JUNB 10. 1921 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



MM 



BATTLING ROSE BEETLE 



fty^fl>;^ l ^t l tV^t l tf t<^?^l.^»l>^»iy^^^ 



UK strinvhcrry beetle, Ty- 



T()(ij)li()nis (■;iii(lliis, is rath- 

 er nil ;iiiil)it ions insect. 

 It is .•ilwavs striviiif^ to 



}^et into the liiiieli}jlit. It 



first siiecee(Ie(l in {^ettiiif; 



its nanii' into |)rint 1)\' 

 f 5^ (J^ (jestroyiny s t i' a w berry 

 ^-^^ -l| plants; next it causetl a 



stir by attaciiiii}? npjib; 

 orchanls in New Kn^land; i)iit it did 

 not arrive in the ''Who's Who" until 

 it bef^an to .'ittaek roses nnder j^lass. 

 As mentioned, the Tvi)oiiliorus canel- 

 jus was first known as the strawberry 

 root-worm, because of the fact that the 

 larva of this insect works under {ground, 

 destroyinf4' the roots of the strawber- 

 ries. To the rose {jrowi'rs, the adult, 

 the beetle itself, is of greatest concern, 

 since it is the beetle that does tlH> ffreat- 

 est, Jit any rate^ the visil)le damage 

 to the rose plants. It fee(ls on tlie 

 leaves and on tlie tender bark of the 

 young growth, also on the eyes as they 

 begin to swell. How much 

 damage is done by the larvae 

 tee(ling u|ion the roots is 

 difticult to determine. At 

 times it must be great, for 

 Mr. Diet/., our entoiiKdogist. 

 has told me of a case where 

 the tender white roots have 

 been almost •■ntirely de- 

 stroyed. 



Begin in June. 



In .Inne, generally between 

 the first and the ' fifteenth, 

 the signs of the Ijeetle's de 

 stiiictiN-e work incre.'ise ra]> 

 idly, until in a badly in- 

 fested place there can hardly 

 be found .-i leaf or a bud or 

 four iiudies of young growth 

 unmarred. For all this dam- 

 age the beetle itself is little 

 in evidence, because it feeils 

 on the under side of the 

 ie.'ucs, keei>iiig well out of 

 sight. It also has the h:il)it 

 of "(daying possum;" that 

 is, at the slightest .listurb 

 ance it will drop to the 

 ground anil lie there motion- 

 less, and being sin;ill and of dark color, 

 it is almost in visible. Jf you wish to 

 get a correct idea of the number of 

 l>eetles, blow tobacco suuike among the 

 I'lants. If you listen carefully, you can 

 hear them drop :ind so get an idea of 

 the numbiT ]iresent. .\iiother good way 

 of .-iscertaining the number is to shnk(> 

 the bushes and immedi;itly iifterwards 

 let the flame of ;i g.-isoliue blow-tor<di 

 play u]ion the grouml between the 

 bushes. The heat of th(> torch will 

 make the beetles run or fly. 



When the grower sees the incnasing 

 signs of another onslaught of the jiest, 

 he re;tli/,es th.at his strenuous efforts of 

 the previous season h.ave failed, once 

 more, to rout th.> enemv. If rose grow- 

 ing is not absolutely vital to his busi 

 uess. he 7uay decide, as ;i number have 

 done, to drop rosi- culture entirelv, but 

 if he is not so fortunatclv situated, he 

 takes up the battle anew' lie smokes, 

 sprays, powders or gasses; lie uses arse- 

 nate, tobacco, cyanide or some of the 



A iPMjirr rciiil liy IIitiinmi .Iiiii);('. of Inili;iiia|i- 

 iilis, iM-rmi' 111!' iiii-i'tiut,' (if llic Iiidiiiiia Stale 

 Florists' Assorialioii .Iiiiic 7 al tlir Siiiitli A: 

 VoiiJii^ (.'<>., IiidiaimiHilis. 



patent remedies, but no matter what 

 lie uses, it seems to be effect i\'e. 

 l'"or, beginning about the middle of Au- 

 gust, he notices a decrease in damage 

 done and flatters himself that he has 

 found a remedy to cojie with this evil. 

 I'^ncouraged by his ajipareiit success, 

 more diligently than before; he attends 

 to spraying or dusting the jdants. As 

 the season becomes cooler and the days 

 become shorter the damage and the 

 number of beetles continue to decrease, 

 until sometime in November the rose 

 houses appear about normal. Then the 

 growi'r, after reconciling himself to a 

 loss of one-half or one-third of his rose 

 crop, discontinues his efforts at tiie very 

 time when winter weather juits his 

 enemy at the greatest disadvantage. 

 And so it goes, year after year, and so 

 it will continue until we resoUc to fight 



THE TRADE'S AID 



D n n 



Combative measures of the Philadelphia 

 rose growers against the strawberry beetle 

 were described in The Review of May 6, 

 1920. To aid rose growers throughout the 

 country further in their fight against this 

 dangerous pest, the Indiana State Florists' 

 Association voted to submit for publication 

 in the same columns this excellent account 

 of steps taken against the insect in Indiana. 



and watch our enemy, not (tiily when 

 he goes over the top in the balmy day> 

 of .luiie. but also while he is lying loA- 

 during fall .and winter, ]ireparing for 

 aiKil III r e;iiiip;iign. 



Knowledge Needed. 



To win this battle, we must learii all 

 about this beetle; in order to ap|dy our 

 remeijies intelligently, we iiiiist know 

 all about its habits and its lite cycle; 

 we need facts, scientific facts, that only 

 .in entomologist is f|ualiried to establish, 

 and here I am glad to report that Harry 

 l)iet/., of our st.ate conservation de]i;irt 

 inent, and C. A. Weigid, of the T'nit.'d 

 States Jiureau of Kutonudogy. .-ire ni.'ik 

 ing good ]irogress in their efforts in that 

 direct ion. 



Under natural conditions, according 

 to our state entomologist, the tyjio- 

 jdiorus lays eggs in spring; the ]arva> 

 are feeding iijion the roots of the straw- 

 berry during .Tune and .Inly and in fall 

 the mature beetles appear above 



ground, feeding upon the strawberry" 

 lea\es. The beetles pass the winter in. 

 a dorni.ant or semi-dormant state and 

 conclude their life cyide by (b'positing 

 their cliistei- (if eggs in spring at the 

 base of the plants. 



This is a simple ami orderly |il.'in of 

 life and lea\('s little to surmise. T'n- 

 fortunately for us, however, the beetles 

 under glass h;i\(' ;idojpte<l a more care- 

 less way of li\-ing. No longer do all 

 the beetles deposit their eggs within a 

 week or ten d;iys, but eggs may be 

 found from (>arly sjiring until late in 

 .Inly, so that at the present time we arc 

 iincertiiin whether there .are not two or 

 e\'en more broods reared annu,-illy. At 

 the end of last .lul\- I fiPiind, ,it one 

 time and within ;i few inches of eaidi 

 other, eggs, two sizes of larv.e, pupa- 

 ;ind beetles in different stages of devel- 

 o]imeiit. Indications are, however, th.at 

 at least from October l.'i to Februar\- !.'> 

 the ground is free from these insects in 

 any I'oriii. and the beetles abo\'e ground 

 ai-e all that we liax'e to con- 

 tend with during that time. 

 The beetle in winter, say 

 from \o\-eniber until Febru- 

 ary |."), is sluggish, lying or 

 crawling slouly on the 

 grouml. It seldom and only 

 during the' warmest hours of 

 the da\- appears on the 

 jdants, .-iiid it ne\-er flies. 

 That means, .and this is im- 

 portant, that ;it this time of 

 the year it is not likidy to go 

 from one biMiidi to another, 

 so that if <iTie bench is 

 cleaned of beetle-^ there is no 

 iiiiiiiediat<' clanger oi' its be 

 ing ;ig,-iin infested. 



Remedies Tried. 



to t lie I'elliedie^. arse 



.•ire most frei|Ueutly 

 We lia\e tried both 

 arsenate of lead and I'aris 

 tureen, .and ;H<-or(iing to our 

 eNpeiinient< with beetles con- 

 fined in i-ati Ih>. diluting with 

 .•I mixture oi' eight jiarts of 

 flour to one lit' jioison, I'.aris 

 green is the more elVective 

 of the two; it .also li.as the adv.antage of 

 being less conspiciKuis uiion the fidiage. 

 .\t best. howe\er. arsenates .and all 

 other stomach ]ioiM.ns, whether applied 

 as dust or lii|uiil, will reach onl\- :i sm.all 

 number of beetles, lieeause this insect 



h.-ibitually f |> on the nnder side of 



the le;i\es and on siudi other ]i.arts of 

 the pl.ant .as are the hardest to re;ieh 

 with the Jioison. Hydrocyanic acid gas. 

 using two ounces ]ier thousand cubic 

 feet of sjiare, will Kill jiractically .all 

 beetles c.aught abo\e gi-ouiid, according 

 to Mr. Weigel. Since, however, the gas 

 also injures the ]ilants more or less, its 

 use is jiractical only during ;i brief 

 period in summer ,and at th.it time, as 

 we ha\e shown, new beetle-: are con- 

 tinually emerging from the ground. 

 Mr. Weigel also reports good results 

 from ajijilicaf ions of wood ashes and 

 tob.acco dust in controlling the larvie. 

 lie writes: "These m.aterials are ap- 

 jdied .at intervals of five days and at a 

 rate of thirty-five to forty pounds per 



n.ates 

 used. 



