58 



INJURIOUS INSECTS OF KANSAS. 



juices from the leaves; the attacked leaves look as if blistered, 

 and entire leaves are often withered. 



Description and Life-history. The adult insect, which is a 

 true sucking bug, is about three-eighths of an inch long and 



about one-fourth of an inch wide, 

 flattened oval, tapering behind 

 the middle to a rounded point. 

 Above black, with orange-red 

 spots and dashes ; below black, 

 with five longitudinal rows of 

 orange -red spots. The 'young 

 bugs are broadly oval and with 

 slightly different markings. 



The eggs are laid in March 

 by adults which have "passed 

 through the winter. The eggs 

 are usually 10 or 12 in number, 

 and are laid in two rows, on the 

 under sides of the leaves. The 

 young are hatched in about a 

 week, and immediately begin 

 their destructive work by piercing the leaves and sucking the sap 

 from them. The punctured leaves soon wilt and die. It is said 

 that half a dozen adult insects will kill a cabbage in one day. 



Remedies. As the insects suck the juices from the leaves, in- 

 stead of eating the soft leaf tissue, spraying arsenical poisons on 

 the surface of the leaves will be ineffectual. Hot water, kerosene 

 emulsion (see p. 9) and pyrethrum (see p. 9) are recommended. 

 The bugs may be trapped, as recommended for Squash-bugs, by 

 laying boards or leaves near the hills, under which the insects 

 will congregate. High cultivation will enable the plants to re- 

 sist the attacks of the pest. 



Kansas Notes. The insect is a native of the Gulf States and 

 Mexico, Texas seeming to be the place of its greatest abundance. 

 It has been making its way north since the close of the war. It 

 was found in Missouri in 1870, and is said by Le Baron, in his 

 sixth annual report as State Entomologist of Illinois, to have 

 reached Kansas. This report was published in 1877. 



In the Third Biennial Report of the Kansas State Board of 

 Agriculture, 1881-'82, Prof. E. A. Popenoe says: 



Fio. 29. HARLEQUIN CABBAGE BUG; 

 6, adult; c, young; d, eggs. 



