INJURIOUS TO CUCUMBER, SQUASH AND MELON 133 



Control. 



Cantaloupes and cucumbers may be protected from the melon 

 worm by using summer squashes for a trap crop as recom- 

 mended for the pickle worm. x\s the young caterpillars feed 

 to a considerable extent on the foliage and on the surface of 

 the fruit, many of them may be killed by spraying with arsenate 

 of lead (paste), 3 pounds in 50 gallons of water. Usually the 

 arsenate of lead can be applied to the greatest advantage in 

 combination with bordeaux mixture as used for the control of 

 fungous diseases. As soon as the crop is harvested, the vines 

 and waste fruits should be gathered up and destroyed. Deep 

 plowing and a rotation of crops will also tend to hold the in- 

 sect in check. 



Reference 

 N. C. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 214, pp. 12G-143. 1911. 



The Squash Ladybird 



Epilachna horealis Fabricius 



Nearly all the ladybird beetles are beneficial to man, feed- 

 ing, both as larvse and adults, on plant-lice, scale-insects and 

 other small insects or on the eggs of larger ones. The squash 

 ladybird, however, is an exception to the rule ; both beetles 

 and larvae feed on the leaves of squash, pumpkin, cantaloupe, 

 watermelon and cucumber. The insect is a native of America 

 and ranges through the United States east of the Rockies and 

 southward to Argentina. Besides the plants just mentioned, 

 it feeds on the prickly cucumber or wild balsam apple and on 

 the one-seeded bur-cucumber. While capable of causing seri- 

 ous injury to cucurbits, the insect is rarely abundant enough 

 to become of economic importance. 



The squash ladybird hibernates in the adult condition in 

 sheltered places, often in large colonies. The beetles emerge 



