INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS OF CALIFORNIA. 



263 



Bordeaux mixture, arsenate of lead alone, 4 pounds to 50 gallons of 

 water, is recommended. If beetles are abundant, dip the plants in this 

 solution at the time of setting. 

 Plants should also be set out 

 in the spring as early as pos- 

 sible. Seedbeds may easily be 

 protected by covering them 

 with cheesecloth. 



THE WESTERN POTATO 

 FLEA-BEETLE Ir ' 5 

 Epiiria> subcrinita Leconte 16 " 



(Fig. 255) 



Description. — The beetles 

 are metallic, black or dark- 

 brown and about T V inch long. 

 Like other flea-beetles, they 

 jump quickly when disturbed. 

 The larvae are slender, white 

 with brown head and about | 

 inch long. The pupa? are 

 white and about as large as 

 the beetles. 



Life History. — According 

 to A. L. Lovett, 170 who has 

 published the life history, the adults hi 

 and April and begin feeding upon such 



Fig. 254 

 parvula. F 



inal ) 



Fig. 255. — The Western potato flea-beetle, 

 Epitrix subcrinita Lee. Adults and their work 

 on potato leaves. Enlarged twice. (Original) 



ing the latter part of the same month, 

 work upon the foliage and deposit eggs 



— The tobacco flea-beetle, Epitrix 

 ib. Adult, greatly enlarged. (Orig- 



bernate and appear in March 

 food plants as are growing at 

 that time. Cultivated crops 

 become quickly infested, 

 even before the young shoots 

 are through the ground. 171 

 The eggs are laid in the soil 

 about the bases of the plants 

 and hatch in June and July. 

 The larva 1 feed upon roots 

 and tubers underground, 

 while the adults feed usually 

 upon the under sides of the 

 leaves, though the upper 

 surface does not escape their 

 attacks. Pupa? of the first 

 generation occur in the 

 early part of July and the 

 beetles begin to emerge dur- 

 These immediately begin to 

 which give rise to the second 



108 A common flea-beetle attacking the potato in various parts of the State is Glyp- 

 tina cerina Lee. It greatly resembles the above species. 



1(ro WiIson, H. F. and Lovett, A. L., Bien. Crop Pest and Hort. Rept, Ore. Agrcl. Exp 

 Sta.. p. 163, 1911-1912. 



""Coll. Bui. No. 19, Ext. Ser. II, No. 4, Ore. Agrcl. Exp. Sta., L913. 



J7I Insect Life, IV, p. 135, 1892. 



