INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS 



25 



46 Squash vine-borer (Melittia satyriniformis). 

 Wilting of one or more runners is caused by a whitish caterpillar 

 boring in the stem near the root. The parent insect is a beautiful, 

 clear winged moth with brownish black fore wings, transparent 



Fig. 38 Squash vine borer: a male moth; & female moth with wings folded as at rest; c eggs 

 on bit of squash stem; d full grown larva in vine; e pupa; /pupal cell— all enlarged Ys (after Chit- 

 tenden, U. S. dep't agr., div. ent., circ. 38, 2d ser.) 



hind wings and with legs beautifully ornamented with black and 

 orange tufts. She deposits eggs on almost any part of the plant. 



Treatment: plant a few early squashes as a trap crop, destroy- 

 ing these vines as soon as the crop is secured. Slit the softer, 

 infested portions, remove the borers and. cover the wounded part 

 with earth. Protect 

 young plants with 

 netting. 



47 Striped cucum- 

 ber beetle ( D i a - 

 brotica vit- 

 tata). Yellow bee- 

 tles about J inch 

 long, striped with 

 black, occur in num- 

 bers on cucumber 

 and squash vines. 

 The slender, whit- 

 ish, brown headed grubs live on the roots of these plants and 

 frequently cause great injury. 



Fig. 39 Striped cucumber beetle: a beetle; h larva; c pupa; 

 d side view of anal segment (after Chittenden, U. S. dep't agr., 

 div. ent., circ. 31, 2d ser.) 



