THE CANADIAN HORTCCULTURIST. 



151 



ANOTHER STKAWBERRY ENEMY. 



It appears that the strawberry grow- 

 ers of Illinois have had tlieir straw- 

 berry crop injured by a very destiuc- 

 tive insect. There was every prospect 

 of a most abundant crop, when all at 

 once it was found that as the berries 

 were approaching their full size they 

 were eaten by some insect that had ap- 

 peared in countless numbers and had 

 ruined the crop. We learn from the 

 Farmer and Fruit Grower that Mr. 

 Earle, President of the Mississii)pi 

 Valley Fruit Grower's Association, has 

 been a great sufferer, and will not be 

 able to pick half a crop. He reports 

 tliat his tive acres of Sharpless will be 

 totally destroyed, every berry having 

 been sucked dry and rendered useless. 

 He expected to gather not less than 

 15,000 cases of fruit from his straw- 

 berries this season, but now it will not 

 amount to more than 5,000. Mr. W. 

 W. Plater reports that his fields are 

 entirely ruined, and that he has aban- 

 doned his cro{). Almost every straw- 

 berry plantation in that section has 

 been attacked by this insect, whose 

 capacity for destruction seems to be 

 wonderful. In consequence of the 

 wholesale destruction of the strawber- 

 ries in that part of Illinois, the greit 

 strawberry exhibition which was in- 

 tended to be held, has been abandoned, 

 as no longer possible. Professor Forbes, 

 the State Entomologist, on being in- 

 formed of this state of things, visited 

 tlie scene of destruction in order to in- 

 vestigate the habits of this insect. He 

 reports the injury done by all other in- 

 sects that prey upon the strawberry, is 

 not at all equal to the damage that has 

 been done by this new invader. He 

 states that it is a well known insect 

 that has been common for many years, 

 but never before known to injure the 

 strawberry. He calls it the Tarnished 

 Plant Bug, known to entomologists as 

 Lygus lineolaris, an insect belonging 



to the order Heteroptera, family 

 Capsidse, genus Lygus, 



At its first appearance it is a small, 

 green, flat-like bug, about the 1 P.th of 

 an inch long, increasing to about one- 

 fourth of an inch and changing to dull, 

 russet color, and finally becoming 

 winged and able to fly when full gi ow.i. 

 It IS said that it prefers the IShar,»leas, 

 and leaves the Crescent comparatively 

 untouched. It is certainly strange that 

 this insect should so suddenly turn its 

 attention to feeding upon straw! jerries, 

 and if once it gets a taste of this deli- 

 cious fruit probably it will not soon re- 

 linquish its new found pasture fields. 

 We may expect that if it abounds with 

 us it will also be found preying upon 

 the fruit of our strawberry plants, and 

 it is well for us to be forewarned and 

 forearmed. Our readers will find on 

 referring to Wm. Saunders' work on 

 insects injurious to fruits, page 147 (a 

 book that ought to be in the posse>sion 

 of every fruit-grower), the following 

 description and account of this insect 

 as it affects our ]>ear trees : " This in- 

 sect is about one fifth of an inch long 

 and varies in color from dull, dark 

 brown to a greenish or dirty yellowish 

 brown, the males being generally 

 darker than the females. The head is 

 yellowish, with three narrow, reddish 

 strii)es ; the beak or sucker Is about 

 one-third the length of the body, and 

 when not in use is folded upon the 

 breast. The thorax has a yellow mar- 

 gin, and several yellowish lines run- 

 ning lengthwise ; behind the thorax is 

 a yellow V-like mark, sometimes more 

 or less indistinct. The wings are 

 dusky brown, and the legs dull yellow. 

 We are indebted to Mr. Saun<lei-s for 

 the accompanying cut, which shows 

 the full-grown insect. It pa.sses the 

 winter in a perfect state, taking shel- 

 ter among ruV)bish, or in other conveni- 

 ent hiding places, and early in May, 

 as soon as vegetation starts, it be- 



