47 
Of the Solanacew, or Nightshade family, to which the potato belongs, there 
are in North America six genera, not counting the South American genus, 
Petunia, now so largely cultivated in flower gardens. They are (1) Solanum, 
Nightshade; (2) Physalis, Ground Cherry; (3) Nicandra, Apple of Peru; 
(4) Hyoscyamus, Henbane; (5) Datura, Thorn-apple ; (6) Nicotiana, Tobacco, 
The first of these includes the potato, the egg plant, and the tomato, all of which 
are eaten with avidity by the beetle. When stinted of its favourite supplies, the 
insect turns to such other members of the family as may grow within its reach. 
The tobacco plant is attacked by it, and f have found it also upon Physalis and 
Datura. 
It would seem that the forced vitality of the species is now diminishing. 
There is a narrowing down apparently, lst, as to the number of broods, 2ndly as 
to the number of individuals. Professor Claypole, of Akron, Ohio, brought the 
diminution in the former case, under the notice of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, at the Minneapolis meeting. He said :—< This 
insect (the potato beetle) came as usual in middle Pennsylvania in the early sum- 
mer. I was compelled to use poison as in previous years. In the latter portion 
of the summer I observed, and noted at the time in the Canadian Entomologist, 
that there was no second brood, or that it was so small as to pass unnoticed. It 
was my intention to watch in 1883 in order to determine if this second brood 
was again missing ; but to my surprise, in 1883 there was almost no first brood.” 
In the neighbourhood of Quebee, late plowlng, by disturbing their hiberna- 
cula, has destroyed great numbers of the beetles, and the lingering winter has 
retarded the appearance of the survivors, so that the first brood of the year has 
been both late and comparatively weak in numbers. For the last two seasons I 
have not had occasion to use Paris green on the early potatoes grown in my gar- 
den, but later-planted field crops have called for an application of the drug. The 
decrease in the number of perfect beetles appearing in the fall has been very 
marked. 
THE THREE-LINED PoTaTO-BEETLE (Lema trilineata, Olivier) —This is a 
buff-coloured beetle, (Fig. 15) having three black stripes on the wing covers. Its 
length is a quarter of an inch. It appears in June, and attacks 
the potato plants. It lays its yel- 
low eggs in small clusters, and in 
a fortnight the larve appear (Fig 
14). They are of a dirty yellowish 
grey, and are generally seen witha 
thick coating of excrementa on 
Fic 13. their backs. This filthy covering 
is believed to serve for a defence 
against their insect enemies, and as a protection 
also from the heat of the sun. In about another 
fortnight the insects bury themselves in the Fie. 14. va 
ground and form cysts in which to undergo their pupal change. In a fortnight 
more the perfect beetles appear and lay their eggs for a second brood. 
Paris green applied in the usual way is the remedy for these pests. 
THE CucuMBER BEETLE (Diabrotica vittata, Fab.).—The eu:umber jbeetle 
is about two lines in length. It is vellow, and has a black head, and three black 
lines running along the wing-covers. The larve feed on the roots, and the perfect 
insects on the tender leaves of the cucumber, melon and squash, E 
