510 



this fungus attacks and kills otherwise healthy individuals ; injury- 

 may be confined to spent females or to weakened forms of both sexes. 

 The method of sowing small patches of millet, Hungarian grass, etc., 

 in early spring, has been successfully tested by the author, and has 

 served to keep the bugs from the main crop. The attacks of the short- 

 winged form on timothy meadows can be fairly efficiently controlled 

 by crop rotation. The coal-tar method of control has given very good 

 results, especially when post-holes are dug along the line at distances 

 of 10-20 feet. The bugs collecting in the holes can be easily 

 destroyed by the use of kerosene. A modification of this method is 

 the formation of a double furrow separated by a ridge ; the top of 

 the latter is rendered smooth and on it is placed a line of coal-tar or 

 crude petroleum. Holes are dug, as before, at close intervals. Furrows 

 without petroleum or coal-tar may be used in localities where irrigation 

 is practised. [For other methods of control see this Revieiv, Ser. A, ii, 

 pp. 226-228.] 



Chittenden (F. H.). The Squash-Vine Borer. — TJ.S. Dept. Agric, 

 Washington, D.C., Farmers' Bull. no. 668, 26th May 1915, 6 pp., 



2 figs. 



The larva of the squash- vine borer {Melittia safyriniformis, Hb.), 

 causes serious damage to pumpkins and other Cucurbitaceous plants 

 by boring through the stems, causing them to rot at the affected points 

 and become severed from the vine, or so injuring the vine as to cause 

 the leaves to wither and the plant to die. So far as is known, the 

 borer is a native of the Western Hemisphere. In the United States 

 it has been recorded from the New England States, Georgia, Alabama, 

 Louisiana, etc. It is evidently of tropical origin, and occurs in Mexico, 

 where it is widely distributed, and in Panama, Venezuela, Argentina 

 and the lower Amazon. The larvae bore through the stems of the 

 host plant from the roots to the base of the leaf-stalks ; young larvae 

 have also been found in the larger leaf veins, when the eggs have been 

 deposited in such locations, and they also attack the fruit. 

 The moth appears in May or June, when the plants are suffi.- 

 ciently advanced for oviposition. Eggs are laid on all parts of 

 the plants : the larvae hatch out in 6-15 days, attaining their 

 maximum growth in 3-4 weeks. When mature, they enter the 

 soil to pupate. Probably two generations are produced annually. 

 The borer is very difficult to control, as insecticides are of no 

 value after the insect has entered the stems. Since the insect 

 passes the winter in the soil, pumpkins should not be grown in the same 

 field in successive years. Good results have been obtained by planting 

 a few early varieties between the rows of the main late crop. The 

 early varieties attract the insects in large numbers. Harrowing the 

 surface of infested fields in autumn exposes the cocoons to the cold, 

 while ploughing in spring to a depth of at least 6 inches prevents the 

 escape of the adults. The growth of secondary roots should be 

 encouraged by covering the stems with earth. Cutting out the borers 

 after they have entered the stem is useful and capture of the moths 

 before oviposition is advisable. 



