i6o 



INSECTS INIUKIUUS TO VEGETABLES 



The Squash Ladybird (Epilachna borculis Fab.). — The 

 leaves of squash, pumpkin and the other cucurbits are often 

 found showing numerous wihed and eroded circular or semi- 

 circular spaces. The source is not far to seek, and can readily 

 be traced to the squash ladybird and its larva. This insect is 

 of the characteristic hemispherical ladybird form. It is ochra- 

 ceous in color, marked with rounded black spots, as shown in 

 figure io6, c. This is one of our largest ladybirds, measuring 

 about one-third of an inch. The larva is yellow and covered 



a i <^ 



Fig. 106.— Squash ladybird, a. Larva: b, pupa; c, beetle; rf, egg; e. surface of same. 

 a, b, c. Three times natural size; d, four times; e, highly magnified. (Author's illus- 

 tration, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



with spines arranged in six rows except on the first thoracic 

 segment, where there are four (a). 



This is an indigene, ranging from South America to Maine 

 and Canada. It is essentially an eastern form, occurring 

 abundantly along the Atlantic seaboard. 



The singular habit of the larva and beetle of feeding within 

 a circumscribed space, as previously noted, is evidently char- 

 acteristic of this genus of ladybirds. It first marks out a 

 circle, or if it is feeding on the edge of a leaf a more or less 

 complete semicircle, thus enclosing a portion within which it 

 feeds. The larva lives on the lower and the beetles on the 

 upper surface, but the latter may often be found on the under 



