4:6 



REPORT OF 



No. 14 



as soon as they appear above ground in the spring. Like many other hiber- 

 nating insects, they take shelter under rubbish, and thus afford another 

 argument for clearing up and burning all garden refuse in the autumn. 



The Parsnip Borer (Depressaria kcracUana, De Geer) is an old enemy, 

 though not a very common one, of the second years' growth of parsnips, 

 both cultivated and wild. This year it proved injurious to some plants in 

 the College garden. The full-grown caterpillar is about three-quarters of 

 an inch in length, of a dirty green colour above and yellowish on the sides 

 and beneath, with a number of shining black warts on nearly all the seg- 

 ments. The young larvse first attack the large umbels of flowers, covering 

 them with a web, whi-ch is rendered very unsightly with masses of excre- 

 ment. When the flowers have been all devoured, they burrow into the 

 hollow stems, usually entering at the axils of the leaves and there feed upon 

 the soft, white lining. If, however, there should be young parsnip plants 

 near by, some of the larvae are apt to attack them and eat up the tender 

 foliage. By the middle of July they begin to turn into the chrysalis state 

 and the small moths appear in August after a fortnight spent as pupae. 

 This year the first moths in captivity came out on August 15th, but we have 

 sometimes had them as early as the 1st of the month. The moths are dull 

 gray, varied with black scales and blotches, and have a flattened abdomen 

 with projecting scales at the sides. They have a habit, like some others of 

 the genus, of coming into houses and secreting themselves behind curtains 

 and, in garments, and are consequently mistaken for clothes moths. A full 

 description of the insect in all its stages is given in the Canadian Entomo- 

 logist, vol II., pp. 1-4, 1870. The only remedy for the attack seems to be 

 the cutting off and burning all the infested flowers and stems. 



Among the familiar insects against which the gardener has to contend 

 every year, may be mentioned the Zebra Caterpillar {Mamestra picta), which 

 was found devouring the foliage of beets, in addition to its usual attacks 

 upon cabbage, turnips and other plants. 



Pig. 10.— The Spotted Cu 

 cumber Beetle. 



Fig. 9. — The Striped Cucumber Beetle : a beetle, 

 b larva, c pupa. Enlarged 8 times. (After 

 Chittenden, U.S. Dept. Agric. ) 



The Striped Cucumber-beetle (Diabrotica vittata) — fig. 9 — and the 

 spotted species (D. 12-punctata) — fig. 10 — were both abundant during the 

 later part of the summer in the blossoms of pumpkins and squashes; this 

 was the second brood, the adults of which pass the winter as beetles, and 

 are ready to attack young plants of the cucurbitaceous family as soon as 

 they appear above ground in the spring. The second brood, though num- 

 eroils, does no appreciable damage in the summer and autumn, as the plants 

 are ihen so large and vigorous that the attack is unnoticed. 



