1»03 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIE TY. 



b7 



Asparag-us Beetle, larva and can 



SO generally grown, that this insect will soon spread 

 much furiher through the province. The remedies 

 for the two kinds of Asparagus Beetles are the same 

 and consist of (1) Dusting the plants at short intervals 

 with fresh air-slaked hme at the time the elimy slug- 

 like larvas are found 'upon them. This is best done 

 early in the morning when the plants are covered with 

 dew. (2) Poisoning with Paris green. This useful in- 

 secticide, diluted with flour or lime and applied dry in 

 the same way as these powders are used for the Col- 

 orado Potato Beetle, answers well. Thematerial not 



only kills the larv.ie by coming in contact with their bodies, but destroys both the larva3 and the 



perfect beetles when they eat the poisoned foliage. (3) Beating the beetles and larv;e from the 



asparagus plants into beating nets or open pans containing water with a little coal oil on th« 



surface, is an effective remedy. A good pattern for 



an easily made net, which can be held beneath the 



plants with one hand wh'le the insects are beaten 



down on to it by striking the plant with a light 



rod, has a stick on each side and a flat sheet of 



cotton between, three feet wide at the top and one 



foot at the bottom. Two cross bars close together 



at the base allow of this net being easily held by 



taking the upper bar in the left hand so that the 



lower bar rests against the back of the wrist. 



Figure 26 appeared in the " Canadian Entomolo- 

 gist " many years ago and shows a most convenient 



beating net which I have used a great deal. The 



viscid larvae are easily brushed from the plant 



with a stick, and it is claimed that, if this is done 



in the middle of a hot day, few of them will get 



back again on to thej)lants, as a very short time in the hot sun proves fatal to them. Chickens 



and ducks will eat these insects with avidity, and if the plants are beaten, they will soon learn 



to pick them up as they fall. 



The Striped Cucumber Beetle (Diabrutira nttata. Fab.), Fig. 27, has, as usual, done some 



harm to squashes of all kinds, cucumbers and melon plants. As soon as the young plants appear 

 above the ground, they are attacked by the beetles which have wintered over in the 

 adult state. A perfect remedy for these troublesome insects is still wanted. When 

 they do not appear in very large numbers, there are many partial remedies which are 

 worthy of trial. Among these, the sifting of dry ashes or land plaster and Paris 

 green (1 to 50) over the vines, is the best application and must! be applied early in 



the season as s )on as the insects appe ir. H irdwood ashes alone are useful, but the additional 



poison does far better work. A remedy which is largely adopted by the large cucumber and 



melon growers of the United States, consists of covering the vines with a piece of gauze 



cheese cloth, large enough to cover the hill easily, and supported by two or three sticks stucl 



into the ground, the edges of the cloth to be held down by putting a little eai'th on them. Bj 



the time that the plants are large enough to require the removal of the cloth, the first brood of 



the beetles will be passing away. 



The Cabbage Aphis (Aphi^ bros'sicif, L.) was only referred to occasionally in Ontari© 



correspondence ; however, the insect was the cause of considerable loss both in British Columbia 

 nd Prince Edward Island upon cabbages and turnips. When cabbages in gardens are attacked. 



Fisr. ^7 



