166 



time on the tender leaves of various plants until the cucumber plants 

 begin to develop, then they turn their attention to these. After they 

 have paired, the female deposits her eggs near the roots of the vines; 

 the grub which hatches from these is very slender, and when full 

 grown is about one-third of an inch long and not thicker than an 

 ordinary knitting-needle. As soon as hatched the worm commences 

 to work upon the stem, eating the bark and perforating and hollowing 

 out the lower portion of the stem which is in the ground, sometimes 

 even working up above the surface. In about a month, according to 

 Dr. Shimer, from the time the egg is laid the larva completes its 

 growth; * they then enter the earth and form little cells, where they 

 enter upon the pupa state, which lasts about a fortnight before they 



are transformed into beetles. 



« 



There are about three broods each year, the last of which passes the 

 winter in the pupa state in the ground. 



Remedies. — Among the older remedies recommended and either 

 thoroughly or partially tried, we may mention the following : Treat- 

 ing the vines with a solution of Glauber salts, tobacco water, infusion 

 of elder, walnut leaves, etc.; applications of ground Plaster of Paris, 

 powdered soot, sulphur, snuff, aloes, etc.; placing burning torches 

 among the vines at night, etc. But at present there are but two 

 remedial agencies which are considered worthy of trial. One is to 

 cover the young vines with boxes open at the bottom and covered on 

 the top with miliinet or some kind of open gauze. The other is 

 sprinkling the vines with Paris green and flour, or the Paris green 

 solution as prescribed for the Colorado potato beetle. White hillebore 

 is considered by many as equal to Paris green. . 



Spec. char. Imago. — Head small, a shining black ; antennae about half 

 the length of the body, pale-yellow at the base and dusky at the tips ; 

 thorax a glossy yellow, not punctured ; an indentation each side of 

 the middle ; it is wider than the head but narrower than the elytra. 

 Elytra pale-yellow with black stripes arranged thus : one broad black 

 stripe along the center of each elytron, not reaching quite to the tip, 

 and a black line down the dorsal suture, partly on each elytron ; they 

 are striate and punctured in the striae with apparently double rows 

 of punctures, very regularly and closely placed. Length, about one- 

 fourth of an inch; width, about one-ninth. The sexes differ a little 

 in size, the male being smaller than the female. 



Diabrotica 12-punctata — Fabr. 



This species is very similar in size and shape to the preceding, but 

 is easily distinguished by the difference in coloration. I have found 

 it in considerable numbers about gardens and cultivated grounds, but 

 so far have not discovered it inflicting any particular injury, though 

 it is stated that it is often found feeding upon the rinds of melons, 

 cucumbers and squashes. 



Spec. char. Imago. — Head black, with an indentation on the front; 



: [t 1b stated by the edl tore of the "American Entomologist," Vol. II, p 24, (October, 1869,) that 

 Dr. Shimer's account of the transformation of thisjspecies, published in the '"Prairie Farmer," 

 August 12, 1865, was "the first published account" of it. Yet, Dr. Asa Fitch's very full history of 

 its transformations, with figures, appears in the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural 

 Society for 1864, published certainly in the early part of 186 i 



