278 



INJURIOUS AND BKNEFH'IAI, INSECTS < >F CALIFORNIA. 



Life History. — The adults are abundant late in the summer in 

 August and September, when they often do considerable damage. 

 These are evidenly of the second brood, some of 

 which hibernate and lay eggs in the spring. The 

 first spring brood does not appear to cause much 

 damage. 



Nature of Work.— The larva- and adults eat holes 

 X in the foliage of the older plants and completely 

 destroy the young ones. 



Distribution. — The insect is probably distributed 

 throughout the entire State. 1 " 3 



Food Plants. — Garden and sugar beets are the only 

 recorded hosts, 11 ' 4 but undoubtedly other crops are also 

 attacked. 



Control. — Control measures are the same as for the 

 sugar-beet leaf-beetle, Monoxia puncticollis Say. 



Kif?. 270. — The 

 Western beet leaf- 

 beetle, Monoxia 

 consputa Lee. 

 Adult, greatly en- 

 larged. (After 

 Chittenden, U. S. 

 Dept. Agric.) 



THE SUGAR-BEET LEAF-BEETLE 11 ' 

 Monoxia puncticollis Say 



( Fig. 



1 ) 



Description. — The color and markings of the adults are variable, but 

 the dorsum is usually dull yellowish-brown with two dark longitudinal 

 stripes on each wing cover. These stripes may be entirely wanting 

 in some, there appearing but a narrow yellowish line around the edges 



Vig. 271. — The sugar-beet leaf-beetle, Monoxia puncticollis Say. 

 a, adult; b, eggs; c and d, larvae. All greatly enlarged. (After 

 Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agric.) 



of the wing covers. The color beneath is brown. There are a number 

 of color phases in the adult stage. The length varies from ^ to ; ' { inch. 

 The eggs are broadly oval with surface minutely sculptured, at first 

 light orange-colored turning to brown or dull grayish with age, about 

 0.082 inch long and 0.024 inch wide. The larvae are dark olive-brown 



""Chittenden, P. H., Bui. No. 43, Bur. Ent. U. S. Dept. Agric., pp. 11-12, 1903. 



\V,„,(lworth, C. W., Cal. Insects, p. 223, 1913. 

 '"Chittenden, F. H., Bui. No. 43. Bur. Ent. U. S. Dept. Agric, p. 11, 1903. 

 '"Chittenden, F. H., Bui. No. 43, Bur. Ent. U. S. Dept. Agric, pp. 9-11, 1903. 



