THE DESERT CORN FLEA-BEETLE. 21 
or three times a year, or to pasture them with sheep, thus keeping 
down all weed and grass growth. 
ELIMINATION OF HIBERNATION QUARTERS. 
Cleaning up weeds and grasses will eliminate a great many of the 
hibernation quarters of this beetle, and if such methods oan be car- 
ried further, to include all waste places and any place where trash 
may accumulate, then the hibernating beetles will not be able to 
protect themselves from the colder days and frosty nights of the 
winter months and their numbers will be reduced. 
SUMMARY. 
The desert corn flea-beetle is present in injurious numbers in the 
cultivated areas of the southwestern United States, where it takes 
an annual toll upon such crops as corn, milo maize, sugar cane, 
Sudan grass, wheat, barley, and alfalfa. Both the adults and the 
larvae are concerned in injuring crops, the adults feeding upon the 
top of the plant and the larvae upon the roots. 
The eggs are deposited at or near the surface of the ground and 
hatch in about six days. The young larvae are found within the tender 
roots of the food plants, while the older larvae are found in the soil 
near these roots. The average length of the larval stage is found to 
be 32 days. 
The prepupal and pupal stages are both passed within a cell in 
the soil near to the roots *on which the larvae fed. 
The flea-beetles hibernate in the adult stage under rubbish or at 
the base of various grasses growing in the regions of infestation. 
The total length of the life cycle of this flea-beetle is about seven 
weeks, there being from three to four generations each year. 
The numbers of adult flea-beetles can be reduced greatly by 
cleaning up hibernation quarters and eradicating some of their weed 
food plants, such as Johnson grass, salt grass, and Bermuda grass. 
They can be further reduced by carefully cultivating such crops as 
can be cultivated just as soon as the soil becomes dry, following each 
irrigation. This method destroys a great many pupae. Small 
pieces of corn can be sprayed successfully with arsenate of lead, using 
2 pounds to 50 gallons of water, the water being made into a strong 
soap solution. This acts both as a repellent and as a poison to the 
beetles. 
Injury to corn and other crops can be overcome partially if the 
soil is placed in the best possible cultural condition by the addition 
of barnyard manure or other fertilizer. 
The nymphs and adults of a predacious hemipteron (Reduviolus 
ferus L.) were observed to feed upon these beetles, and a small 
parasitic wasp, Neurepyris sp. (fig. 7.), was found to prey upon the 
larvae and prepupae. 
