;
3, winged male; 4, pupa; 5, winged female; 6, female with wings re-
moved. (After Forbes.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 169

whatever injury may occur. Rarely is corn on land not in corn
the previous year seriously injured, and where infestation has
not been serious throughout a community, it may usually be
grown two years in succession with safety.

The proper fertilization of plants affected with root insects
is always of great importance, enabling the plant to make a crop
in spite of them if the attack is not too severe. Professor F. M.
Webster observes that land which has been fertilized with barn-
yard manure is much less injured by this insect than that whore
commercial fertilizers are used.

As the ants not only spread the pest during spring and summer,
but house the eggs in their nests over winter, any means for
destroying their nests will be of importance in controlling the
aphides. Where it is practicable, deep plowing in late fall and
winter, with thorough harrowing, will break up the nests, and
land so treated has shown decidedly less injury the next season.
Similarly plowing deeply and harrowing several times in spring
not only breaks up the ants' nests, but destroys the weeds and
grasses upon which the aphides feed before corn is up, and also
furnishes the best possible seed-bed and soil conditions. This
should be particularly thorough in low spots where weeds are
thickest and where the aphides appear first. Such spring cultiva-
tion has been demonstrated as very effective in the control of
the pest. In recent years Professor S. A. Forbes has conducted
experiments in Illinois which seem to show that dipping the seed
in a repellant such as a lemon oil will render it obnoxious to the
ants, and thus protect the hill. This has not proven successful,
however, when heavy rains followed planting and washed off
the repellant. Lemon oil was used by adding 1 gallon of wood
alcohol to 1 pint of oil of lemon, of which 3 fluid ounces (6 table-
spoonfuls) were stirred into each gallon of seed used, being sure
that all the seeds were well coated. Such a treatment cost about
ten cents per acre and resulted in reducing the number of
aphides 89 per cent and the number of ants 79 per cent, so that
it may well be given a trial, but the chief reliance should be placed
upon rotation and early cultivation.

170 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Corn Leaf -aphis *

Although the corn leaf-aphis is not often very seriously
injurious to corn, in Texas and other Southern States it frequently
becomes so abundant on sorghum and corn, and in winter on
barley, as to do considerable injury. This species is also of interest
in that it appears on corn foliage in midsummer at the time when
the numbers of the root-aphis commence to decrease on the roots,

FIG. 124. — The corn leaf-aphis (Aphis maidis Fitch) : winged female — much
enlarged. (After Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

and it was for many years thought to be the same species. Care-
ful rearing experiments made under the direction of Dr. S. A.
Forbes have failed to show any connection between the root-
aphis and leaf-aphis, the aphides from the roots being unable to
establish themselves on the leaves and those on the leaves never
migrating to the roots. f

Dr. Forbes describes the species in his twenty-third report
as follows: " In the latter part of the summer this bluish-green
plant-louse may occasionally be found on the younger leaves,

* Aphis maidis Fitch. Family Aphididoe. See Webster and Davis,
I.e., p. 164.

t S. A. Forbes, 13th, 16th, 18th, and 23d Reports of the State Entomologist
of Illinois.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN

171

the tassel, and the upper part of stalks of corn, and more abun-
dantly and frequently on broom-corn and sorghum. Multiply-
ing in place by the birth of living young, which do not wander
from their place of origin, these leaf-lice may become abundant
enough to kill the leaves and to some extent to effect the health
of the plant. The insect is, however, rarely seriously injurious
to corn, but there is some evidence, . . . that it may prevent the
fertilization of the kernel by sucking the sap from the silk and
killing it before it has performed its function. Heavily infested
corn leaves turn yellow or red, and may shrivel and die, partic-
ularly if the weather be dry at the
time. Broom-corn is considerably
damaged by a reddened discoloration
of the brush, due to a bacterial affec-
tion following upon the plant-louse
punctures.

" The wingless form of this aphis
is about 2 mm. (one-twelfth inch)
long and half as wide at the widest
part, the body being somewhat ovate
in outline. The general color is pale
green, with the cauda, cornicles and
the greater part of the rostrum,
antenna? and legs black. The head
is marked with two longitudinal

dark bands, and the abdomen with a row of black spots
on each side and a black patch about the base of the cornicles.
The lattei are swollen in the middle, making the outlines convex.
. . . The winged form is somewhat different in color, the head
being black and the thorax chiefly black above. The abdomen
is pale green, bluish at the sides, with two transverse black bands
preceding the cauda, and the segments behind it edged with dark."
These differences between this and the root aphis are shown in
the accompanying figures. "Aphis maidis has been reported
at various times as a corn insect from New York to Texas,
Minnesota and California. The species makes its appearance

FIG. 125.— The wingless
female of the corn leaf-
aphis — much enlarged.
(After Webster, U.S. Dept.
Agr.)

172 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

in midsummer, our earliest date (Illinois) being July 9, when
specimens were found on young leaves of corn. We have no
record whatever to show whence it comes or where it lives pre-
ceding this time. Having once commenced to breed on the food
plants mentioned, it continues there until freezing weather over-
takes it, when, with the death of its food plants, it gradually
disappears, leaving neither eggs nor hibernating adults on or
about these plants, and passing the winter we do not know how
or where." Its occurrence on barley in Texas in January may
throw some light upon its wintering habits in the South. " The
latest to develop in the field largely acquire wings, and as the sap
supply in the plant diminishes they fly away. Wingless females,
on the other hand, perish on the spot. Indications are thus
very strong that this is a migrating species whose second food
plant is thus far unknown."

No experiments in the practical treatment of this pest seem
to have been recorded.

The Larger Corn Stalk-borer *

Throughout the South from Maryland to Louisiana and west-
ward to Kansas more or less serious injury is done by large white,
brown-spotted caterpillars which bore into the stalks. In spring
the young caterpillars bore into the heart of the young plant and
like other insects with similar habits (see page 161) are known as
" budworms." Later the holjowing out of the stalk so weakens
the plant that it is readily broken over by the wind. Consequently
a loss of from 25 to 50 per cent of the crop not infrequently results
where the pest is abundant.

Life History. — When the caterpillars become full grown in the
fall they burrow down into the tap-root and there pass the winter
in a small cavity at or near the surface of the ground. About the
time the land is being prepared for corn, from March 15 to April 30,
depending on the locality, the larva changes into a reddish-brown
pupa, from which the moth emerges in ten days or more. The

* Diatraea zeacolella Dyar. Family Crambidce. See Circular 139, Bureau
of Entomology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN

173

moth is a brownish-yellow color with wings expanding 1| inches,
the hind-wings being darker and bearing faint markings (Fig. 128).
The eggs are laid at dusk upon the under surface of the leaves of
the young corn, and hatch
in from seven to ten days.
The eggs are flat, scale-
like, and placed in rows
of from two to twenty-
five, slightly overlapping
each other. They arc
3/ioo inch long, by two
thirds as wide, at first a
creamy-white, but grad-
ually becoming a reddish^
brown. The young larva
bores into the stalk, often
destroying the " bud,"
and then at or near the
ground, where it burrows
upward in the pith,
seldom damaging the
stalk above the third
joint. As the borers
grow they become quite
active and frequently
leave and re-enter the
stalk, thus making sev-
eral holes. The caterpil-
lars become full grown
in twenty to thirty
days, and are about one inch long, dirty-white, thickly covered
with dark spots, each of which bears a short, dark bristle.
The mature caterpillar bores outward to the surface of the stalk,
making a hole for the escape of the adult moth, which it covers
with silk, and then transforms to a pupa in its burrow. This
occurs during July, and the moths of the second generation emerge

FIG. 126. — Work of the larger corn stalk-borer:
a, general appearance of stalk infested by
the early generation of borers; 6, same
cut open to show pupa and larval burrow.
(After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

174 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

in seven to ten days. The second brood of larvae feed on the old

FIG. 127. — a, b, c, varieties of the larva of the larger corn stalk-borer; d,
third thoracic segment; e, eighth abdominal segment; /, abdominal
segment from side; g, same from above— enlarged. (After Howard,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

stalks, tunneling them between the second joint and the ground,

and become full grown about
harvest time when they go
into winter quarters in the
root as above described.

Control. — It has been
observed that late planted
corn is much less injured
than that planted early,
but as it is more seriously
injured by some other pests,
late planting may not be
advisable.

Where corn has been

FIG. 128. — The larger corn stalk-borer,
a, female; b, wings of male; c, pupa
— all somewhat enlarged. (After
Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

seriously injured, the- old
stalks or butts should be
dragged off the field and
burned late in the fall, thus destroying the over-wintering borers.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 175

When corn is stripped for fodder, the stalks left standing and the
land sown in small grain, the most favorable conditions are
allowed the borers for safely passing the winter and developing
into moths which will fly to new fields in the spring.

A simple rotation of crops will also lessen injury considerably,
as Dr. L. O. Howard has observed that where fields which had
been in corn the previous year were damaged 25 per cent, those
planted on sod land were damaged but 10 per cent, though reason-
ably close to land which had been in corn.

Bill-bugs *

Throughout the South and often in the more Northern States,
Canada, and the West the bill-bugs sometimes become serious
enemies of young corn-plants. They are called " bill-bugs " on
account of the prolongation of the head, termed a bill or snout,
peculiar to all the weevils or " snout-beetles," by means of which
they are enabled to drill holes in the corn-stalks. Several species
belonging to the genus Sphenophorus are commonly injurious to
corn. One of these, S. parvulus Gyll., also attacks small grains
and timothy, and is therefore known as the Grain Sphenophorus.
Another species, S. obscurus Boisd., does considerable injury to
sugar-canfe in Hawaii. The adult beetles are from one-fourth to
three-fourths of an inch long, of the form shown in the illustration,
and are -of a brown or black color, marked with darker longitudinal
ridges on the wing-covers. The larva is a thick fleshy white
grub, from one-fourth to five-eighths of an inch long, with a
brown head and cervical shield on the first segment, and footless.

Life History. — The life histories of the different species are
but partially known.

S. parvulus hibernates over winter as a beetle, appearing in
March and April. The female punctures the stalk of wheat or
timothy — oats and barley are also sometimes attacked — a little
above the roots, and deposits her egg in the cavity. This is done
in May or June or even up to July 1st. The larvae are to be found

* Species of Sphenophorus. Family Calandridce. Sec S. A. Forbes,
23d Report of the State Entomologist of Illinois.

176 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

during July, becoming full grown and pupating during the latter
part of that month. The larvae will eat out quite a cavity in the
interior of the stalk or bulb, and 'then attack the roots, thus often
killing a whole clump or stool of small grain or timothy. The
pupal stage is passed in a small cell in the earth and lasts from two

FIG. 129. — Sphenophorus ochreus, larva, adult, and work in roots of Scirpus.
(After F. M. Webster, "Insect Life.")

to three weeks, adult beetles emerging from the middle of August
to the first of October.

One of the most injurious species to corn is S. ochreus Lee.
The life history is much the same as that of S. parvulus, though
eggs have been found as late as July 30th. The natural food-plant
of this species, however, is the common club-rush (Scirpus fluvia-
tilis), the roots of which consist of bulbs connected by smaller
slender roots. The eggs are deposited in or about the roots of this
rush, never having been found on corn. The bulbs of the rush are
very hard and oftentimes as large as hens' eggs. In them the

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 177

larvae burrow, becoming full grown and transforming to pupae,
from which the adult beetles appear in August and September.
When the rush becomes too hard for the beetles they often attack
a common reed (Phragmites communis), piercing and splitting

FIG. 130. — Sections of sugar-cane showing work of Sphenophorus obscurus:
a, larva; 6, pupa; c, probable points of oviposition. (After Riley and
Howard, " Insect Life.")

lengthwise the unfolded terminal leaves, and eating out the suc-
culent portions within. The injury to corn is done by the beetles
while the corn is still young, feeding upon it in the same manner
as do the other species. " Standing with the head downward and
the feet embracing the lower part of the stalk," says Dr. Forbes,
" they slowly sink the beak into the plant, using the jaws to make

178 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the necessary perforation. By moving forward and backward
and twisting to the right and left, the beetle will often hollow out a
cavity beneath the surface much larger than the superficial injury
will indicate." As the lower part of the stalk becomes hardened,
they leave it for the terminal portion, and when the ears commence
to form they often penetrate the husk and gorge out the soft cob.
Sometimes the injury thus inflicted is but slight, merely resulting
in a puncturing of the leaves when they unfold, these holes being
in a series across the leaf resulting from a single puncture when the
leaf was folded, and looking much like the work of the corn-root
webworm; but when several beetles attack a young plant, they
will either kill it outright or so deform the foliage and stalk that
no ear will mature.

Several other species have also been known to do more or less
injury to corn, viz., S. scoparius, placidus, cariosus, sculptilis,
and pertinax, but so far as known their habits and injuries are
much the same as of those already described.

Means of Control. — The control of these pests is rather a diffi-
cult task. S. ochreus, as in fact are all of the species, is most
injurious on recently cleared swamp-lands, and usually disappears
as fast as these lands are drained and cultivated. Planting flax,
potatoes, or some crop not attacked by these insects for the first
crop will largely prevent so serious injury to a subsequent corn
crop. The burning over of grass- and swamp-lands infested with
the beetles will also be of considerable value.

The Maize Bill-bug *

Throughout the Southern States and northward to Kansas
there has been more or less serious injury by a bill-bug which has
been recognized for many years as Sphenophorus robustus Horn.
Recently Dr. F. H. Chittenden has recognized this insect as a new
species and Mr. E. O. G. Kelly has published a complete account of
its life history, from which the following is taken.

As will be seen below this species is known to pass its entire life

* Sphenophorus maidis Chittn., see E. O. G. Kelly, Bulletin 95, Part II,
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN

179

history upon the corn-plant, so that the common name given it
appropriately distinguishes it from the other bill-bugs previously
mentioned. It has, however, been found feeding and p'robably
breeding in swamp-grass (Tnpsacum dactyloides) , which may be
its native food plant.

Life History. — The eggs were found in southern Kansas during
June, laid in punctures made by the female in young corn- plants.
These egg punctures are mere slits
and do not seem to materially injure
the plant. The eggs hatch in from
seven to twelve days, and from
them emerge small footless, dingy
white grubs, with chestnut-brown
heads, of the appearance shown
in Fig. 132. " They at once begin
feeding on the tissues of the young
corn at the bottom of the egg
puncture, directing their burrow
inward and downward into the tap-
root. When they finish eating the
tender parts of the taproot they
direct their feeding upward, con-
tinuing until full grown, allowing
thelower portion of the burrow to
catch the frass and excrement.
This burrowing of the taproot of the
young growing corn-plant is disastrous to the root system; . . .
allowing it to die or become more or less dwarfed." Often the
young larvae burrow into the heart of the plant and cut off
the growing bud, thus killing the top. The larvae become full
grown early in August, when they are about four-fifths of an inch
long. ' The larvae, on finishing their growth, descend to the lower
part of the burrow, to the crown of the taproot, cutting the pith
of the cornstalk into fine shreds, with which they construct a cell
where they inclose themselves for pupation." The pupae are to
be found in these cells in late August and early September, the

FIG. 131.— The maize bill-bug
(Sphenophorus maidis Chittn.)
— four times natural size.
(After Keliy, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

180

pupal stage lasting ten to twelve days. The adults commence to

emerge by the middle of August and continue to do so until the

middle of September. " Some of them leave the pupal cells, but

most of them remain there

for hibernation." Those

which emerged disappeared

and probably hibernated in

some dense, coarse grass near

by. Those which hibernated

in the pupal cells emerged the

next spring about the time

that young corn was sprouting.

The beetles are from two-fifths

to three-fifths of an inch long,

of a dull shining black color,

and sculptured as shown in Fig.

131. " The beetles are rarely

observed on account of their

FIG. 132. — Larva of the maize bill-
bug — twice natural size. (After
Kelly, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

FIG. 133. — Corn plant showing the
result of attack of the maize bill-
bug: a, larval burrow containing
pupa in natural position — reduced
two-thirds; b, egg-puncture con-
taining egg — enlarged. (After
Kelly, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

quiet habits and because they are covered with mud — a condition
which is more or less common among several species of this genus
and which is caused by a waxy exudation of the elytra to which the
soil adheres. The presence of the adults of this species in a corn-
field is made evident by the withering of the top leaves of very

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 181

young corn-plants, the plants having been severely gouged.
After the plants grow 10 to 15 inches tall they do not kill them,
but gouge out such large cavities in the stalks that they become
twisted into all sorts of shapes. The attacked plants sucker pro-
fusely, affording the young, tender growth for the beetles to feed
upon, even for many days after the non-infested plants have
become hard." Injury seems to be most serious on low land.
Injury by this species somewhat resembles that done by the larger
corn stalk-borer (Diatraea zeacolella), but is easily distinguished
from the work of the other bill-bugs, as the punctures of the latter,
which usually form a row or rows of holes in the leaves when they
unfold, arc not always fatal to the plants.

Control. — Inasmuch as most of the beetles hibernate in the
corn stubble, they may be readily destroyed by pulling out and
burning the stubble. Care must be taken, however, to pull out
the taproot, as the stalk will be liable to break above the beetle
and leave it in the ground. As the infested stalks have a poor
root system, they are easily pulled.

The Corn Ear-worm *

Practically the only insect injuring the ears of field-corn and
the worst insect pest of sugar-corn, is the ear-worm. In the
extreme South it is almost impossible to grow sugar-corn success-
fully on account of its injury, while further north it largely reduces
the profits of corn grown for the cannery, and destroys a consider-
able percentage of the kernels of field-corn. It is a most cosmopol-
itan insect, being found throughout the United States and in many
parts of the world, and has a long list of food plants, being known
as the tomato fruit-worm, tobacco bud-worm, and cotton boll-
worm (see pages 304, 234, 254) when attacking these plants,
besides which it feeds on beans, peas, and many garden crops
and forage plants, such as cowpeas and alfalfa.

Life History. — Along the Gulf Coast the first moths appear in
April, in the latitude of 33° about the middle of May, and in the
latitude of Delaware and Kansas, early in June.

* Heliotfd-s obsoleta Fab. Family Noctuidee.

182 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The moth is about three-quarters of an inch long with a wing
expanse of about If inches and is extremely variable in color and
markings. Some are dull olive green while others are yellowish
or nearly white a*nd with almost no markings. In the most typical
moths the wings are bordered with dark bands, the wing veins are
black and the fore-wings are spotted with black.

FlG. 134. — Corn ear-worms at work. The central cob has been attacked by
a nearly full-grown worm, which has bored through the husk near the
middle.

The eggs are semispherical in shape, about one-fifteenth inch in
diameter, light yellowish, and prettily corrugated with ridges as
shown in Fig. 184. Those of the first brood are laid on corn, peas,
beans, or whatever food-plants are available, and hatch in three to
five days, depending upon the temperature.

The caterpillars of the first generation often attack corn when
about knee-high, feeding in the axils of the tender leaves, so that

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN

183

when the leaves unroll they bear horizontal rows of holes. The
caterpillars are exceedingly variable in color, being from a light
green through rose color and brown to almost black, and either

FIG. 135. — t'orn car-worm. Husk of ear of sugar-corn torn open, showing
worms at work on tip and hole through which a full grown worm has left.

striped, spotted or perfectly plain. They become full grown in
about 2£ weeks and are then about 1} to 1£ inches long. When
done feeeding the caterpillar burrows 2 to 5 inches into the soil
near the base of the plant. A cell is then constructed which runs
back to within a half inch of the surface of the soil, so that the

184 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

moth may readily push off this surface soil and escape. The
burrow finished, the larva retires to the bottom of the cell and
there molts and enters the pupal stage.

The pupa is four-fifths inch long, shining reddish-brown.
During the summer the moths emerge about two weeks later,
but the last generation in the fall passes the winter in the pupal
stage. Thus the complete life cycle from egg to adult moth
requires slightly over a month in midsummer, and from six to
eight weeks for the spring and fall broods.

The second generation of moths appears about the middle
of July in the latitude of. Delaware and Kansas. In the far
South the second generation of moths appears when corn is com-
ing into silk and tassel, upon which the moths always prefer to
lay their eggs. As a result, the caterpillars of the second genera-
tion in the South, and the third further North, do serious injury
to field-corn, gnawing out the kernels at the tips of the ears, and
furnishing favorable conditions for molds to propagate, which
do further injury. From 2 to 3 per cent of the corn crop of the
country, with a cash value of $30,000,000 to $50,000,000, is thus
destroyed by the ear worm annually.

The third generation of moths appears the last of August
in Delaware and Kansas and gives rise to the third brood of
caterpillars, wrhich are there the most destructive brood on field-
corn and sugar-corn, frequently causing a loss of from 10 to 50
per cent of the latter crop. The caterpillars become full grown
during the latter part of September and change to pupae, which
hibernate over winter as already described.

In the Gulf States there are four full broods and along the
Gulf Coast there may be five or six, while in the Northern States
there are but two generations, with possibly but one in Ontario.

Control. — As the pupae pass the winter in the soil, by all means
the most satisfactory and practical means of control is to plow
infested land in late fall or during the winter, plowing deeply
and harrowing. This will break up the pupal cells, crush some
of the pupae, and expose others to the rigors of winter to which
most of them will succumb.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 185

The early planting of field-corn prevents the. moths from lay-
ing their eggs upon it, as it will have passed the silking stage and
other fields which are in silk will be preferred; it being possible
to thus reduce the injury by at least a third by early planting.

Where the caterpillars of the first generation are working in
the unfolding leaves, they are sometimes poisoned with Paris
green, mixed with flour or corn meal as used for this pest on
tobacco, but as Paris green often burns the foliage powdered
arsenate of lead will doubtless be found equally effective with-
out burning.

CHAPTER X

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS *

THE farmer who stores his grain, awaiting a higher price,
is sometimes sadly disappointed to find that it has been so
riddled by " weevil " that it brings no more than had it been sold
previously.

The term " weevil " is rather a comprehensive one, being
commonly applied to almost every insect infesting stored food-
products. Only a few species are commonly injurious in the
farm-granary.

Grain-weevils

Of these the Granary-weevil f and the Rice-weevil J (Fig.
136), are the most common and widely distributed. Both of
these insects have infested grain from the most ancient times, so
long, in fact, that the granary-weevil has lost the use of its wings
and remains entirely indoors. They are small, brown • beetles,
from one-eighth to one-sixth of an inch .in length, with long snouts
which are of great service in boring into the kernels of grain.
By means of them the females puncture the grain and then insert
an egg in the cavity. The larva hatching from this is without
legs, somewhat shorter than the adult, white in color, and of a
very robust build, being almost as broad as long. It soon devours
the soft interior of the kernel and then changes to a pupa, from
which the adult beetle emerges in about six weeks from the
time the egg was laid.

Only a single larva inhabits a kernel of wheat, but several

* See " Some Insects Injurious to Stored Grains," F. H. Chittenden,
Farmers' Bulletin, 45, U. S. Department of Agriculture.
f Calandra granaria Linn.
J Calandra oryzce Linn. Family Calandridae.

186

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS

187

will often be found in that of corn. Xot only do the larvae
injure the grain, but the beetles feed upon it, and then hollow
out a shelter for themselves within the hull. The beetles are
quite long-lived, and thus do considerable damage. The egg-
laying period is equally long, and as there are three or four broods
in the North and six or more in the South, it has been estimated
that the progeny of one pair would amount to 6000 insects in a
single season.

Grain-beetles

Another beetle very common in the granary, but of quite
different appearance, is the Saw-toothed Grain-beetle * (Fig. 137).
It is a cosmopolitan
pest and is also nearly
omnivorous. The
beetle is only about
one-tenth of an inch
long, very much flat-
tened, of a dark-brown
color, and may be
easily recognized by
the six saw-like teeth
on each side of the
thorax, The larva is
of a dirty-white color,
and quite dissimilar
from that of the gra-
nary weevil. Having
, •,

about, it is not satisfied
with a single seed, but
runs about here and

there, nibbling at several. When full grown the larva glues together
several grains or fragments into a little ease, and inside of this trans-
forms to the pupa and then to the beetle. In early spring this life
* Silvanus surinamensis Linn. Family Cucujidoe.

FIG. 136. — The grain weevil (Cakindra granaria):
a, beetle; b, larva; c, pupa, d, the rice weevil
(C. oryza) : beetle — all enlarged. (After Chit-
tenden; U. S.

188 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

cycle requires from six to ten weeks, but in summer it is reduced
to about twenty-five days. Thus there are from three to six
or more generations during a season, according to the latitude.
The Red or Square-necked Grain-beetle * is about the same
size as the last species, but is of a reddish-brown color, and the
thorax is almost square, nearly as broad as the abdomen, and
not notched on the sides. It breeds in corn in the field and in
the granary, first destroying the germ, so that it is especially

FIG. 137. — The saw-toothed grain beetle (Silvanus surinamensis): a, adult
beetle; b, pupa; c, larva — all enlarged; d, antenna of larva — still more
enlarged; d, the red or square-necked grain beetle (Cathartus gemellatus
Duv.) (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

injurious to seed-corn. It feeds mostly out of doors, though
sometimes infesting the granary.

The Foreign Grain-beetle f is of much the same general
appearance, but smaller and of a more robust appearance It
feeds upon a great variety of stored products as well as grain,
but rarely becomes troublesome.

The Cadelle J also has the bad habit of first attacking the
embryo or germ of the kernel, and going from one kernel to another,
thus destroys a large number for seed purposes. It possesses,

* Cathartus gemellatus Duv.

t Cathartus advena Waltl.

t Tenebroides manritanicus Linn. Family Trogositidce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS

189

however, the good trait of feeding on other injurious grain-
insects. The beetle is oblong, flat, nearly black, and about
one'-third of an inch long. The larva is of a whitish color, with a

FIG. 138. — TheCadellc (Tenfbroides mauritanicus) : a, adult l>eetle with greatly
enlarged antenna alx»ve; b, pupa; c, larva — -all enlarged. (After
Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

brown head, the thoracic segments are marked with brown, and
the abdomen terminates in two dark horny processes. It is a
fleshy grub, nearly three-fourths of an inch long when full grown.

Flour- and Meal-moths

. The larva? of several small moths sometimes infest grain
in store, but rarely do it serious damage, preferring the softer
flour, meal, and food-products.

The most destructive of these is the Mediterranean Flour-

190

INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

moth * (Fig. 139). This insect was practically unknown until
1877, but during recent years it has occasioned the loss of many
thousands of dollars to mill-owners. It occurs throughout

FIG. 139. — -The Mediterranean flour-moth (Ephestia kuehnieUa): a, moth; 6,
same from side, resting; c, larva; d, pupa — enlarged; e, abdominal joint
of larva — more enlarged; /, larva, dorsal view. (After Chittenden
TJ. S. Dept. Agr.)

FIG. 140. — The Indian meal-moth (Plodia inter punctelld): a, moth; b, pupa;
c, caterpillar; /, same, dorsal view — somewhat enlarged; d, head, and e,
first abdominal segment of caterpillar — more enlarged. (After Chitten-
den, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

Europe, and is found in Mexico and Chili. It was first recognized
in America in 1889, and has since done an increasing amount
of damage in California, in Xew York and Pennsylvania, Xorth
Carolina, Alabama, New Mexico, and Colorado, and has become

* Ephestia kuehnieUa Zell. Family Pyralidce. See W. G. Johnson,
Appendix 19th Report State Entomologist of Illinois, and F. L. Washburn,
Special Report of the State Entomologist of Minnesota on the Mediter-
ranean flour-moth.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS

191

quite generally distributed. " The caterpillars form cylindrical
silken tubes in which they feed, and it is in great part their habit
of web-spinning that renders them so injurious where they obtain
a foothold. Upon attaining full growth the caterpillar leaves
its original silken domicile and forms a new web, which becomes
a cocoon in which to undergo its transformations to pupa and
imago. It is while searching for a suitable place for transforma-
tion that the insect is most troublesome. The infested flour
becomes felted together and lumpy, the machinery becomes
clogged, necessitating frequent and prolonged stoppage, and result-
ing in a short time in the loss of thousands of dollars in large
establishments . ' '

The life cycle of
this insect requires
ordinarily about
two months, but
may be completed
in thirty-eight days
under the most
favorable condi-
tions. The adult
moth measures a
little less than an

inch across the expanded wings. The fore-wings are of a lead-
gray color, with transverse black markings, while the hind-
wings are dirty whitish, with a darker border.

The Indian Meal-moth * (Fig. 140) larvae resemble those of
the grain-beetles in having a special liking for the embryo of
wheat-grains. They spin a fine silken web as they go from seed
to seed, to which they become attached, and to which is added a
large amount of excrement, thus spoiling for food much more
grain than is actually injured.

The moth has a wing-expanse of an inch; the inner third
of the fore-wings being a whitish gray, and the outer portion
reddish-brown, with a coppery lustre.

* Plodia interpunctcllu Hbn. Family Pymlidos.

FIG. 141. — The meal snout-moth (Pyralisfarinalis):
a, adult moth; b, larva; c, pupa in cocoon — twice
natural size. (After Chittenden, U. S. D. Agr.)

192 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Meal Snout-moth * (Fig. 141) is of a light brown color,
the thorax, base, and tips of the fore-wings being darker brown.
The wings expand nearly an inch and are otherwise marked
with whitish lines as shown in the figure. It is very similar to
the last-mentioned species in its habits, constructing long tubes
with silk and particles of the food in which it is living. The life-
history is completed in about eight weeks, and four generations
may oocur in a year. The moisture of " heated " grain is most
favorable for the development of this pest, and it need not be
feared if grain is kept in a clean, dry place.

The Angoumois Grain-moth f

By far the worst granary pest throughout the South is the
" fly-weevil," or Angoumois grain-moth.

History. — This insect is an importation from Europe and receives
its name from the fact that in 1760 it " was found to swarm in all
the wheat-fields and granaries of Angoumois and of the neighbor-
ing provinces [of France], the afflicted inhabitants being thereby
deprived of their principal staple, and threatened with famine
and pestilence from want of wholesome bread." The insect
was first noted in this country in North Carolina in 1730, and in
1796 was so abundant as to extinguish a lighted candle when a
granary was entered at night. It is essentially a southern insect,
being very injurious to stored corn in the Gulf States. Of late
years it seems to be moving steadily northward, being reported
as injurious in central Pennsylvania and Ohio. Wheat, corn,
oats, rye, barley, sorghum-seed, and even cow-peas are subject
to injury.

Life History. — The injury is not done by the moth, as might
be reasonably supposed from the fact that it is the only form of
the insect usually seen, but is done by the small caterpillars
which feed within the grain, where they may be found during
the winter. The caterpillar cats to the surface of the kernel,
but not through it, thus leaving a thin lid which the moth can

* Pyralis farinalis Linn. Family Pyralidcc.
t Sitotroga ccrcalella Oliv. Family GclcchiidcB.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS

193

easily push aside when it comes out in the spring, and then covers
itself with a fine silken web. At this time the caterpillar is
usually fully grown and is about one-fifth of an inch long, of a white
color, with the head yellowish and harder, and having six jointed
legs in front, a series of four pairs of fleshy pro-legs along the
middle, and another pair of soft legs at the end of the body.
With warm spring weather the caterpillar changes to a pupa?
and about the time that the wheat comes into head the adult
moth emerges. As soon as it emerges, whether outdoors or in a

FIG. 142. — The Angoumois grain-moth (Sitotroga cerealella) : a, eggs; b, larva
at .work; c, larva, side view; d, pupa; c, moth; /, same, side view.
(After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

barn, the moth at once flies to the grain-field, where the eggs are
deposited. The exact time at which the moths emerge varies,
but occurs some time late in May or in June. The moths quite
closely resemble the clothes-moth often found flying about houses.
The wings are quite narrow, and when expanded measure about
one-half an inch from tip to tip, being of a yellowish or buff color,
marked with black. The eggs are laid in the longitudinal channel
on the side of the grain. Each female lays from sixty to ninety
eggs in lots of about twenty each, one lot thus being about enough
to infest the kernels of a head. The eggs hatch in from four to
seven days. The young caterpillars are at first very active
and soon find tender places and bore into the kernels, leaving

194 INSECT "PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

almost invisible openings. These caterpillars become full

grown in about three weeks, just
about the time the grain is mature.
About harvest-time the second brood
of moths appears. These lay their
eggs during July, depositing them on
the ripe heads if the harvest be a little
delayed, but on the wheat in stack if
harvest is prompt. Usually the
caterpillars hatching from these eggs
become full grown and remain in the
grain over winter, but in warm sea-
sons, especially if warm in September
or when the pest is unusually abun-
dant, a third brood of moths appears
early in September. These lay another
batch of eggs about the middle of
September, depositing them upon the
open ends of grain in stack or mow,
which thus becomes more infested than
that in the centre. In grain stacked
outside, the caterpillars of this brood
become full grown slowly and remain
in the grain over winter, but if in
the barn they grow faster and a
fourth brood of moths appears about
the middle of October, the moths being
noticed in threshing. The insects con-
tinue to breed within doors all winter
as long as any grain remains, though
they become sluggish and cease feed-
ing during cold weather. The number
of broods is entirely dependent upon
the latitude and weather conditions;
in the South, where they can breed

continuously, there being as many as eight in a year.

,-C

o
*^»

03
W

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS 195

Corn is frequently attacked, but not until it is ripe and husked,
and then but rarely when husked in October and November and
stored outdoors in slatted cribs. Seed-corn stored in barns, and
in the South in almost any situation, is often badly injured.

Aside from the loss in weight, grain when badly infested
becomes unfit for milling purposes, and will even be refused by
cattle and horses, which should not be urged to eat it, though
hogs and fowls will readily consume it.

Remedies. — Dr. J. B. Smith, in an interesting bulletin upon
this pest, to which we are indebted for much of the above, advises
as follows: " Thresh as soon after harvest as possible, and bulk in
tight bins or in good sacks. [By " tight bins " are meant those
which will not permit the entrance or exit of the moths.] If the
grain is dry when harvested, it may be threshed at once; if not, as
soon as it is in good condition. If the sacked grain is infested,
there will not be wormy kernels sufficient to heat the grain. The
moths cannot make their way out and are stifled. Nothing can
come in from outside and the grain remains safe. The threshing
itself kills many of the insects and jars and rubs off many of the
eggs. If binned, the bins should be tight and the grain should be
tested occasionally for any appreciable heating. If it heats per-
ceptibly, it indicates considerable infestation, and it should be
treated with carbon bisulfide at once, used at the rate of one
drachm per cubic foot, or 1 pound for 250 cubic feet bin-space."
Recent investigations have shown that more bisulfide will often
be necessary. See page 198.

Those having wheat unthreshed, whether in- stack or mow,
should thresh at once, and treat as above directed, except that if
much of it is noticed to be wormy, it should be treated with carbon
bisulfide at once, as soon as threshed, which if done thoroughly
will prevent any further infestation that year.

Barns and storehouses should be cleaned up and freed from all
loose and scattered grain — chickens will help in this — before April
1st, so that no moths will be allowed to develop and infest the
grain in the field. Places where grain has been in shock the pre-
vious season should be cleaned up by the aid of chickens. Thus if

190 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

there is any probability of grain being infested, it should be kept
tightly covered in the spring so as not to permit the spread of the
moths to the fields.

Prevention of " Weevil "

Undoubtedly grain-insects can usually be more successfully
combated by a proper housing of the grain. No matter how often
the insects are destroyed in a granary, if the remainder of the barn
is full of dust, sweepings, and refuse, as it generally is, on which
the beetles can feed and in which they will breed, and if the gran-
ary is not absolutely tight, as soon as the gas passes off the insects
from the barn will again enter the granary, and soon it will be as
badly infested as ever.

Cleanliness. — " Cleanliness will accomplish much toward the
prevention of injury from these pests, the cause of a great propor-
tion of injuries in granaries, mills, elevators, and other structures
where grain and feed are stored being directly traceable to a dis-
regard of neatness. Dust, dirt, rubbish, and refuse material con-
taining sweepings of grain, flour, and meal are too frequently per-
mitted to accumulate and serve as breeding-places for a multitude
of injurious insects.

" The floors or corners and walls of the barn or storehouse
should be frequently swept, and all material that has no commer-
cial value burned."

The Granary. — " The ideal farmer's granary, from the stand-
point of insect ravages, should be built at some distance from
other buildings, and the rooms constructed of matched floorings
so as to be as near vermin-proof -as possible. The doors should fit
tightly, closing upon a rabbet, which may be covered with felt or
packing, and the windows covered with frames of wire gauze to pre-
vent the passage of insects. The floor, walls, and ceilings should
be smooth, so as not to afford any lurking-places for the insects,
and it would be well to have them oiled, painted, or whitewashed
for further security. A coating of coal-tar has been strongly recom-
mended for the latter purpose."

" The value of a cool place as a respository of grain has been

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS 197

known of old, and a building in which any artificial heat is
employed is undesirable for grain storage. The ' heating ' and fer-
mentation of grain, as is well known, is productive of ' weevil,' and
this should be prevented by avoiding moisture and by ventilation-
" The storage of grain in large bulk is to be commended, as the
surface layers only are exposed to infestation. This practice is
particularly valuable against the moths, which do not penetrate
far beneath the surface. Frequent agitation of the grain is also
destructive to the moths, as they are unable to extricate them-
selves from a large mass, and perish in the attempt. The true
granary-weevils (small dark-brown beetles with long curved
snouts, similar to the pea- weevil), however, penetrate . more
deeply, and although bulking is of value against them, it is not
advisable to stir the grain, as it merely distributes them more
thoroughly through the mass." — Chittenden.

Destruction of " Weevil "

Carbon Bisulfide. — " The simplest, most effective, and most
inexpensive remedy for all insects that affect stored grain and
other stored products is the bisulfide of carbon, a colorless liquid,
with a strong disagreeable odor, which, however, soon passes
away." At ordinary temperatures it vaporizes rapidly, forming a
heavy gas, which is highly inflammable and a powerful poison.

Application. — It may be applied directly to the infested grain
or seed without injury to its edibleness or viability by spraying
with an ordinary watering-can having a fine rose nozzle. In
moderately tight bins it is more effective, however, as it evaporates
more slowly and diffuses more evenly, if placed in shallow dishes
or pans, or on bits of cloth or cotton waste distributed about on
the surface of the grain or infested material. The liquid volatil-
izes rapidly, and, being heavier than air, descends and permeates
the mass of grain, killing all insects and other vermin present.
The bin should then be covered with 1 wards, canvas, or blankets,
and allowed to remain at least twenty-four hours. If to be used
for seed, it should not be left for over thirty-six hours; but if not,

198 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

leave it forty-eight hours, which will do it no injury for food.
After treating, keep the grain covered to prevent reinfestation.

Amount to Use. — It was formerly recommended that the bisul-
fide be applied at the rate of 1 to 3 pounds to 100 bushels of grain
or 1000 cubic feet of open space. Recent experiments, however,
have shown the total inadequacy of this dosage. Experiments
made by Hinds and Hunter * show that the effectiveness of the
gas is in direct proportion to the temperature. Below 60° F. the
fumigation is ineffective and inadvisable. A dosage which will,
kill practically all the weevil at 67° to 70° will kill but 60 to 70 per
cent at 60° to 65°. They recommend the use of 5 pounds per
1000 cubic feet where the room or bin is quite tight and the tem-
perature is 70° or above. For loose rooms and lower tempera-
tures, the dosage must be largely increased and may not be profit-
able. The above estimates are based upon the grain being in a
cubical shape; if it is spread out shallow, more bisulfide will be
necessary.

Caution. — " Certain precautions should always bie observed.
The vapor of carbon bisulfide is deadly to all forms of animal
life if inhaled in sufficient quantity, but there is no danger in
inhaling a small amount. The vapor is highly inflammable,
but with proper care that no fire of any kind, as, for example,
a lighted cigar, lantern, or light of any kind, be brought into
the vicinity until the fumes have entirely passed away, no trouble
will be experienced."

Hydrocyanic Acid Gas. — Mills and storehouses which needed
treatment were formerly fumigated with carbon bisulfide, which
is still employed to a considerable extent, but this has been
largely replaced by fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas, which
obviates the risk from fire. Directions for the use of this gas
should be obtained from the entomologist of the State experiment
station or from the Bureau of Entomology of the U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture.

Sulfur Fumes. — Professor R. I. Smith (l.c) has made expcri-

* Hinds and Hunter, Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. Ill, p. 47:
R. I. Smith, Bulletin 203, X. C. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STORED GRAINS 199

ments with sulfur dioxid, produced by burning sulfur slightly wet
with alcohol, and finds that it will effectively kill grain insects
but injures the germinating power of the grain. " It was found that
the fumes produced by burning 2£ pounds of sulfur either in a
moist or dry atmosphere of 1000 cubic feet space, for twenty
hours, would kill all exposed adult insects and practically all the
young stages in the grain, but that this also destroyed its germinat-
ing power. . . While this treatment cannot be recommended
for general fumigation, there is no doubt of its being the easiest
and cheapest method of fumigating corn cribs, granaries and
similar places whenever they are being cleaned out and freed
of insects in preparation for the reception of more grain."

Heat. — The heating of grain was one of the earliest means
known of combating grain insects, but has been little used in this
country. Recently, however, Mr. Geo. A. Dean of the Kansas
Agricultural Experiment Station,* has shown that by super-
heating mills they may be rid of insect pests much more quickly
and cheaply than by fumigation, and with no risk from fire, or
from cyanide poisoning. His experiments show that if the
temperature surrounding an insect be maintained above 120° F.,
with a normal amount of moisture, that in a very few minutes it
will be killed. This promises to become one of the most prac-
ticable methods of cleaning mills and may be used for small
quantities of grain, where there are facilities for heating it or
placing it in a superheated room, but probably carbon bisulfide
fumigation will be found more practicable for small amounts.
* Geo. A. Dean, Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. IV, p. 142.

CHAPTER XI

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER*

The Clover Root-borer f

THE. clover root-borer is practically the only insect pest which
seriously injures clover roots. It has long been known as a
clover pest in Europe, but was first noticed in this country in

FIG. 144. — The clover root-borer (Hylastinus obscurus): a, adult, natural
size at right; b, larva or grub; c, pupa — much enlarged. (After Webster,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)'

western New York in 1876, whence it has spread southward to
West Virginia and westward to Illinois and southern Michigan,
and has also been injurious in Oregon.

Life History. — During the winter the beetles may be found
hibernating in their burrows in infested clover roots. They are
not readily distinguishable, for they are scarcely one-eighth
inch long, and are of a reddish-brown color much like that of the
burrow. With the warmer weather of spring they commence

* See The Insect Pests of Clover and Alfalfa, J. W. Folsom. 25th Report
of the State Entomologist of Illinois, p.p. 41-124.

t Hylastinus obscurus Marsham. Family Scolytidce.

200

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER

201

burrowing and feeding in the roots, and during late May and early

June the females deposit their eggs along

the sides of the tunnels. " The female

gouges out a shallow cavity, more often

in the crown of the plant, sometimes at

the sides of the root even 2 or 3 inches

below the crown, and in this places,

singly, but not far separated, about a

half dozen pale whitish, elliptical, very

minute eggs. These hatch in about a

week, and the larva? for a time feed in

the excavation made by the mother,

but soon burrow downward into the root,

and before the ^st of August, the majority

of them have become full-grown, and

passed into the pupal stage. By October

nearly all have become fully developed

beetles, but they make no attempt to

leave the plant until the folio wing spring."

The spread of the insect occurs very

largely in the spring when the beetles

fly from field to field, seeking uninfested

plants in which to perpetuate their kind.

It has been observed that alsike clover
is not so badly injured as the mammoth
and common red clover, on account of
the fibrous roots and the tendency of
its tap-root to divide. In Europe alfalfa
is injured, but no injury has yet been
reported to that crop in this country,
though it may be anticipated.

" While an infested clover plant sooner or later succumbs to
an attack by this insect, life may be lengthened or shortened by
meteorological conditions. Thus, if the spring or early summer
is very dry, the plants begin to dry in patches late in June, as
soon as the hay crop is .removed; but if there is much rain dur-

FIG. 145. — Clover root,
showing work of clover
root - borer. Slightly
enlarged. (After
Webster, U. S. D. Agr.)

202

INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

ing tliis period, the weakened plants may continue to live until
winter, dying out before spring. In either case the farmer is
likely to be misled and attribute the loss to the weather."*
Clover is practically exempt from attack the first year as the
roots are not large enough to accommodate the insects, and it is
not until the second year that the plants are destroyed.

Control. — The only effective means of control suggested is
summer following as soon as the hay crop has been removed.
The field should then be plowed up at, once, before the larvae
have transformed to pupa?, so that the hot sun, and dry winds,
will dry out the roots of the clover and thus starve the larvae,
thereby preventing their developing and migrating to other
fields. Clover fields should not be allowed to stand over two
years in infested localities. Xo injury seems to be done in
pastures. A system of rotation in which the crop is mowed for hay
and seed the first year, and pastured and then broken up the
second year, should keep the pest under control.

The Clover Stem-borer -j-

Early in June one frequently finds the beetles of the Clover

Stem-borer here and
there in the clover-
field. They are slen-
der, shining beetles,
about one-third of an
inch long, with a red
head and thorax and
bluish-black wing-
covers. The beetles
themselves seem to
do little or no harm.
Hibernating over
winter, they lay eggs

FIG. 146. — Clover stem-borer (Languria mozardi) :
the eggs natural size and magnified, the
beetle, larva, and pupa — all much enlarged,
and above, a clover-stem with the larva at
work in it. (After Comstock.)

* Quotations from F. M. Webster, The Clover-root Borer, Circular 119,
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

f Languria mozardi Fab. Family Erotylidce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER 203

in the pith of the stems early in June, and the larvae
emerging from these feed upon the pith of the stem, often
very seriously weakening or killing it. The larvae become full-
grown in a short time, transform to pupae, and the beetles appear
by August.

Clover is only one of a dozen food-plants of this insect, which
is widely distributed. It rarely does any considerable injury
where clover is regularly cut in early summer and fall, and need
not be feared when this is not neglected.

The Clover Leaf -weevil *

The clover leaf- weevil is a stout, oval beetle, about one-third
inch long, with a long, thick snout. It is of a brownish color,
with several narrow gray lines above and broad gray stripes
on each side, and with twenty rows of small, deep punctures
on the wing-covers. It is also a native of Europe and made its
first appearance in the same section- of western New York as the
last species, about 1881. Since then it has spread eastward to
Rhode Island and Vermont, southward to North Carolina and
\\Vst Virginia, and westward to Wisconsin and Illinois. Every
few years the weevils and their larva) destroy much of the foliage
in restricted localities, but rarely are they very injurious the next
season. Red clover, alfalfa, and white clover are preferred in the
order named; in Illinois the mammoth and alsike are also eaten.

Life History. — In early fall the female beetles lay their eggs
in crevices among the stems near the base of the plant, which
hatch in from three to six weeks. The young larvae which hatch
from them are without legs, but manage to climb by means of
the prominent tubercles on the lower surface of the body. They
are light yellowish-green, becoming deeper green as they grow
older, the head is brown, and down the middle of the back
is a white or pale yellow stripe bordered with reddish. The
larvae become partially grown before winter sets in, when they
hibernate in rubbish or just under the soil until spring, when
they continue to feed upon the foliage and become full-grown
* Phytonomus punctatus Fab. Family CurculwnidiK.

204 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

in May and early June. They feed mostly at night and are
hardly noticeable in the day, when they 'lie protected around
the base of the plant, lying curled up head to tail. The injury
to the foliage is quite characteristic, the edges of the leaves being
eaten in a regular manner as shown in Fig. 147. When full grown

FIG. 147. — Clover leaf-weevil (Phytonomus punctatus Fabr.) : a, egg magnified
and natural size; bbbb, larvae; c, recently hatched larva; d, head of
larva; e, jaws of the same; /, cocoon; g, same magnified to show the
meshes; h, pupa; i, weevil, natural size; j, the same magnified; k, top
view of the beetle; I, tarsus and claws of the beetle; m, antenna of the
beetle. (After Riley.)

the larva buries itself just under the surface of the soil and makes
an oval cell, in which it spins a delicate cocoon consisting of a
coarse network of pale yellow threads, which later turn brown,
as shown in Fig. 147. Occasionally the cocoon is made on the
surface or among the bases of the stems. In this the pupal
stage is passed, lasting two or three weeks; the beetles being
most common in July and August. The damage which the

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER 205

beetles do to the second crop of clover is fully equal that done
by the larvae to the first, and is more apparent because the soil
is then dry and the plant grows more slowly.

That this insect has not become a more serious pest is due to
the fact that as often as it becomes excessively abundant the larvae
are almost completely destroyed by a fungous disease.* When
affected by this disease the larva? climb to the top of a blade of
grass, curl tightly around the tip, and soon die, first becoming
covered with a white mold and then turning to a jelly-like mass.
The spores of the fungus become scattered to healthy individuals,
which soon succumb, so that before long nearly all are destroyed,
and rarely do enough survive to cause trouble the next year.

Control. — On account of this disease repeated injury has been
so rare that no means of artificial control has been necessary.
" The necessity for the employment of any remedy does not
appear until the clover is well on in its second year's growth," says
Dr. Folsom (I.e.). " If damage is anticipated, however, it wouM
seem advisable to pasture the clover lightly or to clip back in the
spring; this does not hurt the clover, is highly desirable as a means
of forestalling the attacks of some other clover pests (see page
214), and might check the larvae of the leaf-weevil somewhat,
though it is possible that they would subsist on the cut stems until
the new growth started; and in cold weather they can live a long
time without any food. After the second season red clover should
be plowed under to get rid of this pest, as well as for other agricul-
tural reasons."

The Alfalfa Weevil *

In recent years a first cousin of the last species has been intro-
duced into Utah, where it has become firmly established and
promises to become the most serious obstacle to alfalfa culture.
The alfalfa weevil is a native of Europe, western Asia, and north-
ern Africa, where it is common but never very seriously injurious.

* Empusa spharoperma Fres.

* Phytonomus murinus Fab. Family Curculianidce . See E. G. Titus,
Bulletin 110, Utah Agr. Exp. Sta., and F. M. Webster, Circular 137, Bureau
of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

206 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

It was first noticed in America nsar Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1904,
and has been increasing and spreading until it now occupies an
area of fully 100 square miles around Salt Lake City.

The beetles are from one-eighth to three-sixteenth inch long,
dark brown, marked with black and gray hairs which gives them
a mottled appearance as shown in Fig. 149e. These hairs or scales

are gradually rubbed
off, so that in spring
many individuals are
entirely black with
small grayish spots.

Life History. — The
beetles seek shelter for
hibernation before
frost in the autumn,
either in the crowns
of the alfalfa plants,
or under thick grass,
weeds, rubbish, leaves,
or in hay or straw
stacks. Often they
winter in barns where
the hay is stored, the
floors of which are
often found covered
with the beetles in
winter and spring. It is estimated that fully 80 per cent of the
weevils survive the winter in Utah. In the spring the beetles emerge
and attack the young alfalfa plants as soon as there is sufficient food
for them, usually late in March. - The females commence laying
eggs in early April and continue oviposition until early July. In
early spring while the plants are small the females often push
their eggs down between the leaves, but the usual method is to
insert them in punctures made in the stem. This puncturing of
the young stems often results in considerable damage in early
spring. A single alfalfa plant which had escaped from cultiva-

FIG. 148. — The alfalfa weevil, adults, clustering
on and attacking sprig of alfalfa — natural size.
(After Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER

207

tion was found to contain 127 of these punctures, and as each
puncture contains ten or fifteen eggs, this plant probably bore
some 1200 eggs, although it was exceptional.

The eggs hatch in about ten days and the small white larvae
make their way to the leaves, in which they eat small holes. They
soon turn a decidedly green color, and when full grown are about
one-half inch long with a white stripe down the middle of the back
and somewhat curved as shown in Fig. 149c. They attack the
young leaves and crown so that a badly infested field will not get
over six inches high; too short to mow. The larva? are most

FIG. 149. — The alfalfa-weevil (Phytonomus murinus): a, eggs; b, cocoon;
c, larva; d, pupa; e, adult — all much enlarged. (After Webster, U. S.
Dept, Agr.)

abundant in May and decrease through June. When full grown
the larva? crawl or drop to the ground and spin their cocoons
in the dead leaves or rubbish. The cocoon is globular and
composed of a network of rather coarse white threads, Fig. 1496.
In it the larva transforms to a pupa, which stage lasts from
one to two weeks, when the adult beetle emerges.

From early to midsummer the beetles become more and more
abundant, and not only feed on the fresh growth, but attack the
bark of the stems so that where excessively abundant they totally
destroy the second crop.

" The entire life of the insect, from the deposition of the egg to
the emergence of the adult, may be anywhere from forty to seventy

208 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

days, while the beetle itself may live, including the winter, from
ten to fourteen months." — Webster.

Inasmuch as literally millions of the beetles have been gath-
ered by machines from a single acre, and as the beetles have been
found in considerable numbers on freight and passenger trains,
it is highly probable that the pest will be spread by the several
trunk-lines of railroad which pass through the infested region, as
in many places alfalfa has escaped from fields and grows as a weed
along the railway tracks. It is, therefore, highly important that
alfalfa growers be on their guard against this pest and take prompt
measures for its destruction wherever it may gain a foothold.
The weevils also spread rapidly by flying in spring and summer,
which migration is aided by the winds. They may also be spread
in articles shipped from an infested region and on wagons or auto-
mobiles.

Control. — The methods of control have not, as yet, been satis-
factorily determined, though the entomologist of the Utah Agri-
cultural Experiment Station, E. G. Titus, has made extensile
experiments with various methods, from whose report the following
summary is taken.

Old alfalfa fields are always worst injured, and fields should
not be left down in alfalfa over about seven years. Thorough
disking in the early spring has proved to be one of the essential
factors in securing a good crop, as it increases the stand and stimu-
lates a quick growth which enables the plants to better withstand
the weevil injury. The use of a brush drag with which a spike-
tooth harrow is combined has been found an excellent means of
killing the larvae, as they are knocked to the ground and large
numbers killed by the fine dust. If the field is very hard it is
advisable to disk it before using the drag. After the use of the drag,
the fields should be watered where there is irrigation. Several
machines have been constructed for gathering the weevils and
have proven quite satisfactory. These are being perfected and
promise to be of considerable value for the collection of the weevils,
particularly when used in conjunction with the brush drags. In
summarizing the methods of control, Professor Titus recommends:

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER

209

" That alfalfa be disked in early spring to stimulate it to better
growth. That the first growth be cut when the most of the eggs
have been laid (middle of May) and then brush-drag the field
thoroughly. Fields should be brush-dragged again after the first
crop has been cut. All weeds and rubbish should be cleaned
from the fields, yards, ditches and fence rows so that there will be
less opportunity for the weevils to find winter shelter. Alfalfa
should not be allowed to grow more than seven or eight years in
infested districts."

The Clover-mite *

The Clover-mite is nearly related to the common red spider
of greenhouses, with which it is often confused, belonging to the
same family of vegetable-
feeding mites. It is
however, about twice the
size of the red spider, being
fully three-tenths of an inch
long.

Though known as the
clover-mite, on account of
its feeding upon that plant,
yet this insect was first
known as, and is still, an
important enemy of fruit-
trees, more especially on
the Pacific coast, but also in
other sections of the country .
The most injury seems to
have been done to clover in
the Central States as far
south as Tennessee, though it has suffered somewhat even in
the East.

When attacked by the mite the leaves of clover or fruit-

* Bryobia pratensis Carman. Family Tetranychidce. See C. L. Marlatt,
Circular 19, 2d Ser., Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

FIG.

150. — The Clover-mite (Bryobia

pratensis) .

210 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

trees become yellow and have a sickly appearance, as if affected
with a fungous disease. Especially upon the upper sides of the
tender leaves of clover the juices are extracted over irregular
areas, looking more or less like the burrows of some leaf-mining
larvae. Owing to the small size of the mites they may be doing
considerable damage to the foliage and yet remain unnoticed;
but in the egg stage the pest is much more readily detected and
attacked. In the more northern States the eggs are laid in the
fall, and do not hatch until the next spring. Further south,
however, the adult mites hibernate over winter. The eggs are
of a reddish color, laid upon the bark of trees, especially in the
crotches, and in the West are sometimes so thickly placed as to
cover considerable areas two or three layers deep.

When the adult mites leave the clover-fields in the fall to
find hibernating quarters upon fruit-trees for the winter, they
often become quite a nuisance by invading dwelling-houses which
are in their path.- This is more particularly the case throughout
the Mississippi Valley.

Remedies. — When swarming into a house their progress may
be arrested by spraying the lower part of the building, walls,
etc., with pure kerosene as often as necessary. Inside the house
they may be destroyed by the use of pyrethrum powder (Persian
insect-powder), burning brimstone, or spraying with benzine,
care being taken not to bring the latter substance near the fire.

The only practical way of protecting clover from the mite
!s by destroying the eggs and hibernating mites upon the fruit-
trees in winter. This may be done by burning all the prunings
and thoroughly spraying the trees with kerosene emulsion diluted
with five parts of water, or with miscible oils or lime-sulfur
mixture. Such a spraying will also protect the fruit-trees from
the mite, and will destroy numerous other insects, such as the
pear-leaf blister-mite, which hibernates upon the trees. Such
small insects, so minute as to usually escape notice, are often
responsible for a poor growth, and should be properly checked
whenever known to be injurious.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER

211

The Pea-louse *

Although this aphid is worst as a pest of peas (see page 322
for full account) it passes the winter on red and crimson clover
which occasionally are seriously injured. In the spring of 1900,
both red and crimson clover were badly injured in Delaware,
Maryland and Virginia, while in DeKalb County, Illinois, con-
siderable acreages were entirely destroyed in August, 1903, and
more or less injury has been done since then. Where peas are
available the aphides migrate to them in the spring, but other-

FiG. 151. — The pea-aphis: 1, winged viviparous female; 2, wingless vivip-
arous female — greatly enlarged. (After Folsom.)

wise they continue to multiply on the clover. In late fall they
return to the clover upon which the eggs are laid, in which stage
the winter is passed, though in open winters many of the viviparous
females live over winter on the clover.

Control. — This is another pest which is usually held under
control by a fungous disease, and as the fungus does not develop
in dry seasons, with dry weather the aphis increases unchecked,
while with a normal rainfall it is usually held in subjection,
Unfortunately we are unable to predict the weather probabilities,
and when the aphides are found present on clover in considerable
* Macrosiphum pisi Kalt. Family Aphidida.

212 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

numbers, the only thing to do is to cut and cure it as soon as pos-
sible, before serious damage has been done. The drying of the
clover will kill most of the aphides or cause them to migrate.
Spring pasturing or clipping might result in destroying a sufficient
number of the aphides so that no serious damage would result
later.

The Clover-seed Midge *

The Clover-seed Midge seems to occur wherever red and white
clover is grown in this country, and is a pest which must be taken
into consideration in raising see'd, for frequently it is not recognized
as the cause of the failure of the seed crop. Alsike clover, and
probably mammoth clover, is practically uninjured, as it flowers
enough later to escape attack, nor is alfalfa infested.

Life History. — The parent of all this trouble is a small midge,
one-twelfth inch long, with black head and thorax and
reddish abdomen, so small, indeed, that it will rarely be noticed.
The antennae have sixteen or seventeen segments, and the wings
have but few veins, as shown in Fig. 152. The female bears a
slender retractile ovipositor which when extended from the tip
of the abdomen is fully as long as the body, while the tip of the
abdomen of the male is furnished with clasping organs. The
midges appear in late spring just as the clover commences to
head. The eggs are laid among the hairy spines of the clover
head or beneath the bracts around it, are yellowish to orange
in color, of an oval shape, and about yfo inch long. Upon
hatching the maggot works its way into the open end of a floret,
where it sucks the forming seed, and prevents the petals of the
floret from expanding, so that although some of the flowers in
the head will bloom, the field as a whole does not blossom as
usual. The maggot is footless, white to orange-red in color,
and about one-tenth inch long when full grown. Upon becom-
ing grown in late June and the first week of July the maggots
enter the soil and just below the surface make tough, oval, silken
cocoons, in which they pupate. The pupal stage lasts about
* Dasyneura leguminicola Lintner. Family Cecidomyidtz.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER

213

three weeks or more, and the flies of the second generation appear
in Central Illinois in late July and early August, being abundant
as the second crop of clover heads appear. The eggs are laid
in the clover heads and hatch in about three days, and the second
generation of maggots do the worst damage to the seed in late
August and early September, in the same manner as did the first
generation. They become full grown by frost and hibernate

FIG. 152. — The clover-flower midge (Dasyneura leguminicola) : a, enlarged
side view of female, with scales denuded, to show more clearly the struc-
ture; b, head, more highly magnified, to show structure of the eye,
palpi, and basal joints of antennae; c, tip of ovipositor, highly magnified
and showing at end of next to last joint the manner in which it is clothed
with minute hairs; d, highly magnified antennal joints, their minute hairy-
clothing shown on the lower one; 2, a, larva enlarged, ventral view;
b, head retracted, highly magnified. (After Riley.)

either as full-grown larvae, in which case they pupate early the
next spring, or pupate before frost and pass the winter as pupae in
the soil.

Control. — Fortunately this pest may be very readily controlled
by adapting the methods of harvesting so as to destroy the devel-
oping maggots. If clover is grown alone it should be cut early,
before the maggots have become mature. This results in drying
up the food plant and thus destroying the larvae and hastens the
development of the second crop of clover heads, so that the midges

214 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

of the second generation have but few green heads in which to lay
their eggs. Cutting need not be done until the field is fairly fresh
with bloom, but should not be delayed until the flowers commence
to wither. Where timothy and clover are grown together they
should be pastured lightly or clipped back in May, which will
result in bringing both the first and second blooming after the
greatest abundance of the midges. As the midges do not travel
far, it would seem advisable to " prevent the sporadic heading of
first-year clover by mowing it back a few weeks after small grains
have been harvested, at a time when growth is vigorous, but yet
sufficiently early to permit considerable growth before frost sets in.
Volunteer clover should always be cut, as it affords a rich nursery
for all kinds of clover insects." — Folsom.

The Clover-seed Chalcid *

Evidence accumulates that the shortage of the clover-seed
crop may frequently be due to the larva of a little chalcis-fly which

hollows out the ripen-
ing seed, leaving it
brown, brittle and
hollow, so that the
affected hulls are blown
away with the chaff in
threshing. As there is
no evidence of the pest
in the appearance of
the heads, and as the
worst affected seed are
thus overlooked

FIG. 153. — The clover-seed chalcis (Bruchophagus
funebris): adult female, much enlarged;
antenna of male at left, more enlarged.
(After Webster, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

ill

threshing, its work will
often evade detection.

If the seed crop is short it will be well to examine seed for the

larvae; many of the seed will be found shriveled and misshapen;

and frequently considerable numbers of the adults will issue from

the seed soon after threshing.

* Bruchophagus funebris Howard. Family Chalcidida.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER

215

The adult is a small wasp-like fly one-twelfth to one-sixteenth
inch long, black in color, and with four wings, the hind-wings very
small and the fore-wings with but a single vein. It belongs to a
family almost all of which are parasitic on other insects, and for
many years it was thought to be a parasite of the clover-seed
midge, until its true role was discovered. In recent years exam-
inations of ripening heads from all parts of the country show that
it is probably distributed wherever clover is grown and that from
20 to 80 per cent of the seed is often destroyed. Both red and
crimson clovers are attacked, while alfalfa seed is not so badly
injured.

FIG. 154. — The clover-seed chalcis: a, egg — highly magnified; b, larva
and head more enlarged; c, pupa — much enlarged. (After Webster,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

Life History. — The winter is passed by the fully grown larvae
in seed on the ground. The adults emerge in the spring, the maxi-
mum appearing about June 10th in central Illinois, according to
Dr. Folsom, to whom we are indebted for the most careful study
of the pest. The females deposit their eggs in the soft seed, just
as the floret is withering, being unable to penetrate the seed after
it has hardened. The egg is whitish, about TJ^ inch long, and
with a peculiar tail-like appendage (Fig. 154). The maggot-like
larva feeds upon the seed, gradually hollowing it out, and when full
grown is about one-twelfth inch long, stout and footless, with a
small head. The pupal stage is passed within the seed and a sec-
ond generation of adults emerges about the middle of August.

216 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

These lay their eggs in the second growth, and some of the adults
from these appear the same season and the rest not until the fol-
lowing year. There seem to be at least three generations a year in
central Illinois, but the life history is complicated by the irregu-
larity in the time of development, though the greatest numbers of
adults appear about June 10th and August 10th, just as the clover-
seed is green.

Control, — No definite experiments have been made in the con-
trol of this pest, but from the knowledge of the life history as
given above there seems no doubt but that the same measures as
are employed against the clover-seed midge will secure immunity
from serious injury.

The Clover-seed Caterpillar *

" In its ability to diminish the seed crop, this pest ranks with
the seed-midge and the seed-chalcid. Attacking a clover head
that is green or partly in bloom, the little caterpillar eats out a

•

FIG. 155. — Clover-seed caterpillar (Enarmonia inter stinctana): a, caterpillar,
b, pupa; c, moth, all much enlarged: d, moth natural size. (After
Osborn.)

cavity in the head, destroying many of the unopened buds and
some of the tender green seeds, and spoiling the head as a whole.
When no young clover heads are at hand, the caterpillar feeds on

* Enarmonia interstinctana Clem. Family Grapholithidce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER 217

tender green leaves at the crown of the plant." — Folsom. Red
clover is the principal food plant, but white, alsike, and probably
mammoth clovers are also affected. The published records show
that it occurs in the northeastern States southwest to Missouri,
but it doubtless occurs elsewhere where clover is grown, as it
might readily be carried in hay.

Life History. — The adult is a pretty little brown moth, with a
wing expanse of two-fifths inch, with silvery markings as shown
in Fig. 155, the most conspicuous marks forming a double crescent
when the wings are closed ou the back. The moths appear about
the end of May in central Illinois, or just as the clover is coming
into bloom, being active in early evening, when the females lay
their eggs in the heads. The egg is circular in shape, about Yioo
inch in diameter, yellowish-white in color, and hatches in five or
six days. In first-year clover that has not headed and in second-
year clover recently cut, the eggs are laid on young stems and leaf-
lets at the base of the plant, where the larvae stay.

" Hatching usually at the base of a green clover-head; the
larva eats into the head, destroying the green florets as it goes.
A small green head is often destroyed entirely, before it is many
days old; a larger head is injured only locally at first, remaining
green on one side, while the other and unaffected side may come
into full bloom." Judging from the appearance of the head the
work might be that of the seed-midge, but whereas it is hidden
away in a single floret, this caterpillar makes a large dirty excava-
tion involving many florets, and is readily found by tearing open
the head. The caterpillar attacks the bases of the florets, includ-
ing the semifluid ovules, but does not attack seeds which have
hardened. " Even when the direct injury is confined to a portion
of the clover-head, the entire head is ruined, for it at length dries
up and loses the rest of the florets, leaving only the dead and brown
receptacle. Less conspicuous, though not inconsiderable, is the
injury at the crown of the plant, done chiefly in September and
October, by caterpillars of the same species feeding upon the
leaves." — Folsom. The total injury varies greatly, but not infre-
quently 20 per cent of the heads are infested, and in Iowa infesta-

218 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

tion has sometimes been exceedingly severe. In any event,
every head destroyed means the loss of more than one hundred
seeds.

The larvce become full grown in four to five weeks. The full
grown caterpillar is about one-third inch long and varies in color
from dirty-white tinged with green to orange, according to the
food. The larva spins an oval white silken cocoon, two-fifths
inch long, either in the head or at the surface of the ground,
which is more or less covered with bits of excrement and floral tis-
sue. The pupa is one-fifth inch long, brown, with the thorax and
wing-cases darker, and with two transverse rows of teeth on the
back of the abdominal segments except the last, which bears six
stout blackish hooks. at the tip. The pupal stage lasts two to
three weeks and a second generation of moths emerges about the
third week of July (in central Illinois) . The life cycle is repeated
in the same manner and a third generation of moths appears about
September 1st. The larvae of the last brood feed either in imma-
ture clover-heads or at the crown of the plant. Most of them
become full grown and transform to pupae, in which stage they
hibernate over winter, while others become full grown, but fail to
pupate and hibernate under rubbish.

Control. — Cutting and storing the hay crop early in June as
advised for the clover-seed midge will kill the larvae while still
in the heads. " The nay should be handled lightly and stacked
or stored as soon as possible. Osborn and Gossard * have attested
the value of this method, and have given these further recommenda-
tions: (1) Cut volunteer clover in early June and dispose of the
heads speedily; (2) do not allow clover to run for more than two
years; (3) sow seed on land remote from old fields; (4) pasture
clover in the fall of the first year; (5) plow an old clover-field
under in October or November or in early spring, then harrow
and roll. These practices operate at the same time against
several other clover pests." — Folsom.

* Osborn and Gossard, Insect Life, Vol. IV, p. 254; Bulletins 14 and 15,
Iowa Agr. Exp. Sta.; 22d Report Entomological Society of Ontario, p. 74.
Gossard, H. A., Bulletin 19, Iowa Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER

219

The Clover-hay Worm *

The clover-hay worm attacks stacked or stored clover, par-
ticularly where it is held over a year or where placed on old hay,
eating much of the lower layers and rendering it unfit for food.

FIG. 156. — Clover-hay worm, greatly enlarged. (After Folsom.)

It has been known to be injurious from Kansas eastward, but
occurs throughout most of North America, as well as parts of
Europe, Asia, and Africa.

FIG. 157. — The clover-hay worm moth, wings expanded (after Folsom) and
at rest (after Pettit) — enlarged.

" The larv;c attack the bottom of a clover stack to a height
of 2 feet or more from the ground; similarly, in the barn, they
ocsur next the floor. They interweave the hay with white silken
webs, intermixed with black grains of excrement. . . ; they

* Hypsopygia costalis Fab. Family Pyralidida.

220 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

reduce much of the hay to chaff, and their webs give the hay the
appearance of being mouldy; in fact, such hay actually becomes
mouldy if it has been lying near the ground. This hay is refused
by horses and cattle and is fit only to be burnt. When the hay
is removed, swarms of wriggling brown caterpillars are left."
The work of the caterpillars is usually noticed in late winter and
spring.

Life History. — The moths appear from the middle of June
until early July in the Northern States and most of the first
generation have disappeared by the end of July. The moths
have a wing expanse just under an inch, with silky wings, tinged
with purplish above, margined with orange and fringed with
golden yellow. On each side of the fore-wings are two large,
golden spots which divide the anterior margin into thirds and
continue backward as narrow lilac lines (Fig. 157). The hind-
wings are marked by two transverse, wavy, straw-colored lines.

As soon as some clover-hay is found the female deposits her
eggs and the caterpillars feed upon it. When full grown they
are about three-quarters inch long, of a dull-brown color. The
segments are divided by a transverse groove, and each bears
several shining areas, with a fine white hair in each. White
silken cocoons, one-half inch long, covered with bits of hay
and excrement, are made by the larvae in the hay or in cracks
and crevices of the barn, in which they transform to pupae, which
are of a honey-yellow color, with the parts clearly defined by the
darker color of the sutures. The moths of the second brood
emerge from the middle of August until September 1st, but may
be found flying until late October. Caterpillars of all sizes may
be found in barns throughout the winter and pupate in the spring.

Control. — Usually no serious injury is done except where
clover-hay is kept over the second year or longer. When it is
fed out each spring, before the next crop is harvested, there is
no food for the young caterpillars, and they perish before the
new crop comes in. Consequently mows should be cleaned
out each spring. New clover-hay should never be placed on
top of old hay, and stacks should be placed at some little distance

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CLOVER 221

from the old stacks if possible. Burn up the refuse from old
stacks, or what remains in the bottom of the mow. Stacks
should be raised above the ground on a foundation of logs or
rails, so as to keep the bottom as dry and cool as possible, as the
caterpillars love warmth and moisture. It has been found that
salting the hay for 2 or 3 feet at the bottom will prevent injury,
and many farmers salt their clover-hay, using about two quarts
of salt to the ton.

CHAPTER XII
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO *

The Tobacco Flea-beetle f

THE Tobacco Flea-beetle is one of the important pests of that
plant throughout the Middle States, being particularly injurious
to young plants. The beetles damage the leaves by eating small

FIG. 158. — Tobacco flea-beetle (Epitrix parvula): a, adult beetle; b, larva,
lateral view; c, head of larva; d, posterior leg of same; e, anal segment,
dorsal view; /, pupa — a, b, f, enlarged about fifteen times; c, d, e, more
enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

holes in the upper or under surfaces, or clear through them, so
that when badly eaten the leaves look as if they had been peppered
with shot. The little beetles which do this damage are hardly

* See L. O. Howard, Farmers' Bulletin 120, U. S. Dept. Agr., The Prin-
cipal Insects Affecting the Tobacco Plant. A. C. Morgan, Circular 123,
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr; Yearbook, U. S. Dept. Agr., 1910,
pp. 281-296.

t Epitrix parvula Fab. Family Chrysomelida.

222

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO

223

more than one-twentieth inch long, light brown in color, with
a dark band across the wing-covers. A few of them could do
but little damage, but they soon
increase in numbers, so that they
swarm over the leaves and injure
them badly. Similar injury is done
to potato, egg-plant, and tomato,
and the beetles also feed on horse-
nettle, nightshade, and Jamestown
weed.

Life History. — -The eggs are laid
in the soil and the larvae feed upon
the roots of common weeds, such
as the nightshade and Jamestown
weed. The larva is delicate, thread-
like and white, except the yellow-
ish head, and about one-eighth
inch long. It pupates in the soil.
When the beetles become very nu-
merous the larvae sometimes de-
velop on the roots of tobacco, but
rarely do serious damage. The
life history has not been deter-
mined exactly, but the full life
cycle seems to occupy about a
month, so that there are probably
several generations in a year.

Control. — Inasmuch as the larvae
develop on the roots of the weeds
mentioned, it is evident that they
should be kept down by thorough
cultivation. Where the beetles ap-
pear, the plants should be sprayed
or dusted with Paris green, or
probably better, arsenate of lead,
the same as for the horn-worm.

FIG. 159. — Tobacco leaves
damaged by Epitrix par-
vula. (After Howard, U.
S. Dept. Agr.)

Dipping the plants in arse-

224 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

nate of lead, 1 pound to 10 gallons of water, just as they are
set, has been found to afford very satisfactory protection in
Connecticut.

The Tobacco Stalk-worm *

Professor W. G. Johnson found this species, also known as
the Corn-root Webworm, to be a serious pest to growing tobacco-
plants in southern Maryland, where it seems to have been a
tobacco pest for at least fifteen years, and it has also been noted
in Delaware.

The Injury. — The injury to tobacco is described by Professor
Johnson as follows: " The uninjured tobacco had a leaf -spread
of from ten to twelve inches. A few rods beyond, where the soil
was not so gravelly and better, we found the larvae had literally
destroyed the first and second plantings, and were at work upon
the third, damaging it severely, although the ground had been
replanted before the last planting. Here and there was a young
plant just beginning to wilt, and invariably we found the larva at
work cither in the stalk or at the base of the plant just below the
surface of the ground. So far as I could ascertain the attack is
always at the surface or just below. In many instances the
larvae had hollowed out the stalks from the base of the roots to
the branches of the first leaves. Many plants were gnawed
irregularly around the stalk below the surface, and some, in fact,
were completely cut off at the surface, the insect always working
from below. In the great majority of cases the larvae were found
in a small mass of web near the plant, and sometimes within
it. In one plant, less than six inches high, we found four larvae
within the stalk, but as a rule only a single one was present."

Professor Johnson concluded " (1) that it is most likely to
occur over local areas in tobacco following timothy or grass;
(2) that the character of the soil has little or nothing to do
with its ravages; (3) that the attack upon corn is also a frequent
occurrence in the same section; especially when following grass
or timothy."

* Crambus caliginosellus Clem. Family Crambidce. See p. 161 and
Bull. 20, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dcpt. Agr., pp. 99-101, 1899.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO

225

Remedies. — He recommended " (1) that growers of tobacco
avoid planting upon grass or timothy sod; (2) that where grass
land is plowed down it would be well to put it in wheat, following
with clover, before tobacco. If desirable, corn could follow
the grass and the land could be seeded in crimson clover at the
last working. This would serve a twofold object by revealing
the exact location of larvae in the area under cultivation by their
attack upon corn, when they could be destroyed largely by
frequent harrowing and rolling, and by affording a most excellent
soil crop to turn down the following spring, which would be a
decided advantage to the tobacco; that if it is found necessary
to have tobacco following grass, it should be broken in the spring
as early as possible, and frequently rolled and harrowed, at the
same time delaying the setting of the plants as long as possible
in order to destroy and starve the larvae within the ground."

The Spined Tobacco-bug *

Professor H. Garman has found a small bug, which he has
termed the Spined Tobacco-bug, doing more or less injury to plants

FIG. 160. — The spined tobacco-bug (Euschistus variolarius) , nymph at left;
adult at right — enlarged, (After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

in Kentucky, and as this insect is widely distributed throughout the
country, it probably does more or less damage elsewhere, though
never a serious pest. Concerning its work, he says: " Occa-

* Euschistus punctipes Say (variolarius Pal. Beauv.). Family Pentatom-
ida. See Bulletin No. 66, Ky. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 33.

226 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

sional plants in tobacco-fields arc at times observed to have become
suddenly wilted, the leaves hanging limp, much as if the stalk had
been severed. After a time they recover again, and, beyond a
temporary check on their growth, appear to have suffered but
little injury. If such plants are searched carefully while still
wilted, a flat, brown bug with, each side of the body produced into
an angle, or sharp spine, will be found upon the stalk along the
base of the leaves. It is very shy and keeps out of sight, hence any
brisk movement on the injured plants is likely to cause it to drop to
the ground and conceal itself." These insects are true bugs, suck-
ing their food through a beak, which is bent under the body
between the legs when not in use. They are about half an inch long,
of a drab color above and greenish or yellowish below. Usually
only one bug is found on a plant, so that the best way to prevent
the injury is to pick them from the plants, and keep down such
weeds as thistles and mulleins, upon which such insects feed, in
the adjoining fields.

The Suck-fly *

One of the worst tobacco pests in many parts of Florida is a
little bug called by the planters the " suck-fly," which fortunately
does not seem to have become a pest elsewhere. They insert their
little beaks into the tissue of the leaf and suck the juices, causing
the leaf to become yellowish and wilted, and cracking older leaves
so that they become ragged. As a result it is exceedingly difficult,
if not impossible, to properly cure badly infested leaves.

Life History. — The adult is a small bug about one-eighth inch
long, with rather long yellowish-green legs. The upper surface is
black, except the front margin and a central stripe of yellow on the
pro-thorax, while the under side is greenish. The " flies " become
numerous enough to be injurious early in June, usually being
noticed first in one corner of a field near where they have hiber-
nated. They rarely do serious damage to the first crop, but the
second crop and late tobacco is sometimes entirely destroyed.
They have also been noted in the Gulf States as injuring tomatoes.

* Dicyphus minimus Uhler. Family Capsida.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO

227

The eggs are deposited singly in the tissues of the leaf and hatch
in about- four days. The young nymphs feed on the foliage, as do
the adults, and after moulting four times transform to adults about
eleven days later. Thus it requires but about a fortnight for the

Fia. 161. — The suck-fly (Dicyphus minimus): a, newly hatched; b, second
stage; c, nymph; d, adult; e, head and l>eak from side — enlarged.
(After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

development of a brood, so that the pest multiplies very rapidly
and in a few weeks becomes so numerous that hundreds are found
on a single leaf and serious injury is inevitable.

The weather plays an important part in the control of this
pest, as many of the insects become stuck to the sticky exudation

228 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

given off by the glandular hairs of the tobacco, and if there be fre-
quent rains, this is washed off and the insects develop unimpeded.
The bugs are found in late fall until frost, but the exact number of
generations has not been determined. They evidently hibernate
in or near the tobacco field.

Control. — Professor A. L. Quaintance, who experimented with
remedies in Florida, has found, curiously enough, that the best
insecticide against this pest is its own food, tobacco. A solution
of concentrated nicotine, diluted with sixty parts of water, was
found very effective when sprayed upon the bugs. It should be
applied with a bent-necked nozzle which will throw a fine spray
upon both surfaces of the leaves, as most of the young are on the
lower surface. Home-made tobacco decoction (page 55) was
also used, but did not prove as satisfactory. The spraying should
be done early in the day, when the adult bugs are sluggish and do
not fly readily. Infested areas should be sprayed when the
pest first makes its appearance so as to prevent multiplication
and spread. Thorough cleaning up of rubbish and destruction of
the old stalks in the fall will be of service against this as well as
other tobacco pests. A few plants set early in the spring would
probably attract the hibernating bugs as they emerge, so that
they might be readily killed upon them.

The Hornworms or Tobacco-worms *

Of all the insects feeding upon tobacco, the Hornworms are
the most widely injurious and therefore best known. The cater-
pillars of two species of moths are commonly included under this
popular name, both species occurring throughout the tobacco-
growing States, the northern tobacco- worm being more common
in the North and the southern tobacco-worm more common in the
South. The differences in the adult moths may be readily appre-
ciated from Figs. 162 and 1^63, the southern form being darker and
with brighter orange spots on the abdomen, and the white lines on

* Phlegethontius quinquemaculata Haworth (Northern), and P. sexfa
Johanssen (Southern). Family Sphingida.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO

229

the hind-wings being less distinct. The larvae of both species
commonly attack tomato vines and are commonly called tomato
worms where tobacco is not grown.

Life History. — The pupae pass the winter several inches below
the surface of the soil and from them the moths emerge in May and

FIG. 162. — Northern tobacco-worm, or " hornworm " (Phlegethonlius quinque-
maadala): a, adult moth; 6, full-grown larva; c, pupa — natural size.
(After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

June, according to the latitude and season. The females deposit
their eggs singly, upon the lower surfaces of the leaves, from which
the little caterpillars hatch in from four to eight days. The char-
acteristic work of the larvae is too well known to every tobacco
grower to necessitate description. The caterpillars become full
grown in about three weeks, during which time they moult some
five times. The full grown larvae are three to four indies long, of

230 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

a dark green color with white stripes on the side of the body, those
of the northern species having a V-shape, while those of the south-
ern species being simple oblique hands. At the tip of the abdomen
is a stout horn, from which is derived the name of homworm,
which in the northern species is black and in the southern is red.
The pupse are formed in the soil, are dark brown, about two inches

FIG. 163. — Southern tobacco-worm (Phlegelhontius sexto) : a, adult moth;
b, full-grown larva; c, pupa — natural size. (After Howard, U. S. Dept.
Agr.)

long, and have a peculiar handle-like process, the sheath of the
proboscis, which somewhat resembles a horn and which may
account for the name of " hornblowers," commonly given them in
Maryland and Virginia. The pupal stage lasts about three weeks,
when the adults emerge, the whole life cycle requiring from six to
eight weeks. Usually two generations occur in a season through-
out most of the tobacco belt, but in the North there seems to be

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO

231

FIG. 164. — Hibernation of southern tobacco-worm; c, pupa in hibernating
cell in soil, at the depth of which pupation usually takes place in the
stiffer soils; a, cross-section of pupal cell viewed from below; b, pupal
cell showing entrance hole of larva — two-third natural size. (After
A. C. Morgan, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

232 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

but one generation, and in the Gulf States there may be three
generations. Occasionally the worms are overlooked in cutting
the tobacco and are carried into the barn, where they may do
considerable injury even after the tobacco is partially dry.

Control. — The most common method of control is hand-pick-
ing, usually termed " worming." In seasons when the worms arc
not overabundant this may be the most practical method of con-
trol, but it is both tiresome and expensive, and the planter has no
means of predicting whether the worms will be more or less abun-

FIG. 165. — Southern tobacco-worm killed by fungus. (After Garman.)

dant. Large flocks of turkeys driven through the fields will aid
most efficiently in this work.

In many sections the worms are now controlled by spraying
or dusting with Paris green or arsenate of lead. More or less popu-
lar prejudice against the use of arsenicals has existed, as it was
thought the tobacco might be poisonous to the consumer. Careful
chemical examinations have shown, however, that the amount
left on the foliage after three sprayings would be far too small to
have any deleterious effect. The same prejudice formerly existed
against the use of arsenicals on potatoes, cabbage and other crops,
but experience has shown it to be unwarranted. A real objection
to the use of Paris green is that it sometimes slightly burns the
foliage, so that arsenate of lead will doubtless be found preferable.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO 233

By spraying three times, the worms may usually be entirely con-

tro'led at much less expense than by hand-picking. The time of

the spraying will depend upon the latitude and season, but it

should be applied as soon as each brood of young caterpillars

appears. Usually one spraying

should be given about July 1st,

a second early in August, and

another in about two weeks to

check the work of the second

brood, which is the most inju-

rious. One pound of Paris green FIG. 166.— Southern tobacco-worm

to 160 gallons of water is suf- ™ih cocoons of parasite. (After

ficient, and it should never be

used stronger than 1 pound to 125 gallons. Arsenate of lead may

be used at the rate of 2 or 3 pounds to 50 gallons or dusted on as

a powder. These treatments will also aid in controlling the bud

worms.

A method of killing the adult moths has been practiced by
many planters with satisfactory results. It consists of poisoning
the flowers of the Jamestown weed (Datura stramonium) with a
sweetened cobalt solution. The flowers are placed around the
fields in the evening, being set upright in holes in horizontal slats,
or supported by sticks. The cobalt solution is then introduced
into 'them by means of a quill, or dropper. It is composed of:
cobalt, 1 ounce; molasses, one-fourth pint; and water, 1 pint. In
their search for flowers the moths will be attracted by the odor of
molasses and the cobalt of the solution will poison them, and thus
prevent the female from laying some 200 eggs toward another
brood of worms.

As the pupae hibernate in the soil it is evident that deep plowing
and thorough harrowing in late fall and winter of land which has
been in tobacco will result in destroying many of them. The
destruction of the stalks and cleaning up of refuse leaves after the
crop has been removed is also of importance, as the larvae may con-
tinue to feed in the field and become full grown and pupate
where by the destruction of their food this might be prevented.

234 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Natural Enemies. — Very frequently worms are found covered
with what seem to be small, white eggs. These are not eggs, how-
ever, but are the small silken cocoons of a little wasp-like parasite
(Apanteles congregatus) whose larvae feed internally upon the
juices of the worm and thus ultimately kill it before it transforms
to a pupa. Such parasitized worms should never be destroyed,
as the parasites are of more value than the damage the worm
might do. Very frequently the caterpillars are attacked by a bac-
terial disease which causes them to turn dark and become shrunken
and flaccid.

The Budworms *

Two caterpillars of the same genus commonly attack the bud
of tobacco and have been distinguished by Dr. L. O. Howard as
the true bud worm and false budworm, the latter being the same
as the well-known cotton bollworm and corn ear-worm.

FIG. 167. — The true budworm (Chloridea virescens): a, adult moth; b, full-
grown larva, from side; c, same, from above; d, seed-pod bored into by
larva; e, pupa — natural size. (After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

" The true budworm (Chloridea virescens) occurs in the more
southern portions of the tobacco-growing regions," says Dr. How-
ard, f " but has not been noted in tobacco-fields north of Maryland.
The adult insect is a small greenish moth, well illustrated in
Fig. 167. The larva or caterpillar of this moth, also illustrated, is

* Chloridea virescens Fab., and Heliothis obsolete. Fab. Family Noctuida.
t Farmers' Bulletin 120, U. S. Dept. Agr. The Principal Insects Affecting
the Tobacco Plant.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO

235

nearly always found in the bud of the tobacco-plant about the
time the plant is ready to top. In some seasons they occur in
large numbers and damage the tobacco considerably. In the
early part of the season, as a general thing, but few of them are
found, and in ordinary seasons they are not especially noticed
during the early " worming " of the tobacco. In August they
begin to be more abun-
dant, and generally
leave the plant about
the end of the month,
entering the ground,
transforming to pupa3
and issuing as moths
toward the end of Sep-
tember. These dates
are for Virginia, but
hold reasonably well
as far south as Missis-
sippi. The greatest
damage done by this
insect is by the August
brood, when it enters
the rolled-up leaves or
bud of the plant. In
September and October

FIG. 168. — False budworm or cotton bollworm
(Heliothis obsolete): a, adult moth; b, dark
full-grown larva; c, light-colored full-grown
larva; d, pupa — natural size. (After How-
ard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

the next generation of
caterpillars is found
boring into the seed-
pod and occasionally

into the flower-stem. . . . The caterpillars of the last fall genera-
tion enter the ground and hibernate as pupae. The insect has
several other food-plants aside from cotton, but its most abun-
dant food in the South is the weed known as ground cherry
(Physalis viscosd)." The life history of this species is very
similar, therefore, to the false budworm or bollworm.

The corn ear- worm (see page 181) is usually found attacking

230 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

tobacco in Virginia and Kentucky only late in the season after
corn has commenced to harden. It then bores into the buds, seed-
pods, and flower-stalks, in the same manner as the last species. In
Florida, however, Professor A. L. Quaintancc states that its worst
injury is done early in the season before corn or cotton are available,
the eggs being laid in the bud an 1 the young larva; feeding on the

FIG. 169. — Larva of false budworm (Heliothis obsolete), showing work on
seed-capsules of tobacco plant. (After Quaintance.)

unfolded leaves, doing very serious injury. In Florida the corn
ear-worm or false budworm is more common than the former
species.

Control. — Poisoned corn-meal has been found to be a satisfac-
tory remedy for both species when they bore into the bud. Mix a
half teaspoonful of Paris green into a quart of finely ground corn-
mea and sprinkle into the buds from a can perforated like a pepper

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO

237

can. This should be applied frequently, especially after heavy
rains. Large buds should be opened and a pinch of the poison
placed within. When spraying or dusting with an arsenical is
practiced against the hornworms it will aid in the control of the
bud worms, and may be advisable for them alone where injury is
serious. Powdered arsenate of lead has been used against both
these insects with considerable success and will doubtless obviate
the burning which has been experienced when using Paris green
with corn-meal. When the injury by the false budworm occurs
only late in the season, it would seem that the moths might be
attracted to a trap crop of late corn in the same manner as cotton
is protected from it (page 257) .

The Tobacco Leaf-miner *

The larva of a small moth has become quite injurious in parts
of North Carolina and Florida by mining the inside of the leaf,

FIG. 170. — Tobacco leaf-miner or split-worm, adult moth above; larva below
at right; pupa below at left, with side view of enlarge 1 anal segment — all
enlarged. (After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

and is thus known as the Tobacco Leaf-miner. This insect occurs
in other parts of the country, but has become injurious only in the
States named and in recent years. The injury is done by the

* Phthorirrue operculella Zell. Family Tineida.

„ 238 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

larva? outing out irregular patches of the tissue in the leaves, leav-
ing only the upper and lower surfaces, the lower leaves being
infested the worst. The leaves are ren-
dered unfit for wrappers, splitt ng and
tearing very easily on account of these
blotches. A larva does not confine its
work to one place, but makes several
mines, and a single larva may thus destroy
the value of a leaf for wrapping purposes.
This migratory habit is of considerable
importance, as in leaving the old and in
making new mines the larvae must
necessarily eat a certain amount of the
surface of the leaf, and can thus be killed
by an arsenical spray. The life history of
the insect is not completely known, but as
only about twenty days are required for
all its transformations, several broods
probably occur during a season. The
original food-plant of this pest has been
found to be the common horse- or bull-
nettle (Solarium carolinense), which fact
further emphasizes the caution already
given, to keep all weeds carefully cut
down around the tobacco-field, especially
those nearly related to tobacco botanically.
Many planters destroy the larvae by simply
crushing them with the hand, and this can
be done quite rapidly, and if done before
the mines become numerous should be
sufficient to check the injury. Where
spraying with Paris green is practised
against the hornworm it should be sufficient to destroy most of
the miners, as, if the leaf is thoroughly coated with poison, they
would get a fatal dose in starting a new mine.

FIG. 171.— Work of
split-worm — reduced.
(After Howard, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TOBACCO 239

The Cigarette-beetle *

The most serious pest of dried tobacco is the little brown
Cigarette-beetle, which also attacks various drugs and stored
food products. The beetle is but one-sixteenth inch long, of a
brownish color, and with the pro-thorax bent down so that the
head is obscured as if under a hood.

" Working as it does in all kinds of cured tobacco and living
in this substance during all the stages of its existence," says
Dr. L. 0. Howard, " it damages cigarettes and cigars principally
by boring out of them, making round holes in the wrappers so
that they will not draw. Leaf tobacco is injured for wrapping

6jj
e <*s

FIG. 172. — The cigarette-beetle: a, larva; b, pupa; c, adult; d, side view of
adult; e, antenna — all greatly enlarged; e, still more enlarged. (After
Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

purposes by being punctured with holes made both by the Ia'rva3
and 'beetles, and fillers and finecut are injured by the reduction
of their substance by the actual amount consumed by the larvae."
" The cigarette-beetle is practically cosmopolitan, and probably
occurs in most tobacco factories in the Southern States, as well
as in most wholesale drug stores. In the far South this insect
multiplies rapidly throughout the greater part of the year, and
its development is practically continuous in artificially warmed
factories farther north."

Life History. — In heated factories the insect may be found in
all stages throughout the year. Otherwise it seems to pass the
winter months in the larval state. The larva is slightly larger

* Lasioderma serricorne Fab. Family Ptinida;.

240 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

than the beetle and covered with hair as shown in Fig. 172. When
full grown it spins a compact silky cocoon covered with bits of
whatever it is breeding in and in it transforms to the pupa. In a
warm room the entire life cycle has been passed in forty-seven
days, and it seems probable that in the District of Columbia,
there arc two generations a year. The life is undoubtedly inti-
mately related to the moisture and temperature conditions under
which it lives.

Control. — When a factory or storehouse has become badly
infested a thorough cleaning is the first step in the control of
the pest, as tobacco fragments and dust are usually present every-
where and ideal conditions for the multiplication of the pest are
afforded.

Infested tobacco should be opened up, if packed tightly,
placed in tight boxes or in a tight room and exposed to the fumes
of carbon bisulfide, using it the same as for grain insects (see page
57). The quantity 'used will depend upon the tightness of the
enclosure, the way in which the tobacco is packed, and the tem-
perature. One pound to every 200 cubic feet will usually be ample.
In factories where the beetle is abundant the tobacco should be
steamed before use, wrhich will kill all stages of the insect. Loose
tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes, should not be left exposed to the
beetles, but should be covered up or placed in tight receptacles
to prevent their access. Badly infested factories and storehouses
may be fumigated with hydrocyanic acid gas (see page 57) .

Several other insects are more or less serious pests of tobacoo
in certain parts of the country or under local conditions. The
Tobacco Thrips * has caused considerable loss to growers of
wrapper tobacco in Florida where it is grown under shade.

* Euthrips nicotanue Hinds. Order Thysanoptera. See W. A. Hooker.
Bulletin 65, Circular 68. Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

CHAPTER XIII
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON *

Plant-lice f

WITH the formation of the first true leaves of cotton, winged
aphides or plant-lice appear in large numbers on the under side
and on the terminals, the " buds " of the plants often being black
with them. Almost all of them are the common greenish Melon-
aphis $ (see page 383), which infests melons later in the season.
It is evident, therefore, that the practice of planting cotton
between rows of melons is undesirable. The aphides migrate
to the cotton while it is young from various common weeds upon
which they have passed the winter.

Another species, known as the Bur-clover Aphis § occurs on
cotton at about the same time and is not readily distinguishable
from the previous species, but is darker and has a shining reddish
or brownish-black color.

In cold weather these plant-lice often cause considerable
injury to the young plants, and greatly retard their development,
since they multiply very rapidly and feed mostly on the growing
terminals. If there be a few warm days, however, hordes of
small hymenopterous parasites appear and in a few days often
completely rid the plants of the pest.

Control. — Although these aphides may be destroyed by spray-
ing with kerosene emulsion, whale-oil soap, or tobacco water,

*See Hunter and Hinds, The Mexican Cotton Boll Weevil, Bulletin 51,
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; Quaintance and Brues, The Cotton
Bollworm, Bulletin 50, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; Sanderson,
Miscellaneous Cotton Insects of Texas, Bulletin 57, Bureau of Entomology,
.Farmers' Bulletin 223, U. S. Dept. Agr.

t Family Aphidida. % Aphis gossypii Glov.

§ Aphis medicaginis Koch.

— 241

242 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 173. — The cotton worm (Alabama argiUacea): young and full-grown
larvae or worms, pupa, cocoons in folded leaves, and moths, at rest, and
with wings expanded — three-fourths natural size. (After Comstock.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON

243

yet as a rule their use on any considerable scale will hardly be
profitable. Keeping the fields clear of weeds by fall and winter
plowing will undoubtedly have a beneficial effect in reducing
the numbers of aphides and in most cases will be the only treat-
ment necessary.

The Cotton Worm *

Until the advent of the boll weevil, the cotton worm was
much the most serious insect pest of cotton. Since then, however,
its importance has been rather overshadowed in the mind of the

FIG. 174. — Pimpla conquisitor, one of the principal parasites of the cotton-
caterpillar: a, larvae enlarged; b, head of same still more enlarged;
c,f pupa ; d, adult female enlarged ; e, f, end of abdomen of adult male,
still more enlarged. (From Fourth Rept. U. S. Entom. Comm.)

planter by the onslaught of the invading Mexican pest and where
the boll weevil is abundant the stripping of the late foliage by
the cotton worm really aids in the control of the weevil, as will
be explained later.

Life History. — During the winter months the adult moth
hibernates in the most southern portion of the cotton-belt, in the
rank wire-grass occurring in the more thickly timbered regions.
Only a few of these survive, but they are very capable ancestors.
In early March they lay eggs upon volunteer cotton when it is

* Alabama argittacea Hubn. Family Noctuida.

244 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

only an inch or two high. The eggs are laid singly, usually upon
the under surface of the leaves near the top of the plant, and about
500 are laid by each female. The egg is of a flattened convex
shape, bluish-green in color, and with prominent ridges converging
to the apex. In midsummer the eggs hatch in three or four days,
but in spring and autumn a much longer time is required. The
young larvso are a pale yellow color, but soon assume a greenish
tinge, and are marked with dark spots which become more dis-
tinct after the first moult, when they become marked like the full-

FIG. 175. — Cotton-Worm egg parasite (Pentarthron minutem): a, adult
female, greatly enlarged; b, ovipositor; c, female antenna; d, male
antenna. (From Fourth Rept. U. S. Entom. Comm.)

grown caterpillars, being more or less striped with black. During
the early season the greenish caterpillars predominate, but later
the black stripes become heavier and the darker forms prevail.
The appetites of these caterpillars are only too well known to
the cotton-grower. At first they are content with eating only
the under surfaces of the leaves, occasionally piercing through.
Then the leaves commence to look ragged, and when they become
scarce the tender twigs and buds are attacked. When they are
excessively abundant the larvae develop cannabalistic tendencies,
like the boll worms, and often feed upon the weaker caterpillars.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON 245

The larvae become full grown in from one to three weeks, during
which time they moult some five times.

When mature the caterpillar crawls into a folded leaf, which is
often so eaten away that the pupa hangs exposed, and there
spins around it a thin silken cocoon and transforms to the pupa,
in which state the insect remains dormant for from one to four
weeks, when it emerges as an adult moth.

The moth is a dull olive-gray color with a wing expanse of
about 1^ inches, which sometimes have a purplish lustre, and which
are marked with darker lines as shown in Fig. 173. Like most of
the owlet moths it flies only after sunset, but unlike them, it is
not confined to the nectar of flowers for food, as its mouth is
peculiarly adapted to piercing the skin of ripe fruit and feeding
upon its juices. The moths are strong fliers, those of the later
broods being frequently found as far north as Canada.

The first two generations develop rapidly and in the extreme
South the moths emerge by early April and are carried north-
ward by the prevailing winds. Eggs deposited by them give
rise to a brood of moths which in turn fly further northward,
and thus the worms are gradually found throughout the whole
cotton belt, though with a considerable confusion between
the various generations. At least seven generations occur
on the Gulf Coast, and three at the northern limit of the
species. Considering the number of eggs laid by each female
and this number of generations, it may be readily perceived how
such immense numbers of the caterpillars may arise by the latter
part of the season, in a region where practically none remain
over winter. If none was killed, the progeny of a single moth
after four generations would amount to over 300,000,000,000
individuals, or if placed end to end, the third generation would
be enough to encircle the earth at the equator over four times.

Enemies. — It is thus very fortunate that there are many
deadly enemies of the cotton worms, which commence their war-
fare upon them with their first appearance in spring and continue
it with increasing ardor throughout the season. One of the most
effective of these is a minute little insect, Trichogramma pretiosa,

246 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

which develops within the eggs. Mr. H. G. Hubbard once
observed that in Florida from 75 to 90 per cent of the fourth
brood of eggs were destroyed by this parasite, while only three
or four eggs in a hundred escaped in the sixth brood. Another
of the most useful parasites, Pimpla conquisitor, was noticed as
early as 1847 to destroy nearly all of the pupae of the last brood.
The eggs of the Pimpla are laid upon the caterpillar, and the
maggots enter the worm and feed upon its juices. It changes
to a pupa as usual, but the pupa soon dies, and large numbers
are thus killed. Several similar parasites prey upon the cotton
worm, and it is to be regretted that we know of no way of encourag-
ing their valuable work. The common insectivorous birds eat
large numbers of the worms, especially when they are scarce
in early spring, and they should be protected by enacting and
enforcing most stringent laws against their wanton destruction*

Control. — The most commonly used and effective remedy is
to dust the plants with Paris green. Dusting machines drawn
by a team which will cover four rows at once are in common use.
The dust may be applied with any of the powder guns, but it is
most commonly applied to two rows at once by means of bags
fastened at the ends of a pole and carried by a man on horseback,
who can thus dust 15 to 20 acres per day. These sacks are about
10 inches long by 4 inches in diameter, open the whole length
on one side and firmly sewed at the ends. Eight-ounce Osnaburg
is the best cloth for the purpose. A strip of oak or strong wood
about 1^X2 inches, and 5 feet long, has a 1-inch hole bored
through it 5 inches from each end, and to this the sack is tacked,
fastening one of the edges of the opening to each of the narrow
sides of the pole. The sacks are filled through the holes in the pole.
When freshly filled a slight jarring will shake out a sufficient
amount of the poison, but when nearly empty the pole should
be frequently and sharply struck with a short stick or spaces
will be missed. The poison has been found most effective with-
out the admixture of flour, but if it is used, lighter cloth should
b§ used for the sacks.

Besides the general use of Paris green there have been several

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON 247

important factors which have aided in the control of the cotton
worm, so that it is by no means as much of an enemy of the cotton
crop as formerly. Among the most important of these, both
from an entomological and general agricultural standpoint, is
the diversification and rotation of crops, now coming to "be more
and more practiced by the progressive agriculturists of the South.
This alone largely prevents the rapid spread of the pest. Since
the seed has become such a valuable product of cotton, smaller
varieties with many seeds and a short fibre are being grown,
in contrast to the rank-growing, long-fibre sorts formerly pre-
ferred. Thus the rows are more open, the work of the worms
is more readily detected and the poison more easily applied.

Other Caterpillars Injuring the Foliage

Several of our common caterpillars which ordinarily feed upon
various weeds frequently attack cotton foliage in restricted local-
ities and do more or less serious damage. They may be readily
controlled by keeping down the weeds upon which they normally
feed and multiply and by dusting the foliage as for the cotton
worm as soon as they are noticed upon the cotton in any numbers.

Among the more common of these leaf-eating caterpillars
is the Garden Web worm* (see page 406) , which may be recognized
by the fine silken web which it spins over the young plants.
Another is the White-lined Sphinx Caterpillar,! a yellowish-
green caterpillar with black eye-spots and faint stripes, varying
to blackish with yellow spots, and distinguishable from most
other cotton caterpillars by the horn, characteristic of sphingid
caterpillars, at the tip of the abdomen. The Salt-marsh Cater-
pillar J which is one of our best-known " woolly bear " cater-
pillars, covered with black and red hairs, has frequently stripped
cotton of foliage in Texas, as does the Fall Army Worm (see page
118), when it becomes locally overabundant. Many other species
might be mentioned which do more or less local injury.

* Loxoslege similalis Guen. Family Pyralidae.
t Deilephila lineata Fab. Family Sphingidce.
J Estigmene acrcea Drury. Family Arctiidce.

248 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Cotton Square-borer *

Just as the cotton squares commence to form they are often
bored into by a small green caterpillar which many planters
consider a stage of the boll worm and which others have called
the " sharpshooter." This injury is often quite serious on a
small area, as we have seen 10 per cent of the stalks entirely
denuded of squares in small fields in Texas where this insect was
abundant. The little caterpillars hollow out the squares in the
same manner as does the bollworm, often destroying all of those
on a plant knee-high and even boring into the tender stalk. The

FIG. 176. — The cotton square-borer (Uranotes melinus Hbn.): a, adult;
b, underwing of same; c, larva; d, pupa — natural size. (After Howard,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

caterpillars are bright green, oval, decidedly flattened, covered
with short hairs which give them a velvety appearance, and with
the head retracted under the front of the body, thus being quite
unlike any stage of the bollworm. They are the larvae of a dainty
little butterfly (Fig. 176), of a bluish-black color, with dark red-
dish lustre, and with bright red spots on the posterior border
of the hind wings, common around cotton-fields. The small
yellowish, transparent eggs are laid on the leaves and stems of
cotton, cow-peas, goat-weed, and various weeds, and the larva?
have also been found on hops, beans and cow-peas, seeming to

* Uranotes melinus Hbn. Family Lycanidce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON

249

prefer the latter to cotton. The eggs hatch in from two to five
days, the larvae become grown in a little over two weeks, and the
pupal stage averages about ten days, so that the whole life cycle
requires about a month in Central Texas, where there are three
or four generations in a season.

Fortunately for the planter the large majority of the cater-
pillars are parasitized, over 90 per cent of the June generation
having been thus destroyed.

Usually, therefore, it is hardly worth while to attempt to com-
bat this insect, as it is not often seriously injurious year after
year. Should remedial treatment be necessary, thorough dust-
ing with Paris green or arsenate of lead would probably destroy
most of them, as the young caterpillars, like the bollworms,
feed to some extent upon the foliage before entering the squares.

" Sharpshooters " *

In late summer reports are frequent that cotton is being
injured by " sharp-
shooters," especially
on low land. These
insects are reported to
puncture the squares
and bolls, causing
them to drop prema-
turely, a small black
speck showing the
spot where punctured.
The insect which has
been most commonly
credited with this
work is the Glassy-

wingedSharpshooter,t

.,,., *IG- 177- — Tne glassy-winged sharpshooter (Ho-

but With it are usu- malodisca triquetra Fab.) : adult at left, last

ally associated several staSe of nymph at right, young nymph below

, ,. •,, —all enlarged. (Author's illustration, U. S.

near relatives with Dept Agr ^

* Family Jassidw. f Homalodisca triquetra Fab.

250 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

similar habits.* Few planters are able to identify the cause
of the supposed injury, but many know these insects as
" dodgers," from their habit of quickly dodging to the opposite
side of the stem when disturbed. Extensive observations and
repeated experiments during two seasons failed to show the
slightest evidence that these insects are ever injurious to cotton,
though they are common upon it, the supposed injury being
undoubtedly due to the physiological condition of the plant which
causes a shedding of the fruit at the season when the supposed
injury occurs.

a b c

FIG. 178. — Three cotton leaf hoppers commonly called sharpshooters:
a, Auladzes irrorata; b, Oncometopia undala; c, Oncometopia lateralis —
much enlarged. (Author's illustration, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

The adult insects hibernate in rubbish on the ground near the
food-plants and appear in early spring on the elm, hackberry, red-
bud, cottonwood, willow, and the tender shoots of other trees,
especially on bottom-land near streams. Here they suck the
juices of the tender leaves and deposit their eggs in them. The
eggs are laid in rows of ten to fifteen, side by side, just under the
surface of the leaf, forming a blister-like mark. They hatch in a

* Oncometopia undata Fab., O. lateralis Fab., and Aulacizes irrorata Fab.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON

251

few days and the young bugs, or nymphs, are grayish or yellowish
in color and resemble the adults except in the lack of wings. Two
or three generations occur annually in Texas, and the insects are
not common on cotton until midsummer. They are exceedingly
fond of banana trees, sorghum and sunflowers, sometimes doing
considerable injury to the latter, but there is no evidence for con-
sidering them pests of cotton.

The Cotton Leaf-bug *
This insect was the cause of considerable damage in northern

FIG. 179. — The cotton leaf-bug
(Calocoris rapidus): a, adult;
b, c, d, stages in growth of
nymph ; and cotton boll, showing
spots injured by cotton leaf-bug
all enlarged. (Author's illustra-
tion, U. S. Dept, Agr.)

Texas in the latter part of the season of 1904, and had been pre-
viously reported as a pest of cotton, though its injury had never
t Calocoris rapidus Say. Family Capsidce.

252 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

been general. It punctures the squares and bolls, either causing
them to drop or making the bolls shrivel or decay when punctured.
The feeding punctures in {he bolls are indicated by small black
spots, resembling diseased places, which gradually become larger
and sunken, evidently due to some poisonous substance intro-
duced by the beak of the insect as it sucks the juices of the boll.
The bugs may be readily recognized from Fig. 179, and by the
bright red spots just beyond the middle of the wing. The young
are light green marked with red. Several generations of the insect
occur annually, but its life history and habits are still unknown,
and no means of combating it been devised.

Other Plant-bugs *

Several other species of plant-bugs do considerable injury
by sucking the bolls and causing them to shrink or decay.

FIG. 180. — The green soldier-bug (Nezara hilaris): a, adult; b, beak; c, eggs.
d, end of egg more enlarged; e, young nymph; /, last stage of nymph.
(After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

Among these are the so-called " pumpkin-bugs " or " stink-bugs,"
of which a large green species f is the most commonly injurious,
while the blackish, leaf -footed plant-bugs, J which are more abun-
dant on cucurbs, do similar injury.

* See A. W. Morrill, Plant-bugs Injurious to Cotton Bolls.
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.
t Nezara hilaris Say. Family Pentatomidce .
t Iseptnglnsftm opposilus Say. Family Coreidte.

Bulletin 86,

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON

253

" Cotton-stainer " *

The cotton stainer or red-bug is stated by Hunter to be the
most important cotton pest in Florida. It occurs in small num-
bers in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, but does practically
no injury there. The principal damage is due to the bugs punctur-
ing the bolls in feeding and staining the lint a brownish color.
This stain seems to arise from the injured seed, at least it is most
noticeable around the seed. The cocklebur seems to be the

FIG. 181. The red bug or cotton-stainer (Dysdercus suturellus) enlarged.
a, nymph; b, adult. (From " Insect Life.")

most important of the native food-plants, though the bugs feed
on the night-shade and Hibiscus and rarely attack oranges.
Prevention of the growth of these weeds is therefore of importance.
As the bugs usually assemble in colonies, their red color may be
easily observed and they may be jarred from the foliage into
buckets containing water covered with a film of kerosene. In
the fall and winter these insects assemble in numbers on piles
of cotton seed, which may thus be used as traps and the bugs
killed with kerosene or hot water.

* Dysdercus suturellus H. Schf. Family Pyrrhocoridce. See W. D. Hunter,
Circular 149, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

254 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Cotton Bollworm *

One of the most destructive and widespread pests of cotton is
the bollworm, the same insect as the earworm of corn already
described (page 181), which should be consulted for the life history
and description. Throughout the cotton belt the moths of the
third generation appear about August 1st. At that time the ears

of corn have become too
hard to furnish suitable
food for the larva? and
the moths therefore lay
their eggs on the cot-
ton leaves, though if
any late corn is in silk
it is decidedly preferred.
Thus during the month
of August the cotton is
often seriously injured
by the caterpillars bor-
ing into the bolls, this
injury being most seri-
ous in recent years west
of the Mississippi and

particularly in north
I<iG.l<S2. — Bollworm at work on cotton bolls, bor- *•

ing into grown boll— slightly reduced. (After Texas and Louisiana.
Qua:ntance and Brues, U. S. Dept. Agr.) The total damage to cot-

ton is estimated at upward of $20,000,000 per annum. Though
more or less damage is done by the fourth generation of worms,
injury is rarely serious, as the numbers are greatly reduced
by parasites and unfavorable weather conditions.

About two-thirds of the eggs on corn are parasitized by
a tiny little insect hardly visible to the naked eye,f which

* Heliothis obsolete. Fab. Family Noctuidtt. See Farmers' Bulletin
No. 290, U. S. Dept. Agr., by F. C. Bishopp and C. R. Jones and Bulletin 50,
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., by A. L. Quaintance and C. T.
Brues.

t Trichogramma pretiosa Riley.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON 255

becomes so abundant late in the season as to effectively check
the increase of the pest.

Wasps are effective enemies of the bollworms, provisioning
their nests with them. Several species of tachina-flies parasitize
the caterpillars, while not a few are killed by a bacterial disease.
One of the most important natural factors in reducing their num-
bers, however, is their own tendency to cannibalism, the larger

FIG. 183. — Bollworm boring into green tomato. (After Quaintance and
Brues, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

caterpillars attacking and destroying the weaker with a consequent
marked reduction in numbers.

Control. — As in protecting corn from this pest, the most effect-
ive means is the plowing of the land containing the pupae in win-
ter or late fall.

Early planting of early fruiting varieties of cotton, with a
liberal use of fertilizers, and frequent cultivation, so as to hasten
the maturity of the crop, will result in a good crop being made
before the worst injury by the bollworm occurs. These cultural
measures ensure the best crops even where there are no insects
. to be avoided, and as an early crop is less injured by almost all
cotton insects, the planter should Adjust his methods to secure
earliness.

256 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

As the eggs are laid mostly on the cotton leaves and the little
caterpillars nibble the surface before boring into the bolls, the
poisoning of the foliage when the eggs are hatching will result in

a very material reduction of the
subsequent injury. Paris green has
been most generally used, but
probably powdered arsenatc of lead
will be found superior to it. Paris
green has been used at the rate
of 3 pounds per acre, applied either
pure or diluted with lime or flour,
using either a bag and pole, hand powder-gun or geared
dusting machine. The dusting should be done while the plants
are wet with dew. When not followed immediately by rain, two

FIG. 184. — Egg of bollworm ; side
and top views. Highly mag-
nified. (From Quaintance and
Brues, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

FIG. 185. — Bollworms showing variation in color, upper larva green, middle
rose, and lower, dark brown — twice natural size. (After Quaintance and
Brues, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

applications should be sufficient, the first when the eggs commence
to hatch in numbers, usually between July 25th and August 5th,
and the second about a week later. If rains follow, the applica-
tions should be at once repeated.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON

257

Inasmuch as the moths prefer to lay their eggs on corn-silk,
cotton may be very effectively protected by the use of strips of
late corn and cow-peas, planted through the cotton so as to act as a
trap crop. Leave vacant strips four or five rods wide across the

FlG. 186. — Pupa of the bollworm in its burrow in the soil, showing burrow
made by the larva and filled in, and the exit burrow for the moth also
made by the larva — natural size. (After Quaintance and Brues, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

fields when planting cotton. About June 1st plant these with
alternate, rows of Mexican June corn and cow-peas. This will bring
the corn into silk about the first of August and will attract the

258 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

moths to lay their eggs upon it instead of the cotton, while the
cow-peas will furnish both food and shelter to the moths. Corn
should never be planted with cotton when cotton is planted, for
instead of acting as a trap crop it merely furnishes food upon

which the worms
multiply during the
early season and
forces those of the
third generation on
the cotton. The
strips of corn and
peas should be cut
as soon as the worms

FIG. 187.— The moth of the bollworm or com ear- <>n them become
worm — enlarged one-fourth. (After Quaintance fairly grown and

and Brues, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

the land plowed to

destroy any which may have pupated. " On large plantations the
planting of small areas of corn here and there in the fields is prac-
ticable. Such early crops as potatoes, oats, or wheat may be
followed by corn and cow-peas with practically the same results."

The Cotton-boll Cutworm *

The larva of this species is a very common feeder upon the
foliage of cotton and late in the season bores into the bolls in
much the same manner as the bollworm. Cotton is but one
of a long list of food-plants, however, as it is a common pest
of sugar-beets, corn, wheat, cabbage, potato, asparagus, salsify,
peach, raspberry, violet, cucumber, tomato, turnips, pea, rape,
pigweed, cottonwood, and grasses according to Chittenden.
It occurs commonly throughout the States east of the Rocky
Mountains.

The moth has a wing expanse of about 1J inches, the fore-
wings being a dark, rich, velvety brown, marked with black,

* Prodenia ornithogalli Guen. Family Noctuidce. See Sanderson, I.e.,
and F. H. Chittenden, Bulletin 27, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 64.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON

259

FIG. 188. — Tip of ear of corn showing eggs of bollworm or corn ear-worm on
silks. (After Quaintance and Brues, U, S, Dept. Agr.)

260 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

yellow and ochreous as shown in the illustration, while the hind-
wings are a light gray. The grown caterpillar is 1J- to If inches
long, and is quite variable in coloration, some being much darker
than others, as shown in the illustration. The three whitish
lines and the double row of triangular brown spots along the back
of the lighter forms will easily distinguish this caterpillar from
the bollworm.*

Life History.— The life history has not been carefully observed

FIG. 189. — The cotton-boll cutworm (Prodenia ornithogalli Guen.): dark
form of male moth above; pale form, female moth below; a, pale form
of larva; b, dark form of larva; c, lateral view of abdominal segments of
pale form; d, same of dark form. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

in the North, but from observations made by the writer in Texas
the life history in the Gulf States seems to be as follows:

The winter is usually passed in the pupal stage in the soil,
though possibly a few moths, emerging late, hibernate. The
first brood of moths appears from the middle of May until the
middle of June, mostly early in June. A second brood appears
during the latter half of July, and a third late in August and dur-
ing September. A few of the fourth brood may emerge in Decem-
ber, but most of them do not do so until the very early spring,

* See Chittenden, I.e., p. 36, for distinguishing characters of related species
of Prodenia.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON 261

when they lay eggs upon various weeds on which the larvae feed
until cotton appears. The length of time occupied in the dif-
ferent stages is seen to be quite variable, but is approximately
six days for the egg, twenty days for the larva, and thirteen days
(usually ten to fifteen days) for the pupa — making a total of
about forty days for the complete life cycle. Dr. Chittenden
believes that there are two generations in the North and probably
three in the latitude of the District of Columbia.

Control. — This species has not been sufficiently injurious on
cotton to warrant extensive experiments in its control. Where
it attacks young plants of cotton or other crops, it may be com-
bated with the means suggested for other cutworms on page 85.
Where it becomes injurious to the bolls, it might be controlled
by thorough dusting or spraying with arsenicals, which would
destroy the young larvae while they are still feeding on the foliage.

The Mexican Cotton Boll Weevil *

Not since the invasion of the Mississippi Valley by the Rocky
Mountain locusts in the 70's has any insect caused such ruin
to any staple crop as has the boll weevil in the territory affected
during the past ten years, and it is. one of the factors in the recent
high prices of cotton.

Like several of the worst insect pests of the South it is a native
of Central America and came to us from Mexico, crossing the
Rio Grande at Brownsville, Texas, about 1890. As early as 1862
the weevil caused the growers at Monclova, Mexico, to abandon
cotton culture and when they again planted it in 1893, the beetle
promptly appeared and destroyed the entire crop. It multiplied
rapidly in south Texas, ruining the crops, and by 1895 had spread
northward to a line extending eastward from San Antonio.
Since then it has spread northward and eastward, about sixty
miles a year, until in 1905 it had covered all of Texas and western
Louisiana and is now found throughout the cotton area of those

* Anthcnomns grandis Boh. Family Curculionida . See W. D. Hunter,
"The Boll Weevil Problem," Farmers' Bulletin 344, U. S. Dept. Agr.; and
Hunter and Hinds, Bulletin 51, Bureau of Entomlcgy, U. S. Dept. Agr.

262 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

States and in Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and South-
western Alabama. There seems to be no reason why it should
not continue to spread throughout the cotton belt.

•

FIG. 190. — The cotton boll weevil, natural size, showing variation in
size and color.

In 1904, after an exhaustive study of all available data, the
writer estimated the loss in Texas alone at $25,000,000, and

that the pest had then cost the
State $100,000,000. Owing to
decrease in acreage and the gen-
eral use of methods for preventing
or avoiding injury, the injury
has not increased proportion-
ately to the spread of the pest,
but the total annual loss is 'at
least as much as in 1904, though
no accurate estimates have been
recently made for the whole ter-
ritory affected.

Life History. — The parent of
all this damage is a small brownish beetle about one-quarter inch
long, varying from one-eighth to one-third, including the snout,
which is about half as long as the body. Recently emerged
weevils are light yellowish in color, but they soon become grayish-
brown -and later almost blackish. There are many nearly related
weevils which very closely resemble the boll weevil, and only an
entomologist can identify the species with certainty, but the two
teeth at the tip of the femora of the fore-legs (Fig. 191), are the

FIG. 191. — The cotton boll weevil —
enlarged.

264 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

most characteristic structure by which it may be distinguished.
The boll weevil feeds only upon cotton, and weevils found feeding
on other plants are certainly of other species.

FIG. 193. — Cotton square with bracts opened to show weevil at work on the
bud, which shows a feeding puncture.

FIG. 194. — The cotton boll weevil; eggs among the anthers -at points indi-
cated by arrows, the cross-section at the right showing opening through
which egg was deposited — greatly enlarged.

The weevils commence to emerge from hibernation soon after
cotton is up and continue to emerge until the cotton commences
to square freely. During the spring the beetles feed on the foliage,

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON 265

particularly in the tender terminals, and as soon as squares are
formed the females commence to lay their eggs in them. Each
female lays an average of about 140 eggs, laying four or five a day.
The female drills a small cavity in the square and in it deposits
a small oval white egg, which hatches in about three days.
The grub feeds upon the embryo flower, which usually fails
to develop, and the infested square generally falls to the ground.
In from seven to twelve days the larva is full grown and changes
to the pupa, which stage lasts from three to five days. Thus

FIG. 195. — The cotton boll weevil, larva and pupa — enlarged.

from egg to adult requires from two to three weeks, though
climatic conditions cause considerable variation in the length
of time. The larva is a footless, white grub, with brown head,
which lies curled up in the square as shown in Fig. 195, where
the soft white pupa is also found. The adult weevils feed entirely
during the day. Their length of life depends upon various
conditions, but in the summer season the majority do not live
over sixty days, while during the cooler part of the year those
which hibernate live five or six months. Many squares are
destroyed by the feeding punctures of the weevils. " The males
feed upon the squares and bolls without moving until the food
begins to deteriorate. The females refrain from depositing in
squares visited by other females. This applies throughout
most of the season, but late in the fall, when all the fruit has
become infested, several eggs may be placed in a single square

266 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

or boll. As many as fifteen larvae have been found in a boll.
The squares are greatly preferred as food and as places for deposit-
ing eggs. As long as a supply of squares is present the bolls are
not damaged to any serious extent. The bolls, therefore, have
a fair chance to develop as long as squares are being formed.
Whenever frost or other unfavorable weather causes the plants
to cease putting on squares, the weevils attack the bolls. A

FIG. 196. — Cotton squares broken open, showing the boll weevil larvae within

— enlarged.

conservative estimate of the possible progeny of a single pair
of weevils during a season beginning on June 20, and extending
to November 4, is 12,755,100." — Hunter. Although the weevil
may develop from egg to adult in two or three weeks, it requires
an average of about forty-three days for a complete generation,
and there are probably not over four or five generations in a
season.

With the first killing frosts, most of the immature stages
developing are killed, though in south Texas they often develop

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON

267

during the winter, and the adult weevils soon go into hibernation.
When seeking places for hibernation the weevils migrate from
field to field, and it is at this season that the principal migration
of the pest takes place. The weevils may hibernate in hedges,
woods, corn-fields, haystacks, or farm buildings, particularly
about seed-houses or similar situations. Experiments have
shown that Spanish moss forms an exceedingly favorable place
for hibernation, and that many weevils pass the winter in it on
trees some distance above the ground. Others may hiber-
nate in the cotton-field, crawling into cracks, under grass,
weeds, and trash, and into the
empty cotton burrs, while in
the more southern sections
many hibernate in injured
bolls. The weevils which
hibernate most successfully
do so outside of the cotton -
fields. The number which
survive the winter has been
accurately determined under
various conditions for several
seasons, and depends upon
the minimum temperature,
the amount of moisture, and
the kind of shelter. Thus in
central Texas but 2 or 3 per

cent survive in many normal winters, while in the open winter of
1906-07 11.5 per cent survived; in south Texas 15 per cent may
survive, and in experiments made in Central Louisiana in 1908-
09 with rather favorable conditions 20 per cent survived. The
importance of reducing the number whicn survive the winter is
evident.

Natural Control. — If infested squares fall to the ground and lie
on the unshaded, hot soil the larvae or pupse within them are soon
killed. As many as 40 per cent of the immature stages have thus
been found dead in many fields. The importance of wide rows

P'IG. 197. — Cotton boll weevils hiber-
nating in locks of cotton removed
from old bolls left on stalks over
winter.

268 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and varieties which produce little shade is therefore apparent, and
it is evident that injury will be much less on dry upland soil, and
much more severe in bottoms where the cotton grows rank and
thick.

Over a score of parasites* prey upon the immature stages
within the squares or bolls, and they seem to be increasing in num-
bers and effectiveness as they become adapted to living upon the
weevil, as they are all native insects which prey upon nearly

FIG. 198. — Chain cultivator for use in drawing weevil infested squares to center
of row. (After Hunter, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

related species of weevils and other insects. Ac many as two-thirds
of the immature stages have been destroyed by them in certain
fields, though ordinarily not over 5 per cent of the total are para-
sitized. Several species of ants also feed on the immature stages,
20 to 30 per cent of those in fallen squares and bolls often being
destroyed by them. The ants destroy many more in the fallen
squares than in those hanging on the plants, so that the dropping
of the squares aids their good wrork as w^ell as exposes the squares
to the heat of the sun.

Usually about 70 per cent of the infested squares drop, and in
these 70 to 80 per cent of the immature stages are destroyed by
natural causes.f

* See W. D. Pierce, Studies of Parasites on the Cotton Boll Weevil,
Bulletin 73, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

t See W. E. Hinds, Some Factors in the Natural Control of the Mexican
Cotton Boll Weevil, Bulletin 74, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON

269

Control. — By far the most important measure in the control of
the boll weevil is the destruction of the plants in the fall as
soon as the cotton can be picked.
This both destroys the weevils
and prevents their increase. The
stalks should be plowed out and
burned as soon as possible. It is
well to plow out all but a row
here and there upon which the
weevils will concentrate, then as-
soon as the piles are dry enough
to burn, cut the remaining rows
and burn at once. In this way the
great bulk of the adult weevils
and all of the immature stages
the squares and bolls are

FIG. 199. — Solenopsis geminata
Fab., a native ant which is a
valuable enemy of the boll
weevil — much enlarged. (After
Hunter and Hinds, U. S. Dept.
Agr.)

Thus it has been shown by

destroyed. The few escaping wee-
vils will be starved out before the
weather becomes cold enough for
them to hibernate, or will be so
weakened as to die in hibernation.
Professor Wilmon Newell, in Louisiana, that where the weevils
were forced into hibernation on October 15th only 3 per cent
survived the winter, but that when the destruction of the stalks
was p'ut off until after December 15th, 43 per cent survived, with
proportional numbers at intervening dates. Furthermore, the
development of the late broods which furnish the majority of the
weevils which hibernate is effectually prevented. The removal
of the plants also facilitates winter plowing, which aids in produc-
ing an early crop the next year. Many experiments and the
experience of practical planters have shown that the destruction of
the stalks in the fall is of primary importance in the control of the
weevil, particularly upon bottom lands. Experiments made in
.Calhoun County, Texas, where the stalks were destroyed on 410
acres, showed an increase the next season of over one-quarter
bale per acre as compared with fields where the stalks had been

270 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

left standing, the benefit being worth $14.56 per acre, or over
twenty-nine times the cost of the work. It is better to plow out
the stalks than to cut them, particularly in the far South, as the
stalks will frequently sprout out in the late fall and thus furnish

FIG. 200. — Bracon mettitor Say, one of the most important parasites of the
boll weevil larvae — much enlarged. (After Hunter and Hinds, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

food for the late weevils, or will sprout in early spring and furnish
food for those first emerging from hibernation. For the same
reasons all volunteer cotton should be destroyed.

It is evident that the thorough defoliation of the plants by the
cotton leafworm will secure much the same result as the destruc-
tion of the stalks, by removing the food supply of the weevil.
Planters should not poison the leafworms, therefore, when they
appear during the latter part of the season in fields injured by the
weevil, for though formerly much dreaded they are now a great
aid in preventing the increase of the weevil in fall.

It has been demonstrated that injury by the weevil is never so
severe where cotton is planted after some other crop, this being
due to the fact that the weevils do not fly far from their hibernating
quarters in the spring.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON 271

By hastening the maturity of the crop, injury by the weevils
may be avoided by making the crop before they have become
most abundant. Everything possible should therefore be done
toward hastening maturity, and this will be of importance in rela-
tion to the early destruction of the stalks in the fall. Land should
be plowed in the winter and a good seed bed prepared. Cotton
should be planted as early as possible with safety. A liberal use
of commercial fertilizers will hasten the growth of the crop even on
fairly fertile soils, and on poor soils their use will return a hand-
some profit. Early varieties of cotton should be planted, among
the most satisfactory being, Rowden, Triumph, Cleveland Big
Boll, Cook's Improved, King, Hawkins' Early Prolific, and Sim-
kins. Seed should be secured from the originators of the varie-
ties as far as possible. Chop out the plants as soon as possible.
Frequent light cultivation will be found of the greatest importance
in hastening the crop. Deep cultivation and cultivating close to
the plants should be avoided as causing the squares to shed, and
the old practice of " laying by " by running a broad sweep down
the middles should be avoided. The lightest possible cultivation
to keep the surface soil stirred is the best. All of these methods
which aid in hastening the maturity of the crop are commonly
called " cultural methods " of preventing loss from the weevil.
They are not directed against the weevil itself, but are merely the
best agricultural methods for securing an early crop, and on light
upland soils attention to these methods will alone be sufficient to
secure a good crop.

It has already been shown that the immature stages in squares
falling on the hot soil will be killed by the heat. To aid in this
the rows should be planted fairly wide apart, and varieties pro-
ducing a minimum of shade are preferable, as are those which
readily shed their squares when injured. As most of the squares
drop beneath the plants where they are shaded, any means of
scraping them into the centres of the rows will aid in their
•destruction. For this purpose a chain cultivator as described by
Hunter (I.e.) (Fig. 198) has proven very efficient for this purpose.
The chains may be attached to ordinary cultivators by special

272 INSECT PESTS OF FARM," GARDEN AND ORCHARD

attachments. An arm or projection that will brush the plant
should be attached to whatever cultivator is used so that the
squares will be knocked to the ground, as the effect of the heat is
greater the earlier the squares drop.

During 1909 Professor Wilmon Newell and his assistants demon-
strated at several places in Louisiana that the weevil may be suc-
cessfully poisoned by the use of dry or powdered arsenate of lead,
though previous experiments with dry Paris green and arsenate
of lead as a liquid spray had not proven of practical value for vari-
ous reasons. An increase of 71 per cent of the crop was secured
on considerable areas and the results were duplicated by practical
planters. Professor Newell recommends that the poison be
applied first when the first squares appear and that five appli-
cations be given at weekly intervals. The poison must be
applied by hand with a powder-gun so that it is blown into the
squares. The first application' requires about 2£ pounds per acre
and the last 5 to 7 pounds. The cost for labor and materials will
amount to from $5 to $7 per acre, but at this rate the operation
will show a decided profit with the above amount of benefit as
long as cotton sells at over 8 cents per pound. Although the use
of powdered arsenate of lead is still in an experimental stage, it
promises- to become one of the most important means of com-
bating the boll weevil, particularly in the river bottoms of the
Mississippi basin, where conditions for the multiplication and
hibernation of the weevil are particularly favorable.*

* See Newell and Smith, Circular 33, Louisiana Crop Pest Commission,
Baton Rouge, La.

CHAPTER XIV
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE HOP-PLANT *

The Hop-plant Borer t

THE Hop-plant Borer is sometimes the occasion of a consider-
able loss to the hop industry, Mr. Chas. R. Dodge having estimated
upon the basis of the census of 1879 that it then amounted to
$600,000 annually in New York State alone. The moths have
been taken from Ontario and New England south to the District
of Columbia, and west to Wisconsin, and also from Colorado and
Washington, but the larvae have never become injurious in the
hop-fields of the Pacific Coast. " It is probable that it is a north-
ern form, and confined, as it seems to be, to a single food-plant, it
will be found only where this plant is known to grow."

Life History. — Many of the moths emerge from the pupae in the
fall and hibernate over winter, while others do not transform till
spring, passing the winter in the pupal stage in small cells in the
ground near the roots of the plant which the larvae have infested.
The moths appear during May, and the females deposit their globu-
lar, yellowish-green eggs upon the tips of the hop-vines just as they
begin to climb. " The egg hatches in a few days and produces a
minute slender greenish larva, spotted with black, which immedi-
ately burrows into the vine just below the tip, and spends a part of
its life in the vine at this point. The vine soon shows the effects of
the insect's work; instead of pointing upward, embracing the pole
readily and growing rapidly, the. tip points downward, will not
climb, and almost entirely ceases growing. This appearance is
called by growers a ' muffle-head.' When the insect attains a

* " Some Insects Affecting the Hop-plant," L. O. Howard, Bulletin No.
7, n. a., Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 41.
f Hydroecia immanis Grt. Family Noctuidoe.

273

274

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE HOP-PLANT

length of about half an inch, or slightly less, it leaves the tip, drops
to the ground, and entering the stem at the surface of the vine,
feeds upward, 'nterrupting the growth of the vine and lessening its
vitality; the larva now changes color, and becomes a dirty-white,
with a strong, deep reddish tint, with numerous black spots. The
larva, now about an inch in length, and still slender, burrows down-
ward to the base of the vine at its juncture with the old stock, and
eating its way out, completes its growth as a subterranean worker;

FIG. 201. — Hop-plant borer (Hydroecia immanis Grt.): a, enlarged segment of
larva; 6, larva; c, pupa; d, adult, natural size. (After Howard, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

it is in this state that it is best and most widely known as the hop
' grub/ and the ravages caused by it are most noted."*

The larvae have mostly left the stems by the last of June
and henceforth are mainly sap-feeders. Eating into the stem
just below the surface of the ground and just above the old root,
they rapidly grow fat upon the juices of the plant. These openings
are gradually enlarged so that very often the stem is entirely
severed from the root or is so slightly attached that the plant
is badly stunted and yields fe'w, if any, hops. The larvae become
full grown from the middle to the 20th of July and are then

* " Hop-insects," Dr. J. B. Smith, Bulletin No. 4, o. s., Division of Ento-
mology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE HOP-PLANT 275

" about two inches in length, fleshy, unwieldy, and very slow in
their movements; they are of a dirty white color, speckled with
fine, brownish elevated tubercles, each furnished with a single
stout hair; the head is brownish and corneous, as is also the top
of the first segment." (I.e.)

The larvae now transform to pupse in rough cells, close to the
roots which they have infested, and the adult moths emerge
during August or September, or the following spring. The
adult moths are found, upon close examination, to be most
beautifully marked, though not of a striking appearance at first
sight. " The general color is a rosy brown, paler at the extremity
of the wings. The darker central portion is shaded with dark
velvety bronze and marked with two dull-yellow spots. The fore-
wings are divided into three areas by narrow oblique transverse
lines, edged outwardly with pink. The hind-wings are paler in
color, crossed in the middle by a slightly darker line." — Howard I.e.

Remedies. — Two points in the life history of the insect afford
opportunity for its control. The first is when the young larva?
are still in the tips and can easily be crushed by the fingers when
tying the vines. " Muffleheads " should always be picked off
and destroyed.

Early in June when the larvae have left the inside of the vines
it is well to remove all the soil from the base of the vine, down
to the junction with the old root. The larvae, which will not
feed above ground, will go to the old roots, to which they will
do but little injury. The roots should be left thus exposed for
about a week. A handful of mixture of coal and wood ashes or
ammoniated phosphate should then be applied to each and the
plants hilled high. The plant will now send out new rootlets
from the main root, and is able to secure necessary nourishment
through them.

The Hop-louse *

Like many another aphid the Hop-louse has a most interest-
ing life history, which has been fully ascertained in but recent
years. During the winter the small oval black eggs may be
* Phorodon humuli Schr. Family Aphididce.

276 INSECT PESTS OP FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

found in the crevices and around the buds of the terminal twigs
of plum-trees near infested hop-fields. From these hatch a

FIG. 202. — The hop-louse (Phorodon humuli Schr.) : a, winter eggs and shrivelled
skin of the sexual female which laid them; 6, stem-mother, or first spring
generation, with enlarged antenna above — all much enlarged. (After
Riley, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

FIG. 203. — The hop plant-louse, third generation on plum — the generation
which flies to the hop — enlarged; head below at right — still more
enlarged. (After Riley, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

generation of females, known as " stem-mothers," during the
following spring. The aphides of this generation differ in being
stouter, with shorter legs and honey-tubes than those of any other

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE HOP PLANT

277

generation. Three generations feed upon the plum, the third
becoming winged and flying to its favorite food in the hop-field.

Throughout "the summer the aphides reproduce partheno-
genetically. They " multiply with astonishing rapidity for
from five to twelve generations, carrying us in point of
time to the hop-picking season." " Each parthenogenetic
female is capable of producing on an average one hundred
young (the stem-mother probably being more prolific), at the
rate of one to six, or an average of three
per day, under favorable conditions.
Each generation begins to breed about
the eighth day after birth, so that the
issue from a single individual easily runs
up, in the course of the summer, to mil-
lions. The number of leaves (700 hills,
each with two poles and two vines) to an
acre of hops, as grown in the United
States, will not, on the average, much
exceed a million before the period of
blooming or burning; so that the issue
from a single stem-mother may, under
favoring circumstances, blight hundreds
of acres in the course of two or three
months." *

During September a brood of winged females are produced
which fly back to the plum-trees, and in the course of a few days
give birth to three or more young. These never become winged,
but are the true sexual females which lay the winter eggs. The
true winged males are developed during the latter part of the
season and may be found pairing with the wingless females at
that time, these being the only males during the year.

Remedies. — From a knowledge of the above life history

several methods of treatment have been devised. By spraying

• plum-trees neighboring the hop-yard and infested with aphides

while they are laying the eggs, during fall or in the spring

* Riley, The Hop-louse, Insect Life, Vol. I, p. 135.

FIG. 204.— The hop
plant-louse, true sex-
ual female — enlarged.
(After Riley, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

278 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

before the winged generation appears, with some substance
which will destroy them, the pest may be prevented from getting
a start the next season. Spraying the trees during the fall is
best, because a stronger or more caustic solution can then be
applied without danger of injury to the tree. A winter wash of 1
pound of concentrated lye to 2 gallons of water may be used as a
spray to advantage in killing a large share of the eggs, but should
not be applied after the buds commence to swell in the spring. To

FIG. 205. — The hop plant-louse, male — enlarged. (After Riley, U. S. D. Agr.)

lessen the number of eggs all wild plum-trees in the neighboring
woods should be destroyed. As soon as the crop is harvested,
the hop-vines should be burned or thoroughly sprayed with
kerosene emulsion, so as to kill off the males before they have
been able to fertilize the females.

For spraying the plum-trees and hop-vines kerosene emulsion
has been found very satisfactory, diluting the stock solution with
15 parts of water.

Fish-oil or whale-oil soap used at the rate of 1 pound to 8
gallons of water will prove an effective spray against the lice.
Also see page 664.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE HOP-PLANT

279

The Hop-vine Snout-moth *

The larvae of the Hop-vine Snout-moth sometimes become
very formidable pests in the hop-field, appearing suddenly in
large numbers and rapidly eating the foliage over a large area.

They are not known to have any other food-plant than the
hop and hence are only found where that plant occurs, though
specimens have been taken from almost all sections of the United
States, southern Canada, and British Columbia.

FIG. 206. — The hop-vine snout-moth (Hypena humuli Harr.): a, egg; b, larva
c, segment of same; d, pupa; e, cremaster of same; /, adult — a, c, e,
greatly enlarged, others slightly enlarged. (After Howard, U. S. Dept.
Agr)

Life History. — It seems probable that the moths hibernate
over winter, as they emerge in the fall, and lay eggs for the first
brood early in the following May. The eggs are of a pale green
color, and are deposited upon the under surfaces of the leaves,
sometimes several upon a single leaf. The larvae emerging from
them become mature late in June and early in July. When
full-grown the larva? are slightly less than one inch long, and
" of a green color, marked with two longitudinal white lines down
the back, a dark-green line in the middle between and an indistinct
whitish line on each side of the body. The head is green, spotted

* Hypena humuli Harr. Family Noctuidce.

280 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

with black piliferous clots, uiul similar dots occur on each seg-
ment, arranged in two transverse rows." *

Before pupating the larva spins a thin silken cocoon, either
among the leaves, under the bark of the poles, or at or slightly
under the surface of the ground. The pupal stage occupies about
ten days, and the moths emerge from* the cocoons early in July.
Another brood follows with a similar life history, the moths
emerging late in August and in September and probably hibernat-
ing over winter.

The larvae are known as " false loopcrs," on account of their
bending the back slightly in creeping, which is due to their lacking
the first pair of pro-legs.

Another species of the same genus (Hypena rostralis) affects
hop-vines in Europe in the same manner and is very similar to
the one above described.

Remedies. — The larvae can be controlled by the use of any
arsenical spray, which should be applied while they are still young.

Hop-merchants

The so-called "Hop-merchants," which here and there gleam
from the vines are the chrysalids of two common butterflies, whose
larvae feed preferably upon hops. The chrysalids are normally
marked writh beautiful gold or silver spots, which sometimes
become so diffused as to tinge the whole chrysalis. " An inter-
esting superstition holds among hop-growers to the effect that
when the golden-spotted chrysalids are plentiful the crop will
be good and the price high, while if the silver-spotted ones are
plentiful and the golden-spotted ones are scarce the price will be
low." — Howard, (I.e.).

The Semicolon-butterfly f

The common names of these two butterflies indicate the most
striking mark of distinction between them. P. interrogationis
bears a silver mark like a semicolon or interrogation point upon

* Howard, I.e.

f Polygonia interrogationis Godart. Family Nymphalidce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE HOP-PLANT

281

the under side of the hind wings (Fig. 207), while P. comma has the
same mark without the dot, which thus resembles a comma
(Fig. 208).

The Semicolon-butterfly is common throughout the United
States east of the Rockies, and especially in hop-growing regions.
It hibernates over winter and is among the first butterflies to be
seen in early spring, when it is often attracted to the flowing sap

FIG. 207. — The semicolon-butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) : a, egg-chain;
6, larva; c, chrysalis; d, adult — all natural size except a, which is
greatly enlarged. (After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

of newly cut trees. The eggs are laid late in May or early in June,
usually upon the under surface of the leaves of elm, blackberry,
or nettle, either singly or in pendent columns of from two to
eight. They hatch in from four to eleven days and the larvae
grow quite rapidly.

When full grown the larva is an inch and a quarter long. The
-head is reddish-black, somewhat bilobed, each lobe being tipped
with a tubercle bearing five single, black-pointed spines, and cov-
ered with many small white and several blackish tubercles. The

282 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

body is black, thickly covered with streaks and dots of yellowish
white; the second segment is without spines, but with a row of
yellowish tubercles in their place; the third segment has four
branching spines, all black, with a spot of dark yellow at their
base; and on the fourth segment are four spines, as there are on all
the others, excepting the terminal, which has two pairs, one pos-
terior to the other. The spines arc yellow, with blackish branches,
excepting the terminal pair, which arc black; and there is a row of
reddish ones on each side. The under surface is^yellowish gray,
darker on the anterior segments, with a central line of blackish,
and many small black dots.

The chrysalis is ash-brown, with the head deeply notched, and
with eight silvery spots on the back; this stage lasts from eleven
to fourteen days and the butterflies emerge in July. These lay
eggs for another brood late in July and throughout August, mainly
upon the hop-plants, where they are to be found. When the cater-
pillars of this brood are numerous they sometimes do considerable
damage to the foliage, but both this and the following species are
ordinarily prevented from becoming overnumerous by several
parasites of the eggs and larvse. Only when for some reason con-
ditions are unfavorable to the development of its parasites does
either species become especially abundant. In fact, Dr. J. B.
Smith, who made extensive observations upon hop-insects in 1883.
states " that not one in ten of the insects ever attains the butterfly
state."

The chrysalis stage of the second brood is somewhat longer
than the first, sometimes lasting twenty-six days, and the butter-
flies emerge from the latter part of August until the end of October,
and at once seek quarters in which to hibernate over winter.

Both this species and P. comma are dimorphic, the winter and
summer forms differing in both sexes in both the upper and lower
aspects of the wings. In the South, where from three to five
broods occur in a season, both forms are usually found in the sec-
ond and third broods, the summer form, var. umbrosa, gradually
decreasing until all of the fourth brood are the hibernating winter
form, var. fabricii.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE HOP-PLANT

283

The Comma-butterfly *

The Comma-butterfly is most common throughout the East
from New England to North Carolina and Tennessee, though occa-
sionally found as far west as Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, and
Texas.

FIG. 208. — The comma-butterfly (Polygonia comma): a, egg-chain; b, larva;
c, chrysalis; d, adult — all natural size, except a. which is greatly
enlarged. (After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

Its life history is practically the same as that of the species just
described. The larva? of the first brood sometimes seriously dam-
age young elm-trees which have been but recently reset, by eating
them bare of the foliage. The winter form hibernates about a
month earlier, being rarely seen in October. As a rule a similar

* Polygonia comma Harr. Family Nymphalidce.

284 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

dimorphism occurs, the hibernating form being known as var. har-
risii and the summer form rar. dryas, though the distinction is not
as marked in this species.

The half-grown larva is black, with a yellowish stripe along the
side from the third segment, and with yellow stripes across the
back, and spots of the same color at the base of the dorsal spines,
which are yellow tipped with black. The mature caterpillar is
white, mottled, or striped with gray or ashen, and with red
spiracles.

The butterflies of both species arc of a rich brown color, marked
with black and tipped with lilac above, and of a much darker pur-
plish brown with the characteristic silver spots beneath, which are
well indicated in the illustration.

Remedies. — Spraying with an arsenical will destroy the larvae
when such treatment becomes necessary.

CHAPTER XV
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES

The Potato Stalk-borer*

IN some sections this insect has rivaled the famous Colorado
potato-bug in the damage it has inflicted upon potato-vines. It
was recorded as badly damaging the crop in Iowa in 1890,

FIG. 209. — Work of potato stalk-borer in potato-vines. (After J. B. Smith.)

and was found by Dr. Riley in Missouri as early as 1869. The
beetles were first noted in New Jersey in 1895, and have been
injurious in Maryland and most of the Middle States.

Life History.— The grubs, which bore into the stalks of the vines,

* Trichobaris trinotata Say. Family Curculionidce.

285

286 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

arc the larvae of some small ashen-gray beetles which appear early
in spring and into June. These beetles are about one-fourth of an
inch long, with a long, black beak or snout, and are marked at the
base of the wing-covers by three black spots which give the insect
its specific name, trinotata. Each beetle punctures a small hole in
the base of a stem by means of its beak, hollows out a small cavity,
and there lays a single small, oval, whitish egg. From these eggs
some small, white grubs with brown heads hatch in a few days and
commence to bore into the stalk. These grubs keep eating, either
in the main stalk or branches, from August 1st to September 1st,

FIG. 210. — Potato Stalk-borer (Trichobaris trinotata). Larva, pupa and
adult. (After J. B. Smith.)

when they have become full grown. At this time the grubs are
about one-half an inch long, of a dirty white or yellowish color,
with a yellowish-brown, horny head, and without legs. About the
middle of August, as a general rule, the grubs construct small, oval
cocoons of chips and fibres in the stalk of the vine near the sur-
face of the soil, and there transform to the pupae. During late
August and September the mature beetles shed the pupal skins, in
which they have remained dormant for the last few weeks, but
remain in the vines during the winter, and do not come forth till
the following spring.

Remedies. — On account of its internal feeding habits no poison
can be successfully used against this pest, and the only remedy,

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 287

but a good one, is to rake up the vines and burn them as soon as
the potatoes have been dug. As this insect also feeds upon the
Jamestown weed, horse-nettle, and other weeds of the Nightshade
family, or Solanaccce, they should be kept cut down very closely.
When the grubs are noticed in the plants, a good allowance of fer-
tilizer will do much to quicken growth and thus enable them to
mature a crop.

The Stalk-borer *

This species may well be called the stalk-borer, for it not only
tunnels the stalks of potatoes — being often called the potato stalk-
borer — and tomatoes, but frequently infests corn, cotton and a long
list of garden crops, grains, grasses, flowering plants, and various
common weeds. Apparently the latter, such as ragweed, cockle-
bur and the like, are its normal food plants, and when they are
destroyed or where more tender cultivated plants are near by,
it attacks whatever is available. Two or three nearly related
species have very similar habits.

The adult moth (Fig. 211) is a fawn-gray or mouse color, with
the outer third of the fore-wings paler and bordered within by a
whitish cross-line.

Life History. — The eggs are laid in the fall on the stems of
weeds and grasses, in masses of fifty or sixty, near the ground,
They are about one-fiftieth inch in diameter, circular, grayish
in color, with radiating ridges. They hatch in late May in
southern Minnesota and the young caterpillars at once commence
to mine small galleries in the leaves of the food plants, soon
riddling the leaves. In a few days they work down to the bases
of the leaves and enter the stalks, which they tunnel out and not
infrequently leave one plant and migrate some little distance
before entering another. Infested plants are readily recognized
by the wilting of the parts above the larva, the work in corn
being particularly noticeable and having given the local name
of " heart-worm." The larva become full grown about the
first of August. They are readily recognized by the peculiar

* Papaipema nitella Gn. Family Noctuidce.

288 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

markings of the body (Fig. 211, b). The larva is about an inch
long and varies from purplish to whitish brown, and is marked
with five white stripes, one along the middle of the back, and two
on each side. These sides stripes are absent on the first four
segments of the abdomen, giving the larva an appearance as if
it had been pinched or injured there. As the larva matures the
stripes become fainter. When ready to pupate the larva cuts a

FIG. 211. — The stalk-borer (Papaipema nitella Gn.): a, adult; b, half-grown
larva; c, mature larva in burrow; d, side of one of its segments: e,
pupa— all slightly enlarged. (From Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

hole through the side of the stalk, and then transforms to the
brown pupa in the lower part of the stalk. The pupal stage lasts
about two or three weeks, and the moths emerge in late August,
there being but one generation a year.

Usually the injury to crops is only in the outer rows, to which
the larvae have migrated from weeds growing along the edges,
or in fields which have been weedy in early spring, or where the
weeds have been allowed to get a start before being culti-
vated out.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 289

Control. — From the life history and habits it is obvious that
clean farming is the only method of effectual control. The
destruction of weeds and fall plowing should prevent any general
injury. Usually the injury is but local, and fortunately the
caterpillars are attacked by numerous parasites which aid in
their control, sometimes to the extent of killing 70 per cent of
them. In small gardens the prompt destruction of infested
plants will prevent the caterpillars from migrating to others.
Where weeds are infested in or near a crop they should be destroyed
as soon as cut, for if left on the ground the larvae will promptly
migrate to the nearest plants. Where fields are kept clean of
weeds there will be little trouble.*

The Potato Tuber-worm f

The most serious pest of the potato in California is the Tuber-
worm, which in tobacco regions of the Southern States is known
as the "split worm " or leaf -miner (see page 237). Xot infre-
quently 25 per cent of the crop is lost in infested regions in
California, injury occurring both in the fields and to the tubers
in storage. As the pest is carried in the potatoes and breeds in
storage throughout the warm winters of California, and when
exported across the Pacific, it is necessary to closely inspect
potatoes from infested regions. Although no injury to potatoes
has occurred outside of California, and though the insect probably
could not exist in the North, it may well be guarded against in
the Southern States, where it is a common tobacco pest.J

Moths which have developed from larvae working in stored
potatoes are on the wing when young potatoes are up, and lay
their eggs at the base of the leaves. The young larvse bore into
the stalks, often causing the plants to wilt and die. On older

* See Forbes, 23d Report State Entomologist of Illinois, p. 44; Washburn,
12th Report State Entomologist of Minnesota, p. 151 ; Journal Economic
Entomology, III, p. 165; Smith, Report N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta. for 1905, pp.
584-587.

f Phthorimea operculella Zell. See W. T. Clarke, Bulletin 135, California
Agr. Exp. Sta.

^Recently serious injury by this insect has been reported to potatoes
near Hallettsville, Texas.

290 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

plants or when the stalks harden, the larvae leave the stalks and
enter the tubers, particularly where they may be exposed. Where
potatoes are exposed by being insufficiently covered the moths
will lay their eggs directly upon them, as they also do upon
potatoes exposed in the field after digging.

Most of the observations upon the life history seem to have
been made upon the insect when breeding in stored potatoes.
The eggs are about one-fiftieth inch long, oval, white, and laid
singly or in pairs, about the eyes of the potatoes, or in similar
rough places, where they are seen with difficulty. They hatch
in a week or ten days, and the young larvae are about one-
twenty-fifth inch long of a transparent white color. The
larvae burrow beneath the skin and bore into the potatoes,
filling their burrows with frass and excrement, which soon give
rise to various rots which cause the destruction of the tuber,
already rendered unfit for food by the burrows. The larvae
become full grown in about six or seven weeks. They are then
about a half inch long. The head is dark brown; the first
segment is an old rose color, with dark brown shield on the
back; the second segment is a similar clouded pink; while the
third and succeeding segments are a clouded white, often becom-
ing yellowish or greenish, according to the food eaten. The full-
grown larva returns to the mouth of the burrow and there makes
its cocoon, or leaves it and forms the cocoon in some depression
of the potato or in some crack of the storage vessel or in a fold
of the bag. The cocoon is constructed quite differently from
that of most moths as described by Mr. Clarke. The larva first
makes a mat of silk and then forms an outer layer to the surface
of which particles of dirt and rubbish adhere so that the cocoon
is well concealed. When this pocket-like cocoon is finished the
larva enters it and closes the open end and in it transforms to
the pupa. The pupal stage lasts about two weeks, so that the
complete life cycle requires from nine to twelve weeks, there being
several generations during the year, according to the temperature.

Control. — As the insect breeds on various common weeds of
the Nightshade family (Solonacece) , it is important that they be

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 291

destroyed wherever found. Seed potatoes must be free from the
larvae, or. they will soon give rise to moths which will infest a
whole field. When young plants are found wilting, the infested
stalks should be cut and destroyed as soon as possible to prevent
the further development and spread of the pest. Care should
be taken in cultivating to hill up the soil, or thoroughly cover
the tubers, so that they are not exposed. After digging, the
potatoes should not be left exposed in the field any longer than
is absolutely necessary and should not be covered with the tops
to shade them, as is often done, as this furnishes a shelter for the
moths and induces oviposition upon the tubers. Infested fields
should have the stalks and all rubbish and refuse thoroughly
raked up and burned as soon as possible, or sheep and hogs may
be turned into the fields to destroy the stages which may be
left in the vines or in the soil. Where fields have been flooded
for two or three weeks after the crop has been dug, they have
been entirely freed of the pest. For the treatment of stored
potatoes, fumigation with carbon bisulfide in a tight room
seems to be the only satisfactory method. This should be done
as described for grain insects (see page 57). The tubers should
be fumigated as soon as stored, and the treatment should be
repeated at intervals of two weeks, four or five fumigations
being recommended to entirely free the potatoes of all stages.
Obviously it will be important to sort over infested tubers and
remove all which are materially injured to prevent the increase
of rot in others.

Colorado Potato-beetle *

First and foremost among the enemies of the potato-grower
stands the Colorado potato-beetle — the insect which in the early
seventies, on account of our ignorance of it, was made an entomo-
logical bugbear. But " there's no great loss without some small
gain," and we may be thankful that the invasion of this beetle
also brought about the use of Paris green, an insecticide which has

* Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say. Family Chrysomelidae. See F. II.
Chittenden, Circular 87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

202 INSKCT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

since saved millions upon millions of dollars to the American
fanner. Tims, with an effectual remedy which is now used where
this pest occurs as regularly as potatoes are planted, " familiarity
has bred contempt," and to-day we have but little fear of its
attack.

History. — As is probably known to most of the older genera-
tion who watched its spread eastward, the Colorado potato-beetle,
as its name indicates, was a native of the Rocky Mountain region,
and until about ISoo was satisfied with feeding upon various coin-

Fid. 212. — The Colorado potato-beetle (Leplinolarsa decemlineala Say.): a,
eggs; b, larva; c, pupa; d, beetle; c, elytra or wing-rover of beetle;
/, leg of beetle. (After Riley.)

mon weeds of the same genus as the potato-plant, principally
Solanum datura, and closely allied genera. But with the settle-
ment of this country and the introduction of the Irish potato,
these bugs also began to take advantage of the fruits of civilization
and transferred their feeding-grounds from the roadside to the
potato-patch, and rapidly spread eastward from one to another,
as well as being transported in the shipping of the potatoes.

Thus, in 1859 they had reached a point one hundred miles west
of Omaha, Xeb.; five years later they crossed the Mississippi into
Illinois; and they advanced steadily eastward till recorded among

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 293

the Atlantic States in 1874. ' Though slow to be introduced into
some few sections of the country, it is safe to assert that this pest
may to-day be found almost wherever the potato is grown in the
United States or southern Canada.

Life History. — During October the beetles enter the earth and
there hibernate till the warm sunshine of April or May brings
them forth. As soon as the young plants appear, the female
beetles deposit their yellow eggs upon the under side of the leaves
near the tips, each female laying an average of about five hundred
eggs during the course of a month. Meanwhile the beetles have
done considerable damage by eating the young and tender plants.
In about a week there hatch a horde of
very small but very hungry larvae, which
fairly gorge themselves with potato-
foliage and increase in size with astonish-
ing rapidity. In two and a half to three
weeks, after having eaten an amount of
food out of all proportion to their size, the
larvae become full grown, and enter the
earth, where they form smooth, oval
cells, and transform to pupae. In a week
or two the adult beetles emerge from

the pupal skins and after feeding for a couple of weeks, deposit
eggs for a second generation, which develops in the same way,
and tlie beetles from which hibernate as already described.
Throughout the territory where the beetles are most injurious
there are two generations a year, but further south there is evi-
dence of at least a partial, if not complete, third generation, and
in the northern range of the species there is but one generation
a year.

Natural Enemies. — One of the chief agencies to prevent the
excessive multiplication of this pest is the weather. Thus, Pro-
fessor Otto Lugger records that in Minnesota, late in the fall
of 1894, the beetles were lured from their winter quarters by a
few warm days, and most of them subsequently perished from
hunger or frost. In addition to this during the late summer of

FIG. 213.- -a, beak of pre-
daceous bug; b, Podi-
sus spinosus Dall.; c,
beak of plant-feeding
bug. (After Riley.)

294 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

1894 there was an excessive drouth, so that but few of the
second brood matured. Thus in 1895 there were very few of
the insects to be seen.

Among the birds, the common crow, the red-breasted gros-
beak, and turkeys often feed upon this pest to a considerable
extent.

Probably the most destructive insect-parasite of the larvae is a
Tachinid-fly known to science as Lydella doryphorce Ril., which
rather closely resembles the common house-fly, both in size and
color. A single egg is laid on a potato-bug and from it hatches a
small, footless maggot which burrows inside the bug. When the
larva enters the earth, the effect of the maggot's work becomes
apparent, and instead of transforming to a pupa and beetle, it
shrivels up and dies; but the maggot itself contracts into a hard,
brown pupa, from which the fly eventually emerges. Thus in
1868, when first noted by Dr. C. V. Riley, he asserted that in
Missouri fully 10 per cent of the second brood and one-half of the
third were destroyed by this parasite.

Many of our common lady-bird beetles and their larvaB check
the pest by feeding upon the eggs. Several predaceous bugs, par-
ticularly the spined soldier-bug (Podisus spinosus Dall.) (Fig. 213)

are of value in destroying the
larvsB, into which they thrust
their short, powerful beaks, and
then suck out the juices of the
body, leaving an empty skin.
One or two of these closely re-
semble the common squash-bug
(Anasa tristis De G.), but are
really very dissimilar, and whereas
the beaks of the predaceous
forms are short and thick, as in
Fig. 213, a, those, of plant-feed-
ers, like the squash-bug, are long and slender, as in Fig. 213, b.

Several species of ground-beetles are often found preying upon
the larvae and beetles, but, unlike the bugs, attack them by means

FIG. 214. — Tachinid parasite of Col-
orado potato-beetle (Lydella
doryphorce Ril.). (After Riley.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 295

of their powerful biting jaws. These beetles are also exceedingly
beneficial in feeding upon many other injurious insects, and are
among the farmers' best insect friends (Fig. 215).

Remedies. — As an artificial remedy for this pest, Paris green
has long been proven to be both effectual and practical. For
small areas it may be used dry by mixing it with fifty times
its weight of dry flour, land-plaster, or air-slaked lime, and should
be applied while the plants are still wet with dew, either by a
perforated can, or, better, by one of the improved powder-guns
such as Leggett's, by which two rows of plants may be powdered
at once. On larger areas spraying will be found more satisfac-

FIG. 215. — Murky ground-beetle (Harpalus caliginosus) ; a, its larva; b, head
of larva showing mouthparts. (After Riley.)

tory. One pound of Paris green and 1 pound of freshly slaked
quicklime to 50 gallons of water will kill all the larvae, but
often 2 to 3 pounds are necessary to destroy the beetles.

Many growers now prefer to use arsenate of lead at from 3 to 5
pounds to the barrel, as there is no danger of burning the foliage
with it, and it is much more adhesive. Where Bordeaux mixture
is not used the arsenate of lead is much preferable on account of its
superior adhesiveness. Where Bordeaux mixture is used, arsenite
of lime, or arsenite of lime made with soda, may be used, but these
homemade arsenicals should not be used alone, on account of
their burning the foliage.

The vines should be sprayed first when they are a few inches
high, and the spraying repeated once or twice at intervals of ten

296 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

days or two weeks. The larvu; are so easily killed by arsenicals
that potato growers no longer fear their work, but large quantities
of Paris green are wasted by careless application, and by dusting
unduly large amounts with poor apparatus, which not infrequently
results in burning the foliage. For small areas a bucket or knap-
sack pump will be found satisfactory, but for over an acre a barrel
pump with a row attachment will prove more economical, and for
over ten acres a geared machine spraying several rows at once will
be needed. Cleaning up the vines and plowing potato land in the

FIG. 216. — The convergent ladybird (Hippodamia convergens): a, adult; 6,
pupa; c, larva; enjarged. (After Chittenden U. S. Dept. Agr.)

fall after the crop has been harvested will aid in reducing the num-
bers of the hibernating beetles.

Flea-beetles *

While the potatoes and tomatoes are but a few inches high they
are often attacked by myriads, of small black beetles, which from
their power of making long quick jumps are known as flea-beetles.
They soon riddle the foliage, of ten so badly that the plants wilt, and
replanting is necessary, particularly with tomatoes.

Several species are known to attack the potato, the two most
common being the potato or cucumber flea-beetle (Epitrix cucum-
eris Harris) and one which Professor H. A. Carman has styled the
Southern Potato Flea-beetle (Epitrix fuscula) . The Tobacco Flea*

* Family Chrysomelidce.

FIG. 217. — Field sprayer, with modifications, adapted for potato spraying,
by L. C. Corbett, operating at the Virginia Truck Experiment Station,
Norfolk, Va.

297

298 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

beetle (Epitrix parvulu) is not uncommonly found on the vines in
sections where tobacco is also grown, and other speciefs do similar
Injury in other sections. All of these species are, however, essen-
tially the same in habits and life history, and the same remedies
apply to all. Unfortunately, the complete life cycle of these little
insects has never been carefully determined, so that only a general
outline can be given.

The potato flea-beetle * is the most destructive. It is only
one-sixteenth inch long, jet black, except the yellowish antenna;
and legs, and there is a deep groove across the base of the thorax

FIG. 218. — a, potato flea-beetle; b, egg-plant flea-beetle, both greatly
enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

(Fig. 218, a). It seems to occur throughout the United States,
but is more commonly injurious in the North. Eggplant and
tobacco, as well as numerous garden vegetables are similarly
injured. This species has commonly been called the cucumber flea-
beetle from its specific name, but it is evidently a misnomer, as it
is much more abundant upon the potato and related plants.

During the winter, the beetles hibernate under leaves, rubbish,
etc., and in the spring come forth and lay their eggs upon the
roots of some of our common weeds of the Nightshade family,
such as the horse-nettle, Jamestown-weed, Desmodium, etc.,
in May and June. The larvae mine in the roots of these plants
and transform to pupae in small earthen cells among the roots,
* Epitrix cucumeris Harris.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 299

from which the beetles come forth to attack the foliage of the
crops mentioned. There are at least two and probably three
generations a year, but the life history of the species has not been
carefully studied. The larvae are minute, thread-like, white
worms.

Occasionally the larvae mine into the tubers, doing considerable
damage and causing " pimply " potatoes. Such injury was
quite common in New York, in 1894, and in Colorado in 1903.

The principal injury by the beetles is done to the young foliage
just after it is up in the spring, when then swarm upon the plants
and thoroughly riddle the leaves, a badly eaten leaf appearing
as if it had been hit by a charge of fine bird-shot. The complete
life history of the species has not been definitely determined,
but the injury by the adults is rarely troublesome except when
the plants are young, and the larval injury to the tubers occurs
later in the season.

The Eggplant Flea-beetle * so nearly resembles the previous
species that it will not be distinguished from it but by the entomol-
ogist. It is slightly larger, however, with the wing-covers more
hairy, and the groove at the base of the thorax is not so distinct.
It has much the same food-plants, but is particularly abundant
on eggplant, and is more commonly injurious in the South, below
the Ohio and Potomac rivers.

The Tobacco Flea-beetle f has been previously discussed
(page '222), but should be mentioned, as it is commonly injurious
to potato, tomato, and eggplant throughout the South, as well
as to tobacco, and occasionally to corn and other plants.

Control. — It has been found that Bordeaux mixture acts as
an excellent repellant against these little beetles, and that plants
well covered with it are not seriously injured. Inasmuch as
it is always advisable to spray potatoes as soon as they are a
few inches high for fungous diseases and for the Colorado potato
beetle, by applying the spray as soon as possible after the plants
.are up they will be protected. Both potatoes and tomatoes
should be sprayed with Bordeaux mixture and arsenate of lead
* Epitrix fuscula Cr. f Epitrix parvula Fab.

300 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

or Paris green as soon as they are a few inches high. The spray
should be applied liberally so as to give the plants a distinct
coating of the mixture. Tomatoes are particularly susceptible
to injury and might be dipped in arscnate of lead when planting,
using 1 pound to 10 gallons of water. The destruction of the
weeds upon which the larvae commonly develop is obviously
important in preventing their multiplication.

Where injury by the larva? is done to the tubers, it is recom-
mended that they be dug as soon as possible, and be left
exposed to the sun for a few hours after digging so as to harden the
skin, before being stored. If damage continues in storage, the
tubers may be fumigated with carbon bisulfide, as recommended
for grain insects (page 57).

Potato-scab and Insects

That certain forms of what is commonly termed " potato-
scab " are due to the work of insects has frequently been shown.
In 1895 Professor A.D. Hopkins,* of the West Virginia Agricultural
Experiment Station, reported some very careful original investiga-
tions upon two species of gnats, Epidapus scabies Hopk. and Sciara
sp., the larvae of which had been conclusively shown to cause
a " scab " upon the tubers by boring into them. The Iarva3
or maggots of the Potato-scab Gnat are about one-sixth of an
inch long, and are the young of a wingless gnat shown, very
great'y enlarged, in Fig 219. The females deposit their eggs on
the potatoes in storage from autumn to spring, and the maggots
hatching from them enter old scab spots or injured places. Under
favorable conditions a generation may be developed in twenty
to twenty-five days. Later in the spring the eggs are deposited
in manure or other decomposing material, on seed potatoes or
on growing tubers to which they may be carried on seed potatoes.
When they become wrell established in a potato, it is soon des-
troyed if they are not overcome by their natural enemies, or
unless the soil becomes dry, when they soon disappear. In-

* A. D. Hopkins, Special Bulletin 2 (Vol. IV, No. 3) W. Va. Agr. Exp.
Sta., p. 97.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 301

fested places look very much like the ordinary scab produced
by the scab fungus and may be readily mistaken for it. Such
injury was quite general and serious in West Virginia in 1891 and
1892. Dr. Hopkins found that " they breed in and are especially
common in barnyard-manure/' that " excessive moisture in the
soil has been observed to be the most favorable condition for
their development/' and that " soaking the seed-potatoes in a
solution of corrosive sublimate previous to planting " will kill all
the eggs and young larva?, as it will also destroy the spores of
the potato-scab fungus.

Professor H. Garman * has also recorded the injuries of several
species of millipedes, or " thousand-legged worms," Cambala

FIG. 219. — Potato scab-gnat (Epidapus scabei Hopk.): a, fly; i, larva; g,
egg; h, egg mass — much enlarged. (After Hopkins.)

annulata and Parajulus impressus, as causing a scab by gnawing
into the surface of the tubers. Though both of these observations
arc unquestionably true, such injury has not occurred in other
parts of the country, and it is improbable that any large portion
of potato-scab is due to these insects. Potato-scab is a fungous
disease, which, as already noted, may be destroyed by soaking
the seed-potatoes in a solution of corrosive sublimate.

Blister-beetles f

Long before we had made the acquaintance of the Colorado
potato-beetle, several species of blister-beetles frequently brought

*H. Garman, Bulletin 61, Ky. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 18.
f Family Meloidoe.

302 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

themselves into notice by their injuries, and, therefore are now
known as the " old-fashioned potato-bugs." The name of
" blister-beetles " has been bestowed upon them because of the
blistering effect which they have upon the skin, they being nearly
related to the Spanish fly, used for that purpose.

One of the most common of these is the Striped Blister-beetle,
which has three yellow stripes upon its. wing-covers, while
two other common forms are of a slate-black color. Very often
when these beetles congregate in numbers they are a great
nuisance, not only in the potato-patch, but upon many other
plants of the garden or truck-farm.

Unfortunately, they present to the farmer a very peculiar
problem, for while the beetles are often exceedingly injurious,
the larvae are even more beneficial, in eating large quantities of
grasshoppers' eggs.

Life History. — The life of these insects is unique. The female
lays a large number of eggs in a small cavity in the earth, and
from these hatch some small, long-legged larvae, which run about
searching for the pod-like masses of grasshoppers' eggs, upon
which they feed. As soon as the appetite of one of these little
egg-hunters is appeased, he sheds his skin, and now being sur-
rounded by food and no longer needing his long legs for running,
in the next stage of his existence his legs become very short and
rudimentary, and he remains almost immobile while feeding upon
the rest of the eggs.

Control. — Spraying with Paris green or arsenate of lead, as
advised for the Colorado potato-beetle will kill the beetles, and
where the vines have been regularly sprayed but little trouble
will be had with them. Where they suddenly appear in large
swarms in gardens or on truck land, they are often destroyed by
a line of men and children slowly driving them with branches, as
the beetles move but slowly. If a ditch is available it may be
oiled, and the beetles destroyed like grasshoppers (page 108), or
they may be driven into a windrow of straw, hay, or any inflam-
mable rubbish and burned in it.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO POTATOES AND TOMATOES 303

Three-lined Leaf -bee tie *

Closely related to the Colorado potato-beetle, and very
similar to it in habits, is the Three-lined Leaf-beetle. The eggs
may be distinguished by the fact that they are usually laid in
rows along the midrib on the under side of the leaf, while those
of the potato-beetle are laid indiscriminately in bunches. The
larvae, however, may be readily distinguished from all other
insects attacking the potato by being covered with a disgusting
mass of their own excrement.

FIG. 220. — Three-lined leaf-beetle (Lena trilineata Oliv.); a, larva; b, pupa;
d, eggs; beetle at right. (After Riley.)

There are two broods during the season, the larvae of the first
appearing in June, and that of the second in August; but the
beetles' of the second brood do not emerge until the following
spring. In other respects the life history is practically the same
as that of the Colorado potato-beetle. The beetle is of a pale
yellow color, with three black stripes on its back, and in a general
way resembles the common striped cucumber-beetle (Diabrotica
vittata Fab.), though it is somewhat larger and the thorax is
decidedly constricted.

In case it becomes necessary to destroy the blister-beetles, both
they and the three-lined leaf -beetle may be readily disposed of by
applying Paris green or other arsenite as advised for the Colorado
potato-beetle.

* Lema trilineata Oliv. Family Chrysomelidce .

304 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Tomato Worms

The large green horn- worms which attack the foliage of the
tomato are the same as those previously described which attack
tobacco (see page 228). Usually, they are not so numerous but
that they may be readily controlled by handpicking, but if neces-
sary the same remedial measures may used as advised for them on
tobacco.

The Tomato Fruitworm

The worms which commonly bore into the green and ripening
tomatoes are the same as the tobacco budworm and the cotton
bollworm (see pages 234 and 254), under which names their habits
and life histories have been fully described.

Obviously tomatoes should not be planted on land which has
been in corn or cotton infested by this insect the previous year,
unless it has been given thorough winter plowing and harrowing.

It has seemed to the writer that trap rows of sweet corn might
be used for protecting tomatoes as they are used with cotton, but
no experiments seem to have been conducted which show the prac-
ticability of the method. As the young caterpillars feed a little on
the foliage before boring into the fruit, a thorough spraying with
arsenate of lead, 3 pounds to 50 gallons, will undoubtedly protect
the tomatoes if applied as soon as the eggs are laid, and with one
or two later applications at intervals of ten days, the exact time
depending upon the latitude and season, as indicated by the life
history (see page 181).

CHAPTER XVI

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS *
The Pea-weevil f

THE common Pea-weevii occurs in almost all parts of the world
where peas are grown, and is the usual cause of " buggy " peas. It
was the cause of the abandonment of pea growing in the central
Atlantic States as early as the middle of the eighteenth century.
It has usually been regarded as a native of North America, having

b a

FIG. 221. — The pea-weevil (Bruchus pisorum L.): a, adult beetle; &, larva;
c, pupa — all enlarged. (From Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

been introduced into Europe. It does but comparatively little
damage in more northern latitudes and for this reason seedsmen
secure their seed peas from Canada and northern Michigan and
Wisconsin.

The weevil is about one-fifth inch long and about one-half
that width, being the largest of the pea- and bean-feeding weevils
in this country. " Its ground color is black, but it is thickly cov-
ered with brown pubescence, variegated with black and white

* See F. H. Chittenden, Insects Injurious to Beans and Peas, Yearbook
U. S. Dept. Agr. for 1898, p. 233.

f Bruchus pisorum Linn. Family Bruchidce.

305

306 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

markings us shown in Fig. 221. The sides of the thorax are notched
or toothed, and the abdomen, which projects beyond the wing-
covers, is coated with whitish pubescence and marked by two black
spots. The hind thighs are thickened and each bears two promi-
nent teeth."

Life History. — The winter is passed in the adult stage, the wee-
vils making their appear-

o, JHtyWp rf | r ? ance in the fields when the

^7 "'. ^R\ ^T 1 Peas arc m blossom. The

eggs are laid singly upon
the surface of the pods,
attached by a sticky fluid
which becomes white when
dry. The egg is about one-
twentieth of an inch long
by one-third that width, of
a yellow color, as shown in
Fig. 222.

FIG. 222. — The pea-weevil: a, egg on pod; Upon hatching, the

b, cross-section of opening of larval mine: , , ,

c, young larva and opening on inside of y°ung larva bores through
pod by which it has entered — enlarged the pod and into the seed.
d d, d eggs on pod, slightly enlarged; jn thig gt the "larva has
/, leg of larva; g, prothoracic spurious

processes— more enlarged. (After Chit- some very small false legs
tenden, U. S. Dept Agr.) ancl two plates and sjx

strong spines on the thorax, which aid it in getting through the
pod. Upon entering the seed the skin is shed and these legs,
plates and spines are lost. The larva feeds upon the seed,
growing rapidly. When full grown it appears as at b, Fig. 221.
It resembles a maggot in general appearance, being white,
except the small mouth-parts, which are brown; is fleshy, nearly
cylindrical and strongly wrinkled, with three pairs of very
short stubby legs. It is about one-fourth an inch long and half
as broad. Before its final molt the larva eats a round hole in the
pea, leaving but a thin membrane as a covering. It then lines the
inside of the pea with a glue-like substance, and within this cell
transforms to the pupa.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 307

The pupa is white, showing the notches at the sides of the
thorax, but otherwise is not dissimilar from many weevil pupae.
The length of the pupal stage varies from nine to seventeen or
more days. In more southern latitudes a large part of the beetles
leave the seed in August, but in the North they all remain in the
seed over winter, and are planted with the seed. There is but one
generation a year and this species does not breed in dry peas.

Injury. — Dr.. James Fletcher has stated that this pest is now
doing over $1,000,000 damage in Ontario alone annually, and that
the growing of peas has been abandoned in considerable areas of
that province. In large peas about one-sixth of the food content
is destroyed, while in smaller varieties fully one-half. Not only
this, but in eating canned green peas one frequently devours sev-
eral small larvae in each mouthful, unawares, as but a small dark
speck indicates their presence in the green pea. In the dry seed
the holes made by the larvae can be seen. But 12 to 18 per cent of
infested seed will produce plants, which are later in developing and
do not yield as well as those unaffected.

Enemies.— The Baltimore oriole has been recorded as feeding
on the grubs by splitting open the pods, and the crow blackbird is
said to devour many of the beetles in the spring. Practically no
parasites or predaceous insects are known to prey upon it, so that
it has every opportunity for doing serious injury.

Control. — Holding over Seed. — One of the best means of
destroying the weevils where but a few peas are concerned and cir-
cumstances will permit, is to simply hold them over for a season,
stored in a tight sack or box, before planting. As the weevils will
not breed in the dried peas they die in the sack and are thus caught.
Peas should always be bagged up and sacks tied immediately after
threshing.

Late Planting. — Comparative immunity from injury is claimed
by some growers for late-planted peas. Dr. F. H. Chittenden is
inclined to the belief that in some localities, such as Washington.
.D.C., where two crops can be grown in a year, that late planting is
all necessary to secure sound seed stock.

Treating with Kerosene. — The Canadians have found that

308 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

kerosene may be used to destroy the weevils. Dr. Fletcher states :
"A remedy which has been used by many farmers with satisfaction
is to drench the seed with coal oil, using about a half a gallon to the
barrel, cr five bushels of peas. While applying the coal oil (kero-
sene) the seed should be placed on the floor, where it can be shoveled
over constantly to insure the treatment of all the grain."

Scalding Seed. — " When peas are found to contain live weevils
at the time of sowing, these may be destroyed by simply pouring
them into a pot of scalding water. The water should be drained
off at once or the seed cooled by turning in cold water." — Fletcher.

Heat. — Dr. Chittenden states that it has been found that a tem-
perature of 145° F. will kill the weevils in the seed without injury
to the germinating property of the seed.

Fumigation. — This is undoubtedly the best means of destroy-
ing the weevils, and is now coming into general use. Dr. Fletcher,
who has made the most thorough studies of practical methods for
controlling this pest, states : " Fumigation with bisulfide of car-
bon is a sure remedy. When properly done, either in specially
constructed buildings known as ' bug-houses ' or in any tight bin,
every weevil is surely killed if the seed containing them is fumi-
gated for forty-eight hours with this chemical, using 1 pound by
weight to every 100 bushels of seed, or, in smaller quan ities, 1
ounce to every 100 pounds. For the treatment of small quantities
of seed, particularly by farmers, I have found that an ordinary
coal-oil barrel is very convenient. This will hold about 5 bushels,
or 300 pounds of seed, which may be treated with 3 ounces of bisul-
fide of carbon. Care must be taken to close up the top tightly.
This is best done with a cap made specially for the purpose, but
fine sacks laid smoothly on the top, over which boards are placed
with a weight on them, will answer. Fumigation with bisulfide
of carbon is, I believe, the remedy most to be relied upon in this
campaign. It is perfectly effective, is now regularly used by the
large seed merchants, and in future will be much more generally
used."

(For directions for use of bisulfide of carbon and caution
concerning it, see page 57.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS

309

The Common Bean-weevil *

Throughout the United States the common Bean-weevil is the
principal enemy of the bean. The small, white, footless grubs
feed within the beans, both in the field and in storage, and trans-
form to the common brown-gray weevils which infest white beans.
In the South its attacks are so serious that it is almost impossible
to secure a crop uninfested, so that most of the beans both for
seed and consumption come from the North. Not until 1870 did
injury by this insect attract attention in the United States, but
now it occurs throughout our borders and is practically cosmopol-

FIG. 223. — The common bean-weevil (Bruchus obtectus Say): a, beetle; b,
larva; c, pupa — all greatly enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. D. Agr.)

itan in its distribution. It is probably a native of Central or
South America.

The adult weevil is about one-eighth of an inch long and is cov-
ered with a fine brown-gray or olive pubescence, giving it that
color, while the wing-covers are mottled as shown in Fig. 223, a. It
may be distinguished from the pea-weevil by its longer thorax and
by the two small teeth next to the large tooth at the tip of the
thighs.

Life History. — In the field the eggs are laid upon or are inserted
in the bean-pod through holes made by the female or such open-

* Bruchus obtectus Say. Family Bruchidce.

310 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

ings as arc caused by its drying and splitting (Fig. 224, b, c). In
shelled beans the eggs are placed loosely among them or in the
exit holes of the beetles. The young larva hatching from the egg
has long, slender legs, but with the first molt these are lost and
when full grown it is a fat grub as shown in Fig. 223, b. The pupal
stage is passed in an oval cell made by the larva within the bean.
Experiments have shown that the eggs hatch in from five days in
the hottest to twenty days in cooler weather; the larval stage
requires eleven to forty-two days, and the pupal stage five to eigh-

FIG. 224. — The bean-weevil; a, side view of beetle; b, section of bean pod
showing slit for deposition of egg; c, part of inside of pod showing egg-
mass inserted through slit — all enlarged. (After Riley and Chittenden,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

teen days. Thus the whole life cycle will extend over a period of
from twenty-one to eighty days, depending upon the season and
locality. Probably a' out six generations occur annually in the
District of Columbia, and a less number further north.

" Unlike the pea-weevil, a large number of individuals will
develop in a bean, as many as twenty-eight having beenf ound
within a single seed. It will thus be readily seen that the first out-
door generation or any single indoor generation is capable of
exhausting seed and completely ruining it for food or planting or
any other practical purpose, except perhaps as hog feed."

" The beetles begin to issue from beans in the field in a climate

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS

311

like that of the District of Columbia ... as early as October,
when in the natural course of events the eggs for a new brood
would be deposited in such pods as had cracked open, so as to
expose the seeds within."

" Weevilly " seed should never be planted, as but a small per
cent of it will germinate and the vitality of that germinating is
deficient. Professor Popenoe showed in experiments at Manhattan,
Kan., that only 50 per cent of the infested seed used germinated,
that only 30 per cent could ha e grown further, and that even
these would have produced plants of little vigor or productive-
ness. (Quotations and acts from Chittenden, I.e.)

Remedies. — No methods are known of preventing injury in the
field, and all remedial measures must be applied to the insects in
the stored seed. As this pecies breeds in the stored seed, it is use-
less to hold it over as for the pea-weevil, and the quicker infested
seed is treated the better. Either heat, or better, fumigation, as
described for the pea-weevil, should be used. When ready to plant,
seed should be thrown lightly into water, when that badly infested
will float and can be separated and destroyed.

Other Bean-weevils

The Cow-pea weevil.* — This species may be readily recognized
by the two large, raised
white lobes at the base of
the thorax and the strongly
pectinate antennas of the
maleasshowninFig. 225, a.
The cow-pea is the favorite
food-plant of this and the
following species, but peas
and various sorts of beans
are also attacked. This
species is a southern form,
.but seems to be spreading,
incident to the more wide-

* Bruchus chinensis L'.nn

FIG. 225. — The cow-pea weevil (Bruchus chi-
nensis L.): a, adult male; 6, egg; c, young
larva; d, front view of head of .same; e,
thoracic leg of same; — a, much enlarged;
6, e, more enlarged. (After Chittenden,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

312 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

spread growth of the cow-pea. Like the common bean-weevil it is
practically cosmopolitan in its distribution, but is most injuriou0-

FIG. 226. — The four-spotted bean-weevil: n, beetle; b, larva; c, pupa — all
enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

in tropical regions. The life history and remedial measures are
practically the same as for the common bean-weevil.

The Four-Spotted Bean-weevil* — The wing-covers of this species

FIG. 227. — The four-spotted bean-weevil: a, cow-pea showing holes made
by weevils in their escape from seed, also eggs deposited on surface; b,
egg; c, young larva; d, head of same; e, prothoracic leg; /, spine above
spiracle of first abdominal segment — a, twice natural size; b, f, greatly
enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

are covered with gray and white pubescence and four darker spots
from which the species is named. It is more slender than the pre-
ceding species and the antennae of the male are not pectinate.
* Bruchus quadrimaculatus Fab

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 313

The markings are quite variable, but the most common form is
that shown in Fig. 226. This is an exotic species occurring from
Mexico to Brazil and in the Mediterranean countries. In 1885 it
was found at the Atlanta Cotton Exposition in black-eyed beans
from Texas, and has since become acclimated as far north as Iowa.
It seems to breed more readily in fresh and slightly moist seed and,
like the preceding species, its work in stored beans seems to soon
cause decomposition and a consequent rise of temperature. The
life history and remedial measures are similar to those of the bean-
weevil.

The European Bean-weevil * was imported into New York and
New Jersey in 1870, at the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in
1893, and has been observed at College Station, Texas, but does
not seem to have become established in this country. It closely
resembles the pea-weevil in appearance and life history.

The Bean Leaf -bee tie t

Small yellowish or reddish beetles, marked with black, as
shown in Fig. 228, and from one-seventh to one-fifth inch
long, are often found eating the foliage of beans, and are commonly
known as Bean Leaf-beetles. The species occurs throughout the
United States east of the Rockies, but has been chiefly injurious
in the Middle and Southern States. Besides beans, the beetles
feed upon cow-peas and various native plants such as beggar-
weed 'or tickseed, tick trefoil (Meibomia), bush-clover (Lespedeza),
and hog-peanut (Falcata). They usually become quite numerous
before they are observed, for during most of the day they rest or
feed on the under sides of the leaves. They are sluggish and
seldom fly, and when disturbed often drop to the ground, though
they soon crawl back to the plant. Large round holes are eaten
in the foliage until finally nothing but the veins and midrib of a
leaf is left, the manner of defoliation being quite characteristic
of this species. Low-growing and dwarf varieties are worse injured,
as pole beans put out new leaves after the injury has stopped.

* Bruchus rufimanus Boh.

t Ceratoma trifurcata Forst. Family Chrysomelidce .

314 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Life History. — The adult beetles hibernate in or near the bean-
fields and emerge from April to June according to the latitude.
Minute orange-colored eggs are laid near the stem of the plant,
just below the surface of the soil, in clusters of six to ten or more,
and hatch in from five to eight days. The young larvae feed upon
the stem and roots, becoming full grown in six or seven weeks.
When grown the larva is about three-tenths an inch long,
about one-eighth as wide, cylindrical, milk-white in color, with
dark head and anal segment, as shown enlarged six times in Fig.

FIG. 228. — The bean leaf-beetle (Ceraloma Irifurcata Forst.): a, adult
beetle; 6, pupa; c, larva; d, side view anal segment of larva; e, leg of
same; /, egg — a, 6, c, enlarged about six times; d, e, f, more enlarged.
(After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

228. The pupa (Fig. 228, b) is pure white, and from it the beetle
emerges in five to eight days. Thus, in the District of Columbia, the
whole life cycle requires six to nine weeks, depending upon heat
and moisture. In the North there is probably but one generation
a year; in Maryland and Virginia one generation develops in
July and another in September; while in the Gulf States there
are probably three generations, as beetles are numerous in October.
Remedies. — Spraying with arsenical poisons as for the bean
ladybird (page 316) is the most effectual means of controlling
the pest when abundant, but they should be applied early to avoid

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS

115

the poison on beans to be eaten green.
Owing to the sluggishness of the beetles
they may be handpicked in small gar-
dens. Clean culture and careful weed-
ing of native food-plants near cultivated
crops such as tick-trefoil and bush-
clover, are most important.

The Bean Ladybird *

The Bean Ladybird is the most
serious enemy of beans in Colorado,
New Mexico, Arizona, and Western
Kansas, whence it migrated from
Mexico. It is an interesting insect in
that only two other native species of
this family of beetles (Coccinellidce) feed
upon vegetation, the normal food of the
family being plant-lice, scale insects,
and soft-bodied larvae.

Professor C. P. Gillette f describes
it as follows :

" The beetle (Fig. 229, A) is oval in
outline, nearly one-third an inch in
length by one-fifth an inch in breadth,
of a light' yellow to a yellowish-brown
color and has eight small black spots on
each wing-cover. The mature larva is
about the same length as the beetle, is
of light yellow color and is covered with
stout branched spines that are black at
their tips, a larva being shown at C,
Fig. 229. The larva when fully grown
fastens the posterior end of its body to
the under side of a leaf and then in a

FIG. 229.— The bean lady-
bird (EpUachna varivestis
Muls.): a, adult beetle; b,
pupa; c, larva; d, bean pod
showing injury. (After
Gillette, Colo. Agr. Exp.
Sta.)

* Epilachna varivestis Muls. Family Coccinellidce.
t Bulletin 19, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 25.

316 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

few days sheds its outer skin containing the spines and changes to
the pupa state (Fig. 229, B). From these pupa the beetles appear
a few days later. They live over winter, and appear about as
soon as the beans arc up in the garden or field and begin to feed
upon the leaves, on the under side of which they deposit their
yellowish-brown eggs in large clusters after the manner of the
' Colorado potato beetle.' The spiny little larvae that hatch
from these eggs remain on the under side of the leaves, which they
skeletonize in feeding. The beetles eat through the veins of the
leaves and do not skeletonize them. They also eat into and destroy
the green pods, as shown in Fig. 229, /). There is also one brood
of this insect in a season.

Control. — Paris green dusted upon the plants diluted with
100 parts of air-slaked lime or flour is recommended, or it may be
applied with Bordeaux mixture, 1 pound to 200 gallons, but much
care must be used not to burn the foliage, which seems to be very
susceptible to the arsenic. Arsenate of lead would probably
obviate this. In spraying, an underspray nozzle must be used
to reach under the leaves. Dilute kerosene emulsion will kill
the larvae, but must also be used with caution to avoid injury to
the plant. Whaleoil soap might be as effective and less injurious
to the plant. Upon small gardens handpicking of the adult
beetles as soon as they appear in the spring will probably be the
surest means of combating them. Cleaning up the old patch and
plowing it under will doubtless aid in preventing successful
hibernation.

Blister-beetles.

Several species of elongate, grayish, black or bright green
blister-beetles feed in large numbers upon bean foliage. The
general life history, habits, and remedies have been already
described. (See pages 107, 301.)

The Ash-gray Blister-beetle.* — This is the most common species
affecting beans in the East and westward to Kansas and Nebraska.
The beetle is a uniform ash-gray color and of the form shown in

* Macrobasis unicolor Kby.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS

317

Fig. 230. The beetles attack this and other legumes in immense
swarms, riddling the forest in a few days if not checked, and
appear from the middle of June to the middle of July.

Nuttall's Blister-beetle.* — This species occurs from the Miss-
issippi west to the Rockies, through the region of the Missouri
Valley, and north to the Northwest Territories, where it seems to
be particularly destructive to beams, though affecting many
garden vegetables. The life history is not known, but is probably

FIG. 230— The ash-gray blister-beetle FIG. 231.— Nuttall's blister-beetle

(Macrobasis unicolm Kby.) : female (Cantharis nuttalli) Say: female

beetle at right, twice natural size; beetle, enlarged one-third. (After

male antenna at left, greatly en- Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)
larged. (After Chittenden, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

similar to that of other species, as the beetles appear about July 1st.
in years following severe outbreaks of grasshoppers. Owing to
the rapidity with which this species works and the large numbers,
poisons will be of little avail and mechanical measures must be
employed for their destruction.
Control. — See page 302.

The Bean-aphis f

" Crowded together in clusters upon the top of the stalks
and under side of the leaves of the English bean, the puppy
dahlia, and several other plants, a small black plant-louse with

* Cantharis mittatti Say.

t Aphis rumicis Linn. Family Aphididce.

318 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

pale shanks, the pupa? with a row of mealy white spots along each
side of the back." — Fitch.

This is an old European pest of the bean, where it is known as
the black dolphin, collier, and black fly, and has sometimes
caused the entire destruction of a crop. In the United States
it probably occurs wherever beans are grown, having been reported
from Xew York, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado. The
species is probably best known as affecting various species of
dock, upon the leaves of which it occurs commonly in large num-
bers. Shepherd's purse, pigweed, the " burning bush " (Euony-
mus europoeus and atropurpurus), and the snowball bush are also
commonly infested.

Life History. — The life history was first described most inter-
estingly by Dr. Fitch in his 13th Report * and has since been
confirmed by Osbornc and Sirrine.f The eggs are laid in the fall
around the buds of the wahoo or " burning bush " (Euonymus
atropurpurus), and possibly upon the snowball. The first gen-
eration or two multiply upon these plants and then spread to
common weeds such as shepherd's purse, pigweed, dock, etc.
during the latter part of May and early June, from which they
again migrate to beans when that crop is available. During
the summer the aphides multiply upon these food-plants vivipar-
ously, i.e., by giving birth to live young, all being females, as is the
rule with aphides; but about the middle of September, in Iowa,
winged males and females migrate back to the wahoo.

Description. — The wingless females are about one-tenth an
inch long, pear-shaped, sooty black, frequently marked with
pruinose whitish dots along each side of the back. The antennse
are about half the length of the body, yellowish-white, except
toward the tips and the two basal segments, which are black.
Honey tubes short, scarcely half as long as from their bases to
tip of abdomen. Tail half as long as the honey tubes.

The winged females are glossy black, one-twelfth an inch

* Fiteh, 13th Report on the Noxious, Beneficial and other Insects of the
State of Xew York, Trans. N. Y. State Agr. Soc., 1869, p. 495.

t Osborn and Sirrine, Bulletin 23, Iowa Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 901, 1894.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 319

long to the tip of the abdomen and twice that length to the tip
of the closed wings. The abdomen lacks the white spots of the
wingless females and pupae. Legs are black, except shanks,
which are whitish with dark tips. Otherwise the winged form
resembles quite closely the wingless form. The black color
and white spots on the abdomen of the wingless females and
pupae will readily distinguish the species from other aphides on
beans.

Control. — Spraying with dilute kerosene emulsion has proven
the best means of combating the pest according to Osborn and
Sirrine, diluting the stock solution fifteen times, or so the spray-
ing mixture will contain about 5 per cent of kerosene. It seems
that the foliage of the bean is quite susceptible to injury from any
free kerosene, and probably whaleoil soap 1 pound to 5 or 6 gal-
lons, would prove safer and equally efficient. As it is frequently
necessary to spray beans with Bordeaux mixture or other fun-
gicides for fungous diseases, the whaleoil soap might be readily
sprayed at the same time.

The Gray Hair-streak Butterfly *

The caterpillars of the Gray Hair-streak Butterfly have been
noticed injuring beans, peas and cow-peas, for a number of years
throughout the United States, but the injury is usually local and
not often serious. The caterpillar is about one-half an inch long,
decidedly flattened, somewhat oval, bright green, with head
retracted in the thorax, and covered with short hairs, which give it
a velvety appearance. The adult butterfly is a handsome bluish-
black butterfly with red anal spots as shown in Fig. 177. The
caterpillar -has been a serious enemy of hops, and in the South
attacks cotton squares, being termed the cotton square-borer,
but the pods of legumes seem to be the preferred food. Where
injury recurs, thorough spraying with Paris green or arsenate
of lead as the pods are forming will doubtless hold the larvae in
check, as the eggs are laid upon the foliage and the young larvae

* Uranotes melinus Hubn. Family Lycoenidae.

320 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

feed somewhat upon it and will secure enough of the surface of
the pods in entering to effectively poison them if the pods are well
coated.*

The Seed-corn Maggot f

This insect has been termed the Seed-corn Maggot on account
of its frequent injuries to early seed-corn, but in recent years it
has often seriously injured the seeds of beans and peas, on account
of which it has been termed the " bean-fly," while cabbage,

FIG. 232. — Seed-corn maggot (Pegomya fusciceps) : a, male fly, dorsal view;
b, female, lateral view; c, head of female from above; d, larva, from side;
e, anal segment of larva; /, anal spiracles; g, cephalic spiracles: h, pupa-
rium — all much enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

turnip, radish, onions, beets and seed potatoes are among its
other food-plants.

The species is of European origin, and was first noted in this
country by Dr. Asa Fitch in 1856. Since then it has become
distributed throughout tho United States from Minnesota to
Texas and eastward.

The adult flies closely resemble the root-maggots affecting

* See " Insect Life,'' Vol. VII, p. 354. Chittenden, Bulletin 33, Div. Ent.,
U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 101; Sanderson, Farmers' Bulletin, U. S. Dept. Agr.,
223, p. 17, and Bulletin 57, Bureau Entomology, p. 40.

| Pegomya fusciceps Zett. Family Anihomyidce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 321

the cabbage and onion and are about one-fifth an inch long.
The male may be distinguished from nearly related species by a
row of nearly equal, short bristles on the inner side of the hind
tibiae or shanks.

The life history of the species has not been carefully observed,
but is probably similar to that of other root-maggots. The
flies deposit their eggs either upon the young seedling just as it
appears above ground, or probably more often on the seed itself.
Injury is called to attention by the seed failing to germinate,
which, when examined, is found to contain one or more small
white maggots, which have destroyed the germ or the young
seedling. Thus in 1895, large areas of beans were destroyed in
Minnesota.*

The maggots are about one-fourth an inch long, slightly
smaller than the onion-maggot, from which they may be dis-
tinguished by the tubercles of the anal segment.

Control. — It has been noted that injury often occurs where
stable manure has been turned under, and it may be possible
that the flies are attracted to it to oviposit or that they are
attracted by decaying seed. In preventing attacks of root-
maggots it would seem advisable to apply stable manure the
previous fall so that it may become well rotted and incorporated
into the soil before seeding. Rolling the seed-bed after planting
might also be of value in preventing the access of the flies to the
seed.

Applications of commercial fertilizers , which will ensure a
quick growth of the seedling are advisable. The use of carbolic acid
emulsion and sand and kerosene upon the surface of the seed-bed
after planting and as the seedlings are appearing, as advised
for the cabbage root-maggot (see page 352) , will also be of value.
Inasmuch as the injury is sporadic and affects the seed before it
can be readily detected, reliance must be placed chiefly upon
general cultural methods as outlined above and others which

* See Lugger, Bulletin 43, Minn. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 207 (1st Rept. Minn.
State Entomologist.) See Circular 63, and Bulletin 33, p. 84, Bureau of
Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

322 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

a better knowledge of the life history of the pest will undoubtedly
suggest.

The Pea-aphis *

Large green plant-lice often become so abundant on the foliage
and pods of garden-peas as to completely kill the plants. Prior

FIG. 233. — The pea-aphis (Macrosiphum pisi Kalt): winged and wingless
viviparous females and young — enlarged.

to 1899 the pea-aphis had not been a serious pest in this country,
but during that and the following season it caused a loss of several
million dollars to pea-growers on the Atlantic coast from North

* Macrosiphum pisi Kalt. Family Aphididce. See Chittenden, Circular
43, Bureau of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.; Sanderson, Bulletin 49, Del. Agr. Exp.
Sta.; Folsom, Bulletin 134, 111. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 323

Carolina to Nova Scotia and as far west as Wisconsin, especially
where peas were extensively grown for canning. During 1901
injury was by no means as serious, and has materially decreased
since then, though sporadic injury occurs almost every year in some
section. General injury occurs only periodically for reasons men-
tioned below. The pest seems to occur throughout the States east
of the 100th meridian and possibly further west. It is an old
enemy of peas in England, where it destroyed the crop as long ago
as 1810, and it has long been known in Europe as an enemy of
peas, clovers, vetches and related plants.

Both wingless and winged aphides occur together throughout
the season, the latter predominating whenever food becomes scarce.
The winged forms are from one-eighth to one-seventh of an inch
long, with wings expanding two-fifths of an inch. The body is a
pea-green color, light brownish between the wings and on the head,
the eyes are red, and the legs, antennae and honey tubes are yellow-
ish, tipped with black. The wingless females are similar in size and
color, but are much broader across the abdomen, and the honey
tubes are somewhat larger. The mouth-parts of the pea-aphis are
of the sucking type, and it secures its food by puncturing and suck-
ing up the juices of the plant. The plant is thus injured by the
large number of aphides sucking out its juices and causing it to
wilt and die.

Life History. — The aphides pass the winter on clover and
vetches, and often increase upon clover so as to do it serious
injury, as described on page 211. Where peas area vailable the
winged females usually migrate to them about the time peas are
6 or 8 inches high, and give birth to live young, which develop into
wingless viviparous females. These females, as do those of sub-
sequent broods throughout the summer, give birth to live young,
and reproduction goes on at a rapid rate. According to the obser- '
vations of Mr. R. L. Webster, in central Illinois, an aphid becomes
grown about eleven days after it is born, lives about twenty-five
-days and gives birth to about fifty young, though under favorable
conditions over one hundred are frequently born. Sixteen genera-
tions have been observed from March 23d to October 4th. Winged

324 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

aphides develop as often as the food-plant becomes overcrowded
and it is necessary to migrate to avoid starvation.

By midsummer, with the harvesting of the peas, most of the
aphides upon them have been destroyed by predaceous and para-
sitic insects and disease, and they are not observed during late sum-
mer unless they have been subsisting on clover throughout the
season, when they sometimes destroy the crop in August, as has

FIG. 234. — The pea-aphis on stems of red clover — natural size.

Folsom.)

(After

been observed in Illinois. In early fall they often become com-
mon again on late garden peas, and late in October they migrate
to clover. Fewer young are born as the weather gets colder in
the fall, and the aphides never become numerous enough to do any
injury at that season. Late in October and early November — in
the Middle States — as the aphides are migrating to clover, winged
males appear, and some of the wingless females developing on
clover produce eggs. The winged males are similar in size and color

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 325

to the migratory females, though slightly darker, and have three or
four dark spots along the sides of the abdomen and a deep brown
dash on either side of the back of each abdominal segment. The
oval eggs are about one-fiftieth inch long, jet black, and are
deposited on the lower leaves or stems of clover, and hatch as it
commences to grow in the spring. In central Illinois they were
observed to hatch March 23d, and the young became full grown
and commenced reproduction on April 5th, living until May 12th.
In southern Maryland and further south many of the viviparous
females live over winter on the clover and commence to reproduce
again in the spring, no eggs having been observed in that latitude,
but in central Illinois and northward, the females are probably
entirely destroyed by the cold and only the eggs survive.

Natural Enemies. — From 5 to 10 per cent of the aphides are
normally destroyed by little wasp-like flies of the genus Aphidius,
whose larvae live within the aphides. A number of the more com-
mon ladybird-beetles,* syrphus-flies,f and lace-winged flies,! which
commonly prey upon aphides, destroy large numbers of the pests,
but their work comes so late in the season that the peas are seri-
ously injured long before the aphides are checked by them, though
they might prevent a reappearance the next year.

The most important enemy of the pea-aphis is a fungous dis-
ease (Empusa aphidis) which is undoubtedly the principal factor
in its natural control. The most probable explanation of the
remarkable outbreak of the pea-aphis in 1899 and 1900 seems to be
that, due to two exceptionally dry springs, the fungus was unable
to develop, as it propagates best in damp weather, and the aphides
increased unchecked. Though occasional individual aphides were
found killed by the fungus early in the season, not until June 11,
1900, were diseased aphides found in any quantity, but after that
so swiftly did the disease destroy them that a week later but few
aphides were to be found and almost all were diseased. Probably
this fungus usually destroys the aphides on clover before they have
- become excessively numerous or have migrated to peas.

* Family Coccinellidce. f Family Syrphidce.

J Family Chrysopidce. Concerning these predaceous insects, see p. 9.

326 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Control. — Inasmuch as the aphides spread from peas to clover,
the latter crop should not be planted near peas when avoidable.
In the spring the aphides should be carefully observed on the
clover and if they become excessively abundant, the only way to
prevent their migration to peas is to plow under the clover deeply
and roll the field.

Highly fertilized land in which the moisture is retained by fre-
quent cultivation very often enables a crop to mature in spite of
moderate injury. Peas sown broadcast or planted in 8-inch
drills have been much more seriously injured than those planted
in rows 18 to 30 inches apart and cultivated, and those planted
close together afford no opportunity for brushing or cultivating
as described below. ' '

Early varieties of peas have practically escaped injury where
late varieties have been wholly destroyed, so that it is obvious that
only the earliest varieties should be grown where injury is antici-
pated.

Early in 1900 Professor W. G. Johnson found that when peas
were planted in rows that the aphides could be readily knocked from
the vines by means of brushing with a branch, and that by follow-
ing the brushes with cultivators, the aphides would be covered with
earth and destroyed, either by suffocation or by the heat of the
soil. Where the air temperature is 95° F. the soil will be nearly
120°, and aphides brushed onto it will be actually roasted to death
in a few minutes. The cultivation should not be repeated for
about three days, as it requires about that time for the destruction
of the insects covered with earth, if it is not hot enough to kill
them at once. By this method large areas of. peas have been saved
from destruction, but it was found that where the soil was moist
it would form small clods after cultivation and that the aphides
would merely crawl out from under them.

To meet this difficulty Professor Johnson devised a pan into
which the aphides might be brushed and destroyed. This pan is mod-
elled after the hopper-dozers used in the West for catching grass-
hoppers, and consists of a long, shallow pan, the width of the dis-
tance between the rows and 5 or 6 inches deep. A little water is

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS

327

placed in the bottom and covered with a film of kerosene. The
pan is drawn between the rows while a boy on each side brushes
the aphides into it with a branch as shown in Fig. 235. The pans
are easily made from galvanized iron and may be operated at
small cost.

Though the above methods will destroy quantities of the
aphides and thus prevent the destruction of the crop, they do not

FIG. 235. — Sho.wing the structure of pan and use of it with brushes against
the pea louse. This field was saved by its use. (After W. G. Johnson.)

dislodge the young aphides in the terminals, and therefore cannot
be relied upon to prevent all injury. Practical field tests have
shown that this may be done by spraying with whale-oil soap, 1
pound to 6 gallons of water. In small gardens this may be applied
by means of bucket or knapsack pumps, and on small acreages
'with a barrel sprayer with a row-spraying attachment having noz-
zles arranged so that the vines will be thoroughly covered from
each side. The spray must be applied with considerable pressure

328 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

so as to force it into the terminals. For large fields a New Jersey
grower devised a traction sprayer covering three rows * which
applied the material at a cost of $2.50 an acre for labor and materials.
To Ix* effective spraying should be commenced as soon as aphides
are found generally distributed over the plants. Kerosene emul-
sion may be used on a small scale, if carefully made, but more or
less injury has resulted where it has been used extensively. Prob-
ably many of the tobacco preparations now on the market would
effectively destroy the aphides and would not injure the vines.

The Pea-moth f

The Pea-moth is an old pest in Europe, whence it was imported
into Canada, where it has frequently done considerable mischief.

It is known to occur in the
large pea-growing sections of
Xew Brunswick, Nova Scotia
and Ontario, where it first at-
tracted attention near Toronto
in 1893, and was found in the
pea-growing section of Michigan
in 1908. The wings of the adult
moth expand ' about one-half

FIG. : 236--^ pea^noth (Serbia an ' inch> the fore-wings being >

nigricana Steph.J : moth above, "dark, fuscous or dusky, tinged

•^ISrya below-about three times . fa d fc fe • d mottled
natural size. (After Chittenden,

U. S. Dept. Agr.) with white," the hind- wings

being a uniform fuscous with a
rather long inner fringe of hairs, as shown in Fig. 36.

The females may be found flying around pea-blossoms soon
after sunset, and deposit one to three eggs on young pods. The
caterpillar hatches in about fourteen days, according to European
observations, and attacks the forming seed. Affected pods usu-
ally ripen early. The larva is whitish-yellow with a pale brown head

* For description and figure, see 13th Annual Rept. Del. Agr. Exp. Sta.,
pp. 168-172.

f Semasia nigricana Steph. Family Tortriddce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 329

and thoracic plate, and about one-half an inch long when full
grown. With the opening of the pod the larva crawls out and
enters the earth, where it spins a very thin silken cocoon. The
length of the pupal stage and the method of hibernation do not
seem to be well established. Very early and very late varieties
are but little injured. •

Remedies. — This suggests one of the best means of handling
this pest to be the growing of early varieties, such as Alaska,
American Wonder, Gregory's Surprise, Nott's Excelsior, and
McLean's Little Gem. If the crop is known to be infested, clean
up the vines and burn them as soon as it is picked. Dr. Fletcher
has made some experiments in spraying for this pest which seem
to promise success. One pound of Paris green to 100 gallons of
water was used, and it is advised to spray three times; the first
when the blossoms begin to fall; the second, a week later; and the
third ten days later than that.

CHAPTER XVII
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH *

The Beet-aphis f

THIS species was first described by Mr. W. R. Doane in 1900
and seems thus far to have been found only in Washington and
Oregon. " Attention was first called to this pest/' he says,f " in
1896, when it was found that a field of two or three acres of beets
was generally infested, a strip of twenty-five to a hundred yards
being so badly injured that the beets were nearly all soft and
spongy, and the plants much smaller than the average.

" It has been even more destructive in Oregon than in Wash-
ington, at least a thousand tons of beets having been destroyed by
it in one year in a single valley devoted largely to beet-culture.
Like very many other beet-insects, this species infests also several
wild or useless plants.

" The smaller rootlets of the beet are first attacked by this
aphis, and if it occurs in considerable numbers these are soon all
destroyed, and the leaves thereupon soon wither, and the whole,
beet shrivels and becomes spongy. This wilting of the leaves will
frequently, in fact, be the first thing to attract the attention of the
beet-grower. The actual injury to the crop will, of course, depend
largely upon the time when the attack of the aphis is made. If the
plants are small they may be readily destroyed, while if they are
practically full grown the loss of the small rootlets will not
materially affect them.

* See Forbes and Hart, Bulletin 60, 111. Agr. Exp. Sta., and F. H. Chitten-
den, Bulletin 43, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.
t Pemphigus betas Doane. Family Aphidae.
J Bulletin No. 42, Wash. Agr. Exp. Sta.

330

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH

331

" No sexual generation of this aphis has as yet been discovered
£nd no eggs have been seen, viviparous reproduction continuing
throughout the year except when the cold of the winter tempora-
rily suspends the physiological activities of the species. The

FIG. 237- — The beet-aphis (Pemphigus betas Doane) : a, winged female; 6,
wingless female; c, antenna of winged female. (After Doane.)

winged females, appearing from time to time during the summer
and fall, serve to distribute the species generally, new colonies
being started wherever these females find lodgment and food. In
districts liable to injury by this insect it seems inadvisable that
beets should be the first crop on new land, or that ground should

be continued in beets or in any other
root-crop after the pest has made its
appearance in the field."

Another plant-louse, called the beet
root-aphis *, proved injurious to sugar-
beets in Colorado in 1903. They were
found " quite generally distributed in
the beet-fields in the vicinity of
Rockyford and attacking the roots of
many weeds." What seemed to be this
species was very abundant upon the
roots of the common garden purslane,
to which it was very injurious. Near

FIG. 238. — Beet root-aphis
(Tychea brevicornis Hart):
a, aphis; b, antenna; c,
tarsus— all greatly enlarged.
(After Garman).

* Tychea brevicornis Hart.

332 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Fort Collins a badly infested field of sugar-beets was also
seriously damaged.

No practical means for controlling these pests seems to have
been recorded, so that in case of injury the entomologist of the
State should be consulted.

White Grubs, Wireworms, and Cutworms

Fortunately for the sugar-beet farmer the worst insect ene-
mies of that plant feed upon the tops, and very rarely do we hear
of serious damage being done the roots. In the East most of the
damage to the roots is done by those familiar old farm-thieves, the
white grub, the cutworm and the wireworm. As a general rule
they will l)c found to be worse on lands previously in sod, which
should therefore be avoided when known to be badly infested with
either of these insects, as both are difficult to fight after they have
once commenced doing noticeable injury.

The life histories and means of control for these pests will be
found discussed on pages 79, 84, 85.

The Sugar-beet Webworm *

The sugar-beet webworm is very similar to the garden web-
worm (page 406), and is so named because it has developed as a
serious pest of the sugar-beet in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado.
It has been noted as injuring tansy in Michigan, and feeds on
cabbage, onions, and alfalfa, as well as pigweed (Chenopodium
album) and careless weed (Amaranthus) and will probably feed
on many other crops. It is a native of western and central
Europe, and northern Asia, and was evidently introduced on the
Pacific Coast, as it was noted in Utah in 1869.

The moth is larger than the garden webworm, having a wing
expanse of an inch, and is a purplish-brown color with darker
and paler bands as shown in Fig. 239. The full-grown larva is
about an inch long, of a dark color with a white stripe down the

* Loxostege sticticalis Linn. Family Pyraustidce. See C. P. Gillette,
Bulletin 98, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta., and references there given.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH

333

back and one along either side, and marked with numerous
black and white tubercles as illustrated.

Life History. — The larvae hibernate over winter an inch or
two below the surface of the soil in long silken tubes. In spring
they pupate in these tubes and the moths emerge about the middle
of May. The eggs are laid on the foliage either singly or in clus-

FIG. 239. — The sugar-beet webworm (Loxostege sticticalis Linn.): 1, moth; 2,
eggs; 3, 4, larvae; 5, pupa; 6, winter tube of larva, opened at a to show
pupa — 1, 3, 4, 5, enlarged. (After Gillette, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta.)

ters of from three to ten, one overlapping another. The egg
is broadly oval, one twenty-fifth inch long, and of a pale
. green color. The first generation of caterpillars feed on pig-
weed and alfalfa in Colorado during June. A second generation
of larvae occurs about the middle of July and sometimes injures
beets, but the third generation about the middle of August is

334 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the one most injurious in Colorado. Most of these larva? hibernate
over winter, but there is a partial fourth generation in Colorado-
The larva) defoliate the plants, and cover them with a web the
same as the native garden webworm, with which the life history
seems to be practically identical.

Control. — The same means of control as for the garden web-
worm are advised.

The Beet Army Worm *

" This caterpillar, which replaces the fall army worm (L.
frugiperda — see page 118) in the Western States, differs from

FIG. 240. — The beet army worm (Laphygma exigua Hiibn.): a, moth; b,
larva, side view; c, larva, back view; d, head of larva; e, 0gg from above;
/, egg from side — all enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

it by its more decidedly mottled ground-color, by a row of white
dots at the lower margin of the lateral dark band, and by the
yellower color of the light stripes. It is an interesting fact that
while the preceding species wras doing serious, unusual, and wide-
extended injury in the Eastern and Southern States (1899),
the present one was similarly abundant in Colorado, where,
besides destroying many kinds of weeds and grasses, it com-

* Laphygma exigua Hbn. Family Noctuidoe.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH 335

pletely defoliated thousands of acres of sugar-beets. In some
cases where the foliage of the beet did not furnish it sufficient
food, the root was attacked and the upper surface was com-
pletely gnawed away. Late plantings, of course, suffered most
severely, especially when surrounded by newly broken ground.
The weeds most generally eaten were pigweed, saltweed, wild
sunflower, and Cleome. Potato, pea, and apple leaves were
also devoured. These injuries occurred about the middle of
August, at which time the larvae and pupae were abundant, and
a few moths laden with eggs were noticed."

This species evidenty hibernates as a moth, and at least
two broods of larvae may be looked for each year, the first about
June and the second in August. The species has been reported
thus far from Colorado and California, but it doubtless has a
more extended range in the mountain regions of the far West.

" Professor Gillette's field-experiments showred that it could be
destroyed by dusting or spraying arsenical poisons on the leaves."

Flea-beetles

Several species of flea-beetles, chiefly Systena tceniata, Systena
hudsonias, Disonycha triangularis, and Phyllotreta vittata, often
do considerable injury by gnawing small holes in the upper and
lower surfaces of the leaves, giving them an appearance as if
affected by leaf-spot, or puncturing them full of small holes, and
thus stunting the growth of the plant.

The Spinach Flea-beetle *

Of the many species of flea-beetles injurious to sugar-beets,
the spinach flea-beetle is one of the largest and most destructive.
The beetle is nearly one-quarter inch long, shining black, with
a greenish or bluish lustre. The prothorax and abdomen are
red or reddish yellow, and the legs and antenna? are pale yellowish.
It occurs from New England to Montana and southward to the

* Disonycha xanthomelcena Dalm. Family Chrysomelidoe. See F. H.
Chittenden, Bulletin 43, Bureau of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 14; S. A. ForbeSj
21st Kept. State Ent. of 111., p. 116.

336 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Gulf, and is one of the most common pests of beets and spinach,
while its native food plants are chickweed and lambsquartcrs.

Life History. — The beetles hibernate over winter and emerge
in the spring during April and May. The buff or orange eggs are
laid on end in small masses, "at the bases of the plants infe ted,
on bits of leaf or earth, or even within the earth " according to
Forbes. The eggs hatch from sometime in April to early July,
according to locality. The larva? usually feed on the under side

FIG. 241. — The sp'nach flea-beetle (Disonycha xanthomelcena Dalm.): a,
beetle; b, egg mass; bb, sculpture of egg; c, larva; d, pupa; e, voung larva;
/, abdominal segment of same — a, c, d, five times natural size; b, more
enlarged; bb, f, highly magnified. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

of the leaf, keeping together in families which migrate from leaf
to leaf while young, and drop to the ground — as do the beetles—-
when disturbed. While young they merely gnaw the under
surface of the leaf, but later they eat through and riddle it with
round holes, in which they are aided by the beetles. The full-
grown larva is about one-quarter inch long, of a dull gray
color, except on red and purple beets, on which it assumes the
color of the plant attacked, is of a cylindrical form, and the seg-
ments are strongly marked by rows of raised tubercles, each of
which bears a black hair at the tip. The larvae become grown

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH 337

in late June and early July in Illinois, and enter the earth to
pupate, the beetles of the next generation emerging about a
month after the eggs were deposited. The beetles of the second
generation lay their eggs from July to September and the beetles
mature before winter sets in. In the District of Columbia,
Chittenden observes that the first generation is more abun-
dant on chickweed and the second is injurious to beets and
spinach.

Control. — Thoroughly dusting or spraying the plants with
Paris green or preferably arsenate of lead will readily destroy
the larvae and probably most of the beetles. As in combating
all flea-beetles the destruction of the weeds upon which they
multiply is important.

The Larger Beet Leaf -bee tie *

One of the principal pests of the sugar-beet in Colorado and
adjacent States is a rather large brownish leaf-beetle which with
its larvae destroy the foliage or so injure it that the plant dies.
It is often locally known as the " alkali bug " from the fact the
injury is mostly on alkali soil or land near it, and " french bug/'
probably from the " frenching " of the foliage. The beetle is
from one-quarter to one-third inch long, and rather resembles
the elm leaf-beetle, varying from pale yellow to black, with the
wing-covers striped as shown in Fig. 242. Several wild plants,
including blites, Russian thistle, and saltbush f probably furnish
the normal food of the insect.

" The beetles are gregarious, ' sometimes occurring in swarms
like blister-beetles.' Their brownish-gray eggs are deposited
in irregular masses, usually on the under sides of the leaves.
They hatch in about six days, and their larvae or young commence
feeding at once, continuing for nine or ten days, when they dig
their way into the ground, a few days later coming forth as beetles.
Although the beetles do much injury, the principal damage is
sometimes accomplished by the larvae, hundreds being found

* Mdnoxia pvncticollis Say. Family Chrysomelidce.
f Dondia americana and D. depressa, Scdsola tragus, and Atriplex argentea.

338 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

on a single plant, which is cither consumed or so injured that it
shrivels and dies. The larva, shown in the illustration, measures
when full grown about one-third of an inch in length. The
general color is nearly uniform dark olive brown, the conspicuous
piliferous tubercles being pale yellow, and the head and portions
of the legs black. The eggs arc dull brownish gray, and the
surface, as seen through a lens, is covered with septagonal and
hexagonal areas." *

FIG. 242. — The larger beet leaf-beetle (Monoxia pimcticollis Say): a, female
beetle; b, eggs; c, d, larvae from above and side; cf, claw of male; 9,
claw of female — all much enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept, Agr.)

Control. — Paris green diluted with flour and dusted over the
foliage has effectively controlled the pest, and probably any
thorough application of any arsenical either wet or dry would
be effective. Professor C. P. Gillette f has observed that the beetles
accumulate on the " mother " beets early in the spring, so that
if a few beets were left in the ground over winter they might
serve as trap plants for the protection of the younger plants in

* Quoted from F. H. Chittenden, Bulletin 43, Bureau Ent., U. S. Dept-
Agr., p. 10.

t C. P. Gillette, 24th Report Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta. (1902), pp. 108-111.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH

339

spring. As injury is mostly on or near alkali ground, such soil
should be avoided.

Plant-bugs

The Tarnished Plant-bug (Lygus pratensis — see page 404),
False Chinch-bug (Nysius angustatus), and several of the com-
mon plant-bugs often become so numerous as to do considerable
damage to beets. When present in large numbers, a spray of
kerosene emulsion might be used to advantage. Experiments
in New York show that the tarnished plant-bug can be driven
from a field by dusting the rows with wood-ashes, being careful

FIG. 243. — The false chinch-bug (Nysius angustatus). (After Riley.)

to work on the same side of each row and thus gradually driving
them into the field adjoining.

The Beet Leafhopper *

Very serious loss to the sugar-beet industry has occurred in
Colorado and Utah from a condition known as " curly leaf "
or "blight." Investigations made by Professor E. D. Ball have
shown that the " curly leaf " is undoubtedly caused by the presence
of immense numbers of small leafhoppers, from 10 to 100 often
being found on a plant in badly infested fields. The curly leaf
condition does not seem to result, however, except when the soil
has become dry and heated, and where plants are shaded or

* Eutettix tenella Baker. See E. D. Ball, Bulletin 66, Part IV, Bureau
of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

340 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

irrigated the damage by the leaf hoppers does not seem to produce
the same trouble. Similar injury has been noted in parts of
Oregon, but not of so serious a nature.

The beet-leafhopper is a pale yellowish-green species (Fig.
244), one-eighth to three-sixteenths an inch long, and when

FIG. 244. — The sugarbeet leafhopper (Eutettix tenella Baker): a, adult; 6,
nymph; /, eggs — greatly enlarged; g, sec- ion of beet stem showing fresh
eggs in place; h, same showing eggs ready to hatch; i, old egg scars on
beet stems; j, small leaf of sugar beet showing characteristic " curly-
leaf " condition; k, enlarged section of back of an extreme case of curly-
leaf showing warty condition of veins. (After Ball, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

flying appears almost white, so that it is sometimes locally called
the " white fly."

Life History. — The hibernating habits of the adults and their
food-plants in the spring have not been well determined. They
appear in the beet-fields late in June and lay their eggs in the
leaf-stems, the eggs hatching in about two weeks. The young

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH

341

nymphs appear in July and are very active, being first found in the
unfolding leaves at the centre and later spreading to all parts
of the plant. The nymphs are variously colored, but the com-
monest form is a pale creamy color with a brown saddle on the
middle of the abdomen and various mottlings on the prothorax
and wingpads. The nymphs become full grown in from sixteen

FIG. 245. — " Hopperette " designed for collecting leafhoppers. (After G. C.
Davis, Mich. Agr. Exp. Sta.)

to twenty-two days and the adults again become abundant
in August and September; they evidently hibernate as adults,
as no more eggs are laid in the fall as far as observed.

The characteristics of the " curly leaf " are described by Dr.
Ball as follows: " The first symptom of ' curly-leaf ' or ' blight '
of the beet is a thickening of all the smaller veinlets of the leaf,

342 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

giving it a roughened appearance on the under side. This is
followed by a curling of the edge and a final rolling up of the leaf,
the upper surface always being rolled in. As this progresses the
smaller veinlets grow still larger and more irregular, knotlike
swellings appear at frequent intervals, and in extreme cases
little nipple-like swellings appear, extending to a height of nearly
one-fourth of an inch. This will be noticed first on a medium-
sized leaf, gradually spreading to the younger ones, while at the
same +,5me the beet almost stops growing and a large number of
fibrous roots are sent out. . . . The beet often continues in this
way throughout the season; in bad cases it shrivels and dies,
while in a few instances there is a partial recovery and a new set
of leaves, though the sugar content remains very low."

Control. — Practical measures of control do not seem to have
been very thoroughly tested. With a better knowledge of the
hibernating habits of the species, it may be possible to reduce its
numbers at that time. After the hoppers have appeared in
numbers they must be dealt with promptly. " A thorough
spraying with kerosene emulsion at a strength of 1 part of the
stock solution to 5 parts of water, would destroy most of the
insects that it hit, and by using a drag in front of the nozzles to
turn the leaves over and cause the insects to jump, most of them
would be reached." This would probably need to be repeated
in about ten days. Hopperdozers have often been successfully
used for collecting various forms of leafhoppers. A modifica-
tion of the form used against grasshoppers (see page 108), with
a couple of wings extending out on either side of the row and
covered with a sticky substance such as " tanglefoot " or that
described on page 523, would undoubtedly prove effective in
collecting the adults, particularly before the females have laid
their eggs, when they are more readily caught. A " hopperette "
designed by Professor G. C. Davis for use against leafhoppers on
celery in Michigan, is shown in Fig. 245, and may be readily
attached to the frame of a wheel hoe. The string across the
notch at .4 strikes the plants and causes the hoppers to jump
at the right time. By adding high wide wings to either side of

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH

343

this machine it should be well adapted for beets and similar
crops.

Blister-beetles *

Among those insects attacking the young sugar-beets and
often doing considerable damage after they have become partly
grown, few are more widespread or do more general injury than
the blister-beetles. They have been especially destructive
in the northern Mississippi Valley, where they are usually worst
after a period of unusual abundance of grasshoppers. Coming
suddenly in a large swarm, they settle in a field and thoroughly

FIG. 246. — The striped blister-beetle (Epicauta vittatd)'. a, female beetle;
6, eggs; c, triungulin larva; d, second or caraboid stage; e, same as /
doubled up as in pod; /, scarabseoid stage; g, coarctate larva — all except
e enlarged. (After Riley and Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

riddle the foliage with holes or strip it bare before going to another
field.

One of the most common forms is the striped blister-beetle,
or " old-fashioned potato-bug" (Epicauta vittatd), which is
shown in the illustration, together with the immature stages.
The ash-gray blister-beetle (Macrobasis unicolor) is also a common
form, shown in Fig. 230. Three or four other forms are common
throughout the country, but are especially numerous in the West,
where grasshoppers are more abundant. The reason for this is
apparent when we come to consider the life history of the pest,
for the blister-beetles are not an unmixed evil.

* Family Meloidoe.

344 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Life History. — In a small cavity in the earth the female beetle
lays some four or five hundred eggs, these being deposited from
July to October. About ten days later the eggs hatch, and
from them emerge some small but very active larvae, with long
legs, large heads, and strong jaws.

They at once commence running about in search of the pod-
like masses of grasshoppers' eggs, and as soon as one is found the
larva enters it and commences a hearty meal. As soon as his
appetite has been somewhat satisfied he sheds his skin, and now

being surrounded by food and no lon-
ger needing his long running legs, they
are changed for very short, aborted
legs, 'and the larva is soft and sluggish.
In another week a second molt takes
place, after which the legs and even
t)he mouth-parts arc still more atro-
phied. After another molt and after
consuming all the eggs in the pod, the
larva now goes deeper in the soil, and
inside a small oval cavity again sheds
its skin, and hibernates over winter as
a sort of semipupa. In the spring the
larva appears again much like the
second stage, but does not eat much,
and soon goes into the pupal stage, from which emerges the adult
beetle. Altogether the life history is one of the most peculiar and
complicated among insects. Thus the blister-beetles are one of the
most important factors in holding the grasshoppers in check.

Remedies. — However, when they swarm into the bee't-fields,
potato- or garden-patches, one cannot afford to allow them to
consume one crop for the good they may do in saving another
from still another insect scourge. " A bird in the hand is worth
two in the bush," is equally true of insects. So be ready for them
on their first appearance; give the plants a thorough spraying
with of 1 pound of Paris green, and 1 pound of lime to 125 gallons
of water. It may be well to spray with Bordeaux mixture,

FIG. 247.- The black blister
beetle (Epicauta pennsyl-
ranica). (After Chitten-
den, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH 345

which will prevent various fungous diseases, and with which
Paris green can be used much stronger without danger of burn-
ing the foliage; or it may be applied dry by mixing with from
ten to twenty parts of flour or plaster, dusting it on in early
morning, while the dew is still on the plants. Arsenate of
lead sprayed at the rate of 3 pounds to 50 gallons, or used as
a dust, will be equally effective, will adhere to the foliage better,
and will be less likely to burn the foliage.

The Beet or Spinach Leaf -miner.*

Frequently beet and spinach leaves will be found with tor-
tuous mines or large blotches which have been mined out by
small white maggots beneath the surface epidermis. This injury
is most commonly due to the maggot of a small fly shown in
Fig. 248. "The ground color is gray with the front of the head
silver white. The body, including the legs, is somewhat sparsely
covered with rather long stiff black hairs. When in action the
body is usually carried in a somewhat curved position, but when
extended measures nearly a quarter of an inch. The maggot
(/) is white, and so nearly transparent that the contents of the
abdomen can be seen through the posterior portion."

Life History. — " The flies, by close observation, may be seen
in flight just above the ground or hovering about their different
food plants. The eggs are placed on the lower surface of the
leaves and arranged in masses of from two to five. When the
young hatch they bury themselves within the leaf tissue, con-
structing a thread-like mine which they afterwards extend in a
curve or semicircle. Transformation to pupae takes place in
most cases in loose soil, which the maggots enter to only a short
distance, or under fallen leaves. Occasionally maggots trans-
form within a leaf if the latter happens to rest on the ground.
Dr. Howard states that the eggs hatch in from three to four
days, and the larval stage is passed in seven or eight days, the
puparium or resting stage requiring from ten to twenty days.

* Pegomyia vicina Lintn. See Chittenden, I.e., from which the quota-
tions are taken.

346 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

" Injury appears to be most frequent in late fall, but
may be due to earlier generations in midsummer. " In many
cases infestation can be traced directly to the insect having
bred in lambsquarters and similar weeds, which if not destroyed
by ordinary methods of cultivation mature and die during
October."

Control. — Where this pest occurs in small gardens it may be
controlled by picking and destroying the infested leaves, and

FIG. 248. — The beet leaf-miner (Pegomyia vicina Lintn.): «, fly; b, head of;
male fly; c, head of female; d, surface of egg highly magnified; e, egg
/, maggot; g, head of same; j, anal segment; k, anal spiracles — all
enlarged. (After Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

even in larger fields such a practice might prevent its increase
and consequent injury. Those insecticides which have been
tried as remedies seem to have had no effect. Deep plowing
and thorough harrowing of infested fields as soon as the crop can
be removed should greatly lessen injury the next year. As this
species seems to prefer spinach to beet, Dr. Chittenden has
suggested that spinach might be used as a trap crop in large
fields of sugar beets where the injury warranted such a measure.

CHAPTER XVIII
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS *

The Cabbage Maggot f

THROUGHOUT the Middle and Northern States the cabbage mag-
got is one of the most destructive and most difficult to combat of
all the insects affecting cabbage, cauliflower and radishes. Just
as the plants are commencing to make a good growth they sud-
denly appear sick, many are found wilting, and soon die. Exami-
nation of the roots shows that they have been riddled by small,
white maggots as shown in Fig. 254. Early-planted cabbage,
cauliflower and radishes are particularly affected, and later in the
season the maggots will be found on turnips and wild mustard.

These maggots are the larvae of a small fly, resembling the
house-fly, but distinctly smaller, being only three-sixteenths
inch long, with a narrower body and proportionately larger wings.
It is a grayish color with three dark stripes on the thorax and one
along the middle of the abdomen, and the body bears numerous
stiff hairs or bristles. The flies appear just as early cabbage is set
out, in late April and early May in New Jersey, and in late May in
southern Minnesota. They do not fly far and seem to avoid fields
which are swept by the wind.

Life History. — The females deposit their eggs on the stem of
the plant or in the soil near the stem, at or just beneath the surface

*See Carman, "Insects Injurious to Cabbage," Bulletin 114, Ky. Agr.
Exp. Sta.

t Pegomyia brassicoe Bouche". Family Anthomyiidoe . See Slingerland,
Bulletin 78, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.; J. B. Smith, Bulletin 200, N. J.
.Agr. Exp. Sta.; F. H. Chittenden, Circular 63, Bureau of Ent., U. S. Dept.
Agr.; F. L. Washburn, llth and 12th Reports State Ent. of Minn.; W. J.
Schoene, Bulletins 301 and 334, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta., Journal of Economic
Entomology, Vol. IV, p. 210.

347

348 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

of the soil, each female laying some fifty eggs. The eggs are most
abundant in late May and early June in central New York. Usu-
ally a female lays but one or two eggs on a plant and prefers to lay
them in a crevice of the stem or very near it, for if the young mag-
gots have to travel far to reach their food, many will die before find-
ing it, and if laid on hard soil the maggots will be unable to pene-
trate it to the soft tissue of the root, as they are unable to feed on

FIG. 249. — Cabbage root infested with maggots. (After Slingerland.)

the hard stem above ground. The eggs are about one twenty-
fifth inch long, of a pure white color, which renders them
easily seen against the soil by one familiar with them, and are of the
shape shown in Fig. 251, having a curious ridge along one side. The
eggs hatch in from three to ten days, averaging five to seven.
The little maggots at once commence rasping the surface of the
tender roots, gradually mine into them, and in three or four weeks
have become full grown. The grown maggot is one-third inch

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 349

long, white or yellowish in color, tapering toward the head and
obliquely truncate at the tip of the abdomen. From the head a
pair of strong, black, hook-like, rasping jaws project downward,
and just back of the head on either side is a minute, light brown,
fan-like projection (Fig. 253, 6), or spiracle, which leads into the
breathing system. The oblique posterior end is surrounded by

FIG. 250. — The cabbage maggot fly (Pegomyia brassicce Bouch6), female
greatly enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

twelve rounded tubercles and in the centre are two brownish spira-
cles (Fig. 253, a). When done feeding the larva burrows one-half
to one inch under the surface of the soil, and the outer skin gradually
hardens until it forms a firm brown shell, called a puparium,
within which the larva transforms to a true pupa. Frequently the
puparia are found in the galleries made by the maggot or in crevices
of the roots. During the summer this stage lasts about two weeks,
but in the fall most of the insects remain in this condition over win-

350 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

tor. Thus the whole life cycle from egg to adult requires about six
to ten or twelve weeks, according to the temperature and moisture,
and the second generation of flies appear in June in New Jersey or
by mid-July in southern Minnesota. The maggots of the second
generation seem to do but little damage. The life history of the
insect during late summer has not been satisfac-
torily determined, but there is undoubtedly a third
generation and in the South, possibly a fourth, the
work of the last generation being sometimes
noticed in late cabbage in early fall. On Long
Island, N. Y., the larvae have been observed as
abundant upon cabbage stumps in September and
October, working above ground, and the adults
and eggs have been common around the ad-
ventitious buds. Rough estimates indicate 300
to 1500 maggots per acre on these stumps. The
puparia of the last, and in the North possibly
some of those of the second generation, remain
in the soil over winter, though there is some evi-
dencethat the flies may also hibernate in the
Middle States.

Control. — The most effective measures of control consist in cul-
tural methods and preventives, but little practical success having
attended the use of remedies to kill the maggots.

Cultural Methods. — Inasmuch as the puparia remain in the soil
or in the old roots or stumps over winter, it is important for this as
well as other cabbage pests to gather and destroy all the refuse of the
crop as soon as possible and then plow infested land thoroughly in
the fall. Mr. Schoene has shown that by plowing badly infested
seed-beds six or seven inches deep that only one-fourth as many flies
emerged as where the soil was undisturbed. A rotation of the crop
will be of value where cabbages are not grown on large acreages.
Cabbage and other cruciferous crops should not be planted after
each other, as all are affected by the same pests. It is evident that
if the crop is planted at some distance from that of the previous
year, and as the flies are known to avoid wind-swept fields,

FIG. 251. -Egg
of cabbage
maggot,
greatly en-
larged ; hair
line at center
of 6 shows
natural size;
b, outline of
side view. —
(After Sling-
erland).

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 351

that many of them will not succeed in finding the new plant-
ing.

As the maggots infest wild mustard and various similar weeds,
they should be destroyed as far as possible and crops affected by
the maggots should not be planted on or near land badly infested
with such weeds if avoidable. Wild mustard may be readily killed
by spraying it while young with iron sulfate, 2 pounds to 1
gallon of water.

Late-planted cabbage is
but slightly affected as com-
pared with that planted earlier.
The earliest radishes are often
quite free from the pest, those
planted later and maturing
just as the flies are abundant
are badly injured, and the later
plantings are free from injury.
It is evident, therefore, that
where planting of the main
crop can be delayed until after
most of the flies have ovi-
posited, that it will escape
serious injury. Furthermore,
either cabbage or
may be used as a trap crop,

by planting a few rows early and as soon as the flies had laid
their eggson them, plowing them under deeply and then setting
the main crop. All of these methods involve a familiarity
with the fly and its eggs which any observant grower may
soon acquire.

High fertilization with a quickly available fertilizer will enable
the plants to make a rapid growth and will be profitable even if
maggots do not occur.

Thorough and frequent cultivation while the eggs are being
laid destroys many of them. Indeed, one of the best means
of control, which is extensively practiced by many growers, is to

FIG. 252. — Eggs of cabbage maggot at
radishes base of stalk. (Photo by Headlee.)

352 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 253. — Cabbage maggot, side
view, enlarged, hair line repre-
sents natural size; a, view of
caudal segment; b, outline of
spiracle back of head — greatly
enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

hill up the earth around the young plants when set, and as soon as
eggs are laid, pull the soil containing the eggs away from the plant
into the middle of the row, where they or the maggots hatching
from them will be killed by the heat. This involves considerable

hand work, but where carefully
and intelligently followed is one
of the surest means of control.

Preventives. — Where late cab-
bage is grown the plants often
become infested in the seed-
bed. To avoid this the seed-
beds should be covered with
cheesecloth. The sides of the
frame are made of 12-inch boards,
across which wires are stretched
to prevent sagging of the cloth,

as the whole must be fly-tight. The cover should be removed
a week or ten days before transplanting, so that the plants may
harden. If eggs are observed in the seed-bed during this time,
transplant at once.

The most successful preventive yet used consists of a' tarred
felt card placed around each plant so as to form a collar, lying
upon the surface of the soil and thus preventing the fly from
depositing her eggs. These cards were originally devised by
Professor W. H. Goff, of Wisconsin, and have been extensively
used by large growers in that State for many years, as well as
in New York, and recent 'experiments in New Jersey and
Minnesota have proven them very satisfactory. The cards
should be made of one-ply tarred felt, as ordinary tarred paper
or building paper curls up and is not as effective. The cards
are made in a hexagonal shape, writh a slit extending from one
corner to the centre, which is slit with a star-shaped cut to
accommodate the stem. The cards are cut with a tool shown
in Fig. 255, which may be made by any blacksmith, and are
cut out in rows as illustrated, one cut of the tool making
a card. The cards should be placed around the plants when

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 353

they are set. The earth should be smoothed down and well
firmed by the hand, the card then applied to the plant, and
pressed down tight to the ground, so that it fits snugly around
the stem and the edges of the slit meet. With a little experience
the cards maybe applied rapidly, and though involving con-
siderable handwork, the testimony of those who have used
them for many years shows that the method is entirely practical
and is to be preferred to doubtful remedies.

FIG. 254. — Cabbage roots destroyed by the cabbage maggot. (After
Slingerland.)

A mixture of lime and carbolic acid has recently been
used by applying it to the surface of the soil around the
plants, so as to form a slight crust, the carbolic acid acting pos-
sibly as a repellant. The lime is slaked to a thin cream, and
diluted to 3 pints to a gallon of water, to which is added a
tablespoonful of crude carbolic acid. It is applied liberally to
the soil immediately around the plants with a sprinkling can.
This has proven quite effective for cabbage in New Jersey,
but in Minnesota cabbage so treated showed but little benefit,
though radishes were somewhat protected. Kerosene and sand,
gas tar and sand, tobacco dust and many other substances

354 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

have been used to place around the plant and act as rcpel-
lant.s or preventives, but all have some objection or have not
been sufficiently tested to show their effectiveness and practica-
bility. Dr. J. B. Smith reports, however, that cauliflower-growers
at Richfield, X. J., have been using gas tar, 1 part to 25 parts of
sand, for several years with good results. The gas tar costs SI. 25
a gallon and will treat 1000 plants. A greater proportion of gas
tar has proven injurious.

Remedies. — For the destruction of the maggots, both carbolic

acid emulsion and hellebore
decoction have been exten-
sively used with varying re-
sults, but from the evidence
so far submitted, the grower
would hardly seem war-
ranted in placing much de-

pendence upon them, though
where preventive measures
have been neglected, they
may aid in reducing the
number of maggots and pre-

vent a total loss. To make

, . ,. ,

th« emulsion, dissolve

FIG. 250. — a, tarred felt card in outline
one-third size; b, tool for cutting
cards, about one-sixth size; c, show- pound of soap in a gallon of
ing how tool is used, dotted line
indicating position of edge of tool,
(After Goff.)

••>• XL- i i -,

boiling water; to this add 1

pint of crude carbolic acid
and churn thoroughly until

a good creamy emulsion is made. For use, dilute one part of
the emulsion with 30 parts of water and apply 4 to 6 ounces
to each plant. It may be conveniently applied with a watering
pot. The earth should be pulled away from the plants so that
the emulsion may be brought into actual contact with the
larvae on the roots. Application should be commenced as soon
as maggots are observed, repeated in 4 or 5 days, and then
once a week for a month. Well-grown maggots are quite resistant
to the emulsion, but it will destroy the young as they hatch before

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 355

they become established in the root. Hellebore decoction is made
by steeping 2 ounces of powdered hellebore in a quart of boiling
water for half an hour, and then diluting to make a gallon of liquid.
It may be kept in the concentrated form, but should be thoroughly
stirred before using. It is applied in the same manner as the car-
bolic emulsion. Both these mixtures may also be used against
maggots on radishes and onions by making thorough applications
along the rows.

The surest method of destroying the maggots on the roots is by
the use of carbon bisulfide (see page 57). This is entirely practi-
cable on a few plants, but has not come into general use on a large
scale, as no satisfactory tool for its injection into the soil is avail-
able. A small hole should be made with a dibble 4 to 6 inches from
the infested stem, and a teaspoonful of carbon bisulfide injected and
the hole tightly closed with earth. If made too close to the plant
the roots will be injured. The fumes kill the maggots by permeat-
ing the soil. Where plants are badly infested injection on two
sides may be necessary. The material will cost about $1.00 per
1000 plants. Professor Slingerland describes an injector, no
longer made, but similar tools are for sale by dealers in agricul-
tural implements in France, and might be made by any machinist.

The Imported Cabbage Worm *

Probably the worst pest of the cabbage and one of the best-
known garden insects is the common cabbage worm, whose parent
is the common wrhite butterfly. It is an old European pest and
was imported near Quebec, Canada, about 1860, whence it spread
to New England, reached New York in 1868, Cleveland, Ohio, by
1875,. and the Gulf States by 1880, and has since spread to all parts
of the country.

The butterflies are among the first to emerge in early spring.
They are white, marked with black near the tip of the fore-wings,
which expand nearly 2 inches. The female bears two black spots

* Pontia rapce Linn. Family Pieridae. See F. H. Chittenden, Circular 60,
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

356 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

on each fore-wing, while the male haw only one, and both sexes have
a black spot on the anterior margin of the hind-wings.

FIG. 256. — The cabbage butterfly (Pontia rapoe Linn.) : n larva; b, chrysalis;
c, male butterfly; d, female butterfly. (After C. M. Weed.)

Life History. — The butterflies soon commence to lay their eggs
on whatever food-plant is available. The larvae feed on all of the

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 357

common cultivated crucifers as well as many wild sorts, so that the
species is never without food. The small yellowish, oval eggs are
laid on end on the foliage, and are marked with prominent longi-
tudinal ridges. They hatch in from four to eight days. The larvae
grow very rapidly, gorging themselves on the foliage, which they
skeletonize in their well-known manner, and become full grown in
from ten days to two weeks. The mature cabbage worm is about
1£ inches long, of a velvety green color, very similar to the foliage,
with a faint yellow stripe down the middle of the back and a row
of yellow spots one each side. The surface, when seen under a
lens, is finely roughened and dotted with small black specks. The

FIG. 257. — Pteromalus puparum, a chalcis-fly which parasitizes the cabbage
worm and many other injurious insects, male and female greatly enlarged-
hair line shows natural size. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

chrysalis is attached to the foliage by a strand of silk around the
thorax and is first greenish and later light brown in color. The
butterflies emerge in from 'one to two weeks in the summer, but
the chrysalides of the last generation in fall hibernate over winter
among the old stalks and rubbish on the fields. Thus the whole
life cycle in summer requires from three to five weeks. In New
England there are three generations a season and there are prob-
ably five or six in the extreme south, as the butterflies there remain
on the wing all winter.

Enemies. — Fortunately, the parasites of the cabbage worm are
.becoming very effective in checking its multiplication, and in
many sections of New England where it has existed the longest,
it rarely becomes very injurious, so well do the parasites control

358 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

it. Most of these are importations from Europe, one of the
most important being a small wasp-like Braconid fly (Apanteles
glomeratus Linn.) which was purposely imported from England
in 18cS3. During the autumn of 1904 Dr. Chittenden states that
it killed practically every worm at Washington, D. C. The maggots
of these little parasites live within the worms and when full grown
come forth and spin masses of small white cocoons on the foliage,
often attached to the dead or dying worm (Fig. 167). Another
very important parasite is a minute Chalcis-fly (Pteromalus

FIG. 258. — Apanteles glomeratus, a parasite of the cabbage worm: a, adult
fly; b, cocoon; c, flies escaping from cocoons — natural size, a, b, highly
magnified. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

puparum Linn.), about one-sixteenth of an inch long, which was
probably imported with its host. These often emerge in immense
numbers, hundreds of them often being secured from a single
worm. Wasps frequently prey on the caterpillars, using them for
provisioning their nests. Various predaceous bugs also attack
the worms as well as numerous other internal parasites.

Control. — As the chrysalids pass the winter on the old stumps,
foliage, and rubbish on the field, it is evident that they should be
destroyed and the field plowed as soon after the crop is removed
as possible. A few stalks may well be left standing here and

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 359

there and be kept well poisoned, so as to act as traps to destroy
worms from eggs laid by late females.

The most effective means of control is spraying or dusting
with Paris green or arsenate of lead. The former is used ^- pound
to the barrel and the latter 2 to 3 pounds per barrel of water.
As the foliage of cabbage is extremely smooth it will be advisable
to add 2 or 3 pounds of resin soap or " sticker " to render the
material more adhesive (see page 46). The arsenicals should
be applied as soon as the plants are set, and they should be kept
well covered until the heads are half formed. If this is done,
the young larvae will be destroyed before they burrow into the
heads, and there will be but little damage after the spraying is
stopped. Although there is some prejudice against poisoning
cabbage, it is entirely unfounded, for it has been shown that a
person would need to eat twenty-eight cabbages at once, if dusted
in the ordinary manner, to secure poisonous effects. It is obvious
that plants should not have large quantities of dust placed on
them after they commence to head, and such applications are
entirely unnecessary.

Various contact insecticides may be used against the worms
on a few plants, but are not practicable for large acreages. Thus
water heated to 150° F., will kill all the worms which it hits.
Kerosene emulsion will kill the larvae, but must hit them, and
may leave an odor on the plant. Pyrethrum or buhach has been
used effectively, applying it either dry or diluted with flour,
or sprayed as a decoction at the rate of 1 ounce to a gallon of
water. Dilute tobacco extract has also proven effective, but
all of these substances have the disadvantage that they
must be brought into actual contact with the worms to kill
them.

360 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Southern Cabbage Butterfly *

Before the invasion of the imported cabbage worm this species
was the cause of considerable injury from the Middle States
southward, but "it has now been largely replaced and overshadowed
in importance by the imported species. The male butterfly is
very similar in marking to the female of P. rapce, and would not

FIG. 259. — The southern cabbage butterfly; a, male; b, female. (After Riley.)

be distinguished on the wing. The female is more heavily
marked with black, as shown in Fig. 259. The caterpillar is a
greenish-blue color with four longitudinal, yellow stripes, and

FIG. 260. — The southern cabbage butterfly : a, larva; 6, pupa. (After Riley.)

covered with black dots. The habits are very similar to those
of the imported cabbage worm, and the same methods of control
should be used.

* Pontia protodice Boisd. Family Pieridae.

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 361

The Potherb Butterfly *

This species is more common in the North and East and is

distinguished from its near rela-
tives by the wings being uniform
white without spots. The larvse
are veiy similar to those of the
imported species and the habits
are very similar. Like the south-
ern species, though formerly very
common and often injurious,
this species . is now rarely com-
mon enough to do much injury
and feeds mostly on wrild plants.

FIG. 261.— The potherb butterfly
and caterpillar. (After Harris.)

The same remedies as for the imported species should be used.

The Cabbage Looper f

Next to the imported cabbage worm the looper is probably
the most serious pest of cabbage and closely resembles it in the
way it strips the foliage. The name " looper " is derived from
its " looping " habit of walking like a measuring worm, due to the
absence of legs on the third and fourth abdominal segments.
The larvse are pale to dark green in color, marked with several
longitudinal white lines, as shown in Fig. 262, which become
obscure as they become full grown, so that they might be easily
mistaken for the common cabbage worms were it not for the loop-
ing gait. The species occurs throughout the territory east of the
Rockies, but is much more commonly injurious in the Middle and
Southern States. Although cabbage and cauliflower are the
favorite food plants, it attacks all of the cruciferous crops, is
frequently injurious to lettuce, peas, celery and beets, and has
been found upon quite a list of cultivated crops and various weeds.

* Pontia napi Linn. Family Pieridce.

t Avtographa brassicae Riley. Family Noctuidce. See F. H. Chittenden,
Bulletin 33, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.; F. A. Sirrine, Bulletin 144,
N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta.

362 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Life History.— The life history has not been carefully observed,
but it seems probable that the winter is passed in the pupa stage
in the old leaves, stumps and rubbish of the cabbage field. Sirrine
states that the life history is similar to that of the imported
cabbage worm, and it seems probable that there are three genera-
tions a year in the Middle States, and possibly more further
South. Injury to cabbage seems to be worse in late summer.
When full grown the larva spins a very thin, transparent, white

FIG. 262. — The cabbage looper (Autographa brassicce Riley): a, male moth;
b, egg from above and from side; c, full grown larva in natural position
feeding; d, pupa in cocoon — a, c, d, one-third larger than natural size,
b, more enlarged. (A"ter Howard and Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

cocoon, attached to the leaf upon which it has been feeding and
in it transforms to the light-brown pupa. The pupal stage varies
from a week in midsummer to three weeks in October, and the
pupse of the last brood hibernate over winter.

The moth has a wing expanse of about 1^ inches, and the fore-
wings are grayish brown mottled with gray, whitish, and blackish,
as shown in Figs. 262, 263. Just inside of the centre of the fore-
wings is a characteristic white spot. The hind-wings are paler

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 363

brown, with the outer border darker, and the margins of both
wings are strongly scalloped.

Control. — The same general methods as advised for the imported
cabbage worm will effect the control of this species. Sirrine
states that dusting the plants with Paris green has not proved
satisfactory, but found the use of Paris green with the resin soap

FIG. 263. — The cabbage looper moth at rest from side and from above —
natural size.

sticker (page 46) to be very effective. Arsenate of lead is more
adhesive and is therefore superior for cabbage, but will be improved

by the addition of the " sticker."

The Cross-striped Cabbage Worm *

Throughout the Southeastern and Gulf States the cater-
pillar of a native moth, known as the Cross-striped Cabbage Worm,

* Evergestis rimosalis Guen. Family Pyralida. See F. H. Chittenden,
Bulletin 33, n. s.; Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 54.

364 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

occasionally docs very similar injury to the imported cabbage
worm. The caterpillar is about three-fifths of an inch long,
of a bluish-gray color above, with conspicuous cross stripes of
black, as shown in the illustration. The parent moth is a pale
ochre yellow color; the fore-wings expand about an inch, and are
marked with brownish-black, as shown in the illustration, while
the hind-wings are nearly transparent except at the outer edge.
Life History. — The caterpillars are to be found on cabbage in
late May and early June at Washington, D. C. When full grown
they go just below the surface of the earth and there construct

FIG. 264. — -The cross-striped cabbage worm (Everyestis rimosalis) : a, moth ;
b, egg-mass; c, sculpture of egg; d, larva; e, cocoon — a, d, e, twice natuial
size; 6, much enlarged; c, more enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

silken cocoons in which the pupal stage is passed and from which
the moths emerge in about ten days. The eggs are laid in masses
of a bright light-yellow color, from twenty to forty being laid in a
mass on the under surface of the leaf, and hatch in about a week.
The caterpillars become full grown in from two to three weeks,
so that the full life cycle may be passed in thirty days in mid-
summer. It seems probable that at Washington, D. C., there
are three generations each year, and that the winter is passed
in the pupal stage.

Control. — The same means of control advocated for the
imported cabbage worm will prove effective for this species.

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 365

The Imported Cabbage Webworm *

Sometime in the early 90's another cabbage pest was imported
from Europe, where it is common in the Mediterranean region, and
was first noted as injurious in South Carolina. Later it was found
in Georgia and Alabama, and it is probable that it has now become
more generally distributed through the Gulf and South Atlantic
States.

The imported cabbage webworm is about one-half an inch long,

FIG. 265. — The imported cabbage webworm (Hellula undalis Fab.): a, moth;
b, larva side view; c, larva, back view; d, .pupa — three times natural
size.1 (After Chittenden, U. S*. Dept. Agr.)

of a grayish-yellow color, striped with five brownish-purple bands.
Its name is received from its habit of spinning a silken web,
beneath which it retreats when not feeding, and to which masses
of excreta and frass are attached. Cabbage and turnips have
been most injured, but various other cruciferse are attacked.
The parent moth has a wing expanse of about five-eighths of an
inch and the fore- wings are of a grayish color, mottled with -brown,
black and white as shown in the figure.

* Hellula undalis Fab. Family Pyralidce. See F. H. Chittenden, Bulletin
19, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 51; Bulletin 23, Ibid., p. 54; W. M.
Scott, Bulletin 1, Ga. State Board Entomology, p. 17.

366 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Life History.— Fhu life history has nut been followed for the
whole season, but all of the stages have been observed. Moths
of what seemed to be the first summer generation were obtained
in late July. The eggs arc about one-twenty-fifth an inch
in diameter, oval, and of a grayish color, turning pinkish in a
day or two. They are laid singly, usually in the " bud " of the
turnip or cabbage. With a temperature of 80° F. they hatched
in three days. The caterpillars become full grown in about
eighteen days, and then spin thin cocoons between the leaves
in which they transform to pupa?. The pupal stage requires
but about a week in midsummer, so that the moths emerge just
about a month after the eggs were laid. The most serious injury
seems to occur in late summer, particularly to young fall cabbage
and turnips.

Control. — Use the same measures as advocated for the imported
cabbage worm and the cabbage looper.

The Diamond-back Moth *

The larva of the imported diamond-back moth or cabbage
plutella are commonly found on cabbage wherever it is grown,
and as a rule do but little injury, though occasionally they
become troublesome.

" The larva when full grown measures three-tenths inch in
length, tapers a little to the extremities, and is of a pale green
color. It is active and irritable, in this respect being very
different from any of the larger Iarva3 described." The wings
of the parent moth " are kept folded against the sides of the body,
are a little turned up at the tips, and are provided with a long
fringe. The color above on the head, thorax, and upper part
of the closed wings is a light clay-yellow. That part of the
wings that is lowest when they are folded is bronzy brown, this
color terminating abruptly where it meets the clay-yellow of
the back by a well-defined sinuous margin. The length from

* Plutella maculipennis Curtis. Family Tineidae.

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 367

the front of the head to the tip of the folded wings is about one-
fourth inch."*

" The eggs are whitish, very minute, and are attached to the
leaves, though sometimes when very abundant they are, it is
said, placed on the sides of crates holding cabbage." The full-
grown larvae pupate in small cocoons composed of a delicate
lace-work of silken threads through which the whitish, often
brown-striped, pupa may be seen. In winter the cocoons con-
taining pupae are found on old cabbage stalks in the field or
on stored cabbage. Two or three generations a year occur in the

FIG. 266. — The cabbage plutella or diamond-back moth (Plutdla maculi-
pennis Curtis) : a, larva; b, segment of same greatly enlarged; d, pupa;
e, pupa in cocoon; /, adult moth; g, wings of dark variety; h, moth
with wings folded. (After Riley, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

more northern States and four or five generations farther south,
while in the extreme South it may be found active practically
throughout the year. The species has a world-wide distribu-
tion.

" During very dry weather these little insects become exceed-
ingly common, and riddle the cabbage leaves with small holes.
Wet weather, on the other hand, has long been known to be
unfavorable to them," and drenching the plants with water has
been recommended as one of the best means of control, The
same remedies applied for the other cabbage worms will readily
control this little pest, if necessary.

* H. Carman, Bulletin 114, Ky. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 29.

368 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Harlequin Cabbage-bug *

Southern truckers have been familiar with the harlequin
cabbage-bug, " calico-back," " terrapin-bug," or " fire-bug," as

PIG. 267. — The harlequin cabbage bug (Murgantia histrionica Hahn.): a,
eggs — enlarged; b, nymphs, more enlarged;- d, adults seen from above
and below — enlarged; e, head and beak of same; /, parasite of eggs —
enlarged; bugs and eggs (a) on leaf, natural size. (After W. G. Johnson.)

it is variously called, for the past generation. A native of
Mexico and Central America, it migrated into Texas about 1864

* Murgantia histrionica Hahn. Family Pentatomidce. See F. H. Chitten,
deu, Circular 103, Bureau Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; R. I. Smith,
Journal Economic Entomology, Vol. II, p. 108.

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS

and then spread eastward along the Gulf Coast, and northward
until it reached Maryland and Virginia, about 1880, New
Jersey in the early 90's, and up the Mississippi Valley to southern
Ohio and Indiana by 1890. On the Pacific Coast it is found in
southern California and Nevada. Although it spread to Long
Island, N. Y., southern Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio, and
Indiana, its advance was checked by the cold winters of the late

FIG. 268. — Field of cabbage in Delaware ruined by the harlequin bug.

90's and it will probably never become very injurious north of
the Potomac and Ohio rivers.

The appearance of the gayly colored bugs, shining black or
deep blue, marked with brilliant red or orange, as shown in
Fig. 267, is so distinctive that they are readily recognized, and
given them the name of harlequin-bug or calico-back. They
are about one-half inch long, flattened, and the general shape
and markings have given them the local name of " terrapin
bug." The bugs suck the sap from the leaves of cabbage and other

370 INSECT PESTS OP FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

crucifors, the plants wilting and dying', and turning black as if
they had been swept by fire; hence the name " fire-bug." A
half-dozen of the adult bugs will destroy a small plant in a day
or two, and as they frequent!}' appear in enormous numbers and
as they multiply rapidly, unless they are fought vigorously they
will soon destroy a large patch of cabbage.

Life History. — The adults hibernate over winter in old cabbage
stumps and under the leaves and other rubbish left on the field,
and emerge early the next spring. In South. Texas they may
be found at work nearly all winter, being common in February
and March; in North Carolina they appear about April 1st, and in
Maryland about May 1st. The eggs of the first generation are
deposited mostly on kale, wild mustard or other wild crucifera?,
each female laying about 100. They are placed in a double

•

row of about a dozen and are white, marked with two black bands
and a small spot, which makes them look like small white barrels
with black hoops. The eggs of the spring generation hatch in
about ten days, and the nymphs feed upon the cabbage for from
six to nine weeks before becoming full grown in North Carolina
and the District of Columbia, while in the Gulf States the eggs
hatch in four to eight days and the nymphs become full grown
in three or four weeks, the development of these stages being
determined by the temperature. The nymphs are much like
the adults in coloration, though differently marked and lacking-
wings. They molt five times, some of the different stages being
shown in the figure. From North Carolina northward there
seem to be but three generations of the insect. The summer
generation develops more rapidly, the eggs hatching in four or
five days, but the fall generation requires about the same time as
in spring. In midsummer the whole life cycle may be passed in
about two weeks in the Gulf States, according to various author-
ities, so that there may be a half dozen generations, though the
exact life history does not seem to have been observed there.

Control. — This is an exceedingly difficult pest to combat after
it has become numerous in the cabbage patch, so that every effort
should be made to prevent its appearance. As it hibernates under

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 371

old stalks and leaves it is obvious that they should be cleaned up
and the field plowed as soon as the crop is harvested. By leaving
a few piles of stalks, leaves and rubbish, the bugs might be concen-
trated and then destroyed.

The most successful method of control yet devised is the use
of a trap-crop, to which the bugs are lured as they emerge from
hibernation and on which they may be destroyed before they
attack the cabbage. Kale planted in the fall or mustard planted
early in the spring serves well for a catch crop, and should be
planted in rows through the intended cabbage-field. The bugs
seem to prefer the kale to the young cabbage, and while concen-
trated upon it they should be killed by spraying them with pure
kerosene. The trap-crop may well be planted at different dates,
so that after one row has been destroyed by spraying, another will
invite the remaining bugs. The nymphs may be destroyed by
spraying them with 15 per cent kerosene emulsion or whale-oil soap,
one-half pound per gallon. Whale-oil soap used at the rate of 1£ to 2
pounds to the gallon will kill most of the adult bugs hit by it
without injury to the cabbage, but dependence should not be
placed upon control by spraying, as its practicability on a large
scale is yet to be demonstrated.

The Cabbage-aphis *

Wherever cabbage is grown the common " cabbage-louse "
occasionally becomes abundant enough to do serious damage,
often destroying young plants, which become covered with the
disgusting masses of grayish aphides. They are found commonly
in almost every cabbage-patch, but usually their natural enemies
are so effective as to prevent their increase; otherwise they would
be one of the most serious pests of cruciferous crops. They may
be found on all of the cultivated and wild cruciferae, but cabbages

* Aphis brassicce Linn. Family Aphididoe. See C. V. Riley, Report of
U. S. Commissioner of Agriculture, 1884, p. 317. C. M. Weed, " Insect
Life," Vol. Ill, p. 289. G. W. Herrick, Journal of Economic Ent., Vol. IV.
p. 219? F. H. Chittenden and C. H. Popenoe, Bulletin 2, Va. Truck Exp.
Sta., p. 22.

372 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and turnips arc injured worst, serious damage often being done to
turnips in the South.

" The wingless viviparous female has a rather long oval body,
covered with a whitish mealy coat. \Yhen this coat has been
removed . . . the body is seen to be a grayish-green color, with
eight black spots down either side of the back, increasing in size
toward the posterior end. The antenna) are green with black tips
and are shorter than the body, and the eyes, legs and tail are
black. The young when first hatched are oval, shining, bright
yellow in color, and lack the mealy coat. The winged viviparous
female is yellowish-green, with the eyes, neck and thoracic lobes
black, and the antenna1 and nectaries dark brown. The legs are

Fio. 269.— The cabbage-aphis (iphis brassicee Linn.): a, winged form; b
wingless viviparous female — Greatly enlarged. (After Curtis.)

dusky brown and hairy; the tail is dark green or brown and also
hairy; the wings are rather short, with stout coarse veins and dark
stigma." (Riley).

Life History. — Though the cabbage-aphis is an old European
species and \vas observed in this country as early as the latter part
of the eighteenth century, its life history has only recently been
carefully worked out by Professor G. W. Herrick and Mr. J.W. Hun-
gate of Cornell University (I.e.), from whose account the following
is taken:

The oviparous females appear in the fall and are fertilized by
the males, and deposit their eggs in large numbers on the leaves
of the cabbage, during October and the first days of November,
in central New York. The eggs are laid on rape, turnip, brussels

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 373

sprouts and kohl-rabi, but are most abundant on cabbage, particu-
larly in the crevices and depressions of the under surfaces of the
leaves. On leaves taken at random from a badly infested patch,
from 177 to 293 eggs were found on a leaf. Two to three eggs are
laid by each oviparous female. When first laid the eggs are a
yellowish-green, but soon turn a shining black. From eggs taken
at random and left under normal outdoor conditions, 76 per cent
hatched the next spring, while all eggs hatched which were laid by
females known to have been fertilized. Eggs hatched about
April 1, 1910, in central New York, the season being an early one.
From the stem mothers which hatched from these eggs, twenty-
one generations of wingless females were reared up to December 3,
1910, the average length of a generation being about twelve days.
During the summer generations of winged females are produced,
especially on crowded plants, and these serve to spread the pest to
unaffected plants. The wingless females become full grown in
about thirteen days during the summer and live for about forty-six
days, during which time they will give birth to an average of forty-
one young, producing as high as six young in a day. The winged
forms are much shorter lived, living only about ten days and giving
birth to but from seven to thirteen young.

There is no question that in the Southern States the viviparous
females may continue to reproduce all winter, and it is quite prob-
able that some of them survive in pits and cellars in the North,
where eggs also probably occur. Thus Sirrine* states that it " is
certain that this aphid can survive the winter on cabbage stored
in cellars or pits, also that cabbage stored in pits for seed purposes
furnishes the supply of aphides for infesting the seed stalks in early
spring." This being the case it should be an easy matter to
destroy the aphides by fumigation before removing them from
the pits.

Control. — From the habits outlined it is evident that, as for

other cabbage pests, the refuse of the crop should be cleared up and

destroyed in the fall. Any of the standard contact insecticides,

such as kerosene emulsion, 1 part stock solution to 15 parts of

* F. A. Sirrine, Bulletin 83, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 675.

374 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

water, whale oil-soap, 1 pound to G gallons, or black leaf-tobacco
extract, 1 part to 64 of water, will destroy the aphides, but the
spraying must be thorough, as the waxy coating serves to pro-
tect them. According to Professor Franklin Sherman, any good
laundry soap used at the rate of 1 pound dissolved in 3 gallons of
water, will destroy the aphides. Where water under pressure is
available in a small garden, the aphides may be held in check by

FIG. 270. — The spinach-aphis (Myzus persicce Sulz.): which often becomes
a cabbage pest: a, winged adult; b, young nymph; c, older nymph; d,
last stage of nymph — all greatly enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

washing them from the plants with a strong stream from a garden
hose. Plants infested in the seed-bed may be freed from the
aphis by dipping in whale-oil soap solution, 1 part to 8 of water.

Fortunately for the grower, the cabbage-aphis is usually held
in check by numerous parasitic enemies, principally little wasp-
like flies of the family Braconida?, and by several species of lady-
bird-beetles and syrphus-fly larvae, which will often destroy a
colony within a few days.

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 375

The Spinach-aphis or Green Peach-aphis *

Another species of aphis often becomes destructive to cabbage,
spinach, celery and lettuce, as well as various greenhouse crops.
In the fall it migrates to peach, and is also known as the green
peach-aphis, as which it is discussed on page 658.

Flea-beetles t

A considerable number of small flea-beetles attack cabbage and
other cruciferous crops, and although as a rule only troublesome,
they appear periodically in enormous numbers and do serious
injury. They are mostly small species (there being seven species
of the genus Phyllotreta alone) not over an eighth of an inch long.
One of the most common throughout the country is the striped
turnip flea-beetle. J It is polished black with each wing-cover
marked with a broad, wavy band of pale yellow. The microscopic
white eggs are laid in a little excavation of the root near the crown
of the plant. The larvse mine into the roots and have been
reported to do considerable injury to them, but it seems probable
that most of them live upon the roots of cruciferous weeds. The
full grown larva (Fig. 270, a) is about three-eighths inch long,
quite slender and tapering, yellowish white, with brown head and
anal plate, and with marks on the thorax and transverse rows of
minute hair-bearing tubercles as shown in the figure. The West-
ern cabbage flea-beetle § is the more common from the Dakotas
southward to Mexico and westward to southern California. It is a
uniform deep olive-green, with the surface irregularly punctate,
and 7/ioo inch-long. Another species almost indistinguishable from
the first species above, is the wavy-striped flea-beetle, ^[ whose larvae
mine in the leaves of wild pepper grass (Lepidium virginicum),

* Myzus persicce Sulz. See footnote on page 658.

t Family ChrysomelidcE. Refer to pages 296, 335, for other flea-beetles.
-See. C. V. Riley: Report U. S. Commissioner Agr., for 1884, pp. 301-308.
I Phyllotreta vittata F'ab.
§ Phyllotreta pusilla Horn.
If Phyllotreta sinuata Steph. (zimmermani Crotch.)

370 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and is most abundant in the Middle and Southern States. The
life history lias been fully described by Dr. Riley (I.e.).

Control. — Where the plants are sprayed for the cabbage worms
with Paris green or arsenate of lead, there will probably be little
trouble with flea-beetles. Otherwise, spray with arsenate of lead,
3 to 5 pounds per barrel, or Paris green one-third to one-half
pound, adding the resin soap (see page 46) or " sticker," so as to
give the foliage a good thick coating, for the spray probably acts
fully as much as a repcllant as a remedy. AVhere injury is antici-
pated it will be well to dip the plants in arsenate of lead 1 pound

FIG. 271. — The striped turnip ilea-
beetle (Phyllotreta vittata Fab.):
a, larva; 6, adult — greatly en-
larged. (After Riley, U. S. D.
Agr.)

FIG. 272. — The western cabbage flea-
beetle — much enlarged. (After Riley,
U. S. Dept, Agr.)

to 10 gallons of water when planting them. By thoroughly dust-
ing the plants with lime, land plaster, strong tobacco dust, dilute
pyrethrum, or any of the dusts commonly used for such insects,
applying the dust in the early morning while the dew is on the
plants, they may. be protected from attack as long as they are
kept thoroughly covered. It is evident that the weeds upon
which these pests develop in the larval stage should be destroyed.
Where plants are attacked in the seed-bed, screening as advised
for the root-maggot will prevent injury. Cloth with from 20 to 30
threads to the inch has proven most satisfactory for the screens,
which should be applied early and be made perfectly tight.

INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND CRUCIFEROUS CROPS 377

The Cabbage Curculio *

A small weevil has proven injurious to early cabbage, particu-
larly in seed-beds, in Wisconsin, Ohio, and Missouri and elsewhere.
The cabbage curculio is a native of middle and northern Europe,
where it is not known as doing much injury, and was first noticed
in this country in Massachusetts in 1873. Since then it has spread
over the Northern States and occurs in California.

The adult weevil is of a broad, oval shape, about one-eighth
inch long, and is covered with grayish scales, but is blackish when

FIG. 273. — The cabbage curculio (Ceuforh ;nchus rape Gyll.): a, beetle;
b, same in profile; c, larva; d, head of same; e, pupa in cocoon; a, b, c, e,
eight times natural size; d, more enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. D.
Agf.)

these are rubbed off in old specimens. The weevils appear about
the middle of April at Washington, D. C., and lay their eggs in the
leaf stalks late in April. The grayish, oval egg is about one thirty-
fifth inch long, and is inserted in a cavity eaten out by the female,
which causes a very noticeable scar. The eggs hatch in about a
week. The white, footless larvae are about one-fourth inch long
and bore into the leaf-stems and stalks. " Larvse are found most
numerous in the upper portion of stems, penetrating frequently as

* Ceutorhyncus rupee Gyll. Family Curculwnidoe. See F. H. Chittenden,
Bulletin 23, n. s., Bureau of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 39, and F. M. Webster,
Bulletin 77, Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 50.

378 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

high as the diameter of the stem will admit them. They also bore
into the branches, and occasionally a short distance into the leaf-
stalks. ... In many cases the leaf-stalks are killed or are so
injured that they part from the stems when the latter are pulled
up; and again, the stems, being so closely tunneled, often part above
the middle, even dropping over, though not handled." The larvae
complete their growth in about three weeks, cut their way out of
the stalks and enter the earth, where they form small earthen
cocoons just beneath the surface. In these they transform to
pupae, from which the beetles emerge in about a week. The beetles
are common in the middle of June at Washington, but disappear
late in the month.

A fortunate fact is that " cabbage appears to be one of the last
plants attacked in the field when any other palatable crucifer is
obtainable. The beetles not only greatly preferred hedge mus-
tard (Sisymbrium officinale), and wild pepper grass, but appeared
to attack also, by preference, turnip, horseradish and cauliflower."*

Control. — This fact of the preference of the beetles for the wild
food-plants might be utilized by using them as a trap-crop, planting
them, if necessary, as advised for the harlequin cabbage-bug
(page 371), and then removing and destroying them as soon as the
beetles had oviposited, which would probably be about the middle
of May in the latitude of Washington, D. C. Although no prac-
tical experiments in its use seem to have been tried, a thorough
application of arsenate of lead at from 3 to 5 pounds to 50 gallons
would undoubtedly destroy many of the beetles when they are
feeding on the foliage in early spring and after they emerge in June.

* Quotations from Chittenden, I.e. .

CHAPTER XIX
INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC.*

The Striped Cucumber-beetle t

JUST as the little cucumber and melon plants appear above the
soil they are attacked by hordes of hungry black-and-yellow-striped
beetles, which feed ravenously upon the succulent seed-leaves

FIG. 274. — The striped cucumber beetle (Diabrotica vittala Fab.): a, beetle;
b, larva; c, pupa; d, egg; e, sculpture of egg — a, b, c, much enlarged;
d, more enlarged; e, highly magnified. (After Chittenden, U. S. D.
Agr.)

often killing them entirely so that reseeding is necessary. This
little striped beetle, often known as the " striped-bug " or " melon-
bug," is well known to all growers of cucurbs east of the Rocky
Mountains, and also occurs in Washington.

* See A. L. Quaintance, Bulletin 45, Geo. Agr. Exp. Sta.; J. B. Smith,
Bulletin 94, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta..; R. I. Smith, Bulletins 205 and 214, No.
Car. Agr. Exp. Sta.

t Diabrotica vittata Fab- Family Chrysomelidce. See F. H. Chittenden,
Circular 31, Bureau Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.; T. J. Headlee, 20th Report N. H.
Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 499.

379

380 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The beetle is about two-fifths inch long and half as wide, of a
bright yellow color with a black head and three black stripes on the
wing-covers.

Life History. — The beetles hibernate over winter in the ground
where they have been feeding the previous fall, -or along the edge of
woodlands, or wherever suitable shelter is obtained, and emerge
in the spring two or three weeks before cucurbs are planted. At

this season they seem to feed on al-
most anything, as they have been
observed feeding on a long list of
food-plants, freque ting flowers whose
petals are eaten. As soon as squash,
melons, or cucumbers break through
the soil, they gather upon them and
refuse all other food. If the foliage is
covered with any offensive substance
they will seek out spots which have
not been reached and feed upon them,
which fact is of importance in con-
sidering remedies. After feeding upon
cucurbs for a few days the beetles pair
and the females commence to deposit
FIG. 275.— Larva of striped eggs. The eggs are deposited singly

cucumber beetle at work aru{ are merely dropped in crevices of

in cucumber stem. (Photo . .

by Headlee.) the soil or in the opening around the

stem of the plant. The egg is oval,

about one-fortieth inch long, bright yellow, and sculptured with
microscopic hexagonal pits. A female lays about one hundred
eggs during a period of a month, and they hatch in about eight
days at a mean temperature of 74° F. The larva is a slender,
white, worm-like grub, about three-tenths inch long, with dark-
brown head and anal-plate, and lighter brown thorax. The larvae
bore into the roots, often tunneling into the base of the stem, and
sometimes mine into melons lying on damp soil. Rarely does
injury by the Iarva3 become noticeable, though we have observed
whole patches of cucumber and melon vines killed by them, which

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 381

seems remarkable, considering the immense numbers of the beetles
which must give rise to many times more larva?. The larva
becomes full grown in about a month and then forms a delicate
earthen cell just below the surface of the soil and in it transforms
to the whitish pupa, from which the beetle emerges in from one to
two weeks, according to the temperature. In southern New
Hampshire the beetles emerge from the last of August to the first of
October, the complete life cycle requiring from seven to nine weeks,
there being but one generation a year, and this seems to be true
in New York. In Kentucky the complete cycle requires but

FIG. 276. — Wire screen cover for yojing cucurbs. (After Headlee.)

thirty-nine days, and in the District of Columbia newly emerged
beetles are found by mid-July, so that there are undoubtedly two
generations in that latitude, as the beetles have been found pairing
and with well-developed eggs in Delaware, August 1st. In the
latter part of the season the beetles feed on the blossoms and
pollen, particularly of squash, rarely touching the foliage. With
the first frosty nights they seek shelter under the fallen leaves and
enter hibernation with the first killing frosts.

Control. — For a few plants or where the beetles are unusually
"abundant, coverings of netting have always been used to protect
the plants. A barrel hoop cut in two, crossed, and the ends
fastened to another hoop, and the wrhole then covered with netting/

382 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

makes an admirable cover, often sold by dealers. Two stout wires
bent into arches and crossed, may also be covered with netting,
the lower edge of which is held by earth packed over the edges.
Or cone-shaped covers may be fashioned out of wire screening and
kept from year to year. (See Headlee, I.e.)

Many growers obviate loss of plants and the necessity of
replanting b\^ sowing the seed in rows rather thickly and then thin-
ning out to the desired distance after the worst injury by the beetle
is passed. Others make several plantings in each hill at intervals
of a week, but the former plan will ensure earlier growth.

The growing of rows of early beans to act as a trap-crop has
been suggested, as the beetles will gather on them, it is said, and
having an abundance of food will not injure the cucurbits. Squash
may be effectively used in this way as the beetles are peculiarly
fond of the quick-growing squash seedlings. A week or ten days
before the regular crop, plant rows of squash -seed around and
through the prospective field, and plant more rows when the regu-
lar crop is planted. If the main crop be kept well dusted or
sprayed as advised below, the beetles will concentrate on the trap-
squash and might be destroyed upon it by spraying with pure
kerosene.

Liberal fertilization with quick-acting fertilizers will aid the
young plants to makc'a quick growth and thus outgrow the injury.

Growers have long known that if the plants are kept thoroughly
covered with some sort of dust that the beetles will not molest
them, and various sprays have been used in the same way. To be
effective the plants must be dusted in early morning while the.
dew is on and all parts of the plant, above and below, must be
thoroughly covered. This must be repeated as often as the dust
is washed or blown off, or the plant outgrows it. Air-slaked lime
mixed with sulfur, tobacco dust, and bug-death have been the most
effective, though similar powders will be found beneficial. Bor-
deaux mixture has been recommended for this purpose, but seems
to have a stunting effect on the young plants. The most valuable
repellant seems to be a spray of arsenate of lead 3 to 5 pounds per
barrel. This not only repels the beetles better than any other

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 383

substance tested by Dr. Headlee, but undoubtedly kills many of
those which are forced to feed upon it. Professor Gillette reports
that dry pyrethrum dusted on the plants while the dew is on will kill
many of the insects. Sirrine found that in New York the beetles
could be poisoned successfully with Paris green, but only while
feeding in the spring before they commenced to pair, and in the
fall, as they refused protected foliage after pairing commenced.
Various repellants, such as kerosene, turpentine, naphthalene or
moth balls, and other similar odoriferous substances, have been
strongly recommended, but careful tests have not demonstrated
their efficiency.

It is evident that the cleaning up of vines as soon as the crop
can be gathered and the destruction of all refuse will deprive the
beetles of food in the fall and force them to seek other hibernating
places, thus increasing the mortality.

The Melon-aphis *

Just as the vines commence to run, a plant will be found here
and there with the foliage curled up and wilting and within will be
found masses of the greenish " melon lice," which have caused the
injury by their many beaks sucking out the sap of the plant. If
allowed to multiply unchecked and their natural enemies do not
prevent their increase, they will sometimes become so abundant
as .o completely ruin a whole crop just as the melons are com-
mencing to ripen. It is one of the worst pests of cucurbs and one
which requires constant vigilance on the part of the grower. '

The aphides are to be found on various weeds in early spring
and appear on cucurbs soon after they start growth. Both winged
and wingless females occur throughout the year. The wingless
form is about one-fifteenth inch long and varies from light yellow
or tan colored to deep olive-green or deep green which appears
almost blackish, the abdomen being always more or less mottled.
The rather long, tapering, honey-tubes are jet black, and the legs
and antennae pale whitish-yellow. The young nymphs always

* Aphis gossypii Glover. Family Aphididce. See F. H. Chittenden,
Circular 80, Bureau of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.

384 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

show a distinct yellowish-brown or pale salmon-colored area just
in front of the honey-tubes and a dark transverse band between
them. The nymphs of the last stage, in which the wing pads are
visible, are marked on the back with little flecks of silvery white,
waxy bloom. The winged female is about the same length and the
wings expand one-fifth to one-quarter inch. The color varies as

FIG. 277. — The melon aphis (Aphis gossypii Glov.): a, winged female; aa,
enlarged antenna of same; ab, dark female, side view, sucking juice
from leaf; b, young nymph; c, last stage of nymph of winged form;
d, wingless female — greatly enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. D. Agr.)

in the wingless form, but there are black spots along the sides
of the abdomen, and the head and thorax are dark as shown in
Fig. 277.

The melon-aphis is found throughout the country southward
through Central America, and though it often does serious damage
in the North it is worse in the South. It has a long list of food
plants, among the crops injured by it being all the cucurbs, cotton,

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 385

okra, orange, and its occasional food -plants include many others,
as it is found on a long list of weeds, most abundantly on shep-
herd's purse and pepper-grass, upon which it multiplies in early
spring and probably passes the winter.

Life History. — The life history is much the same as that of most
of our common aphides, though of some phases we are still in
ignorance in spite of the most careful study. The females give
birth to from four to ten aphides a day, depending upon the tem-
perature and food supply, and these become full grown in from six
to eight days. As the affected leaf becomes non-succulent the
aphides migrate to another leaf and often cluster on the terminal,
which is checked and stunted. As they become more numerous,
winged forms migrate to other plants and within two weeks a
colony of fifty or more will form the progeny of every one born
by the immigrating female. Reproduction seems to go on this
way throughout the year, being stopped only by the cold of win-
ter, as far as has been observed. No true sexual forms or eggs, as
are known to occur with other nearly related species, have been
observed, and the viviparous forms have been found throughout
the winter in Colorado and Texas.

Enemies. — Fortunately the melon-aphis is subject to the unre-
mitting attack of many insect enemies, the list including some
thirty-five species. Among the more important are the common
ladybird-beetles and their larva?, of which the convergent lady-
bird,* the nine-spotted ladybird,! and the spotted ladybird,!
shown in Figs. 1-5, are among the most effective, and the maggots
of various common syrphus-flies, and the aphis-lions. § Even
more beneficial are the little parasitic flies whose larva? live within
the maggots and destroy myriads of them with incredible swift-
ness. The most common of these Tf are the same as the most
common parasite of the green bug (Fig. 1 13) , and they often destroy
the aphides over a whole field in a few days. They are most effect-

* Hippodamia convergens Guer.

t Coccinella Q-notata Herbst.

J Megilla maculata DeG. Family Coccinellidce.

§ Family Chrysopidce.

1[ Lysiphlebus testaceipes Cress. Family Braconidoe.

380 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 278. — Melon aphides which have been killed by parasites on cotton leaf.

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 387

ive in bright, warm weather, when they reproduce most rapidly,
but in cool, moist weather they reproduce but slowly, and if such
a summer follows similar weather conditions during the spring, the
aphides multiply rapidly without a corresponding increase of their
enemies and serious damage results. Inasmuch as these same
enemies attack the cabbage-aphis, Professor C. E. Sanborn * has
suggested that the cabbage-aphis might be encouraged to multiply
on crops planted near melons or cucumbers, so that an abundance
of parasites and insect enemies might be in readiness to attack the
melon-aphis when it appears. This might be done by planting
kale, rape, or wild mustard in the fall, upon which the cabbage-
aphides will pass the winter and will multiply in early spring.
This trap-crop should be planted in rows around the prospective
melon-field, and if the latter be large, rows should be planted
through it. If the kale does not soon become infested with the
cabbage-aphis, transport some from the nearest cabbage-patch.
The ladybirds and parasites multiply rapidly with plenty of the
cabbage-aphides for food, and as soon as the food supply becomes
scarce they are forced to migrate and will search out any colonies
of melon-aphides.

Control. — The most important factor in the control of this,
as well as many other aphides, is constant watchfulness, inspect-
ing the plants frequently and destroying badly infested individual
plants and treating small areas before the pest becomes spread
throughout the crop.

Where a few young plants are affected or before the leaves have
become badly curled, the aphides may be destroyed by spraying
with kerosene emulsion, containing 5 to 8 per cent kerosene,
whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 5 gallons of water, or tobacco extracts.
Emulsion must be carefully made or burning will result. The
aphides must be hit to destroy them, and it is necessary to use an
underspray nozzle (page 75), or to turn the vines over and then
re-turn them, so that all the aphides may be covered. After
the foliage is well curled it is practically impossible to reach the
aphides by spraying, and fumigation must be used.
* See Bulletin 89, Texas Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 44.

388 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Fumigation is much the most satisfactory method of destroy-
ing the aphides, for it will kill them" all even though the leaves be
curled. Carbon bisulfide was formerly used quite extensively
for this purpose, a teaspoonful being applied for each cubic foot
of space under the tub, box, or cover used. Recently, however, it
has been shown that tobacco-paper is a much more satisfactory
fumigant and it has been extensively used with excellent results.
A light frame is made large enough to cover the size of plants to be
treated and covered with cheap muslin which is sized with oil.
The cloth should extend on the ground for about a foot, so that
it may be covered with earth. One man can look after about
ten frames. After the frame is placed over the plant a sheet
or half sheet of the tobacco-paper (according to the brand used
and experience with it) is torn in two and a half placed in
perforated tin cans in opposite corners of the frame, and ignited.
Earth is then heaped over the flap and the fumigation should
continue ten to thirty minutes, according to the strength used,
and other conditions, as experience will determine. This treat-
ment has the advantage that it destroys all of the aphides while
the predaceous and parasitic insects are merely stupefied and
soon revive and feed on any remaining aphides. "Fumigating-
kind " tobacco powder might probably be used instead of paper
and is used very extensively for the same purpose in fumigating
green-houses for this pest. Many tobacco preparations are on
the market for greenhouse fumigation and will usually be found
satisfactory when used as directed.

The Squash-bug *

About the time the vines begin to run a wilted leaf is found
here and there which examination shows to be due to the common
brownish-black squash-bug. If search be made in early morning,
the bugs will usually be found secreted under clods of earth, or

* Anasa tristis DeG. Family Coreidce. See Weed and Conradi, Bulletin
89, N. H. Agr. Exp. Sta.; F. H. Chittenden, Circular 39, Div. Ent., U. S.
Dept. Agr.

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 389

FIG. 279. —Squash-bugs and nymphs at work on young plant — natural size.

390 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

whatever rubbish may be near the vines. They are about
three-quarters inch long, and too well known to need other
description.

Life History. — For the next month or six weeks the females
deposit their eggs, mostly on the under sides of the leaves. They
arc oval, about one-sixteenth inch long, laid in irregularly
shaped clusters. When newly laid they are pale yellow-brown,
but this soon grows darker, so that the stage of their development

may be told by the color.
In from six to fifteen days,
depending upon the tem-
perature, the eggs hatch.
The young nymphs "are
brilliantly colored, the an-
tcimsc and legs being bright
crimson, the head and an-
terior thorax a lighter crim-
son, and the posterior thorax
and abdomen a bright green,
but in a little while the
crimson changes to a jet
black. The young bugs re-
main near each other, suck-
ing the juices from the
foliage and soon causing the
leaves to wither. During
their growth, which requires

four to five weeks, they moult some five times. The adult bugs
appear in August, but in the North they neither mate nor lay eggs
that season, but feed until frosts blacken the leaves, when they dis-
appear into winter quarters, hibernating along the edge of wood-
lands, beneath leaves, under logs, boards or whatever shelter
may be avai'able. In the South there are probably two or three
broods a year according to the latitude.

Control. — The eggs are easily seen and should be picked off
and destroyed. The adults cannot be killed by insecticides, but

FIG. 280. — Eggs of the squash-bug — en-
larged. (Photo by R. I. Smith.)

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 391

the nymphs may be destroyed by spraying with kerosene emulsion.
The adult bugs may be readily trapped by placing small pieces
of board or similar shelter near the vines, under which they will
hide at night and from which they may be gathered in the early

FIG. 281. — The squash-bug: o, ma-
ture female; b, side view of head
showing beak; c, abdominal seg-
ments of male; d, same of female;
a, twice natural size; b, c, d, more
enlarged. (After Chittenden, U.S
Dept. Agr.)

FIG. 282. — The squash-bug: adult at
left, and different stages of nymphs
— about 1^ times natural size.
(Photo by Quaintance.)

morning. Cucumbers and melons may be protected by planting
early squash among them, as the bugs prefer the squash, from
which they may be collected. Cleaning up the vines in the fall
is evidently of importance in reducing the number which will
hibernate.

The Squash Ladybird *

Although almost all of the ladybird beetles are exceedingly
beneficial, this species, with its near relative the bean-ladybird
(page 315,) are the exceptions which prove the rule, being the only

* Epilachna borealis Fab. Family Coccinellidce . See F. H. Chittenden,
Bulletin 19, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.; J. B. Smith, Bulletin 94, N. J.
Agr. Exp. Sta.

392 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

injurious forms with which we have to contend. Both the booties
and larvic feed on the foliage of various cucurbs, but prefer that
of the squash. It is an Eastern species, not being injurious west
of the Mississippi and being most troublesome in the Middle
Atlantic States. The beetle is nearly hemispherical in shape,
slightly oval, about one-third inch long, yellowish or reddish-
brown, marked with seven black spots on each wing-cover and
four smaller ones on the thorax as shown in Fig. 283.

Life History. — The life-history, as given by Dr. Chittenden for
the District of Columbia and northward, is as follows: "The

FIG. 283. — The squash ladybhd (Epilachne borealis Fab.): a, larva; 6, pupa;
c, adult beetle — three times natural size; d, egg — four times natural
size; e, surface of egg highly magnified. (After Chittenden, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

insect hibernates in the adult condition under bark or other
convenient shelter and appears abroad sometime in May or
June. Egg deposit'.on has been observed in the latter part of
June, and there is evidence that the eggs are deposited also much
later." The eggs are about three-tenths inch long, elongate-
oval, of a yellow color, and laid in irregular clusters of from 12 to
50. " They hatch in from six to nine days, and the larva? begin to
feed at once on the leaves, causing them to wither and die." The
larva is yellow, with six rows of black branching spines, and is
about one-half inch long when grown . " The larva attains full
development in from two to four weeks, ceases feeding, and attaches

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 393

itself by its anal extremity to a leaf, and next day sheds its larval
skin, which is pushed down toward the end of the body, when the
pupa stage is assumed. The la va matures anytime from the
middle of July to near the mid-
dle of September. In the pupa
state the insect remains from
six to nine days, when the skin
separates down the back and
the perfect beetle emerges,
the new brood appearing as
early as the last of July.
After feeding for some time
the beetles disappear for hiber-
nation, . . . beginning about
the middle of September."
The adults have the habit of
marking out a circular area
of the leaf, which seems to
cause the tissue to wilt, and
then feeding within this area.
The larva are to be found
feeding on the under surface of
. the foliage in July and August.

Control. — Usually hand picking the beetles and eggs will
control the pest, but if abundant it may be readily destroyed by
spraying or dusting with arsenicals.

FIG. 284. — Work of the squash lady-
bird— greatly reduced. (After W.
E. Britton.)

The Squash-vine Borer *

In many localities the most serious pest of squash is the
Squash-vine Borer, and although other cucurbs are sometimes
injured, they are relatively free from attack if squash or pumpkins
are present. The larvae bore in the stems, causing them to rot

* MeUttia satyriniformis Hbn. Family Sesiidce. See Circular 38 Bureau
of Entomology, II. S. Dept. Agr.

394 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

whore affected, so that they break off and the plant wilts and dies.
The presence of the borer is indicated by the coarse yellowish
excrement which it forces from its burrow and which is found
on the ground beneath, and by the sudden wilting of the leaves.
Injury is most severe at the base of the vine, which gradually
decays, so that it is severed and the whole plant dies. A half-
dozen or more larvae are often found in a single stem, and as many
as forty have been taken from one vine, the larvae attacking all

FIG. 285. — The squash-vine borer (Melittia satyriniformis Hbn.): a, male
moth; b, female with wings folded at rest; c, eggs shown on bit of stem;
d, full-grown larva in vine; e, pupa; /, pupal cell — all one-third larger
than natural size. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

parts of the vine and even the petioles and large ribs of the
leaves when abundant. Injury is worst on Hubbard, marrow,
cymlings and late varieties of squash.

The adult is one of the clear- winged moths with a wing expanse
of about \\ inches, the fore-wings being opaque, dark olive-
green in color, with a metallic lustre and a fringe of brownish
black. The hind-wings are transparent, with a bluish reflection,
and the veins and marginal fringe black. The abdomen is marked
with orange, or red, black and bronze, and the legs are bright
orange, with tarsi black with white bands. The species occurs
throughout the States east of the Rockies and southward into
Central and South America.

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 395

Life History. — The moths appear soon after their food-plants
start growth, from mid-April along the Gulf Coast to June 1st,
in New Jersey, and late June or early July in Connecticut. They
fly only in the daytime, and their clear wings and brightly marked
bodies give them a close resemblance to large wasps. The eggs
are laid on all parts of the plant, but chiefly on the stems, par-
ticularly near the base. The oval egg is of a dull red color and
about one-twenty-fifth inch long. The moth deposits her

FIG. 286. A squash stem cut open showing borers within. (Photo by Quain-

tance.)

eggs singly, and one individual has been observed to lay as many
as 212. They hatch in one or two weeks. The young larva enters
the main stem and tunnels through it, and often enters the leaf-
petioles branching from it. It is a soft, stout , whitish caterpillar,
with a small black head, and about one inch long when full grown.
The larvae reach maturity in about four weeks and then enter
the earth, where they make tough silken cocoons, coated with
particles of earth, an inch or two below the surface. In the
South the larva? transform to pupae from which a second generation

396 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

of moths emerges in late July, but in the North the larvae hibernate
in the cocoons over winter, and transform the next spring. The
pupa is about five-eighths inch long, dark brown, and with
a horn-like process on the head between the eyes. By the aid
of this the pupa cuts open one end of the cocoon and with the
hook-like spines on the abdomen wriggles to the surface of the
earth before transforming to the moth. As indicated, there is
but one generation in the North, a partial second brood in the
latitude of New Jersey and the District of Columbia, and two
full generations in the South.

Control. — As the larvae work within the vines, insecticide
treatment is useless, and the pest must be controlled by methods
of culture.

Obviously the vines should be raked up and destroyed as
soon as the crop is gathered, so as to destroy all of the borers
within them. As the larvae or pupse hibernate over winter in.
the soil, it has been found that frequent light harrowing in the
fall will bring them to the surface, and that deep plowing in the
early spring will then bury any surviving so that the moths
cannot emerge. Rotation of the crop will evidently decrease the
number of moths. Where the pest is abundant late squash may
be protected by planting rows of early summer squashes as soon
as possible. These will attract the moths so that there will be
relatively few eggs deposited on the main crop planted later. As
soon as the early crop is gathered, or as soon as it becomes well
infested, if it is used only for a trap, the vines should be raked
up and burned so as to destroy all eggs and larva. It is well
to cover the vines with earth one or two feet from the base
so as to induce the growth of secondary roots, which will support
the plant in case the vine is severed lower down. The old-
fashioned method of slitting the vines with a knife and thus
killing the borers is about the only means of destroying them
after they have become established. The position of a borer
may be detected by the excrement extruded from its burrow,
and if the wound be covered with moist earth it will assist the
healing.

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 397

The Pickle Worm *

The pickle worm is so called because it was first noted as
injuring cucumbers grown for pickling, but in the Gulf States,
where it is most injurious it is more commonly a pest of melons,
and, with the following species, with which it is often confused,
is often known as the " melon worm." Injury in the Middle
States occurs only periodically, though it has been noted in
Illinois and southern Michigan, but in the Gulf States it is always
a serious pest of all the cucurbs, destroying the blossoms, mining
the stems, and boring into the ripening fruit.

The moth has a wing expanse of about 1£ inches, is yellowish-
brown with a purplish iridescence, and is readily recognized by
an irregular yellowish transparent spot on the middle of the
fore-wings, and the basal half of the hind-wings of the same color.
The abdomen terminates in a conspicuous' brush of large blackish
scales.

Life History. — The moths emerge in late spring and deposit
the eggs either singly or in clusters of 3 to 8 on the flowers, buds,
or tender terminals. The yellowish-white egg is about one-
thirtieth inch long, and rather elliptical. The first larva?
are to be found in Georgia by the middle of June. The young
larvae which hatch from eggs laid on the terminals bore into
stems and leaves and later often tunnel out the vines like the
squash-vine borer. Those from eggs laid on the blossoms usu-
ally feed in the blossoms, and a half-dozen may often be
found feeding in single squash blossoms, for which they seem
to have a decided preference. As they grow older the larva?
wander from one plant to another, often boring into several
fruits. The older larva? bore into the fruit, the excrement
being pushed out from the orifice and later accumulating in
the cavity within. A single larva boring into the rind will do
sufficient injury to start decay and ruin the fruit, and often a

* Diaphania nitidalis Cramer. Family Pyraustidce. See A. L. Quaintance,
Bulletin 54, Geo. Agr. Exp. Sta., R. I. Smith, Bulletin 214, N. C. Agr,
Exp. Sta.

398 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

half-dozon or more will bo found in a single melon. Until half
grown the larvae are marked with transverse rows of black
spots. The full-grown larva is about three-quarters inch long.

FIG. 287. — The pickle worm (Diaphania nitidalis Cramer): larva, pupa, and
adult — all enlarged. (Photos by Quaintance.)

greenish or yellowish-green, with head and prothoracic shield
brown. The larva reaches maturity in about two weeks, when
a thin silken cocoon is made in the fold of a leaf in which the

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 399

pupal stage is assumed, which occupies about a week. The pupa
is one-half to one inch long, brown, with wing and leg sheaths
lighter, and the tip of the abdomen bears a group of short curved
spines which hold the pupa more securely in the cocoon. During
July and August the complete life cycle requires about four weeks
in Georgia, and at least three definite generations have been
recognized, the injury by the
larvse being most severe in
July and August, evidently
by the second generation.
The winter is passed in the
pupal stage in the foliage or
trash remaining on the field.
Control. — As injury is worst
in late summer, early plant-
ings and early-maturing va-
rieties are but little injured.
The thorough destruction of
the vines, foliage, and trash
on the field after the crop is
secured is of the utmost im-
portance in controlling this
as well as other pests of
cucurbs, and may probably
be accomplished with this
species by deeply plowing

FIG. 288. — Squash flower infested
with pickle worms. (.Photo by
Quaintance.)

under the refuse. Professor
A. L. Quaintance, to whom
we are indebted for our knowl-
edge of this pest, has found that the moths greatly prefer to
oviposit on squash and that it may be successfully used as a
trap-crop for the protection of other cucurbs. Rows of summer
squash should be planted through the cucumber or melon fields
as early as possible, the rows being planted every two weeks so
there will be flowers through July. The squash bloom, with the
contained larvse, must be collected and destroyed at frequent

400 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

intervals. Otherwise the squash will merely augment the injury, as
the larva) will migrate to the crop. Careful tests of this method
showed almost complete protection to muskmelons. The use of

FIG. 289. — Pickle worms at work on a cucumber. (Photo by Quaintance.)

arsenicals has been of little value against this pest as far as tested,
but as they should be applied to control the next species, may be
of some incidental value.

The Melon Caterpillar *

This species is very similar to the last in life history and habits
and is very commonly confused with it. It seems to be injurious
only in the Gulf States, though the moths have been taken from
Canada to Central America. The moth is a beautiful insect with
wings of a pearly iridescent whiteness, bordered with brownish-
black and expanding about an inch. The anterior half of the
thorax and head is the same color as the wing border, while the
abdomen is white, tinged with brownish toward the tip, which is
surmounted by a brush of long dark scales. The larva? are very
similar to those of the pickle worm , and the life history so far as
ascertained seems to be practically the same. The essential differ-

* Diaphania hyalinita Linn. Family Pyraustidce. See A. L. Quaintance,
Bulletin 45, Geo. Agr. Exp. Ste., p, 42; R. I. Smith, Bulletin 214, N. C.
Agr. Exp, Sta,

INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 401

cnce in the habits of this species is that the young larvse very com-
monly feed on the foliage. Later
on they mine into the stems and
fruit and are readily confused
with those of the last species.

Control. — The fact that the
young larvse feed on the foliage
makes it possible to destroy
them with arsenicals, and by

spraying the young foliage with r

Fin. 290. — The melon-worm moth

arsenate of lead 3 pounds to the (Diaphania hyalinita Linn.)— en-
barrel, as advised for the striped largcd rphoto b7 Quaintance.)
cucumber-beetle, they should be readily controlled. The cultural
methods advised for the control of the last species will of course
be equally applicable for this.

FIG. 291. — The melon-worm — enlarged. (Photo by R. I. Smith.)

CHAPTER XX

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS
The Pale-striped Flea-beetle *

ENORMOUS numbers of the Pale-striped Flea-beetles often
appear in late June or early July and nearly ruin the young crops
they may attack before being brought under control. Such out-
breaks occur only periodically, so that usually the grower is unpre-
pared to cope with them, which is true of the appearance of many

FIG. 292. — The pale-striped flea-beetle (Systena blanda Mels.): a, larva;
b, beetle; c, eggs; d, sculpture of egg; e, anal segment of larva from side;
/, s me from above; a, d, six times natural size; e, f, more enlarged;
g, the banded flea-beetle (Systena tceniata Say) — six times natural size.
(After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

of our worst insect pests. These flea-beetles are almost omnivorous
as regards food, for although particularly injurious to corn and
tomatoes, they have also injured beans, beets, potatoes, egg-plant,
carrots, melons and other cucurbs, turnips and other crucifers,

* Systena blanda Mels. Family Chrysomelidoe. See F. H. Chittenden,
Bulletin 23, n.s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 22; S. A. Forbes, 18th Report
State Ent. 111., p. 21.

402

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS 403

strawberry, cotton, oats, peanuts, pear foliage, etc., and many com-
mon weeds, so that it may be safely said that when abundant they
will attack almost any crop at hand. The species seems to occur
practically throughout the United States, but injury has been most
common in the Middle States east of the plains.

The beetle is about one-eighth inch long, cream-colored, with
the wing-covers marked with three stripes of dull light-brown,
and the eyes and abdomen are black. A nearly related species,
the banded flea-beetle,* is very similar in appearance, the dark
stripes being expanded until it is a polished black with two
white stripes (Fig. 292 6) , and the two species have until recently
been commonly considered as identical. They are similar in life
history and habits so far as known, and may be considered as
the same for practical purposes.

Life History. — Very little is known of the life history. The
beetles usually appear in late June and early July, coming out in
enormous numbers, gnawing small holes in the foliage of the plants
attacked, so that when abundant they completely defoliate the
plant in two or three days and often necessitate replanting. Dr.
Chittenden has observed the eggs, which were deposited in the
District of Columbia from June 10th to July 8th. The egg is ellip-
tical, about one-fortieth inch long, and light buff-yellow in
color. Tlie larvae feed on the roots of various common-weeds,
including lambsquarter and Jamestown weed. They were
observed to be full grown by the middle of May in central Illinois
and pupated May 26th, from which beetles emerged June 17th.
The larva is a whitish, slender grub much like those of other flea-
beetles. It is about one-eighth inch long when full grown, with
light-brown head, and the anal segment tapers to a conspicu-
ous prolonged process, surmounted at the apex by a number of
stiff, spiny hairs. From the data recorded it would seem probable
that the insect winters in the larval stage on the roots of various
weeds and develops to the adult in early summer when the
eggs are laid. There seems to be no direct evidence of a second
generation.

* Systena toeniata Say.

404 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Control. — The destruction of the weeds on which the larvae
develop is of obvious importance, and it would be well to plow
under deeply any fields grown up in weeds during late summer.
Bordeaux mixture is possibly the best repellant for these beetles,
though they will be driven off by covering the plants with any
dust which thoroughly coats the foliage. Usually the best method
will be to spray the plants thoroughly with Bordeaux mixture
containing 3 pounds of arsenate of lead or one-third pound Paris
green per barrel. All parts of the foliage must be thoroughly
coated. Good success has also attended dusting the plants with
Paris green and flour and by spraying the beetles with kerosene
emulsion. Powdered arsenate of lead dusted over the foliage
while the dew is on would probably prove effective, or it might be
sprayed at the rate of 3 to 5 pounds to the barrel.

The Tarnished Plant-bug *

The tarnished plant-bug is one of the most common and
troublesome plant-bugs throughout the country from Canada to
Mexico. Seemingly it is nearly omnivorous, as it attacks almost
all of the common garden crops, small fruits, tender shoots of fruit
trees and young nursery trees, many flowering plants, and most of
our common weeds, Both nymphs and adults injure the plants
by sucking. out the juices, and on many plants a small black spot
appears where the insect has been feeding, which causes a deform-
ation of the stem or leaf, as in the " buttoning " of strawberries,
or tends to " blight " the terminal as in the case of dahlias, pota-
toes, and similar crops.

The adult is nearly one-quarter inch long, of a brassy-
brown color, marked with black and yellow, and the thorax with
red. The color and markings are quite variable. The nymphs
feed upon the same plants as the adults and pass through four
stages, shown in Fig. 293. The first stage is only one-twentieth
inch long and yellowish or yellowish-green. The second stage

* Lygus pratensis Linn. Family Capsidae. See Stedman, Bulletin 47,
Missouri Agr. Exp. Sta.

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS

405

is about twice as large, and similarly colored, except that there are
two pairs of dark spots on the thorax and one on the middle of the
third abdominal segment, which grow more distinct in the last two
stages. With the third stage the small wing pads become visible
and in the fourth stage they extend halfway down the abdomen.

Life History. — The adults hibernate over winter under any
shelter available, such as the trash on affected fields, under
leaves, boards, stones, etc., and emerge in early spring. The
eggs are laid in Missouri in April. But little is known of the

FIG. 293. — The tarnished plant-bug (Lygus pratensis Linn.): a, b,c,d, four
stages of nymphs; e, adult bug — all about four times natural size. (After
Forbes and Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

places of oviposition, except that Taylor * has shown that
sometimes apples are severely dimpled by the egg punctures.
It is evident, therefore, that the eggs are inserted in the stems
or leaves of the food-plants. The pale yellow egg is about
one-thirtieth inch long, oval, elongate, and flared at the
outer end, so as to be somewhat bottle-shaped. The first genera-
tion becomes full grown in about a month, after which all stages
* See E. P. Taylor, Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. I, p. 370.

406 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

may be found feeding together until September or October.
In southern Missouri Professor Stcdman states that there arc;
three generations, while in northern Missouri only two, but the
exact number has not been carefully determined.

Control. — This is an exceedingly difficult insect to control,
owing to the large number of food-plants and the fact that the
adult takes wing and flies off quickly upon the least disturbance.
As it sucks its food, arsenical insecticides are of course useless,
and some contact insecticide must be used with which the insect
may be hit. The nymphs may be sprayed at any time, but to
hit the adult bugs they must be sprayed in early morning, while
still sluggish. Spraying will be profitable where the nymphs
are abundant, but it is doubtful whether it will be found a satis-
factory means of combating the adults. Ten per cent kerosene
emulsion and tobacco extracts have been used successfully.
Where they are abundant the adults may be collected in consider-
able numbers by sweeping the foliage in early morning with a
strong insect net and then dropping them into kerosene. Clean
culture, including the destruction of all weeds, and such vegeta-
tion or trash as may furnish hibernating quarters, are important,
as it is observed that injury is always worse where weeds have
been allowed to multiply and the ground has been covered with
weeds and trash.

The term garden webworm is possibly a misnomer, for although
these little caterpillars frequently do more or less injury to various
garden crops when they become overabundant and migrate to
them from the weeds on which they normally feed, and occasionally
do some damage to sugar beets, they are best known as a pest of
corn and cotton. Though the species occurs throughout the
United States and south to South America, it has been most
injurious from Nebraska southward and east to Mississippi and

* Loxostege similalis Gn. Family Pyraustidce. See C. V. Riley, Report
U. S. Comm. Agr. for 1885, p. 265; Sanderson, Bulletin 57, Bureau of Ento-
mology, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 11.

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS

407

Illinois. The larvae feed normally on the pigweed or careless
weed (Amaranthus spp.) from which they sometimes receive the
local name of " careless worm/' and only when they become
overabundant on these weeds do they usually increase sufficiently
to migrate from them and attack crops.

The moth is a yellowish, buff or grayish-brown color, marked
as shown in Fig. 294, and with a wing expanse of about three-
quarters of an inch. The larva also varies in color from pale and
greenish-yellow to dark yellow, and is marked with numerous
black tubercles as shown in Fig. 294, b, c.

Life History. — The hibernating habits are not known, but from
analogy with the beet webworm, and the appearance of the

FIG. 294. — The garden webworm (Loxostege similalis Gn.): a, male moth;
b, c, larvae; d, anal segment of same; e, abdominal segment of same from
side; /, pupa; g, tip of abdomen of same; a, b, c, f, somewhat enlarged;
d, e, g, more enlarged. (After Riley and Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

moths, it seems probable that the winter is passed by the larvse
or pupae in the soil. The moths appear in Texas by mid- April
and in Central Illinois in late May and early June. The yellowish
eggs are laid on the foliage in small patches of from 8 to 20 and
in Texas hatch in three or four days. The larvae of the first
generations feed on weeds or alfalfa, where it is grown, and then
migrate to corn and cotton or garden truck, the former crops
being attacked when six or eight inches high. In feeding the
caterpillars spin a fine web, which gradually envelops the plant,
of which nothing is left but the skeletons of the leaves when the
larvse are abundant. The larvae become full grown in about
three weeks in summer, when they descend to the soil and pupate

408 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

in small silken cells on or just below the surface. The moths
emerge about eight days later, so that in midsummer the com-
plete life cycle occupies about a month. In Texas there are
probably five generations a year, and in Nebraska and Illinois
three or four generations.

Control. — The plowing of infested land in late fall or winter,
or thorough disking of alfalfa will be found to largely control the
pest. Where it appears on cultivated crops it may be readily
destroyed by at once spraying or dusting with Paris green or
arsenate of lead. The destruction of the weeds upon which it
feeds is obviously important in preventing the undue multiplica-
tion of the pest.

The Rhubarb Curculio *

Rhubarb is but little troubled with insect pests, but occasionally
the stalks are found with numerous punctures from which the

FIG. 295. — The rhubarb curculio (Lixus concavus Say): a, beetle; b, egg;
c, newly hatched larva; d, full grown larva; e, pupa; /, back view of
last abdominal segment of pupa — all about twice natural size. (After
Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

juice exudes. This has been caused by the feeding and oviposi-
tion of a large rusty-brown snout-beetle, which is usually

* Lixus concavus Say. Family Curculionidae. See F. H. Chittenden.
Bulletin 23, n. a., Division of Entomology, p. 61.

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS 409

found on the affected plants. It is about three-quarters inch
long, and will be readily recognized from Fig. 295. The beetles
hibernate over winter and feed on dock, in the stalks of which the
eggs are laid in May. Although eggs are laid in rhubarb, they
fail to hatch or the young larvae die. The grubs become full
grown by midsummer and the beetles emerge in late summer
and feed a little before entering hibernation.

Control. — As the beetles are sluggish and readily found,
they may be easily destroyed by handpicking. Dock plants
near the rhubarb patch should be pulled amd destroyed in early
summer after the beetles have finished laying their eggs.

The Celery or Greenhouse Leaf-tyer *

This little caterpillar has become known as the celery leaf-
tyer, for although it damages cabbage, beets, tobacco, lettuce,
cauliflower, parsley, cucumber, sweet pea, and strawberry, it
has been specially injurious to celery. It is equally well known
as the greenhouse leaf-tyer, for it is one of the worst insect enemies
of the florist, attacking violet, rose, chrysanthemum, carnation,
and other greenhouse plants. On celery the larvae both bore
in the stems and web up the foliage upon which they feed upon
the surface, skeletonizing the leaves. The usual method of
feeding, to which is due the common name, is to fasten together
two contiguous leaves, to curl over the edge of a single leaf, or
to spin a thin silken web within which to feed.

The moth resembles that of the garden webworm, having a
wing expanse of about three-quarters of an inch, the fore-wings
being light clay-brown, suffused with reddish or ochreous brown
and marked with blackish cross-lines as shown in the illustration,
and the hind-wings are gray with darker margins. The full-
grown larva is about three-quarters inch long and of a
translucent greenish-white color. Down the middle of the back

* Phlyctoenia rubigalis Guen. Family Pyralidoe. See F. H. Chittenden,
Bulletin 27, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.; M. V. Slingerland, Bulletin
190, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 159.

410 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

is a narrow green stripe, which is bordered on either side by a
wider greenish-white stripe. The head is dark straw color,
mottled with darker, often purplish dots. The species is widely
distributed, occurring in practically all parts of the United States,
and may be readily introduced into greenhouses upon plants.
Life History. — The eggs are very much flattened, translucent,
broadly oval disks about one thirty-second inch long, laid in clus-
ters of from eight to twelve, several often overlapping. The eggs
hatch in from five to twenty days, according to the temperature.
The larva* feed mostly at night and becorco full grown in from

FIG. 296. — The celery leaf-tyer (Phlyctcenia rubigalis Hbn.): a, moth; b,
same in natural position at rest; c, egg mass; d, larva from above; e,
same from side; /, head of same; g, pupa case; h, chrysalis — one-half
larger than natural size except c, which is twice natural size, and /,
more enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

three to five weeks. They transform to pupae within the webs
which they have formed between the leaves, and the moths
emerge one or two weeks later. The number of generations
which occur out of doors and the method of hibernation have not
been determined, but there are probably at least three generations
in the open, while the number in greenhouses will depend upon
the temperature and the food available.

Control. — Xo very thorough experiments in the practical con-
trol of the pest on field crops seem to have been made. A thorough
application of arsenate of lead as soon as the young larva? are
noticed and before they have webbed the foliage badly would

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS

411

doubtless destroy them, but after they have become established in
their webs, handpicking will probably be the only effective remedy
on such a crop as celery.

The Celery Caterpillar *

Everyone who grows celery, parsley or carrots is familiar with
the large black-striped green caterpillar which feeds on their
foliage, as it is probably the most common pest of those plants in
all parts of the country, ragging the foliage and attacking the
blossoms and undeveloped seeds. It is the larva of our most

FlG. 297. — The celery caterpillar (Papilio pdyxenes Fab.) : a, full grown larva,
side view; 6, front view of head showing extended osmateria; c, male
butterflj"; d, egg; e, young larva; /, suspended chrysalis — about natural
size except d. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

common black swallowtail butterfly, shown natural size in Fig.
297. The wings of the male are velvet}- black with bands of yel-
low spots. On the inner angle of the hind-wing is a well-marked
eyespot, and the hind-wing terminates in a distinct "tail." The
female is somewhat larger, the inner row of yellow spots is

* Papilta palyxenes Fal». Family Papilionidec.

412 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

wanting, and the hind-wings are covered with pale-blue scales
on the posterior half. There is considerable variation, however
in the color of both sexes.

Life History. — In the North the winter is passed in the chrysalis
stage and the butterflies appear in May in New England, while in
the far South the butterflies hibernate over winter and appear in
March or April. The eggs are laid on the foliage and are of globu-
lar form, about one-twenty-fifth inch in diameter, at first
pale honey-yellow, but later reddish-brown. The eggs hatch in
from four to nine days. The young larva? are quite dissimilar
from the older stages, being nearly black with a white band around
the middle of the body (Fig. 297, e) . The larva; feed exclusively
on umbelliferous plants, including besides those mentioned, cara-
way, fennel, parsnip, dill, wild carrot, wild parsnip, and other
weeds of this family. The full-grown larva is shown, natural
size, in Fig. 297, a. It is bright green, sometimes yellowish, and
marked with rings and spots of velvety black as illustrated. Just
back of the prothorax is a pair of membranous yellow horns called
osmateria, which give off a peculiar pungent odor, which is quite
disagreeable and evidently aids in frightening away enemies.
These osmateria are soft, retractile organs, Avhich are drawn back
between the segments and are extruded only when the larva is
disturbed.

In the far South the larva will become grown in ten days, but
in the Xorth it requires three to four weeks. The caterpillar
then attaches itself to some part of the plant by the anal prolegs,
and fastens a strong loop of silk around the thorax, and sheds its
skin, leaving the chrysalis or pupa firmly attached to the leaf or
stem as shown in Fig. 297, /. The chrysalis is a dull gray color
marked with black and brown and about 1^ inches long. In from
ten days to two weeks the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis.
Thus the complete life cycle may be passed in twenty-two days in
the South to eight weeks in the North. In the North there are
but two generations a year, while in the South there are probably
three or four.

Control. — The caterpillars are so readily seen, and if not seen

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS

413

they soon reveal their presence by the peculiar odor when dis-
turbed, that they may usually be picked off and crushed, and so
rarely become sufficiently numerous to warrant other treatment.
They may be readily controlled by spraying or dusting with
arsenicals.

The Celery Looper *

This species is very closely related to the cabbage looper (page
361) and occurs throughout the Northern States east of the Rocky
Mountains. According to Forbes and Hart it is more common
than the cabbage looper in Illinois, where it is a serious pest of
celery and has been reared on sugar-beet, but elsewhere it is not
as common.

The moth has a wing expanse of about two inches, the fore-
wings being purplish brown with darker shades of velvety brown

FIG. 298. — The celery looper (Plusia simplex Guen.): male moth and larva —
, somewhat enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

and with a prominent silvery white discal spot, while the hind-
wings are yellowish, strongly banded with dark fuscous. The
caterpillar or larva is similar to that of the cabbage looper, but the
spiracles are surrounded with black rings, while in the cabbage
looper these rings are indistinct or wanting.

Forbes and Hart believe that there are three broods in a year.
" The caterpillars of the first generation of the year hatch late in
May and get their growth late in June or early in July. The life
of the second generation extends from the first .part of July to the

* Plusia simplex Guen. Family Noctuidce. See Chittenden, Bulletin 33,
Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 73.

414 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

middle of September, and the third begins to issue from the egg
curly in October. This brood hibernates about half grown, attain-
ing full size during the latter part of April."

Control. — Xo accounts of experiments in control are on record,
but doubtless the same measures as used against the cabbage
looper will be found applicable".

The Carrot-beetle *

The carrot-beetle is a native species which has been particu-
larly injurious to carrots along the Atlantic Coast from Long
Island through the Gulf States. The species occurs, however,
very general!}' throughout the country as far north as central
Indiana, and on the Pacific coast. It has a considerable number

of food-plants; in Louisiana
and Mississippi it has injured
the corn crop, the beetles cut-
ting the corn just above the
roots; in Illinois the beetles
injured sunflowers and sweet
potatoes; in Indiana they at-
tacked carrots, celery and par-
snips; in Texas they have
injured potatoes and shrubs
and vegetables of various
kinds; and in Nebraska they
have damaged sugar-beets.

The damage is done entirely
by the adult beetles, which are
among the smaller of the May-
beetles or June-bugs, measure

one-half to five-eighths of an inch long, and are from reddish
brown to nearly black in color. The beetles gouge into the roots
or stems just below the surface of the soil, often ruining the root
for market without injuring the top. The injury may occur by

* Ligyrus gibbosm Dej . Family Scarabaeidce. See F. H . Chittenden,
Bulletin 33, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 32.

FIG. 299. — The carrot-beetle (Ligyrus
gibbostui Dej.) — much enlarged.
(After Forbes.)

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS 415

'hibernated beetles in the spring from April to June or by newly
transformed individuals in late summer or autumn.

The life history has not been studied, but is probably very
similar to that of Lachnosterna (page 79) .

Control. — No very satisfactory means of control have been
tried in a practical way. It is stated that lime scattered over
infested fields has driven the beetles away. It is evident that
after the crop is gathered, infested fields should be pastured with
hogs, if possible, or plowed deeply, and plowed again in the spring.
Evidently further study of the habits of the pest is necessary before
satisfactory means of control may be devised.

The Carrot Rust-fly *

The Carrot Rust-fly is a European species, being a serious
pest of carrots in England and Germany, which has been known
in Canada since 1885 and appeared in New York in 1901 and since
then in New Hampshire. The larva or maggot which does the
injury very much resembles the cheese maggot or skipper in .gen-
eral appearance, is a rather dark brown, and a little less than one-
third inch long. The parent fly is about one-sixth inch long
with a wing expanse of three-tenths inch, and is a dark blackish-
green color, sparsely clothed with yellow hairs, and with pale
yellow head and legs, except the eyes, which are black.

" Attack on carrots is not difficult of recognition. The leaves
of the young plants early in the spring turn reddish, and the roots
are found to be blotched with rusty patches, particularly toward
their tips. The roots when stored for winter, although not always
manifesting any degree of injury on the outer surface, may at
times be perforated in all directions by dirty brownish burrows,
from which the whitish or yellowish larvae may be found some-
times projecting." Celery is also attacked, the larvae eating the
thick part of the root when it is half grown, stunting the plant so
as to make it worthless; for market. The life history of the species

* Psila rosce Fab. See Chittenden, Bulletin 33, n. s., Division of Ento-
mology, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 26.

416 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

does not seem to have been carefully observed, but from analogy
is probably somewhat similar to that o'f the cabbage root-maggot,
except that the maggots of the carrot rust-fly develop and trans-
form on carrots in storage if the temperature be sufficient.

Control. — Late sowing has been practiced to advantage, and
the rotation of crops is of obvious importance, as is the deep plow-
ing of infested land. Where carrots have been stored in earth, this
earth into which the larvse have entered and pupated should be

FIG. 300. — The carrot rust-fly (Psila rosae Fab.): d", male fly; 9 , female fly,
side view; a, antenna of male; b, full-grown larva from side; c, spiracles
of same; a, anal extremity from <he end; e, puparium; /, young larva;
g, anal segment from the side — eight times natural size except a, c, d, g,
more enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

treated, either by burying it deeply, spreading it out in thin layers
on the surface, or throwing it into pools where it will be frozen.
Kerosene emulsion, 1 part stock solution to 10 of water sprayed
along the rows while the carrots are young, or sand, land plaster
or ashes, to 3 gallons of which 1 pint of kerosene has been added,
sprinkled along the rows, have been of some value in Canada.
These should be applied three or four times, once a week after the
roots begin to form, and particularly after the rows have been
thinned.

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS

417

The Parsnip Webworm *

The Parsnip Webworm is quite a common pest of the forming
seed of the parsnip, but fortunately it seems to prefer wild carrot
as a breeding plant. It is an imported species, occurring in north-
ern Europe, which was first observed in this country in 1873 and
since then has become generally distributed over the Northern
States and Canada westward to the Mississippi.

The moth is a grayish-buff or pale ochreous color, marked with
fuscous, the wings expanding about three-quarters of an inch.
The larva is a pale yellowish, greenish or bluish-gray, with con-

FIG. 301. — The parsnip webworm (Depressaria heracliana De G.): a, moth;
b, c, larvae; d, pupa; e, anal extremity of pupa; /, umbel of parsnip
webbed together by the larva; — natural size. (After Riley.)

spicuous black tubercles, the head and prothoracic shield black,
and is about half an inch long when grown. The larvae web the
flower-heads together until they are contracted into masses of
web and excrement as shown in the illustration. " After the
larvae have consumed the flowers and unripe seeds and become
nearly full grown, they enter the hollow stems of the plant by bur-
rowing their way inside, generally at the axils of the leaves, and
then feed upon the soft, white lining of the interior. Here, inside
the hollow stem, they change to the pupa state. The larvae are

* Depressaria heracliana DeG.
" Insect Life," Vol. I, p. 94.

Family (Ecophoridae. See C. V. Riley,

418 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

moderately gregarious. They will sometimes cat newly sown
parsnip after the older plants originally attacked have been
destroyed, in such cases eating the tender green leaves, while of the
older plants they eat only the flower-heads and interior lining of
the stems." The moths appear in late July and early August.

Control. — Thorough spraying or dusting with arsenicals will
destroy the caterpillars, according to Chittenden. If the flowers
are destroyed before they are noticed, cut off and burn all infested
stems before the moths emerge from the pupa?. Obviously it will
be important to avoid planting parsnips in or near waste places
which have grown up in wild carrot.

The Onion Thrips *

The small yellowish " thrips " which chafe the epidermis from
the green leaves, causing them to dry out, whiten and die, have
become well known to onion growers in practically all parts of the
United States where onions are raised extensively. It is a Euro-
pean insect, occurring in Germany and Russia, and has also been
imported into the Bermudas.

The adult thrips is about one-twenty-fifth of an inch long, of a
pale yellow color, tinged with blackish. The general appearance,
much enlarged, is shown in Fig. 302. The slender, elongate body
bears two pairs of narrow, bristle-like wings which are of no value
for flight. The fore-wing contains two wing- veins, and the hind-
wing but one, the posterior margin of both bearing a fringe of long
hairs. When at rest the wings lie together along the back.

The thrips belong to a quite distinct order of insects, the
Thysanoptera (or Physapodd), species of which are commonly
found in the flowers of the rose and clover. The mouth -parts are
quite different from those of any other order of insects, being
intermediate between those of biting and sucking insects, the

* Thrips tabaci Lind. Order Thysanoptera. See Quaintance, A. L.,
Bulletin 46, Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta., " The Strawberry Thrips and the Onion
Thrips." Full account and Bibliography; Pergande, Th., " Insect Life,"
Vol. VII, pp. 292-295; Osborne-Mally, Bulletin 27, Iowa Agr. Exp. Sta.,
pp. 137-142; Sirrine, Bulletin 83, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta., pp. 680-683.

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS 419

mandibles being reduced to bristle-like structures. Their man-
ner of feeding does not seem to be clearly understood, though
Professor Quaintance states that the onion thrips frequently
rasps off and swallows pieces of leaf tissue. However, they are
able to destroy the surface tissue of the leaf so that it wilts,
and fields badly affected become blighted and white.

This species has quite a list of food-plants, cabbage and cauli-
flower often being considerably injured. Among them may be

FIG. 302. — 1'he onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lind.) —very greatly enlarged.
(Photo by Quaintance.)

mentioned turnip, kale, sweet clover, squash, cucumber, melon,
parsley, tomato, and several common garden flowers and weeds.

Life History. — The eggs are slightly less than Vioo of an inch
long — too small to be visible to -the unaided eye — elongate, and
curved somewhat kidney-shaped. They are laid singly just
beneath the surface of the leaf and hatch in about four days.
The young nymphs resemble the adults in shape, but are at
first almost transparent in color and then a greenish-yellow.
They are frequently found feeding in small groups. Both the

420 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

young and adults have a pair of sharp spines at the tip of the
abdomen which they use to drive away enemies by striking them
quickly right and left. Two or three days after birth the skin is
shed and another molt occurs five or six days later. With the
third stage the wing-pads appear. This stage lasts four days;
and during it the insects take no food and remain almost quiet,
moving with difficulty. On onions the nymphs have been found
mostly on the bulbs in the loose soil. With the next molt, the
insect becomes mature and winged. Thus, the total life cycle as
observed by Professor Quaintance in Florida is about sixteen days.
In Russia Dr. Lindeman found that a generation required forty-
seven days. " In Florida there are probably no distinct broods,
as all stages may be found at the same time. Allowing for the life
cycle at sixteen days, a large number of broods could occur during
the year, but unfavorable conditions keep them reduced, except
during the spring and perhaps early summer (the worst injury
occurring in May and June), so that it will probably not happen
that they will develop throughout a year according to their capa-
bilities."

Control. — The pest may be successfully controlled by spraying
with whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 2 gallons of water, rose-leaf insec-
ticide, 1 pint to 4 gallons of water, or kerosene emulsion diluted
8 to 10 times. Tobacco decoction (see page 55) will probably
prove equally effective, using it as strong as necessary. Probably
1 pound of stems to 2 gallons of water will be satisfactory. The
spraying should be done very thoroughly so as to reach the insects
in the axils of the leaves, and the soil around the plant also should
be well wet to destroy the mature nymphs that may be hiding.

The Imported Onion-maggot *

The common white maggot which bores into the roots and
bulbs causing them to wilt and decay, is probably the most
important insect pest of the onion. The present species is by far
the most commonly injurious and is termed " imported " because

* Pegomyia ceparum Bouch£. Family Anthomyiidce. See same references
as for cabbage-maggot, footnote, page 347.

FIG. 303. — Tfie imported onion-maggot (Pegomyia ceparum Bouche): a,
adult; b, maggot; c, puparium; d, anal segment of maggot showing
spiracles; e, head with mouth-parts — all very much enlarged; / and g
show injury to young onions. (After J. B. Smith.)

421

422 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

it was early known as a pest in Europe and was imported into
this country probably in colonial times.

These maggots are the offspring of small flies, somewhat
resembling small houseflies and very similar to those of the cabbage
root-maggot (see page 347).* The wings expand about three-
eighths of an inch and the body is half that long. The male is
gray with black bristles and hairs, the face is white with black
hairs, there are three black lines between the wings, and the abdo-
men bears a row of black spots along the middle. The female is a
little larger, inclined to dark yellowish, and with a yellowish face.

Life History. — The flies appear in the spring by the time young
onions are up and the eggs are deposited in the sheath and in the
axils of the leaves, from two to six being placed upon a plant. The
eggs are just perceptible to the eye, white, oval, and about one-
twenty-fifth of an inch long. The young maggot works its way
down from the sheath to the root, upon which it feeds until it is
consumed, only the outer skin remaining, and often cuts off the
plant completely. Another plant is then attacked and often sev-
eral young plants are consumed before the maggot is full grown.
Later in the season the maggots bore into the bulbs, a number of
maggots usually being found in a single bulb and their presence
being indicated by a slimy mass of soil at the entrance of the
cavity. If such bulbs are not killed outright, they usually rot in
storage. The first presence of the pest is indicated by the wilt-
ing of the young plants, and by the central leaves of the older
plants yellowing and dying.

The maggots becom3 full grown about two weeks after hatch-
ing and are then about three-eighths of an inch long. They are
dull white, with the jaws appearing beneath the skin as a short
black stripe at the pointed end of the body. The posterior end of
the body is obtuse and is cut off obliquely, the margin of the last
segment bearing a number of tubercles by which this species may
be distinguished from the cabbage-root maggot. (See Slinger-
land, 1. c.).

* See Slingerland, Bulletin 78, Cornell Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 495, for characters
distinguishing these two species.

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS 423

The outer skin of the maggot now becomes hardened and
within it the insect transforms to the pupa, which remains in the
soil at the base of the plant for about two weeks, when the adult
fly emerges. Two or three gensrations probably occur in the
Northern States. Professor R. H. Pettit states that some of the
flies hibernate while many of the pupae remain in the soil over
winter and the flies issue from them in the spring. This com-
plicates remedial measures.

Control. — Liberal applications of commercial fertilizers such as
nitrate of soda, which will assist to rapid growth, are of great value
in overcoming injury by all root-feeding pests. Thorough culture
is of value. Rotation of the onion plot to a point far distant
from that of the previous year, the cleaning up of old beds, and
plowing them deeply in the fall, will aid in the control. Pull up
and destroy the young plants affected as soon as noticed, being
careful to dig up the maggots with the roots. The application of
carbolic emulsion as for the cabbage-root maggot has been advo-
cated and will doubtless lessen the injury by repelling the adult
flies. Concerning it see page 354. Apply early in the season and
at intervals of a week.

The Barred-winged Onion-maggot *

The adult flies of this species may frequently be found upon
corn and are readily recognized by the banded wings. They are
similar in size to the last species, but the back is metallic blue-green
except the head , which is mostly hoary, with brownish-black eyes.
The maggots have been recorded as injurious to corn and sugar-
cane and have been recently noted in Michigan associated with
the common onion-maggot, destroying onions. f The maggots
are similar to the onion-maggot but the posterior end is more
rounded and may be distinguished from the illustrations. The
winter is passed in the puparium as far as observed.

Remedies. — In addition to the measures advocated for the last

* Choetopsis oenea Wied. Family Anthomyidae.

t See Pettit, Bulletin 200, Mich. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 206.

424 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

species, the destruction of the affected onions ami the thorough
plowing of affected land in the fall is of prime importance. Stored

FIG. 304. — The barred-winged onion-maggot (Chalopsis cenea Wied.): a,
larva, with spiracular opening highly magnified at left; b, puparium;
c, adult fly — all enlarged. (After Riley and_Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

onions which prove infested may be fumigated with carbon bisul-
fide to destroy the maggots and puparia and prevent the emergence
of the adults.

The Asparagus-beetle *

This is a well-known pest of asparagus in Europe and was first
observed in Queens County, New York, in 1862, where it threatened
to destroy the asparagus, one of the most valued crops of the Long
Island truckers. Since then it has gradually spread northward to
southern New Hampshire, south to North Carolina, and west to
Illinois and Wisconsin, and has been found at two points in Cali-
fornia. There seems no reason why it should not spread to
wherever asparagus is grown, at least in the Northern States.

The beetle is a handsome little creature about one-quarter
inch long, blue-black in color, with red thorax, and dark blue
wing-covers, marked with lemon-yellow and with reddish borders.
The markings of the wing-covers are quite variable, the light color

* Crioceris asparagi Linn. Family Chrysomelidoe. See F. H. Chittenden,
Yearbook, U. S, Dept. Agr., 1896, p. 341; Bulletin 66, Bureau of Ent., pp.
6, 93, and Circular 102, Ibid.

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS

425

sometimes forming submarginal spots, while in other specimens it
becomes so diffused as to form the principal color of the wing-
covers.

Both adults and larvae feed upon the tender asparagus shoots
in the spring and later attack the fruiting plants. Their attacks
render the shoots unfit for market and in many cases their injury
has been so severe as to make it extremely difficult to establish
new beds.

Life History. — The beetles hibernate over winter under what-
ever rubbish or shelter may be available near the asparagus patch.

FIG. 305. — The asparagus-beetle (Crioceris asparagi Linn.): eggs, larva, and
beetle — all much enlarged. (Photos by W. E. Britton.)

About the season that cutting asparagus for market commences
they appear and lay the eggs for the first new brood. The egg is
dark brown, oval, nearly one-sixteenth of an inch long and is laid
on end. The eggs are deposited upon the stems or foliage, usually
two to seven or more in a row. They hatch in from three to eight
days. The young larvae at once commence to attack the tender
.shoots, and later in the season feed upon the foliage. They become
full grown in from ten days to two weeks. The full grown larva, as
shown in the illustration, is about one-third of an inch long, soft

426 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and fleshy, much wrinkled, and of a dark gray or olive color,
with black head and legs. The mature larva drops to the ground
and just beneath the surface forms a little rounded earth-covered
cocoon within which it changes to the pupa, from which the
beetle emerges in about a week. Thus the complete life cycle
may be passed in a minimum of three weeks at Washington, D. C.,
where there are possibly four generations in a year, while further
north, six or seven weeks may be required for the life cycle, and
there are probably only two generations.

The asparagus-beetles are held in check by several natural
agencies. Several species of ladybird-beetles feed upon the eggs,
while numerous soldier-bugs attack the larva? which they impale
on their stout beaks. The adult beetles are often killed by low
temperature in the winter, which doubtless limits their northern
spread, while the eggs and larvae are sometimes killed by the intense
heat of summer, which will also probably limits the southern
spread of the species.

Control. — One of the best means of control is to keep all shoots
cut down in the spring so as to force the beetles to lay their eggs
on the young shoots, which are cut for market every few days
before the eggs have hatched, and hence no larvae are allowed
to hatch.

Another method which has proven effective is to cut down all
the seed stems but a few rows here and there, so that the beetles
will concentrate upon them, and then poison these thoroughly
with arsenicals, or they may be cut down and burned and other
rows allowed to grow as traps.

Air-slaked lime dusted on the plants in the morning while the
dew is on will destroy the soft-bodied larvae very effectively.
Another way to destroy the larva? in hot weather is to simply brush
them from the plants so that they wrill drop on the hot soil. As
they crawl but slowly few will regain the plants, particularly if the
brushing be followed with a cultivator.

Probably the most effective means of controlling this pest,
which was formerly a very difficult one to combat, is spraying with
arsenate of lead. Use 3 pounds to 50 gallons, to which 3 pounds

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS

427

of resin soap should be added to render it more adhesive, although
good results have been secured without the sticker. Such spraying
should be given as soon as cutting is over and should be repeated
once or twice at intervals of ten days. Where the young shoots
are kept closely cut and the bed is then sprayed, there should be no
trouble to control the pest, and young beds should be kept thor-
oughly sprayed with arsenate of lead from the time the beetles
appear until danger from injury is over.

The Twelve-spotted Asparagus-beetle *

The Twelve-spotted Asparagus Beetle is also of European
origin, having been first introduced into this country near
Baltimore, Md., in 1881. Since then it has become almost as
widely distributed as the previous species.

The beetles may be distinguished from the last species by the
broader wing-covers, each of which is orange-red, marked with six

FIG. 306. — The twelve-spotted asparagus-beetle (Crioceris 12-punctata Linn.):
a, beetle; b, larva; c, second abdominal segment of larva; d, same of
c, asparagi — a, 6, enlarged; c, d, more enlarged. (After Chittenden,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

black spots. The chief injury by this species is by the beetles
which emerge from hibernation feeding on the young shoots.
Later generations attack the foliage, but the larvae seem to prefer
to feed upon the ripening berries. The larva is of the same gen-

* Crioceris 12-punctata Linn. See F. H. Chittenden, I.e.

428 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

eral appearance as that of the preceding species, but may be dis-
tinguished by its orange color. The eggs are laid singly, and are
attached on the sides instead of on end. They are deposited
mostly on old plants toward the ends of the shoots which bear
ripening berries lower down. Soon after a larva hatches it finds its
way to a berry and feeds upon its ripening pulp, from which it
migrates to another, feeding upon several, perhaps, before full
growth is obtained, when it drops to the ground and pupates like
the last species. The life cycle is essentially the same and there
are probably the same number of generations.

Control. — The remedies advocated for the previous species
will be found satisfactory except those which an; directed against
the larvae, as the habit of the larva of concealing itself in the berry
would make the application of insecticides to the secdstalks of
little use.

The Asparagus Miner *

Occasionally injury by the small white maggots of a fly have
been observed in the asparagus beds of Long Island, California,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and District of Columbia, but the
damage seems rarely to be very serious. The adult is a small black
fly about one-sixth of an inch long and is usually found on the
flowers of the asparagus, and occurs from New England to Ten-
nessee. These flies emerge early in June. The exact manner of
egg-laying has not been observed, but the young maggots are found
mining just beneath the surface of the stalks, especially young
stalks. The maggots are about one-fifth an inch long, pure
white, except the black rasping hooks which project from the head.
When full grown the maggots change to puparia beneath the epi-
dermis. The next brood of adult flies emerge early in August.
A second brood of maggots seems to occur and the puparia of the
second brood pass the winter, and from them come the flies early
the next summer.

* Agromyza simplex Loew. Family Agromyzidce. See Sirrine, Bulletin
189, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta.; Chittenden, Bulletin 66, Part I, Bureau of Ento-
mology, pp. 1 and 5, Fig. 2.

MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS

429

Injury from the milling of the maggots has been most serious
on seedling and newly set beds, though it may occur on cutting
beds, being apparent by the plants turning yellow and dying much
earlier than they naturally do.

Pulling the old stalks and burning them in late summer seems

FIG. 307. — The asparagus miner (Agromyza simplex Loew) : at left, side view
of fly; a, larva; 6, thoracic spiracles; c, anal spiracles; d, puparium from
side; e, same from above; /, section of asparagus stalk showing injury
and location of puparia on detached section — a, e, much enlarged; /,
slightly reduced. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

to be the best means for controlling the pest from our present
knowledge of it, which, however, is still rather meager. Dr.
Chittenden has suggested that letting a few stalks grow as a trap-
crop to which the flies might be lured, and then destroying these
stalks, might protect the cutting beds.

CHAPTER XXI

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE SWEET POTATO *
The Sweet-potato Flea-beetle f

As soon as the sweet-potato plants are set out they are often
attacked by hordes of hungry little brownish flea beetles. Small
channels are eaten out of both surfaces of the leaf in a very char-
acteristic manner, quite different from tho work of other flea-
beetles (Fig. 309), and often the whole surface is seared but never
punctured. As a result many of the leaves of the seedling are

FIG. 308. — The sweet-potato flea-beetle (Chce'ocnema confmis Lee.): adult
and larva — much enlarged. (After J. B. Smith.)

killed outright, turn brown, and decay, while new leaves put
out from below, thus checking the growth. These attacks have
been found to be worst on low land and that previously in sweet
potatoes, and are always first noticed near fence rows or wroodland
where the beetles have hibernated. The beetle is bronzed or

*See Sanderson, Bulletin 59, Md. Agr. Exp. Sta.; J. B. Smith, Bulletin
229, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.

t Chcetocnema confinis Lee. Family Chrysomelidce. See Smith, 1. c., p. 4.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE SWEET POTATO 431

brassy-brown, about one-sixteenth inch long, thick set, and the
wing-covers when seen under a lens are deeply striated.

Life History. — -The beetles hibernate over wint2r in rubbish,
under logs, leaves or other vegetation, and emerge early in May.
They mate as soon as they have fed a little, and disappear by the
middle of June in New Jersey. But little is known of the early
stages of the insect and they have never been found on sweet-
potato plants. The larvae have been found, however, feeding on
the roots of bindweed. The larva (Fig. 308) is a slender, white
grub, about one-eighth inch long, and feeds externally upon

FIG. 309. — Sweet-potato leaves injured by the sweet-potato flea-beetle. (After

J. B. Smith.)

the smaller roots. The beetles appear again in August, but do
not as a rule feed on sweet potatoes, preferring bindweeds and
wild morning-glories, from which they disappear in late September.
Control. By dipping the plants in arsenate of lead 1 pound to
10 gallons of water, as they are being set, they will be protected
and any beetles feeding on them will be killed. The plants should
be allowed to dry slightly before being set. Dipping the plants
is much better than spraying them later, as it is practically
impossible to completely cover the plant by spraying, as may be
done in dipping, which is much quicker and less expensive. Late-

432 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

planted sweet potatoes are much less seriously injured, as the
beetles will seek out their wild food-plants and become established
upon them, so that late planting may be resorted to when neces-
sary or more convenient. Well grown, stocky plants will better
withstand injury, and liberal fertilization will enable them to make
a quick growth even if slightly checked.

Tortoise-beetles or Gold-bugs *

Of all the insects affecting the sweet potato, the brilliant, little
golden beetles which form one tribe (CV/.s.s<'</<r) of the large family
of leaf-beetles, are the most common and are quite peculiar to it.
They are beautiful insects, some of the species appearing like drops
of molten gold, which has given them the name of " gold-bugs,"
while the broad expansion of the thorax and wing-covers gives
them a fancied resemblance to a tortoise; hence the name " tortoise-
beetles." The species affecting the sweet potato are classed in
three different genera, but are sufficiently alike in their general
habits and life history to be treated together.

Life History. — The beetles hibernate over winter and'%. the
spring before the sweet-potato plants are set they feed on their
native food-plant, the morning glory. As soon as the plants are
set out, the beetles commence to eat large round holes in the leaves,
and so riddle them that many must often be replanted. The worst
damage, however, is done to the set on which the eggs are laid.
Rarely are the new shoots seriously eaten or are eggs laid upon
them. The larvae hatch during the first half of June in Maryland,
and require slightly over two weeks to become full grown. Though
the larvae do considerable damage by eating the foliage, it is not
nearly as serious as that done by the beetles. The larvae are almost
as disagreeable as the adult beetles are attractive, but are never-
theless very interesting creatures. Each of them is provided with
a tail-like fork at the end of the body which is almost as long as
the body, and in those species in which it is depressed, entirely

* Family Chrysomelidae.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE SWEET POTATO 433

conceals the insect. Upon this fork is heaped the excrement and
cast skins of the larva, and w en covered by this " umbrella " it is
with great difficulty that the larva is distinguished from a bit of
mud or a bird-dropping. The manner in which this fork increases
with the size of the larva is rather interesting. At each molt, the
fseci-fork of the last stage is held upon the new fseci-fork, and in
this way those of the different stages are telescoped, the one inside
the other, and the stage of growth of the larva may be readily
determined by the number of cast skins held on the fork. From
the likeness of this burden to a pack, the larvae are often known
as " peddlers." In order to more firmly bind the excrement and
cast skins to the fork, the larvae fasten them together by a fine
network of silken threads, which are attached to the spines at the
sides of the body. When fully grown the larva fastens itself to a
leaf, its skin splits open along the back, and from it comes the
pupa, which is held to the leaf by its caudal fork, which is securely
encased in the fseci-fork of the larval skin. About a week later
the adult beetle emerges, eats for a few days and then disappears
from the sweet-potato patch until the following spring, doubtless
feeding on morning glory until it enters hibernation.

The Two-Striped Sweet-potato Beetle *

This is usually the most common of the tortoise beetles attack-
ing sweet potatoes. The beetle is pale or brownish-yellow,

FIG. 310. — The two-striped sweet-potato beetle (Cassida bivittata Say): I,
larvae on leaf; 2, larva; 3, pupa; 4, beetle — all enlarged. (After Riley.)

striped with black as shown in Fig. 310, and the larva is yellowish-
white, with a longitudinal band along the back, on either side of
* Cassida bivittatce Say. Family Chrysomelidce.

434 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

which is a much lighter bund. This species differs from the others
in that the larva docs not use its faici-fork for carrying excrement,
but merely covers it with cast skins and holds it at an angle from
the body, instead of close over the back.

The Black-legged Tortoise-teetle *

This species very closely resembles the following one, the gol-
den tortoise-beetle, but it is not so brilliant, is larger, has black
legs, and the three black spots on each wing-cover are larger and
more conspicuous. The larva is a bright straw-yellow, with two
crescent-shaped black marks just back of the head and with the
spines at the side of the body tipped with black. It is considerably
larger than the larva? of the other species and may be easily

FIG. 311. — The black-legged tortoise-beetle. (Cassida nigripes Oliv.): a, b,
larvae; c, pupa; d, beetle. (After Riley.) Eggs at left — all enlarged.

recognized by the characteristic way in which the dung is spread
on the fseci-fork (Fig. 311, a). The larvae of this species also do
more injury than the others, though possibly not as common.
The eggs of the other species are laid singly, so that only one or
two larva? will be found on a plant, or if more occur they are scat-
tered, but the eggs of this species are laid in rows of from three to
a dozen, and upon hatching the larvae feed together, thus making
the injury more noticeable.

* Cassida nigripes Oliv. Family Chrysomelidoe.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE SWEET POTATO

435

The Golden Tortoise-beetle *

This is a very common species and may be found on morning-
glory vines throughout the summer. The beetles upon first
emerging are a dull orange color with three prominent black dots
on each wing-cover, but a little later they change to a metallic gold,
shining like the most brilliant tinsel, and the black spots are less
noticeable. All of the tortoise-beetles, and this species in particu-
lar, have the habit of dropping quckly to the ground and feigning
death when disturbed. The eggs are quite different from those of
other species, having three spiny prongs projecting from the pos •

FIG. 312. — The golden tortoise-beetle (Coplocyda bicolor Fab.): a, b, larvae;
p, pupa; d, beetle; egg at right — all enlarged. (After Riley).

terior margin (Fig. 312) . The larva is easily distinguished by being
nearly concealed by the heavy load of excrement which is tri-lobed
in outline. Though usually of a dark-brown color with a paler
shade along the middle of the back, when the fseci-fork is raised
the light color extends over the entire upper side. The pupa, with
the loaded fork still held close to the back, is hardly distinguishable
from the larva at first glance, but if the fork is removed it may be
distinguished from nearly releated pupae by the three dark stripes
on the prothorax and similar m-arkings over the abdomen.

* Coptocycla bicolor Fab. Family Chrysomelidce.

43G INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Mottled Tortoise-beetle *

This beetle is strikingly different from the other species in
being black, marked with six irregular golden spots, and with a
band of black extending across the shoulders to the edge of the
transparent margin of the wing-covers. The larva is a pale
straw-yellow color during the first four stages when it carries
excrement on the fseci-fork in a peculiar branched shape much
like that of the black-legged tortoise-beetle larva, but after the
last moult the color changes to a pea green, and all the excrement
is removed from the fseci-fork, which makes the larva very
difficult to recognize on a green leaf. Inasmuch as the larva
does not feed and remains entirely motionless during this last
stage, this change of color is very evidently of protective value.
The pupa is also a bright green, marked only by a black ring
around each of the first pair of abdominal spiracles.

The Argus Tortoise-beetle t

This is the largest of the tortoise-beetles found on sweet
potato, though not as common as the preceding, and is also
injurious to raspberry and horseradish, and it feeds on milk-

FIG. 313. — The argus tortoise-beetle (Chelymorpha argus Licht.): a, beetle;
b, eggs; c, larva — all enlarged.

weeds and species of Convolvulus. The beetles are usually a brick-
red color, with six black dots on the prothorax and six on each
wing-cover, but they are exceedingly variable in size and color,

* Coptocycla signifera Herbst. Family Chrysomelidoe.
t Chelymorpha argus Licht. Family Chrysomelidce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE SWEET POTATO 437

even from the same lot of eggs. The expansion of the margins
of the wing-covers and prothorax found in the other tortoise-
beetles is almost lacking. The eggs are laid in a bunch, each
supported by a long stalk or pedicle. When the larvae hatch
they huddle together on the leaves and very rapidly defoliate a
plant. When full grown a larva is about one-half inch long with
the faeci-fork half as long again, slightly convex above, of a dirty
yellowish color marked with numerous dark-brown tubercles
and prominent lateral spines as shown in Fig. 313. The larva
usually stands with the caudal segments elevated and the faeci-
fork slanting backward. The pupa is of a yellowish color;
marked with dark brown, which becomes almost black. The
ground color of the pupa is almost concealed by a bluish bloom
or waxy excretion resembling mold.

Control. — From the similarity of their life history and habits
all of these species may be treated at once. As the beetles do the
most injury just after the plants are set, they should be dipped
in arsenate of lead when setting, as advised for the flea-beetle.
If this has not been done or if the beetles are injurious in the
forcing bed, the plants should be thoroughly sprayed with
arsenate of lead, 3 pounds per barrel, or Paris green, ^ pound per
barrel with £ pound of freshly slaked lime.

Saw-flies *

In 1886, Dr. C. V. Riley described the injury and various
stages of a saw-fly,f the larvae of which had practically ruined a
crop of sweet potatoes at Ocean Springs, Miss. The pest was
somewhat injurious for the next two years, but since then has
not been specially injurious, though adult flies have been noticed
on sweet-potato and morning-glory vines in Nebraska. Doubt-
less its control is due to the effective work of parasites which
were reared by Dr. Riley from the larvae, and which probably
prevent the undue increase of the species.

* Family Tenthredinidoe.
t Schizocerus ebenus Norton.

438 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The larvae of another insect of the same genus * was reported
as seriously injuring the crop in Accomac County, Virginia, in
1891. Concerning this injury the grower, C. W. Stockley, wrote,
" Last year (1890) was the first time they made their appearance
in my potato patch. They came the first of July and deposited
their eggs on the leaves; when the eggs hatched these worms
would eat the leaves to a comb. This continued for about four
weeks. The potatoes where the fly was did not make any yield
at all. This year the fly made its appearance the same time as
it did last year." Since then no injury has been reported by
this species, though the adults are occasionally seen.

Control. — An arsenical spray as advised for the tortoise-beetles
will be found effective for destroying the saw-fly larva? and
should be applied as soon as the injury is noticed, or preferably
just as the eggs are hatching.

The Sweet-potato Root-borer f

Since 1890 sweet potatoes have been seriously injured in parts
of Texas and Louisiana by a small white grub which bores into the
stems and tubers both in the field and in storage, but strangely
it has not spread elsewhere in this country. In Texas the worst
injury has been in Calhoun and neighboring counties along the
Gulf Coast where extensive growing of sweet potatoes has been
abandoned on account of the pest. During recent years it has
spread to central Texas and there seems to be no reason why it
should not spread over the Gulf States. It is a cosmopolitan
insect -being reported from China, India, Madagascar, Australia
and Cuba. It was first noticed in the vicinity of New Orleans
in 1875 and has since spread northward along the Mississippi. J
In 1879 it was reported from Florida and was studied by Professor
J. H. Comstock.§

The adult beetle is a rather slender insect, about one-quartei

* Schizocerus privatus Norton.

t Cylas formicarius Oliv. Family Curculionidce.

J Bulletin 28, La. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 999.

5 See Report U. S. Comm. Agr., for 1879, p. 249.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE SWEET POTATO 439

inch long, of a bluish-black color, with a reddish-brown prothorax,
and has received its specific name, formicarius, from its fancied
resemblance to an ant.

Life History. — The yellowish-white, oval eggs are deposited
in small cavities eaten out by the mother beetle either at the
base of the vine or at the stem end of the tuberous root, or in
the tubers in storage. The small grubs commence to burrow
in the vine, sometimes maturing in the vine before any tubers
have developed, but usually they descend to the tubers, which

FIG. 314. — The sweet-potato root-borer (Cylas formicarius): extreme left
hand figure, adult beetle, with enlarged antennae at right; figure at
left center, pupa; at right center, larva; at extreme right, portion of
sweet-potato tuber channeled by borer — all figures except the last con-
siderably enlarged; natural sizes indicated by hair lines. (After Far-
mer's Bulletin, No. 26, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

in the course of the season, and with the aid of the beetles, they
thoroughly riddle. The full-grown larva is about one-quarter
inch long, whitish with light brown head, the segments are strongly
constricted, and the legs are wanting, being represented by mere
tubercles. The grub forms a small cavity at the end of the
burrow and transforms to the pupa. In this stage it remains from
one to two weeks, when the adult beetle emerges and after a few
days commences to lay eggs for another generation. The whole

440 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

life cycle requires from thirty to fort}' days, so tluit there may
be several generations in a year, Professor Cornstock having
observed three generations. In central Texas the beetles hiber-
nate over winter, but in south Texas they continue to breed in
the bins during the winter.

Control. — The following measures of control are recommended
by Professor A. F. Conradi, who has studied the species in Texas.*

" When the insect is known to be present, tubers should not
be allowed to remain exposed, and should be covered with soil.
Where beetle attack is anticipated, deep planting should be
practiced, and if conditions will permit the planting should be in
flats, because outbreaks will be more readily noticed than when
planted in ridges. Such planting will permit of cultivation that
will keep the cracks in the soil closed during drought, thus shut-
ting up all entering channels by which the adults may reach the
tubers. When the crop is known to be infested, it should be
harvested as soon as possible, for every day the infestation will
increase and the value of the crop will decrease. All tubers
showing no sign of infestation should be separated from the
infested ones. The former should be placed in a weevil-tight
bin [and fumigated with carbon bisulfide if not sold immediately —
E. D. S.], and the latter destroyed absolutely. The vines should
be gathered and burned, and the grower should convince him-
self . . . that no vines or tubers remain in the field." The pest
may be disseminated in sweet-potato sets intended for planting,
and may be spread great distances by the tubers on the open
market, so that seed potatoes or slips should be secured from
localities known to be free from it or should be thoroughly fumi-
gated. The weevils often gnaw the plants, and Professor Conradi
advises thorough spraying with Paris green or arsenate of lead
while they are feeding. Potatoes in bins should be thoroughly
fumigated with carbon bisulfide, 5 pounds to 100 bushels for
thirty hours (see page 57).

* See Bulletin 89, Texas Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 40.

CHAPTER XXII

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY *
The Strawberry Root-louse t

IF bare spots are found in the strawberry bed and the neighbor-
ing plants are unhealthy, the presence of the root-louse may be
suspected, especially if ants are abundant around the plants.
If present, the small dark green or blackish aphides will be found
clustered on the roots and stems, caus-
ing the plants to wither and die. The
individual aphid is only about one-
twentieth inch long, and deep bluish
or greenish-black when mature, the
younger stages being lighter, and
somewhat pear-shaped as shown in
Fig. 315.

Injury by this pest was first noted
in southern Illinois in 1884 and a few
years later it became troublesome in
Ohio. In the late '90s it ruined
many beds on the Maryland-Delaware
peninsula and became established in
New Jersey. Since then it has become distributed on plants
throughout most of the States east of the Rockies, injury having
been noted in New Hampshire, Michigan, Minnesota, Kansas,
Texas, and Kentucky. Injury is most severe on light sandy

* See L. Bruner, Report Nebraska Horticultural Society, pp. 49-100;
J. B. Smith, Bulletin 225, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.; A. L. Quaintance, Bulletin
42, Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta.; S. A. Forbes, 13th Report State Ent. of 111., pp.
60-180.

t Aphis forbesi Weed. Family Aphididce. See Sanderson, Bulletin 49,
12th, 13th and 14th Reports, Del. Agr. Exp. Sta.

441

FIG. 315. — The strawberry
root - louse (Aphis forbesi
Weed): wingless viviparous
female of late summer —
greatly enlarged.

442 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

soils and the pest rarely becomes very troublesome on heavier
soils. Injury is also more or less periodic, the aphides almost
disappearing after doing serious injury for two or three years.
Fortunately the strawberry is the only food plant and the root-
lice found on other crops are entirely different species.

Life History. — During the winter the small, shining black
eggs may be found thickly clustered upon the stems and along

FIG. 316. — Strawberry root-lice clustered on small rootlets from crown of
plant — greatly enlarged.

the midribs of the green leaves. They are mere specks, one-
thirty-fifth inch long and oval in shape. In early winter as many
as sixty-five have been found on one leaf, but many fall off and
are destroyed before spring. The eggs hatch early in April in
Delaware, the exact time depending on the season. The young
aphides feed a little on the leaves bearing the eggs but soon find
their way to the tender young leaves of the crown. These

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY 443

aphides of the first generation become full grown in twelve to
fifteen days. The adults soon commence to give birth to young
aphides, bearing fifteen or twenty within a few days. All of the
aphides of this generation are females, as are all those of the
summer generations, the males appearing only in the fall. The
young of the second generation mature and reproduce in the same
manner and in about tfte same time as the first generation. Until
the last of April but few ants are seen, but about that time they

FIG. 317. — Eggs of strawberry root-louse on leaf stem.

become active and carry the young aphides from the leaves
down to the roots, where a colony of a dozen or more is established
on each plant. No aphides are found on the roots until the ants
appear, and they are entirely responsible for the aphides infesting
the roots. The ants continue to care for the aphides during the
summer, carrying them to new plants when they become over-
'crowded or the plant dies, and so are responsible for the spread
of the pest. The first generations are entirely wingless, but when
the third generation matures a large number are winged. These

444 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

winged females are common in late May and early June. Their
bodies are somewhat smaller than those of the wingless forms,
and appear to be shiny black, though really a deep green. The
wings expand about one-sixth inch, slightly over three times the
length of the body. They are also carried to the roots by the
ants, wherever they are found, and most of them deposit their
young on the roots. Although these winged females aid in spread-
ing the pest in a bed, they probably do not migrate far unless

FIG. 318. — Strawberry root-lice which have been killed by parasites, with
one of the little parasitic flies which has just emerged.

carried by the wind from a badly infested bed where they have
become overcrowded. Reproduction continues, one generation
following another about every two weeks, during the summer and
early fall. Part of the fourth generation is winged, but the remain-
ing generations are wingless. In Delaware the viviparous females
are common on the roots until cold weather, but doubtless further
south they may continue to reproduce during the winter. Late
in October and early in November the offspring develop into

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY 445

true males anil females which pair and reproduce by eggs. The
egg-laying females arc very similar to the summer generations
in general appearance, though of a green color, with often a
yellowish or reddish shade on the middle of the abdomen. The
males are much smaller and are hardly to be distinguished from
the third stage of the female nymphs, and are greatly outnum-
bered by the females. Each female deposits about four eggs,
which are at first a bright orange color, but turn black in a
day or two.

Were it not for its parasitic enemies this insect would always
be a most formidable strawberry pest, but fortunately they are
very efficient in its control whenever it becomes abundant. The
adult parasites are little wasp-like flies,* nearly related to those
which parasitize the melon-aphis and green-bug. They deposit
their eggs in the plant-lice, and the maggots live within .the
aphides, usually but one in each. The aphid soon dies from the
effects of the parasitism, the skin becoming dry and inflated,
from which shell the adult parasite emerges through a circular
hole as shown in Fig. 318. Such parasitized aphides are easily
recognized and should never be destroyed.

Control. — To prevent injury care must be taken to secure
uninfested plants and to plant them on land not already infested.
Do not replant berries on infested land until it has been in some
other crop for a year or two. As the aphides and their eggs are
readily transported on plants, it is important that they be secured
from sources known to be free from the pest. If there is any
doubt about this or if they are known to be infested, the plants
should be disinfected before setting. This can be done only
after all the eggs have hatched, as there is no treatment that will
kill the eggs without injuring the plants. Setting must be delayed,
therefore, until all eggs have hatched. The most practicable
method for disinfecting plants is to dip them for a few minutes in
tobacco decoction or dilute tobacco extract. Other dips will
kill the aphides, but sometimes injure the plants, while tobacco
water has been found efficient and safe. Plants may be fumigated
* Lysiphlebw testaceipes Cress., and Lygocerus stigmatus Say.

446 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

with hyrdocyanic acid gas by the nurseryman or large grower
(see the author's Delaware bulletin). If a new bed be planted
near an old one it may become infested when the winged aphides
appear in early summer and to prevent their migration it may
be advisable to plow up the old bed some time before the winged
aphides appear, or preferably the previous fall. One of the best

FIG. 319. — A Delaware strawberry bed in summer of 1900 showing injury by
the strawberry root-louse.

means of reducing the number of aphides in a bed is to burn it
over with a quick hot fire in early spring, Straw or grass should
be scattered over the bed and burned just as the growth of the
plants is commencing. As all the eggs and young aphides are on
the leaves and stems, this will practically clear the bed of the
pest, as well as many other insects and diseases, and if properly
done will result in no injury. This has been found satisfactory
in Delaware, but if farther south, the aphides winter on the roots,
it would not be as effective.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY

447

The Strawberry Crown-borer *

Strawberry plants are often dwarfed or killed by a small white
larva which mines out the interior of the crown, hollowing it out
from the bases of the leaves to the larger roots. Usually but
one grub is found in a plant, and it looks very much like a small
white grub as it lies curled in its burrow. It is only about one-
quarter inch long, and legless, the body being white and the head
yellowish brown. The adult beetle is a small snout-beetle about
one-fifth inch long, of a dark color, with head and thorax nearly
black, and on each wing-cover are three black spots, the middle
one being the largest and separated from the others by pale lines.
According to Professor Garman the wings are too small to be used

FIG. 320. — The strawberry crown-borer (Tyloder ma fragrance Riley) : a, larva,
6, c, beetle— enlarged. (After Riley.)

for flight and this doubtless accounts for the slow spread of
the pest. Injury has been reported from Illinois, Kentucky,
Missouri, and Nebraska, but as the Iarva3 might be readily shipped
in plants, it is quite probable that it has become generally
distributed but has not done sufficient injury to attract attention.
Life History. — The beetles appear during the latter part of
summer and fall and hibernate over winter in the soil, emerging
early the next spring. The eggs have not been observed, but are
undoubtedly laid on the crown between the bases of the leaves
in late spring. The larvae develop in the crowns and become full
grown by midsummer or August when they pupate in the cavities

* Tyloderma fragrance Riley. Family Curculionidce. See S. A. Forbes,
12th Report 111. State Ent., p. 64; 13th Report, p. 142; H. Garman, Bulletin
80, Ky. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 261.

448 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

formed and the adult beetles emerge in late summer and fall.
There seems to be but one generation a year. Old plants are
worst injured, and runners formed late in the season are usually
free from the pest, as eggs arc probably not laid after June.

Control. — Frequent rotation, plowing up the bed after one
or two crops, will largely prevent the pest becoming established.
Where the insect is well established in old beds, it will be well
to secure plants from beds known to be free from the
pest and to plant new beds at some distance from the old ones.
Infested beds should have the plants plowed out and raked up
and burned as soon as possible after the fruit is harvested and
before; August. Owing to the fortunate fact that the beetle
cannot fly from field to field, if the above measures are consistently
carried out there should be no trouble in controlling the injury.

Strawberry Rootworms *

The larvae of three species of common leaf-beetles often feed
upon the roots of the strawberry and are easily mistaken for the
crown-borer or for small white grubs. They may be distinguished
from the former by having three pairs of small thoracic legs just
back of the head, and from the latter by their being much thicker.
These rootworms are from one-eighth to one-sixth inch long,
whitish, with brownish heads, and usually feed on the roots
externally, though sometimes boring into them or the crown.
Dr. Forbes * has indicated the structural differences by which
they may be separated and shows that their life histories are quite
dissimilar. " The larva of Colaspis appears early in the season,
and does its mischief chiefly in the months of April and May,
the beetles beginning to emerge in June. That the eggs are laid
in the preceding year is highly probable, in which case the species
hibernates in the egg. Typophorus, on the other hand, certainly
passes the winter as an adult, doubtless laying its eggs in spring,
and making its principal attacks upon the plants in June and

* Typophorus canellas Fab., Colaspis brunnea Fab., Graphops pubescens
Mels. Family Chrysomelidce. See Forbes, 1. c., p. 150.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY

449

July, the beetles emerg-
ing in the latter part of
July and early in August.
Graphops hibernates in
the larval condition, pu-
pates in the spring, and
emerges in May and June.
The eggs are probably
laid in July, and the
larvae make their attack
upon the plant in August
and September. . ."-
Forbes. Thus the larvae
of the three species may
be found throughout the
season where all occur.
The beetles are about
one-eighth inch long and
may be distinguished as
follows , according t o
Bruner: " Colaspis brun-
nea is usually of a yel-
lowish clay color, but
ranges to yellowish-
brown. The body is
smooth but not shining.
Typophorus canellus is
usually shiny , black
above, varying to brown,
with four black blotches
on the wing-covers. The
legs and antenna? are
always pale. Graphops
pubescens is either green
or purple with a bronze
metallic sheen, and has

FIG. 321. — The strawberry root-borer (Typo-
phorus canellus Fab.): adult and larva —
very greatly enlarged, hair line at right of
beetle shows natural size. (After Pettit.)

450 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the entire body more or less covered with a gray pubescence."
The pupjc are all found in earthen cells among the roots of the
plants. The beetles of all three species feed on the foliage and
when numerous will attract attention.

Control. — Whenever the plants are not in fruit, the beetles
may be destroyed by spraying with J pound of Paris green or
3 pounds or arsenate of lead per barrel, preferably applied with
Bordeaux mixture. Where the plants are customarily sprayed
with Bordeaux mixture for leaf diseases, arsenites may be added
and will probably control this and other strawberry pests. Badly
infested fields should be plowed under deeply as soon as the crop
is secured and new beds should be planted at some distance from
them.

The Strawberry Saw-fly *

Occasionally the strawberry leaves are skeletonized by yellow-
ish or greenish " worms " one-half to three-quarters of an inch
long when full grown. The head is yellow with two brown spots

FIG. 322.— The strawberry saw-fly (Harpipfiorus maculatus Nor.ton): 1, 2,
pupa; 3, 5, adult flies: 4, 6, larvae; 7, cocoon; 9, egg — all enlarged.
(After Riley.)

on the side and one or two on top, and there are eight pairs of
yellowish abdominal prolegs, in addition to the true thoracic

* Harpiphorus maculatus Norton. Family Tenthredinidce. See J. M.
Stedman, Bulletin 54, Mo. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY 451

legs, which at once distinguish the saw-fly larvae from true
caterpillars. The adult saw-flies are about one-quarter inch
long, with two pairs of blackish, well-veined wings which are
folded over the abdomen when at rest. The body is black, with
a row of lighter spots on either side of the abdomen. The flies
emerge in late April in Missouri or about a fortnight before the
plants flower freely. The eggs are inserted just beneath the
epidermis of the leaves and hatch in about two weeks, just as the
plants begin to bloom. The larvae eat holes in the leaves and
" where numerous, they will defoliate the plants to such an extent
as to greatly injure or completely destroy the crop of fruit, and
may even kill the plants themselves." When at rest or disturbed
the larvae coil themselves up in a spiral on the under side of the
leaf as shown in Fig. 322, but if suddenly disturbed they will often
drop to the ground. By the last of May the larvae are full grown
and enter the soil, where they make small cells, lined with a
gummy substance, and in them hibernate until the next spring,
when they pupate and the adult flies emerge.

Injury *by the saw-fly has been reported from the northern and
central States from Missouri and Nebraska to Maine.

A nearly related species * with almost identical habits has done
similar injury in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. The larvae are a deep
green, much wrinkled, with a blackish stripe along the back and
an obscure blackish stripe on each side, and the head brown.

Control. Inasmuch as the larvae commence to hatch just as
blooming commences Professor Stedman has shown by experiments
that spraying the foliage at this time with arsenicals will entirely
protect it from the larvae. If they commence work before their
presence is noticed, the foliage may be sprayed until the first
berries are about one-third grown without any danger of poisoning
them. Hellebore 1 pound to 3 gallons of water was also effective,
as was dusting with pyrethrum. Although there may be some
prejudice against the use of arsenicals, where properly applied
at the right time there is no reason why they should not be used.

* Monostegia ignota Norton. See F. W. Mally, " Insect Life," Vol. II,
p. 137.

452 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Strawberry Leaf-roller *

Where leaves are found folded together, many of them being
dry and brown, the small green caterpillars found feeding within
the folds are probably those of the Strawberry Leaf -roller. It
is a European insect, though it is not injurious there, and the
first record of injury in this country was made by Dr. C. V. Riley
in 1869, who stated that in one place in Missouri it destroyed
ten acres so completely as to not leave enough plants to set a
half acre. " Since that time," says Dr. J. B. Smith, " the insect
has been frequently mentioned as injurious in many parts of the
country, but rarely is it troublesome for more than a year or two

FIG. 323. — The strawberry leaf-roller moth (Ancylis comptana Frohl.) —
enlarged. (After J. B. Smith.)

in succession. It is always inclined to be local and its ravages
do not often extend over wide areas."

Life History. The moths appear in the strawberry fields
during early May in New Jersey and commence to lay eggs, the
moths being found in the fields for about a month. The eggs are
laid on the under surface of the half-grown leaves. They are
broadly oval or round, much flattened, of a pale green color and
about one-fiftieth inch in diameter. They are laid in the fine
netting of the leaf, in which they are seen with great difficulty.
The larvae hatch in from five to seven days. The young cater-
pillar feeds on the upper surface of the leaf for a day or two, eating
into and along the midrib to weaken it. The young larva is at

* Ancylis comptana Frohl. Family Tortricidoe. See J. B. Smith, Bulletins
149 and 225, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY

453

first a light-green color with a large head and long hair, which
becomes less noticeable as it grows.

It soon commences to draw the edges of the leaf together,
folding the upper surface on the midrib, holding it together by
numerous strands of fine silk. The insect then spins a partia
tube or lining inside, in which it remains until the moth develops.
Unless disturbed the larva does not leave this folded leaf, and all

FIG. 324.— Strawberry leaf folded by the leaf-roller. (After J. B. Smith.)

the feeding is done out of the reach of sprays. The larva becomes
full grown in about four weeks, when it is about half -an inch long
and of a dark-green color, until just before pupation, when it
becomes more yellowish. The head and thoracic shield are
shining brown, and the small body tubercles are slightly lighter.
The larvse are slender and very active, wriggling violently when
disturbed or taken from their webs.

454 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

" Pupation occurs in the tube made by the larva. The pupa
itself is brownish-yellow, without obvious processes or protuber-
ances, and a little more than one-fourth an inch long." The pupal
stage lasts about ten days, thus giving about forty-two to fifty
days for the complete life cycle from egg to adult.

The moths of the second brood appear late in June and during
July. This brood is much more abundant on blackberry and
raspberry than on strawberry plants. The moths of the third
brood appear in August. They are comparatively few in number
and also seem to prefer blackberry and raspberry. Young larvae
are, however, to be found on strawberries in September. " Accord-
ing to the account given by Riley, the larva) change to pupa)
late in September and remain during the winter in that state."
Dr. Smith states that he has not observed this personally. In
Delaware we have found full-grown larva) in folded leaves in
midwinter, so that possibly some of them at least do not pupate
until spring.

" The adult moth is small, measuring with expanded wings
about two-fifths of an inch. In general color it is somewhat
reddish-brown, the fore-wings streaked and spotted with black and
white as shown in the illustration. When the wings are folded,
the dark area at the base forms a somewhat conspicuous deeper
brown patch in the middle of the back. The hind-wings are of
a soft, dark smoky gray, and both wings have long fringes. The
insects fly readily during the middle of the day, and run rapidly
on the leaves, diving to the under side or into a fold so quickly
that it requires close watching to follow their movements.
From the fact that newly set fields are often infested, it
is probable that they fly for some distance to seek their food
plant." — Smith.

" A badly infested strawberry-patch begins to look scorched
early in June, and before the middle of that month appears as if
a fire had been over it. The fruit, deprived of the food prepared
by the foliage, stops growth, ripens undersized or prematurely, or
shrivels up altogether, even before it colors." " Often every
lobe on a leaf will be folded, and occasionally, when infested

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE STRAWBERRY 455

leaves cover or touch, an irregular mass of foliage is bundled
up in which as many as six or eight larvae may be found.

" On blackberry not so large a part of the leaf is involved,
and frequently only the tip of one of the leaflets is webbed up.
Furthermore, the injury is more local, and only that part that
is actually eaten is harmed. The total amount of food really
devoured is very small, and were it not for the manner of feeding^
which interferes with the nutrition of the leaf, the strawberry
could easily spare tissue for all these caterpillars that ever infect
it. On the raspberry the habit is yet different. Here the larva
gets into a partly opened tip and webs it together so securely
as to check growth. The actual eating shows a rusty space on
the upper side of the leaf, and not much more harm is done."

Control. — As stated above, the young caterpillar, just after
it is hatched, goes to the upper surface of the leaf and feeds there
exposed for a day or two before folding the leaf. " It must be
the object of the grower to poison the foliage so early in the season
that when the young caterpillar starts feeding, it can find no
foliage it can safely eat. Therefore, as soon as moths are found
flying in fair numbers, spray with Paris green, or some other
arsenite (preferably arsenate of lead). As the plants grow
rapidly, spray again a week later, and a third time a week there-
after. This will catch the great bulk of the caterpillars that will
become injurious in June, leaving only a very few that hatch
late and cannot cause much harm. A single spraying will do
comparatively little good, because the mo.ths extend the egg-
laying period over so long a time. The first larvae are almost
full grown before the last eggs are hatched."

" If for any reason no timely applications were made and the
fields become badly infested, nothing practical can be done until
the crop is off. Then mow the beds, rake off all the foliage, and
burn it. You will burn with it all the larvae and pupae that are
then unchanged. This lessens the number of moths that come
to maturity and so helps somewhat for the following year."

" On blackberry and raspberry no remedial measures have
proved necessary so far. If there are many caterpillars present

456 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

late in the summer it may pay to handpick all infested leaves
or to crush the larva in the folded leaf. This will tend to lessen
the number that live over winter."

The Strawberry Weevil *

.If the buds appear to be " stung " so that they wither, and
if many of the stems are 3ut so that the buds drop to the ground,
the strawberry weevil is the probable cause of the damage. This
little weevil is only about one-tenth inch long and so is often
unnoticed, and the loss is attributed to other causes. The weevil
varies from nearly black to dull red, with
a dark spot just back of the centre of
each wing-cover. The head is prolonged
into a slender curved snout, about half
as long as the body. The species is
found in most of the States east of the
Rockies, but injury has been most severe
in the Middle and Northern States.

Life History. — The weevils hibernate
over winter and appear in spring a few
days before the earliest staminate vari-
eties commence to bloom. Others emerge
during the next month, but the most
injury is done within the next two weeks.
The injury is done by the females, which
cat small holes through the outer husk
or corolla of nearly matured buds, and in
these little cavities deposit their eggs.
The stem of the bud is then cut so that it

FIG. 325.— The straw-
berry weevil (Antho-
nomiis signatiis Say) —
enlarged. (After Riley
and Chittenden, U. S.

Dept. Agr.)

hangs by a mere thread and soon falls to the ground. By severing
the stem the development of the bud is arrested, thus preventing
the outer covering from unfolding and holding the eggs and larvrc
in the pollen, on which they feed, and by falling to the ground
* Anthonomus signatus Say. Family Curculionidce. See F. H. Chittenden,
Circular 21, Div. Ent., U. S Dept. Agr.; J. B. Smith, Bulletin 225, N. J.
Agr. Exp. Sta.

457

the bud remains moist and will not dry up as it would on the stem.
The eggs hatch in from six to seven days and the small whitish
larvae feed on the pollen and later on the harder parts of the buds.
Three or four weeks are required for a larva to become full grown.
It then forms a little cell in the bud, in which the pupal stage is
passed in from five to eight days, when the adult beetle emerges
and cuts its way out. Thus the complete life cycle occupies
about a month and in the District of Columbia the new generation
of beetles appears during June. They are frequently found in

FIG. 326. — The strawberry weevil: a, b, spray showing work in bud and stem —
natural size; c, outline of egg; d, larva; e, head of same; /, pupa; g,
bud opened to show egg on left and punctures made by snout of beetle
through petals. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

large numbers on strawberry flowers and on those of the, horse
mint (Monarda fistulosa), but the beetles soon seek hibernating
quarters, there being but one generation a year.

Control. — As the larva? feed upon the pollen of the buds of
staminate varieties, the staminate varieties are most injured,
and injury may be avoided by growing as few rows of staminate
varieties as are necessary for fertilizing the rest of the bed. Indeed
the very early staminate varieties might be used as a trap crop
for attracting the weevils, which might be destroyed by covering
the rows with straw and burning, or possibly by spraying with

458 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

arsenicals. By planting rows of early varieties, which flower
freely and produce an abundance of pollen near woods and
fence-rows where the beetles have hibernated and appeal* first,
they might be effectively trapped, and then destroyed. Although
the larvce cannot be reached with any insecticide, the beetles
feed more or less on the buds and foliage, and further experiments
should be made in spraying for them with arsenicals. In view of
the recent success in the use of arsenate of lead against the plum
curculio, we would suggest the thorough spraying of badly infested
beds with arsenate of lead 3 to 5 pounds per barrel, applying it
with an under-spray nozzle so as to thoroughly cover every bit
of foliage. This should be applied as soon as the buds commence
to form and probably a week later before they blossom, as it is
then that the beetles are feeding. Spraying at that season can do
no possible harm to the berries, and to spray after the buds are
injured is useless. The destruction of all trash and rubbish in
and around the fields during the winter will destroy some of the
hibernating weevils, and it will be well to avoid mulching the
beds where the beetle is troublesome, if the mulch is not abso-
lutely necessary, as it furnishes them the best hibernating
quarters.

CHAPTER XXIII

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY *
The Raspberry Root-borer t

THE larvae of the Raspberry Root-borer make tunnels in the
roots and lower stems of raspberry and blackberry, sometimes
completely girdling the stem at the crown, so that the name of
blackberry crown-borer has also been
used. The full-grown larva is from 1 to
1J inches long, yellowish-white, with
brownish head, and the tips of the small
thoracic legs also brownish. The parent
insect is one of the clear-winged moths,
which fly by day and closely resemble
wasps, and is nearly related to the peach-
and squash-borers. The female is much
the larger and is shown natural size in
Fig. 328. The body is black with yellow
rings, and the legs are yellowish. The
wings are transparent except a bronze-
brown margin and a narrow band across
the fore-wings about one-third from the
tip.

Life History. — The moths appear in

late August and September and the females deposit their eggs
upon the lower edge of the leaves. The egg is oval, about one-

* See F. M. Webster, Bulletin 45, Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta.; J. B. Smith, 12th
Report N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.

•j" Bembecia marginata Harr. Family Sesiidce. See J. B. Smith, Bulletin
N, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 9; W. H. Lawrence, Bulletin 63, Wash. Agr. Exp.
Sta.

4:9

FIG. 327.— The raspberry
root-borer (Bembecia
marginata Harr.) : a,
male moth; b, female
moth — natural size.
(After Riley.)

460 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

sixteenth inch long, deep brownish-red in color. A female lays
about 140 eggs, which are deposited singly. They hatch in Sep-
tember and the young
larvsc crawl down the
stems and bore under the
bark. Here they may
either make a small blis-
ter-like cavity and hiber-
nate over winter, or if
hatched earlier they may
feed on the sap wood or
occasionally bore into the
stem and become one-
quarter inch or more long
before winter. The next
season the larvae bore
in the lower stem and
roots, but the nature
of the injury differs
as observed in different
places. In New Jersey,
Dr. J. B. Smith states
that the larvae girdle the
stem at the crown, caus-
ing the plants to die. In
spring they abandon the
old wood and attack new
shoots, but he observed
none entering the stems.
In Washington, the in-
fested plants seldom
show any signs of the
presence of the borers
other than a poor

FIG. 328. — Raspberry root-borer (Bembeda
marginata Harr.): a, female and male
larvae full grown; b, male and female pupa?;
c, female, and d, male moths resting on
leaf; e, e, eggs — slightly reduced. (After
Lawrence.)

growth, though occasionally a few hills will die where the roots have
been badly riddled by the larvae, the injury being mostly in the

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY 461

roots. " The borer," according to Lawrence, " first enters the roots
and tunnels through them promiscuously until the second spring,
and then directs its course upward, entering and eating the pith of
the cane for a distance of one to five inches." At the end of the
first summer the larva is one-half to three-quarters inch long. By
the middle of the second summer the larva is full grown and
bores an exit hole through the wood and bark just above the
crown, leaving the hole covered by the epidermis only. The
larva then descends into the tunnel and pupates.

The pupa is about three-quarters inch long, reddish-brown, the

FIG. 329.— - Work of the raspberry root-borer: a, two canes with empty pupa
oases projecting from burrows; b, canes showing opening of tunnel
through which pupae have wriggled out. (After Lawrence.)

head bears a sharp-pointed process, and each abdominal segment
bears two transverse rows of sharp teeth. By means of these the
pupa wriggles itself out of the burrow until it projects from the
aperture, and the adult moth emerges. This insect occurs through-
out the Middle and Northern States east of the Rockies, is injurious
in Washington and around Vancouver, B.C., and has been
observed in Colorado and New Mexico.

'Control. — The only method of control is to pull up the infested
canes, root and branch, and destroy them by burning. As this
is the only means of controlling "several pests of cane fruits, the

462 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

canes should always be gone over in spring and those showing
any injury examined and removed if affected.

The Raspberry Cane-borer *

If the tips of the young shoots of raspberry and blackberry
are found withered and dying they have probably been girdled
by the cane-borer. The adult beetle is about one-half inch long
with a slender, cylindrical body and long antennae, and of a deep
black color except the prothorax, which is yellow with two or
three black spots, though these are sometimes lacking.

Life History. — -The beetles appear in early summer and the
females girdle the young tips by cutting two rings around the

FIG. 330. — The raspberry cane-borer (Oberea bimaculata Oliv.): adult, larva,
and larval castings — all enlarged. (After Lugger.)

shoot about an inch apart, causing the tip to wither and droop.
Between these rings will be found a small dark spot where- the
female has inserted an egg in the cane. A rather large, elliptical,
yellow egg is placed in the pith of the cane and in a few days
hatches into a small white grub. The larv® burrow downward

* Oberea bimaculata Oliv. Family Cerambycidce. See Comstock and
Slingerland, Bulletin 23, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 122.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY 463

through the pith of the stems, the burrows winding from side
to side and frequently penetrating the side of the stem, where
openings are made every few inches, through which long strings
of excrement are cast out. By fall they have bored to the base
of the cane, in which they hibernate over winter. The full-
grow^ larva is about one inch long, of a dull yellow color, with
a small dark-brown head. The body is quite cylindrical and

FIG. 331.— Egg of the rasp-
berry cane-borer, showing
girdling of cane. (Photo
by Headlee.)

FIG. 332. — Young grubs and exit hole
of the raspberry cane-borer. (Photo
by Headlee.)

the segments constricted as shown in Fig. 330. The pupal stage is
passed in the burrow during the spring. Although it has been gen-
erally assumed that the life cycle is passed in a single year, there is
some reason for believing that two years may be required. The
eggs are usually laid only in the young tips, but Comstock and
Slingerland found larvae somewhat over half grown which had made
burrows only two inches long in old canes in late July, and Professor
Webster has secured larvae over half grown in early June. Possibly,

464 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

therefore, two years may be required for maturing a generation,
and the fact that the pest does not increase may be due to the
cutting back of the injured tips of the young canes.

Control. — As soon as the tips are seen to droop they should
be cut off below the point girdled and burned. When the entire
canes die from the effect of being tunneled, they should be cut
in late summer before the larva? have gone to the base to hiber-
nate. Where such measures are practised the pest may be effec-
tively controlled.

The Snowy Tree-cricket *

When the canes fail to put out leaves in the spring and are
found to be dead, this often proves to be due to a long ragged
wound like that shown in Fig. 334a. " If the rough surface of
the wound be cut away with a knife, the injury will be found to
consist of a longitudinal series of punctures placed close together.
By splitting the cane the nature of the injury can be seen even
better. Such a section is shown at b in the figure. The punctures

extend through the woody part of
the cane into the pith, and here
there is in each an oblong, cylin-
drical egg. One of these eggs is
represented enlarged at c. The
insect which thus seriously injures
the raspberry canes in preparing
a safe receptacle for its eggs is
a delicate greenish-white cricket.
On account of its color and its
habit of living among the foliage
of trees and shrubs, it has received
the popular name of the Snowy
Tree-cricket. Fig. 3336 represents the male. Its wing-covers are
crossed by oblique thickenings or ribs, which form part of the musi-

FIG. 333. — The snowy tree-
cricket (Oecanthus niveus De
G.): a, female; b, male — en-
larged. (After Summers.)

* (Ecanthus niveus DeG. Family Gryllidoe. See Comstock and Slinger-
land, Bulletin 23, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 124; H. O. Houghtoh,
Entomological News, Vol. XIV, p. 57.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY 465

cal apparatus of the insect. The female, Fig. 333a, differs some-

what in appearance from the fact that the wing-covers are wrapped

closely about the body, making the insect much narrower than

her mate." (Comstock and Slingerland, I.e.) The cry of these

tree-crickets is well known, sounding much

like that of the katy-did, but is less

rasping and more monotonous. They are

heard in early evening until well into

the night, and in the North their chirp

is the most noticeable of all the insect

noises at that time. This species is

quite widely distributed and frequently

oviposits in the tender twigs of fruit

trees, which are similarly injured, and

in the stalks of cotton and various woody

weeds.

Life History. — The eggs are laid in the
fall and hatch in the late spring. The
nymphs feed mostly on plant-lice and
other insects, as do the adults, and though
they occasionally nibble foliage, they are
never injurious, and both nymphs and
adults must be regarded as beneficial as
far as their feeding habits are concerned.
In the North the nymphs become full
grown late in July, and there is but one
generation a year, but in Texas they
become full grown late in June and eggs
laid in early July hatch in about two weeks;
nymphs are common in late summer, and
the adults of the second generation in fall.

Control. — By examining the canes as soon as the foliage
starts, those injured may be detected and should be cut
out' and burned. If not numerous enough to do appreciable
damage they may be ignored.

FIG. 334.— Raspberry
stem injured by the
snowy tree-cricket :
a, wound made by
egg - punctures ; b,
longitudinal section
through same show-
ing eggs in pith; c,
egg enlarged ; d, cap
of egg, more enlarged .
(After Riley.)

466 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Red-necked Cane-borer *

Sometimes the canes of raspberry and blackberry are found
with one or more elongate galls, not over one-third larger in
diameter than the normal cane, and usually with numerous slits,
which have been called the " gouty gall." The infested shoots

FIG. 335. — The red-necked cane-borer (A(,r'lus ruficollis Fab.): beetle,
larva, and gall — all much enlarged. (After Riley.)

may throw out leaves, but they rarely ripen fruit and usually die
during the season. By opening the gall it will be found that only
the bark has been injured by a spiral channel which girdles the
stem and causes the gall-like thickening of the bark. Above
the swelling evidence will be found of the borer's work in the

* Agrittus ruficollis Fab. Family Buprestidce . See J. B. Smith, 12th
Report, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 373; and F. M. Webster, I.e., p. 191.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY 467

pith, and from one to six inches above the gall the slender white
larva will be found at work.

There seems to be considerable difference in the susceptibility
of varieties, Dr. Smith observing that the " Wilson " and black-
cap raspberries are badly infested, while the " Missouri Mammoth "
and others were unharmed.

Life History. — The eggs are laid in June, but have not been
observed. Whether laid on the stalk or on a leaf, the young larva
enters the bark at the axil of a leaf-stem, and eats around the

FIG. 336. — Work of the red-necked cane-borer: a, tracks of young larvae,
the bark sliced away to show burrows and forming gall ridges; b, section
through galls on main cane and lateral showing track of larva through
bark and pith and pupal cell. (After J. B. Smith.)

stem in a long spiral. By early August the galls commence to
form where the bark, has been girdled, though sometimes no gall
results from the injury, and the larvae mine into the pith. The
larvae probably become practically full grown in the fall and remain
in their burrows over winter, in which they transform to pupae
in late April, in New Jersey, and the beetles emerge in late May
and June. The parent beetle is not over one-third inch long,
flattened, with a small wide head, and tapers at the tip of the
abdomen. It has brownish-black wing-covers with a bronzy
lustre, and the neck and thorax are coppery-red or brassy. The

468 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

full-grown larva is five-eighths to three-quarters inch long, with
a small brown head, a much-expanded prothorax which looks
like the head, and a slender, cylindrical, white body, surmounted
by two slender brown horns at the tip of the abdomen.

This cane-borer is a native pest, very common in wild raspberries
and blackberries, and occurs generally throughout the country.

Control. — Obviously it may be readily controlled by cutting off
the infested canes below the galls and burning them. This should
be done any time before May. Where wild canes are infested
near those cultivated they should be included in the pruning.

The Blackberry Gall-maker *

The so-called " pithy gall " of the blackberry is an elongated.

FIG. 337. — The pithy-gall of the blackberry: a, gall; b, section of same showing

larvae in cells; c, larva enlarged and natural size; d, pupa. (After Riley.)

* Diastrophus turgidus Bass. Family Cynipidee.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY 469

pithy swelling from one to three inches long and nearly an inch
in diameter, red or reddish-brown, with the surface divided by
deep longitudinal furrows into four or five ridges or parts. The
gall is caused by the larvae of a small black gall-fly, which is
about one-twelfth inch long, with red feet and antennee and four
transparent wings, almost lacking wing-veins. The insect passes
the winter in the larval stage in the galls, and if one be opened
at that season, there will be found about the middle a number of
cells about one-eighth inch long, each of which contains a single
larva. The larva " is about one-tenth inch long, white, with the
mouth-parts reddish, and the breathing pores and an oval spot
on each side behind the head of the same color." They change
to pup83 in spring and the flies appear a little later. Though
this gall is also very common on wild canes it rarely does
much injury.

Control. — The affected canes should be cut and burned during
the winter.

The Raspberry-cane Maggot *

The tips of young raspberry shoots sometimes droop and wilt
in the spring in much the same manner as when affected by the
cane-borer later in the season, and though blackberry shoots are
similarly affected they usually recover, but bear small gall-like
swellings like those shown in Fig. 339. This is the work of a small
white maggot, nearly related to and looking much the same as the
cabbage-maggot (p. 347), which girdles the inner bark of the
stem. Injury has been observed in New York, Canada, Michigan,
Pennsylvania, and recently it has become a serious pest in Wash-
ington, so that it is undoubtedly much more widely distributed
than the records indicate. The parent fly, shown in Fig. 338,
is grayish black, much resembling the house-fly, but slightly
smaller.

Life History. — The flies appear in April and deposit their eggs
as soon as the shoots are well above ground, continuing until early

* Phorbia rubivora Coquillet. Family Anthomyidce . See Slingerland,
Bulletin 126, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 54; W. H. Lawrence, Bulletin
62, Wash. Agr Exp. Sta.

470 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

June. The white egg (Fig. 338, c) is elongate, about one-fifteenth
inch long, and is laid in the axil of a young leaf at the tip of a
shoot (Fig. 33$, d). The egg hatches in a few days, and the little

FIG. 338. — The raspberry cane-maggot (Phorbia rubivora Coquillet): a, adult
female fly; much enlarged; b, raspberry shoots girdled by the maggot,
natural size; c, egg much enlarged; d, tips of shoots each bearing an egg
in natural position in the leaf axils, natural size. (After Slingerland.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY

maggot burrows into the pith of the shoot, leaving a conspicuous
entrance hole, which becomes blackish. It tunnels downward,
making a small tortuous channel, and after boring for a few days
about half way down the shoot, it works its way out to just
beneath the bark and tunnels around the shoot, often in a spiral,
so as to completely girdle it, and usually eats a small hole through
the bark at this point. The maggot continues to feed on the
pith at this point so as to nearly sever the shoot, the tip of which
soon wilts and droops, turning a deep blue color. On blackberry
shoots, however, the bark is so thick that although the tip droops

FIG. 339. — Gall-like swelling on living blackberry canes caused by the rasp-
berry cane-maggot. (After Lawrence.)

for a few days, it usually revives and the girdling forms a circular,
gall-like swelling, though even blackberries are often killed.
Affected shoots usually branch from below the girdled point,
making a bushy growth. Lawrence states that later in the
season lateral shoots are also attacked. He also observes that
maggots never develop in living . canes. The maggot continues
to burrow downward in the pith and becomes full grown in June,
When it pupates at the lower end of the burrow. The puparia
are to be found in the lower part of the affected stalk in June
and July, but the adult flies do not emerge until the next spring.
Control. — As soon as the young tips are seen to droop they

472 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

should be cut off several inches below the girdled point and
burned. This may be done best late in May or in June after all
the eggs are laid.

The Raspberry Saw-fly *

Occasionally raspberry leaves, as well as those of blackberry
and dewberry, are skeletonized in May by small green, spiny
saw-fly larvae, which sometimes quite defoliate the plant. Such
injury has been commonly noted in the Eastern and Central
States. The adult female is a typical saw-fly about one-quarter
inch long and with a wing expanse of one-half inch. The body
and wings are black except the second to sixth abdominal seg-
ments, which are yellowish-white, and the under side is rusty.
The male is somewhat smaller and is entirely black except the
shoulders, which are yellowish- white.

Life History.- — The adults appear about the middle of May
in central New York, and the females deposit their eggs late in
that month. The eggs are inserted just under the cuticle of the
under surface of the leaf, and the tissue around them turns
yellowish, so that infested leaves soon become spotted on the upper
surface. The egg is nearly pear-shaped, yellowish-white, about
one-twentieth inch long, and hatches in seven to ten days. As
many as twenty-four eggs have been observed in a single leaf, and
frequently the leaves are so spotted as to be readily recognized.
The 3'oung larva is about one-twelfth inch long, yellowish-white
or pale yellowish-green and well covered with spiny tubercles, tne
spines being first white and later dark brown. The young larvae
feed on the soft parts of the leaf, but as they grow older all but the
midrib and larger veins are devoured. The mature larva is about
three-quarters inch long, from light yellowish-green to dark green,
closely simulating the color of the foliage, and the body is covered
with transverse rows of tubercles, bearing a varying number of
strong, barbed spines, which are dark brown on the back and
pale green or white along the sides. The larva feeds for about ten

* Monophadnus rubi Harris. Family Tenthredinidce. See V. H. Lowe,
Bulletin 150, X. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta.

FIG. 340. — The raspberry saw-fly (Monophadnus rubi Harr.): a, male; 6,
female; c, egg blisters on leaf; d, larva; e, cocoons— all much enlarged.
(After Lowe.)

474 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

days and then enters the soil for from two to three inches and
there constructs a small oval cocoon about one-third inch long,
which looks like a pellet of earth, being formed of a brown mucilag-
inous substance, interwoven with coarse strands of silk, to which
particles of earth adhere. The larva then hibernates until the
next spring, when it transforms to the pupa and in a few days
the adult appears, usually early in May.

Control. — By suddenly jarring or shaking the bushes the
larvae will drop to the soil. On light soils this habit may be
utilized for their destruction by jarring them to the ground and
following with cultivators so as to bury the larva? in the loose soil.
This will be particularly applicable in hot weather, if the soil is
hot and dusty, when most of the larvae will be killed before
regaining the plants. By frequent cultivation in late summer or
fall the cocoons might be brought to the surface and some of the
larvae might be thus killed during the winter, though this needs
testing, as they are fairly well protected. The Iarva3 may be
readily killed with arsenical sprays, and if arsenate of lead were
applied at the rate of 3 pounds per barrel just as the plants
commence to flower, it would undoubtedly control the pest with
no possibility of spotting the fruit, or Paris green with Bordeaux
mixture might be used in the same way. If careful watch is
kept for the pest it can probably be detected in time to apply
the arsenicals, which will be much the easiest and most effective
to use, but if not observed until the canes are fruiting they should
be sprayed with hellebore, 1 ounce to 1 gallon of water. Hellebore
may be dusted on the plants mixed with twice its weight of
flour, but the spraying may be done more thoroughly.

The Raspberry Byturus *

The Raspberry Byturus is a small brown beetle belonging

\ to the same family as the larder and carpet beetles, most of which

feed on animal matter. It is about one-seventh inch long,

reddish-yellow or reddish-brown, and covered with a thick coat

* Byturus unicolor Say. Family Dermestidce. See W. H. Goodwin,
Bulletin 202, Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO RASPBERRY AND BLACKBERRY 475

of pale, tawny hairs. The beetles appear about the middle of
May in northern Ohio. They feed on the tender foliage and eat
into the flower buds, and
sometimes emerge in such
numbers that the young foli-
age is skeletonized and many
of the flower buds do not
develop. Though the eggs are
laid in June, they - have not
been observed. The larvae
appear in late June and July
and feed in the fleshy head on which the berry is born, causing
the affected berries to ripen earlier, making them small and unfit
for market. Furthermore the little larvae not infrequently

FIG. 341. — Larva and adult of
the raspberry byturus — enlarged.
(After Goodwin.)

FIG. 342. — Early ripening berries, the smaller ones infested with Byturus
larvae. (After Goodwin.)

remain in the cup of the berry, which necessitates picking teh
berries over and injures their sale. The larva is about one-

476 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

quarter inch long, rather plump and cylindrical, and tapering
at each end. The body is white, but each segment is marked
across the back with a broad, tawny yellow band, and numerous
short white hairs. When full grown the larva drops to the
ground and forms an earthen cell just beneath the surface, in
which it transforms to a yellowish pupa, from which the beetle
emerges the next spring. Only red raspberries seem to be affected,
and some varieties are particularly injured. The insect has been
reported as injurious from Minnesota to Massachusetts and in
Ontario.

Control. — Inasmuch as the beetles feed freely on the foliage
before ovipositing they may be destroyed by spraying the leaves
with arsenatc of lead. Mr. Goodwin has shown that where
foliage was sprayed with 4 pounds per barrel, that three-fourths
of the subsequent injury to the berries by the larvae was prevented
by the destruction of the beetles, and the injury to the flower
buds was also lessened. Thorough cultivation in the fall close
around the bushes will probably destroy many of the pupae by
exposing them to winter weather.

CHAPTER XXIV

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY
The Imported Currant-borer *

ONE of the worst pests of the currant and gooseberry is the
borer, which tunnels out the canes and where abundant frequently
kills the plants. It is a European insect which has spread to
all parts of this country where these fruits are grown. The
adult is one of the clear-winged moths and with the larva is very

FIG. 343. — The imported currant-borer (Aegeria tipuliformis Clerck): moth,
larva, and empty pupal skin left protruding from burrow. (After
Lugger.)

similar in appearance and habits to the raspberry root-borer
(p. 459). The moth is about one-half inch long with a wing-
expanse of three-quarters inch. The body is black with a steel-
blue lustre, with a bright yellow band around the neck and three

* Mgeria tipuliformis Clerck. Family Sesiidoe. See Lugger, 1st Report
Minn. State Entomologist, p. 184.

477

478 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

yellow bands across the abdomen, which bears a large tuft of
long scales at the tip. The wings are clear except for a margin
of blackish scales and a band across the fore-wings about one-
third from the tip.

Life History. — The moths appear in June and deposit their
small globular, brown eggs in the axils of the leaves next the
canes, or under scales or in cracks of the canes. The young
caterpillars bore into the pith of the canes, which they tunnel out,
and are about half grown by winter, when they descend to the
bottom of the burrows and hibernate. In the spring they con-
tinue their work and become full grown by May. The full-
grown larva is slightly over one-half inch long, of a yellowish
color, with brown head, and with numerous small tubercles over
the body. It cuts a hole through the side of the burrow, which
it closes with small chippings, and then transforms to the pupa.
When the moth is ready to emerge the pupa wriggles itself pactly
out of the burrow by means of the strong spines on the abdomen,
and the moth comes forth. Affected canes can be recognized
by the dwarfed and yellow foliage and the general unhealthy
appearance of the plant, and if not removed will usually die during
the season.

Control. — The only method of control is to keep all the old
wood removed and to cut out and burn all affected canes in fall
or early spring, whenever the injury may best be detected.

r.,. >

The Currant-stem Girdler *

In late spring, after the young currant-shoots have reached
a growth of several inches, two or three inches of the tips some-
times wilt, and fall over and hang suspended or drop to the ground.
If examination shows that the tip has been girdled by several
sharp cuts, it is probably the work of the Currant-stem Girdler.
It is a native insect which was first described from Massachusetts,
and has also been found injurious in Rhode Island, Canada, Ohio

* Janus integer Norton. Family Tenthredinidce. See Slingerland, Bul-
letin 126, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.; F. H. Chittenden, Bulletin No. 40,
Bureau of Forestry, pp. 68-70.

FIG. 344. — The currant stem-girdler (Janus integer Norton): a, female at
work girdling a currant stem — natural size; b, girdled portion of stem
much enlarged to show character of girdle; c, stem cut open to show
egg; d, egg — much enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

47'J

480 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and Michigan, but has been most troublesome in New York.
It has also been noted as a pest of willow and poplar in Mary-
land, and of basket willow in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, so
that it is doubtless quite generally distributed. The adult insect
is a slender saw-fly with shining black body and light brownish
legs, shown natural size in Fig. 344a. The male is smaller and
has a brownish-yellow abdomen, while in the female the first
half of the abdomen is reddish-orange and the rest is black. The
adults are abroad in May, but are very shy and are seldom seen.

FIG. 345. — Currant stem girdled by the stem-girdler. (After Slingerland.)

They are saw-flies in the truest sense of that term, for the female
makes most effective use of her saw-like ovipositor, as has been
very interestingly described and illustrated by Professor Slinger-
land. The ovipositor is thrust into the cane 'for its whole length,
and through it the egg is deposited in the pith. The egg is an
elongate-oval shape, yellowish-white, and about one-twenty-fifth
inch long (Fig. 344d). Immediately the female moves an inch
or two higher and girdles the stalk by numerous thrusts of her
ovipositor, which is thrust in and then given a twist to one side
so that it comes out at one side of where it was forced in, and
makes a horizontal cut. The eggs are laid in late May and early

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY 481

June and hatch in about eleven days. The young larvae bore
into the pith, but the tunnel rarely extends over six inches below
the point girdled. The full-grown larva is hardly one-half inch
long, of a glistening straw-yellow color, with darker head. The
thoracic segments are wider than the others and bear rudimentary
feet, and from the tip of the stout, cylindrical abdomen projects
a horny, brown bifid spine. In the fall the borer cleans out its
burrow at the lower end and eats a hole through the woody wall
of the stem to the outer bark, which sinks in at this point. The
grub then spins a thin silken cocoon about itself, in which it
hibernates over winter, transforming to a whitish pupa in April,
from which the adult emerges early in May. The girdling of
the stalks is the principal injury, and those which harbor the pest
may be recognized, even in winter, by the characteristic dead
stubs, cut off squarely at the upper end.

Control. — The drooping of the tips in May is soon noticed
and during June they should be cut off about three inches lower
down and burned, or if the pruning is left until winter the infested
stubs should be cut off about eight inches below the point girdled,
as the larvae rarely tunnel deeper.

The Four-lined Leaf -bug *

This is one of our most common leaf-bugs, which has a long
list of food plants, but is particularly injurious to the young
foliage of currant and gooseberry. The adult bug is easily
recognized, as the upper surface is a dark green with four stripes
and the tips of the wing-covers black, as shown in Fig. 346. The
green changes to yellow after death and the body is bright orange-
yellow, and the legs green. The " presence of the pest is indicated
by the appearance of the peculiar brown depressed spots on the
tender terminal leaves " in early summer. " As the attack con-
tinues, whole leaves turn brown, curl up, become brittle, and are
torn or broken by the wind. The young shoot is checked and
frequently droops and dies. The buds of dahlias and roses are

* Poecilocapsus lineatus Fab. Family Capsidoe. See Slingerland, Bul-
etin 58, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.

482 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

often blasted." Slingerland gives a list of some fifty-seven food-
plants, including all sorts of crops, ornamental plants and weeds.
Parsnip, mint, sage, rose, deutzia, dahlia, and others are often
badly injured. The species has been observed from Canada to
Georgia and westward to the Dakotas, so that it is probably
generally distributed east of the Rockies.

Life History. — The nymphs hatch from the overwintering eggs
in late May and early June and are very largely responsible
for the injury to the foliage. The newly hatched nymph is only

a b

FIG. 346. — The four-lined leaf -bug (Poecilocapsus lineaius Fab.): a, adult;
b, cross-section of stem showing eggs in position and a single egg greatly
enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

about one-twentieth inch long, but is easily recognized by the
shining vermilion-red color of the body, marked with large blackish
spots on the thorax and with greenish-black antenna? and legs.
The nymphs grow rapidly, becoming full grown in seventeen to
twenty days after hatching, during wrhich time they have molted
five times. The full-grown nymph is about one-fifth inch long,
bright orange yellow, and the black wing-pads extend half way
to the end of the abdomen and bear a yellowish green stripe near
the outer margin. The nymphs feed on the tenderest young
leaves, sucking out the juices and soft tissue through their tiny

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY 483

beaks, and thus causing the spots mentioned. " As the nymphs
increase in size the spots are a little larger and more numerous,
until not only hundreds occur on a single leaf, but often nearly
all the parenchyma is taken from the leaf." The nymphs are
very active and dart from one side of. the leaf to the other when
disturbed. The adult bugs appear about the middle of June
and are active for a month or more, when they disappear. They
mate and the females commence to lay eggs about a week after

FIG. 347. — Currant leaf spotted by the nymphs of the four-lined leaf-bug.

(After Slingerland.)

they first appear. The female is furnished with a strong ovipositor
with which she inserts the eggs in slits cut lengthwise into the
stems of the plants extending nearly half way through the pith.
A half-dozen or more eggs are packed together in the small slit,
which may be one-eighth inch long. The individual egg is about
one-sixteenth inch long, light yellow, and shaped as in Fig. 346e',
with the upper third capped by a white, finely striated portion.
" With the growth of the surrounding tissue of the stem, the eggs

484 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

arc usually forced out of the slit somewhat, so that about one-half
... of the white portion of the egg projects from the slit."
Most of the slits are made two or three inches, rarely over six
inches, below the tender tips.

Control. — Experiments indicate that the nymphs may be
killed by spraying them with kerosene emulsion containing 10
per cent kerosene. Tobacco extracts should also be tried. The

FIG. 348. — Currant leaves killed by the four-lined leaf-bug. (After Slinger-

land.)

adults are not susceptible to this treatment, however. Both
nymphs and adults will drop from the foliage when disturbed,
and Professor Slingerland has suggested that they might be j arred
into a pan of kerosene. By drawing pans, such as constructed
for combating the pea-aphis (p. 326), between the rows and
jarring the bugs into them, many might be destroyed. As the
eggs are readily recognized, the tips containing them should be
cut off and destroyed during the winter.

The Currant-aphis *

The young foliage of currants, and sometimes of gooseber-
ries, is often found curled up in late spring with many bladder-

* Myzus ribis Linn. Family Aphididae. See V. H. Lowe, Bulletin 139,
N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 660. Another species, Rhopalosiphum ribis Linn.,
is also common on currant and is described and figured by Mr. Lowe.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY 485

like galls on the leaves, inside of which are found the numerous
yellowish-green plant-lice which have caused them. The wing-
less females are about one-twelfth inch long, yellowish-green
or green, mottled with darker shades, and with bright red eyes.
The winged female is slightly longer, with wings expanding one-
third inch. It is bright greenish-yellow, with pale olive head,
thoracic lobes brown, and the abdomen is marked by several dark
transverse bands and lateral spots. It is an old European

FIG. 349. — Currant foliage curled by aphides. (AftenLowe.)

species and is probably found throughout the United States where
currants are grown.

Life History. — The life history is practically the same as that
of several other aphides previously described and need not be
rehearsed in detail. The small black eggs are found on the stalks
in winter and hatch just as the foliage appears. The aphides
multiply on the foliage, causing it to curl as described, until
midsummer, when they either migrate to some other food-plant
or become greatly reduced in numbers through the attacks of
parasites and predaceous insects, which are very effective in the
control of this species. Mr. Lowe states that a few females may
be found on the foliage throughout the summer. In late October

486 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

winged males appear and mate with the true females, which thci
lay the eggs.

Control. — The aphides may be readily killed by spraying wit)
kerosene emulsion, whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 6 gallons of water
or tobacco extracts, but the spraying must be done before th
foliage becomes badly curled. Ordinarily they may be hel<
in check by picking off the curled leaves by hand.

The Imported Currant-worm *

' The most destructive insect that attacks the currant," say
Professor Lugger, " is the above-named saw-fly, which feed

FIG. 350. — The imported currant-worm (Pteronus ribesii Scop.): a, male anc
female saw-flies; b, larvae; c, pupa; d, cocoon; e, eggs — all enlarged
(After Lugger.)

indiscriminately on all kinds of currants and gooseberries. The
imported species is supposed to have been accidentally introduced

* Pteronus ribesii Scop. Family Tenthredinidce. See Lugger, Bulletin
43, Minn. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 179; C. L. Marlatt, Bulletin 3, Tech. Series,
Div. Ent., p. 61.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY 487

into this country about the year 1857, and has since spread over
the greater part of the United States and Canada. The eggs are
glued to the main-ribs of the leaf as shown in Fig. 350, and not
inserted into pockets, as is usually the case with saw-flies. . . .
In from four to ten days the egg hatches into a veiy small whitish
caterpillar with a white head and ornamented with black spots
on each side. This color, however, changes to green as soon as
the caterpillars begin to feed, and after their first skin is shed,
the head becomes black and many black spots appear on the body.
This coloration persists until the last molt when the insect becomes
grass-green. The head, however, retains the black spots on
each side. The length of the worm is now about three-fourths
of an inch. While growing they at first skeletonize the leaves;
later they eat the entire leaf, with the exception of the ribs, and at
last they devour immense quantities of them, often completely
stripping the bushes of their foliage. If this is repeated year after
year, the plants produce less and less fruit and eventually die.
The larva now descend to the ground, in which they spin a small,
oval cocoon of brownish silk, either just below the surface of
the ground or among the leaves and rubbish that collect below the
plants. Inside these cocoons they change to pupae and later
to adults, which are ready to issue as winged saw-flies during the
last of June or in July (in Minnesota), sometimes not until the
first of August. They now pair and produce a new generation
of injurious worms . . ., the adults of which do not, however,
issue until the following spring. As the two broods overlap,
we can find Iarva3 of all stages during the greater part of the
summer." The adult saw-flies are well illustrated in Fig. 350.
The female is about one-third inch long, of a light yellowish color
marked with blackish as shown in the figure, while the male is
smaller and rather darker.
Control. — See page 488.

The Native Currant-worm *

The native currant-worm is not usually so destructive as the
European species, but occasionally becomes injurious and is
* Gymnonychus appendiculatus Hartig. Family Tenthredinidae.

488 INSECT PESTS OP FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

widely distributed, occurring from New England to Minnesota
and Colorado, in British Columbia, and probably in the
Pacific States. The larva is about two-thirds the size of the
imported species, but is uniformly pale-green except the head
which* is black until the last molt, after which it becomes partly
green. One generation of larvaB appears in late June and another
in August. The cocoons are usually attached to the twigs or
leaves of the bushes. The female saw-fly is dull black with dull
yellow head, and honey-yellow legs.

Control. — While fruiting the foliage should be dusted or sprayed
with hellebore, which is the time-honored remedy for currant-
worms (p. 47). However, before the fruit has set and after it
is picked, spraying with arsenicals will be much cheaper and more
effective, and as it is often desirable to spray gooseberries for
diseases with Bordeaux mixture, by adding arsenate of lead or
Paris green to it, the worms may be easily controlled.

The Currant Span-worm *

The Currant Span-worm is readily distinguished from the other
currant " worms," by being one of the measuring-worms or inch-
worms which loop along as shown in Fig. 351. It is not frequently
very destructive, but occasionally becomes a pest, more par-
ticularly of black currants and gooseberries, throughout the
eastern half of the country. The caterpillar is slightly over an
inch long when full grown, and of a whitish color with a wide
yellow stripe down the back, another along each side, and several
black spots on each segment. The under side is white with a
slight pinkish tinge, with a broad yellow median stripe, and is also
spotted with black. The moth has a wing expanse of about 1£
inches, is a pale yellowish color, with several brownish spots,
varying in size and sometimes forming one or two irregular bands
across the wings.

Life History. — The eggs (Fig. Sola) are laid in midsummer on

* Cymatophora ribearia Fitch. Family Geometridce.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY 489

the twigs of the infested plants and hatch as the bushes come
into full leaf the next spring. The caterpillars become full
grown in three or four weeks, when they pupate just beneath
the surface of the soil, and two or three weeks later the
moths emerge.

Control. — Hellebore is not as effective as against the saw-fly
larvae and as the larvae usually appear before the fruit is setting,
they may be better controlled by spraying with arsenicals. When

FIG. 351.— The currant span-worm (Cymatomorpha riberia Pitch): 1, 2, larvae;
3, pupa; a, egg; b, eggs on twig; c, moth — a, much enlarged, others
natural size. (After Saunders. )

the caterpillars are disturbed they drop from the foliage, letting
themselves down by a silken thread and remaining suspended in
mid-air until danger is over, when they reascend'the thread.
This habit may be utilized for their destruction by jarring the
bush so that they will drop, and then passing a forked stick around
it so that all the threads may be caught and the caterpillars may
be drawn out in groups and crushed with the foot.

490 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Currant-fly *

Currants and gooseberries sometimes turn red and drop pre-
maturely, due to the injury of small maggots which may be found
within them. The insect has been troublesome in Maine and is
sometimes a serious pest in Colorado. It is a native insect and is
probably generally distributed throughout the northern United
States and southern Canada. The adult fly is about the size of
a house-fly, a pale yellowish or yellowish-brown color, with dark

FIG. 352.- — The currant-fly (Epochra canadensis Loew.) — much enlarged.

(After Gillette.)

bands across the wings, and a tapering abdomen, as shown in
Fig. 352.

Life History. — The flies appear in late spring and the females
deposit their eggs in the older berries. A female will lay about
200 eggs during the period of a month, placing but one in a berry,
so that a single fly may do considerable damage. The white egg
is about one-twenty-fifth inch long and laid just under the skin,

* Epochra canadensis Loew. Family Trypetidce. See F. L. Harvey,
Bulletin 35, Maine Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY 491

where it is easily seen. The egg hatches in a few days into a
small white maggot, which burrows around the berry and then
feeds upon the seeds. The location of the larva may be seen, as
the infested currant soon shows a clouded appearance and finally
turns red and a black spot appears. The maggot becomes full
grown in about three weeks and then eats its way out of the berry,
which has usually fallen to the ground. The mature maggot
enters the soil for about an inch and there changes to the pupa,
from which the fly emerges the next spring.

Control. — As the maggots usually remain in the berries a few
days after they drop, all fallen berries should be frequently
picked up and destroyed. Poultry running among the bushes
will do this very effectually. Other methods will suggest them-
selves from the above life history, but none seems to have been
carefully tested.

CHAPTER XXV

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE *
The Grapevine Phylloxera f

THIS insect is native east of the Rocky Mountains, where it
has always lived upon wild vines and did no.t attract attention
until it was imported into France about 1859, as it does practically
no damage to the native American grapes. It soon spread through
the principal wine districts of southern Europe, where it caused

FIG. 353. — The grapevine phylloxera (Phylloxera vastatrix Planchon): a, true
sexual female, the dark colored area indicating the single egg; b, egg;
c, shrivelled female after oviposition; d, foot of same; e, rudimentary and
functionless mouth-parts. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

immense losses and the temporary abandonment of vineyards,
due to the fact that the European varieties are very susceptible
and readily succumb to injury by it. It has spread to southern
Russia and the adjoining countries of Asia and Algeria, and has
been carried to New Zealand and South Africa. In this country

*See A. L. Quaintance, Farmers' Bulletin 284, U. S. Dept. Agr.; H. J.
Quayle, Bulletin 192, Cal. Agr. Exp. Sta.; F. Z. Hartzell, Bulletin 331, N. Y.
Agr. Exp. Sta.

f Phylloxera vastatrix Planchon. Family Aphididoe. See C. L. Marlatt
Farmers' Bulletin 70, U. S. Dept. Agr., and Quayle, 1. c.

492

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

493

it is injurious only in California, where it was imported on French
vines about 1S74. rt was first noticed in Sonoma County and
since then has spread to all the principal grape-growing regions
north of Tehachapi and has probably destroyed 50,000 acres.

This aphid exists in several forms, which injure both foliage
and roots. On the leaves irregular spherical galls are produced,
and the root-inhabiting form produces galls on the roots. The
lea£-galls are very common on American grapes, but are no
indication of the presence of the root form, as the roots are rarely
injured where the foliage is covered with leaf-galls. On the other
hand the European varieties rarely exhibit any leaf-galls, but are

FIG. 354. — Under side of grape leaf showing galls caused by Pyylloxera.

(After Riley.)

very susceptible to the root phylloxera, which multiplies without
any external indication of its presence until the vine is seriously
injured. The injury to the vine is not due so much to the sap
taken from the vine by the myriads of aphides which may inhabit
the roots, as to their poisonous effect on the root tissue and its
subsequent decay. Wherever the phylloxera attack the roots,
small swellings are produced, composed of soft tissue, which soon
decays. When such a gall is formed at the end of a young root,
its growth is stopped, and on larger roots a decay sets in which
finally girdles the root and all below the injured point dies. As

494 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

all the roots become affected the vine stops growing, the leaves
become sickly and yellowish, and the vine dies, and the phyl-
loxera disappears from the rotting roots, so that the cause of the
injury would be obscure were the nature of the injury not known.
Life History. — The life history of the phylloxera is a com-
plicated one, involving four different forms of aphides; the leaf-
gall form, the root or destructive form, the winged or colonizing
form, and the sexual form. The winter eggs are deposited on the
rough bark of the old wood in the fall and hatch the following

FIG. 355. — The grapevine phylloxera: a, winged migrating female; b, last
stage of nymph of some; c, mouth-parts with thread-like sucking seta?
removed from sheath; d, and e, eggs of male and female, showing sculp-
turing— all enlarged. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

spring. The young aphides settle on the leaves, where the irrita-
tion caused by their mouth-parts soon causes a depression around
each which forms a gall projecting on the lower side of the leaf.
" In about fifteen days the louse becomes a plump orange-yellow,
full-grown, wingless female, and fills its gall with small yellow
eggs, dying soon' after. The eggs hatch in about eight days into
young females again like the parent, and migrate to all parts of
the vine to form new galls. Six or seven generations of these
wingless females follow one another throughout the summer,

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

495

frequently completely studding the leaves with galls." In
California the young hatching from the winter eggs go directly
to the roots where they give rise tp new colonies, there being no
gall forms, according to Quayle. Where the leaf-gall females
occur many of them probably migrate to the roots during the
summer, and all do so with the approach of cold weather. In the
spring the roots are attacked and a series of generations of wingless
females multiply on them. As there are five to seven generations
in a season and each female lays from 30 (Quayle) to 100 (Marlatt)
eggs, if is evident that they will soon be numerous enough to
destroy the vine. The root-inhabiting females are very similar

Fiu. 356, — Grapevine phylloxera: a, root galls; b, enlargement of same
showing disposition of lice; c, root-gall louse — much enlarged. (After
Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

to those in the leaf -galls, and are about .one-twenty-fifth inch long
when mature and half as long when young and active. They are
light greenish-yellow in summer and darker in winter, and when
numerous the infested roots look as if dusted in spots with pow-
dered mustard, according to Quayle. He states that " the newly
hatched insect is fairly active, and at first moves from place to
place on the roots, but finally, when it reaches the egg-laying
stage, inserts its sucking-tube into the root and remains fixed."
During the late summer and early fall some of the root-lice develop
into winged females which escape through cracks in the soil and

496 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

fly to neighboring vines. They lay from two to four eggs beneath
the loose bark on the old wood and soon die. " The eggs are of
two sizes, the smaller and fewer in number yielding males in nine
or ten days, and the larger the females of the only sexed generation
in the whole life round of the insect. In this last and sexed
stage the mouth-parts of both sexes are rudimentary, and no
food at all is taken. The insect is very minute and resembles the
newly hatched louse of either the gall or root form. After fertili-
zation the single egg of the larva-like female rapidly increases
in size until it fills the entire body of the mother and is laid within
three or four days, bringing us back to the starting point."* The
phylloxera has been distributed over the world by infested rooted
plants or cuttings bearing winter eggs, and is spread locally by
means of the winged females, by the escape of the young root-
lice through cracks of the soil and their migration to neighboring
plants, or by bits of infested roots being spread in cultivation,
and by the leaf-gall lice being spread to other plants by the wind
or by being carried by birds or insects.

Control. — The principal means of control lies in the use of
resistant vines. These may be varieties which have proven
successful in the eastern United States, where the insect is native,
or more commonly the stocks of grapes from the Eastern States
are grafted with the desired varieties. There is a marked varia-
tion in the resistance of different species and varieties and not all
of them can be successfully used as stocks for the desired scions,
so that the successful use of the method, which is fully outlined
by Quayle, I.e., requires a considerable knowledge of viticulture.

Carbon bisulfide has been used very extensively for destroying
the root-lice, but is expensive and is only applicable on rich, deep,
loose soils. It cannot be used successfully on soils containing
much clay, or on dry rocky hillsides, or when the soil is saturated
with moisture, and is most effective on sandy soils where the
insect is least injurious. It is applied at the rate of 125 to 250
pounds per acre at a cost of $15 to $25 per acre. It may be
applied any time except during the blossoming and ripening of
* Quotations from Marlatt, 1. c.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 497

the fruit, two applications, one after vintage and the other just
before blossoming, giving the best results. It is applied by
pouring one-half to three-quarters ounce into holes a foot deep,
from IS to 24 inches apart, all over the vineyard, but not nearer
than one foot to the vine. The holes may be made with an iron
rod or dibble and are closed by packing the soil down with the
foot as soon as the liquid is poured in. Where extensively used
special injectors are used. Where the vines are much weakened
they do not withstand the effect of the bisulfide, and treated
vines must be thoroughly fertilized and cultivated;

One of the best methods of destroying the root-lice where
water is available is by submersion. In California the best results
are secured by flooding with at least six inches of water for a
week or ten days as soon as the vines have ceased active growth
in November. A little later two to three weeks' submersion will
be necessary and in winter thirty-five to forty days. Flooding
for a couple of days in midsummer seems to destroy some, pf the
insects, but its main value is in stimulating a vigorous growth
of new rootlets. Longer flooding in summer, when., the aphides
might be most easily destroyed, injures the vines.

On very sandy soils vines are uninjured by the phylloxera. All
sandy soils are unfavorable to the pes1t*and vines on tlfem die
more slowly, but to secure complete immunity there must be at
least 60 per cent of siliceous sand. Sands containing clay or

which form lumps offer less resistance.
'. '*.,*£,

The Grapevine Root-borer *

The larvae of the Grapevine Root-borer feed in the old roots at
some little distance from the base of the vine, and as there are
no indications of the pest, its presence may easily pass unnoticed.
Although not genera' ly recognized as a serious one it has been
known as a pest of the grape for fifty years, and has been observed
to do considerable damage in Kentucky and West Virginia.

* Memythrus polistiformis Harris. Family Sesiida. See Fred E. Brooks,
Bulletin 110, W. Va. Agr. Exp. Sta.

498 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Although the vines arc not killed, they are so enfeebled that they
make but little growth and the crop is much curtailed. All
varieties are affected in West Virginia, including the wild fox
grape, Vitis labrusca. It is stated that in the South the Scupper-
nong, or southern wild fox grape, is immune from attack. The

FIG. 357. — The grapevine root-borer (Memythrus polistiformis Harris): male
and female moths on wild lettuce leaf under grapevine — natural size.
(From Brooks.)

species has been observed from Minnesota and Missouri, eastward
through Ohio and Kentucky to West Virginia and North Carolina.
The parents of the borers are clear- winged moths nearly
related to the peach-tree borer, currant-borer, and raspberry-
borer. The females are seven-eighths inch long with wings expand-
ing 1^ inches. They are a dark lustrous brown color, th^ fore-

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 499

wings being brown and the hind-wings transparent and bordered
with brown. The posterior margins of the second and fourth
abdominal segments are orange or lemon-yellow, and there are
spots of the same color at the bases of the wings. The males
are considerably smaller than the females. The moths fly during
the day and are readily mistaken for wasps of the genus Polistes.
The males fly in a quick, wasp-like manner, and when they rest
on a leaf will occasionally flutter the wings like an angry wasp,
which is accompanied by a low buzzing sound, which makes the
mimicry very effective.

Life History. — The eggs are laid singly on weeds, grasses or
other vegetation in the vineyard or on the bark or leaves of the
vines, a single female laying some 400 eggs.
The egg is oval, one-twenty-fifth inch long,
of chocolate-brown color, and finely pitted
and sculptured. They are very readily washed
off by the rain and drop to the soil, where
they hatch in about three weeks. The little
larvae bore directly into the soil, wherever

they may be, in search of grape roots, and FIG. 358. Egg of

may survive for several days without any grapevine root-
food. Upon reaching a root the larva bores

greatly enlarged.

through the outer bark and then makes an (After Brooks.)
irregular burrow in the softer parts of the
bark, which may encircle the root several times. As the bur-
rows grow larger they run with the grain of the wood, and as
they are enlarged with the growth of the larva, only the outer
bark is left on roots of one-half inch or less in diameter, the interior
being tunnelled out and filled with the castings of the larva. Most
of the larvae feed a foot or so from the base of the vine, though one
was found on a root nine feet from the base. The Iarva3 bore in the
roots until the second fall, when they are about full grown and
make cells or hibernacula, thinly lined with silk, in which they
hibernate in the root. The larva becomes full grown the next
spring and is then 1^ to If inches long, of the general shape
shown in Fig. 359, yellowish-white, with a small brown head, three

500

pairs of brown thoracic legs, and five pairs of abdominal prolcgs.
When ready to pupate the larva comes near the surface of the
soil and there makes a tough cocoon an inch or so long, composed
of earth and excrement and lined with silk, and in it transforms

FIG. 359. — Grapevine root-borers at work. Five borers were feeding in this
section when taken from the ground — two-thirds natural size. (Photo
by W. E. Rumsey.)

to a brown pupa with yellow bands around the abdomen. In
about four or five weeks the pupa wriggles half way out of the
cocoon and the moth emerges, leaving the empty pupal skin
projecting above the surface of the ground. The moths emerge

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 501

in late July and early August in West Virginia and the eggs are
laid in a few days. Thus the life cycle requires two full years
and larvae of two sizes may be found in the roots at any time,
except during the pupal period, when all will be about half to
two-thirds grown.

Control. — On account of their subterranean habits it is mani-
festly impossible to dig out the borers, as is done with similar
species except for a few valuable vines. If the Scuppernong is
as immune as has been reported, it might be used as a stock
throughout the South, where it will thrive. By recognizing the
parent moths, they may be destroyed by approaching them quietly
when at rest and striking them quickly with a paddle or board and
many might thus be killed during the time they are most abundant.
By thorough cultivation in June and July many of the cocoons
will be thrown to the surface or buried so deeply that many of
the pupae will be destroyed, or the adults will be unable to reach
the surface. With liberal fertilization, cultivation will stimu-
late the vine to withstand the injury. Brooks has shown that
in West Virginia the crested flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)
feeds upon the moths and may be a factor in the control of the
pest.

The Grape Root-worm *

The Grape Root-worm is the larva of a small, hairy, chestnut-
brown beetle which feeds on the upper surfaces of the leaves,
eating out series of patches or holes in characteristic chain-like
feeding marks which afford an easily recognizable indication of the
presence of the pest in the vineyard. The larvae devour the smaller
roots and eat out pits and burrows in the larger roots, and where
abundant may kill the plants in a year or two, but more commonly
they cause an enfeebled growth and a consequent failure to pro-
duce profitable crops. Injury has been most severe in the grape belt

* Fidia viticida Walsh. Family Chrysomelidce . See Quaintan.ce, I.e.;
Hartzell, I.e.; M. V. Slingerland, Bulletins 184, 208, 224, and 235, Cornell
Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.; E. P. Felt, Bulletin 19, Office State Ent. of N. Y.;
Fred Johnson, Bulletin 68, Part VI, Bureau Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.;
Johnson and Hammar, Bulletin 89, ibid.

502 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 360.— Grape root-worm (Fidia viticola Walsh): beetles feeding on
foliage — natural size, and enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

503

of western Xew York, Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio, but the
species occurs generally throughout the Mississippi Valley and
the Eastern States, and has been reported from California. " The
insect thrives best in vineyards which are neglected, and in the
absence of cultivation and timely spraying it is likely to become

FIG. 361.J — The life cycle of the grape root-worm-
( After Slingerland.)

enlarged and natural size-

a serious pest in any vineyard throughout its range of distribu-
tion. This is especially the case in light, sandy soils and in regions
where grape growing is a considerable industry." A nearly
related species,* has been known to seriously injure the foliage
in Texas, but it is not known whether it affects the roots. In

* Fidia cana.

504 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

California, the imported grape root-worm * is sometimes destruc-
tive, has practically identical habits, and is controlled by the
same methods.

The adult beetle is about one-quarter inch long, brownish in
color, and covered with grayish-white hairs, with a stout body
and long legs, as shown in Fig. 360. The full-grown larva is about

FIG. 362.— Eggs of the grape root-worm, natural size as seen on grape canes
above— enlarged below. (After Slingerland.)

five-eighths inch long, whitish in color, and usually rests in a curved
position as shown in Fig. 361. The head is slightly narrower than
the body and yellowish-brown, as are the well-marked spiracles
on the side of each segment.

* Adoxus vitis Fourcroy. A small shining brown or black beetle, one-
fifth inch long. See Quayle, 1. c.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

505

Life History. — The adult beetles appear about the close of the
blooming period, or in late June and early July in the latitude
of New York, and live for a month or more. They emerge earlier
on warm, light sandy soils, and later on heavier soils. In a few
days their feeding commences to be noticed on the leaves and the
females may be found laying their eggs. A female will lay from
150 to 900 eggs, averaging about 175, most of which are laid

FIG. 363. — Portions of three grape roots denuded of their bark and fibrous
roots by grape root-worms, and part of a similar root taken from a thrifty
vine showing its normal bark and rootlets. Reduced in size. (After
Slingerland.)

during the first two or three weeks. The eggs are laid in masses
of 25 to 40 beneath the old bark or generally over the canes.
The individual egg is one-twenty-fifth inch long, at first whitish,
but soon turns yellow, arid tapers at each end. The eggs hatch
in from nine to twelve days, when the young larvae drop to the
ground and seek the roots. The young larvae are only one-
seventeenth inch long, so that they are able to penetrate the soil.

506 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

When established on the roots they feed freely and grow rapidly,
becoming nearly full grown !)}' fall. In the fall they descend
several inches into the soil and make small earthen cells, in which
they hibernate. In the spring they return to the roots nearer
the surface, and those not already full grown feed until growth
is completed. They then make small earthen cells 2 or 3 inches
below the surface of the ground in which they transform to pupa).
These cells are easily broken open and the pupse are thus crushed
or killed by stirring the soil in cultivation. The pupa, shown
in Fig. 364, e, is one-quarter to one-third inch long, whitish, with

FIG. 364. — The tender pupa of the grape root-worm in its earthen cell, enlarged
natural size at n. (After Slingerland.)

the head, thorax and tip of the abdomen pinkish, and with spines
on the head, appendages, and abdomen as illustrated. The pupa3
are most abundant in New York during June, the pupal stage
lasting about two weeks.

Control. — Extensive experiments made by several investigators
have shown that the beetles may be very largely destroyed by
thorough spraying with arsenate of lead just as they appear.
By applying the poison when they are first noticed feeding they
may be killed off before many of the eggs are laid, and sprayed
vineyards have shown a reduction of over 90 per cent of the eggs
found on untreated vines. Arsenate of lead should be applied at

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

507

the rate of 4 pounds to the barrel as soon as feeding marks
are found on the foliage, and again a week or ten days later, and
should be added to the Bordeaux mixture used for the diseases
of the vine. The sprayic must be done with the greatest
thoroughness, as the beetles dislike the sprayed foliage and will seek
out that which has been missed. The nozzles on traction outfits

FIG. 365. — A geared horse-power vineyard sprayer. This is provided with
a compressed air tank and an extra nozzle on each side directed down-
ward in order to spray the tops of the vines. (After Quaintance and
Shear, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

should therefore be arranged so as to hit all parts of the vines (see
Figs. 365, 366) and the pump should maintain at least 100 pounds
pressure. With the machines in common use not over 7 or 8
acres a day may bo covered thoroughly, and about 125 gallons
will be required per acre. If the work is hurried to cover greater

508 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

acreage, the treatment will usually be less effective. The beetle
is noticeably less destructive in well-cultivated vineyards, and
it has been shown that thorough cultivation in early summer
breaks up the pupal cells and destroys large numbers of the pupae.
Most of the pupae are within 2 or 3 inches of the surface and within
1£ or 2 feet from the base of the vine. In the fall the earth should
be thrown toward the vines to form a ridge along the row,
so that the larvae will mostly pupate near the surface of this ridge.

FIG. 366. — A compressed-air sprayer in operation, showing proper arrange-
ment of nozzles for thoroughly spraying grapes. (After Quaintance
and Shear, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

The next spring, when most of the larvae have entered the pupal
stage, this ridge should be thrown away from the vines, thus
exposing the pupae. A " horse-hoe " commonly used in vine-
yards is useful in this work, but a hand-hoe will need to be used
to throw the earth away from the immediate base of the vine.
The soil should then be kept well stirred by cultivation at frequent
intervals, all of which is merely part of good practice, independent
of the control of the root-worm.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

509

The Grapecane Gall-maker *

The Grapecane Gall-maker is a small reddish-brown snout-
beetle about one-eighth inch long, which lays its eggs in the canes,

FIG. 367. — The grapecane gall-maker (Ampeloglypter sesostris Lee.): a,
adult from above; b, same, side view; c, larva, side view; d, pupa; e,
section of vine showing galls — all enlarged. (After F. M. Webster);
/, section of cane showing newly made wound and egg in lower chamber —
natural size. (After Brooks. )

giving rise to galls about twice the diameter of the cane and 1 or
1| inches long, with a deep scar in one side. It has been noted

* Ampeloglypter sesostris Lee. Family Curculionidce. See Fred E. Brooks,
Bulletin 119, W. Va. Agr. Exp. Sta.; F. M. Webster, Bulletin 116, Ohio Agr.
Exp. Sta.

510 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

as injurious in Ohio and West Virginia, and from the records
seems to be generally distributed over the Eastern States, but is
by no means a serious pest.

Life History. — The adult beetles appear in May and are gone by
early July. They feed sparingly on the vine, making little pits in
the tendrils, in the buds or bark of new canes or in the midribs on
the under side of the leaves. The females soon lay their eggs and
make the egg scars. These cause the galls and constitute practically
the only injury to the vine. The eggs are laid just above a joint and
beyond the outermost fruit, so that the injury does not interfere
with the crop. A female eats^ out a small hole with her snout,
in it lays a small yellowish-white egg, and fills up the hole with
fibers scraped off from the surface of the cane. She then makes
another hole immediately above this, but merely places a drop of
liquid in it and then fills it up with fibers in the same manner.
Eight to a dozen holes are thus made in a row and filled. Very
soon this wound causes a swelling of the vine, but the gall does
not reach full size for six or eight weeks. On vines producing
dark-colored fruit, the wood about the wound takes on a purplish
color. The galls seem to have but little effect on the growth and
vigor of the vine, except that the canes are more readily broken
by the wind or in pruning. The larva is a little yellowish-white,
footless grub about two-fifths inch long, which feeds about the
egg-chamber and then burrows in the pith. It becomes full
grown in eight to ten weeks, when it pupates within the burrow;
the beetle emerges in late August, and hibernates over winter.

As the scar in the side of the gall where the eggs were deposited
remains open, a very large proportion of the larvae are sub-
sequently parasitized Jay various chalcis, and tachina-flies, which
will probably prevent the insect ever becoming much of a pest.

Control. — The galls may be cut out and burned during July
or August without any injury to the crop, as they occur beyond
the fruit, and at that time will contain the larvae or pupae. As the
beetles feed on the foliage and new growth it is probable that
but little damage will result in vineyards well sprayed with arsen-
icals for other pests.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

511

The Grapecane Girdler *

This beetle is very similar to the last except that it is black
in color. Its native food-plant is the Virginia creeper, which
it has deserted in West Virginia, and occasionally elsewhere,
to attack grape. The species seems to occur generally through
the Central and Eastern States.

Life History. — The life history is almost identical with that
of the preceding species, the habit of the species differing only
in the manner of oviposition. The eggs are laid in late May and

FIG. 368. — The grapecane girdler (Ampelorjlypler ater Lee.): o, egg; b, larva;
c, pupa; d, beetle — all enlarged. (After Brooks.)

early June. In laying the egg, the female deposits it in the same
manner as does the previous species, and then instead of placing a
series of holes in a row she makes them in a ring around the cane,
only the first one containing an egg. She then goes to the next joint
above and makes a series of holes around it, completely severing
it, so that it hangs by a shred and soon drops. The little larva
feeds in the pith of the joints on either side of the egg puncture,
and these two joints die and drop to the ground. The larva
becomes full grown in about a month and changes to a pupa in

* Ampeloglypter ater Lee. Family Curculionidce. See Fred E. Brooks,
Bulletin 119, W. Va. Agr. Exp. Sta.

512 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 369. — Work of the grapecane girdler. (After Brooks.)

FIG. 370. — Work of the grapecane girdler. (After Brooks.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 513

its burrow soon after the dead section drops, first filling the burrow
with little pellets of fibers. Two weeks later the adult beetle
emerges, appearing during late summer. The whole life cycle
thus requires sixt}--five to seventy days. The beetles hibernate
over winter.

Control. — The injured canes are quite conspicuous in early
summer and by cutting them off a few inches below the egg scars
the eggs and larva? may be removed and destroyed. Brooks
is of the opinion that the beetles will be largely destroyed in vine-
yards thoroughly sprayed with arsenicals for other grape insects.

The Grape Cane-borer *

During the spring young grape shoots sometimes suddenly break
off or droop and die, and if examined a small hole will be found just
above the base of the withered shoot, with a burrow leading
from it into the main stem. In this burrow will be found a small
brown beetle, a half inch long (Fig. 371, a), which is the cause
of the injury. It has been sometimes called the apple twig-borer
on account of the similar injury which it does to apple twigs,
and it also attacks pear, peach, plum, forest and shade trees and
ornamental shrubs, but it is particularly destructive to the grape.
Its injury is most noticed in winter and early spring, and fre-
quently results in killing all the new growth and sometimes
the entire vine. Injury has been most severe in the States border-
ing the Mississippi from Iowa southward, where it is one of the
most serious insect pests of the vine, and though the beetle occurs
eastward to the coast it rarely does much damage farther east.

" It breeds in dying wood, such as large prunings, diseased
canes, and also in dying or drying wood of most shade and fruit
trees. It has also been found by the writer [Marlatt] breeding
very abundantly in roots of uprooted maples and in diseased
tamarisk stems. In old, dry wood it will not breed, so far as
known, nor in vigorous live growth, but seems to need the dying

* Amphicerus bicaudatus Say. Family Ptinidae. See C. L. Marlatt,
Farmers' Bulletin 70, U. S. Dept. Agr.

514 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

and partially drying conditions mentioned. The insect has but
one brood yearly. The beetles mature for the most part in the
fall, and generally remain in their larval burrows until the follow-
ing spring. A few may leave the burrows in the fall and con-

FIG. 371. — The grape cane-borer (Amphicerus bicaudatus Say): a, beetle,
back and side views; b, pupa; c, larva, with feet enlarged; d, burrow in
apple .twig made by adult; e, larval gallery in tamarisk, with pupa in
cell at end; /, injury to young shoot and cane showing entrance of beetle
near /, and the characteristic wilting and new growth — all much enlarged
except d, e, f. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

struct others in the twigs of apple or other plants in which to
hibernate. In the spring, however, they begin their destructive
work early, burrowing into the axils of the grape and occasionally

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 515

also into other plants. This is undoubtedly partly for food, but
seems largely malicious, for it certainly has nothing to do with
egg-laying. . . . The eggs are laid chiefly in May or April in
its southern range, and the larva? develop during summer, trans-
forming to beetles and pupae in the fall. On the Pacific coast
a closely allied, but somewhat larger species (Amphicerus puncti-
pennis Lee.) . . . probably has similar . . . habits . . ."

Control. — All diseased wood and prunings should be removed
in late spring, thus destroying the material in which the larvae
develop. If this is neglected and the beetles appear in the vine-
yard, the only means of stopping their depredations is to cut
out by hand the affected parts and destroy the beetles. On
warm days the beetles may sometimes be collected while running
over the vines.

The Grapevine Flea-beetle*

When the grape buds are swollen in the spring they are often
attacked by numbers of little blue or greenish beetles which eat
out or entirely consume them. When abundant these little beetles
may destroy all the buds on a vine, thus greatly retarding the
leafing out or even occasionally killing the plant. The beetle
is about one-fifth inch long, of robust shape, and possesses the
thick thighs characteristic of flea-beetles, which enable it to jump
a considerable distance when disturbed. It is common through-
out the States east of the 100th meridian and nearly related
species do similar damage on the Pacific Coast. (See Quayle,
I.e.) The wild grape is undoubtedly the natural food-plant of
the species, though it is occasionally found on plum, apple, pear,
quince, blue beech and elm.

Life History. — After feeding a few days the female beetles
commence to lay their eggs in cracks of the bark at the base of
the buds, or in any crevice or in the cavity eaten out of the bud
by the beetle, or sometimes on the foliage. The eggs are a long

* Haltica chalybea 111. Family Chrysomelidce . See Quaintance, I.e.;
Hartzell, I.e.; and M. V. Slingerland, Bulletin 157, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp.
Sta.

516 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

oval shape, one-fortieth inch long, and of a dark straw-yellow
color. The eggs hatch just as the young leaves are expanding,
and upon them the young larva? feed greedily. The larvcc feed
on the upper surface of the leaf, eating out irregular holes through
the skin and into the soft tissue, and become full grown in three
or four weeks. The young larva) are a very dark brown, but
when grown they are one-third inch long and a dark yellowish-
brown, marked by regular rows of blackish tubercles each of

FIG. 372. — The grapevine flea-beetle (Haltica chalybea 111.): a, adult with
hind leg at right further enlarged; 6, larva, much enlarged; c, beetles
and larva} on foliage — natural size; d, beetle feeding on bud; e, diseased
beetles. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

which bears a small hair. The head, anal and prothoracic
plates and legs are black. The full-grown larva drops to the
ground and an inch or two beneath the surface makes a small
cell in which it transforms to a white pupa, from which the adult
beetle emerges in one or two weeks. In New York there is but
a single generation, but more than one generation may occur in
the South. Upon emerging the beetles feed on the grape and

517

other plants, doing no particular damage, and enter hibernation
in the fall.

Control. — Where vineyards are regularly sprayed with arsen-
icals there will be but little trouble with the flea-beetles, as the
grubs are very easily destroyed on the foliage. In neglected
vineyards the beetles often become very abundant and may be
quite destructive in such localities. Where it is necessary to
combat the beetles to prevent injury to the buds, close watch
should be kept for them and the buds should be thoroughly

FIG. 373.—

of the grapevine flea-beetle, natural si/e at a, and enlarged
at 6. (After Slingerland.)

sprayed at once, using 8 pounds of arsenate of lead per barrel.
Usually this will need to be applied just as the buds are becoming-
well swollen, and must be applied promptly and thoroughly,
as the beetles work quickly and a day's delay may mean the
destruction of the buds. In a small vineyard or on a few vines
the beetles may be collected by hand in the early morning when
they are sluggish, or may be jarred to canvas-covered frames
kept saturated with kerosene placed beneath the vines.

518 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Rose-chafer *

About the time the grape is in bloom, immense swarms of
the common Rose-chafers or Rose-bugs often appear, covering the
plants, feeding on the blossoms, later attacking the young fruit
and foliage, and sometimes eating the leaves quite bare except
the larger veins. The chief damage, however, is done by destroy-
ing the blossoms or newly set fruit, or by so injuring the young

FIG. 374. — The rose chafer (Macrodactylus subspinosus Fab.): a, beetle;
b, larva; c, d, mouth-parts of same; e, pupa — all much enlarged; /,
beetles at work on foliage — natural size. (After Marlatt.U.S. Dept.Agr.)

berries that they are misshapen and worthless. The beetle is
about one-third inch long, of a light-brownish color, covered
with numerous lighter hairs, and has very long spiny legs, which
always seem to be in its way and make it most awkward and
clumsy. It is a very general feeder, being common on roses,

* Macrodactylus subspinosus Fab. Family Scarabceidce . See Quaintance,
I.e.; Hartzell, I.e.; J. B. Smith, Bulletin 82, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.; and
Fred Johnson, Bulletin 97, Part III, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 519

from which the common name is received, and also on such orna-
mentals as Spiraea and Deutzia, while it frequently injures the
blossoms of apple, plums, cherries and peaches, and when very
abundant will attack various vegetables, grasses, and grains.
The species occurs commonly from Canada to Virginia and Tennes-
see and westward to Colorado, and in Texas and Oklahoma, but
seems to do but little damage west of the Mississippi, being most
injurious in the Middle States. It is particularly destructive
wrhere there are areas of light sandy soil grown up in grasses and
weeds, upon the roots of which the larvae feed.

Life History. — After feeding three or four weeks the beetles
suddenly disappear. During the middle of June, in New Jersey,
the females lay from 12 to 20 eggs, depositing them in the soil
singly. These hatch in two to three weeks and the larvae feed
on the roots of various grasses and possibly weeds and other
vegetation. They become nearly full grown by fall, when they
go below the frost line and hibernate over winter. The larva
looks very much like a small white grub, which it closely resembles
in every way, and is about three-quarters inch long when full
grown (Fig. 374, 6). In the spring the grubs come near the sur-
face of the soil and enter the pupa stage, which lasts from ten to
thirty days according to the temperature. There is but one genera-
tion a year, and the injury is done by the beetles during the three
or four weeks they are abroad.

Control. — When the beetles are very abundant the only
satisfactory method of control is to pick them by hand or jar
them from the vines onto frames from which they may be
collected. In jarring, an umbrella-shaped frame covered with
canvas or, preferably, oilcloth, which slopes to a can of kerosene
at the bottom, is often used, being somewhat similar to that used
for the plum curculio. This is held under the vines and they are
sharply jarred or shaken, when the beetles will drop to the frame,
particularly in early morning. Handpicking into a can of kero-
sene and water is probably the most common method, however.
Where the beetles are not excessively abundant they have been
controlled in some cases by thorough spraying with arsenate

520 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

of lead, 5 to 10 pounds per barrel, preferably applied with Bor-
deaux mixture, and recent experiments of the N. Y. Agricultural
Experiment Station with 5 pounds of arsenate of lead and 12
pounds of glucose per barrel gave excellent results. The numbers
of the pest may also be much reduced by keeping down the grass
and weeds in the vineyard, and particularly on light sandy soils
adjoining lands should be broken up and cultivated in annual
crops as far as possible, thus reducing the breeding grounds of the
pest. By bagging the grapes as soon as the fruit is set the clusters
may be protected from this as well as other pests and diseases
wherever such treatment is practicable.

The Grape Leaf -hopper *

Wherever the grape is grown in the United States and Canada,
the foliage will be found more or less infested with the small
Leaf -hoppers, often locally called " thrips," which feed and breed
on the under surface of the leaves during the season. By late
summer the vines may be covered with the hoppers, which will
fly off in clouds when disturbed, and every year there is serious
injury in various localities. The injury is done by the little
hoppers sucking out the juices of the leaves through their tube-
like mouth-parts. A small white spot first appears around the
feeding puncture, due to the loss of chlorophyll in the leaf, and
when the punctures have become numerous the leaf has a varie-
gated appearance. As the injury increases the leaf yellows and
finally dries up and falls to the ground. Where it becomes
general, this injury reduces both the quantity and quality of the
fruit. The pest is an insidious one, as it is not usually noticed
until it becomes very abundant in late summer, by which time
most of the injury has been done and it is too late to prevent it.
For this reason its control has been very generally neglected by
grape growers with a consequent loss the cause of which is often
unsuspected.

* Typhlocyba comes Say. Family Jassidoe. See Quaintance, I.e.; Hartzell,
I.e.; Quayle, I.e.; and M. V. Slingerland, Bulletin 215, Cornell Univ. Agr.
Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

521

The adult hoppers are about one-eighth inch long and the
wings are prettily marked with yellow and red as shown in Fig.
375. " In summer the young and adult insects are light yellowish
in color, but before going- into hibernation, the eyes of the adults
darken and the peculiar yellow spots on the wings change to an
orange red, thus giving the hibernating adults a general reddish
appearance. These darker markings on the adults vary so much
that nine different varieties are now recognized, two of which are
represented at 6 and c, in Fig. 375. Often several of the varieties

FIG. 375. — Grape leaf -hopper (Typhlocyba comes): a, adult female; 6, adult
male; c, another form of the species, showing variation in markings;
d, newly-hatched nymph; e, last stage nymph; /, appearance of injured
leaf; g, cast pupa skins — a, e, much enlarged; g, less enlarged; /, reduced.
(From Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

may be found together on the same vines, but usually one color
form largely predominates." The nymphs are a light yellowish-
green color with lemon-yellow stripes on each side of the body.
They pass through five molts before becoming adults, the wing-
pads gradually getting larger in the later stages. No very similar
insects are common on the grape, so that the pest is readily recog-
nized.

Life History. — The adult hoppers hibernate over winter under
leaves, grass, or trash in or near the vineyard, in neighboring

522 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

woods, along ditches or fences, etc. They emerge about May 1
in New York and at first feed on whatever succulent foliage may
be available. By the time the grape foliage appears they have
mostly emerged and infest the vineyards. These hibernating
hoppers feed and breed on the lower leaves, disappearing about the
time the first young become adult. After a few weeks the females
commence egg-laying, which continues for about two months.
The eggs are laid just beneath the surface of the leaf in groups
of from six to nine, or singly, and as they are but one-thirty-fifth
inch long and almost transparent, they are scarcely visible save
for the eyes of the embryonic nymphs. The eggs hatch in nine to
fourteen days. The young nymphs feed like the adults, at first
on the lower leaves, but soon spread to all parts of the plant.
In New York they become grown in thirty to thirty-five days,
and there is but one full generation a year, with a partial second
generation, most of the individuals of which probably do not
mature before frost. Feeding continues until cool weather, when
the adults enter hibernation. In Colorado, New Mexico and
California and probably throughout the South, there are two full
generations a year. In California, according to Quayle, the
nymphs from eggs laid by the hibernating hoppers appear by the
middle of May and the following generation of nymphs about
the middle of July.

Control. — Cleaning up all fallen leaves and trash in the vine-
yard during the winter, or plowing it under in the early spring,
will reduce the nuniber of hibernating hoppers, and it has been
observed that they are much less numerous in vineyards where
clean culture is practiced. The burning over of adjacent meadows,
wood lots and fence rows will also be advisable where practicable.

In California, where the vines are not trellised, a hopper-cage,
which has been fully described by Quayle, I.e., is successfully
used for catching the hoppers before they commence to oviposit
in the spring. In the East this could not be used, and Professor
Slingerland has shown that the hibernated hoppers may be caught
on sticky shields before they oviposit. " A light wooden frame
is made 7 or 8 feet long by 4 feet high. To the crosspiece at the

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 523

bottom, which should be up from the ground about a foot, are
fastened several stiff wires of the shape of a hayrake tooth. These
are fastened so that the points curve inward and downward to
the ground at the base of the plants when the shield is held in
place beside the vines. The whole framework, including the
wires, is covered with oilcloth, which is coated with a sticky sub-
stance, made by using melted resin, 1 quart, and castor oil, 1
pint." Tanglefoot might be used instead. The hoppers are on
the lower leaves early in the season, so that the frames need not
be high, and it is at that season that it is important to catch
them. The vines will need to be gone over frequently, a man
carrying a shield on either side and jarring the vines so that the
hoppers will fly off and be caught on the shields. The young
hoppers may be killed by spraying with whale-oil soap, 1 pound to
10 gallons, 10 per cent kerosene emulsion, or tobacco extract.
In California a resin spray composed of 1 pound of resin and one-
quarter pound of lye dissolved in 15 gallons of water is used. This
work must be done with the greatest thoroughness, as the hoppers
must be hit to be killed. Underspray nozzles must be used and
handled by men who will cover the under surface of all the leaves.
This cannot be done by fixed nozzles, unless very high pressure
and many nozzles are used. The work is necessarily slow and
expensive and should be commenced as soon as the young
appear, when they may be more easily destroyed and when there
is less foliage to be sprayed. Several applications will usually
be necessary.

The Grape Leaf -folder *

Very frequently grape leaves are found folded or rolled
together, with the interior surface "more or less skeletonized,
from which a slender larva will wriggle out and fall or hang
suspended on a silken thread. The Grape Leaf -folder occurs
throughout the United States, and though usually not injurious,
sometimes becomes abundant enough to do serious damage.

* Desmia funeralis Hiibner. Family Pyralidae. See Quaintance, and
Quayle, I.e.

524 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The moth is black with white spots on the wings, and bands across
the abdomen, as shown in Fig. 376. The larva is about an inch
long, of a greenish-white color, with head and prothoracic shield
light brown, and with brown spots on the sides of the first two
thoracic segments.

Life History. — " There are two broods each year in the more
Northern States and three or possibly more in the South. The
insect winters in the pupal stage in the folded and fallen leaves,
the moths appearing in the spring shortly after the foliage puts

FIG. 376. — The grape leaf-folder (Desmia funeralis Hiibn.): a, male moth and
enlarged antenna of same; b, female moth ; c, larva; d, head and thoracK
segments of same enlarged; e, pupa; /, tip of pupa — enlarged; g, grape
leaf folded by larva. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

out, and the eggs are placed in small patches here and there
on the vine. Upon hatching, the young larvae attack the
foliage, folding the leaves as stated. Mr. Johnson has observed
that the larvae of the first* brood may attack bunches of grape
blossoms and young fruit in a way similar to the grape-berry
moth. In three or four weeks the larvae are full grown and
transform to pupae within the folded leaves, moths emerging
eight or ten days later. By midsummer and fall the insects
become quite abundant, and in badly infested vineyards the
folded leaves are everywhere in evidence and are quite con-

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 525

spicuous from the color of the lower surface. In the fall the
larvse pupate in the folded leaves and pass the winter in these
on the ground." — Quaintance.

Control. — Where but a few larvse occur they may be crushed
by hand, and if this is done with the first brood it will greatly
reduce the numbers later in the season. Vineyards sprayed
with arsenicals will be protected, as the young larvse will be killed
before they fold the leaves. By collecting and burning the fallen
leaves or plowing them under deeply, many of the hibernating
pupa? may be destroyed.

Hawk-moth Larvae *

Several species of Hawk-moth or Sphinx-moth Iarva3 are com-
monly found on the vine. Most of them are widely distributed
throughout the country and feed on wild grape and Virginia creeper.
Usually they are not numerous enough to do serious damage,
and as they strip a branch at a time, they are readily seen and
may be destroyed before much injury is done. Occasionally,
however, one or two larvae may entirely strip a young vine, and
exceptionally the larva? appear in considerable numbers on old
vines, stripping them bare of foliage. They are large, smooth-
bodied larvse, 2 to 4 inches long, and may be distinguished
from those of other families of moths by the strong horn on the
next to the last segment, which has given them the common name
of horn-worms. In many species, this horn is present only in the
first one or two stages of the larva, disappearing with the next
molt and being replaced by a bright eye-spot, as shown in Fig. 377,
c, d. The life history, of the various species is much the same,
except that some have only one, while others have two genera-
tions a year in the North, though most all probably have two
generations in the South. They hibernate as large dark-brown
pupse, 3 or 4 inches below the surface of the ground, and
the moths emerge in spring. The moths are particularly attracted
to petunias, and may often be caught hovering over them at

* Family Sphingidce. See O. Lugger, 4th Report State Ent. Minn.; Ida
M. Eliot and Caroline M. Soule, "Caterpillars and their Moths." (N. Y., 1902).

526 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

night. The eggs arc laid on the foliage, usually singly, and the
larvae hatch in a few days. They eat ravenously, and will consume
an enormous number of leaves within a few days. Usually the

Fro. 377. — The achemon sphinx (Pholus achemon Dru.): a, moth; b, egg; c,
young larva; d, mature larva; e, pupa; /, parasitized larva — all natural
size. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

coloration of the larvae changes more or less as they grow, so
that when full grown they are different from the younger stages.
When there are two generations, the second generation of larvae

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 527

will appear in late July, but whether one or two generations occur,
the larvae maturing in late summer transform to pupse which
hibernate.

Control. — Usually the work of the larvse is so conspicuous and
they are so easily found that they may be controlled by hand-
picking. Where the vineyards are sprayed regularly for other
pests there will be but little trouble with these larvse, as they will
be killed while young.

THE ACHEMON SPHINX.* This is one of the most common
species on the grape. The young larva is a light-green color with
a long reddish-brown horn which becomes shorter as the larva
grows and finally disappears and is replaced by a large polished
eye-spot. The mature larva is about 3£ inches long, and varies
in color from straw-color to reddish-brown. Along the sides are
six diagonal cream-colored spots, on the second to seventh abdom-
inal segments inclusive. The body is much wrinkled and dotted
with small spots, dark on the back and lighter on the sides. The
head and first two thoracic segments are small and are retracted
into the metathorax when at rest. Just before pupation the
larva becomes a pink or crimson color. The moth has a wing
expanse of 3 inches and is brownish-gray, variegated with light
brown, and deep brown spots; the hind wings are pink, with a
dark shade across the middle, still darker spots below this, and
a broad gray band behind. The body is reddish-gray with tri-
angular brown patches at the base of the wings, which are edged
with white.

THE PANDORUS SPHINX.-)- This nearly related species is also
common on the vine, but rarely does much damage. The wings
expand 4 to 4J inches, and are a light, olive color, mixed with
gray, marked with patches of darker olive green, and with portions
of a rosy hue, especially on the hind-wings. The body is light
greenish-brown mayked with dark olive patches. The larva is
very similar to that of the last species, but has only five rather
oval cream-colored spots on the sides of the third to seventh
abdominal segments.

* Pholus achemon Dru. t Pholus pandorus Hbn.

528 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

THE GRAPE-VINE HOG CATERPILLAR.* This is one of the most
common sphinx larvae on grape and Virginia creeper. The grown
larva is 2 inches long, of a green color, covered with small yellow
dots or granulations. Along the sides of the body are seven
oblique yellowish stripes margined behind with a darker green.
A white stripe with a deep green margin extends from behind
the head to the horn, on either side of the back, and along the
middle are a series of seven spots, varying in color from red to
pale lilac and each set in a patch of pale yellow. Frequently,
especially in the second generation, specimens are found which are

FIG. 378. — The grapevine hog-caterpillar moth (Ampelophaga myron Cram). —
natural size. (After Lugger).

a light pinkish instead of green and are marked with darker shades
of red and brown so that they may easily be mistaken for another
species. The wings of the moth expand 2£ inches and are long
and narrow. The fore-wings are olive green, crossed by bands
of greenish-gray, while the hind-wings are dull red shading to
greenish-gray next to the body. The body is pale green, with
the head and shoulders deep olive green.

THE WHITE-LINED SPHINX. f This species has a long list of
food-plants, the larvae feeding and multiplying on .purslane,
chickweed and other wreeds, and then attacking various crops,
among wilich is the grape. (See p. 247). They are about 3^

* Ampelophaga myron Cram. f Deilephila lineata Fab.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

529

inches long and quite variable in color, some being yellowish-green
with black eye-spots along each side of the back and with faint
blackish stripes, while others are black with yellowish spots, as
shown in Fig. 379. The moth is shown natural size. The fore-
wings are an olive color with a pale buff stripe across the middle,

FIG. 379. — The white-lined sphinx (Deilephila lineata Fab.): a, moth; b,
pale larva; c, dark form of larva; d, pupa — all natural size. (After
Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

and are margined with gray, and the hind- wings are crossed by
a wide rosy band, the remainder being almost black, except the
white margin. The thorax is marked with several white lines
as illustrated, and the abdomen is greenish olive spotted with
white and black.

530 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

ABBOT'S SPHINX.* This caterpillar is 2£ inches long, varying
in color from dull yellow to reddish brown. Each segment is
marked by six or seven transverse black lines, and longitudinally
with dark-brown streaks. On the next to the last segment is a pol-
ished black tubercle, or eye-spot, ringed with yellow. The moth is
a dull chocolate-brown color, with a wing expanse of 2-£ inches.
The fore-wings are pale beyond the middle
and are streaked with darker brown as illus-
trated. The hind- wings are yellow with a
brown border. The terminal segments of

FIG. 380. — Abbott's sphinx (Sphecodina abbottii Swain) and its larva — natural!
size. (After Lugger.)

the abdomen bear tufts of scales on either side, making the
abdomen appear truncated instead of pointed, as in most sphinx
moths.

The Grape-berry Moth f

The larvae of the Grape-berry Moth are the most common
cause of wormy grapes. The first generation of larva? web together
the grape clusters before the blossoms open or soon after
the grapes are set, and feed upon the clusters. Later the larvae
bore into the green and ripening fruit, producing purplish spots
resembling the appearance of injury by the black rot. The
berries decay from the work of the larvae and from the entrance

* Sphecodina abbottii Swain.

•\Polychrosis viteana Clem. Family Tortricidce. See Quaintance, I.e.;
Hartzell, I.e.; M. V. Slingerland, Bulletin 223, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.;
and Gossard and Houser, Circular 63, Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

531

of fungous diseases. The insect occurs throughout the United
States, but has been particularly injurious in the Chatauqua, N. Y.,

FIG. 381. — American grape-berry moth, enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

Erie, Pa., and Northern Ohio grape belts. So far as known the
grape is the only food-plant and the species is a native one, though
its habits are very similar to a
nearly related European species.
The adult is a little purplish-
brown moth, with wings expand-
ing not quite one-half inch, and
shaded with brownish markings

FIG. 382. — The work of the grape-berry moth; infested cluster and single
berry opened to show larva at work — enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

as shown in Fig. 381. The ground color is lilaceous or leaden-
blue and the spots are dark brown.

532

INSECTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Life History. — The moths appear in the spring as the shoots
of the grape are pushing out, and continue to emerge for some
weeks. The earlier ones lay their eggs on the blossom clusters,
while the later ones deposit them on the young grapes. The
minute flat, scale-like eggs arc stuck to the surface of the stems
or berries, and look like small glistening, whitish spots. The
little larvae hatching from them feed on the blossoms and small

FIG. 383. — Grape-lttelr^ moth caterpillars, enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

£*».-•'. -"••• '

berries, webbing 'th^c lusters together, and might do much more

damage than the latter generations were it not that they are much
fewer in number, there being a great mortality of the insects over
winter. The larvae become full grown in about three weeks.
The mature larva is about three-eighths inch long, varying in
color from dark greenish to dark purplish, with a light-brown
head and black thoracic shield. The body is covered with
numerous faintly outlined darker spots, from which arise whitish

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 533

hairs, as shown in Fig. 383. The larva cuts out a piece of a leaf on
three sides, folds it over and fastens the free edge to the leaf with
silk. The fold is then lined with a thin layer of silk, making a
thin cocoon in which it transforms to a light greenish-brown pupa,
from which the moth emerges twelve to fourteen days later.
The moths of the second and later generations place their eggs
on the berries and the larvae bore into them and feed on the pulp
and seeds. In New York the moths of the second generation
appear in early July and the second generation of larva? occurs

FIG. 384. — Grape leaf showing cocoons in the making and finished by grape-
berry moth caterpillars — natural size. (After Slingerland.)

during July and August. In New York those larvae of the second
generation which mature before mid-August pupate and give
rise to a third generation, while those maturing later transform
to pupae, but hibernate. Often there is nearly a complete third
brood in that latitude, and further south there are undoubtedly
at least three generations. The winter is passed in the pupal
stage in the cocoons, which break off from the fallen leaves.

Control. — Infested berries should be picked off both to destroy
the larvae and to prevent the spreading of fungous diseases. Plow-

534 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

ing under the fallen leaves either in fall or early spring should
result in burying many of the pupae so as to prevent the escape
of the moths, and is good practice for other grape pests. The
principal reliance should be placed upon spraying with arsenate
of lead, 3 pounds per barrel, or one-half pound of Paris green,
applied with Bordeaux mixture, to which a soap " sticker "
should be added (sec p. 46) to make the mixture more adhesive
to the berries. The first spraying should be made before the
blossoms open, to catch the early larvae; the second should be
made as the grapes finish blooming; and the third, early in July.
The addition of the " sticker " is most important in the last
spraying, when the berries are partly grown. The spray mus't be
applied with sufficient number of nozzles and pressure to penetrate
the foliage and cover the clusters thoroughly. In a small home
vineyard the clusters might be protected by bagging them as
soon as the fruit is set.

The Grape Curculio *

The larvae of the Grape Curculio feed on the pulp and seeds of
the berries, causing wormy grapes, much as do those of the berry-
moth. The larvae may be readily distinguished, for those of the
curculio are white, footless grubs, while those of the berry-moth
are greenish, with well-developed legs, and are quite agile, wriggling
away quickly when disturbed. The adult curculio is a small,
brown, robust, snout-beetle about one-tenth inch long, and
nearly as broad. It is very difficult to see, looking like a bit of
dirt or the excreta of some of the larger caterpillars common on
the vine. It is common from Arkansas to Minnesota eastward
to New York and North Carolina. It has been particularly in-
jurious in West Virginia, and seems to be most harmful in that
latitude.

Life History. — The beetles hibernate over winter in or near
the vineyards, especially along the edge of woodlands. They

* Craponius incequalis Say. Family Curculionidce. See Quaintance,
I.e., and Fred E. Brooks, Bulletin 100, W. Va. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE

535

appear in the spring about the time the grapes blossom and feed
upon the foliage for three or four weeks until the berries are about

FIG. 385. — The grape curculio (Craponius inaequalis Say): a, beetle; 6, head
of same from side; d, larva from above; e, same from below; /, pupa —
all much enlarged. (After Quaintance, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

one-fourth grown. The beetles cut small characteristic holes in
the leaves, and this habit of feeding on the foliage so long makes
it possible to kill them with arsenicals before oviposition is com-

FIG. 386.— The grape curculio FIG. 387.— Grape curculio larvae—

in act of egg-laying—natural natural size. (After Brooks.)

size ; e, showing position
of egg in grape — enlarged.
(After Brooks.)

menced. In West Virginia the females begin egg-laying late
in June, most of the eggs being laid in early July, but egg

536 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

laying may continue for eighty-one days, during which time a
female will lay an average of 257 eggs. The female excavates
a small cavity in the berry in which the egg is placed and hatches
in four to six days. Infested berries often show a purplish spot
around the egg-puncture. The larva bores in the pulp and in

FIG. 388. — Grapes showing egg-punctures of grape curculios. (After Brooks.)

three or four days reaches the seed, which is then devoured. The
larva becomes full grown in twelve to fifteen days, when it eats
its way out of the berry and drops to the ground in search of a
suitable place to pupate. The mature larva is white, about one-
third inch long, tapering from the middle of the body toward
either end, without legs, and clothed with fine short hairs. The

«!*

•

FIG. 389. — Showing the resemblance of the grape curculios at 2 to excrement
of sphinx caterpillars at 1, and mummied grapes at 3. (After Brooks.)

larvae make small earthen cells under stones, lumps of earth
or just below the surface of the soil, and in them transform to
pupa?, from which the beetles emerge in eighteen to nineteen days.
Thus the complete life cycle from egg to adult requires thirty-five
days. The hibernating beetles are still abroad when the new

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE 537

beetles appear, and Brooks states that the average life of a beetle
is one year and nineteen days. Although the beetles of the new
brood lay some eggs, but few of them develop, and in West
Virginia there is practically but one generation, although farther
south a second generation may occur. The beetles feed until
fall, when they enter hibernation.

Control. — As the beetles feed so long on the foliage in early
summer they may be readily killed by spraying with arsenicals
as advised for the berry-moth and grape root-worm beetle.
Thorough cultivation in midsummer would doubtless destroy
some of the pupa? in the same manner as in the case of the root-
worm. Infested fruit may be collected and destroyed as for
the berry-moth with equally good results. Where spraying is
regularly practiced there probably will be little need of resort to
other methods.

CHAPTER XXVI

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS
The San Jose" Scale *

PROBABLY the most serious of all the insect pests of the orchard
is the San Jose Scale, for it will kill young trees in two or three
years, and old trees must be sprayed annually to keep it under
control. So insidious is the attack of the pest to those unfamiliar
with it that it has killed many thousands of trees before
the owners suspected its presence. It may be most readily
detected on the fruit, which becomes spotted with small red
circles which form around the scales, but usually the fruit is
not attacked until the tree is badly infested. On the young
twigs and along the veins of the leaves a similar reddish discolor-
ation appears around the scales. The trunk and branches covered
with scales have a rough grayish appearance, as if they had been
coated with, dark ashes. By scraping the surface the soft, juicy,
yellowish insects will be revealed beneath the covering scales.
If a single female insect be examined it will be found that it is
covered by a small, circular scale, varying from grayish to blackish
in color, formed of concentric circles, the centre of which is quite
convex and forms a " nipple," which is yellowish and shining
when the surface is rubbed off. If this scale be raised with a
pin, beneath it may be seen a small, soft, oval, orange-colored,
object, which is the true female insect. She is an almost shape-
less mass of protoplasm, lacking head, legs, and eyes, only
the thread-like mouth parts and anal plate being distinct. The

* Aspidiotus perniciosus Comstock. Family CoccidoB. See C. L. Mar
latt, Bulletin 62, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., and the numer-
ous publications of many of the experiment stations, listed in his
bibliography.

538

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 539

scale itself is merely a waxy covering secreted by the insect
beneath. The scale of the male is smaller and somewhat elongated,
the nipple being at the larger end.

Injury by this species was first noticed near San Jose, Gal.,

FIG. 390. — Peach twigs infested with the San Jose scale. On the twig at
the right a scale has been turned back showing the female insect —
enlarged. (After W. E. Britton.)

about 18SO, where the scale was most destructive and was investi-
gated by Professor J. H. Comstock, who first described it. About
1887 it was brought east on Japanese plum trees secured by
Eastern nurseries and was distributed by them on young trees,

540 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

so that in 1893 it was discovered in orchards in Maryland and
Virginia. Since then .it has been spread on nursery trees to
practically every State. Investigations made by C. L. Marlatt
in 1901 showed that the insect is undoubtedly a native of cast-
central China, and was probably brought to this country on flower-
ing peach or some ornamental plant.

Life History. The winter is passed as partly grown insects
under the scales, which begin to feed with the bursting of the
buds in spring. In the latter part of April tlic insects have become
full grown in the District of Columbia, and the males emerge and
fertilize the females. The male is a small, yellowish, two-winged

fly, similar to Fig. 448«. The males
emerge at night and arc so -small
they arc seldom seen unless reared.
About a month later the females
commence to give birth to live
young and continue to do so for
some six weeks. This species differs
from most scales in having no egg
stage, the eggs hatching in the body
of the female. The young insects
are very small, yellowish in color,
and resemble small mites. They
have six legs, a pair of antennae,
and a long thread-like beak through
which the food is sucked, as shown
in Fig. 394. The young insect moves about freely for from twelve
to thirty-six hours, then thrusts its beak into the bark or fruit, and
if a female does not move again. White, waxy filaments soon
exude from over the body, and in a couple of days the insect is
entirely covered by them, and as they mat down a scale is formed
which conceals it. This young scale is whitish with a prominent
nipple in the center. After the first molt, the females lose
eyes, legs, and antennae, for which they have no further use.
Nourished by the sap of the plant the insect develops rapidly and
is full grown in about a month. In the District of Columbia

FIG. 391. — Pear injured by the
San Jose scale showing the
discolored spots.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 541

there are four or five generations a year, in the South there are
probably more generations, while at the northern limit of the
species there are two or possibly three generations, as breeding
continues until after killing frosts. As with other small insects, it

FIG. 392. — Peach leaf bearing San Jos6 scales along veins.

is the remarkable power of reproduction to which the destructive-
ness of the pest is due. Thus it has been estimated that at Wash-
ington, D. C., the progeny of a single female would number
3,216,080,400 by fall, if all were to survive. It is not surprising,

FIG. 393. — Adult female San Jose scale, with scale removed to expose the
insect . (After Al wood . )

therefore, that a tree with but a few scales on it in spring will be
covered by them and the fruit unfit for market in the fall, and that
with these millions of little beaks pumping out the sap and poison-
ing the tissues a tree soon succumbs.

542 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The pest has been spread mostly by being transported on
nursery trees. Trees infested from the nursery will usually have
more scales on the lower trunk, from which they will spread to
the limbs, while those infested from neighboring trees will have
more scales on the young wood. Where the pest is abundant
the young insects are undoubtedly blown from tree to tree by the

FIG. 394. — Young larva and developing San Jose scale (Aspidiotus pernidosus
Comst.): a, ventral view of larva, showing sucking beak and setse sepa-
rated, with enlarged tarsal claw at right; b, dorsal view of same, still
more contracted and with the first waxy filaments appearing; c, dorsal
and lateral views of same, somewhat contracted, illustrating further
development of wax secretion ; d, later stage of the same dorsal and lateral
views, showing matting of wax secretions and first form of young scale —
all greatly enlarged. (After Howard and Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

wind, or they may be carried on the feet of birds or insects, or
brushed off and carried by persons or teams working in the orchard.
The insect has been found on a long list of plants, but on many
of them it is largely accidental. Injury is practically confined
to plants of the Rosacece, which family includes all our common
deciduous fruits. Of the orchard trees peach, pear, Japanese

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 543

plum, apple and quince are most injured 'n the order named,
while cherry and European plum are less injured.

Control. — As yet no spray has been found for use in summer
which will more than check the increase of the pest without
injury to the tree, and summer spraying is resorted to only when

FIG. 395. — One of the most important native enemies of the San Jose scale,
a little black ladybird-beetle (Microweisea misella): a, beetle; b, larva;
c, pupa; d, beetles, larvse, and pupae, among scales — all greatly enlarged.
(After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

winter treatment has been neglected or has proven inefficient.
10 or 15 per cent kerosene emulsion, dilute miscible oils, dilute
lime-sulfur mixture, or whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 4 or 5 gallons,
may be used for summer spraying.

On the Pacific Coast trees are very generally fumigated with
jiydrocyanic acid gas * for th's and other scale insects, but the

*See C. W. Woodworth, Bulletins 122 and 152, Cal. Agr. Exp. Sta.;
R. S. Woglum, Bulletins 79 and 90, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

544 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

treatment has never come into favor in the East, principally,
perhaps, because of the larger trees and the more scattered nature
of the fruit 'ndustry.

Practically the only methods now used in the East consist in
spraying the dormant trees with washes which penetrate the
scales and destroy the insects. This may be done more effec-
tively if the trees are pruned and headed in so as to reduce the
wood to be covered. Rough bark should be scraped off so that
the scales beneath may be reached. Badly infested trees should
be sprayed in the the early winter as soon as they have hardened
up and again in the spring just as the buds commence to swell. The
spring spraying will suffice for trees slightly infested. Every bit of
bark on the tree must be thoroughly wet, so none will escape.
Lime-sulfur mixture seems to be the favorite wash for winter
spraying at present, as it not only kills the scale, but aids in the
control of many fungous diseases (see p. 50). Miscible oils are
also extensively used and have a certain advantage on hairy
apple shoots and on badly infested trees, as they are more pene-
trating and spread better. Kerosene or crude oil emulsion con-
taining 20 to 25 per cent of oil was the first remedy to be used and
is still extensively employed. Wha'e-oil soap, at the rate of 2
pounds to the gallon, applied hot, is effective, but is too expensive
for large users. (See p. 50) .

The Fruit- tree Bark-beetle *

If the outer bark is punctured by numerous small " worm-
holes " so that it looks as if it had been struck with a charge
of bird-shot, it indicates the presence of the fruit-tree bark-beetle
or some nearly related species (see p. 653). Usually more or
less gum exudes from the holes, particularly on stone fruits.
Diseased or weak-growing trees are most subject to attack, but
occasionally serious damage is done to perfectly healthy trees,
especially when young. Injury is largely due to allowing dead
and dying trees to stand in the orchard, thus encouraging the

* Scolytus rugulosus Ratz. Family Scolytidoe. See F. H. Chittenden,
Circular 29, Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 545

breeding of the pest in them and its spread to healthy trees.
" Another form of injury is the destruction at the beginning of
spring of small twigs, together with the leaves which they bear.
The beetles are also reported to destroy leaves by boring into the
base of the buds at their axils." The holes in the bark are caused
by the exit of the small parent beetles and by their subsequent
entrance to deposit eggs. The adult • beetle is about one-tenth
inch long, by a third as wide, and of a uniform black color, except
the tips of the wing-covers and parts of the legs, which are red.
Life History. — The beetles emerge from the trees in April and
May in the Middle States. The female burrows through the bark,
and partly in it and partly in the sap-wood she eats out a vertical

a c d

FIG. 396, — The fruit-tree bark-beetle (Scolytus rugulosus): a, 6, beetle; c,
pupa; d, larva — enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

gallery or brood chamber, along the sides of which at short inter-
vals she gnaws out little pockets in which she places her eggs.
The larva? hatching from these eggs excavate little side galleries,
which branch out and widen as the larvae increase in size (Fig.
397) . The larvae become mature in about three weeks, when they
form cells at the ends of their burrows and transform to pupae,
from which the adult beetles emerge about a week later. There
are probably three generations a year in the Middle States accord-
ing to Dr. Chittenden.

Were it not for the effective work of parasitic and predaceous
insects which prey upon it, this insect would be a most serious
pest. One of the most valuable of these is a little chalcis-fly *

* Chiropachis colon Linn.

546 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

of which Dr. Chittenden bred 92 specimens from 72 of the develop-
ing beetles, and we have frequently had twigs in which practically
all of the developing beetles were parasitized,

Control. — The most important point in the control of this and
similar pests is to cut out and destroy all dead and diseased wood.

Burn all primings and trim-
mings. Affected trees should be
liberally fertilized in the spring
so that they may make a quick
growth and better withstand the
injury, llepellant washes have
been advised for deterring the
beetles from ovipositing. A
thick soap wash containing a
pint of crude carbolic acid to 10
gallons may be used. Professor
Gossard advises whitewashingthe
trees in early spring, again in mid-
summer and lastly about October
1st, adding one-quarter pound
of table salt or some Portland
cement to make it more adhe-
sive. He also reports killing the
beetles in their burrows with
an emulsion of earbolineum.
''Emulsify by dissolving 3 pounds
of naphtha soap in 3 gallons
of water by boiling. While hot,
add 1 gallon of earbolineum
(arvenarius) and agitate as for
kerosene emulsion with a force
pump. Add four gallons of
water for use and apply with a spray pump. Keep face and
hands protected from this spray." The earbolineum is rather
expensive, however, and does not seem to be much more
effective than the whitewash.

FIG. 397.— Work of the fruit-tree
bark-beetle showing the main
galleries, the side or larval galler-
ies, and the pupal cells — slightly
enlarged. (After Ratzeburg.)

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 547

The Buffalo Tree-hopper *

The work of the Buffalo Tree-hopper consists of a series of
cuts or incisions in the limbs of fruit or shade trees, made by the
female in the process of egg-laying, which result in very character-
istic wounds. This injury is somewhat like that done by the
periodical cicada or by tree crickets, but the scars are larger

FIG. 398. — The buffalo tree-hopper (Ceresa bubalus Fab.): a, a, adult, enlarged
and natural size; twig of apple showing recent egg-punctures at 6; c,
bark reversed with eggs in position; d, single row of eggs — enlarged;
e, wounds of two or three years standing on older limbs. (After Mar-
latt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

and are placed irregularly. When badly attacked the limbs of
small trees sometimes become so scarred that they are badly
stunted or may be killed. The parent of this mischief is a curious
little grass-green insect, about three-eighths inch long, whose
pronotum is broadly expanded into two sharp horns, which are

* Ceresa bubalus Fab. Family Membracidce. See C. L. Marlatt, Circular
23, Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., and H. E. Hodgkiss, Tech. Bulletin 17, N. Y.
Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 92.

548 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

fancied to be like1 those of the buffalo, as indicated by the common
name of the insect. They are very common, frequenting all
sorts oT rank-growing vegetation, appearing in midsummer, and
being most numerous in August and September.

Life History. — Egg-laying is commenced in August and is
continued until killing frosts. The eggs are laid in two curved slits,
with from six to twelve in each, as shown in Fig. 398, c, d. In
making these slits the female cuts the bark between them entirely
loose, so that the intervening wood soon dies, possibly to prevent

: the growth of the wood crushing the

eggs. A large scar is thus formed
which enlarges with each season's
growth, and finally becomes an Oval
shape by the center dropping out.
After a few years badly infested
limbs become very rough, are easily
FIG. 399. — Nymph of broken by the wind and furnish van-
buffalo tree-hopper— tagc points for the .attack of borers,
enlarged. (After
Hodgkiss.) rhe eS&'s hatch the next May or

June. Like the adults, the young

nymphs feed on all sorts of succulent vegetation, seeming to prefer
the juicy annual plants even to the tender terminals of trees,
the orchards suffering most being those grown up in weeds.

Control. — By keeping young orchards well cultivated and free
from weeds, the nymphs will have no food in early summer and
will starve or leave for better feeding grounds. Patches of weeds
near young orchards should also be destroyed. When trees are
badly wounded by the egg punctures they should be well pruned
and the prunings burned to destroy the eggs.

The Periodical Cicada *

" There is probably no insect that has attracted more general
interest and attention in this country than the Periodical Cicada,
or the so-called Seventeen-year Locust. The earliest settlers

* Cicada septendecim Linn. Family Cicadidce. See C. L. Marlatt, Bulletin
71, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; A. D. Hopkins, Bulletin 68,
W. Va. Agr. Exp. Sta.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 549

doubtless associated its vast noisy swarms with the devastating
invasions of the Migratory Locust of the East. Hence the popular
name locust, which has been used so long that it is doubtful if it
will ever be discarded for the proper name — Periodical Cicada."
They are quite different from the true locusts, or grasshoppers,
however, for the latter have biting mouth-parts while the cicadas
are true bugs and suck the juices of the plant through a tube-like
beak. Some twenty-two distinct broods of the cicada have been
distinguished, thirteen of which appear at seventeen-year intervals
and seven of them appear at thirteen-year intervals, the former

FIG. 400. — The periodical cicada (Cicada septendecim Linn.): a, adult; b,
young nymph — enlarged; c, cast skin of full grown nymph; d, adult
females showing ovipositor at b, and beak at a — natural size. (After
Marlatt and Riley, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

being mostly in the North and the latter mostly in the South.
Some one or more of these broods appears in every State east of
the Rockies except Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Every
year there is a brood emerging in some part of the country, and
the different broods have been carefully mapped so that their
emergence may be anticipated.

Life History. — The adults appear in immense swarms in late
May or early June. " About four or five days after their first
appearance," says Dr. Hopkins, " the males begin to sing "

550 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

filling the air with their shrill calls, which are produced by two
drum-like membranes on the under surface of the first abdominal
segment. " About eight or ten days later the sexes begin to
mate, and in about four or five days more the females commence
to deposit eggs. Each female is said to deposit from three to
five hundred eggs in numerous ragged punctures made by her
powerful ovipositor in the twigs of shrubs and trees, and sometimes
in the stems of herbaceous plants. These hatch in about six or
eight weeks from the time they are deposited and the young
cicada larvae emerge and fall to the ground. They then burrow

a, c

FIG. 401. — Egg mass of the periodical cicada: a, recent puncture, surface view,
6, same, with surface removed to show arrangement of eggs; c, same,
side view; d, egg cavity with eggs removed, and showing the sculpture
left by the ovipositor — all enlarged. (After Riley, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

beneath the surface and enter upon their long menial existence
in the ground, feeding on the liquids of roots and possibly sub-
sisting on such nutriment as may be obtained from the soil itself.
They change their position from time to time, and may rarely
enter the earth for a distance of eight to ten feet or more," though
usually within two feet of the surface. " By the twelfth or
thirteenth year the larva attains its full growth and in time changes
to the intermediate or pupa stage.* During the spring of the

* Dr. Hopkins and other writers commonly use the terms larva and pupa
in describing the Immature stages of the cicada, but there seems no reason
for discarding the term nymph used for other Hemiptera, and which is cer-
tainly useful in distinguishing the immature stages of insects with incomplete
metamorphosis from those with complete metamorphosis which have a true
pupa.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 551

fifteenth and sixteenth years great numbers of the pupae may be
found near the surface, and a few individuals may emerge during
May and June of the sixteenth year. Early in April of the seven-
teenth year the pupae commence to make preparations to emerge
from the ground by excavating burrows or exit galleries to the
surface. These exits are completed by the last of April. Ordi-
narily they extend only to the surface, and are kept open from a
depth of a few inches to a foot or more. In some soils these
exit holes are extended four or five inches above the surface by
means of clay carried up from the subsoil, and are called cicada

FIG. 402. — Pupal galleries or chimneys of the periodical cicada: a, front
view; e, orifice; 6, section of a; c, pupa awaiting time of change; d,
pupa ready to transform — reduced in size. (After Riley, U.S. Dept. Agr.)

chimneys. The pupae come from the ground in the evening and at
night, usually between sundown and ten o'clock, and proceed to
the nearest upright object, which may be a tree, the side of a
building, fence, or weed stem — anything, in fact, upon which they
can climb and expose their bodies to the action -of the open air.
In about an hour after emerging the skin on the back splits open
and the adult insect works its way out (Fig. 403). The wings,
which are short and soft at first, rapidly develop; the body,
wings and legs harden, and by the following day the adult is ready
to take flight and enter upon its short aerial life, limited to about
thirty days. During this short period they feed but little, if at

552 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

all, the males devoting their time during the day to flying about
and making a noise, while the voiceless females busy themselves
depositing eggs. " If the young nymphs do any injury to the
roots of trees or plants, it is very rarely perceptible. The adult
females, however, are capable of causing serious injury to young
fruit trees in orchards and nurseries by the numerous punctures in
the twigs, limbs and main stems made by them in the act of

Fro. 403. — The full-grown nymphs of the periodical cicada in different stages
of molting and the newly emerged adults with body and wings still soft
and white.

ovipositing. The egg puncture makes an ugly wound, beyond
which the twig dies, and the foliage of large trees on which
hundreds of cicadas have oviposited turns brown, as if the tree
had been scorched by fire. On young trees this results in destroy-
ing the growth of a year or two and misshaping the tree, and the
scars which remain later furnish points of attack for borers and
the woolly apple-aphis.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 553

Just before the cicadas leave the ground they are attacked
by hogs and also by disease. Upon leaving the ground they are
at once assailed by a host of predaceous insects and various animals.
One of the most valuable insect enemies is a large wasp (Sphecius
spedosus Dru.), which may often be seen bearing the adults
to its burrow, where they furnish food for her young. The Eng-
lish sparrow is remarkably fond of the adults and is the most
valuable factor in exterminating them in cities and towns. It
has been noticed that cicadas are much more likely to emerge
from newly cleared land, and with the removal of the forests and
cultivation of the land they are undoubtedly becoming more
scarce.

Control. — There is no means of destroying the adults, but many
of the pupae may be destroyed by allowing hogs to run on land
known to be infested during April and May of the year they
emerge, where it is feasible to do so. Injury to young orchards
may be avoided by not planting during the year or two previous
to the emergence of a brood in the particular locality. Budding
and grafting should also be avoided during the previous spring.
Orchards should not be pruned the year before a cicada-year,
so that there may be plenty of young wood in which they may
oviposit and which may then be removed without injury to the
tree. Evidently a knowledge of the time of appearance of each
brood in different sections is of great importance and may be
secured from the maps published (see Marlatt, I.e.). After all
the eggs are laid the affected twigs should be pruned off in July
and burned before the eggs have hatched.

The Fall Webworm *

The common fall wyebworm is so called because in the North,
where there is but a single generation, its webs are abundant in
August and September, in contrast to those of the tent cater-
pillar, with which they are often confused, which are found in
the spring. The wings of the ad^ult moths expand from one to

* Hyphantria cunea Dru. Family Arctiidce.

554 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

1£ inches, and are either a pure milk-white, or more or less spotted
with black, the number of spots being exceedingly variable. The
full grown caterpillars are about an inch long, covered with long
black and white hairs which project from numerous black tubercles.

FIG. 404. — The fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea Dm.): a, light form of full-
grown larva; b, dark form of same; c, pupa; d, spotted form of moth —
all slightly enlarged. (After Howard, (J. S. Dept. Agr.)

They are also quite variable in color, some being uniformly yellow-
ish with black and yellow tubercles, while others have a dark
stripe down the back and are almost black.

Life History. — In the North the moths emerge late in June and

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 555

FIG. 405. — Web of the full webworm on apple, showing enclosed foliage and
larvae feeding within.

556 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

in July, and lay the eggs late in July. The eggs are deposited
on the leaves in pale yellowish-green patches of 400 to 500, often
covered with whitish down from the body of the female, and
hatch in about ten days. The young larvae are pale yellowish
with brown markings and appear to be almost all head and hair.
They at once spin a web over the foliage on which they are feeding,
those from one egg mass feeding together and enlarging the web
as necessary. In the North the webs arc usually noticed in early
August and are started at the tips of the limbs. Within them

FIG. 406. — Meteor us hyphantrice, a common parasite of the fall web worm;
a, adult female; b, empty cocoon showing cap and suspending thread
— enlarged. (After Riley, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

the surfaces of the leaves are eaten off until they are left dry and
brown. When all the foliage on a limb has been consumed, the
caterpillars leave the web, enclosing the dead leaves, and form a
new web on a fresh branch, and thus the tree soon becomes covered
with unsightly webs, which are often mingled so that the whole
tree is webbed over. The web is easily distinguished from that
of the tent caterpillar, as it is found later, and the tent caterpillar
makes a relatively small web in the fork of a limb and never
encloses foliage in it. The caterpillars become full grown in a

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 557

month to six weeks, and then find secluded places under the bark
or in a hollow of the tree, in the rubbish at its base, or in a fence
corner, or sometimes just under the surface soil, and there spin
flimsy silken cocoons with which they mingle their own hairs.
They then transform to small brown pupae about one-half inch
long, in which stage the winter is passed. In the Middle States
and further south there are two generations, the moths appearing
in April and May and laying eggs in late May and early June, the
caterpillars from which become full grown by mid-July. The
second generation of caterpillars appear in late August and Sep-
tember at about the same season as further north, and their
pupie hibernate.

Were it not for their parasitic enemies these caterpillars would
be much more of a pest, and it is when the parasites become scarce
that injury results. One of their most common and effective ene-
mies is a little Braconid fly,* whose small brown cocoon (Fig.
406) is often found suspended from a twig or leaf. Many
caterpillars are also killed by various predaceous bugs, and fre-
quently they are killed off by fungous disease.

The fall webworm is a common pest of all orchard trees, and
frequently extends its injuries to shade trees. The larvae are not
uncommon on cabbage, beets and a long list of garden crops.
According to Dr. H. G. Dyar this species is confined to the South
Atlantic Slates, but it has been confused with another species
(Hyphantria textor Harris) by practically everyone, and it is still
a question as to whether the two species are really distinct and
if so how they are to be distinguished. If the latter form be a
distinct species, it occurs throughout the United States and has
the same habits.

Control. — The insect is readily controlled by spraying with any
of the arsenicals wrhen the work of the young larvae is first noticed.
Where orchards are sprayed for the codling moth there will be
little trouble with the first generation, and fruit-growers will do
well to make it a practice to spray in August where they are
troubled with this and other leaf-eating caterpillars.
* Meteorus hyphantriae Riley.

558 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Brown-tail Moth *

Although the Brown-tail Moth has become injurious only in
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, it will be surprising
if it does not become generally distributed, for during the past
three years its nests have been imported on pear seedlings
from France by nurseries in all parts of the United States
and southern Canada, and possibly some have escaped even the
most vigilant inspectors. It has long been a serious pest in

parts of central and western Europe,
whence it was introduced into
Massachusetts about 1890, but did
not attract attention until 1897.
The female moth is pure white
except the tip of the abdomen,
which is golden brown and forms
a large tuft or brush, which gives
the insect its name. The wings
of the female expand H inches,
the males being slightly smaller,
and bear one or two streaks of
brown on the under sides. The
full-grown caterpillar is 1^ inches
long, dark brown, marked with a
white dash on the side of each
segment. The body is dark brown
or blackish, wrell marked with
patches of orange and covered with
numerous tubercles bearing long
barbed hairs. On the centre of the fifth and sixth abdominal
segments are small retractile red tubercles. The tubercles
along the back and sides are thickly covered with short brown
hairs which give them a velvety appearance. These micro-
scopic hairs are barbed and are the nettling hairs which, when

* Euproctis chryscrrhoea Linn. Family Liparidoe. See L. O. Howard,
Farmers' Bulletin 264, U. S. Dept. Agr.; E. D. Sanderson, Bulletin 136, N. H.
Agr. Exp. Sta.

FIG. 407.— Winter web of the
brown-tail moth — one-half
natural size.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 559

they alight on the skin, produce a dermatitis much like that caused
by poison ivy. As the cast skins are carried here and there by the

FIG. 408. — Winter web of the brown-tail moth cut open to show cells within.

•wind and the young caterpillars drop from the trees, people
are frequently badly poisoned where the pest becomes abundant,
so that it is a serious public nuisance as well as a defoliator of

FIG. 409. — Winter web of the brown-tail moth bearing young larvae which
have emerged before the foliage has appeared and are feeding on the
dead leaves of the rest — two-thirds natural size.

fruit and shade trees. The caterpillars prefer fruit trees, pear,
wild cherry, and apple being most relished, but become abundant

560 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

on almost all the common shade trees, except the evergreens,
and particularly on oak.

Life History. — The moths emerge in midsummer. They are

••/„

•* • •'•» • *•

FIG. 410. — Full grown larvse of the brown-tail moth — natural size.

strong fliers and are readily carried by the wind for many miles.
They are attracted to lights in great numbers, so that they are

FIG. 411. — A mass of cocoons of the brown-tail moth attached to foliage.

more abundant hi cities and villages. Late in July the eggs are
laid on the terminal leaves, 300 or 400 being laid in an elongate

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 561

mass and covered with brown hairs from the tip of the female's
abdomen. They hatch in about three weeks and the young larvae
feed on the surface of the leaves, leaving only the brown skeletons,
so that badly infested trees turn brown in early fall. The cater-
pillars hatching from an egg mass feed together on adjoining
leaves, which they soon commence
to draw together with silken
threads, and by the first frosts they
have spun them into a tough
web. This is attached to the
twig by the old leaf stems, which
are bound to it by silk. The
web looks like a couple of dead

FIG. 412.— The brown-tail moth (Eu-
•proctis chrysorrhcea Linn.): male above,
female below — natural size.

FIG. 413. — Brown-tail moths
assembled on electric-light
pole, Maiden, Mass., July
12, 1905. (After Kirkland.)

leaves from a distance, but the leaves are merely the outer covering,
and if the silk web be torn open, there will be found numerous
small pellets of silk each enclosing from three to twelve of the little

562 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

partly grown caterpillars. The caterpillars emerge just as the buds
burst in the spring and feed on the expanding foliage. Where
abundant they soon strip a tree, for each of the nests harbors
400 or 500 little caterpillars. In five or six weeks they have
become full PTOWII and spin thin cocoons of white silk among

FIG. 414. — Egg masses of the brown-tail moth — natural size; caterpillars
hatching from the mass on leaf at left.

the leaves, in which they transform to dark-brown pupae. About
three weeks later the moths emerge.

Several native parasites and predaceous bugs prey upon the
caterpillars, but do not seem to materially reduce their numbers.
In Europe there are several parasites which prey on all stages
of the insect and which the State of Massachusetts with the
cooperation of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology is introducing

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 563

in hope that they may ultimately be as effective in this country
against both the brown-tail and gipsy moths. The most effective
natural check of the brown-tail caterpillar is a fungous disease
which often completely de-
stroys large colonies, both in
the spring and fall.

Control. — On fruit and shade
trees the winter nests may
be pruned off and burned in
winter, thus preventing any
injury the next spring, but
this is impracticable on forest
trees, which as a rule are not
seriously injured. The re-
peated pruning often injures
the trees, as it is d fficult

to cut all the nests without

removing more of the new

growth than is desirable. It

is better, therefore, to spray

the trees with arsenate of lead, 4 pounds to the barrel, as soon

as the eggs hatch in late summer, and thus destroy the young

larvge before they have spun their winter webs.

FIG. 415. — Young caterpillars of the
brown-tail moth skeletonizing an
apple leaf in late summer.

The Gipsy Moth *

History. — The Gipsy Moth has been known as a serious insect
pest in Europe from the time of the earliest naturalists, the first
authentic record being in 1662. It extends throughout the
continent of Europe, over much of Asia and into Northern Africa,
but is chiefly injurious in central and eastern Europe. It fre-

* Porthetria dispar Linn. Family Liparidce. See Forbush and Fernald,
"The Gypsy Moth," Mass. State Board of Agr. (1892); L. O. Howard,
-Farmers' Bulletin 275, U. S. Dept. Agr.; Annual Reports of the Mass. Super-
intendent for the Suppression of the Gypsy and Brown-tail Moths; E. D.
Sanderson, Bulletin 136, N. H. Agr. Exp. Sta.; Rogers and Burgess, Bulletin
87, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., containing bibliography.

564

INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

quently does serious injury there by defoliating large areas of
forest and more frequent!}' fruit and shade trees, but its ravages
cease in two or three seasons, not to occur again for several years,
like those of many of our native insects, such as the forest tent
caterpillar and tussock moth. In 1S68 the insect was brought
to this country by Professor Leopold Trouvelot at Medford, Mass.,
in his experiments in silk producing. Escaping from him into the
neighboring woodland, the insect increased gradually for several
years before being noticed, but in 1890 had become such a serious

FIG. 416. — Gipsy moth caterpillars — natural size. (After W. E. Britton.)

pest throughout this and neighboring towns that the State of Massa-
chusetts commenced the arduous task of its extermination. At this
time the insect occurred in some twenty towns. For the next
ten years it was successfully combated by the Massachusetts
authorities, and in 1898 it had spread to but three towns not
infested in 1890 and in many places it had apparently been exter-
minated. So slight was the injury that legislative appropriations
were discontinued for four years, during which oime the moth

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 565

spread over four times the area previously occupied and became
so abundant that State action was again necessary. From 1905
to 1910 it spread throughout eastern Massachusetts and southern
New Hampshire and Maine, and was found in two or three local-
ities in Connecticut. Appropriations for its control have been
increased until now the State of Massachusetts and the Federal
Government are each appropriating $300,000 per annum and

FIG. 417. — The gipsy moth (Porthetria dispar Linn.): male above; female
below — natural size. (After Forbush and Fernald.)

the total cost of combating it in New England must be considerably
over a million dollars per year. As it is gradually spreading,
there seems every reason to fear that it may ultimately invade
other States.

Life History and Description. — The eggs are laid in July and
August, in a mass of 400 to 500, covered with yellowish hairs
from the body of the female. The mass is an irregular oval

566 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

shape 1£ by f inches, as shown natural size in the figure, and is
deposited on the bark of trees, but where abundant, on fences,
stones, buildings, etc. The eggs hatch about May 1, and each
mass yields a swarm of young caterpillars, the bulk of which
become full grown by midsummer. The mature caterpillar has a
dusky or sooty-colored body. Along the back is a double row
of five pairs of blue spots, followed by a row of six pairs of red
spots, which readily distinguish this from any other common

FIG. 418. — Egg mass of the FIG. 419. — Pupae of the gipsy

gipsy moth on a bit of moth, male and female — nat-

bark — natural size. ural size.

caterpillar. The full-grown caterpillar is about 3 inches long.
Sometime in July or early August it spins a few threads of silk
as a support, sheds its skin and changes into a pupa, some-
times enclosed in a thin cocoon, but often hanging pendant from
its attachment. Characteristic light reddish hairs are scattered
over the pupa The pupal stage lasts from ten days to two weeks,
when the adult emerges. The moths emerge from the nrddle
of July to late August. The male is brownish-yellow, varying
to greenish-brown in color, the wings being marked with darker
stripes, has a slender body and the wings expand about 1£ inches.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 567

It flies by day with a peculiar zig-zag flight. The female moth
is nearly white with numerous small black markings, is heavy-
bodied and sluggish. The wings expand about 2 inches, but
fortunately the female is unable to use them for flight. Were it
not for this the spread of the pest would have been much more
rapid. After mating the moths live but a short time and do no
damage themselves.

The pest is spread mostly in the caterpillar stage. The young

FIG. 420. — Woodland killed by being stripped by the gipsy moth caterpillars.
Arlington, Mass, 1905.

caterpillars drop down on fine silken threads and may alight on
vehicles which transport them to non-infested areas. When just
hatched, the caterpillars have very long hairs, slightly expanded
at the base, and these, with the silk which they spin out, serve
to buoy them up in the air so that they may be carried for a
considerable distance by a strong wind. Where they occur in
myriads on high trees, it seems quite probable that the little

568 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

FIG. 421, — Egg masses of the gipsy moth on the trunk of an apple tree.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 569

caterpillars may be carried by the wind for considerable distances,
and that this is one of the chief means of spread. The egg
masses may also be transported on merchandise or boxing, and the
pest has undoubtedly become established in several localities in
this way. A few cases of importation on nursery stock have been
known.

The caterpillars will attack any of the fruit, shade or wood-
land trees, and where they become excessively abundant will
destroy all green vegetation of almost any kind. It is essentially
a pest of forest trees, but where it occurs it defoliates all of the
common fruit trees. Coniferous trees are killed after being once
stripped of their foliage, and deciduous trees usually die after four
or five defoliations. Recent experiments show that the young
caterpillars when they hatch from the eggs are unable to feed on
conifers, so that growths of soft wood may be protected by keeping
all hard-wood trees cut out.

Control. — In the orchard the gypsy moth is readily controlled
by painting the egg masses with creosote in winter and by spraying
the trees with arsenate of lead, 5 pounds per barrel, just as the
eggs are hatching in the spring. Where this is practiced there
is very little trouble in controlling it in orchards. Upon shade
and forest trees the problem is much more difficult and the reader
should consult the authors cited (footnote p. 563) as to the best
means and apparatus. Although the pest is still confined to
New England, it is such a serious one and there is so much danger
of its spread elsewhere, that fruit-growers should be on their
guard against it and should submit suspected specimens to the
nearest entomologist. Should it be found in any other States,
no expense should be spared to absolutely exterminate it before
it may become established.

570 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Canker Worms *

Since the early colonial
days Canker Worms have
been among the best-known
insect pests of the apple
orchard, but they are
general feeders and attack several orchard
and shade trees. According to Dr. W. E.
Britton they " seem to have a preference
for the foliage of apple, elm, chestnut, pear,
oak, hickory, box-elder, and maple, in about
the order named," and cherry and plum
are recorded by others. The canker worms
are among the most common of the " loopers "
or " measuring worms," and are the larvae
of two nearly related species of moths, very
similar in both appearance and habits. The
larvae defoliate the trees in early spring,
particularly in old sod orchards which have
not been cultivated or sprayed.

The Spring Canker Worm f

This species is so called from the fact that
its eggs are laid in the early spring instead of
in the fall, as are those of the other species.
It occurs from Maine to Iowra and southward
to Texas, and in Colorado and California, but
has not been rep rted on the Atlantic Coast
south of New Jersey according to Coquillet. It

* Family Geometridce. See D. W. Coquillet, Circular
9, Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.; W. E. Britton, Bien-
nial Report Conn., Agr. Exp. Sta., 1907-08, p. 777;
A. L. Quaintance, Bulletin 68, Part II, Bureau of
Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

f Paleacrita vernata Peck. Family Geometridce.

FIG. 422.— Canker
worms dropping
from foliage in
characterise at-
titudes. (After
Bailey.)

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 571

seems to be particularly injurious in the Mississippi Valley. The
full-grown caterpillar is from three-quarters to one inch long,
slender, and cylindrical, and has but one pair of prolegs on

FIG. 423. — The spring canker worm FIG. 424.— The spring can-

(Paleacrita vernata) : a, male moth ; b, ker worm (Paleacrita ver-

female moth — both natural size; c, nata): a, larva— natural

joints of female antenna; d, joint of size; 6, eggs— natural size

female abdomen; e, ovipositor — en- and enlarged ; c, side view

larged. (After Riley.) of segment of larva; d,

dorsal view of same —
both enlarged. (From
Riley.)

the middle of the abdomen. The color varies from ash-gray
to green or yellow, but the predominating color is dark greenish-
olive or blackish, marked with narrow pale lines down the back

FIG. 425. — The female moths of the spring cankerworm — twice natural size,
and pupae — three times natural size. (After Quaintance, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

and a whitish stripe along each side. The wings of the male moths
expand an inch, and are semi-transparent, brownish-gray, with
three rather indistinct dark lines across the fore-wings. The

572 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

females are wingless and at the first glance look much more like
spiders than moths. They are about one-third inch long, of a dull
brown or grayish color with a dark brown stripe down the middle
of the back.

Life History. — The moths emerge from the pupae in the ground
in March and April and the females climb up the trunks of the
trees, where they place their eggs in irregular masses of about
fifty, under loose scales of bark, in cracks in the bark, in crotches
of limbs, etc. The individual eggs are yellowish-green, turning
quite dark just before the larva: hatch, of an oval shape, and
about one-thirty-fifth inch long. The eggs hatch in about a

FIG. 426. — Eggs of spring canker worm — twice natural size. (After W. E.

Britton.)

month and the young caterpillars commence to feed on the leaves
just as they are expanding, at first eating small holes through
them, but later devouring all but the midribs. The young cater-
pillars have a habit of dropping from the trees and hanging-
suspended on strands of silk. In four or five weeks they have
become full grown and enter the soil to a depth of 2 to 5 inches,
where they hollow out earthen cells, wrhich they line with a little
silk and in them change to pupae, in which stage the summer and
winter is passed. The pupa is nearly one-third inch long, light
brown in color, somewhat pitted, and the male pupa bears a
simple spine at the tip of the abdomen.

The Fall Canker Worm *

The Fall Canker Worm seems to be the more common form in
New England according to Dr. Britton and is a more northern
species according to Coquillet, occurring through the North-

* Alsophila pometaria Harris. Family Geometridce.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 573

Central States and in Colorado and northern California. As its
name indicates, it differs in life history in that the moths emerge
in Xovember and December, " often occurring in great numbers
on foggy days during a thaw after the ground has been frozen."
They are most numerous about the middle of Xovember in Connec-
ticut, although Dr. Britton states that when the ground freezes

FIG. 427. — The fall canker worm (Alsophila pometaria): a, male moth;
b, female — natural size; c, joints of female antenna; d, joint of female
abdomen — enlarged. (FromRiley.)

in early fall and does not thaw, many of the adults do not emerge
until March, when the life history would be identical with the
last species. The eggs are laid in clusters of about 100, arranged
in rows, each egg fastened on end, and are laid on the bark of the
smaller branches or on the trunk. The egg is brownish-gray,
rather darker than that of the spring species, and is shaped like

FIG. 428. — The fall canker worm (Alsophila pometaria): a, b, egg; c, d,
side and dorsal views of larval segment — enlarged; e, egg mass; /, larva;
g, female pupa — natural size; h, anal tubercle — enlarged. (From Riley.)

a flower-pot, the outer end being marked with a dark spot in the
centre and a dark ring near the margin. The eggs hatch in late
April and early May in Connecticut. The larvae are very similar
in general appearance to those of the spring canker worm, but
may be easily distinguished by having two pairs of prolegs on
the middle of the abdomen. The pupa is similar to that of the

574 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

other species, but is somewhat stouter and the spine at the tip
of the abdomen of the male pupa is always forked. The cocoon
is much tougher, contains more silk, and is therefore less easily
crushed. The male moth is slightly larger than that of the other
species, with longer antennae, and the wings are firmer, less trans-
parent and darker in color. The fore-wings are crossed by two

whitish bands, the outer one being
indented on the front margin so that
it forms a distinct spot, and this outer
band is seen on the hind- wings, though
it is less distinct. The females are a
uniform, ash-gray without markings,
and with longer antennse than those
of the other species, the segments of
which are about as broad as long,
and are bare of hairs.

Control. — In old sod orchards where
the pest is always worst, thorough
cultivation will largely destroy the
pupa? during the summer. The cat-
erpllars may be quickly destroyed by
spraying with arsenate of lead, 3
pounds, or Paris green, one-third
pound, per barrel. The first spraying
should be applied as soon as the foliage
is fairly expanded and before the
trees bloom, and the second should
be given as soon as the blossoms
drop. The first is the more im-
portant and one thorough spraying
will usually suffice, as the young caterpillars are much more easily
killed. AVhere for any reason spraying is not feasible, the females
may be prevented from ascending the trees by encircling the
trunks with bands of tanglefoot or some other sticky substance
which they cannot cross. These bands should be applied in early
October and late March, according to the species prevalent. The

FIG. 429. — Wingless fe-
rnale moth and egg
mass, and winged male
moth of the fall canker
worm — • twice natural
size. (After W. E.
Britton.)

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 575

tanglefoot may be applied directly to the bark of the tree, making
a band two inches wide by one-quarter inch thick. Printer's
ink, bodlime, and caterpillar-lime (raupen-lime) are often used,
but should not be placed on the bark. A narrow band of cotton
batting should be run around the tree and covered with a

FIG. 430. — Canker worm moths and egg masses caught on sticky band. (After

W. E. Britton.)

strip of building paper 4 to 6 inches wide,, on the centre
of which the sticky band should be placed, thus preventing
any injury to the bark by the material. Where spraying
and cultivation are customary canker worms rarely become
- troublesome.

576 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Plum Curculio *

Throughout the States east of the Rocky Mountains, the Plum
Curculio is one of the worst pests of the common stone and pome
fruits. Its larva is the common white " worm " found in peaches,
plums, and cherries, while apples and pears are scarred and gnarled
by the feeding and egg punctures made by the adults. It is a
native insect which breeds on wild plums, wild crab-apples and
hawthorns. The adult is a thick-set snout-beetle about one-
quarter inch long, brownish in color, marked with gray and
black, and with four black ridged tubercles on the wing-covers.

FIG. 431. — The plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst.): a, larva; b,
beetle; c, pupa — all much enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

The larva is a footless, cylindrical, whitish grub, about one-third
inch long, with a small brown head, and usually lies in a curved
position as in Fig. 431.

Life History. — The beetles hibernate under grass, leaves, and
other trash on the ground in or near the orchard, or in neighboring
woodlands, and commence to emerge just before the fruit trees
bloom in the spring. They feed somewhat on the buds, unfolding

* Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst. Family Curculionidce. See C. S.
Crandall, Bulletin 98, 111. Agr. Exp. Sta.; S. A. Forbes, Bulletin, 108, ibid.;
J. M. Stedman. Bulletin 64, Mo. Agr. Exp. Sta.; E. P. Taylor, Bulletin 21,
Mo. State Fruit Exp. Sta.; A. L. Quaintance, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr.,
1905, p. 325; Circular 120, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 577

leaves and blossoms, but mostly on the young fruit as soon as it
is set; indeed, in New England the beetles do not emerge until

1 2

FIG. 432. — 1, young plums showing crescent-shaped egg punctures of the
plum curculio; 2, adult curculio on young peach — four times natural
size. (After Quaintance, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

a week or two after the apple blossoms fall. The females com-
mence to lay eggs in the young fruits as soon as formed. The

FIG. 433. — Plum curculio on young
apple and egg punctures — en-
larged.

FIG. 434. — The plum cur-
culio — enlarged five
times. (After Stedman.)

egg puncture of the plum curculio is shaped like a crescent and
has given it the very apt name of " little Turk." The female

578 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

first eats out a small hole with her stout snout, and deposits a
small, oval, white egg in the cavity. She then cuts a small seg-
ment of the skin and flesh around it so that the growth of the
fruit will not crush the egg, the whole operation taking from
fifteen to thirty minutes. The life of the female averages about
two months, during which time she will lay 100 to 300 eggs and
probably makes as many more feeding punctures. The punctures
made by the adults of both sexes in feeding are simple round
holes like those in which the eggs are laid, but without the crescent

FIG. 435. — Larvae of the plum curculio — enlarged five times. (After Stedman.)

marks. Frequently gum exudes from punctures on the stone
fruits.

The egg hatches in from three to five days and the young
larva bores into the fruit until grown, usually feeding around the
pit in stone fruits. The larva becomes grown in from twelve to
eighteen days (in peaches) according to Quaintance, but in central
Illinois in fallen apples it requires from twenty to twenty-six
days according to Crandall. When full grown the larva leaves
the fruit and enters the soil, where it forms a small cell an inch
or two below the surface, in which it transforms to a white pupa.
Three or four weeks elapse before the emergence of the adult

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 579

beetles; the first emerge about ten weeks after the apples
blossom, the majority appear two or three weeks later, and the
rest continue to emerge until October. If the weather is dry
the beetles may remain in the cells much longer than normally,
while a shower \vill bring out numbers of them: Upon emerging
the beetles feed upon the
ripening fruit. In many
sections the injury to ap-
ples by the feeding punc-
tures then made is worse
than the spring injury, as
the surface of the fruit is
injured and entrance places
for rot are furnished. The
beetles average about one
puncture a day for six weeks
after emergence in central
Illinois and commence to
enter hibernation with the
first frosts. In New Hamp-
shire we have seen no evi-
dence of injury by the
beetles in late summer or
fall.

Injury. — Injured plums
and peaches usually drop
to the ground, or if they
remain on the tree, ripen
prematurely, and rot more

quickly. Cherries stick to

, ,1 ,- •. • FIG. 436. — Work of the plum curculio

the tree, but on apple: d> feeding punctures from

often small and gnarled surfaceandinsection;e, egg puncture

, ,1 from surface; e', same in section —

from the egg-scars, or eaten &u enlarged> ^ c g CrandaUi)

-out by the larva. In ap-
ples the larva? only develop in those which drop to the ground,
the rapid growth of the apples probably crushing the eggs. The

580 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

egg-scars and feeding-punctures cause apples to become gnarly,
this being particularly true of summer varieties, which are often
rendered worthless, and even winter sorts are blemished by the
scars which also furnish points of attack for rots.

Control. — Frequent cultivation while the pupa1 arc in the soil
in midsummer will throw them to the surface and crush many of
them, and has been found to aid materially in the control of the
pest. As the larvae often develop in the fallen fruit, it is wrell

FIG. 437. — -Jarring trees over a curculio catcher. (After Slingerland.)

to gather it every few days and destroy it before the larvae have
left it to pupate, which will also aid in the control of other fruit
pests. The beetles have a habit of " sulling," " playing possum,"
or feigning death, when suddenly disturbed, and will drop to the
ground if a limb is jarred. This has given rise to the common
practice of jarring peach, plum, and cherry trees and colecting
the beetles on frames beneath them. This may be done with
simple frames covered with canvas, a frame being placed on either
side the tree and a flap extending from one over the edge of the
other, from which the beetles are picked up, or a regu'ar curculio-

SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO ORCHARD FRUITS 581

catcher such as has been commonly used in New York may be
more convenient. This is used as shown in Fig. 437, the frame
being covered with oil-cloth and slanting to a can containing kero-
sene for the destruction of the beetles which slide into it. The
jarring should be done in the morning, as the beetles do not drop
as readily in midday. During the past two years extensive
experiments have been made in spraying with arsenate of lead
to poison the beetles while feeding, which show that this is much
the most satisfactory method of controlling the pest. By spraying
with 2 to 3 pounds of arsenate of lead per barrel just after the
blossoms fall, and again three wreeks later on peaches, and with
two more sprayings at intervals of ten days on apples, from 60
to 90 per cent of the injury from the curculio has been prevented.
Only neutral, or nearly neutral arsenate of lead should be used
on stone fruits, as a slight amount of soluble arsenious acid will
burn the foliage badly. Paris green may be used with Bordeaux
mixture on apples, but does not seem to be as effective as arsenate
of lead, and is not advised for stone fruits.

CHAPTER XXVII

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR
The Woolly Apple-aphis *

THE Woolly Aphis is one of the most destructive pests of
young apple orchards, and as it works mostly upon the roots it
often escapes detection until the tree is badly injured or killed.

FIG. 438. — The woolly apple-aphis (Schizoneura lanigera Hausm.): a, agamic
female; 6, young nymph; c, last stage of nymph of winged aphis; d,
winged agamic female with enlarged antenna above. — all greatly enlarged
and waxy excretion removed. (After Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

The aphides will be found clustered in bluish-white, cottony
masses, looking like patches of mold, on the smaller twigs, par-

* Schizoneura lanigera Hausmann. Family Aphididoe. See C. L. Mar-
latt, Circular 20, Div. Ent.JJ. S. Dept. Agr.; R. I. Smith, Bulletin 23, Ga.
State Board of Ent.; Gillet* and Taylor, Bulletin 134, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta.,
p. 4; C. P. Gillette, Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. I, p. 306.

582

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

583

ticularly water-sprouts, and around wounds or scars on the trunk
or limbs. Their presence in these places is always an indication
that others are feeding upon the roots, where they cause gall-like
swellings, so that the roots soon become a mass of knots and die
in a year or two if the injury continues. When badly attacked
a tree becomes sickly, the foliage turns yellow, and if not killed
outright by the aphides, it falls an easy prey to borers and other
pests. Injury seems to be worse on light soils and not so severe
on heavy soils. Whether the insect is a native or European
species is a matter of dispute. In Europe it is called the " Amer-

Xlti

A 32

FIG. 439. — The wooly apple-aphis: at left, apterous viviparous female; 10,
fall migrant; 11, over-winter young. (After Gillette and Taylor.)

ican blight," and was described from Germany in 1801. It has
now become distributed all over the world on nursery stock,
which forms the principal means of its dissemination.

Life History. — On infested trees aphides will be found in all
stages of growth on the roots in early spring. On the trunk,
under bits of bark or under the dead bodies of those killed the
previous fall, will be found numerous small aphides which have
hibernated there, though in the North these may be killed out
during severe winters. As the buds begin to open, the aphides
on the trunk locate on tender new bark and commence to feed,
and many migrate from the roots to the top at about the same

584 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

time. They are not usually detected until they have multiplied
sufficiently to make small white patches on the hark or leaves
which look like mold. During the spring and summer all are wing-
less females, not over one-tenth inch long, of a reddish-brown
color and covered with a white, waxy secretion, given off in threads
from the abdomen so as to form a cottony mass over the colony.
These females produce' from 2 to 20 young per day, which

FIG. 440. — The woolly apple-aphis: at left, colonies on twig and in scar
on an apple limb; at right, crown and root of young apple tree, showing
characteristic swellings produced by the root aphides. (After Alwood.)

become full grown in from eight to twenty days according to
Alwood,* 100 or more probably being produced in two weeks.
Reproduction continues on both tops and roots except as checked
by the cold of winter, the aphides becoming most abundant in
midsummer. Early in the fall a generation of winged aphides

* Bulletin 45, Va. Crop Pest Commission, p. 12, Special Bulletin, Va.
Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 585

FIG. 441. — Woolly apple-aphides on stem of seedling tree and swellings
made on roots slightly enlarged. (After Rumsey and Brooks.)

586 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

appears, which migrates to other trees. They are about one-twelfth
inch long and have a wing expanse of one-quarter inch. They

FIG. 442. — Sexual female of the woolly apple-aphis, showing egg before and
after extrusion — greatly enlarged. (After Alwood.)

appear to be black, but the abdomen is really a dark yellowish
or rusty brown color when closely examined, and bears more or
less of the waxy secretion on the tip. Each of these winged

FIG. 443. — Sexual female and male of the woolly apple-aphis — greatly enlarged.

(After Alwood.)

females give birth to from four to six wingless males and females,
which are deposited on the trunk of the tree. The sexes are
wingless, much smaller than the summer forms, and are without

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 587

beaks, so that they take no food. The female is a brown-ochre
color, and the male dark green or greenish-brown and smaller,
as shown in Fig. 443. They become full grown in about eight
days, when they mate and the female then lays a single large black
egg, which is deposited in the crevices of the bark on the lower
part of the trunk. These eggs hatch in the spring and give rise
to new colonies.

As they multiply large galls are produced on the roots, the
tissue probably being poisoned by the mouth-parts of the
insects. As a result the roots soon die and the aphides then
migrate to the growing roots, so that their absence on the worst
knotted roots does not indicate that they have forsaken the
tree, but that they are on younger roots.

Control. — Nurserymen commonly apply a liberal amount of
tobacco dust in trenches along the rows, which kills the aphides
and acts as a repellant, as well as being worth half its cost as a
fertilizer. This is probably the best practice in the nursery unless
the aphides become abundant, when more vigorous treatment
should be used, but tobacco has not always proven a satisfactory
treatment for orchard trees, though used with apparent success
in some instances. The aphides may be destroyed on the foliage
by spraying with 7 per cent kerosene emulsion, miscible oils
diluted 30 to 40 times, whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 6 gallons, or
tobacco extracts, " black leaf " being used 1 part in 70 of water.
Whatever insecticide is used must be applied in a strong spray
so as to thoroughly wet and penetrate the waxy covering of the
aphides. A winter spray of lime-sulfur wash destroys the hiber-
nating aphides on the trunk, and doubtless kerosene emulsion or
miscible oils applied in early spring, as for the San Jose Scale,
would be as effective, though the lime sulfur would probably also
destroy some of the eggs. The trunks of trees known to be
infested may be banded with tanglefoot or similar sticky
materials as described for canker worms (p. 574) to prevent
the aphides from migrating from the roots to the top. Where
the aphides are abundant on the roots, the earth should be removed
for 6 or 8 inches deep over the affected roots and 10 per cent

588 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

kerosene emulsion or dilute tobacco extract should be applied,
using two or three gallons per tree, or enough to thoroughly
wet the soil. Dilute miscible oil might be used in the same way.
Boiling hot water may be similarly applied, but is hardly prac-
ticable for extensive use. Carbon bisulfide injected into the soil
has been frequently recommended, but practical tests do not seem
to demonstrate its efficiency. Badly infested nursery stock should
be destroyed, and it will be a good practiceto dip all trees in hot
soap solution, or lime-sulfur wash, to destroy any aphides as well
as San Jose scale. It has been observed that trees grown on
Northern Spy stock do not seem to be as badly injured, and the
matter of the susceptibility of varieties should receive further study.

The Round-headed Apple-tree Borer *

The young apple orchard must be given frequent inspection
to detect the work of the round-headed borers, for if they become
established in the young trees it is difficult to kill them and they
soon girdle the trunks. They are most injurious to apple and
quince, less so to pear, and also infest wild thornapple trees and
mountain ash. The species occurs generally east of the Rocky
Mountains, but is not commonly injurious in the Gulf States!
The presence of the borers may be detected by the retarded growth
of the trees, with a yellowing of the foliage, and the sawdust like
castings which the larvse throw out from the entrances of their
burrows, accompanied by a discoloration of the bark over the
new burrows, and in early spring there is often a slight exudation
of sap. Injury is most severe in neglected orchards, where grass
and weeds are allowed to grow about the bases of the trees, as
the beetle, which flies at night, seeks the concealment of the rank
vegetation during the day. The parent beetle is a handsome
insect about three-quarters inch long. The antenna and legs are
gray, the head and under surface of the body silvery white, and
the upper surface is light brown with two longitudinal white stripes.

* Saperda • Candida Fab. Family Cerambycidoe. See F. H. Chittenden,
Circular 32, Division of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; E. P. Felt, Bulletin
74, N. Y. State Museum, p. 23, which gives full bibliography to 1902.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 589

Life History. — The beetles emerge from late May to the middle
of July and the females soon commence to deposit their eggs. The
female eats out a little slit in the bark, in which the egg is inserted
and often pushed under the bark and then covered with a gummy
substance. It is a pale rust-brown color, about one-third inch
long, of a broad oval shape, and usually concealed on young trees.
The egg hatches in two or three weeks. The young larva? tunnel
just under the bark on the sap-wood, usually working down
toward the base of the tree, the bark over these burrows often

FIG. 444. — The round-headed apple-tree borer (Saperda Candida Fab.)
larvae, adults, and exit hole — natural size. (After Rumsey and Brooks).

cracking the next spring, and the fine castings and borings sifting
out. At the beginning of the second year the .larva is about
five-eigh.ths inch long. The larva continues in the sap-wood
during the second season, and it is at this time the most serious
damage is done, for where several occur in a tree they almost
girdle it. The next season they penetrate into the heart-wood,
and several of them will fairly riddle a small tree with their
cylindrical borrows. The full-grown larva continues this burrow

590

INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

out into the bark, often cutting clear across a tree. The upper
part of the burrows are stuffed with fine borings and the lower
part with long wood fibres. The full-grown larva is a light
yellowish, cylindrical grub, about three-quarters inch long. The
head is small, legs are lacking, and the body .tapers gradually
from the thorax backward, the segments being quite constricted.
The third spring the larvae transform to pupse and about three
weeks later the adult beetles emerge through large round holes.

Control. — The females may be prevented from laying their
eggs by wrapping the trunks with wire netting, building paper,

FIG. 445. — Work of the round-headed apple-tree borer: a, puncture in
which egg is laid; 6, same in section; e, hole from which beetle has
emerged; /, same in section; g, pupa in its cell. (After RilejO

or wood veneer. If non-rusting wire netting is used it may be
left on and will also protect the trees from mice and rabbits.
The paper or wood wrappings should be applied about May 1st,
and removed in late summer. They should be tied to the tree
tightly just below the crotch and should extend an inch or two
into the soil below. The wire netting should be held out from
the trunk of the tree by a layer of cotton batting under it at the
upper end. Various washes have been used to repel the beetles.
Thick whale-oil or caustic soft-soap to which a pint of crude
carbolic acid is added to every 10 gallons is often used and should

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

591

be painted over the trunk so as to form a thick coating. Others
recommend a thick coating of whitewash to which a little Port-
land cement is added to make it more adhesive. These should
be applied by the middle of May and as often as need be to keep
the trunk covered until late summer. If the trees are gone over
every fall and spring, the egg scars and burrows of the young
larvae may be detected and they may be cut out while still in the
sap-wood, without much injury to the tree. When the borers
get into the heart-wood it is almost impossible to dig them out with-
out doing more injury to the tree, but they may sometimes be de-
stroyed by injecting carbon bisulfide into the burrows and plugging
the aperture with putty or clay. Where a tree has been nearly or
quite girdled, it may sometimes be saved by bridge-grafting.
Orchards kept free of grass and weeds and trees with smooth
healthy bark are much less affected.

The Flat-headed Apple-tree Borer *

This species is more abundant than the preceding, but does
less damage. It prefers trees which have been weakened or are
diseased, and attacks almost all of the common orchard trees as
well as numerous shade and forest trees, so that it is everywhere
common. The species is
found from southern Can-
ada to Mexico. The larvsB
live just beneath the bark,
where they hollow out
broad flat channels which
extend slightly into the
sap-wood. The infestation
may be detected by the
discoloration of the bark.

Where abundant they will
often completely girdle
young trees, thus causing
their death, and they are

* Chrysobothris femorata Fab

FIG. 446. — The flat-headed apple-tree
borer (Chrysobothris femorata Fab.):
a, larva; b, beetle; c head of male;
d, pupa — twice natural size; (After
Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

frequently found abundant under
Family Buprestidoe. See Chittenden, I.e.

592 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the loosening bark of the dying limbs of large trees, as they
infest not only the trunks, but the lower limbs. The adult beetle
is about one-half inch long, dull metallic brown above, and the
wing-covers taper sharply at the tip, somewhat like a click beetle.
The wing-covers are ornamented as shown in the figure, arid
beneath them, as seen when in flight, the body is a bright metallic
greenish-blue. The male is smaller and the head is green. The
beetles are active during the heat of the day and may often be
found on logs or injured trees.

Life History. — The beetles emerge from the middle of May until
mid-summer. The eggs are deposited in crevices of the bark,
several qften being laid together. The eggs are yellowish,
irregularly ribbed and about one-fiftieth inch long. The species
receives its name from the shape of the larva, the thorax of which
is very broadly expanded, so that it looks like the head, which is
very small and almost concealed by it. The abdomen is much
smaller and the whole body is flattened. The larva is about
one inch long, and usually rests in the curved position shown in
Fig. 446. The larva becomes full grown in a single year and in the
South may pupate in November, but in the North does not pupate
until the next spring, when it remains as a pupa about three weeks.
The beetle emerges through an elliptical exit hole, in contrast to
the round hole of the round-headed borer.

Control. — As this beetle is everywhere present, injury may
always be expected if trees are not kept in a healthy condition,
but if the orchard is well cared for it seldom does much damage.
The same measures for preventing oviposition as suggested for
the previous species are advised, but the repellant washes must be
applied higher on the trunks and should extend to the lower
branches as high as can be reached.

The Oyster-shell Scale *

Not infrequently young apple and pear trees are encrusted and
killed by the Oyster-shell Scale, as are young poplars and maples.

* Lepidosaphes ulmi Linn. Family Coccidce. See Quaintance and
Sasscer, Circular 121, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., and refer-
ences there given.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

593

It is probably our most common scale insect, being almost always
found on apple trees, on which it works on the bark or the twigs
and trunk, reproducing even on old trunks, where the scales will
be found under the loose bark and are undoubtedly a factor in
causing the bark to slough off. All of the common orchard trees
are occasionally infested but rarely injured, as are also maple,
poplar, horse-chestnut, willow and lilac. Quaintance and Sasscer

FIG. 447. — The oyster-shell scale (Lepidosaphes ulmi Linn.): a, female
scales on twig; b, female scales from above; c, same from below showing
eggs; d, male scale — enlarged. (After Howard.)

give a list of over 100 trees, shrubs, and plants upon which the
scales have been found. The species is a cosmopolitan one,
being introduced into this country at an early date and now
being found in every State, and occurs throughout the world where
the food-plants exist.

The mature female scale is about one-eighth inch long, of a
dark-brown color, sometimes almost blackish, and shaped some
what like an oyster-shell, as shown in Fig. 447. The male scale is

594 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

much smaller, and with but one cast skin at the anterior end, as
shown in the same figure.

Life History. — If one of the female scales be turned over during
the winter, numerous oval, white eggs will be found under it,
with the shriveled body of the female insect tucked away at the
anterior end. These eggs hatch a week or two after the apples
blossom, producing small yellowish insects, which look like mites
as they crawl over the bark, which they often give a yellowish

FIG. 448. — The oyster-shell scale: a, adult male; b, foot of same; c, young
nymph; d, antenna of same; e, adult female taken from scale — a, c,
e, greatly enlarged, b, d, still more enlarged. (After Howard, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

tinge where very abundant. The young insect is of microscopic
size and is shown greatly enlarged in Fig. 448, c. It settles down
after a few hours' wandering and begins sucking the sap from
the bark. In a day or two long, white waxy filaments exude
from over the body, which soon mat down and form the
protecting scale, to which the cast skins are added when the

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 595

insect molts. The female loses her legs, antennae, and eyes, after
the first molt, and when full grown is an elongate, yellow-
ish, jelly-like mass, being simply a " reproductive sack, with her
sucking mouth parts, through which the food is taken, inserted in
the tissues of the plant," as shown in Fig. 448, e. The females
become full grown in about eight to ten weeks, when they lay
from 40 to 100 eggs and then die. In the Xorth there is but one
generation a year, but from the District of Columbia southward
there is a partial or complete second generation. When the male
insects are full grown they emerge from the scales as two-winged
flies, as shown greatly enlarged in Fig. 448, at a, fertilize the
females and die at once.
Control. — See below.

The Scurfy Scale *

" The Scurfy Scale, while infesting a considerable number of
plants (some 35 in number), is a less general feeder than the
preceding species. It occurs principally upon rosaceous plants,
such as the apple, peach, pear, plum, cherry, etc., and also on
currant and gooseberry among cultivated plants, but seldom
becomes so abundant as to cause particular injury or require
specific treatment." It is especially common on apple and pear
and less so on cherry and peach, though it has been observed as
quite1 destructive to peach in the South, greatly stunting the
trees, though none were actually killed. The female scale is a
dirty-gray color, irregularly shaped as shown in Fig. 449, c.
The male scale is much smaller, elongate, snowy white, "and with
three distinct ridges, Fig. 449, d. It is an American insect, being
common from southern Canada to the Gulf States. The life
history, as far as known, is practically identical with that of the
last species.

Control. — As the last two species are practically identical in
habits, they may be controlled by the same methods. Where
the trees are sprayed with lime-sulfur wash for the San Jose"

* Chionaspis furfura Fitch. Family Cocddce. See Quaintance and
Sasscer, I.e.

596 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

scale, there will be but little trouble with these scales, and where
specific treatment is required for them experiments indicate
that a thorough coating with the lime-sulfur wash while the trees
are dormant, preferably in the spring just before the buds open,
is one of the most effective remedies. The wash does not seem
to kill the eggs, but to kill the young soon after hatching, and has
been used successfully on both fruit and shade trees, but if there
be frequent rains in late spring, so that it is washed off, or if the

FIG. 449. — The scurfy scale (Chionaspis furfura Fitch): a, c, females,
b, d, males — a, b, natural size, c, d, enlarged. (After Howard, U. S.
Dept. Agr.)

scales are very thick, it is not always entirely effective. In
England a 3 per cent caustic soda wash has proven very satisfactory
for killing the winter eggs. Recent experiments made by Professor
R. A. Cooley in Montana * show that emulsions of linseed or
cottonseed oils are very satisfactory when applied either in the
spring or as the eggs are hatching, and were more effective than

* R. A. Cooley, Journal of Economic Entomology,
Webster, ibid. IV, p. 202.

,^ p. 57; R. L.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 597

other insecticides tested. These emulsions are prepared the same
as kerosene emulsion (p. 48), using one gallon of the oil, and
i to 1 pound of soap to 10 or 12 gallons of water. When the eggs
are hatching and the young are crawling the trees may be sprayed
with the above or 15 per cent kerosene emulsion, or whale-oil
soap. 1 pound to 4 or 5 gallons of water. The effectiveness of
the last two insecticides seems to vaty according to local conditions,
as they have proven satisfactory in certain experiments and of
less value in others. As for the San Jose scale, the trees or shrubs
to be treated should first be pruned of the dead and worst-infested
wood, and loose bark scraped off, so that the bark may be thor-
oughly covered.

Apple Plant-lice *

Several species of aphides or plant-lice commonly infest the
foliage of the apple, and less commonly that of the pear, arid
though they differ somewhat in appearance and habits they are
sufficiently alike to be discussed together, as the same methods
of control apply to all.

The Apple-aphis f

This is the common apple-aphis of Europe, and was first
noticed in this country late in the last century, when it spread to
all parts of the country within a few years, probably being dis-
tributed on nursery trees. Only young trees are usually much
injured by this and the following species of aphides, old trees
rarely being injured, except that where the aphides are excess-
ively abundant they sometimes injure the young fruit, causing
it to become stunted and misshapen. The foliage of young trees
soon becomes covered with the vermin, which feed on the under
surfaces of the leaves, causing them to curl up and then drop.

*See Sanderson, 13th Report, Del. Agr. Exp. Sta.; A. L. Quaintance,
Circular 81, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; Gillette and Taylor,
Bulletin 133, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta.

f Aphis pomi DeG. Family Aphididce. See above references, and J. B.
Smith, Bulletin 143, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.; C. P. Gillette, Journal of Economic
Entomology, Vol. I, p. 303.

598 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

This curling of the foliage is more commonly caused by this
species than any other, though the rosy apple-aphis has a similar
effect. The aphides secrete the sweet honey-dew very profusely
and so attract large numbers of ants, which feed upon it. The
ants are always found associated with them, and the presence of
numerous ants on a tree is a good indication of aphides. The
honey-dew soon covers badly infested foliage and upon it there

*w« XlS

FIG. 450. — The apple-aphis (Aphis pomi DeG.): 1, young stem mother;
2, adult stem mother; 3, adult apterous viviparous female; second
generation; 4, young female, second generation; 5, winged viviparous
female of third generation; 6, pupa of preceding; 7 and 8, apterous
male and oviparous female — all enlarged as indicated. (After Gillette
and Taylor.)

grows a blackish fungus which gives the leaves a sooty appear-
ance, often visible on the twigs after they drop, and a good
indication of injury by this species. The full-grown wingless
females are about one-twelfth inch long, and shaped as shown
in Fig. 450. They are of a bright green color, though occasion-

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

599

ally yellowish, and the tips of the antennae, honey-tubes, and tail
are black. The winged female is slightly longer and the wings

FIG. 451.— The apple-aphis, winged viviparous female — greatly enlarged.

expand about one-quarter inch, the head is deep olive brown;
the thorax is blackish, and there are three black spots on the

FIG. 452. — Nymphs of the apple-aphis, clustered on a leaf, showing developing

wing-pads.

lateral margin of the abdomen, but otherwise it is colored like the
wingless female.

Life History. — The minute, oval, shining black eggs are

600

INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

to be found on the twigs during the winter, especially at the
crotches and around buds and scars. They hatch just before
the leaf buds open and the young aphides become full grown in
two or three weeks, all of them being wingless. During the next
two or three weeks each of these females will give birth to from
50 to 100 young, a few of which develop wings. All of the aphides

FIG. 453. — The apple-aphis; a, young tree partially defoliated by the aphis;
d, winter eggs on twig.

of this second generation are also females, which give birth to
live young without the intervention of males, which do not appear
until fall. Their young develop in a week or ten days and most
of them become winged and migrate to other trees. The develop-
ment and reproduction continues in this fashion throughout the
summer, both winged and wingless females being found in most
colonies, though the size and coloration differ in the various

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 601

generations. Those which are to become winged may be dis-
tinguished after the third mo'.t by the blackish wing-pads at
the sides of the body. With the first frosts of fall the young
develop into true males and females. Both are wingless, the
male being much the smaller, has long antennae, is yellowish or
rusty-brown, and is very active, while the female is larger, moves
more slowly and is lighter in color, but later becomes a very
dark green. The sexes mate and the females lay 1 to 3 eggs in the
places mentioned. All of the aphides die by late fall and the
eggs remain to give rise to new colonies in the spring.

With the rapid multiplication above described it is not surpris-

Fiq. 454. — The apple-aphis, winged fall migrants on leaf — natural size.

ing that the foliage is soon covered with thousands of aphides,
and that with so many sucking the sap the leaves soon curl up
and drop. This is often a serious drain upon the vitality of
young trees, stunting their growth, and so weakening them that
they are more liable to be attacked by other insects and diseases,
while the premature dropping of the foliage prevents the full
growth of the tree and the proper hardening of the wood before
winter. This species shows marked preference for certain varieties
of apples and rarely injures others. Apple, pear and quince are
the only fruit trees infested by this species, which lives upon
them throughout the year.

602 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Rosy Apple-aphis *

This species is larger than the preceding, with a rounder body,
and is commonly of a rosy color, though the wingless females
vary from a salmon or tan color to slaty gray, purplish or black.
It has been injurious only to apple in this country, where it has
become widely distributed, but in Europe its native food-plants
are various wild species of Sorbus and Cratcegus. The wingless
female is about one-tenth inch long, the head, thorax and margin
of the abdomen being dark reddish-brown, and covered with a

FIG. 455. — The rosy apple-aphis (Aphis sorbi Kalt.): winged viviparous
female greatly enlarged.

powdery substance which gives it a deep blue color, the middle
of the abdomen being lighter yellowish. The antennae and legs
are whitish, marked with dusky. The honey-tubes are pale yellow,
tipped with black, and are long and tapering. Between the eyes
are two sma'l tubercles, and on the middle of the two segments
in front of the tail are a pair of similar small tubercles, which
are quite characteristic of this species.. When fully developed
the female becomes much darker and distended with young, which

*ApMs~s0r&iKaltenbach. Family Aphididoe. See Sanderson, and Gillette
and Taylor (Aphis pyri Boyer), cited above; and W. E. Britton, 9th Report,
State Entomologist of Connecticut, p. 343.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 603

may be seen through the abdomen. The winged female is about
the same length, the head, thorax and honey-tubes being black,
and the abdomen yellowish-red. The winged females in the fall
differ from those of the spring in lacking the small tubercles
between the eyes, but both spring and fall winged females have
the two pairs of small tubercles in front of the tail. They also
differ in having a large black splotch on the centre of the abdomen,
bands across the terminal abdominal segments, and spots along
the sides, also black. The male is winged and similar to the winged
viviparous females which migrate back to the apple in fall.

The egg-laying females are
wingless, very much smaller
than the summer forms, and
light lemon-yellow in color.

Life History. — The eggs oc-
cur on the twigs, as do those
of the last species, hatch about
the same time, and the first
two or three generations de-
velop on the app e in the
same manner. -Like the last
species, the third generation
is mostly winged females
FIG. 456.— The rosy apple-aphis, wingless Rn(1 migratc frOm the apple
viviparous female— greatly enlarged.

to some unknown food-plant,

on which they pass the summer. The winged females return to
the apple foliage in the fall and then give birth to young, which
develop into the true males and females, which may be found laying
their eggs in company with the last and other species.

This species curls the leaves, as does the apple-aphis, and is
likewise accompanied by ants. Dr. Britton states that " the
rosy apple-aphis . . . seems especially prone to attack the fruit
spurs and inner portions of the tree-top rather than the terminal
twigs and exterior part," and that it " affects seriously the
growth of the fruit," preventing its growth and development,
and causing it to be gnarled and irregular in shape, similar to the
damage sometimes observed by the last species.

604 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The European Grain-aphis *

This species is found on the apple, pear, quince and plum in the
spring and fall and on the small grains and various grasses during
the summer. Until recently it has been the more common form
on apple in the East, but is not now so numerous as the apple-
aphis. It is an old European species and was evidently imported
to this country at an early date, as it is widely distributed through-
out the United States. The wingless females are distinctly

FIG. 457. — The European grain-aphis (Siphocoryne avence Fab.): wingless
viviparous female, and egg-laying or oviparous female — greatly enlarged.

smaller than the previous species, and are of a light green color,
marked with transverse diamond-shaped bands of darker green
across the abdominal segments. The honey-tubes are shorter,
distinctly enlarged at the middle and flared at the tip, which

* Siphocoryne avenae Fab. Family Aphididce. See Th. Pergande, Bulletin
44, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 5 and authors cited above. The
author described this species as Aphis fitchii in 1902, and although there
seems to be no question that it feeds on grains and grasses during the summer,
there are several reasons for believing that there are either two species or
that the life history has not been sufficiently observed. Thus in some sections
it is exceedingly common on grain but rare on apple, and in others just the
opposite condition is found. Further observation may solve these anomalies.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

605

distinguish the species of this genus. The winged female has
the head and thorax blackish, and the abdomen yellowish-green
or brownish, usually lacking the greenish bands of the wingless
form, and the honey-tubes are brown with rusty spots around the
base. The species may be distinguished by the very short second
fork of the median vein at the tip of the fore-wings.

Life History. — The eggs are found on the apple and pear, and
the first two generations in the spring develop as do those of the

FIG. 458. — The European grain-aphis, migrating winged viviparous female
of the second generation — greatly enlarged.

preceding species. All of the second, or sometimes the third,
generation become winged and migrate to small grains and
grasses, on which they feed during the summer. In the fall
winged females return to the fruit trees and give birth to young,
which develop into wingless females and winged males, which mate
and produce the winter eggs. Pergande states that " the species
is biennial and that the progeny of the spring migrants from the
apple subsist almost exclusively upon various grains and grasses
until the fall of the second year, when a generation of return
migrants makes its appearance." This is certainly true in the
South, where the aphides may be observed on grains throughout

606 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the winter, but it may be questioned whether they usually survive
the winter on grains or grasses in the North.

Professor F. M. Webster* has observed this species on wheat in
Ohio, and states that in mild winters it remains on the wheat,
going down on the stems to just below the surface of the soil or
to the upper roots, as we have observed it in Texas. " Here they
go on reproducing when the temperature is favorable," he says,
" the adults being apterous so far as observed by me, until spring,
when they ascend to the foliage, the adults after this being both
winged and wingless. On the stems and roots below the surface
of the ground they are of a greenish color, tinged with reddish-
brown, especially posteriorly, the full-grown individuals often
being wholly of a dark brown. It is during autumn that they
do their greatest injury to the wheat, by sucking the juices from
the young plants, often, if on poor land and if in dry weather,
checking their growth and causing the foliage to turn yellow."
This species is seldom much in evidence on grains or grasses in
midsummer and rarely becomes very injurious to them. On
the apple it is abundant on the young foliage and particularly
on the flower buds and blossoms, where it is much more common
than the other species. It does not, however, curl the foliage
nearly as severely as the other species, due to its earlier migra-
tion.

The Clover-aphis f

This species is more particularly a clover pest, but is mentioned
because it oviposits, on apple and pear and may be confused with
other species in spring and fall. It has been observed in Colorado
and has been injurious to clover in Iowa, but its further distribution
is unknown. The wingless female of the first generation varies
from a dark green streaked and mottled with red to a deep dark
red, with honey-tubes very short and pale yellow throughout.
The second generation are light green or yellowish-green and

* See Bulletin 51, Ohio Agr. Exp. Station, p. 111.

f Aphis bakeri Cowen. Family Aphididce. See Gillette and Taylor, I.e.;
C. P. Gillette, Journal Economic Ent., Vol. I, p. 364.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 607

the summer generations on clover are pink or yellowish, with
a large pale orange spot around the base of each honey-tube.
Concerning this species Gillette and Taylor give the following:
"' The clover aphis, A. bakeri, infests the cultivated and sweet
clovers and alfalfa throughout the wanner part of the year where,
apparently, it never occurs in the oviparous form nor as eggs.
In the fall a portion of the winged lice migrate to apple and pear
trees, where eggs are deposited to live over winter and hatch into
the red stem mothers the following spring/' hatching a week or
two before the apple-aphis. " The descendants of these stem
females begin in the second generation to get wings and by the
middle of June nearly all have left the trees and gone back to the
clovers, though some remain on the apple all summer. In the
fall, many of the lice continue upon the clovers, going down close
to the ground as cold weather comes on, and if the winter is not
very severe, many will survive and continue to live and increase
upon these plants throughout the year. So far as our observa-
tions have gone this louse ranks next to the green apple-aphis
(Aphis pomi) in numbers as a leaf-infesting species of the apple,
. . . but we can hardly consider it a serious pest as yet in Colorado
orchards." Evidently the life history closely parallels that of the
previous species, S. avence.

Control. — Recent experiments have shown that lime-sulfur
wash applied while the trees are dormant, as for the San Jose
scale, will kill nearly all aphid eggs. Pure crude petroleum has
also proven effective against the eggs in several experiments.
Recently Professor Gillette has reported * experiments which
indicate that tobacco extracts will destroy the eggs when used at
various dilutions according to the strength of the extract, but
though these preparations may be effective, further field experi-
ments will be necessary to determine the exact dilution best for
orchard use. Spraying for the aphides after they hatch should be
done before they commence to curl the leaves, preferably just as the
foliage is expanding, for after the leaves are curled it is impossible
to reach them with the spray successfully. Kerosene emulsion
* C. P. Gillette, Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. Ill, p. 207.

608 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

containing 7 per cent kerosene, whale-oil soap 1 pound to 5 or 6
gallons, dilute miscible oils, or tobacco extracts will destroy
the aphides. The spray should be applied with some force, so as
to hit all of the aphides and to penetrate the hairy terminals of
the apple. Where trees are being sprayed with Bordeaux mixture,
whale-oil soap or tobacco extracts may be added to it, to save
separate spraying.

The Tent Caterpillar *

From the earliest times the webs of the tent caterpillar have
adorned the neglected, wayside apple and cherry trees in all
parts of the country east of the Rocky Mountains. On the
Pacific Coast a nearly related species has very similar habits. The
adult moths are common in July in the North or in May in the
Gulf States. They are stout-bodied, of a reddish-brown color,
with two nearly parallel white bands extending obliquely across
the fore-wings. The females have a wing expanse of about
1£ inches, while the males are smaller and may be distinguished
by their feathery antennas. The sexes soon mate and the females
deposit their eggs about five or six weeks after apples blossom.
The egg-mass is from one-half to three-quarters inch long and
forms a grayish-brown, knot-like band around the twig on which
it is laid, closely resembling the bark in color. Each "mass con-
tains about 200 eggs, placed on end, packed closely together and
covered with a light-brown, frothy glue, which gives a tough,
smooth, glistening surface to the whole mass. The little cater-
pillars hatch just as the leaf buds are expanding in the spring.
Ofttimes they emerge before the leaf buds have expanded suf-
ficiently to furnish any food, in which case they satisfy their
hunger with the glutinous covering of the egg-mass, spinning a
thin web over it. Soon they are able to bore into the buds and
a web is commenced at the nearest crotch. Wild cherry and

* Malacasoma americana Fab. Family Lasiocompidce. See A. L. Quaint-
ance, Circular 98, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; V. H. Lowe,
Bulletin 152, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta.; E. P. Felt, 14th Report State Ent. N. Y.,
pp. 177-190.

Fig. 459

Fig. 460

Fig. 461

The Tent Caterpillar.

Fig. 462

FIG. 459. — Egg mass on twig — natural size.

FIG. 460. — Egg mass covered with web of newly-hatched caterpillars.

FIG. 461. — Newly-formed web.

FIG. 462.— Web bearing half-grown caterpillars— reduced in size.

000

610 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

apple arc the favorite food-plants and are often stripped of their
foliage year after year, but all of the common fruit trees are more
or less frequented, and when very abundant the common shade
trees are attacked and occasionally one is defoliated. The
little caterpillars from one egg-mass co-operate in spinning the
tent which furnishes them shelter at night and during cold or
wet weather. This is gradually enlarged with new layers, of silk,
the caterpillars living beneath the outer layers. The caterpil-
lars are grown in five
or six weeks, when they
become exceedingly
restless and wander
away from the nest
in search of suitable
places for spinning their
cocoons. The full-
grown caterpillar is
about 2 inches long,
deep black in color,
sparsely covered with
yellowish hairs, with a
white stripe down the
middle of the back. On
the side of each seg-
ment is an oval pale
blue spot with a broader
velvety black spot ad-
joining it in front, giv-
ing somewhat the effect

FIG. 463. — Tent caterpillars on web — one-
half natural size. (Photo by Weed.)

of an eye-spot. Having found a suitable place under loose
bark, in a fence, in the grass or rubbish beneath the" tree,
or in the shelter of some neighboring building, the caterpillar
settles down and proceeds to encase itself in a thin cocoon of
tough white silk, in which it transforms to the pupa. About
three weeks later the adult moth emerges from the pupa to o&n-
tinue the life cycle, there being but one generation a year...-{>

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 611

The caterpillars arc held in check by numerous parasitic
insects, some 24 species having been found preying upon them
by Mr. W. F. Fiske in New Hampshire,* as well as by predaceous
soldier bugs (Podisus spp.) and many of our common birds.
Large numbers of the caterpillars arc also carried off by a bacterial
disease. When nearly full grown the caterpillars become sick
and sluggish, and soon become flaccid and the skin is easily
ruptured, permitting the escape of the body fluids. Several

FI.G. 464. — Tent caterpillars, back and side view — lj times natural size.

species of little chalcis-flics arc parasitic in the eggs and destroy
a large proportion of them. Were it not for these natural enemies
the tent caterpillar would become a much more serious pest.

Control. — The egg-masses may easily be detected and pruned
off during the winter, and it would be well to leave them in a box
covered with netting so that the parasites may escape. Neglected
apple and wild-cherry trees should be destroyed, as they harbor
this and other pests and are usually valueless. The caterpillars
may be quickly destroyed by spraying with Paris green or arsenate
of lead just after the foliage comes out, before the trees blossom.
* See W. F. Fiske, Tech. Bulletin 6, N. H. Agr. Exp. Sta.

FIG. 465. — The tent caterpillar moth. (After Lowe.)

FIG. 466. — Cocoons of the tent caterpillar, FIG. 467. — Web of the tent eater-
natural size. (After Lowe.) pillar riddled by birds. (Photo

by Weed.) 612

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

613

If there are but a few nests the caterpillars may be destroyed
in them by spraying the nest on a cloudy or cool day with pure
kerosene. Apply the spray with an extension rod and fine nozzle
so that the nest will be thoroughly soaked, without spraying the
surrounding foliage. Or the caterpillars may be destroyed by burn-
ing the nests with a torch while they are in them, or while young
they may be swabbed out with a broom or brush and crushed.

The Yellow-necked Apple Caterpillar *

During late summer the tips of apple limbs are often found
defoliated for a foot or
two and if examined a
mass of caterpillars will be
found huddled together as
if confessedly guilty. Usual-
ly these will prove to be-
long to this or the following
species. The full-grown
yellow-necked apple cater-
pillar is about 2 inches
long, with a jet black head
and the next segment,
often called the neck, a
bright orange yellow, from
which the insect is named.
Down the middle of the
back runs a black stripe,
and on either side of the
body are three stripes of
black alternating with four
of yellow and the body FlG' 4
thinly clothed
soft

s
long,

white

with
hairs.

. .

pillars assembled on apple twig in
natural position — from life, much
reduced.

* Datana mlnistra Drury. Family Xotodontidce. See A. S. Packard,
Memoirs National Academy of Sciences. V«>1. VII. p. 106; E. D. Sanderson,
Bulletin 139, X. H. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 213.

614

INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

While young the caterpillars feed only on the under
surfaces of the leaves, but as they become larger the whole leaf,
except the stem, is devoured. They feed together in colonies,
usually starting at the tip of a limb, where the eggs were laid,
and stripping the foliage toward the base, and are often found
clustered together in a solid mass. If the limb is jarred or a
caterpillar touched, it at once assumes a position characteristic
of this genus, throwing the head and tail in the air with a jerk
r.*,-. -, and clinging to the limb by

^^ the abdominal prolegs, as

jS jgf shown in Fig. 468. The wings

ffiMflLr of the adult moth expand

l^^^^i about two inches and are a

reddish-brown color, while the
head and thorax are chestnut
brown. The fore- wings have
three to five transverse lines,
one or two spots, and the
outer margin of a dark color,
and the hind-wings are pale
ye' lo wish without markings.

Life History. — The winter
is passed in the pupal stage
in the soil, from which the
moths emerge from May to
July. The round, white eggs
are laid on the leaves in masses of 75 to 100, and hatch during
mid-summer. The caterpillars feed during the late summer and
become full grown in four or five weeks, when they enter the
earth for from 2 to 4 inches and there transform to naked
brown pupa?, without making any cocoons. There is but one
generation in the Northern and Middle States.

The species occurs throughout the Northern and Middle States
east of the Rocky mountains, and in the far South there seem to
be no records of the species. Though most common on apple, it
also feeds on pear, cherry, quince, and plum, and on hickory,

FIG. 469. — The yellow-necked apple
caterpillar (Datana ministra Dru.):
mature larvae and moth — natural size.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

615

oak, walnut, chestnut and other shade and forest trees, some-
times defoliating them, as do other nearly related species.

Control. — As the work of these caterpillars is soon noticed,
and as they habitually feed in colonies, it is an easy matter to
hand pick and destroy them, or swab them off the limbs with a
rag or waste saturated with kerosene, or where a colony is clustered
at the .tip of a limb, it may be cut off and crushed. If this and
other caterpillars are abundant on the foliage in late summer,
it will be well to spray with arsenate of lead 3 pounds to the barrel
while the caterpillars are small, which will be about six to eight
weeks after the apple blossoms fall.

The Red-humped Apple Caterpillar *

This species is often associated with the preceding in very
similar injury, and has practically the same habits. The
name is given on account of
the prominent hump on the
fourth segment of the larva,
which with the head is a bright
coral red. The mature cater-
pillar is striped with yellowish-
white, alternating with dark
brown or blackish lines, and a
double row of black spines ex-
tends along the back. The fore-
wings of the moth expand about
1^ inches, ire dark brown on
the inner and grayish on the
outer margin; they have
a dark-brown dot near the
middle, a spot near each angle,
and several longitudinal streaks
of the samo color along the
posterior margin. The hind-

* Schizura concinna Smith and Abbott. Family Notodontidae. See A. S.
Packard, Memoirs National Academy of Sciences, Vol. VII, p. 212; E. D.
Sanderson, Bulletin 139, N. H. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 216.

FIG. 470. — The red-humped apple
caterpillar (Schizura concinna
S. & A.) — slightly enlarged.

GIG INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

wings of the mule arc brownish and of the female dusky
brown, the body is light brown with the thorax of a darker shade.
This species occurs throughout the United States and feeds on
apple, plum, rose, thorn, cherry, blackberry, willow, oak, hickory,
and other trees and shrubs. The caterpillars become full grown
in late summer or early fall and then spin loose silken cocoons to

which are attached bits of
earth and rubbish, so that
they closely resemble their
surroundings as they lie
on the ground beneath
rubbish, or just under the
surface of the soil. After
some time the larvae trans-
form to pupa>, in which
stage the winter is passed.
Otherwise the life history
is practically the same as
the preceding species, ex-
cept that there is some
evidence of there being two
generations in the South. The larvaj of this species are very
frequently parasitized by little ichneumon-flies * which destroy
whole colonies of them wrhile still young, the inflated skins being
found on the under side of a leaf, often perforated by the
round exit holes of the parasites.

Control. — Same as for the preceding species. '

FIG. 471. — Eggs of the red-humped
apple caterpillar— enlarged.

The Apple Leaf -miner f

This is the most common leaf-miner of the apple and makes
small brown trumpet-shaped blotches under the upper surfaces

* Limneria fugitiva Say, and L. oedemasioe Ashm. Family Ichneumonidce.

•f Tischeria malifoliella Clemens. Family Tineidce. See A. L. Quaintance,
Bulletin 68, Part III, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; C. D. Jarvis,
Bulletin 45, Storrs (Conn.) Agr. Exp. Sta.; C. O. Houghton, Bulletin 87,
Del. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 617

of the leaves. It has not been regarded as a serious pest until
recently, but during the last few years it has become so abundant
as to do serious injury to apple foliage in Xew England and the
Middle Atlantic States, in some instances largely defoliating the
trees. It is a native insect which is generally distributed east of
the Rocky Mountains.

The adult is a little moth whose wings expand about one-third
inch and are broadly f ringed as shown in the figure. Clemens
describes it as follows: " Head and antenna shining dark brown,
face ochreous. Fore-wings uniform, shining dark brown with a
purplish tinge, slightly dusted with pale ochreous; cilia of the

FIG. 472. — Trumpet-shaped mine of the apple leaf-miner (Tischeria malifo-
liella Clem.). (Photo by Quaintance, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

general hue. Hind-wings dark gray; cilia with a rufous tinge."
The full-grown larva is one-third inch long, somewhat flattened,
and tapers from the broad thorax to the last segment. It is
light green except the back of the prothorax and the anal seg-
ment, which are brown.

Life History. — The moths emerge in late April in Delaware and
in May in Connecticut. The small greenish-yellow, blister-like
eggs are elliptical in outline, about one-fiftieth inch long, and are
attached closely to the surface of the leaf. They hatch in from
eight to ten days and the young larva? mine directly into the leaf
from the under side of the eggs. The larvae become full grown in
about three weeks and pupate in their mines, the pupal stage
lasting eight to ten days. Thus the whole life cycle requires

618 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

but about thirty-three days in the District of Columbia, where
there are four generations a year, and about six weeks in Con-
necticut, where there are but two generations. The larva) of
the last generation line their mines with silk and in them pass the
winter in the fallen leaves, transforming to pupae the next spring.

Control. — As the larva) pass the winter in the fallen leaves, the
insect may be entirely controlled by plowing under the leaves
in late fall or early spring or by raking them up and burning them.
When the larvae become so abundant as to threaten serious inj ury
in summer they may be killed in their mines by spraying the
foliage with 10 to 15 per cent kerosene emulsion, but this is
not satisfactory in the early fall.

The Pistol Case-bearer * and the Cigar Case-bearer f

These interesting little case-bearers have long been known as
apple insects, but only in comparatively recent years have they

FIG. 473. — The pistol case-bearer (Coleophora malivorella Riley): a, apple
twig showing larval cases and work on leaves; b, larva; c, pupa; d,
moth; b, c, d, enlarged. (After Riley.)

done sufficient injury to attract attention. Both species have
done serious damage in New York by boring into the young buds

* Coleophora malivorella Riley. Family Elachistidce . 'See V. H. Lowe.
Bulletin 122, N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta.

"\ColeophorafletcherellaYema\d. Family Elachistidce. See M. V. Slinger-
land, Bulletin 93, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.; A. G. Hammar, Bulletin 80,
Part II, Bureau of Entomology, U.S. Dept. Agr.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

619

and blossoms, and eating off the surface of the leaves, so that in
some cases orchards have been practically defoliated. The pistol
case-bearer seems to be generally distributed over the eastern
United States and southern Canada, while the cigar case-bearer
is known to occur in Canada from Xova Scotia to British
Columbia, in New York, Michigan, Kansas and New Mexico.
As both insects are readily carried on nursery stock they are
doubtless much more widely distributed than the records indi-
cate.

Life History. — The life histories of both species are very similar

FIG. 474. — The cigar case-bearer (Coleophora fletcherella Fernald): a, adult
female; b, side view of pupa and upper view of cremaster of same;
c, larva; d, egg; e, venation of wings — much enlarged. (After Hammar,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

and have been most interestingly described in detail by the
authors cited. The young caterpillars hibernate in their little
cases, which are attached to the twigs usually near or upon the
buds.

Those of the pistol case-bearer are about one-eighth inch long
and resemble the bark in color. A short time before the leaf-
buds burst in the spring, the larva) become active and attack
the growing buds, gnawing through the outer cover to feed on
the tender tissues beneath. Later they feed on the young
leaves, making small holes through the surface and feeding on
the soft tissue within in much the same manner as a true leaf-

620 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

miner. In feeding they do not leave the case, but reach
out as far as possible from it. As they grow they enlarge
their cases, which finally assume the shape characteristic of
the species.

Those of the cigar case-bearer are straight and resemble
a miniature cigar, being of. a brown color and composed of
bits of leaf bound together with silk. The cases of the pistol
case-bearer resemble an old-fashioned pistol in shape, the butt

being at the upper end, and
are blackish, being composed
of excrement and silk. As
the caterpillars become larger
they devour the entire leaf,
except the midrib and large
veins, and also attack the
flower buds, flowers and fruit.
The larvae of the cigar case-
bearer become full grown
about the middle of June :n
Xew York, when they mi-
grate to the twigs, where they
attach their cases firmly to
the bark and, turning around
so that their heads are out-
ward, transform to pupae.
The pupal stage lasts ten or

twelve days, most of the moths emerging in early July. The
pistol case-bearers become full grown and transform about a
month earlier. The adults of both species are little grayish
moths with wings expanding about one-half inch, and broadly
fringed with long hairs. The eggs of both species are laid singly
on the under sides of the leaves and hatch in ten days to two weeks.
The young caterpillars which hatch from them feed within the
leaf for a short time as leaf-miners, before they make their
little cases and migrate to the twigs, where they remain until
spring.

FIG. 475. — The cases of the cigar
case-bearer: o, upper view of the
cigar-shaped case; showing the
smooth and the hairy sides and the
three-lobed hind opening; b, side
view of same; c, the case as it
appears in the spring with the tube-
like addition; d, the fall and winter
case — much enlarged. (After Ham-
mar, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 621

FIG. 476. — Apple leaf with cigar case-bearers at work — natural size. (After
Hammar, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

Control. — Spraying with Paris green or arsenate of lead just
before the leaf buds open and again as soon as the foliage is out,
will destroy the little caterpillars.

The Bud Moth *

This is a European species which was first noted in this country
in 1841, and has since spread throughout the Northern and Middle
States east of the Rocky Mountains and to Oregon and Idaho.
The larvae feed on all of the common deciduous fruit trees, and
blackberry, but are most commonly injurious to apple. The
adult moth is a dark ash gray with broad yellowish bands across
the fore-wings, which expand about five-eighths inch. The
full-grown caterpillar is one-half inch long, of a light chestnut-

* Tmetocera ocellana Schiff. Family Tortricidoe. See M. V. Slingerland ,
Bulletin 107,.Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.; W. E.Britton, 9th Report, State
Entomologist of Connecticut, p. 353.

022 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

brown color, with the head, legs and thoracic shield dark brown

or black, .smooth and shiny.

Life History. — -The larvae hibernate in small, oval, silken cases

attached to the bark of a twig. About the time the buds begin
to swell in the spring, the caterpillars
bore into them, thus early protecting
themselves from insecticides. As the
young leaves and flowers unfold, the
caterpillars form nests for themselves
by tying the leaves together, and de-
stroy the young foliage and flower buds,
but do not leave the nests in feeding.
In Xew York, they become full grown

during June, and transform to pupa? in the silk-lined nests.

About ten days later the moths emerge and lay the eggs

singly or in small clusters on the under surface of the leaves.

FIG. 477.— The bud moth
(Tmetocera ocellana
Schiff.) — twice natural
size. (After W. E.
Britton.)

FIG. 478. — Young apple leaves infested by the bud moth larva. (After

W. E. Britton.)

The egg is disk-like, much flattened, usually oval in shape,
and transparent, resembling a minute drop of water. The
eggs soon hatch and the young caterpillars feed on the under

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 623

sides of the leaves, protecting themselves by a thin silken
web. In the fall they migrate to the twigs and form the small
silken cases in which they pass the winter.

Control. — Dr. Britton reports that the caterpillars may be

FIG. 479. — Apple leaf injured by the bud moth caterpillar — natural size.
(After W. E. Britton.)

effectively destroyed by spraying with arsenate of lead 1 pound
to 10 gallons, which should be applied just as the buds are bursting
and again before the trees blossom.

624 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Codling Moth *

The common apple worm, the larva of the codling moth, is
probably the best known and most generally destructive of all
the apple insects. It is an old European insect and has been
distributed to almost all parts of the world where apples are

FIG. 480. — The codling moth (Cydia pomonella Linn.): a, egg — greatly
enlarged; b, young larva hatching from egg; c, larva in winter cocoon
on inside of a bit of bark; d, pupa — original; e, moth — after Slinger-
land — all much enlarged.

grown. The ". wormy " apple is so well known that the work
of the larva needs no description, but the aggregate loss which
it occasions is not always appreciated, as most of the injured

* Cydia pomonella Linn. Family Tortricidce. See A. L. Quaintance,
Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1907, p. 435; E. L. Jenne, Bulletin 80, Part I,
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; C. B. Simpson, Bulletin 41, n. s.,
Div. Ent., U. S. Dept! Agr.; E. D. Sanderson, Bulletin 143, N. H. Agr. Exp.
Sta.; and bulletins of the State Agrcultural Experiment Stations.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 625

fruit drops and no account is kept of the windfalls, and if the picked
fruit is not seriously infested the grower does not notice that he
has lost a large part of the crop, though where the post is abundant
so much of the fruit is injured that hut little remains to be picked
on unspraycd trees. In 1907 Professor Quaintance estimated
the annual loss due to this
insect in the United States at
about $12,000,000.

The moths fly at dusk and
are rarely seen, as during the
day they rest on the bark
which they closely resemble
in color. The wings expand
about three-quarters inch and
have somewhat the appear-
ance of grayish-brownjwatered
silk, but when more "closely
examined are seen to be
crossed by numerous lines of
gray and brown scales. Near
the hind angle of each front
wing is a large dark brown
spot marked with streaks of
brown or gold. The hind-
wings are of a lighter grayish-

FIG. 481. — Cocoons of codling moth as
found attached to a piece of loose
bark — natural size. (After Slinger-
land.)

brown color, darker toward
the outer margin.

L'fe History. — The winter is passed by the fu"-gvown larvae in
their small white cocoons beneath or in crevices of the bark.
About the time the apples blossom the larvae transform to small
brown pupa;, from which the moths emerge in two to three weeks.
If the evenings be warm the females commence to deposit their
eggs within a few days, laying most of them on the foliage. A
female lays from 60 to 75 eggs, and though most of them are
placed on leaves near the young fruit, ofttimes they are deposited
on limbs or trees with no fruit. The individual egg looks much

626 INSECT VESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

like a small white blister about the size of a pinhead. It is at
first quite transparent, but later a brownish or blackish streak
is seen, showing the little caterpillar forming within. The eggs
hatch in from five to ten days, depending upon the season and
temperature, most of them hatching about three or four weeks
after the blossoms fall.

The yoimg apple worm- is at first only about one-sixteenth
inch long, of a whitish color, with a shining black head, and
with distinct blackish tubercles over the body, which become
quite indistinct in later life. Upon hatching the young larva
usually feeds a little on the tender parts of the leaves before
it crawls to the nearest apple, which is probably 8 or 10

FIG. 482. — Pupse of codling moth in cocoons — enlarged. (After Slingerland.)

inches distant. About two-thirds of the larva; enter the apples
through the blossom end and feed a little within the calyx before
they bore inward to the core. The others enter at the stem end
or at the side, where a leaf may touch the apple. The seeds of
the apple seem to be most relished, for the larva soon hollows
out each of them as well as the surrounding core, its work being
indicated by the well-known excreta thrown out from the calyx,
showing the " worminess " of the apple. The larva becomes full
grown in from three to four weeks and eats its way out through
the side of the apple, leaving a round exit hole, and seeks a place
to form its cocoon. The full-grown caterpillar is about three-
quarters inch long, whitish or pinkish in color, with a brown head

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 627

and faint tubercles over the body, and with three pairs of thoracic
legs and five pairs of abdominal prolegs. The cocoons are found
mostly on the trunks of the trees, as in winter. The pupal
stage of the first summer gen-
eration lasts ten to twelve
days, and the moths emerge
about eight weeks after the
eggs were laid.

In northern New England
but 2 or 3 per cent of the
larvae pupate, the majority
hibernating over winter, so
that there is but a small
second generation. Further
south a large number trans-
form and in the- Middle States
there are two full generations.
In the far South, as in Georgia,
Arkansas and New Mexico,
there are three generations
In any event the larvae leave the apples in the fall and hiber-
nate in their cocoons, those but partly :growh usually dying

before spring. The life cycle
of the second and third gen-
erations arc essentially x the
same as that of the first,
except that a large propor-
tion of the eggs arc laid on
the fruit and more of the lar-
vae enter the apples through
the sides or stem end. The
work of the larvae of the

FIG. 484.-Young larva of codling moth j fe d ^ also some-

in calyx cavity of apple — enlarged.

what different, as much of

it consists of eating around the blossom end or on the face
of the apple, eating out small holes or tunneling under the

Fio^SS.-^-Pupa skin of codling moth
remaining' attached to cocoon — en-
larged. ,

628 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

skin, as shown in Fig. 489. When two or three generations
occur, the injury by them often becoms very severe if the
first generation has not been largely destroyed by thorough
spraying. Very similar injury is done by the larva of the lesser

apple worm,* which is very difficult to
distinguish, but fortunately the same
treatment will control both pests.

Control. — Scraping the loose bark from
the trees and keeping the bark smooth
removes the favorable conditions for the
hibernation of the larvae. A large pro-
portion of the hibernating larvae arc
destroyed by woodpeckers and nut-
hatches during the winter and they
should be attracted to the orchards
by hanging up bones and suet. Pick-
ing up the fallen apples and destroying
them before the Iarva3 have left them to
form their cocoons will do much to
mitigate the numbers and will aid in
the control of other insects. Cellars and
storage houses where apples are kept
over winter should be screened to pre-
vent the exit of the moths in the spring.
The principal method of control, how-
ever, is in spraying with arsenicals,
which, when properly done, 'will destroy
practically all of the larva. Although Paris green and arsenite
of lime (p. 43) have long been used for this purpose, arsenate of
lead is now preferred on account of its superior adhesive qualities
and because there is less danger of burning the foliage with it.
Where Bordeaux mixture is sprayed for fungous diseases at the
same time Paris green may be applied with it and the Bordeaux

* Enarmonia prunivora Walsh. Family Tortricidce. See A. L. Quaintance.
Bulletin 68, Part V, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; Foster and
Jones, Bulletin 80, Part III, ibid.

FIG. 485. — Larva of the
codling moth only a
few days old, showing
tubercles — much en-
larged. (After Slinger-
land.)

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 629

will cause it to adhere as well as arsenate of lead and there will be
little danger of burning with a good quality of Paris green. One-
third pound per barrel of Paris green, 2 or 3 pounds of arsenate of
lead, or 1 quart of stock solution of arsenite of lime are the proper
strengths for general use. The first spraying for the codling moth
should be given just after the blossoms have fallen and before
the sepals of the calyx close, the object being to place the poison
in the calyx cavity so that the little larva will be poisoned when it
enters and feeds in the calyx a few weeks later. In general this

FIG. 486. — Full grown larva of the codling moth — enlarged about three
times. (After Slingerland.)

spraying should be given within a week or ten days after two-
thirds of the petals have dropped, but the time will depend upon
the variety and the season.

In the West great emphasis has recently been placed upon
using a coarse spray with a high pressure, 100 to 250 pounds,
which will drive the spray through the bases of the stamens
into the lower calyx cavity, and though excellent result are
undoubtedly secured in this way, experiments in the East
indicate that a mist spray is equally effective if thoroughly
applied, whether the lower calyx cavity is reached or not.
There is no question, however, of the importance of maintaining

630 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

a good pressure, of at least 100 pounds, so that the spray may be
forced through the foliage; for the blossoms point in all directions;
and the spray must be forced through the tree to reach those point-
ing inward on the opposite side. To do thorough work the man
spraying should stand on a tower which will place him level with
the middle of the tree, so that with an extension rod all parts may
be readily reached. An angle on the end of the rod which will

FIG. 487. — Young apples in right condition to spray for the codling moth
and with calyx sepals closed too far for effective spraying. (Afx;er
Quaintance, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

turn the nozzle at 35 or 45 degrees will greatly aid in reaching
all parts of the tree.

The second spraying should be applied three or four
weeks after the blossoms fall, just as the eggs are hatching
At this time the object should be to cover the foliage thor-
oughly, so that the young larva? may be killed while they feed
on the foliage. Consequently both the upper and under surfaces
of the leaves should be coated. If the first spraying has been well
done, the second will often be unnecessary where there is but
a partial second brood or where the pest is well under control,
but as it is often necessary to spray for the fungous diseases

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 631

at this time it is well to add the arsenical, which but slightly
increases the cost. Where there is a full second generation, as
in most of the Middle and Pacific States, a third application as

FIG. 488. — Work of the first generation of codling moth larvae.

the second generation of larva) are hatching, will be found advis-
able about nine or ten weeks after the petals fall, and a fourth
two or three weeks later may be necessary. With thorough spray-

FIG. 489. — Work of the second generation of codling moth larvae.

ing not over 1 or 2 per cent of the picked fruit should be wormy,
as most of the wormy fruit will drop early in the season.

In mountainous districts, or where it is difficult to secure water,
dusting the trees with Paris green blown by a dusting machine
has been quite extensively practiced. Although this treatment

032 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

largely reduces the injury, careful experiments have shown that
it is much less effective than liquid spraying, and as it is not
satis "actory or the control of fungous diseases, the liquid spray-
ing is to be preferred where feasible.

The Apple-maggot or " Railroad Worm " *

The apple-maggot has long been known as the worst pest of
summer and fall apples in the New England States, and has
extended its injuries to eastern New York and southeastern
Canada. It has been recorded from Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Minnesota, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, but seems to be only
occasionally injurious there, though it has been reared from haws
in Illinois and Wisconsin, which would indicate that the insect
is native in those States. Evidently it is widely distributed
throughout the northeastern United States, but for some reason
is most injurious in New England. The fruit is injured by the
small white maggots, which burrow through the flesh, leaving
discolored streaks through it, often becoming so numerous as to
entirely honeycomb the pulp which breaks down into a yellowish
mass merely held together by the skin. An apple quite fair
exteriorly will often be found to be almost completely '/ rail-
roaded " by the maggots, although brown, slightly sunken
streaks in the skin usually indicate their presence. Sweet and
subacid varieties of summer and early fall apples are worst injured,
but where the pest develops unchecked, winter sorts, such as the
Baldwin and particularly the Northern Spy, are often seriously
injured.

The parent of the maggot is a little fly slightly smaller than
the house-fly, of a blackish color, with yellowish head and legs,
greenish eyes, and three or four white bands across the abdomen.
The wings are marked by four black bands, as shown in Fig. 490,
which distinguish it from similar flies found on apples.

* Rhagoletis ponwnella Walsh. Family Trypetidce. See A. L. Quaintance,
Circular 101, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; F. L. Harvey, Report
Maine Agr. Exp. Sta., 1889, p. 190; W. C. O'Kane, Journal of Economic
Entomology, IV, 173.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 633

Life History. — The flies emerge during July in New England
and live for several weeks. The females at once commence
depositing their eggs in the early varieties of apples. The eggs
are laid just under the skin in a vertical position, on the cheek of
the apple. The egg is elliptical, about one-thirtieth inch long,
and yellowish in color. A female will lay 300 to 400 eggs, 12
or 15 often being placed in a single apple. The eggs hatch in
four or five days and the little maggots at once burrow into the
pulp. By means of a vertical motion of the head they rasp the
pulp with the small, black hook-like mouth parts, and in less than

FIG. 490. — The apple-maggot (Rhagoletis pomonella Walsh): o, adult; 6,
larva or maggot; c, funnel of spiracle on head; d, puparium; e, portion
of apple showing injury by maggots; a, b, d — enlarged; e — reduced.
(After Quaintance, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

a minute can tunnel their own length. They become full grown
in four to six weeks during the summer, but if only partly grown
when winter sets in, many of them seem to hibernate until spring.
The mature maggot is about one-third inch long, yellowish-white,
footless, much like similar maggots, and distinguishable by the
microscopic characters of the spiracles of the first and last seg-
ments. The mature maggot goes just beneath the surface of the
ground, where its skin hardens to a puparium in which the pupa
is formed, in which stage the winter is passed. In barrels or
storage places the maggots pupate beneath the apples, and
occasionally a puparium is found in the burrow of the maggot

634 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

within an apple. Most of the puparia arc within 1 or 2 inches of
the surface. There is but one generation a year.

Control. — As most of the affected fruit drops to the ground,
during summer it should be picked up twice a week and destroyed
before the maggots have left to it pupate. Where this is carefully
done injury by the pest is greatly reduced. Particular attention
should be given to the destruction of infested summer apples.
Hogs pastured in the orchard will do this work admirably, and
where there are but a few trees on bare or cultivated ground
chickens will destroy the larva?. Plowing the orchard deeply
as early as feasible in spring and keeping it well cultivated in early
summer will bury the puparia so as to greatly lessen in jury, which
is always worse in uncultivated sod orchards. As yet no method
of spraying has been used which shows any effect on this pest,
as the maggots inside the apple cannot be reached by a spray,
but experiments are now being made in New Hampshire which
may show a method of killing the adult flies, as has been done with
a similar pest in the orchards in South Africa.

The Apple Curculio *

The apple curculio has been commonly confused with the plum
curculio (p. 576), but is by no means as .common or injurious, and

FIG. 491. — The apple curculio (Anthonomus quadrigibbus Say): a, b, adult
beetles; c, larva; d, pupa — all enlarged. (After Riley.)

is quite distinct in both appearance and habits. The adult beetle
is about the same size as the plum curculio, but more reddish-

* Anthonomus quadrigibbus Say. Family Curculionidce. See C. S.
Crandall, Bulletin 98, 111. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 514; F. E. Brooks, Bulletin 126,
W. Va. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 113.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR

635

brown in color, the abdomen is more robust, and the wing-covers
bear four prominent humps, the anterior being much larger than
those on the plum curculio. The snout of the apple curculio is
as long as the rest of the body and is held straight forward from
the head, instead of hanging
down as does the snout of the
plum curculio. The work of
the apple curculio is also differ-
ent in that after laying the
egg in a small cavity in the
fruit, no crescent-shaped mark
is made around it. The apple
curculio is a native species
which breeds in wild haw,
wild crab, and wild cherry,
and has been reared in plum,
quince and pear. " It has
been reported from Connecti-
cut and Ontario south to
North Carolina and westward
as far as New Mexico. It
seems to have been more
troublesome in Missouri, Illi-
nois and other mid-western
States than elsewhere," but
has never done anything like
the injury due to the plum
curculio and can hardly be FIG. 492.-Work of the apple curculio;

regarded as a serious pest.

Life History. — The beetles
commence laying eggs in the
fruit soon after the blossoms drop and continue for a period of sixty
days, an individual female laying about 65 eggs. The eggs hatch
in about five days and the larvae feed on the flesh of the apple
for about twenty days, when they transform to pupae within the
fruit. A week later the beetles emerge, but feed very little during

a, a', c, c' , feeding punctures from
the surface and in section; b, b', egg
punctures from the surface and in
section. (After C. S. Crandall.)

636 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

the late summer before they enter hibernation for the winter,
most of them leaving the trees by the latter part of August.

The larva is a footless, whitish grub a half inch long when full
grown with a hump-backed appearance due to the enlargement
of the anterior abdominal segments, which prevents the larva
from straightening out. The beetles injure the fruit by puncturing
it for feeding and for the deposition of eggs, causing it to become
dimpled and gnarled as does the plum curculio, and the larvae feed
within the fruit, mining the flesh, in which they undergo their
complete development.

Control. — Thickets of wild crab or hawthorn trees should be
destroyed wherever near an orchard, for the beetles will breed in
their fruit and then migrate to the orchard. Jarring as for the
plum curculio may be practiced on young trees, and spraying as
for that species will doubtless largely reduce the injury. Usually
this insect is not sufficiently injurious to warrant special treatment
where its native food-plants are not overabundant near the
orchard.

The Pear Leaf Blister-mite *

The pear leaf blister-mite has long been known as a pest of pear
foliage wherever the pear is grown, and has similarly affected apple
foliage in Europe, but only in recent years has it become a serious
pest of apple foliage in New York, New England, Ontario and
Pennsylvania. Just why it should suddenly become an apple
pest after having occurred in this country for years without
noticeably injuring it is a mystery, though dry seasons may
possibly be accountable for it.

The work of the mites is recognized by reddish blisters forming
on the young foliage, which later turn blackish and have a corky
texture. Badly affected leaves drop, so that a tree is often largely
defoliated, and where the mites are abundant they attack the
young fruit.

* Eriophyes pyri Pgst. Class Arachnida. Order Acarina. Family
Eriophyidoe, with which are associated several nearly related species with
similar habits. See Parrott, Hodgkiss and Schoene, Bulletins 283 and 306,
N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 637

The mites are not true insects, as they belong to the same class
as the spiders, scorpions, and ticks. One of the more common
larger mites is the red spider of greenhouses, which affects flower-
ing plants, vegetable crops, and fruits of all sorts. These little
blister-mites are of microscopic size, only 1/100 to 1/200 inch in
length, so that they can only be seen with a lens, and must be
examined with a compound microscope to distinguish the species.
One is shown much magnified in Fig. 493. They are elongate,
with two pairs of legs, and slender abdomens, composed of ">0
to 80 small rings, frequently marked with rows of small tubercles
and ornamented with a few hairs and bristles.

Life History. — The mites spend the winter in the buds, and

FIG. 493. — The pear leaf blister-mite (Eriophyes pyri Pgst.): highly magni-
fied. (After Parrott.)

as warm weather approaches in the spring they become active
and move toward the base of the growing bud scales and feed
there. As the young leaves unfold the mites migrate to them.
They burrow through the surface of the leaf and feed upon the
succulent tissue within, setting up an irritation which soon results
in reddish spots on the surface. Within these mines the eggs
are laid, as many as 14 having been found in a single blister.
The young hatch in about a week and burrow around in all
directions, feeding on the tissues and juices. When full grown
they leave the gall through small openings in the under surface
and start new- colonies which produce similar galls. They con-
tinue to reproduce and migrate throughout the summer, and under
favorable conditions become numerous enough to completely

638 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

infest the new leaves as they appear. In the fall they leave the
leaves to hibernate in the buds as already described.

On pear the blisters are at first greenish pimples, which become
reddish and later brilliant red blisters, and finally they become
brown or black and the tissue corky. When numerous the

FIG. 494. — Old leaf cluster with galls of pear leaf blister-mite on apple fruit
and leaves. (After Parrott, Hodgkiss and Schoene.)

galls coalesce, forming dark brown patches over the leaf, which
often break open, particularly along the edges of the leaves.
On the blossom ends of the fruit and on the stems they produce
light-colored pimples, wrhich do not seem to injure the fruit.
On apple the blisters are less brilliantly colored than on pear,

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 639

and become a light brown or dark green color on the upper leaf
surface and uniformly brown beneath/ looking something like
the work of the apple rust. The young fruit is sometimes attacked
on which small green pimples, which later make blister-like spots
or pock marks, are made toward the blossom ends, but which
do not seem to cause much damage.

Control. — The mites may be controlled by spraying with
10 per cent kerosene emulsion, miscible oils, or lime-sulfur wash
used the same as for the San Jose scale. Spraying should be
done in October or November as soon as possible after a majority
of the leaves have fallen, as many of the mites are still in the
pubescence of the young wood, where they are more easily de-
stroyed than when under the bud scales. In spring spray just
as the buds begin to break and show the tips of the young leaves;
spraying later than this will injure the foliage, and earlier spraying
is not as effective. By using lime-sulfur in the spring, the usual
treatment with Bordeaux mixture for diseases at that time is
unnecessary. Where infestation is serious both fall and spring
sprayings should be given; otherwise the fall spraying is the
better. The buds and new growth should be thoroughly drenched,
while the rough bark of the trunk and old limbs may be neglected
as far as the mites are concerned. Where pear trees are but
slightly infested, the spread of the pest may often be prevented
by simply pruning out and burning the infested twigs upon the
first appearance of injury.

The Pear Psylla *

Where the pear psylla is abundant, pear growers have come
to fear it next to the San Jose scale, and until recently owners
in eastern New York became so discouraged in their attempt to
control it that orchards were cut down. It is an old European
pest and was first noted in Connecticut in 1832, since when it has
spread southward to Maryland and Virginia and westward to

* Psylla pyricola Foerst. Family Psyllidce. See M. V. Slingerland,
Bulletins 44 and 108, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.; C. L. Marlatt, Circular
7, Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.

640 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

Michigan and Illinois, in which States it has done considerable
injury. The psyllas are' nearly related to the plant-lice and are
sometimes called jumping plant-lice, on account of the habit of
the adults of giving a quick jump and flying from the foliage
when disturbed. Like the plant-lice they reproduce very rapidly
and suck the juices from the foliage and fruit. Usually the first
indication of the pest is the presence of large quantities of honey-
dew, secreted by the nymphs, with which the -foliage becomes
covered, and which attracts numerous ants. When the psyllas
are numerous the leaves and fruit become coated with this sticky

FIG. 495. — The pear psylla (Psylla pyricola Foerst) : adult, full-grown nymph
and egg — all greatly enlarged in different proportions. (After S'inger-
land.)

substance and it even drops from them like rain and runs down
the trunk. A blackish fungus grows on the honey-dew and is
always a good indication of the presence of the psylla.

Badly infested trees are so injured by loss of sap that they
shed their leaves in midsummer, the lower ones being the first
to turn yellow and drop. The young fruit also drop from badly
infested trees, which make but little growth, as the young shoots
are often attacked and wither early in the season.

The adult psylla is about one-tenth inch long, of a reddish-
crimson color with brownish-black markings, bronzy eyes and
dark wing-veins, looking very much like a miniature cicada or
dog-day harvest-fly.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE APPLE AND PEAR 641

Life History. — The adults hibernate over winter in crevices
of the bark and there lay their eggs late in April or early May
on the twigs or around the buds. The egg is about one-
eighteenth inch long, hardly perceptible without a lens, and
orange-yellow in color. It is pear-shaped with the small end
drawn out into a long thread, and the larger end is attached to
the bark by a short stalk (Fig. 495). The later generations
deposit the eggs on the leaves often in rows or bunches. The eggs
hatch in two to three weeks and the young nymphs feed on the
leaf petioles in the axils of the leaves and later on the leaves,
young fruit and tender shoots, from which they suck the sap.
The nymph is a peculiar-looking little bug, broadly oval, flattened,
of a yellowish color, with crimson eyes, but later becomes reddish
with black markings and conspicuous black wing-pads, as shown
in Fig. 495. They move very slowly and are frequently quite
covered by their own honey-dew. After molting some four or
five times, they finally transform to adults in about a month.
According to Slingerland there are four generations in New York
and probably five in Maryland.

Control. — As the adults hibernate over winter in the bark
the treatment advised for the pear leaf blister-mite furnishes the
best means of control for the psylla, and winter treatment is
absolutely essential for its successful control. Otherwise, the
best -time to spray is in the spring just after the eggs have hatched
and before the nymphs have secreted much honey-dew. If
winter or spring spraying has been neglected, the trees should be
thoroughly sprayed with whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 4 gallons,
or 10 per cent kerosene emulsion, or dilute miscible oils. Spraying
should be done after a shower, which will wash much of the honey-
dew off, as the chief difficulty in summer spraying is to reach the
nymphs through the thick coating of honey-dew with which thev
.are covered. Obviously the spray should be applied with ^on
siderable pressure in a coarse spray.

642 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Pear Slug *

Not infrequently the foliage of pear and cherry, and occasionally
of plum, trees turns brown in midsummer, which is found to be due
to small, slimy, slug-like larvae which have eaten off the surfaces
of the leaves. The Pear Slug is a common pest throughout the
country, having been known here for over a century. It is an
old European pest and has become distributed to many of the

FIG. 496. — The pear slug (Eriocampoides limacina Retz.): a, adult female
saw-fly; b, larva with slime removed; c, same in normal state; d, leaves
with larvae — natural size; a, b, c, much enlarged. (After Marlatt,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

British colonies in various parts of the world. The parent insect
is a small saw-fly, about one-fifth inch long, glossy black, with
four wings which are iridescent, with a smoky band across the
middle, and which are folded over the back when at rest.

Life History. — The flies are abroad by the time the foliage is
well out, by the middle of April in Maryland and late May or early
June in New England. Like most of the saw-flies the female is
furnished with a strong ovipositor with saw-like teeth at the

* Eriocampoides limacina Retzius. Family Tenthredinidce. See C. L.
Marlatt, Circular 26, Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr.

tip, with which she cuts a little blister-like cell beneath the upper
surface of the leaf, in which the egg is deposited, as shown in Fig.
497. The egg hatches in about two weeks and the little larva
makes its way out of the cell through a crescent-shaped cut.

The young larva is at first nearly white, except the yellowish-
brown head, but very soon a slimy or gluey olive-colored liquid
exudes from over the entire body, giving it the appearance of a
minute slug, from which it gets its name. The head is now dark
brown, appearing almost black under the slime, and the body is
also darker. The anterior segments are much swollen, concealing
the head and the thoracic legs. The abdomen is furnished with

FIG. 497.— Illustrating method of oviposition and emergence of the pear
' slug: a, cutting of cell beneath epidermis, showing the tip of the ovi-
positor; 6, the cell after the egg has been deposited; c, same after
escape of the larva — all much enlarged. (After Marlatt U. S. Dept. Agr.)

seven pairs of prolegs, the usual pair on the last segment being
wanting so that the tip of the abdomen is slightly elevated. The
little slugs commence eating out small bits of the upper surface
of the leaf, which they gradually enlarge until nearly the whole
upper surface is denuded, leaving merely a network of veins,
held together by the brown epidermis of the lower surface, which
is nearly intact. Leaves thus injured turn brown, die and drop^
so that a tree will sometimes be nearly defoliated, except for the
new growth which starts out. The larvae grow rapidly, becoming
full grown in about twenty-five days, when they are about one-

644 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

half inch long. When full grown the larva molts for the fifth
time and loses its olive-green slimy appearance, becoming a
light orange-yellow color, clean and dry, with a light-colored
head marked by only the small circular black eye-spots on the
sides.

The larva now enters the ground for an inch or two, where
it forms a small cell, which is moistened with saliva so that the
walls become somewhat impervious to water. In six or eight
days it transforms to the pupa and in about two weeks after
the larva entered the ground the adult fly digs its way out of
the soil. Some of the larva; of each generation, and all of those
of the last generation remain in the soil over winter and trans-
form to pupa? the next spring. At Washington, U. C., the first
generation of larva? disappear by the end of June and the second
generation are most abundant in early July, wrhen the principal
injury is done, which is probably followed by a third generation.
Further north there are but two generations, the second appearing
in August.

Control. — By spraying writh any of the arsenicals when the
work of the slugs is first noticed on the foliage they may be
quickly destroyed. Whale-oil soap, or other soap, 1 pound to
4 gallons, will also destroy the larvae as a contact insecticide.
Hellebore, air-slaked lime, or almost any finely divided dust,
thoroughly dusted over the trees will also destroy most of the
larvae, which arc very readily killed. In gardens where water
under pressure is available, the slugs may be washed off by a jet
from a hose, as they are frequently washed off by heavy rains,
and are much less injurious in wet seasons.

CHAPTER XXVIII

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE PEACH, PLUM, CHERRY AND STONE

FRUITS *

The Peach Borer f

WHEREVER peaches are grown they are subject to the attacks
of the ever-present borers, and if neglected will soon succumb
to their injury. East of the Rocky Mountains the common peach-
tree borer has been known since the earliest settlements, and it
also occurs in Colorado and Oregon. It is a native insect which
probably lived on wild cherry and wild plum, and is known to
attack plum, prune, apricot and nectarine, though chiefly a
pea'ch pest. On the Pacific Coast a nearly related species, the
California peach-tree borer,:}: does similar injury and has very
similar habits. The lesser peach borer § is commonly associated
with the common peach borer and has done considerable injury
in western Xew York, Maryland, Virginia and Georgia. It occurs
throughout the country and is doubtless commonly confused with
th© larger and more common species. Although it is quite different
in its life history and habits, the injury is very similar, and as it
must be controlled by the same methods it need not be separately
considered.

The presence of the borers may be detected by the mass of
gummy, gelatinous material, more or less "mixed with soil, which

* See J. B. Smith, Bulletin 235, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.

f Sanninoidea exitiosa Say. Family Sesiidae. See Quaintance, Yearbook
U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905, p. 330; M. V. Slingerland, Bulletin 176, Cornell Univ.
Agr. Exp. Sta.; H. N. Starnes, Bulletin 73, Geo. Agr. Exp. Sta.

I Sanninoidea opalescem Hy. Ed. See C. W. Woodworth, Bulletin 143,
Cal. Agr. Exp. Sta.

§ Synanthedon picttpes G. & R. See A. A. Girault, Bulletin OS, Part
IV, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

645

646 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

exudes from the crowns of trees injured by them. The injury
is done by the larvae feeding on the soft inner bark of the crown
of the root, the adjacent roots and the base of the trunk. Often
the larvae will completely girdle a tree and where a tree is infested
by several borers, the foliage turns yellow and if not treated will
soon die. Such a tree is much more susceptible to the attacks
of bark beetles and diseases. Probably as many peach trees

FIG. 498. — Peach borer moths (Sannirwidea exitiosa Say) — natural size.
The upper one and the one at right are females, the other two males.
(After Slingerland.)

are lost from the work of borers as from any other one pest, with
the possible exception of the San Jose scale.

The adults are clear-winged moths which fly during the day
and might be readily mistaken for wasps. The females are a
deep steel-blue with a broad orange band across the abdomen.
The fore-wings are opaque, covered by the bluish scales, and
expand about 1| inches, while the hind-wings are transparent
except the dark margin. The males are smaller, with the wings

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS

647

clear except the margins and a line across the fore-wings, and
the abdomen is marked with three or four narrow yellow stripes.

Life History. — The moths emerge in New York and New Jersey
from the middle of July to the latter part of August, at Wash-
ington, D. C. from the middle of June until mid-September,
the majority emerging in late July, while in Georgia the majority
emerge in late August and early September. As there is but one
generation a year, the time of emer-
gence in these different latitudes is
decidedly anomalous when compared
with the life histories of other insects.
The females soon lay their eggs, pre-
ferring to place them on the base of
the trunk, but often placing them
higher, or even on weeds or trash,
or on the soil. A single female may
lay from 200 to 800 eggs. The eggs
are about one -fiftieth inch long, and
slightly over half as wide, truncate
at one end, and a light chestnut brown
or reddish-brown in color, not easily
seen on the bark of the tree. They
hatch in about ten days and the
young larvae at once seek out small
cracks in the bark through which they
enter the soft bark of the tree. Their
presence may be easily detected by
the powdery, brownish frass which
they throw out of their burrows. The
young larvae grow rapidly and con-
tinue feeding until forced into hibernation by cold weather,
and in the South doubtless feed during warm days in the winter.
Feeding is resumed in the spring, the larvse boring through the
lower layers of the bark and causing masses of gum to exude as
already described. Larvae of almost all sizes may usually be found
in late spring, and the resulting moths appear irregularly over

FIG. 499. — Eggs of the
peach borer : natural size
a>n; an egg greatly en-
larged at I; and end of
egg greatly magnified,
showing micropyle at m.
(After Slingerland.)

648 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

u period of two to three months, it seems probable Unit some
of the larva) which hutch from eggs in late summer or early fall,
do not become moths until the second subsequent season, so
that they live in parts of three years, though the life cycle may
occupy two years. The full-grown borer i.i a light yellowish
larva about 1 inch long, with a brown head and thoracic legs,
and five pairs of prolegs on the abdomen. The body is
sparsely clothed with brownish hairs which arise from small,
smooth tubercles. The grown larva constructs a cocoon at or
near the surface of the ground, usually on the trunk near the

FIG. 500. — The peach borer larva, natural size and enlarged. (After

Slingerland.)

burrow, but often on the soil, which is composed of particles
of excrement and bark, bound together with gum and a thin
lining of silk. In this it transforms to a brown pupa from which
the moth emerges in about three weeks.

Control. — One of the best means of preventing injury and
making the removal of the borers easier is to mound the soil
around the trunk as high as possible, just before the moths emerge
in the summer. This forces them to lay their eggs high up on the
trunk, where the little borers may later be readily found. In some
way this mounding seems to prevent the establishment of the
young larva?, as several experimenters have found that from half

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS

649

to three-fourths of the borers are kept out of the trees in this
way. In the early fall the earth should be leveled down to
facilitate finding the little larvae. Oviposition on the lower
trunk may also be prevented by wrapping the trunk with building
paper, or any heavy paper, which should extend well into the soil
below and be tied tightly just below the crotch at the top. Such
wrapping may be used to
advantage with the mound-
ing up of the earth and
thus largely prevent ovi-
position. The wrappers
should be applied before the
moths appear and be re-
moved in the early fall.
Various washes composed
of soaps, lime, glue, cement,
carbolic acid, and various
other ingredients have been
commonly recommended
and widely used for pre-
venting the laying of the
eggs and the entrance of
the young larva?, but care-
ful tests have failed to
show their value. Doubt-
less this is due to the
roughness of the bark of
the peach, over which it is
difficult to make a com-
plete coating, and the little
larvae will enter through the

smallest crevice. Some wash which would penetrate the burrows
of the young larvae and destroy them, as does the avenarius car-
bolineum with the bark beetles (p. 546), would seem to be the
most promising line of treatment, and some of the washes which
have been extensively used by practical growers should be critically

FIG. 501. — Work of a single peach
borer, natural size: w, b, burrow of
borer; g, gummy mass; />, pupa project-
ing from cocoon. (After Slingerland.)

650 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

tested on a commercial scale. After reducing the number of
borers by mounding and wrapping the grower must resort to
the old-fashioned method of " worming " the trees, by digging
them out by hand. This should be done in the fall and again in
late spring. Professor Starnes strongly recommends that in
Georgia the chief dependence be placed upon the fall worming,
as most of the young larvae are then found upon the surface bark
of the tree, more or less involved in a mass of gum and excreta,
with which they may be readily scraped from the tree, according
to his observations. For this work he recommends a small
curved steel blade or hook about 4 or 5 inches long inserted in
a wooden handle a foot in length. In the North fall worming
seems to be less satisfactory. For spring work in excavating
the larger worms, a sharp knife and a stout wire are common!}'
used, although many prefer a blacksmith's hoof-knife or similar
tools which are specially constructed for the work.

The Peach Twig-borer *

On the Pacific Coast the Peach Twig-borer, often known there
as the peach worm, is one of the most serious pests of the peach.
In the Eastern States.it has been injurious in Delaware, Virginia
and Maryland, but only occasionally. Probably the insect occurs
throughout the country wherever the peach is grown, as it is
an old European insect which was first noticed in the United
States in 1860. On the Pacific Coast the over-wintering larva?
bore into the tender shoots in early spring and during the summer
bore into the fruit, particularly the later varieties. Prune, nec-
tarine, apricot, almond, and pear are also injured.

The adult moth is a dark-gray color, with fore-wings expanding
about one-half inch and marked with darker spots. The full
grown larva is about one-half inch long, of a dull reddish-brown
color with dark brown or blackish head.

Life History. — " The insect passes the winter as a very small

* Anarsia lineatetta Zell. Family Gelechiidce. See W. T. Clarke, Bulletin
144, Cal, Agr. Exp. Sta.; C. L. Marlatt, Bulletin 10, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S.
Dept. Agr.; A. L. Quaintance, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905, p. 344.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRL1TS

651

larva in silken-lined cells or burrows in the spongy tissue of the
bark at the crotches of the limbs. Their presence is indicated
by small mounds of comminuted bark, as shown in Fig. 503, at a
and b. Early in the spring, as the foliage is putting out, the
larvae begin to leave their burrows and attack the tender shoots,
boring into and down the pith, the galleries ranging from about
one-third inch to 1^ inches in length. The shoot thus injured
soon wilts and dies, as shown in Fig. 504, at a. Many shoots may
be attacked by a single larva
which is thus capable of doing
considerable harm. There are
two or three generations of
larvae during the summer in
the West, those of the second
and third attacking the fruit,
the later varieties being the
worst injured. According to
Professor C. V. Piper, the
larva enters the peach at the
stem end, usually boring into
the pit, the seed of which it
seems to prefer, usually caus-
ing the stone to split as the

FIG. 502. — The peach twig-borer
(Anarsia lineatella) : adult moth
with wings spread and folded —
much enlarged. (After Marlatt, U.
S. Dept. Agr.)

fruit 'ripens; or simply the
flesh may be tunnelled, de-
pending on whether or not
the stone is hard, when the fruit is attacked. In California,
according to Clarke, the larva usually enters the fruit along the
suture at the stem end, and excavates a chamber beneath the
skin, which blackens and shrivels somewhat, affording entrance
to organisms of decay. In the ripe fruit the larva) fre-
quently make their way to and around the stone, which,
if split, may be entered and the seed fed upon. . . . Early
in the fall, about September 1, in California, the very young
larvae from eggs of the last generation of moths construct
their hibernation cells in the soft tissue of the crotches of

652 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

limbs, where they remain until the following spring, thus

spending some six months in
this condition." — Quaintance.
Control. — By spraying dur-
ing the winter, or preferably
after the buds have swollen
in the spring with kerosene
or distillate-oil emulsion, the
oil is absorbed by the cast-
ings at the mouth of the

burrows of the hibernating
FIG. 503. — Peach twig-borer in winter

quarters: a, twig, showing in crotch larvae, and thus pel]

minute masses of chewed bark above the burrows and kills the

larval chamber; b. same, much en- , T . ,f

larged; c, larval cell enlarged; and larvffi- Lime-sulfur wash, ap-

d, larva very greatly enlarged. (After plied from the time the buds

Marlatt, U. S. Dept, Agr.) commence to swell until the

first blossoms, has also been widely and successfully used.
The wash should be ap-
plied as late as possible
before blossoming. Recently
Mr. E. P. Taylor has shown *
that in western Colorado
the larvae are very readily
killed by arsenate of lead,
3 to 5 pounds per barrel,
applied just as the buds
are beginning to open. The
arsenate of lead must con-
tain no soluble arsenic, or

it may burn the foliage. FlG' ,

J new shoot of peach withering from

This treatment is given at
the same season as the
lime-sulfur wash and is
much easier to prepare and apply.

attacks of larvae; b, larva enlarged;
c, pupa, enlarged. (After Marlatt,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

*E. P. Taylor, Bulletin 119, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 8.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS 653

The Peach-tree Bark-beetle *

The peach-tree bark-beetle is very similar in both appearance
and habits to the fruit-tree bark-beetle (consult p. 545), and may
be readily confused with it. It is a native insect which attacks
only peach, cherry and wild cherry, and so far has been injurious
only in western New York, northern Ohio, and the Niagara dis-
trict of Ontario, though it occurs from New Hampshire to North
Carolina and west to Michigan.

" When the beetles are present in large numbers their injury
to the tree is quickly brought to the attention of the orchardist
by the large amount of sap exuding from the trees through the
many small borings made both in the trunk and limbs of the
tree. . . . The adults or beetles produce the primary injury to healthy
trees, the work of the larvae being secondary. The healthy trees,
by repeated attacks of the adults, arc reduced to a condition
favorable to the formation of egg-burrows. When the beetles
are ready to hibernate in the fall they fly to the healthy trees and
form their hibernation cells. These latter are injurious to the
trees, for through each cell there will be a tiny flow of sap during
the following season." When the beetles emerge in the spring
they bore into the bark of healthy trees and later leave them to
form egg burrows in sickly trees. From these numerous burrows
the sap issues in large quantities and in many cases forms large
gummy masses around the trees. After three or four years of
such injury the tree is so weakened that the beetles form their
egg borrows beneath the bark and the larva) soon finish its
destruction. There are two generations a year, the summer brood
appearing in the last half of August and the other hibernating
over winter.

Control. — The same methods are advised as for the fruit-tree
bark-beetle, which see (p. 546).

* Phlceotribus liminaris Harris. Family Scolytidce. See H. F. Wilson,
Bulletin 68, Part IX, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.

C54 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Peach Lecanium*

The presence of the " terrapin scale/' as this species is often
called, is usually indicated by the sooty appearance of the branches
and foliage of affected trees. This is due to the fact that the
scales excrete considerable honey-dew, which covers the bark and
leaves, and on which a sooty fungus propagates. It is a common
species throughout the eastern United States and also attacks
the apple, maple, sycamore, linden and birch, but is most injurious
to peach and plum. The hibernating, partly grown, female scale

FIG. 505. — The peach lecanium or terrapin scale (Eulecanium nigrofasdatum
Pergande): adults at left, natural size and much enlarged; young at
right, and unfertilized female at center — much enlarged. (After Howard,
U. S. Dept. Agr.)

found on the bark in winter, is about one-twelfth inch long,
hemispherical, and of a reddish color mottled with radiating
streaks of black, particularly about the margin. Sometimes
these streaks coalesce and form a dark band around the center,
while other individuals are occasionally entirely red or black.
Frequently trees become badly encrusted with these scales, but
rarely are they killed by them. The fruit on badly infested

* Eulecanium nigrofasciatum Pergande. Family Coctidce. See J. G.
Sanders, Circular 88, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr.; A. L. Quain-
tance, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905, p. 340; T. B. Symoris and E. N. Cory,
Bulletin 149, Md. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS 655

trees is, however, poorly developed, insipid, and covered with
the sooty fungus so as to be almost unsaleable, and the trees are
stunted and rendered more liable to the attack of other insects.

Life History. — There is but one generation a year. In the
winter they are mostly nearly grown female scales. These mature
early in the spring and deposit their eggs in a mass beneath the
body, wh'ich forms the hard scale above them. In Missouri the
eggs hatch about June 10th, and continue to hatch for a month.
The male scales are much smaller than the females, elongate^
slightly convex, and greenish-white in color. Late in July the
winged males appear and live about a week. The young female
scales continue growth during the summer and hibernate when
about two-thirds grown.

Control. — Lime-sulfur wash is entirely ineffective against this
species. Kerosene emulsion of 20 or 25 per cent, applied during
the dormant season will destroy the hibernating females, according
to Sanders. Spraying with kerosene emulsion 15 per cent, or
whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 4 or 5 gallons of water, just as the eggs
are hatching, is possibly the best treatment. As the eggs hatch
for the period of a month, a second application may prove
advisable.

The Black Peach-aphis *

The black peach-aphis is a native species which has been most
injurious in the Middle Atlantic States, but has become widely
distributed on nursery trees. It attacks the roots, tender shoots
and foliage of the peach. When occurring on the roots, trees are
often seriously injured before its presence is suspected. Young
trees are particularly affected, the injured trees having a yellowish
sickly foliage. Usually, however, the presence of the aphides
on the young shoots and leaves will be an indication of its inhab-
iting the roots also. In the spring and early summer the aphides
cluster on the tender shoots at the crotch of the tree and low

* Aphis persicae-niger Er. Sm. Family Aphididoe. See C. P. Gillette,
Bulletin 133, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 37; A. L. Quaintance, Journal of Eco-
nomic Entomology, Vol. I, p. 308, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905, p. 342.

656 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

clown on the limbs and soon form a disgusting black mass over
the young leaves, which are tightly curled up from the injury.
On young trees in the nursery and on young orchard trees, this
injury to the foliage is sometimes so severe as to kill or severely
check the growth.

Both winged and wingless aphides are found on the foliage,
but only the wingless forms occur on the roots. Both forms are
about one-twelfth inch long and shining deep brown or black
in color when mature. The partly grown aphides, which form
the larger part of most colonies, are reddish-yellow or amber
colored.

N/.7

X .90

FIG. 506. — The black peach-aphis (Aphis persicce-niger Er. Sm.): winged
viviparous female; young female, first instar; apterous ^'"iparous
female — much enlarged. (After Gillette and Taylor.)

Life History. — The wingless aphides feed and reproduce upon
the roots throughout the year, all being females and giving birth
to live young after the manner of the aphides. In the spring
some of them migrate to the young foliage, often appearing on the
tender twrigs before the buds open. They multiply rapidly, and
as a result of the hundreds of little beaks sucking out the juices
the shoot soon withers, which causes the young to develop into
winged aphides which migrate to other trees. Honey-dew is
excreted very freely by the aphides, which are therefore attended
by numerous ants which doubtless aid in their transportation

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS 657

from tree to tree and from the roots to the leaves and back.
" During summer the aphides for the most part are to be found
on the roots, though a few may be found on the foliage and the
shoots in badly infested orchards at almost any time during the
growing season. Below ground they occur promiscuously on
roots of all sizes, but the smaller and more tender ones are pre-
ferred. Some of the aphides may retain their hold on the roots
after the trees are dug, and the insect is thus frequently distributed
on nursery stock. . . . Light sandy soils are worst infested,
though they have been fo'md in abundance on stiff clay soils."
(Quaintance, I.e.). Neither the true sexual forms nor the
eggs of this species have ever been observed, and there is
room for a much better knowledge of its life history. It is
stated by some writers that the aphides migrate to the roots
in the fall.

Control. — The roots of young trees suspected of being affected
should be carefully examined and if aphides are found they should
be dipped in strong tobacco water. Nurserymen prevent injury
by making liberal applications of tobacco dust in the trench and
along the rows. Tobacco dust may also be used against the
aphides on the roots of orchard trees by removing the surface
soil and applying a liberal dressing of the dust, which will be
leached down on to the roots by the rains. It should be applied
over the smaller roots. The treatment for the root forms has
not been sufficiently studied to warrant any conclusions as to
satisfactory methods, but the same as advised for the woolly apple-
aphis (p. 587) are suggested. When the aphides appear on the
young shoots in the spring they may be readily controlled if the
trees are observed for their appearance, for they are veiy gregar-
ious, clustering on one shoot until it is well covered before spread-
ing to the rest of a tree, and becoming abundant on it before
spreading to others. Often the small infested shoots may simply
be broken off and destroyed. The aphides may be killed by
spraying them with ken^ne emulsion, 15 per cent kerosene,
tobacco extracts or whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 4 gallons. The
spray should be applied with force so as to penetrate the houey-

C58 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

dew and curled leaves, and should be applied early, as after the
leaves are much curled it is difficult to reach the aphides.

The Green Peach-aphis f

This aphid is a European species which has long been known
as a pest of peach foliage in this country, where it has become
widely distributed. Considerable interest attaches to the species,
as it furnishes a striking example of the summer migration of
aphides to different food-plants, and a consequent difference
in appearance in form and color. During the summer this species
feeds upon various vegetables and succulent plants, and is so
different in color and form that it has been well known not only
as a separate species, but as belonging to a distinct genus. Con-
cerning its injury to the peach, E. P. Taylor states: "The
peach-growers of Western Colorado have suffered loss from it,
from its heavy infestation of the leaves of the trees in the spring,
causing them to curl and drop prematurely to the ground, and
from the withering and subsequent dropping of the buds and
forming peaches also infested by the aphides at this time."
Similar injury has been reported from Missouri, and doubtless
occurs occasionally in other sections.

Life History. — The winter is usually passed in the egg stage
on the peach, plum, apricot, nectarine, cherry or other trees,
though the wingless females sometimes persist on the summer
food-plants wrhere there is sufficient protection to enable them to
endure the cold of winter, as in cabbage pits, or in the South.
The small, oval, shining black eggs are deposited in the axils of
the buds or in crevices of the bark. " The eggs hatch very
early in the spring so that the young stem-mothers from them
are often almost fully grown before the earliest peach or plum
blossoms open. About the time the buds begin to open on these
trees, the stem-mothers are all of a deep pink color and begin to

* Myzus persica Sulz. Family Aphididae. (Syn. — Rhopalosiphum dianthi
Schr.) See Gillette and Taylor, Bulletin 133, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 32;
C. P. Gillette, Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. I, p. 359; E. P. Taylor,
ibid., p. 83; F. H. Chittenden. Bulletin 2, Va. Truck Exp. Sta., p. 30.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS

659

give birth to living young. These young instead of being pink
like their mothers are pale yellowish-green throughout their
lives, and usually there is a median and two lateral dark green
stripes passing over the abdomen. Very few of this brood attain

FIG. 507. — The green peach Aphis (Myzus persicce Sulz.): 5, adult stem
mother; 6, young of stem mother; 7, apterous viviparous female of
second generation; 8, spring migrant; 9, fall migrant; 10, egg-laying
female; 11, eggs — all much enlarged. (After Gillette and Taylor.)

wings. The third generation become very largely winged and
- begin leaving the trees upon which they were born about the mid-
dle of May in the peach-growing sections of the State (Colorado) .
By the middle of June these lice have almost completely left the

660 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

trees anil may be found establishing their colonies upon various
succulent vegetables," such as cabbage, turnip, rape, tomato,
celery, and a long list of vegetables and flowers grown in green-
houses, where this species is a pest the year round. The list of food-
plants is a long one, the largest of any species known to him, accord-
ing to Professor C. P. Gillette, but it is a common and sometimes
troublesome pest of cabbage (See p. 374) and celery and one of
the most abundant of the various sorts of " green fly " of the
greenhouse. The winged females which migrate from the peach
are about one-twelfth inch long, with a wing expanse of one-third
inch. They are a yellowish-green color with head, antennae,
thoracic lobes, honey-tubes, a large spot on the centre of the
abdomen, and small lateral spots in front of the honey-tubes are
blackish. The honey-tubes, or cornicles, are cylindrical, while
those of the winged females in summer and fall are decidedly
swollen toward the tip and constricted at the base, giving them
a club shape, on account of which they were placed in the genus
Rhopalosiphum. Otherwise the winged females of summer and
fall are very similar, except that they are more yellowish and the
markings and cornicles are lighter. The wingless females during
the summer are pale yellowish and lack the longitudinal green
stripes on the abdomen. According to Taylor's observations the
spring generations on peach become full grown in about two
weeks and an individual aphid lives about a month. As repro-
duction is probably more rapid in summer, the aphides may soon
become very abundant. In the fall winged females return to the
peach and winter host-plants, and give birth to young which
develop into wingless females which lay the winter eggs. The
true males are winged and migrate from the summer food-plants. .
Control. — The trees affected should be sprayed about a week
before the buds open with 5 to 7 per cent kerosene emulsion,
tobacco extract, or whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 5 gallons, or miscible
oil diluted 20 times. If the trees are sprayed with lime-sulfur
for the twig-borer just before blossoming, it should kill most of
the aphides. The same remedies may be used on the foliage of
affected plants as necessary.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS

661

The Plum Gouger *

This is a native species which breeds upon wild plums and is
most injurious to native varieties. It is common throughout
the Mississippi Valley, but seems to be most injurious westward
and occurs in Colorado. The work of the beetles might be easily
mistaken for that of the curculio (p. 576). The adult beetle is
readily distinguished from the
curculio, however, by lacking
the humps on the wing-covers.
It is about one-quarter inch
long, with a snout half as long,
the wing-covers are a leaden-
gray color, finely spotted with
black and brown, while the
thorax and head are marked
with ochreous yellow.

Life History. Like the cur-
culio the beetles hibernate over
winter and appear in the spring
as the trees blossom. At first
they puncture the calyx and feed
on the ovary of the flower, com-
pletely destroying it for fruit pro-
duction, and then puncture the
growing plums, both for food
and for egg-laying. In feeding

on the plums the adults gouge out small round holes, from which
gum exudes. Like the curculios, they have the habit of feigning
death and dropping to the ground when disturbed. The eggs
are laid while the pit of the plum is still soft. The female beetle
drills a small hole in the plum, which is larger below, and in it
deposits a small yellowish-white egg, whose outer end lies flush
with the surface of the plum. As soon as the larva hatches it
eats its way into the pit, feeding upon the meat of the seed until

* Coccotorus scutellaris Leo. Family Curculionidoe,

FIG. 508. — The plum gouger (Cocco-
torus scutellaris Lee.): a, plum
stone showing exit hole of larva;
b, adult; c, side view of head of
beetle — enlarged. (After Riley
and Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

662 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

full grown. It then cats a hole through the outside of the pit so
that the adult beetle may escape, and then transforms to a pupa.
The larva is very similar to that of the curculio, but is a milky
white rather than a glossy white and lacks the reddish tinge on
the lower surface. Affected plums do not drop as when injured
by the curculio. The pupal stage is passed in the pit of the plum
and the adult beetle emerges through the hole cut for it by the
larva. The beetles emerge a little before the plums ripen and
often practically destroy them, as fruit badly punctured becomes
gnarly and worthless. The beetles feed on the plums a short time
and then seek hibernating quarters for the winter.

Control. — Jarring the trees as for the curculio is the only
method of control which has been successfully used, but where
the beetles are abundant it would be well to try spraying with
arsenate of lead as advised for the curculio (p. 580).

Plum Aphides

Three species of aphides are common on the p'um foliage in
spring and fall, and often do serious damage by curling up the
foliage in the spring and causing it to drop prematurely, thus
checking the growth of the tree and preventing proper fruiting.
The life histories of the three species are very similar in that the
eggs are laid upon the plum in the fall, upon which two or three
generations develop in the spring, but in early summer they
migrate to other food-plants, from which they return to the plum
in the fall. The life history is much the same as that of the
apple-aphis (p. 658), and green peach-aphis (p. 597), and need not
be rehearsed in detail.

The Mealy Plum-louse *

This is a light-green species which is covered by a bluish-white
mealy powrder. It has a long narrow body, one-tenth inch long,

* Hyalopterus arundinis Fab. Family Aphididce. W. D. Hunter in
Bulletin 60, Iowa Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 92, states that Aphis prunifolice Fitch
is probably the same species. Certainly H. arundinis and pruni, Aphis
pruni and prunifoliae, seem to have been applied to the same species in the
economic literature in America. See Lowe, V. L., Bulletin 139, N. Y. Agr
Exp. Sta., p. 657.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS 663

marked with three longitudinal stripes of a darker green. The
honey-tubes are short, thick, and slightly constricted at the base.

a b c

FIG. 509. — The mealy plum louse (Hyalopterus arundinis Fab.): a, young
nymph; b, last stage of nymph of winged form; c, winged viviparous
female — all much enlarged. (After Lowe.)

The winged female is similar in coloration except that the abdomen
bears several transverse triangular marks of darker green. In

FIG. 510. — Mealy plum aphides clustered on leaf. (After Lowe.)

June the winged females migrate to certain grasses upon which
the aphides reproduce during the summer, though small colonies
are to be found on the plvlm throughout the summer. In the

664 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

fall they return to the plum, where the winter eggs are laid. This
species is known to occur in Germany, England, Australia, and
New Zealand, and seems to be widely distributed over the United
States. It occurs here on plum and prune and in Europe is said
to infest grape, peach, apricot, and nectarine, according to Lowe.

The Hop Plant-louse *

This species is best known as a pest of hops (see p. 275) during
the summer and rarely does very serious damage to the plum,
though often quite abundant on it. The wingless aphides are
light green or yellowish green without any noticeable markings.
The winged forms have the same body color, with the head, thoracic-
lobes, and a few dashes on the abdomen black. The species
may be readily distinguished by the prominent tubercle which
projects from the head on the inside of the base of each antenna,
and a less prominent tubercle on the basal segment of each
antenna, as shown in Fig. 204. According to the studies of Dr.
C. V. Riley and his assistants, the third generation in the spring
migrates from the plum to hops in late spring and in fall winged
viviparous females give birth to a few young which develop into
egg-laying females which mate with winged males which have devel-
oped on hops, the winter eggs being laid on the plum and other
species of Prunus. In California Clarke has been unable to find
any evidence of the species on plum or other vegetation outside
of the hop yards, where he finds the true sexes occurring in the
fall, but no evidence of eggs. Hops are often seriously damaged
by l)eing reduced in size and weight and from the loss in aroma
due to the presence of the aphides in them. The species is of
European origin, where it is a well-known enemy of hops, and has
become widely distributed in the United States and Canada.

Control. — Where it oviposits on plum it may be best con-
trolled by spraying as for the other plum aphides in the spring.
After it becomes established on hops it may be controlled by

* Phorodon humuli Schrank. Family Aphididoe. See page 275 above.
See C. V. Riley, Report U. S. Dept. Agr., 1888, p. 93; W. T. Clarke, Bulletin
160, Cal. Agr. Exp. Sta.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS 665

spraying with whale-oil soap, 1 pound to 6 gallons of water, or
by the addition of quassia chips, which has long been the favorite
remedy of hop-growers, 6 to 8 pounds of quassia chips are
steeped in cold water for a day or two and then boiled for an
hour, when they are mixed with 4 or 5 pounds of soft soap, whale-
oil soap being excellent, and 100 gallons of water.

The Rusty-brown Plum-louse *

This species is readily distinguished from others common on
plum and prune by the dark rusty-brown color, with the base
of the antennae, tibiae, and tail a contrasting white. This species
has become a very serious pest to plum foliage in the South and
Southwest, and we have observed serious injury in New Hamp-
shire, so that it is evidently widely distributed. The aphides
collect on the tender young twigs, which they stunt or kill, assemble
on the under sides of the leaves, which become corrugated and
curled from their attack, and when abundant they attack the
blossoms and their stems and thus prevent the setting of fruit.
In early summer the winged females migrate to various common
grasses, such as fox-tail, red top, barnyard grass, crab grass, and
others, upon which they breed during the summer, and from which
the winged forms return to plum in the fall. They become
darker in color late in the season and the wingless, egg-laying
female is almost black, as is also the small winged male.

Control. — The treatment advised for the apple-aphis (p. 658)
will be effective for the three species above while on the plum,
and for that and other species, the spraying should be done
early in the season before the aphides have become numerous
and curled the foliage.

* Aphis setarice Thos. Family Aphididce. See Gillette and Taylor,
Bulletin 133, Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 41; C. E. Sanborn, Bulletin 88, Okla-
homa Agr. Exp. Sta.

066 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

The Black Cherry-louse *

This species has long been known as a cherry pest in Europe
and during the last fifty years has become generally distributed
over the eastern United States, and occurs in Colorado. So far
as known the cherry is the only food-plant. Dr. Weed was of
the opinion that the aphides left the cherry during late July
and migrated to some summer food-plant which he was unable to

FIG. 511. — The black cherry-aphis (Myzus cerasi Fab.): 1, apterous vivip-
arous female; 2, winged viviparous female — enlarged. (After Gillette
and Taylor.)

find, but observations by Gillette and Taylor in Colorado wrould
indicate that they may remain on the cherry, but become so
reduced in numbers by their natural enemies that only a few
survive during midsummer, and these give rise to larger colonies
in late summer and early fall. Both the winged and wingless
forms are deep shining black, the body is rather broad and flat,
and the honey-tubes are unusually long and are cylindrical.
Small winged males and wingless females occur on the foliage in
the fall and the latter lay their eggs on the twigs about the buds.
Like the black peach-aphis, this species has the habit of accumula-
ting in large numbers on the smaller sprouts or limbs near the

* Myzus cerasi Fab. Family Aphididce. See C. M. Weed, Bulletin Ohio
Agr. Exp. Sta., Tech. Ser., Vol. I, No. 2, p. Ill; C. P. Gillette, Journal of
Economic Entomology, Vol. I, p. 362.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS

667

ground before spreading to the rest of the tree or other trees, so
that prompt treatment when first observed will prevent general
infestation.

Control. — Spraying with kerosene emulsion, whale-oil soap,
tobacco extracts, or dilute miscible oils, as for the apple-aphis
(p. 658), will control the pest.

The Cherry Fruit-fly f

The cherry fruit-fly is a native insect whose maggot lives in
the flesh of the cherries, causing them to rot. It is very nearly
related to the apple maggot (p. 632) which it very closely resembles

FIG. 512. — The cherry fruit-fly (Rhagoletis dngulata Loew.) : a, fly; b, maggot;
c, anterior spiracles of same; d, puparium; e, posterior spiracular plates
of pupa — all enlarged. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.)

in both appearance and life history. Injury by it has been
recorded in Massachusetts, New York, Ontario, Pennsylvania,
District of Columbia, Michigan and Iowa, so that it is probably
generally distributed over the northeastern States. Although
its native food-plant is unknown it is probable that it lives on some
wild sour cherry. As cherries are always more or less injured

f Rltagoletis dngulata Loew. Family Trypetidce. See M. V. Slingerlaml,
Bulletin 172, Cornell Univ. Agr. Exp. Sta.; F. H. Chittenden, Bulletin 44*
Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 70.

068 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD

by the plum curculio (p. 576), it is quite probable that injury
by this maggot may have been attributed to the curculio and its
identity passed unnoticed. Sour and subacid varieties, such as the
Morello and Montmorency, are worst injured, but black cherries
and indeed all varieties are more or less damaged.

The fly is slightly smaller than that of the apple-maggot, being
about one-sixth inch long with a wing expanse of three-eighths
inch. . The body is blackish, the head and legs are pale yellowish-
brown, the sides of the thorax are marked with a longitudinal

FIG. 513. — Section of a cherry, enlarged to show the maggot of the cherry
fruit-fly and nature of its work. The small figures above show the
maggot and parent fly natural size. (After Slingerland.)

yellow band, the abdominal segments are marked with whitish
or pale browrnish transverse bands, and the wings are crossed by
four blackish bands. The maggot is about one-quarter inch
long and is indistinguishable from the apple-maggot.

Life History. — The eggs are deposited just under the skin
of the cherry from June until August, or probably during the
whole season of the fruit. The eggs hatch in a few days and the
little maggots penetrate to the pits, feeding on the flesh and
'forming a rotting cavity very similar to that made by the grub of
the curculio. But few of the affected cherries fall from the trees.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STONE FRUITS 660

and as they frequently .show but little effect of the damage, the
infested fruit may be marketed and the pest thus spread. When
full grown the maggots leave the cherries and form puparia just
beneath the surface of the ground, or in the bottom of baskets
or in rubbish, wherever the affected fruit may be. The flies
commence to emerge from these puparia by the middle of June
in New York and are found during the summer months.

Control. — There is but little evidence as to practical means of
control. Deep plowing in spring should result in burying the
puparia so deeply as to prevent the emergence of the flies. Cultiva-
tion is evidently of little value, as the pest occurs in well-cultivated
orchards, so that shallow cultivation does not seem to affect the
puparia. Chickens have been observed to destroy the puparia,
and will doubtless prove as effective as against the apple-maggot
where they can be confined beneath affected trees on cultivated
soil. The destruction of all fruit, whether windfall or remaining
on the tree will, of course, aid in control. Recently a nearly
related fruit-fly has been successfully controlled in South Africa
by spraying the foliage with arsenate of lead sweetened with
treacle or brown sugar, thus attracting the flies, which are poisoned
by the arsenate, and this method is worthy of trial both for the
cherry fruit-fly and apple-maggot.

INDEX

Abbot's sphinx, 530
Acarina, 636

Achemon sphinx, 526, 527
Acrididae, 93
Adalia bipunctata, 10
Adoxus vitis, 504
./Egeria tipuliformis, 477
Agrilus ruficollis, 466
Agriotes mancus, 82, 83
Agromyza simplex, 428
Agromyzidse, 428
Agrotis annexa, 88

messoria, 85

ypsilon, 85
Air-tubes, 29
Alabama argillacea, 243
Alfalfa .weevil, 205
Alimentary canal, 30
Alkali bug, 337
Alsophila pometaria, 572, 573
Alwood, W. B., 584
American frit-fly, 134, 135
Amphicerus bicaudatus, 513

punctipennis, 515
Ampeloglypter ater, 511

sesostris, 509

Ampelophaga myron, 528
Anarsia lineatella, 650
Anasa tristis, 388
Anatomy, internal, 30
Ancylis comptana, 452
Angoumois grain-moth, 192
Ant, corn-field, 165, 168
' Antennae, 22

Anthomyia egg parasite, 106
Anthomyiidse, 320, 345, 347, 420,
423, 469

Anthonomus grandis, 261

quadrigibbus, 634
signatus, 456

Ants and plant-lice, 165, 444
Apanteles congregatus, 234
Aphides, plum, 662
Aphididse, 147, 150, 164, 211, 241,
275, 317, 330, 383, 441, 484, 492,
582, 597, 602, 604, 606, 655, 658,
662, 664, 665, 666
Aphidius avenaphis, 19, 149

spp., 325
Aphis, apple, 597

bakeri, 606, 607

bean, 317

brassicse, 371

burr-clover, 241

cabbage, 371

clover, 606

corn root-, 164

currant, 484

English grain, 147

fitchii, 604

forbesi, 441

German grain, 148

gossypii, 241, 383

grass root-, 167

hop, 275

maidi-radicis, 164

maidis, 170

medicaginis, 241

melon, 241, 383

pea, 322

persicae-niger, 655

pomi, 597, 607

prunifolise, 662

pyri, 602

671

072

INDEX

Aphis, rumicis, 317
Hctariir, 665
sorbi, 602
spinach or green-peach, 375,

658

spring grain, 150
Apparatus, dusting, 77

spraying, 60
Apple aphis, 579

woolly, 582
rosy, 602
eurculio, 634
insects, 5S2
leaf-miner, 616
maggot, 632
plant-lice, 597
tree-borer, flat-headed, 591

round-headed, 588
worm, 624

lesser, 628
Arachnida, 636
Arctiida>, 247, 553
Argus tortoise-beetle, 436
Army worm, 3, 114

beet, 334
fall, 118

Arsenate of lead, 43
Arsenicals, harmlessness of, 47
Arsenite of lead, 44
Arsenite of lime, 45
Asaphes decoloratus, 83
Asparagus beetle, 424

twelve-spotted, 427
miner, 428

Aspidiotus perniciosus, 538
Atomizers, 60.
Aulacizes irrorata, 250
Autographs brassica1, 361

Hall, E. I)., 339
Baltimore oriole, 307
Banded flea-beetle, 402
Bark-beetle, fruit-tree, 544, 653

peach-tree, 653

Barred-winged onion maggot, 423
Bean-aphis, 317
Bean insects, 305

Bean ladybird, 315

leaf-beetle, 313

-weevil, 309

European, 313
four-spotted, 312
Bee-flies, 106
Beet-aphis, 330

army worm, 334

leaf-beetle, larger, 337

leaf-hopper, 339

leaf-miner, 345

root -aphis, 331
Hemlxvia marginata, 159
Bill-bugs, 175

maize, 178
Bishopp, F. C., 254
Blackberry gallmaker, 468
Blackbird, crowr, 307
Black cherry-louse, 666
Black-legged tortoise-beetle, 434
Black peach-aphis, 655
Black swallow-tail butterfly, 411
Blissus leucopterus, 89
Blister-beetle, ash-gray, 316
Nuttall's, 317
striped, 343

Blister-beetles, 107, 301, 3*5, 343
Blister-mite, pear-leaf, 636.
Blood, of insects, 30
Boll weevil, cotton, 261
Bollworm, cotton, 181, 254
Bordeaux mixture, 56
Borer, cotton-square, 248
hop-plant, 273
peach, 645

Brachymena 4-pustulata, 25
Braconidse, 18, 149, 374, 385, 557
Bracon mellitor, 270
Bran-mash, poisoned, 47
Breathing, of insects, 28
Britton, W. E., 570, 572, 573, 602,

621, 623
Brooks, F. E., 497, 509, 511, 534, 537,

634

Brown-tail moth, 5, 558 *
Bruchidse, 305, 309
Bruchophagus funebris,.214

INDEX

673

Bruchus chinensis, 311

obtectus, 309

pisorum, 305

quadrimaculatus, 312

rufimanus, 313
Brues, C. T., 241, 254
Bruner, L., 449
Bryobia pratensis, 209
Buhach, 55
Bud-moth, 621
Bud-worm, 159, 161, 172, 234

tobacco, 181

Buffalo tree-hopper, 547
Buprestidse, 466, 591
Burr-clover aphis, 241
Burning, for insects, 38
Byturus unicolor, 474

Cabbage-aphis, 371

-bug, harlequin, 368
butterfly, southern, 360
curculio, 377
flea-beetle, western, 375
insects, 37
looper, 361
maggot, 34, 347
plutella, 366

webworm, imported, 365
-worm, cross-striped, 363
-worm, imported, 355
Caddie,, 188
Calandra granaria, 186

oryzae, 186
Calandridae, 175, 186
Calosoma calidum, 15

scrutator, 16
Calico-back, 368
California peach-tree borer, 645
Calocoris rapidus, 251
Camnula pellucida, 99
Cane-borer, grape, 513

raspberry, 462
red-necked, 466
Canker-worm, fall, 572

spring, 570

Cantharis nuttalli, 317
Capsidse, 226; 251, 404, 481

Carabidae, 14

Carbon bisulfid, 57

Carrot beetle, 414
rust-fly, 415

Case-bearer, cigar, 618
pistol, 618

Cassida bivittata, 433
nigripes, 434

Cassidse, 432

Caterpillar, apple, red-humped, 615

yellow-necked, 613
celery, 411
clover-seed, 216
hog, grape-vine, 528
salt-marsh, 247
tent, 608

white-lined sphinx, 247
woolly-bear, 247

Cat hart us ad vena, 188

gemellatus, 188

Cattle, tick, 6

Cecidomyidse, 123, 145, 212

Celery caterpillar, 411
leaf-tyer, 409
looper, 413

Cephidae, 129

Cephus occidentalis, 130
pygmseus, 129

Cerambycidae, 462, 588

Cereals, insect injury to, 2

Ceratoma trifurcata, 313

Ceresa bubalus, 547

Ceutorhinchus rapae, 377

Chalcid, clover-seed, 214

Chalcididse, 136, 138, 214

Chalcis flies, 19, 545

Chaetocnema confinis, 430

Chatopsis aenea, 423

Chelymorpha argus, 436

Cherry fruit-fly, 667

Chinch-bug, 2, 37, 89
false, 339

Chionaspis furfura, 595, 596

Chiropachis colon, 545

Chitin, 23

Chittenden, F. H., 129, 178, 186, 197
258, 261, 291, 305, 307, 320, 322,

674

INDEX

Chit tendon, F. H. — Continued

330, 335, 338, 345, 347, 355, 361,
363, 365, 368, 378, 379, 383, 388,
391, 402, 408, 413, 415, 418, 424,
428, 456, 478, 544, 588, 658, 667
Chloridea virescens, 234
Chrysalis, 24

Chrysobothris femorata, 591
Chrysomelidae, 157, 158, 222, 291,
303, 313, 335, 337, 375, 379, 402,
424, 427, 430, 448, 501, 515 "
Chrysopidae, 325, 385
Cicada, mouth-parts, 28
periodical, 548
septendecim, 548
Cicadidae, 548
Cigar case-bearer, 618
Cigarette beetle, 239
Clarke, W. T., 289, 650, 664
Clover-aphis, 606

-hay worm, 219
insects, 200
leaf-weevil, 203
mite, 209
root-borer, 200
-seed chalcid, 214
midge, 212
caterpillar, 216
stem-borer, 202
Coccidse, 538, 592, 595, 654
Coccinella novemnotata, 9, 385
CoccinellidjE, 9, 315, 325, 385, 391
Cocoon, 24

Coccotorus scutellaris, 661
Codling moth, 4, 624
Coeh'nus meromyzae, 135
Colaspis brunnea, 448
Coleophora fletcherella, 618
malivorella, 618
Colorado potato-beetle, 291
Comma butterfly, 283
Compressed-air sprayers, 62
Comstock, J. H., 129, 438, 462, 464,

539

Conotrachelus nenuphar, 576
Conradi, A. F., 165, 388, 440
Cook, A. J., 133

Coolcy, 11. A., 596
Coptocycla bicolor, 435

signifera, 436

Coquillet, D. W., 113, 570, 572
Coreidse, 252, 388
Corn ear-worm, 2, 181, 235
-field, ant, 168
insect injury to, 2
insects, 157
leaf -aphis, 170
-root aphis, 164, 170
webworm, 161
root-worm, southern, 158
western, 157
stalk-borer, 37

larger, 172, 181
Cory, E. N., 654
Cotton-boll cutworm, 258

boll weevil, 3, 34, 37, 261
bollworm, 3, 40, 181, 254
insect injury to, 3
insects, 241
leaf-bug, 251
-hoppers, 250
-worm, 4, 243
square-borer, 248
stainer, 253
worm, 243
Cowpea weevil, 311
Crambidse, 161, 172, 224
Crambus caliginosellus, 161, 224
Crandall, C. S., 576, 634
Crane-flies, 121
Craponius inaequalis, 534
Crested flycatcher, 501
Griddle mixture, 113
Crioceris asparagi, 424

duodecimpunctata, 427
Cross-striped cabbage-worm, 363
Crown-borer, strawberry, 447
Cucujidse, 187

Cucumber beetle, striped, 159, 379
Culture, 35
Curculio, apple, 634

cabbage, 377
grape, 534
plum, 576

INDEX

675

Curculio, rhubarb, 408
Curculionidse, 203, 205, 261, 285, 377,
438, 447, 456, 509, 511, 534, 576,
634, 661
Currant-aphis, 484

borer, imported, 477
-fly, 490
span-worm, 488
stem-girdler, 478
worm, imported, 486

native, 487
Cutworm, bronzed, 86

cotton-boll, 258
dark-sided, 85
dingy, 87
glassy, 88
granulated, 88
greasy, 85
well-marked, 87
Cutworms, 84, 332
Cydia pomonella, 624
Cylas formicarius, 438
Cymatomorpha riberia, 488
' Cynipida?, 468

Dasyneura leguminicola, 212
Datana ministra, 613
Davis, G. C., 342

J. J., 164

Dean, Geo. A., 199
Deilephila lineata, 247, 528
Depressaria heradiana, 417
Dermestida?, 474
Desmia funeralis, 523
Diabrotica longicornis, 157, 159, 160

duodecimpunctata, 158

vittata, 303, 379
Diamond-back moth, 366
Diaphania hyalinita, 400

nitidalis, 397

Diastrophus nebulosus, 468
Diatraea zeacolella, 172, 181
Dicyphus minimus, 226
Dictyophorus reticulatus, 101
Diplosis tritici, 145
Disonycha triangularis, 335

xanthomekena, 335

Doane, W. R., 330
Dodge, C. R., 373
Dolerus arvensis, 143
Drasterius elegans, 82
Drone-fly, 13
Dusting apparatus, 77
arsenicals, 44
Dyar, H. G., 557
Dysdercus suturellus, 253

Ear-worm, corn, 1£1, 235

Elachistidae, 618

Elaterida;, 81

Eliot, Ida M., 525

Empusa aphidis, 325

Enarmonia interstinctana, 216
prunivora, 628

English grain-louse, 147

Ephestia kuehniella, 190

Epicauta pennsylvanica, 344
vittata, 107, 343

Epidapus scabies, 300

Epilachna borealis, 391

varivestis, 315

Epitrix cucumeris, 296
fuscula, 296, 299
parvula, 222, 298, 299

Epochra canadensis, 490

Eriocampoides limacina, 642

Eriophyes pyri, 636

Eriophyida, 636

Eristalis tenax, 13

Erotylidse, 202

Estigmene acraa, 247

Eulecanium «nigrofasciatum, 654

Euproctis chrysorrhea, 558

European grain-aphis, 604

Euschistus punctipes, 225
variolarius, 225

Eutettix tenella, 339

Euthrips nicotaniae, 240

Evergestis rimosalis, 363

Exorista flavicauda, 107
leucaniae, 107

Extension rods, 74

Fall-armyworm, 118, 247

670

INDEX

Fall cankcrworm, .r)72
wrlnvorm, 553

False chinch-bug, 339

Farm methods for insect control, 32

Felt, K. P., 501, 588, 608

Feltia subgothica, 87

Fernalcl, C. H., 563
H. T., 83

Fertilization, 35

Fidia cana, 503

viticida, 501

Fire-bug, 368

Fiske, W. F., 611

Fitch, Asa, 132, 146, 318, 320

Flat-headed apple-tree borer, 591

Flea-beetles, 34, 335, 375
banded, 402
cucumber, 296
eggplant, 299
grapevine, 515
pale-striped, 402
potato, 296
southern potato, 296
spinach, 335
sweet-potato, 430
tobacco, 222, 296, 299
wavy-striped, 375
western cabbage, 375

Flesh-fly, 107

Fletcher, James, 129, 133, 307, 329

Flour moths, 189

moth, Mediterranean, 189

Folsom, J. W., 200, 205, 214, 217, 322

Forbes, S. A., 79, 123, 157, 164, 169,
170, 175, 177, 330, 335, 402, 413,
441, 447, 576

Forbush, E. H., 563

Foreign grain-beetle, 188

Forest insects, 5

Foster, S. W., 628

Four-lined leaf -bug, 481

Fruit-fly, cherry, 667

Fruits, insect injury to, 4

Fruit-tree bark-beetle, 544, 653

Fruit-worm, tomato, 181

Fungus, grasshopper, 112
pea-aphis, 325

( Sail-maker, grape-cane, 509
blackberry, 408
Garden webworm, 247, 406
Garman, H., 135, 225, 296, 301, 347,

367, 447
Cases, 42, 57
Gelechiida;, 192, 650
Geometrida?, 488, 570, 572
German grain-aphis, 148
Gillette, C. P., 47, 315, 338, 383, 582

597, 602, 606, 655, 658, 660, 666
Girault, A. A., 645
Girdler, grape-cane, 511
Gipsy moth, 5, 563
Glassy-winged sharpshooter, 249
Goff, W. H., 352
Goldbugs, 432
Golden tortoise-beetle, 435
Good, James, 47
Goodwin, W. H., 474
Gossard, H. A., 137, 218, 530, 546
Gouger, plum, 661
Graphops pubescens, 448
Grain-aphis, European, 604

German, 148
-beetles, 187

foreign, 188

red, or square-necked,

188

saw-toothed, 187
-moth, Angurnois, 192
Sphenophorus, 175
Grains, small, insects of, 121
stored, insects of, 186
Grain weevils, 186
Granary, 196

weevil, 186

Grape-berry moth, 530
cane-borer, 513

gall-maker, 509
girdler, 511
curculio, 534
leaf-folder, 523

-hopper, 520
root-worm, 501

imported, 504
-vine flea-beetle, 515

INDEX

677

Grape-vine hog-caterpillar, 528
phylloxera, 492
root-borer, 497
Grasshoppers, 93. See Locusts.

southern lubber, 101
Grass moths, 162

root-louse, 167

Gray hair-streak butterfly, 319
Green-bug, 150
Greenhouse leaf-tyer, 409
Green peach-aphis, 375, 658

soldier-bug, 252
Ground-beetles, 14, 117
fiery, 15
murky, 16, 295
Gryllidae, 464
Gymnonychus appendiculatus, 487

Hadena devastatrix, 88

Haltica chalybea, 515

Hammar, A. G., 501, 618

Harlequin cabbage-bug, 40, 368

Harpalus caliginosus, 16, 295

Harpiphorus maculatus, 450

Hart, C. A., 330, 413

Hartzell, F. Z., 492, 501

Harvey, F. L., 490, 632

Hawk-moth larvae, 525

Hay, insect injury to, 3

Headlee, T. J., 379

Heart, 30

Heliothis obsoleta, 24, 181, 234, 254

Hellebore, 47

Hellula undalis, 365

Herrick, G. W., 371

Hessian fly, 2, 34, 40, 123

Hinds, W. E., 198, 241, 261, 268

Hippodamia convergens, 10, 296,

385

Hodgkiss, H. E., 547, 636
Homalodisca triquetra, 249
Honey-bee, 22
Hooker, W. A., 240
Hopkins, A. D., 5, 300, 5.48
Hop insects, 274

louse, 275, 664

merchants, 28Q

Hopperdozers, 109
Hop-plant borer, 273

plant-louse, 275, 664
-vine snout-moth, 279
Hornblowers, 230
Hornworms, 228
Hose, 75

Houghton, C. O., 464, 616
Houser, J. S., 136, 530
Howard, L. O., 112, 175, 222, 234,

239, 273, 558, 563
Hubbard, H. G., 246
Hungate, J. W., 371
Hunter, S. J., 155
Hunter, W. D., 3, 94, 198, 241, 261,

266, 662

Hyalopterus arundinis, 662
Hydrocyanic-acid gas, 57
Hydroecia immanis, 273
Hylastinus obscurus, 200
Hypena humuli, 279
rostralis, 280
Hyphantria cunea, 553
textor, 557
Hypsopygia costalis, 219

Ichneumon-flies, 17, 616
Ichneumonidae, 17, 616
Imported cabbage webworm, 365
currant-borer, 477
worm, 486

grape root-worm, 504
onion maggot, 420
Indian-meal moth, 191
Injury by insects, 1
Insecticides, 42

contact, 42, 48
poisons or arsenicals, 42
Isosoma grande, 138
tritici, 136

Janus integer, 478
Jarvis, C. D., 616
Jassidae, 249, 520
Jenne, E. L., 624
Johnson, Fred, 501, 518

W. G., 58, 190, 224, 326

678

INDEX

Jones, C. R., 254
Jones, P. R., 628

Kedzie formula, 44
Kelly, E. O. G., 178
Kerosene, 49

emulsion, 48

Lachnosterna, 79, 415

arcuata, 80

Ladybird beetle, 9, 543
bean, 315

convergent, 10, 296
nine-spotted, 9
spotted, 11
squash, 391
two-spotted, 10
Languria mozardi, 202
Laphygma exigua, 334

frugiperda, 118

Larger cornstalk-borer, 172, 181
Larva, 23
Lasiocampidse, 608
Lasioderma serricorne, 239
Lasius niger americanus, 165, 168
Lawrence, W. H., 459, 469
Leaf-aphis, corn, 170
Leaf-beetle, bean, 313

three-lined, 303
Leaf-bug, cotton, 251

four-lined, 481
Leaf-folder, grape, 523
-hopper, grape, 520
cotton, 250
-miner, apple, 616

tobacco, 237
-roller, strawberry, 452
"tyer, celery or greenhouse, 409
-weevil, clover, 203
Leather jackets, 171
Lebia grandis, 16
Lema trilineata, 303
Lepidosaphes ulmi, 592
Leptinotarsa decemlineata, 291
Leptoglossus oppositus, 252
Lesser apple-worm, 628
peach borer, 645
Leucania unipuncta, 114

Ligyrus gibbosus, 414

Lime-sulfur wash, boiled, 50

home-made con-
centrated, 51
self-boiled, 53

Limneria fugitiva, 616

cedemasise, 616

Lindeman, 420

Liparidae, 558, 563

Live-stock, insect injury to, 6

Lixus concavus, 408

Locust, American acridium, 99

California devastating, 99
differential, 99, 100
lesser migratory, 98
migratory, 93
pellucid, 99
red-legged, 98, 99
Rocky mountain, 93
seventeen-year, 548
two-striped, 99
see also grasshoppers.

London purple, 43

Lowe, V. H., 472, 484, 608, 618

Loxostege similalis, 247, 406
sticticalis, 332

Lugger, O., 293, 321, 477, 486, 525

Lycsenidae, 248, 319

Lydella doryphorse, 294

Lygaeidae, 89

Lygus pratensis, 339, 404

Lygocerus stigmatus, 445

Lysiphlebus testaceipes, 154, 385, 445

Macrobasis unicolor, 316, 343
Macrodactylus subspinosus, 518
Macrosiphum cerealis, 147
granaria, 147
pisi, 211, 322
Maize bill-bug, 178
Malacasoma americana, 608
Mally, F. W., 418, 451
Mandibles, 27
Marlatt, C. L., 1, 7, 121, 143, 209,

486, 492, 513, 538, 540, 547, 582,

639, 642, 650
Maxillae, 27

INDEX

679

Mayetiola destructor, 123

Meadow-maggots, 121

Meal snout-moth, 192

Mealy plum-louse, 662

Measuring worms, 570

Mediterranean flour-moth, 189

Megilla maculata, 11, 385

Melanoplus atlantis, 98

bivittatus, 99
devastator, 99
differentialis, 99, 100
femur-rubrum, 98
spretus, 93

Melanotus communis, 83
cribulosus, 82

Melittia satyriniformis, 393

Meloidse, 301, 316, 343

Melon-aphis, 241, 383

Melon caterpillar, 400

Membracidse, 547

Memythrus polistiformis, 497

Meromyza americana, 132

Metamorphosis, complete, 23
incomplete, 26

Meteorus hyphantriae, 556, 557.

Mexican cotton boll weevil, 261

Microgaster, 18

Microweisea misella, 543

Midge, clover-seed, 212

Migratory locust, 93

Miscible oils, 50

Mite, locust, 105, 106

Monophadnus rubi, 472

Monostegia ignota, 451

Monoxia puncticollis, 337

Morgan, A. C., 222

H. A., 101, 112

Morrill, A. W., 252

Mottled tortoise-beetle, 436

Mouth-parts, biting, 27

of plant-louse, 29
sucking, 28

Murgantia histrionica, 368

Myiarchus crinitus, 501

Myzus cerasi, 666

persicae, 374, 658
ribis, 484

Native currant worm, 487
Nephelodes minians, 86
Newell, Wilmon, 269, 272
Nezara hilaris, 252
Noctua clandestina, 87
Noctuidae, 84, 114, 118, 181, 234,
243, 254, 258, 279, 287, 334, 361,
413, 613, 615
Nozzles, 72

Bordeaux, 74

disk, 73

Vermorel, 72
Nymph, 26, 550
Nymphalidse, 280, 283
Nysius angustatus, 339

Oberea bimaculata, 462
(Ecanthus niveus, 464
Oil-and-water spray, 49
O'Kane, W. C., 632
Oncometopia lateralis, 250
undata, 250
Onion-maggot, barred-winged, 423

imported, 420

thrips, 418

Ophion macrurum, 18
Orchard fruits, insects of, 538
Osborn, H., 218, 318, 418
Oscinis variabilis, 134
Ox-warble, 6
Oyster-shell scale, 592

Pachynematus extensicornis, 143
Pachyrrhinis spp., 121
Packard, A. S., 613, 615
Paleacrita vernata, 570
Pale-striped flea-beetle, 402
Pandorus sphinx, 527
Papaipema nitella, 287
Papilionidas, 411
Papilio polyxenes, 411
Parasites, insect, 17
Paris green, 43
Parrott, P. J., 636
Parsnip webworm, 417
Pea-aphis, 34, 211, 322
insects, 305

680

INDP:X

Pea-moth, 328

-weevil, 305
Peach-aphis, black, 655
green, 658
borer, 645

lesser, 645
lecanium, 654
-tree bark-beetles, 653

borer, California, 645
twig-borer, 650
Pear insects, 582

-leaf blister-mite, 636
psylla, 639
slug, 642

Pegonr via brassicse, 347
ceparum, 420
fusciceps, 320
vicina, 345

Pemphigius betse, 330
Pentatomiclffi, 225, 252, 368
Pergande, Th., 147, 418, 604
Peridromia saucia, 85
Periodical cicada, 548
Persian insect powder, 55
Petroleum, crude, 49
Pettit, R. H., 423
Phkeotribus liminaris, 653
Phelegethontius quinquemaculata,

228

sexta, 228

Phlyctoenia rubigalis, 409
Pholus achemon, 526
]>aiulom.s, 527
Phorbia rubivora, 469
Phorodon humuli, 275, 664
Phthorimae operculella, 237, 289
Phyllotreta pusilla, 375
sinuata, 375

Phyllotreta vittata, 335, 375
Phylloxera vastatrix, 492
Physapoda, 418
Phytonomus murinus, 205

punctatus, 203
Pickle-worm, 397
Pierce, W. D., 268
Pierida3, 355, 360, 361
Pimpla conquisitor, 243, 246

Pimpla inquisitor, 17
Piper, C. V., 651
Pipiza radicans, 14
Pistol case-bearer, 618
Plant-bugs, 252

tarnished, 339
Planting, time of, 34
Plant-lice, 241, see aphides and aphis

apple, 597
Plant-louse, hop, 664

mouth-parts, 29
Plodia interpunctella, 190
Plowing, late fall, 38
Plum aphides, 662
curculio, 576
gouger, 661
louse, mealy, 662

rusty-brown, 665
Plusia simplex, 413
Plutella maculipennis, 366
Podisus spinosus, 293

spp., 611

Poecilocapsus lineatus, 481
Poisons, 42

Polychrosis viteana, 530
Polygonia comma, 281

interrogationis, 280
Pontia napi, 361

protodice, 360
rapa4, 355

Popenoe, E. A., 311
C. II., 371

Porthetria dispar, 563
Potato insects, 285

beetle, Colorado, 291
scab and insects, 300

-gnat, 300
stalk-borer, 285
tuber-worm, 289
Potherb butterfly, 361
Proctotrypidse, 19
Prodenia ornithogalli, 258
Psila rosa?, 415
Psylla, pear, 639
Psylla pyricola, 639
Pteronus ribesii, 486
Ptinidse, 239, 513

INDEX

681

Pumps, barrel, 63

bucket, 60

horizontal, 67

knapsack, 61

power outfits. 69

see also sprayers.
Pupa, 24
Puparium, 25
Pyralididse, 190, 191, 192, 219, 247,

363, 365, 409, 523
Pyralis farinalis, 191
Pyraustidae, 332, 397, 400, 406
Pyrethrum, 55
Pyrrhocoridae, 253

Quaintance, A. L., 78, 228, 236, 241,
254, 379, 397, 400, 418, 441, 492,
501, 523, 570, 576, 578, 592, 595,
597, 608, 616, 624, 628, 632, 645,
650, 652, 655

Quayle, H. J., 492

, Railroad worm, 632
Raspberry insects, 459
Byturus, 474
cane-borer, 462

-maggot, 469
root-borer, 459
saw-fly, 472
Red-bug, 253

Red-humped apple-caterpillar, 615
Red-necked cane-borer, 466
Red- or square-necked grain-beetle,

188

Reeves, G. I., 139
Repellants, 42, 56
Resin-soap sticker, 46
Respiration of insects, 28
Rhagoletis cingulata, 667
pomonella, 632
Rhopalosiphum dianthi, 658

ribis, 484

Rhubarb curculio, 408
Rice-weevil, 186

Riley, C. V., 94, 143, 277, 285,
294, 371, 375, 406, 417, 437, 452,
664

Roberts, I. P., 128
Root-aphis, beet, 331
Root-borer, clover, 200

grapevine, 497

raspberry, 459

sweet-potato, 438
Root-louse, strawberry, 441
Root maggots, 41
Root-worm, grape, 501

strawberry, 448
Rose bugs, 518
Rose-chafer, 518
Rosy apple-aphis, 602
Rotation of crops, 33
Round-headed apple-tree borer, 588
Rusty-brown plum-louse, 655

Salt-marsh caterpillar, 247
Sanborn, C. E., 387, 665
Sanders, J. G., 654
Sanderson, E. D., 241, 320, 322, 406,
430, 441, 558, 563, 597, 602, 613,
615, 624

San Jose scale, 4, 48, 538
Sanninoidea exitiosa, 645

opalescens, 645
Saperda Candida, 588
Sarcophaga carnaria, 107
Saw-fly, raspberry, 472
strawberry, 450
sweet-potato, 437
western grass-stem, 130
wheat, 142

Saw-toothed grain-beetle, 187
Scale, oyster-shell, 592
San Jose, 538
scurfy, 595
terrapin, 654
Scarabaeidse, 79, 415, 518
Schistocerca americana, 27, 9§
Schizocerus ebenus, 437

privatus, 438
Schizoneura lanigera, 582
panicola, 167
Schizura concinna, 616
Shoene, W. J., 347, 636
Sciara, spp., 300

G82

INDEX

Scolytidir, 200, 544, 653
Soolytus rugulosus, 544
Scott, \V. M., 54, 365
Screw-worm fly, 6
Scurfy scale, 595
Seed-corn maggot, 320
Semasta nigricana, 328
Semicolon butterfly, 280
Sesiidsc, 393, 459, 477, 497, 645
Seventeen-year locust, 548
Silvanus surinarnensis, 187
Simpson, C. B., 624
Siphocoryne avenae, 604, 607
Sirrine, F. A., 318, 361, 373, 418, 428
Sitotroga cerealella, 192
Sharpshooters, 248

glassy-winged, 249
Sherman, Franklin, 374
Slingerland, M. V., 128, 347, 409,
422, 462, 464, 469, 478, 481, 501,
515, 520, 530, 618, 621, 639, 641,
645, 667

Smith, J. B., 164, 195, 274, 282, 289,
347, 379, 391, 430, 441, 452, 454,
456, 459, 460, 466, 518, 597, 645
Smith, R. I., 198, 368, 379, 397. 400,

582
Snout-moths, 162

hop-vine, 279
meal, 192
Snout-weevil, 175
Snowy tree-cricket, 464
Soap, whale-oil, 50
Soldier-bugs, 611

green, 252

Solenopsis geminata, 269
Soule, Carolin M., 525
Southern grain-louse, 2, 150
Sphecodina abbottii, 530
Sphecius speciosus, 553
Sphenophorus, 175

cariosus, 178
maidis, 178
obscurus, 175
ochreus, 178
parvulus, 175
pertinax, 178

Sphenophorus, placidus, 178
robust us, 178
scoparius, 178
sculptilis, 178
SphingidiD, 228, 247, 525
Sphinx, Abbott's, 530
achemon, 526
pandorus, 527
white-lined, 528
Spinach-aphis, 375

flea-beetle, 335
leaf-miner, 345
Spined tobacco bug, 225
Spiracle, 30
Split-w^rm, 237
Sprayers, see pumps.

compressed-air, 62
gas, 70
traction, 69
Spray rods, 74
Spring canker worm, 570
grain-aphis, 150
Squash^bug, 388

ladybird, 391
-vine borer, 393
Stalk-borer, 287

potato, 285
-worm, tobacco, 224
Starnes, H. N., 645, 650
Stedman, J. M., 404, 450, 576
Stem-borer, clover, 202
Stigmata, 30
Stink-bugs, 252
Stone, J. L., 128

Stored products, insect injury to, 6
Strainers, 77

Strawberry crown-borer, 447
insects, 441
leaf-roller, 452
root-louse, 441

-worms, 448
saw-fly, 450
weevil, 456

Striped cucumber beetle, 379
Structure of insects, 22
Suck-fly, 226
Sugar-beet webworrn, 332

INDEX

683

Sulfur, 54

dioxid, 58

Swallow-tail butterfly, black, 411
Sweet-potato beetle, two-striped, 433
flea-beetle, 430
root-borer, 438
saw-flies, 437
Symons, T. B., 654
Synanthedon pictipes, 645
Syrphidae, 12, 325
Syrphus americanus, 14
flies, 12, 14
ribesii, 13
Systena blanda, 402

hudsonias, 335
taeniata, 335, 402
Systcechus oreas, 106

Tachina flies, 107, 117
Tanglefoot, 56

Tarnished plant-bug, 337, 404
Taylor, E. P., 405, 576, 582, 597, 603,
• 652, 658, 660, 665
Tenebroides mauritanicus, 188
Tent caterpillar, 608
TenthredinidsE, 143, 437, 450, 472,

478, 486, 487, 642
Terrapin-bug, 368

scale, 654
Tetranychidae, 209
Three-lined leaf-beetle, 303
Thrips tabaci, 418
Thysanoptera, 418
Tineidae, 237, 616
Tipula bicornis, 121
costalis, 121
hebes, 122
Tipulidae, 121
Tischeria malifoliella, 616
Titus, E. G., 205, 208
Tmetocera ocellana, 621
Tobacco, as insecticide, 65

bug, spined, 225

budworm, 181

flea-beetle, 222, 296, 299

fumigation, 58

insect injury to, 4

Tobacco, insects, 222

leaf-miner, 237

stalk-worm, 224

thrips, 240

worms, 228

Tomatoes, insects of, 285
Tomato fruit-worm, 181, 304, see

bollworm.
Tomato-worm, 304, see tobacco

worms.
Tortoise-beetles, 432

argus, 436
black-legged, 434
golden, 435
mottled, 436

Tortricidae, 328, 452, 530,|621, 624, 628
Towers for spraying, 77
Toxoptera graminum, 150
Tracheal system, 29
Trap crops, 40
Tree-cricket, snowy, 464
Tree-hopper, buffalo, 547
Trichobaris trinotata, 285
Trogositidae, 188

Trichogramma pretiosa, 244, 254
Trombidium locustarum, 105
Trouvelot, Leopold, 564
Trypetidae, 490, 632, 657
Tuber-worm, potato, 289
Twelve-spotted asparagus beetle, 427
Twig-borer, peach, 650
Tychea brevicornis, 331
Tyloderma fragrariae, 447
Typhlocyba comes, 520
Typophorus canellus, 448

Uranotes mellinus, 248, 319

Washburn, F. L., 113, 148, 190, 289,

347

Wavy-striped flea-beetle, 375
Webster, F. M., 2, 41, 89, 126, 129,
130, 133, 136, 138, 139, 143, 145,
147, 155, 157, 164, 169, 202, 205,
208, 459, 463, 466, 509, 606

684

INDEX

Webster, R. L., 323, 596
Webworm- corn-root, 161
fall, 553

garden, 247, 406
imported cabbage, 365
sugar-beet, 332
Weed, C. M., 371, 388, 666
Weeds, 34
Weevil, 186

alfalfa, 205
destruction of, 197
Mexican cotton boll, 261
strawberry, 456

Western corn root-worm, 2, 33
grass-stem saw-fly, 130
Whaleoil soap, 50
Wheat joint-worm, 37, 136

Wheat maggots, 132

midge, 145

saw-flies, 142

saw-fly borer, 129
-stem maggot, 132

straw- worm, 138
White grubs, 79, 332
\Vhite-lined sphinx, 247, 528
Wilson, H. F., 653
Winthcmia 4-pustulata, 117
Wireworms, 81, 332
Woglum, R. S., 543
Woolly apple aphis, 582
Woolly-bear caterpillar, 247
Woodworth, C. W., 543, 645

Yellow-necked apple-caterpillar, 613

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