A N I) 11 O U T I (; U L T U R A L R E G I S T E R . 



PUULISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK * CO., NO. 82 NOUTIl M.MIKET STllKK.T, (Aohicoltuhai Wa.ehodmO-ALLEN PUTNAM, EIJITOR. 



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BOSTON, WEDNKSDAY EVENING, MAY 25, 1842. 



[RO. «T. 



N. E. FARMER 



DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS. 



kVe take the following extracts from Dr. T. \V. 

 : v.iluablo Report on tlie Insects of Massa- 

 sctts : — 



Cucumber Bug. — The pupa state of aome epe- 



occurs on the leaves — of others, in the ground ; 

 son^e of the larvee live aUo in the ground on 

 niots of' plants. This is probably the case 

 1 those of tlie cucumber beetle. This deslruc- 

 insect is the GnUruca viltala, or striped Gale- 

 1, generally known here by the names of striped 

 and cucumber bug. It is of a light yellow 

 r above, with a black head, and a broad black 

 icon each wing-cover, the inner edge or suture 



hich is also black, forming a third narrower 

 )e down the middle of the back ; the abdomen, 

 greater part of the forc-lcgB, and the knees and 

 of the other legs are black. It is rather less than 

 fifth of an inch long. Early in the spring 

 !Vour3 the tender leaves of various plants. I 

 r fi'und it often on those of our Aronias, ^me- 

 hier hutryapium and oralis, and Pyrus arbiUifo- 

 towinls the end of April. It makes its first 

 •ar.ince, on cucumber, squash, and melon vines, 

 it the last of May and first of June, or as soon 

 16 leaves begin to expand ; and, as several 

 ids are produced in the course of the summer, 

 ny be found at various times on these plants, 

 he latter ar«j destroyed by frost. Great nuni- 

 i.f these little beetles may be obtained in the 

 mn from the flowers of squash and pumpkin 

 ^, the pollen and germs of which they ore very 

 of. They get into the blossoms as soon as 

 atier are opened, and are often caught there 

 le twisting and closing of the top of the flow, 

 and, when they want to make their escape, 



are obliged to gnaw a hole through the side 

 eir temporary prison. The females lay their 



in the ground, and the larviB probably feed on 

 dots of plants, but they have hitherto escaped 

 -esearches. 



arious means have been suggested and tried to 

 ;nt the ravages of these striped cucumber 

 es, which have become notorious throughout 

 ountry for their attacks upon the leaves cif the 

 mber and squash. Dr. B. S. Barton, of Phila- 

 lia, recommended sprinkling the vines with a 

 ure of tobacco and red pepper, which ho stated 

 ' attended with great benefit. Watering the 

 ; -RTiili a solution of one ounce of Glauber's 

 in a quart of water, or with tobacco water, an 

 ion of elder, of walnut leaves, or of hops, has 

 highly recommended. Mr Gourgas, of VVes- 

 ias fdund no application so useful as ground 

 er of Paris; and a writer in the American 

 ler, extols the use of charcoal dust. Deane 

 nrnended silting powdered soot upon the 

 8 when they are wet with the morning dew, 

 others have advised sulphur and Scotch snuff 

 applied in the same way. As these insects 

 IjAr night as well as by day, and are attracted by 



lights, lighted splinters of pine knots or of staves 

 I or tar barrels, stuck into lliu ground during the 

 [night, around the plants, have been found iisi'ful 

 in destroying these beetles. The most elfcclu.nl 

 preservative both against ihrnc insects and tlii; 

 equnlly destructive black tiea-bectlcs which inlVst 

 the vinos in the spring, consists in covering the 

 young vines with niillinet stretched over small 

 wooden frames. Mr Levi Bartlett, of Warner, N. 

 H., has described a methoil for making these 

 frames expeditiously and economically, and his 

 directions may be found in the second volume of 

 the New England Farmer, page 305, and in Fcs- 

 scnden's New American Gardener, under the arti- 

 cle Citcttmber. 



The cucumber flea-beetle, above mentioned, a 

 little, black, jumping insect, well known for the in- 

 jury done by if, in the spring, to young cucumber 

 plants, belongs to another family of the Chrysome- 

 lian tribe, called IlALTrcADj;. The following arc 

 the chief peculiarities of the beetles of this family. 

 The body is oval and very convex above; the tho- 

 rax is short, nearly or quite as wide as the wiug- 

 covcrs behind, and narrowed before ; the head is 

 pretty broad ; the attcnna^ are slender, about half 

 the length of the body, and are implanted nearly 

 on the middle of the forehead; the hindmost thighs 

 are very thick, being formed for leaping; hence 

 these insects have been called flea-beetles, and the 

 scientific name Hullica, derived from a word signi- 

 fying to leap, has been applied to them. Tiie sur- 

 face of the body is smooth, generally polished, and 

 often prettily or brilliantly colored. The claws 

 are very thick at one end, are deeply notched to- 

 wards the other, and terminate with a long curved 

 and sharp point, which enables the insect to lay 

 hold firmly upon the leaves of the plants on which 

 they live. These beetles eat the leaves of vege- 

 tables, preferring especially plants of the cabbage, 

 turnip, mustard, cress, radish, and horse-radish 

 kind, or those, which, in botanical language, are 

 called cruciferous plants, to which they are often 

 exceedingly injurious. The turnip fly, or more 

 properly turnip flea-beetle, is one of these Hallicns, 

 which lays waste the turnip fields in Europe, de- 

 vouring the seed leaves of the plants as soon as 

 they appear above the ground, and continuing their 

 ravages upon new crops throughout the summer. 

 It is stated in Young's Annals of Agriculture, that 

 the loss in Devonshire, England, in one season, 

 from the destruction of the turnip crops by this 

 little insect, was estimated at one hundred thou- 

 sand pounds sterling. Another small flea-beetle 

 is often very injurious to the grape vines in Europe, 

 and a larger species attacks the same plant in this 

 country. The flea-beetles conceal themselves dur- 

 ing the winter, in dry places, under stones, in tufts 

 of withered grass, and in chinks of walls. They 

 lay their eggs in the spring, upon the leaves of the 

 plants upon which they feed. The larva; or young 

 of the smaller kinds, burrow into the leaves, and 

 eat the soft pulpy substance under the skin, form- 

 ing therein little winding passages, in which they 

 finally completely their transformations. Hence 

 the plants sufier as much from the depredations of 



the Inrvm, oh from those nf the beetles — a fact that 

 has too often been overlooked. The lorvii; o( the 

 larger kinds are said to live exposed upon the mir- 

 facc of the leaves which they devour, till they hove 

 come to their growth, and to go into the ground, 

 where they are changed to pupa;, and soon ofler- 

 wnrds to beetles. 'J'ho mining larvie, the only 

 kinds which are known to me from personal exami- 

 nation, are little slender grubs, tapering towards 

 each end, and provided with six legs. They ar- 

 rive at maturily, turn to pupa;, and then to beetles 

 in a few weeks. Hence there is a con-itant suc- 

 cession of thoso insects, in their various states, 

 throughout the summer. The history of the great- 

 er part of our Halticas or flea-beetles, is still un- 

 known ; I shall, therefore, only add, to the forego- 

 ing general remarks, descriptions of two or three 

 common species, and suggest such remedies as 

 se»m to be useful in protecting plants fron) their 

 ravages. 



The most destructiue species in this vicinity, is 

 that which attacks the cucumber plant os soon as 

 the latter appears above the ground, eating the 

 seed leaves, and thereby destroying the plant im- 

 mediately. Supposing this to be an undescribed 

 insect, I formerly named it Hultica Cucnmeris, the 

 cucumber flea-beetle ; but Mr Say subsequently in- 

 formed me that it was the pubtscens of Illiger, so 

 named because it is very slightly pubescent or 

 downy. It is only one sixteenth of an inch long, 

 of a black color, with cloy-yellow antenna; and 

 logs, except the hindmost thighs, which are brown. 

 The upper side of the body is covered with punc- 

 tures, which are arranged in rows on the wing- 

 cases: and there is a deep transverse furrow across 

 the hinder part of the thorax. 



The wavy-striped flea-beetle, Hallica striolata, 

 may be seen in great abundance on the horse rad- 

 ish, various kinds of cresses, and on the mustard 

 and turnip, early in May, and indeed at other times 

 throughout the summer. It is very injurious to 

 young plants, destroying their seed leaves as soon 

 as the latter expand. Should it multiply to any 

 extent, it may, in time, become as great a pest as 

 the European turnip flea-beetle, which it closely 

 resembles in its appearance, and in all its habits. 

 Though rather larger than the cucumber flea-beetle, 

 and of a longer oval shape, it is considerably less 

 than one tenth of an inch in length. It is of a pol- 

 ished black color, with a broad, wavy, buflT-colored 

 stripe on each wing-cover, and the knees and feet 

 are reddish yellow. Specimens are sometimes 

 found having two bulT-yellow spots on each wing- 

 cover, instead of the wavy stripe. These were not 

 known by Fabricus, to be merely varieties of the 

 stiiolaln, and accordingly he described them as 

 distinct, under the name of bipuatulala, the two- 

 spotted. 



In England, where the ravages of the turnip flea- 

 beetle have attracted great attention, and have 

 caused niony and various experiments to be tried 

 with a view of checking them, it is thought that 

 "the careful and systematic use of lime will obvi- 

 ate, in a great degree, the danger which has been 

 experienced" from this insect. From this and oth- 



