THE SQUASH LADYBIRD. 13 



COMMON NAMES AND SYNONYMY. 



Quite a variety of English names have been applied to this species, 

 each writer having seemingly bestowed upon it an appellation of his 

 own coinage. Thus we have: Northern ladybird, boreal ladybird, 

 boreal ladybird beetle, herbivorous lady bug, squash coccinella, spotted 

 squash bug, and pumpkin beetle. The name of squash ladybird is 

 adopted as more suitable than boreal or northern ladybird, either of 

 which is peculiarly inappropriate, considering the fact that the species 

 abounds in the tropics, belonging to a neo-tropical genus, and that 

 there are several Coccinellids with a more northern range than this. 



In our American literature this species is always mentioned under 

 the specific name of borealis, either as Coccinella or Epilachna. It has 

 also been described, from Central and South America, under other 

 names, of which the following are recognized by Rev. H. S. Gorbam as 

 synonyms (Biol. Centr. Amer., Col., vol. vn, p. 241, Jan., 1898): G. 

 immacuUcollis Chevr., E. cequinoctialis Muls., E. particollis Muls., 

 C. 13-notata Latr., E. distincta Weise. Of these cequinoctialis, immacu- 

 Ucollis, and distincta are well-marked color variations. 



FOOD PLANTS. 



. The squash ladybird, as might be gathered from its name, is particu- 

 larly fond of squash, upon which it feeds as larva and beetle. It may 

 be found often in some abundance on the leaves of -pumpkin, whence 

 one of its vernacular names, pumpkin beetle, also on cantaloupe, water- 

 melon, and cucumber, and it has two natural or wild food plants in the 

 prickly cucumber or wild balsam apple (Echinocystis looata) and the one- 

 seeded bur cucumber (Sicyos angulatus). The larva feeds almost exclu- 

 sively on the lower surface of a leaf, consuming the lower epidermis and 

 parenchyma and leaving the upper integument, veins, and nervures 

 more or less intact. The beetles feed by preference on the upper sur- 

 face, although they may often be found on the under side, and devour 

 all parts of a leaf except the veins. 



The habit of this species of feeding in free exposure on the upper 

 surface of leaves has been noticed by all who have studied it. This 

 is its feeding habit, but during the heat of midday the beetles seek con- 

 cealment under the shade of the leaves on the stems, and in other places 

 where they are not so readily noticed. As the sun gets low, however, 

 and a portion of their food plant is protected by shade, they come out 

 in numbers. During the middle of July they have been noticed in the 

 greatest abundance from between 5 and 6 in the afternoon until dark. 



Late in the season the beetles sometimes eat the epidermis of the 

 fruit of cucurbits. The injury to a plant is effected by the work of 

 the larval and adult stages about equally, due to the long period 

 of the latter stage. 



Both larvae and adults are slow of movement, the latter being seldom 

 seen in flight. 



