34 



The Bulletin. 



tinned damp weather. In a normal hot, dry season, the beetles in- 

 crease from one wave to the next, and by the time the tobacco is 

 ready to be harvested they are often excessively abundant. At this 

 season of the year the writer has often counted over a hundred adult 

 beetles on a single leaf. 



The hibernating beetles on issuing in the spring find the young to- 

 bacco in the seedbeds very much to their liking, and often almost en- 

 tirely destroy the seedbeds. The plants, which are seldom ever com- 

 pletely killed, are usually so severely checked that it is often quite 

 impossible for the tobacco farmer to secure enough plants for trans- 

 planting. (Fig. 20.) The Flea Beetles follow the plants from the 



Fig. 20.— Young Tobacco Plant from Seedbed, showing injur}- by Tobacco Flea Beetle, 



about natural size. 



(Photograph by the author.) 



