• 96 



TRUCK INSECTS. 



May 15 I received specimens of the pea louse (Nectaropliora pisi 

 Kalt.) from Dallas, and Ma} T 27 I found that the}' had destined a 

 garden patch of peas on the Brazos River, near Wellborn, Tex. It 

 would seem probable, therefore, that this is a general pest of peas in 

 Texas, as Professor Quaintance has also observed it near Victoria. 



The southern leaf -footed plant-bug (Leptoglossus pliyllopus) is one 

 of the worst pests of ripe plums and x^eaches, and this year was fre- 

 quently reported injuring tomatoes by sucking the fruit. 



The striped blister beetle (Epicauta vittata) is also a common pest 

 of tomatoes and alfalfa. 



A new tomato pest, determined for me by Prof. E. D. Ball, is 

 Sticiocephala rotundata Stal. The adult insects puncture the stems 

 of the young xnants, causing them to wilt. No nymphs were reported 

 found on tomatoes in the fields. In the breeding cage eggs were laid 

 in the base of the stem in pairs, much like those of the buffalo tree- 

 hopper. The nyniphs did not seem to thrive on tomato, however, all 

 dj'ing shortly. This is probably a synonym of S. festina, and, if so, 

 has been previously recorded on tomatoes in Georgia and in New 

 Mexico on alfalfa. 



A leaf-bug, Dicyphus separatus Uhl., nearly related to the suck-fty 

 of tobacco, has been troublesome to tomatoes in the college greenhouse. 



The chicken tick (Argas americana) is now to be found as far north 

 as the Red River and is occasionally reported from localities where 

 formerly unknown. 



The sweet-potato weevil (Cylas formicarius) has been the cause' of 

 the practical abandonment of the growing of sweet potatoes, which 

 were formerly a quite profitable crop, in counties in south Texas. It 

 has now spread to Austin, where it has been known for four years, 

 and near Marlin, where it was destructive for the first time this season. 

 This is a southern or tropical insect, but it is quite cosmopolitan, 

 occurring in India, China, Madagascar, and Jamaica, and may very 

 possibly spread farther north. Boring from the stem into the root 

 and working in stored sweet potatoes, it is a difficult pest to combat 

 and easily spreads. 



One of the principal pests of the plum is the aphis, hitherto unde- 

 scribed though first recorded and figured by Mr. TV. M. Scott at the 

 thirteenth meeting of this Association." As this is evidently a south- 

 ern species, I propose to name it the southern plum aphis, and hope 

 to publish a full description of the viviparous forms shortly. It 

 undoubtedly oviposits on plum in the fall and in Texas migrates 

 from it in early summer. 



«Bull. 31, Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agr., pp. 5G-58, figs. 1 to 4, 



