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CONTENTS OF REEL 54

1 ) The Practical entomologist, v.1
MNS#PStSNPaAg054.1

2) The Practical entomologist, v.2
MNS# PSt SNPaAg054.2

3) Keystone Agricultural and Horticultural Society

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CONTENTS OF REEL 54 (CONTINUED)

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6) Pennsylvania's poultry industry
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Title: The Practical entomologist, v. 1
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PRACTICAL

ENTOMOLOGIST.

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VOLUME

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1865-66.

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PUBLISHED BY

THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP PHILADELPHIA,

No. 618 SOUTH THIRTEENTH STREET.

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INDEX TO VOLUME 1.

Page.
Abraxas? rihearia (Currant Moth.) . • 22
A difficulty in Studying Insects, • Z,

Advantages of Studying Entomology, . ^^

jEijeria exitiosa (Peach-tree Borer.) • • ^J

jEgeria tipuliformis (European Currant Borer,) 29
American Currant Borers, ' * * ' o^

American Currant Moth, . • • • ^

Answers to Correspondents, 18, 34, **6, 04 77,

89,99,111,126

21

26,47

. 27

97, 107

. 30

48,76

4

Page.

22, 29
. 22

. 85

. 110

110

. 90

96

3,84

. 3

87

. 25

27

. 26

110

. 87
96

Apple-tree Blight, . • • •
Apple-tree Borers, (Illustrated.) •
Apple-twig Borer, (Illustrated.) .
Army Worm,
Banded Borer, (Illustrated.)

Black-Knot, . . • • • '

Black Onion-fly, • • *

"Rorers .••*'*
Bostrichus hicauJatus (Apple-twig Borer.)

Buprestis Borer, (Illustrated.)

Cabbage Bug, • • • • '

Canker Worm.— Finding a Mare's Nest, .

Canker Worm— Sulphur Remedy, .

Caterpillars on Fruit-trees. How to destroy them, 83
Cecidomyia destructor (Hessian Fly.) • ^^

Cecldomyla grossularl^ (Gooseberry Midge.) . 16
Cerasphorm ductus (Hickory Borer.) • ^0

Chinch Bug, . . . • , • %«

ar^so6o//iri8/rmorc/<a (Apple-tree Borer.) . ^0

Click Beetles, . • ■ * ^\, . .^

Cllsiocampaa mcricana (Tcnt-Caterpillar.) 0, 14, 19

Clover Worms, . - • '

Cli/tus pictus (Hickory and Walnut Borer.)
Cli/tu8 rohinim (Locust Borer.) .
Corn Grub, . • *

Correspondence, • • • •

Cucumber-Bug, (Illustrated.) .

"CuiBono?" . . • •

Curculio, ..•••*
Curculio — New Remedy, .
Currant and Gooseberry. Insects on

Currant Borer, (Illustrated.) .
Currant Moth, . • • •

Cut-Worms,

Diahrotica l2-punctata (Flower-Beetle.) .

Dialrotica vittata (Striped Cucumber-Bug.)

Distribution and Habitat of Insects,

Doctors Differ,

Doryplwva IQMneata (New Potato Bug.)

Doryphora Juncta, • • • •

Driving Nails into Fruit Trees, .

Egg-parasite upon the American Tent-Caterpil-
lar. Notice of an . • • • •
Elder Leaves and Insects, • • * *
Ellopia riUaria (Currant Moth.) . . -22

Entomology all a Humbug, ... 39

Entomology. The Study of . • • ^7

Entomology. The advantages or Studying . OJ
Enaomos suhsvjnaria (City Measuring Worm.) 57
Eriosoma laniyera (Wooly Apple-tree Blight.) 21

22

96

40

110

22

23

. 23

117

. 96

40

82

. 29

28

. 73

6, 19

110

5

. 74

96

. 9'?

European Currant Borer,

Experience with the Canker Worm,

Flea Beetle of the Grape Vine,

Flower Beetle, (Illustrated)

Gooseberry and Currant. Insects on

Gooseberry Midge, • •

Gooseberry Moth,

Gooseberry Saw-fly, .

Grain Plant-louse,

Grape Vine Flea Beetle, .

Great discovery in destroying the Hessian Ily, 10»

Habitat and Distribution of Insects, . • 9j>

Ualtica chalyhea (Grape-vine Flea Beetle.) 40

Hessian Fly, . . • •
Hickory Borers, (Illustrated.) . • ^^' ^^
How to destroy Caterpillars on Fruit Trees, . 8^-^
How to Kill Sheep Ticks, •••!.,
How to obtain the Names of Insects, . .^b.

Imported Insects, • • • • '70

Insecte and Elder Leaves, * ' • • ^^

Insects and the Cholera, . . • • ^

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IV.

INDEX.

THE

3.

Page
Insects. Habitat and Distribution of • • 90

Insects infesting the Currant and Gooseberry, 2.
Insects on Elm Trees, . • • • " '

Joint Worm, • • • '

Lachnosterna quercina (White Grub.) .
Lema trilineata (Potato Bug.) .
Locust Borer, (Illustrated.) .
Lytta atrata (Potato Bul'.) • •

Lytta cmerea (Potato Bug.) • • ' q i(j

Lytta vittata (Potato Bug.) • • '

Means of defence against Noxious Insects, . J
Measuring Worm, . • • • * ' *;
Names of Insects. How to obtain them, . ^
Names for Insects— Popular. . • • ^

Names for Insects— Scientific. ' ' '^
. Kematns ventrico.us (Imported gooseberry Saw-

fly.) • • • . . 108

New Humbug, . • • • , o^ oa

New Potato Bug and its Natural History, 1, 84 88

New Potato Bug in Maine, ' ' ' ^q

Note on Black Knot, . • ' , ' , ' a i
Notes on Dorj^phora lO-lmeala-VoUxto Bug, 84

■mm- I* J_X'»^y^^ niroinaf. itt)

Page
. 22

26
. 73

71
. 20

26

59

96

125

, 84

Noxious Insects. Means of defence agamst
Noxious Insects. Popular remedies for .
Oil upon Fruit Trees, • • • *

Onion Fly, •••••'
Onion Fly. A Remedy, . • • *
Ortalisflexa (Onion-fly.) • ^ ;,, / , '
Outlines of the Study of Insects, C^^^^^^^"^^^^^^

Painted Borer, (Illustrated.) .

Peach Tree Borer, (Illustrated.)

Pear Tree Borer, (Illustrated.)

Plant-louse of the Grain,

Popular Names for Insects, .

Popular Remedies for Noxious Insects, •

Potato Bug and its Natural History,

Potato Bugs, ^^^

Potato Bug in Maine, . • • •
PrMphora yrossulari^ (Native Gooseberry^
Sawfly.) ...... 1^^

Psenoccrus supernotatus (Currant Borer.)
Quince Tree Borer (Illustrated.)
Remedies for the Currant Worm, .
Remedies for Noxious Insects, . • •
Rhynchcenus Strohi (White Pine Weevd.)
Saperc^a Uvittata (Apple-tree Borer.)
Sawfly of the Gooseberry and Currant, 2d, ii7
Scientific Names, . • • • * *

Selandria ribls, * ' ' 74.

Sheep Ticks. How to kill them . • • ^^
Silk-producing Lepidoptera. Remarks on 13, ^^

StracMa hlstriomca (Texan Cabbage Bug.) UO-

Striped Cucumber Bug, (Illustrated.) • li'^

Studying Entomology. The advantages of . by

Studying Insects. A Difficulty in

Sulphur for Canker Worms a Failure, .

Sulphur-cure, . • • • "

Ten-striped Spearman— Potato Bug,

Tent-Caterpillar. Notice of an Egg-parasite on^I4

Tanthredo riUs, . • • ' ^

Texan Cabbage Bug, • • • ' '

The Study of Entomology, • • ' ^*

The "Thrips" of the Vine-growers.— What is

it? ..•••• •
The two-striped Borer, (Ulustrated.)

Tobacco Worm, . • • • *

To cure Wormy Trees, . • - * •
Tomato- Worm Story, . • • • *

To prevent Weevil in Wheat,
Trichina spiralis, . • • • '

TrochiUum tipuli/orme (European Currant

Borer,) . • • • * ' , x "
Twelve-spotted Flower Beetle, (Illustrated.)

Walnut Borer, (Illustrated.) .

Weevil in Barns, . • • ' '

Weevil in Wheat, . . • • •

White Grub, . • • •

White Pine Weevil, . • • •

Wooly Apple-Tree Blight, .

Wormy Trees, . • • • '

20
20
74
72
5

73
62

22
110
. 29

73
. 73

60
. 20

21

72

Pace 118, column 2, line 37, for "smgle mammal road single feC

Page 123 eolumn 1, line 37, for "similar" read "smgular

Se 125 column 2, line 22 from bottom, for "I860", read "1840.

t

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

. c * logical Society of Philadelphia, for gratuitous distribution
Published by the ^^^<>-^^\^^\^:Zl and Agriculturists. _____

Tke S.W Potat-bug. »a_lt. Hatarl HUtory.
BY BENJ. »• WALSH, M. A.

There is a new - j'^^f CtlT P^h:!

the Potato, ■^^'«^7•'*'?Nl 'ka ^f 1°'''' """^
spread from Colorado and Nebraska in ^^^

wUin .the ast jeat andj ha t ,^^^ ^.^

Mississippi int? 1'1'"9'^' ^"^,e of time it will pro-
consin also; ^»'«°'=«*°"Xltlantic, establishing

bably travel o^'^'^f^'" '^g, u goes and pushing
a permanent colony wherever u g , r

e^tward at the »*« «* .^f °te soC idea of the
The following extracts will givj so ^^^ ^^^^

rd^sfaror^T^e^--^^'^^-'

riearance in f -^^^tn K,„,as, says that in

garden "that they ^°"V „S " Jenon it," and

^otato-vine, eating up «f ^y*'^f ^^e gathered

[hat he has "often ;°J .Tf ^ r\Va«fey Wmer,
asmanyastwobushelsofthem. ^ f i/

July, 1862, p. 209.) g^„^rton of Gravity, Iowa,

In August, 1801, J- f °<?, „„_... ance upon the

say. that " ^^y.^^^^^TweTor^ the ground,

vines as soon as the PO™;^^,i ^f weather about

and there being a co'-^'/f.^ras fast as they were
that time they devoured Jema« '^^ggi^ 'ue.)
up."— (i^""-»« Farmer, AUfeu» ^^

f' r m^'£t°s;ieTave''been discouraged
formed in 1863 t^^ Tf ..„aee8 of this potato-

from planting Pot'^*««^',*^SV. Y. StJteAgr.
bug have been so great. —I^lrani.iy

Sac. 1863, P..798.) ^^^ a^te of

D. Kilpatrick of Linton 1»'*' . ,ion of

June 30, 1865, says " I^^tf^^J^owt of POtat«e«

bu«. this 7^">°SEteZl Snce is the price of

•^tom'ai'£;Lon, of Iowa, June 1865. says that

^? TpottSug wMch a^ laid upon the leaves."
(^Ibid. July 7, 1865.) _ . , j ,^5^^ upon the

k^'^'IVnUTo k^F«- S Cl"b a large hand-
tableof theJNew lorK ra.1 packages from

ful of letters, boxes, bottles "^d pa«Kag
Iowa, all of them «°°t^X^errTbC^s^now af-

same' sad ^to-^y. '°»«\'"i £we?-cAi<i- Aug.
flicting potato-growers at the West. i.

^ ' J^^A^'^ * 1 Sfi4 T received from Prof. Worthen,
In August, 1864 ireceivea ^^^^18

the State Geologist ''f I™';,*? eommitting the
insect, with a statement '*"'*'* »^,!°^^,op i" the

-•"^tTwt^ar&ton'rCSipVnv.
y icmity of W arsaw l^ ^^^ ^^ ^f the

,n Central I»'<'°^f '^ '° ^' ,, i fi„d that the same

entire crop on many tarms. 1 u

insect in the same year appeared on the po

considerable ""-^f-iSppniv^rTlittle above

r ^^'"TnThe auiimn'Fthe same year I cap-
Warsaw, in ^^^ autum Island, an-

tured -y-iy- Bpecimens - f-^^^j.^; a
other town still higner up "» oomDletely

in 1865 ithasbeen quite ^^u°dant *here ^P^^^ J^
destroying some pieces ^^ fj^^ but upto this
ining the egg-pl''°tV'\'"y„f ™i"i' thirU miles

the east bank of *?« ."''^'^^JPP' °„ to have ad-
above St. Louis. It does not »PP«" 7^ \^^^ the
yanced as yet -J eon«ider^We distance ^ .^

interior of the btate,. ouiji" .

results, that it ">«/' »>„*^%7Tei han five diffe-
lUinois in 1864 and 1865 at no less than

rent points, the n?^tl>«"lt* ^ from the south-

'^'''':ft^:^'':oS^^^oA theUni..d
ernmost. tlitnerio uu ^^ ^^^ ^

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

on record of a noxious insect travelling from the
west towards the east. . x «^^^

But, it will be asked, where does this insect come
from? And how does it happen that it did not
trouble the Iowa farmers before 1861, and the Illi-
nois farmers before 1864? I be leve that I «an
explain this satisfactorily. Unlike several other
noxious insects, it is not a general feeder, but
is confined to plante belonging to tbe J)otanical
family Solanacese, and especially to the genus
Solalum, which includes the Potato, the Toma-
to the Effg-plant, and a weed called the Horse-
nettle, found more usually in the Southern States
but which also grows in certain localities in Iowa.
In 1864 Dr. Velie, the ornithologist of Rock island,
111 , and Dr. Parry, the botanist of Davenport la.,
both saw this insect in very great numbers in Colo-
rado, feeding upon a wild species ot Solanum--i\ie
rostratum of Dunal-which is peculiar to that re-
gion of country and is not found east of the Mis-
sissippi River; and to the former gentleman I am
indebted for numerous specimens collected by him
on this plant, which are undistinguishable from
those found on the potato. Assuming therefore,
that this wild Solarium is the natural food ot the
insect, and that the region of country bordering
on the Rocky Mountains is its natural home its
range would for a long series of years be limited
bv the range of the plant that it feeds on. But m
process of time civilization marched up to the Rocky
Mountains— potatoes were planted in Kansas and
Nebraska and Colorado— and the insect discovered
that one species of Solanumwas about as palatable
as another. Having thus acquired a taste lor pota-
to leaves, it would naturally spread eastward fi-om po-
tato patch to potato patch, till it overspreads Iowa
and finally overleaped the Mississippi into Ilhnois.
In confirmation of this theory, R. W. Hazen of Fre-
mont, Dodge Co., Nebraska, says that " the potato
bu2 which is so destructive in that region was farst
discovered in 1859, about 100 miles west of Omaha
City, whence they have been marching^ ^^fo"?/ ^
annually.^'-(iV. K Sent, Tribune, July 18, 1865.)
From Omaha City to Rock Island is over 260
miles : so that, if the above statement be correct
it appears that the insect has travelled about .^bO
miles in six years, or at the average rate of sixty
miles a year. At this rate of progress it will reach
the Atlantic in about fourteen years.

It may perhaps be worth stating here, that my
own experience is that these insects prefer the Egg-
plant to the Potato, and it is well known that they
prefer the Potato to the Tomato. Now the Egg-
plant is botanically more closely related to the So-
larium rostratum, on which this insect feeds in
Colorado, than is the Potato, the two former being
covered with thorny prickles and the latter being
smooth ; and on the other hand the Potato is much
more nearly related to the Solarium rostratum than
is the Tomato, which last has by modern botanists
been removed from the genus Solanum and placed

♦ Mr. Terry of Crescent City, Iowa, etates that in his
neighborhood it attacked the Horse-nettle in 186d.—
(Prqifie Farrner, June 6, 1863, p. 356.)

in a genus by itself. It would seem, therefore, that
the closer a plant comes to the natural food-plant
of the insect, the better the insect likes it.

Dr Fitch, in his Article on this Insect, pu]?lished
in the Transactions of the New York State Agrv-
cultural Society for 1863, (pp. 796-801,) asserts
that " it has fallen upon the pototo-vmes m nume-
rous places all over the North Western States and
Mr. Cyrus Thomas, as quoted by Dr Fitch, says
that "it was found in abundance in Southera Illi-
nois'^ previous to 1861. But both these gentlemen
confound together two perfectly distinct, but very
closely allied species, the Doryphora juncta ot Uer-
mar and tfie Doryphora \Q-Uneataoi Say, one of
which was really found in South Ilhnois previouB
to 1861, while the other was not, and one of whicli
has never been known to attack the potato while
the other habitually does so. The former of these
was first described by Germar in 1824 from speci-
mens which he had received from Georgia, and
was also received by Dr. LeConte from the same
State ten or twelve years ago. In 18D4 i^r. nei-
muth of Chicago took this same species near Cairo,
111 • and in 1861 Mr. Chas. Sonne of Chicago cap-
tured very numerous specimens of it in Effingham
Co III, on hickory bushes, which they appeared
to him to be feeding on. The latter species, which
is the true potato bug, was never taken by any one,
so &r as I can find out, east of the Mississippi river
till 1864, and was first discovered by Say in i»^5
in the regions bordering on the Upper Missouri
river, and is quoted by Dr. LeConte and Rogers ad
being peculiar to Texas, Kansas and Nebraska.
That Dr. Fitch has confounded these two insects,
is proved out of his own mouth ; for he expressly
states that they are synonymous, (Trans., &c. p.
797 ) although seven years before he wrote Kogers
had pointed out the principal distmctions between
them {Proc. Acad. Nat. ScUm^V-m, Tba^
Mr Thomas must have confounded them, is inai-
cated by the fact, that he says that his species
» occurs in South Illinois only on worthless weeds
and low shrubs, and here it has not proved injuri-
ous to useful vegetation" ; whence he infers < that
it is only accidental that it has fallen upon the po-
tatoes" in Iowa, and that " some peculiarity of the
plants, state of the atmosphere, or other influence
may next year cause it to forsake the potato and
take up its residence upon some other plant. —
{Trans., &c. p. 797.)

So closely indeed do these two insects resemble
one another at first sight, that the Melsheimer Cata-
logue in 1853, and probably Thos. Say in 18^4,
considered them as mere varieties of one and the
same species. Yet each has its own peculiar cha-
racters-each was originally confined to a distinct
region of country— and one of them at al events,
and probably both, are limited to a distinct botani-
cal family of plants and can feed on no other, l^or
the benefit of those who are curious in such mat-
ters, 1 subjoin a table of the principal points of dit-
ference between the two species, which has been
drawn up from a comparison of numerous speci-
mens of each.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

D. junota — 8 specimens from, I D. 10-lineata — 50 specimens.
Mr. Sonne.

1. Edges of all the stripes
on the wing-cases, except
the outer edge of the mar-
ginal one, accurately boun-
ded by an acute groove,
which is regularly punctate
with a single row of punc-
tures.

2. The 2d and 3d stripes,
counting from the outside,
alwayff united behind and
generally before also.

I

.1. The same edges stud-
ded with very confused and
irregular punctures, espe-
cially towards the middle
of the wing-case, often in
two or three irregular se-
ries, and partly inside, part-
ly outside the edges.

2. The 3d and 4th stripes,
counting from the outside,
almost always united be-
hind, only failing to be so
united in a single wing-case
of three specimens. In a
single wing-case of two spe-
cimens the 2d, 3d and 4th
stripes are all united be-
hind.
3.Leg8rufou8,withablack 3. Legs rufous, with the

spot on the middle of the knees and feet black.

front of all the thighs.

Both Germar and Rogers erroneously state, that ywnc^a
has only four stripes on each wing-case. It has, in re-
ality, just as many stripes as lO-lineata, though I am in-
formed by Dr. LeConte that his Georgia specimens have
the outer stripe " indistinctly defined externally." What
Say calls "variety a" of lO-lineata, found in Arkansas,
is apparently from his description nothing but juncta.

The question whether the species that destroys
potatoes has existed for an indefinitely long time
in Illinois, or whether it has within the last few
years migrated thither from the Rocky Mountain
Region, may seem to some of merely theoretical
interest. It is, however, of great practical impor-
tance. On the first supposition, it is not probable
that it will travel eastward ; on the second suppo-
sition, it will most likely invade Indiana and Ohio
within a few years, and finally pass on to the At-
lantic States.

The new Potato Bug is not what naturalists call
a Bug, but a true Beetle, belonging to the Order
Goleoptera or Shelly-wings, and is rather more than
i of an inch long, of so short an oval shape as to
be almost as round as a grape, and cream- colored
with 10 black lines or stripes placed lengthways on
its back. Its wings are rose-colored and present a
beautiful appearance as it flies. We may call it in
English "the ten-striped Spearman," which is the
meaning of the scientific name given to it. The
above is the appearance presented by the perfect
or winged insect, when its wings are hid under its
wing-cases ; but in the larva or immature state,
it is a soft, elongate, 6-legged grub, of a dull vene-
tian-red color with several black spots, but without
any wings of course. There are four or five succes-
sive broods of them during the summer, and the
larva of each brood goes underground to assume
the pupa state. C. V. R. in the Prairie Farmer
of August 8, 1863, who was the first to watch this
insect through all its states, says that his specimens
" hatched on the 14th of June and came out as
perfect insects on the 10th of July, thus being
scarcely a month going through all their changes.^'
He confirms the conclusion at which I arrived in
July, 1862, in the columns of the Valley Farmer,
and which has been criticized and disputed by Dr.
Fitch, (^Trans., &c. p. 798,) namely that the larva
always goes underground to transform.

The insects commonly called " Potato-bugs,'' that
have from time immemorial infested the Potato
throughout the United States, are also Beetles like
the '' 10-striped Spearman," but otherwise are in no
wise related to it, beinj true blistering-beetles, be-
longing to the same genus as the common " Span-
ish-fly'' of the shops, and raising just as good a
blister as that does. Of these last there are three
distinct species which have been known to attack
the Potato, one of a jet-black color, {Lytta atrata,)
one of a gray color, (^Lytta cinerea,') and one of a
yellow color with 4 or 6 black stripes placed length-
ways on its back, {Lytta vittata.) Careless obser-
vers might confound this last with the " 10-striped
Spearman"; but the latter always has ten black
stripes on its back, neither more nor less, and the
former never has more than six. Besides, the whole
shape and structure of the two insects is as differ-
ent as that of a horse is from that of a hog. There
is this essential difference, likewise, between the ha-
bits of the two, that the blistering beetles only feed
on the potato in the perfect or winged state, where-
as both the larva and the perfect beetle of the " 10-
striped Spearman" feed thereon, thereby, of course,
injuring the vines to a much greater extent.

There are several species of lady-birds {^Cocci-
nellidae), which destroy the eggs of this insect; and
as the eggs laid by many of these lady-birds are of
the same shape and cblor as those of the " 10-striped
Spearman," and are scarcely distinguishable but by
their smaller size, being attached in the same man-
ner to the leaf, care must be taken by those who
undertake to destroy the eggs of the Potato-bug,
not to confound those of their best friends with
those of their bitterest enemies. The eggs of the
" Spearman" are yellow, over 16th inch long, cylin-
drical, rounded at each end, and more than twice
as long as wide, and they are attached by one end
in clusters of 20 or 30 to the under surface of the
leaf. It appears that in some localities a true Bug,
belonging to the Scutellcra family, and similar to
the large, stinking bugs often found on raspberries
and blackberries, destroys the '* Spearman" while
it is in the larva state, by puncturing it with ita
long beak and sucking out its juices. And Mr.
Shimer of Carroll Co., 111., finds that it is attacked
in the same way, while in the larva state, by another
cannibal Bug with its legs beautifully banded with
black and white, ("the Harpaetor cinctus of Fabri-
cius,) of which he nas sent me specimens, and which
I have myself noticed preying on a great variety of
other insects.

Almost the only remedy, hitherto found to be
effectual against the depredations of the " lO-striped
Spearman," is hand-picking them either in the egg,
larva or perfect state, or shaking the larvae and per-
fect beetles off the vines into shallow pans; for
which purpose a tin pan with a lid similar to that
of a common spittoon would probably be found very
convenient, as the insects might, then be shaken
through the central hole from time to time, as they
fall into the pan, and thereby be prevented from
escaping. Dusting lime, ashes &c. upon the vines
has been found to be perfectly useless, and both

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coal-oil and turpentine have been tried as preven-
lives, and in the words of Mr. Hazen of Nebraska
proved to be " no more use than so much water as
they soon evaporate/' Mr. Orin E. Priest, of Mo-
pinee. Wise., however, has found that "turkeys are
a perfect remedy for the potato-bugs;' and as the
old-fashioned potato-bugs are deadly poison, and
could not be eaten by turkeys with impunity, it
seems to follow that his experience must relate to
the Rocky Mountain insect, and consequently that
this species had already in 1865 made its way, not
only into Illinois, but also into Wisconsin. 1
had," he says, "a patch in my garden literally cov-
ered with the bugs, which was all cleared off by
turning in the turkeys three or four times. Also
a piece in the field, in which I turned a turkey
with a brood of young ; and there they have kept
them all off, and to-day there is no sign ot a bug to
be seen." (AT. Y. Sem. Tribune, Aug. 29, 1865.)
Turkeys have from time immemorial been em-
ployed occasionally for "worming" tobacco, the ob-
jection to which practise is that they injure many
tobacco-leaves. As the same objection will not ap-
ply in the case of the potato, they may probably
be found very useful assistants in combating the
"10-striped Spearman." At first sight we might
suppose that common fowls would answer an equally
Kood purpose; but I am told by those who have
tried the experiment that they are comparatively
inefficient.

EocK IsLAKD, Illinois, Sept. 23, 1865.

observed originated in one part of the bed, where
they were doubtless deposited by one parent fly."
Two broods appear in a season.

We are indebted to Mr. Shimer for specimens of
this fly and its larva. — Eds.

mtial (^ntumjjbjgiBt.

PHILADELPHIA, OCTOBER 30, 18»5.

THE ONION.

The Black Onion-fly.

Mr Henry Shimer, of Mount Carroll, Illinois,
cives in the Prairie Farmer, Sept. 2nd, 1865, a
short' notice and description of a dipterous insect
which is very destructive to the Onion in his neigh-
borhood. The scientific name of this fly is Ortalis
flexa Wiedemann. It was first described by Wiede-
mann in 1830, as belonging to the genus Tr?/peta
subsequently by Walker as Tn/peta arcuata, and
removed to Ortalii^ by Loew. The fly is about one-
third of an inch in length, black, with three obhque
white stripes on each wing. Mr. Shimer says, " in
the latter part of June, I first observed the larva or
maffffot among the onions here. The top dead,
tuber rotten, and the maggots in the decayed sub-
Btance. From them I bred the fly. They passed
about two weeks in the pupa state. At that time
I first observed the flies in the garden, and now a
few are to be found. Their favorite roosting place
is a row of asparagus running along the onion-
cround, where they are easily captured and de-
Btroyed from daylight to sunrise, while it is cool
and wet. During the day they are scattered over
the cround and on the leaves and stalks of the on-
ions: and not easily captured. Their wings point
obliquely backward, outWards and upwards with
an irregular jerking, fanlike movement : flight not
very rapid or prolonged. They are not very nume-
rous, probably not over 200 or 300. All that I

INTEODUCTOEY.

It is hoped that the publication of this Bulletin
will be attended with beneficial results to American
Farmers and Agriculturists, since its pages will be
filled with original papers illustrating the Natural
History of the different species of Insects, which
are more or less destructive to our annual crops of
all kinds. The Agricultural Journals have, from
year to year, presented through their columns, va-
rious recipes, as preventive of the attacks, or de-
structive to the life, of the " Curculio," the "Apple-
moth," the " Squash-bug," etc. The proposed de-
coctions and washes we are well satisfied, in the
majority of instances, are as useless in application
as they are ridiculous in composition, and if the
work of destroying Insects is to be accomplished
satisfactorily, we feel confident that it will have to
be the result of no chemical preparations, but of
simple means, directed by a knowledge of the his-
tory and habits of the depredators. The fruit-
growers are especially interested in this matter, since
there is an increase in their complaints, that the in-
sects which prey on their crops are yearly more nu-
merous and consequently more destructive. The en-
quiring Agriculturist who reads this Bulletin must
not expect to find recommended any peculiar brew,
mixed according to certain quantities, as specific for
any one or all of our insect enemies. He will find,
however, we hope in course of time, that the real
conditions of life and the transformations of each
species, that shall recommend itself by its numbera
as fit subject for discussion, will be faithfully record'
ed for his information by Entomologists whose time
is devoted to this imperfectly understood subject,
and that he will be enabled from the information
thus obtained, to determine at what period of the
insect's life the greatest quantities can be most
readily destroyed by the simplest means.

Letters addressed to us will be answered through
our columns, and phials containing specimens in
alcohol, are solicited from any locality in the United
States and Canadas.

We have already published a " Circular," in
which the purposes of this Bulletin are set forth,
and in this, our first Number, we renew our hopes
and expectations that our undertaking will be sus-
tained by both Scientists and Agriculturists, since
it must be evident that the active cooperation of
all interested parties will alone insure success in an
undertaking which is a labor of Public benefit,
without monetary recompense, and which we are
peculiarly able, from our knowledge and collected
material, to advance successfully.

THE TOMATO-WOEM STOEY.

The fatality which the human mind displays in
returning to the idea, through successive genera-
tions, that whatever object is inexplicable at the
moment to its ignorance in the entomological world,
is hurtful and will "sting," is distressing to those
who believe in the progressive intelligence of the
human race.

Now, in this month of October, 1865, there is
going the rounds of the country press, the follow-
ing article, which we give in full.

" Tomato Worm.— The Port Byron (N. Y.) Times says,
that several persons near Auburn have recently been
stung by a large worm that infested tomato vines, death
ensuing within a few hours. A lady in Port Byron dis-
covered one of these monsters on her tomato vines one
day last week, and narrowly escaped oeing stung. The
worm is described as about three inches long, of a green
color and armed with claws and nippers, with a black
horn extending in front some three-fourths of an inch
long. A writer in the Rochester Express states that a
few days since he took one of these worms from his to-
mato vines, and confined it about a week in a glass jar,
awaiting its change into a chrysalis state. Upon being
released it burrowed its way into the ground nearly a
foot, or as far as the thread by which it was held would
permit Under the impression that it might resurrect
itself another season in the miller form and become the
parent of a numerous and destructive progeny, it was
killed."

We have witnessed assemblages of boys armed
with long sticks, engaged in the perilous attempt
of " stirring up" a solitary moth which rested slee-
pily on a fence. Ensconced behind some tree or
other protecting object, for security, the boys would
sally out from this vantage ground and courageously
attack the " monster," and we feel sure that these
boys, grown up men, will ever retain a recollection
of the address that saved them in such perilous
enterprises. But what are these dangers to those
encountered by the lady who narrowly escaped be-
ing stung by the harmless caterpillar of Sphinx
Carolina f And then the deaths ; how is it that
these never appeared in the obituary notices ?
By whom ever it was described, the person, with

some similarity to Uncle Toby in this respect, evi-
dently did not know the right from the wrong
end of a — caterpillar. The grown-up child, who
confined the larva of a Sphinx in a glass jar, ex-
pecting it in that locality to change into a chrysa-
lis, and who afterwards tied a thread around it,
while the poor thing was intent on performing its
natural transformations appointed by the Almighty,
may perhaps be pardoned his ignorance from the
circumstance, that he expected the worm would
" resurrect itself in the miller shape," — a reasonable
conclusion, and one which we had not expected
from his conduct, the latter leading us rather to
anticipate, that he believed the poor thread-tied
worm would transform itself into a venomous rep-
tile, or full-fledged griflBn. The " claws" and " nip-
pers" indeed seem to favor the supposition that
such a transformation might be expected, on the
scriptural authority that the " last state" shall be
** worse than the first." Seriously speaking, need
we state that the "worm" is the caterpillar of
Sphinx Carolina, a lepidopterous insect, incapable
of inflicting harm on any one, except by devouring
a few eleemosynary leaves of the plant from which
it derives its sustenance; that the " horn" is situ-
ate posteriorly on the "tail" segments, and not "in
front;" that it undergoes its transformation into the
chrysalis state underground and emerges the fol-
lowing spring as a " moth" ? Truly, when we read
this article, we thought the world could ill dispense
with an Entomological Society, were it only to free
it from imaginary fears and dangers.

"GUI BOHOr*

Since Linnaeus wrote a dissertational reply with
the above title, many have ventilated their Latin-
ity and criticism on the science of Entomology and
Entomologists.

Whatever you may be pleased to say on other
occasions. Messieurs Critics, and however you may
distort the true meaning and ends of what is un-
derstood by what is "useful," — this time at least
you will be silent. For we step before you here
with a work, which even you must concede to be
utilitarian, and, should you repeat now the ques-
tion with which we head this article, we can reply
conclusively and in the same tongue — " Pro bono
publico."

^^^* Those wishing to receive a copy of the Praetieal
Entomologist regularly, will please send with their names
and address, twelve cents in stamps to pay the postage
thereon for one year. All communications should be
addressed to E. T. Cresson, Corresponding Secretary, 618
South Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

A NEW BOOK ON INJTJBIOUS INSECTS.

A Tbbatisb ow thb Insect Enemies or Frtttt and Fruit
Trees, with numerous Illustrations drawn from Nature,
by Hochstein, under the immediate supervision of the
Author. By Isaac P. Trimble, M. D.— The Curculio
AND Apple Moth. New York : W. Wood &> Co. 1865.

We have much pleasure in noticing a work which
both faithfully and satisfactorily illustrates a topic
full of interest to the Agriculturist. The subject
of the depredations of the so-called " Curculio/'
( Conotrachelus nenuphar^ is treated by Dr. Trimble
at considerable length, and with a lucidity and
breadth of view which is much to be commended,
while the Doctor's style of composition relieves, by
its fanciful abruptness, the tedium which the reader
is but too apt to feel on the perusal of a work of
this description.

Faithfully trying the foolish recipes and nos-
trums, ever too readily offered by ignorance and
vanity, the Doctor has found these wanting in effi-
cacy against the insect enemies of our fruit, and
from personal experience, offers good advice and
recommends a natural and simple treatment to fruit-
growers, such as will, we have every reason to be-
lieve, be followed, on being persisted in, by suc-
cessful results, while the common sense of the Agri-
culturist will receive no offence from the means
proposed to relieve his difficulties.

The illustrations, which are apt and pertinent,
are the work of Mr. A. Hochstein, an artist whose
faithful delineation of Entomological subjects, is
well known to us, and has received our justly
merited approval. In the present instance, Mr.
Hochstein has treated the figures of insects with
both delicacy and a considerable degree of scientific
accuracy.

COERESPONDENOE.

A friend from Maine writes : I think your pro-
posed Bulletin will be the means of gathering and
preserving much of importance and interest con-
nected with the subject of Practical Entomology
that would otherwise be lost, and which, if more
widely known and distributed, as it could be through
such a medium, would be productive of much good
to the community. Notwithstanding the many
that are engaged in the study of insects to a greater
or less extent, and the much that has been written
upon the subject, it is lamentable to see how wide
spread is the ignorance in regard to it, even among
those whose interest it is to possess a knowledge
of insects and whose labors are affected by their

operations. This is the case with us, and I pre-
sume we are no exception to the general rule.
Take one example: The apple tree in Maine is
badly affected by two insects — the "borer" (^o-
perda Candida ¥ab.=bivittata Say), and the "tent
caterpillar," ( Clisiocampa americana) . Now, not-
withstanding the prevalence of these insects to so
great an extent that every farmer's boy is ac-
quainted with them in their larval state, I am jus-
tified in stating that there is hardly one farmer or
fruit grower in twenty who is acquainted with them
in their different states, or who would recognize
them in their perfect state. This should not be.
These parties must be aroused to their interests.
They can never overcome an enemy of whom they
know little or nothing. Much has been done in
the past few years towards this end by the workers
in the cause, but much remains to be performed,
and therefore I accept your proposition as one of
the means to produce the desired result. G. E. B.

Cincinnati, Ohio, October 7, 1865. — Please
find enclosed a coccus found upon a branch of Sugar
Maple in the Fair grounds at Fort Wayne, Ind.,
last week, when in company with Thomas Meehan
of your city. The tree appeared perfectly healthy,
and the insects were confined to one branch so far
as we could observe it. [This " coccus" is a species
of Lecanium, belonging to the suborder Homop-
tera^ and is probably undescribed. The scales are
relics of dead females, covering and protecting
their eggs and young. Mr. Meehan has also sent
us specimens of this insect, which he collected
probably from the same tree. — Eds.]

Clisiocampa americana has become quite rare
on my place; it does consume ^eacA leaves. See
Fitch to the contrary.

Datana ministra is increasing terribly notwith-
standing the annual destruction of millions in my
young orchards. It appears sparingly early in
July, and then abundantly a month later ; their
growth is rapid in early crop, and slower after-
wards. Thinking they are of two generations, I
am very watchful in July, but still they have in-
creased alarmingly. Is not the Datana found so
abundantly on the Walnut, Hickory and Oak, in
some regions, a different species ? [Probably D.
contracta, Walker (vide Grote and Robinson's Pa-
per in Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil, iv, p. 499). Send us
specimens. — Eds.]

Clostera inclusa has almost disappeared in this
neighborhood, though formerly abundant. I found
the eggs of a parasite on it, at another locality,

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last year. Can this have diminished them ? [Yes,
undoubtedly so. — Eds.]

^ Eyphantria textor commences in May, and con-
tinues to appear through August and perhaps Sep-
tember. It is very abundant and omnivorous, or
nearly so.

Is our Thrips in the vineyards, the Tettigonia
vto.? (vide Harris.) [We should think not. Thrips
and Tettigonia are two very different insects, be-
longing to different suborders, and cannot be con-
founded. Send us specimens of the "Thrips" for
more definite information. — Eds.]

Next year will be Locust time here, and we have
found some larvaa coming toward the surface, a few
exposed in plowing and digging.

Have you learned the period of larvse of Melo-
lonthian, called White Grub, common in sod-lands ?
[Not definitely. Harris says : " At the close of
their third summer (or, as some say, of the fourth
or fifth) they cease eating, and penetrate about
two feet deep into the earth," to assume the pupa
state.— Eds.]

Rose-bugs are rare here, one or two pairs ob-
served annually. I kill them.

Selandria rosse has made its appearance here
within two years ; it is very plenty a degree north
of us but increasing here. S. cerasi is scarcely
known on pears and cherries.

John A. Warder.

ADVEETISEMENTS.

.^Advertisements to be sure of insertion, must be
received BEFOKE the 16th of the month.

N. B— Advertisements of interest to the Farmer, Agri-
culturist, and Horticulturist, are solicited for the pur-
pose of defraying the cost of publishing this Bulletin,
which is distributed gratuitously throughout the coun-
try, thereby presenting a first-class medium for Agricul-
tural advertisements, m Advertisement of Patent Medi-
cines or secret remedies admitted.

TERMS--(Cash before insertion);
20 cents per line, (10 lines in an inch), for each inscr-
tion. ^ No advertisement charged less thaji $2, beinir
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One haff column (43 lines), $8 each insertion.
One whole column (86 lines), $16 ea^h insertion.
Special Notices, 30 cents per line of space occupied.

THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE

Entomological Society of PhiladelpMa,

CONTAINING

SPECIAL NOTICE.

Monographic Papers hy Eminent Entomologists,

Are Published Annually in one Volume of 600 to 600

pages, issued in Numbers through the year, and

Illustrated with many Plates of new and

interesting Insects.

.^ Subscription Price $4.00, payable in advance on
receipt of the first number.

Address E. T. CRESSON, Corre»p. Secretary,
No. 518 South Thirteenth Street,
Messrs. William Wood A Co., i a e p la, a.

61 Walker Street, New York,

General Agents.

The Officers of the Entomological Society op
Philadelphia, call the attention of the Public, to
an open letter issued by them, soliciting donations
to a Fund of $50,000, which is deemed necessary
to be obtained in order to secure the welfare of
the Society and its permanence, and to which fund
$10,000 have been donated by the late Dr. Thomas
B. Wilson. The Society offers an Honorary Mem-
bership to all who give monetary support to the
Society at this juncture, while suggesting that the
minimum sum to be tendered, be fixed at $100.
To Subscribers, for the sum of $500 and upward,
the " Proceedings" and various publications of the
Society will be given free of charge.

«^* Any person who shall remit to the Secre-
tary, annually, a sum of not less than One Dollar,
or any larger amount, at his or her discretion, will
be elected a Contributing Member of the Society,
and will receive a Certificate of the same.

EOBEET SCOTT,

FLORIST AND NURSERYMAN,

Nineteenth and Catharine streets,

PHILADELPHIA,

Offers for sale a large and well selected assortment of

Azaleas,

Camellias,

Pelargoniums,
c ^ and Eosea.

toEND FOR Catalogues, gratis.

JAMES RIDINGS,

No. 1311 South Street, Philadelphia,

DEALER IN INSECTS

OP ALL ORDERS.
Has on hand a fine collection of Colcoptera from C«lo-
rado Territorj, as well as Insects of all orders from West
Virginia, collected during the past summer. Also a few
% 9 specimens of Argynnit Diana^ Say, at reasonabU
rates.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

NUBSEBIES, &o.

BLOOMINGTON NURSERY,

ILLINOIS.

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yery general assortment| including splendid stock of
Standard and Dwarf

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HARDY BULBS.

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All at Wholesale and Retail. Send two red Stamps
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R K. FHOENIX.

Bloomington.

S. MAUPAY & GO'S

RISING SUN NURSERIES,

RISING SUN VILLAGE, PHILA.

Where will at all times be found, in their season, in the
highest state of perfection and at very moderate prices,

Trees y Ornamental Shruhsy

Evergreens, Grape VineSy

Hedging Plants^

Fruit Trees,
RaspherrieSf Gooseherriesj

Currants^ Rotes,

Flowering Plants,

Green & Hothouse Plants^
Flower Seeds, Bulbous Roots, Vegetable Seeds.
Together with every article in their line.

H. A. DREER,

Nurseryman, Seedsman & Florist,

No. 714 CHESTNUT STREET,

PHILADELPHIA.

VEGETABLE, GRASS and FLOWER SEEDS,
OF THE BEST QUALITY.

Fruit and Shade Trees, Evergreens,

Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants,

Asparagus Roots, &c.

CATALOGUES FORWARDED TO ALL APPLICANTS.

FRESH AND GENUINE

GAEDEN, FLOWER AND FIELD SEEDS.

All Seeds bought at our Store warracted fresh and

genuine.

PREMIUM FARM AND GRIST-MILL

Will grind from five to twenty bushels an hour. Every

Farmer should have one.

EXPANDING CULTIVATORS, PLOWS of all kinds,

Double and Single C0RN-SHELLER8, HAY,

STRAW and FODDER CUTTERS,

ALL KINDS OF AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICUL

TURAL IMPLEMENTS.

MANQING BASKETS AND VASES,
in great variety, at

NORMAN & LITTLE'S

Old established Seed and Agricultural WaTehouse,
No. 805 MARKET STREET,

PHILADELPHIA.

THOMAS S. DIXON & SONS,

Late Andrews A Dixon,

No. 1324 CHESTNUT ST.

PHILADELPHIA.

Opposite United States Mint.
Manufacturers of

LOW-DOWN,

PARLOR,

CHAMBER,

OFFICE,

and other GRATES.
For Anthracite, Bituminous and Wood-Fires,

ALSO,

WARM-AIR FURNACES,

For Warming Public and Private Buildings,

REGISTERS, VENTILATORS, CHIMNEY

CAPS, COOKING RANGES,

BATH BOILERS,
WHOLESALE df RETAIL,

MEICHEL & PLUMLY,

(Successors to P. Kotterlinns,)

PLAIN & FANCY JOB PRINTERS,

N. E. corner Third and Race Streets^
PHILADELPHIA.

Check and Receipt Books, Liquor Labels,

Bronze Cards, Bill Heads, Circulars,

Labels, Tags, Hatters* Tips.

ENVELOPES AND PAPER FOR SALE

— 1

PALMER MOORE,
CARPENTER AND BUILDER,

No. 621 South Thirteenth St.
PHILADELPHIA.

^^ All Orderi promptly attended to.

^

THE

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

Published by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, for gratuitous distribution
______^^ among Farmers and Agriculturists. sirioution

Vol. I.

NOVEMBER 27, 1865.

No. 2,

PHILADELPHIA, NOVEMBER 27, 1865.

INSECTS AND THE CHOLEEA.

The appearance of epidemic disease in Europe
has turned the attention of the fearful among ite
inhabitants to the features presented by that Insect
Life which always surrounds them, cholera or no
cholera, but which, to their imaginations, are novel
and concomitant with the disease now raging among
them. We find the following in the columns of a
late European newspaper :

"The northern departments of France are at this mo-
ment suffering from a pest which to them is about as dis-
astrous as an invasion of locusts in Southern latitudes.
Vast and .nnumerable swarms of lepidopterous insects,
belongmg to the family of Noctuida,, will settle down on

fibre of the root left. Fire, acids, and every other power-
ful agent have been tried against them in vain; notwith-
standing the most unremitting toil and care the insect
multiplies to an alarming extent, so as to threaten the
total destruction of beet, endive and cabbages, fortunately
the only vegetables it chooses to attack."

These lepidoptera could only be destructive to
the vegetation in their larval state, when their jaws
or maxiUsB are adapted to the mastication of those
plants which constitute their entire food. In this
state they do not fly, but are crawling, worm-like
bodies or caterpillars. In the " perfect" or " moth"
state the maxillae are developed into spiral tongue-
like processes, through which, as through a tube or
sucker, they imbibe the various juices which con-
stitute their sole nourishment. The amount of food
taken by Butterflies and Moths in their perfect
states bears no proportion to the quantities which
their larvsB or caterpUlars consume.
But we shall be able to draw a timely lesson from

the apprehensions of Europe at this time, if we dis-
card from our minds the fear that the prevalence
of insects is a prognostic of disease, so that, if the
cholera does visit our shores, we need not add to
our causes of apprehension should our noxious in-
sects be tolerably plenty next year, as, indeed, they
always are in a greater or less degree.

Fear is a great detriment to a healthful body
and brings its own punishment in the greater liabi!
hty of those who entertain it to take the very dis-
ease which they frightenedly seek to avoid Let
us then not be alarmed at anything we may see in
the multiplication of insects next year, and be con-
fident that had we only looked in years past, we
should have seen the same destruction, so that we *
can firmly await the dispensations of a kind Provi-
dence, undisturbed by auguries of evil, and with »
calmness which has its origin in our own common
sense and in a knowledge that " He does not will-
ingly afflict or grieve the children of men."

Now that the altars of"th^ Summer are laid bare
the charred remains of their ofierings after the
October blaze swept away, their votary, the » z~
wg" Cicada, long ceased his ministrations— we can
meditate through these coming sleepful Winter
months on the means to protect our crops next
season, and be ready with intellect to circumvent
physical agencies. Still, ere we set our brains to
work to destroy, let us think a little on what is
created by a kind Master for our use and enjoy-
ment in Insects. Of old the poet has sung of th.
Cicada or "locust": "Almost thou art like unto
the gods," -and rightly, for to the idea of etherid
immortality expressed by the butterfly, it seems to
add supernatural power by its cry. Ask of it

l(

I

f

111

w

i

10

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

«

rather than of your " spirit rappers," for informa-
tion of the dead. Where it dwells is (poxo/ia vtbIov.

But, perhaps, one would rather know that it is
haustellate, and cannot destroy the leaves under
which it lives. It could not well be so ifoolish or
80 ungrateful to its protectors— not being human ;
— the Latins have coined into a proverb, at least
one of the proud privileges of humanity — est err are.
For how many years has not the Cicada " rapped"
in and around Rochester, before that place gave
birth to false sounds to which credulity eagerly
listened ? In summer time they had the true sounds
for nothing, yet many preferred the imitation.

The French manufacturer turns the yellow
strands of silk into profit to himself and dress for
others. The Mexican rears the cochineal and the
East Indian the "crops" of lac. These, partly at least,
comprehend the gifts of God. We, in the U. States,
4ecry our insects and stigmatize them as "bugs,"
aqd they are all, more or less, objects of fear and
aversion. We should remember the origin of the
word " bug," which is Celtic ;— " Tuph, fright boys
vith bugs."-— (" Taming of the Shrew," Act 1)—
and that it signifies a " ghost."— (Griffith's "Lift
for the Lazy.") Did we generally know this the
vulgarism would perhaps become obsolete and we
should call our insects by their right (?) names.
Were Providence to answer the prayers of some of
us, our insects would appear no more. Can one con-
ceive a Spring without a bee, a Summer without a
butterfly, the " Dog-days" without a " locust"? Com-
merce would cry after its lost profits; Fashion would
bewail her want of fresh trimmings; the Poet would
mourn his lost friends. Nay, were this to happen,
we should even burn our musquito bars in one
great sacrificial pyre and implore the gods for the
favor of being bitten.

THE JOINT WOSM.

We copy the following paragraphs from the Ca-

ada Farmer of October, 18Go :

"A correspondent in Cobourg is desirous of some infor-
• ation respecting au insect wliich Las proved rather in-
l Tious to his early sown wheat, particularly that on dry
\ loUs; he has sent us two small sections of wheat-straw,
i which are imbedded the pupte of the insect that has
0 .mmitted the depredations, and also some similar pupee
O' last year's production, from which one or two tiny
IHtle flies have made their escape by eating a hole in the
•ide. Out of these scanty materials it is, of course, im-
possible to determine with any certainty to what genus
or species the insect enemy belongs; it is probable, how-
ever, from its generally attacking the second joint of the
■traw, that it is a species of Eureptoma, [Eurytoma] a
•mall four-winged insect that has occasionally proved
Tery injurious to the straw crop in the United States. In
cases where much damage has been inflicted upon a crop,
M the attack is made in the second joint of the straw,
tnd 80 near the base of the plant, the only mode of pre-
venting a recurrence of the injury is to burn the stubble
containing the insect j for, of course, the greater part of

the diseased portions will be left in the stubble when the
grain is reaped.

"The tiny little flies which had eaten their way out of
the sides of the pupse of this insect are ichneumons or
parasites, whose larvae had preyed upon the grubs of the
injurious fly. They are less than the twentieth part of
an inch in length, of a dark metallic green color, and fur-
nished with four transparent wings. These little flies
and their congeners, which "belong to one of the most ex-
tensive groups of insects, are of vast importance in the
economy of nature, being designed by Providence for the
prevention of too great an increase in the various species
of insects, especially those that are of an injurious cha-
racter; a superabundance of any peculiar kind being
almost invariably attended with an increased proportion
of its parasitic enemies."

The above throws some considerable light upon
a subject of great practical importance to the Ag-
riculturist, which has never yet been fully eluci-
dated. For many years back it has been known
that whole fields of wheat, rye, and barley have
been destroyed in the States bordering on the At-
lantic by a minute insect popularly called the " Joint
Worm." All accounts agree in stating that this so-
called "worm" is found in considerable numbers
imbedded in a small, gall-like swelling in or imme-
diately above the second joint of the straw, or at all
events some joint not far from the ground; and
that, in consequence of its operations, the portion
of straw above the gall-like swelling withers and
comes to nothing. This "worm" of course must,
in all probability, be the larva of some insect; but
to what Species, to what Genus, and even to what
Family and Order it belongs, is at present wrapt in
obscurity.

Both Dr. Fitch and Dr. Harris were originally
of opinion that the Joint- Worm was the larva of a
Vecidomyia or Gall-gnat, the same genus of insects
to which appertain the common Hessian Fly and
the Wheat-midge. Subsequently, however, be-
cause from a large quantity of the diseased straw
they never bred anything but Chalcis flies, they
both of them came to the conclusion that it must
be the Chalcis flies that were the causes of the dis-
ease. And yet it is notorious that the Chalcis fa-
mily— to which appertains the genus Eurytoma
mentioned in the extract from the Canada Farmer
— are generally parasitic upon other insects; and
that, although hundreds of species of them are
known to entomologists, in no one instance has it
yet been satisfactorily proved, that any one of them
is other than parasitic in its habits.

We have referred this subject to Mr. Benj. D.
Walsh, of Rock Island, Illinois, who has paid spe-
cial attention to the Natural History of Galls,* and
has published Papers in our Proceedings on the

*It may be incidentally remarked here, that all unna-
tural or diseased growths upon plants, no matter what
their shape or color, which are caused by insects, are
technically termed "Galls" by Naturalists.

I

THE PRACTICAL ENXDMOLOGIST.

11

Galls of the Willow and the Oak. He answers as
follows : —

"I strongly incline to believe that the * Joint-
Worm' must be the larva of some Gall-gnat, and
not, as certain authors have supposed, of a Chalcis
fly, for the following reasons : —

" Ist. I have had very extensive experience in
breeding different species of Gall-gnats {Cecido-
myia) from the Galls of the Oak, Willow, Solidago,
Vernonia, Heliauthus, &c.; and I find that it is
very often the case, that from a gall which is fully
proved to be the work of a Gall-gnat, I obtain no-
thing but Chalcis flies. The Gall-gnats generally
are very difficult to breed to the Perfect Fly, and
often die in the pupa state, and sometimes, if the
gall is gathered too soon, in the larva state. On
the other hand, I scarcely ever fail to obtain Chal-
cis flies of some species or other from the galls of
the many different Gall-gnats that I have experi-
mented on. Hence, it is not at all surprising to
me, that both Harris and Fitch obtained nothino-
but Chalcis flies from the 'Joint- Worm' straw. ^
''2nd. I am acquainted with galls on the Soli-
dago (Golden-rod) and the Vernonia fasciculata^
which almost exactly resemble in their structure
the 'Joint- Worm' galls, being oval enlargements
of the stem, filled inside with a pale brown, spongy
substance, in which are imbedded numerous minute
cells. From both these galls I have bred large
numbers of the Lasioptera solidaginis of Osten
Sacken— a minute Gall-gnat — and also large num-
bers of Chalcis flies, belonging both to the Eury-
toma group and to the Pteromalus group. From
what is to all external appearance the same gall on
the Golden-rod, but differing internally in beinn^
hollow with thin walls, I have also bred a smaU
moth recently described by Dr. Clemens from a
specimen furnished by myself.* This last I rather
believe to be an 'Inquiline' or intruder upon the
Gall made by the Gall-gnat; but it is possible that it
IS an independent gall-maker, having no connection
with the Gall-gnat or its gall ; and it is possible
again that this Gall-moth may be the author of both
these two kinds of Gall, and that the Gall-gnats
bred from them may be mere Inquilines or intru-
ders upon the Gall-moth. Those who desire to
know more on this very difficult, curious, and in-
teresting subject of Inquilines or Guest-flies may
refer to my Paper on Willow Galls, pages 547-500,
{Proc. Ent. Soc, Phil, Vol. III). But be this as
It may, I am quite certain that the Chalcis flies
bred from these Golden-rod and Vernonia galls are
parasitic on the Gall-gnats bred therefrom ; and as
the galls themselves so closely resemble those of
the Joint- Worm, it is reasonable to suppose that

fZ'f.u' X: l'}i\ ^^^^ informed Dr. Clemens as to
the ga 1 inhabited by this insect, but he had, as he says

na^p?"°!i^'J^ mislaid my letter,' and has by mistTke
ealT ' Th« ^fj;"bed the insect%s inhabiting^'a willow
CwPvi^^L ^^ of the insect, of course, must stand,
turlf wf- PP'^'P"**'®' **"^ ^^^ f^«^« respecting its Na-
kin rJJiriT^.K-^^ *' ^""^^ ^*^ corrected here. Osten Sac-

peta gall which he there describes is well known Li5^
and quite distinct from the other two " '

the Chalcis flies bred from the Joint- Worm galls
are also parasitic and not true gall-makers.

" Srd. The Chalcis fly obtained by Dr. Harris
from swellings in the joints of the straw of Massa-
chusetts barley is a distinct species, according to
Dr. Fitch himself, from the Chalcis fly obtained by
Dr. Fitch from similar swellings in the straw of
New York barley, although closely allied to the
latter and belonging to the same genus. Now, I
am not aware of any recorded instance where two
insects, specifically distinct, produce upon the
SAME SPECIES OF PLANT galls or swcllings which
are indistinguishable in character. Dr. Fitch says
himself, that he 'had confidently expected this
barley straw from Central New York would give
him the identical insect which had infested the
Massachusetts barley.' Hence I infer that these
Chalets flies cannot be the authors of the Joint-
Worm galls in barley. On the other hand, sup-
posing these two distinct Chalcis flies bred from
diseased barley straw, to be parasitic on some other
species of insect which produced the gall-like swell-
ings both in the Massachusetts and the New
York barley, there is nothing at all unusual in the
fact. For it is an every-day occurrence for the
same species of insect to be parasitically infested
by several distinct species.

"4^A. Dr. Fitch, as quoted by Dr. Harris, (Tnj.
Ins. p. 555,) says himself that he found, in the Joint-
worm galls of Barley, larvae 'with a small V-sha*ped
brown line marking the situation of the mouth.'
Now, this ' V-shaped brown line' is manifestly the
well-known ' breast-bone,' which is characteristic of
the larvae of the Gall-gnat family, and found in no
OTHER LARV^. These larvae, therefore, which
Dr. Fitch himself found in Joint- worm galls, must
necessarily have been the larvae of some species of
Gall-gnat. Why Dr. Fitch failed to recognize the
importance of this character, as definitively proving
his larvae to be those of some Gall-gnat, is explained
by the fact which I have elsewhere demonstrated.
(Proc. &c. Ill, p. 616,) viz. that he knows nothing
at all about it.

" Let us recur now to the extract from the Ca*
nada Farmer, in the light of the above sugges-
tions, which I offer, not by any means as a com-
plete solution of the question, but as mere opinions
formed from the very incomplete evidence which
has as yet been published. Three things are tolera-
bly plain from this extract— Is^ That the ' two small
sections of wheat-straw, in which are imbedded
pupae' and which are located generally 'on the
second joint of the straw,' are true Joint-worm
galls. For if the pupae had been those of the Hes-
sian fly, it would not have been necessary to make
a ' section ' of the straw in order to exhibit them,
as the pupa of the Hessian Fly always lies, not in-
side the straw, but between the straw and the shank
of the leaf that enwraps the straw above every joint.
2nd. That the ' tiny little flies' bred from the pup»
found in the wheat-straw from Canada are Chalcis
flies, probably belonging, not to the Eurytoma
group, but to the Pteromalus group. 3rr/. That
•they ' ate their way out of the sides of a certain

' (,

a-

■h

(

■aafei

X.

12

^ V

r\

THE. PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

pupa found in these ' Joint-worm' straws, and con-
sequently that they must be, not gall-makers, but
parasites, like all other Chalcis flies whose Natural
History is accurately known. Whether that pupa
IS the pupa of a Gafl-gnat, or of a Gall-moth, or of
a Saw-fly, or of a Gall-fly, can be readily and cer-
tam y determined from the simple inspection of a
single good specimen either dead or alive. But the
particular genus and species to which the insect
belongs can only be found out by actually breed-
ing the living pupa to the perfect state. For these
two purposes I most earnestly solicit the gentleman
m Cobourg, or the Editor of the Canada Farmer
to mail me immediately a few specimens of the
pupae spoken of in the above extract and the flies
bred from them, packed in any femall, stout, paste-
board box m cotton wool, so that they may not
rattle about and get broken on the road : and so
soon as Spring opens and the supposed Joint-worm
galls have nearly got their growth, to mail me everv
three or four weeks, enclosed in oiled silk to pre-

InT.uT/ ^'^1°^ "P' ^ ^'^'^ supply of them, roots
and all if practicab e— say a good large handful at
a time~until I notify him to stop, which I engage
to do as soon as ever I have attained my object.
Ihis may seem unnecessary trouble and expense;
out It IS absolutely necessary for the end which we
all ot us have m view. In order to breed Gall-
gnats with success, it is essential to have fresh galls
from time to time; for by no method.known to
me—and I have tried dozens of diff-erent methods-
can these delicate insects be kept alive any length
of time m the Breeding-vase. I do not know what
are the regulations of the Canada Post-office: but
matter such as the above, provided there is no writ-
ing whatever but the Address, passes through our
I'. S. Post-office, when marked 'Seeds and Cut-

mnft' J"' ' ^Z ''''''. . ^^ ^^"* ^y E^P^«««, they
must be prepaid; «od by that mode of conveyance

wou d do best packeu in a little damp mos7in a

tight tin vessel. If, as is possible but not very pro-

bab e, the pup* referred to above are merely those

of the common Hessian Fly, I can immediatelv

IIZT" i^!, '''IJ''"^ «P '^^°^^°« ^f this year^I
growth. And in that case it will not, of course be
necessary to send fresh specimens next spring '
hZ^^ '} '^ always best to have two strings to your
bow and as the JoinUworm is common fn sev^eral
of the Atlantic States; I should also feel obi 'ed to
any i>er8on resident in those States who can s^uppg
me with specimens m the manner spoken of above
It IS a positive disgrace to the Agriculturlte of this
country that the Natural History of an Lsec
loHh ^^J'^'^^y^^ already millions of dolW
worth of their crops, should be so imrerfectlv
known, that nobody can tell except by gueL work
how, when and where to attack the offS, and
nobody can even say for certain who the off-^nder
IS. But can we wonder at this, when there are onlv

itlZi''"^'^'^' ""' '^ '^' '^''''y-'''^^ which tbink
AnTwK "^ *^ '^^'''^''' ^ S^^ Entomologist?
And when, among nineteen-twentieths even of well-
educated persons, the term ' Btig-hunter' is a term
of reproach and ridicule ?

Ihe question proposed to be hereby solved is
one, not of mere theoretical interest, but of real
practical, dollars-and-cents utility. Proceeding on
the hypothesis of the Chalets flies being the real
authors of the ' Joint-worm' swellings, and know-
ing that the great majority of them stay in the
butts of the straw through the winter, Dr. Fitch
has recommended burning the straw and the stub-
ble to destroy them; and his advice has been
adopted, as we saw above, by the Editor of the
Canada Farmer. But if, as I think is not at
all improbai)le, the real originators of the disease
come out into the perfect state in the spring or
summer, and the Chalcis flies, which mostly stay in
the straw through the winter, are parasitic upon
these others, and are, therefore, our friends instead
ot our enemies; burning the straw and the stubble
would be making war upon our own benefactors.
1 may be wrong; but I cannot help believing that
these poor, slandered, little Chalcis flies have good
ground for suing Dr. Fitch for defamation of cha-
racter, and that they will, beyond a doubt, if they
only know enough to commence suit, recover most
exemplary damages from him."
Rock Island, Illinois, Nov. 4, 1865.

TO ADVEETISEBS.

An intelligible means of communicating with the
Farmers and Agriculturists of this councry is offered
by the advertising columns of this Bulletin to any
one who has matters of business to bring to their
speedy notice. The circulation is large and increas-
ing, since the Bulletin supplies a want which, we
are assured, has been long felt by all of our int^lli-
gent Farmers, and of which we have ample proof
m the number of letters we are receiving from all
parts of the country from Farmers desirous of ob-
taining the paper regularly.

While we are anxious to carry our enterprise on
successfully, we are oWiged to rely on the proceeds
from the Advertisements to enable us to continue
the work. Hence the Farmers themselves, who
are benefitted by our publication, can assist us by
bringing our offers for Advertisements to the notice
of those with whom they deal, and thus insure our
financial stability.

To Wholesale Merchants and Manufacturers in
large cities our columns offer strong inducements,
since we are well assured that, in view of our large
circulation, a yearly advertisement will be found a
profitable investment in procuring a more extended
patronage and enlarged business facilities.

A liberal discount will be allowed to annual and
semi-annual advertisers.

As soon as our receipts warrant the additional
expenditure, we shall increase the number of pages
of reading matter contained in our Paper.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

13

TO OUB WESTEEN COBEESPOKDEITrS.

We have much pleasure in stating that Benj.
D. Walsh, Esq., of Rock Island, Hlinois, has con-
sented to take charge of communications from the
Western States, intended for the Editors of this
Bulletin. It would be superfluous for us to
speak of the attainments of so experienced and tho-
rough an Entomologist as Mr. Walsh is known to
be; we thank him for taking an interest in the wel-
fare of our Paper, and relieving us of part of the
laborg of our position. Our Western Correspond-
ents will please take note of this, and we trust that
we shall soon receive communications from that
quarter of interest to our readers and of benefit to
our cause.

Communications should be sent to Mr. Walsh as
early in the month as possible, so that he may have
time to arrange the matter and forward it for inser-
tion in the number of the Bulletin due the last |
Monday of the same month.

THE OHIO POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

We have much pleasure in receiving a circular of
the Ohio Pomological Society, announcing their
thirteenth annual meeting at the rooms of the Cin-
cinnati Horticultural Society, commencing on Wed-
nesday, Dec. 6. We sincerely trust that this So-
ciety, which is a great and active benefit to Western
fruit-growers, will continue to receive popular sup-
port. We have received a communication from its
President, John A. Warder, Esq., who has kindly
and fully approved of the publication of our Bul-
letin, and we trust the time is not far distant
when, by combined efforts, the capacities of our
country for fruit growing may be better developed
through the cultivation of carefully selected kinds
and a dissemination of a correct knowledge of the
different enemies with which the Agriculturist has
to contend.

II

A few Bemarki on Sllk-prodnoing Lepidoptera.

Many persons can remember the excitement
which prevailed about twenty years since relative
to the raising of silk in this country from the Bom-
b^x mori L. or common silk-worm of Europe, and
the quantities of mulberry trees— J/brws a^6a L.—
which were imported to feed the caterpillars upon,
since this tree is not indigenous to America. The
causes which, after a short period, led to the aban-
donment of the enterprise, are variously stated, but
It seems that the result that it "would not pay,'*
told more effectually than any other argument
against its prosecution, which is now and has been
tor some time wholly neglected here. We much
doubt that the Bomhyx mori will do well in Ame-

rica, for the reason that our climate is intemperate,
compared with that of France, Germany and Italy,
in both its heat and cold. However this may be,
it is well deserving of a fresh trial, since the ques-
tion of the result not being pecuniarily satisfactory,
is greatly modified by reason of our present heavy
tariff". Labor, which is so cheap in Europe, is thus
rendered accessible for the purpose in the United
States, while, if this matter were taken up by the
farmers generally, important results could be ob-
tained in this way. Almost every lady, whether a
farmer's wife or daughter, if informed as to the mode
of caring for these caterpillars, would find it well
worth the little trouble in rearing them, were she
enabled to sell a few bushels of cocoons every year
to the manufacturers. This would give " pin money"
to many who make it now in more laborious occu-
pations, while it would add wealth to our country
which sadly needs it at present, by increasing its
productiveness and lessening the imports, which
latter, now that our crops have more or less failed
for one reason or other, are the - principal cause of
the drain of specie hence to Europe.

The Patent OflSce at Washington has commen-
dably brought before us one of the Asiatic silk-
worms, the Samia cynthia of Hiibner {Bombvx
cynthia Drury). This species feeds upon the Ailan-
fhusy a Chinese or Asiatic tree, which grows very
rapidly and thrives well in our climate. But in a
Dutch translation of a Japanese work, which con-
tains a treatise on the mode of raising and prepar-
ing this silk in Japan, we read that it thrives well
in that country on various species of oak, such as
Quercus Sirocasi Sieb., Quercus serratus Thun. etc.
It would be well, therefore, to experiment upon
some of our indigenous trees, in localities where the
Ailanthus is not yet introduced. Kirby, in writ-
ing many years since on this species, says : " The
Arindy silk-worm (/S^a^wrma cynthia Drury), which
feeds solely on the leaves of the Castor-cil plant
(Palma christi), produces remarkably soft cocoons,
the silk of which is so delicate and flossy that it is
impracticable to wind it off: it is, therefore, spun
like cotton ; and the thread thus manufactured is
woven into a coarse kind of white cloth of a loose
texture, but of still more incredible durability than
the last (i. e. S. paphia, of ^hich species Kirby
had previously been writing), the life of one person
being seldom sufficient to wear out a garment made
of it." It is jiot certain, however, that Kirby intends
the species which has been introduced by our Patent
Office, of which, however, the " moths" agree with
Drury's representation of " B. cynthiaJ* Be this
as it may, the species introduced by the Patent
Office and which we determine as the Samia cyn-
thia of Hiibner, will certainly produce excellent
silk, and deserves the attention, as we are informed
it has already partially received here, of the manu-
facturer. This species belongs to the genus Samia
a genus erected in the " Verzeichniss," by Hiib-
ner in 1816, and of which he considered it typical,
since it is first cited under the list of species, which
that author considers as representing the genus.
Of this species two broods can be obtained in one

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

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season in the United States, and consequently two
crops of cocoons, from which the silk can be pro-
duced. The cocoons are elongate and cylindrical,
of rather loose texture, and are fixed generally by
means of an incomplete prolongation made first by
the larva around the branch, above the cocoon itself.
In this action, as indeed in its whole structure, the
species approaches the American genus Callosamia
Packard, which contains two indigenous species,
C. promefheaj and C. anguli/era. The cocoons are
much less dense than in our species and seem more
practically of use in silk manufacture on this ac-
count. The group to which Samia cynthia Hiib.,
belongs, is one of the Lepidopterous family Bom-
bycidae, and has been recognised by Linnaeus under
the name " Attaci," characterized briefly as " Alis
patuUs^' from the mode of holding the wings when
at rest. To this group belong our genera Telea (poly-
phemus, Hiibner), Tropsea (luna Hlib.), Callosamia
(promethia Pack, and angulifera Pack.) and finally
Hyalophora Duncan, a genus which differs impor-
tantly, structurally from Samia, and of which three
species are hitherto described, viz : H. cecropia^
Dune, H. Columbia (Samia Columbia, Smith) and
R. Euryale (S. Euryale, Boisd.) — the latter spe-
cies a native of California.

In Hyalophora the large primaries are not falcate,
properly speaking, as is the case in Samia and in
Callosamia^ while the shape of the secondaries is
very different, these being more rounded and not
produced at anal angle as are the somewhat lozenge-
shaped secondaries of Samia, The neuration is
also distinct. In Hyalophora the nervules are
longer, more curvilinear, especially the fourth sub-
costal, which in Samia is straighter, shorter, and
indeed somewhat inversely arcuate ; the discal cell
is also much larger, and the nervulation generally
importantly modified. In Samia, also, the head is
more produced and freer from the prothoracic parts;
eyes larger; antennal pectinations slighter and ta-
pering to the tips of the antennal stem. The gene-
ric characters are carried out in all the stages, but it
is unnecessary further to insist on these here. In
an article on Insect Architecture, Proc. Ent. Soc.
Phil., p. 372, for 1863, Mr. Couper says " The in-
sects are all they (i. e. '^ Students") care to make
room for ; large sum^ are expended to procure de-
scriptive books at the very time nature's informa-
tion is within reach, little thinking that the Chry-
salis covering formed by the caterpillar reveals the
genus to which it belongs.'* Nature indeed sug-
gests the idea involved in the above remarks, but
in a harmonious manner, that Mr. Couper's sen-
tences would do well to imitate, while we never yet
have taken insects ready ticketed and determined,
so that "descriptive books" could be dispensed
with, a " consummation " on some accounts, per-
haps, " devoutly to be desired." Mr. Couper goes
on to say, in explanation, " For instance, this year
a young beginner [query : — why are beginners
always "young," or at least said so to be? We
know some "old" ones, and more honor to them
that they diffidently acknowledge themselves to be
only "beginners," which, we take it, when every-
thing is said, we all are] rears the caterpillar of At-

tacus luna, which forms its cocoon, and in due time
he procures the imago. Next year he finds a cater-
pillar of Attacus polyphemus, which, although a co-
gener differs from the former in form and mark-
ings. It also spins a like cocoon in size and tex-
ture, and in this way our young beginner discovers
that he is in possession of two species of a genus."
To this we may remark, that if the young beginner
has any sharpness, he will quickly discover, from
the cocoons themselves alone, that he has two spe-
cies belonging to so many different genera, since the
differences between the two are quite considerable.
We find, indeed, that the cocoons of all these
large and more typical Bombycidae are quite cha-
racteristic in the different genera, and that Hyalo-
phora, Samia, Callosamia, Telea and Tropsea, pro-
duce cocoons that afford generic peculiarities in
form and structure while retaining a common cha-
racter peculiar to the "Group" or Sub-Family to
which they belong.

It remains for us here but briefly to refer the
reader to a notice of the Samia cynthia published
in the Smithsonian Reports; to invite public atten-
tion afresh to this interesting subject, and to state
that all the species we have here alluded to can
produce silk in this country, and that they are all
worthy of experiments. We read in a newspaper
that in the South, during the war now happily ter-
minated, a lady spun the silk from the cocoons of
what was probably either Hyal. cecropia or Tel
polyphemus, and made certain of the smaller articles
of clothing out of it. At a subsequent period we
shall revert to this subject and present an epitome
ot the means employed in Japan to rear the larvae
of S. cynthia, and which may suggest something'
that we can profit by. ^

It appears, however, to us, a more patriotic as
well as perhaps an easier experiment, to see what can
be done with our native insects as silk-producers,
while, from our limited observations, we think that
Telea polyphemus and Hyalophora cecropia are the
best suited to the purpose. A. R. Grote

Kotioe of an Egg-parasite upon the American Tent-
CaterpiUar, CLISIOCAMPA AMEEICANA, Harris.

BY A. S. PACKARD, JR., M. D.

In August, 1863, I detected on the inner side of
a bunch of eggs laid by the above mentioned spe-
cies of moth, upon a twig of a young apple-tree, a
minute Ichneumon fly, or Platygaster, which with
the mass of eggs I put away for future examina-
tion. Upon opening the box a few days since for
a further examination I find that several more of
the parasites have appeared, and that nearly all the
eggs are tenanted by these minute flies either in a
chrysalis or perfect state, showing how much is
done by these invaluable, as they are infinitesi-
mal, friends of the farmer, in staying the undue
increase of noxious insects.

This minute insect is only four one-hundredths
of an inch in length. Its head is remarkably broad
being much wider than the rest of the body and
about one-third as long as broad. The eyes are
small, remote; the antennae are 14-jointed long

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST,

15

and slender, the second joint being long and slen-
der, hardly thickened, and the joints composing
the terminal half of the length are bead-like, being
much rounder than those towards the base. The
thorax is globular in front of the insertion of the
wings, while the abdomen or hind-body is a little
longer than the thorax, is broadest on the basal
third, but is remarkably flattened from above down-
wards, suddenly terminating in an acute tip ; being
very flat above, while on the under side it is fuller
and rounder; and when the wings are folded, as
at rest, flat upon the back, the tip does not reach to
their extremities. The color of the entire body is
of a uniform black, the surface highly polished and
slightly punctured. The shanks are blackish brown,
becoming towards the tip very much paler; the
tibiae or second joint is of a pale brown, becoming
still paler towards the tip, while the tarsal or foot-
joints are at base of a very pale honey-yellow, and
the terminal joints are rusty-brown. On the three
terminal rings of the abdomen are a few scattered
hairs; the ovipositor is slightly exserted, being long
enough for the insect to bore through the egg-shell
of the moth.

This belongs to a different genus from the spe-
cies mentioned by Herrick and Harris as parasitic
in the eggs of the Canker worm moth, since it dif-
fers in having a much longer and flatter abdomen,
and longer and slenderer antennae. But a more
extended notice of its structure and affinities should
not detain us here. The question with us now is,
how much does it do in killing off, and thus re-
straining within proper limits, the injurious insect
on which it preys. After seeing how many eggs
of the Canker worm are destroyed by the minute
fly which I have observed in very considerable
numbers laying its eggs in those of the Canker
worm late in autumn, we cannot easily overestimate
the number of worms they destroy in embryo.

Having introduced and identified our new Lilli-
putian ally, what of the story of her life ? In
brief it seems thus. Late in June in New Eng-
land (earlier. South), just as the moth has finished
laying her eggs, numbers of our friendly flies ap-
pear and bore through the egg-shell of the moth to
deposit within a tiny egg. The egg hatches, and
the microscopic grub CDSconces itself in a less vital
part of the growing tent caterpillar, in the fatty
matter on the back of the worm, and gradually ex-
hausts the life of the caterpillar, so that it dies be-
fore being large enough to hatch. Upon opening
the egg in the fall of the year, instead of the young
caterpillar just ready to eat its way through the
egg shell, we find our insect friend with its head
in the largest end of the shell, which faces outward,
and in the autumn a few hatch out. But it is pro-
bable that a larger number are born in the early
summer. It was evident that the whole group of
eggs were destroyed by these parasites, as no cater-
pillars hatched from them, since on opening the eggs
the flies were found within, and many of the eggs
were shrivelled up. Cannot some way be found to
breed these minute parasites upon our injurious
insects in large numbers in our orchards ?

A correspondent from Bethlehem, Pa., writes that he
has an English Elm (of fifteen years' growth and the
only one in the city) that is infected with the larva of a
small beetle during the months of May, June and July,
eating the leaves and leaving nothing but the skeleton.
He describes the larva as being about half an inch in
length and hairy, and the perfect insect as a beetle, quar-
ter of an inch in length, the wing-cases yellow, with black
spots. As to methods of destroying the larvce, he writes
as follows :

"I noticed that in the month of July, the time of the
transformation of this insect from the larva to the chry-
salis state, they descend, creeping down the limbs and
trunk of the tree. For the past few years I watched at
this season and daily took a broom and brushed down all
the larvce to be seen ; others, having come down previ-
ously, are found lying on the ground near the trunk.
Orathering all together as much a8.po8sible, I took boiline
water and scalded them to death. Not being always on
the alert, some will naturally escape, and tlese propa-
gate the mischief for the following season. This year I
niade an experiment iu trapping thelarvee. I cut a band
of tin about 2i inches in width, to fit the trunk of the tree,
encircling it at an angle of about 45 degrees. At the low-
est point I made an opening with a short tube to fit into
the mouth of a pickle jar. Along the outer edge of the
proiecting tin I made a ridge of fresh putty. The larvae
•M '^^^M ^*'° obstruction in their way down the trunk,
will follow its course to the lowest point, and drop into
thejar or any vessel that may be attached for their recep-
M 'ii u ^?^*^^ generally, having an instinctive dislike for
oil will be kept from creeping over the tin by the putty ar-
rangement. This must be renewed as soon as the oil has

^"M?'.!*"*:IP®^^^^^^'"^^®^'"g*^epu"7'an application
ot oil to it will answer the same purpose. Thejar I used I
intended to hold at least five thousand, if not ten thou-
sand, of these worms; it was filled in the course of twen-
ty-four hours, on several successive days. How near I
succeeded in getting all, the next-season alono can demon-
strate, but the arrangement as a trap was a success. I
present my experience for what it may be worth: if
there is any better remedy than the one I applied, I shall
be pleased to hear from any of your correspondents."

Remarks.— From the description given of the larva—
"about one-half inch in length and hairy"— it is impos-
sible for us to say to what insect it belongs, but should
judge it to be the larva of a moth; but our correspondent
has evidently confounded his friends with those of his
enemies, for, we believe, from the description and figure
given of the "perfect insect," that it is a species of lady-
bird (CoccinellidfiB), and proh&hlj ITippodamia convergens
Gu^r.— a friend and not a foe— and which no doubt fed
upon a species of gall-producing Aphis, peculiar to the
Elm. There is, however, a beetle ( Oaleruca calmariensia)
that is very destructive to the Elms in Europe, the larva
of which is said to be a "thick, cylindrical, blackish, six-
footed grub," and sometimes so destructive as to wholly
denude the Elms of their leaves. It has been introduced
into this country, makihg its first appearance in the city
of Baltimore some twenty-five years ago, where it played
havoc with the Elms, entirely defoliating them. Dr.
Brackenridge Clemens, of Easton, Pa., informs us that
the Elms about that city are defoliated by a yellowish
grub, spotted with black, each spot giving out a hair; he
says that they are sometimes quite numereus, and de-
scend from the tree to change to the chrysalis, which is
also yellow; the perfect insect is a beetle, which, from the
description he gave of it — obscure yellowish with a black
stripe on each elyton or wing-case — seems to be the Oa-
leruca calmariensis. We trust that if any of our readers
have information concerning the larva referred to by the
above correspondent, they will make it known through
the columns of this Bulletin. — [Eos.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

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I i!il|ir«i11«iaiii^in I ■

THE

VMtM (gnt0m0tojgfet

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

Published by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, for gratuitous distribution

among Farmers and Agriculturists.

Vol. I.

DECEMBER 25, 1865.

No. 3.

j^ Published at the Hall of the Society, No. 618 South
Thirteenth Street, where all (except Western) communi-
cations should be addressed.

aVtT.' ^^5??/?r^ ) PUBLIOATIOW COMMITTEB

AUG. R. GROTE, V ond
J. W. McAllister, J Editors.
BENJ. D. WALSH, Rock Island, Illinois, *
Associate Editor.

PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER 25, 1865.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT OUR PAPER.

We are compelled, because of the present lim-
ited size and number of pages of our Bulletin, to
set most of this number in small type, in order to
give as much reading matter as possible. We have
plenty of information of much value to the Agri-
culturist, and we regret our inability, from the want
of funds, to publish promptly all that is sent to us.
We are sorry to say that the receipts derived from
advertisements (our only source of income) are en-
tirely insufficient even to defray the cost of publish-
ing the small Paper we now issue. We had, on
commencing, every cause to believe, that, by reason
of the large circulation of the Bulletin, those doing
business of interest to the Farmer and Agricultu-
rist would patronize the advertising columns, and
thereby assist us in establishing and maintaining
the only periodical in this country devoted entirely
to Practical Entomology. We shall go on, now
that we have began, and crowd into the limited
space all the information it will hold, at the same
time asking the indulgence of our correspondents,
promising to publish their articles in their turn,
and to answer their inquiries as promptly as we can!
It is to be regretted that a work of this kind does
not receive more encouragement than it does, for

there is nothing so much needed by Agriculturists
as information concerning the habits of Insects that
are injurious to their crops of all kinds, with relia-
ble remedies for their destruction. We could easily
fill sixteen pages with such information every month,
had we the necessary funds. Our greatest expense'
of course, is paper; we have our own printing office,'
and we save much expense by doing our own type-
setting and press-work. Before commencing to
publish the Bulletin, we were urged to publish a
monthly work either in pamphlet form or in a sheet
of 16 quarto pages, and charge for it a regular sub-
scription price, say $1 per annum; but having no
means of raising a sufficient capital wherewith to
start a publication upon such a scale, we concluded
to adopt the plan we are now endeavoring to carry
out, and to try, by a liberal system, to establish a
publication having for its object the gratuitous dif-
fusion of information of the greatest importance to
the Agriculturists of our country, and one that wiU
be within reach of the humblest Farmer. The de-
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undertaking will exert themselves towards estab-
lishing its permanency.

Contributions for this object are therefore soli-
cited, and will be acknowledged in the number of
the Bulletin succeeding the donation.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

19

ANSWERS TO OOBBESPGNDENTS.

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hifili ?"5^®*S^- K— The larvffi of all known blister-
beatles feed under ground on roots, Ac. It is possible
that some few of them may occasionally feed oitKriote

frJiTfk """^ '^- '^"'^ f^^>^ '^^^ They certainly do not
an^nfh ^ T^^l ^'' °J* *^* ^^*^«« «f ^'tJ^er the potato or
any other plant, as does the larva of the Ten-strined
Spearman We find that you have made a very cu

'ThreTlin'.d'-T ^?^ ^^^^/ndoubtedly confounded the
Ihree-lmed Leaf- beetle," {Crioceris trilineata,) which
W you say .s well described and figured by iSiis
(Injurxom Insects, p. 118-9,) with the " four or sVx
"^oTrtff^'T.\''^^'' &'^vittata,) which ,s the n-'
work fnrio.*^ o^7 ^'' Wf iBh If you turn to Harris^
work, (pp. lo7— 9) you will find three different species of
^hster-Wtles well figured there-though the -four or
noV.«TK VSf '' ^^' ^°^^"« ^^^ numbe^r-and you win
?htZi^''\^^^y. Y^ ^"'^^ different in shape, Ac , f^m
the "three-lined leaf-beetle." The larva of the latt^

n^er 'TeconL'fth T '^''''' ^t?^^"'' '"^^^ «' ^^^ ^--e
«i J^I:*" recollect that when an Entomologist says " four-

En£mnln^™ n°' "four-strined' and nofc-'three^striped/'
Entomologjcally speaking, tte "three-lined Leaf- beetle "
W well as the new Potato-bug from the Eocky Mounta ns

iK?f^^'*^.P^*'*^' ®^^- ^'^h- State Board Agr.-You think
iaten the ?.n''"'"^'\^''"^r^«'-°^' '^^' is^"said to have
wes 01 Michigan." It cannot poss bly be that inseft hp
cause It never appears in thatlatitud^ so late in the lea;
m the larva or worm state. In South Illinois the Armv
worm appears in May, in Maine in August and atTo^
responding periods in intervening iffles always an'
pearing a Tittle later the further north you go Irevou
certain that it was the moth of the Army -worm and not
jome other brown-looking moth, that w^as so numerous
blel^T last August? There is nothing at all im"^roba
Any J«^Sd'hv" /"a may poss..,ly ha?e been SveS.
Any eggs laid by the Army-worm Moth in Aueust woiiM
rema.a unhatched till the following season ^^''''^
We should recommend your farmers whn^P mm Koo
been so utterly ruined by the " white^'.I 'w r a . ^
naauercinn fo *„..«; ''^ j wnitegrub, {Lachnoster-
naquercina,, to turn in a drove of hogs to eat them im

hut it n^o^ . u ® theory is not an imi.robable one
fi^mL HntK^ be practically tested. Let some of you;
larmers do this and report the result to us. ^

iJhJ^' -^'^old, m.—lst. As to the Natural Historv of
* the common horse-fly." there are two species of about
the same size, one of which, with brown isTeyesis^'tbe
wiK^.^'Tr-^^"^^ Northern Illinois, anYthe other
^ h:™g\^^ Ih'e'd^ '' is popularly kl'.r„'

tral Illinoia TkItV^ ^^ common horse-fly" of Cen-

WaUh bred a large-sized species fron, a larva whi^Kt.:

.Tan?"'^V„" '7ti" i^^ ""'-r" ti?eed Vpon late,
onaus. We copy the fol owinur from Mr WnUh a t>„

w2!ch he^^rri^ei'i*' ^"" '""^ '''' ^^^ conciusions\-t

to^?^"" n?? ^^^""-'^^ °^ Tabanus are so prodigiously abun
dant in Illinois, in districts remote fronf any wftreR^n^
or ponds, that they must evidently bre^d in^ he^earth ?ike
DeGeer s species, not in the water like mine Thorp ir!
pra.ries in Central Illinois, as I am credibly in form o^^

ciet to be, there can be little doubt, considering how
numerous in individuals many of the species arl, that
they must destroy, during their larva li?e, innumeraWe
noxious subterranean larv®, Melolonthidoe, LyttidcB, Tij>Z
/i^ etc They certainly^nnot, at least in IllinoW, feed
habitually upon land-snalTs, for land-gnail. «r« iuite
scarct m that State. The scheme of the Creation is^per-
fect and Nature is never at fault. It is only when Sa-
tttre s system 18 but half understood, that we heedlessly
complain of its imperfections. We blame the house-flies
for annoying us, and fail to see that in the larva state they

haveclearedaway impurities around our dwellings, which
might otherwise have bred cholera and typhSs fever.
We execrate the blood-thirsty mosquito, and forget that
in the larva state she has purified the water, which would
otherwise, by its malarial effluvia, have generated agues
and fevers. In all probability, when we rail at the Ihba-
nus that torment our horses in the summer, we arerailinir
at insects which, in the larva state, have added million?
of dollars to the national wealth, by preying upon those
most insiduous and unmanageable of all the insect-foes
01 tne tarmer— subterraneous, root-feeding larvce."
i^:J'^:^ J"" *^! Natural History of the Mosquito:-All
the male Mosquitoes and all the male Horse-flies ( Tabanus)
ind .tfiy'"'-^'^,"P-^'' *^^ honey and pollen of flowers
fh« fXf PVi'^H^^ incapable of drawing blood, owing ui
the imperfect structure of their moutls. The fenfale
Mosquitoes and the female Horse-flies prefer blood, if they
can get it; otherwise they are reducil to feeding on the
same substances as their less ferocious helpmates. The
larv^ of the Mosquitoes live in stagnant water, and are
popularly known as " Wiggle tails."
^•^fr^ ^n" "?/«'-take to kill off the larva of the Horse-
nies and the Mosquitoes, you had best make yourself

Mr wrh'^^' '^'^ ^'" ''^H y^"'- ^°^°^'^«' an/ not as
Mr. Walsh maintains, some of your very best friends.

of ^km?nl ?*^*'^^ Philadelphia.-The best way we know
1 Ia^ l^l^^ ""^^^'^ '^ t^ puncture the underside of
t.l nf^'i^'^^^tf^ ^^« thorax'^and the abdomen, with a
dlstri^?iiEf.!? ?\^ strong muriatic acid; this method
destroys immediately all muscular power, and is more
w^th t '''^ **^*\*!?7tbing we have^^ever used. M^ths
Thljr^ ^^'^^ ^^^'^«' especially females, should have
cotton ?•"'" "'"P^'"^ ^^ '^' ^^^^^'^^^ ^°d stuffed with raw
shouTd\rwa?«T''^°/^'^"''u^'*^"*« care, and the incision
should always be made on the underside. With all large

T.^U^ " ^""-^ ^ '^'^'^ » ^«°« P»^ lengthways throulh
the abdomen into the thorax, to prevent^the former from
breaking off when dried. Call at the Hall of thTsocirt^

mfeoTs' ^' ^^PP^ "^ '^"^ ^^" ^^'^^ ^« preserve ou;

^^^^A ^""^ ?•• ^^''^^'' ^Jsc.-It is impossible to tell from
C Jr''"^^*i''?u'^^**u *^« «"PPo«ed Insects in your ho^
bed are. or whether they are true insects at alL Those

Ln'.V'^n ^"^ ^° '^^ ^^^^«« «^ "^*°y beetles, especia?ly

dung-beetles, are not true insects, all of which have m

he per ect state six legs, but belong to thrsame c?ass Is

vhoir^"'";^*'*^^' *?•' «" «f ^l>'«h have, throughout their

whole existence, «^A< legs, never more and Sever less

in voifr hr.IT a' •Z^'''* specimen, of those found at large
^Thh u^' !^ you wish us to tell you what they are.

notning in the Practical Entomologist but what is of
practical, everyday utility.

*«T^:,^^^^^^^?*^.^^'^®'■P<^<>^' Ohio.— You say it will be

recU?tha^t' ''T oT*'^ ^"" \? '''^' "^ ^^^ «*»t^ ^7^ eor
hnt iLf 'I^ocust-year" varies in different localities
but that, no matter when it comes, there is always in th«

To: s7 yt^r'-- "aiid'Th'^i' of seventeen yeaVsSen onj
juocust-year and that which precedes or follows it

Jnotil!! ^^';^"««^'^*^** "^* ^°"Jd be interesting to hUe
duais .a, .e ^. ^XJ-^JT ^j'^ ^^

We are indebted to Dr. Fitch for compiling, with much
labor and from the best accessible sources, a statement of
the different Locust districts in the United States. Errors,
no doubt, there are some in this statement; but such as
it is, it is a very valuable contribution to the Natural
History of this remarkable insect, and correspondents of
the Practical Entomologist may add greatly to its accu-
racy by forwarding a notice of when it is "Locust-year"
w ith each of them. Here follows an abstract of Dr. Fitch's
statement. (From N. Y. Rep. I. p. 39.)

LOCUST DISTRICTS OP THE UNITED STATES.

District l5«.~ Valley of the Hudson Eiver, N. Y. North-
ern limit, Scbuylerville and Fort Miller; eastern limit,
New Haven, Ct.; western limit, N. E. corner of Pennsyl-
vania. Years 1843, 1860, 1877.

District 2nd. — Western New York, Western Pennsylva-
nia and E Astern Ohio. Years 1849, 1866.

District 3rd. — Southeast Massachusetts, Long Island, N.
Y., Chesapeake Bay, Valley of Susquehanna to Carlisle,
Penna., Valley of Ohio from Kanawha Virg. to its mouth,
thence to mouth of Mississippi and up Red River, Arkan-
sas River, ete. Years 1855, 1872.

District 4<A.— South Pennsylvania and Maryland, Vir-

{finia, North a,nd South Carolina, and Georgia, and anout-
ying sub-district in Southeast Massachusetts. Years
1851, 1868.

District 6<A.— From West Pennsylvania through the
Valley of the Ohio River, and down that of the Missis-
sippi to Louisiana. Years 1846, 1863, 1880. [This seems
geographically mixed up with part of the 3rd district]

District Uh. — Round the head of Lake Michigan east-
ern boundary middle of the State of Michigan; northern
i boundary Wisconsin; western boundary parts of Iowa;
southern boundary Peoria, 111., on Illinois River. Years
1854, 1871.

District 7<A.— Western part of North Carolina. Years
1847, 1864, 1881.

District 8<A.— Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Years 1833,
1850, 1867.

District 9^A.— Connecticut River Valley, Mass. Years
1835, 1852, 1869.

Hence we see that it will be " Locust-year" somewhere
or other within the limits of the United States in 1866,
'67, '68 and '69, in 1871, '72 and '77, and in 1880 and '81.
There may be, and probably are, other "Locust-years"
in other districts; and in that case, it is desirable that I
should be informed of the particular localities and the
particular years.

It is important that we should not confound the Locusts
of Scripture and of the Old World with the so-called Lo-
custs of our Country. These last are more properly called
"Cicadas," and species of them are found in Europe, and
were well known to the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Virgil speaks of the Cicadas ** bursting the groves with
their song," and a graceless Greek poet wrote as follows,
alluding to the fact that it is only the riMle Cicada that
sings : —

Happy the Cicadas lives.

Since they all have voiceless wives !

The Locusts that " devoured every green thing
throughout the land of Egypt," were species of what we
popularly call Grasshoppers— the same group of insects
that have reoeatedly •' devoured every green thing" in
California, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and Minnesota.
Our so-called "locusts" could not possibly do this; for
they have no jaws at all to eat herbage with, and only a
beak to suck a little sap with now and then. The few
twi|f8 that they do really destroy, are destroyed, not by
their iaws, for they have none, but by the female boring
into them with her ovijwsitor to find a suitable nest for
her eggs. The stories of their stinging people to death
with this ovipositor are probably all moonshine. I have
handled dozens of them, and never got stung yet; end
even if they did accidentally pierce the skin with it, it
would be no worse and no better than the prick of a pin,
tor they have no poison-bag in their tails as the Bees and
Wasjis have.

It IS, indeed, possible, that persons in a peculiarly irri-
table habit of body might die from such a wound; and
so have many diecl from bee-stings, and some even from
the prick of a pin. But that does net prove that pins are
dangerous and deadly weapons, not to be lightly placed
in the hands of women and children. The only insects
™* «iy one really need be afraid of are the various spe-
cies of Bees and Wasps; and even of these, it is only the

females that have stings. Drones, which are the male
bees, are, as everybody knows, very peaceable, well-be-
haved citizens, and, unlike their formidable wives, may
be handled by any one with impunity. b. d. w.

Mrs. E. Barney, N. Y.—We shall publish in our next
number an illustrated article on "Borers" of various
kinds, by Mr. Walsh of Illinois, in which you will find
your suggestions attended to.

Peter Chance, Ohio.— The Philadelphia Raspberry can
be had of H. A. Dreer, 714 Chestnut street, Philadelphia.
It is said to be the most profitable market berry that is
cultivated ; fruit large and good ; plant very hardy and
incredibly productive.

G. W. H., Ohio, wishes to know the best work on Fruit
Growing, for a new beginner. Will some of our corres-
pondents give the desired information ? We do not pro-
fess to be posted up on that subject.

OGEEESPONDENOE.

Ebs. Practical Entomologist :— The first two numbers
of your ** Bulletin" have come to hand, and I find con-
siderable matter of interest in them. It is to be hop6d
the enterprize may succeed, because through such an
agency much truth and many facts in regard to Entomo-
logy can be disseminated among those who will be most
benefitted by them.

While reading your well printed columns, I feel the
symptoms of a slight attack of cacoethes scrib., and yielding
to the power, I let my pen run on in a desultory style,
and have only to say if you find anything worth using in
these jottings, you are at liberty to "cut and come again."
The article of my friend P. on the parasite of the tent-
caterpillar reminds me of a little experience of my own
in that direction. Here let me remark that I make no
pretensions to being an Entomologist, as I have only
"just entered the gate," and have studied the subject in
but few of its points, and those in only a brief and prac-
tical manner. Hence, whatever mistakes in style or
"Laiinity" I may make, will be excused. But to the
point. In 1862 I discovered a parasite of the tent-cater-
pillar which I had never seen noticed, and of which I
then deferred a description jintil I learned further in re-
gard to it But the subject had passed from my mind
until I saw the above-noticed article, which recalls it.
In the box of specimens (in vials) which I send you, No.
1 contains the ichneumon which I took from the pupa
case of the Clisiocampa Americana. I found but one other
specimen, and that was not fully matured. What is your
opinion? Is it figured and described, and what is its
name?* The egg must be laid in or on the larva, and
hatching and growing with it does not prevent the cater-
pillar from entering the chrysalis state, but then grows
and appropriates the whole shell in which it passes
through its own changes until it is a perfect insect, as I
found it. No. 2 contains another Ichneumon, which acts
upon the same principle. It is the geometer which preys
on the common woodbine. The vial contains the larva
and the pupa of the moth, and also the imago of the pa-
rasite. I found, on examination, that about one-third of
these pupa cases were filled and appropriated by the Ich-
neumon. Please break two or three of these pupa cases,
and perhaps you will find a specimen of both. Can you
give me their names ?f

These Ichneumons are the farmers' friends, as they
prey upon and destroy those of their own kind which are
destructive. If we can find an ally in the parasite re-
ferred to above as living on the tent-caterpillar, it de-
serves to be known and doubly welcomed, for at the rate
they destroyed our fruit and ravaged our orchards thi»
year, we shall soon require assistance of some kind, els*
raising apple trees must be given up.

No. 3 contains a kind of beetle which lives on the apple
tree here, and which I discovered in 18G2. I have never
seen it referred to or named. I published a description cf
it at the time. Con you name it?^ geo. e. brackett.

Belfast, Me., Nov. 29, 1865.

ii

i

* Pimpla conquisitor. Say. Described, but not figured,
t Ichneumon tcetus, Brulle. Don't know the name of
the "Geometer." Send us specimens of the moth,
g Leptosfi/lus macula, Say. [Eds

!A

mnmni>^ ^.-nummmm

II

?

! I

1,1

h'

I

h

I I

I

20

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

The Onion-fly— A Eemedy.

(prom a letter by LEVI BARTLETT, N. H.)

The "Black Onion-fly," spoken of by Mr. Shimer has
been so injurious to the onion in this section for aTumbe?
of years past, that its cultivation has been nearly ^Tven
up. But a farmer, living about a mile from my nlJce
has raised for the three past seasons splendX^ps^ He

wate7a?o„^' Z^S'-il^^ ^^"7^"^ " «™^^^ stream of^boilin|
water aJong the drills near the roots of the nlants Tfik

heory ,s, tSat the ground is sufficiently heateTto destroy

the tender maggot, but not warm enough to in jure the

ZZllTn' ThL^r^r *^«^n^° ^^^ Lr timrdurSi
ine season. This year he grew forty-two bushels of su-
perb onions on ten square rods of land. I do not say the

those of other people's, are attacked by the maggot but
they suffer no injury from them, while otheJ^Kthe"r
crops that do not practice this scalding process

i?marA:5.-There is authentic proof that the larva of
the Peach-tree Borer may be destroyed on the same prin-
ciple, by hot water, without injuring the tree. Vegetable
organisms will often stand, without damage, a degree of
heat that would be destructive to animal organisms. For
example, every one knows that Locust seed grows all the
better for being scalded; whereas we are satisfied, from
long experience, that there is no insect that can survive
immersion for a few minutes in water, that is too hot to
hold one a finger in it for a second or two. In the 2^ew
Fork rrtWthere was published, some year» ago, a let-
ter from Dr 0. W. Drew, of Waterbury, Vt., in which he
states that for many years the onion crop had been en-
tirely destroyed in central Vermont by the Onion Mageot-
that "many experiments had been tried with lime, salk
ashes and plaster without benefit-' and that he himself,
-finding his own plants infested in the usual manner, " had
when they were about four inches high, poured a full
■tream of boiling water from a large tea-kettle directly
upon each row, and repeated the application." The re-
suit, as he adds, was, that "the plants looked as bright
and trim ^as after a May shower; that he lost no more of
them; and that for the first time in ten years' experience,
he had as fine a crop of onions as was ever 8een."-EDs

Thomaston, Ct a few days since, I noticed that of sixty
trees, at least twenty-five had had the leading .boot de-
stroyed the past summer, and only five or six bad entirely
escaped the attacks of the weevil. A gentleman remarked
to me that these spruces were not hardy, that ih^y winter-
killed.

Our own Riverside cemetery has suffered severely, and
not only are uninjured trees rare, but many ar© reduced
to scraggy evergreen clumps, having lost the beautiful
symmetry for which this tree is so remarkable, and for
which It is chiefly prized. The gardener of the Riverside
grounds remarked to me to-day that the work of the toorm»
was a real advantage to the trees, as it kept them down
and caused them to thicken up. The unsightly appear-'
ance of many of them makes it desirable, I think, that
this pollarding should be performed by a more skillful
workman than the weevil.

It is, to say the least, a singular taste that crops or trims
or m any way mutilates this noble species of evergreen'
and such a taste would no doubt be gratified could it
transform an eagle into a Shanghai chicken.

This weevil is evidently on the increase here, and no
wonder, for, from thirty to fifty larvae are often found in
a single tree. Parasitic insects destroy many of the larv»
but the work can only be fully accomplished by our aid-
ing them in the way suggested.

Dr. Harris' description of the perfect insect or beetle it i
as follows : —

J- Oblong oval, rather slender, of a brownish color,
thickly punctured, and variegated with small brown
rust-colored, and whitish scales. There are two white'
dots on the thorax; the scutel white; and on the wing-
covers, which are punctured in rows, there is a whitish
transverse band behind the middle. The snout is longer
than the thorax, slender, and a very little inclined. The
length, exclusive of the snout, varies from one-fifth to
thr^e-tenths of an inch." h. f. bassett.

Waterbury, Conx., Nov. 3d, 1865.

The White Pine Weevil-Bhynchcenns Strobi, Peck.-
This insect, first describeTby Prof. Peck, has been re
described by Dr. Harris, (Injurious Insects, page 72, Ed .
1861), also by Dr. Fitch, {Rep. Vol. 2, No. 255). It is very I
common in this section (Waterbury, Ct), and is doing I
great mjury-not so much to the white pine, which is not
abundant, and generally so small here as to be of little
ralue m a timber tree-but to the Norway spruce, which
has, within a few years past, been planted, in vast num-
bers, m yards, lawns and cemeteries, and which it seems
to prefer to the native pine.

The leading shoot of this rapidly growing ornamental
tree is often seen to wither and die in midsummer, and it
IS known to every close observer that a grub causes this
decay— the larva of the Rhynchomus Strobi.

I have nothing to add to what Dr. Harris and Dr. Fitch
have written relating to its history, but would call atten-
tion to a statement that both these writers have made, viz •
that Its ravages may be successfully checked by simply
removing and burning the diseased shoots. This should
be done in June or July, while the weevil is in the larva
fltate, and if persevered in, will rid the spruce of the only
fotmidable enemy it has, at least in those sections where
tike white pine is not abundant.
Passing through the new cemetery in the village of

The "Thrips" of the Vine-groweri—What ii it?

BY BENJ. D. WALSH.

In one of Mr. Meeker's excellent letters, recently puh-
hshed ,n the New York Tribune, 1 notice the foUowin»
passage ; •

The grapes in this region [Alton, South Illinois! lost
their leaves through the ravages of the Thrips. This is
eaLtL'?*" insect appearing^n i mmense lumbers, ' t
eats the leaves till they appear like shreds; the leavei of
the Concord are too rough and hard for iLi^Mh %u
vines being bare, the bfrds easfly find the grapis I?

fL 1 I Ki^l. ^* '* * question whether what is ca led

Thrips ^'r^K.u\u'T'f^^ ^.°^ elsewhere is'not the
Anrips. Dr. Hall thinks there s a remedy in ha.^,inl Z

f Yolf.? '°«'?"' ^^ ^**^°*^ *^« 1«^^«« win be Jrenched wlh
a solution of soap, tobacco, and a little sulphur One can
|o over an acre in a short time. The eSghi; will co5
$35.-Semiweekly N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 17, isfs

It IS probably to this insect that Dr. Warder refem,
when he asks in the first number of the Practical Eifro-
ifOLoois^"Is our ThHpsin the vineyarda the TeUigoni^,
vitis of Harris?" If Mr. Meeker's «f«^*^r»^«* w^ ?

iKof «< •♦ 4 .1- * '™'^* ^eejcer s statement be corrects
that "It eats the leaves till they appear like shreds," it
certainly cannot be that insect, or any other belonging to
that Order, Homoptera. For all of these have no jawf to
eat with, but only a beak to suck sap with. I am at a lose
to conjecture what it can be, unless it is the larva of some
minute moth, or flea-beetle {Haltica.) A speciei of theee

!f

intiw II • 1 1 1» *»» I m tmm VM

- '" r*i(' ^fiwii^" I ni> i> n 1 r iiiMi»ii|ii «< J mn nil j^o t. m t

i

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

21

last — the chalybea of Illiger — has been long known to in-
fest the vine, but it attacks the young buds more than
the leaves, and it would scarcely be called a "very small
insect,'* being about three-sixteenths of an inch long.

Some years ago, specimens of vine-leaves were sent to
me from Missouri, covered all over with small, brown,
dead spots, which had been caused by the Tettigonia vitis,
and one or two other species belonging to the same genus;
and it was stated that these insects had in this manner
utterly ruined many vines in that State. But there is &
wide difference between brown spots and holes in a leaf.
I do not believe that the true Thrips of entomologists
are, as has hitherto been universally believed, vegetable
feeders; but that on the contrary, they are cannibal in-
sects, preying upon injurious larvee, and therefore the
friends and not the foes of the Agriculturist. The curious
reader will find my reasons for this belief in the Proceed-
ings of the Entomological Society, (III. pp. 611—613).
But it is possible that I may be wrong, and that the vine-
growers are right. In any case it is highly desirable
that specimens of this foe to the vine be forwarded to the
Society, that it may be determined who and what he is.
Until that is done, we are only groping in the dark. Be-
cause an insect is popularly called a Thrips, it by no means
follows that it is really a Thrips. Farmers very generally
call all Beetles "Bugs." And yet, although every Farmer
in the United States should persist in calling Beetles
'• Bugs" till the year 1900, still that will not make them
Bugs.

Let me impress once more upon the minds of the Farm-
ers, that when they send specimens they should enclose
them in a stout paste-board box — a gun-cap box for ex-
ample— and put in enough cotton-wool or some other such
substance, to prevent their rattling themselves to pieces
in Uncle Sam's mail-bags. For lack of these precautions,
I have often received specimens pressed as flat as a pan-
cake or broken into a hundred pieces. A farmer would
stare, if he was asked to determine the particular variety
of wheat — whether Mediterranean, or Tea, or Club, or
whatever else it might be — from examining a handful of
bran. An orchardist would smile, if he was asked to de-
termine the particular variety of Peach, from inspecting
a sack of the dried fruit. And yet they often expect En-
tomologists to decide, from inspecting a mass of shapeless
fragments, to which of the 30,000 species of insects, that
inhabit the United States, those shapeless fragments for-
merly appertained.
Rock Island, III., Nov. 21, 1865.

The Wooly Apple- tree BUght.-Erio«oma lanigera, Harrii.

Dr. Harris, in his account of this insect says, on the
authority of Hausmann and Knapp, that it never acquires
wings, and supposes that it spreads from tree to tree by
being blown by the winds, the long tufts of downy matter
attached to its body forming a sort of parachute. Mr.
Walsh, in an excellent article on plant-lice, {Proc. Ent
£hc PkiL Vol. 1, p. 303) also alludes to the uncertainty in
regard to its having wings at any time, and their struc-
tore; for althongh Westwood attributes wings to the genus,
his description does not apply to the wings of closely al-
lied species, nor, as I have been able to ascertain, to this
apecies, which is the type of the genus. Mr. Walsh, how-
ever, describes the wings of a wooly plant-louse, inhabit-
ing mushrooms, and Mr. Fitch several species inhabiting
variouB trees, all of which acquire wings at certain times.

having similar structure to the wings of the apple-tre«
wooly-louse.

The importance of ascertaining definitely whether the
females of noxious insects are winged or not, must be suf-
ficiently apparent to every one, since their manner of in-
crease and diffusion depends directly upon this point, and
our remedies must be modified accordingly. This is well
illustrated by the differences in the habits of two of our
worst insects, and the remedies suitable to be applied to
them. The Canker-worm has a wingless female which
is obliged to crawl up the tree or fence nearest her pla^e
of birth to deposit her eggs, while the Tent-Caterpillar
having, when mature, both females and males furnished
with strong wings, the females are able to place their
large clusters of eggs on any trees they may reach by
flight, thus spreading much more rapidly.

It gives me pleasure, therefore, to be able to determine
this point in the present instance. Having frequently
examined airmail apple-tree badly infested by this insect,
both on the main stem and branches, during the past
autumn, I found, about the middle of October, among the
wingless neuters (or budding individuals), a large number
of both males and females having well formed and rather
large wings, but in other respects closely resembling the
rest, except that they had but little of the downy sub-
stance on their bodies, which were nearly black and ra-
ther plump. The fore wings were large and had three
discal veins, the third one forked near the middle and
scarcely visible near its base before forking.' The stigma
or colored spot was about three times as long as broad,
and acute at each end. The hind wings were about half
as long as the others, and quite narrow, with two simple
discal veins.

It is evident, therefore, that this species agrees with
others of the genus both in structure and habits, and that
the winged females appearing late in the fall are able to
fly from tree to tree in order to deposit her eggs for another
generation to be hatched the next spring, thus providing
for the rapid increase and diffusion of this pest. This
fact should cause all fruit growers to take particular pains
to destroy these lice wherever found, for the colony that
is this year allowed to increase upon some worthless tree
or the shoots and suckers from its ^ase, will furnish the
winged mothers of countless myriads that mu/ infest the
most choice trees next year.

Another point that I do not remember to have seen
mentioned in the history of this insect is its remarkable
power of enduring the cold of winter and severe storms
of rain and snow with comparative impunity. The small
tree already alluded to is still (Dec. 11) covered along the
under sides of all the branches with healthy and active
lice of all sizes, busily engaged in sucking its sap, although
we have had two snow storms and many cold rains and
freezing nights. Doubtless many of these insects will
thus survive the winter, especially when in the crevices
and wounded places where they delight to establish them-
selves. The downy or cottony substance that usually
covers them abundantly is often nearly all removed by
wind and rain, but another supply is rapidly produced.
This may serve to protect them, in some degree, from
cold as well as from the summer heat That this species
may thus survive the winter is the more probable since I
have observed another allied species living upon the red-
alder at various times throughout the winter in Maine,
even upon the exposed surfaces of the trunk and branches.

A. B. VSRRILL.

New Havsn, Conn., Dec. 11, 1866.

I >i

\^

>»a

82

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

Wotei on Intects Infesting the Currant and Gooseberry

To those who J)ay an^r attentfofl to the cultivation of
the Carrant and Gooseberry, the following Itely
prove both serviceable and interesting. ^

We do not pretend to ffive here unv *,<.« : *

lected subject. Perhaps not one Farmer in five hunHrp^

consequently prove more useful. For theee rewons the

J — Affecting the atalha.
Thb All ebicah Cdkbaht Borfb t>.^-

The Urva of thi. insect is a small, cylindrical white
f«.tles. grub, with the head brown ^n J the "a" s Wa k'
It feeds upon the pith of the stalks, a.d therefore UillTng

latter part of May „r beginning of June changes to a

r, mWdr"'?i:""*["'''' """'"'"' "••'"^.darker behind
the m.ddie, w.th a whitish dot a little before the middle
of each w,ng-case, and a large, slighUy „blic,u, mark of
the same color just behind the middle, the horns or aa-

Dr7- \ K 'L"'' "'"'y "' '""S "» -^^ body.
..;, ^'^^■J'"' ^^ ''""«■> considerably about this in-

^ZX^r'^ "' "' ''^' """" ^''"' ^«--' '--

"In all our gardens numbers of the currant Bfaii^o
rish every season TnsunK o« ..^l ""c t-urrant stalks pe-

prevail, that thrs fruH wou?d l^T^^""^^ ^^'^ mortality
country were it not tharthe ro^ts o/S?h' X^"^ ^"^
vigorous, sendinff ud a muIHfn^I / " *?''"** ^""^ ^o

yeir, whereby "h^ep'^^a^erof those tLr^" '^^i''^' "^^^>^
stantly re-supplied. ""*' P®"^^ a*"® con-

thew?r'ii:::i\rstS^^^^^

from the live ones bv be^^/ri^lL^?^^'^^^^

from the live ones by bein^doU^H^^^ distinguished

little

.ed e„lorrnVa";oTy t«tu^Vl!r?;C%T/A^1
The parasite of the Currant borer, whether of this or

« a smal Ichneumon-fly, about one-tenth of an inch in
ength black, with the leg., the fore-breast anS base of
the abdomen, yellowish.
As to the most reliable method of destroying the Cur-

Tl S":;'S '° "" ^*"*' """■ *» l-'o *"« word,
oi i;r. !• Itch, which are as follows:

•"• We have only to state in conclusion thaf ih^ , **
carelessness with which the currant i«?r^of 5 -^^ "*^'

facii^!X^-;r„ru{d5^^^^^^^^

'our stafks from ei^hr^?th«..l?!;' *" "'■''>'*''"« "■•
exposed to the lighted S^wo^S JlVim ^T'"? ?««'y
by these depredlting^nsects ■« i""* 'f '"y mfested

thi'^Li^f'firdTstSi^y'ea^Veii't^n^^^^

M.-d'tr^g ^tC S^-b^Je!'3'x4'

rC^kn^^l[-rai^ull-The b^^^^^^^^^^

every year."— (iWrf.) "uones are well pruned

Lmn.) ,s an msect which destroys our Currant bushesTf
the same manner as the American borer, but instead ol

men the'! '""«"""»' y^""" bands on the abdo-

Tnau^rX^'" '"""'P"""'' "-argined with black
and tipped with copper-color. The larva is » small

annr' T! 'T^^^ '"SSeBted for the American borer i.
.pplicable to this insect, both having similar habiU

are so°l,*' '"" °'*^''^' "^^ y"""? »""k» of the Currant
of ashTntrw^rK' "y^-'-orm.about H inch long^
ZrlnZJ. """''-brown color, with faint dots regularly
arranged, each bearing a short fine hair; the head is red

tp of Z".' ': "'" "' " "P"' °° ""> "-^ -d another on
r„rf fl , ' ''«°"'"- '■> J'"'« it enters the ground

July 'r F-: ;t'' * "'^^' '"«* »•'*'" -ppo- dS

mlt^' ^' ; ' "*"*<• " *be "Amputating brocade

Harrifl (T^- r \ J^"^'" "''ccica^ it is mentioned in
karris {Inj. Ins.) as Hadena arnica THa ar,t«.-

.r^ainVoroth^ i;tt?Su:c'*'^7.7

middle near the anterior margin the J tlri ^ ^^

the^Vrrom^r r,-rikr trr t'^'"'? ^--^ ""- -

jormia ), more common upon th« Ar>r»i« *u *'^^'*»-
minute Hat, circular scale (tte "cLu^^l K 't'/*""""' '
pidiotua circularis") "beinLof .h. u.""''"'''""'^''-

hue With the surroundinTbarl and h"* ""^"''b-brown
a smooth, round wart ifk. .7 , "« "' ^be centre

color;" aid the third Ih *!«^»"™' of a pale yellow
, ana tne third a hemispherical scale (the "P.,,,.-.

suck out its juices TKo^K , '''*/^®"^ ^'"Je beaks and
-B., fami:;ro'o;nr:^^th*thVth"'"1" ^'"""^
bisMy prized as a maUriaird^t^ra^rbeloar "
l§ — 4^ec««y the leave).
TnE Americak Cubrant Mora —tm.^ i .

couX" M7 f«'™e«- insect to the Currant in this
spawi JM'rie'd "X^^^^^::^ ^

oTdr^^t^^rL^h-iirrtrr-/"™"^^^^^^^^

of the Currant, as w^Il a. the r k""* **""« »''• '•""
die of May to tre m dlu tf T""^"^' '""^ *''« •»'<»-
the bushes^ntiX ^tti/ The",'""''!;"'''' ""PP""*
ground and buryin^gtrmtlvi:,^^™^^^^^^^^^
face, change to the nuna iit«.f.*. ^k^ ^ oeneath thosur-

berry bushes, about the middle or last of June. The per
feet insect is a pale yellowish moth, the wings with seve"
ral more or less dusky spots, sometimes arranged into one
or two irregular bands across the wings.

Dr. Fitch has described and figured this insact in its
different stages, in the Transactions of the New York
State Agricultural Society, Vol. 7, where he giires much
interesting information concerning its habits, and sugges-
tions for its extermination. On this latter subject Dr
r itch says :

m'll^lt i"^^^""^ il'? closely related to the Gooseberry-
moth of Europe, that we may confidently infer that thnL
measures only which have been fou/d effiiacioU for

av:ru.°iiisrthrr '' '^^^ ^p^^-^ -- ^^oTZtJ^i

avail against this. Numerous remedies have there been re
sorted to,such assiftingthe finedustof soot,of Ishes Yc
repeatedly over the bushes ; sprinkling with lime- wafe;'
or with decoctions of tobacco, of fox -glove, of eTder Ac ^
by successive shakes of the bushes, caSsing all the worm^
to descend to the ground, and then lyinecabbl^P wf^f
around the base of the stalks, over wh^ich^irwa^fep^^^^^^^^
the worms would not crawl to re-ascend. But nCe of
these remedies have established themselves in nSbl?c
favor; and the only measure which isrecommendeS with
confidence, by all the more intelligent writers in 'ffirf^f
'hand-nicking/ as it is termed. This^Iough tedious t
said toV m the end, the most economical of any m^a

be^'plter^lTt'^' '°'^ r^ "" "^'^^ ^"" rehan^ce can
De placed. It is commonly accomplished bysuddenlv
jarring the bush, and then with a forked sti Jk or some
similar implement, gathering those worms that hIveTe?
themselves down by threads, and crushing them beneath
the foot. This process requires to be repeated three or

Se^ iTfK^ ^'"t ^ *^!i'^ ^'"""^ ^^««« ^«r°^«' as but part of
them let themselves down on the first agitition. ^

This remedy should be resorted to ^th our insect as

soon as the young worms are discovered upon the bushes

?ual .^her^rt^^ followed up will, no SoSbt be effec-'
tual. The task, liowever, will be a formidable one to

whi'i'l? • «^'?"? ""! countless numbers of these larvS by
which It 18 infested; and the measure can only be re

Ire kent^HWv'''''? 1° those gardens where thrbuBhes
are kept well thinned by pruning.

"A less laborious mode of reducing the numbers of mir
moth in badly infested gardens, it strikes Z is so fe^si'
ble, that some may be disposed to test its efficacy bv

fimnfete/.h'*^^- ^^,,^1^^^^ l'^''^' ^^« Worms having
completed their growth, bury themselves slightly in thf
ground under the bushes, where they lie sevf rai^ays in
their pupa state, and then the winged moths-comeToxJ
these pup» and make their way out of the ground. Now
If the surface of the.earth beneath Currant and Goose
berry bushes be carefully levelled 'and made smooth wfth

J;.n«Mt' '^ Til ^l^^'t * ^^''^}'i ^^^^' ^^^'^ ^^« worms haye
fZl\i^ *^® ^T}^^^ ^"? ^""^^ themselves, to closely
coven the ground beneath and around the bishes wiS
boards, or pave it with bricks, should these be at hind
allowing tKis covering to remain three or four weeks
The winged moths, on coming from their pupa rhells'
would probably then be unabfe to make th?"r'^way into
the air and would perish in their confinement. The effi!
TJv. t,^>« "measure would be indicated, on removing
the boards, by the numbers of dead moths on the surflcf
of the ground beneath them." Bunace

There is another worm which is said to be very de-
structive to the Currant and Gooseberry bushes, and
which does not seem to have been mentioned by either
Harris or Fitch. We copy the following account of this
insect, given by Mr. Otis Bigelow of Onondago Co., N. Y
in the American Agriculturist for May 1865, p. 141 :— '
"About three years since, people in this vicinity were
surprised to fin<l thtir Currant and Gooseberry YuThes

?onnr// If^K^'"^ ^^ ^f' ^^^^««- 0° examination we
found the bushes covered with a myriad of green worms

speckled with black spots on the back and sidi, and^aW

three-Quarters of an inch long when full grown. As soon

as the leaves start in the Spring, a fly appears and lays

Its eggs along the stems on the under siie of the leaffoJ

some of the leaves in the middle of the bush; these sion

hatch and devour all the leaves clean, for about a week,

when they change their skins to a pale green, and falling

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

bus!;i,^trev''d'f\PP«»'- By aiftine the earth under"^

In three wSkThev/Z"/ T^'^l^ '" ."«'« '"'»» of it.
mon fly whfch S f ""' *' ^'«'; the, size of a oom-
are mo^r;^n,SV„te"'y "'^"•Wo.excepUng ">»' th"y
auction of these worm. i. ^^l-'"^ abdomen. The repro-
are destroyed rT„ "5 ?,'!"'"'"«d "n'" »» the leave,
not be personkllvaft^nli":; *?P ^" ">« """^hes that can-
to leavfthem op^en'l;"d 1^^,"! 1™ the remainder so as
onceevervdav l.JSe accessible. Visit them at least
The littleffl"ind,cal?hl**''*' '''*'' i""« ""o'^^ 'n 'hem.
worms, wMch ire not ...„P''T""t?'*''* "*«''? hatched
as they alVava hp^„ „ *.? ""''*1' ""^ '«»f '» '"fned up,
four orfflve fe^a„, Sn^.?nh''K "k^"' "'i^' ^J destroying
be saved, as only a ?ew lilv.?'' ^" ^^^ ">« "^ole may
deposit her eees^ Th» J^ ' '" selected by the fly ti
the strippT„g^o?ihe lelvT-f" "*?'' *»""''' *''« f'"", and
the saie^ selson biri«e wirL''"''"''' " "'^'^ S™""''
they are destroyed " " "^ '~"®'" "PPear than

/„?" rr '' "■* '*"'• of a Hymenopterous insect Se

cTZf'^:^7""- *• '^'°"''*"' ""o PubHshed'n t
count of Its history in the Detroit lYe, Pns, of July 9th,

in Si . '*"■/ "'*''"'' " P"""^""*' '" " oondensed form
n &ll.man's American Journal of Science and Arts Sen

num'Cof b '« '"■ '"' °''^" P""'-^''' '» " -b-quen;

.°rin.e/t T ""'"' * "*""■'*'' """""y of «"■» dcBtruc.
t.ve insect by a correspondent who is now gathering the
necessary information. "onng me

n r". V iii—Affecting the fruit.

frui['J',K^^*^l,'"*°"''°' '"O '"'«<=" '""<='» attack the
tie T K "''*''*"y' ^'"■- ">* "Gooseberry Moth" and

a dark t^T"^ ""■"' ■"""" '"'"'"' '■»'>'' '°»«. » th
a dark colored nose, a dark band across the top of ita

neck and the three forward pairs of feet of the sam*; col ^
Thp K ?.' ' '""* "^ ''"'"'° """"ds from the cavity "n
throuXwH r?.' " '""' '" "' '"»" "> - adjacent Tea"

lbout\»rf " """"' ""' ""'» '"•" T'"> fr-it. when

about half grown, perishes, its interior being ate out br

aLT"-. ^ '"/ "' """""'' *"" '"--=' '•"not been Ob'

^ses It to belong to Tincida^, a family of Micro-Lepidop-
tera, or small moths. '^ftivp

is ! m,I^°"'?r^ "'•'«"" (O^^o^y^i^o^Warto, Fitoh)
blin^Jmn^' 'f ""r."' '""-'"K^d fly, somewhat resem-
SreTK ^*'*'^'''*"*'"'*'='P""'='''«''''<' young
th!ll gooseberry, and deposit, its tiny egg, therein •

these eggs develop into minute, bright yellow maggote
which cause the fruit te have a prematurely ripe apIC
ance, turning red and dropping ofl: P« appear-

th^'f n'""***^"*''"'* "'*'* '""<='"' »■■• Fitch suggest,
the following :-« AH fruit upon the Gooseberry bushe.
which IS found prematurely decaying and assuming a ri-
pened appearance, and all which falls to the ground
should be gathered and thrown inte the fire, to Tst^oy
the worms which the berries contain. By attention to
this measure the haunU of thi. insect in the garden can
be easily broken up, whereas, if this step is neglected th.
ev.1 will be liable to continue year uL yeaf. A. thil
insect breed, equally well in the wUd Gooseberries, we
cannot hope to exterminate it from our country. But
none of these wild Gooseberries should be permitted to
grow in the vicinity of the gardens, for from them, if near,
this midge will continually be finding its way to the
bushes of the cultivated Gooseberry." (I<ir,t Report, p.

i

i

1 1
1 ■

^»* Those of our Western readers who have informa-
tion to communicate for publication in the Bcllbtiw will
please forward it as early in the month as possible (o

BBS/. D. Walsh, Esq., Bock Island, 111. '

24

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

/

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Any person who shall remit to the Secretary
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Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia.

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One half column (43 lines), $8 each insertion
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Organists and Musrc7;„s in the c7un ry th'^t tL*^'""'
,ir/Y«n'''"'^''' ARE 'lfN*E''Q'^i''L\^l?-

THE PROCEEDINGS OP THE

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CONTAININO

Are PubLshed Annually in one Volume of 600 to 600

Illustrated wuh many Plates of new and
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BOOTS AND SHOES. '

Our Stock comprises every variety kept by the Tr«l,,
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Buyers will here find at all times, the LATEST .„d
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THE

A MONTHLY BULLETIN

Vol. I.

®It^ Iratfkal (^nimtik^hi

JANUARY 29, 1866.

No. 4.

^J^rteenth S reet, where all (except Western) communi-
cations should be addressed. communi-

should send, with their names and address 12 cent, to
prepay the postage for one year All «„hl • .
datP frnm fiL ^ " subscriptions must

date from the commencement of the volume.

fiTG.RlRoTE 1 P^»^'0ATIOK C0HMITT«

J. W. MCALLISTER, j Emx^oBS '

BENJ. D. WALSH, Rock Island, Illinois

Associate Enrron.

B0SEB8.

»r »«HJ. D. WALSH, K. A.

PHILADELPHIA, JANUARY 29, 1868.

ble article on " Borers," by Mr. Walsh, of IliiUis which

of h lrtic!e rih "* .'""""" "' P""""* '^« """O"
Of the article m this number, our answers to correspond

ent. and several short communications have beencrow*d

zi -r; htireirirr """'• ^^

publicationof the Bu^ aXu^o rh^tU eLVnt!
they will steadily increase, and finally produce a suffl
bribers upon the same terms as we do now. In the

in *u^ • , X. '^^^^y '®^ ^liat purpose. The increase

IboutVormo' r "' !?• ^""^"" "-'8- 30 da ly,"
•bout DOO monthly. Copies are sent to every Stat* in

the Union, with the exception of some of the Southed

fhrm;ir4roS?o ^ve' f "'"'; "" '^^

With rarmers and A^rrcltrstsTrrn^^rTS'
we hope, therefore, that thev will n«f.^^- ^'^«®°**'
tiain»^^i , -^ "^ patronize our adver-

s:rbrL^::r:r-X"°^^^^^^^

sincere thanks to the AgricuUural InZ'..-
different part, of the Uned Stipes ft th" '"T"' '"
published by them in behalf of th.^ little *°°"' ""'''
Which greatly encourage, iu pub icaUon ' "''""' "'

sc^m^ thit ^K ^^P"""?'"* »' S""' length some pet
iJorer . They might just as well publish prolix diaser
Ui.ons about the habits and the requirement of "St^k ''

o^te"InT^^ k" '^r t asT *""" """""'" "^"^
Of «Stnpt»' V ; ^'^"''*^*^«^®»''«» great many kinds

of Borers, each confined to one or more particular kind,
of tree, and each requiring to be attacked in . partio^
manner, in order to prevent his working mischief Art!

aTl'C:?''''"'"''''«*'°''»"«'''-<'»*»^-'"l->X
against anoth? P;"?°»' "P""'"''^ be perfectly useles
against another kind. For in Natural History, however
■t may be in Cookery, what is sauce forgoose i. not Xlyl
sauce for gander. '"uoiaiway.

wiThi^nTr'' °f "t" ""'^''"'" 'P^'*' "f " B"""." found '
rund?J^' r:" "' "" '"'"«'' «'»'*'• •»<>"■"» «^ 'n«»7

imme^ '■, !' °°'' ' '''" "' «■«" "« brought mo™
immediately into contact with the Farmer, f^m Th^r
attacking such trees and shrubs, as are pecu i.rly u«fnl
to him either for their shade or their timber, or .ucrM
are cultivated for their fruit, I merely propose in the foT-

few^ At the same time, the best method of counterworking
each specie, will be explained, so far as known torn" •
and even when no certain and effectual remedy can b.
"Z'Ta » '"'«'"<«'8« of tb« babitsof the in'ectwm
^o^h^imsl*'"' '"'''"'"'' ""-- "> <•'— • -4
The reason why so many men suppose, th at all ^ Borers "
are.one and the same thing and belong to one and the
same species is, that they generally know them only in
the larva or grub state, which, as a general rule, is the
8 ate m which they do the mischief. Now, it is almost
always the case, that larvae resemble one another much
more closely than the perfect insects do. We observe a
very similar thing in the human species. Take a thou-
. -and babies, and you will find scores of them that are so
I nearly alike, that you cannot tell which is which Tak«

,1

; I

If

<>.

J

26

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

« thousand grown men, and probably there will not be
two out of the thousand, tiat cannot be readily d,8t>„
ga.»hed one from the other. J„st as the grub tha you
find n your fruit-trees is the larva of the perfect inslct

w I cast h.s eye over the eight engravings given with ms
article, he will have no difficulty in perceiving, tiat elch
of them represents a different kind or species of insect
although none of them are colored to the life. Al these
eight figures represent Borers of different kinds in the r

g.>t'o7tir ""*:. /'^^-''-^'OO ^--b^S ^ n
given of the larv», that produce these eight kinds of
borers, it would take an Entomologist to sef any dfffer

We perceive by this time that it is no use to talk about

even 1!? K . "'"•' ^o" ">'"'■ In many cases it is not
even enough to specify the particular kind of tree that
they attack; for although there is but one kind o ZTr

less tha^tr I"?"!:' ""' ^^'""'-'™«' y^' 'here are no

ess than threekindsthatcommonlyattack thcApplo-tree

twoofwhich ar«»K„„t .-...It.. jI.. .. '^■^PP'" fee.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

cases, the best and only effectual remedy is the knife
Very rarely the larva is found in the cr^t'^^ho the tree'
For an effectual mode of preservinir An„il V *"**'**•
the attaoks of this Borer, a„S at," r^the'waVrdi 1"
guish him from the following kind, see uX. hat Ltd"
Besides Apple-trees, he sometimes attacks Pear-tl^d
he IS death upon Quince-trees. ' ""^

The Bupreia, Bom. ( ary,o4oar«/«„om<a Fabr )

On Apple, Ac.

onlyrnthfl ^ ^^ ^'^'^^^ feeder, being found not
trefs 11 J^Pf -^r' *^"* '"^ ^ great variefy of forest-

fI 2 7t' ' ^^' '^^"" '' whitishf and when

Fig. 2 full-grown scarcely exceeds half an inch in

irm^r- ength, and instead of being cylindrical, like

the preceding, he is hammer-headed, his

head, or ibre-part rather, being twice as wide

as the rest of the body, and so much flattened

Color-.dark K f ^T^' ^' '^ ^' ^^^ ^^^'^ ^^"^^^ed flat

brown with "^^t^een two squares of glass. Consequently

branny «pot. as the fore-part of his body is twice as wide

as It IS high, he bores a hole to fit it, of an oval shape, and

twice as w Ha oa »»;«K . «»,« x. . ,. *^ * "**

27

two „,„. . ""'""'^""•'-•""""""yattack thcApplo-tree, as it is high, he bores a hole to fit it of Inov.i .k I

Nfltnr«i wjo* T ^ °"^ ^^ Borers whose that has been bored up by the "Two afr.no^ n „ ^

-watural History I proDose tn pliinMof^ mu , «» *u • .. "k i^/ mo J-wo-striped Borer:" and

DlGas«fy.Ko« • r"^ . ^** ^^"^'«*^e- The reader w 11 as the insect itself is ba m„nK « — ii._xi._,,

please to bear in mind, that in each case it is the Perfect

Insect only, and not the larya or grub, that is figured

The two-itriped Borer. {Saperda bivitlata Say )

0-^* Apple, Pear AND Quince.

The arva of this Beetle, which commonly infests the

App^e^tree, is of a whitish color, about an inch or so long

«• 1- when full-grown, and about the thickness of

a goose-quill, and nearly as round as a goose-

quill. As is the case with almost all Borers

the perfect female insect deposits her egg

upon the bark, or among the chinks and

. t ,, — - ""-•"'•'f^cu x>orer: ' ana

as the insect itself i, so much smaller than the other, it,
holes are also considerably smaller. The perfect in^ct
appears at the same time of the year as the preceding, and
Its habits are in all respects similar, except that it flies
by day and not by night, and the larva only requires
twelve months instead of twenty-four or overf to Live
at maturity, and except also that it does not confine itaelf

rrm"?'".'' "* "^ "•* '■•**• " ''■ '"d^d. peculiarly
fond of what are known a. -sun-scalded" trees, attacking

the're reT '^ P"' <>' "■« t™-k '^'-K the southwest!
where the bark has been killed; but I have dug them

„ .. .„„ T ?^""' """" «f perfectly sound and health/young

cracks of the bark; and the young larva ,7^^ k*V.''V """* "''"* ^ug them out of Apple-tree
- , soon afterwards hatches out and mines its ii . m °°' **"**'' three-quarters of an inch in
*S";;^'„"r.wa7 in by a hole so minute i^^uJltZT.elrT:^^^^^^^
.l"'"- "'»- "P- Consequently the holes that :: ^tnTLfr:^^'^:.'''':^'?'' '>Z .!'"' ""'' '-"'ing

Whit.. closes up. Consequently the holes that we

see in our trees are not made by the larva in getting into
U.e tree, but ^re either opened by him, whenL isiC
half-grown, in order to get rid of his "castings " or excre-
ment, or are made by him, when he is full-grown, to af-
ford a passage for the winged insect. In early ife he

rfo^'tb T".f "^"""'^ tothesapwood.and it L at tha
period that the greatest damage is done, youne trees

.^rdT H r ::■"*'" '''''"^ '"'"="' "-"8 of^n complX'

.^rfkes off • ^'":L 1' '" *P'"°^'='"' """""'y- ""''"va
strikes off into the heart-wood, which of course is, com-

parativey speaking, but slightly injurious to the tree.
The perfect insect comes out some time in June in the
at. tude or New York, when they couple and the female
.hortly afterwards lays her eggs. North and South of
: T L ^»"''"«" """"es out a little later or a little
earUer. The larva is two years and perhaps longer in
•mving at maturity, so that an egg laid in 1866 win not
reproduce the perfect beetle until at least 1868. The in

butt 'o'f T":"'"'!,'' "" "'""'"' '""^"'"l ''»^'f to the
butt of the trunk, and by looking there carefully, the

hoIe»through which itthrowsout its castings mayof^n be
discovered, by the little piles of sawdust-lite maVter tha
I>. on the ground immediately under them. In suoh

down slightly and changing color a ifttle, and then'u th!

hi e L!t I ^"T" *■""" "'"' *'"' ''°'f«- They open no
hole that I could ever perceive to throw out their " cast-

■ngs by, and they never, so far as I have perceived bore
deep into the solid heart-wood like the preceding, though
Dr. Fitch found them to do so.

1..!? P""f ""O » better than cure, and I find it much
iT/thl T :"" ""r" "'" "'»' Apple-trees, than to
tit,lT T*"' V^^y •" ""'""ly there. The method

a littr; T '?* *'^""""- ^'•""" »"• '»t of May, or
a little earlier or later according to the latitude, taki .

bar of common soap-the softer and newer the better-
and go over your trees with it, rubbing them till they
TlTl "u^"^ appearance.. If you are certain that it
IS only the "Two-striped Borer" that is likely to molest
you, you need only go over the lower partof theT^nk
and the principal crotch, in which last place it is a 7Zi
plan to stick a chunk of the soap, to be washed downTy
the rams ; but if you have the " Buprestis Borer" also to
guard against you must go over the entire trunk and the
principal limbs also. Previous to 1861 my apple-tre«
used to be badly bored up by the "Bupres«s7and one
young tree it completely killed for me. In 186^ I adopted
the above plan, on the recommendation of Dr. Fitch, the

followed It up every succeeding year. The result is, that
I have never since had a single borer in any of mv ten
trees. Dr. Fitch states that he soaped a certain number

!„rr? lu^ '° *° ""''"'* *■"• '*" '»>« «=» untouched;
and that the next year all the soaped trees were free from

borers, and all the unsoaped trees were swarming wtS
them. The borer that troubled him was the "two-stfiped"
one exclusively. The borer that troubled me was the

wUhfn man ""'"''7^ «>« other species not occurr ng
within many miles of Kock Island, III. Consequently it
seems to follow that the "soap-remedy" is equluy eff;I
tual against either insect. ^

Th?,^!!^'*'' K "'!i'''^ ""' '""P "P"*"**' ■■' """y explained,
thair ? ' '"' P*'"*''-"? the soap, is apprehensive
that the tree is not a suitable home for her future progeny,

elsewhere If" rr V'^ "" *««' "P"" "' ""d Aiesoff
nanT? ♦ ! two-legged bugs, that wear coata and

pantalwns, took a, much care of their future families as
the six-legged bugs invariably do, there would not be
near so much misery and distress in the world

«i»n 7" u?^ °' *'" Mississippi this insect is more ge-
nerally troublesome to apple-trees than the preceding

re" ; f "k"" ^'*'^'' """<»•«'' " --t" therf, it is not
recorded as being injurious to apple-trees. In a few in
stances it has been known to attack the Peach-treeTbut
this appears to be the exception and not the rule.
nw Apple-twig Borer. (£o»trichu, bicaudatus, Say.)
We have now to deal with a Beetle that is remarkable
for boring our Apple-trees, not in the larva, but in the
perfect state. During the month of June particular twjs
"«• »• generally such as are about the size of a goose-
quill, will often be found to be bored just above
one of the buds, and on cutting into them it
will be noticed that a cylindrical hole, about
the size of a common knitting needle, extends
00101^,^, downwards from the perforation above the
dark brown, bud, through the very heart of the twig, for the
lengthof an inch or an inch andahalf. In this hole will
Tery frequently be found the insect figured in the an-
nexed wood-cut, (the hair-line to the left showing its

Th. rf , '' TV'""" ""' ^""^ -P'"'*'' " be would lie
iLr.^ 1 i ! '" ■"' '*"» "'*'« "<» bad changed

there to he perfect beetle, but with his head downwards
and busily engaged in lengthening the hole. The males
•re distinguished by having two little thorns projecting
Wkward. from their tail, and males as well H fimalef

thL r <• '°, V*'t *"'*'' "'''•"' P'0^« that they bore
fut!! r ?* for themselves, and not as a nest for their
[hi f?jT ?• l"' ""'°'* invariably with insecU, it is

.orinrt? ° f '""f t '"~" *° P'"'*"* for her future off-
jprng the males, like the men among the Red Indians,
being too chivalrous to work. Where the larva of this

tion; but from the analogy of allied species, it may be
mferred that it breeds in the sapwood of forest tr"es I
have captured the perfect insect in the wooH S^ptm!

situation T. "'"" r^ ' ""«" •P"'*""-'' '- the usual
Situation m an apple-twig, so early in the spring that it

Ta't tS'lfu"' ""T" "'■"*'- ^ '"f" f™» thfs ftl

grelt bulk of" T' "l" """*"■■ "•" P^^f-' "»te. The
great bulk of them, however, bore the apple-twiw in

.er/aMn";' '" ^ """""""^ -'--."nd^hat: t'ak n
?hirh„l .t'"*'' "'«y'""-« only just commencing

their holes, so that half their bodies stuck out in the oZ
"r. Frequently a single twig will contain two orZe

of their holes; but m no instance did I ever find that one
interfered with or ran into another. Though these de.-
pised little creatures have no pre-emption laws, and no
magistrates to enforce them if they had any, yet they
know enough not to "jump" one another's "claims;"
which 18 more than can always be said of certain animal,
mat are higher m the scale of creation.

This insect occurs in Pennsylvania and in the Valley
of the Mississippi, but not in New York or the New Eng-

b»f ?. I u " '•"**y '° "•" ^»»«y of the Mississippi
that It has been found to work upon apple-trees in the
naanner described above; and the only damage it occa-
sions IS, that the bored twig generally breaks off at the
bored part with the first high wind. So long as the in!
sect occurs only in moderate numbers, this #ould proba-
bly be a benefit, rather than att injury to the tree, being

n the nature of a summer pruning. I am not aware that
they have ever yet been fouhd anywhere in such exces-
sive numbers, as to do material damage ; but if this should
ever prove to be the case, the only remedy that I can
suggest would be to search for the bored twigs in June,
and cut them off and burn them.

The Peaoh-t^ee Borer, male and female.
(^eria exitiosa. Say.)
The three preceding Borers are all Beetles, belonging

/H,. r/"^ **''"■"" ^'"""'■''' "f ""« Order CoUoplera
Sheathed-wings ) The annexed engraving represent,
the two sexes of a Borer belonging to an entirely dif-
ferent Order-i^.Viop<era (Scaly-wings) -whidh com.
prises the Butterflies and the Moths or " Millers " as they
are popularly called. The one to the right hand is the
male, the one to the left hand the female. As will he

Colon-iteel-blne Mil yellow,
noticed the male is very different from the female so
different indeed that it was formerly mistaken f^r a iif
tinct specie,. The larva on a cursory view m°4ht b.'
readily confounded with that of the " T^o-s trrped BoA f "
being abou the same size, shape and color, but a close m

Sh" T "^"V"" " *"" «<" »'* --"t; legs, wher^
heother arvaisabsolutelylegless. Inonepoinlhowlvet^

ari;7„''r t'iI^'k" '*"' "='°"'^'-- ^ be i-r;:;::

£k: pe ^:p::^:;^z:z^^i:

ZuZ'V^' ""' "*'^' "-» «•« P"f«t ns ctcota^
Jun In thl ''"' VV '° -""^ ""» ^"S"'*' '"'tead 0
iZcU but ievT "'""*' "^^y^-'-ble other boring
wherever th^ " ''""■*"' '"'" ""« heartwood, and
wherever they occur in the Peach-tree-whether Under

serve^The „, e? T^""" "'" "' ""'"' «"" -"»". "bich
serves the useful purpose of directing us to the place of

I ""'r'?.''*'^ ^''" ""« '-'"t is occasionally, ^accord
I the remarkable fact, that although the Plum-tree i«ge!

I

28

|! ;

I 'i?

li

n«r»lly more dxposed to exude gum than the Peiwh-tree,
yet Plum-treee attacked by this borer exude no ,rum .
all from the spot where it has taken up its abode

Various modes have been adopted, for getting rid of this
troublesome pest after the tree ha. already beei attacked

rrer;rer;r,r:keVrr« • ''^--

-ersUndingiyappnetlhlytranVo™:;.:^^^^^^^^^^

Jemerfyls. TU c^oi .ni V^ „r,^,. In the futumn
«.. larv» are most of them quite small and hare notTe"
burrowed under the bark; and they may then be readUy
destroyed by remoTing the earth from the eolUr of the
tree and rubbing the bark vigorously wifh a c Jr„.cob or

^^el'l k'?'"""'- '" *'"' "P""* "'^y •" kid under
the bark, but even then the knife will reach them

^««dy2„i ^^^ *<"•««"«--'«• ThelarTa>maybede

ol^» t^^l "°" "^ *•" '*" '-'' P»»"°« boiUng wate

ife-wdySrd. 77l« Aoe euro. Bank up your trees a font
h.gh or so in June, i. e. before the Moth a^^ a , t"at IZ

before the frosts set m, level down the bank, and you ex
pose the young larv», which have not yet burrowed
under the bark, to the full benefit of the early frostelnd
..pecally to the attacks of birds, which at that t^e^f the
year are hard put to it for food. It answers nearly the

ame purpose to leave the earth on its natural level
c!lT*fl .'""""'"' ""^ '° '»■« O""""- to uncove the
ine principle in both cases is the same. The latter me
rait' T":*;"* *° ^""^ «»'""'«'■'' '« ""e one now gene

^ r Z 7^'v ''"'*"'°'' ""'«■"«-' - New Je'se;.
KJS. r. Sent. Tnb. Nov. 24, 1865 ) ^

after a new patent method recently invented hv .

and pirt^t:;:nrd^rmt3:n?ftrtr

saw the Lion, they were t„ L!^ .1 •°°" " ""ey

.elves, and then'^irb hi Jth'':/"'''''*'""' '''*'"-
vainly endeavoring to fore" hi, way "arnTth" '" T
fortunately however, in P^o.^... they m ss!d tlT ril"
time, for they dropped the Cage a little Jtate and fh.

^e Pa.c«c.. ..o-lir itet^ 7=21";
«emy ^t, she was a little too slow in her operatio^f, and

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

.o„nrruiffhTtz:^rnd"?o^^^^^^^^^

ad'rrrnfn'7h'"""'rK'''"°'"°'^ " "-nd'Th fw n,
ana returning the earth on the butts of the straw T«

body but a practiced entomologist, whose eye, distinguish
an insect no bigger than a pin's head Is rea^ ly^as .
former sees a goose or a turkey, should try either of^hes"
method, except in the .pring of the year, when the larva
are large and easily betrayed by the exuding gum

butt ^Hw "r " ''''''''°' '°'''«''=°»'~-d th,
butt of the tree m June. The smell of the tobacco is so
offensive to the mother-moth, that she always refuse! t^
lay her eggs on trees thus protected. Some practical men

cttcrortrt' '"'"'"«'*"'''"'"'"'' '-w^^^^^^

th! K » i ! . *'' ""■ ""'aring gas tar copiously round
the butt; but both these substances, when applied Z^

Ttobtr''"/™""^'*""**''"'"'*''^--^^^^^^
and tobacco are almost universally offensive to insect,

tree horer, on three different petite' nmrg:Me'r
bu that It appeared to do no good whatever, L rth^
following spring they were alive with borer^ Vh,
soap should be offensive to a beetl, ,S- '

Bive (o » ».«.i. • ; * "^"le and m no Wise offen-

be exn,!,ri ' i' °°' "' ""'''' '"^"«"«' "^ich can only
d irsclr s of diff" "r" ^"' ""^^ '••-? ""• -t gree'
orUvso" *""'''"*''' """ """'"ill not touch;

BTcken a t^v "V^ '""^ "' »''«»'' "d other.

Bicjcen at the very smell of it.

T^Vnne^d'' r'"' ' ^'""^ '■"*'"^' ^°"'"- ^alsh.)
borer . the f ^'^ '«P'«»'=°ts the male sex of the locust
borer the female scarcely differs except in the antenn.

(or horns) being a little shorter. At first
->— ^ sight It might be supposed that this Beetl.
belongs to the same species a, that repre-
sented in Fig. 6, which is the male of the
Painted Borer" of the Hickory. But »
closer in8pe.;tion will show that this last

^ f'ff"» '■> having much longer and stouter
Color.-bi«i, and legs and much longer and stouter antennie
J""'"'-. and in having its body tapered behind to'
a blunt point. And not only do the two insecU differ in
these respects, but they differ in the tree, which they
nhabit, and m the time of year at which the perfect bee^
Oes come forth out of those trees-the LocusV-borer ap-
pearing ,n September and the Hickory-borer in June.
What IS very remarkable, although the males are alwayi

tTredr*'''r '';'"''«"''''»'''* ''yt''«'=»'"a«ter.mtn
loned above the female, are not dMinguMabU at ^
Indeed, until I published on the subject, fit had alwav.
been supposed by authors, that there w« no differlnc, '
whatever between the locust-feeding beetle and the hick!
ory.feeding beetle, and that the same female laid her
eggs indiscriminately either upon the locust or the hick-
ory. Those who desire fuller details on this subject «r.
referred to the two passages in my Paper, which ha"I
just been quoted in a noto. ' i~ <-" n»v»

oft^e''re^fZptrnl7L'?tTul^ht ^'t?w^V;tl\^
shortening of the thighs. ' *^ ^ *^® ^^^^

fProo, Boston Soc. Nat. HiaUyrv 18«A «« 9oii_»r j
Proc. Ent Soc. Philad. ll. ^.ii^i.' ^^* ^**~^' '"'^

.,^!l

V

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

29

The historjof this species is very curious, and as it has
only recently been elucidated by myself, and some addi-
tional details can now be added, may be briefly summed
up as follows .-—About a hundred years ago this insect was
well known to Forster to inhabit the Locust in the State
of New York. Twenty years ago, although the best Illi-
nois botanists agree that the locust grows wild in the
Southern part of Illinois, it was still unknown in that
State. Shortly afterwards it commenced attacking the
locusts in the neighborhood of Chicago, and thence spread
gradually in a South, South-west and West direction
through the State, sweeping the locusts before it wherever
it came. In 1860 it had pretty well destroyed all these
trees in Central Illinois. Rock Island lies on the Missis-
sippi River 180 miles South of West from Chicago. In
1862 it had reached a point 20 miles East of Rock Island.
In 1863 it burst forth suddenly in great swarms from all
the locusts in Rock Island, and the two following years
about completed their destruction. It has now (1865)
crossed the river into Iowa, and no doubt will continue
its travels westward as long as it finds any locust-trees to
prey on. *

Lest it should be supposed, that, agreeably to the belief
of all the older writers, the species that inhabits the
hickory is identical with that which inhabits the locust,
it is proper to add here, that I myself split the hickory
insect, out of a stick of hickory wood, as much as eight
years ago in Rock Island; that abundance of hickory
grows in the woods within half a mile of that city; and
yet that our locust trees were never attacked by borers
until 1863, when they were suddenly attacked in the man-
ner mentioned above. Prof. Sheldon of Davenport, Iowa,
has also repeatedly, for many years before 1863, split the
hickory insectoutof hickory wood in Davenport, although,
•o far as he is aware, the locusts in Davenport had not
been attacked by borers up to 1863. Now, if the hickory-
borer is identical with the locust-borer, why did it not
attack the locusts in Rock Island and Davenport before
1863 and 1864? And why, when it did attack them, did
it appear suddenly in great swarms ?

The larva of this insect resembles so closely that of the
"Two-striped Borer," in shape, size and color, that the
general observer would see no difference at all between
them. It is, however, readily distinguishable in the eyes
of the entomologist by having six minute legs, while the
other is entirely legless.

As to any available means of counterworking this in-
sect, it is scarcely worth while to talk about it, when it
invades us in such prodigious swarms as it does, and
when, after all, it is only a shade-tree and not a fruit-tree
that is attacked. In case, however, any one should have a
favorite locust, which he is desirous of preserving, no mat-
ter at what cost, it may be stated that if it is well rubbed
with soap about the last of August, the mother-beetle
will in all probability avoid it in September, when she is
flying round in search of a suitable place whereon to lay
her eggs. The "Two-striped Borer" and the "Locust-
borer" are, entomologically speaking, so closely allied,
that we may with tolerable safety argue from the tastes
of the one to the tastes of the other; and as soap is proved
to be highly offensive to the former, it is reasonable to
infer that it will also be offensive to the latter.

Many persons, in places where the Locust-borer has
been swarming, have been much alarmed by the idea,
that after it has finished with the Locusts it will com-
mence on the Apples and other fruit-trees. There is no

Colon — black
and yellow.

ground whatever for any such expectation. They might
just as reasonably expect a starved cat to take to eating
hay, or a hungry rabbit to make an onslaught upon th«
bacon; for there is no other tree but the Locust and occ^
sionally the Honey-locust in which, so far as is at present
known, this insect can live.

The painted borer. ( Cl^tus pictua, Drury, Walsh.)
On Hickory and Walnut.
The chief points in the history of this Beetle havittg
been already noticed under the head of the preceding, it
is only necessary to add that its larva differs from that of
the preceding in being absolutely legless; unless, indeed,
which I scarcely think can be possible. Dr. Horn made
some mistake in its identity.* The annexed figure r©.
presents the perfect or winged male; the
female, except in the fact of its antenna
being a trifle shorter, almost exactly re-
sembles Fig. 5. In Illinois this insect rs
rather rare; for in seven years' steady col-
lecting I have met with but three speoi-
mens. Near Philadelphia it appears to be
quite common, and it is said to inhabit the
walnut as well as the hickory, which two
trees belong, as is well known, to closely
allied genera. In the Valley of the Mississippi our com-
monest Hickory Borer is the one noticed at the end of
this Article and shown in Fig. 8, but that species seems
to attack the felled or dead timber only.

The Currant Borer, {^geria tipuli/ormis, Linn.)
The two Borers last noticed were Beetles, ( Coleoptera.)
We now once more return to the Lepidoptera (Butterfliee
and Moths), to which the Peach-tree Borer was found to
appertain. The " Currant Borer '* is a species of the very
Fig. 7. same genus to which this last belongs, and
consequently, as will be seen at once, it re-
sembles it a good deal, although it is con-
siderably smaller. The larva also closely
resembles that of the Peach-tree Borer, ex-
Colors-Wack and ?®P* ^^ ^*® smaller size; but unlike that
jellow. insect, it does not inhabit the collar of the
currant bush nor even any of its main limbs, but only
the twigs, which it bores lengthways much after the
fashion of the "Apple-twig Borer" (Fig. 3), so that they
either wither away and die, or lop down in an unseemly
manner, or break off with the first high wind. Unless it
occurs in unreasonably large numbers, I doubt very much
whether this insect is not beneficial, rather than other-
wise, to the shrub which it inhabits, by operating as Na
ture's own pruning-knife. For we all know that the Car-
rant bush, in our climate, is naturally a little too much
inclined to run to wood; and gardeners tell us that sum-
mer-pruning inclines a tree to run to fruit

The readiest mode to get rid of this insect, where it oc-
curs in undue numbers, is to cut off the bored twigs in
May, or earlier if convenient, and burn them. As the
perfect insect appears in June, it will thus be prevented
from running its natural course, and laying a fresh stock
of eggs on the twigs, to start a new brood of borers for
the succeeding year. Unlike the other seven Borers no-
ticed in this article, the Currant Borer is not a native
American, but an imported citisen.

I

r*

I

*See remarks on this subject in a Paper of mine now
printing in the Proceedings Ent. Soc. PhtUuL

lt<i

( i

4i

'

I)

30

II '

11

I

t!

The banded Borer. ( Cerasphorus cinctua, Drury )
On Hickory after it is felled

juith tnouaanrl nii/>h »^ i

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

Colon—brown and
yellowiflh-white

'II

r -J "«!. uue out 01 a

thoueand such persons have the most
distant idea, as to what manner of in-
sect does the mischief, and some per-
haps do not even know that the da-

and attribute it toacertain mysterious
influence exercised upon the wood by
fsome of the planetary bodies. At al^
events, I knew an old Pennsylvania
Dutchman who believed firmly to the
day of his death-in spite of all mv
arguments to the contrary-that if
state of .1, ''.'Okofy wood was cut in a particular

state of the moon it would never "powder-nost » TtTf

What r^t""" '"""' "'"•""• '>-Ser.S t"t'fall.b ■
toknoZ V r;*"' ""^ "' '"« "O"". »>« did not3
wood bofhttl' '°' """ '"°"*'' '"*' "« ^^ -' "^kory

■ TtS^riurtr --» '""'-Xrrari::

"powder.;^st ng " he ha^heT n' 'r'/""^' '"*-'

^httH:™"^^^^^^^^^

to try to Jr^eC :'uro7rbXr '"'' '' ^^ —

but, unless my memory deceives me, H has tf, ^^l
egs. In any case, if it has not such leg, it tu.i^ ^
>ng to established entomological rul!!!?'"^''''-

left by the saw, hickory wood wh ch ° 7°" V '"''
serve from this borer 0..r „/*""» ^e desire to pre-

raliy have a consMe;able s^koTtMrru^''^''"^-
laid up to season, and sometime, 1 '"*'"* ''"°''«'

spoiled or damaged bv«nlT "* * <^°°^ "«»' "^ "
«!Cording to "r Harrif ,.?"""'«■-?»»'•" For although,
setts, it if v^rv com™ ' .1 'T"' '" '"« '" Massachu-
Afte; the lumbeTh^ h '" "' "^'"'^ "' ""' Mi»»i".ppi.
there is no longt, an v dl? '"''" "" "" ''«" P-"^'-
are already in^de butt *"' f "P' ''™" ""='» 1"™ »»
tree, which'^ist aU extrnT ""^ •"'""« ^"^ ""■ «'-
enough larva, to "rltin ''PP«'"«"'«»»"°d. to contain
happens tharevenbefotr. """""• " """"ionally
or 1^0 of these larvtlZnlTtT ''T' "" ""P' »-
surface, either for the purpose of 'rn?^ ''" ""'■" *° «"«
ings or of afibrdine a comT.!! ^'"^ °"' "»«'■■ «»»t-
beetle. Whether f new^rr """''='' "> ""> P"'""'
put in, or whether the htwe „T„: T ''"" '» «'«°
and putty, is one of those Mrnicifw "''""'' P""'
outside world knows nothingT IT r' """•' «"
!fl^^^£^if-,ith^^

beetle but also alreir*' "'""^" "' ""> ?«''-«

no do^bt helps t:i:ri';'";:h^e:;rrbtnrcrr;"''

some the felled timber, but as they f re by no mfal^abun
dant. a least not in this neighborhood, it has not been
thought necessary to refer to them particularly
10 many persons, perhaps, the damage done by such

be w^orf Ikin" "": """'^ '"" "^"^ *- --«nific^a: t
flL K? t * ""° '"=''"'""• " is, in reality, a mere
flea-bite, when compared with the gigantic dra ns uoon

the purses of our citizens, made by fht Hessian Fly tt"
Curculio or the Chinch-bug. Still it amounts to s^me

s?at"fti!s of rr"'"""" ^'' "' '""" " «"'« 'n.^ X"
statistics of the case, and we shall soon satisfy ourselve!
that It s so. There are in the town of Rock Island I"
three old, established firms for the manufectu t of' wa'
gons and carriages, which were all of them in full 000^
tion in 1859, when the last U. 8. Census was taken be"
I sides several new ones which have been establ shed si'nce"
I have consulted the principals of all these hr!« fi
and they estimate the average total value of the Hii'
lumber annually consumed bv them in tt ^'''^°'y

siness at *qrii La ,11 ^ " "'*"' regular bu-

niness at »975, and the damage aanuallv ,!«„.. -^ i
"Dowder t./v=t" »• /■ ,- nunuauy done to it by

i/thrhrL^^t T^^rard: r ; ::: ;: ^
b^in^oTw^trrmrdi" -r '^^'-^^^^^

annually consumed by wa^on 1^ ^^f '^^^^^ dumber
at<ftiQr.n i> .7/ ^ ^ °*^^®"*°*^»ewholecountv

the Borer afufrr?":' "'T'' ''"'' »» ">'' '-nber-bT

gle State. Upon enquiry, Tfi^d thluw°"°'^/' * "°-
is pretty uniform ■„ !.. .• °* "powder-post"

thrstat'^^^f U noi butevr '^^'r' """^ throughout
We may, thereCarBrir^ rntyt?? ''*'"•

ory Cer to\t ;';„ "l'?b""*"^'°"* ''^"'"' «'<='■
of Illinois, by mrrefy workt.^r^n""' *"" '"«"« «'»*•
of Three Sum -As th. n' ?, ' '^»"<""''8 'i-nple fiule
in 1859 (2l"o?5 is to ^he'L'^^'f':""' ''^^'"' ^»''"«' "oonty
1869 (l,m,«51 ,o?s the d ''"'° "^ "" "'""« «""« '» '
IslandcouLty (^4 25) ir'^" """""'y "o"* '» Bock
done in the whole 8 1 The"'";*' '"""'8« '""»'»"^
foots up, does it not' And ye Z:l" ^rf''' "

mage done by this one particutarin!.^/"''" "" **»■
State out of the thirty ", a 'd',"'" ^"^^' '""""
in other mechanical deL^'r^ ''""""'i^'of that done
wagons and carr iagl, aC^v 'h"' "' ""' "■"" »»
hands of the consumer ibl^^ " P"'*** '■"» t*"
assure me, is somethTg ^if rnsSe''^-"-''-

ex'pr^;„7i:\;!rtom Jt'r • -^^ '^^ ""*™'- ««

' ^"^ """ it really has leg..-J»nl^;7i?r

sivelyAmerioangcnufalliefl ♦„ 5? j ' °®'' '""l eiclu-
whici at some &tur!'umtl,^r^^''iOdontomer^,

nameofCi,^a<:,«(Hicko^dwenti )*'"'''* ""''*' *•»•

d««f!f ".r"'5 *" °««"«'7. but I always like to un-
ttrtth '»"'""»"""»*«""'"• Suppose further
paUattnTfl T'^ "e, not a perfect cur'^^but only a

n^a llv TK T/*' *° '''* ""'°' °^ '" P*' "^-t. an-

nually. There would then be #2,781.25 worth of Hickorv

umber annually saved to the State, against which we
should have to set, Ut, the annual cost to the wal?
makers o .pplymg the newly-diseovered rem 5^,3"
to be on the safe side, we will put at the odd $1 Ml 25 '
and 2„tf, the annual interest on the sum invested whJh'
at 10 per cent., would be $500. The balance to be car "ed
foOO o^ 't"'" "' "" ^'"'^ ^'"'S" --'<• be annuTi J

fy the State "''T'T '"*'•"" -""""y -Pended
by the State. Most merchants would consider this a very
fair business operation. -"'ery

and TZ if °^'\T^ "■*' this would be class-legislation,
and that it would be an unjust thing to tax the whole

oHhTo ^b'";";'"""" "--fit of either the Gardener
or the Orchard ist, or the Wagon-maker. But in almos
IJI such cases as these, the commodity produced is eTTher

ket of the world, and therefore its price is not governed
by the market of the world but by the local market

WalT'l'^ "r"""" """'« "» "»'«■--<=« "t an to the
Wagon-maker, for example, if 50 or 75 per cent.-instoad

"nowdr T.r'^'"' "'"''"'y '•"»''*' '"«' "annually

just as he does now, put the entire loss upon the price of

would b'/r*""' "^'-^ ■""*' "' '» a» -oh cases t
would be the consumer, i. e. the general mass of the c t

sens, that eventually had to foot the bill. Free selv on

the same principles, if he had less Hickory lumbeVn

nually destroyed, competition would compel^him to Tower

the price of his manufactured goods, and Ihen it would be

the consumer, and not the manufacturer, that would rean

the benefit No fact in Political Economy is better

known or better established than this. On the other

hand commodities such as Beef, Pork, Corn and Wheat

which may be supplied from the market of the wo Id

and the price of which is therefore governed by their'

price not in the local market, but in the markeTof the

world, are in the State of Illinois almost all of them pro!

frue thft ^r"'- ^'''' ""'««<'• " " -doubtcTy
true, that any discovery that enabled the Farmers to

. ra.se, for example, more Wheat or more Corn wo^d ou^
money into their private pockets. But it is no toriou tha
whatever benefits the Farmers of Illinois benefit's the

tivelyspeakiuB small h./t^L each case is, compara-
into the mniifis Add t„ IK "".u'"'*' ^""^ up away
thrice-told tele of the alm^^i f^wfl **" '''"known an5
filched out of the pock", of^i"*"'"",';'''?' »->"»"y
Bark-louse, the Wh.CGruh thl pi*«^'?""""''» ^r thi
worm, the Codling Moth ^h^ Ph.m ^'""'''"''i ""« A™y-
the Hessian Flv the Wh'.il Jj " 9?"Ker. the Curculio,
a host of oSiers^' Ind^am aTi&' 'J« Chinch-bug, and
mate of 420 000 nnn .. .1 ^"isfied that my former esti-
to the single State of IlIii'ifr'T ^n-""' damage done
below than above ?hem°°k bylfox.ous Insects, if rather
ducted experimlnta I h.^^r.^^ ?**.'" of carefully con-
ble perce2tejf^^?thi; ?i^ * i'"'* '''""'t that a consldera-
of tfme! beTnuani°si«ed M t?°S?' "''8'''' '" P'ocess
per cent, was e?enual|tsavii? -^ ^^^ .^•" '^""^^ '
gain to the Stet;7„V"tll^t?rof t'o^oUo "'' "^ " «"""""
It IS very true that such inves*tme'ntTas those referred

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

3]

au^l ^'«dound not only to the benefit of the particular
State that makes them, but also to that of the whole Union
But to a patriotic State this would be an incentive ra-"

New y'1 " °''^^""'"'- ^''«"' »»■"« *"«°ty years alo.
New York engaged Dr. Fitoh as her Stete Entomologfst
she never stopped to enquire whether other States mfgit
not be jointly benefited with herself-as has act"X

Zr, r^" ^^t'r-"^ ""« =<='-«fi« investigations of

toteda u'moT ' '"'.'"''"^'- ^''^" M--chusette
voted a sum of money, to enable Dr. Harris to write hi.

well-known and excellent Report on Injurious Insects t
never occurred to her to ask, whether the b^k would no

wTst h'" IV"" '""" "«'"»- Massac^use'ts The

tTon onThfs a^r*" '"." '^"^'^^ "^ '"« ^"^^ ^^ -'orma!
uon on this all-important subject Lf^t hAr ««™ •

cate the obligation'. She ought to do thiT °f Iw T"

purely selfish motives; for sL has In^'i: ^'^^Z^^""

sects, as for example the Chinch-bug and the' C York

Weevil which, although theyoccur in very minutrnum

oZ'h ^T'Z" ^""*'' y*' "«^«' »warm therras th"y
often do m the West, so as to come under the obs;rv»tion

of Eastern Entomologists. Besides, Illinois, as rwen

known, was called upon in the late war to find a GeneTIl

m-chief for the armies of the whole Union. She respond

Ided T- """ '*" ""O "''- gloriously he'^Tel"
ponded ,s known to the whole world. People, there
fore, naturally expect of her now to furnish a Bugma^teT

frmv the^N ""?"" """■"—■'d more deSv,
army-the Noxious Insectsof the United States.

The recommendations given above with reeard to r.
medies will, doubtless, strike the intelligent «ader«7n

TnTt"' rin"'" "^ """""^ "P°° -"»e'- andTnf: en^e.
and too little upon facts and experiments. I am well

aware myself, that all such recommendations. Zrve

heoretically specious, ought to be practically t;sterby"

rn!iraVc:;rdi;T:^;re^-^r ''• '-''- "•- -'

enoughofthfsnatureJrHlgu'irtheTracSrol

wi h,n the United States, destroy at least three hundrid
million dollars' worth of nroDertv f^ «« ce uunarea

life-.meoffirtygoodande^;;fr^^^^^^

l^fLZrth^'^^?^^ *^ attempt to make Iny head*
way against this vast sea of labor, would be like Mrl

Partington trying to mop up the Atlantic Ocean Be
sides why should any scientific man gratuitously dev!u
his time to drudgery of this kind ? It is of n . .1 .

scientific interest, whether th« f« T ^^''°^' °'

States annually losrfiftv miml^n T" l^ *^® ^°'*«d
Bug, the Hessii^ Fly a^d^he Whf^ M^^ *^« ^^'°«^
they lose only fifty cents bv th.,? ^'^«t' ^' whether
The natural history of these^thr!.'^"'! '^'^« '"^^^t*-
scientifically interesting just as is lh«?'f^' "' ^^ ^«""«-
insects, that have nevef iet infl ^i/*''^*''^*^^^«'-^h»'e«
damage upon the AgrfcuUuVai r^^^^^^ ^^'*^ <>'

longs to Aft, and not^to Science toTe?t7h '^^ ^H* ** ^«-
ciency of the various artifiHalJ^ i^® practical effi-
Tages of these and other noLii,^"'' ?^ ^^'"^^ *^e '»-
palliated or prevenLl Xny fact thl'V^-'"*.^ *^" «''^«'
course of his scientifiprpflao!^^ *°at, in the regular

of the NaturalfstlLrTnTup:^^

freelyand without stint ;r«l.!IP- "^'"^arisn objects, he
the 4ientific World ?h^?«"°'''^^^^ In

the Charlatan Tndeavors to m! J"^ '^""'t^'' ^nj none but
and holy a thing asXence Bn/^f-r^ P"'«

pect the private student wLnfK. ',' '.^®f ^ ^^"^ ^ «-
of unexplored knowW J 1° ^^^ "^^^^^ bright heaven
blazing Loyehim tl J. ^^ ""Pf^ ^ his view and

tously^devotran^i?gl^ri?unrfi?rmtV f^'^ *°^ ^^^tui^
of dimes into ddlars in ?h« il;^ ^ ^'^u^^^^^^^^^^'atiom

Rock IsLAKnTfLL^iec. 27^865.'' ''^" fellow-citizena.

M

.1

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I

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iki

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'Tviwqpi

iini

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^1

32

TAKE NOTICE!

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

ni J'^^.^P® ^.^^ DEALERS IN FERTILIZERS ^m
please take notice that we have arl^TTff^ *u T'S" ^*^^

S-rade Mark to protect ouTselverand ?rpl.V.t^"^^T«

use our RAW 60NE SUPESlOSpfiATE fr^^t^^^

^'w'?^ ^5^° purchasing manures ^'''°' ^^^'^^

tol;s';i;%tre^^uen^lo'^«i;e^^^^^^

fully, used our d^istinctiVe nlm^' ^rt'^ftZ'^ ""l.^^"
offering their artiel« M ti,^^ ui- 1:, . ^^^ Bone," m
«lopte3 in ad" on to thi ^H^i'Sp '^'''» Trade Ma'rk is
our exclusive property and w.i! ,?»'', Bone," wliich is
from using it fn iStar« wl^ """''"n »" manufacturers
eonsumerf Ihl? thev till finT"*'"! "f^* •'» "»« '"de and
that the "Trade Ma4"k „n.n it '" l''^''' '"'<'««' '» ««e
purchase, aa none other 1, g^nufne7 '"«'""' ■>""' *«y

BAUGH i. SONS.

THE MASON & HAMLIN

PiJINET ORGANS.

BAUGH^S

BAW BOHE

SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME

Manufactured by BAUGH & SONS '

Ho. 20 SOtriH DEIAWAEE AVBHCE, '

PHUADELPBIA.

.ie^t'ifdutEJTJ^LfaS "^r ^^-^--<i -ffi-
udvertise "Raw Bonr?CXt!« »" ^o manufacture and
nated with us, and is onr niS • f /r f '**°'® ^*»'ch origi-

.tate for the information oTauCrlrP^f^^- ^^^^"
manufacturers of this art?cip '/k. '^®^''? **^« exclusive
pnetors of it-havinL hll^^^t original and sole pro-
riod of twelve vel 3^ Also ThTi^* -'""'^ ^^ "^ ^«' ^ P^"
letters patent, ^eld only by ourselves''^*'^ '^ ''^''''

haWn/maSrre^rnl^adSitro?^^ ^^ •^"' ^^^'^^ quantities-
sels drawing 16 feet of waero.^nl ^'^P^^^^'^ents. Ves-
wharves of the works wh^Vh ? ^f*"* directly from the
Morris atreet, D^awaL riv.r ^''^^^^^^^^ at the foot of
P^ALERS to^hiJ gT:a7;.i;rntag? ''''' ^^^ *"-^-- ^^

we advise Farmers tltenSLP^^^ ""J^ ^*" ^^^sons, and

tire Dealers aT an early^dLv '^hat'lff " '" their reinee
promptly. ^ ***^' that all may be supplied

bohciting your continued orders.

We remain, '

Yours very truly,

BAUOH ft S058

^0. 20 South Delaware Avenue,

Philadelphia.

manship°?n th^irCABINET OHr%'iJ« ''^'^^''^''i^OTi.

within a few yea™, »^ feiXTPFV ^^r"'''!'' **• * H

'pHn'tId t**"f *"' ^» °'--^ o'^'.C'nerl?:,^ ''-

moreU\VrwrhSJd«rand"1ft;"f\f^''""^
Organist, and MusicTlns in the co^unLV ,h"^?',l*^'''*"'
* 6a«u, CABINET ORGANS ARl%EohALl^ET'
Prices, «U0 to «600. A1.LED.

to anTidd'r'e^!'^ '*'"">"" »''•>« ^^^Oinet Organ,, .en.

THFlmiFoFHEALTr

AND

H. A. DREER,

N'urseryman. Seedsman & Florist

No. 714 CHESTNUT STREET, '

PHILADELPHIA
VEGETABLE, GRASS and FLOWER SEEDS

OF THE BEST QUALITY.

Fruit and ShadA Troao r„

Wrape Vines, Strawberry Plants
cAT.r- -^^Paragus Boots, &c. '

CATALOGCTES FOBWABDED TO ALL APPLICANTS.

JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CULTURE

FOR 1866.

♦1 50 A YEAR; 15 CEJfTS A NUMBER.

WHAT THEY SAT OF THE HESALD

MoImIX^i:/JX°' ""' "'"^ "•ter.-'-ear.W,
^^Abound. in healthful suggestion.."- tr„.7ed JV^iy^

-2^7^^^ ■"""""y '»' "«y f»"7 in the land."
fern L^.^^'i/nT''*"""'* "'*«"'°« '■" '»>« country."-^
^^V.'n" """"" work."-iVW«A^. o/ O, Scientific
X>:;.^S„?o>'j»»,t«f-7te.cher."-5.P.i^.e»

MILLEE, WOOD & CO.,

— _^___ No. 15 Laioht Stbekt, New Yobi.

WILLIAM HACKEE^

.^r.rl^^^^'^^^^ ""^^^^ AND GROWER OP

AGRICULTURAL, GARDEN AND FLOWER SFl^nR

OJice 258 South Third StruiT

theZSX r^L"'"'"'' ^*""' "<• Druggist. .uppU^ ^

M ■*« »•• .■ 'if*** i'wj^^Ti^y^iy^'j

IWRBBBTRSSBr

THE

ra^lkal (Kttt0m0l00fei

I

H':

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

Published by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, for gratuitous distribution

among Farmers and Agriculturists,

Vol. L

FEBRUARY 26, 1866.

No. 6.

.;^^* Published at the Hall of the Society, No. 618 South
Thirteenth Street, where all (except Western) communi-
cations should be addressed.

^^^ Those wishing to receive the Bulletin regularly,
should send, with their names and address, 12 cents to

§ repay the postage for one year. All subscriptions must
ate from the commencement of the volume.
E. T. CRESSON, ") Publication Committee

AUG. R..GROTE, \ and

J. w. McAllister, J editors.

^ BENJ. D. WALSH, Rock Island, Illinois,

Associate Editor.

PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 20, 1866.

We are gratified to be able to state that the
circulation of our little sheet has increased rapidly,
and will soon reach eight thousand copies monthly.
To our many friends who have taken us by the
hand and helped us on, we return our sincere
thanks. When we launched our little bark it was
with some misgivings; the idea — though not a new
one in other branches of science — was new in the
department on which we designed to treat. Ento-
mology, strange as it may appear, has comparatively
few students. While in other departments of Nat-
ural Sciences students are obliged to search in dis-
tant places for the objects they desire for investiga-
tion, the Entomologist can, at his own hearth, in
hia own garden, on the street, in the very air he
breathes, find some object worthy of his study and
research. With the material on every hand, it
seems strange that so few have become lovers of
this really beautiful branch of the Natural Sciences.
But apart from the scientific investigations of the
subject, it has a practical value, and the demonstra-
tion of this feature is the mission of our monthly
journal. Avoiding all scientific terms (as near as
we can) in the descriptions of insects, we endeavor
to reach the plain practical farmer, showing him

who are his friends and who are his enemies. With
this object in view, we shall endeavor to make our
journal a necessity among those for whom it is in-
tended.

The encouragement we have received incites us
to new energy. Three editions of our first three
numbers have already been printed, and from pre-
sent indications, we shall soon publish a fourth.
This extra labor has caused some delay, and quite
a number of orders remain unfilled, but will be at-
tended to promptly. Our advertising columns are
becoming well filled, and the business man will soon
learn their value. From Canada to Virginia, and
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, our little
paper takes its monthly journey, and as soon as mail
communications are opened through the Southern
States, our circulation will be still more largely in-
creased, and form a most valuable medium for ad-
vertising.

The labor bestowed upon this paper may not be
appreciated by those ignorant of the variety of mat-
ters necessarily brought to the notice of the Editors,
but it is nevertheless cheerfully, willingly and gra^
tuitously done, with no other reward than the sat-
isfaction of imparting valuable information.

We call attention to the "Proceedings" of
the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, adver-
tised in this number. An edition of only 250 co-
pies was printed of Vols. 1 — 4, and but few copies
remain to be sold. The Publication Committee, in
another column, solicit subscriptions for 1866; those
desiring a copy will please forward their names as
early as possible, so that the subscription list may
be made up. The Committee propose to issue a
number of about 100 pages, every three months,
making a volume of 400 pages and several plates for
$3, which will scarcely cover the cost of publication.

(I,

I

.'7::.-Is(v::."';/rir

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34.

ANSWEES TO OOBEESPONDENTS.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

'. elo^ngSille^^^^^^^ -oulted skins of some

inch long, and with a iTtUe bun.t' nf^ «"«-third of an
which, af you sav Lvi >!in i f ^ of hairs on their tails

in a feath^^bed^' T^e/belo^nf tt?r^rf^J *^^ ^^^^^^"

Coleoptera) and to the Fnmn^n'' *^® ^^^^^^ ^^ -fi^e^^e^

to the^genus Atianent ilth^^^^^ ^"d probably

which are verydeftruLvA. t^"^'^^'?^^ ^ecies of

perfect or v^inseiZTi^^^^^^^ ^^ the

fiects,ofal,ard^heiryTubstance liff^'"^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^«-
ftnd most likely you found somP if ^k"'^'^ ^^?^^ ^^^"^3'
alive among thi feathers w^^H^^ ^'^^^'' ^^^^ «^

merely the perfecrfor^of the ni?"?"'^'"^ *^^"^ *^ ^e
mischief. °* ^* ^^^ ^^vely farvae that did the

Ap7tUl^rrl^^^^^^^ *c., and e.

without effect. That we can Zo!??' ''/^^^^^ «^ remedy,
generally get rid of thrd,Cpn??'^^,^'^i"^^- ^ou can
the larva state destroy furs hM.^ ^'"^? "^ '^^^^^ that in
^c, by such means Lth'ese^^K^^^^^
^e peculiarly "hard cases "«; J, /t® J>ermestes family
to their cost,Ld though camnh^^-n"^^'''^^*'^'^ ^"^^^
their founding a new coLTv^^-rjV/ ^
polony after it^s alreLy fSed Y ""^^ ^'"^^ "P '^^
heat, applied in such a Jay^Bnnti. -"'' """/^ ^^"^^^^3^ '«
on which they prey and^vpf iJ't '"J^""^ ^^^^' 8"I>stauce
insect life eithefinVe 1^ krv ^ sufficient to destroy
version in boiling wate/f'^^^^^^^^ J'«^

with this object in v7ew if vnf t ^'^ conditions. And
neighborhood that S wa^te? tV ^°^ ^^"^^^>^ '« ^""^
PP your feather bed in a t^^hV^ ^,^"g«' «Pe° vats, head
and immerse the who?e in L^vat „f h^r^^''^^^ ^"•'^ ^''^'''^i^
beer would do equally well Jfh I ^'''''"? "^^^^^ (^^ger-
tour. If you have no Zfoh I "^ ^no%'b for half an
medy will be to treaMV,!f .u''''"''^"'^"^^' ^0"^ only re
«ame^ay in ^al?L'rt fatrtir' the bid-tick in^he
an oven. But in thiVlast case Vrh' ""' ^? ^.^^^ ^^^"^ '^
ful not to heat your oven too h^o ^^ ^^ be very care-
enough to kill /our enemies Whi.?'^ ^'^ ^^ ^^^ ^t hot
ploy, make the ticking^f vou^j^Jh^''.'^" J"^^^ ^^^ «"^-
^fter you are through^^o as to ' tv'i^' ^'^^^ ^« I'«««il>le,
nu., from working his wav fn lT7^"t^°^ «tray Attage.
, If vou think bfth these Zfh/?"^'"S ^ new colony.
had best burn your bpH «f ^H' ^^^ "™"«^ trouble, you
themselves, wifleat^t an nn'"' ^^' '^^ '"^^^^«' ''^ ^^^tto
their power; of mult piiclion^ l^/fT ^''/^^-Bueh are

^ti^?;-fa:rar?^^^^^^^^^^^^

mily-tL^r.;X^.^|^r-^^^^^^^ --e ^a.

ously destructive in the TrT^f Tli *^""^ /o be so ruin-
city of London, EngUdtCth«bn'^'''u"'"« '" the
a reward of $100,000 to any one wht'''''?^"."*^^^^"^^^'^
cheap and effectual remedy to It rM f n'^ discover a
heve the reward was never^eamfd Thl i^^""' . "^^ ^^^
though effectual enough, waTnottffi^c^e'nUy-

a« y^Tsfy '^.'^e^^^^^^ ''«'-all white maggot" which
ders them 'of So valut L^''"'" ^^^'^^ *°^ sometime^ ren-
the larva of the wiu!k^owrr 'n'''^'" '' J^^^tprobab y

?mone^/a), which wtoriginallvtk^fn'""'^^
insects, imported from Euronp -^^
or two has Wn verv abunK "f 7'^^'" ^^^ ^^st year
on the Atlantic leaboard but au^^ destructive, not only
Mississippi. Its history mav be fh^ ."^-^ J^^^^y «^ the
moth deposits its e JTn^he pv. ^ '»!i'''^^^ ^^^^- The
apple,and the larva^ha chine o^ttl^^ bJoom end) of the
tfie heart or core of the aDnif «n^ f 'T^''^'". "^""^^^ into
When full grown, '. c about h^lf/^^'^'u'? '^« substance,
passage way out for itself «om5 *" T^ ^^"«' '^ hores a
that i? came in by' sometimes thT' ^l^^? ^^^ «^"^« ^oad
apple, thereby making brown H,?"f^ ^^A ""^^^^ ^^ the
8i2e of a crow-qum^Before H t fi'^^'^yf** hole about the
out, the apple Infested bv if «1 ^u^^^l ""^^^^ to come
falls to the^|rounc/.''8oon'L ter^rs?t'£' "'' •^'"^^«'
pupa state, having first spun for Lef - *H^'' '"'^ ^^^
coon m the chinks of the bark or nth u'*"' «^"^3^ co-

hiding-place. The moth comes out from T^ appropriate
and July, when it lava if = r ^^^ the pupa in June

half-gro^n ap'pl ,'tL' pupJ^of wht.h '7' T^' ^'^ *^«
irm^e t -efc Sl^Y^^^^^^ -Th^b^

.-w. Youwiir.-d\7g^u?e^^^^res^^^^^^^^^

in Harris's Injurious InsecU, pp 484-.'; Tf • v

I ttle insect, with a large patch nf k?* ?V".* heautiful

that, by wrapping anv oM ro!, ^ 1. ** isjilso stated

larv«will gat^he?imo itto «n^nT- *^^ *^^ ^ree, thl
course the/must be treated as t^^'w T^^^^' ^^«° «f

horse-thieves, i...madfto;romisenoUo do' « ^"^^^ ''^^^
Strictly speaking, the larva is lo^o *? "* ^"^ anymore,
call It, but a "caterpillar "for f k * l>^ggot," as you
a large horny head'^wWeartie ter^'""^'""" ^^^« ^"^
Perly applied? only to larvL sulh A ff '"ageot" is pro-
blow-fly, which have no dfstin^? h ^T ^{.^^^ common

causfs warMAo^t^n"^^^^^^^^ *^-^ the^^^i. that

the Nursery, and thereby rende-%'if^'""^ apple trees in
same insect as the XVZ^rth.7"i ""'^^"^y^>^« '^^
You are undoubtedly mistaken for fh T ^° *^^ ^^^'S^.
long to the same genus mnnh'i "^^^do not even be-

The Woolly Aphis^?ri;rot tLta'^XlT^' V^''

vein tLt branch's iom Vh/mT^^ 1"?^ ^^^ '-^^ ^^^''^
wings/or^-erf, while the latter ^wnvr?""^^;?.'" ^^« ^''on*
perfectly simple. In the trnlJl« J\^^^ ^^'« same vein

tains thecommor/LeaFAnhifof'Jh^?^'^^^^ ^^'^^ Wer
is three-forked. You will find ff^ "^^.^^^^ *^'^ same vein
ferences between the^ifferent If '"^ illustrating thedif-
in our Proceedm^«, Vol I p 297 * ^^^ ^^^^ ^*°»'^7

I

pla^Ui?e'S?hK ?n Tkl""'^/ ^? ^*^« ^ ^e young

plant-lice, nor even ?rU^•ntee^s'of^^^^^^^ !^^«^ ^^« '^-^
of M.te often found under the barker/ ^'°^V^"t a kind
bably feeds upon the narHv^n j'^^^'*^^^' ^here it pro-
in such situations A^lftru^e ins j;,^« matter which occurs
head distinct from the horax tL^^V^ *'5 ^"^^ ^^^^ a
which the Mites, the Spiders n^'^ h J^^f Arachnida, to
the Sheep-tick, which fs a trurl"^^ Wood-ticks (but iot
from the^true insects in hatiZ ^XlL^P'!;'^'"' ^'^^^
tion between the head and thorax Th^' ^"^ "^ '^P*^^'
sent along with the niA^^^P i. , ^"® specimens you
and all alfve and kicking '^ ^"'^ ^"''^^^ »° R^od orJer"

Plantlore t^L'^rji^e^o^^tL^tLr f^^ *^f ^^^'^
They are quite small, oval shinin., M^^ of apple-trees,
the size of tobacco or poppy seed Tifn *'^ °^J^^*«' ^^out
mixed with somefine wooflvmt?;lV'"t ^^°^'^"3^ i'^ter-
to fasten them to the Twig^ ?o warH^^^^^^^
the upper sideof the twig are Z^Zt the spring those on
by the weather. As you Ire nr^hfrn^'*"^ ^^^""^ »^ay
I are only laid in the autumn T J'S^^^ ^"^^'^^ these egga
mer the female Xt W nste«H ""f',"^ ^^" ^*^«^« S"'^"
forth her voung alive Niure^nh^^y''^?.^«««' »>'-'°««
continue t£e brfed through fhl «. object evidently is, to
plant-louse continued to^ 7oV^^^^^ for if theimale
the last, as soon as the eavesfell Jhli''''°«,.''^'P^''»« to

brown color, with two fiirulf o„k " , ?. ^crruginous-
, the male has \^o moV^^ll i^^T""""^ 7^'^ ^P^ts, and
hind wings arrpaTe%ed"disLt'owr tV^.^-^^
cover the horns of the caternilllr n.^.^. 'P''?^' ^^'""^
, sation-not unlike that caTsfd hv n^.Tff"''® a painful Ben-
in contact with the back of the^anH '■~'^^'" hrox,g\,i
the body on which the skin is thin W^'^^,^ Portion%f
hear from you whenever yoihaie an wk'""^^ ^^ «^^^ to
ject to communicate. ^ anything on our sub-

fromTou%Sn^'o?th;"T^"^^"" ^^ happy to receive
destructiveCvou?rrfnK '°'^*'^' ^'^^ speak of as being
of their h^bJ^Tat yr^' poBae^ ^'^ '"^ informatlof

:,-e'^i''j.*^ ■-■'.. .

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

35

T. T. Southwick, Is^. Y.— You say the 17-year Locusts
were very thick in parts of Livingston county, N. Y., in
1866. Please inquire how far they extended in that year
in your neighborhood, and report the result to us. The
17-year Locust is easily distinguishable from other kinds
of Locust by the wings being marked with bright orange
and the top of the thorax having no orange markings.

E. D. Wright, Ohio.— The caterpillar that infests your
trees is most probably the Red-humped Prominent, {No-
todonta concinna,) which has a red head and a red hump
on the fore part of its back. In August and September
they descend from the trees to the ground, and spin a co-
coon under any loose rubbish or sometimes partly under
ground. The moth comes out in June and July of the
following year, and lays its e^gs on the under side of the
leaves, just as you descril)e. In Harris's Injurious Insects,
p. 426, you will see a figure of the caterpillar, and in
Plate 6, fig. 11, a colored figure of the moth, which has
full-sized wings irfboth sexes, unlike the notorious Can-
kerworm, the female of which is wingless. ' I have found
the caterpillars on my Apple-trees as early as July 21.

As to the apple-worm or codling-moth, you will find a
short notice of that insect in our answer to Isaac Hicks,
N. Y. B. D. w.

O. W. H. of Ohio wishes the best information on fruit-
growing. Join a Horticultural Society of practical fruit-
growers in your vi.;inity,and if there is none in existence,
form one. An interchange of experience is worth more
than any book you can purchase; in the meantime, get
the ]:eports of State and other local Horticultural Socie-
ties. L.

M«ani of Defence Against Noxious Insects.

We occupy considerable space in this number
with an extract from the excellent Treatise on In-
jurums Insects, by Vincent Kollar, a German Natu-
ralist. *This useful work was published (in 1837)
by the command of Emperor Francis I of Austria,
for the benefit of the farmers, foresters and garden-
ers of that country. In 1840 it was translated from
the German into the English language, and illus-
trated by numerous engravings, by Jane and Mary
Loudon, with notes by Prof Westwood. It con-
tains a vast deal of useful information, which should
be made known to our farmers, gardeners, &c., and
we shall, from time to time, make such extracts
from it as might interest our readers. The follow-
ing extract throws out some good hints, and is well
worth the space it occupies : —

" The means of defence against noxious insects
are two-fold ; first, those which nature employs to
circumscribe the too great increase of certain insects;
and secondly, those which human understanding
can oppose to the evil arising from the superfluity
of noxious insects.

" 1. Means contrived by nature to confine
THE DEVASTATIONS OF INSECTS. — Many appear-
ances in nature, even such as at first cause anxiety
and care, on account of their injurious consequences,
are found to be in many respects highly beneficial
and salutary, although we may not always under-
stand them. Thus, continued rain, which in many
respects is extremely hurtful, contributes greatly to
diminish the number of noxious insects, and for a
series of years renders them entirely innocuous.
This continued rain may, for example, take place at
the pairing time of certain insects, which will greatly

obstruct them; or at the time when the insects nro
in the caterpillar or larva state, when thousanr];:; d \i
in consequence of bad weather, and our fielJa, or-
chards and woods are cleared of a dangerous onoiiiy
for many years.

** Thus, in the spring of 1832, after incessant vain
I saw the caterpillars of the white-thorn buttorfiy,
which for many years had not only stripped all tiic
hedges, but also done considerable injury to tli^,
fruit-trees, dying by thousands, as if of a dropsy.
The caterpillars swelled, became week, and ditiL
If they did attain the pupa state, they sufiered uoi.)
the same evil, and the perfect insect was very rarelv
developed, on which account our gardens in the loi-
lowing years were entirely spared.

" Late frosts are also very beneficial, as they en*
tirely destroy many insects in their larva state. I
had an opportunity, early in the summer of 1833,
of observing great devastation on the fir-trees in i\\(S
neighborhood of Vienna, by a species of saw-llyi
( Tenthredo rufa, Klug.) The larva of this insect
I had attacked certain parts of a young forest bC
Scotch fir, and the question was how their rava^o^
were to be prevented from increasing next year.
Fortunately, in the month of May a moderate IVost
set in, and thousands of these larvae were seen haric?^
ing to the twigs, as if scorched. In this manner
their increase was limited for the future.

" A multitude of insects are also destroyed by irt*
undations, particularly such as undergo their trans-
formations in the earth, or live upon it in all their
stages, more especially if the inundation happens
when they are near their final transformation. Iii
meadows the difierent species of May-bugs {ilHo-
hnthidsR) suffer by this means; in kitchen gardens
the mole-cricket; in orchards the pupa of the small
winter-moth {Geometra brumata), when the Water
overflows the gardens late in the autumn, at the
time when the moth is usually developed from tlio
pupa lying in the earth.

*' Besides the means of preserving the equi ibriuin
by storms, and the effects of the elements, n.itui o
employs a multitude of others, although not .' d
speedy and efficient, to the same end.

" To these belong the enemies of the destructive*
insects which we meet with in all classfts of the auii^
mal kingdom. Among the mammiferous animald
the bats hold a conspicuous place for their destriic*
tion of insects. We only see them flying about id
the twilight, precisely at the time when many moths
leave their hiding-places, and hover round thd
flowers. As they live almost entirely on insects,
they no doubt devour great numbers of the hurtful
sorts. And perhaps it is to be ascribed to this cir-
cumstance that fruit-trees standing near houses,
churches, barns, &c., suffer less from insects than
isolated trees. They do not confine themselves to
moths, but eat beetles which fly about in the even-
ing; among others, some weevils, injurious to the
flowers and buds of fruit-trees, as the CurciiUo {An-
thonomus) pomorum, and p^/ri. These creatures,
as they do no injury, should, therefore, be carefully
preserved.

'^ To the insectivorous mammalia also belongs va^

i\

/

'h

f

i ii

•••■ • »

36

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

rious sorts of luice, the mole, badger, hedgehog,
squirrel, fox, and wild swine. Whether the bene-
fits derived from them in this way counterbalance
the mischief which many of these creatures cause,
it is difficult to determine.

" Birds contribute much more than the mammi-
ferous animals to the destruction of injurious insects.

"Many caterpillars know instinctively how to
conceal themselves from the birds which prey on
them ; in many their covering of stiff hair acts as a
protection against their enemies. Others remain
all day between rolled-up or flatly united leaves,
and only go out to feed at night. Others find suf-
ficient protection in the buds, into which they soon
penetrate. Gregarious caterpillars live while they
are changing their skin, and when they are going
into the pupa state, in webs, in which they are in-
accessible to birds. Others live under the bark of
trees, and even deep in the wood.

"Notwithstanding these and other obstacles, a
great number are yearly devoured by the birds, par-
ticularly during the breeding season. In winter a
Inultitude of birds, driven by hunger into the vil-
lages, diligently search the branches of trees for the
eggs of many sorts of moths that are glued to them,
and which yield a scanty sustenance to these frugal
ftnimals.

" It is a wonderful provision of nature that ex-
actly at the same time that the insects, injurious
from their great numbers, appear, the greatest num-
ber of the insectivorous birds have hatched their
broods, and their voracious young are ready to be
fed upon them.

" Insectivorous birds are also sometimes granivo-
tous, and feast readily on our fruit, particularly
cherries; but the injury they cause in this respect
is not to be compared to the use they are of in de-
stroying insects. At least we never hear of univer-
sal devastation caused by birds, though we do by
insects.

" From what has been said, it will be sufficiently
clear how strongly it should be inculcated by the
authorities to forbid the capricious persecution of
these useful birds, particularly in the breeding sea-
son.

"Among amphibious animals, which destroy in-
sectSf lizards hold a conspicuous place. Grasshop-
pers are the favorite food of many species. Frogs
and toads also devour many insects.

" Besides mammalia, birds, and amphibious ani-
mals, nature, to restore the equilibrium among her
creatures, and particularly to prevent the prepon-
derance of some sorts of insects, makes use chiefly
of insects themselves, namely those which feed upon
others, and which by degrees obtain a superiority
drer those that are hurtful to us.

^ Thus, many sorts of beetles, particularly of the
family of ground beetles ( Carabidts), destroy a mul-
titude of the pupae of moths lying in the earth.
Many flies, allied to our house fly, but much larger,
lay their eggs in living caterpillars and destroy
them. But the most useful are the Ichneumonidae.
The females of this numerous family, 1300 species

of which Professor Gravenhorst has described in
Europe alone, lay their eggs, entirely in the bodies
of other insects.

" The manner in which these Ichneumonidae ac-
complish their work of destruction is highly curious
and interesting. All the species are furnished at
the end of the body with an ovipositor, composed
of several bristles attached together, with which
they pierce the larvae of other insects, and introduce
their eggs into the flesh of the wounded animals. In
some this sting is longer than the whole body, some-
times more than an inch long, namely, in those spe-
cies which seek the object of their persecution in
the interior of trees or wood that has been much
and deeply perforated by the insects which reside
therein. They perceive, either by their sense of
smelling or by their antennae, that their prey is at
hand, and introduce their eggs, not without diffi-
culty, into the bodies of the larvae living in the
wood. Some attack caterpillars feeding openly on
plants, others perforate the various excrescences, or
gall-nuts, which also contain larvae; there are even
many species, scarcely visible to the naked eye,
which lay their eggs in the eggs of other insects,
such as butterflies, and thus anticipate their destruc-
tion.

" The eggs are hatched within the body of the
living insect, and the young parasites, in the most
literal sense, fatten on the entrails of their prey.
At last the wounded caterpillar sinks, the enemies
escape through the skin, and become pupae; or the
caterpillar, notwithstanding its internal parasites,
enters the pupa state, but instead of a butterfly, one
or more Ichneumonidae appear. Tex these wonder-
ful animals we often owe the preservation of our
orchards, woods and grain.

"Besides the above-mentioned Ichneumonidae,
ants, field or tree bugs, and many sorts of spiders,
contribute greatly in extirpating various insects.

" 2. Means which the human understand-
ing CAN OPPOSE TO THE DEVASTATIONS OF INSECTS.
—-Previous to taking any steps for the destruction of
injurious insects, it is indispensably necessary that
we should be perfectly acquainted with them and
their economy, not only in their perfect state, but
in all their different staejes. For it might easily
happen that we might destroy those most beneficial
to our fruit and forest trees, and suffer their enemies
to remain. I will give a single instance as an ex-
ample. Entire heaps of small cocoons are seen on
the bark of trees, often not larger than the eggs of
many butterflies. The gardener or forester who
does not know that these are the cocoons of the
useful Ichneumonidae, but considers them to be
really the eggs of moths, rubs them off the tree, and
thus annihilates his best friends. To people unac-
quainted with the economy of injurious insects, the
choice of the means necessary for their destruction
is perplexing. It is often impossible to take mea-
sures against the perfect insect, because it either
withdraws itself from our observation, or' lives in
concealed corners, or only appears by night. We
must, therefore, try to find where it lays its eggs,
and whether anything can be effected against them.

" w'lNi IK— iimiwiwi

X

y

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

37

Many moths lay their eggs in patches, in places
easy of access, and in this case it costs us little trou-
ble to destroy our enemies before they have done us
any injury. I shall mention here the gipsy-moth
(Bomhi/x dhpar)^ which lays its eggs in large cir-
cular or oval spots on the bark of trees, or hedges,
and covers them with a yellow wool. If we destroy
these eggs, one heap of which often contains 300,
in autumn or spring our fruit-trees will be secured
from one of their most dangerous enemies.*

" It is equally easy to destroy in the egg the yel-
low-tail moth (^Bombi/x clirysorrhoed)^ which is no
less injurious to our orchards. This moth lays its
eggs on the leaves of the fruit trees in a long nar-
row heap, and covers them with gold-colored hair,
which makes them very conspicuous. Pulling off
and destroying these leaves secures the garden from
another dangerous enemy.

"The satin-moth {Bomhi/x salicis), which not
only attacks willows, but poplars, which it prefers,
and strips our avenues almost every year, is very
difficult to be extirpated in the larva state, as it
spreads singly all over the tree. But when we know
that the female in the month of July has laid her
eggs like mother-of-pearl spots, chiefly on the bark
of the poplar, a few ordinary laborers with their
knives might loosen these eggs from the bark and
destroy them.

" No effectual means can be taken against other
insects except in their larva or pupa states, because
they deposit their eggs singly, or in concealed places,
or because it is difficult to distinguish them from
the objects on which they are placed.

" It is impossible to destroy the dreaded proces-
sionary caterpillar {Bombi/x processionea) in the
moth state, because it flies in the night. It is
almost as difficult to destroy its eggs, from their
similarity in color to the oak bark, which prevents
their being observed, and also from their being dis-
tributed all over the branches in small longish
patches. The caterpillars, however, are gregarious;
they sit in the day time on the stem or large branches,
so that hundreds can be destroyed at a blow, by
means of a wisp of straw, or a bundle of old rags.
In the pupa state they are also easily destroyed, as
they are usually found by hundreds in a nest, and
hang like brown excrescences all over the trunk.

" The most essential and necessary means to be
opposed to the serious injuries caused by insects,
consists in the universal dissemination of the know-
ledge of the natural history of hurtful insects among

*A most satisfactory proof of the superior advantages
arising from hand labor in the destruction of insects, has
recently been given by M. V. Audouin, who was charged
by a commission of the Academie des Sciences to invosti-

fate the habits of a small moth, whose larva is found to
6 exceedingly injurious in vineyards in France. During
the month of August, women and children were employed
during four days ih collecting the patches of eggs upon
the leaves, during which period 186,900 patches were col-
lected, which was equal to the destruction of 11,214,000
eggs. In twelve days from twenty to thirty workers de-
stroved 40,182,000 eggs, which would have been hatched
m the course of twelve or fifteen days. The number of
perfect insects destroyed in a previous experiment by an
expensive process was only 30,000.— See Loudon's Gar-
deners' Mag. for November, 1837.

farmers, gardeners, foresters, and particularly atiioug
those who are in any way connected with agricul-
ture. This knowledge should be spread as well by
verbal expositions in public institutions as by books

easy of comprehension/'

. ♦ .

The Joint-Worm.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

Since my observations on the Joint-worm were
printed in the second number of the Practical
Entomologist, specimens of the same Insect that
came under the notice of the Canada Farmer^ have
been obligingly forwatded to me by Mr. Riddell, of
Cobourg, C. W.; and it is nothing whatever but the
common Hessian Fly ( Cecidomyia destructor^ Say)
in its "flaxseed'* state. Hence, for any future in^
vestigation of this important subject, I must depend
solely upon specimens sent me from other quarters.
The two insects are readily distinguishable by the
following criterion : — The Hessian Fly larva lies in
the space between the straw and the shank of the
leaf that enwraps the straw above each knot. The
Joint-worm lies inside the straw itself, in a hard and
more or less woody swelling just above the knot, or
sometimes in the knot itself, or in the swollen and
distorted shank of the leaf. Very frequently the
Hessian Fly is imbedded in a deep cavity formed
on the outside of the straw ; but a little attention
will soon show that this cavity does not penetrate
the skin of the straw, any more than a bruise in an
apple penetrates the skin of the apple.

Dr. Fitch devotes twenty-one pages of his recently
published Reports (Joth — ^th N. Y, Rep. pp. 144 — ^
165) to this subject, without throwing much new
light upon it, and seems to have changed his views
somewhat, even during the printing of those twenty-
one pages. On page 152 he says, "I must confess
that now, when I come to cast over all the evidence
which we have in relation to this subject, I feel less
confident than I have been for a few years past, that
this Eurytoma [i. e. Chalcis fly] is the real parent
of the Joint-worm." But only twelve pages after-
wards he adds — " I ought not to dismiss the subject
without remarking, that I do not in the least doubt,
that they [i. e. the Chalcis flies] are the real cause
of the disease which we see in the grain.'* (p. 164.)
That Dr. Fitch, like the rest of Us, is not infalli-
ble, is shown by the fact, that he throiTghout mis-
takes the well-known V-shaped or Y-shaped " breast-
bone" of the larvae of the Gall-gnats^ (or as he rather
incorrectly calls then} GaU-Jlies^ for a pair of jaws ! !
(See p. 150, &c.) Whereas his so-called "jaws"
are not located on the head, but on the segment im-
mediately behind the head; and further than that,
the two prongs of the V or Y are perfectly immove-

.(

/

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X

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

able and soldered together, instead of opening and
shutting as real jaws would necessarily do. I have
watched hundreds of these larvaa by the hour toge-
ther, and know that in the same larva the two prongs
always remain at the same angle with each other.
If they were really jaws, although we might not be
able to see them move, yet we should certainly find
them at different angles with each other at different

times.

■ » ■

A few Bemarks on Silk-prodacing Lepidoptera.

The following particulars relative to the breeding
in Japan of Samia cynihia Hiibner, are gathered
from a Dutch translation of a Japanese work on the
subject, and may be interesting in view of the do-
mestication of this silk-producer in the United States
and its cultivation for commercial purposes.

In the Japanese tongue this insect is called
*' Yama-mayu," and is, in Japan, found wild on dif-
ferent species of oak trees, such as Quercua sirocasi
Sieb., Q. serrafm Thunb., and Q. dentatus Thunb.
It appears to live on flie ailanthus, A. glandulosa,
in China, and, so far as we are aware, has been
hitherto reared on this tree in the United States.
It would be interesting to try our native species of
oak as food-plants for the insect, since it appears
that both the size and quality of the cocoons are
affected by the different species of oak on which the
larvae are fed. It would appear that S. cynthia
feeds also upon other trees than the oak in Japan,
but that this is selected by silk-breeders on account
of its leafing early in the season ; the soft and deli-
cate leaves also cause it to be preferred. Like our
own '''' Attaci" Samia cynthia seems to be essen-
tially polyphagous. For the purpose, then, of using
the leaves for the rearing of the larvae, oak trees are
planted by the inhabitants around their farm-yards
and along the borders of the fields, etc. ; the culti-
vation of the silk-worm being very general by ag-
riculturists in Japan, though not aa a speciality,
rather as a concomitant with general husbandry.
Three methods are employed in rearing the silk-
worms. By the first the worms are confined, though
open to the weather, and fed on branches, the lower
extremities of which are placed in water-jars. By
the second the branches are merely laid on the
ground, and by the third, the worms are reared on
trees growing in the open air. The first method is ne-
cessary for the proper preservation of the young larvae
immediately on their exclusion'from the e^'g. The
young brood needs careful protection from the effects
of the wind. The selection of the eggs is a matter
of considerable importance. It is curious for us to
read that the venders of silk-worm eggs in Japan

in many instances endeavor to palm off imitation or
manufactured eggs as genuine. The labor neces-
sary to successfully imitate so frail and small an
article as the e^^^ of a moth, and that in quantities,
is a surprising illustration of the cheapness of ma-
nual labor, as well as of the ingenuity of the natives
of that country. In respect of color, the pale
mouse-grey eggs are the best; the dark grey are of
medium quality; on the other hand, the white eggs
are unproductive.

In order to ascertain the quality of a lot of eggs,
a few should be opened and examined. If the eggs
are thirty days old, a small pale blue worm will be
found developed in them. It is stated that the
eggs of the S. cynthia differ from those of other
silk-worms, in that the young larva can be detected,
developed, on opening them. In opening the eggs,
a razor or the point of a needle is used, while great
care is necessary in order not to crush the contents.
The best eggs are round, pale grey, and the heavier
they are, the more vitality will be found possessed
by the worms. A weight of 3,850 grammes of this
quality of eggs will produce 101,000 worms.

The eggs of the middle sort are also round, but
smaller. On opening the thirty days' old egg, the
enclosed worm will be found but, unlike the worm
contained in the eggs of the best quality, it will re-
main comparatively passive if undisturbed, while
that contained in the first quality of eggs, under
similar conditions, is violent in its movements, indi-
cating greater vitality. The color of the worm of
the middle sort is dark blue, thus differing from
that of the first sort, than which it is also smaller.
The poorest sorts of silk-worm eggs are not quite
spherical, being depressed centrally. The larvae
are very small on exclusion and weak. Such are
regarded as waste and thrown away.

On or about the 22d of April a space is cleared, in
the open air, for the rearing of the silk-worms.
Ants and other insects destructive to the larvae, are
carefully removed and destroyed, and the allotted
space is surrounded by mats of native manufacture.
In this place a wooden bench or form is erected,
generally six feet in width, and long in proportion
to the quantity of worms desired to be reared.
Beneath this bench, which is open centrally, water-
jars are placed, which are provided with covers
having a circular aperture in the middle. Near
the bottom of the jar is an opening and a stopper,
to allow the water to be changed at will. The jars
are generally placed three feet apart. On the top
of the bench mats of very fine straw are laid, and
the eggs are spread out on these. Every eyening

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST,

39

they are carefully examined. As soon as the hatch-
ing of the worms commences fresh water is put in
the first jar, a hole is made through the mat above,
and a few branches are inserted so that the stems
may rest in the water in the jar beneath. On these
branches small saucera^f lacquered ware are hung,
each containing a small quantity of eggs. These
saucers have minute holes bored in the bottoms so
that the rain water can easily escape.* The worms
as they hatch, spread themselves from the saucers
over the branches. When about 500 of these little
caterpillars are thus placed on the branches, a second
jar is brought into requisition and a similar process
is continued. The opening in the mats, throuo-h
which the branches ar© inserted, is well closed with
leaves, etc., in order to prevent the caterpillars from
falling through into the water beneath. One of the
branches is also bent down so as to afford a means
of ascent to the worms from the mats to the food.

When the worms have fed for three days on a
branch, this needs changing for a fresh one. This
is done by resting it against the fresh food, when
the worms will quit of themselves the old branch.
The worms are allowed from nine o'clock in the
morning to three in the afternoon to make the
change. After the expiration of this time, if any
remain on the old food, which often occurs, the leaf
or twig on which they sit is cut off and placed
among the fresh food. Since the worms before
their first moult are very small, it requires great
care in shifting their food to prevent the loss or es-
cape of any. The first period of their lives requires
the most attention, and three persons are required
to attend to fifteen broods of five hundred larvae each,
later on, the same number of persons can properly at-
tend to three hundred of such broods. The water in
the jars should be changed every other day. General-
ly speaking, the worms should be carefully managed,
and any roughness when changing the food or the
water in the jars should be avoided. Since they
are more or less delicate, they should not be touched
with the hands; their death has been known to
ensue from later contact with their cast skins, which,
in the first moultings, are more or less covered with
hairs which subsequently disappear. As the worms
increase in size so the number of broods and jars
have to be added to ; at every change of food the
number of worms on any one branch is diminished
by separation. As at first, five hundred worms were
placed on the branches of each jar, so, after the
fourth moult, this number should have been gradu-
ally diminished by separation until no more than
fifty remain.

The tenth day after their exclusion from the egg
the worms stop feeding and remain quiet for three
days. This is the first moult. The moultings occur
four times and, after the total lapse of sixty days, the
worms begin to construct their cocoons; this period
being hastened or retarded by climatical influences.

A. R. G.

Entomology all a Humbug.

Farmers sometimes complain that Entomologists
have as yet effected so little, towards the counter-
working of the hundreds of noxious insects, that are
annually robbing the community of untold millions
of dollars. But in the first place, there have been
but very few Entomologists, who have been specially
employed for this purpose either by the General
Government or by the State Legislatures; and in
the second place, some of those, who have been so
employed, have had their time so entirely occupied
with extraneous matters, that they have literally
had no leisure whatever for the real duties of their
position. Hear what Mr. Glover, the Entomologist
of the Agricultural Bureau at Washington, says in
his last Report : —

As Entomologist of this department, besides the regular
daily official duty, all the subjects of general natural his-
tory, such as insectivorous birds, specimens of fruits, tex-
tile materials, hemp, cotton, flax, Ac, have been handed
over to my charge for preservation and arrangement
during the past year. {Agr. Rep. 1863, p. 561.)

This is a good deal like hiring a single cradler to
harvest a thousand acres of wheat, and then expect-
ing him, in addition, to cut and fetch in wood, peel
and wash the potatoes, and be always on hand ready
to wait on the good woman of the house. Can we
wonder that, under such circumstances, Mr. Glo-
ver's Report contains scarcely any original investi-
gations, and is in reality, like many similar Papers
which appear from time to time in the Transactions
of different State Agricultural Societies, little else
but a re-hash of Harris and Fitch? When he
should have been looking after the Bugs, he was set
to work on the Birds ; if he attempted an attack
upon the Army-worm, he was called off to unpack
a basket of apples ; and instead of making war on
the Chinch-bug, the Hessian Fly and the Curculio,
his time was taken up with preserving and arranging
specimens of hemp, cotton and flax ! I Will our
rulers at Washington never learn, that it is bad
policy to put a square man into a round hole ? And
that, whether round or square, no one man can fit a
hole that is as wide across as. the dome of the Capi-
tol? tf.

Sew up your furs and woollen articles in mus-
lin or linen bt^, as a security against moths.

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40

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

The Grape Vine Flea Beetle.

In spring, before the buds of the vine have burst,
it will often be found, on examination, that the pro-
mised crop of grapes is destroyed in the germ, the
buds having been bored to the centre, and in many
cases almost scooped out by an insect. When this
is the case, the vine-grower may bid farewell to all
his anticipations of a remunerative yield of grapes;
for the insect is pretty sure to select the best and
most promising buds on which to make a repast,
thus eating at a mouthful, as it were, two or three
bunches of grapes. This little pest has become
more numerous lately than it was a few years ago,
for although indigenous on our wild vines, it is but
recently that its ravages have extended to the vine-
yard. Now it may be found in great numbers in
many of our city gardens, especially in the north
part of the State [Ohio.]

Last year, the crops of several vineyards were
entirely destroyed by it in that section, and near
the shore of Lake Erie.

It is a beautiful little beetle, belongifig (o the old
genus Haltica or flea-beetles, so called from their
saltatorial powers, and is called the Graptodera
chalyhea or steel-blue flea-beetle. All, however,
are not steel-blue, for some are of a brown tinge,
and many of a beautiful green, violet or purple.
But, whatever the tint, all have the same brilliant
metallic lustre. The most common color is green-
ish-blue above, and dark green beneath ; the hind
thighs are thick and strong; the body of an oblong,
oval form. Length about 0.16 of an inch.

This beetle issues from the ground during the
first warm days in April, and immediately proceeds
to attack the vine buds, eating its way to the inte-
rior, and devouring the entire centre. In May, the
sexes pair, and the female lays her eggs in the leaves
of the vine. When the young are hatched, they
feed on the upper surface of the leaf, and if very
numerous, soon devour the soft parts, leaving the
leaf an unsightly object, covered with dirty brown
blotches. They appear about the middle of May,
and soon arrive at their full growth. The color of
the full grown larva is light brown, with eight rows
of black spots above, those of the two dorsal being
confluent; head and feet black; antennae very short.
On each of the spots on the back there is a single
hair, and from the breathing apertures two. Length
about three-eighths of an inch. There are six true
legs and a fleshy anal proleg; the under side of the
segments are swollen, giving the appearance of short
prolegs. When in motion, it brings its body up
with a jerk like that of the caterpillars of the geo-
meter moths. About the first of June, it enters the
ground and changes to a pupa, emerging in trom
fourteen to sixteen days, as a perfect insect. There
are several broods in the season.

The grape vine flea-beetle being a near relative
of the dreaded turnip-fly Haltica nemorum, has
nearly the same habit^, with the difference of food.
It is equally difficult to capture when in the perfect
state, although much may be done during cool wea-
ther, even at that period of their existence, to thin
their numbers by careful hand picking. The larvae

are rather tenacious of life, and will live through a
hard course of treatment. When not numerous,
the most certain method of shortening their days is
to pick off* the infested leaves and burn them ; but
this cannot be done when very numerous. I do not
know any application not injurious to the vine, that
can be easily applied and will kill the larvae, but
would recommend syringing with lime or very strong
soap suds — that made from whale oil soap is the best;
dusting newly air-slaked lime on the leaves when
dry, will projoably have a good effect. All these
means are worth trying. — [J. Kirkpatrich in Field
Notes.

[extract from a letter from dr. J. p. KIRTLAND, OHIO.]

Having succeeded in effectually checking the in-
crease of the Bee-moth in my extensive Apiary,
by a combination of agencies, I am encouraged in
the belief that, by the exercise of a similar amount
of care, and the employment of analogous aids, other
species of depredating insects may, in many in-
stances, be exterminated or counteracted.

Will you not be kind enough to furnish the read-
ers of the Practical Entomologist with a de-
tailed account of the agencies you employ in check-
ing the increase of the Bee-moth ? — Eds.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

We thankfully acknowledge the receipt of the following
sums, donated for the support of the Practical Entomo-
logist : —

John S. Haines, Pennsylvania $25.00

F. W. Putnam, Massachusetts 6.00

Eobert W. DeForest, Kew York 6.00

Prof. Edward D. Cope, Pennsylvania 5.00

Mrs. Eliza Barney, New York 3.00

George W. Peck, New York 3.00

George B. Dixon, Pennsylvania 3.00

Benjamin F. Long, Illinois 3.00

William Saunders, Canada West 2.00

Alfred Cope, Pennsylvania 1.00

Joseph Cope, Pennsylvania 1.00

William Green, Pennsylvania 1.00

Edward J. Evans, Pennsylvania 1.00

J. H. Foster, Jr., Pennsylvania 1.00

E. Ivins, Pennsylvania 1.00

Henry Breiner, M. D., Pennsylvania 1.00

J. J. Thomas, New York 1.00

E. B. Gilman, New York 1.00

E. C. Patterson, New York 1.00

W. A. Woodward, New York 1,00

W. H. Goldsmith, New Jersey 1.00

Anthony I. Olmsted, New Jersey I.OO

8. W. Cone, Massachusetts 1.00

Frank P. Atkinson, Massachusetts 1.00

A. Perry Peck, Massachusetts I.OO

William Cocks, Ohio i.oo

Lawrence Young, Kentucky I.OO

Sanford Howard, Michigan l.oo

Dr. Velie, Illinois i.oo

W. H. R. Lykins, Kansas ; I.OO

Rev. C. J. 8. Bethune, Canada West l.QO

8. 8. H., Pennsylvania.... i.oo

A Friend, Newburgh, N. Y 1.00

X.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

41

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT.

To Advertisers.— Advertisements of interest to the Farmer, Agriculturist and Horticultu-
rast, are solicited for the purpose of defraying the cost of publishing this Bulletin, which is distributed
gratuitously throughout the countr^r, thereby presenting a first-class medium for Agricultural and Hor-
ticultural advertisements. Advertisements inserted on reasonable terms.

m- To OUR READERS.-We would be much obliged to any of our readers patronizing those who
advertise m this paper, to mention in the letter sending orders, or for circulars, &c., that they had seen
the advertisements in the Practical Entomologist; this will not only prove a satisfaction to the
advertisers, but will secure us an advertising patronage, which will go far towards insuring the promnt
issue of the paper. o r f

liit of Advertisers in present Number.

Mason A Hamlin, No. 274 Washington St., Boston, and
JVo. 696 Broadway, New ForA:.— Cabinet Organs.

Edward J. Evans A Co., Central Nurseries, York, Penn.
—Fruits, Ornamental Trees and Plants.

Gabriel Marc, Astoria, N. F.— Grape Vines, Pear Trees,
Roses, Ac.

Miller, Wood A Co., No. 15 Lai^kt St., N. F.— The He-
rald of Health for 1866.

James B. Harmer, No. 128 North Third St., Philadelphia.
— Boots and Shoes.

r^I^' '^•Carroll A Co., No. 73 West Fourth St., ancinnati,
OAio.— Books and Stationery.

cr/'lJr^-^^i^,^/?**' Insurance Co., Nos.iZb and 437 Chestnut
At., Philadelphia. — Insurance against Fire.

H. A. Dreer, No. 714 Chestnut St., Philadelphia.— Ye. ae-
table, Grass and Flower Seeds, Fruit and Shade Trees
g^®[«^ee°8. Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants, Asparagus

8. B. Marshall, Prospect Hill Nursery, Massillon, Ohio.
—Imported Stocks, Mahaleb and Massard Cherry, Ever-
greens, Ac.

C. B. Rogers, No. 133 Market St., Philadelphia.— Gr&Bs
Seeds, Imported Seed Wheat and Seed Oats, Garden Seeds
and Agricultural Implements.

Samuel Hicks, North Hempstead, Long Island, N. T.—
Strawberry Plants.

James Ridings, JVb. 1311 South St., Philadelphia.— Dealer
in Insects of all Orders.

Entomological Society of Philadelphia.— Proceedings
of the Society. ®

Palmer Moore, No. 621 South Thirteenth St., Philadel-
phia.—C&rpenter and Builder.

P&OCEEDING8

of the

Entomological Society of Philadelphia

Foii isee.

Containing Monographic Papers by eminent Entomologists,

Proceedings of the Meetings of the Society, Ac.
iaT** ^® issued quarterly, in numbers containing about
100 pages each, and illustrated with plates of new and
interesting Insects.

Subscription Price, $8, payable in advance on the re-
ceipt of the first number.

J^'^^OBQ wishing to subscribe will please forward
their nanaes as early as possible, so that the subscription
list may be made up. *^

Address E. T. CRE8S0N, Corresp. Secretary,
No. 618 South Thirteenth Street,

Philadelphia, Pa.

1829 ""^^^^^^^ PEBPETUAL.-T|Ooq

FIBE INSURANCE OOMPANl

OF

PHILADELPHIA.

ASSETS Oir JANUABT 1, 1866,

$2,506,851 96.

^*P^**^ $400,000 0^

Accrued surplus 944,643 1-

•Premiums 1,162,308 1-^

UNSETTLED CLAIMS,
$11,467 63.

INCOME FOR 1866
$310,000.
LOSSES PAID SIKCE 1829,

OVER $5,000,000.

Perpetual and Temporary Policies on Liberal Terms.

DIRECTORS:

Edward C. Dale,
George Fales,
Alfred Fitler,
Fras. M. Lewis, M. D.,
Peter McCall.

CHARLES N. BANCKER, President.
EDWARD C. DALE, Vice President
J. W. McAllister, secretary pro tem.

Charles N. Bancker,
Tobias "Wagner,
Samuel Grant,
George W. Richards,
Isaac Lea,

PALMER MOORE,

CARPENTER AND BUILDER,
No. 621 South Thirteenth Street,

PHILADELPHIA.
All Orders promptly attended to.

I

.^^ Evert oicb ihtkrestkd ih the studt or Iitsbcts,

SHOULD ASSIST THE BXTOMOLOOICAL SOCIETT OV PHILADEL-
PHIA BY SCBSCRIBIXO TO ITS PrOCBBDINQS. SbB ADVERTISE.
MEKT.

• *

• • »

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

-

1

CENTRAL NURSERIES,

The undersigned offer for Spring planting »
CHOICE ASSOBTXEKT

OP

Froit and Ornamental Trees and Plants,

to which they inyite the attention of parties planting.
They would call especial attention to their stock of

DWARF APPLES,

PEACH TREES,

STANDARD PEARS,

DWARF PEARS, of extra size,
GBAFES, of leading kinds, extra vines,
Van Buren's GOLDEN DWARF PEACH (a great norelty),
BOSES, (largely of constant-blooming varieties,)
SHADE and ORNAMENTAL TREES,
Hardy ORNAMENTAL and CLIMfiiNG SHRUBS,
EVERGREENS, Ac, Ac, Ac.
Descriptive Catalogue of Fruits, and new Catalogue
of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, Roses, Ac. (just issued,)
mailed to all applicants.

Address

EDW'DJ.EVANS&OO.,

York, Penn.
IMPORTED STOCKS.

Just received, in perfect condition, and of prime quality,
large proportion

Mahaleb and Mazzard Cherry.

Importation of small EVERGREEN STOCKS, Ac, will
arrive in season for Spring delivery.

Never have Nurserymen felt the assurance of so great
results from their investments and labors as the present

S remises, and to meet that growing demand, I have or-
ered

Hearly Half a Million of Stocks, Evergreens, Ac.,

from Europe. Over

TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND

already received for sending out this Winter and early
Spring.
Circular mailed to all applicants enclosing stamp.

8. B. MARSHALL,

Prospect Hill Nursery, Massillon, Ohio.

C. B. ROGERS,

PHILADELPHIA,

DEiJJCR IK

CLOVXB,

TIMOTHT,

OBCRABD,

HXBO, and

XBATUCJCY BLUE

OBASS SEED.
IMPOBTED SEED WHEAT,
IMPOBTED SEED OATS,
CAKABT, HEMP and BAPE SEED.

Gkurden Seeds and Agricultural Implements.

NATIVE GRAPE VINES.

STRONG AND VIGOROUS PLAlfTS.

lONA, ISRAELIiA,
ADIRONDAC,

ALLEN'S HYBRID,
CREVELING,
CONCORD,

HARTFORD PROLIFIC,

And other leading varieties.

All the leading and best varieties on Pear and Quince
Stocks, two to five years old.

All the finest varieties of Hybrid Perpetual Teas and
Bourbons ; also, a select lot of new varieties selected in
Europe last May, when in bloom. Notice shall be given
when they arrive.

The Achyranthus Verschaffeltii,

A beautiful new plant I brought with mc last spring

from Europe.

Send for Price List.

GABBIiSL MJlBC,

Aetoria, V. T.

STEAWBERRT PLANTS.

400,000 Strong and well rooted Russell's Prolific and
French's Seedling plants, for sale.

Russell's at $1.00 per hundred.
French's at 70 cents per hundred.
10 per cent discount on 1000 plants.
20 " " ** 4000 "

Delivered at James Slip, City of New York, without
additional charge. Sent by mail and postage paid, for
50 cents per hundred, extra.

SAMUEL HICKS,
North Hempstead,
Long Island, N. Y.

n. A.DREER,

Nurseryman, Seedsman & Florist^

No. 714 CHESTNUT STREET,

PHILADELPHIA,

VEGETABLE, GRASS and FLOWER SEEDS,

OF THE BEST QUALITY.

Fruit and Shade Trees, Evergreens,

Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants,

Asparagus Boots, &o.

CATALOGUES FORWARDED TO ALL APPLICANTS.

I JAMES RIDINGS,

■ 1311 SOXJTKC ST.,

PHILADELPHIA,

DEALER IN INSECTS OF ALL ORDERS,

Has on hand a fine collection of Coleopiera from Colorado
Territory, as well as Insects of all or<^rs from West Vir-
ginia, collected during the past summer. Also a few % Q
specimens of Argynnia Diana, Say, at reasonable rates.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

THE MASON & HAMLIN

43

CABINET ORGANS.

STert'-lid "tt^"'' * HAMLIN fbr-vaLwefm prove!
MedaljPr the >.^Aj^^oflTcTj, ^'!X " '""'

Organists and MusfcU^s in t1,e co^„^tr, IhTtL* m"'"'

*&.-u» CABINET ORGANS rRE'tfNSiUALLEr-'

Prices, $U0 to $600. ^^'^i'.

to ai^ridSe^s."^ """'P"^'' "' '"• C*"'"' 0'«»->«. «nt

Warerooms, 274 Washington street, Boston.
688 Broadway, New Yorlj.

THE HERALD OF HEALTH

FOR 1866.

tion. C^^rwln^g'i're't fc'f ''"''"^ '" "'«""-

Pupifs"ard TcSe?^«""'' ""='""''°« "'« health of both

4. The Cure of Disease by HyeienicrempHm- oa«-
prniaa ii/*K* <u-^j i ,i "^ *Jo'*^"'^ remeaies, as air. ex-

One of the great wants of the present aee is health «
sound mind in a sound bodv wi^k^Av -^ ^ealtn, a

L"i?si?«eh^rtht'tSnrS^^^

^H^'l^'tfr:: "^-y --- frL rheTee'ofX"r.rtJ

"furtltws'jf theTofy ' """' "' " ■'"owledge of "the
gle^co^ieT^.s^eeStr"' ' ""P'"'' **'' " ""P'""' *'«• Sin-

Jn%°K:eirid'd"rtftrprh!rst^y-'-'p«'-

MILLER, WOOD & 00.,

No. 15 Laioiit SrnEiii, Kj:» Y„i:k.

THE lAEGEST B00K8T0BE IH THE WEST

Opera-House Bookstore, Oinoiimati. oiuo.
WK, , R- W. CARROLL & CO.,

.oId"lVr^.'ctrro1,Tci,''aro!L?U:;^^^,°^ "''«'-
School Books of every kind used in the, West
Law Books, Medical Books,
Scientific Books, Theological
Books, Agricultural Books, and all
oJa^''^^'%1''! Miscellaneous Books, in-
cluding Histories, Biographies, Travels
Novels, and Illustrated Works, PhXraph

No1e Prer'^Fo?^'''' ^'/'ii ^'^^ Fancy TetfeTand
XMote laper, Foreign and Domestic Stationery Fool.

ttee?'and 'o3 P^^^^' r^^^.^ S^^^ Inks^'and^
Tin^rTa J^^uu ^^^^' ^^^^ Pencils, Chess-
Boards, Cribbage Boards, Paper Weights.
Paper Cutters, Card Cases, Pocket-books, '
Portfolios Writing Desks, Pocket
Cutlery, Diaries, Memorandum,
Scrap and Blank Books.
In fact, their stock includes everv varietv nF •Rr^r.ira -« j
Stationery, which they invite deafersTeLmfnebe^orf
purchasing, as they ari confident they XA^e^rS?
iacihties, and can give satisfaction. greatest

R. W. C. & CO. have just published a

Of 2?P PRACTICAL CATALOGUE,

Price 50 cents, post-paid.

CARROLIVS LITERARY REGISTER

on\l^^^^^^^^^ ^^^-ture, i. isUed

Price $1 a year, in advance.

^ Books sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of prioew
B. W. CABEOLL ft CO.,
73 West FuDRTH St, Cincinnati.

JAMES B. HARMER,

No. 128 NORTH THIRD STREET,

PHILADELPHIA.

BOOTS AND SHOES.

Our Stock comprises every variety kept by the Trad*,
and now have on hand a well selected Stock of Goods for

OOUNTET TEADE.

Buyers will here find at all times, the LATEST ani
BEST STYLES of the most desirable and seasonable
goods, which are offered at as LOW PRICES as can h%
had in any market

We would call special attention to our Stock of

PHILADELPHIA-MADE WORK,

So desirable to all Merchants wishing ser-
viceable and saleable Goods.

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mggJUL'.ang '..Miuiv:

>^7^B*^^WTaB»iy . '

v

V

PROCEEDINGS OF THE .

ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY

YOLXnUE ONE

Contains 381 pages and 3 plates, viz:

Coleoptera. — Catalogue of the Cicindelidse of N. A., 14
pages. — Catalogue of the Longicorn Coleoptera taken in
the vicinity of Philadelphia, 9 pages. — Descriptions of
new species, 3 papers, 16 pages. — iNotes and descriptions
of Coleopterous larvae and pupse, 3 papers, 30 pages and 1
plate. — On winter collecting, 5 pages.

Lepidoptera. — On Micro-Lepidoptera,3 paper8,24 pages.
— Synopsis of Families of Heterocera, 9 pages. — Notes and
descriptions of new species, 4 papers, 13 pages and 1 plate.
— Metamorphoses of Ceratomia quadricornis, 8 pages.

Hymenoptera. — Catalogue of North American Hyme-
noptera, 4 papers, 67 pages. — Descriptions of new species,
3 papers, 15 pages. — On the Cynipidee of the North Ame-
rican Oaks and their galls, 26 pages.

Diptera. — Characters of the larvae of Mycetophilidae, 22
pages and 1 plate. — Lasioptera reared from a gall on the
golden-rod, 2 pages.

Hemiptera. — Descriptions of new species, 4 pages.

Homoptera. — On the genera of Aphidae found in the
United States, 18 pages.

Miscellaneons. — The Tarantula and its destroyer, 2
pages. — Importance of Insect Architecture to Entomolo-
gists, and Remarks on Tent-building Ants, 4 pages. — Pro-
ceedings of Meetings, &c., 103 pages.

VOLUME TWO

Contains 562 pages and 11 plates, viz:

Coleoptera. — Descriptions of new species, 6 pages.

Lepidoptera. — Descriptions of a supposed new genus and
species of Saturnidse, from the Rocky Mountains; North
American Micro-Lepidoptera, 3 papers; Description of
certain species of Diurnal Lepidoptera, found within the
limits of the United States and British America, 3 papers ;
Description of certain species of Catocala, found within
the United States; Additions to the Catalogue of United
States Lepidoptera, 3 papers; A revision of the species of
Cyroatophorina, with descriptions of new species; De-
scription of a new species of North American Gortyna;
Description of a new species of North American Papilio;
Notes on Central American Lepidoptera, with descrip-
tions of new species, 2 papers; Contributions towardsa
monograph of the genus Crocota; On some hitherto unde-
scribed Lepidopterous larvae; Descriptions of two new
species of Arctiidae; Observations on American Tineina;
Catalogue of North American Butterflies, 2 papers. — 178
pages and 10 plates.

Hymenoptera. — Descriptions of several supposed new
species of Cynips, with remarks on the formation of cer-
tain Galls ; Contributions to the Natural History of the Cy-
nipidae of the United States ; On Dimorphism in the Hyme-
nopterous genus Cynips, with an Appendix, containing
hints for a new classihcation of Cynipidae, including de-
scriptions of several new species inhabitine the Oak-galls
of Illinois ; Description of a new species of Masaris, from
the Rocky Mountains; List of the North American spe-
cies of Bonibus and Apathus; On the North American
species of the genus Nomada; On the North American
species of several genus of Apidae. — 196 pages and 1 plate.

Xiscellaneoiis. — Observations on certain North Ameri-
can Neuroptera, with descriptions of new species; He-
mipterological Contributions; Orthopterological Contri-
butions.— 130 pages.

VOLUME THBEE

Contains 708 pages and 6 plates, viz:
Coleoptera. — Descriptions of new species, 2 papers, 12
paffC3.

Lepidoptera. — North American Micro-Lepidoptera;
Description of the female of Argynnis Diana; Notes on
the Argynnides of California; Description of a new genus
and species of North American Noctuina; Descriptions of I

North American Lepidoptera, 3 papers ; List of a collec-
tion of Lepidoptera Heterocera taken near Williamstown,
Mass. ; Notes on certain species of North American Lepi-
doptera; List of Diurnal Lepidoptera, found in the vici-
nity of Cleveland, Ohio; Notes on some of the Diurnal
Lepidoptera of the State of New York, with descriptions
of their larvae and chrysalides; Notes on some Sphingidae,
with descriptions of their larvae and pupae ; Synopsis of
the Bombycidae of the United States, 2 papers; Descrip-
tions of three new species of Limacodes; Notes upon
Exotic Lepidoptera, with descriptions of some new species.
— 278 pages and 6 plates.

Hymenoptera.— Descriptions of several new species of
Cynips and a new species of Diastrophus ; On the North
American species of the genus Osmia; Descriptions of se-
veral new species of North American Apidae; Descrip-
tions of North American Hymenoptera, 2 papers ; De-
scriptions of two new genera of North American Ichneu-
monidae; Descriptions of two new species of Masaris;
Notes on Tenthredinidae, with descri'ptions of new spe-
cies.— 200 pages.

Diptera.— Description of several new North American
Ctenophorae; On Diptera inhabiting galls of certain spe-
cies of Willow.— 107 pages.

MiscellaneouB.— On the pupa of Baetisca; On certain
Entomological Speculations of the New England School
of Naturalists ; On Phy tophagic Varieties and Phytopha-
gic Species.— 77 pages.

VOLUME FOUB

Contains 606 pages and 3 plates, viz:
Coleoptera.— Descriptions of new species of North Ame-
rican Coleoptera; Compiled descriptions of North Ame-
rican Staphylinidae. — 39 pages.

Lepidoptera.— Descriptions of three new species of Ca-
nadian Nocturnal Lepidoptera; Description of a new spe-
cies of Cuban Lepidoptera; Description of Diurnal Lepi-
doptera, found within the limits of the United States
and British America, No. 4; Notes upon Papilio aste-
rias and Saturnia prometheus hermaphrodites; On the
Synonymy of Parathyris Angelica, Grote; Descriptions
of North American Lepidoptera, No. 6; Description of a
new species of Citheronia, and remarks on Anisota rubi-
cunda; Lepidopterological Notes and Descriptions, No. 1;
Observations on some American Pierinae. — 44 pages and
3 plates.

Hymenoptera.— On the Hymenoptera of Cuba; Cata-
logue of Hymenoptera from Colorado Territory; Descrip-
tions of new species of Mutilla from California; Contri-
butions to the Natural History of the Cynipidae of the
United States and of their Galls, Art. 4.— 391 pages.

Diptera. — Descriptions of some new genera and species
of North American Limnobina, Part 1 18 pages.

Neuroptera. — Description of the imago and larva of a
new species of Chrysopa. — 5 pages.

VOLUME FIVE,

Part I, contains 150 pages and 2 plates, viz: — Coleop-
tera: On some new species of Pselaphidae. — Lepidoptera:
Revision of the hitherto known species of the genus Chi-
onobas in North America ; Notes on Cuban 8phingid» ;
Description of a new species of Limenitis ; North Ameri-
can Micro-Lepidoptera.— Hymenoptera : Monograph of
the Philanthidae of North America.

Part II (concluding the volume,) is now in press, and
will soon be ready for distribution.

J^" Only a few copies left of Volumes 1, 2, 8 and 4.

Price per volume, $4.

E. T. CRESSON, Cor. Sec.

Ho. 618 South Thirteenth St.,

FhUaddphicL

THE

A MONTHLY BULLETIlsr

MARCH 26, 1866.

Vol. I.

cations should he addressed ^ Western) communi-

S^Ii? V? -^*« - year, in advance.
ine^of'^L' voTjr ^"^ "^"^^ ^^*« ^-"^ the commence-

eo~j:Xt^^^^ send their

Editor, Rock Island, Illinoir ^^' ^- ^' Associate

E. T. CRESSON, -j ' p„.,

AUG. R. GROTE L '^^"'''cation Committkb

J. w. McAllister i x, *°^

Associatk Editor.

jnologioal Society fi„t discussed the propriety of
«au>ng a practical Journal of EntoaoIortheTues

intents ;oltra :':""'''' "''''"^^^^^^
ments L r "*"'" "^"^ ^""^ advertise-

Under the laws of the Unit«1 <3»«*» i •• .
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tor which no charge >s made are rated as circulars
•nd postage must be paid in advance of ZZ,'.

BXtf:^:^^ j^v'"' co..uteef::Th:
cTre' 0 beSt ir "^r '-""^ *^-' -<^ ^^

B«ch receipts """''^ *" ">« ^^'^^^ from

From the beginning of the enterprize we U.
been repeatedlv iir»»j k "^^prize, we have

to m.ke'an.n„LX '^ "7 "' °" *""-"''«"

«"«»«« for our paper. The chief

No. 6.

reason advanced by them is, that the information

n^ent, but our ^^'a rwUr dt^ "T
a practical knowledge o! kJI^^^^'T';^^
cultunsts " without fee or reward " ^ ^

To a limited extent we can do this, but so ranidlv

lat onT"' '"""^' -"Po-^V- has thS
lation of our paper increased, that we find tZ

penses of our present i.ue C> e, j; eon ide^

the receipts from advertisements, and thJtZill

loss to be met oiif nf*k^ * ""» us entail a

To n,».r.l • '■*''*"'"J' "f 'he Society.

'8 proper. We therefore announop fKo* 77
subscribers must remit .J'rZlll for 1 "'7
subscription. "'*^ cents for one year's

Our contract with all subscribers made under th.

^^0,..t remit fi.y cents, to^l^tE^^^^

the^wh-r*" "^"^^ ^"' '•"^'y «»-« the cost of

the white paper mied, but will enable us to meet

he increasing demand. We ask all our readeTst

orra^h '' "•" "^'""'''^ "■« -f»'-- o^

our new arran"em»nf „ l **'"® ^'^^' "<1 ""der
issue sixteen Jfges ""^ ^"^^ "^ ^' "•>'« «">" to

urge thfm teiL-r^'"' *" """ '"''«'"-«' «■<»

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

MSWEBS TO COBBESPONDENTS.

M. S. Hill, Ohio. — The numerous white egg-like bodies,
about one-eighth of an iaoh long, attached to the alco-
holio specimen of the common Tomato-worm which you
transmit, are not eggs but the cocoons of small Ichneu-
xnon-flies, belonging to the genua Microgaster. Their his-
♦orj is brieiy this. The mother-fly punctures the body
of the young Tomato-worm and deposits therein a num-
ber of eggs. These eggs hatch out into little footless mag-
gots, and feed on the internal substance of the larva till
they have attained their full growth, when they bore
their way out and spin, each one for itself, a silken co-
coon on the external surface of the now half-killed larva.
In three or four weeks afterwards the perfect ichneumon-
fly emerges from the cocoon, couples, and repeats the
Fame operation in other larvae. In Harris's Injuriotid In-
sects (p. 327) you will find a wood-cut of another kind of
larva which has been attacked in the same manner, and
of the perfect fly that is parasitic on it; and I have a spe-
cimen in my collection that is so completely covered by the
parasitic cocoons, that no part of it can be seen but the
Acad and the anal horn. It is a very common thing also
to see diflerent kinds of "span-worms" walking about
with four or five of these parasitic cocoons attached to
their bodies. In some of the specimens you send, the
Microgaster is in the pupa state, and of a blackish color;
in the rest it is still in the larva state and of a whitish
color. If you had not immersed them in alcohol, they
would have almost all changed in a few weeks into small,
black flies.

The mass of similar egg-like bodies, which you found
attached to a stem of grass, is nothing but the empty
cocoons of a Microgaster, which had deserted the body
of the infested larva before spinning up. In the Trans-
actions of the Illinois State Agricultural Society I have
described and figured a species which behaves in this
manner towards the common Army-worm. (Vol. IV. p.
367 Microgaster militaris.) Certain species, before spin-
ning their cocoons, unite all together in first spinning a
mass of cottony, flossy matter by way of external protec-
tion; and this is the case with the Parasite of the Army-
worm that has just been referred to. They are very com-
mon and abundant insects, and are of infinite service by
checking the undue multiplication of plant-feeding larvse.

B. D. w.

Thot. R. Payne, Iowa. — You send a thin, gauay cocoon,
about an inch long, with a large mass of whiteeggs attached
♦d it externally, and glued together by a white foam-like
■ubstance. You found it, you say, fastened to the dead
leaf of a pear-tree, and similar ones on apple-trees. It is
the cocoon and eggs of Orgyia hucostigma, a very common
moth which lays its eggs, not only on fruit-trees, but on
a ^reat variety of forest-trees. The female moth has no-
thing but the merest rudiments of wings — as is also the
case with the notorious Canker-worm — and always lays
her eggs on the cocoon in which she emerged from the
p«pa state. The male moth has full-sized wings, and is
therefore able to fly round in search of the female. The
larva ii one of the most beautiful objects in nature, and
hat a coral-red head and long pencils of black tufted
hairs before and behind. You will find colored figures of
the larva, of both sexos of the moth, and of the cocoon
and eggs, in Harris's Inj. Ins., PI. 7, fig. 1—5. b. d. w.

0. Cook, Mass. — What you take for a "package of eggs,"
one of which packages happened to be attached to the
•eggs that produce the common apple-tree caterpillar, are
not eggs but cocoons. From a very similar mass of co-
coons we have bred a rather rare species of Microgaster,
and yours undoubtedly belong either to that or some
other species of that genus, which is a very extensive one
and comprises very numerous groups. They are all pa-
rasitic insects, belonging to a sub-division of the great
family of /cAneMmon-flies, called Braconidic ; and instead
of destroying them, vou should cherish them as the very
apple of your eye. But for the different kinds of Ichneu-
mon-flies, leaf-eating insects would soon increase to such
a prodigious amount, as to devour every green thing on
the face of the earth.

As to the "little cocoons which you find in lirge num-
bers on your apple-trees," either you failed to send any,
'*» they have by some accident been lost or mislaid.

or

There is nothing to be seen now in your package, but two
of the well-known masses of eggs that produce the com-

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

mon caterpillar, and the mass of cocoons above spoken
of. Please send more, and we will endeavor to tell you
what they are. As jo\x say they occur in large numbers,
send plenty of specimens.

Ooo. £. Brackttt, Maine.— The common " caterpillar "
of the apple tree occurs on several forest- trees, as well as
the cultivated apple and eherry tree and the wild cherry,
plum and crab. We have ft*equently noticed them on
willows, and Dr. Fitch found them on witch hazel and
poplar. You sajr that you found a belt of the ^gg on a
twig of yellow bireh. When, as in 1866, these catepillara
are so exorbitantly numerous as to strip the trees which
they usually inhabit, they then disperse and seem to feed
almost indiscrimately upon any tree that comes handy
to them.

You are quite right in regard to the specimen sent. It
is the pupa of the common " caterpillar " of the apple-
tree, whicn has been parasitically infeeted by two or three
jTacAina- flies, that have constructed their cocoons (pupa-
ria) inside its body. Tachina is a family of two-winged
Flies {Diptera), many species of which closely resembU
House-flies and Flesh-flies, but may be distinguished by
the bristle of their antennae being smooth and not fea-
thered. Their cocoons (puparia) are not spun out of silk,
as are those of the JcA««m wow- flies, but are composed of
the dried-up and shrunken skin of the larva, and are
generally of a shining mahogany color with the joints in
the body of the larva still plainly perceptible. The larva
found inside one of these Tachina cocoons are, as you
rightly suppose, parasites upon the parasite, and many
similar cases have been recorded by authors. As they
have spun cocoons, they probably belong to the ProctO'
trupes and not to the Chalets family: but it is impossible,
without rearing the perfect insect, to say to what species
or even to what genus they appertain, and we may make
the same observation with regard to the 2'achina fly.

Authors have generally supposed that while the primary
parasitic larva is still feeding inside the body of its victim,
it is punctured by the secondary parasitic fly, and has one
or more eggs deposited in its own body, which afterwards
hatch out and gradually destroy it. Certain facts with
which we have been acqainted seem to be explainable
only on that hypothesis ; but Dr. Fitch infers that it is
only after the priniary parasite has issued from the body
of its victim that it is punctured by the secondary para-
site. Very possibly this may be the case sometimes, and
sometimes the former supposition may be the correct one.

Wm. A. Woodward, N. Y. — The twig from a peach-tree
which you send contains the eggs of some Homopterous
Insect, perhaps a Cicada, or, as it is commonly called, a
I* Locust." Without breeding the insect from the egg, it
is impossible to speak with more precision, as the eggs of
the whole group resemble one another very closely.
Their size is the only reason we have for supposing them
to be the eggs of some species or other of Cicada. They
are not the eggs of the "17-vear" Cicada, because those
are said to be deposited in a double row, and yours are in
a single row.

The various sorts of grain are, from the mo-
ment when as seed they are committed to the earth,
till they have attained their perfect maturity, ex-
posed to the attacks of various sorts of insects. The
farmer, who is entitled to expect a plentiful crop
from the soil and favourable weather, often finds his
hopes disappointed, without being able to guess at
the cause. An insect, which escapes his notice
from its minute size, as well as from the difficulty
of finding out its abode, is at work destroying the
fruit of his labours. The agriculturist, who is un-
acquainted with the economy of insects, seeks in
vain for the author of this destruction, and not un-
frequently attributes it to creatures which, in reality,
are his benefactors. Thus it happens that many
birds are scared away from our fields, whose prin-
cipal nourishment consists in insects; and that
moles, which live entirely on the larvae of insects

lying in the ground, are hunted out and destroyed.
— iTtf/ter. ^

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[From the Journal of Commerce.]
Apple-tree Boreri.

U>lu «rTrri f?'.<^^^> published gratui-
tously, at Philadelphia, is so far mnrti,^ ^e v.- I

commendation. I'conk^ns^^^tdSflSt
kind of information which farmers, CicuCrisJ

m«„i L ^ T " """y '■«<'«'''« s^^k encourage-
ment by advertisemenu or contributions JS)1

ber U occu JJ^kP""*!"' *•'"'""'"'• The last num^

D Walsh of IinLt^'H?" "P°" ^''''' ^y Benj.
1/. »va sli ot Illinois. His account of the soecies

- of apple-tree borer which is most common T^
familiarity with this pTt ^.^ants'^rnfe 7

r rusTdro^rmiTht ^^^^

f^^^S^^C^ otW s^e-

we thinMn'/n'' *' ^"8'" """^ «'o ^hth
we thmk he has fallen, are copied from others whose
accuracy is not equal to his own.

We do not believe that the larva « »s it .«^,„ i,
es maturity, strikes off into the h'earrwoo^S^' %n"
the contrary lU movements seem to be confined to

lor leavmg it. In small trunks or roots it does nnt

C rtTud'^hf "'"Ti encroachinTupoTthe

ti^ bv thi r I T^^^^."'"' ^™'" on« "de of a
tree, by the holes of its neighbors or predecessors

or by the occurrence of deld wood, it may nrTe

hrough the heart to another location. Ite Ltand

largest cavern must be excavated near the Wk aJ

, We do not think that this borer ever opens a hole

rZrt" '"•^' "•• "' »>'« castings "'^ We have'
found them, in every stage of their existence whh
out any opening whatever to the outer ^rThev
crowd certain parte of their excavation wUh c5pY
We opine that, where the covering is tWn cracks
are opened bv the aw»li;n» „<• .u , ' ' ^'^"•"'S
moistened 'ThlT swelling of these chips when
7^D rlln^ i^ { seldom occur except at the time

f.l'Xs''JrLTfS rar^^^^^^^^^^

atU^lwK T'^ f"^ "•" «'""'«<1 holes The hi
?^m hem bv be " TT '" '"'^''^ distinguished
cukr LTf J^ u^ '"^''^f "P *■•« trunk and cir-
cular, as if made by a small bullet. There can Hp

Kretfis^oVlbH "•'•" ""^r "^^^-'tr of

Club. T^£:!'^iz STpiuttr:
t^art-eiLrrstb^r.^-^ ^ *'« -^

But Dr. Fitch, who is well acquainted with this in-
sect, asserts as follows of its larva :—

,J1 ** J*' "P ''^ *^°'^* '" 'he sapwood, feeding
^l^^^u *""'«r."'S the softwood, hereby forming
a smooth round flat cavity, the size of a dollar of
larger, immediately under the bark. It ke2 ite
burrow clean by pushing its excrement out'^f .
T^L^T'^X^V^"'"^ *'"'°"Sh the bark, which
Irifii K " 'r*' ?"' "'*■ ''« hurrow, and if this

orifice becomes c ogged up it opens ano her. This

Z llttleL^ '^Vfu''"' ^''^"'"^ *>f the worm by
I,; J .V P °^ *^'^ substance which is accumu-
lated on the ground. * * * When the y,l^l
half-grown or more it gnaws a cylindrical repeat
for Itself upwards in the solid heartwood of the ree
This ho e runs slightly inwards, towards the^Tnt™
of the tree and then outwards, so that when it is
completed Its upper end is perforated though h"
sapwood and is only covere/by the bark. %r.
Jicports, I. pp. 14—5.) ^

Subsequently Dr. Fitch modified the above states
ment, so far as regards the larva's opening a hole
for Itself in early life iu order to get rid of its cast,
ings, as follows : —

The cavity [under the bark! is almost invariable

S lit"""'/"" ■"■' -^-^'y packed waitheS
aufnt ft nf'" I"^ ?' "'•'P' »*■ the worm, a small
outeide^nf fl,^^\" commonly protruded to the
outside of the bark, sometimes through a naturJ
crack formed by the bark becoming dead dry a^
contracted sometimes through one^or m;re ™dl
orifices which appear to be gnawed by the worm

From what I know of the habits of allied insecte.
I incline to believe that the Journal of Commerc^
.s right in asserting that this larva never purposely

hat Dr. Fiteh is right in asserting that, in the
Uter ^part of its larva life, it bores into the solid

TH« CHIHCH B0G.

Rbmakks, by B. D. W.-The author of the above
IS correct ,„ sunnising that I have no personal ac
qu-intance with the habits of the Two-stripTfl re '

An article appeared some time ago in the Wau-
kegan (111.) Gazette, from the pen of D. H Sher-
man, of that place, claiming that he had made a
discovery by which farmers, if they but followed
h.8 advice could readily protect their grain from
the Chinch Bug. The discovery was, that the eggs
were deposited by the parent bug in the "fuziy"
or blossom end of the kernels of grain, and conse-
quently, by properly manipulating the seed and de-
stroying the eggs, the future ravages of the hue
would be prevented. To those who knew anything

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

about the habits of the insect, the idea appeared
absurd enough, and it was generally unnoticed.
The article has, however, been extensively copied
without remarks, not only by some political papers,
but by many of the widely circulated Agricultural
journals in the country, and I feel constrained to
rectify any impression that the readers of the Prac-
tical Entomologist may have derived from it.

This is the more necessary since the article in
question must be quite plausible to those unac-
quainted with the insect, and also because it was
observed by reliable persons that the Chinch Bug,
in many parts of this State, was quite scarce late
last Fall, and that comparatively few went into
winter quarters to hybernate. In some sections
also there has been but little snow, and the winter
has been unfavorable to the bugs, and should the
weather also prove unfavorable to their increase
next summer, and the grain be free from their ra-
vages, the result would be immediately attributed
to the destruction of the eggs in the seed wheat by
those who soaked their grain in whatever mixture
with the expectation of such a result, and the asser-
tion of Mr. Sherman would thus gain a credence
which might require years to eradicate.

By a few plain facts, therefore, I intend briefly
to prove the falsity of this assertion. Mr. Sherman
tells me he thinks he has a perfect right to advance
this theortf. In Natural History there should be
no theory, for it is a study of observation, and the
little history of each individual animal is a fact
rather than a theory. That of the Chinch Bug
may be set forth as follows : In Spring, when the
grain has started, those which have hybernated sally
out into the fields and attach their eggs to the roots
of the young grain wherever they find crevices and
uneven surfaces which aflbrd access to them. These
eggs are yellow, and not so extremely small but
what they may be readily seen with a little scrutiny.
As they mature and the young bug is about to hatch,
they acquire a deeper yellow or reddish tinge, and
presently the little red fellow escapes, and in course
of time becomes a perfect insect. They then pair
and provide for another generation, which attains
its full growth as Winter approaches, and soon seeks
itfl Winter quarters. Thus there are two genera-
tions here, although in a more southern latitude,
where the Summer season is longer, there may be
three or four.

This is the simple history of the Chinch Bug, as
all who have observed it know full well, and although
this communication might be greatly extended with
further proof that the eggs are not deposited in the

wheat kernels, I deem it quite unnecessary so to
waste time and space. The simple truth is proof
enough, and to make assurance doubly sure I wil
state, that by request, Mr. Sherman sent me some
of the wheat said to be infested with the eggs, and
after thoroughly examining every grain with a pow-
erful microscope, and after submitting them to
others for examination, we have concluded that Mr.
S. must have been laboring under a delusion, for no
trace of eggs of any kind, or of anything that had
the remotest semblance thereto, was to be found;
therefore, without advising farmers to discontinue
steeping their grain in brine or other solutions, (for
they doubtless give the young plants a vigorous
start) let them understand clearly, that they do not
kill any Chinch Bugs by the operation, and they
should therefore rather rely on the more sensible
means of burning all the grass, cornstalks, weeds,
etc., on and around their fields, before the ground
is thawed out, and of rolling the ground when the
grain is in. c. V. RILEY.

Chicago, III., March 5, 1866.

BLACK-KirOT.

BY BKKJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

^What is Black-knot? It is a black, puffy, irre-
gular swelling on the twigs and smaller limbs of
Plum and Cherry trees, and, in one instance that
came under my personal observation, of Peach-trees,
making its first appearance in the latitude of New
York early in June and attaining its full growth by
the end of July. Usually a tree that is attacked in
this manner is affected worse and worse every year
until it is finally killed, and wherever one tree of a
group is affected, the malady usually spreads to them
all in process of time. In 1865 whole Cherry or-
chards were destroyed in Western New York by
this disease, and I have myself seen many groups
of wild Plum trees in Illinois that were gradually
perishing by it ; but in Southern Ohio, as I was
told some years ago by the well-known pomologist,
Dr. Warder, the Black-knot is never met with. In
the Eastern States it has been observed for time
immemorial, and various contradictory opinions have
been broached as to its real nature and origin.

In 1865 I watched the Black-knot carefully
through all its stages, from its earliest commence-
ment to its complete maturity, experimenting at the
same time on numerous specimens collected week
after week, so as to ascertain what insects bred in it.
The practical conclusion I have arrived at is simply
this : — 1/ the diseased twigs are all cut off and de-
stroyed early in Jvly in the latitude of New York^

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

49

or a little earlier or later according to the latitude
taking care to cut a few inches below the affected
part, the Black-Jcnot can he checked and prohahhj
entirely eradicated; hut if this operation is delayed
till August, it will he of no benefit whatever. Hence
we can easily account for a circumstance which has
puzzled many men wonderfully, viz : that cutting
off and burning the diseased twigs is pronounced
by some to be a sovereign remedy and by others to
be a delusive humbug. Those that do this early
enough, find it effectual; those that delay it till too
late, find it of no use.

This perhaps will be sufficient for some few im-
patient souls, who take everything upon trust that
they see in print, and care nothing about the ra-
tionale of a mode of treatment, so long as it be prac-
tically available. But for the benefit of that large
class of intelligent Agriculturists, who have been
deluded by too many quack prescriptions to place
much faith in any man's ipse dixit,SLud who in any
case like to understand the principle of a remedy
before they apply it, I subjoin a full account of all
that is at present known on this subject, and of the
different theories respecting it entertained by differ-
ent writers. There eJtists an American edition of
Euclid's '^ Elements of Geometry," with all the de-
monstrations omitted bodily. Those whose taste
lies that way, and who prefer assertion unaccompa-
nied by proof, can skip the rest of this article.

Three radically different theories have been
broached as to the nature and origin of Black-knot:
1st, that it is a mere disease of the tree like the
cancer or the gout in the human race, which is the
view maintained by Dr. Fitch, the State Entomolo-
gist of New York; 2nd, that it is what naturalists
term a "gall," produced by some unknown insect
depositing its egg in the twig— just as the well-
known "oak-apples" are produced by a Gall-fly
( Cynips) depositing its egg in the bud of the oak—
which is the opinion that I myself formerly held
and maintained, before I had fully examined into
the subject; (^Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil. III. pp. 613—
618;) and ^rd, that it is what Botanists term an
Epiphytous Fungus, growing on the tree as a mush-
room or toad-stool grows on the ground, which is the
opinion of the botanist Schweinitz, and which has
recently been re-asserted by Mr. Glover, the Ento-
mologist of the Bureau of Agriculture at Washing-
ton, though without adducing any proof of the fact.
(.Agric. Rep. 1863, p. 572.) This last is the opinion
which, upon full enquiry, I have now adopted.

Before discussing these theories, the facts arrived
at by myself in the summer of 1865 must first be

briefly noticed. It should be premised that the old,
dry Black-knot remains on the tree for many yearsj
and that the place to look for new Black-knot is ott
such trees as have been already attacked and are
loaded with old Black-knot, without being as yet
completely killed by it.

1st. By the middle of June the new Black-knot
is pretty well developed, and may then be readily
distinguished from the old by its dull, opaque,
brown-black color, while the old is coal-black and
more or less glossy. When cut into, it is found to
be fleshy inside, like an apple, but not juicy, and of
a pale greenish-yellow color, with fibres radiating
from the axis of the twig, while the old Black-knot
is internally hard and woody, and of a reddish-brown
or rust-red color. The brown-black color of the
external surface is retained till the last week in
July, when the surface of the new Black-knot be-
comes gradually covered all over with little, coal-
black, hemispherical plates, about the size of the
head of a pin, each of which is a distinct fungus,
named long ago by Schweinitz " Sphaeria morbosa.''
Even on the old Black-knot this fungus may be rea-
dily seen, at any time of the year, covering its en-
tire surface. So far J[ have added little to the in-
formation already published on this subject, except
by the specification of dates. But in addition to
these facts, I discovered that about the last of July
or the first week in August, there grows from each
fungus on the surface of the Black-knot a little cy-
lindrical filament about one-eighth of an inch long,
which no doubt bears the seed or " spores" as they are
technically termed of the fungus, and that these fila*
ments very shortly afterwards fall off and disappear,
leaving behind them the hemispherical plates, which
alone had been hitherto noticed by the Botanists.
In another Epiphyfous fungus, which grows com-
monly and abundantly in Illinois on the Red Cedar,
but which differs from the Black-knot in being at-
tached to the twig by a very short stalk or pedun-
cle, and in being roundish and externally of a red-
dish-brown color instead of elongate and black, there
is a precisely similar phenomenon ; except that the
plates and filaments are very much larger, and that '
each filament when it falls off leaves a ragged scar
behind it. In a single specimen of Black-knot no-
ticed August 6th, 1 discovered that the filaments
not only covered the entire surface of the Black-
knot itself, except where a few of them had already
fallen off, but that they were thinly studded over
the twig for an inch or two above and below the
swollen black part; thus proving that the fungfis
sometimes extends rather further than on a cursory

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

view it would appear to do. Towards the middle
of August, the new Black-knot, having perfected
its seed, gradually dries up and becomes internally
of a reddish-brown color. In other words, like so
many other annual plants, it dies shortly after it
has perfected its seed, just as a stalk of wheat or of
corn dies shortly after the grain is ripe.

2nd. During the months of June and July I col-
lected from time to time very numerous specimens of
Black-knot, some of which I cut into to see what
larvae they contained, and some I preserved to see
what perfect insects could be bred from them.
Besides seven specimens of the common " Curculio,"
which many persons had previously bred from
Black-knot, I bred for the first time therefrom no
less than five distinct species of insects,* none of
which can be considered as gall-makers, but not a
single true gall-maker; and I can confirm Dr. Fitch's
assertion, that some specimens are wholly free from
larvae of any kind when cut into.

We will now take up in order the three different
theories respecting the nature and origin of Black-
knot, which, as already stated, have been maintained
by different writers.

1st. That Black-knot is a mere disease like the
cancer. — Dr. Fitch, who maintains this opinion,
allows that the black granules found on the Black-
knot are a true fungus, ''that the surface of these
excrescences, when mature, is always covered with
this plant," and tnat " this plant never grows, or at
least has never been found, in any other situation."
(Address iV. Y. State Agr. Soc. 1860, p. 21.)
Yet, in support of his peculiar opinion, he argues
as follows : — " What is a fungus ? To express it in
familiar language, it is a body which grows and
forms its own substance, distinct from and inde-
pendent of the body in which it takes root and from
which it draws its sustenance. Now these Black-
knots are not such a growth. They are merely a
change in the texture of the natural parts of the

♦July 21, Ceratopogon — (determined by Osten Sacken.)

Aug. 23, Cectdomyia {diplosis) septem-maculataYf alsh, (also
inquilinous in a Willow-gall.)— Aug. 25— Sept. 27, three
distinct new species of Hedyat (Microlepidoptera) ex-
panding .35 — .40 inch.— July 22— Sept. 24, Conotrachelus
nenuphar (" Curculio.") I strongly suspect that Sigalphus
curculionia Fitch is parasitic, not as Dr. Fitch supposes
ypon the "Curculio," but upon some of the minute moths
that inhabit the Black-knot, because I have bred other
Cryptogastrous Ichneumon-flies from Willow-galls, in
which small moths, including two distinct new species of
Hedya described by Dr. Clemens, are very commonly in-
quilinous, and the authors of which, being Cecidomyia,
oomld not have been infested by an Ichneumon-fly. For,
BO far as my experience extends, Cecidomyia is infested
only by Chalcididce and Proctotrupidce,

limb." {Ibid. p. 22.) According to this defini-
tion of the term " fungus," what is commonly called
" mould" in a loaf of stale bread is not a fungus,
because it is not " distinct from and independent of
thelbody in which it takes root;" and on the other
hand, an apple or a peach must be a true fungus,
because it is " distinct from and independent of"
the apple-tree or the peach-tree. But leaving the
Botanists to settle the validity of this definition,
surely if, as Dr. Fitch concedes, the Black-knot and
the fungus are always found in company and never
by themselves, the one must be part and parcel of
the other ; otherwise we might naturally expect, if
not to find the fungus without the Black-knot, at
all events to find occasionally the Black-knot with-
out the fungus. In reality a Black-knot is an as-
semblage of funguses, just as a tree is an assemblage
of buds;*and just as each Black-knot fungus is a
distinct individual, so many Botanists are of opinion
that each bud in a tree is a distinct individual, the
tree itself being merely the stock upon which the
individual buds grow, as the Black-knot is the stock
upon which the individual funguses grow.

2nd. That Black-knot is a gall. — As already
stated, there is no true gall-making insect that in-
habits the Black-knot, so far as I can discover on
the fullest and most extensive investigation that I
have been able to give to the subject. The minute
holes, commonly found in the old dry Black-knot,
which are too large either for the "Curculio" or
for the small moths bred by myself from Black-knot,
are of a suitable size for either of the two Dipterous
insects which I have enumerated in a note as bred
by myself from Black-knot. Consequently the ar-
gument which I based upon the existence of these
minute holes {Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil. III. p. 614) falls
to the ground ; and although I found on one occa-
sion the larva of a Gall-gnat embedded in a cell in
a Black-knot, yet this was most probably that of the
Guest Gall-gnat which I actually bred from Black-
knot, as stated in the note, and not of a true gall-
making Gall-gnat.

Srd. That Black-knot is a fungus. — Just as Dr.
Fitch, having proved to his own satisfaction that
Black-knot is neither a gall nor a fungus, infers by
the method of exhaustion that it must be a disease;
so, having proved that it is neither a disease nor a
gall, we may infer by the method of exhaustion that
it must be a fungus, or rather an assemblage of fun-
guses. In confirmation of this theory may be ad-
duced the very remarkable analogies, between the
structure of the Black-knot and that of the fungus
described above as occurring on Red Cedar. That

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

51

this last is really and truly a fungus and not a gall,
is shown by the fact, that it is scarcely ever inhabited
by insects; for out of hundreds of specimens that I
have cut into, both green and dry, not more than
two or three contained the larvae of moths, but
one contained what was probably the larva of an
ichneumon-fly, and all the rest were perfectly solid
and unbored. On the other hand. Black-knot is
so infested by insects, that it is almost impossible to
find a mature specimen that is not all bored up by
them. The cause of this remarkable difference may
be attributed to the well-known repugnance of
almost all kinds of insects for Red Cedar.

If, then. Black-knot is a Fungus, and if, as I
think I have shown, it is an annual plant propaga-
ting itself by seed or the so-called " spores," and
the "spores" make their appearance about the end
of July in latitude 41° 30', then it must be obvious
that if all the Black-knot on a particular tree is cut
off and destroyed in the fore-part of July in latitude
41° 40', or a little earlier or later as you go further
south or further north, an effectual stop will be put
to its further propagation. It is true that the
"spores" are in the form of an impalpable powder,
BO that they may be carried some considerable dis-
tance from other infected trees by the wind; and it
may possibly be further true, that certain " spores "
may lie dormant in the bark for over a year, as the
seeds of weeds will often lie dormant in the ground
for over a year. Still, with all these possible draw-
backs, I have little doubt that the above remedy
will, as a general rule, if applied according to direc-
tions, be found effectual.

I have only, in conclusion, to apologize to Mes-
sieurs the Botanists for stealing their thunder by
writing about a fungus. The truth of the matter
is, that I really did for a long time mistake a Fun-
gus for a Gall. If, however, any Botanist requires
further a'tonement than my humble apologies, he
can in his turn mistake a Gall for a Fungus, and
publish just as tedious an article as this in illustra-
tion of its Natural History.
Rock Island, III., March 6, 1866.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

OXJB,

ADVERTISING DEPARTMEKT.

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Graham, Emlen A Passmore, No. 627 Market St., Phila-
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1

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

53

Ecisro^'s

SMALL FRUIT CATALOGUE

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

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NATIVE GRAPE VINES.

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VEGETABLE, GRASS and FLOWER SEEDS,

OP THE BEST QUALITY.

Fruit and Shade Trees, Evergreens,

Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants,

Asparagus Boots, &o.

CATALOGUES FORWARDED TO ALL APPLICANTS.

^_ EVBRT OWB IimSRESTED IW THE STUDY OF IirSBCTS
SHOULD ASSIST THK ENTOMOLOGICAL BOCIETY OF PhiLADEl'
PHIA rr ICVICUBINC lO its PBOC«KDIK«a. SeS ADTSRTTgS-

The undersigned offer for Spring planting »

CHOICX ASSOBTMBfT
or

Fruit and Ornamental Trees and Plants,

to which they invite the attention of parties planting.
They would call especial attention to their stock of

DWARF APPLES,

PEACH TREES,

STANDARD PEARS,

DWARF PEARS, of extra size,

GRAPES, of leading kinds, extra vines,
Van Buren's GOLDEN DWARF PEACH (a great novelty),
ROSES, (largely of constant-blooming varieties,)
SHADE and ORNAMENTAL TREES,
Hardy ORNAMENTAL and CLIMBING SHRUBS,
EVERGREENS, Ac, Ac, Ac.
Descriptive Catalogue of Fruits, and new Catalogue
of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, Roses, Ac. (just issued,)
mailed to all applicants.

Address

EDW'DJ.EVANS&OO.,

• York, Penn.

Farm Implements— Seeds— Fertilizers.

O&AHAM, ZMLEH ft PASSKOBI,

No.- 687 Market Strset, Philadelphia.

Co€8 Amoniated Super-Phosphate of Lime,

inYte^effe *te ^^ ^^ *°^ ^^ *^® market— quick and lasting

GAltDEir SEEDS, toarranied fresh and genuine,

FARM IMPLEMENTS AND GARDEN TOOLS.

WOOD'S PRIZE MOWER

Aim

LITTLE GIANT i^ELF RAKE REAPER.

GRAHAM, EMLEN A PASSMORE,
No. 627 Market St., Philadelphia,

BLAKE & WHITTINOTON,

MANUFACTURERS OP

DSKTAL IVSTEVMEXTS,

Com«T of Chester aad lUple BtrMta, Fhiladtlphia.

Prom our great experience in the manufacture of Den-
tal instruments, we are prepared to execute all work
entrusted to us in a perfectly satisfactory manner.

stured by us will be of the very best

All work manufact^. ^v» „
material and workmanship.'

Particular attention given to carrying out any new
ideasor suggestions of members of the Dental Profession.

Repairing of every description promptly attended to.

•^^All Work warranted.

BLAKX ft WHimiroToir,

IJ. W. cor. Chester and Maple Sts.
PHILADELPHIA.

Address

-1

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

68

THE HORTICULTURIST.

TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL VOLUME— 1866.

Two Dollars and Fifty Cents per annum.

Devoted to the vineyard, orchard, nursery, garden,
landscape adornment, rural architecture, Ac.

A MONTHLY MAGAZINE FOR
every one who has a grapevine, a city yard, an acre lot,
a garden, a vineyard, an orchard, a country seat, a farm,
who has a house to build, out-buildings to erect, or a home
to embellish and beautify.

tol^^^' f^,'o2' \^^^' bound and post-paid, and 1866, $4.50:
1S04 and 1865, bound and post-paid, and 1866, $6.

GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD, Publishers,

No. 37 Park Row, New York.

WOODWAED'S doUNTET HOMES !

A new, practical and original work on Rural Architec-
ture, elegantly illustrated with 122 designs and plans of
houses of moderate cost, including stables and out-build-
m§8, with a chapter on the construction of balloon frames.
Price $1.50, post-paid, to any address.

We have long known these gentlemen as architects, and
we regard them as among the most reliable and skillful
men in the profession. Their new work on Country Homes
•ught to be in the hands of every man that builds or con-
templates building a home.— [Scientific American.
GEO. E. A F. W. WOODWARD, Publishers,

^0. 37 Park Row, New York,

woodwabd's'gmpeeies, &c.

A practical work, giving full directions for designing,
•onstructmg, and Heating all classes of buildings for grow-
ine Plants and ripening Fruit under glass, being the re-
sult of an extensive professional practice in all depart-
ments of the design, construction, heating and manage-
ment of Horticultural buildings.

Price $1.50, post-paid, to any address.

When it is so easy to do a thing well, it will be a serious
fault to allow it to be half done. To those who are think-

ing of building a Grapery or remodeling the ones they

have, '*■'''' aaxr Ktiir i-Uit, K^^l.. ^ _ A -i... J_ 7x r-n • i *^

Press.

have, we say, buy this book ant study it.— [Providence
^— - GEO. E. A F. W. WOODWARD, Publishers,

No. 37 Park Row, New York.

MARYLAND FARMER.

A MONTHLY PERIODICAL

PUBLISHED BY

8. 8. MILL8 & CO.

lo. 24 S. Calvert Bt., corner of Xereer, Baltimore.

AMD DEVOTBO TO

Agriculture^ Horticulture, Rural Economr/, House-
hold Affairs, and Mechanic Arts.

It is a Rrliable and Practical Journal, devoted to the
different departments of FIELD CULTURE, such as
growing Field Crops, Orchard and Garden Fruits, Garden
Vegetables and Flowers, Flowers for the Lawn and Yard,
Trees and Plants, Care of Domestic Animals, Ac, together
with all subjects of a kindred nature Interesting to the
Farmer, Horticulturist, and Household.

Published on the first of each month, at $1.60 per year
—or SIX copies for $7.60— or ten copies for $12.60, and a
copy to the getter up of the club. J»* Specimen copies
furnished gratis.

THE IF^K/iL^Eie,.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL,

DEVOTED TO

Agriculture, Horticulture, the Mechanic Arts and
Household Economy.

PUBLISHED AT RICHMOND, VA., BY

£Z»I.IOTT & SHIELDS.

The best talent, both practical and theoretical, which
the country affords, is employed in aid of this enterprise,
and no expense will be spared in the effort to make the
Journal complete in all respects.

It is printed on good paper and with clear type, and
contains forty pages of reading matter. An advertising
sheet or capacity sufficient to accommodate the adverti-
sing patronage of The Farmer is added.

An att^ctive feature of The Faumbr is its embellish-
ments. Engraved designs and plana of Dwellings, Farm
Houses, Cottages, Farm Buildings, Improved Stock, Labor
having Machinery, Modem and useful Implements of Bus-

^"mw^^'i^; J^'^J^J^^r^^^P^^^^^ in its columns.

ia.lL J? ARMEB IS received by subscribers in every city
and county in Virginia, and in the States of West Vir«-
nia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama,
Mississippi, and is being introduced into other States, and

will take rank by the sideoftheolder publications already
m tbia iield of industrial enterprise.

In addition to the circulation which The Farmer haa *

by subsonption, it is regularly forwarded to Mairazine

*?ru^?f . '"^^ ^^^®" ** *^^ ^^e principal points South
of the Potomac. '^ r

The very fine advertising custom which has been at-
tracted to The Farmer, is a satisfactory guarantee with
which the publication of such a work at this time haa
been received by the public.

Specimen copies can be seen at the office of The Prac-
tical Entomologist, 5i 8 Souih 13th Street, Philadelphia.

-Address ELLIOTT & SHIELDS,

Richmond, Va,

PHILADELPHIA DEPOT

OF THK

ENTOMOLOGICAL SPECIMENS.

Those wishing to obtain Species or Collections of the
insects of this section, to be collected the coming seasons,
are requested to write me as soon as convenient

Orders for the larger and more common Species of the
Eastern portion of the United States, filled during the
•ummer. qjjq. E. BRACKETT,

Belfast, Maine.

KNOX FEUIT FARM AND NUESZEIES.

We have established a Branch of our Business in Phila-
delphia, where orders for all our Stock, including Grapm
ViXES, Strawberry, Raspberry and Blackberry Plawts,
Currant and Gooseberry Bushes, Ac, Ac, will receive
prompt attention.

JUCUNDA-OUR No. 700 STMWBEEET.

The most valuable Strawberry of which we have any
knowledge. A good supply of Plants constantly on hani

also

And all other desirable kinds.

Plants grown in Pots or Boxes, for bearing first sea-
son, of the above two named kinds, can be furnished in
any quantity.

Price List free of charge.

Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue 10 cents.

J- Kiisrox:,

Ho. 797 Xarket Street,

' Philadelphia.

JAMES RIDINGS,
1311 SOXJTKC ST.,

PHILADELPHIA,

DEALER IN INSECTS OF ALL ORDERS,

Has on hand a fine collection of Coleoptera from Colorado
Territorv, as well as Insects of all orders from West Vir-
ginia, collected during the past summer. Also a few % Q

l

^

H

I

L

n

specimens of Argynnis Diana, Say, at reasonable rates.

\

u

56

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

TAKE NOTICE!

FARMERS AND DEALERS IN FERTILIZFRfl «ni
please take notice that we have ^LAcv^kZA^ TXT -^
irrade Mark to protect ouTselverandTri^^^^^
use our RAW fioNE SUPER^UsP&ATE from'^^^^^
deceived when purchasing manures. ^^^""^

tZthT ^^^^ *'^^'«^*^ ^ «^^« *^" protection to our cus
tomers, m consequence of aevprnl «ot.f;«- u • i

fully used our distinctive nime ^1z -Jr.T^^ "'^ f ^■

£^5 *^-'-*!<'leto thepubl^T^This^TrldfCrVi^
adopted in addition to the title « Raw Bnrwf" JJf u •

that the "Tr.de M\^\ " t^pot ite'^/bt'and w'rlltC
purchase, as none other is genuine. ^''"* """* *"«y

BAUGH A SONS.

THE MASON & HAatLIN

B^^-CTGHI'S

SAW BOHX

SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME,

Manufactured by BAUGH k SONS,

Ho. 20 SOITTH DELAWAM AVKinJE,

prietor. of it_w.„ V "'°~*''S "f'g'nal and sole pro-

letters patelTt? LXnl^T/otsifver^^"'' "' '"''«""
having maSeTecen'l^ad'SirPP'' 'I •'" '"8« quantities-

Mo"i?streVtfMrwa;e''r''i'vt ' wl''"^fl" ("« ''"o* »'
DEALERS to'this'gTea't Xntal* '"' ""> '"*""»" »^

ino?eL';'d"Lti:;'jrr,rUd!rrS''f"„''"«»«"''«^

we advise Farmers to!^n5^LT °* '5'^ '^'" seasons, and
tive Dealers aT an early dLv ^ha?^f" '° '^i'^^pec-
promptl;^. ^' '" ""y •>* 'upplied

Soliciting jrour continued orders,
we remain, yours very truly,

BAiros * son,

» No. 20 «oK(A Delaware Avenue,

Philadelphia.

CABINET ORGANS.

MiLn^VSk'^rnfn 'Btto''n''rS'o'EL^*SE'D'r^"'

s^rts'^ln^d -tir^' ^f^^*'^'^^^-^'-^^

Medal for the superiority of their Cabinet work.

2'\u- i ^^^J^iUMS, have been awarded MAW

w^et" forMe^t^.V'i'* SIXTEEN within the last few
weeks for the best Instrument, of this general class.

mo^rrt^aVro\°sa7drd"i^;"oJ\t 'rs?'r^'""i

Organists and Musicians in the co^untrv h"?1 T^"*"'
A H.MUM CABINET OEgIns iRE'tf NEQui^L^'^i,"'"
Prices, $110 to $600.

to al7a5";ess!'^ '"^"^""^ ^^*^^ ^^^-^^ <>'«--. -ent

.Warerooms, 274 Washington street, Boston,
oye Broadway, New York

"rSFHERAlFOFHEALTr

FOR 1866.

THE HEajiLX) Oy HEALTH

THE APBIL HUKBEE

tJ^tTTi'' *"" exceedingly interesting sermon from
that talented preacher, Rev. 0. B. Frothingham, on ''Z

Itrofntr ^^^^''^"^^ expressl^for Vh. ^.

JIM A YEAR; 15 CENTS A NUMBER

^ Ihrst Four Jiumbers for 1866 unit be sent as Samples

for Forty Cents.

..^^'^^^ ""^"^ "^^'^^ SEXUAL PHYSIOLOGY, price *2
(for an ,dea of the book get Table of Contents for'^^hree
cent Stamp), and Th. Hkbald (price $1.50) for 1866, for $3
Addreg. MILLER, WOOD A CO.,

2io, 16 Za^ht strut, New Twk,

The undersigned wish to call public att.»nfmn 4^ ♦!.
above publication with the hone of ext«nH;n^ •? ^ *,^*
tion. Jthe following are its objects- '^'°« itscircula-

\ ?he''carVoVr^hirdr^^^^" *!f^ ^"^«« of Health.
-6. Ane uare ot Lnildren, so as to Ber»iir« trk tK«^ »- /•

strness'!''' ''"'' ''«°~"' oonstitutions and*°fr*e'eri''frIS

Pupif/ard Terchen^*'^"*' '■"=""*"■« ">« ««»!"> of both
erci. J^1f^.7%°''P''?fu J'y Hygienic remedies, as air, ex-

One «f the great wants of the present «»o i. t,..i.i.
sound m nd in a sound boHv \fiVi? . •.* ' health, a
future, the future of famiHe^s' 0^,^^.1.1.'' "'"' "'""""^

Manv a parent has brought into tCwoJld Lhl^TK^f-
ren, because the laws of life and Ir^JlZ . *^^'^<^-
stood. Many more hive cotlgne^d S Wd"onerto'!n
early grave, or had them afflicted with diselt ?nTi *"*

and deformity through a want Tf a knowled':^^^^^^^^^^
natural laws of the body. *""wieage ol the

Terms— $160 a year ; 4 copies, $5 : 10 copies I;i0 fl;«
gle copies, 15 cents. ^ i^ > *" cupies, ^lu. Sm-

spe^r^nTfo^^^T^^^^^^^^^^ Bent a.

MILLER, WOOD & CO.,'

No. 16 Laioht Stmet, N«w Yoek.

m

THE

A MONTHLY BULLETIN

Published by the Entomological Society of Philadelnhia fn. rt. a- - .
~==^=^^^^^^^£^^Z^''''' Of valuable

APRIL 30, 1866.

cations should be addressed ^ ^ Western) communi-

^ Tebms-60 cents a y;ar, in advance.
me^of'Vi/volumf '"' "^"^' ^^^« ^-"^ ^^^ commence-

co^uniJal'tXeeTL^B^e^^^^ «-^ their

Editor, Rock Island, IllinSs?''' ^^'^' M.A„ Associate

E. T. CRESSON, -k * p^nxroa

AUG. R. GROTE L Publication Committee

J. w. McAllister, j p^*°^

BENJ. D WATQTT T^ 1 Ti , Editors.
s^rij. u. WALSH, Rock Island, Illinois,

Associate Editor.

No. 7.

opened X'-^il^te^'" tetC ^f f \'''?
our correspondents and^frTenJet^esiJe Tcom
pa^e^specmens or view our coUeetion wm be wS:

^" ' I'ADELPHU, APRIL 30, 18667
THE STUDY OF ENTOMOIOGTr

We are glad to record as one of the result, nf
the teachings of our paper, a desire with Talt of
our Bubscnbers to study the beautiful branch of

KmucrnTi' f^""""^- ^"^y this branch
w so much neglected we are at a loss to know

sTmi f •r!-''T'"'"^"'^ '>»^« their attractions the

loTv vlT" -r ''".^y ^' ■"" «^«' "« in Entomo-
logy Every city and town, every field and wood

in the country, present at the proper season opZ

tunities for the study of the habits and captwe of

specimens of insects. What farmer's boy has „ot

bug"t:'fir?flv''"\.°' T-'-^' «•« '^X.ng
^I ^ .1. .1 y' "'' *^^^^ beautiful moths (Svhin

tif f ^^ "^ "•' ■">•>'- ""<! in the obscurufare'
^th" '^'.^"■nn^inK-birds, and what country K

Ia^^a^-"'"' "" "l-ntterfly" impaled upo^n a Z
and placed in some prominent place for the admi
nng gaze of the youngsters ? ^ ^ '"' *"« »"""-

tojhf^f-rfq^^^^^^^^

capturing insects is conLrne7burbring he wi^
Sr th/?' r""''"".^ '°'° P'"^. *nd Btndy the ha^
the beaut ?uT:^'r;,'r" f'™.^?"'« ""'* forition of

THE MEASXTRING-WOIIM.

{Fnnomos subsignaria.)

^ As the warm weather approaches and the mea
suring-worm makes its appearance upon the sh^de
trees in our city, much discussion w?U e„s„e t to

his aW ""m^ *" "PP'^' *'"'' *»"« destruction of
this abominable pest may be final and complete
The natural history of this insect is briefly

Se i™nraV>f "'T' ^ ^^^ deposited u^^
hv t^l f ^ branches of the tree last summer
by the female moth, a brood of small caterniHa™
come forth, m soon as the buds begin to e«and
mto leaves, which soon crawl to the upLr bSes
and scatter about the young shoots inTe trre-ton?
where they live quietly ani unobserved for a^^^k•

^owth Jf trf^r^" '"r^V"" voracity with the
growth ot the foliage, and, when about half-erown

they become more conspicuous, and commencf Ae?;

saltatoml exercises, which latter are continued

until hey have attained their full growth previous

to their transformation into the chrysalis stTteTn

ttdr'thtei'b '^' '"''V"''^''' ^ sXe^d^from
;„T> *K • I ' ^"'. ** "'?''* approaches they spin up
nilkr t^H T'V" "•* "■*« ''™'«^hes. The'late,?
par sheds its skin several times, and finally, when

Sit tra^**'T''' '^' ^""^ of June-it^inder
goes Its transformation into the chrysalis state in

halflT. T'"'' "^''^ ■' ""»«*'"«'« "niong ihe

ZZr.'t A •*''* ^"^^ evaeTges from its cocoon
transformed into a moth of a beautiful satiny-wS

I

f

JSSSKt

> L

....^^ W.l...A.^k*V^'.. **''^- ''■-^-^*-.^--

v:

y

56

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

TAKE NOTICEt

FARMERS AND DEALERS IN FEBTILIZPTIS -iii
please take notice that we have Lf^iTtfj .!^ ^m -^
trade Mark to protect LT8elTer»ndTri.„,.l°"'''''?«
use our RAW fioNB SUPERPHOSPHATE VL™'*!,'^''"'
deceived when purchasing manures. ^^ ^~°' ''*'°«

We have been obliflred to iriv^^fhia ti»^^^^^: x

Offering their article to the public. This TrldeMark ^
adopted m addition to the title ** Raw Ln« ?» JJf«fc •

that the "TraHA MoJt^ • " *** ^'^^^^ interest to see

pu«hX « nt^oter urnuinT^ '•'«»"'' """'^-o^

BAUGH <fc SONS.

THE MASON & HAMLIN

33.A.XJa-Ii'S

BAW BOHS

SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME,

Manufactured by BAUGH & SONS,

Ho. 30 SOUTH DELAWABE AVEOTB,

PHILADSLPHIA.

r^t^rs^VTeL't! &n.nrot'si,Vr ^^^^^^

ha^t;5:areTe::?n*l^ai°diS'L!,N'Sp'r'„'fL\^^^^^

sels drawing 10 feet of water can loS dfre-Uv fmm ttf"

DEALERS to'this' gTe"t Xnta-r "*" ''"' »"«""»° "^
inc?f'irde"4ir„''d%^tra.r^^^^^^^^^

tT:e-i,-r„"ran i^^t^Bt F'-r

promptly. ^ ^' ^'^** *" '^^J be supplied

Soliciting your continued orders,
we remain, yours very truly,

BAVOH k 80V8,

Jio, 20 ^OM^A Delaware Avenue,

Philadelphia.

CABINET ORGANS.

MetLt^,Ts?oJir.?:;fn t'stor;s'5i:^^'jjE'D'rf "•

Tert^-^tnl^tlf'' ^P^**?^^'"^'-^^
Medal for the superiority of their Cabinet work

HIGHllT'^il^ini^^'i^^^? *'^^*^^' -OTHER
™*k- ^ I'ltu.jvllUMS, have been awarded M .t W

w«k,° f.lM/r/V'1'' SIXTEEN within the last f.^
weeks for the 4m« Instrumentt of this general class.

Jretaint"h"SL'?era;''d°'*fi?t;"of'tirrs?'r
Organists and Musicians in the co^untrr th^r.h.^""'"*
* &"-"< CABINET ORGANS Ire IlNEQUALLEr"
Prices, $110 to $600.

to anTiSdr'els!'^ '"^"^""^ ^'*^« ^'^^-^^ Organs, .eni

/Warerooms, 274 Washington street, Boston.
596 Broadway, New York

'TlE'HERAijroFHEALTr

FOR 1866.

THE HEEJlLD or HSALXH

THE APBIL >VKBXB

.K^'."r!'t'° " "oeedingly interesting sermon from
that talented pre«>h.r, B,t. 0. B. Froth ingham, on -'Z

BALD OF HkALTH. "^ * *«■ UK-

J1.50 A YEAR; 15 CENTS A NUMBER

TU I\rst Four Numbers for 1866 vnll be sent as Samples

for Forty Cents.
^The new work, SEXUAL PHYSIOLOGY, price $2

cent Stamp), and Th. Hkhald (price $1.50) for 1866, for $3
^^^'^" MILLER, WOOD 4 CO., '

iVb. 15 Laight Strut, New York,

The undersigned wish to call public attflnf.-n« 4^ *v
above publication with the hope of a^ L!?; -T .*^ *,^*
tion. the following are itsSs: ^^ itscircula-

s" e^^' ''^^^ ^^«<^-- constitu^^ioTs^dVeer^^ro'L'

Pupifs^nd Terchen^^""^' ^°^'"^^"« *^^ Healthof both
ercisrilfhV7^^''?ru?'^ Hygienic remedies, as air, ex-

.n,?«5 ' the great wants of the present aee is health «
sound mind in a sound bodv WifK«.,* •** neaun, «
future, the future of famUie^* of rlc^. k!> ''"'' '***^^°**
matter of chance than a certa^n?v '*?,1';¥«^nje» more »
has blotted out many names from f^^V"^^ d/generacv
that ought to have bYerp'^pe uaTed'^t: We« and'^Tr
a part in the civilization and proeJess of th« « *,^®
Manv a parent has brought into tC ioHd LhllTK-M '
ren, because the laws of fife and irrowTh werl w ^a^'
stood. Many more have consigne^dTe.r foved ones "t^ln
early grave, or had them afflicted with disoI«^ f.^li "*
and deformity through a wan? Tf a knowled 'e^^^^^^^^
natural laws of the body ^uowieage of the

gleX" eMj'ceS^.'"'- * "'^""' *" '« -P-'- *">• Sin-

.piTm^Tfo?rcr/t;."l^\:-^^^^^^^^^ '- -

MILLER, WOOD & CO.,'

No. li LiieHT Stmki, New Toax.

I

»

THE

A MONTHLY BULLETIN

Published by the Entomological Society of PhiladelDhia fnr rtn a- • ■

APRIL 30, 1866.

cations should be TddrSsed * ^^ Western) communi-

^ Tebhs_«0 cents a y;ar, in arf«„«.
me^„f^h;:;^?S^P"'"'» '^^^^ <>«'« from the commence.

coSn?c;ItXecTfoTni'!)'''ri'l,P',5''? -■•'» 'heir
Editor, Rock IslandriUino™^ • ^''''''' ^-A,, Associate

E. T. CRESSON \ t>„.

AUG. R. GROTE I ^"""c*™!' Cokkittee

J. w. McAllister I r- """^

BENJ. D. WALSH, Roik Island, 11^2?"
. Associate Editor.

No. 7.

^^^^^^^^^^^^PHIATAiRIL 30, lii^

be of little or no account A a *"*""? »» ««

opened reiteS'rte' aS'"^*\'''?
parejpecmens or view our collection will be wel-

THE STUDY OP EHTOKOIOGT.
We are glad to reco^s one of the result*, nf

on'r IX^'Y "^ °" P-'P^'' >» ''««!'« with mi*! °f
our subscribers to study the beautiful brMch of

Ko"iu'cr„Tl' fr'""'''^^- WV this Such
Whl^.K "*S'«<"«<J we are at a loss to know

r™» f •iv'^T"'""^"'" '"'^« their attractions Z

W Ever /r ''"P ^^ ■"" «^'«' «« i" E»S^o!
ogy Every city and town, every field and wood

u the country, present at the proper season odZ

tunnies for the study of the habite and captor of

specmens of insects. What farmer's b^X „oI

buSr'firSv'"^'.."' T"'''^' *■>« '^gh" ■»g
Dug or hre-fly, or those beaut ful moths r/?«A»,

ff^^) hat fly at night, and in the obscurUy are"
u)t *''^^"■»■» "g-birds, and what country C
ThT '■>'''•'"" "" "butterfly" impaled upJn aZ
and placed in some prominent place for the admi
nng ^ze of the younostcrs ? ^ *'*°"-

t^ fV, !'""'^^ '" y'""'^ "i™ hard to shake off and
to those of our readers who have been or are boys
and have indulged in this apparently chlldlTe

crtrrW •' ""'rV'*^ "^^ ^ toyTagainin so & :«
capturing insects is concerned, but bring the wis

th^beaut ?u7rfi*r' '''\^'"^« """-^ formation of

i.L\ril' ^"«r aie?;' ;f "P ^«

THE HEASVEIKG-WOSX.

(£nnom«« ntin^naria.)

As the warm weather approaches and the niM

suring-worm makes its appearance upon the shX

trees ,n our city, much dkcussioa w?U ensue t to

ikt ^. "-""I^J *" "PP'^' '^'^^ '•>« destrucUon o1
The rr ' ^I?"'' """y •'« fi°»' «°d com^fete
this IC" i 1 "^ "^/•"'^ ■"'«''* '« brieS
tne trunk and branches of the tree last summer
by the female moth, a brood of small caternil?««
come forth, as soon as the buds bee n to exnln^
into leaves, which soon crawl to theT;;er bSe!
wherrthttT'-'.r"-! ^boots """"^ ^^^P^
Tso rll^ **"'^*'^ "".^ unobserved for a week
ZZth ^ftPlT"'^ '^f ^« ""d voracity with the
growth of the foliage, and, when about hllf.grown

Sria7r°™ <'«''«Pr°"«' ""d commencf reS;
saitatorial exercises, which latter are continued
un .1 hey have attained their full growth pSs
to their transformation into the chrysaHs state Tn

thl :r V^t ^"^ '^'y '^«''8'^* '^ suspe^f from
Lt!. f I^ ''l*^'' ''"*• "'."■■g'"* «PP^<»cbes they spin up
■nto their homes in the tree branches. The cater^

fuf'ff/' 'V^'" T'""^ "■»«"■ "<• fi-% when
fully fed up-towards the end of June-it under-
goes Its transformation into the chrysalis stTte in
I half?»? 7 '■""* "^^'""^ '* <»"«''««'« among 'the

7^1f J •*'■*' "•^*'" ®°'«'"g«« from its cocoon
I transformed into a moth of a beautiful satlny-wWto

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

color, which may be seen, about the first week in
July, fluttering, in the dusk of the evening, about
the trees. Both sexes are provided with wings, the
males being distinguished from the females by
having feathered antennae — a pair of organs attached
to the head. After pairing, the female moth lays
her eggs, in clusters of fifty or more, upon the
branches of the trees, to hatch out next STDrinor.

' A. O

The scientific name of this moth is Ennomos
suhsignaria, Hiibner, and was described and
figured many years ago. It may be found solitary
and rarely in the woods, not far from the scenes of
its ravages, where birds and predacious insects ex-
ercise their mission of .preventing excessive produc-
tion unhindered by man. But birds avoid crowded
cities, and the effort to colonize them in our public
squares, so far as their ability as exterminators of
the worms is concerned, has failed; being thus
almost entirely relieved of their natural enemies,
they have been allowed to "increase and multiply"
to an unlimited extent. For more than a month in
early summer our most beautiful shade trees are
defoliated, and localities rendered almost impassable
by the suspended worms. In fact, the nuisance
has increased to such an extent, that stringent mea-.
sures must be adopted to relieve the public.

Many remedies have been suggested, which, if
universally applied, would do much to mitigate, if
not effectually stop, the evil. Syringing the trees
with a solution of whale oil soap has been suggested,
but such a remedy appears to be too expensive,
and therefore impracticable. Several of our daily
papers, in warning their readers of the reapproach
of the nuisance, suggested a remedy by scraping
the eggs of the moth from the branches and the
twigs of the trees. This would do if it could be
effectually done ; but how are we to reach the small
twigs of the topmost branches ? The effect of clear-
ing only that portion of the tree readily reached
would be scarcely observable, when the eggs are
hatched, and the caterpillars are dangling in the air
apparently as numerous as ever. And again, some
citizen, with a laudable desire to do his share of the
work of extermination, may cleanse his trees tho-
roughly, while his neighbors on cither side for some
distance, do nothing, and the labor of this good citi-
zen is lost, as the moth from his neighbors will in
due season deposit eggs upon his trees, to be hatched
the next season. Some of our citizens cut down
their trees as the shortest method to get rid of the
worms, but this is a poor plan, for, if followed,
every infected tree must bow to the axe, and the
whole city be left without shade.

If we desire to effectually get rid of this nuisance,
we must go to work in earnest, and the work must
be done thoroughly and universally. We therefore
suggest that Councils pass an ordinance compelling
every householder to keep the trees on his premises
clear of the worms, in the same manner that they
are compelled to clear the snow from the sidewalks
in winter, and refrain from washing them during
certain hours in the summer. We think this will
be effective, since it will be an united effort of the
people for the common good.

A good plan of ridding the trees of the worms
is the following: — At midday, or during the hours
of warmest sunshine, when the worms are most ac-
tive, a sudden jar with a mallet or a vigorous shake
of the trees, will dislodge and bring down hosts of
the insects, and those suspended by their threads
can be easily swept to the ground by a pole, and
then instantly killed. This operation, repeated
three or four days in succession, will most effec-
tually clear away the worms from the trees. In
some cases it may not be possible to discover and
destroy all the worms that have come to the ground,
especially beneath large trees growing among grass,
but the increase will certainly be checked, and if
this plan is carried out for two or three years in
succession, the insect will become as rare in the city
as it is now in the country, where it has its natural
and most powerful enemies to contend with.

To depend on the destruction of such small ob-
jects as the eggs, which might readily escape our
observation, or on the destruction of the insect after
it has transformed into the moth state, (and, for
aught we know, had already deposited her cluster
of fifty or more eggs in some safe place) as an
effectual plan for the extermination of the pest,
seems to us to be folly. We must attack the cat-
erpillar or worm itself, for it is easily seen and de-
stroyed, and then we are sure that it can never
reach maturity to propagate the nuisance for ano-
ther year; whereas, if allowed to perfect its trans-
formation, it may be the means of founding a colony
of fifty or more worms the next spring.

A FEW EEMAEKS ON SILK-PEODXTCINa
LEFIDOPTESA.

Our excellent friend. Dr. John G. Morris, of Bal-
timore, who has written very ably on the Ailanthus
silk-worm, Samia ci/nthia, Hiibn., in the Smithso-
nian Reports, informs us, that the Japanese or Oak
silk-worm is a distinct species, as he has learned
through his correspondence with European Natu-
ralists. In the work, however, from which we have
compiled our account of the native treatment of the
Japanese worm, the species is called Saturnia c^/n-
thia, a determination which we now believe to be
erroneous. The generic name Saturnia does not
belong to S. aynthia, but is used by those natural-
ists who would incorrectly refer nearly all the spe-
cies belonging to the Bombycid sub-family Attaci
to the European genus Saturnia. The narration
of the Japanese manner of treating their "oak-
worm," will perhaps furnish us some hints in breed-
ing our native Attaci for silk-producing purposes,
since the habits of all these species are analogous,
and Platysamia cecropia and Telea polyphemuSy
(probably our most available silk-producers) will
be found subject to similar conditions of life with
their Asiatic sub-family associates.

We therefore continue our remarks on the treat-
ment of the "oak-worm" for silk-producing pur-
poses, in Japan. — After the third moult of the
larvae, these can be transferred to trees in the open
air, to complete their transformation in a state of na-

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69

ture, as it were, instead of continually keeping them
in confinement until they spin, as we have described
in our last article. The place selected for this
open air treatment of the larvae should have been
already, during the preceding year, cleared of weeds
and grass, as well as of such kinds of trees that are
inapplicable for the purpose. The trees that are to
be used are deprived of all their high branches so
that, when trimmed down, they do not much ex-
ceed eight feet in height; this is for greater con-
venience and security, and enables a person with
merely the assistance of a stool or bench to reach
the larvae at all times.

If such a place is selected in the vicinity of
dwellings, care must be taken that smoke or of
fensive smells do not come in contact with the
larvae, as these are very susceptible and badly af-
fected by such and similar influences. It is also
stated that the blowing of horns, the ringing of
bells, and the beating of drums in their immediate
vicinity, affect the larvae adversely, and is to be
avoided. In Japan, where, if report be true, so
much of this kind of thing is forever going on, on
the slightest or no pretence at all, this advice is
no doubt seasonable and timely. The larvje arc
easily transferred to the trees by tying the twigs
on which they sit, and have hitherto been reared,
to the branches, when they readily transf^t them-
selves to these latter. For protection from ants,
a native preparation is smeared on the trunks
of the trees. For the first three or four days care
must be taken to prevent the access of ichncumo-
nidse, or wasps, since it is found that, if no care is
taken to avoid their attacks at first, the first comers
bring afterwards swarms of their fellows, and a con-
sequent demolition attends the brood. Bird-lime
is used as a preventive of the attacks of ichneu-
mon wasps. The depredations of birds are avoided
by fastening cticl« to the highest branches of tlio
trees, from which depend white strings with strips
of white paper attached to them. Old nets of va-
rious kinds are also thrown more or less completely
over the trees, and are found of use in protecting'
the larvae against their various enemies. To a tree
of say ten feet height, an allowance of fifty larv<T)
is given; its leafiness is, however, naturally taken
into consideration. The care of a single person
suffices for a plantation of this kind, but it requires
the early attendance of such a one, since the birds,
etc., choose principally the early morning for their
visits. As soon as the cocoons are formed, the
twigs to which they are fastened are cut off" 'with
scissors and they are then carefully hung on ex-
tended lines. They are taken from the trees thus
early, in order to avoid the depredations of field
and wood-mice, foxes and crows. It often happens
that some cocoons are left hanging on the trees with-
out being collected; the moths which in due time
escape from these become the parents of a fresh
brood of larvae as in a wild state. In this way a
plantation is frequently self-sustaining for a lon-er
or shorter period of time. On the Island Kin-sin,
and in certain districts of Nippon, the "oak-worui"
occurs in its natural or wild state, and there are

many villages in which the principal occupation of
the women and children is to gather its cocoons in
the bushes, a business in which a good deal depends
upon luck, and which has at times yielded Japanese
fortunes to a lucky poor person or servant. Owing
to the peculiar leafing periods of the trees in Japan,
it is stated that no harm is done to them by the
consumption of their leaves by the larvae of the
" oak-worm."

A Difficulty in Stadying Insects.

A principal difficulty presented to the uninitiated
in the study of Entomology, appears to us to lie
in the comprehension of specific existence and in-
variability. It is so easy to understand that the
young of the animals resemble their parents, but
apparently so difficult to comprehend, that this' rule
IS equally valid in Insects and is, in fact, a broad
zoological principle. The flies on the window pane,
which usually belong to two or three distinct species,
are generally looked upon as one; the diflferences
in size being regarded as the effect of diflferent
stages in individual growth. The existence of the
metamorphoses also tends to confuse partial obser-
vers, of all others the hardest to understand the real
position of Nature's affairs. In an imperfect obser-
vation these think they have discovered a truth, and
from thenceforth all reasoning and demonstration
are apt to be rejected in favor of the erroneous tes-
timony of their vision. Large storehouses filled
with grain are to be found in the principal seaboard
cities on the Atlantic Coast, and the grain moth and
grain weevil are a matter of yearly production, yet
the men who have charge of this grain— grain mea-
surers, store-house keepers and the like— still re-
gard the weevil as the same insect with the moth
merely in a different state or form, and both as ori-
ginating spontaneously; as if, as it were, the grain
literally took to itself wings and flew away, much as
the Bible tells us is the case with earthly riches.

But if we can only convince ourselves, that the
issues of any one fly or moth resemble and are spe-
cifically identical with their parent we at once bring
order out of what before was a chaos, where butter-
flies, flies and beetles existed as creations bound by
no natural laws, but ready, at the beck of an invi-
sible enchanter, to take unto themselves shapes im-
possible to be deduced from their present appear-
ance. Wonderful as are the real metamorphoses <
of insects, the Naturalist can predicate them from
his experience and observation, and know when the
tiny existence has reached its tether and the- flut-
tering atom, with its last pulsation, obeys the com-
mon law and becomes resolved into the elements.
Even those Naturalists, as yet few in number, who
profess the Derivative Theory of Creation, require
their followers first to understand the invariability
of species and the condition of specific existence,
before requiring them to unlearn their truthful les-
son, to take up the teachings of a school which must
ever appeal from facts to fancies, from 'actualities
to probabilities, and whose theories depend for their
construction so greatly on those parts of speech
known as the auxilliary verbs. o.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

THE WHITE OBXJB.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

The " White Grub," as it is popularly called, is
a soft, white, six-legged larva, with a light maho-
gany colored horny head, and when full-grown is
nearly as large as a man's little finger. Like the
rest of the entomological group to which it belongs.
It usually curls its body up in a semicircle, so that
its head almost touches its tail, though it has the
power of straightening itself out, when laid on a
flat surfacfc, and crawling very slowly along upon its
belly. It lives several years in the larva state, and
finally in the early spring changes into a dark
chestnut-colored beetle about an inch long, and
with long slender legs, which flies round in warm
evenings in May with a buzzing noise and is often
attracted into houses by the light. From the month
in which this beetle appears, it is popularly known
as the " May-bug" or more correctly speaking " May-
beetle." Its scientific name is Lachnosterna quer-
cina, and a figure of it will be found in Harris's
Injurious Insects p. 30.

There is another very similar larva, often found
very abundantly in dunghills and occasionally under
cow-dungs in the fields, which by inexperienced
persons is often confounded with the true " White
Grub." As this larva is necessarily carted out into
fields along with dung, I have known many men to
suppose that they had thereby introduced the
" White Grub" into their fields, and thus furnished
a rod for their own backs. This, however, is an
entire mistake. The true "White Grub" feeds
exclusively upon living vegetable matter, and ge-
nerally upon the roots of living and growing plants.
The other larva, which is in some localities distin-
guished as the "muck-worm," feeds exclusively
upon dung ; and hence the black dung that it has
devoured shown through its white, semi-transparent
skin all the way from its head to its tail like a large,
lead-colored i utestine. In the true " White Grub,"'
on the contrary, it is only near the tail that the con-
tents of the body exhibit a lead-coloredappearance,
because it is only near the tail that the roots upon
which it feeds have become digested and converted
into a dark-colored excrement. The only damage
that the " muck-worm" can do is to consume a por-
tion of the manure, which would otherwise go to fer-
tilize the soil. We shall shortly see that the " White
Grub" operates in a most injurious manner upon a
great variety of the crops raised by the Agricultu-
rist. Singularly enough, not only do the larvae of
these two distinct species closely resemble one ano-
ther, but the perfect insects also have a general re-
semblance and are often confounded together, as
they appear at the same time of the year and fly in
the same manner in the dusk of the evening. The
beetle produced from the " muck-worm" {lAgyrus
relictus) may, however, be distinguished by the
general observer from the " May-bug" by its legs
being short and stout instead of long, slender and
sprawling; and in numerous scientific details the
two differ very widely. In the Prairie Farmer for
August 9, 18G0, (p. 82) I have given an outline

figure of each, and also of the common " White
Grub.''

In gardens, the "White Grub" is particularly
destructive to strawberry beds, and is probably one
of the chief reasons why this plant will not last
more than a few years on the same spot of ground
m this country. It is also, as I have noticed for
many years, very destructive to beds of head-lettuce
devouring their roots under the surface of the
ground so that the plant withers away and dies in
which respect the habits of this insect are nearly
the same as those of the common " cut-worm." It
is not, however, near so easy of discovery as the
" cut-worm," as it usually lies much deeper in the
earth ; but if not found and killed, it will travel
along a whole row of plants, killing them all one
after another. In spading up garden ground in
the spring, it is a very common thing to meet with
this insect either in the larva or in the perfect state -
and care should be taken always to destroy all that
are thus met with.

In tame grass meadows this larva has been known
for time immemorial both in the East and the West
as a most destructive pest, devouring the roots of
the grass so that large patches can be rolled up like
a carpet. It has also been long known in Illinois
to be very injurious to young trees in nurseries,
^ten entirely ruining large quantities of them. Mr.
Kinney, the nurseryman of Rock Island, Illinois'
informs me that last season it destroyed for him, on
a moderate computation, a thousand dollars' worth
of young trees. Yet, compared with many similar
establishments in this State, his nursery is of very
limited extent.

Twenty years ago I detected numerous " White
Grubs," cutting off the young corn when it was only
a few inches high, in an eleven-acre field of prairie
land, which I had had broken the preceding year
u w^*^ recently planted in corn. Along with the
" White Grub" there were also many " cut-worms"
and " wire-worms" engaged in the same mischievous
operation ; and so numerous were those three in-
sects, that I was obliged to go over the field several
times, unearthing and destroying them, in order to
save my crop. But of late years, as will appear
trom the following extracts, in certain parts of the
country, the " White Grub " has increased and mul-
tiplied so extensively, that it not only thins out the
young corn, when it is only a few inches high, but
destroys the full-grown corn over the whole surface
of entire fields.

no?ed^nr y - ^"""^ ^'° Michigan], which was formerly
1fu^ I ^* ^""^"^^ *''''''* crop, the " White Grub" (Mclo-
lontha) has appeared in such numbers for a few years
past, as to nearly destroy many fields of corn, and has
sometimes been very injurious to wheat. I visited this
locality m August, 1864, and was surprised to find farm-
ers whose corn crons were so nearly destroyed, that they
were selling their hogs in a lean state, because they had
not the means to fatten them. On examining the few-
corn-stalks that remained standing, I found the roots ire-
nerallv eaten off to within a few inches of the stalk, aid
otten from three to five laree grubs in a hill. Most of the
corn was killed early in tlie season, and the few stalks
rain ^* ^^°^ * lingering death without producing any

I was told that the insect was first noticed there about
nme or ten years previously, and that, about ©very third

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61

jrear since, the corn and wheat had been considerably
injured. It probably does not grow to sufficient size from
the egg to be very destructive till the third year ; but
whether this is its last year in the larva state seems un-
certain.—(From a letter by Sanford Howard, Esq., Secre-
tary Michigan State Board of Agriculture.)

A few years back many meadows [in Missouri] were
injured and others ruined [by the White Grub] ; and from
the number of worms to be found in affected meadows, it
was su^^jected of being the cause of the mischief. By
taking hold of the grass, the sod would peel off in great
flakes, exposing num bers of worms. But now, in addition
to their depredations on meadows, they are destroying
whole fields of corn. I have seen fields where they have
destroyed the corn in patches over the field for yards and
for rods around, leaving the ground bare as a travelled
road. They seem to destroy the taproot first, and after-
wards prey on the laterals. — (Letter from Huron Burt, of
Nine Mile Prairie, Missouri, printed in the Valley Farmer
November 15, 1865.)

I am not aware of any recorded cases, other than
the above, where this insect has been known to at-
tack corn. What, therefore, can be the reason why,
within the last few years, it should have increased
so greatly in numbers, as to make a violent irrup-
tion upon a crop which has been largely grown
throughout the United States for time imme-
morial ? Why do we hear from the farmers year
after year more and more complaints of the damage
done by the " White Grub ?" Why do the nurse-
rymen suffer from it much more grievously than
they used to do ? These questions are of great
practical interest; but, as in so many similar cases,
for want of the needful experiments they can at
present only be answered by guess-work.

I suspect that the above phenomena are to be
either wholly or partially attributed to the intro-
duction of improved breeds of hogs in the place of
the old, slab-sided, long-nosed prairie-rooters, and
to the passage of laws compelling people to keep
their hogs under fence instead of allowing them to
run at large. " The hog,'' says Mr. Emery of Chi-
cago, " in his natural state is a long, lean, cadave-
rous-looking animal, apparently as wild as when the
herd 'ran violently down a steep place into the sea.'
Their noses are in the ground wherever they can
be, and if perchance they find their way into the
lawn or pasture, it is soon full of unsightly spots
where the turf is overturned. That they obtain
anything from the earth of any value to them as
food, compared to the injury they do, is not gene-
rally believed." {Agric. Report, 18G3, p. 205.)
With all due deference to Mr. Emery's opinion, I
cannot believe that a gang of hogs would work hard
by the hour together, as I have often seen them do,
unless they got something to repay them well for
their labor. I used to suppose that they were after
the fleshy roots of such plants as the Aster, but I
have since seen them so often rooting in places
where there was absolutely nothing but clean blue-
grass, that I am satisfied that it must be insects
which they are in search of, and probably amongst
other subterranean larvae the notorious " White
Grub." The point might be definitely and satis-
factorily settled by shooting a few specimens, when
they were actually engaged in rooting, and exa-
mining the contents of their stomachs. But what
private individual can be expected to destroy fifty
dollars worth of hogs, in order to solve a question

which concerns the whole community of farmers as
much as his own individual self?

So far is Dr. Fitch from doubting the fact, that
it is for the sake of the grubs and worms found
under turf that the hog roots it up, that he actually
recommends enclosing a gang of hogs by a tempo-
rary fence upon such portions of a meadow as are
badly infested by the " White Grub." (iV. Y, Rep.
II. § 76, p. 56.) " The propensity of these ani-
mals," he observes, "for rooting and tearing up
the turf, we are all aware is for the very purpose
of coming at and feeding upon the grubs and worms
which are lurking therein." I have little doubt
that Dr. Fitch is right here ; but still it is always
dangerous jumping to conclusions without any po-
sitive proof; and before basing a remedy upon a
fact, the truth of the fact itself ought to be first as-
certained by actual experiment.

If we choose to allow, for argument's sake, that
hogs, when running at large, destroy the " White
Grub," it must be evident at once that any law for-
bidding hogs to run at large must have a strong
tendency towards causing the " White Grub" to in-
crease and multiply. Now within the last few years
such laws have very generally been passed in the
Western States, and moreover the old-fashioned
prairie-rooters have very generally been replaced by
improved breeds, which have not the same strong
and ungovernable propensity to turn up the soil.
Hence, putting this and that together, I am inclined
to infer, that the presence of the " White Grub " is
often to be attributed to the absence of the Hog.
If this theory be correct, we ought, as a general
rule, to find the "White Grub" most abundant and
most injurious in those districts of country, where
no hogs have run at large for a long series of years;
and scarcest and least injurious in those, where there
are many hogs running at large up to the present
day.

But the undue multiplication of Noxious Insects
depends upon so many and such complicated causes,
that it will be always unsafe to generalize upon a
few isolated cases. With subterranean larvae more
especially, we know scarcely anything of their Na-
tural History, owing to their being hidden from our
sight in the very bowels of the earth. In the United
States there are at least a thousand distinct species
of insects, the larvae of which live under ground
and prey upon the larvae of root-feeding species.
But which Cannibal larva attacks which root-feed-
ing larva, nobody knows at present, and nobody is
very likely to know for some time to come. All that
we can say is, that there are at least a thousand in-
sects, some one or more of which may and very pro-
bably does prey upon the " White Grub" beneath
the surface of the earth ; and that the scarcity or
abundance of the "White Grub" in any particular
district may and probably often does depend upon
the abundance or scarcity of the particular insect
that preys on it. The scheme of the Creation is a
most complicated and a most wonderful one. A is
preyed upon by B, B by C, C by D, and so on to
the end of the alphabet, and you cannot increase
or diminish the numbers of any member of the

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great series, without remotely and indirectly affect-
ing the welfare of all the rest.

To apply the above principles to the practical
question at issue. If it could be proved that in a
thousand different neighborhoods where no hoes
had run at large for ten years, the " White Grub"
was now very injurious and very abundant, and in
a thousand other different neighborhoods where
many hogs had run at large for ten years, no com-
plaints were made of the " White Grub/' I should
say that the truth of my theory was proved. But
It a similar thing was shown only of a few neigh-
borhoods, I should infer nothing positive either one
way or the other; because the undue multiplication
ot any Noxious Insect does not depend upon any
one cause exclusively, but upon a most complicated
variety of different causes, and we can only judge
ot the effect of any one particular cause by taking
the average of a large number of cases.

Besides the damage done by this insect in the
grub state, it occasionally, in certain years and in
certain localities, gathers in great swarms upon
truit trees, chiefly cherry or plum, in the perfect
or winged state, so as to strip them more or less
completely of their leaves. Cases of this kind are
on record m the Eastern States, but I never heard
of anysuch in the Valley of the Mississippi, although
there as elsewhere the Perfect Beetle feeds upon
the leaves of trees.
Rock Island, III., April 3, 1866.

HOW TO OBTAIN THE NAMES OF INSECTS.

Those of our readers who desire to obtain the
scientific names of the insects of their locality, can
obtain them by sending duplicate specimens, each
species bearing a number corresponding with that of
the same species they retain in their collection, to
the Curator of the Entomological Society, 518 S
Thirteenth street, Philadelphia, Pa., who will in
return, send the proper names of the insects accord-
ing to the numbers which the specimens bear. We
have received many letters from subscribers in dif-
ferent parts of the country, who, not having access
to the necessary Entomological works, are anxious
to obtain names for their insects; we have there-
tore made arrangements with the Curator of the
Society to have the insects that may be sent, pro-
perly determined. Always send duplicate speci-
mens as we cannot undertake lo return them, and
m all cases the postage or express charges must be
pre-paid. ir & w^

In sending specimens through the Post-office,
they should be enclosed in a paste-board box (a
gun-cap box, for instance) in order that they may
not be crushed in the mail-bags; but in sending in-
sects by express, the utmost care is necessary to in-
sure their safe carriage, especially with pinned spe-
cimens These should be firmly secured in a stout
box, which box should be placed in a larger and
stouter one, with the space between the two boxes
failed in with cotton-wool, or some other soft and
buoyant material; in this way, if properly done, the
jarring occasioned by transportation will have little
pr no effect upon the insects in the inside box.

The Cabinet of the Entomological Society con-
tains over 15,000 species of insects, and is the
largest collection of the kind in this country which
with Its splendid Library of Entomological works'
give rare facilities for ascertaining the names of
insects of all kinds. And yet this collection is far
from being complete; there are thousands of insects
m our country, especially in the Western and South-
ern States, that are not represented in the collec-
tion, and many as yet unknown to science. Will
not those of our readers who have the opportunity
to collect insects, send the Society a collection
made m their locality, in order that they may be
made known to science? The Society is very much
in want of insects from any of the Southern and
Western States. We have readers in Missouri
Arkansas, Texas, Utah, Colorado, Dakota, Oregon
and California, and if they would collect and send
the bociety a representation of their insect fauna
they would prove most acceptable. In such cases!
the expenses of transportation will, of course, be
paid by the Society. '

Beetles, Wasps, Ichneumon-flies, Bugs and Leaf-
hoppers, should be preserved in bottles containing
good alcohol; but Butterflies, Moths, hairy Bees,
two-winged Fhes and Dragon-flies, should be care-
tu !y packed in between layers of soft paper or
cotton, sprinkling in the box a few crubs of cam-
phor to preserve them from mites. Butterflies and
moths should be handled very carefully, and the
wings should not be touched with the fingers, as
the scales thereon are easily rubbed off, and the
specimen spoiled.

When the alcohol becomes too much discolored
by the insects, it should be poured off and fresh
spirits added.

Care should be taken in packing the specimens
so as to carry safely in transportation. The name
ot the locality in which the insects were collected
should be pasted on the bottle or box containing
them, and any information of their habits will be
both useful and interesting.

Address all packages for the Society as follows-
Entomological Society, JSo. 518 S, Thirteenth
Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

TEICHINA SPIEALIS.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, If. A.

As many persons are now aflSicted by a very
causeless panic as to the danger of eating Trichi-
nous Pork, and as, on the other hand, others deny
the existence of any such danger under any circum-
sUmces, I propose to state briefly such facts bear-
ing upon this subject as have been abundantly
proved by the best scientific evidence.

1st. Trichina spiralis is a minute worm, scarcely
p inch long, sometimes found in enormous num-
bers in the flesh of the hog, and generally enveloped
in a hard shell. Out of 1394 hogs microscopically
examined at Chicago by a competent scientific com-
mittee, as many as twenty-eight, or about one in
forty-eight, were found to be thus affected in a
greater or lesp degree. la Germany, where the

a

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<

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

disease known as Trichiniasis almost exclusively
aSd ' °^ ^ °"' ^^ '" ''''°"* ^^^ '•'""^'^ "^e «°

r, ^a\ l^^r. Trichinous meat is eaten raw, the
ha d shell of the Trichina is dissolved by the juices

the in,.!?r""'''' *'•' '"^'^t'^'^o^ free pa Js into
t.fW • ?i, ' ^'°f ™'*' *^"« «•'''« and female t(v
gather in the usual manner, and the female subse-

ones A few of these young ones are expelled with

♦r-^ r.V^"' *® .8'"** •'""^ of *•'«'" eat their way
through the mtestines into the muscles, and after
producing there considerable pain, greater or less
aceording to their number, finally be'come enveloped
n the same hard shell as in the hog, in which stote
they may remain alive for dozens of years without
causing any further inconvenience. If the number
ofJrjajBa! IS very .large, death quickly ensues; if
moderate, only pains and prostration; if small, no
very material inconvenience. Under no circum-
stances does the worm ever breed in the muscles

3rd. Hogs that eat the faeces expelled from a
human being or any other animal suffering from
Trichiniasis in its early stages, become infected by
the disease by the young worms contained therein
or they may become infected by eating the flesh of
any animal suffering from Trichiniasis in its later

Salso ' "" '^'' *''''^^' ""'^ P'^'^^^^y

*!, ^'lij •? '" "J"?'<""o»s absurdity to contend, as does
the Editor of the Chicago Republican, that Tri!
chinae exist in the human body irrespective of any
consumption of raw Trichinous pork. Scientifi-
cally the entire history of this animal is nearly as
well known as that of the Cow or the Horse. He
might as well contend that lice could breed in a
boy s head without the intervention of some primor-
dial mother-louse to start the breed

5th A heat of 150» F.ihrenheit (the boiling
point being 212o) kills the Trichina' cffectuall/
Hence there 13 no danger whatever in eatin.' Tri-
chmous pork that has been thoroughly cooked", but
all persons should be particularly careful not to eat
smoked sausages under the idea that they arc
cooked, because it is only a particular kind of
smoking that destroys the Trichina.

6th In Germany it is a very common practice
to eat raw sausage, raw ham and raw pork In
America scarcely anybody does so. Hence we see
at once why Trichiniasis in the human subject is
very common in Germany and almost unknown in
America, although for one hog that is infected in
Germany two hundred are infected in America
;„ 7^ a ""^-nent upon the doctrine of those who,

denvth^f^T •°r-'?"'-'"'''"'°'''' '"'""t'fi" evidence
deny that Trichiniasis is caused by eating Trichi-

RZJPrf 'V '-^ '^^^ ^ '"^J"'" ">« following
Report of a Meeting at Berlin in Germany, copied

from the London Lancet. I shall only add that I
practice what I preach myself, and eat well cooked
ham almost every day without fear and with per-
fect "mpunity and recommend others to do the
same. Wil the Editor of the Chiea^o RepubliZl
follow out his principles in the same practi^l man

63

taTn £ Trie w"" " "' """^^ '^"'""' 'o -"-

of all Dork A t Jhfi ?^ * microsoopioal examination
meat frW apt wh^ch had be«"~"*"''^*'.''°"^ * P'*"""^

iast r Xs as'U'u^^/^rnrd "m^^J^^^S^ /^«
said, 'are the most harmless animals °n the worMIt^'!

^Ti^'\ wt ^^"Shter and continued ihouts of * Eat eat

veL'jrit- uTar^-cffi'd 't^h'is^^/^
oMnlT T":* Pf:»'y?«d- Hia iimess was caused bvtd
JtZT ""'"T*'' '" *•>« »»"5«g« he had been badgered to
swallow • and, as might be ejected, the result wl foul!
KocK IstAHD, III., April 16, 1866.

SECEIVED.

Besides those publications acknowledged in our
last number, we have received the following :—

A Geseral View of the AomcuLTunE and Indiitbv „.
THE CocNxr OP Kennebec, Me., with N^tes upon itlni/
^io^ IdUoro "the m"'''"7' ''^ ^''°"'»' ^- Boardman, jt
ar ^a« ^ATus^aTuWl'sraf '-^^^^^

£^vv\td|afr.Tir-^^"L-j-^

industry of the County, and will contain ftatistcaUnd
nl^.me^;^roe^,rt-„r;-:-^^^^

Sexual Physiology— Ascientific and popuIarexDosition
of the fundamental problems in Sociolog^by TrTrX
M. D lvo.,8vo. Illustrated with 80 cuts and nelnl'
sretxfw'^^rl!'' "^ ^""'" ^-^ * *^° -^o"' ^.

The great interest now being felt in all subjects relating

ve"y"Z' ""bI^ d!!".?'^']' '""''?"''' book'oflnte e "tf
every one. Besides the information obtained bv its n«

rusaf, the practical bearing of the various subjecU treat"

to humaHir^ ^"^ f K^"« ^ ^'g^^^ directiorand value"
to human life cannot be over-estimated. The nrice of

fo^trafpJtce*'"""* "'" ''^"■" by mail to an/aTd^JI
The American Farmer— A monthly journal of A^ricul

er'Ty'^at ^ri'r'P^'^l^!^^^ by JoLTurL^r'Xche I
r,/Ai^\ •' ^ .f ^^^'*- ^bi8 IS certainly a very cheaD

Jn5 o(.r '°^ T^^ «."""" "P> i*^ *" o^'tavo form of 32 pLes^
and ably conducted. . l'»««8#

1 v^ounml' fj^V'l^r:-^-^ "^^'^ excellent semi-month-

Slma3' $2?yt^;^'^ ^' ''' ^^"^«' ^^" ^^ ^~^-

n«n'^7?''7K^''7"'^''V"-A practical and scientific news-
paper for the plantation, the garden and the family cir-
« 4^ f^^^'^bed monthly at Athens, Ga., by Wm. N. White,
at ^6 a year. This is an interesting and attractive jour-
nal, containing 36 pages of valuable information.

1

ii

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i

111

I

y

Lmjuyj'^^

S?KCS5^51

64

i

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

ANSWEES TO OOEEESPONDENTS.

BY B. D. WALSH, M. A. — Associate Editor.

, }*\^' ?®°^^°?.*®^' Illinois.— There are two very distinct
kinds of bark-lice or scale-insects that commonly infest
the apple-tree in Illinois; one of these is dirty-white, of
an elongate slightly curvilinear shape, rather hunched,
and about thrice as long as wide ; the other is milk-white
oval, very flat, and about half as long again as wide.
The farst is the common imported Bark-louse, which has
been gradually working westward through Illinois for
the last ten or twelve years, and within the last year or
two has reached Rock Island County, on the Mississippi
Kiver, and, as it seems from your account, Whiteside Co
also. The second is an indigenous insect, and I have no^
ticed It for many years on crabs and willows, and in com-
paratively small numbers on apple-trees. This year, on
certain branches of one of my apple-trees, I find it so
thick, that It completely covers the bark, and would, no
doubt, if not attended to, kill the tree in a year or two
Occasionally it happens that the two species occur promis-
cuously on the same treej but it is far more common for
each to be met with by itself. The imported insect, if
allowed to run its natural course, is certain death to anv
tree that it attacks, when it is first introduced into a new
neighborhood; but after a few years it is attacked by can-
nibal insects, chiefly Lady-birds, (Cbmne//a,) which thin
It out and prevent it from increasing so exorbitantly as
before. Until this year, I had not supposed that the in-
digenous species would ever multiply to any very serious
ex^nt on apple-trccs, though I had seen it in one instance
sufficiently numerous to kill willow-trees; and Mr Kin
ney, the Rock Island nurseryman, who has noticed it for
many years on one or two of his apple-trees, was of the
same opinion.

You enquire as to the safety of petroleum as a remedy.
Last spring on a few branches of two different apple-
trees, I found the imported Bark-louse pretty thick So I
trimmed the twigs off pretty closely on these particular
branches and painted the trimmed limbs with common
Kerosene, using for the purpose what painters call a

lu ^ .u ''"^^•, ^"^ ^ *^^^^® examination this spring, I find
that the result was quite satisfactory, no new bark-lice be-
ing to be found, though the old dead scales still adhere to
the bark, and the painted limbs being not killed It is
certainly possible that if a whole tree were treated'in this
manner, the consequences might be fatal; and here, as
m so many other cases, we need carefully conducted
experiments to guide us. I notice, however, that Mr Ca-
vanach, the Brooklyn gardener, says, that he commonly
uses Kerosene to kill bark-lice without any ill effects re-
sulting therefrom. {N. Y. Tribune, March 16, 1866.)

Samuol Canby, Del.-There are several distinct species
of the genus 7'j;26a, which infest woollen clothes, carpets
furs, feathers, Ac; but as thQ habits of all of them are
nearly the same, it is of no practical importance to dwell
on this point. As a general rule, the species that infest
lurs are distinct from those that infest carpets, and so
forth; but almost all of them in the larva state live in
little elongate cases, which they construct from the in-
fested material ; and all of them finally change into
small, four-winged moths or "millers" of a dull gravish
color, with no very conspicuous markings. It is of course
these moths that lay the e^gs from wtich proceed the
larv« that do all the mischief. The moth itself is inca-
pable of eating into anything, having no jaws to eat with
and nothing but a proboscis or tongue adapted for suck-
ing liquid food, l^hese insects pass the winter in their
cases, and come out into the moth or winged state about
the time that the first warm weather commences. Thcv
are all of them imported insects, and are just as common
in Europe as in America.

fh^^r ^"[k ''''^ ,^^ag««d up for the summer to preserve
wTJr H ^^,^,J"^^^ « ^^y'l^g its eggs on them, care should
be taken that there are no larvae already in them Other
wise you might have a large colony raised in perfect se-
curity, the paper or linen bag preventing you from watch-
ing tneir operations. Tobacco and camphor, as all good
housewives know, are offensive to the moth ; and either
she will not deposit her e?gs upon such articles as are
constantly moved about and exposed to the open sunlight,
or If by chance she does so, the young larv« are soon cHp-
pled and destroyed by the rough usage they meet with.
It is remarkable that the carpet-moth generally lays her

eggs near the wall, because the carpet is there seldom
disturbed by walking on it. Hence, if tobacco is used to
keep carpets from being attacked by the moth, it is gene-
rally sufiicient to scatter it next the wall. Of course, the
oftener a carpet is taken up and beaten, the less chance
IS there for a colony of the larvae of the carpet-moth to
establish itself therein.

Silas P. Judson, Michigan.— You say you have a "small
worm (it may be the cut-worm) that eats up your onions
and most of your garden sauce, even potatoes and peas,
but does not touch the corn," and you enquire what is the
best way "to get nd of them." Are you certain it is the
same insect that attacks all these plants ? Likely enough
there maybe half a dozen different kinds attacking your
garden. As you give no description of the " worm," ex-
cept that It is "small," nor of the way in which it ope-
rates, whether under ground or above ground, whether
by day or by night, whether solitary or several in com-
pany, Ac. Ac, It is utterly impossible even to guess what
insect you refer to. You might as well write to a Detec-
tive Officer at Detroit and say " There is a rather short
man perpetually stealing bacon, flour and meal out of my
smoke-house. Please tell me what his name is and where
he lives." In the whole United States there are about
thirty thousand distinct kinds of insects ? How then is
It possible for any one to tell which particular one you
mean, when all you say about it is that it is "small?"
If you will send me specimens by mail in a little paste-
board box, (a gun-cap box answers a very good purpose,)
I can probably tell you what they are, and perhaps how
to fight them. But at present I can tell you nothing, be-
cause I know nothing.

P. C. Truman, Iowa.— The borers you sent arrived in
first-rate order, and belong boith of them to the same spe-
cies, one being in the larva state and the other in the per-
fect or winged state. They are the Sa'perda calcarata of
bay, and have long been known to infest different species
ot i'oplar. Botanically the Cottonwood, out of which you
split them, is a true Poplar, though in common parlance
It is not so considered. I was very glad to get them, as
the insect does not occur in this neighborhood, so far as
1 am aware, and was new to my collection. As you en-
quire respecting some elementary work on Entomology.
1 should recommend you to Harris's Injurious Insects,
edition of 1862, Boston. It contains many plates and
ligures, and you can probably get it through any book-
seller. The price is, I believe, $5 for the edition with co-
lored plates. That with plain plates is cheaper, but how
much cheaper I do not know.

Lucy D. Hunt, Mass.— The worm that you find so trou-
blesome in flour and rye meal in July and August, and
which you describe as about an inch long, must be the
common "meal-worm," an imported insect, very common
on both sides the Atlantic, though you describe it as
white and flat," whereas it is in reality of a yellowish-

Jmi^®,*^'^^^ u' ^"^ ^° "^°^® ^'^^ *^^^ y^^^ knitting-needle.
Ihe long black bug,8imilar to the snapping-bug," which
you find "in and near the flour and meal," must be the
same insect in its perfect or winged state. Scientifically
It IS called Tenebriomolitor, and it is a true Beetle belong-
ing to the Order Coleoptera, and differing from the Snap-
ping-beetles {Elater family) in hiving only /our, instead
of^ye joints to its hind feet (tarsi,) and in a variety of
other respects. You will find a figure both of the larva
?r? It the Perfect Beetle in Harris's Injurious Insects, pp.
10—11. The Bacon-bug {Dermestes lardarius), which you
well describe as " a small, black bug (beetle) with a dirty
white stripe across the middle of his back," and which,
as some of your neighbors thought, had produced your
Hour-worms, has an entirely different larva, furnished
with long hairs, and could not live in flour.

ACENOWLEDOHEKTS.

We thankfully acknowledge the receipt of the following

sums, donated for the support of our paper :

Edward Burgess, Massachusetts $5 qq

J. J. Thomas, New York .'..*..*.**.*.*.."." 1 QQ

Samuel Canby, Delaware .*.*,* I'nn

John W. Bailey, New York J* qa

LaMar K. Hayhurst, M. D., Missouri '.'.'.'.V.V.V.V.V.V.* l.'oo

J^ Subscribers who may fail to receive their numbers
of the paper regularly, will please notify us.

I

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

65

OXJK,

ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT.

«©- To ADVEKTISERS-Advertisemente of interest to the Farmer, Agriculturist and Horticultu-
nst, are solicited lor the purpose of defraying the cost of publishing this Bulletin, which is circulated
extensiyely throughout the country, thereby presenting a flrst-cla^ medium for Agricultural and Hor-
ticultural advertisements. Advertisements inserted on reasonable terms

B^- To OUR READER8.-We would be much obliged to any of our readers patronizing those who
advertise in this paper, to mention in the letter sending orders, or for circulars, &c., that they had seen
the advertisements in the Practical Entomologist; this will not only prove a satisfaction to the
advertisers, but will secure us an advertising patronage, which will go far towards insuring the prompt
issue of the paper. ° ^ ^

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List of Advertisers in present Number.

The Prairie Farmer, Chicago, III,— Emery A Co., Pub-
. lishers.

Sorgo Journal and Farm Machinist, 116 Main Street,
Cincinnati, Ohio.

Miller, Wood & Co., 2^o. 15 Laight SL, JV. F.— The He-
rald of Health for May.

Baugh & Sons, iVb. 20 South Delaware Avenue, Philadel-
phia.— Raw Bone Superphosphate of Lime.

F. K. Phoenix, Bloomingion, Illinois. — General assort-
ment of Standard and Dwarf Fruit, Ornamental and Nur-
sery Stock.

Graham, Emlen A Passmore, No. 627 Market St., Phila-
delphia.— Farm Implements, Seeds and Fertilizers.

G. E. A. F. W. Woodward, M. 37 Park Bow, New York.
—Publishers of " The Horticulturist."

Elliott A Shields, Richmond, Fir^tnta.— Publishers of
"The Farmer."

8. S. Mills A Co., No. 24 S. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md.—
Publishers of " The Maryland Farmer."

Blake A Whittington, N. W. comer of Chester and Maple
Sts., Philadelphia. — Dental Instruments.

Mason A Hamlin, No. 274 Washington St., Boston, and
No. 596 Broadway, New York. — Cabinet Organs.

Gabriel Marc, Astoria, N, Y. — Grape Vines, Pear Trees,
Roses, Ac.

Franklin Fire Insurance Co., Nos. 435 and 437 Chestnut
St., Philadelphia. — Insurance against Fire.

H. a. Dreer, No. 714 Chestnut St., Philadelphia.— Vege-
table, Grass and Flower Seeds, Fruit and Shade Trees,
Evergreens, Grape Vines, Strawberry Plants, Asparagus
Hoots, Ac, Ac.

C. B. Rogers, No. 133 Market St., Philadelphia.— Gr&Bs
Seeds, Imported Seed Wheat and Seed Oats, Garden Seeds
and Agricultural Implements.

Entomological Society op Philadelphia.— Proceedings
of the Society.

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1829 ~^^^^^^^ PERPETUAL.— -inQQ

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Go to work in behalf of the "Practical Entomologist,"
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ASSETS ON JANUARY 1, 1866,

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DIRECTORS;

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CHARLES N. BANCKER, President
EDWARD C. DALE, Vice President,
J. W. McAllister, Secretary pro tem.

OF the

Entomological Society of Philadelphia

Foii isee.

Containing Monographic Papers by eminent Entomologists,
Proceedings of the Meetings of the Society, tkc.
To be issued quarterly, in numbers containing about
100 pages each, and illustrated with plates of new and
interesting Insects.

Subscription Price, $3, payable in advance on the re-
ceipt of the first number.

JZ^* Those wishing to subscribe will please forward
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E. T. CRESSON, Corresp. Secretary,

518 S. Thirteenth St., Philadalpnia, Pa.

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Vi

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■1*1t-Tirf* - -■ <l<

66

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

NATIVE GRAPE VINES.

STEONG AND VIGOROUS PLANTS.
lONA, ISRAELLA,
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All the leading and best varieties on Pear and Quince
Stocks, two to five years old.

All the finest varieties of Hybrid Perpetual Teas and
Bourbons ; also, a select lot of new varieties selected in
Europe last May, when in bloom. Notice shall be given
"when they arrive.

A NEW VALUABLE BEDDING PLANT.

Iresine Herbstii, or Achyranthes Versohaflfeltii,
A beautiful, ornamental foliaged plant, having dark

crimson leaves, with ribs and stem of a bright carmine.

This Tplant will be found to excel the charming Amaran-

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Send for Price List.

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Farm Implements— Seeds— Fertilizers.

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MARYLAND FARMER.

A MONTHLY PERIODICAL

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It is a Reliable and Practical Journal, devoted to the
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General Assortment of Standard and Dwarf Fruit

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Grapes and Small Frmits— with Kitatinny, Wilson'i
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67

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68

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

TAKE NOTICE!

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offering their article to the public. This Trade Mark i^
adopted in addition to the ^itle -Raw Lne," whLh s

Z'r^^'ulT^-t PTf *^^ni^^ *^^""«^ ^" manufacturers
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tZtr.'rV^S* ^i^'\T^ ^^^ '^ *^ *^^^r interest to see
that the Trade Mark " is upon every bag and barrel they
purchase, as none other is genuine. ^

BAUGH A SONS.

MARK

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i\

THE

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

Published by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, for the dissemination of valuable

knowledge among Agriculturists and Horticulturists.

MAY 28, 1866.

No. S.

cations should be addressed.

^^^ Terms— fiO cents a year, in advance.

rr^^^H «"^?«"Pt'ons must date from the commence-
ment of the volume.

.^Our Western Correspondents will please send their

J. W. McAllister, j Editors

BENJ. D. WALSH, Rock Island, IllinoTs?

Associate Editor.

PHILADELPHIA, MAY 28, 1866.

1^^ We have been repeatedly urged by numer
ous subscribers to give a series of lessons on Ento-
mology, for the instruction and accommodation of
those who have not the means and opportunity of
procuring the necessary works on the subject. By
special request, Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr., of Maine—
a thorough student of Entomology— has kindly un-
dertaken the task, and gives his first lesson in this
number, illustrated with two outline drawings,
which will assist the reader in the study of this
beautiful and fascinating science. The phraseology
of the articles will doubtless appear too scientific for
most of our readers, but it should be remembered
that there is no art, profession or trade, which can
be t(|ught or learned without the use of technical
words or phrases belonging to each, and which, to
the inexperienced and untaught, are as unintelli-
gible as the terms of science.

It is hoped that these lessons will receive the
careful attention they most certainly deserve and
when the series is finished, the reader will, no doubt
have an elaborate insight into the principles of
entomological science.

The advantages of studying Entomology.

Kollar, speaking on the advantages of studying
Entomology to the Agriculturist and Forester, and
on the method of doing so, says in the introduction
to his excellent Treatise : —

The intimate connection in which insects stand
to man to domestic animals, and to the difierent
kinds of vegetable productions, makes them well
worthy the consideration of every one, and particu-'
larly of the agriculturist and the forester. Althou<rh
insects are small and inconsiderable, the excetTd-
ingly great number of species, and the still greater
number of individuals in many of them, fully com-
pensate for their want of corporeal magnitude The
amount of the species of plants, and all the classes
of other animals taken together, cannot (accordino'
to the latest estimates) equal in amount the species
ot insects, as we reckon about 300,000 species If
we consider the fecundity of many kinds of insects,
which sometimes produce an offspring of several
hundreds, or even thousands, (the females of the

nfnA^f'x' ""^"^^'^^ »»^ producing an offspring of
ii),^OJ,) and also that some kinds produce several
generations in one year, it appears evident that the
number of insects can hardly be estimated. As a
proof of this, which perhaps to many may appear
too bold an assertion, we need only to mention the
enormous swarms of locusts [grasshoppers], which
are sometimes. so numerous, and in such masses,
that they darken the sun, and when they alight
they frequently cover several square miles of land •
also the Rhagio columbaschensis Fabr., a minute
dipterous insect, but a fearful plague in many parts
of the bannat of Temeswar [in Southern Hun-
gary, Europe], and which, when congregated in the
air, resemble dark clouds, although each individual
IS not more than two lines [one-sixth of an inch]
long. Who could even reckon the myriads of gnats
or midges, which in many years, like pillars of smoke,
ascend in the air? Or who could succeed in ascer-
taining the number of inhabitants in an ant-hill ?
All these myriads derive their nourishment either
from plants or animals, in their living state, or from
their remains when dead; and there are even some

'' \

«':

M*MiJ>ik.^-

i

ITT ■>■■■■ I

'1

•••■••^'■•'••-•-•l*— -

•m > ^

70

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

to wliich man himself must pay tribute with his
blood.

" From such considerations are we not" (says
Schrank the worthy Bavarian naturalist,) " alarmed
for our forests, gardens, and -roves ? Do not these
innumerable millions of insects which incessantly
labour at their destruction, confuse our understand-
ing when we begin to reckon them, and terrify our
imagination which magnifies them? And can I
be believed if I assert, that I discover benificence
in such unspeakable destruction, beauty in these
devastations, wisdom in this disorder, and life in
this manifold death? Nevertheless it is so. What-
ever many may say of nature growing old, the natu-
ra ist finds her always young and beautiful, always
estimable, just as she came from the hand of her
Creator and as she indeed every moment issues
afresh from the hand of the Almighty Being. In
His hand the youth of nature is continually renewed ;
and under His all-ruling providence, all the millions
of apparently destructive beings only labour in pre-
serving her existence and embellishment.

"Let us here contemplate the whole economy
ot nature at a general glance, in respect to forests
only; and let us view her as she is, without the
aid of man, who often disturbs her general arran-e-
ment. °

. " Insects that feed on wood are not injurious to
ligneous plants, except from their disproportionate
numbers ; and these numbers, when left to bounti-
tul nature herself, are never disproportionate : two
assertions which, however paradoxical theymayseem
at first sight are yet admitted by the naturalist, who
has proofs of them daily before his eyes, as pHnci-
ples, but which I must here demonstrate, because
many persons who are enga-cd in studying the works
of nature, either as professional men or as amateurs
are not naturalists. '

"In a work on the Fruitfulness of Plants [also
written by Schrank] it is stated that an elm twelve
years old in one single year produces 164,500 seeds •
which, in the course of another twelve years, (if no
accident happened) would become as large trees as
their parent: and from this calculation it appears
tiat a succession of much more than 26,960 millions
ct trees might be obtained from one

" This calculation is made from the fruit onlv
«nd not from the blossom of any tree, and is, there-
fore, applicable to all other trees. A single species
of tree, such as we have them in one of our pro-
vinces the most scantily clothed with trees, would,
during the life of man, cover a large extent of land
with a thick forest, and after a few centuries it
would appear as if the whole world had been made
tor It only— as if it alone would cover the whole
extent of dry land.

" The great multiplicity of organised beings
which makes the world as it is at present so beau-
tiful would then have disappeared; symmetrv
which gives a charm to this multiplicity, and which
delights the contemplator of nature in exalted en-
thusiasm, would have vanished; soon would all ani-
mal life m the habitable world be destroyed; a great
mumber of birds which live only on insects which

cat wood, we have already annihilated, by our pre-
supposition that these insects do not exist ; the
thick impenetrable forest, which the kind of tree
mentioned would cover, would soon supplant everv
blade of grass kill every insect intended to live
upon it, every bird to which these insects were in-
tended as food destroy all animals living upon
grass that could not reach the tops of the high
forest trees, and finally kill every beast of prg^
which could not at last even find a carcase to satisfy
Its ravenous hunger. "awsijr

"This is but too faint a picture of our earth
which without the insects that live on wood, would
be but too true A wise hand has scattered them

fn'sdnrt Its'. .^"'"' *° "*"'' '''"^ "« P'^^'i^"'"'
wthtL' P ?'""■ f ^r'^y- ""^ ^^^ fecundity.

nature On their side, pursued by powerful or

ingly follow the given commands of Providence.

" The proportion which exists between their in-
crease and the occasion for it, and their enemies
wouTdl""'"' ^'°f '^' devastations which Tey
ble equTltty!""' * ''''"''' "" '° *' ""'«' '''^"''"'-

'' \ foi-f of firs more than a hundred years old
has already nearly terminated its appointed exist^
ence_ A host of caterpillars fir.t takL^ossession of
the branches, and consumes the foliage. A suner

fa"n7uid'b:^b^V'^!''^''"'''''°° »f -••-•> - -°S-
languid by the failing strength of the tree), an un-
natural increase of the nourishing juices between
the bark and the wood, and the separation of res^
parts, are the consequences.

*l,r'^Tl'l.'"" ^^l ?f insects now appears; they bore
through the rind into the inner bark, ^hich thev
eat, and pierce through; or into the 'wood, wS
they pierce and destroy. The diseased tr^es are
now nearly dead; the numerous destructiv^Tnsecu
ncrease wjth the sickness which attracted them
there; each tree dies of a thousand wounds which

follows in consequence. The dissolution is accom-

t^: l\^ '}»^ '■•''' "*■' <■"' the mast part, smaller

msec s, but still more numerous; and these are con-

mually employed in reducing Jhe decayed trunks

fth!'cl'^r°'','1.P°''"''^' ^''"« "t the^«ame"ime

different kind, spring out of the earth, which had
afforded nourishment to the dead tree The firet

ts^'tr ^ °""!?'°"''^, "'^ ^^'^^y ^'okness of t^e
orest, the second accelerated its death; and the

third accomplished its total destruction.' It need

not be lamented. These trees would have died a

Z^lZt'^ry^'''r\ "y "''«'y '^^"'tiog from
their death Their leafless stems would probablv

find a use in the remains of these dyin- trees and
under every step of near and approaching death
thousands spring forth endowed with vitality'
"Each host of these insects are again exnosed tn
destroyers which put a check to thJr too gCt ex"
tension Other insects, and a great number of
birds, clear away the caterpillars while theyTre feed-
ng on the leaves, and when they have under .one
their change, and are lying i„ tL earth, the\^d

resT X hi?f T ''r/"' *''°"' *«'^ P'-« of
rest with his tusks, and devours them with the

greates eagerness. Those insects which conceal

1 hT. 'f ;° "^V^"""' ''"'' "^ ^'>°^ do not share
find Wn. ;, /''" woodpecker knows where to
?Vhe„ t^; r ""' '•l"".""' °f ">« ^^V^^ holes,
thov h,v ^*^PPkT/° '^* hark in the perfect state,
hey have the bitterest enemies in the fly-catcher
he tree-creeper and all kinds of magpies Whole'
Z::linTu^^^ "I 'T'^ -here^these inj^ct's
disnerl^b l""^'"' *"" '^ey leave the place and
disperse themselves as soon as the superfluity of
nourishment is exhausted. lu this state all nature
.son a perfect equuhty; but man comes, and de-
stroys the order-he annihilates the harmony of na-
ture, and IS astonished at the discordance. First
he sacrifices the wild boar to gratify his palate
, tak^s possession of the wood, and, according to the
usual fallacy of taking the consequences for the
cause, considers the woodpecker his enemy, and
*Z<-'a t'.r^T'' P'-«'^'^co«, '■'ages war with all

c^nM f-M '}" t"™''- ^°'««t« ''PP^"^ to him too
contemptible for his pursuit, too small, too numcr-

ous and too well concealed, to reward him directly
for the trouble o endeavouring to extirpate thenf.
rhey may, therefore, go on with their occupations
undisturbed and if they carry them too far, he then
complains of Providence.

" After haying wrested the lordship of the woods
trom the animals we should pursue with wisdom
the economy which heretofore the animals, from a
blind impulse of nature, had practised. We should
anticipate nature in her operations, and cut down
trees that approach weak old age, or those that are
checked m their growth by a stronger tree standing
near them, or those that have been killed by light-
ning; and the teeth of the boar which prepared the
earth for the seeds, should be replaced by the pick-
axe, and our tame pigs ought to be employed in
digging up the earth-grubs, which the boar was
accustomed to do. We only are to blame if our fi.
nest forests are destroyed," &e. Such are the expres-
sions of a practical naturalist on insects which are
injurious to forests A similar picture may be
formed of those which attack fruit-trees, field fruits
01 all kinds, and even our domestic animals.

The result of such contemplations will be, that
we can only protect ourselves from the injurious
influence of insects by an ample knowledge of the
reciprocal relation in which one stands to another
and in order to obtain this, it is essentially necesl

rr7,L!^"""^ • '^?<"''fdge of those kinds which
are directly or indirectly injurious to man, their
^,_ different stages of' life, their nourishment, propaga-
tion, duration, and finally their natural enemies

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

71

Popular remedies for IToilous Insects.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, H. A.

wW^ Tl '??'''^^^ *^^^ "P ^"^ Agricultural Journal,
without finding one or more prescriptions against
the depredations of Noxious Insects, from thTpeo

^L«r' "T!*'^^'"^- ^^ ^"^3^ ^ tenth part of
tZ T ""^V^^^y generally profess to be-un-
Insect th°t^ rejiable specifics agLst the particular
insect that they are intended to combat— it is
strange that Agriculturists should be complainine
more and more every day of the losses that they

n nr nt r ^JT' ^'^'''''' ^^e remedies are
in print vouched for as infallible by A. B. or X. Y.

rri. ^ <ion't they apply them?
«n . n T^ *''']?'' ^^^«^er, is that many of these
so-called remedies are demonstrably worthless-
many are founded upon a very insuflicient number
of observations, and may or may not be more or less
partially successful— and only a few of them are of
any real value. Human testimony, I am sorry to
say, is, as a general rule, to be received with very
great caution. It is not that these writers lie wil-
fully and deliberately, but that they jump to con-
clusions without fully investigating the subject, and
having once formed an opinion in their own minds
support It enthusiastically through thick and thin!
J ust m the same way, if we believed all the testimo-
ny that we see printed in every newspaper that we
take up, we should come to the conclusion that for
every disease of the human body there was an in-
fallible remedy Yet the physicians are as busy as
they used to be-the sick obstinately persist in
dying, in spite of the Golden Drops or the Specific
hlixir— and the Undertaker and the Probate Court
lind their hands as full as ever.

More than a century ago the practice of Inocu-'
lation was introduced into Norway in Europe in
order to check the Small Pox, and about the same
time, from some unknown cause, the fish suddenly
disappeared along the entire coast of Norway All
at once a great outcry was raised against Inocula-
tion. It was a ruinous practice, said the Norwe-
gmns; it was killing off the fish, which were their
chief means of support. Better that a few men
should die of Small Pox, than that they should all
die of starvation. The reader smiles, perhaps.
But these simple people only made the same mis-
take that IS so often made in more modern times-
confounding the po^^^wo^ with the propter nuod,
the After with the Because. Again, some centu^
ries ago the Goodwin Sands on the South-eastern
Coast of England had enlarged so much as to be
very destructive to shipping, and government sent a
commission to the spot to enquire into the cause and
the remedy for the evil. Several rustics were ex-
amined without arriving at any definite conclusion,
till at last a grey-headed old man gave it as his de-
cided opinion, that if they wished to get rid of the
(xoodwin Sands they must pull down Tenterden
Church Steeple. " When that steeple," he argued
was first commenced, the sands began to accumu-
late; as It progressed, they got worse am worse-
and now that it is finished, they are a terror to all

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72

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

the sailors/' We laugh at such reasoning; for here
again we see that the After is confounded with the
Because. But many an American farmer often
argues just as illogically. A certain insect is afflict-
ing one of his crops. Forthwith he scatters lime,
or ashes, or road-dust over it. The insect in the
course of a week or so disappears, probably because
the natural time had arrived for it to go under
ground to pass into the pupa state. And then, liey
presto! we have lime, or ashes, or road-dust recom-
mended in print as an infallible remedy against the
attacks of this particular insect.

Anbther most fertile source of error is the found-
ing general rules upon a very insufficient number
of experiments, just as the Quack Doctor, having
given a certain dose of Calomel on the same day to
a shoemaker and to a tailor, and having found that
the shoemaker was badly salivated and that the
tailor's gums were not at all affected, jumped to the
conclusion that mercury always salivated shoemakers
but had no influence whatever upon the constitu-
tions of tailors Take, for example, the well known
Fire Blight on Pear Trees, which attacks particular
trees in particular orchards, apparently in the most
capricious manner. Some years ago a letter was
published from a correspondent of the Rural New
Yorker, strongly recommending a remedy which
he had found effectual on his own trees. In such
a case as this, it ought to have been shown that out
of a hundred trees, to which the remedy had been
applied, none or next to none had been affected by
Fire Blight, and that out of a hundred other trees
in the same orchard, which had been left untouched,
a considerable percentage had been blighted. No
such facts, however, were shown in the letter. All
that appeared was, that a few trees to which the
remedy was applied were not blighted; and even
of these, one, if my memory serves me, was said to
have been partially blighted. But the remedy
Itself was so absurd, that it is difficult to see how
any sane man could be deluded into trying it. We
were to bore an inch augur hole into the trunk of
the tree, fill it with ten-penny nails and sulphur,
and then plug it up; the theory being, as the
learned writer assured us, that the iron of the nails
combined with the sulphur and formed Sulphate of
Iron, and that this Sulphate of Iron was received
into the circulation of the tree and cured the Blight.
Lnfortunately, however, for the theorist, every che-
mist knows that Sulphur and Iron will not, when
mixed together, produce Sulphate of Iron, any more
than Sulphur and Lime, when mixed together, will
produce Sulphate of Lime or common Gypsum.
Besides, if Sulphate of Iron is a real remedy for
Fire J^light, why not purchase it ready-made at the
Druggists, and apply it in the form of a poultice or
cata}>lasm to the external surface of the tree, so as
to do away with the necessity for that objectionable
one inch augur hole? Talk of borers indeed:
Why a single one of these gigantic iron-tailed borers
would ruin a small-sized pear-tree, and the remedy
would be worse than the disease.

As regards the fallibility of human testimony, I
may say that I have more than once tested by ac-

tual experiment the assertions of men, whom I con-
sidered perfectly trustworthy , and who I know would
not intentionally deceive, and found those assertions
to be utterly unsupported by facts. For example,
I was once told by a fruit-grower, that he had killed
all the plant-lice on his trees by making a den^e
smoke round them with burning tar on a still even-
ing. I received particular directions how to go to
work. I followed those directions in the minutest
particulars. And the result was that the plant-lice
on a particular bough, which had been envelop-
ed in the densest smoke of all and for the longest
time of all, were alive and kicking the next day.
Do I therefore believe that my friend, the fruit-
grower, lied? Not at all. But plant-lice often
suddenly disappear in a few days or a week from
the action of the numerous parasitic and cannibal
insects that attack them His plant-lice were pro-
bably about to disappear in this manner, at the time
that he smoked them, and mine were not. And
hence we can easily explain why the two experi-
ments resulted so very differently.

By way of practical comment upon the foregoing
remarks, I subjoin several prescriptions against
Noxious Insects, which have been taken at random
from various recent publications, with a few obser-
vations upon each:

To Cure Wormy Trees.— The following recipe is pub-
lished in the New York Evening Post:

With a large gimlet or augur bore into the body of the
tree, just below where the limbs start, in three places, a
groove inclining downwards. Witn a small funnel pour
a shilling 8 wortn of quicksilver into each groove. Peff
it up closely and watch the result. Had it been done
when the sap first started on its upward circuit it would
have been more efficacious— yet, even now, it will greatlv
abate the nuisance.

The plan was first tried for a wormy apple tree by Sa-
muel Jones, Esq., of Canaan, Columbia Co., N. Y., and
with entire success. It is believed, that, far from damag-
ing the trees, it will even add to the beauty of the foliage.
In the case of the fruit-troe above mentioned the cure wa»
8urj)rising, not only the fruit becoming perfect and beau-
tiful, but the very leaf seemed to grow larger and far
more dark and glossy.

What is a "wormy tree?" Does the writer
mean a tree afflicted by borers? Or a tree afflicted
by the common "caterpillar," or by some other of
the numerous "worms" or lepidopterous larvae that
infest the foliage of the apple ? Or a tree the fruit
of which is infested by the "apple- worm" which is
the larva of the Codling-moth? Before one takes
Patent Medicine, one usually likes to know what
disease it is intended to cure. As to any effect that
crude quicksilver would or could have upon the
constitution of a tree, we know that it may be in-
troduced into the human bowels in very large doses
without affecting the system ; while comparatively
very minute doses of such chemical preparations of
mercury as Calomel or Corrosive Sublimate produce
disastrous results Hence it is reasonable to infer
that crude mercury, when introduced into the trunk
ot a tree, would be perfectly inert, just as a leaden
bullet fired into the trunk of a tree produces no-
thing but mechanical injury, while the same weight
of white lead would probably be highly destructive
to vegetable life On the other hand no reasonable
man can doubt, that it must injure a tree more or

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

73

less to bore augur holes into it, especially when
they slope downwards, so as to become a receptacle
for rain water.

Remedy for the Currant Worm.— H. Stanton, Jr., of
Syracuse, N. Y., under date of May 24th, sends the Rural
New Yorker the following :— " We have recently made an
important discovery here, which we wish to make public
for the benefit of everybody in general, and their currant
bushes in particular. The ravages of the terrible currant
wornt can be completely stopped, and the enemy destroyed
by the simple application of road dust. We tried it last
year with perfect success, and the same this year so far.
Gather the dust when it is dry and fine, and keep it f5r
future use. As soon and as often as the worm makes an
attack sprinkle it on and throw it up under the leaves so
that it will adhere to both sides. The best time is when
the dew is on in the morning. Remember, road dust from
the street or highway. Try it."

I believe that there is only one noxious insect,
that can be successfully combated by lime or
ashes or road-dust or any such matter, viz : the
Slug-worm of the Pear. The reason is that this larva
is covered by a slimy secretion, to which the lime or
ashes adheres indissolubly and finally destroys it.
All other insects, that commonly infest the Field,
the Orchard or the Garden, have the faculty of
cleansing themselves from any such extraneous
matter, and are far too wise to take it into their
mouths along with the food on which they sub-
sist. Watch, for example, a common house-fly
after it has daubed itself with molasses or any
such substance, and you will see it cleanse one
leg with another, as deftly as any Christian could
do, and wipe its head and its wings with its
legs. In all probability the writer of the above
made his experiment shortly before the " currant-
worm " was about to go under ground to assume
the pupa state, and was thus deceived into suppos-
ing that his enemy was " destroyed."

Scotch Sxupp put in the holes where crickets come out
will destroy them.

This is probably extracted from some English
publication. In England House-crickets are 'very
common and frequent the backs and jambs of fire-
places, ovens, &c.; but in this country they are
rare, and, so far as I know, occur only in Southern
Illinois^^and according to Mr. Uhler, in Maryland.
Harris, •evidently referring only to the New Eng-
land States with which he was best acquainted, says
that they are unknown in the United States. The
common white tree-cricket {(Ecanthus niveus)
sometimes indeed flies into our houses by accident
in the Northern States, and annoys us by night by
its chirruping; but the ordinary domicile of that
insect is on trees and weeds.

To Prevent Weevil in Wheat.— F. J. Robinson, of Lex-
ington, Georgia, writing June 10th to the Southern Cuiti-
vator, says :

"I send you the following * Recipe for the Prevention
of Weevil in Wheat,' which was given to me by my friend
and neighbor, Major C. G. Hargroves, of this county, who
after many years experience, informs me that he has
found his wheat to keep to his entire satisfaction; and
Jas thus been enabled to secure, at all times, good flour
lor his own use, in cases where his succeeding crop was
poor, by holding over old wheat. You will perceive that
the remedy IS a very simple one, and the expense next to
no hing. Here 18 the recipe:

After thoroughly sunning your wheat—and sunning

aJso your boxes or hogsheads— and, previous to taking up
the wheat, prepare a small fire of cobs or trash, and when
It is ablaze, put on it a small quantity of sulphur, and
fumigate each box or tub well. Then, while the wheat
IS hot, and the receptacles for it also hot, put yoiir wheat
away, and rest satisfied that when you dVaw upon your
bank of breadstufl^, you will find your draft honored With
wheat as is wheat.' Insects are not partial, you well
know, to sulphur and its fumes, and hence the succesa
01 tne physic.

I doubt very much whether the fumes of the sul-
phur would not entirely evaporate in a short time.
Ladies straw bonnets are bleached with sulphur,
and yet they have no perceptible sulphureous smell!
Ihe burning sulphur would likely enough, if ap-
plied for a sufficiently long time, destroy any wee-
vils that were lurking in the crevices of the boxes
or hogsheads, but it would not prevent, in my opi-
nion, weevils bred in other localities from infectine
the stored wheat.

Weevil in Barns.— I have been troubled with weevil,
more or less, for fifteen years, in my grain bins, and have
tried every remedy I could hear of-lime, whitewash,
elderberries Ac—but all to no purpose; so I determined
to try something else. In July, 1864, my barn being
empty of grain, Ac, but occupied by millions of weevils,
I took a bucket full of salt and sowed it in the barn as a
larmer would sow grain, broadcast, about the granaries,
mows, and every nook and corner which had had grain
in. Ever since threshing time last year I have had grain
in the barn, and not one weevil to be seen.— Corres. Ohio
farmer.

I am very skeptical as to the salt-cure, as well as
the sulphur-cure. In both cases, perhaps, the
After has been confounded with the Because.

Elder Leaves and Insects.— The leaves of the elder if
strewn among corn or other grain when it is put into the
bin, will effectually preserve it from the ravages of the
weevil— The juice will also kill bed-bugs and maffeots.
— Exchange. °

Here we have another prescription — elder leaves
— to head off" the Weevil. The preceding writer
says that he tried elderberries to no purpose. I
shouJd judge that the berries would, if anything,
be more effectual than the leaves; but T much doubt
if either would have any perceptible effect. As to
the assertion that "■ insects never touch elder
bushes," that is certainly incorrect. The flowers
are haunted by a variety of flies and bees, and a
large and well-known Boring Beetle (Desmocerui
palliatus) inhabits the stems in the larva state, and
in the perfect state occurs on the leaves and the
flowers.

The Corn Grub.— The corn crop has several formidable
enemies to contend with, and among them is the grub,
which sometimes literally destroys whole fields, or da-
mages the crop seriously One of the best and most con-
venient remedies— perhaps the very best ever suggested
—is the application oi salt as soon as the plant makes its
appearance above ground, prepared and used in this way:
Take one part common salt and three parts plaster or^
gypsum, and apply about a tablespoonlul around each
hill. It will be found to be a sure protection. The mix-
ture should not come in contact with the young plants,
as it may destroy them. This method has been tried
over and over again by some of the best farmers of Penn-
sylvania, Delaware and Jersey, and when properly ap-
plied, has never failed to be perfectly successful. We
hope our farmers, who have reason to fear the depreda-
tions of the grub the present season, will try this mixture,
leaving a few alternate rows without the salt, and com-
municate to us the xefi\xii.— Germantown Telegraph.

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74

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

Is it the so-called " White Grub " that is here
spoken of, or the Wire-worm ? But both these in-
sects burrow under ground to reach the corn, and
it is incredible to me, that so minute a dose of salt
as one-third of a tablespoon ful, scattered on the sur-
face round a hill of corn so as not to touch the corn
i. e. in a thin line about a yard lonpj, could stop
them on their travels beneath the surface.

Thk Curculio.— Take hemp tow, or anything else that
will make good wrapping, and bind it around the tree
two or three feet from the ground, having the band four
or five inches wide. Then completely saturate the band
with tar, and keep it so until the fruit is fully developed,
and you will have no trouble in raising fine plums. My
mother practiced this method more than thirty years ago,
and has never known it to fail. A neighbor of mine says'
that he tried this method successfully on an apricot tree
some two years ago. I have practiced it for several years
on English plum trees, that never produced fruit fit for
use until I made the trial. It must be done soon enough,
continued /or^r enough, and to succeed the bandage should
always be kept wet with tar.— tA H. Garrad, in Rural
American.

This proceeds on the hypothesis that the curculio
has got no wings, and is compelled to climb up the
trunk of the tree that it attacks. Unfortunately,
however, for the new theory, it has got full-sized
wings, and can fly with ease. If the insect did not
fly, it would be impossible for it to search out and
sting every plum on a tree so rapidly and completely
as it often does. Fencing out the curculio by tarred
bandages would be a good deal like fencing out the
jrows and black birds from a field of corn by a tight
board fence.

Tobacco.— The cut-worm will troublet he plants almost
as soon as set, by eating them off close to the bud; hunt
them out and destroy them, and replace any missing
plants. The green worm is next to be fought and killed,
or he will destroy your tobacco. He commences depre-
dations when the plants get a foot in height, or be/ore,
sometimes, and works till the tobacco is hung in the barn*
and longer, unless picked off and destroyed. The eggs
of the miller, which produce the worm, are laid on the
underside the leaf, and are a little lighter color tha» the
leaf, and of the size of a pin's head; all of these destroyed,
»re 80 many worms destroyed in embryo. The miller is
of a gray color, with orange-colored spots on each side of
the body, and about as large as a humming bird ; has a
Song, trunk-like tongue; when not in u?e, is closely coiled
up and not observable; they are seen hovering about du
ring twilight, at which time they may be caught and
destroyed.— W. H.Whxtc on Tobacco Culture, %n Rural Ame
rican.

Quite correct.

How TO Kill Shekp Ticks — I have recently been expe-
rimenting with coal oil for killing sheep ticks. I took a
eouple of ticks and dropped a little oil on them, and it
killed them. I then took two or three lambs that were
ticky, opened the wool, and applied it to the ticks After
several days I examined thern and found the vermin
that were touched with the oil dead. I then applied it
to about twenty lambs, with good results. Try it, farm
«rs. Take a bottle and fill it full of common oil used for
burning after putting in the cork, make a hole in it, and
introduce a quill, and open the wool, and whenever the
ticks are found souirt it in. The ticks will die, and the
wool and sheep be improved. This is my experience.
Try it.— W B. Dvtbro. in Rural American.

From what I know of the effects of kerosene upon
insects, I think the-obove very likely to be success-
ful, though it would be called "slow business" out
West. The common practice with shepherds, in
England, is to rub a portion of Blue Mercurial Oint-

ment on the naked surface between the hind leo^s of
every sheep at shearing time, which is supposed to
kill the ticks over the whole body of the animal.
Whether it really does so or not, I have no personal
knowliedge; but every physician is aware that sali-
vation is produced in the human subject by re-
peated rubbings of this kind, which proves that
mercury, when applied in this manner, penetrates
the whole system.

J[n Economic Entomology what is now wanted, is
extensive and carefully conducted experiments upon
the best mode of counterworking the insect foes of
the Agriculturist. If all the remedies published
at various times in various agricultural journals
were collected together, they would probably amount
to at least ten thousand in number, each vouched
for by its author in the most emphatic and persua-
sive manner. The very multitude of the prescrip-
tions is enough to embarrass and bewilder the
afliicted patient. Which way is he to turn himself?
Whom is he to believe ? • One physician recom-
mends mercury, another sulphur, another sal-soda,
another a hodge-podge of ingredients such as enters
the witches' caJdron in Macbeth. Can we wonder
that under such circumstances the aflBicted farmer,
having.tried three or four of the so-called remedies
and found them practically useless, often turns away
in disgust, pronounces Entomology a humbug, and
consigns the devotees of that science to a place
which it would shock polite ears to mention more
explicitly ?

Rock Islawd, III., April 16, 1866.

Ontlinei of the Stndy of Inseoti.

In tnese papers it will be the object of the writer
to present, in as familiar language as possible, the
leading points in the structure of insects, their re-
lations to other animals, their mode of development,
the forms of the different groups, and the special
characters by which they may be recognized. These
lessons will in great part be purely theoretical, as
practical entomology, or the relations of insects to
agriculture and the means of arresting their attacks
J' re abundantly treated of in the other colamns of
this paper.

GENERAL VIEW OF INSECTS.
The animal kingdom was divided by Cuvier into
four branches, the Radiata, Articulata, Mollusca
and Vertebrata. He perceived that the essential
point of difference which separates the articulates
from all other animals, was the fact that their bodies
were invariably made up of joints or cylinder-like
rings which protect the organs within. In this
respect an articulate animal differed from the soft
massive sac-like shell-fish, such as the clam or oys-
ter, which is often protected by a calcareous shell,
and from the radiate animal, or star fishes and jelly
fishes, whose organs or anatomical systems are ar-
ranged concentrically about the alimentary canal
which forms the axis of the body; and lastly, from
the vertebrate whose solid skeleton of lime forms
the central support of the body.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

76

That this classification is in exact accordance
with nature Von Baer demonstrated, when follow-
ing close upon the researches of Cuvier, by inde-
pendent investigations into the growth of animals
he showed that the vertebrate embryo first deve-
loped a bony skeleton which gradually closed around
the nervous system and served as points of attach-
ment for the muscles ; that the young mollusc first
appears as a simple sac or bag containing the viscera
lodged within, and it is comparatively late in life
that its shell grows about it; and that the young
radiate from the first shows a radiated structure,
while the young articulate first develops an outer
jointed body-wall, through which the stomach,
nerves and arteries can be seen gradually forming.
The articulates are by far the most numerous in
species of either branch, the insects alone being
supposed to number upwards of 500,000 species'.
The jointed worm seems to have been selected by
nature as affording almost an infinity of modifica-
tions arising from variations in the^ number of rino-s,
their relative size, and in the number and form of
their appendages.

The idea of articulation which pervades this im-
mense group of animals is seen best exemplified in
the worm. The earth worm is long and slender-
jointed, the body gradually tapers towards the head
and opposite extremity. (Figure 1 shows a cross
section of a worm.)

Upon making a section of the body we find the
muscles attached to the inside of the body-wall, that
the nervous system— Vhich consists of a single cord,
enlarging in each ring into a guaglion or nerve-
knot, which in the Crustacea and Insects is doubled
— rests upon the floor of the cylinder, the alimentary
canal occupies the centre, while above it just under
the back rests the heart or so-called dorsal vessel,
consisting of a tube which pumps the blood from the
tail towards the head, whence it flows in different
currents back through the general cavity of body
and returns in veins often incomplete. The breath-
ing apparatus is also tubular like the other organs
thus formed to pack closely in the tubular body.
In the higher worms the breathing tubes or bran-
chiae are placed around the mouth. Very different
from these are the air tubes or tracheae of insects
which as in the figure (2 g) enters through holes in
the side of the body above the insertion of the legs,
and ramify throughout the entire system, thus oxy-
genating the blood.

There are three grand divisions or classes of ar-
^ticulates, the Worms, Crustacea and Insects.

The worm is long and slender, composed of an
irregular number of rings, all of very even size.
Thus while the size of the rings is fixed, the number
is indeterminate, varying from 20 to 200 or more.
The outline of the body is a single cylindrical figure.
The organs of locomotion are fleshy filaments and
hairs (Fig. 1 /) appended to the sides.

The Crustacean, of which the lobster is an exam-
ple, is composed of a determinate number (21) of
rings in the typical forms, which are gathered into
two regions, the head-thorax (cephalothorax) and
hind body or abdomen. In this class we have first

introduced true jointed legs attached both to the
head-thorax and abdomen. In the Insects the rings
are arranged into three groups.

The number of rings is twenty — seven in the head,
three in the thorax, and ten in the abdomen. Thus,
while in worms in which the abdomen greatly pre-
ponderates in size, the head is no larger than a sin-
gle ring of the body; in the Crustacea the head-
thorax is larger than the abdomen; in Insects there
is the most equable proportion between the three
regions; the head in the highest insects being but
little smaller than the thorax, and the thorax not
much smaller than the abdomen.

Thus the mass of organization is thrown for-
ward towards the head; the organs of sense and
locomotion have their greatest development over the
organs which perform the functions of vegetable
life, such as reproduction, and respiration, and diges-
tion. Insects also differ from Crustacea in havin"*
wings and tracheae (Fig. Ig) of which the last serve
to aerate the blood inside the body, while in the
Lobster or Crab the gills are attached to the legs
on the outside of the body, and thus act very im-
perfectly as lungs.

Size is an important element in classifying
articulates, as those whose forms are most com^
pact and consequently smallest, are in a general
sense physically and psychologically of the most
compact and of the finest quality, just as in man
it is the finest quality, and compactness, and
symmetry of structure that determines high intel-
lectual and physical ability. The earliest insects of
geologic ages were huge, vast, misshapen, entomo-
logical monstrosities like the mammoths and ich-
thyosaurus among vertebrates. The Honey Bee is
of the size and compactness that affords a ti/pe of
the highest physical and physiological development
among insects, and thus stands at the head of the
articulate series. The body is tough, compact, well
knitted together. Its nervous system approaches
nearest to that of vertebrates, as its brain is larger
and better developed than in other insects. Its lo-
comotive powers are immense, and its entire organi-
zation fits it for the highest grade of insect life.
Witness its marvellous instincts, its social habits,
the differentiation of the individual into sexes, and
grades of sexes, for the better performance of the
varied duties of a large and vast colony; its useful-
ness to man; its vegetable diet; though not carhi-
vous, abundantly able to withstand the attacks of
its enemies — all betokening the most equable deve-
lopment of the functions of both animal and vege-
table life.

Contrast this with the Dragon fly and Ephem-
era, the lowest of insects. Their bodies are huge,
lengthened, their abdomen worm-like. They are
rapacious and carnivous. Their eggs are few in num-
ber. The young larvae and pupae pass their lives in
the water. There is a great inequality in the de-
velopment of the elements of their crust.

In classifying insects we must steadily keep in
view the development and forms of the crust or
wall of the body, and not the organs alone, which
are but of secondary importance.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

Fig. 2.

In Crustacea the standard of size would seem to i
be reversed, but the principal of cephalization, or
concentration of parts headwards is more marked
here than in insects. While in Insects the head is
largest, in Crustacea the thoracic region is most de-
Teloped, while in Worms the abdomen is largest, and
the largest worms are highest in the scale.

In ascertaining the minor divisions of the insects
we must keep in full view the principle of articu-
lation and the relations of the rings to themselves
and their mode of grouping, and not consider as of
primary importance the appendages, which now first
come into consideration. We shall find that all the
minor divisions, or orders, sub-orders, families and
genera, and even species, are but a more special work-
ing up of the primary principle of classification—
which determme rank and group— s^ndi are all but
modifications of an ideal form, becoming more special
as the group becomes more limited, or smaller. As
we approach species represented by the indwidual
slighter differences separate them, and are even ap-
parent among individuals, enabling us by changes
in form and ornamentation to detect differences be-
tween persons. No two individual insects can be
tound exactly resembling each other, just as no two
men can be found to be precisely alike.

crust is dense and thick, to which strong muscles
are attached. On the upper side of the^^n^the

under side The tracheae (y) enter through the
s^aor breathing pore, situated just undfr he
wmg and Its branches sub-divide and are distri-
buted to the wings, with their five principal ner-

ZZ T,':^''^'f ?° V^^ fig^^«^ ^J«o to the dorsal
vessel (c) the intestine (b) and the nervous cord (a).
The two circles seen m fig. 1, representing the couri.
of he blood vesse s and nerves, are here left out s^
as to avoid confusion. The ti^che* and a nervous
filament are also sent each into the legs and wings

ana intestine by numerous branches.

A. S. P.

Koto on Black-Knot.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES.

. f^S' 1 represents an ideal section of a Worm /
indicates the skin or muscular body-wall, which in
each side is produced into one or more fleshy fila-
ments tipped usually with bristles or hairs which
serve as organs of locomotion, and often as lun^s
The nervous cord (a) rests on the floor of the cylinder
sending a filament into the oar-like feet (/) and
also around the intestine or stomach (b) to a sup-
plementary cord (d) which is situated just over the
intestine, and under the heart or dorsal vessel (c).
The circle c arfd e is a diagram of the circulatory
system; c is the dorsal vessel or heart, from the side
of which, in each ring, a small vessel is sent down-
wards and around to e, the ventral vessel. So that
the circulation is a closed one in the higher worms
as well as the Crustacea and Insects. '

Fig. 2 is an ideal section of a Bee. Here the

In my article on Black-knot in No 6 of the
ITZT ^■''^°«<?''°«'«' I incorrectfy stated

size of the head of a p,n. It is only when seen
^rongh a pocket microscope that it app^ears so large

with tt "l "a °"*""' .y *°""=* P'°- When viewld
with the naked eye it is scarcely larger than the
point of a dull-pointed pin ^

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(

T

It

J

I

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

77

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONBUNTS.

BY B. D. WALSH, M. A.— Associate Editor.

B. r. Soibert, N. J. — The insects you sent — oval, about
one-fifth of an inch long, of a dull blue-black color, and
with fine, long, silky hairs, especially on the thorax— are
the Serica tricolor of Say. Thev arrived all alive and in
first-rate order, and you did well in sending plenty of spe-
cimens. The species of this genus are numerous, and re-
semble one another very closely; and by examining se-
veral score out of the bountiful supply you furnished, I
was enabled to ascertain, that the characters by which
it differs from some very closely allied species are per-
fectly unchangeable, and do not run promiscuously those
of one species into those of another. Although this in-
sect is said to occur generally throughout the United
States, yet I never met with it near Rock Island, though
I have received it from my entomological friend. Dr. Le-
Baron, of Geneva, Illinois.

You say that " you find them very numerous as well as
very destructive, as they have eaten all the leaves off
your neighbor's and your own Pear-trees and Strawberry
plants;" and that •'the moment you touch the tree, they
all drop to the ground." This is the first instance on re-
cord,so far as I am aware, of this particular specieH beinir
injurious in the field or the garden. According to Sjn-,
"it abounds in hilly and mountainous situations, whore'
1? the month of May, it ma^ be seen flying about among
the Whortle -berry bushes m great profusion." Harris
states with regard to two other species of iSerica^the vcs-
pertina and the «criceo— that " they attack the leaves of
the sweet-briar, on which they may be found in profusion
in the evening, about the last of June." {Inj. Ins. p. 33.)
A colored figure of vespertina is given in his plate 11, fig
14; and if you diminish the size and add some fine, silky
hairs, the same figure would answer very well for our
species.

These insects belong to the Order of beetles (Coleoptera)
and to the same great family {Scarabondce) in which are
included our May-bug (or May-beetle) and our Kose-buff,
and also the European Cockchafer— three ruinously de-
structive insects. It is not known where or how the larva
lives, but it probably burrows under ground and feeds on
the roots of living vegetation. The "dropping to the earth"
when the tree, on which the perfect Beetle occurs, is
touched, is not so common in this Family, as among the
Snout-beetles {Curculio Family) and the Chrysomela fa-
mily, which last includes the striped cucumber-beetles
and several other injurious species.

Thos. Siveter, Iowa.— You refer to the article on "the
Measuring Worm {Ennomoa subsignaria)" in No. 7 of the
Practical Entomologist, and you very justly state that
the account there given of its habits does not at all agree
with those of the Measuring Worm which infests your
Apple-trees. No wonder. They are two entirely distinct
insects. The insect that troubles you is evidently, from
the very correct statement you give of its Natural Hi'story,
the common Canker Vf orm— Aniaopteryx vemata—yrh'xch
is as different from Ennomoa subsignaria as a sheep is from
a cow. Both, it is true, are Measuring Worms; but there

are hundreds ofdistinct species of Measuring Worms found
in the United States, each with its peculiar size, shape
and color, its peculiar habits and its peculiar food-plant
or food-plants. ^

The writer of that article, like many other learned men,
supposed that those whom he was addressing were as
familiar with learned names as himself, and that, by
merely giving the scientific name of the insect which he
was writing about, everybody would understand what
particular species he referred to. There are, in fact, some
things in that paper which I cannot understand myself,
for example where he talks about the half-grown cater-
pillars ♦•commencing their saltatorial exercises." "Sal-
tatorial" means "jumping" or "leaping;" and if this
particular Measuring Worm ever jumps or leaps, it is
more than I ever saw any other kind of Measuring Worm
do, though I am familiar with scores of different kinds.
It 18 possible, however, that this may be a peculiar habit
of this peculiar species, which, although it swarms in cer-
tain localities in the Eastern States, does not appear to be
found in the West. But I have myself bred from the cat-
erpillar another species of the same genua— Ennomoa mag-
narm— which agreed with the subsignaria in spinning a

loose cocoon of open net- work about the end of Auirust
and m coming out into the moth state the same season,
viz: on Sept. 27. This caterpillar fed upon oak, while the
subsignaria, if I remember right, is sai^ to feed chiefly
upon elm. But it performed no "jumping" or "leaping"
operations whatever while it was in my Breeding-cage

You will find figures of both male and femal? Canker
Wol-m moths in Harris's Injurious Insects, pp. 461—2.
The other insect, which, as it swarms chiefly in cities,
and espBciall^in New York, maybe called the •* City
bpan-worm, ' is not noticed in that work nor in Dr. Fitch's
f^y>York Reports. The leading points of difference ia
the Natural History of the two Insects may be thus b-iofly
stated .—In the Canker Worm it is the male moth that
Has wings, and they are ash-colored; in the City Span-
worm both sexes have wings, and they are satinv-white.
1 lie Canker Worm goes under ground to pass into the pupa
or chrysalis state ; the City Span-worm goes to pupa in a
thin gauzy cocoon which it spins among the twigs and
leaves ol the tree it inhabits. The Canker Worm gerferally
lies in the pupa state till the following spring, though a few
come oui in the moth state late in the same autumn, and
on warm days during the winter; the City Span-worm
comes out into the moth state the same summer, and not
many weeks after it has gone to pupa. The Canker Worm
occurs chiefly on apple and elm trees, although it is some-
times found on cherry, plum, basswood, Ac; the City Span-
worm, unless my memory fails me, is said to be found
chiefly on the elm and only occasionally on other shade
trees, b'l^ never on fruit trees. Hence it is evident that
the two f)ccies must be attacked in very difTerent me-
thods; and that tarred bandages, leaden troughs filled
with oil and placed around the butts of infested trees, Ac,
Ac, which, when properly applied, are effective remedies
against the Canker Worm, whose moth comes out of the
earth and in the female sex is wingless, would be of no
earthly use against the City Span-worm, whose female
moth 13 winged and comes out among the twigs and
branches of the trees it infests.

You will oblige me, as you seem to have more Canker
Worms than you know what to do with, by sending me
by ma:l a few dozen of them, packed in any kind of small
box, with leaves enough to last them on their journey.
Ihe incect is not found near Rock Island, and I wish to
breed it myself, so as to examine into its habits.

H. B. Howarth, Wisconsin. — The insects you send, with
an euouiry whether they are not " the flies which pro-
duce the Chinch Bug," are the Capsus oblincatus of Say,
otherwise named by Beauvois as Phytocoris linearis. You
will find the species figured in Harris's Injurioua Insects,
p. 201, and another figure with an accompanying article
by myself in the Prairie Farmer, May 2, 1863. It is a
very common and abundant species throughout the North-
ern States, and, as you may see from the passages referred
to, sometimes does a great deal of damage. Like the
Cliinch Bug, it passes the winter in the perfect or winged
state, which accounts for your finding it under shocks of
corn in the middle of November. You notice that it has
"the same d.sagreeable smell as the Chinch Bug;" but
this it has in common with all the true Bugs (Order ^e<c-
roptcra) which are vegetable feeders and not cannibals;
for example, the common Squash Bug ( Corevs tristis) * and
the Bod Bug. Not only is it a distinct species from the
Chinch Bug, but it belongs to a distinct genus and even
to a distinct Family.

You must disabuse yourself of the popular idea, that
after an Insect has arrived at the perfect state, or in other
words after it has obtained wings, it ever changes into
any other kind of Insect. Many believe that Beetles
change into Butterflies, Butterflies into Bugs, Bugs into
Bees, and so on ad injinitum ; and I once noticed a para-
graph which ran the rounds of the Agricultural Press,
gravely asserting that the common Rose-bug {Macrodac-
tt/lus subspinosus) ususilly shed its yellow wing-cases and
changed into a Horse-fly {Tabanus.) This is a mere de-
lusion. No such change can or does happen. It is as im-
possible as for a Cow to shed her horns and turn into a
Horde. All Insects pass through four stages only, Ist the
egg, 2nd the larva, 3rd the pnpa, 4th the perfect insect,
when in almost all species wings are acquired, and in all
species the male and female pa r, the female lays her eggs,
and then both male and female, having run their ap-
pointed course, die. In the human species and other ver-

* Figured Harris's /ry. Ins., p. 194.

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78

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

tebrate animals we may trace an anology with the above
four stages as follows :— 1st, the foetus in the womb; 2nd
the baby feeding upon milk and without food at first: 3rd'
the child feeding upon solid food and furnished with teeth •
4th, the adult man or woman, distinguished from the
child by well known sexual characters and capable of
propagating the species. The chief difference in the two
cases is, that in Insects the change from one state to aho-
ther takes place suddenly by a sudden moulting of the
skin, or rather what is properly speaking the external
skeleton, whereas in vertebrate animals it takes place
slowly and gradually. For example, we can fix no pre-
cise day, and even no precise month, and scarcely any
precise year, when the Baby becomes a Boy, or when the
Boy becomes a Man, while it often takes but a few mi-
nutes for a Chrysalis (pupa) to change into a Butterfly,
or a Caternillar , larva) to change into a Chrysalis, and we
may watch the whole process with the greatest ease, from
beginning to end, by devoting an hour's attention to it.
Wo?!.^ """"^T- ?'^ 'P?f '^^''^ Insects, such as the common
3t\r.? H or Prairie Alligator {Biapheromera femo-
ro^a)* the perfect insect never has any wings at all,- and

Fl.t ^u%/\^'i''^ ^' i^^ common Bed-bug and the
Flea, the Perfect Insect has only rudimental wings, or
short stunips of wings, such as we usually see in the Puna
But even here we may distinguish the different stages by
the successive moultings, and we may know ihat the
insect has arrived at the perfect state by its copulating.
It 18 a universal rule that larvae and pup» never copulat?,
for the same reason that calves and lambs never copulate
1. e^ because they are as yet in an immature state.

You will find the Natural History of the Chinch Bug
well explained by Mr. R.ley in an article in No. 6 of the

Zl\TT'i-^''^r'^''''T-^'' ^PP- ^^-^'^ The only point in

ZtJ^ti ^'f ' ^r"".^'"i 'I' **^^* ^ b^li^^« that t£ere are
more than two broods of them every year, and probably
as many as four or fiye in this latitude. prooaoiy

C. Cook. Mass.— The small cocoons you send from off
the twigs of apple-trees contain a black pupa from which
1 have bred several specimens of a very minute moth
apparently undo.cribed. I am about to forward one to Dr
«;„i"^°''7 u ^^.^ ™ade these small moths his special
study, and who will probably name and describe it Al
the specimens sent seem to belong to the same species.

♦»,:TTf n^"'^M,''^^?''l''''' ^^"^2 attached to tfe egg of
the Tent Caterpillar of the Apple-tree, which you former-
ly sent, I have bred several specimens of the very same
species of Microgaster which we told you it was likely to

produce,andalso6cveralspocimensof^another small Ich-
neumon-fly belonging to tte genus iremiteles. The ques-

ih^Ji \ ''^"''""' ^S- ^^««l^ed, whether the lary» of Ibolh
these Ichneumon-flies lived as co-tenants in the body of
their victim, the Caterpillar, and spun the mass of cocoons

Heve^n'^'r^h^"^-''-^^^^*^ ^ decidedly incline to be
heye-one of them is parasitic upon the other, and if so

^.L^tZ^'''^''^'^''^'''' '^^''"^- ^^^"^ *^« fact that the
Memitelesc&me out several weeks before the Microaaster I
rather infer that the latter is parasitic upon he Wer

folv« h'''''*^ ^'^' '""^ "^^ additional specimens, bo aT to
solve this curious question. , a,a w

Wm. Manlius Smith, N. Y.-You arc quite right as to

"bXoTeL^i "''''^^"■"'**" (Winchell?not being mer:
balls of earth, as was wrongly stated in the Practic vi
E.T0M0L00.8T, Xo. 3, p. 23, but trie silken cocoons From
inlf V™'k' >^«"««^SI J^ave bred four specimens of tl^
insect, which were a welcome novelty to £y cabinet and
frona which I perceive that Prof. Wi^chell^as mistaken

o N^Z'IH^ K^' • "'''^^^ '^" «"""« Selandria. It belong^
to Nematus, having only one marginal cell, and therefore
Its true name is Nematus ribus. The female i^ very remark!

Sum f/.r-^/^-J^'^^^.^^^^^"^"''^^'^^ the male has the
number of joints, viz. nine, that characterize the genus
A very similar species of I^cmatus infests the Gooseberry
and Currant in Europe, and it is perhaps the case that our
trZthTnir"'-A' the «ame species imported among us
:^J • t*i?^«th^^«'de of the Atlantic. (See on the European
species Westwood's Introduction, II. pp. 103—4.) P^^"

lit?h*.m! ^^I*""!' Ii^'»«i'— '^^^ ^«g« y«^ ««°d found in
little slits in the bark of Pear-tree twigs are those of Chh-

I^ThTV;? '•^^"^ (Walsh), a small green insect belonging
to the Tettwoma family in the Order Homoptera. I pub-
lished a description and figures of this insect in the
rratne Farmer Sept. 6, 1802, and of its egg-slits 76i(i. April

♦Figured Harris Inj. Ins., p. 147.

4, 1863, p. 212, together with some account of its habits.
1 he former article was reproduced in the Proceedinqs of
theBoston Society of Natural History, 1864, pp. 314--317
The similar egg-slits found in the bark of the Delaware
grape-vine appertain to some other Homopterous Insect
probably to Froconia undata, a much larger species be-
longing to the Tettigonia family, which I know to oviposit
in this manner in the grape-vine. You should have sent
pieces of the twig containing the egg-slits, and not merely
thin slices of the bark. • ^

Jno. Flournoy, Mo.— The insects you send, found on the
leaves and stems of the Chickasaw Plum, are some kind of
Plant Louse {Aphis.) It is impossible to say what par-
ticular species they belong to, because they were sinmly
wrapped in a piece of paper and reached me broken into a.
hundred fragments, and pressed as flat as a pancake. A
naturalist might be able to say, with some degree of cer-
tainty, that a sausage contained dog's-flesh, from meeting
with a dog's tooth in it; but it would puzzle even Cuvier
or Owen to decide from such data whether the dog was a
Terrier, a Spatiiel or a Pointer.

As a general rule, almost every plant has its own par-
ticular species of Plant-louse; for example, that of the
Apple IS distinct from that of the Cherry, that of the Cab-
bage from that of the Currant, and so forth. They all
live by sucking the sap of the plant they infest, and
although the infested leaves often shrivel and curl up, yet
it IS impossible for them to be eaten bodily by this insect,
lor the simple reason that it has got no jaws to eat with—
nothing, in fact, but a long beak to suck with. Conse-
quently, "the stripping of the foliage" of your trees last
year must have been caused by some entirely distinct in-
sect—perhaps some kind of caterpillar. From the enor-
mous rapidity with which Plant-lice breed, there is no
doubt that if they were allowed to multiply without any
check, they would in a few months ruin almost every
plant on the face of the earth. But there are hundreds
and hundreds of difierent insects that prey upon them
voraciously, so that it is but seldom that they do material
damage. I incline to believe, that in limited numbers,
thoy operate as a summer pruning, and are therefore more
beneficial than injurious to fruit-trees. In particular
years the Hop Plant-louse has greatly injured the hops,
and in other years the Grain Plant-louse in certain States
has damaged the small grain considerably, but it is re-
corded to have been generally checked up in the end by
myriads of Cannibal Insects, chiefly Lady-birds (CVa-
■ncUa). I have myself seen the Devil's Darning Needles
{Agrion) flying among my Currant Bushes and pouncing
ferociously on the Plant-lice that swarmed on them. It
13 a good plan, and one which has long been practised by
Luropean gardeners, to collect a number of^Lady-birds
and place them onanyplants that are grievously infested
1 -11 1?, ^'""^'gation with tobacco in a close room will

kill 1 lant-hce on Green-house plants, and on choice gar-
den plants, such as Verbenas, they may be destroyed by

dipping the infested branches for a few minutes into strong-
soap-suds. *

A. C. Hammond, Illinois.— You say that some of your
1 lum-trees are dying from the attacks of Borers, of which
supposed Borers you forward three difierent kinds. The
frst of these-the "white grub"— is, as you suppose, the
true Peach Borer, which in my article on Borers (No. 4, p.
20 was stated, on the authority of Dr. Fitch, occasional^
to attack the Plum-tree. Hence your observations are va-
luable as confirmatory evidence of the fact, and of the fur-
ther very remarkable fact that Plum-trees, when attacked
by the Peach Borer, do not exude gum like Peach-trees.
Ihe .second specimen— "the long, slender brown worm "—
18 the larva of some kind of " Click-beetle" ( J:/a<er), none
of which are true Borers, though a great many of them
live in decayed wood, and a few of them attack the roots
ol living plants, when they are popularly called "Wire-
worms. ' Most of these larvoe, like the 'specimen sent,
are hard, shining, cylindrical, mahogany-colored insects,
looking like an inch or so of brown wire cut ofl^ nearly
square at each end. The third specimen-" the short,
dark worm"— arrived in such bad order, having been eat-
en up almost bodily by the Peach Borer on the road, that
all that I can say is that it is distinct from the other two.
1 apprehend it is the Peach Borer that is the real author
otthedamagetoyourtrees; and you must fight him on the
same principles precisely as if you found him on a Peach-
tree Most certainly the Wire-worm (or Elater larva)
would net invaded your trees, but for their already contp.in-
lug decayed matter, the handiwork of the P^^ach Borer.

X^

s

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

79

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With wrought-iron Shanks and reversible Shovels.
Improved Buckeye Cider and Wine Mill and Press.

All Machinery made by us is Warranted. Send for Cir-
cular, giving full description.

1

JBT-SUBSCRIBE TO THE " PRAIRIE FARMER."

t

7

\

80

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

THE :P-A.I^3Vs^EK..

A MONTHLY JOURNAL,

DEVOTED TO

Agriculture^ Horticulture, the Mechanic Arts and
Househoht Economy.

PUBLISHED AT RICHMOND, VA., BY

ELLIOTT & SHIELDS.

The best talent, both practical and the retical, which
the country alFords, is employed in aid of this enterprise,
and no expense will be spared in the effort to make the
Journal complete in all respects.

It is printed on good paper and with clear typ^, and
contains forty pages of reading matter. An advertising
sheet of capacity sufficient to accommodate the adverti-
sing patrqnage of Tfik'Faumer is added.

An attractive feature of Thk Farmer is its embellish-
ments. Engraved designs and plans of Dwellings, Farm
Houses, Cottages, Farm Buildings, Improved Stock, Labor
Saving Machinery, Modern and useful Implements of Hus-
bandry, etc. will be conspicuously displayed in its columns.

THE FARMER is received by subscribers in every city
and county in Virginia, and in the States of West Virgi-
nia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentuckv, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama,
Mississippi, and is being introduced into other States, aiul
will take rank by the side of the older publications already
in this field of industrial enterprise.

In addition to the circulation which The Farmer ha^
by subscription, it is regularly forwarded to Magazine
and Periodical Dealers at all the principal points South
of the Potomac.

The very fine adverising custom which has been at-
tracted to The Farmer, is a satisfactory guarantee with
which the publication of such a work at this time has
been received by the public.

Specimen copies can be seen at the office of The Prac-
tical Entomologist, 518 South 13th Street, Philadelphia.
Address ELLIOTT & SHIELDS,

^ Richmond, Va.

THE MASON & HAMLIN

C. B. ROGERS,

PHILADELPHIA,

DEALER IN

CLOVER,

TIMOTHY,

OBCHABD,

HERD, and

KENTUCKY BLUE

OBASS SEEB.
IMPOBTED SEED WHEAT,
IMPOBTED SEED OATS,
CANABY, HEMP and BAPE SEED.

Garden Seeds and Agricultural Implements.
H. A. DREER,

Nurseryman, Seedsman & Florist,

No. 714 CHESTNUT STREET,

PHILADELPHIA,
VEGETABLE, GRASS and FLOWER SEEDS

OF THE BEST QUALITY.

Fruit and Shade Trees, Evergreens,

Grapevines, Strawberry Plants,

Asparagus Roots, &;c.

CATALOGUES FORWARDED TO ALL APPLICANTS.

CABINET ORGANS.

At the recent Fair of the Massachusetts Charitable
Mechanics Association in Boston, a GOLD MEDAL was
awarded to MASON A HAMLIN for "valuable improve-
ments" and "the excellence of tone and beautiful work-
manship" in their CABINET ORGANS ; also, a Silver
Medal for the superiority of their Cabinet work.

FIFTY-ONE GOLD or SILVER MEDALS, or OTHER
HIGHEST PREMIUMS, have been awarded M. & H.
within a few years, and SIXTEEN within the last few-
weeks, for the best Instruments of this general class.

Printed testimony is presented in their Circulars from
more than two hundred and fifty of the most eminent
Organists and Musicians in the countrv. that the Mason
& Hamlin CABINET ORGANS ARE UNEQUALLED.

Prices, $110 to $600.

Circulars, fully descriptive of the Cabinet Organs, sent
to any address.

Warerooms, 274 Washington street, Boston.
696 Broadway, New York.

THE

MARYLAND FARMER.

A MONTHLY PERIODICAL

PUBLISHED BY

8. 8. MILI18 & GO.

No. 24 S. Calvert St., comer of Mercer, Baltimore.

AND DEVOTED TO

Agriculture, Horticulture, Rural Economy, House
hold Affairs^ and Mechanic Arts.

It is a Reliable and pRAcrirAL Journal, devoted to the
different departments of FIELD CULTURE, such as
crowing Field Crops, Orchard and Garden Fruits, Garden
Vegetables and Flowers, Flowers for the Lawn and Yard,
Trees and Plants, Care of Domestic Animals, Ac, together
with all subjects of a kindred nature interesting to the
Farmer, Horticulturist, and Household.

Published on the first of each month, at $1.50 per year
—or six copies for $7.50— or ten copies for $12.50, and a
copy to the getter up of the club. _^2®* Specimen copies
furnished gratis. .

THE PRAIRIE PARMER.

LONG TRIED AND WELL LIKED.

Vol \1.—New Scries.— IQth Year 0/ PuhUcation.

The leading paper of its class in the great West. Its
contributions are among the foremost in their different
departments in the country.

Published weekly, in a large octavo form of sixteen
pages, at $2 per year. Address

EMERY A CO., Chicago, IlL

)

J * '

•i

THE

ra^ttiral Sttl^m^I^jht

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

Published by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, for the dissemination of valuable
^ knowledge among Agriculturists and Horticulturists.

Vol. L

JUNE 25, 1866.

No. 9.

rHdiral (^ntom^Iouifit.

_^^- Published at the Hall of the Society, No. 618 South
Thirteenth Street, where all (except Western) communi-
cations should be addressed.

^^* Terms — 60 cents a year, in advance.

7^^ All subscriptions must date from the commence-
ment of the volume.

^©^Our Western Correspondents will please send their
communications direct to Benj. D. Walsh, M. A„ Associate
Editor, Rock Island, Illinois.

E. T. CRESSOX, ) Publication Committee

AUG. R. GROTE, \ and

J. w. McAllister, J editors.

BENJ. D. WALSH, Rock Island, Illinois,

Associate Editor.

PHILADELPHIA, JUNE 25, 1866.

SHALL THIS PAPER BE CONTINUED ANOTHEE

YEAR?

Three more numbers will conclude the first year's
existence of this little paper, and we are glad to
learn that the few pages that have been published
have already proved valuable to many. Its history
should be well known by all who receive it regularly,
as each subscriber has been furnished with a copy
from its commencement. Still there are some who
seem to misunderstand the object of the Publication
Committee of the Entomological Society in issuing
the paper. Since we were obliged to stop the gra-
tuitous distribution, and to ask the small subscrip-
tion price of 50 cents a year, some appear to think
that there is a screw loose somewhere, and that
the Committee, growing tired of giving the paper
away, want to put money into their own pockets.
This is not so. The true object of the Committee
is still the same as when the paper was given away,
and that is the dissemination of a practical know-
ledge of Entomology among the agriculturists of
our country, without fee or reward. So far from
the Committee being pecuniarily benefited by the
publication of this paper, they have, on the con-
trary, been obliged to put their hands into their own
pockets to the extent of several hundreds of dol-
lars in order to issue it regularly every month,
and to distribute 8000 copies gratuitously. The
receipts from advertisements and contributions from

kind friends have assisted much, but with the pre-
sent high price of paper and labor, they are soon
exhausted. Certainly this state of things cannot
be expected to continue, nor will the Committee
undertake the publication of the Practical Ento-
mologist another year unless they have some rea-
sonable assurance that it will be self-sustaining.

We therefore take this early opportunity to say
that unless we receive at least 5000 subscribers to
the paper for the second year, at 50 cents per copy,
its publication will not be continued. If the infor-
mation imparted by the paper is not worth the small
sum of fifty cents a year, it is not worth anything,
and it is sheer folly for any one to expect the Com-
mittee to continue its publication, which is of no
benefit whatever to them, at their own expense, fof
the benefit of those to whom the information iff
valuable.

The publication of the Practical Entomolo-
gist is yet an experiment, and it is to the interest
of every Farmer and Fruit-grower in the country
to see that it is permanently established. If the
present readers of the paper wish its continuance,
they will subscribe to it and also urge their neigh-
bors to do the same. We therefore request that all
who wish to subscribe for a copy for the second
year, commencing with October, 1866, at 50 cents
a year, will please forward their names and address
as soon as possible; but we do not want the money
sent until the issue of the first number, the receipt
of which will inform them that 5000 names have
been procured, and that the paper will be continued
another year.

To make the continuation of the paper sure, let
every one try to send us as many names as they can
procure around their neighborhood, and if the de-
sired number of subscribers is doubled, so much
the better for the paper, as all the receipts will be
expended upon its publication, in increasing its size
and value.

Subscribers may rest assured of one thing, viz :
that if we commence the second years' issue of the
Practical Entomologist, we shall carry it through to
the close of that year. But before we make the at-
tempt, we desire to know, as acurately as possible,
what the pecuniary prospect is likely to be.

n

•mtmf^mmt.

80

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

THE :B'JL.'R,l^:EiTi,.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL,

DEVOTED TO

Agriculture^ Horticulture, the Mechanic Arts and
Househoht Economy.

PUBLISHED AT RICHMOND, VA., BY

ELLIOTT & SHIELDS.

The best talent, both practical and the retical, which
the country alFords, is employed in aid of this enterprise,
and no expense will be spared in the effort to make the
Journal complete in all respects.

It is printed on good paper and with clear typ^, and
contains forty pages of reading matter. An advertising
sheet of capacity sufficient to accommodate the adverti-
sing patrqnage of Thk "Farmer is added.

An attractive feature of The Farmer is its embellish-
ments. Engraved designs and plans of Dwellings, Farm
Houses, Cottages, Farm Buildings, Improved Stock, Labor
Saving Machinery, Modern and useful Implements of Hus-
bandry, etc. will be conspicuously displayed in its columns.

THE FARMER is received by subscribers in every city
and county in Virginia, and in the States of West Virgi-
nia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama,
Mississippi, and is being introduced into other States, and
will take rank by the side of the older publications already
in this field of industrial enterprise.

In addition to the circulation which The Farmer has
by subscription, it is regularly forwarded to Magazine
and Periodical Dealers at all the principal points South
of the Potomac.

The very fine adverising custom which has been at-
tracted to The Farmer, is a satisfactory guarantee with
which the publication of such a work at this timo has
been received by the public.

Specimen copies can be seen at the office of The Prac-
tical Entomologist, 518 South 13th Street, Philadelphia.
Address ELLIOTT <t SHIELDS,

^ Richmond, Va.

THE MASON & HAMLIN

o. b. rogers,
133 3S/i:-A.k,k:et st.,

PHILADELPHIA,

DEALER IN

CLOVEE,

TIMOTHY,

OBCHABD,

HEED, and

KEimrCEY BLUE «

GRASS SEED.
IKFOBTED SEED WHEAT,
IMPOBTED SEED OATS,
CANABY, HEMP and BAPE SEED.

Garden Seeds and Agricultural Implements.
H. A. DREER,

Nurseryman, Seedsman & Florist,

No. 714 CHESTNUT STREET,

PHILADELPHIA,

VEGETABLE, GRASS and FLOWER SEEDS

OF THE BEST QUALITY.

Fruit and Shade Trees, Evergreens,

Grapevines, Strawberry Plants,

Asparagus Epots, &;c.

CATALOGUES FORWARDED TO ALL APPLICANTS.

CABINET ORGANS.

At the recent Fair of the Massachusetts Charitable
Mechanics Association in Boston, a GOLD MEDAL was
awarded to MASON A HAMLIN for "valuabJe improve-
ments" and "the excellence of tone and beautiful work-
manship" in their CABINET ORGANS; also, a Silver
Medal for the superiority of their Cabinet work.

FIFTY-ONE GOLD or SILVER MEDALS, or OTHER
HIGHEST PREMIUMS, have been awarded M. & H.
within a few years, and SIXTEEN within the last few
weeks, for the best Instruments of this general class.

Printed testimony is presented in their Circulars from
more than two hundred and fifty of the most eminent
Organists and Musicians in the country, that the Mvsox
& Hamlin CABINET ORGANS ARE UNEQUALLED.

Prices, $110 to $600.

Circulars, fully descriptive of the Cabinet Organs, seat
to any address.

Warerooms, 274 Washington street, Boston.
696 Broadway, New York.

THE

MARYLAND FARMER.

A MONTHLY PERIODICAL

PUBLISHED BY

8. 8. MILL8 & CO.

Ko. 24 8. Calvert St., corner of Mercer, Baltimore.

AND DEVOTED TO

Agriculture, Horticulture, Rural Economy, Hov^e
hold Affairs, and Mechanic Arts.

It is a Reliable and Practical Journal, devoted to the
different departments of FIELD CULTURE, such as
erowinff Field Crops, Orchard and Garden Fruits, Garden
Vegetables and Flowers, Flowers for the Lawn and Yard,
Trees and Plants, Care of Domestic Animals, Ac, together
with all subjects of a kindred nature interesting to the
Farmer, Horticulturist, and Household.

Published on the first of each month, at $1.50 per year
—or six copies for $7.60 — or ten copies for $12.50, and a
copy to the getter up of the club. J^* Specimen copies
furnished gratis.

THE PRAIRIE PARMER.

LONG TRIED AND WELL LIKED.

Vol 17.— J^ew Series.— 26th Year of Publication.

The leading paper of its class in the great West. Its
contributions are among the foremost in their different
departments in the country.

Published weekly, in a large octavo form of sixteen
pages, at $2 per year. Address

EMERY Jb CO., Chicago, HL

•g,"-*^' - Tl--'-

f

i

THE

x^^ixaX ®ttl0m0l00fet

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

Published by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, for the dissemination of valuable
knowledge among Agriculturists and Horticulturists.

Vol. I.

JUNE 25, 1866.

No. 9.

;5?®^ Published at the Hall of the Society, No. 618 South
Thirteenth Street, where all (except Western) communi-
cations should be addressed.

^^* Terms — 50 cents a year, in advance.

^^S^ All subscriptions must date from the commence-
ment of the volume.

^^^•Our Western Correspondents will please send their
communications direct to Benj. D. Walsh, M. A„ Associate
Editor, Rock Island, Illinois.

E. T. CRESSON,
AUG. R. GROTE,

J. w. McAllister,

BENJ. D. WALSH, Rock Island, Illinois,

Associate Editor.

Publication Committee

and

Editors.

PHILADELPHIA, JUNE 25, 1866.

\

SHALL THIS PAPEB BE CONTINUED ANOTHER

TEAR?

Three more numbers will conclude the first year's
existence of this little paper, and we are glad to
learn that the few pages that have been published
have already proved valuable to many. Its history
should be well known by all who receive it regularly,
as each subscriber has been furnished with a copy
from its commencement. Still there are some who
seem to misunderstand the object of the Publication
Committee of the Entomological Society in issuing
the paper. Since we were obliged to stop the gra-
tuitous distribution, and to ask the small subscrip-
tion price of 50 cents a year, some appear to think
that there is a screw loose somewhere, and that
the Committee, growing tired of giving the paper
away, want to put money into their own pockets.
This is not so. The true object of the Committee
is still the same as when the paper was given away,
and that is the dissemination of a practical know-
ledge of Entomology among the agriculturists of
our country, without fee or reward. So far from
the Committee being pecuniarily benefited by the
publication of this paper, they have, on the con-
trary, been obliged to put their hands into their own
pockets to the extent of several hundreds of dol-
lars in order to issue it regularly every month,
and to distribute 8000 copies gratuitously. The
receipts from advertisements and contributions from

kind friends have assisted much, but with the pre-
sent high price of paper and labor, they are soon
exhausted. Certainly this state of things cannot
be expected to continue, nor will the Committee
undertake the publication of the Practical Ento-
mologist another year unless they have some rea-
sonable assurance that it will be self-sustaining.

We therefore take this early opportunity to say
that unless we receive at least 5000 subscribers to
the paper for the second year, at 50 cents per copy,
its publication will not be continued. If the infor-
mation imparted by the paper is not worth the small
sum of fifty cents a year, it is not worth anything,
and it is sheer folly for any one to expect the Com-
mittee to continue its publication, which is of no
benefit whatever to them, at their own expense, fot
the benefit of those to whom the information is
valuable.

The publication of the Practical Entomolo-
gist is yet an experiment, and it is to the interest
of every Farmer and Fruit-grower in the country
to see that it is permanently established. If the
present readers of the paper wish its continuance,
they will subscribe to it and also urge their neigh-
bors to do the same. We therefore request that all
who wish to subscribe for a copy for the second
year, commencing with October, 1866, at 50 centa
a year, will please forward their names and address
as soon as possible; but we do not want the money
sent until the issue of the first number, the receipt
of which will inform them that 5000 names have
been procured, and that the paper will be continued
another year.

To make the continuation of the paper sure, let
every one try to send us as many names as they can
procure around their neighborhood, and if the de-
sired number of subscribers is doubled, so much
the better for the paper, as all the receipts will be
expended upon its publication, in increasing its size
and value.

Subscribers may rest assured of one thing, viz :
that if we commence the second years' issue of the
Practical Entomologist, we shall carry it through to
the close of that year. But before we make the at-
tempt, we desire to know, as acurately as possible,
what the pecuniary prospect is likely to be.

/

S

INTENTIONAL SECOND EXPOSURE

..w,

^

*

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

■ ^

Clovei -Worms.

BY BBNJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

There is a small caterpillar, which attacks clover
ifl the stack or mow — sometimes in such enormous

numbers as to entirely spoil the hay for use the

natural history of which is at present but imper-
fectly understood. I will first gather together what
has been recorded on the subject, adding my own
little mite of observations, and then point out the
items which require explanation. It is to be hoped
that any persons, who may hereafter meet with this
insect, will forward me plenty of specimens to ex-
periment on, and a full statement of the facts ob-
served respecting their habits. I say 'Aplenty of
specimens,'' because I desire to breed both sexes of
the perfect insect from these larvaB, and because,
out of say a dozen larvae of any particular insect,
probably six will be destroyed by parasitic insects,
\Ichneumon flies ^ t^c), and two or three will die of
disease or unnatural treatment; thus leaving only
three or four to arrive at maturity, all of whfch, as
often happens, will be of one sex. Hence I should
like at least a score specimens, packed in a small
^ box, with a sufficient supply of clover hay to last
' them on their journey. Such a box may be for-
warded by mail at the expense of a few cents. It
is not necessary to take any precautions for admit-
ting fresh air. Insects require but very little air in-
deed; and some of my most successful breeding
has been carried on in closely corked bottles and
vials.

Harris briefly refers to certain "clover-worms,
which have been found in clover, in various parts
of the country, and have often been seen spinning
down from lofts and mows where clover has been
stowed away, in such numbers as to be very trouble-
some and offensive.'^ And on the authority of 3Ir.
Sibley, of New Hampshire, he adds, that " these
insects are of a brown color, and about half an inch
long." He does not appear to have been person-
ally acquainted with them, so as to determine to
what Order of insects they appertained. (Ini. In-
sects, p. 456.) ^ -^

On December 25th, 1861, I received from the
editors of the Prairie Farmer, a few Clover-worms,
which had been sent them by Mr. Wray, of Mc-
Henry County, in North Illinois, with a statement
that they were found in millions in clover stacks
not uniformly throughout the bulk of the stack,'
but only in the lowermost two feet of it; and that
wherever they were found, the hay was rendered
totally unfit for use from the tangled mass of webs
spun by them. Subsequently, Mr. Wray met with
the same worms in "all the lower part'' of a
mow of the same hay stowed in his barn ; and found
that '-m cold weather they keep very close in their
webs, but crawl out in pleasant weather." "He
has grown," it is added, "clover hay for fifteen
years on the same farm, and this is the first appear-
ance of the worm ; and he believes that the eggs
are laid on the green clover before it is cured, and
that the sweating of the stack hatches them out "
(^Prairie Farmer, Feb. 15, 1862.)

Unfortunately my clover-worms all died before
they attained maturity, but from the following de-
scription, which I copy from my journal, it is evi-
dent that they must be the larva of some small
Moth, belonging of course to the order Lepidoptera :

Length, half an inch; diameter, 0.07 inch, taperine
slightly at each end. Color a dirty greenish brown • be-
neath, yellowish brown; the first and last segment above
shining, smooth and yellowish brown, with a few irregu-
lar whitish hairs; segments 2—11 each with a transverse
row of about six long, whitish hairs, each hair proceeding
from a lighter-colored tubercle with a dark central spot.
Head rufous. Legs and prologs normal, viz; six legs,
eight abdominal prolegs, and two anal prolegs.— Wriggles
much and runs backward like a Tortrix, suspends itself
by a thread, and spins a whitish web while still in the
larva state, and before the time arrives for its passing
into the pupa state.

The following passages bear on the same sub-
ject : —

Clover Worms.— We are sorrv to see' by a letter from
T C. Randolph, Bucks Post Office, Columbiana County,
Ohio, that this new pest of farmers, reported last year
by an Indiana correspondent, is moving eastward. Mr
Randolph found "about eight inches of the bottom of a
clover stack so full of these clover worms as to render
the hay unfit for use. They are half an inch long, of
a dark brown color, tapering each way, ridged, and
hatched from cocoons resembling those of the bee-moth.
Their excrement also resembles that of the moth, and is
mixed all through the hay. With the thermometer at
treezing-point they are lively, and were moving when
the thermometer was at 6° below zero."

A sample of living specimens of the worms arrived in
good order. We think it is a pest wholly unknown to
Eastern farmers.— iST. Y. Sem. Tribune, Feb. 16, 1866.

Clover Worm is the State op New York.— M. C. Rem-
ington, Auburn, N. Y., writes, Feb. 28 :— *'I read your ac-
count of the clover worm at the West, and dreaded its
advent in the East. I little thought that, even then, this
pest with Its myriad host was stealthily doing its work
of destruction on my own premises. Having occasion
during last week to remove attack of clover hay, I found
the bottom of it, for two feet from the ground, full of
brown worms about five-eights of an inch long, tapering
both ways, ridged, with the extremities a little darker
than the centre. The hay in spots was white with their
cocoons, having the appearance of a white mould, which
I took it to be, until on unloading the hay I found the
wagon alive with these active agents of destruction. Can
anything be devised to prevent their depredations?
Would thoroughly salting bo likely to prove beneficial?
The subject, I think, is worthy of serious consideration."
—N. Y.Sem. Tribune, March... 1866.

It is pretty plain that these accounts all refer to
one and the same insect, which occurs — in particular
parcels of clover hay in particular years — in New
England, New York, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois,
and probably in most of the Northern States. Hence
it is not, as the iV. Y. Tribune infers, "a pest
wholly unknown to Eastern farmers" up to 1866;
for as long ago as 1841 Harris spoke of these worms
as generally well known in the New England States,
and Mr. Sibley is expressly quoted by him as find-
ing them in New Hampshire. Of course Mr.
Randolph's idea that his clover-worms "hatched"
from the cocoons spun amongst the hay is a mis-
take. Like all such worms they must have hatch-
ed from very minute eggs, and, when they attained
their full larval growth, they must have spun the
cocoons wherein to pass into the pupa state, from
which the moth would eventually make its appear-
ance, couple, lay a fresh lot of eggs, and so repeat
the old cycle of changes.

The points which need explanation in the Na-

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

83

tural History of this insect are the following: — 1st.
Why does it only occur at the bottom of a clover-
stack or a clover-mow? If, as Mr. Wray believed,
the eggs were laid in the green clover before it was
cured, it would be found generally distributed
throughout the whole mass of clover-hay. Besides,
an insect whose natural habit it is to feed on green
clover leaves — as must be the case if the eorors, as
Mr. Wray believed, were laid on the green clover —
could scarcely live on dry clover-hay; or at
all events it would not flourish so exorbitantly
as this larva appears to have done, even if a few
specimens might bear the unnatural change in their
food. 2nd. Itseems impossible that the parent moth
can deposit her eggs in the clover hay after it is
stacked, whether in the barn or in the open air;
for in that case the worms would be found either
exclusively or generally on the outside part of the
stack or mow; whereas all accounts agree that they
occur exclusively in the lowermost layer of the
clover-hay, to which the mother moth could not
possibly gain access to lay her eggs there. 3rd.
It seems impossible that the clover-worm could
have attained its full larval growth while feeding
on the green clover, and have been afterwards
carted off among the hay; for on that hypothesis
they would occur evenly throughout the stack
or the mow, not exclusively at the bottom. And
besides, Mr. Kandolph says, that " their excrement
was mixed all through the hay," which proves that
they must have fed very extensively on the hay
after it was finally put away. 4th. Is it not the
case that the clover-worm feeds exclusively on dry
clover-hay, and never on green clover leaves, and
that the parent moths deposit their eggs, at the
bottom of an empty mow in the barn, among what
little scatterings may be remaining from last year,
whence they ascend into the new crop when it is
put away into the barn? It is true, that both Mr.
Wray, Mr. Randolph and Mr. Remington found
the clover-worms very abundant, not only in mows in
a barn, but in stacks in the open air. But it is
possible that these gentlemen may be, all of them,
in the habit of stacking their clover year after year
on the same spot of ground, and upon the same
foundation; the effect of which would be precisely
the same, as if they had stacked in a barn where
clover had been put away year after year. 5th. It
is evidently only under certain peculiar circum-
stances that clover-worms can breed, at all events
in such injurious numbers as to be noticed by the
farmer ; for the accounts of their occurrence are
few and far between. What those peculiar circum-
stances may be, remains for future investigation ;
but I incline to believe that the essential condition
is, that the infected clover-hay should be stacked
in a place where clover was stacked the preceeding
year.

The above are thrown out merely as suggestions,
to be confirmed or disproved by future observation
and experiment. If my hypothesis prove correct,
the remedy to be employed against this Noxious
Insect is plain, simple and effective : — Never stack
clover for two successive years on the same spot of

ground; or if you are compelled hy circumstances
to do so, thoroughly cleanse and sweep out the
foundation upon which you build, or the bottom of
the mow, if you i^tack in a barn, so as to destroy
the eggs from which the future clover-worms would
hatch out.

Rock Island, III., May 28, 1866.

■ ♦ .

• CLICK-BEETLES.

Messrs. Editors:— I notice Harris (Inj. Ins. p.
45), and Prof Tenney, (Nat. Hist., p. 427), have
stated that the Elateridfe, or spring beetles, are en-
abled to spring from the ground by drawing out
the spine and forcibly striking it against the edge
of the sheath, thus springing from the ground by
the force of the concussion.

Prof Jaeger (Life of N. Am. Ins. p. 50) says,
that the body being bent backward causes the spine
to fly out of the sheath like a watch-spring, throw-
ing the beetle into the air.

As the result of numerous microscopic observa-
tions, I have come to the following conclusion : —

The upper part of the sheath is prolonged to-
ward the thorax, so that the spine, when drawn
completely out, rests on its edge. Then, the in-
sect pressing with some force on the thorax, the
spine slips off the edge and flies back into the
sheath. That portion of the back immediately
above the spine, of course, forcibly strikes the
ground, and the concussion throws the insect into
the air.

There is hardly any elasticity to the spine, cer-
tainly not enough to throw the insect up in the man-
ner described by Jaeger. Besides, the spine plays
easily in and out of the sheath as any close observer
can see. Yours truly, W.

Marlboro* Mass., May 28, 1866.

Observations, by Benj. D. Walsh: — Your
statement is quite correct, and agrees entirely with
what Westwood says on the subject. (^Introd. I, p.
235.) Prof Jaeger's book contains several errors,
and cannot be safely depended on, any more than
Emmons' New York Report. For instance, he
figures the common Limcnitis Disippus as Danais
orchippus — two very distinct insects which even
belong to different Families, though their style of
coloration is remarkably similar.

How to destroy Caterpillars on Fruit Trees.

The following mode of destroying the insects in-
jurious to fruit trees, communicated to me by M.
Scheffer of Modling, is so simple and yet so effica-
cious, that I cannot do better than to lay it before
my readers : —

M. Scheffer lays loosely rolled-up pieces of old
cloth or blotting-paper in the forks of his trees.
The caterpillars eat during the night, and while
the dew is on the leaves in the morning, but they
seek protection from the heat of the day, and creep
into these rolls for that purpose. Thus it is only
in the middle of the day that these rolls should be
examined, and the caterpillars concealed in them
destroyed. — Kollar.

I

I

*. -m t r^-v^ mm ■ • t^

84

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

ISTotes on DOBYFHOBA lO-LIITEATA, Say.
(The Ten-striped Spearman— '' Potatoe Bug.")

BT HENRY SHIMER, M. D.

This very destructive insect to the potatoe crops
is making its appearance in great numbers. Their
first appearance was about the 20th of May, and
now the handsome insect may be seen every day,
slowly flying around in quest of food and breeding
grounds.

Last summer I conducted a series of thorough
investigations of the nature and habits of the insect,
commencing on the 18th of June and continuing
throughout the season, making a daily record of all
that I saw as I bred them through from generation
to generation ; during a portion of this time I was
feeding several hundred together.

A few of the more important results may be brief-
ly enumerated as follows: —

From an equal number of males and females,
well fed and made as comfortable as possible in
confinement, I obtained an average of 719 eggs to
each female; but in the fresh, pure air, sunfight
and freedom of nature, under propitious circum-
stances I have no doubt of its exceeding a thou-
sand.

They laid some eggs every day for forty days,
commencing July 15th, and ending on the 1st of
September. The smallest average was in the first
part of this time, being 7i eggs per day to each fe-
male; the greatest average was about the middle
of the time,75 eggs; the last day they averaged 12 J
eggs.

The eggs, as all who have seen them well know,
are laid on their ends on the leaves of the potatoe
plant, in somewhat regularly arranged, rather loose
clusters, and sometimes in two tiers; they are yel-
low, elipsoidal, .08 inch by .045 inch in diameter;
they hatch in about six days. The young, sluggish
larva is at first mostly black; abdomen, dirty brown;
it feeds voraciously, and in a few days becomes of
a lighter color. At the end of seventeen days the
full grown larva ceases eating, when it measures .5
mch by .25 inch in diameter; the abdomen being
much the largest part, the thorax being only .15
inch wide, having increased its volume 200 times,
or near twelve times its original weight daily, and
moreover is so solid as to sink in the water; from
these dates, it is no difficult task to apprehend its
eating capacity.

At this time, as is well known to many, the head,
posterior half of thorax, legs, and two rows of vitta
on each side of the abdomen are black, the ante-
rior half of the thorax yellow. Abdomen, large,
tumid, orange, wrinkled, with a transverse groove
on each segment; it uses the tail to aid in locomo-
tion.

When touched, so as to produce alarm, it curls
up into a ball and plays "possum."

After the seventeenth day, it disappears beneath
the ground, if accessible ; but if kept in an empty
box. It lies on its back, where the process of trans-
formation may be readily observed; as it lies on its
back, in from three to five days it casts its last pu-

pa skm by throwing it off upwards and backwards
slowly pushing it off mostly by the muscular writh-
ing movements of its tail; it gradually becomes
shortened m this operation, and assumes the pupa
state, during which condition it only moves its tail
but that freely, being otherwise entirely helpless!
Ihe wings may now be seen developing, downward
and backward, beneath the pupa skin. In ten
more days, or thirteen days in all after it has ceas-
ed eating, and if permitted to enter the ground, the
imago appears, being just one month from the time
of hatching.

Thus in thirty-six days from the laying of the
eggj the perfect insect appears, at first of a very
pale light yellow color, the stripes but faintly per-
ceptible, in about six hours the colors become
bright and perfect, and the insect immediately be-
gins to eat. The shell is at first comparatively soft
but continually grows thicker and firmer during its
life, from the perpetual accretion of solid matter.

If permitted to transform in its natural position
m the compact earth, as may be seen at the bottom
of an earthed breeding-box, they all mature in pre-
cisely the same time, but more perfectly, none ap-
pearing with shrivelled wings, &c., as many m
empty boxes did.

In about seven days the imago begins to pair,
and at about the fourteenth day, on an average be-
gins to lay its eggs; thus in fifty days after the'egg
IS laid the offspring begins to propagate, so that the
farst of the spring brood becomes fertile about the
10th of July, the second generation about the 1st
of September, and the third and many of the last
developed of the second, passes the winter in the
pupa state in the ground, and in the following
spring appears in the perfect state, from the middle
of May to the early part of June, and in a few
days, as we have seen above, begins to lay its eggs
and continues for forty days or more, or until the
first laid begin to propagate, so that we have them
of all sizes during the summer.

An imago developed in midsummer lived twelve
days aft€r its development without eating any food-
one developed October Ist, lived until midwinter. '
Those that laid the eggs above noted, became
more sluggish thereafter, and ate much less. I
supplied them with fresh potatoe tops daily, during
the month of September ; towards the last of the
time they ate but little if anything. I kept them
in a box during the winter, with a supply of pota-
toe tubers, but did not observe them eating any-
thing. They passed the winter in a kind of semi-
dormant condition, producing motion only when
disturbed; they remained alive until the 1st of
March, when they were accidentally exposed to
cold sufficient to freeze the potatoes that were in
with them. Soon after this I found them dead, of
which accident I was very sorry, for from appear-
ances I was hoping to keep them over till another
summer; at all events it was very remarkable that
they should have lived so long after the termina-
tion of the egg- laying season.

Regarding the natural means for their destruc-
tion with our present knowledge, the prospect \»

I n'^*—^^'*— WpWip»lWi»i»i»j^,,»^

iv

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

85

not very encouraging. In addition to the enemies
enumerated by Mr. Walsh, (Prac. Ent., No. 1),
I on one occasion found an undescribed species of
JKrachelytra, kindly determined by Mr. Walsh to
be of the genus Philonthus, in one of my breedino-
yboxes, which it entered during the night, and killed
all the contained larvae. But from these insect en-
emies we cannot hope for much assistance, as they
can find plenty of more savory food in the freedom
of nature; even birds seem to avoid them, and in
all my breeding and entire summer of observations,
I did not find one ichneumon or other parasite en-
emy. Hand-picking is tedious, but is the most
practical method of disposing of them. The larva
is very tenacious of life. I have seen them livin^r
after having been immersed in water for a whole
day. When their food is scarce, they will devour
the eggs and even prey on each other, (observed
m confinement).

The potatoe rot was a great calamity, but this is
far worse; and while so many plant largely of
potatoes, and neglect entirely to pick off the insects,
we must anticipate that they will spread from field
to field, until the, entire potatoe-raising portion of
the Union is filled with, if not overrun by them ;
their subjugation though not impossible appears
very improbable.
Mount Carroll, III., June 5, 1866.

Cutworms.

*»

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

By the term "Cutworm," is to be understood a
sixteen-footed worm or rather caterpillar, of a dingy
brownish color, often with indistinct stripes leno-th-
ways of its body, and often with six or eight small
black humps or dots on each joint of its body, each
hump terminating very generally in a minute hair.
In the day-time they hide themselves underground
and in the night they wander forth, like a hungry
lion, seeking what to devour. '' Wire-worms" and
"White Grubs'' are also called "cutworms" in
some parts of the country; but these have only six
legs, placed at the forward end of the body, and
they produce beetles, the Wire-worms changing into
"chck-beetles" {elater\ and the White Grub into
the May-bug or May-beetle. Whereas the true
Cutworms all produce moths, or "millers" as they
are popularly called, belonging, so far as is known
at present, to two distinct genera, Agrotis and Ha-
dena. In Agrotis the male moth has feathered an-
tennae, the feathering, however, being quite short.
In Hadena the male moth has no featherino' to its
antennae. Otherwise, with a few trifling exceptions
the two genera are very much alike. In each ge-
nus there are numerous species known to exist in
the United States.

Hence it is plain that it is as incorrect, or at all
events as indefinite, to talk of -the Cutworm" as I
tormerly showed that it was to talk of " the Borer "
Just as there are many different kinds of "Borers "
each with Its peculiar habits, so are there many di'f-
ferent kinds of - Cutworms,'^ each with its peculiar
habits; and we must not be astonished if species
are trom time to time discovered, that differ in

their mode of attacking our crops, from any that
had been previously known.

Most cutworms attack annual plants, growing
either in the field or in the garden, such as corn,
beans, tomatoes, lettuce, &c., cutting them off when
they are quite young, either a little above the sur-
face of the ground or a little below it. These seem
to belong, all of them, to the genus Agrotis, or at
least to be closely allied thereto, and they come out
into the moth state mostly in July and August.

in Harris's Injurious Insects, p. 445, will be
found a figure of one species in the moth state (Ag-
rotis tcssellata) which seems closely allied to, if not
Identical with another figured in Dr. Fitch's
^inth N. Y. Report, Plate iv., figures 2 and 3
and supposed by him to be the same as a species
tound in Europe, {Agrotis riigricans.) In Dr.
Fitch's 2d N. Y. Report there will also be found
hgures of three other species in the moth state
(suhgothtca, devastator and clandesiina,) Plate iii'
figures 1, 2 and 6. '

The only species of the genus Ifadena which is
known both m the larva and perfect moth state is
the "Amputating Brocade Moth" (Iladeiia amputa-
tinx) of Fitch, formerly called arnica. A figure of
this moth will be found in Harris's book, p. 450.
The habits of its larva differ very remarkably from
those of the ordinary cutworms. Instead of attack-
ing annual plants, it attacks shrubs, such as currant
and rose bushes, and even young trees, according
to Harris, cutting off and devouring the young
shoots in the night, and hiding itself under ground
during the day. The moth comes out about the
1st of July. I have myself bred another species
{Hadena chenopodii) from a naked pupa duo- up in
my garden (where I have many fruit-trees, c'^urrant
bushes, &c.) April 26th, the moth coming out May
24; I also bred a third species, the name of which
I do not know, from another naked pupa found by
myself under similar circumstances. Hence, and
from the fact that chenopodii, and another species
closely resembling it, swarm round lamps in houses
early m the summer in Rock Island, I infer that
the genus Hadena commonly infests gardens where
fruit-trees are grown, probably mounting the trees
m the night to feed on their foliage; and that the
different species, as a general rule, come out into
the moth state earlier in the summer than those
belonging to the genus Agrotis.

Harris says, that "in the summer of 1851, an
agricultural newspaper contained an account of
certain naked caterpillars, that came out of the
ground in the night, and crawling up the trunks
of fruit-trees, devoured the leaves, and returned to
conceal themselves in the ground before morning."
(Inf. Ins. p. 450.) An article has recently ap-
peared in the Prairie Farmer, (June 2 1866 )
from the pen of Mr. C. V. Riley, in which there is
an excellent account of the operations of certain
cutworms, which mount fruit-trees in a similar man,
ner in the month of May. and are especially hard
upon the fruit-buds. Three separate species of
larvaB, having these habits, are figured, and very
fully described by Mr. Riley, and they appear to

f

i\

'/

5J

tTs 1,^-1^*^..

I'

86

, •

h.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

be distinct from any cutworms hitherto described,
though the 3d species closely resembles the larva
of the "Amputating Brocade Moth/' differing chief-
ly in its smaller size, and in having " two black
shiny marks '* on the last joint of its body instead
of one chestnut-colored shiny mark. The moths
that belong to these Illinois cutworms are at present
unknown, but it is to be hoped that the same hand
that has commenced the story of their life will suc-
ceed in completing it. Taking everything into ac-
count, I incline to believe that they will turn out
to belong to the genus Hadena. They were dis-
covet'ed and forwarded to Mr. Riley by Mr. J. W.
Cochran, of Calumet, 111., and the following com-
munication from the latter gentleman, copied from
the article in the Pi'airie Farmery gives us a very
good and vivid idea of their voracious propensi-
ties : —

"They destroy low branched fruit-trees of all kinds
except the peach, feeding on the fruit-buds first, the wood
buds as a second choice, and preferring them to all other
things, tender grape buds and shoots (to which they are
also partial) not excepted — the miller always preferring
to lay her eggs near the hill or mound over the roots of
the trees in the orchard; and if, as is many times the
case, the trees have a spring dressing of lime or ashes,
with the view of preventing the May beetle's operations,
this will be selected with unerring instinct by the miller,
thus giving her larvae a fine warm bed to cover themselves
up in during the day from 'the observation of their ene-
mies. They will leave potatoes, peas, and all other
young green things for the buds of the apple and the
pear. The long, naked young trees of the orchard are
almost exempt from their voracious attacks, but I have
found them about mid-night, of a dark and damp night
well up in the limbs of these. The habit of the dwarf
apple and pear tree, however, just suits their nature, and
much of the^omplaint of those people who cannot make
these trees thrive on a sandy soil has its source and foun-
dation here, though apparently utterly unknown to the
orchardist. There is no known remedy: salt has no
properties repulsive to them, they burrow in it equally
as quick as in lime or ashes. Tobacco, soap, and other
diluted washes do not even provoke them; but a tin tube
six inches in length, opened on one side and closed around
the base of the tree, fitting close, and entering at the low-
er end an inch into the earth, is what the lawyers would
term an effectual esstopper to further proceedings.

If the dwarf tree branches so low from the ground as
not to leave six inches clear of trunk between the limbs
and ground, the limbs must be sacrificed to save the tree,
as in two nights four or five of these pests will fully and
eflfectually strip a four or five year old dwarf of every
fruit and wood bud, and often when the tree is green ut-
terly denude it of its foliage. I look upon them as an en-
emy to the orcbard more fatal than the canker worm
when left to themselves, but fortunately for mankind
more surely headed off."

The tin tube recommended as an "esstopper," by
Mr. Cochran is of course intended to prevent these
cutworms climbing the trees, by means of its slip-
pery surface affording no foothold to them. Con-
sequently it is essential that it should be made of
bright new tin, and not of some old rusty tin-pail.
In California, on the same principles, they fence
certain grasshoppers, that have wings too short to
fly with, out of their fields by means of a strip of
tin attached to the outer side of two boards, nailed
together in the figure of an V. (^Smithsonian Re-
ports, 1860, p. 423.) No doubt tarred bandages or
leaden troughs filled with oil would be as effective
against these Cutworms, as, when understandingly
applied, they are against the common Cankerworm.

Mr. Riley adds the following observations, hav-

ing evidently obtained his information from the
same source :—

They work during the night, always descending just
under the surface of the earth again at early dawn, which
accounts for their never having been noticed in this their
work of destruction. They never descend the tree as they
ascend it, by crawling, but drop from the bud or leaf on
which they have been feeding; and it is quite interest-
ing to watch one at early morn when it has become full
fed, and the tender skin seems ready to burst from reple-
tion, and see it prepare by a certain twist of the body for
the fall.

It seems that they have a Cutworm in Califor-
nia with similar habits to those of these Illinois
insects, as we may learn from the following, which
appeared in the California Farmer, of May 3,
1866 :—

Cut Worm. — A new pest has made its appearance
among some of the vineyards in this section. It consists
of a brown cutworm which comes up from the ground
during the night time, and feeds upon the green leaves
of the vine. It cuts off the stem of the leaf, thus threat-
ening the destruction of the fruit. Where their havoc is
the worst, hundreds of these worms may be found in the
dry dirt around the roots of the vines. If any of our
vintners have had experience with this pest, and can
suggest a remedy, they will confer a great favor on the
public by making the same known through our columns.
— San Jose Mercury of April 19^A.

As a large proportion of the insects of California
belong to species distinct from those found on this
side of the Rocky Mountains, the . probability is
that the above are not the same as any of the Illi-
nois insects. But that they belong to the same
genus, may be inferred with much plausibility.
The habits of all animals are dependent upon their
structure, and it is peculiarities of structure that
constitute the genus. Consequently, where the
habits are the same the genus will generally be the
same, and conversely where the genus is the same
the habits will, for the most part, with more or less
trifling deviations, be essentially the same. Show
me an insect that I never saw before in the world,
and I can tell you pretty nearly the history of its
life. Show a European naturally a newly-dis-
covered quadruped from America, and he will say
at once what it feeds on, whether flesh or vegetable
substances or both, how it procures its food, whether
it is solitary in its habits or assembles in herds,
whether it works by day or by night, whether it
burrows underground, or lives on the surface of the
earth, or climbs trees, and a host of other such par-
ticulars. All this he knows at a glance from the
structure of the teeth, the eyes and the legs. And
there are details in the structure of every insect,
which to the eye of the practiced entomologist are
equally significant and equally infallible.

It must not be supposed that, in order to
arrest the inroads of every kind of caterpillar, or
to prevent the injury caused by every beetle or fly,
tbe' Practical Entomologist gives & particular
and approved remedy ; or that it contains a num-
ber of such recipes. The principal point to be at-
tained, is an exact knowledge of the enemy in
every ascertainable state and situation ; and to
spread this knowledge, is the principal aim of its
publishers, as means of destroying the insects, or
preventing their reappearance, must be founded
upon this knowledge.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

87

The Canker Worm.— Finding a Mare's Nest.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

In the Western Rural of June 2, 1866, there
appeared a communication from " a Subscriber" at
Genesee, Mich., in which the writer throws doubt
upon the well and long ascertained fact, that the fe-
male cankerworm moth crawls up the trees which
she infests to deposits her eggs thereon. According
to " Subscriber,'' she must, occasionally at all events,
deposit her eggs on the ground. And this is his
argument : —

The theory that the moth of the canker-worm deposits
eggs in the branches of the trees may be very goocf, but
when theory comes in contact with actual observation
and experience, it becomes men to consult with one an-
other, and make further investigations and observations
in order to arrive at just conclusions, and that the truth
of a theory be thereby established.
* » * » « «

I will briefly state what my experience has been with
the canker-worm. Last year a portion of my orchard
was terribly infested by these destructive insects. Th^tops
had the appearance of having been burnt over. Having
watched their operations pretty closely last year, I tried
an experiment this Spring, which has been, so far, very
successful and satisfactory.

I took a strip of heavy woolen cloth about three or four
inches in width, and doubled it so that a strip when
fastened around the tree is one and one-half, or two
inches wide. The cloth can be securely fastened around
the tree with twine. I put the cloth mid way between
the ground and the lower branches of the tree. I then
put as much tar on the cloth as will stay on. I made the
cloth double thickness to prevent the tar from doing any
injury to the bark of the tree. The cloth answers the
double purpose of protecting the tree and holding the
tar. This forms a bridge that the worms cannot get over.
I go through the orchard two or three times a day, and
each time I find a greater or less number of worms on
the body of the trees below the tar. They are invariably
travelling towards the top of the tree until they get to the
tar, when they will travel around the body of the tree,
and occasionally try a new place to ascend.

I have observed some of the worms just as they were
starting from the ground to commence their ascent,
which led mo to believe that the moth does not deposit
its eggs in the tree, but in the ground where they are
hatched into a worm.

Now if " Subscriber" had reflected for a moment,
he would have been aware that the eggs of the can-
ker-worm are minute objects, and that the younty
larva, when it first comes out of the Qg^ and be-
fore it begins to feed, must also be very minute.
Consequently if it had been only freshly-hatched
larvae that were ascending his trees, they would
have been so small as ta be scarcely perceivable by
the naked eye of any but a practiced Entomologist.
Moreover his theory is contrary to the general law,
that insects lay their eggs in those situations only,
where the natural food of the young larva will be
most accessible, the blow-fly on meat, the cheese-fly
on cheese, the dung-beetles on dung, &c., &c. The
whole mystery is solved at once by the following
acute remarks of the Editor of the Western
Rural : —

It is probable that the caterpillars which he saw crawl-
ing up the trees had fallen to the ground from the
branches, and were endeavoring to regain their position.
This they always do when they happen to fall or to be
washed off by heavy rain. Probably it was after a
shower that he saw them trying to ascend from the
ground.

Driving nails into Fruit Trees.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

It is singular what a propensity just now men
have to drive nails into fruit-trees, with the idea of
benefiting them. Some indeed prefer boring
auger-holes, but the nails seem the almost universal
panacea of the day. Probably in 1867 it will be
the fashion to take a draw-knife and shave all the
bark off" the trees in every orchard; and in 1868 we
shall reach the millennium of horticultural perfec-
tion, and dress off all our fruit-trees with a jack-
plane to some mathematical figure. The following
is from the American Farmer, of June, 1866 :

A WRITER in The California Farmer states that two po-
mologists in the State benefited their fruit trees by driv-
ing nails into them near the roots. The growth of the
trees was in noways injured, and fruit was produced on
trees that had heretofore been almost barren, while in
other trees the quality and flavor of the fruit was im-
proved.

But the Nail Disease prevails in Massachusetts,
as well as in California ; as witness the following
from the Maine Farmer of May 24, 1866 :

Messrs Editors : — I have seen an inquiry taken from
your paper, for a remedy for the apple borer, and give
you the following as &sure remedy, which will not impede
the growth of the tree : With a small gimlet bore a hole
in the tree within a few inches of the ground. Fill this
hole with sulphur. If thfe tree be large, let the gimlet be
correspondingly large. The hole should penetrate through
the sap into the wood, from one-half to an inch. Press
the sulphur into the hole and cover it with clay or shoe-
maker's wax, or a cloth, so tight that it cannot escape.
In a short time the sulphur will be carried to all parts of
the tree bv the sap — and the borers will disappear also.

If you have plum trees troubled with the black wart
drive one or two nails into the tree.

Haverhill Mass., May llth, 1866.

But a correspondent of the Boston Cultivator
is more merciful. Instead of driving the nails into
the tree, he compromises the matter by driving
them into the ground at the foot of the tree.
Hear him, as quoted in the Country Gentleman of
May 31, 1866.

A correspondent of the Boston Cultivator states that he
has been verv successful in removing or preventing the
Black knot, by burying iron turnings in the earth and
then promptly cutting off whatever of the Black knot
may appear. He thinks that driving nails in the ground
beneath the tree will answer the same purpose as the
iron turnings. We have no doubt this remecly, if faith-
fully a'pplied, would prove entirely successful— especial
care being taken to cut off promptly every vestige of the
black knot on its first appearance. The iron and nails
will be equally effectual it thrown into the river.

I fully agree with the Editor, that the nails
would do just as much good if they were thrown
into the river; but the best way of all to apply
them would be on the loose fence-boards surround-
ing the orchard.

The only truly philosophical nail-driver, however,
hails from Illinois. He drives his tenpennies upon
chemical and mathematical principles, spike-nailg
for large trees and brads and sparables for seed-
lings. The following, which is printed in the
Prairie Farmer of June 2, 1866, is indeed a gem
in its way : —

Eds. Prairie Farmer : — I found on looking over my
apple trees that the borer has commenced his work ol
destruction, and I set my wits to work to find something
to destroy him, and think I have found just the thing.

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

My remedy is this : I drive a nail into each of my trees
and allow it to remain there. Now to some this might
seem strange, but here is the way I reason on the sub'ect.
A nail driven into a tree nearly to its heart must ne-
cessarily come in contact with the sap of the tree, and
this sap passing over the nail rusts it and the rust forms
an acid which will not affect the tree, but at the same
time it will kill all borers that are in the tre and will
not allow others to enter it. I have seen borers penetrate
the bark of a tree that had been prepared in this way,
but they would back out and go no farther. For a small
tree use a shingle nail and for larger ones use a nail in pro-
portion. I wish some one would try this and report the
result through your paper. " PECULIAR."

Now seriously — for this is a serious matter and
* should be tested in sober serious earnest — do pray,
Mr. Peculiar, examine your theory a little more
closely, before you try to induce your unfortunate
"some one" to play the carpenter in his orchard.
How much rust would form on the surface of a ten-
penny nail in the course of a year ? Probably a
few grains by weight, which when distributed
through the entire wood of a good-sized tree would
be a very homeopathic dose indeed for each day of
the year. This rust is, I believe. Oxide of iron,
i. e. a combination of iron with the gas called
oxygen ; but who told you that this rust " would
form an acid'' with the sap ? I am sure no
Chemist is at present aware of any such fact. But
suppose it is so. What is the chemical name of
this acid ? Is it oxalic acid, or malic acid, or sul-
phuric acid ? Until you find this out, how do you
know that " it will not affect the tree, but will kill
all the borers in the tree ?" But you say that
*' you have seen borers penetrate the bark of a tree
that had been prepared in this manner" and then
*^back out and go no further.'^ There you are
manifestly mistaken. When borers first enter a
tree, they are so small that you could not see them
with the naked eye ; and until they are ready
to change into the perfect insect, they remain all
the time inside the tree. But you seem to think
that they roam about outside the tree, tapping it
here and there like a woodpecker. You must have
mistaken a caterpillar for a borer; and if you
made such a grand mistake about an insect, you
may have made other equally serious mistakes
about the nails. Lawyers hold that if a witness
breaks down on any one point, he breaks down
upon all ; and I therefore prefer not to accept your
theory without further and better proof. Like
the tailor in Shakspeare, when Falstaff offered him
red-nosed old Bardolph as security for a debt, " I
like not such security.'^

The New Potato Bug.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

I have just received specimens of this little pest
from my friend, F. K. Phoenix, the proprietor of
the large Nursery at Bloomington, 111. He says
that they are very bad on the potatoes and egg-
plants in that neighborhood. Yesterday I had
specimens sent me from Athens, 111., which is situ-
ated in Menard County, a little west of the centre
of the State; and I know that already last autumn
they had reached a point in the interior lying thir-
ty miles south-east of Rock Island, Illinois. But

Bloomington is in McLean County, considerably to
the East of the centre of the State, and is over a
hundred miles in a straight line from the nearest
point on the Mississippi River. In 1864 we know
that this insect infested the potato at Warsaw, on
the Mississippi; and if it travelled thence to Bloom-
ington in the two years intervening between the
spring of 1864 and the spring of 1866, it must have
progressed at more than the average rate of fifty
miles a year, which is what I assigned as its prob-
able rate of eastward progression in the First Num-
ber of the Practical Entomologist. From
Bloomington to the western borders of Indiana is
only about seventy miles; so that by 1868 the
Hooshiers will probably receive a friendly morning
call from the stranger.

In the meantime, wherever the insect has once
made a settlement, there it remains permanently,
year after year ; as the following communications,
one from Iowa and the other from Illinois, show
pretty plainly : —

The Potato Bug— That terrible Colorado product, ac-
cording to the entomologists — is upon us again in great
numbers. May be some of the potato crop will be saved,

and may be it will not. The Lady Bugs are here too

thanks to Colorado for sending us the antidote with the
bane — if she did it! Let everybody encourage the lady
bugs and render them every assistance possible. Won-
der if President Johnson, now that he has got his hand
in, cannot be induced to veto the Colorado bug, as well as
the Colorado bill? If he will but do it, I pledge myself
in advance to hurrah for at least one veto. (T. G., War-
saw, 111., in Prairie Farmer, June 9, 1866.)

The Potato Bugs are Again Ravaging Iowa.— M. H.
BisHARD, Des Moines, says: "They are here by millions.
The only chance of getting any potatoes this year is to
make war upon the bugs. I take a paddle and basket
and beat the bugs into it, and kill them with hot water.
Our experience with potato bugs teaches that we can
only raise potatoes by the sweat of our brow. Imagine
me standing, basket and jpaddle in hand, in the midst of
a patch of potatoes, with from six to twelve bugs on each

hill, and you will have a j)hotograph of my patch." (JV

Y. Sem. Tribune, June 12, 1866.)

Mr. Phoenix — who, as one of the largest and most
enterprising nurserymen in the country, is pretty
competent to form an opinion — thinks that there is
no science of more practical importance to the Farm-
er than Economic Entomology; and that in every
State in the Union, and in every good College in
America, there ought to be a large Class of Stu-
dents devoting their whole time to the subject.
"Where there is one now," he adds, "there ought
to be a hundred." I have long been of the same
opinion myself; but then everybody thinks that I
am a mere visionary enthusiast, riding my own spe-
cial and peculiar hobby to death; and insects are
such very small bugs, and Legislators generally are
such very big bugs, that the infinitely large over-
looks and despises the infinitely small. When,
however, practical business men, like Mr. Phoenix'
see the necessity of legislative action on the sub-
ject, and more especially now that the public mind
is beginning to perceive, that five tons of Chinch
Bug will destroy infinitely more green wheat than
five tons of Elephant, though the Elephant is a
unit and the Chinch Bugs are as the sand on the
sea-shore; there is some hope that the eyes of
Congress and of our State Legislatures may be gra-
dually opened, and that they will cease to consider

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

1/

89

as beneath their attention, objects which — however
minute they may be — annually pick the pockets of
our American farmers of hundreds of millions of
dollars.
Rock Island, III., June 15, 1866.

ANSWEES TO OOREESPONDENTS.

BY B. D. WALSH, M. A.— Associate Editor.

^^^"Notice.— Through the fault of Uncle Sam's Post-
office, answers to correspondents — whom and how many 1
cannot tell — have miscarried between Illinois and Phila-
delphia. Those that find their communications unno-
ticed, will, therefore, please repeat them.

Thos. C. "Wright, Ohio.— The insects sent, which had
bored extensively into seasoned Hickory wood, are the
same Painted Borer {Clytua pictus) as I figured in my Ar-
ticle on Borers, (P. E. No. 4, p. 29), only it is the male
which is there figured, and the specimens you send are
both females, and consequently have much shorter an-
tennee. They belong to the Order of Beetles, ( Coleo-ptera),
not to the Order of Bugs, {Heteroptera), as you conjecture,
and have the usual transformations of their Order. The
specimens sent reached Philadelphia alive and kicking,
but were dead when I received them five days after-
wards.

H. B. Howarth, "Wise. — The insects you now send are
not the true Chinch-bugs, though thev belong to the same
family, {Lygazidce), and have nearly the same habits. The
Chinch-Bu^ is mostl;y black, with his back whitish, and a
very conspicuous pair of black spots placed crosswise on
it; those sent are of a uniform greenish-gray color with
no conspicuous markings. This species is very common
and abundant, but so far as I am aware, has not been as
yet nanaed and described. In size and shape it resembles
the Chinch-bug: but the coloring is very different.
About half of what you sent were winged, and in the per-
fect or full-grown state; the rest were the same insect in
the larva or baby state. I have never known this spe-
cies breed in excessive numbers, as the Chinch-Bug com-
monly does ; but no doubt, in proportion to their numbers,
they are equally destructive to vegetation.

Chai. H. "W. "Wood, Mass.— Thanks for the Cankerworms
which reached me in good order, considering that they
were four days on the road. You say of these Canker-
worms that the principal trouble is to keep the full grown
or growing worms from the trees, and that the protectors
or tar stops the females from ascending. But these ^'full-
grown or growing- worms" must have been hatched on
the trees; else what did they live on before they were
full-grown? I take it that they are individuals that have
been blown off the trees by the wind or washed off by
the rain, and afterwards re-ascend by the trunk. The
real trouble, as I apprehend, is, that you don't apply your
tarred bandages early enough in the season. Many fe-
males of this species come out in November, or on fine
warm days through the winter; and to stop these from
climbing the trees the tar must be attended to from the
end of the autumn every fine spell through the winter.
It is true this is a deal of trouble; but if done effectually
and thoroughly oiiQ season in any neighborhood, you an-
nihilate your foe for a dozen years to come. Recollect
that the female is wingless, and cannot migrate at plea-
sure into your orchard from the other end of the County,
like the winged female moth of the common "Cater-
pillar."

I do not believe that the male Cankerworm moth, when
coupled with the female, would ever fly into trees, so as
to give the female a chance to lay her eggs there. Butter-
flies and Dragon-flies (Snake-feeders and Devil's darning-
needles) commonly fly coupled, but I never saw any
moth do so. It requires very strong and robust wings to
carry double in this manner.

Chaa. Cook, Mass.— Dr. Clemens writes me word that the
small moth produced from your cocoons is not, as I had
supposed, undescribed. It is his Bucculatrix pomifoliella^
described by him several years back, and the larva feeds
on the leaves of apple-trees, as indeed the name indi-
cates.

M. V. B. Hathaway, "Vermont.— You inquire "what is
the name and character of the insect which deposits froth
resembling spittle upon grass in spring." It belongs to
the Order Homoptera, the Family Cercopidcs and the genus
Aphrophora, which in English means "foam-bearer."
^ear Rock Island we have three species, the 4-notata of
Bay, and the quadrangularis of Say, which are both pretty
common and resemble each other pretty closely, and the
bihneata of Say which is rare ; besides the obtusa of Say
and the Proteus of Fitch which are now referred to a dif-
]fl^^}^P^^^—Glastoptera—vr'\ih. different habits. The
froth you speak of is caused by the young larva
pumping out through the pores of its body the sap of the
plant on which it feeds, and no doubt answers the pur-
pose of concealing it from birds, cannibal insects, Ac.

♦k r^/u ^l^V^ ^^<^ ^ 8^°gl® larva in the middle of
the troth, wingless of course, or with mere rudiments of
wings; the perfect insect having full-sized wings. The*
ancients befieved that this froth was "cuckoo-spit," and
our l^rench and English ancestors called it "frog-spittle."
supposing of course that the tree-frogs voided it from
their mouths. I have noticed this "froth" very abun-
dant op the Red Osier Dogwood, (Cornus,) but which spe-
cies of Aphrophora infests that shrub, I do not know,
having never bred the perfect insect from the spittle. I
never saw any "froth" upon "grass," as you say you
have; but likely enough you may have a different spe-
cies in Vermont from any found in Illinois. You could
easily breed the perfect insect by placing the infested grass-
plant ma pot of earth, and covering it with musketo-bar.
But mind how you handle him. when he comes out in the
perfect state, for he jumps like any flea; as indeed do all
the Homopterous insects belong to the Ccrcopw and Tetii-
goma and Membracis families— or as they have been call-
ed in English the "Frog-hoppers," the "Leaf-hoppers,"
and the ''Tree-hoppers." I have read somewhere that
Clastovtera Proteus (of Fitch), which is prettily marked
with black and gamboge-yellow, is a great pest upon
cranberry vines in the East; but it must attack other
plants as well, for it is very common near Rock Island
where there are no cranberry vines.

E. Hall, Athens, 111.— The insects you send are indeed
the true, highly-improved, new Potato-bug, and Athens
being so far in the interior of the State, the fact that they
had already reached it a year ago is a confirmation of
what I asserted last spring, viz:— that they would travel
eastward at the rate of about fifty miles a year till they
reached the Atlantic. There are two kinds of beetles that
infest the Sweet Potato, one of a gold color, and the
other striped with pale yellow and black. Both belong
to the family of Tortoise- beetles, ( Cassida,) so called from
their flatness, and are, as you infer, pretty closely allied
to the new Potato Bug. The pink ladybirds with black
spots that you send, and which you say destroy the eggs
of the Potato-bug, are \Hir>podamia maculata— one of the
most useful friends the farmer has, for he is death on
bark-lice, on chinch-bugs, and on Potato-bug's eggs.
Several other kinds of Ladybirds also, to my knowledge,
feed on Potato-bug's eggs.

Although, as you say, the Potato-bug first appeared
with you last year on Solanum triflorum, a plant that
you have been growing from Rocky Mountain seed since
1863, vet you could not have imported it along with the
seed, because the seed must of course have been gathered
in the fall, and this insect's eg^s, if gathered in the fall,
would not live till the following spring. Some insects
indeed pass the winter in the egg state, the common
"Caterpillar" of the apple-tree for example, but this is
not one of them.

0. B. Donglas, Vermont.— The plum with some mons-
trositj"^ in its development arrived in such a shrivelled
state that I can make nothing of it. The small "bunches
or sacks" attached to a twig are very remarkable and
quite new to me. They contain eggs and are made by
some insect or other— or possibly some spider— and that
is all I can say about them. I have found on the White
Oak numerous "bunches or sackc " likewise containing
eggs, but differing from yours :a being smoothly globular
and of a cream-color, freckled with brown.

Prof. Sheldon, Iowa. — The moth you sei?d is a fine male
of the common Currant Borer, (J^eria tifuli/ormis,) of
which a figure was givwi in the P. K,p. 29, together with
a short notice by myself of its habits.

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90

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

Errata in Ko. 8.
Pa^e 77, column 1, lino 4, for "/S'mca tricolor" read
** Sertca irxcolor."

Page 77, column 2, line 24 from bottom, for "all the
true Bugs'' read "almost all the true Bugs."

Page 78, column 1, line 3, for ''without food" read
** without teeth."

ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

"We thankfully ackowledge the receipt of the following
suras, donated for the support of the Practical Entomo-
GI8T ; —

George Hunt, Rhode Island $2 00

O.-B Douglas, Vermont :•. '...V...1 00

Fred'k. Blanchard, Massachusetts !. ...*.'..i!!l 00

Dr. Trimble, N. J.— I have already answered you once,
but the MS miscarried. The large larva you send, with
the statement that it is destroying many dwarf pear-trees
near Haramonton, N. J. by boring them close to the ground
IS manifestly that of some Longicorn Beetle, and I think
belongs to the Prionua group. As it disagrees with the
described larvsB of the genus Prionus in having verV lone
maxillary palpi and long antennae, I think it will not im-
probably prove to be the larva of Orthosoma cylindricuyn,
which with us in Illinois is a pretty common insect. Au-
thors indeed state that this species inhabits pine-trees;
but I think this must be a mistake. It is common near
Kock Island, where we have no pine-trees. True, it

might breed here in pine lumber, of wtich we have plenty.
But in 1861 I took great numbers of this insect near the
inland town of Jonesboro', in South Illinois, where at
that date the^ had neither pine-lrees nor pine lumber,
»»the natives of that region using "poplar" (tulip-tree) or
whitewood," where we northern folks who live handv
to the pineries use pine. Prionus laticollis, as you are
aware, breeds in different species of Poplar. PHonus
l^bricorms is our common species in Illinois, but where
that breeds is, I believe, unknown. Your larva arrived
in good order, and I hope to raise the perfect insect from
It, and settle all doubts on the above question.

F. K. Phoenix, Illinois.— The cankerworm moths most-
ly come out in the spring and lay their eggs then, but a
few come out late in the autumn and on warm days
through the winter and of course lay their eggs shortly
afterwards. This is what all the best writers sty. ^

Fred. Blanchard, Mass.- You ask, ''what are the most
desirable works on Entomology for the beginner to have."
Tl'J^'~i?k'J^^ and Spence's Introduction to Entomology,
London, 1857, one thick duodecimo. Harris's Injurious
Insects one octavo volume, with plates. Westwood's In-
troductton to Classification of Insects, London, 1838—40- two

thick octave volumes, with very numerous outline draw-
ings, viio-vy

r2}^^f Siyeter, lowa.-Thanka for the Cankerworms,
most of which arrived m good health. The Potato Bues
you send are the genuine new and highly improved spe-
cies-quite distinct from the oid-fashioned blister beetles
—respecting which see my Article in No. 1 of P. E Thev

TLTSTk^^ *^K •' ^u^l ^^ ^^^^ ^«^^°d' ^°d last autumn
Lull^t ♦u Q^7u^i?'^ already reached a point thirty
miles to the Bouth East of us. We have ti thank ihi
Eastern folks for the Bark-louse, the Locust-borer, the
Hessian Fly and the Wheat midge. Now we are goine
to reciprocate the obligation, and furnish them with a
Western Bug with true, go-ahead, western propensities.
"Turn about IS fair play." ^

^Jenry Shimer, Illinois.-The insects infesting the
White I ine (Pmu« strobus,) that you forward do not be-
long to the Aphr3 familv, (Plant-lice) as you suppose, but
to the Coccus family (Bark-lice.) The elongate white
scale on the leaf was described by Fitch &s Aspidiotus
pim/oluE; the downy patches on the bark &a Coccus
pimcorticts. But I believe they are the same species, the
former containing the eggs, like the scale of the common
Bark-louse of the apple tree, and the latter being the
young larva with downy matter exuding from them No
one has yet obtained the winged males of this species;
and until this is done the genus to which it belongs can-

I\? f.l^'v''"''''!^^^. ^tl^r^l'nef I suppose you are aware
that the females in this family never acquire wings, and
that the males, unlike the 4-winged Plant-lice, have onlv
two wings. There was a large ereen cannibal larva, be-
longing to the Dipterous iaxnWy Syrphidce, that came
along with the lice and was probably unnoticed by you

Distribution and Habitat of InBects.

The distribution of insects is in exact proportion
to the diffusion of plants; the richer any country
is in plants, the richer it is also in insects. The
polar regions, which produce but few plants, have
also but few insects ; whereas the luxuriant vege-
tation of the tropical countries feeds a numerous
host of insects.

With respect to their habitation, insects are di-
vided into those which live upon land and water.

Those which live in the water, either never leave
that element, or are able to live at will, either in
the water or on the earth, at least for a short time;
for example, many water-beetles. Many live at
certain periods of their development in water; at
others, on land; such as many sorts of flies, and all
the dragon-flies, which as larvae and pupse live in
water, but as perfect insects on land, or in the air.
Land insects live either in the earth, under
stones, in decayed wood, or in putrid animal sub-
stances. Of these some pass their whole lives in
these places, others only during a particular period
of their development. The larvse of the dung-
beetle live deep under the ground, while the per-
fect insect inhabits the excrement of animals ; many
of the larvae of flies live in carrion or excrement,
while the perfect insect flies about in the open air!
A very great number choose the different parts of
plants for their abode, as the roots, bark, inner
bark, alburnum, wood, pith, buds, flowers, leaves
and fruit. They change their abode in every new
stage of their development. Thus the bark-beetle,
which in the larva state lived under the bark,'
swarms in its perfect state upon the trees, the cur-
culio of the apple-tree, the larva of which infests
the bottom of the apple blossom, crawls on the
trees, or on the surrounding ground; the mining-
moth, which as a larva lives under the cuticle of
the leaves, flutters in its winged state about the
flowers and leaves.

A small number live upon other animals, on the
skin, such as lice, or in the inside of the body, as
the ox and horse breeze-flies ( (Estridse). The two
latter leave their first abode before entering the
pupa state, which they effect in the earth, and ho-
ver as flies round the animals to deposit their eggs
upon them.

Most insects live solitarily, either without any
definite dwelling, or they construct for themselves
a house composed of various kinds of vegetables or
animal matter; for example, many caterpillars. A
few species live in society, such as bees, ants,
wasps, &c.

By obtaining a general knowledge of the abode
of insects, it is evident that the observer of the
economy of insects will be able more satisfactorily
to combat many that are injurious to him; thus he
can, with little trouble, greatly diminish or entire-
ly annihilate those that he has ascertained to live
m society, or in places of easy access.— JSTo/Zar.
— » i

r.n^J^J' -^^"Sl^pPi^? ''^ ^^^ "Practical Entomologist,"
published in Philadelphia, from which we glean lali-

flryi,^"'''' ^"'^^'^'^ ^ '"^^ * work.l Ca/t/ornia

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

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92

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

A MONTHLY JOURNAL

DEVOTED TO

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THE

xu4xa\ ®tttom0%ist

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

PubUshed by the Entomological Society of Philadelpliia, for the dissemination of valuable
____^ knowledge among Agriculturists and Horticulturists.

Vol. I.

JULY 30, 1866,

No. 10.

Ik frartkal (^ttteob^isi

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AUG. R. GROTE, I and

J. W. McAllister, J Editors

BENJ. D. WALSH, Rock Island, Illinois, *

Associate Editor.

PHILADELPHIA, JULY 30, 1866.

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94

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

95

Outlinef of the Study of Inteots. — II.

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In our last article we endeavored to show that the
classes of Worms, Crustacea and Insects were but
modifications of a single articulated or jointed
worm-like form, and that in all this unity there ac-
tually existed from the first, three quite diflferent
ti/pes or shapes, so that one need not confuse a
worm with a Lobster, or a Lobster with a Honey bee.
At first however, all look much alike, that is when
in the e^g, before the embryo is formed. The ear-
liest form of all articulates is wormlike, that is, the
embryos tend to become cylindrical, much longer
than broad, and rounded oflf much alike at each end
of the body.

In studying the lives of great men, we turn
eagerly to the accounts of their childhood, and
growth through the period of youth to adult life.
So in studying insects we must trace them from
the egg state, to the period of childhood, (the lar-
va)—and from childhood to the adult fly-state.

At first the Worm leaves the egg as a little oval
infusorium-like, microscopic body, covered over with
little filaments or cilia, by the swift motion of which
It circumnavigates a drop of water. Very soon it
grows longer, and contracts at intervals, when the
skin becomes partially infolded, giving it a ringed
appearance, and it is at this time that we can tell
whether the embryo is to be a lobster or worm, i. e.
an articulate, or a clam or fish. The rings faintly
marked out determine that in reality it is an Arti-
culate and not a Mollusc (clam), or Radiate (Star-
fish). Soon the ciliae disappears, regular locomo-
tive paddle-like organs, grow out from the sides;
feelers, and jaws and eye-dots appear on the front
rings of the body, which are thus grouped into a
head, though it is difficult in a large proportion of
the lower kinds of worms for unskilled observers to
distinguish the head from the tail. Thus we see
throughout the growth of a worm, no attempt at
subdividing the body into regions, as a head, tho-
rax and abdomen, each provided with distinct or*
gans, but only a perfection of the individual rings
themselves as they advance in life. Thus in a
worm, of which fig. 1, in the preceding article is a
cross ^ction, we see each ring is plainly distin-
guished into an upper and under, and in addition
to these, a well marked side-area, from which oar-
like locomotive organs grow out. It is on this side
area in the rings composing the head of worms,
that the eye-dots, feelers and jaws are situated. We
see this arrangement distinctly in the Worms, but
less apparently in the Crustacea and Insects, whose
heads are made up not of a single ring, ajs is very
generally supposed, but of six and probably seven,
being in insects twice the number of those com-
prising the thorax.

In some of the low intestinal worms, such as the
Tape Worm, each ring in the hinder two-thirds of
the body is provided with a distinct portion of the
ovary and male sperm-gland, so that when the body
becomes broken up into its constituent elementi or

rings, as often occurs naturally in these low forms
for the more ready propagation of the species, since
the young are exposed to many dangers while liv-
ing in the intestines of animals, — each ring may
become a living independent worm, and add new
rings to its body by the simple subdivision of the
original one. This fact proves that in the womiy
the vitality of the animal is very equally distributed
to each ring. If we cut off* the head or tail of some
of the lowest of these worms, the pieces will become
a distinct animal, but an insect or crab sooner or later
dies when deprived of its head or tail, (abdomen).
The young of all Crustacea first begin life in the
egg as oblong flattened worm-like bodies, each end
of the body repeating the same form. The young
of the low Crustacea, such as the Barnacles, and
some marine forms like the Sow-bugs, and some lowly
organized parasitic species inhabiting the gills of
fishes, are hatched as microscopic embryos which
would readily be mistaken for young worms. In
the higher Crustacea such as the fresh-water lob-
ster, the young when hatched, does not greatly dif-
fer from the parent, but it goes through the worm-
like stage within the egg.

It is thus with Insects. Within the egg at the
first dawn of life they are flattened oblong bodies
curved upon themselves. Just before hatching
their bodies unbend, they become more cylindrical,
the limbs bud out on the sides of the rings, the
head is clearly demarked, and the young Caterpil-
lar steps forth from the egg-shell ready armed and
equipped for its riotous life.

As will be seen by the figures below, the legs,
jaws and antennae are first started as buds from the
side of the rings, being simply elongations of the
body wall, which bud out, become larger, and fi-
nally jointed, until the buds arising from the
thorax or abdomen become legs, those from the
base of the head become jaws, while the antennae
and palpi sprout out from the front rings of the
head. Thus while the body of all articulates are
built up from a common embryonic form, their ap-
pendages also so diverse, when we compare a lob-
ster's claw with an insect's antennae, or a spider's
spinneret with the hinder limbs of a Centipede, are
yet but modifications of a common form, adapted
for the different uses to which they are put by these
animals.

The changes which an animal undergoes while
growing is called its metamorphosis. This meta-
morphosis is of course less marked in those animals
whose forms are low and simple and which there-
fore do not depart greatly from the early embry-
onic stage. As we ascend higher, the changes be-
come more marked, until in the true Insects, where
the larva is so strikingly different in the majority
of species, from the pupa, while the pupa again, as-
sumes quite a different form from the winged fly
we have a most thorough transformation, which led
early observers to state that Insects diflbr from
other animals in passing through a metamorphosis,
not knowing as we do now, what surprising changes
all animals pass through in order to reach the
adult state.

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EXPLAxNATION OP THE FIGURES.

Fig. 3 represents the embryo of a worm, a is the

miadle tentacle of the head; e one of the posterior

tentacles; b the two eye-spots a

at the base of the hinder pair

of feelers; c is one of a row of

oar-like organs (cirri) at the base

of which are inserted the locomo-|

tive bristles, with the cirri serving

as swimming and locomotive or

gans ; d the caudal styles, or tail

feelers. (From A. Agassiz).
In this figure we see how slight

are the differences between the

feelers of the head, the oar-like

swimming organs, and the caudal

filaments; we can easily see that

they are but modifications of a

common form, and all arise from

the common limb-bearing region

of each ring of the body.

The alimentary canal, with the
proventriculus, or anterior divi-^^^^^^
sion of the stomach, is seen to oc- Fig. 3
cupy the middle of the body; while the mouth
opens on the under side of the head.

Fig. 4 represents the young of the fresh-water
Lobster (Crawfish) before leaving the egg. The
body is divided into rings, ending
in lobes on the sides, which are the
rudiments of the limbs, b is the
rudiment of the eye-stalk, at the
end of which is the eye; a is the
fore antennae; a* is the hind an-
tennae; c is one of the maxilla-1
feet; c » is the first pair of true feet
destined to form the huge "claw.'

(From Rathke). Thus the eye-

stalk, antennae, claws and legs are F\^ 4
moulded upon a common form, and at firnt a"rc scarce-
ly distinguishable. Here we see the embryo divided
into a head, thorix nnd a tail.

^ Fig. 5. A Case-fly, Pfny/f/anrn, (after Zaddach),
m the egg, with part of the yolk (jc) not yet en-
closed within the body wails, a antennae; between
a and a» the mandibles; a> maxilla; a^ labium.
b. the separate eye-spots, (ocelli) which afterwards
increase greatly in number and unite to form the
compound eye. The "neck" or junction of the
head with the thorax is seen at the front part of
the yolk mass; c the the three pairs of legs, which

are folded once on themselves; d the pair of anal
legs attached to the tenth ring of the abdomen, a«
seen in caterpillars, which form long antenn»-like
filaments in the Cockroach and May-fly, ete. The
rings of the body are but partially formed; they
are cylindrical, giving the body a worm-like form.
Here as in the other two figures, though not so dis*
tinctly seen, the antennae, jaws and last pair of ab*
dominal legs are modifications of but a single form^
and grow out from the side of the body. The head-
appendages are directed forwards, as they are to be
adapted for sensory and feeding purposes; the legs
are directed downwards and they are to support
the insect while walking. It appears that the two
ends of the body are perfected before the middle,
and the under side before the upper, as we see the
yolk mass is not yet enclosed and the rings not yet
formed above. Thus all articulates differ from all
vertebrates in having the yolk mass situated on the
back, instead of on the belly as in the chick, dog.
or human embryo. x. s. P;

■ »

Chinch Bugi

"If any Western rustics are verdant enough to suppos*
that chinch bugs cannot be out-flanked, headed o# and
conouered, they are entirely behind the times. The thinff
has been eflfectually done cfurinar the past season, by Mr.
Davis, Supervisor of tlve town of Scott, Ogle county, Illfc
This gentleman had a cornfield of a hundred acres/grow^
ing alongside of an extensive field of small grain The
bugs had finished up the latter and were preparing to at-
tack the former, when the owner, being of an ingeniouA
turn, hit upon a happy plan for circumventing them. He
surrounded the corn witTi a barrier of pine boards set up
edgewise, and partly buried in the ground, to keep them
in position. Outside of this fence deep holes were dujft
about ten feet apart. The upper edge of the board was
kept constantly moist with a coat of coal tar, which wai
renewed every day.

"The bugs, according to their regular tactics, advanc-
ed to the assault in solid columns, swarming by millions,
and hiding the ground. They easily ascended the boards^
but were unable to cross the belt of the coal tar. Some--
times they crowded upon one another, so as to bridge
over the barrier, but such places were immediately cov-
ered with a new coating. The invaders were in a worse
quandary than that of Butler and Weitzel at Fort Fisher
and, in that state of mind, crept backward and forward
until they tumbled into the deep hole aforesaid. These
were soon filled, and the swarming myriads were shovel-
ed out of them literally by wagon loads, at the rate of
thirty or forty bushels a day— and buried up in other
holes, dug for the purpose, as required. This may seem
incredible to persons unacquainted with this little pest,
but no one who has seen the countless myriads Which
cover the earth as harvest approaches, will feel inclined
todispute the statement. It is an unimpeachable fact. The
process was repeated till only three or four bushels could
be shovelled out of the holes, when it was abandoned,
The corn was completely protected, and vielded bounti-
, iL."^^"****^ ^^^"^f copied in Vall^ Farmer, JunA

1, loOD.

From what I have seen of the Chinch Bug, I
have no doubt that the above is substantially %r»

^^^^' B. D. W.

» ■ -"u.

The PuAcncAL Evtomolocmst.— This able and highly
instructive journal commences in the May number a
series of articles designed as elementary le'ssons in the
science of Entomology, for the instruction of young per-
sons and others who may wish to acquire some knowledge
of this subject. It will prove a valuable feature and we
hope will excite a greater general interest and enlist a lar-
ger number of intelligent observers of the habits of in-
sects. Every farmer boy in the country should subscribe
for the EntomologvaU Only 50 cts. a y^nr.— Sorgo JoumaL

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

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Sootors Differ.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A«

Thos^ who read Agricultural Journals must have
frequently noticed cases, where one Correspondent
strongly recommends some infallible remedy against
a particular Noxious Insect, and a few months after-
wards comes an answer from another Correspondent,
saying that he has tried the remedy and found it
worthless. By way of practical illustration, I will
give a few instances of the kind, taken at random
from various sources. The following is from the
Proceedings of the New York Farmers' Club print-
ed in the iV: Y. Tribune, July 14, 1863 :

Oil upon PruH Trees.— U^. Hopkins says further: «In
vour discussions before the Club, oil is recommended to
be rubbed on to fruit trees. I can only say, in reeard to
a single instance. A gentleman in Warsaw, Wyoming
County, li. Y., applied common tanners' oil to his, both
pears, pluma, and cherries, and he killed them every one.
They were thrifty, well-doing, healthy, and very produc
tive before, but they never bore fruit or leaf afterwards."

The next example is from the same publication,
but of three years later date, (June 12, 1866.)

Curculio—New Remedy.— Uti. Carpenter related the
case of some one, who has succeeded in growing plums by
keeping sheep in the orchard; and it was supposed by
the owner, that the odor arising from the sheep aflFected
the insects and kept them away.

Mr. Hicks said his neighbors keep sheep, but it does
not keep away the curculio.

But the most amusing case is from the Prairie
Farmer; and I give it in full, because it is instruc-
tive as well as amusing. Strange to relate, a one-
inch auger hole bored in a man's apple-trees and
filled with sulphur failed to kill the cankerworms!
Perhaps Mr. Lippincott would like to try next year
a two-inch auger upon his trees, or — better still —
a tool which is known as a post-axe and is used for
cutting large mortises in fence-posts. With such
a mortise cut deeply into every tree and filled with
a few pounds of sulphur, we should be apt, as folks
say out West, "to hear something drap''—hvii
whether it would be the Cankerworms or the trees
that gave up the ghost, is another affair.

EXPERIENCE WITH THE CANKER WORM.

Eds. Prairie Farmer :— Some twelve or fourteen years
ago. the canker worm commenced in one corner of my
orchard, and increased year after year until they got all
over the orchard, and would eat the leaves off the trees,
until they would be as destitute of leaves in July as in
January; and after trying various remedies to destroy
them, I finally, with an inch auger, bored a hole nearly
through the trunk some three feet from the ground, and
put in li ounces of flour of sulphur, and plugged up the
hole by driving a piece of pine wood in even with the
wood of the tree, which effectually destroyed them the
first year, and the trees fruited well that year and have
ever since, and that is six years ago; the worms hatched
out as before, but died without doing injury. This was
done in the spring before the sap commenced rising; I think
any time between now and the first of April is the proper
time to do it. Although the leaves were so impregnated
with the sulphur that the worms could not pat them, yet
we were never able to detect it in the fruit— James
Tucker, Warren Co., 111. {Prairie Farmer, March 31, 1866.)
SULPHUR FOR CANKER WORMS A FAILURE.

Eds. Prairie Farmer:— In your number of March 31st,
there is a communication from Mr. James Tucker of War-
ren county, 111., giving an acoountof his experience with
canker worms— how he destroyed them with sulphur.

Well, the story was so plausible, straight and simple,
that I determined to try it, and did try it. I put twenty-

seven pounds of flowered sulphur in and on about one
hundred and twenty trees; and the result is, that the fo-
liage of the trees is nearly all eaten up and the fruit near-
ly all destroyed. It cannot be that this result is from a
lack of faith m me, for my faith was so strong that I ne-
gle<5ted my usual remedy of jjetting them off with a pole,
and killing them at a Btoppinar place made of tar and
snneared on a strip of tin around the tfuhk of the tree.

Let not Mr. Tucker think that I am censuring him* for
I have no doubt but what he thought the sulphur killed
the worms.

Lately an old gentleman told me a similar story about
sulphur killing the worms in the short space of three
davs. When I incjuired of him what time of year the
sulphur was put m, he said, «in Wool-carding time."
Now it 18 m wool-carding time that the worms mature
and disappear of their own accord, and hence his idea
that the sulphur had killed them. I am told of an orchard
m this country where they disappeared all of a sudden
without any known cause.

♦ ♦ « ' «

It seems to me there is not enough said in your paper
on this very important subject. Is it possible that the
ingenuity of man cannot invent something to prevent
a bug from crawling up a tree ? The* thing must be done:
It can be done, and if nobody else will do it I am deter-
mined to do it myself.— Wm. P. Lippincott, Vernon, Iowa.
{Prairie Farmer, June 9, 1866.)

As to the popular belief that sulphur is highly
offensive to the larvae of moths, Dr. Fitch tried the
experiment of feeding two parcels of the common
caterpillars of the Apple tree, one parcel on clean
leaves and the other parcel on leaves copiously
dusted over with sulphur. Wonderful to relate,
instead of dying, the sulphur-fed caterpillars throve
finely and actually outgrew those that had nothing
but the natural apple-leaves to feed on. But per-
haps, if the Doctor had bored a gimlet^hole in the
woodwork of his breeding-cage and filled it with sul-
phur, the result would have been different. Quien
sabe? Who knows? The sulphur would be just
as likely to rise into the leaves on this plan as
on Mr. Tucker's plan. Ask any botanist if it is
not so. For the sap can only take up such sub-
stances as are soluble in water; and sulphur, as
any one can easily prove by trying it, will not dis-
solve in water.

-#-*■

The Grain Plant-loiue.

BT BBNJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

It is not at all improbable that the Plant-louse,
which infested small grain a few years ago in the
Northern States, hajs now travelled south into
Georgia. At all events the wheat in certain sec-
tions of Georgia is now attacked by a small insect,
which the natives had never seen before; though,
as usual, there is no description whatever given of
it, further than that it is " small," which may mean
half an inch or the hundredth part of an inch long.
The New York Tribune, from which the following
extract from the Atlanta Intelligencer is copied,
facetiously remarks that " this enemy of the wheat-
growers, Judging from the description, is unlike any
of the Northern pests." Where the " description "
comes in, I cannot discover. For anything that
the Southern newspaper says to the contrary, the
new insect may be a beetle, or a four-winged fly, or
a two-winged fly, or a small moth, or a bug. But
let the article speak for itself; and as the Yankees

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

97

are good at guessing, they will probably guess what

species of insect is referred to by the writer. My

guess is "Plant-louse;" but then unfortunately I

am no Yankee — only a Western man.

"-A. new destroyer of wheat has made its appearance in
the wheat fields in the shape of a small insect, which ap-
pears on the blade, varying from one to four in number,
and which is nroducinff sad havoc. The attention of Mr.
Embry was first called to the appearance of the insect
and its destructive powers by another old farmer of the
same county, Mr. Henry Summerlin. The two together
have watched the progress of this insect, and what with
the present appearance of the wheat crop in this vicinity,
and the de tructive powers of the insect itself, have come
to the conclusion that great damage will be done to the
wheat crop in Carroll County if it be not totally destroy-
ed. The insect, Mr. Embry states, has never before made
Its appearance in that county."— (iV. Y. Sem, Tnbune,
June 15, 1866.) *

Popular namei for Inaeott.

BT BBNJ. D. WALSH, M. ▲.

There is nothing more puzzling to an Entomolo-
gist than the use of mere names, without any de-
scription of form, size, texture or color, in record-
ing the ravages of Noxious Insects. One farmer
says that the weevil is taking his wheat in the
granary; another says that the weevil is taking his
wheat in the field. One would naturally suppose
that both were speaking of the same insect ; where-
as the first refers to what is really a true weevil or
snout-beetle, belonging to the same great group as
the common "Curculio;" and the second refers to
what is not a Weevil at all, nor even a Beetle, but
a two-winged fly belonging to the same Order as
the Musketoes, House-flies, Horse-flies, &c., namely
the Wheat-midge. In some parts of the country,
indeed, this last insect is called, by way of distinc-
tion, "the Red Weevil," precisely as a miserable
bony kind of fish is called a "Red Horse" in the
Valley of the Mississippi, to distinguish it from the
animals that draw our buggies. But just as often
as not this two-winged fly is called purely and
simply "the weevil;" which is much as if a Western
fisherman were to say that he had got half a hun-
dred "Horses" in his wagon-bed.

If, however, we are puzzled sometimes by the
popular names given to insects on this side of the
Rocky Mountains, where we are tolerably familiar
with the different species that afflict the farmer,
how must it be with the Noxious Insects of the
Pacific Coast, almost all of which are unknown to
science, at least so far as their habits and transfor-
mations are concerned ? Probably more than one
half of the insects of California, &c. belong to spe-
cies which do not occur in Eastern America. Yet
when farmers emigrated thither from the East, they
very naturally gave to native Californian insects
the same popular names, as they had been in the
habit of giving to Eastern species; just as the first
English settlers in America called an American
species of thrush a "Robin," after the European
Robin, which is not a thrush but a warbler. Here,
then, we have error heaped upon error and confu-
sion worse confounded.

I have been led into the above remarks from

seeing the following article in the Cah/omia
Farmer of May 10, 1866 :

wnich produces the army worm passed through and over

prLenfs iust no^^^^^ Vegetation TctmoTJl

presents just now delicious repasts for the hunerv raven
ous creatures—^ocramen^o Bee of AprU Uth^^'

Our Eastern Army worm is produced, not by a
fly but by a brown moth or miller; and besides,
the great bulk of these moths appear, not in the
spring r April) but in the summer, varying accord-
ing to the latitude from June to September. There
can be littlfe doubt that the so-called Californian
Army-worm is altogether distinct from our Armv-
worm; just as in the Southern States a moth that
infests the Cotton-plant in the larva state (the Noc^
tua xyhnaoi Say) is often called the Army-worm,
though it is quite different from our Army-worm
(the Le^ania unipuncta of Haworth.) But what
IS this Californian species? "Aye, there's the rub."
And what are its habits ? How does it operate ?
What plants does it feed on ? Is the larva legless,
or if It has legs how many has it got ? Is the per-
fect insect a Moth, or a Saw-fly, or a Plant-feeding
Beetle or a Bug ? Will not some kind Californian
enlighten us all upon these and a host of other such
particulars ? And above all, will he not send us
specimens of the perfect insect, as well as the his-
tory of Its life? You cannot be teo precise or too
circumstantial m stating all that you know about
it. Points apparently quite trivial in its Natural
History may .lead the way to some effective method
of counterworking it, which may eventually save
millions of dollars to your State. '

Soientifio Kamei.

BY BBNJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

We continually hear people object to what they
call the long crack-jaw names, used by Scientific-
men to designate different species of insects or of
birds or of mammals; and much misconception and
some ignorance prevails on the subject in the popu-

t'fil fi .'i' ^«™°»only supposed, for example,
that the first discoverer of a new species invent^

t the first of which is called the generic name and
the second the specific name. In reality this sup-
position is one half of it almost entirely incorrect,
and the other half of it only partially correct. The
specific name is indeed fixed by the arbitrary dis-
cretion of the first person that describes (not the
tirst person that c?i>cot;er«) a hithert(^ undescribed
species, but m nine cases out of ten the generic
name was established long ago by some other writer,
who laid down certain characters in which a certain
more or less extensive group of species all agree
which group receives a fixed name from him and
IS called in scientific language a genus. For in-
stance under the old genus Oak (scientifically
Quercm) are comprehended many species described
by various Botanists, the White Oak, the Black
Oak the Burr Oak, &c.; under the old genus
Duck (scientifically Anas) are comprehended many
species described by various Ornithologists the

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98

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

4

■ )

Mallard Duok, the Black Duck &c. ; and under the
old genus Ladybird (a genus of Beetles called in
scientific language Coccinella) are comprehended
many species described by various Entomologists,
the 12-spotted Ladybird, the 9-spotted Ladybird,'
the 2-dotted Ladybird, &c. To refer a newly-dis-
covered species to its proper genus is often a work
of great labor, and it is continually the case that
mistakes are madis on this point, and the generic
name has to be subsequently changed by the same
writer or by succeeding writers. But, by scientific
etiquette, the specific name always remains the same.
The great Linnaeus about a hundred years ago de-
scribed hundreds of our N. A. insects. In every
case his specific names are retained in use to the
present day; but in very numerous cases his generic
names are not retained, because the old Linnsean
genera have since his time been very generally split
up each into a great number of modern genera.
Perhaps in these modern days this propensity has
by certain writers been carried to an undue excess;
but in the scieotific world, as in the moral or in the
political world, we are often obliged to accept a state
of things not because it is the best possible, but
because it is the best that we can obtain short of
turning the whole world upside down.

"But," it will be said, "why require all scientific
names to be in the Latin language ? Why not say
* White oak' instead of 'Quercus alba,' 'Wood Duck'
instead of *Anas (or Aix) sponsa,' and 'Nine-spotted
Ladybird' instead of 'Coccinella novemnotata?'"
The reason is, that scientific names areintended for
the use of Naturalists of all nations, the Russian as
well as the Swede, the Oerman as well as the Hol-
lander, the Frenchman as well as the Englishman
or the American. Now what could we do in America
with a scientific name in the Swedish or in the
JRussian language ? And what could a Swede or a
Russian do with one in the English language ?
Clearly such names would ofteq b^ unintelligible,
and give rise to numerous mistakes and misappre-
hensions; and if they were translated from the
Swedish or Russian into English, or from the En-
glish into Swedish or Russian, some writers would
translate them one way, som^ another; which would
again give rise to error iMid confusion. Whereas
in the scientific world the Latin is a kind of uni-
versal language, understood more or less perfectly
by every one; and it was therefore very properly
laid down as a universal rule by Linnaeus, that all
scientific names should be Latin.

"But," it will be again objected, '<why select
such intolerably long crack-jaw names? Why not,
for instance, confine naturalists to words of two syl-
lables and such as are easily pronounced ?" The
answer is that it is physically impossible to do any
such thing. There are now at least a hundred
thousand different genera in Animated Nature, in-
cluding of course both the Vegetable and Animal
Kingdoms, each of which has to be designated by
a distinct name. How can you ever obtain, by any
reasonable combination of consonants and vowels, a
hundred thousand different and distinct words all
of not more than two syllables ? In the richest lan-

guages there are only one or two thousand words of
one or two syllables each, and all the rest are several
syllables long. Frequently, too, even in the popu-
lar mouth, long words are used in preference to
short ones, and instead of " a school-teacher getting
pay for his work," it is '< the Professor in an Aca-
demy that receives compensation for his services."
There are, I believe, somewhere about a thousand
distinct ropes in the rigging of a ship, each of
which is designated by a distinct name. Yet, in-
stead of all the thousand ropes receiving names of
one or two syllables apiece, one rope is called the
^■Main-topgallant-sail-halyard" another the "Mizen-
royal-clewline," &c. &c. Surely the licence which
is conceded to the Sailor, with his one thousand
ropes, ought not to be grudged to the Naturalist,
with his one hundred thousand genera. Neverthe-
less I freely confess, that some few Naturalists have
gone beyond all reasonable bounds, in this matter
of coining barbarous and ungrammatical and unpro-
nounceable names, not having the fear of Linnaeus
before their eyes, who laid it down as a rule, that
"Names which are a foot an a half long, or diffi-
cult of pronunciation, or offensive to the ear should
be avoided.*

"But," some thoughtless reader may suggest,
"why give fixed and definite names at all to the
different species of animals and plants? Why not
let every man, who has got anything to say about
a particular animal or plant, explain for himself
which species he refers to V It is precisely this
ignorance or neglect of system, which renders the
labors of many otherwise good observers utterly
valueless. A farmer finds a particular Noxious In-
sect infesting his crops; he ascertains that by a
particular mode of treatment he can subdue it; but
as he cannot explain to the world what particular
insect he refers to, the world is none the wiser or
the richer for his discovery. Whereas if he had
been able himself to specify the name of the Noxi-
ous Insect, or had been careful enough to send spe-
cimens to some reliable Entomologist who might
do it for him, his discovery might be put on record
for all future time. It is true, he may go to work
and draw up what he considers as a description of
his Insect Foe; but in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred, as I know by experience, he will dwell
upon points of no systematic importance whatever,
and omit everything that is essential towards deter-
mining the true name of his species. Besides, what
a waste of time to describe the same species over
and over again ! Only think for a moment how
such a system would work on shipboard I At pre-
sent every rope in a ship has its name, and if, for
example, the Captain wants the Main topsail lower-
ed for reefing he cries out " Man the main-topsail-
halyards." But suppose neither this nor any other
rope, sail or mast in a ship had a fixed and definite
name, and the Captain had to describe to the
Sailors the particular rope he wished them to take
hold of, every time he gave an order, in some such
language as this :— " Man that rope the use of which

♦Nomina seflquipedalia, enunciatu difficilia, et nause-
abunda, fugieuda sunt.

,^ms>

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

99

IS either to hoist up or to lower upon the top the
second sail counting from the deck, on the second
mast counting from the stem of the vessel." Per-
haps, before he got to the end of his long-winded
order, the sail would be blown to flinderf or the
good ship capsize and go to the bottom.

In quoting the scientific name of any plant or
animal an Insect for example, it is usual to gi^e
not only the generic and specific names, but the
name of the author who first described the species •
lor instance " Conotrachelm nenuphar, Herbst " is
the full scientific designation of the common "Cur-
cuhp. The use of this custom is obvious. If any
one IS m doubt whether a species which he has be-
fore him IS the true "Curculio" or not, the scientific
designation directs him to turn to the works of the
German Entomologist Herbst, and he finds there a
reterence to the author who first established the
genus Conotrachelm and a full description of the
species called nenuphar by Herbst, which he can i
compare with the specimens in his hands, and see
whether or not it agrees exactly, after he has first
ascertained that his specimens really belong to the
genus called CWo^mcWws by the French Entomo-
logist Latrei lie. Some few writers indeed, in quo-
ting the scientific name of a species, add the name
not of the writer who first described the species!
but of the writer who first referred it to the ri<^ht
genus. But this plan is practically inconvenient--
whatever may be said in behalf of its theoretical
justice— and it is to be hoped will never be gener-
ally adopted. °

Owing to the grammatical peculiarities of the
Latin language, the generic name, which is a noun
always precedes the specific name, which is usually
an adjective, as is generally the case also in the
French language. In English, on the contrary, the
adjective precedes the noun and we say " White
Oak instead of the Latin "Quercus alba" (Oak
white) or the French "Chgne blanc" (Oak white).
But a little practice soon reconciles one to this de-
viation from the usages of our mother tongue

In addition to the Species and the Genus, there
are other more extensive groups in the Animal
Kmgdona, namely the Family, the Order, the Class
and the Sub-kingdom or Type or Branch, each gra-
dually more extensive and comprehensive than the
one which precedes it in the list, besides several
subordinate groups such as Tribes, Subfamilies,
buborders, &c., which are used in various senses
by various authors. The whole scheme of arrange-
ment may be aptly compared to the organization of
a modern army. The Animal Kingdom corres-
ponds to the Army, the Sub-kingdom to an Army
Corps, the Class to a Division, the Order to a Bri-
gade, the Family to a Regiment, the Genus to a
Company, and the Species to the individual Soldier
JNow any military man would laugh outright, if a
civilian talked of the ll6th Division of Illinois In-
fantry or the 99th Brigade of Pennsylvania Caval-
ry. And so do scientific men sometimes ^mile, when
as is continually the case, scientific charlatans talk
of the Family (not Class) of Birds or the Order
(not Family) of the Crickets. It is very true that

the Scientific Army has been from time to time re-
organized and remodeled, so that, so to speak, the
number of Divisions, Brigades, &c., is changed from
time to time by successive commanders, and some-
times even by the same commander. Still the great
fundamental principle of its organization remains
always the same; and it is well worth while to be-
come familiar with it, if it were only because it af-
fords a sure earmark to distinguish the pretentious
quack from the scientific naturalist.

In one remarkable respect the Scientific is a
httle more perfect than the Military organization,
lo designate any particular animal or plant, all that
IS absoutely necessary is to name the speiies and
genus to which it belongs; while to designate any
particular soldier in an Army to whom, for example
we wish to forward a letter, we have to state not
only the soldier's name (John Jones) and the com-
pany to which he belongs (Company D), but also
the particular regiment of which his company
torms a part and probably the particular Army
Corps of which that regiment forms a part; where-
as in scientific pariance we usually name only the
genus and the species. But if the number of ge-
nera m the Scientific army continues to increase at
the same fearful rate, at which it has been increas-
ing for many years back, it will be impossible for
any human memory to retain the names of them all :
and It will then become necessary to add the Fami-
ly or Regimental name to the generic a^d specific
names, so that we may comprehend the more readi-
Jy where the particular species which is referred to
belongs. Some few entomological writers have al-
ready adopted this system, writing for instance,
Jiuprestu {chrysobothris) femorata ^2LhT\c\\xB in-
stead of Chrysohothru femorata Fabricius, which
IS thq more usual designation of our common
western Apple-tree Borer.

ANSWEBS TO OOEEESPONDENTS.

BY B. D. WALSH, M. A.-Associatb Editor.

«A?;k'*°^"^i: ^7'TT^® chestnut-colored beetle cover-
fir i^ ^^'7 «hort white hairs and fully a quarter of an

your liufVlrd^ thfr •"'^^ '^'^^'."^ «'^^* destruction's
l^n ^'"^y**^^" *^'8 year, is an undescribed species of J^V-
dxa. This genus is allied Pachnephoms, whi?h contains
several described species, and it belongs to the same ^reat
aryWafam. y as the common strfped Cucurber^-bue

^af^S^x ?w A ^^' ^^^ *^'r Fleabeetirof the G^^^-vinf
{Haltxea chalyhea), several species of small Flea-beetles

Ts rhal^^^h ^""5« «»bbage^and radish-planti ^nd a lo,
DortPd Pnf.f r^*^;r"°? ^««-P»*»t«' and our newly-im-'
?f/«^f T **^"^l!« If^^/'A^^" IQ-lincata), besides two spe-
1)2 «f To^*o'««-»>eet le wfiich infest the Sweet Potato (d!-
»^^^^ttata and palluia.) I have taken your beetle oiX

So ,^h^Tnf '"t ?*?'^*!^ numbers both in North and
South Illinois, but this is the first instance on record of
ts swarming as it does with you. Its falling from the
^■L^^'u ff'S^'^'S death is a habit that it has fn commo^
rji n u% '"^n?^^" of the family to which it belongs,
and the "Curculio" familv do the very same thing.

You say it commences about the middle of June with
you, first attacking the upper surface of the leaves by
eating holes into it, and if not checked increases with the
heat of the season until whole acres of leaves arc changed
into worthless shreds, or become as full of holes as a sitfve.
Most probably, as with the Flea-beetle of the Grape-vine.
It 13 in the larva state that it does the principal pait of
I the damage, and us the Iarv» of all beetles are altogether

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100

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

^J.

i

unlike the perfect insect, you may not have recognized
their identity. The larva of this species will be an elong-
ate grub, with a hard shelly head, a soft body, no wings
of course, six legs in front and a single "pro-leg" or short
fleshy stump which it uses as a leg at its tail ; and the
color will probably be some obscure shade of pale drab or
brown. It will be found sluggishly feeding on the sur-
face of the leaves along with the perfect insect, and as
soon as ever they first appear in tne spring you should
use every exertion to destroy them. A single female larva
destroyed at that time may prevent the generation of a
hundred thousand in the course of the summer; for I
have little doubt this species is many-brooded, i. e. that
there are several generations of them in one year.

The minute insect, which you say "appears about May
1st and clusters in thousands upon tne ends of the
branches of the grape vine, apparently doing but little
damage, though the leaves upon which they are found
curl up and cease to act a good part," is « Plant-louse and

Erobably the European species Aphis vitis. There are
undreds of cannibal and parasitic insects preying upon
plant-lice; otherwise they would soon increase so enor-
mously as to destroy every green thing on this earth. In
the small parcel you sent, I counted between two and
three dozen specimens of an Aphidius — a minute 4- wing-
ed Fly belonging to the great Ichneumon family, the lar-
Ta of which lives inside the body of a plant-louse and fi-
nally destroys it. Of course they bred from the plant-lice
during the eight days they were on the road. As to the
Ants, they neither produce nor destroy plant-lice, but
simply attend them for the sake of the rich honey-dew,
which they cause them to disgorge from the honey-tubes
on their back. "The ants," said Linnaeus one hundred
years ago, "ascend the trees that they may milk their
cows, the aphides." If you do not believe Linnaeus, you
may see the whole operation any day with your own
eyes.

T. T. Southwick, N. Y.— The Cherry-twig borers that
you sent were five days on the road, and were dead and
dried up to nothing by the time I got them. If the twigs
had been corked up in a quill or a small glass vial or en-
closed in any small tight tin vessel, they would have tra-
velled much better. I know of no insect working on
cherry twigs as they do; but until I can see good speci-
mens, I cannot even tell what Order they belong to.

A. D. Chesebrv, Mich. — You say you have a cornfield
infested with wireworms; that last year you tried ashes
and lime as remedies without any perceivable good result;
and that this year you put a handful of salt around each
hill and about two inches from it, which killed the corn
but not the wireworms. As you wish to sow your field
with wheat next autumn, I should recommend you to

{>low it continually through the summer, so as not to al-
ow either weeds or anything else to grow on 'it. The
wireworm lives exclusively on roots, and he is just like
one of us Christians in this respect, that he cannot live
without eating. But if you allow nothing to grow in your
field, there will be no roots for him to feed on; conse-
quently he must necessarily be starved out. In Europe
this process is called "Summer fallowing" and is used
extensively to destroy weeds and Noxious Insects.

Thoi. M'Oraw, Wise. — Your insects arrived in miserable
order. Of course if you pack eight glass vials loose in a
box, without even wrapping up each in a separate paper,
some of them will get broken on the road. Besides, some
of your numbers, being marked with pencil on the corks
of the vials, I cannot read with any certainty. Here fol-
low the names of your insects, so far as I can name them,
many being out of the vials and mashed up with broken
glass. No. 1, a kind of Spindle-worm, but not the East-
ern Oortyna zexz. No. 2 is the larva of some moth. No.
6, Arrhenodes septentrionis. No. 6 is the chrysalis of some
moth. No. 8, Nyctobates pensylvanicus. No. 10, (in a box)
a species of lulus, or hundred-leggod worm, not a true in-
sect, but belonging to the Class Myriapoda. No. 10, (in
vial) Lytta cinerea, our common northern potato-bug or
blister-beetle. No. 12, CapsUrS i-vittatus, a true Bug. No.
.13, Megachl/e brevis, male, a leaf-cutting bee. No. 14,
Amara basillaris. No. 15, Paecilus lucublandu^. No. 16,
Podabrus modestus. No. 17, Lucidota atra. No. 18, Nentus
tenebrioides. No. 20, Sesia difHnU, but too ragged and torn
to name with certainty. — Nos. 14, 1.'), 16 and 17 are can-
nibals. Nos. 1, 2, 10 (in vial) and 12 are injurious, and
20 in the larva state eats honeysuckle. Nos. 5, 8, 10 (in

box) and 18 feed on rotten wood and are harmless, and
No. 13 is also harmless. — I cannot tell what insect you
call the " common garden grub." It may be some larva
that is very common with you and very rare with me.

L. E. Harmon, N. Y.— The little greenish, flat-oval
scales, about i inch long, attached to oleander leaves are
a foreign species of bark-louse often found on greenhouse
plants. Their history is nearly the same as that of the
common Bark-louse of the Apple tree. When the female
gets her full growth she attaches herself to the plant she
lives on, and having first laid a number of eggs under her
own body, finally loses all traces of organization and dies.
In the common Apple-tree Bark-louse these eggs remain
unhatched till the following summer, but in this exotic
species those laid earliest in the summer hatch the same
season, so that the insect is manv-brooded. In the spe-
cimens you sent I found many of the eggs already hatch-
ed into small but very vigorous and active young lice,
which had apparently been feeding on the body of their
mother, but would no doubt soon go forth on their own
hook into the botanical world. With greenhouse plants
the best remedy is tobacco-smoke applied in a tight place,
washing the leaves afterwards with a syringe; but prob-
ably kerosene diluted with about i or | water and sy-
ringed on to the whole plant would kill them.

C. K. Yant, Ohio.— The flat turtle-shaped beetles, about
one-fifth inch long, infesting vour sweet potato vines are
a common species of tortoise-beetle {Casaida), the pallida
of Herbst. There is another species with five conspicuous
black stripes placed lengthways on its back (the bivittata
of Say) which I found myself in large numbers on the
sweet potato in South Illinois. There is still another spe-
cies (the atripes of LeConte, unless my memory fails me)
which is a great pest on the common Morning Glory and
is called "Gold-bug" by the ladies. This, as well as your
species, changes color when alive from clay-yellow to
burnished gold, and the golden color is always lost in the
dried specimen. The larvae of all of them have the sin-
gular habit of hoisting an umbrella over their bodies com-
Eosed of their own excrement, for which purpose Nature
as given them a long two-forked tail which they have
the power of bending over their backs, having first load-
ed the fork with a suitable forkful. No doubt they find
this useful, not only to keep off the sun, but to protect
them from birds and cannibal insects.

J. Bird, Penna. — The chestnut-brown shining scales
about the size and shape of the half of a pea, adhering to
the twig of the grape-vine, are the dead bodies of the
Barklouse of the vine— iecanmw vitis of Linnaeus- an
imported insect like the apple-tree Barklouse. Under-
neath these scales were very numerous white eggs and
young lice just hatched out. If abundant on your vines,
they will do greM injury, unless some kind Ladybird
takes to killing them. On the general Subject of Bark-
lice, see the Answer to L. E. Harmon in this number of
the Practical Entomologist.

0. B. Douglas, Vermont.— I am now able to say, the
eggs having hatched out, that the chestnut-brown shin-
ing scales, about the size and shape of the half of a pea,
which you found on plum-tree twigs are a species of
Barklouse. They closely resemble the Barklouse of the
Vine but are probabljr distinct, the eggs being pink
now that they are hatching out, although three weeks ago
they were pure white. No such species has hitherto, bo
far as I know, been found on the Plum in this country;
but Dr. Fitch describes an allied species, Lecanium ceraai-
fex, as found on the wild black cherry.

L. D. Morse, Sec. Missouri State Agr. Soc. — The "eggs
very curiously and regularly deposited along the edge of
an oak leaf," and between its upper and lower surfaces,
are probably those of some Sawfly, many of which inha-
bit the oak in the larva state ancl feed on its leaves, like
ordinary caterpillars. These larvae are often mistaken by
the inexperienced for caterpillars or the larvae of moths
(Xepirfoptera), but may usually be distinguished by having
a greater number of legs than Ki— i. e. 18, 20 or 22. As
in the case of the eggs of the Cicada (popularly called Lo-
cust), the eggs of the Saw-fly derive nourishment from
the sap and grow thoreby; which is the reason why the
mother-insect lays them inside the leaf and not on its sur-
face. Subscriptions for the Practical Entomologist are
receivable by the Secretary at Philadelphia.

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

101

'

\r^:J:A ^«^ Je^ey.-The heads of wheat you send are
nfested--not very badly, however-with the orange-
colored larvae of the common Wheat-midge, (CecidonTyia
Irxtici) an insect which was introduced into this country
some twenty or thirty vears ago from Europe, and which,

R?»?I ?^*'* ''t^''',''' ^^^^ *^« different counties of the
State of -New York, which were thoroughly sifted and
footed up by the Secretary of their State Agricultural So-
ciety, destroyed in one single year in that single State the
enormous amount of /ifteen million dollar^ worth of
v>heaU In England the largest amount of wheat it was
ever known to destroy in one single year was one-twen-
tieth of the entire crop. Such a small percentage as that,
Anaerican farmers would not think worth talking about
but here the A\ heat-midge often takes over half of the en-
tire crop. The reason is simple. In England there are
no less than three parasitic insects preying upon the
Wheat-midge; in this country there is not one, because
It wisely emigrated here without its parasites. One would
think that common sense would indicate to our Govern-
ment the good policy, as a matter of dollars and cents, of
importing the parasites, particularly as the whole opera-
tion need not cost more than a few thousand dollars: But
no. Although this plan was long ago recommended by
some of the best entomologists in the country. Dr. Fitch
for example, it has never been adopted, and probably
never will be. Why? Because our Legislatures think
that insects are such very minute objects, that they are
unworthy their notice; forgetting that the plague of flies,
the plague of lice and the plague of locusts were three of
the worst plagues that God in his wrath sent to afflict the
rebellious land of Egypt.

The Wheat-midge itsel/ in its perfect or winged form
IS a small two-winged fly, shaped much like a musketo,
butconsiderably smaller, and with an orange-colored abdo-
men. It comes out in June from under the ground, where
it has lain all winter, the time varying a little according
to the latitude, and lays its eggs upon the ears of wheat
when they are in blossom. These quickly hatch out into
the orange-colored little maggots which do all the mis-
chief, sucking out the life-blood of the future kernel so
that it shrinks up to nothing. When full-fed they most-
ly go underground and construct a very filmy cocoon which
adheres strongly to the surrounding earth, and inside
which they transform next spring into the pupa state.
But a few remain in the ear and construct their cocoon
there, which fits so closely to their bodies, that it is only
visible where it projects a little at each end, the cocoon
Itself being transparent and finer and more filmy than
the most delicate gold-beaters' skin. I found two such
specimens in the few ears you sent. European authors
long ago noticed these facts, as to a certain percentage of
the larvae remaining permanently in the ear, but strange-
ly enough they have been overlooked and misunderstood
both by Dr. Harris and by Dr. Fitch. The practical in-
ference to be drawn therefrom, is that when farmers are
cleaning up wheat, which is infested or suspected of be-
ing infested by the Wheat-midge, they ought always to
burn up or otherwise destroy the "tailings." For these
"tailings" will doubtless contain many of the larvae that
have staid in the ear, which, if not destroyed, might hatch
out next season into the perfect fly and propagate the
breed. (See on this matter my Paper in the Froceedinaa.
Ac, IV. pp. 568—9.) ^ '

As you say that your "Pedigree wheat," imported from
the Isle of Wight for seed, has for two years past been
badly infested by this insect, while the rest of your field,
which was sown with another kind of wheat, was unin-
jured by insects, I should recommend you to give up
growing "Pedigree wheat." Doubtless this variety is pe-
culiarly agreeable to the mother-fly, so that she gathers
upon it from all the other parts of the field to lay her
eggs thereon. Possibly, however, it might answer to grow
it by way of trap to concentrate all the Wheat-midges up-
on one spot; but of this you must be the best judge.

M. H. Boye, Penna.— The ears of wheat and rye that
you send are infested by the larva of the common Wheat-
midge, which is often popularly called the Red Weevil.
Jd" ^'^l*^"^ ***® information you want in the answer to
R. v., New Jersey" in this number of the Practical
Entomolooist. I found two specimens of the larv» in
your rye that bad already made their cocoons, just as I
did in the wheat sent by R. F. This is a curious fact, be-
cause both Harris and Fitch ignored the possibility
of any larvae passing to the pupa state in the ear and

coming out as winged flies the same season. Yet, from
these two examples, it seems to be comparatively a com-
mon thinff. The same insect attacks indifferently both
wheat and rye. Farmers should always be careful to burn
their " tailings," when they clean up small grain known
or suspected to be attacked by the Wheat-midge; because
they will thus destroy many of the larvae that are now
proved to stay in the ear, instead of going under ground
as most of them do. I think it not at all improbable that
many of these larvae that stay in the ear will not come
out into the fly state till the following June, though the
fact IS not noticed by English writers, who were well
aware that a certain percentage of the larvae staid in the
ear. I infer this from the analogy of other species of the
same genus. ,

J. H. Foster, Jr., Penna.— The elongate-conical, brown
bodies about one- fourth inch long, growing from the leaf
of the Isabella grape-vine like so many thorns on a thorn-
bush, are galls made by some species of Cecidomyia or
Gall-gnat. I know two other kinds of galls made by gall-
gnats on the grape-vine, which are quite distinct from
these of yours. The larvae of all Gall-gnats are readily
distinguishable by what is technically called the "breast-
bone," which is a dark-colored horny process, generally
Y-shaped or clove-shaped, which is situated on the lower
part of the first joint behind the head, and the use of
which I believe to be to abrade the internal surface of
the gall so as to cause an unnatural flow of sap to the
part, upon which sap the larva lives. Most of these larvae
are blood-colored, orange-colored or yellow, with peculiar
bowel-hke, curdy, white markings; but a few are entire-
ly pale semi-transparent whitish. The number of differ-
ent galls made by Gall-gnats on different plants is enor-
mous, but the perfect fly has been bred from but very
few of them, as they are peculiarly hard to rear to matu-
rity. For example. Baron Osten Sacken describes eight
different gall made by Gall-gnats on the leaves of different
kinds of Hickory, but he only bred the perfect fly from a
single one of the eight.

Marion Hobart, Illinois.— The oval bunch of eggs about
three-fourth inch long, surrounding a twig of the cherry
tree and shining with a certain glutinous substance which
protects them from the weather, is nothing but the eggs
of the common web-caterpillar of the Apple-tree, Cliaio-
campa americana. This larva commonly feeds not only
on the apple-tree, but on cherries and plums both wild
and tame, and also on the birch, the willow, Ac, and on
all which trees the eggs are commonly found. It is re-
markable that these eggs should stand all the heat of
the summer's sun and all the cold of the winter's
winds, without losing their vitality. But there they
swing aloft, blown to and fro by every breeze, scorched
by the heat and parched by the cold, till the earliest
spring leaves put forth, when out of every egg that has
not been preyed upon by a minute parasitic JPlatygaster
issues forth a tiny worm, to gorge itself with leaves and
grow and grow, till it finally becomes a pale reddish

brown winged moth. There is another web-caterpillar

Eyphantria textor, Harris— which I find sometimes on the
apple tree and other trees, but much more commonly on
the Pienut Hickory— which produces a white, not a pale
reddish brown, moth. This, however, may be readily
distinguished from the other by its wanting the beauti-
ful sky-blue stripes and Being much smaller and appear-
ing much later in the season.

X. 8. ttlll, Ohio. — The clay-colored beetle nearly an
inch long and with six black spots on its back is Felid-
noia punctata, a well known enemy to the foliage of the
grape-vine In its perfect state, though its larva to my
knowledge feeds on very rotten wood. The smaller beetle
not quite one-half inch long and varying in color from
almost entirely clay-yellow to almost entirely black is
Anomala lucicola^ And is likewise well known to attack
the leaves of the grape-vine. Its larva probably feeds
underground on the roots of plants. Both are figured in
Harris's book.

The caterpillar you sent which infested the raspberry
bushes, "feeding with great voracity upon both the leaves
and the berries," spun its cocoon on the road, and I can
therefore say nothing about it I hope to breed the per-
fect moth from it, when I will advise you further. The
insects were all well packed and reached me in first rate
order.

/

102

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

V

Bav. Jm. B. Fiiher, N. Y.— You send about a dozen
blackish maggots, i inch long and with the head end ta-
pered to a point, which you say were found attached by
their mouths to the body of a half-fledged young swallow
most of them to the head of the bird, much as a tick is
attached to the body of a sheep, but not bo firmly but
what you could pull them ofl". They arrived in excellent
order and form now a very interesting and valuable ad-
dition to my collection.

T i^ V® carefully examined these larva and they belong,
I think, undoubtedly to the (Estrus family— a family of
^jro-winged flies which includes the fly that produces the
Head-maggot of the sheep— the fly which makes what
are called "wormals" (worm-holes) in the hides of
Cattle— another fly as large as a large Humble-bee and
very like one, which lays two or three eggs on the neck
of the rabbit, whence proceed majjgots nearly as large as
a man s thumb burrowing in the flesh and causing a large
tumor on the aff-ected part, from which maggots I ha?e
myself bred the perfect fly {Cuterebra cwntcSS)— another
fly nearly as large, (the Cuterebra emasculator of Fitch)
which lays its eggs in the scrotum of squirrels, so that
the larva hatching out therefrom finally mutilates them
and produces the phenomenon of emasculation in a state
01 nature, which imaginative hunters had accounted for
by supposing that the old male squirrels mutilated the
young ones- and finally the well-known Bot-fly of the
Horse. Nay, even the sacred bodv of man is not free
from the attacks of these insects; for there is authentic
evidence that a species exists in South America which

makes "wormals" in the human flesh. But in all these
cases, and also in the case of all other known insects be-
longing to the (Estrus family, the larva resides some-
where mside the body of the infested animal and that
animal is always a mammal, or properly speaking a Quad-
ruped ,• whereas in the remarkable case recorded by you
the larva is attached externally to the body of the infest-
ed animal, and that animal is, not a mammal, but a
bird. '

All larva belonging to this family, as soon as they are
full-fed, extricate themselves from the animal they in-
fest and go underground to pass into the pupa state, not
emerging into the perfect fly state till the following sea-
son. It would be very desirable, in case you meet with
another swallow infested by these larva, to attempt to
breed the perfect fly from them. For this purpose the
bird should be placed in a large jar half full of moist
earth and kept alive by feeding it with flies. After the
parasites have retired underground, the earth in the jar
should be kept moist by covering it with damp moss or
damp dead leaves, moistened afresh every few weeks •
and in the following spring the mouth of the jar should
be covered with musketo-bar to prevent the flies escaping
uncaught Most probably these flies will belong to a
new and hitherto undescribed ffenus, which, If you should
succeed in rearing them, will be very appropriately
named "Fisheria.*' If you send some to me, I think I
can promise you that much.

^ You observe upon the strangeness of so large a parasite
infesting so small an animal. There is a small wingless
parasite, about the size of the head of an ordinary pin,
which infests many kinds of beetles, especially dung-
beetles, and of which I once counted no less than seven
all gathered upon the body of a single small fungus-
beetle, not much over k inch long— the Triplax thoracica
of Say. This is as if a grown man had seven lice crawling
over his person, each louse as large as a full-grown

Jamei Barratt, Mass.— The oval, pale brown, smooth,
silken cocoons, about one-fourth inch long, which you
send, were spun by the larvaj or worms, which, as you
say, were found by thousands upon two American Black
Spruce trees, eating all the leaves off" them. They will
produce four-winged Flies belonging to the Family of
h&w-Aies{Tcnthredinidce), so called from the females hav-
ing a pair of saws at the tip of her abdomen, which she
uses to cut slits in the leaves wherein to deposit her eggs.
Most probably your species is the Lophyrus abietis of
Harris, which has long been known to operate upon fir-
trees in Massachusetts in the manner you describe. The
male fly is black and the female pale brown, so that you
would scarcely think they belonged to the same species.
You will find figures of each in Harris's book on Injuri-
ous Insects, Plate viii, figs. 3 and 6. The best way to get

rid of them is to shake the larva or worms off the tree
upon a sheet, and then either burn or scald them or feed
them out to chickens, turkeys or hogs. Of course if they
are allowed to increase and multiply without check either
from man or from some cannibal or parasitic insect, they
will destroy the trees upon which they feed.

And now, Mr. Barratt, let me give you a scolding.
You sent indeed great plenty of cocoons, and for that I
thank you ; but vou sent them loose in your letter, so
that almost all of them were squeezed as flat as a pancake
before they reached me. Now in this region we have no
Lophyru8, because we have scarcely any pines and firs ;
and I therefore should have been glad to rear specimens
of the perfect fly from your cocoons, which now I shall
probably be unable to do. Another time always enclose
specimens in a little pasteboard box, filling up any va-
cant space with cotton-wool or some such matter.

Arthur 0. Brickman, Maryland.— It is quite impossible
to tell whai insect it was that stung you. The symptoms
m your case were certainly very severe and unusual, but
I believe that this was owing to some peculiarities in your
habit of body at the time, rather than to any peculiarity
in the nature of the insect— if it was an insect and not a
spider— that stung you. The stint? of a honey-bee is or-
dinarily not very severe in its effects : but I know of cases
where persons stung by honey-bees have died in conse,
quence. When I was a boy I was often stung by beee
and humble-bees without suffering much therefrom; but
on one particular occasion, being stung in the lip by a
humble-bee, my whole body was in five minutes covered
by lumps like a violent nettle-rash, and in an hour's
time my face swelled up so that I could not see out of my
eyes. I recollect well that this attack lasted for three
days and was finally subdued— after trying various other
remedies— by poultices of an English herb called "fever-
few." I am generally stung now two or three times every
year, as I catch many stinging insects fearlessly with my
bare fingers; but I always find, that if I suck the wound-
ed part for ten or fifteen minutes, the consequences pass
off m a short time.

Geo. E. Brackett, Maine.— The shining mahogany-co-
lored bunches, of an irregularly hemisphericalahape and
about one-fourth inch in diameter, attached in masses to
blackberry stems and each of them when lifted up dis-
closing an enormous number of minute pale pinkish eggs,
are the dead bodies of a bark-louse. A species which can-
not be distinguished from this, so far as the dead body
of the mother bark-louse is concerned, infests the grape-
vine, and was named by Dr. Fitch Lecanium vitis and
supposed to be identical with a species that infeste the
grape-vine in Europe. I also received from 0. B. Douglas
of Vermont exactly similar specimens found on the plum,
as noticed in the^'Answers" m No. 9, p. 89. I had thought
at first that the species found on the plum might be dis-
tinguished from that found on the grape-vine by the
color of the eggs ; but it seems probable that the imma-
ture eggs are always white, and that as they approach
the time when the included young bark-louse is almost
ready for hatching, its pinkish or reddish color shows
through the delicate shell of the egg. Still it is not im-
probable, that when the males of all these bark-lice are
bred, they may prove to be distinct species. This has not
yet been done with any of our N. A. Lecanium. Great
numbers of your eggs hatched out on the road, and there
were also m the box two minute Chalcidians, which had
no doubt been parasitic in one of the eggs, remarkable
for having a bright yellow scutel. I know but one other
Chalcidian that has such a yellow scutel.

Dr. Wm. XaxUlns Smith, N. Y.— The "elongated eggs"
you find in the pith of dead sumach twigs I know to be
those of some species of the Catydid family, probably be-
longing to the genus Orchelimum or Xiphidtum, See on
this matter my Papers in the Proceedings III, pp. 232—3
and 581. There was no living thing in the specimens
sent except these eggs.

The Practical Entomologist, now near the close of its
first year of publication, desires to know if its friends
will sustain it another year to the extent of 6000 subscri-
bers at 50 cents each. It ought to have 600,000, even at
a dollar. There is not a farmer in the United States who
could not derive great benefit from reading it Some
single hint on the destruction of some troublesome insect
might save the subscriber many times the costof the pa-
per.— Weekly New Hampahire Advertiser, '

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104

I

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

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nued the money shall be promptly returned. Those
who subscribe for from one to five copies, will please
not send the money until the question of publica-
tion is decided, which we hope to be able to an-
nounce, one way or the other, in our next number.
At the present time we can only say that the pros-
pect looks bright, by reason of the rapid way in
which renewals are coming in, and if they continue
so to do, we shall, no doubt, be able to raise the re-
quired number by the next issue. Our friends have
80 far done nobly, but there are many of the most
strenuous advocates of the enterprize yet to be
heard from ; we hope that they will also do their
best to send us subscribers.

Although the small subscription price of our
paper will scarcely more than defray expenses, we
have concluded to offer, by way of encouragement
to those who have leisure to obtain subscribers,
Premiums in good and useful Books^ at the fol-
lowing rate : —

Any person sending 20 or more subscribers, may
select Books from the List on page 116, including
the " Works on Entomology," to the amount of 5
cents for each subscriber sent at 50 cents. The
Books will be sent by mail, prepaid by us, on the
receipt of the subscription money. Or, those who
would rather have the money, may retain 10 per
cent of the amount to be sent. This is only for
Clubs of 20 or more subscribers.

S&^ Send the money always in Post Office Or-
ders when possible

■ » .

The "New Potato Bug" in Maine.

One day last week a gentleman left at our office a
stalk from a potato hill, which was literaliy covered with
the larva of the new potato beetle (Doryphora 10-lineata,
Say.) We were absent from the office at the time, and
the employee with whom it was left neglected to take his
name or place of residence, or obtain any facts in relation
to their numbers and amount of damage. If this should
meet the eye of the party who left it, will he be so kind
as to favor us with Wie requisite particulars ? Returning
home, we found upon examination that our own patch of
potatoes was considerably infested with them, and imme-
diately commenced a war of extermination by knocking
them off into an old pan and dostroying them. Specimens
have also been sent to Mr. Crcsson, the Secretary of the
Entomological Society of Philadelphia,— -Jfatne Farmer.
July 26, 1866.

Observations by B. D. W. — I take it that the
Editor has mistaken the larva of Lema trilineata^
a beetle which commonly infests the Potato in New
England though it is very rare in Illinois, for that
of Doryphora 10-lineafa. It is strange, however,
that he should say nothing of the excrement which
this larva heaps upon its own back by way of um-
brella. We have not as yet received the promised
specimens.

\ . >

.^

106

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

<•

I

Oatlines of the Study of Insects. — III.

Having shewn how the Class of Insects may be
known from the Classes of Crustacea and Worms it
remains for us to treat of the sub-divisions of the
Insects. Of these there are three grand groups
or Orders; namely, the Centipedes and "Thous-
and-legs" or Myriapoda; the Spiders, Scorpions and
Mites, or Arachnida^ and the true six-legged In-
sects. The Myriapoda are the lowest order by rea-
son of their worm-like form. Each ring or seo"-
ment repeats the form of that next to it, is provi-
ded with a pair of legs, from the head to the op-
posite end of the body, and the distinctions between
the head, thorax and abdomen are so slight as to
be easily passed over. But in the young, the body
is more insect-like, there is a distinct head, and the
three pairs of legs attached to the thoracic region,
together with the absence of abdominal legs, all
show that the adult Centipede is essentially an insect,
and does not belong to an independent class, as
taught in most of the text books.

The Myriapods, with some Spiders, also differ
from all others of the Class, in that the yolk is not
enclosed within the body walls until sometime after
the larva is hatched. The Myriapods are, in some
genera — such as the Centipede — provided with poi-
son sacs at the base of their powerful jaws, which
render them a terror to man. They are not pro-
vided with compound eyes, and only have simple
eyelets, thus agreeing with the Spiders in this re-
spect. The young larva attains its growth by the
addition of rings, often more than 100 in number,
which grow out from just in front of the second
ring from the end of the abdomen.

The Myriapods are divided into two suborders ;
i. e. those genera, such as the Centipedes, which
are provided with flat bodies and have few rings,
and consequently a less number of legs than the
*• Thousand-legs,'' or Julus, comprising the higher
suborder; while the latter, whose bodies are cylin-
drical and many jointed, with very numerous le"-s,
form the second and lower suborder.

The second and next higher order of Insecta, are
the Arachnida or Spiders, Scorpions and Mites.
While the three regions of the body are here pre-
sent, the head is so merged in the thorax as to re-
semble strikingly the Crab, wi|h its head-thorax
and abdomen, and in the larger number of species,
the abdomen is of great size when compared with the
bead and thorax, as seen in the common House
Spider. But when we study the development of
the Spider, we find that at first the embryo is worm-
like, and that many species of mites are at first six-
legged, though the adults are invariably provided
with eight legs, and that the head is at first very
distinct from the thorax. Thus the Spiders and
Myriapods first start as worms, then become like the
true insects in form, but when full grown, by a re-
trograde process of growth, lose their essential in-
sect form and assume shapes which remind us of
the much lower Worms and Crustacea.

The Spiders have no antennae, and generally 4
pairs of simple eyes ; their bite is poisonous to in-

sects and other animals on which they prey, but
rarely to man.

After leaving the Qgg, Spiders grow by succes-
sive moultings, or changes of skin, not passing
through, as a rule, successive metamorphoses like
the insects, though the lowest Arachnida, such as
the parasitic mites, do undergo a distinct metamor-
phosis.

The Arachnida possess four pairs of thoracic
feet; and the three pairs of spinnerets at the extre-
mity of the abdomen are but modified limbs. The
silk glands, situated in the abdomen, are also six in
number, and in Epeira, the common Garden Spi-
der, which has a very large abdomen and spins
large webs, they occupy one-fourth of the abdomi-
nal cavity. Each gland terminates by means of a
slender tube in one of the six spinnerets. The
males are generally very different from the females,
differing in this respect from the hexapodous, or
six-legged Insects.

Spiders breathe by means of tracheae and also
by gills, or so-called Pulmonary Sacs. The PwZ-
monaria, or true Spiders and Scorpions, are provi-
ded with from six to twelve ocelli, and breathe by
aerial gills ; while the Trachearia, or Mites, inclu-
ding the False Scorpions, such as Chelifer, a mi-
nute scorpion-like mite found in dusty places; and
the Harvest Men, often called Daddy-long-legs,
found in damp shady places, breathe by tracheae.
The mites are usually parasitic on other animals,
including man. Ixodes, the wood-tick, lives in
forests, and attaches itself to passing animals. It is
found in warm climates. Some low Mites which
live as parasites on other, mostly aquatic, animals,
are so low and degraded, from being stationary, in
their habits, and little short of mere machines for
sucking the juices of their victims; as to be scarce-
ly distinguishable from low Crustacea of similar
habits. Thus two great divisions of articulates,
really so different in the essential plan of their
structure, by a similar mode of life assume nearly
identical forms, just as the warm blooded whale
which sucks its young, assumes the form of the
cold blooded fish.

We have seen that in the true six-legged, flying
insects, each of the three regions of the body has
become more specialized than in the Myriapods or
Spiders. The head is freer from the body, and
nearly equals in size the thorax.

The head of insects, though generally supposed
to be composed of but a single ring, equivalent to
one of the thoracic or abdominal segments, is in
reality probably composed of seven such rings, of
which four are grouped in front of the mouth-open-
ing, and three behind. The four rings in front,
bear the organs of sight and sensation, such as the
ocelli or simple eyes, of which there are probably
two pairs, and the compound eyes, and the an-
tennae, while the three rings behind the mouth bear
the palpi, and two pairs of jaws, which are for di-
gestive purposes, i. e. seizing and preparing the
food for digestion in the stomach.

There are both simple and compound eyes, the
latter composed of thousands of facets which are

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

107

of a hexagonal shape, arranged in a half globe, so
that the msect can see on all sides, both before and
behind.

The antennae are organs which seem to unite the
tunctions of touch, hearing and taste, though it is
probable that the palpi are tasting organs. The fore
pairof jaws (maxiY/ae) are tastingand masticating or-
gans, and serve to select the food, partially tear it
and then transfer it to be more thoroughly reduced
to pulp by the mandibles. The jaws (mandibles)
are situated nearest to the base of the head, and in
natural succession are placed next in front of the
fore pair of legs.

It should be noticed that no single ring is fully
developed in the head, and that the'" parts are abort-
ed the farther it is situated from the thorax. This
is so marked that the foremost ring bearing the
ocelli are reduced to a mere point, serving *as a
socket for the eye-speck. Thus it is by the dimi-
nution in size, or entire absence of useless parts,
and the presence and increased size of the more
miportant parts of the ring which are to support
these organs, during growth, that the head is shaped
and acquires its finished form in tlie adult.

Most writers have defined insects as differino-
from all others of their type in being wini^^ed. But
there are numerous exceptions to this gciferal rule.
Such are the Flea, Louse, Bed Bug, Plant-lice and
some grasshoppers, and other insects whose females
live in cases, while the males are winged. These
wings are generally four in number, one pair of
which is situated on the middle and the second
pair on the hind ring of the thorax, though in flies
there is but a single pair on the middle segment.
At first the wings are fleshy pods which bud out
just above the insertion of the legs, and also above
the row of breathing pores (spiracles), permeated
thickly by veins and accompanying air-tubes. On
being placed under the microscope, the blood may
be seen flowing slowly in towards the body, the veins
enclosing the minute air-tubes. There are six main
branches, or nervures, which subdivide in the mid-
dle portion of the wing into four or five branchlcts
or nervules. In the bee, beetle, fly and butterfly
these form a stiff frame-work over which the mem-
brane or skin, is stretched, thus combining strengtli
and lightness, and by folding on themselves like
a fan, enables the wing to be folded compactly up-
on the back.

In our next article we shall learn how insects
breathe, digest their food and reproduce their kind;
and speak of their metamorphoses and their in-
stincts. ^, g^ p^

— ■ — ^1 ■ I -

[From the Drscussiox at a Meeting of the Fruit-grow-
ers' Society op Western New York.]

The Army Worm— its dangers and remedy.

Mr. Sharp, of Lockpurt, said this worm had been very
destructive in some portions of Niagara county; was so
last year, and is this also. They proceed in voins and
seem to be working southerly. Mr. Bronson— They have
been very troublesome in the vicinity of Geneva. IIcl-
leDore, tobacco and various other alleged remedies have

^ntL '"^ V''''.\ ^^^ ^''^^ employed sixty men in his

nursery, armed with a species of cleaver with which the
rnfil'^r^'^ severed as fast as found. Kerosene would
bnish them and the trees too. Crude petroleum as a wash

might do, as it has proved effectual in the case of insects
on rose bushes, and also slugs in the garden. Mixed with
water It will not kill plants. Mr. Ferris-Soft soap will
kill them, but the cheaper and safer way is to get a pair
of leather mittens and crush the vermin. JV/rf Smith—
A few years since the region of Syracuse was visited by
the worms m question, and they were got rid of by usini
a mixture of sulphur and lard plastered around the body
of the tree. The coating should be several inches wide
and be put on pretty liberally. The worms will not pass
this barrier, but will accumulate below it— much as bees
do in swarming— when they are easily despatched. If
any worms have already ascended the trees, they may
be got rid of by shaking or jarring the limbs, when the
worms will spin down by a thread to the ground. They
will make for the tree again, but the barrier of sulphur
and lard will stop th^m.— Western Rural, July 21, 1866.

Observations by B. D. Walsh.— The insect
here spoken of is evidently not the Army-worm
which never climbs trees but feeds on tame grass'
wheat, oats, &c. Most probably it is the Canker'
worm that is referred to, which is a 10-legged Span-
worm, whereas the Army-worm has its full comple-
ment of legs— 16. This is only another illustration
ot the» promiscuous way in which popular names
are used, or rather abused. But even scientific
names sometimes fare no better; for I notice that
our western vintners still persist in calling a certain
insect that afllicts their grape-vines the "Thrips/*
though it is most probably nothing but the old-
fashioned flea-beetle— //a/^ica chal//bea— and cer-
tainly cannot be a true Thn'ps. Why don't they
send us specimens and get its true name ascer-
tained? What is the use of calling a cow's tail a
leg ? A cow's tail will be a cow's tail still, though
every farmer in the West should persist in calling
It a leg every day of his life from A. D. 1866 to
A. D. 1900.

[From a Letter from M. S. Hill, East Liveupool, Ohio.]
The Potato-bugs, Lytta atrata and Zytta vittata, have
appeared m countless numbers about seven miles north
ot this place, to the great injury of the potato crops and
to the great disgust of the farmers. Many are the expe-
dients that have been resorted to, to rid the fields of the
nuisance. I understand that the most successful method
ot destroying them was by placing, between the furrows
or rows, dry hay or straw, and s.-ttiiig it on fire. The
bugs were thus nearly all destroyed, and the straw burn-
ing very quickly did not injure the vines. Might not this
remedy be applied with success ir^ the destruction of your
new and highly improved Western Totato-bug?

Kemaiiks by B. D. W.— The ''fire cure" for
the Potato-bugs is quite a new idea to me; and in
the case of these old-fashioned Potato-bugs it may
likely enough answer a very good purpose, provided
care be taken not to make too fierce a fire. The
known eflftciency of hot water in killing the Onion-
maggot and the larva of the Peach-borer, without
injuring the plants which those insects infest,
proves that certain growing plants can stand, with-
out any ill consequences, an amount of heat which
is destructive to insect life. In the case of the
new-fashioned Potato-bugs, however, the process
would have to be repeated several times ; for in this
species there is more than one brood every year,
and after a potato-patch has been thoroughly
cleansed by hand, the very next day there will be
a fresh swarm on it that has flown in from other
quarters. I watched one of my neighbors, who
had planted a town-lot with potatoes, turn in with

A

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y

108

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

^- \

t

k

If

his wliole family and pick the bugs oiF every even-
ing for about a month, till finally he became dis-
couraged and gave up the job. Consequently the
whole patch, like many others in my neighborhood
is nothing now but a mass of dead dry blackened
stumps; and of course he will not even get his
seed back.

A New Humbag.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A,

Suppose I were to come before the Agricultural
community with some such proposal as the fol-
lowing : —

GREAT DISCOVERY IN BREEDING HORSES!!!
^ I claim to have discovered an unfailing method of rear-
ing every year, at a trifling expense, some ten or fifteen
good strong and healthv colts, worth $500 apiece, from
any mare, however old and worthless she may be.
Alter a scries of experiments running through four or five
years, I have discovered that every brood-mare, during
, the months of September and October, lays ten or fifteen
large yellow eggs, about the size, shape and color of a
pumpkin, always straying away from home to la}^ as the
guinea-hens do; and that, in order that the eggs may not
be addled, it is necessary to allow her to sit upon them
lor a certain number of hours every day, and it is fur-
ther necessary to take certain other precautions, which
for the presi-nt I choose to keep secret. As an evidence
ot the truth of my assertion, I demand that a committee
ot the most eminent stock-raisers be forthwith formed,
and that they proceed to satisfy themselves, by search-
ing diligently in their fields, whether these large round
yellow mare's eggs are not often to be met with, espe-
cially in corn-fields. I propose to offer the right of us-
ing my new Patent Method of hatching out Mare's
i^ggs to each County for $100— a liberal discount allow-
ed to several counties clubbing together. As there are
thirty-six States in the Union, averaging perhaps about
one hundred counties apiece, to say nothing of poor vetoed
Colorado, this will onlv put $300,000 into my private
pockets; which I consider to be but a very moclerate re-
compense for the trouble and expense I have been at, in
making this most astonishing and invaluable discovery.
What would the Farmers say to such a proposal
as this? Well, they would laugh me to scorn. Why?
Because they know all about mares and colts, and
they are well satisfied that mares do not lay eggs. .
But when a plan to get rid of the Hessian %,
which is just as absurd and just as irrational as my
imaginary plan for hatching out Mare's Eggs, is pa-
raded before them by a man who is either a fool or
a knave, or a beautiful compound of these two cha-
racters, the Agricultural Papers endorse the hum-
bug, and many a Farmer will, no doubt, swallow
the gilded hook Why ? Because, although Farm-
ers understand well the Natural History of the
Horse, not one of them out of a hundred knows
anything of the Natural History of the Hessian Fly.
But to the point. The following appears in the
Maryland Farmer for July, 18GG. I will first fur-
nish the bane, and then do what little lies in my
power towards administering an antidote. But in
epite of all I can say, I know full well that Mr.
Newcomer will find plenty of disciples and follow-
ers. When a farmer wants crackers, he goes to a
baker for them; when he wishes for anew coat, he
goes to a tailor ; and if he lacks a new pair of boots,
he usually calls on the shoemaker. But, somehow
or other, most farmers have a lurking idea in their
heads, that the place to go to for information about

the Natural History of Noxious Insects is, not to
those who have made such matters the study of
their lives, but to the first impudent mountebank
that comes along with a precious story about a Cock
and a Bull.

GREAT DISCOVERY IN DESTROYING THE HESSIAN*

FLY.
We would call the particular attention of farmers, espe-
cially wheat growers, to the following brief communica-
tion from Joseph W. Newcomer, formerly of Washington
Co., Md., who claims to have discovered an unfailing
remedy for the Hessian Fly in wheat. He has accom-
plished this after a series of experiments running through
four or five years, and it has never failed him. If he has
succeeded, as he believes he has, he will have rendered
himself indeed a great benefactor. He claims that the fly
IS formed in the new wheat, and it must be destroyed be-
fore it IS seeded— and as an evidence of the truth of-his as-
sertion, he calls upon growers of wheat to thoroughly ex-
amine the present wheat crop to convince themselves of
this theory. He proposes to offer the right of using his
method of preventing the Fly, to each county, for $100.—
We would suggest that some of our experienced wheat-
growers would examine into the subject, and report the
results of their investigation. Considering the matter of
so much importance, we have introduced it in our edito-
rial instead of our advertising columns.

•r^u ® Hessian fly first forms its eggs in the new wheat
—If the farmer will take the trouble to examine his pre-
sent crop, he will find the nitt laid in the curve of the grain
—it IS deposited there by a small black fly. .The farmer
sows the wheat with the insect deposited, and if the fall
season should be dry the fly makes its appearance.
When they come out early in the spring, if the season
should be dry, they deposit their eggs in the first joint.
The spring hatching does the injury. If this season should
be dry the insect cuts through the stock, which generally
makes its appearance about the 10th or 15th of June. I
have been several years in making the discovery how to
destroy the fly, and I now claim to do it without fail."

All communications addressed to Mr. Newcomer can
be directed to the care of this oflice.

Now let me point out a few of the mistakes and
absurdities in the above, which the Editor, " con-
sidering the matter of so much importance," has
published in his editorial columns — whether gra-
tuitously or not he does not inform us.

Ist. The Hessian Fly does not, as Mr. Newco-
mer asserts, ever under any circumstances deposit
its e^g upon the grain in the ear of the wheat.
There are two broods of this fly every year. The
first brood comes out about the first of May in the
latitude of New York, or a little earlier or later as
you go south or north, and lays its eggs upon the
upper surface of the leaf of the wheat, close to the
part of the straw which is tightly enwrapped by the
base of the leaf, generally about the 2nd joint in the
straw from the ground. From this spot the little
maggots produced from the eggs crawl downwards
into the space between the straw and the base of
the leaf, and remain there, sucking out the sap of
the plant, till they are full-grown and ready to pass
into the pupa state. They then construct a shining
semi-transparent mahogany-brown cocoon, inside
which they lie a long time in the larva or maggot
state, but finally assume the pupa state. The above is
what is ordinarily known as "the flaxseed state,"
from the cocoon being flattish and somewhat point-
ed at each end, so as to resemble a flaxseed. About
ten or twelve days afterwards they burst through
the cocoon, and come out in the shape of a small
blackish fly, with some orange bands on its abdo-

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

109

(v

men, and shaped like a Musketo but much smaller;
when the male and female couple as usual, and the
female lays her eggs for the second brood. By this
time, m the latitude of New York, it is usually the
beginning of September or thereabouts, the period
varying a little according to the season and the la-
titude ; and there is now no wheat standing uncut
m the fields for the mother-fly to lay her eg|s upon
the ear, if she was so minded. But she is not so
minded. Nature tells her to deposit her eggs, as
before, on the leaves of the new crop of growing
wheat or growing rye; but this time she lays them
almost or quite underground, as if she had been,
aware that winter was coming and her future fami-
ly would require protection from the weather. The
larvae produced from these eggs crawl downwards
as before, pass through the same circle of changes
as before and come out in the spring, in the same
Musketo-like form in which the other brood had
come out in the preceding autumn, to generate the
1st brood of the current year, as already ex-
plained. •'

2nd. The only proof oflered by Mr. Newcomer of
his new theory is, that a " nitt" or egg is to be met
with ''in the curve of the grain," by which I sup-
pose he means the groove found on one side of the
kernel. No such ''nitt" is to be met with. But
suppose there is. How does that prove that the
*' nitt " is the egg of a Hessian Fly ? The grain is
harvested m June or July. The 1st brood of the
Hessian Fly comes out about May 1st and is too ear-
ly for the ripe grain. The 2nd brood comes out, at
the very earliest, the last week or so in August, and
is too late for the ripe grain. Consequently, even if
eggs existed on the ripe grain, they could not be
the eggs of the Hessian Fly A certain D. H. Sher-
man in Illinois recently fancied, that he had found
eggs m the "fuzzy" or blossom end of the kernels
of wheat; and forthwith jumped to the conclusion
that these must be the eggs of the Chinch-bug, and
that by pickling the seed-wheat the Chinch-bu^
could be annihilated. It has been well shown in
the columns of the Practical Entomologist by
Mr. C. y. Riley, (No. 6, pp. 47—8,) that no such
eggs existed, and that the Chinch-bug laid its e^gs
elsewhere; but Mr. Sherman had at least the ad-
vantage over his Maryland compeer of not assert-
ing impossibilities. He never pretended, as Mr
Newcomer does, that an insect, which exists, in the
winged state, only in the spring and the autumn,
laid Its eggs upon the ripe wheat kernels in the
middle of the summer.

3rd Mr. Newcomer says that " if the season
should be dry, the insect cuts through the stock
[stalk ?], which [insect?] generally makes its ap-
pearance about the 10th or 15th of June." It is
physically impossible that the Hessian Fly should
cut through anything, because it has got no jaws
to cut with. In fact it always works its way out to
the light of day between the straw and the leaf,
while It IS still in the pupa state, without cuttincr
any hole at all ; and then bursts its pupal envelop
and comes out as a winged fly. But there is a
smaU black parasitic Chaicis fly, (the destructor of

Say) which I bred myself in South Illinois from
straw infested by Hessian flies, and which really
does cut a round hole to make its way out by, and
comes out in June and July, instead of early in
May, like the Hessian Fly. Evidently Mr. New-
comer has mistaken this parasite for the Hessian
Fly— and confounded his best friend with his bit-
terest enemy. But what does that matter, if he can
coax every county in the United States into paying
him $100 for his blunders ? ^ ^

Perhaps, in what has been said above, I have
spoken with undue harshness of Mr. Newcomer and
his pretended discovery. Perhaps he is a very
worthy man and a very excellent entomologist, and
IS by no means desirous of lining his own private
and peculiar pockets with a goodly amount of green-
backs from the humbugged and victimized far-
mers of the United States. Perhaps, instead of
the Ohakis fly being parasitic on the Hessian Fly
as we poor ignorant old-fitshioned Entomologiste
had hitherto all of us believed, it is in reality the
Hessian Fly that is parasitic upon the Chalets fly.
Perhaps this Chaicis fly, coming out in June and
July, does really lay its eggs, as Mr. Newcomer as-
serts, in the lateral groove of the ripe kernel of
wheat while the crop stands in the field. Perhaps
the Chinch-bug, as Mr. Sherman asserts, does real-
ly lay its eggs upon the fuzzi/ end of the same ripe
kernel of wheat. Perhaps— to make the whole
thing complete— the Wheat Midge lays its eggs
upon the smooth end of the same fully ripe kernel
of wheat. Perhaps, therefore, with one fell swoop,
we can annihilate those three worst enemies of the
wheat-grower— the Hessian Fly, the Chinch-bug,
and the Wheat Midge— by the application to our
seed-wheat of the same Universal and Infallible
Pickle, patented by Messrs. Newcomer, Sherman
& Co. Perhaps brood-mares do really lay eggs and
sit upon them till they hatch out. Quten sahe ?
Who knows ? Perhaps Messrs. Newcomer and Sher-
man know more about the habits of the Hessian
Fly and the Chinch-bug, than Dr. Harris and Dr.
Fitch and Mr. Herrick and Dr. Le Baron and
Thomas Say and Baron Kollar and Dr. Chapman
and Mr. Havens and Mr. Tilghman and that miser-
able Illinois scalawag, Benj. D. Walsh. Perhaps
we ought implicitly to believe all that these two
learned persons tell us, and distrust the evidence
of all the others, who, as they know a great deal
about other insects, may be reasonably inferred to
know nothing at all about the Hessian Fly and the
Chinch-bug; on the principle that, when a bottle
is choak-full, you cannot anyhow pour any more
whiskey into it. Perhaps, when one has a lawsuit
on hand, instead of applying to one of those rascal-
ly "high-faluting" lawyers, who are always using
crack-jaw words that nobody else can understand
it is wise and prudent to entrust one^s case to the
first good honest shoemaker that comes alon<^. Per-
haps, when you are taken down with the Typhus fe-
ver, instead of applying to a regularly-educated phy-
sician, the safest course is to call in the worthy tailor
frofn next door, to bleed, blister and purge you ac-
cording to his peculiar sartorial notions of physi-

( '

no

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

1 ,

1

I

ology and pathology. Perhaps the moon is really
made of green cheese, and all these new-fangled
Cheese Factories will be undersold by the Man in
the Moon, and driven at once out of the market.
Perhaps the sky will fall, and then we shall catch
all the quails. But to me these matters have a dif-
ferent appearance. I know that farmers generally
believe everything that they see in print. I know
that not one farmer out of a thousand is able to tell
the difference, between the loud-mouthed impudent
charlatan and the quiet and unobtrusive naturalist,
who usually shrinks like the sensitive plant from
everything verging upon controversy. And there-
fore I have thought it desirable to speak out, bold-
ly, plainly and decisively, in this important matter,
which involves pecuniary interests to the amount
of hundreds of millions of dollars. Doubtless by
so doing I shall offend Mr. Newcomer and Mr.
Newcomer's friends. Doubtless I shall get but
small thanks, even from the more intelligent class
of farmers, who may be convinced by the facts and
arguments that I have adduced, and who may, in
consequence thereof, button up their breeches
pockets tightly, when the gentleman from Mary-
land solicits their patronage. No matter. I am
satisfied in my own mind, that one chief reason
why Entomology is in bad repute with the gene-
rality of Farmers, is that Scientific men usually
shrink back from the disagreeable task of exposing
such unmitigated humbugs as this precious Mary-
land scheme. And therefore, I have thought it
good not to mince matters, but to speak " right out
in meeting.'* If the paper for which I am writing,
or I myself as an individual, come to grief in con-
sequence, the more's the pity. I have an invin-
cible dislike for pretentiousness and charlatanism in
all its forms — especially when it proposes to bleed
the American public to the amount of $360,000
for a bag of moonshine — and come what will of it,
I am determined to express my own honest unbi-
assed opinion on all such subjects.

. » ■

THE TEXAN CABBAGE-BTJG.

{Strachia histrionica Ilahn.)

This is a true Bug, belonging to the Order He-
teroptera and the Family Scutelleridfe, and shaped
much like the large stinking Bugs often found in
the Northern States on Raspberries and Blackber-
ries. It is very prettily colored with black and
yellow and is found in Texas and Louisiana. Be-
low we give a very graphic account of the way in
which it operates upon cabbages, turnips, radishes
and other plants belonging to the botanical family
Cruciferae, from the pen of Dr. Gideon Lin cecum
of Washington County, Texas. It appears from
his statement that there are two broods of them
every year, the first hatching out in April and the
second in July, and the insect passing the winter
in the perfect state. We are indebted to Dr. Lin-
cecum for specimens both of the winged insects
and of their eggs, which arrived in excellent con-
dition.

The year before last, they got into my garden and ut-
terly destroyed my cabbage, radishes, mustard, seed tur-
nips, and every cruciform plant. Last year, I did not

set any of that order of plant in my garden. But the pre-
sent year, thinking they had probably left the premises,
I planted my garden with radishes, mustard and a vari-
ety of cabbages. By the first of April, the mustard and
radishes were large enough for use, and I discovered that
the insect had commenced on them. I commenced pick-
ing them off by hand and tramping them under foot. By
that means I have preserved my 434 cabbages, but I have
visited every one of them daily now for four months,
finding on them from 35 to 60 full grown insects every
day, some coupled and some in the act of depositing their
eggs. Although many have been hatched m my garden
the present season, I have suffered none to come to ma-
turity, and the daily supplies of grown insects that I have
been blessed with, are immigrants from some other gar-
den.

► The perfect Insect lives through the winter and is
ready to deposit its eggs as early as 15th March, or
sooner, if he finds any cruciform plant large enough.
They set their eggs on end in two rows, cemented togeth-
er, mostly, on the underside of the leaf, and generally
11 — 12 in number. In about six days in April — four days
in July—they hatch out a brood of larvro resembling the
perfect insect, except in having no wings, who immedi-
ately begin the work of destruction, by piercing and suck-
ing the life sap from the leaves. In twelve days they
have matured. They are timid, and will run off and hide
behind the first leaf-stem, or any part of the plant that
will answer the purpose. The leaf that they puncture
immediately wilts, like the effects of poison, and soon
withers. Haifa dozen grown insects will kill a cabbage
in a day. They continue through the summer, and sufe-
cient perfect insects survive the winter to ensure a full
crop of them for the coming season.

This tribe of insects do not seem to be liable to the at-
tacks of any of the cannibal races either in the egg state
or at any other stage. Our birds pay no attention to them,
neither will the domestic fowls touch them. I have as
yet, found no way to get clear of them, but to pick them
off by hand.

■ ♦ ■

The Striped Bug^.

This insect is now busy puncturing the leaves of mel-
ons, cucumbers and several other plants and flowers. ♦ *
Among flowers they are particularly fond of German As-
ters, and when we see their leaves rusty, we may be sure
that the enemy is at work. — Western Rural, July 21, 1866.

Observations by B. D. W. — Two different
species of the same genus are apparently here con-
founded together. The true striped Cucumber-bug
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. (^Diahrotica vittata—¥ig. 2)

has three black stripes placed
lengthways on its wing-cases,
and I have never seen it on
flowers. The 12-spotted Flow-
er-beetle (^Diahrotica 12'punc-
tata — Fig. 1.) has four rows of black spots placed
lengthways on its wing-cases, each row consisting
of three spots, and it is very injurious to flowers
especially to Dahlias. It is also rather a larger and
broader insect, and swarms more especially in the
latter part of the summer, while the other is more
abundant in the early part of the summer. Fig. 1,
be it observed, is magnified fully 50 per cent in
length, and fig. 2 about 100 per cent. I have,
for many years, never failed in protecting my own
cucumber and melon vines from the striped Cucum-
ber-bug, by covering the hills with four short pieces
of board, nailed together in the form of a bottomless
box and roofed over at top with musketo-bar. As
to the 12-spotted Flower-beetle, I know no remedy
but hand-picking.

Moral. — Flower-growers need not believe, that
by killing the bugs off their neighbor's cucumber
patch, they will save their own Asters and Dahlias.

i

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

Ill

ANSWEES TO OOEEESPONDENTS.

BY B. D. WALSH, M. A—Associate Editor.

f

Benj. Borden, Penna.— The small yellowish orvervnale

W hUtlfr ^^^ <'f«a«ionally five rows of smLll irreg^
lar blackish spots placed lengthways on their backs, must
be the larvae of some species oi Procris. You say the^re
very numerous and destructive on your grape-v nes^ de-

Trk "^ Tt:o:\l ''^';T'^' '^^ fi- gfuzr-likeTaml
woric. 1 wo or three of them spun up on the road form
ing an oval whitish cocoon in tL folS of a leaf? ProcW,
amertcana has been long known to attack the grapevine
in this country, but the description of its larvl does Tot

2 ri fiff ^^ "^'^^ ^^'^^ ^^'^°<^' ^°d l>e«ide8 it is too large
a moth to come from so small a larva. I suspect that your

Clemens, which has been redescribed by Dr. Packard as
^c^rr^s^na Sanborni, and which Dr. Clemens tells me Ts
2n ! ^r"'^'' •'' ?f,^^«yl™ia, and I myself know to be
quite common in Illinois. There is a European species

^Strf^r^^'^ ■^"^- ^°°? ^^^^ ^'^^^^ to^be ve^ry de:
l\l.1^fi "" *^^ grape-vine la Italy. The different spe-
cies of Prom^ are in the winged state, black moths, with

W^^lf ??'^^^i^'' u ^T^f.^''^ generally an orange-colored
band behind the head. Unlike most other moths, they fly
in broad day-light, and in the hottest sun are found upon
flowers. Your larvae, although they were four days on the
road, arrived all alive and kicking, and in first ra^te order!
thanks to the tight little tin box in which you enclosed
them, and which has the additional merit of keeping the
w^rif ?\^^^«,^ they feed perfectly fresh. The moths
which I hope to breed from them will not appear till
next summer, when I will let you know the result. The
beetles you send, which you rightfully suspect of eating
the vine-leaves, are the very same undescribed species of
Ihdm received from Mr. C. 8. Jackson of Kentucty. See
the answer to that gentleman in Practical Entomologist,

Since the above was in type, I have bred (Aug. 9) sev-
eral specimens of the moth from the caterpillars infest-
ing your grape-vine, and it turns out to be the very sne-
oKi" l^'*?!:-'* -^^^ ^ expected. Hence it is not improb-
able that this insect produces two broods of larvse every
year. Your larvce were sent July 19th, so that only
three weeks intervened between the larva and the moth
states. Towards the middle of August you will perhaps
find another lot of caterpillars on your vines.

^ J. Cope, Penna.— The yellow oval larvae about i or * an
inch long and with sprangling black prickles all over
their backs, which you find feeding on the leaves of your
squashes, and sometimes on the ripe squashes, belong to
Ejpxlachna boreahs. This is a beetle of the Coccinella Faniily
(Ladybirds), and is very remarkable for being the only
known JS^orth American species of the Family that feeds
upon vegetable substances, though there are several
others that do so in Europe. All our other species, so far
as is known, feed upon insects, and are very beneficial by
checking the undue multiplication of the plant-feeders.
Your species, when in the perfect state, may be readily
distinguished by being yellow with fourteen large black
spots arranged crossways on its wing-cases— 6 and 6 and
Z. These larvae reached me in good order, but hungry—
the leaves having dried up to a crisp.

"The worm with a dark colored head and a dark spot
on the back of its neck, that destroys the Squash and
pumpkin vines by boring into them near the root" must
be the larva of Trochilium cucurbitoe Harris. If so, it is a
whitish worm nearly an inch long when full-grown and
with sixteen legs, inclusive of two at its tail. The moth
that comes from it has its front wings black and its hind
wings clear and glassy. You will find a good colored fi-
gure of It m Harris's Inj. Ins. Plate V. fig. 8. The best
mode of subduing this pest is to dig out and destroy the
larva in every infested vine. Thus you will prevent it
trom going underground when full-fed, and coming out
in the moth state the following season to lay its eggs for
Ionmf\ ^^^'•'^ brood. The specimens you sent all bored
Uncle a^m^\**''^"^^*^f.P^I^^^ wrapper and escaped;
in^fL v\'''^^T\'*^^^^'^'^*^«d **^e'r escape by squeez-
ifiif \^*^ ^^^'tY'^ b°^ that contained them into all man-
thl i M ^K ^" ^ h?^^ sincerely that, when they got loose in
the mail-bags, they did not bore their way into some

A Tf; I •*1?'*T®^ *^ * y«"»^g Jady of delicate nerves
A tin box is the best to pack larv« in, as it keeps both
them and their food fresh and moist. ^

Onr ,?^;af ^^' Penna—You remark as follows.— "Ist.
Our po atoes are badly nibbled by some bug or worm and
often almost ruined. 2nd. Our iheat thi? yerr [s on"y
half a crop because of the Wheat Midge: and the same
was the case with our oats some years bick? 3rd My

Thv? Ith V't '^^^'^^^J' l^/g^ '- the besi thrift
ZhVv A ^ ^^^%' ["^4 ^^ ^^^^y' «nd ^o not swarm.
Why? -Answers 1st. I suppose^t is the larva of the
Ihree-lined Leaf-beetle {Lenta trilineata) that is damag!
ing your potatoes. If so, you may readily know it by
its carrying its own dung on its own back. "^You will not
find any now on the leaves, as they have gone under-
mlTl^ or 5^«g« '^/^ tl^e perfect beetle, butWards the
S thi^ ^ }l ^"? ?^ "^"^"'^ ^^^'•« ^'^^ be a second brood
nil /^^''^ ''"i ^'^"^ ^Sgs laid by the insects that are
khT/thfrnT^^H^- ^^^'^ ? ^" ^"^^" ^«'«^^y' but sha
thP^ 9.^ « ^f/'''^^ '"^° P^"^ ^"^ ^ben destroying
" M ir T? ^?f answers " to " R. F., New Jersey "and
M. H. Boye, Penna." in the last number of the Practi-
wt ^,^^J?^"^o«JST, p. 101. It could not have been the
Wheat Midge that attacked your oats some years ago, be-
cause that insect confines itself to Wheat and Rye. Per-
haps it was the Grain plant-louse that did the mischief.
K liT ^^P^''* ^f "f squash vines are bored close to the root
by the larva of the Squash Borer {Trochilium cucurbitce),
respecting which see the "answer" to "J. Cope. Penna ''
m this number of the Practical Entomologist. 4th. You
set me almost as hard a task as was set the prophet
Daniel by King Nebuchadnezzar, when he required liim
to interpret a dream without telling him what the dream
was. You give no particulars about your bees, and there-
fore it is as impossible for me to tell what ails them, as it
would be for a physician in Illinoistotell what ailed your
wite, If you wrote to him simply that your wife was not
in good health. Half a hundred things may be the mat-
ter with your bees. They may be troubled by the Bee-
moth, or they may be robbed by other bees, or it may be
a bad season with you for making honey on account of
certain flowers fail, or there may have been too many
rainy days for your bees, or your hives may be bad or
badly situated or near some foul-smelling place, or the
^^K!^^^^^^^^ °^*be queen may have been delayed to the
JOth day, in which case she always produces nothing but
drones, or the queen may be old, and worn out, or your
hives may have run short of honey last winter, or your
neighborhood may be overstocked with bees, Ac, Ac.
Bees are like other stock— they require constant care and
attention, and the treatment must be varied according to
the nature of each particular case.

E. Dagrgy, Hl.—The grape-leaves studded on their low-
er surface with scores of green globular bodies, varying
Irom the size of a radish seed to that of a small pea, and
each budding out into sundry little smooth bumps or ex-
crescences, are troubled by a particular gall named viti-
fohcE by Dr. Fitch. Like all other galls, this is the work
of an insect, not of a plant-louse, however, as Dr. Fitch
supposed, but, as I have recently ascertained, of a true
bark-louse belonging to the Coccus family. Each globular
body IS a distinct gall, and it originates by the mother in-
sect puncturing the leaf on its upper surface early in the
season, which operation being continually repeated in
the same spot causes an unnatural hollow lined with
white woolly hair. In this hollow the mother-louse takes
her station, sucking away at the sap and still further ir-
ritating the part, till finally the hollow enlarges, its
mouth gradually closes, and you have a green fleshy bag
with Its mouth tied up pretty tight and the mother-
louse inside. If you examine a leaf full of these galls,
you will see on the upper side of the leaf a little woolly
place opposite each gall on the lower side of the leaf.
This is what remains of the woolly hollow which origi-
nated the gall. So far the process, with more or less va-
riation in each case, is nearly the same with the plant-
lice that make galls, numbers of which have been long
known to Entomologists, and with the Barklice that make
galls, of which I am now acquainted with three species.
One of these species is the aforesaid vitifolias. of Fitch,
which I find on the wild Vitis cordifolia and on the tame
Clinton grape-vine, another is the gall ca7;ycc-tJCwcB of Fitch,
which I find exclusively on the loaves of the Shellbark
Hickory {Carya alba), and the third is an undescribed
gall the size of a cabbage-seed on the leaves of the Pignut

— "^^

h .

•I

112

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

Hickory (Carya glabra). So far as I can find out, no calls
have hitherto been described by authors as made by Bark
lice, neither indeed had any true galls been described as
made by species of the Psylla family, till Baron Osten
Sacken and myself discovered such on the Hackberrv •
but any Entomoloeist, by examining either of the above'
mayeasily satisfy ^imself that the mother-louse inhabit-
ing them does not belong to the Aphis but to the Coccus
Family Moreover from the point in the process refer-
red to above, the habits of the denizens of all the above
three galls differ widely from those of the true gall-ma

«f/K^!w^ ^^" ^V^^ *^^7 inhabit, secrete in common

with their young larvce a large quantity of sugary dus't"

Th^n 'Tr^??^i^T g«"-^^k?ng Barilicesefrele any-
thing of the kind. Again, all Plantlice whether they
make galls or not, bring forth their young alive all through
the summer and never lay eggs tfll the autumn, whfle
all mv three gall-making Barllice lay eggs dur ng the
montUf Juljr inside the gall, which do not hatch out tUl
after the expiration of several weeks. It is further re-
markable that in all these galls made by Barklice, two,
three, or even four mother-lice are often found in a single
gall, along with numerous eggs or young larvoo or some
eggs and some larvae ; whereas I do not remember ever to
have found more than a single mother-louse in any single
gall known to be produced by a Plant-louse. Hence it
follows that several Barklice must sometimes c5operate
in making a gall and inhabit it afterwards as joint ten-
ants. Moreover all these young Barklice stray away
from the gall shortly after they are hatched, leaving their
mothers behind them; while young Plantlice that inha-
bit galls stay there, along with their mothers, till they
are lull-grown and have acquired wings. My investiga-
tion of the Natural History of these insects is not yet
completed; so that I cannot say what becomes of them
m the Winter.

I have seen dozens of wild grape-vines and two or three
cultivated ones infested by these galls; but in no case
were the galls sufficiently abundant to do material injury
to the vine. Of course, considering that each louse lays
about fifty eggs on a rough calculation, the breed, if no-
thing checked it, would soon increase till it destroyed the
who e vine. But something does check it, and most effi-
ciently too. There is a minute two-winged Fly about 1-16
inch long belonging to the great 3/M«ca family, the larva
ot which attacks these barklice in the most savage man-
ner, insomuch that in the latter partof July nineteen out
of every twenty galls contain either its orange-color-
ed larva or Its brown pupa-case, surrounded by the deso-
late ruins of what was once a quiet happy family of lice
snugly secluded from the world within the green walls of
Uieir own private domestic cell. It is the great law of
J»Jature, practically carried out from one end of the Crea-
tion to the other—" Kill and be killed, eat and be eaten."
Hence I do not think that there is much likelihood of
these galls ever becoming so numerous on any vine, as to
check Its growth unduly. And probably, occurring as
they chiefly do towards the tips of rampant shoots, they
may even be beneficial in certain cases by operating as a
summer pruning. *

Let me beg of vou in conclusion, Mr. Daggy, when you
Bend specimens for the future, to enclose them as fresh
as possible in a box of some kind. Botanists like their
specimens dried up and pressed as flat as a pancake, but
Entomologists do not. If I had not been quite familiar
with your galls, and if I had not known that they occur-
red on the same cultivated variety of Grape on which you
found them, I should not have been able to make head
or tail of them from what you sent.

W. H. 8., Bloomington, 111.— The galls on the leaves of
the Clinton grape-vine are precisely the same as those
received from E. Daggy, of Tuscola, 111; and for an ac-
count of them, I must refer you to the answer to that gen-
tleman in this number of the Practical Entomologist.
Several years ago I received the same gall from your
town, unless my memory fails me. I see also from the
Prairie Farmer (Aug. 4, 1SG6), that Mr. Riley has receiv-
ed it from Dement. 111., and although he noticed the eggs
in company with the mother-louse, yet, misled very ex-
cusably by the authority of Dr. Fitch, he pronounces the
gall to be the work of a Plant-louse and not of a Bark-
louse. Dr. Fitch indeed is sometimes a little too rash,
not only in fixing the family to which a particular larva
belongs, but in deciding even on the very geilus to which

sLt ^f ' *^°"i* ^^^""^ acquainted with the winged in-
sect For example, he refers the plant-louse of a cock's-
comb like gall {ulmicola Fitch) on the leaf of a species of
elm to the genus Byrsocrypta. I showed long ago that it
belongs to the genus Thelaxes. Again, he refers the plant-
louse of a gal on the leaf-stalk of the Shellbark Hickory
(his cary(zcauhs) to the genus Pemphigus. Both Baron Os-
ten Sacken and myself are now acquainted with the
winged insect, and it belongs to the genus Phylloxera, or
rather perhaps to the American representative of that

g6Il US*

or,^^® »"egular bunches or enlargements of the tendril,
and occasionally'of the leaf-stalk, of an imported German
^rape-vine, to some five or six time its natural diameter—
in the latter case of the natural green color, in the form-
er case strongly tinged with lake-red-are also galls made
by another species of Bark-louse. This gall, however, is
quite new to me, and as far as I know is undescribed. To
me It IS a peculiarly interesting one. The mother-louse
here is of the same deep yellow color as in the other gall,
and of the same almost globular shape ; and it only dif-
fers in being * smaller— its diameter being two instead of
<Are€-hundredths of an inch. Several of them occur in a
single gall, accompanied by their oval yellowish eggs, as
in the other gall, tut I did not notice Iny young larva
hatched out. When ripe, this gall bursts open laterally
in a large ragged mouth; but I opened some that had not
yet burst, and they contained the same mother-louse and
the same eggs. This louse appears to be also largely in-
fested by the same deep yellow cannibal larvae as that of
Dr. Fitch s gall; but possibly these may have strayed
from one gall to the other. For unfortunately you did
not take the very necessary precaution to wrap up each
set of specimens by itself. The genus to which hoth these
two species of Bark-lice belong cannot be satisfactorily
determined, till the winged male has been bred. The fe-
males in this family never acquire any wings at all.

As to getting rid of these galls, the obvious method, of
course, is to cut them off and throw them away or other-
wise destroy them, any time before the lice leave them,
iiut 1 doubt much whether, in consequence of the dili-
gence of the cannibal larvee which swarmed in your spe-
cimens, they are likely to prove materially injurious.
Certainly the vitxfohcB gall, at all events, is not, as you in-
ter, caused by the vine growing in the shade; for I know
a wild grape-vine growing in a fence-corner, with not a
tree near it, which is covered with this gall.

What you take for "a partially open cocoon" on a leaf
ironi the Isabella grape-vine is not a cocoon at all, but
the dead and shrunken body of a sixteen-footed caterpil-
lair about | inch long, which would otherwise have chang-
ed .0 some small moth. As is very commonly the case.
It has been destroyed by the larvse of some parasitic Chal-
ets fly, which have eaten up its vitals; and, as usual in
such cases, It has adhered strongly in death to the leaf on
which It breathed its last, the parasites spinning a mass
of flossy silk under its carcase, within which some of them
have already changed into the pupa state. In the course
of probably two or three weeks, they will come out in the
form of four-winged flies i inch long, either of a black or
metallic green color, with glassy wings. The species and
genus cannot be determined from the larva and pupa.
Of course this so-called cocoon has nothing whatever to
do with the Bark-louse galls, as you say that one of your
^rape-growers fancied to be the case. One might as well
infer that all the Lager-beer saloons in Bloomington were
caused by the bodies of certain beef-cattle lying dead in
your slaughter-houses.

Since the above was in type, I have bred (August 17)
five specimens of the Chalcis flies from vour so-called co-
coon. They belong to a very beautiful' species, which is
quite new to me and is apparently undescribed.

Wm. J. Lawrence, Ohio.— The clay-yellow beetle near-
ly an inch long with six black spots on its back, which
you find to infest your grape-vines, is Pelidnota punctata—
a notorious offender in this respect. The small clay-yel-
low beetle about three-sixteenths inch long, but without
any spots, is the Colaspis flavida of Say. You say that
you "first noticed it on the Grape vines, about July 10th
and they soon increased to such numbers as to literally
devour all the more tender leaves and young shoots, be-
ing worst on young vines." This is the first instance on
record, so far as I know, of this species being injurious.
It IS common in the woods near Rock Island, Illinois,
and I bred a specimen in 1861 from a pupa found under-

>^

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

113

ground at the root of a peach tree in South Illinois.
Hence we may learn that, like the new Potato-bug, it goes
undergrouud to pass into the pupa state. As it belongs
to the same Chrysomela family as that insect, the larva
no doubt, as well as the perfect insect, feeds on the leaves
of the grape vine. It will be a soft six-legged grub, prob-
ably of some pale color, with a horny heal and an apolo-

EJ l^^ l^ ""K^^^ i*'P ^^ '^^ *^^1- Pelidnota punctata, on
the other hand, belongs to an entirely different Family
of Beetles the Lamellicorns or Platehorns, and its larva,
instead of eating green leaves, lives in very rotten wood.
1 have bred one myself from the stump of a Pignut Hic-
kory, which was decayed enough to cut like cheese.
Hence this ast insect is only injurious in the perfect
state, while the other is injurious throughout its entire
existence.

Jos. S. Lewis, N. Y.— The larva of Corydalis cornutus, (a
huge four-winged fly nearly as big as a m.nn's finger,)
lives in the water and preys upon various aquatic insects.
It always crawls out of the water to pass into the pupa
state, for which purpose it conceals itself under some log,
plank or flat stone not far from the river it had previous-
ly inhabited. In these situations it is much sought after
by fishermen, who call it a "crawler" and find it excel-
lent fish-bait. In about three weeks' time it comes out in
the perfect winged form, and it is the males only that
have those extraordinarily long sickle-shaped jaws which
are often mistaken for horns. Both sexes fly exclusively
by night or twilight, and the females lay their eggs on
something overhanging the water, so that the young lar-
vse as they hatch out may drop readilv into their natural
element. They are in no respect injurious to vegetation,
and no doubt help to maintain the due equilibrium of In-
sect Life, by checking the too great multiplication of the
various May-flies, Caddis-flies, Shad-flies, Ac. that inha-
bit the water.

/ Jl ^" 5°^^?' Missouri.— The pupa of the Tobacco Moth
{J>phinx Carolina of Linnceus) arrived in first-rate order.
Ihe jug-handle like appendage under its head does real-
ly contain the long tongue of the future moth, which
tongue, as you may have noticed, is, when uncoiled, near-
ly twice as long as the body of the Moth itself. The pupa
lies underground, without eating anything, all through
the winter and until the beginning of the following sum-
mer. Then the enclosed moth bursts the shell of the pu-
pa and works its way out to the light of day, its wings
being at first quite short and flabby, but gradually length-
ening and stiflening in the course of an hour or so. The
sexes then couple and the female lays her eggs on tobac-
co-plants, whence there soon hatch out the notorious to-
bacco-worms which are such a pest to tobacco-growers
Occasionally the potato-worm— which produces a very
closely allied Moth {Sphinx b-maculata of Stephens)- is
found upon tobacco; but far more usually it feeds on to-
mato and sometimes on potato vines. Almost all these
bphinx moths fly round flowers in the dusk of the evening
sucking the honey from them with their long tongues'
and many of them making a loud humming noise as they
fly, whence they are frequently mistaken by the inexpe-
rienced lor humming-birds.

Wm. H. Perry, Mass.— The black beetles about \ inch
long found in your wood-pile, and I expect under the
bark, are the Xylopinus anthracinus of Knoch, a harmless
insect feeding on various kinds of decaying wood, but not
a borer. The three with black backs and chestnut-brown
bellies are the common meal-worm in its winged state,
very destructive to flour, meal, bran, Ac. The large
beetle with yellow spots is the Clytus nobilis of Harris, a
true borer. The "gray-back" is also a borer, Arhopalus
Julminans. The bright green beetle, running and flying
with great agility in roads leading through timber land,
is Cicmdela ^-guttata, a very ferocious Cannibal. And
"the small black bug common in fields and gardens" is
nothing but your old friend the meal-worm again in its
perfect or winged state. We have no chestnut here, and
therefore I do not recognize from your description the
rolls made out of chestnut leaves; they may perhaps be
the nests of some leaf-cutting bee, (Megachile), bu.t I can-
not eay for certain without seeing specimens.

Miss Isanre A. Pluoke, N. Y— The larvee that ''have
destroyed your potato-vines for two years back and threat-
en to do the same this year" are those of the very same
Three-lined Leaf-beetle {Lema trilineata), which, &s you
will see from the "Answers" to other correspondents,

have recently reached me from all quarters in the East-
ern States. LarvsB travel best enclosed in a small tight
tin box, along with some of their natural food-plant bv
way of provision on the journey. Otherwise they usual-
ly die on the road and shrivel up badly ; whereas scarcely
any insects in the perfect state shrivel up when dead.

.^f^l f ' ^*cy, Michigan -The black caterpillars about
an inch long, with long white hairs on their bodies, and
found on the Black Walnut and Hickory, are the ^atZa
mtmstraofDrnvy A similar insect occGrs on the Apple-
tree and on Oak, Thorn and a variety of forest-trees, but
It then always differs from specimens found on Walnut
and Hickory, by having a number of whitish and yellow-
ish lines placed lengthways on its body, and generally by
having also a large yellow patch placed immediately be-
Pi?l «+&^^'^' ;T^^"^^ l^ yas cafled in English by Dr.
Fitch "the yellow-necked worm." As I have exneri-
mentally proved, the vellow-necked variety of the larva
found on the Oak produces exactly the same Moth as the
black larva founcf on the Hickory. Yet they must be
distinct species, because the black caterpillars found on

Jin^^ /*','''-?r*^' ^^^ ^^^^ j"«t ascertained, be com-
pelled tofeed either on Otk leaves or on Apple-tree leaves.
These caterpillars usually create consideralble alarm, when
found on Apple-trees because they gather in crowds up-
on a single limb, till they have entirely stripped it of its
eaves But this very habit of theirs mates itTuchease J
to destroy them, than if they scattered themselves one
by one over the whole tree, ^hey are a very common in-
sect throughout the Northern States. The eggs sent are,
I think, those from which your caterpillars hatched out
but the eggs of moths are many of them so nearly alike
that I cannot say so with certainty. The larvae go un-
derground to change into the pupa state, and the perfect
moth does not come out till the following sumraerf when
she lays her eggs on the leaves of the infested trees. You

Ins. Xte'^L^t^ ^^"" '' '^^ ^^'^ ^" ^^^"^^'« ^->

F. K. Phoenix, 111 -The beetle that, as you say, "de-
stroys grape-vines by feeding on the ends of the shoots "
IS the Colaspis flavida of Say. See the Answer to Wm J
Lawrence in this No. of the Practical ENTOMOLOoisx:
The small bluish-green jumping Beetle scarcely ^ inch
long IS the Halticaexapta of Say. It comes very near the
Ualtica chalybea that is such a pest to the vine-growers,
but IS smaller, slenderer and notof a pure blue c?lor, and
Its sculpture also differs. The genus contains an immense
number of species, many of them very closely allied, and
vour florist may possibly be mistaken in thinking, that
he saw the same insect five years ago in New York Fa
miliar as I am myself with inects, I never dare nime a
Jlaltica without comparing it closely with the named spe-
cimens in my cabinet. The little flea-beetles that destroy
seedling cabbages and radishes and also young egg-
plants, helong to this same genus. To protect my own
egg-plants when young, I always cover them over with a
bottomless box roofed with musketo-bar, such as I use to
keep the Cucumber-beetle from my vines. Your species
you say, is "very destructive on your Fuschias." It must
feed on other plants as well; for I find it here away from
any gardens, though by no means abundantly.

. Joel Barber. Wisc-The black blister-beetle about }
inch long with a narrow gray edging to its wing-cases is
Lytta marginata (Olivier). It usually feeds on difierent
species of Clematis (virgin's bower) and Ranunculus (but-
tercups), but ast year I found a large colony of them
feeding on Silphium perfoliatum. It has not hitherto
been observed to attack the potato, as you say it has dona
with vou, though there are three other species of the ge-
nus thatdo %o—vittata,cinerea and airata. It is not likely
that for the future you will find more than a few stray
specimens on your potato-vines. The remarkable spider
you send has long haon well known to me. It was de-
scribed and named five or six years ago in the Prairie
Farmer by Cyrus Thomas; but I forget the name he gave

1 V*

A. Burlin^ame, Ohio.— The eggs found on the leaf of a
cherry tree are those of some moth, but from their shri-
velled state and their having been taken off the leaf, I
cannot say for certain what species they belong to. They
would have produced some kind of caterpillar, not im-
probably that of the Red Humped Prominent iNotodonta
concinna). ^

k

rrrr'.

tfVVjK A J

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/

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114

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

J. F. Bonner, Ohio.— The small pale brown beetle "do-
ing a great deal of damage to your grape-vines this sea-
son, though you had never noticed them before on the
grape-vine" is the Colaspis flavida of Say. You are the
third correspondent from whom within the last month I
have received this insect with the same statement as to
its habits. See the ^'Answers" to W. J. Lawrence and F.
K. Phoenix in this Number of the Practical Entomolo-
gist.

The three-lined leaf-beetle, bred from larvee that cover
themselves with their own dung and feed on the leaves
of the Potato, is the Lema trilineata of Olivier. You will
find it figured and described in Harris's Inj. Ins. p. 118
It IS very common in the Eastern States, but I was not
previously aware that it ever occurred in such numbers
as it has done with you, in the Valley of the Mississippi.
You say you found ''about a dozen larvae together on a
leaf or branch." That is more than I have met with in
eight years near Bock Island, Illinois. Your method of
breeding the perfect beetle from the larva was excellent,
and for the benefit of those who may be similarly situ-
ated I will now copy it out in full. "I procured a small
box,put some moist earth on the bottom, and on it the
grubs, together with the leaves on which they were, with
others for their food. They ate heartily for a few days
and on the 15th July disappeared. On examining the
f?^ u* '^""^ ^^^"^ ^» small whitish cocoons fastened to
the bottom of the box. I set them by and watched them
daily. On 30th July I found the perfect beetles in the
box; and on examining the cocoons, I found them all
empty."

Huron Burt, Missouri. — You say that "last year your
gooseberries and currants were all destroyed by a green
worm; the crop was abundant, but not a berry ripened.
This year scarcely a worm was to be seen, and the most
abundant crop of berries ripened that we have ever had.
The weather last year was very dry till July, and the
remainder of the season was excessively wet." The "green
worm " was probably the larva of the " Gooseberry Saw-
fly," respecting which see my Article in the next number
of the Practical Entomologist. Not improbably the ex-
cessive rains in July may last year have drowned out the
pupee as they lay underground in their cocoons; or pos-
sibly some Ladybird may have taken to eating their eggs,
or thev may have been violently attacked by some other
Cannibal insect or by some Parasite. On the same prin-
ciple, the Army-worm swarms in certain years, and in
other years is found in such small numbers that Farmers
do not notice it. And so with many other Noxious In-
sects. I do not think that excessive heat or excessive
drought ever kills insects, but it has long been known
that in the case of the common Chinch-bug excessive
rains, or even a few heavy showers, will drown out their
eggs, which are laid at the roots of the infested plants,
and put a sudden stop to their multiplication.

You say that an insect which you take for the "three-
lined leaf-beetle " (Lema triliyieata) is very numerous with
you this season. "They first," you observe, "devour the
potato-vines, then tomato-vines, beet-tops, cabbages, the
weed called Careless, [a species of Amaranthus which
has been introduced here from Tropical America,] Bella-
donna and parsley; and in case of necessity they will
even eat horse-nettle and the difierent docks." It is not
at present known that the true "three-lined leaf-beetle"
is such a general feeder. Please send pie specimens that
I may be certain of the fact. You will find a notice of its
habits in the "answer" to J. F. Benner in this number of
the Practical Entomologist. If this is really your insect,
there will be a second brood of it hatch out shortly,
which will go underground in the larva state and not
come out in the perfect state till next summer.

Henry Shimor, 111.— The gall on the root of a wild rose
has been described by Osten Sacken, and the gall-maker
is Rhoditea radicum 0. S., all that you send being females.
The green, long-tailed parasite is a female Callimome, the
black short-tailed parasite a female Eurt/toma, both ge-
nera belonging to the Chalcis family, and both having
been reared from this very gall, according to Osten Sack-
en. {Proc. Ac. II, p. 42.) The two-winged gall-fly is Try-
peta aolidaginis Fitch, and its round, smooth, musket-ball
like gall occurs on the stem of a species of Solidago (Gold-
en rod). This is the same insect, as Osten Sacken has
shown, which was erroneously believed by Dr. Harris to
form a similar gall on a species of Aster, and named in
consequence by him Trypeta asteris. Such a mistake is

easily made in the winter, when nothing but the dead
dry stem of the plant remains. The cock's-comb like gall
on the leaf of an elm was described by Dr. Fitch as w?mi-
cola; and the winged insect was first described by my-
self as Thelaxes ulmicola. We should be glad of a male of
the Bkodites ; the other species are all common. Through-
out the genus Bkodites the males are comparatively rare,
sometimes exceedingly rare ; and they are readily distin-
guished from the females by lacking the acute, horny
"ventral valve" on the lower part of the abdomen.

T. H. Parsons, N. Y.— The potato bug that troubles you
is the Lema trilineata of Olivier, which is very common
in the Eastern States, though in eight years collecting I
have only met with seven or eight specimens in Illinois.
You will find a good figure of the perfect beetle in Har-
ris's Injm-ious Insects, p. 118. Western men find that com-
mon fowls will not feed on the New Potato Bug to do any
good, though turkeys will. The "striped borer about one-
twelfth inch in diameter and three-fourths of an inch
long," that attacks the stem of the young Indian corn, is
probably a species of Gortyna, distinct from the well-
known Qortyna ze(z of Harris, the larva of which is said
to be fully one inch long and not "striped," as you say

yours is, but "with a double row across joints 3 11 of

shining, slightly elevated black dots." The perfect moth
of this last is figured in Harris, Plate VII, fig. 9. You
will do well to try and rear the the moth from your larva.
The only general rule that can be given for breeding in-
sects is, to place them as nearly as possible in the same
situation with regard to moisture, food, heat, location <fec.
as they would be in if they were at large. Your insect
will transform into the pupa state most probably within
the stem of the corn that it has invaded, and most prob-
ably will not come out into the moth state till next
spring. I can of course say nothing with any certainty
about the worm which, as your neighbors tell you, has
destroyed whole acres of Sugar-maples in your vicinity
by feeding on the leaves, and attacks also other forest-
trees. Not improbably, however, it may be the well-
known "Palmer-worm," which in particular seasons op-
erates in this manner in your State.

M. S. Hill, Ohio. — The tough brown silken cocoon,
about three inches long, which you found last May on an
Apple tree, is that of Atiacus cecropia — a gigantic moth
measuring nearly six inches across the wings, and close-
ly allied to the imported moth of the Ailanthus Silkworm.
The "small worm,[' that you suppose to have destroyed
the pupa inclosed in the cocoon and to be a true paras'ite,
is the larva of some small moth, several of which prey on
dead, not living animal substances, and are sometimes
very destructive to objects of Natural History. I found
a single specimen inside the empty shell of the pupa and
will endeavor to breed the perfect moth from it, in which
case I will advise you further. It was a yellow 16-footed
larva about | inch long with a few white hairs on its body
and a bay-colored head. In all probability the pupa in
your cocoon died a natural death, and after it was dead
the mother-moth deposited her eggs on the cocoon, the
larvflB hatching out trom which, crawled in at the upper
end, which is only partiaily closed with silk, and fell to
work on the carrion. There are special agents in all di-
rections, appointed by an all-wise Providence to clear
away all decaying substances, whether animal or vege-
table, and prevent them from becoming offensive and in-
jurious to health. Every day of my life I am lost in ad-
miration at the wondrous perfection of the system, which
maintains in health and happiness upon the face of this
earth so vast an amount or Animal Life; one species
checked and controlled bv another, and this by another,
and this again by a third, so that it scarcely ever hap-
pens, and then only for a short time, that any particular
species becomes unduly numerous, except where man, by
his artificial arraYigements, interferes with the great
scheme of the Creaton.

Jas. Barratt, Mass.— I have since bred the perfect in-
sect from vour cocoons, and it proves to be just what I
anticipated — the Lophyrus abietis of Harris.

EBBATUM.

In Practical Entomologist No. 10, p. 102, column 1,
line 35, for "properly speaking" read "popularly speak-
ing."

OXJE.

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116

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!l

I V

THE PEACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

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IMPORTANT TO PROGRESSIVE FARMERS.

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rpJf!'h?'^7^''''7r^^'''''"' '"^"' ^""^^'^ or child, who
reads this, to send for my new "Ma.vual op Ghape Ccl-

''^"^'^d'l?,/-"''"*'^^ Catalogue of Small aud Larjre fruits
of POMONA'S HOME NITESEEIES, WESTfEWTON
Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania. JN^wton,^

Address,

J. H. FOSTEE, JE.,

Box 660.

THE

A MONTHLY BULLETIN,

Publislied by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, for the dissemination of valuable

knowledge among Agriculturists and Horticulturists.

Vol. I.

SEPTEMBER 29, 1866.

No. 12.

Mt putlal (BntomoU^mi

^^^ Published at the Hall of the Society, No. 618 South
Thirteenth Street, where all (except Western) communi-
cations should be addressed.

^^^ Terms — 60 cents a year, in advance.

0:^r AW subscriptions must date from the commence-
ment of the volume.

.^r*Our Western Correspondents will please send their
communications direct to Benj. D. Walsh, M. A., Associate
Editor, Rock Island, Illinois.

E. T. CRESSON, ) Publication Committee
. AUG. R. GROTE, I and
J. W. McAllister, J Editors
BENJ. D. WALSH, Rock Island, Illinois,
Associate Editor.

PHILADELPHIA, SEPTEMBER 29, 1866.

We take pleasure in announcing that, although the de-
sired number of subscribers is not yet made up, we shall
continue the publication of the Practical Entomologist an-
other year, because we believe that, through the continu-
ed exertions of our friends, we shall have 5000 names by
the issue of the October number. Therefore, those who
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have received incomplete numbers, will please inform us.

THIS NUMBER
is occupied chiefly by a long, valuable and interesting
a<;ticle by Mr. Walsh on the Natural History of the Saw-
fly of the Gooseberry and Currant. As this Insect Pest
promises to do an immense amount of damage, it would
be well for every one who cultivates the fruit to read the
abticle over carefully. Several interesting communica-
tions and answers to correspondents have been crowded
out, but these will appear in the next number.

IMPOETED INSECTS ;-The Gooseberry Sawfly.

BY BENJ. D. WALSH, M. A.

It is a remarkable fact, that fully one-half of our
worst Insect Foes are not native American citizens,
but have been introduced here from Europe. The
Hessian Fly ( Cecidomi/ia destructor Say) was im-
ported almost ninety years ago — the Wheat Midge
{Diplosis tritici Kirby) about half as long ago—
the Bee Moth {Galleria cereana Fabr.) at the be-
ginning of the present Century— the Codling Moth
(Carjwcapsa pomonella Linn.), the Currant Borer
(Trochilium tipuUforme Linn.), the Bark-louse of
the Apple tree (Aspidtotus conchiformis Gmel.),
the Cheese-maggot (Fiophda casei Linn.), the
3Ieal-worm (Tencbrw molitor Linn.), the Grain-
weevil {Sitophilus granarlus Linn.), the House-fly
(Musca domestica Linn.), the Leaf-Beetle of the
Elm {Galcriica calmariensis Fabr.), the Cockroach
{Blatta orlcntalis Fisch.), and the different Carpet,
Clothes and Fur Moths, at periods which cannot
be definitely fixed. And even within the last few
years the Asparagus Beetle (Crioceris asparagi
Linn.) has made a lodgement in the State of New
York, and will no doubt gradually spread westward
from that point through the whole United States.
I now have to record the appearance among us from
across the Atlantic of a bitter enemy to the Goose-
berry and Currant — the Gooseberry Sawfly.

One would suppose at first sight, since there are
about as many voyages made from America to Eu-
rope as from Europe to America, that we should
have reciprocated to our transatlantic brethren the
favors which they have conferred upon us, in the
way of Noxious Insects. It is no such thing.
Neither the Chinch Bug (Micropus leucoptcrus
Say), nor the Curculio (Conotrachclus nemtphar
Herbst), nor either one of our two principal Apple-
tree borers {Saperda hivittata Say and Chri/so-
hothn's femorata Fabricius), nor the Cankerworm
(Ani.wpteri/x vernata Peck), nor the Apple-tree
web-worm {Clisiocampa americana Harris), nor
the Peach-tree borer ( Trochilium cxifiosum Say), nor
any other of our Native American Insect Foes has
ever, so far as I am aware, emigrated from this

\

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vl

il

118

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

country to Europe and effected an extensive and per-
manent settlement there. For although on one or
two different occasions single specimens of our Army-
worm Moth {Leucayiia unipuncta Haworth) have
been captured in England, yet it has never hither-
to spread and became ruinously common there, as
it continually does in America. Our destructive
pea-bug or rather pea-beetle {Bruchus pisi Linn.)
has also found its way to Europe ; but although it
is met with in England, Kirby and Spence express-
ly state that it does not occur there " to any very
injurious extent.'' (Introd. letter 6.) Again, the
only species of White Ant that exists within the
limits of the United States, {Termes frontalis Kol-
lar,) has been known for a long time to be a guest
in the Plant-houses of Schonbrunn in Germany;
but it is not recorded to have ever as yet spread in-
to the surrounding country. -A very minute yellow
ant, however, (Mt/rmica molesta Say,) which often
infests houses throughout the United States, has,
according to Frederick Smith, "become generally
distributed and naturalized'' in houses in England;
(Stainton's Entom, Ann. 1862, p. 70 and 1863, pp.
59 — 62 ;) and Kirby and Spence state more speci-
fically that "it has become a great pest in many
houses in Brighton, London and Liverpool; in
some cases to so great an extent as to cause the oc-
cupants to leave them." {Introd. Letter 8.) As to
the Woolly Aphis of the Apple-tree, (Eriosoma
lantgera Hausmann,) which was formerly misnam-
ed in Europe " the American Blight," it was proved
long ago, that instead of having been imported from
America into Europe, it was in reality imported
from Europe into America. (Harris InJ. Ins. p. 242)*
The same law seems to prevail in the Vegetable
Kingdom also. For while we have imported from
the Old World a whole host of noxious weeds, but
very few native American plants have established
themselves on the other side of the Atlantic.

" But," the curious reader will ask, " what can
be the reason for such a strange anomaly ? " The
reason is that, although this is popularly known as
the New World, it is in reality a much older world

«A species of Cockroach {Blatta americana Burm.) has
also, as the name indicates, been supposed by some to
have been imported from America, not only into the sea-
bord of England, but also into the Mauritius and the Isle
of Bourbon. It exists undoubtedly at the present day on
the seabord of the United States, but I suspect that it was
originally introduced there from Eastern Asia. West-
wood mentions having seen it " swarming in a vessel re-
cently arrived [in England] from the East Indies." (In-
trod. I, p. 417.) America has so little commercial inter-
course with the Mauritius and the Isle of Bourbon, that
it seems improbable that a noxious insect should pass
from one country fl) the other. On the other hand these
two islands are in frequent communication with Hindo-
stan and China, and import at the present day many Coo-
lies therefrom. BruUe also considers the American na-
tivity of this insect as very problematical. (Hist. Nat.
Ins. IX. p. 33.) I have never met with it in Illinois and
do not believe that it exists there. Our common Cock-
roaches, which do not however occur in houses but only
in the woodlands, are Plaiamodes pennsylvanica DeG. and
PL unicolor Bcudd., which last species has been errone-
ously described by Mr. Scudder as only one half of its
actual size. Both of these occur also in similar situations
on the seabord of the Eastern States, and in the houses
there the imported Blatta orientalis Fisch., which is such
a pest in European houses.

than that which we are accustomed to call the Old
World. Our plants and our animals mostly belono-
to an old-fashioned antediluvian creation, not so
highly improved and developed as the more modern-
ized creation which exists in Europe. Consequent-
ly they can no more stand their ground against Eu-
ropean competitors imported from abroad, than the
lied Indian has been able to stand his ground
against the White Caucasian race. On the other
hand, if by chance an American plant or an Ame-
rican animal finds its way to Europe, it can, as a
general rule, no more stand its ground there against
its European competitors, than a colony of Red
Indians could stand their ground in England, even
if you gave them a whole county of land and a
hundred shiploads of stock, tools and provisions to
begin with. I refer here, of course, only to what
is called the naturalization of a plant or an animal,
i. e. its becoming able permanently to maintain it-
self in a state of nature in any particular country.
For there are plenty of American plants and ani-
mals, which are artificially domesticated irr Europe,
the Potato and the Turkey for example. But'who
ever heard of Potatoes and Turkeys running wild
in Europe, as the European Horse has run wild in
Mexico, and the European Cow in Buenos Ayres,
or as the European purslane has spread over every
garden and field in the United States ?

Let not '' Young America," however, be discou-
raged and disgusted at hearing, that-our Animal
and Vegetable Creation is more old-fashioned than
that of what is commonly known as the Old World.
There is a large Continent, which is as much more
old-fashioned than America in its plantsand animals,
as America is more old-fashioned than the so-called
Ancient Continents. In America we have but a
single mammal — the opossum — that brings forth its
young before they are fully developed, and carries
them about with it in a pouch, till they are ready
to be born again in a complete state of develop-
ment. In the Old World they have none at all.
In Australia almost all their mammals possess this
remarkable peculiarity, which characterizes the
first and earliest mammals that are known to have
existed in ancient geological times; and in addition
they actually have a mammal — the Ornithorhyncus
— that has a bill like a duck and lays eggs like a duck,
thus forming a degraded type connecting the Mam-
mals with the Birds. If Europe crows over us, \^e
can crow over Australia. If the American crea-
tion is old-fogyish, that of Australia is more old-fo-
gyish still.

When accounts arrived in Europe, towards the
close of the last Century, of the fnghtful manner in
which the Hessian Fly was destroying the Wheat
crop in the United States, the British Government
was so greatly alarmed at the idea of its being im-
ported from America into England, that they actu-
ally called a special Meeting of the Privy Council,
to deliberate on the best and most advisable means
of excluding the little pest. They need not have
alarmed themselves at all about the matter. It is
now clearly proved, that the Hessian Fly has exist-
ed time immemorial in Europe, but in such limited

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

119

numbers as never, except in a very few localities,
to have attracted the attention of the European
farmer* Why then, when it reached America, should
it have increased and multiplied at such a prodigi-
ous rate, destroying the wheat like a devouring fire
as it gradually advanced through the country?
The answer is simple. Here it had only three or
four parasites to check its increase, and these were
of the old-fashioned American type, not so highly
improved and developed as the European parasites,
that had for ages untold preyed upon it in its na-
tive home, and prevented it from increasing there
to any alarming extent. The case was pretty much
as if Louis Napoleon were to land an army of a
hundred thousand Frenchmen, of the highly im-
proved Caucasian race, in the United States, and
we had nothing to oppose to that army but a crowd
of Red Indians of the old-fashioned indigenous
North American type. But in some cases the for-
eign invader has scarcely had even an indigenous
old-fogyish foe to contend against. To this day it
is not known, that any indigenous North American
parasite has attacked the Wheat Midge, since it
landed upon our shores some forty years ago ; and
unless it be true, as I believe, that the Thrips of
entomologists — not the Thrips of the vine-growers,
for that is a plant-feeding insect — preys largely up-
on the Wheat midge in its larva state in certain lo-
cations in the United States, it is not even known
that any indigenous North American cannibal in-
sect preys upon it within the limits of the United
States, although undoubtedly our American Gold-
finch does so to a considerable extent. Can we
wonder, under such circumstances, that the foreign
invader sweeps the whole country ? Can we won-
der that in one single year, as has been proved by
official documents transmitted to the Secretary of
the New York State Agricultural Society, *the
Wheat-midge inflicted upon the single State of New
York damages to the enormous amount of fifteen
millions of dollars 't During the Ilevolutiouary
War the British forces, as is well known, did us
large pecuniary damage. They also accidentally,
in the course of the war, imported among us the
Hessian Fly, in some straw that their Hessian mer-
cenaries brought with them. Let anyone compute
the whole amount of pecuniary damage, purposely
and directly inflicted upon us during that war by
the British Army and Navy, and then go to work
and compute the pecuniary damage, that has since
that time been indirectly and unwittingly inflicted
upon us by the British Army, through the instru-
mentality of the Hessian Fly; and he will find that
the latter amount is a thousand fold as large as the
former.

The plain common-sense remedy for such a state
of things is, by artificial means to import the Euro-
pean parasites, that in their own country prey upon
the Wheat Midge, the Hessian Fly and the other
imported insects that afflict the North American
farmer. Accident has furnished us with the bane;
science must furnish us with the remedy. It is no
use trying to fight White Frenchmen with Red In-
dians. The highly improved race may perhaps be

slightly checked and harrassed by the primitive
indigenous foe, but in the end it will be certain to
come out victorious. Naturalists differ widely, as
to what was the origin of the different sets of ani-
mals and plants that now exist in different coun-
tries, and that have, ages and ages ago, existed in
the different geological epochs, that preceded the
advent of Man upon the earth. But no naturalist
at the present day disputes the fact, that the plants
and animals of North America, for example, are, as
a general rule, distinct from the plants and animals
of Europe, and that, as a whole, they are of an in-
ferior and less highly developed type. If it were
not so, how could we possibly account for the very
singular facts enumerated above? But the scientific
mind is always ahead of the popular mind. Vacci-
nation, Gas, the Steam-engine, the Steam-boat, the
Rail-road, the Electric Telegraph, have all been suc-
cessively the laughing-stock of the vulgar, and have
all by slow degrees fought their way into general
adoption. So will it be with the artificial importa-
tion of parasitic insects. Our grand-children will
perhaps be the first to reap the benefit of a plan,
which we ourselves might, just as well as not, adopt
at the present day. The simplicity and compara-
tive cheapness of the remedy, but more than any-
thing else the ridicule which attaches, in the popu-
lar mind, to the very names of "Bugs" and "Buo"-
hunters," are the principle obstacles to its adoption.
Let a man profess to have discovered some new
Patent Powder Pimperlimpimp, a single pinch of
which being thrown into each corner of a field will
kill every bug throughout its whole extent, and
people will listen to him with attention and respect.
But tell them of any simple common-sense plan,
based upon correct scientific principles, to check
and keep within reasonable bounds the insect foes
of the Farmer, and they will laugh you to scorn.
Probably about nine-tenths of the Members of Con-
gress and of our different State Legislatures are
lawyers, busyiug themselves principally with Law
and Politics; and the remaining one-tenth are
Physicians, Merchants and Manufacturers, with a
ver}/ small sprinkling of Farmers. Is it to be ex-
pected that a crowd of men, whose heads are most-
ly full of such important things as Cognovits and
Assumpsits and Demurrers and Torts and Caucuses
and Conventions, should condescend to think about
" Bugs ?" What do they know about Farmers, ex-
cept that they have got votes ? Or about Farmers'
pockets, except that most of the taxes come out of
them ? What do they know or care about Ento-
mology, fancying, as most of them do, that Ento-
mologists busy themselves exclusively in collecting
the greatest possible number of beautiful butter-
flies? Talk to them of science, and they smile in
your face. They are so perpetually teased and tor-
mented by scientific charlatans — wolves in sheeps'
clothing — lobbying for legislative assistance for all
kinds of ridiculous impossibilities, that they have
come to believe firmly, that Science is only apother
word for Humbug and Imposture.

I am confident that if one-hundredth part of the
pecuniary damage, that is annually inflicted by

- '^ — riammemmmmm

''-/!?'.?^^bg'£j!lfgg?^'^'' *

'*;^i

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i

120

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

Noxious Insects upon the farmers, were inflicted,
instead, upon the Merchants or upon the Manufac-
turers, thousands of dollars would have been long ago
voted bj Congress to discover some remedy or some
palliation of the evil. Why ? Because the Mer-
chants, as a class, act in one solid body; the Manu-
facturers, as \ class, act in one solid body ; while
the Farmers of the United States are nothing but a
mere rope of sand. It is the old Greek fable of the
bundle of sticks, practically translated into modern
English for the benefit of "whom it may concern."

THE IMPORTED GOOSEBERRY SAWFLY.
Unlike the Wheat-midge, the Gooseberry Saw-
fly, whose Natural History I am now about to elu-
cidate, has already been attacked by an indigenous
North American parasite — the Brachypterus [cryp-
tus] micropterus of Say. But this parasite is of
extreme rarity, as, exclusive of a single specimen
bred by myself from the cocoons of this Sawfly, I
have only met with two poor solitary specimens in
the course of eight years' steady collecting. It is
not probable, therefore, that it will effect much to-
wards checking the rapid increase of this insect,
though it is certainly possible that other parasites,
which I have not as yet detected, may already be
in arms against the invader.

The imported Gooseberry Sawfly (Nematus vcn-
tricosus, Klug) comes out of the ground soon after
the leaves of the gooseberry and currant bushes,
upon which it feeds, put forth in the spring. My
specimens, reared from cocoons obligingly furnish-
ed to me by Dr. Wm. Manlius Smith, of Onondaga
County, New York, came out April 21 — 27. The
sexes then couple, as usual, and the female pro-
ceeds to lay her eggs " along the stems on the un-
der side of the leaf," according to Mr. Bigelow, of
N. Y. From these eggs shortly afterwards hatch
out minute green larvae or worms, which at first
have many black dots on their backs, but after
moulting their skins for the last time are often en-
tirely of a grass green color, except the large dark
eye-spot on each side of the head found in all larvse
belonging to this genus. By this time they are
about f of an inch long, and, from their greatly
increased size, make their presence readily known
by the sudden disappearance of the leaves from the
infested bushes. Shortly afterwards, having at-
tained a length of fully three quarters of an inch,
they burrow underground, generally beneath the
infested bushes, and spin there a thin oval cocoon
of silk, within which they assume the pupa state.
About the last week in June or the first part of
July, or occasionally not until the beginning of Au-
gust, the winged insect bursts forth from the co-
coon and emerges to the light of day; when the
same process of coupling and laying eggs is repeat-
ed. The larvae hatch out from this second laying
of eggs as before, feed on the leaves as before, and
go underground as before; but the perfect fly from
this sfecond brood does not come out of' the ground
till the following spring, when the same old series
of phenomena is repeated. My specimens of the
summer brood of flies, reared from cocoons receiv-
ed from Dr. Smith, of N. Y., came out June 26 —

August 13, and most of them by July 11. Of
course there will be some little variation in the
time according to the season and the latitude.

Larva. A pale green worm f inch long, with
three rows of black dots placed crossways on the
joints of the body and a black head; after the last
moult often losing all the black dots, and the head
changing from black to green.

Nearly mature. Length | inch. Pale green, verging
on yellow towards the tail. Head black, polished, with
numerous short hairs proceeding from minute tubercles.
Mouth, except the mandibles, 'pale green. Joints of the
body above with rows of small shining black tubercles
placed crossways, and each bearing a hair in the less ma-
ture specimens, but in the largest and most mature ones
bearing no hairs at all, except the larger tubercles on the
sides. First iomt behind the head with a single row of
dorsal tubercles; joints 2 and 3 each with a double row,
the anterior one curved forwards in the middle in a se-
micircle; joints 4—12 with a treble row; the anal plate
black, polished, and prolonged at each posterior angle in
a slender acute thorn, and having, besides the triple row
of tubercles before it, a group of six or eight tubercles on
each side of and partly before it. A longitudinal row of
larger lateral black tubercles on joints 2—12, one on each
joint, beneath which there is a geminate black tubercle
above each prolog, all these tubercles bearing many
hairs. Legs black, the sutures pale green. Prolegs four-
teen, pale green, all but the two anal ones with a few mi-
nute black dots towards their tip in front. Joints 4 and 11
without prolegs.

When mature, the larva, according to Mr. Bigelow, is
said to "change its skin to a palo green," as the Europe-
an larva does, according to many authors; but I have not
seen any specimens in this state. I suspect that in many
individuals this change does not take place, and that in
these the black tubercles remain throughout in the ma-
ture larva, while the hairs proceeding from them disap-
pear, as m the largest specimens described above, which
were almost an inch long, and still retained the black
hairy head found in the smaller specimens, and the black
anal plate. Described from thirty or forty specimens of
various sizes, well preserved in Mr. Verrill's brine-mix-
ture by Dr. Smith, of New York.

As is very generally the case in the genus iVe-
matus, the males and females of this Sawfly differ
so widely, that they would scarcely be taken by the
inexperienced Entomologist for the same species.
I subjoin a full description of each, based upon
very numerous specimens, all bred by myself

Female Fly. A four-winged fly rather larger
than a common house-fly, with glassy wings and the
body mostly yellow.

Body bright honey-yellow. Head black, with all the
parts between and below the origin of the antenjice,
except the tip of the mandibles, dull honey-yellow.
Antennce brown-black, often tinged with rufous above
except towards the base, and beneath entirely dull rufous
except the two basal joints ; four-fifths as long as the bod v,
joint 3 when viewed laterally, four times as long as wide,
joints 3—5 equal in length, 6—9 very slowly shorter and
shorter. In two females the antenn:» are 10-jointed, joint
10 slender and § as long as 9. Thorax with tbe anterior
lobe above, a wide stripe on the disk of each lateral lobe
which 18 very rarelv reduced to a mere dot, or very rare-
ly the whole of each lateral lobe, a spot at the base and
at the tip of the scutel, the two spots sometimes conflu-
ent and very rarely subobsolete, a small spot at the outer
end of each cenchrus and a geminate small spot trans-
versely arranged between the cenchri, the tip of the meta-
thoracic scutel, the front and hind edge above of what
seems the 1st abdominal joint but is in reality the hind
part of the metathorax, or very rarely its wliolo surface
above, and also the whole lower surface of the breast be-
tween the front and middle legs, or very rarely two large
spots arranged crossways on that surface, all black.
Conchri whitish. Abdomen with joints 1 and 2 very rare-
ly edged at tip with black. Sheaths of the ovipositor

I;

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THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

121

-

tipped more or less with black, the aurroundine narta
sometimes more or less tinged with dusky. The tdanJu
iJ.X"'^.?;;" ^' ^^«^^«eof the abdomen^abive, whiS:

whole of f hi V'T? *'^v^^ *^^ ^^^^ «^^^k» ^nd the
Whole of the hmd tarsi brown-black, Winas classv

cost'L' nhf ''T'^ brown-black, the latter as Tll^infe
costa obscurely marked with dull honey-yellow In a
single female all three submarginal cross-Jeins are ab
IthlrV^ ^/ng,and only the basal one is present in the
other wing. In another all three are iudistinctlv present

iud'me^ro^f fTV" *^^ ?'^^^ ^"'^ ^^« basal oLTnd a
rudiment of the terminal one. In a single wing of two

others the terminal submarginal cross-vein ia^bse^

Length plr T«^^' K^^'^'l^ ^' K^^"" «^"^« ^^"-«-
liength P ,22— .28 inch. Front wing 9 .27— .33 inch. Ex-

pansc of wings 9 .53-.64 inch, (wTngs depressed.)

Male Fly. A four-winged fly, the size of a com-
inon house-fly, with glassy wings and tho body most-
ly black. -^

Body black, Head with the clypeus and the entir'e
mouth except the tip of the manges, dull Wy yel!
I^w Antennae brown-black, often more or less tinned

The l^nrfh^'^ -"^.^ '^'^^^ .*^^«^^« ^^« b^««' «« long as
thP ^ J; . ^'''''^ proportioned as in the female, but
the who e antenna as usual in this sex, vertically much
more dilated, so that joint 3 is only 2^ times as in g as
r.1® ^lien viewed in profile. Thorax with the wing-

Juh %\t ^""^''.l '^''"^'^ honey-yellow. Cenchri whi-
tish. Abdoznen with more or less of its sides, the ex-

vel ow. Legs as in the female. Winas as in the female

in Wh""^^'' ^^" fJ^.^.l" submarginafcross-veiu is Xsen
in both wings, so that if captured at large they would na-

t^f i^^ '"^'"-'"^ ^ the^genus Uuurl In Vo others
this 8 thecase in one wing only. Another has but the
basal submarginal cross-vein remaining in each wine

And m two others the terminal submarginal cross-vein Ts
absent in one wing. Length % .20_.22inch. Front wing

leprt^edr^' Expanse of wings % .44-.:3l inch,(wingf

-Described from twenty-two males and thirteen fe-
males, three males and one female of the sprint
brood. As this solitary female happened to be one
of the two with 10-jointed antennse, I erroneously
stated, m answer to a correspondent, that this was
a peculiarity of the species. It is evident now
that It IS merely a variation, but a variation of a
kind of which no other example in the whole Fa-
mily of Sawflies is known to me, or, so far as I am
aware, is recorded by others. For the satisfaction
of the incredulous, I have donated one of these ab-
normal females to the Collection of the Society at
Philadelphia.

I believe, on carefully comparing Stephens's de-
scription of the English JVematus ribesii, which is
said by him to " feed on the common red currant,''
that our American insect is the same species, al-
though he describes the legs as having no dark
markings, and although he had the incredible care-
lessness not to state which sex he was describing.
Otherwise his description agrees very well with our
female, after making the necessary allowances for
so slipslop a describer. But long before Stephens
wrote, our insect was described by the German en-
tomologist Klug, under the name of Nematm \ten-
Ihredo'] ventricosus ; and this species, it is distinct-
ly stated, feeds both upon gooseberry and currant.
Our insect, also, as is expressly stated by Mr, Otis
Bigelow of N. Y., feeds both upon the currant and
upon the gooseberry; (^American Agriculturist,
May, 1865, p. 141 ;) but it appears that certain Eu-
ropean authors, finding this same insect upon two

distinct plants, the gooseberry and the currant,
jumped to the conclusion that the insects themselves
were also necessarily distinct.* Two female speci-
mens that I have received from England from a
Mr fJ ^reliable source, through the kindness of
Mr. Norton, label ed as the true Nematm ribestioi
Stephens, difi^er altogether from Stephens's descrip-
tion and must have been so labelled by mistak^
Neither is it possible, from the laws of sexual color-
ation in this genus, that Stephens described the

a\T^ JV"^ ""' ^ *"PP^'® *^^ ^e"^^^« of liis species
and that these are the true females belonging to
his ribesii For instead of the body being lighter
colored than he describes it, as it ought to be if
these were. the females of his males, it is very
much darker colored. At any rate these females
are quite distinct from the females of our speciea
Ihose who desire fuller information on this subject
are referred to the Appendix to this Article.

Now for the American evidence, that this Goose-
berry Sawfly found in the East, is not an indiffe-
nous, but an imported species. No notice whatever
of any such insect is to be found in the writings
either of Dr, Fitch or of Dr. Harris, whence we may
reasonably infer that, at the time when they wrote
no such insect was known to infest the Garden in
the Eastern States, Mr, Bigelow says that it was
first noticed m Onondaga County, N. Y., about A,
D. 1862. (Ibid.) In 1864 Prof Winchell, not at
all suspecting that it was an imported species, named
and described it as occurring at Ann Arbor Michi-
gan in a newspaper Article which was reprinted
in ^illtman 8 Journal, (Sept. 1864, p. 291,) under
the specific name of ribis; but by an oversight
very pardonable in one who was not a professed
entomologist, referred it to the wrong genus Sel-
an^m. Unless my memory fails me, Mr. Brackett
ot Maine has also described this same insect, but
under another specific name, as occurring in the
btate of Maine. Finally I hear from Dr W M.
Smith of NY. that -Mr, F. W. Collins, of Roches-
ter, N. Y. thinks that the Gooseberry Sawfly war
undoubtedly introduced at Rochester, N. Y by
nurserymen in importations of bushes fJt)m Eu^
rope," and that he "knows that it has gradualW
spread from Rochester, as a centre, in gradually
widening circles." And I learn from other sources,
that in that part of the State of New York it has
now become an awful pest Hence, putting all the
tacts together, we may conclude that this Sawfly
was imported from Europe within the last five or
SIX years, perhaps in more than one place at once
and that it is now slowly overspreading the whole
country. It was only the other day that I heard
from a correspondent in Wisconsin, that his cur-
rant bushes had been attacked by a new kind of
worm, that none of the neighbors had ever seen or
heard of before, I may add here that Onondaga
County, where both Dr. Smith and Mr, Bigelow
reside, lies some 70 or 80 miles to the east of Ro-
chester, and that Rochester is celebrated all over

♦Kirbv and Spenco speak of " the Sawfly of the cur-
rant and gooseberry " as one and the same species. ^Khv
and Sp. Introd. Letter 6.) i \ j

J;r,;5icv! .tj.

^rairjteraBgaT-

122

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST,

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

123

tPi/t./-.^^^,,

!!

the United States for its very excellent and exten-
sive nurseries.

I find in the JSTeiv York Tribune, (July 27, 1866)
the following statement which is apparently copied
from the Pittsburg Gazette. It evidently refers to
this same insect, and confirms the conclusion ar-
rived at above. As to these worms ever "desistinjr
and disappearing/' that is very problematical.
They may, and probably will, be worse some years
than others; but wherever they have established
themselves, there they will remain, in all proba-
bility, for ages and ages. The currants of infested
bushes are likely enough unwholesome, but they
can scarcely be " poisonous.''

In the northeastern counties [of Pennsylvania] a worm
has destroyed the currants, by rendering them poisonous ;
in multiplied instances killing the bushes. This pest was
imported from England four years ago, by Barry and Ell-
wanger of Rochester, N. Y., on a lot of gooseberry bushes.
It is about three-quarters of an inch long. It multiplies
its progeny almost incredibly. These worms attack the
leaves, which they entirely devour. By reason of the de-
struction of the foliage the fruit becomes unfit for use.
These worms travel more than a hundred miles a year,
and will probably plague the country before they desist
and disappear.

The mode in which this insect has been trans-
mitted, first from the European nursery to the
American nursery, and afterwards all over the
the country, may be easily explained. As has been
already stated, it passes the autumn and winter in
the ground under the bushes where it has fed,
housed in a little oval cocoon from i to J inch long.
Hence if, as often happens, bushes are taken. up in
tlie autumn or early in the spring with a little dirt
adhering to their roots, that dirt will likely enough
enclose a cocoon or two. A single pair of cocoons,
if they happen to contain individuals of opposite
sexes, will be sufficient to start a new colony. The
first and probably the second year the larvae will
not be noticed; but increasing, as almost all in-
sects do, unless checked from some extraneous
source, in a fearfully rapid geometric progression,
by the third or fourth year they will swarm, strip
the bushes completely bare of their leaves, and ruin
the prospect for a good crop of fruit. Of course,
like other winged insects, they can fly from garden
to garden in search of a suitable spot whereon to
deposit their eggs ; so that any point where they
have been once imported becomes, in a few years, a
new centre of distribution for the immediate neigh-
borhood.

Nurserymen and all others, importing Gooseber-
ry and Currant bushes from a distance, should be
particularly careful, before they plant them, to wash
t' e roots thoroughly/ in a tub of water, and burn or
scald whatever comes off them. By attending to
this precaution the dessemination of this mischiev-
ous little pest, throughout the United States, may
be greatly retarded for many years to come. For
those who are already cursed with it, I cannot do
better than to copy the very sensible directions of

Mr. Bigelow: —

Remedy. — Dig up all the bushes that cannot be personal-
ly attended, and trim the remainder so as to leave them
open and accessible. Visit them at least once every day.
Look for leaves with little holes in them. The little holes
indicate the presence of the newly hatched worms, which

are not seen unless the leaf is turned up, as they always
begin on the under side. By destroying four or five leaves
on each bush per day the whole may be saved, as only a
few leaves are selected by the fly to deposit her eggs. The
worms never touch the fruit, and the stripping of the
leaves does not prevent a new growth the same season,
but these will no sooner appear than they are de-
stroyed."

In the annexed figure, which has been drawn
from specimens kindly furnished to me by Dr.
Smith of New York, the portion of the currant leaf
marked (1) shows how the eggs are laid by the
mother-fly on the under surface of the leaf along
the principal veins. That marked (2) shows the
"little holes" spoken of by Mr. Bigelow as bored
by the very young worms; and that marked (3)
the holes bored by larger larvae. It is evident that
such holes may be readily recognized, and the leaf,
along with the minute larvae upon it, carried far
away from any currant or gooseberry bushes and
left to wither there, or — to make assurance doubly
sure — thrown into the fire. If, however, the young
larvae are removed a few rods away from any plant
belonging to the botanical genus Ribes, (Currant
and Gooseberry,) they will be sure to die of starva-
tion. For they cannot feed on anything else, any
more than a Locust-borer can live in an Apple-tree.

There is a very similar worm, which has long
been known to infest Currant and Gooseberry bush-
es in the East, and which is not an imported, but
a Native American insect. But it may be distin-
guished at a glance from the larva of the Goose-
berry Sawfly by its being what is popularly called
a ''Span-worm" or ''Measuring-worm" or "Looper,"
having only ten legs, whereas our larva has twenty
legs, and never " loops" as it walks. Like all other
"loopers," this worm produces, not a four-winged
fly, belonging to the Order Hymenoptera, but a
moth or miller, belonging to the Order Lepidop-
tera, which has been called by Dr. Fitch, who first
described it, " The American Currant-moth (^Abra-
xas? ribearia'),*'
THE NATIVE AMERICAN GOOSEBERRY SAWFLY.

But besides this imported Sawfly I have recent-
ly discovered that there is an indigenous species in
the Valley of the Mississippi which feeds on the
Gooseberry and Currant, but which differs from the
other one in the following respects : — \st. It be-
longs to a different genus — Prittiphora instead of

Nematus. The genus Pristiphora is chiefly dis-
tinguished from Nematus by always lacking what
is technically termed the 1st submarginal cros^-vein
in the front wings of the perfect insect, so that, in-
stead oi four submarginal cells there are only three,
the first very large. In the genus Euura, which
is likewise closely allied to Nematus, there are also
only three submarginal cells, but there it is the se-
cond, not the frst, submarginal cross-vein that is
lacking, so that the first submarginal cell, as in iVe-
matus, is quite small. 2nd. The body of the lar-
va is always green, and never bears the numerous
black spots which, except after the last larval moult,
always characterize the larva of the imported spe-
cies. Srd. The larva never goes underground to
spin its cocoon, but constructs that cocoon among
the twigs and leaves of the plant on which it feeds.
4th, The winged insect of the second brood comes
out the same season, instead of lying underground
all the winter in the pupa state, so that it cannot
of course lay its eggs upon the leaves, but must ne-
cessarily lay them upon the twigs of the infested
plant. Otherwise, if it laid them upon the leaves
in September, which is the month in which the fly
of the second brood appears, the eggs would be
scattered to the four quarters of the compass, along
with the leaves, far away from the infested bushes,
at the fall of the leaf, and the young larvae would
starve when they hatched out next spring, and the
species soon become extinct. Hence, in the case
of this species we cannot apply the method of coun-
terworking the other one recommended by Mr.
Bigelow. For I particularly observed that the
very young larvae were not gathered in numbers
upon one particular leaf — as in the imported spe-
cies— but were distributed pretty evenly over the
whole bush. Neither did they bore the similar
holes through the leaf, which render the other spe-
cies so easy of detection when young, dth. The
insect is but f the size of the other in all its states.

The first brood of this species I found had swarm-
ed in prodigious numbers on some gooseberry and
currant bushes, in Davenport, Iowa, about the end
of June and beginning of July, 1866, so as to strip
them almost completely bare. The owner of the
bushes stoutly maintained that all the damage had
been done in three hours' time ; but that of course
was a mistake, for the larvae must have been feed-
ing there, as I afterwards ascertained, for at least
two weeks. His gardener, shortly before I visited
him, had syringed the bushes thoroughly with a
wash composed of whale-oil soap ) and as the larvae
had all disappeared, with the exception of one or
two individuals, he was strongly of opinion that
they were all killed, horse, foot and dragoons. I
told him that in all probability they had merely re-
tired to spin up, and that he would have a second
brood of them to afflict his bushes, shortly after the
winged flies had appeared and laid their eggs for
the second brood. In the middle of August I again
visited these bushes, and just as I had anticipated,
found a very plentiful supply of very young larvae
on them — enough, I should say, to strip them a
gecond time of their leaves. From these larvae I

succeeded inbreeding large numbers of the perfect
insect, the description of which, as well as of the
larva, is here subjoined.

Pristiphora grossulari^, new species. A
black, four-winged fly, about the size of a common
house-fly, the males and females not perceptibly
different at first sight.

Female. Body shining black, with fine, rather sparse
punctures. Head with the entire mouth, except the an-
terior edge of the labrum and the tip of the mandibles,
dull luteous. Labrum transverse and very pilose. Cly-
peus short, squarely truncate, immaculate. Antennae §
as long as the body, joint 3 three and a half times as long
as wide, joint 4 fully i shorter than joint 3, 5—9 very
slowly shorter and shorter; brown-black above, beneath
dull luteous, except joints 1 and 2, which are black, tip-
ped below with luteous. Thorax with the wing-scales
honey-yellow and the cenchri whitish. Abdomen with
the basal membrane whitish; ovipositor honey-yellow,
its sheaths black. Legs honey-yellow, or sometimes pale
luteous, with the six tarsal tips, and in the hind legs
sometimes the extreme tips of the tibiee and of the tarsal
joints 1 — 4, pale dusky. Wings subhyaline, tinged
with dusky; veins black; costa honey-yellow; stigma
dusky, edged all round with honey-yellow, especially be-
low. In a single wing of two females only out of forty-
nine, the first submarginal cross-vein, which in this ge-
nus is normally absent, is quite distinct; and in a single
wing of five other females, traces of it are visible on hold-
ing the wing up to the light. Length 9 .17— .21 inch.
Front wing 9 -19 — -23 inch. Expanse 9 -41 — .45 inch,
(wings depressed.)

The male diflers from the female only as follows : — \st.
The antennce are a trifle longer, and as usual vertically
more dilated, joint 3 being only 2i (not 3i) times as long
as wide. 2nd. The coxse, except their tips, and the basal
half of the femora, are black; and in the hind legs the
extreme tip of the tibise, and all but the extreme base of
the tarsus, are dusky. Anal forceps honey-yellow.
Length % .17 — .18 inch. Front wing ^ .17. — 19 inch.
Expanse % .35 — .38 inch, (wings depressed.)

Described from four males and forty-nine females,
bred September 2 — 12 from larvae found on the
cultivated gooseberry. I have also a single female
in my collection which was captured at large in the
woods; whence I infer that this insect feeds also
on the wild gooseberry and currant. In this cap-
tured female the last submarginal cross-vein is only
partly developed, and, as is in one or two of my
bred females, the hind middle cell of the hind wing
is absent. This is the first species of the genus
Pristiphora hitherto described as North American.
Stephens mentions eight species as found in Eng-
land, none of which are said to feed on gooseberry
or currant.

Larva. A pale grass-green worm, about J inch
long, without any black dots on its body, and with
a black head ; after the last moult the head becom-
ing principally green.

Immature larva. Length not quite reaching i inch.
Body pale green, with a rather darker dorsal line, and a
lateral yellowish line above the spiracles, the space be-
low which line is paler than the back. Anal plate and
prologs immaculate. Head black, not hairy. Legs brown,
except the sutures.

The mature larva measures i inch in length, and differs
in the head being pale green, with a lateral brown-black
stripe commencing at the eye-spot and more or less dis-
tinctly confluent with the other one on the top of the
head, where it is also more or less confluent with a large
central brown-black spot on the face. The legs are also
green, with a small dark spot at the exterior base of each,
and a similar spot or dot before the base of the front legs.

Described from forty larvae of various sizes, four
of which spun up August 26, and the others within

itm

_ . V

s-Esa

^

It

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J

,\

124

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

the next week. These larvae were taken off the
bushes August 12, at which date they were mostly
about i inch long. I have little doubt that it is to
this same insect that Mr. Huron Bnirfc of Missouri
refers, when he says that the gooseberries and cur-
rants in his neighborhood were all destroyed in
1865 by a '^ green worm.'' (See Practical En-
tomologist No. 11, p. 114.) If it had been the
imported species, he would surely have spoken of
the black dots or spots, which catch the eye at once
in that larva. With the above two exceptions, and
possibly the case in Wisconsin referred to above it
does not appear to be on record, that this indige-
nous species has ever occurred on anybody's bush-
es in such numbers as to attract attention. Yet
that It has existed in the Valley of the Mississippi,
and possibly in the Eastern States, for time imme-
morial, there can be no manner of doubt. For there
18 no species of the genus Fristiphora known to in-
feet Gooseberry and Currant bushes in Europe •
and consequently it could not have been imported
therefrom into the United States.

Having procured all the above larvse when they
were so very small and young, that they could
scarcely have been as yet attacked by parasitical
insects I am unable to say anything as to what
particular species of parasites may check and con-
trol the undue multiplication of this species. But
from the fact that this sawfly is so seldom noticed
as a noxious insect, I should infer that there must
be at least one indigenous Parasite that makes ef-
ftctive war upon it. In the case of Mr. Huron
Burt's species—which I suppose to be the same as
this — the insect seems to have been almost entirely
extirpated, from some cause or other, for at least
two successive broods.

On the one hand, then, we find a native-born
American Sawfly, feeding on gooseberry and cur-
rant bushes, which has existed in the United States
ever since the country was first settled up by the
white man, yet was never noticed by any one, so
far as I can find out, as a noxious insect till the
year 1865, and then merely in a few scattered lo-
calities. On the other hand we have a European
feawfly feeding on gooseberry and currant bushes,
which has only been introduced into the United
States five or six years, and then merely in small
numbers, and yet has already almost put a stop to
the cultivation of these plants in a large district of
country in ^the State of New Yoik, and is slowly
but surely spreading in all directions— ruining the
gooseberry and currant bushes wherever it goes,
unless the greatest pains be taken to counterwork
it. What is the cause of such a remarkable differ-
ence ? Why, of two Sawflies feeding on the very
same plants, and belonging to two closely allied ge-
nera, should one be comparatively innocuous and
the other be a pest of the most destructive charac-
ter ? It is because the first belongs to the old-
fashioned and less highly improved American Crea-
tion, and the last to the new-fashioned and highly
developed Creation of the Old World. In every
department of Organic Life the same law holds

^ /u ^^^ YJ"'*^ ^^° ^^^^^3^ ^^* «^^ely i« sweep-
ing the Red Man from off the face of the earth

ihe European Horse and the European Horned
Lattle^now roam in vast herds over largo districts
ot America, where the more puny denizens of the
soil were formerly the undisturbed sovereigns
Various species of European insects are slowly but
surely following in the train of the White man, and
occupying those places in the Scheme of the Crea-
tion which were formerly occupied by indigenous
American species of weaker and less energetic con-
stitutions. And even in the vegetable Kingdom,
the robustly constituted plants of the Old World
are slowly but surely overspreading America : and
the daisy, the toad-flax, the purslane, the James-
town weed, (Gympson weed), the pig-weed, and a
host of others are gradually seizing hold of roadside
and ploughed land and pasture fields with silent
but irresistible force.

Dr. Fitch has observed that no American plant-
feeding insect attacks the toad-flax (Linaria vuh^a-
ns), a European weed, which, as it appears, terribly
infests many pasture-fields in the State of New
York; and has speculated on the propriety of im-
porting some of the European insects that are
known to feed on it in its native country. He has
also advised the importation of some or all of the
three parasitic insects that check and control the
excessive multiplication of the Wheat Midge in
Europe. But we should not stop here. The prin-
^ple is of general application; and wherever a
Noxious European Insect becomes accidentally do-
miciled among us, we should at once import the
parasites and Cannibals that prey upon it at home.
Nobody can doubt that if the Lion and Tiger and
Leopard of the Old World were imported into
South America and allowed to increase and multi-
ply there, they would greatly check the multiplica-
tion of the Horned Cattle and Horses that now
range wild over the vast Pampas of that country,
although our more puny American Feltdse, the
Puma and Jaguar and Couguar, are unable to do
this. And on the same principle, if we wish to
fight effectually against those noxious insects which
have been introduced among us from Europe, we
must fight them by the instrumentality of the
strong and energetic foes that make war upon them
m their own country. To attempt to fight them
with the poor old-fashioned indigenous Cannibals
and Parasites of America, is like sending out a
fleet of old-fashioned wooden ships to oppose a fleet
of ironclads.

APPENDIX.

After an attentive study of a valuable Paper by M.
L6on Dufour of France on the Sawflies of the Gooseberry
and Currant, (Annal. Soc. Ent. France, 2nd ser. V. pp. 671
—581,) I incline to the conclusion that there are but two
species infesting these plants in Europe— and not^Arecas
18 maintained by M. Dufour— and that it is the second of
these which has been introduced among us. Here fol-
lows their synonymy, with my reasons for the conclu-
sions arrived at. It will be observed that the two insects
belong to distinct genera, and that our species, having
been first described in the year 1819 by Klug, must, ac-
cording to the law of priority, retain his specific name
and be designated as Nematus ventricosus, Klug.

I,

«

» rf . I .

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

125

I. Tenthredo ribis Schrank. Quoted by Dahlbom Clav.
hymen, system p. 36. Said by Dufour fp. 676) to belong to
the genus Coryna of St. Fargeau, which is a pre-occupied
synonym of the subgenus Tenthredo of Ilartig. (See
aY\x\\6 Hymen, p. 664.) Larva unknown to Dahlbom.

The larva of what is apparently the same insect, though
Dahlbom refers it to his Nematus grossularicc, is figured
by Reaumur (V. p. 94 and Plate 10) as Lafausse chenille
du groseilher (the false caterpillar of the currant and
gooseberry), and is described as 22-footed, (like the larvce
of most I'enthredo,) and as having no hairs proceeding
from the black tubercles always found on the body be-
fore the last larval moult. See Dufour, p. 576.

II. Nematus [tenthredol ventricosua Klug, Berlin Ma-
gazin, A. D. 1819. The perfect insect only described?
Quoted by Snellen von Vollenhoven Zijdscrift Entom.
1859, as the authentic name of the species, the larva of
which was in 1834 described by Bouche. Overlooked by
Dufour.

Nematus [tenthredo'] affinis St. Farg. % and Nematus
[tenthredo] 3-maculaius St. Farg. 9 , Monogr. Tenihr. p. 69,
A. D. 1823. Evidently described from the perfect insect
only. Quoted by Dufour as identical with his species.

Nematus [tenthredo] ventricosus Klug. The larva is de-
scribed by Bouch^ Naturg. Inseckt. p. 140, A. D. 1834, as
bristly and with black tubercles, the dorsal ones "most-
ly on each segment in three transverse rows." His de-
scription evidently applies only to the larva before its
last larval moult, after which it always, or at all events
often, loses the tubercles and hairs and becomes entirely
green; for he gives the length of the larva as only seven
lines. It is said to swarm upon both Currant and Goose-
berry bushes. Entirely overlooked by Dufour.

Nematus grossularice Dahlbom. (1. c.) A. D. 1835. Lar-
va said to be 20-footed, and with hairs proceeding from
the dark tubercles always found ou the body before the
final moult. Also said to change to green after the last
moult. On Gooseberry. Quoted by Dufour.

Nematus grossulariatus Dahl. {Ibid.) Also on Goose-
berry. Supposed by Dahlbom to be a distinct species,
although he says himself that the perfect insects are as
like as one egg to another, merely because the larva spins
its cocoon on the leaves of the infested plant, instead of
going underground to do so. M. Dufour found some of
his larvce to do the very same thing, although they all
produced the same imago, (pp. 672 — 3.) Hence he very
justly infers tha.t grossiclariatus is a mere synonym. We
might as well make two species of the Wheat-midge
{Diplosis tritici Kby.), because some few of the larvre con-
struct their cocoons in the ear of the wheat, instead of
going underground for that purpose.

Nematus rihcsii Stephens, HI. Brit. Ent. Mand. VII, p.
32. A. D. 1835. Description very imperfect, the larva
not being described, and nothing being said as to which
sex of the perfect insect is described. On Red Currant.
Entirely overlooked by Dufour.

Nemutus ventricosus Klug. Hartig Aderfl. Deutsch. I, p.
196, A. D. 1837.

Nematus ribis Leduc, Mem. Soc. Sc. Naticr. Seine-et- Oise
II, Plate 1, fig. •), Plate 2, figs. 1—2. A. D. 1846 ? On
White and Red Currants. Quoted by Dufour.

Nematus ribis Leduc apud Dufour, 1. c. A. D. 1846. On
Red Currant. M. Dufour describes the larva before its
last larval moult so as to agree exactly with Bouche's de-
scription, except that Bouchd says nothing of the anal
plate being black. In particular he says that "each seg-
ment has three rows of black tubercles transversely ar-
ranged;" (p. 674;) which, by the way, is not strictly
true of the three thoracic segments in our New York spe-
cies.

M. Dufour assigns the following reasons (p. 677) for he-
Ue\ing his Nematus ribis to be distinct from Dahlbom's
N. grossularice : \st. He says that his larva lacks the two
anal prolegs and is 18- footed, not 20-footed. But he al-
lows (p. 674), that there is a bilobate projection on the
anal segment, which is used by his larva to walk with,
and this is about all the anal prolog that I have seen on
any ATewa^ua larva. 2nd. He finds in his larva, before
its last larval moult, a dark plate with pointed angles on
the dorsum of the last segment, which Dahlbom says no-
thing about. As this plate is expressly said to disappear
afterwards, it might likely enough have escaped Dahl-
bom's notice. It is very obvious in our American New
York larva. Zrd. Dahlbom describes the tubercles on

his immature larva as piceous-black, and Dufour says
they are coal-black in his. This is splitting hairs with
a vengeance. Ath. Dufour finds no trace in his larvae of
a lorsal green line described as existing in Dahlbom's
larvee. The ground-color of the larvee being pale green,
and "the middle tubercles on the back forming two rows,"
as Bouchd correctly states in his description, this is
scarcely worth talking about, bth. Dufour says that there
is a notable difference in the distance between the eyes
of the two larvse, {une difference notable de taille entre le»
yeux.) This is probably based upon Dahlbom's figures,
which may be not perfectly correct. %th. Dahlbom's
larva fed on the Gooseberry and Dufour's on the Cur-
rant. But our Amerfcan insect, as has been shown
above, feeds indiscriminately upon both plants; and
Bouche expressly states that ventricosus Klug occurs "in
two generations in May and then again in July and Au-
gust, on Gooseberry and Currant bushes, which they often
eat up almost entirely." 1th. Dahlbom describes the co-
coon of his species as having an external envelop of thin
network. Dufour can see in his cocoon only "filaments
which seem to cross one another on its flanks to fix it to
its place." (p. 579.) This is-a distinction almost without
a diflerence. As regards the perfect insects, it is not
stated that there is any difference whatever.

M. Dufour contends that descriptions must be rigor-
ously interpreted, without making any allowance for va-
riations, whether geographical, phytoph agio or otherwise,
or for possible oversights or inaccuracies in the describer.
But that even M. Dufour himself is sometimes inaccurate,
may be inferred from the following facts: — 1st. He de-
scribes the wing-scales of his insect as "black" and the
ground-color as "luteous or luteo-rufous ;" (p. 579 ;) where-
as it is contrary to the general law of coloration in Ten-
thredinidai, that the wing-scale should ever be black ex-
cept where the body is almost entirely black. In our
American insect it is luteous in both sexes always. 2nd.
He says that in his larva the abdominal prolegs "occupy
the six segments which follow those of the thorax;" (p.
574 ;) whereas in all Tenthredinidous larvee, even in those
which are 22-footed, the segment immediately behind
the thorax is always destitute of prolegs.

Nematus [Selandria] ribis Winchell. Am. Jour. Sc. Arts,
Sep., 1864, p. 291. Like Bouch^, this author in his de-
scription has entirely overlooked the normal or occasion-
al change in the larva, after the last moult, from green
dotted with black to pure green, and like Dufour and
Stephens, he states that it feeds on the Red Currant, with-
out being aware that it also feeds on the Gooseberry.

[From a Letter from Isaac Hicks, N. Y.]

We want your Paper to go ahead, so as to expel
all such errors as boring into trees and putting in
sulphur. In 1860, having heard of this sulphur
humbug, and thinking it would be but little trouble
to try the experiment, I bored about six half-inch
auger holes into my peach trees. Well, they lived
a few years, bore a few peaches, and the effects of
the Curl and Yellows soon sent them to the woodpile.
One day my man called me in great earnestness to
come there quick to the woodpile; he had some-
thing wonderful to show me. And sure enough
he had been cutting up the trunks of my unfortu-
nate peach-trees, and had come across the auger-
holes made four or five years previously and filled
with sulphur. It was perfectly incomprehensible
to him, how that yellow stuff ever got there. Now,
as these trees lived several years after they had
been bored and the holes filled with sulphur, and
as the sulphur was still there when they were cut
up for fuel, it is plain that the sap cannot take up
the sulphur and carry it away, out of the auger-
boies in which it was originally placed, into the
branches, twigs and leaves ; which is assumed to be
the case by the believers in the ''Sulphur-cure."

'

,.1-1. jm

tmm

■■^-^^^

126

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

li

, s

if

ANSWIES TO COERESPONDENTS.

BY B. D. WALSH, M. A. — Associate Editor.

W. H. B. Lykins, Kansas. — I can add nothing to what
I have already said respecting the Borers of the Peach
and of the Locust in No. 4 of the Practical Entomolo-
gist (pp. 27 — 29). The fact of the Locust Borer having
already in 1865 travelled as far westward as Lawrence,
Kansas, is very interesting. You say that " many of your
farmers are digging up their Locust trees, believingthat
they are the cause of the Peach trees being infested with
Borers." They might as well kill off their sheep, believ-
ing that rats and mice are generated on the sly in the
night time by the old ewes. Tell them to put that non-
sense out of their heads. The small thread-like white
larvae, which were "taken out of a mass of hard frozen
gum last March," from a Peach tree infested by Borers,
are the larvee of a two-winged fly which preys on decay-
ing vegetable matter, and probably of some species of
the genus Ortalis. As you may notice, they nave no
legs at all; while the larva of the true Peach Borer has
always sixteen legs, no matter how young it may be.
Your specimens reached me in first-rate order.

C. P. Wickersham, Penna. — Thanks to your good pack-
ing, the larvae of the Wheat Midge, "taken from the
screenings of wheat after passing through the thrashing
machine," arrived in excellent order. You say that
about one-half the wheat crop has been destroyed in
your neighborhood in 1866 by this insect. This agrees
with what I hear from other quarters, not only in Penn-
sylvania, but in Maryland. Many of the specimens sent
are enveloped in what you and Dr. Harris consider as the
"skin" of the insect undergoing the process of being
moulted, but what I and all European authors consider
as its cocoon. The real truth of the matter is, that if you
wound or break this " skin " or "cocoon " — call it which
you will — the enclosed larvse will often crawl out of it;
otherwise not. That this is really so, you or any other
man can easily satisfy himself by experiment. Hence
it follows that Harris must be in error here. If you refer
again to Harris's book, you will see that his theory was
based, not upon observations made personally by himself,
but upon facts reported to him by a very estimable lady,
who, however, never pretended to any knowledge of Eu-
tomology. I have discussed this whole subject very ful-
ly in the Proceedings, Ac; (III, pp. 568 — 570;) but this is
not the proper place for controversy.

Marion Hobart, 111. — The black cricket you send is a
male of our common Acketa abbreviata in the pupa state.
In the perfect state the wing-cases are as long again, and
the insect is larger. The female may be readily distin-
guished, either in the pupa or perfect state, by having a
long bristle-shaped ovipositor projecting behind. For one
of these crickets that you find in houses, you will find a
thousand in the woods and fields. Our true American
house-cricket is of a dull clay-yellow color, and does not
occur to the north of Maryland. All the crickets feed in-
discriminately both on animal and vegetable substances.
I have repeatedly noticed abbreviata under dead putrid
birds, <fec. Even the Catydids sometimes eat insects; for
I have caught several species with flies in their mouths,
which they were munching up. Closet-naturalists, copy-
ing from one another's books and scarcely ever opening
the Great Book of Nature, usually tell us that all the Or-
thoptera, except the family of the Camel-crickets {Man-
tidce), are exclusively vegetable feeders. But even the
Grasshoppers, which are the most so, have been known
in Minnesota, where they are sometimes so numerous as
to do great damage, to eat woollen clothes off" the fences.

The light green insect, which you say vou found feed-
ing upon plant-lice, is the male of (EcantnvLS niveus, or the
tree-cricket. Both this and the preceeding belong to th^
Acheta family of the Order Orthoptera. The larva is
shaped like the perfect insect, but has only the merest
rudiments of wings, and when first hatched out none at
all. The fact of this insect feeding on plant-lice is new
and important. The males make a loud shrilling noise
in the night and often fly into houses, but are too noisy
to be agreeable inmates in a bedchamber.

E. Gridley, Lake Co., 111. — The insect "found feeding
greedily on your potato-vines" is the larva of the terrible
New Potato-bug, respecting which see my Article in No.
1 of the Practical Entomologist. •

L. W. Taylor, N. Y.— The slender, long-legged insect,
about three inches long, which you send is the Spec-
trum femoratum of Say, a female. The male is of a shining
pale mahogany color and has a forceps at the tip of its
tail. It belongs to the Phasma family in the Order Or-
thoptera, and IS remarkable for never acquiring wings,
or even any rudiments of wings, in either sex. There are
foreign species which have wings, and which have the
legs expanded so as to resemble leaves, whence they have
been called " Walking-leaves;" and some old authors ac-
tually believed that the leaves of trees changed into these
insects, and then dropped off and commenced walking
about. Our species is sometimes called in English "Walk-
ing-stick" and sometimes "Prairie alligator," which is a
poor name for it, because it lives in the woods and not on
the Prairie, feeding on the leaves of the trees it inhabits.
It is perfectly harmless and may be handled without
fear. I have handled thousands of them, and never knew
one even attempt to bite, as Grasshoppers will sometimes
do.

H. B. Beegle, N. J. — \st. The bunch of eggs on the twigs
of your apple-trees is that of the common "Caterpillar"
of the Apple-tree, {Clisiocampa americana). Respecting
these see the Answer to Marion Hobart in No. 10 of the
Practical Extomologist, p. 101. For every one of these
that you destroy, you destroy a future "caterpillar" nest.
2nd. The smooth chrysalis about an inch long, suspend-
ed by its tail to the apple-tree twigs, and with a curious
projection like a large roman nose on the middle of its
back, is the pupa of Limenitis Ursula, a large and hand-
some butterfly of a blue-black color, with orange spots,
but without any tail to its wings. The books say that its
larva feeds on willow, cranberry and cherry. I have
bred it from plum, and now you find it on apple. The
larva is mostly olive-green with two sprangling horns
behind its head. 3rd. The oval larvse, | inch lone, with
thick-set evenly-shorn short hairs, white when young and
brown when full-grov/n, belong to Lagoa opercularia — a
cream-colored moth with the basal portion of its front
wings covered with curly wool, which is marked more or
less with rusty black. It is a very variable species, and
Dr. Packard has described a variety of it bred from the
blackberry as Lagoa crispata. I have bred it from the Sy-
camore or Buttonwood, and Dr. Fitch enumerates it as
among the insects found on the plum. Your finding it
on the apple is apparently a new fact. It is a very rare
insect in Illinois, and I believe generally so. The moth
will not appear till next summer, and the larva makes a
tough oval silken cocoon, which it attaches to a twig of
the tree on which it feeds. If you find any of these on
your trees, please send them all to me, even if there are
a score of them, cutting off" a small piece of the twig
along with each.

"Walter Biddell, Canada West. — The small red mites.

about the size of the head of a pin, which you find at-
tached in great numbers to the wings of grasshoppers,
have long been known to me; but, so far as I am aware,
they have never been named or described. They are al-
lied to the genus Uropoda, a species of which attaches it-
self by the tail to the bodies of certain dung-beetles in
Europe, but difier in attaching themselves, not by the
tail but by the head, and in the front pair of legs being
not only exceedingly small, but so small that I cannot
distinguish them at all, so that the animal is apparently
six-legged, like a true louse. Yet the general characters
are those of the Mites. Most mites, indeed, when in
the larva or immature state, have only six legs; but all
that I have examined of your species are apparently in
the perfect state. Not improbably it may belong to
Latreille's genus Astoma, a European species of which
is said to be parasitic upon Flies and other insects, and
which has only six legs. In that case it may be called
Astoma locustarum, as it is distinct from the European
species by the body not being at all constricted in the
middle. I have never found more than eighteen or twen-
ty of them on one grasshopper, and do not believe that
twice that number would have any material eff*ect on the
health of the insect. The grasshopper you send is the
common Red-legged grasshopper — Valoptenus femur-ru-
brum. A species differing from this, only in the wings
and wing-cases being always a great deal longer than the
body, and named spretus by Mr. Uhler, is the insect that
does so much damage in Colorado and probably also in
Minnesota.
jZ^'Several Answers lay over for the next number.

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128

THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST.

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