27 
common and more destructive than any other cucurbit pest with which 
we have to deal. 
This species first came to notice in the first week of July, where 
cucumber plants were seen to be dying just before the ripening of the 
fruit. Larvee were taken at the roots of infested plants and reared 
to the adult. September 20 beetles were so numerous on the fruit of 
cucumber as to spoil it for market. They were also found in abundance 
cutting holes into canteloupes, and during the last week of that month 
and the first of October were still more plentiful, eating numerous 
holes in the foliage of late watermelons and attacking the fruit as well, 
eating off the rind in large patches. October 6 leaves and nearly ripe 
pods of beans, here and there in a patch, were found to be severely 
attacked by the beetles. They would congregate in numbers upon a 
single leaf or pod,or upon a bunch of these, with the result that the 
leaves attacked would die and the bean pods would be rendered so 
unsightly as to be useless for the market. 
A considerable proportion of the beetles found at this last date had 
evidently developed within a week or two, as many were quite soft and 
delicate and not fully colored. 
Among wild plants the writer has for years noticed the partiality of 
the beetles for the flowers of golden-rod and asters. The present 
autumn beetles were observed to devour the colored portions, stamens, 
pistils, and ray flowers of these plants, and it is probable that they 
attack several other composites which bloom at this time. 
Dr. Lintner refers to instances of serious damage by D. vittata, 
reported by the Pacific Rural Press of June 11, 1887, to pear, quince, 
and almonds in Byron, Cal., but it seems more than probable that the 
insect concerned in this injury is D. trivittata Mann., which does great 
damage to the buds of fruit trees in California, where it replaces D. 
vittata. 
Injury by this species, as is well known, is largely due to the work of 
the beetles upon young plants, which they often damage beyond recov- 
ery soon after, and even before, they appear above ground. Injury by 
the larve, the writer suspects, is nearly, if not quite, as serious in many 
cases, especially where other insetts—such as the vine-boring Melittia 
larvee in the stems, or the squash bug or plant-louse on the foliage— 
are also at work. The subterranean habit of the larvee makes it certain 
that they are more often than not at the roots of cucurbits without the 
knowledge of the grower, the outward manifestation of their presence 
being the wilting of the leaves and the failure of the plants to develop 
perfect fruit. 
Judging by recent observations (F. M. Webster, Ent. News, Vol. 
VII, p. 139), even the expedient of starting cucurbits in greenhouses is 
not a perfect remedy for this insect, as it has been reported, both as 
larva and beetle, as destroying cucumbers in greenhouses in midwinter 
near Cincinnati, Ohio. 
