396 



How Liv'mg Thmgs Affect One Afiother unit vii 



^=^^^^" 



WARlSlINIG 



JAPANESE BEETLE QUARANTINE .. 



ra)£RAL AND SllftTt LAWS PROH«T CARRYlNq THE FOLLOWING 

 , PROCUa BEYOND THIS POINT WILESS CERTIFIED: 



* THRODCHOUT \: THE - YEAR 



h N«l«T. Orii«ir»T*!l at4 Om-olwust ISkx*. Ptantl. Pfsu ItpotJ of AB Klnils. 

 ItecRd.Son or Ejrtk. Vrst, Conpoil oaa Manure, 

 ' BETWEFN JiJNF ;5 i f^ND - OC^OSER IS 



Chym. R»arvt. Pp«i. 'B>a4lo«3. L»tlur*, rffW>»^, Crttn Owii. Wg« jhiej i*#Hk ' 



^■ftlM. Ch<rT*r5. Outdoor Crown Flowrri, L'mkirshcM Grains. Slr^w; "" 



iTHM. CMtTlri. OuidMr Sro<r« T\amts. I'mkrrjMd Gnhis Slrjit Hay anA l^ratM 

 iCTMi. iixl B» HnHowln* *<ldlllt.tMl Product fro* Ike PkHadrtEhta MartiM Kb. L_ 



^S<;^^>^t*l 





-r^s 



'^^'jKfe. 



Fig. 347 T^^ destructive Japanese beetle. The adult destroys leaves; the larvae in- 

 jure the roots. How does the Departuie^it of Agriculture try to stop its further 

 spread? (u. s. department of agriculture) 



kingbird, which are particularly useful 

 to us in eating harmful insects. For many 

 years, too, insect allies have been sought, 

 larger insects which prey on our insect 

 enemies or insects that live as parasites on 

 them. When a species of scale insect 

 threatened the orange crop in California, 

 ladybird beetles, which are natural ene- 

 mies of the scale, were raised in large 

 numbers and turned loose on their prey. 

 The search for bacterial parasites which 

 might be used against our insect foes is 

 more recent. 



You read earlier that serious plant dis- 

 eases are sometimes known to come from 

 other lands. So, too, some of our worst 

 insect pests such as the European corn 

 borer, the Hessian fly, the Japanese 

 beetle, the Mediterranean fruit fly, the 

 brown-tail moth, and many others have 

 come from other countries. They were 

 all imported accidentally. In their native 

 homes they have various enemies, mostly 

 other insects, which keep them in check. 

 In this country those enemies are lacking. 

 We look for those enemies abroad and 

 attempt to import them or we seek other 

 enemies to serve as our allies. 



In 191 2 some iris plants were shipped 

 to New York. Concealed in them were 

 small white wormlike grubs (larvae) of 

 the Japanese beetle. Within a few years 

 the Japanese beetle became a major 

 enemy, doing damage to truck crops and 

 orchard trees as well as to ornamental 

 plants. It has been found eating 260 dif- 

 ferent kinds of plants and has spread as 

 far west as Ohio and as far south as Vir- 

 ginia. Natural enemies were at once 

 looked for but of the many kinds im- 

 ported only two have proved to be use- 

 ful allies. At the same time other meth- 

 ods of destruction are used. A trap has 

 been devised to which the beetles are at- 

 tracted by the odor of geranium oil. Try 

 Exercises 6 and 7. 



Changing natural relationships. You 

 have seen that when insects enter a coun- 

 try without their natural enemies, they 

 are likely to multiply rapidly and do 

 much harm. And the more communica- 

 tion we have with other countries, the 

 oftener are insects imported accidentally. 

 We must guard against importing insects 

 accidentally from other parts; there must 

 be careful quarantine. Sometimes we get 



1 



