84 



MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN IN. SECTS 



The Gray Hair-Streak 



Uranotes melinus Hiibner 



One of the minor pests of the bean and pea is the shig-like 

 caterpillar of a small, dainty butterfly, the gray hair-streak. 

 It occurs throughout the United States, Central America, 

 northern South America and the West Indies and is found 

 rarely in southern Canada. It has been reported as injurious 

 to beans or peas in New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and 

 Colorado. In the South the caterpillars sometimes bore into 



cotton squares and okra pods 

 and in the North they have 

 been reported as feeding on 

 the heads of the hop. Among 

 wild plants, they feed on the 

 following : Crataegus, St. John's- 

 wort, hound's tongue, bush clover, 

 loco-weed, tick trefoil, and Japan 

 plum. 



The butterfly has an expanse 

 of Ix inches. The upper surface 

 of the wings is blackish tinted with blue-gray. The hind 

 wings have near the hind angle a row of bluish spots, in the 

 center of which is a large orange spot surrounding a small 

 black one. On the outer margin there are in the male one, and 

 in the female two, small tail-like processes. The under surface 

 is gray with two blackish brown lines crossing each wing 

 (Fig. 59). The butterflies are on the wing from May to 

 September in the North and March to November in the 

 South. The eggs are small and pea-green in color. Where 

 they are deposited and the time of incubation have not been 

 determined. The caterpillars bore into the pods of peas and 

 beans and destroy the developing seeds. The full-grown 

 caterpillar is green, about ^ inch in length, and slug-like in 



Fig. 59. — The gray hair-streak 

 butterfly (X If). 



