392 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



injurious forms with which we have to contend. Both the booties 

 and larvic feed on the foliage of various cucurbs, but prefer that 

 of the squash. It is an Eastern species, not being injurious west 

 of the Mississippi and being most troublesome in the Middle 

 Atlantic States. The beetle is nearly hemispherical in shape, 

 slightly oval, about one-third inch long, yellowish or reddish- 

 brown, marked with seven black spots on each wing-cover and 

 four smaller ones on the thorax as shown in Fig. 283. 



Life History. The life-history, as given by Dr. Chittenden for 

 the District of Columbia and northward, is as follows: "The 



FIG. 283. The squash ladybhd (Epilachne borealis Fab.): a, larva; 6, pupa; 

 c, adult beetle three times natural size; d, egg four times natural 

 size; e, surface of egg highly magnified. (After Chittenden, U. S. 

 Dept. Agr.) 



insect hibernates in the adult condition under bark or other 

 convenient shelter and appears abroad sometime in May or 

 June. Egg deposit'.on has been observed in the latter part of 

 June, and there is evidence that the eggs are deposited also much 

 later." The eggs are about three-tenths inch long, elongate- 

 oval, of a yellow color, and laid in irregular clusters of from 12 to 

 50. " They hatch in from six to nine days, and the larva? begin to 

 feed at once on the leaves, causing them to wither and die." The 

 larva is yellow, with six rows of black branching spines, and is 

 about one-half inch long when grown . " The larva attains full 

 development in from two to four weeks, ceases feeding, and attaches 



