Identification sought of insect pest attacking cabbages etc in 1803

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Nutmeg
Posts: 19
Joined: 07 Sep 2018, 22:20

Identification sought of insect pest attacking cabbages etc in 1803

Post by Nutmeg »

A previously unknown insect attacked crops in Northumberland and Durham in 1803. It was described as follows:

An insect, more destructive than the locust, fostered by the drought, has within these 3 weeks, laid waste a great portion of the vegetable kingdom ; every leaf teems with life... In the counties of Northumberland and Durham some hundreds of acres of excellent cabbages and winter-greens ... are now, by this feeble but merciless tribe, perforated to the very core. ... Those which settle on the Copula of the plant are provided with wings; and, viiewed through the medium of the microscope, are armed with a proboscis; their head, a brilliant green:-at the same time, the inferior parts of the vegetable harbour a tribe un-winged, less powerful, but equally active, arid every way as injurious to the substance they prey upon. (Newcastle Courant 17/9/1803 p.4 column 2).

Help sought with identification, please!

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webweaver
Posts: 57
Joined: 25 Jun 2017, 09:54

Re: Identification sought of insect pest attacking cabbages etc in 1803

Post by webweaver »

It sounds like an aphid - funny how they don't actually say how big it is!

Have you tried LIBRAL? I must say that nothing actually leapt out at me, but you can search for two words such as cabbage and insect within a specified number of words, e.g,. "cabbage insect ~10" would be look for cabbage and insect within 10 words of each other. Look at advanced search.

There is undoubtedly a MAF booklet on brassica pests but it's unfortunately not on LIBRAL.

Web Weaver

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