U. S. D. A., B. E. Bui. 82, Part IV. Issued May 20, 1910. 
SOME INSECTS INJURIOUS TO TRUCK CROPS. 
THE LIFE HISTORY AND CONTROL OF THE HOP FLEA- 
BEETLED 
(Psylliodes punctulata Melsh.) 
By William B. Parker, 
Collaborator. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The most injurious insect attacking the hop vines in British 
Columbia is the hop flea-beetle (Psylliodes punctulata Melsh.), which 
is widely distributed over the northern part of the United States and 
extends into the southern part of Canada. Although this beetle feeds 
freely upon rhubarb, sugar beets, and certain truck plants, it was not 
known as a notably serious pest until a few years ago, when it began 
its depredations in the hopyards of the Chilliwack and the Agassiz 
valleys in British Columbia. 
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE. 
According to Mr. H. Hulbert, Sardis, British Columbia, the hop 
flea -beetle was present in the Chilliwack Valley when he began to 
grow hops there in 1894. However, it made no perceptible increase 
a This investigation against the hop flea-beetle was made possible through the 
good offices of the E. Clemens Horst Hop Company, and particularly their 
general manager, Mr. Theo. Eder. This company is the largest grower in the 
section concerned, and fully appreciated the necessity of inaugurating studies 
looking to the control of the insect. At the request of this company Prof. H. J. 
Quayle, of the California experiment station, spent some time in the infested 
section in the summer of 1908, during which time the earlier stages of the insect 
were first made known. The writer began work under his direction the 1st of 
January, 1909, and continued the work on the problem until the following fall, 
when Mr. Quayle again took the field, closing up the studies at the time of the 
harvesting of the hops. 
Note. — This publication is, in large part, supplementary to an article entitled 
" The Hop Flea-Beetle," issued in May, 1909, as Bulletin No. 66, Part VI. It is 
necessarily of a more practical nature, and it is hoped that it will be of great 
value to the hop growers of the West, and that it will also have some value to 
the growers of sugar beets and various vegetables, including especially root 
crops grown in the same region. — F. H. Chittenden. 
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