Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1910-02-12

(wrnten Specially for The Bul1etin.)
his squash bed last year, and he won
ders If I can suggest what the matter
was and what to do next time. Let
him tell the story:
pected to raise them by the thousand.
One morning / found some wilted.
Worked over them the best I knew.
but didn't save one. They all wilted
right down and in a short time one
could go UP and down the field, pick
ing the plants, minus the roots, right
up as IL they were cut. Some of my
neighbors found worms at the base OF
the plants. Now If our Farmer can
tell us what caused it and how to pre-
vent it we shall be nightly thank
full
It's pretty chance-y business for
even a good doctor to diagnose a dis
ease without seeing the patient.
whether the latter be a man or COW
or d cabbage head or q sick squasil,
But 1 should suspect from my core
spondent's description that he had
been visited BY the squash s1ne
tia ceto. This pest has been knr IN
ever since 1928, but is not a universal
Nisftant, nor sure TO appear every year
even in its chosen localities Some
seasons, in some places. it does great
damage; other seasons, IN The SANE.
places, it may hardly dis .i5s9 its ex-
istence.
II begins its nefarious career as a
winged insect, looking to the unframed
eye something like a bee or a wasp.
It 10 cfssn mistaken for one of them.
But It belongs to the same order as
the butterflies Lepidopcera) and to the
same family as the clIrrant and peach
tree borers- 1t is rather a spry little
moth and really quite pretty when you
being subject to some variation in
color, but the body is usually tawny-
brown. with five black spots on the
upper side. The fore wings are long
and marrow, brown with a gTeenish
tinge. The hind wings are short and
broad, mostly without scales trans
parent. with clearly marked ribbdngs."
to late July, according to season and
latitude. They fly by day, and seem
especially vigorous in the hottest sun
shine. These moths lay their eggs
squash plants, just below the ground.
They choose the little opening which
almost always exists between the
stem Of the plant and the earth around
it. and deposit their eggs on the stalks
from quarter to a half inch below
the surface. This is their usual habit
though sometimes they are said TO lay
their eggs q foot above the ground
leaf stems They don't often get rs
far off the dirt as this, thaus Il. They
prefer dropping their eggs on the
STALKS beir'F re sCrface. end % so
probably nine .facs out tf ten. They
stay about al summer and have been
discovered Is no eggs as late as Sep
tantoei,- Ihe-4 i-ti1 eg2s are oval an,
of t7N -e1. rEizey hatch IN from ten
THIS IS when the treable heqins. As
soon as they hatch tie larvae 31Grrow
at once into the stalk. som times work
ing upward into the stems bat ofIcncr
into the roots There may be Ou,y q
T " OF them III any one vine and tlisre
may De hundred o. more Itere
they live and chew ana grow Tor sl5out
Il mpnth At the end of Lhar time each
ono is q repillsive. clnInsy, fat white
grub. about an inch long, with u PC
culiar F-shaped mark on its dark
brown head. When mature these lar
vac leave the stalks and bury them
selves in the ground. from three to
four inches down, where they spin
tough cOcoonS looking more like OBJ
long chunks of dirt than anything
else. Here they stay till late spring
or early summer, when the moth
chisels its way out of the cocoon dur
ing some warm night and energies in
the morning.
Like the white butterfly which causes
cabbage worms, the insect does no
the grub or worm or larvae which its
egg matches into which is to be dread
ed. In the case OF this squash vine
borer the grub does all dts work ordi-
nardly out of sight, below ground, and
the first indication Of its presence is
when the vines turn to a lighter shade
OF green, then suddenly wilt and
wdther and die. OF course cannot be
sure that 1t was this chap who ruined
my correspondents squash field, but
his description of the way the vines
acted, of their coming UP looking
II cut when pulled, and his reference
to some worms having been found at
the base of the plants makes II seem
probable that it was the worrny young
family of Mrs. Melftia Ceto who came
to live with him, unlimited.
Now, as to methods of prevention:
As the worms live and do all their
damage inside the vines, there's no use
trying insecticides. II one has but a