INSECT PESTS 



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odecimpimctata (F), attacking young peanut pods in Virginia; the nuts 

 within the pods were devoured. Following this report, peanut damage 

 from this insect received little attention until recent years. An average of 

 12 to 28.1 percent of the pods was reported as injured during 1945 and 

 1946 in a study made in Virginia (64) . D. duodecimpunctata and larvae 

 of the related species, D. balteata Lee, were found attacking peanut pods 

 in Alabama ( 5) . Because of the difficulty of distinguishing between the two 

 closely related species of larvae, no attempt was made to determine rela- 

 tive abundance. However, the large number of recently transformed D. 

 balteata adults found in pupal cells in the soil around the peanuts indi- 

 cated this species was the predominant one. In 1947 Arant (5) observed 

 as high as 35 percent of the pods injured in some fields, but in this in- 

 stance a wireworm, Heteroderes sp. appeared to be doing much of the 

 damage. Other soil pests appear to be of less importance. 



Figure 4. Peanut pods damaged by soil insects (wireworms and Diabrotica larvae.) 



