INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE SUGAR-BEET. 



267 



longer needing his long running legs, they are changed for 

 very short, aborted legs, and the larva is soft and sluggish. 

 In another week a second molt takes place, after which 

 the legs and even the mouth-parts are still more atrophied. 

 After another molt and after consuming all the eggs in the 

 pod, the larva now goes deeper in the soil, and inside a 

 small oval cavity again sheds its skin, and hibernates over 

 winter as a sort of semipupa. In the spring the larva 



Fig. 153. — a, Ash-gray Blister-beetle [Macrobasis unicolor; h, Epi- 

 cauta pennsylvanica. (After Riley.) 



appears again much like the second stage, but does not eat 

 much, and soon goes into the pupal stage from which 

 emerges the adult beetle. Altogether the life-history is 

 one of the most peculiar and complicated among insects. 

 Thus the Blister-beetles are one of the most important 

 factors in holding the grasshoppers in check, 



Bemcdies. — However, when they swarm into the beet- 

 fields, potato- or garden-patches, one cannot afford to 

 allov/ them to consume one crop for the good they may do 

 in saving anotlier from still another insect scourge. ''A 

 bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," is equally true 

 of insects. So be ready for them on tlieir first appearance; 

 give the plants a thorough spraying with Paris green, at 

 the rate of one pound and one pound of lime to 125 gallons 



