it ! «>M ( f ''' ^riAM. SI .3 A TREATISE ox SOME OF THE INSECTS nJUEIOUS TO YEGETATIOI. By THADDETJS AVILLIAM HAEEIS, M. D. ^ l^feto JEtsition, ENLARGED AND IMPROVED, AVITH ADDITIONS FROM THE AUTHOk's MANUSCRIPTS AND ORIGINAL NOTES. ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS DRAWN FROM NATURE UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF PROFESSOR AGASSIZ. EDITED BY CHARLES L. FLINT, SECRETARY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. BOSTON: CROSBY AND NICHOLS, NEW YORK: OLIVER S. FELT. 18 6 3. Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1862, by CATHARIlSrE H. HARRIS, in the Clerk's OtRce of tlie District Court for tlie District of Massaclmsetts. Cambridge : 'elch, Bigelow, and Companv, Printers to the Universitt EDITOR'S PREFACE. BY a resolve of the Legislature of Massachusetts, 1859, chap. 93, I was directed to issue a new edition of T)i\ Harris's admirable Treatise on Insects Injurious to Vegetation, with suitable additions and illustrations. By a resolve of the Legislature of 1861, chap. 80, I was author- ized to use the plates prepared for the illustration of the edition for the Commonwealth, in the publication of one or more editions desio"ned for a wider circulation than that for the State could be expected to have. It was thought best to insert the additions contemplated in the resolve, in the form of foot-notes. No alterations have been made in the author's language, and the additional notes are en- closed in brackets to distinguish them from those in the former editions. Large additions have been made to the text, however, from the author's own manuscripts. These will be found exclu- sively in the chapter upon the butterflies. In giving a somewhat wider significance to the title, I have but carried out the plan adopted by the author in his last revision of the work. Professor Louis Agassiz very kindly offered to supervise the drawings, comparing them with the original specimens before en- graving. It is believed that very 'great scientific accuracy has thus been secured in the illustrations. Special acknowledgments are due to Professor Agassiz for this valuable service, and also for assistance rendered by way of suggestion and advice throughout. Acknowledgments are also due to the following gentlemen, who have contributed notes on the subjects named : — Dr. John L, Leconte, of . Philadelphia, on the Coleoptera ; Philip R. Uiiler, IV EDITOR'S PEEFACE, Esq., of Baltimore, on the Orthoptera and Hemiptera ; Dr. John G. Morris, of Baltimore, on the Lepidoptei-a ; Edward Norton, Ej;q., of Farmington, Connecticut, on the Hymenoptera ; and Baron R. Osten Sacken, Secretary of the Russian Legation at Washing- ton, on the Diptera. These distinguished entomologists have made specialties of the orders on which they have had the kindness to furnish notes, and their contributions have added much to the completeness of the work. I am greatly indebted, also, to Mr. Alex. E. R. Agassiz for very valuable services, and to Mr. Fran- cis G. Sanborn, whose enthusiasm in making collections, and oth- erwise promoting the progress of the work, has continued unabated from the first. Also to Messrs. James M. Barnard and Edward S. Rand, Jr., who have devoted much time and thought to the details of the work. Many individuals have aided by presenting or lending specimens for illustration, or otherwise, and among them should be mentioned, in addition to the above, Messrs. S. H. Scud- der, of Boston, and J. H. Treat and J. O. Treat, of Lawrence. To prevent any misconception, it should be stated that, in the specimens from which figures 109, 111, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 126, 127, 128, 129, and 130 were drawn, the second pair of feet were displayed instead of the Jirst, and that in figure 114 the fore foot should have been omitted. The drawings for the steel plates were made by Mr. Antoine Sonrel ; those for the wood-cuts by the Messrs. Sonrel and J. Burckhardt. The engraving as well as coloring of the steel plates is the work of Mr. John H. Richard ; the engraving on wood, that of Mr. Henry Marsh. The work of these artists needs no comment. The printing has been done by Messrs. "Welch, Bigelow, & Co., of the University Press, Cambridge. This also speaks for itself. No labor has been spared to secure the utmost accuracy and perfection in every respect, and it is hoped and believed that the objects of the Legislature in ordering a new edition of this valu- able treatise have been fully accomplished. CHARLES L. FLINT, Secretary of the State Board of A(jriculture. Boston, January, 1862. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. THE first edition of this work was printed in the year 1841. It formed one of the scientific Reports, which were pre- pared and published by the Commissioners on the Zoological and Botanical Survey of Massachusetts, agreeably to an order of the General Court, and at the expense of the State. The Commis- sion for this Survey bore the date of June 10th, 1837 ; and the following instructions from his Excellency, Governor Everett, ac- companied it : — " It is presumed to have been a leading object of the Legisla- ture, in authorizing this Survey, to promote the agricultural benefit of the Commonwealth, and you will keep carefully in view the economical relations of every subject of your inquiry. By this, however, it is not intended that scientific order, method, or com- prehension should be departed from. At the same time, that which is practically useful will receive a proportionally greater share of attention, than that which is merely curious ; the promo- tion of comfort and happiness being the great human end of all science." Upon a division of duties among the Commissioners, the depart- ment of Insects was assigned to me. Some idea of the extent of this department may be formed by an examination of my Cata- logues of the Insects of Massachusetts, appended to the first and second editions of Professor Hitchcock's Report, in which above 2,300 species were enumerated ; and these doubtless fall very far short of the actual number to be found within this Commonwealth. VI AUTHOR'S prp:face. In entering upon my duty, I was deterred from attempting to de>eribe all these insects by the magnitude of the undertaking, and by the consideration that such a work, much as it might pro- mote the cause of science, if well done, could not be expected to prove either interesting or particulai-ly useful to the great body of the people. The subject and the plan of my Report were sug- gested by the instructions of the Governor, and by the want of a work, combining scientific and practical details on the natural his- tory of our noxious insects. From among such of the latter as are injurious to plants, I selected for description chiefly those that were remarkable for their size, for the peculiarity of their struc- ture and habits, or for the extent of their ravages ; and these alone will be seen to constitute a formidable host. As they are found not only in Massachusetts, but throughout New England, and indeed in most parts of the United States, the propriety of giving to the work a moi'e comprehensive title than it first bore, becomes apparent. This was accordingly done in the small impression tiuit was printed at my own charge, while the original Report was passing through the press, and in which some other alterations were made to fit it for a wider circulation. In the course of eight years, all the copies of the Report, and of the other impression, were entirely disposed of. Meanwhile, some materials for a new edition were collected, and these have been embodied in the present work, which I have been called upon to prepare and carry through the press. Believing that the aid of science tends greatly to improve the condition of any people engaged in agriculture and horticulture, and that these pursuits form the basis of our prosperity, and are the safeguards of our liberty and independence, I have felt it to be my duty, in treating the subject assigned to me, to endeavor to make it useful and acceptable to tlio.-e persons whose honorable employment is the cultivation of the soil. T. W. II. Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 15, 1852. CONTENTS. t' li A p T j: R I . INTKODUCTIOX. Insects defined. — Brain and Nera^es. — Air-pipes and Bkeatii- iNG-HOLEs. — Heart and Blood. — Insects are produced from Eggs. — Metamorphoses, ok Transformations. — Examples of Complete Tr.\nsforjiation. — Partial Transformation. — Lar- va, or Infant State. — Pupa, or Intermediate State — Adult, OR Winged State. — Head, Eyes, Antenn.e, and Mouth. — Tho- rax OR Chest, Wings, and Legs. — Abdomen or Hind-body, Piercer, and Sting. — Number of Insects compared with Plants. — Classification; Orders; Coleopter.v ; Orthoptera ; Hemipte- ra; Neuroptera; Lepidoptera; Hymenoptera; Dipter.\; Other Orders and Groups. — Pemakks on Scientific Names. . . 1-22 CHAPTER II. C 0 L E 0 P T E p. a . Beetles. — Scarab.eians. — Ground-Beetles. — Tree-Beetles. — Cockchafers ok May-Beetles. — Flower-Beetles. — Stag-Bee- TLES. — BUPRESTIANS, OR SaW-HORNED BoRERS. — SfKING-BeETLES. Ti.mber-Beetles. — Weevils. — Cylindrical B.\rk-Beetles. — Capkicokn-Beetles, or Long-horned Borers. — Leaf-Beetles. — Ckiocekians. — Leaf-mining Beetles. — Tortoise-Beetles. — Chryso:melians. — Cantharides. . . . . . . 23-140 CHAPTER III. OPTHOPTEP A. Earwigs. — Cockroaches. — Mantes, ok Soothsayers. — Walking- Leaves. — Walking-Sticks, or Spectres. — Mole-Cricket. — Field Crickets. — Climbing Cricket. — Wingless Cricket. — Grasshoppers. — Katy-did. — Locusts. 141-191 vni C 0 N T E N T S . CHAPTER IV. HEMIPTEKA. Bugs. — Squash-Bug. — Chinch-Bug. — Plant-Bugs. — Haevest-Flies. — Tree-Hoppeks. — Leaf-Hoppers. — Vise-hopier. — Bean-Hop- I'ER — Thrips. — Plant-Lice. — American Blight. — Enemies of Pl.vnt-Lice. — Bark-Lice. 192 - 256 CHAP T j: R V . L E P I D 0 P T E R A . Caterpillars. — Butterflies. — Skippers. — Hawk-Moths. — jEgeri- ans ok Boring-Caterpillars. — Glaucopidians. — Moths. — Spin- ners. — Lithosians. — Tiger-Moths. — Ermine-Moths. — Tussock- Moths. — Lackey- Moths. — Lappet-Moths. — Saturnians. — Cera- TocAMPiANS. — Carpenter-Moths. — Psychians. — Notodontians. — Owl-Moths. — Cut- Worms. — Geometers, or Span-Worms, and Canker- Worms. — Delta-Moths. — Leaf-Rollers — Bud-Moths. — Fruit-Moths. — Bee-Moths. — Corn-Moths. — Clothes-Moths. — Feather-winged Moths. 257-511 CHAPTER VI. HYMENOPTERA. Stingers and Piercers. — Habits of some of the Hymenoptera. — Saw-Flies and Slugs. — Elm Saw-Fly. — Fir Saw-Fly. — Vine Saw-Fly. — Rose-bush Slug. — Pear-Tree Slug. — Horn-tailed Wood-Wasps. — Gall-Flies. — Chalcidians. — Barley Insect and Joint- Worm. .512-561 CHAPTER VII. D I P T E R A . Gnats AND Fuks. — jMaogots, and their Traxsform.vtions. — Gall- Gn.\ts. — Hessian Fly. — Wheat-Fly. — Remarks upon and De- scriptions OF some other Dipterous Insects. — Radish-Fly. — Two-winged Gall-Flies, and Fruit-Flies. — Conclusion. . 562-626 APPENDIX. — The Army- Worm 627-630 INDEX 631-640 EXPLANATION OF PLATES Fi PLATE I . ( Frontispiece.) 1. Nepa apiculata j2 2. Agrion basalis 22 3. ^lutilla coccinea 25 4. Asilus (Erax) £estuans, Linn 17 5. Cassida (Coptocycla) aurichalcea, Fai 122 6. Locusta (ffidipoda) sulphiirea, /'«(!> 177 7. Nymphalis Ai-themis, Drur 283 Fie 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. IS. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. PLATE II. (Page 23.) Eumolpus aiiratus, Fab. . Chrysobothris (Trachypteris) Harrisii, Ilentz Galenica vittata, Fab. Coccinella novemnotata Haltica chalybea, llUg. . Attelabus bipustulatus, Fab. Dicerca (Steimrus) divaricata, Say Sitophilus Oryzte, Linn. Chrysomela trimaculata, Fab. Clytus flexuosiis, Fab. Callidiuin antennatum, Newm. Hylotrupes bajulus, Linn. . Saperda (Compsidea) tridentata, Oliv Omaloplia (Serica) vespertina, Gijll. . Clytus speciosus, Say Saperda Candida, Fab. " " Larva . Desmocerus cyaneus, Fab. Saperda vestita, Say Areoda (Cotalpa) lanigera, Linn. Saperda (Anaerea) calcarata, Say . 134 51 124 246 129 66 48 83 132 103 100 100 111 33 101 107 108 115 109 24 106 PLATE III. (Page 141) Fig. 1. Locusta (Chloealtis) curtipennis '• 2. Locusta (Tragocephala) viridi-fasciata, Be Geer b 184 182 X EXPLANATION OF PLATES. y\g. 3. Locnsta (ffidipoda) Carolina, Z('««. 176 Aphis mali 235 Tettigonia (Erythroneura) vitis 227 Clastoptera proteus 225 Cicada septendecim, Linn 211 Chrysopa euryptera, Burm. . 247 " " Larva and cocoon 247 Fir PLATE IV. Page 257.) Vanessa (Grapta) comma, Harr 300 " " " Vacant chrysalis . . . 301 Thecla Humuli, Harr 276 Papilio Asterias, Fab. $ 265 " 9 265 " " Larva 263 " " Chrysalis 264 PLATE V. (Page 318.) Eudamus (Goniloba) Tityrus, Smith 310 Pliilampelus Satellitia, Linn 325 Pliilampelus Achemon, Drury 326 Choerocampa (Darapsa) pampin.atrix. Smith .... 327 iEgeria (Trochilium) Pyri, Harr 335 " " exitiosa, Say ^ 331 " " " Vacant chrysalis . . . 332 " " Cucm-bitoe, Harr 331 Fig. PLATE VI. (Page 340.) Lophocampa ( Halesidota) Caryce, Harr. Larva " " " Cocoon Deiopeia bella, Dritnj .... Perophora Melsheimerii, Harr. Larva Case Pygjer.a (Datana) ministra, Drury . Eudryas grata, Fab. Larva '' " Imago . Arctia (Spilosoma) acrea, Drury ^ 9 Notodonta (Pygjera) concinna, Smith Clostera Americaiia, Harr. 415 361 362 342 415 417 430 427 427 354 354 426 433 Fig. 1. " 2. " 3. " 4. " 5. PLATE VII. (Page 376.) Orgyia leucostignia, Smith. Larva .... " " 9 after depositing eggs . 366 367 . 367 367, 368 Cocoon and eggs EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19 Tinea granella. Larva ......... 4f.7 " " Wheat attacked by 497 Pyralis fariiialis, Harr 475 Gortyna Ze£E, Harr. .......... 4,39 Hyphantria (Spilosoma) textor. Cocoon 358 " " " Pupa 358 " " " Young larva . . . 357, 358 Clisiocampa Americana, Ilarr. Larva 371 $ 372 ■' " Vacant cocoon .... 372 " " Cluster of eggs .... 370 Clisiocampa silvatica, liar 376 Larva 375 Fis 1. PLATE VIII. (Page 512.) Tacliina vivida, Harr. ..... Gasteropliilus (Gastrus) Equi, Linn. Lophyrus Abietis, Harr. ^ " " " antcmia Cynips dichlocenis. Natural size . " " JIagnified " " Gall on Rose-bush Cynips confluens. Galls on oak-leaf Cimbex L'lmi. Cocoon NoTK. — The hair-line at the side of a cut shows its natural size 546, 612 623 520 520 520 54a 54'J 549 546 547 519 518 INSECTS INJUEIOUS TO YEGETATION CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Insects defined. — Brain and Nerves. — Air-pipes and Breathing-holes. — Heart and Blood. — Insects are produced from Eggs. — Metamor- phoses, OR Transformations. — Examples of Complete Transforma- tion. — Partial Transformation. — Larva, or Infant State. — Pupa, OR Intermediate State. — Adult, or Winged State. — Head, Eyes, Antenn.e, and Mouth. — Thorax or Chest, Wings, and Legs. — Abdo- men or Hind-body, Piercer, and Sting. — Number of Insects compared with Plants. — Classification ; Orders ; Coleoptera ; Orthoptera ; Hemiptera; Neuroptera; Lepidoptera; Hymenoptera; Diptera; Other Orders and Groups. — Remarks on Scientific Names. THE benefits which we derive fi-om insects, though neither few in number nor inconsiderable in amount, are, if we except those of the silk-worm, the bee, and the cochineal, not very obvious, and are almost entirely beyond our influence. On the contrary, the injuries that we suffer from them are becoming yearly more apparent, and are more or less within our control. A funiliar acquaint- ance with our insect enemies and friends, in all their forms and disguises, will afford us much help in the discovery and proper application of the remedies for the depredations of the former, and will tend to remove the repugnance wherewith the latter are commonly regarded. Destructive insects have their appointed tasks, and are limited in the performance of them ; they are exposed to 1 2 INTRODUCTION. many accidents through the influence of the elements, and tliey fiill ii pi'^T to numerous animals, many of them also of the insect race, which, while they flilfll their own part in the economy of natvire, contribute to prevent the undue increase of the noxious tribes. Too often, by an unwise interference with the plan of Providence, we defeat the very measures contrived for our protection. We not only sufler from our own carelessness, but through ignorance fall into many mistakes. Civilization and cultivation, in many cases, have destroyed the balance originally exist- ing l)etween plants and insects, and between the latter and other animals. Deprived of their natural food Ijy the removal of the forest trees and shrul)s, and the other indigenous plants that once covered the soil, insects have now no other resource than the cultivated plants that have taken the place of the original veoetation. The destruc- tion of insect^eating animals, whether quadrupeds, birds, or reptiles, has doubtless tended greatly to the increase of insects. Colonization and commerce have, to some extent, introduced foreign insects into countries where they Avere before unknown. It is to such causes as these that we are to attribute the unwelcome appearance and the undue multiplication of many insects in our cultivated grounds, and even in our store-houses and dwellings. We have no reason to believe that any absolutely new insects are generated or created from time to time. The supposed new species, made knoW'U to us first by their unw'onted depredations, may have come to us from other parts, or may have been driven l;)y the hand of improvement from their native haunts, Avhere here- tofore the race had lived in obscimty, and thus had escaped the notice of man. To understand the relations that insects bear to each other and to other objects, and to learn how best to check the ravages of the noxious tribes, Ave must make ourselves thor- oughly acquainted Avith the natural historv of these animals. This subject is particidarly important to all persons Avho are INSECTS. — GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 3 interested in ngricnltnral pursuits. For tlieir use, chiefly, this account of tlie principal insects that are injurious to vegetation in Xew Enghmd, lias been prepared. It has been thought best to prefix thereto some remarks on the structure and classification of insects, to serve as an intro- duction to the succeeding chapters, and, in some measure, to su[)})ly the Avant of a more general and complete work on this branch of natural history. The wortl Insect, which, in the Latin language, from whence it was derived, means cut into or notched, was designed to express one of the chief characters of this group of animals, whose body is marked by several cross- lines or incisions. The parts between these cross-lines are called segments, or rings, and consist of a number of jointed pieces, more or less movable on each other. Insects have a very small brain, and, instead of a spinal marrow, a kind of knotted cord, extending from the brain to the hinder extremity ; and numerous small whitish threads, which are the nerves, spread from the brain and knots, in various directions. Two long air-pipes, within their bodies, together with an immense number of smaller pipes, su})plv the want of lungs, and carry the air to every part. Insects do not breathe through their mouths, but through little holes, called spiracles, generally nine in number, along each side of the bodv. Some, however, have the breathing-holes placed in the hinder extremity, and a few young water- insects breathe by means of gills. The heart is a long tube, lying under the skin of the back, having little holes on each side for the admissi(^n of the juices of the body, which are prevented ft-om escaping again by valves or clappers, formed to close the holes within. Moreover, this tubuhu- heart is divided into several chambers, by transverse partitions, in each of which there is a hole shut by a valve, which allows the blood to flow only from the hinder to the fore part of the heart, and prevents it ft'om passing in the contrary direction. The blood, which is a colorless or yellow fluid, does not cir- 4 INTRODUCTION. dilate in proper arteries and veins ; but is driven from the fore part of the heart into the head, and thence escapes into the body, where it is mingled with the nutritive juices that filter through the sides of the intestines, and the mingled fluid penetrates the crevices among the flesh and other in- ternal parts, flowing along the sides of the air-])ipes, whereby it receives from the air that influence which renders it fitted to nourish the frame and maintain life. Insects are never spontaneously generated from putrid ani- mal or veo-etable matter, but are produced from ego-s. A few, such as some plant-lice, do not lay their eggs, but re- tain them within their bodies till the young are ready to escape. Others invariably lay their eggs where their yoimg, as soon as they are hatched, will find a plentifid supply of food immediately within their reach. Most insects, in the course of their lives, are subject to very great changes of form, attended by equally remarkable changes in their habits and propensities. These changes, transformations, or metamorphoses^ as they are called, might cause the same insect, at difl'erent ages, to be mistaken for as many difl'erent animals. For example, a caterpillar, after feeding upon leaves till it is fully grown, retires into some place of concealment, casts ofl' its caterpillar-skin, and pre- sents itself in an entirely difterent form, one wherein it has neither the power of moving about, nor of taking food ; in fact, in this its second or chrysalis state, the insect seems to be a lifeless oblong oval or conical body, without a distinct head, or movable limbs ; after resting awhile, an inward struggle begins, the chrysalis-skin bursts open, and from the rent issues a butterfly or a moth, whose small and flabby wings soon extend and haixlen, and become fitted to bear away the insect in search of the honeyed juice of flowers and other liquids that suffice for its nourishment. The little fish-like animals that swim about in vessels of stagnant Avater, and devour the living atoms that swarm in the same situations, soon come to maturity, cast their skins, TRANSFORMATION OF INSECTS. 5 and take another form, wherein they remain rolled up like a ball, and either float at the surface of the water, for the pur- pose of breathing through the two tunnel-shaped tubes on the top of their backs, or, if disturbed, suddenly uncurl their bodies, and whirl over and over from one side of the vessel to the other. In the course of a few days these little water- tumblers are ready for another transformation ; the skin s})lits on the back between the breathing-tubes, the head, body, and limbs of a mosquito suddenly bui'st fi'om the opening, the slender legs rest on the empty skin till the latter fills with water and sinks, when the insect abandons its native ele- ment, spreads its tiny wings, and flies away, piping its war- note, and thirsting for the blood which its natural weapons enable it to draw from its unlucky victims. The flill-fed maggot, that has rioted in filth till its tender skin seems ready to burst Avith repletion, when the appointed time arrives, leaves the offensive matters it was ordained to assist in removing, and gets into some convenient hole or crevice ; then its body contracts or shortens, and becomes egg-shaped, while the skin hardens, and turns brown and dry, so that, under this form, the creature appears more like a seed than a living animal ; after some time passed in this inactive and equivocal form, during which wonderflil chanf^'es have taken place within the seed-like shell, one end of the shell is forced off, and from the inside comes forth a buzzino- fly, that drops its former filthy habits with its cast-off di'ess, and now, with a more refined taste, seeks only to lap the solid viands of our tables, or sip the liquid contents of our cups. Caterpillars, grubs, and maggots undergo a complete trans- formation in coming to maturity ; but there are other insects, such as crickets, grasshoppers, bugs, and plant-lice, which, though differing a good deal in the young and adult states, are not subject to so great a change, their transformations being only partial. For instance, the young grasshopper comes from the egg a wingless insect, and consequently un- able to move from place to place in any other way than by 6 INTRODUCTION. the use of its legs ; as it grows larger it is soon oLliged to east otf its skin, and, after one or two raoul tings, its body not only inereases in size, but beeomes proportionally longer than before, while little stump-like wings begin to make their appearance on the top of the back. After this, tlie grass- hopper continues to eat voraciously, grows larger and larger, and hops about without any aid from its short and motion- less wings, repeatedly casts off its outgrown skin, appearing each time with still longer wings, and more perfectly formed limbs, till at length it ceases to grow, and, shedding its skin for the last time, it comes forth a perfectly formed and ma- ture grasshopper, with the power of spreading its ample wings, and of using them in flight. Hence there are three periods in the life of an insect, more or less distinctly marked by corresponding changes in the form, powers, and habits. In the first, or period of infancy, an insect is technically called a larva, a word signifying a mask, because therein its future form is more or less masked or concealed. This name is not only applied to grubs, cat- erpillars, and maggots, and to other insects that undergo a complete transformation, but also to young and wangless grasshoppers, and bugs, and indeed to all young insects be- fore the wings begin to appear. In this first period, which is generally much the longest, insects are always wingless, pass most of their time in eating, grow rapidly, and usually cast oflp their skins repeatedly. The second period — wherein those insects that undergo a ])artial transformation retain their activity and their appe- tites for food, continue to grow, and acquire the rudiments of Avings, while others, at this age, entirely lose their larAa form, take no food, and remain at rest in a deathlike sleep — is called the j9?/j»>a state, from a slight resemblance that some of the latter present to an infant trussed in bandages, as was the fashion among the Romans. The puptv fi'om caterpillars, hoAvever, are more commonly called chrysalids, because some of them, as the name implies, are gilt or adorned with golden ORGANS OF INSECTS DESCRIBED. 7 spots ; and grubs, affer their first transformation, are often named nymphs, for Avhat reason does not appear. At the end of the second period, insects again shed then* skins, and come forth fully grown, and (with few exceptions) provided with wings. Thus they enter upon their last or adult state, wherein they no longer increase in size, and during which they provide for a continuation of their kind. This period usually lasts only a short time, for most insects die imme- diately after their eggs are laid. Bees, wasps, and ants, however, which live in society, and labor together for the common good of their communities, continue much longer in the adult state. In winged or adult insects, two of the transverse incisions with which they are marked are deeper than the rest, so that the body seems to consist of three principal portions, the first whereof is the head, the second or middle portion the thorax, or chest, and the third or hindmost the abdomen, or hind- body. In some wingless insects these three portions are also to be seen ; but in most young insects, or larv«, the bodv consists of the head and a series of twelve rino;s or seo-ments, the thorax not being distinctly separated from the hinder part of the body, as may be perceiA"ed in caterpillars, grubs, and maggots. The eyes of adult insects, though apparently two in num- ber, are compound, each consisting of a great number of single eyes closely united together, and incapable of being rolled in their sockets. Such also are the eyes of the larviB, and of the active pupae of those insects that undergo an imperfect transformation. Moreover, many winged insects have one, two, or three little single eyes, placed near each other on the crown of the head, and called ocelli^ or eyelets. The eyes of grubs, caterpillars, and of other completely trans- forming larvtB, are not compound, bvit consist of five or six eyelets clustered together, without touching, on each side of the head ; some, however, such as maggots, are totally bhnd. Near to the eyes are two jointed members, named antennce^ 8 I N T R 0 1) U C T I 0 N . corresponding, for the most part, in situation, with the ears of other animals, and supposed to be connected with the sense of hearing, of touch, or of both united. The antenme are very short in larviie, and of various sizes and forms in other insects. The mt)uth of some insects is made for biting or chewing, that of others for taking the food only by suction. The biting-insects have the parts of the mouth variously modified to suit the nature of the food ; and these parts are, an vipper and an under lip, two nippers or jaws on each side, moving sidewise, and not up and down, and four or six little jointed members, called palpi or feelers, whereof two belong to the lower lip, and one or two to each of the lower jaws. The mouth of sucking-insects consists essentially of these same parts, but so different in their shape and in the purposes for which they are designed, that the resemblance between them and those of biting-insects is not easily recognized. Thus the jaws of caterpillars are transformed to a spiral sucking- tube in Ijutterflies and moths, and those of maggots to a hard proboscis, fitted for piercing, as in the mosquito and horse-fly, or to one of softer consistence, and ending with fleshy lips for lap})ing, as in common flies ; while in bugs, plant-lice, and some other insects resembling them, the parts of the mouth undergo no essential change from infancy to the adult state, but are formed into a long, hard, and jointed beak, bent under the breast when not in use, and designed only for making punctures and drawing in liquid nourishment. The parts belonging to the thorax are the wings and the legs. The former are two or four in number, and vary greatly in form and consistence, in the situation of the wing- bones or veins, as they are generally called, and in their posi- tion or the manner in which they are closed or folded when at rest. The under-side of the thorax is the lireast, and to this are fixed the legs, which are six in number in atlult insects, and in the larvie and pupa3 of those that are subject BASIS OF CLASSIFICATION. 9 only to a partial transf urination. The parts of the legs are the hip-joint, by which the leg is fastened to the body, the thio-h, the shank (tibia), and the foot, the latter consistino- some- times of one joint only, more often of two, three, four, or five pieces (tarsi), connected end to end, like the joints of the finger, and armed at the extremity with one or two claws. (Jf the larviB that undergo a complete transformation, mag- gots and some others are destitute of legs ; many grabs have six, namely, a pair beneath the under-side of the first three segments, and sometimes an additional fleshy prop-leg under the hindmost extremity ; caterpillars and false caterpillars have, besides the six true legs attached to the first three rings, several fleshy prop-like legs, amounting sometimes to ten or sixteen in number, placed in pairs beneath the other segments. The abdomen, or hindmost, and, as to size, the principal part of the body, contains the organs of digestion, and other internal parts, and to it also belong the piercer and the sting with which many winged or advdt insects are provided. The piercer is sometimes only a flexible or a jointed tube, capable of being thrust out of the end of the body, and is used for conductino; the egiis into the crevices or holes where they are to be laid. In some other insects it consists of a kind of scab- bard, containing a central borer, or instruments like saws, de- siirned for making holes wherein the eggs are to be inserted. The sting, in like manner, consists of a sheath enclosing a sharp instrument for inflicting wounds, connected wherewith in the inside of the body is a bag of venom or poison. The parts belonging to the abdomen of larvte are various, but are mostly designed to aid them in their motions, or to proA'ide for their respiration. An English entomologist has stated, that, on an average, there are six distinct insects to one plant. This proportion is probably too great for our country, where vast ti'acts are covered with forests, and the other original vegetable races still hold possession of the soil. There are above 1,200 2 10 INTRODUCTION. flowering plants in Massachusetts, and it will Ije within bounds to estimate the species of insects at 4,800, or in the proportion of four to one plant. To tacilitate the study of such an immense number, some kind of classification is neces- sary ; it will be useful to adopt one, exen in describing the few species now before us. The basis of this classification is founded upon the structure of the mouth, in the adult state, the number and nature of the wings, and the transformations. The first great divisions are called orders, of which the fol- lowing seven are very generally adopted Ijy naturalists. 1. CoLEOPTERA (^BeetUs). Insects with jaws, two thick wing-covers meeting in a straight line on the top of the back, and two filmy wings, Avhich are folded transversely. Trans- formation complete. Larvae, called grubs, generally provided w^ith six true legs, and sometimes also wnth a terminal prop- leg ; more rarely without legs, Pvipa with the wings and the legs distinct and unconfined. Many of these insects, particularly in the larva state, are very injurious to vegetation. The tiger-beetles {^Cicindeladce*)^ the predaceous ground-beetles {Carabidce), the diving-beetles {Dytis- cidce), the lady-birds ( Cocci neliad/x), and some others, are emi- Pi I nently serviceable by preying upon caterpillars, plant-lice, and other noxious or destructive insects. The water-lovers (Hydrophilidce), rove-beetles (Sta- phylinidce), carrion-beetles {Silphadce), skin-beetles {Dermestadce, Byrrhidce, and Trogidce), bone-beetles (some of the Nitididadce and Cleridce), and vari- ous kinds of dung-beetles {SphxEridladiE, Histeridce, Tenebrio moiitor GeotnipidcB,'\ Coprididce,'\ and Aphodiadce'f), and (Meal worui.) clocks (PhneliadcB and Blaptidce), act the useful ^"'"' part of scavengers, by removing carrion, dung, and other filth, upon which alone they and their larvai subsist. Many * See the Catalogue of Insects appended to Professor Hitclicock's Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts. 2d edit. 8vo. Amherst. 1835. t All the ScarabfeidfE of my Catalogue, from Ateiichus to Geotrvpes inclusive, to which may be added many included in the genus Scarabceus. C 0 L E 0 P T E R A . — 0 R T H 0 P T E R A . — H E M I P T E R A . 11 Coleoptei'a (some Staphyliiiidce and Nitiduladce, Dla- rio-. 2. perldidce, some Serropalpidce, Mycetophagidce, Eroty- lidcB, and Endomychidce) live altogether on agarics, mushrooms, and toadstools, jdants of very little use to man, many of them poisonous, and in a state of decay often otfensive ; these fungus-eaters are therefore to be reckoned among our friends. There are others, such as ^^^' the stag-beetles (^Lncanidce) , some spring-beetles {Ehiteridce), dark- ling-beetles {TenebrionidcB), (Figs. 1 — 3.) and many Fi"-. 3. bark-l^eetles {Helopidce, Cisteladce, Serropalpidce^ (Ele- meradce^ CucujadcB, and some TrogosUadce), which, liv- ing under the bark and in the trunks and roots of old trees, though they may occasionally prove injurious, must on the whole be considered as serviceable, by contribut- ing to destroy and reduce to dust plants that have passed their prime and are fast going to decay. And, lastly, the blistering-beetles (^Ganiliarididce) have, for a Ion"- time, been employed with great benefit in the healing art. 2. Orthoptera ( CocZ;roac7«fs, Crickets^ Grasshojypers^ ^f^O" Insects with jaws, two rather thick and opaque- upper winfrs, overlapping a little on the back, and tw^o larger, thin wings, Avhich are folded in plaits, like a fan. Transformation par- tial. LarvcG and pupai active, but wanting wings. All of tlie insects of this order, except the camel-crickets (JSIan- tida;), Avhich prey on other insects, are injurious to our household possessions, or destructive to vegetation. 3. Hemiptera (^Bugs^ Locusts, Plant-lice, tfc). Insects witli a horny beak for suction, four wings, whereof the uppermost are generally thick at the base, w^ith thinner extremities, which lie flat, and cross each other on the top of the back, or are of uniform thickness throughout, and slope at the sides like a roof. Transformation partial. Larva? and pvipa^ nearly like the adult insect, but wanting wings. The various kinds of field and house bugs give out a strong and disagreeable smell. Many of them (some Pentatomadcs and Ly- 12 INTRODUCTION. gceidce, Cimicldce, Rednviadce, Hydrometradce, Nepadce [Plate I. Fig. 1, Nepa apiculata], and NotonectadcB) live entii'ely on the juices of animals, and by this means destroy great numbers of noxious insects ; some are of much service in the arts, affording us the costly cochineal, scarlet grain, lac, and manna ; but the benefits derived from these are more than counterbalanced by the injuries committed by the domestic kinds, and by the numerous tribes of plant-bugs, locusts or cicada?, tree-hoppers, plant-lice, bark-lice, mealy bugs, and the like, that suck the juices of plants, and re- quire the greatest care and watchfulness on our part to keep them in check. 4. Neuroptera (^Dragon-flies^ Lace-winged flies ; May- flies^ Ant-lion^ Day-flg, White Ants, c^c.'). Insects with jaws, four netted wings, of which the hinder ones are the largest, and no sting or piercer. Transformation complete, or partial. Larva and pupa various. The white ants, wood-lice, and wood-ticks, {TermitidcB and Psocidce,) the latter including also the little ominous death-watch, are almost the only noxious insects in the order, and even these do not injure living plants. The dragon-flies, or, as they are com- monly called in this country, devil's-needles {LibelluladcB), (Figs. 4, 5,) (Plate I. Fig. 2, Agrion basalis,) prey upon gnats and mosquitoes ; and their larva? and pupa?, as well as those of the day-flies (Ephemeixidce), semblians (Semblididce), and those of some of the May-flies, called caddis-worms {Phryganeadce), (Fig. 6,) all of Avhich live in the water, devour aquatic insects. The predaccous habits of the ant-hons {Myrmeleontidce), (Fig. 7,) have been often described. The lace-winged flies {Hemerobi- adce), (Fig. 8,) in the larva state, live wholly on plant-lice, great numbers of which they destroy. The mantispians {Mantispa- dce), and the scorpion-flies {Panorpadce), are also predaceous insects. 5. Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths). Mouth with a spiral sucking-tube ; wings four, covered with branny scales. Transformation complete. The larvjs are caterpillars, and have six true legs, and from four to ten fleshy prop-legs. 14 INTRODUCTION. Pupa with the cases of the wings and of the legs indistinct, and soldered to the breast. Some kinds of caterpillars are domestic pests, and devour cloth, wool, furs, feathers, wax, lard, flour, and the like ; but by far the greatest number live wholly on vegetable food, certain kinds being exclusively leaf-eaters, while others attack the buds, fruit, seeds, bark, pith, stems, and roots of plants. 6. Hymenopteka (^Saw-jiies^ AnU, Wasps^ Bees^ ^f^O* Insects with jaws, four veined wings, in most species, the hinder pair being the smallest, and a piercer or sting at the extremity of the abdomen. Transformation complete. LarvcB mostly maggot-like, or slug-like ; of some, caterpillar- like. PupjB with the legs and wings unconfined. In the adult state these insects live chiefly on the honey and pollen of flowers, and the juices of fruits. The larvas of the saw-flies ( Tenthredinidce), under the form of false-caterpillars and slugs, are leaf-eaters, and are oftentimes productive of much injury to plants. The larva? of the xiphydrians {Xiphydriadce), and of tlie horn-tails ( Uroceridce), are borers and wood-eaters, and con- sequently injurious to the plants inhabited by them. Pines and firs suffer most from their attacks. Some of the warty excres- cences on the leaves and stems of plants, such as oak-apples, gall- nuts, and the like, arise from the punctures of fuur-winged gall-flies (Biplolepididce), and the irritation produced by their larva^, which reside in these swellings. The injury caused by them is, com- paratively, of very little importance, while, on the other hand, we are greatly indebted to these insects for the gall-nuts that are extensively used in coloring and in medicine, and form the chief ingredient in ink. We may, therefore, write down these insects among the benefactors of the human race. Immense numbers of caterpillars and other noxious insects are preyed upon by in- ternal enemies, the larva? of the ichneumon-flies {Evaniadfe, Ichneu- monidce, and Chalcididce) , wdiich live upon the fat of their victims, and finally destroy them. Some of these ichneumon-flies (Iclineu- mones ovidorum*) are extremely small, and confine their attacks * Now placed among tlie Proctoirvjwlce. HABITS OF SOME HYMENOPTERA. 15 to the eggs of other insects, which they puncture, and the little creatures produced from tlie latter find a sufficient quantity of food to supply all their wants within the larger eggs they occupy. The ruby-tails {Chrysididce) and the cuckoo-bees {Hyl(BUS, Sphecodes, Nomada, Alelecta, Epeolus, Ceelioxys, and Stelis) lay their eggs in the provisioned nests of other insects, whose young are robbed of their food by the earlier-hatched intruders, and are conse- quently starved to death. The wood-wasps ( Orabronidce), and numerous kinds of sand-wasps {Larradce, Bemhicidce, Sphegidce, PompilidcB, and ScoliadtB), mud-wasps {Pelopceus), the stingino- velvet-ants {3Iutilladai), (Plate I. Fig. 3, Mutilla coccinea,) and the solitary wasps {Odynerus and Eumenes), are predaceous in their habits, and provision their nests with other insects, which serve for food to their young. The food of ants consists of animal and vegetable juices; and though these industrious little animals sometimes prove troublesome by their fondness for sweets, yet, as they seize and destroy many insects also, their occasional trespasses may well be forgiven. Even the proverbially irritable paper-making wasps and hornets {PoUstes and Vespd) are not without their use in the economy of nature ; for they feed their tender offspring not only with vegetable juices, but with the softer parts of other insects, great numbers of which they seize and destroy for this purpose. The solitary and social bees {Andrenad(B and Apidce) live wholly on the honey and pollen of flowers, and feed their young with a mixture of the same, called bee-bread. Various kinds of bees are domesticated for the sake of their stores of wax and honey, and ai-e thus made to contribute directly to the comfort and convenience of man, in return for the care and attention afforded them. Honey and wax are also obtained from several species of wild bees {Melipona, Triyona, and Tetra- gona), essentially different from the domesticated kinds. While bees and other hymenopterous insects seek only the gratification of their own inclinations, in their frequent visits to floAvers, they carry on their bodies the yellow dust or pollen from one blossom to another, and scatter it over the parts prejiared to receive and be fertilized by it, whereby they render an important service to vegetation. 16 INTRODUCTION. 7. DiPTERA (^3Iosquitoes, Gnats, Flies, (fc). Insects with a horny or fleshy proboscis, two wings only, and two knolibed threads, called balancers or poisers, behind the wings. Transformation complete. The larvae are maggots, without feet, and with the breathing-holes generally in the hinder extremity of the body. Pupae mostly incased m the dried skin of the larvae, sometimes, however, naked, in which case the wings and the legs are visible, and are fomid to be more or less free or unconfined. The two-winged insects, though mostly of moderate or small size, are not only very numerous in kinds or species, but also ex- tremely abundant in individuals of the same kind, often appearing in swarms of countless multitudes. Flies are destined to live wholly on liquid food, and are therefore provided with a proboscis, enclosing hard and sharp-pointed darts, instead of jaws, and fitted for piercing and sucking, or ending with soft and fleshy lips for lapping. In our own persons we suffer much from the sharp suckers and bloodthirsty propensities of gnats and mosquitoes {Culicidce), and also from those of certain midges {Ceratopogon and SimuUum), including the tormenting black-flies {SimuliMm molestum) of this country. The larvoe of these insects live in stao-nant water, and subsist on minute aquatic animals. Horse- flies and the golden-eyed forest-flies {Tahanidce), whose larvie live in the ground, and the stinging stable-flies (Stomoxi/s), which closely resemble common house-flies, and in the larvjB state live in dung, attack both man and animals, goading the latter some- times almost to madness by their severe and incessant punctures. The wdnged horse-ticks {Hippoboscce), the bird-flies {OniithomyicB), the wingless sheep-ticks (Melophagi), and the spider-flies {Nycte- ribicp), and bee-lice {BranlcB), which are also destitute of wings, are truly parasitical in their habits, and pass their whole lives upon the skin of animals. Bot-flies, or gad-flies {(EstridcB), as they are sometimes called, ai)pear to take no food while in the winged state, and are destitute of a proboscis ; the nourishment obtained by their larvae, which, as is well known, live in the bodies of horses, cattle, sheep, and other animals, being sufficient to last these insects during the rest of their lives. Some flies, though TWO-WINGED INSECTS. 17 api)areiitly harmless iu the winged state, deposit tlieir eggs on plants, on the juices of which theii* young subsist, and are often- times productive of immense injury to vegetation ; among these the most notorious for their depredations are the gall-gnats ( Cecidomyice), including the wheat-fly and Hessian fly, the root- eating maggots of some of the long-legged gnats {Tipulce), those of the flower-flies {Anthomyice), and the two-winged gall-flies and fruit-flies {Ortalides). To this list of noxious flies are to be added the common house-flies {Muscce), which pass through the maggot state in dung and other filth, the blue-bottle or blow-flies, and meat-flies {Lucilice and CalliphorcB), together with the maggot- producing or viviparous flesh-flies {Sarcophagce and Cynomyice). whose maggots live in flesh, the cheese-fly (Piophila), the parent of the well-known skippers, and a few others that in the larva state attack our household stores. Some flies are harmless in all their states, and many are emi- nently useful in various ways. Even the common house-flies, and flesh-flies, together with others for which no names exist in our language, render important services by feeding while larvte upon dung, carrion, and all kinds of filth, by which means, and by similar services rendered by various tribes of- scavenger-beetles, these offensive matters speedily disappear, instead of remaining to decay slowly, thereby tainting the air and rendering it unwhole- some. Those whose larvae live in stagnant water, such as gnats (Culicidfe), feather-horned gnats (Chironomus, &c.), the soldier- flies {Stratiomyadce), the rat-tailed flies {Helophilus), «fec., &c., tend to prevent the water from becoming putrid, by devouring the de- cayed animal and vegetable matter it contains. The maggots of some flies {Mycetophilce and various Muscadce) live in mush- rooms, toadstools, and similar excrescences growing on trees ; those of others (Sargi, Xylophagidce, Asilidce, TJierevce, Miledce, Xylotce, Borbori, &c., &c.), in rotten wood and bark, thereby join- ing with the grubs of certain beetles to hasten the remo\al of these dead and useless substances, and make room for new and more vigorous vegetation. Some of these wood-eating insects, with others, when transformed to flies, {Asilidce [Plate I. Fig. 4, Asilus Kstuans], RhagionidcB, Dolichopidce, and XylophagidcB.) prey on other insects. Some (Syrphtdce), though not predaceous them- 3 1-8 INTRODUCTION. selves in the winged state, deposit their eggs among plant-lice, upon the blood of which their young afterwards subsist. Many ( ConopidfE, excluding Stomoxys, Tachince, Ocypteroe, Phorce, «fec.) lay their eggs on caterpillars, and on various other larvae, within the bodies of which the maggots hatched from these eggs live till they destroy their victims. And finally others (^A)ithracid(B and Volucellce) drop their eggs in the nests of insects, whose offspring are starved to death, by being robbed of their food by the off- spring of these cuckoo-flies. Besides performing their various appointed tasks in the economy of nature, flies, and other insects, subserve another highly important purpose, for which an all-wise Providence has designed them, namely, that of furnishing food to numerous other animals. Not to mention the various kinds of insect-eating quadrupeds, such as bats, moles, and the like, many birds live partly or entirely on insects. The finest song-birds, nightingales and thrushes, feast with the highest relish on maggots of all kinds, as well as on flies and other insects, while the warblers, vireos, and especially the fly-catchers and swallows, devour these two-winged insects in great numbers. The seven foregoing orders constitute very natural groups, relatively of nearly equal importance, and sufficiently distinct from eacli otlier, but connected at different points by various resemblances. It is impossible to sIioav the mutual relations of these orders, when they are arranged in a continuous se- ries, but these can be better expressed and understood by grouping the orders together in a cluster, so that each order shall come in contact with several others. Besides these seven orders, there are several smaller groups, which some naturalists have thoiight proper to raise to the rank of independent orders. Upon the principal of these a few remarks will now be made. The little order Strepsiptera of Kirby, or Rhipiptera of Latreille, consists of certain minute insects, which undergo their transformations within the bodies of bees and wasps. One of them, the Xenos Peekii, was discovered by Professor Peck in the common brown wasp (^PoUstes fuscata) of this DIFFICULTIES IN ARRANGEMENT. V.J country. The larva is maggot-like, and lives between the rings of the back of the wasp ; the pupa resembles that of some flies, and is cased in the dried skin of the larva. The females never acquire Avings, and never leave the bodies of the bees or wasps into which they penetrate while young. The males, in the adult state, have a pair of short, narrow, and twisted members, instead of fore- wings, and two very large hind-wings, folded lengthwise like a fan. The mouth is provided with a pair of slender, sharp-pointed jaws, better adapted for piercing than for biting. It is very difficult to determine the proper place of these insects in a natural ar- rangement. Latreille puts them between the Lepidoptera and Diptera, but thinks them most nearly allied to some of the Hymenoptera.^ The flea tribe (^Pulicidoi) was placed among the bugs, or Hemiptera, by Fabricius. It constitutes the order Aptera of Leach, Siphonaptera of Latreille, and Aphaniptera of Kirby. Fleas are destitute of wings, in the place whereof there are four little scales, pressed closely to the sides of their bodies ; their mouth is fitted for suction, and provided with several lancet-like pieces for making punctures ; they undergo a complete transformation ; their larvae are worm- like and without feet ; and their pupae have the legs free. These insects, of which there are many different kinds, are intermediate in their characteristics between the Hemiptera and the Diptera, and seem to connect more closely these two orders. The earAA-igs (^Forficuladce) , of which also there are many kinds, were placed by Linnoeus in the order Coleoptera, but most naturalists now include them among the Orthoptera ; indeed, they seem to be related to both orders, but most [1 Sj'stematic authors now consider the order of Strepsiptera as simply a fam- ily, though a very aberrant one, of Coleoptera. It is placed after the Rhipipho- ridse, under the name Stylopidce, from its principal genus, Stylops, which is par- asitic in certain genera of bees; a species of this genus has been discovered in Nova Scotia, and will probably be found hereafter in New England. — Lec] 20 INTRODUCTION. closely to the Ortlioptera, with Avhich they agree in their partial transformations, and active pupa?. They form the little order Dermaptera of Leach, or Euplexoptera of Westwood. The spider-flies, bird-flies, sheep-tick, &c. (^Ilippoboscadce), which, with Latreille and others, I have retained among the Diptera, form the order Homaloptera of Leach, and the Enirlish entomologists. The May-flies, or case-flies (^Phryganeadce)^ have been separated from the Neuroptera ; and constitute the order Trichoptera of Kirby. Latreille and most of the natu- ralists of the continent of Europe still retain them in Neuroptera, to which they seem properly to belong. The Tlirips tribe consists of minute insects more closely allied to Hemiptera than to any other order, but resembling in some respects the Ortlioptera also. It forms the little order Thysanoptera of Haliday ; but I propose to leave it, as Latreille has done, among the Hemiptera. The English entomologists separate from Hemiptera the cicadas or harvest-flies, lantern-flies, frog-hoppers, plant-lice, bark-lice, &c., iinder the name of Homoptera ; but these insects seem too nearly to resemble the true Hemiptera to warrant the separation. Burmeister, a Prussian naturalist, has subdivided the Neu- roptera into the orders Neuroptera and Dictyotoptera, the latter to include the species which undergo only a partial transformation. If Hemiptera is to be subdivided, as above mentioned, then this division of Neuroptera will be justifiable also. Objections have often been raised against the study of natural history, and many persons have been discouraged from attempting it, on account of the formidable array of scientific names and terms which it presents to tlie l)eginner ; and some men of mean and contracted minds have made themselves merry at the expense of naturalists, and have sought to bring the writings of the latter into contempt, be- ADVANTAGE OF TECHNICAL NAMES. 21 cause of the scientific language and names they were obHged to employ. Entomology, or the science that treats of insects, abounds in such names more than any other branch of natu- ral history ; for the different kintls of insects very far out- number the species in every class of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kinodoms. It is owino; to this excessive number of species, and to the small size and unobtrusive character of many insects, that comparatively very few have received any common names, either in our own, or in other modern tongues ; and hence most of those that have been described in works of natural history are known only by their scientific names. The latter have the advantage over other names in being intelligible to all well-educated persons in all parts of the world ; while the common names of animals and plants in our own and other modern languages are very limited in their application, and moreover are often misapplied. For example, the name weevil is given, in this country, to at least six different kinds of insects, two of which are moths, two are flies, and two are beetles. Moreover, since nearly four thousand species of weevils have actually been scientifi- cally named and described, when mention is made of '' the weevil," it may well be a subject of doubt to which of these four thousand species the speaker or writer intends to refer ; wdiereas, if the scientific name of the species in question Avere made known, this doubt would at once be removed. To give each of these >veevils a short, appropriate, significant, and purely English name, would be very difficult, if not impos- sible, and there would be great danger of overburdening the memory with such a numl)er of names ; but, by means of the ingenious and simple method of nomenclature invented bv Linn;rus, these weevils are all arranged under three hundred and fifty-five generical, or surnames, requiring in addition only a small nimiber of different w^ords, like christian names, to indicate the various species or kinds. There is oftentimes a great convenience in the use of single collective terms for groups of annuals and plants, whereby the necessity for enii- 22 INTRODUCTION. merating all the individual contents or the characteristics of these groups is avoided. Thus the single word JRuminantia stands for camels, lamas, giraffes, deer, antelopes, goats, sheep, and kine, or for all the hoofed quadrupeds which ruminate or chew the cud, and have no front teeth in the ujjper jaw ; Lepiihptera includes all the various kinds of butterflies, hawk- moths, and millers or moths, or insects having winos covered with brainiy scales, and a spiral tongue instead of jaws, and wdiose }oung appear in the form of catei-pillars. It would be dithciilt to find or invent any single English words which woidd be at once so convenient and so expressive. This, therefore, is an additional reason why scientific names ought to Ije preferred to all others, at least in works of natural his- tory, where it is highly im})ortant that the objects described should have names that are short, significant in themselves, and not liable to be mistaken or misapplied. There is no art, profession, trade, or occuj^ation, which can be taught or learned without the use of technical words or phrases belonging to each, and which, to the inexperienced and untaught, are as unintelligible as the terms of science. It is not at all more difficult to learn and remember the latter than the former, when the attention has been properly given to the subject. The seaman, the farmer, and the mechanic soon become familiar with the names and phrases peculiar to their several callings, uncouth, and Avithout apparent signifi- cation, as many of them are. So, too, the terms of science lose their forbidding and mysterious appearance and sound by the frequency of their recurrence, and finally become as harmonious to the ear, as they are clear and definite in their applicafion. W "'¥' :;1; *: / \ CHAPTEE II. C 0 L E 0 P T E R A . Beetles. — Scarab.eians. — Ground-Beetles. — Tree-Beetles. — Cock- chafers OR May-Beetles. — Flower-Beetles. — Stag-Beetles. — Bu- prestians, OR Saw-hokned Borers. — Spring-Beetles. — Timp.er-Beetles. — Weevils. — Cylindrical Bark-Beetles. — Capricorn-Beetles, or Long-horned Borers. — Leaf-Beetles. — Criocerians. — Leaf-mining Beetles. — Tortoise-Beetles. — Cm:YsoMELiANS. — Canthariues. THE wings of beetles are covered and concealed by a pair of horny cases or shells, meeting in a straight line on the top of the back, and usually having a little triangular or semicircular piece, called the scutel, wedged between their bases. Hence the order to Avhich these insects belong is called CoLEOPTERA, a word signifymg wings in a sheath. Beetles * are biting-insects, and are provided with two pairs of jaws moving sidewise. Their young are grubs, and un- dergo a complete transformation in coming to maturity. At the head of this order Linnjvus placed a group of insects, to Avhich he gave the name of Scarab^eus. It includes the largest and most robust animals of the beetle kind, many of them remarkable for the singularity of their shape, and the formidable horn-like prominences with which they are furnished, — together with others, which, though they do not present the same imposing appearance, require to be noticed, on account of the injury sustained by vegeta- tion from their attacks. An immense number of Scarabie- ians (Scarab^id^e), as they may be called, are now known, diffei-ing greatly from each other, not only in structure, but * Beetle, in old English, httl, bytl, or bittl, means a biter, or insect that bites. 24 C 0 L E 0 P T E R A . in their lial)its in the larva and adult states. They are all easily distinguished by their short movable horns, or anten- nae, ending with a knob, composed of three or more leaf-like pieces, which open like the petals of a flower-bud. Another feature that they possess in common is the projecting ridge (^elypeus) of the forehead, which extends more or less over the face, like the visor or brim f)f a cap, and beneath the sides of this visor the antennae ai'e implanted. Moreover, the legs of these beetles, particularly the first pair, are fitted for digging, being deeply notched or ftirnished with several strong teeth on the outer edges ; and the feet are five-jointed. This very extensive flimily of insects is subdivided into sev- eral smaller groups, each composed of beetles distinguished liy various peculiarities of structure and habits. Some live mostly upon or beneath the surface of the earth, and were, therefore, called ground-beetles by De Geer ; some, in their winged state, are found on trees, the leaves of Avhich they devour, — they are the tree-beetles of the same author ; and others, during the same period of their lives, frequent flowers, and are called flower-beetles. The ground-beetles, includino- the earth-borers QGeotrupidce'), and dung-beetles QCoprididce and Ajjliodiadoi) ^ which, in all their states, are found in excre- ment, the skin-beetles (^Trogidaf)^ which inhabit dried animal substances, and the gigantic Hercules-beetles (^Dynastidce)^ which live in rotten wood or beneath old dung-heaps, must be passed over without flirther comment. The other groups contain insects that are very injurious to vegetation, and therefore require to be more particularly noticed. One of the most common, and the most beautifol of the tree-beetles of this country, is the Areoda lanigera,^ or woolly Areoda, sometimes also called the goldsmith-beetle (Plate II. Fig. 20). It is about nine tenths of an inch in length, broad oval in shape, of a lemon-yellow color above, glittering [2 Areodn lanigera, now called Cotalpa lanigera ; the genus Cotalpn, established by Burmeister, differs from the true Areoda by not having the last joint of the tarsi armed beneath with an angular projection. — Lec] THE GOLDSMITH AND GRAPE-VINE BEETLES. 25 like burnished gold on the top of the head and thorax ; the under-side of the body is copper-colored, and thickly cov- ered with whitish wool ; and the legs are brownish yellow, or brassy, shaded with green. These fine beetles begin to appear in Massachusetts about the middle of May, and con- tinue generally till the tAventieth of June, In the morning and evening twilight they come forth from tlieir retreats, and fly about with a humming and rustling sound among the branches of trees, the tender leaves of which thev de- vour. Pear-trees are particularly subject to their attacks, but the elm, hickory, poplar, oak, and probably also other kinds of trees, are frequented and injured by them. During the middle of the day they remain at rest upon the trees, clinging to the under-sides of the leaves, and endeavor to conceal themselves by drawing two or three leaves together, and holding them in this position with their long unequal claws. In some seasons they occur in proftision, and then may be obtained in great quantities by shaking the young trees on which they are lodged in the daytime, as they do not attempt to fly when thus disturbed, but foil at once to the ground. The larvie of these insects are not known ; prob- ably they live in the ground upon the roots of plants. The group to which the goldsmith-beetle belongs may be called Rutilians (Rutilid^), fi'om Mutela, or more correctly Rutila., signifying shining, the name of the principal genus included in it. The Rutilians connect the ground-beetles with the tree- beetles of the following group, having the short and robust legs of the former, with the leaf-eating habits of the latter. The spotted Pelidnota, FeUdnota pimc- ^.j^ g tata (Fig. 9), is also arranged among the Rutilians. This large beetle is found on the cultivated and wild grape-vine, some- times in great abundance, during the months of July and August. It is of an oblong oval shape, and about an inch long. The wing-covers are tile-colored, 4 26 C 0 L E 0 r T ERA, or dull browuisli-yellow, with three distinct black dots on each ; the thorax is darker and slightly bronzed, with a black dot on each side ; the body beneath, and the legs, are of a deep bronzed green color. These beetles fly by day ; but may also be seen at the same time on the leaves of the grape, which are their only food. They sometimes prove very inju- rious to the vine. The only method of destroying them is to pick them ofl:' by hand and crush them under foot. The larvc^ live in rotten wood, such as the stumps and roots of dead trees , and do not differ essentially from those of other Scarabffiians. Among the tree-beetles, those commonly called dors, chaf- ers, ]May-bugs, and rose-bugs, are the most interesting to the fjirmer and gardener, on account of their extensive ravages, both in the winged and larva states. They were included by Fabricius in the genus MelolontJta, a Avord used by the ancient Greeks to distinguish the same kind of insects, which Avere supposed by them to be produced from or with the flowers of apple-trees, as the name itself implies. These beetles, together with many others, for which no common names exist in our language, are now united in one family called Melo- LONTHAD^E, or Melolontliiaus. The followhig are the general characters of these insects. The body is oblong oval, con- vex, and generally of a brownish color ; the antenniie are nine or more connnonly ten jointed, the knob is much hunger in the males than in the females, and consists generally of three leaf-like pieces, sometimes of a greater number, wliich open and shut hke the leaves of a book ; the visor is short and wide ; the ujjper jaws are furnished at the base on the inner side with an oval space, crossed by ridges, like a millstone, for grinding ; the thorax is transversely square, or nearly so ; the wing-cases do not cover the wdiole of the body, the hinder extremity of which is exposed , the legs ai^e rather long, the first pair armed externally with two or three teeth ; and the claws are notched beneath, or are split at the end like the nib of a pen. The powxn-ful and horny jaws are admirably HABITS OF THE COCKCHAFER. 27 fitted for cutting and grinding the leaves of })lants, upon which these beetles subsist ; their notched or double claws support them securely on the foliage ; and their strong and jagged fore-legs, being formed for digging in the ground, point out the place of their transformations. The habits and transformations of the common cockchafer of Europe have been carefully observed, and will serve to exemplify those of the other insects of this family, which, as far as they are known, seem to be nearly the same. This insect devoui's the leaves of trees and shrubs. Its duration in the perfect state is very short, each individual living only about a week, and the species entirely disa}>pearing in the course of a month. After the sexes have paired, the males perish, and the females enter the earth to the depth of six inches or more, making their way by means of the strong teeth which arm the fore-legs ; here they deposit their eggs, amounting, according to some writers, to nearly one hundred, or, as others assert, to two hundred fi-om each female, which are abandoned by the })arent, who generally ascends again to the surface, and perishes in a short time. From the eggs are hatched, in the space of fourteen days, little whitish giiibs, each provided with six legs near the head, and a mouth furnished with strong jaws. When in a state of rest, these grubs usually curl themselves in the shape of a crescent. They subsist on the tender roots of various plants, conmiitting ravages among these vegetable substances, on some occasions of the most deplorable kind, so as totally to disappoint the best-founded hopes of the husbandman. During the summer they live under the thin coat of vegeta- ble mould near the surface, but, as winter approaches, they descend below the reach of frost, and remain torpid until the succeeding spring, at which time they change their skins, and reascend to the surface for food. At the close of their third summer (or, as some say, of the fourth or fifth) they cease eating, and ])enetrate about two feet deep into the earth ; there, by its motions from side to side, each grub forms an 28 C 0 L E 0 P T !•: K A . oval cavity, which is hnecl by some ghitinoiis substance thrown from its mouth. In this cavity it is changed to a pupa by casting off its skin. In this state, the legs, antennte, and wing-cases of tlie future beetle are visible through the transparent skin wliich envelops them, but appear of a yel- lowish-white color ; and thus it remains until the month of February, when the thin film wliich encloses the body is rent, and three months afterwards the perfected beetle digs its way to the surface, from which it finally emerges during the night. According to Kirby and Spence, the gi-ubs of the cockchafer sometimes destroy whole acres of grass by feeding on its roots. They undermine the richest meadows, and so loosen the turf that it will roll up as if cut by a turfing spade. They do not confine themselves to grass, but eat the roots of wheat, of other grains, and also those of young trees. About seventy years ago, a farmer near Norwich, in England, suffered much by them, and, with his man, gathered eighty bushels of the beetles. In the year 1785 many provinces in France were so ravaged by them, that a premium Avas offered by govern- ment for the best mode of destroying them. The Society of Arts in London, during many years, held forth a premium for the best account of this insect, and the means of check- ing its ravages, but without having produced one successflil claimant. In their winged state, these beetles, with several other species, act as conspicuous a part in injuring the trees as the grubs do in destroying the herbage. During the month of May they come forth from the ground, whence they have received the name of May-bugs, or May-beetles. They pass the greater part of the day upon trees, chnging to the under- sides of the leaves, in a state of repose. As soon as evening approaches, they begin to buzz about among the branches, and continue on the wing; till towards midnioht. In their droning flight they move very irregularly, darting hither and thither with an uncertain aim, hitting against objects in their way with a force that often causes them to fall to the ground. FOOD OF ANIMALS AND BIRDS. 29 They fi'equently enter houses in the night, apparently attract- ed, as well as dazzled and bewildered, by the lights. Their vagaries, in which, without having the power to harm, they seem to threaten an attack, have caused them to be called dors, — that is, darers ; while their seeming blindness and stupidity have become proverbial, in the expressions, "• blind as a beetle," and " beetle-headed." Besides the leaves of fruit-trees, they devour those of various forest-trees and shrubs, wdth an avidity not much less than that of the locust, so that, in certain seasons, and in particular districts, they become an oppressive scourge, and the source of much misery to the inhabitants. Mouffet relates that, in the year 1574, such a number of them fell into the river Severn as to stop the wheels of the water-mills ; and, in the Philosophical Transactions, it is stated, that in the year 1688 they filled the hedges and trees of Galway, in such infinite numbers as to cling to each other like bees when swarming ; and, when on the wing, darkened the air, annoyed travellers, and produced a sound like distant drums. In a short time the leaves of all the trees, for some miles rovmd, were so totally consumed by them, that at midsummer the country wore the aspect of the depth of winter. Another chafer, Anomala vitis F. is sometimes exceedino'lv injurious to the vine. It prevails in certain provinces of France, where it strips the vines of their leaves, and also devours those of the willow, poplar, and fi'uit-trees. The animals and birds appointed to check the ravages of these insects are, according to Latreille, the badger, weasel, marten, bats, rats, the common dung-hill fowl, and the goat- sucker or night-hawk. To this list may be added the com- mon crow, which devours not only the perfect insects, but their larv«, for which purpose it is often observed to follow the plough. In " Anderson's Recreations " it is stated, that " a cautious observer, having found a nest of five young jays, remarked that each of these birds, while yet very young, consumed at least fifteen of these fiill-sized grabs in one day. 30 C 0 L E 0 P T E R A . and of course would require many more of a smaller size. Say that, on an a^'erage of sizes, they consumed twenty apiece, these for the five make one hundred. Each of the parents consume say fifty ; so that the pair and family devour two hundred every day. This, in three months, amounts to twenty thousand in one season. But as the grub continues in that state four seasons, this single pair, with their family alone, without reckoning their descendants after the first year, would destroy eighty thousand grubs. Let us suppose that the half, namely, forty thousand, are females, and it is known that they usually lay about two hundred eggs each, it will appear, that no less than eight millions have been destroyed, or prevented from being hatched, by the labors of a single family of jays. It is by reasoning in this way, that we learn to know of what importance it is to attend to the economy of nature, and to be cautious how w^e derange it by our short-sighted and fotile operations." Our own country abounds with insect-eating beasts and birds, and without doubt the more than abundant IMelolonthas form a portion of their nourishment. We have several Melolonthians whose injuries in the perfect and grub state approach to those of the Eu- Fig. 10. ^ ^^ ropean cockchafer. Phyllophaga * quercina of Knoch, the May-beetle, as it is generally called here, is our common species. (Fig- 10.) It is of a chestnut^brown color, smooth, but finely punctured, that is, covered with little impressed dots, as if pricked with the point of a needle ; each wing-case has two or * A genus proposed by me in 1826. It signifies leaf-eater. Dejean subse- quently called this genus Ancylonycha.^ [3 The genus Phyllophaga was indeed proposed by Dr. Harris, but was not accompanied by any description; it must therefore yield to the name Lachnosterna of Hope, described in 1837 Burmeister has improperly adopted for the gen\is the name given by Dejean, but which was not sanctioned by a description until 1845. It is a very numerous genus, and many of the species resemble each other very closely. — Lec] DESTRUCTION OF THE MAY-BEETLE. 31 three slightly elevated longitudinal lines ; the breast is clothed with yellowish down. The knob of its antennee contains only three leaf-like joints. Its average length is nine tenths of an inch. In its perfect state it feeds on the leaves of trees, jiarticularly on those of the cherry-tree. It flies with a hum- ming noise in the night, fi'om the middle of May to the end of June, and fi-equently enters houses, attracted by the light. In the course of the spring, these beetles are often thrown from the earth by the spade and plough, in various states of maturity, some being soft and nearly white, their supera- bundant juices not having evaporated, while others exhibit the true color and texture of the perfect insect. The grubs de- vour the roots of grass and of other plants, and in many places the turf may be turned up like a carpet in consequence of the destruction of the roots. The grub* is a white worm with a brownish head, and, when fully grown, is nearly as thick as tlie little finger. It is eaten greedily by crows and fowls. The beetles are devoured by the skunk, whose bene- ficial foraging is detected in our gardens by its abundant ex- crement filled with the wing-cases of these insects. A writer in the " New York Evening Post " says, that the beetles, which fi-equently commit serious ravages on fruit- trees, may be effectually exterminated by shaking them fi-om the trees every evening. In this way two pailfiils of beetles were collected on the first experiment ; the number caun-ht regularly decreased until the fifth evening, when only two beetles were to be found. The best time, however, for shak- ing trees on which the May-beetles are lodged, is in the morning, when the insects do not attempt to fly. They are most easily collected in a cloth spread under the trees to re- ceive them when they fall, after which they should be thrown into boiling water to kill them, and may then be given as food to swine. * There is a grub, somewhat resembhng this, which is frequently found under old manure-heaps, and is commonly called muck-worm. It diflers, however, in some respects, from that of the May-beetle, or dor-bng, and is transformed to a dung-beetle called Scai-abceus vdiclus by Mr. Say. 32 COLEOPTERA, Fig. 11. There is an undescribed kind of PhyllophMga, or leaf-eater, called, in my Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts,* fra- terna, because it is nearly akin to the quercina, in general appearance. It differs from the latter, however, in being smaller, and more slender ; the punctures on its thorax and winor-covers are not so distinct, and the three elevated lines on the latter are hardly visible. It measures thirteen twentieths of an inch in length. This beetle may be seen in the latter part of June and the beginning of July. Its habits are similar to those of the more abundant May-beetle or dor bug. Another common Phylhphaga has been described by Knoch and Say, mider the name of hirtieula (Fig. 11), meaning a little hairy. It is of a bay- brown color, the punctures on the thorax are larger and more distinct than in the quercina, and on each wing-cover are three longitudinal rows of short, yellowish hairs. It measures about seven tenths of an inch in length. Its time of appearance is in June and July. In some parts of Massachusetts the Phyl- lophaga Georgicana (Fig. 12) of Gyllenhal, or Georgian leaf-eater, takes the place of the quereina. It is extremely common, during May and June, in Cambridge, where the other species is rarely seen. It is of a bay- brown color, entirely covered on the upper side with very short, yellowish gray hairs, and measures seven tenths of an inch, or more, in length. * In order to save unnecessary repetitions, it may be well to state, that the Catalogue above named, to which frequent reference will be made in the course of this treatise, was drawn up by me, and was published in Professor Hitchcock's Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts, and that two editions of it appeared with the Report, the first in 1833, and the sec- ond, with numerous additions, in 1835. POLYPHYLLA VARIOLOSA. 33 PhyllopTiaga pilosicollis (Fio;. 13) of Knoch, or tlie liaiiy- Fig. 13. Fig. 14. necked leat-eater, is a small chafer, of an ochre-vellow color, with a very hairy tho- rax. It is often thro^yn out of the ground bv the spade, early in the spring ; but it does not voluntarily come forth till the middle of May. It measures half an inch in length. Hentz's 3Ielolontha variolosa'^ (Fig. 14), or scarred Melolontha, differs essentially from the foregoing beetles in the structure of its antennas, the knob of which consists of seven narrow, strap-shaped ochre-yellow leaves, Avhich are excessively long in the males. This fine insect is of a light brown color, with irregular whitish blotches, like scars, on the thorax and Aving-covers. It measures nine tenths of an inch, or more, in length. It occurs abundantly, in the month of July, at Martha's Vineyard, and in some other places near the coast ; but is rare in other parts of Massachusetts. The foregoing IMelolonthians are found in gardens, nur- series, and orchards, where they are more or less injurious to the fruit-trees, in proportion to their numbers in ditierent seasons. They also devour the leaves of various forest-trees, such as the elm, maple, and oak. Omaloplia^ vespertina (Plate II. Fig. 14) of Gyllenhal, and sericea of Illiger, attack the leaves of the sweetbrier, or sweet- leaved rose, on which they may be found in proftision in the evening, about the last of June. They somewhat resemble the May-beetles in form, but are proportionally shorter and [4 Melolontha variolosa. This insect belongs to the genus Polyphjlla, proposed by Dr. Harris, and now adopted by all entomologists. — Lec] [5 OmalopUa. The species here mentioned, with all the other allied American species, belong rather to Serica of M'Leay, than to true Omalojilia, which is thus far confined to the other continent. — Lec] 5 3-1 C 0 L E 0 1' T E R A . thicker, and much smaller in size. The first of them, the vespertine or evening Omaloplia, is bay-brown ; the wing- covers are marked wdth many longitudinal shallow furrows, which, with the thorax, are thickly punctured. This beetle varies in length from three to four tenths of an inch. Oma- loplia sericea, the silky Omaloplia, closely resembles the pre- ceding in eveiything but its color, which is a very deep chestnut-brown, iridescent or changeable like satin, and re- flecting the colors of the rainbow. All these Melolonthians are nocturnal insects, never ap- pearing, except liy accident, in the day, during which they remain under shelter of the foliage of trees and shrubs, or concealed in the grass. Others are truly day-fliers, commit- ting their ravages by the light of the sun, and are conse- quently exposed to observation. One of our diurnal Melolonthians is supposed by many nat- uralists to be the Anomala varians (Fig. 15) of Fabricius ; and it agrees very well with this writer's description of the lucicola ; but Professor Germar thinks it to be an unde- scribed species, and proposes to name it coe- lebs. It resembles the vine-chafer of Europe in its hal)its, and is found in the months of June and July on the cultivated and Avild gi'ape-vines, the leaves of which it devours. During the same period, these chafers may be seen in still gi'eater numbers on various kinds of sumach, which they often completely despoil of their leaves. They are of a broad oval shape, and very variable in color. The head and thorax of the male ai'e greenish black, margined with dull ochre or tile-red, and thickly punctured ; the wing-covers are clay-yellow, irregu- larly furrowed, and punctured in the furrows ; the legs are pale red, brown, or black. The thorax of the female is clay- yellow, or tile-red, sometimes with two oblique blackish spots on the top, and sometimes almost entirely black ; the wing- covers resemble those of the male ; the legs are clay-yellow, THE COMMON ROSE-CHAFER. 35 or licrlit red. The males are sometimes entirely black, and this variety seems, to be the beetle called atrata^ by Fabricius. The males measure nearly, and the females rather more than seven twentieths of an inch in length. In the year 1825, these insects appeared on the grape-vines in a garden in this vicinity ; they have since established themselves on the spot, and have so much multiplied in subsequent 3'ears as to prove exceedingly hurtfal to the vines. In many other gardens they have also appeared, having probably found the leaves of the cultivated grape-vine more to their taste than their natu- ral food. Should these beetles increase in numbers, they Avill be found as difficult to check and extirpate as the destructive vine-chafers of Europe. The rose-chafer, or rose-bug, as it is more commonly and incorrectly called, is also a diurnal insect. It is the ^jg ^,3 Melolontha suhspinosa (Fig. 16) of Fabricius, by whom it was first described, and belongs to the modern genus Macrodactylus of Latreille. Common as this insect is in the vicinity of Boston, it is, or was a few vears ago, unknown in the northern and Avestern parts of Massachusetts, in New Hampshire, and in Maine. It ma^', therefore, be well to give a brief description of it. This beetle measures seven twentieths of an inch in length. Its body is slender, tapers before and Ijehind, and is entirely covered with very short and close ashen-yellow down ; the thorax is long and narrow, angularly widened in the middle of each side, which suggested the name subsjn- 7iosa, or somewhat spined ; the legs are slender, and of a pale red color ; the joints of the feet are tipped with black, and are very long, which caused Latreille to call the genus Macrodactylus, that is, long toe, or long foot. The natural history of the rose-chafer, one of the greatest scourges with which our gardens and nurseries have been afflicted, was for a long time involved in mystery, but is at last fally cleared up.* The prevalence of this insect on the * See my Essay in the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Jonrniil. 36 COLEOPTERA. rose, and its annual appearance coinciding with the blossom- intv of that flower, have gained for it the popular name by which it is liere known. For some time after they were iirst noticed, rose-bugs appeared to be confined to their favorite, the blossoms of the rose ; but Avithin forty years they have ])rodi«nously increased in number, have attacked at random various kinds of plants in swarms, and have become notorious for their extensive and deplorable ravages. The grape-vine in particular, the cherry, plum, and apple trees, have annu- ally suffered by their depredations ; many other fruit-trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and even the trees of the forest and the grass of the fields, have been laid under contribution by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, fiowers, and fruits are alike consumed. The unexpected arrival of these insects in swarms, at their first coming, and their sudden disappearance at the close of their career, are remarkable facts in their history. They come forth from the ground during the second Aveek in June, or about the time of the blossoming of the damask rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. At the end of this period the males become exhausted, fall to the ground and perish, Avhile the females enter the earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, and, after lingering a few days, die also. The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in number, and are deposited from one to four inches beneath the sur- face of the soil ; they are nearly globular, whitish, and about one thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. The young larvse begin to feed on such tender roots as are within their reach. Like other grubs of the Scaraba-ians, when not eating they lie upon the side, with the body curved, so that the head and tail Vol. X. p. 8, reprinted in the New England Farmer, Vol. VI. p. 18, &c.: my Dis- course before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, p. 31, 8vo, Cambridge, 1832; Di-. Green's communication on this insect in the New England Farmer, Vol. VI. pp. 41, 49, &c. ; my Report on Insects Injurious to Vegetation, in Massa- chusetts House Document, No. 72, April, 1838, p. 70; and a communication in the New England Farmer, Vol. IX. p. 1. THE COMMON ROSE-CHAFER. 37 are nearly in contact ; they move with difficulty on a level surface, and are continually falling over on one side or the other. They attain their fiill size in the autumn, being then nearly three quarters of an inch long, and about an eighth of an inch in diameter. They are of a yellowish-white color, with a tinge of blue towards the hinder extremity, which is thick, and obtuse or rounded ; a few short hairs are scattered on the surface of the body ; there are six short legs, namely, a pair to each of the first three rings behind the head, and the latter is covered with a horny shell of a pale rust color. In October they descend below the reach of fi'ost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring they approach towards the surface, and each one forms for itself a little cell of an oval shape, by turning round a great many times, so as to compress the earth and render the inside of the cavity hard and smooth. Within tins cell the grub is transformed to a pupa, during the month of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed downwards in folds from the head to the tail. The pupa has somewhat the form of the per- fected beetle ; but it is of a yellowish-white color, and its short stump-like wings, its antennae, and its legs are folded upon the breast; and its whole body is enclosed in a thin film, that wraps each part separately. During the month of June this filmy skin is rent, the included beetle withdraws fi'om its body and its limbs, bursts open its earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus the various changes, from the egg to the full development of the per- fected beetle, are completed within the space of one year. Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it is evident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, or the pupa state ; the enemy in these stages is beyond our reach, and is subject to the control only of the natural l)ut unknown means appointed by the Author of Nature to keep the insect tribes in check. When they have issued from their subterranean retreats, and have congregated upon our vines, trees, and other vegetable productions, in the com})lete 38 COLEOPTERA. enjoyment of their propensities, we must miite our eftbrts to seize and crush the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scakled, or burned, to deprive them of hfe, for they are not affected by any of the apphcations usually found destructive to other insects. Experience has proved the utility of gather- ing them by hand, or of shaking them or brushing them fi'om the i)lants into tin vessels containing a little water. They should be collected daily during the period of their visitation, and should be committed to the flames or killed by scalding water. The late John Lowell, Esq., states,* that in 1823 he discovered, on a solitary apple-tree, the rose-bugs " in vast numbers, such as covild not be described, and would not be believed if they were described, or, at least, none but an ocular witness could conceive of their numbers. Destruction by hand was out of the question," in this case. He put sheets under the tree, and shook them down, and burned them. Dr. Green, of Mansfield, Avhose investigations have thrown much light on the history of this insect, proposes protecting plants with millinet, and says that in this way only did he succeed in securing his grape-vines from depredation. His remarks also show the utility of gathering them. " Eighty- six of these spoilers," says he, "' were known to infest a single rose-bud, and were crushed with one grasp of the hand." Suppose, as was probably the case, that one half of them were females ; by this destruction, eight hundred eggs, at least, were prevented from becoming matured. During the time of their prevalence, rose-bugs are some- times found in immense numbers on the flowers of the com- mon white-weed, or ox-eye daisy ( Oltrysanilmnum leucanthe- 7)Ufm)^ a worthless plant, which has come to us from Euro])e, and has been suffered to overrun our pastures and encroach on oiu- mowing-lands,. In certain cases it may become ex])e- dient rapidly to mow down the infested white-weed in dry * Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, Vol. IX. p. 145. THE FLOWER-BEETLES. 89 pastvires, and consume it, Avitli the sluggish rose-buds, on the spot. Ovir insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of these insects, and deserve to be cherished and protected for their services. Rose-bugs are also eaten greedily by domesticated fowls ; and when they become exhausted and tall to the ground, or when they are about to lay their eggs, they are destroyed by moles, insects, and other animals, which lie in wait to seize them. Dr. Green informs us, that a s})ecies of dragon-fly, or devil's-needle, devours them. He also says that an insect, which he calls the enemy of the cut-worm, probably the larva of a Carabus or predaceous ground-beetle, preys on the grubs of the common dor-bug. In France the golden ground-beetle (^Carabus auratus} devours the female dor or chafer at the moment when she is about to deposit her eggs. I have taken one specimen of this fine ground-beetle in ^Massachusetts, and we have several other kinds, equally predaceous, which probably contribute to check the increase of our native Melolonthians. Very few of the flower-beetles are decidedly injurious to vegetation. Some of them are said to eat leaves ; l)ut the greater number live on the pollen and the honey of flowers, or upon the sap that oozes from the wounds of plants. In the infant or grub state, most of them eat only the ciiimbled substance of decayed roots and stumps ; a few live in the wounds of trees, and by their depredations prevent them fi'om healing, and accelerate the decay of the trunk. The flower-beetles belong chiefly to a group called Ceto- NIAD.E, or Cetonians. They are easily distingTiished from the other Scaraba-ians by their lower jaAvs, which are generally soft on the inside, and are often provided with a flat brush of hairs, that serves to collect the pollen and juices on which they subsist. Their upper jaws have no grinding plate on the inside. Their antennfH' consist of ten joints, the last three of which form a three-leaved oval knob. The head is often square, with a large and wide visor, overhanging and entirely 40 coleoptj:ra. concealing the upper lip. The thorax is either rounded, some- what squai'e, or triangular. The wing-cases do not cover the end of the body. The fore legs are deeply notched on the outer edge ; and the claws are equal and entire. These beetles are generally of an oblong oval form, somewhat flat- tened above, and often brilliantly colored and highly polished, sometimes also covered with hairs. Most of the bright- colored kinds are day-fliers ; those of dark and plain tints are generally nocturnal Ijeetles. Some of them are of im- mense size, and have been styled the princes of the beetle tribes ; such are the Incas of South America, and the Goliah beetle (^IIe(jeinon G-oliatus) of Guinea, the latter being more than four inches long, two inches broad, and thick and heavy in proportion. Tavo American Cetonians must suflice as examples in this group. The first is the Indian Cetonia, Cetonia Inda * (Fig. IT), one of our earliest visitors in the spring, making its appearance towards the end of April or the beginning of May, when it may sometimes be seen in considerable numbers around the borders of woods, and in dry, open fields, fly- inir iust above the m'ass with a loud humming sound, like a humble-bee, for which perhaps it might at first sight be mis- taken. Like other insects of the same genus, it has a broad body, A^ery obtuse behind, with a triangular thorax, and a little wedge-shaped piece on each side between the hinder angles of the thorax and the shoulders of the Aving-covers ; the latter, taken together, form an oblong square, but are somcAvhat notched or Avidely scalloped on the middle of the outer edges. The head and thorax of this beetle are dark copper-broAvn, or almost black, and thickly covered Avith short greenish-yelloAv hairs ; the Aving-cases are light yelloAvisli- * Scarabmus Indus of Liiinceus, Cetonia hnrhaia of Say.^ [* Cetonia Inda. The old genus Cetonia has been divided recently into many genei-a, some of which have again been merged together by later investigators; our species belong to the one called Euryomia, as enlarged by Lacordaire. — Lec] THE AMERICAN CETONIANS. 41 brown, bvxt changeable, with pearly and metallic tints, and spattered with numerous irregular black spots ; the under- side of the body, which is very hairy, is of a black color, with the edges of the rings and the legs dull red. It measures about six tenths of an inch in length. Durino- the summer months the Indian Cetonia is not seen ; but about the middle of September a new brood comes forth, the beetles appearing fresh and bright, as though they had just completed their last transformation. At this time they may be found on the flowers of the golden-rod, eating the pollen, and also in oi-eat numbers on corn-stalks, and on the trunks of the locust-tree, feeding upon the sweet sap of these plants. Fortunate would it be for us if they fed on these only ; but their love of sweets leads them to attack our finest peaches, which, as soon as ripe, they begin to devoiir, and in a very few hours entirely spoil. I have taken a dozen of them from a single peach, into which they had burrowed so that nothing but the naked tips of their hind-body could be seen ; and not a ripe peach remained unljitten by them on the tree. When touched, they leave a strong and disagreeable scent upon the fingers. On the approach of cold weather they disappear, but I have not been able to ascertain what becomes of them at this time, and only conjecture that they get into some warm and sheltered spot, where they pass the winter in a torpid state, and in the spring issue fi'om their retreats, and finish their career by depositing their eggs for another brood. Those that are seen in the spring want the freshness of the autumnal beetles, a circumstance that favors my conjecture. Their hovering over and occasionally dropping upon the surface of the ground, is probably for the purpose of selecting a suitable place to enter the earth and lay their eggs. Hence I suppose that their larvffi or grubs may live on the roots of herbaceous plants. The other Cetonian beetle to be described is the Osmo- derma scaher* or rough Osmoderma (Fig. 18). It is a large * Trichms scaber, Palisot de Beauvois; Gymnodus scaber, Kirbj'. 6 42 C 0 L E 0 P T E R A . insect, with a Ijroad, o\'al, and flattened l)ody ; the thorax is nearly round, but wider than long ; there are no wedge-shaped pieces be- tween the corners of the thorax and the shoulders of the wing-cases, and the outer edges of the latter are en- tire. It is of a purplish-black color, with a coppery lustre ; the head is punctured, concave or hollowed on the top, w^ith the edge of the Ijroad visor turned xi\) in the males ; nearly flat, and with the edge of the visor not raised in the females ; the wing-cases are so thickly and deeply and irregularly punctured as to appear almost as rough as shagreen ; the under-side of the body is smooth and without hairs ; and the legs are short and stout. In addition to the differences betw^een the sexes above described, it may be mentioned that the females are generally much larger than the males, and often want the coppery polish of the latter. They measure from eight tenths of an inch to one inch and one tenth in length. They are nocturnal insects, and conceal themselves during the day in the crevices and hollows of trees, where they feed upon the sap that flows fi-om the bark. They have the odor of Russia leather, and give this out so powerfully that their ])resence can be detected, by the scent alone, at the distance of two or three yards from the place of their retreat. This strong smell suggested the name Osmoderma, that is, scented skin, given to these beetles by the French naturalists. They seem particularly fond of the juices of cherry and apple trees, in the hollows of which I have often discovered them. Their larviB live in the hollows of these same trees, feeding upon the diseased wood, and causing it more rapidly to de- cay. They are whitish fleshy grvibs, with a reddish hard- shelled head, and closely resemble the grubs of the common dor-beetle. In the autumn each one makes an oval cell or pod, of fragments of wood, strongly cemented with a kind THE LUC A NI AN BEETLES. 43 Fi-. 19. of glue ; it goes through its transformation within this cell, and comes forth in the beetle form in the month of July. We have another scented beetle, equal in size to the pre- ceding, of a deep mahogany-brown color, perfectly smooth, and highly polished, and the male has a deep pit before the middle of the thorax. This species of Osmodenna is called eremicola * (Fig. 19), a name that cannot be rendered literally into Eng- lish by any single word ; it signifies wil- derness-inha])itant, for which might be substituted hermit. I believe that this in- sect lives in forest-trees, but the lar^a is £ i. unknown to me. The family Lucanid^e, or Lucanians, so named from the Linngean genus Lucanus, must be placed next to the Scara- bceians in a natural arrangement. This family includes the insects called stag-beetles, horn-bugs, and flying-bulls, names that they have obtained from the great size and peculiar form of their upper jaws, which are sometimes curved like the horns of cattle, and sometinxes branched like the antlers of a stag. In these beetles the body is hard, oblong, rounded behind, and slightly convex ; the head is large and broad, especially in the males ; the thorax is short, and as wide as the abdomen ; the antennjii are rather long, elbowed or bent in the middle, and composed of ten joints, the last three or four of which are broad, leaf-like, and project on the inside, giving to this part of the antenniB a resemljlance to the end of a key ; the upper jaws are usually much longer in the males than in the females, but even those of the latter ex- tend considerably beyond the mouth ; each of the itnder jaws is provided Avith a long hairy pencil or brush, which can be seen projecting beyond the mouth between the feelers ; and the under lip has two shorter pencils of the same kind ; the * Cetonia eremicola of Knoch. 44 COLEOPTERA fore legs are oftentimes longer than the others, with the outer edge of the shanks notched into teeth ; the feet are five- jointed, and the nails are entire and equal. These beetles fly abroad during the night, and frequently enter houses at that time, somewhat to the alarm of the occupants ; but they are not venomous, and never attempt to bite without provo- cation. They pass the day on the trunks of trees, and live upon the sap, for procuring which the brushes of their jaws and lip seem to be designed. They are said also occasionally to bite and seize caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects, for the purpose of sucking out their juices. They lay their eggs in crevices of the bark of trees, especially near the roots, where they may sometimes be seen thus emploved. The larva? hatched from these eo-as resemble the m-ubs of the Scarabitians in color and form, but they are smoother, or not so much wrinkled. The grubs of the large kinds are said to be six years in comincr to their srowth, living all this time in the trunks and roots of trees, boring into the solid wood, and reducing it to a substance resembling very coarse sawdust ; and the injury thus caused by them is frequently very considerable. When they have arrived at their full size, they enclose themselves in egg-shaped pods, composed of gnawed particles of wood and bark stuck to- gether and lined with a kind of glue ; within these pods they are transformed to pupae, of a yellowish- white color, having the body and all the limbs of the ftiture beetle encased in a whitish film, which being thrown off in due time, the insects appear in the beetle form, burst the walls of their prison, crawl through the passages the larvaj had gnawed, and come forth on the outside of the trees. The largest of these beetles in the New England States was first described by Linna'us, under the name of Lucanus Capreolus * (Fig. 20), signifying the young roebuck ; but here it is called the horn-bug. Its color is a deep mahogany- * Lucanus Dama of Fabricius. THE SEREICORN BEETLES. 45 Fig. 20. brown ; tlie surface is smooth and polished ; the iipper jaws of the male are long, curved like a sickle, and furnished internally beyond the middle with a little tooth ; those of the female are much shorter, and also toothed ; the head of the male is broad and smooth, that of the other sex nar- rower and rough with punctures. The body of this beetle measures from one inch to one inch and a quarter, exclusive of the jaws. The time of its appearance is in July and the beginning of Au- gust. The grubs live in the trunks and roots of various kinds of trees, but particularly in those of old apple-trees, willows, and oaks. All the foregoing beetles have, by some naturalists, been gathered into a single tribe, called lamelli- corn or leaf-horned beetles, on account of the leaf-like joints wherewith the end of their antennse is provided. The beetles next to be described have been brought to- gether into one great tribe, named serricorn or saw-horned beetles, because the tips of the joints of their antennae usually project more or less on the inside, somewhat like the teeth of a saw. The beetles belonging to the family Buprestidje, or the Buprestians, have antennae of this kind. The Bupres- tis of the ancients, as its name signifies in Greek, was a poi- sonous insect, which, being swallowed with grass by grazing cattle, produced a violent inflammation, and such a degree of swelling as to cause the cattle to burst. Linngeus, how- ever, unfortunately applied this name to the insects of the above-mentioned family, none of which are poisonous to ani- mals, and are rarely, if ever, found upon the gi-ass. It is in allusion to the original signification of the word Buprestis^ that popular English writers on natural history sometimes give the name of burncow to the harmless Buprestians ; while 46 COLEOPTERA. the French, with greater propriety, call them riehanU, on account of the rich and brilliant colors wherewith many of them are adorned. The Buprestians, then, according to the Linna?an application, or rather misapplication, of the name, are hard-shelled beetles, often brilliantly colored, of an elli}> tical or oblong oval form, obtuse before, tapering behind, and broader than thick, so that, when cut in two transversely, the section is oval. The head is sunk to the eyes in the fore part of the thorax ; and the antennae are rather short, and notched on one side like the teeth of a saw. The thorax is broadest behind, and usually fits very closely to the shoulders of the wing-covers. The legs are rather short, and the feet are formed for standing firmly, rather than for rapid motion ; the soles being composed of four rather wide joints, covered with little spongy cushions beneath, and terminated by a fifth joint, which is armed with two claws. Most beetles, as already stated, have a little triangular piece, called the scutel, wedged between the bases of the wing-covers and the hind(?r part of the thorax, commonly of a triangidar or semicircular form, and in the greater number of coleopterous insects quite conspicu- ous ; in the Buprestians, however, the scutel is generally very small, and sometimes hardly perceptible. These beetles are frequently seen on the trunks and limbs of trees basking in the sun. They walk slowly, and, at the approach of danger, fold up their legs and antennae and fall to the ground. Being furnished with ample wings, their flight is swift, and attended with a whizzing noise. They keep concealed in the night, and are in motion only during the day. The larvne are wood-eaters or borers. Our forests and orchards are more or less subject to their attacks, especially after the trees have passed their prime. The transforma- tions of these insects take place in the trunks and limbs of trees. The larva; that are known to me have a close resemblance to each other ; a general idea of them can be formed from a description of that which attacks the pig-nut hickory (Fig. 21). It is of a yellowish- white color, very FOREST-TREE BORERS. 47 long, narrow, and depressed in form, but alnniptly widened near the anterior extremity. The head is brownish, j,. 21 small, and sunk in the fore part of the first segment ; the upper jaws are provided with three teeth, and are of a black color ; and the antennae are very short. The segment which receives the head is short and transverse ; next to it is a large oval seg- ment, broader than long, and depressed or flattened above and beneath. Behind this, the segments are very much narrowed, and become gradually longer ; but are still flattened, to the last, which is terminated by a rounded tubercle or wart. There are no legs, nor any apparatus which can serve as such, except two small warts on the under-side of the second segment from the thorax. The motion of the grub appears to be effected by the alternate contractions and elongations of the segments, aided, perhaj^s, by the tubercu- lar extremity of the body, and by its jaws, with which it takes hold of the sides of its burrow, and thus draws itself along. These grubs are found under the bark and in the solid wood of trees, and sometimes in great numbers. They frequently rest with the body bent sidewise, so that the head and tail approach each other. This posture those found under bark usually assume. They appear to pass several years in the larva state. The pupa bears a near resemblance to the per- fect insect, but is entirely white, until near the time of its last transformation. Its situation is immediately under the bark, the head being directed outwards, so that, when the pu})a-coat is cast off", the beetle has merely a thin covering of bark to perforate, before making its escape from the tree. The form of this perforation is oval, as is also a transverse section of the burrow, that shape being best adapted to the form, motions, and egress of the insect. Some of these beetles are known to eat leaves and flowers, and of this nature is probably the food of all of them. The injury they may thus commit is not A-ery apparent, and can- not bear any comparison with the extensive ravages of their 48 colp:optera. larvae. The solid trunks and limbs of sound and vigorous trees are often bored through in various directions by these insects, which, during a long-continued life, derive their only nourishment from the woody fragments they devour. Pines and firs seem particularly subject to their attacks, but other forest-trees do not escape, and even fruit-trees are frequently injured by these borers. The means to be used for destroy- ing them are similar to those employed against other borers, and will be explained in a subsequent part of this essay. It may not be amiss, however, here to remark, that woodpeckers are much more successful in discovering the retreats of these borers, and in dragging out the defenceless culprits from their burrows, than the most skilful gardener or nurseryman. The laroest of these beetles in this part of the United States is the Buprestis (^Chalcoijliord) Vir- ginica (Fig. 22) of Drury, or Virginian Buprestis. It is of an oblong oval form, brassy, or copper-colored ; sometimes almost black, with hardly any metallic reflections. The upper side of the body is roughly punc- tured ; the top of the head is deeply in- dented ; on the thorax there are three pol- ished black elevated lines ; on each wing-cover are two small square impressed spots, a long elevated smooth black line near the outer, and another near the inner margin, with sev- eral short lines of the same kind between them ; the under- side of the body is sparingly covered with short whitish down. It measures from eight tenths of an inch to one inch or more in length. This beetle appears towards the end of May, and through the month of June, on pine-trees and on fences. In the larva state it bores into the trunks of the different kinds of pines, and is oftentimes very injurious to these trees. The wild cherry-tree (^Prunus serotina), and also the garden cherry and peach trees, suffer severely from the at- tacks of borers, which are transformed to the beetles called Buprestis (^Dicerca) divaricata by Mr. Say, because the wing- T H E B U P R E S T I A N S . 49 covers divaricate or spread apart a little at the tips. (Plate II. Fig. 7.) These beetles are copper-colored, sometimes brassy above, and thickly covered with little punctures ; the thorax is slightly furrowed in the middle ; the wing-covers are marked with numerous fine irregular impressed lines and small oblong square elevated black spots ; they taper very much behind, and the long and narrow tips are blunt-pointed ; the middle of the breast is furrowed ; and the males have a little tooth on the under-side of the shanks of the inter- mediate legs. They measure from seven to nine tenths of an inch. These beetles may be fovmd sunning themselves upon the limbs of cherry and peach trees during the months of June, July, and August. The borer of the hickory has already been described. It is transformed to a beetle which appears to be yjg the Buprestis {iJicercci) lurida * (Fig. 23) of Fabricius. It is of a lurid or dull brassy color above, bright copper beneath, and thickly punc- tured all over ; there are numerous irregular impressed lines, and several narrow elevated black spots on the wing-covers, the tip of each of which ends with two little points. It measures fi-om about six to eight tenths of an inch in length. This kind of Buprestis appears during the greater part of the summer on the franks and limbs of the hickory. Buprestis ( Clirysohothris) dentijjes f (Fig. 24) of Germar, so named fi'om the little tooth on the under-side jj^ 04. of the thick fore legs, inhabits the trunks of oak- trees. It completes its transformations and comes out of the trees between the end of INIay and the first of July. It is oblong, oval, and flattened, of a bronzed brownish or purplish-black color above, copper-colored beneath, and rough like shagreen with * Bu])?-estis obscuro, F., found in the Middle and Southern States, closely resem- bles the lurida. t Buprestis charaderistica, Harris. N. E. Farmer, Vol. VIII. p. 2. 7 50 C 0 L E 0 1' T K IJ A . numerous punctures ; the thorax is not so wide as the hinder part of the body, its liinder margin is hollowed on both sides to receive the rounded base of each wing-cover, and there are two smooth elevated lines on the middle ; on each wino;- cover there are three irregular smooth elevated lines, which are divided and interrupted by large thickly punctured im- pressed spots, two of which are oblique ; the tips are round- ed. Length from one half to six tenths of an inch. Buprestis (^Chysobotkris') femorata (Fig. 25) of Fabricius Fig. 25. bas the first pair of thighs toothed beneath, like the preceding, which it resembles also in its form and general appearance. It is of a gTecnish-black color above, with a brassy polish, which is very distinct in the two large transverse im})ressed spots on each wing-cover ; and the thorax has no smooth elevated lines on it. It measures from four tenths to above half of an inch in length. Its time of appearance is from the end of May to the middle of July, during which it may often be seen, m the middle of the day, resting upon or flying round the trunks of white-oak trees, and recently cut timber of the same kind of wood. I have repeatedly taken it upon and under the bark of peach-trees also. The grubs or larv;i} bore into the trunks of these trees. The Buprcstis (^Chrysohotliris) fulvoguttata* (Fig. 26), or Fig 26. tawny-spotted Buprestis, first described by me in the eiffhtli volume of the " New England Farm- er," is proportionally shorter and more convex than the two foregoing species. It is black and bronzed above, and brassy beneath ; the thorax is covered with very fine wavy transverse lines, and is some- * Mr. Kirby has re-described and figured this insect under the name of Biipreslis ( Trnchypteris) Brummondl, in the fourth volume of the " Fauna Boreah- Ameri- cana." '7 [7 Buprestis (Chnjsobothris) fulvoguttntn does not belong to Chrysobothris but to Melanophila, Esch. The anterior thighs are not armed with a tooth, and the base of the thorax is truncate. — Lec] THE SPRING-BEETLES. 51 times copper-colored ; the wing-covers are thickly punctured ; and on each there are three small tawny yellow spots, with sometimes an additional one by the side of the first spot ; the tips are rounded, and the fore legs are not toothed. It varies very much in size, measuring ft"om about three to four tenths of an inch in length. I have taken this insect ■from the trunks of the white pine in the month of June, and have seen others that were found in the Oregon Territory. Professor Hentz has described a small and broad beetle having the form of the above, under the name of Bnprestis (^Chrysohothis) Harrisii. (Plate II, Fig. 2.) It is entii'ely of a brilliant blue-green color, except the sides of the thorax, and the thighs, which in the male are copper-colored. It meas- ures a little more than three tenths of an inch in length. The larvse of this species inhabit the small limbs of the white pine, and young sapling trees of the same kind, upon which I have repeatedly captured the beetles about the middle of June. These seven species form but a very small part of the Bu- prestians inhabiting INIassachusetts and the other New Eng- land States. My knowledge of the habits of the others is not sufficiently perfect to render it worth while to insert descrip- tions of them here. The concealed situation of the grubs of these beetles, in the trunks and limbs of trees, renders it very difficult to discover and dislodge them. When trees are found to be very much infested by them, and are going to decay in consequence of the ravages of these borers, it will be better to cut them down, and burn them immediately, rather than to suffer them to stand until the borers have completed their transformations and made their escape. Closely related to the Buprestians are the Elaters, or spring-beetles, (Elaterid.e,) which are well known by the faculty they have of throwing themselves upwards with a jerk, when laid on their backs. On the under-side of the breast, between the bases of the first pair of legs, there is a short blunt spine, the point of which is usually concealed in 52 c 0 L E 0 p T p: R A . a corresponding cavity behind it. Wlien the insect, by any accident, falls upon its back, its legs are so short, and its back is so convex, that it is unable to turn itself over. It then folds its legs close to its body, bends back the head and thorax, and thus unsheathes its breast-spine ; then, by suddenly straightening its body, the point of the spine is made to strike with force upon the edge of the sheath, which gives it the* power of a spring, and reacts on the body of the insect, so as to throw it perpendicularly into the air. When it again falls, if it does not come down upon its feet, it repeats its ex- ertions imtil its object is effected. In these beetles the body is of a hard consistence, and is usually rather narrow and tapering behind. The head is sunk to the eyes in the fore part of the thorax ; the antenna? are of moderate length, and more or less notched on the inside like a saw. The thorax is as broad at the base as the wing-covers ; it is usually rounded before, and the hinder angles are sharp and promi- nent. The scutel is of moderate size. The legs are rather short and slender, and the feet are five-jointed. The larvffi or grubs of the Elaters live upon wood and roots, and are often very injurious to vegetation. Some are confined to old or decaying trees, others devour the roots of herbaceous plants. In England they are called wire-worms, from their slenderness and uncommon hard- ness. They are not to be confounded with the American wire-worm, a species of lulus, which is not a tnie insect, but belongs to the class Myriapoda, a name derived from the great number of feet with which most of the animals included in it are furnished ; whereas the English wire-worm has only six feet. The Euroj^ean Avire-worm is said to live, in its feeding or larva state, not less than five years ; dimng the greater part of which time it is supported by devouring the roots of wheat, rye, oats, and grass, annually causing a large diminution of the produce, and sometimes destroying whole crops. It is said to be particularly injurious in gar- dens recently converted from pasture lands. We have THE SPRING-BEETLES. 53 several grubs allied to this destructive insect, which are quite common in land newly broken up ; but fortunately, as yet, their ravages are inconsiderable. We may expect these to increase in proportion as we disturb them and de- prive them of their usual articles of food, while we continue also to persecute and destroy their natural enemies, the birds, and may then be obliged to resort to the ingenious method adopted by European farmers and gardeners for alluring and capturing these grabs. This method consists in strew- ing sliced potatoes or turnips in rows through the garden or field ; women and boys are employed to examine the slices every morning, and collect the insects Avhich readily come to feed upon the bait. Some of these destructive insects, which I have found in the ground among the roots of plants, were long, slender, worm-like grubs, closely resembling the com- mon meal-worm ; they were nearly cylindrical, with a hard and smooth skin, of a buff or brownish-yellow color, the head and tail only being a little darker; each of the first three rings was provided with a pair of short legs ; the hind- most ring Avas longer than the preceding one," was pointed at the end, and had a little pit on each side of the extremitv ; beneath this part there was a short retractile wart, or proj>- leg, serving to support the extremity of the body, and prevent it from trailing on the ground. Other grubs of Elaters differ from the foregoing in being proportionally broader, not cy- lindrical, but somewhat flattened, with a deep notch at the extremity of the last ring, the sides of which are beset with little teeth. Such grubs are mostly wood-eaters, devouring the woody parts of roots, or living under the bark and in the tninks of old trees. After their last transformation, Elaters or spring-beetles make their appearance upon trees and fences, and some are found on flowers. They creep slowly, and generally fall to the ground on being touched. They fly both l)y day and night. Their food, in the beetle state, appears to l)e chiefly derived fi'om flowers ; but some devour the tender leaves of plants. 64 COLE OPT ERA. FiK. 27. The largest of our spring-beetles is the Elater (^Alaus) oculatus of Linnams (Fig. 27). It is of a black color ; the thorax is oblong- square, and nearly one third the length of the whole body, covered above with a whitish powder, and with a large oval velvet-black spot, like an eye, on each side of the middle, from which the in- sect derives its name, oculatus, or eyed ; the wing-covers are marked with slen- der longitudinal impressed lines, and are sprinkled with numerous white dots ; the under-side of the body, and the legs, are covered with a white mealy powder. This large beetle measures from one inch and a quarter to one inch and three quarters in length. It is found on trees, fences, and the sides of buildings, in June and July. It undei'goes its transformations in the trunks of trees. I have found many of them in old apple-trees, together with their larvae, which eat the wood, and from which I subsequently obtained the insects in the beetle state. These larva? are reddish-yellow grubs, proportionally much broader than the other kinds, and very mvich flattened. One of them, which was found frilly grown early in April, measured two inches and a half in length, and nearly four tenths of an inch across the mid- dle of the body, and was not much narrowed at either ex- tremity. The head was broad, brownish, and rough above ; the upper jaws or nippers were very strong, cmwed, and pointed ; the eyes were small and two in number, one being placed at the base of each of the short antennre ; the last segment of the body was blackish, rough with little sharp- pointed warts, with a deep semicircular notch at the end, and furnished around the sides with little teeth, the two hindmost of which were long, forked, and curved upwards like hooks : under this semnent was a large retractile fleshy prop-foot, armed behind with little claws, and around the THE SPEING-BEETLES. 55 sides with short spines ; the true legs were six, a pair to each of the first three rings ; and were tipped with a single claw. Soon after this grub Avas found, it cast its skin and became a pupa, and in due time the latter was transformed to a beetle. Mater {Pi/rojjhorus} noctUucus, the night-shining Elater, is the celebrated cucuio or fire-beetle of the West Indies, from whence it is frequently brought alive to this country. It resembles the preceding insect somewhat in form, and is an inch or more in length. It gives out a strong light from two transparent eye-like spots on the thorax, and from the segments of its body beneath. It eats the pulpy substance of the sugar-cane, and its grub is said to be very injvirious to this plant, by devouring its roots. The next two common Elaters, together with several other species, are distinguished by their claws, which resemble lit- tle combs, being fiirnished with a row of fine teeth along the under-side. The thorax is short and rounded before, and the body tapers behind. They are found under the bark of trees, where they pass the winter, having completed their transformations in the previous autumn. Their grubs live in wood. The first of these beetles is the ash-colored Elater, Elater (^Melanotus) cinc- reus of Weber (Fig. 28). It is about six tenths of an inch long, and is dark brown, but covered with short gray hairs, which give it an ashen hue ; the thorax is convex, and the Aving-covers are marked with lines of punctures, resembling stitches. It is found on fences, the trunks of trees, and in paths, in April and INIay. Elater (^Melanotus) commimis of Schonherr, is, as its name implies, an exceedingly common and abundant species. It closely resembles the preceding, but is smaller, seldom ex- ceeding half an inch in lencrth : it is also rather lighter colored ; the thorax is proportionally a little longer, not so convex, and has a slender longitudinal furrow in the middle. oG COLEOPTERA. This Elater appears in the same places as the cinereus in April, May, and June ; and the recently transformed beetles can also be found in the autumn under the bark of trees, where they pass the winter. Another kind of spring-beetle, which absolutely swarms in paths and among the grass during the warmest and brightest days in April and jNIay, is the Elater (^Ludius) app-essifrons of Say. Its specific name probably refers to the front of the head or visor being pressed downwards over the lip. The body is slender and almost cylindrical, of a deep chestnutr- brown color, rendered gray, however, by the numerous short yellowish hairs with which it is covered ; the thorax is of moderate length, not much narrowed before, convex above, with very long and sharp-pointed hinder angles, and in cer-- tain lights has a brassy hue ; the wing-covers are finely punc- tured, and have very slender impressed longitudinal lines upon them ; the claws are not toothed beneath. This beetle usually measures from four to five tenths of an inch in length ; but the females frequently greatly exceed these di- mensions, and, being much more robust, with a more convex thorax, were supposed by Mr. Say to belong to a different species, named by him hrevicornis^ the short-horned. The larvae are not yet known to me ; but I have strong reasons for thinking that they live in the ground, upon the roots of the perennial grasses and other herbaceous plants. Although above sixty different kinds of spring-beetles are Fig. 29. now known to inhabit Massachusetts, I shall add to the foregoing a description of only one more species. This is the Elater (^Agnates) obesus^ of Say (Fig. 29). It is a short and thick beetle, as the specific name implies ; its real color is a dark brown, but it is covered with dirty yellowish-gray hairs, which on the wing- covcrs are arranged in longitudinal stripes ; the head and [8 Elater (Agriotes) obesus. I am inclined to believe this species to be the Ela- ter 7)iancus, Say, and not his E. obesus, which is now entirely unknown. — Liic] THE TIMBER-BEETLES. 57 thorax are thickly punctured, and the wing-covers are punc- tured in rows. Its length is about three tenths of an inch. This beetle closely resembles one of the kinds which, in the grub state, is called the wire-worm in Europe, and pos- sibly it may be the same. This circumstance should put us on our guard against its depredations. It is found in April, May, and June, among the roots of grass, on the under-side of boards and rails on the ground, and sometimes also on fences. The utility of a knowledge of the natural history of in- sects in the practical arts of life was never more strikingly and triumphantly proved than l)y Liniif^us himself, who, Avhile giving to natural science its language and its laws, neglected no opportunity to point out its economical advan- tages.* On one occasion this great naturalist was consulted by the King of Sweden upon the cause of the decay and destruction of the ship-timber in the royal dock-yards, and, having traced it to the depredations of insects, and ascer- tained the history of the depredators, by directing the timber to be sunk under water during the season when these insects made their appearance in the winged state, and were busied in laying their eggs, he effectually secured it from fiiture attacks. The name of these insects is Lymcxylon navale, the naval timber-destroyer. They have since increased to an alarming extent in some of the dock-yards of France, and in one of them, at least, have become very injurious, wholly in consequence of the neglect of seasonable advice given by a naval officer, who was also an entomologist, and pointed out the source of the injury, together with the remedy to be applied. * See the Prefiice to Smith's " Introduction to Botany," and Pulteney's " View of tlie Writings of Linnaeus," for several examples, one of which it may not be amiss to mention here. Linnaeus was the first to point out the advantages to be derived from employing the Arumlo arenaria, or beach-grass, in fixing the sands of the shore, and thereby preventing the encroachments of the sea. The Dutch have long availed themselves of his suggestion, and its utility has been tested to some extent in Massachusetts. 58 COLEOPTERA. These destructive insects belong to 502. THE BLIGHT-BEETLE. 89 followed hj tlie immediate death of the part aflFected. This kind of blight, as it has been called, being oftenest confined to a single branch, or to the extremity of a branch, seems to be a local affection only. It ends Avith the death of the branch, down to a certain point, but does not extend below the seat of attack, and does not affect the health of other parts of the tree. In June, 181G, the Hon. John Lowell, of Roxburj, discovered a minute insect in one of the affected limbs of a pear-tree ; afterwards, he repeatedly detected the same insects in blasted limbs, and his discoveries have been confirmed by jNIr. Henry AVheeler and the late Dr. Oliver Fiske, of Worcester, and by many other persons. j\Ir. Low- ell submitted the limb and the insect contained therein to the examination of Professor Peck, who gave an account and figure of the latter, in the fourth volume of the " jNIassa- chusetts Agricultiaral Repository and Journal." From this account, and from the subsequent communica- tion bv i\Ir. Lowell, in the fifth volume of the " New Eno;- land Farmer," it appears that the grul) or larva of the insect eats its way inward through the alburnum or sap-wood into the hardest part of the Avood, beginning at the root of a l)ud, behind which probably the egg was deposited, following the course of the eye of the bud towards the pith, around which it passes, and part of which it also consumes ; thus forming, after penetrating through the alburnum, a circular burroAv or passage in the heart-Avood, contiguous to the pith Avliich it svuTounds. By this means the central vessels, or those AAdiich couA'ey the ascending sap, are diAaded, and the circula- tion is cut ofi". This takes place Avhen the increasing heat of the atmosphere, producing a greater transpiration from the leaves, renders a large and continued floAv of sap necessary to supply the CA^aporation. For the Avant of this, or from some other unexplained cause, the Avhole of the limb aboA^e the seat of the insect's oj^erations suddenly Avithers, and })enshes during the intense heat of midsunnner. Tlie lavAa is changed to a pupa, and subsequently to a little beetle, in 12 90 C 0 L E 0 P T E R A . the bottom of its burrow, makes its escape from the tree in the latter part of Jmic, or beginning of Jnly, and probably deposits its eggs before August has passed. This insect, which may be called the hlight-heetle, from the injury it occasions, attacks also apple, apricot, and plum trees, though less frequently than pear-trees. In the latter part of May, IS-tS, a piece of the blighted limb of an apple-tree was sent to me for examination. It was twenty-eight inches in length, and three quarters of an inch in diameter at the lower end. Its surface bore the marks of twenty buds, thirteen of which were perforated by the insects ; and from the burrows within I took twelve of the blight-beetles in a 'living and perfect condition, the thirteenth insect having previously been cut out. On the 9th of July, 1844, the Hon. M. P. Wilder sent to me a piece of a branch from a plum-tree, which contained, within the space of one foot, four nests or branching burrows, in each of which several insects in the grub and chrysalis state were found, and also one that had completed its transformations. Soon afterwards I caught one of the blight-beetles on a plum-tree, probably about to lay her eggs. In the following month of August, I received a blighted branch of an apricot-tree, one inch in diameter at the largest end, and containing, Avithin the short distance of six inches, seven or eight perfect blight-beetles, each in a separate burrow, and vestiges of other burrows that had been destroyed in cutting the branch.* This little beetle, which is only one tenth of an inch in length, was named Scolytus Pyri^ the pear-tree Scolytus, by Professor Peck. It is of a deep brown color, with the antennas and legs of the color of iron-rust. The thorax is short, very convex, rounded and rough before ; the Aving- covers are minutely punctured in rows, and slope off very suddenly and obliquely behind ; the shanks are widened and flattened towards the end, beset with a few little teeth * See my coininunications on these insects in the Massachusetts I'loui^hnian lor June 17, 1843. Also Downing's Horticulturist for February, 1848, Vol. II. p. 365. THE BOSTRICHIANS, 91 externally, and end with a short hook; and the jonits ot the feet" are slender and enth'e. This insect cannot he retained in the crenus Scoli/tus, as defined by modern nat- uralists, but is t; be placed in the genus To nue as ^ Ihe minuteness of the msect, the difficulty attendmg the discov- ery of the precise seat of its operations before it has ett tlie tree and the small size of the aperture through which it makes its escape from the limb, are probably the reasons why it has eluded the researches of those persons who disbelieve^ in its existence as the cause of the blasting of the limbs o. the pear-tree. It is to be sought for at or near the lowes.^ part of the diseased limbs, and in the immediate vicinity o. Ihe buds situated about that part. The remedy, suggested by Mr Lowell and Professor Peck, to prevent other limbs and trees from beincv subsequently attacked in the same way, consists in cutting off the blasted limb heloiv the seat of injury, and burning it hfore the perfect insect has made its escape. It will therefore be necessary carefully to examme our pear- trees daily, during the month of June, and watch for the first indication of disease, or the remedy may be applied too late to prevent the dispersion of the insects among other trees. _ There are some other beetles, much like the preceding m form, whose c^rubs bore into the solid wood of trees. They were formerly included among the cylindrical bark-beetles, but have been separated from them recently, and now form the flimilv B0STRICHID.E, or Bostrichians. Some of these beetles ar'e of large size, measuring more than an inch m length, and, in the tropical regions where they are fouml, must prove very injurious to the trees they inhabit. Tlie bodv in these beetles is hard and cylindrical, and generally of a black color. The thorax is bulging before, and the head is sunk and almost concealed under the projecting fore part of it. The antenna are of moderate length, and end with three large joints, which are saw-toothed internally. The larvae are mostly wood-eaters, and are whitisli fleshy cmbs, wrinkled on the back, furnished with six legs, and 92 C 0 L E 0 P T E R A . resemble in fonn the grubs of some of the small Scara- bseians. The shagbark or walnut tree is sometimes infested by the grabs of the red-shouldered Apate, or Apate hasiUaris of Say, an insect of this family. The grabs bore diametrically thi-ough the tranks of the walnut to the very h6art, and undergo their transformations in the bottom of their l)ur- rows. Several trees have fallen under my observation wliich have been entirely killed by these insects. The beetles are of a deep black color, and are jumctured all over. The thorax is very convex and rough before ; the wing-covers are not excavated at the tip, but they slope downwards verv suddenly behind, as if ol)li(juely cut off, the outer edge of the cut portion is armed with three little teeth on each Aving- cover, and on the base or shoulders there is a large red spot. This insect measures one fifth of an inch or more in length. The most powei-hd and destructive of the wood-eating insects are the grubs of the long-horned or Capricorn-beetles (Ceramhyc'ID^), called borers by way of distinction. There are manv kinds of borers which do not belono; to this tribe. Some of them have already been described, and others will be mentioned under the orders to which they belong. Those now under consideration differ much from each other in their habits. Some live altogether in the trunks of trees, others in the limbs ; some devour the wood, others the pith ; some are found only in shrubs, some in the stems of herbaceous plants, and others are confined to roots. Certain kinds are limited to ])lants of one species, others live indiscriminately upon sevei'al plants of one natural family ; but the same kind of l)orer is not known to inhabit plants differing essen- tially from each other in their natural characters. As might be expected from these circumstances, the beetles produced from these borers are of many different kinds. Nearly one hundred species have been foiind in Massachusetts, and p'.'obably many more remain to be discovered. The Capricorn-beetles agree in the following respects. THE C A r R I C 0 R N - B E E r L E S . 93 The aiiteniiiB are long and tapering, and generally curved like the horns of a goat, which is the origin of the name above gi^•en to these beetles. The body is oblong, a})})roach- ing to a cylindrical form, a little flattened above, and taper- ino; somewhat behind. The head is short, and armed with powerful jaws. The thorax is either square, barrel-shaped, or narrowed before ; and is not so wide behind as the wing- covers. The legs are long ; the thiiihs thickened in the middle ; the feet four-jointed, not formed for rapid motion, but for standing securely, being broad and cushioned beneath, with the third joint deeply notched. Most of these beetles remain upon trees and shrubs during the daytime, but fly abroad at night. Some of them, however, fly by day, and may be found on flowers, feeding on the pollen and the blossoms. When annoyed or taken into the hands, they make a squeaking sound by nibbing the joints of the thorax and abdomen together. The females are generally larger and more robust than the males, and have rather shorter antenuie. Moreover, they are provided with a jointed tube at the end of the body, capable of being extended or draAvn in like the joints of a telescope, by means of which they convey their eggs into the holes and chinks of the bark of plants. The larvai hatched from these eggs are long, whitish, fleshy grubs, with the transverse incisions of the body very deeply marked, so that the rings are very convex or hunched both above and below. The body tapers a little behind, and is blunt-pointed. The head is much smaller than the first ring, slightly bent downwards, of a horny consistence, and is provided with short but very powerful jaws, by means whereof the insect can bore, as with a centre-bit, a cylindri- cal passage through the most solid wood. Some of these borers have six very small legs, namely, one pair under each of the first three rings ; but most of them want even these short and imperfect limbs, and move through their bur- rows by alternate extension and contraction of their bodies. 9-4 COLEOPTEEA. on each or on most of the rings of which, hoth aliove and below, there is an oval space covered with little elevations, somewhat like the teeth of a fine rasp ; and these little oval rasps, which are designed to aid the grubs in their motions, fully make up to them the want of proper feet. Some of these borers always keep one end of their burrows open, out of which, from time to time, they cast their chips, resembling coarse sawdust ; others, as fast as they proceed, fill up the passages behind them with their castings, well known here by the name of powder-post. These borers live fi'om one year to three or perhaps more years before they come to their growth. They undergo their transfor- mations at the furthest extremity of their burrows, many of them previously gnawing a passage through the wood to the inside of the bark, for their future escape. The pupa is at first soft and whitish, and it exhibits all the parts of the future, beetle under a filmy veil which in wraps every limb. The wings and legs are folded upon the breast, the long antennse are turned back against the sides of the body, and then bent forwards between the legs. When the beetle has thrown off its pupa-skin, it gnaws away the thin coat of bark that covers the mouth of its burrow, and comes out of its dark and confined retreat, to breathe the fresh air, and to enjoy for the first time the pleasure of sight, and the use of the legs and wings with which it is provided. The Capricorn-beetles have been divided into three fami- lies, corresponding with the genera Prionus^ Ceramhyx^ and Leptura of Linneeus. Those belonging to the first family are generally of a brown color, have flattened and saw- toothed or beaded antennee of a moderate length, project- ing jaws, and kidney-shaped eyes. Those in the second have eyes of the same shape, more slender or much longer antennae, and smaller jaws ; and are often variegated in their colors. The beetles belonging to the third family are readily distinguished by their eyes, which are round and prominent. These three families are divided into many THi; PRIONIANS. 95 smaller groups and genera, the peculiarities of which cannot be particularly pointed out in a work of this kind. The Prionians, or Pkionid^, derive their name from a Greek word signifying a saw, which has been applied to them either because the antennas, in most of these beetles, consists of flattened joints, projecting internally somewhat like the teeth of a saw, or on account of their upper jaws, Avhich sometimes are very long and toothed within. It is said that some of the beetles thus armed can saw off lartre limbs by seizing them between their jaws, and flying or whirling sidewise rov^nd the enclosed limb, till it is completely divided. The largest insects of the Capricorn tribe belong to this family, some of the tropical species measuring five or six inches in length, and one inch and a half or two inches in breadth. Their larvaj are broader and more flattened than the grubs of the other Capricorn-beetles, and are provided with six very short legs. When about to be transformed, they collect a quantity of tlieir chips around them, and make therewith an oval ])od or cocoon, to enclose themselves. Our largest species is the broad-necked Prionus (Fig. 44), Prionus laticollis* of Drury, its first describer. It is of a long oval shape and of a pitchy-black color. The jaws, though short, are very thick and strong ; tlie an- tennce are stout and saw-toothed in the male, and more slender in the other sex ; the thorax is short and wide, and armed on the lat- eral edges with three teeth ; the wing-covers have three slightly elevated lines on each of them, and arc rough with a multitude of large punctures, which run to- gether irregularly. It measures Fig. 41. from one inch and one * Prionus iixvicoi-nis of Fabric ius. 96 COLEOPTEUA. eighth to one inch and three quarters in length ; the females being always much larger than the males. The grubs of this beetle, when folly grown, are as thick as a man's thumb. They live in the trunks and roots of the balm of gilead, Lombardy poplar, and probably in those of other kinds of poplar also. The beetles may fi'equently be seen upon, or flying round, the trunks of these trees in the month of July, even in the daytime, though the other kinds of Prionus generally fly only by night. The one-colored Prionus, Prionus unicolor * '^^ of Drury Fig. 45. (F^&' 45), inhabits pine-trees. Its body is long, narrow, and flattened, of a light bay-brown color, with the head and an- tennse darker. The thorax is very short, and armed on each side with three sharp teeth ; the wing-covers are nearly of equal breadth throughout, and have three slightly ele- vated ribs on each of them. This beetle measures from one inch and one quarter to one incli and a lialf in length, and abovit three or four tenths of an inch in breadth. It flies by night, and frequently enters houses in the evening, from the middle of July to Sejitember. The second family of the Capricorn-beetles may be allowed to retain the scientific name, Cerambycid,e, of the tribe to which it belongs. The Cerambycians have not the very prominent jaws of the Prionians ; their eyes are always kidney-shaped or notched for the reception of the first joint of the antenna;, which are not saw-toothed, but generally * P. cylindrkus of Fabricius. [1" This species was very properly separated by Servillo as a distinct genus Orthoioma. — Lec] THE BANDED STENOCORUS. 97 slender and tapering, sometimes of moderate length, some- times excessively long, especially in the males ; the thorax is longer and more convex than in the preceding family, not thin-edged, but often rounded at the sides. Some of these beetles, distinguished by their narrow wing- covers, which are notched or armed with two little thorns at the tip, and by the great length of their antennas, belong to the genus Stenocorus, a name signifying narrow or straitened. One of them, which is Fig. 46. rare here, inhabits the hickory, in its larva state forming long galleries in the trunk of this tree in the direction of the fibres of the wood. This beetle is the Stenocorus (^Ceras- plioruis) ductus,* or band- ed Stenocorus (Fig 46). It is of a hazel color, with a tint of gray, arising from the short hairs with which it is covered ; there is an oblique ochre-yellow band across each wing-cover ; and a short spine or thorn on the middle of each side of the thorax. The antennse of the males arc more than twice the length of the body, which measures from three quarters of an inch to one inch and one quarter in length. The ground beneath black and white oaks is often ob- served to be strewn Avith small branches, neatly severed from these trees as if cut oft' with a saw. Upon splitting open the cut end of a branch, in the autumn or winter after it has fallen, it will be found to be perforated to the extent of six or eight inches in the course of the pith, and a slender grub, the author of the mischief, will be discovered therein. In * Cerambijx cinctus, Drury; Stenocorus gar gankus, Fabricius. 13 98 COLEOPTERA. Fig. 48. the spring tins grub is transfoniied to a pupa, and in June or July it is changed to a beetle, and comes out of the branch. i'i". 47. '^'^^^ history of this insect was first made public by Professor Peck,* who called it C '^^P^ ) t^i*^ oak-pruner, or Stenocorus (^Elaphiclmi) putator (Fig 47). ^^ In its adult state it is a slender long-horned beetle, of a dull brown color, sprinkled with gray spots," composed of very short close hairs ; the antennse are longer than the body in the males, and equal to it in length in the other sex, and the 'third and fourth joints are tipped with a small spine or thorn ; the thorax is barrel- shaped, and not spined at the sides ; and the scutel is yellow- ish-white. It varies in length from four and a half to six tenths of an inch. It lavs its eo-gs in July. Each egg is placed close to the axilla or joint of a leaf-stalk or of a small twig, near the extremity of a branch. The grub (Fig 48) hatched from it penetrates at that spot to the pith, and then continues its course towards the body of the tree, devouring the pith, and there- by forming a cylindrical burrow, several inches in leno;th, in the centre of the branch. Having reached its foil size, which it does towards the end of the summer, it divides the branch at the lower end of its burrow (Fig 49, pupa), by gnawing away the wood transversely from within, leaving only the ring of bark untouched. It then retires backwards, stops up the end of its hole, near the transverse section, with fibres of the wood, and awaits the lldl of the branch, which is usually broken off and pre- Pupa. cipitated to the ground by the autumnal winds. * Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal, Vol. V., with a plate. [ 11 This species was previously described by Fabricius as Stenocorus villosus, which specific name must therefore be preserved. — Lec ] FiR. 49. THE CAPRICORN-BEETLES. 99 The leaves of the oak are rarely shed before the branch falls, and thus serve to break the shock. Branches of five or six feet in length and an inch in diameter are thns severed by these insects, a kind of prnning that must be injurious to the trees, and should be guarded against if possible. By collecting the fallen branches in the autumn, and burning them before the spring, we prevent development of the beetles, while we derive some benefit from the branches as fhel. It is somewhat remarkable that, while the pine and fir tribes rarely suffer to any extent from the depredations of caterpillars and other leaf-eating insects, the resinous odor of these trees, offensive as it is to such insects, does not prevent many kinds of borers from burrowing into and de- stroying their trunks. Several of the Capricorn-beetles, while in the grub state, live only in pine and fir trees, or in timber of these kinds of wood. They belong chiefly to the genus Callidium, a name of unknown or obscure origin. Their antennae are of moderate length ; they have a somewhat flattened body; the head nods forward, as in Steno corns ; the thorax is broad, nearly circular, and somewhat flattened or indented above ; and the thighs are very slender next to the body, but remarkably thick beyond the middle. The larvae are of moderate length, more flattened than the grubs of the other Capricorn-beetles, have a very broad and horny head, small but powerful jaws, and are provided with six extremely small legs. They undermine the bark, and per- forate the wood in variovis directions, often doing immense injury to the trees, and to new buildings, in the lumber composing which they may happen to be concealed. Their burrows are wide and not cylindrical, are very winding, and are filled up with a kind of compact sawdust as fast as the insects advance. The larva state is said to contiime two years, during which period the insects cast their skins several times. The sides of the body in the pupa are thin-edged, and finely notched, and the tail is forked. 100 C 0 L E 0 P T E R A . One uf the most common kinds of Cidlldium found here is a flattish, rusty-black beetle, with some dow]iy whitisli spots across the middle of the wing-covers ; the thorax is nearly circular, is covered with fine whitish down, and has two elevated polished black points upon it ; and the wing- covers are very coarsely punctured. It measures from four tenths to three quarters of an inch in length. This insect is the CaUidium hajulus (Plate II. Fig. VI) ; the second name, meaning a porter, was given to it by Linnaeus, on account of the Avhitish patch which it bears on its back. It inhabits fir, spruce, and hemlock wood and lumber, and may often be seen on wooden buildings and fences in July and August. We are informed by Kirby and Spence, that the grubs sometimes greatly injure the wood-work of houses in Lon- don, piercing the rafters of the roofs in every direction, and, when arrived at maturity, even penetrating through sheets of lead Avhich covered the place of their exit. One piece of lead, only eight inches long and four broad, contained twelve oval holes made by these insects, and fragments of the lead were found in their stomachs. As this insect is now com- mon in the maritime parts of the United States, it was probably first brought to this country by vessels from Eu- rope. The violet Callidium, CaUidium violaceimi,* ^^ (Plate II. Fig. 11, J) is of a Prussian blue or violet color ; the thorax is transversely oval, and downy, and sometimes has a greenish tincre ; and the wing-covers are roush with thick irreoular punctures. Its length varies from four to six tenths of an inch. It may be found in great abundance on piles of pine wood, from the middle of May to the first of June ; and the larvae and pupge are often met with in splitting the wood. They live mostly just under the bark, Avhere their broad and winding tracks may be traced by the hardened sawdust with * Cerambyx violaceus of Linnajus. [ 12 Our species is considered different from the European CnlUdium rinlaceum, under the niime C. antennaium, Newman. — Lkc] THE CAPRICORN -BEETLES. 101 Avliich tliey are crowded. Just before they are about to be transformed, they bore into the sohd wood to the depth of several inches. They are said to be very injurious to the saphng pines in Maine. Professor Peck supposed this species of C'ahidium to have been introduced into Europe in timber exported from this country, as it is found in most parts of that continent that have been much connected with North America by navigation. Thus Europe and America seem to have interchanged the porter and violet Callidiiun, which, by means of shipping, have now become common to the two . continents. From the regularity of its form, and the noble size it attains, the sugar-maple is accounted one of the most beau- titiil of our forest-trees, and is esteemed as one of the most valuable, on account of its many usefid properties. This fine tree suffers much from the attacks of borers, which in some cases produce its entire destruction. We are indebted to the Rev. L. W. Leonard, of Dublin, N. H., for the first account of the habits and transformations of these borers. In the summer of 1828, his attention was called to some young maples, in Keene, which were in a languishing condi- tion. He discovered the insect in its beetle state under the loosened bark of one of the trees, and traced the recent track of the larva three inches into the solid wood. In the course of a few years, these trees, upon the cultiA'ation of which much care had been bestowed, were nearly destroyed by the borers. The failure, from the same cause, of sev- eral other attempts to raise the sugar-maple, has since come to my knowledge. The insects are changed to beetles, and come out of the trunks of the trees in July. In the vicinity of Boston, specimens have been repeatedly taken, Avhich were undoubtedly brought here in maple logs from Maine. The beetle was first described in 1824, in the Ap- pendix to Keating's " Narrative of Long's Expedition," by Mr. Say, wdro called it (Jhjtus speciosus ; that is, the beauti- ful Clytus. (Plate II. Fig. 15.) It was afterwards inserted, 102 COLEOPTERA. and accurately represented by the pencil of Lesueur, in Say's " American Entomolog}^," and, more recently, a description and figure of it have appeared in Griffith's translation of Cuvier's " Animal Kingdom," under the name of Cli/tus Hayii. The beautiful Clytus, like the other beetles of the genus to Avhich it belongs, is distinguished from a Callidium by its more convex form, its more nearly globular thorax, which is neither flattened nor indented, and by its more slender thighs. The head is yellow, with the antenna3 and the eyes reddish black ; the thorax is black, with two transverse yellow spots on each side ; the wing-covers, for about two thirds of their length, ai'e black, the remaining third is yellow, and they ax'e ornamented with bands and spots arranged in the following manner : a yellow s^sot on each shoulder, a broad yellow curved band or arch, of which the yellow scutel forms the key-stone, on the base of the wing- covers, behind this a zigzag yellow band forming the letter W, across the middle another yellow band arching back- wards, and on the yellow tip a curved band and a spot of a black color ; the legs are yellow ; and the under side of the body is reddish yellow, variegated with brown. It is the largest known species of Clytus, being from nine to eleven tenths of an inch in length, and three or four tenths in breadth. It lays its eggs on the trunk of the maple in July and Aufjust. The grubs burrow into the bark as soon as they are hatched, and are thus protected during the winter. In the spring they penetrate deeper, and form, in the course of the summer, long and winding galleries in the wood, up and down the trunk. In order to check their devastations, they should be sought for in the spring, when they will readily be detected by the sawdust that they cast out of their burrows ; and, by a judicious use of a knife and stiff wire, they may be cut out or destroyed before they have gone deeply into the wood. Many kinds of Clytus frequent flowers, for the sake of the THE PAINTED CLYTUS. 103 pollen, which they devour. Duiing the month of Septem- ber, the pamted Clytus, Cl//tus pietus* (yiiite II. Fig. 10,) is often seen in abmidance, feeding by day upon the blossoms of the golden-rod. If the trunks of our common locust-tree, Rohinia pseudacacia, are examined at tliis time, a still greater number of these beetles will be found upon them, and most often paired. The habits of this insect seem to have been known, as long ago as the year 1771, to Dr. John Reinhold Foster, who then described it under the name of Leptura liobinice, the latter being derived from the tree which it inhabits. Drury, however, had previously described and figured it, under the specific name here adopted, which, having the priority, in point of time, over all the others that have been subsequently imposed, must be retained. This Capricorn -beetle has the form of the beautiful maple Clytus. It is velvet-black, and ornamented Avith transverse yellow bands, of which there are three on the head, four on the thorax, and six on the wing-covers, the tips of which are also edged with yellow. The first and second bands on each wing-cover are nearly straight; the third band forms a V, or, united with the opj^osite one, a W, as in the speciosns ; the fourth is also angled, and runs upwards on tlie inner margin of the wing-cover towards the scutel ; the fifth is broken or interrupted by a longitudinal elevated line ; and the sixth is arched, and consists of three little spots. The antenna3 are dark brown ; and the legs are rust-red. These insects vary from six tenths to three quarters, of an inch in length. In the month of September these beetles gather on the locust-trees, where they may be seen glittering in the sun- beams with their gorgeous livery of black velvet and gold, coursing up and down the trunks in pursuit of their mates, or to drive away their rivals, and stopping every now and then to salute those they meet with a rapid bowing of the shoulders, accomj)anied by a creaking sound, indicative of * Lcpliirajncta, Drury; Clijitisjhxitosus, Fabricius. 104 COLEOPTEEA. recognition or defiance. Having paired, the female, attend- ed hj her partner, creeps over tlie bark, searching the crevices with her antennae, and drop])ing tlierein her snow- white eggs, in clusters of seven or eight together, and at intervals of five or six minutes, till her whole stock is safely stored. The eggs are soon hatched, and the grubs immedi- ately burrow into the bark, devouring the soft inner sub- stance that suflices for their nourishment till the approach of winter, during which they remain at rest in a torpid state. In the spring they bore through the sap-wood, more or less deeply into the trunk, the general course of their winding and irregular passages being in an upward direction from the place of their entrance. For a time they cast their chips out of their holes as Eist as they are made, but after a while the passage becomes clogged and the burrow more or less filled with the coarse and fibrous fragments of wood, to get rid of which the grubs are often obliged to open new holes through the bark. The seat of their operations is known by the oozing of the sap and the dropping of the sawdust from the holes. The bark around the part attacked begins to swell, and in a few years the trunks and limbs will become disfigured and weakened by large porous tumors, caused by the efforts of the trees to repair the injuries they have suffered. According to the observations of General H. A. S. Dearborn, who has given an excellent account* of this insect, the grubs attain their full size by the 20th of July, soon become pupas, and are changed to beetles and leave the trees early in September. Thus the existence of this species is limited to one year. Whitewashing, and covering the trunks of the trees with grafting composition, may prevent the female from deposit- ing her eggs upon them ; but this practice cannot be carried to any great extent in plantations or large nurseries of the trees. Perhaps it will be usefiil to head down young trees to the ground, with the view of destroying the grubs con- * Massachusetts Agricultural Kepository and Journal, Vol. VI. p. 272. THE TICKLER. 105 tallied in tliem, as well as to promote a more vigorous growth. Much evil might be prevented by employing chil- dren to collect the beetles while in the act of providing for the continuation of their kind, A common black bottle, con- taining a little water, would be a suitable vessel to receive the beetles as fast as they were gathered, and should be emptied into the fire in order to destroy the insects. The gathering should be begun as soon as the beetles first appear, and should be continued as long as any are found on the trees, and furthermore should be made a general business for several years in succession. I have no doubt, should this be done, that, by devoting one hour every day to this object, we may, in the course of a few years, rid ourselves of this destructive insect. The largest Capricoi"n-beetle, of the Cerambycian family, found in New England, is the Lamia (^3Ionohammus titiUator') of Fabricius (Fig. 50), or the tickler, so named probably on Fig. 50. account of the hal)it which it has, in common with most of the Capricorn-beetles, of gently touching now and then the surface on which it walks with the tips of its long anten- nae. Three or four of these beetles may sometimes be seen 14 106 COLEOPTERA. together in June and July, on logs or on the trunks of trees in the wocjJs, the males l)aying theu' covirt to the females, or contending "with their rivals, Avaving their antenme, and showing the eagerness of the contest or pursuit by their rapid creaking sounds. The head of the Lamias is vertical or perpendicular ; the antenna? of the males are much longer than the body, and taper to the end ; the thorax is cylindrical before and behind, and is armed on the middle of each side with a very large pointed wart or tubercle ; the tips of the wing-covers are rounded ; and the fore legs are longer than the rest, with broad hairy soles iu the males. The titillator is of a brownish color, variegated or mottled with spots of gray, and the wdng-covers, which are coarsely punctured, have also several small tufted black spots upon them ; the middle legs are armed Avith a small tooth on the upper edge ; the antennse of the male are twice as long as the body, and those of the other sex equal the body in length, which measures from one inch and one eighth to one inch and one quarter. What kind of tree the grub of this insect inhabits is unknown to me. Trees of the poplar tribe, both in Europe and America, are subject to the attacks of certain kinds of borers, ditfering essentially from all the foregoing when arrived at maturity. They belong to the genus Saperda. In the beetle state the head is vertical, the antennas are about the length of the body in both sexes, the thorax is cylindrical, smooth, and unarmed at the sides, and the fore legs are shorter than the others. Our largest kind is the tScypenla calcarata of Say (Plate II. Fig. 21), or the spurred Saperda, so named because the tips of the wing-covers end with a little sharp point or spur. It is covered all over Avith a short and close nap, which giA^es it a fine blue-gray color, it is finely punc- tured Avith broAvn, there are four ochre-yelloAV lines on the head, and three on the top of the thorax, the scutel is also ochre-yellow, and there are scA'cral irregular hues and spots THE TWO-STEIPED SAFER DA. 107 of the same color on the wing-covers. It is from one inch to an inch and a quarter in length. This beetle closely resembles the European Saperda cai'charias, which inhabits the poplar ; and the grubs of our native species, with those of the broad-necked Prionus, have almost entirely destroyed the Lombardy poplar in this vicinity. They live also in the trunks of our American poplars. They are of a yellowish- white color, except the upper part of the first segment, which is dark buff. When fally grown they measure nearly two inches in length. The body is very thick, rather larger before than behind, and consists of twelve segments separated irom each other by deep transverse furrows. The first seoment is broad, and slopes obliquely downwards to the head ; the second is very narrow ; on the upper and under sides of each of the following segments, from the third to the tenth inclusive, there is a transverse oval space, rendered rough like a rasp by minute projections. These rasps serve instead of legs, which are entirely wanting. The beetles may be found on the trunks and branches of the various kinds of poplars, in August and September ; they fly by nioht, and sometimes enter the open windows of houses in the evening. The borers of the apple-tree have become notorious, through- out the Xew England and Middle States, for their extensive ravao-es. They are the larvae of a beetle called Saperda Uvittata * by Mr. Say, the two-striped, or the brown and white striped Saperda (Plate II. Fig. IG) ; the upper side of its body being marked with two longitudinal white stripes between three of a light-brown color, while the face, the an- tennfB, the mider side of the body, and the legs are white. This beetle varies in length from a little more than one half to three quarters of an inch. ^ It comes forth from the trunks of the trees, in its perfected state, early in June, making its escape in the night, during which time only it uses its ample wings in going from tree to tree in search * Saperda Candida? Fabricius. 108 COLEOPTERA. of companions and food. In tlie daytime it keeps at rest among the leaves of tlie plants which it devours. The trees and shrubs principally attacked by this borer are the apple-tree, the quince, mountain ash, hawthorn and other thorn bushes, the June-berry or shad-bush, and other kinds of Amelanclder and Aronia. Our native thorns and Aronias are its natural food ; for I have discovered the larvas in the stems of these shrubs, and have repeatedly found the beetles upon them, eating the leaves, in June and July. It is in these months that the eggs are deposited, being laid upon the bark near the root, during the night. The larvas hatched therefrom are fleshy whitish grubs, nearly cylindrical, and tapering a little from the flrst ring to the end of the body. (Plate II. Fig. 17.) The head is small, horny, and brown ; the first rino- is much laro;er than the others, the next two are very short, and, with the first, are covered with punctures and very minute hairs ; the following rings, to the tenth inclusive, are each furnished, on the upper and under side, with two fleshy warts situated close together, and destitute of the little rasp-like teeth, that are usually found on the grubs of the other C-apricorn-beetles ; the eleventh and twelfth rings are very short ; no appearance of legs can be seen, even with a magnifying glass of high power. The grub, with its strong jaws, cuts a cylindrical passage through the bark, and pushes its castings backwards out of the hole from time to time, while it bores upwards into the wood. The larva state continues two or three years, during which the borer will be found to have penetrated eight or ten inches upwards in the trunk of the tree, its burrow at the end approaching to, and being covered only by, the bark. Here its transformation takes place. The pupa does not differ much from other pup?e of beetles ; but it has a trans- verse row of minute prickles on each of the rings of the back, and several at the tip of the abdomen. These prob- ably assist the insect in its movements, when casting off" its pupa-skin. The final change occurs about the first of June, THE COATED SAPERDA. 109 soon after wlilcli, the beetle ffiiaws through the bark that covers the end of its burrow, and comes out of its place of confinement in the night. Notwithstanding the pains that have been taken by some persons to destroy and exterminate these pernicious borers, they continue to reappear in our orchards and nurseries every season. The reasons of this arc to be found in the habits of the insects, and in individual carelessness. Many orchards suffer - deplorably fi'om the want of proper attention ; the trees are permitted to remain, year after year, without any pains being taken to destroy the numerous and various insects that infest them ; old orchards, especially, are neg- lected, and not only the rugged tninks of the trees, but even a forest of unpruned suckers around them, are left to the undisturbed possession and perpetual inheritance of the Saperda. On the means that have been used to destroy this borer, a few remarks only need to be made ; for it is evident that they can be folly successftil only when generally adopted. Killing it by a wire thrust into the holes it has made, is one of the oldest, safest, and most successful methods. Cutting out the grub, with a knife or gouge, is the most common practice ; but it is feared that these tools have sometimes been used without sufficient caution. A third method, which has more than once been suggested, consists in plugging the holes with soft wood. If a little camphor be previously inserted, this practice promises to be more effectual ; but experiments are wanting to confirm its expediency. The coated Saperda, or Saperda vestita (Plate II. Fig. 19), described by Mr. Say in the Appendix to Keating's Narrative of ]\Iajor Long's Expedition, resembles the foregoing species in form. It measures from six to eight tenths of an inch in length ; it is entirely covered with a close greenish-yellow down or nap, and has two or three small black dots near the middle of each wing-cover. Mr. Say discovered it near the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, and states that it is 110 COLEOPTERA. also sometimes fomid in Pennsylvania ; but he does not appear to liave known anything of its history. It is also found in Massachusetts, but has been rarely seen until within a few years. One of my specimens was taken in Milton about twenty years ago, and several others were taken in Cambridge, during the summers of 1843 and 1844, upon the European lindens, from the trunks and branches of which they had just come forth. A knowledge of the habits of this insect might have led to its more frequent discovery. One of the lindens above named was a noble and venerable tree, with a trunk measuring eight feet and five inches in circumference, three feet from the gi'ound. A strip of the bark, two feet wide at the bottom, and extending to the top of the trunk, had been destroyed, and the exposed surface of the Avood was pierced and grooved with countless numbers of holes, Avherein the borers had been bred, and whence swarms of the beetles must have issued in past times. Some of the large limbs and a portion of the top of the tree had fallen, apparently in consequence of the ravages of these insects ; and it is a matter of surprise that this fine linden should have withstood and outlived the attacks of such a host of miners and sappers. The lindens of Philadelphia have suffered much more severely from these borers. Dr. Paul Swift, in a letter written in May, 1844, gave to me the following interesting account of them. " The trees in Washington and Inde- pendence Squares were first observed to have been attacked about seven years ago. Within two years, it has been found necessary to cut down forty-seven European lindens in the former square alone, where there now remain only a few American lindens, and these a good deal eaten." " j\Iany of the beetles were found upon the small branches and leaves on the 28th day of JMay, and it is said that they come out as early as the first of the month, and continue to make their way through the bark of the trunk and large branches during the whole of the warm season. They immediately fly THE SAPERDA TRIDENTATA. Ill into the top of the tree, and there feed upon the epidermis of the tender twigs, and the petioles of the leaves, often wholly denuding the latter, and causing the leaves to fall. They deposit their eggs, two or three in a place, upon the trunk and branches, especially about the forks, making slight incis- ions or punctures, for their reception, with their strong jaws. As many as ninety eggs have been taken from a single beetle. The CTi'ubs, hatched from these egcrs, undermine the bark to the extent of six or eight inches, in sinuous channels, or penetrate the solid wood an equal distance. It is supposed that three years are required to mature the insect. Various expedients have been tried to arrest their course, but without effect. A stream, thrown into the tops of the trees from the hydrant, is often used with good success to dislodge other insects ; but the borer-beetles, when thus disturbed, take wing and hover over the trees till all is quiet, and then alight and go to Avork again. The trunks and branches of some of the trees have been washed over with various preparations without benefit. Boring the trunk near the ground, and putting in sulphur and other drugs, and plugging, have been tried with as httle effect. " This beetle I have taken in Massachusetts only in June, mostly between the 1st and 17th, and none after the 20th day of the month. The grub closely resembles that of the apple-tree borer. Figures of the insect, in all its stages, may be seen in the tenth volume of Hovey's ^Magazine, page 330. There is another destructive Saperda, whose history re- mains to be written. It is the Saperda tridentata (Plate II. Fig. 13), so named by Olivier on account of the tridentate or three-toothed red border of its wing-covers. This beetle is of a dark brown color, with a tint of gray, owing to a thin coating of very short down. It is ornamented with a curved line behind the eyes, two stripes on the thorax, and a three-toothed or three-branched stripe on the outer edge of each wing-cover, of a rusty red color. There are also 112 COLEOPTERA. six black clots on tlie thorax, two above, and two on tlie sides ; and each of the angles between the branches and the lateral stripes of the wing-covers is marked with a blackish spot. The two hinder branches are oblique, and extend nearly or quite to the suture ; the anterior branch is short and hooked. Its average length is about half an inch ; but it varies from four to six tenths of an inch. The males are smaller than the females, but have longer antennas. This pretty beetle has been long known to me, but its habits were not ascertained till the year 1847. On the 19th of June, in that year, Theophilus Parsons, Esq. sent me some fragments of bark and insects which were taken by Mr. J. Richardson from the decaying elms on Boston Com- mon ; and, among the insects, I recognized a pair of these beetles in a living state. My curiosity was immediately excited to learn something more concerning these beetles and their connection with the trees, but was not satisfied by a partial examination made in the course of the summer. It was not till the following winter, that an opportunity was aftbrded for a thorough search, with the permission of the Mayor, the Hon. Josiah Quincy, Jun., and with the help of the Superintendent of the Common. The trees were found to have suffered terribly from the ravages of these insects. Several of them had already been cut down, as past recovery ; others were in a dying state, and nearly all of them were more or less affected with disease or premature decay. Their bark was perforated, to the height of thirty feet from the ground, with numerous holes, through which insects had escaped ; and large pieces had become so loose, by the undermining of the grubs, as to yield to slight efforts, and come off in flakes. The inner bark was filled with the burrows of the grubs, great numbers of which, in various stages of growth, together with some in the pupa state, were found therein ; and even the surface of the wood, in many cases, was fiirrowed with their irregular tracks. Very rarely did they seem to have penetrated far into the THE SAPERDA TRIDENTATA. 113 wood itself; but their operations were mostly confined to the inner layers of the bark, which thereby became loosened from the wood beneath. The gi'ubs rarely exceed three quarters of an inch in length. They have no feet, and they resemble the larvae of other species of Saperda^ except in being rather more flattened. They appear to complete their transforma- tions in the third year of their existence. The beetles probably leave their holes in the bark durino- the month of June and in the beginning of July ; for, in the course of thirty years, I have repeatedly taken them at various dates, from the 5th of June to the 10th of July. It is evident, from the nature and extent of their depreda- tions, that these insects have alarmingly hastened the decay of the elm-trees on Boston Mall and Common, and that they now threaten their entire destruction. Other causes, how- ever, have probably contributed to the same end. It will be remembered that these trees have greatly suffered, in past times, from the ravages of canker-worms. Moreover, the impenetrable state of the surface-soil, the exhausted condition of the subsoil, and the deprivation of all benefit from tha decomposition of accumulated leaves, which, in a state of nature, the trees would have enjoyed, but which a regard for neatness has industriously removed, have doubtless had no small influence in diminishing the vigor of the trees, and thus made them fall unresistingly a prey to insect-devourers. The plan of this work precludes a more fiill considex-ation of these and other topics connected with the growth and decay of these trees ; and I can only add, that it may ba pradent to cut down and burn all that are much infested by the borers. The tall blackberry, Ruhus villosus, is sometimes cultivated among xas for the sake of its fruit, which richly repays the care thus bestowed upon it. It does not seem to be known that this plant and its near relation, the raspberry, suffer from borers that live in the pith of the stems. These borers differ somewhat fi'om the preceding, being cylindrical in the 15 114 COLEOPTERA. middle, and thickened a little at each end. The head is proportionally larger than in the other borers ; the first three rings of the body are short, the second being the widest, and each of them is provided beneath Avith a pair of minute sharp-pointed warts or imperfect legs ; the remaining rings are smooth, and without tubercles or rasps ; the last three are rather thicker than those which immediately precede them, and the tAvelfth ring is very obtusely rounded at the end. The beetles from these borers are very slender, and of a cylindrical fonn, and their antennae are of moderate length and do not taper much towards the end. The species which attacks the blackberry appears to be the Saperda (^Obereci) tripuiictata of Fabricius (Fig. 51). It is of a deep black color, except the fore part of the breast and the top of the tho- rax, which are rusty yellow, and there are two black elevated dots on the middle of the thorax, and a third dot on the hinder edge close to the scutel ; the Aving-covers are coarsely punctured, in rows on the top, and irregularly on the sides and tips, each of which is slightly notched and ends with two little points. The two black dots on the middle of the thorax are sometimes wanting. This beetle varies from three tenths to half an inch in length. It finishes its transformations towards the end of July, and lays its eggs early in August, one by one, on the stems of the blackberry and raspberry, near a leaf or small twig. The grubs burrow directly into the pith, whicli they consume as they proceed, so that the stem, for the distance of several inches, is completely deprived of its pith, and consequently withers and dies before the end of the summer. In Europe one of these slender Saperdas attacks the hazel-bush, and another the twigs of the pear-tree, in the same way. The Lepturians, or Lepturad^e, constitute the third fam- ily of the Capricorn-beetles. In most of them the body is narrowed behind, which is the origin of the name applied THE LEPTURIANS. 115 to them, signifying realfy narrow tail. They differ from the other Capricorn-beetles in the form of their eyes, which are not deeply notched, but are either oval or rounded and prom- inent, and the antennse are more distant from them, and are implanted near the middle of the forehead. Moreover, the head is not deeply sunk in the fore part of the thorax, but is connected with it by a narrowed neck. The thorax varies somewhat in shape, but is generally narrowed before and widened behind. The Lepturians are often gayly colored, and fly about by day, visiting flowers for the sake of the pollen and tender leaves, which they eat. Their grubs live in the trunks and stumps of trees, are rather broad and somewhat flattened, and are mostly furnished with six ex- tremely short legs. The largest and finest of these beetles in New England is the Desmocerus palUatus* (Plate II. Fig. 18,) which appears on the flowers and leaves of the common elder towards the end of June and until the middle of July. It is of a deep violet or Prussian-blue color, sometimes glossed with green, and nearly one half of the fore part of the wing-covers is orange-yellow, suggesting the idea of a short cloak of this color thrown over the shoulders, which the name palliatus, that is, cloaked, was designed to express. The head is nar- row. The thorax has nearly the form of a cone cut off" at the top, being narrow before and wide behind ; it is somewhat uneven, and has a little sharp projecting point on each side of the base. The antennae have the third and the three fol- lowing joints abruptly thickened at the extremity, givino- them the knotty appearance indicated by the genei'ical name Desmocerus, Avhich signifies knotty horn. The larv;i3 live in the lower part of the stems of the elder, and devour the pith ; they have hitherto escaped my researches, but I have found the beetles in the burrows made by them. The bark of the pitch-pine is often extensively loosened by the grubs of Lepturians at work beneath it, in consequence ♦ Cerambijx pallint us o{ Forstev; Stenocorus cyaneus, Fahricius. 116 COLEOPTERA. of which it falls otF in large flakes, and the tree perishes. These o-mbs live between the bark and the wood, often in great numbers together, and, when they are about to become pup;e, each one surrounds itself with an oval ring of woody fibres, within which it undei'goes its transformations. The beetle is matured before winter, but does not leave the tree until spring. It is the ribbed Rhagium, or Rhagium Uneatum,* (Fig. 52,) so named be- cause it has thi'ee elevated longitudinal lines or ribs on each wing-cover ; and it measures from four and a half to seven tenths of an inch in length. The head and thorax are gray, striped Avith black, and thickly punctured ; the anten- n'B are about as long as the two forenamed parts of the body together ; the thorax is narrow, cylindrical before and behind, and swelled out in the middle by a large pointed wart or tubercle on each side ; the wing-covers are wide at the shoulders, gradually taper behind, and are slightly convex above ; they are coarsely punctured between the smooth ele- vated lines, and are variegated with reddish ash-color and black, the latter forming two irregular transverse bands ; the under side of the body, and the legs, are variegated with dull red, gray, and black. The gi'ay portions on this beetle are occasioned by very short hairs, forming a close kind of nap, which is easily rubbed off. The Buprestians and the Capricorn-beetles seem evidently allied in their habits, both being borers during the greater part of their lives, and living in the trunks and limbs of trees, to which they are more or less injurious in proportion to their numbers. Some of the beetles in these two groups resemble each other closely in their forms and habits. The resem- blance between the slender cylindrical Saperdas and some of the cylindrical Buprestians belonging to the genus Agrihis, is indeed very remarkable, and cannot fail to strike a common observer. Their larvae also are not only very similar in * Slenncoj'us Uneatiis of Olivier. THE LEAF-BEETLES. 117 their forms, but they liave the same habits ; h^dng in the centre of stems, and devouring the pith. The insects that have passed under consideration in the foregoing part of this treatise spend by far the greater poi'- tion of their hves, namely, that wherein they are larvas only, in obscurity, buried in the ground, or concealed within the roots, the stems, or the seeds of plants, where they perform their appointed tasks unnoticed and unknown. Thus the Avork of destruction goes secretly and silently on, till it be- comes manifest by its melancholy consequences ; and too late we discover the hidden foes that have disappointed the hopes of the husbandman, and ruined those spontaneous produc- tions of the soil that constitute so important a source of our comfort and prosperity. There still remain several groups of beetles to be described, consisting almost entirely of insects that spend the Avhole, or the principal part, of their lives upon the leaves of plants, and which, as they derive their nourishment, both in the larva and adult states, from leaves alone, may be called leaf- beetles, or, as they have recently been named,- phyllophagous, that is, leaf-eating insects. When, as in certain seasons, they appear in considerable numbers, they do not a little injury to vegetation, and, being generally exposed to view on the leaves that they devour, they soon attract attention. But the power possessed by most plants of renewing their foli- age, enables them soon to recover from the attacks of these devourers ; and the injury sustained, unless often repeated, is rarely attended by the ruinous consequences that follow the hidden and unsuspected ravages of those insects that sap vegetation in its most vital parts. Moreover, the leaf-eaters are more within our reach, and it is not so difficult to destroy them, and protect plants from their depredations. The leaf- beetles are generally distingaiished by the want of a snout, by their short legs and broad cushioned feet, and their antennae of moderate length, often thickened a little towards the end, or not distinctly tapering. Some of them have an oblong 118 COLEOPTKKA. body and a narrow or cylindrical thorax, and resemble very much some of the Lepturians, with which Linnaeus included them. C)thers, and indeed the greater number, have the body oval, broad, and often very convex. The oblong leaf-beetles, called Criocerians (Ckioceridid.e), have some resemblance to the Capricorn-beetles. They are distinguished by the following characters. The eyes are prominent and nearly round ; the antennae are of moderate length, composed of short, nearly cylindrical or beaded joints, and are implanted before the eyes ; the thorax is narrow and almost cylindrical or square ; the wing-covers, taken together, form an oblong square, rounded behind, and much wider than the thorax ; and the thighs of the hind legs are often thickened in the middle. The three-lined leat-beetle, Crioceris trilineata of Olivier,^^ (Fig. 53, ) Avill serve to exemplify the habits of ^'^ '"'' the greater part of the insects of this family. This beetle is about one quarter of an inch long, of a rusty buflP or nankin-yellow color, with two black dots on the thorax, and three black stripes on the back, namely, one on the outer side of each wing-cover, and one in the middle on the inner edges of the same ; the antennie (except the first joint), the outside of the shins, and the feet are dusky. The thorax is abruptly narrowed or pinched in on the middle of each side. When held between the fingers, these insects make a creak- ing sound like the Capricorn-beetles. They appear early in June on the leaves of the potato-vines, having at that time recently come out of the ground, where they pass the winter in the pupa state. Within a few years, these insects have excited some attention, on account of their prevalence in some parts of the country, and from a mistaken notion that they were the cause of the potato-rot. They eat the leaves [13 Tlie geinis Crioceris as now restricted contains only species indigenous to the other continent, although one of them, C. asjxt7-agi, has been recently introduced from Enro]ie. and is found abundantly near Brooklyn, New York. The species above mentioned belongs to Lema. — Lec] THE LEAF-BEETLES. 119 of the potato, gnawing large and irregular holes through them ; and, in the course of a few days, begin to lay their oblong oval golden-yellow eggs, Avhich are glued to the leaves, in parcels of six or eight together. The grubs, which are hatched in about a fortnight aftex'wards, are of a dirty yellowish or ashen-white color, with a darker-colored head, and two dark spots on the top of the first wing. They are rather short, approaching to a cylindrical form, but thickest in the middle, and have six legs, arranged in pairs beneath the first three rings. After making a hearty meal upon the leaves of the potato, they cover themselves with their own filth. The vent is situated on the upper side of the last ring, so that their dmig falls upon their backs, and, by motions of the body, is jDushed forwards, as fast as it ac- cumulates, towards the head, until the whole of the back is entirely coated with it This covering shelters their soft and tender bodies from the heat of the sun, and probably serves to secure them from the attacks of their enemies. When it becomes too heavy or too dry, it is thrown off, but re- placed again by a fresh coat in the course of a few hours. In eating, the grubs move backwards, never devouring the portion of the leaf immediately before the head, but that which lies under it. Their numbers are sometimes very great, and the leaves are then covered and nearly consumed by these filthy insects. When about fifteen days old, they throw off their loads, creep down the plant, and bury them- selves in the ground. Here each one forms for itself a little cell of earth, cemented and varnished within by a gummy fluid discharged from its mouth, and when this is done, it changes to a pupa. In about a fortnight more the insect throws off its pupa skin, breaks open its earthen cell, and crawls out of the ground. The beetles come out towards the end of July or early in August, and lay their eggs for a second brood of grubs. The latter come to their growth and go into the gi'ound in the autumn, and remain there m the pupa form during the winter. 120 COLEOPTERA. The only method that occurs to me, by means of which we may get rid of them, when they are so numerous as to be seriously injurious to plants, is to brush them from the leaves into shallow vessels containing a little salt and water or vinegar. The habits of the Hispas, little leaf-beetles, forming the family Hispad^e, were first made known by me in the year 1835, in the " Boston Journal of Natural History," * where a detailed account of them, with descriptions of three native species, and figures of the larvse and pupa?, may be found. The upper side of the beetles is generally rough, as the generical name implies. The larvae burrow under the skin of the leaves of plants, and eat the pulpy substance within, so that the skin, over and under the place of their opera- tions, turns brown and dries, and has somewhat of a blistered appearance, and within these blistered spots the larvie or grubs, the pup^e, or the beetles may often be found. The eggs of these insects are little rough blackish grains, and are glued to the surface of the leaves, sometimes singly, and sometimes in clusters of four or five together. The grubs of our common species are about one fifth of an inch in length, when fully grown. The body is oblong, flattened, rather broader before than behind, soft, and of a whitish color, except the head and the top of the first ring, which are brown, or blackish, and of a horny consistence. It has a pair of legs to each of the first three rings ; the other rings are provided with small fleshy warts at the sides, and transverse rows of little rasp-like points above and beneath. The pu])a state lasts only about one week, soon after Avhich the beetles come out of their burrows. The leaves of the apple-tree are inhabited by some of these little mining insects, which in the beetle state are probably the Hispa rosea ^ of Weber, or the rosy Hispa (Fig. 54). They are of a deep or tawny reddish-yellow color above, marked with little deep red lines and spots. The head is * Vol I. p. 141. t Ilispa qunilraia, Fabricius; //. marginata, Say. THE ROSY HISPA. 121 small ; the antennae are short, thickened towards the end, and of a black color ; the thorax is narrow before and wide behind, rough above, striped with deep red on each side ; the wing-covers taken together form an oblong square ; there are three smooth longitudinal lines or ribs on each of them, spotted with blood-red, and the spaces between these lines are deeply punc- tured in double rows ; the under side of the body is black, and the legs are short and reddish. They measure about one fifth of an mch in length. These beetles may be found on the leaves of the a[)ple-tree, and very abundantly on those of the shad-bush (^Amelaneliier ovalis)^ and choke-berry (^Pijrus arhutifolia), during the latter part of IVIay and the beginning of June. In the middle of June, another kind of Ilispa may be found pairing and laying eggs on the leaves of the locust- tree. The gixibs appear during the month of July, and are transformed to beetles in August. They measure nearly one quarter of an inch in length, are of a ■ tawny yellow color, with a black lonmtudinal line on the middle of the back, partly on one and partly on the other wing-cover, the inner edges of which meet together and form what is called the suture ; whence this species was named Hispa suturaUs by Fabricius ; the head, antennas, body beneath, and legs are black ; and the wing-covers are not so square behind as in the rosy Hispa. The tortoise-beetles, as they are familiarly called from their shape, are leaf-eating insects, belonging to the family Cassidad.e. This name, derived from a word signifying a helmet, is applied to them because the fore part of the semicircular thorax generally projects over the head like the front of a helmet. In these beetles the body is broad oval or rounded, flat beneath, and slightly convex above. The antennas are short, slightly thickened at the end, and inserted close together on the crown of the head. The latter is small, 10 122 COLEOPTERA. and concealed under, or deeply sunk Into, the thorax. The legs are very short, and hardly seen from above. These insects are often gayly colored or spotted, which increases their resemblance to a tortoise ; they creep slowly, and fly by day. Their larvjB and pupte resemble those of the following species in most respects. Cassida aiiricJialcea (Plate I. Fig. 5), so named by Fabri- cius on account of the brilliant brassy or golden lustre it assumes, is found during most of the summer months on the leaves of the bitter-sweet (^Solanum dulcamara)^ and in great abundance on various kinds of Convolvulus, such as our large-flowered Convolvulus sepium, the morning-glory, and the sweet-potato vine. The leaves of these plants are eaten both by the beetles and their young. The former begin to appear during the months of May and June, having probably survived the winter in some place of shelter and concealment, and their larva3 in a week or two afterwards. The larvae are broad oval, flattened, dark-colored grubs '^" ' (Fig. 55), with a kind of fi-inge, composed of stifle prickles, around the thin edges of the body, and a long forked tail. This fork serves to hold the excrement when voided ; and a mass of it half as lai'ge as the body of the insect is often thus accumvilated. The tail, with the loaded fork, is turned over the back, and thus protects the insect fi'om the sun, and probably also from its enemies. The first broods of larviB arrive at their growth and change to pupae early in July, fixing themselves firmly by the hinder part of their bodies to the leaves, when this change is abovit to take place. The pupa remains fastened to the cast-skin of the larva. It is broad oval, fi'inged at the sides, and around the fore part of the broad thorax, with large prickles. Soon afterwards the beetles come forth, and lay their eggs for a second brood of grubs, which, in turn, are changed to beetles in the course of tlie autumn. In June, 1824, the late Mr. John Lowell sent me THE CHRYSOMELIANS. 123 specimens of tins little beetle, which he found to be injurious to the sweet-potato vine, by eating large holes through the leaves. This beetle is very broad oval in shape, and about one fifth of an inch in length. When living, it has the power of changing its hues, at one time appearing only of a dull yellow color, and at other times shining with the splendor of polished brass or gold, tinged sometimes also with the variable tints of pearl. The body of the insect is blackish beneath, and the legs are dull yellow. It loses its brilliancy after death. The wing-covers, the })arts which ex- hibit the change of color, are lined beneath with an orange- colored paint, which seems to be filled with little vessels ; and these are probably the sovu^ce of the changeable bril- liancy of the insect. The Chrysomelians (Chrysomelad^) compose an exten- sive tribe of leaf-eating beetles, formerly included in the old genus Ckrysomela. The meaning of this word is golden beetle, and many of the insects to which it was applied by Linnaeus are of brilliant and metallic colors. They differ, however, so much in their essential characters, their forms, and their habits, that they are now very pro^^erly distributed into four separate groups or families. The first of these, called Galerucad^, or Galerucians, consists mostly of dull- colored beetles ; having an oblong oval, slightly convex body ; a short, and rather narrow, and uneven thorax ; slender antennae, more than half the length of the body, and im- planted close together on the forehead ; slender legs, which are nearly equal in size ; and claws split at the end. They fly mostly by day, and are by nature either very timid or very cunning, for, when we attempt to take hold of them, they draw up their legs, and fall to the ground. They sometimes do great injury to plants, eating large holes in the leaves, or consuming entirely those that are young and tender. The larvae are rather short cylindrical grubs, generally of a black- ish color, and are provided with six legs. They live and feed together in swarms, and sometimes appear in very great 124 COLEOPTERA. numbers on the leaves of plants, committing ravages, at these times, as extensive as those of the most destructive caterpil- lars. This was the case in 1837 at Sevres, in France, and in 1838 and 1839 in Baltimore and its vicinity, where the elm-trees were entirely stripped of their leaves during mid- summer by swarms of the larvge of Galeruca Calmarienm ; and, in the latter place, after the trees had begun to revive, and were clothed with fresh leaves, they were again attacked by new broods of these noxious grubs. These insects, which Avere undoubtedly introduced into America with the Euro- pean elm, are as yet unknown in the New England States. The eggs of the Galerucians are generally laid in little clusters or rows along the veins of the leaves, and those of the elm Galeruca are of a yellow color. The pupa state of some species occurs on the leaves, of others in the ground ; and some of the larvae live also in the ground on the roots of plants. One of the most common kinds is the Graleruca vittata* or striped Galeruca, (Plate II. Fig. 3,) generally known here by the names of striped bug, and cucumber-beetle. This ^ destructive insect is of a light-yellow color above, with a black head, and a broad black stripe on each wing-cover, the inner edge or suture of which is also black, forming a third narrower stripe down the middle of the back ; the abdomen, the greater part of the fore legs, and the knees and feet of the other legs, are black. It is rather less than one fifth of an inch long. Early in the spring it devours the tender leaves of various plants. I have found it often on those of our Aronias, Amelanchier hotryapium and ovalis, and Pi/rus arbutifolia, towards the end of April. It makes its first appearance, on cucumber, squash, and melon vines, about the last of May and first of June, or as soon as the leaves begin to expand ; and, as several broods are produced in the course of the summer, it may be found at various times on these plants, till the latter are destroyed by fi-ost. Great * Crioceris vittata of Fubricius.^ THE CUCUMBER-BEETLE. 125 numbers of these little beetles may be obtained in the autumn from the flowers of squash and pumpkin vines, the pollen and germs of which they are very fond of. They get into the blossoms as soon as the latter are opened, and are often caught there by the twisting and closing of the top of the flower ; and, when they want to make their escape, they are obliged to gnaw a hole through the side of their temporary prison. The females lay their eggs in the ground, and the larv?e probably feed on the roots of plants, but they havj hitherto escaped my researches. Various means have been suggested and tried to prevent the ravages of these striped cucumber-beetles, which havj become notorious throughout the country for their attacks upon the leaves of the cucumber and squash. Dr. B. S. Barton, of Philadelphia, recommended sprinkling the vines with a mixture of tobacco and red pepper, which he stated to be attended with great benefit. Watering the vines with a solution of one ounce of Glauber's salts in a quart of water, or with tobacco-water, an infusion of elder, of walnut-leaves, or of hops, has been highly recommended. Mr. Gourgas, of Weston, has found no application so useful as ground plaster of Paris ; and a writer in the " American Farmer " extols the use of charcoal dust, Deane recommended sifting powdered soot upon the plants when they are wet with the morning dew, and others have advised sulphur and Scotch snufl* to be applied in the same way. As these insects fly by night, as well as by day, and are attracted by lights, burning splinters of pine knots or of staves of tar-barrels, stuck into the ground during the night, around the plants, have been found useful in destroying these beetles. The most effectual pre- servative, both against these insects and the equally destruc- tive black flea-beetles which infest the vines in the spring, consists in covering the young vines with millinet stretched over small wooden frames. Mr. Levi Bartlett, of Warner, N. H., has described a method for makino; these frames expeditiously and economically, and his directions may be 126 COLEOPTf:RA. found in the second volume of the " New England Farmer,"* and in Fessenden's " New American Gardener," f under the article Cucumber. The cucumber flea-beetle above mentioned, a little, black, jumping insect, well known for the injury done by it, in the spi'ing, to young cucumber plants, belongs to another family of the Chrysomelian ti'ibe, called HALTicADiE. The following are the chief peculiarities of the beetles of this family. The body is oval and very convex above ; the thorax is short, nearly or quite as wide as the wing-covers behind, and nar- rowed before ; the head is pretty broad ; the antennse are slender, about half the length of the body, and are implanted nearly on the middle of the forehead ; the hindmost thighs are very thick, being formed for leaping ; hence these insects have been called flea-beetles, and the scientific name Halliea, derived from a word signifying to leap, has been applied to them. The svirface of the body is smooth, generally polished, and often prettily or brilliantly colored. The claws are very thick at one end, are deeply notched towards the other, and terminate wnth a long curved and shar^D point, which enables the insect to lay hold firmly upon the leaves of the plants on which they live. These beetles eat the leaves of vegetables, preferring especially plants of the cabbage, turnip, mvistard, cress, radish, and horse-radish kind, or those which, in botanical language, are called cruciferous plants, to which they are often exceedingly injurious. The turnip-fly, or more properly turnip flea-beetle, is one of these Halticas, which lays waste the turnip-fields in Europe, devouring the seed-leaves of the plants as soon as they appear above the ground, and continuing their ravages upon new crops throughout the summer. Another small flea- beetle is often very injurious to the grape-vines in Europe, and a larger species attacks the same plant in this country. The flea-beetles conceal themselves during the winter, in dry places, under stones, in tufts of withered grass and moss, * Page 305. t Sixth edition, p. 91. THE FLEA-BEETLES. ' 127 and in chinks of walls. They lay their eggs in the spring, upon the leaves of the plants upon which they feed. The larva3, or young, of the smaller kinds burrow into the leaves, and eat the soft pulpy substance under the skin, forming therein little winding passages, in which they finally com- plete their transformations. Hence the plants suffer as much from the depredations of the larvje, as from those of the beetles, a fact that has too often been overlooked. The larvtB of the larger kinds are said to live exposed upon the surface of the leaves which they devour, till they have come to their growth, and to go into the ground, where they are changed to pupai, and soon afterwards to beetles. The mining larvae, the only kinds which are known to me fi'om personal examination, are little slender grubs, tapering to- wards each end, and provided with six legs. They arrive at maturity, turn to pupae, and then to beetles in a feAv weeks. Hence there is a constant succession of these in- sects, in their various states, throughout the summer. The history of the greater part of our Halticas or flea-beetles is still unknown ; I shall, therefore, only add, to the foregoing general remarks, descriptions of two or three common spe- cies, and suggest such remedies as seem to be useful in protecting plants from their ravages. The most destructive species in this vicinity is that which attacks the cucumber plant as soon as the latter appears above the ground, eating the seed-leaves, and thereby de- stroying the plant immediately. Supposing this to be an undescribed insect, I formerly named it Haltica Cucimieris, the cucumber flea-beetle (Fig. 56) ; but Mr. Say subsequently informed me that it was the puhescens of Illiger, so named because it is very slightly pubescent or downy. Count Dejean, who gave to it the specific name of fuscula, considered it as distinct from the ^^uhescens ; and it differs ii'om the descriptions of the latter in the color of its thighs, and in never having the tips and shoulders of the wing-covers yel- 128 COLEOPTERA. lowisli ; so tliat it may still bear the name given to it in my Catalogue. It is only one sixteenth of an inch long, of a black color, with clay-yellow antennce and legs, except the hindmost thighs, which are brown. The upper side of the body is covered with punctures, which are arranged in rows on the wing-cases ; and there is a deep transverse furrow across the hinder part of the thorax. During the summer, these pernicious flea-beetles may be found, not only on cu- cumber-vines, but on various other plants having fleshy and succulent leaves, such as beans, beets, the tomato, and the potato. They injure all these plants, more or less, according to their numbers, by nibbling little holes in the leaves with their teeth ; the functions of the leaves being thereby im- paired in proportion to the extent of surface and amount of substance destroyed. The edges of the bitten parts become brown and dry by exposure to the air, and assume a rusty appearance. Since the prevalence of the disease commonly called the potato-rot, attention has been particularly directed to various insects that live upon the potato-plant ; and, as these flea-beetles have been found upon it in great numbers, in some parts of the country, they have been charged with being the cause of the disease. The same charge has also been made ajrainst several other kinds of insects, some of which will be described in the course of this work. In my own opinion, the origin, extension, and continued reappear- ance of tills wide-spread pestilence are not due to the depre- dations of insects of any kind. Mr. Phanuel Flanders, of Lowell, where the flea-beetles have appeared in unusual numbers, showed to me, in August, 1851, some potato-leaves that were completely riddled with holes by them, so that but little more than the ribs and veins remained un- touched. He thinks that their ra^'ages may be prevented by watering the leaves with a solution of lime, a remedy long ago employed in England, with signal benefit, in pre- serving the turnip crop from the attacks of the turnip flea- beetle. THE GRAPE-VINE FLEA- BEETLE. 129 The -svavy-striped flea-beetle, Haltica striolata* (Fig. 57), may be seen in great abundance on tlie horse-rad- ish, various kinds of cresses, and on the mustard and turnip, early in May, and indeed at other times throughout the summer. It is very injurious to young plants, destroying their seed-leaves as soon as the latter expand. Should it multiply to any extent, it may in time become as great a pest as the European turnip flea-beetle, which it closely resembles in its appearance, and in all its habits. Though rather larger than the cucumber flea-beetle, and of a longer oval shape, it is considerably less than one tenth of an inch in length. It is of a polished black color, with a broad wavy buff-colored stripe on each wing-cover, and the knees and feet are reddish yellow. Specimens are sometimes found having two buff"- yellow spots on each wing-cover mstead of the wavy stripe. These were not known by Fabricius to be merely varieties of the striolata, and accordingly he described them as distinct, under the name of bipustulata,'\ the two-spotted. The steel-blue flea-beetle, Haltica chalyhea of Illiger, (Fig. 58, and Plate II. Fig. 5,) or the grape-vine flea-beetle, as it might be called on account of its habits, is found in almost all parts of the United States, on wild and cultivated grape- vines, the buds and leaves of which it destroys. Though it has received the specific name of clialyhea, meaning steel-blue, it is exceedingly variable in its color, specimens being often seen on the same vine of a dark purple, violet, Prussian blue, greenish blue, and deep green color. The most common tint of the upper side is a glossy, deep, greenish blue ; the under side is dark green ; and the antennge and feet are dull black. The body is oblong-oval, and the hinder part of the thorax is marked with a transverse furrow. It measures rather more than tliree twentieths of an inch in length. In this part of the * Crloceris striolata, Fabricius. t Crioceris bijmstulata, Fabricius. 17 130 COLEOPTKRA. country these beetles begin to come out of their winter quarters towards the end of April, and continue to appear till the- latter part of May. Soon after their first appearance they pair, and probably lay their eggs on the leaves of the vine, and perhaps on other plants also. A second brood of the beetles is found on the grape-vines towards the end of July. I have not had an opportunity to trace the history of these insects any further, and consequently their larvffi are unknown to me. Mr. David Thomas has given an interest- ing account of their habits and ravages in the twenty-sixth volume of Silliman's '' American Journal of Science and Arts." These brilliant insects were observed by him, in the spring of 1831, in Cayuga County, N. Y., creeping on the vines, and destroying the buds, by eating out the central succulent parts. Some had burrowed even half their length into the buds. When disturbed, they jump rather than fly, and remain where they fall for a time without motion. During the same season these beetles appeared in unusu- ally great numbers in New Haven, Conn., and its vicinity, and the injury done by them was " wholly unexampled." " Some vines were entirely despoiled of their fruit buds, so as to be rendered, for that season, barren." JNIr. Thomas found the vine-leaves were infested, in the years 1830 and 1831, by " small chestnut-colored smooth worms," and sus- pecting these to be the larvae of the beetle (which he called Chrysomela vitivoni)^ he fed them in a tumbler, containing some moist earth, until they were fully grown, when they buried themselves in the earth. " After a fortnight or so," some of the beetles were found in the tumbler. Hence there is no doubt that the former were the larvae of the beetles, and that they undergo their transformations in the ground. A good description of the larvae, and a more full account of their habits, seasons, and changes, are still wanted. In England, where the ravages of the turnip flea-beetle have attracted great attention, and have caused many and various experiments to be tried with a view of checking THE CHRYSOMELIANS. 131 them, it is thought that " tlie careful and systematic use of lime will obviate, in a great degree, the danger which has been experienced " from this insect. From this and other statements in favor of the use of lime, there is good reason to hope that it will effectually protect plants from the various kinds of flea-beetles, if dusted over them, when wet with dew, in proper season. Watering plants with alka- line solutions, it is said, will kill the insects without injunng the plants. The solution may be made by dissolving one pound of hard soap in twelve gallons of the soap-suds left after washing. This mixture should be applied twice a day with a water-pot. Kollar very highly recommends watering or wetting the leaves of plants with an inftision or tea of wormwood, which prevents the flea-beetles from touching them. Perhaps a decoction of w\ilnut-leaves might be equal- ly serviceable. Great numbers of the beetles may be caught by the skilful vise of a deep bag-net of muslin, which should be swept over the plants infested by the beetles, after which the latter may be easily destroyed. This net cannot be used Avith safety to catch the insects on very young plants, on account of the risk of bruisino; or breakino- their tender L'aves. The Chrysomelians, Chrysomeladje, properly so called, form the third family of the tribe to which I have given the same name, because these insects hold the chief place in it, ill respect to size, beauty, variety, and numbers. These leaf- beetles are mostly broad oval, sometimes nearly hemispherical, in their form, or very convex above and flat beneath. The head is rather wide, and not concealed under the thorax. The latter is short, and broad behind. The antennas are about half the length of the body, and slightly thickened towards the end, and arise from the sides of the head, be- tween the eyes and the corners of the mouth ; being much further apart than those of the Galerucians and flea-beetles. The legs are rather short, nearly equal in length, and the hindmost thighs are not thicker than the others, and are not 132 COLEOPTERA. fitted for leaping. The colors of these beetles are often rich and brilliant, among which blue and green, highly polished, and with a golden or metallic lustre, are the most common tints. The larvae are soft-bodied, short, thick, and slug- shaped grubs, with six legs before, and a prop-leg behind. They live exposed on the leaves of plants, which they eat, and to which most of them fasten themselves by the tail, when about to be transformed. Some, however, go into the ground when about to change to pupse. Many of these insects, both in the larva and beetle state, have been found to be very injurious to vegetation in other countries ; but I am not aware that any of them have proved seriously injuri- ous to cultivated or other valuable plants in this country. There are some, it is true, which may hereafter increase so as to give us much trouble, unless effectual means are taken to protect and cherish their natural enemies, the birds. The largest species in New England inhabits the common milk-weed, or silk- weed (^Asdepias Syriacd)^ upon which it may be found, in some or all of its states, from the middle of June till September. Its head, thorax, body beneath, an- tennae, and legs are deep blue, and its wing-covers orange, with three large black spots upon them, namely, one on the shoulder, and another on the tip of each, and the third across the base of both wing-covers. Hence it was named Chry- somela trimaculata by Fabricius, or the three-spotted Chry- somela (Plate II. Fig. 9). It is nearly three eighths of an inch long, and almost hemispherical. Its larvae and pupte are orange-colored, spotted with black, and pass through their transformations on the leaves of the Asclepias. The most elegant of our Chrysomelians is the Cltrysomela Fig. 59. scalaris of Leconte, literally the ladder Chryso- mela (Fig. 59). It is about three tenths of an inch long, and of a narrower and more regularly oval shape than the preceding. The head, tho- rax, and under side of its body are dark green, the wing-covers silvery white, ornamented with small green THE BLUE- WINGED CHRYSOMELA. 133 spots on the sides, and a broad jagged stripe along the suture or inner edges ; the antennae and legs are rust-red, and the wings are rose-colored. It is a most beautiful object when flying, with its silvery Aving-covers, embossed with oreen, raised up, and its rose-red wings spread out beneath them. These beetles inhabit the lime or linden (^Tilia Americana')^ and the elm, upon which they may be found in April, May, and June, and a second brood of them in September and October. They pass the winter in holes, and under leaves and moss. The trees on which they live are sometimes a good deal injured by them and by their larvo3 (Fig. GO). The latter are hatched from eggs laid by the beetles on the leaves in the spring, and come to their growth towards the end of June. They are then about six tenths of an inch long, of a white color, with a black line along the top of the back, and a row of small square black spots on each side of the body ; the head is horny and of an ochre-yellow color. Like the grubs of the preceding species, these are short, and very thick, the back arching upwards very much in the middle. I believe that they go into the ground to turn to pupse. Should they become so numerous as seriously to injure the lime and elm trees, it may be found useful to throw decoctions of tobacco or of Avalnut-leaves on the trees by means of a garden or fire engine, a method which has been employed with good effect for the destruction of the larvae of Galeriica Cal- mariensis. The most common leaf-beetle of the family under consid- eration is the blue-winged Chrysomela, or Olirysomela cceruleipennis of Say (Fig. 61), an insect hardly distinct from the European Clirysoryiela Polygoni, and like the latter it lives in great numbers on the common knot- grass (^Polygonum avicidare), which it com- pletely strips of its leaves two or three times in the course of the summer. This little 134 COLEOPTERA. beetle is about three twentieths of an iiicli h>ng. Its head, wing-covers, and body beneath are dark blue ; its thorax and legs are dull orange-red ; the upper side of its abdomen is also orange-colored ; and the antennge and feet are blackish. The females have a very odd appearance before they have laid their eggs, their abdomen being enormously swelled out like a large orange-colored ball, which makes it very difficult for them to move about. I have found these insects on the knot-grass in every month from April to September inclusive. The larvge eat the leaves of the same plant. Having described the largest, the most elegant, and the most common of our Chrysomelians, I must omit all the rest, except the most splendid, which was called Eitmoljjas auratus by Fabricius, that is, the gilded Eumolpus (Plate II. Fig. 1). It is of a brilliant golden green color above, and of a deep pur[»lish green below ; the legs are also purple-green ; but the feet and the antenna? are blackish. The thorax is narrower behind than the wing-covers, and the rest of the bodv is more oblono; oval than in the foresoino; Chrvsome- lians. It is about three eighths of an inch long. This splen- did beetle may be found in considerable numbers on the leaves of the dog's-bane (^Apoeynum Androscemifoliarii)^ which it devours, during the months of July and August. The larvae are unknown to me. The fourth family of the leaf-eating Chrysomelians consists of the Cryptocephalians (Cryptocephalid.e), so named from the principal genus Cryptocephalas, a word signifying con- cealed head. These insects somewhat resemble the beetles of the preceding family ; but they are of a more cylindrical fonn, and the head is bent down, and nearly concealed in the fore part of the thorax. Their larvae are short, cylindrical, whit- ish grubs, which eat the leaves of plants. Each one makes f()r itselt a little cylindrical or egg-shaped case, of a substance sometimes resembling clay, and sometimes like horn, with an ()[) iiing at one end, within which the grub lives, putting out its h^atl and fore legs when it wishes to eat or to move. THE CANTHARIDES. 135 When it is fully gi-own, it stops up the open end of its case, and changes to a pupa, and afterwai'ds to a beetle within it, and then gnaws a hole through the case, in order to escape. As none of these insects have been observed to do much injury to plants in this countiy, I shall state nothing more respecting them, than that Chjtlira domiiiicana}^ inhabits the sumach, C. quadrigattata^^ oak-trees, Cidamys gihbosa low whortleberry bushes, CryiJtocephalus luridiis the wild indigo- bush, and most of the other species may be found on different kinds of oaks. Although the blistering beetles, or Cantharides (Cantha- ridid.e), have been enumerated among the insects directly beneficial to man, on account of the important use made of them in medical practice, yet it must be admitted that they are often very injurious to vegetation. The green Canthar- ides, or Spanish flies, as they are commonly called, are found in the South of Europe, and particularly in Spain and Italy, where they are collected in great quantities for exportation. In these countries they sometimes appear in immense swarms, on the privet, lilac, and ash ; so that the limbs of these plants bi-nd luider their weight, and are entirely stripped of their foliage by these leaf-eating beetles. In like manner our native Cantharides devour the leaves of plants, and some- times prove very destructive to them. The Cantharides are distinguished from all the preceding insects by their feet, the hindmost pair of which have only four joints, while the first and middle pairs are five-jointed. In this respect they agree with many other beetles, such as clocks or darkling beetles, meal-beetles, some of the mush- room-beetles, flat bark-beetles, and the like, Avith which they form a large and distinct section of Coleopterous insects. [ !■* Clythrn { Coscinoptera) dominicana. — Lkc] [I'' Clijthra {Bahla) iiuuJri5 repre- sents the female, and the antenna of the male at her left.) It is of a dark indigo- blue color ; the thorax is very narrow, and the antennge of the male are curiously twisted and knotted in the middle. It measures from ei^ht tenths of an inch to one inch in length. It is very common on buttercups in the autumn, and I have also found it eating the leaves of potato- vines. The foregoing insects are but a small number of those, belonging to the order Coleoptera, which are injurious to vegetation. Those only have been selected that are the most remarkable for their ravages, or would best serve to illustrate the families and genera to which they belong. The orders Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera remain to be treated in the same way, in carrying out the plan upon which this treatise has been begun, and to which it is limited. ^. /- I «^,*A'» \ _ / CHAPTER III. ORTHOPTERA. EARA^^GS. — Cockroaches. — Mantes, or Soothsayers. — Walking-Leaves. — Walking-Sticks, or Spectres. — Mole-Cricket. — Field Crickets. — Climbing Cricket. — Wingless Cricket. — Grasshoppers. — Katy-diu. — Locusts. THE destructive insects popularly known in this country by the name of grasshoppers, but which in our version of the Bible, and in other works in the Eno;lish languaixe, are called locusts, have, from a period of very high antiquity, attracted the attention of mankind by their extensive and lamentable ravages. It should here be remarked, that in America the name of locust is very improperly given to the Cicada of the ancients, or the harvest-fly of Euglish writers, some kinds of Avhich will be the subject of future remai'k in this treatise. The name of locust will here be restricted to certain kinds of grasshoppers ; while the popularly named locust, which, according to common belief, appears only once in seventeen years, must drop this name, and take the more correct one of Cicada or harvest-fly. The very frequent misapplication of names, by persons unacquainted with nat- ural history, is one of the greatest obstacles to the progress of science, and shows how necessary it is that things should be called by their right names, if the observations communicated respecting them are to be of any service. Every intelligent farmer is capable of becoming a good observer, and of making valuable discoveries in natural history ; but if he be ignorant of the proper names of the objects examined, or if he give to them names which previously have been applied by other persons to entirely different objects, he will fail to make the 142 ORTHOPTERA. result of his observations intelligible and useful to the com- munity. The insects which I here call locusts, together with other grasshoppers, earwigs, crickets, spectres or walking-sticks, and walking-leaves, soothsayers, cockroaches, &c., belong to an order called Orthoptera, literally straight Avings ; for their wings, when not in use, are folded lengthwise in narrow plaits like a fan, and are laid straight along the top or sides of the back. They are also covered by a pair of thicker wing-like members, which, in the locusts and grasshoppers, are long and narrow, and lie lengthwise on the sides of the body, sloping outwards on each side like the roof of a house ; in the cockroaches, these upper wings or wing-covers are broader, almost oval, and lie horizontally on the top of the back, overlapping on their inner edges ; and in the crickets, the Aving-covers, when closed, are placed like those of cock- roaches, but have a narrow outer border, which is folded perpendicularly downwards so as to cover the sides of the body also. All the Orthopterous insects are provided with transverse- ly movable jaws, more or less like those of beetles, but they do not undergo a complete transformation in coming to ma- turity. The young, in fact, often present a close resemblance to the adult insects in form, and diflFer from them chiefly in wanting wings. They move about and feed precisely like their parents, but change their skins repeatedly before they come to their full size. The second stage in the progress of the Orthopterous insects to maturity is not, like that of beetles, a state of inactivity and rest, in which the insect loses the grub-like or larva form which it had when hatched from the egg, and becomes a pupa or chrysalis, more nearly resem- bling the form of a beetle, but soft, whitish, and with its un- developed wings and limbs incased in a thin transparent skin which impedes all motion. On the contrary, the Orthoptera in the pupa state do not differ from the young and from the old insects, except in having the rudiments of wings and DIVISIONS. 143 wine-covers projecting, like little scales, from the back near tlie thorax. These pupte are active and voracious, and in- crease greatly in size, which is not the case with the insects that are subject to a complete transformation, for such never eat or crow in the pupa state. When fully grown, they cast off their skins for the sixth or last time, and then appear in the adult or perfect state, fully provided with all their mem- bers, with the exception of a few kinds which remain wingless tliroughout their whole lives. The slight changes to which the Orthoptera are subject consist of nothing more than a successive series of moultings, during which their wings are gradually developed. These changes may receive the name of imperfect or incomplete transformation, in contradistinc- tion to the far greater changes exhibited by those insects which pass through a complete transformation in their pro- gress to maturity. Cockroaches are general feeders, and nothing comes amiss to them, whether of vegetable or animal nature ; the Mantes or soothsayers are predaceous and carnivorous, devouring weaker insects, and even those of their own kind occasion- ally ; but by far the greater part of the Orthopterous insects subsist on vegetable food, grass, flowers, fruits, the leaves, and even the bark of trees ; whence it follows, in connection with their considerable size, their great voracity, and the immense troops or swarms in which they too often appear, that they are capable of doing great injury to vegetation. The Orthoptera may be divided into four large groups : — 1. Runners (^Ortlioptera cursoria*'), including earwigs and cockroaches, with all the legs fitted for rapid motion ; 2. Gkaspers ( Orthoptera raptoria)^ such as the Mantes, or soothsayers, with the shanks of the fore legs capable of being doubled upon the under side of the thigh, which, moreover, is armed with teeth, and thus forms an instrument for seizing and holding their prey ; * These are the four divisions proposed by Mr. Westwood in his " Introduc- tion,"' who, however, applies to them their Latin names only. 144 0 R T II 0 P T E R A . 3. Walkers ( Ortlioptera ambulatoria), like the spectres or walking-sticks, having weak and slender legs, Avhich do not admit of rapid motion ; and 4. Jumpers (^Orthoptera saltatoria)^ such as crickets, grass- hoppers, and locusts, in which the thighs of the hind legs are much larger than the others, and are filled and moved with powerful muscles, which enable these insects to leap Avith facility. I. RUNNERS. ( Orthoptem Cnrsoria.) In English works on gardening, earwigs are reckoned among obnoxious insects, various remedies are suggested to banish them from the garden, and even traps and other devices are described for capturing and destroying them. They have a rather long and somewhat flattened body, which is armed at the hinder end with a pair of slender sharp-pointed blades, opening and shutting horizontally like scissors, or like a pair of nippers, which suggested the name of Forficida, literally little nippers, applied to them by scien- tific writers. Although no well authenticated instances are on record of their entering the human ear, yet, during the daytime, they creep into all kinds of crevices for the sake of concealment, and come out to feed chiefly by night. It is common with English gardeners to hang up, among the flowers and fruit-trees subject to their attacks, pieces of hol- low reeds, lobster claws, and the like, which offer enticing places of retreat for these insects on the approach of daylight, and by means thereof great numbers of them are obtained in the morning. The little creeping animal, with numerous legs, connnonly but erroneously called earwig in America, is not an insect ; but of the true earwig Ave have several species, though they are by no means common, and certainly never appear in such numbers as to prove seriously injurious to vegetation. Nevertheless, it seemed well to give to this kind of insect a passing notice in its proper place among the Orthoptera, were it only for its notoriety in other countries. COCKROACHES. 145 Fig. 66. Of cockroaches (^Blattci) we have also several kinds those which are indigenous I believe are found exclusively in woods, under stones and leaves, while the others, and particu- larly the Oriental cockroach (^Blatta ori- entalis)^ (l^ig- *^'^0 which is supposed to have originated in Asia, whence it has spread to Europe, and thence to Amer- ica, and has multiplied and become estab- lished in most of our maritime commercial towns, are domestic species, and are found in houses, under kitchen hearths, about ovens, and in dark and warm closets, whence they issue at night, and prowl about in search of food. But, as these diso-ustino; and ill-smellino; insects con- fine themselves to our dwellings, and do not visit our gar- dens and fields, they will require no further remarks than the mention of a method which has sometimes been found usefol in destroying them. JNlix together a . table-spoonful of red-lead and of Indian meal with molasses enough to make a thick batter, and place the mixture at night on a plate or piece of board in the closets or on the hearths frequented by the cockroaches. They will eat it and be- come poisoned thereby. The dose is to be repeated for several nights in succession. Dr. F. H. Horner* recom- mends the following preparation to destroy cockroaches. Mix one teaspoonful of powdered arsenic with a table- spoonful of mashed potato, and crumble one third of it, every night, at bedtime, about the kitchen hearth, or where the insects will find and devour it. As both of these prep- arations are very poisonous, gi-eat care should be taken in the use of them, and of any portions that may be left by the insects. * Downing's Horticulturist, Vol. II. p. 343 (Jan. 184S). 19 146 0 K T H 0 P T E K A . II. GRASPERS. ( Orthoptera raptoria.) These, which consist of the Mantes^ called praying mantes and soothsayers, from their singular attitudes and motions, and camel-crickets, from the great length of the neck, are chiefly tropical insects, though some of them are occasionally found in this country. Moreover, they are exclusively pre- daceous insects, seizing, with their singular fore legs, cater- pillars, and other weaker insjects, which they devour. They are, therefore, to be enumerated among the insects that are beneficial to mankind, by keeping in check those that subsist on vegetable food. III. WALKERS. ( Orthoptera amhulatorla. ) To this division belong various insects, mostly found in warm climates, and displaying the most extraordinary forms. Some of them are furnished with wings, which, by their shape, and the branching veins with which they are covert, exactly represent leaves, either green, or dry and withered ; such are the walking-leaves, as they are called (^PhylliiDd pulchrifolium, siecifoUuin, &c.). Others are wingless, of a long and cylindrical shape, resembling a stick with the bark on it, while the slender legs, standing out on each side, give to these insects almost precisely the appearance of a little branching twig, whence is derived the name of walking-sticks, generally applied to them. The South American Bacteria armnatia, rubispinosa, and phyllina, and two species of Dia- plieromera ? ^ described and figured in Say's " American Entomology," under the names of Spectrum femoratiim (Fig. 67, male) and hivittatum, are of the latter description. These insects are very sluggish and inactive, are found among trees [ 1 Two species of Phasina are noticed. The first is Bacunculus femoratus, Say, which has also received tlie name of Bacunculus Sayi, Burm., and under whicli name it is best known to European authors. The latter was long ago figured by Stoll, in his great work upon the Orthoptera, and his name preoccupied that of Say and should be retained for it; it is Amisomorpha Buprestoides. The former has been found in most of the States east of the Mississippi, while the latter is peculiar to Florida and some of the Southern States. — Uhler ] THE WALKING-STICK. 147 and bushes, on which they often remain motionless for a loner time, or walk slowly over the leaves and young shoots, which are their appropriate food. The American species are not so numerous, and have not proved so injurious as particu- larly to attract attention. 148 0 R T H 0 P T E R A . IV. JUMPERS. ( Orthoptem saliatoria.) These are by far the most abundant and prohfic, and the most destructive of the Orthopterous insects. Tliey were all included by LinnjT3us in his great genus Grt/llus, in separate divisions, however, three of which correspond to tlie families Achetadiv* Grylliada'^^ and Locu8tiada\X in my " CJatalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts," and may retain the synony- mous English names of Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Locusts. These three families may thus be distinguished from each other. 1. Crickets (Achetad.e) ; with the wing-covers horizon- tal, and furnished with a narrow, deflexed outer border ; antennae long and tapering ; feet three-jointed (except Q^can- tluis, which has four joints to the hind feet) ; two tapering, downy bristles at the end of the body, between which, in most of the females, there is a long spear-pointed piercer. 2. Grasshoppers (Gryllid^e) ; with the wing-covers slop- ing downwards at the sides of the body, or roofed, and not 1 (ordered; antenntB long and tapering; feet with four joints ; end of the body, in the females, with a projecting sword or sabre-shaped piercer. 3. Locusts (Locustad.e) ; with the wing-covers roofed, and not bordered ; antenntB rather short, and in general not tapering at the end ; feet with only three joints ; female with- out a projecting piercer. 1. Crickets. QAcJietadce.') There may sometimes be seen in moist and soft ground, particularly around ponds, little ridges or hills of loose fresh earth, smaller than those which are formed by moles. They cover little burrows, that usually terminate beneath a stone or clod of turf. These burrows are made and inhabited by mole-crickets, which are among the most extraordinary of the cricket kind. The common mole-cricket of this country * Cryllus Acheta, Liniuutt<'rfly. (Fig. 110.) AYings taAvny above, variegated and spotted with black and white ; hind wings marbled and streaked beneath, with two large eye-like spots near the hind margin. Expands from 2^ to 2^ inches. The caterpillars are found on the same plants as those of the thistle butterfly, and particularly on the burdock and cotton-thistle in June and July. INIr. Abbot says that they live on a species of everlasting (^G-napJiaUiim j^oli/cejihidum') also. They, as Avell as the chrysalids, are very mucli like THE LAVINIA BUTTERFLY. 293 those of tlio preceding species. The Lutterflies appear in Auo-ust and September. FiR. 119. ^k^^ Cynthia Lavinia* Fab. Lavinia Butterfly. Wings dark brown above, each with a large and a small eye-like spot on both sides ; the fore wings with two orange- red spots near the middle of the front margin, and a large whitish band enclosing the hinder eye-like spots ; hmd wings with a reddish band near the hind margin. - Expands from 2 to 2 J inches. The caterpillar is said to be blackish and dotted with white, with the belly and legs tawny, and two white lines on each side, the uppermost one of which is spotted Avith tawny orano-e ; the spines (of which there are two short ones on the head, besides those on the body) are black and branched. According to INIr. Abbot, it lives on the Canada snap-dragon {^Anturhimim Canadense), and remains in the chrysalis state sixteen days. The chrysalis resembles in form that of the two preceding species, but is said to be destitute of metal- lic spots. I took one of these butterflies in a meadow in Milton, on the 10th of August, 1827, and have never met with it since in this State. It is very common in the South- ern States throughout the whole of the summer. Dr. Boisiliival 1ms described this insect under the s^pcclfic r.ame of Caenhx. 294 L K P I D 0 P T E K A . Cyntliia Atalanta, L. Atalanta Butterfly. (Fig. 120.) Wiuiis Llack above, spotted with white near the tips of the first pair, on which is also an orange-red band across the middle ; hind Avintrs with a marginal orange-red band, Fig 120. on which is a row of black dots, the two nearest to the hind angle having a pale blue centre. Expands from 2^ to 3 inches. The ^Vtalanta bvitterfly was probably introduced into America from Europe with the common nettle, A\'hich it in- habits. It deposits its eggs in jMay upon the youngest and smallest leaves of this jDlant, being cautious to drop only one upon a single leaf. The young caterpillar is guarded against injury from the poisonous prickles of the leaf by the numerous branching spines with Avhicli it is covei'cd, and which, being longer than the prickles, ])revent its body from coming in contact with the latter. The head is cov- ered with a tough shell, which sufficiently protects this part, while its strong and horny jaws are adapted for cutting and chewing the leaves and their prickles Avitli impunity. As soon as the caterpillar is hatched, it spins a little web to cover itself, securing the threads all around to the edges of the leaf, so as to bend upwards the sides and form a kind of trough, in Avhich it remains concealed. One end of the cavity is open, and through this the caterpillar thrusts THE ATALANTA BUTTERFLY. 295 its lieacl while eating. It begins with the extremity of the folded leaf, and eats downwards, and, as it gradually consumes its habitation, it retreats backwards, till at last, having, as it were, eaten itself out of house and home, it is forced to abandon its imperfect shelter, and con- struct a new one. This is better than the first ; for the insect has become larger and stronger, and withal more skilful from experience. The sides of the larger leaf selected for its new habitation are drawn together by silken threads, so that the edges of the leaf meet closely and form a light and commodious cavity, which securely shelters and com- pletely conceals the included caterpillar. This in time is eaten like the first, and another is formed in like manner. At length the caterpillar, having eaten up and constructed several dwellings in succession, and changed its skin three or four times, comes to its full size, leaves off eating, and seeks a suitable place in which to undergo its transformations. The young caterpillars are almost black ; the full-grown ones measure about one inch and a half, are generally of a brown color more or less dotted with white, with a black head, rough with elevated white points, with white branching spines on the back, and on each side there is a row of yellow crescents. The chrysalis is gray, with a whitish bloom u})on it like that on a plum, and the little pointed tubercles on its back are gold-colored. The chrysalis state continues about ten days, or longer if the Aveather be cool and wet. The butterflies from the first brood appear in July, and from the second in September. In the butterflies belonging to the genus T^anessa,, the wings are iagged or tailed on the hind edges. The under side of the hind wings, in many, is marked with a golden or silvery character in the middle ; the feelers are long, curv- ing, and contiguous, and form a kind of projecting beak. The head of the chrysalis is deeply notched or furnished with two ear-like prominences ; the sides are vciy angular ; on the middle of the thorax there is a thin projection, in im L E P I D 0 P T E R A , profile somewhat like a Roman nose ; and on tlie Lack are two rows of very sharp tubercles of a golden color. The caterpillars are cylindrical, and armed with branching spines ; they live in company, at least during the early period of their existence, and do not conceal themselves under a web or within a folded leaf. Vanessa Anfiopa, L. Antictpa Butterfly.'' (Fig. 121.) Wings purplisli brown above, with a broad buff-yellow margin, near the imier edge of which there is a row of pale blue spots. Expands from 3 to o^ inches. This butterfly passes the winter in some sheltered place in a partially torpid state. I have found it in mid-winter Fig. 121. sticking to the rafters of a barn, and in the crevices of walls and stone-heaps, huddled together in great numbers, with the wings doubled together above the back, and apparently benumbed and lifeless ; but it soon recovers its activity on being exposed to warmth. It comes out of its winter quar- [8 This is one of the few Imtterflies common to this countiy :ind Europe, and has jirobiibly been introduced licre. — Mor.uis.] THE ANT 10 PA BUTTERFLY. 297 ters very early in spring, often before the snow has entirely, left the ground, but with ragged and faded wings ; and may be seen sporting in warm and sheltered spots in the begin- ning of March, and through the months of April and May. Wilson, in his beautiful lines on the blue-bird, alludes to its early coming in the s])ring, " When first the kme butterfly flits on the wing." The caterpillars (Fig. 122) of the Antiopa butterfly live together in great numbers on j..;,^ ^2-i the poi)lar, willow, and elm, on ^ v - \\ v> . which the nrst broods may be ^^v" - .- - - ' found early in June. They are '^/j/^, /. / . /, /f//iffy. '^ black, minutely dotted witli white, with a row of eight dark brick-red spots on the top of the back. The head is black and rough with projecting points ; the spines, of which there are six or seven on each segment except the first, are black, stiff, and branched, and the inter- mediate legs are reddish. When fully grown they measure an inch and three quarters in length, and appear very for- midable with their thorny armature, which is doubtless in- tended to defend them from their enemies. It was formerly supposed that they were venomous, and capable of inflicting dangerous Avounds ; and Avithin my rememljrance many per- sons were so much alarmed on this account as to cut down all the poplar-trees around their dwellings. This alarm was unfounded ; for, although there are some caterpillars that have the poAver of inflicting' venomous wounds with their spines and hairs, this is not the case with those of the An- tiopa butterfly. The only injury which can be laid to their charge is that of despoiling of their foliage some of our most ornamental trees, and this is enough to induce us to take all proper measures for exterminating the insects, short of destroying the trees that they infest. I have sometimes seen them in such profusion on the willow and elm, that the limbs bent under their weiiiht, and the lono- leafless branches, ,38 298 LEPIDOPTERA. wliich they liad stripped and deserted, gave sufficient proof of the voracity of these caterpillars. The chrysalis (Fig. 123) is of a dark brown color, with large tawny spots Fig. 123. around the pointed tubercles on the back. The butterflies come forth in eleven or twelve days after the insects have entered upon the chrysalis state, and this occurs in the beginning of July. A second brood of caterpillars is produced in August, and they pass through all their changes before winter. Vanessa J Album. The White J Butterfly. Wings pale tawny red above, each Avith a white spot be- tween two black ones near the outer angle on the front margin ; the fore wings with a larger black spot on the mid- dle of the front edge, and five smaller roimdish black spots near the middle of the wings ; hind wings with a silvery- M'hite character somewhat in the shape of the letter J in the middle of the under side. Expands from 2^ to 3 inches. The caterpillar and chrysalis of this butterfly are un- known to me. The butterfly probably survives the winter like tlie Antiopa, for it has been observed late in the autumn, and again early in the ensuing spring, sometimes in great numbers ; but it is very inconstant in its appearance. It is more common in New Hampshire than in INIassachusetts. Vanessa Lderrogationis, F. Semicolon Butterfly.^ (Fig. 124.) Wings on the upper side tawny orange, with brown spots running together on the hinder part, and with black spots in the middle ; hind wings in the male most often black above, except at the base, and sometimes of this color in the otlier sex also ; the edges and the tails glossed with reddish white ; under side of the wings in some rust-red, in others marbled with light and dark brown, glossed with reddish white, and ['J ]'ant:s6a liderroijationis belongs to the genus GrajHa, Kirby. — JIof.kis.] THE S i: M I C 0 L 0 N B U T T E li F L Y 299 Avith a pale gold-colored semicolon on the middle of the hinder pair. Expands from 2^ to 2'i inches, or more. The paly-gold character beneath the hind wings has mnch more nearly the shape of a semicolon than of a note of interrogation ; * for which reason I have called this the semi- colon butterfly, instead of translating the specific name. It first appears in IMay, and again in August and September, and is frequently seen on the wing, in warm and sunny places, till the middle of October. The cater})illars live on the American elm and lime trees, and also on the hop-vine, Fig. 124. and on the latter they sometimes abound to such a degree as totally to destroy the produce of the plant. In the latter part of August the hop-vine caterpillars come to their full growth, and suspend themselves beneath the leaves and stems of the plant, and change to chrysalids. This fact afibrds a favorable opportunity for destroying the insects in this their stationary and helpless stage, at some loss, however, of the produce of the vines, which, when the insects have become chrysalids, should be cut down, stripped of the fruit that is sufficiently ripened, and then burnt. There is prob- [ * This liutterfly received its name from the Greek note of interrogation, -which is iilentical with our semicolon. — Ei> J 300 LEPIDOPTERA. aLly an early Lrood of caterpillars in June or July, but I have not seen any on the hop-vine before August ; the former are therefore confined to the elm and other plants, in all probability. The caterpillar is brownish, variegated with pale yellow, or pale yellow variegated with brown, with a yel- lowish line on eacli side of the body ; the head is rust-red, with two blackish branched spines on the top ; and the spines of the body are pale yellow or brownish and tipped with black. The chrysalis is ashen brown, with the head deeply notched, and surmounted by two conical cars, a long and thin nose-like prominence on the thorax, and eight silvery spots on the back. The chrysalis state usually lasts from eleven to fourteen days ; but the later broods are more tardy in their transformations, the butterfly sometimes not appearing in less than twenty-six days after the change to the chrysalis. Great numbers of the chrysalids are annually destroyed by little maggots within them, which, in due time, are trans- formed to tiny four-winged flies (^Pteromalus Vanessce), which make their escape by eating little holes through the sides of the chrysalis. They are ever on the watch to lay their eggs on the caterpiflars of this butterfly, and are so small as easily to avoid beino; wounded bv the branchino; spines of their victims. Vanessa Comma. Comma Bntterfly.^*^ (Plate lY. Fig. 1.) Upper siae tawny orange ; fore wings bordered behind and spotted with black ; hind wings shaded behind with dark brown, with two black spots on the middle, and three more in a transverse line from the front edge, and a roAV of bright orange-colored spots before the hind margin ; hind edges of the wings powdered with reddish white ; under side marbled with light and dark brown, the hinder wings with a silvery comma in the middle. Expands from 2^ to 2g inches. This butterfly very closely resembles the white C ((7 110 ]-_ C"Wi'"a belongs to tlie genus 6'/v7)/r( Kirby. — Glomus.] THE PROGNE BUTTERFLY. 301 album) of Europe, for whicli it has probably been mistaken. On a close and careful comparison of several specimens of both together, I am satisfied that the American Comma is a distinct species, and the hinder edges of the wings, which are not so deeply indented, will at once serve to distinguish it. I have therefore now named and described it for the first time. The caterpillar lives upon the hop, and, as nearly as I can recollect, has a general resemblance to that of the semicolon butterfly. The chrysalis (Plate IV. Fig. 2, chrysalis from which the butterfly has escaped) is brownish gray, or white variegated with pale brown, and ornamented with golden spots ; there are two conical ear-like projections on the top of the head, and the prominence on the thorax is shorter and thicker than that of the semicolon butterfly, and more like a parrot's beak in shape. The butterflies appear first in the beginning of jNIay ; I have obtained them from the chrysa- lids in the middle of July, and on the first of September. Vanessa Pro(jne,* Fab. Progne Butterfly. Upper side tawny orange ; fore wings bordered and spot- ted with black ; hind wings blackish on the posterior half, with two black spots before the middle, and a row of small orange-colored spots before the hind margin ; tails and pos- terior edges of the wings powdered with reddish white ; under side gray, with fine blackish streaks, and an angular silvery character somewhat in the form of the letter L on the middle of the hind wings. Expands from Ig to 2f inches. This butterfly appears in August, and probably also at other times. Though very much like the preceding in general appearance, it is readily distinguished from it by the darker color of the hind wings and the angular shape of the silvery character on their under side. This character is very * Mr. Kirby, whose work on the insects of North America abounds in mistakes, has redescribed this old and well-kuown species under the name of Vantssa C. argtnUum, 302 L E P I D 0 P T E R A . slender, and is sometimes entirely wanting. I have raised the Progne and Connna butterflies from caterpillars which were so much alike, that I am not certain to which of them the following description belongs. These caterpillars were found on the American elm in August ; they were pale yellow, with a reddish-colored head, white branching spines tipped with black, and a row of four rusty spots on each side of the body. They were suspended on the 21st and 22d of August, changed to chrysalids Avithin twenty-fom* hours, and were transformed to butterflies sixteen days afterwards. At another time, a Progne butterfly was obtained from a caterpillar, which I neglected to describe, on the 18th of August, the chrysalis state having continued only eleven days. The chrysalis is brownish gray, with silvery spots on the back, a short, thick, and rounded nose-like prominence on the thorax, and two conical double-pointed horns or ears on the head, the outer points very short, and the inner ones lono-er and curvino- inwards. Vanessa Mllherti* Godart. Milbert's Butterfly. (Fig. 125.) Black above, with a broad orange-red band near the hinder maroin of all the Fig. 125. ^ 5 t wings, behind which on the hind wings is a row of pale blue crescents ; fore wings with a small white spot near the tips, and two orange-red spots near the middle of the front edge ; under side deep broAvn, with a pale band near the extremity of the wings, and no metallic characters on the hinder pair. Expands from 2^ to 2f inches. This showy butterfly is rare in the vicinity of Boston, but * This is the Vanessa furcUlata of Mr. Say; but Godart's name has the priority in point of time. THE HIPPARCHIANS. 303 abundant in the northwestern part of the State and in New Hampshire. It appears in May, and again in July and Au- gust. The caterpillars live together on the common nettle. They vary in color, some being much darker than others ; generally, however, they are pale brown, minutely dotted with yellowish white, Avith a dark brown longitudinal line on the top of the back, a whitish one on each side just above the feet, and above this a row of brown spots ; the head is n small, black, and rough, Avith little black and white tuber- cles ; the spines are blackish, slioi't, and with very small branches or lateral bristles. It measures wIkmi fully grown an inch and a quarter or more in length, the chrysalis is pale brown with golden spots, the top of the head widelv but not deeply notched, and the nose-like prominence very small. The last of the four-footed butterflies remaining to be de- scribed may be called Hipparchians (^Hlpparcliiadce) . The wings of the butterflies belonging to this group are entire, with the veins of the first pair swelled at their origin, and the central mesh of the second pair closed behind. Their caterpillars are not spiny, and are of a green color, spindle- shaped, or cylindrical, tapering at both ends, Avith the- hinder extremity notched or terminating in two conical points, and the head is either rounded or notched above. They live exclusively on various kinds of grasses, for the most part concealing themselves during the day among the stubble, and suspend themselves by the hindmost feet alone wdien about to transform. The chrysalis is either oblong and somewhat ano'ular at the sides, Avith the head notched and two roAvs of pointed tubercles on the back, or short and rounded, Avith the head obtuse ; but never ornamented Avith metallic spots. The small size and uniformly green color of the caterpillars of our native species, and the obscurity in Avhich they gener- ally live, render it very difficult to discoA-er them ; and hence they rarely pass under our obserA'ation. This being 304 L E P I D 0 P T E R A . Fig. 126. tlie case, and not liaving mucli to communicate respecting the habits of individual species, I shall confine mj further remarks to a description of the insects in their final state, when they are exposed to view, and attract our notice by their neat and modest coloring, and their graceful and gentle motions. They are mostly found in thickets and woods, and more rarely in places more open and exposed. Hipparclria scmldca, Say. The Mountain Butterfly. (Fig. 12G.) Wings dusky brown above, thin, delicate, and almost transparent, in the male paler, and with more of an ochre-yellow tint; fringes black, barred with ochre- yellow, and a row of faint ochre-yellow spots near the hind margin of the second pair ; the under side of these wings and of the tips of the fore wings is mar- bled with black and white, a portion of the white forming an irregular band beyond the middle of the hind wings. Expands \-f^ inch to 2 inches. This butterfly has hitherto been taken only on the summit of the White INIountains of New Hampshire in June and July. It was observed in great abundance flying about on the top of IMount Washington on the 29th of July last. It has also been seen on the Monadnoc Mountain, and will probably be discovered on the tops of the high mountains in our own State, if looked for at the proper season. It closely resembles the Fortimatus of Lapland, with which I have compared it, and find it to be specifically distinct. Mr. Say was the first describer of it, and it is well figured in his American Entomology. Dr. Boisduval has since re-described and figured it under the name of CJdonahas Also* * Icones L(?pidopt. Nouv., I. p. 197, PL 40, fig. 1, 2, and LOpidopt. Amor., I. p. 222. BOISDUVAL'S BUTTERFLY. 305 Hlpparclda Alope, Fab. Alope Butterfly. (Fig. 127.) Dark brown ; fore wings with a broad ochre-yellow band beyond the middle, enclosing two round black spots, with a sky-blue centre ; hind wings notched behind, with from one to three eye-like spots of a black color, with a blue centre on the upper side, and four or five of the same kind, but of unequal size, beneath ; the under side of the wings is pale brown, with numerous dark brown streaks. The eye-spots on the hind wings are sometimes wanting in the males. Expands from 2 to 2.\ inches. In the Southern States individuals are found measurino; three inches. The Alope butterfly is found from the first of July to the middle of September in open woods and in orchards. The caterpillar is pale green with dark green stripes ; the head is round, and the tail ends in a short fork. The chrysalis is elongated, roundish at the sides, wdth the head notched. HijyparcJda BoisduvalUi. Boisduvars Butterfly. (Fig. 128.) Pale yellowish-brown ; the fore wings upon both sides have four eye-like, blackish . , , . Fig. 128. spots. With a white centre, and the hind win^s have six, the external spot re- mote from the others, and the two next to the hind angle very small and close together. In some indi- viduals the white centre is wanting in some of the eye-spots on the upper side of the wings. 39 i06 L E P I D 0 P T E R A . Expands 2 inches or more. This hutterfly is figured in Dr. BoisduvaFs Hlstoire des Lepidopteres de T Amerique, under the name of Satyrus Canthus ; but as it does not agree with the desci'iptions of the Canthus of Linnicus and of Fabricius, in both of which there ax'e no eye-spots on the upper side of the wings, I have thought it entitled to a new name, and am happy to dedicate it to one of the most accomphshed entomologists now living. This delicate butterfly delights in open and elevated situa- tions, and is found in July on the sides of the highest hills, and in the mountain meadows of the northwestern parts of this State. Hipparchia Eurytris, Fab. Eurytris Butterfly. (Fig. 130.) Dark brown above, paler beneath, wdth two longitudinal dusky stripes ; on the upper side of the wings are two black eye-spots, enclosed in an ochre-yellow ring, with two lead-colored dots in the centre of each spot ; on the hind wings there is another smaller spot, with a lead-col- ored centre, near the hinder angle ; all these spots are found on the under side of the wings, and between them are in- terposed the same number of small lead-colored spots. Expands 1 inch and 6 or 7 tenths. This butterfly is found in June and July among bushes and in the paths of woods, seeking the shade i-ather than the sunshine. The caterpil- lar resembles that of the A lope butterfly, but the ,, , ■ V 1 1 chrysalis is shorter, with the head obtuse. Fig. 130. THE SKIPPERS. 807 2. Skippers. {Hesperiadce.) The butterflies of this tribe frequent grassy places, and low bushes and thickets, flying but a short distance at a time, with a jerking motion, whence they are called skippers by English writers. When they alight, they usually keep the hind wings extended horizontally, and the fore wings some- what raised, but spreading a little, and not entirely closed, as in other butterflies ; some of them, however, have all the wings spread open when at rest, and there are others in which they are all elevated. Notwithstanding this difference in the position of the Avings, the Hesperians all have certain characters in common, by which they are readily distin- guished from other butterflies. Their bodies are short and thick, with a large head, and very prominent eyes; the feelers are short, almost square at the end, and thickly clothed with hairs, which give them a clumsy appearance ; the antenna are short, situated at a considerable distance from each other, and in most of these insects with the knob at the end either curved like a hook, or ending with a ht- tle point bent to one side ; the legs are six in number, and the four hinder shanks are armed with two pairs of spurs. Their caterpillars are somewhat spindle-shaped, cylindrical in the middle, and tapering at each extremity, without spines, and generally naked or merely downy, with a very laro-e head and a small neck. They are solitary in their habits, and many of them conceal themselves within folded leaves, like the caterpillars of the thistle and nettle butterflies ( Cyn- iliia Car did and Atalanta), and undergo their transforma- tions within an envelope of leaves or of fragments of stubble gathered together with silken threads. Their chrysalids are generally conical or tapering at one end, and rounded, or more rarely pointed, at the other, never angular or orna- mented with golden spots, but most often covered with a bluish-white powder or bloom. They are mostly flistened by the tail and a few transverse threads, within some folded 308 LEPIDOPTERA. leaves, whicli are connected togetlier by a loose internal Aveb of threads, forming a kind of imperfect cocoon. Heteropterus marginatus. Bordered Skipper. (Fig. 131.) Fore wings tawny yellow above, shaded with brown be- j,,j^_ jgj hind, and with an indistinct brownish streak in the middle ; beneath, brown, with the front and hind margin broadly bordered with tawny yellow ; hind wings tawny yellow, with a broad brownish outer margin above, and without a bor- der beneath ; antennae and legs ringed with black and white ; body slender, longer than the hind wings, which are hori- zontal in repose, and the fore wings raised and spread a little. Expands about J of an inch. This pretty species does not appear to have been described before. The chrysalis from which it was obtained, on the 20th of July, is rather long, nearly cylindrical, but tapering at the hinder extremity, and with an obtusely rounded head. It is reddish ash-colored, minutely sprinkled with brown dots. I am not sure that this skipper belongs to the genus Jleterojjterus, but have placed it in this gemis on account of the antennae, which are not hooked at the end, but ter- minate much like those of the genus PoJyommatiis. In the greater number of our skippers the antennce are curved or hooked at the end. This is the case in the kinds belonging to the genus Thtxnaos, which have the knobs of the antenucB long, tapering, and curved, the body thick, and shorter than the wings ; the latter are generally spread in repose, and the fringes are of one uniform color, or not spotted. The males are distinguished by having the middle of the front edge of the fore wings doubled back on the upper surface. THE BRIZO SKIPPER. 309 Tluniaos Juvenalis, Fab. Juvenal's Skipper. Smoky brown on both sides ; fore wings variegated above with o-ray, with transverse rows of dnsky spots, and six or seven small semi-transparent white spots near the tips ; six of these spots are disposed in a transverse row, bnt the two hindmost are separated from the others by a considerable interval, and the seventh spot, which is sometimes wanting, is placed nearer the middle of the wing ; hind wings with a row of blackish spots near the hind margin. Expands Ifjj inch. There is a local variety of this skipper, that is much more common in jNlassachusetts than the preceding, of inferior size, seldom expanding more than IjV ii^cli, in Avhich the white spots are smaller, and the seventh is Avanting near the middle of the fore wing. This skipper is found in meadows in May, and again in August. The caterpillar lives on various pea-blossomed plants, such as the Glycine^ or groundnut, the Lathyrus, or vetchling, &c. It is green, with pale stripes, and a heart-shaped brown head. The chrysalis is rather long and tapering, according to Mr. Ab- bot of a green color, and is enclosed in a cocoon of leaves and threads ; in my specimens pale yellowish brown, with a few minute hairs on the body, and with the tongue-case prominent and projecting beyond the middle of the breast ; and the cocoon was composed of stubble. Mr. Abbot in- forms us that in summer the skipper leaves the chrysalis in nine davs ; but the autumnal brood continues in the chrysalis state throughout the winter. TJianaos Brizo. Brizo Skipper. (Fig. 132.) Dark brown ; fore wings almost black on the upper side, and variegated with gray externally ; near their hind niar- o-in is a row of gray dots, within which is a transverse band, composed of another row of oval gray spots, between two slender black zigzag lines, and across the middle is another band of tlie same kind ; on the hind wings are two wavy 310 LKPIDOPTERA. rows of oclire-yollow dots near the hind margin ; all the wings beneath have two rows of dots of the same color behind. Expands from lj*j to 1^^;^ inch. This skipper * has not been described before, but is figured in Dr. Boisduval's work under the name above mven. It is found in the same places and at the same times as the pre- ceding species, to which also it bears a close resemblance in the caterpillar and chrysalis states, and lives on the same kind of plants. In the skippers which Dr. Boisduval arranges under the name of Eudamus^ the knobs of the antennas are very long, gradually taper to a point, and are suddenly bent like a hook in the middle ; the front edge of the fore wings, in the males, is doubled over ; the hind wings are often tailed, or are furnished with a little projection on the hinder angle ; the fringes are spotted ; and all the wings are raised when at rest. Eudamiis Tityrus, Fab. Tityrus Skipper." (Plate V. Fig. 1.) Wings brown ; first pair with a transverse semi-transparent band across the middle, and a few spots towards the tip, of a honey-yellow color ; hind wings with a short rounded tail on the hind angles, and a broad silvery band across the middle of the under side. Expands from 2 to 2| inches. This large and beautiful insect makes its appearance, from the middle of June till after the beginning of July, upon sweet-scented flowers, which it visits during the middle of the day. Its flight is vigorous and rapid, and its strength is * It is figured in Abbot's Insects of Georgia as one of tlie sexes, or a variety, of the JuvtnaUs ; but the sexes of both of these species are known to me. [ 11 Eudamus Titi/rvs belongs to the genus Goniloba Doubleday. — IMouius.] THE TITYRUS SKIPPER. 311 SO great that it cannot be captured without clanger of its being greatly defaced in its struggles to escape. The females lay their eggs, singly, on the leaves of the common locust- tree {Bobinia pseudacacia) , and on those of the viscid locust XRobinia viscosa}, which is much cultivated here as an ornamental tree. The caterpillars are hatched in July, and when quite small conceal themselves under a fold of the edge of a leaf, which is bent over their bodies and secured by means of silken threads. When they become larger they attach two or more leaves together, so as to form a kind of cocoon or leafy case to shelter them from the weather, and to screen them from the prying eyes of birds. The full- grown caterpillar (Fig. 133), which Fig. 1.33. attains to the length of about two inches, is of a pale green color, trans- versely streaked with darker green, with a red neck, a very large head roughened with minute tubercles, slightly indented or furrowed above, and of a dull red color, with a large yellow spot on each side of the mouth. Although there may be and often are many of these caterpillars on the same tree and branch, yet they all live separately within their own cases. One end of the leafy case is left open, and from this the insect comes forth to feed. They eat only, or mostly, in the night, and keep themselves closely concealed by day. These caterpillars are very clean- ly in their habits, and make no dirt in their habitations, but throw it out with a sudden ierk, •; Fig. 131. so that it shall fall at a consider- \ , able distance. They frequently transform to chrysalids within the same leaves which have served them for a habitation, but more -^^j _ ^ ,y- often quit the trees and construct in some secure place a cocoon (Fig. 134) of leaves or fragments of stubble, the interior of which is lined with a loose web 312 LKPIDOPTERA. of silk. They remain in their cocoons without further change throughout the winter, and are transformed to but- terflies in the following summer. The viscid locust-tree is sometimes almost completely stripped of its leaves by these insects, or presents only here and there the brown and withered remains of foliage, which has served as a tempo- rary shelter to the caterpillars. Eudamus Bathyllus, Smith. Bathyllus Skipper, (Fig. 135.) In Massachusetts we have what I suppose to be only a local variety of the Bathyllus skipper, differing from South- ern specimens in the inferior size of the white spots on the fore wings, the less prominent hind angle of the hind Avings, and the darker color of the frino;es. It is of a dark brown color ; on the fore wino;s is a row of small white spots across the middle, and another shorter row of only three or four contiguous spots between the first and the tip ; the wings beneath are light brown, shaded at the base with dark brown ; the hinder pair with a slightly prominent posterior angle, and two dark brown transverse bands. Expands from 1| to lyV inch. This species is found on flowers in June and July ; in the Southern States it appears also in March and April. The caterpillar is very similar to that of the Tityrus skipper, and is found on various kinds of G-lycirie, Hedysarum, &c., in May and June. The rest of our skippers belong to the old genus Hesjyeria of Fabricius, which, as now restricted by the French ento- mologists, very iiearly coincides Avith Pampldla of the Eng- lish writers. The American species are quite numerous, and moreover vary a good deal ; which, with the difference existing between the sexes, renders it quite difficult to deter- THE HESPERIANS. 313 mine and characterize tliem. In the distribution of the Hesperians, by far the largest portion of the family or group seems to have been assigned to the Western Continent ; and it is probable that New England, or perhaps Massachusetts alone, contains a larger number of species than the whole of Europe. The insects of this group recede in many striking characters, and in their general habits, from the true butter- flies, and seem to form the connecting link between the latter and the sphinges or hawk-moths. Those belonging to the genus Hesperia delight in cool and shady places, and most commonly appear on the wing towards the evening, which led Fabricius to give them a generic name indicative of this circumstance. Their antennae are considerably shorter than in those included in Thanaos and Uiidamus, and the knob at the end, which is thick and oblong oval, terminates suddenly in a little point directed to one side. The upper wings are raised and the lower are expanded when at rest ; and the fringes are not spotted. The body is thick, and about as long as the hind wings. ]\Iost of the males are distinguished by an oblique black dash near the middle of the fore wings. The caterpillar lives chiefly on low herbaceous plants. The chrysalis (Fig. 136) is described as being conical, with a pointed head, and a long tongue-case, ^'s- i^s- folded on the breast, but not confined at the point. The transformation takes place in a slight cocoon of stubble or grass, connected by a few threads within. These skippers frequent meadows, and other grassy and somewhat shady places, during the middle and latter part of summer. They are of smaller size than the preceding Hesperians, and are much more common and abundant. Their flight, though short and intermitting, is exceedingly swift, and they possess a o-reat deal of muscular strength. Hesperia Hohomok. Hobomok Skipper. (Fig. 137.) Dark brown above ; on each of the wings a large tawny- 40 314 LEPIDOPTEKA. yellow spot occupying the greater part of the middle, four or five minute spots of the same color near the tips of the fore wings, on which is also a short brownish line at the outer extremity of the central mesh ; under side of the fore wings similar to the upper, but paler ; hind wings brown beneath, with a yellow spot near the shoulder, and a very broad deep yellow band, which does not attain the inner margin, and has a tooth-like projection extending towards the hinder edge. The male has not the usual distinguishing oblique dash on the fore wings, which differ from those of the female only in the greater size of the tawny portion, which extends to the front margin. Expands from 1/^ to l^V inch. This skipper comes very near to the Otlio of Smith and Abbot (which is not the same as the Oiho of Boisduval), and also approaches closely to a species that is figured in Dr. Boisduval's work under the name of Zahulon ; but does not sufficiently agree with either of them, and, in the belief that it has not been described before, I have given it the name of one of our celebrated Indian chiefs. It is found in June and July. Hesperia Leonardus. Leonard's Skipper. (Fig. 138.) Dark brown above ; fore wings of the male tawny yellow on the front margin from the ^'^' ' ■ base to beyond the middle ; behind this tawny portion is a short black line, and be- hind the latter a row of con- tiguous tawny spots, extend- ing from the middle of the inner edge towards the tip ; the spots at this extremity small and separated from the oth- PECK'S SKIPPER. 315 ers ; fore wings in the female without the tawny front edge and black line ; hind wings, in both sexes, with a central, curved, tawny-yellow band ; wings beneath bright red- brown ; the first pair blackish from the middle to the inner edge, and spotted as on the upper side ; hind wings with a yellow dot in the middle, and a curved row of seven bright yellow spots behind it. Expands from l/ij- to Ij- inch. This very distinct and strongly marked skipper does not seem to have been described before. For a specimen of the male I am indebted to the Rev. L. W. Leonard, to whom I have dedicated the species. The females I have taken in the beginning of September. Hesperia Sassacus. Sassacus Skipper. Dark brown above ; all the wings with a tawny-yellow spot occupying the greater part of the middle of each, and with two or three little detached spots of the same color near the extremity of the first pair ; beneath ochre-yellow, with small pale yellow spots near the tip, corresponding to those on the upper side of the fore wings ; and on the hind wings seven small, square, pale yellow spots, namely, one before the middle and the others in pairs behind it. Expands IJ inch. Of this skipper I have seen only the female, which was taken in Cambridge in the month of June. Its upper side is very much like that of the Hobomok skipper, but it differs from it in the color and markings of the under side, and seems not to have been described before. I have therefore given it, as a ncAv species, the name of an Indian warrior. Hesperia Pechius, Kirbj. Peck's Skipper. (Fig. 139.) Dark brown above ; fore wings with a row of contiguous tawny-yellow spots, extending from the middle of the inner margin towards the tip, where the spots are more distant, and a tawny line from the base to the middle, behind which. 316 LEriDOriERA. in the male, is a short, curved, deep black line ; hind wings with an indented tawny band, or row of unequal spots, behind the middle, which, ni the male, are very indistinct ; beneath, lio;lit brown : fore Avino-s Fie. 139. ' o ' o marked with bright yellow spots ; hind wings with a very large, irreg- ular, bright yellow spot, covering nearly the whole under surface, and almost divided in two near the middle. Expands from l^V ^o l^j inch. This skipper was named by Mr. Kirby in honor of the late Professor Peck of Cambridge, and is figured and de- scribed in the fourth volume of the " Fauna Boreali Ameri- cana." The upper surface of the female resembles that of the same sex of the PhylcBus of Drury or VitelUus of Fabricius ; but the under side is different. It is found on flowers in meadows in the latter part of July and in August. Hesperia Cernes ? Boisduval. Cernes ? Skipper. Dark brown above, fore wings of the male with a large brassy-yellow spot, extending from the front edge beyond the middle, and an oblique wavy black line ; hind wings with a brassy gloss ; under side of the fore wings tawny yellow before, dusky behind, with a pale yellow oblique spot near the middle, and two or three minute spots of the same color near the front margin ; hind wings dusky ochre-yelloAV be- neath, with a transverse row of four small paler yellow almost obsolete spots ; head and body glossed with green above, yellowish white beneath. Expands IfV inch. In one individual from the Southern States there are tAvo or three minute yellow dots on the fore wings betAveen the oblique line and the tip. I think it probable that this may be the species figured, but not described, by Dr. Boisduval, under the abo\'e name. It is found in the latter part of July, but seems to be rare, and the female is unknoAvn to me. THE AHATON SKIPPER. 317 Hesperia Metacomet. Metacomet Skipper. Dark brown, slightly glossed with greenish yellow above, the male with a short, oblique black line on the middle of the fore wings, on both sides of which, in the female, are two yellowish dots on the middle, and two more near the front margin and tip ; hind wings beneath with a transverse row of fom' very faint yellowish dots, which, however, are often wanting. Expands \^js inch. It resembles the preceding in some respects, but is of a uniform dark color above, and is probably a distinct species. It appears in July. INIetacomet was the Indian name of the celebrated King Philip. Hesperia Ahaton. Ahaton Skipper. (Fig. 140.) Dark brown above ; fore wings in the male tawny before the middle 'from the base nearly to j.; ^^^^ the tip, the tawny portion ending ex- ternally in three minute wedge-shaped spots ; on the middle an oblique vel- vet-black line, near the outer extrem- ity of which are two or three small tawny spots ; under side spotted .as above ; hind wings with- out spot above ; of a greenish or dusky yellow tinge below, with a transverse curved roAv of four minute yellowish dots, which are often very faint or entirely wanting. In the fe- male there is a tawny dash along the front margin of the fore wings, and the oblique black line is wanting, but the other spots are larger and more distinct. Expands from 1 inch to lyV« The markings on the fore wings somewhat resemble those of H. Leonardus, but in other respects it is different, and is much inferior in size. It was captured many years ago in Milton, and I have given it the name of an Indian from that vicinity. 318 LEPIDOPTERA. Hesperia Wamsutta. Wamsutta Skipper. (Fig. 141.) Dark brown above ; fore wings with a broken row of small tawny spots towards the tip, and in the males a large tawny patch covering the whole of the fore part of the wings Fig. 141. from the base to the middle, and an oblique curved black line behind it ; hind wings with a small tawny dot before the middle, and an indented tawny band, or row of contiguous unequal spots ; under side of the fore wings light brown, and with larger yellow spots than on the other side, hind wings light brown, with two large irregular bright yellow spots connected in the middle and covering nearly the Avhole surface. Expands fi'om xa of an inch to neai'ly an inch. This species hardly differs from Peck's skipper, except in being uniformly smaller. It is a very common kind, and is found in meadows in the latter part of summer, particularly through the month of August. Wamsutta, whose name I have given it, was the oldest son of the Sachem Massasoit. There are a few moi'e skippers in my collection, which were taken in INIassachusetts, but some of them are not suffi- ciently perfect to be described, and of the others I have only one sex. II. HAWK- MOTHS. ( Sphinges.*) Linnseus was led to give the name of Sphinx to the insects in his second group of the Lepidoptera, from a fancied resemblance that some of their caterpillars, when at rest, have to the Sphinx of the Egyptians. The attitude of these caterpillars is indeed very remarkable. Supporting themselves by their four or six hind legs, they elevate the * See page 202. HAWK-MOTHS. . 319 fore part of the body, and remain immovably fixed in this posture for hours togetlier. In the winged state, the true Sjjhinges are known by the name of humming-bird moths, from the sound which they make in flying, and hawk-moths, from their habit of hovering in the air while takino- their food. These humming-bird cr hawk moths may be seen during the morning and evening twilight, flying with great swiftness from flower to flower. Their wings are Ions, narrow, and pointed, and are moved by powei-ft^l muscles, to accommodate which their bodies are very thick and ro- bust. Their tongues, when uncoiled, are, for the most part, excessively long, and with them they extract the honey from the blossoms of the honeysuckle and other tubular flowers, while on the wing. Other Sphinges fly during the daytime only, and in the brightest sunshine. Then it is that our large clear-winged Sesife make their appearance among the flowers, and regale themselves with their sweets. The fragrant Phlox is their especial favorite. From their size and form and fan-like tails, from their brilliant colors, and the manner in which they take their food, poised upon rapidly vibrating wings above the blossoms, they might readily be mistaken for humming-birds. The iEgerians are also diurnal in their habits. Their flight is swift, but not prolonged, and they usually alight while feeding. In form and color they so much resemble bees and wasps as hardly to be distinguished from them. The Smerinthi are heavy and sluggish in their motions. They fly only during the night, and apparently, in the winged state, take no food, for their tongues are very short, and indeed almost invisible. The Glaucopidians, or Sphinges with feathered antennae, fly mostly by day, and alight to take their food, like many moths, wdiich some of them resemble in form, and in their transformations. The caterpillars of the Sphinges have six- teen legs, placed in pairs beneath the first, second, third, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and last segments of the body ; all of them, except the -^Egerians and Glaucopidians, have 320. LEPIDOPTERA. either a kind of horn or a tubercle on the top of the last segment, and, when at rest, sit Avith the fore part of the body elevated. Having devoted a large portion of this treatise to a de- scription of the spinning-moths, my observations on the other insects of this order must be brief, and confined to a few species, which are more particularly obnoxious on account of their devastations in the caterpillar state. Those persons who are curious to know more about the Sphinges than can be included in this essay, are referred to my descriptive catalogue of these insects, contained in the thirty-sixth volume of Professor Silliman's " Journal of Science." ^^ Every farmer's boy knows the potato-worm, as it is com- monly called ; a large green caterpillar (Fig. 142), with a kind of thorn vipon the tail, and oblique whitish stripes on the sides of the body. This insect, which devours the leaves of the potato, often to the great injury of the plant, grows to the thickness of the fore-finger, and the length of three inches or more. It attains its full size from the middle of August to the first of September, then crawls down the stem of the plant and buries itself in the ground. Here, in a few days, it throws off its caterpillai*-skin, and becomes a chrysa- lis (Fig. 143), of a bright brown color, with a long and slender tongue-case, bent over from the head so as to touch the breast only at the end, and somewhat resembling the handle of a pitcher. It remains in the ground through the winter, below the reach of frost, and in the following sum- mer the chrysalis-skin bursts open, a large moth crawls out of it, comes to the surface of the ground, and, mounting upon some neighboring plant, waits till the approach of evening invites it to expand its untried wings and fly in search of food. This large insect has generally been con- [ 12 A more complete monograph of the Sphinges has been lately published in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1859, Art. V., p. 97, by Dr. Brackinridge Clemens, of Easton, Penn. — Morris.] THE FIVE-SPOTTED SPHINX, 321 ,99 LEl'lDOl'TEKA. Fig. 145. founded with the Carohna Sphinx (^Sphinx Carolina of Lin- ncEus, Fig. 145, Fig. 146, larva, Fig. 147, pupa), which it Fig. 14G. Fig. 147 closely resembles. It measures across the wings about five inches ; is of a gray color, variegated with blackish lines and bands ; and on each side of the body there are five round, orange-colored spots encircled with black. Hence it is called by Eng- lish entomologists Sphinx quinquemaculatns (Fig. 144), the five-spotted Sphinx. Its tongue can be unrolled to the THE FOUi;-HOEKED CERATOMIA. 323 r:<^ length of five or six inclies, but, when not in use, is coiled hke a watch-spring, and is ahnost entirely concealed be- tween two large and thick feelers, under the head. Among the numerous insects that infest our noble elms, the largest is a kind of Sphinx, which, from the four short horns on the fore part of the back, I have named Ceratomia * quadricornis (Fig. 148), or four-horned Ceratomia. On Fig. 148 f some trees these Sphinges exist in great numbers, and their ravages then become very obvious ; while a few, though capable of doing considerable injury, may escape notice among the thick foliage which constitutes their food, or will only be betrayed by the cojiious and regularly formed pellets of excrement beneath the trees. They are very abundant during the months of July and August on the large elms which surround the northern and eastern sides of the Com- mon in Boston ; and towards the end of August, when they descend from the trees for the purpose of going into the ground, they may often be seen crawling in the Mall in considerable numbers. These caterpillars (Fig. 149), at this period of their existence, are about three inches and a * Cerfitomia, derived from the Greek, means hnriiit; horns on the shoitldeis, a peculiarity wliicli I have not observed in any other Spliinx. 324 LEl'IDOPTERA. hair in length, are of a pale green color, with seven oLli(|ue white lines on each side of the body, and a row of little notches, like saw-teeth, on the back. The four short horns on their shoulders are also notched, and, like most other Sphinges, they have a long and stiff spine on the hinder extremity of the body. They enter the earth to become chrysalids, and pass the winter, and come forth in the winged state in the month of June following, at which time the moths may often be found on the trunks of trees, or on fences in the vicinity. In this state their wings expand nearly five inches, are of a light brown color, variegated with dark brown and white, and the hinder part of the body is marked with five longitudinal dark brown lines. A young friend of mine, in Boston, once captured on the trunks of the trees a larire number of these moths durincr a mornino-'s walk in the jMall, althouiih oblio-ed to be on the alert to escape from the guardians of the Common, whose duty it was to prevent the grass from being trodden down. Nearly all of these specimens were females, ready to deposit their eggs, with Avliich their large bodies were completely filled. (Jn being taken they made scarcely any eftbrts to escape, and were safely carried away. It would not be difficult, by such means, very considerably to reduce the number of these destructive insects ; in addition to which it might be expedient, during the proper season, for our city authorities to emplo}' persons to gather and kill eveiy morning the cat- erpillars which may be found in those j)ublic walks where they abound. From the g^'nus Sphinx I have separated another group GRAPE-VIXE SPHINGES. 325 to wliich I have given tlie name of Pldlanqx'lKi^* from the circumstance that the hirva) or caterpillars live npon the grape-vine. When young they have a long and slender tail recurved over the back like that of a dog ; hut this, after one or two changes of the skin, disappears, and nothing remains of it but a smooth, eye-like, raised spot on the top of the last segment of the body. Some of these caterpillars are pale green and others are brown, and the sides of their body are ornamented by six cream-colored spots, of a broad oval shape, in the species which produces the SateUitia of Linngeus ; narrow oval and scalloped, in that which is trans- formed to the species called Achemon (Fig. 150) by Drury.^^ J'^ They have the power of withdrawing the head and the first three segments of the body within the fourth segment, which gives them a short and blunt appearance when at rest. As they attain to the length of three inches or more, and are thick in proportion, they consume great quantities of leaves ; and the long leafless branches of the vine too often afford evidence of their voracity. They also devour the leaves of the common creeper (^Ampelopsis quinquefoUa) , which, with those of our indigenous vines, were their only food till the introduction and increased cultivation of foreign vines afforded them an additional supply. They come to their o-rowth durino; the month of AuOTst, enter the earth to transform, and appear in the winged or moth state the folloAving summer, in June and July. The SateUitia Hawk- moth (Plate V. Fig. 2) expands from four to five inches, * The literal signification of tliis word is, Hove the vine. [ 13 p. avheinoH is Spliinx crautor Cramer and ITiihner. — ^Mointis.] 32G LEPIUOl'TKRA. aiul is of a liglit olive color, variegated with patches of dark- er olive. The Achemoii (Plate V. Fig. 3 ; Fig. 151, pupa) , , expands from three to four i'v^. 151. ^ inches, is of a reddish ash- ones on each fore wing ; the hind wings are pink, with a deeper red spot near the middle, and a broad ash-colored border behind. The o-rape-vine suffers still more severely fi'om the rav- ao^es of another kind of Sphinx caterpillars, smaller in size than the preceding, and like them solitary in their habits, but more numerous, and, not content with eating the leaves alone, in their progress from leaf to leaf down the stem, thev stop at every cluster of fruit, and, either from stupidity or disappointment, nip off the stalks of the half-grown grapes, and allow them to fall to the ground untasted. I have gathered nnder a single vine above a qnart of unripe grapes thus detached during one night by these caterpillars. They are naked and fleshy, like those of the AcJiemon and Satellitia^ and are generally of a pale green color (sometimes, however, brown), with a row of orange-colored spots on the top of the back, six or seven oblique darker green or brown lines on each side, and a short spine or horn on the hinder extremity. The head is very small, and, with the fore part of the body, is somewhat retractile, but not so completely as in the two preceding species. The fourth and fifth segments being very large and swollen, while the three anterior segments taper abruptly to the head, the fore part of the body presents a resemblance to the head and snout of a hog. This suggested the generical name of Cltcero- campa, or hog-caterpillar, which has been applied to some of these insects. (Fig. 152, caterpillar covered with cocoons of a pai-asitic Hymenopterous insect ; Fig. 153, the parasite, natui'al size and magnified.) THE APPLE-TREE S JI K li IX T HU S. 327 The species under consideration is fovnid on the vine and the creeper in July and August ; wlien fully grown, it de- scends to the ground, conceals itself under fallen leaves, Fig. lo2. which it draws together hy a few threads so as to form a kind of cocoon, or covers itself with grains of eartli and rubbish in the same way, and under this imperfect cover it changes to a pupa or chrysalis j,,., ^.^ (Fig. 154), and finally appears in ^^a^m^^^^bm^ the winged state in the month of ^B^^^^^^^^f^jk July of the following year. The ^^^^. , , , , moth, to which Sir James Edward Smith gave the name of Pamphiatrix^^ (Plate V. Fig. 4), from its living on the shoots of the vine, expands from two and a half to three inches, is of an olive-gray color, except the hind wings, which are rust-colored, and the fore wings and shoulder- covers are traversed with olive-green bands. Among the Sphinges of Massachusetts may be mentioned those belonging to the genus Smerintlius^ whose tongue is very short and scarcely visible, and whose fore wings are generally scalloped on the outer edge. Their caterpillars are rough or granulated, with a stout thorn on the tail, and a triangular head, the apex of the triangle corresponding to the crown. The blind-eyed Smerintlms (^S'. exccecata^ Fig. 155) is fawn-colored, clouded with brown, except the hind wings, which are rose-colored in the middle, and ornamented with an eye-like black spot having a pale blue centre. The caterpillar lives on the apple-tree, but is not [14 C. pnmpin"trix is Spldnx myron Cramer, und Sphinx cnoius Htibner. — Morris.] 328 LEI'IDOPTERA. common enough to prove seriously injurious. The same observation "svill apply to that of the chocolate broAvn-eyed S})hinx (^Smerintlms myoi:)H)^ Avliich lives on the wild-cherry- tree, and to the walnut Sphinx (^Smcrinthus Juglandis)^ which lives on the black walnut and butternut. The latter species is destitute of eye-like spots on the hind wings. Of those belonging to the genus Sphinx proper, that which bears the specific name drupiferaruin inhabits the hackberry QCeltis occidentalism and the plum-tree ; SjjMnx KalmicB inhabits the broad-leaved laurel (^Kalmia latifolia') ; the caterpillar of the Grordius is found on the apple-tree ; tliat of the great ash-colored Sphinx (^S. cinerea) on the lilac ; Hylcem on the black alder (^Prinos glaber, etc.) and whortleberry ; and the curiously checkered caterpillar of SjjJdnx coniferarum on pines. Of the hog-caterpillars, those of ChairocamjM chxrilus and versicolor may be found on swamp pinks (^Azalea viscosa and nudiflora). The cater- pillar of the white-lined morning Sphinx (^DeilejjJula lincatd) feeds upon purslane and turnip leaves ; and that of Deile- jjJnla Cliamcenerii on the willow-herb (^Epilohium angusti- foliurn). The clear- winged Sphinges, Sesia pelasc/us^^ (Fig. 156) and diffinis, are distinguished by their transparent wings and their fan-shaped tails. They hover over flowers, [ 15 S. pelnsgiis is S. thisbe Fab. = . 12.J, ].l. GG. THE TIGER-MOTHS. that tliey sometimes make great devastation among young Indian corn in the Southern States. A much more abundant species in Massachusetts is that which lias been called the harnessed moth, Aretia 2^^Mlerata (Fig. IGG) of my Catalogue. It makes its appearance from the end of ^lay to the middle of August, and probably breeds throughout the "whole summ^'r. It is of a pale buff or nankin color ; the hind wings next to the body, and the sides of the body, are reddish ; on the fore wings are two longitudinal black stripes and four triangular black spots, the latter placed near the tip ; and these stripes and spots are arranged so that the buif-colored spaces be- tween them somewhat resemble horse-harness ; the hind wings have several black spots near the margin; there are two dots on the collar, three stripes on the thorax, and a stripe along the top of the back, of a black color ; the under side of the body and the legs are also black. The wings ex- pand from one inch and a half to one inch and three quar- ters. The caterpillar is not yet known to me. This moth, in many respects, resembles one called PhylUra* by Drury, rarely found here, but abundant in the Southern States ; the fore wings of which are black, with one longitudinal line, two transverse lines, and near the tip two zigzag lines forming a W, of a buff color. The feelers and ton^ie of the foregoing moths, though short, are longer than in the following species, which have these parts, as well as the head, smaller and more covered with hairs. Some of the latter may be said to occupy the centre or chief place among the Arctians, exceeding all the rest in the breadth of their wings, the thickness of their bodies, and the richness of their colors. Among these is the great American tiger-moth, Aretia Americana^ an undc- * Jlore ijroperly Phlhjra. 348 LEPIDOPTERA. scribed species, -which some of the French entomologists* liave supposed to be the same as the great tiger, Arctia Caja, of Europe. Of this fine insect I have a specimen, whicli was presented to me bv Mr. Edward Doubleday, who obtained it, with several others, near Trenton Falls in New York. It has not yet been discovered in Massachusetts, but will proba- bly be found in the western part of the State. The fore wings of the Arctia Americana expand two inches and a half or more ; they are of a brown color, with several spots and broad winding lines of white, dividing the brown surface into a number of larce irregular blotches : the hind winffs are ochre-yellow, with five or six round blue-black spots, three of them larger than the rest; the thorax is brown and woolly; the collar edged with Avliite before, and with crimson behind; the outer edges of the shoulder-covers are white ; the abdo- men is ochre-yellow, with four black spots on the middle of the back : the thiohs and fore legs are red, and the feet dark brown. This moth closely resembles the European Caja, and especially some of its varieties, from all of which, however, it is essentially distinguished by the white edging of the col- lar and shoulder-covers, and the absence of black lines on the sides of the body. It is highly probable that specimens may occur with orange-colored or red hind wings like the Caja, but I have not seen any such. The caterpillar of our species probably resembles that of the Caja, which is dark chestnut- brown or black, clothed with spreading bunches of hairs, of a foxy-red color on the fore part and sides of the body, and black on the back ; but the clusters of hairs, though thick, are not so close as to conceal the breathing holes, which form a distinct row of pearly-white spots on each side of the body. These caterpillars eat the leaves of various kinds of gar- den plants without much discrimination, feeding together in considerable numbers on the same plant when young, but scattering as they grow older. * Godart. L^pidopt. de France, Tom. IV. p. 303. It is figured in tlie " Lake Superior" of Agassiz and Cubot, pi. 7, fig. 5. THE VIRGINIA ERMINE-MOTH. 349 The largest of tlie American Arctians is the Scrihonia, or great white leopard-moth, which varies in expansion from two and a half to three and a half inches, the females being invariably much larger than the males. It is of a white color; the fore wings and thorax are ornamented with many small OA'al black rings, the hind Avings are more or less spotted with black ; and the abdomen is yellow, with rows of large blue-black spots on the back and sides. The caterpillar, as represented by J\Ir. Abbot,* is the counterpart of that of the Hebe of Europe, being chestnut- brown with transverse red bands between the rings, and is clothed with clusters of dark brown hairs. It is said to eat the leaves of the wild sunflower and of various other plants. It has been confidently reported to me that the great leopard-moth has been seen in Brookline; but it must be very rare here, for I have never heard of its being taken in any part of New England. Specimens of this fine insect would be a very acceptable addition to any collection of such objects. Of all the hairy caterpillars frequenting our gardens, there are none so common and troublesome as that which I have called the yellow- bear (Fig. IGT). Like most of its genus, it is a very general feeder, de- vouring almost all kinds of herbaceous plants with equal relish, from the broad- leaved plantain at the door-side, the peas, beans, and o-vcn the flowers of the garden, and the corn and coarse grasses of the fields, to the leaves of the vine, the currant, and tl.e gooseberry, which it does not refuse when pressed by hunger. This kind of caterpillar varies very much in its colors ; it is perhaps most often of a pale yellow or straw color, with a black line along each side of the body, and a transverse line * Insects of Georgia, p. 137, pi. G9. Fig. 167 350 lepidoptp:ea. of the same color between each of the segments or rhifs, and it is covered Avitli long pale yellow hairs. Others are often seen of a rusty or brownish yellow color, with the same black lines on the sides and between the rings, and they are clothed with foxy-red or light brown hairs. The head and ends of the feet are ochre-yellow, and the nnder side of the body is blackish in all the varieties. They are to be found of different ages and sizes from the first of June till October. When fully grown they are about two inches long, and then creep into some convenient place of shelter, make their co- coons, in which they remain in the chrysalis state during the winter, and are changed to moths in the months of May or June following. Some of the first broods of these caterpil- lars appear to come to their growth early in summer, and are transformed to moths by the end of July or the beginning of August, at which time I have repeatedly taken them in the winged state ; but the greater part pass through their last change in June. The moth (Fig. 108) is fli- miliarly known by the name of the white mil- ler, and is often seen about houses. Its sci- entific name is Arctia Virf/imca,^^ and, as it nearly resembles the insects commonly called ermine-moths * in England, we may give to it the name of the Virginia ermine-moth. It is white, with a black point on the middle of the fore wings, and two black dots on the hind wings, one on the middle and the other near the posterior angle, much more distinct on the nnder than on the upper side ; there is a row of black dots on the top of the back, another on each side, and between these a longitudinal deep yellow stripe ; the hips and thighs of the fore legs are also ochre-yellow. [18 Arctia Virginica belongs to the genus Spilosomn. — Morris.] * It is most like the Arctia Uriicm, but is of a much purer white color. Fig. 168. THE SALT-MARSH CATERPILLAR. 351 It expands from one inch and a lialf to two inches. Its eggs are of a golden-yellow color, and are laid in patches npon the leaves of plants. In some parts of France, and in Belgium, the people have been required hy law to echeniUer, or uncat- erpillar, their gardens and orchards, and haA'e been punished by fine for the neglect of the duty. Although we have not yet become so prudent and public-spirited as to enact similar regulations, we might find it for our advantage to offer a bounty for the destruction of caterpillars ; and though we should pay for them by the quart, as we do for berries, we should be gainers in the end, while the children Avhose idle hours were occupied in the picking of them would find this a profitable employment. The salt-marsh caterpillar (Fig. 1(39), an insect by far too well known on our seaboard, and now getting to be common in the interior of the t-- ..,^ Fig. 169. State, whither it has probably been intro- duced, while under the chrysalis form, with the salt hay an- nually carried from the coast by our inland farmers, closely resembles the yellow bear in some of its varieties. The history of this insect forms the subject of a communication made by me to the Agricultural Society of Massachusetts, in the year 1823, and printed in the seventh volume of the " ]Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal," with figures representing the insect in its different stages. At various times and intervals since the beginning of the present century, and probably before it also, the salt marshes about Boston have been overrun and laid waste by swarms of cater- pillars. These appear towards the end of June, and grow rapidly from that time till the first of August. During this month they come to their full size, and begin to run, as the phrase is, or retreat from the marshes, and disperse through the adjacent uplands, often committing very extensive ravages 352 LKl'IDOPTERA. in their progress. Corn-fields, gardens, and even tlie rank weeds by the way-side, afford them temporary nourishment while wandering in search of a place of security from the tide and weather. They conceal themselves in walls, under stones, in hay-stacks and mows, in wood-piles, and in any other places in their way, Avhich will afford them the proper degree of shelter during the winter. Here they make their coarse hairy cocoons, and change to chrysalids, in which fjrm they remain till the following summer, and are transformed to moths in the month of June. In those cases where, from any cause, the caterpillars, when arrived at maturity, have been unable to leave the marshes, they conceal themselves beneath the stubble, and there make their cocoons. Such, for the most j^art, is the course and duration of the lives of these insects in jNIassa- chusetts ; but in the Middle and Southern States two broods are brought to perfection annually, and even here some of them run through their course sooner, and produce a second brood of caterpillars in the same season ; for I have obtained the moths between the 15th and 20th of May, and again be- tween the 1st and the lOtli of August. Those which were disclosed in May passed the winter in the chrysalis form, while the moths which appeared in August must have been produced from caterpillars that had come to their growth and £2;one throuoh all their transformations durino; the same sum- mer. This, however, in Massachusetts, is not a common occurrence ; for by far the greater part of these insects appear at one time, and require a year to complete their several ch ancles. The full-grown caterpillar measures one inch and three quarters or more in length. It is clothed with long hairs, which are sometimes black and sometimes brown on the back and fore part of the body, and of a lighter brown color on the sides. The hairs, like those of the other Arctians, grow in spreading clusters from warts, which are of a yellowish color in this species. The body, when stripped of the hairs, THE SALT-MARSH CATERPILLAR. 353 is yellow, sliadetl at the sides with black, and there is a blackish line extending along the top of the back. The breathing-holes are white, and very distinct even throuo-h the hairs. These caterpillars, when feeding on the marshes, are sometimes overtaken by the tide, and when escape be- comes impossible they roll themselves up in a circular form, as is common with others of the tribe, and abandon them- selves to their fate. The hairs on their bodies seem to have a repelling power, and prevent the Avater from wetting their skins, so that they float on the surface, and are often carried by the waves to distant places, where they are thrown on shore and left in winrows with the wash of the sea. After a little time, most of them recover from their half-drowned condition, and begin their depredations anew. In this way, these insects seem to have spread from the places where they first appeared to others at a considerable distance. From the marshes about Cambridge they were once, it is said, driven in great numbers by a high tide and strong wind upon Boston Neck, near to Roxbury line. Thence they seem to have migrated to the eastern side of the Neck, and, follow- ing the marshes to South Boston and Dorchester, they have spread in the course of time to those which border upon Neponset River and Quincy. How far they have extended north of Boston I have not been able to ascertain ; but I believe that they are occasionally found on all the marshes of Chelsea, Saugus, and Lynn. Although these insects do not seem ever entirely to have disappeared from places where they have once established themselves, they do not prevail every year in the same overwhelming swarais ; but their numbers are increased or lessened at irregular periods from causes which are not well understood. These caterpillars are produced from eggs, which are laid by the moths on the grass of the marshes about the middle of June, and are hatched in seven or eight days afterwards; and the number of eggs deposited by a single female is, on an average, about eight hundred. The moths themselves vary 45 35-4 I. K r I D 0 P T E R A . ia color. In the males (Plate VI. Fig. f'), tlic tliorax and upper side of the fore wings are generally white, the latter spotted with black ; the hind wings and ahdomen, except the tail, deep ochre-yellow, the former with a few Lhick spots near the hind margin, and the abdomen with a row of six black spots on the top of the back, two rows on the sides, and one on the belly; the under side of all the wings and the thighs are deep yellow. It expands from one inch and seven eighths to two inches and a quarter. The female (Ilate VI. Fig. 10) differs from the male either in having the hind Avings white, instead of ochre-yellow, or in having all the wings ashen-gray with the usual black spots. It expands two in- ches and three eiohths or more. Sometimes, tlioui-h rarelv, male moths occur Avith the fore wings ash-colored or dusky. Professor Peck called this moth pseuderminea^ that is, ll\lse ermine, and this name was adopted by me in my communi- cation to the Agricultural Society. Professor Peck's name, however, cannot be retained, inasmuch as the insect had been previously named and described. Druiy, the first describer of the moth, called the male Caprotina, and the female Acrea* supposing them to be diherent species ; but tlie latter name alone has been retained for this species by most naturalists. In order to lessen the ravages of the salt-marsh caterpil- lars, and to secure a fair crop of hay Avhen these insects abound, the marshes should be mowed early in July, at which time the caterpillars are small and feeble, and, being unable to Avander far, will die before the crop is gathered in. In defence of early mowing, it may be said that it is the only way by which the grass may be saved in those meadows where the caterpillars have multiplied to any exent ; and if the practice is followed generally, and continued during sev- eral years in succession, it will do much towards extermi- nating these destructive insects. By the practice of late mowing, where the caterpillars abound, a great loss in the crop will be sustained, immense * The projicr orthography is Acrcea. THE ISABELLA TIGER-MOTH. bo5 numbers of caterpillurs and gi-asshoppers will Le left to grow to maturity and disperse upon the uplands, bv which means the evil will go on increasing from year to year ; or they will he brought in wdtli the h.ay to perish in our barns and stacks, where their dead bodies will prove ofTensive to the cattle, and occasion a waste of fodder. To get rid of " the old fog "' or stubble, wdiich becomes much thicker and longer in conse- quence of early mowing, the marshes should be burnt over in jMarch. The roots of the grass will not be injured by burn- ing the stubble, on the contrary they will be fertilized by the ashes ; while great numbers of young grasshoppers, cocoons of caterpillars, and various kinds of destructive insects, Avith their eggs, concealed in the stubble, will be destroyed by the f:rc. In the Province of I^ew Brunswick, the benefit arising from burning the stubble has long been proved ; and this practice is getting into favor here. During the autumn there may be seen in our gardens and fields, and even by the way-side, a kind of caterpillar (Fig. 170) whose peculiar appearance must frequently have excited at- tention. It is A'ery thickly clothed with hairs, which are stiff, short, and perfectly even at the ends, like the bristles of a Ijrush, as if they had all been shoi'u ofi" Avith the sliears to the same lenrrth. The hairs on the first four and last two rings are black ; and those on the six intermediate rings of the body are tan-red. The head and body of tlie caterpillar are also Ijlack. When one of these insects is taken up, it immediately rolls itself into a ball, like a hedge-hog, and, owing to its form and to the elas- ticity of the diverging hairs Avith Avhich it is coA-ered, it read- ily slides from the fingers and hand of its captor. It cats the leaves of the cloA'er, dandelion, narroAv-leaA-ed j^lantain, and of various other herbaceous j)lants, and on the approach of Avinter creeps tmder stones, rails, or boards on the ground, where it remains in a half-torpid state till spring. In April 350 L E r I D 0 P T E R A . or ]\ray it makes an oval Llackisli cocoon, composed cliiefly of the hairs of its body, and comes fortli in the moth state in June or July. j\Iy specimens remained in the chrysalis form five weeks ; but Mr. Abbot* states that a caterpillar of this kind, which made its cocoon in Georgia on the 24th of June, Avas trans- formed to a moth on the oth of July, having remained only eleven days in the chrysalis state. The moth is the Arctia Isabella, or Isabella tiger-moth, and it differs essentially from those which have been described in the antennae, which are not feathered, but are merely covered on the imder side with a few fine and short hairs, and even these are found only in the males. Its color is a dull grayish tawny-yellow ; there are a fcAV black dots on the wings, and the hinder pair are frequently tinged with orange-red ; on the top of the back is a row of about six black dots, and on each side of the body a similar row of dots. The wings expand from two inches to two inches and three eighths. The specific name, which was first given to this moth by Sir James Edward Smith, is expressive of its peculiar shade of yellow. We have a much smaller tiger-moth, Avith naked antenna? like those of the Isabella. Its Avings are so thinly coA^ered Avith scales as to be almost transpar- ent. It lias not yet been described, and it may be called the ruddle tiger- moth, Arctia rubricosa (Fig. 171). Its fore Avino-s are reddish-broAvn, Avith a small black spot near the middle of each ; Its hind Avings are dusky, becoming blacker behind (more rarely red, with a broad blackish border be- hind), Avith tAvo black dots near the middle, the inner margin next to the body, and the fringe, of a red color ; the thorax is reddish-broAvn ; and the abdomen is cinnabar-red, Avith a roAv of black dots on the top, and another roAV on each side. It expands about one inch and one quarter. This moth is * Insects of Georgia, ]). 131, pi. 66. THE FALL WEB- WORM. 357 rare ; and it appears here in July and August. It closely resembles the ruby tiger-moth, Arctia faUginosa, of Europe, the wings of which are not so transparent, and have two black dots on each of them, with a distinct row of larger black spots around the outer margin of the hind pair. The caterpillar of our moth is unknown to me ; it will probably be found to resemble that of the ruby tiger, which is black- ish, and thickly covered with reddish-brown or reddish-gray hairs. It eats the leaves of plantain, dock, and of variovis other herbaceous plants, grows to the length of one inch and three eighths, passes the winter concealed beneath stones, or in the crevices of Avails, and makes its cocoon in the spring. The caterpillars of all the foregoing Arctians live almost entirely upon herbaceous plants ; those which follow (with one exception only) devour the leaves of trees. Of the latter, the most common and destructive are the little caterpillars known by the name of fall web-worms, whose large webs, sometimes extending over entire branches Avith their leaves, may be seen on our native elms, and also on apple and other fruit trees, in the latter part of summer. The eggs, from which these caterpillars proceed, are laid by the parent moth in a cluster upon a leaf near the extremity of a branch ; they are hatched from the last of June till the middle of Aurrust, some broods being early and others late, and the young cat- erpillars immediately begin to provide a shelter for them- selves by covering the upper side of the leaf Avith a Aveb, AAdiich is the result of the united labors of the Avhole brood. They feed in company beneath this web, dcA^ouring only the upper skin and pulpy portion of the leaf, leaving the veins and loAver skin of the leaf untouched. As they increase in size they enlarge their Aveb, carrying it OA'er the next loAver leaves, all the upper and pulpy parts of Avhich are eaten in the same way, and thus they continue to Avork dowuAvards, till finally the Aveb covers a large portion of the branch Avith its dry, brown, and filmy foliage, reduced to this unseemly condition by these little spoilers. These caterpillars (Plate 358 LEPIDOPTEEA. YII. Fii;'. 12, young caterpillar), wlien fullv grown, measure rather more than one inch in length ; their bodies are more slender than those of the other Arctians, and are very thinly clothed with hairs of a grayish color, intermingled "with a few which are black. The general color of the body is greenish yellow dotted with black ; there is a broad blackish stripe along the top of the back, and a bright yellow stripe on each side. The warts, from which the thin bundles of spreading, silky hairs |)roceed, are black on the back, and rust-yellow or orange on the sides. The head and feet are black. I liaA'e not observed the exact length of time required by these insects to come to maturity ; but towards the end of August and during the month of September they leave the trees, disperse, and wander about, eating such plants as haj)- pen to lie in their course, till they haAC found suitable places of shelter and concealment, where they make their thin and almost transparent cocoons (Plate YII. Fig. 10 ; Fig. 11, pu- pa), composed of a slight web of silk intermingled with a few hairs. They remain in the cocoons in the chrysalis state through the winter, and are transformed to moths in the months of June and July. These moths are white and without spots ; the fore thighs are tawny yellow, and the feet blackish. Their wings expand from one inch and a quarter to one inch and three eighths. Their antenna3 and feelers do not differ essentially from those of the majority of the Arctians, the former in the males being doubly feathered beneath, and those of the females having two rows of minute teeth on the under side. This species was first described by me in the seventh volume of the New England Farmer, page 33, where I gave it the name of Arctia textor, the weav- er, from the w^ell-known habits of its caterpillar. Should it be found expedient to remove it from the genus Arctia^ I j^ropose to call the genus which shall include it Hijjjhantria, a Greek name for weaver, and place in the same genus the many-spotted ermine-moth, Arctia pmictatissima^^ of Sir J. [-'■' Arctia punctalissiina is Spilusoina cunea Drnry — Morris.] THE MILK-WEED CATERPILLAR. 359 E. Smitli, which is found in tlie Soutliern States, and agives with our weaver in habits. From the foregoing account of the habits and transformations of the fall web-worm, or Hyphantria textor,^^ it is evident that the only time in which we can attempt to exterminate these destructive insects with any prospect of success is when they are young and just be- ginning to make their webs on the trees. So soon, then, as the webs begin to appear on the extremities of tlie branches, they should be stripped off, with the few leaves which they cover, and the caterpillars contained therein, at one grasp, and should be crushed under foot. There are many kinds of hairy caterpillars in Massachu- setts, diflPering remarkably from those of the other Arctians, and resembling in some respects those belonging to the next tribe, Avith which they appear to con- '^ , .-v., ,,,.„-'*¥#// ,/ nect the true Arctians. The first of these are little party-colored tufted caterpillars (Fig. 172), which may be found in great plenty on the common milk- Aveed, Asch'jAas Syriaca., during the latter part of July and the whole of August. Although the plants on which these insects live are generally looked upon as weeds and cumber- ers of the soil, yet the insects themselves are deserving of notice, on account of their singularity, and the place that they fill in the order to which they belong. They keep to- gether in companies, side by side, beneath the leaves, their heads all turned towards the edge of the leaf while they are eating, and when at rest they arch up the fore part of the body and bend downi the head, which is then completely con- cealed by long overhanging tufts of hairs, and if disturbed they jerk their heads and bodies in a very odd way. These harlequin caterpillars have sixteen legs, which, with the head, are black. Their bodies are black also, with a whitish line on each side, and are thickly covered with short tufts of hairs f-" Ihjphantria iextor is Sj/ilosoma (extor. — JIorkis.] oGO LEPIDOPTERA. proceeding from little warts. Along the top of the back is a row of short black tufts, and on each side, from the fifth to the tenth rino; inclusive, are alternate tufts of orange and of yellow hairs, curving upwards so as nearly to conceal the black tufts between them ; below these, along the sides of the body, is a row of horizontal black tufts ; on the first and second rings are four long pencil-like black tufts extending over the head, on each side of the third ring is a similar black pencil, and two, which are white, placed in the same manner on the sides of the fourth and of the tenth rings. About the last of August, and during the month of September, these caterpillars leave the milk-weed, disperse, conceal themselves, and make their cocoons (Fig. 173), which mostly consist of ... ,-o ,,. ,-, hairs. The chrysalis fFiir. 174) rig. 1(0. lig. Ii4. J V » y „_ is short, almost eijo-shaped, beinix ^g_^§l^^ quite blunt and rounded at the hind end, and is covered with lit- tle punctures like those on the head of a thimble, only mvich smaller. The chrysalids are transformed to moths between the middle of June and the beginning of July. These moths, though not so slender as the Callimorphas, are not so thick and robust as the Arctias, their antennae resemble those of the latter, but are rather longer, the feelers are also longer, and spread apart from each other, and the tongue is but little longer than the head, when unrolled. The wings are rather long, thin, and delicate, of a bluish-gi'ay color, paler on the front edge, and without spots ; the head, thorax, under side of the body, and the legs are also gray ; tlie neck is cream- colored ; the top of the abdomen bright Indian-yellow, with a row of black spots, and two rows on each side. It expands from one inch and three quarters to nearly two inches. This moth was figured and described many years ago by Drury, Avho named it Jilgle. Though marked and colored like some of the Arctias (for example, the luctifera of Europe), it cannot with propriety be included in the same genus, and therefore I have proposed to call it Euchcetes Egle; the first THE HICKORY TUSSOCK-MOTH. 361 name, signifying fine-liaired, or having a flowing mane, is given to it on account of the long tuft of hairs overhanging the fore part of the caterpillar like a mane. This moth, in some of its characters, approaches to the Lithosians, but seems, in others, too near to the Arctians to be removed from the latter tribe, and it is evidently, in the caterpillar state, nearly allied to the following insects, which are un- doubtedly Arctians, but lead apparently to the Liparians. If our Arctians are grouped in a circle, with the larger kinds, such as the great American tiger and leopard moths in the middle, and the others arranged around them, then will these species, which are here described last, be brought round to the Callimorphas, with which the series began, and thus a natural order of succession will be preserved. During'the months of August and September there may be seen on the hickory, and frequently also on the elm and ash, troops of caterpillars (Plate VI. Fig. 1), covered with short spreading tufts of white hairs, with a row of eight black tufts on the back, and two long, slender, black pencils on the fourth and on the tenth ring. The tufts along the top of the back converge on each side, so as to form a kind of ridge or crest ; and the warts, from Avhich these tufts proceed, are oblong-oval and transverse, wdiile the other warts on the body are round. The hairs on the fore part of the body are much longer than the rest, and hang over the head ; the others are short, as if sheared off, and spreading. The head, feet, and belly are black ; the upper side of the body is white, sprinkled with black dots, and with black ti^ansverse lines between the rings. These neat and pretty caterpillars, when young, feed in company on the leaves ; while not engaged in eating, they bend down the head and bring over it the long hairs on the fore part of the body ; and, if disturbed or han- dled, they readily roll up like the other Arctians. When fully grown, they are nearly one inch and a half long. They leave the trees in the latter part of September, secrete them- selves under stones and in the chinks of walls, and make 4G 362 L E 1' I D 0 1' r E R A . their cocoons (Plate YI. Fig. 2), which are oval, thin, and hairy, like those of the other Arctians. The chrysalis is short, thick, and rather blunt, but not rounded at the hinder end, and not downy. The moths, which come out of the cocoons during the month of June, are of a very light ochre- yellow color ; the fore wings are long, rather narrow, and almost pointed, are thickly and finely sprinkled with little brown dots, and have two oblique brownish streaks passing backwards from the front edge, with three I'ows of white semi-transparent spots parallel to the outer hind margin ; the hind wings are very thin, semi-transparent, and without spots ; and the shoulder-covers are edged within with light broAvn. They expand from one inch and seven eighths to two inches and a quarter or more. The wings are roofed when at rest ; the antennae are long, with a double, narrow, feathery edging, in the males, and a double row of short, slender teeth on the under side, in the females ; the feelers are longer than in the other Arctians, and not at all hairy ; and the tongue is shoi't, but spirally curled. This kind of moth does not appear to have been described before, and it cannot be placed in any of the modern genera belonging to the Arcti- ans ; for this reason I pro- se to call it Lovhoeam- (r'ary/ce(Fig. 175) ; the iirst name meaning crested caterpillar, and the second beino- the scientific name of the hickory, on which it lives. In England, the moths that come from caterpillars having long pencils and tufts on tlieir backs are called tus- sock-moths ; w^e may name the one under consideration the hickory tussock-moth. In August and September I have seen on the black w^al- nut, the butternut, the ash, and even on the oak, caterpillars exactly resembling the foregoing in shape, but differing in [■-1 Lophocnmpa is Ilakddota Walker. — MoRias.] THE CHECKERED TUSSOCK-MOTH. 3Go color, being covered, when young, with hrownlsh-yellow tufts, of a darker color on the rido-e of the back, and havino- four long white and two black pencils extending over the head from the second ring, and two black pencils on the eleventh ring ; Avhen they are fully grown thev are covered with ash-colored tufts, those on the ridge blackish ; the head is black, the body black or greenish black above, and whit- ish beneath, and the legs are rust-yelhnv. This is evidentlv a different species or kind from the hickory tussock, beino- differently colored, and having the two hindmost pencils placed on the eleventh, and not on the tenth ring. I have not yet succeeded in keeping these caterpillars alive until they had finished their transformations. In my collection are specimens of a moth closely resem- bling the'iiickory tussock in everything except size and color. It may be named Lophocampa maculata^ the spotted tussock- moth. It is of a light ochre-yellow color, with large irregu- lar light brown spots on the fore Avings, arranged almost in transverse bands. It expands nearly one inch and three quarters. The caterpillar, as far as I can judge from a shrivelled specimen, was covered with whitish tufts forming a crest on the back, in which were situated eio;ht black tufts : there was a black pencil on each side of the fourth and of the tenth ring, and a quantity of long white hairs overhang- ing the head and the hinder extremity ; the head was black ; but the color of the body cannot be ascertained. A fourth kind of Lophocampa, or crested caterpillar, re- mains to be described. It is very common, throughout the United States, on the buttonwood or sycamore, upon Avhich it may be seen in great numbers in July and August. The tufts on these caterpillars are light yellow or straw- colored, the crest being very little darker ; on the second and third rings are two orange-colored pencils, which are stretched over the head when the insect is at rest, and before these are several long tufts of white hairs ; on each side of the third ring is a white pencil, and there are two 364 LE PIDOPTERA. pencils, of the same color, directed backwards, on the elev- enth ring. The body is yellowish white, with dusky warts, and the head is brownish yellow. These caterpillars leave the trees towards the end of August, and conceal themselves in crevices of fences, and under stones, and make their cocoons, which resemble those of the hickory tussock ; and from the middle of June to the end of July the moths come forth. These moths are faintly tinged with ochre-yellow ; their long, narrow, delicate, and semi-transparent Avings lie almost flatly on the top of the back ; the upper pair are checkered with dusky spots, arranged so as to form five irregular transverse bands ; the hind edge of the collar, and the inner edges of the shoulder-covers, are greenish blue, and between the latter are two short and narrow deep yellow stripes ; the upper side of the abdomen and of the legs are deep ochre-yellow. The wings expand about two inches. The name of this beautiful and delicate moth is Lophocampa tessellaris, the checkered tussock-moth. It is figured and described in Smith and Abbot's " Insects of Georgia," where, however, the caterpillar is not correctly represented. Mr. Abbot's figure of the caterpillar has been copied in the illus- trations accompanying Cuvier's last edition of the " Regne Animal," and is there referred to Latreille's genus Sericaria. This includes, besides various other insects having no re- semblance to the foregoing, the true tussock caterpillars be- longing to the next group ; but from these the caterpillars of all the kinds of Lopliocampa differ essentially, in being much more liairy, in not having the warts on the sides of the first rino; lonoer than the rest, and in being destitute of the little retractile vesicles on the top of the ninth and tenth rings ; moreover, their chrysalids are not covered with short hairs in clusters or ridges. On the other hand, they aoree with the Arctians in beino; covered with warts and spreading bunches of hairs, in rolling up like a ball when handled, and in the form and structure of their cocoons. The position of the wings of the checkered tussock-moth, THE LIPARIANS. 365 when at rest, is almost exactly like that of some of the Lithosians ; but the other kinds of Lophocampa do not cross the inner edges of the Aviniis ; and the bodies of all of them are much thicker and more robust than those of the Lithosians. The third group or family of Bombyces may be called Liparians (Liparid^e*). Of the moths bearing this name, the females have remarkably thick bodies, and are sometimes destitute of wings, while the males are generally slender, and have rather broad wings. Their feelers are very hairy, and for the most part are rather longer than those of the Arctians. Their tongues are very short, and invisible or concealed. Their antenna? are short, and bent like a bow, and doubly feathered on the under side, the feathering of those of the males being very wide, and of the females mostly narrow. When at rest, these moths stretch out their hairy fore legs before their bodies, and keep their upper and lower wings together over their backs, sloping a very little at the sides, and covering the abdomen like a low or flattened roof. The females, even of those kinds that are provided with wings, are very sluggish and heavy in their motions, and seldom go far from their cocoons ; the males frequently fly by day in search of their mates. The caterpillars of most of the Liparians are half naked, their thin hairs growing chiefly on the sides of their bodies ; the warts which furnish them being only six or eight f in number on each ring; and they have two little soft and reddish warts (one on the top of the ninth, and the other on the tenth ring), which can be drawn in and out at pleasure. Some of them have four or five short and thick tufts, cut off square at the ends, on the top of the back, two long and slender pencils of hairs extending forwards, like antennse, from the first ring, sometimes two * From Liparis^ more properly Liparus, the name of a genus of moths belong- hig to this group. This name means fat or gross, and was probably assigned to the genus on account of the thickness of the bodies of some of these moths. t The Arctians have ten or more warts on each ring. 366 L E p I D 0 p T p: R A . more pencils on the fifth ring, and a single pencil on the top of the eleventh ring. The warts which produce these pencils are more prominent or longer than the rest. These caterpillars are called tussocks in England, from the tufts on their backs. They live upon trees and shrubs, and, when at rest, they bend down the head, and bring over it the long plume-like pencils of the first ring. Their cocoons are large, thin, and flattened, and consist of a soft kind of silk, intermixed with which are a few hairs. The chrysalids are covered with down or short hairs, and end at the tail with a long projecting point. In Europe there are many kinds of Liparians, some of them at times exceedingly injuri- ous to vegetation, their caterpillars devouring the leaves of fruit-trees, and not unfrequently extending their devastations to the hedges, and even to the corn and grass.* There do not appear to be many kinds in the United States, and they never swarm to the same extent as in Europe. During the months of July and August, there may be found on apple-trees and rose-bushes, and sometimes on other trees and shrubs, little slender caterpillars (Plate VII. Fig. 1), of a bright yellow color, sparingly clothed with long and fine yellow hairs on the sides of the body, and having four short and thick brush-like yellowish tufts on the back, that is on the fourth and three following rings, two long black plumes or pencils extending forwards from the first ring, and a single plume on the top of the eleventh ring. The head, and the two little retractile warts on the ninth and tenth rings, are coral-red ; there is a narrow black or brownish stripe along the top of the back, and a wider dusky stripe on each side of the body. These pretty cater- pillars do not ordinarily herd together, but sometimes our * These destructive kinds are the caterpillars of the brown-tailed moth {Por- iliesia au7'ijiua), of the golden-tailed moth (Porthesia chrysorrlxea), of the gypsy- moth {Hypof/ymnadispar), and of the black arches-moth [Psilura monacha). The first of these abounded to such an extent in England, in the year 1782, that prayers were ordered to be read in all the churches, to avert the destruction which was anticipated from them. THE WHITE-MARKED ORGYIA. 36T apple-trees are much infested by tliem, as was the case in the summer of 1828. In the summers of 1848, 1849, and 1850, they were very numerous on trees in Boston, both in private yards and on the common, where the horse-chestnuts, which seem ordinarily to escape the attacks of insects, were almost entirely stripped of their leaves by these insects. AVhen they have done eating, they spin their cocoons on the leaves, or on the branches or trunks of the trees, or on fences in the vicinity. The chrysalis is not only beset with little hairs or down, but has three oval clusters of branny scales on the back. In about eleven days after the change to the chrysalis is effected, the last transformation follows, and the insects come forth in the adult state, the females wingless, and the males with large ashen-gray wings, crossed by wavy darker bands on the upper pair, on Mdiich, moreover, is a small black spot near the tip, and a minute white crescent near the outer hind angle. The body of the male is small and slender, with a row of little tufts along the back, and the wings expand one inch and three eighths. The females (Plate YII. Figs. 2 and 3) are of a lighter gray color than the males, their bodies are very thick, and "of an oblong oval shape, and, though seemingly wingless, upon close examina- tion two little scales, or stinted winglets, can be discovered on each shoulder. These females lay their eggs upon the top of their cocoons (Plate VII. Fig. 5), and cover them with a large quantity of frothy matter, which on drying becomes white and brittle. Different broods of these insects appear at various times in the course of the summer, but the greater number come to maturity and lay their eggs in the latter part of August and the beginning of September, and these eggs are not hatched till the following summer. The name of this moth is Orgyia * leucostigma (Plate VII. * This name is derived from a word which signifies to stretch out the hands, and it is applied to this kind of moth on account of its resting witli the fore legs extended. The Germans call these moths streckfiissige Spinner : the French, ^n^^es eterulues; and the English, vaporer-moths; the latter pi'obably because the males are seen flying about ostentatiously, or vaporing, by day, when most other moths keep concealed. 368 LEPIDOPTERA. Fig. 4, male), the white-marked Orgyia or tussock-moth. It is to the eggs of this insect that the late Mr. B. H. Ives, of Salem, alludes, in an article on " insects which infest trees and plants," published in Hovey's " Gardener's Maga- zine." * Mr. Ives states, that, on passing through an apple orchard in February, he " perceived nearly all the trees speckled with occasional dead leaves, adhering so firmly to the branches as to require considerable force to dislodge them. Each leaf covered a small patch of from one to two hundred eggs, united together, as well as to the leaf, by a gummy and silken fibre, peculiar to the moth." In March, he " visited the same orchard, and, as an experiment, cleared three trees, from which he took twenty-one bunches of eggs. The remainder of the trees he left untouched until the 10th of May, when he found the caterpillars were hatched from the eficF and had commenced their slow but sure ravages. He watched them from time to time, until many branches had been spoiled of their leaves, and in the autumn were entirely destitute of fruit, while the three trees which had been stripped of the eggs were flush with foliage, each limb, without exception, ripening its fruit." These pertinent re- marks point out the nature and extent of the evil, and sug- gest the proper remedy to be used against the ravages of these insects. In the New Eno;land States there is found a tussock or vaporer moth, seemingly the same as the Orgijia antiqua, the antique or rusty vaporer-moth of Europe, from whence possi- bly its eggs may have been brought with imported fruit-trees. The male moth is of a rust-brown color, the fore wings are crossed by two deeper brown wavy streaks, and have a white crescent near the hind angle. They expand about one inch and one eighth. The female is gray, and wingless, or with only two minute scales on each side in the place of wings, and exactly resembles in shape the female of the foregoing species. The caterpillar is yellow on the back, on which » Vol. I. p. 52. THE LASIOCAMPIANS. 369 are four short square brush-like yellow tufts ; the sides are dusky and spotted with red ; there are two long Llack pencils or plumes on the first ring, one on each side of the fifth ring, and one on the top of the eleventh ring ; the head is black ; and the retractile warts on the top of the ninth and tenth rind's are red. These caterpillars live on various trees and shrubs, and are stated by Miss Dix, in Professor Silliman's " Journal of Science," * to have been " very destructive to the thorn hedges in Rhode Island," " appearing very early in summer, and not disappearing till late in November." The cocoons resemble those of the white-marked vaporer ( Orgyia leiicostigma), and the females, after they have come forth, never leave the outside of their cocoons, but lay their eggs upon them and die there. The next group may be called Lasiocampians (Lasiocam- pad.e), after the principal genus f included in it, the name of which signifies hairy caterpillar. The Lasiocampians are woolly and very thick-bodied moths, distinguished by the want of the bristles and hooks that hold together the fore and hind wings of other moths, by the wide and turned-up fore edge of the hind wings, which projects beyond that of the fore wings wdien at rest, and by their caterpillars, which (with few exceptions) are not warty on the back, and are sparingly clothed with short, soft hairs, mostly placed along the sides of the body, and seldom distinctly arranged in spreading clusters or tufts. These moths fly only by night, and both sexes are winged. Their antennge generally bend downwards near the middle, and upwards at the points, are longer than those of the Liparians, but not so widely feath- ered in the males, and very narrowly feathered beneath in the females. The feelers of some are rather longer than common, and are thrust forward like a beak ; but more * Vol. XIX. p. 62. t To Lasiocampa belong the European moths called Eubi, Trifolii, Quercus, Roboris, Dumeti, &c. I have not seen any insects like these in Massachusetts, and believe that such are seldom if ever to be found in the United States. 47 370 LEPIDOPTERA. often tliej are very short and small. The tongue, for the most part, is invisible. Their wings cover the back like a steep roof; the under pair, being wider than common, are not entirely covered by the vipper Avings, but project beyond them at the sides of the body when closed. Their cater- jiillars live on trees and shrubs, and some kinds herd together in considerable numbers or swarms ; they make their cocoons mostly or entirely of silk. The winged insect is assisted in its attempts to come forth, after its last change, by a reddish-colored liquid, which softens the end of its cocoon, and which, as some say, is discharged fi'om its own mouth, or, as others with greater probability assert, escapes from the inside of the chrysalis the moment that the included moth bursts the shell. To this group belong the caterpillars that swarm in the unpruned nurseries and neglected orchards of the slovenly and improvident husbandman, and hang their many-coated webs upon the wild cherry-trees that are suifered to spring- up unchecked by the wayside and encroach upon the borders of our pastures and fields. The eggs, from which they are hatched, are placed around the ends of the branches, forming a wide kind of ring or bracelet, consisting of three or four hundred eggs, in the form of short cylinders standing on their ends close together, and covered with a thick coat of brownish water-proof varnish (Plate VII. Fig. 1<)).* The caterpillars come forth with the unfolding of the leaves of the apple and cherry tree, during the latter part of April or the beginning of May. The first signs of their activity appear in the formation of a little angular web or tent, some- what resembling a spider's web, stretched between the forks of the branches a little below the cluster of ego-s. Under the shelter of these tents, in making which they all work togeth- er, the caterpillars remain concealed at all times when not entrafTed in eatino-. In crawlino; from twig to twio- and from * A good figure of a cluster of these eggs may be seen in the Boston Cultiva- tor, Vol. X. No. 10, for March 4, 1648. THE AMERICAN L A C K E Y- C A T ER P IL L AR . 871 leaf to leaf, tliey spin from their mouths a slender silken thread, which is a clew to conduct them back to their tents ; and as they go forth and return in files, one after another, their pathways in time become well carpeted with silk, which serves to render their footing secure during their frequent and periodical journeys, in various directions, to and from their common habitation. As they increase in age and size, they enlarge their tent, surrounding it, from time to time, with new layers or webs, till at length it acquires a diam- eter of eight or ten inches. They come out together at certain stated hours to eat, and all retire at once when their regular meals are finished ; during bad weather, however, they fast, and do not venture from their shelter. These caterpillars (Plate VII. Fig. 13) are of a kind called lackeys in England, and livrees in France, from the party-colored livery in which they appear. When fully grown, they measure about two inches in length. Their heads are black ; extending along the top of the back, from one end to the other, is a whitish line, on each side of which, on a yellow ground, are numerous short and fine crinkled black lines, that, lower down, become mingled together, and form a broad longitudinal black stripe, or rather a row of long black spots, one on each ring, in the middle of each of which is a small blue spot ; below this is a narrow wavy yellow line, and lower still the sides are variegated with fine intermingled black and yellow lines, which are lost at last in the general dusky color of the under side of the body ; on the top of the eleventh ring is a small blackish and hairy wart, and the whole body is very sparingly clothed with short and soft hairs, rather thicker and longer upon the sides than elsewhere. The foregoing description will serve to show that these insects are not the same as either the Neustria * * Neustria wa? the ancient name of Norraandy, from whence this European species was first introduced into England. The Neustria caterpillar has a bluisli head, on which, as also on the first ring, are two black dots ; the back is tawny- i-ed, with a central white and two black lines from one end to the other; the sides 372 LEPIDOPTEKA. or the camp * lackey-caterpillars of Europe, for which they have been mistaken. From the first to the middle of June they begin to leave the trees upon which they have hitherto lived in company, separate from each other, wander about awhile, and finally get into some crevice or other place of shelter, and make their cocoons (Plate VII. Fig. 15). These are of a regular long oval form, composed of a thin and very loosely woven web of silk, the meshes of which are filled with a thin paste, that on drying is changed to a yellow powder, like flour of sulphur in appearance. Some of the caterpillars, either from weakness or some other cause, do not leave their nests with the rest of the swarm, but make their cocoons there, and when the webs are opened these cocoons may be seen intermixed with a mass of blackish grains, like gunpowder, excreted by the caterpillars during their stay. From fourteen to seventeen days after the insect has made its cocoon and changed to a chrysalis, it bursts its chrysalis-skin, forces its way through the wet and softened end of its cocoon, and appears in the winged or miller form. Many of them, however, are unable to fin- ish their transfoi'mations by reason of weakness, especially those remaining in the webs. ]\Iost of these will be found to have been preyed upon by little maggots living upon the fat within their bodies, and finally changing to small four- winged ichneumon wasps, which in due time pierce a hole in the cocoons of their victims, and escape into the air. The moth (Plate VII. Fig. 14 male, Fig. 17 female) of our American lackey-caterpillar is of a rusty or reddish- brown color, more or less mingled with gray on the middle and base of the fore wings, which, besides, are crossed by are blue, with a naiTow red stripe; on the top of the eleventh ring is a little blackish wart ; and the belly is dusky. * The castrensis, or camp-caterpillar, has a narrow broken Avhite line on the top of the back, separating two broad red stripes, which are dotted with black ; the sides are blue, with two or three narrow red stripes; the head and first ring are not marked with black dots; there is no wart on the top of the eleventh ring; and the belly is white, marbled with black. THE AMERICAN LACKEY-CATERPILLAR. 373 two oblique, straight, dirty white lines. It expands from one incli and a quarter to one inch and a half, or a little more. This moth* closely resembles the castrensis, and still more the Neustria of Europe, from both of which, however, it is easily distinguished by the oblique lines on the fore Avings, which are not Avavy as in the foreign spe- cies. Moreover, the caterpillar is very different from both of the European lackeys ; and it does not seem probable that either of them, if introduced into this country, could have so wholly lost their original characters. Our insect belongs to the same genus, or kind, now called Clidocampa^ or tent-caterpillar, from its habits ; and I propose to distin- guish it furthermore from its near allies by the name of Americana, the American tent-caterpillar or lackey. The moths appear in great numbers in July, flying about and often entering houses by night. At this time they lay their eggs, selecting the wild cherry, in preference to all other trees, for this purpose, and, next to these, apj^le-trees, the extensive introduction and great increase of which, in this country, afford an abundant and tempting supply of food to the caterpillars, in the place of the native cherry-trees that formerly, it would seem, sufficed for their nourishment. These insects, because they are the most common and most abundant in all parts of our country, and have obtained such notoriety that in common language they are almost exclusively known among us by the name of tlie caterpil- lars, are the worst enemies of the orchard. Where proper attention has not been paid to the destruction of them, they prevail to such an extent as almost entirely to strip the apple and cherry trees of their foliage, by their attacks * A short but ven^ accurate account of this insect may be found in tlie late Professor Peck's " Natural Histor_y of the Canker- Worm," printed at Boston, among the papers of the Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture, in the year 1796. Professor Peck seems to have been aware that it was not identical with the Neustria, but he forbore to give it another scientific name. It is figured, in its different forms, in Mr. Abbot's " Natural History of the Insects of Georgia," where it is named castrensis by Sir J. E. Smith, the editor of the work. 374 LEPIDOPTERA. continued dvu'Ing the seven weeks of their hfe in the cater- pillar form. The trees, in those orchards and gardens where they have been suffered to breed for a succession of years, become prematurely old, in consequence of the efforts they are obliged to make to repair, at an unseasonable time, the loss of their foliage, and are rendered unfruitful, and con- sequently unprofitable. But this is not all ; these pernicious insects spread in every direction, from the trees of the care- less and indolent to those of their more careful and indus- trious neighbors, whose labors are thereby greatly increased, and have to be followed up year after year, without any prospect of permanent relief. Many methods and receipts for the destiiiction of these insects have been published and recommended, but have failed to exterminate them, and indeed have done but little to lessen their numbers, as, indeed, might be expected from the tenor of the foreo;oino; remarks. In order to be com- pletely successful, they must he universally adopted. These means comprehend both the destruction of the eggs and of the caterpillars. The eggs are to be sought for in the win- ter and the early part of spring, when there are no leaves on the trees. They are easily discovered at this time, and may be removed with the thumb-nail and forefinger. Nur- series and the lower limbs of large trees may thus be entirely cleared of the clusters of e^irs durino- a few visits made at the proper season. It is well known that the caterpillars come out to feed twice during the daytime, namely, in the forenoon and afternoon, and that they rarely leave their nests before nine in the morning, and return to them again at noon. During the early part of the season, while the nests are small, and the caterpillars young and tender, and at those hours when the insects are gathered together within their common habitation, they may be effectually destroyed by crushing them by hand in the nests. A brush, somewhat like a bottle-brush, fixed to a long handle, as recommended by the late Colonel Pickering, or, for the want thereof, a THE TENT-CATERPILLAR. 375 dried mullein head and its stalk fastened to a pole, will be useful to remove the nests, with the caterpillers contained therein, from those branches which are too high to be reached by hand. Instead of the brush, we may use, with nearly equal success, a small mop or sponge, dipped as often as necessary into a pailful of refuse soapsuds, strong whitewash, or cheap oil. The mop should be thrust into the nest and turned round a little, so as to wet the caterpillars with the liquid, which will kill every one that it touches. These means, to be effectual, should be employed during the proper hours, that is, early in the morning, at midday, or at night, and as soon in the spring as the caterpillars begin to make their nests ; and they should be repeated as often, at least, as once a week, till the insects leave the trees. Early attention and perseverance in the use of these remedies will, in time, save the farmer hundreds of dollars, and abundance of mortification and disappointment, besides rewarding him with the grateful sight of the verdant foliage, snowy blos- soms, and rich fruits of his orchard in their proper seasons. Another caterpillar, whose habits are similar to those of the preceding, is now and then met Avith in Massachusetts, upon oak and walnut trees, and more rarely still upon apple- trees and cherry-trees. According to Mr. Abbot, " it is sometimes so plentifld in Virginia as to strip the oak-trees bare " ; and I may add, that it occasionally proves very in- jurious to orchards in Maine. It may be called Clmocampa silvatica, the tent-caterpillar of the forest (Plate VII. Fio-. 19). With us it comes to its full size from the 10th to the 20th of June, and then measures about two inches in length. There are a few short yellow hairs scattered over its body, particularly on the sides, where they are thickest. The general color of the whole body is light blue, clear on the back, and greenish at the sides ; the head is blue, and without spots ; there are two yellow spots, and four black dots on the top of the first ring ; along the top of the back is a row of eleven oval white spots, beginning on the second 37G LEPIDOPTERA. ring, and two small elevated black and haiiy dots on each ring, except the eleventh, which has only one of larger size ; on each side of the back is a reddish stripe bordered by slender black lines ; and lower down on each side is another stripe of a yellow color between two black lines ; the under side of the body is blue-black. This kind of caterpillar lives in communities of three or four hundred individuals, under a common web or tent, which is made against the trunk or beneath some of the principal branches of the trees. When fully grown they leave the trees, get into places sheltered from rain, and make their cocoons, which exactly resemble those of the apple-tree tent-caterpillars in form, size, and materials. The moths (Plate VII. Fig. 18) appear in six- teen or twenty days afterwards. They are of a brownish yellow or nankin color ; the hind wings, except at base, are light rusty-brown ; and on the fore wings are two oblique rust-brown and nearly straight parallel lines. A variety is sometimes found with a broad red-brown band across the fore wings, occupying the whole space which in other individ- uals intervenes between the oblique lines. The Avings ex- pand from one inch and one quarter to one inch and three quarters. The great difference in the caterpillar will not permit us to refer this species to the Nemtria of Europe, for which Sir J. E. Smith* mistook it, or to the castre7isis, which it more closely resembles in its winged form. Most caterpillars are round, that is, cylindrical, or nearly so ; but there are some belonging to this group that are very broad, slightly convex above, and perfectly flat beneath. They seem indeed to be much broader and more flattened than they really are, by reason of the hairs on their sides, which spread out so as nearly to conceal the feet, and form a kind of fringe along each side of the body. These hairs crrow mostly from horizontal fleshy appendages or long warts, somewhat like legs, hanging from the sides of every ring ; those on the first ring being much longer than the others, * See Abbot's " Insects of Georgia," where it is figured. THE AMERICAN LAPPET-MOTH. 377 Avhicli progressively decrease in size to the last. On the fore part of the body one or two velvet-like and higiily col- ored bands may be seen when the caterpillar is in motion ; and on the top of the eleventh ring there is generally a lon«T naked wart. When these singular caterpillars are not eat- ing, they remain at rest, stretched out on the limbs of trees, and they often so nearly resemble the bark in color as to escape observation. From the lappets, or leg-like appen- dages, hanging to their sides, they are called lappet-caterpil- lars by English writers. Twice I have found, on the apple-tree, in the month of September, caterpillars of this kind, measuring, Avhen fully groAvn, two inches and a half in length, and above half an inch in breadth. The upper side was gray, variegated with irregular white spots, and sprinkled all over with fine black dots ; on the fore part of the body there Avere two transverse velvet-like bands of a rich scarlet color, one on the hind part of the second, and the other on the third ring, and on each of these bands were three black dots ; the under side of the body was orange-colored, with a row of diamond-shaped black spots ; the hairs on the sides were gray, and many of them were tipped with a white knob. The caterpillar eats the leaves of the apple-tree, feeding only in the night, and remaining perfectly quiet during the day. The moth pro- duced from it Avas supposed by Sir J. E. Smith * to be the same as the European Ilicifolia^ or holly-leaved lappet-moth, from Avhich, hoAvever, it diifers in so many respects that I shall ven- ture to giA'e it another name. It belongs to the genus Gastropa- clia^ so called from the A^ery thick bodies of the moths ; and the present species may be named Americana^ the American lappet-moth (Fig. 176). * See Abbot's "Insects of Georgia," p. 101, pi. 51. [22 Gaslropacha Americimn is C^. occidentalis Walker. — JIoeris.] 48 378 L E P I D 0 P T ERA. Were it not for its regular shape, it might, Avlien at rest, very easily be mistaken for a dry, brown, and crumpled leaf. The feelers are somewhat prominent, like a short beak ; the edges of the under wings are very much notched, as are the hinder and inner edges of the fore wings, and these notches are white ; its general color is a red-brown ; behind the middle of each of the wings is a pale band, edo-ed with ziszao; dark brown lines, and there are also two or three short irregular brown lines runnino- backwards from the front edge of the fore wings, besides a minute pale cres- cent, edged with dark broAvn, near the middle of the same. In the females the pale bands and dark lines are sometimes wanting, the wings being almost entirely of a red-brown color. It expands from one inch and a half to nearly two inches. Mr. Abbot, who has figured it, states that the caterpillar lives on the oak and the ash, that it spun itself up in May among the leaves in a gray-brown cocoon, in which the chrysalis was enveloped with a pale brown pow- der, and that the moth came out in February. My speci- mens, on the contrary, as above stated, were found on apple-trees, made their cocoons in the autumn, and ap- peared m the winged form in the early part of the following summer. The foregoing is the only American lappet-moth, with notched wings, which is known to me ; but we have another much larger one, with en- tire wings. It is the Velleda (Fig. 177) of Stoll, so named after a celebrated German female, commemorated by the ancient historian Tacitus. This moth has a very large, thick, and woolly body, and is of a white color, variegated or clouded with blue-gray. On the fore wings are two broad dark gray bands, inter- THE VELLEDA LAPPET-MOTH. 379 vening between three narrow wavy Avhite bands, the latter being marked by an irregular gray line ; the veins are white, prominent, and vexy distinct ; the hind wings are gray, with a white hind border, on which are two inter- rupted gray lines, and across the middle there is a broad, faint, Avhitish band ; on the top of the thorax is an oblong blackish spot, widening behind, and consisting of long black and pearl-colored erect scales, shaped somewhat like the handle of a spoon. There is a great disparity in the size of the sexes, the males measuring only from one inch and a half to one inch and three quarters across the Avings, while the females expand from two and a quarter to two inches and three quarters or more. The caterpillar (Fig. 1T8, young ,, „,„. „'^*, /, „". // caterpillar) of this fine moth I have never seen alive ; but one was sent to me, in the autumn of 1828, by the late T. G. Fes- senden, Esq., who received it from Newburyport, from a correspondent, by whom it was found on the, 5th of August, sticking so fast to the limb of an apple-tree, that at first it was mistaken for a cankered spot on the bark.* It Avas said to have measured two inches and a half in length, but when it came into my hands it had spun itself up in its cocoon. A caterpillar of the same kind, found also on an apple-tree, has been described by Miss Dix in Professor Silliman's " Journal of Science." f This observing lady states, that " when at rest the resemblance of its upper sur- face Avas so exact Avith the young bark of the branch on Avhich it Avas fixed, that its presence might have escaped the most accurate investigation ; and this deception Avas the more complete from the unusual shape of the caterpillar, Avhich might be likened to the external third of a cylinder. The sides of the body were cloaked and fringed Avith hairs. * See " XcAV England Farmer," Vol. VH. p. 33. t Vol. XIX. pp. 62 and 63. 380 LEPIDOPTEEA. It was of a pale sea-green color above, marked with ash, blended into white; and beneath of a brilliant orange, spotted with vivid black. When in motion its whole appearance was changed, it extended to the length of two inches, and two thirds of an inch in breadth, its colors brightened, and a transverse opening was disclosed on the back, two thirds of an inch from the head, of a most rich velvet-black color. It was sluggish and motionless during the day, and active only at night." Mr. Abbot found the caterpillar of the Velleda lappet-moth on the willow-oak and on the persim- mon ; and in his figure it is represented of a dark ashen- gray color, with a velvet-like black band across the upper part of the third ring.* The cocoon of the specimen sent to me by Mr. Fessenden resembled grocers' soft brownish- gray paper in color and texture, with a very few blackish hairs interwoven with the silk of which it was made. It was an inch and a half long, and half an inch Avide, bor- dered on all sides by a loose web, which made it seem of larger dimensions ; its shape was oval, convex above, and perfectly flat and very thin on the under side. The moth came forth from this cocoon on the 15th of September, or about forty days after the cocoon was spun. The Chinese silk-worm and its moth, Bomhyx onori, the Bombyx of the mulberry, should follow these insects in a natural arrangement,; for the former is slightly hairy when first hatched from the egg, and, though naked afterwards, it has, like the lappet-caterpillars, a long fleshy Avart on the top of the eleventh ring. The history of the silk-worm, how- ever, does not belong to the subject of this treatise. There are several kinds of caterpillars in the United States whose cocoons are wholly made of a very strong and durable silk, fully equal to that obtained in India from the tusseh and arrindy silk-worms. These insects, together with some others, whose cocoons are much thinner, and consist more of gummy matter than of silk, belong to a family called * Insects of Georgia, p. 103, pi. 52. THE SATURNIANS. 381 Saturnirtiis (Saturniad^), from Saturnia, tlie name of a genus included in this group. The caterpillars are naked, are generally short, thick, and clumsy, cylindrical, hut fre- quently hunched on the back of each ring, especially when at rest, and are furnished with a few warts, which are either bristled with little points or very short hairs, or are crowned with sharp and branching prickles. They live on trees or shrubby plants, the leaves of which they devour ; some of them, when young, keep and feed together in swarms, but separate as they become older. AVhen fully grown and ready to make their cocoons, some of. them draw together a few leaves so as to form a hollow, within Avhich they spin their cocoons ; others fasten their cocoons to the stems or branches of plants, often in the most artful and ino-enious manner ; and a very few transform upon or just under the surface of the ground, where they cover themselves with leaves or grains of earth stuck together with a little gummy matter. The escape of the moth from its cocoon is rendered easy by the fluid which is thrown out and softens the threads. The chrysalis offers no striking peculiarities, being smooth, not hairy, and not ])rovided Avith transverse notched ridges. This group contains some of the largest insects of the order ; moths distinguished by great extent and breadth of wings, thick and woolly bodies, and antennae which are Avide^y feathered on both sides, from one end to the other, in the males at least, and often in both sexes. The tongue and feel- ers are extremely short and rarely visible. The wings are generally spread out when at rest, so as to display both pairs, and they are held either horizontally, or more or less elevated above the body ; a very few, however, turn the fore wings back, so as to cover the hind wings and the body in repose. There are no bristles and hooks to keep the fore hind winos together. In the middle of each Aving there is generally a conspicuous spot of a different color from the rest of the surface, often like the eye-spot on peacocks' feathers, some- times Avith a transparent space like talc or isinglass in the 382 LEPIDOPTERA. middle, and sometimes kidney-shaped and opaque. These moths commonly fly towards the close of the day, and in the evening twilight. Their eggs are very numerous, amount- ino; to several hundreds from a single individual. Although the injuries committed by the caterpillars of the Saturnians are by no means very great, the magnitude ^nd beauty of the moths render them very conspicuous and wor- thy of notice. The largest kinds belong to that division of the Bombyces called Attaciis by Linnaeus. They are dis- tinguished from the rest of the Saturnians by having wide and flat antennae, like short oval feathers, in both sexes, and by the fleshy warts on the backs of their caterpillars, which are richly colored, and tipped with minute bristles. Pre- eminent above all our moths in queenly beauty is the Atta- cus Lima (Fig. 179), or Luna moth, its specific name being the same as that given by the Romans to the moon, poetically styled " fair empress of the night." The wings of this fine insect are of a delicate light-o-reen color, and the hinder angle of the posterior wings is prolonged, so as to form a tail to each, of an inch and a half or more in length ; there is a broad purple-brown stripe along the front edge of the fore wino;s, extending also across the thorax, and sendino; backwards a little branch to an eye-like spot near the middle of the wing ; these eye-spots, of which there is one on each of the wings, are transparent in the centre, and are encircled by rings of white, red, yellow, and black ; the hinder borders of the wings are more or less edged or scalloped with purple- brown ; the body is covered with a white kind of wool ; the antennjB are ochre-yellow ; and the legs are purple-brown. The Avings expand from four inches and three quarters to five inches and a half. The caterpillar of this moth lives on the walnut and hickory, on which it may be found, ftilly grown, towards the end of July and during the month of August. It is of a pale and very clear bluish-green color ; there is a yellow stripe on each side of the body, and the back is crossed, between the rings, by transverse lines of THE LUNA MOTH. 383 "»J^^^ 384 LEPIDOPTEKA. the same yellow color ; on each of the rings are about six minute pearl-colored warts, tinged with piu'ple or rose-red, and furnishing a few little hairs ; and at the extremity of the body are three brown spots, edged above with yellow. When this insect is at rest it is nearly as thick as a man's thumb, its rings are hunched, and its body is shortened, not measur- ing, even when fully grown, above two inches in length ; but, in motion, it extends to the length of three inches or more. When about to make its cocoon, it draws together, with silken threads, two or three leaves of the tree, and within the hollow thus formed ^'°' ■ spins an oval and very close and strong cocoon (Fig. 180), about one inch and three quarters long, and immediately afterwards changes to a chrysalis. The co- coons fall from the trees in the autumn with the leaves in which they are enveloped ; and the moths make their escape from them in June. A caterpillar, closely resembling that of the Luna moth, mav be found on oaks, and sometimes also on elm and lime trees, in August and September. Its sides are not striped with yellow, and there are no transverse yellow bands on the back ; the warts have a pearly lustre, more or less tinted with orano-e, rose-red, or purple, and between the two lower- most on the side of each ring is an oblique white line ; the head and the feet are brown ; and the tail is bordered by a brown V-shaped line. These caterpillars, in repose, cling to the twigs of the trees, with their backs downwards, contract their bodies in length, and hunch up the rings even more than those of the Luna moth, whicli, when fidly grown, they somewhat exceed in size. They make their cocoons upon the trees in the same manner, with an outer covering of leaves, which fall off in the autumn, bearing the enclosed tou^ and then measures three inches or more in length, and is thicker than a man's thumb. It is then entirely of a fine, clear, light green color ; on the top of the second ring are two laroe c:lobular coral-red warts, beset with about four- teen very short black bristles ; the two warts on the top of the third ring are like those on the second, but rather larger ; on the top of the seven following rings there are two very long egg-shaped yellow warts, bristled at the end, and a single wart of larger size on the eleventh ring ; on each side of the body there are two longitudinal rows of loner licrht blue warts, bristled at the end, and an additional short row, below them, along the first five rings. This cat- erpillar does not bear confinement Avell ; but it may be seen spinning its cocoon, early in September, on the twigs of the trees or bushes on which it lives. The cocoon (Fig. 184, Fig. 184. >•<■„> *&«*/''' - Fig. 185, pupa) is fastened longitudinally to the side of a twig. It is, on an average, three inches long, and one inch THE ATTACUS CECEOPIA. 889 in diameter at the widest part. Its shape is an oblong oval, pointed at the upper end. It is double, the outer coat being- wrinkled, and resemblino; stroncr brown paper in color and thick- ness ; when this tough outer coat is cut open, the inside will be seen to be lined with a quantity of loose, yellow-brown, strong silk, surrounding an inner oval cocoon, composed of the same kind of silk, and closely woven like that of the silk- worm. The insect remains in the chrysalis form through the winter. The moth, which comes forth in the following summer, Avould not be able to pierce the inner cocoon, were it not for the fluid provided for the purpose of softening the threads ; but it easily forces its way through the outer cocoon at the small end, which is more loosely woven than else- where, and the threads of which converge again, by their own elasticity, so as almost entirely to close the openino- after the insect has escaped. A few brown and curled leaves may frequently be seen hanging upon sassafras-trees during the winter, when all the other leaves have fallen off. If one of these leaves is examined, it will be found to be retained by a quantity of silken thread, which is wound or woolded round the twig- to the distance of half an inch or more on each side of tlie leaf-stalk, and is thence carried downwards around the stalk to an oval cocoon, that is wrapped up by the sides of the leaf. The cocoon itself is about an inch lono;, of a regular oval shape, and is double, like that of the Cecropia cater- pillar ; but the outer coat is not loose and wrinkled, and the space between the outer and inner coats is small, and does not contain much floss silk. So strono- is the coatins of silk that surrounds the leaf-stalk, and connects the cocoon with the branch, that it cannot be severed without great force ; and consequently the chrysalis swings securely within its leaf-covered hammock through all the storms of winter. 890 L E P I D 0 r T E R A , Cocoons of the same kind are sometimes fonncl suspended to tlie twigs of the ^YIUl cherry-tree, the Azalea, or swamp- jiink, and the Cephalanthus, or Lutton-Lush, but not so often as on the sassafras-tree. Two of them, hanging close together on one twig, were once brought to nie, and a male and a female moth were produced from these twin cocoons in July, the usual time for these insects to leave their winter quarters. Drury called this kind of moth Promeiliea^ a mistake probably for Prometheus* the name of one of the Titans, all of whom were fabled to be of gio-antic size. The color of Attacus Proinethea differs according to the sex. The male (Fig. 18G) is of a deep smoky brown color on the Fig. 18G. upper side, and the female (Fig. 187) light reddish brown ; m both, the wings are crossed by a wavy whitish line near the middle, and have a wide clay-colored border, which is marked by a wavy reddish line ; near the tips of the fore Avings there is an eye-like black spot within a bluish-white crescent ; near the middle of each of the wings of the female there is an angular reddish-white spot, edged with black ; these angular spots are visible on the under side of the wings * Atlas was the brother of Prometheus, and this name, it will be recollected, has been given to another of the Bombyces, an immensely lai-ge moth from China. THE ATTACUS PROMETHEA. ^91 of the male, but are rarely seen on their ripper side ; the hind wings in both are rounded and not tailed. These moths expand from three inches and three quarters to four inches and a quarter. The female deposits her eggs on the twigs of the trees, in little clusters of 'five or six togethei', and these are hatched towards the end of July or early in Au- gust. The caterpillars usually come to their full size by the beginning of September, and then measure two inches or more in length, when extended, and about half an inch in diameter. The body of the caterpillar is very plump, and but very little contracted on the back between the rings. It is of a clear and pale bluish-green color ; the head, the Fig. 1S7. feet, and the tail are yellow ; there are about eight warts on each of the rings ; the two uppermost warts on the top of the second and of the third rings are almost cylindrical, much longer than the rest, and of a rich coral-red color ; there is a long yellow wart on the top of the eleventh ring ; all the rest of the warts are very small, and of a deep blue color. Before making its cocoon the caterpillar instinctively fastens to the branch the leaf that is to serve for a cover to its cocoon, so that it shall not fall off in the autumn, and then proceeds to spin on the upper side of the leaf, bending ot)2 Li: PI I) OPT ERA. over the edges to form a hollow, within which its cocoon is concealed. The Luna, Polyphemus, Cecropia, and Promethea moths are the only native insects belonging to the genus Attacus which are known to me. Their larcje cocoons, consistiiiix entirely of silk, the fibres of which far surpass those of the silk-worm in strength, might perhaps be employed in the formation of fabrics similar to those manufactured in India from the cocoons of the tusseli and arrindy silk-worms, the durability of which is such, that a garment of tusseh silk " is scarcely worn out in the lifetime of one person, but often descends from mother to daughter ; and even the cov- ers of palanquins made of it, though exposed to the influ- ence of the wcathei', last many years." The method cm- ployed by the inhabitants of India for unwinding the cocoons of their native silk-worms would probably apply equally well to those of our country, which have not yet, that I am aware of, been submitted to the same process. It is true that experiments, upon a very limited scale, have been made with the silk of the Cecropia, which has been carded and spun and woven into stockings, that are said to wash like linen. The Rev. Samuel Pullein was among the first to attempt to unwind the cocoons of the Cecropia moth, an account of which is contained in the " Philosophical Trans- actions of the Poyal Society of London," for the year 1759.* Mr. Pullein ascertained that twenty threads of this silk twisted together would sustain nearly an ounce more in weioht than the same number of common silk. j\Ir. Lloses Bartram, of Philadelphia, in the year 1767, succeeded in bringing up the caterpillars from the eggs of the Cecropia moth, and obtained several cocoons from them.f In the Paris " Journal des Debats," of the 23d of July, 1840, is an account of the complete success of ]\Ir. Audouin in * Vol. LI. p. 54. t See " Transactions of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia," Vol. I. p. 294. THE SATURXIA 10. 803 rearing the caterpillars of this or of some other American species of Attacus, the cocoons of which were sent to him from New Orleans. The Cecropia does not bear confine- ment well, and is not so good a subject for experiment as the Luna and Polyphemus, which are easily reared, and make their cocoons quite as well in the house as in the open air. The following circumstances seem particularly to rec- ommend these indigenous silk-worms to the attention of persons interested in the silk culture. Our native oak and nut trees aiford an abundance of food for the caterpillars ; their cocoons are much heavier than those of the silk-Avorm, and will yield a greater quantity of silk ; and, as the insects remain unchanged in the chrysalis state from September to June, the cocoons may be kept for unwinding at any leisure time during the winter. By a careful search, after the falling of the leaves in the autumn, a sufficient number of cocoons may be found, under the oak and nut trees, with which to begin a course of experiments in breeding the in- sects, and in the manufacture of their silk. Two more moths, belonging to the family under consid- eration, are found in Massachusetts. They may be referred to the genus Saturnia* and are distinguished from the fore- going by their antenna?, which are widely feathered only in the males, the feathering being very narrow in the other sex ; their caterpillars, moreover, are fornished with small Avarts crowned with long prickles or branching spines. Xone of the caterpillars described in the preceding pages are ven- omous ; all of them may be handled with impunity. This is not the case with the two following kinds, the prickles of which sting severely. The first of these begin to appear by the middle of June, and ^. ,„„ •^ ^ ' Fig. 188. other broods continue to be hatched till the middle of July. > :^ * '*''i^J^^*i^^p] These caterpillars (Fig. 188) J^^^^^i'''-*'v?^''-' live on the balsam poplar and ' ^ ^ * The surname of Juno, the daughter of Saturn. 60 394 L i: viDOF T E n a . tlie elm, and, aoconlliig to Mr. Abbot, on the dogwood or cornel, and the sassafras ; they feed well also on the leaves of clover and Indian corn. They are of a pea-green color, with a broad brown stripe edged below with white on each side of the body, beginning on the fourth ring and ending at the tail ; they ai'e covered with spreading clusters of green prickles, tipped with black, and of a uniform length ; each of these clusters consists of about thirty prickles branch- in,._ ,,^^^ . -^^ ,7K^ ^ ^Zv .|nV five inches in length, and about three quarters of an inch in diameter. It is of a green color, and transversely banded across each of the rings with pale blue ; there is a large blue- black spot on each side of the third ring ; the head and legs are orange-colored ; the ten long horn-like spines on the fore part of the body are orange-colored, with the tips and the points siirrounding them black ; the other spines are short and black. Notwithstanding the great size, formidable appear- ance, and menacing motions of this insect, when handled it is perfectly harmless, and unable to sting or wound with its frightful horns. It lives solitary on walnut and hickory trees, the leaves of which it cats ; crawls down and goes into the ground towards the end of summer, and changes to a chrysalis 51 402 LEPIDOPTERA. without previously making a cocoon. Unfortunately my caterpillars died before the time for their transformation arrived. The chrysalis is short and thick; obtuse behind, but terminated by two minute points ; and the transverse notched ridges or little teeth that are found on the chrysa- lids of the other insects belonging to the same fomily, are very small and hardly visible on this one. The insect re- mains in the ground through the winter, and the moth comes out in the following summer, during the month of June, if I am riglitly informed. I have not been able to obtain one myself, and my description of the moth was made from a very fine specimen belonging to a friend, who received it from New Bedford. Between the regal Ceratocampa and the smaller insects of this family belonging to the new genus Dryocampa should be placed a noble moth, which partakes, in some respects, of the characters of both ; its horned caterpillar, particvilarly while young, when its horns are proportionally longer and more formidable in appearance than afterwards, resembles somewhat that of the Ceratocampa ; its chrysalis is exactly like that of a Dryocamija^ and like the latter also, in the winged state, its feelers are minute, its hind wings project beyond the front edges of the fore wings when at rest, and its style of coloring is the same. In my Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts, I placed this moth, the imperia- ls of Drury, in the genus Ceratocampa^ from which, how- ever, it must be removed, on account of its very small feelers, and the position of its wings ; and I now refer it, with some hesitation, to the genus Dryocampa^ with which it agrees so well in the moth state, although its caterpillar differs a good deal from those of the other insects of the same genus. The imperial moth, Dryocampa hiperialis (Fig. 196), has wings of a fine yellow color, thickly sprin- kled with purple-brown dots, with a large patch at the base, a small round spot near the middle, and a wavy band to- wards the hinder margin of each wing, of a light purple- THE IMPERIAL MOTH. 403 -y >v 404 LEIMDOPTERA, brown color ; in the males there is another purple-brown spot, covering nearly the whole of the outer hind margin of the fore Avings, and united to the band near that ])art ; the body is yellow, shaded with purple-brown on the back, and with three spots of the same color on the thorax. It ex- pands from four inches and a half to more than five inches. In a variety of this moth, of which I have a colored draAving done by Mr. Abbot, the purple-brown color prevails so much as to cover the wings, with the exception only of a large triangular yellow spot contiguous to the front margin of each wing. Tbis moth appears here from the 12th of June to the beginning of July, and then lays its eggs on the button- wood tree. The caterpillars (Fig. 197) may be found upon this tree, grown to their full size, between the 20th of August and the end of September, during which time they descend from the trees to go into the ground. They are then from three to four inches in length, and more than half an inch in diameter, and, for the most part, of a green color, slightly tinged Avith red on the back ; but many of them become more or less tanned or swarthy, and are sometimes found entirely brown. There are a feAv very short hairs thinly scattered over the body ; the head and the legs are pale orange-colored ; the oval spiracles, or breathing-holes, on the sides, are large and white, encircled with green ; on each of the rings, except the first, there are six thorny knobs or hard and pointed warts of a yellow color, covered with short black prickles ; the two uppermost of these warts on the top of the second and of the third rings are a quarter of an inch or more in length, curved backwards like horns, and are of a deeper yellow color than the rest ; the three triangu- lar pieces on the posterior extremity of the body are brown, with yellow margins, and are covered with raised orange- colored dots. The chrysalis, Avhich is not contained in a cocoon, is about two inches long, of a dark chestnut-l)rown color, rough with little elevated points, particularly on the THE SENATORIAL DRYOCAMPA. 405 anterior extremity, ends beliind with a long forked spine, and is surronnded, on each ring, with a notclied ridge, the little teeth of which point towards the tail. Three of the grooves or incisions between the rings are very deep, thus allowing a great extent of motion to the joints, and these, wdth the notched ridges, and the long spine at the end of the body, enable the chrysalis to work its way upwards in the earth, above the surface of which it pushes the fore part of its body just before the moth makes its escape. Dryocampa^ oak or forest caterpillar, is a name originally applied by me to certain insects, found sometimes in great numbers on oak-trees, which then suffer very severely from their ravages. Of these caterpillars there are several kinds, resembling each other in shape, and in the form and situation of the thorns with which they are armed, but differing in color, and in the moths produced from them. They live together in swarms, but do not make webs ; their bodies are cylindrical, remarkably hard and stiff, naked or not hairy, and have, on each ring, about six short thorns, or sharp points, besides two on the top of the second ring, which are long, slender, and threadlike, but not flexible, and project in the manner of horns. The most common of these caterpillars (Fig. 198) in INIassachusetts is black, with ^^^ r ■< y- ^ ■y -^ ^ ^ y four narrow ochre-yellow sti'ipes along the back, and two on each side. It is found in swarms of several hundreds together, on the limbs of the white and red oaks, during the month of August. The eggs from which they proceed are laid in large clusters on the under side of a leaf near the end of a branch. The caterpillars are hatched towards the end of July, but sometimes earlier, and at other times later. At first they eat only the youngest leaves at the end of the branches and twigs, and, as they grow larger and stronger, proceed downwards, devouring every leaf, to the midrib and foot-stalk, from one end of the branch to the other. They 40G LEPIDOPTERA. liave their rcoailar times for eatino; and for rest, and wlien tliey have finished their meals, they chister ch)sely together along the twigs and branches. If distvirhed, they raise the fore part of their bodies, and shake their heads to signify their displeasure. When fully grown they measure about two inches in length. Commonly in the early part of Sep- tember, they crawl down the trees and go into the ground, to the depth of four or five inches, where they are changed j,._. -j,^,j to chrysalids (Fig. I'JO). These re- semble the chrysalids of the imperial Dryocampa, but are much smaller, and like them they remain in the grovmd throughout the winter, and work their way up to the sur- face in the following summer. These chrysalids may often be seen sticking half-way out of the ground under oak-trees in the latter part of June and the beginning of July, at whicli time the moths burst them open and make their escape. Drij- ocampa senatoria (Fig. 200), the senatorial Dryo- campa, which is the name of this kind of moth, is of an ochre-yellow color ; the wings are faintly tinged with purplish red, especially on the front and hind margins, and are crossed by a narrow purj)le-brown band behind the middle ; the fore wings are sprinkled with blackish dots, and have a small round white spot near the middle. The male is much smaller than the female, its wings are thinner, and more tinged with dull purple-red. It expands about an inch and three quarters ; the female, two inches and a half, or more. Three more kinds of Dryocampa are found in Massachu- setts, but they are all rare in this State. The largest of THE CLEAR-WING DRYOCAMPA. 407 tliem is the stigma of Fabricius, or spotted-wing Diyocampa. It is of a reddish ochre or deep tawny yeHow color ; the fore wings are tinged with purplish red behind, are thickly sprinkled with blackish dots, have a small round white spot near the middle, and a narrow oblique purple-red band be- hind ; the hind wings have a narrow transverse purple band, behind which the border is sprinkled with a few black dots. It expands from one inch and three quarters to two inches and three quarters. The caterpillar, which I have not seen, is figured in ]Mr Abbot's work,* wdiere it is colored yellow, ■svith black thorns on its back. It is said to live on the oak, in swarms, Avhile young, but these disperse as the insects grow large. The following resembles the senatorial Dryocampa ; but is rather smaller, and is a more delicate moth. The color of its body is ochre-yellow ; the fore wings of the male are purple-brown, with a large colorless transparent space on the middle, near which is a small round white spot, and towards the hinder margin a narrow oblique very faint dusky stripe ; the hind wings are purple-brown, almost transparent in the middle, and with a very faint transverse dusky stripe ; the wings of the female are purplish red, blended wdth ochre- yellow, are almost transparent in the middle, and have the same white spots and faint bands as those of the male. It expands from one inch and three quarters to two inches and a quarter, or more, in some females. The distinguishing name, given by Sir J. E. Smith, f to this moth, is pellueida, and we may call it the pellucid or clear-wing Dryocampa. I have only once seen the caterpillar, which Avas found on an oak on the 25th of September. It was about the size of that of the senatorial Dryocampa, and resembled it in everything but color. Its head was rust-yellow, its body pea-green, shaded on the back and sides with red, longitudi- nally striped with very pale yellowish green, and armed with black thonis. * Lisects of Georgia, p. Ill, pi. 56. t Ibid., p. 115, pi. 58. 408 LEPIDOPTERA. The last of tliose insects is the ruhieunda (Fig. 201) of Fiibincius, or rosy Dryocampa. This clehcate and very rare moth is found in Massachusetts in July. Its fore wings are rose-colored, crossed by a broad pale-yellow band ; the hind wings are pale yel- low, with a short rosy band behind the middle ; the body is yellow ; the belly and legs are rose-colored. It expands rather more than one inch and three quarters. The caterpillar is unknown to me.* All the ]\Ioth caterpillars thus far described in this work live more or less exposed to view, and devour the leaves of plants ; but there are othei's that are concealed from observa- tion in stems and roots, which they pierce in various direc- tions, and devour only the wood and pith ; their habits, in this respect, being exactly like those of the iEgerians among the Sphinges. These insects belong to a family of Bomby- ces, by some naturalists called Zeuzerad.e, and by others HEPiALiDiE, both names derived from insects included in the same group. The caterpillars of the Zeuzerians are white or reddish white, soft and naked, or slightly doAvny, Avith brown horny heads, a spot on the top of the fore part of the body which is also brown and hard, and sixteen legs. They make imperfect cocoons, sometimes of silk, and sometimes of morsels of wood or grains of earth fastened together by gummy silk. Their chrysalids, like those of the Cerato- * Only one more North American Drj'ocampa is known to me. This moth was taken in North Carolina, and does not appear to have been described. It may be called Dryocampa bicolor, the two-colored, or gray and red, Dryocampa. The upper side of the fore Avings and the under side of the hind wings are brownish gray, sprinkled with black dots, and with a small round white spot near the middle, and a narrow oblique dusky band behind it on the fore wings; the upper side of the hind wings and the under side of the fore wings, except the front edge and hinder margin of the latter, are crimson-red, and the body is brownish gi'ay. The male expands two inches and a quarter. The female and the caterpillar of this insect I have not seen. THE HOP- VINE HE P 10 L US. 409 campians, are provided with notched transverse ridges on the rings, by means of which they push themselves out of their holes when ready to be transformed. The moths difter a good deal from each other, althougli the appearance and habits of the caterj)illars are so much alike. The antennae in some are thread-like, or made up of nearly cylindrical joints put together like a string of beads ; in others they are more tapering, and doubly pectinated or toothed on the under side, at least in the males ; and in Zeiizera^ a kind of moth not hitherto found in this country, the antennaj resem- ble those of the Ceratocampians, being half-feathered in the males, and not feathered in the females. The wings are rather long and narrow, and are strengthened by very nu- merous veins. The female is provided with a kind of tube at the end of the body, that can be drawn in and out, by means of which she thrusts her eggs into the chinks of the bark or into the earth at the roots of plants. Of the root-caters there is one kind which is very injurious to the hop-vine in Europe. It is called Hepiolas Jnimuli, the hop-vine Hepiolus. The caterpillar is yellowish white ; the head, a spot on the top of the first and second rings, and the six fore legs are shining brown, and it is nearly naked, or has only a few short hairs scattered over its body. It lives in the roots of the hop, and, when about to transform, buries itself in the ground, and makes a long, cylindrical cocoon or case, composed of grains of earth held together by a loose silken web. The chrysalis has transverse rows of little teeth on the backs of the abdominal rings, and by means of them it finally works its way out of the cocoon and rises to the surface of the earth ; this being done, the includ- ed moth bursts its chrysalis shell, and comes forth into the open air. In moths of this kind (genus Hepiolus^ the an- tennas are very short, slender, almost thread-like, and not feathered or pectinated ; the tongue is wanting or invisible ; and the feelers are excessively small, and concealed in a tuft of hairs. 52 410 LEPIDOPTERA. The hop-vine Hepiolus has not yet been detected in Mas- sachusetts ; l)ut we have a much larger species, known to me only in the moth state, which is the reason of my hav- ing given the foregoing account of the preparatory stages of a European species. This moth does not appear to have been described. It is named in my Catalogue of the In- sects of Massachusetts, Hepiolus argenteo-maculatus (Fig. 202), the silver-spotted Hepiolus. Its body and wings are Fig. 202. rather long. It is of an ashen-gray color ; the fore wings are variegated with dusky clouds and bands, and have a small triangular spot and a round dot of a silvery white color near their base ; the hind wings are tinged Avith ochre-yellow towards the tip. It expands two inches and three quarters. A much larger specimen was found by Professor Agassiz j^near Lake Superior.* The locust-tree, Rohinia pseudacacia, is preyed upon by three diiferent kinds of wood-eaters or borers, whose un- checked ravages seem to threaten the entire destruction and extermination of this valuable tree within this part of the United States. One of these borers is a little reddish cater- pillar, whose operations are confined to the small branches and to very young trees, in the pith of which it lives ; and by its irritation it causes the twig to swell around the part attacked. These swellings being spongy, and also perforated * See a figure of it in bis " Lake Superior," pi. 7, fig. 0. THE LOCUST-TREE BORERS. 411 by tlie caterpillar, are weaker than the rest of the stem, which therefore easily breaks off at these places. My at- tempts to complete the history of this insect have not been successftil hitherto. The second kind of borer of the locust-tree is larger than the foregoing, is a grub, and not a caterpillar, which finally turns to the beetle named Clytas pictiis, the paint- ed C'lytus, already described on a preceding page of this work. The third of the wood-eaters to which the locust-tree is exposed, though less common than the others, and not so universally destructive to the tree as the painted Clytus, is a very much larger borer, and is occasionally productive of great injury, especially to full-grown and old trees, for which it appears to have a preference. It is a true caterpillar (Fig. 203), belonging to the tribe of moths under consideration. Fig. 203. SHjfT^f- k^,.^.^£>.'"'s!£3.v is reddish above, and Avhite beneath, Avith the head and top of the first ring brown and shelly, and there are a few short hairs arising from minute warts thinly scattered over the surface of the body. When fully grown, it measures two inches and a half, or more, in length, and is neai'ly as thick as the end of the little finger. These caterpillars bore the tree in various directions, but for the most part obliquely upwards and downwards throuo-h the solid wood, enlaro-inrr the holes as they increase in size, and continuing them through the bark to the outside of the trunk. Before trans- forming, they line these passages with a Aveb of silk, and, retiring to some distance from the orifice, they spin around their bodies a closer web, or cocoon, within which they assume the chrysalis form. The chrysalis (Fig. 204) meas- 41 2 L E 1' I D 0 P T E R A . ures one inch and a half or two inches in lengtli, is of an amber color, chanirino; to brown '*"'■ "" on the fore part of the body ; and on the npper side of each abdominal ring are two trans- verse rows of tooth-like projec- tions. By the help of these, the insect, when ready for its last transformation, works its w^ay to the mouth of its bur- vow, where it remains while the chrysalis skin is rent, upon which it comes forth on the trunk of the tree a winged moth. In this its perfected state, it is of a gray color ; the fore wings are thickly covered with dusky netted lines and irregular spots, the hind wings are more uniformly dusky, and the shoulder-covers are edged with black on the inside. It expands about three inches. The male, which is much smaller, and has been mistaken for another species, is much darker than the female, from Avliich it differs also in having a large ochre-yellow spot on the hind wings, contiguous to their posterior margin. Pi-ofessor Peck, who first made public the history of this insect,* named it Cossns liohinue, the Cossus of the locust-tree, scientifically called, Hobinia. It is supposed by Professor Peck to remain three years in the caterpillar state. The moth comes forth about the mid- dle of July. The same insect, or one not to be distin- guished from it while a caterpillar, perforates the trunks of the red oak. Mr. Newman f has recently given the name of Xyleutes^ the carpenter, to the genus including this insect, instead of Cossus, which it formerly bore, because the latter, being the name of a species, ought not to have been applied to a genus. The European carpenter-moth, called Bomhyx Cossus J by Linnaeus, will now be the Xyleutes Cossus ; and our indigenous species will be the Xyleutes Rohinice * See " Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal," Vol. V., p. 67, ■with a plate. t vSee ''Entomological Magazine," Vol. V., p. 129. X Subsequently named Cossus ligniperda by Fabricius. THE LOCUST-TREE C ARP EXTER-MOTH. 41:-] (Fig. 205), or locust-tree cai-penter-motli. Tlie moths of this genus have thick and robust bodies, broad and thickly- veined Avings, two very distinct feelers, and antennae, which Fig. 205. are furnished on the under side, in both sexes, with a double set of short teeth, rather longer in the male than in the female. Their tongue is invisible. They give out a strong and peculiar smell, whence they are sometimes called goat- moths by English writers. Some catei'pillars, which eat the leaves of plants, live in cases or long oval cocoons, open at both ends, and large enough for the insects to turn around within them, so as to go out of either end. They do not entirely leave these cases, even when moving from place to place, but cling to them on the inside with the legs of the hinder part of their bodies, while their heads and fore legs are thrust out. Thus in moving they creep with their six fore legs only, and drag- along their cases after them as they go. These cases are made of silk within, and are covered on the outside with leaves, bits of straw, or little sticks. The caterpillars are nearly cylindrical, generally soft and whitish, except the head and upper part of the first three rings, which are brown and hard ; they have sixteen legs ; the first three pairs are long, strong, and anued with stout claws ; the others are very short, consisting merely of slight wart-like elevations 414 LEPIDOPTKKA. provided with numerous minute clinging hooks. When they are about to change their forms, their cases serve them in- stead of cocoons ; they fasten tliem by silken threads to the plant on which they live, stop up the holes in them, and then throw off their caterpillar-skins. The chrysalids are remarkably blunt at the hinder extremity, and are provided with transverse rows of rainvite teeth on the back of the ab- dominal rings. The moths, of Avhich there are several kinds produced by these case-bearing caterpillars, differ very much from each other ; but, as they all agree in their habits and general appearance while in the caterpillar form, they are brought together in one family called Psychad^e, the Psy- chians, from Psyche, a genus belonging to it. Tb.e Germans give these insects a more characteristic name, that of jSaeJc- tniger* that is, sack-bearers, and HLibner called them Cane- phorce, or basket-carriers, because the cases of some of them are made of little sticks somewhat like a wicker basket. The cases of the insects belonging to the European genus Psyche are covered with small leaves, bits of grass or of sticks, placed lengthwise on them. The chrysalis of the male Psyche pushes itself half-way out of the case when about to set free the moth ; the female, on the contrary, never leaves its cocoon, is not provided with wings, and its antennae and legs are very short. The male Psyche resembles somewhat the same sex of Orgy'ia, having pretty broad wings, and antenna3 that are doubly feathered on the l^nder side ; it has also a bristle and hook to hold the wings together. The cases of 0iketicu8,\ another and much larger kind of sack-bearer, inhabiting the West Indies and South America, are covered with pieces of leaves and of sticks aiTanged either longitudinally or transversely. The cases of some of the females measure four or five inches in length. Some which I received from Cuba were covered with little * See Gennar's " Magazin der Entomologie," Vol. I. p. 19. t This name ouglit to be GSceikus. See Mr. Guilding's description of the insect in the " Transactions of the LinnKau Soc'iety," Vol. XV. MKLSIIEIMER-S SACK-BEARER. 415 bits of sticks, about a quarter of an incb long, arranged transversely, and the cases were hung by a thick silken loop or rincp to a twicr • the lower end of these cases was filled with a large quantity of loose and very soft brownish floss- silk, which completely closed the orifice within. The male Oiketicus resembles a Zeuzera m the form and great length of its body, in the shape of its wings, and in its antennae, and in both the latter it resembles also the same sex of a Dri/ocamjxi, particularly in its antennae, which are feathered on both sides on the lower part of the stalk, and are bare at the other end. The female has neither wings, antennse, nor legs, and is said to remain always within its cocoon. Some years ago, a case or cocoon of an Oiketicus, which was found on Long Island, was presented to me. It was smaller than the West Indian specimens, measuring only an inch and a half without its loop, and was covered with a few little sticks longitudinally arranged. It contained a female chrysalis, Avith the remains of the caterpillar. In Philadelphia and the vicinity, cases of a similar kind are very common on many of the trees, particularly on the arbor-vit^e, larch, and hem- lock, which are often very much injured by the insects in- habiting them. These are there popularly called drop-ivorms and basket- worms. We have in Massachusetts another sack-bearer, which does not appear to have been described, and dift'ers so much both from Psijclie and Oiketicus, when arrived at maturity, as to induce me to give it another generical name. I there- fore call it Peropliora Melslieimerii* Melsheimer's sack-bearer (Plate VI. Fig. 5). A case of this insect, containing a living caterpillar, was brought to me towards the end of September, by a student of Harvard College, Mr. H. O. White, who found it on an oak-tree in Cambridge. This case (Plate VI. Fig. 4) was nearly an inch and a half long, * Named in honor of Dr. F. E. Melsheimer (the son of the Rev. F. V. Melshei- mer, the father of American Entomology, as he has been called), from whom I have received specimens of this insect, and its curious case. 410 LEPIDOPTERA. and about half an inch in diametei*. It was not regularly oval, but somewhat flattened on its lower side. It consisted externally of two oblong oval pieces of a leaf, fastened to- gether in the neatest manner by their edges, but the seams made a little ridge on each side of the case ; this had become dry and faded, and was lined within witli a thick and tough layer of brownish silk, in which there was left, at each end, a circular opening just big enough for the caterpillar to pass through. The caterpillar (Fig. 200) was '^' ■ cylindrical, about as thick as a common pipe-stem, of a light reddish-brown color with a paler line along the back ; it was rough with little elevated points ; its head and the top of the first ring were black, hard, and rough also. The head was provided with a pair of jointed feelers, which the insect extended and drew in at pleasure, and which, when they were out, were kept in con- tinual motion. On each side of the middle of the head, there was a black and flexible kind of antenna, very slender where it joined the head, and broader towards the end, like the handle of a spoon. The first three pairs of legs were equal in length, and armed with stout horny claws. The other legs, if such they could be called, were ten in number, and so short that only the oval soles of the feet were visi- ble, and these were surrounded by numerous minute hooks. The tail end of the body was as blunt as if it had been cut off" with a knife ; it sloped a little backwards, and consisted of a circrdar horny plate, of a dark gray color, which, when the caterpillar retired within its case, exactly shut up one of the holes in it. This caterpillar eat the leaves of the oak, and fed mostly by night ; Avhile eating, it came half-Avay, or more, out of its cocoon ; and in moving laid hold of the leaf with its fore legs, and then shortened its body suddenly, so as to bring its cocoon after it with a jerk ; and, in this way, it went by jerks from place to place. When it had done eating, it moored its case to a leaf by a few silken threads MELSIIEIMEE'S SACK-BEARER. 417 fastened to one, and sometimes to botli ends ; and before movino- ao-ain, it came out and bit off these thi'eads close to the case. It could turn round easily within its case, and go out of either end, as occasion required. So tenaciously did it cling to the inside of its case with the little hooks of its hinder feet, that all attempts to make it come wholly out, except by a force Avhicli would have been fatal to the insect, were without effect. This kind of caterpillar prepares for transformation by fastening both ends of its cocoon to a branch, and then stops up each of the holes in it with a little circular silken lid, exactly fitting the orifice, and made about the thickness of common brov/n paper. There is no great difference in the size or form of the clnysalids which produce the male and female moths ; they are about three quarters of an inch in length ; on both of them the sheaths for the wings, antenuEe, and legs are alike, and are as plainly to be seen as on the chrysalids of other winged moths. The chrysalis tapers very little, and does not end with a point, but is blunt behind ; and on the edge of each of the rings of the back, there is a transverse row of little pointed teeth which shut into corresponding notches in the ring immedi- ately behind them. These teeth are evidently designed to enable the chrysalis to move toAvards the mouth of its case, and to hold with, when it is engaged in forcing off the lid in order to allow of the escape of the moth. I do not know at what time the moths come out in jNIassachusetts ; they have been taken in July in Virginia. Both sexes leave their cocoons when arrived at maturity, and both are provided with wings. Their feelers are of m.oderate size, cylindrical, blunt-pointed, and thickly covered with scales. The tongue is not visible. Their antennse are curved, and are recurved or bent upwards at the point ; the stalk is feathered, in a double row, on the under side, very widely in the males, for more than half its length, and beyond the middle the feath- ery fringe is suddenly narrowed, and tapers thence to the tip ; in the females (Plate VI. Fig. o) the antennae are also 53 418 LEPIDOPTERA. doubly feathered, Lut tlio fringe is narrower throughout tlian in the other sex. The body and the wings ahnost exactly resemble those of the foreign silk-worm moth in shape ; but the fore wings are rather more pointed and hooked at the tip. There are no bristles and hooks to liold together the wings, which, when at I'est, cover the sides like a sloping roof, and the front edge of the hind wings does not project beyond that of the fore wings. These moths are of a reddish-gray color, finely sprinkled all over with minute black dots ; the pos- terior margin of the hind Avings above, and the under side of the fore wings, especially behind the tip, are tinged Avith tawny red ; there is a small black dot near the middle of the fore wings ; and both the fore and hind wings are crossed by a narrow blackish band, beginning Avith an angle on the front edge of the former, and passing obliquely backwards to the inner edge of the hind Avings. They expand from one inch and three eighths to two inches, or a little more. The last family of the Bombyces remaining to be noticed may be called Notodontians (Notodgxtad^e). Many of the caterpillars belonging to it liaA'e liunched backs, or tooth-like prominences on the back ; and hence the origin of the name of this fxmily, Avhich comes from a Avord signifying toothed back. ]\Iost of these caterpillars are entirely naked ; some of them are doAvny or slightly hairy, but the hairs generally groAV immediately from the skin, and not in spreading clus- ters from little Avarts on the rings. They have sixteen legs ; some raise the last pair Avhen at rest, and some keep these alAvays elevated and do not use them in creeping, in Avhich case these terminal legs are lengthened, and form a forked appendage or tail to the hinder part of the body. Hence such caterpillars are often described as having only fourteen legs, although the Avanting members really exist in a modified form. ]\Ioreover, the caterpillars of some of the Notodon- tians seem to be Avithout legs, and even on close examination only the soles of the feet can be perceived. The Notodon- tians are found chiefly on trees and shrubs, the leaves of THE LIMACODES. 419 which they eat. When about to be transformed, the most of them enclose themselves in cocoons, which ai'e often very hard and thick, made either of silk, or of silk mixed with fragments of wood and bark ; some make thin, semi-trans- parent, and filmy cocoons under a covering of leaves ; some merely cover themselves with grains of earth, held together by silken threads ; and a very few go into the ground to transform, without making cocoons. The chrysalids taper behind, and are not provided Avith transverse notched ridges on the back. The moths close their wings over the sides of the body like a sloping roof, when at rest ; but the front edges of the hind wings never extend beyond those of the fore wino;s, and the bristles and hooks for holdino; the win^s tofjether are never wantino;. The antennte are rather lone : those of the males are generally doubly feathered on the under side ; but the feathery fringe is often very narrow towards the tips, and in the females is always narrower than in the other sex ; in a few of both sexes the antennae are not feathered at all. The feelers and tongue, though short, are generally visible. The body is rather long, and not very thick. In Avhat follows, a few only of the most remarkable species will be described. Among the many odd-shaped caterpillars belonging to this family, not the least remarkable are those which are called LiMACODES, that is, slug-like, on account of their seeming want of feet, their very slow gliding motions, and the slug-like form of some of them. In tliese caterpillars the body is very short and thick, and approaches more or less to an oval form ; it is naked, or, in some kinds, covered only with short down ; the head is small, and can be drawn in and concealed under the first rino; : the six fore leo-s are also small and retractile ; and the other legs consist only of little fleshy elevations, without claws or hooks. The under side of the body is smeared with a sticky fluid, which seems designed to render their footing more secure, and leaves a slimy track wherever the insects go. Their co- 420 LEPIDOPTERA. coons are very small, almost round, tough, and parchment- like, and are fastened to the twigs of the plants on which the insects live. The moths of some, if not of all, of the Limaeodes make their escape by pushing oft' one end of the cocoon, which separates like a little circular lid. The most common of these slug-caterpillars, in jMassa- chusetts, live on walnut-trees. They come to their full size in September and October, and then measure five eighths of an inch in length, and rather more than three eighths across the middle. The body is thick, and its outline nearly diamond-shaped ; the back is a little hollowed, and the mid- dle of eacji side rises to an obtuse angle ; it is of a green color, with the elevated edges brown. The boat-like form of this caterpillar induced me to name it Limaeodes Scaplia^ the skiff Limaeodes, in my " Catalogue of the Insects of jNIassachusetts." JNIy specimens generally died after they had made their cocoons, and consequently the moth is mi- known to me. The moth of a Limaeodes, called Cippus* (Fig. 207) by Sir J. E. Smith, is sometimes found Fig. 207. in Massachusetts, from the middle of 1^ ^' " -"^^ j^^]y till the 10th of August. It is of a reddish-brown color ; on each of the fore wings there is a small dark ' brown dot near the middle, and a broad wavy green band beginning at the base, and bending round till it touches the front margin near the tip ; behind a deep notch of this band, near the base of the wing, there is a triangular tawny spot, and another smaller one near the tip. The green band is sometimes broken into three tri- angular green spots, the middle one of which is wanting in some specimens. One half of the stalk of the antennge of the male is doubly feathered beneath ; the remainder to * Probably not the trae Cippus of Fabricius, which is found in Surinam. There is a figure of our species in Gu^rin's " Iconographie du Kcgne Animal," where it is named Limaeodes Delphiiiii, but for what reason I know not, for it does not live on the Delphinium or larkspur. THE HAG-MOTH. 421 the tip Is bare. The antennae of the female are tliread-hke and not fringed. The wings expand from one inch to one incli and one eighth. The caterpillar figured by ]Mr. Abbot* is oblong oval, striped with purple and yellow, with twelve fleshy horns, of an orange color, on the sides of its back, namely, six on the fore part, two on the middle, and four on the hind part of the body. INIr. Abbot says that it eats the leaves of the dogwood (^Cornus Florida), oak, and of other trees ; that it makes its cocoon in September, and that the moth comes out in July. A still more extraordinary slug-caterpillar (Fig. 208), having a very remote resemblance to tjie last, _. „„„ has been found here on forest-trees, and oc- ,-,^ casionally in considerable numbers on cherry- I'l / t "^T/^fj^k trees and a2:)ple-trees, from July to Septem- ber. It is of a dark brown color, and is covered with a short velvet-like down ; its body is almost oblong square, but the sides of the rings extend horizontally in the form of flattened teeth ; three of these teeth on each side, that is, one on the fore part, the middle, and the- hind part of the body, are much longer than the others, and are curved backwards at the end. When fully grown, the caterpillar measures nearly an inch in length. It does not bear con- finement well, and often dies before completing its trans- formations. Dr. Mclsheimer, to whom I am indebted for one of tlie moths, informs me that the caterpillar eats the leaves of the wild cherry, as well as those of the white and red oak, that it makes its cocoon (Fig. 209) about the middle of September, changes to a chrysalis the following April, and that the moth appears in about eight weeks afterwards. The name n-iven to this insect by Sir J. E. Smith f is pithe- cium, the meaning of which is a shriv- elled and monkey-faced old woman, bestowed upon it j^rob- * Insects of Georgia, p. 145, pi. 73. j Il)id., p. 147, [il. 74. 422 LEPIDOPTERA. ablj on account of tlie shrivelled appearance and dark color of the caterpillar. In its winged state, Limacodes jjithecium, or the hag-moth, as it may he called, is of a dnsky brown color ; its fore wings are variegated with light yellowish brown, and with a narrow curved and wavy band, of the same light color, edged externally Avitli dark brown near the outer margin, and a light brown spot near the middle ; the fringes of all the wings are spotted with light brown ; the legs are covered with long hairs ; the antennas, in both sexes, are slender, almost thread-like, and not feath- ered. It expands from nearly one inch to one inch and a quarter. There is a kind of caterpillar, found in July and August on the balsam poplar, and sometimes on other poplars and willows, whose form, posture, and motions are so odd as at once to arrest attention. Its body is naked, short, and thick, tapers behind, and ends with a forked kind of tail, which is held upwards at an obtuse angle with the rest of the body. This forked tail, which takes the place of the hindmost pair of legs, the others being only fourteen in number, is not used with the latter in creeping, and consists of two movable hollow tubes, within each of which is con- cealed a long orange-colored thread, that the insect can push out and draw in at pleasure. The feet are short and small ; the head is small, of a purple color, and can be drawn inider the front part of the first ring ; the body is green, with a triangular purple spot on the top of the fore part, and a large diamond-shaped patch, of the same color, cov- ering the back and middle of the sides like a mantle, and prolonged behind to the tail. When young, these caterpil- lars have, on the top of the first ring, two little prickly warts, which disappear after one or two changes of the skin. When teased by being touched, or irritated by flies, the cat- erpillar runs out the threads from its forked tail, which it jerks forwards so as to lash the sides of its body and whip off the intruder. When fully grown, it measures sometimes THE FORK-TAIL MOTH 423 an incli and a half in lenojtli, without incluclino; the tei'mlnal Ibrk. Caterpillars of this kind are called Cerui'a, horned- tail, by some, and D'lcranura^ foi-ked-tail, by other natural- ists. Early in Aiigust the one above described makes a tou^h cocoon of bits of wood and bark elued too'ether Avitli a sticky matter, and fastened to the side of a branch, the lower side being flat and the upper convex. The last trans- formation occurs about the middle of June, when, after the end of the cocoon has been softened by a liquid thrown out by the insect Avithin, the moth forces its way through. This insect has been figured in Mr. Abbot's work,* where it is called farcula^ a name, however, which belongs to an Euro- pean insect. It is also represented in Guerin's " Icono- graphie," and in Griffith's translation of Cuvier's " Animal Kingdom " ; and I have adopted the specific name given to it by Dr. Boisduval in these works. Cerura horealis, the northern Cerura, or foi'k-tail moth, like others of the genus, has the antenna3 feathered in both sexes, but narrow, and tapering and bent upwards at the point ; the legs, especially the first pair, which are stretched out before the body when at rest, are, like those of our native Limacodes, very hairy ; and the wings are thin and almost transparent. The ground- color of our moth is a dirty white ; the fore Avings are crossed by two broad blackish bands, the outer one of which is traversed and interrupted by an irregular wavy whitish line ; the hinder margins of all the Avings are dotted with black, and there are scA-eral black dots at the base, and a single one near the middle of the fore Avings ; the top of the thorax is blackish, and the collar is edged Avith black. In some individuals the dusky bands of the fore Avings are edged or dotted with taAvny yellow ; in others, these Avings are dusky, and the bands are indistinct. They expand from one inch and three eighths to one inch and three quarters. The following insects, for the sake of couA'enience, may be included in the old genus Notodonta. The first of them * Insects of Georgia, p. 141, pi. 71. 424 LEPIDOPTERA. is found in August and September on plum and apple trees, and, according to Mr. Abbot,* on the red-berried alder, Prinos verticlllatus. The top of the fourth ring of this cat- erpillar rises in the form of a long horn, sloping forwards a little ; the tail, with the hindmost feet, which are rather longer than the others, is always raised when the insect is at rest, but it generally uses these legs in walking ; its head is large, and of a brown color ; the sides of the second and third rings are green ; the rest of the body is brown, vari- egated with white on the back, and on it there are a A'ery few short hairs, hardly visible to the naked eye. When fully grown, it measures an inch or more in length. Though mostly solitary in their habits, sometimes three or four of these caterpillars are found near together, and eating the leaves of the same twig. Towards the end of Se})tember they descend from the trees, and make their cocoons, which are thin and almost transparent, resembling parchment in texture, and are covered generally with bits of leaves on the outside. The caterpillars remain in their cocoons a long time before changing to chrysalids, and the moth does not come out till the following sunnner. There are probably two broods in the course of one season, for I have taken the moths early in August. In Georgia the caterpillar made its cocoon on the 30th of May, and was transformed to a moth fourteen days afterwards. This moth is the Notodonta unieornu^ or unicorn moth, so called from the horn on the back of the caterpillar. The fore wings are light brown, variegated with patches of greenish white and with wavy dark brown lines, two of which enclose a small whitish space near the shoulders ; there is a short blackish mark near the middle ; the tip and the outer hind margin are whitish, tinged with red in the males ; and near the outer hind angle there are one small white and two black dashes ; the hind wings of the male ai*e dirty white, with a dusky spot on the inner hind angle ; those of the female are sometimes * Insects of Georghi, p. 171, pi. 86. THE RED -HUMP ED CATERPILLAR. -il-O entirely dusky ; the body is brownish, and there are two narrow black bands across the fore part of the thorax. The Avings expand from one inch and a quarter to one inch and a half, or nearly. Our fruit-trees seem to be peculiarly subject to the ravages of insects, probably because the native trees of the forest, which originally yielded the insects an abundance of food, have been destroyed to a great extent, and their places supplied only partially by orchards, gardens, and nurseries. Numerous as are the kinds of caterpillars now found on cultivated trees, some are far more abundant than others, and therefore more often fall under our observation, and come to be better known. Such, for instance, are certain gregarious caterpillars that swarm on the apple, cheny, and plum trees towards the end of summer, sti'ipping whole branches of their leaves, and not unfrequently despoiling our rose-bushes and thorn hedges also. These caterpillars are of two kinds, very different in appearance, but alike in habits and destructive propensities. The first of these may be called the red-humped (Fig. 210), .j,._^ ^^^ a name that Avill probably bring these insects to the remembrance of those l^ersons who have ever observed them. Different broods make their appearance at various times during August and September. The egii's from which they proceed are laid, in the course of the month of July, in clusters on the under side of a leaf, generally near the end of a branch. When first hatched they eat only the substance of the luider side of the leaf, leaving the skin of the upper side and all the veins untouched ; but as they grow larger and stronger, they "devour wdiole leaves from the point to the stalk, and go from leaf to leaf down the twigs and branches. The young caterpillars are lio'hter- colored than the old ones, which are yellowish brown, paler on the sides, and longitudinally striped with slender black lines ; the head is red ; on the top of the fourth ring there 54 42G Li: PIDOPTERA. is a bunch or liiimp, also of a red color ; alono- the back are several short black prickles ; and the hinder extremity tapers somewhat, and is always elevated at an anole with the rest of the body, when the insect is not crawling. The full-grown caterpillars measure one inch and a quarter, or rather more, in length. They rest close together on the twigs, when not eating, and sometimes entirely cover the small twigs and ends of the branches. The early broods come to their growth and leave the trees by the middle of August, and the others between this time and the latter part of September. All the caterpillars of the same brood de- scend at one time, and disappear in the night. They con- ceal themselves under leaves, or just beneath the surface of the soil, and make their cocoons, which resemble those of the unicorn Notodonta. They remain a long time in their cocoons before changing to chrysalids, and are trans- formed to moths towards the end of June or the beginning of July. Mr. Abbot * states that in Georgia these insects breed twice a year, the first broods making their cocoons towards the end of May, and appearing in the winged form fifteen days afterwards. This Notodonta is a neat and trim looking moth, and is hence called concinna (Plate VI. Fig. 11) by Sir J. E. Smith. It is of a light brown color ; the fore wings are dark brown along the inner margin, and more or less tinged with gray before ; there is a dark-brown dot near the middle, a spot of the same color near each angle, a very small triangular whitish spot near the shou.1- ders, and several dark-brown longitudinal streaks on the outer hind margin ; the hind wings of the male are brown- ish or dirty white, with a brown spot on the inner hind angle ; those of the other sex are dusky brown ; the body is light brown, with the thorax rather darker. The wings expand from one inch to one inch and three eighths. Every person who has paid any attention to the cultiva- tion of the grape-vine in this country must have observed * Insects of Georgia, p. 169, pi. 85. THE EUDRYAS GRATA. 427 upon it, besides the large sphinx caterpillars that devour its leaves, a small blue caterpillar j.jg 211. (Fig. 211, and Plate VI. Fig. 7), ^, <,rm^ transversely banded with deep orange ,;, ,^ _^: >VYh^ across the middle of each ring, the ^^ ^ ^ '^^ bands being dotted with black, with the head and feet also orange, the top of the eleventh ring somewhat bulging, and the fore part of the body hunched up when the creature is at rest. These caterpillars begin to appear about the middle of July, and others are hatched afterwards, as late, perhaps, as the middle of August. When not eating, they generally rest upon the under sides of the leaves, and, though many may be found on one vine, they do not associate with each other. They live on the common creeper, as well as on the grape-vine. They eat all parts of the leaves, even to the midrib and stalks. When fully grown, and at rest, they measure an inch and a quarter, but stretch out, in creeping, to the length of an inch and a half, or more. Towards the end of August they begin to disappear, and no more will be found on the vines after September. They creep down the vines in the night, and go into the ground, burying them- selves three or four inches deep, and turn to chrysalids with- out making cocoons. The chrysalis is dark brown, and rough with elevated points. The moths begin to come out of the o-round as soon as the 25th of June, and others con- tinue to appear till the 20th of July. Though of small size, they are very beautiful, and far surpass all others of the family in delicacy of coloring and design. The name of this moth is Eadryas grata* (Plate VI. Fig. 8), the first word signifying beautifiil wood-nymph, and the second agree- able or pleasing. The antennae are rather long, almost thread-like, tapering to the end, and not feathered in either sex. The fore wings are pure white, with a broad stripe alono; the front edge, extendino; from the shoulder a little beyond the middle of the edge, and a broad band around the * This insect is the Bombyx grata of Fabricius. 428 LKPIDOPTERA. outer hind margin, of a deep purple-brown color ; the band is edged internally with olive-green, and marked towards the edge with a slender wavy white line ; near the middle of the wing, and touching the brown stripe, are two brown spots, one of them round and the other kidney-shaped ; and on the middle of the inner maroin there is a laroje trianmilar olive-colored spot ; the under side of the same Avings is yel- low, and near the middle there are a round and a kidney- shaped black spot. The hind wings are yellow above and beneath ; on the upper side with a broad purple-brown hind border, on which there is a wavy white line, and on tlie lui- der side with only a central black dot. The head is black. Along the middle of the thorax there is a broad crest-like stripe of black and pearl-colored glittering scales. The shoulder-covers are Avliite. The upper side of the abdomen is yellow, with a row of black spots on the top, and another on each side ; the under side of the body, and the large muff- like tufts on the fore legs, are white ; and the other legs are black. This moth rests with its Avings closed like a steep roof over its back, and its fore legs stretched forward, like a Cerura. It expands from one inch and a half to one inch and three quarters. Eudryas ■miio, of Illibner, the pearl Eudryas, as its name implies, is a somewhat smaller moth, closely resembling the preceding, from which it differs in having the stripe and band on its fore wings of a brighter purple-brown color, the round and kidney-shaped spots contiguous to the former also brown, the olive-colored edging of the band wavy, with a powdered blue spot between it and the triangular olive- colored spot on the inner margin, and a distinct brown s]:)ot on the inner hind angle of the posterior wings ; all the Avings beneath are broadly bordered behind with light brown, and the spots upon them are also light brown. It expands from one inch and three eighths to one inch and a half. This spe- cies has been taken in Massachusetts, but it is rare, and the caterpillar is unknown to me. THE ATTENDANT PYG.EEA. 429 In the remarks j)receding the description of ^otodonta con- cinna, mention was made of two kinds of caterpillars, livin"- in great numbers on frnit- trees in the latter part of summer. The second kind (Fig. 212) are now to be described. They grow to a greater size, are longer in coming to their growth, their swarms are more numerous, and consequently they do much more injury, than the red-humped kind. Entire branches of the apple-trees are frequently stripped of their leaves by them, and are loaded with these caterpillars in thickly crowded swarms. The eggs from which they are hatched Avill be found in patches, of about a hundred together, fastened to the under side of leaves near the ends of the twio-s. Some of them begin to be hatched about the 20th of July, and new broods make their appearance in succession for the space of a month or more. At first they eat only the under side and pulpy part of the leaves, leaving the upper side and A'eins untouched ; but afterw.ards they con- sume the whole of the leaves except their stems. These caterpillars are sparingly covered with soft whitish hairs ; the young ones are brown, and striped Avith white ; but, as they grow older, their colors become darker every time they cast their skms. They come to their full size in about five weeks or a little more, and then measure from an inch and three quarters to two inches and a quarter in extent. The head is large and of a black color ; the body is nearly cylindrical, with a spot on the top of the first ring, and the legs dull orange-yellow, a black stripe along the top of the back, and three of the same color alternatino; with four yellow stripes on each side. The posture of these cat- erpillars, when at rest, is very odd ; both extremities are raised, the body being bent, and resting only on the four intermediate pairs of legs. If touched or otherwise dis- turbed, they throw up their heads and tails with a jerk, at •430 LEPIDOPTEK A. the same time bending the body semicircuhu-lj till the two extremities almost meet over the back. They all eat to- gether, and, after they have done, arrange themselves side by side along the twigs and branches which they have stripped. Beginning at the ends of the branches, they eat all the leaves successively from thence towards the trunk, and if one branch does not afford food enough they l)etake themselves to another. When ready to transform, all the individuals of the same brood quit the tree at once, descend- ing by night, and burrow into the ground to the depth of three or four inches, and, within twenty-four hours after- Avards, cast their caterpillar-skins, and become chrysalids without making cocoons. They remain in the ground in this state all winter, and are changed to moths and come out between the niiddle and end of July. These moths belong to the genus Pygcera^ so named be- cause the caterpillar sits with its tail raised up. The an- tennae are rather long, those of the males fringed beneath, in a double row, with very short hairs nearly to the tips, Avhich, however, as well as the whole of the stalk of the antennae in the other sex, are bare ; the thorax is generally marked with a large dark-colored spot, the hairs of which can be raised up so as to form a ridge or kind of crest ; the hinder margin of the fore wings is slightly notched ; and the fore legs are stretched out before the body in re- pose. Our Pygcera was named, by Druiy, ministra, the attendant or servant. (Plate VI. Fig. 6.) It is of a light brown color ; the head and a large square spot on the thorax are dark chestnut-brown ; on the fore wings are four or five transverse lines, one or two spots near the middle, and a short oblique line near the tip, all of which, with the outer hind margin, are dark chestnut-brown. One and sometimes both of the dai'k brown spots are wanting on the fore wings in the males, and the females, wdiich are larger than the other sex, frequently have five instead of four trans- verse brown lines. It expands from one inch and three quarters to two inches and a half. THE AMERICAN CLOSTERA. 431 T liave seen on the oak, the birch, the black wahiut, and the liickory trees, swarms of caterpillars slightly differing in color from each other, and from those above described, that live on the apple and cherry trees ; they were more hairy than the latter, but their postures and habits appeared to be the same. Whether they were all different species, or only varieties of the ministra, arising from difference of food, I have not been able to ascertain. The cultivation of the balsam and our other larjie-leaved native poplars seems to have been neglected of late years. It is true that these trees are not so durable and so valuable as many others ; but we sometimes meet with noble speci- mens of them ; and the rapidity of their growth, the great size they attain in favorable situations, and the fine shade they afford, are qualities not to be overlooked or despised ; nor is the wood entirely worthless, either as fuel or in tlie arts. If these trees are planted alternately with other more slow-orowino; trees, we shall have the benefit of the shade and shelter of the former till the others have become large enough to fill their places. They are not subject to be attacked by canker-worms, oak-caterpillars, web-worms, and many other kinds of insects that infest our ornamental and shade trees of hard wood ; but, unfortunately, they suffer too often from insect depredators of their own, such as the grubs of two or three kinds of beetles, which bore into their trunks j the spiny caterpillars of the Antiopa butterfly and of the lo moth, the fork-tailed Cerura, the caterpillar of the herald-moth, and another kind of cater- pillar now to be described, all which devour the leaves of these trees. This last kind of cat- erpillar (Fig. 213) is found in little ""' swarms on the trees from the last of July to the beginning of October. It does not raise the hinder part of its body when at rest. It is nearly cylindrical, with two little black warts close to- gether on the top of the fourth and of the eleventh rings. 432 lki*idoptk];a. Fig. 214. There arc a few sliort, wliitish hairs thhily scattered over the body, wliicli is pale yellow, with three slender black lines on the back, and a broad dusky stripe, also marked with three black lines, on each side ; and the head, fore legs, and spiracles are black. When fully grown, these caterpillars measure about an inch and a half in length. They live together, in swarms of twenty or more individuals, in a nest (Fig. 214) made of a single leaf fold- ed or curled at the sides, and lined with a thin web of silk. An opening is left at each end of the nest ; through the lower one the dirt made by the in- sects flills, and through the up- per one, which is next to the leaf-stalk, the caterpillars go out to feed upon the leaves near to their nests. When young they sometimes fold up one side of a leaf for a nest, and eat the other half. The stalks of the leaves, to which their nests are hung, become covered with silk from the threads car- ried along by the caterpillars in o'oino; over them ; and these threads help to secure the nests to the branches. They eat all parts of the leaves except the stalks and larger veins, and frequently strip long shoots of their foliage in a very few days. Towards the end of Sep- tember or early in October, according to the age of the different broods, they descend from the trees, disperse, and seek a shelter in crevices or under leaves and rubbish on the ground, where they make their cocoons. These are thin, irregular, silken webs, so loosely spun that the in- THE AMERICAN CLOSTERA. 433 sects can be seen througli them ; but they are protected by their situation, or by the dead leaves and other matters under which they are made. As soon as the cocoons are finished, the insects become chrysaHds (Fig. 215), and remain quiet througli >g--- the winter ; and about the middle of June, or somewhat later, they are trans- formed to moths. They belong to the genus Clostera, or spinner, so named on account of the spinning habits of the catei'pillars. The antennae ai'e narrowly feathered or pec- tinated in both sexes ; the thorax has an elevated crest in the middle ; the tail is tufted and turned up at the end, in the males ; the fore legs are thickly covered with hairs to the end, and are stretched out before the body when the insect is at rest. Our poplar spinner may be called Clostera Americana^^^ the American Clostera. (Plate VI. Fig. 12.) It closely resembles the European anastomosis, from which, however, it differs essentially in its caterpillar state, and the moth presents certain characters, which, on close comparison with the European insect, will enable us to distinguish it from the latter. It is of a brownish-gray color ; the fore Avings are flnntly tinged with pale lilac, and moi-e or less cloud- ed with rust-red ; they have an irregular row of blackish dots near the outer hind margin, and are crossed by three whitish lines, of which the first nearest the shoulders is broken and widely separated in the middle, the second divides into two branches, one of which goes straight across the wing to the inner margin, and the other passes obliquely till it meets the end of the third line, with which it forms an ano-le or letter V : across the middle of the hind wings there is a narrow brownish band, much more distinct beneath than above ; on the top of the thorax there is an oblong chestnut- [ 23 This name cannot stand. It is the C indusa, Hiibner, Zutr. Dr. Harris has somewhere said that he had no opportunity of consulting Hiibner's -works, and hence is not to be blamed for naming what he conceived to be a new species. — MOKKIS.) 55 434 L E P I D 0 P T E R A . colored spot, the hairs of wliich rise upwards behind and form a crest. All the whitish lines on the fore wings are more or less bounded externally with rust-red. It expands from one inch and one quarter to one inch and five eighths. In Georgia this insect breeds twice a year ; and the cater- pillars eat the leaves of the willow as well as those of the poplar.* 2. Oavlet-Motiis. [Noctuce.) Our second tribe of moths, the NocTU^ of Linna?us, ap- pears to have been thus named from Noctua, an owl, because they fly chiefly by night, and are hence called JEtilen, or owl- moths, by the Germans. This tribe contains a very large number of thick-bodied and swift-flying moths, most of Avliich may be distinguished by the following characters. The antennas are long and tapering, and seldom pectinated even in the males ; the tongue is long ; the feelers are very distinct, and project more or less beyond the face, the two lower joints being compressed or flattened at the sides, and the last joint is slender and small ; the thorax is thick, with ■ rather prominent collar and shoulders, and is often crested on the top ; the body tapers behind ; the wings are always fastened together by bristles and hooks, are generally roofed, when at rest, and each of the fore wings is marked behind the middle of the front margin with two spots, one of them round and small, and the other larger and kidney-shaped. A few of them fly by day, the others only at night. Their colors are generally dvill, and of some shade of gray or brown, and so extremely alike are they in their markings, that it is very difficult to describe them without the aid of figures, which cannot be expected in this treatise. The cat- erpillars are nearly cylindrical, for the most part naked, though some are hairy, slow In their motions, and generally provided with sixteen legs ; those with fewer legs never want * See Phalcena anastomosis of Smith, in Abbot's " Insects of Georgia," p. 143, pi. 72. 0 W L E T - il 0 T H S . 435 the hindmost pah', and never raise the end of the body when at rest. Some of them make cocoons, but the rest go into the ground to transform. Many of the Noctuas vary more or less from the characters above given, and the tribe seems to admit of being divided into several smaller groups or families, under which their peculiarities might be more dis- tinctly pointed out. Unfortunately the history of most of our moths is still imperfectly known ; and for this reason, as well as on account of the length to which the foregoing part of this treatise has already extended, I have concluded to suppress a considerable portion of my observations on the owlet-moths and the rest of the Lepidoptera, and shall con- fine my remarks to a few of the most injurious species in each of the remaining tribes. The injury done to vegetation by the caterpillars of the Noctuas, or owlet-moths, is by no means inconsiderable, and sometimes becomes very great and apparent ; but most of these insects are concealed from our observation during the day-time, and come out from their retreats to feed only at night. To turn them out of their hiding-places becomes sometimes absolutely necessary, and it is only by dear-bought experience that we learn how to discover them. This is not the case with all ; those of the first family, which I would call Acronyctians (Acroxyctad.e*), live exposed on the leaves of trees and shrubs. They have sixteen legs, are cylindrical, and more or less hairy, some of them closely resembling those of the genus Clostera, having a wart or prominence on the top of the fourth and the eleventh rings, and some of them have the hair in tufts like Arctians and Liparians. They make tough silken cocoons, in texture almost like stiflF brown paper, into which they weave the hairs of their bodies. Their moths have bristle-formed antennae, and the thorax is not crested. Their fore wings are generally light gray with dark spots, and in many are marked with a character resembling the Greek letter ^^r near * From Acronycia, a genus of moths appearing at nightfall, as the name implies. 436 L E P I D 0 P T E R A . the innci" liind angle. Of those that want this character on the fore wings, tlie largest American species, known to me, may be called Apatela Americana-^ (Fig- 216), which has been mistaken * for Apatela Aceris, the maple-moth of Eu- rope. Its body and fore wings are light gray ; on the latter Fig. 216. there is a wavy, scalloped white line edged externally with black near the outer hind margin, and tlie usual round and kidney-shaped spots are also edged with black ; the hind wings are dark gray in the male, blackish in the female, with a faintly marked black curved band and central semicircular spot ; all the wings are whitish and shining beneath, with a black wavy and curved band and central semicii'cular spot on each ; the fringes are white, scalloped, and spotted with black. It expands from tAvo inches and a quarter to two inches and a half, or more. This kind of moth flies only at night, and makes its appearance between the middle and the end of July. The cat- ^'"- 2i"- erpillar (Fig. 217) eats the leaves of the va- rious kinds of maple, and sometimes also those of the elm, lin- den, and chestnut. It is one of the largest kinds ; and, early in October, when it arrives at maturity, [24 A. Americana is synonymous with Acronycia acericola Guen^e. — Mokris.] * See Phalcena Aceris, Smith, in Abbot's "Insects of Georgia," p. 185, pi. 93. THE NONAGEIANS. 437 measures from one inch and three quarters to two inches or more in length. It is of a greenish-yellow color above, with the head, tail, belly, and feet black ; its body is covered with long and soft yellow hairs, growing immediately from the skin ; on the top of the fourth I'ing there are two long, slen- der, and erect tufts of black hairs, two more on the sixth ring, and a single pencil on the eleventh ring.* While at rest, it remains curled sidewise on a leaf. When about to make its cocoon, it creeps into chinks of the bark, or into cracks in fences, and spins a loose, half-oval web of silk, intermixed with the hairs of its body ; under this it then makes another and tousher pod of silk, Fig. 218. thickened with fragments of bark and wood, and, when its work is done, changes to a chrysalis (Fig. 218), in Avhich state it re- mains till the following summer. The caterpillars of the Nonagrians (Nonagriad.e f ) are naked, long, slender, and tapering at each end, smooth, and generally of a faint reddish or greenish tint, with an oval, dark-colored, horny spot:j: on the top of the first and last rinse. Most of them live within the stems of reeds, flairs, and other water-plants ; some in the stems and even in the roots of plants remote from the water. They devour the pith and the inside of the roots, and transform in the same situations, having previously gnawed a hole from the inside of their retreat, through the side of the stem or root, to the outside skin, which is left untouched, and which the moth * Those naturalists who are familiar with the appearance of the European caterpillar oi Apatela Aceris will perceive the great and essential difference be- tween it and that of our American Apatela, which bears about as much resem- blance to the former as does that of Astasia torrefacta of Sir J. E. Smith, an insect apparently belonging to the Notodontians, and near to Clostera and Pygcera. Apatela signifies deceptive; and this name was probably given to the genus be- cause the caterpillars appear in the dress of Arctians and Liparians, but produce true owlet-moths or Noctuas. t From Notinffria, the meaning of which is uncertain. t These dark horny spots are found on. the first ring of most of the caterpillars that burrow in the stems of plants, or in the ground. 438 LEPIDOPTKRA. can easily break through afterwards. The chrysahds are generally very long and cylindrical, and are blunt at the extremities. Most of the moths have very long bodies, a smooth thorax, and are of a yellowish clay or drab color ; the fore wnigs want the usual sjDOts, are faintly streaked and dotted with black, and have a scalloped hind margin. Those that do not live in water-plants are distinguished by brighter colors of orange-yellow and brown, with the usual spots more or less distinct on the fore wino;s, the maro-in of which is wavy ; the collar is prominent, and the thorax crested. In all of them the antennae of the males are slightly thick- ened with short bail's beneath. These insects are fatal to the plants attacked, the greater part of which, however, are without value to the farmer. Indian corn must be excepted ; for it often suffers severely from the depredations of one of these Nonagrians, known to our farmers by the name of the spindle-worm. The Rev. L. W. Leonard has favored me with a specimen of this insect, its chrysalis, and its moth, together with some re- marks upon its habits ; and the latter have also been described to me by an intelligent friend, conversant with agriculture. This insect receives its common name from its destroying the spindle of the Indian corn ; but its ravages generally begin while the corn-stalk is young, and before the S2'>indlc rises much above the tuft of leaves in which it is embosomed. The mischief is discovered by the withering of the leaves, and, when these are taken hold of, they may often be drawn out with the included spindle. On examining the corn, a small hole may be seen in the side of the leafy stalk, near the ground, penetrating into the soft centre of the stalk, which, when cut open, will be found to be perforated, both upwards and downwards, by a slender worm-like caterpillar, whose excrementitious castings surround the orifice of the hole. This caterpillar grows to the length of an inch, or more, and to the thickness of a goose-quill. It is smooth, and apparently naked, yellowish, with the head, the top of THE CORN GORTYXA. 439 the first and of the last rings black, and with a double row, across each of the other rings, of small, smooth, slightly elevated, shining black dots. With a magnifying-glass a few short hairs can be seen on its body, arising singly from the black dots. This mischievous caterpillar is not confined to Indian corn ; it attacks also the stems of the Dahlia, as I am informed both by j\Ir. Leonard and by the Rev. J. L. Rus- sell, both of whom have observed its ravages in the stems of this favorite flower. It has also been found in the pith of the elder, and the same species of moth was produced from it, early in August, as from the spindle-worm of corn. The chrysalis, which is lodged in the burrow formed by the cater- pillar, is slender, but not quite so long in proportion to its thickness as are those of most of the Nonagrians. It is shining mahogany-brown, with the anterior edges of four of the rings of the back roughened with little points, and four short spines or hooks, turned upwards, on the hinder extrem- ity of the body. The moth produced from this insect differs from the other Nonagrians somewhat in form, its fore wings being shorter and more rounded at the tip. It may be called Ciortyna^ Zcce (Plate VII. Fig. 9), the corn Gortyna ; Zea being the botanical name of Indian corn. The fore wings are rust-red ; they ai-e mottled with gray, almost in bands, uniting Avith the ordinary spots, which are also gray and indistinct ; there is an irregular tawny spot near the tip, and on the veins there are a few black dots. The hind wings are yellowish gray, with a central dusky spot, behind which are two faint, dusky bands. The head and thorax are rust- red, with an elevated tawny tuft on each. The abdomen is pale brown, with a row of tawny tufts on the back. Th.e wings expand nearly one inch and a half. In order to check the ravages of these insects they must be destroyed while in the caterpillar state. As soon as our cornfields begin to show, by the withering of the leaves, the * Gortyna, in ancient geography, was the name of a city in Crete, so called from its founder. 440 L E P I D 0 P T E R A . usual signs that the enemy is at work in tlie stalks, the spin- dle-worms should be sought for and killed ; for, if allowed to remain undisturbed until they turn to moths, they will make their escape, and we shall not be able to prevent them from, laying their eggs for another brood of these pestilent insects. A worm, or caterpillar, something like the spindle-worm, has often been found by farmers in potato-stalks ; and the potato-rot has sometimes been ascribed to its depredations. On the 9th of July, 1848, one of these caterpillars was brought to me in a potato-stalk from Watertown ; and on the 5th of July, 1851, I found another within the stem of the pig-weed, or Cltenopodium. These ^^' " ■ caterpillars (Fig. 219) were of a livid ggmsw^^^^l^^ hue, faintly striped with three whitish ^^^^^^^^^^ lines along the back. Their transforma- tions have not yet been observed. The roots of the Columbine are attacked by another cater- pillar belonging to this family. It burrows into the bottom of the stalk and devours the inside of the roots, which it injures so much that the plant soon dies. One of these caterpillars, which was found in July in the roots of a fine double Columbine in my garden, was of a whitish color, Avith a few black dots on each of the rings, a brownish head, and the top of the first and of the last rings blackish. It grew to the length of about one inch and a qviarter, turned to a chrysalis on the 19th of August, and came out a moth on the 24th of September. The moth closely resembles the Gortyna flavago of Europe, but is sufficiently distinct from it. It may be called Crortyna leucostigma, the white-spot Gortyna. The fore wings are tawny yellow, sprinkled with purple-brown dots, and with two broad bands and the outer hind margin purple-brown ; there is a distinct tawny yellow spot on the tip, followed by a row of faint yellowish crescents between the brown band and margin ; the ordinary spots are yellow, margined with brown, and there is a third oval spot of a white color near the round spot. The hind wings are THE A G U 0 T I D I A X S . 441 pale buff or yellowish white, with a central spot, and a band behind it, of a brownish color. The head is brown ; the thorax is tawny yellow, wath a brown tuft ; and the edges of the collar and of the shoulder-covers are brown. The wino-s expand rather more than one inch and a half. I have what appear to be varieties of this moth, expanding one inch and three eighths, with three or four wdiite dots around the kid- ney-spot, and the ordinary round spot wholly white. Numerous complaints have been made of the ravages of cut-worms among corn, wheat, grass, and other vegetables, in various parts of the country. After a tiresome search through many of our agricultural publications, I have become convinced that these insects and their history are not yet known to some of the very persons who are said to have suffered from their depredations. Various cut-worms, or more properly subterranean caterpillars, wire-worms, or luli^ and grub-worms, or the young of May-beetles, are often con- founded together or mistaken for each other ; sometimes their names are interchanged, and sometimes the same name is given to each and all of these different animals. Hence the remedies that are successful in some instances are entirely useless in others. The name of cut-worm seems originally to have been given to certain caterpillars that live in the ground about the roots of plants, but come up in the night, and cut off and devour the tender stems and lower leaves of young cabbages, beans, corn, and other herbaceous plants. These subterranean caterpillars are finally transformed to moths belonging to a group which may be called Agrotidians (Agrotidid.e), from a word signifying rustic, or pertaining to the fields. Some of these rustic moths fly by day, and may be found in the fields, especially in the autumn, suckin'T the honey of flowers ; others are on the wing only at night, and daring the day lie concealed in chinks of walls and other dark places. Their wings are nearly horizontal when closed, the upper pair completely covering the lower wings, and often overlapping a little on their inner edges, thus favoring 56 442 L E P I D 0 P T i: R A . these insects in their attempts to obtain shelter and conceal- ment. Tlie thorax is slightly convex, but smooth or not crested. The antennae of the males are generally beset with two rows of short points, like fine teeth, on the under side, nearly to the tips. The fore legs are often quite spiny. Most of these moths come forth in July and August, and soon afterwards lay their eggs in the ground, in ploughed fields, gardens, and meadows. In Europe it is found that the eggs are hatched early in the autumn, at which time the little subterranean caterpillars live chiefly on the roots and tender sprouts of herbaceous plants. On the approach of winter they descend deeper into the ground, and, curling themselves up, remain in a torpid state till the following spring, when they ascend towards the surface, and renew their devastations. The caterpillars of the Agrotidians are smooth, shining, naked, and dark-colored, with longitudinal pale and blackish stripes, and a few black dots on each ring ; some of them also have a shining, horny, black spot on the top of the first ring. They are of a cylindrical form, taper- ing a little at each end, rather thick in proportion to their length, and are provided with sixteen legs. They are changed to chrysalids in the ground, without previously making silken cocoons. The most destructive kinds in Eu- rope are the caterpillars of the corn rustic or winter dart- moth (^A