The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1911-05-05

is Gue principally at least to the warm
weather of February. In normal sea-
sons this pest is kept we'll under con-
troll by it's natural enemies, the most
:mDc:tail; OF these h2ins 4 parasitic
wasp. The work Of this wasp is in
eviderce in nearly every green bug
field. When examining infested oats
or wheat, small Spherical stationary
pimples of a brown or blackish color
are present. These represent lice that
were killed by the parasitic wasp. This
wasp has very efficient arrangement
for laying its eggs.
It penetrates the body Of the green
bug with its egg guide and lays the
egg therein. This egg matches into a
small white grub which consumes the
inside Of the green bug, thus killing
it. The wasp continues to utilize the
dead body as 9, pupa case in which
the third stage of its life history is
passed. When full grown it perfor-
ates the wall of this dead dried up bug
and escapes into the open..
It is during abnormal weather con-
ditions when the parasite loses con-
troll of the green bug. It is explain
ed as follows: The green bug breeds
in a temperature ranging from 80 de-
grees F to 90 degrees F. The parasite
is, however, a hot weather bug and
goes into the dormant or Information
stage at about 60 degrees F. 1t was
the warm weather of February that
enabled the green bug to reproduce
rapidly, but tic weather was not
warm enough for the parasitic to be-
come very active. During this period
of freedom the green bug gained ad-
vantage. The average life Of the in
dividual green bug is about thirty-six
days and during this period the aver
age production Of off springs is about
sixty. They give birth to living young
and these mature in seven days and
begin to reproduce by giving birth to
living young. When the food supply
becomes scarce in a given field, they
greatly increase the NUMBER Of wing
ed forms which migrate to other grain
fields.
Summarizing all the experimental
work of the past with a view Of con-
trolling this pest the following recon-
mendations, while not satisfactory to
US, are the most practical and effec-
tive:
1. When the infestation is first no
ticed in the winter, during or after a
warm spell, run weeder over the
oats both ways. This may have to be
repeated, depending on weather con-
ditions.
2. When the infestation has become
very serious, light brush tied together
and drawn over the grain dislodges
and destroys many Of the green bugs.
3. It is recommended that fields bad
ly damaged at present, considering
weather conditions, be plowed and
planted to another crop.
4. Where damage is light at this
time in a given field in addition to
the above recomm mendations we be-
lieve that stimulation with soda would
save the crop.
5. If the land is very level, rolling
with a heavy roller is profitable.
The above recommends ions, with
the exception of No. 5, are intended
for grain that has not yet matted.
Those measures are not profitable on
matted grain and the only thing to do
in that case is to Craze it with cat
| tie The. trampling, as we'll as the
grazing, are destructive to the green
| bug.
| This subject is under investigation
with the hope that something more
effective will develop.
A. F. Conrad.
State EntomolOeist.