236 THE PEANUT— THE UNPREDICTABLE LEGUME 



although at present its limited distribution prevents widespread losses to 

 the crop. This pest's first appearance in the United States was in 1936 

 when it was found causing damage to cotton and peanuts in northern 

 Florida (154, 155). Shortly thereafter it was discovered in southern 

 Alabama. In spite of rigid quarantines and intensive control work which 

 has restricted the dispersal of the pest, it is established^" in 115 counties 

 in seven Southern States. The infested area in some counties is very 

 small. The distribution of the white-fringed beetle, by States and counties, 

 is given by G. G. Rohwer of the U. S. Bureau of Entomology and Plant 

 Quarantine as follows: 



Alabama : Baldwin, Chilton, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dallas, 

 Escambia, Geneva, Jefferson, Lowndes, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Wilcox. 



Florida : Escambia, Holmes, Oklaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton. 



Georgia : Baldwin, Ben Hill, Bibb, Bleckley, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Clarke, Clay- 

 ton, Clay, Cobb, Coffee, Coweta, Crawford, Crisp, DeKalb, Dodge, Dooly, 

 Emanuel, Evans, Fulton, Habersham, Harris, Houston, Irwin, Jasper, Jefferson, 

 Johnson, Laurens, Macon, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscogee, Newton, Peach, 

 Putnam, Richmond, Screven, Spalding, Sumter, Talbot, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, 

 Toombs, Treutlen, Troup, Turner, Twiggs, Washington, Wheeler, Wilcox, 

 Wilkinson. 



Louisiana : Iberia, Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, 

 Tangipahoa. 



Mississippi : Attala, Covington, Forrest, Grenada, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, 

 Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Montgomery, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, 

 Rankin, Simpson, Stone. 



North Carolina : Anson, Bladen, Brunswick, Cumberland, Craven, Duplin, Jones, 

 Lenoir, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Robeson, Sampson, Wayne, Union. 



South Carolina : Richland, Fairfield. 



The white-fringed beetle is native to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay 

 in South America. It has been introduced into the United States and also 

 into Australia (9, 147). 



Larvae of the white-fringed beetle feed upon underground parts of 

 peanuts and damage the stand and yield. Adults feed upon the foliage. 

 Uncontrolled, heavy infestation may cause a complete loss of the peanut 

 crop. One report (170) showed an average of 283 larvae per square yard 

 in peanut fields and upon emergence as high as 44 adults on one plant. 

 In addition to peanuts, the insect feeds upon several hundred other species 

 of plants," including cotton, velvetbean, soybean, lespedeza, lima bean, 

 okra, sweet potato, cowpea, chufa, corn, tomato, clovers, many orna- 

 mentals, and numerous other cultivated and wild plants. 



Description of stages. The adult white-fringed beetle was originally 



i» 1948. 



U- Two hundred thirty- four specimens in one locality in Alabama (147). 



