Western Flower Beetle on Shasta Daisy- 

 Photo by E. V. Essig, Univ. of Chicago 



Ways of the Western Flower Beetle 



ByR. A. Sell 



It is impossible to study any . living thing for several months 

 at a time without developing some sympathy for it. This was 

 found to be true even of a destructive insect. In studying the 

 Western Flower Beetle (Diabrotica soror) at Berkeley, California, 

 we found it to possess so many admirable traits and interesting 

 adaptations that we were truly sorry that its interests were 

 opposed to ours and that it was necessary to plan its destruction. 



This beetle is sometimes described as a "slim green lady bird" 

 with black spots on its wings. But the "lady bird" is a predacious 

 insect that renders an important service to man by destroying 

 harmful insects, while the flower beetle is a plant-eater that is 

 especially fond of all kinds of truck crops and ruthlessly destroys 

 Shasta daisies and California poppies. 



One of these beetles is about as large as a "lady bird" but its 

 body is much more slender and its legs are longer, besides it has 



332 



