8 FARMERS* BULLETIN 868. 



Precaution to prevent poisoning. — ^Arsenate of lead and other 

 insecticides sliomd be labeled properly and the word POISON should 

 appear on the package. It is best to keep poisonous substances 

 under lock and key and where children can not reach them. 



Utensils employed in the preparation of arsenate of lead should be 

 cleaned thoroughly after use. 



OTHER REMEDIES. 



Jarring, if done early in the season, is of value for small crops. It 

 is performed usually by brushing the beetles and "slugs" into large, 

 shallow milk pans or similar receptacles containing a little water on 

 which a thin scum of kerosene is floating. Egg masses should be 

 clipped off whenever observed and destroyed promptly. 



Fio. 7. — Black blister beetle: 

 Adult. Knlarged. 



Fig. 8.— Margined blister beetle: 

 Adult. Enlarged. 



Fig. 9.— Striped blister bee- 

 tle: Adult. Enlarged. 



Fall and spring plovving, while valuable for moi^t insects which 

 pass the winter in the ground, are less valuable for the potato beetle, 

 because hibernation takes place far under the surface and xerj deep 

 plowing would be necessary. 



Hand picking is effective early in the season, but later is too slow 

 and laborious. 



BLISTER BEETLES. 



Potatoes are subject to injurious attack by blister beetles of sev- 

 eral forms. These beetles are slender, comparatively soft bodied, 

 and variously colored. AH are general feeders, and a large proportion 

 of them prefer potatoes to other foods. One of the conmionest of these 

 is the black blister beetle (fig. 7) ^ It appears at about the time of 

 the flowering of wild aster and goldenrod, and is known also as the 

 ''aster bug," Besides potato, it attacks beans, peas, cabbages, and 

 various other plants. Other co.nmon species are the margined ^ and 



Epicatita pennsylvanica DcG. 



F.picauta marffinali Fab 



