
THE WAVY-STRIPED FLEA-BEETLE. 
BY HENRY SHIMER, M. D. 
Tus beautiful little beetle, also called “Striped Turnip- 
fly” (Haltica striolata Fabricius) at the West, is well known 
and abundant. Every gardener is conversant with the fact 
that like fleas, grasshoppers, ete., it springs away to a great 
distance when he attempts to put his finger upon it. It 
appears in early spring, and is a constant annoyance to the 
gardencr during the whole summer. 
The Striped Turnip-beetle (Fig. 1) is less than one-tenth 
of an inch in length. Its general appearance is black, with 
Fig.l. Fig.2. 2a, a broad wavy yellowish, or bufi-colored 
stripe, on each wing-cover. The larva 
(Fig. 2; 2a, pupa) is white, with a 
faint darkened or dusky median line 
on the anterior half of the body, being 
probably the contents of the alimentary canal seen through 
the semitranslucent skin. The head is horny and light 
rown. On the posterior extremity is a brown spot equal 
to the head in size; and there are six true legs and one 
proleg. In its form and general appearance it somewhat 
resembles the larva of the Cucumber-beetle, but. it is much 
smaller. Its motion is slow, arching up the abdomen 
slightly, on paper or any smooth surface, in such a post 
_ tion that its motions are necessarily awkward and unnatural, 
because in a state of nature it never crawls over the surface, 
but digs and burrows among the roots in the ground. i 
length is .35 of an inch, and breadth .06 of an inch. It fi 
upon roots beneath the ground. 
The pupa is naked, white, and transforms in a little earthen 
cocoon, pressed and prepared by the larva, in the groun: 
near its feeding place. This period is short. 
From my notes I see that on June 14, 1865, I put 4 
(514) ; 



