ATTACKING THE STEMS. 



363 



FIG. 374. 



I 



times even penetrates the earth a little in search of the sprout- 

 ing seeds. The female lays her eggs probably on the stem of the 

 vine, just above or below the surface, and from the egg is soon 

 hatched a young larva, which eats its way to the centre of the 

 stem and consumes its substance. When full grown, it is about 

 four-tenths of an inch long, slender, but little thicker than 

 an ordinary pin, of a whitish color, 

 with a small, brownish head, and 

 the end of the body suddenly trun- 

 cated. Fig. 374 shows this larva 

 highly magnified; a a back view, 

 b a side view. The first brood of 

 the larvae mature in June and July, 

 or in about a month after the eggs 

 are laid ; they then leave the vines 

 and penetrate into the earth, where 

 each one forms a little cavity for 

 itself, in which it changes to a 

 pupa. Both back and front views 

 of the pupa are given in Fig. 375, 

 magnified. It is about one-fifth of 



an inch long, of a whitish color, with two spines at the ex- 

 tremity of the abdomen. After remaining in the pupal state 

 about a fortnight, the perfect insect escapes, and works its 

 way out of the cell and up to the surface of the ground. 



The beetle is about a quarter of an inch long, of a bright- 

 yellow color, with a black head, and broad stripes of black on 

 the wing-covers, which are also punctated 

 with rows of dots. The feet and the under 

 side of the abdomen are black. There 

 are two or three broods during the year, 

 and the larva has been found in the stems 

 of the melon-vines as late as October. 

 The winter is passed in the ground in the pupal condition. 

 The beetles may often be found in considerable numbers in 

 the autumn in the flowers of melon, squash, and pumpkin 



FIG. 37-'. 



