42 



INJURIOUS INSECTS 



CUCUMBER. 

 THE STRIPED CUCUMBER-BEETLE. 



{Diabrotica vittata, Fabr.) 



The Striped Cucumber-Beetle is an insect which annu- 

 ally destroys thousand of dollars' worth of vines in the 

 United States, and for which remedies innumerable — 

 some sensible, but the greater portion not worth the 

 paper on which they are printed — are published CTery 

 year in some of the agricultural papers. 



As everything pertaining to such a very common and 

 destructive insect cannot be too often repeated, I will 

 here relate its habits in the briefest manner. 



The parent beetles (fig. 27) make their appearance quite 

 early in the season, when they immediately commence 

 their work of destruction. They fre- 

 quently penetrate through the cracks 

 that are made by the swelling and 

 s^^routing of the seeds of melons, cucum- 

 Fig. 27.— sTEiPED hers, or squashes, aud by nipping off the 

 CUCUMBER-BEETLE. ^^^^^ gprouts, dcstroy the plant before 

 it is even out of the ground. 



Their subsequent work, when the vines have once 

 pushed forth their leaves, is too well kno^Ti to need des- 

 cription. Yet notwithstanding the great numbers and 

 the persistency of these beetles, we finally succeed, with 

 the proper perseverance and vigilance in nursing and 

 protecting our vines, until we think they are large enough 

 to withstand all attacks. Besides, by this time, the 

 beetles actually begin to diminish in numbers, and we 

 cono^ratulate ourselves on our success. But lol All of 

 a sudden, many of our vines commence to wilt, and they 

 finally die outright. No wound or injury is to be found 



