OF THE FxVKM AKD GARDEN. 



51 



worm, Pliacellura nitidalis. The moth of the latter is 

 somewhat smaller, and the ground color of the wings is a 

 bronze yellow and the black border is broader. 



^^Much later in the season a few worms were found on 

 cucumbers, and were pronounced by Professor Comstock 

 to be melon-worms. A year preyious, in the summer of 

 1878, I found a chrysalis webbed in a tomato leaf, and 

 this chrysalis gave forth the same moth, as was found in 

 1879 to issue from the melon-worm chrysalis. This worm 

 had probably fed on the foliage of a pumpkin vine which 

 ran near the tomato plant. 



^' The melon-worm, Pliacellura hyalinatalis, is known 

 then to destroy musk-melons, cucumbers, and pumj^kins. 

 Its cousin, the pickle-worm, Pliacellura nitidaUs, has 

 been found here, but it remains to be determined whether 

 it plays any part in the destruction of melons or of 

 cucumbers in this locality. 



" Coefficient remedy for this has been discovered here. 

 Some have tried placing each melon on a piece of plank, 

 under the mistaken notion that the worms emerged from 

 the earth. Paris green and London purple are objection- 

 able, by reason of their poisonous properties. Professor 

 Comstock has suggested to me a trial of the Persian 

 insect-powder, Pyrethrum. Whatever remedy is employed 

 it must be applied to the leaves as well as to the melons. 

 The worms devour both foliage and fruit, and, if the 

 fruit alone be protected, the foliage will be destroyed, 

 the plants will cease to grow, and the melons will not 

 come to maturity." 



The number of broods in a season has not been definitely 

 ascertained. The insect mnters in the chrysalis state, 

 spun up in the leaves of any neighboring tree or plant. 

 They usually migrate to a greater or less distance from 

 their feeding place before webbing up. At Rock Ledge, 

 Fla., they were found abundantly webbed up on Palmetto 



