INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEETS AND SPINACH 335 



pletely defoliated thousands of acres of sugar-beets. In some 

 cases where the foliage of the beet did not furnish it sufficient 

 food, the root was attacked and the upper surface was com- 

 pletely gnawed away. Late plantings, of course, suffered most 

 severely, especially when surrounded by newly broken ground. 

 The weeds most generally eaten were pigweed, saltweed, wild 

 sunflower, and Cleome. Potato, pea, and apple leaves were 

 also devoured. These injuries occurred about the middle of 

 August, at which time the larvae and pupae were abundant, and 

 a few moths laden with eggs were noticed." 



This species evidenty hibernates as a moth, and at least 

 two broods of larvae may be looked for each year, the first about 

 June and the second in August. The species has been reported 

 thus far from Colorado and California, but it doubtless has a 

 more extended range in the mountain regions of the far West. 



" Professor Gillette's field-experiments show r ed that it could be 

 destroyed by dusting or spraying arsenical poisons on the leaves." 



Flea-beetles 



Several species of flea-beetles, chiefly Systena tceniata, Systena 

 hudsonias, Disonycha triangularis, and Phyllotreta vittata, often 

 do considerable injury by gnawing small holes in the upper and 

 lower surfaces of the leaves, giving them an appearance as if 

 affected by leaf-spot, or puncturing them full of small holes, and 

 thus stunting the growth of the plant. 



The Spinach Flea-beetle * 



Of the many species of flea-beetles injurious to sugar-beets, 

 the spinach flea-beetle is one of the largest and most destructive. 

 The beetle is nearly one-quarter inch long, shining black, with 

 a greenish or bluish lustre. The prothorax and abdomen are 

 red or reddish yellow, and the legs and antenna? are pale yellowish. 

 It occurs from New England to Montana and southward to the 



* Disonycha xanthomelcena Dalm. Family Chrysomelidoe. See F. H. 

 Chittenden, Bulletin 43, Bureau of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 14; S. A. ForbeSj 

 21st Kept. State Ent. of 111., p. 116. 



