INSECTS ETC., INJURIOUS TO VARIOUS CROPS 1559 



" Uspiilun " before the harvest (i). About a month later only a few 

 larvae of different sizes were found. The insect was identified as The- 

 reva, but the species is not yet known. As the pest has appeared in great 

 number in other places as well, the writer decided to study it in detail. 



1147-The Potato Ladybird Beetle {Epilachna dregei), a Coleopteran Pest on 



Potatoes and other Plants in South Africa. - Gunn, D. in Unio^i of South Africa, De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Division of Entomoloi;y, No. 6, pp. 1-7, i PI. Pretoria, IQ16. 



This insect, which is now spread over the whole of South Africa, 

 attacks countless cultivated and w^'ld plants, being especially injurious 

 to the potato. 



On an average, in both the first and the second generations, the Hfe 

 cycle of Epilachna dregei occupies 49 days ; in the first generation its 

 minimum length is 41 days, and in both the maximum is 57 days. The 

 duration of each period is as follows : 



Incubation 7 to 11 days 



I^arval existence 28 to 36 days 



Pupal existence 6 to 10 days 



The eggs are laid in little heaps on the under surface of the leaves of the 

 host ; when hatched the larvae remain in groups until the first change of 

 skin, after which they spread over the whole plant, eating the foliage. 

 The adults finish this work of destruction, for they leave nothing but the 

 veining intact, so that the plant soon withers and dies. During the sum- 

 mer of 1913, about 18 acres of potatoes were destroyed on a single estate 

 near Johannesburg. 



AppHcations of lead arseniate (about 3 lbs. in 48 gallons of water) 

 are stiggested as soon as the larvae appear as a means of prevention. 



Besides potatoes, this Epilachna alsc^, attacks pumpkins, cucumbers, 

 spinach, turnips, radishes, melons, beans and some of the Solanums which 

 grow in the gardens and fields. 



1 148 -The Clover Leafhopper {Agallia sanguinolenta\ an Hemipteran Pest on 

 Leguminous Forage Plants in the United States. — Gibson, e. h., in United States 



Department of Agriculture, Farmer's Bulletin, No. 737, pp. 7-8, Fig. 1-5. Washington. 



D. C, 1916. 



Agallia sanguinolenta damages the Leguminous plants used for fo- 

 rage, more especially lucerne and clover, in various ways. Numerous 

 specimens (sometimes as many as 600) collect on a single plant, they pierce 

 the epidermis of the leaf stalk and extract some of the juice from the tis- 

 sues, so that the most delicate branches wither, and the new shoots which 

 are poorly nourished develop badl3^ In addition, the females, by laying 

 their eggs at a considerable depth in the peridermis and parenchyma, 

 provoke the formation of galls which check the normal development of 

 the plant. 



Preventive measures : i) during the winter burn the vegetable debris 



(i) See B. August 1916, No. 938. (Ed. 



