INSECTS ATTACKING VEGETABLES IN PORTO RICO. 



By E. T. Cotton, Former Entomologist, Insular Experiment Station. 



The growing of vegetable crops in Porto Rico is attended by a 

 great many difficulties, not the least of which is that due to the rav- 

 ages of insects. 



Vegetable crops are peculiarly susceptible to insect attacks, more 

 so than the majority of. other crops, and it has been estimated that 

 a loss of no less than 20 per cent of the total value of the crop is 

 caused by their ravages. 



In order to successfully fight these pests and so reduce this los,\ 

 it is necessary to know something of the nature of these insects, 

 their intimate life histories, and their methods of attack. It is with 

 the object of presenting the more important facts about these in- 

 sects, together with the best known methods of combating them, that 

 this article has been prepared. 



Much of the material for this paper has been taken from the 

 experiments and notes of this station, and is here i^resented for the 

 first time, although information has been freely taken from the various 

 standard works on insects injurious to vegetables, and from publi- 

 cations of various Experiment Stations and of the United States 

 Bureau of Entomology. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



Many thanks are due to Dr. L. 0. Howard for his kindness in 

 permitting the use of many of the illustrations that appear in this 

 text, and which originally appeared in publications of the U. S. 

 Bureau of Entomology. We are also indebted to him for the determi- 

 nations of many of the insects discussed in tlie following pages. 

 Credit is due to Mr. Eugene G. Smyth for many of the photographs 

 from wliich illustrations have been made. 



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