16 MISCELLAISTEOUS RESULTS OV WORK OF BUREAU ix. 



At Dallas the cotton patch of the boll-weevil laboratory furnished 

 ample evidence of the capacity of these crustaceans in devouring 

 vegetation (see PI. II). By April 14 the cotton was sending up the 

 second, and in some cases the third, pair of leaves. At this time Mr. 

 Springer Goes noticed that the grooving tips in roAvs adjacent to 

 buildings Avere badly eaten, although the injury extended over th" 

 entire patch to a greater or less degree. All plants which were tipped 

 died very shortly, with the result that seven rows had to be entirely 

 replanted. A great many of the seedlings of the second planting also 

 were killed. JNIany gardens had suffered through attacks on the young 

 sprouts of l)eans, peas, and tomatoes, and on rose bushes and other 

 cultivated flowers. In December Mr. R. C. Howell found the sow- 

 bugs doing serious damage to roots of palmetto, one large plant being 

 entirely killed. From Austin there came a note published in Farm 

 and Kanch, dated April 29, 1905, which enumerated the following 

 ])lants as subject to the attacks of this species: Butter beans, radishes, 

 lettuce, mustard, potted plants, and also flower seed. The earlier 

 planting of beans was untouched, while the late planting, owing to 

 the favorable conditions for nudtiplication afforded the sowbugs, was 

 seriously injured. 



From economic literature the writer finds the following records of 

 injury attributed to this species: 



Miss Richardson " cites injuries to cucumbers and hothouse vege- 

 tables at New Orleans, La., to A-arious plants at Fort Worth, Tex., 

 and to date palms from Algeria, located at Washington, and states 

 that these sowbugs are a most serious pest on mushrooms at Berkley, 

 Va. 



Mr. IT. (iarman '' cites this species as very injurious to young 

 cucumbers and lettuce in greenhouses, and i-econnnends carbon bisul- 

 phid as a remedy. 



With this infornuition in hand, a series of seA'enty-five experiments 

 was conducted in the laboratory in order to compare various condi- 

 tions and foods in their effects upon this species. Over 900 individuals 

 Avere invoh^ed in the experiments, of which the results may be here 

 summarized. 



The most faA'orable condition under Avhich to keep the soAvbugs Avas 

 found to consist of a mixture of gumbo and sand kept moist, and a 

 supply of fresh cotton leaAes, leaving some old ones to decay and 

 mold. Moisture is absolutely essential. With such conditions, soav- 

 bugs Avere carried through the entire period of the iuA^estigation, e. g., 

 10 females and 1 male Avere kept alive eighty days, and 4 of these 



a Monograph on the Isopods of North America. By Harriet Kichardson. 

 Rul. .54, U. S. Nat. Mus., 190.5. 



b Bul. 91, Ky. Agric. Exp. Sta.. 1901. 



