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CHRYSANTHEMUM MANUAL 
Insects and Their Control 
The corn ear worm is a green to brown, nearly smooth 
caterpiller often mistaken for a cutworm when found 
within the buds or on the open flowers. 
It is very destructive to the opening buds, for 
it feeds on their petals and other parts, deforming 
if not entirely ruining the flowers. 
If the attacked plants are blooming, spray- 
ing is out of the question, but thorough treatment 
with a 3 or 5% D.D.T. dust is recommended. After 
they have worked their way into the buds and are 
found to be feeding on the open flowers, hand-pick- 
ing is the only remedy. Spraying the plants with 
Deenate 50W will control them before the color 
shows. Parathion fumigation will also keep them 
under control. 
The larva is dull colored and from one to more than 2 
inches in length. They are most active at night, and 
usually spend the day coiled up just under the surface 
of the soil at the base of the plant. They should not be 
confused with the corn ear worm, which cannot be con- 
trolled by poison baits. 
Cut worms obtain their food by biting out 
sections of the leaf, stem or bud. Various species 
attack different parts of the plant. The one that is 
most damaging climbs to the top of the stem and 
eats into the flower buds. 
Those cutworms that feed on the foliage 
can best be controlled with Deenate 50W spray 
using |!/> pounds to 100 gallons of water. Parathion 
Corn Ear Worm Damage 
Leaf Tyer 
has been suggested as a good control measure and 
is more effective as a spray. 
It gets its name from its habit of spinning light webs 
inclosing 2 or more leaves or tying together the parts 
of a single leaf. This caterpillar is very active, and 
when disturbed, will wriggle off the leaf, often back- 
wards, lowering itself on a silk-like strand. 
When first hatched, the larvae eat out shal- 
low holes on the under side of the leaf. As they 
grow, they enlarge these holes but usually do not cut 
through to the upper surface. The result is that the 
leaves become skeletonized. 
The best poison to control the larvae is 
Deenate 50W, either in the form of a dust or a 
spray. For liquid spray use |!/2 pounds of Deenate 
50W to 100 gallons of water. Regular fumigations 
with Parathion will keep the leaf tyer under control. 
The leaf roller is best controlled with Parathion or 
TDE. TDE (Rhothane) is closely related to DDT and it 
is used at the rate of 2 pounds of 50% wettable 
powder to 100 gallons of water. 
Mealy bugs are small, sluggish, whitish, soft bodied 
insects, measuring up to: one-quarter inch long, found 
in clusters on the undersides of the leaves or in the 
leaf axils. 
This pest sucks the juices from the stems and 
leaves, discoloring and deforming the foliage. 
Parathion or Dithio are the most effective. 
Repeated applications necessary. 
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Mealy Bugs 
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