214 



pupation in the soil takes place. The moths emerge after a pupal 

 period of 13-21 days, and oviposition begins 4 or 5 days later. 



Alternative food-plants of this insect are deer grass {Rhexia virginica), 

 geranium and wild Solanaceous plants, especially the ground cherry 

 {Physalis viscosa) and Solanum sieglinge. 



Natural enemies that control the pest to some extent are certain 

 wasps that destroy the larger larvae, and Toxoneuron sp., a small 

 wasp-like insect which oviposits in the bodies of the larvae. 



Artificial control takes the form of applications of an insecticide 

 in the bud. Experiment has shown that the most efficient combi- 

 nation consists of 1 lb. lead arsenate to 75 lb. maize meal as a carrier. 

 Two applications a week are necessary to protect the buds completely, 

 as the poison is scattered by the rapidly developing leaves. The 

 first 2 or 3 applications are made by the stick and cup method, the 

 poison being sifted upon each plant from- a perforated quart cup 

 fixed to the end of a stick. As the plants increase in size, the buds 

 are more tightly folded and the poison has then to be applied by 

 opening the leaves with one hand and dropping a small portion of 

 the poison mixture into the bud with the other. 



Antimony sulphide and Paris green are also efficient poisons, which 

 however are not adopted in general practice, the former on account 

 of its expense, and the latter because of the severe scorching it causes 

 when it is used at a strength necessary for budworm control. Maize 

 meal is used as the carrier in preference to gypsum or fuller's earth, 

 as poisons mixed with it are more readily fed upon by the larvae, 

 and also because it has no tendency to cake after showers and thus 

 interfere with the development of the immature leaves. 



Clean cultivation is also of the utmost importance, this consisting 

 in the burning of suckers removed from the plants, the cutting down 

 and burning of the plants as soon as the marketable leaves have been 

 harvested, and the destruction of other plants within and around the 

 seed-beds. These latter should always be covered and walled in 

 with cheese-cloth. 



cGregor (E. a.). The Red Spider on Cotton and how to Control it. 



— ?7. S. Dept. Agric, Washington, D.C., Farmers' Bull. no. 831, 

 August 1917, 15 pp., 12 figs. [Received 1st March 1918.] 



A notice of the matter in this bulletin, which is a revision of an 

 earher one, has already appeared [see this Review, Ser. A, iv, p. 511]. 



Chittenden (F. H.). The Asparagus Beetles and their Control. — U.S. 

 Dept. Agric, Washington, D.C., Farmers' Bull. no. 837, August 

 1917, 13 pp., 8 figs. [Received 7th March 1918.] 



Crioceris aspantgi, L. (common asparagus beetle), a species intro- 

 duced from the Old World, is an important pest of asparagus, the 

 tender shoots of which are destroyed by the larvae, while older plants 

 and seedlings are defoliated by the adults. The beetle hibernates in 

 the adult stage under convenient shelter, oviposition taking place at 

 the end of April or in May. The eggs hatch in 3-8 days and 

 the complete life-cycle occupies from 4 to nearly 7 weeks, according to 

 climate. 



