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Rural School Leaflet 



FOUR COMMON GARDEN PESTS 



Glenn W. Herrick 



the striped cucumber beetle 



Appearance of the beetle. — The striped cucumber beetle is only about 

 two-fifths of an inch long. Its ground color is yellow above, with a black 

 head, and with three black lines running lengthwise of the back. The 

 underside of the body is mostly black. The larva is a slender, white, 

 wormlike grub, which lives below the groimd on the stem and roots of 

 cucumbers. 



Story of its life. — The beetles spend the winter hidden away beneath 

 leaves and other rubbish, but they appear early in spring and feed on such 

 flowers as they can find until the cucumbers and melons are up. They 

 lay their eggs in crevices of the soil near the roots of the melon plants, 



where they hatch, and where the white, slender larvae 

 live for about one month. When full-growTi the 

 larv£e change to whitish pupae, and in about a week 

 the adult beetles appear. The life cycle occupies 

 probably about six weeks, and there are two genera- 

 tions a year in most parts of New York State but 

 perhaps three on Long Island. 



Injury and control. — In spring the himgry beetles 

 eat the leaves and flowers of the young plants of 

 cucumbers, melons, and squashes, and cause severe 

 injury, sometimes destroying the plants. The slender 

 larvffi also do some injury by gnawing into stems 

 underground, and into the roots. 

 Plants may be protected from these beetles by putting boxes around 

 them, by keeping the leaves covered with finely sifted ashes or air-slaked 

 lime, by planting an excess of seeds, by spraying the plants with arsenate 

 of lead (two and one-half pounds to fifty gallons of water), or by 

 sprinkling powdered arsenate of lead on them. Whatever is done must 

 be done thoroughly and often. 



Striped cucumber beetle, 

 enlarged 



THE COMMON SQUASH BUG 



Appearance of the squash bug. — The adult squash bug is usually more 

 than half an inch long; very large ones may be nearly three-fourths of an 

 inch in length. It is blackish brown above and specked with yellow under- 

 neath. Its head is small and narrow and bears a prominent black eye 

 on each side. Reaching out in front arc two long antennse, the joints of 

 which are long enough to be counted with the naked eye. On the under- 



