COLEOPTE RA 



533 



The cucumber flea-beetle, Epitrix cucumeris, is a common pest 

 of melon and cucumber vines; it also attacks the leaves of 



potatoes, 

 raspberry, 

 turnip, 

 cabbage, 

 and other 

 plants. 

 This is a 

 minute 

 black spe- 

 cies, meas- 

 uring less p. g 

 than 2 mm. -t^^g- ^53- 



in length. The body is finely 

 punctured and clothed with a 

 whitish pubescence ; there is a deep 

 transverse furrow across the hind 

 part of the prothorax; the antennae are 

 dull yellow, and the legs are of the same 

 hue, except the posterior femora, which are 

 brown. The adult beetles feed on the leaves 

 of plants in the same manner as the preced- 

 ing species ; and the larvae on the roots of 

 the infested plants. 



The grape fiea-beetle, Haltica chalybea. 

 — This is a larger species than the two pre- 

 ceding, measuring from 4 mm. to 5 mm. in length, 

 and is of a dark, steel-blue color. It is a great pest 

 in vine}'ards, eating into the buds of grape in early 

 spring, and later gnawing holes in the leaves (Fig. 

 652). In May and June the brown, sluggish larvae 

 may also be found feeding upon the surface of the 

 leaves. The full-grown larva is chestnut brown 

 marked with black spots (Fig. 653). It drops to the 

 ground and makes a cell in the earth in which it 

 transforms. The most important injury caused by 

 this pest is the destruction of buds in early spring, 

 which causes a great loss of foliage and fruit. This 

 pest is most easily controlled by spraying the vines with an arsenical 

 poison between the middle of June and the middle of July, while the 

 larvae are feeding on the leaves. 



The wedge-shaped leaf -beetles . — These insects are characterized by 

 the peculiar form of the body, which is narrow in front and broad 

 behind. In most of the species the body is much roughened by deep 

 pits, and usually the pits on the wing-covers are in regular rows. 

 These insects and the tortoise-beetles differ from other leaf-beetles 

 in having the fore part of the head prominent, so that the mouth 

 is confined to the under surface. Some of the larvss feed externally 

 upon the leaves and bear a parasol composed of their excrement; 



Fig. 652. 



