INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, ETC. 353 



this area. The larvae are to be found feeding on the under surface of 

 the foliage in July and August. 



Control. Usually hand picking the beetles and eggs will 

 control the pest, but if abundant it may be readily destroyed by 

 spraying or dusting with arsenicals. 



The Squash-vine Borer * 



In many localities the most serious pest of squash is the 

 Squash-vine Borer, and although other cucurbs are sometimes 

 injured, they are relatively free from attack if squash or pumpkins 



FIG. 298. The squash- vine borer (Melittia satyriniformis Hbn.): a, male 

 moth; 6, female with wings folded at rest; c, eggs shown on bit of stem; 

 d, full-grown larva in vine; e, pupa; /, pupal cell all one-third larger 

 than natural size. (After Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



are present. The larvae bore in the stems, causing them to rot 

 where affected, so that they break off and the plant wilts and dies. 

 The presence of the borer is indicated by the coarse yellowish 

 excrement which it forces from its burrow and which is found 

 on the ground beneath, and by the sudden wilting of the leaves. 

 Injury is most severe at the base of the vine, which gradually 

 decays, so that it is severed and the whole plant dies. A half- 

 dozen or more larvae are often found in a single stem, and as many 

 as forty have been taken from one vine, the larvae attacking all 

 parts of the vine and even the petioles and large ribs of the leaves 

 when abundant. Injury is worst on Hubbard, marrow, cymlings 

 and late varieties of squash. 



* Melittia satyrin'formis Hbn. Family Sesiidce. Farmers' Bulletin 668, 

 U. S. Dept. Agr. 



