INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 



109 



the roots for the maggots, and washing them in a strong soki- 

 tion of soap, after which they are replanted and in two or three 

 weeks show no ill effects of the treatment. By careful watching 

 the eggs may be seen about the stalks of the young cabbage 

 plants, and if the soil about these plants be raked away so as 

 to expose the eggs to the sun they will dry up, thus preventing 

 the maggots from hatching. 



Covering young plants of cabbage and cauliflower in seed- 

 beds is also practiced with some success in Canada. 



The Bean Ladybird {Epilachna corrupta Muls.). — This species 

 is limited in its operation as regards the number of crop plants 



Fig. 64.— Bean ladybird, a. Larva: b, beetle: c, pupa; d, egg mass. All about three 

 times natural size. (Author's illustration, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



affected and the territory invaded. It is one of three native 

 ladybirds that live by choice on vegetables, the ©thers being 

 predaceous and subsisting largely on plant-lice and soft-bodied 

 larvae. It is nearly hemispherical, and its length is a little more 

 than a fourth of an inch. In color it is light yellowish brown, 

 and each wing-cover bears four black spots (fig. 64, &). 



Its distribution comprises Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, 

 western Kansas, and Mexico. 



The insect is described as being the worst enemy to the bean 

 crop in the West, its work being compared to that of the Col- 

 orado potato beetle. It devours all parts of a bean plant, leaves, 

 flowers, and green pods. The female deposits her yellowish- 

 browr eggs in large clusters (fig. 64, d), and the larvae feed 

 chiefly on the lower sides of the leaves. The full-grown larva 



