INSECTS, DISEASES, AND SPRAYING 63 



attack the crown of the strawberry, the crown 

 miner being one of the more important. This 

 is a small, reddish caterpillar that constructs 

 or bores irregular passages through the crowns 

 of the plants. No successful remedy has thus 

 far been brought forth. Fields badly infested 

 should be ploughed up. 



Another crown borer is the common white, 

 footless, yellow-headed grub, so destructive 

 in the strawberry fields of the Mississippi 

 Valley, and the mid-West. The eggs are 

 laid in the spring in the crowns of the plants. 

 Soon after hatching the small worm or larva 

 eats its way into the crown, hollowing out 

 from one third to one half of the crown during 

 the summer, or until the grub gets its growth. 

 If more than one larva is excavating the same 

 crown the plant is practically killed by their 

 work. The rest stage is carried on in the 

 cavity of the crown and the final change 

 to a mature, small, dark-coloured snout- 

 beetle is brought about in the same place. 

 The adults come out in the autumn, feeding 

 upon the plants and wintering not far from 

 where they were hatched, as they are unable 

 to fly. Egg laying begins early in the 

 spring. 



