112 



VEGETABLE GROWING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



off the tissues till nothing but the dried skeleton remains ; then they start 

 on the next leaf. The flowers are also attacked from the edges and eaten off 

 in the same manner. 



A. The Banded Pumpkin Beetle 



(Aulocophora ohvieri). 



B. Indicating the natural size of 

 the Beetle. 



The 28-spotted Ladybird (EpUachna 

 28-punctata). 



The adult beetle is of a general rich orange-yellow colour, marked with 

 black, and measures about a quarter of an inch in length. It^is rounded on 

 the upper surface, and can be readily distinguished from the true ladybird 

 beetles by its general elongated form, and by the thorax forming a neck 

 between the head and body. In the ladybirds, the head and thorax fit as. 

 closely into the hind portion that the whole is almost circular. 



Portion of a Pumpkin Leaf, showing ravages of 

 28-spotted Ladybird. 



The larvae are dull, whitish-coloured, elongated grubs, with the hind portion- 

 yellow, and measure about two-fifths of an inch. They are active little 

 creatures, and feed on the stem and roots of the vines, sometimes gnawing 

 their way into the base of the stem. When full grown, they pupate at a 

 distance varying from 1 to 6 inches below the surface of the soil, and later 

 emerge as the perfect beetle, to" make a fresh attack on the surrounding 

 vegetation. 



