ENTOMOLOGY. ^ 1 1 



ENTOMOLOGY. 



The cabbage root maggot, with notes on the onion m^.^gct and 

 allied insects, M. V. yLiNaEiiLA.ND {^New York Cornell 8ta. Bui. 78, 

 pp. 481-577, Jigs. 18). 



Si/iioj)sis. — An elaborate illustrated paper on the cabbage root maggot (Phorhia hras- 

 sic(E), giving in detail the description, life history, and the results of extended 

 experiments with remedies against its ravages. Brief comparative notes are 

 also given for several allied species. Injecting carbon bisnlphid into the ground 

 a few inches from each plant is recommended as the most effective method of 

 destroying the pest, although the application of carbolic acid emulsion is also 

 advised. 



The work recounted in this bulletin was undertaken at the request 

 of uumerous cabbage growers on Long Island, where extensive grow- 

 ing of cabbages is done and where the cabbage root maggot for many- 

 years has proved a pest, annually destroying many acres of the vege- 

 table. The insect was first noticed in the United States in 1835, being 

 introduced from Europe into Massachusetts, and from there has since 

 gradually spread over the greater portion of the United States and 

 Canada, where it is now sufficiently abundant to destroy thousands of 

 acres of cabbages, cauliflowers, radishes, and turnips every year. 

 Although the favorite and j)resumably native food jjlant of the insect 

 is Brassica oleracea, embracing the cabbages, kales, collards, brussels 

 sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli, quite a range of food plants is shown, 

 apparently, however, confined chiefly to Cruciferce. In addition to the 

 vegetables mentioned the radish, turnip {Brassica rapa), rutabaga and 

 swede (B. campestris), common winter cress {Barharea vulgaris), and 

 hedge mustard {Sisymhrium officinale) are attacked. Breeding experi- 

 ments, evidence of other observers, and comparative study of cabbage 

 and radish maggots seem to indicate that the cabbage and the radish 

 maggot are the same species. The similar maggots infesting onions, 

 beans, and raspberry canes are difierent insects, distinct from each 

 otber and from the cabbage root maggot. 



The iDlants first show the effects of the presence of the maggots after 

 they have been set in the field 2 or 3 weeks, on Long Island about May 

 15, the time, however, varying with season, locality, and latitude. The 

 first indication is shown by a checking of the growth of the plant, a 

 tendency to wilt badly under a hot sun, and a sickly bluish cast to the 

 foliage, following which the plant in a few days wilts, falls over, and 

 dies. The result is aflected by the size of the plant, the number of 

 maggots at work, and the soil and weather conditions, a rich soil and 

 plenty of moisture enabling the plants to withstand the attacks of the 

 maggot for a long time. 



"The full grown cabbage maggot is about 0.32 in. (8 mm.) in length, 

 white, cylindrical, tapering cephalad and obliquely truncate caudad, 

 with 12 fleshy tubercles around the caudal margin, the lower two of 



