﻿770 
  KEPOKT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  The 
  Striped 
  Squash-Beetle, 
  Biabrotica 
  vittata 
  Fabricius 
  (Fig. 
  37).— 
  Appearing 
  on 
  

   the 
  squash 
  pumpkin, 
  cucumber, 
  and 
  melon 
  vines 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  leaves 
  are 
  up, 
  eating 
  

   holes 
  in 
  the 
  leaves 
  and 
  killing 
  the 
  young 
  plant 
  ; 
  a 
  small 
  yellow-striped 
  beetle, 
  whose 
  

   larva 
  is 
  a 
  long, 
  slender 
  grub, 
  which 
  bores 
  in 
  the 
  roots 
  in 
  June 
  and 
  July. 
  

  

  This 
  universal 
  pest 
  is 
  so 
  familiar 
  iu 
  the 
  Nortliern 
  States 
  as 
  to 
  scarcely 
  

   need 
  description. 
  The 
  beetle 
  hibernates 
  under 
  leaves 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  crev- 
  

   ices 
  in 
  the 
  bark 
  of 
  trees 
  or 
  in 
  

   appearing 
  among 
  the 
  

   earliest 
  insects 
  of 
  spring, 
  at 
  

   the 
  time 
  that 
  the 
  shad-bush 
  

   {Amelanchier 
  canadensis) 
  is 
  in 
  

   blossom, 
  on 
  the 
  pollen 
  of 
  whose 
  

   , 
  flowers 
  it 
  feeds, 
  afterward 
  de- 
  

  

  ^ 
  c 
  .^RN 
  serting 
  wild 
  flowers 
  for 
  the 
  

  

  Fig. 
  37.— 
  Striped 
  Squash-Beetle; 
  a, 
  larva; 
  &, 
  garden. 
  As 
  SOOn 
  as 
  the 
  Seed- 
  

   pupa 
  c, 
  adult 
  ; 
  d, 
  12-spotted 
  Deabrotica. 
  leaves 
  of 
  the 
  squash, 
  pump- 
  

   kin, 
  melon, 
  or 
  cucumber 
  are 
  formed, 
  and 
  even 
  before 
  they 
  appear 
  above 
  

   the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  soil, 
  they 
  devour 
  them, 
  and 
  until 
  the 
  plant 
  is 
  about 
  

   six 
  inches 
  high 
  it 
  is 
  liable 
  to 
  be 
  devoured 
  by 
  them. 
  I 
  take 
  the 
  follow- 
  

   ing 
  account 
  in 
  part 
  from 
  my 
  "Guide 
  to 
  the 
  Study 
  of 
  Insects." 
  Dr. 
  

   H. 
  Shimer 
  has 
  given 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  this 
  insect 
  in 
  its 
  

   different 
  stages. 
  He 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  grub, 
  in 
  June 
  and 
  July, 
  " 
  eats 
  

   the 
  bark 
  and 
  often 
  perforates 
  and 
  hollows 
  out 
  the 
  lower 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  

   stem 
  which 
  is 
  beneath 
  the 
  ground, 
  and 
  the 
  upper 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  root, 
  

   and 
  occasionally, 
  when 
  the 
  supply 
  below 
  fails, 
  we 
  find 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  vine 
  

   just 
  above 
  the 
  ground." 
  It 
  hibernates 
  in 
  the 
  pupa 
  state. 
  "The 
  larva 
  

   arrives 
  at 
  maturity 
  in 
  about 
  a 
  month 
  after 
  the 
  egg 
  is 
  laid 
  ; 
  it 
  remains 
  

   in 
  the 
  pupa 
  state 
  about 
  two 
  weeks, 
  and 
  the 
  beetle 
  probably 
  lives 
  several 
  

   days 
  before 
  depositing 
  her 
  eggs, 
  so 
  that 
  one 
  generation 
  is 
  in 
  existence 
  

   about 
  two 
  months, 
  and 
  we 
  can 
  only 
  have 
  two, 
  never 
  more 
  than 
  three, 
  

   broods 
  in 
  one 
  season." 
  Dr. 
  Shimer 
  has 
  found 
  them 
  boring 
  in 
  the 
  squash 
  

   and 
  musk-melon 
  vines 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  October 
  1. 
  A 
  generation 
  appears 
  in 
  

   two 
  months, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  broods 
  in 
  a 
  season. 
  

  

  In 
  an 
  article 
  in 
  the 
  American 
  Naturalist 
  (vol. 
  v, 
  p. 
  217), 
  Dr. 
  Shimer 
  

   gives 
  further 
  information 
  concerning 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  this 
  beetle. 
  The 
  eggs, 
  

   he 
  says, 
  are 
  deposited 
  on 
  the 
  root 
  at 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  ground, 
  or 
  on 
  

   the 
  root 
  just 
  below 
  the 
  ujjper 
  loose 
  particles 
  of 
  earth, 
  for 
  although 
  the 
  

   perfect 
  beetle 
  does 
  not 
  burrow 
  into 
  the 
  compact 
  ground, 
  yet 
  it 
  often 
  is 
  

   found 
  down 
  along 
  the 
  stem 
  or 
  root, 
  just 
  below 
  the 
  surface, 
  under 
  the 
  

   loose, 
  dry 
  clots 
  or 
  finer 
  particles 
  of 
  earth 
  which 
  are 
  not 
  pressed 
  closely 
  

   or 
  beaten 
  down 
  by 
  rains 
  and 
  hardened 
  in 
  drying. 
  

  

  Description 
  of 
  the 
  larva. 
  — 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  long, 
  slender, 
  white, 
  cylindrical 
  grub, 
  with 
  a 
  small, 
  

   brownish 
  head. 
  The 
  prothorax 
  is 
  coreous. 
  The 
  thoracic 
  legs 
  are 
  very 
  slender, 
  pale 
  

   brown 
  ; 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  body 
  is 
  suddenly 
  truncated, 
  with 
  a 
  small 
  prop-leg 
  beneath. 
  

   Above 
  is 
  an 
  articular 
  brown 
  space, 
  growing 
  black 
  posteriorly 
  and 
  ending 
  iu 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  

   upcurved, 
  vertical, 
  slender, 
  black 
  spines. 
  It 
  is 
  0.40 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  long. 
  . 
  In 
  its 
  boring 
  

   habits, 
  and 
  its 
  remarkably 
  long, 
  cylindrical, 
  soft, 
  white 
  body 
  this 
  larva 
  widely 
  differs 
  

   from 
  that 
  of 
  Galleruca, 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  beetle 
  is 
  closely 
  allied. 
  The 
  jjifj^a 
  is 
  0.17 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  

   long, 
  white, 
  with 
  the 
  tij) 
  of 
  the 
  abdomen 
  ending 
  iu 
  two 
  long 
  acute 
  spines 
  arising 
  from 
  

   a 
  common 
  base. 
  

  

  A 
  Tachina 
  parasite 
  (Melanosliora 
  diahroticce 
  Shimer) 
  preys 
  upon 
  this 
  

   beetle 
  in 
  the 
  adult 
  state, 
  materially 
  reducing 
  its 
  numbers. 
  A 
  single 
  

   maggot 
  fills 
  almost 
  the 
  entire 
  cavity 
  of 
  the 
  abdomen 
  of 
  its 
  host, 
  the 
  

   beetle. 
  When 
  about 
  to 
  transform 
  into 
  the 
  pupa, 
  the 
  maggot 
  leaves 
  the 
  

   body 
  of 
  the 
  fly, 
  and 
  its 
  pupa-case 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  ground, 
  

   the 
  fly 
  appearing 
  late 
  in 
  July. 
  

  

  