62 



ing to better methods for its destruction are necessary. It has been 

 reported of the beet-root louse, which will receive next treatment, 

 that in spite of heavy flooding and plowing in winter, the exposure of 

 infested soil to frost, the number of the insects the following year 

 was much larger. Nevertheless, in some localities these farming 

 methods might be employed with better success against one or the 

 other of these two insects. The best that can be recommended at the 

 present time is to avoid planting beets on land where other food plants 

 of this root-louse grow and where it is known to be established, and 

 to practice judicious rotation of crops. It is advisable also to search 

 for these food plants and destroy such as are of no value. Where the 

 insects are found here and there in fields it might be found profitable 

 to kill them by means of kerosene emulsion applied to the roots so as 

 to soak down into the ground, making use of this remed}^ before rain- 

 fall or following it where possible with a copious flooding of water. 



Possibly in time some of our insect friends, such as certain forms 

 of ladybirds, syrphus flies, or parasitic insects, ma}^ come to the res- 

 cue and solve the problem. Ants are without doubt associated with 

 this as with other root-lice and serve as distributors of infestation by 

 carrying wingless lice from plant to plant. If ants occur in the same 

 fields and it can be seen that they foster the root-lice, their nests 

 should be sought out and destroyed. 



THE BEET ROOT-LOTTSE. 



( Tychea brevicornis Hart. ) 



The above name is suggested for a subterranean plant-louse 

 described in 1894 (18th Rept. Ins. 111. for 1891-92, p. 97), and found 

 about corn roots in Illinois. Considerable complaint has been made 

 of injury to sugar beets in Colorado in 1901 and 1902 by what is now 

 considered this species. It was described as sapping great numbers 

 of beet roots, diminishing the stand to a large extent. The winged 

 insect was noticed as early as April 1st. A correspondent of the 

 division of entomology, Mr. W. K. Winterhalter, stated that many 

 fields in the Arkansas Valle}^ were infested, and expressed the opinion 

 that if the pest should continue to spread, the sugar-beet industry 

 might be seriously damaged. It is quite apparent that this insect is 

 increasing as a pest, and that it will be difiicult to control, as it has 

 already show^n its capability of development on a variety of plants, 

 including wild grasses and cereals, among which are corn and sor- 

 ghum, and such weeds as pigweed, lambs-quarters, "salt-grass," and 

 purslane. 



Remedies. — The remedies to employ are the same as for the pre- 

 ceding species of root-louse. 



