566 MAN CONTROLS HIS ENVIRONMENT FOR WEALTH 



The carpet beetle is a recognized foe of the housekeeper; the 

 larvae feed upon all sorts of woolen material. The larvae of the 

 clothes moth do an immense amount of damage, especially to stored 

 clothing. Fleas, lice, and bedbugs are among man's personal foes. 

 Besides being unpleasant, some of them are known to be disease 

 carriers, and as such they should be exterminated. 



The Medfly or Mediterranean fruit fly, which, since its appear- 

 ance in Spain in 1842, has spread to all parts of the world, was 

 discovered in Florida in April, 1929. It was found to breed in 

 all fruits, and also to attack peppers, tomatoes, lima beans, and 

 eggplants. The state of Florida as well as the National Govern- 

 ment immediately took steps to eradicate it. No fruit was per- 

 mitted to go out of the infested areas. All the trees, vines, and 

 other vegetables on which the flies fed were destroyed, and all 

 trees in near-by areas were sprayed at frequent intervals. These 

 methods proved so effective that after November 16, 1930, no 

 flies or infested fruits or vegetables were found. The Federal 

 quarantine on Florida products was then lifted. 



Practical Exercise 32. What problems do the farmers in your locality have 

 to meet in insect control? What insect enemies of shade or forest trees are 

 there in your locality? What is being done to control the pests? With the 

 information obtained from your local Chamber of Commerce or other sources 

 try to estimate the money loss caused by insects in one year in your community. 



Man's place in the chain of insect life. We have seen that man 

 is frequently directly responsible for the introduction of insect 

 pests. He may be indirectly responsible for them by planting 

 crops on which they can feed, for an increase in easily obtainable 

 food means more insects. Birds and other natural enemies will 

 do much in keeping down the number of insects, but man himself 

 has to do some of the fighting. If the farmers do not plant certain 

 crops, the insects cannot get food and they perish. Naturally 

 farmers do not want to lose their crops, so they have gone to the 

 Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, the various state experiment stations, and others for help. 



Methods of control of insect pests. In general we have three 

 different methods for controlling insect enemies. The first is to 

 learn what their natural enemies are and then introduce these 



