The Washington herald., 1907-07-21
Enormous Damage Done By Destructive Insects
Every Year-lHop the Government Con-
ducts IFS Warfare against Them.

escaping.
The chinch bug is a native Of this coun
Try; IL works on wheat until after that
grain is harvested when il m!grates to
the cornhelds, for which reason the bu-
reau recommends that the two crops
should not be planted near together Ia
addition 10 this fly and this bug, wheat is
attacked by midgets. plant lice, straw
worms, joint worms, bulb worms, army
worms. and saw flies. The army worm is
native American. and when it really
gets start travels in great masses,
whence its name. destroying everything
before It, Like the grasshOpper and the
potato bug, the army worm seems TO
have been got under pretty fair control,
and it is years since any Of these pests
has done any great damage
The Terrible Green Bug.
7 asked for some details about the green
bug. Mr.. Marlatt reached to the back of
mis- roll-top desk and brought forth
pasteboard box from which he took
handful Of dried wheat spires. cut when
they were green, each of which bore hun
dreds Of what looked more like little
brown, wartlike Jumps at nrst than any
thing else. There are a few thousands
of him. from Kansas" said he. ALSO a
few thousands OF the parasites that kill
him." referring TO what seemed like tiny.
sootlike dots on the bottom of the box
On close examination the little brown
warts showed their insect character
clearly. Each was about a sixteenth Of
an inch in length and a small round hole
was found in the back of nearly every
specimen in the collection.
In every case" said AIr Marlatt, the
hole means that a parasite has laid It's
egg in the body of the bug and killed it.
I That Is what happened 70 all but a very
small proportion indeed of the bugs last
+ spring. Not one in many thousands of
/ them lived long enough after the parasite
/ got to work to perpetuate their kind. al
! though long before that they had de-
stroyed great areas of growing wheat
The green bug is supposed not TO be a
native American insect. It was first re-
ported in this country in 1852. ii was
! found in abundance two years later in the
wheat near Cabin John. Nd. and that
same year it appeared in Indiana. where
/ +. NJ. Webster. the bureaus expert ia the
study Of insects that destroy cereals and
/ grasses was carrying on his investiga-
/ tions. The bugs did little damage that
4 year. however. but In 1890 they destroyed
/ a large part Of the wheat and oats IN
! Texas, Arkansas, Missouri. Indiana. IIli-
/ nois Kentucky. and Tennessee. There
was another visitation in 1900. but il was
confined to Texas mainly.
Green Bug Here 10 Stay.
THE green bug. probably, is perma-
/ nency in this country" went on Mr. Mar
/ latt, but it has never done serious dam
/ age except when there has been warm.
wet winter, followed by wet. cold sprinE.
! Last January W. d. Hunter of this
| bureau, predicted the outbreak Of last
! spring for wheat and oats were then
being destroyed by the bug in Texas; but,
although the insect has been studied thor
oUshly, there was no way 10 prevent the
damage. Nothing VIII Kill il but its va
/ rious parasitic and predatory enemies.
/ There are several varieties of the para
sites. all OF which seem 70 be native. and
/ present in sufficient numbers every year
/ 10 insure the checking of the bug by the
! time the warm weather really sets in.
but not early enough 20 save the crop
after an open winter and a late spring.
This is because the bug-which the
! bureau knows as the spring grain aphis-
/ is able 10 work all through an open win
ter, while the parasites are not. Thus
. when the weather conditions are favor
able, the bug gets a bis start on its enc
/ mics; when the winter and spring are
NORMAL the parasites 90 TO work on the
bug as early, practically. as II goes to
work on the crops, and there is no
( trouble
1T IS lucky that while nature has given
the bug great powers of survival and re-
/ production, she has provided an unusual
/ number of ways Of checking H. BY May
and June certain species Of ladybugs
and their larvae begin 20 devour green
bugs in great numbers. The ladybugs
were not needed in Kansas this year
/ however; the parasites did the work ef-
/ fectUally before 1t was time for the lady
/ bugs to get to work
Ravages Not Checked.
I can't say that I believe the efforts
OF the bureau or any one else did much
10 check the green bugs ravaEes this
year. much as I should like to. although
everything was done that could be done.
The bureau sent three men into the in
tested district Finding that the parasite
was busy wherever the green bug was
found, these men sent quantities Of young
wheat. covered with dead green bugs and
live parasites from Texas and Oklahoma.
to Kansas in barrels for the farmers there
TO scatter IN their infested fields. where
both bugs and parasites got to work later
than in Texas. S. J. Hunter, Of the kan
sas State University, sent out boxes Of
-if inf nh s1e T,.,+
perts are agreed that millions on the back
Of millions Of green bugs were doing busi-
ness in the Kansas wheat fields before 1t
was possible to get parasites from Texas
at work.
1T is not likely that the green bug ever
will do great damage in the Northern
wheat regions. Even the open winters
there are too cold to allow it to breed all
through the season. as it can in Texas.
Judging from the past we shall not have
another green bug pest until thfre is
another open winter followed by back
ward spring. The bug will survive, of
course, and will begin work on the wheat
in the Southwest next year and every
normal year. but its enemies will be ready
to begin on it quite as promptly. The
green bug was first described by an Jtal-
ian scientist in 1852. In June of that year
it was so numerous in the city Of Bo-
logna as to cause great annoyance. a
grain field infested with green bugs
speedily turns brown. In health the bugs
are bright green, as their popular name
shows. but when attacked by the para
sites they change color speedily"
Protecting Fruit frOSl Moths.
The Importance of Mr.. Marlatts special
work is apparent from the wide distribu-
ton Of the grain crops of the country and
the equally widespread work of destruc-
ton done by the insect enemies Of grain.