164 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



its majority only at the expense of many grasshopper eggs. The beetles 

 then are our friends if they occnr in anything like moderation but lesl 

 we be overrun by these well meaning but hungry allies, it .is often 

 desirable to get rid of them. 



REMEDIES. 



l*aris-greeu applied as a spray 

 Avill kill them, although it works 

 slo>>'ly. Before the days of paris- 

 gi-een, it was the custom of our 

 tVuefathers, to drive the beetles, 

 when thev came in droves, by 

 brushing them \\\t\\ the branches 

 of trees, into windrows of drj^ 

 stiaw, and then to burn them up. 

 Drj'-slaked lime, and paris-green, 

 one part of the latter to fifty 

 parts of lime, dusted through 

 coarse cloth or burlaps, will kijl 

 some and drive many away. 



The Pale Striped Flea-beetle {Systena 

 blanda) 



Flea-beetles, as the name im- 

 plies, have strongly developed, 

 jumping hind-legs, by means of 

 which they are capable of taking long leaps after the manner of 

 the common flea. They all belong to the family of leaf-beetles 

 and feed on vegetation. The one in question, the pale, striped 

 tlea-beetle is very small, measuring about one-eighth of an inch in 

 length, and is yellowish-brown in color. Down each wing-cover extends 

 a yellow stripe. The prothorax is also yellow, the head brownish-red, 

 the legs yel!owish-red and the under side of the body black. 



While preeminently a x)est of the sugar-beet, in ^lichigan, this beetle 

 makes its presence felt very forcibly on the garden beet, as well as on 

 corn, beans and potato. It dearly loves sorrel (ordinary red or horse- 

 sorrel), pig-weed or lamb's quarter, rag-weed and a great variety of 

 cultivated plants and weeds. 



The slender, thread-like larvae of this beetle are said by Chittenden* 

 to feed on the roots of corn, lam.b's quarter, and probably also on the 

 roots of Jamestown weed. They are white in color with a moderate 

 number of hairs. They are pests of dry seasons, rarely doing serious 

 injury during wet weather. The worst damage is done while the beets 

 are small, usually when thev have about two leaves. Under such con- 

 ditions, the beetles sometinics spoil quite large areas, usually in sandy 

 regions. When the beets are larger, the insects eat out the soft tissue 



* Bui. 23, N. S. Bureau of Ent. Depart, of Agr. 



Fig. 10. — Margined blister-beetle, enlarged. 

 (Autlior's illuitration.) 



