STRAWBERRY PESTS 



1935 



rier to bring the pollen to the plant that 

 needs it. 



Probably every strawberry grower has 

 noticed that when his plants are in full 

 bloom there are a large number of insects 

 on the flowers, and he may have noticed 

 that many of these are bees of various 

 kinds, large and small. But probably few 

 have ever realized what an important 

 function these insects really exercise on 

 the strawberry bed, and how much they 

 are indebted to these insects for the crop 

 to be harvested later. 



Many insects visit strawberry flowers 

 for what nectar they can obtain, and in 

 moving about among the blossoms, the 

 sticky pollen adhering to the surface of 

 the bodies is carried to other plants and 

 left on the pistils, where it exercises its 

 specific effect. But bees are not mere 

 casual visitors; they need pollen in their 

 domestic economy and they need honey as 

 well. They visit the staminate varieties 

 and the hairy surface of the body becomes 

 absolutely loaded with pollen as they roll 

 around in the blossoms. In this process 

 the blossoms so visited are fertilized, and 

 then the bees visit the other blossoms, 

 and in every blossom so visited they leave 

 some grains of pollen in return for favors 

 received, and thus fruit is produced. 



And as a gatherer of pollen the hairy 

 coating of the bees is especially adapted, 

 for the hair is not a single, simple stalk 

 or cylinder, but is furnished with pro- 

 cesses, teeth and branches in great va- 

 riety, so that the pollen grains become 

 caught and entangled in the mass and 

 retain their position until rubbed off or 

 deliberately combed out by the bee. 



Over a single short row of berries I col- 

 lected over 200 specimens of insects, 

 mostly bees, by simply sweeping a net to 

 and fro about six inches over the bed. 



It is well for the grower to understand 

 that while some insects exact a tax from 

 him, others add to his income without 

 charge and without recognition. 



It explains also why staminate or pol- 

 len-bearing varieties are absolutely nec- 

 essary in any scheme of planting, even 

 though their presence continues the at- 



tacks of some insect species that cannot 

 subsist on pistillate varieties. 



New .Jersey Experiment Station Bulletin 225, 

 Chafeb Beetle. See White Grub, this 

 section. 



Chinch Bug. See False Chinch Bug, 

 this section. 



Cntworms — Various Species 



These may appear in the spring in the 

 strawberry bed or amongst newly set 

 plants, and do great damage. To destroy 

 them place poisoned bran bait under 

 boards scattered over the field. 



The bran mash may be made as fol- 

 lows: Use one-half pound of sugar or 

 molasses per gallon of water and use 

 enough of such sweetened water to 

 dampen 50 pounds of bran. Add one-half 

 pound of Paris green or white arsenic by 

 sprinkling lightly over the surface of the 

 bran, while vigorously stirring so as to 

 mix the poison thoroughly with the mass. 

 Place a tablespoonful near the base of the 

 plants. It will keep better if placed under 

 a board. 



Dagger Moth 



Apatela oliUnta 

 One of the dagger moth caterpillars 

 which is rather common in strawberry 

 beds. The full-grown worms may be 

 found in early September. The cater- 

 pillar is about one and one-quarter inches 

 long, of a deep, velvety, black color, 

 with a transverse row of tubercles gird- 

 ing each segment. A tuft of short, stiff 

 hairs radiates from each tubercle, those 

 from the topmost tubercles being red in 

 color, while those from the lateral ones 

 are yellowish or mixed with yellow. Two 

 rows of bright yellow spots extend along 

 the back, one on each side, and below 

 these a crescent-shaped, bright yellow 

 band ornaments each segment. The 

 breathing pores are white. Early in 

 September it draws together a few leaves 

 or other light fragments, and by webbing 

 them together with silk, constructs a 

 coarse cocoon in which it passes the 

 winter. The following June it issues as 

 a gray moth, with a zigzag line of black- 

 ish, dagger-like points crossing each fore- 



