162 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



PARSNIP. 



Parsnip Webworm. When parsnips are left in the ground all 

 winter and allowed to grow up for seed-bearing purposes during the 

 following season, they are very liable to be attacked by this insect. 

 Towards the end of June, when the stems are tall and bear fine 

 umbels of flowers, it is often found that the bloom is disfigured 

 with webs which draw the whole into an untidy mass, and on exam- 

 ination a colony of small caterpillars will be found at work within. 

 When they have finished consuming the flower, they burrow into the 

 stem and feed upon the soft inner lining; here they change to the 

 chrysalis stage during the latter part of July, and are often so 

 numerous that the hollow stems will be found packed with larvse or 

 pupae. The caterpillars are of a dirty green color above and yellow- 

 ish on the sides and beneath; most of the segments are furnished 

 with shining black warts, each of w T hich terminates in a fine bristle. 

 The moths come out about the first of August and hibernate in any 

 shelter that they can obtain, often coming into houses for the pur- 

 pose; they are dusky gray in color, with no conspicuous markings, 

 and with the body much flattened; the expanse of the wings is less 

 than an inch, and the length of the body under half an inch. The 

 insect is an European species. 



These caterpillars may be found in abundance working in a 

 similar manner on celery plants that have grown up for seed and 

 on wild carrot and other kindred umbelliferous plants. In the gar- 

 den they should be treated with Paris green as soon as they are no- 

 ticed ; if the um'bels are drawn into a web, they should be cut off and 

 burnt, and if the stalks are perforated the same operation should 

 be performed on them. Wild carrots and parsnips should be cut 

 down wherever they may be found in neighboring fields or waste 

 places. Parsnips are also attacked by the insects already mentioned 

 in connection with carrots and celery. 



PEAS. 



Pea-Weevil. The life-history of this insect resembles in many 

 respects that of the Bean-weevil, already described. The beetle is 

 about one-fifth of an inch in length, brownish-gray in color, with 

 two conspicuous oval black spots on the end of the abdomen which 

 is not concealed by the wing-covers. The head is bent under the 

 front of the body and ends in a square-cut beak. When peas are in 

 blossom these little beetles may be found upon them, waiting for 

 the young pod to be disclosed; on it the minute eggs are laid, and 

 the grubs, as soon as hatched, bore through and enter the small 

 green peas, one beetle only infesting a single pea. Here the grub 

 remains, feeding upon the substance of the pea, passing through the 

 pupal stage, and only attaining maturity when the peas are ripe and 

 ready for harvesting. Most of the beetles remain inside the peas 

 until they are sown the following spring, but some emerge when the 

 peas become ripe, and remain in the field or in the barn all winter. 

 Unlike the Bean-weevils, this species does not increase and multiply 

 in the stored peas, but will die if they are kept over for another 

 year. 



