TWENTY-EIGHTH REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 21 



lowstone counties. No cucumber beetles were noticed in 1940 until 

 three specimens were swept from pepper and egg plants near 

 Billings in September and October. On Ocober 24, 1940, hundreds 

 of specimens were collected in a cantaloupe patch near Billings. 

 They were feeding on mellow cantaloupe, gouging sizable holes in 

 fruit which had passed a salable condition. (See figure 6). From 

 one to two dozen beetles were commonly found on single canta- 

 loupe, while fruit nearby might show no damage. Operators of 

 this truck garden had noted no beetles nor damaged cucurbits ear- 

 lier in the season. 



Figure 6. Striped cucumber beetles attacking over-ripe melons. 



Strawberry Root Worm. — Following an inquiry on August 8, 

 1940, from the horticultural inspector at Billings, a strawberry 

 planting west of that city was examined for insects. About 20 

 per cent of the several hundred plants in this field were dead. The 

 root system of the dead plants had suffered from the feeding of 

 some insect, while leaves of many living and dead plants had been 

 riddled by a chewing insect. Examination of the soil under the 

 dead plants revealed many small white grubs (about one-sixth 

 inch long), numerous pupae, and several small coppery beetles. 

 Most of these adults had four rather irregular, but distinct, black 



