Probably the most important factor in the production of melon, cucumber, squash, pumpkin and other cucurbit plants in Iowa is the control of their insect enemies. Altho these plants are not liable to attack by many kinds of insect pests, they are frequently badly injured or even entirely destroyed by a very few destructive species. Some of these feed upon the foliage, others upon the flowers, while others bore into the stem or even into the roots. Much of the damage done by these pests may be prevented by applying the correct remedy at the proper time.

Insects not only injured the plants directly by their feeding activities, but also indirectly because they may carry and inoculate healthy plant tissues, with serious disease producing organizations. The two most serious plant diseases carried by the melon aphid and striped beetle are bacterial wilt and mosaic disease.