﻿-138- 
  

  

  and 
  yellow, 
  others 
  black 
  or 
  gray, 
  and 
  still 
  others 
  uniformly 
  colored 
  with 
  

   metallic 
  blue, 
  green, 
  or 
  coppery. 
  They 
  move 
  commonly 
  in 
  companies, 
  

   devouring 
  their 
  food 
  plants 
  as 
  they 
  go. 
  Their 
  injuries 
  to 
  vegetation 
  

   are 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  beetle 
  stage, 
  the 
  food 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  larvge 
  being 
  very 
  

   different 
  from 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  beetle. 
  The 
  young 
  of 
  some 
  species 
  are 
  para- 
  

   sites 
  on 
  bees 
  and 
  eat 
  their 
  eggs 
  and 
  honey, 
  but 
  most 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  bene- 
  

   ficial 
  as 
  larvse, 
  feeding 
  on 
  the 
  egg 
  masses 
  of 
  the 
  grasshoppers 
  buried 
  in 
  

   the 
  ground. 
  They 
  hatch 
  from 
  eggs 
  laid 
  by 
  the 
  female 
  blister-beetle 
  in 
  

   small 
  cavities 
  burrowed 
  in 
  the 
  loose 
  ground 
  among 
  grasshopper 
  eggs. 
  

   Most 
  of 
  them 
  pass 
  the 
  winter 
  in 
  the 
  larval 
  stage, 
  coming 
  out 
  as 
  adult 
  

   beetles 
  the 
  following 
  summer. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  beet 
  field 
  these 
  insects 
  may 
  either 
  be 
  poisoned 
  with 
  arsenical 
  

   applications, 
  killed 
  by 
  knocking 
  them 
  off 
  into 
  water 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  film 
  

   of 
  kerosene, 
  or 
  driven 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  field 
  by 
  threshing 
  the 
  infested 
  plants 
  

   with 
  brush 
  or 
  wisps 
  of 
  straw. 
  Curiously, 
  if 
  the 
  commonest 
  species 
  are 
  

   subjected 
  to 
  this 
  last 
  treatment 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  likely 
  to 
  return. 
  On 
  ac- 
  

   count 
  of 
  the 
  beneficial 
  habits 
  of 
  their 
  larvse 
  it 
  is 
  best, 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  not 
  to 
  

   destroy 
  the 
  beetles 
  unless 
  really 
  necessary 
  to 
  preserve 
  the 
  crop. 
  Indeed 
  

   they 
  are 
  commonly 
  abundant 
  only 
  when 
  grasshoppers 
  have 
  themselves 
  

   become 
  abundant 
  enough 
  to 
  do 
  considerable 
  harm, 
  the 
  blister-beetle 
  

   then 
  largely 
  contributing 
  to 
  the 
  suppression 
  of 
  the 
  grasshopper 
  out- 
  

   break, 
  

  

  A 
  pound 
  of 
  Paris 
  green 
  or 
  London 
  purple 
  stirred 
  up 
  with 
  an 
  equal 
  

   weight 
  of 
  lime 
  in 
  two 
  hundred 
  gallons 
  of 
  water 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  sufficient 
  

   to 
  destroy 
  the 
  beetles 
  without 
  injury 
  to 
  the 
  leaf, 
  at 
  an 
  expense 
  for 
  the 
  

   insectfcide 
  of 
  only 
  two 
  cents 
  per 
  acre. 
  With 
  an 
  ordinary 
  hand 
  force- 
  

   pump 
  working 
  in 
  a 
  barrel 
  on 
  a 
  cart, 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  treatment 
  was 
  about 
  a 
  

   dollar 
  an 
  acre, 
  but 
  with 
  a 
  specially 
  constructed 
  sprayer 
  carrying 
  a 
  num- 
  

   ber 
  of 
  nozzles, 
  one 
  for 
  each 
  row, 
  Osborn 
  thought 
  that 
  the 
  expense 
  

   could 
  be 
  reduced 
  one 
  half. 
  

  

  Megetra 
  vittata 
  is 
  a 
  black 
  western 
  species 
  with 
  very 
  large 
  exposed 
  

   abdomen 
  and 
  a 
  short 
  pair 
  of 
  strongly 
  diverging 
  wing-covers 
  bearing 
  fine 
  

   reddish 
  markings. 
  Alacrobasis 
  unicolor 
  (Fig. 
  62) 
  is 
  uniform 
  ashy 
  gray, 
  

   sometimes 
  darker. 
  The 
  gray 
  specimens 
  are 
  almost 
  indistinguishable 
  by 
  

   the 
  naked 
  eye 
  from 
  the 
  less 
  common 
  Epicauta 
  cinerea, 
  and 
  the 
  dark 
  ones 
  

   might 
  be 
  confused 
  with 
  E. 
  petinsylvanica, 
  but 
  they 
  differ 
  clearly 
  from 
  

   both 
  of 
  these 
  in 
  the 
  larger 
  relative 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  second 
  joint 
  of 
  the 
  anten- 
  

   nse. 
  Epicauta 
  viaciilata 
  (Fig. 
  d-i^^ 
  is 
  a 
  western 
  species, 
  gray, 
  finely 
  dot- 
  

   ted 
  with 
  black. 
  E. 
  vittata 
  (Fig. 
  64) 
  is 
  the 
  common 
  yellow 
  and 
  black 
  

   striped 
  species, 
  with 
  either 
  four 
  or 
  six 
  black 
  stripes 
  above. 
  E. 
  cinerea 
  

   is 
  uniform 
  gray, 
  distinguished 
  from 
  our 
  common 
  M. 
  imicolor 
  as 
  already 
  

   stated; 
  E. 
  marginata 
  (Fig. 
  65), 
  common 
  in 
  Illinois, 
  is 
  black 
  above 
  

   with 
  a 
  narrow 
  gray 
  edge 
  all 
  around 
  each 
  wing-cover, 
  except 
  at 
  base. 
  

   E. 
  pennsylvanica 
  (Fig. 
  66), 
  very 
  common 
  in 
  Illinois, 
  is 
  solid 
  black 
  

  

  