404 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



Control. The destruction of the weeds on which the larvae 

 develop is of obvious importance, and it would be well to plow 

 under deeply any fields grown up in weeds during late summer. 

 Bordeaux mixture is possibly the best repellant for these beetles, 

 though they will be driven off by covering the plants with any 

 dust which thoroughly coats the foliage. Usually the best method 

 will be to spray the plants thoroughly with Bordeaux mixture 

 containing 3 pounds of arsenate of lead or one-third pound Paris 

 green per barrel. All parts of the foliage must be thoroughly 

 coated. Good success has also attended dusting the plants with 

 Paris green and flour and by spraying the beetles with kerosene 

 emulsion. Powdered arsenate of lead dusted over the foliage 

 while the dew is on would probably prove effective, or it might be 

 sprayed at the rate of 3 to 5 pounds to the barrel. 



The Tarnished Plant-bug * 



The tarnished plant-bug is one of the most common and 

 troublesome plant-bugs throughout the country from Canada to 

 Mexico. Seemingly it is nearly omnivorous, as it attacks almost 

 all of the common garden crops, small fruits, tender shoots of fruit 

 trees and young nursery trees, many flowering plants, and most of 

 our common weeds, Both nymphs and adults injure the plants 

 by sucking. out the juices, and on many plants a small black spot 

 appears where the insect has been feeding, which causes a deform- 

 ation of the stem or leaf, as in the " buttoning " of strawberries, 

 or tends to " blight " the terminal as in the case of dahlias, pota- 

 toes, and similar crops. 



The adult is nearly one-quarter inch long, of a brassy- 

 brown color, marked with black and yellow, and the thorax with 

 red. The color and markings are quite variable. The nymphs 

 feed upon the same plants as the adults and pass through four 

 stages, shown in Fig. 293. The first stage is only one-twentieth 

 inch long and yellowish or yellowish-green. The second stage 



* Lygus pratensis Linn. Family Capsidae. See Stedman, Bulletin 47, 

 Missouri Agr. Exp. Sta. 



