﻿PACKARD.] 
  THE 
  YELLOW-STEIPED 
  SYSTENA. 
  729 
  

  

  who 
  are 
  not 
  inclined 
  to 
  use 
  Paris 
  green 
  may 
  use 
  carbolate 
  of 
  lime, 
  made 
  

   by 
  mixing 
  in 
  the 
  proportion 
  of 
  half 
  an 
  ounce 
  of 
  crude 
  carbolic 
  acid 
  with 
  

   a 
  pound 
  of 
  lime, 
  forming 
  a 
  powder, 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  dusted 
  on 
  the 
  leaves. 
  

   Others 
  have 
  used 
  air-slacked 
  lime 
  with 
  success. 
  Hellebore 
  is 
  ineffectual. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  suggestions 
  by 
  Prof. 
  H. 
  H. 
  McAfee, 
  of 
  Iowa 
  Agricult- 
  

   ural 
  College, 
  are 
  valuable 
  : 
  " 
  We 
  know 
  that 
  the 
  Dorypliora 
  IQ-lineata 
  

   can 
  only 
  remain 
  healthy 
  and 
  increase 
  rapidly 
  when 
  feeding 
  upon 
  sola- 
  

   naceous 
  plants. 
  Cut 
  off 
  his 
  rations 
  for 
  any 
  considerable 
  leugth 
  of 
  time 
  

   and 
  he 
  will 
  surely 
  die; 
  hence 
  if 
  we 
  plmit 
  only 
  early 
  potatoes, 
  whose 
  tops 
  

   are 
  all 
  dead 
  by 
  August 
  10, 
  but 
  few 
  potato-bettles 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  alive 
  on 
  

   your 
  grounds 
  next 
  season. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  a 
  word 
  as 
  to 
  how 
  this 
  policy 
  has 
  

   worked 
  in 
  practice. 
  During 
  the 
  seasons 
  past, 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  grown 
  

   2,100 
  bushels 
  of 
  potatoes 
  on 
  the 
  Iowa 
  Agricultural 
  College 
  farm, 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   pense 
  of 
  keeping 
  potato-beetles 
  in 
  check 
  by 
  hand-picking, 
  when 
  they 
  

   became 
  too 
  numerous, 
  has 
  been 
  less 
  than 
  $3, 
  and 
  no 
  poison 
  has 
  been 
  

   used 
  and 
  no 
  late 
  potatoes 
  have 
  been 
  grown 
  in 
  my 
  department. 
  Of 
  course 
  

   where 
  potato-patches 
  are 
  contigiious 
  any 
  patch 
  may 
  suffer 
  from 
  the 
  

   neighbors' 
  bugs, 
  so 
  that 
  this 
  policy 
  of 
  autumn 
  starvation 
  must 
  be 
  gen- 
  

   eral 
  to 
  be 
  most 
  effective." 
  

  

  Also, 
  as 
  a 
  preventive, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  well 
  to 
  try 
  planting 
  the 
  prickly 
  

   solauum 
  {S. 
  rostratum) 
  around 
  potato-fields, 
  and 
  asertain 
  whether 
  the 
  

   beetles 
  would 
  not 
  desert 
  the 
  useful 
  plants 
  for 
  the 
  weed 
  ; 
  if 
  so, 
  the 
  culture 
  

   of 
  the 
  weed 
  would 
  be 
  an 
  invaluable 
  adjunct 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  potato. 
  A 
  

   correspondent 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  Tork 
  Tribune 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  Colorado 
  potato- 
  

   beetle 
  feeds 
  on 
  the 
  common 
  nightshade 
  {Solanum 
  nigrum). 
  To 
  quote 
  

   his 
  words: 
  "The 
  Colorado 
  potato-beetle 
  troubled 
  the 
  potatoes 
  in 
  my 
  

   garden 
  very 
  little; 
  but 
  at 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  garden, 
  close 
  at 
  the 
  ends 
  of 
  

   the 
  rows, 
  were 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  large 
  shrubs 
  or 
  vines 
  commonly 
  called 
  

   nightshade. 
  Upon 
  these 
  were 
  hundreds 
  of 
  the 
  slugs 
  of 
  the 
  'pest,^ 
  

   which 
  seemed 
  to 
  thrive 
  splendidly 
  ; 
  and 
  so 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  marauders 
  con- 
  

   fine 
  their 
  foraging 
  to 
  this 
  noxious 
  plant 
  I 
  shall 
  not 
  molest 
  them." 
  — 
  (G. 
  

   H. 
  B., 
  Franklin, 
  N. 
  Y.) 
  

  

  It 
  would 
  be 
  also 
  worth 
  while 
  for 
  experiments 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  in 
  planting 
  

   not 
  only 
  the 
  common 
  nightshade, 
  but 
  the 
  bittersweet 
  {Solanum 
  dul- 
  

   camara), 
  a 
  common 
  vine 
  imported 
  from 
  Europe, 
  growing 
  in 
  our 
  gardens 
  

   and 
  about 
  our 
  houses. 
  The 
  horse-nettle 
  {Solanum 
  caroUnense), 
  a 
  com- 
  

   mon 
  weed 
  flourishing 
  from 
  Connecticut 
  to 
  Illinois 
  and 
  southward, 
  and 
  

   upon 
  which 
  the 
  Lexjtinotarsa 
  juncta 
  feeds, 
  might 
  also 
  be 
  planted 
  in 
  

   broad 
  borders 
  around 
  the 
  potato-fields 
  with 
  probably 
  good 
  results. 
  

   Whether 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  good 
  policy 
  to 
  heed 
  the 
  natural 
  food-plants 
  of 
  insects, 
  

   and 
  thus 
  perhaps 
  increase 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  noxious 
  insects 
  preying 
  

   upon 
  them, 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  a 
  question 
  in 
  my 
  mind. 
  Still 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  an 
  

   experiment 
  worth 
  trying 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  case, 
  where 
  it 
  seems 
  almost 
  im- 
  

   possible 
  to 
  increase 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  this 
  beetle 
  beyond 
  what 
  they 
  have 
  

   already 
  attained. 
  

  

  The 
  Yellow-Striped 
  Systena, 
  Si/stena 
  mitis 
  Le 
  C. 
  var. 
  lifiata 
  Le 
  C. 
  (Plate 
  LXVI, 
  

   Fig. 
  3.) 
  — 
  Eatiug 
  boles 
  iu 
  tae 
  leaves 
  aucl 
  making 
  blotches 
  on 
  tbem 
  ; 
  a 
  small 
  beetle 
  nearly 
  

   two 
  lines 
  iu 
  leugth 
  ; 
  black, 
  with 
  two 
  broad 
  yellow 
  stripes 
  aloug 
  the 
  back. 
  

  

  This 
  beetle 
  I 
  have 
  only 
  noticed 
  in 
  Colorado, 
  where 
  I 
  observed 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  

   field 
  of 
  potatoes 
  at 
  Idaho 
  Springs, 
  July 
  5. 
  It 
  was 
  very 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  

   leaves, 
  eating 
  holes 
  in 
  them 
  and 
  making 
  blotches. 
  As 
  they 
  were 
  pair- 
  

   ing 
  it 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  laid 
  at 
  this 
  time, 
  and 
  soon 
  after 
  the 
  

   larvae 
  should 
  be 
  looked 
  for, 
  either 
  upon 
  the 
  leaves 
  or 
  at 
  the 
  roots 
  or 
  iu 
  

   the 
  stalk. 
  

  

  Description. 
  — 
  Body 
  rather 
  flat, 
  and 
  rather 
  long 
  and 
  narrow; 
  blackish-brown; 
  head 
  

   with 
  yellow 
  orbits 
  ; 
  a 
  broad 
  dark 
  baud 
  between 
  the 
  eyes, 
  and 
  a 
  dark 
  patch 
  behiud 
  the 
  

  

  