The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-08-02

place i'll the methods of dealing with de- structive insects. The rapid advances made in the science of economic entom- cdogy the introduction of several highly efficient insecticides and the in vention of labor-saving mechanical ap- pliances for use in spraying, have done much to make farmers realize the needs of broader knowledge and more scien- tifc methods in combating noxious in sects.
 The annual loss to the people of the United States due to the depredations of Snoxious insects. is placed by the very conservative estimates of the United States department of agriculture, to be at least one-tenth of the whole annual crop.
 Notwithstanding the fact that many natural and artificial causes operate to check the increase of insects, the enor- nous losses due to their depredations become more burdensome from year to year.
 The marvellous fecundity characteristic of insect life the constantly increasing area of cultivation, the favorable condi- tions of existence in a land undergoing great agricultural development, and the facility with which the eggs and larvae
  interstate commerce, together with many minor causes, all aid in spreading de- structive species and in augmentng their numbers
 Birmingham, it's vicinity and the south as a whole has their share of all classes of insects, and in many cases the ln- sects are so numerous that they prac- tically destroy a garden overnight, and this annoyance goes further to discour- ho thing.
 As foodstuffs are now high and will re- main high for a long time to come, 1t is imperative that we all unite our eff forts to bring the destruction of in- sects to a minimum This can be easily done by reading closely the following in- formation:
 BITING AND SUCKING INSECTS Practically all of our insects can be classified into two species, biting and sucking insects.
 The mouths of biting insects have an upper and lower lip, and two pairs of jaws moving sideways between the lips. Insects having this type of mouth chew up and swallow the plant tissues upon which they feed. These mastcating in- sects possess strong, well defined, horny jaws, acting horizontally for chewing foliage or fruit, for cutting off stems
 
 roots, barks or trunks of trees and stems Of plants. Many gnawing and boring in- sects belonging to this group may be destroyed by means of poisons applied to the surface of their food plants.
 In many other insects the mouth or feeding parts have been so modified, and the departure from the general type seems so great, that we are almost led to the erroneous conviction that large uJf Among these are the scale insects, the plant lice, true bugs, and many others. When, however, we examine the mouth parts of the true bug we find ourselves greatly mistaken in presuming these in sects to be wholly without jaws. We discover that they have a long beak- like organ, which, when dissected un- der a microscope is found to contain four minute bristles which are actually rudimentary jaws; but the action of these modified jaws is very different from that of chewing insects (plant lice and others). With the bristles the tis- sues of plants OF animals are punctured and the sap or blood. as the case may be. is sucked through the hollow, horny tube into the digestive tract of the in sect. Such insects cannot be reached with poisons applied to the surface, since in feeding the insect thrusts it's beak into the interior tissuts and absorbs the juices of the plant. The species of this group are known as sucking insects.
 It is impossible to give in this short article how to eradicate all species of in- sects. It would easily take book of several hundred pages to go into full details about all injurious insects; there fore, we will only take up the matter of insects which do most damage to our vegetable crops.
 COLORADO POTATO BEETLE
 The native home of the Colorado potato bettle is the eastern declivities of tho Rocky mountains. This insect was known in the west as early as 1924, and 1t was known to cross the Mississippi river in the year of 1864 and in 1874 had
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