190 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 6 



possible that this ubiquitous insect has after all so delicate a constitu- 

 tion that it is unable to exist in a place which has somewhat of a repu- 

 tation as a human health resort? 



The squash capsid {Pycnoderes quadrimaculaius Guen.) is an insect 

 which as a pest appears peculiar to the Salt River Valley of Arizona. 

 Late squashes, cassaba melons and beans are subject to serious dam- 

 age by this pest which promises to be a difficult one to control. The 

 common squash bug {Anasa tristis), as might be expected from its 

 history in other sections of the country appears to thrive in this state 

 at all elevations, where squashes are grown. It has been recorded at 

 elevations of 1,100 and 5,300 feet near Phoenix and Prescott, respec- 

 tively. 



The western leaf -footed plant bug (Leptoglossus zonatus) prevents the 

 development of pomegranate growing upon a commercial basis in the 

 Salt River XaJley. The improved varieties of this excellent fruit can 

 find good markets when uninjured fruit can be obtained for shipment. 

 The same plant bug sometimes attacks oranges in destructive num- 

 bers and in the Blue River Canj^on of eastern Arizona, has been ob- 

 served attacking ripening peaches. The growth of Egyptian cotton in 

 the Yuma and Salt River Valleys promises to becomxC one of the most 

 profitable industries of the state, and it remains to be determined 

 whether this pest will attack the green bolls of this variety as I have 

 observed it to do in the case of upland cotton in the Laguna district 

 of Mexico.^ 



Various species of aphids, particularly the melon louse (Aphis gos- 

 sypii), the cabbage louse (Aphis brassicce) and the woolly apple aphis 

 (Schizoneura lanigera) are common and troublesome in Arizona. 



The grape phylloxera (P. vastatrix) was discovered infesting the 

 leaves of a species of a wild grape near Prescott, Arizona, in 1911. In 

 August, 1912, in the same locality, three cultivated vines in a vine- 

 yard two or three acres in extent, were found to be infested. The 

 indications are that the insect is a native of the section of the state 

 where discovered. Professor Quaintance of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, who referred specimens to Mr. Pergande for determina- 

 tion, informs me that this is his first record of the occurrence of the 

 grape phylloxera in Arizona. So far as observed the insects were con- 

 fined to the leaves. Mr. R. L. Nougaret of the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture engaged in investigating the grape phylloxera in Cali- 

 fornia under the direction of Mr. Quaintance writes that he has never 

 observed the leaf infesting form in that state. In tlie upper Gila Val- 

 ley, Arizona, at elevation from 2,.500 to 3,000 feet and in the Salt River 



1 Bui. 54, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



