GARDEN PESTS IN NEW ZEALAND 



Though cut-worms are active throughout the growing period of 

 plants, most damage is done to young and tender plants at the time of 

 establishment, and this is particularly noticeable in the spring. When 

 plants are grown isolated in rows, and the area is not too large, complete 

 protection from cut- worms can be secured by enclosing each plant in a 

 tin collar pushed into the ground and projecting a few inches from the 

 surface ; these collars are removed when the plant is well established. 

 In. localities where cut-worms are very troublesome it is advisable to 

 reduce their numbers by means of a poison bait made as follows: 501b. 

 of bran and lib. of Paris green are thoroughly mixed in a dry state ; 

 when this is done, and just before being used, the bran is moistened 

 with water, sweetened with molasses, until the bait reaches a crumbly, 

 but not saturated, condition. This bait may be broadcast over the 

 infected area or laid around each plant as a barrier. This bait must be 

 applied every few days until the plants have reached a stage when they 

 are able to withstand cut-worm attack. 



A great deal can be done to check cut-worms by removing dense 

 growths of weeds and rough herbage growing in unused parts of the 

 garden; in such places the insects breed, and are a source of infestation. 

 Another point to consider is that thorough cultivation will destroy many 

 pupae that are lying underground, and which would otherwise give rise 

 to another generation of moths. 



"ARMY-WORMS." These caterpillars are similar in their appear- 

 ance and general habits to the cut-worms,, but differ in their method of 

 attack. When present in numbers, they move through a. crop especially 

 cereals eating as they go, and leaving nothing but devastation in their 

 wake, much as does an invading army on the march. They are not of 

 so much interest to the horticulturist as to the farmer. 



TOMATO-WORM (Heliothis armigera). This caterpillar (Fig. 10. 6) 

 is one of the most conspicuous caterpillars met with in the garden. Its 

 habit of boring into and eating the contents of tomatoes gives it the 

 name of "tomato-worm." It is a cosmopolitan insect, and is especially 

 destructive to flower buds and fruit, a wide range of plants being 

 attacked. The caterpillars vary in colour, some being greenish and 

 others brownish, with reddish, yellowish or white markings. The moth, 

 which belongs to the noctuid group, is on the wing both day and night, 

 mostly during the earlier part of the year; it is a stoutly-built insect, 

 measuring somewhat over half-an-inch long; its colour is a brownish- 

 orange, with oblique darker bands on the wings. As the insect passes 

 the winter and spring as a pupa in the ground, thorough cultivation will 

 help to destroy a considerable number. The use of arsenate of lead 

 sprays, however, is the most effective control for the caterpillars. 



HAWK OR SPHINX MOTH (Sphinx convolvuli). This conspicuous 

 insect and its caterpillars are most abundant in the Auckland province, 

 though found as far south as Christchurch. The caterpillars 

 feed on convolvulus, but do considerable damage to the foliage of the 

 kumara and sometimes tobacco. The caterpillar is the largest met with 

 in the garden; it is stout in form, and measures up to 3-J inches when 

 fully grown. It is to be recognised at once on account of the dark red, 

 horn-like process arising -from the end of the body. The caterpillar may 

 be of two colours the one green, with diagonal yellow bars on the sides ; 



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