THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



PODISUS SPINOSUS: — rt, 



enlarged beak ; l>, bug, 

 with right wings expand- 

 ed (after Riley). 



THE COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 



\Conduded from /. 170.! 



That the Colorado Potato-beetle has 

 many natural enemies among insects of 

 other orders, is now well known. Among 

 the most formidable of these are the Lady- 

 [Fig. 99.] birds {Coccinellidce) and 



the Soldier-bugs. The 

 most commonly found 

 of these are the Spined 

 Soldier-bug {Podistis 

 spinosus Dallas Fig. 99), 

 and the Many-banded 

 Robber Harpactor duc- 

 tus Fab., Fig. 100). A 

 two-winged fly {Lydella doryphorce Riley, 

 Fig. 102) is also parasitic in the grubs. 

 There are also several species of the Ti- 

 ger beetles and 

 Ground -beetles 

 that occasional- 

 ly attack the 

 grubs, and de- 

 vour more or 

 less during the 

 season. Anoth- 

 er enemy which 

 promises to be 



Cient ter Riley). 



aid in keeping this pest in check, is the 

 Potato-beetle mite ( Uropoda americana 



Riley, Fig. loi). It is a very minute and 

 interesting species of mite belonging to the 

 Acaritta, and was first discovered in Ohio, 

 and sent to Prof. Riley in 1873. 



The past season (1879) I found this para- 

 site quite abundant in New Jersey, and it 

 was apparently doing good work in de- 



[Fic. loa. 



Harpactor cinctus: a, bug; ^, 

 profile view of beak, enlarged {af- 



Uropoda AMERICANA : a. Colorado Potato-beetle attacked by it— nat. size ; i, the 

 mite, ventral view, and showing the penetrating organs lying between the legs ; <r, 

 the organs extended; d, the claw; c, the excrcmentitious filament— all greatly 

 enlarged (after Riley). 



Lydella DOR^'PHOR.t (after Rileyj. 



stroying the beetles which it attacks. It 

 does not infest the grubs. But, with all 

 these natural enemies, this Colorado pest 

 appears to thrive, and the potato grower 

 is compelled to lend some additional as- 

 sistance in order to keep it in check. 



POULTRY AND POTATO BEETLES. 



There has been much discussion over 

 the question as to whether poultry would 

 or would not eat the grubs of the Colo- 

 rado Potato-beetle, resulting in the dis- 

 covery that some fowls will eat them, and 

 others not. The taste for 

 such food seems to be an 

 acquired one. Several per- 

 sons are reported to have 

 taught their hens to eat the 

 grubs by first mixing them 

 with meal and other food, 

 and after the fowls eat the 

 grubs a few times in this 

 way they will go out among 

 the potatoes and gather the 

 grubs for themselves. I 

 never could discover that 

 my own fowls troubled the 

 grubs, although they were 

 abundant on potatoes grow- 

 ing near the hennery ; but a 

 near neighbor had some 

 Light Brahma fowls that 



