334 MANUAL OF VEGETABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



injury to the young plants may be avoided by dipping them 

 before transplanting in arsenate of lead (paste), 1 pound in 

 10 gallons of water. Dipping is much more effective than 

 spraying the plants because both sides of the leaves are covered 

 with the poison. Flea-beetle injury may also be avoided, in 

 large measure, by late planting. 



Reference 

 N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta. Kept, for 1908, pp. 343-348. 



The Desert Corn Flea-Beetle 



Chcctocncma ectypa Horn 



In the semi-arid regions of the Southwest, beans are some- 

 times seriously injured by this small, shining black flea-beetle, 

 a little less than rs" inch in length. Its food plants are grasses, 

 grains and corn but it occasionally attacks cantaloupes and 

 sugar-beets. The beetles appear in the field about the middle 

 of February and begin egg-laying in about a month. The 

 minute, bean-shaped, whitish eggs, about ^ inch in length, are 

 deposited at or near the surface of the ground on or near the 

 food plant. The eggs hatch in three to fifteen days with an 

 average of five or six. The larv&e feed on the roots, often caus- 

 ing considerable damage to the roots of alfalfa, barley, oats, 

 wheat and corn. They become full-grown in a little over three 

 weeks. The mature larva is whitish, elongate, slender, and 

 from y to -g- inch in length. When mature, the larva constructs 

 an oblong, earthen cell within which it transforms to a shorter 

 thickened form known as the prepupa and a few days later to 

 a delicate, soft, whitish pupa. The pupal period varies from 

 three to twelve days with an average of about six. There are 

 three generations annually and in some years a partial fourth 

 may develop. The beetles go into hibernation in November 

 under rubbish and clumps of grass in waste places. 



