Damage by Larvae of the Tobacco Flea Beetle to Tomato Seedlings13

Abstract
All stages of larvae of the tobacco flea beetle, Epitrix hirtipennis (Melsheimer), tunneled into the roots and the hypocotyl of tomato seedlings up to the area of the cotyledons in greenhouse tests at Beltsville, Maryland. The hollowed hypocotyls collapsed, and the plants became prostrate. These symptoms are strikingly similar to “damping off”; thus, where direct seeding of tomatoes is practiced, larval damage might be erroneously ascribed to infection by species of Rhizoctonia, Pythium, or other soil-borne fungi.

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