Bulletin 151, Truck and Garden Insects


cucumbers, pages 163 and 166. The grower can use no trap
crop to attract these insects away from squashes. He must
plant enough for both himself and the moths. All infested
fruits should be destroyed) ; and the melon-aphis (see under
watermelons, page 199).
 STRAWBERRIES
 STRAWBERRY PAMERA (Pamera vincta, Say)
 This insect and the red spiders are the most common and
persistent pests of strawberries in Florida. Fortunately they
do not make their appearance in destructive numbers until the
bearing season is nearly over. But if the grower attempts to
carry his vines thru the summer he most invariably has trouble
with the pamera. The insects breed so rapidly and are so incon-
spicuous in color, size and habits, that they usually become very
numerous before they are noticed. The young are often mis-
taken for yellow ants which they closely resemble in size and
color but the presence of the darker, winged adults will readily
distinguish them. When disturbed they run over the ground
much more rapidly than ants.
 This insect is one of the common causes of "buttons,"
which are berries that in some early stage of development cease
growing and become hard, dry and brown. If attacked when
very young the berry turns brown and dries up. Later, the in-
sects attack the crown of the plant which is quickly killed if the
bugs are numerous. They will often kill the plants in a bed
which the owner was keeping for propagating purposes.
 The adult insect is oblong in shape, resembling the chinch-
bug, the most destructive enemy of St. Augustine grass in
Florida. Indeed, it belongs to the same family. It is black
with yellow markings and is about 1/5 of an inch long.
 According to Prof. A. L. Quaintance, who described this
insect in Bul. 42 of the Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta., the eggs when first
laid are white, but by the third day turn yellow, and by the
fifth day are bright red. They hatch on the eighth day. The
newly-hatched larva, like the egg, is bright red. It soon turns
brownish, but the red persists on the end of the antennae, base
of the beak, legs and abdomen. Larvae become adults in 16
days. The females begin to lay eggs about 3 days after becom-
ing adults. The time required for a life-cycle is 27 days.
 This insect is very abundant upon a wild spurge (Euphor-
bia sp.), which may be its native host plant. At least this not