CHAP. XVI.J BEETLE PESTS OF CROPS. 



good it accomplishes by so doing at this stage must be offset 

 against any damage it may do later on as an adult, and the question 

 we have to answer is whether the damage that would have been 

 done by the grasshoppers is greater than that done by the beetle 



which has destroyed them. And for the present this must remain 

 an open question and we can give the blister beetles the bei 

 the doubt. 



The vast anm oi leaf-feeding beetles cannot b< 

 here in any detail and the ordinary methods for control of biting 

 crop-pests are applicable to them as a whole. Catching them in 

 hand-nets or by shaking the plants over trays or cloths is generally 

 more practicable on a large scale than spraying with 31 

 poisons. As a rule it is onlj the perfeel insects which do damage 

 to crops, but to this there are a tew exceptions. The Epilachna 

 beetles, which look much like lady-birds but have a curious bloom 

 on the wing-eases, lay their eggs in batches on solanaceous and 

 cucurbitaceous plants on whose leaves the larva.' teed and may do 

 considerable damage'; as the plants attacked are usually those 

 grown in gardens, spraying with a stomach-poison is practicable. 

 The Hispince (Leptispa pygmcea, Phidodonta modesta, and Hispa 

 armigera), small elongated shining blue or black beetles, the two 

 latter thickly covered with long branching spines, have larvae 

 which are leal-miners in grasses, the first ami third of those named 

 above attacking paddy and the second being a minor p 

 sugarcane. As the larvaj mine inside the leaves they cannot be 

 reached by a spray, which in any case would be out of the question 

 in the case of crops such as sugarcane or paddy. The only remedy 

 which can be suggested at present is the catching of the adult 

 beetles in hand-nets and the burning of all stubble immediately 

 after harvest. 



The Tortoise Beetles (e.g., Aspidomorpha miliaris) are leal-feeders 

 in their early stages and their larvae are easily recognizable by 

 their extraordinary habit of curving their long forked tails over 

 their bodies and depositing on them a covering composed < 

 larval skins and excrement. One species is commonly found on 

 ber (Zizyphus jujuba) but those of economic importance 

 minor pests of sweet potato. Remedial measures are not required 

 as a rule but, as this crop is usually grown in small areas only, the 

 plants may be sprayed with a stomach-poison and gone over with 

 a hand-net or bag-net to collect the adult bei 



The habits of the various Weevils which an' pi 

 very varied but all may be recognized by the long curved snout of 

 the adult beetle. The larvae are ^hort. fat, white, legless grubs 

 with very small heads, and they are as a rule borers ii 



