Insects in the Garden 



the season when the cater- 

 pillars are causing injury to 

 crops. 



One of the most common 

 species of owlet moth in the 

 United States is the " dingy 



cutworm." The moth is a ^b d e 



buffy and dingy gray color, FIQ ^ We ^ S /^ 



and the caterpillar is a light striped cucumber beetle : a, adult 



T r .1 i j beetle ; b, larva ; c, pupa ; d, egg, 



drab COlor. Many Other kinds much enlarged; e, markings on 



Of CUtWOrmS may be found the egg as they appear when egg 



is highly magnified. The short 

 black line in the center of the pic- 

 ture gives the exact length of the 



adult beetle; the larva and pupa 

 are correspondingly smaller than 

 they appear here. 



in the garden. 



The striped cucumber bee- 

 tle. This insect does much 

 injury to cucumbers, musk- 

 melons, watermelons, pumpkins, and squashes, and also 

 sometimes to beans, peas, and corn. Early in spring 

 the beetles come forth and live on various weeds until 

 the vine crops start to grow in the garden. Then they 

 feed so ravenously upon these that the entire crop may 

 be destroyed in a few days, almost before the young 

 plants show above ground. This beetle occurs over 

 the greater part of the United States and is the most 

 destructive insect enemy of the vine crops. 



The eggs are laid in late spring. They hatch in about 

 10 days into grubs, which feed by burrowing into or 

 feeding on the stems and roots of vine plants, and also by 

 eating into the fruits. The larvae are white, with a brown, 

 horny head. They are long and slender, not short and 

 thick like the larvae of the squash borer, described later. 

 After about a month, they pass into the resting stage, 



