374 



In all counties where the weevil has caused an average decrease in 

 yield of more than 20 per cent, during the last five years, dusting is 

 likely to be needed regularly each year. 



Owing to the influence of meteorological conditions in controlling 

 the weevil it is not advisable to dust if the weather is sufficiently 

 hot and dry for a period of more than a month, especially during the 

 first part of the fruiting season. On the other hand, though frequent 

 rains may wash the poison from the plants, it is advisable to dust at 

 the usual 4 to 5 day intervals, in spite of threatening weather [of. 

 also R.A.E.. A, viii, 457]. 



Hinds (W. E.). The Mexican Bean Beetle. — Alabama Agric. Ex pi. 

 Sta.. Auburn. Bull. 216, March 1921, 10 pp., 1 fig., 4 plates. 



The Mexican bean beetle [Epilachna corrupta, Muls.] is now 

 an important pest in Alabama, having originated in Mexico. It 

 attacks all varieties of table beans, and also soy beans and cowpeas. 

 Eggs are laid in groups of about 50 on the lower sides of leaves and 

 hatch in five or six days. The larvae devour the lower surface of the 

 leaves and in the second week can completely destroy the crop. The 

 upper membrane of the leaf protects them against weather, birds, or 

 poison applications. Pupation takes place under a leaf, and lasts four 

 or five days. The adults can fly, and they also feed on the leaves. The 

 entire development takes three to four weeks. Winter is passed in the 

 adult stage, in any favourable shelter. In the semi-arid west there 

 are two generations a year, but in south-east Alabama there are four 

 and possibly more. 



The beetles have practically no natural enemies, being protected 

 by a repellent fluid against predators. 



Quarantine measures have been instituted by prohibiting the 

 export of certain specified articles from the infested area. 



The application of arsenical poison to the foliage is not recommended. 

 All bean areas should be thoroughly cleaned and ploughed early in 

 autumn or winter to bury all hibernating insects. Deeper ploughing 

 can be practised where the conditions admit of it. All rubbish and 

 uncultivated areas should be cleaned up or burnt over to destroy 

 favourable shelters. Where the beetles are present before 1st April, 

 peas and soy beans should be used for forage. Beans should only 

 be planted for an early crop, and all remnants of these early crops 

 should be destroyed and the ground replanted with crops other than 

 those furnishing food for this pest during the late autumn. 



Hinds (W. E.). Report of Entomologist. — 33rd Ann. Rept. Alabama 

 Agric. Expt. Sta., 1919-20, Auburn, January 1921, pp. 22-25. 



Investigations into the life-history of Epilachna corrupta, Muls. 

 (Mexican bean beetle) [R.A.E., A, ix, 33, 118] and the turnip 

 web- worm are in progress. 



The annual loss in maize, amounting to from ;(800,000 to £2,000,000 

 (at par), in Alabama due to the rice weevil [Calandra oryzae] and 

 other pests of stored grain may be greatly reduced by careful seed 

 selection and the adjustment of the time of planting, harvesting and 

 storing. In the field, trap-crops of early maturing maize have 

 proved successful provided that a variety is chosen that matures 



