ENTOMOLOGY 255 



sene-emuLsion repellent and the arsenate of lead spray will be found 

 efficient remedies for insects attacking the plant bed. 



The most serious injury to transplanted tobacco, besides that by 

 the insects of primary importance, is perhaps by wireworms. In 

 June, 1909, investigators found larvse of the tomato stalk borer bor- 

 ing in the stem and midribs of young tobacco at Clarksville, Tenn. 

 Z. P. Metcalf records that the mole cricket was injurious locally in 

 North Carolina by cutting off the young plants. W. A. Hooker 

 records two tenebrionid beetles and the snout-beetle as hiding be- 

 neath and eating the wilted leaves of newly set tobacco plants in a 

 field at Quincy, Fla. 



The worst depredators of this class (insects affecting the foliage) 

 belong to the Orthoptera and to the Hemiptera. Of the Orthoptera 

 the most injurious species is perhaps the migratory locust, which oc- 

 casioned serious injury to tobacco fields in the vicinity of Clarksville, 

 Tenn., during 1910. This pest injures tobacco by eating holes in the 

 leaves and by ragging the edges. It was found that poisoning tobacco 

 for the hornworms was an efficient remedy against this insect. Other 

 species taken on tobacco are six grasshoppers, two tree-crickets, and 

 two long-horned grasshoppers. 



Hemiptera injure tobacco by sucking the stems and midribs, 

 thereby causing wilt, and by sucking the leaves, in which case dis- 

 colored and deadened areas result. Probably the most injurious 

 species is the tobacco suckfly. Professor Quaintance states that this 

 insect is very widely distributed in Florida, and it has been recorded 

 from Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. It causes wilt of 

 tobacco, and plants severely attacked are believed never to recover. 

 According to Professor Quaintance it is injurious only upon late 

 tobacco. He found that a tobacco decoction made by boiling 1 

 pound of refuse tobacco leaves for one hour in water, diluted in 1 

 gallon of water and sprayed upon the plants, was an effective remedy. 

 A 10 per cent strength of kerosene emulsion was also found effective 

 but very injurious to foliage. ' 



Besides the flea-beetles, which attack tobacco in the field as 

 well as in the plant bed, the gray blister beetle is perhaps the worst 

 pest among the beetles. Mr. Z. P. Metcalf states that it severely 

 ragged tobacco in some fields in North Carolina in 1909. The 

 twelve-spotted cucumber beetle has been observed feeding upon 

 tobacco at Clarksville, Tenn., and the Colorado potato beetle has 

 been reported from tobacco. Future observations will undoubtedly 

 disclose that many other beetles also feed to some extent upon to- 

 bacco. 



The two snout-beetles have been recorded by Dr. F. H. Chitten- 

 den as breeding in tobacco stems. The former has been reported 

 from Texas to Florida, while the latter has been reported only 

 from Florida. Injury has rarely been severe. Doctor Chittcndcn 

 recommends clearing the tobacco fields of all stalks and of all rub- 

 bish in which the beetles could find shelter, dipping young plants 

 in arsenate of lead at setting time, and later spraying with the 

 same insecticide to kill the beetles while they are feeding. Wire- 



