The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-06-13
The Natural Enemies Of The Colo
RADIO Potato Beetle.

Although we recommend every one
who las IN acre c- less II rota.e es =
buy and study Riley Potato Pests.
yet there are some who viii DO moth
ing IF the kind and IL j. for the bene-
1T ~ those that these few selection.
are made from that work. that far
mcr- may not through ignorance kill
their best friends.
Several birds are known to feed upon
both beetle and ~larya. Among these
Is the crow. which not only takes the
beetle from the potato vines, but late
in the sca<on digs into the earth IL
search Of the alternating individuals.
The common quail. too.
performs the sans service for US of
late il has been noticed. especially IL
the West. that the rOSe-brcastcd grus-
beak has taken To feeling largely upon
these beetles and q, a natural conse-
qUence that species OF bird has m
creased largely and become quite COM
mon. This i a beautiful and Consplc-
uou5 bird the male having a heavy
Dill. with black head, black back va
rIed with brown and black wings, tie
latter with three white bands. Some
of the outer tail-feathers and parts Of
the abdomen are white and the breast
is rOse-rcd.
OF late chickens have commenced
feeding upon them and instances have
been reported where from 80 10 10
beetles have been found in the crop OF
q single chicken. and this not from
lack of other food. but from prefer
ence. Among other animals, the
skunk, common toad and black snake
feed upon them. Among the spiders.
the well known Grand daddy Long
Legs devOurs many of them. There
are two parasites or mites that feed
upon them. and whenever a beetle is
seer whose back is covered with these
minute yellowish brown insects that
beetle should not be killed. but let to
afford food to these little creatures
who will certainly Kill it in the end.
whereas if the beetle were killed these
parasites would be killed with il.
Among the insects proper, which feed
on the beetle are the Iust red social
wasp, whose small gray. paper-lile
nests are SO common with rs in the
spring, six varieties of lady-birdS. the
tiger beetles. the soldier bugs and the
tachina fly. This last closely resem-
bleS the common house fly, but differs
from it in having an extremely bril-
liant silver white face. This hv LAYS
an egg on the body of thepotato beetle
larva. This egg matches into a mag
got which burrows into the body of
the larva. and eventually DESTROYS it.
This fly has sometimes been SO album
dant III western potato fields that It's
buzzing resembles the noise made by a
swarm of bees.
The larva of lady-birds bears a strong
resemblance to each other. That of
the cOnvergent lady-bird is about half
an inch long covered with spines, and
its color is blue, orange and black.
That of the tifteen-spotted lady-bird is
a little larger, yet black and spined. 1t
has a pale yellow stripe on each side
intercepted with bright orange spots,
and there Is also an orange spot on the
back of the fiattened first Joint. 1t is
the larvae of the l~ady-birds that prev
upon the eggs and larvae of the potato
beetle. The pupa OF the c~onvergent
lady-bird is OF the exact color of the
Larvae of the potato beetle and is doubt
less often mistaken for that larva and
ruthlessly destroyed. 1t MAY be readi-
y distinguished, however, BY its per
feet repose. Let every potato grower
learn well to recognize 1t and spare its
life. The eggs of the lady-birds great
ly resemble those of the potato beetle
and are scarcely distinguishable ex-
cept by Their smaller size and by a
much smaller number being usually
deposited III a single group. As these
eggs are often LAID in the same situa-
ton as tho e OF the Doryphora. the
farmer should learn not to confound
those OF his best friends with those of
his bitter enemies. A practiced eve
soon dlscrlminates between them, and
1t is often on such minute distinctions
that we must distinguish between
friend and foe -Sprinlfeld Homestead.