Document Type
Full Issue
Publication Date
5-1932
Abstract
The first Utah sugar factory was erected at Lehi in 1891. Since that time many other factories have been built, and the growing of sugar-beets has become an important part of the agricultural program in many irrigated sections of this state. From almost the beginning, the tiny beet leafhopper, Eutettix tenellus (Baker), has threatened the very existence of this industry, and, in connection with the curly-top disease which it disseminates, has been responsible for the loss of many millions of dollars to the sugar-beet growers and sugar manufacturers of Utah. Poor prices, competition of other crops, sugar-beet nematode and crop failures, due to curly-top, have tended to reduce the beet acreage planted; this has caused many sugar factories to remain idle or to operate only intermittently; capacity runs are seldom experienced by the factories that do operate. The losses suffered during recent years, and particularly the crop failure of 1924, led to the present investigation. The phases of the problem covered by this study deal largely with the ecology of the insect, including a study of its breeding grounds, host plant relationships, seasonal abundance, time of migration, the effect of certain parasites and predators, and damage done to the sugar-beet crop. Special attention has been given to certain desert environments of E. tenellus which lie in Tooele and Box Elder Counties. Studies during the past three years have been limited principally to the areas in Box Elder, Cache, Salt Lake, Davis, Tooele, Utah, and Weber Counties.
Recommended Citation
Knowlton, George F., "Bulletin No. 234 - The Beet Leafhopper in Northern Utah" (1932). UAES Bulletins. Paper 194.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/uaes_bulletins/194