Plants infested by curly top when they are in older stages may show symptoms at 

 the ends of runners. One symptom is shortening of distance between leaves. 



Southern Garden and Western 

 Potato Leaf hoppers 



The southern garden and western 

 potato leafhoppers resemble the beet 

 leafhopper but are smaller, and green. 

 They deposit eggs within the leaves and 

 stems. Young leafhoppers (nymphs) 

 hatch from the eggs and develop on the 

 underside of the leaves. 



Feeding of nymphs and adults re- 

 moves the chlorophyll ( green coloring) 

 from leaves — usually the leaves of the 

 older plants. White specks appear. 

 Damage occurs on the lower leaves first. 

 It can be seen only when you separate 

 the outer foliage. If the insects are un- 

 controlled, most of the leaves will be 

 damaged, the quality of the melons will 

 be lowered, and the melons will be ex- 

 posed to the sun. 



• Control. — Apply parathion or 

 malathion. Since these insects usually 

 do not become numerous until 2 or 3 

 weeks before harvest, one application 

 is usually enough. 



Thrips 



Several species of thrips, slender in- 

 sects that are usually less than y i6 inch 

 long, infest Southwestern cantaloup 

 fields. Ordinarily they cause only 

 slight damage, but if large numbers of 

 them occur on small plants early in the 

 season they slow down plant growth. 



• Control. — If spider mites are 

 not present, apply dieldrin or para- 

 thion. 



