42 INJURIOUS INSECTS 



CUCUMBEK. 



THE STRIPED CUCUMBER-BEETLE. 

 (Diabrotica vittata, Fabr.) 



The Striped Cucumber-Beetle is an insect which annu- 

 ally destroys thousand of dollars' worth of vines in the 

 United States, and for which remedies innumerable 

 some sensible, but the greater portion not worth the 

 paper on which they are printed are published every 

 year in some of the agricultural papers. 



As everything pertaining to such a very common and 

 destructive insect cannot be too often repeated, I will 

 here relate its habits in the briefest manner. 



The parent beetles (fig. 27) make their appearance quite 

 early in the season, when they immediately commence 

 their work of destruction. They fre- 

 quently penetrate through the cracks 

 that are made by the swelling and 

 sprouting of the seeds of melons, cucum- 

 Fig. 27. STRIPED bers, or squashes, and by nipping off the 

 CUCUMBER-BEETLE. yoang Sprouts5 destroy the plant before 



it is even out of the ground. 



Their subsequent work, when the vines have once 

 pushed forth their leaves, is too well known to need des- 

 cription. Yet notwithstanding the great numbers and 

 the persistency of these beetles, we finally succeed, with 

 the proper perseverance and vigilance in nursing and 

 protecting our vines, until we think they are large enough - 

 to withstand all attacks. Besides, by this time, the 

 beetles actually begin to diminish in numbers, and we 

 congratulate ourselves on our success. But lo! All of 

 a sudden, many of our vines commence to wilt, and they 

 finally die outright. No wound or injury is to be found 



