Some growers borrow respirators from the local fire or police departments. 

 Bor row at le a st two . Be sure that you know how to operate the equipment properly . 

 Tr3^ it out before you go into the room . Be sure the tanlcs have a full charge of 

 oxy gen or air . 



In some instances it is more desirable to purchase your own respiration 

 equipment. Or else, several CA operators in an area can purchase the equipment 

 jointly. 



Your County Agent has information concerning where suitable equi.pment can 

 be purchased. 



William J. Lord 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



LYGUS BUGS AS A CAUSH OF FRUIT DEFOllMITY IN STRATOERRIES 



Deformed strawberries generally referred to as "cat-faced" or "nubbined" 

 berries, occur commonly and sometimes abundantly in some strav^berry plantings. 

 Some of the causes of "cat-facing" are insects, weather, and lack of pollination. 

 Furthermore, this injury can be directly attributed to the failure of individual 

 achenes or seeds to stimulate receptacle development, either due to insect injury 

 or to lack of pollination. Insect injury to the achenes can occur during the bud 

 stage, during blossoming, or even during early fruit formation. Lack of pollina- 

 tion is more pronounced during years v;hen early spring weather is cold as this 

 results in the curtailment of bee activity. 



An article published in the December issue of the Journal of Economic 

 Entomology by W. V/. Allen and S. E. Gaede, of the University of California, stated 

 that even with adequate pollination achenes can be destroyed so that they do not 

 stimulate complete fruit development. Their study showed that lygus bugs, such as 

 our common tarnished plant bug, are important in destroying achenes both before 

 and after pollination. They accomplish this by puncturing and injecting a poison- 

 ous substance into the individual achenes wliich stops development of the berry in 

 the immediate area of the puncture, llie most susceptible period for injury to 

 occur is from the time the flowers open until the achenes have completed their 

 enlargement. Since flowers are open for only a few days (3 to 4), whereas the 

 achenes are enlarging for over a week (10 to 12 days) , it becomes apparent that 

 more damage may be caused by lygus bugs after blossoming. 



It is possible to distinguish damage to berries v;hether caused by lack of 

 pollination or by lygus bug attack. With lack of pollination, the achenes are all 

 small and uniformly pale green in color. I'Jlien the berries mature, the unpollinated 

 achenes become somewhat collapsed but do not turn brown until the fruit is nearly 

 ripe. With lygus bug attack, a few of the enlarged achenes in the cat-faced 

 areas turn a light brown color long before the berries ripen. 



Where lygus bugs are the cause of cat-facing, the application of insecticides 

 V7ill greatly decrease this damage. For current control recommendations on this 



