Insects in the Garden 327 



(2) Clean culture. Clean culture also should be prac- 

 ticed. In the autumn place the squash vines in small 

 piles scattered about the garden. Allow them to lie 

 until after several hard frosts, and then burn them. 



The calico-back cabbage bug. The " calico bug," 

 " fire bug," " terrapin bug," or " harlequin bug " is the 

 most destructive insect of the various cabbage crops, 

 and also of the turnip, radish, and mustard, throughout 

 the southern part of the United States. It saps the 

 juice from the veins of leaves and often causes plants to 

 wilt and die as if swept by fire. Its gay red and black 

 coloring makes it conspicuous and easily recognized. 

 In general, its habits and life history are quite similar 

 to that of the common squash bug described above. In 

 the South it is active throughout the season, but near 

 its most northern range (about the latitude of Washing- 

 ton, D. C.) it is dormant for a time in winter. 



There are three good methods of controlling the calico 

 bug: 



(1) Hand-picking. This is effective, especially when 

 adults appear on a crop before they have laid eggs. 

 Growers in various parts of the South have paid bounties 

 to school children for gathering them, and it is reported 

 that as many as 47,000 of these bugs were thus collected 

 for a grower at Denton, Texas, during one month 

 (February). The egg masses laid on the under side of 

 leaves are rather conspicuous, and these also may be 

 gathered and crushed. 



(2) Use of trap crops. Early and late crops of mustard 

 may be grown among the plants largely for the purpose 

 of attracting the calico bug. The insects collect on the 



