ENTOMOLOGY 155 



Mr. Davis recommends crude carbolic, acid and water used at 

 tho rate of a teaspoonful to two gallons of water and sprinkled over 

 the plants or else crude carbolic and air-slaked lime used at the rate 

 of a teaspoonful of the acid to a bushel of lime, and dusted over the 

 plants. The emulsion of carbolic acid diluted so that the same 

 amount of the acid is found in two gallons of water, will make a 

 more even preparation and one would expect less danger from burn- 

 ing the plants than with the plain mixture. The experimenter has 

 never had an opportunity to try this, however. Mr. Davis found that 

 hot water killed the bugs when used at 155 degrees Fah. and that 

 the plants were killed at 175 degrees. On a small scale, this can be 

 applied with a sprinkler if care be taken to test the water with a 

 thermometer carefully and at short intervals. 



The long list of weeds which serve as food-plants for this little 

 nuisance, shows plainly that the removal of weeds from the vicinity 

 of the celery fields will be the most effective preventive measure at 

 our command. Clean culture is, after all, a measure which pays 

 well. 



CUCUMBER AND MELON. 



Cucumber Beetles the Striped and the Spotted. The former 

 of these insects may be found all through the season on cucumbers, 

 melons, squashes and pumpkins from the time that the plants are 

 first set out till the frost destroys the foliage in the autumn. The 

 beetles hibernate in the adult stage and are ready to attack the seed- 

 ling plants as soon as they, appear above the soil ; oftentimes they are 

 sufficiently numerous to kill the tender plant by eating the leaves 

 and gnawing the stem; later on they may be found in the flowers, 

 where, however, they seem to feed on the nectar and not to do much 

 harm. The beetle is less than half an inch in length, oval in shape, 

 yellow in color, with a black head and three black stripes down the 

 back. The larvae are slender white grubs which feed upon the roots 

 of the plants and sometimes burrow up into the stem, continuing 

 their injuries for about a month, when they change to the pupal 

 stage and later on come out as a second brood of the beetles. The 

 latter are very lively insects, flying quickly from plant to plant when 

 disturbed ; sometimes when their usual food is not available they at- 

 tack the young pods of peas and beans, and may be found on a va- 

 riety of other plants. 



The Spotted Cucumber beetle is larger than the Striped, and 

 less oval, broadening considerably towards the posterior end of tho 

 body ; its color is yellowish green, with a black head and three rows 

 of four black spots, making twelve in all, on the wing covers. It is a 

 more southern insect than the Striped beetle, and in many parts of 

 the United States it does serious injury to the roots of corn. It is a 

 much more general feeder, attacking a great variety of plants; it? 

 life history is somewhat similar to the preceding, but it seems to feed 

 mostly upon the pollen of blossoms in the beetle stac;c, tho grubs 

 being the chief cause of injury by their attacks upon roots and stems. 



The treatment for both insects is chiefly preventive. Ynunu 

 cucumber and melon plants should be protected as soon as they are 



