Further Observations on the Incidence of Parasitism of Flea Beetles by the Nematode, Howardula phyllotretae.

Extract

During a study of the nematode, Howardula phyllotretae Oldham, 1933, parasitic in Flea Beetles of the genus Phyllotreta, records were kept in order to get data concerning the incidence of infection. The records already published, with a description of the parasite (Oldham, 1933), refer solely to the observations made during 1931. During the two subsequent years large numbers of beetles belonging to the following species: P. atra, P. cruciferae, P. nigripes, P. undulata and P. vittula, were collected and examined for parasites. Collections were made, in each year, from about the beginning of April, when the adults started to emerge from their winter shelters, up to the end of September, when the beetles became scarce and were leaving the plants to hibernate. The observations made, therefore, cover the entire period of the insect's active life.