INJURIOUS TO MELONS, CUCUMBERS, SQUASH, ETC. 381 



seems remarkable, considering the immense numbers of the beetles 

 which must give rise to many times more larva?. The larva 

 becomes full grown in about a month and then forms a delicate 

 earthen cell just below the surface of the soil and in it transforms 

 to the whitish pupa, from which the beetle emerges in from one to 

 two weeks, according to the temperature. In southern New 

 Hampshire the beetles emerge from the last of August to the first of 

 October, the complete life cycle requiring from seven to nine weeks, 

 there being but one generation a year, and this seems to be true 

 in New York. In Kentucky the complete cycle requires but 



FIG. 276. Wire screen cover for yojing cucurbs. (After Headlee.) 



thirty-nine days, and in the District of Columbia newly emerged 

 beetles are found by mid-July, so that there are undoubtedly two 

 generations in that latitude, as the beetles have been found pairing 

 and with well-developed eggs in Delaware, August 1st. In the 

 latter part of the season the beetles feed on the blossoms and 

 pollen, particularly of squash, rarely touching the foliage. With 

 the first frosty nights they seek shelter under the fallen leaves and 

 enter hibernation with the first killing frosts. 



Control. For a few plants or where the beetles are unusually 

 "abundant, coverings of netting have always been used to protect 

 the plants. A barrel hoop cut in two, crossed, and the ends 

 fastened to another hoop, and the w r hole then covered with netting/ 



