CHAPTER XVIII 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC.* 



The StripOd Cucumber-beetle f 



JUST as the little cucumber and melon plants appear above the 

 soil they are attacked by hordes of hungry black-and-yellow-striped 



beetles, which feed 

 ravenously upon 

 the succulent seed- 

 leaves, often killing 

 thementirelysothat 

 reseeding is neces- 

 sary. This little 

 striped beetle, often 

 known as the 

 " striped-bug " or 

 " melon-bug," is 

 well known to all 

 growers of cucurbs 



FIG. 287. The striped cucumber -beetle (Diabrotica east of the Rocky 

 vittata Fab.): a, beetle; b, larva; c, pupa; d, egg; e, Mountiin^ and 

 sculpture of egg-, 6, c, much enlarged, d, more 1V1 tains, an 



enlarged; e,highly magnified. (After Chittenden, also occurs in 

 S. Dept. Agr.) Washington. 



The beetle is about two-fifths inch long and half as wide, of a 

 bright yellow color with a black head and three black stripes on 

 the wing-covers. 



Life History. The beetles hibernate over winter in the ground 

 where they have been feeding the previous fall, or along the edge of 

 woodlands, or wherever suitable shelter is obtained, and emerge 

 in the spring two or three weeks before cucurbs are planted. At 



*See A. L. Quaintance, Bulletin 45, Geo. Agr. Exp. Sta.; J. B. Smith, 

 Bulletin 94, N. J. Agr. Exp. Sta.; R. I. Smith, Bulletins 205 and 214, No. 

 Car. Agr. Exp. Sta. 



t Diabrotica vittata Fab. Family Chrysomelidm. See F. H. Chittenden, 

 Farmers' Bulletin, 1038, U.S. Dept. Agr.; T. J. Headlee, 20th Report N. H. 

 Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 499. 



340 



