UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
2 FARMERS ¢ 
BULLETIN 
WasuineTon, D.C. 668 May 26, 1915 
Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology, L. O. Howard, Chief. 
THE SQUASH-VINE BORER.’ 
By F. H. Currrenven, 
In Charge of Truck Crop and Stored Product Insect Investigations. 
GENERAL APPEARANCE AND METHOD OF WORK. 
One of the most troublesome of the many enemies of squashes, 
pumpkins, and other cucurbits is the squash-vine borer. In many 
localities this spe- 
cies surpasses all’ 
other squash in- 
sects in point of 
injuriousness. 
Damage is due 
to the larve bor- 
ing through the 
. stems, causing 
them to rot at the 
affected points 
and become sev- 
ered from the 
ee ee eee: eee 
ing the vine as to full-grown larva, in situ in vine; e, pupa; f, pupal cell. All one-third 
cause the leaves larger than natural size. (Author’s illustration.) 
to wilt and the plant to die. The presence of the borer feeding within 
the stem is not apparent at the commencement of the attack, but soon 
becomes manifest through the presence of the coarse yellowish excre- 
ment which it forces from its burrow in the stem and which accumu- 
lates on the ground beneath, as well as by the sudden wilting and dying 
down of the leaves. Wilting occurs soon after the larve have made 
1 Melittia satyriniformis Hbn.; order Lepidoptera, family Sesiidee. In early publications this species 
was generally known as Melittia ceto, or cucurbitz. 
NotE.—This bulletin is a revision of Circular No. 38 of the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. 
88373°—Bull. 668—15 
