400 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 7 



On February 12, 1914, an adult male emerged in the laboratory 

 which is the same species as those taken on the barrens last summer, 

 thus establishing beyond a doubt the fact that at least in southeastern 

 Maine the maggot which breeds commonly in the blueberries is 

 Rhagoletis pomonella. 



INJURY TO TRUCK CROPS BY SPRING-TAILS i 



{Smynthurus sp.) 



By D. E. Fink, Entomological Assistant [Trihck Crop and Stored Product Insect 

 Investigations], Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agr. 



Recent Injury 



For the past year, 1913-14, instances of injury by spring-tails to 

 lettuce, spinach, and seedling cucumber came under the observation 

 of the writer in the vicinity of Norfolk, Virginia. During the spring 

 of 1913 a seedling bed of lettuce was found injured by a species of 

 spring-tail near Mason Creek, Va. Later, seedling cucumbers just 

 above ground were severely infested, the injury being so severe that 

 a replanting was necessary. During the fall of 1913 spinach was in- 

 fested with spring-tails but no injury was evident. Very late in 

 autumn, a large number of the spinach plants began to turn yellow from 

 the center outward. At this time the spring-tails were found in small 

 numbers at the base of the plants and not on the foliage. Whether 

 the spring-tails are concerned in the injury to spinach which is in this 

 vicinity known as "blight" is as yet mere conjecture. But the fact 

 that during the late fall and winter the spring-tails confine their at- 

 tacks on the spinach to the petioles of the leaves would cause the 

 latter to turn yellow and later give the observer the impression that 

 it is due to "blight," as the leaves show no form of injury by insects. 



On April 30 and May 1, 1914, seedling cucumbers were again found 

 severely infested by spring-tails. These little pests have increased 

 enormously since the past year and the cotyledons of cucumbers have 

 in many instances been completely devoured as they appeared above 

 ground. On May 2, 1914, a field of potatoes in Kempsville, Va., bear- 

 ing vines only two inches above ground was found severely infested 

 with spring-tails. They were found feeding on both the upper and 

 lower surfaces of the leaves, as well as on the margins where the Colo- 

 rado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa 10-lineata Say.) had been feeding. As 

 many as 40 to 60 spring-tails were counted on a leaf, and several hun- 

 dred to a plant. Although the spring-tails are easily disturbed, the 



^Published by permission of the Secretary of Agriculture. 



