156 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



set out -with the cheese-cloth screens described as a protection against 

 the Flea-beetles, or by smaller screens made with two flexible sticks 

 crossed at right angles and with their ends securely fixed in the 

 ground, and then covered with a piece of cheese-cloth, which can be 

 kept from being blown about by heaping a little earth on the edges. 

 These screens may be safely removed when the plants have grown 

 too big to be covered by them. Another plan is to grow a few squash 

 plants earlier than the others so as to attract the beetles to them, and 

 then treat them with Paris green, one pound mixed with 50 Ibs. of 

 lime or plaster; this may be dusted over the plant when the beetles 

 congregate upon it. In the autumn all the refuse of the vines should 

 be gathered up and either burned or buried in a compost heap, so as 

 to kill the hibernating beetles. Spraying the young plants with poi- 

 soned Bordeaux mixture has also been found effective. 



The Squash-Bug. The bugs are much larger insects than the 

 beetles described above, being nearly three-quarters of an inch in 

 length, of a dirty blackish color above and speckled creamy beneath ; 

 they have the usual repulsive odor common to the stink-bugs, to 

 which family they belong. Late in autumn the bugs may be found 

 in all sorts of places, crawling about in search of winter quarters, and 

 should then be crushed under foot. In the spring they come out, 

 and begin their injurious work of sucking out the juices of young 

 cucurbitaceous plants. The eggs, which are metallic in color, are laid 

 in batches on the under side of leaves near the base of the plant ; 

 from them soon hatch out the young bugs, but not all at once, so 

 that we may find nymphs of all sizes on the under side of the same 

 leaf. They not only injure the foliage by sucking out its juices, but 

 also poison it as well, causing a speedy wilting of the leaves they at- 

 tack. If any withering leaves are observed they should at once be 

 inspected, and if a colony is found at work it can soon be extermin- 

 ated by crushing under foot. 



These bugs are difficult to get rid of, as the usual remedies for 

 sucking insects, kerosene emulsion, for instance, have but little effect 

 upon them, except when applied to the colonies of young nymphs. 

 The methods recommended above for Cucumber beetles are also the 

 best remedies for these disagreeable insects. In the early part of the 

 season the parent bugs may be trapped by laying pieces of shingle 

 or board near the plants ; the bugs will be found taking shelter under 

 them in the morning and can easily be destroyed. 



Flea Beetles, described above, are often very injurious to young 

 cucumber and melon plants, and also a species of Aphis. Occasion- 

 ally the fruit is attacked when green by small caterpillars, one called 

 the Pickle-worm, and another the Melon caterpillar; both turn into 

 beautiful little moths. In the South they are regularly injurious 

 year after year. Should they become numerous at any time they 

 could be easily controlled by the use of arsenical poisons. 



The Pickle Worm. Injurious to the fruit of cantaloupe, squash, 

 cucumber, and other cucurbits. Holes are eaten into the rind or 

 quite to the interior, causing the decay of the fruit The insect ap- 



