232 
KEPOKT ON ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
Cucurb pests 
Melon pests 
HI. Anim.vls in.iukious to Cuouubs 
The Melon L.4.dy-biki) 
Epilachiia chri/so)neUn(h, Fab. 
Plate XXXI 
This plant-feeding lady-bird is met with in many parts of the Sudan. 
During 1907, it was responsible for a considerable amount of damage to melons and 
cucumbers at Khartoum and at Dueim. 
The egg (fig. 2) is elliptical in shape and orange in colour. The shell is faintly- 
sculptured, and on the end attached to the leaf are several small tubercles. 
Length, 1-75-2 mm. 
The larva (fig. 1) is pale orange in colour, and has, on the dorsal surface, six 
longitudinal rows of branched tubercles, the branches terminating in spines and sometimes 
dark in colour. 
Length, about 7 lum. 
The adult (fig. 1) is orange to orange-red in colour, though occasionally very- dark 
specimens can be found. The elytra hear twelve black s^Jots ringed with pale orange and 
arranged in three transverse rows of four. The whole beetle is covered with a pale 
pubescence. 
Length, 7-8 mm. 
[jifc-historg and habits . — The eggs are deposited in batches, varying in number from 
five to twenty-five, usually on the under-surface of the leaf. 
The larv® feed on the epidermis, at first clustered together, but later scattered over the 
plant. 
When full-fed they pupate attached to the leaf by their anal end. 
The life-cycle occupies about 28 days. 
This pest attacks the foliage of cucurbs in both its larval and adult stages. 
Preventions and remedies. — Hand-picking the leaves bearing the egg clusters or young 
larvie would probably prove the easiest way of keeping tliis pest in check. 
All refuse in which the beetles collect should be burned. 
The Melon Weevil 
Paridins, sp. 
The larva of this weevil was found infesting sweet melons growing on the Government 
Experimental Farm at Halfaya during March of this year. Since then it has been sent to 
the laboratories in sweet melons that had lieen bought in the Khartoum market. 
Larva . — A yellowish-white, transversely wrinkled, curved, footless grub with a chestnut- 
brown head. 
Length, about 9 mm. 
I'apa. — •Yellowish-white. 
Adult .— An active black weevil with a long pi-oboscis. The whole surface densely 
punctured. Elytra longitudinally striated. 
Length, 4-5-6-5 mm. 
Life-histori /. — The larvie were present in large numbers within the melons, feeding on 
both the pulp and seeds. When mature, they pupated in cells composed of powdered seed 
cemented with saliva and grouped together in clusters within the dried husk of the melon. 
The adults emerged in eleven to twelve day-s. 
