INSECT PESTS AND THEIR CONTROL 251 



remedies kill by their suffocating or corrosive action. The most common 

 of these insecticides are nicotine solutions, kerosene or oil emulsions, lime- 

 sulphur wash and fish-oil soap. 



In the following pages will be found listed the principal insect pests of 

 farm crops under the class of crops to which they are most injurious. Only 

 a very brief description of each insect can be given, and in most cases noth- 

 ing of their life histories, in the limited space devoted to the subject. The 

 treatments which have given the best results in each individual case are 

 indicated briefly and reference is made to publications which give a more 

 extended account of the insects. The abbreviations which are used in the 

 references are as follows: 



Bur. Ent. Bull. — U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology Bulletin. 

 Bur. Ent. Cir. — U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology Circular. 

 Farm. Bull. — U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin. 

 Dept. Bull. — U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin. 



GENERAL CROP INSECTS 



Caterpillars (leaf-eating). — Many plants are attacked by caterpillars 

 which feed upon the leaves. These worms are the larvae of Lepidopterous 

 insects, or moths and butterflies. 



Treatment. — Spray with an arsenical, preferably arsenate of lead, or 

 dust with powdered arsenate of lead or Paris green. If the spray gathers 

 in drops and does not adhere well to the surface of the leaves, use a resin 

 fish-oil soap sticker. 



Cutworms. — Various species of the family Noctuidw, usually feeding 

 at night upon the roots, crowns or foliage of plants. The worms may be 

 found in daytime lying curled up in ground about an inch below surface. 



Treatment. — Broadcast poison bran mash about the garden in the 

 spring just before the plants come up. Make other applications later if 

 the cutworms are still found. Cultivate the ground thoroughly in late 

 summer and early in the spring to prevent the growth of grasses and weeds, 

 thus starving out worms if present. 



Grasshoppers or Locusts. — A number of species feed on corn, wheat, 

 sorghum and other field crops, also on many garden crops and at times on 

 fruit trees. 



Treatment. — Cultivate the fields and stony fence rows in the fall to 

 break up the egg masses deposited one to two inches below the surface' of 

 the ground. Broadcast Criddle mixture or poison bran mash flavored with 

 juice of orange or lemon in fields where grasshoppers are plentiful. 



Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidce). — Crops of many kinds are injured by 

 beetles which feed upon the leaves as adults and sometimes as larvae. 



Treatment. — Spray or dust the affected plants with arsenicals. 



Plant Lice {Aphididce) . — Many species of plant lice are found attacking 

 field, garden and orchard crops. They feed by sucking the juices of the 

 host plant and cannot be controlled by a poison spray. 



