Insects in the Garden 
the season when the cater- 
pillars are causing injury to 
crops. 
One of the most common 
species of owlet moth in the 
United States is the “ dingy 
cutworm.”? The moth is a 
buffy and dingy gray color, 
and the caterpillar is a light 
drab color. Many other kinds 
of cutworms may be found 
in the garden. 
The striped cucumber bee- 
Fic. 
Life history of the 
striped cucumber beetle: u, adult 
beetle; b, larva; c, pupa; d, egg, 
much enlarged; ¢, markings on 
the egg as they appear when egg 
1977- 
is highly magnified. The short 
black line in the center of the pic- 
ture gives the exact length of the 
adult beetle; the larva and pupa 
are correspondingly smaller than 
they appear here. 
tle. This insect does much 
injury to cucumbers, musk- 
melons, watermelons, pumpkins, and squashes, and also 
sometimes to beans, peas, and corn. Early in spring 
the beetles come forth and live on various weeds until 
the vine crops start to grow in the garden. Then they 
feed so ravenously upon these that the entire crop may 
be destroyed in a few days, almost before the young 
plants show above ground. This beetle occurs over 
the greater part of the United States and is the most 
destructive insect enemy of the vine crops. 
The eggs are laid in late spring. They hatch in about 
to days into grubs, which feed by burrowing into or 
feeding on the stems and roots of vine plants, and also by 
eating into the fruits. The larve are white, with a brown, 
horny head. They are long arid slender, not short and 
thick like the larve of the squash borer, described later. 
After about a month, they pass into the resting stage, 
