becomes slugg-ish and dies. In some cases, he hides in the soil to 
die, while in other cases he may be found just under the leaf upon 
which he has died. 
The female crawls down 
the stalk about one and one- 
half inches below the surface 
of the soil — just above 
where the large roots branch 
off — and deposits her eggs 
on the stalk. Then she 
comes out of the ground, 
mopes around a day or two 
without eating, and dies. 
The general color of the 
recently laid eggs is lemon 
yellow with very small dots 
forming- a color pattern which becomes less and less distinct as the 
process of incubation makes the eggs darker. At first the egg is 
cylindrical, with rounded ends, but it becomes shorter, thicker, and 
more nearly “egg-shaped” as the germ develops. While the eggs 
are deposited singly, they are usually found in clusters containing 
from five to twenty eggs, adhering rather loosely to the root of the 
plant and to one another. One female lays from forty to eighty 
Cucumber Beetle, adult, pupa and larvae. After 
Chittenden, Bu. Ent. U. 8. Dep. Ag. 
eggs. 
As soon as the larvae are hatched out, they begin work on 
the root-stalk of the plant. At first, they are so small and white 
and wiggly that they appear very much like maggots, but they have 
true legs, pro-legs, and biting jaws. A larva begins by eating a 
layer from the outer surface of the stem, and while it may take a 
fairly wide swath, it keeps the general direction of the vine until it 
is about four or five inches above the ground. Another may take 
the layer just under where the first went, and so on until there are 
eight or even twelve larvae eating from the roots towards the vine, 
making quite a burrow in the stalk. If unchecked, the larvae will 
destroy a plant in three days after they appear. 
Soon after the larvae appear above the ground, the flat sides of 
the stalks begin to turn white, then the leaves nearest the roots turn 
white around the edges, and finally the whole plant begins to 
wither. 
There is but one generation of these beetles a year. The larvae 
grow very rapidly and pass into the inactive pupa stage. In a few 
days, the adults appear, and these hibernate beneath piles of rub- 
4 
