UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
S^&*^Wu 
ft? BULLETIN No. 843 
Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology 
L. O. HOWARD, Chief 
&Jf*^Lru 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
June 7, 1920 
THE BEAN LADYBIRD. 
By F. H. Chittenden, Entomologist in Charge, and H. O. Marsh, Entomological 
Assistant, Truck-Crop Insect Investigations. 
With a report on "The Bean Ladybird in Colorado, in 1919." 
By A. C. Maixory, Scientific Assistant. 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction 
Synonymy 
Description . 
The adults 
The egg 
The larva 
The pupa 
Distribution 
Danger of future spread 
Life history and habits 
Seasonal history 
Reproduction and development. 
History and literature 
Unpublished records 
Natural control 
Effect of climatic conditions 
Natural enemies 
Page. 
1 
2 
2 
2 
3 
4 
4 
5 
5 
7 
7 
7 
10 
11 
13 
13 
14 
Preventive measures 
Hand picking and brushing 
Clean cultural methods 
Early and late planting 
Direct measures of control 
Experiments with insecticides. 
Cooperation 
Summary of control measures. 
General summary 
Literature cited 
The bean ladybird in Colorado : 
1919 
Life-history records 
Injury 
Control 
Page. 
15 
15 
15 
15 
16 
16 
18 
18 
18 
20 
21 
21 
22 
23 
INTRODUCTION. 
In the semiarid region of the Southwest, where an immense acreage 
of beans is grown annually, a destructive insect known as the bean 
ladybird, bean beetle, "bean bug," and spotted bean beetle 1 does 
great injury. Indeed, it is to the bean crop what the Colorado potato 
beetle is to the potato, a pest of the highest importance in the region 
which it inhabits. 
The beetle devours all parts of the bean plant — leaves, flowers, and 
growing pods. Its main food supply, however, is the leaves, through 
which it cuts irregular holes (PL I; III; IV, fig. 1). Its injuries, 
1 Epilachna corrupta Muls. ; order Coleoptera, family Coccinellidae. 
Note. — This insect was under the observation of the junior author (who died Sep- 
tember 10, 1918), from 1914 to 1917. The life-history investigations were conducted in 
an open-air insectary at Rocky Ford, Colo. ; and some field operations were conducted 
also at Pueblo, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs, Colo., and at Maxwell and French, 
N. Mex. 
152117°— 20— Bull. 843 1 
