BLISTER-BEETLES 



309 



the foliage of beans, beets, alfalfa, vetch, oats and barley. 

 The beetles appear at irregular intervals, some years being 

 very rare. In the northern part of their range, they may be 

 expected from the middle of June to the last of July and some- 

 times continue until fall. 



The Spotted Blister-Beetle 



Epicauta maculata Say 



The spotted blister-beetle (Fig. 190) is ^ inch or less in 

 length, light gray in color with the wing-covers marked with 

 numerous small round black spots where 

 the pubescence is lacking. This blister- 

 beetle ranges from western Canada 

 southward through Montana, South 

 Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska and Okla- 

 homa to New Mexico and westward to 

 Washington, Oregon and California east 

 of the Cascade Mountains. The beetles 

 attack potato, bean, beet, cabbage, 

 spinach, alfalfa and clover. They have 

 also been recorded as feeding on lamb's 

 quarters and grease-wood. In British 

 Columbia the beetles are abundant from 

 the middle of IMay till the middle of 

 August. The early stages have not been described. 



Fig. 190. — The spotted 

 blister-beetle (X 3). 



The Two-Spotted Blister-Beetle 



Macrobasis albida Say 



This beetle (Fig. 191) is nearly an inch in length, uniform light 

 gray, with two elongate black spots on the prothorax. The 

 basal part of the antennae is yellowish or reddish. This species 

 ranges from Kansas to Texas and westward to Arizona. It 



