56 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:2— Feb., 1916 



native beetles were very restless before the migrating hosts arrived 

 and almost all of them joined the army and left the cucumber 

 patches. The migration lasted about ten days then the beetles 

 began to scatter over the country and settle down. 



The Striped Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica Vittata) belongs to 

 the same i family as the Western Flower Beetle and the Corn-root 

 worm or Twelve-spot and is sometimes characterized as a "slim 

 greenjady-bug with black stripes on its wings" but it is not a " lady- 

 bug." J^The "lady-bug" or Ladybird is a predacious beetle that 

 feeds, on other insects, mostly plant-lice, and is considered very 



a b c 



Striped Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica Vittata) 



A. Female covered with mites. 



B. Female. C. Male. 



beneficial while the Diabroticas eat plant food and are very destruc- 

 tive to crops. 



Some of the female beetles carried a few Gamassid mites (Uro- 

 poda sp Banks) on their wingcovers. These mites are mentioned 

 in Circular number 34 State Entomologists Dept., St. Paul, Minn., 

 as loading themselves upon the wings in such great numbers that 

 the beetles are unable to fly. Aside from making the beetle carry 

 an extra load it does not appear that the mites are harmful to the 

 beetles — they are simply getting free transportation. 



