115 
thousands of square feet of glass. The same year there were lo,- 
963 acres in watermelons and muskmelons in Illinois. The acreage 
in both these crops has greatly increased since 1899. 
The most important insect enemies of these plants are, outdoors, 
the striped cucumber-beetle, the squash-bug. and the melon aphis ; 
and, in greenhouses, thrips and the white-fly. Altho they are not 
insects, two otlier greenhouse pests should be mentioned, namely, 
the red spider, and a nematode worm commonly known as the eel- 
worm. 
The Striped Cucumber-beetle 
Diabrotica z'ittata Fabr. 
Ordinarily this is a pest which the gardener must carefully 
guard against. As the young cucumber, melon, or other cucurbita- 
ceous plants make their appearance above ground, they are attacked 
by these ravenous beetles, and large areas may be killed bv them in 
a few days. 
The beetle (Fig. 9, a) is small (about two-fifths of an inch 
long), with black head, yellowish thorax, and yellowish wing- 
Fig. 9. Striped Cucumber-beetle, Diabrotica vittafa: a, beetle 
b. larva; c, pupa; d, tip of larva, side view. Enlarged as 
indicated. 
covers, marked lengthwise with three black stripes. It passes the 
winter in the ground or beneath boards or similar shelter, and as 
the young food plants appear above ground — usually about the first 
week in June — it comes forth and feeds on their leaves. If the 
beetles are at all abundant they may soon devour the small, tender 
plants. They feed continuously and voraciously for a week or ten 
days, and then commence to pair. The eggs (Fig. 10) are de- 
posited singly, and may usually be found on the under surface of 
the leaf, on the stem near its base, or on the ground near the plant. 
The larvfe (Fig. 9, h, d) upon hatching, feed within the stalk's or 
