VEGETABLE INSECTS. ' ;^ll 



size aud peculiar horn-like process at the end of the body. It is a 

 voracious eater, consuming enormous quantities of foliage. 



The adult moth is a large heavy-bodied insect, with a wing ex- 

 panse of about four inches. Its wings are a dull, dark, brownish- 

 gray, while the segments of the abdomen are strikingly marked with 

 yellow. 



The moths begin to fly at dusk, feeding on tlic nectar of the flow- 

 ers, and laying large greenish eggs singly on the foliage of the tomato 

 and other food plants. 



The eggs hatch in a few days into small, green caterpillars, that 

 feed and develop until when full grown tliey are three or four inches 

 long. They are green in color, with white stripes along the sides. 



Control. — Both eggs and larvae are rather heavily partisitized, so 

 the larvEe never become very numerous. They may usually be eon- 

 trolled by hand picking, but if too numerous for that ;ui application 



of arsenate of lead three pounds in fifty gallons 

 of water is very effective. 



TOMATO PliUSIA {Phisid VOfjal hmU) . 



This is another caterpillar that feeds on tlie 



foliage of the tomato. It is about an iucli and 



a quarter in length and is green in color, with 



Fig. 65. — Po tat o .^ fp^y longitudinal white stripes on the bodv. 

 Flea Beetle {Epi- . . " 



trix cuGumcris). If '« called a looper, from its peculiar method 



Adult beetle. (U. qj" locomotion, drawing the bodv ui) into a loop 

 S. Bureau of En- . ' 



toniology.) like a measuring woi'in each tiiiu; if moves tor- 



ward. 

 It develops rapitUv and when full gi'own spins a silken cocoon 

 in which if pupates. The adult moth is dark l)rowii in color with 

 two striking silvery spots in fhe middle of each front wing. 



Control. — 'i'he larva is very heavily parasitized by a small 

 hymenopteron, which keeps if so well under conti'ol fhaf if seldom 

 does serious damage. When numerous if may l)e confroUcMl by spray- 

 ing the plants with arsenate of lead three pounds in lil"t.\ gallons of 

 water. 



PLANT BUG {Plithia picta) . 



This large, dark-brown plant bug delights to sink its needle-like 

 beak into the fruit of the tomato and suck the juices. The l)right- 

 red, wingless young congregate in groups on the developing fruit and 

 distort it with their feeding punctures. 



