Garden and Field InsectsHelp with indetifying and controlling Garden and Field Insects.
The Cabbage Worm. The cabbage worm of the early spring garden is a familiar object, but you may not know that the innocent-looking little white butterflies hovering about the cabbage patch are laying eggs which are soon to hatch and make the dreaded cabbage worms. In Fig. 164 a and b show the common cabbage butterfly, c shows several examples of the caterpillar, and d shows the pupa case. In the pupa stage the insects pass the winter among the remains of old plants or in near-by fences or in weeds or bushes. Cleaning up and burning all trash will destroy many pupæ and thus prevent many cabbage worms. In Fig. 164 e and f show the moth and zebra caterpillar; g represents a moth which is the parent of the small green worm shown at h. This worm is a common foe of the cabbage plant.
Treatment. Birds aid in the destruction of this pest. Paris green mixed with air-slaked lime will also kill many larvæ. After the cabbage has headed, it is very difficult to destroy the worm, but pyrethrum insect powder used freely is helpful. The Chinch Bug. The chinch bug, attacking as it does such important crops as wheat, corn, and grasses, is a well-known pest. It probably causes more money loss than any other garden or field enemy. In Orange county, North Carolina, farmers were once obliged to suspend wheat-growing for two years on account of the chinch bug. In one year in the state of Illinois this bug caused a loss of four million dollars.
Treatment. Unfortunately we cannot prevent all of the damage done by chinch bugs, but we can diminish it somewhat by good clean agriculture. Destroy the winter homes of the insect by burning dry grass, leaves, and rubbish in fields and fence rows. Although the insect has wings, it seldom or never uses them, usually traveling on foot; therefore a deep furrow around the field to be protected will hinder or stop the progress of an invasion. The bugs fall into the bottom of the furrow, and may there be killed by dragging a log up and down the furrow. Write to the Division of Entomology, Washington, for bulletins on the chinch bug. Other methods of prevention are to be found in these bulletins.
The Plant Louse. The plant louse is very small, but it multiplies with very great rapidity. During the summer the young are born alive, and it is only toward fall that eggs are laid. The individuals that hatch from eggs are generally wingless females, and their young, born alive, are both winged and wingless. The winged forms fly to other plants and start new colonies. Plant lice mature in from eight to fourteen days. The plant louse gives off a sweetish fluid of which some ants are very fond. You may often see the ants stroking these lice to induce them to give off a freer flow of the "honey dew." This is really a method of milking. However friendly and useful these "cows" may be to the ant, they are enemies to man in destroying so many of his plants.
Treatment. These are sucking insects. Poisons therefore do not avail. They may be killed by spraying with kerosene emulsion or a strong soap solution or with tobacco water. Lice on cabbages are easily killed by a mixture of one pound of lye soap in four gallons of warm water.
The Squash Bug. The squash bug does its greatest damage to young plants. To such its attack is often fatal. On larger plants single leaves may die. This insect is a serious enemy to a crop and is particularly difficult to get rid of, since it belongs to the class of sucking insects, not to the biting insects. For this reason poisons are useless. Treatment. About the only practicable remedy is to pick these insects by hand. We can, however, protect our young plants by small nettings and thus tide them over the most dangerous period of their lives. These bugs greatly prefer the squash as food. You can therefore diminish their attack on your melons, cucumbers, etc. by planting among the melons an occasional squash plant as a "trap plant." Hand picking will be easier on a few trap plants than over the whole field. A small board or large leaf laid beside the young plant often furnishes night shelter for the bugs. The bugs collected under the board may easily be killed every morning.
The Flea-Beetle. The flea-beetle inflicts much damage on the potato, tomato, eggplant, and other garden plants. The accompanying figure shows the common striped flea-beetle which lives on the tomato. The larva of this beetle lives inside of the leaves, mining its way through the leaf in a real tunnel. Any substance disagreeable to the beetle, such as plaster, soot, ashes, or tobacco, will repel its attacks on the garden crops. | |
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