212 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Fig. 5.— Turnip Aphis— enlarged. 



The Turnip Aphis {Aphis hrassicœ, L.). — Of late years serious in- 

 jury has been done to crops of turnips and other members of the cab- 

 bage family by the European enemy of these plants, \rhich in this 



country is now very generally 



\ 



■A 



known as the Turnip Aphis. 

 Although occurring injurious- 

 ly for many ycar.s, the tirst 

 published reference seems to 

 have been in 1885 (Rep. Hon. 

 Ent. Dept. Agric. Can., 1885). 

 The smooth-leaved varieties of 

 turnips suiïer most, and, as a 

 rule, little is done by turnip 

 growers to check its ravages, 

 which are frequently considerable. Much, however, can be done by those 

 who will consider the habits of the species. Generally, these plant-lice 

 make their appearance in the fields in small and widely separated colonies, 

 just about the time when turnips are being thinned out. Good results may 

 therefore be obtained if the men when thinning will be on the lookout 

 for these incipient colonies and destroy them by simply hoeing out the 

 infested plants and, ha\àng pulled some earth over them with the hoc, 

 then press it down firmly with the foot. When the plant-lice are too 

 numerous for this simple treatment, the turnips should be promptly 

 s]:)rayed with a knapsack sprayer, using as an insecticide a one to nine 

 dilution of the ordinary kerosene emulsion, or a wash of the so-called 

 whale-oil soap, one pound in six gallons of water. 



The Eed Turnip Beetle {E ntomoscelis adonidis, Fab.). — In 1885 

 (Rep. Exp, Farms, 1887, p. 14), a red and black chrysomelid beetle was 

 found at Regina and other places in the Northwest Territories, eating 

 the leaves of turnips. It is now known to be an occasional pest upon 

 turnips, cabbages and almost all crucifers from Manitoba to British 

 Columbia, but is rare towards the eastern and western limits of its 

 range. A full account of the 

 life history is given in the Re- 

 port of the Experimental Farms 

 for 1892, page 152. 



Tlie Spinach Carrion Beetle 

 (Silpha bituherosa, Lee). — In 

 the 1893 Report of the Experi- 

 mental Farms, page 174, men- 

 tion was made of injuries to 

 certain garden crops at Cal- 

 gary by the larvœ of this 



Fig. 6.— The Beet Carrion Beetle. 



