The herald., 1897-05-21


spraying was done. but little damage
| has resulted. Knowing Of your kindness
lin giving assistance In euch matters.
wish to intrude upon your time. Please
tell me what the insect Is and how best
to get rid of it.
This il the California May beetle
serica fmbriata. 1t Is rich. warm.
brown color with a satin luster and is
really a beautiful ineect. 1t is about
ore-half an inch long and very broad
and plump. Mr.. Northrop has given the
habits in his letter. They are often very
serious to prunes as we'll as apricots. A
emaller beetle. Serica mixta. which very
closely resembles this. comes later in the
season, in July, and also does serious
damage defoliating the trees.
There are two ways to cope with this
evil. One is to spray with Paris green or
London purple. I should never use the
poison stronger than one pound to
two hundred gallons Of water in case
knew l had good article. as that Is
strong e'noughio kill the insect. Ir' case
four or five pounds OF slaked lime is put
into a hundred gallone, neither Paris
Green or London purple will injure the
foliage, even though made stronger than
one pound to two hundred gallons OF
water. The damage is done because o.
the presence of arsenious acid and by
adding the lime this soluble arsenious
acid is converted into an insoluble COM
pound which can do no harm to the
leaves. In case the treatment is not ef-
fective, we may safely conclude either
that the poison is not genuine, has not
been kept we'll stirred, or else that the
application is not made thorough enough.
The insects We're killed. though not seen.
The other way to cope with this evil
is to dig them out of the earth and de-
stroy them. As stated in the above let
ter, they feed wholly at night. They
burrow by day in the earth under the
trees. AS they do not burrow deeply and
as they almost always burrow imme-
diately under the tree. it is not very hard
to dig them out and destroy them. The
bright, warm brown color makes
it easy to find them. Expert
ence will tell which of these
ways is cheapest and best If we
were sure that our poison was good-the
genuine article-and if we could do the
work ourselves so that we should be GER
tain that the mixture was sufficiently
stirred so as to be kept uniform, and the
application thorough. then I have no
doubt but 1t would be cheaper to spray.
The following letter from F. C. Grimes,
Fillmore. Cal, shows how important it
is that our people have more knowledge
of entomology, especially in regions
where fruit growing is the chief indus
try:
Dear Sir: ] eend you by today's mail
samples Of little bug that seems to be
wholly destroying my melons and pota-
toes. They do not eeem to be hurting the
fruit trees, although there are plenty
there. They are active all day, although
have not been able to see any Of them
actually feeding. I shall be grateful for
any information you may send me. Mr..
Grimes adds the following postscript:
gathered few bugs this morning and
found them feeding. I also found yell
low lady bug with black spots that
suspect Is killing the others, as there
were some of the woolly bugs that
seemed to be half eaten; yet there are
not enough ladybugs to destroy the 9TH
ers until the crop is gone. What shall
do?
This letter not only shows the need
how easy it is to be mistaken. The in
sect sent by Mr.. Grimes is the larva
of one of our most common lady bird
beetles, and so one of our best friends
1t is not strange that Mr. Grimes found
them near the black spotted lady bird
for the latter is parent of the other. It
is strange that he should say he saw
them eating the plants. They never
feed on plants and his observation was
seriously at fault. 1t is probable that
the melons and potatoes were suffering
from an attack by plant lice and that
these lady bird larvae were living upon
these aphides. Mr.. G. should not be
alarmed at all at the presence of these
"woolly bugs" as he calls them. The
more he finds on his plants the better
it is for him. In all such cases if one
would watch closely, or, better, put
the largest larvae in a box, he would
soon rear the mature insect and then
would generally know in this case, that
he had friend, for there are very few
ir California who do not know that all
lady-bird beetles are to be classed
among our most beneficial INSECTS.
Mites