Some Insects Injurious to Vegetables 



1345 



They may bo quite effectually destroyed with a poison bait 

 made of 10 pounds of bran and 1 pound of white arsenic or paria 

 green moistened with just enough water to hold the materials 

 together, after which a quart or two of cheap molasses should be 

 added to sweeten the mixture. A handful of this bait should 

 be placed near each cabbage plant in the evening so that the 

 cutworms will be attracted to it during the night after they 

 emerge from their hiding places. 



Fig. 400.— The Squash Bug: (a) 

 Adult •. (n ) Nymph 



SQUASH BUG 



The squash bug ( .1 nasa tristis ) is blackish-brown in color on top 

 and specked with yellow underneath. It is from one-half to nearly 

 three-fourths of an inch long 

 and lias two long antenna 1 on the 

 head (Fig. 400-a). On the un- 

 derside of the head is a long 

 slender beak which constitutes 

 the mouth parts, and with 

 which it sucks up the juices of 

 the plants on which it feeds. 



The full-grown bugs hide 

 away in the fall beneath stones, 

 boards, leaves and other rub- 

 bish that they may find. In 

 spring they come from their hiding places and begin their search 

 for squash vines. When they find the plants they soon commence 

 jg, to lav their brown ea'2's on the under- 



sides of the leaves, and sometimes on the 

 upper sides also. Occasionally the eggs 

 are laid in regular rows, as shown in 

 jj^ the illustration (Fig. 401). In eight to 

 twelve days small green and black bugs 

 hatch from the eggs. These young bugs 

 are somewhat like the full-grown ones, 

 but they have no wings and are lighter 

 green in color (Fig. 400-n). They are 



called nymphs and each one has a beak 

 Fig. 401. — Eggs of a .,-, {■ ^ - L *. ,i i ,- i 



Squash Bug on a Leaf Wlth wnicn lt punctures the leal and 



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