CHAPTER XVIII 



Injurious Insects, with Treatment 



By C. R. Crosby 



Insects are of two kinds as respects their manner of taking food, — 

 the mandibulate insects, or those that chew or bite their food, as larvaB 

 {" worms ") and most beetles ; and those that suck their food, as tlie 

 plant-lice and true bugs. The former class is dispatched by poisons, 

 the latter by caustic applications, as kerosene or soap preparations. 



General or Unclassified Pests 



Angleworm or Earthworm. — The common angleworm often destroys 

 greenhouse plants by its burrowing. It is sometimes annoying 

 in gardens also. 



Treatment. — Lime-water applied to the soil. 



Ants. — See Lawns, p. 322. 



Aphides, Plant-lice or Green-fly, and Bark-lice. — Minute insects of 

 various kinds, feeding upon the tender parts of many plants, both 

 indoors and out. 



Treatment. — Kerosene emulsion. Hot water (about 125°). 

 Pyrethrum. Fish-oil soap. Tobacco-water or extracts. Alco- 

 holic and water extracts of pyrethrum. Hughes' fir-tree oil. In 

 the greenhouse, fumigation with tobacco or hydrocyanic arid gas. 

 Knock them off with the hose. In window gardens, dry pyre- 

 thrum or snuff. 



Bag-worm or Basket-worm (Thyridopteryx ephernercEformis). —Liirvix 

 working in singular dependent bags, and feeding upon many 

 kinds of trees, both evergreen and deciduous. In winter the bags, 

 empty or containing eggs, are conspicuous, hanging from the 

 branches. 



Treatment. — Hand-picking. Arsenicals. 

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