8o8 CONNECTICUT EXPERIMENT STATION REPORT, I9O7-I908. 



plants appear the beetles begin to feed upon the leaves and tender 

 stems, eating away the epidermis, often causing the plants to 

 wilt and die. They even burrow into the ground and attack them 

 before they come up. 



The beetles are about one-fifth of an inch long, with thorax 

 and wing-covers yellow, the latter with three black longitudinal 

 stripes ; the head is also black. At the time the beetles are feed- 

 ing upon the young plants they are also mating and laying eggs 

 on the stem just below the surface of the ground. The larvae 



Fig. 12. The striped cucumber beetle: a, adult beetle ; 6, larva; c, 

 pupa ; d, side view of anal segment. All greatly enlarged. (After Chit- 

 tenden, Circular 31, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture.) 



hatching from these eggs are borers in the roots of the plants, 

 sometimes causing considerable injury. A sample of this work 

 is shown on Plate LI. Though the complete life history of this 

 insect is not well known, it is believed that the larval period lasts 

 for about a month. The full-grown larva is about one-third of 

 an inch long, and is slender and whitish, with a black head (see 

 Fig. 12) . Pupation occurs within the ground. The pupa is white, 

 like the larva, and the pupal stage lasts about a week. There are 

 two generations in Connecticut each season, and the beetles are 

 often found in large numbers late in the season assembled tmder 

 the dead leaves of the plants. Melons, cucumbers, squashes and 

 pumpkins are attacked. 



The remedies consist either in keeping the beetles away from 

 the plants or in the use of poison. The latter method is the one 



