86 
Fura Besries (Halticide.) 
It is not known that these insects have ever been severely injuri- 
ous to the strawberry; but as they are often very common upon 
these plants, and as some of them are exceedingly destructive to 
other vegetation, it seems worth while to notice them here. They 
are easily distinguished by their swollen hind thighs, which give some 
of them a power of leaping scarcely exceeded by the flea itself. 
Three species, all minute, are known to infest the strawberry: the 
notorious cabbage flea beetle (Phyllotreta vittata), and two others not 
heretofore reported as injurious to this fruit,—Hpitrix fuscula and 
Systena blanda. 
The first may be distinguished by its smooth and shining surface, 
black, with two broad, irregular, yellow stripes on the wing covers. 
Epitrix fuscula is of about the same size as the cabbage flea 
beetle, but shorter and thicker. It is black throughout, except the 
antenne and tarsi, which are red, and the elytra are covered. with 
a conspicuous coat of gray pubescence. The thorax is coarsely 
punctured, and marked with a transverse impression before the 
basal margin. 
Systena blanda, already known as injurious to corn, was especia!ly 
abundant on the leaves of the strawberry near Anna, in Southern 
Illinois, where it was certainly feeding upon that plant, as I have 
demonstrated by dissection. It may be easily distinguished from the 
other flea beetles by its elongate form, and by its ochre-yellow color, 
with a broad pale stripe on the middle of each wing-cover. The 
punctures on the iatter are irregularly distributed, instead of being 
arranged in rows, as in the other species. 
Although Phyllotreta vittata was abundant on cabbages in Southern 
Illinois, in the spring of 1883, I did not notice it on strawberries 
adjacent, and I doubt if it is likely to require the especial attention 
of the strawberry grower. 
THe STRAWBERRY LEAF BEETLES. 
Paria aterrima, Hald. 
Scelodonta pubescens, Mels. 
Colaspis brunnea, Fab. 
Colaspis tristis, Oliv. 
The three species first mentioned are the adult beetles of the root- 
worms of the strawberry, and will be fully described and figured © 
on another page. They are mentioned here to call attention to the 
fact that they all feed, at least for a time after emerging from 
the earth, upon the leaves of the strawberry plant, one of them 
(Paria aterrima) occasionally doing conspicuous mischief. As this last 
species has the longest adult life of any of the root-worms, it is the 
most likely to do harm as a leaf-beetle; and is, in fact, the only 
one the injuries of which have attracted attention hitherto. If these 
beetles should become abundant enough to require remedial meas- 
ures, poisoning with Paris green and other suitable substances, as 
recommended in the discussion of these insects given under the 
head of strawberry root-worms, will be the most suitable remedy. 
