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:.nseGts and Insecticides,

F Dctmers, dd

PLATE I.— Transformations of the Celery Caterpillar.

INSECTS

— AND —

INSECTICIDES.

A PRACTICAL MANUAL

CONCERNING

Noxious Insects and the Methods of Preventing
their Injuries.

CLARENCE M. WEED, D. Sc.,

Professor of Entomology and Zoology, New Hampshire College of Agricul-
ture and Mechanic Arts: recently Entomologist, Ohio Agricultural
Experiment Station; Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society
of England, and of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science; Member of the Society for the
Promotion of Agricultural Science, Socicte' Entomol-
ogique de France, Cambridge Entomological
Club, Association of Economic
Entomologists, etc.

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS.

Published by the Author
hanover, new hampshire,
1891.

* AU3 21 1331 *i)

L'ok

IAL WlUj^:

Press of Gazette Printing House
Columbus, Ohio.

PREFACE.

This little volume has been prepared for the pur-
pose of furnishing the farmer, the fruit-grower, the
floriculturist, and the house-keeper with a concise
account of the more important injurious insects with
which they have to contend, together with a summary
of the latest knowledge concerning the best methods
of preventing or counteracting the injuries of these
pests. In its p reparation free use has been made of
the information scattered through the literature of
economic entomology ; and, as a rule, it has been
found impracticable to give to each author credit for
first working out the life-histories of the various
species. In one way or another the contributions
of nearly every American economic entomologist
have been drawn upon ; but especial mention should
be made of the help obtained from the publications
of Dr. C. V. Riley, United States entomologist, whose
remarkable investigations during the last quarter of
a century have placed him foremost among the
world's economic entomologists. A large proportion
of the insect life-histories summarized in the follow-
ing pages were first worked out by him, or under
his direction. Mention should also bo made of the

4 PREFACE.

aid derived from the writings of Messrs. Forbes,
Cook, Comstock, Lintner, Garman, Howard, Harvey,
Bruner, Webster, Saunders, Osborn, Gillette, Fletcher
and many others.

The illustrations of this volume have also been
gleaned from various sources. Many of them were
printed from electrotypes obtained by duplicating a
series of cuts belonging to the Ohio Agricultural
Experiment Station, thanks to the permission of
Director C. E. Thorne ; and the rest have been gotten
from several sources. The original author to whom
each should be credited is indicated in the following
lists :

After Riley :— Plate IV, and Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, 9,
10, 13 (p. 40), 14, 16-20, 22, 23, 26, 36, 38, 39,41-43,
47-52, 53 (reduced), 54-67, 68 (reduced), 69, 70, 72,
87, 88, 90, 91, 92a, 98, 99-106, 113, 114, 116, 123,
125, 126, 127 (reduced), 130, 131, 133-135, 138, 140-
144 ; after Lugger, Fig. 6 ; after Harris, Figs. 15, 48 ;
after Harris and Saunders, Fig. 129 ; reduced from
Osborn, Figs. 137, 139 ; after Garman, Figs. 30, 33, 34,
37, 111 (reduced), 112 (reduced), 122 (reduced); after
after Bruner, Fig. 73 ; after Glover, Fig. 35 ; after Miss
( hmerod, Fig. 136 ; after Harvey, Fig. 21 ; after Com-
stock, Figs. 28, 89, 109. Fig. 7 is from the Field
Force Pump Company, and Figs. 11, 27 and 28 have

PREFACE.

been obtained from the publishers of Farm and Fire-
vide. The following have been drawn under the
author's supervision, by Miss Freda Detmers: Plates
I, II, III, V, VI, VII, and Figs. 3, 8, 12, 12| (p. 38),
24, 25, 31, 40, 44-47, 74-80, 82, 83 (p. 157), 85, 86,
926, 1)3-97, 107, 108, 115, 120,121,124,129,132.

All the figures are natural size unless otherwise
stated, and wherever a straight line occurs beside a
magnified drawing, it represents the length of the
specimen figured.

A small edition of the first three parts of this
work was published in connection with the Report
of the Columbus, (Ohio) Horticultural Society for
1890.

I have attempted to make the discussions of life-
histories and remedies as plain and simple as possi-
ble, omitting, so far as practicable, all technical terms,
and have included only such details as are nec-
essary to a practical understanding of the subjects
treated of. In several cases where the scientific des-
ignations of species have been lately changed, the
old form has been retained, because articles concern-
ing the insect can thus more easily be found in the

literature of economic entomology.

C. M. W.

Hanover, New Hampshire, April, 1891.

CONTENTS.

PAGE.

Introduction 9

PART I.
Insects Affecting the Larger Funis.

Apple 29 Tear 65

Plum 58 Cherry 72

Peach '. 77

PART II.

Insects Affecting Small Fruits.

Strawberry 85 Raspberry and Blackberry L03

Currants and Gooseberries.. oil Grape 108

PART III.

Insects Affecting Shape Trees, Ornamental Plants, and

Flowers.

Shade Trees 131 Ruse 154

Flowers 158

PART IV.
Insects Affecting Vegetables.

Tomato 165 Bean and Pea 185

Potato 168 Cabbage 18S

Celery 175 Onion 203

Squash and Cucumber 176 Asparagus 204

Rhubarb 183

PART V.
Insects Affecting Cereal and Forage Crops.

Indian Corn 209 Clover 234

Wheat 220 Grass 242

PART VI.
Insect Pests of Domestic Animals and the Household.

Insects Affecting Domestic Animals 257

Insect Pests of the Household 207

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

PLATE I.

Transformations op the Celery Caterpillar. Frontispiece.

a, egg.

b, full-grown larva.

c, front view of head of same, with

6cent organs extended.

d, chrysalis.

e, butterfly at rest.

/, butterfly with wings .spread.
a and c are slightly magnified.

PLATE II.
A Group of Aegerian Moths (Twice Natural Size).

1. Peach Tree-borer, Sanninaexiliosa,

male.

2. Peach Tree-borer, Sannina exitiosa,

female.

3. Pear Tree-borer, Aegeriapyri, male.

4. Imported Currant-borer, Aegeria

tipuliform is, male.

5. Maple Tree-borer, Aegeria acerni.

female.
0. Aegeria lustrans.

7. Plum iTee-borer, Algeria pzstzpss.

PLATE III.
A Group of Leaf-hoppers. (Much Magnified.)

1. Typhlocyba obliqua,

2. Typhlocyba trlcincta.

3. Typhlocyba basilaris.

1. Typhlocyba comes.
5. Typhlocyba vitis.
0. Typhlocyba vulnerata.
Typhlocyba oil if ex.

PLATE IV.
The Cecropia Emperor-moth. Platysamia cecropia.

PLATE V.
The Tomato-worm Sphinx. Phlegethontius celeus.

PLATE VI.

The Striped Harvest Spider. IAobunum vittatum.

PLATE VII.
The Screw-worm. Compsomyia macellaria.

Insects and Insecticides

INTRODUCTION.

The agriculturist has continually to contend with
two classes of organisms that injure his crops. The
first of these are the noxious insects, and the second,
the parasitic fungi. These foes annually destroy
many million dollars worth of produce in the United
States, a huge portion of which might be saved by
the timely application of the various methods of
prevention mid remedy that are now known. The
pages which follow are devoted to a consideration of
the more important of the first named of these ene-
mies — the noxious insects — and to the methods of
Inventing their injuries.

Insects are distinguished from related animals by
having three pairs of feet, fitted for locomotion, at-'
tached to a body divided into three principal parts
— head, thorax and abdomen. A majority of them
are also characterized by undergoing during their
development a series of well-marked changes, or
transformations. Such insects exist in four distinct
stages, namely: (1) the egg ; (2) the larva or cater-
pillar ; (3) the pupa or chrysalis ; and (4) the adult
or imago. As an example of these changes we may
take the Celery Caterpillar, the transformations of
which are illustrated at Plate I. The adult butterfly,
a handsome, black creature, with yellow and blue
i

10 INTRODUCTION.

markings on its wings ( Plate I, e, /,), deposits an egg-
on the under side of the celery leaf. This egg (a) is
a small, light yellow object, nearly spherical, though
slightly flattened where it is attached to the leaf.
A week or so after it has been laid there hatches
from it a small caterpillar or ' worm,' less than one-
tenth of an inch long, black, with two transverse
white bands — one across the middle of the body and
the other at the posterior extremity — and having
the back roughened with minute, black, projecting
points. This little caterpillar feeds upon the celery
leaf, and within a few days so increases in size that
it becomes necessary to shed its skin, or moult. For
this purpose the skin splits along the back and the
caterpillar walks out, clothed in a new skin that had
been formed beneath the old one. The color mark-
ings are somewhat different on this new covering.
The caterpillar continues feeding and growing for
several weeks, casting its skin at occasional intervals,
and changing considerably in color and markings.
When full grown it is of the form and size indicated
at b on the plate, the general color being pale green,
with a series of transverse bands of black and yellow
markings.. When irritated it thrusts out, from a slit
just back of the head, a pair of peculiar yellow Y-
shaped organs, that emit a disagreeable odor. These
organs are represented at b on the caterpillar, and at c
is shown a front view of the head, with them extend-
ed. They doubtless serve as a protection from vari-
ous enemies.

TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 11

The full grown caterpillar becomes restless, and
leaving the plant, seeks some sheltered situation in
which to pupate. " It first spins," says Dr. Harris,
" a little web or tuft of silk against the surface where-
on it is resting, and entangles the hooks of its hind-
most feet in it, so as to fix them securely to the spot •
it then proceeds to make a loop, or girth, of many
silken threads, bent into the form of the letter U, the
ends of which are fastened to the surface on which
it rests on each side of the middle of its body ; and
under this, when finished, it passes its head and
gradually works the loop over its back, so as to
support the body and prevent it from tailing down-
wards. Within twenty -four hours after it has taken
its station, the caterpillar casts off its caterpillar skin,
and becomes a chrysalis, or pupa (Plate I, d) of a
pale green, ochre-yellow, or ash-gray color, with two
short ear-like projections above the head, just below
which, on the back, is a little prominence like a pug
nose. The chrysalis hangs in the same way as the
caterpillar, and remains in this state from nine to
fifteen days, according to the temperature. When
this period is terminated, the skin of the chrysalis
bursts open, and the butterfly issues from it, clings
to the empty shell till its cramped and drooping
wings have extended to their full dimensions, and
have become dried, upon which it flies away in pur-
suit of companions and food."

Besides celery this caterpillar feeds upon parsley,
carrots, and related plants. The butterfly is known
to entomologists as Papillo asterias.

INTRODUCTION.

1. Chinch Bug.
Magnified.

Insects which undegro such a marked series of
changes as those above described are said to have
complete transformations, to distinguish them from
those which do not undergo so
marked a series of changes — those
with incomplete transformations. In
one stage of existence — that of the
chrysalis or pupa — insects of the
first class take no food and are
unable to move about. With these,
also, the young or larva differs
greatly in form and appearance
from the adult. Thus, caterpillars
are very unlike the butterflies and
moths into which they develop, and larval honey
bees differ greatly from the adults ; but with the in-
sects of the second class this marked difference does
not exist.' The Chinch Bug furnishes a good illus-
tration of these transformations. The adult bug
(Fig. 1) deposits
eggs (Fig. 2. a, b)
about the roots
of g r a s s a n d
grain. From
these hate h
young bugs (c)
that do not dif-
fer in general
form from the
a i lulls. They suck the sap from various plants of

Fig.

Chinch Bug: a, b, eggs: c, e, /, g, young
bugs, or nymphs. Magnified.

BITING AND SUCKING INSECTS. 13

the grass family, gradually increasing in size, and
moulting at intervals. In a few weeks they become
nearly full grown, but instead of changing to a quiet
chrysalis state, they simply moult again and continue
feeding as before. In these early stages, which cor-
respond to the larva and chrysalis, they are called
nymphs. The older nymphs (</) are nearly as large
as the full grown bugs, differing mainly in the
absence of wings. In about a week they again moult
and come forth as adult bugs. Grasshoppers, crick-
ets, and all true bugs, undergo these incomplete
transformations.

BITING AND SUCKING INSECTS.

Insects take their food in two ways: some insects
bite, others suck. The former, of which the Colorado
Potato Beetle is an example, are provided with jaws
by which they can gnaw the surface of the food-
plant. The latter have, instead, a pointed, tube-like
beak which they can insert into the tissues of their
host-plant, and suck out the sap.

On account of this difference in feeding habits
some insects can be destroyed by coating their food-
plants with poison — the Colorado Potato Beetle for
example — while others, like the plant-lice or
Chinch Bug, must be treated with some insecticide
that kills by contact,

NATURAL ENEMIES OF INJURIOUS INSECTS.

Injurious insects have many natural enemies to
contend with. Among the larger animals they are

INTRODUCTION.

preyed upon by ' the fowl of the air and the fish of
the sea ' ; frogs lick them up with their viscid
tongues, and toads are continually sending them in
search of the 'mystic jewel ' within their bodies, while
snakes, lizards, moles, skunks, and a host of other
animals are their constant enemies. But more de-
structive than any or all of these, are the foes of their
own class — the predaceous and parasitic insects.

Predaceous insects are those which attack other
insects from the outside, devouring them bodily, or
sucking out their life blood. The
handsome little lady-beetles (Fig. 3),
the tw r o-winged robber-flies, or the
four-winged dragon-flies furnish good
examples of this class. So; also, do
the black ground beetles, found
everywhere under sticks and stones.
Some of the largest of these are called cater} >illar
hunters, because they feed upon canker-worms, army-
worms, cut-worms, and various other insect pests.
One of these ground beetles
is shown at Fig. 4, the
larva being represented at
the left, and the beetle at
the right. Other predace-
ous insects live in ponds,
lakes and rivers, devour-
ing mosquitoes and related
creatures, while still others vw A Ground Beetle.

Fig. :'•. Lady Beetle.
Magnified.

PARASITIC INSECTS.

burrow through the earth and devour the insects
found therein.

Parasitic insects differ from their predaceous
cousins, in that they develop within the bodies of
their victims and- thus destroy them. These, also,
are exceedingly numerous, both in individuals and
species. A good illustration of the habits of this
class is found in the small, four-winged, black fly
(shown natural size and magnified at the right in
Fig. 5), that destroys the common Grape Caterpillar,
an insect closely related to the familiar Tomato Worm
or Tobacco Worm. This fly deposits a number of eggs
beneath the skin of the caterpillar, and these eggs
soon hatch into minute worms or maggots that ab-
sorb the body juices of the worm and develop at his
expense. After a few weeks these maggots become
full grown, and burrow their way out through
the skin of their hap-
less and helpless
host. They then
spin their whit e,
silken cocoons (Fig.
5 ) upon his back.
Within these cocoons
they change to the pupa or chrysalis state. About
two weeks later they again change, and the legless,
little maggots find themselves transformed into neat
and pretty black flies, with four wings and six legs,
like the one which a few weeks before deposited in
the caterpillar the eggs from which they developed.

1g. 5. Caterpillar with C
Adult Parasite at right.

cons df Farasit:
Latter magnified.

INTRODUCTION.

But these parasites are not always so successful as
this, for they frequently furnish a striking illustra-
tion of Dean Swift's oft-quoted couplet :

The little fleas that do us tease

Have other fleas that bite 'em,
And these in turn have other fleas.

And so on ad infinitum.

These parasites are frequently subject to the at-
tack of a still smaller para-
site which destroys them as
they destroyed their host.
In such cases the first men-
tioned species is called the
primary parasite, and the
other a secondary parasite.
There are also foes of
another kind from which
injurious insects often suf-
fer. These are the germs
ij» ■ of contagious diseases, of a
&£ n ^HP^ * bacterial or fungous nature-

The Imported Cabbage
Worm, for example, is fre-
quently attacked by a bac-
terial disease — a sort of in-
sect cholera — that destroys it in great numbers.
Similar diseases affect the Army Worm, the various
cut-worms, and many other insects. Diseases of a
sowewhat different nature, due to certain fungi other
than bacteria, also attack many insects. For in-
stance, the Chinch Bug is frequently destroyed in

Fig. 6. Chinch Bugs affected by
Entoatophora.

THE PRINCIPAL INSECTICIDES 17

great numbers by a fungus that develops on the sur-
face of the bug as a dense, white covering. This dis-
ease is illustrated at Fig. 6 : a number of dead bugs
are shown on a wheat stalk on the left, while a sin-
gle bug, much magnified, covered with the fungus,
is represented at the right. This fungus belongs to
a genus of plants called by botanists Entomophora.

THE PRIx\CTPAL INSECTICIDES.

Insecticides, or the substances used for destroying
insects, may be broadly divided into two classes :
(1) internal poisons, or those which take effect by
being eaten along with the ordinary food of the in-
sect; and (2), external irritants, or those which act
from the outside — closing the breathing pores, or
causing death by irritation of the skin. Besides
these, however, various other substances are used in
preventing insect attack — keeping the pests away
because of offensive odors, or acting simply as me-
chanical barriers.

The most important insecticides are the poisons.
Of these the most popular are the various combina-
tions of arsenic, known as Paris green, London pur-
ple, slug-shot, and a large number of patent insecti-
cides sold under various names.

Paris Green is a chemical combination of arsenic
and copper, called arsenite of copper. It contains
about fifty-five or sixty per cent, of arsenic, and re-
tails at about thirty cents per pound. It is practi-
cally insoluble in water, and may be applied either

18 INTRODUCTION.

dry or wet. In the former case it should be well
mixed with some fine powder as a diluent : plaster,
air-slaked lime, flour, road-dust, and finely-sifted
wood ashes, all answer the purpose fairly well, though
lime or plaster are usually preferable. The propor-
tion of poison to diluent varies greatly with different
users — one part poison to fifty, and even one hun-
dred, of diluent, will usually be effective, if the
mixing be thoroughly done. In the wet mixture, for
fruit and shade trees, use one pound poison to 250
gallons of water, and keep well-stirred. The chief
objection to Paris green is that it is so heavy that it
settles quickly to the bottom of the vessel — very
much more quickly than London purple. It is also
more expensive.

London Purple is a by-product obtained in the
manufacture of aniline dyes. It generally contains
nearly the same percentage of arsenic as Paris green,
which, however, is often in a more soluble form, and
consequently it is more liable to injure foliage than
Paris green. It is a finer powder than the green, and
hence remains in suspension in water much longer.
It is also cheaper, retailing at about fifteen cents per
pound. It may be used in the same way — as a pow-
der or in water suspension — and the proportions
given above answer very well for it. But i* should
never be applied to plants having a foliage easily
injured by these arsenites, like the peach or plum,
Paris green being preferable for this purpose.

White Arsenic is sometimes recommended as an
insecticide, but, fortunately, is rarely used. It is much

THE TEINCirAL INSECTICIDES. 19

more dangerous to have around than either of the
above highly colored substances ; and unless applied
as soon as it is mixed with water is very liable to
burn the foliage.

The principal substances used for killing insects,
by contact, are the following :

Hellebore is a powder made of the roots of a plant
called white hellebore (Vemtrum album). It is a veg-
etable poison, but much less dangerous than the
mineral, arsenical poisons, and kills both by contact
and by being eaten. It may be applied as a dry
powder or in water, an ounce to three gallons. It
retails at about twenty-five cents per pound, and is
especially excellent in destroying the Imported Cur-
rant Worm.

Pyrethrum is an insecticide of recent introduction,
made from the powdered flowers of plants of the
genus Pyrethrum. There are three principal brands
upon the market, known as Persian insect powder,
Dalmatian insect powder, and Buhach — the latter
being a California product. The greatest obstacle to
the use of Pyrethrum has been the difficulty of ob-
taining the pure, fresh article. After long exposure
to air it seems to lose much of its insecticidal value.
Hence dealers should purchase a fresh supply each
season, and should keep it in air-tight vessels. Py-
rethrum is used mainly as a dry powder or in water
(one ounce to three gallons) ; but may also be used in
the form of a tea, or a decoction, a fume, or an alco-
holic extract diluted. For use as a dry powder it

20 INTRODUCTION.

may advantageously be diluted with six or eight
parts of flour. It is especially excellent for clearing-
rooms of flies and mosquitoes, and for killing the
common cabbage worms. It is practically harmless
to man and the higher animals.

Kerosene Emulsion is prepared by adding two parts
of kerosene to one part of a solution made by dissolv- ,

ing half a pound of hard soap in one gallon of boil- / ^ L
ing water, and churning the mixture through a force v

pump with a rather small nozzle until the whole
forms a creamy mass, which will thicken into a
jelly-like substance on cooling. The soap solution
should be hot when the kerosene is added, but of
course must not be near a fire. The emulsion thus
made is to be diluted, before using, with nine parts
cold water. This substance destroys a large number
of insects, such as the Chinch Bug, Cabbage Worm,
and White Grub ; and is a comparatively cheap and
eflective insecticide.

Besides its use as an emulsion, kerosene alone is
frequently used for various pests. It is especially
valuable in destroying vermin on domestic animals,
and in hen houses.

Carbolic Acid, especially in its crude state, is valu-
able for various insecticidal purposes. An excellent
wash for preventing the injuries of several tree borers
is made by mixing one quart soft soap, or about a
pound of hard soap, with two gallons water, heating
to boiling, and then adding a pint of crude carbolic
acid. Carbolic acid soaps are largely used for de-
stroying vermin on domestic animals.

THE PRINCIPAL INSECTICIDES. 21

Tobacco is a very valuable insecticide for use
against vermin on domestic animals, and green-house
pests. It may be used in the form of a decoction, a
smoke, or dry. The refuse stems and powders from
the cigar factories are very valuable as insecticides
and fertilizers, and frequently, in the middle west-
ern states, they may be obtained for little or nothing.

Bisulphide of Carbon, is a volatile substance used
for destroying grain insects, ants, the Grape Phyllox-
era, and other insects which may be reached by a
vapor. It is inflammable and should never be used
in the vicinity of a fire.

Benzine is another volatile substance used for much
the same purposes as the last.

Gasoline may also be mentioned in the same con-
nection.

Coal Tar has been largely used in the west for de-
stroying Rocky Mountain Locusts, being placed on
flat pans, on which the insects jump and are caught.
It is also employed to prevent the migrations of the
Chinch Bug. A shallow V-shaped channel is made
with the corner of a hoe along the borders of the
field to be protected, and tar poured in. So long as
the tar does not dry out, the immature Chinch Bugs
cannot cross it.

APPLYING INSECTICIDES.

The methods of applying insecticides, of course,
vary according to the nature of the substance, and
the insect against which it is to be used. The

INTRODUCTION.

powders, such as Paris green, London purple, helle-
bore, etc., may be applied either dry or in water.
When applied dry they should be dusted on the
plants with a bellows or " powder gun," so that they
will be distributed evenly. When applied in water
mixture the best effects are obtained by using a force
pump and spray nozzle. There are a great many
patterns of these spraying machines upon the mar-
ket, nearly all of

which do effect-
ive work. The
principal requi-
sites of a good
m a c h i n e are
Pig. 7. spraying an Orchard. that it be dura-

ble, easily worked, not too expensive, throw a fine
spray, stir the liquid automatically, and that the
reservoir holding the liquid be large enough for the
purpose intended. One of these machines in opera-
tion in an orchard is represented at Fig. 7. Spraying
pumps can be obtained of a number of firms who
manufacture various styles of them.

COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS.

The apparatus for collecting insects is neither elab-
orate nor expensive. One of the first essentials is a
collecting net, which is used for catching butterflies,
moths, bees, flies, wasps, and in fact, nearly all flying
insects. To make it, obtain an iron wire about I of
an inch in diameter, and bend it into a circular

. COLLECTING INSECTS. 23

ring 12 or 13 inches in diameter, leaving the ends
projecting at right angles to the circle, and welding
them together so as to form a spur three or four
inches long. Fasten this spur into the end of a
broomstick, or any other convenient handle three or
four feet long. Then sew over this wire circle a
strip of strong muslin, an inch or two wide, and to
this sew a bag of mosquito netting, swiss muslin, or
some similar fabric, about three feet deep. For col-
lecting insects in ponds, a shallower net is needed,
and the cloth used should be of stronger material.

After the insects are caught some way of killing
them quickly, and without injury, is needed. For
this purpose most entomologists use what is called
the cyanide bottle. To make this, obtain almost any
wide-mouthed glass bottle with a tight fitting cork :
place on the bottom two or three lumps of cyanide
of potassium, the size of a hickory nut, cover these
with plaster of Paris, and, finally, add sufficient wa-
ter to moisten the plaster and make it set. After it
is hard pour off the surplus water if there is any,
and let the bottle become thoroughly dry before in-
serting the cork. This cyanide of potassium is poi-
sonous, and of course must be handled carefully. If
desired, the bottles may fie prepared at drug stores,
at small cost. After the plaster is set there is prac-
tically no danger, unless the fumes of the bottle be
directly inhaled, for which there is no excuse. Keep
the bottle closed except when putting in an insect.
The cyanide fumes, rising through the porous plas-
ter, will kill it almost instantly. This cyanide bottle

24 INTRODUCTION.

is to be used especially for moths, butterflies, bees,,
wasps and similar insects, but should not be used for
worms and caterpillars, which are more successfully
killed and preserved in alcohol.

A pair of straight, medium sized, forceps are use-
ful in collecting small insects. A supply of ordinary
commercial alcohol, and of various sizes, (2, 3 and
4 drachm) of short, homeopathic vials will be neces-
sary if soft-bodied caterpillars, spiders, thousand-
legged worms, etc., are collected. Empty morphine
bottles are very convenient. An ordinary game bag
is an excellent thing to carry the bottles, forceps and
other ' traps ' in, while out collecting.

For rearing insects, to study their transformations
and habits, breeding cages of various kinds are needed.
Almost any box may be used for this purpose, cover-
ing it in part with gauze, and placing on the bottom
an inch or two of moist earth, to prevent the drying
of the atmosphere. Ordinary jelly tumblers are
very useful for rearing small leaf-eating caterpillars,
and " bell glasses " or glass shades are quite handy.
The cages should be examined daily, the food fre-
quently renewed and the conditions which the' insect
would have in its natural habitat, should be supplied
as far as possible.

PRESERVING THE SPECIMENS.

The first requisite for preserving insects, is a sup-
ply of entomological pins, which are longer, and
usually more slender than ordinary pins, answering.

COLLECTING INSECTS.

the purpose much better. What is known as the
Kkeger pin is the best made. It can be purchased
of dealers in natural history supplies. These pins
vary in size, according to number. No. 2, is vised
only for very small insects, while No. 5, is large
enough for any of our species. For the majority of
specimens of moderate size, No. 4 may lie used. A
supply of sheet-cork is also needed. This costs about
fifty cents a dozen sheets, and may also be obtained
of natural history supply dealers.

Butterflies, moths, and some other insects require,
for their proper preservation, what is called a
' setting-board,' one of which is shown in Fig. 8
It consists simply of two thin strips of pine
board, twelve or sixteen inches long, nailed to end
pieces, with a space varying from J to f-inch be-
tween the long strips : a piece of thin cork is fastened

to the under side
of the strips so as
to cover this space.
The pin on which
the butterfly is fas-
tened is p u s h e d
through the cork
u n t i 1 the side
Fig. s setting Board. pieces are 1 e v e I

with the base of the wings. The wings are then
brought forward until the posterior borders of the
front ones are at right angles to the body, and they
are then fastened in place by pieces of card-board

26 INTRODUCTION.

held down with pins, as shown in the illustration.
The insect should be left thus fastened until dry, so
that the wings will remain in the position indicated.
This usually requires from ten to fourteen days.

Some sort of boxes or cases in which to keep the
specimens are of course necessary. The simplest and
cheapest receptacle consists of empty cigar boxes,
lined (in the bottom with sheet cork. Tight wooden
boxes of almost any kind will also answer the pur-
pose. Shallow drawers with the bottoms lined with
cork are excellent.

The specimens must frequently be examined to see
that museum pests — insects which live on dead ani-
mal tissues of all kinds — do not destroy them.
When these are found, bake the specimens in an oven
for an hour, at a temperature of 140° Fahrenheit.

Moths, butterflies, bees, wasps, and a large number
of similar insects should be pinned through the cen-
ter of the thorax, or middle division of the body, the
pin being pushed through until about one-third of
its length remains above the insect. Beetles, how-
ever, should be pinned through the right wing cov-
er, and the true bugs through the triangular piece at
the base of the wings, called the scutellum.

Any one desiring to learn about the classification
of insects will find the Introduction to Entomology,
by Professor J. H. Comstock, Ithaca, New York, ex-
tremely valuable. Professor Packard's books " En-
tomology for Beginners," and " Guide to the Study
of Insects," which can be obtained through book-
dealers, will also prove helpful.

PART I.

INSECTS
AFFECTING THE LARGER FRUITS.

PLATE II.— A Group of Aegerian Moths, (magnified.)

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

INJURING THE TRUNK.

The Round-headed Apple-tree Borer.

Saperda Candida.

The three later stages of this insect are shown at
Fig. 9. The beetle (c) is easily recognized by the
brown color of its body, and the two conspicuous,
longitudinal, whitish stripes along its back. It ap-
pears early in summer, and deposits its eggs on the
tree-trunks, in or under the bark, within a few inches
of the ground, frequently placing them just above
the soil surface, or even below it where the ground is
cracked open so that the beetle can descend without
difficulty. The insect makes a slit-like opening in
the bark, into which the egg is pushed. A few days
later the egg hatches into a larva or grub, which
gnaws its way into the inner bark or sap-wood,
where it continues to feed throughout the season.
As winter approaches it frequently burrows downward
below the surface of the ground, and rests there until
spring, when it again works upward and gnaws the
inner bark and sapwood as before. It rests again
the following winter, and in spring gnaws its way
deeper into the body of the trunk, cutting cylindrical
channels in every direction. Late in summer it

[NSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

bores upwards and outwards to the bark, lining a
cavity at the end of its burrow with dust-like cast-
ings, and there rests until spring, when it changes to
the dormant chrysalis state (b). The adult beetle
emerges from the chrysalis about a fortnight later,

CL O

Fig. 9. Round-Headed Apple-tree Borer : a, larva; 6, pupa; c, beetle,

cats a hole through the bark with its strong jaws,
and comes forth to continue the propagation of the
species. Thus three years are required for the de-
velopment of the insect.

The place where the larva enters may frequently
be detected, especially in young trees, by the sawdust-
like castings that are pushed out. The eggs also
may often be seen, ami are easily destroyed by press-
ing on the bark surrounding them with a knife-blade
or some similar instrument. The presence of the
larva is shown later by the discoloration of the bark
where it is at work.

The full grown grub, or larva, of the Round-
headed Borer, is illustrated at a, Fig. 9. It is about

INJURING THE TRUNK. 31

an inch long, wholly without feet, whitish, with a
chestnut-brown head and black jaws. The pupa or
chrysalis (b) is lighter colored than the larva, and
has numerous small spines on its back.

Remedies. — The injuries of this insect may be
prevented by applying late in May, or early in June,
and again about three weeks later, a strong solution
of soft soap, to which has been added a little crude
carbolic acid. This mixture may be conveniently
made by mixing one quart of soft-soap, or about a
pound of hard soap, with two gallons of water,
heating to boiling, and then adding a pint of crude
carbolic acid. The solution should be thoroughly
applied (a scrub brush is excellent for the purpose)
to the trunk and larger branches of the tree. If the
bark of the trees is especially rough, it should be
scraped before the wash is applied ; and the soil
should be smoothed down about the base of the
trunk, so that there will be no cracks for the insects
to enter to deposit their eggs. Of course the object
of this application is to prevent the laying of the
eggs from which the grubs hatch. As an additional
precaution it is well to examine the trees during the
late summer and early autumn months for eggs and
young grubs, which are readily detected, and can be
easily destroyed with a knife. In this way one man
can go over an orchard of five hundred or more young
trees in a day.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

The Flat-headed Apple-tree Borer.

< 'hrysobothris femorata.

This insect is very different, both in its adult and
larval states, from the one just discussed. The adult
beetle, instead of being cylindrical in form and
brown in color, is flattened and greenish-black. It
appears, however, at about the same season as the
other, and the life histories of the two species are in
general much alike, the principal difference being
that the present species requires less time to develop,
and attacks the tree higher up, being found all the
way up the trunk, and frequently in the larger
branches.

The front end of the larva, which is illustrated at
Fig. 10, a, is enlarged and flat-
tened while the rest of the
body is much narrower, and
tapers slightly towards the
posterior extremity. It is of
a pale yellow color and has no
feet. The pupa (b) is at first
whitish, but becomes darker as
the beetle develops. As noted
above, the adult beetle (d) is of
a shining, greenish-black color,
and has short, stout legs. It
may often be seen basking in the sunshine in sum-
mer, on the sides of trees and logs.

Flat-headed Borer.

front (if

Fig. 10.
a, larva ;
larva, lower side ; </. beetle

b, pupa ;

INJURING THE BRANCHES. 33

The eggs of this insect are deposited early in sum-
mer in the crevices, and under the scales of the bark,
being fastened in place by a glutinous substance. In
a few days the larva hatches and bores through the
bark to the sapwood, in which it cuts broad, fiat
channels, and sometimes completely girdles the tree.
As it develops it bores farther into the solid wood,
and when fully grown again approaches the surface.
AVI icn ready to become a pupa it gnaws partially
through the bark, and then casts its last larval skin.
About a fortnight later the pupa changes to a beetle
which gnaws its way through the bark, and thus
completes the- cycle of development.

Remedies. — The directions given above for the
Round-headed Borer are also applicable to this
insect.

INJURING THE BRANCHES.

The Oyster-shell Bark-louse.

Mytilaspis pomorum.

A piece of bark covered with the scales of this in-
sect is represented in Fig. 11. If one of these scales

Fig. 11. Oyster-shell Bark-louse.

be raised early in spring there will be found beneath
it a mass of yellowish or whitish eggs, which hatch

34 INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

about the middle of May into small lice, that appear
as mere specks to the naked eye. These move about
over the bark a few days, when they fix themselves
upon it, inserting their tiny beaks far enough to
reach the sap. Here they continue to increase in
size, and by the end of the season have secreted scaly
coverings like those shown in the illustration.

Remedies. — During the winter and early spring-
as many of the scales should be scraped off the trunk
and larger branches as possible. On large trees this
may be done by first scraping with some instrument
like a hoe, and then thoroughly scrubbing with a
scrub-brush or broom, dipped in a solution made by
adding one part of crude carbolic acid to seven parts
of a solution made by dissolving one quart of soft
soap, or one-fourth of a pound of hard soap, in two
quarts of boiling water. The bark of young trees
is so tender that they must be scraped carefully, if
at all. A scrub-brush is the best thing to use for
applying the soap mixture, as the bristles remove
many scales which a cloth would slide over. Then
in May or June, soon after the young lice have
hatched, the trees should be sprayed with kerosene
emulsion. The emulsion must be thoroughly mixed,
with none of the kerosene floating separately, or it is
liable to injure the foliage. When the lice are young
they are very readily destroyed by this substance.

INJURING THE BRANCHES. 35

The Woolly Aphis.

Schizoneura lanigera.

There are frequently found on the limbs and
trunks of young apple trees, masses of a white, woolly
substance, similar to that occurring on the limbs of
maple trees infested by the Maple Bark-louse. If
one of these masses be examined there is found be-
neath it one or more small, yellowish plant-lice.
This is the insect that has for a long time been pop-
ularly known as the Woolly Aphis. There are two
forms of the insect, one attacking the roots, the pres-
ence of which may be easily detected by the knotty
appearance of the infested rootlets, and one attacking
the limbs and trunk. Like other aphides, these in-
sects multiply rapidly during the summer months,
by giving birth to living young. Most of these sum-
mer forms are wingless, but occasionally winged
ones are found. They all injure the tree by sucking-
out its sap through their tiny beaks. They are es-
pecially liable to infest young trees, or those which
are unhealthy. The woolly matter which they se-
crete as a covering serves to protect them from the
damp earth, in their subterranean home on the roots,
and probably is a partial protection from enemies
above ground. It is not a complete protection, how-
ever, as they are preyed upon by a small, parasitic
fly and by lady-bird beetles and their larva'.

3(3

IXSKi TS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

Remedies. — Where these insects are upon the
roots of trees they may be destroyed by applying
scalding water, or kerosene emulsion. Refuse tobacco
powder dug in about the roots will also destroy
them. Where they are upon parts of the tree above
ground, they may be destroyed by spraying with
kerosene emulsion.

The Buffalo Tree-hopper.

( ', reset bubalus,

Que sometimes finds the twigs of young apple
trees exhibiting a peculiar, scarred appearance like
that represented at c, Fig. 12. These are due to the
egg punctures of the above named insect.

The Buffalo Tree-hopper is a small greenish or
yellowish insect, about one-third of an inch long,

Fig. 12. Buffalo Tree-hopper : a, back view: &, side view, both slightly
magnified; c, apple twig showing egg punctures.

which is generally rather common during the late
summer and early autumn months. A fair idea of

INJURING THE BRANCHES. 87

its form, which has been compared to that of a
beechnut, may be obtained from a and b, Fig 12.
Its mouth consists of a sharp beak, which it inserts
into the bark and sucks the sap. The eggs are laid
in the upper part of the twigs of apple, pear, maple
and various other fruit and shade trees, mostly dur-
ing the late summer or early autumn months. They
hatch the following May into small, active, greenish
hoppers, somewhat like the adults in appearance,
which insert their tiny beaks in the tender bark and
suck out the sap. They become full-grown about
midsummer, and feed, in both the young and adult
states, on a great variety of plants.

This insect is said to have certain parasitic ene-
mies that destroy its eggs. This is probably the
reason that it seldom becomes seriously injurious.

Remedies. — It is always more difficult to prevent
the injuries of an insect that feeds upon a large var-
iety of plants, both wild and cultivated, than one
which is confined for food to the single crop injured.
As a rule it is also more difficult to fight those in-
sects which get their food by sucking, than those
which bite. The Buffalo Tree-hopper combines
both of these characteristics, so that from the nature
of the case we may expect it to be a difficult insect
to overcome. Probably the most sat isfact< >ry method
of destroying the pests will be to spray the trees just
after the eggs hatch, with kerosene emulsion, made
as directed in the Introduction. In those cases
where the trees are infested by bark-lice, as well as

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

the present pest, the same spraying may be made to
kill both. By destroying the progeny of the eggs in
this way, the crop of egg-laying specimens will be
reduced, but it will not necessarily prevent the hop-
pers which develop in neighboring localities from in-
vading the orchard to deposit eggs. When possible
infested twiers should be cut out and burned.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Apple Aphis.

Aphis mail.

During the spring and early summer, one often
finds the leaves and tender twigs of apple covered

with small green lice or
aphides. These are the
Apple Aphis. They injure
the trees by sucking the
sap through their tiny
beaks. So far as we now
know it, the life-history of
tl Lese insects is as follows-
The lice hatch from eggs
in spring as soon as the
leaf-buds begin to expand'
and increase with marvelous rapidity, so that almost
as fast as the leaves develop there are colonics of the
plant-lice to occupy them. They continue breeding
on apple until July, when they largely leave the

Fig 13. Apple Aphis.
Much magnified.

INJURING THE LEAVES. 39

trees, and migrate — we know not where, but proba-
bly to some annual plant that is succulent in mid-
summer. Here, apparently, they continue breeding
until autumn, when they return to apple, and the
winged females may be found establishing colonies
of the wingless, egg-laying form upon the leaves.
The males are apparently developed on the same
plant that the winged females are. The small, oval
eggs are now laid on the twigs and buds, and the
cycle for the year is complete.

Remedies. — These lice have various natural ene-
mies that destroy them — especially the lady-bird
beetles — but it is often necessary to spray infested
trees with kerosene emulsion, or a strong tobacco de-
coction to get rid of them. The latter may be made
by soaking refuse tobacco stems in hot water, and
then draining the liquid off.

The Canker Worm.

Anisoph ryx pometaria.

Apple orchards are occasionally infested in spring
by a looping caterpillar, or " measuring worm," that
feeds upon the parenchyma of the leaf, leaving the
net work of veins, so that the foliage looks brown
and scorched. These are canker worms, of which,
according to Dr. Riley's observations, we have two
distinct species. But both are similar in habits and
injuries, and for the present purpose only one will
be discussed. This is called the Fall Canker Worm.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

If, during the winter, or early spring months, one
examines the branches of apple trees, in orchards
where this insect has been at work, he will find com-
pact masses of a hundred or more small, cylindrical
eggs like that shown at e, Fig. 13. About the time

the leaves begin
t o c o m e o u t,
these eggs hatch
into small, loop-
ing caterpillars
that feed upon
the folia g e.
T h e y continue
feeding and
growing for sev-

a, male moth ; 6, female irioth. ei"ll \veel~< when

they become full grown, and look like /, Fig 13.
They are about an inch long, quite slender,
and vary from a greenish-yellow to a dark brown
color. The Canker Worm then either crawls down
the tree to the ground, or lets itself down, spider-like,
on a silken thread. There it burrows into the soil
three or four inches, where it spins a silken cocoon,
within which it changes to the pupa, or chrysalis
state (g), remaining in this condition until autumn,
when it emerges as a moth.

The two sexes of these Canker Worm moths dif-
fer greatly. The male (a), has large well developed
wings, while the female (b), is wingless. The latter
is of an ashy gray color. When she emerges from

Fig. 13.
g, pupa

Canker Worm : e, eggs ; /, larva ;

INJURING THE LEAVES. 41

the chrysalis state she crawls to the base of the tree,
and ascends the trunk some distance. Here the
male finds her, and after mating, she begins the de-
position of eggs. These are placed on the twigs or
branches of the tree.

The other Canker Worm (Anisopteryx vernata) is
similar to this in habits, but most of the moths ap-
pear in the spring, rather than autumn. Hence it is
commonly called the Spring Canker Worm.

Besides apple, these insects feed upon elm, cherry,
plum and various other fruit and shade trees.

Remedies. — There are various natural enemies
that prey upon these Canker Worms : these include
both birds, and predaceous or parasitic insects. The
simplest artificial remedy is to spray the trees soon
after the worms hatch, with Paris green or London
purple — a pound to 200 gallons of water. Or the
ascent of the egg-laying moths may be prevented
by applying tar, or printers ink, or some such sub-
stance, about the base of the tree— putting it on a
band of paper if there is fear of injuring the tree by
applying it directly to the bark. There are also var-
ious collars of metal or glass that are manufactured
to place around the tree, and prevent the moths go-
ing up. But spraying is simpler and more effectual
than anv of these.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

The Apple-tree Tent Caterpillar.

< Usiocampa americana.

One often finds in May or June, on the limbs of
apple and wild cherry trees, compact silken nests, or
tents, containing a considerable number of handsome
caterpillars. These are the insects which have been

,vV' V A^

Fi«. 14. Tent Caterpillar : a, 6, larva ; c, eggs, with covering
removed; d, cocoon; e, eggs, with covering on.

known for many years as Tent Caterpillars. The
eggs are deposited during July, in compact masses of

INJURING THE LEAVES. 43

two or three hundred each, upon the twigs, as shown
at c, Fig. 14. After they are laid the parent moth
covers them with a viscid liquid, which dries into a
sort of varnish that completely coats them, as rep-
resented at e. The insect remains in this egg state
from July until the following spring, when the little
caterpillars emerge from the eggs, and begin feeding
upon the tender foliage of the buds about them. In
a few days they begin to make a silken tent, utilizing
generally, for this purpose, a fork of the branch. As
time goes on the nest is enlarged. The caterpillars
retire to the tent at night, and during c<>1<1 and wet
weather, and when not feeding. They have regular
times for their meals, leaving and returning to the'
nest in processions. They become full grown in
about six weeks, being extremely voracious during
the latter part of their development. They are then
nearly two inches long, with a hairy body, orna-
mented with a distinct white stripe along the mid-
dle of the back, on each side of which are numerous
short, yellow, longitudinal lines, rather irregularly
arranged. The sides are partially covered with paler
lines, spotted and streaked with blue, while the low-
er surface of the body is black. The full grown
caterpillar is represented at a and b, Fig. 14.

Most of the caterpillars leave the tree where their
nest is, as fast as they become full grown, and crawl
about in search of a suitable shelter to pupate in.
Having found this — beneath a board, or in the
cracks of a fence — they spin an oval, silken cocoon,

44 INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

(tf), yellow when completed, within which they
change to the pupa or chrysalis state. In two or
three weeks another change takes place, and from

the cocoons come forth
reddish-brown moths,
of the size and form
represented at Fig. 15.
These moths pair and

Moth oi~Tent Caterpillar. m a short tml( ' deposit

the clusters of eggs,
after which they soon die. Thus there is but one
brood each season.

Remedies. — It is usually easy to destroy the
nests of this insect, either by cutting and burning
the infested branch, or using a torch made by sat-
urating a piece of cloth, tied to the end of a stick,
with kerosene. In either case the operation should
be performed early in the morning, before the insects
have left the tent, or in the evening after they have
returned. Spraying with Paris green is also an
effectual remedy. There are certain parasites prey-
ing upon this insect that aid greatly in keeping it in
check.

The Lesser Apple Leaf-roller.

Teras minuta.

This is a greenish-yellow, slightly hairy worm,
about half an inch long, affecting the young leaves
of the terminal twigs, with which the insect forms a
protective case. It is especially injurious in nurser-
ies and young orchards.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

This species is remarkable in that two of the three
broods of moths which appear during the year are of
a bright orange color, while those of the third brood
are reddish-gray. It is an example of what natural-
ists call dimorphism.

The eggs are laid in the spring on the unfolding
leaves of apple, cranberry, whortle berry and possi-
bly other plants, the lar-
vae soon hatching to de-
vour the tender foliage,
some of which they roll
into a protective cover-
ing. Here they continue
feeding for about a
month, when they pu-
pate within the folded
leaves, and a week or so
later emerge as small, orange-yellow moths. These
moths lay eggs for another brood of larvse, the imagos
from which appear in August, being also of the same
orange color. These in turn lay eggs for a
third brood of worms, which develop during Sep-
tember, and emerge during October as glistening
reddish-gray moths, which pass the winter in rub-
bish heaps, fence corners and similar places of con-
cealment, and deposit eggs on the unfolding leaves
of the various food plants of the larvae the following
spring. Thus this remarkable cycle of insect life is
completed.

Fig. 16. Lesser Leaf-roller : a, larva
6, pupa; c, moth; d, rolled-leaf.

4(3

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

Remedies. — In fruiting orchards that are regu-
larly sprayed with the arsenites to prevent Codling
Moth injury, this insect is not likely to prove
troublesome. But in nurseries and young orchards
it is frequently quite destructive. Spraying with the
arsenites is probably as promising as any general
remedy in these eases, though the experience of nur-
serymen has shown that on young nursery stock the
insect may advantageously be destroyed by hiring
bovs to crush the larva' within their cases.

The Yellow-necked Apple-tree Caterpillar.

Datana ministra.
During the latter part of summer the orchardist
occasionally finds one or more limbs of his apple
trees entirely denuded of their foliage by a troop of
large, striped caterpillars, like the one shown at Fig.
17, a. These are the progeny of a set of eggs (c, d)<

Fig. 17. Yellow-necked Caterpillar : a, larva; b, moth; c, eggs;
d, magnified in-
laid during June or July by a large moth (b) with a
chestnut-brown thorax, and light brown wings, striped

INJURING THE LEAVES. 47

with brown of a darker .shade. The very young
larvse feed only upon the parenchyma of the leaf,
leaving a network of bare veins, but they soon
grow large enough to eat veins and all. They are
gregarious, feeding together and denuding the
limb as they go. When at rest or alarmed, they
assume the peculiar position shown in the figure.
They become full-grown in about six weeks, when
they descend to the ground and burrow into the soil
three or four inches, where they change to the pupa
state. They remain in this condition until the fol-
lowing summer, when they emerge again as moths.
Consequently, there is but one brood a year.

Remedies. — Birds and various insect enemies
prey upon this caterpillar to such an extent that it
rarely becomes injurious. When it does, however,
it may easily be destroyed by spraying the infested
trees with Paris green in water mixture, or by cutting
and burning the twigs on which the larvse are
feeding.

The Leaf-crumpler.

Phycis indigenella.
( >ne often finds during the winter months upon
the twigs of various fruit trees, masses of dry brown
leaves, that', when pulled apart, are seen to surround
a long, tubular, horn-like case. If one of these cases
be carefully cut open it will be found to contain a
brownish worm or caterpillar, about half an inch
long. This insect is the Leaf-crumpler, and it often
becomes one of the most injurious of orchard pests.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APFLE.

The adult insect is a small, grayish moth (Fig. 18,
d,) that appears during June or July, and deposits
eggs on the various trees that serve as food plants
for the larva'. These include the apple, quince and
possibly the peach, as well as both the wild and cul-
tivated varieties of the cherry, plum, and crab-apple.

From these eggs
there soon hatch
small 1 > r o w n i s h
w o r m s that con-
struct tubular, silk-
en cases (a) within
which they remain
concealed when
not eating. As they
grow larger they
d r a w a bout the
openings of their
abodes many par-
tially eaten leaves,
so that by autumn
there is quite a
bunch surround-
ing each case (l>). At the approach of cold weather
the cases are attached to the twigs by means of silk-
en threads, the larvae frequently gnawing away the
tender bark to insure a firm hold ; and thus the win-
ter is passed. As soon in spring as the leaves begin
to appear, the larva? attack them, frequently eating
out the flower buds as well. They continue feeding

Fig. 18. Leaf-crumpler : a, larval case ; 6, lar-
val case with dead leaves ; c, front part of
larva; d. moth, magnified.

INJURING THE LEAVES. 40

and growing until sometime in June, when they be-
come pupae, pupating within the cases. About a
fortnight later the moths emerge, and thus the life-
cycle is completed.

There are several species of parasites that prey
upon the Leaf-crumpler which greatly assist in keep-
ing it in check.

Remedies, — In young orchards the larval cases
are easily picked off during the winter. They may
be burned, or what is probably better, carried to a
considerable distance from their food plants and left
on the ground, thus allowing the parasites to develop
and escape. The insect is also liable to destruction
by spraying with Paris green, or London purple, and
may easily be held in check in this way. Where or-
chards are sprayed for the Codling Moth, the Leaf- 7 '
crumplers present will also largely be destroyed.

The Apple Leaf-skeletonizer.

Pempelia hammondi.

This is a brownish or greenish larva, one-half inch
long, with short, scattered hairs upon its body, which
spins a web upon the upper surface of the leaf, and
eat- the parenchyma, giving the foliage a scorched
appearance. It is frequently very destructive to ap-
ples, especially to young trees, either in the orchard
or nursery.

The life history of this insect may be briefly sum-
marized as follows : The small purplish moths (Fig.
19, d,) having two light bands upon the front wings,

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

and expanding scarcely half an inch, lay their eggs,

probably, on the leaves
or tender twigs of the
apple, late in spring, or
early in summer. The
larva 1 soon hatch and
begin to eat the paren-
chyma of the leaves,
and as they grow older
they spin a slight pro-
tective silken web on
:■_. the upper surface of
the leaf, beneath which

Fig. 19. Leaf-skeletonizer : a, larva; b. ...

part of back, magnified to show thev continue their de-

markings; c, head and front part

of larva, magnified; d, moth, mag- striictive Work. AVlieil

nifled.

full grown (a) they vary
from an olive, or pale green color to brown, are
about half an inch long, and have four black shin-
ing tubercles on the back, just behind the head.
About midsummer these larva' pupate in slight
cocoons, formed usually on the leaf, and two weeks
later the moths emerge. Eggs are laid by these for
the second brood of larvae, which form cocoons be-
fore winter sets in, and hibernate as pupa', the moths
from them emerging the following spring.

This species is very irregular in its development,
it being easy to find larva' of nearly all ages almost
any time during the season. The second brood is
usually much more numerous than the first, and
consequently the injury is most noticeable in Sep-
tember and ( )ctober.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

Remedies. — Like so many other orchard insects,
this pest may be destroyed by spraying with the
arsenites — three or four ounces of Paris green, or
London purple, to fifty gallons of water.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

The Codling Moth or Apple Worm.

( 'arpocapsa pomonella.

This is the most generally injurious apple insect,
and is probably known wherever the fruit is grown.
The small, chocolate moth (Fig. 20, g,f) deposits its
eggs in spring in the blossom end of the young

apple (b) before the
latter has turned
down on its stem.
From the egg there
hatches a minute
worm or caterpil-
lar, which nibbles
at the skin of the
fruit and eats its
way toward the
core. Here it con-
tinues feeding as
the apple develops,
increasing in size
until at the end of
three or four weeks it is about three -fourths of an

Fig. 20. Codling Moth: a, injured apple:
6, place where egg is laid ; e, lai'wi ; d, pupa ;
i, cocoon; g,f, ninth: h, head of larva.

52 INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

inch long, and appears as represented at e. It has
now finished its caterpillar growth, and, leaving the
apple, finds some crevice in the bark where it spins
a rather slight silken cocoon in which it changes to
a pupa. It remains in this condition about a fort-
night, when it emerges as a moth like the one by
which the original egg was laid. Thus the life cycle
is completed. There are at least two broods in a
season.

Remedy. — The best remedy for this insect is that
of spraying with the arsenites — Paris green or Lon-
don purple — in spring, soon after the blossoms have
fallen ell', when the apples are from the size of a pea
to that of a hickory nut, and before they have turned
downward on their stems. A second application, ten
days or two weeks after the first, is generally advisa-
ble. The poisons may be used in the proportion of
one pound to 250 gallons of water. The spraying
should be done with some kind of spraying pump
and nozzle.

Besides destroying the Codling Moth, spraying at
the times indicated will largely prevent the injuries
of the various leaf-eating caterpillars and the Plum
and Apple Curculios.

The Apple Maggot.

Trypeta pomonella.
The injury of this insect is at once distinguished
from that of the Codling Moth from the fact that
while the latter is largely confined to the region of

INJURING THE FRUIT.

the core, the Apple Maggot feeds indiscriminately
through the pulp of the fruit, burrowing in every
direction, as represented at Fig. 21. The larvae

Fig. 21 . Apple cut open, showing injury of Apple Maggi >\ .

themselves are also different, that of the Codling
Moth having six legs, while the Apple .Maggot is
footless.

The adult of the Apple Maggot is a two-winged
fly that appears early in summer and deposits eggs
in the partially grown apples. These eggs are in-
serted, one in a place, through the skin of the fruit.
In a few days they hatch into maggots, that tunnel
the fruit in all directions, becoming full grown in
five or six weeks, when they are whitish or greenish
white, and about a quarter of an inch long. They
then leave the fruit, and generally go into the soil

INSECTS AFFECTING THE APFLE.

an inch or less, where tliey change to the pupa state.
They remain in this condition until the following
summer, when they emerge as flies again.

Remedies. — This insect is an exceedingly diffi-
cult pest to contend with. Fortunately, as yet, it is
only seriously injurious in comparatively few states.
The destruction of all refuse or infested fruit, such as
windfalls, apple pomace, etc., is the measure most
highly recommended.

The Apple Curculio.

. Inthonomus quadrigibbus.

This insect in its adult state is represented magni-
fied at Fig. '22, c showing a hack view, and b a side
view, while the natural
size is represented by
the small figure a, at the
left of b. This is a beetle
related to the Plum Cur-
culio, but having a long-
er snout. It is dull
brown in color, and lias
four tubercles,or humps,
on the hinder portion of its back. Before the gen-
eral cultivation of the improved varieties of apple, it
bred in wild crafts and haws.

The adult beetles drill holes in young apples, both
for food and the deposition of eggs. The latter are
laid at the bottom of the cavity, and soon hatch into
grubs or larva' that tW'd upon the pulp of the fruit.

Fig. 22. Apple Curculio. Magnified.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

, Apple Curculio :
6, larva. Magnified.

They usually penetrate to the core, where they con-
tinue feeding four or five weeks. They then become

full grown as larvae,
and appear w h e n
magnified like Fig.
23, b, being footless,
whitish grubs. The
larva pupates within
the cavity of the ap-
ple where it has de-
veloped, the pupa be-
ing represented, magnified, at Fig. 23, <i, and two or
three weeks lat-
er it a g a i n
c h a n g es, this
time emerging
as a perfect bee-
1 1 e, w h i c h
gnaws its way
out through the
fruit. There is
but one brood Fig/24. App

each year, the insect hibernating in the beetle state.
The fruit attacked by this pest becomes dwarfed,
gnarly and ill-shapen, as shown at Fig. 24.

Remedies. — The feeding and egg-laying habits of
the adult of this insect render it liable to destruction
by poisoning. Consequently spraying with the ar-
senites, as for the Codling Moth, appears to be a
sufficient remedy.

' r ><) INSECTS AFFECTING THE APPLE.

Other Apple Insects.

The apple is subject to attack by many insects be-
sides those discussed in the foregoing pages, which,
however, include the most injurious pests. The
trunk and branches are occasionally infested by the
Scurfy Bark-louse (which will be found described on
a later page as a pear insect) ; the leaves are some-
times eaten by various caterpillars besides those
mentioned . and the fruit is attacked by the Plum
Curculio, as well as by the three species we have dis-
cussed. But the treatment recommended will keep
in check not only the insects included in our list,
but also nearly, if not quite, all of these various
other pests.

Summary of Treatment. — Young apple trees
should be examined for insects as soon as received
from the nursery. If any Woolly Aphids are pres-
ent on the roots or branches, the affected part should
be treated with kerosene emulsion. If the ragged
cases of the Leaf Crumpler are attached to the twigs
they should be removed and burned.

As soon in spring as the blossoms have entirely
fallen, the trees should be sprayed with Paris green
and water — 3 ounces to 50 gallons. The application
had generally better be repeated ten days or two
weeks later. This will check both the fruit and leaf-
eating insects.

INJURING THE FRUIT. 57

Early in summer the trunks and larger branches
should be washed with a strong solution of soap and
carbolic acid, and the application should be repeated
three or four weeks later. This is to prevent attacks
of borers. Late in summer or early in fall the trees
mav be examined for eggs or young borers, which
when found should be cut out or crushed with a
knife

It is well also to pick up and feed to stock all
windfalls in the orchard. Tins may be done by
turning hogs or cattle into the field occasionally.
Such methods should especially be employed in re-
gions where the Apple Maggot is at work, for this is
the only known plan of keeping this pest in check.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE PLUM.

INJURING THE TRUNK.

The Plum-tree Borer.

Aegi via pidipes.

This insect is seldom abundant enough to do seri-
ous injury. The adult is a beautiful, clear-winged
moth, closely related to the Peach-tree Borer, to
which it is similar in life-history and habits. It is
represented, considerably magnified, at Plate II,
Fig. 7.

The larva of this insect works mainly in the trunk
and branches of the plum, gnawing the inner bark
and sapwood. It also affects the wild black and wild
red cherry, and is likely occasionally to lie found in
the cultivated cherry.

Remedies. — The remedy usually recommended
for this pest is that of cutting out the larva' with a
sharp knife, according to the plan commonly adopt-
ed for the Peach-tree Borer.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Plum-tree Aphis.

Aphis prunifolii.
The leaves of plum trees are frequently crowded
in spring by small, dark-colored, soft-bodied insects

INJURING THE LEAVES.

Fig. 25. Aphis. Magnified.

that suck out the sap, and give the terminal portion
of the twigs a malformed appearance. These are
aphides or plant-lice. Two or
three species are known to
infest the plum, one of which
has been shown by Dr. C. V.
Riley to migrate during sum-
mer to the hop-plant. The
life-histories of the others are
not very well known. In a
general way they are similar
to the Apple Aphis, described on a previous page.

Remedies. — Spraying with kerosene emulsion is
the most effective remedy for this insect. The ap-
plication should be made with a force pump and
spray nozzle ; and as soon after the insects are no-
ticed as possible.

Plum Leaf Caterpillars.

There are several kinds of caterpillars that occa-
sionally attack the plum, but they rarely occur in
sufficient numbers to do serious injury. Of these we
may mention the Plum Catocala (Catocala ultronea),.
the Polyphemus Moth (Telea polyphemus), the Horned
Span-worm (Nematocampa filamentaria), the Plum
Sphinx [Sphinx drupiferarum), the Gray Dagger-moth
(Apatela occidental is), and the Disippus Butterfly
(Limenitis disippus). These insects are all open to
destruction by spraying with the arsenites, and are
not likely to become injurious in orchards regularly
sprayed for the Plum Curculio.
4

INSECTS AFFECTING THE PLUM.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

The Plum Curculio.

Conotrachelus nenuphar.
This insect, the worst foe of the plum grower, is
the cause of the " worminess " and premature drop-
ping of the fruit that so many orchardists are famil-
iar with. Besides plums, it breeds in peaches, nec-
tarines, apricots, cherries, pears and apples.

The adult insect (Fig. 26, c) appears in spring-
about the time of blossoming, and feeds upon the

foliage and flowers until
the fruit is well 'set.' It
then attacks the young
plums, gnawing at them
t( i satisfy its hunger, and
cutting crescent shaped
marks in the skin to de-
posit its eggs ((/). In a
short time these eggs
hatch into little grubs
that feed upon the pulp
of the fruit, gradually working toward the pit. In a
few weeks they become full grown (appearing when
magnified like a, Fig. 26), by which time the infested
plums have generally fallen to the ground. The
larvae then leave the fruit, and entering the soil a
short distance change to pupae (b). A few weeks
later they again change, and come forth as perfect

Fig. 26. Plum Curculio : a, larva ;
b, pupa ; c, beetle— magnified ; d,
plum showing crescent mark.

INJURING THE FRUIT. 01

beetles. But some of them enter the ground so late
that they hibernate as pupa?, emerging the following
summer. There is but one brood each season. A"
single female is able to deposit 150 to 200 eggs, ten
frequently being laid in a single day.

Certain parasites prey upon this insect, but are
seldom sufficiently numerous to prevent its injuries.

Remedies. — Entomologists have been divided in
opinion as to whether this insect can be successfully
destroyed by spraying with Paris green, but the evi-
dence in hand indicates that this is the best way to
fight the pest, especially in orchards of considerable
size. This remedy acts by destroying the adult bee-
tles rather than the larvae. The trees should be
sprayed three or four times, at intervals of a Aveek or
ten days, beginning as soon as the blossoms have
fallen, with Paris green mixed with water in the
proportion of 3 ounces to 40 or 50 gallons. The
other method of fighting this insect is that of "jar-
ring." Tins takes advantage of the fact that when
a limb on which the Curculio is at work is suddenly
jarred, the insect drops to the ground. A large sheet
is placed beneath the tree, and the latter is jarred by
striking the trunk and larger branches with a pad-
ded mallet, The Curculios fall upon the sheet, and
are then collected and destroyed. Instead of a sheet,
most commercial growers use a sort of inverted um-
brella mounted on wheels, which is run beneath the
tree. It has sloping sides down which the insects
roll into a receptacle in the center, where they are

62 INSECTS AFFECTING THE PLUM.

caught. There are many patterns of these catchers
in use in different sections of the country. The in-
sects are most easily caught in the morning, when
the atmosphere is cool.

The Plum Gouger.

Coccotoru* prunicida.
The Plum Gouger is most injurious in the region
west of the Mississippi river, being rarely or never
found in the Eastern States. But in Iowa, and
probably, also, in adjacent states, it frequently is
more destructive than the Plum Curculio, from
which it differs considerably in history and habits.
The adult Gouger is a small snout beetle, about the
same size as the Curculio, but with a smooth back,
and of a yellowish or brownish color. It appears
about blossoming time, and soon after the fruit sets
begins operations upon it. Instead of cutting a
crescent-shaped mark to lay its egg, it gnaws out a
little cavity beneath the skin in which the egg is de-
posited. A few days later the larva hatches, and
burrows through the pulp to the pit, gnawing
through the soft shell to the ' meaty ' portion inside.
Here it continues to develop, feeding upon the con-
tents of the pit, rather than the pulp surrounding it.
After several weeks it becomes full grown : it then
gnaws a hole through the hardening wall of the pit,
so it can escape after completing its transformations,.
and changes to the pupa state inside. A short time
afterwards it again changes, this time to the adult,,

INJURING THE FRUIT. 63

and the beetle gnaws its way to the outer world,
hibernating in this condition. It is single-brooded.
Like the Plum ( 'urculio, the adult Plum Gouger
gnaws pits in the fruit for food. It also has various
natural enemies that help keep it in cheek.

Remedies. — One would suppose from the feeding
habits of the Plum Gouger that the adults were
liable to destruction by spraying with the arsenites,
but experiments made in Iowa by Prof. C. P. Gillette
do not confirm this opinion. However, the matter
seems not to have been thoroughly tested on a large,
commercial scale. If spraying is ineffective, recourse
must be had to the jarring method.

Other Plum Insects.

The base of the trunk of the plum tree is occa-
sionally attacked by the Peach-tree Borer ; and the
upper portion of the trunk is sometimes infested with
the Flat-headed Apple-tree Borer. The leaves are
attacked by a large proportion of the caterpillars that
feed on the foliage of the apple, as well as the Pear
or Cherry Slug, the Grape-vine Flea-beetle, and a
number of other insects. But spraying is a safe spe-
cific for nearly or quite all of these defoliators.

Summary of Treatment. — As soon as the blos-
soms have all fallen, and never before, spray trees
with Paris green and water ( 3 ozs. to 50 gals.), and
repeat the operation two or three times at intervals
of ten days or two weeks. This Avill largely or en-
tirely prevent the injuries of the fruit and foliage

64 INSECTS AFFECTING THE PLUM.

pests. The leaves of many varieties of plums are
easily injured by the arsenites, so that much care
should be taken in spraying, not to use too strong a
mixture, nor to get too much on the tree. Paris
green is preferable to London purple for this pur-
pose, when tender classes of fruits are to be operated
upon. In using Paris green the mixture must be
frequently stirred to make sure that the poison does
not settle to the bottom of the vessel and thus ren-
der the applications of unequal strengths. It is
well after each barrel of liquid is used to draw off
all the residue in the bottom.

If the aphides or plant-lice become too numerous
in spring, spray with kerosene emulsion.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE PEAR.

INJURING THE TRUNK.

The Pear-tree Borer.

Aegeria pyri.

The adult of this insect is represented twice its
natural size at Plate II, Fig. 3. It is a small, clear-
winged moth, purplish or bluish-black in color, and
having three pretty golden-yellow bands across the
abdomen. Its eggs are deposited upon the bark of
the trunk, and the larvae feed upon the inner bark
or sapwood. The latter are very similar to the grubs
of the Peach-tree Borer, but are considerably smaller.
When full grown they gnaw almost through the
outer bark, leaving an extremely thin layer to protect
them, and then change to the chrysalis state within
the burrow. A short time afterwards the chrysalis
wriggles through the burrow to the outer membra-
nous bark, through which it pushes its front end.
The fully developed moth then crawls out of the
chrysalis, and, after drying its wings. Hies away in
search of companions and the nectar of flowers upon
which it feeds.

Remedies. — This insect is rarely present in injuri-
ous numbers, and consequently usually requires little
or no attention. The larvse arc said to throw out fine,
sawdust-like castings, by which their presence may

66 INSECTS AFFECTING THE PEAR.

be detected. When this happens they should be care-
fully cut out with a sharp knife. Painting the bark
with the soft soap and carbolic acid mixture men-
tioned on page 20 is also recommended.

INJURING THE BRANCHES.

The Scurfy Bark-louse.

( 'hionaspis fur/urns.
During the winter months the bark of pear and
apple trees is frequently more or less covered by
small, flattened, whitish, oval scales (Fig. 27), beneath
which are numerous minute purple eggs. These are
the scales of the female Scurfy Bark-louse, an insect
that seems to be more destructive in the Southern
and Central States than at the North. It is probably

Fig. 27. Twig infested by Scurfy Bark -louse.

a native of America, having been known to the ear-
liest American entomologists, and is supposed to
have fed on wild crab apples before the introduction
of improved fruit trees. The scales of the male louse
are much narrower than those of the female

During May or June the eggs beneath these scales
hatch into small, purplish or reddish-brown lice, that
crawl about over the bark for a few da vs. ami finally

INJURING THE LEAVES. 67

insert their tiny beaks to suck the sap. Having thus
fixed themselves they gradually de- ^;
velop, until by fall the females have j^Il
attained the shape represented at the ^
left of Fig. 28, and the size shown mp H
at the right of the same figure. The 0T :
eggs are deposited beneath the scale, < %Hp/' 9
and remain in this position until the Jf

following Spring. Fi £- f ■ ^aleofFe-

o x o male. Magnified.

Remedies. — The treatment recommended on a
previous page (p. 34) for the < >yster-shell Bark-louse,
is equally applicable to the present species.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Pear-tree Slug.

Selandria cerasi.
The leaves of pear, cherry, quince and plum trees
are frequently attacked during June and July by a
greenish-black, slimy slug, that eats the parenchyma
off the upper surface. Tins is the Tear or Cherry
Slug. It originates from eggs laid early in June, in
the leaf, by a tour-winged black fly (shown slightly
magnified at Fig. 29). The eggs hatch about two
weeks after they are deposited, and the larvas become
full grown in four or five weeks. They are then
nearly half an inch long, and of the form repre-
sented at Fier. 29. They now shed their slimy skin,
appearing in a clean, yellow suit that is not sticky,

[NSECTS AFFECTING THE PEAR.

and shortly afterwards leave the tree. Having
reached the ground they enter the soil two or three
inches, and form an oval cavity in the earth, which

Fig. 29. Pear-tree Slug: fly and larvse.

they line with a glossy secretion. The larval skin
is now east, and the insect becomes a pupa. About
a fortnight later it again changes, this time to a
four-winged fly, that escapes to continue the propa-
gation of the species. There are two broods each
season in the Northern States, the first brood of
larva' appearing in June, and the second in August.
The winter is passed in the pupa state.

Remedies. — This Pear Slug is very easy to de-
stroy, and should be checked as soon after it begins
operations as possible. Spraying with the arsenites,
or pyrethrum, or hellebore, is a simple and effectual
remedy. Or these substances may be dusted on with
a bellows gun.

The Pear-leaf Mite.

Phytoptus pyri.

The leaves of the pear are sometimes noticed in
spring to have small reddish spots upon their upper
surface. As the season advances these spots become
darker colored, and finally appear almost black, the

INJURING THE LEAVES.

tissues of the leaf where they are being dry and
dead. This is caused by the Pear-leaf Mite, an
extremely minute creature, related to the Red Spicier
found in greenhouses.

It reproduces by means of eggs laid within the
galls — the discolored spots already mentioned —
which hatch into little mites that sometime after-
wards leave their birth place, and burrow into the
tissue of a healthy portion of the leaf. Here they

Fig. 30. Leaf injured by Pear Mite.

feed upon the leaf-substance, forming a new gall, and
starting another generation of their kind. As autumn
approaches and the leaves become dry, the mites de-
sert them, migrating to the twigs, where they gather
on the buds, and penetrate between the leafy scales, a
situation in which they pass the winter.

Remedies. — This pest is difficult to fight. So
long as it remains in the tissues of the leaves it is

70 INSECTS AFFECTING THE PEAR.

beyond the reach of insecticides, and as it deserts
the leaves before they fall, gathering and burning
them in autumn will do little or no good. It seems
probable, however, that by spraying with kerosene
emulsion two or three times in autumn, when they
are migrating to the twigs, and before they have
penetrated deeply between the scales, a large propor-
tion of them would be destroyed.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

The Codling Moth and Plum Curculio.

These pests are the worst insect enemies of the fruit
of the pear. To the first is due the " worminess "
that spoils so large a portion of the crop, and to the
second a large part of the gnarly, knotty fruit that is
so often seen. Spraying with Paris green is fortu-
nately an effectual preventive of the injuries of both.

Other Pear Insects.

The trunk of the pear tree is subject to attack from
both the Round-headed and Flat-headed Apple-tree
Borers. The remedies mentioned as applicable to
the apple are equally so to the pear. The branches
are sometimes infested by the Oyster-shell Bark-louse,
the Pear-tree Bark-louse {JLecanium pyri), and the
Pear-tree Psylla (Psylla pyri), as well as the Pear-
blight Beetle (Xyleborus pyri). The leaves are also
liable to attack from a great variety of caterpillars,
which, however, are seldom seriously injurious.

INJURING THE FRUIT. 71

Summary of Treatment. — Soon after the blos-
soms have fallen, spray the trees with Paris green in
water mixture — 3 ounces to 50 gallons — to destroy
the Codling Moth and Curculios. Repeat the appli-
cation ten days or two weeks later. If the Pear-tree
Slug appears in the latter part of June, spray again
then. In the case of danger from the bark-lice or
apple-tree borers, carry out treatment recommended
under the special heads.

Some authors recommend that in case the Pear-
leaf Mite becomes injurious the trees be thoroughly
pruned in winter, removing and burning as many
of the buds in which the mites are concealed as pos-
sible without injuring the trees.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE CHERRY.

INJURING THE TRUNK.

The Flat-headed Cherry-tree Borer.

Dicerca divaricata.

This insect is closely related to the Flat-headed
Apple-tree Borer, to which it is similar in life-history
and habits. The adult, a handsome, brassy or cop-
per-colored beetle, about four-fifths of an inch long,
deposits eggs during the summer on the trunk of the
wild and cultivated cherry. These eggs hatch into
larva- that bore through the bark to the sapwood,
upon which they live. They gradually grow larger
until, when full grown, [they resemble Fig. 10 a.
They then pupate, and shortly afterwards again
change to the beetle state.

Remedies. — Fortunately this borer is rarely seri-
ously injurious. Should it become so, the treatment
recommended for the Flat-headed Apple-tree Borer
would be also applicable in this case.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Cherry Aphis.

Myzus cerasi.
The twigs and under surface of the leaves of the
cherry are frequently thickly infested during May

INJURING THE TRUNK.

and June by small, shining black plant-lice, that
suck out the sap and deform the leaves. This insect
is the Cherry Aphis. The wingless form is repre-
sented much magnified at a, Fig. 31, and the winged

a b

Fig. 31. Cherry Aphis: a, wingless female ; 6, winged female. Magnified.

form at b of the same figure, the straight lines at the
right indicating the natural size.

The Cherry Aphis winters over on the twigs in the
egg state. Early in spring the eggs hatch into young-
aphides that crawl upon the bursting buds, inserting
their tiny sap-sucking beaks into the tissues of the
unfolding leaves. In a week or ten days they become
full grown, and begin giving birth to young lice,
which also soon develop, and repeat the process. In
this way they increase with marvellous rapidity.
Most of these early spring forms are wingless, but
during June great numbers of winged lice appear,
and late in June or early in July they leave the
cherry, migrating to some other plant, although we
do not yet know what that other plant is. Here they

INSECTS AFFECTING THE CHERRY.

continue developing throughout the summer, and in
autumn a winged brood again appears and migrates
back to the cherry. These migrants give birth to
young that develop into egg-laying females, which
deposit small, oval/shining black eggs upon the twigs
about the buds.

Remedies. — Lady-beetles and certain predaceous
and parasitic flies prey upon these little pests in great
numbers, and often aid materially in checking their
injuries. The best artificial remedy is that of spray-
ins with kerosene emulsion.

The May Beetle.

Lachnostema fusca.
The leaves of cherry and other fruit trees arc
sometimes eaten early in summer by the common
May Beetle or June Bug (Fig. 32). This insect is

the parent of
the mischievous
White Grub,
that is so fre-
q u e n 1 1 y d e-
striictive in
meadows a n d
pastures. The
beetles feed up-
on the foliage at night, and sometimes appear in suffi-
cient numbers to do much damage. before their pres-
ence is discovered.

Fig. 32. May Beetle.

INJURING THE TRUNK. 75

Remedies. — Spraying the infested trees with the
arsenites, Paris green or London Purple, is the most
promising method of preventing their injuries.

The Cherry-tree Leaf-roller.

Cacoecia cer.asivorana.

One occasionally finds the leaves of a cherry twig'
fastened together in a large, compact nest, inhabited
by numerous yellow caterpillars, that feed upon the
enclosed leaves. This is the Cherry-tree Leaf-roller.
The adult is a small brown moth which deposits a
large number of eggs upon the twig. The caterpil-
lars on hatching fasten the leaves together and de-
velop within the tent thus formed. They beeome'
full grown about midsummer, and pupate within the'
nest. In a week or so they are ready to change
again, and the pupse work their way out until they
are nearly free from the nest, remaining attached by
the hinder portions of their bodies. The skin then
splits along the back and the moths come out.

Remedies. — These nests are so conspicuous that
it is a simple matter to cut and burn the infested
twigs, thus ending the career of the pests.

The Pear-tree Slug.

Selandria cerasi.
This insect is probably as destructive to the cherry
as to the pear, under which we have already dis-
cussed it. Its life-history on the two fruits is similar,
and the remedies are the same in both cases.
5

76 INSECTS AFFECTING THE CHERRY.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

The Plum Curculio.

Conotrach elus nen wph a r.
This insect, which has already been discussed un-
der the plum (p. 60), is also exceedingly injurious to
•cherries. The latter, however, usually do not fall off
when infested by the Curculio larvae, but remain on
the tree until the fruit ripens. The remedial meas-
ures suggested in connection with the plum are
-equally applicable to this fruit.

Other Cherry Insects.

There are a large number of caterpillars that feed
upon the leaves of cherries, but the)* rarely do no-
ticeable injury, and spraying with the arsenites will
.keep nearly if not quite all of them in check.

Summary of Treatment. — Spray the trees as
!soon as blossoms have fallen, with Paris green — 3
•ounces to 50 gallons water. Repeat the operation
once or twice at intervals of ten days. If the Leaf
Slug appears about the time the fruit is beginning to
ripen, spray with pyrethrum, 8 ounces to 50 gallons.
If aphides or plant-lice appear, spray with kerosene
emulsion. The second brood of Slugs, developing
after the fruit is harvested, may be destroyed by
spraying with Paris green or London purple.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE PEACH.

INJURING THE ROOT.

The Peach-tree Borer.

Sannina exitiosa.
The Peach-tree Borer is a soft, whitish caterpillar,
with a reddish-brown head, and sixteen legs. It
hatches from eggs laid during the summer months
by a handsome, day-flying moth, upon the bark of
the trunk, at or near the soil surface. After hatching,
the young larvae burrow through to the inner bark
and sapwood of the larger roots, upon which they
feed, causing a gummy exudation that betrays their
presence. They continue feeding in this way for
nearly a year, being interrupted of course during the
winter months, when they become full grown as larvae.
They then usually approach the top of the ground
within an inch or two of the soil surface, and con-
struct cocoons of the gummy exudation, their castings
and silk. Within these cocoons they change to the
pupa state, and three or four weeks later again
change to moths. The two sexes of the moths are
represented twice natural size at Plate II — Fig. 1
representing the male, and Fig. 2 the female. These
moths are present more or less all summer : although
there is but one generation a year, the larva? reach
maturity at such different times that they keep up a

78 INSECTS AFFECTING THE PEACH.

nearly constant supply of the imagos. On this
account one can find larvae of various sizes in the
roots at almost any time. This insect also occasion-
ally infests the plum.

Remedies. — Probably the surest, and certainly
the most generally practiced, method of preventing
the injuries of this insect is that of cutting out the
larvae in the fall or spring, or both. To do this the
earth is removed from about the base of the tree,
and wherever the gummy exudation indicates that a
borer is at work, a sharp knife is inserted to dig him
out. It is often necessary to open the larval chan-
nels for some distance before the depredator is found.
Instead of digging the larvae out some growers de-
stroy them by applying scalding hot water. With
this method the earth is removed as before, and the
gummy exudations scraped away before the water is
applied.

Some growers prevent the deposition of eggs by
mounding the soil up about the base of the trunk, a
foot or more, late in spring, removing it in September.
The chief objection to this method appears to be that
it is liable to make the bark too tender to stand the
winter. Others protect the base of the trunk by
fastening paper or straw around it, so as to cover the
bark. A preventive measure that has sometimes
been recommended, which seems worthy of extended
trial by commercial growers, is that of spraying the
base of the trunks with a strong mixture of Paris
green and water (say a pound to 50 gallons) to which

INJURING THE ROOTS. 79

has been added some glue. The idea is that in this
wa}' the bark will be so coated with poison that many
of the young larvae will be destroyed while eating
their way through to the sapwood.

The Black Peach Aphis.

Aphis persicse-niger.
This is a shining black aphis, that occurs in great
numbers upon the roots, twigs and leaves of the
peach in the Atlantic States. The root-infesting
specimens seem to be especially injurious, causing an
enfeebled condition of the tree that has sometimes
been mistaken for the disease known as ' the yellows.'
These insects reproduce viviparously, or by giving
birth to living young, and, consequently, like other
aphides, they are able to multiply with remarkable
rapidity. There are two forms, one wingless and the
other winged, both having shining black bodies ;
and sucking out the sap of the tree through their
tiny beaks.

Remedies. — The best results seem to have been
attained in fighting the under-ground form of this
insect by digging into the soil about the roots refuse
tobacco, either in the form of powder or stems.
Kainit is also said by New Jersey peach-growers to
serve a similar purpose. The aerial specimens are
open to destruction by spraying with kerosene
emulsion.

80 INSECTS AFFECTING THE PEACH.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Peach Aphis.

Myzus persicse.
This insect is much like the one last discussed,
with which, in fact, it has frequently been confused,
but it appears to be distributed over a much wider
area, being found in nearly all portions of the
United States where peaches are grown. Like other
aphides, it damages the tree by sucking out the sap,
through the leaves or tender twigs. It is a soft,
blackish little creature that, during the spring and
summer months, reproduces by giving birth to living
young, and winters over in tiny, black eggs, laid in
September or October, upon the twigs about the buds.

Remedies. — Spraying with kerosene emulsion is
the best method of destroying these little pests.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

The Plum Curculio.

Conotrachelus nenuphar.
This insect, whose life-history has already been
treated of on page 60, breeds in peaches, as well as
in plums, cherries, apples and other fruits. It is es-
pecially liable to injure peaches when there is a fail-
ure of the apple crop. It is more difficult to prevent

INJURING THE FRUIT. 81

its injuries on this crop than on the apple or plum,
because ordinarily it is impracticable to jar peach
trees, and their foliage is so easily injured by the
arsenites that spraying must be clone with great cau-
tion, if at all. London purple should never be ap-
plied to the leaves of peach trees, and Paris green
only in very weak mixtures and early in the season,
when the waxy covering of the leaves serves as a
protection. Experiments by Professor L. H. Bailey
of Cornell University, indicate that Paris green may
safely be applied to the peach mixed with water at
the rate of two ounces to fifty gallons. One or two
sprayings, soon after the fruit sets, will probably help
greatly in preventing curculio injury.

Other Peach Insects.

The trunk of the peach is sometimes infested
by the Flat-headed Borers of the Apple and Cherry,
though not often. The branches are subject to
the attacks of the Peach-tree Bark -louse (Lecanium
persiai) and the New York Weevil (Ithycerus novebo-
racensis) ; while the leaves are more or less affected
by a great variety of caterpillars, which, however,
rarely do any serious injury.

Summary of Treatment. — In the Atlantic
States, dig refuse tobacco about the roots of any trees
that appear to be suffering by attacks of the Root
Aphis. Adopt some of the plans mentioned on page
78 for fighting the Peach-tree Borer, and carry them

INSECTS AFFECTING THE PEACH.

out. If the trees are to be sprayed to prevent the
* worminess ' caused by Curculios, it must be done
very carefully, and only early in the season. A
good quality of finely powdered Paris green should
be used, and the application should be made with a
nozzle throwing a fine spray, as experiments have
shown that a coarse spray is much more liable to
injure the foliage than a fine one.

PART II.

INSECTS
AFFECTING SMALL FRUITS.

6. 7.

PLATE III— A Group of Leaf-hoppers, (magnified.^

INSECTS AFFECTING THE STRAWBERRY.

INJURING THE ROOT.

The Strawberry Root- worms.

Paria aterrima, Graphops pubescens, and Scelodonta
nebidosus.

In the larval stage the three species of beetles
named above feed upon the fibrous roots of the
strawberry, often doing a great deal of damage.
They are quite similar in life history and habits, all
depositing eggs about the base of the plant, that
hatch into small, whitish grubs. The grubs feed
upon . the strawberry roots, increasing gradually in
size. When fully grown they are of the form repre-
sented, very greatly magnified, at Fig. 33. They
then pupate
in earthen
cells in the
soil, and soon
after emerge
as beetles,
one species of
which is

shown much Fig. 33. Strawberry Root-worm. Greatly magnified.

magnified at Fig. 34. The beetles feed upon the
foliage of the strawberry, often doing a noticeable
damage. The injury of these insects in the larval

INSECTS AFFECTING THE STRAWBERRY.

state is frequently mistaken for that of the Straw-
berry Crown-borer — an entirely different species.

Remedies. — These little insects are difficult to
deal with on account of the underground habits of
the larva?, and the different times of development of

Fig. 34. Adnlt of Strawberry Root-worm. Greatly
magnified.

the adults. Professor Forbes recommends spraying
or dusting the foliage with Paris green or London
purple occasionally, after the fruit is harvested, to
destroy the leaf-eating beetles. Badly-infested fields
should be plowed up soon after the crop is gathered.
Old, unused strawberry fields should not be left as
breeding grounds for these and other strawberry pests.

INJURING THE ROOT.

The Strawberry Crown-miner.

Anarsia lineatella (?)
This is a small, reddish caterpillar (Fig. 35) that
bores the strawberry crown, making irregular chan-
nels through it in all directions.
It becomes fully grown early in
summer, and changes to the chry-
salis state, to emerge two or three
weeks later as a small, dark-gray
moth. Eggs are deposited by this
moth upon the crown of the plant,
and soon hatch into minute larva? Fig. 35. The strawberry

, , , , , , . , Crowu-miuer.

that bore the crown again, becom-
ing partially grown before winter, and hibernating
within their burrows. This is the life history of the
species in Canada ; probably farther, south there may
be two broods a year.

Remedies. — No successful remedy for this insect
is known. Badly infested fields would probably
have to be plowed up, and this should be done
preferably in the fall or early spring.

The Strawberry Crown-borer.

Tyloderma fragarise.

This insect has been known for many years as one
of the most destructive enemies of the strawberry in
the great small-fruit fields of the Mississippi Valley.

88 INSECTS AFFECTING THE STRAWBERRY.

The larva (Fig. 36, a) is a whitish, footless, yellow-
headed grub, about one-fifth of an inch long, that
lives in the crowns of strawberry plants, frequently
hollowing them out so much that the vines are
weakened or destroyed. The adult insect is a small,

dark-colo red,

snout-beetle,

about a fifth of an

'j |JJ2=| 1/ wl 1 fiff j |n inch long, and of

the form repre-
sented at Fig. 36,
b, c. It is unable

Fig. 36. Strawberry Crown-borer : a, larva ; „ , r

b, beetle, side-view ; e, beetle, back view. to fly, because Ot

the rudimentary condition of its membranous wings.
According to Professor Forbes " the eggs are laid on
the crown in spring, being pushed down among the
bases of the leaves. The larvae penetrate the crowns
soon after hatching, and excavate the interior all
summer, until they get their growth. A single larva
does not wholly destroy a plant, as it matures about
the time a quarter or a third of the substance of the
crown is devoured. Frequently two or three or
more beetles will attack a single stool, and they then
leave behind them only a hollow shell to which the
roots are attached. Still in its subterranean cavity
the worm transforms to a pupa, and in the same safe
retreat effects also the final change to the mature
beetle, this last transformation occurring all the way
along from August to October, during a period of
about two mouths. The beetles all escape from the

INJURING THE LEAVES. 89

crowns in autumn, but are not known to lay any
eggs until the following year. They pass the winter
as adults in the fields infested by them as larvee. It
feeds while a mature insect upon the tissues of the
plant."

Remedies.— This insect is especially liable to in-
jure old strawberry fields, or those which are re-
planted to this fruit without some other crop inter-'
veiling. On account of the inability of the beetle to
fly, it is not likely to pass from one plantation to
another to deposit eggs, and the isolation of new
plantations from old ones is consequently to be de-
sired. If the plants for the new field must be taken
from an infested patch, they should be dug up as
early as possible to guard against transporting eggs
or larvaa with them. It is probable that spraying
the fields with the arsenites late in summer will lead
to the poisoning of many of the beetles, and that
burning the fields, after picking, will prove benefi-
cial. In case infested patches are to be plowed
under, this should be done late in June or early in
July, to destroy the half-grown larvae then present
in the crowns.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Strawberry Leaf-roller.

Phoxopteris comptana.
This is a small, brownish caterpillar that folds the
leaflets of the strawberry by bringing the upper

INSECTS AFFECTING THE STRAWBERRY.

surfaces together and fastening them by silken cords
.(Fig. 37), and feeds upon their substance till they

Fig. 37. Strawberry leaf folded by Leaf-roller.

look brown and scorched. It is sometimes exceed-
ingly destructive, and has been considered by some
entomologists the most injurious of the insect enemies
of the strawberry. It probably occurs in nearly all
the Northern states ; and, is also found in Europe,
where, however, it is does not prove troublesome.
It hatches from eggs laid in spring upon the straw-
berry plants by a small, reddish-brown moth, which
is accurately represented slightly magnified at Fig.
■38, c. The larva attains its full growth in June,

INJURING THE LEAVES.

Strawberry Leaf-roller: a, larva, natural
b, front of larva ; c, moth ; </, hind end
of larva: 6, c, and d magnified.

when it is nearly half an inch long, of a brownish
or greenish col-
or, with a shin-
ing, yellowish- ~^fc\
brown head. It
i s represented
natural size at Fig. 38.

t-i • .-. ^ .i size

Fig. 38, a; the
head and anterior segments of the body are shown
at b, and the posterior extremity at d of the same
figure. The larva pupates within the rolled leaf,
and about midsummer emerges as a moth. These
moths deposit eggs for a second brood of caterpillars
that feed upon the leaves late in summer, changing
■to pupse early in autumn, and, passing the winter in
that condition, emerge again as moths the following
spring, thus completing the cycle of the year. In.
the Southern States there are three, and possibly
four, broods a year.

Remedies. — The best way to destroy this pest is
to mow the field soon after the strawberry crop is
gathered, and after leaving it a day or two to become
dry, burn it over. This will destroy the leaf-rollers
as well as several other kinds of insects, and the
spores of fungous diseases. It is sometimes necessary
to scatter a little straw over the field where the leaves
are not thick enough to burn well. The plants will
not be damaged, but will soon send up a new lot of
leaves that will grow rapidly, and be free from insect
.and fungous attack. If for any reason this method

92 INSECTS AFFECTING THE STRAWBERRY.

is not desirable, the insects of the second brood may
be destined by spraying or dusting the plants in
August with some poisonous insecticide.

The Strawberry Slug.

Ernphytus maculatus.
The transformations of this insect have been well
represented by Dr. Riley at Fig. 39. The four-winged
fly (3) appears in spring, and deposits its eggs within
the tissues of the leaf or stem. The larvae hatch in
a short time, and feed upon the leaf, gnawing small,
circular holes at first, like those eaten out of currant

Fig. 39. Strawberry Slug: 1, 2, pupa; 3, 5, fly; 4, 6,
larva; 7, cocoou; 9, egg, magnified.

and gooseberry leaves by young Currant Worms.
They develop in five or six weeks into pale-green
worms {If., 6) about three-fourths of an inch long.
The larva? now go slightly beneath the surface, where
they form cocoons (7) within which they change" to

INJURING THE FRUIT. 93

the pupa state ( 1, 2 ), and later emerge as flies.
In the Southern States there are two broods each sea-
son, while at the North there appears to be but one.

Remedies. — The Strawberry Slug is especially
liable to injure young, non-fruiting plantations,
where it may easily be destroyed by spraying or
dusting with Paris green. ( )n fruiting plantations
this method may be used in localities where a second
brood of larvae appears after the fruit is gathered.
Pyrethrum or insect powder may be used in such
cases on the first brood. It is probable that burn-
ing the fields over early in summer after the crop
•s gathered will help to hold this insect in check.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

The Tarnished Plant Bug.

Lygus pratensis.
1 nis is a small, yellowish-brown or yellowish-green
bug, more or less mottled with dusky, about one-fifth
of an inch long (Fig. 40), which is extremely com-
mon in nearly all parts of the United States. It
attacks a great variety of plants, subsist-
ing upon the sap, and is especially de-
structive in the strawberry field on ac-
count of its injuries to the young fruit, f^WMj\ 1
the growth of which it checks, causing ^ \fl|7

an irregular, malformed appearance Fig. jo. Tarmsh-

, i ■ i a -i • ed Plant Bn s-

known as ' buttoning. According to Magnified.

94 INSECTS AFFECTING THE STRAWBERRY.

Professor Forbes, " the adults pass the winter under
rubbish and matted vegetation in a variety of
situations. With the earliest warm days of spring
they venture forth and collect upon whatever tender
vegetation of tree or shrub offers them a supply of
sap within the reach of their rather slender beaks.
On their food plants they lay their eggs. The young
soon appear, mingled with the adults as early ;i> the
latter part of April and the first of May (in Southern
Illinois) and feed -with them side by side. By the
middle of May the older individuals have matured,
and then all stages may be found together upon the
same plants; but the winged forms scatter widely,
and in June and July are generally distributed
wherever suitable food occurs." There are two, and
perhaps more, broods each season. In autumn the
adults are to be found abundantly upon goldenrods,
sunflowers, asters and various other fall flowers.

Remedies. — As these bugs obtain their food by
sucking, they cannot be destroyed by coating their
food plants with poisons. The application of pyre-
thrum (insect powder) has proven the most success-
ful remedy. By means of a powder gun it can be
applied quite readily. Kerosene emulsion also de-
stroys them ; and it is claimed that the bugs can
frequently be collected in insect nets with profit.

Other Strawberry Insects.

The strawberry is subject to attack by a large
number of insects besides those discussed above.

SUMMARY OF TREATMENT. 95

The roots are often eaten, especially when new plan-
tations are made on land previously in grass, by
white grubs ; and the stems are sometimes severed
by various species of cut-worms, or pierced by the
beak of the Strawberry Weevil (Anthonomvx muscu-
lus). The blossom is occasionally attacked by a small
Thrips (Thrips tritici) that prevents the fertilization
of the fruit, and by certain caterpillars that devour
it. As to the enemies of the foliage, their name is
legion : span-worms, leaf-rollers, Army Worms,
plant-lice, etc., all help to swell the list. And the
fruit is not neglected : it caters to the dainty appetite
of various ants, myriapods, bugs and beetles. But
the pests that are most generally and commonly in-
jurious have been included in the previous pages.

Summary of Treatment. — Strawberry planta-
tions should be rotated with other crops every three,
or in some cases possibly four, years, and old planta-
tions should never be left unplowed to serve as
breeding places for insect pests. It is generally advis-
able to mow and burn over the field soon after the
crop is gathered, a method by which many iusect
and fungus foes may be held in check. Other treat-
ment must be regulated according to the insects pres-
ent, and the circumstances accompanying the attack.

INSECTS AFFECTING CURRANTS AND
GOOSEBERRIES.

INJURING THE STEM.

The Imported Currant-borer.

Aegeria tipuliformis.

This insect is a small, whitish larva that burrows
up and down the stems of currants, weakening them
so that they are checked in growth, and appear
stunted and unhealthy. It hatches from eggs de-
posited singly, on the young stems near the buds,
early in summer, by a beautiful, clear-winged, wasp-
like moth, represented twice natural size at Plate II,
Fig. 4 (p. 28). This moth has a bluish-black body,
with three golden-yellow transverse bands across the
abdomen. It measures from tip to tip of the ex-
panded wings nearly three-quarters of an inch. The
wings are transparent except at the borders, where
they are brownish-black.

A few days after the egg is deposited it hatches
into a small larva that gnaws through the stem to
the center, where it feeds on the pith. It continues
so to do all summer, making a burrow several inches
in length. When full grown the larva eats nearly
through the stem wall, leaving only the membran-
ous outer bark, and then changes to a chrysalis
within the burrow. When the chrysalis is ready to
transform it wriggles partially out of this opening,

INJURING THE LEAVES.

bursting through the layer of membranous bark.
It then rests half way out, its skin splits open in
front and the moth crawls out, leaving a mere shell
behind. The moth dries and expands its wings, and
flies away. There is but one brood a year. The
gooseberry is only occasionally attacked by this pest.
Remedies. — Cutting and burning infested stems
in the spring, before the moths emerge, is the only
practicable remedy that has yet been suggested.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Imported Currant Worm.

Nen latus ventricosus.
This insect is supposed to have been imported into
America from Europe about 1858, since when it has

spread over a large
portion of the United
States, and has become
the most destruc-
tive currant insect.
Early in spring the
four- winged flies
(Fig. 41) emerge from
the tough brown co-
coons in which they
have hibernated, and
deposit rows of small,
whitish, glassy eggs
on the principal veins
of the under sides of

Fig. 41. Currant Worm: a, male;
6, female. Magnified.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE CURRANT.

Fig. 12. Currant leaf with eggs of
Currant Worm.

the lower leaves (Fig. 42). In about ten days the

small worms hatch

and eat circular

holes in the leaf,

as shown at 2 and

3, Fig. 42. At first

these larva? are

whitish in color :

they soon change

to green , then to

green w r ith numer-
ous black spots,

and at last back

again to a plain

light green, with

a tinge of yellow at the sides and ends. They ' are

shown at different ages at Fig. 43. The full grown

larva? spin tough
brown cocoons,
beneath the
leaves and rub-
bish at the sur-
face of the
ground, within
w h i c h they
change to pupa?.
From these co-
coons the rl i e s
emerge early in
summer, to lay

Fig. 43. Currant Worms eating leaves. egg s f© r a SeCOlld

INJURING THE LEAVES.

brood of worms. As before indicated, the winter
is passed within the cocoons, beneath the bushes.

Remedies. — Hellebore is the best remedy for this
pest. It may be applied as a dry powder, or in
water — one ounce to three gallons. The bushes
should be treated soon after the small holes appear
in the lower leaves, and again about ten days later.

The Currant Leaf-hopper.

Empoa albopida.
This is a small, pale-green insect, about one-tenth
of an inch long, that occurs upon the under surfaces
of the leaves of currants
and gooseberries during
May and June. They suck
out the substance by means
of their tiny beaks, which § ,,
causes white spots to appear
on the upper surface of the
leaf (Fig. 44). This same
insect also occurs upon a
large number of other
plants, sometimes being
quite injurious to young
apple trees. The adult, is
represented considerably
magnified at Fig. 45, a,

and the nymph at h of the T ,.

" x i- ig

same figure. The chief

damage is done by the first brood, the insects

Currant leaf injured by Leaf-
hop]

100

INSECTS AFFECTING THE CURRANT.

leaving the bushes early in the summer, probably

preferring at this time
the m ore succulent
foliage of other plants.

a Remedies. — Spray-
ing or dusting infested
\ j? \W. ^ bushes with pyrethrum,
or insect powder, will
destroy these little pests,

Fig. 45. Currant Leaf-hopper: a. adult: . .

6, nymph. Magnified provided it is done be-

fore they acquire wings. Tobacco powder is also said
by many horticulturists to be an efficient remedy.

The Currant Aphis.

Myzus ribis.

This is a small, yellowish aphis that is found on
the undersides of curled and blistered currant leaves
early in summer. Such leaves are generally tinged
with reddish above. The insects apparently migrate
to some other plant during the summer, returning to
the currant in autumn, and depositing small, black
eggs upon the steins, especially about the buds.

Remedies. — On account of the deformed condi-
tion of the infested leaves, these insects are difficult
to reach with insecticides. In garden patches the
leaves attacked may be pulled off and dropped into
a vessel holding water, with a film of kerosene on
top. Spraying with kerosene emulsion quite early in

INJURING THE FRUIT. 101

the season, before the foliage has become conspicu-
ously curled, would probably destroy a majority
of the aphides then i»resent upon the leaves.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

The Gooseberry Fruit-worm.

Dafa "i una convoli i tella .

The fruit of the gooseberry, and occasionally of
the currant also, is often attacked by a small worm
that eats out the substance, leaving only the skin.
This is the progeny of an egg laid on the fruit when
it was quite small by a spotted, pale gray moth.
Soon after hatching from this egg the larva bores
into the berry, and feeds upon the pulp. After it has
eaten out one berry it fastens another to it by silken
threads, and devours its contents, continuing the
process until by the time it is fully grown it has
formed a cluster of six or eight injured berries. At
this time it is a pale-green caterpillar, three-fourths
of an inch long, with a small, brown, horny-looking
head. Shortly before the fruit ripens it lets itself to
the ground by a silken thread, and, concealed among
the fallen leaves and rubbish, spins a thin, silken
cocoon within which it changes to a brown chrysalis.
It remains in this condition until the following
spring, when it comes forth as a moth : consequently
there is only one brood of the larvae each year.

102 INSECTS AFFECTING THE CURRANT.

Remedies. — The fruit injured by these caterpil-
lars is so conspicuous that hand-picking is a practi-
cal remedy. This must be done rapidly as the larvse
wriggle out of the cases and drop to the ground
quickly when disturbed. If chickens are allowed to
run over the ground after the fruit is gathered they
will scratch up and devour many of the pupse. So
also will many be destroyed if the fallen leaves and
rubbish are raked together and burned in autumn.

Other Currant and Gooseberry Insects.

There are a number of other insects that occasion-
ally attack these fruits. The stems are sometimes
infested by the Currant Bark -louse (Lecanium ribis)
and the American Currant-borer (Psenocerus superno-
tatus) ; the leaves are attacked by the Currant Span-
worm (Eufitchia ribearia) and various other caterpil-
lars, as well as the Four-striped Plant-bug (Poecilo-
capsus lineatus), and the fruit is liable to injury from
various insects, especially the Currant Fruit-worm
(Eupithecia interruptofasciata), the Currant Fly (Epoch-
ra canadensis) and the Gooseberry Midge (Cecidomyia
grossularife): But these species are rarely sufficiently
numerous to require special remedial treatment.

Summary of Treatment.— About the only regu-
lar treatment currants and gooseberries require is
that of spraying or dusting with hellebore, soon after
the leaves expand, to destroy the Imported Currant
Worm. Stems which at that time show by their
drooping foliage and weak appearance that they are
probably infested by borers, should be cut and burned.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE RASPBERRY AND
BLACKBERRY.

INJURING THE ROOTS.

The Raspberry Root-borer.

Aegeria rubi.
The stems of raspberries and blackberries are
sometimes injured by a whitish caterpillar with six-
teen legs, that bores the root and base of the stem.
This is the Raspberry Root-borer, and the caterpillar
hatches from an egg deposited by a clear-winged
moth upon the cane, a few inches above the soil sur-
face. The larva, after hatching, eats into the center

of the s t a 1 k,
w here it de-
vours the pith,
working down-
ward toward the
root. It spends

Fig. 46. Squash Vine-borer: larva and moth. . .

the winter in the
root, feeding upon its substance, and in spring works
upward again, generally in another cane than the
one in which it descended. A few inches above the
ground it gnaws almost through the stem-wall, leav-
ing the thin outer membrane intact. It then pu-
pates inside the cane, near the partial opening. A
short time later the pupa wriggles through the hole,
bursting the outer membrane, and stops when about

104 INSECTS AFFECTING THE RASPBERRY.

half way out. Then the skin splits open and the
moth comes forth. An idea of the general appear-
ance of the moth and larva may be obtained from
Fig. 46, which represents a closely related insect, the
Squash Vine-borer. Canes attacked by these borers
often wither and die, and the injury is sometimes at-
tributed to ' winter-killing.'

Remedies. — No other remedy than that of cut-
ting out the larvae, or [Hilling up and burning the
infested canes has yet been discovered. Fortunatery
this insect is rarely sufficiently numerous to do serious
injury. It occurs in wild as well as cultivated sorts.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Raspberry Slug.

Selandria rubi.
The Raspberry Slug, or Raspberry Saw-fly, is
a four-winged black fly with a reddish abdomen,
which deposits its eggs during spring in the rasp-
berry leaf. The eggs soon hatch into small, whitish
worms that feed upon the soft tissues of the tender
foliage. In a few weeks they become full grown.
They are then about three-fourths of an inch long,
of a dark green color, and have the body thickly
covered with spinose tubercles. The slugs now
descend to the ground and construct rather firm
cocoons slightly beneath the soil surface. They
remain in these cocoons until the following spring,
when they come forth as adult flies.

INJURING THE CANES. 105

Remedies. — These insects can easily be destroyed
by dusting or spraying the infested bushes with
powdered hellebore. In spraying, use from one-half
to one pound of hellebore to fifty gallons of water.

INJURING THE CANES.

The Raspberry Cane-borer.

Oberea bimaculata.

The adult of this insect is a slender-bodied, black
beetle, with a yellow collar just behind the head. It
appears early in summer, usually during June in
the Northern States, and deposits eggs in the green
canes of raspberries and blackberries. The process
of oviposition is peculiar : the beetle makes two trans-
verse rows of punctures, about half an inch apart, in
the cane, towards the tip, and midway between these
she deposits the egg. The rows of punctures make
up a kind of girdling which causes the tip of the
cane to wither. A short time after the egg is de-
posited, it hatches into a small cylindrical larva that
bores downwards through the pith. By autumn
they have frequently reached the bottom of the cane,
where they change to pupse, and the following June
emerge again as beetles.

Remedies. — Soon after the canes are punctured
by the beetle they wilt : consequently, if they are ex-
amined about midsummer, affected canes can easily
be distinguished, and they should then be cut off
below the lower ring of punctures, and burned. If

106

INSECTS AFFECTING THE RASPBERRY.

the injury is noticed later, the whole cane should be
pulled up and destroyed, to be sure to get the larva.

The Snowy Tree Cricket.

Oecanthus ulceus.
►Serious damage is frequently done in raspberry
plantations by a small, white tree-cricket, which de-
posits its eggs in longitudinal rows in the green
canes. One of these rows as it appears when the
insect has completed its work is
represented at Fig. 47, a, and the
cane split open to show how the
eggs are inserted is shown at b of
the same figure. At c may be
seen one of the elongated, slightly-
curved, yellow eggs, considerably
magnified, with an opaque, granu-
lated cap at the upper end : d is a
more highly magnified view of
this cap. The eggs batch early in
summer into young crickets bear-
ing a general resemblance to the
adults, though without wings.
They feed upon plant-lice and
other insects during their entire
existence, being consequently in
this way friends rather than foes
of the fruit-orower. Bv the latter

Tree-cricket : a, egg punc

part of summer thev become fullv ! ur V s: 6 - canc split opeu

i <- tci sh(i\vegg>: r\ egg, niag-

grown

They are then of a pale, £5&&ed

egg, mag-
d, egg-cap, more

INJURING THE CANES. 107

whitish -green color, about four-fifths of an inch
long, and of the form represented at Fig. 48.
The female cricket deposits her eggs in the ten-
der, growing canes of raspberries, blackberries,
and grapes, and the twigs of maple, willow, catalpa,
and several other species of trees.
The injury thus done often causes the
raspberries to die beyond the punc-
tures, or else the damaged canes
are broken off during the winter.

Remedies. — Trimming out and
burning during foil or winter the
canes containing the eggs is about P
the only practicable remedy known. cncket - Male.

Other Raspberry and Blackberry Insects.

Raspberries and blackberries are subject to attack
by various insects besides those discussed in the
foregoing pages. Certain galls are sometimes found
upon the roots or stems, due when on the roots usu-
ally to the Raspberry-root Gall-fly (Rhodites radicum),
and when on the canes to the Red-necked Agrilus
(Agrilus ruficollis), or to the Blackberry Gall-fly
(Diastrophus nebulosus). The foliage is sometimes
eaten by various caterpillars or beetles, and the
fruit is occasionally infested by the Flea-like Negro-
bug, or the Raspberry Span-worm (Synchlora rubivo-
raria). But these various insects as a rule only do
an incidental injury, and are rarely sufficiently
numerous to require special remedial treatment.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

INJURING THE ROOT.

The Grape Root-borer

Aegeria polistiformis.

The roots of grapes are sometimes found to be
attacked by a whitish, cylindrical caterpillar with
sixteen legs, which bears a strong, general resem-
blance to the Peach-tree Borer. This is the insect
named above. " When full grown," according: to
Dr. Riley, "the larva measures from an inch to an
inch and three-quarters, and it then forms a pod-like
cocoon of a gummy sort of silk, covered with little
bits of wood bark and dirt. Within this cocoon it
becomes a chrysalis which in due time, by aid of
rows of minute teeth with which it is furnished,
works its way out of the cocoon to the surface of the
ground, and gives forth the moth. As with the
Peach-borer, this insect requires a year to develop,
and is found in its different states of larva, chrysalis
and moth, throughout the summer months, and it
doubtless also passes the winter as a larva." The
moth is a wasp-like creature, black, with bright, yel-
low bands across the abdomen.

Remedies. — This insect is rarely seriously injuri-
ous. When a vine shows by its weak or drooping
appearance that it is suffering from an injury at the

INJURING THE ROOT.

109

root, the earth should be dug away and the borers
searched for, as is done with the Peach-borer. It has
been suggested that mounding about the base of the
vine with earth would prevent the deposition of eggs.

The Grape Phylloxera.

Ph ylloxera vasta ti •/./■.

The Grape Phylloxera is the worst insect enemy of

the vineyardist. Its ravages have ruined thousands

of acres of grapes in France and other European

countries, and much damage has been done by it in

Fig. 49. Phylloxera galls on grape leaf.

America. There are two forms of it, one inhabiting
the roots (represented in its various stages at Fig. 51),
and one inhabiting the leaves (Fig. 50) upon which
it forms minute galls (Fig. 49).

110 INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

Entomologists and horticulturists are indebted to
Dr. C. V. Riley for the elucidation of the life-history
of this curious insect, which, in his Seventh Report
as State Entomologist of Missouri, he has summar-
ized as follows : "'It hibernates mostly as a young-
larva torpidly attached to the roots, and so deepened
.in color as generally to be of a dull brassy-brown,
and, therefore, with difficulty perceived, as the roots
are often of the same color. With the renewal of
vine growth in the spring, this larva molts, rapidly
increases in size, and soon commences laying eggs.
These eggs in due time give birth to young, which
soon become virginal, egg-laying mothers, like the
first ; and like them, always remain wingless. Five
or six generations of these parthenogenetic, egg-
bearing, apterous mothers follow each other ; when
— about the middle of July, in this latitude — some
of the individuals begin to acquire wings. These
are all females, and, like the wingless mothers, they
are parthenogenetic. Having issued from the
ground, while in the pupa state, they rise in the air
and spread to new vineyards, where they deliver
themselves of their issue in the form of eggs or egg-
like bodies — usually- two or three in number, and
not exceeding eight — and then perish. These eggs
are of two sizes, the larger about 0.02 inch long, and
the smaller about three-fifths of that length. In the
course of a fortnight they produce the sexual indi-
viduals, the larger ones giving birth to females, the
smaller to males. These sexual individuals are born

INJURING THE EOOT.

Ill

for no other purpose than the reproduction of their
kind, and are without means of flight, or of taking
food, or excreting.

" They are quite active and couple readily, one male
being capable, no doubt, of serving several females :

Fig. 50. Grape Phylloxera, leaf form : a, b, newly hatched nymphs,
dorsal and ventral view ; c, egg ; d, section of gall ; e, swelling of
tendril ; /, g, h, mother of gall-louse, lateral, dorsal and ventral
views ; i, her antenna ;j, two-jointed tarsus. Natural sizes indi-
cated by small dots or figures.

the abdomen of the female, after impregnation, en-
larges somewhat, and she is soon delivered of a soli-
tary egg, which differs from the egg of the partheno-
genetic mother only in becoming somewhat darker.
This impregnated egg gives birth to a young louse
which becomes a virginal, egg-bearing, wingless
mother, and thus recommences the cycle of the spe-
cies' evolution. But one of the most important dis-
coveries of Bolbiana is that, during the latter part of
the season, many of the wingless, hypogean mothers
perform the very same function as the winged ones ;

112

INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

i. e., the}' lay a few eggs which are of two sizes and
which produce males and females, organized and
constructed precisely as those born of the winged
females, and like them producing the solitary im-
pregnated egg. Thus, the interesting fact is estab-
lished that even the winged form is by no means
essential to the perpetuation of the species ; but that,
if all such winged individuals were destroyed as fast
as they issue from the ground, the species could go
on multiplying in a vineyard from year to year.
We have, therefore, the spectacle of an underground
insect possessing the power of continued existence,
even where confined to its subterranean retreats. It

Fig. 51. Grape Phylloxera, root form : a, infested rootlets : b, hiber-
nating larva ; c, <l, antenna and leg of same ; e,f, g, more mature
forms : h, granulations of skin ; i, tubercle ; j, transverse folds at
border of joints ; /.-, simple eyes.

spreads in the wingless state from vine to vine and
from vineyard to vineyard, when these are adjacent,
either through passages in the ground itself, or over

INJURING THE ROOT. 113

the surface. At the same time it is able, in the
winged condition, to migrate to more distant points.
The winged females, as before stated, begin to appear
in July, and continue to issue from the ground until
vine growth ceases in the fall. Yet they are much
more abundant in August than during any other
month, and on certain days may be said to literally
swarm. Every piece of a root a few inches long, and
having rootlets, taken from an infested vine at this
season, will present a goodly proportion of pupae ;
and an ordinary quart preserve jar, filled with such
roots and tightly closed, will furnish daily, for two
or three weeks, a dozen or more of the winged
females, which gather on the sides of the jar toward
the light. We may get some idea, from this fact, of
the immense numbers that disappear through the
air to new fields, from a single acre of infested vines,
in the course of the late summer and fall months.
If to the above account we add that occasionally
individuals abandon their normal underground
habit, and form galls upon the leaves of certain va-
rieties of grape-vine we have, in a general way, the
whole natural history of the species.' 5

Remedies. — In America comparatively little has
been done in a practical way in fighting this insect,
because its injuries here are usually not serious. But
in Europe a great deal has been accomplished in
preventing its injuries. According to Dr. Riley the
means employed there "consist in (1) methods which
avoid the necessity of direct treatment, comprising

114

INSECTS AFFECTING THE GFvAPE.

the use of American stocks and planting in sandy
soils ; (2) the employment of insecticides (bisulphide
of carbon, sulphocarbonate of potassium, and the
kerosene emulsion) ; and (3) submersion."

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Grape-vine Flea-beetle.

Grt iptodera ch alybea.
This is a small, steel-blue beetle (Fig. 52, d) that
is often very destructive to grape-vines. It hiber-
nates as an adult. As soon in spring as the buds
begin to swell the beetles come forth and attack them.

The injury at
this time is
often great,
because the
immature leaf
and fl o w e r
buds are so
easily destroy-
ed. The bee-
tles continue
feeding for
three or four
weeks, during
the latter part
ofthe time de-
Fig. 52. Grape-vine Flea-beetle : a, leaf infested by posi ting Small
larvae; b, larva, magnified ; c, cocoon; d, beetle, ..

magnified. orange-yellow

eargs iii clusters on the under sides of the leaves.

INJURING THE LEAVES. 115

They then die, and in a few days the eggs hatch into
small, dark-colored larvae that feed upon the foliage.
As they grow older they gnaw irregular holes in the
leaves, giving them a ragged and unsightly appear-
ance (Fig. 52, a). When fully grown (three or four
weeks after hatching) they are about three-tenths of
an inch long, brown in color, with six legs, and four
or five black dots on the back of each ring or seg-
ment of the body. The head is black, and there are
numerous hairs on the body. One is shown some-
what magnified at 6, Fig. 52. When fully grown
the larvae leave the vines, and, entering the soil, form
earthen cocoons (c), within which they change to
pupae. A kw weeks later they again transform and
emerge as perfect beetles. These also feed upon the
foliage and lay eggs for a second brood of larvae.

Remedies. — Spraying with Paris green (3 ounces
to 50 gallons water) is probably the best remedy for
this pest. They may also be destroyed by pyreth-
rum or insect powder. On cool mornings the beetles
are quite sluggish, and may be collected by jarring
them on sheets.

The Rose Chafer.

Macrodactylus subspinosus.
This insect has been known for nearly a century
as a serious enemy of the horticulturist. It is dis-
tributed over a large portion of the United States,
but appears to be injurious only in certain localities
where areas of low, sandy bottom-lands offer unusual

116 INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

opportunities for it to multiply. It feeds in the
beetle state upon a very great variety of trees and
plants, often being exceedingly injurious to the flow-
ers or foliage of apples, pears, plums, peaches, roses,
raspberries, blackberries, grapes, and other plants.

The adult Rose Chafer,
Rose Beetle or Rose Bug,
is a hard, brown insect, not
quite half an inch long,
of the form represented
at Fig. 53. c. It makes its
appearance early in sum-
mer, about the time grapes Fig. 53. Rose Chafer: a, larva:. 6,
. , , , pupa; c, beetle. Slightly magnified.

come into blossom, and

feeds upon the flowers, foliage or fruit of the plants
already mentioned. After pairing, the females de-
posit thirty or more eggs an inch or so beneath the
soil surface, preferring for this purpose, according to
Dr. Riley's observations, ' low, open meadow land or
cultivated fields, particularly where the soil is light
and sandy.' In two or three weeks the eggs hatch
into grubs that feed upon the roots of grass, and
possibly other plants, and become fully grown (a) in
autumn. As winter approaches they go deeper into
the soil, coming to the surface again in spring, and
making for themselves rude, earthen cells in which
they change to the pupa state (6). Three or four
weeks later they again change, and the perfect beetle
comes forth. Thus there is but one brood a year.
The insect lives in the beetle state about a month.

INJURING THE LEAVES. 117

Remedies. — There is, perhaps, no fruit insect so
difficult to combat as this. As yet no practicable
method of destroying it in its breeding grounds lias
been found, and the success attending the various
preventives of beetle injury lias been by no means
universal. Spraying or dusting with pyrethrum or
insect powder has been found to stupefy the beetles
temporarily, and will occasionally prove useful in
j^rotecting fruits. A single rose-bush or grape-vine
may be covered with mosquito netting, but of course
this is impracticable on a large scale. Thorough
spraying of grape-vines and fruit-trees with a wash
made by adding three or four pecks of freshly
slaked lime, and a quart of crude carbolic acid to 50
gallons of water, lias been reported by several exten-
sive fruit growers, who have tried it on a large scale,
to be entirely successful, although on the other hand
some who have tried it in a smaller way say it did
little or no good. For the commercial fruit-grower,
however, this seems the most promising remedy. In
parts of Xew Jersey, hand-picking has been resorted
to as the only sure method of extermination, the in-
sects being collected in the cooler hours of the day.

The Spotted Grape-vine Beetle.

Pelidnota punctata.

This insect has been known for years to attack
grape-vines, but it lias rarely been reported to do
really serious injury to them, probably because it
usually is present in such limited numbers that its

118

INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

depredations are insignificant. The larva (Fig. 54, a).
feeds on the decaying roots of various trees, and re-
sembles somewhat the common white grub of mead-
ows — the larva of the May Beetle. Its general color
is whitish,
with the head
chestn u t -
brown. It is
supposed to
ret [ aire three
years to com-
plete its de-
v e 1 o p ment.
When full-
grownitforms
a sort of co-
coon, within
w h i c h it
changes to the chrysalis or pupa state, to emerge
about a fortnight later as an adult beetle.

The general color of the upper surface of the beetle
is a dull yellowish brown, but the thorax is darker,
and somewhat bronzed ; and the under surface is of
a brilliant metallic greenish-black hue. There are
three distinct black dots on each of the wing covers,,
and also one on each side of the thorax. The beetle
usually feeds upon the foliage of wild and cultivated
grape-vines, and also on the Virginia Creeper ; but
sometimes attacks green grapes, biting holes through,
the skin, and so ruining the fruit.

Spotted Grape-vine Beetle

b. pupa: c. beetle.

a. larva ;

INJURING THE LEAVES.

119

Remedies. — The only practical remedy so far
proposed is that of collecting the beetles by hand and
destroying them. As they fly especially just at dusk,
this is the best time for accomplishihg the work.

Grape Sphinx Moths.

The grape forms the favorite food of several spe-
cies of large and handsome sphinx moths. As there
is not space to discuss each of these, we will take the
Achemon Sphinx (Philampelus achemon) as an exam-
ple. The adult of this species (Fig. 55) is one of the

Fig. 55. The Achemon Sphinx.

most beautiful of the hawk moths. It measures
three and a half inches across its expanded wings,
and is brownish-gray in color, with lighter brown
variegations and deeper brown spots arranged on
the front wings, as shown in the figure. The poste-
rior wings are pink, more reddish toward the middle,

120 INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

and having a wide grayish border along the hind
margin, on the front edge of which is a row of dark
spots. These moths make their appearance during
June and July, flying about grape-vines and various

Fig. 56. Pupa of Achemon Sphinx.

flowers at dusk, and depositing their eggs on the un-
der sides of the leaves of grape and Virginia Creeper.
Within a few days these eggs hatch into little larvae
that feed upon the foliage, growing so rapidly that
by September they are nearly four inches long, and
as thick as a man's finger (Fig. 57). At this time
different individuals vary greatly in color, some be-
ing straw-yellow and others reddish-brown. There
are six cream-colored spots along the sides, and nu-
merous little dots scattered over the body. The head

Fig. '<'. Larva of Achemon Sphinx.

and first two body segments are smaller than the
rest, allowing the caterpillar to draw them partially
inside the next one back.

The fully-grown caterpillar descends to the ground,
and entering the soil several inches forms a smooth
oval cell, within which it changes to a dark, shining

INJURING THE LEAVES. 121

brown pupa or chrysalis (Fig. 56). It remains in
this condition until the following year, when it
emerges as a moth again.

The Green Grape-vine Sphinx (Darapsa myron)
and the Pandoras Sphinx (Philampelus pandorus) are
closely related to the Achemon Sphinx, and similar
to it in life - history ^ =^

and habits. All three
species are subject to
the attacks of a small
parasitic fl y, t h a t

Spins Oval COCOOns rig.. vs. Caterpillar with Cocoons of Parasite.

,i i , ,. , t Adult Parasite at right. Latter magnified.

upon the backs ot the

caterpillars, as shown at Fig. 58, which represents the
larva of the Green Grape-vine Sphinx so infested.
The life-history of these little creatures lias already
been described in the Introduction (page 15).
Remedies. — Fortunately these sphinx larvae sel-
dom become sufficiently numerous to do serious in-
jury. They are so conspicuous both on account of
their size and the defoliated condition of the branches
upon which they are at work, that hand-picking is
usually a sufficiently simple and practical remedy.

The Abbot Sphinx.

Thyreus abbotii.

This is a comparatively rare species, and has never

been known to do serious injury in vineyards. The

moth (Fig. 59), a handsome, chocolate-brown insect,.

measuring two and a half inches across the expanded

122

INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

wings, appears in spring, and deposits eggs upon the
grape-vines. The larva soon hatches, and feeds upon
the leaves, becoming fully grown during the latter
part of summer. It is then about two and a half

Fig. 59. Abbot Sphinx: larva and moth.

inches long, yellowish or reddish -brown in color, and
of the form represented in the upper illustration of
Fig. 59. It now descends to the ground, where it
forms a loose cocoon, within which it changes to the
chrysalis state, remaining in that condition until the
following spring, when it emerges as a moth again.
Remedies. — Unless this insect becomes much
more numerous than it has been heretofore, it can
•easily be held in check by a little hand-picking.

The Grape-vine Leaf-hopper.

Typlocyba vitis.
This little insect is frequently called the Grape
Thrips, but its more proper name is the one given

INJURING THE LEAVES. 123

above, as it is not a thrips at all, but a true leaf-
hopper. It is a beautiful little creature, about one-
tenth of an inch long, yellow with bright reel mark-
ings, and of the form represented at Plate III, Fig. 5
(p. 84). " They make their first appearance," says
Dr. Harris, " on the leaves in June, when they are
very small and not provided with wings, being then
in the larva state. During most of the time they
remain perfectly quiet with their beaks thrust into
the leaves, from which they derive their nourishment
by suction. If disturbed, however, they leaj:> from
one leaf to another with great agility. As they in-
crease in size they have occasion frequently to change
their skins, and great numbers of their empty cast-
skins, of a white color, will be found throughout the
summer adhering to the under sides of the leaves,
and upon the ground beneath the vines. When
arrived at maturity, which generally occurs during
the month of August, they are still more agile than
before, making use of their delicate wings as well as
their legs in their motions from place to place ; and
when the leaves are agitated they lea}) and fly from
them in swarms, but soon alight and begin again
their destructive operations. The infested leaves at
length become yellow, sickly, and prematurely dry,
and give to the vine at midsummer the aspect it
naturally assumes on the approach of winter. In
autumn the leaf-hoppers desert the vines, and retire
for shelter during the coming winter beneath fallen
leaves, and among the decayed tufts and roots of

124 INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

grass, where they remain till the following spring,
when they emerge from their winter quarters, deposit
their eggs upon the leaves of the vine, and perish."

Remedies. — If the vines are dusted early in the
season, before the leaf-hoppers have acquired wings,
with pyrethrum (insect powder) or tobacco dust, by
means of some apparatus like Leggett's powder gun,
the pests will be destroyed by the million. This
appears to be the most promising remedy for them.
Some vineyardists catch them on a sheet, saturated
with kerosene or covered with tar, the sheet being
stretched on a frame which is carried along one side
of the row, while somebody goes along the other
side of the vines and frightens the insects toward it.

The Grape-vine Leaf-roller.

Desmia maculalis.
This is a slender, somewhat flattened, yellowish-
green caterpillar, measuring when full grown about
three-quarters of an inch, that rolls the leaves of
grape-vines, fastening the sides together by silken
threads. It hatches from an egg laid on the leaf by
a pretty little dark-brown moth, expanding nearly
an inch, and having several conspicuous white spots
on its wings. The larva usually pupates within the
folded leaf. There are two broods each season, the
first brood of larva? pupating about midsummer, to
emerge as moths shortly afterwards, and the second
pupating in autumn and hibernating as chrysalids.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

125

Remedies. — This insect is seldom sufficiently nu-
merous to require remedial treatment. The larvse
may be crushed within their cases, or the cases picked
off and burned late in autumn, before the leaves fall
off, if they threaten to become seriously destructive.

The Beautiful Wood-nymph.

Eudryas grata.
This is a very handsome insect, both in its imma-
ture and adult stages. The moth (Fig. 60, g) meas-
ures nearly two in-

ches across its ex-
panded front wings,
which are of a glos-
sy creamy - white
color, beautifully
marked with pur-
ple, brown a n d
green. It lays its
eggs (e,f) on the
under side of the
leaves. The larva?
soon hatch and feed
upon the foliage,
developing rapidly, so that by the latter part of sum-
mer they are full grown (a), the body being of a pale
bluish color, crossed by bands and lines of orange
and black. The larva? now leave the vine and seek
some concealed situation in which to pupate. They
pass the winter in the chrysalis state, and emerge
the following spring as moths.

Fig. 60. Beautiful Wood-nymph: a, larva;
e,f, egg, magnified; g, moth.

126

INSECTS AFFECTING THE GKAFE.

Remedies. — This insect is rarely injurious, prob-
ably because it is kept in check by certain parasites.
It can be destroyed, if it should become too numer-
ous, by hand picking, or by spraying or dusting
the infested vines with pyrethrum or hellebore.

INJURING THE FRUIT.

The Grape-berry Moth.

Eudemis botrana.
'Grapes are frequently injured by having their
'substance eaten out by a small, whitish worm that
fastens three or four berries together with silken
threads, and devours the contents of each. This in-
sect is the larva or caterpillar of the Grape-berry
JMoth, a species imported many years ago from Eu-
rope, where it has long been known as an enemy of
the vine. The adult is a small, bluish moth, that
deposits its eggs late in June or early in July. The

Fig. 61. Grape-berry Moth : ", moth; b, larva; d, injured fruit.

very young caterpillar is found within the skin of
the grape, devouring the contents. When it has

INJURING THE FRUIT. 127

'finished one it gnaws its way out and enters a neigh-
boring berry, fastening the two together with silken
threads (Fig. 61, d). In this way three or four
berries are frequently destroyed by a single larva,
which, when fully grown, is about a quarter of an
inch long, of a dull green color tinged with red, and
covered with a few short hairs. It pupates on the
leaf, first cutting out a crescent-shaped flap which it
binds down by means of silken threads, forming a
snug, tight cocoon. About a fortnight later, in
southern latitudes, the moths appear, to lay eggs for
a second brood, which hibernates in the pupa state.

Remedies. — The only remedies as yet.suggested
are those of gathering and burning the fallen leaves
in autumn or early winter, or picking and burning
injured fruit, being sure to get the larva with it.

Other Grape Insects.

The grape is subject to attack by many insects
besides those discussed in the preceding pages. The
roots are sometimes bored by the gigantic larvae of
two species of Prionus — the Broad-necked Prionus
(P. laticollis) and the Tile-horned Prionus (P. imbri-
cornis), but these insects usually infest only grape-
vines planted on new land, and are seldom injurious
in older fields. The branches are attacked by a va-
riety of species, including certain tree-hoppers, the
Maple Bark-louse, the Red-shouldered Sinoxylon (&'.
basilare), and certain gall-making insects. The ene-
mies to the foliage of the grape are legion, and

128

INSECTS AFFECTING THE GRAPE.

include insects of varied habits and natural orders.
The fruit is sometimes injured by the larva of a
small snout-beetle, called the Grape Curculio (Crapon-
ius insequlis), and also by a very minute larva that
occurs inside the seed, the Grape-seed Maggot (Isosoma
vitis). But these insects are seldom really injurious.

Summary of Treatment. — The grape is subject
to attack by so great a variety of insect enemies that
it is difficult to give any general directions for the
season's treatment. It must largely be regulated
according to the insects present. Clean culture,
however, is always advisable, as it lessens the oppor-
tunities for many species to survive the winter-
successfully.

PART III.

INSECTS

AFFECTING SHADE TREES,

ORNAMENTAL PLANTS, and FLOWERS.

A.N.Caudeii.

INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Cecropia Emperor-moth.

Platysamia cecropia.

People are often puzzled during winter over large,

peculiar, grayish-brown cocoons (Fig. 63) that occur

not infrequently on the limbs of maple, apple, pear,

cherry, and a great variety of fruit and shade trees.

. Fig. 62. Cecropia Caterpillar.

These are the cocoons of one of the largest and hand-
somest American insects — the Cecropia Emperor-
moth, illustrated, natural size, at Plate IV. This
moth often measures six or seven inches across the
front wings, the ground color of all the wings being
a grizzled, dusky brown, with the hind margins clay
colored ; near the middle of each wing there is an
opaque, kidney-shaped, dull red spot, having a white
center, and a narrow, black edging, and beyond the
spot there is a wavy, reddish band bordered internally
with white. The fore-wings, next to the shoulders,
.are dull red with a curved, white band, and near

132

INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

the tips of the same is an eye-like black spot within*
a bluish-white crescent. The upper sides of the-
body and the legs are reddish ; the fore part of the

Fig. 63. Cocoon of Cecropia Moth.

thorax, and the hinder edges of the rings of the ab-
domen are white; the under surface of the body is-
checkered with red and white.

The moths come forth from the cocoons in June

and deposit their eggs on
the various kinds of trees
upon which the larvae live.
About a week later the
Fig. 64. cecropia Pupa. eggs hatch into small,

spiny caterpillars, that devour the foliage and rapidly
increase in size. They are very voracious, and reach
maturity late in summer. They are then (Fig. 62),
often over three inches long, as thick as a man's
thumb, and have, along the back, rows of large, coral-
red tubercles. Early in autumn they spin their
silken cocoons, within which they change to dark
brown pupse (Fig. 64), remaining in this condition
until the following summer, when they come forth
as moths to lay eggs for another brood.

INJURING THE LEAVES. 133

There are several species of parasites that prey
upon the Cecropia caterpillars. On this account they
only occasionally become injurious.

Remedies. — By spraying with the arsenites, or
hand-picking the larvae or cocoons, this insect may be
easily checked when it threatens to become destructive.

The White-marked Tussock-moth.

Orgyia leucostigma.

This insect is one of the most destructive leaf-eat-
ing caterpillars, and during recent years has done
much damage in many cities and villages. The
larva feeds upon the foliage of a great variety oJ
fruit and shade trees.

If the trunks or larger limbs of maple, apple, elm,
or am- other of the trees infested by this insect, -be
examined any time in autumn or winter, after the
leaves have fallen, one may find scattered here and
there upon the bark thin gray cocoons, many of
which will be covered with large bunches of spheri-
cal white eggs, fastened together by a protecting

Fig. 65. Caterpillar of White-marked Tussock-moth.

froth-like mass. In May, soon after the loaves come
out, these eggs hatch into small caterpillars, which

134

INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

at once begin eating the foliage about them. They
continue to devour it for six or seven weeks, when
they become full-grown. They are then very hand-
some (Fig. 65) and measure a little over an inch.
The general color is bright yellow. The head and
two tubercle-like projections on the hinder portion
of the back are of a bright, coral-red. There are four
cream-colored tufts of hair along the back. Two
long black plumes project forward from just behind
the sides of the head, and another projects back-
ward from the posterior end of the body. About the
middle of July the caterpillars spin thin, whitish co-
coons upon the rougher bark, and about a fortnight

Fig. 66. White marked Tussock-moth: a, female moth on cocoon ; 6, young
larva hanging by thread ; c, female pupa ; d, male pupa : e, male moth.

later come forth as moths. These lay eggs for a sec-
ond brood, which completes its transformations be-
fore winter sets in. The pupa of the female (Fig.
66, c) is larger than that of the male (d). The male
moth differs greatly from the female moth, the for-
mer being winged (Fig. 66, e), while the latter is
wingless (a). The female crawls upon the top of the
cocoon (a) as soon as she emerges from the pupa

INJURING THE LEAVES.

135

state, where, after mating with the male, she deposits
her eggs in a single mass and dies.

Remedies. — The increase of this insect is greatly
checked by several parasitic enemies, nearly a dozen
species of two-winged and four-winged flies being
known to prey upon it. The caterpillars may be
destroyed by spraying the infested trees with the
arsenites — Paris green or London purple ; or the
egg masses may be picked off the bark in winter.

The Fall Web- worm.

Hyphantria cunea.

The work of few insects is more universally known
than that of the Fall Web-worm. Late in summer
and early in autumn the conspicuous, unsightly webs
of this pest may be seen in nearly every orchard and
hedgerow over a
large portion o f
the United States.
The adult is a
pretty, white moth
(Fig. 67, c), which
deposits eggs on
the leaves of vari-
ous trees early in

d Fig. 67. Fall Web-worm : a, larva; 6, pupa ;

summer. T hese c > motb -

soon hatch into young caterpillars that begin at once
to spin a protective web. The young worms are of
a pale-yellow color, sparsely covered with hairs, and
have a black head and two rows of black marks

136 INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

upon the body. They feed upon the parenchyma of
the foliage, leaving the network of veins, and grow
quite rapidly, enlarging the web as they develop.
By the time they are full grown a single lot of them
will destroy the foliage of a good-sized branch, mak-
ing it very conspicuous on account of the web-like
covering. At this time the larva? are a little more
than an inch long (a), with the body densely clothed
with yellowish hairs. They now leave their nests
and descend to the ground, where just beneath the
surface, or under some suitable shelter above the sur-
faee, they spin slight, silken cocoons within which
they change to the chrysalis state. At the North
there is but one brood each year, but in the Southern
States there are two.

Remedies. The webs of this insect are so con-
spicuous that it is an easy matter to cut them off and
burn or crush the larva?. This is a simple remedy,,
and the earlier it is done the better. The pest
may also be destroyed by spraying with London
purple or Paris green when the larva? are young.

The Imported Elm Leaf-beetle.

Get leru ca xa nthomelsena.

During recent years this insect has been exceed-
ingly destructive in many cities of the Eastern States
to that loveliest of shade trees — the elm. It has
long been known in the Old World, 'having been
especially injurious in France and Germany, and
is supposed to have been imported into America

INJURING THE LEAVES.

137

during the early part of the present century. The
eggs (Fig. 68, a,) are laid on the under side of the
leaf in two or
three rows, each
group consist-
ing of from five
to twenty eggs.
At e in the fig-
ure the y are
shown consid-
erably magni-
fied, and as will
be seen they are
very close to-
gether, and fas-
tened securely
to the leaf. In & l
about a week
the larvae hatch
and begin eat-
ing the leaves,
causing them to
look as if rid-
dled with fine
shot.

become full y /.. beetle; e to k magnified."

grown (g) in two or three weeks, when they descend
to the ground, and, finding some convenient shelter,
change to pupae (,/). Ten days later the perfect
beetles (c, natural size ; k, magnified,) come forth and
eat the leaves, although the damage done by the

1 hey Fig. 68. Elm Leaf-beetle : a, eggs ; b, larvae ; c, beetle ;
all natural size ; e, eggs ; g, larva : j, pupa ;

138 INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

insect in this beetle state is much less than that done
by the young, growing larvae. There are three or
four broods each season, and the beetles pass the
winter in whatever shelter they can find, especially
congregating in hollow trees, and under old leaves.
Remedies. — This pest can be held in check by
spraying with London purple or Paris green (4 ozs.
to 50 gals, water). The application should be made
when the eggs are being laid, in order to kill the
larvae before they have done any damage. The
addition of a little flour to the poison mixture seems
to render it more effective. To reach the tops of
high trees a pump of considerable power is required.
Gould's Double-acting Garden or Fire Engine seems
to be especially adapted for this purpose.

The Bag-worm.

Thyridopteryx ephemerteformis.
The twigs of various deciduous and coniferous
trees are often infested during the winter months by
small bags or sacs (of the form shown at Fig. 69, e)
suspended to the leaves or branches. If one of 'the
larger of these bags be cut open, there will be found
within it a brown, membranous shell (the pupa case
of the moth) filled with many small, yellow eggs (e).
In this condition the Bag-worm or Basket-worm
passes the winter. Late in spring the larvae hatch,
and at once form little cases of fragments of leaves
fastened together by silken threads. Beneath these
cases (g) they feed upon the foliage, enlarging them as

INJURING THE LEAVES.

139

the larvse develop, and during later life using bits of
twigs or steins in their construction, instead of leaf
particles. The full-grown larva is represented in its
bag at /', and without it at a. When fully developed
the worms descend to the earth by means of silken
threads, and crawl about until they reach the bases
of other trees, which they ascend. This is the way
the species migrates. The larvse pupate within the
cases, and about three weeks later change to moths.

Fig. 69. Bag-worm : a, larva: b, maleptipa; c, female moth : d, male
moth ; e, bag and pupa case cut open to show eggs ; /, full-gn iwn
larva with bag; g, young larva? with their conical coverings.

The two sexes of the moths differ greatly, the male
(d ) having well developed wings, while the female
(c) is wingless. The latter deposits her eggs in the
empty pupa case from which she has emerged, and
falls to the ground, where soon afterward she dies.
The Bag-worm feeds upon a great variety of trees,
and apparently prefers coniferous to deciduous sorts.

140 INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

Red Cedar and Arbor Vitse are especially subject to
attack. Its injuries are sometimes very severe on
shade trees in city streets and public parks. There
are several parasitic insects that prey upon the larvae.

Remedies. — The simplest remedy for this insect
is that of spraying with London purple or Paris
green. This should be done in early summer when
the worms are young. Effective work also can be
done, according to Dr. Riley, " during the wintertime
or when the trees are bare. The bags which contain
the hibernating eggs, and which are very easily de-
tected then, may be gathered or pruned and burned.
This work may be so easily done that there is no ex-
cuse for the increase of this species. Where intelli-
gent action is possible, the bags were better collected
and heaped together in some open enclosure away
from trees, rather than burned. By this means most
of the parasites will in time escape, while the young
Bag-worms, which will in time hatch, and which
have feeble traveling power, must needs perish from
inability to reach proper food."

The Green-striped Maple-worm.

Anisota rubicunda.
In many Western States maple trees are regularly
defoliated by a large caterpillar, alternately striped
with light yellowish-green and dark-green, having
two long, black horns on the second segment behind
the head, and other similar but shorter horns on the
posterior segments (Fig. 70, a). This is the Green-

INJURING THE LEAVES.

141

striped Maple-worm. It is the larva of a handsome,
yellowish-pink moth (c), sometimes called the Rosy
Dryocampa. These moths appear early in summer,

Fig. 70. Green-striped Maple-worm: ".larva;
b, pupa ; c, moth.

and lay their eggs on the under sides of the maple
leaves in clusters varying from forty to eighty each.
The larvae hatch in a week or ten days, and feed
upon the foliage, being gregarious at first, but grad-
ually spreading as they grow older. In a few weeks
they become fully developed as larvae, having
moulted four times, when they descend to the
ground, where, just beneath the soil surface, they
change to dark-brown pupae (b). About a fortnight
later they come forth as moths again. These moths,
which usually appear during July or August, lay
eggs for a second brood of larvae that develop during
late summer or early autumn, and pass the winter
as pupae, emerging as moths the following summer.

142

INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

The second brood of larvae are much more numer-
ous, and consequently more destructive, than the first.
Although maple forms the favorite food-plant of the
insect, it is occasionally found upon oaks and a few
other trees. The larvae are preyed upon by various
insectivorous birds, and by several insect parasites.

Remedies. — Spraying with London purple or
Paris green early in the season, just after the worms
hatch, is the most effective remedy for this insect.

The Walnut Caterpillar.

Datana angusii.

The leaves of walnut and butternut trees are fre-
quently eaten during summer by a large, blackish
caterpillar. This is the larva of a good-sized moth
that makes its appearance from the middle of June
to the first of July, and deposits its eggs, seventy to
a hundred in a place, on the under surface of the

Fig. 71. Yellow-necked Apple-worm : a, larva; 6, moth ; c, eggs —
all natural size ; d, egg, magnified.

leaves. In a short time the larva' hatch, and begin
feeding upon the foliage. They increase rapidly in
size, and in a few weeks attract attention on account

INJURING THE LEAVES. 14$

of the defoliated twigs where they have been at work.
They are gregarious in habit, and at the times of
moulting, or casting of the skin, they migrate in a
body to the trunk of the tree, frequently descending;
nearly to its base, and, piling themselves one upon'
another, remain in a solid mass until the process is:
completed. Then they crawl back to the twigs and
begin feeding again. When fully grown as caterpil-
lars, they go to the ground and change to the pupa
state, j\ist beneath the soil surface. Here they re-
main until early the following summer, when they
emerge as moths to lay eggs for another brood.

A fair idea of the appearance of the Walnut Cat-
erpillar and its moth may be obtained from Fig. 71,
which represents a closely-related insect — the Yellow-
necked Apple-tree Caterpillar. When at rest or
alarmed the larva' assume the peculiar position rep-
resented at a. These caterpillars are preyed upon by
certain birds, notably the Blue Jay and Red-headed
Woodpecker, and by various species of insect parasites.

Remedies. — These defoliators may be destroyed
by spraying tljeir food plants with Paris green or
London purple, or the larva) may be crushed when
gathered into heaps on the trunk at moulting time.

The Woolly Maple Bark-louse.

Pulvinaria innumerabilis.
The presence of this insect is manifested in the
spring and early summer by the occurrence upon
the twigs of maple trees, especially on the under side,

144

INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

of a brown, circular, leathery scale, about one-quarter
of an inch in diameter, beneath which is a peculiar,
fluffy, cottony mass (Fig. 72, a). In the spring there
may be found in each of these masses, great numbers
(from 700 to 1,000) of small, white, spherical eggs.
Early in summer these eggs hatch into young lice,
which scatter over the trees, wandering about on the
twigs and leaves for a few days, and, finally, fixing
themselves upon the lower leaf surface, insert their
tiny beaks and suck out the sap. They remain in

Fig. 72. Maple Bark-louse : a, cottony scales on twigs ;

b, back view of scale, magnified ; c, ventral

view of scale, more magnified.

this position several weeks, when a few of them be-
come fully developed winged males. These mate
with the remainder, which are females, and soon die.

INJURING THE BRANCHES. 145

But the females remain upon the leaves until nearly
time for them to fall in autumn, when they desert
them and migrate to the twigs, attaching themselves
by inserting their beaks into the bark. Here they
remain until the following season, the eggs grad-
ually developing and being deposited during spring.
These insects sometimes do great damage to maple
trees. They excrete or secrete a peculiar liquid
which falls upon the leaves, and the ground beneath
the trees, which is sometimes called ' honey dew.'
There are a large number of parasitic and predace-
ous insects that prey upon this species, and suppress
its periodical uprisings.

Remedies. — In cities where a stream of water
from hose connected with water-works is available,
the trees can be largely cleared of the pests by re-
peated drenchings. In the spring before the eggs
hatch, and also while the young lice are crawling
over the tree, soon after hatching, is the best time for
this work. The young lice may also be easily de-
stroyed by spraying with kerosene emulsion. This
should be done in June, soon after they hatch.

The Box-elder Bug.

Leptocor is trivittatus.
In the region west of the Missouri river this insect
is extremely abundant, causing serious injury to the
Box-elder, and occasionally, also, to ash, maple, and
other trees. The adult (Fig. 73) is a dull black bug
about half an inch long, having blood red ocelli, and

146

INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

various red markings on the wings and body. " Dur-
ing the winter," according to Professor E. A. Popenoe,
who has studied the insect carefully, " the adults are
hidden in sheltered nooks and corners everywhere,
but are especially abundant in crevices of stone walls
and angles of stone buildings, on the south sides of
which they appear, singly and in clusters, every
warm day during the season. As soon as the in-
creasing warmth of spring allows, they leave these
shelters and seek the trees attacked by them. The
eggs are laid in creases of the bark,
on the trunk and twigs. After mid-
summer their gregarious tendency is
manifested in the flocking of bugs of
all .sizes and in great numbers, in
lines up and down the trunks and
branches, the company including
larvae of all sizes, pupae, and fully
matured individuals. This habit
persists more or less completely until
October and November, or until the
During the warm days of Indian
bugs fly everywhere, flocking to
the warm sides of the buildings, and entering
houses, where, though otherwise harmless, they be-
come troublesome through their abundance, and
propensity to fall clumsily into pails of water, crocks
of milk, and other articles of food left uncovered."
This insect, like all true bugs, is active during its
entire existence, and gets its food by sucking sap

Fig. 7::
Bug.

trees are bare
summer the

INJURING THE BRANCHES.

147

through a sharp-pointed beak which is inserted into
the bark of the succulent twigs, and also into the
leaves. It has comparatively few natural enemies.
Remedies. — These bugs may easily be destroyed
when gathered in clusters on trees or walls by pour-
ing boiling water, gasoline or kerosene upon them.

INJURING THE BRANCHES.

The Spotted Willow-twig Aphis.

Mdanoxan thus salicis.
The various species of willow are particularly sub-
ject to the attacks of aphides or plant lice. No less

than nine of these insects
have been described as
preying upon them. No
part of the tree, except,
possibly, the root, is ex-
empt from attack, and the
bark and twigs receive the
exclusive attention of at
least five species. Some of
these often become seri-
ously injurious, and more
frequently, perhaps, their
presence is extremely an-

Fig. 74. Spotted Aphis : oviparous . , ,

• female. Magnified. llOVing where they OCCU1'

upon shade or ornamental trees in private grounds
or public parks.

The aphides most commonly found upon willow
twigs belong to the genus Melanoxanthus. Three

148 INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

American species of the genus are known. The
Willow-grove Aphis (M. salicti) is probably the com-
monest in the eastern and middle states. It is very
similar in appearance and habits to the nearly re-
lated Spotted Willow-twig Aphis, represented at Figs.
74 to 76. This insect lives over in the egg state on
the bark of willow twigs. Early in spring the eggs
hatch into young plant-lice which insert their tiny
beaks into the tender bark and suck out the sap.
They grow rapidly, and each one soon becomes the

Fig. 75. Spotted Aphis: winged male. Magnified.

mother of several young aphides. The generation
from the egg are all wingless, but those of the second
generation probably develop into botli winged and
wingless forms, which are also viviparous. Succes-
sive broods continue to appear throughout the entire
summer, all being viviparous, and some having
wings while others lane none. By midsummer they
have often increased so enormously as to cover all
the twigs of infested trees, making them appear

INJURING THE BRANCHES.

149

filthy and unsightly, as well as impairing their
vitality by extracting the sap. A single one of the
aphides hatched from the egg in spring may become
the' ancestor of many millions before autumn. But
in October a true sexed generation develops, the
males being winged and the females wingless. By
the union of these two the true eggs are obtained.
The wingless forms, whether viviparous or ovipa-
rous, do not differ materially in appearance. The
oviparous, or egg-laying, form is' represented at Fig.
74 : it is about one-fifth of an inch long, bluish-
black in color, with a glaucous bloom. It has a
distinct white longitudinal line along the middle of

Fig. 76. Spotted Aphis: a, egg, magnified ; b, oviparous females
depositing eggs.

the back, and a row of white spots along each side.
The cornicles, or honey -tubes, are bright orange yel-
low. The male (Fig. 75) is one-fifth of an inch long,
with a wing expanse of one-third of an inch. The

150

INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TKEES.

body is bluish-black, with the wings transparent and
their veins yellowish-brown.

The oviparous females congregate for the purpose
of depositing their eggs in one or a few places on the
tree, where they cover the bark with them (Fig. 76).
The egg (a) is about one-twentieth of an inch long
and oval in form; when first laid it is covered with
a liquid which on exjiosure to the air dries into a
thin, grayish, irregular covering, suggestive of felt.

Remedies. — Spray with kerosene emulsion ; cut
off and burn the limbs on which the eggs are laid.

The Toothed Willow Aphis.

Lachnus dentatus.
This is the largest of the aphides affecting the
willow, being in fact one of the largest known species

Fig. 77. Toothed Willow Aphis, viviparous female : a, side view; 6, back view. Magnified

of this family. The wingless forms are one-fourth
of an inch Ions;. Its life-history is much like that of

INJURING THE BRANCHES.

151

the Spotted Willow Aphis described above, except
that it prefers the trunk and larger limbs to the
twigs. The sexed individuals appear in autumn,
and the eggs are probably laid upon the bark. The
species is characterized by a large tooth-like tubercle
on the middle of the back of the abdomen (Fig. 77).
Remedies. — A strong kerosene emulsion sprayed
upon the bark will destroy these creatures.

The White Pine Aphis.

Lachnus strobi.

This insect is a widely distributed species, and on
account of its egg-laying habits it is liable to be in-
troduced everywhere with pine trees from nurseries.
It frequently becomes so numerous as to do serious
injury to White Pines in ornamental grounds.

Like most plant-lice, this species reproduces vivi-
parously, or by giving birth to living young, during
the summer, but on the ap-
proach of cold weather the
sexual individuals are pro-
duced. During October these
are usually the only forms
present, the oviparous f e -
males being congregated in
great numbers upon the bark
of the smaller branches, with
their heads nearly always
directed towards the trunk
of the tree. When disturbed

, -i , • i. Fig. 78. White Pine Aphis :

they move about rapidly, oviparous female. Magnified.

152

INSECTS AFFECTING SHADE TREES.

usually attempting to conceal themselves on the other
side of the branch. At such times they also have a
curious habit of waving their long hind-legs in the
air, probably for the purpose of frightening away
predaceous or parasitic enemies.

Fig. 79. White Pine Aphis: winged male. Magnified.

The oviparous female is represented, much mag-
nified, at Fig. 78. It is nearly one-fifth of an inch
long, shining black, more or less tinged with brown,
and ornamented with spots and stripes of white.
The wingless viviparous females do not differ essen-
tially from this form. The winged male (Fig. 79)
is about one eighth of an inch lone:, with a wine: ex-
pause of a quarter of an inch. It is blackish, with
a slight glaucous bloom, and a whitish longitudinal
line along the middle of the back. The wings are
subhyaline, with the veins dark-brown, and the
stigma almost black. The antennas and legs are
quite hairy.

INJURING THE BRANCHES.

15:5

The eggs are deposited during October and No-
vember, on the leaflets, in rows, as represented at
Fig. 80. Each egg is not quite one-tenth of an inch

Fig. 80. White Pine Aphis: «, eggs on pine leaf, natural size :
6, single egg, magnified.

long, elongate-oval, brownish when first laid, but
becoming black in a short. time.

Remedies. — Kerosene emulsion is the most effec-
tive insecticide with which to combat this insect. It
should be sprayed upon the infested trees early in
the season, before the aphides become too abundant.
The best time to apply it would be just after the
young lice hatch from the eggs; they are then very
tender and easily killed.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE ROSE.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Rose Slug.

Selandria rosss.

This insect is familiar to most lovers of the queen
of flowers, and is justly dreaded on account of its
serious injuries. But no one should allow it to pre-
vent the planting and enjoyment of roses, for it is
easy to keep the pest in check.

The Rose Slug is the young or larva of a four-
winged saw-fly, related to the parent of the Pear-tree
Slug and the Imported Currant Worm. It bears a
general resemblance to the fly shown at Fig. 81,
which represents the adult of the Pear-tree Slug.
The larvas shown in the figure will also serve to
illustrate the appearance and mode of work of the
Rose Slug. According to Dr. Harris, the parent
saw-flies, in the latitude of Massachusetts, " come out
the ground at various times between the 20th of
May and the middle of June, during which season
they pair and lay their eggs. The females when
• about to lay their eggs turn a little to .one side,
unsheath their saws, and thrust them obliquely into
the skin of the leaf, depositing in each incision thus
made, a single egg. The young begin to hatch in
ten days or a fortnight after the eggs are laid. The
period of their existence in the caterpillar state prob-
ably does not exceed three weeks. They have a

INJURING THE LEAVES.

155

small, round, yellowish head, with a black dot on
each side of it, and are provided with twenty -two^
short legs. The body is green above, paler at the
sides, and is soft and almost transparent, like jelly.
The skin of the back is transversely wrinkled, and
covered with minute elevated points ; and there are

Fig. 81. Pear-tree Slug : fly and larvae.

two small, triple-pointed warts on the edge of the
first ring, immediately behind the head. These gel-
atinous and sluggish creatures eat the upper surface
of the leaf in large, irregular patches, leaving the
veins and skin beneath untouched ; and they are
sometimes so thick that not a leaf on the bushes is
spared by them, and the whole foliage looks as if it
had been scorched by tire and drops off soon after-
wards. They cast their skins several times, leaving
them extended and fastened to the leaves ; and after
the last moulting they lose their semi-transparent
and greenish color, and acquire an opaque, yellowish
hue. They then leave the bushes, and burrow an
inch or more in the earth, where each one makes for
itself a small, oval cell of grains of earth, cemented
with a little gummy silk." They remain in these
pupa cells until the following season, when they
emerge as flies.

156

INSECTS AFFECTING THE EOSE.

Remedies. — In cities where a stream of water
from a sprinkling hose is always available, the simp-
lest plan of keeping these pests away is to spray the
bushes forcibly every clay or two, to frighten away
the flies ai id wash off th e larvae. If this process is gone
through with sufficient force and thoroughness, it is
the neatesl and best remedy. The slugs also maybe
easily killed by spraying or dusting the infested
bushes with hellebore or insect powder.

The Rose Leaf-hopper.

Typhlocyba rosss.

Owners of rose bushes are frequently annoyed by
finding the lower sides of the leaves covered with a
small white insect that sucks
out the cell contents and
gives the upper surfaces a
peculiar white - spotted ap-
pearance (Fig. 82). This is
the Rose Leaf-hopper, a spe-
cies that has been known to
injure these lovely ornamen-
tal plants for nearly a cen-
tury. The adult, shown con-
siderably magnified at Fig.
83, a, is a little more than one-
tenth of an inch long, with a yellowish-white body,
and white, semi-transparent wing-covers. In com-
mon with other leaf-hoppers this insect has long-

Fig. 82. Rose leaf injured by
leaf-hoppers.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

157

hind legs, by means of which it is enabled to make

tremendously long leaps when disturbed. The fully

grown nymph (/>) is

also whitish, and its

back is well protected

by numerous long

spinous hairs. There

are said to be several

broods each season J

Remedies. — These
little pests are much
easier to destroy be-
fore they are fully
developed than afterwards

3. Rose Leal-hopper : a, adult ;
6, pupa. Magnified.

Spraying or dusting the

infested plants with pyrethrum, or insect powder,
is a simple and efficient remedy. Tobacco, in the
form either of a powder or a decoction, is also good ;
and kerosene emulsion will destroy the pests.

INSECTS AFFECTING FLOWERS IN THE WIN-
DOW-GARDEN AND GREEN-HOUSE.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

Plant-lice or Aphides.

There are many different species of aphides, plant-
lice, or " green flies," affecting the various flowering
plants. But all are quite similar in life-history and
habits, and the same remedies apply to each. They
all multiply with marvellous rapidity on account of

their habit of giv-
ing birth to living
young without the
presence of male
1 — 3pH^ aphides. They
mature rapidly,
and obtain food
by inserting their
pointed beaks into
the stem or leaf,
and sucking out the sap. There are generally two
forms of them, one being winged (Fig. S3, b, c) and
the other wingless (a). These insects are the com-
monest pests of flowering plants.

Remedies. — Tobacco is the great specific for these
insects. It may be used in various forms, but gener-
ally the most satisfactory form is that of the refuse

... «r- • CC
Fig. 83. Aphis : a, wingless form, magnified
b, winged form, magnified ; c, same,
natural size.

INJURING THE LEAVES. 159

powder of the cigar factories. This should be used
freely as a mulch for low-growing plants, such as the
daisy ; and if blown upon infested plants, having first
sprayed them with water, by means of a powder-
bellows or Leggett's powder-gun, it will clear them
readily. In green-houses tobacco steins are com-
monly used to smoke the plants. A few live coals
are put upon a shovel, or into a metal bucket, and
refuse tobacco stems are laid upon them. The house
is then tightly closed and the smoke allowed to re-
main several hours. The greatest objection to this-
method is that tender plants are liable to be seriously
injured by an over-dose of the smoke. The tobacco-
may also be used in the form of a decoction, made
by pouring hot water on the stems, allowing it to
cool, and then drawing off the liquid. This may be
sprayed upon the plants, or, where not too large, the
plants may be dipped into the liquid. For window-
gardens this is perhaps as satisfactory a method as
can be suggested.

The Red Spider.

Tetranychus telarius.
Green-house plants are often seriously injured by
multitudes of very minute reddish mites that con-
gregate on the lower leaf surface, spinning a very
fine protective web, and sucking out the juices of the
plants through their infinitesimal beaks. These
little creatures are commonly called Red Spiders.
They are distantly related to ordinary spiders, and

160 INSECTS AFFECTING FLOWERS.

like them have, when fully developed, four pairs of
legs. They multiply beneath their silken webs,
where one may find colonies of individuals (so small
as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye) in all
stages of existence. The young have but three pairs
of legs. The egg is very small and spherical, being
nearly colorless. The infested leaves assume a yel-
lowish hue, and many of them finally drop off.

Remedies. — The Red Spider flourishes best in a
dry atmosphere. It is seldom troublesome in green-
houses where the air is kept saturated with moisture
and the plants are sprayed with water every day.
In window-gardens the plants should be sprayed
with soap suds, tobacco decoction or kerosene emul-
sion, or dusted with fine tobacco powder, as soon as
they show signs of the presence of this pest.

Mealy-bugs and Scale-lice.

Mealy-bugs are among the commonest and most
vexatious green-house pests. They occur upon a
great variety of plants, and reproduce freely through-
out the year. There are two or three species com-
monly found in this country, the most destructive,
perhaps, being the species called by entomologists
Dactylopius adonidum, which is distinguished by two
long, white, cottony threads extending backward
from the last segment of the abdomen. Another
common species is called Dactylojyius destructor.

Mealy Bugs derive their oommon name from a
peculiar yellowish-white substance, resembling flour

INJURING THE LEAVES. 161

or meal, which they throw out from numerous minute
pores along the sides of their bodies. This serves
both as a protection from enemies, and also as a place
of concealment for the eggs of the insects.

Woody green-house plants, such as the Oleander,
Orange, Abutilon, etc., are also often infested with
scale insects that occur upon the stems, sucking out
the sap and so absorbing the vitality of the plants.
These belong to the same family of insects as the
mealy-bugs, to which they bear a general resem-
blance in life-history and habits.

Remedies. — When a plant is once badly infested
with either of these j)ests it can be cleared only by
thorough and careful work. As many should be
rubbed or brushed off by hand as possible, and then
the plant may be sprayed with kerosene emulsion,
which, however, should be used with caution on the
more tender varieties of greenhouse plants. It is
not necessary to treat the whole plant, but only the
parts infested by the insect. In case only a few
mealy-bugs are present they may be killed by dip-
ping a small brush in alcohol and then saturating
the colonies of the insect with it. Or the affected
part of the plant may be washed with a forcible
stream of water till all signs of the insects or their
eggs are removed. Professor Comstock reports an
experiment in which equal parts of smoking tobacco
and flowers of sulphur were ground together in a
mortar until thoroughly mixed, and the compound
thus formed was dusted over wet infested plants, and
the mealy bugs destroyed.

162

INSECTS AFFECTING FLOWERS.

Out of doors, and to a certain extent in the green-
house also, these mealy bugs and scale insects have
various natural enemies to contend with. Chief
among these are the little lady bugs (a common spe-
cies of which is represented, much magnified, in the
cut below), and certain parasitic flies.

PART IV.

INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETABLES.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE TOMATO.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Tomato Worm.

Ph legeth ontius celens.
This insect in its larval state is familiar to every
one who has owned a garden. The moths, which
belong to the handsome Sphinx family, appear early
in summer, and fly about just at dusk, sipping the
nectar from various flowers through their long
tongues or sucking tubes. Their general appearance
is well illustrated at Plate V. The ground color of
the body and wings is gray, and there are various
dots and stripes of different shades. On each side of
the abdomen are five orange-colored spots. The
female moths lay the eggs in the evening on tomato
plants, where they soon hatch into green worms that
feed voraciously on the foliage. These caterpillars
grow rapidly, and in a few weeks become three inches
long and nearly as thick as a man's finger. They
are light green, with several oblique, whitish stripes
along each side of the body : sometimes brown
specimens are found. Early in September, in the
Northern States, these caterpillars complete their
larval growth, and burrow into the ground some
distance, where they form oval cells in the soil, shed
their larval skins, and change to pupae. The pupa

166 INSECTS AFFECTING THE TOMATO.

or chrysalis (Fig. 85) is of chestnut-brown color, with
a long and slender tongue case bent over like the
handle of a jug. They remain in this state until
the following summer, when the} 7 come forth as

85. Pupa of Tomato Worm.

moths. Besides the leaves, the caterpillars often feed
upon the green fruit of the tomato, as well as upon
the foliage of the potato and tobacco. '

There is another species similar to this one, and
often confounded with it. The life-history and
habits of the two are much alike. The moth of the
other one is called the Carolina Sphinx (PJdegcthon-
tius Carolina). In the Southern States, and even as
far north as central Ohio, there are two broods each
season.

The Tomato Worm is subject to the attacks of a
small, four-winged, black fly that deposits eggs be-
neath its skin along the back. The eggs hatch into
little maggots that absorb the body juices of the
worm, developing at its expense, and, finally coming-
out upon its back, where they spin white, silken
cocoons (Fig. 86), within which they change to pupae.
Shortly afterward they again change to flies that
gnaw out of the cocoons and fly away to continue
the work of destruction. The caterpillar lingers
awhile in a half dead condition, and finally dies.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

167

Remedies. — Hand-picking the worms is the most
effective remedy for garden patches. Their depre-
dations are so conspicuous that it is generally easy to
find them. The moths may be destroyed (and conse-
quently the deposition of eggs prevented) by smear-
ing flat boards in various parts of the field with

Fig, 86. Tomato Worm with cocoons of parasite.

molasses mixed with stale beer, to which a little fly
poison has been added. The boards should be a foot
or two from the ground. Another method which is
especially recommended for killing the moths in
tobacco fields, is to plant at occasional intervals in the
field seed of Jamestown Weed (Datura stramonium)
about the time the tobacco is put out. These will
come in blossom when the moths appear. If a little
fly poison, mixed with sweetened water and whisky,
be poured in the long blossoms each evening, the
moths that sip the liquid will be killed.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE POTATO.

INJURING THE STEM.

The Potato Stalk-weevil.

Trichobaris trinotata.

Potato stems are sometimes infested by a whitish
or yellowish-white, footless grub, about a quarter of
an inch long, which burrows in the heart of the
stalk, especially near the ground, and causes the
plant to wilt and die. This is the larva of a small,
grayish snout-beetle, called the Potato Stalk-weevil,
the females of which deposit their eggs, singly, in a
slit made for the purpose in the stem, slightly above
the soil surface. In a few days the egg hatches into
a little grub that burrows down the center of the
stem toward the root. A few weeks later, still
within the stalk and slightly below the surface of the
ground, the larva pupates, and late in summer or
early in autumn it emerges as an adult weevil. This
weevil passes the winter under whatever protective
covering it may find, and the following season starts
another generation by depositing its eggs in the
potato stalks.

The injuries of this insect are sometimes quite
severe. In Iowa, during the season of 1890, Profes-
sor C. P. Gillette estimated that 75 per cent, of the
potato plants were infested by it. It is a widety dis-
tributed species.

INJURING THE LEAVES. 169

Remedies. — According to Professor Gillette, " the
-only remedy at present known is to pull the vines
as soon as they are found wilting and burn them.
If the tops are left until it is time to dig the potatoes
many of the beetles will have matured and escaped,
and these will live over winter and lav eggs for an-
other brood." But even late pulling and burning
will destroy many of the pests, and in regions where
this insect is known to be at work, the vines should
be burned when pulled up in harvesting the crop.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Colorado Potato-beetle.

Doryphora decemlineata.

This insect originally lived upon a wild variety of
Solanum (the genus to which the cultivated potato
belongs) in the West, near the base of the Rocky
Mountains. It was not known as an injurious spe-
cies until about 1860, when it attacked potatoes in
the gardens of settlers in Kansas and neighboring
states, and thereafter gradually spread eastward
until it finally reached the Atlantic coast, and was
carried across to Europe, becoming extremely destruc-
tive wherever it appeared.

The adult Colorado Potato-beetle (Fig. 87, d) is
too familiar to American gardeners to need descrip-
tion here. Its orange-colored eggs (a) are deposited
in masses, varying in number from a .dozen to fifty

170

INSECTS AFFECTING THE POTATO.

or more, on the under surface of the potato leaf, and
occasionally also upon the leaves of grass, smart-
weed, or other plants in the potato field. They
hatch about a week later into peculiar little grubs
(b) that feed upon the foliage a few weeks. They

Fig. sT. Colorado Potato-beetle: a, a, eggs; 6, 6, larvae; c, pupa; d, d, bee-
tles : e, wing of beetle, magnified.

then descend to the ground, where just beneath the
soil surface, or under rubbish above it, they change
to pupa? (c). About ten days later they emerge as
perfect beetles. There are from two to four annual
broods, the number varying with the latitude ; and
the insect hibernates in the beetle state.

Like most other insects, the Colorado Potato-beetle
fluctuates greatly in numbers and destructiveness.
In any given locality it will be very destructive for
a period of years, and then there may be several
seasons when its injuries will hardly be noticed.

INJURING THE LEAVES. 171

This oscillation is probably due to the various
natural enemies of the insect.

Remedies. — The standard remedy for this pest is
that of spraying or dusting with some form of arsenic,
such as London purple, Paris green, Slug Shot, Per-
oxide of Silicates, etc. All of these take effect, both
upon the larvae and beetles. London purple or Paris
green may be dusted or sprayed on with a perforated
can or a powder-gun, or spraying machine. If used
as a powder, the poison may wpII be diluted with
several times its bulk of plaster, finely sifted ashes,
or flour. In spraying use six or seven ounces of
London purple or Paris green to fifty gallons of
water. For this purpose London purple seems prefer-
able on account of its cheapness and finely powdered
condition. The application should be made as soon
as the beetles appear, in order to kill off the first
brood, and it must be repeated as often during the
season as is necessary to keep the pests in check.
By many growers hand-picking of the beetles and
eggs, especially early in the season, is resorted to in-
stead of the use of poisons. This method is effective
if thoroughly carried out.

The Striped Blister-beetle.

Epicauta vittata.

This insect is sometimes called the Old-fashioned
Potato-beetle, because it was known as " The Potato-
beetle " before the introduction of the more modern,
as well as more destructive, Colorado species. It is

172 INSECTS AFFECTING THE POTATO.

a foe to the farmer only in its adult condition, for as
-a larva it feeds upon the eggs of various grasshop-
pers, forming one of the most efficient natural checks
upon the increase of these pests. The adult blister-
beetle (Fig. 88) is a slender-bodied, rather long-
legged insect, measuring from one-half to three-
fourths of an inch in length, with alternate stripes
■ j of black and yellowish-brown upon the
back. It feeds voraciously on the leaves
of potatoes and various other vegetables.
These beetles are generally gregarious,
feeding in good-sized flocks, and when
f disturbed take to flight readily. The fe-
strFpeci S Biis- ma l es deposit their small eggs in masses
tor-beetie. Q f a hundred or more, in the soil just be-
low the surface. In about ten days the eggs hatch
into curious little larva? that burrow through the
earth in search of the eggs of grasshoppers. A large
proportion of them probably perish because they can
find none, but those that are successful feed upon the
eggs and go through a curious series of changes,
which have been admirably described by Dr. Riley,
finally going into the pupa state and emerging later
on as beetles. In the South there are apparently
two broods each season. On account of the depend-
ence of the larvae upon grasshopper eggs, the beetles
are much more likely to be destructively numerous
during seasons following those in which grasshoppers
have been abundant.

There are several other species of blister-beetles
with habits similar to this one, that are frequently

INJURING THE LEAVES. 173

found upon potatoes. The commonest is probably
the Black Blister-beetle (Epicauta pennsyfoanica).

Remedies. — It is sometimes stated that these in-
sects are not destroyed by eating Paris green, but
this is doubtless a mistake. The application of this
substance, however, seems often to be of no avail,
probably either because it does not act immediately
upon the beetles, or else because they continue to in-
vade the field from the outside. A few years ago a
favorite method of destroying them was to drive the
flocks of beetles upon loos'e hay or straw spread upon
the ground near where they are at work, and then
burn the hay, lighting it at several different places,,
so that it will burn rapidly. Hand picking can
often be resorted to advantageously It is doubtful
policy, however, to destroy these insects except
when they threaten to do serious damage, because of
the grasshopper-egg feeding habits of the larvae.

The Imbricated Snout-beetle.

Epicserus imbricatus.

This is a small beetle about half an inch long,
silvery white in general color, with various darker
markings upon its back, of the form represented at
Fig. 89. It feeds upon a great variety of vegetation,
from the twigs and fruit of apple, cherry and goose-
berry to the leaves and stems of onion, radish, melon,
beans, beets, corn and potato. It often does very

174

INSECTS AFFECTING THE POTATO.

serious injury in the vegetable garden, but notwith-
standing its commonness and destruct-
iveness, its life-history as yet has not
been traced. Professor Forbes has found
the eggs deposited between pear leaves
fastened together, and Dr. Riley has
conjectured that the larvae will be found
to feed externally on the roots of one or

Fig. 89. imbrica- more of the food-plants of the beetle.

ted Snout- bee- .

tie. Magnified. When alarmed the beetles feign death,
resembling in this respect the Plum Curculio, and
fall to the ground.

Remedies. — When these insects infest plants to
which Paris green or London purple can safely be
applied, the potato for example, they may easily be
destroyed by such applications.

INSECTS AFFECTING CELERY, PARSNIP AND
CARROT.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Celery Caterpillar.

Papilio asterias.
The life-history of this insect has been discussed
at some length in the Introduction (pages 9-11) in
connection with Plate I, where its different stages are
illustrated. The larvae are handsome and quite con-
spicuous, and feed upon the foliage of the various
members of the parsley family, including the carrot,
•celery, parsnip, etc., sometimes doing considerable
injury when left unmolested. The caterpillars often
become the victims of certain parasitic insects, but it
is said that neither birds nor domestic fowls will eat
them, probably because of the disagreeable odor
emitted from the peculiar yellow horns situated on
the body, just behind the head. The adult butterfly
is one of the most beautiful as well as one of the
-commonest of its family.

Remedies. — When young these caterpillars may
be destroyed by dusting them with insect powder or
buhach. Ordinarily, however, they are not so abun-
dant but that a little hand-picking will readily hold
them in check.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE SQUASH, MELON
AND CUCUMBER.

INJURING THE ROOT.

The Squash- vine Borer.

Aegeria cucurbit;/ .
The roots and stems of cucurbitaceous plants are
frequently infested with a whitish larva that feeds
upon their inner substance, often doing so serious a
damage as to cause the plant to wilt and die. The
parent of this Squash-vine Borer is one of the Aege-
rian moths, several kinds of which are represented
at Plate II (p. 28).
It is a handsome
insect (Fig. 90),
about half an
inch long, with

an Orange-Colored Fig. 90. Squash Vine-borer: larva and moth.

body ornamented by several black spots upon the
back, and having olive-brown front wings and trans-
parent hind ones. Eggs are deposited by this moth
upon the stems of the young plants near the roots,
and the larvae resulting burrow into the center and
feed upon the succulent interior. They remain here
several weeks, gradually increasing in size. Toward
the end of summer they become full grown (Fig. 90),.
when they measure about an inch in length, and are
whitish with brown heads. They now leave the-

INJURING THE LEAVES. 177

stem or root and form cocoons in the earth by fasten-
ing particles of soil together with their gummy silk.
They then change to pupse, and remain thus until
the following season, when they emerge as moths.

Remedies. — The remedy most generally recom-
mended is that of cutting out the borers with a sharp
knife as soon as their presence is suspected. It is
well to cover over sections of the stems at different
places to induce them to take root at various joints,
so that if the main root is injured the plant can
continue to grow from these additional roots. It
is claimed by some that the injuries of the insect
can be prevented by occasionally sprinkling, or
dusting, the stems near the base, with Paris green.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Cucumber Flea-beetle.

Chrpidodera cucumcris.
This is a small, blackish, punctate beetle (Fig. 91),.
about one-sixteenth of an inch long, with yellowish
antennae and legs, that appears early in
spring, and as soon as the squash or cu-
cumber plants are up, attacks them, eat-
ing off small, round patches of paren-
chyma from the upper surface of the
leaves. Like all flea-beetles, they are Fig. 91.

., ,• 1 • ti'i t Flea-beetle.

quite active, hopping readily when dis- Magnified.
turbed. The larva? are said to mine the leaves.
11

178 INSECTS AFFECTING THE SQUASH.

The insect does not confine itself to squashes and
cucumbers, but feeds upon a great variety of other
plants.

Remedies. — Powdered tobacco has been found to
be the best preventive of the injuries of flea-beetles.
When used against the Striped Cucumber-beetle, it
will take effect upon the present pest as well.

The Squash Bug-.

Anasa tristis.
The Squash Bug is too familiar to gardeners to
need a detailed description here. It is a rusty -black,
flattened bug, about half an inch long, with the
under side ochre-yellow, and has a very repulsive
* buggy ' odor. This insect winters over as an adult,
beneath boards, logs, leaves, or other protective cov-
■ering, and appears in the squash patch late in spring
or early in summer. The females then deposit their
brownish-yellow, spherical eggs on the under sides
•of the leaves in patches varying from three or four
to a score or more. In a few days the young bugs,
or nymphs, hatch, and insert their pointed beaks
into the leaf and suck out the sap. At first they are
more or less gregarious, the bugs from a single lot of
eggs feeding together, but as they grow older they
gradually disperse over the plants, casting their skins
occasionally during their development. Like all
true bugs, the transformations of this species are in-
complete. The young bear a general resemblance
to the adults, and the insect remains active in the
stage corresponding to that of the pupa. Leaves

INJURING THE LEAVES.

179

attacked by the bugs become sickly and yellow, and
if the pests are numerous the whole plant may
finally be killed.

Remedies. — Hand-picking appears to be the most
practicable remedy that has yet been tried. This
should be done during the cooler hours of the day,
when the bugs are sluggish. The young may also
be destroyed by spraying with kerosene emulsion.
Professor Cook reports good success in placing pieces
of boards among the plants, under which the bugs
collect at night, and where they may easily be found
and destroyed.

The Striped Cucumber Beetle.

Diabrotica vittata.
This is the small, yellow beetle (Fig. 92, b) with
black stripes on its back that so commonly attacks
squashes, cucumbers, melons, and other cucurbitace-

ous plants, soon after
they come up in the
spring. It feeds up-
on the leaves and
stems, and in many
parts of the country
is s o destructive
that these plants can
not be grown unless
preventive measures
are taken to guard
against its injuries. The female beetles deposit eggs

92. Cucumber Beetle : a, larva; 6, beetle.
Magnified.

180 INSECTS AFFECTING THE SQUASH.

in the soil about the stems of the plants, and the
larvae resulting feed upon the roots. They reach
maturity in a couple of months, having pupated
within the soil. The larvae (Fig. 92, a) are whitish,
cylindrical worms, not quite half an inch long, with
three pairs of legs at the front of the body, and one
pro-leg at the posterior extremity. The insect winters
over in the beetle state, under leaves, logs, and rub-
bish of various kinds.

The beetles usually appear suddenly, often coming
to the squash or melon field in great numbers within
a few hours. Consequently a watch must be kept
to prevent their doing damage before discovered.

Remedies. — There are probably few injurious in-
sects for which more remedies and preventives have
been suggested than this. But a large proportion of
these methods are worthless. Good success has been
obtained by applying liberal quantities of refuse -
tobacco powder to the hills. A shovel-full thrown
upon the hills has been found largely to prevent the
damage. The application should be repeated occa-
sionally, when wind and rain have removed the
powder from the plants. The tobacco acts not only
as a repellent to the beetles, but also as a mulch and
fertilizer to the plants. Similar, though less liberal,
applications of phosphates, bone dust, and other
commercial fertilizers, are also recommended by
some authorities.

For the kitchen garden the most satisfactory
method is that of protecting the plants by some form

INJURING THE LEAVES.

181

Fig. 93. Vine Protector.

of gauze netting. A simple method of doing this is
illustrated at Fig. 93. The
ends of half a barrel hoop
are placed in the earth at
the sides of the hill, and a
.square strip of thin plant
cloth or cheese cloth is then
laid over it, the cloth being-
drawn taut, and the edges covered with loose earth.
This excludes the beetles, and at the same time per-
mits access of air, moisture, and sunshine. Squash
plants are able to grow until they get four or five
leaves, and cucumbers and melons even more, before
they are crippled by contact with the cloth. Wire
may be substituted for the half barrel hoop. A single
piece may be used, or two may be crossed like the
center arch of a croquet ground, as represented at

Fig. 94. Good results are
also obtained by simply plac-
ing the cloth over the plants
without any support, and cov-
ering the edges as described.
By loosening the cloth occasionally, the plant will
lift it, and get several leaves before it need be re-
moved. A modification of this method, which has
been successfully used, consists of two end boards
one-half inch thick, about fifteen inches long by six
or eight inches wide. On the middle of each of
these is nailed a piece of pointed lath at right angles
to the long way of the board. The lower end of

Fig. 94. Vine Protector.

182 INSECTS AFFECTING THE SQUASH.

each lath projects below the edge of the board, and
is stuck in the ground a few inches. Before the lath
are put on, the end pieces are connected with each
other by a piece of plant cloth about 16 x 27 inches r
the ends being tacked to the top and sides of the
boards. This protector has many advantages. It can
be stored in very little space. When it is desired to
cultivate the hills, it is only necessary to pull up one
end, stir the earth, and put the end back in position.
Gauze covered wooden frames are sometimes
recommended to prevent the injuries of this insect,
but they are objectionable because they exclude a
great deal of air and sunshine, causing the plants to
grow tall and slender, rather than short and stocky.

The Twelve- spotted Cucumber Beetle.

Diabrotica 12-punctata.

This insect is similar in appear-
ance and habits to the one treated
of last, the adult (Fig. 95) having
twelve black spots upon a yellow
background, instead of being striped.
The larva of this species bores the
roots of corn and other plants. The re-
Fig. 05. T^eive-spot- medial measures recommended above

ted Beetle. Magni- -, ,-, -,-, ...

fled. a PPly equally well to this insect.

Its life-history will be found more fully discussed
on a later page, where it is treated of as the South-
ern Corn Root-worm.

INSECTS AFFECTING RHUBARB.

INJURING THE STEM.

The Rhubarb Curculio.

Lixus concavus.

Rhubarb stalks are frequently injured during
spring and early summer by a grayish or brownish
beetle that gnaws the sur- - J I|U u J ja^ m1 i tow ^ w ,

face (Fig. 96), and drills HIT
holes from which the gum- ;

my sap exudes. This is '.w » ,';,--- "3
the Rhubarb Curculio, the
three later stages of which
are represented at Fig. 97. F i g . 96. Kimbaxb stem injured^
The larva is a wrinkled

legless grub of the form rejn'esented at a : it is three-
fourths of an inch long, white, with a brown head.
The pupa (6) is whitish and a little over half an inch
in length. The adult beetle, whose general form is
represented at c, is frequently covered with a yellow-
ish powder that gives it a distinct yellowish appear-
ance. When this powder is rubbed off the beetle is
grayish-brown. In the figure the straight lines in-
dicate the natural size of the specimens.

The insect hibernates as an adult, and comes forth
in the spring to deposit its eggs in certain common
species of dock, especially Curly Dock (Rumex cris-
pus). The eggs are probably laid preferably in the

184

INSECTS AFFECTING RHUBARB.

young flower-stalk, but in the absence of these may

be deposited in the crown
of the plant. The period
of egg deposition is an ex-
tended one, very } r oung
larvse occurring at the same
time as pupae, and there
being a difference of more
than two months in the
time of reaching maturity.
_ The eggs probably hatch
within a few days, and the
larvse feed upon the sub-
stance of the root or stem

for several weeks. The
c

Fig 97. Rhubarb Curculio: a, larva; eggs deposited early ill the
6, pupa; c, beetle. Slightly mag- .

nifled. spring develop into beetles

by the first of August, and the insects from the eggs
deposited later continue to mature until October.
Eggs are also often deposited in the rhubarb stalks,
but they do not seem to be able to develop there.
In some of the Western States the beetle is said
to breed in wild sunflowers instead of the dock.
Remedies. — Collecting the beetles by hand, and
pulling up and burning dock plants early in sum-
mer, are the most promising remedies yet suggested.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE BEAN AND PEA.

INJURING THE SEED.

The Bean Weevil.

Bruchus obsoktus.

One often finds beans with numbers of excavations
in them, like those shown at Fig. 98, b. Such beans
are affected by the Bean Weevil — an insect that is
widely distributed over the United States, and often
does very serious damage.

The adult weevil is represented natural size in the
upper middle portion of Fig. 98, and enlarged at a
of the same figure. It is a
small, brownish insect that
very much resembles the
nearly related Pea Weevil,
to which it is also similar in
life-history and habits. The
female beetle deposits eggs
on the growing bean pods,
and the larvae, on hatching, gnaw through the pod
to the young beans within. They enter these, feed-
ing upon their substance, and remaining in them all
summer, most of them pupating before autumn. A
portion of them become adult beetles the same sea-
son, while others do not complete their transforma-
tions until the following spring.

Fig. 98. Bean Weevil : a, beetle,
magnified; &, infested bean.

186 INSECTS AFFECTING THE BEAN.

Remedies. — Beans infested by these pests should
be inclosed in tight vessels, into which a little bisul-
phide of carbon, benzine, or gasoline has been placed.
The fumes of these volatile substances will destroy
the beetles. Of course care must be taken that no
particle of fire comes in the vicinity of the treatment.
Late planting of the crop has been found a good way
to prevent injury by an extensive Illinois farmer
living in the latitude of St. Louis, Missouri, who, for
a number of years, has planted his field beans from
June 20th to July 10th, with good results. . If the
beans, as soon as ripe, are heated to 145° Fahrenheit,
the partially grown larvae will be destroyed without
injury to the germinating qualities of the seed.
This will prevent much of the damage that would
be done were the larvae left to complete their growth.

The Pea Weevil.

Bruchus pi si.
As already stated, this insect is very similar to the
Bean Weevil in life-history and habits. The adult
beetle deposits its yellow eggs on the outside of the
young pods early in summer. On hatching, a few
days later, the larvae bore through the pods into the
peas, which they enter and eat out the substance,
leaving the radicle or germ untouched. On this
account " buggy peas " will germinate, but as the
young plants are deprived of the proper nourishment
they make a less healthy growth than do those re-
sulting from uninjured peas. When full grown the

INJURING THE SEED.

187

larva eats a hole on one side of the pea, leaving only
the thin, outer covering, before entering the pupa
state. Some time afterwards the insect again changes
to the jperfect beetle, a portion of which emerge the
same season, but most of them remain in the peas
until the following spring.

Remedies. — The measures mentioned as remedies
for the Bean Weevil are equally applicable to this
pest. That of heating the peas to 145° Fahrenheit,
as soon as gathered, seems especially advisable in the
case of the Pea Weevil, for at the time of ripening a
large proportion of the weevil larvae are only par-
tially grown.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE CABBAGE.

INJURING THE ROOTS.

The Cabbage Maggot.

Anthomyia brassicse.

The Cabbage Maggot is one of the most vexatious
enemies of the gardener. The adult (Fig. 99, c) is
a small, two-winged fly, somewhat like the common

Fig. 09. Cabbage Maggot : a, larva ; b, puparium ; c, fly.

House-fly in general appearance, which appears in
the cabbage field soon after the plants are set out,
and deposits its eggs about the stems at the soil sur-
face. The little, whitish maggots soon hatch, and
work their way downward to the roots, which they
attack, feeding upon the outer surface and thus
making grooves, or boring into the interior and hol-
lowing out cavities. 'They sometimes cause the roots
•to thicken up and become malformed, producing an

INJURING THE ROOT. 189

effect similar to that of the fungus causing the dis-
ease known as ' club-root.' In two or three weeks
the maggots become full-fed (a), and they change to
the pupa state within hard brown puparia (b), to
emerge some days afterward as adult flies. There
are probably three or four broods each season, and
the insect apparently hibernates in each of its three
later stages. These insects infest turnips and ruta-
bagas as well as cabbage, and some entomologists
consider the Radish Maggot as being also of this
species.

Remedies. — Satisfactory remedies for this insect
are few and far between. European writers recom-
mend that coal dust be scattered around most of the
plants, leaving one occasionally without the dressing
to attract the flies to it for egg-deposition, and then
destroying the unprotected plants together with the
insects about their roots. Dr. Riley has suggested
that ashes or slaked lime will probably answer the
purpose as well as the coal dust. As some of the
larvae or pupae appear to pass the winter upon the
old roots, it is advisable to pull up and burn such
plants in autumn. Probably the most practicable
remedy is that of always putting new plantations of
cabbages some distance from where they were grown
the previous year. This has been found in practice
to give good results. The flies are sluggish, and
apparently do not scatter far from where they reach
maturity. The maggots may be destroyed by pour-
ing a small quantity of kerosene emulsion about the

190

INSECTS AFFECTING THE CABBAGE

infested roots. In some localities the growers search
regularly about the bases of the stems for the
bunches of whitish eggs, and claim it to be the
best method of checking the injuries of the pest.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Imported Cabbage Worm.

Pieris rapse.
This insect was imported into America from Europe
about 1857, since when it has become exceedingly
destructive over a large portion of the United States
and Canada. The adult is a common white butterfly,
the female of which has two black spots- upon each
of the front wings (Fig. 100, c), while the male (Fig.

Fig. 100.

Imported Cabbage Worm : n, larva ;
c, female butterfly.

b, chrysalis ;

101) has but one. The former deposit, singly or in
clusters of two or three each, small, fusiform, yellow-
ish eggs upon the cabbage leaves, which soon hatch

INJURING THE LEAVES. 191

into little, green larvae that feed upon the substance

of the foliage. In

about two weeks they

become full grown

(Fig. 100, a), when

they generally leave

the cabbage plants,

and, finding Some Fig . im . imported Cabbage Butterfly. Male

suitable shelter — beneath a board or under the cop-
ing of a fence — change to chrysalids (Fig. 100, 6).
They remain in this condition about ten days, when
they emerge as butterfles, to lay eggs for another
brood of worms. The winter is passed in the chry-
salis state. There are several generations of larvae
each season, the number varying with the climate
and latitude.

This insect has numerous natural enemies with
which to contend. • The larvae and pupa? are preyed
upon by certain parasitic and predaceous insects, and
the butterflies are often captured by insectivorous
birds, as well as by a predaceous bug, known to ento-
mologists as Phymata ivolffii. The larva? are often
destroyed by thousands by a bacterial disease — a sort
of insect cholera — that has lately aided greatly in
checking the injuries of this pest.

There are two or three species of native cabbage
worms — notably the Southern Cabbage Butterfly
(Pieris protodice) and the Potherb Butterfly (P. olera-
cea) — closely related and similar to this Imported
Worm, that were formerly quite injurious to cabbage,

192 INSECTS AFFECTING THE CABBAGE.

but since the introduction of the alien species they
have been largely crowded to the wall, and are sel-
dom destructive.

Remedies. — Pyrethrurn (insect powder or bu-
bach), hot water, and kerosene emulsion are the sub-
stances that can most successfully be used in fighting
the Imported Cabbage Worm. The insect powder
may be diluted with six or eight times its bulk of
flour, and dusted on with a powder-gun or bellows,
or it may be mixed with water in the proportion of
one ounce to four or five gallons of water, and sprayed
upon the plants. Dr. Riley gives preference to hot
water as a remedy for this insect. He states that
" every worm visible upon the cabbages may be
killed by the use of hot water at the temperature of
130° Fahrenheit. The water may be boiling hot
when put in the watering-can, but it will not be too
hot when it reaches the cabbage leaves." Kerosene
emulsion can advantageously be used when the
plants are young, though there would appear to be
danger of tainting the heads if applied to the fully
developed plants. Whichever method of treatment
is adopted, it should be carried into practice at fre-
quent intervals, thus keeping the worms well in
check. If the plants are dusted with insect powder
once a week during the time that the worms are
present, they will cause little or no trouble. For
applying the water mixtures of pyrethrurn, or kero-
sene emulsion, either the Excelsior or Field knapsack
sprayers appear to be well adapted ; while on a larger
scale the Nixon potato sprayer might be utilized.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

193

The Cabbage Plusia.

Plusia brassica .
This insect, illustrated in its three later stages at
Fig. 102, has been known for years to do serious in-
jury to a number of garden crops. While it is espe-
cially injurious to cabbage, it also attacks celery.
turnip, tomato, clover, cauliflower, lettuce, dandelion,
dock, and several other plants. The adult (shown at
upper part of Fig. 102) is a handsome, dark-grey
moth, with a silvery spot near the middle of each
front wing. The females deposit their pale, greenish-
yellow eggs, singly or in clusters, on the cabbage

Fig. 102. Cabbage Plusia : a, larva ; 6, pupa in cocoon ; c, moth.

leaves, usually on the upper surface. The larvee
soon hatch and devour the leaves as they develop,
boring small, irregular holes in the cabbage head.
12

194 INSECTS AFFECTING THE CABBAGE.

When full grown (a), they are about an inch long, of
a general pale-green color, with longitudinal lighter
stripes : the head is small, and the body gradually
enlarges from the front backward. In motion the
body assumes a looping position, as shown in the
figure. The full-grown larva spins a slight, white,
silken cocoon on the cabbage leaf, generally on the
lower surface, and within this changes to a brownish
pupa, (b). In a short time it emerges as a moth.
At the South, where this insect is ordinarily more
destructive than at the North, there are several
broods each season. The moths are nocturnal or
crepuscular, but in cloudy weather are sometimes
seen flying during the day.

The larvse of the Cabbage Plusia are subject to
the attacks of many enemies: they are devoured by
birds, destroyed b}' certain parasitic insects, and often
become the victims of a fungous disease.

Remedies. — This insect is more difficult to destroy
than the Imported Cabbage Worm, but it will suc-
cumb to pyrethrum if not diluted with more than
three times its bulk of flour, and may also be killed
with the kerosene emulsion applied in a spray.

The Zebra Caterpillar.

Cera mica picta.

This caterpillar is at once distinguished from other

larvse feeding upon cabbage by the brilliant yellow

and black markings upon its body. It originates

from small, spherical eggs, laid in clusters upon the

INJURING THE LEAVES.

195

cabbage leaves by a handsome, purplish-brown moth
(Fig. 103, b), that appears early in summer. At first
the larvse are very dark, and feed together gregari-
ously, but as they develop they become lighter col-
ored, and disperse over the plant. When disturbed
they roll up and drop to the ground. They become
full grown (a) in three or four weeks, when they are
about two inches long, witli a wide, longitudinal,
velvet-black stripe upon the middle of the back, and

Fig. 103. Zebra Caterpillar : a, larva ; 6, moth.

two bright yellow stripes upon each side, which are
connected by fine, yellow, transverse lines. The cat-
erpillars now construct, slightly beneath the soil sur-
face, loose cocoons composed of particles of earth
fastened together by silken threads, within which
they change to pupae. About a fortnight later the
moths emerge, and deposit eggs for a second brood of

196

INSECTS AFFECTING THE CABBAGE.

larva', which develop early in autumn, pupating be-
fore winter, and hibernating within their cocoons.
Remedies. — When young the larva? are congre-
gated together upon one or a few leaves, and may
then easily be checked by hand-picking. Later they
are open to destruction by the application of hot
water, insect powder, or kerosene emulsion.

The Wavy- striped Flea-beetle.

Phyllotreta vittata.
This little pest does not by any means confine its
depredations to the cabbage, but attacks turnip, mus-
tard, radish, and various other plants as well. It is
represented magnified at Fig. 104, b, and is a small,
shining black beetle, one tenth of an inch long, with
a broad, yellow, wavy, longitudinal stripe on each
wing-cover. It feeds upon the surface of the leaf,
gnawing out little pits.
The females deposit their
minute, oval, whitish eggs
upon the roots of various
cruciferous plants, such as
radish, cabbage, turnip, -i
etc., and the larva' which 1
hatch from them feed up-
on these roots, sometimes

, . . , . Fig. 104. Wavy-striped Flea-beetle :

doing seriOUS damage 111 a, larva; 6, beetle.

this way. The full-grown larva (Fig. 104, a) is about
one-fourth of an inch long, with a yellowish-white
body, and brown head. There appear to be two or
more broods each season.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

197

Remedies. — Tobacco powder is the best remedy
for these little pests. If applied freely to the plants,
it will drive them away. In seasons when the beetles
are not too thick, dusting the plants with dry, un-
leached wood ashes, or lime or plaster, will also keep
them off, and tobacco decoction is a good remedy.

Cabbage Cut-worms.

The cabbage is. subject to attack by nearly a dozen
species of cut-worms, nearly all of which, however,
are similar in habits and history, and may well
be treated of collectively. They are all larvae of
medium-sized, night-flying moths, and are rather
thick, naked worms of the general form of Fig. 105, a.
They curl up when
disturbed. The eggs
are deposited gener-
ally on the branches
of trees and si i rubs,
the larvas descend-
ing to the ground in
search of food as
soon as hatched.
Most of them feed
upon grass or clover
when young, becom-
ing about half grown by winter time, when they
seek the shelter of some log or stone, or burrow into
the soil. Here they hibernate, and in spring come
forth in search of food. They now attack a variety
of young plants, biting off the stems and feeding

Fig. 105. Variegated Cut-worm : a, larva;
b, moth.

198 INSECTS AFFECTING THE CABBAGE.

upon the leaves. Cabbages, tomatoes, turnips,
squashes, melons, and various other garden vegeta-
bles are all liable to their attacks.. They become
full grown in spring or early summer, when they
pupate beneath the soil surface, and three or four
weeks later emerge as moths. The larva (a) and
i imtli (b) of the Variegated Gut-worm (Agrotis saucia)
are represented, natural size, at Fig. 105. Some
species have two or more broods each season, while
others have but one.

Cut-worms are especially likely to do damage in
fields and gardens close to grass-lands, and to crops
immediately following grass.

Remedies. — Of the dozens of methods of destroy-
ing cut-worms, there are three which are of special
merit. They are :

(1). The poison method. This consists in killing
off the worms before the crops are planted, by strew-
ing over the soil bunches of fresh clover or cabbage
leaves, which have been treated with Paris green or
London purple, either by dipping into a solution of
the poison, or dusting it on dry. The half-grown
worms prowling about in search of food eat of the
baits thus set, and are destroyed before doing any
harm. This method has proved a practical success
with many gardeners; and is well worth trying
where there is likely to be trouble from these pests.
Of course care must be taken that chickens or stock
do not get at the poisoned leaves.

(2). Using boards a* traps. This method consists
in placing boards on the ground in and about the

INJURING THE LEAVES.

199

garden, and collecting in the morning, the worms
that will congregate beneath them during the night,
(3). Digging out the worms where plants have been
cut off. This is practicable in most gardens, and is
well worth doing, thus preventing further damage.

The Harlequin Cabbage-bug.

Murgantia h istrionica.
The injuries of this insect were first noticed in
Texas and other states at the far South, but it has
gradually spread northward, especially along the
Atlantic coast, until now it is seriously injurious as
far north as Delaware. It feeds upon a variety of
cruciferous plants, including cabbage, radish, mus-
tard, turnip, etc. The insect " derives its name from
the gay, theatrical, harlequindike manner in which
the black and orange-yellow colors are arranged upon
its body " (Fig. 106, a, b, f, g). According to Dr. G.

Lincecum, in Texas,
" the perfect insect
lives through the
winter, and is ready
to deposit its eggs as
early as the loth of
Marcli, or sooner if
it finds any cruci-
form plant large
enough. They set
their eggs (c, d, c) on
end in two rows, ce-
mented together, mostly on the under side of the

Fit;. 106. Harlequin Cabbage-bug: ». i>.
aymphs; c, eggs; /, adult; g, adult
with wings extended— all natural size;
</, eggs, side view; e, eggs, view from
above,— d, e, enlarged.

200 INSECTS AFFECTING THE CABBAGE.

leaf, and generally from eleven to twelve in number.
In about six days in April (four days in July) there
hatches out from these eggs a brood of larvae, resem-
bling the perfect insect, except in having no wings.
This brood immediately begins the work of destruc-
tion by piercing and sucking the life-sap from the
leaves, and in twelve days they have matured. They
are timid, and run off and hide behind the first leaf
stem, or any part of the plant that will answer the
purpose. The leaf that they puncture soon wilts,
like the effects of poison, and soon withers. Half a
dozen grown insects will kill a cabbage in a day."
At the South there are several broods each season.
Remedies. — Hot water, kerosene emulsion, and
pyrethrum are the substances chiefly recommended
for the destruction of this pest. Clean cultivation
and the burning of all rubbish are important pre-
ventive measures, in spring and autumn many of
the bugs may be trapped. by laying cabbage or turnip
leaves between the rows : the inserts will harbor under
these, and may be collected each morning. It is
especially important to destroy the earlier broods of
this pest, because otherwise it increases so rapidly
as to be almost unconquerable.

The Cabbage Aphis.

Aphis brassica .
Next to the Imported Cabbage Worm this species
is, perhaps, the most injurious insect enemy of the
cabbage ; and it also infests various other cruciferous

INJURING THE LEAVES.

201

plants, including turnip, radish, Field Cress, and
Shepherd's Purse. It appears to
have been originally an European
species, and was probably intro-
duced into America at an early
date. It is probable that it is now
found in this country wherever
the cabbage is extensively grown.
The Cabbage Aphis is a small,

^ovTparous^afe^ 131 greenish insect, generally covered
Magnified. with a w hiti s h, mealy coating, that

occurs in great numbers on the leaves and in the

heads. During the summer months it reproduces

Fig. 108. Cabbage Aphis : male, magnified.

viviparously, but in autumn true males (Fig. 108)
and females (Fig. 107) are developed, eggs being-
deposited by the latter upon the cabbage leaves.

Remedies. — Kerosene emulsion is the most effec-
tive insecticide that can be used against this insect.

202

INSECTS AFFECTING THE CABBAGE.

It may readily be applied to cabbage from a knap-
sack' sprayer, like the one manufactured by the Field
Force Pump Company, or the Excelsior Sprayer.
As the insect winters over in the egg state upon the
cabbage leaves, it is advisable to destroy all the re-
mains of the crop in autumn, not leaving the ' be-
headed ' plants in the field all winter, as is too often
done.

INSECTS AFFECTING THE ONION.

INJURING THE BULBS.

The Onion Maggot.

Anthomyia ceparum.

The Onion Maggot is closely related to the Cabl >age
Maggot, to which it is similar in life-history and
habits. The adult is a two-winged fly, which deposits
its small, white eggs on the bulbs or lower leaves of
the young plants. About a week later the eggs
hatch into young larvae that bore into the bulbs, ab-
sorbing the succulent substance. When one bulb is
consumed they pass on to another. The full-grown
larvae are nearly half an inch long, of a dull white
color, and pointed at the mouth or front end. They
complete their larval growth in about 'two weeks, and
then leave the onions and enter the surrounding
earth, where they change to the pupa state within
brown puparia. A fortnight later the flies emerge to
lay eggs for another brood.

Remedies. — Professor Cook states that the most
practical method of preventing the injuries of this
insect is to change the position of the onion bed
every year, putting it each time some distance from
where it was the preceding season. Wherever the
conditions are such that this can be done, this is
probably the best preventive measure. Miss Orme-
rod reports that if the bulbs are kept covered with
earth they are not attacked by the maggots.

INSECTS AFFECTING ASPARAGUS.

The Asparagus Beetle.

( Hoct ris asparagi.
This insect was introduced into America from
Europe about thirty years ago, and at once became
very destructive to asparagus in the region of New
York City. It has since spread over a large area,
being reported in 1890 as far west as Ohio. Accord-
ing to Professor Comstock its life-history may be
briefly summarized as follows: "Upon the appear-
ance of the plants in early spring, and just before the
cultivators are ready to begin bunching for the early
market, the beetles come forth in great numbers from
their hibernating quarters — under sticks, stones, rub-
bish, and especially under the splinters of wood on
fences and under the scaly bark of trees — and com-
mence gnawing the tops of the } T oung plants. They
pair and lay their eggs very soon. The eggs (Fig.
109, a) are oval and are placed endwise on the
plant, usually in rows of two to seven. In from
seven to ten days the young larva? begin to make
their appearance. In form they bear a close resem-
blance to the Colorado Potato Beetle larvae. The
general color is grayish olive with sinning black head
and brown legs. When full grown (b) they measure
a little over three-tenths of an inch." The larva 1
feed upon the outer bark of the asparagus, and

INJURING THE PLANTS.

205

develop in about two weeks from the time of
hatching. They then descend to the earth where,
slightly beneath the surface, or under rubbish above
the surface, they change to pupse. About ten days
later they emerge as beetles
to feed upon the plants and
deposit eggs f or a n o t h e r
brood. The beetles (c) are
very pretty little creatures,
with head, legs and antennae
of a shining metallic green-
ish-black hue, a r e d d i s h-
brown thorax ornamented
with two conspicuous black
spots, and lemon-yellow wing
covers, marked with a longi-
itudinal black stripe and a
transverse black band. There
are two or more broods each F ^^on4a'k U Tilrv' •;''"

season.

tie: b and c magnified.

: a,

bee-

Remedies. — The plan most successfully adopted
by Long Island gardeners to prevent the injuries of
this insect is that of destroying by hoeing or other
cultivation, all volunteer growth of asparagus, leav-
ing only the shoots designed for market for the bee-
tles to lay their eggs upon. These shoots are cut and
removed so often that there is no opportunity for the
eggs to hatch in the field, and thus the increase of the
pest is effectually prevented. The beetles are greed-
ily devoured by domestic fowls, and in kitchen

206

INSECTS AFFECTING ASPARAGUS.

gardens these can sometimes be advantageously used
against them. Of the artificial insecticides, pyreth-
rum will probably give the best results. In small
patches it has been found practicable to rub off the
eggs from the growing shoots.

PART V.

INSECTS AFFECTING
CEREAL and FORAGE CROPS.

PLATE VI.-The Striped Harvest-spider.

INSECTS AFFECTING INDIAN CORN.

INJURING THE ROOT.

The Corn Root-aphis.

Aphis maidisf
This is a small, bluish-green aphis, or louse, which
occurs on the roots of corn, from the time it comes
up in spring until it is cut in autumn. Its general

form, when magnified, is
well shown at Fig. 110,
which represents a closely
related species, the Apple
Aphis. There are two forms
found upon the roots, one
having wings and the other
not, the latter being much
the commonest. Both forms
.110. Apple Aphis. Magnmcd. a^e always attended by the
common, small, brown ant (Lasius alienus), which
cares for them as tenderly as it does for the eggs and
young of its ow r n species. Eggs are laid by the
aphides, during September and October, in the sub-
terranean galleries of the ants, and are collected by
the latter and cared for all winter. In spring, when
the lice are beginning to hatch, the ants tunnel
about the roots of corn, or various weed}' plants, and
transport the little aphides to them. The lice feed
upon the sap of the plant, sucking it through their

210

INSECTS AFFECTING INDIAN CORN.

tiny beaks, and multiply viviparously or by giving
birth to living young. They continue developing in
this way until fall, when the egg-laying brood is
produced.

The presence of these lice upon the roots can easily
be determined by carefully pulling or digging up
plants supposed to be injured. The aphides, if pres-
ent, will be seen crowding the roots as small, bluish-
green particles. The affected plants generally appear
yellow and sickly, growing slo'wly or not at all.

Remedies. — A judicious rotation of corn with
other crops is the only practicable preventive meas-
ure that has as yet been suggested.

The Western Corn Root- worm.

Diabrot ic< i lo ng icornis.
In Illinois, Kansas, and other western States, the
roots of corn are frequently eaten off, during June

Fig. 111. Corn Root-worm : a, egg; b, small section of egg, greatly mag
nified; c, larva; d, pupa; e, beetle. Magnified.

and July, by a slender, white worm, a little less than
half an inch long, and about as thick as a common

INJURING THE ROOT. 211

pin. It has a small, brown head, and three pairs of
short legs near the front end, at shown at Fig. Ill, c.
It attacks the roots from the outer ends, burrowing
beneath the surface, and eating its way toward the
stalk. Shortly after midsummer it becomes full-fed,
and, deserting the root, pupates in the surrounding
soil. The pupa (rf) is about one-fifth of an inch long,
and white in color. A few days later it again trans-
forms, and emerges as a grass-green beetle of the form
represented at Fig. Ill, e. " The beetle climbs up
the stalk," according to Professor Forbes' account,
" living upon fallen pollen, and upon the silk at the
top of the ear, until the latter dries, when a few of
the beetles creep down between the husks and feed
upon the corn itself, while the others resort for fooil
to the pollen of such weeds in the field as are at that
time in blossom. In September and October the eggs
(a) are laid in the ground, upon or about the roots
of the corn, and most of the beetles soon after disap-
pear from the field." They feed for awhile upon
various fall flowers, and gradually die off, the winter
being passed by means of the eggs deposited in the
corn ground. The eggs hatch the following spring.

Remedies. — As the eggs of this insect are depos-
ited in autumn in corn ground, rotation of crops
furnishes a simple method of preventing its injuries.
If the land is planted to some other crop the year
following, the larva?, on hatching, will be deprived
of suitable food, and consequently will perish.

212

INSECTS AFFECTING INDIAN CORN.

The Southern Corn Root- worm.

Diabrotica 12-punctata.

The three later stages of this insect are represented
at Fig. 112. The larva (a) is a slender, whitish
worm, about half an inch long, resembling the West-
ern Corn Root-worm, to which, in fact, it is closely
related. It feeds promiscuously upon the roots and

base of the stalk of
corn, pupating in the
soil about the roots,
and emerging short-
ly afterwards as ;i
yellow beetle with 1 2
black spots upon the
back (c). There are
two broods each sea-
son, eggs for the first
brood being depos-
ited by the female
beetles in spring about the roots of young corn, and
the second brood of larvae generally developing upon
the roots of certain wild plants, especially those of
the Composite family. The insect hibernates as an
adult, and the beetles feed upon a great variety of
vegetation, often doing serious damage to cucum-
bers, squashes, melons, and other garden vegetables.
Remedies. — No practicable remedy has yet been
found for this insect in its corn infesting stage

. 112. Southern Corn Root-worm : or, larva ;
b, pupa ; c, beetle. Magnified.

INJURING THE ROOT. 213

Wireworms.

Elaterida .

Sprouting kernels of corn are often attacked by a
hard, slender, yellowish worm, commonly called the
wire-worm, which eats out the substance of the seed
or attacks the young roots. These are the young or
larvae of various species of brown, flattened, elongate
beetles, called click beetles, snapping bugs, or " ski})
jacks," on account of their habit of snapping upward
in the air when placed on their backs. Eggs are laid 1 >y
these beetles in grass-lands especially, and the larva'
that hatch feed for several years upon the roots of vari-
ous plants. They finally transform during autumn
in hollow cells in the earth into pupae, and shortly
afterwards again change to beetles. They do not,
however, leave their pupa cells at once, but remain
in them until the following spring. Professor J. H.
Comstock has found that in breeding cages, if these
cells be broken open in fall the beetles die.

Remedies. — On account of the fact just men-
tioned, fall plowing has been recommended as a
preventive of wire-worm injury, the suj^position be-
ing that the cells in which the beetles are resting
will thus be broken open and the insects perish.
Another method which has been recommended by
leading entomologists is that of sowing corn which
has been soaked in arsenic water over the field, about
ten days before the crop is planted, and harrowing
it in. The wire-worms attacking the poisoned corn
will be killed.

214 INSECTS AFFECTING THE INDIAN CORN.

INJURING THE STALK AND LEAVES.

The Stalk-borer.

Gortyna nitela.

The terminal leaves of growing corn plants are
sometimes observed suddenly to wilt and wither. If
pulled upward it will be seen that they have been
cut off inside the stalk, where there will generally be
found a strip-
ed, b r o w n
worm, of the
form repre-
sented at Fig.
1 i:J, ?. This

is the Stalk- Fig. 113. Stalk-borer: 1, moth;

borer, so called, because of its habit of burrowing
the stalks of various plants, such as the potato,
tomato, cocklebur, etc. It hatches from an egg laid
by a brown moth (1), and pupates beneath the soil
surface. The moths appear late in summer or early
in autumn, and the insect apparently hibernates in
its adult condition.

Remedies. — The only general measure that can
be recommended against this insect is that of clean
farming. The species largely develops in wayside
weed-;, and consequently these should be destroyed.
Wherever the larvae are found at work they should,
of course, be killed.

INJURING THE STALK AND LEAVES.

215

Cut Worms.

Noctuida .
The general life-history of the various species of
cut worms has already been described on page 197.
These pests are especially liable to injure corn plant-
ed on sod land, but such damage may easily be pre-
vented by using the poison traps described in con-
nection with remedies for cabbage cutworms (p. 19 7).
The field to be planted should be strewn with poi-
soned clover or grass, or cabbage leaves, before the
crop is put in, although if not done then the baits
may be placed between the rows afterwards.

The Garden Web-worm.

Eurycreon rantalis.

This insect occasionally becomes destructive over
a wide area, and damages a great variety of crops,
although corn usually suffers most. The adult is a
small, grayish moth (Fig. 114, /), expanding about
three-quarters of an inch,

the females of which de-
posit their eggs upon the
leaves or stems of various
plants. Soon after hatch-
ing the young larvae be-
gin to spin a protective
web, which is enlarged as Fig. iw. Garden web-wom

,i ■ -, -. n d. pupa, both twice natural size; /,

the insects develop. ne- moth, slightly enlarged.

neath this they feed upon the foliage, eating at first

216 INSECTS AFFECTING THE INDIAN CORN.

only the surface substance, but as they grow older
they devour the whole leaf. The larva? become full
grown in about a fortnight, when they spin thin,
brownish cocoons on the ground, and change to pupae,
to emerge ten days or two weeks later as moths.
There are two or three broods each season^

Remedies. — Spraying or dusting infested plants
with London purple or Paris green is the most prac-
tical remedy for this insect that lias yet been suggested.

The Corn Aphis.

Aphis maidis.

The leaves and stalks of corn are often infested by
colonies of a small bluish aphis or plant-louse, the
majority of which are wingless, and the rest winged.
This is the Corn Aphis. It has been for a long-
while considered the aerial form of the Corn Root-
louse, but the latest investigations indicate that the
two are distinct species.

The full life-history of this insect is not known.
It is probably the summer form of some species that
passes the fall, winter, and spring upon a tree or
shrub. The winged viviparous females appear upon
the corn early in summer and start colonies of
young lice which develop rapidly and continue to
multiply viviparously until the approach of cold
weather in autumn. Then a winged brood appears,
and leaves the corn, migrating, doubtless, to some
other plant, But where it goes, and where the
winged females that start the colonies in early sum-
mer come from, is not known.

INJURING THE STALK AND LEAVES.

217

These plant-lice have many natural enemies with
which to contend. Chief among these are certain
minute four-winged parasitic flies, the lady-beetles,
and harvest-spiders or daddy-long-legs. The first
named of these enemies are true parasites, developing
within the bodies of the aphides, but the rest are pre-
daceous insects. There are several species of lady-
beetles that, both in their larval and adult states,
prey upon the ( lorn Aphis. An idea of their general
appearance may be gained from Fig. 115, which

Fig. 115. Twenty-spotted Lady-beetle: a, larva; 6, pupa; c, beetle.

represents the three later stages of one of the smaller
species — the Twenty-spotted Lady-beetle (Psyllobora
W-maculata). It is probable, also, that great num-
bers of the aphides are destroyed by the harvest-
spiders which abound upon corn plants during sum-
mer. One of the commonest of these — the Striped
Harvest-spider — is shown, natural size, at Plate VI.
Remedies. — It seldom becomes necessary to re-
sort to artificial remedies for this insect. While it
could readily be destroyed with kerosene emulsion, the
application generally would not pay in field culture.

218

INSECTS AFFECTING THE INDIAN CORN.

INJURING THE EARS.

The Corn- worm or Boll- worm.

Heliothis armigera.

In the Southern States this insect is called the
Boll-worm because it feeds upon cotton bolls ; but at
the North it is known as the Corn-worm from its
habit of eating the kernels of ripening corn. On this
account it has come to be recognized as one of the

Fig. 116. corn-worm : a, b, eggs, side view and top view, magni-
" tied: c, larva; d, pupa, in cocoon: e, moth with wings ex-
panded : f, moth with wings closed.

most vexatious insect enemies of this crop, and
no thoroughgoing remedy that is practicable on
a large scale has as vet been devised for it. The

INJURING THE EARS. 219

parent is a good-sized, greenish-yellow moth (Fig.
116, e,f) with a conspicuous black spot near the
middle of the front wings, and various olive or ru-
fous markings. These insects deposit their eggs
anong the silks of the young ears. The larvse soon
hatch and eat through the husk to the succulent
kernels beneath, which they devour greedily for sev-
eral weeks, gnawing irregular channels along the
cob. When full-grown (c) they are an inch and a
half long, of a pale green or dark brown color, orna-
mented with longitudinal darker stripes. They now
leave the ear, and, entering the soil a few inches,
form loose cocoons of silk with particles of soil in-
termixed, within which they change to chestnut-
brown pupae (d), emerging about a fortnight later as
moths. At the north there are two broods, a third
one occasionally developing in exceptionally long-
seasons, while at the south there are four or five.
The first brood is especially likely to infest early
sweet corn in gardens.

Remedies. — Hand-picking is the only remedy
that has been suggested, except that of catching the
moths by light-traps. The silk of infested ears shows
the presence of the larvae by being prematurely dry
or partially eaten, and the larva' may be readily
found and crushed. In garden patches of sweet
corn, at least, this method is worth using. In fields,
fall plowing will help to reduce the amount of dam-
age by destroying the pupae, either directly, or indi-
rectly by exposing them to the weather and birds.

INSECTS AFFECTING WHEAT.

INJURING THE STALK AND LEAF.

The Hessian Fly.

( 'ecidom.yia destructor.

This is one of the oldest and best known insect
pests of American agriculture. It has ranked as a
destructive species for more than a century, and has
probably been intro-
duced nearly every-
where that wheat is
grown. The adult is
a small, two-winged,
m o s q u i t o-like rl y
(Fig. 117, d), the fe-
males of which de-
posit their eggs on
the upper surfaces of
the wheat blades ear-
ly in autumn. In a few days the larvae hatch, and
each descends the leaf to the base of the sheath,
where it attaches itself, head downwards, to the stalk,
and proceeds to absorb the life-sap of the plant, As
the latter grows the young larva becomes imbedded
in the stalk, where it remains stationary. When
full-grown (which occurs in three or four weeks from
the time of hatching) the larva is a soft, white, foot-
less maggot of the form represented at a. Its outer

Fig. 117. Hessian Fly: u, larva ; b, pupa;
c, injured stem : <l, fly.

INJURING THE STALK AND LEAF. 221

skin now becomes hard and brown, and separates
from the rest of the body, although it still surrounds
the latter, forming a sort of cocoon, or, as it is more
correctly called, puparium, within which the insect
changes to a pupa (b). This is the " flaxseed " state,
so called because of the resemblance of these brown
puparia to flaxseeds. The winter is usually passed
in this condition, and in spring the flies emerge from
the flaxseeds to lay eggs for another brood. The
larvae of the fall brood affect the young wheat plants
just above the roofs, between the stalk and sheathing
base of the leaf, but the spring generation are formed
a little higher up, at the joints an inch or more above
the soil surface. This second generation completes
its transformations before harvest, and there is often,
if not always, at least as far north as the latitude of
40 degrees, a third brood, which develops during
summer in volunteer wheat ; and Professor Fori >es
has shown that there may occasionally be even a
fourth brood during the year. But the chief damage
is done by the fall and spring broods.

There are several species of insect parasites which
attack the Hessian Fly, so checking it that in most
localities it only occasionally becomes injurious.

Remedies. — The most promising method of pre-
venting the injuries of this insect appears to be that
of inducing the flies to deposit their eggs in young
wheat, and then destroying it. Where a third brood
develops in volunteer wheat this end may be accom-
plished by turning under this volunteer growth

222

INSECTS AFFECTING WHEAT.

when the Hessian Fly larvse are about half-grown :
or in ease no such brood develops in the volunteer
wheat, a few strips in the field may be seeded to
wheat a few weeks before the regular planting time,
and the flies will lay their eggs in these, which are
afterwards to be plowed under. Thus the main crop
of wheat will escape infestation.

The Chinch Bug.

Blissus leucopterus.

The Chinch Bug and the Rocky Mountain Locust
have long been known as the arch enemies of West-
ern agriculture. They have each destroyed millions
of dollars worth of property, and have often caused
great destitution over large areas. The Chinch Bug

I'k

118. Chinch Bug: a, b. eggs; c, <>,/. young : g, nymph or
pupa; A, adult. Magnified.

flourishes best at the South, but occasionally occurs
in destructive numbers as far north as New York
and Minnesota. Like other injurious insects it is

INJURING THE STALK AND LEAF. 223

subject to periodical uprisings, which usually con-
tinue one, two, or three seasons before the various
natural checks upon its increase reduce its num-
bers below the danger line.

The adult Chinch Bug (Fig. 118, h) is a small
blackish insect, slightly less than one-fifth of an inch
long, with the legs dark yellow, and their tips black.
The young (c, e, f ) do not differ in general form from
the adults. When first hatched they are pale yel-
low, but they soon become red : this continues to be
the prevailing color until the pupa or last nymph
stage (g) is readied. The insect is then grayish or
brownish-black. The eggs (a, b) are quite small, be-
ing about 0.03 inch in length, and amber colored.
Short-winged varieties of the adult Chinch Bugs are
sometimes found.

Professor S. A. Forbes has summarized the life-
history of this insect as follows: " The Chinch Bug-
passes the winter in the adult winged state (a few
black wingless individuals occasionally occurring)
under rubbish in, or around the fields, in corn-shocks
and straw-piles, under boards and among dead leaves
in the woods, most abundant, usually, around the
edges of the fields and in thickets, and around the
borders of woods. From these lurking places such
as survive the winter emerge in April and May
(possibly sooner, if the season opens early), and, after
pairing, lay their eggs, in May and June, in fields of
spring and winter wheat, barley, rye i iats and corn
— chiefly in wheat and barley — most of the eggs be-
ing deposited in or near the ground, on the lower

224 INSECTS AFFECTING WHEAT.

parts of the plants. Many of those hibernating
around fields sown to wheat and barley make their
way in on foot, thus attacking the outer edges first ;
but others take wing and scatter freely wherever
.suitable food invites them.

"By July most of the old bugs will be dead, and
the new brood will be nearly full-grown, — far enough
advanced by harvest to abandon the wheat fields for
the nearest available food — oats or corn, if these are
adjacent — otherwise and more rarely, grass. Making
their way in on foot, only the borders of these fields
will be at first attacked ; but later, by the 1st of Au-
gust at the farthest, the bugs not already located will
begin to fly, and so will become generally dissemi-
nated through fields of corn. Here the eggs are laid
behind sheaths of the lower leaves, and under the
protection of this retreat the young hatch and ma-
ture, only coming out upon the exposed surfaces of
the leaves when they become superabundant or when
they get their growth. The full-grown bugs fly
freely, singly but not in swarms, whenever their food
fails them where they are. Rarely we find in the
southern part of Illinois some trace of a third brood
in a season, the young of these appearing in Septem-
ber in the corn — but these are in too small numbers
to have any practical importance. The broods are
mainly two, one breeding chiefly in wheat, and the
other almost wholly in corn, the adults of the latter
brood passing the winter as above described. Each
female is believed to be capable of laying about five
hundred eggs.

INJURING THE STALK AND LEAF

225

" The Chinch Bug is practically confined for food
to the great family of grasses (Graminece) which con-
tains all the cereals and grasses, tame and wild.
Some of these, however, it feeds upon with reluc-
tance, if at all ; and among the ordinary objects of
its food it has its very decided preferences. Among
the erop plants, wheat, barley and rye, sorghum,
broom-corn and Indian corn, millet and Hungarian
grass are its favorite foods, with oats clearly second
to these ; while among the wild grasses, its prefer-
ence is for fox-tail grass and 'tickle grass ' (Setaria

and Eragrostis)."

The Chinch Bug is sub-
ject to the attack of various
predaceous insects and ver-
tebrate enemies. Of the
former the lady-bugs fur-
nish a good example, and
of the latter certain birds,
especially the quail, may
be mentioned. But these
enemies are insignificant
so far as concerns their
effects upon the numbers
of the bugs, when com-
pared with certain fungous
or bacterial diseases to
which these pests are lia-
ble. These diseases sweep
them off by the million, and are usually the most
potent factor in cheeking their out-breaks. One of

Fig. 119. Chinch Bugs affected
by Entomophthora.

226 INSECTS AFFECTING WHEAT.

these is a fungus that develops on the surface of
the bug as a dense white covering. This disease is
illustrated at Fig. 119 : a number of the dead bugs
are shown on a dead wheat stalk at the left, while a
single bug, much magnified, covered with the fun-
gus, is represented at the right. This fungus belongs
to a genus of plants called by botanists Entomoph-
thora.

Remedies. — Professor S. A. Forbes has divided
the remedial and preventive measures applicable to
the Chinch Bug into three general classes, namely :
(1) Agricultural methods ; (2) Barriers against mi-
gration ; (3) Direct destruction. Under the first of
these heads are included (1) clean farming, especially
the cleaning up of refuse that may serve as protec-
tion for the bugs during winter, and the destruction
of the grass-like weeds upon which they feed ; (2)
diversified farming and the culture of crops not
affected by the Chinch Bug; (3) the temporary aban-
donment, in corn districts, of small grains, especially
wheat and barley ; and vice versa, the similar aban-
donment of corn in small grain districts; (4) heavy
fertilization to enable the crops better to withstand
attack; (5) the use of surplus seed, or the mixing of
clover or timothy seed with small grains when
sowed, to produce a heavy growth in which Chinch
Bugs do not like to work ; (6) plowing under the
bugs and their eggs whenever this is practicable.

Under the head of barriers against migration are
included: (1) plowing and harrowing at harvest time

INJURINC4 THE STALK AND LEAF. 227

around infested fields, or plowing one or two deep
furrows around the field ; (2) pouring coal tar along
the ground just outside the infested fields and dig-
ging holes occasionally on the inside of the tar line
for the bugs to fall into ; (3) planting strips with
crops not subject to injury by the Chinch Bug.

But the most satisfactory class of remedies are
those by which the insects are killed outright, and
in future outbreaks these will undoubtedly play a
much more important part than in the past. The
bugs are easily destroyed by kerosene emulsion, and
by means of the improved spraying machines now
upon the market this substance can advantageously
be used against them. During fall, winter and
spring, all infested grass lands, and so far as possible,
wood lands, should be burned over to destroy the
hibernating bugs. Remarkable success has also
lately been attained in spreading, artificially, the
fungous diseases of the Chinch Bug.

The Grain Aphis.

Siplionophora avense.
This insect occasionally becomes destructive to
wheat and oats over large areas. It is a small

Fig. 120. Oats leaf infested by Grain Aphis.

greenish or brownish aphis, with or without wings,
which breeds upon wheat, oats, and various other

228

INSECTS AFFECTING WHEAT.

plants of the grass family. It obtains its food by in-
serting appointed beak into the leaf or stem and
sucking out the sap. As the wheat gets ripe it mi-
grates to the more succulent oats, and when these
ripen goes to various grasses. It brings forth living
} 7 oung, and its rate of multiplication is very great, it
being estimated that a single
louse in spring may become
the ancestor of millions be-
fore autumn. The true sexed
forms have not yet been
found. The wingless vivipa-
rous female is represented,
greatly magnified, at Fig.
121. The injury of these in-
sects is chiefly manifested by

Fig. 121. Grain Aphis: wing-
less female. Magnified.

the shriveling of the grain in

infested fields.

Fortunately this insect has many natural enemies
with which to contend. Chief among these are little
four-winged parasitic flies, and various species of
lady-beetles. These natural enemies are undoubt-
edly the means of preventing this pest from over-
running grainfields every year.

Remedies. — As yet no practical artificial remedy
for the Grain Aphis is known. Kerosene emulsion
will destroy them, but the difficulty of reaching them
with it when they occur on the under surface of the
leaf, makes the remedy hardly practical. We must
ordinarily rely upon the weather and its various
natural enemies to hold it in check.

INJURING THE STALK AND LEAF.

229

The Wheat Bulb Worm.

Meromyza americana.
This insect has attracted the attention of economic-
entomologists only during comparatively recti it
years. The adult is a handsome two winged fly
(Fig 122, d), having two longitudinal yellowish
stripes along its back. The females deposit eggs in
the fall on the young wheat plants, and the larva',
on hatching, feed upon the central portion of the
stem, just above the bulb of the plant. They remain

here through the
w i n t e r, becoming
full-grown in spring.
They are then foot-
less cylindrical lar-
vae of the f o r m
shown at b. They
pupate in the spring
and a fortnight later
emerge as flies. Af-
ter mating, the female flies of this brood deposit eggs
for larvae which work in the straw, just above the
last joint, thus cutting off the sap supply from the
head and causing it to wither and dry up. These
larvoe complete their transformations during July,
when they are on the wing as flies. Early in July
eggs are deposited by this brood of flies on volunteer
wheat, and the transformations of these are com-
pleted in time for the adults to lay their eggs in the

Fig. 122. Wheat Bulb Worm : a, egg ; b,
larva : c, puparium : d, fly. Magnified.

230

INSECTS AFFECTING WHEAT.

fall wheat. Consequently there are three broods
eacli season. Besides wheat this insect breeds in
oats and various grasses.

Remedies. — The destruction of volunteer wheat
after the worms have gotten started in it, and the
early planting of strips to induce them to oviposit,
are the best remedial measures for this insect.

Wheat Joint- worms.

Isosoma hordei, 1. tritici and I. grande.

There are three nearly related species of minute
four-winged flies (Fig. 123, a, b) which deposit eggs
in wheat stems that hatch into the so-called joint-
worms. Accord-
ing to Professor
F. M. Webster
" t h e females
push their ovi-
^w^ inositol's into the
stems of grow-
ing wheat and
deposit their
eggs singly, but
often several in
each straw. This

g. 123. Joint-worm fly : a, female ; e, antenna IS done during

of same ; e, abdomen of same ; 6, male; d, an- ,

tenna;/, abdomen. Magnified. the early Spring,

and again during June, in the latitude of central
Indiana, the young larvae feeding upon the substance

INJURING THE HEADS. 231

of the stem ; but, being secure from ordinary obser-
vation, they are seldom noticed. We have found
five of these larvae at work on a single stem. These
worms do not usually wither the straw, and the
effect of their work is only to be observed in the
shorter and more slender stem, shorter heads and
smaller and less plump kernels.

" The larvae are almost invariably found below the
upper joint, and hence, by cutting the grain a little
high, they can be left in the field, and as they pass
the winter as pupae in the same situation, by burn-
ing the stubble any time between harvest and the
following March, they can be destroyed. As the
adults emerging from the old straws in spring are
almost invariably wingless, they cannot travel about
very rapidly. And hence changing the grain from
one field to another, or rotating the crop, is often
quite effectual in keeping them in check. Those
adults appearing in June from the growing plants,
are provided with well developed wings, and can
travel about from field to field with the utmost
freedom."

INJURING THE HEADS.

The Wheat Midge.

Cecidomyia tritici.

This insect is closely related to the Hessian fly.

The adult is a small, two-winged, yellow or orange

colored fly that appears in the wheat fields a few

weeks before harvest time, and deposits its minute

232

INSECTS AFFECTING WHEAT.

eggs in the crevices between the chaff of the wheat
heads. These eggs soon hatch into little footless mag-
gots that attack the young germ or kernel, blasting-
it. About three weeks later they become full grown :
they then leave the heads and enter the ground,
where they pupate. There is but one brood each
year. Besides wheat, the Midge is said to breed in
rye, barley, oats and, possibly, grass.

Remedies. — Early maturing grains are less liable
to be infested by this insect than those ripening
later. Consequently farmers in regions where it is
present plant such varieties earl}', with general high
culture. Many of the insects will be destroyed by
the deep plowing of the infested fields.

INJURING STORED GRAIN.

The Grain Weevil.

Calandra granaria.
There are several species of beetles infesting gran-
aries, the habits and life-histories of which, however,
are quite similar. As an
example we may take the
Imported Grain Weevil,
the larva of which is rep-
resented at Fig. 124 a.
The parent insect being a
small, dark-reddish snout-
beetle (b), deposits its eggs

; y . && Fig. 124. Grain Weevil: a, larva;

Upon the gram. The eggS b > beetle. Magnified.

INJURING STORED GRAIN. 233

soon hatch into legless little larvae that eat out the
substance of the kernels, and become full-grown
(a) in a few weeks. They then change to pupse
and soon afterwards again transform to adult beetles.
There are several broods each season. All sorts of
stored grain, such as corn, oats, wheat, barley, etc.,
are attacked by these insects.

Remedies. — Bisulphide of carbon appears to be
the best insecticide to use against grain weevils. The
vapor of this substance is poisonous to insect life,
and as it is heavier than air it will descend between
the kernels of grain, destroying all the weevils which
it reaches. Dr. C. V. Riley has lately called atten-
tion to the following method of using it, premising
with the statement that one and a half pounds of
bisulphide is sufficient for each ton of grain : " A
ball of tow is tied to a stick of such a length that it
can reach the middle of the vessel containing the
grain. The tow receives the charge of bisulphide
like a sponge, and is at once plunged into the vessel
and left there, the mouth or opening of the vessel
then being tightly closed. When necessary, the
stick may be withdrawn and the charge (of 1 ounce
to 100 pounds of grain) may be renewed. The ac-
tion of carbon bisulphide lasts in ordinary cases six
weeks, after which period a fresh charge is required.
The bisulphide does no harm to the grain as regards
its color, smell, or cooking properties, and the germ-
inating power of most seeds is not appreciably affect-
ed, provided that not too much is used, nor its action
continued for too long a period."

INSECTS AFFECTING CLOVER.

INJURING THE ROOT.

The Clover Root-borer.

Hylastes trifolii.
This insect was originally a native of Europe,
from whence it was introduced into America not

very many years ago. The
adult is a small, brownish -
black, punctate beetle ( Fig.
125, d), not quite one-tenth
\j of an inch long. It deposits
eggs during spring in the
crown of the clover plant,
four or five eggs being laid on
each plant. Shortly after-
wards the larvae hatch and
burrow downward through
the larger roots (a, a), feeding
upon the inner substance,
and filling the galleries be-
hind them with their saw-
dust-like excrement. Late in

Fig. 125. Clover Root-borer : </. smrnmer the larvpp beeome
infested plant; 6, larva; c, pu- SUmmei Lilt idl \ <L ueLOllie
pa; d, beetle: 6, c,d, magnified. fully grown (fy w h en they

are one-eighth of an inch long, with a whitish body
and yellow head. They change to pupae (c) within
the tunneled roots (a, a), and shortly afterwards

INJURING THE LEAVES. 235

emerge as adult beetles. The species generally passes
the winter in the beetle state, but occasionally hiber-
nates as a larva or pupa.

The injuries of this insect are frequently very
serious, whole fields of clover often being destroyed.
Fortunately its ravages are as yet confined to a com-
paratively few states, but it is likely to spread over
a large portion of the country.

Remedies. — In regions infested by this insect it
has been found necessary to rotate the clover crop
more frequently than before, mowing the seeded land
but once, and pasturing or plowing under the abund-
ant second growth. In this way the crop is turned
under before the injuries of the borer become mani-
fest. According to many of the most successful
farmers, this frequent rotation is deemed desirable
anyhow, so that the insect, in their opinion, is a
means of compelling the adoption of an improve-
ment in farm management.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Clover Leaf-beetle.

Phytonomus pundatus.
Like so many other of our injurious insects, the
native home of this species is Europe, from whence
it was probably introduced into America many years
ago, although it has only been seriously destructive
here for a comparatively few years. It was first

236

INSECTS AFFECTING CLOVER.

noticed in New York State, and as yet has not spread
to very many other states, although it is likely to do so.
Dr. C. V. Riley, who first worked out the Ameri-
can life-history of this species, has admirably illus-
trated this insect and its injury at Fig. 126. The
adult (i,j, k) is a dark brown snout-beetle, not quite
half an inch long, which feeds greedily upon the

Fig. L26. Clover Leaf-beetle: 6, 6, b, 6, larva feeding; /. cocoon; i, beetle-
all natural size ; a, egg; c, young larva ; g, mesnes of cocoon ; h, pupa;
k.j, beetle, back and side views— magnified.

clover leaves at night, remaining concealed among
the rubbish on the soil surface during the day. The
female beetles deposit their eggs in irregular clusters
in the hollow leaf |or flower stems or between the

INJURING THE HEAD. 237

leaf-bracts at the base of the plant. The eggs are
very small, oval, smooth, and yellowish-green.
Each female is capable of depositing 200 to 300
eggs. In about ten days the larvse hatch and begin
feeding on the leaves. They are legless little grubs
of the form shown at c. They continue feeding and
growing (b, b, b) for seven or eight weeks, increasing
much in size and moulting three times during the
period. The larvae, like the beetles, are mostly noc-
turnal in their habits, and ordinarily remain con-
cealed during the day. The full grown larvse form
pale yellow cocoons, consisting of a coarse network
of silk (/, g) in the soil, just beneath the surface.
They pupate (li) within these cocoons, and a month
later emerge as beetles. There is apparently but one
brood each season, although it is possible that there
may sometimes be two. During the early summer
months (May and June) it is mostly in its immature
stages. It ordinarily hibernates as an adult, but
may also occasionally pass the winter in the other
stages of its existence.

Remedies. — The only remedy yet suggested is
that of plowing under infested fields during May or
June, thus destroying the immature stages.

INJURING THE HEAD.

The Clover Seed-midge.

Ceaidomyia leguminicola.
The Clover Seed-midge is a small, orange-colored
maggot that develops in the clover heads at the

238

INSECTS AFFECTING CLOVER.

expense of the young seeds. It hatches from eggs laid

by a very small, two-
winged fly (Fig. 127,
a), similar to the
Hessian Fly in ap-
pearance. The fe-
male is provided
with a long oviposi-
tor with which she
pushes her eggs in
among the young
flowers. When the

Fig. 127. Clover Seed-midge: a, ily; t, larva. -I • f 11 „,���„...

Magnified. iai\a lb IU11 glOTUl

(b) it wriggles its way out of the head and falls to
the ground, where at or just beneath the soil surface,
it forms a slight cocoon, within which it changes to
the pupa state. About ten days later the flies emerge
to lay eggs for another brood. In the Northern
States there are two broods each season, while at the
South there are at least three, and possibly more.
Clover fields infested by this insect are at once dis-
tinguished by the unnatural condition of the heads
at time of blossoming: instead of being red with
bloom, the heads are green and dwarfed on account
of the undeveloped florets.

Remedies. — The best preventive of the injuries
of this insect yet suggested is that of mowing the
field about the middle of May (in the latitude of
central Ohio) when the green heads are just forming,
and leaving the partial crop thus cut on the ground

INJURING THE STEM. 239

as a mulch and fertilizer. A new crop of blossoms
is then produced, which comes between the regular
crops, and also between the two broods of the Midge.
This method has been tried for several years by some
of the best farmers of Ohio, with excellent results.
The other remedies ordinarily recommended are
early cutting of the first crop — about ten days earlier
than usual — and pasturing the fields in spring.
But there are serious objections to both these methods.

INJURING THE STEM.

The Clover Stem-borer.

Lai ig i uria mozardi .
This insect has been frequently discussed in ento-
mological literature as an enemy to clover, but no

record has yet been made
showing that it ever seri-
ously injures this crop.
Until lately it was supposed
to develop exclusively in
0* \ iw^^i^f clover, but recent observa-

<i$pfe \mJK$R.+s- tions indicate that it breeds

<?V"l!Ps\ especially certain weeds of
the Composite family, than
™ b ^ c ' in clover.

Fig. 129. Clover Stem-borer: a, lar- rrn +l lvP p lq+pv «tncrp«! nf
va; 6,pupa; c, beetle. Magnified. lne iniee idiei Stages 01

this Clover Stem-borer are represented, magnified, at
Fig. 129. The adult insect, shown at c, is a small,

240

INSECTS AFFECTING CLOVER.

elongate beetle, about one-fourth of an inch long,
with the thorax yellowish red, and the wing-covers
shining bluish-black. The larva, represented at a,
is a slender, cylindrical creature, with three pairs of
jointed legs on its under surface near the head, and
a pair of pro-legs at the posterior extremity. The
pupa is well shown at b of the same figure. It is
usually of a yellowish color.

The eggs of this insect are evidently deposited in
a great variety of plants, in the stems of which the
larvae develop, feeding upon the pith of the stalk.
So long as there is a plentiful supply of wild plants,
it is doubtful if it becomes of economic importance.

INJURING THE HAY.

The Clover Hay-worm.

Asopia costatis.
Clover hay that has been standing in the mow or
stack for some time,
is often infested by
numerous small
b r o w n wo r m s
w h i c h web the
dried steins and
leaves together and
feed upon them.
This is the insect
named above, and
its various stages
are represented,

Fig. 130. Clover Hay-worm : 1,2, larva ;
coon; 4, pupa ; 5, 6, moth.

INJURING THE HAY. 241

natural size, at Fig. 130. The adult is a very pretty
little purple and golden moth (5, 6) which deposits
eggs upon such clover hay as it has access to. The
eggs soon hatch into small brown worms that become
full-grown (1, 2) in a few weeks. They then spin
silken cocoons (3) within which they change to
chrysalis (4), to emerge soon after as adult moths.
There are two or more broods each season.

Remedies. — It will readily be seen that these in-
sects are more likely to prove troublesome when old
hay is left over from season to season for them to
breed in. Consequently hay mows should be thor-
oughly cleaned out each summer, and new stacks
should not be put on old foundations until all of the
leavings of the previous season are removed. Hay
which is thickly infested by the worms should be
burned.

INSECTS AFFECTING GRASS.

INJURING THE ROOTS.

The White Grub.

Lachnosterna fusca.

This notorious pest is the young or larva of the

common May Beetle or June Bug. Its life-history

may be briefly summarized as follows : The brown

beetles, shown at 3 and 4, Fig. 131, appear during

Fig. 131. May Beetle: 1 pupa: 2, larva: 3 and 4, adult.

May and June, and feed at night upon the foliage of
various fruit and shade trees. They deposit small,
whitish eggs among the roots of grass. These eggs
hatch into small, brown-headed grubs, that feed
upon the roots about them. They continue feeding
for two seasons, when they are full grown and

INJURING THE ROOTS. 243

resemble 2, Fig. 131. They then form an oval cell in
the soil and change to the pupa state, and soon after
transform into beetles. The change to the pupa and
beetle states generally occurs in fall, the beetles
remaining in the ground until the following spring,
so that they are often turned up during late fall or
early spring plowing.

Remedies. — This insect is one of the most diffi-
cult pests to fight of its class. It breeds especially
in grass lands, and often ruins pastures and mead-
ows, while crops planted on sod land are very fre-
quently destroyed. There is much evidence to prove
that with high farming and short rotations its in-
juries may largely be prevented. The parent beetles
may be destroyed by spraying the trees on which
they feed with London purple or Paris green. It
will often pay, when land infested by these grubs
is to be planted to strawberries or other crops which
they are liable to injure, to have boys follow the
plow and collect the grubs as they appear in the fur-
row. In this way a large amount of damage can
frequently be prevented at very slight expense. The
grubs in infested meadows may be destroyed by
turning swine in the field.

The Meadow Maggot.

Tipula bicarnea.
Meadows are sometimes injured by large, dark-
colored, legless grubs of the form represented at Fig.
132, a, which feed upon the roots just beneath the

244

INSECTS AFFECTING GRASS.

surface. These are the larva? of Crane Flies, the
large two-winged insect represented natural size at
c of the figure. The adults appear in spring, often
in great numbers, and deposit numerous eggs in
grass lands. In a short time these eggs hatch into

Fig. 132. Crane Fly: a, larva; b, pupa; c, adult.

small, blackish grubs that feed upon the roots of
grasses and other plants. They continue feeding for
some time before becoming full-grown — their food
including much decaying vegetation as well as the
living roots, — when they are about an inch long, and
of a 'dirty [grayish black color. They now change to

INJURING THE LEAVES. 245

pupse, one of which is represented at b, and about a
fortnight later the flies emerge with their long legs
and slender wings. The larvae are commonly called
Leather Jackets or Meadow Maggots. In England
the crane flies are called daddy-long-legs, although
in this country this name is usually applied to the
harvest-spiders, a common species of which is
represented at Plate VI (p. 208). There are a great
many species of these crane flies in America, and the
later stages of one of the largest of them are repre-
sented in the accompanying figure.

Remedies. — In America these insects rarely be-
come sufficiently injurious to require remedial treat-
ment. When they do the most successful plan yet
tried is that of driving a flock of sheep or herd
of swine over the field to kill fhe larvse by their
tramping.

INJURING THE LEAVES.

The Army Worm.

Leucania unipuncta.

This is one of the most noted insect enemies of
American agriculture. It occasionally does great
damage to a variety of cereal and forage crops,
although during recent years its irruptions appear to
be growing less frequent. The worm itself is closely
related to the cut-worms, to which it is similar in
life-history and habits. It hatches from eggs laid by

24(3

INSECTS AFFECTING GRASS.

133, a) between the

a handsome brown moth (Fi
s heaths of grass
blades. The young-
larva 1 hatch in a week
or ten days, and are
at first green, but
later become orna-
mented with longitu-
dinal stripes of yel-
low, gray, and black,
(b). The larva feeds
upon the leaves of
grass, wheat, oats, rye,
etc., and becomes full

grOWll in about a Fig. 133. Army Worm: a, moth; 6, larva.

month from the time of hatching. Ordinarily it
remains concealed about the bases of grass or grain,
feeding there unnoticed, but occasionally the larvae
become so numerous that they exhaust their food
supplies, and then they are forced to seek other feed-
ing grounds. At such times the " armies " appear,
and moving in solid masses sweep all grasses and
cereals before them. The full-grown larvae enter the
ground and pupate in earthen cells, 1 emerging a fort-
night later as moths. In southern latitudes there
are two or three broods each season, while at the
North there are one or two. The insect hibernates
both as a moth and larva, although the latter doubt-
less predominates.

The Army Worm has a great many enemies with

INJURING THE LEAVES. 247

which to contend. It is preyed upon by birds, as
well as by predaceous and parasitic insects, and is sub-
ject to the attacks of certain bacterial diseases that
often sweep the larvae off by millions. These vari-
ous natural enemies are the chief means of keeping
the pest in check.

Remedies. — The burning of pastures and mead-
ows during fall, winter, or spring, especially the lat-
ter, is very often recommended as a remedy for the
Army Worm, and large numbers of the larvae may
thus be destroyed. The migration of the worms
from field to field may be prevented by plowing deep
furrows with the perpendicular sides away from the
worms, or by setting fence boards on edge, leaning a
little toward the worms, and smearing the upper
edge with coal tar. With the improved appliances
for distributing Paris green and London purple now
in use, these poisons will no doubt be more largely
used in suppressing future outbreaks of these worms
than in the past. It is quite probable also that we
may before long be able to fight them by means of
the germs of the contagious diseases to which they
are subject.

Grasshoppers.

Acrididse.
The family of locusts or short-horned grasshoppers
— commonly called simply grasshoppers — contains
many species which are more or less injurious in
pastures and meadows. The hind legs of these in-
sects are long and strong, enabling them to make the

248 INSECTS AFFECTING GRASS.

leaps or hops which has given them their common
name. The largest species of this family inhabiting
the United States is the Bird Grasshopper or Ameri-
can Locust (Acridium americanum) represented nat-
ural size at Fig. 134. At a little distance, when fly-
ing, this handsome insect might easily be mistaken

^ '

Fig. 134. Bird Grasshopper or American Locust.

for a small bird. It inhabits the Southern States,
but occurs rather commonly as far north as the
fortieth degree of latitude.

The Rocky Mountain Locust or Western Grass-
hopper (Melanoplus spretus) is the most destructive
American insect of this family. Its stages of growth
are shown at Fig. 135. The eggs are laid during
the late summer or early autumn months, in masses
of twenty or thirty each, in the soil just below the
surface. They remain over winter in this condition,
hatching in spring into wingless little hoppers, as
shown at a, a. They gradually increase in size, and
cast their skins after a short time, when they resem-
ble b. They acquire wing-pads in the stage imme-
diately preceding that of the adult, as shown at c, and

INJURING THE LEAVES.

249

Fig. 135. Rocky Mountain Locust :
a, b, young nymphs ; c, fully de-
veloped nyrnph or pupa ; d, adult.

finally become full-fledged (d). They are active

during their entire ex-
istence. The native
home of this species is
in the high and dry ta-
ble lands of the Rocky
Mountain regions, where
it breeds year after year.
Occasionally it becomes
so abundant in these re-
gions that the food sup-
ply is exhausted, and it
is compelled to seek by flight green pastures. It is
at such times that these insects migrate in vast
swarms to the fertile fields of the Mississippi Valley,
destroying every vestige of greenness in their path.
Fortunately, however, they are unable to breed per-
manently at these lower levels, and although eggs
are deposited by these invading hordes, the young
hoppers hatched from them seldom attain a healthy
development.

The commonest grasshopper in the Northern
States is called the Red-legged Locust (Mclanoplus
femur-rubrum). It is closely allied and very similar
to the Rocky Mountain Locust. It frequently be-
comes seriously destructive in restricted localities,
but never does the wide-spread damage of its West-
ern congener. The life-history of this species has
been summarized by Professor S. A. Forbes as fol-
lows : " These locusts are single-brooded ; they hiber-
nate in the egg, hatching in midsummer; pass

250 INSECTS AFFECTING GRASS.

through live successive moults, gaining their full
size, and with this their wings, in August, and com-
mence to lay eggs in September. The females deposit
these in the earth, boring cylindrical holes for the
purpose with the abdomen, and laying the eggs in a
symmetrical mass within the burrow thus formed.
With the egg mass is extruded a quantity of mucus,
which soon hardens and forms a sort of case or mat-
rix, in which the eggs are imbedded. The upper
part of the hole is also filled with this mucus. The
female is commonly busied from two to four or five
hours in the deposit of a single egg mass, and lays,
ordinarily, from two to four such masses in different
holes, upon different days, commencing the process
of oviposition, as a rule, about a month after she has
acquired her wings. After this process is completed
the exhausted females soon perish. They select b} r
preference, for oviposition, hard and dry ground,
roadsides and pastures being especially favorite lo-
calities. Meadows and pastures are commonly re-
sorted to by the mature females, especially the latter,
as the eggs seem not to be laid ordinarily on ground
covered by luxuriant vegetation. I have never
known them deposited in cultivated earth.

" The food habits of these locusts are extremely
simple, and consist in eating nearly everything that
comes in their way. They are quiet at night, and
indeed, as they mature, they select elevated positions
as roosts, climbing to the tops of stems of grass in
meadows, to the tassels of the stalks in corn fields,

INJURING THE LEAVES. 251

and even deserting fields of low herbage if they can
find more elevated roosting points near by. When
very abundant, and when the weather continues dry.
they occasionally swarm like the Rocky Mountain
Locust, but rarely Hying continuously to any great
distance, or indeed taking any definite course."

Fortunately there are a considerable number of
species of animals that depend, to a greater or less
extent, upon grasshoppers for subsistence. Some of
these are predaceous, others parasitic, but all com-
bine in keeping the pests in check. Prominent
among those efficient in this work are the species
that live upon or within the eggs of the locusts, as
the latter exist in that state for the longest period of
their lives, and are also then the most helpless and
susceptible to injury. The common blister beetles
(Epieauta) live, so far as known, in their larval shite,
exclusively upon the eggs of locusts, and are thus of
immense benefit to man. Small red mites, which
are frequently seen attached to the bodies of the ma-
ture locusts, are also of benefit, in that while young
they suck the life-juices of the locusts, and, later,
puncture their eggs and extract the contents. The
larvae of the common black ground beetles ( ( 'arabida )
which are, to a great extent, carnivorous, also feed
upon the eggs, and, as they are everywhere abund-
ant, contribute not a little to lessening their num-
bers. Certain species of two-winged flies {Dvptera)
are also known to be parasitic upon the egg- as well
as the adults.

252 INSECTS AFFECTING GRASS.

Remedies. — The time when grasshoppers can
most successfully be fought is when they are either
in the egg or young larval states. Shallow plowing
and harrowing, during autumn, of fields where they
are deposited will break up many of the egg pods,
exposing them to enemies and the weather. The
methods by which young locusts may be destroyed
have been classified by the United States Entomo-
logical Commission as follows: (1), burning; (2),
crushing ; (3), trapping ; (4), catching ; (5), use of de-
structive agents. By the first method old hay or
straw is scattered " over and around the field in
heaps and windrows, into which the locusts for some
time after they hatch may be driven and burned."
When the weather is cold and damp the locusts will
seek the shelter of the hay or straw, and may easily
be burned before escaping. This method is well
adapted to upland pastures, where the eggs are usu-
ally deposited in the greatest numbers.

For the successful application of the second meth-
od mentioned above, it is necessary that the surface
of the fields on which it is applied should be smooth
and hard. Here, again, the upland pastures present
unusually favorable opportunities for successful work.
Dr. Riley states that " Where the surface of the
ground presents this character, heavy rolling can be
successfully employed, especially in the mornings
and evenings of the first eight or ten days after the
newly hatched young have made their appearance,
as they are generally sluggish during these times,
and huddle together until after sunrise."

INJURING THE LEAVES. 253

The third head given above, that of trapping, in-
cludes ditching, trenching, and the use of pans cov-
ered with coal oil, or coal tar. In the first two pro-
cesses, ditches or trenches are dug in favorable situa-
tions, into which the young insects are driven. Prob-
ably the use of pans covered with coal oil will be as
simple and advisable a method, unless we except that
of rolling, as can be employed in most infested
districts. A small pan which is well adapted for the
purpose is described as follows : "A good and cheap
pan is made of ordinary sheet iron eight feet long,
eleven inches wide at the bottom, and turned up a
foot high at the back and an inch high at the front.
A runner at each end, extending some distance be-
hind, and a cord extending to each front corner,
completes the pan, at a cost of about $1.50." The
upper surface of the bottom is wet with kerosene,
and the pans are pulled rapidly through the field by
boys who take hold of the ropes.

The use of destructive agents, such as London
purple, Paris green, and the like, has not been
attended with any very great success when applied
on a large scale. But for limited areas, doubtless a
great many of the locusts may thus be easily de-
stroyed. A mixture which has been successfully
employed, consists of "arsenic, sugar, bran, and
water, the proportions being one part, by weight, of
arsenic, one of sugar, and five of bran, to which is
added a certain quantity of water. The arsenic and
bran are first mixed together, then the sugar is

254

INSECTS AFFECTING GRASS.

dissolved in water and added to the bran and arsenic,
after which a sufficient quantity of water is added
to thoroughly wet the mixture. About a teaspoon-
ful of this mixture is thrown upon the ground at
the base of each tree or vine (in gardens and or-
chards) and left to do its work. The poison works
slowly, seldom killing its victim within eight or ten
hours after it has been eaten."

PART VI.

INSECT PESTS

DOMESTIC ANIMALS

AND THE

HOUSEHOLD.

PLATE V 1 1 —The Screw-worm.

INSECTS AFFECTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

The Screw Worm.

Compsomyia macellar ia.

The Screw Worm, so far as its injuries are con-
cerned, is a southern insect. Until recently little or
no damage from it had been reported outside of
Texas, but lately it has been injurious in Louisiana,
Mississippi, and other Southern States. The fly,
however, occurs throughout America ' from Canada
to Patagonia,' probably breeding in northern latitudes
in decaying animal and vegetable matter. Although
in the South cattle are specially liable to the attacks
of this insect, it is by no means confined to them,
for horses, mules, hogs, sheep, dogs, and in some re-
corded cases even men, suffer on account of it.

" In all animals alike," according to Dr. M. Francis,
who has studied this insect carefully, " the eggs, after
being laid by the fly, hatch into larvee or so-called
' worms.' The exact length of time this requires
seems to vary with circumstances. My present
opinion is that if the eggs are laid in a moist place
and on a warm day, it requires less than one hour ;
whereas, if laid in a dry place they seem to dry up
and lose their vitality. The young larva 1 , when first
hatched, are small and easily overlooked. If they
are hatched on the surface in a drop of blood from
a ruptured tick, for instance, they attempt to perfor-
ate the skin, and if hatched in wounds they at once

258 INSECTS AFFECTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

become buried out of sight. They seem to attach
themselves by their heads, and burrow their way
under the skin, completely devouring the soft flesh.
Occasionally a few are seen moving from one place
to another, but usually they remain fixed at one
point. The worms grow steadily in size, and the
hole in the flesh becomes larger every day. Some-
times the worm makes tunnels, but not to any depth ;
they usually stay on the surface. They evidently
produce considerable irritation, for the part is always
swollen and constantly bleeding. This swollen, gap-
ing appearance of the wounds, together with the con-
stant discharge of blood, are characteristic of the
presence of worms. It seems to require about a
week for the worms to become fully grown. At that
time they are about five-eighths to six-eighths of an
inch long. They then leave the sore and go into the
ground, where they pass the pupa state, and hatch
out as flies in from nine to twelve days."

In the accompanying plate (VII) the eggs are
shown at a and b, the first representing a single egg,
greatly enlarged, and the second a bunch of eggs,
also enlarged ; the larva is represented at c, and the
puparium at d and e, the former showing the mode
of exit of the fly, which is represented at / and g.

The egg of this insect is is inch long, whitish, and
cylindrical, with a longitudinal ridge on one side.
The full-grown larva is \ inch long by £ inch in
diameter. It is a whitish, footless grub, with trans-
verse rows of stiff, black bristles at each articulation.

INJURING CATTLE. 259

The puparium is brown, and | inch long. The im-
ago is described as follows : Length, § inch ; wing-
expanse, j inch ; color, metallic bluish-green, with
golden reflections ; thorax, with three black, longitu-
dinal stripes; head, except central portion of eyes,
yellow ; legs, black ; wing veins, black ; wings, trans-
parent, except near base, where they are slightly
clouded. Entire body furnished with long, black,
spinose hairs. Proboscis of medium length, with
dilated tip.

Remedies. — According to Dr. Francis, the treat-
ment usually employed consists simply of killing the
larvas with cresylic ointment, calomel, chloroform, or
carbolic acid. Inasmuch as the insect is able to de-
velop freely in decaying animal and vegetable mat-
ter it is important, as a preventive measure, that all
refuse be promptly buried or burned.

The Ox Warble Fly.

Oestrus bovis.
During the spring and early summer one may
often find along the middle of the backs of cattle,
just beneath the skin, a hard lump, usually having
in the center an opening, which sometimes is more
or less of a running sore. These are the " warbles,"
and the lump is caused by the presence of a whitish
or grayish maggot of the form represented at a, Fig.
136. Early in summer these maggots wriggle out
of the warbles, tail foremost, through the opening-
represented at d, and fall to the ground, where, un-
der such protection as may be at hand, they shorten

260

INSECTS AFFECTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

for pupation a*- *lirnvn at v l, and soon change to the
pupa or chrysalis state, represented at £- About a
month later they emerge as adult flies, one of which
is represented, natural size, at <C- These flies pair,
and the females deposit eggs on the backs of cattle.
The eggs hatch into grubs that work their way into
the skin, where they form the warble cells. Their
mouth parts irritate the flesh, causing an ulceration,

c d

Fig. 136. Ox Warble Fly : a, larva ; b, pupa : c, fly ; d, section of warble.''*

which not only is distressing to the animal, but in-
jures the hide and beef, and, in the case of dairy ani-
mals, lessens the quantity of milk produced.

Tlie beef beneath these warbles has a peculiar,
diseased, sickening appearance, and is commonly
called " licked beef." Such beef always commands
a lower price than that which is unaffected.

Remedies. — Every warble maggot destroyed in
spring before it escapes to the ground to pupate,

INJURING CATTLE. 261

means that one less fly will be present to lay eggs
for the coming brood. This should be carefully
borne in mind, for from it the conclusion is obvious
that if all the maggots present in the backs of cattle
of a given neighborhood are killed, the egg-laying
brood of flies will be exterminated, and there will be
no injury the next season. There is perhaps no
other important injurious insect whose numbers can
be so readily controlled ; and the experience of Eng-
lish farmers shows that by concerted action and con-
tinuation of the treatment the amount of warble at-
tack may be very rapidly lessened.

Perhaps the simplest remedy to use during spring
and early summer is to squeeze the maggots out of
the warbles. When they are nearly full grown this
can be done with little trouble ; and when smaller
the opening can be enlarged with a pen knife so as
to let them out. A pair of medium sized forceps is
often helpful in removing them.

Another simple remedy is to apply to the opening
a little oil or grease, which closes the breathing pores
of the maggot, thus causing it to die. Kerosene ap-
plied to . the warbles either in autumn, winter or
spring also destroys them, as does indeed the appli-
cation of almost any oily or fatty substance. Train
oil or fish oil is especially commended in England.
Dr. C. V. Riley says that smearing the animals'
backs with this substance " is the simplest and easi-
est method of destroying the warbles, which it does
by closing the breathing pores on the posterior end

262 INSECTS AFFECTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

of the body. The destruction of the larvae in this
way may be effected by one or two applications in
autumn, and is the most satisfactory method of con-
trolling the pest."

It is also frequently recommended to smear the
backs of the cattle during summer with fish oil, ker-
osene emulsion, or some similar substance, to pre-
vent the flies from depositing eggs, but this is a
much less practical method than that of destroying
the maggots, because the flies are present nearly all
summer, making it necessary that the application
be frequently renewed.

Cattle Lice.

There are three species of lice infesting cattle.
Two of these belong to the group of sucking lice and
the third is one of the biting lice. They are called
(1) the Short-nosed Ox-louse; (2) the Long-nosed
Ox-louse ; and (3) the Biting Ox-louse.

The Short-nosed Ox-louse {Hsematopinus eurystcr-
nus) is represented consid-
erably magnified at Fig.

Jo o

137, a. Full grown females
of this species are one-sixth
of an inch long, and the
males are somewhat small-
er. The beak or rostrum
is provided with little
hooks by w T hich it may be firmly attached to the
skin, and within these hooks there is a slender suck-
ing tube having a piercing extremity which the

Fig. 137. Lice
ox-lice ; c,
louse. Magnified.

a, 6, sucking
biting horse-

INJURING CATTLE. 263

insect pushes through the skin of its host, and sucks
the blood. The eggs are glued to the hairs of the
cattle, and the young lice do not differ essentially in
appearance from the adults, except, of course, in size.
These insects generally infest the neck and shoulders
of cattle.

The Long-nosed Ox-louse (Hsematopinus vituli) is
represented magnified at Fig. 137, b. As will be
seen, it differs materially in appearance from the
other species, being at once distinguished by its longer
and more slender body. It is about one-eighth of
an inch long, and obtains its food by suction.

An idea of the form of the Biting Ox-louse (Trieh-
odectes scalar is) may be obtained from Fig. 137, c,
which represents a closely related insect infesting
horses. This species differs also in color from
the sucking cattle lice, being of a reddish hue.
Its eggs are glued to the hairs of the cattle. It is
very abundant in all parts 'of the world where do-
mestic cattle are found.

Remedies. — The best method of destroying lice
on cattle and other domestic animals is to apply a
thoroughly prepared emulsion of kerosene and soap,
made as directed in the Introduction (page 20). If
this is well made it can be applied to cattle and
horses, hogs and sheep, with no danger of injury to
them, while it will destroy all the lice with which it
comes in contact. Professor C. P. Gillette, who first
gave this method a thorough trial, recommends ap-
plying it with a force pump and spray nozzle, rubbing

264 INSECTS AFFECTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

it in thoroughly with the finger tips at the same
time. It kills the lice and leaves the hair of the an-
imal in good condition. The lice may also be de-
stroyed by treating with a strong tobacco decoction
— a pound of tobacco being boiled in two gallons of
water — or a wash of carbolic acid soap. But the
first named remedy is best.

The Horn Fly.

Haematobia scrrata.

This is an imported insect which has lately

attracted much attention in the Eastern States. It

is called the Horn Fly because of the peculiar habit

the flies have of gathering in clusters upon the base

Fig. 138: a, Horn Fly, magnified ; 6, cow-horn with band of rest-
ing flics, reduced.

of the horn, as represented at Fig. 138, b. They
light here to avoid being disturbed by the heads or
tails of the cattle, but do not pierce the horn or do
any serious injury to it. On the body, however,
where they light when feeding, they insert their
beaks into the skin, injecting at the same time a little
poisonous secretion which causes irritation and in-
flammation, and a flow of blood to the spot. This

INJURING CATTLE. 265

blood is then sucked into the stomach of the fh\
Cows thus attacked become restless and irritable, and,
if the flies are very numerous, they lose flesh and
give less milk.

The eggs of the Horn Fly are deposited in freshly
dropped cow-dung in which the larvae develop, and
pupate in the soil beneath. There are four or five
broods each season. During hot weather the trans-
formations of the insect — from egg to imago — may
be completed within two weeks.

Remedies. — Two classes of preventives may be
used against this insect. The injuries to cattle may
be prevented by applying to their bodies, by means
of a sponge, fish oil to which has been added a little
carbolic acid. Only the tips of the hairs need be
wet, and the application should be repeated every
four or five days. This will keep the flies off the
animals, though it does not kill them. They may
be killed, however, by the use of tobacco powder,
dusted on the cattle, especially on the back, tail, neck,
and base of the horns. Professor J. B. Smith recom-
mends the use of the carbolated fish oil on the belly,
udder, and other parts of the body where the tobacco
cannot well be applied, and the application of the
powder to the other parts. The larvae also may be
destroyed by spreading out the cow droppings each
morning, so that they will dry up, and thus prevent
the development of the eggs or maggots, or by mix-
ing plaster with the manure in the stable or field.

266 INSECTS AFFECTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS.

Lice Infesting Horses.

Three species of lice infest the horse. The first is
the Sucking Horse-louse (Hxmatopinus asini) which
is represented, considerably magnified, at Fig. 139, a.
It is somewhat similar to the Sucking Ox-louse, to
which it is closely related, but
is easily distinguished from that
species by the shape of the
head. It is the rarest of the
three species infesting the horse,
the next commonest one being
the Rarer Biting Horse-louse
(Trichodectes pilosus) represented
at Fig. 139, b, which, as its name F %|£ £ ||?H^e- e "
indicates, is less abundant than
the third species — the Common Biting Horse-louse
(Trichodectes parumpilosus), which is shown at Fig.
137, c. This last is the most abundant and annoy-
ing, and is especially liable to infest colts or horses
that have been in pasture for some time. It occurs
mostly about the head, mane, and tail ; and is gen-
erally thickest in spring. The front part of the body
is brownish, and the abdomen is yellowish-white,
with eight transverse dark bands upon the back.

Remedies. — The remarks concerning remedies
for cattle lice are equally applicable to these species.

INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

Cockroaches.

Cockroaches are among the most omnivorous as
well as omnipresent of the insect pests of the house-
hold. Their flattened bodies especially fit them to
dwell in cracks and crevices, in the walls of houses
in cities, and beneath the loose bark of fallen trees
in the woods. Here they find congenial retreats and
flourish abundantly. They take a great variety of
food. In dwellings they destroy provisions of every
kind, although, as a partial recompense, perhaps,
they are also said to prey upon Bed Bugs.

As has been so often the case with our injurious
insects, we are indebted to Europe for the cock-
roaches that are most obnoxious. The American
Cockroach (Periplaneta americana) occurs commonly
in the fields and woods, and occasionally is found in
houses. But the Oriental Cockroach (Periplaneta
orientalis) and the Croton Bug or German Cockroach
(Phyllodromia germanica) — both imported species —
prefer the city dwelling, where, around the steam
and water pipes of the kitchen, laundry or bathroom,
they can run about undisturbed. They are noctur-
nal in their habits, remaining concealed during the
day, and sallying forth in search of food during the
night.

The life-history of the Croton Bug has been admir-
ably portrayed by Dr. C. V. Riley at Fig. 140. The

268

INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

eggs are laid in a pod or egg-case (/, g) from which

Fig. 140. Croton Bug: a, first stage; 6, second stage; c, third stage ;
d, fourth stage ; e, adult : f, adult female with egg-case ; g, egg-case
—enlarged ; h, adult with wings spread— all natural size except g.

the young roaches hatch. They pass through vari-
ous moults as represented at a, b, c, d, and do not ac-
quire wings until full-grown (e,f, h), when they are
nearly two-thirds of an inch long. The other roaches
develop in a similar way.

Remedies. — The best remedy for these pests is a
good quality of insect powder, such as Buhach. In
recommending this, Dr. Riley says :

" Just before nightfall go into the infested rooms
and puff it into all crevices, under base-boards, into
drawers and cracks of old furniture — in fact wher-
ever there is a crack — and in the morning the floor
will be covered with dead and dying or demoralized
and paralyzed roaches, which may easily be swept
up or otherwise collected and burned. With clean-
liness and persistency in these methods the pest may
be substantially driven out of a house, and should
never be allowed to get full possession by immi-
grants from without."

INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

269

The Buffalo Carpet Beetle.

Anthrenus scrophularise.
The Buffalo Carpet Beetle is supposed to have been
introduced into America from Europe about 1876,
since when it has done great damage and spread over
a large portion of the eastern and central United
States. The adult beetle (Fig. 141, d) is about a

Fig. 141. Carpet Beetle: a, larva, back view ; 6, larva, view of under
side; c, pupa; d, beetle. Magnified.

quarter of an inch long, black, with white spots, as
shown in the figure, and has a red stripe along the
middle of the back. Eggs are laid by these beetles,
probably upon carpets themselves, and soon hatch
into larvae that feed upon the carpets. It is in this
larval stage that the damage is done. The larvae
cast their skins occasionally as they develop, and the
time required for them to become full grown varies
according to the temperature and food-supply. When
full grown they are peculiar, hairy creatures of the
form represented at a and b of the accompanying

270 INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

figure. They now hide in a crack or crevice, and
change to pupae (c) inside the hairy skin. In a short
time they again change to the beetle state, the beetles
emerging throughout the fall, winter, and spring.
There is probably, in ordinary cases, but one genera-
tion a year, at least in the Northern States.

Remedies. — In Europe this insect does very little
damage, because rugs are used instead of carpets.
Rugs are taken and shaken so often that the insects
have no opportunity to multiply. The use of rugs
should therefore be encouraged in regions where the
insect is troublesome.

Perhaps the most practical way of really destroy-
ing these insects in carpets without taking them up,
is to lay two or three thicknesses of wet cloths on
the carpet, and iron with hot flat irons. Steam will
thus be generated, which will permeate the carpet
and kill the insects. The pests may readily be
killed in furniture or garments by the use of benzine
or gasoline, applied as a spray by some sort of atom-
izer, always remembering that these substances must not
come in contact with fire in any shape. "At house-
cleaning time," says Dr. Riley, " as many of the
rooms should be bared at once as possible, and the
housekeeper should go carefully over the rooms, re-
moving all dust, and with a hand atomizer charged
with benzine should puff the liquid into all the floor
cracks, and under the base-boards until every crevice
has been reached. The carpets themselves, after
thorough beating, should be slightly sprayed with

INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

271

the same substance, which will quickly evaporate,
leaving no odor after a short time. The inflamma-
bility of benzine, however, should be remembered,
and no lie-lit should be brought near it."

The Bed Bug.

Acanthia lectularia.

A short account of this notorious pest will be suffi-
cient for the present purpose. Many people will rec-
ognize the peculiar flat-
tened creatures repre-
sented at Fig. 142, as
former acquaintances,
and those who do not so
recognize them are to be
congratulated. The eggs
of these insects are laid
in the cracks of walls and bedsteads, and the young
(a) do not differ essentially, except in size, from the
adult (b). Bed Bugs are able to exist a long time
without food, and on the other hand, when food is
abundant they multiply with remarkable rapidity.

Remedies. — Spraying the cracks of walls, beds,
etc., where these insects occur with benzine is the
best manner of destroying them. This substance
kills the eggs as well as the adults. Great care, of
course, should be taken to prevent their ingress to
the house.

Fig. 142. Bed Bug: a, young;
b, adult. Magnified.

272 INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

Clothes-moths.

There are three closely related insects in the United
States which may properly be called clothes-moths.
The}^ are quite similar in appearance, but the larvae
differ somewhat in feeding habits. The commonest
one probably is the Case-making Clothes-moth (Tinea
peUionella), the life-history of which Dr. Riley has
thus summarized : " The small light-brown moths,
distinguished by the darker spots at intervals on the
wings, begins to appear in May and are occasionally
seen flitting about as late as August. They pair
and the female then searches for suitable places for
the deposition of her eggs, working her way into
dark corners and deep into the folds of garments,
apparently choosing by instinct the least conspicu-
ous places. From these eggs hatch the white, soft-
bodied larvse, each one of which begins immediately
to make a case for itself from the fragments of the
cloth upon which it feeds. The case is in the shape
of a hollow roll or cylinder and the interior is lined
with silk. As they grow they enlarge these cases
by adding material to either end and by inserting
gores down the sides which they slit open for
the purpose. The larva reaches its full growth
toward winter, and then, crawling into some yet
more protected spot, remains there torpid through
the winter within its case, which is at this time
thickened and fastened at either end with silk. The
transformation to pupa takes place within the case

INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD. 273

the following spring, and the moths soon afterward
issue. The larva feeds in all woolen cloths, and also
in hair-cloth, furs and feathers."

Remedies. — Under this head we cannot do better
than to quote the following remarks by Dr. Riley, who
lately published an admirable series of articles, first
in Good Housekeeping and afterwards in Insect Life,
to which we are largely indebted for the information
and illustrations on this subject : He says : " During
the latter part of May or early in June a vigorous
campaign should be entered upon. All carpets,
clothes, cloth-covered furniture, furs and rugs should
be thoroughly shaken and aired, and, if possible, ex-
posed to the sunlight as long as practicable. If the
house is badly infested, or if any particular article is
supposed to be badly infested, a free use of benzine,
in the manner mentioned in my last article, will be
advisable. All floor cracks and dark closets should
be sprayed with this substance. Too much pains
cannot be taken to destroy every moth and every egg
and every newly-hatched larva, for immunity for the
rest of the year depends largely — almost entirely —
upon the thoroughness with which the work of exter-
mination is carried on at this time. The benzine spray
will kill the insect in every stage, and it is one of the
few substances which will destroy the egg. I would
however, repeat the caution as to its inflammability.
No light should be brought into a room in which it
has been used until after a thorough airing and
until the odor is almost dissipated.

274 INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

" The proper packing away of furs and winter cloth-
ing through the summer is a serious matter. A great
deal of unnecessary expenditure in the way of cedar
• chests and cedar wardrobes and various compounds
in the way of powders has been urged by writers on
these pests. But experience fully proves that after a
thorough treatment in May or June, garments,
may be safely put away for the rest of the season
with no other protection than wrapping them closely
in stout paper, to preclude infection through some
belated female. My assistant, Mr. L. 0. Howard,
tells me of an excellent plan which he has adopted.
He buys for a small sum from his tailor a number
of pasteboard boxes in which <they deliver suits, and
his wife carefully folds and packs away all clothing,
gumming a strip of wrapping paper around the
edges of the cover so as to leave no crack. These
boxes will last for a life-time with careful use. Others
use for the same purpose ordinary paper flour sacks
or linen pillow-cases, which answer well. The suc-
cess of these means depends entirely on the thor-
oughness of the preliminary work. Camphor, to-
bacco, naphthaline, and other strong odorants are
only partial repellants and without the precaution
urged are of little avail.

" Cloth-covered furniture which is in constant use
will not be harmed, and the same may be said of
cloth-lined carriages. Where such furniture is stored
away or kept unused in a dark room, or where the
carriages are left in a dark coach-house through the

INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD. 275

summer, at least two sprayings with benzine, say
once in June and once about August first, will be
advisable. Another plan which will act as a protec-
tion in such cases is to sponge the cloth linings and
covers both sides where possible, with a dilute solu-
tion of corrosive sublimate in alcohol, made just
strong enough not to leave a white mark on a black
feather."

Ants.

Ants frequently become one of the most annoying
kinds of household pests by getting into, and run-
ning over everthing. The species most generally
troublesome is the LittleJjted Ant (Monomorium pha-
raonis,) which is world-m its distribution — although
it is said to have been originally a native of Europe.

The worker of this
ubiquitous pest is rep-
resented at Fig. 143, a ;
and the female at b, of
the same figure. The
nests are made in al-
most a n y concealed

143. Little Red Ant : a, female : i , i

b, worker. Magnified. pOSltlOll aDOUt tile

house — under floors, behind base-boards, between
walls, or in the walks or grass about the house.
From these nests the foraging parties sally forth and
over-run the house, devouring or carrying off par-
ticles of food of all descriptions, getting into every-
thing in sight, and often becoming an intolerable
nuisance.

276 INSECT PESTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD.

Remedies. — The first essential to a successful
fight with these insects, is to find the location of the
nests. If they can then be reached it is easy to de-
stroy them by means of benzine, gasoline, bisulphide
of carbon, or even hot water — anything in fact, that
will kill them. If any inflamable, or explosive sub-
stances are used, of course great care must be taken
to keep away fire in any form.

There are certain larger ants that are frequently
troublesome on lawns, by making their nests above
the surface of the grass, and thus disfiguring them.
A simple way of destroying these is recorded by Dr.
Riley, as follows: A number of holes are punched
in the nest by means of a pointed stick ; a teaspoon-
mi of bisulphide of carbon is then poured down
each hole, and a damp blanket is thrown over the
nest for a few minutes — then the blanket being re-
moved the bisulphide is exploded at the mouth of
each hole by means of a light at the end of a pole.
The slight explosions drive the poisonous fumes
down through the underground tunnels, killing off
the ants in enormous numbers.

The Little Red Ants may be trapped by means of
small sponges, saturated with sweetened water, and
then occasionally dropped into boiling water. But
this is a much less satisfactory method than that of
destroying them in their nests.

NDEX

Abbot sphinx, 121.
Acanthia lectularia, 271
Acheniiin Sphinx, 119.
Acridium americanum, 21S.
j, Aegeria pictipes, 58.

" polistiformis, 108.
" pyri, 65.
" rubi, 103.
" tipuliformis, 96.
" cueurbitse, 1 7» *. .
Agrotis saucia, 198.
Agrilus rufleolis, 107.
American cockroach, 267.

locust, 248.
Anarsia lineatella, 87.
Anasa tristis, 17s.
Anisota rubicunda, 140.
Anisopteryx pometaria, 39.

vernata, 41.
Anthonomus musculus, 95.

quadrigibbus, 54.
Anthomyia brassicse, 188.
ceparum, 203.
Anthrenus scrophulariae, 269.
Ants, 21, 27.3.
Apatela occidentalis, 59.
Aphides. 158.
Aphis, apple, 38.
•■ ' brassicse, 200,
" cherry. 72

corn, 209, 216.
" maidis, 209, 216.
" mali, 38.
" peach, 80.
" black peach, 79.
" persicas-niger, 70
" prunifolii, 58.
" toothed willow, 150.
" willow grove, 148.
willow twig, 147.
" woolly, 35.
Apparatus for collecting insects, 22.
Apple, insects affecting, 29, 56.

" " " treatment for, 56.

" aphis. 38.
" curculio, 54.
" leaf-roller, lesser, 42.
" leaf-skeletonizer, 49.
" maggot. 52.
" worm, 51.

" tree borer, flat-headed, 32.
" " " round-headed, 29.
" caterpillar, yellow-necked, 46.
" tent caterpillar, 42.
Applying insecticides, 21.
Army worm, 14, 16.
Arsenic, white, 18.
Asparagus beetle, 204.

Bacterial diseases of insects, 16.
Bag-worm, 138.
Bark-louse, oyster-shell, 33.

scurfy, liii.
Bean Weevil, 185.
Bed Bug, 271.
Benzine, 21.

Beautiful wood nymph, 125
Bisulphide of carbon, 21.
Bird grasshopper, -lis.
Biting insects, 13.
Blackberry, insects affecting, 103, 107.

gall-fly, 107.
Blissus leucopterus, 222.
Blister beetle, black, 1/::.

striped, 171.
Blue jay. It::.
Boll worm, 21S.
Books about insects, 26. »
Box-elder bug, 1 15.
Breeding cages. 24.
Broad-necked Prionus, 127.
Bruchus obsoletus, 185.

pisi, 186.
Buffalo tree-hopper, 36.

carpet beetle, 269.
Buhach, 19.

Cabbage, insects affecting, I s *.
aphis, 2IIU.

butterfly. Southern, 101.
maggot, L88.
" worm, imported, 100.

Plusia, 103.
" flea-beetle, 196.
" cut-worms, 107.
" bug, Harlequin, 199
Cabbage worm , 20.
( lacoecia cerasivorana, 75.
Calandra granaria, 232.
Canker worm, 39.

fall. 39.
" •' spring, 40.

Carbolic acid. 20.
< larbon bisulphide, 21.
i larpet beetle, 269.
Carpocapsa pomonella, 51.
Caterpillar hunters. 14.
Catocala ultronea, 50.
Cattle lice. 261.
Cecidomvia grossularise, 102.
" destructor, 220.

" leguminicola, 237.

tritici, 231.
Cecropia emperor-moth, 131.
Celery caterpillar, 0, 175.
Ceramica picta, 194.
Ceresa bubal us, 36.

278

INDEX.

Cherry, insects affecting. 72.

" treatment for, 76.
" aphis, 72.
" tree leaf-roller, 75.
Chinch bug, 12. 13, 16, 20, 21, 222.
Chionaspis furfurus, fit;.
Chrysobothris femorata, 32.
Clisiocampa americana, 42.
Clothes-moths, 272.

Case-making, 272.
Clover, insects affecting, 234.
" hay-worm, 240.
" leaf-beetle, 235.
" root-borer, 234.
" seed-midge, 237.
" stem-borer, 239.
Cockroaches. 267.
Coal tar. 21.

Coccotorus prunicida, 62.
Codling moth, 51, 70.
Collecting insects, 22.

net, 22.
Colorado potato beetle, 13, 169.
Complete transformations, 12.
Compsomyia macellaria, 247.
Conotrachelus nenuphar, 60, 67, 80.
Contagious diseases of insects, 16.
Corn, insects Affecting, 209.
" aphis, 215.
" root aphis, 209.
" " worm, southern, 212,
" " " western, 210.

" stalk-borer, 214.
" web-worm. 215.
" worm. 218.
Craponius insequalis, 128.
Crepidodera cucumeris, 177.
Crioceris asparagi, 204.
Croton-bug. 267.

Cucumber, insects affecting, 176.
" flea-beetle, 177.

" beetle, striped, 179.

" " twelve spotted, 182.

Currant, insects affecting, Oil, 102.
" " " treatment for, 102.

" aphis, 100.
" bark-louse, 102.
" borer. American, 102.
" " imported, 96.

fly, 102.
" fruit-worm, 102.
leaf-hopper, 99.
■ " span-worm, 102.
" worm, imported, 07.
Cut worms, 14, 16.
Cyanide bottle, 23.

Dactylopius adonidum, 160.
destructor, 160.
Dakruma convolutella, 101.
Dalmatian insect powder, 19.
Darapsa myron, 121.
' Datana angusii, 142.
" ministra, 46.
Desmia maculalis, 124.
Diabrotica vittata, 179.

Diabrotica punctata, 182, 212.

" longicornis, 210.

Diastrophus nebulosus, 107.
Dicerca divaricata, 72.
Diseases of insects, 16.
Disippus butterfly, 59.
Domestic animals, insects affecting 257
Doryphora 10-lineata, 169.
Dragon-flies, 14.

Elateridse, 213.

Elm leaf-beetle, imported, 136.
Emphytus maculatus, 92.
Empoa albopicta. 99.
Emulsion, kerosene, 20.
Enemies of injurious insects, 13.
Entomophthora, 17.
Epicierus imbricatus, 173.
Epicauta pennsylvanica, 173.

vittata, 171.
Epochra canadensis, 102.
Eudemis botrana, 126.
Eudryas grata, 125.
Eufitchia rebearia, 102.
Eupithecia interruptofasciata, 102.
Eurycreon rantalis, 215.
External irritants, 17.

Fall web- worm, 135.

Flat-headed apple-tree borer, 32, 63, 70,

81.
Flat-headed cherry-tree borer, 72, 81.
Flea-like negro-bujj, 107.
Flowers, insects affecting, 158.
Four-striped plant-bug, 102.
Fungous diseases of insects, 16.

Galeruca xanthomelama, 136.
Garden Web-worm, 215.
Gasoline, 21.
German cockroach, 267.
Gooseberry, insects affecting, 96, 102.
" * fruit- worm, 101.
" midge, 102.

Gortyna nitela, 21 1.
Grain aphis, 227.

" weevil. 232.
Grape, insects affecting, 108, 127.

" berry moth, 126.

" caterpillar, 15.

" curculio. 128.

" phylloxera. 21, 109.

" root-borer, 108.

" seed maggot, 128.

" sphinx moths, 119.

" vine beetle, spotted, 117.
" flea-beetle, 63, 114.

" " leaf-hopper, 122.

" " leaf-roller, 124.

" " sphinx, green, 121.
Graphops pubescens, 85.
Graptodera chalybea, 114.
< Irass, insects affecting, 242.
Grasshoppers, 247.

bird, 248.
" western, 248.

INDEX.

279

Grasshoppers red-legged, 249.
Gray dagger-moth, 59.
Green-striped maple worm, 140.

Hsematopinus eurysterrms, 262.

" vituli, 263.

" asini, 266.

Haematobia serrata, 264.
Harlequin cabbage-bug, 199.
Heliothis armigera, 218.
Hellebore, 19, 'J.'.
Hessian fly, 220.
Horn fly, 264.
Horse-louse, sucking, 266.

" biting, 266.

Horned span-worm, 59.
Hyphantria cunea, 135.
Hylastes trifolii, 2:54.

Imbricated snout-beetle, 173.
Imported cabbage worm, 16, 19.
" currant-borer, 96.
" currant worm, 19, 97.

" elm leaf-beetle, 136.
Incomplete transformations, 12.
Insect powder, 19.
Insects, books about, 26.

" collecting and preserving, 22.
Insects, diseases of, 16.
" enemies of, 13.
" parasitic, 15.
" pins for, 24.
" predaceous, 14.
" rearing, 24.
Insecticides, applying, 21.

•' the principal, 17.

Internal poisons, 17.
Introduction, 9.
Isosoma vitis. 128.
" hordei, 230.
" tritici, 230.
" grande, 230.
Ithycerus noveboracensis, 81.

June bug, 74.

Kerosene, 20.
Kerosene emulsion, 20.

Lachnosterna fusca, 74.
Lachnus dentatus, 150.

" strobi, 151.
Lady-beetle, 14.
Languria mozardi, 239.
Leaf-crumpler, 47.
Leaf-roller, lesser apple, 42.

" " cherry, 75.

" " strawberry, 89.
Leaf-skeletonizer, apple, 49
Lecanium persicae, 81.
" pvri, 70.

ribis, 102.
Leptocoris trivittatus, 145.
Lesser apple leaf-roller, 44.
Limenitis disippus, 59.
Little red ant, 275.

Lixus concavus, 183.
London purple, 18, 22.
Lygus pratensis, 93.

Macrodactylus subspiuosus, 115.

Maple bark-louse, 127, 143.

May beetle, 74.

Maple worm, green-striped, 140.

Meadow maggot, 243.

Mealy bugs, 160.

Melanoplus femur-rubrum, 249.

" spretus, 248.

Melanoxanthus, 147.

" salicis, 147.

" salicti. lis.

Meromyza americana, 229.
Moncomorium pharaonis, 275.
Murgantia histrionica, 199.
Mytilaspis pomorum, 33.
Myzus cerasi, 72.
" persicae, 79.
" ribis, 100.

Natural enemies of injurious insects,
13.
i Nematocampa filamentaria, 59.
Nematus ventricosus, 97.
New York weevil, 81.

Oberea bimaculata, 105.
Oecanthus niveus, 106.
Oestrus bovis, 259.
Onion, insects affecting, 203

" maggot, 203.
Oriental cockroach, 267.
Orgyia leucostigma, 133.
Oyster-shell bark-louse, 33, 70
Ox warble fly, 259.
Ox-louse, long-nosed, 263.

" short-nosed, 262.

" biting, 263.

Pandoras sphinx, 121.

Papilio asterias, 11, 175.

Parasitic insects, 15.

Paria aterrima, 85.

Paris green, 17, 22.

Pea-weevil, 186.

Peach, insects affecting, 77, 81.

" " " treatment for, 81.

" aphis, 80.
" " black, 79.

" tree bark-louse, 81.
" " borer, 63, 77.
Pear, insects affecting, 65.
" " " treatment for, 71.

" blight beetle, 70.
" leaf-mite, 68, 71.
" tree bark-louse, 70.
" " borer, 65.
" " psvlla, 70.
" " slug, 63, 67, 75.
Pelidnota punctata, 117.
Pempelia hammondi, 49.
Periplaneta americana, 267.
" orientalis, 267.

280

INDEX.

Persian insect powder, 19.
Philampelus achemon, 119.
pandoras, 121.
Phlegethontius celeus, 105.
i Phoxopteris comptana, 89.
i Phvcisindigenella.li.
Phyllotreta vittata, 196.
Phyllodromia geriaanica, 267.
Phylloxera vastatrix. 111.
Phytonomus punctatus, 235.
Phytoptus pyri, 68, 71.
Pieris rapse, 190.

" oleracea, 191.

" protodice, 191.
Plant-lice, 158.
Platysamia cecropia, 131.
Plum, insects affecting, 58, 63. ^

" " " treatment for, 63.

" aphis, 58.

" Catocala, 59.

" curculio, 60, 70, 76, SO.

" gouger, 62.

" leaf caterpillars, 59.

" sphinx. 59.

" tree borer. 58.
_J Plusia brassie;e, 193.

Poecilocapsus lineatus, 102.
Polyphemus moth, 59.
Potato stalk-weevil, 168.

" beetle, Colorado, 169.

" insects affecting, 168.
Predaceous insects, 14.
Preserving " 24.
Primary parasites, 16.
Principal insecticides, the, 17.
Prionus, broad-necked, 127.

" latieollls, 127.
Psenocerus supernotatus, 102.
Psylla pyri, 70.

Psyllobora twenty-maculata, 217.
Pulvinaria innumerabilis, 143
Pyrethrum, 19.

Raspberry, insects affecting, 103, 107.
cane-borer, 105.
" root-borer, 103.

root gall-fly, 107.
" slug, 104.

" span-worm, 107.

Red-headed woodpecker, 143.
Red-necked Agrilus, 107.
Red-shouldered Sinoxylon, 127.
Red spider, 159.
Rhodites radicum, 107.
Rhubarb curculio, 183.
Robber-flies, 14.
Rocky Mountain locust, 21.
Rose," insects affecting, 154.
" beetle, 116.
" bug, 116.
" chafer, 115.
" leaf-hopper, 156.
" slug, 154.
Rosy Dryocampa, 141.
Round-headed apple-tree borer, 29, 70.
Sannina exitiosa, 77.

Saperda Candida, 29.
Scale-lice. 161.
Scelodonta nebulosns, 85.
Schizoneura lanigera, 35.
Screw worm, 257.
Scurfy bark-louse, 66.
Secondary parasites. 16.
Selandria cerasi, 67, 75.
rosse, 151.
" rubi, 104.
Setting boards. 25.
Shade trees, insects affecting, 131.
Sinoxylon basilare, 127.
Siphohophora avense, 227.
Skeletonizer, apple leaf, 4'.!.
Snowy tree cricket. 106.
Sphinx drupiferarunt, 59.
Spotted grape vine i>eetle, 117.
" willow-twig aphis, 147.
Spraying machines, 22.
Squash, insects affecting, 176.
" vine-borer, 176.
" bug, 178.
Strawberry, insects affecting. s5, ;ij.

" " " treatment of, 95..

" crown-borer. 87.

" crown-miner, 87.

leaf-roller, 89.
" root-worms, 85.

slug. 92.
" thrips, 9-i.

" weevil. 95.

Striped cucumber-beetle, 179.

•' harvest-spider.
Sucking insects, 13.

Tar, coal, 21.

Tarnished plant bug, 93

Telea polyphemus, 59.

Tent caterpillar, apple-tree, 42.

Teras minuta, 44.

Tetranychus telarius, 159.

Thrips tritici. 95.

Thyreus abbotii, 121.

Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis, 138..

Tile-horned Prionus, 127.

Tinea pellionella, 272.

Tipula bicarnea, 243.

Tobacco, 21.

Tobacco worm, 15.

Tomato worm, 15, 165.

Toothed willow aphis, 1-50.

Transformations of insects, 9, 12.

Tree-hopper, Buffalo, 36.

Trichobaris trinotata, L68.

Trichodectes scalaris, 263.

" pilosus, 266.

" palumpilosus, 266.

Trypeta pomonella, 52.
Twenty-spotted lady-beetle, 217
Tyloderma fragarire, 87.
Tvphlocyba rosas, 156.
vitis, 122.

Variegated cut-worm, 198.
Veratrum album, 19.

INDEX.

281

Walnut caterpillar, 1-12.
Wheat, insects affecting, 220.

" bulb-worm, 229.

" joint-worms, 230.

" midge, 231.
White arsenic, I s .
\Vhit<.' grub, 20.
White hellebore, 19.
White-marked tussock-moth, 13
White pine aphis, 151.
Willow aphis, toothed , 150.
Willow-grove aphis, 1 is.

Willow-twig aphis, 147.
Wireworms, 213.
Woodpecker, red-headed, 143.

Woolly aphis, 35.

Woolly maple bark-louse, 11M.

Xyleborus pyri, 70.

Yellow-necked apple-tree caterpillar
46, 143.

Zebra caterpillar, 194.

ERRATA.

Page 16. Third line from bottom: for sowewhat read some-
what, ruder Fig. 6: for Entomophora read Entomophthora.

Page 17. Seventh line from top: for Entomophora read
Entomophthora.

Page 38. Undercut: for Fig. 13 read Fig. 12J.

Page 122. Third line from bottom: for Typlocyba read Typh-
locyba.

Page 158. Under cut: for Fig. 83 read Fig. 84. Sixth line
from bottom : for Fig. 83 read Fig. 84.

Page 260. Top line : omit " as shown at d."
" Second line from top : for e read b.

" Fourth line from top: for a read c.

APPENDIX.