Beet Leafhopper 



The beet leafhopper is a sucking in- 

 sect about Yg inch long. It is gray 

 to greenish yellow. Beet leafhoppers 

 breed on weeds such as sowbane, lambs- 

 quarters, and careless weed. Canta- 

 loup plants are not their favorite food, 

 and they do not reproduce on them. 



The beet leafhopper. 



They soon leave if there are no weeds 

 in the field. If weeds are present, the 

 leafhoppers will remain in the field and 

 hop back and forth between the weeds 

 and the cantaloup plants. 



The beet leafhopper is the only in- 

 sect known to transmit curly top, a 

 virus disease that usually kills canta- 

 loup plants in the seedling stage. 

 Plants affected by curly top when they 

 have 2, 3, or 4 leaves may be so stunted 

 that they are worthless, or they may 

 die. Plants affected after the 6-leaf 

 stage may look undamaged; yet the 

 quality and yield of the melons may be 

 reduced. Older plants may show 

 symptoms of curly top at the ends of 

 the runners, such as shortening of the 

 distance between leaves, and inward 

 curling of leaves. 



Not all beet leafhoppers transmit the 

 curly top virus. The percentage of 

 virus carriers may be low or it may be 

 high. Noncarriers can pick up the 

 virus from plants infected by carriers 

 and, in turn, infect healthy plants. A 

 leafhopper infected with the curly top 

 virus remains infective. 



The leafhoppers that you see in your 

 fields may have come from different 

 places. You cannot judge by their 

 numbers alone how much damage they 

 may do. The amount of damage de- 

 pends on the number of virus carriers 

 and the potency of the virus strain they 

 carry. 



• Control. — Clean culture is a 

 "must" in beet leafhopper control. 

 Weed the fields as early as possible. 

 Early weeding protects young plants, 

 which are highly susceptible to curly 

 top. By the time plants have begun to 

 send out runners, they have developed 

 considerable resistance to the disease. 



If beet leafhoppers migrate to the 

 fields before you weed, apply demeton 

 or parathion and remove the weeds 

 immediately. Blanket the entire field 

 with the dust or spray. Most of the 

 leafhoppers are on weeds or resting on 

 open ground. 



Leaf Miners 



Adult leaf miners are black flies 

 about Yg inch long. They have a yel- 

 low spot on the back between the wings. 

 They lay eggs in the leaves. The mag- 

 gots that hatch from the eggs feed 

 within the leaves, forming irregular 

 tunnels, or mines. 



• Control. — Insecticides seldom 

 need to be used. Fifteen species of 

 tiny, wasplike parasites attack leaf 

 miners and ordinarily hold them in 

 check. Most of the insecticides that 

 kill leaf miners also kill the beneficial 

 parasites. Some insecticides, such as 

 DDT, kill the parasites but not the leaf 

 miners, and their use increases the 

 number of leaf miners. 



Leaf miners may be controlled with 

 parathion, which penerates the tunnels 

 and kills the maggots. You may need 

 to repeat the application in 7 to 10 days 

 if injury continues. 



