Insects Attacking the Potato Crop in Connecticut by W. E. Britton brings together descriptions of the insects affecting a familiar food crop. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station published it in October 1918 as Bulletin No. 208, Entomological Series No. 26.
Britton, the state and station entomologist, organizes the account around chewing and sucking insects. The publication combines descriptions, life-history notes, field observations, drawings and photographic plates of both insects and injured plants.
A regional guide built around observation
The introduction describes several insects that had attracted attention during recent Connecticut seasons. Potato flea beetles were abundant in 1918, while aphids had caused serious injury in some localities during 1917 and 1918.
Britton’s purpose was to gather the common and less frequent pests into a convenient reference. The result gives readers a picture of the range of damage that might be encountered in one regional potato crop.
For a reference collection, the photographs are especially useful. They connect the written descriptions with holes in leaves, damaged stems, injured tubers and colonies of small insects.
Flea beetles and Colorado potato beetles
The potato flea-beetle section describes a small jumping insect and the tiny perforations associated with its feeding. It also discusses the immature stages in the ground and damage to tubers.
Alongside historical spray treatments, Britton considers a mechanical trapping device. The account describes how its sticky interior was arranged to catch beetles disturbed while the apparatus moved along a row.
The Colorado potato beetle receives a fuller life-history discussion. Eggs, larvae and adults are distinguished, and the text reviews the insect’s spread in relation to potato growing.
Natural enemies form part of this account. Parasitic flies, predatory insects and birds appear alongside the beetle and its food plant, broadening the discussion beyond the pest alone.
Other insects that chew the crop
Further sections describe the three-lined potato beetle, tortoise beetles and blister beetles. Differences in appearance and feeding habits help separate insects that might otherwise be grouped together simply because they occur on potato leaves.
The stalk borer moves the discussion into the stem. A plate shows the insect and an injured stem, making the kind of damage easier to understand.
Cutworms, wireworms and white grubs follow. These sections consider injury at or below the soil surface and describe the life stages that a grower might encounter while examining damaged plants or digging tubers.
This progression is useful for reading the crop as a whole. It extends attention from visible foliage to stems, roots and the harvested potato.
Aphids and the four-lined leaf-bug
The sucking-insect section concentrates on the potato aphid. Britton reports observations from Connecticut fields and describes the effects of heavy infestation.
Drawings and plates show the insects and their presence on leaves and stems. The account also includes parasitized aphids, giving another example of natural enemies within the crop.
The four-lined leaf-bug closes the species discussions. Britton describes its distinctive markings, its changing appearance during development and the spotted injury left on foliage.
These pages reward comparison of text and pictures. A tiny insect can be difficult to interpret from a brief description alone, while the illustrations give the reader a more concrete starting point.
Plates and historical treatment advice
Plates XIII–XX form an essential part of the bulletin. They include flea-beetle injury, Colorado potato beetle stages, three-lined beetles, blister beetles, soil-pest damage, a borer, aphids and leaf-bug injury.
The control sections include arsenical poisons, nicotine preparations and other practices of the period. These chemicals and rates are obsolete historical material and should not be used as present-day garden instructions.
The bulletin remains useful as a record of identification, observation and agricultural entomology. Its historical scientific names and life-history statements should be checked against current references for practical work.
Audience and scan
This free ebook suits gardeners studying crop-insect history, agricultural researchers and readers interested in illustrated extension publications. The regional observations and extensive plates are its main strengths.
The PDF contains 28 digital pages. The plates interrupt the printed text sequence, so use the printed page and plate numbers when following references. The original cover, staff page, illustrations and summary are retained. Small captions and line drawings benefit from enlargement.
Book details
- Author: W. E. Britton
- Publisher: Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut
- Year: 1918
- Edition: Bulletin No. 208; Entomological Series No. 26; October 1918
- Digital length: 28 PDF pages
- Language: English
- File size: 2.16 MB
