INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, ETC. 355 



petioles branching from it. It is a soft, stout, whitish caterpillar, 

 with a small black head, and about one inch long when full grown. 

 The larvae reach maturity in about four weeks and then enter 

 the earth, where they make tough silken cocoons, coated with 

 particles of earth, an inch or two below the surface. In the 

 Soutn the larvae transform to pupae from which a second generation 

 of moths emerges in late July, but in the North the larvae hibernate 

 in the cocoons over winter, and transform the next spring. The 

 pupa is about five-eighths inch long, dark brown, and with a 

 horn-like process on the head between the eyes. By the aid 

 of this the pupa cuts open one end of the cocoon and with the 

 hook-like spines on the abdomen wriggles to the surface of the 

 earth before transforming to the moth. As indicated, there is 

 but one generation in the North, a partial second brood in the 

 latitude of New Jersey and the District of Columbia, and two 

 full generations in the South. 



Control. As the larvae work within the vines, insecticide 

 treatment is useless, and the pest must be controlled by methods 

 of culture. 



Obviously the vines should be raked up and destroyed as 

 soon as the crop is gathered, so as to destroy all of the borers 

 within them. As the larvae or pupae hibernate over winter in 

 the soil, it has been found that frequent light harrowing in the 

 fall will bring them to the surface, and that deep plowing in the 

 early spring will then bury any surviving so that the moths 

 cannot emerge. Rotation of the .crop will evidently decrease the 

 number of moths. Where the pest is abundant late squash may 

 be protected by planting rows of early summer squashes as soon 

 as possible. These will attract the moths so that there will be 

 relatively few eggs deposited on the main crop planted later. As 

 soon as the early crop is gathered, or as soon as it becomes well 

 infested, if it is used only for a trap, the vines should be raked 

 up and burned so as to destroy all eggs and larvae. It is well 

 to cover the vines with earth one or two feet from the base so 

 as to induce the growth of secondary roots, which will support 

 the plant in case the vine is severed lower down. The old- 

 fashioned method of slitting the vines with a knife and thus 

 killing the borers is about the only means of destroying them 

 after they have become established. The position of a borer may 



