106 



THE REPORT OF THE 



No. 19 



and should be met with preventive remedies. In some cases the only thing 

 to do is to cut out the infested part if this is possible, or destroy the whole 

 plant so as to reduce the numbers of the insect. 



It must be remembered, however, that all insects which occur in gardens 

 are not injurious kinds. There are beneficial ones as well, which are continu- 

 ally doing good by destroying those species which do harm. These beneficial 

 kinds should all be known to the gardener. Foremost amongst them are the 

 different kinds of ladybird beetles (Fig. 35), which, both in their larval and 

 adult stages feed almost exclusively upon plant-lice and scale insects. 



"ti 



Ladv-bird beetles. 



b 



Fig. 36. Lace-wing fly ; eggs much magni- 

 fied ; the fly, showing one pair of wings only ; the 

 eggs on their stalks ; the larva. 



Another kind of beetle, the Fiery Ground beetle, Calosoma calidum, Fab., 

 is a particularly useful insect. This beetle, and its voracious black- grub, 

 which is called the Cut\vorm Lion, destroy enormous numbers of cutworms. 

 TEe beetle shown in the figure is brownish black, with the wing cases spotted 

 with coppery red in nearly all the eastern specimens. The appearance and 

 habits of this good friend should be known to everyone. (Fig. 37.) 



Other well-known beneficial insects belong to the parasitic Hymenoptera, 

 four-winged flies, and to the Diptera, or two-winged flies. The females of 

 these large groups of flies deposit their eggs upon or in the bodies of cut- 

 worms and other injurious caterpillars. These eggs soon hatch and the young 

 larvae at once begin to feed upon the living caterpillar, which of course soon 

 dies. The different kinds of Lace-wing flies (Chrysopa species) (Fig. 36) are 

 also good friends of the gardener, their larvae working particularly among 

 the plant lice. 



Fig. 37. The Fiery Ground- 

 beetle and its larva, the Cut- 

 worm Lion. 



Fig. 38. Agrotis ypsilon 

 cut worm and moth. 



INSECT PESTS OF IMPORTANCE. 



Cutworms. These destructive insects are very troublesome in flower 

 gardens, and when they are at all abundant no plants seem to be exempt from 

 their attacks. The moths of some of the species lay their eggs in fall, others 

 in spring, and some species pass the winter either as a pupa or a half-grown 



