276 



[NJUBIOUS AND BENEPTCTAL [NSECTS < >F CALIFORNIA. 



Food Plants.— According to Dr. E. ( !. Van 

 mally feeds upon incense cedar and oilier coni- 

 fers. During the spring of 1014 Mr. 1). P. 

 Norton, county horticultural commissioner, 

 found it feeding upon the foliage of pear trees 

 in Nevada County. 



Control. — Only very rarely will control 

 measures be found necessary. Jarring the 

 beetles in sheets in the early morning or late 

 evening and destroying them, and the applica- 

 tion of poison sprays will serve to check spas- 

 modic infestations, especially upon young 



I S. 



Dyke, this species nor 



Fig. 267. — Colaspidea vari- 

 color Cr., a small green and 

 bronze beetle, sometimes at- 

 tacking the foliage of fruit 

 i ree's. Enlarged twice. < I >rig- 

 inal ) 



THE STRIPED DATURA BEETLE 



Latin nigrovittata Guerin 1 * 1 



(Fig. 268) 



Description. — The beetles are often confused with the Western 

 striped cucumber beetle. They are larger, being T \ inch long and con- 

 siderably darker in color. The elytra are dusky yellow with three 



longitudinal black stripes. The pro- 

 thorax is constricted at the middle 

 with a wide transverse black band 

 in the center, occupying nearly the 

 entire dorsum. The head, antenna?, 

 legs and body are black. The larva' 

 are yellowish or olive-green with a 

 few dark markings and are covered 

 with excrement. 



Life History. — The adults hiber- 

 nate and emerge to begin egg-laying 

 in the spring. The eggs are laid in 

 masses of from four to eight on the 

 undersides of the leaves. 192 The 

 larva' and adults feed upon the foli- 

 age. The former secrete a thick, 

 sticky liquid over the body, to which 

 excrement and other waste material 

 adhere. Pupation takes place in the 



Fig. 268. — The striped datura beetle, ornnnrl 

 Lema nigrovittata Guer. Adult, greatly & 1UU11LI « 



enlarged. < Original i Nature of Work.-The adults and 



larvae feed upon the leaves and flowers, eating holes in them or devour- 

 ing them entirely. 



Distribution. — This is a common beetle throughout the entire State, 

 but especially abundant in the central and southern parts. 



Food Plants. — The following food plants have been recorded as 

 hosts 102 : Tolguacha or jimpson weed (Datura meteloides) and other 



''"Prof. H. C. Fall considers this species identical with the Eastern form. Lema 

 trilineata Oliv., his conclusions being based upon personal investigations and those of 

 F. C. Bowditch. 



'"Blaisdell, F. E., Insecl Life, V, p. 35, L892. 



