MELON PESTS. 



165 



the leaves and damaging 1 the young plants. This beetle is perhaps the 

 most common and abundant insect in the plains, met with wherever 

 there is a cucurbitaceous plant. Its life history is still unknown. 

 Well-established plants that are growing freely do not suffer from this 

 pest, but it eats young plants completely. Lead arseniate is the direct 

 cure, but an occasional dose of kerosene emulsion to make the leaves 

 nasty, or a liberal dusting with ashes or lime and kerosene keeps away 

 the beetles for the time being. 



With the red beetle is a very similar insect l with blue black wing 

 covers (fig. 234, page 200) ; this is rarer but still fairly common and 

 behaves just as the red beetle does. 



Among other pests the Banded Blister Beetle (fig. 241) is common 

 on the large flowers of these plants, feeding on the anthers and sepals. 

 It looks a far worse pest than it really is, as the destruction of the flowers 

 really does not matter. 



A single caterpillar is abundant upon these plants, behaving as an 



ordinary leaf caterpillar. This is a 

 slender green caterpillar, marked by 

 a stripe of white on each side of the 

 mid-dorsal line, and a spot of black 

 on the first two segments ; it grows 

 to a length of one inch and pupates 

 on the lower surface of the leaf under 

 a thin webbing. The moth 2 is 

 white with a broad band of black on 

 the edge of the wing (fig. 187). 

 When very numerous this is a destruc- 

 tive insect, riddling the plants in a 

 short time. Where possible a good 

 application of lead arseniate should 

 be applied. In other cases, only 

 laborious methods of hand picking 

 can be used. 



FIG. 187. 



Moth of Pumpkin Caterpillar. 

 (Twit 



'Twice magnified.) 



Caterpillar Pests of Brinjal. 



Three species of caterpillar attack the brinjal plant (Solatium melon- 

 gena) working in similar ways but belonging to three distinct groups 

 of moths. It is difficult to distinguish these in the caterpillar stage 

 and we may consider them together. 



1 125. Aulacophora excavata. Baly. (Chrysomelidse.) 



2 112. Qlyphodes indica. Saund. (Pyralidso.) 



