$8 INJURIOUS INSECTS 



especially the Horse-nettle (Solatium Carolinense), a very 

 common weed throughout the Middle and Southern 

 States. Both the larva and mature insect of this Bogus 

 Potato-beetle resemble the genuine; but upon a close 

 examination, a very marked difference may be discovered. 

 The most prominent distinctive characteristics observed 

 in the nearly mature larvae are as follows: In the true or 

 D. W-lineata the sides are ornamented with two rows of 

 black dots, and the head is black; while in juncta there 

 is but one row of dots, and the head is of a pale color; 

 the first joint behind the head is reddish-brown and edged 

 with blaok. The mature insects differ still more widely, 



d 



Fig. 66. BOGUS COLORADO BEETLE (DwypJlOTa juncia). 

 a, a, Eggs ; 6, ft, Larvae ; c. Beetle, natural size ; d, Left Wing-cover, enlarged. 



for while W-lineata, as the name indicates, has ten black 

 stripes on its elytra, the third and fourth stripe counting 

 from the outside, are joined behind; in juncta, the 

 second and third are joined, and in a large proportion 

 the two stripes are united the entire length, by deep 

 brown, or black, thus forming one broad and conspicuous 

 stripe. There are also other distinctive characters, shown 

 in the accompanying figures, such as the arrangements 

 of the punctures bordering the stripes on the elytra, but 

 these are less conspicuous to the casual observer. 



A few years since I tried to rear a quantity of the 

 larvae sent me from the South on the leaves of the Potato, 

 but failed to carry a single specimen through to maturity 



