INSECT PESTS 239 



emerge from May until November (169), the peak of emergence coming 

 in July. Rainfall stimulates emergence. The beetles feed a few days and 

 gradually disperse over the nearby areas. Since the elytra are fused to- 

 gether and the insect cannot fly, dispersal is by crawling and the distance 

 traveled is less than 1 mile. Eggs are deposited and the adults die 2 or 3 

 months after emergence. Apparently few beetles over-winter in southern 

 Alabama (169, 170) but adults have been found throughout the winter in 

 the vicinity of New Orleans, Louisiana (91). 



Control. Natural enemies are apparently of minor importance in con- 

 trol of white-fringed beetles. Strong (141) reported that no natural en- 

 emies of P- leucoloma had been found in studies through 1938-39. Glaser 

 et al. (61 ) reported a nematode, Neoaplectana glaseri Steiner, parasitizing 

 P. leucoloma and related insects. Swain (142) reported A'^. glazeri attack- 

 ing P. peregrinus and P. leucoloma; also N. chresima Steiner in P. pere- 

 grinus. 'Later he reported (143) Diplogaster sp. capable of parasitizing 

 white-fringed beetles, but of minor importance. 



Much of the first control work on white-fringed beetle was in the 

 nature of locating infestations, confining the insect in local areas, sup- 

 pressing and, if possible, eradicating it. Federal and State quarantines 

 have been in force and clean-up campaigns have been conducted. Research 

 stations have been established at Florala, Alabama; Gulfport, Missis- 

 sippi ; New Orleans, Louisiana ; Fort Valley, Georgia ; and other local- 

 ities, by the U.S. Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine in co- 

 operation with State agencies. 



Much progress has been made in the control of this insect on peanuts 

 and other crops in recent years. Calcium arsenate and cryolite dusts, 

 clean cultivations, herbicides for the destruction of wild host plants, and 

 the use of soil fumigants such as methyl bromide and carbon disulfide 

 were among the first control recommendations (111). More recently 

 DDT has shown great promise. DDT has been reported (166) to be 69 

 to 74 times as effective as cryolite. As little as 0.125 pound of DDT per 

 100 gallons of spray gave a higher kill on peanut foliage than 12.5 pounds 

 of cryolite (165). In experiments at Florala, Alabama, (167, 168) 5 

 pounds technical DDT per acre, in the form of a dust or dissolved in 

 zylol and mixed with the upper 3 inches of soil, gave complete mortality 

 of newly hatched larvae. Smaller dosages gave complete mortality of 

 summer-hatched larvae, but not of those hatched in late fall. When mixed 

 with the soil at the rate of 10 pounds per acre and above, DDT gave 

 complete mortality of newly hatched larvae the year following application, 

 i.e., the second year. In the presence of white-fringed beetle larvae, pea- 



