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TRUCK CROP INSECT INVESTIGATIONS 
PF. H. Chittenden, Entomologist in Charge 
A serious outbreak of the Mexican bean beetle (Epilachna corrup ta 
one has been reported from north-central Alabama over an area sbraatee 
aa a ea counties centering about Birmingham, where 50 per cent of 
ee nv. n foes crops have been destroyed. Ch H, Popenoe and J. F. 
Beni t [nee completed a trip of inspection in the infested bdcality and 
 corict : damage resul ting from the attack in Alabama is, if possible 
ie Ea - han that ordinarily accomplished in Colorado, in which State 
thie ite si beans is ordinarily rendered unprofitable through injury by 
‘ei _ i ile in view of the short time during which observations have 
ey ac + e) definite predictions can scarcely be made as to the results 
oa y be expected in the eastern United States, it is significant that 
& bean beetle has, during a period of two years which have elapsed since 
its observed introduction at that point, accomplished a radical change in 
its habits through the adoption of the cowpea as a food plant, a host pre~ 
viously unrecorded. In the Southwest the bean beetle ranges from altitudes 
of 3,000 to 7,000 feet and surviv8/winter temperatures of more than 30° be- 
low zero, indicating a capacity for surviving any temperature in which beans 
are grown. In an average season between frosts of spring and fall, cover- 
ing approximately 150 days in Colorado, two generations are ordinarily rear- 
ed, Indications in the Alabama infested territory, where a season of 240 
frostless days is possible, are that atileast three generations, and pos- 
sibly four, may occur. Should it be found impossible to check the ecastwaré 
progress of this pest, there is the probability of as disastrous results to 
the bean and cowpea industries of the South as the Colorado potato beetle 
and cotton bollweevil have occasioned to the crops which they attack, The 
bean beetle is one of the most destructive pests in the region which it in- 
habits and has as great possibilities for destractiveness as the Colorado 
potato beetle, which it resembles in many respects, The exact distribution 
of this pest, which appears to have been introductd in shipments of alfal- 
fa hay or bean seed from Colorado during war times, is not at present as 
well defined as desirable, 
Entomologists will confer a favor by sending suspected specimens to * 
this office for determination, since the practicability of an eradicationa 
Campaign will depend upon whether the distribution east of the Mississippi 
River is restricted to the region now known to be infested in Alabama, 
J. W. Hendry, W. H. Merrill, ané S. C. Brummitt, of the office of Truck 
Crop Insect Investigations, have been assigned to make a brief preliminary 
survey as to the extent of the Alabama infestation. 
