26o 



AN ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



circular lid from the cocoon, wriggles its way to the surface, and 

 through it into the open air. This has long been a pest to 

 squash-growers, and the usual remedy is cutting them out when 

 the wilting vines denote their presence. This is quite practical, 

 but has the disadvantage of being very slow, besides having a 

 tendency to injure the vines if the cutting is unskilfully done. 

 Care must be taken to cut only longitudinally, while the wounds 

 should be rubbed with dry soil and covered with earth to facilitate 

 healing. Covering the joints to induce rooting is advantageous, 

 because it gives new sources of supply for plant food ; so that even 

 if the vine be entirely severed at the original root, it may mature 

 fruit from the suckers. Where squashes are raised on a large 

 scale, the best method is to trap the insects by a first crop of 

 some summer variety, preferably crook-necks. These grow 

 rapidly, and the moths readily lay their eggs upon them, the 

 plants continuing to do well even when infested by the larvae, 

 and maturing an early crop of fruit. The late squashes, Hub- 

 bard or marrowfat, may be planted when the summer varieties 

 are well under way, and by the time they are large enough to 

 be attractive to the moths, most if not all the eggs will have 

 been laid, and they will be practically exempt. As soon as the 

 late varieties need the ground the sum- 

 mer variety should be carefully removed, 

 the plants being taken out entire and 

 destroyed, and with them the brood of 

 contained larvae. In other words, the 

 summer squashes are to be used as a 

 trap crop to protect the Hubbard, mar- 

 rowfat, or other main, late variety. It 

 should be said that in the Central and 

 Southern States there are two broods 

 of these insects, and even on Long 

 Island, New York, a few specimens are 

 occasionally found in September. Vigor- 

 ous war on the first brood, however, by 

 means of traps will prevent injury from 

 the second. 



Blackberries are often attacked by a similar larva at the surface 

 of the ground or a little below it, boring sometimes a little dis- 



Bembecia marginata.—a, 

 male ; b, female. 



