34 THE INSECT RECORD FOR I9OI 



which I started. What seems particularly discouraging is that the work 

 seems to go on just as steadily now that the vines have grown large as 

 it did when they were smaller and more tender. Yesterday two of my 

 plants were killed, one of which was four or five feet long; it was the 

 only stalk left of the hill and exceptionally hardy and stocky. Another 

 vine died which had grown to be eight feet long, with a hard woody vine 

 at the base three-fourths inch in diameter. What is to me particularly 

 puzzling in the case is that I cannot find what especial injury causes the 

 sudden collapse of the plant. A vine which seemed thrifty from end to 

 end, with large, strong, dark green leaves will be found four or five hours 

 later wilted and. drooping its whole length. An examination of the stalk 

 near the base will fail to show any especial new injury there. I have 

 used no spray of any sort upon my vines so that no part of the result 

 can be traced to that cause. 



I have sometimes wondered whether the bugs are wholly responsible for 

 the mischief. If the vines are left undisturbed after they droop, the part 

 of the stalk below the ground and the root becomes rotten in a few days, 

 but perhaps that is simply because the vine is dead. 



This sudden wilting of plants several feet long has attracted 

 the attention of many growers, and been the cause of much 

 discussion. On careful examination one is seldom able to find 

 evidence of the presence of the Squash-vine Borer, ^ a good- 

 sized whitish larva that lives in the stem of the squash plant, 

 nor can one as a rule find any other insects in the stem or the 

 main root. The latter, however, generally shows a decided 

 lack of roots branching off, and its surface is generally more 

 or less roughened as if eaten. A very careful examination of 

 the main root and the ground directly around will generally 

 reveal a slender whitish worm of the general form of Fig. 3. 



At least this is the creature we 

 have usually found under such 

 conditions, and to which, for 

 Fig. 3. Larva of Striped Cucumber the present, we are inclined to 

 ^^^^ attribute the injury named. 



This pest is the larva of the Striped Cucumber Beetle, 

 which lays its eggs in the ground where squashes and other 

 members of the gourd family are growing. We hope to make 

 a special study of this pest this season. 



The apple crop of this season was small, as was to be expected 

 from the good crop of the previous year. And as was also to 



1 Melittia ceto Westwood. 



2 Diabrotica vittata Fabricius. 



2 



