5 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
The beetle is parasitized by a Tachina fly, Celatoria diabroticw Shimer 
(fig 2), which develops in the abdomen of its host. It is preyed upon 
by the wheel bug, Arilus (Prionidus) cristatus Linn., and many birds 
feed to a considerable extent on the beetles. It is also subject to a 
bacterial disease.* 
REMEDIES. 
For the root-worm the use of insecticides on growing corn is imprac- 
ticable. In fact, we can not reach the root-worm stage to any extent 
with poisons. Therefore we must have recourse to farming methods. 
Injury in corn fields is most abundant when the seed has been planted 
in bottom lands, and if planting is necessary in such locations, it should 
be done late, in Georgia by the first of May, according to Quaintance ; 
or attack may be so distributed that dam- 
age will be inconsequential by dropping 
eight or ten grains of seed corn in each 
hill. Of still more importance, however, 
is judicious crop rotation. Numbers of 
crops are not injured to any extent by the 
Southern corn root-worm, and of these are 
cotton, buckwheat, the smaller grains, and 
various garden vegetables other than beans 
and cucurbits. Experience will teach 
which of these can best be employed as _ aie 
Pireraatess) It as imadvisable to plant sie Se cor sonnuene Moen 
squash and pumpkin to any extent in ©™@réed (original). 
rows between the hills of corn, more particularly in regions where injury 
by this species has been previously observed. 
For the beetle as it occurs on cucumber, squash, and other cucurbits 
the same remedies in use against the striped cucumber beetle should be 
pursued.” In its occurrence on most other crops it can be controlled in 
the same manner as other leaf-beetles, for example, the Colorado potato 
beetle, by applying an arsenical alone or combined with Bordeaux mix- 
ture, the latter having a repellent effect. Arsenate of lead is preferable 
to Paris green as it adheres to the foliage better and is not washed off 
so readily by rains, and there is little or no danger of scorching. 
There is little that can be done to lessen the number of beetles for 
ensuing years, because of their roving habits and their ability to subsist 
on such a vast variety of vegetation. The species appears to have no 
particular food material, if we except flowers of cucurbits, goldenrod, 
and some others, and thus the beetles are seldom found congregated 
where they could be destroyed “at wholesale.”’ 
1Forbes, 17th Rept. St. Ent. Ill., 1889 and 1890 (1891), pp. 71-73. 
2See Circular 31, entitled ‘‘The Striped Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica vittata 
Fab.).’’ 
