46 



FAEMEKS BULLETIN" 856. 



spring and summer to late autumn and early winter on melons and 

 other cucurbits, and on many other crop plants. In seasons which 

 favor its increase, notably in summers following springs that are cool 

 and rainy, it frequently appears in enormous numbers and does very 

 serious damage, collecting in masses on the under side of the leaves 

 of plants and causing them to curl, shrivel, and lose color, and inter- 

 fering with the ultimate development of the fruit. Often it kills 

 plants outright and destroys whole fields or greatly reduces the yield 

 of fruit. An affected cantaloupe plant is illustrated by figure 51. 



The melon aphis, like others of its kind, excretes honeydew. 

 When this aphis becomes unusually abundant, the honeydew covers 



the leaves with a 

 thin, sticky coating 

 on which the Avhite 

 cast skins of the 

 plant-lice adhere, 

 and this attracts at- 

 tention to the in- 

 jur}', as do also wilt- 

 ing and dying down 

 of the plants. Some 

 persons notice this 

 hone3^dew and are 

 unaware of the pres- 

 ence of the insects. 

 They speak of the 

 injury as honeydew, 

 and have even ap- 

 plied this name to 

 the insect itself. 



By the time the 

 presence of the 

 melon aphis in injurious numbers is noticed, irreparable damage 

 frequently has been accomplished and the insects for the most part 

 have migrated to other pastures. This species is minute and varies 

 from yellowish or greenish to jet black. It is generally distributed 

 throughout the country. It finds alternate food plants in other 

 cucurbits, cotton, okra, orange, strawberrj'^, and some other plants, 

 including weeds. 



Control. — The best remedy is nicotine sulphate (see p. 10), which, 

 if properly applied, Avill control not only this pest but the young of 

 squash bugs, and will act to a certain extent against such soft-bodied 

 insects as may be present at the same time. 



WILT. 



Wilt is usually the first disease to appear in the spring, often 

 causing plants to wilt suddenly and die when only 6 or 8 inches tall, 



Fig. i)-. — Cucumber aiitbracnose. 



