INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CUCUMBER, MELON, ETC. I73 



quantities of soft excrement and when several larvec have bored 

 into a fruit it becomes a most disgusting object, quite different 

 from the beautiful moths as they flit about the garden. The 

 length of the life cycle in the South in midsummer is between 

 24 and 27 days and three generations seem to have been 

 definitely recognized there. When the larvae have finished 

 feeding they crawl out from the infested fruit and transform to 

 pupx within the fold of a leaf or under any sort of debris on 

 the ground. 



Methods of Control. — The methods that have been ad- 

 vised as most valuable against the striped cucumber beetle and 

 other species, more particularly clean farming, fall plowing 

 and rotation of crops, are useful, but the pickle worm has 

 never been successfully combated. The writer suggests the 

 combined use of arsenate of lead and Paris green, spraying with 

 the former, at the rate of one pound to from 15 to 25 gallons 

 of water, beginning at about the time that the buds commence 

 to form, and making a second application a week or two later, 

 according to how well the arsenate remains on the foliage. A 

 third spraying may be made if necessary, following with a final 

 :pray of Paris green (i pound to 130 gallons water) within 

 about a week of the time of the ripening of the frviit. As the 

 arsenate is very adhesive, its use is not advised for the final 

 spraying. The Paris green which is substituted at this stage 

 is perfectly harmless, as it readily washes off if, indeed, any 

 will remain by the time the fruit is placed on sale. This 

 treatment is designed to kill the "worms" before they enter the 

 fruit, since they cannot be reached after they have obtained 

 entrance. The "worms" are poisoned while feeding on the 

 buds, leaves and other parts, as well as on the rind of the 

 fruit. 



The Melon Caterpillar (Diaphania hyalinata Linn.). — This 

 species and the preceding resemble each other in many partic- 

 ulars and are especially alike in their larval stages, but there 



