The Bulletin. 59 



Often two or three bugs attack a single plant. Such plants rarely 

 recover, and it is at this time that this insect does the greatest amount 

 of damage. On older plants it works usually higher up, in which 

 case only the top of the plant wilts. Such plants, though severely 

 checked, usually recover very rapidly. Still later in the season, when 

 the tobacco is nearly ready to be harvested, these bugs seem to confine 

 themselves to the stems of the leaves. Leaves which have been at- 

 tacked in this way wilt rapidly and do not seem to mature well in 

 the fields. Tobacco farmers tell me that such leaves are always of an 

 inferior grade and color. 



The adult bug which has been described above and which is well 

 illustrated in Fig. 45, is one of the insects which are normally present 

 every year. It is found among all sorts of weeds, but is said to prefer 

 the common thistle and the mullein. Undoubtedly this insect is 

 attracted to the tobacco field because of the rich, succulent growth 

 of tobacco, as the plants at this season of the year are full of juices. 



Control. 



Preventives. — The tall, rank-growing weeds, such as thistle and 

 mullein, should be kept severely down in the tobacco field and in the 

 fields adjoining. It is doubtful if this insect would ever occur in the 

 tobacco fields if it were not first attracted to them by rank-growing 

 weeds among the tobacco. 



Remedies. — There is no remedy that can be used against this pest 

 except hand picking. Wherever the bugs are noticed they should be 

 picked off at once and destroyed. 



THE LESSER INSECT ENEMIES OF TOBACCO. 



The insects included in this group are usually never serious enemies 

 of tobacco, though normally they are present in the tobacco fields 

 every year and do an appreciable amount of injury. They are only 

 incidental visitors to the tobacco field, as most of them are general 

 feeders. Most of the insects included in this group are abundant, 

 usually occurring wherever there is green vegetation, and not a few 

 of them are serious pests of other crops. Fortunately, however, they 

 are without exception chewing insects, and yield themselves readily 

 to the methods of fighting other more important pests. 



Grasshoppers. 1 

 (Order Orthoptera.) 



Every one is familiar with grasshoppers, as they are normally 

 present every year wherever there is any sign of green vegetation. 

 Frequently they do quite an appreciable amount of damage to tobacco 

 by chewing irregular oval holes in first-class wrapper, thereby ruin- 



'Melanoplus frmur-riibnim and T rimer otropis citrina. 



