GARDEN INSECTS 



273 



and transform to pupae in earthen cells among the roots, 

 from which the beetles emerge to attack the foliage. The 

 larvae are very slender, elongate, white worms. Occasion- 

 ally they mine into the tubers, doing considerable damage 

 and causing pimply potatoes, as has been observed in New 

 York and Colorado. There are two or three generations 

 each year, but the exact life history has not been fully 

 determined. 



The Tobacco Flea-beetle * (10) does similar damage to 

 the same crops throughout the South as well as to tobacco 

 and egg plant. It is a small spe- 

 cies, one-twentieth inch long, light 

 brown in color with a dark band 

 across the wing-covers. 



Bordeaux mixture forms an 

 excellent repellent for these little 

 beetles. Potatoes and tomatoes 

 should be sprayed with Bordeaux 

 mixture for the control of fun- 

 gous diseases, and arsenate of 

 lead or Paris green for the Colo- 

 rado potato beetle as soon as 

 they are six inches high. The 

 spray should be applied liberally 

 so as thoroughly to coat the 

 plants. Tomatoes are more sus- 

 ceptible to injury and may well 

 be dipped in arsenate of lead, one 



pound to ten gallons of water, when planting. The destruc- 

 tion of the weeds upon which the larvae commonly de- 

 velop is obviously important in preventing their multi- 

 plication. 



* Epitrix parvula Fab. 



FIG. 195. Tobacco flea- 

 beetle (Epitrix parvula). 

 (After Chittenden, U. S. 

 Dept. Agr.) 



a, adult beetle; b, larva, lateral 

 view; /, pupa enlarged about 

 fifteen times. 



