350 MANUAL OF VEGET ABLE-GARDEN INSECTS 



This species is an exception to the general rule and is most 

 destructive on light sandy soil in the higher parts of fields. 

 The beetle is ^ to ^ inch in length and broAvnish red in color. 

 The larva is very slender, soft and has the body aj^parently 

 composed of twenty-six segments. 



Control. 



Wireworm injury to vegetable crops can be prevented in 

 large measure by practicing a short rotation of crops in which 

 the land is not left in grass for more than two, or at most, three 

 years. Peas and buckwheat are relatively immune to wire- 

 worm attack and may sometimes be used to advantage between 

 sod and corn or other susceptible crops. Deep and thorough 

 cultivation of the soil in late July and August will break open 

 the i)upal cells and destroy the pupae and recently transformed 

 adults, thus reducing the number of beetles the following 

 spring. Late fall-plowing is of little value in destroying 

 wireworms. 



In the garden poisoned baits are sometimes used for killing 

 the wireworms as well as the beetles. Small bunches of clover 

 or other succulent plants are dipped into paris green water 

 and then placed in the field covered with earth or pieces of 

 boards. Sweetened corn-meal dough poisoned with paris green 

 or other arsenical may be used instead of the clover. These 

 baits should be distributed after the ground has been fitted but 

 before the crop is planted and should be kept fresh by frequent 

 renewals. 



Grasshoppers 



Nearly all vegetable crops are subject to injury by various 

 species of grasshoppers when grown in localities where these 

 insects are abundant. Grasshoppers are most likely t ) be 

 destructive in regions where the soil is sandy and where there 

 are large areas of waste land, because it is in such situations 



