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LIBRARY OF

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FIRST ANNUAL REPORT

ON THE

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BENKFICIA,!. ^ND OTHER

INSECTS,

OF THE

STA.TE OF MISSOURI,

MADE TO THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, PURSUANT TO AN APPROPRIATION
FOR THIS PURPOSE FROM THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE.

BY CHARLES V. RILEY^

STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO.,

BLLWOOD KIP. BY, PUBLIC PRINTKR.
1869.

INTKODUCTOKY.

To the Members of tlie Missouri State Board of Agriculture :

Gentlemen^ :— I herewith present my first annual report on the
Noxious, Beneficial and other Insects of the State of Missouri, pursu-
ant to your instructions of April 1st, 1S6S.

It is neither so full nor so valuable as I hope to make its success-
ors, should the ofiice be continued. This is principally owing to the fact
that but eight months have elapsed since my appointment, and that
the natural history of a number of the insects that received my atten-
tion during the summer, can only be given after they have completed
their transformations, which will require one, two and in some cases,
even three years.

I have been exceedingly gratified at the warm reception which I
have met with from all quarters. Wherever I have been, from one
end of the State to the other, the cordial hand has been extended, and
I have found our farmers and fruit-growers thoroughly alive to the
importance of the work, for they know full well that they must fight
intelligently, their tiny but mighty insect foes, if they wish reward for
their labors. During the year 1868, insects injurious to our fruits have
been unusually numerous, but it may well be asked whether this in-
crease is not a meteorological eff'ect, as was suggested by Mr. W. C.
Flagg, in his ad interim report to the Illinois State Horticultural Soci-
ety, rather than one caused by the increase of our products. The
severe drouth of 1867, had a peculiarly injurious efi"ect on many trees,
and it seems quite evident that certain insects increase more rapidly
in injured fruits and injured trees than in those which are healthy and
vigorous. The part, indeed, which insects principally have to play in
the economy of this world, is that of scavengers. They hasten the
decay and dissolution of unhealthy vegetable organism, the quicker
to convert it into mould, and make room for healthy plants; while
they multiply at such a prodigious rate, that whenever the conditions-
are at all favorable to the increase of a particular species, that species
appears as if by magic, over vast districts of country, and commits
sad havoc to either orchard or field crops, as the case may be.

With this view of the matter, we might materially check the in-
crease of some insects, by anticipating Nature in her operations, and

4 FIRST ANNUAL EEPORT OF

cutting down such trees as have been injured from whatsoever cause,
so that they shall not remain from year to year as a hiding place for
noxious insects, or as a hot-bed for equally injurious funguses.

The peach crop failed pretty generally on account of the great
increase of the Plum Ourculio, and the opinion has been advanced
and extensively published, that this insect will cause a failure of that
crop in certain districts for very many years to come. Let the wise
place no confidence in such predictions, for the predictors can have
but a vague conception of the grand scheme of Nature, and of the
laws which govern both animal and vegetable life. For many rea-
sons unnecessary to mention, the prospect for a good crop the year
succeeding an entire failure, is greater than at any other period — at
least so far as insects are concerned. Because an insect is numerous
and destructive one year, therefore it will be even more so the next,
is apparently plausible but very fallacious reasoning. Every one of
the thousands of species which are known to exist, multiplies at a
sufficient rate to entirely cover our globe, in a comparatively short
time, if nothing hindered ; and the struggle and warfare necessary to
enable all the different species to exist and hold their own, causes a
constant fluctuation in the relative proportion of each. We have an
illustration of this in the case of the Colorado Potato Beetle; for in
those districts where it had caused so much alarm in 1S66 and 1S67, its
enemies have so increased that it was comparatively harmless in
186S.

The importance of the study of Entomology has already become
apparent to every tiller of the soil, but there is yet a class of citizens
who fail to appreciate the laborious efforts of an Entomologist, and can-
not conceive how the "study of bugs," as they term it, will redound
to the good of a State or community. For the benefit of such, let me
say, that in his last annual address the president of our State Horti-
cultural Society, estimated the annual loss to our State from insect
depredations at sixty million dollars! Now, allowing this estimate
to be twice as great as the facts will warrant, the sum is j'-et quite
enormous. It is not possible by any preventive measures to save
the whole of this immense ^um, but it is perfectly practicable to
save a large percentage of it, and in this assertion I think the follow-
ing pages will bear me out. A knowledge of the habits and trans-
formations of insects frequently gives the clue to their easy eradica-
tion and destruction, and enables the agriculturist and horticulturist
to prevent their ravages in the future. It likewise enables them to
distinguish between their insect friends and insect enemies, and
guards them against the impositions of the numerous quacks and
nostrum-venders, who, with high-sounding words are constantly put-
ting forth every energy to sell their vile compositions. Such a
knowledge of insects the farmer has not time to acquire, for it is
only obtained by an immense amount of hard labor in the field and

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 5

anxious deliberation in the closet. Hence, the wisdom of having a
State officer who can devote his whole time to the work.

Fully aware that I write for those who, as a rule, are unversed in En-
tomology, I have endeavored to treat of each insect with as little of the
nomenclature of science as is consistent with clearness of expression.
Yet, as much that is of scientific interest, such as descriptions of new
species, must necessarily be inserted, I have had such descriptions
printed in a type of smaller size than the text, so that it can be
skipped if desirable, at the time of reading, and easily referred to for
comparison, with specimens which one is desirous of naming. I have
also endeavored to illustrate, as far as possible, the insects of which
this report treats, believing that good illustration forms the basis of
successful teaching in a science with which the general husbandman
is not expected to be acquainted ; for the eye conveys to the mind, in
an instant, what the ear would fail to do in an hour. The practical
man cares little to what genus or family an insect belongs, so long as
he can tell whether it be friend or foe. He must become familiarized
with the insects about him without having necessarily to overcome
scientific detail and technicality.

I have made no effort at a systematic arrangement of the insects
treated of. Indeed, that were useless for the purpose in view ; but in
order that the reader may refer the more readily to any particular,
insect which interests him, I have separated them into three series —
Noxious, Beneficial and Innoxious — and attached a very full index.
For the benefit of those who are making a study of Entomology, I
have also given, with each species, the order and family to which it
belongs, in parenthesis under each heading.

So far as possible, I have used a common name for each insect,
knowing that the scientific name is remembered with greater
difficulty, and is, consequently, distasteful to many. But as popular
names are very loosely applied, and the same name often refers to
different insects in different localities, a great deal of confusion would
ensue without the scientific name, which is, therefore, invariably added
for the most part in parenthesis, so that it may be skipped without in-
terfering in any way with the sense of the text.

The sign c? wherever used in this report, is an abbreviation for
the word male, the sign $ for female and the sigr? 9 for neuter.

Wherever the illustrations are enlarged, they are accompanied by
hair-lines, which designate their natural size.

Where the measurement of an insect is given, the dimensions are
expressed in inches and the fractional parts of an inch, 0.25, thus im-
plying a quarter of an inch, and 1.25 one inch and a quarter, etc.

Many letters were addressed to me, during the summer, inquiring
as to the value of the new carbolic acid, which has been so much
spoken of. Having fully experimented with it during the summer, I
am well pleased with it as an insect destroyer. But a word of warn-
ing in its use is necessary. It is also known by the name of cresylic

6 FIRST ANNUAL EEPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

acid, the diiFerence between the two being one of purity only. Many,
having seen it recommended, ordered the crude acid, and, using it —
no matter how much diluted — they found to their sorrow that it killed
their plants. Carbolic acid mixes well with alkalies^ hut not with
loater^ and it can only he used as a saponaceous compound. This fact
must be borne in mind by those who wish to use it.

As I shall frequently have occasion to refer to the " American
Entomologist," it is but proper to say, that in conjunction with Mr.
Benj. D. Walsh, State Entomologist of Illinois, I commenced last
September, the publication of that journal. It is devoted to Economic
Entomology, and is published monthly, by R. P. Studley & Co., of St.
Louis, at $1,00 per annum. AVe felt that pending the issuing of our
annual reports, something was needed, as a more frequent means of
communication with the people. The paper has received the highest
encomiums from the press throughout the country, and as an enter-
prise has proved successful beyond our expectations — evidence of the
great demand for, and need of, the kind of information which it gives.

As there must necessarily be a limit to a report of this character,
I am compelled to defer till another year, accounts of the Chinch
Bug, Eocky Mountain Grasshopper, and some other insects which at-
tracted general attention during the year, and do so the more willingly,
that their habits have been pretty fully given in former publications,
and in the above periodical.

In conclusion, I tender my sincere thanks to those gentlemen,
throughout the country, who have assisted me in one way or another,
and especially to the Superintendents of the Pacific, Iron Mountain,
Hannibal & St. Joseph, and North Missouri Railroads, for free passes
over their respective routes.

Respectfully submitted, *

CHARLES Y. RILEY,

St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 2d, 1868. State Entomologist.

NOXIOUS INSECTS.

IFig. 1.]

THE BARK-LICE OF THE APPLE-TREE.

(Homoptera, CoccidsB.)

There are two species of Bark-lice that attack the
Apple-tree in the United States, which I will briefly
describe.

The first, which is a native North American insect,
is now known as Harris's Bark-louse {Aspidiotus liar-
rieii, Walsh.) The color of the scale is dirty white,
and its form is irregular, being usually egg-shaped ;
but, however variable in outline, it is always quite
flat and causes the infested tree to wear the appear-
ance of Figure 1 ; while the minute eggs which are
found under it in winter time are invariably blood red
or lake-red. This species has scarcely ever been
known to increase sufficiently'- to do material damage,
for the reason doubtless that there have, hitherto, al-
ways been natural enemies and parasites enough to keep it in due
bounds. Though I have not witnessed it in Missouri myself, I am in-
formed by several persons that it occurs in the northern part of the
State, and a communication from R. B. Palmer, of Hartville, Wright
county, published in the Rural World, of October 15, 1866, and stating
that the lice are destroying the best apple orchards in that neighbor-
hood, evidently refers to this species.

The second species, which is known as the Oyster-shell Bark-louse
(Aspidiotus GoncTiiformis, Gm^lin), is by no means so harmless
however, for it is one of the most pernicious and destructive insects,
"which the apple-grower in the Northern States has to contend with.
This species presents the appearance of Figure 2, and may always be
distinguished from the former by having a very uniform muscle-
shaped scale of an ash-gray color (the identical color of the bark),
and by these scales containing, in the winter time, not red, but pure
white colored eggs.

FIRST ANNUAL EEPOET OF

There is scarce! j-- an apple-orchard in Northern Illinois, in Iowa
or in Wisconsin, that has not suflered more or less from its attacks,
[Fig- 20 and many an one has been slowly but surely bled to death
by this tiny sap-sucker. It was introduced into the Eastern
States more than seventy years ag:o irom Europe, and had
already reached as far west as Wisconsin in 1840, from
whence it spread at a most alarming rate, throughout
the districts bordering on Lake Michigan. It occurs at the
present time in Minnesota and Iowa, but whether or not it
extends westward beyond the Missouri river, there are no
data to show. Its extension southward is undoubtedly lim-
ited, for though so abundant in the northern half of Illinois,
observation has clearly proved that it cannot exist in the
southern half of the same State. I have also experimen-
tally proved that it cannot exist in the latitude of St.
Louis, the experiment being made in the following man-
ner: On the 12th of May last, I received some scales
from Jesse Hodgson, of Panola, in Woodford county, Illinois, the
eggs under which were at that time hatching. Upon fastening the
bark containing these scales to the twigs of a living apple-tree, that
being in a position where I could easily watch them, the young bark-
lice crawled actively over these living twigs, and soon fastened them-
selves, as is their wont, around the buds. They soon began to secrete
the waxy fibres, shown at Figure 3, 3, and in time assumed the white
appearance of the first scale, which has been very aptly termed the
larval scale by Mr. Walsh. But the growth at this point was arrested
and they all soon afterwards died. As there were three twigs thickly
covered, and as I could discover no parasites or cannibals of any kind,
it is to my mind conclusive that this bark-louse cannot exist further
SOUTH in MISSOURI THAN ST. LOUIS. The experience of others is to the
same effect, for Dr. Morse informs me that certain apple trees which
he procured from the North, and which he planted at Kirkwood, St.
Louis county, some years ago, though covered at that time with these
bark-lice, are now entirely free of them ; and Mr. Wm. Muir, of Fox
Creek, in the same county, has had a similar experience with trees
which he imported several years ago from Burrell & Co., of Lockport,
N. Y., and which at the time of their receipt were very badly infested.
The fruit-growers of Southern Missouri, have therefore little to
fear from this Oyster-shell Bark-louse, and it is not unlikely that it
would die out in the country considerably north of St. Louis, if im-
ported there ; but, as it exists and flourishes near the southern border
of Iowa, and extends, in Illinois, below our northern boundary, there
is eveiy reason to believe that it will flourish in the extreme northern
counties of our State if once introduced there. Now, up to the present
time, it has not made its appearance, as far as I can learn, in any of
the orchards in that part of Missouri, and it seems- that, as a State,
we are entirely exempt from this most grievous orchard pest. In or-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. »

der to definitely decide this matter I took particular pains, while at
Hannibal during the summer, to inquire of the old fruit men there on
this point, and even John Fry, one of the oldest settlers, has never
heard of its appearance in that vicinity. The responses from numer-
ous letters that were sent, with the same query, to men living in other
northern parts of the State, are to the same effect. Believing there-
fore, that this insect can flourish in our extreme northern counties if
once introduced there, and that at present the fruit-growers of that
region are exempt from it, I cannot too strongly urge them to hold
the vantage ground they now have. Let every man therefore xoTio
reads tJils report^ andiofio contemplates planting an apple orchard in
Korth Missouri, in duty to himself and to his neighbors, sulject every
young tree which he receives from northern or eastern nurseries, to
a rigorous insj^ection ; and if any he found infested, let them he
thoroughly cleansed before planting. By this means alone, can we
hope to retain that immunity, lohich we have so far enjoyed !

It should indeed be a maxim with fruit growers to inspect all
young trees received from a distance ; for many of our very worst
insect foes, such as the Canker-worm, Root-louse, etc., are undoubtedly
transported from one place to another, principally on nursery stock.
In order that the Oyster-shell Bark-louse may be at once recognized
and thoroughly understood, I will proceed with its history :

During the summer of 1867, three independent observers were
closely studying the habits of this insect in Northern Illinois, unbe-
known to each other, namely: Dr. H. Shimer, at Mount Carroll ; Benj^
D. Walsh, at Rock Island, and myself, at Chicago. Up to this time,
though it had frequently been treated of, yet much that was recorded
of its history was mere conjecture. For instance, Harris states that
there are two broods each year, while Fitch assures us that the scales
are the bodies of the gravid females, covering and protecting their
eggs ; neither of which is the case.

The gist of Dr. Shimer's observations which were recorded in a
paper published in the Transactions of the American Entomological
Society, (Vol. 1, No. 4) are, 1st — that he discovered that the tarsal
joint of the newly hatched larva, which is very small, possesses no
claw, but is furnished at the extremity with four fleshy hair-like pro-
cesses upon which the young louse walks, and which he C3il\s digituli,'
2d — that the scale is constructed by the insect, and consists of the
moulted skins of the louse, soldered together by some secretion which
he believes to be the excrement. In these characteristics, he finds
sufficient grounds for separating this insect from the Bark-louse fam-
ily (Coccid^e) to which it has been referred by LinnaBus, Goefi'roy, Fab-
ricius, Burmeister, Reaumur, Curtis, Westwood, and many other au-
thors, and erects a new family (Lepidosapiiid^e), and a new genus
(Z'pidosaphes), to contain it. He furthermore takes it upon himself
to deny what all these authors have insisted upon, viz: — that the loss
of members, or the change from the perfect and active larval forni

10

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

represented at Figure 3, 3, to the motionless and memberless forms
shown at 5 and 6 of the same figure, is an evidence of the degenera-
tion or degradation in this insect as it approaches the imago state.

Mr. Walsh, whose observations are recorded in his First Annual
Report, as Acting State Entomologist of Illinois, found nothing to in-
duce him to separate this insect from the old genus Aspidiotus in the
Bark-louse family, to which it had hitherto been referred. He also
showed that there were three distinct growths of the scale, differing
from each other in size and color, which he named respectively the
''larval scale,'' ''medial scale" d.nd.'' anal saokP He also inclined
to believe that both the "medial scale" and " anal sack" were formed
"by the anal surface of the original young larva being at two succes-
sive periods abnormally dilated and extended backwards, in the form
of a sack closed at tip; and that, after this process is accomplished,
the insect always moults or sloughs off the whole of the external
scale." As to the formation of the " larval scale" he offers no expla-
nation.

My own observations will be found in the " Report of the Com-
mittee on Entomology," published in the Transactions of the Illinois
State Horticultural Society for 1867— pp. 109-112. Having had no op-
portunity of continuing them the past summer, and as they will con-
vey a good idea of this insect's mode of growth, I repeat them in part.

[Fig. 3*.]

The young lice usually leave the scales during the first week in
June. Prior to their hatching, the eggs which were previously snow-
white, become yellowish, and if the weather turn cool, immediately
after hatching, they will remain for two or three days under the scales
before dispersing over the tree. The following notes as before stated,
were made in Cook County, Illinois.

June 6th.— Most of the eggs are hatched, but the young have not
yet left the scales.

1pr,»-t>,' 1 n^'""®'?^^'"-^™^""'^*^^' the hair lines at their sides approximating the natural
nTtfrntlP, o-nf ^irr^'^o"'".'?^ '''^ scarcely .01. 2, larva, as it appears when running over the twigs-
Loond nWt it 'fi A I'^PPearance soon after becoming fixed. 4, appearance of scale after the
louse tvenhnvipT'*^,; H n"" °* '°'''' ^^''^^'■^^ '''^'') ^«°° ^^'^ l^^'ng ^^^ meml>ers. 6, form of
louse a, uMo ^'^ ''i"'^ S'-own and just about to deposit. 7, fully formed scale, containing
iagjoints ^^ underside, when raised. S, highly magnified antenna of larva, show-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 11

June 9th.— The past two days have been exceedingly warm, the
thermometer rising above 90 degrees F. in tne shade, and the young
lice are nmning all over the twigs.

June 11th. — They have all become fixed, having gathered in the
greatest numbers around the base of the lateral shoots of the termi-
nal twigs.

June 12th. — A white, waxy secretion commences to issue from the
body, in the shape of very fine, delicate threads (see Fig. 3, 3).

June l^2d. — They have increased materially in size, the waxy secre-
tion vanishing soon after the last date, leaving what appears to be the
body, of a yellowish brown color, though in reality the body is under-
neath and separate, and has lost all trace of members.

July 1st. — Though watched every day, there is no perceptible
change since the 22d of June.

July 2d. — They are now 0.03 long, or three times as large as when
hatched, and a thin, waxy secretion commences to appear at the pos-
terior end.

July 6th. — This secretion has increased rapidly, and taken on a
somewhat oval form, with usually a slight cut or depression posterior-
ly. It appears quite distinct Irom the original yellowish-brown por-
tion, and is duller, or of a more grayish color. On raising it carefully,
the louse is seen underneath, yellowish, of a flattened form, the ante-
rior tapering more than the posterior portion, which latter is always
distinguished by having a patch of bright reddish-brown (see Fig. 3, 5).
Though from analogy it must have a beak of some kind, it is so ex-
ceedingly fine and fragile that I have never been able perceive it.

July 10th,— There seems to be another pause in the growth, the
scale presenting the appearance of Figure 3, 4.

July 12th. — A third plate or secretion has commenced from the
posterior portion.

July 15th. — This last plate enlarges rapidly, and is the exact color
of the bark.

July 20th. — The three plates are at present readily distinguished ;
the last, which is considerably larger than the two others together,
having usually taken a slight curve, which gives the scale its charac-
teristic form.

August 1st. — Their growth is to all appearances completed, the
scale measuring 0.12, while the louse measure but 0.05, occupying thus
about half the space within. The three different growths are now not
readily distinguished, though the narrow end is always reddish-brown.
Oil lifting the scale the insect does not fall out, being retained by a
slight whitish fringe extending from each side of the scale (see
Fig. 3, 7).

August 12th. — Some of them have commenced to deposit eggs.

August 28th. — The eggs are now, apparently, all deposited, and I
have watched with interest, as the deposition went on, the body of the
parent louse shrinking day by day, instead of extending and becoming

12 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

gravid, until it is now a mere atom at the anterior or narrow end of
the scale, in a few days scarcely to be noticed at all.

The oyster-shell bark-louse produces but one brood annually, and
these eggs, therefore, remain under the scales for more than nine
months of the year, subjected alike to the continuous warmth of the
fall months, and to the severe frosts of winter ; freezing and thawing
again and again, without their vitality being in the least impaired. In
order to show the conclusions which I came to, after the above obser-
vations, I will, in a measure repeat them.

All writers on this Bark-louse, copying after Fitch and others, tell
you that the scale you see on your trees is the gravid body of the
female insect. Now, though for aught I know the body proper of the
female may, in some Coccidan species, extend and cover the eggs she
deposits, it is no such thing in this instance ; and I am prepared to
affirm that the scale is no more the insect's gravid body than is the
empty muscle shell the distended outer membrane of the muscle, or
the oyster shell that of the oyster.

How this scale is formed I do not profess to have discovered.
With regard to our native white species, already referred to (p. 7), Mr.
Walsh, in the Practical Entomologist for December last, refutes Har-
ris's theorj'-, namely, that it is formed in the same way as the down
which exudes from other lice, and shows, with some plausibility, that
it may consist of the cast off skins of the insect. Now, in my own
humble opinion, with the imported species under consideration, I am
inclined to uphold Harris, for the following reasons : besides the fine
waxy filaments which it secretes when becoming fixed, I have found
that, even before these are thrown out, it is covered with a fine, white
bloom, proving that it can and does secrete from the general surface ;
having carefully lifted the scale, every day during the growth of
the third portion referred to, the louse has invariably been found in
the same shape and condition, without apparent connection with it,
while the scale, to all appearances, actually increases in bulk during
the time the eggs are being deposited. Furthermore, the exuviae of
such a tiny insect would be infinitely thinner and more delicate than
is the scale, and as the insections^ especially of the verter, are always
plainly visible with a glass, in the louse, we should expect to see them
in the scale, which is, however, perfectly smooth. Again, the louse
is of the same color throughout its growth, while at one time the
three parts of the scale are perceptibly different in this respect.
Moreover, Reaumur long ago (Memoires, tom. IV., p. 26) observed a
species occurring on the peach in France to cast its skin in flakes,
much in the manner as many of our Dipterous and Ilymenopterous
larvce are known to do ; while he also described a species (pi^. 64, 65,
ibid.) occuring on the vine, which covered its eggs with a white,
gummy, cottony secretion; and Mr. Walsh himself, in the February
number of the little monthly already referred to, p. 57, si^eaking of a
species occurring on the under surface of the leaves of the OIqq,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 13

fi^agrans^ shows how in that species the "scale" is not formed of
the lifeless body of the female, but is a distinct integument, con-
structed by the female to protect herself and her eggs, and probably
secreted from the general, surface of the body.

However, I believe that the entomologist will have about as diffi-
cult a task to ascertain its real mode of growth as would the physiolo-
gist to learn how the flesh on your fingers acquires its natural form.
We might with equal reason try to learn why and how the thousand
different excrescences and galls caused by insects are formed ! Why
is it that the larva hatching from an egg deposited on a rose leaf by
a little four-winged fly, the Rhodltes ignota of Osten Sacken, causes
a peculiar growth or gall in the form of a mangel-wurzel, or beet seed^
to surround it, while that of a similar fly, belonging to the very same
genus — the Rhodltes radicum of Osten Sacken — hatched from eggs
deposited in the root of the same plant, causes an entirely diilerent
gall? Why is it that the puncture of a little yellow louse, Pemj^hi-
gus (?) vitifoUcB, Fitch (or as Henry Shimer, of Mt. Carroll, would
have it, Baldylosphmra vitifohcs), by puncturing a grape leaf, causes
an unnatural growth to surround and entomb it in the shape of the little
green globular galls of different sizes,so common on Clinton grape vines,
while the same sized puncture of another louse (Aphis viiis, Scopoli)
produces no such effect ? Why, again, does a little Lepidopterous
larva, often found in the golden rod (the larva of Gelechia gallaesoli-
daglms, described in a future chapter of this report), produce an
elongated hollow gall, while a Dipterous larva ( Try])eta soUdaginis^
Fitch), in a neighboring stalk produces one that is round and solid?
Or, lastly, why should the suction of different species of Dipterous
larvae ( CeGidomyice)^ produce the wonderful galls found on our wil-
lows, causing in many instances not only a total change in the texture
of the leaf, but also in its mode of growth?

To me the formation of our Bark-louse scale appears somewhat an-
alagous to all of these, and a thousand other such phenomena known
to science ; and in answering how such growths, peculiar to each spe-
cies, are formed, or why each is so constant in its character, I can only
say that it is their nature ; or, with Devere, "that knowledge of first
causes belongs to Him alone, who allows the eye of man to see final
causes only." The more we endeavor to study the why and the
wherefore of these things the more the mind is filled with the idea of
Infinity, and escaping from all visible impressions of space and time
rises to sublimest contemplation of the Creator.

The growth of the scale under consideration, to my mind, depends
no more on the will of the louse underneath it than does the sponge
on that of the slimy, jelly-like creature which secretes it, or the coral
on that of its polype; or, to use a more patent illustration, than the
growth of our bones, though secreted from our organs, depends on our
will.

By carefully lifting one of these scales during the months of July

14 FIRST ANNUAL EEPORT OP

and August, any of you may find the true louse underneath, occupy-
ing but a i)ortion of, and being quite separate from it.

From analogy we may presume that there are males as well as
females of this species, since winged males are known to occur in the
genus Aspidiotus., and it has been my great aim and hope to discover
this gentleman. Though an extremely small percentage of the scales
may generally be found dwarfed and empty during the first days of
August, suggesting that a male may have escaped, yet as likely as not
these may have been killed by some cause or other. In the latter
part of June I counted five hundred scales on a single twig, and
marked them to prevent mistake or confusion in recognizing them
again. After watching them steadily, and carefully lifting each one
on the 28th of August, they all, with the exception of two, were found
to contain eggs. The same average would doubtless have been found
over the whole tree ; and from this fact I am constrained to believe
that as a rule no males appear, and that if there be exceptions where
they do occur, they are in such proportion as to be of little avail. Mr.
Shimer, in speaking of the Clinton grape gall, already alluded to^
states that he opened thousands of them before he found a male ; and
it is difficult to conceive what efiect a single delicate male, shut up
in a gall, could have on the thousands of others not dignified by his
presence. When we reflect on the abnormities occurring among our
plant-lice, I see no reason why our bark-lice should not be herma-
phrodite as a rule, and yet occasionally produce males. They are still
lower in the scale of Nature than the plant-lice, and one of them — the
celebrated Cochineal — puzzled naturalists a long time as to whether
it was a plant or an animal. There is in fact so much of the anoma-
lous about this family that it furnishes a rich and interesting field
of study.

The observations of both, Mr. Shimer, Mr. Walsh, and myself
agreed as to the time of hatching ; as to the mode of growth of the
scale, and as to finding no females ; but as to the process by which
the scale was formed there was difi'erence of opinion. The reason, it
seems to me, is obvious enough : in attempting to elucidate the pro-
blem we reach beyond the limits of our power of perception into the
realms of conjecture. It is easy enough to watch the mode of growth
of an oak-apple, but it is not such an easy matter to ascertain the
reason why the kind which occurs on the red oak (produced by Cynips
quercus-inanis) should form inside with radiating spokes from a com-
mon central cell ; while that on the black oak (produced by Cynips^
quercus-spongHica) should form inside with a dense spongy substance
around a similar central cell. Mr. Shimer may, in part, be right in
stating that the larval scale is formed by the young louse shedding its
skin; but the extremely fine skin alone would not form such a
scale, and he strangely overlooks the wax-like filaments secreted
from the general surface of the body as well as the peculiar dis-
tinction in the growth of the "medial" and "anal" sacks. That these

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 15

two last scales are constructed hj the louse, of its own cast skins and
some excrementitious secretion, as be suggests, is also made ex-
tremely doubtful, from tbe simple fact that you may raise them every-
day of their growth and find the louse underneath, entirely free and
separate. But after all, though of great scientific interest this matter is
of no practical importance whatever, for as we shall see hereafter
the great point to be borne in mind, in a practical light, is the time
of hatching of the egg.

As the female Bark-louse is only capable of motion for a period
of from two to three days at the most, after which time she becomes
as permanently fixed for the rest of her life as is the tree on which she
is fastened; and as the winged males (even if they ever exist) could
not assist in the spread of the species, it may puzzle some to divine
how this insect spreads from tree to tree and place to place. That it
is transported to distant places, mainly on young trees, there can be
no doubt, and there are various ways in which it can spread from
tree to tree in the same orchard, though it can only thus spread dur-
ing the few days of its active larval state. Mr. Walsh believes that
the only way, as a general rule, that it can spread from tree to tree,
when the boughs of those trees do not absolutely interlock, is by a
few of these active young larvre, crawling accidentally on to the legs
of some bird, that chances to light on one tree and afterwards flies to
another, and he even goes so far as to say that he believes this Bark-
louse would soon cease to exist, if all the birds in the world were
killed off (Kep. p. 41). My friend Walsh seems to have a special
grudge against the birds, and it is hard to imagine how he could make
such a statement, in face of the fact that where there is one bird,
there are a hundred insects roaming constantly from tree to tree, that
are just as capable of giving the young lice a lift. Moreover the
specific gravity of the young louse is so slight that it almost floats in
the air, and is undoubtedly aided in spreading by the winds ; while on
a tree very thickly covered with old scales, its traveling propensities
are sufficiently developed to cause it to run down the trunk of the
tree and even over tlie ground^ and as it travels at the rate of two or
three inches per minute, it could manage to measure several rods with
its microscopic legs, in the course of its active state.

Though essentially belonging to the apple tree, this Muscle-
shaped bark-louse is not unfrequently found both upon the Currant,
the Plum and the Pear. I have seen the scales fully developed and
bearing healthy eggs on the fruit of the White Doyenne pear, of the
Transcendent crab, and of the wild ^\\xm {Primus A7nericana)^N\\icb.
have been sent to me by Mr. T. D. Plumb, of the State Journal, Madi-
son, Wisconsin; and, though on the hard bark of a tree, we cannot
judge of the amount of sap they absorb, it is quite apparent on these
soft fruits, for each scale causes a considerable depression from the
general surface. I have also received twigs of the Persian lilac from

16 PIKST ANNUAL REPORT OP

F. Starr, of Alton, Illinois, covered with a species, which, if not the
same, is exceedingly like it.

Natural Eemedies. — It was last year simultaneously discovered
by Mr. Walsh and Mr. Shimer, that a species of mite (Acajncs family)
preyed unmercifully on the louse as well as on its eggs. This mite
was described by Mr. Shimer as Acarus malus in the paper already
referred to, and it appears that it greatly resembles the young bark-
lice. Mites are not true insects, but belong to the same class {Araeh-
nida) to which our spiders belong, and although the species are nu-
merous— some causing galls on plants, some living externally on
vegetable substances and seeds, either in a sound or rotten condilion,
others devouring animal substances, both dead and living, wi;Ile
others again are parasitic on certain animals — yet they all are readily
distinguished in the perfect state from true insects by having four
pairs of legs, and by the head and thorax being soldered in one piece
without any joint whatever. Some of them, in the larval state, have
hut <=iix legs, thus still more closely mimicking the young bark-lice,
but they all acquire eight in the full grov/n state. This mite, so insig-
nificant that in the larval state it can only be noticed by careful
watching with a pocket-lens, has, doubtless, done more to save the
apple trees in the Northern States than anyone thing else; audits
existence explains the gradual decrease of the Bark-louse that is
known to have occurred in many orchards, and also accounts for its
entire extermination on certain trees.

The next most efficient aid we have is the Twice-stabbed
lady-bird ( Chilocorus hivuhienis, Muls.) This good friend
is readily recognized by its polished black color, and the
blood-red spot on each wing-case. It is represented magni-
fied atFigure4, the hair line at the side showing the natural
length. Its larva (Fig. 5) is a dark gray prickly affair, and is extreme-
Fig. 5. ly active and voracious. In changing to pupa, the
. iHH^. larval skin splits open on the back, but the naked
3 pupa, which is of the color of burnt-umber with lighter
-^ ^s^^ ' sides, remains within it as if for protection. In this latter
state these ladj^-birds may often be found fastened in clusters of from
six to twenty on apple trees affected with either kind of bark-louse,
and they should invariably be protected. It is astonishing how rapid-
ly they will cleanse a tree from its vermin, and there is no better way
of getting rid of bark-lice than by introducing a few of these little
friends onto the lousy tree.

Artificial Eemedies. — These may be summed up in a very few
words, and consist, for the most part, in prevention, and I again urge
a strict examination of every young tree before it is planted. If an
orchard is once attacked before its owner is aware of it, much could
be done on young tress by scraping the scales off in winter, but on
large trees where it is difficult to reach all the terminal twigs, this
method becomes altogether impracticable, and it will avail but little

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. " 17

to cleanse the trunk alone, as most of the scales containing living eggs
will be found on the terminal branches. Alkaline washes, and all
other washes, except those of an oily nature, such as petroleum or
kerosene, are of no avail when applied to the scales, for the simple
reason that they do not penetrate and reach tlie eggs which are so
well protected by these scales ; and it is very doubttul whether any
solution can be used that is sufficiently oily to penetrate the scales
and kill the eggs without injuring the tree, especially while the sap of
the tree is inactive. Hence, this Bark-louse can only be successfully
fought at the time the eggs are hatching, and the young lice ar.e crawl-
ing over the limbs. Tlie time of year in which this occurs has already
been indicated, and the trees should be closely watched during the
last days of May and the first days of June, for, without close scrutiny^,
they will not be observed, appearing simply like very minute, white,
moving specks. While the young larvae are thus crawling over the
tree, they are so tender that they can be readily destroyed by simply
scrubbing the limbs with a stiff brush. It it quite evident, however,
that any remedy, to become practicable on a large scale, so as to
rapidly and effectually reach every limb of the tree, both large and
small, must be applied by a syringe or by means of fumigation, and
that whatever be applied, it must kill the lice without injuring the
foliage or fruit, as the young apples are generally as large as a good
sized pea by the time the lice hatch. Fumigation has not yet been
sufficiently tried to enable us to judge of its merits. A correspondent
of the Prairie Farmer^ in recommending brimstone, gives the follow-
ing as his plan of using it: " My plan is to cover the entire tree with
cloth, so that there are no holes to let out the smoke ; take an iron
dish — a frying pan with a handle, if you please — put in about one
pound of roll brimstone (not sulphur), heat a chunk of iron red hot —
say a clock weight ; drop the iron upon the brimstone, and put it un-
der the tent cloth, where it should remain long enough to fairly
smudge the whole tree. More brimstone can be added, and the iron
repeated as often as desired, probably five minutes to a tree would be
sufficient, more would do no harm. The cloth can be easily taken off
and put on by two operators, each with a light pole with a spike in
the end. The one pound of brimstone will burn about an hour." Hav-
ing had no bark lice on which to try the above experiment, I wrote to
the party recommending it, and as I received no answer, the experi-
ment probably failed or was never tried. The brimstone would doubt-
less injure the tree.

Mr. A. K. Whitney, of Franklin Grove, Lee county, Illinois, whose
apple trees have been troubled more or less with bark-lice, found that
an application of sheep manure around the trees, had a beneficial
effect in checking the pests, and he attributes the result to the am-
monia arising from the manure. With regard to washes, to be used
with a syringe, the late Dr. Jno. A. Kennicott used 1 lb. of sal soda to-
one gallon of water with good effect; it is be&t used by heating. to

2 K S E .

18 First annual eeport os*

redness in an iron pot and then dissolving it in tlie water. Mr. E. G,
Mygatt, of Eichmond, McHenrj'- county, Illinois, has experimented
with this insect for over 20 years with the following result: Brine (2
quarts salt to 8 of water) kills the lice, but also the foliage and fruit.
Tobacco water (strong decoction) neither injures the foliage nor af-
fects the lice. A solution of cobalt kills the lice, but takes the fo-
liage also. Weak lye kills the lice, but also somewhat aliects the
leaves. Lime water kills about half the lice, and affects the leaves a
little. Finally, quassia, boiled in proportion of 1 pound to 3 gallons
of water, though well known to be effectual for the common plant-
lice, has no effect on these coccids. In short, we have abundant proof
that neither tobacco-water nor strong alkaline washes have any effect
on these young lice, though a strong solution of soap will kill them,
and my experience the past season, with cresylic acid soap in other
directions, leads me to strongly recommend it tor this purpose. It
Tvill sometimes be necessary to repeat the wash, as the lice do not all
hatch out the same day, though the period of hatching seldom extends
over three days.

From the foregoing it is obvious that bark-lice can only be suc-
cessfully fought during three or four days of the year : how absurd
and ridiculous then, are all the patent nostrums and compounds which
are continuously offered to the public as perfect " bark-lice extin-
guishers," and which never mention this most important fact. May
this insight into the history of the Apple-tree Bark-lice, prevent
many a man from being swindled out of his time and money by these
impostors !

THE PERIODICAL CICADA.

(Homoptera Cicadidee.)
SEVENTEEN AND THIRTEEN YEAR BROODS.

The year 1868 will long be remembered in the annals of insect
life, as one of peculiar interest, from the fact that this singular Cicada^
(Cicada septemdecim^ Linn.) popularly known as the " 17-year locust,"
made its appearance very generally over the United States.

The metamorphoses of insects, their instructive industry, their
quarrels and their instincts, afford abundant food for our love of the
marvelous; but few of them can claim such a singular history as can
our Periodical Cicada. We are moved to admiration in contemplat-
ing the fact that an insect, after living for 17 long years in the bowels
of the earth, should at last change its sluggish, creeping and worm-
like form, and, endowed with the power of flight, ascend from its
earthy retreat to become a denizen of the air and to enjoy the full
glory of the Sun. But our wonder increases when we reflect that this

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 19

same insect has appeared in some part or other of the United States
at regular intervals of 17 years, for centuries, aye! for ages in the past.
Long ere Columbus trod on American soil this lowly insect must have
appeared regularly at its appointed time. It must have filled the
woods with its rattling song, when none but wild beasts and savages
were present to hear it. To me there is something beautiful in the
idea that through its periodicity we are enabled with tolerable cer-
tainty to go back in thought, for centuries in the past, to a particular
month of a particular year, when the woods resounded with its song
in the same manner as they did last summer ; for so regularly do the
different broods appear, that one is perfectly warranted in the assump-
tion, that in the month of June, in the year 1738, for instance, 130
years ago — they appeared in the southern part of Missouri, and that
6 years previously they had appeared in the northwestern corner of
the same State.

Though so much had hitherto been written about this Cicada, yet
some of the most interesting facts with regard to it were unknown till
the past season. A very complete article on the subject was publisheft''*"^
in the December number of the American Entomologist, which I shalt
for the most part repeat, and render more complete by the additioa
of some facts as to their distribution, which were contained in some
unpublished manuscript of the late Dr. Gideon B. Smith, of Balti-
more, Md., and which were comunnicated to me through the kindness
of Dr. J. G. Morris of the same city.

It was my good fortune to discover that besides the 17-year broods,
the appearance of one of which was recorded as long ago as 16-£o,.
there are also 13-year broads ;* and that, though both sometimes occur
in the same States, yet, in general terms, the 17-year broods may Ije
said to belong to the Northern, and the 13-year broods to the Soutliei"]
States, the dividing line being about latitude 38°, though in some
places the 17-year brood extends below this line, while in Illinois the
13-year brood runs up considerably beyond it It was also exceeding-
ly gratifying to find, four months after I had published this fact, that
the same discovery had been made years before by Dr. Smith, though
it had never been given to the world.

It so happened that one of the largest 17-year broods, together
with one of the largest 13-year broods, appeared simultaneously in.
the summer of 1868. Such an event, so far as regards these two par-
ticular broods, has not taken place since the year 1617, nor will it take
place again till the year 2089.

There are absolutely no perceptible specific differences between

' the 17-year and the 13-year broods, other than in the time of maturing ;

but whether or not, scientifically speaking, they are to be considered

as specifically distinct, the 13-year brood may, for convenience sake,

be called Cicada z!?W6(J2'w, in contradistinction to Cic-ada septemdecim^

* See Journal of Agricultare, St. Louis, June 13, 1868; in which appeared the first account
«ver published of suck * brood.

20

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

the 17 yaar brood. Mr. Walsh informs me that Charles Darwin, Prof.
Asa Gray, and Dr. Hooker all agree in the belief that the 17-year and
the 13-year forms ought not to be ranked as distinct species, unless
other differences besides the period of development could be discover-
ed, the mere rarity of variability in such a point not being sufficient,

TWO DISTINCT FORMS.

It is not a little singular, also, that two distinct forms occur in
both broods— a large one and a small one — the former by far more
numerous than the latter. This fact has been obsei*vei in past years,
and was noticed the present year by independent observers in differ-
ent parts of the country.* Indeed, it was observed by Dr. Hildreth,
of Marietta, Ohio, as far back as 1830 (vide Silliman's Journal XVIII,.
p. 47). The truer Cicada sepievidecim of Linnaeus (Fig. 6 A^ ventral
view of male), as described by Harris and Fitch, occurs in the great-
est numbers, both in the 17 and 13-year broods. It will measure, on an
average, one and a half inches from the head to tip of the closed
jings, and almost always expands over three inches. The whole
fnder siae of the abdomen is of a dull orange-brown color, and in

[Fig 6.]

the male more especially, four or five of the segments are edged with
the same color on the back.

The other form (Fig. 6 B, ventral view of male) is not, on an aver-
age, much more than two-thirds as large, and usually lacks entirely the
dull orange abdominal marks, though there is sometimes a faint trace of
them on the edges of the segments beneath. This small form was describ-
ed in 1851, by Dr. J. C. Fisher, in the Proceedings of the " Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Sciences," Vol. V, pp. 272-3, as a new species of

* 1. Mr. v. T. Chambers, in the August number of the "American Naturalist/' p. 332',
is said to point out gome variation in color from those described by Dr. Fitch.

2. Mr. S. S. Rathvon favored me with specimens of both species from Lancaster county.
Pa., accompanied with the following: "I am justified, I think, in concluding these are two dis-
tinct species. They are difl'erent in size and coloration, produce entirely different stridulation,
do not cohabit indiscriminately," etc.

3. The correspondent to the Departintnt of Agriculture (July Rep.) from Hematite, Mo.,
says: "There are two species, one (both ui.ilp and female) about twice the size of the other,
and differing' greatly, also, in their cries and actions."

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 21

Cicada, hitherto confounded with septemdeeiin^ and was x\2iva.e^ Cicada
cassinlL His description was followed by a note from Mr. John Cas-
sin, in which he states that the two forms show no disposition to asso-
ciate together, and produce very different cries. The fact of the very
great difference in the song of the mules has been fully confirmed by
the observations of M. C. Hill, of Northeast Ohio, who likewise found
that the small form is very much less numerous than the large one.

The truest test of the specific distinction of these two forms lies
in the comparative shape of the male genital hooks, and on submit-
ting specimens of both forms to Dr. H. Hagen, of Cambridge, Mass.,
formerly of Koenigsburg, Prussia, he very kindly furnished the draw-
ings (?, (?, €, and /", in Figure 6, which show the male genital hooks of both.
That oi%e2)temd€cim is represented on the outside at (?, on the inside at
d ; and that of casslnii on the outside at ^, and on the inside at f.

By these figures, it will be seen that there are sufficient differ-
ences to separate the two forms as distinct ; but while the hooks of
the large kind f^eptemd&cim) are quite constant in their appearances
those of the smaller kind (Gassinii) are variable, and in some few
specimens are undistinguishable from those of the large kind. This
circumstance, coupled with the fact that the small kind regularly oc-
curs with both the 17 and 13-year broods, would indicate it to be a
dimorphous form of the larger, or true periodical species; especially
when we consider that dimorphism and heteromorphism are not un-
common among the true Bugs (Hemiptera). Mr. P. R. Uhler, of Bal-
timore, Md., who has given this order of insects particular attention, in-,
forms me that he is not fully satisfied of the specific distinctness of
C. cassinii ; but Dr. Hagen thinks there is no possible doubt of its
being distinct, for the simple reasons, as he states, that dimorphism
occurs oi\\j in one sex, while here both sexes are involved; that
cassinii appears later, makes a different, noise, has different colors
and was never seen to copulate with i^])temdecim. To use Dr. Ha-
gen's own words, " what more is needed to make a distinct species ,
if one kind of Cica/la requires 17 years to undergo its transformations,
why not a second kind ?" I find among a great number of specimen,
whicii I have examined, that not only do the hook^oi cassinii V2irj^
but the other characters that have been mentioned as belonging to
it, are variable, there being j)erfectly intermediate grades between its
extreme type and that of ^ptemdecim. Again, on the supposition
that it is a distinct species, the chances are extremely small, of its is-
suing together with"septemde6i7n in the same year in the many differ-
ent localities hereafter mentioned. Therefore, though it will be con-
venient to use the two names, 1 think the two forms should not be
ranked as distinct. But the discussion of the subject would involve
the general problem of specific character.

The large species has been observed to make its appearance from
eight to ten days earlier than the small species (cassinii), and there
is not a single specimen of the latter, among a number of the 13-year

22 FIRST ANJTUAL REPORT OF

brood (tredecim) that I captured in May, though I took a few speci-
mens afterwards.

THE SEASON OF THEIR APPEARANCE AND DISAPPEARANCE

differs somewhat with the latitude, though not so materially as one
might suppose. According to the records, they appeared the past season
earlier in the South than in the North ; but the last half of May can be
set down as the period during which they emerge from the ground, in
any part of the country, vfhile they generally leave by the -ith of July.
In St. Louis county the past season they commenced issuing on the 22d of
May, and by the 2Sth of the same month, the woods resounded with
the rattling concourse of the perfect insect. As is the case with a
great many other insects, the males make their appearance several
days before the females, and also disappear sooner. Hence in the
latter part of the Cicacia season, though the woods are still full of fe-
males, the song of but very few males will be heard.

That circumstances favorable or otherwise may accelerate or re-
tard their devolopment, was accidently proven, the past season, by
Dr. E. S. Hull, of Alton, Illinois ; as by constructing underground
flues, for the purpose of forcing vegetables, he also caused the Cica-
das to issue as early as the 20th of March, and at consecutive periods
afterwards, till May, though strange to say these premature individ-
uals did not sing. They frequently appear in small numbers, and more
rarely in large numbers, the year before or the year after their proper
period. This is more especially the case with the 13-year brood. Thus
in Madison county in Illinois, and in Daviess and Clark counties m
Missouri, there were in 1854 a few precursors to the true 1855 brood.
They were also observed in Madison county, Illinois, in 1867 ; while
''^ L. W." writing from Guntersville, Alabama, to the Country Gen-
tlanen of June 25. 1868, says, "some call them 14-year locusts." Other
such cases will be noticed hereafter.

THEIR NATURAL HISTORY AND TRANSFORMATIONS

have been sufficiently described in the standard works of both Harris
and Fitch, audit is only necessary to mention a few facts not recorded
by them.

Mr. S. S. Rathvon, of Lancaster, Pa., who has himself witnessed
four of their periodical visits, at intervals of 17 years, discovered the
following very ingenious provision which the pupas (Fig. 7, «) made the
past season, in localities that were low or flat, and in which the drain-
age was imperfect. He says : " We had a series of heavy rains here
about the time of their first appearance, and in such places and un-
der such circumstances, the pupas would continue their galleries
Irom four to six inches above ground (Fig. 8, a full vieWj 6 sectional

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

[Fig. 7.3

view), leaving an orifice of egress even with the surface (Fig. 8, e). —
In the upper end of these chambers the pupas would be found await-
ing their approaching time of change (Fig. 8, c). They would then back
Fig- 8-] down to below the level of the

earth, as at ^Z, and issuing forth from
the orifice, would attach themselves
to the first object at hand and un-
dergo their transformations in the
usual manner." Mr. Rathvon kindly
furnished me with one of these
elevated chambers, from which the
above drawings were taken. It mea-
sured about four inches in length,
with a diameter on the inside of five-
eighths of an inch, and on the
outside of about one and a quarter
inches. It was slightly bent at the
top and sufficiently hard to carry through the mail without breaking.
The inside was roughened with the imprints of the spines with which
tlie fore legs of the builder are armed. In a field that was being
ploughed near St. Louis, about the time of their ascent, I found
that single, straight or bent chambers were the most common, though
there were sometimes several branching near the surface from a main
chamber below, each of the branches containing a pupa. The same
observations have been made by other parties. These holes are cy-
lindrical and are evidently made by oppressing the earth on all sides
and throwing the refuse to the bottom, which must be quite a feat
when they penetrate hard roads or come up between two rocks as
they frequently do.

24 FIEST ANNUAL REPOET OP

The larv£B are frequently found at a great depth, nothwithstand-
ing its denial. Thus Mr. Henry Sadorus of Port Byron, Illinois, who
built a house in 1853, found that they came up through the bottom of
his cellar in 1854, the cellar being over five leet deep, and Mr. F. Guy
of Sulphur Springs informed me that he had found them at a depth of
ten feet below the surface.

When ready to transform they invariably attach themselves to
some object, and, alter the fly has evolved, the pupa skin is left still
adhering, as shown at Figure 7 h. The operation of emerging from
the pupa most generally takes place between the hours of 6 and 9 p.
M.; and ten minutes after the pupa skin bursts on the back the Cicada
will have entirely freed itself from it. Immediately after leaving the
pupa skin, the body is soft and white, with the exception of a black
patch on the prothorax. The wings are developed in less than an
hour, but the natural colors of the body are not acquired till several
hours have elapsed. These recently developed Cicadas are somewhat
dull for a day or so after transforming, but soon become more active,
both in flight and song, as their muscles harden. For those who are
not informed of the fact, I will state that the males alone are capa-
ble of " singing," and that they are true ventriloquists, their rattling
noise being produced by a system of muscles in the lower part of the
body, which work on the drums under the wings, shown in Figure 6,
at ffff,hj alternately tightening and loosening them. The general noise,
on approaching the infested woods, is a compromise between that of a
distant threshing machine and a distant frog pond. That which they
make when disturbed mimics a nest of young snakes or young birds
under similar circumstances — a sort of scream. They can also pro-
duce a chirp somewhat like that of a cricket's, and a very loud shrill
screech, prolonged for fifteen or twenty seconds, and gradually in-
creasing in force and then decreasing.

After pairing, the females deposit their eggs in the twigs of diff"er-
ent trees ; and though for this purpose they seem to prefer the oaks
and the hickories, they oviposit in almost every kind of deciduous
tree, and even in herbaceous plants, and in evergreens. We have seen
their eggs in the Chestnut, Locust, Willow and Cottonwood, in peach
twigs of not more than ^ inch diameter, and also in the stems of the
common Eupatoriura, while R. H. Warder, of Cleves, Ohio, has found
them in the following evergreens : Thuja occidentalis, Juniperus vir-
giniana and Abies canadensis, but was unable to find any traces of
their work in either of our common pines — Pinus Austriaca, P. strobus
or P. sylvestris.

Dr. Harris (Lij. Ins. p. 212) has well described the mode of depos-
iting, and it is only necessary to add that the female always saws with
her head upwards, i. e. towards the terminal part of the branch, ex-
cept when she comes in contact with a side shoot, when, instead of

Tl^ STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

25

=• ^;1 shifting a little to one side, she reverses her position,^ ^-^
01 and makes two punctures in an opposite direction to the
■i rest and thus fills up the straic;ht row close to the base

f^'

of the side shoot. The eggs (Fig. 7 e) are of a pearl
,. white color, one-twelfth of an inch long, and taper to
^ an obtuse point at each end. They are deposited in
vif pairs, but separated by a strip of wood, which is wider
11^ —and thus causes the eggs to be I'urther apart— at the
bottom of the grooves than at their commencement.
The punctured twigs bear the appearance of Figure 9,
and frequently break off and die, though the great ma-
jority remain green and recover from their wounds. In-
deed, there is every reason to believe that the eggs sel-
dom hatch in those twigs which break off and become^
dry, but that the lite and moisture of the twig is es-
sential to their life and development of the egg, for the eggs
noticeably larger just before hatching than when first depos-
ited, showing that they are, to a certain extent, nourished by the liv-
ing wood, as is the case with those of many Saw-flies. Mr. Rathvon
has also recorded the fact that the Cicada eggs are always shriveled
in twigs that are amputated by the Oak-pruner (Sie>wcorus villosus^
Fabr.) In the healing of the punctured parts a knot usually forms

are

wounds had so well healed on the outside, the grooves inside were
not filled up, but still contained the minute glistening egg-shells, from
which the young larv«3 had escaped six years before.

The eggs hatch between the 20th of July and the 1st of August
or in about six weeks after being deposit-
ed. The newly hatched larva (Fig. 11)
differs considerably from the full grown
larva, but principally in having much^
longer and distinctly 8-jointed antennae.*
It is quite active, and moves its antennre
as dexterously and as rapidly as does an ant. As soon as it has extri-
cated itself from an exceedingly fine membrane, which still envelops
it after it has left the egg,t our little Cicada drops deliberately to the
ground; its specific gravity being so insignificant, that it falls through
the air as gently and as softly as does a feather.

The cross veins near the tip end of the upper wings of the Peri-
odical Cicada form a dusky zig-zag mark in the shape of a W. Some
ignorant persons are silly enough to believe that this mark portends

«There is frequently a ninth joint partly developed.

fAll young GraFshoppers and Katydids that I have ever hatched were invariably enveloped in
a like membrane after leaving the egg, and until this is thrown off the young insect is awkward in
its motions. In the case of the young Cicada, these fine membranes are usually left attached to
the roughened orifice of their nidus, and thus form, together, a white glistening bunch.

26 FIRST ANNUAL EEPORT OP

war. It occurs alike, though not to such a marked degree, on all
other Cicadas, and if people must have an omen let them rather take
the two AV's for warm weat^ei\ and it will not be likely to disappoint
them.

ENEMIES OF THE CICADA.

Upon leaving: the ground to transform, the pupae are attacked
by diiTerent quadrupeds, by birds, by cannibal insects, such as
Ground-beetles, Dragon-flies, Soldier-bugs, etc.; while hogs and
poultry of all kinds greedily feast upon them. In the perfect fly
state they are attacked by at least one insect parasite ; for dip-
terous maggots (the larvas, probably, of some Tachina fly) may oc-
casionally be found in their bodies. In this state they are also often
attacked by a peculiar fungus, which was first described by Dr. Leidy,
in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences
for 1851. Dr. W. D. Hartman, of Westchester, Pa., speaking of the
occurrence of this fungus, in 1851, says : "The posterior part of the
abdomen, in a large number of male locusts, was filled by a greenish
fungus. * * * The abdomen of the infected males was unusually
inflated, dry and brittle, and totally dead loJiile the insect vms yet
Hying about. Upon breaking off the hind part of the abdomen, the
dust-like spores would fly as from a small puff-ball." One male speci-
men received the present year from Pennsylvania was affected by
the same, or a similar fungus, the internal parts of the abdomen being
converted into what appeared to be a brown mould.

P. H. Warder, of Cleves, Ohio, in speaking of this mould says:
It seemed to be a drying up of the contents and membranes of the
abdomen, generally of a brown color, and dry and brittle. I found
that in many cases the male organs of generation re.mained so firmly
attached to the female during copulation that the male could only
disengage himself by breaking away, leaving one or two posterior
joints attached to the female, and it is these mutilated males which I
found affected by the peculiar fungus mentioned, and therefore con-
cluded that the "dry rot" might be the result of the broken mem-
branes. I never found one thus affected in the very early part of their
season, and I never found a perfect male thus affected. But this is not
positive proof.

THE STING OF THE PERIODICAL CICADA.

It is astonishing what a wide-spread fear exists of the Cicada
on account of its stinging powers. There is scarcely a paper in
the United States but published some account of a " locust" sting
last summer, while unpublished accounts were equally numerous.
One of the editors of the St. Louis RepnhliGan was kind enough to
clip out for me all accounts of such stings, which he found in
their numerous exchanges, and the number which had accumulated,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

27

■before the end of the "Locust" season, was truly surprising. Some
people even denied themselves the pleasure of eating blackberries,
raspberries and other fruits, because they feared these fruits had
been poisoned by the eggs of Cicadas ; while others believed that
they i)oisoned water. I have endeavored to trace up a number of
these reports, but have invariably found that they were either false
or greatly exaggerated, and there is no doubt whatever that the
great majority of such accounts owe their origin to the fertile imagin-
ations of newspaper reporters, who are ever ready to create a sen-
sation. Yet, to use a common metaphor, it is strange there should
be so much smoke and no fire, and I will briefly review the only three
methods by which such stinging can possibly be produced. At the
same time, I give it as my conviction that there is but little cause for
fear, as I have handled hundreds of them, and know hundreds of per-
sons, including children, who have done the same, and yet have never
been able myself to witness a single case of hona iide stinging,

By Hornets. — There is a very large Digger wasp {Stizus grandis^
Sa}^), represented of the natural size in the accompanying Figure 12,

whose peculiar habit it is
to provision its nests with
Cicadas. The burrows made
by this Digger wasp, or
hornet, are about three feet
long, with two or three gal-
leries about one foot long,
each terminating in a
chamber considerably en-
larged. The female catch-
es a Cicada which she stings
and paralyzes, and drags
into one of these chambers ; and it is not very unlikely that she should
occasionally alight on some human being with a Cicada in her grasp,
and upon being brushed off, should retaliate by stinging the offender,
and then fly off", leaving the Cicada behind, which, in absence of the
hornet, would very naturally be accused of the sting. An allied spe-
cies of Digger wasp (the Stisus speoiosus of Say) has been actually
observed, by Mr. Rathvon, to carry off a few belated individuals of
the Periodical Cicada ; but the usual prey of both these species is the
larger annual Cicada ( C. pruinosa^ Say), and they both occur too late
in the season to be the cause of all the stinging we hear of.

By the Ovipositor.— The ovipositor of the female (Fig. 13, h) is
certainly capable of inflicting a wound, but the Cicada is anything
but pugnacious, and when not in the act of ovipositing, this instru-
ment is securely enclosed in its sheath. That this is the stinging in-
strument is rendered extremely doubtful, for the following reasons :
1st. AH the stinging we hear of has been done suddenly, while tliQ

28 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

insertion of the ovipositor would necessarily be a gradual opera-
[Fig. 13.] tion, requiring at least one minute ; 2d, The real function
of the ovipositor is to convey an egg into the wound
which it makes, and I have been unable to trace a single
case where eggs were found in the flesh. All such ac-
counts have proved to be fabrications, and the straightfor-
ward report which Mr. Y. T. Chambers, of Covington,
Ky., gave inthe August number of the American JSfat-
uralist^ of a negro being stung on the foot by a Cicada,
proved, after all, to be a mistake, for "Mr. Winston did
not see the insect with its instrument in situ ;" 3d the
three following facts, which are reliable, prove that
stinging in the usual sense of the term, by this instrument
is almost impossible : First, Mr. Wm. Muir, associate editor of Col.
man's Rural Worlds carefully lifted a female from off a tree, while
she was yet in the act of ovipositing, and as carefully placed her on
his little finger, holding it as near as possible in the same direction
and position as the branch grew from which she was taken. She
instinctively endeavored to continue ovipositing, and, holding firmly
to his finger, tried again and again to insert the ovipositor, but with-
out the least success, for it could not make the least impression on
the soft and yielding flesh, but continually slipped from one side to
the other. Second, it is recorded that Mr. Peter A. Brown, of Philadel-
phia, Pa., himself inflicted a puncture with the ovipositor, several
times, upon his hand, without experiencing any more pain than that
produced by a prick of a pin or any other pointed instrument, and
that no swelling ensued. Third, Dr. Hartman, of Pennsylvania, intro-
duced some of the moisture from the ovipositor into an open wound
and it caused no inflammation whatever.

By the Beak, or Haustellum. — The beak (Fig. 13, a) is an organ
which both sexes of the Cicada possess, and by which they take their
nourishment. I have seen them insert it into and extricate it from
the branches of diff"erent trees, and know that the operation is quite
rapid, and that the instrument must be quite sharp and strong-
All the more authentic cases of stinging, indicate this to be
the instrument,* and it is quite likely that, just as the sting
of a bee will aflect some persons nigh unto death, and. have no effect
whatever on others, so the puncture of the beak of a Cicada will be
more serious with some than wdth others. That there is no poison

*Mr. D. B. Wier, of Lacon, Ills., who well knows the difference between the male and female
Cicada, recollects distinctly, thai when they were there in 1854, he was stung- in the finger by tha
male, the sting not causing very severe pain.

Mr. R. T. Parker, of St. James, Phelps county. Mo., an intelligent fruit grower, who has given
Bome time to the study of insects, informed me that he was stung on the neck by a male Cicada,
evidently \vith the beak, and that the sting was not so painful as that of a bee.

Dr. M. M. Kenzie, of Centerville, Reynolds county. Mo., has communicated the fact that
Frank Smith, aged 14 years, living on Ilenpeck, in the lower jmrt of Reynolds county, was stung
by a Cicada on the b.ack of the left hand. The wound healed by first intention, and the next
morning there was only a black clot^ about the size of ajnn's head, to mark its place^ with scarcely
S.11J swelling.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 29

gland attached to this beak, is no argnment agamst its stinging power,
for several true Bugs are known to produce severe stings by their
beaks, while the hairs and spines of some caterpillars have a similar
power.

THE INJURY WHICH CICADAS CAUSE TO FRUIT TREES.— REMEDIES.

While living under ground they have been accused of killing pear
trees, and more especially by Miss Margaretta H.'Morris, in accounts
of them published in 1840. The late Dr. Smith, of Baltimore, how-
ever, who made extensive observations, denied their being capable of
such injury. He says:

"The larva obtains its food from the small vegetable radicals that
everywhere pervade the fertile earth. It takes its food from
the surface ot these roots, consisting of the moist exudation (like
animal perspiration), for which purpose its rostrum or snout is pro-
vided with three exceedingly delicate capillaries or hairs which pro-
ject from the tube of the snout, and sweep over the surface, gathering
up the minute drops of moisture. This is its only food. The mode of.
taking it can be seen by a good glass."— /?i Prairie Farmer^ Decern-
her, 1851.

While they can, if they wish, insert their beaks into roots, and
very likely do so in some cases, yet I incline to believe, that Dr.
Smith's views are correct, for though Dr. Hull, of Alton, Illinois, has
often found them firmly attached to different roots by the legs, he has
never found the beaks inserted. The fact that they will rise from
land which has been cleared of timber, cultivated, and even built
upon for over a dozen years, certainly contravenes Miss Morris's
statement, while their long subterranean existence precludes the
necessity of rapid suction. It is also quite certain that if they thus
killed- trees, we should oftener hear of it, and I have captured a
gigantic but unnamed species of Cicada on the plains of Colorado,
50 miles from any tree, other than a few scattering willows.

In the perfect state, hovvever, the female is capable of doing great
injury to trees by hacking up their twigs, in the process of depositing,
and although their injury in the forest is not generally felt, it is a very
different thing in our orchards, and especially in the nursery.

The following editorial from the old Valley Farmer of November,
1855, will show how serious the injury may sometimes be :

"We planted an orchard of the best varieties of apple trees last
spring. We had taken particular pains, not only in selecting the best
varieties, but in planting the trees, and hoped in a few years to par-
take ot the fruit. But our hopes were destined to be blasted. The
locusts during the summer destroyed nearly all of them ; not one in
six is living. To look at them one would think that some person had
been drawing the teeth of a saw over the bark ol every tree."

It also appears that in some instances they injure trees by the

30 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

insertion of their beaks for nourishment, for Mr. Gustaviis Pauls, of
Eureka, had a young apricot tree which was so thoroughly punctured
in this manner, that he took a gallon of coajulated sap from it, and he
attributes the death of some of his trees to this cause. I am con-
vinced, however, that the injury done in this manner is comparative-
ly trifling.

On the 13th of June I was sent for by four diiTerent parties in St.
Louis county, who wished me to try and save their trees from the
ruinous work of these cicadas, which had by this time began to de-
posit tjlieir eggs in real earnest. I found that when the wind was high
they could, by its aid, be driven to some extent, but that without its
aid they could not be driven at all; as when started, they are just as
likely to fly behind as before you. I tried lye, whitewash and sul-
phur, air-slacked lime and finally carbolic acid, and found that none
of these mixtures would affect them. Indeed, after experiments in-
volving about §200, I am convinced that there is no available way of
entirely preventing this ruinous work when they once commence to
deposit. The nursery of Mr, Stephen Partridge, a few miles west of
St. Louis, which is surrounded on all sides by timber, was more se-
riously injured than any other which I saw, and he lost many hundred
dollars' worth of apple, peach and pear stock. They also punctured
his grape vines very freely, preferring the Clinton and Taylor among
varieties. By having all hands turn out early in the morning, and
between six and seven o'clock in the evening, while they hung list-
lessly to the branches, he succeeded in crushing thousands of them,
and thus saved parts of his nursery from total ruin. But it becomes a
hopeless task to try to stay their disastrous work when once they have
acquired full power of flight; though, while in their feeble and help-
less condition, as they leave the ground, they can not only be de-
stroyed to far greater advantage by human agency, but hogs and
poultry of all kinds, eagerly devour them. There were, it is true,
many accounts afloat last summer of hogs being poisoned by them,
and, though it is not impossible that one was occasionally killed by
over-glutting,* such cases were very rare indeed. From the foregoing,
the importance of knowing beforehand when to expect them becomes
apparent, and the following chronological table, will not only prove
of great scientific interest but of practical value. Li the greater part
of Missouri, the fruit grower may rest from all anxiety as to their ap-
pearance for thirteen years to come, but in the month of May, 1881,
let him look out for them.

THEIR CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY, WITH PREDICTIONS OF THE FUTURE APPEAR-
ANCE OF ALL WELL ASCERTAINED BROODS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

As nothing had been published up to A. D. 1868, as to the re-
gular appearance of any thirteen j^ear broods of Cicadas, it is not at

* Mr. F. R. Allen, of AUenton, informs me that during years when the army worm {Leucania
unipunctata, Haw.) occurred in'such swarms, hog-s and chickens feasted on them to such an extent
that the former frequently died, while the latter laid egsjs in which the parts naturally white would
be entirely green when cooked.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 31

all surprising that errors were committed by former writers on the
subject. In the following chronology cf this insects periodical visits,
everything heretofore published has been revised as far as possible.
The mass of facts from which the generalizations are made would be
tedious if given in detail, and are therefore for the most part omitted.
This chronology could not, of course, be made complete from a single
season's researches,>nd it may even contain errors, but it will remain
as a foundation for tuture work, and before another seventeen years
shall have passed away, we may hope to have this part of the history
of our curious Cicadas completed and perfected.

While the discovery of the thirteen year broods, dispelled much
of the fog in which this chronology had hitherto been wrapped, it at
the same time, rendered a complete and lucid exposition of that
chronology extremely difficult. The northern boundary line of the
thirteen year broods is about latitude 37°, but in Illinois one of them
ascends between two and three degrees above this line, while the
seventeen year broods descend below it in several places, the two
broods sometimes occupying the same territory. Two broods of the same
kind, appearing in different years may also overlap one another, as in
the instance given in the accoilnt of brood XXII in Virginia, where the
"locusts" appear every eighth and ninth year. In order to make the
subject as clear as possible, and to facilitate references, I have num-
bered the diff"erent broods of this insect in accordance with the date
of their future appearance from and after the present year.

BROOD I.—Septemdecim—lSb2, 1869.

In the year 1869, and at intervals of seventeen years thereafter,
they will, in all probability, appear in the valley of the Connecticut
river. According to Dr. Asa Fitch (N. Y. Rep. I, p. 40), they appeared
there in 1818 and iS35, and according to Dr. Smith they occurred in
Franklin, Bristol and Hampshire counties, Massachusetts, in 1767, '84,
1801, '18, '35 and '52.

BROOD II.— TrededOT— 1856, 1869.

In the year 1869, being the same as the preceding, they will in all
probability appear in Georgia, in Habersham, Rabun? Muscogee,
Jasper, Greene, Washington and adjacent counties, having appeared
there in 1843 and 1856, according to Dr. Smith.

BROOD llI.~Septemdeci7n~lSbS, 1870.

In the year 1870, and at intervals of seventeen years thereafter,
they will in all probability appear in what is known as the "Kreitz
Creek Valley" in York county. Pa., and possibly in Vinton county,
Ohio, and Jo. Daviess county. Ills. Mr. S. S. Rathvon, of Lancaster,
Pa., speaking of this brood, says: "Lancaster county is bounded on
the southwest by the Susquehanna river, dividing it from the county

32 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

of York, along the northeastern margin of which there is a mountain
range, sloping down to the river. Along that slope Cicadas were abun-
dant the present season (1868 — Brood XXII). But on the southwest
side of the range, in what is known as the Kreitz Creek Valley, there
were none. They appeared last in this valley in 1858, and previous to
that year at intervals of seventeen years from time immemorial."
Dr. Smith records their appearance in 1853, both in Vinton county,
Ohio, and Jo. Daviess county, Illinois.

BROOD IV.—Tredecim—lS57, 1870.

In the year 1870, being the same as the preceding, they will in
all probability appear in Jackson, Gadsden and Washington counties,
Florida, having appeared there according to Dr. Smith in 1841 and 57.

BROOD Y .—Septemdeci7n^lS5i, 1871.

In the year 1871, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will
in all probability appear around the head of Lake Michigan, extend-
ing as far east as the middle of the State of Michigan, and west an
unknown distance into Iowa. Also in Walworth county and other por-
tions of Southern Wisconsin, and southward into Illinois. This brood
is equal to Dr. Fitch's 6th. It extends all over Northern Illinois, and
as far south as Edgar county, and its appearance in 1837 and 1854 is
well and thoroughly recorded. In Champaign count}'", Ills., it over-
laps Brood XVIII, or the Southern Illinois ti^edecirii brood, while it
also interlocks with Brood XIII {septemdeciin) in the same county.

They will also appear in the same years in the southeast by eastern
part of Lancaster county. Pa., in what is called the " Pequea Valley,"
having appeared there in vast numbers in 1854.

The earliest known record we have of the appearance of period-
cal Cicadas, is in Morton's "Memorial," in which it is stated that they
appeared at Plymouth, Plymouth county, Mass., in the year 1633. —
Now, according to that date, one might be led to suppose that this re-
corded brood of Morton's belonged to this Brood III, as exactly 14
IDeriods of 17 years will have elapsed between 1633 and 1871; but,
strange to say, we have no other records of his brood than that in the
"Memorial," whereas there are abundant records of their appearing
one year later in the same locality, ever since 17S7. There is there-
fore good reason to believe that the visit recorded by Morton was a
premature one, and that it was properly due in 1634. I have there-
fore placed it in Brood XIII, and have little doubt but that if records
could be found, these would prove the Cicadas to have appeared in
1651, 1668, 1685, 1702, 1719, 1736, 1753, and 1770, as they did in 1787,
1804, 1821, 1838, and 1855.

BROOD VI.— TYefiecim— 1858, 1871.

In the year 1871, being the same j^ear as the preceding, and at in-
tervals of 13 years thereafter, they will in all probability appear in

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 33

the extreme southwestern corner of Mississippi, and in the adjoining
part of Louisiana. Dr. D. L. Phares of Newtonia (near Woodville),
Miss., says that in 1858 they extended over most of Wilkinson and
part of Amite counties, Mississippi, and East and West Feliciana, La.
He has himself witnessed the appearance of this brood during the
years 1832, 1845 cind 1858, while it is distinctly remembered by aged
people in his neighborhood as having also appeared there in the years
ISOG and 1819. Dr. Smith gives their range from the Mississippi river,
east to a ridge 45 miles from thft river that divides the State, north
and south, and north and south to the boundaries of the State ; re-
cording them as occurring in 1806, '19, '32, '45 and '58.

BROOD YIl.— rredecim—lS59, 1872.

In the jear 1872, and at intervals of 13 years thereafter, they will
in all probability appear in Jackson county and around Cobden and
Jonesboro, in Union county, South Illinois, in Kansas, Missouri, Geor-
gia, Louisiana, Tennessee and Mississippi.

According to Mr. Paul Frick of Jonesboro, they were in Union
county, Ills., in 1858, and he also thinks it was a great year for them
ahout 1832. Those ot 1858 were probably premature stragglers of the
18.59 brood, while Mr. Frick is most likely mistaken as to the year
1832, since the Kev. George W. Ferreil of Cobden, Union county,
witnessed their appearance at that place in 1833, and also in 1846 and
1859; and Cyrus Thomas has also recorded their appearance in 1859
in the 5th Rep. of the Ills. State Agr. Soc, p. 45S*, while a paragraph
in the Baltimore (Md.) Sun of June 13, 1859 saj^s "the locusts have
made their appearance in 'Egypt' in Southern Illinois, and cover
woods and orchards in swarms." This brood not improbably extends
westward into Missouri, for several of the old settlers around Eureka,
in St. Louis county, Mo., recollect it being " locust year" about the
time of its last appearance, while Mr. L. D. Votaw of Eureka, and
Wm. Muir of Fox Creek, Mo., both believe it was exactly 9 years ago,
or in the year 1859. Dr. Smith records it in DeKalb, Gwinnett and
Newton counties, Georgia, in 1S46 and '59 ; in the northern part of
Tennessee also, in 1846 and '59; in the whole eastern i)ortion of Miss-
issippi from the ridge which is 45 miles from the river, on the west,
to the eastern boundary, in 1820, '33, '46, and '59 ; in Carrol Parish,
Louisiana, in 1859 ; and in Philips county, Kansas, in the same year.

By referring to Brood XV, it will be seen that in 1846, or during
the first year of the Mexican war, this 13-year brood appeared simul-
taneously with a 17-year brood in western Pennsylvania and Ohio.

* If Mr. Paul Frick is correct, the brood be has witnessed may possibly be a detachment of
the Jlississippi and Louisiana Brood VI ; in which case the Cicadas appear for two consecutive
years in Union county, Ills., as they do (See Broods XIII andXIV) in Central Ohio, and portions.
of Northwestern Missouri.

3 R S E

31 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

BROOD Yl'n..—Septe7ndecim—lSo5, 1872.

In the year 1872, being the same year as the preceding, and at in-
tervals of 17 years thereafter, they will, in all probability, appear in
the southeastern part of Massachusetts ; across Long Island ; along
the Atlantic coast to Chesapeake Bay, and up the Susquehanna at
least as far as to Carlisle in Pennsylvania; also, in Kentucky, at Kan-
awha in Virginia, and Gallipolis, Ohio, on the Ohio river. This is the
brood referred to in Brood V, and which there is every reason to be-
lieve is the one recorded by Morton in his "Memorial," as occurring
in 1633.

Dr. Fitch, in the account of his 3d brood (N. Y. Eep. I, p. 39), says :
"The third brood appears to have the most extensive geographical
range. From the southeastern part of Massachusetts, it extends
across Long Island, and along the Atlantic coast to Chesapeake Bay,
and up the Susquehanna at least as far as to Carlisle in Pennsylvania;
and it probably reaches continuously west to the Ohio, for it occupies
the valley of that river at Kanawha in Virginia, and onwards to its
anouth, and down the valley of the Mississippi probably to its mouth,
:and up its tributaries, west, into the Indian Territory. This brood has
appeared the present year, 1855, and I have received specimens from
Lang Island, from South Illinois, and-the Creek Indian country west
of Arkansas," etc.

There is every reason to believe that Dr. Fitch, in this account,
has confounded this sejjtemdecim Brood VIII, with the great tredecim
Brood XVIII, for it so happened that they both occurred simulta-
neously in 1855, but the exact dividing line of these two broods is not
^o easily ascertained. Certainly, after reaching the Ohio river, the
<^&ptemdeGV}n brood extends beyond Gallipolis, Ohio, for Prof. Potter,
in his "Notes on the Cicada decern septiraa," records their appear-
ance at that place in 1821 ; and Dr. Smith records their appearance at
;Frankfort, Lexington and Flemingsburg, Kentucky, in 1838, and 1855.
;But I strongly incline to believe that well nigh the rest of the terri-
tory mentioned bj Dr. Fitch was occupied by the tredecim brood, the
jeasons for which belief will be found in the account of brood XVIII.

Cicadas also appeared in Buncombe and McDowell counties. North
tCajolina, in 1855, but until they appear there again it will be impossi-
ble to say, positively, whether they belong to this septemdecim Brood
Till, or to the tredecim Brood XVIII.

BROOD lX—Septemdecim—\%hl, 1874.

la the year 1874, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will
propably occsar in southeast Nebraska.

The occurrence of this brood was communicated to me by Mr.
Olarke Irvine, of Oregon, Holt county. The brood is most likely con-
fiiied to the eastern or timbered portion of the State, and I judge it
to be sepiemdeeim^ from the fact that the latitude is rather more
norilierly than tredecim is known to occur.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 35

BROOD X— Tre (feci m— 1862, 1875.

In the year 1875, and at intervals of 13 years thereafter, they will
most likely occur in different parts of Texas. According to Dr. Smith
they appeared in vast numbers in some parts of Texas in 1819, though
he was not able to get any particulars.

BROOD Xl—Septcmdecim—lSb9, 1876.

In the year 1876, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will
in all probability appear in parts of North Carolina, Virginia, Mary-
land, Illinois and Indiana. According to Dr. Smith they appeared
from Raleigh, North Carolina, to near Petersburg, Virginia, in 1812
and 1859 ; in Rowan, Davie, Cabarras and Iredell counties in the same
Slate in 1825, 1812 and 1859; in the valley of Virginia as far as the
Blue Ridge on the east, the Potomac river on the north, the Tennes-
see and North Carolina lines on the south, and for several counties
west, in 1808, 1812 and 1859 ; in the south part of St. Mary's county,
Maryland, dividing the county about midway east and west, in 1825,
1812 and 1859; in Illinois about Alton in 1812 and 1859; and in Sulli-
van and Knox counties, Indiana, in 1812 and 1859.

BROOD XU—Scptemdecim—lSiJO, 1877.

In the year 1877, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will,
in all probability, appear in the vicinity of Schuylerville and Fort
Miller, in New York. From thence along both sides of the Hudson to
its mouth, where they extend, at least, to New Haven, in Connecticut,
and west across the north part of New Jersey and into Pennsylvania.
Also in Dearborn county, Indiana; Kalamazoo, Michigan; in Penn-
sj^lvania. North Carolina, Virginia and JMaryland.

This brood is recorded by Prof. Potter as having occurred at
North Haven, Conn., in 1721, 1711, 1758, 1792, 1809 and 1826. It was
also recorded by the same writer as having occurred in 1826 in Mid-
dlesex county, N. J., and by Dr. Fitch as having occurred in 1813
throughout the whole country mentioned above. In 1860, again, it
was spoken of in the old series of the Prairie Farmer (Vol. 22, p.
119) as having occurred that year in New Jersey, and Dr. Smith re-
cords it throughout the whole State in 1775, 1792, 1809, 1826 and 1813.
Mr. Jas. Angus, of West Farms, Westchester county, N. Y., has him-
self witnessed its recurrence in the years 1813 and I860.

In Pennsylvania, Mr. Rathvon found a few individuals in 1860, and
Dr. Smith says it extends from the Susquehanna to the Delaware riv-
er, bounded hj Peter's mountain on the south. In Virginia it oc-
curred from the south part of Loudon county to the Roanoke river,
and from the Blue Ridge to the Potomac in 1826, 1813 and 1860. In
Maryland from Ann Arundel county to the north part of St. Mary's,
and from ihe Potomac to Chesapeake Bay, in 1809, 1826, 1813 and
1860. In Rockingham, Stokes, Guilford, Rowan, Surrej'- and adjacent

36 FIRST ANNUAL EEPORT OF

counties, North Carplina, in 1792, 1809, 1826 and 1843. In Dearborn
county, Indiana, in 184:3 and in 1860, and in Kalamazoo, Michigan, dur-
ing the same years.

BROOD XJII.—Septemdeci7)v—lSGl, 1S78.

In the year 1878, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will,
in all probability, appear along the centre of the State of Illinois, all
along the southern part of Iowa, and around St. Joseph, in Buchanan
count}'', in North Missouri.

The records are abundant, of their appearance, in 1814 and 1861,
all along the southern border of Iowa, and in Mason, Fulton, McDon-
ougli and Champaign counties in Central Illinois. In 1861 they also
occurred in Champaign county, Central Ohio, and in Buchanan county,
Northwest Missouri ; and this brood not unlikely occupies, more or
less, the whole strip of country between these two points. Their ap-
pearance in 1861 was associated with the first year of the rebellion;
and Dr. Smith records this brood both in Illinois and Iowa in 1814.

BROOD XIY .—Septemdccim—lS52, 1879.

In the year 1879, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will,
in all probability, appear in the whole of western Missouri, commenc-
ing south about Johnson and Saline counties, and extending in a
northwesterly direction to Lawrence and above, in Kansas, south to
Arkansas, and west an unknown distance into Kansas; also, in Cen-
tral Ohio.

The occurrence of this brood in 1845 and 1862 is well remembered
by several of my correspondents, and is recorded by Dr. Smith. At
St. Joseph, in Buchanan county. Mo., Cicadas were not bo thick in
1862 as in 1861. Had it been the reverse, or, in other words, had they
been more numerous in 1862 than in 1861, 1 should have been inclined
to record the visit of 1861 as but a precursor to this Brood X ; but as
it is, I believe the two broods are distinct, and that they occur for two
consecutive years, both in Central Ohio and in portions of Northwest
Missouri.

This brood has not been traced further east, in Missouri, than Sa-
line county, and yet a detachment of it certainly occurs in Ohio, for
Mr. Clarke Irvine, of Oregon, Holt county, Mo., well remembers their
occurrence in Central Ohio in 1845 and 1862. Though there is no
knowledge of the appearance of this Brood XIV in Illinois, yet the
fact of its occurring both in Ohio and in North Missouri, and that, too,
but one year after Brood XIII, would indicate that there may have
been, in times past, at all events, if there is not at the present day, a
geographical connection between these two broods,

BROOD XY.—Septemdecim—186S, 1880.

In the year 1880, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will,
in all probability, appear from western Pennsylvania to Sciota river,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 37

east, and down the valley of the Ohio river as far as Lewis county, in
Virginia.

This brood is recorded in Ohio as far back as the year 1812, by
"A. M. B.," writing to the Chicago Trihune^ under date of June 22,
1S6S. Harris also records its appearance in Ohio in 1829, and they
were quite numerous in Coles county, in the centre of the same State
in 1846, or during the first year of the Mexican war, while Dr. Smith re-
cords it in the eastern part of the State, extending over twelve coun-
ties, west, to the Sciota river, and to Sandusky, on Lake Erie, in 1829,
'46 and '63 ; and in Lewis county, Virginia, since 1795. As before
stated this brood occurred in Ohio in 1816, simultaneously with the
tredeclm brood VII in South Illinois. Dr. Fitch, in his account of his
5th brood, also records its appearance, and states that it reached to
Louisiana. But just as the septeindecim Brood VIII was confounded
with the great tredecim Brood XVIII in 1855, so this septemdecim
Brood XV was doubtless also confounded with it in 1829, for they both
occurred that year. Had the western country been as thickly settled in
1829 as it was in 1855, the tredeclm Brood XVIII could undoubtedly
have been traced in Southern Illinois and Missouri, etc., in the former
as it was in the latter year. This belief is furthermore greatly.
strengthened from our having no other record of the appearance of
this septemdecim brood, in Louisiana, than Prof. Potter's statement
that they appeared there in 1829, whereas they have occurred there
since 1829 at intervals, not of 17, but of 13 years, and were there the
present year, 1868, as will be seen on referring to Brood XVIII. The
dividing line of these two broods (XV and XVIII) is probably the
same as with broods VIII and XVIII.

BROOD XVI.— Tredecjjji— 1867, 18S0.

In the year 1880, being the same as the preceding, they will, in
all probability, appear in the north part of Cherokee county, Georgia,
having appeared there according to Dr. Smith in 1828, '11, '54, and ac-
cording to Dr. Morris, in 1867. This brood occurred in 1867 simultane-
ously with the northern septemdecim brood XXI.

BROOD '^sNll.— Septemdecim— I'i^i, 1881.

In 1881, and at intervals of 17 j'^ears thereafter, they will, in all
probability, appear in Marquette and Green Lake counties, in Wis-
consin, and may also appear in the western part of North Carolina,
and about Wheeling, Virginia; in Northeast Ohio, and a lew in Lan-
caster county, Pa., and Westchester county. New York.

There is abundant evidence that tiiey appeared in the counties
named in Wisconsin in 1864, and fair evidence that they appeared that
year in Summit county, Northeast Ohio, while straggling specimens
were found in the same year, by Mr. S. S. Kuthvon, in Lancaster coun-
ty. Pa., and by Mr. James Angus, in Westchester count}-, N. Y. Dr.
Fitch also records their appearance in 18 i7, or 17 years i^reviously, in

38 FIRST ANJ5UAL REPORT OF

the western part of North Carolina, and Dr. Smith, in Wheeling, Vir-
ginia, in 1830, '47 and YU. The distance between- the localities given
is very great, and it is doubtful whether all these records belong to
one and the same brood,

BROOD XViri.— Trc(fem— 1868, 1881.

In the year 1881, and at intervals of 13 years thereafter, they will,
in all probability, appear in Southern Illinois, throughout Missouri,
with the exception of the northwestern corner, in Louisiana, Arkan-
sas, Indian Territory, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama,
Georgia, and North and South Carolinas.

Though, as already stated, I published the first account ever given
of the existence of a 13-year brood, yet, besides the others mentioned
in this chronology, this particular brood has been traced since, as
having occurred in the years lS16, '29, '-12, '55 and '68; and Mr. L. VV.
Lyon, at the July (1S6S) meeting of the Alton, (Ills.) Horticultural
Society, even mentioned its appearance in 1803.

In Missouri, it occurs more or less throughout the whole State
with the exception of the northwest corner that is bounded on the
east by Grand river, and on the south by the Missouri river.* The
southeast part of the Slate, wliere Dr. Smith has recorded it since
1829, is most thickly occupied. 1 enumerate those counties in which
there is undoubted evidence of their appearance during the present
year (1868) viz.: Audrain, Bollinger, Benton, Clarke, Chariton, Calla-
way, Cooper, Cole, Franklin, Gasconade, Iron, Jefferson, Knox,
Lewis, Marion, Macon, Morgan, Moniteau, Tike, Phelps, Pulaski,
Polk, Pettis, Schuyler, St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Francois, St. Clair,
Warren, and Washington.

It not improbably overlaps some of the territory occupied by
the septemdeoim Brood XiV, but 1 do not think it extends into
Kansas.

In Illinois it occurs more or less throughout the whole southern
half of the State, but more especially occupies the counties from the
south part of Adams county along the Mississippi to the Ohio, up the
Ohio and Wabash rivers to Edgar county, and then across the centre
of the State, leaving sonle ot the central counties in South Illinois
unoccupied. To be more explicit, I enumerate all the counties in
which it undoubtedly occurred during the present year (1808):
Adains (south part, back of Quincy), Bond, Clinton (northwest corner,
adja(;ent to Madison), Ciiampaign, Coles, Crawlbrd, Cumberland, Clay,
Clark, Edwards, Edgarf (es()ecially in the eastern part), Franklin,
Gallatin, .Hardin, Hamilton, Johnson, Jasper, Jersej^ Jefferson, Law-
rence, McLean (east end), Macon, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe,

*As Mr. Wm. Raucher, of Oregon, Holt county, f=aw a few individuals in the northeast part
of Buchanan county in 1855, it may occur in siuall numbers in districts even north of the Mis-
souri river.

f Edgar county also has tlie scptemdecim Brood III.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. ' 39

Pike, Perry, Piatt, Pope, Richland, Randolph, Sangamon, Saline, St.
Clair, Union (northeast corner), Washington, AVayne, Wabash, Wil-
liamson and White. There were none tlie present year, either at
Decatur, in Macon county, or at Pana in Christian county; nor were
there any at Bloomington or Normal, in McLean; nor in Dewitt
county, which lies south of McLean; nor in Spring Creek, Iroquois
county, which is northeast of Champaign.

In Kentucky, according to Dr. Smith, it occurred in the northwest
corner of the State, about Paducah and adjacent counties south, in
1829, '42, and '55, and it occurred there in 1868.

In Arkansas, it occupied all the northern counties in 1842, '55
and '68.

In Alabama, it occupied Russell and adjacent counties on the
east side of Black Warrior river, in 1842, '55 and '68.

In Tennessee, it occupied Davidson, Montgomery, Bedford, Wil-
liamson, Rutherford and adjacent counties in 1842, '55* and '68.

In North Carolina, it appeared in Mecklenburg county, in 1829,
'42, '55 and '68.

In South Carolina, the Chester district and all the adjoining coun-
try to the Georgia line, west, and to the North Carolina line, north,
was occupied with it in 1816, '29, '42, '55 and 'QK

In Georgia, it has occurred in Cherokee county since the jeai
1816.

In Louisiana, it appeared in Morehouse, Caddo, Clairborne, Wash-
ington and adjacent parishes, in 1855 and '68.

It also doubtless occurs in Mississippi and Indian Territory, though
I am unable to specify any localities.

BKOOD XlX.—Sc]}temdecim—lS&5, 1SS2.

In the year 1882, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will,
in all probability, appear in Monroe, Livingston, Madison and adjacent
counties, and around Cayuga Lake, in New York.

Mr. T. T. Southwick, of Manlius, Livingston county, records their
appearance there in 1865, and, as will be seen by referring to the
Prairie Farmer^ vol. 16, p. 2, they appeared during the same year
near Cayuga Lake, while Dr. Smith records their appearance in 1797,
1814, '31 and 48.

BROOD XS..—Septemdeciin~\^m, 18S3.

In the year 1883, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will,
in all probability, appear in w^estern New York, western Pennsyl-
vania and eastern Ohio. In the last mentioned State they occur more
especially in Mahoning, Carroll, Trumbull, Columbiana and adjacent
counties, overlapping, especially in Columbiana county, some of the

* Thougli they occurred in large numbers in Davidson county and other portions of Tennessee
in 1855, and also the present year, yet in Lawrence county they appeared in 1856, instead of 1855 —
another instance of a belated brood.

40 ' FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

territory occupied by Brood XV. In Pennsylvania, tliey occupy
nearly all the western counties, and thexr appearance is recorded in
1832, '49 and '6G, by Dr. Fitch (his second brood), Dr. Smith, and sev-
eral of my correspondents; the following counties being enumerated:
Armstrong, Clarion, Jefferson, Chemung, Huntingdon, Cambria, Indi-
ana, Butler, Mercer and Beaver.

BROOD XXl.—Septemdecim—lSG7, 1884.

In the year 1884, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will,
in all probability, appear in certain parts of North Carolina and Cen-
tral Virginia. In 1850 and 1867 they appeared near Wilkesboro N. C,
and were also in Central Virginia during the last mentioned year,
while Dr. Smith mentions them as occurring in Monroe county, and
the adjacent territory, in Virginia in 1833 and 1850.

Dr. Harris (Inj. Insects, p. 210) records their appearance at Mar-
tha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, in 1833, but as I cannot learn that they
were there, either in 1850 or 1867, 1 infer that Dr. Harris's informant
was mistaken.

BROOD XXII.—Septemdecim^lSC'S, 1885.

In the year 1885, and at intervals of 17 years thereafter, they will,
in all ]3robability, ax^pear on Long Island ; at Brooklyn, in Kings
county, and at Rochester in Monroe county. New York ; at Fall River,
and in the southeastern portion of Massachusetts ; at Oakland (Rut-
land?), Vermont; in Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia,
Delaware and Virginia; in northwestern Ohio, in southeastern Michi-
gan, in Indiana and Kentucky.

This brood has been well recorded in the East in 1715, 1732, 1749,
1766, 1783, 1800, 1817, 1834, 1S51 and 1868. It is spoken of in " Haz-
zard's Register" for 1834, published in Philadelphia, while Mr. Rath-
von has himself witnessed its occurrence during the four latter years
in Lancaster county, Pa.

It is the fourth brood of Dr. Fitch, who only says that it "reaches
from Pennsylvania and Maryland to South Carolina and Georgia, and
what appears to be a detached branch of it occurs in the southeastern
part of Massachusetts." He is evidently wrong as to its occurring in
South Carolina and Georgia, and it is strange that he does not mention
its appearance in New York, for Mr. F. W. Collins, of Rochester, in
that State, has witnessed four returns of it tliere, namely : in 1817,
'34, '51 and '68, while the Brooklyn papers record its appearance there
the present season. As these two points in the State are about as far
apart as they well can be, the intervening country is probably more
or less occupied with this brood. Mr. H. Rutherford, of Oakland,* Ver-
mont, records their appearance in that neighborhood in 1851 and 1868.

*I can find no such post office as Oakland in Vermont, and incline to believe that the Tribune
compositor made Oakland out of Rutland, and more especially as Rutland is on the New York
border.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 41

(N. Y. Semi-Weekly Trihune^3m\Q 27). He also witnessed them in
the same place in 1S55, and as will be seen by referring to Brood
XVIII, they also occurred on Long Island and in southeastern Massa-
chusetts in that same year, 1S55. Exactly 13 "years intervening be-
tween 1855 and 1S6S, one miirht be led to suppose that they hai a
tredeciyn brood in the East. But did such a brood exist, it would cer-
tainly have been discovered ere this, in such old settled parts of the
country, and all the records go to show that they have nothing but
septemdechn there. By referring to Brood VIII, the mystery is readily
solved, for we find that in that part of the country there are two sep-
temdecim broods — the one having last appeared in 1855 — the other
the present year, 1868.

In Ohio, this brood occurred more or less throughout the whole
western portion of the State, for our correspondents record them as
having appeared in 1868 in Lucas and Hamilton and several interven-
ing counties. Mr. F. 0. Hill, of Yellow Springs, in Green county,
Southwest Ohio, has witnessed their appearance in 1834, 1851 and 1868,
and they occurred in the northwestern part of the State during the
three same years; w^hile the correspondent to the Department of x\g-
riculture, from Toledo, Northwest Ohio (July, 1868, Monthly Rep.), says
' it is their 9th recorded visit there. Dr. Smith records it as occurring
around Cincinnati, in Franklin, Columbiana, Pike and Miami coun-
ties.

In Indiana, there is reliable evidence of their appearance, in 1868,
in the southern part of the State, in Tippecanoe, Delaware, Vigo,
Switzerland, Hendricks, Marion, Dearborn, Wayne, Floyd, Jeflerson
and Eiclimond counties. The evidence seems to show that, as in Ohio,
throughout the State, they belong to this septemdecim Brood XXII,
for Mr. F. Guy, of Sulphur Springs, Mo., has personally informed me
that they were in Southern Indiana in 1851, and even in Tippecanoe
county, on the Wabash river, where, from their proximity to Brood
XVHI, one might have inferred them to be tredecim^ they are recorded
as appearing in 1831 and '51.

In Kentucky they appeared around Louisville. In Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, the territory occupied by this brood
is thus described by Dr. Smith: "Beginning at Germantown, Pa., to
the middle of Delaware ; west through the east shore of Maryland to
the upper part of Ann Arundel county; thence through the District
of Columbia to Loudon, West Virginia, where it MST laps over the
South Virginia district (see Brood XII) from the Potomac to Loudon
county, some 10 or 12 miles in width, and in this strip of territory Ci-
cadas appear every 8th and 9th year. Thence the line extends
through the north counties of Virginia and Maryland to the Savage
mountains, and thence along the south tier of counties in Pennsyl-
vania, to Germantown."

From the above synoptical view it results that there will, during
the next 17 years, be broods of the Periodical Cicada somewhere or

42

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

other in the United States in A. D. 1869, '70, '71, '72, '74, '75, '76, '77, '78,
'79, 'SO, '81, 'S2, '83, '81 and '85— or every year but 1873. It further ap-
pears that the number of distinct broods, appearing in distinct years,
within the following geographical districts, are as follows : In south-
ern New England 4 broods, years '69, '72, '77 and '85; in New York 5
broods, years '72, '77, '82, '83 and '85; in New Jersey 2 broods, years
'72 and '77; in Pennsylvania 7 broods, years '70, '71, '72, '77, '60, 'b3 and
85 ; in Ohio 7 broods, years '72, '78, '79, '80, 81, '83 and '85 ; in Indiana
4 broods, years '71, '76, '77 and '85 ; in Illinois 6 broods, years '71, '72*,
'76, '77, '78 and '81*, and probably another in Jo Daviess county,
year '70; in Wisconsin 2 broods, years '71 and '82; in Michigan 2
broods, years '71 and '85 ; in Iowa 2 broods, years '71 and '78; in Ne-
braska 1 brood, year '74 ; in Kansas 2 broods, years '7^* and '79 ; in
Missouri 4 broods, years '72*, 78, '79 and '81* ; in Louisiana and Mis-
sissippi 3 broods, years '71*, '72* and 81* ; in Tennessee 2 broods,
years '72* and '81* ; in Arkansas, Indian Territory and Alabama, 1
brood, year '81*; in Kentucky 3 broods, years '72, '81* and 85; in
Georgia 4 broods, years '69*, '72*, '^0* and '81* ; in South Carolina 1
brood, year '81* ; in North Carolina 6 broods, years '72?, '76, '77, '81?,
'81* and '84; in East and West Virginia 5 broods, years '72, '77, '80, ,
'81 and 84; in Maryland 4 broods, years '72, '76, 77 and 85; in District
of Columbia 1 brood, year '85; in Delaware 2 broods, years '72 and
85 ; in Florida 1 brood, year 73* ; in Texas 1 brood, year75*.

* The broods marked (*) belong to the IS-year or tredecim race of the Periodical Cicada.

APPLE-TREE BORERS.

(Coleoptera, CerambicidiB.)

THE ROUND-HEADED APPLE-TREE BOUER—Saperda bivittata, Say.

[Fig. 14.]

«/ 6 O

It is a fact which has not been disputed by any one whom I have
queried on the subject, that apple trees on our ridges are shorter
lived than those grown on our lower lands. Hitherto no particular
reason has been given for this occurrence, but I think it is mainly at-
tributable to the workings of the borer now under consideration. I

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

43

have invariably found it more plentiful in trees growing on high land
than in those growing on low land, and it has also been my experi-
ence that it is worse in ploughed orchards than in those which are
seeded down to grass. Fifty years ago, large, thrifty, long-lived trees
were exceedingly common, and were obtained with comparatively
little effort on the part of our ancestors. They had not the vast array
of insect enemies to contend with, which at the present day make .
successful fruit-growing a scientihc pursuit. This Apple-tree borer was
entirely unknown until Tliomas Say described it in the year 18:4; and,
according to Dr. Fitch, it was not till the year following that its de-
structive'^character became known in the vicinity of Albany, N. Y.,
for the first time. Yet it is a native American insect, and has for ages
inhabited our indigenous crabs, from which trees my friend, Mr. A.
Bolter, took numerous specimens, in the vicinity of Chicago, ten years
ago. It also attacks the quince, mountain ash, hawthorn, pear and
the June-berry. Few persons are aware to what an alarming extent
this insect is infesting the orchards in St. Louis, Jefferson and adjacent
counties, and, for aught I know, throughout the State. A tree be-
comes unhealthy and eventually dwindles and dies, often without the
owner having the least suspicion of the true cause— the gnawing
worm within. Even in the orchard of the most worthy president of
our State Horticultural Society, I found one or more large worms at
the base of almost every tree that I examined, notwithstanding he had
been of the opinion that there was not a borer of this kind on his

place.

At Figure 14, this borer is represented in its three stages of larva
(«), pupa'f^-), and perfect beetle (c). The beetle may be known by
the popular name of the Two-striped Saperda, while its larva is best
known by the name of the Round-headed apple-tree borer, in contra-
distinction to the Flat-headed species, which- will be presently treat-
ed of. . T .

The average length of the larva, when full-grown, is about one
inch, and the width of the first segment is not quite i of an inch.
Its color is light yellow, with a tawny yellow spot of a more horny
consistency on the first segment, which, under a lens, is found to be
formed of a mass of light brown spots. The head is chestnut-brown
polished and horny, and the jaws are deep black. The pupa is of
rather lighter color than the larva, and has transverse rows of minute
teeth oiAhe back, and a few at the extremity of the body; and the
perfect beetle has two longitudinal white stripes between three of a
light cinnamon-brown color. The Two-striped Saperda makes its ap-
pearance in the beetle state during the months of May and June, and
is seldom seen by anv but the entomologist who makes a point of
hunting for it— from the fact that it remains quietly hidden by day
and flies and moves only by night. The female deposits her eggs dur-
ing the month of June, mostly at the foot of the tree, and the young
worms hatch and commence boring into the bark within a fortnight

44 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

afterwards. These young worms differ in no essential from the full
grown specimens, except in their very minute size ; and they invari-
ably live, for the first year of their lives, on the sap-wood and inner
hark, excavating shallow, flat cavities which are found stuff'ed full of
their sawdust-like castings. The hole by which the newly hatched
worm penetrated is so very minute that it frequently fills up, though
not till a few grains of castings have fallen from it; but the presence
of the worms may be generally detected, especially in young trees,
from the bark, under which they lie, becoming darkened, and suffi-
ciently dry and dead to contract and form cracks. Through these
cracks, some of the castings of the worm generally protrude, and fall
to the ground in a little heap, and this occurs more especially in
the spring of the year, when, with the rising sap ^nd frequent rains,
such castings become swollen and augment in bulk. Some authors
have supposed that the worm makes these holes to push out its own
excrement, and that it is forced to do this to make room for itself; but,
though it may sometimes gnaw a hole for this purpose, such an in-
stance has never come to my knowledge, and that it is necessary to
the life of the worm is simply a delusion, for there are hundreds of
boring insects which never have recourse to such a procedure, and
this one is frequently found below the ground, where it cannot possi-
bly thus get rid of its castings. It is currently supposed that this
borer penetrates into the heart wood of the tree after the first year of
its existence, whereas the Flat-headed species is supposed to remain
for the most part immediately under the bark ; but I find that on these
points no rules can be given, for the Flat-headed species also frequent-
ly penetrates into the solid heart wood, while the species under con-
sideration is frequently found in a full grown state just under the in-
ner bark, or in the sap-wood. The usual course of its life, however,
runs as follows :

As winter approaches, the young borer descends as near the
ground as its burrow will allow, and doubtless remain inactive till
the following spring. On approach of the second winter it is
about one-half grown and still living on the sap-wood; and it is at
this time that these borers do the most damage, for where there are
4 or 5 in a single tree, they almost completely girdle it. In the course
of the next summer when it has become about three-fourths grown
it generally commences to cut a cylindrical passage upward into the
solid wood, and before having finished its larval growth, it invariably
extends this passage right to the bark, sometimes cutting entirely
through a tree to the opposite side from which it commenced; some-
time turning back at diflerent angles. It then stuffs the upper end of
the passage with sawdust-like powder, and the lower part with curly
fibres of wood, after which it rests from its labors. It thus finishes its
gnawing work during the commencement of the 3d winter, but re-
mains motionless in the larval state till the following spring when it
casts ofi" its skin once more and becomes a pupa. After resting three

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 45

weeks in the pupa state it becomes a beetle, with all it members and
parts at first soft and weak. These gradually harden and in a fort-
night more it cuts its way through its sawdust-like castings, and issues
from the tree through a perfectly smooth and round hole. Thus it is
in the tree a few days less than three years, and not merely two years
as Dr. Fitch suggests. I have come to this conclusion from having
frequently found, during the past summer, worms of three distinct
sizes in the same orchard, and Mr. D. B. Wier of Lacon, Ills., had pre-
viously published the fact*,while a correspondent to the Country Gen-
tleman of Albany, N. Y.f who says he has large experien>ce with this
borer, sent to the editors specimens of all three sizes, which he calls
" this years, two and three 3^ear old worms." The individual from
which I drew my figures, and which was taken from a crab apple tree,
went into the pupa state on the 1-itli day of March and became a bee-
tle on the 15th of April ; but was doubtless forced into rapid develop-
]nent by being kept throughout the winter in a warm room.

Remedies. — From this brief sketch of our Round-headed borer, it
becomes apparent that plugging the hole to keep him in, is on a par
with locking the stable door to keep the horse in, after he is stolen ;
even supposing there were any philosophy in the plugging system,
which there is not. The round smooth holes are an infalliable indica-
tion that the borer has left, while the plugging up of any other holes
or cracks where the castings are seen, will not affect the intruder.
This insect probably has some natural enemies belong-ing to its own
great class, and some of our wood-peckers doubtless seek it out from
its retreat and devour it; but its enemies are certainly not sufficiently
under our control, and to grow healthy apple trees, we have to fight it
artificially. Here again prevention will be found better than cure,
and a stitch in time will not onl}'' save nine, but fully ninety-nine.

Experiments have amply proved that alkaline washes are repul-
sive to this insect, and the female beetle will not lay her eggs on trees
protected by such washes. Keep the base of every tree in the or-
chard free from v/eeds and trash, and apply soap to them during the
month of May, and they will not likely be troubled with borers. For
this purpose soft soap or common bar soap can be used. The last is
perhaps the most convenient and the newer and softer it is, the bet-
ter. This borer confines himself almost entirely to the butt of the
tree, though very rarely it is found in the crotch. It is therefore only
necessary in soaping, to rub over the lower part of the trunk and the
crotch, but it is a very good plan to lay a chunk of the soap in the
principal crotch, so that it may be washed down by the rains. In case
these precautions have been unheeded, and the borer is already at
work, many of them may be killed by cutting through the bark at the
upper end of their burrows, and gradually pouring hot water into the
cuts so that it will soak through the castings and penetrate to the in-

'^Prairie Farmer, Chicago, April 20, 1867.
\ Country Gentleman, Sept. 12, 1867.

46 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

sect. But even where the soap preventive is used in the month of
May, it is always advisable to examine the trees in the fall, at which
time the young worms that hatched through the summer may be gen-
erally detected and easily cut out without injury to the tree. Par-
ticular attention should also be paid to any tree that has been injured
or sui\-scaided, as such trees are mostliable to be attacked. Mr. Wier
who has had considerable experience with this insect, thus describes
bis method of doing this work, in the article already alluded to :

"I will suppose that I have a young orchard of any number of trees,
say a thousand, the second season after planting, about the last of
July, or during the first halt of August, with a common hoe, I take all
the weeds and other trash, and about an inch of soil, from the crown
of the trees ; then, any time trora the first to the middle of September,
with a pocket-knife, examine carefully the stem of each tree ; the
borer can readily be found by the refuse thrown out of the hole made
on entering ; this refuse of a borer, of the same season's growth, will
be about the size of a pea, and, being of a glutinous nature, sticks
around the mouth of the hole, and can rapidly be seen ; older ones
throw out coarser chips that fall to the ground. [As already shown
these chips are not throM^n out by the borer, but are forced out by
swelling.] When one is found, take the knife and cut him out. If an
orchard is carefully examined in this way each year, there need be
but few, if any borers missed, and as they are more easil}^ found the
second tali of their growth, and can have done but little damage at
that time, we would never receive any serious injury from them.
Now, it is no great task to do this ; a man will clear the litter and soil
from around a thousand trees, in a day, and can take the borers out
in another day. I will agree to do both jobs carefully in one day's
time. A great undertaking is it not ? "

He also has observed that some varieties of the apple-tree have a
greater immunity from the attacks of this borer, than have others ; on
account of the young larva, when it is first hatched, being drowned
out by the sap, but he does not mention any particular varieties other
than those that are the "more vigorous and late growing."

THE FLAT-HEADED APPLE-TREE BO'R'ER—Chrysobothris/emorata,'Ea.hT.

(Coleoptera, Buprestidaj.)
[Fig. 15.] ^ [Fig. 16.]

This borer which is represented in the larva
state at Figure 15, may at once be recognized by
its anterior end being enormously enlarged and
flattened. It is paler than the preceding, and
makes an entirely different burrow. In conse-
quence of its immensely broad and lhi,ttened
head, it bores a hole of an oval shape and twice
as wide as high. It never acquires much more than half the size of the
other species, and is almost al\va\s found with its tail curled com-
pletely round towards the head. It lives but one year in the tree and

TEE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 47

produces the beetle, represented at Figure 16, which is of a greenish
black color with brassy lines and spots above, the underside appear-
ing like burnished copper. This beetle Hies by day instead of by
night, and may often be found on different trees basking in the sun-
shine. It attacks not only the apple, but the soft maple, oak, peach,
and is said to attack a variety of other forest trees ; though, since the
larvas of the family (Buprestid.e) to which it belongs all bear a strik-
ing resemblance to each otlier, it is possible that this particular
species has been accused of more than it deserves.

It is, however, but far too common in the Valley of the J\Iissis-
sippi, and along the Iron Mountain and Pacific railroads, it is even
more common than the preceding species. Mr. G. Pauls, of Eureka,
informs me that it has killed fifty apple trees for him, and Mr. Votaw,
and many others in that neighborhood have suffered from it in like
manner. It is also seriously affecting our soft maples by riddling
them through and through, though it confines itself far the most part
to the inner bark, causing peculiar black scars and holes in the trunk.
Unless its destructive work is soon checked, it bids fair to impair the
value of this tree for shade and ornamental parposes, as effectually
as the Locust borers have done with the locust trees.

Eemedies. — Dr. Fitch found that this borer was attacked by the
larvffi of some parasitic fly, belonging probably to the Chalcis family,
but it is greatly to be feared that this parasite is as yet unknown in
the west. At all events this flat-headed fellow is far more common
with us than with our eastern brethren. As this beetle makes its
appearance during the months of May and June, and as the eggs are
deposited on the trunk of the tree, as with the preceding species, the
same method of cutting them out or scalding them can be applied in
the one case as in the other ; while the soap preventive is found to be
equally effectual with this species as with the other. It must, how-
ever, be applied more generally over the tree, as they attack all
parts of the trunk, and even the larger limbs.

THE PEACH BOU^'R—^Egeria exitiosa, Say.

(Lepidoptera, iEgeridce.)

This pernicious borer I find to be quite common throughout the
State. It is withal an insect so familiar to the peach-grower, and its
history has been so often given in current entomological works that I
should let it go unnoticed, were it not for the numerous letters of in-
quiry about it that have been sent to me during the year. For a com-
plete and lengthened history of it, I refer the reader to the first of Dr.
Fitch's most excellent reports.

From the Round-headed Apple-tree borer, to which it bears some
resemblance both in its mode of work and general appearance, it is

48 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

at once cistinguished by having six scaly and ten fleshy legs. It
works also more generally under the surface of the ground, and goes
through its transformations within a year, though worms of two or
three sizes may be found at almost any season. When full grown
the worm spins for itself a follicle of silk, mixed with gum and excre-
ment, and in due time issues as a moth. As it is not so well known in
^^'S'-^r-] this last state, I annex (Fig. 17}

figures of both male (3) and female
(1) moths. As will be seen from
these figures, the two sexes difler
very materially from each other, the
general color in both being glossy
steel-blue. Some specimens which
were received from Mr. W. S. Jewett, of Pevely, Jefferson count}'-,
commenced issuing as moths on the 20th of July, but I found empty
follicles the latter part of May in trees which had been thoroughly
wormed the year before, and from which the moths has consequently
left at that early date. This borer likewise attacks the plum-tree,
though singularly enough it causes no exudation of gum in this as it
does in the peach tree.

IvEMEDiES. — I have had ample occasion to witness the elTects of the
mounding system during the summer, in several different orchards,
and am fully convinced that it is the best practical method of pre-
venting the attacks of this insect, and that it matters little whether
ashes or simple earth be used for the mound. True, there are parties
who claim (and among them Dr. Hull, of Alton, Ills.,) that the almost
complete exemption from borers in mounded peach-orchards is due,
not to any special effect produced by the mound, but to the general
rarity of the insect. But I have found no general rarity of the insect,
wherever I have been in our own State; but on the contrary, have
with difficulty found a single tree in any orchard that was in anywise
neglected, that did not contain borers ; while I have found mounded
trees entirely exempt. The following paragraph communicated to the
Western Rural by Mr. B. Pullen, of Centralia, Illinois, touches on this
point, and 1 can bear witness to the thrift and vigor of Mr. P.'s trees :

"As spring will soon be upon us I wish to add my testimony in favor
of the " banking system," as a preventive against the attacks of the
peach-borer. As to its eflScacy there can be no doubt. I have prac-
ticed it four years with complete success. T would not advise its
adoption until after the trees are four years old. During most of this
period the bark is tender, and trees are liable to be entirely girdled
by even a single worm. Safety lies only in personal examination and
removal with the knife, in fall and spring (September and April). In
April of the fourth year bank up to the hight of from ten to twelve
inches, pressing the dirt firmly around the tree. A little dirt should
be added each successive spring. It is not only a preventive but a
great saving of labor."

THE STATE DNTOMOtOGlST. 49

As fnrthei* testimony, and with a view to giving the method by
which the trees may be mounded, I aLso insert the following commu-
nication from E. A. Thompson, of Hillside (near Cincinnati), Ohio,
which appeared in the Joitrnal of Agriculture^ of Nov. 14, 1S68 :

"The mounding system was first practiced, so lar as I know, by
Isaac Bolmar, of Warren county, Ohio. I visited his orchards some
years ago — acquainted myself with his system — and concluded to try
it upon my orchard of 4,000 trees — then one year planted. I plantmy
trees in the fall, and in the spring following cut them back to six
inches above the bud. The tree then instead of having one body has
several — from three to six. The second summer 1 plow both ways
turning the furrows toward the trees. The men follow with shovels,
throwing the loose soil around the tree to the heighth of about
one foot. In the fall I cut the trees back, taking off about one-third of
the year's growth. The next spring or summer I pursue the same
method, raising the mound about one foot higher; cut back in the
fall, and the third summer repeat the process, raising the mound
another foot, which finishes the job. The mound will then be about
three feet high at its apex and six feet in diameter at its base. The
mounding need not be done in the summer, or at any particular sea-
son ; it is just as well done in the fall when the hurry is over. The
dirt is never taken away from the trees — in fact it cannot be removed
without injury to the tree — for the young rootlets each year keep
climbing up through this moand. I had occasion to remove one ot
these mounds a few days since and found it a mass of healthy roots.

"Now for the benefits. First you have no trouble with grub or
borer; he must have light and air, and the mound is too much for
him ; he comes out and that is the last of him. I have never wormed
iny trees, or hunted for the borer, and an orchard of healthier or thrif-
tier trees cannot be found. It has been asserted that the borer will
re-appear again near the top of the mound — but I am satisfied this is
not the case ; I have never thus far been able to find one. Second
the system imparts longevity to the tree. I saw a tree in Warren
county treated in this manner thirty (30) years old, still healthy and
bearing annual crops. Third, trees thus treated are not subject to
disease. I have never had a case of yellovjs in my orchard. Fourth,
the expense is triflmg — one man can mound fifty trees per day. The
system can be applied to old as well as young orchards; but if old
trees are thus treated they should be first severely cut back, when
they will make a growth of young wood."

The application of soap does not appear to prevent the moth from
depositing her eggs, as in the case of apple tree borers. Hot water is
very efficient in killing the young borers, after the earth has been re-
moved, and it should be applied copiously, and hot nigh unto the
boiling point, for there is no danger of its injuring the tree. Thos©
4 K s E

50

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

who grow tobacco will also find it profitable to tlirow the stems around
the butts of their trees, as there is good evidence of its being obnox-
ious to the moth.

THE PLUM CVRCVLlO—Conoirac/telus ne?iup/iar, Herbst.

(Coleoptera, Curculionidaa).
[Fig. 18.]

I regret to have to state that Missouri is none the less exempt
from the ruinous work of this persistent "Little Turk," than are her
sister States, though I have not heard of a single instance where they
have been so numerous as they were last summer in Southern
Illinois ; for Parker Earle, of South Pass, captured 6,500 from 100 peach
trees, during the first six days of May. In every locality which I have
visited, this beetle is considered t/ie enemy to stone fruit, and though
so much has been written about it, I find it necessary to devote a few
pages to its consideration, since some of the points in its natural his-
tory are not entirely and satisfactorily settled, even yet. There is in
fact conflicting evidence from difierent authors, as to whether it is
single or double brooded each year, and as to whether it hybernates
principally in the perfect beetle state, above ground, or in the pre-
paratory states, below ground; the very earliest accounts that we
have of the Plum Gurculio, in this country, differing on these points.
Thus, it was believed by Dr. James Tilton, of Wilmington, Deleware,
who wrote at the very beginning of the present century, and by Dr.
Joel Burnett, of Southborough, and M. H. Simpson, of Saxon ville,
Massachusetts, who both wrote interesting articles on the subject,
about fifty years afterwards ; that it passed the winter in the larval or
grub state, under ground, and Harris seems to have held the same
opinion. But Dr. E. Sanborn, of Andover, Massachusetts, in some in-
teresting articles published in 1849 and 1850, gave as his conviction
that it hybernates in the beetle state above ground. Dr. Fitch, of
New York, came to the conclusion that it is two-brooded, the second
brood wintering in the larva state in the twigs of pear trees; while
Dr. Trimble, of New Jersey, who devoted the greater part of a large

THE STATE ENT0MOL0<5IST. 51

^nd expensive work to its considercation, decided that it is single-
brooded, and that it hybernates in the beetle form above ground.
Since the writings of Harris and Fitch, and since the publication of
Dr. Trimble's work there have been other papers published on the
subject. The first of these was a tolerably exhaustive article, by Mr.
Walsh, which appeared in the Practical Entomologist (Vol. 11, No. 7),
in which he takes the grounds that the Curculio is single-brooded ;
though subsequently he came to the very different conclusion that it
was double-brooded, (First Annual Eep., p. G7). In the summer of
1867 I spent betv/een two and three weeks in Southern Illinois, during
the height of the Curculio season, and closely watched its manoeuver-
ings. From the fact that there was a short period about the middle
of July, when scarcely any could be caught from the trees, and that
after a warm shower they were quite numerous, having evidently just
€ome out of the ground,* I concluded that it was double-brooded and
communicated to the Prairie Farmer of July 27th, 1>67, the passage to
that effect, under the signature of "V," which is quoted by Mr. Walsh
(Rep., p. 67), as corroborative of its two-brooded character. Subsequent
calculation induced me to change mj mind, and I afterv/ards gave it as
my opinion that there was but one main brood during the year and
that where a second generation was produced it was the exception,
(Trans. Ills. State Hort. Soc, 1867, p. 113). Finally Dr. E. S. Hull, of
Alton, Illinois, who has had vast personal experience with this insect
read a most valuable essay on the subject, before the meeting of the
Alton (Ills.), Horticultural Society of March, 1868, in which he evi-
dently concludes they are single-brooded, and that they pass the win-
ter, for the most part, in the preparatory states, underground.

Now, why is it that persons who, it must be admitted, were all
■capable of correct observation, have differed so much on these most
interesting points in the economy of our Plum Curculio ? Is there any
explanation of these contradictory statements? I think there is, and
that the great difficulty in the study of this as well as of many other
insects, lies in the fact that we are all too apt to generalize. We are
too apt to draw distinct lines, and to create rules which never existed
in nature — to suppose that if a iev^ insects which we chance to watch
are not single-brooded, therefore the species must of necessity be
double-brooded. We forget that Curciilios are not all hatched in one
day, and from analogy, are very apt to underrate the duration of the
life of the Curculio in the perfect beetle state. Besides, what was the
exception one year may become the rule the year following. In
breeding butterflies and moths, individuals hatched from one and the
same batch of eggs on the same day, will frequently, some of them/
perfect themselves and issue in the fall, while others ^iU pp^ ., '
winter in the imperfect state, and not issue till spring; and in the

*I have often Eoticeil, and the fact has been remarked by oth^r.*, that insect^ r"^~r~~- -

■comparatively inactive for many davs, in dry weather, fly 'frt-elv after a warni «! '<*^* ^een

possible that the increase of the Curculio after such rains is Partly due to their fi i .'^'"*P. and it is
ouslj from the surrouading woods, *^t S" ^^^ BJOre vigor-

52 FIRST ANNUAL REI ORT OF

of a green worm that is found on raspberry leaves, and which passes
the winter under-ground, and develops into a four- winged il.y (Se-
landria rnhi of my manuscript) in the spring ; I have known a dif-
ference of three months to occur between the issuing of the first and
last individuals of the same brood, all the larv?e of which had entered
the ground within three days. It is also a well recorded lact, both in
this country and in Europe, that in 1S08, owing, probably, to the un-
usual heat and drouth of the summer, very many inserts which are
well known to usually pass the winter in the imperfect state, per-
fected themselves in the fall, and in some- instance* produced a second
brood of larvn?. Far be it frcm me to pronounce that there is no such
thing as rule in nature, and that we cannot, therefore, gene?alize ; I
simply assert that we frequently draw our lines too rigidly, and en-
deavor to make the facts come within thera, instead of loosening and
allowing them to encomp-ass the facts. It was thus that the Joint-
worm fly was for so long a time suspected to be a parasite instead of
the true culprit, because all the other species in the genus {Ettry-
tom.a ?), to which it was supposed to belong, were known to be para-
sitic. For those who are not acquainted with the appearance of the
Plum Curculio, in its diiferent stages, 1 have prepared, at Figure 18,
correct and magnified portraits of tbe full-grown larva (a)', of the
j;w».^ (J; into which the larva is transformed within a little cavity
underground, and of the perrfect curciTMo (e).

With this prelude I will now give what I berlieve to be facts in its:
natural history, founded on my own obeiervations of the past year,,
and on the observations of others. I firmly believe :•

1 — That Plum Curculios are a most ?jnn>itigated nuisztnce, and,
though most beautiful objects under the microscope, the fruit-grower&
of the United States, ii they bad their O'wn waty about the matter,
would wish thera swept from off the face of the Earth, at the risk
even of inierfering with the "Harmony of Nature."

2 — That they are more nuraevoua in timbered regions than on the

prairie.

3__That they can fly and do fly dnrimg the heat of the day, and
that cotton bandages around the trunk, and all like contrivances to
prevent their ascending the trees, are worse than useless, and a result
only of ignorance of their economy.

4 — That by its punctures it causes tlie dreaded peach-rnt tosirread,,
whenever that disease is prevalent, timugh it ctinnot possibly be the
first cause of the disease. The peach-rot is now pretty generally
acknowledged to be a contagious disease of a fungoid nature, and I
believe that the spores of this fungus, "a million of wliich might be
put upon the point of a stick whittled down to nothing," attach them-
selves more readily to fruit which has the skin abraded, and from
which the gum issues, than to whole or unpunctured fruit. With this,
belief I made some effort to procure, for the benefit of my readers, a
synopsis of the growth of this fungus; but, alas ! I find that nothing

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 53

Init confusion exists with regard to it. Upon applying to my friend,
Dr. T. 0. Hi]gard, of St. Loui? — a recognized authority on such sub-
jectp — he furnishe-d me with the article v/hich may be found in the
Journal of Agriculture of January IGth, ISGl). i most respectfully de-
clined publishing it in these pages, knowing that the r-ead«r would
not be likely to understand what was either too profound or too be-
fogged for my own comprehension, and those who require a synopsis
of this fungus, are referred to that article. Verily, we must conclude
tliat Peach-rot is not yet much understood, if a more clear exposition
of it cannot be given!

5— That tliey prefer smooth-skinned to rough skinned fruit.

f! — That up to the present time the Miner and other varieties of
the Chickasaw plum hav-e been almost entirely exempt from their
attacks, and that in the Columbia plum the young larviB are usually
"'drowned out" before maturing.

7 — That they -deposit -and matur-e alike in n-ectarines, plums, apri-
cots, cherries and peaches ; in black knot on plum trees, and in some
kinds of apple-s, pesirs and quinces ; and, according to Dr. Hull, they
also deposit but do not mature in strav/bei'ries, gooseberries, grapes,
•and in the vigorous shoots of the peach tree.

S— That it is their normal habit to transform underground, though
some few undergo their transformations in the fruit.

^ — That the cherry, when infested, i-emains on the tree, with the
exception of the English Morello, which matures and then separates
from the st-em ; but that all other fruits, wdien -containing larvae, usually
fall to the ground. In the larger fruits four or live larv^, may some-
times be found in a single specimen, and I have taken five full grown
larvi© from a peacli that had evidently fallen and laid on the ground
for over a week.

10 — That the greater portion of them pass the winter in the per-
fect beetl-e state, under the old bark of both forest and fruit trees,
wnder shingles, logs, and in rubbish of all kinds, and especially in the
nnderbrush of the woods.

11 — That they are always most numerous in the early part of the
•season on the outside of those orchards that are surrounded with tim-
ber, and that they frequently shelter in apple-trees and other fcreef5
befor-e the stone fruit lorms.

12 — That a certain portion of them also pass the winter under-
ground, both in the larva and pupa states, at a depth., frequently of
from 2 to 3 feet.

13— That those which hybernate as beetles, begin to leave their
winter quarters and to enter our orchards, througliout central Mis-
souri, during the first days of May, and commence to puncture the
fruit about the middle of the same month — a little earlier or later
according to the season — the fruit of the peacli being at the time
;£bGHt the size of a small marble.

54 FIKST ANNUAL KEPOUT 02"

1-1 — That those which hybernate underground continaeto develop
and to issue from the earth during the whole month of May.

15— That both males and females puncture the fruit for food, by
gouging hemispherical holes, but that the female alone makes the
well-known crescent-shaped mark (see Fig, 18, d.)^ as a nidus for her
egg.

16 — That the egg is deposited in the following manner, the whole
process requiring about five minutes : Having taken a strong hold on
the fruit (see Fig. 18, d\ the female makes a minute cut with the jaws,
which are at the end of her snout, just through the skin of the fruit,
and then runs the snout under the skin to the depth of l-16th of an
inch, and moves it back and forth until the cavity is large enough to
receive the egg it is to retain. She next changes her position, and
drops an egg into the mouth of the cut; then, veering round again,
she pushes it by means of her snout to the end of the passage, and
afterwards cuts the crescent in front of the hole so as to undermine
the egg and leave it in a sort of flap ; her object apparently being to
deaden this flap so as to prevent the growing fruit from crushing the
egg, though Dr. Hull informs me that he has repeatedly removed the
insect as soon as the egg was deposited and before the flap was made^
and the egg hatched and the young penetrated the fruit in every
instance.

17 — That the egg is oval, of a pearl-white color, large enough to
be seen with the naked eye, requires a temperature of at least 70*
Fahr. to hatch it, and may be crushed with the finger-nail without in-
juring the fruit.

18 — That the stock of eggs of the female eoiisists of from 50 to 100 ;
that she deposits from 5 to 10 a day, her activity varying with the
temperature.

19 — That the last of those curculios v/hich hybernated in the im-
perfect state under-ground have not finished depositing till the end
of June and beginning of July, or about the time that the* new brood
developed from the first laid eggs of the season, are beginning to is-
sue from the ground; and that we thus have them in the month of
June in every conceivable state of existence, from the egg to the
perfect insect.

20 — That the period of egg depositing thus extends over more
than two months.

21 — That all eggs deposited before the first of July generally
develop and produce Curculios the same season, vvhich issue from the
ground during July, August and September and hybernate in the
perfect state.

22 — That most of those which hatch after the first of July, either
fail to hatch, or the young larvae die soon after hatching, owing per-
haps to the more ripe and juicy state of the fruit, being less congenial
to them; and that what few do mature^ which hatch after this date^

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 65

undergo their transformations more slowly than the rest and pass the
winter in the ground.

23— That the perfect Curculio while in the ground is soft and of a
uniform red color, and that it remains in this state an indefinite period,
dependent on the weather, usually preferring to issue after a warm
rain.

24— That in a stiff clay soil a severe drought will kill many of
them while in this last named condition, and that larvcP. contained in
stone fruits that fall upon naked ploughed ground where the sun can
strike them, generally die.

This catalogue might be lengthened, but already embraces all
the more important facts, and I think they sufficiently prove that the
Curculio is single-brooded. There is, it is true, no particular reason
why the earliest developed Curculios, or those which issue from the
ground during the fore part of July, should not pair and deposit eggs
again ; other than it does not appear to be their nature to do so. Such
an occurrence is by no means an isolated one in insect life, and aside
from the fact that Lite fruit is almost entirely exempt from them, we
have the experiments of Dr. Trimble which indicate that they have
to pass through the winter before being able to reproduce their kind.
The only other experiments that were ever made to prove the con-
trary hypothesis, are those detailed by Mr. Walsh, in his First Annual
Report (p. 6S), and, as may be seen from their perusal they prove
nothing at all. To give them in his own words, I here quote them
in full :

"Experiment 1st. — On Junp 24tli, I placed in a large glass vase, with moist sand at the bot-
tom of it, a quantity of wild plums, every one of which I had previously ascertained to bear the
crescent symbol of the 'little Turk.' During the three following weeks I added from day to day a
number of plums, all of them bearing the same symbol, that had fallen from a tame plum-tree in my
garden. Ihe whole number of plums, as I subsequently ascertained, was 183, and the tame fruit
probably formed about a fourth part of the whole. The first Curculio came out .July 19th, and with
the exception of July 21st and August 1st, there were more or less came out every day till August
4th, inclusive ; after which day no more came out. The numbers coming out on each successive
day were as follows, the very large number on July 25th having been probably caused by my wet-
ting the sand on that morning rather copiously : 1, 18, 0, 3, 4, 2, 55, 8, 4, 3, 1, 2, 1, 0, 5, 4, 2.
Total, 113. On examining the contents of the vase, November 29th, I found five dead and dried up
Curculios among the plums, and among the sand sixteen dead and immature specimens, which
had obviously failed to make their way up to the light of day, besides the remains of a good many
individuals which had perished in the sand in the larva or pupa state, and were not counted. The
Grand Total from 183 infested plums was, therefore, 134 Curculios in the beetle state, and an un-
known number of larvae and pupaj."

"Experiment 2d.— On July 27th, or eight days before the Curculios in the preceding experi-
ment had ceased coming out, I placed in a vase, similar to the above, 213 plums, gathered pro-
miscuously off some badly-infested wild plum-trees. From this lot no Curculios whatever came
out till August 23d, and from that day, until September 14th, more or less came out
daily, with the exception of five out of the 23 days, the numbers on the respective days being
as follows : 3, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 5, 3, 1, 0, 5, 6, 3, 2, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1. Subsequently, on Septem-
ber 18th, there came ont 3, on September 24th, 1, and on September 28th, 1 ; after which no more
made their appearance. Total, 50 Curculios from 243 plums, some stung and some not. On exam-
iuing the contents of this vase on November 29th, I found a single dead Curculio among the plums,
making a Grand Total of 51 Cuixulios bred from these plums. The?e were no speciniens, either in

56 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

larva, pupa or beetle state, to be found among the sand in the vase on November 29th ; which was,
perhaps, due to the contents having kept much moister than those of the first vase, though on July
25th I had, as I thought, moistened the sand in the first vase quite sufficiently."

Now because there was an intermission of 19 days when no Cur-
culios came out, Mr. Walsh arrives at once to the conclusion that
there are two distinct broods, the second of which is, " of course" gen-
erated by the first. If the infected plums had been collected and
placed in vases day by day, or if the curculios bred in the first exper-
iment had been furnished with fresh plums and had actually paired
and deposited again, the experiments would have been satisfactory;
but af? they stand, they seem to me, on the very face, to forbid the
conclusions to which the experimenter arrived. In both these ex-
periments the very result was obtained that might have been ex-
pected, for I have myself proved, that Avith favorable conditions the
Ourculio remains under ground about 3 weeks, and as there would
naturally be none advanced beyond the full grown larva state, when
first put into the vase, perfect Curculios could not possibly appear
till they had had time to transform, or in other words, till about three
weeks after the plums were placed in the vase. Thus from the plums
placed in the vase on the 24th of June the first Curculios appeared on
the 19th of July — 25 days afterwards ; while from those placed in the
second vase on July 27th, the first Curculios appeared on the 23d of
August — 27 days afterwards. The interval also, of 19 days which
elapsed between the issuing of the last Curculios in the first experi-
ment and the first curculios in the last experiment, was exactly what
should have been expected, since the plums were placed in the sec-
ond vase eight days before the last curculios in the first vase had
issued. Had the plums been placed in the second vase 10 days earlier
or 10 days later, there would have been an intermission of 9 or 29
days accordingly, in their coming out, etc., etc. Moreover, a period
of at least 50 days elapses between the deposition of an egg and the
time required for that egg to develop into a Curculio and even on the
supposition that the female commenced depositing the moment she
left the ground, which is certainly not the case, the Curculios bred in
the second vase could not possibly have been the progeny of any that
appeared contemporaneously with those bred from the first vase.

Natural Remedies. — There is no very good evidence that any true
parasites infest the Curculio, and though it was well known that ants
attacked and killed the larvae as they left the fruit to enter the
ground, yet until the present year no other cannibals were known to
attack it; but Mr. Walsh in his interesting account of a trip through
Southern Illinois has shown that there are several cannibal insects
which habitually prey upon it. From this account which was pub-
lished in the American Entomologist — jtp. 33-35 — I condense the fol-
lowing facts.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

57

[Fig. 19*.]

The Pennsylvani.\ Soldier-beetle {ChauliognatJius peiuuylv(mi-
cics, DeGeer).— This beetle which is represented at Figure 19, ^ is of a

yellow color, marked with black.
It is a common species and I have
found it quite abundant in our own
Stale on the llowers of the Golden-
rod during the months of September
and October. Its larva (Fig. T, a) is
one of the most effectual destroyers
of the Curculio while the latter is above ground in the larva state. It
attacks the Curculio grub within the fruit while it yet bangs on the
tree, and also enters the fruit which falls to the ground, lor the same
purpose. In the summer of 1S6T I found this same larva on an apple
tree of the Early Harvest variety, the fruit of which contained Cur-
culio larv.T^ from which I subsequently bred perfect Curculios. It is
quite active in its movements, and the general color is smoky brown,
with a velvety appearance, and for the benefit of those interested I
subjoin the technical desription of it:

Chujliognathus pennsylvanicus, DeGeer— Larya— Head shining rufous, with two black
patches behind, transversely arranged ; labrum retractile, dark colored, horny and deeply emargi-
nate with a central tooth ; maxillary palpi 4-jointed; labial palpi 2-jointed : antenna 3-jointed, the
last joint very small ; body rather flattened, of an opaque velvety-brown color above, with a some-
what darker subdorsal line, which is widened on the three thoracic segments ; a very distinct lateral
spiracle to every segment of the body except the anal one, making altogether eleven pairs of spir-
acles, all of them exactly alike, and in range with each other. Body beneath suddenly very pale
brown, the dividing line between the darker arfd the paler shades of brown upon each segment be-
ing a s'emicircular curve, with its concavity upward ; legs six ; a moderate anal proleg ; length
0.65 inch.

Lacewixg larva.— The larvae of our lacewing flies ( Clirysopa) seem
[Fig. 20.] to have the same habit of at-

tacking Curculio grubs above
ground, and great numbers
of them were found in the act
f^ /(j^^^^^^L^ last summer by Mr. E. Lem-
iiai xS5S5?^s^ ing. of Cobden, Illinois. The
a b c d particular species which those

belonged to that were occupied in this good manner, has not yet been
ascertained, but as they are all known to be cannibals it is possible
that more than one species have this praiseworthy habit, though their
general food consists of plant-lice. The lacewing flies are common
all over the country, and may at once be recognized by their delicate
green bodies, lace-like wings and by their brilliant golden eyes ; but
more especially by a peculiarly disagreeable odor which they are ca-
pable of emitting when handled. Our American lacewings, like those
of Europe, are capable of emitting this odor, and those who hate
once experienced it require no description to recall it. One of these

»Explanation of Figure 19— ft the left upper jaw (maretfibZe), / the left lower jaw (maxil), c
the under lip {Inbium), d the upper lip [labrum), g the antenna, e one of the legs, a the larva nat-
ural size, h head and first segment of same enlarged.

58 FIEST ANNUAL REPOP.T OP

flies, with the left wings cutoif to save space, is represented at Figure
20 (7, and a typical larva is represented in outline in the same figure
at l. The female deposits her eggs upon different plants, attaching
them at the extremity of a long and very slender foot-stalk (see Fig-
20, a). This filament is composed of a viscid matter which she dis-
charges and which quickly hardens on exposure to the atmosphere-
We see here, as everywhere else in Nature, an Alhvise creative tore-
thought, and a wonderful adaptation to a particular end, in the in-
stinct which prompts, and the power which enables the female lace-
wing to thus deposit her eggs ; for the newly hatched larvffi are so
exceedingly voracious that the first hatched would devour the eggs
which yet remained unhatched, if they could but reach them.

The larvi© when full-grown spin perfectly round white cocoons
(Fig. 20, c), by means of a spinneret with which they are furnished at
the extremity of the body, and they attach them with threads of
loose silk to the underside of fences and in other sheltered situations.
These cocoons are of an extraordinary small size compared with the
larva which spins them, or with the perfect insect which escapes from
them, as may be readily seen by referring to the above fiiiures which
bear the relative proportions. After completing the cocoon, I think
the larva partly cuts a circle at one side severing the fibers sufficient-
ly to enable their ready separation; for in issuing, the pupa pushes
open a small lid, which is cut perfectly smooth, and just spirally
enougli to allow it to hang at one end as on a hinge. I have also
noticed another fact, which, so far as I am aware, has not been re-
corded by any previous writer, which is, that the insect issues from
this cocoon in an active sub-imago state, from which after a few hours
the winged fly emerges, leaving behind it a fine silvery-white
transparent skin.

The Subangular Ground Beetle — { Aspidiglossa subangidata^
[Fig. 21.] Chaud.)— This small polished black beetle which is rep-
resented enlarged at Figure 21, the hair line at the side
showing the natural size, also, in all probability serves
us a good turn in helping to diminish the numbers of the
Curculio, for Mr. Walsh found him in a peach that had

I contained Curculio grubs, and as the great family of
beetles {Carahus) to which he belongs are all cannibals
so iar as is known, and as he was therefore evidently
not inside the peach for the fruit itself, he is to be
strongly suspected of being a Curculio hunter. To adopt Shake-
speare's mode of reasoning :

"AVho finds the heifer dead, and bleeding fresh,
And sees fast by a butcher with an axe,
But will suspect 'twas he that made the slaughter?"

TUE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

59

The Curculio is not even safe from the attacks of cannibals when

IJig- 22.*] underground, for the larva

e / which is represented of the

natural size at Figure 22, A^

seeks it in its hiding place

~". .- and mercilessly devours it.
Mjsj i\y^ y^ r^,j^.g i^j.^^ .g ^f. ^ shining

brown-black color above, and dull whitish beneath, and I subjoin here-
with the technical description:

Sliining brown-black and horny above ; thorax immaculate above ; sntures and sides of the
abdominal dorsum, and all beneath, except the head, pale dull greenish white ; a narrow, horny,
elongate, abbreviated lateral dark stripe on the dorsum of each of the abdominal joints (4 — 12);
joints 4 — 10 beneath, each with seven pale-brown horny spots, namely, a large subquadrate spot fol-
lowed by two small dots in the middle, an elongate spot on each side, and between that and the two
medial small dots a second elongate spot, only half the length and breadth of the lateral one (Fig-
22, j); joint 11 beneath has only the medial subquadrate spot and the lateral elongate one (Fig.
22, j); and joint 12 beneath has nothing but the subquadrate spot (Fig. 22, K); legs six, of a pal©
rufous color ; the usual elongate carabidous proleg on joint 12, and on each side of its tip an elongate
exarticulate cercus, garnished with a few hairs ; antennte four-jointed ; labial palpi two-jointed :
maxillary palpi four-jointed. Length 1.25 inch.

This larva has not yet been bred to the perfect state, but belongs
undoubtedlyto some one of the Ground-beetles, and not improbablj''
[Fig. 23.] to the Pennsylvania Ground-beetle, {Harpalus penn-
sylvanicus, DeGeer), a dull black species represented
at Figure 23. All these Ground-beetles are our
friends however, and should always be cherished and
not crushed, as they are very apt to be from their
habit of crawling and living on the ground. It is
safe to infer, that all beetles approaching the annexed
form, with active movements, and generally dull
colors, which are observed running over the ground*
are friends, and should therefore be saved.

Hogs. — Before leaving the subject of natural remedies, I feel in
duty bound to say a few words in favor of hogs as Curculio destroyers.
Abundant proof might be adduced of their utility in an orchard, es-
pecially during the fruit season, but I will mention only the case of
Messrs. Winters Bros., of Da Quoin, Ills. These gentlemen, for the
past tive years, have kept a large drove of hogs in their extensive
peach orchard, and have been remarkably exempt from the attacks of
the Little Turk. While at their place last fall, I noticed that all the
trees were banked up with earth to the height of over a foot, which
prevented the hogs from injuring the trunks. They have never had
occasion to shake their trees, and consider one hog to the acre suffi-
cient to devour all the fallen fruit, the hogs being fed only during the
winter. The efficacy of this hog remedy depends a great deal on how
much one's orchard is isolated from those of others, for it is very evi-

* Explanation op Figure 22. — B represents the under side of the head, showing at c the upper
jaw (n!o«rftft/e), at (/the lower jaw (maxil) , viiih its, four-jointed feelers (jja/^n), at / the lower Up
{lahiwn), with its iwo-joiuted feelers {pal^i), and at e the antenna^

60 FIRST ANKUAL REPORT OF

dent that it will avail but little for one person to destroy all his Ciir-
culio wliile his neighbors are breeding them by thousands, so that
they can fly in upon him another year. They would also be of but
little service in the case of the cherry, as it remains on the tree when
stung. Poultry will be found valuable in an orchard as they also de-
vour the grubs which fall with the fruit.

Artificial Remedies. — Of the hundreds of patent nostrums, and
of the dozens of washes and solutions that have been recommended
as Curculio preventives or destroyers, there is scarcely one which is
worth the time required to speak of it. Air-slacked lime thrown on
the trees after the fruit is formed, is eifectual in a certain measure, for
though it does not deter the female from depositing her eggs, yet so
long as the weather is wet, its caustic properties seem to be imparted
to the water and enter the cavity and destroy the egg. But it has no
good effect in dry weather. An article went the rounds of the papers
last Summer, to the effect that Mr. P. E. Rust,, of Covington, Ky., had
tried burning tobacco stems Vfiih. pe7' feet success ! But a letter of in-
quiry which I addressed to that gentleman was never answered, al-
though it contained the requisite 3-cent postage stamp, and the tobac-
co remedy may be placed by the side of the Gas-tar and Coal-tar
remedies, which have proved utterly useless. After all, as Dr. Hull,
suggests, the successes, so reported, of these remedies, take their ori-
gin from insufficient experiment, by persons who are little aware of
the casualties to which the Curculio is subject, and who, if they hap-
pen to get fruit after applying some particular mixture, immediately
jump to the conclusion that it was on account of such mixture.

It may therefore be laid down as a maxim, that the only effectual
and scientific mode of fighting the Curculio, aside from that of picking
up the fallen fruit, is by taking advantage of its peculiar instinct
which on approach of danger prompts it to fall; or in other words to
catch it by jarring the tree. The most effectual method of doing this
on a large scale is by means of Dr. Hull's "Curculio catcher," and I
give a description of it in the Doctor's own words ;

"To make a curculio catcher we first obtain a light wheel, not to
exceed three feet in diameter, the axletree of which should be about
ten inches long. We next construct a pair of handles, similar to those
of a wheelbarrow, but much more depressed at the point designed to
receive the bearings of the axletree, and extending forward of the
wheel just far enough to admit a crossbeam to connect the handles at
this point ; one-and-a-half inches in the rear of the wheel a second cross
beam is framed into the handles, and eighteen to twenty-four inches
further back, a third. The two last named cross-beams have framed to
their under-sides a fourth piece, centrally, between the handles, and
pointing in the direction of the wheel. To the handles and to the
three last named pieces, the arms or ribs to support the canvass are to
be fastened. To the front part of the beam connecting the handles in
front of the wheel, the ram is attached, this should be covered with

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. ^ 61

leather stulTed with furniture moss, a dozen or more thicknesses of
old hat, leather or other substance, being careful to use no more than
necessary to protect the tree from bruising. Ascertain the elevation
the handles should have in driving, and support them in that position.
We now put in place the stretchers or arms, six for each side, which
are to receive and support the canvas. We put the front arms in po-
sition. These extend back to near the centre of the wheel on each
side, and in front of the wheel (for large machines) say six feet, and
are far enough apart to receive the largest tree between them on
which it is intended to operate. The remaining arms are supported
on the handles, and fastened to them and to the two cross and parallel
pieces in the rear of the wheel. These are so placed as to divide the
space at their outer ends equally between them and the first mention-
ed stretchers and fastened to the ends of tlie handles. Next we have
ready a strip of half-inch board two an a hallf wide. One end of this
is secured to the forward end ot one of the front arms, and in like
manner to all the others on one side of the machine, and fastened to
the handles. Both sides are made alike. The office of these strips is
to hold the outside ends of the arms in position; they also hold the
front arms from closing. These outside strips also receive the outside
edge of the canvas, which is fastened to them as well as the several
arm supports.

"It will be seen that the wheel is nearly in the center of the ma-
chine. To cover the opening at this point, a frame is raised over it,
which is also covered with canvas. The arms, or stretchers, are so
curved that the motion of the machine, in moving from one tree to
another, should bring everything falling on the canvas to depressed
points, one on each side of the wheel, where openings are made into
funnels emptying into pockets or bags, for the reception of insects
and fallen fruit. The whole machine should not exceed ten or eleven
feet in breadth, by twelve or thirteen in length. These are for large
orchard trees; smaller ones could be protected with a much smaller
machine. If the Irame work has been properly balanced, the machine
will require but little lifting, and will be nearly propelled by its own
weight.

"This curculio catcher, or machine, is run against the tree three or
four times, with sufficient force to impart a decided jarring motion to
all its parts. The operator then backs far enough to bring the machine
to the center of the space between the rows, turns round and in like
manner butts the tree in the opposite row. In this way a man may
operate on three hundred trees per hour."

To run this machine successfully three things are necessary: Ist^
that the land be decently clean, and not overgrown with rank weeds ;
2d, that the orchard be sufliciently large to pay the interest on the
prime cost of the machine — about $30; 3d, that the trees have a clean
trunk of some three or four feet. I find various modifications of this
machine, both in our own State and in Southern Illinois, and in some

63 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

instances they have been abandoned entirely on account of the injury
caused to the trees from the repeated blows given to the trunk. In
small orchards it will be found most profitable to drive a spike into
the trunk of each tree and to use two sheets stretched on frames,
which can both be dragged or carried and placed in position by one
man, while a second person gently taps the iron spike with a mallet.
To bring the Curculio down, it requires a light, sudden tap which jars,
rather than a blow which shakes, and if the frames are each made so
as to fold in the middle, it will facilitate disposing of those which fall
upon it.

In conclusion, the intelligent fruit-grower can draw many a lesson
from this account of the Curculio — already somewhat lengthy. Thus
in planting a new orchard with timber surrounding, the less valuable
varieties should be planted on the outside, and as the little rascals
congregate on them from the neighboring woods in the earlj'- part of
the season, they should be fought persistently. It will also pay to
thin out all fruit that is known to contain grabs, and that is within
easy reach; while wherever it is practicable all rubbish and under-
brush should be burnt during the winter, whereby many, yes very
many of them will be destroyed in their winter quarters. As a proof
of the value of this measure when it is feasible, I will state that while
the peach crop of Southern Illinois was almost an entire failure in
1868, Messrs. Knowles & Co., who have TO acres of peach orchard 1^
miles N. W. of Makanda, shipped over 9000 boxes. Though they had a
few hogs in the orchard, there were not enough to do any material
good, and they think they owe their crop to the fact of having cleared
and burnt 100 acres surrounding the orchard, in the early spring of
that year; for in 1867 the Curculios had been very bad with them.
Judge Kimble, who lives 4 miles N. E. of Cobden, also had a good
crop free from their marks, which he attributes to having burnt around
the orchard in the spring of the year.

THE CODLING MOTH OR AV^lj^AYOKSi—Carpocapsapomonel-

la^ Linn.

(Lepidoptera, Tortricidac.)

The Apple-worm, I find to be quite common all over the State, as it
is in almost all parts of the civilized world v^here apples are grown.
Dr. Trimble has devoted page after page to the consideration of this
little pest, and yet its whole history and the means of preventing its in-
sidious work may be given in a very few lines. It was originally a den-
izen of the Old World, but was introduced into this country about the
beginning of the present century. The following figure represents it
in all its states, and gives at a glance its natural history : a represents
a section of an apple which has been attacked by the worm, showing

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

63

the burrowings and channel of exit to the left; I, the point at which
the egg was laid and at which the young worm entered ; e, the full

[Fig. 24]

grown worm; h, its head and first segment magnified; i, the cocoon
which it spins ; d^ the chrysalis to which it changes ; f, the moth which
escapes from the chrysalis, as it appears when at rest; ^, the same
with wings expanded. The worm when young is whitish, with usually
an entirely' black head and a black shield on the top of the first seg-
ment. When full grown it acquires a flesh-colored or pinkish tint,
especially on the back, and the head and top of first segment become
more brown, being usually marked as at Figure 24 h. It is sparsely
covered with very minute hairs which take their rise from minute ele-
vated points, of which there are eight on each segment. The cocoon
is invariably of a pure white color on the inside, but is disguised on
the outside by being covered with minute fragments of whatever
substance the worm happens to spin to. The chrysalis is yellowish
brown, with rows of minute teeth on its back, by the aid of which it
is enabled to partly push itself out of its cocoon, when its time to
issue as a moth arrives. The moth is a most beautiful object ; yet, as
has been well remarked by an anonymous writer,* from its habits not
being known it is seldom seen in this state, and the apple-grower as
a rule, "knows no more than the man in the moon to what cause he
is indebted for the basketfals of worm-eaten windfalls in the stillest
weather." Its fore wings are marked with alternate, irregular trans-
verse wavy streaks of ash-gray and brown, and have on the inner hind
angle a large tawny brown spot, with streaks of bright bronze color or
gold.

The apple is, so to speak, our democratic fruit, and while stone
fruit is grown but in certain regions, this is cultivated all over the
country. The Codling moth is then even more injurious than the Our-
culio. Unlike the Curculio, it is mostly two-brooded, the second
brood of worms hybernating in the larval btate, inclosed in their snug

* Entomological Magazine, London, Vol. I, p. 144.

64 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

little silken houses, and ensconced under some frao:ment of bark or
other shelter. Tlie same temperature which causes our apple trees ta
burst their beauteous blossoms, releases the Codling moth from its
pupal tomb, and though its wings are at first damp with the imprint of
the o-vea,t Stereotyping Establishment of the Almighty, they soon dry
and expand under the genial spring-day sun, and enable each to seek
its companion. The moths soon pair, and the female flits from blossom
to blossom, deftly depositing in the calyx of each a tiny yellow egg.
As the fruit matures, the worm develops. In thirty-three days, under
favorable circumstances, it has become lull-fed; when, leaving the
apple it spins up in some crevice, changes to chrysalis in three days,
and issues two weeks afterwards as moth, ready to deposit again,
thouo-h not always in the favorite calyx this time, as ] have found the
young worm frequently entering from the side. Thus the young brood
of Codling moths appear at the same time as the young Curculios, the
difference being that instead of living on 'through fall and winter, as
do the latter, they deposit their eggs and die, it being the progeny
from these effgs which continues the race the ensuing year. Though
two apples side by side may, the one be maturing a Curculio, the
other a Codling moth, the larva of the latter can always be distin-
guished from the former by having six horny legs near the head, eight
flesh V legs in the middle of the bodj^, ;ind two at the caudal extremity,
while the Curculio larva hasn't the first trace of either.

In latitude 3S° the moths make their appearance about the first of
May, and the first worms begin to leave the apples from the 5th to the
10th of June and become moths again by the fore part of July. While
some of the first worms are leaving the apples, others are but just
hatched from later deposited eggs, and thus the two broods run into
each other'; but the second brood of worms (the progeny of the
moths which hatch out after the first of July), invariably passes the
winter in the worm or larval state, either within the apple after it is
plucked, or within the cocoon. I have had them spin up as early as
the latter part of August, and at different dates subsequently till the
middle of November, and in every instance, whether they spun up
early or late in the year, they remained in the larval state till the
middle of April, when they all changed to chrysalids within a few
days of each other. Furthermore, they not only remain in the larval
state, but in many instances where I have had them in a warm room,
they have been active throughout the winter, and would always fasten
up the cuts made in their cocoons, even where the operation was per-
formed five and six times on the same individual. These active worms
perfected themselves in the spring as well as those which had not
been disturbed, and this fact would indicate that the torpid or dor-
mant state, so called, is not essential to the well being or the prolon-
gation of life of some insects.

Though the Codling moth prefers the apple to the pear, it never-
theless breeds freely in the latter fruit, for I have myself raised the

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 65

moth from pear-boring larvee, and the fact was recorded many years,
ago by the German entomologist, Kollar. It also inhabits the fruit of
the crab-apple and quince, and is not even confined to pip-fruit, for
Dr. T. 0. Hilgard, of St. Louis, bred a specimen, now in my cabinet,
from the sweetish pulp of a species of screw-bean {Stromhocarpa
monoica) which grows in pods, and which was obtained from the
Rocky Mountains, while Mr. Wm. Saunders, of London, Ontario, Can-
ada, has also found it attacking the plum in his vicinity.* This is
entirely a new trait in the history of our Codling moth, and is another
evidence of the manner in which certain individuals of a species may
branch off from the old beaten track of their ancestors. This change
of food sometimes produces a change in the insects themselves, and it
would not be at all surprising, if this plum-feeding sect of the Cod-
ling moth, should in time show variations from the normal pip-fruifc
feeding type. As Mr. Saunders is a well known entomologist, it is
not likely that he has been mistaken in the identification of the spe-
cies, for the only other worm of this character which is known to •
attack the plum in America, is the larva of Mr. Walsh's Plum moth
{Semasia prunivora) which is a very much smaller insect than the
Codling moth. Mr. Saunders says that his plum crop suffered con-
siderably from this cause and that the operation appeared to be per-
formed by the second brood, the plums falling much later than those
stung by the Curculio — remaining in fact on the tree till nearly ripe.
I do not think that this insect has yet acquired an appetite for the
plum in the States. As a general rule, there is but a single worm in
each apple, but two are sometimes found in one and the same fruit.

Remedies. — Though with some varieties of the apple, the fruit re-
mains on the tree till after the worm has left it, yet by far the greater
portion of the infested fruit falls, prematurely with the worm, to the
ground ; hence much can be done toward diminishing the numbers of
this little pest by picking up and destroying the fallen fruit as soon as
it touches the ground. For this purpose, hogs will again be found
quite valuable, when circumstances allow of their being turned into
the orchard. Abundant testimony might be given to prove this, but
I make room only for the following from Mr. Suel Foster, of Musca-
tine, Iowa, whom I know to be abundantly capable of forming a pro-
per judgment:

"I have twenty-four acres of my orchards seeded to clover, and
last year I turned the hogs in. I now observe that where the hogs
ran last year, the apples have not one-fourth the worms that they
have on other trees. I this year turned the hogs into my oldest
(home) orchard. f"

■•" Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Arts, of the Province of Ontario, for the
year 1868, page 200.

t Transactions IlliDoi* State Horticultural Society, 1867, page 213,
5 R S E

66 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

Mr. Huron Burt, of Williamsburg, Mr. F. R. Allen, of Allen ton
and Mr. Yarniim, of Sulphur Springs, have also, each of them, testified
to me as to the good effects obtained from allowing hogs the run of
their orchards.

There is, however, a more infallible remedy, and one which is al-
ways practicable. It is that of entrapping the worms. This can be
done by hanging an old cloth in the crotches of the tree, or by what
is known as Dr. Trimble's hay-band system, which consists of twisting
a hay-band twice or thrice around the trunk of the tree. To make
this system perfectly effectual, I lay down the following as rules :
1st, the hay-land should heplaced around the tree hy the first or June,
and kept on till every apple is oiT the tree ; 2c?, it should he pushed up
or down, and the worms and chrysalids crushed that were under it,
every toeek, or at the very latest, every two loeeks ; M, the trunk of the
tree should he kept free from old rough lark, so as to give the worms
no other place of shelter, and, Ath, the ground itself should le kept
clean from loeeds and rullisL But, as already stated on a previous
page, many of the worms of the second brood yet remain in the apples
even' after thev are gathered for the market. These wormy ai)ples
are barrelled up wath the sound ones, and stored away in the cellar
or in the barn. From them the worms continue to issue, and they
generally find plenty ot convenient corners about the barrels in which
to form their cocoons. Hundreds of these cocoons may sometimes
be found around a single barrel, and it therefore becomes obvious
that, no matter how thoroughly the hay-band system had been carried
out during the summer, there would yet remain a sufficiency in such
situations to abundantly continue the species another year. And
when we consider that every female moth which escapes in the spring,
lays from two to three hundred eggs, and thus spoils so many apples,
the practical importance of thoroughly examining, in the spring of
the year, all barrels or other vessels in which apples have been stored
becomes at once apparent. It should, therefore, also be made a rule
to destroy all the cocoons which are found on such barrels or vessels
either by burning them up or by immersing them in scalding hot

Now, there is nothing in these rules but can be performed at little
trouble and expense. Their execution must henceforth be considered
a part of apple-growing. Let every apple-grower in Missouri carry
them out strictly, and see that his neighbors do likewise, and fine,
smooth, unblemished fruit will be your reward !

The philosophy of the hay-band system is simply that the worms,
in quitting the fruit, whether while it is on the tree or on the ground,
in their se^arch for a cozv nook, in which to spin up, find the shelter
<^iven by the hay-band just the thing, and in ninety-nine cases out of
a hundred, they will accept of the lure, if no other more enticing be
in their way. 1 have thoroughly tested this remedy the past summer,
and have found it far more effectual than I had anticipated, wherever

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 67

the above rules were recognized. Under two hay-bands whicli were
kept around a single old isolated tree, through the months of June,
July and xiugust, I found every week of the last two months an aver-
age of fifty cocoons.

I have often smiled in my journeyings through the State, to see
the grin of incredulity spread over the face of some unsopiiistieated
farmer as I recounted the natural history of this Codling moth, and
urged the application of the hay-band. Magic spell or fairy tale could
not more thoroughly have astounded some of them than the unmask-
ing of this tiny enemy and the revealing of the proper preventive.

Ihe burning of lires has been recommended, under the supposi-
tion that the moths will fly into them and get destroyed. I have no
faith whatever in the process, so far as regards this particular species
for though it is true that the moths fly and deposit their eggs in the
evening, I do not believe they are attracted to the light, as are some
others, lor I have never been able to thus attract any myself.

CUT-WORMS.

(Lepidoptera Noctuidvc.)
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TWELVE DISTINCT SPECIES.

There are several different kinds of insects that are know^n by the
popular name of cut- worm. Thus, the White grub, or larva of the
common May beetle {LaGhnosterna qitercina, Knoch), and the difler-
ent species of wire-worms, the larvae of our Click beetles ( Elater
family) are all called cut-worms in some part or other of the United
States. But I shall confine the term to those caterpillars, winch, for
the most part, have the habit of hiding just under the surface of .the
earth during the day, and feeding either on the roots, stems or leaves
of plants during the night.

Most of these caterpillars have the very destructive habit of cut-
ting, or entirely severing the plant on which they feed, just above or
below the ground. On this account they have received the name of
Cut-wovm?,^ and not because when cut in two, each end will reproduce
itself as some people have supposed; for although some polyps
and other animals belonging to the great class radiata in the animal
kingdom, have this curious power of multiplying by division, it is not
possessed by any insect, and after having mutilated one of these cut-
worms, the farmer need never fear that he has thereby increased, in-
stead of having decreased their number. From this habit of cutting,
they prove a far greater nuisance than if they were to satisfy their
appetites in an honest manner. In the latter case we might feel like
letting them go their way in peace, but as with the Baltimore oriole,
which abrades and ruius a hundred grapes where it would require one
for food, we feel vexed at such wanton destruction of our products
and would gladly rid ourselves of such nuisances.

gg FIRST ANNUAL REPOET OF

These caterpillars are called surface caterpillai-s in England, in
which country, as well as on the continent of Europe, they have long
been known to do great damage to yegetables, and especially to the
cabba-e mangel-wurzel and turnip. There are many different species
and thej vary in size and detail of markings ; but all of them are
smooth, naked and greasy-looking worms of some shade oi green,
o-rav brown or black, with a polished, scaly head, and a shield ot the
same color on the top of the first and last segments ; while most of
them have several minute shiny spots on the other segments, each
spot giving rise to a minute stiff hair. They also have the habit of
curling up in a ball when disturbed, as shown at Figure 2, in Plate 1.
They produce moths of sombre colors which are known as Owlet or
Rustic molhs, and the species that have so far been bred in this coun-
try belong to one or other of the four genera, Agroizs, Iladena,
Mamestra or Celcena. These moths fly, for the most part by night,
though some few of them may be seen flying by day, especially in
cloudv weather. They frequently, even in large cities, rush into a
room, attracted by the light of gas or candle, into which they heed-
lessly plunge and singe themselves. They rest with the wings closed
more or less flatly over the body, the upper ones entirely covering
the lower ones, and these upper wings always have two, more or less
distinctly marked spots, the one round, the other kidney-shaped.

The natural history of most of these cut-worms may be tlius
briefly given. The parent moth attaches her eggs to some substance
near the ground, or deposits them on plants, mostly during the latter
part of summer, though occasionally in the spring of the year.
Those which are deposited during late summer, hatch early in the
fall and the young worms, crawling into the ground feed upon the
tender roots and shoots of herbaceous plants. At this time of the
vear the worms being small and their tood plentiful, the damage they
do is seldom noticed. On the approach of winter they are usually
about two-thirds grown, when they descend deeper into the ground,
and curling themselves up, remain in a torpid state till the following
sprin- When spring returns, they are quite ravenous, and their cut-
in- propensities having fully developed, they ascend to the surface
and attack the first green succulent vegetation that comes m their way.
When once full grown they descend deeper into the earth, and form for
[Fig. 25]. themselves oval chambers, in which they

change to chrysalids, as shown in the annexed
,cut (Fig. 25). In this state they remain from
I two to four weeks, and finally come forth as
moths, during the months of June, July and
Au^^^^^lis skin, being in most cases so thin, that it is im-
possible to preserve it. These moths in time lay eggs, and their pro-
geny goes through the same cycle of changes Some species, how-
ZZ as I shall presently show, are most likely two-brooded, while
others pass through the winter in the chrysalis state.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 69

Dr. Fitch states that he had great difficulty in breeding these cut-
worms to the perfect moths, "as the worms on finding themselves im-
prisoned, hurriedly crawl around and around the inner side of their
prison, night after night, until they literally travel themselves to
death." Consequently the natural history of but one or two of them
has hitherto been known. I have found, however, that by giving
them the proper conditions they are not so very difficult to breed,
and after giving some account of a certain class of cut-worms
which have the habit of climbing up trees, I will briefly describe
those species which I have traced through their transformations,
so that they may be readily recognized, and afterwards suggest
the proper remedies,

CLIMBING CUT-WORMS.

Orchardists in spring frequently find the hearts of their fruit buds
— on young trees especially — entirely eaten out and destroyed, and
this circumstance is attributed to various causes, winged insects,
beetles, slugs for instance ; or even to late frosts, unsuitable climate,
etc. Never have cut-worms received the blame, all of which should
be ascribed to them, for the game hold of many species on a sand}''
soil in earl}'- spring, is the fruit tree. This is a very important fact to
fruit raisers, and let those who have essayed to grow the dwarf apple
and pear, on a sandy soil, and have become discouraged, as many
have, from finding their trees affected each year in this way, take
hope; for knowing the cause, they may now easily prevent it.

These climbing cut- worms will crawl up a tree eight or ten feet
high, and seem to like equally well the leaves of the pear, apx^le and
grape.

They work during the night, always descending just under the
surface of the earth again at early dawn, which accounts for their
never having been noticed in this their work of destruction in former
years. They seldom descend the tree as they ascend it, by crawling,
but drop from the bud or leaf on which they have been feeding; and
it is quite interesting to watch one at early morn when it has become
full fed and the tender skin seems ready to burst from repletion, and
see it prepare by a certain twist of the body for the fall. This fact
also accounts for trees on hard, tenacious soil, being comparatively
exempt from them, as their instinct doubtless serves them a good turn
either in preventing them from ascending or by leading the parent
moth to deposit her eggs by preference on a liglit soil.

These facts were published in the Prairie Farmer of June 2, 1S66,
accompanied with descriptions by myself of three of the worms that
were found to have this habit; and the observations were made on
Mr. J. W. Cochran's farm at Calumet, Illinois. In speaking of these
same climbing cut-worms, in the same article Mr. Cochran says:

" They destroy low branched fruit trees of all kinds, except the
peach, feeding on the fruit buds first, the wood buds as a second

TO FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

choice, and preferring them to all other things, tender grape buds and
shoots (to which they are also x^artial) not excepted — the miller al-
ways preferring to lay her eggs near the hill or mound over the roo>ts
of the trees in the orchard ; and if, as is many times the case, the
trees have a spring dressing of lime or ashes with the view of prevent-
ing the May beetles' operations, this will be selected with unerring
instinct by ihe miller, thus giving her larvas a fine warm bed to cover
themselves up in during the day from the observations of their ene-
mies. They will leave potatoes, peas and all other young green things
for the buds of the apple and the pear. The long, naked young trees
of the orchard are almost exempt from their voracious attacks, but I
have found them about midnight, of a dark and damp night well up in
the limbs of these. The habit of the dwarf apple and pear tree however
just suits their nature, and much of the complaint of those people
who can not make these trees thrive on a sandy soil, has its source
and foundation here, though apparently utterly unknown to the or-
chardist. There is no known remedy ; salt has no properties repulsive
to them, they burrow in it equally as quick as in lime or ashes. To-
bacco, soap and other diluted washes do not even provoke them ; but
a tin tube 6 inches in length, opened on one side and closed around
the base of the tree, fitting close and entering at the lower end an
inch into the earth, is what the lav/yers would term an effectual es-
s topper to further proceedings.

"If the dwarf tree branches so low from the ground as not to leave
6 inches clear of trunk between the limbs and ground, the limbs must
be sacrificed to save the tree — as in two nights four or five of these
pests will fully and effectually strip a four or five year old dwarf of
every fruit and wood bud, and often when the tree is green, utterly
denude it of its foliage. I look upon them as an enemy to the orchard
more fatal than the canker worm when left to themselves, but fortu-
nately for mankind more surely headed off.'''

Harris gives us the earliest intimation of this climbing character
in these worms, on page 450 of his work, where he says, that "in the
summer of 1851, an agricultural newspaper contained an account of
certain naked caterpillars, that came out of the ground in the night,
and crawling up the trunks of fruit-trees, devoured the leaves, and re-
turned to conceal themselves in the ground before morning." But
until the above article, from which 1 have quoted, was published, the
fact was not generally known and none of the species had been iden-
tified.

They seem to prefer the apple, pear and grape-vine, though they
also attack the blackberry, raspberr}^, currant, and even rose-bushes
and ornamental trees. Nor do tliey confine theaiselves to dwarf trees,
as the following extract from a letter by John Townley, of Marquette
Co., Wis., to the PraotiGal Entoinologi&t for March^ ISGTj abundantly
proves.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 71

" During the last two years at least, young apple-trees in this lo-
cality have been much injured by having their buds destroyed. My
observations last spring led me to conclude, that a worm very like the
cut-worm, and having the same habit of hiding just beneath the sur-
face of the soil during the day and feeding by night, was the cause of

the mischief. *

" Soon after snow had gone in 1865, 1 pruned a lot of apple-trees
then four years planted. The wood at the time seemed alive and
sound. When older trees were coming into leaf, these remained al-
most destitute of foliage ; and on examining them, it was found, that
most of the buds, especially those on shoots formed the preced-
ing year, were gone— removed as clean as if they had been picked
out with a point of a knife. The bark in small patches near the ends
of some of the shoots had also been eaten or chipped off. As many
small birds had been seen about the trees, the conclusion was arrived
at that they had probably eaten the buds. In the fall, mounds of
earth were thrown up around the stems of these trees, and of another
lot two years planted. These mounds were being leveled on the 6th
of May last; and soon after commencing the work, several large cut-
worms like grubs were noticed. This, coupled with the fact, that in
the preceding spring, I had caught a worm like these in the very act
of eating out a bud high up the stem of a young Catalpa, around
which I bad thrown a blanket the evening before, to shield it from
frost, induced me to suspect that they and not tha birds destroyed the
buds. This led to-an examination of the untouched mounds ; and in
the soil immediately surrounding the stem of each tree, I found from
about five to ten of these worms. Twenty-three were taken from the
soil around a plant of the Rome Beauty apple. * * * On
a warm dewy night about the middle of the month, I took a lamp and
suddenly jarred several of the trees; when some of these worms
came tumbling to the ground. The evidence against them would
have been more con^^lusive, if I had searched the branches and found
them there and at work. That however, I omitted to do. I have had
fruit trees planted here sixteen years, but never had the buds de-
stroyed so as to attract my attention before the last two years ; nor have
I had any complaints from my neighbors on this point, except during
that time. Orchards are not very common here, but in three others
in this town, I know young trees have been injured as in my own
during the last two years. * * * I grow no dwarf

apples ; mine are all standard trees worked on the ordinary apple
stock."

Mr. Cochran also found them last spring, up among the highest
branches of his standard as well as his dwarf trees.

The subject is all important to the orchardist, and to those espec-
ially who have young and newly planted trees on a light soil; for
there are many who have had their trees injured by the buds being
devoured in this manner, who never dreamed of preventing such an

72 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

occurrence, for the reason that the mischief was attributed to birds.
Thus our Quail, Purple-finch, and many other birds, have too often
unjustly received the execrations of the culturist, which that evil ge-
nius the cut- worm, alone deserved. To understand an enemy's foible
is to have conquered, and when we learn the source of an evil it need
exist no longer. The range of these climbing worms seems to be
wide, for we have undoubted evidence of their attacking the grape-
vine, even in California, and I have found two species in Missouri,
which have the same habit. Climbing cut- worms frequently have the
same habit of severing plants, as those which have never been known
to climb, and I very much incline to believe that this habit is only
acquired in the spring time, and most cut-worms will mount trees if
they are forced to do so, by the absence of herbaceous plants.

THE VARIEGATED CUT-WORM.— PI. 1, Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4.
(Larva of the Unarmed Rustic, Agrolis inermis, Harris.)

During the latter part of May, Mr. Isidor Bush, of Bushburg, Mo.,
brought me several greasy-looking worms, which had been feeding
on, and doing considerable damage to a lot of young Creveling grape-
vines, which he had in cold frames. As I ascertained afterwards, up-
on visiting Mr. Bush's place, they lay concealed during the day, just
under the surface of the rich earth, contained in the frames, and
mounted the vines to feed, during the night time. The weather be-
ing warm, Mr. B. at my suggestion, threw open the frames during the
day and allowed the chickens to get in them, and two dscys after do-
ing this, there was not a worm to be found. By the 30th of May, these
worms had grown to be of great size, measuring nigh two inches in
length. When full grown they are mottled with dull flesh-color,
brown and black, with elongated, velvety-black marks each side, as
shown at Plate 1, Figure 2. The head is light gray and mottled, and
marked as shown in Figure 3, and each segment on the back appears
as in Figure 4 of the same plate.

About the time these worms were completing their growth, they
having most likely developed earlier than usual, in the unnatural heat
of the frames, I received from J. M. Shaffer, Secretary of the Iowa
State Agricultural Society, some eggs which he found on a cherry
twig. These eggs were quite small, of a pink color, with ribs radiat-
ing from a common centre, and were deposited in a batch. Exactly
similar eggs, found on an apple twig, were presented to the Alton
Horticultural Society, at it-s June meeting, by Mr. L. W. Lyon, of Be-
thalto, Ills.; while I subsequently found a batch of the very same eggs
on a White mulberry leaf, taken from a tree growing near St. Louis.
Between the Sith and 30th of May, the young hatched from these
eggs, in the shape of minute, thread-like worms of a dirty yellow col-
or, and covered with the spots, already spoken of as occurring on all cut-
worms, which are at this time in this species quite dark and conspic-
uous. In this early stage of their growth, tliey did not hide themselves

IHE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. «"

in the i?round, and had, furthermore, the peculiarity of looping up the
back when in motion, in the same manner as does ^he Canker-worm
and as do all other geometers or span worms. After the first moult,
which took place six days after hatching, the dark spots became al-
most obliterated, the characteristic markings of this same Variegated
cut-worm which I had received from Mr. Bush, began to appear, and
tliey lost their looping habit. At this time they grew at an mcredibie
rate, becoming thicker in proportion to their length as they S/ew older
and bv the 15th of June, those which hatched on the 24th of May had
shed their skins four times, and gone into the ground, where tiiey
formed oval cocoons of earth, and in two days more were changed
into chrysalids. By the 20th of June the moths began issmng, thus
requiring but 35 days to go through all their transformations.

These worms were very voracious, and after the first mou t, showed
the true cut-worm characteristic of concealing themselves durmgthe
day, and feeding at night. Moreover, they proved to be quite univer-
sal feeders, for while I fed them, when young, on cabbage and grape-
vine leaves, they ilourished exceedingly, the latter part of their lives^
on the leaves of the White mulberry; and on the 16th of June i au^
up from my garden, two full grown specimens of this same kind oi
worm, which produced the same species of moth, each of them liavin^
severed a young lettuce plant. From the foregoing, it is manifest tliat
all cut-worm moths do not deposit their eggs on the ground, and from
the fact that these eggs were found, in one instance, on a leaf, so early
in the season, they were undoubtedly deposited in the spring by a
moth which must have passed the winter either in the chrysalis or
moth state ; and as the insect goes through its transformations so rap-
idly, there are most likely two broods during the year. From the fore-
going experience, and from the fact that most other moths attach their
eggs to different substances, I think it not unlikely that our cut-worm
moths do the same, as a general rule, instead of depositing them m, or
on the ground, as has heretofore been supposed ; and Mr. Cochraii
has related to me a curious incident which bears me out in this behef.
He is in the habit of gathering, during the winter, all crumpled
leaves and egg-masses which he finds in his orchard, and of placing
them in a drawer in his secretary. Last spring he was astonished to
find several half-grown cut-worms in this drawer, they having evi-
dently hatched from some of the eggs, and fed entirely on some apples
which chanced at that time to be in the drawer.

The moth produced from this cut-Avorm is represented at PLate 1,
Figure 1. Its general color is a dark brownish-gray, some specimens
being almost black along the front edge of the upper wings, while
others have this edge of a dull golden-bufi^ color. The Noctuid.e, to
which our cut-worm moths belong, have not yet been worked up by
any one in this country, and as they are all of sombre colors, and as
the species, in many instances, very closely resemble each other, it is
not an easv matter to properly determine them. The species under

7J: FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

consideration, is apparently quite common here, and yet Mr. A. Grote
of New York, who made a trip to Europe last year, for the purpose of
comparing our American moths with those in the British museum, and
in other European collections, took a specimen with him and brought
it back unnamed. In the collection of Mr. A. Bolter, of Chicago, it is
marked Agroiis saucia^ Treitschke, while Mr. Cresson informs me that
in the collection of the American Entomological Society, at Philadel-
phia, it is named oequa^ but without authority. Harris's description of
inermis (Inj. Insects, p. 444), brief and insufficient as it is, agrees with
some of the individuals, and, as it is said to be the counterpart of cequa
which is an European species, I have concluded, rather than to create
more synonyms, to redescribe it below, under this name. Individuals
among the numerous specimens which I bred from the same batch of
eggs, differ greatly from one another, and I find this to be the case
with all owlet moths. Indeed, with the present species, a description,
taken from any single specimen would scarcely suffice for any of the
others, and it is not at all unlikely that this species has received diff-
erent names from different authors.

Agrotis inermis, Harris — Larva — Length, when full grown, 2 inches. Finely mottled with
dull, carneous-brown and black, and having dark velvety longitudinal marks along subdorsal and
stigmatal region (see PI. 1, Fig. 2) ; segment 11 somewhat ridged and abruptly divided trans-
versely by velvety black and carneous. Lighter laterally than above. A carneous stripe below stig-
mata. Venter and legs speckled glaucous. Dorsum of segments marked ss in Plate 1, Figure 4;
Head light gray, and marked as in Plate 1, Figure 3. Cervical shield obselete.

Chrysalis. — Of normal form, deep mahogony brown, with a single point at extremity.

Perfect insect. — Average length 0.80 ; alar expanse 1.80. Ground color of fore wings gray-
brown, marked as in Plate 1, Figure 1. A most variable species, sometimes washed with dull car-
neous, at others with light buff, but alwaj's marked with more or less smoky black. Costal region,
head and thorax, sometimes very black, at others bright golden-buff. Spots usuallj' lighter than
wing, though sometimes concolorous. Basal half and transverse lines more or less distinct, espe-
cially at costa, geminate, their middle space, usually lighter than the ground color. Hind wings
pearly white, with a very slight pink tint in the middle, shaded behind and veined with smoky
brown.

Under surface of the wings, the least variable and most characteristic feature, that of fore-
wings being mouse-gray with a distinct ferruginous spot in the middle at base, and a lighter strip
running from this spot to the posterior angle ; the arcuated band very distinct and geminate at
costa, and the whole surface pearly and especially the light strip at interior margin which in cer-
tain lights reflects all the prismatic colors. That of hind wings pearly white in the middle, darker
near the margins, distinctly freckled along anterior margin, where the arcuated band is very dis-
tinct, while in the middle of the wing it is represented by distinct black strokes on the veins.

Described from 25 bred specimens.

THE DARK-SIDED CUT-WORM.
(Larva of the Cochran Rustic, Agrotis Cochranii, Riley.)

This worm is one of the most common of those which have the
climbing habit. It is represented in the annexed Figure 26, at a.

The general color is dingy ash-
gray, but it is characterized more
especially by the sides being dark-
er than the rest of the body. When
young, it is much darker, and the
white, which is below the dark
lateral band, is then cream-color-
ed, and very distinct. It produces

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 75

a moth which may be known as the Cochran Rustic, and was first
described in the Prairie Farmer of June 22, 1867. Speaking of the
depredations of this worm, Mr Cochran says :

"In the beginning of the evening its activity is wonderful ; moving
along from limb-to limb swiftly, and selecting at first only the blossom
buds, to one of which having fastened, it does not let go its hold until
the entire head is eaten out, and from this point, so thorough, is its
work, no latent or adventitious bud will ever again push. From a six-
year old fruit tree, I have, on a single night, taken seventy-five of
these worms, and, on the ensuing evening, found them well nigh as
plenty on the same tree. When all the blossom buds of a tree are
taken, it attacks with equal avidity the leaf buds. It is no unusual
thing to find small trees with every bud that had pushed, from first
intentions utterly destroyed, and frequently young orchards the first
season planted on sandy grounds, lose from 50 to 75 per cent, of their
trees ; sometimes those remaining will be so badly injured as to linger
along for a few years, fruiting prematurely each season, and then die,
utterly drained of their vital principle by this dreadful enemy. The
instinct of the perfect insect, like that of all insects injurious to vege-
tation, leads it unerringly to deposit its eggs where they will hatch
out from the warmth of the sun, and where the larvae is nearest to
that food which is necessary to its existence: hence I never yet have
found the eggs upon clay, or heavy cold grounds of any description,
and on my carefully placing them in such situations they failed to
hatch out. Can there be a stronger argument used for the appoint-
ment of a State Entomologist than the fact, that the habits of this
enemy of horticulture, that has ruined millions of dollars worth of
fruit trees in our country, has until recently been entirely unknown ?
I doubt whether one fruit grower in five hundred is even now aware
of tbe presence of this curse on his grounds. There is not an orchard
upon the sands of Michigan, or the light timber openings of Indiana,
or the sandy ridges of our own State, but that has suffered greatly,
many of them entirely ruined by its depredations. It is far more de-
structive to fruit trees than any other insect, infinitely more so than
the canker worm, but unlike the other depredators of our orchard
trees, it is easily kept in check, and at small expense permanently
eradicated."

This species remains longer underground in the chrysalis state,
than the preceding, and there is but one brood each year, the moths
appearing through the months of July and August. The moth which
is represented at Figure 26, J, is of a light warm gray color, and shaded
with brown and umber.

Agrotts Cochranii, Riley — Imago. — Fore wings of a light warm cinereous, shaded with van-
dyke brown and umber, the terminal space, except at apex, being darker and smoky. Basal,
middle and limbal areas of almost equal width, the middle exceeding somewhat the others. A
geminate dark basal half-line, usually quite distinct. Transverse anterior geminate, dark, some-
what irregularly undulate, and slightly obliquing outwards from costa to interior margin. Trans-
verse posterior geminate, the inner line being dark, distinct and regularly undulate between the

76 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

nerves, while the outer line is plain and much paler ; it is arcuated superiorly and inversely ob-
liques for two-thirds its width. Orbicular and reniform spots of normal shape, having a fine, dark
annulation, which is however obsolete in both, anteriorly; the orbicular is concolorous with the
■wing, whilst the reniform has a dark inner shade with a centr.al light one, and forms with the trans-
verse posterior a somewhat oval spot which is also dark. Median shade dark and distinct inte-
riorly, shading off and becoming indistinct in center of wing, and quite dark between the two spots,
giving them a fair relief. Subterminal line single, light, acutely and irregularly dentate, with an
inner dark shade, but warmer than that of terminal space. Terminal, line very fine, almost black,
slightly undulate. Fringes of same color as wing, with a light central line, having an outer dark
coincident shade. A dark costal spot in basal area ; at termini of the usual lines, and two light
ones in subterminal space. In some specimens one or two fine dark sagittate marks are discernable,
and also a fine black claviform mark. Hind wings : whitish, with a darker shade along posterior
margin. Under surface of fore wings somewhat lighter than the upper surface and pearlaceous
interiorly, with a smoky arcuated band — more definite near the costa than elsewhere — and a toler-
ably distinct lunule. Under surface of hind wings concolorous ; slightly irrorate with brown ante-
riorly and posteriorly, and with an indistinct lunule and band. Antenna;, prothorax, thorax,
tegul£e and body of same color as primaries, the prothorax having a darker central line, and in
common with the tegulae acarneous margin. Under surface lighter ; legs with the tarsi spotted.

This moth, in its general appearance, bears a great resemblance to Hadena chenojiodii, but
the two are found to differ essentially when compared. From specimens of H, chenopodii, kindly
furnished me by Mr. AValsh, and named by Grote, I am enabled to give the essential differences,
which are: 1st. In jl. Cochranii, as already stated, the middle area exceeds somewhat in width
either of the other two, while in H. chenopodii it is but half as wide as either. 2d. In the Agrotis
the space between the spots and between the reniform and transverse posterior is dark, relieving the
spots and giving them a light appearance, whilst in the Hadena this space is of the same color as
the wing, and the reniform spot is dark. The claviform spot in the Hadena is also quite prominent^
and one of its distinctive features, while in the Agrolis it is just about obsolete.

There are specimens that seem to be intermediate between these two, but all those bred by
me, both male and female, were quite constant in their markings, and their intermediates will
doubtless prove to be distinct species or mere varieties.

Larva — Length 1.07 inches. Slightly shagreened. General color, dingy ash-gray, with
lighter or darker shadings. Dorsum light, inclining to flesh color, with a darker dingy line along
its middle. The sides, particularly along the sub-dorsal line are of a darker shade. On each seg-
ment there are eight small, black, shiny, slightly elevated points, having the appearance of black
sealing-wax, from each of which originates a small black bristle. The stigmata are of the same
black color, and one of the black spots is placed quite close to them anteriorily. Head shiny and
of the same dingy color as the body, with two darker marks, thick and almost joining at the uppe'^
surface, becoming thinner below and diverging toward the palpi. The upper surface of first seg-
ment is also shiny like the head. Ventral region of the same dingy color, but lighter, having a
greenish tinge anteriorly and inclining to yellow under the anal segment. Legs of same color. It
has a few short bristles on the anterior and posterior segments.

Chrysalis. — Length 0.70 of an inch. Light yellowish brown with a dusky line along top of ab-
domen. Joints, especially of the three segments immediately behind the wing-sheaths, dark brown.
The brown part of these three segments, minutely punctured on the back. Eyes dark brown, and
just above them, a smaller brownish spot. Two quite minute bristles at extremity.

Described from numerous bred specimens.

THE CLIMBING CUT-WORM— PI. 1, Figs. 5, 6 and 7.
[Larva of the Climbing Rustic, Agrotis scandens,'N. Sp.)

This is another of the most common species having the climbing
habit. It occurs in at least five different States, for Mr. Walsh informs
me that it is the species referred to by Mr. Townley, of Marquette
county, Wisconsin, and I have found it with the same pernicious habit
on Mr. Jordan's nurser}'- at St. Louis, in our own State ; while it was
even more numerous, last spring, in North Illinois, North Indiana and
West Michigan, than the preceding species, as I am informed by Mr.
Cochran, and by Mr. H. D. Emery, of Chicago, who both sent me great
numbers of specimens during the last week of April. The following

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 77

interesting letter accompanied those which were received from the
last named gentleman:

"I made a nocturnal visit to Mr. Cochran's place, Monday
night, for the purpose of observing the workings of this pest, and
spent about 3| hours, until 1 o'clock in the morning, at the job. I
found on some single dwarf trees over 50 at a time, and from that
down, and they were on both apple, pear, peach and cherry. They
commence ascending the trees soon after dark, and are found the
most plenty from 11 to 12, some remaining on t he trees until daylight,
as I found several at -1 o'clock in the morning. Their first drive seems
to be the terminal bud, and when these are all gone, they take side buds
or even the bark of the tree in many cases, as you will see by the
small twigs sent herein. You will see they are of different sizes.
Some trees were entirely despoiled of ihe terminal buds. After they
have eaten their fill, they seem to let themselves oil the limb by a
short web, and drop to the ground. We have found a large number of
the worms attacked by the bug found in the tin box*. They would
pierce the worm and suck him dry, and frequently two of them were
hold 01 one worm. There were also numbers of spiders about the
trees, of various sizes and kinds, all alive and alert, and apparently
annoying if not preying upon the worms. Also a beetle, of which I
send two specimens, was very active on the ground under the trees,
apparently after prey f . The worms were the most abundant on the
light sandy soils, and less frequent as the ground grew hard oi clayey,
and where it was pretty much all clay, scarcely one could be found.
The tin tubes placed around the trunks of the trees, when properly
adjusted, were a perfect protection. The injury they have already
done is very great."

Mr. Cochran, speaking of the same worm, says : "Some trees were
literally covered with them. Scarcely a bud but that had its worm,
and, returning towards 10 o'clock, to those trees which we had in the
early part of the night examined, we found others had come as abun-
dantly as before. I have observed that they are actually ruining the
young orchards along the Lake shore, and, stran ge as it may appear,
their owners do not know what is doing the mischief. At Hyde park,
where there are many handsome country residences with grounds of
great beauty, this worm has been especially injurious to their young
shrubbery."

This worm is represented at Plate 1, Figure 7. Its general color
is a very light yellowish-gray, variegated with dirty bluish-green, and
when filled with food it wears a much greener appearance than oth-
erwise. In depth of shading it is variable however, and the young
worm is of a more uniform dirty whitish-yellow, with the lines along
the body less distinct but the shiny spots more so than in the full

* The bug -was the Spined Soldier bug. {Arma tpinosa, Dallas). See Figure 64.
t The Incrassated Geopinus (Geopinm incraitatus, Bej.) a beetle about i inch long and of th»
color and polished appearance of thin glue.

78 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

green ones. Mr. Cochran informs me that on the apple tree,
when this worm has fed out its bud, the work is so effectually done,
that no adventitious or accessory bud ever starts again from the same
place; the worm, as it were, boring into the very heart of the wood
and effectually destroying the ability of the tree to react, at such a
point, in the formation of a new bud, and that consequently a tree
that is once stripped generally dies, and that this occurs more fre-
quently on small or dwarf trees, where the buds are few, and 3 or 4
worms in a single night can eat out every one. But 1 have noticed
that with the grape-vine this is not generally the case, as a new bud
almost always appears where one has been eaten off.

Great numbers of these worms which I reared to the moth state,
were fed promiscuously on apple and grape-vine leaves. They began
entering the earth on the 20th of May, and generally issued as moths
nine days after thus disappearing; the last moth having issued on the
29th of June.

The moth produced from this worm is easily distinguished from
most other owlet moths by its peculiar color. It seems allied to
Agrotis ctirsoria of Europe, and also greatly resembles one that was
described as A. murcenula^ by Mr. Grote, and figured in Volume 1,
Number 4, of the American Entomological Transactions. Upon sub-
mitting specimens to Mr. Grote, however, he informed me that it is
distinct and undescribed, and I have therefore named it the Climbing
rustic {Agrotis scandens). It is well represented with extended
wings at Plate 1, Figure 5, and with closed wings at Figure 6. The
general color of the upper wings is a pearly bluish-gray, while the
Tinder wings are pearly white ; but as with the other species, it varies
greatly in color and appearance, and as I could pick out, from 30 in-
dividuals, at least 4 which, if taken singly would doubtless be de-
scribed as distinct species, it is not unlikely that Mr. Grote's murcB'
nula, may prove identical with it after all.

Agrotis scaxdens, N. Sp. — Lrrva. —Average "length when full grown 1.40. Ground-color very
light yellowish gray, variegated with glancous in the shape of different sized patches, whicli are
distinctly seen under the lens, to be separated by fine lines of the light ground color. A well de-
fined dorsal and less distinct subdorsal and stiginatal line, caused by these patches becoming larger
and darlier ; another and still less distinct line of the same kind under stigmata. The dorsal line
frequently with a very fine white line along its middle, especially at sutures of segments. Piliferous
spots in the normal position ; those above black, those at the sides lighter. Stigmata black.
Head and cervical shield tawny, the latter with a small black spot each side, the former with two in
front, and two eye-spots each side. Caudal plate tawny, speckled with black. Venter and legs
glancous. Bristles fine -and small. Filled with food it wears a much greener appearance than oth-
©rwise, while when young it is of a more uniform dirty whitish-yellow, the lines less distinct but
the piliferous spots proportionately larger. Head quite variable in depth of shade.

Perfecl Insect. — Average length O.70; alar expansel.50. General color of fore wings very
li"-ht pearly bluisli-gray, with a perceptible deepening posteriorly. Quite variable, sometimes of a
more decided blue, at others inclining to bufif as in Leucania uniptmctata, Haw. Markings, when
distinct, as in Plate I, Figures 5 and 6. With the exception of the reniform spot and subteruiinal
line, however, they are usually distinct only on costa, being either indistinct or entirely obsolete
on the rest of the wing. The subterminal line is light, with a more or less dark diffuse shade each
Bide, which, in some instances, forms into sagittate spots. A black stain at the lower part of reni-
form spot forms a most distinctive character. Hind wings very pale and lacking the bluish oust of

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 79

fore wings ; lunule distinct, and a dark shade, enclosins: a lighter mark, as in iTeUolhis, along poster-
ior margin. Eyes dark; head and thorax same as fore wings ; abdomen same as hind wings. The
whole under surface the same as hind wi»gs above, the lunules and arcuated bands faintly traced,
the fore wings having a darker shade in the middle.
Described from 30 bred specimens.

THE AV-MARKED CUT- WORM.— Pi, 1, Pig. 1.3.
(Larva of the Clandestine Owlet moth, Noctua clandestina, Harris.)

Another cut-worm which has this same habit of climbing trees, I
have named the W-marked cut-worm, on account of the characteristic
markings resembling this letter, which it has on its back. Its general
[Fig. 27.] color is ash-gray, inclining on the back and upper

sides to dirty yellow, and the annexed Figure 27
gives a correct view of it. This species, so far as I
j^have observed, though it has been caught in the act
^jf eating apple buds, is but seldom found very high
up on trees, but seems to prefer to attack low bushes,
such as currants, on which I have often found it. It occurs abundantly
on a species of wild endive (probably Cichorium saliva)^ under the
broad leaves of which it frequently nestles during the day, without
entering into the ground. Harris quotes a communication from Dr.
F. E. Melsheimer, of Dover, Pa., in which this same worm is said to
attack young corn, and to feed indiscriminately on all succulent
plants, such as early sown buckwheat, young pumpkin plants, young
beans, cabbage plants, and many other field and garden vegetables.
Mr. Glover, of the Department of Agriculture, has also found it to at-
tack wheat, and I have found it quite injurious to young cabbages. In
feeding, it frequently drags its food under stones and other places of
concealment. The young worms are of a more decided gray than the
older ones, with the black W-shaped marks less distinct, and subsist,
for the most part, on grasses.

The moth produced from this worm is illustrated at Plate 1, Figure
13. It appears during the latter part of June, and is, consequently,
one of our earliest. It is of a dark ash-gray color, with the wavy
bands but faintly traced. The two ordinary spots are small, narrow,
and usually connected by a fine black line. The hind wings are dirty
brownish-white, somewhat darker behind. It may be popularly known
as the Clandestine Owlet moth, and was named Noctua clandestina^
by Harris, though it might be placed with more propriety in the genus
GrapMphora.

Noctua clandestina, Harris. — Larva — Length, when full grown, 1.15 of an inch. General color
ash-gray, inclining on the back and upper sides to dirty yellow. Finely speckled all over with black
and brown spots. Along the dorsum there is a fine line of a lighter color, shaded on each side, at
the ring joints with a darker color. Sub-dorsal line light sulphur-yellow, with a band of dirty
brownish-yellow underneath. Along the stigmatal region is a wavy line of a dark shade, with flest-
colored markings underneath it ; but the distinguishing feature is a row of black velvety marks
along each side of the back, on all but the thoracic segments, and bearing a general resemblance,
looking from anus to head, to the letter W. Ventral region greenish-graj' ; prolegs of same color ;
thoracic legs brown-black. Head black, with a white line in front resembling an inverted Y, and
white at sides. The thoracic segments frequently have a greenish hue.

Chrysalis. — Of the normal form and color, with but one rather long thorn at extremity.

80 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

THE GREASY CUT-WORM.— PI. 1, Figs. 8, 9 and 10.
(Larva of the Lance Rustic, Agrotis teUfera, Harris.)

In the Prairie Farmer for June 22, 1S67, 1 described a large cut-
worm under the name of the "Black cut-worm." I have since ascer-
tained that it is quite variable in its coloration, some specimens being
lighter, and the markings much more distinct than in others, and have
therefore concluded to give it the above appellation. This worm is
usually of a deep leaden-brown inclining to black, though some speci-
mens are of a greasy glaucous color, with a dark flesh-colored back.
It is always more or less distinctly marked as in Figure 9, of Plate 1,
while the head, when retracted within the first segment, presents the
appearance of Figure 10 on the same plate, this figure being enlarged
beyond the natural size. It is probably the most common cut-worm
in the country, for the moth is frequently caught in our rooms in all
parts of the United States. Though it has not, so far as I am aware
the climbing habit of the preceding species, it has a most emphatic
and pernicious cutting habit.

Mr. Jordan, of the St. Louis nursery, had transplanted a great num-
ber of tomato plants last spring, but lost well-nigh every one of them
by this pernicious worm. It cut off large plants that were over six
inches in height, generally at about an inch above ground, and thus
effectually destroyed them. After severing one plant, the same worm
would travel to others, and thus in a single night, from three to four
plants would be ruined by a single individual. Along the Clayton
road, to the west of St. Louis, most of the corn had to be replanted on
account of its attacks. On the 22d of May I examined several fields,
and was surprised to find these worms present at almost every hill,
most of them being two-thirds grown. The land is clayey, and was
at that time quite hard, and each worm had a smooth burrow in which
it lay hidden, and to the bottom of which it could generally be traced.
I subsequently learned that a large tobacco field belonging to Mr. F.
R. Allen, of Allenton, had been entirely ruined soon after it was
planted, by this same worm, and I found it in my own garden cutting
off cypress vines. Indeed, nothing seems to come amiss to its vora-
cious appetite, for in confinement it devoured with equal relish, apple
and grape leaves.

This species comes to its growth in this latitude by the end of May,
though the moth does not make its appearance till the month of July.
The moth is known as the Lance Rustic {Agrotis telifera, Harris),
and is represented in the annexed Figure 28.
^and still more correctly at Plate 1, Figure
(3. The upper wings are light-brown shaded
with dark-brown, and the under wings are
pearly white, with a gray shade around the
edges; but the characteristic feature, from
which it takes its name, is a dark-brown
lance-shaped mark running outwardly from
the kidney-spot.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. SI

Agrotistelifera, Harris— Larva— (PI. 1, Fig. 9)— Length 1.50@1 .60 inches when crawling.
General co'or above, dull dark leaden-brown. A faint trace of a dirty yellow-white line along dor-
sum. Subdorsal line more distinct, and between it and stigmata two other indistinct pale lines.
Ei"-ht black shiny piliferous spots on each segment; two near subdorsal line, the smaller a little
above anteriorly": the larger just below it, a little back of the middle of the segment, with the line
appearing especially light above it. The other two are placed each side of stigmata, the one an-
teriorly a little above, the other just l)ehind, in the same line with them, and having a white shade
above it. lle.;d light brown, with a dark brown spot each side and dark brown above, leaving the
inverted Y mark in the middle, light brown, and having much the appearance of a goblet, as one
looks from tail to head. Cervical shield dark brown, except a stripe above and each side. Sparse
short white bristles laterally and posteriorly. Venter and pro-legs of a glaucous glassy color.
Thoracic legs light brown.

It varies considerably in depth of shading, and some of the lighter specimens have the lateral
stripes quite distinct, and the dorsum is frequently of a dull carneous with a darker shade, divided
by a fine line of a lighter color, along the middle. There is frequently a third piliferous spot near
the stigmata.

Chrysalis.— Average length 0.54 of an inch, very pale shiny yellowish-brown, with two large
dark brown eye-spots. Stigmata and anterior edge of four largest abdominal segments on the
back, also drak brown and shagreened. Two minute thorns at extremity.

Imago.— As Harris's description, as given in his "Injurious Insects," is not very complete, I
subjoin a more detailed one : Average expanse 1.60 inches. Color of fore-wings brownish-gray,
verging into a very dark brown, with a bluish tint at the costa, for nearly one-third the width of
the wing. Iliudle area somewhat darker than basal and lirabal, the latter being especially
light at the apex, and between transverse posterior and subterminal lines ; having distinct spots
on the nerves, and two distinct sagittate marks. Ordinary spots dark, with a very fine dark brown
annulation, especially distinct around the dentiform. Reniform spot of normal shape. Orbicular
nearly oval, and generally elongated into a point posteriorly. Distinguishing feature a dark brown
lance-shaped mark, running from posterior portion of reniform spot. Transverse anterior gemi-
nate, dark. T. posterior geminate, dark, projected and arcuated above. Subterminal line light,
irregular and festooned. Median band distinct. Sul)terminal space dark, especially where broad-
est, at nerves 5, 6 and 7. Margins dark brown, with a lighter inward, angular rim between each
nerve. Costa with usual spots. Fringes light, with a central line, the inner half having dark square
spots on the nerves. Hind wings pearly white, semi-transparent, margined behind and veined with
dusky gray. Fringes even whiter, with a faint darker line. Under side of fore wings pearly-gray ;
hind wings concolorous, but with a broad band of speckled gray on the anterior margin. Legs
dark, with light spots at joints. Head often rust-brown. Antennas brownish. Prothorax very
clearly defir.-d, and of a rich dark brown at margins. Thorax and body light lilaceous-gray, the
t a; gulae being rimmed with flesh color.

THE WESTERN STRIPED CUT-WORM,

(Larva of the Gothic Dart, Agrotis subgolhica, Haworth).

Dr. Fitch, in his Second Report, on noxious insects of the State of
New York, describes a cut-worm by the name of the ''Striped cut-
worm," (p. 313), In his 9th Report, (pp. 245-8), this worm was very
fully re-described, together with the moth which it produces. This
worm seems to have done great injury to the corn crop in the p]ast,
and the moth is a variety of the Corn Rustic (Agrotis nigricans, Linn,)
which Di-. Fitch named maizi. It will be referred to on page 87.
From worms, found in an orchard, and answering entirely to that de-
scription. I have bred numerous specimens of one of our most com-
mon owlet moths, namely, the Gothic Dart (Agrotis sulgotliica, Ha-
worth.) As the worms are so similar in appearance, I have called
the one under consideration, the " Western Striped Cut-worm," as no
other name would better characterize it, though it is evidently as
common in the East as it is in the West. Its general appearance is not
6 K s E

82

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

[rig. 29.]

greatly unlike that of the "Greasy Cut-worm" already described
but Its average size is but U inches. The ground color is dirty white
or ash-gray and it has three broad dark lines, and two light narrow
ones along the sides, and a light one, edged on each side with a dark
one, along the middle of the back. This species remains lon-erin
the ground than any of the others, and the moth does not appear till
August and September. The moth is represented at Figure 29, «,

with the wings expanded, and at

h with the wings closed. Its

markings are so conspicuous and

characteristic that it suffices to

say that the light parts are of

grayish flesh- color, and the dark

parts of a deep brown. It was

first described in the year 1810 by

Mr. Haworth, and is supposed to

a & be an English insect ; but as it is

quite rare in England, and very common in this country. Dr. Fitch

concludes, and I think rightly, that it is an American insect, the eggs

or larvas of which have accidentally been carried to England.

Agbotis subgothica, Haw. — Larva. — Length 1.25 inches. Ground color dirty white or ash-
gray, inclining in some instances to yellowish. A whitish dorsal line edged on each side with a dark
one. Three lateral dark broader stripes — the lower one broadest of all — separated by two pale
ones. Quite often an indistinct glaucous white stripe under the lower broad dark one. Pilifcrona
spots of good size. Head shiny black, or in some individuals finely speckled with white, especial-
ly at the sides ; with the usual forked white line like an inverted Y. Cervical shield, or upper por-
tion of the first segment, of the same shiny color as the head, with a white stripe in the middle,
contiguous to that on the head^ and anotlier each side. Venter dull white. Legs the same, varied
with smoky brown.

THE DINGY CUT-WORM— PI. 1, Fig. 11.
(Larra of the Dart-bearing Rustic, Agrotis jacuUfera.)

We have, in the West, another cut-worm, resembling the preced-
ing species in almost every particular, the following being the only
permanent differences: 1st, It never attains quite so large a size ,
2d, it is generally darker and more dingy, and the longitudinal lines
are consequently less distinct; 3d, it is generally of a more decided
dull pale buft' color on the back.

On the 27th of last June, I received several of these cut-worms
from Mr. Horace Starkey, of Rockford, Illinois, with a statement that
they were proving quite destructive in the gardens of that vicinity,
but without specifying what particular plants they attacked. They en-
tered the ground soon after being received, and by the 7th of July, had
all changed to chrysalids. The chrj^salis diifers from most of the oth-
ers, in being of a very light honey-yellow, shaded with brown, with
the eyes dark brown, and two sub quadrate spots of the same color on
the wing-sheaths, just above the antenna?. It measures 0.G5 of an
inch in length. The moths began to issue on the 2d of September,
and proved to be a species very closely allied to the preceding. In-
deed the markings on the wings are almost exactly the same; but it

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 83

is K smaller species, seldom expanding more tlian 1.25 inches and
differs materially upon a strict comparison, and especially in the
ground color being lighter and more silvery. It is faithfully repre-
sented at Plate 1, Figure 11. This species, as I am kindly informed
^y Mr. Cresson, is marked Agrotis jaculifera in the collection of the
American Entomological Society, but without authorship ; and as the
name seems appropriate 1 have retained it.

Tims w^e have in this country, at least three species of cut- worms,
which differ no more from one another in general appearance, than
^do individuals of the same spe^^'ies; and yet they all produce distinct
moths, though it is worthy of remark that the moths produced from
worms so resembling each other, viz : Agroth nigricans^ var
viaizi, A. suhgotJilca and A jaculifera ; have, all three of them,
the space between and behind the two ordinary spots on the front
"wings of a dark brown color. It is possible that each of these species
may have a dilFerent habit, but time, and further investigation wdll
alone determine the point.

Agrotis jaculifeh*. — LcrrxL — Length one inch. Similarly marked to that of Agrolu subgo-
-tkica, Vfith the colors darker and more diogy, the long-ituvJinal lines less conspicuous, and the dor-
sum of a more decided pale buff color.

Chrysalis — Length 0.65-0.70. .Color horey-yeliow with dull brown shadings, and dark-hrown
eyes, but characterized especiaHy by two subquadrate dark spots on the wing-sheaths just above
■antenniv.

Perfect insect — Much resembling A, subgothica, Haw., being marked as at Plate 1, Figure 11. It
■difFers from that species in the following respects : The average expanse is but 1.30. The whole
■ground-color is colder (to use the language of the artist),!, e., of a whiter gray, with less of the
\)vlS color. The costa is darker, and the light costal band narrower ; the posterior median nerve is
•almost white and very distinct to the lower part of the reniform spot ; nerves 3, 4 and 5 are well re-
lieved by light margins ; the streak running between -nerves 2 and 3 is very distinct andless diffuse;
the terminal space is darker, and the inner margin only broken by nerves 4 and 5 ; there are no
sagittate spots, while the posterior margin is very clearly defined by abla»ckline bounded outwardly
Joy a light one.

Descjibed from three bred specimens,

THE GLASSY CUT-WORM.
(Larva of the Devastating Dart, Agrotis devastator. Brace.)

In the year 1819, in a short article upon the cut- worm, published
in the first volume of Silliman's Journal, p. 157, Mr, Brace, of Litch-
field, Connecticut, gave an account of this moth, which he bred from
pupas that were found a few inches under the ground, in a cabbage
patch. He did not describe the worm which produced the pupas, as
he evidently supposed there was but one kind of cut-worm in exist-
ence. Consequently, up to the present day the larva of this common
Devastating Dart moth has been unknown. It was my good fortune
to breed this moth from the larva state. The cut-worm from which it

was produced, was found on the 12th of May
under a wild endive plant, upon the leaves
of which it Iiad evidently been feeding. It
was but half grown, and, being placed in a
jar half filled with earth, that contained
growing grass, it burrowed into the earth
and after once casting its skin, fed entirely

84: FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

on the roots of the grass, though other food was thrown into the jar.
On the 7th of June it measured 1.80 inches when crawling, and on the
19th of the same month had changed to a chrysalis from which the
moth emerged on the Tth of July, The worm is represented at Figure
30, and may at once be distinguished from all others of its tribe,
tha^j are known, by its translucent glassy green body, in contrast
with a very distinct hard, polished, dark-brown shield on the first seg-
ment, and a bright renetian-red head. The usual spots on the body
are quite distinct, and placed in the positions given at the lower out-
line of Figure 30, which represents the side of one of the middle seg-
ments.

The moth bears a close general resemblance to the Cochran Rus-
tic already described, the ground color being the same. It differs in
its larger size ; in the wavy transverse lines being more equidistant ;
in the spots in the shape of arrow heads, which emanate from the
inside of the last or outer line, being darker and more distinct ; and
in the outer edge of the large kidney-shaped spot being almost al-
ways quite white. Entomologically, it differs still more essentially,
for though named Agrotis devastator^ it seems to belong to the genus
Maineitra. Plere we have the converse of the facts given, in speak-
ing of the Dingy cut-worm, for, closely as the Cochran Rustic and
this Devastating Dart moth resembles each other, their larvae are very
dissimilar.

Agrotis (Mamf.stra) detastator, Brace — Larva. — Length l.SQ. Color translucent glassy
green, with a tinge of blue. Usually, a very deep V>luish dorsal line. Fowr distinct piliferous spots
on each segment, each with a slight annulation. Two other minute simple spots, without hairs on
the anterior edge of the segment (see Fig. 30, ). Uead, bright Venetian-icd, with black jaws, and
a small black spot each side. Cervical shield, very distinct, hard, polished and of a dark brown.
Caudal plate, less defined and more dusky. The body is lighter posteriorly than anteriorly and the
dorsal line is most distinct along the middle segments.

Chrysalis — Quite darli mahagany brown, vnth the body somewhat more attenuated than is
usual, and with two distinct slightly cixrved thorns at extremity with several other stiff briatleo
wound them.

THE SPECKLED CUT-WOKM— PI. 1, Figs. 14, 15, 16 and 17.
^' (Larva of the Subjoined Hadena, Hadena subjuncta, Gr. & Rob.)

At two different times, I have found in a truck garden hiding in
the ground, under cabbage plants, near St. Louis, a cut-worm which
may be known by the above name. On one occasion, I also received
the same worm from my friend, Mr. A. Bolter, of Chicago, who found
it in Wisconsin. It is at once distinguished from all others that are
known by several characteristics, but more especially b}'' being
si?eckled as with pepper and salt, when viewed with a pocket lens,
the ground color being flesh-gray, with a tinge of rust color in the
middle of each segment. The head is marked as in Figure 15, each
segment on the back as in Figure 16, and the extremity as in Figure
17 of Plate 1 — these figures being enlarged the better to show the
markings.

Those which I bred, fed voraciously on cabbage leaves during the
night and lay concealed and motionle&'s during the day. Before

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST, 85

changing to chrysalids, they became of a uniform pale dirty yellow,
with the markings almost entirely obliterated. The chrysalis is of the
usual form and the moths appeared between the 2d and 8th of August.
The kind of moth that was produced from these worms is laiuitully
reprec^ented at Plate 1, Figure U, the front wings being marked as in
tne figure with gravish-brown and black, and having a dull flesh-
colored shade. It differs essentially from all those that I have hither-
to described, and belongs to a different genus {Iladena). It was named
Iladena suhjicncta by Guea6e, in his MS. and this name has been re-
Gained by Messrs. Grote & Robinson, in their description of it pub-
lished in the Transactions of the American Entomological Society,
Volume il, pp. 198-9, which will be found below-

HADENi .suB.t:N.CTA, Gr. & Rob.~Larra.-Averag. lengtt 1.60 ioches. Color e^n<K)us^gTray,
5ncUa5ng lo ferruginous iu the middle of e.sch segment. Minutely speckled as wUa pepper and
.alt. I lateral stigmaUl. tripe, scmewh.at lighter th.n the rest of the body An -terrupted
,dors«l and suWors.l >.hite line, the.e lines being quite distinct ou the posterior half and indistinct
,oa the anterior half of each segment. Two distinct spots anteriorly on the dorsum of each seg-
ment; the other .pots obsolete. Head light shiny bro^n, with two outwardly diverging darker
marks. Segaiect 1, with the three longitudinal white lines and a white anterior edge shaded on the
inside with 1^-k browH. Anal aegn^ent with a white transverse line, son^ewhat in the shape of .
.drawn^out W, and with a deep shade above it. Veater glaucous. Legs or the eame color.

ChrysM..-%i a deep brown color, rather short and thick, a^d with two bristles at extremity.
r«,,o-(Pl.l, fig. 14>. Length 0.65; expanse 1.6G. d" ? -AntennsB . .imple. finely and
ahortly ciliate beneath. Caribou, brown. Head with adark frontal line Prothoracic pieces with
a very distinct and deep brown line. Abdomen crested above at base, with ^ l^'l'^^'^l"^^^^^' ^^
in the male. Fore wings, above, blackish browa shaded with carneous. A longitudinal deep
irown basal r.y, shaded i.feriorly, extending outwardly and narrowly to the ^\--^^;'l'ljf'^^
line. Above this ray, the base is tinged with carneous, an4 the basal hiae ts indicated by a dark
gemi.a.te costal stre.k. Transverse anterior line geminate, the outer line the ^'-k-' ^"'^^^l f^^
and eve^y i>^terspaceally waved, nearly pvependicular. Ordinary spots very large, d^Btirictly lim-
ited. The median ss>ace is wide superiorly, but is constricted below the m.edian nervure ; a ong -
tudinaldeeT, brown streak r,iBS alo^g the .ubmediaB fold a^d connects tbe two media:, hues at^Ae-x
^oint of ere^test eottiguity. This atreak becomes the lower margin of the claviform spot wh ch
Tabutts fr^m the tr^sverse anterior li^e, and s-hose upper margin is seen in a very di^^.mct deep
3,rownliae running .outwardly and downwardly obliquely feom the median nervure. Above tue
claviform i-. the large obiculax, p8,le, with a dL-linct annulus. The reniform is wide, of the orai-
^aary shape, with an indistinct central Bhade and the distinct annulus is often obsolete ouiwarOIy.
Wond the reniform, the wing is shaded with eaa-neous to the subterminal Une, this .hade spread-
ing inferiarly. A dilTuse and faint blackish median shade runs from the cos ta downward betveen
^.he ordiKa^'v spots and is discontinued below median nervvre. The transverse posterior line is in-
/-epted abo.-e the reEiform, ruES outwardly straightly along the eostal regjon, thence downwardly
^ver the Berv,.les, bending inwardly beneath the reuiform spot. It is geminate, faint, the lines en-
ao£in- a paler space a^d iuterspaceaiiy Ian ulate. Subterminal liEe pale, preceded by a dp.rK sli.acie,
t"ormiag the usval At shaped mark at the middle, the pciets of the M attaining the external max-
irin. The da^k shading is sometimes ticged with olivaceous before the interual angle as ;ls tue in-
ferior shading of the loEgituOital streak connecting the median lines. The termmal space isblackisH
forown and black ifterspaceitl marks precede the terminal line. The funges are urevea ; the exter-
aal margiu of the wiEg retiz-es inwardly before iaterKal aagle.

Hind wiEgs smoky blackish, paler towards the base, without discernable diseal m«k or linea.
(Under surface pale. The wings terminally »nd eloEg costal edges are covered with powdery squa^
cnatio« with i^termxed dark scales brii^ging th* nervales into relief. Th« fore wings show three
ante, apical white dots and the white subtet-mical shade line emaaates from a fourth and larger dot
just before the apex, these latter at times hardly discemaW^. Pawt di^ca.! <JJ?Ls ; soiaet-mes traces
<sf d»j-k mediae lines uau be iieec f d .bolh wixig£>

FIRST ANNUAL KEPORT OF

THE SMALL WHITE BRISTLY CUT-WORM.
(Larva of the Figure 8 Minor, CcliBna renigera, Stephens)^

During the month of August in North Illinois, a small dirty-white-
cut-worm may frequently be iound in tlower gardens, where it doubt-
less feeds for the most part on the
roots of various flowers. This worm
is represented at Figure 31 h. It
never gets to be more than | of an.
inch in length, and is c&vered with-
distinct, sHff yellow bristles, and may^
o h be popularly known by the above

name. During the fore part of August it descends deeper into the-
ground, and soon changes to a very bright shiny, mahogany brownj

chrysalis, from which in about three weeks afterwards, the motli!

emer,<:es.

This moth is represented (as v/ell as a wood cut can represent it),
at Figure -1 a. It is quite prettily marked, the fore-wings being,
brown, variejrafed with lilac-gray and moss-green, with a deep browrt
spot about the lijiddle and a silvery annulatiori around the kidney-
diaped spot. It is the Celcsna renigera of Stephens of which (7, her-
Jy-wacwZa, Gu6n6eisa p-vnonym, and as it should have a popular name^
it may be called the "> igure 6 Minor,'' in allusion to the silvery edge
of the kidney-spot which almost always reminds one of the figure 8.
In the genus Cdcena the wings are entire, broad and rounded, and
there is a conspicuous tuft on the crown of the head. The species
may at once be distinguished from those of Agrotis and Iladena hj
their smaller size and more rounded appearance..

CEL.iiNA RENiGEEA^ Stephens. — Larva. — Lengtli 0.75 of aa inch. — Color, dusky salmon-yelloW;,,
the dusky dirty appearance, caused by innumerable dark specks all over it. Largest at the four
middle segments and tapering thence each way. A daa-k lateral stripe, distinct on the- middle seg-
ments, indistinct at both ends-, distinguishing feature^ very visible stiff yeUowish bristles, pro-
ceeding from tlie usual spots which are smaU. A dorsal line is indicated uader the glass by twov
indistinct thin lines at the joints of the segments..

CAr?/" "''■«■— Length 0.56 of an inch; concise; ol a b?ight polished mahogany brown, witb
dark eyes and very slightly punctured on the aaterior portion ot the abdominal segments.

Jfliaffo.— J .' panse l.lOinches. Fore wings brownish-gray,, with a more or less determined came-
ous or lilaceous hue. Orbicular spot sub-obsolete ; sometimes entirely obsolete. Reniform spot
of normal shape,moss-grc-en, with asnow-white annulati.on,indistinct above: broad and distinct below..
Ordinary lines lighter. Basal h.alf-line distinct only on costa, and below posterior median nerve..
Transverse anterior single, obliquing but slightly, and bordered posteriorly with a very thin broken^
darker line ; it is moss-green in the middle, and there is a green shade running from it to the- basal
half-line, dividing the sub-basal space. Opposite this green in the median space, is a dark sub-
quadrate almost black spot, and between the stigma the wings are also quite dark. Transverse-
posterior single, posteriorly oblique a little more tha.n i of breadth of wing., then parallel with,
posterior margin, forming at the second nerve a roundish spot which extends to the anal angle, and;
is dark below and moss-green above. Subterminal liae nsuaUy veiy indistinct— merely indicated
by a few dots. A median arcuated band is perceptible, being broader and darker betweeu the stig-
ma and interrupted in the middle by lower portiou of veniform spot. A minute light spot on each
vein at posterior margin. Costa with a light spot at terminus of sub-basal line, of transverse an-
terior, and above reniiorm spots— dark each side of these and at terminus of median band ; con-
colnrous with wing at subterminal space, having four very minute light spots, oneatends of subter-
mmal and transverse posterior lines, aad two between the.Di. Enjig.es concolcraua TOith the viiag,
having,a very fine darker edg©^ "

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 87

Hind wings carneouB-gray at base and interiorly-darker anteriorly and posteriorly and es-
pecially at posterior margin. Nerves and lunule rather dark. Fringes same color as interior of

wins:, with a darker central line. , i _ „„a

Under surface of fore wings brownish-gray, the fringes and transverse posterior darker and
ttie spots faintly .narked at costa. Under surface of hind wings of same color above, lighter be-
low, with the lunule dark and the arcuated band distinct.

Le-s dark-o-ray with light spots at joints ; palpi same color. Head, prothorax and thorax not
quite so purplish as wings. Prothorax with a light margin at junction of wings-the tegul* al.o
with a light spot. Body same color as hind wings above, darker below. Feelers same.

OTHER CUT-WORMS.

Besides the ten distinct cut-worms, whose transformations I have
just recorded, there are two others, which Dr. Fitch has described in
all their stat-es. The one is the "striped" or "corn cut woRxm" as he
calls it, which proves very injurious to corn, by cutting it ofF about
an inch above ground. This worm produces a dusky-gray moth (AffroUs
nigricans, Linn.-var. 7/m/-0, which is distinguished principally by
two coal black spots, one nearly square, placed outside of the centre
of the fore wing, and the other nearly triangular, a little forward of it,
a roundish nearly white spot separating them. The other which Dr.
Fitch has called the "yellow-headed cut-worm," is of a shining livid
color, with a yellowish or chestnut-colored head and a horny spot of
the same color on the top of the first and last rings. It is a large
species and produces the Amputating Brocade moth {Iladena ampii-
tatrix, Fitch), which is figured on page 450, of Hams' work. Ihis
moth is distinguished bv its Spanish-brown upper wmgs, marked with
a large pale kidney-shaped spot, and a broad wavy blue-gray band
near the end. The worm was found by Dr. Fitch to be even more in-
jurious to corn than the striped species, since it severs the lAantMow
ground ; while it also combines the habit of climbing trees during
• the night, according to Harris.

Thus we are now acquainted with the natural history of just one
dozen of\hese cut-worms, while there is fully another dozen whose
habits and history vet remain to be studied. Of one of these especial-
soon to give the complete history. Meanwhile, I will give
brief account of the worm itself, which may be known as
the wheat cut-worm.

On the 10th of October, 1868, 1 received from Mr. F. R. Allen, of
Allenton, Missouri, the following communication:

" Enclosed I send vou some specimens of a worm that seems to
be proving upon the recently sown wheat. My neighbor, Mr. George
W Moore, informed me a day or two ago, that a worm was eating all
his wheat that he had lately sown in oats ground. I went to see what
it was vesterdav, and as I am not entomologist enough to tell 1 refer
them to you. Mr. Moore has learned within a day or two, that tins
same insect is now generally preying on the wheat in Franklin county
that is sown on oats stubble. V/hat is remarkable tl^ey do not yet
trouble the wheat in the same field sown on wheat stubble, ^or dQ

88

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

they seem to feed on the volunteer oats in the same field, but entirely
destroy the young wheat."

Subsequently, upon visiting Allenton, Eureka, and other places
in St. Louis county, I ascertained from L. D. Votaw and others, that
this [worm had been known to attack wheat in the fall lor many
years back. They come to their growth the latter part of October,
descend into <he earth and pass the winter in the chrysalis state. The
only manner in which I can account for their appearing only on that
wheat which was sown on oats stubble, is by supposing that the scat-
tering oats that were left after harvest had sprouted before the wheat,
and had thus attracted the parent moths. On this supposition the
worms had hatched and fed awhile, before the ground was ploughed,
and planted to fall wheat, and this seems the more likely, since the
worms were full-grown, almost as soon as the wheat appeared above
ground. If this supposition be correct, the attacks of this worm can
be effectually prevented by ploughing the land early and keeping the
ground clear of all vegetation until the wheat is planted. No other
rational explanation can be given, fori found by experiment that they
would devour with equal relish the young plants of both oats, wheat,
and a variety of grasses.

In the Canada Farmer for April 15, 1867, an account was given
of the ravages of "cut-worms" on Spring wheat, in the county of Hu-
ron. Judging from the account however, the worm referred to, was
the common "White grub;" but if it be the same as that spoken of
above, the fact can be ascertained by the description which I subjoin
herewith.

The Wheat Cut-worm.— A dark pitchy black cut-worm, the characteristic mark being, a
very distinct pale buff or flesh-colored stigmatal band. Dorsum generally of a brownish shade, the
dorsal line of the same color, with a more or less distinct dingy shade each side of it. The subdor-
sal region is always the darkest part of the worm, being of a pitchy brown ; but ed„ed above, at
junction of dorsum, with a fine light buff-colored line, and generally variegated in the"niiddle, with
very minute light colored irrorations. Eight sealing-wax-like black elevated piliferous spots on
each segment, those on dorsum usually having a white base outwardly. Greatest width at seg-
ments 10 and 11, the spots upon them being also the largest. Head, deep polislied brown, with the
usual inverted Y-shaped white mark, and some white spots at sides ; also with white lips, and per-
fectly white palpi. Cervical shield, of same color as dorsum, but polished, and with the dorsal and
sub-dorsal white lines quite distinct upon it. Caudal plate with a bright cream-colored longi-
tudinal dash (generally constricted in the middle) between two black spots. Venter and legs glassy
glaucous. The young worm is almost uniformly pitchy black, with the light stigmatal band al-
ways visible however. Indeed this band is always constant no matter how much the worms vary in
depth of ground-color.

There are various other naked caterpillars which are frequently
found upon the ground near vegetation of various kinds. Thus du-
ring the months of July and August, a species with the back of each
segment very characteristically marked as represented at Plate 1,
Figure 12, may often be found. It seems to feed on a variety of herbs,
and produces a prettily variegated moth known as Prodenia comme-
linm, Gu6n6e; but though this and other species may have the cutting
habit, they have never attracted notice so far, and I shall pass them
over and proceed at once to suggest the proper preventives and

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 89

REMEDIES AGAINST CUT WORMS.

Natural Kememes. — These cut-worms, like all other vegetable-
feeding- insects, have numerous insect enemies which are continually
on the alert for them, and materially assist us in keeping them in due
[Fig. 32.] bounds. Of those that are parasitic internally may be meii-
^^■^ /""> tioned the minute four- winged flies belonging to the genus
"^1^-:, ' ,.^ Microgasier. One of these which is parasitic on the Army-
;^>|' 'i^ worm (the M. militaris of Walsh) is represented at Fig-
j ^ I ure 32, and it bears a strong resemblance to an nndescribed
species which I have often bred from a cut- worm, described
in the Prairie Farmer as the "Pale cut-worm." The female fly punc-
tures the tender skin of the worm and deposits great numbers of eggs
in the body. These eggs produce maggots which live upon the fatty
parts of the worm, and slowly but surely produce the death of their
victim. AVhen full grown they pierce the skin of the worm and spin
their white silken cocoons, in company, on his body, and in due time
issue forth as flies.

There is also a large yellowish-brown four-winged Ichneumon fly
(the Pa.niscus geminatus of Say), which I have bred from cut worms.
The parent fly deposits a single egg within the body of a worm, but
the maggot hatching from this egg does not cause the worm to die,
till after the latter has entered the earth to become a chrysalis. At
this point the worm suddenly succumbs and the maggot spins a tough,
black, smooth cocoon, and where we expected to see a moth rise to
day-light, we behold in time this Ichneumon fly.

Among the cannibals, that bodily devour these worms, may be
mentioned the Spined Soldier-bug, already referred to on page 77, note,
[Fig. 33.] and whose likeness I produce at Figure 33. This fellow

"^ /^ is such a thorough cannibal, and so serviceable to
\ "^/U-.,^..^man, that his portrait cannot be too well graven on
*^ ;>^^ the mind. It is not unlikely, also, that most of the

/\4/\ ground beetles that are figured in a future chapter on

jf the 10-lined Potato beetle, prey upon cut-worms ; and

the Homely Geopinus referred to in the note on page 77 has been
found to do so, but by far the most efficient insect in slaying these

worms is the larva of the Fiery Ground
beetle {Calosoma caliditm^ Fabr.), which I
represent at Figure 34 a, by the side of its pa-
rent Figure 3-1: h. This larva has very appro-
priately been called the Out-worm lion, by
Dr. Shinier of Mt. Oarroll, Illinois, who gives
the following account of its mode of trans-
formation to the perfect beetle: "The fat,
full grown larva of Calosoma calidum chooses
a hard piece of ground, as a wagon road in
the field, where it bores into to pass the pupa
state. I have seen them many hours in boring a few inches. These

/

90 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

fierce insects often wage terrible battles when they encounter each
other, and they will eat each other as readily as cut- worms, as I found
whenever I put more than one of them into my collecting box. He
that would breed these insects to the perfect state, must pack the dirt
in his breeding box as hard as a wagon road, or he will fail, as I always
did before I saw their operations in the iield. In using moderately
compact earth, the larva digsit over and over, endeavoring to find a
suitably dense place, works up the dirt into balls, until its feet are
clogged up with earth and juices from its mouth, and it sinks ex-
hausted and dies. In a few days after it enters the ground, the beau-
tiful spotted, perfect beetle appp^ars, and, strangely, the smell of the
beetle is peculiar and entirely different from the larva."

Thit Cut-worm lion has quite a formidable appearance, and is ex-
ceedingly agile. It is flattened, of a black color, with six legs upon
the breast, and a pair of sharp hook-like jaws projecting in front of its
head. It pursues the worms in their retreats under the ground, and
seizes them wherever it comes in contact with them. Sometimes a
young Cut-worm lion will seize a worm twice as large as itself, and
will cling with bull dog tenacity to its prey, through all its throes, its
writhings and twistings, till at last the worm succumbs, exhausted,
and the victor bites two or three holes through its skin and proceeds
to suck out its juices.

Some kinds of spiders are also known to prey on cut-worms, and
these unwisely unpopular little animals should always be cherished
and protected. Poultry is also quite efficient in destroying them, and
chickens are better than anj'' other kind. I cannot too strongly urge
their claims as cut-worm destroyers, than by giving the statement of
Mr. Cochran, to-wit: that he believed he could not possibly have
coped Mith the worms without the aid of a large brood of chickens
which he procured for that purpose.

Artificial Remedies. — The climbing cut-worms are easily headed
off by a little vigilance. From the orchard planted upon light, warm
soils they can be driven away entirely by claying the ground about
the trees; a wheelbarrow full is well nigh enough for each treoAvhen
spread around its base and as far as the limbs extend. Tiiis is the
most thorough and lasting. A small strip of tin, three inches wide,
carefully secured around the body of the tree, will effectually prevent
their ascension ; if the tin is old and rusty it will require to be a little
wider. Each night, after the swelling of the bud, an hour or two after
midnight a slight jar of the tree will bring every one on it down, when
they can be caught in a spread sheet and destroyed. This will have
to be followed up till the bud has unfolded into the leaf, after which
there is no longer anything to be apprehended from the vv-orm. The
reasons why the clay is so efficient, are two-fold: 1st — The worms
seem to have an instinctive dislike to crawling over it. 2nd — In drop-
ping from the tree on to the hard surface they are frequently disabled,
and whether di:?abled or not, they cannot immediately burrow into it

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 91

as in sand, and they are all the more exposed to their numerous mid-
night enemies which are ever watching for them.

For the common field cut-worms, I am convinced that there is no
better remedy, as a rule, than hunting and killing them. It is gen-
erally believed that ashes and lime used about plants will keep off
cut-worms, and I might fill pages with recorded experiments, going to
prove the good effects of these substances. The experimenters gen-
erally forget, Iiowever, that there is a period in the life of these worms
when they of themselves go down in the earth and disappear, and
anything applied just before this happens is sure to be heralded forth,
as a perfect remedy. Experiments show, however, that when placed
in a box with separate quantities ot ashes, lime, salt and mold, they
will burrow and hide in all of them, but especially in the ashes and
mold. Soot seems to be more obnoxious to them, and, although I have
not yet had an opportunity to give it a thorough test, I do not wish to
discourage its trial. Fall plowing, to be efficacious, must be done very
late in the fall, when the worms are numbed with cold^ and then I
think it is of doubtful utility further than it exposes them to the at-
tacks ol enemies, including birds.

In a case like that, communicated by Mr. Allen, it would pay ta
dig a narrow ditch around the part of the field infested, the outward
side to be mide smooth and slanting under; for these worms cannot
crawl up a perpendicular bank of earth. On the same principle, many
an one may be entrapped by making smooth holes with a stick around
hills of corn or other plants, and on going over the same ground the
next day, those that are thus entrapped can be crushed by the end of
the same stick. In corn fields that have been subject to the attacks of
cut-worms, it is well to plant so much seed as will enable them to
glut their appetites without taking all the stalks in the hill, and in
this light the following lines contain a deal of wisdom :

" One for the black-bird and one for the crow.
Two for the cut-worm and three to grow."

INSECTS INFESTING THE POTATO,

As the potato forms one of our leading articles of diet, and is
universally cultivated, an accurate knowledge of the insects which
attack it, is of the utmost importance. A very full account of thena
was given in the October and November numbers of the American
Entomologist, and since the editions of those tvfo numbers are en~
tirely exhausted, I cannot do better than to transfer it, for the most
part, to the pages of this report, with such additions and alterations
as I have since found necessary.

We often see paragraphs in the papers, stating that "-THE Potato-
Bug" has been very abundant and destructive in such a month and a fe

92

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

such and such a place. Accompanying these statements, remarks are
frequently added, that "THE Potato Bag" is preyed upon by such and
such insects, so that we may soon expect to see it swept from off the
face of the earth ; and that, even if this desirable event should not
take place, "THE Potato Bug" may be checked and controlled by-
such and such remedies.

Do the worthy men, who indite these notable paragraphs, ever
consider for one moment, that there are no less than eleven distinct
species of bugs, preying upon the potato plant within the limits of
the United States? That many of these eleven species are confined
within certain geographical limits ? That the habits and history of
several of them differ as widely as those of a hog and a horse ? That
■some attack the potato both in the larva state and in the jjerfect or
winged state; others in the perfect or winged state alone ; and others
again in the larva state alone ? That in the case of eight of these in-
sects there is but one single brood every year, while of the remaining
three there are every year from two to three broods, each of them
generated by females belonging to the preceding brood ? That nine of
the eleven feed externally upon the leaves and tenderer stems of the
potato, while two of them burrow, like a borer, exclusively in the
larger stalks? Finally, that almost every one of these eleven species
has its peculiar insect enemies; and that a mode of attack, which will
prove very successful against one, two or three of them, will often
turn oilt to be utterly worthless, when employed against the remain-
der?

THE STALK-BORER— Gor<2/?ia nitela, Guenee.
(Lepidoptera, Noctuidaj.)

^^^' ^■■' This larva (Fig. 35 2,) is of a

livid hue when young, with
light stripes along the body, as
shown in the figure. When full
grown it generally becomes
lighter, with t!ie longitudinal
2 lines broader, and at this time

it more frequently resembles Figure 36. It commonly burrows in
[Fig. 36.] large stalks of the potato ; but is not peculiar

to that plant, as it occurs also in the stalks
of the tomato, and in those of the dahlia and
aster and other garden flowers. I have like-
wise found it boring through the cob of grow-
ing Indian corn, and strangely confining itself to that portion of the
ear: though it is likewise found occasionally in the stem of that plant.
By way of compensation, it is particularly partial to the stem of the
common cocklebur {Xanthium strumariwn); and it it would only
confine itself to such noxious weeds as this, it might be considered as
a friend instead of an enemy. In 1868 it was more numerous than

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 93

usual, and was particularly abundant along the Iron Mountain and
Pacific roads.

Never having found this worm earlier than June and July, nor
obtained the moth from the very earliest matured ones, till the latter
part of August and fore part of September, this insect must necessa-
rily be single brooded, the egg requiring longer to hatch, and the lar-
va longer to develop than of many other moths. Leaving the stalk
in which thej'^ have burrowed the laiter part of July, they descend a
litte below the surface ot the ground and in three days become chrys-
alids. These are of the normal form, with two fine bristles at the ex-
tremity of the body, usually closed so as to form a point, but readi-
ly opened V-shaped at the will of the insect, as with hundreds of
others of the same class. I have had the moths issue as early as the
SOth of August and as late as the 26th of September, and in one in-
stance it emerged during a freezing night, being quite dull and numb
at the time, thus showing beyond a doubt that the moths hybernat©
in a state of torpor, and then deposit their eggs, singly, on the plant
destined for the worm, during the months of April and May, This
moth (Fig, 35, 2) is of a mouse gray color with the fore wings finely
sprinkled with jSTaples-yellow and having a very faint lilac-colored
hue; but distinguished mainly by an arcuated pale line running
across their outer third.

Eemedy — Prevention. — The careful florist, by an occasional close
inspection of his plants about the beginning of July, may detect the
point at which the borer entered, which is generally quite a distance
from the ground, and can then cut him out without injury to the
plant. As this is not feasible in a large potato field, care should be
taken to prevent his attacks another year as far as it is possible to do
so, by hunting for him wherever a vine is seen to suddenly wilt.

THE POTATO STALK-WEEA^IL— Barirfiiw trinotatus, Say.
(Coleoptera, Curciilionidse.)

This insect is more particularly
a Southern species, occurring abun-
dantly in the Middle States, bul, ac-
cording to Dr. Harris, being totally
unknown in New England. I found
it in our own State last summer,
equally as abundant as the preced-
ing species. Indeed, some patches were utterly ruined by it, the vines
appearing as if scalded. The beetle (Fig 37 e) is of a bluish or ash-
gray color, distinguished, as its name implies, by having three shiny
black impressed spots at the lower edge of the thorax. The female
deposits a single egg in an oblong slit about one-eighth inch long,
v/hich she has previously formed with her beak in the stalk of the
potato. The larva subsequently hatches out, and bores into the heart
of the stalk, always, proceeding downwards towards the root. When

u

^IRST ANNUAL REPOKT OP

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 95

full grown, it is a little over one-fourth inch long (Fig. 37, «), and is
a soft whitish, legless grub, with a scaly head. Hence it can
always be readily distinguished from the larva of the Stalk-borer,
which has invariably sixteen legs, no matter how small it may be.
Unlike this last insect, it becomes a pupa (Fig. 37, h) within the po-
tato sLalk which it inliabits; and it comes out in the beetle state about
the last of Aug:ist or the beginning of September. The stalk inhab-
ited by the larva almost always wilts and dies, and this wilting is first
noticed in the latitude of St Louis, about the first of July, So far as
is at present known it attacks no other plant but the potato, and the
perfect beetle, like many other snout-beetles, must of course live
through the winter to reproduce its species in the following spring.

Rkmedy. — Same as with the foregoing species. Burn all the vines
which wilt from its attacks — roots and all, for it almost alwa\'^s works
below ground. The Stalk-borer must be searched for, if one will be
sure of killing him as he leaves the stalk to transform; but as this
Stalk- weevil transforms within the vine, one may be pretty sure of
destroying it by burning the vines when they first wilt.

THE POTATO OR TOMATO-WOIIM— .S';?;!!^^; h-maculata, Haw.
(Lepidoptera, Spliing-id».)

This well known insect, the larva of which is illustrated on the
opposite page (Fig. 38, A), is usually called the Potato-worm, but it is
far commoner on the closely allied tomato, the foliage of which it
often clears off very completely in particular spots in a single night.
Many persons are afraid to handle this worm, Irom an absurd idea that
it has the power of stinging with the horn on its tail. But this is a
vulgar error and the worm is totally incapable of doing any direct
harm to man, either with the conspicuous horn on its tail, or with any
hidden weapon that it may have concealed about its person. In fact,
this dreadful looking horn is not peculiar to the Potato-worm, but is
met with in almost all the larvre of the large and beautiful group to
which it belongs (^Sphinx family.) It seems to have no special use,
but, like the bunch of hair on the breast of the turkey cock, to be a
mere ornamental appendage.

When full fed, which is usually about the last of August, the Po-
tato worm burrows under ground and shortly afterwards transforms
into the pupa state (Fig. 38, B). The pupa is often dug up in the spring
from ground where tomatoes or potatoes were grown in the preced-
ing season ; and most persons that meet with it suppose that the sin-
gular, jug-handled appendage at one end of it is its tail. In reality,
however, it is the tongue-case^ and contains the long pliable tongue
which the future moth will employ in lapping up the nectar of the
flowers, before which, in the dusky gloom of some warm, balmy sum-
mer's evening, it hangs for a few moments suspended in the air, like
the glorified ghost of some departed botanist.

The moth itself (Fig. 38,0 ) was formerly confounded with the To-

96 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

bacco-worm moth {S2)Mnx Carolina^ Linnreus), which indeed it very
closely resembles, having the same series of orange colored spots on
each side of the abdomen. The gray and black markings, however, of
the wings differ perceptibly in the two species; and in the Tobacco-
worm moth there is always a more or less faint white spot or dot near
the centre of the front wing, which is never met within the other spe-
cies. In Connecticut and other northern States where tobacco is grown,
the Potato-Avorra often feeds upon the leaves of the tobacco plant, the
true Tobacco-worm being unknown in those latitudes. In the more
southerly States, on the other hand, and in Mexico and in the West
Indies, the true Potato- worm is unknown, and it is the Tobacco-worm
that the tobacco growers have to fight. While in the intermediate
country both species may frequently be captured on the wing in the
same garden and upon the same evening. In other words, the Potato-
worm is a northern species, the Tobacco- worm a southern species ;
but on the confines of the two districts exclusively inhabited by each,
they intermingle in varying proportions, according to the latitude.

Remedies. — This insect is so large and conspicuous that the most
effectual mode of destroying it is by hand-picking. In destroyingthe
worms in this manner care should be taken to leave alone all those
specimens which one finds covered with little white oval cocoons, as
these are the cocoons of little parasites* which materially assist us in
its subjugation.

THE STRIPED BLISTER-BEETLE— Li/Z/a vittata, Fabr.
(Coleoptera Meloidse.)

The three insects figured and described above infest the potato
plant in the larva state only, the two first of them burrowing inter-
nally in the stalk or stem, the third feeding upon its leaves externally.
Of these three the first and third are moths or scaly-winged insects
(order Lepidoptera)^ so called because the wings of all the insects
belonging to this large group are covered with minute variously-col-
ored scales, which, on the slightest touch, rub off and rob the wing of
all its brilliant coloring. The second of the three, as well as the next
four foes of the potato, which I shall notice, are all of theiii beetles
or shelly-winged insects (order Coleoptera)^ so called because what
would normally be the front wing is transformed here into a more or
less hard and shelly wing-case, which, instead oi being used as an or-
gan of flight, is employed merely to protect and cover the hind wings
in repose. To look at any beetle, indeed, almost any inexperienced
person would suppose that it has got no wings at all ; but in reality
nearly all beetles have full sized wings snugly folded up under their
wing-cases, and, whenever they choose it, can fly with the greatest

* Ther9 are two distinct pamsites which attack thia worm, both species beina; very much of a
size. One issues from the worm ani spins a smooth white silken cocoon which it fastens ly one end
to the i^kin of the worm, and in due time produces a fly which Mr. Norton inf'irms lue \f an unde-
Beribed species of Blacus, West. (Braconides polymorphi). The other species forms an imrieuse laasa
of loose woolly cocoons and produces an apparently undescribed species of Micragaster.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 97

ease. This is the case with the four following beetles which infest the
potato. As these four species all agree with one another in living
under ground and feeding upon various roots, during the larva state,
and in emerging to attack the foliage of the potato, only when in the
course of the summer they have passed into the perfect or beetle
state ; it will be quite unnecessary to repeat this statement under the
head of each of the four. In fact, the four are so closely allied, that
they all belong to the same family of beetles, the blister-beetles
{Lytta family) — to which also the common imported Spanish-fly or
blister-beetle of the druggist appertains — and all of them will raise
just as good a blister as that does, and are equally poisonous when
taken internally in large doses. In Missouri, these blister-beetles
were more numerous and more injurious in 1868 than the dreaded
Colorado Potato-beetle.

The Striped Blister-beetle (Fig. 39) is almost exclusively a south-
J^ig- 390^ em species, occurring in particular years very abundantly
on the potato vine in Central and Southern Illinois, and in
our own State, though according to Dr. Harris, it is also
occasionally found even in New England. In some speci-
mens, the broad outer black stripe on. the] wing-cases is
divided lengthways by a slender yellow line, so that instead
o^ tioo there are three black stripes on each wing-case ; and
in the same field all the intermediate grades between the two varie-
ties may be met with; thus proving that the four-striped individuals
do not form a distinct species, as was formerly supposed by the Euro-
pean entomologist, Fabricius, but are mere varieties of the same
species to which the six-striped individuals appertain.

The late Samuel P. Boardman, of Lincoln, Illinois, discovered
that this Striped Blister-beetle, like the Colorado beetle, eats all other
potato tops in preference to Peach-blows. (See N'. Y. Sem. Tribune^
July 13, 186S.) This is certainly a new fact, so far as regards the for-
mer species, though it has long been ascertained to be true of the
latter, but as I shall presently show, the Margined Blister-beetle has
the same tastes.

THE ASH-GRAY BLISTER-BEETLE*— Li/f/a cinerea, Fabr.

This species (Fig. 40 «, male) is the one commonly found in the
more northerly parts of the Northern States, where it usually takes
the place of the Striped Blister-beetle figured above. It is of a uni-
form ash-gray color; but this color is given it by the presence upon

* In the male of this species, but not in the female, the iirst two joints of the antennje are
greatly elongnted and dilated ; which is also the case with the species next to be referred to. (Fig.
40 d, represents the male antenna^ above ; that of female below.) Hence, in splitting up the exten-
sive and unwieldy old genus (Lytta), these and certain allied species have been very properly placed
in a genus by themselves (Mocrobasis); while the Striped Blistpr-beetle and the Margined Blister-
beetle, not possessing this peculiarity, are grouped together under a distinct genus (Epicauta).
Practical men, however, -who do not desire to trouble their heads with these niceties, will find it most
convenient to class them all together under the old genus (Lytta) ; and this we have accordinglj
done.

7 R S E

98

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

its body of minute ash-gray
scales or sliort hairs, and
whenever these are rubbed
off, which happens almost as
readily as on the wings of a
butterfly, the original black
color of its hide appears. It
attacks not onl}" potato vines,
but also honey-locusts, and
especially the English or Windsor bean, and I found it quite abun-
dant on the Early Snap bean at Hermann, last summer. It also at-
tacks the foliage of the apple-tree, and likewise gnaws into the young
fruit.

THE BLACK-RAT BLISTER-BEETLE -L^/^a murina, Le Conte.

This species (Fig. 40 h, male) is sometimes found upon the potato
in the month of July, and early in August. In 1867 it was found by
Mr. D. W. Kaufiman, to swarm on the potato vines near Des Moines,
Iowa; but I have not yet met with it in Missouri.

THE BLACK BLISTER-BEETLE— Ly/^o atrata, Fabr.

This species is very similar in appearance to the Black-rat Blister-
beetle; the latter. being distinguishable from it only by having four
raised lines placed lengthwise upon each wing-case and by the two
first joints of the antennfe being greatly dilated and lengthened in
the males as shown at Figure c. The Black Blister-beetle appears in
August and September, and is very common on the flowers of the
Golden-rod. I learned from several parties, while attending the Oc-
tober meeting of the Meramac Horticultural Society, at Eureka, that
it had been quite numerous on the potatoes in that vicinity, and that
they did much damage in some patches. The severe drouth of the
summer had retarded the development of the tubers, so that this
beetle attacked the vines before the latter were formed; but as a gen-
eral rule, it makes its appearance too late in the season to do great
damage.

THE MARGINED BLISTER-BEETLE*— Li/«a marginaia, Fabr.

[Fig. 41.] This species (Fig. 41) may be at once recognized by its
, general black color, and the narrow ash-gray edging to its
wing-cases. It usually feeds on certain wild plants ; but I
found it quite abundant on potatoes last summer, both in our
own State and in Illinois. It appears not to attack the Peach
/VBIlVN^Blow variety, for Mr. Wm. Brown, of Eureka, informs me that
jKPj lie had a patch of Quaker Kussetts by the side of another
/ \ patch of Peach Blows, and while the former were entirely
eaten up by it, the latter were untouched.

*This is the nam? formerl.y given by almost all entomologists to this species ; and a most ap-
propriate one it is, in view of "the remarkable ash-gray margin of its black wing-cases {elytra). But
of late years it has been discovered, that, as long ago as the middle of the last century, and several

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 99

Remedies. — The same remedies will apply equally to all five of
the Blister-beetles that have just been described. Let it be remem-
bered that during the heat of the day, the§e beetles are ready with
their wings and may be driven from the vines. Thus the most prac-
tical and efficient mode of destroying them, is to drive them into a ■
windrow of hay or straw, and kill them -by setting fire to it. As they
all appear rather late in the season, I should recommend the planting
of early varieties, which will be more likely to escape their attacks;
and especially of the Peach Blow variety, the leaves of which seem
to be more distasteful to them than those of any other variety.

TIIE THREE-LINED LEAF-BEETLE— Lema t?iZi>!ca/o, Olivier.— (Coleoptera,Clirysomelida2.)

The three first insects, described and figured above as infesting

]Fig. 42.] ^j^g potato-plant, attack it only in the

|| larva state. The five next, namely the

^3^^v |;i| J^ ("^"3 ^^^® Blister-beetles, attack it exclu-

^STv^^^^tM^ T*^ Y^y sively in the perfect state. The three

^^^^"^^i^ Vh ^^Ik 7^ ^^^'^^ remain to be considered attack it

or^-' ^- ' "^ ' M. ^^^^^ ^^^ ^'^® larva and in the perfect

<^^^^^^^^^^^ ^"^1 T^S^' ^^'^^^^ ^^''^ SO underground to pass into

(/. ^^^^^^y p I't^^iyKhe pupa state, in which state— like

^^V '^V all other Beetles, without exception —

they are quiescent, and eat nothing at all.

The larva of the Three-lined Leaf-beetle may be distinguished from
all other insects that prey upon the potato by its habit of covering
itself with its own excrement. In Figure i2 a, this larva is shown in
profile, both full and half grown, covered with the soft, greenish ex-
crementitious matter which from time to time it discharges. Figure
42 c, gives a somewhat magnified view of the pupa ; and Figure 42 h,
shows the last few joints of the abdomen of the larva, magnified, and
viewed, not in profile, but from above. The vent of the larva, as will
be seen from this last figure, is situated on the upper surface of the
last joint, so that its excrement naturally falls upon its back, and by
successive discharges is pushed forward towards its head, till the whole

years before Fabricius named and described this insect as the "Marpned Blister-Beetle" (f;i/»a
maryimla), it >Yas named and described as the " Ash-gray Blister-beetle (Lytta cmerca) hy h oer-
ster. Hence, in accordance with the inexorable " la^v of priority," the obedient scientihc world
has been called upon to adopt Foerster's name for this species ; and as two species belonging- to the
same genus can not, of course, have the same specific name, the true Ash-gray Llister-beetle of
Fabricius {Lytta cmerea), which is really ash-gray all over, has been re-christened by the name of
" Fabricius' Blister-beetle" (Lutta Fabricii.) Positively, this continual chopping- and changing in
scientilic nomenclature is getting to be an unbearable nuisance, and imist be put a stop to. Other-
wise one-half of the time of eve.T entomologist, which might be much better occupied m studying
out scientific f,n Is, will be frittered away in studying out scientific phrcses. ,,,,„„_ . ,,

Manv writers, in giving the scientific designation of an insect, neglect to add the name of the
author who first described it. This practice often leads to err<-r, uncertainty and confusion, as the
preceding example will at once show. If, for instance, we write simply " I^'Jtf c,ne,ea, how can
the reado^r tell whether we mean the species described under t;hat name by Foerster, or the very dis-
tinct species described under the very same name "cinerca" by Fabricius ? Whereas, U we add the
author's name, all doul,ts upon the subject are at once removed; and we can snap our ung_ers at
those wearisome and interminable disputes about the priority of n.mes and the law of piiority,
Tvhich take up so much space in scientific papers, while they add absolu eiy nothing to our knowl-
edge of the facts recorded by the finger of God in the great book of xNature.

"iOO FIRST ANNUAL KEFOKT OF

upper surface of the insect is covered with it. In other insects, wliicii
do not indulge in this singular practice, the vent is situated either at
the extreme tip of the abdomen or on itsjxjwer surface.

There are several otjier laryge, feeding upon other plants, which
commonly wear cloaks of tliia^strange material, among which may
be mentioned one which is very common upon the Sumach, and which
produces a jumping, oval Leaf-beetle (Blephar^'da rkois, Foerster),
about a quarter of an inch long, and of a yellow color, speckled with
brick-red. The larvcie of certain Tortoise-beetles (Cassida), some of
which feed on the Morning Glory and the Sweet Potato vines, adopt
the same practice, but in their case there is a forked process at the
tail which curves over their backs and receives the requisite supply
of excrement.

Many authors have supposed that the object of the larva, in all
these cases, is to protect its soft and tender body from the beat of the
sun. This can scarcely be the correct explanation, because then they
would throw away their parasols in cold cloudy weather, which they
do not do. In all probability, the real aim of Nature, in the case of
all these larva?, is to defend them from the attacks of birds and of can-
nibal and parasitic insects.

There are two broods of this species every year. The first brood
of larvae may be found on the potato vine toward the latter end of
June, and the second in August. The first brood stays underground
about a fortnight before it emerges in the perfect beetle state ; and
the second brood stays there all winter, and only emerges at the be-
F'^' %'^ ginning of the following June. The perfect beetle [^^'^s- «•!
(Fig. 43) is of a pale yellow color, with three black
.stripes on its back, and bears a general resem-
^ I blance to the common Cucumber-beetle(Z)^a5r^^/c«
^'Hittata, Fabr., Fig 44). From this last species, how-
ever, it may be readily distinguished by the remarkable
pinching in of the sides of its thorax, so as to make quite a lady-like
waist there, or what naturalists call a " constriction." It is also on the
average a somewhat larger insect, and differs in other less obvious
respects. As in the case of the Colorado Potato-beetle, the female,
after coupling in the usual manner, lays her yellow eggs (Fig. 42 d)
on the unier surface of the leaves of the potato plant. The larv^
hatching from these require about the same time to develop, and when
full grown descend in the same manner into the ground, where they
transform to pupse (Fig. 42 c) within a small oval chamber, from which
in time the perfect beetle comes forth.

The Three-lined Leaf-beetle, in certain seasons, is a great pest in
the Eastern States ; but, it has never yet occurred in the Valley of the
Mississippi in such numbers as to be materially injurious.

TflE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

101

THE CUCUMBER FLEA-BEETLE— HaZ/ica cwcumeM's.*— Harris.
(Coleoptera, Chrysomelldat;.)

This minute Beetle (Fig. 45) belongs to the Flea-beetles {Ilaltica
tFig-. 45.] family), the same sub-group of the Leaf-beetles ( Phytophaga)
l^V^ to which also appertains the notorious St^el-blue Flea-beetle
^{Ilaliica chalyhea, lUiger), that is such a pest to the vineyard-
ist. Like all the rest of the Flea-beetles, it has its hind thighs
greatly enlarged, which enables it to jump with much agility. It is
not peculiar to the potato, but infests a great variety of plants, includ.
ing the cucumber, from which it derives its name. It operates by-
eating minute round holes into the substance of the leaf which it at-
tacks, but often not so as to penetrate entirely through it. Li South
Illinois whole fields of potatoes may often be observed looking seared
ana yellow, and with their leaves riddled with the round holes made
by this insect. The larva feeds internally upon the substance of the
leaf, like that of the closely-allied European Flea-beetle of the turnip
{Haltlca nemorum, Linn.); and, from its near relationship to that in-
sect, we may infer that it goes underground to assume the pupa state,
that it passes through all its stages in about a month, and that there
ai-e two or three broodfe of them in the course of the same season.

THE COLOIIADO POTATO-BEETLE— Dorj/;)ftoro \0-lineata, Say.
(Coleeptera, Chrysomelidae.)

ITS PAST HISTORY AND FUTURE PROGRESS.

[Fig. 46.]

Up to the autumn of 1865, it was generally supposed by economic
entomologists, that this destructive insect had existed from time imme-
morial in the Northwestern States, feeding upon some worthless weed
or other; and that of late years, from some unexplained cause, it had
all of a sudden taken to attacking the potato-plant. In Octo])er, 1S65,

* Erronpously considered by some authors as identical with the HalHca pubcscens of lUiger.
In this last species, .according to Dr. J. L. LeConte, the thorax, instead of being- shming, as !U our
iusect, is opaque, with large, dease punctures.

102 FIRST ANNUAL EEPOKT OF

Mr. Walsh showed that originally its exclusive home was in the Rocky-
Mountains, whore it had been known to exist for at least forty-five
years feeding upon a wild species of potato peculiar to that region
{Solarium rostratum^ Dunal); that when civilization marched up to
the Rocky Mountains, and potatoes began to be grown in that region,
it gradually acquired the habit of feeding upon the cultivated potato ;
that in 1859, spreading eastward from potato patch to potato patch, it
had reached a point one hundred miles to the west of Omaha city, in
Nebraska; that in 1861, it invaded Iowa, gradually, in the next three
or four years, spreading eastward over that State; that in 1864 and
18G5, it crossed the Mississippi, invading Illinois on the western bor-
ders of that State, from the eastern borders of North Missouri and
Iowa, upon at least five different points on a line of two hundred
miles; and that in all probability it would in future years " travel on'
wards to the Atlantic, establishing a permanent colony wherever it
goes, and pushing eastward at the rate of about fifty miles a year."
{Practiced Entomologist^ Vol. I, No. 1.) A remarkable peculiarity in
the eastern progress of tiiis insect was subsequently pointed out by
the same v/riter, in 18G6, namely, that "in marching through Illinois
in many separate columns, just as Sherman marched to the sea, the
southern columns of the grand army lagged far behind the northern
columns." {Ihid^ II, p. 14.)

Now, let us see how far the predictions above, have been verified
By the autumn of 1866, the Colorado Potato-beetle, which appears to
have invaded the south-west corner of Wisconsin at as early a date as
1862 (Ilnd, II, p. JOl), had already occupied and possessed a large part
of the cultivated or southern parts of that State; and in Illinois if we draw
a straight line to connect Chicago with St. Louis, nearly all the region
that lies to the north-west of that line was overrun by it. It subse-
quently invaded parts ot South Illinois, occurring in Union, Marion,
and Effingham counties, in 1868; and already in 1867 it had passed
through the eastern borders of North and Central Illinois into West-
ern Indiana, and the south-west corner of Michigan; and finally, in
1868 it made its appearance in many different places in Indiana, and
as the following communication from a Cincinnati correspondent of
the Ohio farmer, under date of July, 1868, will show, it has even
spread into Ohio.

" About three years ago when in your office at Cleveland, you
presented me with samples of this devastating insect, the first I had
seen; liiey have been preserved in the collection of one of the best
entomologists ot Ohio. You had received tiie beetles from some cor-
res])ondent in Iowa, where it was then ravaging the crops and where
it continues to be very destructive. We soon learned that the insects
were progressing eastward at the computed rate of about thirty miles
a year, and we began to calculate the time when we might expect its
appearance in Ohio — which we did not anticipate for some years.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 103

"Having crossed the Mississippi at Rock Island tlie insects soon
traversed the State of Illinois and reached the shores of Lake Michi-
Jr^" ere it mi.ht have met a watery grave, but, unfortunately its
coul-se was onlv deilected southward, and there were other cohostsot
the invaders, t^aversin, lower parallels, so that_ by ^--jS-^'^^^f;.
force was multiplied and great fears were anticipated by the potato
growe s of Noi'hern Indiana and Ohio, and it was supposed tha
NorUiern Ohio would be invaded before the Southern portion of this

^^''^" At the last annual meeting of the Indiana Horticultural Society
in January 1868, the existence of this insect was reported m severa^
counties in the north-western part of that Stae during ^^^^^^^f^^f
us to apprehend that the day of their approach to us was not so dis-
tant IS we had fondlv hoped. Correspondents now iniorm us hat
till re^tle has reached Lfayette, Indianapolis, Danville and other
points of central Indiana, so that its progress eastward continues with
increasing speed.

"We'have now to record the actual presence of the Ten-lmed
Spearman, {Dorj/phora 10-Uneata;) in the south-western corner of
Ohio! a veW few specimens of this pest having been taken withm the
past week in Hamilton county."

Thus it appears that its average annual progress towards the east
has been upwards of seventy miles. At the same rate of progression it
will touch the Atlantic ocean in about ten years Irom now, or A. v,

^" But " it will be asked, " how could any entomologists make the
mistake of supposing that the Colorado Potato-beetle had always ex-
S n the Northwestern States V The answer is, that, as was proved
three years ago in the article already referred to they inadvertently
confL'nded together two entirely distinct but very closely aU.ed spe
eies the bogus Colorado Potato-beetle (Dor;/p/wraju,iota, Cxermarj,
ani' e true Colorado Potato-beetle {Donjphora lO-hneata,^ bay).
The fo mer of these has existed in the Sonth-west from tnne unme-
mtial and has Ipng since been known to feed in tl-arva state upo
the horse-nettle (Solanum caroUnmse^hinn,) ^viM plant whicli is
exceed ngly adundant in our own State. In 1863 Mr Glover stated
ft h "ha'd found an insect similar to the Ten-striped Speamanor^
true Colorado Potato^beetle]cuithecom,nonhors.ne^^^^^

lAnr. DoparimenlRep.,]}-^'^)- In 1*1 "« assureu
nsect, found by him on the horse-nettle in Georgia fe" y^;;%^f°7;
was the bogus Colorado Potato-beetle iD-Juncta)jn^ Montgomery
Walter had also found it feeding upon the I^-'Pla " Me"^;-"'^^^^^:
Alabama." I discovered this same species •"/«"'" ;^J"^fJ^' 3
ing in conjunction with its larv,e "P°" VP^,^"*v'Vl T Lt w ith in
been nothing else but the horse-nettle ; and last f^" ^ ^^""'^'Vd
ffreat numbers in St. Louis and Jefferson counties in this State, ieed
SruportU^-me plant, in company ^ larvre; and in one in-

^^^ FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

Stance the larvae of both the true and the bogus species occurred in
company. Thus it appears to inhabit at least five southerly re<^ions
namely South Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Georgia and AlabanTa. '
The true Colorado Potato-beetle as has been already stated only
immigrated into Illinois in 1864, and in its native home, the Rocky
Mountains, feeds naturally upon another wild species of potato, which
IS quite distinct from the horse-nettle, and is peculiar to the Eocky
Mountain region. Again, the former species has never yet been
known to attack the cultivated potato, and in all likelihood never will
do so ; for, as it has existed in all likelihood never will do so • for as
it has existed in Illinois, for at least 14 years, and in Georgia for at
least 44 years, without ever having been known to attack this plant
which has been growing all that time in these two States, it is not at
all probable that it will do so at any future time. The latter species
on the other hand, acquired this habit, as was shown before in the'
region of the Rocky Mountains, when for the first time the pot'ato was
introduced there, some twenty years ago; and from that region the
potato-feeding race of this insect has since been spreadin- further
and further every year towards the east. Finally the bogus Colorado
Potato-beetle is more peculiarly a southern species, occurrin- in the
more southerly portion of Illinois, and in Missouri, Kentucky Geor-ia
and probably Alabama,while the true ColoradoPotato-beetle is ori final-
ly an Alpme species,its native home being the canons (kanvons) of the
Kocky Mountains, and it therefore thrives best and spreads fastest in
the more northerly regions, such as Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota Wis-
consin and North Illinois ; while in South Illinois, Missouri, and Kan-
sas, it neither thrives so well nor spreads so rapidly.

The question whether the true Colorado Potato-lDeetle has existed
tor an indefinitely long time in the country that lies to the east of the
Mississippi river, or whether it is not the bogus Colorado Potato-
beetle that has there been mistaken for it, while the true Colorado
Potato-beetle has in reality immigrated into that country from the
Rocky Mountain region within the last four or five years, may seem to
some of merely theoretical interest. It is, however, of great practi-
cal importance. On the first supposition it is not probable that this
bitter enemy of the potato will travel onwards and onwards towards
the Atlantic; on the second supposition it will most likely traverse
Ohio within a year or two, spread like a devouring flame through the
great potato-growing State of Michigan, and finally pass eastwards
into Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. I shall, therefore
briefly point out the minute but invariable characters which distin-
guish them both in the larva and perfect beetle states.
■ I had an excellent opportunity of comparing the larvae ofjunGfa
with those of 10-li7iea(a, from alcoholic specimens which were kindly
sent to Mr. Walsh by Mrs. H. C. Freeman, of Cobden, Illinois, and
from numerous living specimens which I found around St. Louis.'
At Figure 46, the true ColoradoPotato-beetle is represented in all

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

105

its yaried stages ; 5, 5, h representing the larvns of three different

growths

and sizes. In the an-
nexed Figure 47, 5, 5, represents
the full grown larvae of the bo-
gus Colorado Potato-beetle. It
I will be seen at once that the
head of the former is black, that
the first joint behind the head is
pale and edged with black be-
hind only, that there is a double
row of black spots along the side of the body, and that the legs are
black, the ground-color of the body being of a Venetian-red. In the
other larva^CFig. 47 J), on the contrary, the head is of a pale color,
the first joint behind the head reddish-brown and edged all round
with black; there is but a single row of black spots along the side of
the body and the legs are pale, while the ground color of Ihe body is
of a pale cream, tinged with pink or flesh color. Such are the distin-
guishing characteristics of the two larva?; but itis an interesting fact
that these characters are not always constant. Thus the individuals
of the second (last summer's) brood of 10-Uneata larvae which fed
on the horse-nettle in my garden were all of them much paler than
were those of the first, potato-feeding brood, from which they had de-
scended ; and furthermore the lower row of spots was very indistinct
and in many entirely obsolete, while the head, instead of being black
was entirely brown. Whether this variation from the normal type
w^as due to the food-plant or not, I shall not at present offer an opin-
ion, but I should have been doubtful about the species had I not bred
the perfect beetle (10-Uneata) from them. Again as I shall immedi-
ately show the young larva of J/' i^ic^ti^ similates in its markings the ma-
ture larva of IC-Uneata.

The eggs of 10-lineata (Fig. 46, a, a) are of a translucent orange-
red color, while those oi junota (Fig. 47, a, a) are whitish, with a faint
tinge of flesh-color, and still more translucent. The newly hatched
larvse of the former are of a dark Venetian-red, and they become
lighter as they grow older, while the newly hatched larvae of the lat-
ter have the body as light as the full grown individuals. Singularly
enough, however, the newly hatched larvaa oijuncta instead of having
the light yellow head and the single row of spots of the mature in-
dividuals, have a brown head and hoo rows of spots, the lower bemg
less distinct than the upper row, and placed exactly in the same posi-
tion as the lower row on the mature larvae of lO-lineata (see Fig. 46 h,
lower figure 3.

I subjoin a more full description of Doryphora juncta. That of the larva of Boryphora 10-
Uneata will be found in Dr. Fitch's N. Y. Reports, Vol. Ill, pp. 231-2. According to Dr. Fitch,
the ground color of this last larva is "pale-yellow" in the mature state ; according to Dr. Shimer,
in his excellent article on the preparatory stages of this insect, it is "orange." In the immature
larvw it is almost always of a dull Venetian-red, though in the mature larva the color becomes

lOS FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

lighter. Indeed in some instances it becomes almost as pale as that of D. June fa. I saw a num-
ber oE such pale individuals among the late broods of last summer, though I had never seen them
60 pale before, notwithstanding I have witnessed great numbers of them every .year, since 1863.

DouypHORA JUXCTA, Germar. — Mature /arua.— General color a pale yellowish flesh-color. Head
bright gamboge-yellow, with the antenna? placed behind the base of the mandibles, short and rery
robustly conical, three-jointed, joints 2 and 3 black. Precisely as in lO-lineata, there are six small
fiinide black eyes upon each side, one pair longitudinally arranged and placed below the antenna*
the other two pairs arranged in a square and placed a little above and behind the antenna ; tip of
the mandibles black. Body, with the dorsum of joint 1 composed of a separate transverse horny
plate, rounded at the sides, of a rich shiny vandyke-brown, with the edges somewhat raised, and
jet black and with a fine line of a lighter color running through the middle from the posterior to
the anterior edge. Joints 1—3 each, with a lateral horny black tubercle, that of joint 1 placed
below and behind the horny prothoracic plate, and enclosing a spiracle. Joints 4—11 each with a
similar lateral tubercle enclosing a spiracle; but the row composed of these eight tubercles is
placed a little above the row of three tubercles on joints 1—3, and the last four of the eight are
gradually smaller and smaller, until that on joint 8 is reduced to a simple black spiracle. Legs pale
j'ellow ; coxic exteriorly dark brown, the two hinder pairs each more and more so, with a geminate
horny plate above each, which becomes more and more brown in each successive pair. An exterior
dusky dot, or small spot, on the tip of the femur and of the tibia. Tarsus small, one-jointed,
brown, and witli a black claw.

The body has a distinct translucent dorsal heart-line, and has usually a shade of the same color
both above and below the lateral row of black tubercles ; while there are two transverse dark-
brown bands across the extreme tip of the body, which is used as an anal proleg. This larva, when
well fed, is very smooth and swollen, though it soon becomes wrinkled after fasting. The pink
tint of the body is more intense on the neck and between the legs.

Now let us see what are the differences in the perfect beetle state
of these two insects, in which state even a practised entomologist
would, at first sight, be apt to confound them together. Indeed, so
minute are the differences, that in a drawing of the natural size, it is
scarcely possible to exhibit them, but with the greatly enlarged leg
and wing-case of each species, which are given in the foregoing figures
we shall readily be enabled to do so. Figure 46, (/, J, exhibits the true
Colorado Potato-beetle ; Figure 47, c, the bogus Colorado Potato-beetle,
each of its natural size. Figure 46, e, shows the left wing-case enlarged,
and Figure 46, Z', an enlarged leg of the former; Figure 47, a, tlie left
wing-case enlarged, and Figure 47, e, an enlarged leg of the latter.
On a close inspection it will be perceived that in the former (Fig. 46,
e) the boundary of each dark stripe on the wing-cases, especially to-
wards the middle, is studded with confused and irregular punctures,
partly inside and partly outside the edge of the dark stripe ; that it is
the third and fourth dark stripes, counting from the outside, that are
united behind; and that in the leg both the knees and the feet are
black. In the latter (Fig. 47, d), or the contrary, the dark stripes are
accurately edged by a single regular row of punctures placed in a
groove {st7Ha)] it is the second and third stripes — not the third and
fourth — counting from the outside, that are united behind, the space
between them being almost always brown; and the leg is entirely
pale, except a black spot on the middle of the front of the thigh.

The spots on the thorax, in either of the above two species, are
normally eighteen in number, arranged in the same very peculiar
pattern which may be seen both in Figure 46, 6?,c?, and in Figure 47, g\
and precisely the same variations in this complicated pattern occur in
either species.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. ^^*

Tims, these t^o beetles differ essentially from one another upon a
strict comparison ; but the general resemblance is so grea tlmt t is
not to be wondered at that the two have been confounded together
by several otherwise well qualified observers.

Habits of the Colorado Potato-beetle. -This insect ca7i ny,
though it does so very reluctantly and only during the heat ot the
div Its wings, like those of several allied species, are ol a bngUt
rose'-color, and ^ith its cream-colored body, and the five black stripes
upon each wing-case, it presents a beautiful appearance as it flies
abroad in the clear light of the sun. Its translonnations ^Y^;;^ fiist
made known by myself in the Prairie Fanner lor August b, 1863.
Subsequentlv, in 18G6, Dr. Shimer, of Mt. Carroll, detailed some addi-
tional particulars bearing on its habits, in a paper which he pubhshe^d
in the Practical Entomologist (vol. 1, pp. S4-85). In the latitude of
St Louis there are three broods during the year, the last brood win-
tering over in the beetle state underground. They are usually dug
up in the spring of the year in land that had been planted to potatoes
the vear before. The beetles issue of their own accord Irom the
ground about the first of May, and the last brood of beetles enters the
ground to hybernate during the month of October. Though m gen-
eral terms, this beetle may be said to be three-brooded, yet it may be
found at almost any time of the year in all its different stages^
This is owing to the fact that the female continues to deposit her eggs
in patches from time to time— covering a period of about forty days ;
and also from the fact that among those larvae which all hatch out in one
day some will develop and become beetles a week and even ten days
earlier than others. Thus it may be that some of the late individuals
of the third brood pass the winter in the pupa state, though the nor^
mal habit is to first, transform to beetles. Each female is capable ot
depositing upwards of a thousand eggs before she becomes barren,
and in from thirty to forty days from the time they were deposited,
they will have produced perfect beetles. These beetles are again
capable of depositing eggs in about two weeks after issuing from the
ground, and thus, in about fifty days after the egg is laid, the oflsprmg
bedns to propagate. The pupa of the Colorado Potato-beetle is re-
presented at Figure 4G, c. It is formed in a little cavity which the
larva had made^perfectly smooth and hard, and it is of the same color
as the larva. The beetle, on first, emerging from it, is quite p^^le ana
soft, without any markings whatever.

Unlike many other noxious insects, this larva is not a general
feeder, but is confined to plants belonging to the potato family {^ota^
vacece\ and especially to the genus to which the potato belongs
(Solanum). Occasionally it feeds on the tomato, on the ground-cher-
xy{Physalis\2.n^ on the imported Jamestown-weed, or gympson-
weed (Datura). Itprefers the horse-nettle {SoJamtm oaroUnense) to
some varieties of the potato, and were it not that the nettle is con-
Eidered a nuisance, on account of the difficulty of eradicating it when

108

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

once introduced, it would be a good plan to encircle a potato field
with a row of nettles, so as to concentrate the insects, and thus more
readily destroy them. It is also even more destructive to the egg-
plant than to the potato. Now, the egg-plant, the horse-nettle, aTd
the potato, all three of them belong to the same genus {Solanvm),
as the wild plant upon which the larva originally fed in the Rocky
Mountain region; but the egg-plant and the horse-nettle are botani-
cally more closely related to the last than is the potato ; being, like
the Rocky Mountain potato, covered with thorny prickles, while the
cultivated potato is perfectly smooth. On the other hand, the culti-
vated potato is much more nearly related to the Rocky Mountain
species than is the tomato ; which last has, by modern botanists, been
removed from the genus to which the other two appertain, and placed
in a genus by itself. It would seem, therefore, that the closer a plant
comes to the natural food-plant of the insect, the better the insect
likes it.

The beetles have been sent to me, as taken from other plants, and
even from the raspberrj^, but I could never succeed in making them
feed on any plant that did not belong to the potato family, though I
am informed by my friend, Edgar Sanders, of Chicago, that they
greedily attack the tubers after they are dug, and he has found as
many as six in a single potato.

It is undoubtedly a most singular and noteworthy fact that, out of
two such very closely allied species as the bogus and the true Colo-
rado Potato-beetles, feeding respectively in the first instance upon
very closely allied species of wild potato {Solatium rostratum and
S. caroUneiise), the former should have pertinaciously refused,
for about half a century, to acquire a taste for the cultivated
potato, with which it was all the time in the closest and most im-
mediate contact, while the latter acquired that taste as soon as ever
it was brought into contact with that plant. But, after all, this is not
so anomalous and inexplicable as the fact that the Apple-maggot Fly
{Tryjyeta pomonella, Walsh), which exists both in Illinois, New York,
and New England, and the larva of which feeds in Illinois upon the
native haws, and has never once been noticed to attack the imported
apple there, should, within the last few years, have suddency fallen
upon the apple, bothin New York and New England, and in many lo-
calities there, have become a more grievous foe to that fruit than
even the imported Apple-worm {Carpocapsa pomonella, Linn.)*

Thinking that the bogus Colorado Potato-beetle might be com-
pelled to feed on the potato in a state of confinement, I gave it every
opportunity; but though the larvae, when transferred from the horse
nettle, fed more or less on potato leaves, they invariably became sickly
and eventually died. But even if they had actually fed upon potato
leaves quite freely in a state of confinement and developed into bee-

■•■■ See on this subject the First Annual Report on the Noxious Insects of Illinois, by Benj. D.
Walsh, pp. 29-30, in the Transactions of the Illinois State Horticultural Sociotv lor 1867.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 109

ties it by no means follows that the mother beetle would deposit her
eggs upon the potato in a state of nature, and thereby compel her fu-
ture progeny to feed upon that plant. That she will do so upon her
natural food-i)lant, the horse-nettle, we know; and, according to Mr.
Walter of Alabama, she will do so upon the egg-plant, which is thorny
like ihe horse-nettle. But apparently she is indisposed to go one step
further, and lay her eggs upon a smooth species of the same botanical
genus, namely the potato.

Natural Remedies. — Persons not familiar with the economy of
insects are continually broaching the idea that, because the Colorado
Potato-beetle is in certain seasons comparatively quite scarce,therefore
it is about to disappear and trouble them no more. This is a very fal-
lacious mode of reasoning. There are many insects — for instance, the
notorious Army-worm of the north {Leuoania unipu7icta, Haworth)
— which only appear in noticeable numbers in particular years,
though there are enough of them left over from the crop of every
year to keep up the breed for the succeeding year. There are other
insects — for instance the Canker-worm (Anisopierr/x vernaia^ Peck) —
which ordinarily occur in about the same numbers for a series of
years, and then, in a particular season and in a particular locality,
seem to be all at once swept from off the face of the earth. These
phenomena are due to several different causes, but principally to the
variation and irregularity in the action of cannibal and parasitic in-
sects. We are apt to forget that the system of Nature is a very com-
plicated one — parasite preying upon parasite, cannibal upon cannibal,
parasite upon cannibal, and cannibal upon parasite — till there are
often so many links in the chain that an occasional irregularity be-
comes almost inevitable. Every collector of insects knows, that
scarcely a single season elapses in which several insects, that are or-
dinarily quite rare, are not met within prodigious abundance; and
this remark applies, not only to the plant-feeding species, but also to
the cannibals and the parasites. Now, it must be quite evident that
if, in a particular season, the enemies of a particular plant-feeder are
unusually abundant the plant-feeder will be greatly diminished in
numbers, and will not be able to expand to its ordinary proportions
until the check that has hitherto controlled it is weakened in force.
The same rule will hold with the enemies that prey upon the plant-
feeders, and also "with the ememies that prey upon those enemies,
and so on ad iniinitxini. The real wonder is, not that there
should be occasional irregularities in the numbers of particular spe-
cies of insects from year to year, but that upon the whole the scheme
of creation should be so admirably dove-tailed and fitted toget/'ier,
that tens of thousands of distinct species of animals and plants are
able permanently to hold their ground, year after 3''ear, upon a tract
of land no larger than an ordinary State.

To illustrate the decrease in its numbers which took place in the
State of Iowa from 1867-8, 1 will state that Mr. Henry Tilden, of Da-

110 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

venport, who had previously made tomato and potato growing a spec-
ialty, was forced to go to raising small grains on its account, in 1S67,
having lost 30 acres of potatoes by its ravages in 1866; while in 1867
Mr. Suel Foster, of Muscatine, Iowa, offered a large premium to any
one who would insure his crop of potatoes. Now I have received
numbers of letters which go to show that the damage done to pota-
toes in Iowa in 1868 was comp aratively very slight, and the following
article which Mr. Foster published in the Prairie Farmer of May
16th, 1868, sufficiently demonstrates that Mr. F. would have been the
loser, had any insurance company seen fit to insure his crop on his
own terms :

"' For three years past I have given the most discouraging accounts
of the ruinous destruction of our almost indispensable potato crop^
I now have a word of encouragement. Last year I planted very spar-
ingly of potatoes ; the year before, by great perseverance, I succeed-
ed in raising a few Early Goodrich and Harrison, by continual pick-
ing and killing the bugs, and last year planted the product on a new
piece of land where no potatoes had been raised; but the bugs found
tliem as soon as they were up; I picked the bugs awhile, then gave
them up to their destruction, and the potatoes were nearly destroyed.
About the first to the tenth of June the bugs began to diminish. AVe
found the little red and black spotted lady bug quite numerous and
active, eating the eggs of the potato bug. I didn't believe those little
lady bugs could possibly destroy enough of the eggs of the potato
bugs to materially check their increase; but there were but very few
of the second brood that hatched in this part of the country, and our
late and strong growing potatoes were a full crop.

"What became of the bugs that were so numerous in May and the
first of June ? The lady bug, with a little assistance from a few other
insects, destroyed their eggs. Last May the weather was very wot
and cold, yet the bugs increased, and although more stiff and clumsy
than in dry, warm weather, they were hearty at their food. Had
June been cold and wet, I should have thought their disappearance
was caused by that; but June was a very favorable time for their in-
crease and spread on the wing by night. The Colorado potato bugs
nearly all disappeared here in June, and not a bug have we seen in
plowing and digging in the ground this spring, while in former sea-
sons we used to fird them plentifully. I believe some will make their
appearance this year, but I fully believe that the same cause which
destroyed them so early last year— the lady bug and others, some of
wiich preyed upon the young potato bugs— will prevent their increase
this year. If the above are not the facts in this case, can any one tell
us facts and theories that are more reliable ? It is true, I am not as
positive about this as if I had met a regiment of rebels, and had
counted the dead and prisoners, to tell what had become of them.
But we, in this region, do not expect the bug this year, and are plant-
ing potatoes with very little hesitation. Your readers may reJy upon

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. Ill

this as the fate of the potato bug for the present, and 1 will write you
again in a month, or as soon as I get additional news from him,

"• The Illinois correspondent of the Country Oentleman^ writing
from Champaign countj^, says:

"Those plowing old potato ground where these creatures operated
extensively last year, find the ground full of the dormant wretches.
We, at Muscatine, Iowa, will lend them our Benson's Horse Tower
Potato Bug Killer, but we can't spare our lady bugs."

The following enemies of the Colorado Potato-beetle, are among
the most prominent which have been instrumental in checking its
ravages during the past summer.

THE COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE PARASITE— LyrfeZ/a dorj-ijAo^cp, N. Sp.
(Diptera Tachinidae.)

This fly (Fig. 48) has probably been more efficient in checking it

than any one other insect, at least in our
own State. Until last year no parasitic in-
sect whatever was known to prey inter-
nally upon it, but this fly destroyed fully
ten per cent, of the second brood and fifty
per cent, of the third brood of potato-
beetles that were in my garden. It bears
averj'-close resemblance, both in color
and size, to the common house fly, but is
readily distinguished from the latter by
its extremely brilliaut silver-white face.
It may be seen throughout the summer months flying swiftly from
place to place, and deftly alighting on fence or w^all, where, basking
in the sun, its silvery face shows to good advantage. As \vith the rest
of the family to w^hieh it belongs, the habit of the female is to attach
a single egg externally to the body of the Potato-beetle larva. This
egg subsequently hatches into a little footless maggot, which burrows
into the body of its living victim, and eventually destroys it, but not
until it has gone underground in the usual manner. The victimized
larva instead of becoming a pupa, and eventually a beetle, as it would
have done had it not been attacked, begins to shrink as soon as it en-
ters the ground, and gradually dies; while inside its shriveled skin
the parasitic maggot contracts into a hard brown pupn, and in due
time issues forth in the shape of the fly which I have figured. I am^
indebted to Mr. Wm. LeBaron, of Geneva, Illinois, for the generic de-
termination of this fly. It belongs to the genuis (or sub-genus Lydella
Macquart, and is very closely allied to lacMna proper, with which it
could properly be united, did not the great number of species require
a division as a matter of necessity. I subjoin a more detailed des-
cription of the fly :

LvDKLLA BORYPHOR/E, New Species.— Length 0.25. Alar expanse 0.4S. Antenna; black.
Palpi fulvous. Face silvery white. Front siivery, tinted with pale golden-brown, with a broad
middle stripe black. Thorax cinereous with imperfect black stripes. Abdomen black and silvery-

112

FIRST ANSUAL EEPORT OP

ash, changing into each other when viewed from different angles. "When viewed from ahove : first
segment deep black with a posterior border of silver-ash very narrow in the middle, much widened
laterally, but abreviated at the sides of the abdomen. The other segments with the basal half sil-
very-ash, terminal half black. Legs black. Fourth longitudinal vein of the wings straight after
the angle. Posterior transverse vein arcuate.
Described from numerous bred specimens.

Ladybirds.— In the egg state the Colorado Potato- beetle is preyed

upon by no less than four distinct species of Ladybirds. Foremost

[Fig. 49.] [Fig. 50.] [Fig. 51.] among them is the Spotted ladybird

{Il'q^podamia maculata^DeGeer) which
, jH,jg||,i^ is one of our most common species and
1 (i*ra'} is of a pink color, marked with large
black spots as in Figure 49. Next conies
the Kine-spotted ladybird ( Coccinella 9-notaia, Rerhst) which is of
a brick-red color and marked with 9 small black spots as in Figure
60. Next, the Thirteen-spotted ladybird (JIippoda7nia Vi-jnniciata,
Linn.) which is also of a brick-red color but marked with 13 black
spots as in Figure 5L And last but not least, the little species fig-
ured at 52, «, which may be known as the Convergent ladybird (/Z/^-
[Fig. 52.] podamia convergens^ Guer.) and which is of an

orange-red color marked with black and white as in
the figure. This last species alone has been of im-
mense benefit in checking the ravages of the Pota-
to-beetle. Its larva is represented of the natural
c size at Figure 52, a its colors being blue, orange and
black ; when full grown it hangs by the tail to the underside of a stalk
or leaf and transforms into the pupa represented at Figure £2, h. In
this state it is of the exact color of the Colorado beetle larva and is
doubtless quite often mistaken for that larva and ruthlessly destroyed.
It may readily be distinguished however by its quiescence, and let
every potato grower learn vrell to recognize it and spare its life ! The
larvae of all these ladybirds are more bloodthirsty in their habits
than the perfect beetles, and the larva of the little Convergent lady-
bird is so essentially a cannibal that whenever other food fails, it will
turn to and devour the helpless pupas of its own kind. It is a rather
cruel and withal a somewhat cowardly act to thus take advantage of
a helpless brother ; but in consideration of its good services, we must
overlook these unpleasant traits in our little hero's character! All
these larvre bear a strong general resemblance, and with the aid of
Figure 52 a and the annexed Figure 53, a good idea may be obtained
[Fig. 63.] of them. They run with considerable speed, and may be
found in great numbers upon almost all kinds of herbage.
The larvae of certain species that prey upon the Hop Plant-
louse in the East are well known to the hop-pickers as
" black niggers" or " serpents," and are carefully preserved
by them as some of their most efficient friends.

The eggs of ladybirds greatly resemble those of the
Colorado Potato-beetle, and are scarcely distinguishable except by

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

113

their smaller size and by a much smaller number being usually col-
lected together in a single group. As these eggs are often laid in the
same situation as those of the potato-feeding insect, care must be ta-
ken by persons who undertake to destroy the latter, not to confound
those of their best friends with those of their bitterest enemies.

The Spjnkd Soldier-bug. — In the larva state the Colorado Potato-
beetle is extensively depredated on, both in Illinois, Missouri and
Iowa, by the Spined Soldier-bug i^^s- 55.]
(A) 7)) a spi)iosa, jyaWas), which is of
an ochre-yellow color and is repre-
sented with one pair of Avings
closed and tlje other pair extend-
ed, in the annexed Figure 54. —
^Thrusting forwards his long and
stout l,)eak, he sticks it into his victim, and in a short time pumps out
all the juices of its body and throws away the empty skin. He be-
longs to a rather extensive group (^Scutellera family) of the true bugs
{Ilcteropterd)^ distinguishable from all others by the very large scutel,
which in this genus is triangular, and covers nearlj'- half his back.
Most of the genera belonging to this group are plant-feeders, but
there is a sub-group {Spissirosires) to which our cannibal iriend be-
longs, characterized by the robustness of their beaks, and all of these,
seem to be cannibals. To illustrate to the eye the dilference between
the beaks of the cannibal sub-group and the plant feeding sub-groups
of this family, Figure 54 a gives a magnified view of the beak of our
insect seen from below, and Figure 54 c a similarly magnified view of
that of a plant-feeder belonging to the same family {Euschistus
pu7iciipes,Siij), which is so nearly of the same size, shape and color
as our cannibal friend, that at first sight many persons would mistake
one for the other. The Spined Soldier-bug, however, may be at once
distinguished from all allied bugs, whether plant feeders or cannibals
by the opaque brown streak at the transparent and glassy tip of its
wing cases.

It has sometimes been reported that the common Squash-bug
{Coreus tristis, DeGeer) preyed upon the Colorado Potato-beetle ; but
there can be little doubt but that the Spined Soidier-bug has in these
instances been mistaken for it. The colors of the two are somewhat
similar but in the eyes of an entomologist the Squash-bug looks as
different from the Spined Soldier bug as a cow does from a horse !
The figure (55, a) of the former which is given above, opposite to
that of the latter, will enable any one to recognize the difference
while its magnified beak (Fig. 55, I ) indicates by its sienderness that
it is a plant-feeder.

The Spined Soldier-bug by no means confines himself to Potato-
beetle larvfB, but attacks a great number oi other insects.
8 R s E

114

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

[Fig. 56.] ^ The Bordered Soldier-bug. — This is another insect

which attacks the Colorado Potato-beetle. It belongs
to the same sub-group, and has the same kind of short
robust beak as the preceding, but unlike that species, it

ItJiS^m'UK J^^ ^^ conspicuously and prettily marked that it cannot
y^SM) easily be confounded with any other. Its colors are dark
f^^^'^ olive-green and cream-color, marked as in Figure 56.
It is not so common as the preceding species.

The Many-banded Kobber.— Another true bug, still more elegantly
marked than the preceding, (Barpactor cinctus, Fabr.,) was observed
[Fig. 57.] by D;\ Shimer, of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, to attack

the Colorado larvfe, and I found it attacking
the same larva in our own State the present
year. Like the Spined Soldier-bug, this species
lis common, and inhabits trees more commonly
jthan herbaceous plants. But it belongs to an
entirely different group of the true Bugs {Eedu-
vlns family), all of which, without exception,
6 are cannibals, and are characterized by a short,
robust, curved beak (Fig. 57, 5, profile view, magnified). Figure 57,
«, gives a magnified view of this bug, the colors being yellow, white
and black, and it may be known by the name of the Many-banded
Robber.

The Rapacious Soldier-bug.— Still another bug belonging to the
very same group as the preceding [Rediivius raptatorius^ Say), I

[Fig. 58].

have found sucking out the juices of the Colorado lar-
va, and specimens were sent to me by S. H. Kriedel-
baugh, of Clarinda, Iowa, who found it with the same
commendable habit in that State. This bug is repre-
sented at Figure 58. It is of a light brown color, and
maybe known by the name of the Rapacious Soldier-
bug.

The above four insects are all of them true bugs, and attack the
larvEe of the Colorado Potato-beetle with the only offensive weapon
that they have— their beak. The four following (Figs. 59 to 62) are all
beetles, and are consequently provided with jaws, so that they are able
to eat up their victims bodily ; and all of them, except the first, which is
confined to southerly latitudes, are common throughout the Western
States. Most, if not all, of them prey indifferently upon the Colorado
larva and the perfect insect produced from it.

l^HE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

115

ti^'ig. 590 The VlR<5!l^'IAN Tigku-ueetle. —

This beetle {2'etracha Vlrginica->
Hope) is of a dark metallic green

[T?ig.60.]

\

is oi a black
has also been

[P ig 62.]

color, with brown legs, and the an-
nexed cut (Fig. 59) will enable its
■ recognition without much difficulty.
The Fiery Grou^^d- beetle. —
This beetle {Calosoma calidum^
Fabr,) has already been treated of
on page SO where its larva is ill us.
trated and termed the *'Cut-worm lion." The beetle
'Color, with coppery dots, as shown in Figure 60, and
found to prey on the Colorado larva.

[Fig;- €!•] The Elongate Q Re UND-BEETLs. —

This pretty and conspicuous insect
{Pasii'uac^us elovgatus^ Leo.) is an^
other enemy of the Colorado Pota-
to-beetle, It is of a polished black
color edged with deep blue, and is
■of a rather elegant form, being re-
presented at Figure 61.

The Murky Ground beetle. —
Finally this beetle {Ilarpalus cali-
'ginosns^ Say) which is of a dull black color, and which is represented
life-sise at Figure 62, has the same commendable habit as the other
three. There are ten or twelve other beetles mostly of small size,
which have the same habits as the above; but they would not be
veadily identified from an uncolored drawing.

Blisier, BEETLES.--Strange as it may seem, the Striped Blister-
toeetle (Fig. 39, p. 97), and the Ash gray Blister-beetle (Fig. 40, a, p. OS),
Which have already been described as very injurious to the potato,
seem to have the redeeming trait of also preying occasionally on the
larva of the Colorado Potato- beetle. It was at first difficult to believe
or reconcile the statements to this effect which were reported during
the summer, but there have been so many of them that the fact may
now be considered as indisputable, and these two Blister beetles may
therefore, with propriety, be placed in the list of the enemies of the
Colorado beetle. I by no means advise their protection, however, on
this account; tori believe that what little good they accomplish is
inuch more than outweighed by the injury they do us. As authorities
for these statements may be quoted, among many others, Abel Proc-
tor, of Jo Daviess county, 111., and T. D. Plumb, of Madison, Wis.

"When dog- €&ts dog-, then comes the tag of war;"

when rogues fall out, honest men come by their own. And now that
certain potato-beetles have taken to feeding upon other potato-beetles,
the American farmer may justly lift up his voice and shout for joy.

Neitherducks, geese, turkeys nor barndoor fowls will touch the
iarva of the Colorado-beetle when it is offered to them ; and there are

116

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

mimerons jinthentic cases on record, where persons who have scalded
to death quantities oi these larvae, and inhaled the fumes from their
bodies have been taken seriously ill, and even been confined to their
beds for many days in consequence.

Artificial Eemedies.— It only remains to say something on the
most approved method of fighting the Colorado Potato-beetle. A
great deal may be effected by raising your potatoes at a point as re-
mote as possible from any ground where potatoes were raised in the
preceding year. A great deal may also be accomplished, where there
are no other potato patches in the immediate neighborhood, by killing
every beetle found upon the vines in the spring, as fast as they emerge
from the ground. By this means the evil is nipped in the bud, and a
pretty effectual stop is put to the further propagation of the insect
But if there are potato patches near by, where no attention is paid to
destroying the beetles, they will keep perpetually flying in upon you
in spite of all you can do.

I have already stated that this insect cannot be driven as can the-
blister beetles, and we have to rely on other measures. I might oc-
cupy page after page in detailing the experiments that have been
tried by myself and by others. But of all the mixtures recommended
I can seriously recommend none. They are impracticable on a large
scale, and require too frequent repetition to be efficient, as the beetles
issueVrom the ground day after day. White hellebore, paris green,
slaked lime, etc., etc., I have proved by experiment to be valueless,
though the two first will kill, if thoroughly applied, a certain propor-
tion of the larvfB, but will not affect the beetles ; and even cresylic
acid soap, which is the best wash of the kind, does not kill them alL
Hot water affects the pests as fatally as any of these applications,
and when I state that I have known the beetles to bore through three
inches of hard unleached ashes, the folly of their application to the
Tines becomes at once apparent.

I, therefore, again impress upon ray readers the importance of pre-
[Fig. 63.] vention by killing every beetle which first

appears in the spring. There is no better
way of doing this than by crushing them on
the spot, and for this purpose a very simple
pair of pincers may be constructed. At
Figure 63 I represent a pair that were used
last summer by S. H. Ford, of Rolling Prairie,
Wisconsin, and which were kindly sent to
me by L. L. Fairchild of the same place.
Their construction is so simple that it needs
no explanation, two pieces of wood, a screw,
and two small strips of leather being the only
things needed.

In parts of Iowa, the ravages of this in-
sect were so serious in 1866, that a horse-
machine was invented for their destruction

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 117

by Mr. Benson, of Muscatine in that State. As this machine, or soma
improvement on it, may prove advantageous where potato-growing is
cariied on extensively, I subjoin an account of it.

"The cost of the machine was about thirty dollars. It consists of
a irame-work, which moves astride the row of potatoes, on v/hich is
mounted longitudinally a reel somewhat like the one on McCormicks'
old Reaper, which knocks the bugs otf the plants into a box on one
side. This box is of course open on the side next the row nearly down
to the ground, but is some two feet high on the outside and at the
ends. The reel works over the inner edge of the box, and the bugs
are whipped oif the vines pretty clean; and the most of them are
thrown against the higher side of the box, which converges like a
hopper over two four-inch longitudinal rollers at the bottom, between
which the bugs are passed and crushed. These rollers are some three
or four feet long.

"Those insects which are perched low down on the plants are fre-
quently knocked on to the ground; but I think they would soon
crawl up again; and repeating the operation at intervals would very
greatly reduce their numbers, and lessen very much the labor of hand-
picking, which I think would be advisable in conjunction with the use
of the machine, in order to destroy the eggs and diminish the young
brood, which is most destructive to the foliage of the plant."

Much may be done by a proper choice of varieties, the Peach-
blow having the same immunity from the attacks of this Colorado
Potato-beetle, as from those of the Blister-beetles. I have known
several instances where Neshannocks, raised side by side with Peach-
blows^ have been entirely destroyed, while the latter were untouched;
and I therefore strongly recommend the planting of Peach-blows in
those section.s that liave been visited by the beetle.

In conclusion let me give another word of caution. Our friends
of the Eastern States wiU, doubtless, in the course of events, become
sufficiently acquainted with this beetle. As already stated, it is now
in Ohio, and will continue from year to year to spread eastward. Lefc
us, of the West then, not hasten its introduction by our carelessness.
Farmers are in the habit of sending insects through the mail to the
■editors of Eastern papers for identification. Wherever insects are thus
sent, they should be thoroughly secured so as to prevent any possible
escape. Specimens of this beetle were last year sent to the office of
the Amerieaii AgricuUurist^in New York, packed in a very insecure
manner. Had but a single impregnated female contrived to escape
from the package, it might have been the means of prematurely intro-
ducing this mischjevous pest into that State. A word to the wiseia
£52J91cieiit.

118

yiRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

THE APPLE-EOOT ^LANT-LOVSE—Friosoina {pempTiigusl p-^i^

Fitch.

(HoBaoptera, Aphidje.)
[Fig. 64.]

■^^ij^ «

The roots of the apple tree are yery often found to rot, and this®
cause the death of the tree. Of these rots there appear to be three
distinct kinds. One kind is that popularly known as ''rotten root" in
Southern Illinois, and seems to he a simple decomposition of the
vegetable tissue, analagous to the rotting of the root of a cabbage
for instance. Its cause is not clearly understood, though it seems to-
be a consequence of certain conditions of the soiL The other rot was
discovered the past summer by Dr. Hull, of Alton, Illinois, and is a
fungoid grov/th, which, after covering the root v;ith a thin layer of
white fibrous substance, causes a sort of dry rot of the root, and which
is common to both the pear and the apple. Some of the symptoms of
this rot are ; a ratlier earlier development or maturity of the branches ;
an excess of fruit buds, and a shortening or thickening of some twigs^
Specimens of the affected roots were brought to Dr. T. II. Hilgard, of
St. Louis, for experiment, but all that he was able to ascertain was,,
that it enters the healthy wood in the shape of a brown stringy rot
through the canals made by missing fibres.

In a paper read by Dr. Hull, before the Illinois State Horticultu-
ral Society, at its 13th annual meeting, a communication was quotedi
from Judge A. M. Brown, of Villa Ridge, in which the latter gave it
as his firm belief that rotten ajpple tree roots were never caused by
root-lice, but by this particular fungus. With due deference to Judge
Brown^s opinion, I have to differ with him most emphatically, fori am
convinced that this Eoot louse does eavse tAe roots to rot. I exam-
ined on the 15th of May last, hundreds of young apple trees on the
nursery of Mr. J. M. Jordan, of St. Louis. Mr. J. had been greatly
troubled with root-lice on his young apple stock during the year 18 iT,
and had A\^^ up and thrown thousands of' young trees into a heap, by
"which means ho expected to kill the lice and prevent their spreading
onto new stock. He covered this heap with earth a foot deep, and
had the gratification of finding that nearly all the lice had died bj

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 119

the next spring. Many rows of trees — mostly one year grafted — had
been left in the ground, however, and on examining these, I found
that wherever the previous year the lice had been numerous enough
to cover and deform the whole root, there that root had invariably
rotted. In many instances all trace of the knots and deformities
which the lice cause, had disappeared, while, in some few instances
they were yet traceable. In every case where rot had ensued the
lice had entirely left, so that not a trace of them could be found.
From these, and subsequent observations made during the summer, I
conclude that the rot does not ensue till the roots have been com-
pletely deformed by the lice, and while on a young tree a colony of
lice will multiply sufficiently to entirely cover it in a single season,
and thus cause it to rot the next year; on larger trees they may be at
work for years before this result is accomplished. This rot from root-
lice may, I think, be distinguished from both the other kinds by its
being more porous and soft, approximating the brown mould of a rot-
ting log. The unusual swellings and knots caused by the lice, though
hard originally, seem to loose their substance, and very frequently
the finer roots, and almost always the fibrous roots waste entirely
away.

The diagnosis of either of the first two kinds of rot must remain
hidden, until our knowledge of these impalpable funguses shall have
become more thorough, and until then no remedy can be suggested;
but with the last kind, having traced it to its true cause, the means of
prevention are at hand, and I will now give the history and descrip-
tion of the Apple-root Plant-louse for the most part as it appeared in
the American Entomologist for January, 1869:

For the last twenty years a Wooly Plant-louse has been known
to infest the roots of the apple-tree, causing thereon swellings and
deformations of almost every possible shape, and, when very numer-
ous, killing the tree. In the more northerly parts of the Northern
States this insect is comparatively rare, but in southerly latitudes it is
exceedingly destructive in apple orchards. According to Dr. Hull, "it
is one of the worst enemies against which our apple-trees have to
contend, and is much more common in our region than is generally
supposed." (Affr. Rep^ Mo.^ Append., p. 451.) As long ago as .1848,
Mr. Fulton, of Chester county, Pennsylvania, found this root-louse and
the knotty swellings produced by it to be so abundant on nursery-
trees in his neighborhood, that thousands of young trees had to be
thrown away, and it became difficult to supply ihe market.) Down-
ing's Horticulturist, III, p. 394.) And in August, 1858, M. L. Dunlap
{Rural) stated in the Chicago Tribune, that in an orchard near Alton
"the Wooly Aphis infests the roots in immense numbers, and by suck-
ing up the sap destroys the trees, which in its elTect has much the ap-
pearance of dry rot."

Although this insect usually confines itself to the roots of the tree,
yet a few may occasionally be found on the suckers that spring up

120 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

round the butt of the trunk, and even on the trunk and limbs, espe-
cially in places where a branch has been formerly amputated, and
nature is closing up the old wound by a circle of new bark. AVhere it
works upon the naked trunk, it often causes a mass of little granula-
tions to sprout out, about the size of cabbage-seeds, thus producing
on a small scale, the same effects that it does upon the roots. Wher-
ever the insect works, small as it is, it may be easily recognized by
the peculiar bluish-white cottony matter which it secretes from its
bod}'-, and which is never met with in the case of the common Apple-
tree Plant-louse that inhabits the leaves and the tips of the twigs.

Figure 64 at the head of this article, fully illustrates the Apple-
root Plant-louse. A portion of a knotty root as it appears after the
punctures of the lice is represented at a, the larva state at h, and the
winged state at c; while c? represents the leg, e the proboscis, /"the
antenna of the winged individual, and^ that of the larva, all highly
magnified. The young louse is of a deep flesh or pink color, and the
proboscis extends the whole length of the body, while the older spe-
cimens have a deeper, purplish hue. Of the winged louse, I subjoin
a more complete description.

Eriosoma pyri, Fitch — Color black. Antennae 2-5ths as long as the body, joints 1 and 2 al-
most confluent, short and robust; joint 3 fully J the entire length of the antenna;; joints 4 — 6 sub-
equal, 5 a little the longest, 6 a little the shortest. Meso-thorax polished. Abdomen opaque with
more or less pruinescence. Legs opaque black, immaculate. AVings hyaline ; costal and subcostal
veins robust and black; stigma pale brown, 2| to 3 times as long as wide, pointed at both ends, but
more acutely sc on the basal end, the vein bounding it behind robust and black. Discoidal veins
and stigmal vein slender and black, the 3d or forked discoidal hyaline and subobsolete on its basal J.
Length to tip of closed wings 0.13 — 0.14 inch.

On comparing Figure 64 c with Figure 65, which represents a
[^'s- G5.] Plant-louse that inhabits a large gall

on the CottonwoodT^t will be observed
at once that the veining of the front
wing is very dilferent. In Figure 64, c,
the third branch-vein is very distinctly
forked ; in Figure 65 it is simple. Nor
is this a mere accidental variation, but a peculiarity of the genus to
which either insect belongs. (Fig. 64, <?, genus Eriosoma ; Fig. 65,
genus Pemphigus). Now Dr. Fitf h describes and names the Apple-
root Plant-louse as belonging to the latter genus {Pempliigiis)'^ where-
as winged specimens which both Mr. Walsh and myself obtained last
October, at Duquoin, from apple roots and suckers swarming with
larvie ; some which I received from St. Louis county, and others which
Mr. Walsh bred from larvae ; all, without exception, ^belong to the
former genus {Eriosoma). And moreover. Dr. Fitch's insect is de-
scribed as being nearly twice as large as ours. How does this come
about? We can only account for it in the following way: Dr. Fitch's
winged specimens were but two in number, and they were found by
him, the one living, the other dead, upon the roots of an infested
young apple-tree, which had been brought him from an adjoining
county. Hence he very naturally, but as we think erroneouslj^, infer-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

121

red that these two winged plant-lice belonged to the same species as
the minute wingless larvte with which the infested roots were
swarming. The truth of the matter probably was, that the two wing-
ed plant-lice got upon the infested apple-root by accident, on their
road from the nursery to Dr. Pitch's orchard. Indeed we can almost
say with certainty to what species they belonged ; for on comparing
Dr. Fitch's very minute and elaborate description with the Beech-,
twig riant-louse {Pemphigus imh'lGatoi\ Fitch), which comes out in
the winged state in the very same time of the year as he met with his
two specimens, it agrees sufficiently well to apply to that species. If,
on the other hand, we compare his description with our specimens, it
not only disagrees generically, as already explained, but neither the
size nor the markings will correspond at all.

We consider it, therefore, to be sufficiently certain that the Apple-
root Plant-louse does not belong to the genus {Pemj^higus), to which
all subsequent authors, in deference to Dr. Fitch's authority, have
hitherto referred it, but to the very distinct genus {Eriosoma) to
whicli the notorious Wooly Plant-louse of Europe belongs {Eriosoma
lanigera, Hausm.)

Natural Remedip'S. — From the enormous rate at which all Plant-lice
multiply, it is plain that, if there were no check upon the increase of
the Apple-root Plant-louse, it would in a few years' time sweep away
whole orchards, especially in southern latitudes. Luckily for the
fruit growers and fruit-lovers, there exist two at all events, and pro-
bably three such checks. The first is a very minute parasitic fly,
which Prof. Haldeman figured and described in 1851 as infesting in
the larva state his supposed Wooly Plant-louse.* The second is a

footless maggot (Fig. G6 a) about
one-half an inch long, and of a
dirty yellow color. It is gene-
rally found more or less covered
with mud, and with the woolly
matter secreted by the lice, and
is not by any means easily dis-
cerned. It changes in the fall to
the pupa state (Fig. Q(!>,h) Irom
which, in the following spring, there emerges the perfect fly (Fig.
66, c) which^may be known as the Root-louse Syrphus-fly. The fol-
lowing is the description of this fly, in its different stages, which ap-
peared in the American Entomologist.

The Eoot-louse Syrphus-Fly. {Pipisa radicum. n. sp.) § Shining brown black. Head
clothed with short, rather sparse, white hairs, especially the lower p:irt of the anterior orbits and
the entire space below the antennsB. Mouth dark rufous. Anteimaj compressed, with the joints
proportioned as 2, 2, 5 ; joint 2 twice as wide as 1, and 3 twice as wide as 2 ; of a dull rufous color,
edged above, narrowly on the inside, widely on the outside, with brown black. Thorax very finely
rug-oso-punctate, with some short sparse white hairs, especially laterally. Abdomen finely punctate,

* This flj- belongs to the Cfialcis family in the Order Hymcnoptcra, and was named Eriophilus
mail by Prof, ilaldeman. The figure and description will be found in the Farin Journal for
1861, pp. 130-1.

122 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

with long-er white hairs, rufo-piceous above on the middle J of joint 1 ; venter with joint 1 piceous.
Legs with all the 6 knees, and in the 4 front legs the entire tibia except a spot on the exterior
middle, and also all the 6 tarsi except their extreme tips, and except in the hind legs the bassal J of
the first tarsal joint, all dull pale rufous. Wings hyaline ; veins black. Length $ 0.25 inch ; alar
expanse 0.48 inch.

One 5 ; d* unknown. Bred May 2.3 from a single puparium found in the November prece-
ding. On May 2 this puparium, which in the preceding autumn had been lightly covered with moist
sand and deposited in a cellar, had crawled up out of the sand a distance of two inches, and
attached itself to the stopper of the bottle in which it was inclosed. Upon being replaced under the
moist sand, it was found two days afterwards to have again crawled about an inch up the side of
the bottle. We have observed the same locomotive powers in the puparia of several other Syrphi-
dous insects, though, so far as we are aware, this very anomalous faculty has not hitherto been
commented on by authors.

"We are indebted to Dr. LeBaron, of Geneva, Ills., who has paid special attention to the
Order (Diptera) to which this insect belongs, for determining the genus to which it is properly re-
ferable. According to him, "the genus Pipiza differs from Syrphus in the absence of the promi-
nence in the middle of the face, in the comparatively greater development of the posterior legs,
and in the want of the little spurious longitudinal vein in the middle of the wing." "The only
species discovered by Macquart," he adds, "is from Carolina, and very different from yours."

Larva. — Dull pale flesh-color, tinged with yellow. Attenuated and somewhat depressed
anteriorly ; more blunt posteriorly, the anal segment being furnished with an elevated tube, which
is of a light polished bro^vn at extremity. Wrinkled transversely, with a prominent fold at ante-
rior and posterior edge of each segment. The larger segments well defined ; the smaller ones less
so. First segment thoroughly retractile, and sufficiently translucent when extended, to show the
dark triple-jointed mouth. A few soft, fleshy spines, of the same color as the body, and especially
distinct on anal segments. Generally covered and disguised by the soil which it inhabits. Length
when not extended, 0.23 of an inch. Described from two specimens taken in 1866 and three
in 1868.

Pupa. — Dull dirty yellow. Gradually formed by the contraction of the larva, during which
time the wrinkles are obliterated, and it at last becomes quite smooth. Length 0.18.

I first found this larva in December, 1866, at Cobden, Ills., and
have found it at several different times since, and though I failed to
breed any to the perfect state, Mr. Walsh was more fortunate. Won-
derful indeed must be that instinct, which enables the mother-flj'^ to
perceive which particular trees in an orchard have their roots swarm-
ing Avith lice, so as to know exactly where to dei)Osit her eggs !

The third insect which preys upon these Root plant-lice, at least
in Missouri, is a small species of ladybird, belonging to the genus
Scymiius. The larva of this beetle is still more difficult to recognize
among the lice, as it is covered on the back with little tufts of wooly
matter, secreted from its own body. It is, when full grown, somewhat
larger than the lice, and altogether more active, and is distinguished
furthermore, by the wooly matter being of an even length and dis-
tributed over the back in transverse rows. Mr. J. F. AVaters, of
Springfield, Missouri, sent to me a numbt;r of the apple root-lice, with
some of these little ladybird larvae among them, which he erroneous-
ly supposed to be the old lice. In due time I bred the perlect beetle
from them, and it proved to be a species which the French entomolo-
gist Mulsant, had described as Scymniis cerv'tcalis. It is a very in-
conspicuous little beetle, about 0.05 of an inch long, and of a deep
brown color, the thorax being of a lighter brown. From subsequent
correspondence with Mr. Waters I learned that the lice upon which
these little friends of ours were preying, were taken right from the

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 123:

surface of the ground, so that it is possible that this ladybird only-
attacks them when it can get at them above ground; though, judging
from analogy, I strongly suspect it also seeks them out in their under-
ground quarters.

Artificial Remedies.— The best mode to get rid of the Apple root
Plant-louse is to drench the roots of the infested tree with hofAvater.
But to render this process eifectual, the water must be applied in
quantities large enough to penetrate to every part of the infested
roots. There need be no fear of any injurious result from such an ap-
plication of hot water; for it is a very general rule that vegetable or-
ganisms can, for a short time, stand a much higher temperature than
animal organisms, without any injury to their tissues. In laying bare
the roots for the better application of the water, a sharp eye should
be kept for the friends above described, and when espied they should
be tenderly laid aside till after the slaughter of the enemy. Mulching
around the infested trees has been found, by Mr. E. A. lliehl and
others, of Alton, Illinois, to have the effect of bringing the lice to the
surface of the ground, where they can be more easily reached by the
hot water.

THE WOOLY ELM-TREE LOUSE— Erioso ma vhni, N. Sp.
(Ilomoptera Aphidas.)

The White elm is subject to the attacks of a woolly plant-louse
belonging to the very same genus as the preceding. This insect ap-
pears to be quite common in our State as well as in Illinois, for I have
known several elm-trees on Van Buren street in the city of Chicago,
to be killed by it, and every tree of this description, around the court
house in St. Louis was more or less affected with it last summer.
The lice congregate in clusters on the limbs and the trunks, and cause
a knotty unnatural growth of the wood, somewhat similar to the
knots produced on the roots of the apple-tree by the other species.
They are mostly found sunk in between 'he crevices formed by these
knots, and the punctures of their little beaks cause the sap to exude
in the shape' of little silvery globules, which may generally be found
dispersed among the knots. The down or wooly matter is secreted
by them from all parts of the body, but especially from the posterior
part of the back. It is of an intense white color, and is secreted in
such profusion that it usually covers and hides the lice, and whf^n they
are numerous, gives the limbs from a distance the appearance of
being covered with snow. They make their appearance during the lat-
ter part of May, and by the latter part of June the winged individu-
als may be found mixed up with the larvas and pupre. I have experi-
mentally found that a washing with a weak solution of cresylic acid
soap will kill them all instantly, and they are thus easily exterminated..
They are also preyed upon unmercifully by the laj-vfe of an unde-
scribed species of Lacewing fly {Chrysojpa eriosoma oi my MS.),

124

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

EaioscnfA umr, N. Sp. — Color dark blue. Length to tip of closed wings, exclusive of anten-
nae, 0.12. Wings hyaline, three times as long as wiJe, and more pointed at the ends than in E.pyi.
Costal and subcostal veins, and that bounding the stigma behind, robust and black. Discoiilal
veins together with the 3d forked and stigmal veins, all slender and black, the forked vein being as
distinct to its base as are the others, with the fork but J as long as the vein itself and curved in an
opposite direction to the stigmal vein. Antennue 6-jointed and of the same color as the body ;
joints I, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of about equal length, joint 3 thrice as long as either. Legs of the same
color as body.

The young lice are narrower and usually lighter colored than the mature individuals, varying
from flesh or pink to various shades of bine and purple-

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE-VINE.

The culture of the .c:raDe forms an imoortant branch of Missouri
horticulture. There is scarcely another State in the Union that has
such natural advantages for the growingof this delicious fruit. While
traveling up the Missouri river, I have been struck with the great
similarity in the general character of the country to the celebrated
Grape-growing districts of the Rhine, in Prussia. The Germans have
also so thoroughly settled the country along the Missouri that the re-
semblance is made still more striking. As another evidence of the
importance of this branch of horticulture in our State, the Ainerican
Grajje Cultnrist, the only periodical published in this country that
is solely devoted to Grape-growing and wine-making, has just been
started in St. Louis, by Mr. George Husmann. It becomes us then to
know something of the insects injurious to the vine.

THE NEW GRAPE-ROOT BOmm—Orthoso7na cylindricum, (?)

Fabr.

(Coleoptera, Prionidse.)

[Fig. 67.]

The ad u)t:Tiin committees of the Illinois and Missouri State
Horticultural Societies, while visiting the orchards and vineyards
along the line of the Iron Mountain Railroad, discovered that sundry
grape vines on Dr. C. W. Spaulding's place were dying ; and on digging
up such vines, the roots were found to be entirely hollowed out, and
in many instances severed, by a worm which is faithfully represented
at the head of this article — Figure 67. At about the same time, Mr.
Walsh, of Rock Island, received an immense specimen from W. D. F.
Lummis, of Makanda, Illinois, with the same account of its habits,
and tlie following letters which I haye since received relate to the
fiame worm :

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 125

Mr. Rilky — Dear Sir: Herewith please find a worm or grub,
•which has bothered my grape vines, it cuts the vine off about 3 or 4
inches under ground and takes out about an inch. Set vines last
spring. Put stakes ol oak, green.

Respectfullv, &c.,

ALFBED BARTER.

YiRQiL City, Mo., August 21, 186S.

Pkof. Riley, State Entomologist : I leave here for you a specimen
of a worm which has proved very destructive in my vineyard this season
having killed 24 vines, usually commencing at the bottom eye and
eating the entire stem almost to the surface of the ground. I have
dug up all the vines and in each case have found but one worm some-
times as deep as 18 inches below the surface. My vineyard was planted
this spring on ground previously cultivated; has been thoroughly sub-
soiled and is well drained; the vines are Hartford Frolifics aud Con-
cords. Please send any information ol value you may have relating
to the above to Col. John H. Hogan, Pevely Station, I. M. R. R.
Very respectfully,

JOHN H, IIOGAN.

September 3, 1868.

Mr. JiiL'EY Dear Sir: The Grape-vine borer has been quite de-
structive in our vineyard this season, having killed 15 vines. Except
in two cases we found and dispatched him without mercy. We first
noticed tlie effects of the borer about the latter part of July and fre-
quently found them until thelatter part of August. In some instances
we found the root severed within ^ half an inch of the surface, while
the* borer was found at the bottom Of the root. In others the root
was eaten off from 5 to 8 inches below the surface. Only Concord
vines have been affected, and only those that we obtained from a
neighboring vineyard for planting last spring. Not one of our original
vines have been destroyed, though we have 4 acres equally exposed
to the attacks of this new destroyer. Any information that you may
be able to give us upon this subject will be thankfully received.

Very respectfully,

SIMMONS & TILLSON.

Sulphur Springs, September 10, 1868.

Mr. D. C. Peebles, D. D. S., of St. Louis, also brought me a large
Concord vine that had been entirely severed from the roots and killed
by this worm, and I also received specimens about 1 grown from T,
W. Guy, of Glenwood.

The above letters convey a very good idea of the manner in which
this borer works. It seems to have occurred in the Concord vines
more generally than in those of any other variety, but I think that
this may be attributed to the fact that more Concords are planted
than any other kind, for as the following facts will show the borer is
evidently a very general feeder. In the early part of June, 1867, Mr

126 FIRST ANNUAL KEPORT Off

O. B. Galusha, who was then with the ad interim committee visiting
Southern Illinois, sent me a worm in all respects similar which was
found boring into the rool of an apple tree. I have also received
Osage orange roots from Kansas v/hich were being bored b}' the same
fellow, and he is evidently partial to rotten oak stumps for not only
have several persons who are well able to judge, assured me that they
have found him in such stumps, but Mr. A. Bolter, of Chicago, also found
it in such stumps in Kentucky, and sent me the specimens lor identi-
fication. At the meeting of our State Societ}'', at Columbia, Mr. I. N.
Stuart even avowed that he had found it partly grown, not only in seed*
ling apples but in the roots of corn stalks, while Chas. Connon, of
"Webster, assures me that he has found it in the .heart of felled hick-
ory, and I ascertained that he was perfectly capable of distinguishing
at from the common borer {Ceraspfiorus cifiGtKS.Drniy), whicli infests
hickory when felled, and which causes what is known as "powder
post," he being quite familiar with this last named insect. There are
several large beetles in the West which must have larvoi very similar
in appearance to tiiis, and it is not at all unlikely that different insects
hare here been confounded, but the figure at the head of this article,
w^ith the following description of this Grape-Root borer, will enable
any one to recognize it in the future.

Larva of Orthosoka cYLiNDRictjir, (?) Fabr.— Average length when full grown, 3 inches.
Color pale yellowish white, partly translucent, with glaucous and bluish shadings, and a distinct
dorsal line of the last color. Segment 1 rather horny, rather longer than 2, 3 and 4 together,
broadening posteriorly, slightly shargreened and whiter than the rest of the body, with a rust-
colored mark anteriorly. Segments 2 and 'i shortest and broadest, the body tapering thence grad-
ually to extremity, though there is usually a lateral ridge on segment 12 which dilates it rather
more than the segments immediately preceding it. This segment 12 is also the longest, the terminal
•one being quite small and divided into three nearly equal lobes. A swelled hump crossed with two
impressed trnnsverse lines, on segments 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 1 0. Stigmata
rust-colored, 9 in number, the first and largest being placed on a fold in
(Jiie suture between segments 1 and 2. Head brown, verging to black on
anterior edge. Mandibles large, strong, black, with one blunt rounded
tooth, giving them a somewhat triangular appearance ; annten» .3-jointed
and brown, especially at tip; labrum fulvous, fuzzy and with a brown
base ; maxillary palpi 4-jointed, the basal joint much swollen, the ter-
uiinal joint brown, and a ring of the same color at sutures of the other
joints; la.bial palpi 3-jointed, the basal joint also swollen, and the ter*
minal joint and sutures of the others brown. Six rudimentary 2-jointed
fuscous feet as shown at Figure 68. V^enter tubercled as on the back, these tubercles being especi-
ally prominent on segments 6, 7, 8 and 9, where they recall prolega. The young larva difters only
in lacking the rust-colored mark on segment 1.

Now, to what insect does this borer belong? It is manifestly the
larva of some long-horned beetle of the family Prionid>^, but of what
particular species cannot be positively stated till the beetle is reared
from grape-root-boring larves. Before another year shall have passed
away, I hope to definitely determine this point, but meanwhile, I have
every confidence that it will produce the Cylindrical Orlhosoma ( Or-

TUE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

127

tJiosoma cyUndricum^ Fabr.), a large flattened,
long-horned light bay-colored beetle which is
common throughout the country and especially in
the Mississippi valley, and which is represented of
the natural size at Figure 69. True, according to
Westwood, the larvre of the Pkionid.e have tlie
second segment enlarged and broadened, while
the closely allied family OEKAMBYciDyE,has the first
segment thus enlarged as in our insect; but from
a larva resembling ours in every respect so far as
his description goes, and which he found in Sep-
tember, 1867, in decaying pine wood, Mr. Walsh
actually bred, about the last of June, 186S, the Cy-
lindrical Orthosoma. The only accounts on record
which pretend to give the natural history of this beetle, are by Dr.
Fitch and S. S. Rathvon, that of the former in his 4th Report, § 239,
and that of the latter in the Agricultural Reportfor 1861, pp. 611-612,
Dr. Fitch describes the larva, which he supposed belonged to this
beetle, but which he did not breed, as occurring in pine trees, and as
having the tirst ring longest and the second broadest; while Mr.
Rathvon figures it with the first ring infinitely shorter than the sec-
ond, but confesses that the drawing was made from memory, and he
doubtless trusted to the authority of Westwood. Furthermore Mon-
sieur E. Ferris has figured at Plate 6, Figure 362, of the "Annales de la
Soci6t6 Entomologique de France," for 1856, the larva of Prionus oh
scu'nis^ Oliv. which bores into the pine and which very closely re-
sembles our larva, the first and not the second segment being en-
larged.

Until the past summer nothing had been published about the
attacks of this insect on Grape roots, and yet upon inquiry I find that
it has been known for several years. Mr. Spaulding informs me that
the first that was seen of it in his neighborhood was in 1866, when his
man found an enormous one in a wild vine which he was about to
graft; but Mr. Geo. Husmann, of Hermann, has been acquainted with
it since 1850, and has known it to occur around Hermann since 1854.
Indeed Mr. Husmann informs me that he has never observed the old
Grape-vine Borer which has 16 legs and which produces a moth {^£-
geria poUstiformis, Harris) but that in speaking of the Grape-root
Borer he has always referred to this species. Mr. J. H. Tice found it in
apple roots in 1860 on the place of James Sappington of St. Louis,
while the following item by A. J. H., of Vineland, N. J., which appeared
in the January (1869) number of the Gardener's Monthly, would in-
dicate that it has the same habit all over the country :

"On page 354 October number of Agriculturist, reference is made
to a "vine borer" in Missouri that cuts off vines below the surface.
It is also mentioned and partially described in the last Gardener's

128 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

Monthly. This " borer " is an old friend (?) of mine. It is found prin-
cipally in old rotten oak stumps; I hardl}-^ ever dig one out without
finding several of these worms. They are about two inches long, ta-
pering from head to tail, white bodies and black heads. I lose on an
average about 60 vines and dwarf pears annually by these little vil-
lains; probably twice as many pears as vines. I have had several
apple trees cut off by them, and one standard pear. The tree roots
seem often to be eaten entirely up, but the vine roots are only cut
through as if they had obstructed the line of travel.

This is no new insect, but will I think probably be found trouble-
some whenever dwarf pears and vines are planted among decayed
oak stumps."

Remedies. — Little can be done in the way of extirpating these un-
derground borers, when, as in the present instance, their presence is
only indicated by the approaching death of the vine. Still, every
vineyardist should make it a rule to search for them wherever they
find vines suddenly dying from any cause unknown to them, a)id upon
finding such a borer should at once put an end to his existence. The
beetle which may frequently be found during the summer months,
should also be ruthlessly sacrificed wherever met with. I should also
advise not to plant a vineyard on land covered with old oak stumps,
and not to use oak stakes where those made of cedar can be had as
conveniently.

THE GRAPE CUROVUO—Cceliodes incequalis, Say.

(Celeoptera, Curculionidaj.)

The larva of this Curculio infests the grapes during the months of
June and July, causing a little black hole in the skin, and usually a
[Fig. 70.] disfigurement and discoloration of the berr}'-,

^^N,,,^^^^^ immediately around it as in Figure 70, a. The

^'^^i^A ^ larva (Fig. 70, h) is whitish as long as the berry
^"""^^ ^^ is green, but generally partakes of the color of

iM '™l T ^2 ^'^® berry as it matures. It is footless and like
I ^-i 1 ' ^^ the larvffi of all snout-beetles is incapable of

\^ ^ ^'cc W^ spinning a web. In 1887 I found this insect

"^'^^ quite common in Southern Illinois, and as will

he seen from the excellent account of it given by Mr. Walsh in his
first report, it was very common in the States of Illinois, Ohio and
Kentucky, and it also occurred in our own State, as I am informed by
Mr. Peabody. From the middle to the last of July, this larva leaves
the berry and buries itself a few inches in the ground. Here it
changes to a pupa within a small, smooth earthen cavity, and by the
beginning of September the above named beetle issues from the
ground, and doubtless passes the winter in the beetle state, ready to
punctu.-e the grapes again the following May or June. This beetle is

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

129

[FiS-- 71.]

small and inconspicuous, being of a black color with a
grayish tint. It is represented enlarged at Figure 71, the
if?^^ hair line underneath showing the natural size. It is'dis-
v^U'ifit: V.|Vtinguished from all other curculios that are known to at-
tack our fruits by having a rectangular thorn or tooth on
the upper and outer edge of the four front shanks (tibice)ais
shown at Figure 72; this character being peculiar to the
genus {Cceliodes) to which it belongs.
Strange as it may seem, in 1S6S there seems to have been
an almost entire immunity from this Grape curculio, for I have
neither met with it in a single instance, nor heard ot its oc-
currence. No doubt this immunity has been caused principally by-
parasites, for I failed entirely to breed the perfect Uurculio in 1867,
on account of some small Ichneumon which killed the larva as soon
as the latter had entered the earth, and spun for itself a tough silken
cocoon in the place where the Curculio larva, jf unmolested, would
have undergone its transformations. It is thus that Nature 'works •
"eat and be eaten, kill and be killed," is one of her universal laws,'
and we can never say with surety that because a particular insect is
numerous one year, therefore it will be so the next !

THE GRAPE-SEED CURCULIO.

(Coleoptera, Curculionidse.)

A minute maggot was discovered last August infesting the seeds
of the Grape in certain parts of Canada, by Mr. Wm. Saunders of
London. It causes the berries to shrivel up and utterly ruins them
Specimens which had been received from Canada, were sent to me by
my friend A. S. Fuller, of New Jersey, and the annexed Figure 73
[Fig. 73.] Bhows a highly magnified view of the maggot, its

natural size being represented underneath. The
head is of the same translucent, milk-Avhite color
as the body, but the jaws, which are finely pointed,,
are light brown, and there is a patch of brown at
their base. It has exactly thirteen segments exclusive of the head,
and every segment has a few white, fleshy hairs, these hairs being
thickest near the head and longest on the under part of the first three
segments, thus imitating feet, as is often the case with footless larv^
of this character.

It is evidently the larva of some curculio, and though it is not
yet known to occur in the States, I append the following account of
it from Mr. jaunders himself, for the benefit of our Grape-growers:*

.;««!l'^!!f'r''°'"l^ '' taken from a papor puhli.h9d by Mr. Saunders in the "Report of the Comtnii^
sioner of Agriculture and Arts of the Province of Ontario/' for 1868-pp. 203-5. ^'^^ ^°°»«»i«-

i^ R S B

130 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

"On the 20th of August last we ol3served that many of the berries
in the bunches of a Clinton vine under our care were shriveling up.
On opening the grapes, we observed that most ot the smaller berries
—that is those which had shriveled earliest— contained only one seed,
and that of an unusually large size. Some of the larger shriveled
grapes contained two seeds, much swollen, each having a dark spot
somewhere on their surface. On cutting the seeds carefully open, the
kernel was found almost entirely consumed, and the cavity occupied
by a small milk-white footless grub with a pair of brown hooked man-
dibles, a smooth and glossy skin with a few very fine short white
hairs. When at rest it is nearly oval in form, but when in motion its
body is elongated, varying in length from one-fifteenth to one-twelfth
of an inch. * * *

" The Clinton vine on which this pest was first discovered suffered
considerably, fully ten per cent, of the crop was lost from the shrivel-
ing of affected berries. At first we supposed that the work of the
insect was confined to berries of this appearance, and that by destroy-
ing these the destruction of the crop of insects for the season would
be complete, but further examination showed that many of the ripe
berries contained aftected seeds. The proportion thus affected on
the vine referred to was about ten or eleven per cent. Within a few
feet of this vine an Isabella was fruiting ; on this there were no shriv-
eled berries, but about three per cent, of those which had ripened
were injured. About the same distance in another direction was a
Hartford Prolific, and about ten feet further ofi" a Concord, both of
which fruited well. On neither af these were there any shriveled
berries, nor could we find any affected seeds among those which had
ripened. The fruit of a Delaware, about fifty feet distant from the
Clinton, was also examined without discovering any traces of the in-
sect.

"About the middle of September we visited the grounds of Mr.
Charles Arnold, of Paris, and there we found that this insect had pre-
vailed to a greater extent than it had with ourselves, afi^ecting the
Clinton, Delaware, one of Rogers' Hybrids, and also Mr. Arnold's new
seedlings. In Hamilton, in the garden of Mr. W. H. Mills, we found
an affected seed in a berry of Rogers' No. 4. On the 2ith of Septem-
ber we visited the vineyard of the Vine Growers' Association at
Cooksville, but could not find any traces of the insect there. Thus
tar its depredations are most apparent about London and Paris, but
probably further examination will show that it is widely distributed.

"Where any shriveled berries are found their seeds should be
carefully opened and examined, as itis important to know how far the
insect prevails. The affected berries are usually swollen, somewhat
soft and have a dark spot somewhere on their surface ; any of this
character observed among the ripe berries should also be exammed.

"In the case of the shriveled berries, where one seed only is af-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. J31

fectefl, the others are dwarfed and imperfect; and ivhore t^yo lar-^e

fected and the other remains heal.hv, the one normal seed carries the
berry through m an apparently healthy state to ripeness. As tar as

liahre'lTnTr't T'' 't '^"'""" '""' "^ ^'"''''^ ^""' "'■" ^'^-^ -^ ">"'«
nd C :ord " '""" "'" '''"''' ''"'"' ^-" -^""--^ !'"•

THE GRAPE-CANE GALL-CURCULIO, Jfadaru. vM.,Ne^ Species

(Coleoptera, Curculionidw.)

on fh!'l T'' f "" ^T"""^ ^^ '■"■'' '■■■«■'l"<'ntl.^' found to have sails
on the last year's srowth, in the .hape ofan elongated knot or swe
ns whK-h ,s generally sitnated immediately ab-^-e or helo,v a ioin

"f r ■ r ."° ■"^"'''^'-^ ■> longitudinal slit or depression 01,0^6

de,d,nd,ng that side into t«.o cheeks, which gener.allv h>^4 a rosy

tint. Ihe gall IS caused by a little footless, whfte cylindricariarva

wuch measures 0.28 of an inch, and has a vellowish head am 4, e'

«hat darker tawny jaws. It is minntelv wrinkled transfer eh- a, d

parse y covered whh minnte white bristles; the three seZe„t'n"t

tt cl Tto h""1 T"""""^' '"°"^" underneath an^te i^ti:

tent trfl T , '''"'•^ '"""'' ''■'^"'^ '<'?''• =>"" ''""I't'^'^^ 'o «ome ex-

ose^en! ,1 IT""'" "' '"■■"■ '^''"'^ '"■■™ "'^^^'l bears a very

1 ated\ r'n^F "T'° "f "' "" P"'^'" Stalk-weevil, illns"^

t.a e,i a, page fe Figure Si a. and when taken out of its gall in medi-

,,r '■! r," ,"' "' " ,""* "S"'^- "'"'"e tbe latter part'of J Z ut

t fi :;;:rrrr "" "" Tr *" " p'-p-- ^'^° ^-'"'y — ^ g

knt 1 rf ,i r . ?"? '""^ ''*^' '■*'"<■'' "™'' t'.ree.fourths the
length o(^ the body instead of but one-half as in that species Two

"Ip fr?"";,'' '"^ "IZ '™-'»"»^d it becomes a beetle belonging":
]Zl " ^?''\ ^""'^''' f^»"'j'- B'=f'"-« this insect had ever
I.een bred to the perfect state I predicted that it would
produce a Cureulio, as may be seen by referring to page
111 oflhe Transactions of the Illinois State Horticultural
Society for 1867. Tnis beetle is represented enlarged at Fi--
. ure H, Its natural length being 0.10. It is of a uniform

"»'"y«"owish-brownwiihont any markings whatever It
IS closely a lied to the Potato Stalk-weevil, but belongs to the g^nus
J/adarm which differs from BanrUus in the peculiar undulalino- ap-
pearance of the wing-cases, and more especially in their being highly
polished, the word Madm-us meaning glossy or polished. This little

132 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

Curculio was considered a new species by Dr. Le Conte, in 1861, and as
it has not, so far as I am aware, been described since that time, I sub-
join a more complete description of it:

Madarus vitis, N. Sp. — Length, exclusive of rostrum 0.10. Color uniformly rufous, without
maculations, the eyes aloue being darker. Highly polished ; rostrum arcuated, stout and about as
long as thorax ; thorax and body with extremely minute and distant punctures, anterior margiu
of thorax abruptly narrowed, especially laterally, into a collar ; elytra slightly undulate, with 4
distinct elevations, one on the extreme outer margin close to the thorax, and one on the middle of
each, near the extremity.

As an illustration of the great similarity in the habits of insects
belonging to the same genus, I will state that there is a small black
Curculio, belonging to the genus Madarus and. differing from this
Grape-cane Gall-curculio in no other respect but in color, whose larva
lives in a somewhat similar gall found on the common creeper {Am-
pelopsis quinquefolia) which is very closely related to the vine. This
black species is also undescribed and is marked Madarus ampelopsis
in Mr. Walsh's collection. '

I think it highly probable that the gall of the Grape-cane Curculio
is caused more by the punctures which the female beetle makes in de-
positing her egg, than by the irritations ot the larva; fori have found
the larva where it had burrowed two and three inches up the cane,
away from the gall, without its having caused a corresponding swell-
ing; though this has always been in the one-year-old cane.

Remedy. — If these gall-bearing canes are cut off and burned du-
ring the winter there need be little fear of this insect's work, the
more especially as it is not secure from parasites, even in its snug re-
treat, for I have bred a species of Clialcis fly from the galls, which
had evidently destroyed the true gall-maker.

THE GRAPE-VINE mV>lk.—Fidia viticida, Walsh.

(Coleoptera, ChrysomelidsD.)

One of the worst foes to the grape-vine that we have in Missouri

[Fig. 75.] is the Grape-vine Fidia which is represented in the an-

*'^^^"''^;;|5'''y^nexed Figure 75. It is of a chestnut-brown color, and is

Jf^£ T ^^^s^y covered with short and dense whitish hairs which

.<*^i illV S^^^ ^^ ^ hoary appearance. I have found it very thick

(ifllPr^ -^ inmost of the vineyards which I visited, and it is almost

y / universally miscalled the "I\ose-bug," which is, however,

a very different insect. The Grape-vine Fidia was first described by

Mr. Walsh in the May, 1867, number of the Practical Entomologist. It

is found in the woods on the wild grape-vine and also on the leaves of

the Cercis Canadensis ; but of the tame vines it seems to prefer the

Norton's Virginia and Concord. It makes its appearance during the

month of June, and by the end of July has generally disappeared, from

which fact we may infer that there is but one brood each year. The

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. ' 133

manner in which it injures the vine is by cutting straight elongated
holes of about -g inch in diameter in the leaves, and when numerous
it so riddles the leaves as to reduce them to mere shreds. The pre-
paratory stages of this beetle are not yet known.

Remedies. — Luckily this beetle has the same precautionary habit
of dropping to the ground, upon the slightest disturbance, as has the
Plum curculio, and this habit enables us readily to keep it in check.
The most efficient way of doing this is by the aid of chickens. 'Mr.
Peschell, of Hermann, on whose vines this beetle had been exceed-
ingly numerous, raised a large brood of chickens in 1S67, and had them
so well trained that all he had to do was to start them in the vine-
yard with a boy in front to shake the vines, and he himself behind the
chicks. They picked up every beetle which fell to the ground, and in
this manner he kept his vines so clean that he could scarcely find a
single beetle in 1868.

THE GKAPE CODLING, Penthina vitivorana, Packard.— Plate 2,

Figs, 29 and 30.

(Lepidoptera, Tortricidoe.)

Although the preceding insect has been so scarce in 1868, yet the
Grape has been worked upon in a somewhat similar manner, and even
to a greater extent, by the insect now under consideration. Indeed
there is very little doubt that Mr. Walsh, not being acquainted with
this insect, confounded its work with that of the Grape-curculio, in
some ot the instances, of the damage done by this last, which are
quoted by him in his report, and this is especially the case in the in-
stance of Mr. M. C. Read of Hudson, Ohio.

I first received this insect, with an account of its workings, from
Huron Burt, of Williamsburg, and subsequently during the month of
July, found it universal in the vineyards along the lines of the Pacific
and Iron Mountain Railroads. It was found equally common around
Alton in Illinois, while Dr. Hull informs me that it ruined 50 per cent.
of the grapes around Cleveland, Ohio, the Concord and Ives Seedling
being the only varieties which appeared to resist its attacks. It also
occurs in Pennsylvania, judging from articles which appeared* in the
November and December numbers of the Praof/ical Farmer. In
these numl)ers my esteemed correspondent, Mr. S. S. Rathvon, of Lan-
caster, Pennsylvania, gives an account, with description, of some
worms which were sent to him by the editors, answering in every re-
spect to this Grape codling. Concluding, from its similarity to the
common Apple worm, that the insect belonged to the genus Carpo-
capf^a^ he proposed for it the name of Carpooapsa vliisella, without
having bred the parent moth. la the June number of the American

134

FIRST AxNKtJAL REPORT OF

JSfaturalist (p. 220) is quoted an account of it by Mr. M. G. Read, of
Hudson, Ohio^ who says that it is '* already so abundant there that it is
necessary to examine every bunch of ripe grapes, and clip out the in-
fested berries before sending them to the table."

The larva of this Grape codling may at once be distinguished
from that of the Grape curculio, by its having 6 scaly legs near the
head, 8 lleshy legs in the middle, and 2 at the extremity of the body,
and hj spinning a fine web, by which it lets itself drop whenever
handled. It is also larger, of a darker color, and bears a very close
resemblance to that of the Strawberry leaf-roller, to be hereafter fig-
ured and described.

Its presence is soon indicated by a reddish-brown color on that
side of the yet green grape which it enters. On opening the grape, a
winding channel is seen in the pulp, and a minute white worm with a
dark head is seen at the end of the channel. It continues to feed
upon the pulp of the fruit, and when it reaches the seeds, eats out
their interior. As it matures it becomes darker, being either of an
olive-green or dark brown color, with a honey-yellow head, and if one
grape is not sufficient it fastens the already ruined grape to an adjoin-
ing one by means of silken threads, and proceeds to burrow in it as it
did in the first. When fall grown it leaves the grape and form's its co-
[^''-- "'''•^ roon on tlie leaves of the vine. This operation is per-

' • >rmed in a manner essentially characteristic: the
orm cuts out a clean oval flap, leaving it hinged on
ne side, and, rolling this flap over, fastens it to the
eaf, and thus forms ibr itself a cozy little house which
it lines on the inside with silk. One of these cocoons
is represented at Figure 7H, J, and though the cut, is sometimes less
regular than shown in the figure, and I have had them spin up in a silk
handkerchief without making any cut at all, it is undoubtedly tlie
normal habit of the insect to make just such a cocoon as represented.
In this cocoon, within two <lays, it changes to a chrysalis, such as is
represented at Figure 76. a, of a hoaey-yellow color with a green
shade on the abdomen ; and in about ten days more the moth makes
its escape, the chrysalis having first pusiied itself almost entirtly out
of the cocoon. The moth is of a slaty-brown color with corky-yellow
markings, and is represented enlarged at Plate 2, Figure 29, and of
the natural size at Figure 30.

Specimens of this moth were sent by Mr. Walsh to the English
Lepidopterist, H. T. Stainton, who could not refer it to any known ge-
nus; but Dr. Packard, of Salem, Massachusetts, refers it to Penthina
a genus very closely allied to Carpocapsa, t > which our Apple Cod-
ling moth belongs. He has also kindly furnished me with advanced
sheets of Part V ol the "Guide to tne Study of Insects," in which (p.
330) he describes and figures it under the name of Penthina vitivor-
ana. The description is quite brief, however, and the figure not ^ood,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 135

and I therefore subjoin a more detailed description of it in its differ-
ent stages:

Penthina* ViTivoRANA, Packard — Larva. — Average length 0.35. Largest on segments 10 and
11, tapering thence gradually to thfe head and suddenly to anus. Color either dark shiny olive-
green, glaucous, or brownish. Head and cervical shield honey-yellow, the latter with a darker pos-
terior margin. Piliferous spots scarcely distinguishable. Described from 10 specimens.

Crysalis — 0.18 — 0.20 long. Of normal iurm. Quite variable in color. Usually of a light honey-
yellow, with a green shade on the abdomen, and black eyes, but sometimes entirely dark-green,
with light eyes. The chrysalis skin, after the moth has left, is always deep honey-yellow, with
the green abdominal mark distinct.

Pirfect insect — Average length 0.17 ; alar expanse 0.37. Head, thorax, palpi and basal half of
antenniB fulvous lerminal half of antennic darker. Legs fulvous, becoming darker on tarsi.
Ground-color of fore wings pale slate-blue, with a slight metallic lustre, which becomes lighter and
somewhat silvery interiorly and posteriorly. A dark rich-brown band, with a light, somewhat
silvery annulation proceeds from the middle of the costa towards the inner margin, becoming
paler interiorly ; its basal margin being indistinct, but running almost straight across the wing,
its outer margin well defined, curving to a rounded point which reaches to the middle of the outer
third of the wing and thence running obliquely inwards, nearly to the middle of the inner margin.
Beyond this middle band is a large, deep brown, somewhat oval spot, also lighter below than above,
and with a pale annulation, which is broken on the outer side above, allowing the spot to extend
to the margin of the wing. Above this large spot, at the apex, is a small perfectly round dark
spot, with a bright annulation inclining to orange color. The space enclosed by the middle band,
and these two spots just described, is brown above, with usually four lighter fulvous costal marks quite
distinct, each mark divided at costa by a slight touch of brown. Another somewhat triangular
brown spot, with a light annulation above, runs from the posterior angle up between the middle
band and large oval spot. The blue space from the middle band to the base of wing is generally
brownish near the base, with a brown line across the middle from costa to inner margin, and with
two other costal brown marks. The fringes partake of the ground-color. Hind wings slate-
brown, darkest near the margins ; fringes same color. Body brownish with frequently a clear
green tint. The male differs prmcipally in its somewhat smaller size, and especially in the smaller
size of the abdomen. Individuals vary greatly.

Described from 5 J and 2 (^ specimens, all well preserved and fresh.

Remedies. — This insect threatens to become a grievous pestunless
checked by some unforseen means, as was the case with the Grape
curculio. Luckily, there is at least one parasite which attacks it, in
the shape of a yellowish, footless maggot, with a green tint and 14
segments. I obtained such maggots from two of the caterpillars, one
having crawled out of its host before, and the other after he had spun
up. Absence from home prevented my breeding this parasite, but it
would doubtless have produced some 4-winged fly belonging to the
Chalcis family (see PI. 2, Figs. 6 and 9). According to Mr. Read, the
firstbrood of caterpillars ieed on the leaves, appearing in May (in Ohio)
or as soon as the leaves are grown. The worms which appear in our
grapes in July are, therefore, the second brood, and there is doubtless
a third brood, for Mr. Rathvon received them in October, and I have
taken the worm out of a grape as late as the 22d of September. The
broods, in all probability, run into one another and the last passes the
winter within the cocoon, either in the larva or pupa state. They
should, therefore, be searched for early in the season on the leaves.
The second brood of worms, or those which infest grapes, can easily
be espied and destroyed in a healthy vineynrd ; but where a vineyard

*Heinemann and Lederer unite the genus Penlhina wrth Grapholitha, under the latter name,
and I believe Mr. C T. Robinson, of New York, follows then) in this respect.

136

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

is affected with what Prof. Turner, of Jacksonville, Illinois, designates
as the "American Grape rot," the grape attacked by the Codling are
not so easily distinguished, as they bear a close resemblance to the
rotting ones. Care should be taken in gathering the infested grapes
for the worm being very active wriggles away and easily escapes.

THE EIGHT-SPOTTED FORESTER, Alypia octomaculata, Fabr.

PL 1, Figs. 18 and i9.

(Lepidoptera, Zygjenidse.)

At Plate 1, Figure 19, is represented a caterpillar which has been
sent to me by several correspondents with the statement that it was
found on their grape vines, and during the month of May, I found the
same caterpillar on the vines of Mr. T. R. Skinner, of Cheltenham,
and of Mr. Peabody, of Sulphur Springs. It grows to the length of
li inches, and is transversely striped with bluish-white and black,
about 4 white and 4 black lines on each segment, with two small black
spots in the middle light band on the back. The head and a shield
on the first segment are shiny gamboge-yellow, with black dots, and
on the 11th segment there is an orange elevation, not shiny and with
two black spots in it. From similar caterpillars, which were taken from
grape vines in 1865 I bred in the spring of 1866 the moth figured at
Plate 1, Figure 18, known as the Eight Spotted Forester {Ahipia
octomaGulata^ Fabr.) It is recognized at once by its conspicuous
markings, being of a black color with orange shanks, each of the fore
wings with two large light yellow spots and each of the hind wings
with two white spots. The caterpillars leave the vines during the
month of June, and descend into the earth where they form for them-
selves slight cocoons of earth in which they remain through the
winter and from which the moth escapes the following April.

It is not probable that this caterpillar which may be called the
Blue Caterpillar of the vine, will ever become exceedingly numerous,
for it has not been known to become so in the past, and this hasty
sketch of its history is given principally for the gratification of the
intelligent grape-grower who takes pleasure in thoroughly understand-
ing and knowing, in all their different guises, the creatures he has to
deal with.

There are two other caterpillars very much resembling this, which
also feed on the vine ; but they produce very different looking moths,
the one known as Eudryas grata, Fabr., and the other as EwJryas
ii)ii<\ Hiibner. Dr. Fitch in his 3d Report §123 states that the larva
of E. grata differs only from that of A. octomaculata in lacking a
white spot on each side of every segment, and in being slightly
humped at its hind end. The specimen from which my figure was

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 137

made may prove to be E. grata^ for it had no such white spots and
%oas humped ; hut it differs essentially from the most excellent de-
scription of this last larva which A. S. Packard, Jr., has given in his
"notes on the family Zyga^nidtB, pp. 27-29, and sufficiently resembles
those from which I actually bred the 8-si3otted Forester.

THE GRAPE-VINE PLUME, Pterophorus periscelidactylus, Fitch.
Plate 2, Figs. 15 and 16.

(Lepidoptera, Alucitidae.)

During the latter part of May and beginning of June, the leaves
of the grape-vine may often be seen drawn together by silken threads
and in the retreat thus made will be lound a small hairy caterpillar
which feeds on the tender leaves of the vine. This caterpillar grows
to the length of about half an inch; the color of the body is very
pale green and has four elevated white spots and two still smaller
dots on every segment, from which spring stiff white hairs in all
directions.

This caterpillar was quite common last summer in many sections
of the State. It was first named by Dr. Fitch, who found it on the
vine in the State of New York. A number which I brought home
changed to chrysalids during the first days of June, and the rnioths
were produced from them in about 8 days afterwards. The worm first
spins a few threads of silk to the underside of a leaf, or other object,
and the chrysalis attaches the lower part of the terminal segments
to them, and hangs with the tail somewhat curved, at a slant of 40°
from the object, as represented at Plate 2, Figure 1(>. This chrysalis
measures 0.35 — O.-IO in length, is of a light-green color and of peculiar
form. It is ridged, with remnants of the tubercles of the caterpillar.
It is angular and cut off slantingly and bluntly at the head, but is
characterised principally by two sharp and angulated projections
from the middle of the back, and which are enlarged under the figure
16, in Plate 2.*

The moth (PL 2, Fig. 15) is of a tawny yellow color, the wings
marked with white and with a darker shade. The caterpillars disap-
pear very suddenly, for the chrysalis is so small and so nearly the
color of the leaf, that it would be seldom noticed, even it were not so
well hidden. There are probably two broods in the year, though I
failed to find any trace of them after the first had disappeared.

All the moths of the family (Alucitid.e) to which this belongs
have very appopriately received the name of Plumes. In the genus
Pterophorus the fore wings are divided into two and the hind

*Dr. Fitch has given a most excellent and full description of this chrysalis in his 1st Report
pp. 140-111.

138

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

wings into three lobes, and to show how very different insects may
be in the larva state, both in habit and appearance, even when
they belong to the same genus and greatly resemble each other in
the perfect state, I have represented at Plate 2, Figure 13, another
Plume, which I shall presently describe as the Thistle Plume.

Remedies. — Whenever they become numerous, as they did last
summer, the only remedy is hand-picking.

(Orthoptera, Achetidso.)

This insect is represented in the annexed cuts. Figure 77 showing
the male, and Figure 78 the female. The general color is a delicate
[Fig. 77.] greenish, semi-transparent white, though some speci-
mens have a blackish shade. From the fact that it is
known to devour plant-lice and likewise the eggs of
some moths, I was formerly in doubts whether it
should be considered [Fig- 78.]

friend or foe, but the ex-
perience of the past year
settles the matter defi-
nitely, for it has proved
very destructive to the vine. The female deposits her eggs in grape
canes, raspberry and blackberry canes, in the twigs of the peach,
White willow, and a variety of other trees. In depositing, she makes
a straight, longitudinal, contiguous row of punctures, each puncture
about the size of that which would be made by an ordinary pin.
From each of these holes, a narrow, yellowish, elongate egg^ runs
slantingly across the pith. The twigs or canes thus punctured almost
invariably die above the punctured part, and the injury thus caused
to vines is sometimes considerable.

But by far the worst habit of the Tree-cricket is that of severing
grapes from the bunches just as they are beginning to ripen, audit
sometimes cuts off an entire bunch, or so thoroughly excoriates the
stem that it fails to ripen its berries. I have seen the ground under
some vines covered with grapes which had been thus severed, but
should never have accused the Tree-cricket, had I not found it in the
very act, and received specimens with accounts of this same habit,
both from Mr. B. L. Kingsbury, of Alton, Illinois, and from J. H. Tice,
of St. Louis. This cricket is aided in this destructive work by another
species which has the same habit, namely the Jumping Tree-cricket
(Oroc/mris saltator^Uhler.) This last insect is more robustly built
than the former, and is at once distinguished by its uniform light'

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 139

brown color, and I have good reason to believe that it deposits its
eggs in the grape-vine in a row of punctures, each of which is about
one-third of an inch apart, and each of which leads to from ten to
twelve narrow eggs, about a tenth of an inch long, and deposited on
either side of the puncture, length-wise in the pith.

IIemedt. — The crickets themselves should be crushed whenever
met with, while the vineyardist should make a business of searching
in the winter time for all punctured twigs, and by burning them,
prevent their increase in future.

THE RASPBERRY GEOMETER, Aplodes riiUvora, N. Sp. —PI. 2,

Figure 25.

(Lepidoptera Geometrida3.)

The lovers of those most exquisite fruits, the Raspberry and the
Blackberry are often greatly disgusted by the discovery of the fact
that instead of the delicious berry which they expected to enjoy, they
are munching the small caterpillar now under consideration. This
caterpillar was quite numerous last summer on both the above named
fruits at South Pass, Illinois. It has the peculiar faculty of thorough-
ly disguising itself with pieces of dried berry, seed, pollen, and other
debris of the fruit, which it sticks to a series of prickles with which it
is furnished. Add to this disguise the habit which it has ot looping
itself into a small ball, and it almost defies detection. It is most nu-
merous during the months of June and July. Through the kindness
of Mr. T. A. E. Holcomb, of South Pass, I was enabled to breed this
insect to the perfect state. From two specimens of the larvoe which
he sent me, I bred from one, July 9th, the little moth which is illus-
trated at Plate 2, Figure 25, the other being infested with a parasite
which formed a tough cocoon, very much like that of a parasitic fly
{Campoplex fugitivus^^&.y)^ which I have bred from milkweed feeding
larva? of EuGhoetus egle^ Harris. This little moth is of a delicate light
grass-green color, with two paler lines running across both wings as
in the figure. It belongs to the genus Aplodes, and as I am informed
by Dr Packard, comes very near to glaucaria Guenee, and has not
hitherto been described. In the proceedings of the Boston Society of
Natural History (Vol, IX, pp. 300-2) Mr. Walsh has described an oak-
feeding Geometer which closely resembles this, both in the larva and
perfect states. He erected the new genus HipparcMscus, for it and
gave it the specific name vennstus. It is a much larger insect, and
differs in sundry respects from the species under consideration, though
the moth is of the same color and somewhat similarly marked.

Aplodes rdbivora, N. Sp. ^Larva — Average length 0.80. Color light yellowish-grajs darker
just hehind each joint, and very minutely shagreened all over. On each segment a prominent
pointed straight projection each side of dorsum, and several minor warts and prickles below. Two
very slightly raised, longitudinal lighter lines along dorsum, between the prominent prickles. Ten
legs,

140 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

Perfect insect — Alar expanse 0.50; length of body 0.25. Color verdigris-green, the scales be-
ing sparse so that the wings appear sub-hyaline. Fore-wings with two transverse lighter lines di-
viding the wing into three parts, proportionate in width as 3, 4, 2 counting from base, and parallel
■with posterior margin ; also a faint line between these two, running to about J of wing from costs.
Hind wings with two similar transverse lines, dividing the wing in like proportion, the outer line
Dot parallel with margin, but wavy and produced posteriorly near its middle. Costa pale ; fringes
obsolete. Head, thorax and abdomen greeu above, but, together with anteunce and palpi, white
beneath.

Described from one $ specimen.

THE GOOSEBERRY FRUIT-WORInI, Femjyelia ffrossidarice, Pack-
ard.—PI. 2, Fig. 17.

(Lepidoptera, Phycidos).

On June 8th, I received from Mr. Geo. II. Cherry of Hematite, a
number of diseased gooseberries, with an account of their prema-
turely turning red and rotting. The cause was a
smooth thick glass-green worm which is more
fully described below. Subsequently on the 12th
of the same month, I received the same species
of worm with a similar account of its work, from
Mr. Stephen Blanchard, of Oregon; on the 16th from Jos. F. Bryant,
of Bethany, with the statement that it was " feeding on and hollowing
out" his currants, and on the 17th from Dr. W. A. Monroe of Bloom-
ington with the statement that it v/as destroying his native gooseber-
ries and Green gage plums. Mr. A. Fendler and F. R. Allen, both of
Allenton, likewise informed me that it entirely ruined their currant
crop, and I afterwards found the same insect on the currants and
gooseberries wherever I went, and it doubtless occurs over the whole
country, for as we shall presently see, it attacks the gooseberry both
* in the State of New York, Massachusetts, and in Canada.

Dr. Fitch, in his 3d Report, §149, makes brief mention of it though
he was not acquainted with the parent moth. He concludes his ac-
count in the following words : " I have sometimes seen bushes of the
wild gooseberry with every berry withered and reduced to a mere
dry hollow shell, with a cob-web like tube protuding from the orifice
in one side. And the present summer a letter to the Cotmty Gentle-
man., from E. Graves Jr. of Ashfield, Mass., states that for three years
past, his ' Houghton's seedling' gooseberries have been a total fail-
ure from this same worm, as I am assured by the account which he
gives of it and the specimens accompanying his letter."

As soon as gooseberries and currants are well formed, this worm
begins to make its presence known by causing the berries wliich it
infests to prematurely turn red or dull whitish. After eating the in-
side of one berry, leaving a hole for the passage of the excrement, it
enters another berry, making a passage way of silk, until it draws to-
gether a bunch of currants, or two or three gooseberries as the case
may ba. The berries thus attacked sometimes drop, but more gener-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 141

ally the hollow shell mixed with cob-web-like silk shrivels up and
hangs on to the bushes. During the latter part of June the worma
descend from the shrub and spin for themselves brown cocoons (Fig.
79, a) in tlie leaves and rubbish on the ground. Here they change to
brown chrysalids and remain in this state through the winter and
come forth in the spring as moths. Thus there is but one brood of this
insect each year, and yet by the middle of July there is never a worm
to be found, and the chrysalis consequently remains quiescent alike
through the hottest summer and the coldest winter weather. As the
worms which I procured are still in the chrysalis ?tate, ] sliould have
been unable to present the complete history of this pest, in this my
first report, had it not been for the kindness of Mr. William Saunders
of London, Canada, whom I met in Chicago, at the meeting of the
" American Association for the Advancement of Science," and who
very fortunately had with him specimens of the moth which he had
bred from gooseberry-feeding worms, found in Canada, the descrip-
tion of which answered exactly to those of mine. Bat to make doubly
sure that the insect which Mr. Saunders bred, is the same species as
ours, I purposely forced one of my chrysalids. On the 25th of Jan-
uary, 18G9, the markings of the wings showed through the chysalis
skin, v/hich was loose and brittle. These signs indicated that the
i"orthcoming moth was in an advanced state of development, and on'
carelully taking away the chrysalis skin, it lay before me v/ith noth-
ing lacking to bring it to perfection but the inflating of the wings.
Their markings were however perfect and distinct and agreed entirely
with the Canadian specimen.

This moth is represented at Figure 79, h and still more faithfully
at Flate 2, Figure 17, its general color being pale gray. It belongs to
the genus Pempelia^ and from advance sheets of Dr. Packard's
" Guide" I learn that he has named it P. grossidarice^ and it may be
knovv'n in English as tlie Gooseberry Pempelia.

Remedies. — Care should be taken to gather and destroy the worms
while they are yet in the fruit, as they are afterwards found in the
chrysalis state with great difficulty. If chickens are allowed to run
amongst the bushes after the fruit has gone, they will materially as-
sist in checking it by devouring such chrysalids as are within their
reach.

Pempelia grossulari.e, Packard — Larva — Average length 0.65 ; thickest in the middle of
body, tapering thence slightly each way. Color glass-green, partly translucent, shiny, and with
a roseate hue on the upper surface. Head of a light gamboge-yellow, with tawny lips. Cervical
shield not very prominent and of the same color. No other markings whatever. A few very fine
white hairs, especially near the head and tail. 16 legs, the thoracic ones the same color as head,
the others green.

Described from 10 specimens.

Chrysalis — Length 0.3S. Of the normal form, and dull mahogany-brown color. The spiracles
appearing like small tubercles and the extremity furnished with several stiff rufous curled bristles.

Perfect insect, — Length, including palpi, 0.40 ; alar expanse, 0.80. Color pale-gray. Front
wings with a dark transverse diffuse band on the inner third, enclosing a zig-zag white line not
reaching the costa. A dark discal gpot, constricted in the middle, the upper and lower edges con-

142

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

tinned basally in tbe shape of two faint lines to the transverse band already mentioned, wbere they
almost converge, the space enclosed by them being- whiter tlian the rest of the wing, with a darker
line along the middle. Beyond this discal spot, at about the onter fourth of tlie wing is another
dark but less distinct diffuse transverse band, nearly parallel with posterior margin and with a white
zig-zag line produced into an acute angle, basally, on the internal margin, the space between this
band and the discal spot being also quite light. A row of marginal black dots, with the apex light.
Fringes concolorous. Hind wings somewhat more dusky with darker margins and veins and lighter
fringes. Head, thorax, abdomen, antenna^, palpi and legs all pale gray, being more silvery on the
under than on the upper side.

One specimen from Wm. Saunders.

THE STRAWBERRY LEAF-ROLLER, Anchylopera
Walsh and Riley— Fl. 2, Figs. 26 and 27.

fragaAcB^

The above figure represents an insect which devours the leaves
of our strawberries. A more perfect picture of the moth is given
enlarged at Plate 2, Figure 26, and of the natural size at Figure 27.
It was first described in the January number of the AmeriGan Ento-
mologist^ from which I take the following account of it.

For nearly two years, we have been acquainted with a little green-
ish leaf-roller, measuring about one-third of an inch, (Fig. 80, a), which
in certain parts of North Illinois and Indiana, has been ruining the
strawberry fields in a most wholesale manner; and which also occurs
in Canada, judging from an account in the Cariada Farmer of Au-
gust 1, 1867. It crumples and folds the leaves, feeding on their pulpy
substance, and causing them to appear dry and seared, and most usu-
ally lines the inside of the fold with silk. There are two broods of
this leaf roller during the year, and the worms of the first brood,
which appear during the month of June, change to the pupa state
within the rolled- up leaf, Piid become minute reddish-brown moths
(Fig. 80 c) during the fore part of July. After pairing in the usual
manner, the females deposit their eggs on the plants, from which eggs
in duo time, hatches a second brood of worms. These last come to
their growth towards the end of Sei)tember, and changing to pupre,
pass the winter in that state.

We first heard of this leaf roller in the summer of 1866, when it
did considerable damage at Valparaiso, Indiana, and we Avere in-
formed by Mr. N. R. Strong, of that place, that in 1S67 they continued
their depredations with him, and destroyed 10 acres so completely as
not to leave plants enough to set half an acre, and that in consequence

Me state entomologist. 143

of this little pest in conjunction with the White-grub, he has had to
abandon strawberry culture.

When we met the ad interim committee of the Illinois State
Horticultural Society at Lacon, in the beginning of July, 1868, we
received from these gentlemen a quantity of infested strawberry
leaves, from which in the course of the next two or three weeks we
bred many of the moths. These specimens had heen collected at JMr.
Bubaugh's place, near Princeton, Illinois, where they were said to be
very abundant, and to have completely destroyed one strawberry
patch containing several acres.

Subsequently we received another lot of specimens from Mr. W.
E. Lukens, of Sterling, Whiteside, county, Illinois, with the following
remarks upon this very important subject:

"Where these insects are thick I would never think of raising
strawberries. It is strange that I have not noticed any of their work
upon this side the river; while on the south side for a mile up and
down they are ruining the crops of berries. Removing the plants
does not take with them the moth nor the eggs, so far as has been ob-
served. A gentleman by the name of Kimball, at Prophetstown,had
his crop a few years ago entirely destroyed by this insect, though it
amounted in all to two or three acres. I hear of a great many men in
other places having their crops burnt up with the sun, and have no
doubt that it was this leaf-roller, and not the sun, that was the real
author of the damage. As for myself, I have on this account entirely
quit the business of growing strawberries."

The only modes of fighting this new and very destructive foe of
the strawberry — wiiich, however, seems to be confined to northerly
regions — are, first, to plough up either in the springer in the fall, such
patches as are badly infested by it, by which means the pupa? will
probably be buried and destroyed ; and second, not to procure any
plants from an infested region, so as to run the risk of introducing the
plague upon your own farm.

We annex brief descriptions of this insect, both in the perfect and larval states. We are in-
debted to the distinguished English Microlepidopterist, H. T. Stainton, for the generic determina-
tion of the species, and for the farther remark that "it is closely allied to the European Anchylopc-
ra compiana (Manual Vol. II, p. 225), which feeds on various Rosacea;, such as Poterium sangui-
iorba, Potentilla verna, and Diyas oclopelala."

Anchylopera fhagari.e. New species — Head and thorax reddish-brown. Palpi and legs paler.
Antenna; dusky. Tarsal joints tipped with dusky. Front wings reddish-brown, streaked and spot-
ted with black and white as in the figure. Hind wings and abdomen dusky. Alar expan?e 0.40-
O.'lo inch. Described from nine specimens.

The Laiva measures, when full grown, 0.36 of an inch. Largest on the first segment taper-
ing thence very slightly to the last. Color varying from very light yellowish-brown to dark olive-
green or brown. Body soft, somewhat translucent, without polish ; the piliferous spots quite
large, shiuing, always light in color, contrasting strongly in the dark specimens with the ground
color. Hairs, especially lateral ones, quite stout and stiff. Spots arranged in the normal form,
segments 2 and 3 having none, however, on their posterior half as have the rest (See Fig. 80, 6)
Head horizontal, of a shining fulvous color, with a more or less distinct dark eye-spot and tawny
upper lip. Cervical shield of the same shiny appearani'e. Anal segment with two black spots
(See Fig. 80, d) at posterior edge, being confluent and forming an entire black edge in some speci-
mens. Legs, prolegs, and venter of the same color as the body above.

144 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

THE WHITE-MARKED TUSSOCK MOTR—Orffi/ia leucoaiigma,

Sm. & Abbott.

(Lepidoptera, Arctiidse.)
[Fig. 81.]

ah c d/

During the winter little bunches of dead leaves are sometimes
found to be quite numerous on our apple trees. They are generally
fastened to the twigs, and upon examination are found to contain gray
cocoons. The greater portion of these cocoons have an egg-mass
glued to them, which is composed of numerous perfectlj' round, cream-
colored eggs, of about 0.03 diameter, and partly covered with glisten-
ing white froth-like matter ; while the other proportion of these cocoons
have no such egg-mass.

About the middle of the month of May these eggs begin to hatch,
and continue thus to hatch in different parts of the orchard for over a
month. The young caterpillar which hatches from these eggs is rep-
resented at Figure 81, 5. It at first measures 0.10 in length, and is of
a dull, whitish-gray color with the underside paler or ot a dirty white,
and with the tufts on the back of a dark brown. In two days after
hatching, orange spots commence to appear along the back, and espe-
cially on segments 2, 3, 8 and 9. On the seventh day after having re-
mained stationary for about two days, fastened to some part of the
tree with silk, it casts its skin for tiie first time, after which operation
the hairs are more numerous, the dark portions more intensely black-
the orange parts of a brighter orange and the two tufts near the head
longer. As it approaches the time of the second moult, the underside
becomes more glaucous, a yellow line begins to appear at the sides,
and in some cases the orange marks become yellow, with the excep-
tion of a small, perfectly round spot on segments 9 and 10 which al-
ways remains orange; the neck or first segment, where it joins the
head, also becomes orange or yellow. Six days from the time of the
first moult the second moult takes place, the worm having become
lighter colored each day. Immediately after the sliedding of the sec-
ond skin it measures 0.30; the collar is more intensely orange as well
as the head, while four cream-colored tufts appear on the back of seg-
ments 4, 5, 6 and T, and the two round spots on segments 9 and 10 are
of a very bright scarlet-orange. As it grows and approaches the third
moult, the orange collar becomes more conspicuous, the back be-
comes of a perfect velvety black ; the cream-colored tufts become

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

1^5

smaller, whiter, and the fourth frequently obsolete; a transverse row
of tour yellow warts becomes conspicuous on segments 2 and 3- a
subdorsal yellowish line appears, starting from segments and running
and diminishing posteriorly; the upper sides become of a dark bluish-
gray, while the yellow line along the lower sides becomes more dis-
tinct. Six days after the second moult the third moult takes place
with but linle change in the appearance of the caterpillar, further
than that the different colors become still more bright and distinct
and the different tufts still larger.

Up to this time all the individuals of a brood have been alike, and
of a size, so tiiat it was impossible to distinguish the sexes. Six days
from the third moult, however, the males measure not quite | of . an
inch, and begin to spin their cocoons; while the females undergo
a fourth moult about this time, and in about six days more they also-
spin up, having acquired twice the size of the male when he spun up.
'^^''"" ^' ^ The annexed Figure 82 rep-

resents the full grown female
•aterpillar, it differing from the
hilf grown male only in its
larger size. At this stage of its
existence the caterpillar is a
most beautiful object, with its
vermillion-red head and collar,
its cream-colored brushes and its long black plumes.

When young these caterpillars make free use of a fine web which
they spin, and by which they let themselves down when disturbed,
and it is quite amusing to watch them ascend again whenever they
have become sufficiently assured that there is no danger. They per-
form this feat with the thoracic legs, using those of each side alter-
nately, the body and head being thrown from side to side in harmony
very much as a sailor climbs a rope " hand over hand."

It may puzzle some persons to divine how such a hairy and tufted
caterpillar can possibly cast off its skin and yet retain these pretty
appendages. Alter having remained stationary without food for about
two days, the old skin becomes dry and somewhat loose. If at this
time this old skin be carefully removed, it will be found that an en-
tirely new set of these appendages has been forming underneath it;
the two long plumes curled over the head, down by the feet and up
again to near the scaly collar; the four white brushes folded close
together inwardly crossing each other; the anal plume folded below
the anus, and all the other hairs laid in thread-like bunches close to
the body in a posterior direction. In due time the old skin splits on
the back, near tbe head, and the caterpillar gradually works it off pos-
teriorly. The moment they are exposed the appendages which had
been compressed, as described, to the body, commence to straighten.
10 R 8 B

146 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

out, and in a few minutes the new dress is displayed in all its beauty
and freshness. The long plumes at the head do not straighten out of
their own accord, however, for the caterpillar by a curious curling of
the body, while resting on a few of its abdominal prolegs, cunningly
brushes them with its tail end, first on one side, then on the other. It
furthermore presses them, for the same end, one after the other
against any surface on which it is at the time walking, and having once
thoroughly straightened out its toilet it rests a few minutes from its ef-
forts and then commences to feed with surprising vigor, apparently
determined to make up for its two day's fast.

The male cocoon is white or yellowish, and sufficiently tiiin to
show the insect within it. It is formed of two layers, the outer one
having the tufts and plumes which adorned the maker, scattered
through it. The female cocoon is twice as large and more solid and
dense.

Soon after completing his cocoon the male changes to a chrysalis,
which is represented of the natural size at Figure 8^, d The female,
in due time, changes to a very different chrysalis, which is also repre-
sented life-size at Figure 81, g. In about two weeks alter spinning
up, the moths begin to issue. In this state the sexes are still more
dissimilar. The male produces a winged moth, which is represented
Fig- 83. at Figure 83, while the female is furnished with but
the merest rudiments of wings, and is destined t-o
simply crawl to the outside of her cocoon, where, after
the male has met her, she deposits her eggs, gluing and
protecting them with the white frothy matter already
described, which, at this time, has every appearance
of spittle. She is faithfully represented at Figure
ol, «, and after depositing her eggs, the body greatly
contracts and she soon dies.
Such is an outline of the natural history of this pretty, but de-
structive caterpillar. In our State there are two broods each year,
the moths of the first brood appearing during the latter part of May
and fore part ot June, and those of the second brood in September
and October. The periods given for the transformations are average
periods, and in further illustration of the difficulty in drawing rigid
lines of time in the development of insects, I will state that from a
hundred larvn? which hatch out in a single day, some will have pro-
duced moths while others are yet feeding in the caterpillar state.

This insect seems to occur more or less over the whole country,
and I have repeatedly received its egg-masses during the past two
winters. It is, however, as we might expect from its nature, often
confined like the Canker-worm, to particular orchards in a particular
neio'hborhood. It feeds upon different kinds of trees, such as the
elm, maple, horse-chestnut and oak, but it seems to prefer the apple,
the plum, the rose and the pear.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

117

"Remedies. — Dr. Fitch has described two parisites, wliich attack
this caterpillar, and I am acquainted with seven others, making in all
nine distinct parasites, which prey upon this species. It was my in-
tention to have described and figured some of these parasites, but the
time in which this Report must be ready for the Public Printer for-
bids my doing so, the present year, and it suffices to say that in col-
lecting the cocoons in the winter in order to destroy them, none hut
those which have the eg^-7nass^ on them, should he taken^ as all the
others^ either contain the ewpty male cJi ry sal is or else ^ome friendly
parasite! From the fact that the female never travels beyond her
cocoon, it becomes obvious that, since the insect can onlj'- travel in
the caterpillar state, it would require over a century for it to spread
«ven a hundred miles. Hencei we may rightly conclude that it has
been introduced to different parts of the country in the egg state on
young imported trees. How essential it is then to examine every
tree in planting out a young orchard, and how easy it is with the
proper precautions to forever keep an orchard free from its destruc-
tive work. As already stated, the young worms let themselves down
wpon slightly jarring the tree, and though after the third moult they
lose this habit to a great extent, yet they may always be brought
down by a good thorough shake, and where they have once invaded
an orchard, this will be found the most feasible mode of killing them;
though prevention by destroying the egg-masses in the winter when
they are easily discerned, is infinitely the best aad surest remedy
against its attacks.

THE BAG-WORM, alias BASKET-WORM, alias DROP-WORM-
Tliyridopt^ryx ephemerceformis^ Haworth,

-(Lepi^opteTa, Psychidat^.

Out shade and ornamental trees are often defoliated by various
liisects, and I will give brief accounts of three which have attracted

148 FIKST ANNUAL REPORT OF

my attention during the past summer. Of these, the insect whose
transformations are illustrated above, is by far the most common and
injurious. It apparently flourishes better south of latitude 39° than
north of that line. It occurs on Long Island, and in different localities
in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, District of Colombia, the Carolinas,
Georgia. Alabama, Kentucky, South Illinois and in the southern half of
our own State, and doubtless in some of tiie other Stales, though I
have no records to judge by In St. Louis county it is very plentilul.
Year after year shade trees are planted along the streets and avenues
of this city, and year after year a great proportion of them dwindle
and die, until at last the opinion ver^^ generally prevails among land-
owners that it is of little use to try and grow them. Consequently
they are not as generally planted as they should be, and St. Louis,
with all her natural advantages, lacks to a great extent, those beau-
tiful vistas and long rows of trees which so characterize and adorn
Bome of our more Eastern cities.

Why is it that 80 many of these trees dwindle? No one seeing
to know! Can it be owing to the character of the soil, or of the cli-
mate? Most emphatically, no !— in these respect-* there is no more
favored city on the continent, and for the proof we nee;i only to visit
Mr. Shaw's beautiful gardens, or Lafayette Park, or any of the nur-
geries around the city. What then, is the ciuse? Why, the very B.^g-
worm which forms the subject of this article. It swarms all over the
city proper, but decreases in numbers, as a general rule, as one ap-
proaches or gets beyond the limits, and is comparatively rare in the
above mentioned places. The reason for this is obvious when we
understand its history, for it can sprearl but gradually, and has naiur-
ally multiplied most in those places where it h;is longest existed —
namely, in the older parts of the town.

The natural history of the insect is interesting, and may be thus
briefly given :

Thoughout the winter the w^eather-beaten bags may be seen hang-
ing from almost every kind df tree. Upon plucking them many will
be found empty, but the greater ppportion of them will, on being
cut open, present the appearance given at Figure 81, e; they are in
fact full of soft yellow eggs. Those which uo not coniain eggs are
the male bags and his empty chrysalis skims generally found protrud-
ing from the lower end. About the middle of next M ly these eggs
will hatch into active little worms, which, fro ii ihe flrst moment of
their lives, commence to form for themselves little bags. They crawl
on to a tender leaf, and, attached to their anterior leet with their t lils
hoisted in the air, they each spin around tliemselves a ring of silk, to
which they soon fasten bits ol leaf. They continue adding to the lower
edge of the ring, pushing it up as it increases in width, till it reaches
the tail and forms a sort of cone, as represented at Figure 84,^. As
the worms grow, they continue to iui.-.rease their bags from the bot-
tom, until the latter bt^oiue so large and heavy that the w^orms let

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

149

tKemhanij instead of holding them upright, as they did while they were
young. By the end ot July they have become full grown, when they
presejit the appearance of Figure 84, f. The worm on being pulled
out, appearing as at Figure 84, a. This full grown condition is not
attained, however, without critical periods. At four dilferent times
during their growth these worms close up the mouths of their bags
and retire for two days to cast their skins or moult, as is the nature of
their kind, and they push their old skins through a passage which is
always left open at the extremity of the bag, and which also allows
the passage of the excrement.

During their growth they are very slow traveler^) and seldom
leave lhe°tree on which they were born, but when full grown they
become quite restless, and it is at this time that they do all their trav-
eling, dropping on to persons by their silken threads and crossing the
sidewalks in all directions. A wise instinct urges them to do this, for
did they remain on one tree, they would soon multiply beyond the
power of that tree to sustain them, nd would in consequence become
«.xtinct« When they have lost their migratory desires, they fasten
their bags very securely by a strong band of silk to the twigs of the
tree on which they happen to be. A strange instinct leads them to
thus fasten their cocoons to the tv^tgs only of the trees they inhabit,
so that these cocoons will remain secure through the winter, and not
to the leaf-stalk where they would be blown down with the leaf.* Af-
ter thus fastening their bags, they line them with a good thickness of
the same material, and resting awhile from their labors, at last cast
their skins and become chrysalids. Hitherto the worms had all been
alike, but now the sexes are distinguishable, the male chrysalis (Fig.
St, h) being but half the size of the female chryalis (shown inside of
the hag at e). Three weeks afterwards a still greater change takes
pla'^e, the sexes differentiating still more. The male chysalis works him-
self down to the end of his bag and, hanging half-way out.the skin bursts
and the moth (Fig. 81, d) with a black body and glassy wings escapes,
and when his wings are dry, soars through the air to seek his mate.—
She never leaves her case, but issues from her chrysalis in the
shape of an abortive, footless and wingless affair (Fig. 8-1, c) and
after copulating, works herself back into the chrysalis skin, tills its
upper but posterior end with eggs and stops up the other end with
what little there is left of her body when she gets through. These
eirgs which are quite soft and yellowish, pass the winter protected in
the bags, and produce young worms again the following spring,
which go through the same cycle of transformations thus hurriedly

described.

This insect is essentially polyphagous, for it occurs alike on ever-

»1 have n^ced that the Allan thus treeTs almost entirely ex. uipt from the attacks of this
worm, but cannot vet tell whether th's is because the leaves are repulsive to it. or whether the
leave, beiag compound, th* worm's instinct fails it, in that it lastens its cjvse to tne mid-s alk,
which falls and carries the case with it to the -round. I incline to the latter belief however, from
the fact that the insect is such a general feeder, and that a few isolated cases are ^ometlUleg seen at-
tached evpji t.o Aiianihug twigs, showing that they can feed and mature oh this tree.

150 FIRST ANIVUAL REfORT OF

green and deciduons trees. I have found it on the elms, the common
and the honey locusts, Lombard}^ poplar, catalpa, Norway spruce,
arbor- vitas, Osage orange, soft and silver maples, sycamore, apple,
plum, cherry, quince, pear, linden, and above all on ihe red cedar,
while Mr. Glover has also found it on the cotton plant in Georgia, It
is also exceedingly hardy and ruddy, and the young worms will make
their bags of almost any substance upon which they happen to rest
when newly hatched. Thus they will construct them of leather, pa-
per, straw, etc., etc., and it is quite amusing to watch their opera-
tions.

Natural Remedies. — ^The only parasite which has been hitherto
known to attack this Bag-worm is one known as Cryptus inqinsltor.
Say, which Mr. Glover figures on Plate 11, Figure 5, of his yet unpub-
lished plates of four-winged flies. Last September, through the kind-
ness of Miss M. E. Murtfeldt of St. Louis, I discovered another parasite
which lives in the body of the worm to the number of five or six at a
time, and which after destroying their victim, spin for themselves tougli
white silken cocoons within the bag, as represented at Plate 2, Figure
10. The Ichneumon fly which issues from these cocoons has never
been described, and as the sexes differ remarkably, I subjoin a full
description of each. The female is represented at Plate i^, Figure 11,
and the male at Figure 12, and it will be seen at once that while the
wings of the former are clouded, those of the latter are perfectly
clear. This fly belongs evidently to the genus Ilemiteles though it
difl'ers from most species in having the areolet wanting.

Hemitrles (?) THYniBoPTERYX, N. Sp. — $ Length, 0 .."6 ; expanse0.50. Ferruginous, opaque.
Head transverse, rather broader than thorax, the front much depressed ; face prominent centrally
beneath antennae, closelj punctured, thinly clothed with pale pubescence; clypeus and cheek 3
Bhining-; tips of mandibles black ; antenniv, long, slender, filiform, ferruginous, blackish at tips;
thorax rugose ; scutellum prominent, with sharp lateral margins ; metathojax prominent, quadrate,
abrupt laterally and posteriorly, finely reticulated and pubescent, the upper posterior angles pro-
duced on each side into a long, divergent, flattened, subacute spine ; disk with two longitudinal
carinas, from which diverges a central transverse carina; tegulie piceous : wings hyaline, subiri
descent ; a narrow, dark fuliginous band crosses the anterior pair a little before the middle, and a
broad band of same color between middle and apex, this band having a median transverse hyaline
streak; areolet wanting, second recurrent nervure straight, slightly oblique; apex of posterior
wing fnscons ; legs long and slender, ferruginuous, more or less varied with fuscous ; posterio''
coxae, tips of their femora, and their tibia? and tarsi, fuscous ; base of four posterior tibia? more
or less whitish, forming a rather broad annulus on posterior pair ; abdomen petiolated, subconvex,
densely and finely sculptured, blackish, basal segment tinged with reddish, the second and third
Begraents distinctlj' margined at tip with whitish ; ajiical segments smooth and shining, thinly pu-
bescent; ovipositor half as long as abdomen, sheaths blackish.

^. — Not at all like the 5. Length 0..?3, expanse 0.44. Long, slender, black, polished'
witliout distinct punctures, thinly clothed with white pubescence; palpi white; antenna> long*
slender; scape reddish ; mesothorax gibbous, with two deeply impressed longitudinal lines; meta-
thorax witli well-defined elevated lines, forming several irregular areas ; sides rugulose, apex with"
out spines or tubercles; tegulee white: wings whitish-hyaline, subiridescent, the nervures and
etigma wliite, subhyaline, neuration as in $ ; legs long, slender, pale honp_v-yellow ; coxa?, poste-
rior trochanters, apex of their femora, and their tibiie and tarsi, blackish : base of posterior tibiae*
with a white annulus; abdomen long, slender, flattened, petiolated, smooth and polished, the apical
margin of second segment being narrowly whitish.

Described from four § and one ^ specimens bred from the same ccvcooa.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 151

Artificial Rfmedies.— From the natural history of this Bag-worm
it becomes obvious, that by plucking tiie cases in the winter time,
and burning them, you can effectually rid your trees of them, and I
advise all who desire healths trees to do this before the buds begin to
burst in the spring. Where this is not done the worms will continue
to increase, and partly defoliating the tree each year, slowly, but
surely, sap its life.

In conversation some time since with Mr. Edward Cook, who is
superintending the improvements in Washington I*ark, St. Louis, I
showed him that every one of the young trees that had been lately
planted there had from six to a dozen of these Bag-worms hanging
from their twigs. I explained to him that the trees would never thrive
with these parasites, and that, prevention being easier than cure, he
had better have them plucked off at once, while they were within
reach. He informed me afterwards that he had gathered two barrels
full from these trees, but there are many yet left, which should be
removed before spring.

THE AILANTHUS WORM— Larva of GAa compta, Clem., Plate 2,

Figs. 22 and l3.

(Lepidoptera, Tineidse.)

The Ailanthus is highly prized in most of our cities as a shade tree,
and though there certainly are other trees as quick growing, and as
hardy, which might advantageously take its place, yet as it has an al-
most perfect immunity from the attacks of the Bag-worm and continues
to be grown, it will be of interest to know what insect enemies it has.
Fortunately it has very few, but every St. Louisan must have noticed
last fall that nearly all the young Ailantlius trees around the city, and
in the parks, looked black and seared as though they had been
scorched by tire. Few probably divined the cause of this phenomen-
on, but it was the work of the worm which is the subject of this
chapter.

This worm is slender and of a very dark olive brown color, with
white longitudinal lines. During the months of August and Septem-
ber it may be found of all sizes, living in communities of from five to
thirty individuals within a slight silken web. Did they but feed on
the leaves their injury to the tree would be slight, but they have the
miserable habit of gnawing the leaf stalk in two, and of severing
the leaf, and causing it to turn black ; thus marring the looks of large
trees and killing many seedlings outright. When the worm is full
grown it suspends itself in the middle of the loose web and changes
to a chrysalis about -V inch long and of a dull smoky-brown color.
The chiysalis skin is so very fine, that as the future moth develops

152

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

within, the colors of its wings show distinctly through it. The chrysalis
state lasts on an average about two weeks, at the end of which time
the moth bursts forth. In this state it is one of the neatest and most
beautiful little moths that can well be imagined. At Plate 2, Figure 22
it is represented of the natural size, expanded, and at Figure 23 with the
wings closed. The fore wings are of a bright metallic golden-orange,
crossed transversely with bands of very pale chrome-yellow, marbled
with black; while the underwings are smoky black, and almost trans-
parent in the middle. The first moths begin to appear during the
first days of September, and continue issuing from the crysalids till
the last of October. From the fact that I could get none of them to
deposit eggs, I infer that they pass the winter in the moth state— the
more readily since I have had them escape from the cry.^alis even in
November. They are very fond of flitting over and clinging to the
flowers of the Golden rod and of the Eupatoriiim serotinum.

This insect probably occurs throughout the Southern States, for
Mr. Glover has found it in Georgia. It is doubtless confined tothe Ail-
anthus tree, though when pushed lorfood I found that the worms were
not at all fastidious about devouring their brethren that were in the
helpless chrysalis state. It was named Pmciloptera compta by the
late Dr. Breckenridge Clemens, but as the genus Peeciloptera was
pre-occupied in insects, Mr. A. Grote, of V.ew York, proposed the
generic term (Eta, and we thus have a scientific name for our little
moXh — CEta G07)ipta—\Yh.\c\\ the most prejudiced against the so-called
"Crack-jaw-Latin" can hardly find objection to.

The easiest way of getting rid of the worms is to cut oft' the
branch containing the nest and burn it.

(Eta cojfPTA, Clemens.— Lartja.— Average length when full grown 0.95. Slender, the diame-
ter being 0.09. General color very dark olive-brown An extremely fine pearly-white dorsal and
subdorsal line, and a somewhat more distinct stigmatal line of the same color ; aU three of them
formed by minute white specks and lines. Dorsum, dull olive-green. A longitudinal line some-
what darker and in many cases quite black, below the subdorsal line. Between this last and stig-
matal line is a stripe of the same color as dorsum, but speckled with white. Immediately below
stigmatal line, it is rusty-yellow, especially on the middle segments. Venter sometimes olive-
green, sometimes lead-color, finely speckled with white, and with a translucent line vi.sible along
the middle. This larva is mainly characterized, however, by a number of minute white piliferous
spots, in strong contrast with the dark body, each giving forth a stiff white hair at right angles
from said body. These spots are thus arranged on each side of every segment : 2 about the middle
on subdorsal line ; 1 under the anterior of these, just below the longitudinal dark line; 2 on the
stigmatal line, with the stigmata which is of the same color between them; 1 in the orange part
posteriorly; 2 small ones just below the orange part, and 2 in the middle of venter on the legless
segments. Head of a beautiful brown, perpendicular, marked with black and speckled with white,
two large spots being especially noticeable on the upper front. Cervical shield velvety-black, ir-
regularly speckled with white. Thoracic legs black; abdominals ej^tremely small and of the same
color as venter ; anals somewhat larger and brown.

Described from numerous specimens. The white spots are usually larger near the head while
the hairs springing from them lean towards the head. The head itself is sometimes entirely black,
while the white longitudinal lines are occasionally almost obsolete.

The young worm is pale and void of mai-kings.

Chrysalis. — Average length 0.53. Not polished, but with the markings of the larva still appa-
rent through the thin skin. General color dull smoky-brown, with a distinct broad dorsal band of a

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

153

light rnst-brown color along the abdomen, and a perfectly round spot of the same color on the top
of the thorax, this spot generally giving forth a narrow orange line posteriorly.

Perfect r-,sfc/.— Average length 0.55; alar expanse 1.08. Fore wings bright lustrous golden-
orange, crossed transversely with irregular bands of sulphur-yellow spots on a black ground a? m
the fi-ure ; fringes dense, narrow and brown. Hind wings smoky black, sub-hyaline except near
apex and along margins; veins dusky, fringes also. Under surface of front wings dusky brown
with the colors of the upper surface partly visible ; under surface of lower wings concolorous.
Head black with sulphur-yellow tufts ; eyes black ; palpi alternately black and sulphur-yellow ;
antenn.o filiform, slightly serrate, black with a white shade along the upper terminal third. Tho-
rax black with a wavy sulphur-yellow collar, golden orange shoulder-covers with a spot of the
same color between them, and two sulphur-yellow spots below this last. Abdomen steel-blue
above, with a large brimstone-yellow patch on each segment below. Under surface of thorax black
with brimstone-yellow patches ; legs black, the front pair with yellow coxai and orange thighs, the
other four with more or less yellow, especially on the thighs.

Described from numerous specimens. No particular sexual difference, except in the form of
the body.

THE WALNUT TORTRIX, T.'rtrix Rileyana, Grote— PL 2, Figs. 3

and 4.

(Lepidoptera, Tortricidse.)

During the month of May large bunches of the leaves of the
Black Walnut and of the Hickory may be tound drawn togetlier by a
silky web, and living within these bunches, a nest of caterpillars of a
[Fig. 85.] yellow color and marked as at Figure 85, a; b showing
a side view of one of the segments. During the latter
^^^^partof the month they change to little honey-yellow
irhrysalids, within the nest, and by the middle of June
these last work their way through, the leaves to the
outside, by means of rows of minute teeth which they
'^ have on the back. Here they hang in great numbers
by the tips of their abdomens, and in a short time the moths escape.
This moth is represented at Plate 2, Figure 3, with the wings ex-
panded, and at Figure 4 with wings closed. It is prettily marked, the
fore wings being ot an ochreous color with a golden tint, and darker
spots, and the hind wings of a deep golden color. It was first de-
scribed by Mr. Grote, of New York, in the Transactions of the Amer-
ican Entomological Society, Vol. II, p. 121. It was quite common in
18G8 ah ng the Iron Mountain road, and seems to be peculiar to Mis-
souri. It also seems to prefer the young Hickories and W^^lnuts to
the older or larger trees, as I found few nests that were out of reach.
On the Snowberry * {Sj/mphoricarptis vulgaris), similar nests
may be found at the same time of year, containing caterpillars agree-
ing in description with those feeding on the Walnut and Hickory, ex-
cept in being smaller. They go through their transformations in the
same manner and produce moths similarly marked but uniformly

«- They also occur on the Ironweed {Vernonia fasciculata), though I have not bred the moth
from worms feeding on this plant.

154 PIKST ANNUAL REPORT OP

paler in color, of smaller size and with less contrast between the up-
per and lower wings. We have here an excellent illustration of what
Mr. Walsh has called Phytophagic variation, f for the Snowberry
and Hickory feeding w^orms were evidently oi but one species, and
the difference in the moths was caused in my estimation by the differ-
ence in food. Mr. Grote, it is true, describes the small form as the
male and the large form as the female, but the difference is not sex-
ual, as the two sexes occur alike in both forms.

ToRTRix RiLETAMA, Grote— Larvfl— Lpng-tli, Hickory feeding, 0.00-0. 80 ; Snowberry feeding,
0.40-0.50. Larg;est on segment 2, tapering- thence gradually to anus. Ground color dull yellow.
Covered with large, distinct, black, sealing-wax-like, slightly elevated spots, each giving rise to
several fine bristles. These spots are thus arranged on each segment : 2 each side of dorsum the pos-
terior one? widest apart ; 1 at sides in the middle of the segment, containing the stigmata in its lower
hind margin ; 1 smaller and narrower just below this, on a somewhat elevated longitudinal ridge, and
1 round one below this ridge on the posterior part of the segment. Segments 2 and 3 have but
one spot each side of dorsum. Two distinct wrinkles on all the segments, more on 2 and 3. Head,
cervical shield and caudal plate black. Venter dirty yellow with black marks ; legs ditto.

Chrysalis — Honey-yellow, robust in the middle, and with two transverse rows of minute teeth
across the back of each segment.

Perfect Insect — From Hickory — Average expanse 1 inch, length of body, 0.35. Deep ochreouB.
Fore wings evenly washed with purplish, leaving the fringes and costal edge dark ochreous. The
markings take the shape of dark velvety brown rounded maculations, generally of small size and
faintly shaded with ochreous on the edges. Three of these subterminally at the base of the wing,
subequal, situated interspaceally between the nervures. At a little within the middle of the costa
are two fused maculations, the most prominent. Before and beyond these, some faint costal marks.
At the extremity of the discal cell, above median nervure, is the first of a series of maculations,
normally four in number but not constant, usually uneven in size. A subterminal series of spots
is inaugurated on costa by a large, compound shaded maculation. Below this, over the median
nervules, sweeps an outwardly rounded series of small approximate dots. Two dots on costa, within
and at the apex, and a faint terminal series of minute streaks is shortly discontinued. Hind wings
of a lustrous bright deep ochreous ; pale along the costal margin and darker shaded along internal
margin. Beneath, as are the hind wings above ; both wings immaculate, fore wings the darker.
Body and appendages concolorous, bright deep ochreous. Antennse simple. Numerous bred
specimens.

From Snowherry — var. symphoricarpi — Much paler, the fore wings not being as dark as the
hind wings of the above. The upper surface of fore wings not washed with purplish but merely
of a darker ochreous than the hind wing. The maculations entirely similar but ferruginous, paler
and the slighter costal marks obsolete. Legs at liase and under thoracic surface almost whitish
Average expanse, 0.62; length of body, 0.30. Described from numerous specimens. Under sur.
faces exactly alike in both varieties.

TREHEEBCOl^NMAGGOT.Anthomyia 2e«s— N. Sp.— PI. 2,rig. 24.

(Diptera Muscidio.)
DESTROYING THE SEED AFTER IT IS PLANTED.

About the 20th of last June I received the following letter from
A. S. Fuller, of Ridgewood, New Jersey:

"Dear Sir: I send you, by mail, a small box containing kernels
of sprouted corn, upon which you will find small white worms. Some
of the corn fields in this vicinity are being ruined by this pest. These
worms attack the corn before it comes up. What are they ?"

' tSee his paper in Proc. PhiL Ent. Soc, Vol. V, p. 194-216.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGrST. 155

Subsequently I was informed that the seed-corn in other fields in
Bergen county, New Jersey, was being destroyed in the same manner.
The cause of this destruction is a footless maggot, measuring 0.25 to
0.30 of an inch in length, of a yellowish white color, blunt at the pos-
terior and tapering at the anterior end. It is a new foe to corn, and
it is to be hoped tiiat it is confined to the localities above mentioned.
In order that it may at once be recognized, I give the following brief
account of it :

This maggot is shown, enlarged, at Figure S6 a, the hair line nn-
[Fig. 86.] derneath giving the natural size. It greatlj' re-

sembles the Onion maggots, which are known to
attack the onion in this country, audits work on
corn is similar to that of this last named maggot
^ on the onion; for it excoriates and gnaws into
the seed-corn, as shown at Figure 87, and finally
causes such seed to rot.

After having become full fed, these maggots usually leave the ker-
nels for the surrounding earth, where they contract into smooth, hard,
1"^'"" ''■' "I light-brown pupas, of the size and form of Figure

S6 &, and in about a week alterwards the perfect
ly pushes open a little cap at the anterior end,
nd issues forth to the light of day. In this state
it is a two-winged fly belonging to the order
Diptera, and quite inconspicuous in its markings
and appearance. Though I bred but two females, and this sex fails
to exhibit some of the most important generic characters, yet th( re is
nothing in the females of this species to distinguish it from the genus
AntJtomyia proper, oi Meigen, as restricted by Macquart, and tliis
Corn maggot, therefore, belongs to the same genus as the in)porled
Onion fly {Anthomyid ceparum.^ Meigen). Upon submitting a speci-
men, for inspection, to Dr. Wm. Le Baron, of Geneva, Illinois, who
has paid especial attention to our two-winged flies, he informed me
that it is distinct from any hitherto described North American species,
and I have, therefore, called it the Corn Anthomyia {Antlujmyia
zeas).

Anthomyia zeas 5, N. Sp. (PI. 2, Fig. 24). Length 0.20 ; alar expanse 0.38. Antenna? blackj
style mircoscopically pubescent; front, fulvous, with a distinct, rather narrow, brownish, cinere-
ous margin ; face and orbits brownish-white ; palpi and proboscis black ; ocellar area somewhat
heart-shaped ; thorax and abdomen pale yellow-brownish cinerous, with minute black points at th®
insertion of the bristles ; thorax with an indistinct middle stripe of brown ; legs black, tinted with
cinereous ; poisers pale orchre-yellow ; scales small, the upper valve larger than the lower.

It is difficult to suggest a remedy for this pest, as its presence is
not observed till the miscuief is done. Hot water has been found et-
fectual in killing the Onion maggot, withort injuring the onions, and
would doubtless prove as efl"ectual ior this Corn maggot, where a few
hills of some choice variety are attacked, which it is very desirable to
save. But its application in a large field, even if one knew where to
apply it, would be impracticable, and 1 can only suggest soaking the

155

FIRST AN^UAL REIORT OP

seed, before pianting, in g;is-tar or copperas, and hope that the ex-
periment will he tried next spring by those of our Eastern friends who
have suffered from this maggot.

Thelarvjieof the genus intJinmifia live, tor the most part, on
vegetable matter, and seem to prefer it in a state of decay. Some,
however, breed in excrement. Besides this corn species and the onion
maggot already spoken of, there is one in this country that attacks
radishes, and another that attacks the steuj of cabbages. Specimens
of this last species have been sent to me by Professor A. N. Prentiss,
of Michigan Agricultural College, with the statement that they were
proving very injurious to this esculent, around Lansing, in that State,
and the liies produced trom tliem seem to be identical with the species
that attacks the cabbage in }L\\yo{}Q {Antfiom.yla hrasslcce^ljouche.).

THE WHITE GRUB.
Larva of the May-beetle, Lachnostema quercina^ Knoch.

(Coleoptera, Melolonthidit?.)

t^'s- 8^-^ The "White Grub is one of

the very worst and insidious of
the farmer's foes To give its
iTietamorphoses at a glance,
and to obviate the necessity of
verbal descriptions of so com-
mon an insect, I have prepared
the annexed figure (^88) which
illustrates the full grown larva
(2), the pupa (1), a.id side and.
back views o the beetle (3 &4).
The following letter from
Mr. Jno. P. McCartney, of Cam-
■ron, is a sample of numerous
accounts of its depredations
which I have received during the year.

" Camkhon, Missouri, Sept. 21, 1868.
"Mr. C. V. Riley, Dear Sir : The White grub worms have done
lis in this part of the State a gieat deal of damage. Will you please
give us a history of the insect's habits. The grubs are now full grown,
fine f.-it fellows. Two years since (18^0), during the last of M.iy. the
beetles were very plenty. After sundown they came in great num-
bers and swarmed around the toi)s of the trees on the lawn, making
a noise like the coming up of a storm of wind and rain. Last year
(1867), the grubs did but little damage. What we want to know is,
when will tfiey leave the ground ag lin as beetles? If they spend
another summer in the ground it will be of but little use to try and

TllK STATE ENT03IOJ.OGl!3T. 157

raise a crop on the land that is now full of them. They have ruined
all the meadow in tiiis vicinity."

It is characterislic of the beetle to iippearin vast swarms during
the month of May — earlier or later, accoiding- ta season or latitude.
The beetle is quite voracious, and often greatly injures botii fruit and
ornamental trees. 1 have known the Lombardy poplar to die, in con-
sequence of the utter denudation they caused; while last June cer-
tain groves of both Pin and Post oaks on the farm of Mr. Flagg, of
Alton, Illinois, were so thoroughly and suddenly denuded by them,
that ]\[r Flagg could not at first divine the cause. Their existence in
the beetle state is however short, and as they are contined4o the foliage,
their injuries are exceedingly small compared with those which their
larvirinflictupon us. Our meadows, strawberry beds, corn, vegetables,
and even young nursery stock, are all subject to the attacks of these
White grubs, and often ruined by them. Soon after pairing, the female
beetle creeps into the earth, especially wlierever the soil is loose and
rough, and after depositing her eggs, "lo the number of iorty or fifty —
dies. These hatch in the course of a mouth, and^ the grubs growing
slowly, do not attain full size till the' early spring of the third year,
when they construct an ovoid chamber, lined with a gelatinous fluid ;
change into pupa?, and soon afterwards into beetles. These last are
at first white, and all the parts soft as in the pupa, and they frequently
remain in the earth lor weeks at a time till thoroughly hardened, and
then, on some favorable night in May, they rise in swarms and fill
the air.

This, is their history, though it is very probable, as with the Eu-
ropean Cock-chafer (a closely allied species), that, under iavorable
conditions, some of the grubs become pupas-, and even beetles, the fall
subsequent to their second spring; but growing torpid on approach
of winter, remain in this state in the eariii, and do not quit it any
sooner than those transformed in the spring. On this hypothesis,
their being occasionly turned up in the fresh beetle state at fall plow^-
ing, becomes intelligible.

Kemedies.— As natural checks and destroyers of th's grub, may be
menlioned the badger, weasel, skunk, marten, the crow, and the differ-
ent hawks, but especially the Ground beetles among insects, some of
which have been figured on page 115 Hogs are fond of them, and a
gang may be turned into an infested meadow, which is to be cultivated
the next year, with good advantage. The gi ub sometimes so thoroughly
destroys the roots of meadow grass that the sward is entireh' severed ;
in such cases a heavy rolling would doubtless kill great numbers of
them. Applications of ashes and salt have been recommended, but I
think they are of doubtful utility, unless sufficiently applied to saturate
the ground to the depth of more than a foot. A field or meadow is
badly injured during a certain year by the full grown grubs.
The following spring the owner, ignorant of the insect's history, applies
some substance to the land as a remedy, and finding no grubs during

15h FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

the summer following, will naturally conclude his application was ef«
fectual, when in reality the insects lelt of their own accord in the
beetle state.

During their periodical visits as beetles, they should be shaken
from the trees, gathered up, scalded and fed to hogs. As an illustra'
tioii of what may be done in the way of hand-picking, I will state that
under the efforts of M. Jules Reiset, the incredible amount of 1'. 0,000
kilogrammes, or about eighty millions of similar White grubs were col-
lected and destroyed in a portion of the Seine-Inferieure of France,
during the autumn of 18G6.

The beetles make their appearance in different localities with
great regularity every three years, and in a case like that communi-
cated by Mr. McCartney, I should advise him to plant freely next
spring without fear of their ravages; for he may rest confident that
they will issue as beetles next spring and not be very troublesome
again, as gr lbs, till the summer of 1871. At Unionviile, according to
Mr. A. L. Winchell, the beetles appeared "in millions" last spring,
and I hope soon to be able to give the years in which they v*'i]l appear
in the different localities throughout the State. The White Grub is
subject to the attack of a curious fungus, which the following item
from the Sedalia, Pettis county, Press very well describes :

" W. B. Porter, of this county, has left at our office a specimen of
the AVhite Grub, so formidable as a corn, potato, and grass destroyer.
There are two sprouts of green, vegetable growth, growing out of the
head of the gruh^ one on either side, of nearly half an inch in length,
resembling a hog's tusk in shape. Mr. Porter informs us that the
one i)resented is by no means an isolated example, but that myriads
of them can be found which present the same anomalous combina-
tion of animal and vegetable life. Who will explain this aberration
from the well settled laws of organic life?"

In the second volume of the late Practical Entomologist^ page
16, an account was given of the same fungus, great numbers of the
grubs on Mr. Paulding's place at Tiljton, Iowa, being affected with it.
Dr. Kirtland, of Ohio, also evidently refers to the same fungus as
[Fig. m.} being well known to science in the Prairie Farmer
for 1865, Vol. XVI, p. 71. At Figure 89, 1 represent one
.of the grubs as it appears when attacked by this fungus,
drawn from specimens received from Mr. Porter. The
sprouts are almost invariably two in number and pro-
ceed from the corners of the mouth, but in one speci-
men which I have, there is but one near the mouth, the
other protruding from the middle of the back.

In Virginia the grub seems to be attacked by another fungus, as
the following letter of Mr. Sam. H. Y. Early, which was communi-
cated to Mr. Walsh by the well known Entomologist, Wm. H. Edwards,
abundantly shows :

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 159

"There is a white mushroom known in the region in which I was
raised, as poisonous and fatal to the hogs that ieed on it. I believe
it is common in all localities in which I have been. Jn the sirring of
1842 I observed in what is called a ' new ground' in Virginia a great
quantity of these mushroom, and in reply to some remark I made
about them, some of my father's negroes, who were then making hills
with hoes for planting tobacco, inquired of me if I knew what pro-
duced these mushrooms. On my repljnng in the negative, I was in-
formed that they grew from the White grub worm. I think there
were some twelve or fifteen negroes present, all of whom curcurred
in the statement, and said it w^as no new thing to them. They had no
ditficiilty in establishing the truth of what they stated, because they
dug them up m all their stages of germination and growth before my
own ej^es. In a very short time they had furnished me with a large
number of the worms in their original sliape, features and size, and
as distiuct to the eye as if the}'- had been alive, but liaving the con-
sistenc}'-, color and smell of a mushroom ; and I actually broke them
up, just as a mushroom breaks in one's hands, snapping them cross-
wise and sqarely oif. Many others I found to be enlarged before
germinating, and many just germirjating, but with the shape of the
worm preserved. And in some I noticed that the features of the
worm were preserved in the root, even after the mushroom had grown
up through the earth and attained some size. I gathered a good
many specimens in their various stages into my handkerchief, and
carried them to my father's house, where they lay on the mantel for
some time. They seemed, however, to be no novelty to many to
whom I exhibited them. In fact they were familiar to almost all
who had opportunities of investigation, and to whom I mentioned
them at the time."

Whether there is any relation between these two fungoid growths
further investigation will alone tell; but when we shall have become
better acquainted with them we may possibly be able, by sowing the
spores of either kind to effectually kill the White Grubs in our fields.

THE AMEKICAN MEB.OMYZA—2fero7ny2a Americana, Fitch.-

Pl. 2, Fig. 28.

(Diptera Muscidse.)
ATTACKING WHEAT.

About the middle of the month of June last, in all the wheat fields
which I examined between Bluffton on the Missouri river and St.
Louis, I noticed that a great many of the ears had prematurely ripen-
ed, had turned yellow and were stunted and shorter than the rest, and
upon examination the kernels proved to be withered and shrunken.

IfO

FIRST ANNUAL REIORT OF

In most fields about one per cent of the ears were thus afFected, but
in two fields near Hermann, from three to four per cent were injured
in this manner. Tliis appearance was variously attributed to Hessian
fly, Jlklidire, etc, etc., no one seeming to know the true cause. Upon
[Fig. 90.] examination I found that the last or ear-bearing joint could
invariably be pulled out of its sheath with but a slight ef-
tbrt, and that it was perfectly yellow and dry, while the
lower end bore an irregular and gnawed appearance.
Upon splitting open the first joint of the stalk, a space of
about a quarter of an inch was found to be completely
corroded, so lo speak, and filled with excrementitious mat-
ter, as shown at Figure 90. «. In this space would generally
be found a pale watery-green maggot of the form of Fig-
ure 90, J, attenuated at one end and blunt at the other. I
took a number ef infested stalks home, and many of the
maggots changed to green pupag of the form and appear-
ince of Figure 90, c. Before changing to pupa the maggot
'would sometimes crawl away from the joint and get nearer
the head, between the stalk and the sheath. The pupa state lasted
jrom 12 to 14 daj s, and the first flies emerged during the first week in
July.

This fly is represented, magnified, at Plate 2, Figure 28, and be-
longs to the genus Merovri/za in the lamily Muscid.e of the order
DiPfER^. It appears to be the very same species which Dr. Fitch
found flying about wheat fields in New York State, and which he de-
scribed and named as the American Mero.nyza {Memmysa Ameri-
cana)^ on page 299 of his 1st and 2d Reports.* He did not ascertain
the habits of the larva, however, anu they have ever since remained
unknown. The fly measures, on an average, 0.17 to the tip of the ab-
domen, and expands about 0.20. It is of a pale yellowish-green, the
head being more inclined to straw color. The eyes are black and
there is a round black spot between them on the top of the head.
There are three broad black stripes, with a bluish-gray cast, on the
thorax, the middle one straight and extending anteriorly to the pedi-
cel of the neck, the outer ones slightly rounded outwardly, not ex-
tending so far anteriorly, but extending around the scutel and joining
the middle one posteriorly. The abdomen also has, above, three broad
blackish stripes, which are confluent posteriorly and interrupted at
each of the sutures. Wings prismatic, hyaline and greenish anterior-
ly, their veins and the tips of the feet being dusky.

In Europe the larvas of the closely allied genera Chlorops and
Osciiiis have long been known to attack some part or other of the
stalks of wheat, rye, barlej^ and other small grains. Several species
are figured and described by the English Entomologist Curtis in his

* My specimens are all somewhat smaller than Dr. Fitch's according to his description, and
hare black eyes instead of " bright green ;" but upon submitting specimens to Baron R. Osten
Sacken who makes a specialty of Diptera he referred it to the same speciae.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

161

"Farm Insects," and one of them — the Oscinis vastator — though a'
very different fly, seems to have almost precisely the same habit as
our insect. It is quite probable, also, that in this country as in Eu-
rope, there are two broods during the year, the second brood of larvae
attacking grain sown in the tall, but further investigation alone will
decide these points.

Remedies. — Much can be done in an artificial way by cutting off
and destroying all the infested stalks, which may readily be recognized
by the signs already described; but even if this plan should faithfully
be carried out, it is doubtful whether it would pay in a country where
labor is so scarce and demands such high wages as in ours. We there-
fore have to fall back on the only practical means within our reach,
viz: that of varying the culture by alternate courses, and this style of
cultivation will have to be more generally adopted, should this pigmy
foe sufficiently increase as to greatly diminish the yield of the "staff
of life." There is every reason to believe, however, that Nature has
her own means of keeping these flies wiihin due bounds, for they are
known to be preyed upon by parasitic Ichneumon flies in Europe, and
I noticed many flies of this last description, of polished hues and act-
ive movements, deftly darting through, and resting upon the wheat
plants of the fields infested with the Mei-omyza.

THE SHEEP BOT-FLY OR HEAD MAGGOT— ffi;^'/

'US OVIS,

Linn.

(Diptera, ffistridas.)

For the benefit of sheep rais-
ers I give the following brief ac-
'ount of the insect which causes
""Grub in the head." The annexed
illustration (Fig 1)1} represents it in
all its stages. 1 shows the Gadfly,
life size, with wings closed; 2 the
same with wings expanded; 3, the
pupa from which the fly has escaped-

4 the full grown larva, dorsal view;

5 the same, ventral view; 6 the same
when younger.

This insect is the dread of sheep in the Old as well as the New
World, and was made mention of by the Greek physician, Alexander
Trallien, as far back as the year 560.

The flies make their appearance in June and July, and deposit
living maggots in the nostrils of the sheep. As soon as they are de-
posited they ascend the nostrils, causing great irritation on their way,
until they reach the frontal sinuses ; there they attach themselves by

11 K S E

162 FIRST ANNUAL EEPORT OP

the little hooks or tentacnla placed each side of the head, to the mem-
branes which line the cavities, feeding on the mucus which is always
to be found in them. Until they attain their growth they are of a
creamy white color, with two brown spots placed side by side on the
posterior segment. These spots, (6, c) are spiracles or stigmata, through
which the worm breathes. The segment with these two spiracles,
is retractile, and can be drawn in and hidden at the worms pleasure.
When full grown, the grub becomes darker, particularly towards ihe
tail, the white of the first two or three segments becomingdirty white
on the 4th or 5th, and growing darker on each successive segment
until the last, which is of a very deep brown. Il has two small paral-
lel hooks or tentacula at the head (a), and above these, two very
email tubercles, not very easily shown in the engraving. It also has
a small brown elevated round spot on each segment along the sides,
which might at first be taken for spiracles but which are not, and
also two small corneous appendages (.*>,&) on each side of the anus.
The ventral region has a band of small elevated dots running the
breadth of each segment in their middle, which, under the magnifier
appear to be minute brown spines, all pointing posteriorly. (See Fig.
91, 5). These aid the worm in its movements.

When ready to contract into a pupa, it descends down the nostrils
of the sheep and falls to the ground, where it quickly buries itself
and in about 48 hours, contracts to half its former size, and becomes
smooth and hard and ot a black color, tapering as in the larva to-
wards the head. It remains in this state from 40 to 50 days, or more,
according to the weather, when the fly pushes open a little round cap-
piece at the head and thus arrives at maturity.

In this stage it locks something like an overgrown house-fly.
The ground color of the upper part of the head and thorax is dull-
yellow, but they are so covered with little round elevated black spots
and atoms (scarcely distinguishable without the aid of a magnifier)
that they have a brown appearance. The abdomen consists of 5 rings,
is velvety and variegated with dark brown and straw color. On the
under side it is of the same color, but not variegated in the same way,
there being a dark spot in the middle of each ring. The feet are
brown. The under side of the head is puffed out, &nd white. The
antence are extremely small and spring from two lobes which are
Bunk into a cavity at the anterior and under part of the head. The
eyes are purplish brown, and three small eyelets are distinctly visible
on the top of the head. It has no mouth and cannot therefore take
any nourishment. The wings are transparent and extend beyond the
body, and the winglets, which are quite large and white, cover en-
tirely the poisers. Its only instinct seems to be the continuation of
its kind. It is quite lazy, and except when attempting to deposit its
young, its wings are seldom used.

It has lately become the fashion with many members of the Agri-
cultural press, to ridicule the idea that sheep die at all from grub in

TUE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. l^^S

the head, and many even deny that the grub is capable of any injury
to tiie sheep whatever. From the fact tliat tliis grub may be found in
tlie iiead of almost every sheop that dies, in the Western States at
least, it is undoubtedly true that many other diseases are cloaked by
the popular verdict of "grub in the head." It is none the less true,
however, that tho?e Agricultural editors, who pretend to instruct,
simply siiow their Im-k of practical knowledge, in butting against
that which must be the firm conviction of every flock master, viz:
that sheep do die (j/'grub in the head, Messrs. Youatt and Clark not-
■witiistanuing.

Mr. Youatt declares: "It is incompatible with that wisdom and
goodness that are more and more evident in proportions as the phe-
nomena of nature are closely examined, that the destined residence
of the (Estrus ovls should be productive of continued inconvenience
or diseavse." I agree most decidedly with Mr. Rjudall, that 'Mhis is as
far fetched as a conclusion, as the reasoning on which it is ionnded."

If grub in the tiead is not productive of inconvenience or disease,
as the disciples of Youatt have it, whence the suffering condiiion,
the loss of appetite, the slow, weak gait, tl)e frequent coughing, the
slimy and purulent matter, sometimes so profusely secreted as at
times to almost prevent, the animal breithing? Whence the tossing
ana lowering of the head, and the fits of frenzy, to which so naturally
quiel and gentle an aninia! as the sheep is sutject ? All these symp-
toms re.'^ult from grub jn the head, and the animal frequently gels loo
weak to rise, and finally dies. These effects of the grub were well
recognized and understood by such old writers and close o' servers as
Reaumur and Kollar; while Blr Dan'l Kelly, of Wheaton, Illinois;
Towne Bros., of Geneva, Illmois; M L. Cockrill, of Tenne.-see, and
other well known flock-masters with whom I have either con-
versed or corresponded, are unanimous in ascribing these symp-
toms to the true cause; and the late S. V. Boaidman, of Lincoln, Illi-
nois, coincided with them in this respect. For my part, I would aa
soon believe that those parasites were beneficial, which are so injuri-
ous to man, either internally or externally, or those which prey uj)on
our caterpillars and other insects,and invariably destroy them ; for
although, when there are but few grubs in the head the injury they
inflict, IS not percepti!)le, they can never he hcnefioial^ and w^hen nu-
meious enough will undoubtedly cause death. Tney cannot live in
the head of the shee;,) without causing great irritation by tJie spines
with which the ventral region is covered and the hooks with v.hich
they cling to such a sensitive membrane as that which lines the tin-
uses. Moreover, when numerous enough to absot b more mucous than
the sheep secretes, the grubs will feed on the membrane itself, and
(according to the evidence of some practical sheep men) will even
enter to the brain through the natural perloration of the ethmoid
bone, through which pass the olfactory nerves; in either of v\hicii
cases, they must cause the most excruciating pain. The natural fear

164 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

also, which sheep have of the fly, and the pains thej' take to prevent
its access to the nose, is of itself proof enough that it is obnoxious to
them. The rabbit is subject to the attack of a very large gad-fly (the
Cuterebra caniculi of Clark). I saw a half grown rabbit the past
summer with an enormous swelling each side of its neck. On exami-
nation these swellings were found to be caused by the grubs of this
fly, and the rabbit was so weakened and emaciated that it could scarce-
ly move. No one could witness such a sight without being convinced
that the parasite was injurious.

In the Prairie Farmer of October 14, 1S65, the fact was published
that the Sheep Bot-fly deposits li'oing maggots in the nostrils of the
sheep. It was published on the authority of Mr. Kelly, and both he
and myself then believed it to be the first published account of the
viviparous nature of this fly. But the following extract from a letter
irom the late lamented Samuel P. Boardman, of Lincoln, Illinois^
shows that the same discovery has been made by three independent
observers in this country. Mr. Boardman wrote as follows :

"All the authors, both European (at least all Englisli) and Ameri-
can, from Youatt to Randall, will persist in saying that the fly de-
posits an egg^ which hatches out, and crawls up the nostrils of the sheep,
etc., etc. Now three independent and perfectly original discoverers
have in our own country within twenty-five years past, disproved the
book account of the grub's transformations.

"John Brown — 'Old Ossawattomie John Brown,' — published an
account in an Agricultural paper (I forget what one) about twenty
years since, of his seeing, 'with his own eyes,' the fly drop the per-
fectly formed and living grub in the nostrils of sheep. Some seven
years since, 'Old Dan Kelly,' of Du Page county, Illinois, made the
same discovery and supposed that he was the only man who had ever
done it. At the time he made known his discovery, at a meeting of
the Illinois State W. G. Association held in Chicago, I thought also,
that he was the first man to ever notice the like. Two or three years
afterwards I saw the account of John Brown's discovery, in the Ohio
Farmer^ copied from an old paper dated about seventeen years pre-
viously. When Kelly and I were at the meeting of the National W.
G. Association, I went with him to the Ohio Farmer ofiice, and I
found in the file, Old John Brown's account. Mr. Kelly took a copy
of the Farmer containing it, home with him. That makes two per-
fectly original and independent discoveries of the fact alleged. Now
then, within a year past (I think) I have seen a letter from ]\Iark
Cockrill, of Tennessee, (who, before the war, was one of the oldest,
largest and richest wool growers in the South, as well as one of the
richest men in the South), in w^hich he speaks of having made the
same discovery years ago, and in which bespeaks of it as if he thought
he was the only, and original discoverer. Here are three men widely
separated, who, we must acknowledge, are all capable and honest ob-
servers, and yet, Randall, (or at least his publisher) continues to put

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 165

forth in every new edition of the ''Practical Shephei'd^^ the same old
exploded (or should be) notion of the fly depositing an egg. I pre-
sume it is altogether likely that all modern English writers on sheep
keep up the same thing — by copying from Youatt."

On one occasion in i8G6, 1 myself obtained living maggots from
one fly and Mr. Cockrill has since obtained over 300 living, moving
worms from one that was caught while she was after the sheep.
Many flesh-flies, if they cannot And suitable meat or carrion on which
to lay their eggs, retain these egg so long in their bodies that they
hatch there, into living larvre; and it is not impossible that the above
observations were made with flies that had been so circumstanced,
but I think it highly improbable, and strongly incline to believe that
it is the normal nature of this fly to produce living larvas. I incline
to this belief the more strongly, from the fact that it would be diffi-
cult to attach an egg to the slimy nostrils of a sheep.

To prevent it from depositing its young, diff"erent means are re-
sorted to. Mr. Randall says that "some farmers turn up the soil in
portions of their pastures, so that the sheep may thrust their noses
into the soft ground, on approach of the fly, while others smear their
noses with tar, or cause them to do so themselves." But as the fly is
very persevering, and generally attains her object, the means to be
depended on the most, is the dislodging of the larva, or "grub," and so
far, lime has been thought to be the most efl'ectual, and should be
given them, that they may by snifling it, cause sneezing, and in many
cases dislodge the grub. Some sheep keepers even shut their sheep
up for several nights, in a tight barn, when first taken up in the fall,
believing that the close and heated atmosphere induces the grub to
descend, and is therefore more readily dislodged, and that the injury
accruing from such foul air, is trifling, compared with the benefit re-
ceived by dislodging the grubs. Other sheep breeders are in the
habit of fixing salt logs in their pastures, of sufficient length to enable
all the sheep to get at them. Into these logs, at distances of five or
six inches, holes are bored with a two-inch auger, and during fly sea-
son a little salt is kept in these holes, while every two or three days
tar is smeared around them with a brush. The sheep in obtaining the
salt, tar their noses, and the odor of the tar keeps the fly away. In
severe cases where the grubs are already in the head, they may be
dislodged in a measure, by a feather dipped in turpentine, which
should be run up the nose and gently turned.

1G6

FIRST ANNUAL KEPORT OF

INSECT ENEMIES OF THE HONEY-BEE.

TUB BEE-MOTII OR WAX-WORM,— Ga//crea cercana, Fabr.
[Fig. 92.]

Large hawk-moths sometimes enter a beeliive lor wliat lioney
tliey can g:et, and even mice have been known to enter a hive; while
several parasites live npon the bees tliemselve.s. In our own Stite as I
shall presently show there is a large two-winged fly wliich seizes the
bee while on the wing and kills it. But by far t he worst enemy the bee-
keeper lias to contend with, is the Bee moth {Galleria cereana, Fabr).
This insectis so well hnovvn to bee men generrilly, that it scarcely needs
a description. It is well illustratHd above (Fig. 92) in all its stages, at
showing the full grown worm, h the cocoon which it spins, c the chrys-
alis to which it changes, d the female with wings expanded, and e the
male moth viewed Irom the side with the wings closed. It suffices to
to say, that the color o! the moth is dusky gray, the fore wings which
are scalloped at the end, being more or less sprinkled and dotted with
purple- brown. The temale is generally a good deal larger than the
male, though there is not so much dilference between the sexes as
some writers have supposed. The worms which produce these moths
are of an ash-gray color above, and yellowish-wiiile beneath.

The Rev. L. L. Longstroth, in his excellent work on the H.mpy-
bee, which every bee-keeper should possess, has given such a com-
plete account of the Bee-moth, that it is only necessary tor me to men-
tion a \'ew of the most important facts with regard to it, my ohject
being principally to show tliat there can be no such thing ns a m.oth-
procf 7uve\ that wire-gauze contrivances are of no avail, and that
the man who pretends to sell a moth-proof hivCy may usually be set
down as a know nothing or as a swindler.

The Bee-moth was first introduced into this county from Europe,
about the commencement of the present century, and it was in all
probability imported with the common bee-hive. There are two
broods of the moth each year, the first brood appearing in J\Iay and
June, and the second, which is the most numerous, in August. Du-
ring the day time, these moths remain quietly ensconced in some an-
gle of the hive, but as night approaches, they become active, and the
female uses her best endeavors to get into the hive, her object being
to deposit her eggs in as favorable a place as possible. Wire-gauze
contrivances are of no avail to keep her out, as she frequently com-
mences flying before all the bees have ci ased their work. But even
if she were entirely prevented from entering the hive, she could yet

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 16T

deposit her eggs on the outside, or by means of her extensile oviposi-
tor, thrust them in between tlie slightest joint or crack, and the young
worms hatching from them, would readily maiie their way into the
hive. The moment the worm is hatched, it commences spinning a
silken tube for its protection, and this tube is enlarged as it increases
in size. This worm cuts its channels right through the comb, feeding
on the wax, and destroying the young bees on its way. When full-
grown, it creeps into a corner of the hive or under some ledge at the
bottom, and forms a tough white cocoon, of silk intermingled with its
own black excrement as in figure 92, h. In due time the moth emerges
from this cocoon.

A worm-infested hive may generally be known by the discouraged
aspect whioh the bees present, and by the bottom-board being cover-
ed with pieces of bee-bread mixed with the black gunpowder-like ex-
crement of the worm. It must not be forgotten, however, that in the
spring of the year, pieces of bee-bread at the bottom of a hive xvhen
not mixed loith the black excrement, is not necessarily a sign of the
presence of the worm, but, on the contrary, may indicate industry
and thrift. If a hive is very badly infested with the worm, it is bet-
ter to drive out the bees and secure what honey and wax there may
be left, than to preserve it as a moth breeder to infest the apiary. If
put into a new hive, the bees may do something, and if they do not,
there is no loss, as they would have perished, finally, from the rava-
ges of the worm.

It should invariably be borne in mind that a strong stock of bees is
ever capable of resisting, to a great extent, the attacks of the worm ;
while a starved or queenless swarm is quite indiff'erent to its attacks.
In a common box hive, a good way to entrap the worms after they are
once in a hive, i> to raise the front upon two small wooden blocks,
and to put apiece of woolen rag between the bottom-board and the
back of the hive. The worms find a cozy place under the rag, in
which they form their cocoons, and may there be found and killed,
from time to time. Much can be done in the way of prevention, by
killing every morning, the moths which may be found on the outside
of the hives. At this time of the day, they allow themselves to be
crushed, with very good grace; and if two or three be killed each
morning, they would form, ah important item at the end of the year,
especially when we recollect that each female is capable of furnish-
ing a hive with at least 300 eggs. In conclusion, I give it as my con-
viction that immunity from the ravages of this Bee-worm can only
be guaranteed where a thorough control is had of bo'h hive and bees;
hence the great importance of the movable frame hive.

168 FIRST ANNUAL KEPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

THE BEE-KILLER — Trvpanea apivora, Fitch.

(Diptera, AsilidEe)

^'^- 92-] ^ In the last chapter of his 9th Report, Dr.

Fitch describes a fly by the name of ihe "Ne-
braska Bee-killer," which he received from
Mr. R. O. Thompson, of Nursery Hill, Otoe
^county Nebraska, and which the latter named
g:entleman had found preying upon the bee in
North Nebraska in the summer of 1S6-1. Mr.
Thompson has since removed from Nebraska
to North Missouri, and in conversation with
him last summer he informed me that he had
met with this Bee-killer each year since 1864, and that it seemed to be
increasing. At a later day, in a communication to the Bural ^Yorldoi
September 12, 1868, he states that it made its appearance in such num-
bers in North Missouri last summer, that it to a great extent prevented
the bees from swarming. I present above at Figure 93 a life-size por-
trait of this voracious insect, its general color being yellowish-brown or
yellowish-gray. This figure will enable its ready recognition, and
those who wish a very full and detailed description of it will find it
in the Report of Dr. Fitch above referred to. It belongs to the Asilus
family of two winged flies wh.ch have been very aptly termed the
hawks of the insect world. Last Jwly I found thse flies quite common
in Mr. Shaw's beautiful gardens in St. Louis, and I watched them by
the hour and found to my amazement that though other insects were
flying all around, as well as other species of bees, yet they never
seized any other species but the common Honey-bee. They capture
the bee on the wing, pouncing upon it with lightning-like rapidity 5
then grasping it securely with their fore legs, they alight upon some
plant or even upon the ground, and rapidly suck out the inside of the
bee, with the stout and powerful proboscis which is shown in the fig-
ure, leavmg the empty shell when they get through. Mr. Thompson
says that beneath some favorable perch that is near the apiary, hun-
dreds of these bee-shells may be found accumulated in a single day;
while he has watched and found that a single fly on one of these
perches destroyed no less than 141 bees in that period of time.

The habits of these flies are little known, and until they are bet-
ter understood no feasible way of protecting the bees from their at-
tacks can be given. Those which are known to haunt the apiary
should be captured, and this can best be done by means of a net. It
is almost impossible to catch them while on the wing, though as soon
as they have settled with their prey they are caught with compara-
tive ease. It will pay to thus catch them lor they are doubtless the
cause of much of the non-swarming which we hear of.

BENEFICIAL INSECTS.

I have already treated of a number of beneficial insects in con-
nection with the insects on which they prey, and under this head I
shall, for the present, only say a few words about

THE REAR-HORSE, alias CAMEL-CRICKET, alias DEVIL'S RID-
ING HORSE — Mantis Carolina^ Linn.

(Orthoptera Mantidte.)
[Fig:. 94.]

This peculiar and predatory insect which is variously known by
either of the above names in ditTerent localities, is very fortunately
quite common in the central and southern parts of Missouri, as well
as in most of the Southern States. Its food consists mainly of flies,
though it is a most voracious cannibal and will devour its own kind
as well as any other living insect that comes within its grasp. I have
known it to attack various kinds of butterflies, including the male
Bag-worm, grasshoppers, and caterpillars of various kinds, and in one
instance a single female devoured eleven living Colorado Potato-
beetles during one night, leaving only the wing-cases and parts of the
legs. It disdains all dead food, and never makes chase for the living,
but warily, patiently and motionless, it watches till its victim is with-
in reach of its fore-arms, and then clutches it with a sudden and rapid

170

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

motion. Its appearance is really formidable, and its attitude while
watching for its prey quite menacing, and on tiiis account it is held in
very general and superstitious dread. It is, however, utterly incapa-
ble of harming any one; and, as one of our best friends should be
clierisned and protected.

At Figure 94, above, this insect is represented in the full grown
state, a showing the female and h the male. It will be seen that ihey
differ materially from each other, the male having a long slender body
with long wings, while the female has a broad flat body with short
wings. Hence, while the male can fly through the air with greater
facility than do our grasshoppers, the female is utterly incapable of
performing the same feat, and .only uses her wings when in battle
with one of her own kind, or when pouncing upon her prey, at which
time she hoists them very much as a swan hoists his wings when irri-
tated. The diff"erence in the sexes is not apparent till after the third
moult, all the young Mantes being very much alike. The general
color of the Mantis is grayish-brown though a pale green dimorphous
form is quite common. The newly hatched larva is invariably, so far
as my observations exteni, light yellowish-brown, though I have seen
green individuals after the first moult. The green form is almost en-
tirely confined to the female ^ex, and seems to be the most common
color of this sex when full grown; but it is found likewise, to some
extent, among the males, as specimens with green legs and partly
green bodies are to be met with, though I have never seen n male that
[Fig. 95.] -^yas entirely green. About the beginning of August
the.se Mantes acquire wings, and by the middle ol Sep-
tember the female commences to deposit her eggs.
These eggs are all glued tightly together in a peculiar
ma^^s, and are deposited in all sorts of situations, but
principally on the twigs of trees. At Figure 95 two of
these egg-masses are represented, natural s ze, the lower
mass showing the most common form, the upper mass
illustrating how it conforms to the object on which it
is placed. These egg-masses are often found by per-
sons in the winter, though very few are able to con-
jecture what they really are. On cutting them open
the Qg^s are found to be very systematically arranged
and to contain a mucilaginous substance of th-e color
of thin glue.

The manner in which these eggs are deposited has
never been described, and though I have never myself
witnessed the operation, I have found the mass while
it was yet quite soft and freshly laid, and have dissect-
ed the female just before she was about to deposit;
and incline to believe that it is gradually protruded in
a soft mucilaginous state, being covered at the time

\

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 171

with a white, frothy, spittle-like substance which soon hardens and
becomes brittle upon exposure to the air. Mr. Parker Earle inlorms
me that he has witnessed the operation, and that he judges it to re-
quire about an hour, the eggs being "pumped out, and the entire
mass elaborately sliaped, witli a line instinct of construction as the
proci^ss continues."

Between the 10th and 20th of Juno these eggs hatch into comical-
looking little Mantes, in all respects resembling their parent, with the
exception that Ihey have no wings; lor, with the grasshoppers, crick-
ets, katydids, walking-sticks and roaches, etc., etc., which belong to
the same order {Ori/ioptera)^ they do not undergo any sudden transi-
tions irom the masked larva^ to the quiescent^i^ji>a, and thence to the
winged imago state, as do most other insects.

When the young first issue from the egg-mass, they are yet, as
with the young of most other Orlhopterous insects, enveloped in a
fine skin which confines their members and prevents free motion. In
this condition they look not unlike some of our leaf-hoppers {Teiii-
gonice,) but as soon as they extricate themselves they begin to show
their unfeeling and voracious disposition by attacking and devouring
each other. Indeed, those sentimentalists who believe that the worm
crushed under foot suff'ers as much as the man who breaks an arm or
a leg, would do well to study the habits of these Mantes. They are
so void of all feeling that, the female being the strongest and most
voracious, the male in making his advances, has to risk his life very
many times, and at last only succeeds in grasping her by slyly and
suddenly surprising her ; and even then he frequently gets remorse-
lessly devoured. I have seen a female, decapitated, and with her
body partly eaten, slip away from another that was devouring her,
and for over an hour afterwards fight as tenaciously and with as much
nonchalance as though nothing had happened.

The eggs may be readily transported from one place to another,
and the insect can thus be easily colonized. Mr. Jordon in this way has
caused them to increase very much in his home nursery in St. Louis,
though he finds soma difficulty in protecting the eggs during the
winter from the attacks of birds. He considers that as long as he can
keep the Mantes sufficiently numerous he will never be troubled
with noxious insects.

We know with what fear the hawk is regarded by the great ma-
jority of small birds, but that at the same time the common house
martin defies and even tantalizes and drives it ofl^. In like manner
tills Mantis which must be the dread of most flies, is yet defied by a
certain class of them, belonging to the same ( Tachina) family, as that
described and figured on page 111, lor I have found no less than nine
maggots in the body of a living female IMantis, which must have
hatched from eggs that had been deposited on her body by one of
these flies.

INNOXIOUS INSECTS.

Under this head, I propose to devote a few pages each year to
those insects which can neither be considered injurious or beneficial
to man, either directly or indirectly. As State Entomologist I feel it
my duty to devote my time primarily to the study of those insects
that immediately concern the agriculturist, and by thus doing, to save
to our great and growing State a portion of that immense sum which
is annually lost by insect depredations. At the same time I feel that
it will be expected of me to add to our present knowledge of the nat-
ural history of the State, by discoveries in my particular branch of
zoology. The prosperity of a State does not depend solely on its ma-
terial wealth, but to a great extent on its mental wealth. Knowledge
— that great interpreter of oracles — moves the world ! It enables us
to see in the bowels of the unfathomable earth beneath, in the water,
in the air, and in the skyey vast above, volumes written by the hand
of Omnipotence !

" To win the secret of a weed's plain heart,
Reveals the clue to spiritual things/'

And there are few departments of science which offer such food for
the mind as does the study of Natural History. It has been truly said
that the naturalist has no time for selfish thoughts. Everywhere
around him he sees significances, harmonies, chains of cause and ef-
fect endlessly interlinked, which draw him out of the narrow sphere
of self-lauding into a pure and wholesome atmosphere of joy and
felicity.

Day by day science is becoming more and more popularized, and
before long the necessity of devoting more attention to natural his-
tory in our schools and colleges will become apparent. There are few
things, for instance, so well calculated to train the minds of children,
and at the same time entertain and instruct them as would be a chart
illustrating the transformation of insects, and it is with the firm belief
that this kind of information will soon be more generally sought for,
that I introduce to my readers •

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

173

THE SOLIDAGO GALL MOTH— Gelechia gallcesolidaginis, N. Sp.

—PL 2, Figs. 1 and 2.

Every body must have noticed the large round galls about the
size ot a walnut which are found upon the straight smooth stem of the
common Golden-rod {Solidayo nemoralis). Tliero are sometimes two
on the same stalk and they are most conspicuous in winter time when
the leaves are off the plant. Upon cutting open one of these galls it
is found to consist of a pithy solid mass, in the centre of which is a
plump white footless maggot. This maggot in due time develops into
a two-v/inged fly, which was long since described by Dr. Fitch as7>^-
peia (Acinia) soUdaghiis.

The gall which I am now about to speak of, occurs on the same
species of Solidago, and in almost equal abundance with the former,
though its architect has never hitherto been described. This gall
which is represented at Figure 96, 5, is of a
very different form from the preceding, being
altogether more elongate and narrower, and
upon cutting it open it is found to be hollow,
and to contain, instead of a white footless mag-
'got, a gray 16 footed caterpillar (^),which in time
develops into the little moth which is repre-
sented with the wings expanded at Plate 2, Fig-
ure 1, and with the wings closed at Figure 2.
The history of this insect may be thus briefly
told:

The moths winter over and may be seen
flying in the month of May, in which month I
have myself captured a specimen. When the
young plants of the Golden-rod are about six
inches high the female moth deposits an egg
either in the terminal bud, or at the side of the
stalk just below it, and the worm hatching from
the egg works into the stalk, and causes it to
svfell by gnawing and thus inducing tlie secretions towards it. By
the beginning of June the gall has just begun to form and at this time
upon cutting it open the worm is found to be about | grown, and its
excrement is as yet all at the upper portion of the gall. As the plant
grows, so the gall increases in size, remaining, however, at the same
altitude from the ground. By the middle of July both the gall and
its maker have attained their full size, and upon opening the former
at this season of the year the excrement will be found packed closely
at both its ends, and from the small quantity of such excrement ((i) to be
found, it woula appear that all but the more solid parts had been ab-
sorbed by the plant, it probably acting as a manure to stimulate the
growth of the gall. When full grown, the worm measures rather
more than half an inch, and it now prepares for changing into the

174 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

chrysalis state by ealing a perfectly round passage-way entirely
tlirongli (he wall of the gall at its upper end. It then protects the ori-
fice with a secretion of liquid silk which hardens r.nd forms a perfect
little plug (Fig. 96, ^,) about 004 thick and 0.08 in diameter, and which
is so constructed th;it it cannot be readily displaced from without, as it
has a rim on its outer edge. Ihe inner edge, however, is not so rimmed,
and the plug can be pushed away from the inside with the slightest
ellbrt, f,)r the little tenant when it shall have become titted to leave
its (^ark and secluded tenement and soar into the air, must needs
make its exit through this orifice. Well may we wonder at Nature's
handiwi rk, for what consummate skill, and wonderful instinct — I had
almost said lorethoughr — is here e,xhibited ! Can this action be but a
blind instinct, or has the larva a premonition of its future etherial
imago slate and its wants? Who can answer? Our little host, not
satisfied with having thus protected the entrance to his home, now
lines its passage way, and the walls, with a delicate silken tissue, after
which ho rests from his labors, and commences to undergo those mys-
terious transformations, so characteristic of his class. A gall cut in
two at this stage of its growth presents the appearance of Figure 03,
h. In two days' time the little worm has changed to a chrysalis, just
•| inch in length, rather slender and of a shiny mahogany-brown. At
the end of about three weeks more the chrysalis grows very dark, and
finally the inclosed moth bursts the skin and escapes from the gall.

The first moths usuall}' appear about the middle of August, but as
the time of egg-depositing covers a period of over a month, some of
the moths have not left till the beginning of October. As winter ap-
proaches, the stem seems to grow weak above the gall, and usually
bends and droops, while the gall itself shrinks and acquires a whitish
weather-washed appearance. It is for these reasons, and from the
gall l)eing so near the ground that it does not attract the same attention
as the large, round gall of the Tiypeia.

I have been acquainted with this gall for six years, and have
studied it closely during tiiat lime. It seems to occur qu.te generally
over the country, and is especially abundant in the West. The first
published account that I can find of it in this country is that given by
Baron Osten Sacken, in the first volume of the Proceedings of the
"riiiladelphia Entomological Society," page 369, where he correctly
describes it, as well as the puffed carcass of one of the caterpillars
(1*1. 2, Fig. .5), caused by a parasitic Chalcis fly presently to be des-
cril)ed ; but he was not acquainted with tiie maker of the g^ll. 'Ihe
galls were received by him from Edward Norton, who resides at
Farmington, Connecticut. They occur abundantly around Chicago,
especially on the north side, in the old cemetery, which is now l;eing
converted into Lincoln Paik. They are equally abundant around ""t.
Louis, while I have found the same gall on the Solidaga Missouri en sis
growing beyond Fort Kearney, in Nebraska, and even there the worm
was attacked by the same parasitic Chalcis fly mentioned above.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 175

The gall-ruaking insects belonging to the same order (Lepidoptera)
as our little moth, are by no means common, and the only other gall
of tliis character with which I am acquainted, at all resembling the
one just described, occurs on the stems of Artemisia cornpestris h\
France, and is produced by the larva of a very ditlerent little moth
with pale yellow wings shaded with orange, first described by Herrich-
iSchjvJlor by thf' name of Cocliylis hilarana. This last gall is figured
on riato l,of the "Annales de la Socieie Entomologique de France"
for I'.'yO, and its history is detailed by M. E Ferris, at pages SS-oS of
the same volume. The gall is similar in form, but narrower, with the
walls tliicker than that of my insect, while the larva is yellowish-
white.

GKi.EcntA GAi.i-.ESOLTDAGixis, N. Sp. — Larva. — Length 0.60. Cylinderical. Color dark dull-
brown, without shiue. Largest on midJle segments ; tapering from 4th to head, and from 9th to
extremity. Each segment impressed transversely in the middle, thus forming two folds, the thor-
acic scjj.uents having other such folds. Si.x small piliferous spots, two each side of dorsum and
one above stigmata, which, together with the stigmata, are shiny and of a lighter brown than tha
body. Il'^iid and cervical shield light shiny-brown.

Clirysalis- — Length 0.50. Mnhogany-brown. Form normal. Blunt at extremity.

Perfect moth. — Average length 0.38. Alare.xpanse $ 0 95, (^ 0.7b. Fore wings deep purplish-
brown, more or less sprinkled with carneous. A light carneous band starts from the costa near th»
base, and curves towards the middle of the inner margin, which it occupies to a little beyond the
beginning of the cilia, where it curves upwards towards the tip, reaching only half way up the
wing. Here it is approached from above by a somewhat diffuse spot of the same color, which starts
from the '^ostajust behind the apex, and runs down to the middle of the wing.

In the plainly marked individuals there is an extra line running from the middle of the inner
margin, outwardly obliquing to the middle of the wing, and then back to the inner margin a little
beyond whr-re the cilia commence, but in the great majority of specimens this mark is indistinct.
Cilia light carneous. Hind wings slate-gray, with the cilia lighter. Antenna; finely annulated
with the same two dark and light colors. Head, thorax and palpi light, with a sprinkling of the dark
brown. Body dark, with light annulations, The species varies in the distinctness of its markings,
and the lii^ht parts of the wing appear finely sprinkled with brown under the lens. Male generall/
(mailer than fem.ale, with the antennas proportionately a little longer.

Described from numerous bred specimens.

It seoms to resemble G. longifasiieUa of Clemens, in coloration and pattern ; but unfortunately
our late hunonted microlepidopterist, failed almost always to give the measurement of the fpecies
he describ.'d, and it is impossible to tell how much mine really resembles that species. Yet, as
longifiiiciellj was described from two mutilated specimens, received from A. S. Packard, jr., and
as that tventleman has seen my insect and declared it an undescribed species, there can be little
doubt of the fact.

Concealed within its gall, as this worm is, one would naturally
suppose that it would rest unmolested from the outside world, and
that no parasite could attack it through its green-walled I'brtress. Such
however is not the case. Those oft-quoted lines, written in t!:at spirit
of ridicule, in the exercise of which Swift was always happy,

" The little fleas that do so tease.
Have smaller fleas that bite 'em.
And these again have lesser fleas.
And 80 ad infinitum,"

are as applicable to our gall-maker as to most other insects. There
are indeed no less than six parasites which attack it, and Irom many
hundreds of galls examined,! estimate that one worm out of every

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF

fiveis thus destroyed. As lour of these parasites are new to science,
and are all probably confined to this one species of insect, I will
briefly describe them.

They all belong to the order Hymenoptera, and by far the most
common of them is a little fly of a dark metallic green color, with
reddish legs, which is represented highly magnified in Plate 2, Figure
6, the hair line below showing the natural size. Its larvae infest the
caterpillar in great numbers, and cause it to swell to three and four
times its normal size. After they have absorbed all thejuices of their
victim, they form for themselves very fine brownish cocoons, which
are so crammed together that they give thepuffed-up worm the rough-
ened appearance, shown at Plate 2, Figure 5, and prevent the skin
from collapsing after they have left, so that it may be found within
the gall at any time during the winter. These minute flies all leave
the gall through a single minute hole, which must be made by one of
their number. They are active little creatures, running nimblj'', with
their antennae always bent towards the surface on which they travel.
They have a wonderful power of jumping, and are able to leap the
distance of afoot so suddenly and rapidly that they are, for the mo-
ment, scarcely visible. I have counted over 150 of them in a single
caterpillar, and the moHier fly must gnaw for herself a passage through
the gall, and leisurely insert her batch of eggs in the inmate. This
fly belongs to the Chalcis family, and may be called the Inflating Chal-
cis fly. The family to which it belongs has scarcely been at all studied
in America, and very lew species have been described. I there-
fore leave the species, for the present, undescribed, it apparently be-
longing to the genus Pireiie.

Another parasite which infests this caterpillar, is represented in
the perfect state at Plate 2, Figure 9, the hair line above showing the
natural size. It is a black fl}^, and its larva, w'hich is often found at
the bottom of the gall during the month of August, is a white, foot-
less grub, about 0.24 long, and attenuated at the head. Some of these
maggots change to pupre and become flies in the fall of the year, while
others remain in the maggot state till spring. The pupa is whitish,
with the members confined and darker. This fly belongs to the same
[Chalcis) i^mWy ii^ the preceding, and to the genus Euryloma. I
name it in honor of my esteemed friend, Mr. A. Bolter, of Chicago —
an entomologist, as enthusiastic as he is modest, and an indefatigable
collector. When I think of the many happy hours we have spent
together, and recall our many pleasant hunting grounds, the following
pretty lines are ever floating in my mind:

" I long- to vralk by the meadow's brook,
To visit the fields and the woods once more.
To loiter long in the shady nook,
And tread the paths I have trud before ;
Or, under the spreading branches to lie
And watch the clouds in the azure sky."

Annexed will be found a full description of this parasite :

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 177

EuTiYTOMA BoLTERi, N. Sp. — § Length 0.18. AntennjB black, not much longer than the
face, perceptibly thicker towards the end, and apparently 10-jointed, though the three terminal
joints are almost always confluent. Dimensions and appearance of joints, represented in the an-
nexed Figure 97, a. Head and thorax rough-punctured
and finely bearded with short, stiff gray Iiairs. Abdo-
men about as long as thorax, scarcely so broad, viewed,
from above, but wider viewed laterally ; highly pol-
ished, smooth and black, the three terminal segments
with minute stiff gray hairs along the sutures ; visibly
divided into seven segments, the four anterior ones of
about equal length, the two following shorter, and the
terminal one produced into a point. Legs fulvous with
the coxfp., tliighs and more or less of the shanks black-
ish-brown. Wings perfectly transparent, glossy, color-
less, and with the nerves very faint.

(^ Measures but 0.14, and difTers in the antennae, being twice as long as the face, in their
narrowing- towards the tip ard in being furnished with whorls of long hairs. The number of joints
are not readily made out, and I have consequently presented at Figure 97, b, a magnified figure.
His body is but half-as wide and half as long as the thorax viewed from above, and not quite as
broad as the thorax, viewed laterally ; it also lacks the produced point of the 5 • His wings ar&.
also cut off more squarely and more distinctly nerved.

The third parasite which attacks our gall-maker is represented
somewhat enlarged at Plate 2, Figure 7. It is an opaque black fly
belonging to the true Ichneumon family and apparently to the genus
Ilemiteles. After most of the gall-makers have undergone all their
transformations and escaped, some few of the galls are found still in-
inhabited by the worm. These belated worms contain the larva of this
fly, and they are somewhat smaller and paler than are the healthy
ones ; their life as worms being prolonged by the presence of their
enemy within. During the month of September, the parasitic larva
leaves the body of the caterpillar, and spins for itself, within the gall,,
a tough white silken cocoon, in which it remains through the winter,
and from which the fly escapes during the following March or April,
some of them escaping much earlier than others. This fly I have
named in honor of my friend Mr. E. T. Cresson, of Philadelphia, to
whom I am indebted for the generic determination of all these para-
sites.

HEMiTF.r.Es (?) Cressonii. — (^ — Length 0.25. Black, opaque, hea<l transversely-subquadrate; face,
clothed with pale glittering pubescence ; spot on mandibles, palpi, scape of antennte in front and the
teguUe, white; eyes large, ovate; antennae longer than head and thorax, slender, black; thorax closely
and minutely punctured ; mesothorax with a deeply impressed line on each side anteriorly ; scutel-
lum convex, closelj- punctured, deeply excavated at base ; metathorax coarsely sculptured, truncate
and excavated behind, the elevated lines sharply defined, forming an irregularly shaped central
area, and a triangular one on each side of it, the outer posterior angle of which is prominent and
subacute ; wings hyaline, iridescent, nervures blackish, stigma large, areolet incomplete, the outer
nervure wanting; legs pale honey-yellow, coxaj paler, tips of posterior femora, and their tibiao and
tasri entirely blackish ; abdomen elongate ovate, flattened, petiolated, the first segment flat,
gradually dilated posteriorly, somewhat shining, and indistinctly longitudinally aciculate; the two-
following segments opaque, indistinctly sculptured ; remaining segments smooth and shining.

A lourth parasite, belonging to the same great Ichneumon family^

issues from the worm and spins a white silken cocoon, in exactly the

same manner as the preceding. From this cocoon at the same season

of the year, escapes a fly which is also of very much the same size

and appearance, but which belongs to the distinct genus Microgaster.
12 K s E

178 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

It has hitherto been uiidiscribed and may be known by the specific
name of gelecMa.

MiCROGASTER GELECHiA — Length 0.20 ^5* $ . — Black, clothed with a short, thin, glittering, whitish
pubescence, most dense on the face, which latter is closely punctured ; occiput and cheeks shining;
mandibles rufopiceous ; palpi whitish; eyes pubescent; antennas as long as the body in (^,
shorter in 5 > 18-j<^iiited ; thorax shining, feebly punctured, mesothorax closely and more strongly
punctured, with a deeply impressed longitudinal line on each side over base of wings; scutellum
smooth and polished, the lateral groove broad, deep, arched and crenulat^d; metathorax opaque,
densely rugose, with a sharp, central, longitudinal carina, and a smooth, flat, transverse carina at
base; tegultc testaceous, wings hj aline, iridescent, apex smoky, nervures blackish, areolet com-
plete, subtriangular, radial nervure indistinct ; legs pale honey-yellow, coxce blackish, pale at
tips, middle pair in J concolorous with legs ; abdomen with the two basal segments densely ru-
gose and opaque, the remainder smooth and shining ; venter more or less varied with pale testa-
ceous.

The galls containing worms that have been victimized by either
of these last two parasites are generally small and narrow, indicating
that the worm has been sickly and not able to perform its functions in
a. proper manner, but those containing worms infested with the In-
flating Chalcis-fly, first described, are of the normal size, the worm
often having completed its passage-way before succumbing to its
enemy.

There are two other and larger parasites which attack our little
Gall-maker, the one anundescribed species of Piinpla and the other
an undescribed species of EpMalteH; making in all six distinct para-
sites. Besides these, there is another insect which intrudes upon and
often kills him. This last is the larva of some small long-horned bee-
tle, and most likely of some species of the genus (9Jer«3a, as it greatly
resembles the larva of Oherea oceUata^Y^dX^S..^ which I have bred from
the stems of the Cottonwood. After the parent gall-moth has de-
posited her Qgg^ and the young worm and its gall have acquired con-
siderable size, the parent beetle of this larva comes along and deposits
her egg higher up on the same stem, and the larva hatching from it
immediately commences boring downwards till it reaches the gall,
where it riots until it has crowded out the properinhabitant and filled
the gall with excrementitious and pithy debris. It then continues
its descent till it reaches the root, where it continues boring till win-
ter approaches, and where it hybernates in the larva state. Sometimes
the gall-maker succeeds in webbing this intruder out, so that he only
partially destroys the gall, while at other times the intruder does not
reach the gall till the inmate has changed to the chrysalis state ; but
in the latter case the moth always dies in its endeavors to escape.
The vacated galls of this gall-moth afford excellent winter shelter for
a variety of insects and spiders, and the common Chinch bug is espec-
ially fond of taking up its winter quarters in them.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 179

THE CIIICKWEED GEOMETER, Iliematojns grataria, Fabr.— PL 2,
Figures 18, 19, 20 and 21.

(Lepidoptera Geometridse.)

At Plate 2, Figure 18, 1 have figured a very common little moth
which may be seen flitting over our meadows and in our gardens
during the summer and fall months. It is of a delicate orange color,
marked with pink, as in the figure. A number of persons have desired
to know whether or not it was injurioiis, and what its larva fed on,
and, as its transformations have been hitherto unknown, I will briefly
record them.

The female moths deposit their eggs in rows of about twenty, along
the edge of a leaf, or along the stem of the common chickweed ( Stel-
lar ia media.) These eggs (see PL 2, Fig. 21) are not quite 0.02 of an
nch long and are oval, flattened and depressed near the centre.
When first laid they are yellowish-white, but change within two days
to a very bright, shiny, red color, between Venetian and vermillion.
These eggs hatch in a very short time, frequently within a week, into
thread-like worms, with ten legs only and with the habit of looping
themselves into all manner of shapes, especially into a circle. In
about a month, during hot weather, they acquire their full size, when,
they are of the form and appearance of Plate 2, Figure 19. They are
quite variable in color, being either gray, yellowish-green, or dark
brown. They change to chrysalids within a slight web attached to
the leaves of their food-plant, and in this state they bear the appear-
ance of Plate 2, Figure 20, the skin being so thin that before the moth
escapes the colors of the wings show distinctly through it. There
are several broods during the year, and the insect may often be found
in all its different states at one and the same time. It probably passes
the winter in either the larva or egg state, for I have taken both
eggs and half grown larvae in the beginning of November. In
the larva and chrysalis state it is not easily detected, on account of its
small size and of its assimilating the color of the food-plant. The
larva has furthermore the habit of jerking itself away to a consider-
able distance when disturbed, especially while it is young.

Hjjmatopis grataria, Fabr. — Lacua— Average length 0.85. Color quite variable ; either
pale yellowish-green, deep rufous with an orange tint, or of a mixture of gray and cream-color.
Minutely punctate all over. Segments 1, 2 and 3,'extremely short ; 4, longest and widest, having
two wrinkles each side, with a dark depression between them; 5, 6, 7 and S, of equal length ; 9, 10
and 11, short, the two former also somewhat wider than the other. Dorsum dark, with a lighter
middle line, and a light,' somewhat irregular subdorsal line which converges anteriorly and diverges
posteriorly of each segment; two dark spots anteriorly each side of the middle line. Sides more
or less wrinkled, lighter than dorsum and with a light longitudinal ridge below. Venter variegated
with longitudinal marks, and shaded outwardly with deep olive-green in strong contrast with the
lateral light ridge. Stigmata minute, black, and placed on an oval swelling at the anterior portion
of the segment. Head of the same color as body, with a dark line, edged each side with white, con-
tinuing from the thoracie segments.

C7j>y«ahs.— (Plate 2, Fig. 20.) Length, 0.50. Wing sheaths and tip of abdomen pale buff,
the middle of the abdomen very light yellowish-green. A purplish dorsal line. Obliquely truncated
at the head, having a somewhat triangular appearance, the ventral angle being lengthened iut® a
slightly bifurcate snout. Anal segments quite attenuated, the extremity being also slightly bifur-
cated. Stigmata small, black and distinct.

180 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP

THE THISTLE FLUME,— Pterophorus carduidactylus, N. Sp., PI. 2,

Figs. 13 and 14.

(Lepidoptera Alucitida?.)

Having already sketched the history of the Grape Plume, page
137, the larva of which attacks the Grape vine, I will now give the
history of another species of the same genus whose larva infests the
common Thistle ( Cersium lanceolata) in order to show how very dis-
similar two larvge may be, which belong to the same genus and greatly
resemble each other in the perfect state.

During the month of May the heads of the above named thistle
may frequently be found drawn together by silken threads, with some
of the leaves frequently dead. On pulling this w^ebbed mass apart
from eight to a dozen thick smooth worms may be found, which are
of a light straw color with rows of black spots, and the head and tail
[Fig. 93.] marked as in the accompanying figure. These worms are
found of different sizes in the same head, which would in-
dicate that the parent moth either deposits her eggs at dif-
ferent intervals in the same place or that the eggs hatch
out irregularly. Towards the end of May they change to
pupse within the burrow which the worm inhabited; these
pup£e being of a dull yellow color, without polish, and re-
sembling the pup^ of some long-legged Crane fly ( Tijnda)
rather than a moth — see PI. 2, Fig. 11. In just one week
after they have thus changed, the moths escape. This moth, which is
represented at Plate 2, Figure 13, is of a tawny yellow color, with a
prominent triangular dark spot on the outer third of the front wing,
running from the front edge. As it differs from all hitherto de-
scribed North American species, it may appropriately be called the
Thistle Plume.

Pteropiiouus carduidactylus, N. Sp. — Lari'a. — Average length 0.60. Largest in the middle of
body, tapering thence each way. Color light straw-yellow — greener when young. Somewhat darker,
parti}' translucent, dorsal, suhdorsal and stigmatal lines. Two lateral rows of black spots, the
lower spots rather smaller and placed behind the upper ones. A third row above these, and others
along the back, but so small that thej^ are gf^nerally imperceptible with the naked eye, except on the
thoracic segments, being especially distinct on segment 2. Head small, black, sometimes inclining
t'"" brown. Cervical shield black, divided longitudinally in the middle by a lighter line. Caudal
plate also black. Segment 11, besides the spots above mentioned, has two transverse black marks,
the posterior one the largest. Thoracic legs black, the others of the same color as the body.

Described from 12 specimens.

Pupa. — Average length 0.45. Of form of Plate 2, Figure 14. Soft, dull yellow, with a lat-
eral dusky line, each side of dorsum, and another, less distinct each side of venter. Also
dusky about the head and wing-sheaths.

Perfect insect. — Length 0.45 ; alar expanse O.Sfl. Front wings bifid, the cleft reaching not
much more than J of wing ; tawny yellow, with a distinct dai-k brnwn triangular spot running from
costa to the base of cleft — sometimes a little below it — its posterior margin with a slight concave
curve. Three dusky, difFase longitudinal spots, one placed on the basal third of the wing at costa
and frequently reaching along the costa to the triangular spot ; one near the interior margin, a lit-
tle nearer to the base of wing than the last, and one on the outer third of tlie interior margin. Two
light-colored transverse lines across the end of wing, one very near and parallel with posterior
margin, the other bordering the triangular spot behind, and curving across the lower lobe towards
posterior angle. The space between these two light lines usually darker than the ground-color.
Fringes dark with a light margin. Hind wings trifid, the upper cleft reaching a little beyond the

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 181

.niJdle, the lower one to the base of wing. Color ashy-brown, the lower lobeproJuced intoa dark
Tnju la spot about their middle posteriorly. Antenna, palpi, head, thorax and b ^^y'^awny yel-
low ; legs of the same color with the exception of the tarsi, which are almost white, with alteroaU
dark'bro^wn spots, the spines being black, with dusky tips.

[,«>3

E R K A, T A.,

Page 8, line 21, for "being" read "were."^

Page 10, line 1, for "Figure 3, 3" read ''Figure 3, 2."

Page 12, line 20, for " last" read " 1866."

Page 12, line 3 from bottom, after "February," add "(IS67)."

Page 31, line 15, for "37°" read " 38o."

Page 47, line 16, for "far" read "for."

Page 114, line 1, after ',' insect" read " {Strietrus frimbriatus, Say)."

Page 120, line 30, after " Cottonwood" read " {Pemphigus vagabundus, Walsh).

Page 133, line 24 from b&ttom, for "precetling insect" read " Grape curculio.'

Page 134, line 3 from bottom, for "Part V" read "Part VI."

Page 142, under the heading, add " (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae)."

Page 166, under the heading, add " (Lepidoptera, Tineidae)."

INDEX.

JEgcria Lxiliosa... 47

Agrolis Cochrayiii 74

" devastator 83

" incrmis 72

" jacul ferii 82

" tclifcra, 80

" scandens 76

" subgothica 81

Allan thus worm 151

Alypia octomactdata 136

American Meromyza 159

Anchylopcra fragaricc 142

Anthomyia zeas 154

Aplodcs rubivora 139

Apple-worm ; 62

Apple — Grape-root borer in 126

" Root-plant-louse 118

" " " Syrphus fly 121

" -tree Bark-lice 7

" "—Borers 42

"■ " — Cutworms on 70

" " — Round-headed borer 42

t( "—Flat-headed borer ; 46

" " — Bag' worm 150

Appearnnce and disappearance of the Periodical Cicada 22

Arbor-Vitac — Bag- worm on , 150

Anna spinosa 89, 113

Ash-gray Blister-beetle „ 97

Aspidiglossa subangulata 58

Aspidiotus Harrhii 7

" conchiformis 7

Bag'-worm 1^

" parasite 150

Bark-lice of the apple-tree « , 7

'•■ on the plum 15

" " pear 15

" " currant 15

" " Persian lilac 15

Baridhis trinotatus 93

Basket-worm 147

Bee-moth 166

Bee-killer , 168

Beneficial insects 169

Black Blister-beetle 98

Black Rat Blister-beetle 93

2 INDEX.

1^9

" Cane — Tree Cricket on ,00

" — Cut worms on ^^

Blister-beetles -,,^

115

" — Striped ,>„

" —Ash-gray !!!......". 97

" — 131ack-rat no

-^i-i< •••"^"""'"'""■■"■"Z":;;;;;;;;::! 9s

" —Margined y^

Bogus Colorado Potato-beetle ,Qr

Bordered Soldier-bue- ,,,

_ „ * 114

Borers — Round-headed apple-tree 49

" — Flat-headed apple-tree jq

Caloso7na cplidum oq ii>;

Camel-cricket ' ifio

Cane Curculio of the Grape 101

Carpocapsn jiomonella (.9

Catalpa — Bag-worm on j^g

" — Cut-worm on , ,,-,

Celeena renigera oj.

Chalets fly — The inflating _ j^g

Chavliognathus pcmmjlvanicus kt

Cherry — Bag-worm on j^q

Chickweed Geometer ; j^rg

Chronological history of Periodical Cicada 30

Chrysobotluis Jemorata ^^

Chrysopa r^

Cicada septcmdecim 20

" cassinii 9q

" —The Periodical ..........."..... 18

Clandestine Owlet-moth 70

Climbing cut-worms ^q

" Rustic yg

Cochran Rustic 74.

Coccinella 9-notata jj2

Caliodcs inccqualis..... J28

Codling moth g2

" of the Grape I33

Colorado Potato-beetle 1q1

" " " parasite m

" " " — Its past history and future progress 101

■ " " " —Its habits 107

" " " — Remedies 109, 116

" " " -Bogus 185

Cottonwood Gall plant-louse 120

Conotrachclvs neriuphar 5O

Corn maggot 154

Coreus tristis II3

Crab-apple — worm in 65

Cucumber-beetle 100

" flea-beetle 101

Curculio — The Plum , 50

" — Its enemies 57

" of the Grape 128

" " " sned 129

" " " cane 131

Currant — Bark-lice on 15

" — Cut-worms on 70

INDEX. O

l-iO
Currant Fruit-worm

„ ^ 67

Cut-worms

it —Remedies against ^^' ^^

(I —The natural history of twelve distinct species 67

" — Climbins ^^

72
Cut-worm — The Variegated 'J"

u —Tho Dark-sided ^^

" —The Climbing ^^

« —The W-marked ^ "'"^

" —The Greasy ^^

<f —The Western Striped ^^■

" —The Dingy ^^

« —The Glassy ^^

» —The &!p?ckled ^*

<< —The Small White Bristly ^^

" —The Wheat ^"^

74
Dark-sided Cut-worm

82
Dart-bearing Rustic

83
Devastating Dart

Devil's Riding horse

82

Dingy Cut-worm

100
Diabrotica vittata

Borijphora ^0-!ineata

■' , . , 105

'' luncta

T. 147

Drop-worm

Eight-spotted Forester ^""

Elonsiate Ground-beetle ^^^

Elm-tree louse.

li

Enemies of the Periodical Cicada -^^

Colorado Potato beetle m

puri 1^^

, . 123

ulmi

177
Eurytcma Eolleii

Fidia viticida ^^^

Fiery ground-beetle ^^> ^^^

Figure 8 minor ^''

Fruit trees — Injury caused to them by Cicadas -9

" attacked by cut-worms ""^

Gall-curculio of the grape ^^''-

X^^iill-motWflihe Golden-rod ^''^

• ■•.- 16(5

Gallcrea cereana.

Gelechia gallasolidnginis

Geometer of the Chick-weed '^^"

77
83

„_„ 173

:k-weed

Geopinus incrassatus.

Glassy Cut-worm

Golden-rod Gall-moth ^'''

Gooseberry Fruit-worm

Gortyna nit el a

Gothic Dart ^^

Grape vine — Inspcts injurious to ^-

<' " PUime ^'^^

" " Fidia l-'^^

ti li —Tree Cricket on l'^"^

ti II — Cut-worms on '^

4 INDEX.

Grape vine — The Eight-spotted Forester 136

" Curculio 128

" Seed curculio, 129

"■ Gall curculio 181

" Codling ; 133

" Root-borer 124

Greasy Cut- worm 80

Greengage plum — Worm in 140

Ground-beetle — The subangular 68

'" " larva 69

" " — The Pennsylvania 69

" " —The Fiery 89, 115

" " —The Elongate 115

« u _xhe Murky 115

TIadena subjimcta „ 84

Hmmatopis gr at aria ^ 179

Hallica cucumeris 101

" pubescens 101

Harris's Bark-louse 7

Harpalus Pennsylvanicus 59

" caliginosus 115

llarpactor cinctus 114

Head maggot , 161

Hcmitelcs (?) Thyridopteryx 150

" Cressonii 177

Hippodamia maculata 112

" lii-punctata 112

" convergent 112

Honey locust — Bag-worm on 150

Honey-bee — Insect enemies of 166

Tncrassated Geopinus 77

Inflating Chalets fly 176

Injury caused to fruit-trees by Cicadas 29

Innoxious insects 172

Insects infesting the potato -, 91

" injurious to the Grape-vine , 124

" enemies of the Iloney-bee , 166

Introductory 3

Lacewing larva , ^ 67

Lachnosterna quercina /.w..wk t^W

Ladybirds ]12

Ladybird— The Spotted 112

" —The 9-Spotted 112

" —The 13-Spotted 112

" —The Convergent 112

Lance Pais tic 80

Leaf-roller of the Strawberry 142

Leina trilineata 99

Linden — Bag -worm on 150

Lombardy Poplar — Bag-worm on 150

Ly delta doryphora Ill

Lytta vittata 96

" cinerea 97

INDEX. 5

Lytta murina 98

" atrata 98

" marginata 98

Madartisvifis , 131

Mantis Carolina 169

Many-biinded Robber 114

Maple — Flat-headed borer in 47

Maple — Baa^-worm on 150

Margined Blister-beetle 98

May Beetle 156

Meromyza Americana 159

Microf/aster. . 89

" gelechia 178

Murky Ground-beetle 98

Natural history and transformations of the Periodical Cicada 22

" " of twelve cut-worms 67

Nocttia clandestina 79

Norway Spruce —Bag-worms on 150

Noxious insects 7

Oak — Flat-headed borer in 47

Oak stumps — Grape-root borer in 128

(Ecanthus nivcus 138

CEstrus ovis 161

<Eta compla. 151

Oberea oceUata 179

Orgyia leucostigma 144

Orthosoma cijHndricum (?) , 124

Osage orang-e — Bag-worm on 150

" " — Grape-root borer in 126

Other cut-worms 87

Oyster-shell bark-louse 7

Parasite of the Colorado Potato-beetle Ill

Pasimachus elongatus 115

Peach borer 47

" — Flat-headed borer in 47

" — Curculio on 50

Pear — Bark lice on 15

" — Grape-root borer in 128

" — Bag-worm on 150

" — Cut-worms on 70

Petyipelia grossulaiicB 140

Pemphigus vagabundus , 112

Pennsylvania Soldier-bug 57

" Ground-beetle 59

Penthina vitivorana 133

Periodical Cicadas 18

" " —17 and IS-year broods 18

" " —Two distinct forms 20

" " — Season of their appearance and disappearance 22

" " — Their natural history and transformations 22

" " — Their enemies 26

" " — Their injuries to fruit trees 29

6 INDEX.

Periodical Cicadas — Their sting 26

" " —Their chronological history with jjredictions of the future appearance of all

well ascertained broods throughout the country 30

Persian lilac — Bark-lice on 25

Pipiza radicum j21

Plum — Bark-lice on j5

" — Apple worm infesting it 65

" — Greengage — worm in 140

" — Bag-worm on ,, 150

" — Curculio 50

Plume of the Grape vine I37

Potato — Insects infesting it 91

" Stalk borer 92

" Stalk weevil 93

" or Tomato worm , 95

" Blister-beetles 97

" — Three-lined leaf-beetle 99

" — Colorado beetle 101

" — Bogus Colorado beetle 105

Pterophorus carduiOacttjlus , 180

" 2)criscelidactylus 137

Quince — Apple-worm in 65

" — Bag worm on ; 150

Rapacious Soldier-bug 114

Raspberry Geometer '. 139

" — Tree Cricket on ; 133

" — Cut-worm on 70

Rear horse 1G9

Reduvius raptatorius 114

Red Cedar— Bag-worm on 150

Root Plant-louse of the apple tree 118

" " " Syrphus fly 121

" Borer of the Grape vine 124

Rose bush — Cut-worms on 70

Saperda bivUtata 42

Seed curculio of the Grape 129

" corn maggot 154

Seventeen and thirteen year broods ef the Periodical Cicada 18

Small White Bristly Cut-worm 86

Solidago gall- moth 173

Speckled cut-worm 84

Sphinx b-maculala 95

" Carolina 96

Spined Soldier-bug 89, 113

Squash bug 113

Stalk-borer of the Potato 92

" weevil of the Potato 93

Strawberry leaf-roller 142

Sting of the Periodical Cicada 26

Striped Blister-beetle 96

Slrielrus firnbiiatus 114

Syrphus fly of Root-louse.. 121

Subangular Ground-beetle 58

Subjoined Hadena 84

Sycamore — Bag-worm on 150

INDEX. 7

115
Tetracha Virginica

Thistle Plume ^^^

Three-lined Leaf beetle • ^

Thijridoptetiix ephemeraformis

Tortrix Riley a7ia

95

Tomato-wonn

„ . , . 138

Tree-cncket

^ . „,.„ 168

Trupaitca apivora

Two distinct forms of the Periodical Cicada 20

Unarmed Rustic Moth 72

Variegated Cut-worm '2

Vine Root-borer ^^4

Virginia Tiger-beetle r 115

Walnut Tortrix .
Wax-worm

153
166

Western Striped Cut-worm ^1

Wheat Gut-worm.

87

White-marked Tussock Moth 144

156

158

Grub.

fundus

Wooly Apple-tree louse ••••• H"

Elm-tree louse

123

W-marked Cut-worm ^^

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT

ON THE

w

ttm%%f

BENEFICIAL AND OTHER

ITsTSECTS,

OF THE

ST^TE OF MISSOURI,

MADE TO THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, PURSUANT TO AN APPROPRIATION
FOR THIS PURPOSE FROM THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE.

BY CHARLES V. RILEY.

STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

JEFFERSON CITY:
Horace "Wilcox, T>ublic Printei**

la70.

PREFA.OE.

To Ihe Members of the Missouri State Board of Agriciilture :

Gentlemen: — I herewith submit, for publication, my Second An-
nual Report on the Noxious, Beneficial and other Insects of the State
of Missouri.

For my First Report, I prepared two lithographic plates, a cer-
tain number of which were colored. Such plates, when well exe-
cuted, are an adornment to any work, but they are expensive; and
upon conferring with different members of the Board, it was thought
best to furnish two such plates for one-half the edition, rather than
one plate for the whole edition. The plan has not worked well, hovv'"-
ever, since many of those persons most interested in the Report, and
for whom it is more especially designed, failed to get copies which
had plates.

For this Second Report, therefore, I have confined the illustra-'
tions to wood. Most of these wood-cuts are executed in the best
style of the art, but they cannot possibly show to good advantage
on such paper as was used in last year's Report; and the pains taken
in the preparation of these cuts, and in hiring the very best engrav-
ers the country affords, seems too much like v/aste of time and means,
when their effect is so spoilt by poor inlv and poorer paper. If it is
in the power of the Board, by proper action, to secure a better qual-
ity of paper for this Report, I sincerely hope that such action will be
taken; for a clear impression of an insect cut is often absolutely
necessary, to enable the general reader to recognize, in the field, the
living form of the particular species which it represents.

The cause of Economic Entomology lost one of its greatest
champions, and the farmers and fruit-growers of the West, and espe-
cially of our sister State, Illinois, suffered an irreparable loss, in the
sudden death, on November 18th, 1869, of Mr. Benj. D. Walsh, of
Rock Island. At the time of his death, he was State Entomologist of
Illinois, and my Associate in the Editorship of the American Ento-
mologist, published at St. Louis ; and I hardly need say that this sad
and unexpected fate of my friend has very much increased my own
la!)ors. When I add to this the fact that Mr. Walsh was prostrated
for over three months last spring and summer, and that Mr. Wilcox,
our State Printer, was ready for this Report at an earlier day than I had

4 PREFACE.

anticipated; you will not be surprised to learn that several subjects
which I had contemplated treating of, have been unavoidably de-
ferred another year.

In order to make the sense of the text plain to every reader, and
at the same time to insure scientific accuracy,! shall continue to con-
form to the rules laid down in the introduction to my First Report —
namely, to print all descriptions of merely scientific interest in small
type ; to use as far as possible a common name for each insect, always
adding the scientific appellation in italics and parenthesis, so that it
can be skipped, if necessary, without interfering in the least with the
sense of the sentence ; and to give the Order and Family to which
each insect belongs, in parenthesis under each heading.

The reader will also bear in mind that the dimensions given, are
expressed in inches and the fractional parts of an inch, 0.25 thus im-
plying a quarter of an inch ; and that the sign cT is an abbreviation
for the word male,the sign $ for female, and the sign 9 for neuter.

My grateful acknowledgments are due to the Superintendents
of the Missouri Pacific, South Pacific, Iron Mountain, Hannibal and
St. Joseph, North Missouri, and Illinois Central Railroads for free
passes over their respective routes.

All which is respectfully submitted by

CHARLES V. RILEY,

State Entomologist.

St. L0U19, Mo., Dec. 2, 1869.

[COPVBIGHT BECDBBD TO THK AUTHOR.]

NOXIOUS INSECTS.

REPORT OF THE COMMirrEE ON ENTOMOLOGY.

KEAD BEFORE THE MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, AT ITS ELEVENTH

ANi^UAL MEETING, BY C. V. KILEY, CHAIRMAN OF

THE COMMITTEE.

In the preparation of my Annual Report, I have dwelt in detail on
many insects that have attracted attention during the year, either by
their injuries or benefits. In that Report numerous illustrations will
be used to appeal to the eye of the reader, and as it will be published
in the same volume with your transactions, I deem it superfluous at
the present time to dwell on the natural history of any one insect
Permit me, therefore, to cursorily refer to a few of the prominent en-
tomological events of the year, and afterwards to make a few gener-
alizations, which it is hoped will prove ot some little interest and

value.

The year 1869 may be set down as one in which our crops, as a
general thing, have suffered less than usual from insect depredations.
At least such has been the case in Missouri, and, judging from ex-
tensive correspondence, the same statement would hold true of most
of the northern and middle States of the Union.

True, the Army- worm {Leucania unipuncta, Haw.), and the Grain
Plant-louse ( Aphis aveim, Fabr.), appeared in many parts of the State
in sufficient force to do considerable damage, and these two insects
may always be expected in a tolerably wet year that was preceded
by a very dry one. But most insects, and especially those which
afflict you as horticulturists, have behaved exceedingly well, though
it is difficult to say whether we are to attribute this good behavior
on their part, to the increased knowledge of their habits which has

6 SECOIO) ANNUAL REPORT OF

been disseminated among those who have to deal with them, or to»
the more potent and unalterable workings of Nature.

The Chinch Bug, which in the dry summer of 1868, committed
such ravages upon our grain crops in many portions of our State, and
especially in the southwest, was scarcely heard of in 1869, after the
copious rains which characterized the past summer commenced to-
shower down. The Apple Worm, or Codling Moth has been alto-
gether less injurious than it was the year before, and in Adair, Bu-
chanan, Cooper, Callaway, Cass, Lewia and Polk counties, especially^
and probably all over the State, our orchards have been loaded with
fair fruit. This result was predicted by the writer, and may be at-
tributed principally to the scarcity of the insect, resulting from the
partial failure of the apple crop in 1868 ; but in some part to the im-
proved methods of fighting the foe. For, as in our civil strifes, we
introduce improvements in the machinery which is to slay the oppos-
ing armies, so in this progressive age, we believe in introducing ma-
chinery to battle with our liliputian insect hosts, whenever it is avail-
able. And the experience of the past year proves, that to destroy
this insect, old pieces of rumpled rag or carpet placed in the crotch'
of a tree, are to be preferred to the hay-bands wrapped around it, be-
cause it requires altogether less time to place the rags in their place
than to fasten the hay-band ; and the worms which spin up in them
can be killed by wholesale, either by scalding the rags or by pressing
them through the wringer of a washing machine.

Owing to the severe drouth of 1868, which was unfavorable to its-
successful transformations, that dreaded foe of the fruit-grower, the
Plum Curculio, was scarce in the early part of the season, and our
plum and peach trees set a fuller crop than they had done before for
years ; but the subsequent moist weather was favorable to the under-
ground evolutions of this little pest, and the new brood appeared in
great numbers about the end of June and beginning of July, when
they did much damage to stone-fruit and some damage to pip-fruit
by the gougings which they made for food. As stated in an essaj^
read before the State meeting of our Illinois horticultural friends, I
have discovered a little cannibal in the shape of a minute yellow
species of ThriJ)s^^\hich. destroys vast numbers of the " Little Turk's"'
eggs ; and let us hope, that by attacking the Curculio in its most vul-
nerable point, this TTirips may in the course of a few years reduce
the numbers of the Curculio, as the ladybirds have done with the
Colorado Potato-bug, or as the minute mite (^Acarus mali) is knowa
to have done with the common Oyster-shell Bark-louse of the Apple.
The eggs of the Apple-tree Plant-louse {Aphis mali) which last win-
ter so thickly covered the twigs of the apple trees in many orchards,,
hatched and produced a prodigious number of lice as soon as the
buds commenced to burst. In this immediate neighborhood they
were soon swept away, however, by their cannibal insect foes, and by
insectivorous birds, such as the warblers, etc»; but a physiological

THE STATB ENTOMOLOGIST.

fact connected with this insect has been developed this year by Dr.
E. S. Hull, the able Illinois State Horticulturist, which is of such im-
portance that I cannot pass it over even in this brief report. He has
ascertained that we suffer from the injurious punctures of their little
beaks long after the lice themselves have disappeared. In fact, he
has proved to his own satisfaction that the so-called" scab" in apples,
which prevailed to such an alarming extent last year, and rendered
thousands and thousands of bushels valueless for market purposes, is
actually caused by the punctures of these lice. I said that the doctor
had proved Uiis matter " to his own satisfaction," becauee I believe
that caution requires that we should not consider it as an established
fact until all objections to it can be dispelled. Personally I have
made no observations on this matter, but the facts in the case all add
weight to Dr. Hull's theory, if such it can be called. Hitherto the
cause of the "scab" on apples has been involved in mystery.
It was supposed to have a fungoid origin ; yet an examination will
show that the scabby appearance is not caused by any live fungus,
but by arrested growth of the cells which have become corky and
cicatrized. The importance of this discovery of Dr. Hull's, should it
once be firmly established, cannot well be estimated; for when we
have once ascertained the cause of a disease, it need scarcely exist
any longer. By destroying the lice we shall prevent scabby apples,
and experience teaches that they can be destroyed by a good syring-
ing of tobacco-water. We may expect, in this immediate vicinity,
an almost total exemption from « scab" next year, for the apple trees
are remarkably free from the minute black bead-like eggs of the
Plant-louse with which they were so thoroughly peppered a year ago.

The Tent Caterpillar ( Clisiocampa Americana) was more abund*
ant than usual in our orchards, and the Tent Caterpillar of the Forest
{Clisiocampa sylvatica) also appeared in great numbers both on our
orchard and forest trees. . .

A worm which I have called the Pickle Worm, {Phacellura mt%-
dalis. Cram.) and which had never been publicly noticed before, ap-
peared in immense numbers, and did great damage to our cucumbers
and melons by boring into the fruit, but as this insect, with others,
will be fully treated of in- my forthcoming Report, I will pass on to
a more general subject.

"The pebble in the streamlet scant,

May turn the course of many a river ;
The dew-drop on the infant plant.

May warp the giant oak forever."

In no department of science does the old proverb " prevention is
better than cure," apply with such force as in that of Economic Ento-
mology. In my studies and observations I have often been struck
with the fact that many of our very worst insect enemies have been
introduced from abroad, and that if this subject of Economic Ento-
mology had been better understood and appreciated fifty years ago,

8 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

and the proper measures had been taken to prevent the introduction
of these pests, we should at present be free from the curse of the
great majority of them. "We have, indeed, plenty of Native American
insects, which have become great pests to the cultivator of the soil, on
account of the artificial state of things which he induces. In a state
of Nature, a given species of plant, in its struggle for existence, is
scattered promiscuously over a certain extent of country, and the
particular insect or insects which feed upon that plant, have to search
for it over a comparatively extensive surface, and their multiplica-
tion is consequently restricted. But the pursuit of horticulture, for
instance — which may be succinctly defined as the assembling in tracts
of greater or less extent, of one species of plant at the expense and
exclusion of others — causes the particular insects which feed upon
that plant, to multiply unduly, and we have to use that same intelli-
gence in subduing these insects, which we employ in producing the
artificial results which caused their increase. In the normal state of
things insects never increase unduly ; but, on the contrary, always
act as Nature's most faithful servants, and accomplish a most impor-
tant work in her economy. Yet, for reasons explained above, they
naturally become our enemies, and we should suffer from the depre-
dations of our indigenous species, even though no foreign ones had
been imported. But we have altogether more than our share of these
insect depredators, and so truly is this the case, that insects
which attract universal attention, and are considered as very serious
evils in Europe, would not be deemed worthy of notice in this coun-
try. There, if they lose one-fifth of a given crop, the whole commu-
nity becomes alarmed ; but here the cultivator sometimes considers
himself fortunate if he secures the half of his crop from insect rava-
ges, and each State loses annually from fifty to sixty million dol-
lars from this cause alone, though but four States have as yet made
any attempt to prevent this serious loss. In order to bring this fact
home to you, and to show why we suffer more than do our foreign
brethren, I will read a paper, which I have prepared for the Ameri-
can Entomologist^ on

IMPORTED INSECTS AND NATIVE AMERICAN INSECTS.

If we examine into the history, as detailed in a recent number of our
Magazine, (pp. 15-22) of the imported Currant Worm and the Native
Currant Worm, we shall find a very curious state of things. These
two insects both produce Sawflies, which are so closely allied to each
other, that although they are referred to distinct genera by Entomol-
ogists, it may be doubted whether the genus {Pristiphora) under
which the native species is classified be not a mere subgenus of that
under which the imported species is classified. Reasonings joWcri,
therefore, we should expect to find a very great similarity in the de-
structive powers of these two worms, especially as each of them in-
fests the leaves l^pth of the Red Currant and of the Gooseberry. But

THE STATE EKTOMOLOGIST. 9

what are the actual facts ? On the one hand we see a Native Ameri-
can species— which must have existed here Irom time immemorial,
feeding on our wild Gooseberries and perhaps on our wild lied Cur-
rant, and which yet has troubled our tame Gooseberries and tame
Red Currants so very slightly, that it cannot be proved with abso-
lute certainty to have ever done so at all, except in Rock Island
county, Ills., and in Scott county, Iowa.*

On the other hand we see a species, only introduced into this
country, from Europe, some twelve years ago, which has already
almost put a stop to the cultivation of the Gooseberry and
Red Currant throughout a large part of the State of New
York, the northern borders of Pennsylvania, and the whole of
Canada West, and is slowly but surely extending itself in all
directions from the point where it was originally imported. What
can be the reason of such a wide difference in the noxious powers of
two such closely allied insects, feeding on exactly the same plants,
but one of them indigenous to America and the other imported into
America from Europe ? Nor is this the only case of the kind. We
can point out at least three other such cases. The Imported Onion-
fly (y4«if7i^?n?/? a (^^'jjarwm), is a terrible pest to the onion grower in
the East, though it has not yet made its way out West. On the other
hand, the JSative American Onion-fly {Ortalis arcuata^ Walker),
which is a closely allied species and has almost exactly the same
habits, has only been heard of in one or two circumscribed localities
in the West, and even there does comparatively but little damage.
Again, the Imported Oyster-shell Bark-louse {Aspidiotus conchifor-
mis) is a far worse foe to the Apple and certain other fruit trees than
our indigenous Harris's Bark louse, {Asp. Harrisii)^ though each of
them infests the same species. Finally, the imported Meal-worm
beetle {Tenehrio molitor) swarms throughout the whole United
States, and is a great pest ; while the Native American species ( Tene-
hrio obscurus), which has almost exactly the same habits, belongs to
the same genus, and is of very nearly the same size, shape and color,
is comparatively quite rare among us, and is scarcely known to our
millers and flour-dealers.

On a careful and close examination, it will be found that almost
all our worst insect foes have been imported among us from the

*In Volume 15 of the Prairie Farmer, page 504, a correspondent from Jefferson county,
Iowa, states that as early as June nth, in the year 1865, « a small green worm had taken th»
lion's share of his currants and gooseberries." This may possibly refer to the Native Currant
Worm, which feeds upon gooseberry and currant leaves, but it more probably means the Goose-
berry Fruit-worm (Pcmpelia grosaulorioe, Packard,) which feeds upon the gooseberrif s and curranU
themselves, and which may be found figured and described in our First Missouri Report, page 140,
What a vast fund of information is scientifically unavailable, simply because correspondents art
80 stingy with their pen, ink and paper. Again the editor of the Farmers' Union, published at Min-
neapolis, Minn., says in a recent number of that paper, that several gardens in that vicinity have been
for the past few years infested with the Currant worm, and that last year they visited hi? own gar-
den for the second time, having, the previous year, made sad havoc with the foliage before they
were discovered. Now, ns there are three perfectly distict worms which attack the leaves of cur-
rant bushes, and as the editor contents himself with referring to "The Currant Worm," the infor-
mation he imparts is perfectly valueless to the Entomologist, and the practical man may be led
aatrny by the remedies suggested.

10 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

other side of the Atlantic. The Hessian Fly* was imported almost
ninety years ago ; the Wheat Midge about half as long ago ; the Bee
Moth at the beginning of the present century; the Codling Moth, the
Cabbage Tinea, the Borer of the Red Currant, the Oyster-shell Bark-
louse, the Grain Plant-louse, the Cabbage Plant-louse, the Currant
Plant-louse, the Apple-tree Plant-louse, the Pear-tree Flea-louse, the
Cheese-maggot, the common Meal-worm, the Grain Weevil, the House
Fly, the Leaf-beetle of the Elm, the Cockroach, the Croton Bug, and
the different Carpet, Clothes and Fur Moths, at periods which cannot
be definitely fixed. Even within the last few years the Asparagus-
beetle has become naturalized in New York and New Jersey, whence
it will no doubt spread gradually westward through the whole United
States, while the Rape Butterfly was introduced about a dozen
years ago, and is rapidly spreading over some of the Eastern States.
And only a year ago the larva of a certain Owlet-moth {Hypogymna
dispa?'), which is a great pest in Europe, both to fruit-trees and
forest-trees, was accidentally introduced by a Massachusetts entomo-
logist into New England, where it is spreading with great rapidity.
It is just the same thing with Plants as with Insects. We have looked
carefully through Gray's Manual of Botany, and we find that — ex-
cluding from consideration all cryptogams, and all doubtful cases,
and all cases where the same plant is supposed to be indigenous on
both sides of the Atlantic — no less than two hundred and thirty-
three distinct species of plants have been imported among us from
the Old World, all of which have now run wild here, and many of
which are the worst and most pernicious weeds that we have to con-
tend against. In the United States Agricultural Report for 1865
(pp. 510-519) will be found a list of ninety-nine of the principal
"Weeds of American Agriculture," by the late Dr. Wm. Darlington.
Of this whole number no less than forty-three, or nearly one-half, are
species that have been introduced among us from the Old World.
Among these we may enumerate here, as the best known and the
most pernicious. Butter-cups (two species), Shepherd's Purse, St.
John's Wort, Cow-cockle, May- weed or Dog-fennel, Ox-eye Daisy,
Common Thistle, Canada Thistle, Burdock, Plantain, Mullein, Toad-
flax, Bind-weed, Jamestown (Jimson) weed. Lamb's Quarter, Smart-
weed, Field Garlic, Fox-tail Grass and the notorious Cheat or Chess.
And to these we may add the common Purslane, which, through some
strange oversight, has been omitted in Dr. Darlington's catalogue.

It will be supposed, perhaps, since there are about as many voy-
ages made from America to Europe as from Europe to America, that
we have fully reciprocated to our transatlantic brethren the favors

*Por the sake of the scientific reader, we subjoin here, in their regular order, the scientific
names of the Insects catalogued by their English names in the text of this paragraph : Cecido-
myia destructor, Diploiis tritici, Galleria cereana, Carpocapsa pomonella, Plutella cruciferarum,
Mgeria tipuliformis, Aspidiotut conchiformis, Aphis avence, A. brasaiccB, A. ribig, A. mali, Psylla
pyri, Piophila casei, Tenebrio molilor, Sitophilus granarius, Musca domettica, Galeruca calmarien-
$is, Blatta orientalis, Ectobia germanica, Tinea tapetzella, vestianella, pellionella, 4'C.; Crioceris
nparagi, Pieris rapee and Hypogymna dispar.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOaiST. 11

which they have conferred upon us, in the way of Noxious Insect&
and Noxious Weeds. It is no such thing. There are but very few
American insects that have become naturalized in Europe, and even
these do not appear for the most part to do any serious amount of
damage there. For example, on one or two occasions single speci-
mens of our Army-worm Moth {Leucania uiiipuncta) have been cap-
tured in England ; but the insect has never spread and become ruin-
ously common there, as it continually, in particular seasons, does in
America. Our destructive Pea-bug {BrucMis pisi) has also found its
way to Europe ; but although it is met with in England, and according to
Curtis has become naturalized in the warmer departments of France,
Kirby and Spence expressly state that it does not occur in England
"to any very injurious extent," and Curtis seems to doubt the fact of
its being naturalized in England at all.* Again, the only species of
White Ant that exists within the limits of the United States, ( Termes
frontalis), has been known for along time to be a guest at the Plant-
houses of Schunbrunn, in Germany; but is not recorded to have
ever as yet spread into the surrounding country. As to our American
Meal-worm {Tenehrio ohscurus\ Curtis states that it has been intro-
duced into England along with American flour, and that it is some-
times abundant in London and the provinces ;t but Kirby and Spence
say not one word about it, and it seems to be confined to the English
sea-ports and the places where American flour is stored, without
spreading into the adjacent districts.

A very minute yellow ant, however, {Myrmica molesta), which is
often very troublesome with us in houses, has, according to Frederick
Smith, "become generally distributed and naturalized" in houses in
England ; and ELirby and Spence state more specifically, that "it has
become a great pest in many houses in Brighton, London and Liver-
pool, in some cases to so great an extent as to cause the occupants to
leave them.":|: As to our Chinch Bug, our Curculio, our Plum Gouger^
our two principal Apple-tree Borers, our Canker-worm, our Apple-
tree Tent-caterpillar, our Fall Web-worm, our Peach-tree Borer, and
our other indigenous pests among the great Army of Bad Bugs,
nobody ever yet found a single one of them alive and kicking on the
other side of the Atlantic. And with regard to Plants, the only two
American plants that we know to have become so firmly established
in Europe as to be a nuisance there, are an American aquatic plant,
the common Water-weed {Anacharis canadensis)^ which has choked
up many of the canals in England, and our common Horse-weed, or
Mare's tail as itis called in the West, (^n^eron c^xwac^^Tise), which has
apread from America nearly over the whole world.

Since then, it can be demonstrated by hard, dry facts, that Amer-
ican plants and insects do not become naturalized in the Old World

♦Kirby & Spence Introd. Letter 6th; Curtis Farm insects, p. 363.
■fFarm insects, p 334.

jsmith in Stainton's Entom. Annual 1862, p. 70, and 1S63 pp. 59-62 ; Kirby & Spence Introd,,
Letter 8th.

12 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

with anything like the facility with which the plants and insects of
the Old World are every day being naturalized in America, there
must be some cause or other for this singular state of things. What
it that cause? It is, as we believe, a simple fact which is pretty geti-
©rally recognized now as true by modern naturalists, namely, that
the plants and animals of America belong, as a general rule, to an-
old-fashioned creation, not so highly improved and developed as the
more modernized creation which exists in Europe. In other words,
although this is popularly known as the New World, it is in reality a
much older world than that which we are accustomed to call the Old
World. Consequently, our plants and animals can no more stand
their ground against European competitors imported from abroad,
tlian the Red Indian has been able to stand his ground against the
White Caucasian Race. On the other hand, if by chance an Ameri-
cian plant or an American animal finds its way into Europe, it can, as
a general rule, no more stand its ground there against its European
competitors, than a colony of Red Indians could stand their ground
in Englind, even if you gave them a whole county of land and au
ample supply of stock, tools, and provisions to begin with. For
throughout Animated Nature, as has been conclusively shown by
Charles Darwin, there is a continual struggle for existence, the
stronger and more favorably organized species overpowering and
starving out from time to time their less vigorous and less favorably
organized competitors. Hence, it is as hopeless a task for a poor
puny, old-fashioned American bug to contend against a strong
energetic, highly-developed, European bug, as it would be for a fleet
of old-fashioned wooden ships to fight against a fleet of our modern
iron-clads.

Let not "Young America," however, be altogether discouraged
and disgusted at hearing, that our Animal and Vegetable Creation is
more old-fashioned than that of what is commonly known as the Old
World. The oldest geological formations, in which the remains of
Mammals occur, contain the remains of such mammals exclusively
(Jd^arsujpialea) as bring forth their young only partially developed,
and carry those young about with them in a pouch, till the day of
complete development and physical "second birth" arrives. In Amer-
ica we have a single genus — the Opossums — that belongs to this ante-
diluvian type. In the three ancient continents they have absolutely
none at all. But if in this respect America is more old-fashioned than
Europe, Australia is still more old-fashioned than America; for there
almost all their mammals possess this remarkable peculiarity ; so
that if the American creation is somewhat old-fogyish, that ot Aus-
tralia is the very concentrated essence of old-fogyism itself. Conse-
quently, if Europe crows over us as altogether "behind the times,"
*^Young America" can take its revenge by crowing over Australia, as
the land of the Kangaroo and the Wombat and other such exploded
absurdities of the Mesozoic epoch.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. K

The theory advanced in the above paper, may meet with soin©
objectors, although I confidently believe in the inference there stated
of the relative advancement and improvement of the flora and fauna
of the two continents. But there is another reason why the insect*
which are imported into this country multiply at a prodigious rut«,
and soon acquire herculean power of doing harm, though tiiey may
never have stepped beyond the limits of propriety in their own native
home— a reason too palpable and evident lo savorof the theoretical.
It is, that whenever an injurious insect is introduced in our midst, as
a general rule the particular parasite or parasites which kept it in
check abroad, are not introduced with it. In consequence, the for-
eigners, unaccompanied by the usual gens cTarmes, throw off all re-
straint and play the deuce with our crops; just as the rats and mio«
will take possession of, and overrun a house, if not restrained by hu-
man or by feline agencies.

Sometimes, as in the case of the Imported Currant-worm, the
noxiou!: insects introduced from the old world are attacked by native
American parasites, but as I believe the parasites of European na-
tivity to be, as a rule, more energetic and vigorous than our indige-
nous ones, it would be advisable even in such a case, to import in
addition such species as prey upon it in Europe. But in the case of
the Wheat Midge which has actually flourished among us for almost
half a century without a single parasite of any kind whatever infest-
ing it from one end of the country to the other, it is sheer folly and
cupable shiftlessness not to import among us from the other side of
the Atlantic some one or all of the three difi"erent Chalcis flies which
are known to check it throughout all Europe. And so with other
insects which are known to be unaccompanied with the parasites
which attack them abroad. Years and years ago Dr. Fitch demon-
strated in print the policy of such a step; but bugs and bug-hunters
are so very generally the subject of festive ridicule among the high
and low vulgar, that hitherto the recommendation of the State Ento-
mologist of New York has met with no practical response.

Now no one will fail to understand the force of the old proverb
already quoted, after listening to these facts. Let us profit by the
experience of the past, and while battling with those foes which are
already in our midst, let us keep a vratchful eye, and be on our guard
ready to crush any new plague that may threaten us, before it gets
beyond control. Yes, but say you, how is this to be accomplished!
Can it be done by the government ? Yes, in some cases ; as for in-
stance in the importation of parasites, government aid should be so-
licited. If, in 1860, when the Asparagus Beetle ( Crioceris asparagi,
Linn.) was first introduced on to Long Island, the Legislature ol the
State of New York had taken proper action in the matter, the insect
might have been stamped out of the island at the trivial expense of
a few hundred dollars, instead of being allowed to multiply, as it did,
to such an extent as to occasion a dead loss of some fifty thousand

14 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

dollars in a single county, and of spreading from the island into the
adjoining country. Quite recently a weevil {Bruohus granarius)
which does immense damage to peas and beans and some other
plants in Europe, was introduced into New York in some pods which
a certain gentleman presented to the New York Farmers' Club, and
if the proper steps are at once taken, it may yet be prevented from
spreading through the country.

In Europe vast sums have been expended in founding professor-
ships of Economic Entomology in the various agricultural colleges,
and in conducting elaborate experiments on the best means of check-
ing and controlling these tiny foes. But the entire sum expended by
Congress or by our various State Legislatures for this purpose, from
the Declaration of Independence to the year of our Lord 1869, can-
not exceed ninety or one hundred thousand dollars, or about one
thousand dollars a year. Yet the annual damage done by insects
within the limits of the United States cannot be less than three hun-
dred million dollars. Indeed, it is but quite recently that the people,
from necessity, have awakened to the importance of the subject.
We now have an Entomologist connected with the Department of
Agriculture at Washington, and, with proper care, he can be of in-
estimable service to the country, in preventing the introduction of
noxious insects. It is not noxious weeds alone, such as the Canada
thistle, which are sent broadcast over the land by the distribution of
uninspected seeds ; but noxious insects are very frequently distri-
buted in the same way. We have the highest authority. Dr. J. L.
LeConte, of Philadelphia, for the statement, that before the Entomol-
ogist received his appointment, a noxious beetle, RTi izopertTia pusilla^
which has now become naturalized here, was originally introduced
into this country in wheat from the Patent Office.

Therefore, there can be no doubt that much may be done at
headquarters. That government aid cannot be of any avail in the
great majority of instances, however, is equally apparent to those
who have studied this question ; and we must trust to a more
thorough dissemination of such information as will enable each in-
dividual to protect himself. Much is being done in this direction by
means of State Reports, through the American Entomologist^ and
through our various agricultural and horticultural journals ; but much
yet remains to be done. We must bear in mind that by enlightening
our neighbors, we are helping ourselves, and, as horticulturists, we
should urge that more attention be paid in our colleges, and es-
pecially in those of an Industrial nature, to the study of the Natural
Sciences.

In my First Report, I have shown how the Oyster-shell Bark-
louse, though perfectly able to live in the northern part of this State,
is yet unknown there ; and I tremble, lest some one in carelessness or
ignorance should, introduce this dreaded plague of the apple grower
into that section, from some Eastern or Northern nursery. Every

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 15

tree received from a distance should be examined from " top to
stern," as the sailors say, before it is planted, and all insects, in what-
ever state they may be, destroyed. There can be do doubt that many
of our worst insect foes may be guarded against by these precautions.
The Canker-worm, the different Tussock-moths or Vaporer-moths, the
Bark-lice of the Apple and of the Pine, and all other scale insects
iCoccidce), the Apple-tree Root-louse, etc., are continually being
transported from one place to another, either in earth, on scions, or
on the roots, branches, and leaves of young trees ; and they are all
possessed of such limited powers of locomotion, that unless trans-
ported in some such manner, they would scarcely spread a dozen
miles in a century.

In the Pacific States, fruit-growing is a most profitable business,
because they are yet free from many of the fruit insects which so in-
crease our labors here. In the language of our late lamented Walsh,
"although in California the Blest, the Chinese immigrants have al-
ready erected their joss houses, where they can worship Buddha with-
out fear of interruption, yet no ' Little Turk ' has imprinted the cres-
cent symbol of Mahometanism upon the the Oalifornian plums and
the Californian peaches." But how long the Californians will retain
this immunity, now that they have such direct communication with
infested States, will depend very much on how soon they are warned
of their danger. I suggest to our Pacific friends that they had better
" take the bull by the horns," and endeavor to retain the vantage
ground they now enjoy. I also sincerely hope that the day will soon
come when there shall be a suflScient knowledge of this subject
throughout the land, to enable the nation to guard against foreign in-
sect plagues ; the State against those of other States, and the indi-
vidual against those of his neighbors.

THE CHINCH BUG— Micropus leucopterus. Say.

(Heteroptera, Lygseidss.)

[Fig. 1.] ^ Few persons will need to be introduced to this

unsavory little scamp, but, lest perchance, an occa-
sional reader may not yet have a clear and correct
idea of the meaning of the word Chinch Bug, I repre-
sent herewith (Fig. 1) a magnified view of the gen-
tleman. The hair-line at the bottom shows the nat-
V\ ural size of the little imp, and his colors are coal-
^ black and snow-white. He belongs to the order of
' 1 Half-winged Bugs (Heteroptera), the same order to
r which the well known Bed Bug belongs, and he ex-
^ I hales the same loathsome smell as does that bed-pest

of the human race. He subsists by sucking, with his sharp-pointed

i6 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

beak, the juices of our cereals, thereby causing them to shrink and
wither, and not by gnawing or biting their substance, as many per-
sons suppose. Insignificant as is the minute puncture of a single in-
dividual, yet these insects often appear in such countless numbers as
to bleed to death whole fields of grain by their myriad beaks.

If the Western Fruit-grower is asked, what particular insect is the
most difficult for him to combat, and the most destructive to his crops,
he will probably answer " The Curculio." If the same question is put
to the Western Grain-grower, he will infallibly reply "The Chinch
Bug." And he will be in the right. The Wheat-midge — popularly
known in the West as the "Weevil" or the "Red Weevil" — does a
considerable amount of damage, in particular years and in particular
localities, by its little legless orange-colored lava sucking away the
sap from the growing kernel of wheat. The Hessian Fly — often called
simply "the Fly " — injures the wheat by the maggot that produces it
living between the stem and thesheathof the blade, and intercepting
the sap before that sap can reach the ear. The Grain Plant-louse, easily
distinguished from the above two little pests by its long sprawling
legs, has in certain years somewhat injured the small grain in tlie West
by accumulating, first on the growing stem and afterwards on the ear,
and abstracting the sap with its long pointed beak. There are also,
in all probability, several minute Two-winged Flies, which do more
or less injury to the growing grain by their larvae breeding in the
stem, the natural history of one of which, the American .Meromyza,
was given for the first time in my First Report (pp. 159-61). Tlie larva
of an unknown moth, which burrows upwards and downwards in the
stem of oats, and probably of wheat also, causing the ear to become
prematurely white and the kernel to be entirely blasted, also in some
years does considerable damage. The White Grub, the Wire- worm,
and certaiti Cut- worms take a certain per centage of the young grain,
almost as soon as it peeps out of the ground. But undoubtedly the
meanest bug, out of the whole crowd of the multifarious insect-foes of
the grain-growing farmer, is the Chinch Bug. He is not satisfied with
taking a field here and a field there, and sparing the remainder. But
when his time comes — and in mercy to the Western Farmer we are
not cursed every year with this little savage — he sweeps the whole
country with the besom of destruction. The Wheat-midge, the Hes-
sian Fly, and the Grain Plant-louse, destructive as they are to small
grain, yet spare our corn. If they take the good white wheaten bread
out of our mouths, they yet leave us an ample supply of corn-dodgers.
But the Chinch Bug makes a clean sweep, whenever he gets the up-
per hand of us. He " goes the entire hog." Nothing in the way of
grain comes amiss to him. He is not dainty, not he ! Whenever he
gets a chance to spread himself, he first of all at one fell swoop de-
stroys the small grain, and then fastens his liquorish beak upon the
corn and takes that also.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. iT

PAST HISTORY OP THE CHINCH BUG.

The first record we have of the prevalence of the Chinch Bug
"was in the old Revolutionary times in North Carolina, where it was
conlounded with the Hessian Fly, an insect just then imported from
Europe into the United States. Ever since those times it has been
an epidemic pest, in particular years, in North and South Carolina
and in Virginia. The great American entomologist, Thomas Say, in
1831, when he had been residing in Indiana for six years, was the
first to name and describe it scientifically. He states that he '' took a
single specimen on the Eastern shore of Virginia;" whence we may
reasonably infer that it was then either unknown or very rare in Indi-
ana, and probably also in the other Western States. In Missouri it
did considerable damage as early as 1854, for Jas. Pleasant of Fox
Greek, St. Louis county, informed me that he had known it since that
year, and that he had been previously acquainted with it in Virginia.
Wm. M. Beal of Edina, Knox county, writes that it has existed and
done more or less damage there since 1856, though it has scarcely
been heard of since 1865. Mr. A. H. Roberts of Gray's Summit,
Franklin county, informs me that it has not been in that neighbor-
hood more than eight or ten years, and Mr. C. S. Jeffries, of Boleg'
post office in the same county, never heard of it till about fifteen
years ago, though he has lived there for the last fifty years.

If proper records existed, we should doubtless find that it at-
tracted attention in Missouri at a much earlier da}'^, for in Illinois it was
noticed as long back as 1840, in Hancock county, where it was
absurdly supposed to have been introduced by the Mormons of Nau-
voo, and was called the "Mormon louse"

In 1868, owing to the great drouth, this insect, as I have stated
elsewhere, was quite injurious in many sections of our own State,
and especially in the southwest. In the extreme northern portion
they began to attract attention about the first of May, but the wet
weather that occurred about that time caused them to disappear. In
the more central counties the earliest sown wheat suffered but little
from their depredations, though that which was sown later, was re-
duced about one-third. The conditions being favorable, they rap-
idly increased during the Summer, and in the fall, the second brood
was so numerous that great fears were entertained for the safety of
the crops of 1809. Let us be thankful, however, that the excessive
rains of last spring and summer, though deplored and regretted by
many, had the effect to so thoroughly drown out these little pests, as
to make them comparatively harmless; for the only place in which I
heard of their doing serious harm was at Tinney's Grove in Ray
county. Seeming misfortune is often a blessing in disguise, and
though the corn crop was lessened by the heavy rains, the wheat
crop in all probability would have suffered far worse, had the seasoto
2 — E R

18 SECOND ANJSUAL REPORT OF

been dry and favorable to the increase of this, the greatest insect foe
of the wheat-grower.

We may safely conclude that the Chinch Bug has always existed
in Missouri, in small numbers; but that it did not multiply to au in-
jurious extent until the grains began to be cultivated on an exten-
sive scale. At all events, we know from the evidence of Dr. Harris
and Dr. Fitch, that it existed long ago in exceedingly small numbers
in New York, and even in Massachusetts. What the causes may
have been, that thinned out the numbers of this insect in former
times in the West, is another question. In former times, the great
bulk of these bugs were probably destroyed every winter by th©
prairie fires, and, as cultivation has extended in consequence of the
country being gradually settled up, and less and less prairie has been
annually burnt over, the number that has survived through the win-
ter to start the next year's broods has annually become greater. If
these views be correct, we may expect them, unless more pains be
taken to counterwork and destroy them, to become, on the average
of years, still more abundant than they now are, whenever prairie
fires shall have become an obsolete institution ; until at last West-
•ei-n farmers will be compelled, as those of North Carolina have
already several times been compelled, to quit growing wheat alto-
gether for a term of years.

It may be very reasonably asked, why the Chinch Bug does not
increase and multiply in Massachusetts and New York, seeing that it
•existed there long ago, and that there are, of course, no prairie fires
in those States to keep it in check. The answer is, that the Chinch
Bug is a Southern, not a Northern species; and that hundreds of
Southern species of insects, which on "the Atlantic seaboard only
occur in southerly latitudes, are found in profusion in quite a high
latitude in the Valley of the Mississippi. The same law, as has been
observed by Professor Baird, holds good both with Birds and with
Fishes.*

NATURAL HISTORY OP THE CniNCH BUG.

In the four great and extensive Orders of Insects, namely, tlio
Beetles {Coleoptera), the Clear- winged Flies {Ilymenoptera), the
Scaly- winged Flies {Lepidoptera\ and the Two- winged Flies {Dij>-
tera), and in one of the four small Orders in its restricted sense,
namely, the Net-winged Flies {Neuroptera), the insect usually lies
still throughout the pupa state, and is always so far from being able
^ to eat or to evacuate, that both mouth and anus are closed up by
membrane. In the remaining three small Orders, on the contrary,
namely, that of the Straight-winged Flies in its most extensive sense
{Oi'thoptGra including Fseudo-neuroptera), the Half- winged Bugs
{Ileteropteva) and the Whole-winged Bugs {Ilomoptera), the pupa is
just as active and just as ravenous as either the larva or the perfect

* Silliman'a Journal, xli, p. 8T.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 19

insect, and the little creature never quits eating as long as the warm
weather lasts, except for a day or so while it is accomplishing each
of its successive three, four or five moults. As the Cliinch Bug be-
longs to the Half-winged Bugs, it therefore continues to take food,
with a few short intermissions, from the day when it hatches out
from the egg to the day of its unlamented death.

Most insects — irrespective of the Order to which they belong

require 12 months to go through the complete circle of their changes
from the day that the egg is laid to the day when the perfect insect
perishes of old age and decrepitude. A few require 3 years, as for
example the Eound-headed Apple-iree Borer (Saperda hiviitata, Say)
and the White Grub which produces the May-beetle (Zachnosterna
qncrclna, Enoch.) One species, the Thirteen-year Locust {Cicada
tredecim, Riley), actually requires 13 years to pass from the egg to
the winged state; and another, the Seventeen-year Locn^t { Cicada
septemdecim, Linn.) the still longer period of 17 years. On the other
hand there are not a few that pass through all their three states in a
few months, or even in a few weeks ; so that in one and the same
year there may be 2, 3 or even 4 or 5 broods, one generated by the
other and one succeeding another. For example, the Hessian Fly
iC('eldom.yia destructor^ Say), the common Slug- worm of the Pear
{Selandria cerasi. Peck), the Slug-worm of the Rose {Selandria rosea
Harris), the Apple-worm and a few others, produce exactly two gen-
erations in one year, and hence may be termed "two-brooded."
Again, the Colorado Potato-beetle in Central Missouri is three-brooded
and not improbably in more southerly regions is four-brooded. Lastly'
the common House-fly, the Cheese-fly, the various species of Blow'
flies and Meat-flies, and the multifarious species of Plant-lice (A2j/ns)
produce an indefinite number of successive broods in a single year
sometimes amounting in the case of the last-named genus, as has
been proved by actual experiment, to as many as nine.

As long ago as March, 1866, 1 published the fact that the Chinch
Bug is two-brooded in North Hlinois (Practical Entomologist, I, p.
4^), and I find that it is likewise two-brooded in this State, and most
probably in all the Middle States. Yet it is quite agreeable to anal-
ogy that in the more Southern States, it may be three-brooded. For
instance, the large Polyphemus Moth is single-brooded in the North-
ern and Middle States, and yet, two broods are sometimes produced in
this State, while in the South it is habitually two-brooded. Again, the
moth known as the Poplar Spinner, {Clostera Arnericana, Harris), is
stated by Dr. Harris and Dr. Fitch to be only single-brooded in Mass-
achusetts and New York, the insect spinning up in September or Oc-
tober, passing the winter in the pupa state, and coming out in the
winged form in the following June. But Dr. Harris— no doubt on the
authority of Abbott— states that "in Georgia this insect breeds twice
a year ;"* and I have proved that it does so breed in Missouri, having

*Injurioui Insectt, p. 434.

20 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

now (Dec. '69) a number of cocoons which wel'e formed by a second
brood of larvae. It is quite reasonable, therefore, to infer that the
Chinch Bug may produce even more than two broods in the more
Southern States.

It is these two peculiarities in the habits of the Chinch Bug^
namely, first, its continuing to take food from the day of its birth to
the day of its death, and secondly, its being either two-brooded or
many-brooded, that renders it so destructive and so diflScult to com-
bat. Such as survive the autumn, when the plants on the sap of
which they feed are mostly dried up so as to afford them little or no
nourishment, pass the winter in the usual torpid state, and always in
the perfect or winged form, under dead leaves, under sticks of wood,
under flat stones, in moss, in bunches of old dead grass or weeds or
straw, and often in corn-stalks and corn-shucks. In the fall and win-
ter of 1868, 1 repeatedly received corn-stalks that were crowded with
them, and it was difficult to find a stalk in any field that did not re-
veal some of them, upon stripping off the leaves. I have even found
them wintering in the gall made by the Solidago Gall-moth {GelecMa
gallcesolidaginis), described in the First Report.

In the winter all kinds of insect-devouring animals, such as birds,
shrew-mice, etc., are hard put to it for food, and have to search every
hole and corner for their appropriate prey. But no matter how
closely they may thin out the Chinch Bugs, or how generally these
insects may have been starved out by the autumnal droughts, there
will always be a few left for seed next year. Suppose that there are
only 2,000 Chinch Bugs remaining in the spring in a certain field, and
that each female of the 2,000, as vegetation starts, raises a family of
only 200, which is a low calculation. Then— allowing the sexes to be
equal in number, whereas in reality the females are always far more
numerous than the males — the first or spring brood will consist of
200,000, of which number 100.000 will be females. Here, if the species
were single-brooded, the process would stop for the current year;
and 200,000 Chinch Bugs in one field would be thought nothing of by
the Western farmer. But the species is not single-brooded and the
process does not stop here. Each successive brood increases in num-
bers in Geometrical Progression, unless there be something to check
their increase ; until the second brood amounts to twenty millions,
and the third brood to two thousand millions. We may form some
idea of the meaning of two thousand millions of Chinch Bugs, when
it is stated that that number of them, placed in a straight line head
and tail together, would just about reach from the surface of the earth
to its central point — a distance of four thousand miles.

According to the reasoning of Dr. Henry Shimer, of Mr. Carroll,
Illinois, who published an interesting paper on this insect in the pro-
ceedings of the Academy of Natural Science of Philadelphia for May,
1867, the Chinch Bug takes wing only at its love seasons, which occur
in his locality in May and in August. His views on this subject are

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 21

well set forth in the following paragraph taken from the paper above
alluded to:

Mav 10, 1S65, was a delightful, mild, bright, sunny, summer-like
day : and 1 again, for the last time, observed the same highly inter-
esting phenomena, which I have noticed above as occurring aiter the
harvestof 1864 — the atmosphere swarming with Chinch Bugs on the
wing. This is their spring; that was their autumnal nuptial season —
their season of love. These remark able lit tie creatures preler to conduct
their courtships under the searching gaze of the noonday sun, instead
of at the midnight hour. They were so numerous, alighting on the
pavements in the village, that scarcely a step could be taken without
€ru5hing many of them under foot. In a few days, they had all disap-
peared; their breeding grounds were chosen, where they could be found
in great numbers, often in pairs. I first noticed this disposition of the
Chinch Buir to take wing under the promptings of the love passion,
about six years ago, in their autumnal love season. At no other time
save their love season, twice a year, have I ever seen one Chinch Bug
flying. It is quite remarkable that the winged imago, under no other
circumstarces will even attempt to use its ample wings. No threat-
ening danger, however imminent, whether ot being driven over by
grain reapers, wagons, or of being trodden underfoot, etc., will prompt
ft to use its wings" to escape, I have tried all imaginable ways to in-
duce them to fly, as by threshing among them with bundles of rods or
grass, hy gathering them up and letting them fall from a height, etc.,
but they invariably refuse entirely to attempt to use their wings in
escaping from danger. I'he love emotion alone makes them conscious
that they are in possession of wings.^

r agree entirely with Dr. Shimer as to the facts mentioned in the
paragraph, but not as to the conclusions which he deduces. There
are many objections to his theory, some of which may be found in the
American ErUomologisU (Vol. I, pp. 172-3).

It is a notorious fact that Chinch Bugs do not all mature at once,
and it they took wing only when making their courtships, some of
them would be flying during a period of several weeks ; and as will
fee shown presently, there exists a dimorphous short- winged form of
the Chinch Bug, which cannot possibly make any such serial love
trips. It seems more agreeable to analogy that they take wing only
when they have become so unduly numerous that they are in-
■stiMCtively aware that they must either emigrate or starve. Be this
'liowever as it may, the fact of their being as a general rule unwilling
to use their wings is well known to every practical farmer.

It has long been known that the Chinch Bug deposits its eggs un-
derground and upon the roots of the plants which it infests, and that
the young larvae remain underground for some considerable time after
they hatch out, sucking the sap from the roots. If, in the spring of
the year, you pull up a wheat plant in a field badly infested by this
insect, you will find hundreds of the eggs attached to the roots; and
at a somewhat later period the young larvae may be found clustering
upon the roots and looking like so many moving little red atoms.
The egg is so small as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye, of an
oval shape, about four times as long as wide, of a pale amber white

23 SECONi) ANNUAL REPORT OP

color when first laid, but subsequently assuming a reddish color from
the young larva showing through the transparent shell.* As the
mother Chinch Bug has to work her way underground in the spring of
the year, in order to get at the roots upon which she proposes to lay
her eggs, it becomes evident at once, that the looser the soil is at this
time of the year the greater the facilities which are offered for the
operation. Hence the great advantage of ploughing land for spring
grain in the preceding autumn, or, if ploughed in the spring, rolling
it repeatedly with a heavy roller after seeding. And hence the re-
mark frequently made by farmers, that wheat harrowed in upon old
corn-ground, without any ploughing at all, is far less infested by
Chinch Bug than wheat put in upon land that has been ploughed.*
There is another fact which has been repeatedly noticed by practical
men. This insect cannot live and thrive and multiply in land that is
sopping with water; and it generally commences its operations in
early spring upf)n those particular parts of every field where the soil
is the loosest and the driest.

The female occupies about three weeks in depositing her eggs,
and, according to Dr. Shimer's estimate, she deposits about 500. The
egg requires about two weeks to hatch, and the bug becomes lull
grown and acquires its wings in from 40 to 50 days after hatching.
[Fig. 2.]^ There are, as is well known to Entomologists,

many genera of the Half-winged Bugs, which in
Europe occur in two distinct or "dimorphous" forms,
with no intermediate grades between the two;
namely, a short-winged or sometimes even a com-
pletely wingless type and a long-winged type. Fre-
quently the two occur promiscuously together, and
are found promiscuously copulating so that they can-
not possibly be distinct species. Sometimes the long-
winged type occurs in particular seasons and es-
pecially in very hot seasons. More rarely the short-
winged type Occurs in a different locality from the long-winged type,
and usually in that case in a more northerly locality. We have a
good illustration of this latter peculiarity in the case of the Chinch
Bug, for a dimorphous short-winged form (Fig. 2.) occurs in Canada*
and Dr. Fitch describes it from specimens received from the States,
as a variety, under the name of ajyterus.

DESTRUCTIVE POWERS OF THE CHINCH BUG.

Few persons in the more Northern States can form a just concep-
tion of the prodigious numbers and redoubtable armies in which this
insect is sometimes seen in the South and Southwestern States,

* In Dr. Shimer's Paper the dimensions of the egg, as "determined Tvith fine mathemati-
«al instruments," are said to be "0.04 inch long and 0.01 inch wide," (p. 99.) This is either a
derical or a tjpograpbical error for "0.004 inch long and 0.001 inch wide." Otherwise the e.jg
would be nearly one-third as long as the insect itself; and as Dr. Shimer thinks that every to-
male lays about 500 eggs, this would be something like getting a bushel of wheat out of a quart
measure.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. ^

marching from one field to another. The following extracts — the first
one written in June, 1865, by Dan. F. Rogers to the New York Far-
mers' Club, and the second from an old number of the Prairie Far-
mer— may seem a little far-fetched, but I have no doubt that both
accounts are substantially correct:

There never was a better "show" for wheat and barley than we
had here the lOthof June, andno more paltry crop has been harvested
since we w ere a town. Many farmers did not get their seed. In
passing by a field of barley where the Chinch Bugs had been at work
for a week, I f 3und them moving in solid column across tlie road to a
corn field on the opposite side, in such numbers that I felt almost
afraid to ride my horse among them. The road and fences were alive
with them. Some teams were at work mending the road at this spot,
and the bugs covered men, horses and scrapers till they were forced
to quit work for the da5^ The bugs took ten acres of that corn, clean
to the ground, before its hardening stalks — being too much for their
tools — checked their progress. Another lot of them came from a
wheat field adjoining my farm into a piece of corn, stopping now and
then for a bite, but not long. Then they crossed a meadow 30 rods
into a IGacre lot of sorgo, and swept it like a fire, though the cane
was then scarce in tassel. From wheat to sorgo was at least sixty
rods. Their march was governed by no discoverable law, except that
they were infernally hungry, and went where there was most to eat.
Helping a ncujlihor harvest one of the few fortunate fields, early
sown — and so lucky ! — we iound them moving across his premises in
such numbers that they bid fair to drive out the family. House, crib,
stable, well-cnrb, trees, garden fences — one creej^ing mass of stinking
life. In the house as well as outside, like the lice of Egypt, they
were everywhere ; but in a single day they were gone.

If any Western rustics are verdant enough to suppose that Chinch
Bugs cannot be out-flanked, headed ofl" and conquered, they are en-
tirely behind the times. The thing has been effectually done during
the past season, by Mr. Davis, Supervisor of the town of Scolt, Ogle
county. Ills. This gentleman had a cornfield of a hundred acres,
growing alongside of an extensive field of small grain. The bugs had
finished up the latter and were preparing to attack the former, when
the owner, being of an ingenious turn, hit upon a liappj^ plan tor cir-
cumventing them. He surrounding the corn with a barrier ot pine
boards set up edgewise, and partly buried in the ground, to keep
them in position. Outside of this fence deep holes were dug, about
ten feet apart. The upper edge of the board was kept constr^ntly
moist with a coat of coal tar, which was renewed every day.

The bugs, according to their regular tactics, advanced to the
assault in solid columns, swarming by millions, and hiding the
ground. They easily ascended the boards, but were unable to cross
the belt of the coal tar. Sometimes they crowded upon one another
so as tc bridge over the barrier, but such places were immediately
covered with a new coating. The invaders were in a worse quandary
than that of Butler and Weitzel at Fort Fisher, and, in that state of
mind crept backward and forward until they tumbled into the deep
hole aforesa^'d. These were soon filled, and the swarming myriads
were shoveled out ot them literally by wagon loads, at the rate of
thirty or forty bushels a day — and buried up in other holes, dug for
the purpose, as required. This may seem incredible to persons un-
acquainted with this little pest, but no one who has seen the count-
less myriads which cover the earth as harvest approaches, will ieol

34- SECOND ANNUAL RLPOKT OP

inclined to dispute the statement. It is an unimpeachable fact. The
process was repeated till only three or tour bushels could be shovelled
out of the holes, when it was abnidoned. The corn was completely
protected, and yielded bountifully

HEAVY RAINS UESTRUCTIVE TO THE CHINCH BUG.

As the Chinch Bug, unlike most other true Bugs, depositfl itg;
eggs underground, and as the young larvae live there for a consider-'
able time, it must be manifest that heavy soaking rains wifl have a
tendency to drown them out. The simple fact, long ago observed and
recorded by practical men, such as Mr. B. E. Fleharty of North Prairie,
Knox county, Ills., that this insect scrupulously avoids wet land,
proves that moisture is naturally injurious to its constitution. Hence
it was many years ago remarked by intelligent farmers, and we had
an illustration of it the present year (1869), that very oiten wiien the
spring opens dry, Chinch Rugs will begin to increase and multiply in
an alarming manner; but that the very first heavy shower checks
them up immediately, and repeated heavy rains put an almost entire
stop to their operations. It is very true that nearly all insects will
bear immersion under water for many hours, and frequently' for a
whole day, without suffering death therefrom; for although ariiraaiion
is apparently suspended in such cases, they yet, as the phase is,
" come to life again." But no insect, except the few that are pro-
vided with gills like fishes and extract the air out of the water, in*
stead of breathing it at first hand, can stand a prolonged immersion
in water without drowning. And it must be obvious to the meanest
capacity, that an insect, such as the Chinch Bug, whose natural hurne
is the driest soil it can find, will have its health injuriously affected
by a prolonged residence in a wet soil.

In fact the whole history of the Chinch Bug, from the very
earliest records which we have of it. points nnmistakabh to the fact,
that a wet season aflfectsit injuriously, and often almost annihilates ijU...
In Carolina and Virginia, during the dry years which preceded 1840,
it had become so numerous that the total destruction of the crops
was threatt-ned; but fortunately, unlike its predecessors, the sumfiiier
of 1840 was quite wet and the ravages oJ the bug wer« at once ar-iw
rested. In Illinois and in this State it had increased to an alarming^,
extent during the latter part of the late Rebellion ; but the excessive
wet summer of 1865 swept them away to such an extent th .t- it was
•difficult to find any in the fall of that year. So it was again in 1869-
"70, and so it always has been, and doubtless aJwa\s will he. It will--
be well therefore for farmers to bear in mind, that in a hot, dry rea-
son Chhich Bvgs are always the worst, and that in a wet season itis
impossible for them tO)do any considerable amount of damage^ ■' -

Dr. Shimer, however, is not satisfied with this simple theory. Her
(has gotten up and expounded to the world a new and reconoiie'
theory of his own, namely, that in the terrible wet season ((f l^t>5s^.
.when the Chinch Bug, although in early spring it had ffppeitt'ied in"^ •

THE STATE KNTOMOLOGIST. 25

very irreat numbers, was almost annihilated in the course of thr
summer, it perished, not as others had ioolishly supposed, from the^
direct operation of the rain, but indirectly through a Certain myste-;^
rious epidemic disease analogous to the Cholern or the Yellow Feve^,
among human beings. He tnlly allows that the mortality among the?"
Chinch Iliigs was contemporaneous with the wet weather; but he
will have it that it was not the wet weather that killed the Bug,
as> we common fqiks have always hitherto believed, but that
it 'Was his iiewly-discovered Epidemic Disease. But as in the con-
joint »rti(-lein the Amprican EnlomoJogist (I, pp. 174-6) this Epi-
demic theory was fully considered l)y my late associate, Mr. Walsh,
in his own peculiar style, I shall riot dwell upoTi it hete.

CAN]SilBAL FOES OF THE CHrNCH BUG.

As Iftng ago as 18G1, Mr. Walsh, in his Ea^my upon tfie Lijnrioug

Lumts af^rilimis, published tacts which tended to .show that four

distinctspecies of Ladybirds, preyed upon . the OhinchvBug.,* The

first fv/ tjie«e fonr is the Spotted Ladybird {IlippodaTriiavmeida^a,^,

[Fi^^] DtGetr,, Fig. 3), which also preys upon a greti t . £ 's- 4^

*^^^ variety of otlier insects; attacking bo4h the eggs -^ ^^^||"^

f|2^1 ol the (Colorado Potato Bug and those orcertain"j>/fTi

/^R,' Bark-lice; and which is further remarkable toi-^J

being one of the few insects (ound both in Europe and in North

America. . ■ ■ ■ ■■ ;;"

Incotro-borationof the fact of its preying on the Chinch Bug^--
1 iivriy state^tha.t the Rev. Chas Peabody, of Sulphur Springs, inform?^
me that he has repeatedly found it so feeding on his farm. The second
species. IS the. 'i rim Ladybird ( Goocinella irmnda^ Say, Fig, 4)„ which
is djsringuis.hab teat once frovn a great variety ofits biethren by
having no black, spots upon its red wing-cases. The. other two are
much sm.al I er insects, belonging to a genus (<§cym?ms) of Laoybirdsj^;
most of the species of which are quite small and of obscure brown
eoloxs, and hard, to be distinguished by the popular eye from other
beetles, the structure of which is very different, and whirh therefore
belong to very different groups and have very different habits,

ly. the autumn ol 1864 Dr. Shimer ascertained that the Spotted
Ladybird vyiiich has been sketched above, preys extensively upon the
Chinch. Bug. Li a particular field of corn, which had been sown thick
for iodder, and which was swarming with Chinch Bugs, he found, as
he saivs, that this Ladybird, "could be counted by hundreds upoa
every square ynrd of ground after shaking the coTh ; but the Chinch
Bugs were so numerous that these hosts of eniemies made very little
perceptible impression among them." ..>;;.•,,i^;^^:v. . .

In the same autumn Dr. Shimer made the additional discovery,
t^iat in the very same field of fodder-corn the Chinch Bugs w^fi
pft^'ed upon by a very Gomtuon species of Lacewing-fly, whicJihe

*See Tram. III. St. Agric. Satiety, IV, pp. .346-9.

26 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

described in January, 1865,* as the Illinois Lacewing ( CJirj/sopa Illi-
rtoiensis). The description was republished, together with the sub-
stance of Mr. Shimer's observations in the Prairie Farmer^ of Chicago,
111., accompanied with a non-characteristic wood-cut of the larva,
cocoon and imago. At this time Mr. Shimer favored me with tw®
gpecimens of tlie perfect insect, and he likewise furnished Mr. Walsh
with additional specimens. From these specimens, it is evident that
the species is the same as that described long before, by Dr. Fitch,
as the Weeping lj2iCQVfmg{Chrysopa ploralunda) . in 1868, I found
the same species quite numerous in a wheat field belonging to Mr.
T. R. Allen, of Allenton, where its larvae were perhaps feeding on the
Chinch Bugs, as they were found to do in North Illinois, by Dr. Shimer.
The Lacewing flies all bear a striking resemblanos
to one another, both in size, shape and color ; and to
convey a correct idea of their appearance, it ie
'^only necessary to repeat the annexed drawing
(Fig 5.j from my First Report, where a sketch of
their natural history will be found (pp. 57-8). f They
almost all of them, in the fly state, have a ciiarac-
teristic and disagreeable odor, resembling nothing so much as human
ordure.

According to Dr. Shimer, the Weeping Lacewing-fly was not
quite as abundant as the Spotted Ladybird among the fodder-corn,
but still there were so many of them, that he thought that '' there was
one or more of them for every stalk of that thickly sown corn."
" Every stroke of the cutter," he adds, "would raise three or four
dozen of them, presenting quite an interesting spectacle as they
gtaggered along in their awkward, unsteady flight." And he not only
actually observed the larvfe preying very voraciously on the Chinch
Bugs in the field, but he reared great numbers of them to the mature
Fly by feeding them upon Chinch Bugs. His account of the opera-
tions of the larva when in captivity is so interesting that I quote it in
full:

I placed one of the larv^ in a vial, after having captured it in tlie
field in the very act of devouring Chinch Bugs of all sizes, and sub-
sequently introduced into the vial a number of Chinch Bugs. They
had hardly reached the bottom before it seized one of the largest
ones, pierced it with its long jaws, lield it almost motionless for ai)0ut
a minute while it was sucking the juices from the body of its victim,
and then threw down the lifeless shell. In this way, I saw it destroy
in quick succession, about a dozen bugs. Towards the last, as its
appetite was becoming satiated, it spent, five or more minutes in suck-
ing the juices trom the body of one bug. After this bountiful repast,
it remained motionless for an hour or more, as if asleep. Never for

*Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil., IV, pp. 208-12.

fin that account I stated as a fact which, so far as I was aware, had not been recorded by
any previous writer, that the insect issues from the stn.Tll cocoon in an active sub-imago state,
from which, after a few hours, the winged fly emerges, leaving behind it a fine silvery-white trans-
parent skin. I have since found that Dr. Khimer, in the scientific paper already referred to, had
previously recorded the very same fact.

THE STATK ENTOMOLOGIST. 27

a single moment, during the feast, did it pause in the work. When
not in possession of a bug, it was on the search for, or in the pursuit
of others. It manifested much eagerness in the pursuit of its prey,
yet not with a lion-like boldness ; for on several occasions I observed
a manifest timorousness, a halting in the attack, as if conscious of
danger in its hunting expeditions, although here there was none.
Sometimes, when two or more bugs were approaching rapidly, it
would shrink back from the attack, and turning aside go in the {>ur-
iiuit of others. At length, awakening, it would renew the assault a»
before. On one occasion, when it was on the side of the vial, two
inches up, with a large bug in its mouth, I jarred the vial, so that it
fell to the bottom and rolled over and over across the bottom, but
holding on to its prey, it regained its footing and mounted up to its
former position. Occasionally the Chinch Bugs would hasten to es-
cape when pursued, as if in some degree conscious of danger.

^'s- ^- The Insidious Flower Bug, {AntJiocoris insidi-

osus. Say), of which I represent' herewith a highly
magnified figure, (Fig. 6), may often be iound in
company with the Chinch Bug, under the husks of
ears of corn. It is quite common in Missouri,
where I have found it in several diiferent galls,
and especially in the Grai)e-vine Leaf gall, where
it was preying on the lice ( Phylloxera vitifolico),
which are the architects of the gall. It has
often been mistaken for the Chinch Bug, and was
I upon one occasion sent to Dr. Fitch, by one of his

correspondents, for that veritable Bug. Yet it undoubtedly preys
upon the Chinch Bug, as well as upon a variety of other plant-feed-
ing insects, and it therefore becomes very necessary that the farmer
should learn to recognize it and distinguish it from the true culprit-
It is very true that, practically, it will be found almost impossible to
separate the sheep from the goats, and spare the lives of the former
while condemning to destruction the unsavory little carcasses of th»
latter. Still, it will be some comfort to the grain-grower, when at
some future day he may discover his small grain or his corn to b©
alive with Chinch Bugs, to perceive the bright orange-colored larvae
of the Insidious Flower-Bug dodging about among the blood-red or
blood-brown larvoe of his bitter foes, and sucking out their life-blood
with ravenous avidity; or to discover the little slow-going larvae of
the Scymnus group of Ladybirds, with such dense and evenly-shorn
masses of short milk-white cottony threads growing out of their en-
tire bodies that they look like little animated flakes of cotton wool,
crawling about among the stinking crowd and making many a hearty
meal off them, stink they never so badly; or, finally, to watch the
lizard like black and yellow larvas of the Spotted Ladybird, and thd
Trim Ladybird, with their short, robust jaws, or the greecish-brown
larvae of the Lacewing-fly, with their long slender sickle-shaped
jaws, running rapidly about among the hosts of their enemies, and
smiting them hip and thigh without any more mercy than the Amal©-

2$,. FECOND A^NUAL REPOKT OP

tites of old experienced at the hands of avenging Israel. He will
then know that, even if he is liiniself powerless -to make head against
a host of minute foes, as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and
as destructive and irresistible as the waves of the great ocean itself.
Providence has provided a check upon the unlimited increase of his,
enemies; and that a Power which is above us all a?id provides for us
all, and which alloweth noteyen a sparrow to fall to the ground un-
less by His especial permission, has said to every vegelai)le-feeding
insect, through the moutiis of the various Cannibal and Parasitic spe-
■cies which He has appointed to do His work : '-Thus tar shalt thou go,
4injd no farther ; and tiere shall thy proud hosts he stayed"

- The coin mon Quail of the Middle and Western Spates (O/'ifyar
Vif^iniana) otherwise known as the Partridge in the Northern States
has long since been known as a most efficient destroyer of Chinch
Bugs, and the fact was some time ago published by myself in the
Prairie J'armer^dinA by others in various Agricultural Journals and
Reports. We also have the corroborative testimony of Or S})iu)er,
who is a good ornithologist. In the winter time, when hard pushed
for food, this bird must devour immense numbers of the little pests
which winter in just such situations as are frequented by the Quail;
and this bird should be protectevl from the gun of the sportsman i^„
"©veJ^y .Statje where the Chinch Bug is known to run riot.

AMOUNT UF DAMAGE DONE BY THE CHINCH BUG.

According to Dr. Shim^r's estimate, which may be considered ai:
reasonable one, in the year 1664 "three-fourths of the wheat and one-,
half of the <-orn crop were destroyed i>y the Chinch Bug throughout"
many extensive districts, corapfising almost th« entire Nortliwest." ^
At the average annual rate of increase, according to the United •
States Census, in the State of Illinois, th-e wh-eat crop of 1864 f-ught
to have been about thirty millionsof bus! els, and the corn-crop about^-
one hundred and thirty-eight million bushels. Putting the ca^hT
value of wheat at f 1.25 and that of corn at 50 cents, the cash valne^
of the corn and wheat destroyed by this insignificant little bug, no-;
bigger than a grain of rice, in one single State and in one single year,
will therefore, according to the above figures, foot up to the astound-;;
ing total of ovek SEVENTY-THh^iiE millions of dollars ! Put it as low ae
we choose, it is still a "big thing; " and it is unnecessary to argue a
question any further, when facts and figures speak so plainly,

REMEDIES AGAliJST THE CHINCH BUG.

It has long been noticed that the Chinch Bug commences its rav-
ages in the spring from the edges of a piece of grain, or occasionally
from one or more small patches, scattered at random in the more cen^'
tral portions of it, and usually drier than the rest of the field. From
these particular parts it subsequently spreads by degrees over the,^
wliole field, multiplying as it goes and finally taking the entire crpp'A
unless checked up by seasonable rains. In newly-broken land.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 29

where the fences are new and consequently no old stuff has had time
(o accumulate along them, the Chinch Btisj^ is never heard of. These
facts indicate that the mother insects must very generally pass the
winter in the old dead stuff that usually gathers along fences. Hence,
hy way ot precauticm, it is advisable, whenever possible, to burn up
such dead stuff in the winter or early in the spring, and particularly
to rake together and burn up the old corn-stalks, instead of plowing
them in, or allowing them, as is often done, to lie littering about on
some piece of waste ground. It is true, agriculturally speaking, this
is bad farming; but it is better to lose the manure contained in the
corn-stalks than to have one's crop destroyed by insects. Whenever
such small infected patches in a grain field are noticed early in the
season, the rest of the field may often be saved by carting dry straw
on to them and burning the straw on the spot. Chinch Bugs, green
wheat and all ; and this will be still easier to do when the bugs start
along the edge of the field. If, as frequently happens, a piece of
small grain is found about harvest-time to be so badly shrunken up
by the bug as not to be worth cutting, the owner of it ought always
to set fire to it and burn it up along with its ill-savored inhabitants.
Thus, not only will the insect be prevented from migrating on to
the adjacent corn-fields, but its future multiplication will be consid-
erably checked.

A very simple, cheap and easy method of prevention was recom-
mended in the Prairie Farmer of April 10th, 18^2, by Mr. Wilson
Phelps, of Crete, Illinois. It may very probably be effectual when
the bugs are not too numerous, and certainly can do no harm :

With twelve bushels of spring wheat mix one bushel of winter
rye, and sow in the usual manner. The rye not heading out, but
spreading out close to the ground, the bugs will content themselves
with eating it, until the v/heat is too far advanced to be injured by
them. There will, of course, be no danger of the winter rye mixing
with the spring wheat.

When Chinch Bugs are likely to march, as they often do, after the
fashion of Array-worms, from an infected to an uninfected field, Mr. H.
J. Everest, of Stoughton, Dane county, Wisconsin, recommends the
following plan, which is stated to have been tried by several persona
and found to be perfectly effectual, and which is substantially the
same as that referred to on page 23:

Take common fence-boards, six inches or less wide, and run them
around the piece, set edgewise, and so that the bugs cannot get under
them or between the joints, and then spread either pine or coal tar
on the upper edge, and they will not cross it. The tar needs renew-
ing till the edge gets saturated, so that it will keep wet and not dry
in any more, and either kind of tar is effectual. Then dig holes close
to the boards, about like a post-hole, once in four or five rods, and
run a strip of tar from the top of the board to the bottom on the out-
side opposite the hole, and they will leave the board, and in trying to
get around the tarred stripe will slide into the hole, where they will
be obliged to remain till they can be buried at leisure, and new holes
opened for more victims. It is seldom one has to fence more than

JO SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

one si'le of a field, but wherever the fence is, it is a sure stop. — Proe.
Hew York Farmers' Clulj.

Finally, when the Chinch Bugs are already in the field which it is
proposed to rescue from their clutches, Mr. Michael Hopps, of Lyons-
ville. Cook county, Illinois, says that he saved a piece of wheat by
sowing gas-lime broadcast over it, at the rate of six or seven bushels
to the acre; and that the effect was that the bugs immediately left
his field, and his crop was saved, while the wheat of his neighbors was
nearly ruined by them. He further states that "a neighbor had a
field of wheat adjoining his (Mr. Ilopps's) cornfield, in wliich the bugs
worked badly. Thinking that, as soon as the wheat was cut, they
would emigrate to his corn, he dropped a handful of .the gas-lime upon
each hillof corn^in the same manner as plaster is often dropped upon
corn in the East. Tlie consequence was that the bugs did not attack
the corn in the least." — {Prairie Farmer?)

But, if gas lime keeps off Chinch Bugs, which may or may not be
the case, it appears that coal-tar most certainly will not do so, as the
following experiment of Dr. Shimer's proves:

May 26?'/^, 1864. — I saturated some saw-dust with coal-tar, and
mixed some quick-lime among it, so that it might be in a good condi-
tion for handling, and^sowedit thickly broadcast over a portion of my
wheat field, where the bugs were very numerous.

May 'il tJi-2dtli, 1864.— The bugs refuse to leave the part of the
field where I sowed the tarred saw-dust, so there is but little hope of
driving them from their once chosen grounds, by the seasonable ap-
plication of strong smelling drugs.

I have known farmers to follow the plan of going through a wheat
field badly infested with Chinch Bugs, and with a sickle to cut, here
and there, small patches of the wheat which they threw on the ground
ill the form of a loose irregular shock. The bugs would gather under
these cut stalks in great numbers from the standing grain, and could
then be destroyed either by crushing or by burning them with
straw.

The above remedies are selected as the most likely to prove prac-
tically successful, from a mass floating round in the various Agricul-
tural Journals, some of them utterly absurd and irrational, and others
of very doubtful use. As to the ridiculous proposal put forth in the
Waukegan (Ills.) Gazette^ in 1865, with a great flourish of trumpets,
by one D. H. Sherman of that town; namely, to destroy the Chinch
Bugs in the egg state by pickling all the seed wheat ; it is sufficient
to observe that this insect never deposits its eggs upon the kernel of
the ripe wheat. Consequently, to attempt to kill Chinch Bug eggs,
by doctoring the seed wheat, would be pretty much like trying to kill
the nits in a boy's head by applying a piece of sticking-plaster to his
great toe. In the old Practical Entomologist (I, p. 48), I showed that
there were no such eggs in the wheat kernels, which Mr. Sherman
himself had sent me, and which he had supposed to be thus infested.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 31

BOGUS CHINCH BUGS.

Few things are more astonishing than the acuteness of perception
feUperindiiced by being constantly conversant with some one particu-
lar subject. I have often been surprised at the readiness with which
nurserymen will distinguish between different varieties of Apple,
even in the dead of the year, when there are no leaves, and of course
no fruit on their nursery trees. In the same way old practiced shep-
herds can recognize every individual sheep out of a large flock,
though, to the eyes of a common observer, all the sheep look alike.
Experienced grain-growers, again, can distinguish at a glance between
twenty different varieties of wheat, which the best botanist in the
country would fail to tell one from the other; and 1 have been in-
formed that a miller of many years' standing, as soon as he has shoul-
dered a sack of wheat, knows at once whether it is spring grain or
fall grain; while ninety-nine entomologists out of every hundred
would probably be unable, on the most careful inspection, to tell the
difference between the two, and some might even mistake wheat
for rye.

It is not surprising, therefore, that persons who have paid no par-
ticular attention to the study of insects, often confound together in-
sects which, in the eyes of the professed entomologist, look as differ-
ent from each other as a horse does from a cow or a hog. It would,
indeed, be little short of miraculous if this were not so ; for there are
about thirty thousand distinct species of insects to be found within
the limits of the United States, and of course in such a vast multipli-
city, there must be many strong resemblances.

I will therefore conclude this article on the Chinch Bug, by
briefly mentioning several true Bugs, belonging to the same Order of
Half- winged Bugs {Ileteroptera)^ as that pestilent little foe of the
farmer, and which I know to be frequently mistaken for it. The
reader will then, by comparing the different figures, see at once how
widely they all differ, and by a very little practice, his eyes will be-
came so well educated that he will soon, without any artificial assist-
ance from glasses, be able to distinguish the creatures one from the
other, as they crawl or flj^ about in the almost microscopic dimensions
assigned to them by their Great Creator.

One reason, perhaps, why so many different bugs are popularly
confounded with the Chinch Bug, is the similarity of their smell.
Everybody is aware that Chinch Bugs possess the same peculiarly
unsavory odor as the common Bed Bug; and hence when a person
finds. a small insect that has this obnoxious smell, he is very apt to
jump to the conclusion that it must be a Chinch Bug. No mode of
reasoning, however, can be more unsafe or unsound. There are hun-
dreds of different species of Half-winged Bugs — the common brown
Squash. Bug ((7o7'dM« ^rzsi52"5) for example — that possess this peculiar
smell; and what is stranger still, although this smell is more usually

32 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

■-"met with among the plant-feeders, there are a tew of the true Canni-
bals tnat possess it to perfection. Among these I may mention th©
Spined S')ldier- bug (^rma ,9/jm{>s«, Dallas) whose portrait I here re-
[Fig- ''■] produce from my JFirst Report (Fig. 7 h) ; for, as the bit-
terest enemy of the Colorado Potato Bug, and conse-
quently one of our best friends, he cannot too often be
'presented, or become too well known. We can well
afford to endure his unpleasant odor, when we duly
a. h reflect on his kind services. Just think of it, you bit-

ter bug-haters — this little soldier has, beyond all doubt, saved thou-
sands of dollars to the State of Missouri in the last few years, by
heroically stabbing and slaying countless hosts of one of your worst
enemies! That he should have the bed-buggy odor is not very sur-
prising, since he appertains to a large and extensive group, (the Scu-
tellera family) most of the other species belonging to which are plant-
feeders. Indeed it is a very general rule, to which I know of but on«
exception* that the insect in the great Reduvitis family among the
Half- winged Bugs, every one of which is of carnivorous propensities,
never have this peculiarly nauseous aroma; and that it is bestowed
only upon certain plant-feeding bugs, to protect them no doubt from
their insect foes, in the same manner as the skunk is protected from
the eagle by his odoriferous tail. Yet while many of the plant-feed-
ing Bugs do have this odor, a good many of them are entirely free
from it, and some few of them really smell so agreeably that the fact
has been thought worthy to be recorded by entomological writers.
Even that detestable pest, already referred to, the common Squash
Bug, sometimes emits a pleasant aroma, altogether different from that
which it normally gives out; for I have kept this winter, in a separate
box, one which emits a most pungent but agreeable smell, very much
resembling that of a very ripe, rich pear. But perhaps the most sug-
gestive fact of all is that, notwithstanding the close alliance between
the two Orders of Halt-winged and Whole-winged Bugs, there is not
a single known species of the latter that has ever been known to ex-
hale the bedbuggy effluvium, which is met with in so many specieg
belonging to the former.

The Insidious Flower-bug. — First among the insects frequently
mistaken for the Chinch Bug, may be mentioned the Insidious Flower-
bug {Anthocoris insidious^ Say) already referred to under the head of
"Cannibal Foes of the Chinch Bug." This little Flower-bug has been
usually referred by entomologists to the same extensive group
(^Lymus family) as the true Chinch Bug, though more recent authors
have placed it in a distinct group on account of its short three-jointed
beak.

The Ash-gray Leaf-Bug. — Second among the Bogus Chinch Bugi
may be mentioned the Ash-gray Leaf-bug {Piesma cinerca^ Say) a

* A shiny black species of NahU {Nabit marginatut, Uhler, MS) smells as much like a. B#el
Bag as the most peaceable Plant-feeder.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 33

small greenish-gray bug of which I present herewith a highly magni-
fied figure (Fig. 8), its true size being about the same as that of the
Chinch Bug for which it has been mistaken, though it lacks altogether
the conspicuous black and white markings which characterize that
[Fi£. 8.]^ little grain pest, and really resembles it in nothing but
the unpleasant odor which it emits. In the summer of
1868, Col. F. Hecker, of St. Clair county, Illinois (See
Am. Entomologist, I, p. 19), found an insect, which he
mistook for the Chinch Bug, destroying the blossom
buds of his grape-vines. Now as the Ash gray Leaf-
bug is known to work in this way on the Grape-vine,
and as I found, it abundant in Col. Foster's vineyard, on
the Iron Mountain Railroad in this State, it was doubt-
less this species which injured Col. Hecker's vines ; for
the true Chinch Bug has never hitherto been observed to attack
woody plants like the Grape-vine, but confines itself exclusively to
herbaceous plants, such as wheat, oats, Indian corn, etc. The Ash-
gray Leaf-bug belongs to an entirely different group from the Chinch
^Mg{Tingis family) all the species of which have a short 3-jointed
beak, which however differs from that of the 3-jointed beak of the
Flower-bugs {Antliocoris) by being encased in a groove when not in
use. They mostly live on green leaves in all their three stages after
the fashion of plant lice. Like the Chinch Bug, the Ash-gray Leaf- bug
hybernates in the perfect state, and may be found in the winter in
considerable numbers under the loose bark of standing trees and es-
pecially under that of the Shag-bark Hickory.

With the exception of the Ash-gray Leaf-bug, there is no North
American species belonging to the genus, that is known to attack
ruit trees or iruit-bearing bushes or vines; though there are several
that inlest forest trees— each species generally confining itself to a
particular genus of trees. But in Europe there is a species, the Vq2lx-
tree Leaf-bug (^^^^^^5 ^y^-j which is so injurious to the Pear, that
the I^rench gardeners have given it the name of '' the Tiger " It is to
be hoped that it may never, like another European pest of pear-
growers the Pear-tree Flea-louse {Psylla py ri)~y,\a<Ax has already
been introduced into the New England States, and will perhaps make
Its way out West-traverse the Atlantic ocean and take out its natu-
ralization papers in this country.

The Flea-like NEGRo-BUG.-Third among the bogus Chinch Bugs

"""^ rEr'.?^'"^"!.^ ^^'^ ^^''■^^^'" Negro-bug {Corimelcna puliearla,

Germar), of which I here present a magnified out-

line (Fig. 9). Its color is black with a white

stripe each side. This insect resembles the Chinch

U Bug in having an ordinary 4-jointed beak, but

//^Vdiflers from it in belonging to a very distinct

_ and well marked group {Scutellera family), which

characterized by the enormous size of the "scutel" or shield

S4 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

In the most numerously represented division of this family the
scutel forms a large triangle, extending along the back about
half-way to the tip of the abdomen, as may be seen in the figure of
the Spined Soldier-bug (Fig. 7), referred to on a previous page. But
in another division of this family which does not contain nearly so
many species, the scutel, instead of being angular, is rounded at top
and covers more or less the entire upper surface of the abdomen. It is
to this last division that the Flea-like Negro-bug belongs, and the dirty
yellow or white stripes at its sides are really nothing but the thick-
ened anterior edge of the front wings, all the remaining part of the
front wings, as well as the entire hind wings, being, in repose, com-
pletely hidden under this enormously extended shield. In the Bor-
[Fig. 10.] ^ dered Soldier-bug, as the reader will perceive from the
annexed drawing (Fig. 10), which I reproduce from my
First Report, the scutel is indeed rounded, and also
extends a considerable distance over the abdomen; but

IiAWBMViKl^^ it otherwise agrees with the other Soldier-bugs in
^^^BM] the rest of its organization, it is classified with them,
f ^^'1 and not with our Negro-bug.

The Flea-like Negro-bug has been known to injure various i>lants
for two or three years back. I found it exceedingly abundant last
summer in all parts of the State which I visited. It has a great pas-
sion for the fruit of the Raspberry, and is sometimes so plentiful as
to render the berries perfectly unsaleable by the bed-bug aroma
which it communicates to them, as well as by sucking out their
juices. Wherever it occurs, the nauseous flavor which it imparts to
every berry which it touches, will soon make its presence manifest,
though the little scamp may elude ocular detection. It is really too
bad that such a little black varmint should so mar the exceeding
pleasure which a lover of this delicious fruit always experiences
when in the midst of a raspberry plantation in the fruit season. It
is also quite injurious to the Strawberry, puncturing the stem with
its little beak, and thus causing either blossom or fruit to wilt; and
the following extract, taken from a communication to the Western
Rural by Mr. B. Pullen, of Centralia, Ills,, undoubtedly refers to
the same Bug, and would indicate that it made its first appearance in
that neighborhood last summer :

"A new insect, to us here, has appeared on our stra.wberries for
the first time the past season, damaging the crop very much. It re-
sembles somewhat the Chinch Bug, so destructive to our wheat and
corn, and, judging from the peculiar odor they emit on being mashed,
should think them very nearly related. Some claim that they are of
a different species altogether. Whether this be so or not those inter-
ested in the cultivation of the strawberry are anxiously looking for-
ward to another season to see if they are to continue their depreda-
tions."

It likewise attacks the Strawberry in Canada, as an account of
its attacking that plant, is given by my friend, 0. J. S. Bethune,inthe

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 35

Canada Farmer for August 1st, 1867 ; and it was under this very same
serious charge that it was apprehended and brought up for trial at
the last May meeting of the Alton (Ills.) Horticultural Society. It
also attacks both Cherry and Quince, occurring on these trees in very
large numbers, and puncturing the blossoms and leaves, but espe-
cially the fruit stems, which in consequence shrivel and die. It is
also quite injurious to garden flowers and especially to the Coreop-
sis, and abounds on certain weeds, among which may be mentioned
the'Red-root or New Jersey Tea-plant {Ceanotlius Americanus)^ and
Neckweed or Purslane-speedwell CVerotiica peregrioia). In the
mouth of June under these two last named plants, they may be
found in countless numbers of all sizes and ages, from the small light
brown wingless, newly hatched individuals, to the full fledged jet
black ones. In fact they breed on these weeds, and there is no more
eiFectual method of checking their increase and thus preventing their
injuries to our cultivated fruits, than by sprinkling these weeds, and
the ground underneath them, with a good strong solution of Cresylic
soap. I should advise the propagation of a small patch of either one
of these weeds near a strawberry patch, as a decoy for the Bugs,
which may thus be, to some extent, enticed away from the straw-
berry plants, and killed more readily.

There are two other species of Negro-bug which are common in
this State, though they never swarm in such injurious profusion as
does the Flea-like Negro-bug. The first of these {Corimeloina latera-
lis^ Fabr,) is absolutely undistinguishable from it however, except in
being fully one-half longer and wider. The shape, sculpturing and
coloring are exactly the same, even down to the lateral white stripe;
so that, but for the fact of no intermediate grades in size occurring,
the two would be certainly considered as mere varieties of one and
the same species. The other Negro-bug {Cor. tinicoloi\ Beauv.) is
fully twice as long and wide as our insect; but though resembling it
closely in every otiier respect, yet diff"ers very notably in lacking the
white anterior edging to the front wings. It might indeed be said,
iJiat the biggest Negro dresses entirely in black, while the two other
smaller sized darkies relieve the sombre monotony of their sable
suits, by wearing a conspicuously white shirt-collar.

To these three bogus Chinch Bugs, might be added one or two
other species of small stinking Bugs which have been, by some per-
sons, mistaken for the true Chinch Bug. But enough has been alreadj'"
said to show, that insects which in reality are shaped and fashioned
as differently as are cows and deer, are yet often confounded together
in the popular eye, principally, no doubi because they have the same
peculiar bed-bug aroma. Should the ignorance of the popular judg-
ment in confounding these tiny creatures which seem to the Ento-
mologist so very, very different from each other, therefore, be des-
pised and ridiculed ? Far be it from me to display such intolerant
stupidity! As well might the nurseryman ridicule the grain grower.

36 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

because the grain-grower cannot distinguish a Baldwin Seedling from
a High top apple ; or the grain-grower the nurseryman because
the nurseryman cannot tell Mediterranean from Tea wheat, or Club
from Fife. I do, however, entertain an abiding hope that by the pres-
ent very general and praiseworthy movement towards the populari-
zation of Natural History, and by the dissemination of Entomological
Reports, a better knowledge of this practically important subject will
soon exist in the community. Our farmers will then, not so often wage
a war of extermination against their best friends, the cannibal and
parasitic insects, while they overlook and neglect the very plant-
feeders which are doing all the damage, and upon which the others
are feeding in the very manner in which a Wise Providence has ap-
pointed them to adopt.

RECAPITULATION.

The following important points in the history of the Chinch Bug^
may be considered as firmly established :

1st. Chinch Bugs hybernate in the perfect or winged state in any
old dry rubbish, under dead leaves, in old straw, in corn-shucks and
corn-stalks, among weeds in fence-corners, etc., etc. Therefore all
such substances should be burned up,as far as possible, inthe spring.

2nd. The earlier email grain can be sowed in the spring, the
more likely it is to escape the Chinch Bug ; for it will then get ripe be-
fore the spring brood of bugs has had time to become fully developed
at the expense of the grain.

3d. The harder the ground is where the grain is sowed, the less
chance there is for the Chinch Bug to penetrate to the roots of the
grain and lay its eggs thereon. Hence the importance of fall-plough-
ing and using the roller upon land that is loose and friable. And
hence, if old corn-ground is sufficiently clean, it is a good plan to har-
row in a crop of small grain upon it without ploughing it at all.
Moreover this rolling plan should always be adopted, as the best
wheat-growers both in this country and in Europe attest that the
heavier the ground lor wheat is rolled, the better will be the crop.

4th. A single heavy rain immediately checks up the propagation
of the Chinch Bugs. Continued heavy rains diminish their numbers
most materially. A long-continued wet season, such as that of 1865,
almost sweeps the whole brood of them from off the face of the earth ;
but from the rapid rate at which they multiply there will always be
enough left for seed for another year. It may be laid down, not only
as a general, but universal rule, that this insect is never ruinously
destructive, except in those sections of country where there is con-
tinued hot dry weather; and that if, in two adjoining districts, there
has been a dry summer in one and much wet weather during the sum-
mer season in the other, however plentiful and destructive the bug
may be in the first district, it will scarcely be heard of in the second.
Certainly this state of facts is not exactly that from which any rea-
sonable man would infer, that the paucity of Chinch Bugs in a wet.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 37

season is caused by an Epidemic Disease taking them off. We might
as well maintain that, although there was no Epidemic Disease among
the children of Israel that had just crossed the Red Sea, or among
the Egyptians that staid at home, it was simply and solely an Epi-
demic Disease that slew the pursuing hosts of the Egyptians and cov-
ered the bottom of the Red Sea with their carcasses.

THE ARMY-WORM— Z^wcawm unipuncta. Haw.

[Lepidoptera Noctuidaj.]

Among those insects which attract especial attention, either from
the peculiarity of their habits, or the vast amount of damage which
they inflict, the notorious Army-worm holds a conspicuous place.
The mode in which these worms travel in vast armies when in search
of food, the great value of the cereals and the grasses to which they
for the most part confine their ravages, their sudden appearance in
such incomputable numbers, and their equally sudden disappearance,
all tend to arouse the curiosity and interest of even the most indiffer-
ent observer.

Before giving a history of this insect, it will be necessary to state
that there are four distinct caterpillars, producing four perfectly dis-
tinct moths, which have been designated as Army-worms in various
parts of the United States.

First — The Tent-caterpillar of the Forest ( Olisioeampa syhmtica^
Harr.) has been erroneously known by the name of "Army-worm "in
the northwest corner of the State of New York. A back view of
this caterpillar is given in the accompanying sketch (Fig. 11)
[Fig. 11.3 by which it will at once be recognized by the
reader. For a number of days, last June, this worm
might have been seen marching " single file " up the rail-
road track on Pilot Knob, in the scorching rays of the noon-
day sun ; and it is often found crawling along roads in very
■considerable numbers. Yet it cannot with propriety be
called an Army-worm, and our Eastern friends had best drop
the title and avoid confusion in the future.

Second— The Cotton-worm (Anomis xylina. Say), is
'very generally known by the name of " the Cotton Army-
^worm," in the South. The term as applied to this species is
not altogether inappropriate, as the worm frequently appears
in immense armies, and when moved by necessity will travel
over the ground in "solid phalanx;" and so long as the
word "Cotton" is attached— its ravages being strictly confined to
this plant— there is no danger of its being confounded with the true
Army-worm. The term has furthermore received the sanction of
custom in the Southern States, and of Mr. Glover in his Department
Reports.

38

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

As various attempts have been made, with more or less success,
to grow the cotton plant in the southern parts of this State, a descrip-
tion of this insect will not be inappropriate, the more especially,
since it will teach the reader the difference between it and the true
Army-worm.

The Cotton-worm was first scientifically described by Mr. Thomas
Say, in the year 1827. According to Dr. D. L. Phares, of Woodville,
Miss., it destroyed at a low estimate, 200 tons of cotton in the Baha-
mas as long ago as 1788 ; while in Georgia it completely destroyed
the crop in 1793. According to Dr. Capers* its injuries were noticed
in 1800, and it likewise proved very destructive in 1804, 1825 and 1826.
Since the last date, as we may learn from old volumes of the Amey'ican
Fanner, of Baltimore, Md., and from the Patent Ofiice Reports, it has
done more or less damage to the crop almost annually, in some part
or other of the cotton-growing district. As with the real grass-feed-
ing Army-worm of the Middle States, it swarms in particular years to
such an extent as to utterly ruin the crop, while in other years it is
scarcely noticed. This fact has led many to infer that there is a
stated periodicity in its returns in such immense numbers; but the
natural history of the worm confutes such an idea, while the records
give no foundation for the inference. The sudden increase or decrease
of this, as of other species of noxious insects, depends on climatic, as
well as on other equally potent influences.

[Fig. 12.]

Tlie egg, (Fig. 12, a), according to Dr. Phares is shaped

pre-

cisely like a scull-cap, with rows of pinheads from base to apex as
thickly set as possible," appearing as if moulded in a very deep
saucer. These eggs are of a translucent green color, and are depos-
ited upon the under side of the leaves, and from' their small size, are
naturally difficult of detection. Each female moth deposits from 400
to 600, and according to the late Thomas Aflleck, of Brenham, Texas,
they hatch two days after being deposited, if the weather be moist
and warm. The worms (Fig. 12 5, -J grown) at first feed upon the par-
enchyma or soft fleshy parts of the leaves, but afterwards devour in-

*Patent Office Rep., 1855, p. 74.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 39

differently, not only any portion of the leaves, but also the blossom-
bud and blossom, together with the calyx leaves at the base of the
boll, thus causing the lobes which hold the cotton, to fall entirely
back and allow the cotton to drop at the slightest touch. While young
these worms readily let themselves down by a web when disturbed,
but when older they make less use of this web, and jerk themselves
away to a considerable distance when suddenly touched. They cast
their skins at five successive periods, and come to their growth in the
incredibly short space of fifteen or twenty days. Mr. Aflieck even
states that they usually enter the chrysalis state on the eleventh day
after hatching; but I incline to believe that such a brief larval exist-
ence is extremely exceptional, and the length of time required for
them to mature will not only differ in different individuals of the same
brood, but will vary with the state of the atmosphere. At Figure 12
G is given a side view, and at d a back view of a full-grown worm. It
has the normal complement of legs — namely 16 — but the two fore-
most pair of false legs, or those under segments 6 and 7, are so re-
duced in size that they are scarcely used in motion, and it conse-
quently loops when walking.

I have upon two occasions received full-grown specimens of this
worm, and they differ materially, both in depth of shade, coloration
and markings, as indeed do almost all the larvae of moths belonging
to the same (iV^ociua) family. The most common color is light green,
though they are frequently quite dark with a purplish hue at the
sides, and with black backs. Whether light or dark colored, how-
ever, they are more or less distinctly marked with pale longitudinal
lines and black spots, as in the above figures.

Mr. Lyman, in his " Cotton Culture," says of this insect : " The
first moths that visit a crop deposit their eggs and die. These eggs in
ten days become little worms, which fall to eating the leaf on which
they were hatched, and as they grow, consume the plant and pass to
another. But age comes on apace with these ephemeral creatures ;
the worm presently grows weary of devouring, selects a leaf, rolls
himself in a little cocoon and <:Z2'i?c<?." Of course this is a serious mis-
take to think that the worm dies, else how could it produce the moth
which, as Mr. Lyman himself shows, afterwards issues from the cocoon.
It is astonishing to find such gross errors creeping into our popular
works, but then, the study of these contemptible little Bugs, even if
they do sometimes totally destroy the crop, is of course beneath the
dignity of the man who can write a work on cotton culture!! The
truth of the matter is that, when they have completed their growth,
the worms fold over the edge of a leaf (Fig. 12 <?), and, after lining the
inside with silk, change to chrysalids (Fig. 12 /), which are at first
green, but soon acquire a chestnut-brown color ; after remaining in
this last state (in which, though the insect is inactive, it is yet full of
life, and undergoing wonderful development) from seven to fourteen
days, or even longer, the moth escapes, the chrysalis being held fast

40 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

within the cocoon by means of several very minute hooks with which
the tail is furnished.

[Fig- ^3.] At Figure 13 «, this moth

|is represented with the wings
expanded, and at 5, with the
wings closed. The general
color of the upper surface is a
golden-yellow inclining to
bnfF, with a faint olive tint
near the outer or posterior
margin. The fore wings are crossed, as in the above figures, by more
or less distinct, irregular lilac-colored lines. But the chief character-
istic is a dark slate-colored, or black spot on the front wings, in which
spot there are paler scales forming almost a double pupil as repre-
sented in the figures, while between this spot and the base of the
wings there is a much smaller pure white dot. In general color and
in the position of the larger spot, this moth bears a remarkable re-
semblance to that of the true Army-worm of the Northern and Middle
States.

Mr, Affleck, who certainly had abundant opportunities for observ-
ing the fact, assured me that this moth rests in the position shown in
Figure 13, h, namely, with the head downwards. He wrote on August
22d, 1868: "The Cotton moth ( OpMnsa xylina of Harris in his corres-
pondence with myself) never alights in any other position, or if by
accident it first assumes another position, it instantly wheels around
head down.''''

According to the best authority, there are three different broods
of worms during the year, the first appearing in June or July, and the
last, which does the most damage, appearing in August or Septem-
ber, or even later. Mr. Lyman, in the little work already referred to,
sa\ s : "That nature has made no provision by which either the fly,
the worm, the chrysalis or the eggs, can survive the winter or exist
for any length of time where the cotton plant is not a perennial."
But this is surely an error, which Mr. Lyman would never have made,
had he possessed a better knowledge of insect-life ; and as Mr. Glover
found that the chrysalis was killed by the slightest frost, the insect
evidently winters over in the moth state, as do many others belong-
ing to the same tribe. Mr. W. B. Seabrook gives strong evidence that
this is the case, in a "Memoir on the Cotton Plant," read in 1843, be-
fore the State Agricultural Society of South Carolina, wherein he says :
"That the Cotton Moth survives the vdnter is nearly certain. An ex-
amination of the neighboring woods, especially after a mild winter, has
often been successful!}' made for that purpose." And Dr. Phares
states positively that the moth hybernates in piles of cotton seed
under shelter, under bark and in crevices of trees in dense forests and
other secluded places, and that it may often be seen on pleasant days
in winter.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 41

The two principal remedies which have hitherto been relied upon
are, 1st, hand-picking; 2d, destroying the moths by fires, to which
they are naturally attracted. The first method is sure, but tedious
and somewhat impracticable on a very large scale. The second is
most effectual if carried out when the first moths appear, in May and
June. If these two methods were persistently carried out in the early
part of the season throughout any given cotton-growing county, they
would of themselves be sufiicient to save the crop ; but the efforts of
individuals are of no avail, where there are slovenly neighbors who
neglect to perform these labors. It would therefore be of incalcul-
able advantage, if something could be applied to the plants which
would prevent the moths from depositing their eggs upon them, as
the industrious planter could then set at defiance his more slovenly
neighbor. Mr. Aflleck was enthusiastic in his praise of cresylic soap
as such a plant-protector, and I received a long letter, written a few
weeks previous to his death, and showing how he had found that no
cotton moth had ever deposited an egg on any plant that had been
sprinkled with a solution of this soap. But Dr. Phares states that it
was pretty thoroughly tried last year, and proved a failure, though he
does not give the reason why.

It is some little consolation to know that the character of the sea-
son determines their numbers, and that if none make their appear-
ance in any stage by the first of July, there is little to be feared from
them the rest of that year.

Third — There is in the South another insect {LapJirygma frugi-
jyerda, Sm. & Abb. ?) which is frequently known by the ominous name
of "Army worm ;" an insect which also will attack cotton, though it
prefers grasses and weeds. This species in its habits resembles the true
Army- worm of the Middle States, more closely perhaps than does the
Cotton Army-worm, and Mr. Joseph B. Lyman, in his recent work on
"Cotton culture"* (p. 92), calls it the "Army-worm;" yet to prevent
confusion, the cognomen should be discontinued, and the term
" Southern Grass-worm " (by which it is already very generally known)
should be strictly applied to this third bogus Army-worm. We now
come to the veritable Army- worm of the Northern and Middle States
— the insect which is the subject of this article, and we will dwell for
a few moments on the

PAST HISTORY OF THE TRUE ARMY-WOEM.

If Ave trace back the history of the Army-worm in this country,
we find that inaccuracy and confusion characterize most of the rec-
ords concerning it previous to the year 1861. In that year, however,
by the contemporaneous observations and experiments of several
entomologists, in different sections of the United States, its natural
history was first made known to the world, and the parent moth iden-
tified.

* Cotton Culture, by J. B. Lyman, late of Louisiana. Orange Judd & Co., New I'ork.

42 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

The very earliest record which we find of its appearance in this
country is in Flint's 2nd Keport on the Agriculture of Massachusetts,
where it is stated that in 174:3 " there were millions of devouring
worms in armies, threatening to cut off every green thing."

In 1770 it spread over New England in alarming numbers. Dr.
Fitch in his 6th Report quotes the following full and interesting ac-
count from the Rev. Grant Powers's Historical Sketches of the Coos
Country in the Northern part of New Hampshire. " In the summer of
1770 an army of worms extended from Lancaster, the shire town of
Coos County, N. H„ to Northfield, Mass., almost the whole length of
the Granite State. They began to appear the latter part of July, and
continued their ravages until September. They were then called the
'Northern Army,' as they seemed to advance from the north or north-
west to the south. It was not known that they passed the highlands
between the rivers Connecticut and Merrimack. Dr. Burton, of
Thetford, Vermont, informed the author that he had seen the pastures
so covered with them, that he could not put down his finger without
touching a worm, remarking that ' he had seen more thari ten bushels
in a heap.' They were unlike anything that generation had ever
seen. There was a stripe upon the back like black velvet, and on
each side a stripe of yellow from end to end, and the rest of the body
was brown. They were seen not larger than a pin, but in maturity
were as long as a man's finger and of proportionate thickness. They
appeared to be in great haste, except when they halted to feed. They
entered the houses of the people and came up into the kneading
troughs as did the frogs in Egypt. They went up the sides of the
houses and over them in such compact columns that nothing of the
boards or shingles could be seen. Pumpkin- vines, peas, potatoes and
flax escaped their ravages. But wheat and corn disappeared before
them as by magic. Fields of corn in the Haverhill and Newbury
meadows, so thick that a man could hardly be seen a rod distant,
were in ten days entirely defoliated by the 'Northern Army.' Trenches
were dug around fields a foot deep, as a defence, but they were soon
filled and the millions in the rear passed on and took possession of
the interdicted feed. Another expedient was resorted to : Trenches
were cut, and thin sticks, six inches in diameter, were sharpened and
used to make holes in the bottom of the trenches within two or three
feet of one another, to the depth of two or three feet in the bottom
lands, and when these holes were filled with worms, the stick was
plunged into the holes, thus destroying the vermin. In this way
some corn was saved. About the first of September the worms sud-
denly disappeared. Where or how they terminated their career is
unknown, for not the carcass of a worm was seen. Had it not been
for pumpkins, which were exceedingly abundant, and potatoes, the
people would have greatly suffered for food. As it was, great priva-
tion was felt on account of the loss of grass and grain."

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 43

The same writer adds that "in 1781, eleven years after, the same
kind of worm appeared again, and the fears of the people were greatly
excited, but this time they were few in number."

In 1790 their ravages are again recorded in Connecticut, where
they were very destructive to the grass and corn, but their existence
was short, all dying in a few weeks (Webster on Pestilence, I, 272.)

Their next appearance in the Eastern States was in 1S17, after an
interval of twenty-seven years, according to Fitch, who quotes the
following paragraph from the Albany (N. Y.) Argus:

^Yorcestel\ Mass., Hay 22nd, 1817.— "We learn that the black
worm is making great ravages on some farms in this town, and in
many other places in this part of the country. Their march is a 'dis-
played column,' and their progress is as distinctly marked as the
course of a fire which has overrun the herbage in a dry pasture. Not
a blade of grass is left standing in their rear. From the appearance
of the worm it is supposed to be the same which usually infests gar-
dens, and is commonly called the ctU worm. * * *
This same worm is also destroying the vegetation in the northern
towns of Rensselaer and eastern section of Saratoga,' New York.
Many meadows and pastures have been rendered by their depreda-
tions as barren as a heath. It appears to be the same species of worm
that has created so much alarm in Worcester county, but we suspect
it is different from the cut worm, whose ravages appear to be confined
to corn."

It was not until after a lapse of forty-four years from the last
mentioned date, namely, in the summer of 1861, that this worm again
spread over the meadows and grain fields of the Eastern States.
During the interval, however, it had from time to time attracted at-
tention in the Western States, where it often proved quite destruc-
tive. Thus, in Illinois, it is recorded as having appeared in 1818, 1820,
1825, 1826, 1834, 1841, 1842, 1845 and 1856, and according to Mr. B. F.
Wiley, of Makanda, 111., it was quite numerous and destructive in the
southern part of the State in 1849, and appeared there also in 1857,
though it was confined that year to limited localities.* Mr. J.
Kirkpatrick, of Ohio, mentions its appearance in the northern part of
that State in 1855. He says : " Last season (1855), in consequence of
the heavy rains in the early part of June, the flats of the Cuyahoga,
near Cleveland, were flooded. After the subsidence of the water,
and while the grass was yet coated with the muddy deposit, myriads
of small blackish caterpillars appeared; almost every blade had its
inhabitant; no animal could feed upon it without, at every bite,
swallowing several ; if a new blade sprung up, it was immediately
devoured, but what was most remarkable, the insects did not attempt
to remove to land a foot or two higher but that had not been covered
by the water."f __^

*Prairie Farmer, July ISth, 1861.
|0hio Agricultural Report, 1855, p. 350.

44 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

The year 1861 will long be remembered as a remarkable Army-
worm year, for this insect was observed in particular localities
throughout the whole northern and middle portion of the United
States from New England to Kansas. It was first noticed in numbers
sufficient to cause alarm, in Tennessee and Kentucky during the
month of April ; and toward the close of the same month it appeared
in the southern counties of Illinois. By the end of June it had visited
nearly all portions of the latter State, proving more or less destruc-
tive to grass, wheat, oats, rye, sorghum and corn.

Its advent in Missouri was simultaneous with that in Illinois, and
judging from what facts I have accumulated, it occurred very gen-
erally over this State, though recorded only in St. Louis, Jefferson,
Warren, Boone, Howard and Pike counties. No mention is made ot
its occurrence, at this time, in any of the States or Territories west of
Missouri, but to the East, scarcely a single State escaped its ravages.
In many portions of Ohio it entirely destroyed the hay and grain
crops, and in the eastern part of Massachusetts the damage done was
reported to exceed a half million of dollars.

Singularly enough, I can find no trace of the occurrence of this
insect in Missouri prior to the year 1861, and the first intelligible ac- •
count of it from the pen of a Missourian, is that by Dr. Wislizenus
of St. Louis, published in the Transactions of the St. Louis Academy
of Science (Vol. II, No. 1, pp. 159-60). My good friend Wislizenus
then erroneously supposed it to be identical with the Bonibyx grami-
nis of Northern Europe — an insect which commits similar devasta-
tions on the grasses and cereals in that country. But I believe he is
now well aware that it is an entirely distinct species.

Since 1861 the Army-worm has never spread so generally over
such a vast extent of country, though in 1865 it appeared in consid-
erable numbers around St. Joseph in this State, and in 1866 did some
damage near Quincy, Ills., as we learn from the Quincy Whig.

Last year it made its app.earance again in vast numbers in many
portions of this State, especially in St. Louis, Jefferson, Cooper, Cal-
laway, Henry, St. Clair, Marion, Ralls, and Lafayette counties, and in
some counties in Illinois and Indiana. The first intimation I received
of its appearance in Missouri was the following letter sent to me by
Mr. A. E. Trabue of Hannibal, under date of June 8th :

I inclose a match-box with grass and two worms, which we think
are Army worms. They are here in myriads destroying the grass.
Destroyed a hundred acres of blue grass meadow in five days, and
are now advancing on me. What are they and their habits?

Carbolic acid (one part acid, 20 parts water) kills them if they
get a good drench with it, but is too expensive at that rate. They
will cross a trail of it without injury, though they evidently dislike
the smell. Have sent to town for coal tar to see if they will cross it
when the ground is soaked with it. The advancing column is a half
mile wide.

The hogs are very fond of them; will not notice corn when they

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 45

can get Army-worms, but we have more of the latter than they can
dispose of.

A. E. TRABUE.

Upon receipt of this letter, I visited Hannibal and ascertained
that the worm was even more numerous around New London, and
especially on the farm of Mr. A. McPike.

ITS SUDDEN APPEARANCE AND DISAPPEARANCE.

The popular idea about the sudden appearance of an insect has
always been an erroneous one. The 'blows" or " gentiles" in meat,
"skippers" and mites in cheese, plant-lice on plants, etc., etc., are
very generally supposed to have a spontaneous origin, and our sud-
den Army-worm invasions have very generally been accounted for
in the same way, by those who know nothing of Nature's workings.
Yes, and so-called savans — will it be credited ! — have been anxious to
so far tickle the popular fancy as to conceive and give birth to
theories (such as that of larval reproduction) which were not one whil
more sensible or tenable.

It is well known to entomologists, and the reader, by perusing
the article on "Cut-worms" in my First Report, will soon become
aware of the fact, that most of the larv£e of our Owlet Moths (family
N'oGtuidcB) rest hidden during the day and feed in the morning and
evening, or at night. They are all smooth, tender-skinned worms,
and cannot endure the scorching rays of the sun. Consequently
many of them live almost habitually, just under the surface of the
soil, while others shelter themselves under vegetable substances dur-
ing the da3^ Our Army-worm forms no exception to the rule, for
upon closely watching the habits of the hosts I witnessed last sum-
mer in the field, and of hundreds which I had confined in breeding
cages, I ascertained that they frequently hide themselves Cut-worm
fashion, just under the surface of the ground, or under the plants
upon which they feed. The Army-worm delights, in fact, in cool,
moist and shady situations, and from the passage already quoted, from
Mr. Kirkpatrick, where it is shown that the worms which swarmed on
the Ouyahogo flats, did not attempt to remove to land a foot or so
higher: and from further facts recorded by Dr. Fitch, it becomes evi-
dent that its natural abode is in the wild grass of our swamps, or on
low lands. Daring an excessive dry summer these swampy places
dry out, and the insect, having a wider range where the conditions
for its successful development are favorable, becomes greatly multi-
plied. The eggs are consequently deposited over a greater area of
territory, and if the succeeding year prove wet and favorable to the
growth of the worms we shall have the abnormal condition of their
appearing on our higher and drier lands, and of their marching from
one field to another. For just so soon as the green grass is devoured,
in any particular field in which they may have hatched, these worms
are forced, both from hunger and from their sensibility to the sun's
rays, to leave the denuded field.

46 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

Thus the fact becomes at once significant and explicable, that
almost all great Army-worm years have been unusually wet, with the
preceding year unusually dry, as Dr. Fitch has proved by record.
The appearance of this insect last summer in the West forms no ex-
ception, for the summer of 1868 was unusually dry and hot, while
that of 1869 was decidedly wet. I may remark here, in farther cor-
roboration of these views, that, as might have been expected, no
ArmjT'-worms were noticed last year in the Eastern States ; for though
in the summer of 1868 we of the AVest suffered so severely from
drouth, yet in the East they were blessed with the usual amount of
rain- fall, and in some sections had even more than the average
amount.

There is in reality nothing in the least mysterious in the sudden
appearance and disappearance of the Army-worm, for the truth of
the matter is, that there are a few of these insects in some part or
other of the country every year, and I have for the past four or five
years captured one or more specimens of the moth every fall. The
eggs hatch during the early part of May, in the latitude of South Illi-
nois and South Missouri, and the young worms may feed by millions in
a meadow without attracting attention ; but when they have become
nearly full grown and have stripped bare the fields in which they
were born, and commence to march as described above, they neces-
sarily attract attention, for they are then exceedingly voracious,
devouring more during the last three or four daj^^s of their worm-life,
than they had done during the whole of their previous existence. As
soon as they are full grown they burrow into the earth, and, of course,
are never seen again as worms.

Their increase and decrease is dependent on even more potent
influences than those of a climatic nature. The worms are attacked
by at least eight different parasites, and when we understand how
persistent these last are, and how thoroughly they accomplish their
murderous work, we cease to wonder at the almost total annihilation
of the Ar;^ny-worm the year following its appearance in such hosts.
In the words of the late J. Kirkpatrick "their undue increase but
combines the assaults of their enemies and thus brings them within
bounds again,"

We must also bear in mind, that besides these parasitic insects,
there are some cannibal insects, such as the Fiery Ground-beetle
{Caloso7na calichi'm^'FsibY.) and its larva,* which prey unmercifully
upon the worms, while the "Mosquito Hawks" (Zibelhdce) and bats,
doubtless destroy many of the moths. Hogs, chickens and turkeys
revel in the juicy carcasses of the worms, and sometimes to such an
extent that, as I am informed by Mr. T. R. Allen, of Allenton, the
former occasionally die in consequence, and the latter have been
known to lay eggs in which the parts naturally white, would be green
when cooked. Small birds, of various kinds, and toads and frogs also,

*First Report, Fig. 34. _ •

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 47

come in for their share of this dainty food ; while the worms, when
hard pushed, will even devour each other.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ARMY-WORM.

Previous to the year 1861, but very little accurate knowledge had
been acquired respecting the habits of the Army-worm, and nothing
whatever of a scientific nature had been published.

A few very observing farmers ventured to predict its appearance
during very wet summers succeeding very dry ones. They did not
know why this was the case, but it was a fact that they had learned
from experience. It was also known that the worm attacked only
the grasses and cereals, that it was gregarious in its habits, and that
it disappeared suddenly, in a manner as seemingly mysterious as that
in which its advent was supposed to have been made.

These few facts were about the only ones of real value, respecting
the habits of this insect, that could be gleaned from the statements
of those who had suffered most from its ravages; while the subject
seems to have been, up to that time, entirely ignored by entomologi-
cal writers.

In 1861, however, its very general appearance, and the vast
amount of damage it did, attracted the attention, not only of farmers,
bat of several well-known entomologists, among whom may be men-
tioned our late friends, Walsh, of Illinois, and Kirkpatrick, of Ohio ;
and Cyrus Thomas, of Illinois, Dr. Fitch, of New York, and J. H.
Klippart, of Ohio.

As might have been expected, diverse conclusions were arrived
at, and various theories entertained by these writers, and some very
spirited correspondence between Messrs. Walsh and Thomas and
Walsh and Klippart may be found in old files of both the OJdo Farmer
and the Prairie Farmer.

The principal point of dispute was, whether the Army-worm win-
tered in the egg or chrysalis state, and, as a consequence, whether it
was single or double-brooded.

It is needless to follow these gentlemen in their discussions, which
were frequently caustic and pungent ; but sometimes partook more
of the character of personal wrangling than of a calm and conscien-
tious search after truth. Two of the five parties mentioned above,
are now in their graves, and while one of those yet living — Mr. Cyrus
Thomas — believed in the two-brooded character of the insect; the
other two evade the question entirely. Mr. Walsh took the ground
that it was single-brooded, and the experience of the past year has
convinced me that he was correct.

The Army-worm, like all other insects, hatches from an egg, and
this Q^^ is evidently deposited by the parent moth at the base of
perennial grass-stalks. In Southern Missouri it hatches out about
the middle of April ; in the central part of the State about the first,
and in the northern part about the middle of May ; in Massachusetts,

48 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

about the middle of June, and in Maine about the middle of July. In
every locality the worm goes underground about a month afterwards
to assume the pupa or chrysalis state, and stays underground between
two and three weeks. Hence, in the southern part of this State the
moth appears about the fore part of June, and a month later in each
successive locality as we go north, till in Maine, the period becomes
the fore part of September. Of course, these dates will vary some-
what with the character of the seasons, and sometimes from local
causes; but, broadly speaking, they will hold good.

The moths soon pair, and sometime during the summer and fall
months, deposit their eggs in the positions already indicated. Many
eggs are thus deposited in tame meadows, but there is little doubt in
my mind that the great bulk of these eggs are deposited in low, damp
situations, and if the fall should prove wet, instead of dry, many of
them would perhaps get drowned out, and we should thus have
another potent influence at work to decrease the numbers of the
worm the succeeding year. I make this suggestion with all due con-
sideration, for I have long since concluded that the instincts of
insects, as of some of the higher animals, are not ahvays sufficient to
guard against all contingencies^ It has been demonstrated beyond
the possibility of a doubt, that the Plum Curculio deposits its eggs in
fruit that overhangs water, and in other positions where the grub
must inevitably perish; and certain flesh-flies are well known to
deposit their eggs, by mistake, on flowers which have a putrescent
smell. Darwin has remarked that a small South American bird
{Furnarius cunicularius) which builds its nest at the bottom of a
narrow, cylindrical hole, which extends horizontally several fefet
underground, is so incapable of acquiring any notion of thickness,
that, although he saw specimens constantly flitting over a low clay
wall, they continued vainly to bore through it, thinking it an excel-
lent bank for their nests.* Many such instances of misdirected in-
stinct might be cited, and they all lead me to believe that the female
Arm5'--worm moth would be just as likely to lay her eggs in situa-
tions where they would drown out, as in situations more favor-
able.

The above may be considered as the normal habit of the Army-
worm; but exceptional individuals occur, perhaps one in a hundred,
but demonstrably not as many as one in twenty, which lie in the
chrysalis state all through the winter and do not come out in the
moth state till the following spring. The proportion of those which
lie over till spring is doubtless greater in the more northern States
than it is with us. The great fault which Mr. Walsh made in his ex-
cellent paper on this insect, published in the Illinois State Agricul-
tural Transactions for 1861, was, that he drew his lines too rigidly,
and allowed of no exceptions to the rule which he laid down, of its
single-broodedness. He also fell into an error in roughly estimating

*Voyage Round the World, p. 95.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

49

the average life of the moth at from three to five weeks. I have
often caught the moths, both in the fall and spring months, even
in years when the worms themselves were unnoticed by farmers; and
Dr. Levi Bartlett, formerly of Pesotum, Ills., informed me while he
was practising in Chicago, that he had himself ascertained that they
would sometimes live at least three months, and that he had often
found them as late as October. We must also bear in mind that they
do not all mature and issue from the ground together, even in the
same locality ; but that an interval of from six to eight weeks may
intervene between the issuing of the first and last moths. With
these facts before us it is easy to comprehend how some of the moths
live long enough to deposit their eggs on newly sown fall grain,
though grass meadows are more favorite resorts. It also becomes
clear that the moths may sometimes lay their eggs before harvest
upon growing grain, sufhciently high from the ground, for the egg to
be carried off with the straw ; and this accounts for several well
authenticated instances of the Army-worm starting from stack-yards.
The Army-worm larva varies but little in appearance from the
time it hatches to the time when it is -full grown. Some specimens
are a shade darker than others, but on many thousands examined, I
have found the markings very uniform as represented in the annexed
[Fig. 14.] cut (Fig. 14). The general color is dingy black, and
lit is striped longitudinally as follows : On the back a
(broad dusky stripe ; then a narrow black line; then
'a narrow white line; then a yellowish stripe ; then a
narrow sub-obsolete white line ; then a dusky stripe ;
then a narrow white line ; then a yellowish stripe;
then a sub-obsolete white line; belly obscure green.
Those who are more particular will find a detailed
description at the end of this article.

The chrysalis (Fig. 15) is of a shiny mahogany-
brown color, with two stiff converging [Fig. i5.]
thorns at the extremity, having two ^i^®,^?^^^^^
curled hooks each side of them. The ^'^^^^^
general color of the moth is light reddish-brown or fawn color, and it
is principally characterized by, and receives its name from, a white
spot near the center of its front wings, there being also a dusky ob-
lique line running inwardly from their tips. The accompanying

[Pig. 16.1

N^octua unipuncta.

4 — K E

illustration (Fig. 16), though darker than it
should be, will show wherein it differs from
the Southern Cotton Army-worm, notwith-
standing the colors of the two moths are
nearly alike. Our Army-worm moth
was first described by the English En-
tomologist ilaworth in the year 1810, in
his Lejndoptera Brittanica^ page 174, as
Subsequently the French Entomologist [Gueu68

50 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

{Noctuelites I, p. 77) overlooking the former's description, and re-
garding it as a new species, named ii\LeuGania extranea. Of course
Haworth's name takes the precedence. It is considered a common
species even in European collections, and Guen6e mentions it as oc-
curring in Brazil. A variety without the white spot occurs in Java
and India, and still another, lacking the white spot, and having a
dark border on the hind wings, occurs in Australia; while an occa-
sional specimen has been captured in England. A figure is given
in Stainton's Entomologist's Annual for 1860, of one captured there
in 1859, but if the figure be a correct one, the specimen is much
lighter than ours, and the characteristic white spot is not nearly so
conspicuous.

PARASITES OF THE ARMY-WORM.

The Eed-tailed Tachina Fly — Exorista leucanice^ Kirk. — To one
who has never before seen the Army-worm in its might, the sight of
the myriads as they return thwarted in their endeavors to cross, or
of the living, moving and twisting mass which sometimes fills a ditch
to the depth of several inches ; is truly interesting. At Hannibal
I was much surprised to find that fully nine worms out of every ten
had upon the thoracic segments, just behind the head, from one to
four minute, narrow, oval white eggs, about 0.01 inch long, attached
firmly to the skin ; and my companions were equally surprised when
I informed them that these were the eggs of a parasite, and that
every one of the worms which had such eggs attached to it, would
eventually succumb to one of the maggots these eggs produced. The
eggs are no doubt deposited by the mother fly just behind the head,
so that the worm may not reach the young maggots when they hatch,
and be enabled to destroy them with its jaws. I have found several
different kinds of cut-worms with just such eggs attached invariably
on the back just behind the head. They are glued so strongly to the
skin of the worm that they cannot be removed without tearing the
flesh.

The large two-winged parasitic flies which deposited these eggs,
were wonderfully numerous, buzzing around us and about the worms
like so many bees, and the moment one was caught, I recognized it as
the Red-tailed Tachina Fly. This is one of the most common and
abundant of the Army-worm parasites, and attacks it in widely difl"erent
parts of the country. I have also bred the same fly from the Variga-
ted cut-worm (larva of Agrotis inermis*)^ and a variety of it from our
common large Cecropia worm, which is often found on apple and other
fruit trees. It was first very briefly and imperfectly described as Exor-
ista leuGa[i]ce^ by the late J. Kirkpatrick, in the Ohio Agricultural
Report for 1860, page 358, and was subsequently much more fully de-
scribed as Seno7neto2')ia [Exorista^ inilitaris by Mr. Walsh, in his
Army-worm paper already referred to. Of course Mr. Kirkpatrick's

*First Report, p. 72.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

51

name has the priority, but I introduce Mr. Walsh's original descrip-
tion of the fly and likewise the very same figure (Fig. 17) which he
used to illustrate it.

[Fig. 17.] Exorista leucania — Length, .25 to .40 inches, or from 6 to

10 millimetres, the females not exceeding .30 inch. Face sil-
very, with lateral black hairs only on the cheeks, at the top of
which is a black bristle. Front, golden-olive, with a black cen-
tral stripe, and lateral black convergent hairs. Occiput, dusky.
^Labium, brown, with yellowish hair. Maxipalps, rufous. Eyes,
cinnamon-brown, covered with very short dense whitish hair.
Antenna, tAvo basal joints, black, with black hairs; third joint,
flattened, dusky, and from two and a half to three times the
length of the second joint; seta, black. The entire hinder part
of the head covered with dense whitish hair. Thorax glabrous, bluish-gray, lighter at the side,
with four irregular black vittae, and black hairs and bristles. Scutel, reddish-brown, whitish be-
hind, glabrous, with black hairs and bristles. Pectus, black, glabrous, with hairs and lateral
bristles. Legs, black, hairy ; thighs, dark cinereous beneath ; pulvilli, cinereous. Wings, hyaline ;
nervures, brownish ; alulae, opaque greenish-white. Abdomen, first joint black ; second and third,
opalescent in the middle with black and gray, and at the sides with rufous and gray ; last joint,
rufous, slightly opalescent at the base with gray ; all with black hairs and lateral bristles. Be-
neath, the first joint is black, the others black, margined with rufous, all with black hairs. In the
male the space between the eyes at the occiput is one-seventh of the transverse diameter of the
head; in the female it is one-fourth. The colors of the abdomen sometimes "grease" and fade
in the dried specimen.

Bred fifty-four specimens from about the same number of Army-worms. Described from eight
males and six females. Two species, similarly marked with rufous, but generally distinct, occur
at Rock Island.

Mr. Kirkpatrick also described on the same page of the Ohio
Report for 1860, another species (?) to which he gave the name of Osten
SacTcenii. But upon the very face of it, this proves to be but a smaller
specimen of his leucanice; for the characters on which he would build
this other species, are none of them constant. He says it difiers from
leucanim in its smaller size ; in the gray bands on the abdomen not
being so distinct ; in some little variation in the position of the brown,
and in the 2nilvin[i]ce being more distinctly gray. Now leucanice va-
ries from 0.25 to 0.40 inch in length ; the brown on the abdomen is
opalescent and varies ; the pulvilli and gray abdominal markings
vary far more in depth of shade than there set forth, and the abdo-
men in fact, if the least greasy, often los^s all trace of gray.

t^'s- ^^-^ The Yellow-tailed Tachina Fly, (Fxoris-

ia Uavicauda^ N. Sp.) — We have another spe-
cies in Missouri how^ever, which may be call-
>ed the Yellow-tailed Tachina Fly, and which
differs so notably from the Red-tailed species
that it may be recognized even on the wing.
It is almost twice as large, and the head in-
stead of being narrower than the thorax as in
leucanice, is broader. Its flight is also more
vigorous and its buzz twice as loud, I represent this species at Fig-
ure 18, and draw up the following description for the scientific
reader :

Exorista Jlavicauda, N. Sp. — Length, 0.35 to 0.50 inch. Jlead broader than thorax; face, sil-
very-white, the cheeks inclining to yellow, with lateral black hairs extending to near the base of

52

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

[Fig. 19.]

nutenna?, and one stiffer and longer bristle at top of cheeks : front, dusky, ferruginoua, with tw<?
rows of black converging bristles ; divided by a broad depressed stripe of a brighter ferruginous
color and without bristles ; occiput bright ferruginous ; labium ferruginous with hairs of same
color; maxipalps rufous ; eyes dark mahogony-brown, and perfectly smooth; antennae, two basal
joints rufous, with black hairs, third joint flattened, dusky,, and thrice as long as second; seta,
black ; entire hinder part of head covered with dense white hairs. Thorax, more decidedly blue
than in Icucania, firoader (instead of narrower) in front than behind ; the vittK less distinct ; scute*
of same color as thorax. Abdomen, stout and more cylindrical than in leucania; first joint dark
bluish-gray ; second, light bluish-gray, becoming darker along the middle, at sides and at lower
border; third joint, like second above, but golden-gray at sides (no rufous); last joint ew/iVf^jr yellow-
er pale orange, with no other color and but few black bristles around anus. Wings more dusky
than in leucanicc; alulaj, opaque bluish-white. Legs, black ; pulvilli pale yellow.

Described from one captured, 4 bred $ . Space between eyes at occiput fully one-third the width
of head.

To give an idea of the other parasites which attack the
Army-worm, I will briefly allude to them, and transmit
descriptions for the scientific reader.

The Glassy Mesochorus — Mesochorus vitreus, Walsh. (Fig. 19.) — Length ol
body .08 inch, (two millimetres,) to .13 inch, (three millimetres) ; the small speci-
mens being parasitic on the Army-worm and the large ones captured in Rock Is-
land county. Male, general color light rufous. Eyes and ocelli, black ; antennse
fuscous except toward the base. Upper surface of thorax in the larger specimen fuscous ; inter,
mediate and posterior tibiae with spurs equal to one-fourth of their length ; posterior knees slightly
dusky ; tips of posterior tibiiB distinctly dusky. Wings hyaline ; nervures and stigma, dusky.
Abdomen, a translucent yellowish-white in its central one-third; the remaining two-thirds piceous-
black, with a distinct narrow yellowish annulus at the base of the third joint. In the larger speci-
men which seems to be immature, the basal abdominal joint, and the articulations of the terminal
joints are light rufous. Appendiculum of the abdomen composed of two extremely fine seta;, thick-
ened at their base, whose length slightly exceeds the extreme width of the abdomen.

The female differs from the male, in the head from the mouth upwards being piceous. The
thorax and pectus, in all three specimens, are also piceous-black. Abdomen as in the smaller
male. Ovipositor, which is dusky, slightly exceeds in length the width of the abdomen.

The Diminished Pezomachus — Pczomachus minimxis, Walsh, (Fig. 20.). — Length of the body
[Fig. 20.] .07 to .10 inch., (2 to 2^ millimetres). Male, general color,

piceou.s. Eyes black ; antennte black, except toward the
base, where they are light rufous. Legs rufous ; hind legs a
little dusky. Abdomen narrowed; second and sometimes
'I'~^^\^'^^^J'-< ft^^ third joint annulate with rufous at tip. The female dif-§
fers from the male in the thorax being almost invariably
rufous, and in the first three abdominal joints being gener-
ally entirely rufous, with a piceous annulus at the base of the third, which is sometimes absent.
The abdomen is also fuller and wider. Ovipositor dusky, equal in length to the width of the
abdomen. No vestige of wings in either sex, and the thorax contracted and divided as in Formica.

Fig. 22.] The larvae of this species issue from the body of the

Army-worm, and spin on its skin, small cocoons symmetric-
ally arranged side by side, and enveloped in floss (Fig. 21).
It belongs to a genus of wingless Ichneumons, and in its turn
is preyed upon by a small Chalcis fly ( Chalcis alMfrons,
Walsh) which is represented at Figure 22.

The Militauy Microgaster — Microgaster miUta.ris, Walsh, (Fig. 23). — Length 0.07 inch,
[Fig. 23.] Head black ; palpi whitish ; antennsB fuscous above, light brown beneath towarda
the base. Thorax black, polished, with very minute punctures. Wings hyaline ;
nervures and stigma fuscous ; lower nervure of marginal, and exterior nervure of
second submar^llWt cellule entirely obsolete. Lower nervule of third and terminal
'submarginal cellule, hyaline. Legs light rufous, posterior pair, with knees and
tips of tibiic fuscous. Abdomen black, glabrous, highly polished. Ovipositor not
exserted.

The cocoons of this little parasite are spun in irregu-

TUE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

53

lar masses, and are so completely covered with loose white silk that
as a whole they look like little pieces of fine wool attached to the
back of the Army-worms. They were very numerous last year in
this State, and were sent to me by several correspondents, under the
supposition that they were the eggs of the Army-worm. Nothing
could be more unsafe and erroneous than such a conclusion ; for in-
stead of giving birth to new generations of the Army-worm they pro-
duce the little flies which are its most deadly foes. All the numer-
[Fig. 24.] ous specimens which I bred accord exactly with the
above named species. This parasite is also in its turn
infested by two parasites ( Gh/phe viridascens (Fig. 24)
2ix\di IlocJi.eria perpiilcra.,y^^\Q\\)^h\it while over 90 per
cent, of Army-worms are killed by primary parasites,
only about 18 per cent, of these primary parasites are
destroyed by the secondary parasites.

The Purged Ophion — Ophion purgatus, Ssiy^'. — Body pale honey-yellow, somewhat sericeous ;
{Fig. 25.] antennae rather longer than the body ; orbits yellow, dilated be-

fore, so as to occupy the greater part of the hypostoma; ocelli
largo, prominent; wings hyaline ; stigma slender; first cubital
cellule with two opaque, subtriangular spots ; no areolet ; meta-
thorax with a single, raised, rectilinear, transverse line, near the
base. Length, seven-tenths of an inch.

This large Ichneumon Fly (Fig. 25) has
been bred from the Army-worm. The ovipos-
itor is very short, and instead of piercing the
skin of her victim as do all the other Ichneu-
mons that have been described, the female
Ophion simply attaches her egg, which is bean-
ehaped, by a pedicle to the skin. The footless grub which hatches
from this egg does not entirely leave the egg-case, but the last joints
of its body remain attached to the shell, while it reaches over, and
with its sharp jaws gnaws into the side of the worm (Packard). This
Ophion has been taken in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Indiana,
Illinois, Missouri and Carolina and doubtless occurs all over the Uni-
ted States.

The Army-worm Ichneumon Fly— Ichneiimon lucmiice^ Fitch. —
Dr. Fitch* has briefly described another true Ichneumon Fly
under the above name, which he bred from the Army-worm.

Thus we have seven distinct and true parasites which attack this
worm, and besides these, two others, undescribed, are figured in Har-
ris's Injurious Insects (last edition p. 630), swelling the number to
nine. Can we longer wonder that this dreaded foe to the farmer,
never molests his crops for two successive years?

HABITS OF THE ARMY- WORM, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR ITS DESTRUCTION.

Since the great bulk of the eggs of the Army-worm are depos-
ited in the summer and fall months in grass swamps and grass mead-

* Ophion purgalus, Say.=0. lateralis, Brulle-
*N. Y. Reports, Vol. Ill, p. 126.

54 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

ows, and the eggs do not hatch out till the following spring, it be-
comes obvious that burning over grass meadows in the winter or very-
early in the spring, must destroy most of the eggs. Many instances
might be given where, in past years, burnt grass escaped the worm,
while all the unburnt grass in the neighborhood was badly infested,
and in one instance part of a meadow having been accidentally burnt
and part remaining unburnt, the burnt portion in the following sum-
mer, had no Army-worms on it, and the unburnt portion swarmed
with them. Thus, if you burn your meadows over annually you
will seldom be troubled with this pest, and if you get your neigh-
bors to do the same thing, and in addition will also burn all the wild
grass around you, the Army-worm will never do you any damage.
The remedy is so simple that all can apply it. The best time to do
this burning, is, as all practical men well know, in the dead of the
year, when the ground is frozen ; the roots of the grass are then un-
harmed by the fire. Of course, ploughing the land late in the fall or
late in the spring, will have the same effect as burning it, for if the
eggs are turned two or three inches underground they will surely rot
and fail to hatch. Here we see, as in the case of the Canker-worm,
which I shall presently treat of, and as in the case of almost every
other noxious insect, it is necessary accurately to investigate the
habits and puculiarities of each one before we can effectually coun-
terwork it.

During my visit to Hannibal last June, I ascertained that the
worms orignatedin a large 100-acre field of very rich blue- grass, be-
longing to Mr. W. R. Flowerree. This gentleman makes a business
of fattening cattle, and intended feeding off the grass in the fall ; but
that same blue-grass field had neither heen pastured nor plowed the
year hefore ,' and this was the very reason why the worms originated
there, as the reader will readily perceive from the foregoing account
of the insect's habits.

The Army- worm when traveling will scarcely turn aside for any-
thing but water, and even shallow water-courses will not always
check its progress ; for the advance columns will often continue to
rush head-long into the water until they have sufficiently choked it
up with their dead and dying bodies, to enable the rear guard to cross
safely over. I have noticed that after crossing a bare field or bare
road where they were subjected to the sun's rays, they would congre-
gate in immense numbers under the first shade they reached. In one
instance I recollect their collecting and covering the ground five or
six deep all along the shady side of a fence for about a mile, while
scarcely one was seen to cross on the sunny side of the same fence.
Though they will nibble at clover, they evidently do not relish it, and
almost always pass it by untouched. They will eat any of the grasses,
and are fond of oats, rye, sorghum, corn and wheat, though they seldom
devour any other part but the succulent leaves. They often cut off
the ears of wheat and oats and allow them to fall to the ground, and

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 55

they are perhaps led to perform this wanton trick, by the succulency
of the stem immediately below the ear. South of latitude 40° they
generally appear before the wheat stalks gcettoo hard, or early enough
to maierially injure it; but north of that line, wheat is generally too
n)U<rii ripened for their tastes, and is sometimes even harvested before
the full grown worms make their advent.

I have heard of the Army-worm, sometimes passing through a
wheat field when the wheat was nearly ripe, and doing good service
by devouring all the chess and leaving untouched the wheat ; but the
following item from Collinsville, Illinois, which appeared in the ^lis-
souri Democrat^ contains still more startling facts, and would indi-
cate that even a foe to the farmer as determined as this, may some-
times prove to be his friend.

" Harvest and Crops. — Notwithstanding the unfavorable weather,
many farmers have commenced the wheat liarvest. The yield in this
immediate vicinity will be superabundant. Some fields were struck
with rust a few days since, but the Amry-worm making its appearance
simultaneously, stripped the straw entirely bare of blades and saved
the berry from injury. These disgusting pests have saved thousands
of dollars to farmers in this neighborhood. A few fields of corn and
grass have been partially destroyed, but by ditching around fields, the
worm's ravages have been confined within comparatively narrow
limits."

The worms may be prevented from passing from one field to an-
other by judicious ditching. Mr. Trabue has large meadows, sepa-
rated only by a road from the blue-grass field of Mr. Flowerree ; and
he thought he could keep out the worms by simply making a V-shaped
ditch ; believing that they could not crawl over, so long as the earth
crumbled. The first evening after it was dug, this ditch seemed to be
ejffectual, and the bottom was covered with one seething, twisting
mass of the worms ; but a heavy rain came on in the night following,
after which they crossed without difficulty. Mr. Jas. Dimmitt how-
ever,-who had 80 acres of wheat adjoining the fatal blue-grass field,
effectually protected it by surrounding it with a ditch which had the
inner side slanting under, towards the field it was intended to protect.
It was indeed most fortunate that Mr. Dimmitt had hit upon the true
methodin the beginning, for his wheat was yet in that soft state, in
which many of the ears would have been devoured or cut otF; and
friend Trabue was not long in profiting by his example.

A good plan to destroy the worms which accumulate in the fur-
row or ditch is to burn straw in it; for the fire not only kills the
worms, but makes the earth in the ditch friable and more eflicient in
preventing their ascent. A heavy roller passed over a field will kill
almost every worm, and I have already stated that hogs and poultry
wllf ct'evour great numbers of them. But it is always better and
easier to prevent than to cure.

Leucania unipuncta, Haw.— Larua— General color dingy black, with the piliferous spots,
placed in the normal position, but scarcely visible, though the soft hairs arising from them are
easily seen with a lens. Four lateral light lines, of almost equal thickness, and at about equal

56 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

distance from each other, the two uppermost white, the two lowermost yellow ; a much less dis-
tinct dorsal white line, frequently obsolete in middle of segment, and always most distinct at the
divisions: a jet black line immediately above the first lateral white one, the dorsum near it,
thickly mottled with dull yellow, but becoming darker as it approaches the fine dorsal white line,
along each side of which it is perfectly black. Space between lateral light lines 1 and 2, dull
yellow, the white lines being relieved by a darker edge ; that between lines 2 and 3 almost black,
being but slightly mottled along the middle ; that between 3 and 4 yellow, mottled with pink-
brown, and appearing lighter than that between 1 and 2. Venter greenish-glaucous, mottled and
speckled with neutral color, especially near the edge of the 4th lateral line. Legs glassy aad of
same color as venter, those on thoracic segments with black claws, those on abdomen with a large
shiny black spot on the outside. Stigmata oval, black, and placed in the 3d lateral light line.
Head pale grayish-yellow, speckled with confluent fuscous dots ; marked longitudinally by two
dark lines that commence at the corners of the mouth, approach each other towards the centre,
and again recede behind ; on each side are four minute polished black eyelets, placed on a light
orescent-shaped ridge, and from each side of this light ridge a dark mark extends more or leii
among the confluent spots above. Described from numerous average living specimens.

Jmogro— Front wings: general color tarnished yellowish-drab, inclining to russet j sprinkled
with blackish atoms, the basal half of the costal margin being lighter than the rest. Ordiuarj;-
spots brighter than rest of wing, being either fulvous or rust-red, each having ordinarily a tar-
nished centre, the reniform or "kidney-shaped" spot, having at its lower border a conspicuous
white point, indistinctly surrounded by blackish, from which point the moth takes its name :
between this point and the terminal border a transverse row of black dots (one on each vein)
much arcuated above; and inside and parallel with it a less distinct row, the dots forming
which, are between the nerves ; an oblique dark streak, shaded off gradually posteriorly, but re-
lieved anteriorly by the same bright color as the ordinary "spots" runs from the head of this row
of dots to the apex of the wing; nerves more or less marked with white, especially towards their
tips ; posterior or terminal border with a row of black spots between the nerves ; fringes same
color as wing, with a narrow dusky line inside their middle. Hind wings partly transparent,
smoky-brown, with a slight purplish lustre, the veins, lunule, and terminal border more dusky ;
fringes pale yellow with a dusky middle line.

Under surfaces opalescent yellowish-white, the front wings shaded with smoky-gray, the costa
narrowly, and the terminal margin broadly freckled with dusky specks, the fringes and a shade
near the apex flesh-color, and a distinct dusky band across their outer one-fourth, narrower but
darker on t^e costa than in the middle of the wing : the hind wings with the lunule distinct and
a'so speckled anteriorly and posteriorly, the basal edge of the posterior portion well defined by a
■ aries of black dots on the nerves.

Head and shoulders of same color as basal part of costa ; thorax same as front wings ; abdo-
■i9n same as hind wings ; beneath all more uniformly gray.

INSECTS INFESTING THE SWEET-POTATO.

TORTOISE-BEETLES.

(Coleoptera, Cassidae.)

In my First Report I described eleven different and distinct in-
sects which habitually prey on the common Irish Potato {Salanum
tuberosum). I will now give an account of the worst insect enemies
of the Sweet-Potato {Ipoinea hatattts)., all of which attack that plant
in this State. Before doing so, however, it will be as well to remark,
that one species belonging to the same family as those which feed on
the Sweet- Potato, and which is quite frequently met with in Missouri,
namely, the Clubbed Tortoise-beetle {Dcloyala clavata, Oliv.Fig. 26,)

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

57

[Fig. 26.] feeds in reality on the common Irish Potato, tliiis swelling
the number of insects which injuriously affect that most
^valuable esculent, to a round dozen. The larva of the
Clubbed Tortoise-beetle is not yet known, and it is the per-
fect insect which has been found to attack the Potato. This
is doubtless the species which Mr. Huron Burt of Williams-
burg, Callaway county, referred to in the Journal of Agrieulture of
June 6th, 1868, as "a scale-like, terrapin-shaped hard insect, spread
out like a flying-squirrel," that adhered tenaciously to the leaves of
his potato plants. By referring to Figure 26 the reader will not be
slow to learn ^iiy these beetles are called Tortoise-beetles, for the
patches of dark opaque color which extend on the thin projecting
semi-transparent shell of that species, remind one very forcibly of the
paws of a mud-turtle. The true le^s however, which, as in all other
insects, are six in number, and which in this species, are so short that
they scarcely reach beyond the thin shield-like crust that extends from
the body, may readily be seen when the insect is turned upside down.
The insects which attack the Sweet-Potato are few in species.
and belong almost entirely to this group of Tortoise-beetles. With

the exception of the Cucumber Flea-beetle
{Haliica ciibumeris, Harr.), figured and de-
scribed on page 101 of the First Report, and
a few solitary caterpillars, I have never
found any other insects on this plant; but
these Tortoise-beetles are of themselves
sufficiently numerous in individuals and
species to often entirely destroy whole fields of this esculent, and
they are especially severe on the plants when newly transferred from
the hot-bed.

These insects are at present included in the great Chrysomela
family of beetles, though they were formerly placed in a separate
family (Cassidid.e) by themselves, and there certainly are few groups
more strongly characterized. They are almost all of a broad sub-
depressed form, either oval or orbicular, with the thorax and wing-
covers so thoroughly dilated at the sides into a broad and flat
margin, as to forcibly recall the appearance of a turtle, whence the
popular name. Many have the singular power, in a greater or less
degree, of changing their color when alive, and as 1 shall show
further on, some of them shine at will with the most brilliant me-
tallic tints.

Insects, as with the higher animals, usually void their excrement
in such a manner that they effectually get rid of it, and in some cases
they take pains to fling it as far frotn them as possible, by means of
their hind legs. I have especially noticed this cleanly habit in the
Oblong-winged Katydid (P7n/lIoptera oUongi folia, DeGeer), of
which I have had numbers breeding in confinement durirg the past
two summers. They almost always fling their excrement straight

58 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

from them, so that if they are in a horizontal position, it adheres to
the sides of their cages instead of falling to the bottom.-- In the
great majority of insects the anus is situated at, or near the lastring,
and usually on the ventral side, so that the fasces are easily: left
behind; but the larvae of several species of beetles that have the
peculiar habit of covering themselves with their own excrement,
have the anus not on their bellies, but on their backs. The Three-
lined Leaf-beetle* {Lema trilineata) has this habit, and is enabled
to cover itself by the singular position of the anal vent which is on
the back of the last segment. A closely allied European species,
but belonging to a different genus {Crioceris merdigera) has the same
habit. In this country there is also another yellowish oval jump-
ing beetle {Blepharida rhois^ Forster), which in the larva state
covers itself with its excrement. In this instance the anus is at the
end of the last segment, but it is sufficiently extensile at the will of
the insect to allow of the accomplishment of the^ feat. This last
larva is a disgusting looking thing, and I found it last year very
abundant along the line of the Iron Mountain Kailroad, on all three
of the Sumachs— i?7m5 aromatica^ glabra and ccj^^^i^ia— preferring
them in the order of their naming. \: :;

But the larvEe of the Tortoise-beetles are par exGellenceXhe true
dung carriers, for they excel all others in this medigerous art. In the
instances related above, the load is carried immediately on the back,
but our Tortoise-beetles are altogether more refined in their tastes,
and do not allow the dung to rest on the body, but simply shade
themselves with a sort of stercoraceous parasol.

The larvas of all the species that have been observed to feed on
the Sweet-Potato are broad and flattened like the beetles, and have
the margin of the body furnished with spines which are often barbed,
(Fig. 27,2), They all belong to the genera Oassida and CojJfocyGla,, and
there are thirty-two of these spines, or sixteen on each side of the
body. Four of these are situated on the prothorax, which forms two
anterior projections beyond the common margin ; four of them — the
two anterior ones longer than the others— are on each of the two fol-
lowing thoracic segments, and each of the abdominal segments is
furnished with bjit two. There, are nine elevated spiracles each side
superiorly, namely, one immediately behind the prothorax and eight
on the abdominal segments. The fore part of the body is projected
shield-like over the head, which is retractile and small.
'■^i^'"' ^^^ ^ closely allied genus {Chelymorjjlia) to
which belongs a brick-red insect with black
.spots (C'A. crilraria^ Fabr., Fig. 28, pupa; 29
beetle) found npoh Milltweed (Ascle^msji and
which has the body greatly rounded above, with,
scarcely any lateral flange, the larva, as ob-
served by Dr. Packard, has the prickles smooth and not

*First Rep., p, 100.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 59

sprangling;. In another genus also {Physonota) to which belongs the
Five-dotted Tortoise-beetle {Ph. qidnqnepunctata^ Walsh tfe Riley,
[Fig. 30.] Fig. 30, J), and which is intermediate in form be-

tween the last named genus {CJielymorpha) and
^those with the body greatly llattened (Cassida^
Cojytoeycla, Deloyala) the prickles of the larva are
also smooth and only 20 in number, i. e., 10 on each
side, as may be seen by referring to Figure 30, a-
Mr. Walsh found this insect in Northern Illinois,
and though we do not know upon what particular plant it feeds, yet
from analogy we may infer that it subsists on some Composite flower,
as other species belonging to the same genus are known to do.

Almost all the larvae of the beetles belonging to the great Chrt-
SOMELA family, of which the Colorado Potato Bug may serve as an ex-
ample, have, besides the six legs at the anterior end of the body, an
additional proleg, or protuberance which serves as such, at the pos-
terior end ; but the larvaD of bur Tortoise-beetles have no such proleg,
and the six anterior legs are short, thick and fleshy, and with the re-
tractile head, give these larvag, from a side view, as great a resem-
blance to a turtle as have the beetles.

Though lacking an anal proleg, however, they are characterized
by having a movable forked tail, in the shape of two long prong-like
horny filaments which both spring from a broad neck situated imme-
diatel}'^ above the anus. The anus projects and curves over the back
at the will of the insect, and by the aid of this fork and of some of
tlie lateral spines, it forms the parasol of dung which so nicely pro-
tects it.

When we read of those Hottentots who cover difl"erent portions
of their bodies with the uncleaned intestines of sheep and oxen, we
feel shocked at such barbarism, and can scarcely comprehend how
human beings can defile themselves with the like disgusting materials.
Such men must be pitiable indeed, for they can have no other object
than the gratification of their filthy and beastly pleasures. There is
nothing so repulsive about our insect Hottentots, for the dung parasol
of our Tortoise-beetles has neither offensive odor or appearance, and
its true character is generally sufiiciently disguised by being inter-
mixed with the cast-off skin and prickly spines; and though those
species, first referred to, which directly cover their backs, often look
sufficiently unclean, we know that they thus act at Nature's bidding
and for a useful purpose.

All the Tortoise-beetle larvae which I have bred to the perfect
beetle state, have come to their growth in about three weeks after
hatching. They cast their skins at three successive periods, and these
skins are slipped on to the fork, where in most instances they remain.
On carefully detaching from a full grown larva the dung with which
these skins are mixed, these three successive skins are easily recog-
nized, the smallest being at the extremity and the largest at the base

60

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

of the fork. They are especially recognizable in the Mottled Tortoise
beetle iCassida guttata, Oliv., Fig. 36,) mentioned below, which re-
moves most of its dung before each moult.

^'^s-^^' The eggs from which these larvas hatch, are de-

posited singly upon the leaves, to which they are fas-
tened by some adhesive substance. They are of
irregular angular form ; flat, and somewhat narrower
at one end than the other; ridged above and at the
sides, but smooth and obovate below. They are usually
furnished with spine-like appendages, which however
are sometimes entirely lacking. They look, in fact,
very much like miniature specimens of those curious
skate-barrows or Mermaid's purses, which are found
so commonly along the sea-shore, and which are the
empty egg-shells of certain kinds of Ray-fish or Skate. Those of tiie
common Golden Tortoise-beetle (Fig. 31,) are 0.04 inch long, and of a
dull, dirty white color.

The Tortoise-beetle larvae, when full grown, fasten the last two or
three joints of the body to the underside of a leaf, by means of a
sticky secretion, and in about two days change to pupas. The pupa
of those species which have 32 barbed spines, is flat with usually
four or five broad but thin and transparent serrated leaf like appen-
dages on each side of the abdomen, and the prothorax, which is greatly
dilated and covers the head, is furnished around the edge with smaller
barbed spines. The broad leaf-like spines at the edges of the body
are bent under while the transformation is being effected, bni are
soon afterwards stretched stiffly out with a forward slant. The pupa
loses the pronged tail, but as the old larval skin is left adhering to
the terminal segments the prong of dung still protects it in most
cases. The legs and antennie are not free in this, as in the pupas of
most other beetles, but are soldered together as in the chrysalis of a
butterflj^ and yet it has the powder of raising itself up perpendicularly
upon the tail end by which it is fastened. The pupa state lasts about
a week.

Having thus spoken in general terras of this anomalous group of
beetles, I shall now refer more particularly to a few of the species.
Most of those mentioned below infest the Sweet-Potato both in the
larva and perfect beetle states. They gnaw irregular holes and when
fiutficiently numerous entirely riddle the leaves. They usually dwell
on the underside of the leaves, and are found most abundant during
tlie months of May and June. There must be several broods during
the year, and the same species is often found in all stages, and of all
sizes at one and the same time. In all probability they hybernate in
the beetle state.

I have proved by experiment that Paris green — one part of the
green to two of flour — when sprinkled under the vines, will kill these
insects, though not near so readily as it does the Colorado Potato

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. ^1

Bag. Moreover, as these Tortoise-beetles usually hide on the under
side of the leaves, and as the vines trail on the ground, it is very diffi-
cult to apply the powder without running some risk from its poison-
ous qualities. I therefore strongly recommend vigilance when the
plants are first planted, and by tiie figures and descriptions given
below the reader will be enabled to recognize and kill the lew beetles
which at that time make their appearance, and thus nip the evil in
the bud. The Bermuda and Brazilian Sweet-Potato plants are more
vigorous than the Nansemond, and less liable to be attacked.

THE TWO-STRIPED SWEET-POTATO BEETLE— Cassirfa Uivittata,, Say.

This is the most common species found upon the Sweet-Potato^
[Fig. 32.] and seems to be confined to that plant, as I have

rT r' """---^s^.^^^^ never found it on any other kind. Its transfor-
^^^f^mations were first described by myself in the
\ '^}^:-) Prairie J^'armer Annual^ for 186S, (p. 53.) The

larva (Fig, 27, 2 enlarged; Fig. 32, natural size),
«^ is dirty white or yellowish-white, with a more
or less intense neutral-colored longitudinal line
along the back, usually relieved by an extra light band each side. It
differs from the larvae of all other known species in not using its fork
for merdigerous purposes. Indeed, this fork is rendered useless as a
shield to the body, by being ever enveloped, after the first moult, in
the cast-off prickly skins, which are kept free from excrement.
Moreover, this fork is seldom held close down to the back, as in the
other species, but more usually at an angle of 45° over or from the
body, thus suggesting the idea of a handle, in Kirby & Spence's In-
troduction (p. 426), may be found the following passage in reference
to the positions in which the fork of the larvns of these Tortoise-
beetles is carried: "The instrument by which they eftect this is an
anal fork, upon which they deposit their excrement, and which in
some is turned up and lies flat upon their backs ; and in others forms
diflferent angles, from very acute to very obtuse, with their body ;
and occasionally is unbent and in the same direction with it." Reau-
mur is referred to as authority for these statements, and the language
would lead us to suppose that the forks were thus variously carried
by different species; but Reaumur never said anything of the sort.
His language has been poorly rendered, for he distinctly referred to
the different positions which the same insect could give to the fork,
and I believe that the peculiarity mentioned above has never been
observed in the larva? of any other species of the genus.

When full fed, this larva attaches itself to the underside of the
leaf, and in two days the skin bursts open on the back, and is worked
down towards the tail ; when the pupa, at first pale, soon acquires a
dull brownish color, the narrow whitish tail, which still adheres pos-
teriorly, being significant of the species. See (Fig. 27, 3.)

The beetle (Fig, 27, *) is of a pale yellow, striped with black, and
though broader and vastly different scientifically, still bears a gen-

62

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

■\W'\\

eral resemblance to the common Cacnmher-heetle (Bialroiica vit-
tata^ Fabr.)

These beetles may be seen quite thick around young peach and
apple trees quite early in the season, and a little later they venture
into the trees and pair off; but as soon as the Sweet-Potato plants
are set, they leave everything else for them.

THE GOLDEN TORTOISE-BEETLE— Ca.ssJda aurichalcea, Fabr.

Next to the preceding species, the Golden Tortoise-beetle is the
most numerous on our sweet-potatoes; but it does not couline its
'^^'^••^^•^ injuries to that plant, for it is found

in equal abundance on the leaves of
the Bitter-Sweet and on the dijfferent
kinds of Convolvulus or Morning
Glory. The lava (Fig. 33, a, natural
size h, enlarged with the dung taken
liom the fork), is of a dark brown
I fil^r, with a pale shade upon the
back. It carries its fascifork directly over the back, and the ex-
crement is arranged in a more or less regular trilobed pattern. The
loaded fork still lies close to the back in the pupa, which is brown
like the larva, and chiefly characterized by three dark shades on the
transparent prothorax, one being in the middle and one at each side,
as represented at Figure 34, c.

The perfect beetle (Fig. 34, d)^ when seen in all its splendor, is
one of the most beautiful objects that can well be imagined. It ex-
actly resembles a piece of golden tinsel, and
with its legs withdrawn and body lying flat to
a leaf, the uninitiated would scarcely suppose
it to be an insect, did it not suddenly take wing
while being observed. At first these beetles
are of a dull deep orange color, which strongly
relieves the transparent edges of the wing-cov-
ers and helmet, and gives conspicuousness to six black spots, two (in-
dicated in the figure) above, and two on each side. But in about a
week after they have left the pupa shell, or as soon as they begin to
copulate, they shine in all their splendor, and these black spots are
scarcely noticed.

THE PALE-THIGHBD TORTOISE-BEETLE— Cassi(ia paZ/Wa, Herbst.

Tliis species can scarcely'- be distinguished from the preceding.
It is of a somewhat broader, rounder form, and difl"ers in partially
lacking the black spots on the wing-covers, and in having the thighs
entirely pale yellow, while in auriGhalGea they are black at the base.
It likewise feeds upon the Sweet- Potato, and its larva differs only
from that of the former, in its spines being brighter and lighter col-
ored, and in having a dull orange head, and a halo of the same color
on the anterior portion of the body.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

63

rent wine; covers.

THE MOTTLED TORTOISE-BEETLE— Cassidagullala,-- Oliv.

This species (Fig. 3G) which is
the next most common of those
found on the Sweet-Potato in the
latitude of St. Louis, is at once
distinguished from all the others
^here described, by being usually
black, with the shoulders black to
the extreme edge of the transpa-
It is a very variable species, and is frequently more
or less speckled or mottled with gold, while more rarely it has a uni-
form golden appearance. f

The larva, which is represented enlarged and with the dung re-
moved at Figure 35, a, is of a uniform green color, with a bluish shade
along the back, which shade disappears however whenever the insect
has fasted for a few hours. It carries its dung in irregular broad
masses, often branching as in the species next to be described. The
pupa (Fig. 35, h,) is also of a uniform green color, with a conspicuous
black ring around the base of the first abdominal pair of spiracles.
Before changing to pupa and previous to each moult, this larva is in
the habit of removing the dung from its fork.

THE BLACK-LEGGED TORTOISE-BEETLE— Cossfda nigripes, Oliv.

auriclialcea, from which species
its

This species, Vv^hich is
likewise found on the
Sweet-Potato, is a little
the largest of those here-
tofore mentioned. The
beetle (Fig. 38) has the
power, when alive, of put-
^ting on a golden hue, but
is not so brilliant as C,
at once distinguished by
size and by its black legs and three large con-
spicuous black spots on each wing-cover. The larva
(Fig. 37, Z-,) is of a pale straw color with the spines,
which are long, tipped with black ; and besides a dusky
shade along each side of the back, it has two dusky
spots immediately behind the head, and below these
last, two larger crescent marks of the same color. The
dung is spread in a characteristic manner, extending
laterally in long shreds or ramifications. (See Fig. 37, «.) The pupa

* This insect is referred by Boheman to the genus Cos focycZa, which diflFers from Cassirfa by
more slender, not distinctly clavate and nearly filiform antennae.

f This species has very probably been described under different names. It is C. cruciata,
Fabr. ; C. signifer, Herbst, and from larvaj found on the same batch of plants, and differing in no
respect whatever, I have bred specimens which were determined by Le Conte as C. trabeala, Lee.

64 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

(Fig. 37, e.) is dark brown, variegated with paler brown as in the fig-
ure, while the spines around the edges are transparent and white.

tup: pickle WOR^—PAacdlura nitiialh, Cramer.

(Lepidoptera, Marg-arodidae.)

As long ago as the year 1828, Dr. T. W. Harris described and
named the common Squash Borer {^■Sf/eria [TrocJn'liuvi] ciicurMtce).
This borer is a true caterpillar, having sixteen legs, and very much
resembling the common Peach Borer. It is hatched in the early part
of summer, from eggs placed by the parent moth on the stems of the
vine, close to the root. It penetrates the stem, and by devouring the
pith, frequently causes the death of the vine. When full fed it re-
treats a short distance into the ground and forms a cocoon of a gummy
substance covered with particles of earth. "Within this cocoon it
passes the winter, and early the next summer issues as a moth. This
moth is very beautiful, with a conspicuous orange colored body spot-
ted with black ; with the front wings blue-black and with the hind
wings perfectly transparent.

Ever since the day when it was first described by Harris, this in-
sect has been known as the Squash Borer. It seems to be confined,
however, to a few of the more Eastern States, and although Mr. Wm.
Klussman, of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, thinks he is troubled with this
species, and has given up the growing of all winter squashes in con-
sequence of its ravages ( Country Gentleman^ Nov. 11, 1869, page 378),
yet it certainly is not of common occurrence in the Yalley of the Mis-
sissippi, or we should more often hear of it.

There is, however, another borer which attacks the roots of cu-
curbitaceous vines,, and which is but too common all over the coun-
try. 1 refer to that ubiquitous little pest the Striped Cucumber-beetle
{DiahvotiGa vittata^ Fabr.) an insect which annually destroys thou-
sands of dollars' worth of vines in the United States, and for which
remedies innumerable — some sensible, but the greater portion not
worth the paper on which they are printed — are published every j'ear
in our different agricultural papers.

The natural history of this "Striped Bug," as it is more commonly
called, was first made known in the V/est by Dr. Henry Shimer, of Mt.
Carroll, in the Prairie Farmer^ for August 12, 1865. But as every-
thing pertaining to such a very common and destructive insect, can-
not be too often repeated, I will here relate its habits in the briefest
manner.

The parent beetles (Fig. 39) make their appearance quite early
[Fig. 39J i,;i the season, when they immediately commence their work
of destruction. They frequently penetrate through the cracks
that are made by the swelling and sprouting of the seeds of
melons, cucumbers, or squashes, and by nipping off the young
sprouts, destroy the plant before it is even out of the ground.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

65

Their subsequent work when the vines have once pushed forth their
leaves, is too well known to need description. Yet notwithstanding
the great numbers and the persistency of these beetles, we finally suc-
ceed, with the proper perseverance and vigilance, in nursing and pro-
tecting our vines, till we think they are large enough to withstand all
attacks. Besides, by this time, the beetles actually begin to diminish
in numbers, and we congratulate ourselves on our success. But lo!
All of a sudden, many of our vines commence to wilt, and they finally
die outright. No wound or injury is to he found on the vine above
ground, and we are led to examine the roots. Here we soon discover
the true cause of death, for the roots are found to be pierced here and
there with small holes, and excoriated to such an extent, that they
present a corroded appearance. Upon a closer examination the
authors of this mischief are easily detected, either imbedded in the
root, or lurking in some of the corroded furrows. They are little whit-
ish worms, rather more than a third of an inch long, and as thick as a
good sized pin ; the head is blackish-brown and horny, and there is a
plate of the same color and consistency on the last segment. These
worms are in fact the young of the same Striped Bug which had been
80 troublesome on the leaves earlier in the season; and that the in-
sect may be as well known in this, its masked form, as it is in the
beetle state, I present the annexed highly magnified figures of the
[Fig. 40.] worm (Fig. 40), No. 1 showing a back view

and No. 2 a side view. The beetles, while
feasting themselves on the tender leaves of
the vine, were also pairing, and these worms
hatched from the eggs which were deposited
^ ,j , ii, J »|, near the roots by the female. When the worms

I iM I |4Ji have become full-grown, which is in about a

I ^'^ MJ| month after they hatch, they forsake the roots

■*• ^' '' ' *i J/ and retire into the adjoining earth, where

each one, by continually turning around and
around, and compacting the earth on all sides
forms for itself a little cavity and in a few days
throws off its larva skin and becomes a pupa.
This pupa is much shorter than was the worm,
and is represented enlarged in the annexed Figure 41, No. 1 ventral
[Fig. 41.] view, and No. 2 back view, the hair lines at the sides

showing the natural size. This pupa state lasts about
■rtwo weeks, at the end of which time the skin is again
moulted, and the perfect beetle form assumed. All
the parts of this newly developed beetle are at first
soft, but after remaining motionless in its cell, till
these soft parts have acquired solidity and strength, it breaks through
the walls of its prison and works itself up to the light of day.

There are from two to three generations each year, the number
varying according to the latitude, or the length of the winter. To
5 — E R . '

66 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OJ*

show however, how the different broods run into one another, and to
prove how diflficult it is to separate them by distinct lines, I will state
that at Kirkwood, Mo., I found this insect abundant in its three stages
of larva, pupa, and beetle, during the first days of October last. And
in a large jar partly filled with earth, in which I placed a number of
infested roots about that time, I to-day (Nov. 8, 1869) find both pupae
and beetles. The soil in this jar was kept as nearly as possible in the
same condition as that out ot doors, and as I noticed the beetles
around the vines even after the first frosts, I am led to infer that, in
this latitude at least, the insect often hybernates as a beetle, and not
always as a pupa, as intimated by Dr. Shimer.

Of all the multifarious remedies proposed against the attacks of
this insect, there are none so effectual or so cheap in the end, as in-
closing the young vines in boxes which are open at the bottom, and
covered with millinet on the top. Such boxes are made at a trivial
cost, and if properly stored away each season after use, will last for
many years. Whenever other remedies must from necessity be
resorted to, there is nothing better than sprinkling the vines,
early in the morning with Paris-green and flour, (one part of the
green to four or five of flour) or with white hellebore. It of course
follows, that if the beetles are effectually kept off, there will after-
wards be no worms at the roots.

Much complaint was made last summer, in various parts of the
country, of the sudden death of cucurbitaceous vines, frorE some un-
known cause, and Henry Ward Beecher seems to have suffered in
this manner, like the rest of us, but could find no worms in the roots
of his vines. I know from experience that such vines are subject to
a species of rot in the root — a rot not caused by insects, and for that
reason the more serious, since we cannot tell how to preventit. I have
seen whole melon patches destroyed by this rotting of the roots, but
in the great majority of instances where I have examined vines that
had died from " some unknown cause," I have had no difficulty in either
Jnding the worms of the "Striped Bug" yet at work on the roots, or
else the unmistakable marks of their having been there. Indeed, by
the time a vine dies from the effects of their gnawings and burrow-
ings, the worms have generally become fully grown, and have hidden
themselves in their little pupal cavities.

So much for the two borers which have heretofore been known to
attack plants belonging to the Gourd family. We have seen how they
both bore into the roots of these plants, and how one of them in the
perfect state attacks the leaves. No other borers have been known
to attack these plants, though the 12-Spotted Diabrotica (D. 12-pu7ic-
[Fig. 42] taia, Fig. 42)^ may often be found embedded in the rind of
both melons, cucumbers and squashes. But we now come to
a third insect which attacks plants of this same Gourd fam-
i,,[,,iN~ ily. It neither bores into the root, nor devours the foliage,
however, but seems to confine itself to the fruit ; and I have

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

67

called it the Pickle Worm, from the fact of its often being found n
cucumbers that have been pickled.

[Fig. 43] At Figure 43, <» 1 represent

one of these worms of tlie \\a\-
lal size. They vary much m
(ppearance, some being of a
vellowish-white, and very
MUi'h resembling theinsi.le of
1 unripe melon, while oiliers
re tinged more or less with
,reen. They are all quite soft
ind translucent, atid there is
' transverse rowof eight shiny,
ightly elevated spots on
u-h segment, and an addi-
nil tvvo he' in) *lui others
on the back. (See Fig. 43, ^.) Along the back and towar t'e
head, these spots are larger than at the sides, and each spot gives rise
to a fine hair. The specimen from which 1 obtained my first m. th
last summer was very light colored, and these -i^nt^ > o c, ,., y
the color of the body as to be scarcely visible. The head was honey-
yellow bordered with a brown line and with three black confluent
spots at the palpi.

The cervical shield or horny plate on the first segment was of the
same color as the body, and so transparent that the brown border of
the head when retracted shone distinctly through it as at Figure 43,
h. The breathing-holes or stigmata are small, oval, and of the same
color as the body, with a fulvous ring around them. In some of the
young worms the shiny spots are quite black and conspicuous. My
late associate, Mr. Walsh, communicated to me the following descrip-
tion of such a marked specimen, from which he bred the very same
species of moth as from the paler individuals : The description was
taken when the worm was but half grown.

Length ^ inch. Color pale greenish-yellow; 16 legs. Head pale
rufous, the Y-shaped sutures and the mouth black. Cervical shield as
in Figure 43, 6?, each half edged with black, center rufous. Marked
under shield on each side as at^, and the same lateral marking on joints,
2 and 3. Above on joints 2 and 3 as at f. On joints 4-11, eight (in-
cluding 2 lateral) spots transversely arranged, and behind these, two
dorsal spots. Of the eight spots the two lateral ones on eich side are
substigmatal. Stigmata edged with dusky. Anal joint with five spots
as in ff, the middle one large and transverse. Body with some sparse
long dusky hairs, 6-8 times as long as wide, a little tapered toward
the head. Spins a thread. Legs and prolegs nearly immaculate.

The worms commenced to appear in the latitude of St. Louis,
about the middle of July, and they continued their destructive work
till the end of September. They bore cylindrical holes into the fruit
and feed on its fleshy parts. They are gross feeders and produce a

68 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

large amount of soft excrement. I have found as many as four in a
medium-sized cucumber, and a single worm will often cause the fruit
to rot. They develop very rapidly and come to their growth in from
three to four weeks. When about to transform they forsake the fruit
in which they had burrowed, and drawing together portions of some
leaf that lies on or near the ground, spin a slight cocoon of white silk.
Within this cocoon they soon become slender brown chrysalids with
the head parts prolonged, and with a very long ventral sheath which
encloses the legs. If it is not too late in the season the moths issue
in from eight to ten days afterwards. The late individuals, however,
pass the winter within their cocoons; though, from the fact that some
moths come out as late as November, I infer that they may also win-
ter over in the moth state.

The moth produced by this worm (of which Figure 43, ^■, repre-
sents the male) is very strikingly marked. It is of a yellowish-brown
color, with an iris-purple reflection, the front wings having an irregu-
lar, serai-transparent, dull golden-yellow spot, not reaching their
front edge, and constricted at their lower edge; and the hind wings
having their inner two-thirds of this same semi-transparent yellow.
The under surfaces have a more decided pearly lustre. The thighs,
the breast, and the abdomen below, are all of a beautiful silvery-
white, and the other joints of the long legs are of the same tawny or
golden-yellow as the semi-transparent parts of the wings. The ab-
domen of the female terminates in a small flattened black brush,
squarely trimmed, and the segment directly preceding this brush is of
a rust-brown color above. The corresponding segment in the male
is, on the contrary, whitish anteriorly and of the same color as the
rest of the body posteriorly, and he is, moreover, at once distinguished
from the female, by the immense brush at his tail, which is generally
much larger than represented in the above figure, and is composed of
narrow, lengthened {ligulate) scales, which remind one of the petals
of the common English daisy, some of these scales being whitish,
some orange, and others brown. This moth was described nearly a
century ago by Cramer, under the scientific name of Phak\_G\ellura
nitidalis, and it may be known in English as the Neat Cucumber
Moth. The genus to which it belongs is characterized chiefly by the
partly transparent wings, and by the immense scaly brush of the
males. The antennae are long, fine and thread-like, those of the male
being very finely ciliated ; the abdomen extends beyond the wings,
and the legs are very long and slender. The species are for the most
part exotic, and the larvae of all of them, so far as known, feed on
cucurbitaceous plants.

The following item, taken from a St. Louis paper, though some-
what facetious, will give an idea uf the extent of the injuries caused
by this insect in that vicinity :

What's the matter with the cucumbers ? A lady of our acquaint-
ance, the other day, sent to market to purchase some cucumbers for

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 69

Dicklin? purposes. They were placed in a vessel to be washed previ-
ous to bein- put in the brine. It was then observed that, small, sin-
glailoSif worms clung in the ^wrinkles' on the outside of some
!f the cucumbers. These were washed oil, when accident led to the
dscoverv lat inside every one of the cucumbers was secreted a
white ccfrr^atecl, creeping th^ from half an inch to over an inch
rnl%rresembiingiUi^^ a rattlesnake's rattles, and not a

very P^-etty object to'look upon. It turns out that "ear y, if not all
the cucumbers brought to this market this season ^re affected the
same wav These worms certainly do not look very good to eat in
the unpickled form; but we are told that they are entirely harmless
n the natural state and probably add to the pungency and cnspness
of the gherkin when forming part of the chow-chow, and other
relishes which grace every well regulated sQ^are meal Like tie
mites in the cheese, which with some are supposed to testify to ttie
good qualitv and healthfalness of the artic e, we f PP^^^^^^^f/"
the pickles may fairly be considered a question of taste but, tits
not obtrusive, we will add that we do not believe they are to o.^; taste
or digestion, knd, if it is all the same to the cucumber merchants, we
would rather not take any in our'n.

In Missouri, I have myself found this insect quite abundant in
various parts of St. Louis and Jefferson counties, and the cucumbers
eeem to have fared worse than the melons. That it was not confined
to these two counties, is also proved by the following communication
which appeared in the Journal of AgricuUure, of September 10,
1869:

Pleasant Hill. Mo.. Septemler 2 1869. -Last ™t^r'„\e^^"f
manv glowing accounts of the "Alton Large Nutmeg Melon, I sent
to Mr. Barler and procured some, paying thirty cents an ounce lor
th^m; planted and worked well; during August, l^«,?/0T,,'!?fJw
The first few tasted right well, but soon mj "Green Citron cantelope
ripening, the difference in the taste of the two was found to be so
great th'at we could not eat the Alton Nutmeg. Furthermore the
latter had worms in them-the larvas of some ^f ect-eating into
nearly every one. The Green Citron was rarely at aeked by them, i
have raised'this variety of Green Citron for several years, and would
not give one of the melons for a dozen Alton Nutmegs. It is s^Neet,
juicy and very rich in taste. When a boy, I can ^en^T^^',l'^"the
lope that was raised by ray father, called "Persian." 1 thmk the
Green Citron probably derived from it. ^^^^^^ ^ ^ Bboadhead.

In Illinois, it was very destructive around Alton, during the
month of August; for, on July 19th, I received specimens from G^W.
Copley, of that place, and found (Sept. 2, 1869), on visiting Mr. O. L.
Barler's large melon fields, that fully three-fourths of his melons had
been injured by it. Since then, several other Alton men have as-
sured me that it was equally destructive vvilh them. It also occurred
around Springfield, tor Mr. P. M. Springer sent to me, the last of Octo-
ber, a specimen of the moth which he had bred from a cucumber-
boring worm; while Mr. Walsh also found it abundant at Kock Is-
land, in the northern part of that State.

In Michigan, as I learned from Mr. W. B. Ransom, of St. Joseph,

70 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

it greatly injured the cucumbers and melons around that place; and
Mr. Glover, of the Department of Agriculture, informs me that he has
found the worm on Squash, in Florida, in July. Thus it appears that
this Pickle Worm has a wide range, and that last summer it simul-
taneously fell upon the cucumbers and melons in widely different
parts of the country. Of course, in making pickles, the worm is
pickled with the cucumber, and we shall consequently continue to
hear startling stories about the worms in the pickles.

This insect, so far as I can ascertain, has never before been fig-
gured or described in this country; nor can I find any mention made
of its destructive work in past years. I am, therefore, led to the con-
clusion that it was never numerous or destructive enough in the past,
to attract attention. This fact becomes the more astonishing, when
we consider how wide-spread and general its injuries were the past
summer; and it furnishes another illustration of the sudden and enor-
mous increase, in some particular year, of an insect which had
scarcely ever before been noticed.

The system of Nature is so complicated, and every animal organ-
ism is subject to so many influences that affect its increase or de-
crease, that we are not surprised at the fluctuation in the relative
numbers of any particular species. The " Struggle for Life," as ex-
pounded by Darwin, is no where more effectual in bringing about
changes than in insect life. We are at first a little puzzled to ac-
count for the sudden advent, and the equally sudden departure of
such insects as the Army-worm, Chinch Bug, Wheat Midge, etc, but
when we once acquire a just conception of the tangled web in which
every insect is involved, we wonder rather that the balance is so well
kept.

Our Pickle-worm is an indigenous species, and has, doubtless,
existed in some part or other of the country from time immemorial ;
and now that its habits are recorded and its history made known, I
should not We at all surprised to learn that individuals have suffered
from it in years gone by. The French Entomologist, Guen^e, gives
as its food-plant, a species of potato, and it is just possible that it may
not always have fed upon the same plants on which it was found last
summer. At all events, let us hope that it will disappear as suddenly
as it appeared ; but should it occur in great numbers again next year,
the foregoing account will enable those who grow melons, cucum-
bers or squashes, to understand their enemy, and to nip the evil in
the bud, by carefully overhauling their vines early in the summer,
and destroying the first worms that appear, either by feeding the in-
fested fruit to hogs or cattle, or by killing the worms on the spot. I
know from experience that this worm when pickled with the cucum-
ber, does not in the least affect its taste, and is not in the least inju-
rious to the human system ; but as it is not very desirable food, pickles
should always be halved, before being brought to the table, especially
if they were gathered from a field or garden known to be infested.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE-VINE.

71

Under this head, I shall continue the series of articles bef>;un in
my First Report, in order to give the grape-growers of our State a
thorough understanding of their insect enemies, and thus lessen the
hindrances and drawbacks to viticulture — that most important and
pleasant part of rural industry, which is increasing with such unpre-
cedented rapidity.

THE HOG-CATERPILLAR OF THE YmY^—Chmrocampa pmnpi-

natrix^ Sm. & Abb.*

[Lepidoptera, Sphingidse.]
[Fig. 44.1

Of the large solitary cat-
erpillars that attack the
Grape-vine, this is by far
the most common and inju-
rious in the Mississippi Val-
ley. I have frequently
found the egg of this insect
glued singly to the under-
side of a leaf. It is 0.05 inch
in diameter, perfectly round
and of a uniform delicate
yellowish-green color. The
young worm which hatches
from it, is pale green, with
a long straight horn at its tail ; and after feeding from four to five
weeks it acquires its full growth, when it presents the appearance of
Figure 4i, the horn having become comparatively shorter and ac-
quired a posterior curve.

This worm is readily distinguished from other grape-feeding spe-
cies by having the third and fourth rings immensely swollen, while
the first and second rings are quite small and retractile. It is Irom
this peculiar appearance of the fore part of the body, which strikingly
suggests the fat cheeks and shoulders and small head of a blooded
hog, that it may best be known as the Hog-caterpillar of the vine.
The color of this worm when full grown is pea-green, and it is wrink-
led transversely and covered with numerous pale-yellow dots, placed

*Synonyms, Sphinx, [Darapsa] myron, Cramer ; Otus cnotus, Iluebner. Of the four different
generic names under which this species has been classified, " Spkmx" is a general term for all the
Hawk-moths and refers to the sphinx-like attitude often assumed by their larva3 ; '' Charocnmpa" is
derived from two Greek words which mean " Hog-caterpillar ;" and " Darapsa" and " 0/«s" are
gibberish Of the three different specific names, " Myron" refers to an ancient Greek who bore
this appellation, " cnotui" is pure unadulterated gibberish, and " pnmpinatrix" is from the Latin
and signifies "a female vine-pruner." Both Harris and Fitch describe this insect under the name of
Chcerocampa pampinatrix ; and this, as the appellation best known to our grape-growers, and the
most characteristic of the habits of the species, I should prefer to retain, although no doubt, ac-
cording to the strict Law of Priority, the specific name of Myron ought to be employed. Mr.
Walker, Dr. Clemens and Dr. Morris call this species "Darapsa Myron," and Mr. Grote calls it
" Otus Myron." By ringing the changes with sufficient ingenuity upon the four generic and the
three specific names, we may obtain no less than twelve different names for this one insect !

T2

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

in irregular transverse rows. An oblique cream-colored lateral band,
bordered below with a darker green, and most distinct on the middle
segments, connects with a cream-colored subdorsal line, which is bor-
dered above with darker green, and which extends from the head to
the horn at the tail. There are five and often six somewhat pale yel-
low triangular patches along the back, each containing a lozenge-
shaped lilac-colored spot. The head is small, with yellow granula-
tions, and four perpendicular yellow lines, and the spiracles or breath-
ing holes are orange-brown. When about to transform, the color of
this worm usually changes to a pinkish-brown, the darker parts being
of a beautiful mixture of crimson and brown. Previous to this
change of color Mr. J. A. Lintner, of Schoharie, New York, has ob-
served the worm to pass its mouth over the entire surface ot its body,
even to the tip of its horn, covering it with a coating of apparently
glutinous matter — the operation lasting about two hours.* Before
[Fig. 45.] transforming into the pupa or <• v alis

state, it descends from the vine, and with-
in some fallen leaf or under any other
, rubbish that may be lying on the ground,
forms a mesh of strong brown silk, within
which it soon changes to a chrysalis (Fig.
45.) of a pale, warm yellow, speckled and
spotted with brown, but characterized chiefly by the conspicuous
dark brown spiracles and -broad brown incisures of the three larger
abdominal segments.

The moth (Fig. 46) which
in time bursts from this
.chrysalis, has the body and
front wings of a fleshy -gray,
marked and shaded with
olive-green as in the figure,
while the hind wings are of
a (h^ep rust color, with a
small shade of gray near
their inner angle.
This insect is, in northerly regions, one-brooded, but tow Md< the
south two-brooded, the first worms appearing, in the latitude of St.
Louis, during June and July, and giving out the moths about two
weeks after they become chrysalids, or from the middle of July to the
first of August. The worms of the second brood are full grown in
September, and passing the winter in the chrysalis state, give out the
moths the following May. On one occasion 1 found at South Pass,
Illinois, a worm but one-half grown and still feeding as late as 0«;to-
ber 20th, a circumstance which would lead to the belief that at

^^

«Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil., Ill, p.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

73

points where the winters are mild, they may even hybernate in the
larva state.

This worm is a most voracious feeder, and a single one will some-
times strip a small vine of its leaves in a few nights. According to
Harris it does not even confine its attacks to the leaves, but in its
progress from leaf to leaf, stops at every cluster of fruit, and either
from stupidity or disappointment, nips off the stalks of the half-grown
grapes and allows them to fall to the ground untasted. It is fortu-
nate for the grape-grower, therefore, that Nature has furnished the
ready means to prevent its ever becoming excessively numerous, for
I have never known it to swarm in very great numbers. The obvious
reason is, that it is so freely attacked by a small parasitic Ichneumon
fly— belonging to a genus {Microgaster) exceedingly numerous in
species— that three out of every four worms that we meet with will
generally be found to be thus victimized. The eggs of the parasite
are deposited within the body of the worm, while it is yet young, and
the young maggots hatching from them feed on the fatty parts of their
victim. After the last moult of a worm that has been thus attacked,
numerous little heads may be seen gradually pushing through differ-
ent parts of its body; and as soon as they have worked themselves
so far out that they are held only by the last joint of the body, they
commence forming their small snow-white cocoons, [Fig. 48.]
[Fi-. 47.] which stand on ends and present

e r"'^ ^i sm^Bl ^^^^^ appearance of Figure 47. In
^^'"^'W^'y^S^^^J about a week the fly (Fig. 48, «,
y^^K^Sg. magnified ; J, natural size) pushes
open a little lid which it had pre-
viously cut with its jaws, and soars away to fulfil its mission. It is
one of those remarkable and not easily explained facts, which often
confront the student of Nature, that, while one of these Hog-cater-
pillars in its normal and healthy condition may be starved to death
in two or three days, another, that is writhing with its body full of
parasites will live without food for as many weeks. Indeed, I have
known one to rest for three weeks without food in a semi-paralyzed
condition, and after the parasitic flies had all escaped from their
cocoons, it would rouse itself and make a desperate eff'ort to regain
strength by nibbling at a leaf which was offered to it. But all worms
thus attacked succumb in the end, and I cannot conclude this ar-
ticle to better advantage than by reminding the Grape-grower, that
he should let alone all such as are found to be covered with the white
cocoons above illustrated, and not, as has been often done, destroy
them under the false impression that the cocoons are the eggs of the
worm. Numbers of these little white cocoons are sent to me every
year under tlie supposition that they are eggs, and no doubt many of
them get destroyed by the very persons who ought to cherish them.

74 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

THE ACHEMON SFRlNX—FJiilampelus aehemon, Drury.*

(Lepidoptera, Sphingidse.)
[Fig. 49.]

This is another of the large Grape-vine-feeding insects, belonging
to the great Sphinx family, and which may be popularly known as
the Achemon Sphinx. It has been found in almost every State where
the Grape is cultivated, and also occurs in Canada. It feeds on the
American Ivy {Ampelopsis quinquefoUa^ with as much relish as on
[Fig- 50.] the Grape-vine, and seems to

show no preference for any of
|the different varieties of the lat-
ter. It is, however, worthy of
remark, that both its food-plants
belong to the same botanical Family.

The full grown larva (Fig. 49.) is usually found during the latter
part of August and fore part of September. It measures about 3^
inches when crawling, which operation is effected by a series of sud-

[Fig. 51.]

den jerks. The third segment is the largest, the second but half its
size and the first still smaller, and when at rest the two last men-
tioned segments are partly withdrawn into the third as shown in the
figure. The young larva is green, with a long slender reddish horn
rising from the eleventh segment and curving over the back, and

*The synonyms for this insect are Sphinx Grantor, Cramer, and Pholus crantor, Huebner. The
genus Philampelm — meaning literaUy " fond of the vine" — was erected by Harris to include this
and the next species.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 75

though I have found full grown specimens that were equally as
green as the younger ones, they more generally assume a pale straw
or reddish-brown color, and the long recurved horn is invariably
replaced by a highly polished lenticular tubercle. The descriptions
extant of this worm are quite brief and incomplete. The specimen
from which my drawing was made, was of a pale straw color which
deepened at the sides and finally merged into a rich vandyke-brown.
A line of a feitille-morie brown, deep and distinct on the anterior
part, but indistinct and almost effaced on the posterior part of each
segment, ran along the back, and another line of the same color, con-
tinuous, and with its upper edge fading gradually, extended along
each side. The six scalloped spots were cream-colored ; the head,
thoracic segments and breathing-holes inclined to flesh-color, and the
prolegs and caudal plate were deep brown. The worm is covered
more or less with minute spots which are dark on the back but light
and annulated at the sides, while there are from six to eight trans-
verse wrinkles on all but the thoracic and caudal segments.

The color of the worm, when about to transform, is often of a
most beautiful pink or crimson. The chrysalis (Fig. 50) is formed
within a smooth cavity under ground. It is of a dark shiny mahogany-
brown color, shagreened or roughened, especially at the anterior
edge of the segments on the back.

Unlike the Hog-caterpillar of the Vine, just described, this in-
sect is everywhere single-brooded, the chrysalis remaining in the
ground through the fall, winter and spring months, and producing
the moth towards the latter part of June. I rather incline to believe
however that there may be exceptions to the rule in southerly lati-
tudes, and that in such latitudes it may sometimes be double-
brooded ; for I have known the moth to issue near St. Louis during
the first days of August, and have this very year found two worms in
the same locality as late as the 25th of October, neither of which was
quite full grown, though the leaves on the vines upon which they
were found had almost all fallen. Apparently such premature de-
velopment of Sphuix moths is a well-known occurrence among the
different European species; for Chas. Darwin remarks that " a num-
ber of moths, especially Sphinx moths, when hatched in the autumn
out of their proper season, are completely barren ; though the fact of
their barrenness is still involved in some obscurity.*

The moth (Fig. 51), is of a brown- gray color variegated with
light brown, and with the dark spots, shown in the figure, deep brown.
The hind wings are pink with a dark shade across the middle, still
darker spots below this shade, and a broad gray border behind. I
once had an excellent opportunity of observing how it burst open
the chrysalis shell, for while examining a chrysalis, the moth emerged.
By a i'ew sudden jerks of the head, but more especially by friction

»See Variation of Animals and Plants, etc., U, pp. 167-8, English Edition, and the reference*
there given in the foot-note.

76

SECOND ANNUAL REPOKT OF

with the knees of the middle pair of legs, it severed and ruptured the
thin chrysalis shell, and the very moment the anus touched the rup-
tured end, the creamy fluid usually voided by newly-hatched moths
was discharged.

I have never found any parasite attacking this species, but its
solitary habit and large size make it a conspicuous object, and it is
easily controlled by hand, whenever it becomes unduly numerous
upon the Grape-vine.

THE SATELLITE ^VKl^X.—Pliilampelus satelUtia, Linn.*

(Lepidoptera Sphingidse.)

Like the preceding insect this one occurs in almost evt^ry State in

the Union. It also bears a strong
resemblance to the Achemon
Sphinx, and likewise feeds upon
the Ampelopsis as well as upon
the Grape-vine ; but the worm
fs may readily be distinguished
"^frora the former by having five
cream-colored spots each side,
instead of six, and by the spots
themselves being less scalloped.
In the latitude of St. Louis,
this worm is found full grown
throughout the month of Sep-
tember, and a few specimens
may even be found as late as
the last of October. The eggs
of this species, as of all other
Hawk-moths {Sphinx family)
known to me, are glued singly
to the leaf of the plant which is
to furnish the future worm with
) food. When first hatched, and
for sometime afterwards, the
larva is green, with a tinge of
pink along, the sides, and with
an immensely long straight
pink horn at the tail. This horn soon begins to shorten, and finally

«The svnonyms for this insect are Sphinx hjcaon, Cramer; Pholun lyraon, Huebner, and Ihiphni
pandorus, Huebner. Mr. A. Grote (Proc Ent. Soc. Phil., I, p. 60), believes that the Sphinx hjiaon
of the authors above quoted, is distinct from S. Satellitta, Linn., and would fain "eliminate' a
third species {posticatus). For reasons which it would be tedious to give here, 1 prefer to regard
ll/caon as a variety of satellitia.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 71

curls round like a dog's tail, as at Figure 52, c. As the worm grow&
older it changes to a reddish-brown, and by the third moult it entirely
loses the caudal horn.

When full grown, it measures nearly four inches in length, and
when crawling, appears as at Figure 52, a. It crawls by a series of
sudden jerks, and will often tling its head savagely from side to side
when alarmed. Dr. Morris* describes the mature larva as being
green, with six side patches; but though I have happened across
many specimens of this worm during the last seven years, I never
once found one that was green after the third moult ; nor do I believe
that there are ever any more than five full-sized yellow spots each side,
even in the young individuals. The specimen from which the above
figure was made, occurred in 1867, at Hermann, Missouri, in Mr. Geo.
Husmann's vineyard. The back was pinkish, inclining to flesh-color;
the sides gradually became darker and darker, and the five patches
on segments 6 — 10 inclusive, were cream-yellow with a black annula-
tion, and shaped as in the figure. On segments 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, were
numerous small black dots, but on each of the following five seg-
ments there were but two such dots. A pale longitudinal line ran
above the yellow patches, and the head and first joint were uniformly
dull reddish-brown.

The most common general color of the full-grown worm is a rich
velvety vinous-brown. When at rest, it draws back the fore part of
the body, and retracts the head and first two joints into the third (see
Fig. 52, J), and in this motionless position it no doubt manages to

[Fig. 53.]

escape from the clutches of many a hungry insectivorous bird. Dr.
Morris, copying perhaps after Harris, erroneously states that the
three anterior joints, together with the head, are retracted into the
fourtK and Mr. J. A. Lintnerf makes the same false assertion. It is

♦Synopsis of N. A. Lepidoptera, p. 178.
fProc. Ent. Soc. Phil., Ill, p. 659.

78

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

the third segment in this species, as well as in the Achemon Sphinx,
which is so much swollen, and into which the head and first two seg-
ments are retracted.

When about to transform, the larva of our Satellite Sphinx enters
a short distance into the ground, and soon works off its caterpillar-
skin and becomes a chrysalis of a deep chestnut-brown, and very
much of the same form as that of the Achemon Sphinx, figured on
page 74. The moth (Fig. 53), makes its appearance in June of
the following year, though it has been known to issue the same year
that it had existed as larva. In this last event, it doubtless becomes
barren, like others under similar circumstances, as was shown on
page 75. The colors of the moth are light olive-gray, variegated as
in the figure with dark olive-green. The worms are easily subdued
by hand-picking.

THE ABBOT ^VRmX—Thyreus AUotii, Swainson.

(Lepidoptera, Sphingidae.)

This is another of the large Grape-feeding insects, occurring on
the cultivated and indigenous vines and on the Virginia Creeper, and
[Fig. 54.] having in the full-grown

larva state, a polished tu-
^bercle instead of a horn
at the tail. Its habitat is
given by Dr. Clemens, as
New York, Pennsylvania,
Georgia, Massachusetts,
and Ohio ; but though not
so common as the Sphinx
moths previously describ-
ed, yet it is often met with
both in Illinois and Mis-
souri. The larva which is
represented in the upper
part of Figure 54, varies considerably in appearance. Indeed, the
ground-color seems to depend in a measure on the sex, for Dr. Morris
describes this larva as reddish-brown with numerous patches of light-
green, and expressly states that the female is of a uniform reddish-
brown, with an interrupted dark brown dorsal line and transverse
strire. I have reared two individuals which came to their growth
about the last of July, at which time they were both without a ves-
tige of green. The ground-color was dirty yellowish, especially at
the sides. Each segment was marked transversely with six or seven
alightly impressed fine black lines, and longitudinally with wider

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 79

non-impressed dark brown patches, alternating with each other, and
giving the worm a checkered appearance. These patches become
more dense along the subdorsal region, where they form two irregu-
lar dark lines, which on the thoracic segments become single, with a
similar line between them. There was also a dark stigmatal line with
a lighter shade above it, and a dark stripe running obliquely down-
wards from the posterior to the anterior portion of each segment.
The belly was yellow with a tinge of pink between the prolegs,
and the shiny tubercle at the tail was black, with a yellowish
ring around the base. The head, which is characteristically marked,
and by which this worm can always be distinguished from its allies —
no matter what the ground-color of the body may be — is slightly
roughened and dark, with a lighter broad band each side, and a cen-
tral mark down the middle which often takes the form of an x. This
worm does not assume the common Sphinx attitude of holding up the
head, but rests stretched at full length, though if disturbed it will
throw its head from side to side, thereby producing a crepitating
noise.

The chrysalis is formed in a superficial cell on the ground ; its
surface is black and roughened by confluent punctures, but between
the joints it is smooth and inclines to brown; the head-case is broad
and rounded, and the tongue-case is level with the breast ; the tail
terminates in a rough flattened wedge-shaped point, which gives out
two extremely small thorns from the end.

The moth (Fig. 54, below) appears in the following March or
April, there being but one brood each year. It is of a dull chocolate
or grayish-brown color, the front wings becoming lighter beyond the
middle, and being variegated with dark brown as in the figure ; the
hind wings are sulphur-yellow, with a broad dark brown border
breaking into a series of short lines on a flesh-colored ground, near
the body. The wings are deeply scalloped, especially the front ones,
and the body is furnished with lateral tufts. When at rest, the abdo-
men is curiously curved up in the air.

THE BLUE CATERPILLAKS OF THE VINE.

Besides these large Sphinx caterpillars, every grape-grower must
have observed certain so-called " Blue Caterpillars," which, though
far from being uncommon, are yet very rarely sufficiently numerous
to cause alarm, though in some few cases they have been known to
strip certain vines. There are three distinct species of these blue
caterpillars, which bear a sufficiently close resemblance to one
another, to cause them to be easily confounded. The firbt and by far
the most common with us is the larva of

80

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

THE EIGHT-SPOTTED FORESTER— .l/i/yjia octomaculata, Fabr.
(Lepidoptera, Zygcenidse.)

At Plate I, Figure 18 of my First Ke*
port, the male of this moth is illustrated
by the side of its supposed larva, Figure
19 of the same Plate. In the text (pp.
136-7) I expressed some doubts as to
whether this last was the rightful larva of
tlie Eight-spotted Forester, and as I have
since reared several moths from the larva
state, and ascertained that the worm there
.figured does r^ot belong to the Eight-
spotted Forester, but in all probability to
the Pearl Wood Nymph, I will now give the characters of these three
diflferent blue caterpillars, so that they may readily be distinguished
hereafter.

The larva of the Eight-spotted Forester may often be found in
the latitude of St. Louis as early as the beginning of May, and more
abundantly in June, while scattering individuals (probably of a second
brood) are even met with, but half-grown, in the month of Septem-
ber. The young larvos are whitish with brown transverse lines, the
colors not contrasting so strongly as in the full-grown specimens,
though the black spots are more conspicuous. They feed beneath
the leaves and can let themselves down by a web. The fullgruwn
larva often conceals itself within a folded leaf. It is of the form of
Figure 55, a, and is marked transversely with white and black lines,
each segment having about eight light and eight dark ones. The
bluish appearance of this caterpillar is owing to an optical phenome-
non from the contrast of these white and black stripes. The head
and the shield on the first segment are of a shiny bright deep orange
color, marked with black dots, and there is a prominent transverse
orange-red band, faint on segments 2 and 3 ; conspicuous on 4 and 11
and uniform in the middle of each of the other segments. In the
middle segments of the body each orange band contains eight black
conical elevated spots or tubercles, each spot giving rise to a white
hair. These spots are arranged as in the enlarged section shown in
the engraving (Fig. 55, Z>), namely, four on each side as follows : the
upper one on the anterior border of the orange band, the second on
its posterior border, the third just above spiracles on its anterior bor-
der—each of the three interrupting one of the transverse black lines
— and the fourth, which is smaller, just behind the spiracles. The
venter is black, slightly variegated with bluish-white, and with the
orange band extending on the legless segments. The legs are black,
and the false-legs have two black spots on an orange ground, at their
outer base; but the characteristic feature, which especially distin-
guishes it from the other two species, is a lateral white wavy band —

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. ^1

obsolete on the thoracic segments, and most conspicuous on 10 and
11 — running just below the spiracles, and interrupted by the trans-
verse orange band.

I quote here Harris's full description of this larva (Correspondence, p. 286), as it agrees with
mine, except in giving the number of transverse black lines as 6 on each segment, instead of 8,
from the fact that he does not include the two which border the orange band, on account of
their being interrupted. I have preferred to consider each segment of this worm as 8-banded, to
distinguish it more readily from the other two species, which have respectively only six and four.
" Length, when at rest, one inch and two-tenths, very pale blue, transversely banded with orange
on the middle of each segment, the bands dotted with small black points, producing hairs, and
surmounted by black lines, and between each of the bands six transverse black lines. A large,
irregular, white spot on the side of the tenth and eleventh segments, and a series of smaller white
!>pots on each of the other segments except the first three. Head orange dotted with black. Legs
blackish externally. The full-grown, have a decidedly bluish tinge, entirely owing, however, to
an optical phenomenon from the contrast of the white with the transverse black lines. The head
is of a pale dirty orange or rusty yellow, with about eight black dots on each side ; [about 10
large and 14 small dots in all,] a semicircular plate on the top of the first segment and the anal
valves are pale orange dotted with black. There is a transverse series of black dots on the second
and third segments, without an orange band. Each of the other segments is transversely banded
with orange and dotted with black ; the dots being in two alternate rows, and all of them emitting
distinct, long whitish hairs. [The anterior dots on the back of segments 4, 5 and 6 and the pos-
terior ones on 11, are considerably larger than the rest]. Between each of the bands there are six
slender, continuous, black transverse lines. The points are also connected by interrupted black
lines. Legs at base orange, black externally and at tip, except the anal pair which are orange,
(lotted with black. The large white lateral spot is common to the side of the tenth and
eleventh segments. The other lateral white spots are situated immediately behind the bands on
the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth segments, the anterior spots being largest ; and
thence they diminish to the ninth, while again the posterior spot is very large and very distinct. The
orange bands are interrupted on the top of the seventh, eighth and ninth segments."

This larva transforms to chysalis within a very slight cocoon
formed without silk, upon, or just below the surface of the earth, and
issues soon after, as a very beautiful moth of a deep blue-black color,
with orange shanks, yellow shoulder-pieces, each of the front wings
with two large light yellow spots, and each of the hind wings with
two white ones. The illustration (Fig. 55, c) represents the female,
and the male differs from her in having the wing spots larger, and in
having a conspicuous white mark along the top of his narrower ab-
domen.

I have on one or two occasions known vines to be partly defoli-
ated by this species, but never knew it to be quite so destructive as it
is represented in the following communication from Mr. W. V. An-
drews, of New York city, which I take from the February (1869) num-
raer of the American Naturalist :

"That a man should desire to raise his own Isabellas is laudable
and praiseworthy ; and I see no reason why such desire should exist
exclusively in the breasts of our bucolic friends. The inhabitants ot
New York, as a general thing, clearly are of the same opinion, as is
evidenced by the number of grape-vines ornamenting the doors and
trellis- work of the houses of our citizens; not, of course, in the be-
nighted regions of Wall street, but up-town ; say from Sixteenth
street northward. A friend of mine residing on Thirty-fourth street,
showed me, in March last, a very fine vine, which he calculated would
produce him sundry pounds of choice grapes, and in the pride of bis
6 — E B

82 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

heart he invited me to " call along" occasionally, and feast my eyes
on the gradual development of the incipient bunches. Thinking that
August would be a good month for my visit, I " called along," won-
dering in my mind whether my friend would, when the time of ripe
grapes came, desire me to help myself out of his abundance ; or
whether he intended to surprise me with a little basket of nice
bunches, garnished with crisp, green leaves. The first glance at the
grape-vine banished all doubts on this point. There were an abun-
dance of bunches on the vine, in a rather immature condition, of
course, but of foliage there was not a trace. Of course I expressed
my surprise, though, for certain reasons, I felt none ; and asked my
friend why he selected a species of vine for shelter, ornament, and use,
which produced no foliage. He rebuked my ignorance pretty sharply,
' and told me that a few weeks before, the vine was covered with leaves ;
( but, for some inexplicable reason, they had all disappeared — eaten, he
■■ guessed, by something. He guessed right. There were at least a
^ hundred of the larvae of J., octomaciilata^ the rear guard of a mighty
" host, wandering about the branches, apparently for the purpose of
''■ making sure that no little particle of a leaf was left undevoured.
!■ Pretty little things they were, with harmoniously blended colors of
"' black, yellow and blue, but so terribly destructive ! I had the curi-
' osity to walk through all the streets to the east of Third avenue, as
low as Twenty-third street, and every vine was in the same predica-
ment. If grape leaves, instead of fig leaves, had been in request for
.„ making aprons, and one Alypia had been in existence at the time, I
i!„jdoubt if in the whole Garden of Eden enough material would have
been found to make a garment of decent size. The destruction of
the crop for 1868 was complete.

" This was bad. But it was not half so bad as the helpless ignor-
■ j^ance which possessed nearly all of the unfortunate owners of vines.
, Scarcely one that I conversed with had the remotest idea of the cause
' ^ of the disaster, and when I explained that it was the caterpillar of a
^'■".beautiful little black moth, with eight whitish-yellow spots on its
ill livings, which had eaten up the foliage, my assertion was received
.yiiyith such a smile ol incredulity, as convinced me that there is no use
^;j.in trying to humbug such very sharp fellows as are the New York
' grape-growers.

"It is a little remarkable, however, that the destruction was con-
fined to the eastern part of the city. I saw several luxuriant vines
'■'6h the western side ; and across the river at Hoboken, and at Hudson
'i €!ity, not a trace of A. octomaculata was discernible.
f ; /\ "The insect, then, is very local in its habits, and it is a day-flyer J
: ;:aaad, from these facts, I infer that its ravages may be very materially
checked. A little poisoned molasses, exposed in the neighborhood of
,. t-he vine, would operate on the perfect insect [extremely doubtful] ;
'^''#hile a good syringing with soft soap and water would bring down
f'-'th'e caterpillars eflfectually."

hna i
-9d 9
ill a at)

hfnoT/
aid )o

.THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 83

THE BEAUTIFUL WOOD NYMPR—Eudryas grata, Fabr.
(Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae.)

Here is another moth (Fig. 56), surpassing in real beauty, though
(J'S- S6.] not in high contrast, the species just de-

[Scribed. The front wings are milk-white,
broadly bordered and marked, as in the
figure, with rusty-brown, the band on the
outer margin being shaded on the inner
(i^$^^^^^5l^^\^^^i) s^^® with olive-green, and marked to-
wards the edge with a slender wavy white
line : under surface yellow, with two
dusky spots near the middle. The hind wings are nankin-yellow,
with a deep brown border, which does not extend to the outer angle,
and which also contains a wavy white line : under surface yellow
with a single black spot.

Surely these two moths are as unlike in general appearance as
two moths well can be ; and yet their caterpillars bear such a close
resemblance to each other, and both feed upon the Grape-vine ! The
larva of the Beautiful Wood Nymph is, in fact, so very similar to that
of the Eight-spotted Forester, that it is entirely unnecessary to figure
it. It differs more especially from that species by invariably lacking
the white patches along the sides, by the hairs arising from the black
spots being less conspicuous, and by the hump on the eleventh seg-
ment being more prominent. The light parts of the body have really
a slight bluish tint, and in specimens which I have found, I have only
noticed six transverse black stripes to each segment. This larva,
when at rest, depresses the head and raises the third and fourth seg-
ments. Sphinx-fashion. It is found on the vines in the central por-
tion of the State as early as May and as late as September, and it de-
vours all portions of the leaf, even to the midrid. It descends to the
ground,, and without making any cocoon, transforms to a chrysalis,
which is dark colored, rough, with the tip of the abdomen obtusely
conical, ending in four tubercles, the pair above, long and truncate,
those below broad and short (Packard). Some of them give out the
moth the same summer, but most of them pass the winter and do not
issue as moths till the following spring.

THE PEARL WOOD NYMPH— JEttdryas unio, Huebnen
(Lepidoptera, Zygsenidas.)

This is another pretty little moth, so closely allied to, and so
much resembling the preceding species, that it is not necessary to
produce its picture. It is a smaller species, and differs from the Beau-
tiful Wood Nymph in having the outer border of the front wings paler
and of a tawny color, with the inne?,§(}ge .^^y^iipatejad) of^^tfMght ;

Ci SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

and in that of the hind wings being less distinct, more double, and
extending to the outer angle.

The larva is said by Dr. Fitch to so much resemble that of the
preceding species that "we as yet know not whether there are any
marks whereby they can be distinguished from each other." (Report

[Fig. 57.] 3^ § 124.) The moth is more common

with us than its larger ally, and though
I have never bred it from the larva,
^^ yet I have often met with a worm
(Fig 57, «,) which there is every rea-
son to believe, belongs to this species,
and which is easily recognized from the preceding. It never grows
to be quite so large as the other, and may readily be distinguished by
its more decided bluish cast ; by having but four light and four dark
stripes to each segment (Fig. 57, b,) ; by having no orange band across
the middle segments, and by the spots, with the exception of two on
the back placed in the middle light band, being almost obsolete. The
head, shield on the 1st segment, hump on the 11th, and a band on the
12th, are orange, spotted with black, the hump being marked as at
Figure 57, c. Venter orange, becoming dusky towards head ; feet and
legs also orange, with blackish extremities, and with spots on their
outside at base.

The worm works for the most part in the terminal buds of the
vine, drawing the leaves together by a weak silken thread, and
cankering them. It forms a simple earthen cocoon, or frequently
bores into a piece of old wood, and changes to chrysalis, which aver-
ages but 0.36 inch in length ; this chrysalis is reddish-brown, covered
on the back with rows of very minute teeth, with the tip of the abdo-
men truncated, and terminating above in a thick blunt spine each side.

From the above accounts it is hoped that the reader will have no
difficulty in distinguishing between these three blue caterpillars of
the Grape-vine. But, says the practical grape-grower, " what does it
concern me to know whether the little blue varmints that are defoli-
ating my vines, belong to this species or to that? All I wish to know
is how to get rid of them, and as they are all three so nearly alike,
the remedy applied to one must be equally effectual with the others."
Gently, dear reader ; it ma2/ prove of considerable importance that
you know which particular species infests your vines ! If, for instance,
a person living m the "West should find the larvae of the Beautiful
Wood Nymph, then he need feel no alarm ; while if a person living in
the East should find that of the Pearl Wood Nymph, he may in like
manner put his hands in his pockets and go his way with an easy
mind ; for neither of these species are likely to become troublesome
in those respective sections of the country, since heretofore they have
always been quite rare in those parts. Again, the larvae of the two
Wood Nymphs have a fondness for boring into old pieces of wood, to
transform to the chrysalis state, and Mr. T. B. Ashton, of White Creek,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOQIST.

S5

New York, found that they would even bore into corn cobs for this
purpose in preference to entering the ground, wherever such cobs
were accessible.* The Eight-spotted Forester, on the contrary, has
no such habit, and while the only mode of combating it, is to pick the
larva3 off and burn them, the Wood Nymphs may be more easily sub-
dued by scattering a few corn cobs under the vines in the summer,
to be raked up and burned in the winter.

THE AMERICAN FROCmS—Procris [Acoloii/ms] A7nericana\

Boisd.

(Lepidoptera, Ctenuchidae.)

During the months of July and August, the leaves of the Grape-
vine may often be found denuded of their softer parts, with nothing
[Fig. 58.] jjut, l^jjQ veins, and sometimes only

a few of the larger ribs left skeleton-
^^W^l^ ^A^ ■^^^®' ^^ ^®^^ ^^ ^^^ mischief that has

^^BrfY^^T' jM^ been done. Very frequently, only

^^^ ^©^ portions of the leaf will be thus de-

nuded, and in that event, if we ex-
amine such a leaf closely, we shall
find the authors of the mischief
drawn up in line upon the yet leafy
tissue with their heads all towards
ihe margin, cutting away with their little jaws and retreating as they
feed.

^^i^

[Fig. 59.]

These little soldier-like files
are formed by worms in black
and yellow uniforms which pro-
duce a moth popularly known
as the American Procris. The
eggs from which they hatch, are
laid in small clusters on the un-
derside of the leaves, and while
the worms are small, they leave
untouched the most delicate
veins of the leaf, which then pre-
sents a delicate net- work appear-
ance as ^shown at the right of
Figure 59 ; but when they be-
come older and stronger they
devour all but the larger ribs, as
at the left of the figure.

*Fitch's Rep. Ill, p. 82.

fThis is the Aglaope Americana of Clemens, Procris Americana of Boisduval and Harris, and
Ctenucba Americana of Walker.

86 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

The full grown larva (Figure 58, a) measures rather more than half an inch, and tapers a
little towards each end. It is of a sulphur-yellow color, with a transverse row of six velvety-black,
prickly tufts on each of the principle segments, the lower tufts being less distinct than those OB
the back. The first segment is entirely black with a yellow edge, while the spots on segments 11 and 12
usually run into one another. Head small, brown, and retractile, being usually hidden in the first
segment. Fine scattering hairs anteriorly, laterally and posteriorly. The young worm is of a
very pale yellow, covered with numerous fine white hairs, with a slight grayish-brown tint on the
head, and with the fifth and seventh segments paler than the rest, and having the black spots
scarcely visible.

When full grown these worms disperse over the vines or forsake
them entirely, and each spins for itself a small, tough, whitish, flat-
tened cocoon (Fig. 58, c) within which, in about three days, it changes
to a chrysalis (Fig. 58, J), 0.30 inch long, broad, flattened and of a
light shiny yellowish-brown color. In about ten days afterwards the
moths (Fig. 58, e and d) begin to issue. This little moth is the Ameri-
can representative of the European Procris mtis; it is wholly of a
black color, except the collar, which is of a deep orange, and the
body ends in a broad fan-like notched tuft, especially in the male.
The wings are of a delicate texture, reminding one of crape, and when
the insect is at rest they generally form a perfect cross with the
body, the hind wings being completely hidden by the front ones,
which are stretched out straight at right angles, as in the genus Ptero-
jpTiOTus^ to which belongs the Grape-vine Plume.* I have, however,
on one or two occasions found the American Procris resting in the
manner shown at Figure 58, d.

This is the only Grape-vine feeding caterpillar which has a
gregarious habit, and as gregarious insects are always more easily
subdued than those of a solitary nature, the American Procris need
never become very destructive. Its natural food is undoubtedly the
wild grape-vines of our forests, and the Virginia Creeper, and Mr.
Jordon, of St. Louis, has noticed that while it very commonly attacks
the foliage of the Concord, yet it never touches the Clinton and Tay-
lor in his vineyard — a taste which is remarkable and not easily
accounted for, since the foliage of the latter kinds is more tender and
generally more subject to insect depredations than that of the
former.

There are two broods of this insect each year with us, some of
the moths from the second brood of worms issuing in the fall, but the
greater part not leaving their cocoons till the following summer.
During the month of June they may be seen in pairs about the vines,
and I have also frequently observed around Hermann, a very closely
allied but smaller and difi"erent moth {AcoloWius falsarius^ Clem.)
about the same season of the year. This last, though so closely re-
sembling the other, may be distinguished by being scarcely more
than half as large; by the body lacking the anal tuft and being
comparatively much thicker and shorter ; by the hind wings being
comparatively larger, and by the collar being of a paler orange and
divided on the top by a black point.

*First Rep., PI. II, Fig. 15.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

87

The American Procris, though the fact is not mentioned by other
authors, is subject to the attack of at least one parasite, with us ;
for I have bred from it a very peculiar little four-winged black fly
belonging to the great Chalcis family, and which Mr. Oresson of Phil-
adelphia refers doubtingly to Perilampus platyg aster ^ Say.

THE NEW GRAPE-ROOT BORER.

Under this head I published last year* an account of a gigantic
Grape-root borer which had at that time not been bred, and of which,
in consequence, the perfect insect was not with certainly '.known. In

_ [Fig. 60.] ._ _^^_ order that the

^^^ reader may get
^K? well familiarized
with its appear-
ance, the figure is
here reproduced
(Fig. 60 ). For
reasons then given I inferred that this borer belonged to the Prionus
family of the Long-horned beetles, and that it would perhaps produce
the Cylindrical Orthosoma ( Orthosoma cylindricum^ Fabr.), a large
flattened bay-colored beetle which is common throughout the coun-
try, and especially so in the Mississippi Valley, and which I illus-
trated at the time. I expressed the hope to be able another year
to settle this matter, and am glad to be able to do so.

Last July I bred from worms that had been sent to me the year
before, as occurring in Grape root, a different, though very closely
allied species to that which I had inferred they would produce,
namely,

THE BROAD-NECKED PRION US— Prtonus laticollis, Drury. *

(Coleoptera, Prionidae.)

This species is usually of a darker color
than the Cylindrical Orthosoma, and differs
materially from that species by its larger
size and broader form. The female, which is
represented at Figure 61, differs from the male
in having shorter and narrower antennae,
though her body is usually larger.

In all probability this insect lives nearly
three years in the larva state, for three dis-
tinct sizes may be found. Those I have bred^
left the roots they were inhabiting when about
to become pupas, and formed for themselves
smooth oval chambers in the earth wherein
they eventually cast their larval skins, and

[Fig. 61.]

*rir8t Rep., pp. 124-8.

S8 SECOND ANNUAL KEPOBT OP

^Fig^^62.] assumed the pupa form represented at Figure 62, but
in all probability they transform within the root, when
in more natural conditions. This change takes place
towards the end of June, and the perfect beetle ap-
pears in about three weeks afterwards.

Soon after breeding this beetle from Grape-feed-
ing borers, I bred a female of the same species from a
very large borer which I had found the same spring, in
an apple root, it having entirely killed a young apple
tree, by hollowing out nearly all the roots, and by
finally severing the tap root near the butt of the tree.
Thus it results that the Broad-necked Prionus
bores in the larva state indiscriminately in the roots
of the Grape-vine and Apple, and perhaps in those of the closely allied
Pear. According to Harris it also inlests the roots of different kinds
of poplars, and it is consequently a pretty general feeder.

Few persons are really aware of the amount of damage these gi-
gantic borers are capable of causing. Last March I received a long
letter from Mr. Robert S. Munford, of Munfordsville, Ky., minutely
describing this borer, and the manner in which it destroyed three
hundred dollars' worth of his apple trees ; while Mr C. R. Edwards,
of Bowling Green, Ky., writes that they have been quite injurious to
his grape-vines of all varieties, though his lonas suffered most from
their attacks. Mr. Emory S. Foster, of Bushburg, sent me a specimen
in May with the statement that it cut off a vine, after the fall of the
leaf, and then went some six inches further down, and entered the
main root, making for itself a comfortable residence where it spent
the winter. Messrs. Bush and Spaulding inform me that they are con-
tinually losing vines from this borer, and that they consider it one of
the worst enemies they have to contend against.

Little can be done to prevent the ravages of these underground
borers after they are once in a viue, the death of which is usually the
only manifestation of their presence. Still, every vine-grower should
make it a rule to search for them whenever he finds vines suddenly
dying from any unknown cause, and upon finding such a borer should
at once put an end to its existence. The beetles, which may often be
found during the summer and fall months, and which not unfrequently
rush with heavy, noisy flight, into our lighted rooms, should also be
ruthlessly sacrificed whenever met with. As I shall presently show,
however, much may be done by judicious management to prevent
their getting into the vines.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 89

THE TILE-HORNED PRIONUS— Pnonus imbricornis, Linu.
(Coleoptera Prionidre.)

There is another species, the Tile-hornedFrionus (Prionus imdri-
'■^'°' ^^'^ ...u6*t^ cornis, Linn., Fig. 63 c?)— so called from
the joints of the male antennae lapping
^over one another like the tiles or shing-
les of a root^ — which very closely re-
sembles the Broad-necked Prionus, and
is with us much commoner. It may be
distinguished at once from this last by
the antennas of the male being about
19jointed, and those of the female about
16-jointed ;* whereas both sexes of the
Broad-necked Prionus have 12-jointed
antennas. In other respects, these two
<^ ■ beetles are almost exactly alike, so that,

if the antennae happen to be broken, it is not very easy to tell one
from another.

Hitherto it has not been known upon what kind of tree this spe-
cies fed, but I was fortunate enough last summer to ascertain that it
also infests grape-roots. On the first of July last, Mr. Isidor Bush, of
Bushburg, brought me quite a number of full-grown larvee which he
had taken from the roots of his grape vines. These were so very sim-
ilar in appearance to those which produced the Broad-necked species,
that I had not a suspicion they would produce anything else, and I
was consequently greatly surprised when I bred from them a number
of the Tile-horned species under consideration. By collecting to-
gether fibres and chips of the roots, they form a loose sort of cocoon,
and transform, either inside or outside of the root, to pupag, which re-
semble so closely that shown in Figure 62, that they can scarcely be
distinguished from it.

We have, therefore, two distinct insects which bore into the roots
of the Grape-vine, and which, though distinct, are so closely allied,
that the females can only be distinguished by the number of joints in
their antennae. One of these is known to attack, besides the Grape,
the Apple, the Lombardy poplar and the Balm of Gilead, and the
other is very likely equally indifferent as to its choice of diet.

The accounts given in my former article, of the immense borers
found in Osage Orange roots, and even in the roots of corn-stalks, un-
doubtedly refer to one or the other of these insects, and probably to
the Tile-horned species, as that is the most common.

* Having examined nearly 20 males of this species, I have found the antennal joints to vary
in number from 18 to 20, the same specimen often having a different number of joints in the right
and left antenna. In one $ the antennsB are both of them 16-jointed, in another $ they are both
of them 17-jointed. The typical number of joints in the Coleopterous antenna is only 11 ; and the
number being so variable in these many-jointed antennae is in accordance with the general rule,
that multiple parts are often variable.

90 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

Several persons who have recognized this immense borer from
the figure and description which I published last year, have informed
me that they have found it on prairie land, and Mr. Wm. O. Holmes,
nurseryman, of Plattsburg, writes : " The Borer described on page 124
of your Keport is destroying a good many of our apple grafts, set last
spring. The root not being large enough for them to work inside,
they eat out about one-third of the bark, and hollow out the rest of
the root. Our nursery is on prairie, broke in the fall of 1867 and spring
of 1868." Now the fact of these large root-feeding borers occurring
in such numbers in recently turned-up prairie land where no large
roots exist, would have been perfectly inexplicable had I not been
cognizant of other facts which threw light on the subject.

There is a small dimorphous male form of the Tile-horned Prionus
not more than half the normal size, and of a much paler yellowish
color, which is quite common in the West, and which I have found
even more common around St. Louis, than the true type. I know
that this form is often found in prairie regions, and my entomological
friend Chas. Sonne, of Chicago, Illinois, informs me that a relation of
his, Mr. F. Jaeger, of Siegel, Illinois, in digging a cellar, once found
immense numbers of these large grubs near the surface of the ground.
A whole lot of them were sent to Mr, Sonne, and he bred from them
numerous specimens of this small form of the Tile-horned Prionus,
every one of them males, and every one with nineteen joints to the
antennae. On another occasion, at the same place, Mr. Sonne, having
placed a lamp on a grind-stone, found that these beetles swarmed
around the light, and next day upon examining a number which he
captured, they all proved to be, in like manner, the small yellow
form, and all males. Now, Mr. Jaeger's house is remote from any
timber whatever, there being but a few scrub willows here and there
near by ; and, from these facts, and those mentioned by Mr. Holmes,
we are forced to the belief that these grubs (at least those of the
small c? dimorphous form) are able, not only to subsist on the roots
of small shrubs and very young trees, but also upon those of herba-
ceous plants. Mr. H. A. Mungor, of Lone Cedar, Martin county, Min-
nesota, has had a similar experience ; for he often ploughs up these
grubs in prairie land, and has captured the beetles a full mile away
from any trees or shrubs, except a few specimens of a sufFruticose
plant known as the Lead-plant {AmorpJia Canescens)^ which very
seldom grows a root there, of over one-half inch diameter. He has
also actually bred the beetle frompup^ found in such prairie ground.
Therefore, some of the accounts — such as their occurring full grown
in the roots of annuals like corn and cabbage, and in those of grape-
vines but one year planted — which were not easily explained before ;
become perfectly clear, now that we have a better understanding of
the facts in the case.

Now then comes the point of practical importance. It may with
reason be argued, that it matters little to the Grape-grower to which

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 91

particular species these borers belong, so they have the habit in com-
mon, of infesting the roots of his vines. But a more important
question presents itself to the thinking mind. Is any danger to be
apprehended from these borers, from growing grape-vines and fruit
trees among decaying oak stumps ? In my former article, from the
testimony of practical vineyardists, I have hinted that there is, and
have advised not to plant on land covered with such stumps, or even
to use oak stakes, where those made of cedar can be had; and I am
glad to be able to say that this advice is well founded.

As a general rule, the larvae of the Long-horned Boring Beetles
either inhabit green and living wood or else decaying and dead wood,
the same species never attacking both kinds of wood indiscriminate-
ly ; and as I knew that the larva of the Cylindrical Orthosoma fed on
rotten pine wood, I thought it very probable that it also fed on rotten
oak stumps, and had been confounded by practical men with those of
the Broad-necked and Tile-horned species, which it so much resem-
bles. This opinion was supported by the fact that it occurred abun-
dantly in Union county, South Illinois, in 1861, where there are no
pine trees growing, and where, at that period, the so called "poplar"
or white-wood was universally used in buildings, in place of pine im-
ported from the North ; and I last summer ascertained that it really
does breed in rotten oak stumps, as well as in decaying pine, for I
found it in the former wood, both in the larva, pupa, and fresh beetle
state. But what is still more important I also find that the Broad-
necked Prionus, is an exception to the rule above mentioned, and
that it breeds as freely in decaying oak stumps as in living roots. For
this fact I am indebted to Mrs. Mary Treat of Vineland, N. J., who
has sent me specimens of the beetle bred from larva? that are found
abundant in the oak stumps in that vicinity.

Summary.— To sum up the whole matter in a few words, it is ob-
vious that we have in Missouri three large boring grubs, which so
closely resemble each other, that they cannot be distinguished by any
marks which we are yet acquainted with— that the Broad-necked
Prionus feeds indiscriminately on the living roots of Apple, Grape-
vine, Poplar (and perhaps of several other trees), and on decaying
oak stumps, and will travel through the ground from one place to
another— that the Tile-horned Prionus not only attacks the Grape-
vine, but can subsist on the roots of herbaceous plants, and in all
probability will also feed on decaying oak, like the former species ;
and finally, that the Cylindrical Orthosoma feeds on decaying pine
and oak, but has not yet been found in living roots. From these facts
we may deduce the important corollary, that it will not do to leave
oak stumps to rot on ground which is .intended for a vineyard or
orchard— which was the thing to be proved.

92

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

THE GRAPE SEED-MAGGOT— Isoso7na vitis, Saunders.

(Ilymenoptera, Chalcididae.)

In my First Report (pp. 125-31), I gave an account of a minute
maggot (Fig. 64) which had been found by Mr. Wm. Saunders, of Lon-
[Fig. 64.] (Jon, C. W., to infest the seeds of growing grapes,

and to occasion much damage around London and
.Paris, by causing the berries of the Clinton, Dela-
ware, Rogers' No. 4, and some of Mr. Arnold's Seed-
lings, to shrivel up without maturing. There are so many noxious
insects, common in Missouri, that occur also in the southern portions
of Canada West, that it was deemed necessary to give the grape-
growers of the State a diagnosis of its work, in case it should at any-
day make its appearance in our vineyards.

From the appearance of this maggot, I inferred, with every one
else who gave an opinion, that it would most likely produce some
small species of snout-beetle (CurouUo family). Now mark how
dangerous a thing it is, for even an entomologist to guess at the char-
acter of some insects, when in this masked form. We flatter our-
selves that there are but very few insects among the half million dif-
ferent species that are estimated to exist in the whole extent of this
terrestrial globe of ours, that we cannot place at a glance in its proper
Order, even when in the larva state; but let us humbly acknowledge
that there are some few larval forms among the more minute Four-
winged Flies (order Ilymenoptera) and Beetles (order Coleoptera)
which it is almost, if not absolutely, impossible to distinguish the
one from the other.

Last August I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with Mr.
Saunders, at his place in London, and I was gratified to learn that he
had bred the perfect insect from this seed-maggot. It proved to be a
little Four- winged fly ( Chalcis family), and upon my return home, I
found a few specimens of the very same species of fly, in a bottle in
which were placed some infested grapes received the year before
from Mr. A. S. Fuller of New Jersey, and obtained by him from Canada.

This fly so closely resembles
the notorious Joint- worm Fly {Iso'
soma Ac>r6?<?*, Harris) that the ac-
companying highly magnified
sketch (Fig. 65) of that insect — a
representing the female, h the
male, g the? antenna, <f the ^ do.,
e the ? abdomen and /"the ^ do. —
will atford a very correct idea of
its appearance.

The Grape Seed-maggot Fly
differs principally from the Joint-
worm Fly in its somewhat smaller
size, in the legs being marked

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 93

with black on the thighs and shanks, in the d" abdomen being
comparatively shorter, and in its third ring conspicuously overhang-
ing the fourth. The following account and description from Mr. Saun-
ders himself, is taken from the November number of the Canadian
Entomologist :

" In October I detached a larva from the inside of the seed, and
placed it in a small glass cell between two plates of glass, in which
state it remained until early in January, when it became a pupa, hav-
ing first attached itself to the sides of the cell by a few short silky
threads. It had now contracted in length, become nearly oval, and
assumed a yellowish tint, with a few short loose silky threads adher-
ing to different parts of its surface. On the 11th of February I exam-
ined some seeds and found the larva within, still alive and active, just
as it appeared in the fall. On the 7lh of July further specimens were
opened and the inmates found soft and motionless ; these appeared to
be in the pupa state, but I did not examine them with sufficient care
to enable me to be positive. During the remaining part of July, I
looked many times into the bottles in which the grapes were enclosed
but could not discover anything. On the 9th of August, feeling sure
that the time for the appearance of the insect must be fully come, if
not already past, I resolved on a thorough search for it. As soon as
the contents of the bottles had been emptied on a piece of white
paper,! observed a number of small four- winged flies among the
dried-up grapes. They were all dead and stiff, some of them more
brittle than others. From the observations made, I should judge that
they made their escape from the middle to the end of July."

laosoMA viTis, Saunders, $ — Head large, flattened in front, black, thickly punctured, and cov-
ered with many short whitish hairs ; mandibles pale brown at base, tipped with black; antennse
(scape and 8 joints), 9-jointed, black, thickly covered with whitish hairs inserted in deep sockets ;
the scape pale brown, slender, nearly as long as the three following joints together ; the second short ;
third to eighth inclusive nearly equal in length ; the terminal joint longer, tapering slightly
towards the tip. Thorax black, punctured and covered with whitish hairs. Legs, front pair pale
brown, trochanters nearly black ; second and third pairs, trochanters black, femora and tibiae
nearly black along the middle, pale brown at tips ; tarsi pale brown. Abdomen, long, black,
straight, smooth, with a polished surface ; placed on a short pedicel ; a little contracted at base,
thickest on third joint, tapering gradually to fifth, and then suddenly to extremity ; the basal
joint very short, second and third each somewhat longer, fourth as long as the three preceding,
fifth less than half as long as fourth, sixth a little shorter, terminal joint rather longer.

(^ diflfers from $ in having the antennse somewhat longer and more thickly covered with
hairs. His abdomen is short, thick and blunt, placed on a moderately stout pedicel nearly its own
length. The abdominal rings have about the same relative size as in the female, but the posterior
edge of third overhangs the fourth, the latter appearing as if partially drawn within the project-
ing edge of the third ring.

Length $ 0.10, ^, 0.06 inch.

" Having kept the grapes in bottles, only occasionally opened for
ventilation, in a dry room, they had become quite hard, dry and shriv-
elled. In consequence of this, many of the flies were unable to make
their way out, the seed having become too hard for their jaws to eat
through. On opening some of these the flies were found dead with
wings fully developed and surrounded by small fragments of the in-
terior coating of the seed which they had evidently gnawed off while

94

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

endeavoring to escape. Those which had found their way out had
eaten a small nearly round irregular hole through seed and skin. In
many similar cases where the larva feeds within a hard substance
it provides for the escape of the perfect insect by eating away the
bard enclosure until it is reduced so thin as to appear almost trans-
parent, then a very little effort is sufficient to remove the obstruction
to the outward passage of the imago. In this instance I have been
unable to detect any such preparation, and believe that the whole
work of escape is accomplished by the perfect fly.

"Notwithstanding the abundance of this insect last year, I have
as yet been unable to detect their presence or any evidence of their
work during the present season; probably the cold and wet character
of the summer has been unfavorable to their operations."

THE CAl^KEU-WOUK—Anisopter^/x vernata, Peck.

[Lepidoptera Phalaenidce.]

This word Canker-worm has formed the heading of so many arti-
cles in our various Agricultural and Horticultural journals during
the last ten or twelve years, and its natural history has been so fully
given in the standard work of Dr. Harris, that one almost wonders

[Fig. 66.]

where there can be a reading farmer who does not know how prop-
erly to fight it. But then, new generations are ever replacing those
which pass away, so that the same stories will doubtless have to be
repeated to the end of time. Facts in Nature will always bear re-
peating, and as it may be laid down as a maxim that no injurious in-
sect can be successfully combated without a thorough knowledge of
its habits and transformations, I will first recount those of the Canker-
worm, and afterwards state the proper remedy.

The eggs of this insect are very minute, measuring about 0.03
inch in length and 0.02 in diameter. In form they are not unlike a
miniature hen's egg, minutely roughened and with longitudinal irregu-
lar depressions. They reflect prismatic colors, and are deposited
close together in rows, forming batches such as that shown in the
above Figure 6Q, a representing them of the natural size, and I rep-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 95

resenting them magnified. They are glued together by a grayish var-
nish which the mother moth secretes, and they are attached to the
trunk, or to some one or other of the twigs of the tree, and may often
be found on the inside of loose scales of bark, each batch consisting
of upwards of a hundred eggs.

As the leaves begin to form, these eggs hatch into minute, thread-
like span-worms, which in from three to four weeks afterwards ac-
quire their full size, when they appear as at Figure 66 c. The Can-
ker-worm is distinguished from most other caterpillars that attack
the Apple, by having but four prolegs at the end of the body. The
normal number of such prolegs in caterpillars, is ten ; and it is the
lack of the foremost six which obliges our insect to span or loop,
from which habit the characteristic name Geometridje has been given
to the group to which it belongs.

When full-grown this worm measures scarcely an inch in length,
and is commonly ash-gray on the back, darker at the side and yellowish
[Fig. 67.] beneath. It varies greatly in the intensity of its mark-
ings however, ash-gray, green, and yellow ones occur-
ring in the same brood, and the most constant character
by which it may be distinguished from other span-worms
of the same size, is the pattern of the head, which,
no matter what the general hue of the body may be, is
usually shaded and marked as in the annexed Figure 67.
The markings of the worm vary indeed so much, that, without this
criterion I could hardly venture to determine a Canker-worm larva
myself.

I subjoin a very full description of this worm from numerous
average specimens, as it is of considerable importance, that an orch-
ardist may be able to ascertain definitely whether he is troubled with
the true Canker-worm or not. For if he mistakes some other span-
worm which produces winged females as well as winged males, for
the genuine Canker-worm which is apterous in the female moth state,
it becomes very obvious that all his efi"orts to try and prevent the
ravages of the spurious Canker-worm by the most approved and well-
tried methods, will not only fail most absolutely, but he will lose all
faith in such remedies, and may perchance, if he is given to the use
of the quill, vent his wrath and disappointment by sending to some
one of the horticultural journals of the land, a pithy article "based
upon FACTS [?] and experience" showing up the utter worthlessness of
the Canker-worm remedies !

It is from such lack of true knowledge that the City Fathers of Bal-
timore, Maryland, went to the useless expense of furnishing oil troughs
for all their large elm trees which were being defoliated, under the
delusive idea that the insect committing the ravage was the Canker-
worm; whereas it turned out to be the larva of a little imported Bee-
tle ( Galeruca calmariensis^ Fabr.), the female of which has ample
wings, and can fly as readily as a bird from tree to tree ; and it is

96 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

from such oversights, that paragraphs like the following take their
rise. This one may be found in the Boston Journal for may 23d,
1866:

Origin of Canker-worms. — A Medford correspondent says that
last fall he applied to his trees protectors which were pronounced
the best in the neighborhood, and notwithstanding not a single grub
passed over them, the trees, like others in the vicinity, are this sea-
son covered with worms which are now pursuing their devastating
work. In his opinion the Canker-worms do not originate from the
grub, and he challenges proof that they do. The subject is one
worthy of investigation !

Whe-e-e-e-ou ! It needs no comments in this Report.

When first hatchedjihe young Canker-worms are of a dark olive-green or brown hue, with a
shiny black head and thoracic leg-s, with a whitifch lateral and dorsal band, the latter having a
darker central line along it. After the first moult, the head becomes lighter and mottled, and the
light bands less conspicuous. After the second moult the bands are almost obliterated and the
body becomes more uniformly mottled and speckled with livid-brown ; the head becomes still
lighter and the prolegs being now large, spread out at almost a level with the venter. After the
third (and I believe last) moult the appearance changes but little. The full grown larva averages
0.9Q inch in length with an average diameter of 0.10 inch, being broadest on joint 11. It varies
from light fleshy-gray to almost black. Head mottled as in Figure 67. Ends of body somewhat
darker than middle. Joint 1 with a yellowish dorsal shield, the hinder margin in form of a
rounded W. Viewed under a lens the body has a series of eight fine light yellowish, irregular,
somewhat broken lines, running the whole length of the body, each one relieved by a darker shade
each side of it. The two along middle of dorsum are close together, with the space between them
usually dark, and occupied at anterior edge and middle of joints 5, 6, 7 and 11 by black marks
somewhat in form of x, these marks being represented by simple black dots on the other joints.
Space between these dorsal lines and the next lowest, lighter, and containing four black pilifer-
ous spots to each joint, the posterior ones rather further apart than the anterior ones which on joint
II form two larger elevated shiny black spots. Space between lines 2 and 3 darker than any other
part of the body. That between lines .3 and 4 lighter than any other part of body and containing
the stigmata which are perfectly round and black with a light centre, with a small pilif erous spot
anteriorly above and below them, and another behind them, this last becoming large on joints 5,
6, 7 and 8. Venter dark and livid at borders, with a pale greenish band along the middle, which lias s^
pinkish patch in it on joints 6, 6, 7 and 8. Legs greenish at base, color of body at extremity. The
markings are most distinct on the light specimens.

The Canker-worm is by no means confined, in its destructive
work, to the Apple, for it likewise attacks the Plum, the Cherry, the
Elm, and a variety of other trees. Mr. R. J. Mendenhall, of Minnea-
polis, Minn., even informs me, in a recent letter, that "the Currant
worm" spoken of in a late number of the Farmer^s C^w^07^ as infesting
the currant bushes in the gardens around that city, were really Can-
ker-worms, but he is most assuredly mistaken. The Canker-worm is
seldom ever noticed on our trees till the riddled and seared appear-
ance of the foliage tell of its presence ; for, like most other span-
worms, it has the habit of resting in a stifi" straight posture, either
at an angle of about 45° from, or flat and parallel with the twig which
it occupies — thus eluding detection.

After it has attained its full size it either crawls down the tree or
lets itself down by means of a silken thread, and burrows into the
ground. Here, at a depth of two or three inches, it forms a rude co-
coon of particles of earth intermixed with silk (Fig. QQ^ d). Within
two days after completing the cocoon the worm becomes a chrysalis

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 9T

of alight brown color. The sexes are now distinguishable, the male
chrysalis (Fig. 66, e) being slender, pointed in front, and showing the
wing-sheaths ; while that of the female is larger and destitute
of wing-sheaths.

In the latitude of St. Louis, the worms have generally descended
from the trees and entered the ground by the middle of May, though
some remain till about the first of June. As I have amply proved
during the past two summers, there is but one brood each year in this
State, just as there is but one brood in Maine, and whether the worms
enter the ground the first or the last of May, they remain there as
chrysalids all through the summer and fall months, and the great
majority of them till th^ following spring. A frost seems to be neces-
sary to their proper development. Some come out during the first
mild weather that succeeds the first frosts in November; others issue
all through the winter whenever the ground is thawed, and the great
bulk issue as soon as the frost is entirely out of the ground in spring.
Many which I bred this winter issued during the warm weather of
January.

The moths (Fig. 66 /" (5", ^ ? ) show great disparity of sex, the male
being fully winged while the female is entirely destitute of these ap>
pendages. The front wings of the male are pale ash-gray, crossed by
three equidistant jagged, more or less defined, black lines, all curved
inwardly, and most distinct on the front or costal border ; and by a
somewhat broader whitish line, which runs from the posterior angle
to the apex; the inner and terminal borders also being marked with
black. The hind wings are silvery-gray, and the under surfaces are of
the same uniform silvery-gray color, each wing with a dusky discal
spot, the front wings each with an additional spot on the costa. Such
is the appearance of the more common perfect specimens found in
the West, but the wings are very thin and silky, and the scales easily
rub off, so that it is almost impossible to capture a perfect specimen
at large. They vary considerably also — so much so that Dr. Harris
ranks a smaller form as a distinct species {A.pomeiaria) which I have
however bred promiscuously with the more typical specimens. The
most common variation from the brief description above given, is
found in such specimens which have the dark lines obsolete, and an
additional white line inside the one described. The female is ash-
gray, the thorax with a black spot, the body more or less marked
with black along the back, and the legs alternately marked with black
and white.

In Missouri the Canker-worm is not so injurious over broad tracts
of country, as it is in some of the more eastern States. Yet it is suf-
ficiently distributed in different parts, to require vigilance to keep it
down. "R. P.," of Mexico, Mo., found it very injurious in the spring
of 1868, and sent me many specimens, and they were the genuine

article. Around Pevely, I have likewise found it common on the
7— E R

98 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

farms of Dr. Varnum and Mr. Foster. Mr. Wm. M. Beal of Edina
tells me that it is considered one of the very worst enemies in Knox
county, and as I am informed by Mr. J. D. Dopf, editor of the Jour-
nal^ Rockport, Atchison Co., it was exceedingly troublesome to the
elms there in 1866. Where they have once become established, and
are neglected, their ravages soon become very great; and they were
so bad in certain parts of Michigan a few years ago, and especially in
the Grand Traverse region in 1865, that, unless my memory fails me,
a certain Eastern editor, in response to an appeal for a remedy from
Mr. Sanford Howard, the Secretary of the Michigan State Board of
Agriculture very foolishly urged the Wolverines to cut down their
trees. May I hope that these Entomological Reports will be the
means of protecting IMissouri from the fearful ravages of this worm
which has so often discouraged the orchardists in Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and some of the Middle States.

It is the apterous condition of the female moth which gives us
such complete control of this enemy, and which indicates

THE PROPER REMEDY.

The sole object of the female, after she leaves the earth, seems
to be to provide for the continuance of her kind, and she instinctively
places the precious burden, which is to give birth to the young which
she herself is destined never to behold, upon the tree whose leaves
are to nourish those young. All her life-energy is centered in the
accomplishment of this one object, and she immediately makes for
the tree upon issuing from the ground. Consequently, anything that
will prevent her ascending the trunk will, in a great measure (but as
we shall presently see, not entirely) preserve the tree from the
ravages of the worm.

Numerous indeed have been the devices — patented or unpatented
— which have at different times and in different parts of the country
been used to accomplish this desired end; and every year our Agri-
cultural journals report individual experiments with some one or
other of these devices — some favorable and others adverse. Tar,
applied either directly around the body of the tree, or on strips of
old canvas, on sheep-skin, or on stiff paper; refuse sorghum molasses,
printers' ink, or slow-drying varnishes, or melted India rubber,
which always retains its soft viscid state, applied in a similar man-
ner; tin, lead, and rubber troughs to contain oil; belts of cotton-
wool, etc., etc., have all been used, and with both good and bad
results, very much according as they have been used intelligently or
otherwise. Now, all these appliances, of whatsoever character, are
divisible into two classes: first, those which prevent the ascension of
the moth by entangling her feet, and trapping her fast, or by drown-
ing her; and, second, those which accomplish the same end by pre-
venting her from getting a foothold, and thus causing her repeatedly
to fall to the ground until she becomes exhausted and dies.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 99

The first class of remedies are thoroughly effectual when applied
understandingly and persistently. And by this I mean, that the
orchardist must know that many of the moths issue in the fall of the
year, and that the applications must, in consequence, be made at
least as early as the latter part of October, and that they must
be kept sticky, through all but freezing weather, till the leaves have
well put out, in the following spring. Furthermore he must know
that many of the moths— frustrated in their efforts to climb the tree-
will deposit their eggs near the ground or anywhere below the appli-
cation, and that the young worms hatching from them are able to
pass behind the slighest crevice or over the finest straw. Thus, if
troughs are used, they must be fitted over a bandage of cotton-wool,
so that when the trough is drawn tightly around the tree, it will do
no injury, and will at the same time cause the cotton to fill up all in-
equalities of the bark; the joint must likewise be kept smeared
either with tar or molasses, and then the worms will not be able to
pass. In the neglect to thus fasten them, lies the secret of failure which
many report who use such troughs. The second class of contrivances
are of no avail whatever, for although the moth is unable to travel over
a very smooth surface, I know from experience that the young worms
can march over the smoothest glass by aid of the glutinous silken
thread which they are able to spin from the very moment they are
born. For these reasons, even the "Merritt's Patent Tree-Protector,"
which was so well advertised by Mr. Howard in his otherwise excel-
lent article on the Canker-worm, in the Michigan Agricultural Re-
port for 1865, must be classed with the worthless patents. This
" Protector" consists of a ring of glass grooved below and hung from
the tree by a tent of canvas, to which it is fastened by an iron
clamp.

I might enumerate a number of such ingenious contrivances both
of glass, wood, tin, and isinglass, for heading off the female moth only,
and some few which are sufficiently thorough to head off the young
larvae also ; but they are all so expensive, that I am perfectly convinced
they will never be adopted in our large orchards ; nor are they nec-
essary, for some of the remedies already mentioned are altogether
more simple and more effectual.

It cannot be denied that it requires a great deal of time, labor
and expense to continually renew the applications of tar on every
tree in a large orchard during so many months of the year ; while its
application directly to the bark is more or less injurious to the trees.
For these reasons, refuse sorghum molasses will be found much bet-
ter for the purpose, as it does not harden so rapidly, and is said not
to be injurious to the tree. In neighborhoods where sorghum is
grown, it is also much cheaper. That it will pay to do this work in
orchards where the Canker-worm is known to be numerous, there can-
not be the least doubt. The old adage, " What is worth doing at all
IS worth doing well," was never truer than in fighting this insect.

100 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

Apply the remedy thoroughly during two successive years, and you
have utterly routed the enemy, and this is more especially the case
where an orchard is not in too close proximity to the timber, or to
slovenly neighbors. Fail to apply the remedy, and the enemy will,
in all probability, rout you. The reason is simple. The female being
wingless, the insect is very local in its attacks, sometimes swarming
in one orchard and being unknown in another which is but a mile
away. Thus, after it is once exterminated, a sudden invasion is not
to be expected, as in the case of the Tent Caterpillar, and of many
other orchard pests ; but when it has once obtained a footing in an
orchard, it multiplies the more rapidly, for the very reason that it does
not spread fast.

If oil troughs are used, it will be found much safer, and surer to
sink them in the ground close around the butt of the tree, instead of
winding them around the trunk higher up. There will then be no
chance for the young worms to get up between the trough and the
tree. But it follows, that this plan can only be adopted in an orchard
which is kept perfectly clean.

As for muriate of lime, which has been so earnestly recom-
mended as a preventive, by interested parties, here is what Mr. San-
ford Howard says of it in the Western Rural of August 18th, 1866,.
and Mr. Joseph Breck, editor of the old American Journal of Horti-
culture ; G. C. Brackett, correspondent of the Maine Farmer^ and
several other persons with whom I am acquainted, all testify, after
having thoroughly tried it, to its utter worthlessness for this purpose :

The editor of the Farmer says, there are statements to the effect,
that a substance called Gould's Muriate of Lime, applied to the soil
in autumn, had entirely prevented the subsequent appearance of
Canker-worms on trees standing on the ground, although the trees had
previously been much damaged by the insect. It is also stated that
on other trees, not ten rods distant, where none of the so-called mu-
riate of lime was applied, the worms were very destructive.

I cannot think that this amounts to any proof that the substance
applied destroyed the worms, or had any effect on them. The non-
appearance of the insect in the case alluded to, was probably due to
other causes. If this substance will kill or injure the insect in any
of its stages, it would be easy to prove it by a direct application to
soil containing insects, in a box. Several years ago, I took pains to
make a particular experiment with this so-called muriate of lime, the
result of which Was that the Canker-worm underwent its transforma-
tions naturally, and to all appearance healthfully, in a soil composed
of nearly fifty per cent, of the articles of which it was said a small
proportion only was necessary to totally destroy them ? If the sub-
stance is the same in composition now that it was then, it is reasona-
ble to suppose that the result of its application would be the same.

As to the " Plug Ugly Theory," which consists of filling an auger
bore with sulphur and plugging it tight, and which originated, some
years since, in the inventive brain of some Prairie Farmer corres-
pondent ; it is altogether too absurd to need consideration, for even
if the mode of application were not so downright ridiculous, it is well

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 101

known to entomologists that many caterpillars will thrive exceed-
ingly on leaves that have been thickly sprinkled with sulphur.

Vigilance is the price of reward, and as it is always easier to pre-
vent than to cure, it were well for the owners of young orchards, in
neighborhoods where the Canker-worm is known to exist, to keep a
sharp look-out for it; so that upon its first appearance the evil may
be nipped in the bud. In the same manner that it is exterminated in
the individual orchard, in like manner, it may, by concert of action,
be exterminated from any given locality. When once the worms are
on a tree, a good jarring will suspend them all in mid- air, when the
best way to kill them is by swinging a stick above them, which breaks
the web, and causes them to fall to the ground ; when they may be
prevented from ascending the tree, by the methods already described,
or by strewing straw on the ground and setting fire to it.

One word in commendation of late fall plowing and the use of
hogs. A good deal has been said both for and against fall plowing,
and the following discussion which took place at the November (1868)
meeting of the Alton (Ills.) Horticultural Society, will afford a sample
of the different opinions held by individuals :

Dr. Long took the ground that fall plowing was one of the best
and surest means of eradicating those insects which stay in the ground
over winter. He said, some five or six years ago my orchard was
badly infested with the Canker-worm ; by late cultivation, I almost,
if not entirely, got rid of them.

Dr. Hull — I do not believe that fall plowing will destroy the lar-
vae of insects to any extent. I have dug up frozen lumps containing
larvye that were not affected by freezing. I think the Canker-worm
will not spread here as in New England,

J. Huggins — I have been led to believe — contrary to Dr. Hull's
statement — that they will spread, and feel that there is great danger
of their spreading. I believe fall plowing a great aid in the extermi-
nation of them. Cites a case where they have been almost entirely
destroyed by late plowing, in an orchard that was nearly ruined by
them.

Dr. Hull — If it be true that they will spread, why is it that none
of Dr. Long's neighbors have them? He says he was badly overrun
with them, and the fact that his neighbors were not, I think confirm-
ation of my statement that they will not spread.

Dr. Long — My brother's orchard, adjoining mine, had double as
many as my own. He fall plowed, and has very few left. He also
cites the case of an old orchard, in this section, that was almost de-
stroyed by them, but fall plowing has almost, if not entirely, destroyed
them.

The following item from the New York Weekly Tribune of Feb-
ruary 26th, 1869, also bears on this point:

Canker-worms Destroyed by Plowing. — Mr. McNeil Witherton,
in answer to W. V. Monroe's request : 1 will state thatl think that the
Canker-worm can be destroyed by plowing the ground where they
are, late in the fall. The 2Sth of Nov., 1867, 1 was at my son David's
in Wisconsin. He told me that the Canker-worms were in his orchard,
and had injured his apple trees very much the past season; that a
man who owns a nursery and keeps apple trees for sale, w^entinto the
orchard and examined the trees and worms, and said it was the Can-

102 SECOND ANNUAL KEPORT OF

ker-worra that was injuring his orchard. I told him that about fifty
years ago they had been in my father's orchard some six years, and
killed a large number of the trees ; that we plowed it late in the fall,
and have never seen the Canker-worm there since. I advised him to
plow his orchard immediately. The next day he plowed it as far as
the worms had been in it. I received a letter from him a few weeks
ago, stating that the Canker-worms were not in his orchard this year,
and those trees that were injured and not killed last year, revived
some this year.

Now there is no doubt but late plowing will produce somewhat
diiFerent ejffects, according to the character of the soil, and the depth
of the plowing ; but that it is more generally beneficial than other-
wise I am perfectly convinced, and as for the assertion of Mr. Wm. P.
Lippincott, of Vernon, Iowa, made some time ago, in the Iowa Home-
steady namely, that it left the ground full of harbors for the next year's
breeding, it suffices to say that the insect does not breed in the
ground, and, holes or no holes, the worms will penetrate the soil
whenever the time arrives to change to chrysalis. After the summer
months the insect invariably lies in the chrysalis state snugly en-
tombed in a little earthen cell very thinly lined with silk, from two
to six inches below the surface. This cell, though frail, is a sufficient
protection, so long as it is whole, from any excess of moisture, and at
the same time prevents too much evaporation in case of summer
drouth or dry winter freezing. Now I have proved by experiment
that whenever this cell is disturbed or broken in cold weather, the
chrysalis has not the power to penetrate the ground again, and in the
great majority of instances, either rots, dries out, becomes mouldy, or,
if on the surface, is devoured by birds. Even summer plowing, if
performed after the first of July would work beneficially ; and it is for
this reason, that clean, well cultivated orchards are more free from
the attacks of this insect, than slovenly and neglected ones. The only
advantage of late fall plowing, lies in the facts, that the chrysalis is at
that time too benumbed to work itself into the ground and form an-
other cell, and that birds are then harder pushed for food, and more
watchful for any such dainty morceau.

As to the efficiency of hogs, in rooting up and devouring the chry-
salids, during the summer months, abundant favorable testimony
might be cited ; but the facts are too obvious to need argument.

ENEMIES OF THE CANKER-W^ORM.

Like most of our noxious insects, the Canker-worm is subject to
[Fig. 68.] w^Q attacks of cannibal and parasitic insects. It is

also devoured by very many different birds, some of
which almost entirely live on it ; and Dr. Packard,
of Salem, Mass., has observed an elongated mite
{Nothrus ovivorns, Fig. 68, enlarged) devouring its
eggs. The most common parasite which I have yet
discovered with us, is an undescribed small four-
winged fly belonging to the genus Microgaster^ of
the same size, but differing from the Military Micro-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

103

gaster (Fig. 23) which preys upon the Army- worm. It differs also
from most other insects of the same genus, by each individual larva
as it eats through the skin of the Canker-worm, spinning its pale
greenish-white cocoon alone, and not in company. About ten per
cent, of the worms which I have endeavored to breed, have been de-
stroyed by this parasite. Harris mentions the larva of another four-
winged fly, and that of a two-winged fly belonging to the genus Ta-
china^ which also infest the worm, destroying about one- third of them
in Massachusetts. There is also a very minute and undescribed ^^^e-
ciQ^oi Platygaster vi\\\c\\i)^QVQe?, the egg of the Canker-worm, and
drops one of her own into it, from which in due time the perfect fly
develops.

Among the Cannibal insects, which prey upon it, may be men-
tioned the Ground-beetles, two of which I have found preying upon
this worm, namely, the Rummaging Ground-beetle {Calosoma scruta-
[Mg. 69.] iQ^,^ Fabr. Fig. 69), a large and beautiful

insect, with the wing- [Fig. to.J

covers golden-green, and
the rest of the body
marked with violet-blue,
gold, green, and copper;
and the Fiery Ground-
beetle ( Calosoma cali-
dum^ Fabr. Fig. 70.), a
black species of almost
equal size, with copper
colored spots on the wing-
covers. These beetles are very active, and run over the ground in
search of soft-bodied worms, and will even mount upon the trunks of
trees for the same purpose.

The Fraternal Potter-wasp {Eumenes fraterna^ Say), is stated by
[Fig. 71.] Harris, to store her cells with Can-

ker-worms, often gathering eighteen
or twenty of them for a single cell.
This wasp (Fig. 71, «), is quite com-
mon in St. Louis county, and uses
other species besides Canker-worms
as food for its young. Its clay nest
(Fig. 71 5, entire ; c', the same cut
open shortly after it was built, show-
ing the manner in which it is com-
pactly crowded with green worms), may often be found attached to
the stems of the Goldenrod and of other plants in the open air, or
cemented under the loose bark of some tree. It has even been found
attached to the leaves of a deciduous plant, where it must neces-
sarily fall to the ground in winter and lie there till the perfect insect
issues in the following summer.

104

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

CABBAGE WORMS.

Of the various insects that affect this important esculent, the-
three following are among the most injurious in this State :

THE SOUTHERN CABBAGE BVTTEnFLY—Pieris protodice, Boisd.
(Lepidoptera, Pieridae.)

Mr. S. H. Scudder, of the Boston Society of Natural History, from
an examination of a large number of specimens of this butterfly,
[Fig. 72.] found that it enjoys a wide geo-

graphical range, " extending
from Texas on the southwest,
Missouri on the west, and the
mouth of the Red River of the
North on the northwest, as far
as Connecticut, and the South-
ern Alantic States on the east."*
But while the species is scarce
in the more northern States, it
is the common white butterfly of Missouri, abounding in many parts
of the State, and sometimes flitting so thickly around the truck gar-
[Fig. 73.] dens near large cities, as to remind

one at a distance, of the falling of
snow. It often proves exceedingly
injurious, and I learn from a Missis-
sippi exchange, that " there were
last year thousands of dollars' worth
of cabbages devastated and ruined
by worms in the neighborhood of
Corinth." The paragraph goes on to
state, "that cabbages could not, in consequence, be had there even at
ten cents per head." The "worm" referred to, was doubtless the spe-
cies under consideration.

I have often passed through cabbage beds near St. Louis, and
been unable to find a perfect head, though few of the gardeners had
any suspicion that the gay butterflies which flitted so lazily from one
plant to another, were the real parents of the mischievous worms
which so riddled the leaves.

The larva (Fig. 72, a) may be summarily described as a soft worm,
of a greenish-blue color, with four longitudinal yellow stripes, and
covered with black dots. When newly hatched it is of a uniform
orange color with a black head, but it becomes dull brown before the
first moult, though the longitudinal stripes and black spots are only
visible after said moult has taken place.

I subjoin a more complete description of it:

Average length ■when full grown 1.15 inches. Middle segments largest. Most cominoa
ground-color green verging onto blue ; sometimes clear pale blue and at others deep indigo or

* See Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., VIII, 1861, p. 180.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

105

parplish-blue. Each segment with six transverse wrinkles, of which the first and fourth are
somewhat wider than the others. Four longitudinal yellow lines, each equidistant from the
other, and each interrupted by a pale blue spot on the aforementioned first and fourth transverse
wrinkles. Traces of two additional longitudinal lines below, one on each side immediately above
prolegs. On each transverse wrinkle is a row of various sized, round, polished black, slightly
raised, piliferous spots ; those on wrinkles one and four being largest and most regularly situated.
Hairs arising from these spots, stifif and black. Venter rather lighter than ground-color above,
and minutely speckled more or less with dull black. Head same color as body ; covered with
black piliferous spots, and usually with a yellow or orange patch each side— quite variable. The
black piliferous spots frequently have a pale blue annulation around the base, especially in the
darker specimens.

The chrysalis (Fig. 72, J), averages 0.65 inch in length, and is as vari-
able in depth of ground-color, as the larva. The general color is
light bluish-gray, more or less intensely speckled with black, with the
ridges and prominences edged with buj[f or with flesh-color, and
having larger black dots.

The female butterfly (Fig. 73) dif-
fers remarkably from the male which
I represent at Figure 74. It will be
seen, upon comparing these figures
that the ? is altogether darker than
the (?. This sexual diff'erence in ap-
pearance is purely colorational, how-
ever, and there should not be the dif-
ference in the form of the wings which the two figures would indi-
cate, for the hind wings in the <^ cut, are altogether too short and
rounded.

This insect may be found in all its difi'erent stages through the
months of July, August and September. It hybernates in the chrys-
alis state. I do not know that it feeds on anything but Cabbage, but
I once found a c? chrysalis fastened to a stalk of the common nettle
(Solanum carolinense), which was growing in a cemetery with no
cabbages within at least a quarter of a mile : and Mr. J. K. Muhleman
is reported as having stated at a late meeting of the Alton (Illinois)
Horticultural Society, that it is injurious to turnips and other plants
of the cabbage family. There are two broods of this insect each year.
As already stated, in the more northern and eastern States our
[Fig- 75 Southern Cabbage Butterfly occurs in

^^^^^N comparatively small numbers, but it is
replaced by the Potherb Butterfly
{Pieris oleracea^ Boisd.), an indigenous
species which does not occur with us.
This last (Fig. 75, butterfly with the
larva beneath) is in reality a northern
species, for it rarely reaches as far south
as Pennsylvania, but extends east to
Nova Scotia, west to Lake Superior,
and north as far as the Great Slave Lake
in the Hudson's Bay Company's territory. It is readily distinguished

106 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

from our species by being perfectly plain, with no black spots on the
wings. The body is black, and the front wings have a slight shade
of this color at their base, front edge, and tips. Its larva is pale green
[Fig^ 76.] and feeds on various other cruciferous plants besides cab-
bages ; its chryalis (Fig. 76) is also pale green or whitish,
regularly and finely dotted with black.

This butterfly has existed from time immemorial on the
American continent, within the geographical limits already
given, and yet has never made its way into Missouri or any of
the southwestern States. Nor is it likely to ever do so ; and why? Be-
cause some insects are constitutionally incapacitated to live beyond
certain geographical limits. The range of an insect is governed by
various influences which I have not time to enumerate at present;
but the principal influence is undoubtedly climate — temperature —
heat. The" isothermal" lines, or the lines of equal heat, as all phys-
ical geographers are well aware, do not run parallel with the lines of
latitude, as one might at first thought suppose ; but if our isothermal
maps are to be relied on, vary most astonishingly to points north and
south of a given line. The same variation from a given line of lati-
tude is noticeable in the distribution of insects, or — to coin a word —
we have "isentomic,"or iso-insect lines, which are as variable as the
lines of equal heat, by which they are doubtless to a great extent
governed. In Central Missouri we live on nearly the same latitude as
that of Southern Pennsylvania, and in North Missouri, as that of
Southern New York ; yet we do not live on tie same insect line, but
nearly on that of Virginia and North Carolina, and even in the ex-
treme northern part of the State, a number of insects are found,
which on the Atlantic seaboard are never known to occur north of
Virginia, and the same rule holds good with the birds and fishes of
the United States. The same thing is true of our Central and South-
ern counties. In other words many of our insects are southern^
not Qiortliern B^QCiQQ^ and as familiar examples, I might mention the
Tarantula of Texas {MygaU Hentzii, Girard), and its large Digger-
wasp enemy {Pepsis formosa^ Say), which have been frequently
found in St. Louis county during the past two years, though they were
for a long time supposed to be confined to Texas.

Now, since the indigenous Potherb Butterfly has never, in the
course of past ages, extended to any point South of Pennsylvania,
although its cruciferous food-plants have always flourished South of
that line, we are justified in concluding that it never will do so, and
that though a brood of the worms were introduced directly on to
some cabbage patch in the extreme Northern part of this State, they
would soon die out there.

Consequently we have nothing to fear from this butterfly which
has always troubled our northeastern friends. But the case is very
di3"erent with another white cabbage butterfly which is now commit-
ting sad havoc to the cabbages in some parts of Canada, and some

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 107

of the Eastern States. The species I refer to is the Eape Butterfly
(Pieris rapce^ Schrank}, a recent importation from ICurope, and while
I have no fear of any evil results arising from the introduction of the
Potherb Butterfly, I should hate to try the experiment of introducing
a brood of worms of the Rape Butterfly into any portion of the State ;
because, for the reasons detailed in the paper read before the State
Horticultural Society, and which is published at the beginning of this
lieport, I have not a doubt but they would flourish exceedingly, and
become far more injurious than either of the indigenous species. In-
deed, the history of this insect, since its introduction into this coun-
try, afl'ords suflicient proof that such would be the result, for M. Pro-
vancher in a recent number of his journal, Ze Naturalista Canaclien^
says that it alone, has caused more damage around Quebec, since its
arrival there, than all other noxious butterflies put together, in the
same space of time; and he estimates that it annually destroys $240,-
000 worth of cabbages around that town. In short, as this insect is
rapidly spreading westward, there is every reason to fear that it may
some day get a foothold in our midst, unless the proper measures are
taken to prevent such an undesirable occurrence. It will be well
therefore to familiarize the reader with its appearance, for "to be fore-
warned is to be forearmed 1"

Little did I dream, when, many years ago, I watched this butter-
fly fluttering slowly along some green lane or over some cabbage
patch in England, where it is the butterfly ; or when I found its chry-
salis so abundantly in the winter time on old palings or even on the
kitchen wall indoors — that I should some day be fearing its presence
here. But just as little did our forefathers dream of the immense
though gradual changes which have come over this broad land dur-
ing the last two or three centuries ! Coming events are said to cast
their shadows before them, but verily we know not what the morrow
will bring forth.

This Rape Butterfly is the bane of every cabbage grower, and its
larva is the dread of every cook in many parts of Europe. Unlike the
two indigenous N. A. species already alluded to, this worm is not con-
tent with riddling the outside leaves, but prefers to secrete itself in
the heart, so that every cabbage has to be torn apart and examined
before being cooked, and it is also necessary to keep a continual look-
out, even after it is dished up, lest one gets such an admixture of ani-
mal and vegetable food as is not deemed palatable by the most of
men. It is on account of this habit of boring into the heart of cab-
bages, that the French call it the " Ver du Coeur" or Heart- worm.

It was introduced about 1856 or 1857, having been first taken in
Quebec in 1859. In 1864 Mr. G. J. Bowles, who published an account
of it in the Canadian N'aturaUst and Geologist^ for August, 1864,
p. 258, estimated that it had not then extended more than forty miles
from Quebec as a centre. In 1866 it was taken in the northern parts
of New Hampshire and Vermont; in 1868 it had advanced as far

108

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

South as Lake Winnepesaugee. It having since been taken at Ban-
gor, and at other points in Maine ; in certain parts of New Jersey,
and the past year around Boston and New York.

It was in all probability introduced into this country in the egg
state, for the eggs are deposited on the underside of the leaves, and
there is nothing more likely than that a batch may have been thrown
with refuse leaves from some vessel, and that after hatching the
young larvos managed to find suitable food close by.

[Fig. 77.] The larva (Fig. 77, a), is pale green, finely dotted

with black, with a yellowish stripe down the back, and
a row of yellow spots along each side in aline with the
breathing holes. When about to transform, it leaves
the plant upon which it fed, and shelters under the
coping of some wall or fence, or on anything that may
be conveniently at hand, and changes to a chrysalis
(Fig. 76, h) which though variable in color, is usually
pale green, speckled with minute black dots. The in-
sect passes the winter in this state and as with the two
indigenous species, there are two broods each year.
The butterflies have the bodies black above, with the wings
[Fig. 78.] white, and marked as in the accom-

panying cuts ; the female (Fig. 78)
being distinguished from the male
(Fig. 79) by having two round spots
(sometimes three) instead of only one
on the front wings. Underneath, both
sexes are alike, there being two spots
on the front wings and none on the
hind ones, which are yellowish, sometimes passing into green. The
species varies very much, and there is a specimen in my collection in
which all the spots are so nearly obsolete above, that if it were not

for the characteristic under-surfaces,
it could scarcely be distinguished from
[the Potherb Butterfly. There is also
in England a variety of the male sex
which has the ground-color canary
yellow instead of white, and curiously
enough, this same variety has been
taken in this country.
Although some caterpillars are poly-
phagous, feeding indiscriminately on a great variety of plants, yet
most of them are confined to plants of the same botanical family, or
at all events of the same natural order. Such is the case with the
two indigenous cabbage butterflies above mentioned, for they are not
known to go beyond cruciterous plants for food. The Rape Butterfly
has a less epicurean palate however, and departs from this rule, inas-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

109

much as it has been known to feed upon the weeping willow in Eng-
land.

Remedies.— One way of counterworking the evil effects of these
cabbage butterflies, is to search for the eggs at the proper season, and
destroy them. These eggs are pear-shaped, yellowish and longi-
tudinally ribbed, but as they are deposited singly or in clusters of not
more than two or three, the operation becomes tedious and some-
what impracticable on a large scale. Still, children should be taught
how to find them, and incited to search for them by the hope of a re-
ward for a certain number. The butterflies are slow lumbering flyers
and may easily be caught in a net and killed. A short handle, per-
haps four feet long, with a wire hoop and bag-net of muslin or musquito
netting, are the only things needed to make such a net, the total cost of
which need not be more than fifty or seventy-five cents. Or a more
durable one may be made, in the following manner: Get a tinsmith
t^'^- ^"-l to make a hollow handle of brass or

tin from six to seven inches in length
and tapering at one end, as seen in
Figure 80,5; then procure a piece of
stout wire, rather more than a yard
^long, and bend it in the manner shown
in Figure 80, q. Place the ends of the
6 wire in the small end of the handle,
solder it on, and then fill in one-third of the handle with molten lead,
so as to make the wire doubly fast and solid. Now make a bag of
some strong but light fabric, and fasten it well to the wire. The depth
of the bag should be more than twice the diameter of the wire hoop.
If a handle is required, a wooden one is easily made to fit into the
hollow brass or tin, as at Figure 80, 4. Poultry, if allowed free range
in the cabbage field, will soon clear off the worms of our indigenous
species.

By laying pieces of board between the cabbage rows, and sup-
porting them about two inches above the surface of the ground, the
worms will resort to them to undergo their transformations, and may
then be easily destroyed.

Either Paris green or white hellebore will kill the worms, if
sprinkled on to them, but cannot be used on cabbages, as it is difficult
to free the plants of these substances which are poisonous. The
saponaceous compounds of cresylic acid are effectual, and without
these objections.

In Europe there are many parasites which serve to check the in-
crease of the Rape Butterfly, and Curtis enumerates at least four.
But on this continent, but one such parasite has so far been found to
attack it, and that was a two-winged fly— probably a TacTdna fly— which
M. Provancher bred from the chrysalis, in Quebec, Can.* M. Provan-
cher, after remarking that he found a chrysalis which, from its blacken-

*{yaturalitte Canadien Vol. II, p. 18.)

110

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

ing in the middle, he suspected would not develop into a butterfly, says
of this parasite that he afterwards found a cocoon [pupa ?] by its side
which was smooth blackish and oblong, and so large that he could
scarcely believe it had escaped from the chrysalis, which was, how-
ever, now pierced in the middle and empty. M. Provancher goes on
to say: "Ten days afterwards, we perceived one morning that the co-
coon was open at one end, and there was buzzing about in the vial a
fly, which we recognized as belonging to the genus Sarcojyhagal^e^h-
flies], the larvag of which are known to develop in meat. Here then,
we exclaimed, when we saw this fly, is an enemy of the Rape Butter-
fly. But unfortunately the flesh-flies feed indiscriminately on almost
any kind of flesh, and never being very numerous, cannot become
very redoubtable enemies of this butterfly."

With all due respect to my friend Provancher, I incline to believe
that he has mistaken a Tachinafiiy which is a true parasite, for a flesh-
fly {Sarcopliaga) which is only a scavenger. And if this be so, his
reasoning falls to the ground, for, as we may see in the Army-worm
article in this Report, there are no more efiicient checks to the in-
crease of injurious insects than these same TacJiina flies.

THE CABBAGE PLUSIA— P/wsia brassicce, N. Sp.

(Lepidoptera, Plusida;.)
[Fig- 81.] rp.. . n - -

Ihis is the next most com-
mon insect which attacks the
Cabbage with us, and curiously
enough it has never yet been
described. It is a moth, and
not a butterfly, and flies by
night instead of by day. In
the months of August and Sep-
tember the larva (Fig. 81, a)
may be found quite abundant
on this plant, gnawing large,
irregular holes in the leaves.
It is a pale green translucent
worm, marked longitudinally
with still paler more opaque lines, and like all the known larvae of
the family to which it belongs, it has but two pair of abdominal pro-
legs, the two anterior segments which are usually furnished with such
legs in ordinary caterpillars, not having the slightest trace of any.
Consequently they have to loop the body in marching, as represented
in the figure, and are true "Span-worms." Their bodies are very
soft and tender, and as they live exposed on the outside of the plants,
and often rest motionless, with the body arched, for hours at a time,
they are espied and devoured by many of their enemies, such as
birds, toads, etc. They are also subject to the attacks of at least two
parasites and die very often from disease, especially in wet weather ;

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. Ill

SO that they are never likely to increase quite as badly as the butter-
flies just now described.

When full grown this worm weaves a very thin loose white
cocoon, sometimes between the leaves of the plant on which it fed,
but more often in some more sheltered situation; and changes to
a chrysalis (Fig. 81, h) which varies from pale yellowish-green to
brown, and has a considerable protruberance at the end of the wing
and \Qg cases, caused by the long proboscis of the enclosed moth
being bent back at that point. This chrysalis is soft, the skin being
very thin, and it is furnished at the extremity with an obtuse
roughened projection which emits two converging points, and several
short curled bristles, by the aid of which it is enabled to cling to its
cocoon.

The moth is of a dark smoky-gray inclining to brown, variegated
with light grayish-brown, and marked in the middle of each front wing
with a small oval spot and a somewhat U-shaped silvery white mark,
as in the figure. The male (Fig. 81, c) is easily distinguished from
the female by a large tuft of golden hairs covering a few black ones,
which springs from each side of his abdomen towards the tip.

The suggestions given for destroying the larvas of the Cabbage
Butterflies, apply equally well to those of this Cabbage Plusia, and
drenchings with a cresylic wash will be found even more effectual,
as the worms drop to the ground with the slightest jar.

Plusia brassic^, N. Sp. — Larva — Pale yellowish translucent green, the dorsum made lighter and
less translucent by longitudinal opaque lines of a whitish-green ; these consist each side, of a rather
dark vesicular dorsal line, and of two very fine light lines, with an intermediate broad one. Tapers
gradually from segments 1-10, descending abruptly from 11 to extremity. Piliferous spots white,
giving rise to hairs, sometimes black, sometimes light colored ; and laterally a few scattering
white specks in^addition to these spots. A rather indistinct narrow, pale stigmatal line, with a
darker shade above it. Head and legs translucent yellowish-green, the head having five minute
black eyelets each side, which are not readily noticed with the naked eye. Some specimens are
of a beautiful emerald-green, and lack entirely the pale longitudinal lines. Described from
numerous specimens.

Crysalis — Of the normal P/M«a-form, and varying from yellowish-green to brown.

Moth. — Front wings dark gray inclining to brown, the basal half line, transverse anterior,
transverse posterior, and subterminal lines pale yellow inclining to fulvous, irregularly undulate,
and relieved more or less by deep brown margins ; the undulations of the subterminal line more
acuminate than in the others, and forming some dark sagittate points ; the basal half-line, the
transverse anterior near costa, and the transverse posterior its whole length, being sometimes
obscurely double : four distinct equidistant costal spots on the terminal half of wing, the third
from apex formed by the termination of the transverse posterior; posterior border undulate with
a dark brown line which is sometimes marked with pale crescents ; a series of similar crescents
(often mere dots) just inside the terminal space; the small sub-cellulary silver spot oval, some-
times uniformly silvery-white but more often with a' fulvous centre, sometimes free from, but
more often attached to the larger one which has the shape of a constricted U, very generally
with a fulvous mark inside, which extends basally to the transverse anterior at costa. Fringes
dentate, of the color of the wing, and with a single undulating line parallel to that on the terminal
border. Hind luings fuliginous, inclining to yellowish towards base, and with but a slight pearly
lustre ; fringes very pale with a darker inner line. Under surfaces pale fuliginous with a pearly
lustre, the front wings with a distinct fulvous mark under the sub-cellulary spots, speckled more
or less with the same color around the borders of the wing, the fringes being dentate with light
and dark; the hind wings speckled with fulvous on their basal half, and with the fringes as
above. Thorax variegated with the same color as front wings, the tufts being fulvous inclining to

112

SECOND ANNUAL REPOET OF

pink. Abdomen $ gray, with a few pale hairs near the base, and scarcely extending beyond the
margin of the hind wings ; (^ longer, covered with pale silky hairs, a distinct dorsal brown tuft on
each of the three basal segments, and two large lateral either fawn-colored or golden-yellow
brushes on the fifth segment, meeting on the back and partly covering two smaller brushes on the
sixth, which are tipped with black : terminal segment flattened and with two lateral more dusky and
smaller tufts : underside of thorax and abdomen gray, mixed with flesh-color. Alar expanse 1.65
inches. Described from numerous bred specimens. In a suite of specimens bred from the sama
brood of larvaa a considerable difference in the general depth of color is found, some being fully as
dark again as others.

Closely resembles Plusia ni, Engr., which occurs in Italy, Sicily, France, and the northern
parts of America. Mr. P. Zeller of Stettin, Prussia, to whom I sent specimens, considers it dis-
tinct however from the European ni, and I have consequently given it a name in accordance with
its habits.

There is another worm which may be known as the Thistle Plusia,
and which occurs on our common thistles, and cannot therefore be
considered very injurious. It differs only from that of the Cabbage
Plusia in having the sides of the head, the thoracic legs, a row of spots
above the lateral light line, and a ring around the breathing pores,
black. I have bred from it the Plusia precationis* of Guen6e — an
insect whose larval history has not hitherto been known.

THE ZEBRA C ATERPILL AR— Mamcstra picta, Harr.

(Lepidoptera, Apamidse.)

This is another insect which often proves injurious to our cauli-
[Fig. 82.] flowers and cabbages, though

it by no means confines itself
to these two vegetables. Ear-
ly in June the young worms
which are first almost black,
though they soon become pale
and green, may be found in
dense clusters on these plants,
for they are at that time gre-
garious. As they grow older
they disperse and are not so
easily found, and in about four
weeks from the time of hatch-
ing they come to their full
growth. Each worm (Fig. 82.
a,) then measures about two inches in length, and is velvety-black
with a red head, red legs, and with two lateral yellow lines, between
which are numerous transverse white, irregular, zebra-like finer lines,
which induced Dr. Melsheimer to call this worm the "Zebra." Though
it does not conceal itself, it invariably curls up cut-worm fashion, and
rolls to the ground when disturbed.

It changes to chrysalis within a rude cocoon formed just under
the surface of the ground, by interweaving a few grains of sand or a

Gft.

* Some oi these bred specimens apprcach refy near to PU iota, €fn. im& ev*Q to PI. u-brevit,'

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 113

few particles of whatever soil it happens on, with silken threads. The
chrysalis is | of an inch in length, deep shiny brown and thickly punc-
tured except on the posterior border of the segments and especially
of those three immediately below the wing-sheaths, where it is red-
dish and not polished ; it terminates in a blunt point ornamented with
two thorns. The moth (Fig. 82, 5,) which is called the Painted Mam-
estra, appears during the latter part of July, and it is a prettily marked
gpecies, the front wings being of a beautiful and rich purple-brown,
blending with a delicate lighter shade of brown in the middle ; the
ordinary spots in the middle of the wing, with a third oval spot more
or less distinctly marked behind the round one, are edged and tra-
versed by white lines so as to appear like delicate net- work ; a trans-
verse zigzag white line, like a sprawling W is also more or less visible
near the terminal border, on which border there is a series of white
vspecks ; a few white atoms are also sprinkled in other places on the
wing. The hind wings are white, faintly edged with brown on the
upper and outer borders. The head and thorax are of the same color
as the front wings, and the body has a more grayish cast. There are
two broods of this insect each year, the second brood of worms ap-
pearing in the latitude of St. Louis from the middle of August along
into October, and in all probability passing the winter in the chrysalis
state, though a few may issue in the fall and hybernate as moths, or
may even hybernate as worms; for Mr. J. H. Parsons, of N. Y., found
that some of the worms which were on his Ruta Baga leaves, stood a
frost hard enough to freeze potatoes in the hill, without being killed.*
I have noticed that the spring brood confines itself more especially to
young cruciferous plants, such as cabbages, beets, spinach, etc., but
have found the fall brood collecting in hundreds on the heads and
flower-buds of asters, on the White-berry or Snow-berry (Si/mphori-
t'arpiis racemosus) ; on different kinds of honey-suckle, on mignonette,
and on asparagus : they are also said to occur on the flowers of clover^
and are quite partial to the common Lamb's-quarter or Goosefoot
{Chenopodium album).

On account of their gregarious habit when young, they are very
easily destroyed at this stage of their growth.

THE TARNISHED F L A.l>iT - BJJG— Cap sns ohUneaius, S&y.\

[Heteroptera Capsidae.]

Quite early last spring while entomologizing in Southern Illinois,

* Practical Entomologist, TI, p. 21.

f This bii^ was originally described by Beauvois as Coreus linearis, and subsequently as Cap-
*us oblineatas by Say. Harris in speaking of it refers it to the sub-genus Phytocoris Fallen, and by
mistake, changes Beauvois' specific name linearis, to lineolaris, which he translates into popular
language as the " Little-lined Plant-bug." As Say's description is the only one I have access to,
I have retained the name he gave it, as being eminently appropriate.
8 — E R

114 ' SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

[Fig. 83.] I spent a day with Mr. E. J. Ayres of Villa Ridge,
and was surprised to learn that he had become quite
discouraged in his efforts to grow young pear trees,
on account of the injuries of a certain bug, which
T ^«nHfil&n upon examination I found to be the Tarnished Plant-
[ / JHWwX bug, represented enlarged at Figure 83, the hair line
at its side showing the natural size. The family to
which this bug belongs is the next in a natural ar-
rangement to that which includes the notorious
Ohinch-bug, and the insect is, like that species, a ver-
itable bug, and obtains its food by sucking and not Jjiting. The Cap-
sus family is a very large one, containing numerous species in this
country, but among them, none but the species under consideration
have thrust themselves upon public notice by their evil doings.

The Tarnished Plant-bug is a very general feeder, attacking very
many kinds of herbaceous plants, such as dahlias, asters, marigolds,
balsams, cabbages, potatoes, turnips, etc. ; and several trees, such as
apple, pear, plum, quince, cherry, etc. Its puncture seems to have
a peculiarly poisonous efiect, on which account, and from its great
numbers, it often proves a really formidable foe. It is especially hard
on young pear and quince trees, causing the tender leaves and the
young slioots and twigs (o turn black, as though they had been
burned by fire. On old trees it is not so common, though it fre-
quently congregates on such as are in bearing, and causes the young
fruit to wither and drop. I have passed through potato fields along
the Iron Mountain Railroad in May, and found almost every stalk
blighted and black from the thrusts of its poisonous beak, and it is
not at all surprising that this bug was some years ago actually accused
of being the cause of the dreaded potato-rot.

This bug is a very variable species, the males being generally
much darker than the females. The more common color of the dried
cabinet specimens is a dirty yellow, variegated as in the figure with
black and dark brown, and one of the most characteristic marks, is a
yellow Y, sometimes looking more like a Y, or indicated by three
simple dots, on the scutel, (the little triangular piece on the middle
of the back, behind the thorax). The color of the living specimens
is much fresher, and frequently inclines to olive-green. The thorax,
which is finely punctured, is always finely bordered and divided down
the middle with yellow, and each of the divisions contains two
broader logitudinal yellow lines, very frequently obsolete behind.
The thighs always have two dark bands or rings near their tips.

As soon as vegetation starts in the spring, the mature bugs which
winter over in all manner of sheltered places may be seen collecting
on the various plants which have been mentioned. Early in the
morning they may be found buried between the expanding leaves,
and at this time they are sluggish and may be shaken down and de-
stroyed ; but as the sun gets warmer, they become more active, and

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 115

"when approached, dodge from one side of the plant to the otlior, or
else take wing and fly away. They deposit their eggs and breed on
the plants, and tlie young and old bugs together may be noticed
through most of the summer months. The young bugs are perfectly
green, but in other respects do not differ from their parents except in
lacking wings. They hide between the flower-petals, stems and leaves
of different plants, and are not easily detected. Late in the fall, none
but lull grown and winged bugs are to be met with, but whether one
€r two generations are produced during the season I have not fully
ascertained, though in all probability there are two.

Remedies. — In the great majority of cases, we are enabled to
counteract the injurious Vvork of noxious insects, the moment we
thoroughly comprehend their habits and peculiarities. Bat there are
a few which almost defy our efforts. The Tarnished Plant-bug belongs
to this last class, for we are almost powerless before it, from the
fact that it breeds and abounds on such a great variet}'^ of plants and
weeds, and that it flies so readily from one to the other. Its flight is
however limited, and there can be no better prophylactic treatment
than clean culture ; for the principal damage is occasioned by the
old bugs when they leave their winter quarters and congregate on
the tender buds and leaves of young fruit stock; and the fewer weeds
there are to nourish them during the summer and protect them dur-
ing the winter, the fewer bugs there will be. The small birds must
also be encouraged. Applications of air-slacked lime and sulphur,
have been recommended to keep them off, but if anj application of
this kind is used, I incline to think that to be effectual, it must be
of a fluid nature; and should recommend strong tobacco-water,
quassia- water, vinegar, and cresylic soap. Some persons who have
used the last compound have complained that it injures the plants,
and every one using it should bear in mind, what was stated in the
preface to my First Report, namely, that the pure acid, no matter how
much diluted with water, will separate when sprinkled, and burn holes
in, and discolor plant texture ; while if properly used as a saponaceous
wash it will have no such injurious effect. It must likewise be borne
in mind, that the so called "plant-protector" which is a soap made of
this same acid, will bear very much diluting, (say one part of the soap
to fifty or even one hundred parts of water) and that it will injure
tender leaved plants if used too strong. I have noticed that the bugs
are extremely fond of congregating upon the bright yellow flowers
of the Cabbage, which, as every one knows, blooms very early in the
season; and it would be advisable for persons who have been seri-
ously troubled wiih this bug, and who live in a sufficiently southern
latitude where the plant will not winter-kill, to let a patch of cab-
bages run wild and go to seed in some remote corner of the farm, in
order that the bugs may be a'lracted thither and more readily de-
stroyed, than when scattered over a larger area.

^^^^.>D ANNUAL REPORT OP

THE PHILENOR SW ALLOW -TAllr-Fapilio pUlenor, Drury.

(Lepidoptera Papilionidae.)

There is a genus of climbing plants (the Aristolochias), which ia
peculiarly attractive on account of its large, rich tropical-looking
foliage. The Aristolochias are represented in almost all parts of the
world, and some of the tropical species bear beautiful and immense
flowers. In this country we have three native species which produce
but small, pipe-like flowers, but which make very pretty ornaments
for covering walls and arbors or for ornamenting trellises and
screens. The most common and best known species in this State is
the GO called Dutchman's Pipe {AristolocJiia sipho)^ but the two other
^^ [Fig;^84 ] ^ species {A. serpentaria and A. tomentoaa) are also
cultivated.

In the beautiful botanical grounds of Mr.
Shaw, at St. Louis, there are some magnificent
specimens of the Dutchman's Pipe, and about the
end of last July, these had all been suddenly defo-
liated. I was invited to go and examine the cause
and propose some remedy. I found the vines lit-
erally denuded, for there was not a whole leaf
upon them, those that were not entirely eaten off
down to the stem, being riddled with different
sized holes. Upon a close examination, the au-
thors of the mischief were soon found, in the shape
of the peculiarly horned caterpillar, represented
at Figure 84; but as there were few large speci-
mens to be found, it was quite evident that the
great bulk of them had acquired their growth, and
had already left the vines for some more sheltered
situation, in which to transform to the chrysalis
state. There were, however, a sufficient number of smaller or more
recently hatched individuals, had they remained undiscovered, to have
soon taken every vestige of the few imperfect leaves remaining;
while the beautiful butterflies which produced these worms were
noticed flitting around the vines.

This insect is found on no other plants but the Aristolochias.
The worms commence to hatch in this latitude by the beginning of
July, from eggs deposited on the leaf; and individuals may be found
as late as the last of August. They live in company, especially while
young, and cover the leaves with zigzag lines of silk, which enable
them the better to crawl about and hold on to the vines. The newly
hatched worm is dark brown, with no spots, and with quite short
tubercles. After the first month they become lighter colored, with
the tubercles on the back of segments 6, 7, 8 and 9, of an orange
color, and some of the other tubercles, especially the two on the first
segment, proportionally longer than the rest. After the second

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 117

moult the color of the body becomes still lighter, some of the tuber-
cles still proportionally longer and longer, and those on the back all
begin to appear orange ; while a distinct orange spot becomes visible
between the long horns on the first segment, from which spot the
soft, forked orange scent-organs are thrust. After the third moult but
very little change takes place, and after the fourth moult, the worm
loses in a great measure its shiny appearance, becomes more velvety
and darker, and when full grown presents the appearance of Figure
84, and may be described as follows :

Lenjjth, two inches. Color velvety black, with a slight purplish or chesnut-brown hue. Cov-
ered with long fleshy tubercles of the same color as body, and shorter orange colored tubercles, as
follows : Two, which are brown, long, tapering and feeler-like, springing anteriorly one from
each side of joint 1, the two being movable, and alternately applied to the surface upon which
the worm moves. Joint 2, with two brown tubercles, one springing from each side with a down-
ward curve, and each about one-thi^rd as long as those on joint 1 ; also vrith two small dorsal,
wart-like orange tubercles. Joints 3 and 5 exactly like joint 2, but on joint 4 the lateral
brown tubercle is replaced by a wart-like orange one. Joints 6, 7, 8 and 9, each with two small
dorsal orange tubercles, and each with a lateral, elongated, pointed, brown, downwardly curved
one, arising from the base of prolegs. Joints 10 and 11 also with these lateral tubercles, but the
orange dorsal ones replaced by longer pointed curved brown ones, which however often have an
orange base. Joint 12 with two somewhat stouter dorsal brown tubercles, but none at sides.
Joints 7, 8, 9 and 10, each with a lateral orange spot just before and above the spiracles, which
are sunk into the flesh and scarcely perceptible. Head, legs, venter and cervical shield the same
color as body, the venter with two tubercles on joint 5, which much resemble prolegs, the
cervical shield, with an orange transverse spot on anterior edge, from which is thrust the osma-
terium.

When full grown this tubercled worm fastens itself by its hind
legs and by a silken loop drawn between joints 5 and 6, and in about
[Fig. 85.] two days changes to a chrysalis, of

which Figure 85, a, gives a shaded
back-view, and b a lateral outline.
This chrysalis is at first yellowish-
green, but soon becomes beauti-
fully marked with gray and violet,
^ and more or less with yellow on

the back: and it is readily distin-
guished from all other chrysalides
^^ of North American butterflies be-

longing to the same f[,enus (Papilio) by two trigonate prominences
on the head which give it a square appearance ; by a very prominent
trigonate projection on the top, and a lesser one each side of thorax;
by the wing-sheaths being much dilated and sharply edged above,
and by six prominent, rounded, narrow edged, longitudinal projec-
tions on the top of the three principal abdominal joints.

The butterfly which issues from this chrysalis in about three
weeks, is such a delicate and elegant object, that it is next to impos-
sible to give a just illustration of it. The front wings are black with
a greenish metallic reflection on the nerves and along the front and
hinder borders, and a row of white spots near the hinder border,
wrhich is very slightly undulate, with a narrow cream-colored mark on

118

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

the inner sinuses. The hind wings are ot a brilliant steel-blue, with
a greenish cast, with a carved row of white lunules and with the
hinder border quite undulate and the inner sinuses cream-colored.
The under surface of the front wings is more sombre than the upper
surface, with the spots near the borders and tiie marginal lunules
more distinct. The under surface of the hind wings, is on the con-

[Fi-. 86.]

trary, with the exception of a large almost oval patch at base, of a
very brilliant steel blue, with a curved row of seven rounded spots
of a deep orange, bordered with black, and the four or live upper
ones edged above with white ; there is a small yellow basal spot,
about five small whitish spots around the lower borders of the large
sombre oval patch, and the marginal lunules are much more distinct
than on the upper surface. The male which I illustrate (Fig. 86) dif-
fers from the female in the more brilliant hue of the upper surface*
and in either entirely lacking the row of white spots near the hinder
border of the front wings, or in having but the faintest trace of Ihem.
As these Aristolochia worms are semi-gregarious, and as when
young, all the individuals of a batch may be found close together,
they are easily destroyed, and those persons who cultivate the Aris-
tolochias, need never be troubled with this insect, if they will exam-
ine the vines carefully during the first half of July. The worms in-
variably produce butterflies during the fall months, and the insect
consequently hybernates in the perfect or butterfly state. As the
worms feed only on the Aristolochias, scarcely a plant of the kind
can be grown without sooner or later being attacked, and the gar-
dener should always keep a watchful eye for the worms, about the
time indicated.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. Il9

THE COTTONWOOD DAGGER— Acrojnjcta populi, N. Sp.

(Lepidoptera Acronyctadas.)

[Fi^^O rpj^g Cotlonwood tree {Pop-

Z'^"' ~^ -. ultis monilifera)^ thougli not

"^, very generally cultivated in

/ ^ V^ the more thickly settled parts

\ ;^ - -^ of the country,is yet a valuable

.^-'. ■ - >tree, especially in the newly

/ „.^-- , - ■ ■ :_ \ settled parts of the West,

\ .^ _ - ' where by its rapid growth and

V ! large foliage, it soon furnishes

! -=> both wood and shade on the

) bleak treeless prairies. Be-
sides several borers which eat
into the trunk and root, it is
attacked in this State by a very curious lazy caterpillar, which de-
vours the foliage, and not unfrequently strips the tree.

This caterpillar (Fig. S7) when full grown, rests curled round upon
the leaf, and is easily recognized by its body being covered with long
soft bright yellow hairs which grow immediately from the body, part
on the back, and curl round on each side. It has a shiny black head,
black si)ots on the top of joints 1 and 2, and a straight black brush on
top of joints 4, 6, 7, 8 and 11. There are two broods of these worms
each year, the first brood appearing during the month of June and
producing moths by the last of July, the second brood appearing the
last of August and throughout September, and passing the winter in
the chrysalis state. The chrysalis is dark shiny brown, and ends in
an obtuse point which is furnished with several hooked bristles. It
is formed within a pale yellow cocoon of silk intermingled with the
hairs of the caterpillar, and is generally built in some sheltered place,
such as a chink in the bark of a tree, or under the cap of some
fence.

The moth (Fig. 88, ?) is of a pale
_-*gray, marked with black as in the figure.
^^:^it belongs to a night-flying genus {Acro-
nycta) of true Owlet-moths, very closely
« ,^_, '" allied to our common cut-worm moths;

I ^'.^ \ ^^■*' and yet the larvcie belonging to this genus

'^ have none of them the cut-worm habit of

concealing themselves under ground, and are exceedingly hetero-
geneous among themselves. Some are furnished with long soft hairs
like the species under consideration; some with prominent hairy
w^arts; some have protuberances on certain segments ; some are fur-
nished with brushes; others not, etc., etc. But notwithstanding this
dissimilarity among the larvae of the genus, the moths bear very close

I'iO SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

resemblances to one another, and in some cases it is not easy to sep-
arate them without knowing the larvae. Our Cottonwood species has
never been described. It bears a strong resemblance to several
European species, but as it would only weary the general reader to
give the details wherein it differs from those already described, which
closely resemble it, these details will be found to accompany the
scientilic description below.

This insect would undoubtedly become much more numerous
and troublesome, were it not for the fact that it is pursued by three
distinct parasites. Many of the worms when full grown will fasten
themselves firmly to a leaf in the curled position, and from the body
will issue from thirty to forty little maggots. These maggots are
each of them 0.17 inch long, of a dull green color, tapering each way,
with a dark dorsal mark, a lateral elevated ridge, and a row of shiny
elevated spots of the same color as the body between this ridge and
the back. Each one spins a mass of white silk around its body, and
creeps out of it and commences spinning afresh, until at last a large
aggregate amount of flossy silk is spun, into which the maggots work
back to transform, though some transform while lying on the surface.
These maggots eventually produce a little black Ichneumon-fly be-
longing to the genus If lor og aster. '^ Another and larger unde-
terined Ichneumon-fly belonging to the genus Ox>li{on^ also attacks
this Cottonwood worm, and it is also occasionally infested with a
Tachina-^Y larva.

These worms are most easily destroyed when young, for though
not strictly gregarious, they do not then scatter much from the
branch upon which they were born.

AcRONYCTA POPCLi, N. Sp. — Lavva — Length 1.60. Color yellowish-green, covered with long soft
bright yellow hairs which spring immediately from the body, part on the back, and curl round on
each side. On top of joints 4, 6, 7, 8 andll, a long straight double tuft of black hairs, those on 7
and 8 the smallest. Head polished black with a few white bristles. Joint 1 with a black spot
above, divided longitudinally by a pale yellow line, giving it the appearance of a pair of triangles.
Joint 2 with two less distinct black spots. Thoracic legs black; prolegs black with brownish ex-
tremities. Venter greenish-brown. Described from many specimens. When young of a much
lighter color, or almost white, with the black tufts short but more conspicuous, with a distinct
black dorsal line, two lateral purplish-brown bands, and with hairs white, sparse and straight.

Individuals vary much : some have a black dorsal line, some have but three distinct black
tufts ; Some have a 6th tuft of black hairs on joint !), and others have a few black hairs on all but
the thoracic joints. Just before spinning up, many of the hairs are frequently lost, and the body
acquires a dull livid hue.

^folll. — $, Front wings, white, finely powdered with dark atoms which give them a very pale
gray appearance ; marked with black spots as follows : a complete series of small spots on posterior
border extending on the fringes, one between each nerve; near the anal angle between nerves 1 and
2 a large and conspicuous spot bearing a partial resemblance to a Greek psi, placed sidewise, and
from this spot a somewhat zigzag line running parallel with posterior border, but somewhat more
arcuated towards costa, least distinct between nerves 3 and 4, and formirg a large distinct dart-
like spot between nerves 5 and 6 ; space between this line and posterior border, slightly darker
than the rest of the wing-surface on account of the dark atoms being more thickly sprinkled over
it ; four costal marks, one subobsolete in a transverse line with the reniform spot, one conspicuous
about the middle, and in a line with reniform spot and anal angle, one about the same size as the
last and looking like a blurred X about one-third the length of wing from base, and one subob-

*Microgaster acronyctce of my MS.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 121

Bolet, near tie base; orbicular spot flattened and well defined by a black anniilation :
reniform spot indicated by a blurred black mark running: on the cross-vein and some-
times sonunvhrtt crescent-formed ; a Y-sbaped spot pointing towards base lialf-way be-
tween costa and interior margin, in a transverse line with the large costal spot which
looks like a blurred X; a blurred mark in middle at base, and lastly a narrow spot on the inferior
margin, half-way between base and anal angle. Hind wings same color as front wings ; somewhat
more glossy, with the lunule, a band on posterior border one-fourth the width of wing, and some-
times a narrow coincident inner line, somewhat darker than the rest ; the posterior border also
with a series of spots one between each nerve. Under surface of front wings pearly-white with
an arcuated brown band, most distinct towards costa, across the posterior one-third, all inside of
this band of a faint yellowish-brown ; lunule and fringe spots distinct, and with a faint trace of
the p«i-spot ; hind wings uniform pearly-white with a distinct and well defined dark wavy line run-
ning parallel with posterior margin across the posterior one-third of wing, and with the lunula
and fringe spots distinct. Antennaj simple and bristle-formed, gray above, brown bt^neath. Heatl
thorax and body, both above and below, silvery-gray. Legs with the tarsi alternately dusky and
gray, ^j^ differs from $ by his somewhat stouter antennae ; much narrower body, and narrower
wings and fringes, the front wings having the apex more acuminate, and the hind wings scarcely
allowing the darker hind border.

Described from 2 $, 2 ^j* all bred. In the ornamentation of the front wings this species bears
some resemblance to the European species <r/dens and psi, but otherwise differs remarkably, and
especially in its larval characters. It bears a still closer i-esemblance both in the larva and imago
Btate to the pale variety of a common species known in England as the "Miller" {A. Icpoiina), but
judging from the figures and description in "Newman's Natural History of British Moths," it may
be easily distinguished from leporina by the well defined orbicular spot, by the greater proximity
of the two large costal spots, by lacking a round spot behind the disk, and by the more prolonged
apex. It differs also in the larva state from leporina which feeds on the Birch. It likewise closely
resembles inttrrupta, though the larva; are remarkably different ; and it also resembles lepunculina,
the larva of which is unknown ; but the specific differences will be readily perceived upon compar-
ing Guenee's descriptions. How near it approaches to Acronycta occidentalis, Grote,* it is impos-
sible to tell, as the author's description is exceedingly brief, considering the number of closely
allied forms ; but as that species has a bright testaceous tinge on the reniform spot, it evidently
differs from mine. Harris's Apatela [Acronycta] Americana,-\- though very different in the imago, yet
closely resembles po/7j(/i in the larva state. I have on two occasions found the larva of Amcicana
feeding on the Soft Maple, and it may be distinguished ir om populi, by its greater size; by the
paler color of the body ; by the hairs being paler, more numerous, shorter and pointing in all di-
rections, especially anteriorly and posteriorly of each segment; by having on each of joints 4 and
6 two distinct long black pencils, one originating each side of dorsum, and on joints 1 1 one thicker
one originating from the top of dorsum; by a substigmatal row of small black spots (three to
each segment, the middle one lower than the others) and by a trapezoidal velvety black patch
starting from anterior portion of joint 11 and widening to anus.

THE MISSOURI BEE-KILLER— ^^//ws Missouricnsis, N. Sp.

(Diptera Asilida;.)

On page 168 of my First Report an account is given, with a very
poor figure, of a large two-winged fly which was first received by Dr.

*Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil., VI, p. 16.

fl am surprised that Dr. Morris (Ha>r. Inj. Insects, p. 436, Note) refers this species to Guenee'g
aceriroln, when the larva of the latter, as described by Guenee himself, is so different and teed*
withal on Birch and Alder, and not on either Maple, Elm, Linden or Chesnut.

122

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

Fitch, of New York, from Mr. R. O.
Thompson of this State, who found that
it had the pernicious habit of catching
and sucking out the juices ot the com-
mon honey-bee. Dr. Fitch referred this
'fly to the genus Trujpanea^ and called
it the Nebraska bee-killer, from its
having first been captured by Mr. Thomp-
son in Nebraska, where he at that time
resided. The great German Dipterist,
H. Loew, as I am informed by Baron
Osten Sacken of New York, ignores and
has discontinued the genus Trupanea^ substituting in its place that of
Promacli:U8 ; and Fitch's Tnipanea apivoro. is the very same species
previously described by Loew as Promaclius JBastardii^ and it is one
of the most common species, occurring very generally over the United
States.

I find that we have in Missouri a somewhat larger fly (Fig. 89)/
which has the same pernicious habit of seizing and destroying the
honey-bee in preference to all other kinds of prey. It acts in exactly
the same manner as the Nebraska Bee-killer, being, if anything, more
inhuman and savage. It belongs to the typical genus Asilus^ and I
have called it the Missouri ^ee-luWey: {Asilus Ifissoui^iensis). Though
bearing a casual resemblance to the Nebraska Bee-killer, it may very
readily be distinguished from that species, and especially by the dif-
ferent venation of the wings,

[F^s- 90.] The three more common genera of these vora-

cious Asilus flies, may easily be distinguished
from each other by the character of these wing-
nerves. In the typical genus Asilus to which
belongs our Missouri Bee-killer, the third longitu-
dinal vein is forked near the terminal third of the
wing, and the vein itself is connected about the
middle of the wing, with the fourth longitudinal, as
in Figure 90, h. In the genus Promachus^ to which
the Nebraska Bee-killer belongs, it is the second
(not the third) longitudinal vein which is forked near the middle of
the wing, and the third branch of this fork is connected by a slender
cross-vein to the third longitudinal, near the terminal third of the wing,
as in Figure 91), a. In the genus Ei'cix^ which generally comprises
smaller species, the venation is similar to that of Asilus, but the
upper branch of the fork, instead of joining the third longitudinal
vein, is abruptly broken off" and connected only near its termination
by a transverse vein, as in Figure 90, c.

Asilus Missouriensis N. Sp. — Alar expanse 1.85; length of body 1.30 inches. TFing'S trans-
parent, with a smoky yellow tinge, more distinct around the veins, which are brown. Head pale
yellow, sometimes brownish ; moustache straw-yellow with a few stiff black hairs below ; beard
pale straw-yellow ; crown very deeply excavated ; base of the same pale yellow with short, sliff»

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 123

vellowish liairs, and a crown of black ones near the border ; eyes large, prominent, finely reticu-
lated and almost black ; antennas, first joint black tipped with brown, cylindrical and hairy ; sec-
ond joint black, short, thick and rounded at tip, with a few stiff hairs ; third joint as long as first,
tapering each way, smooth, black and terminating in a long, brown bristle ; proboscis black and
nearly as long as face ; neck with pale and black hairs. Thorax leaden-black, slightly opalescent
with reddish brown at sides, more or less pubescent with pale yellow, especially laterally and pos-
teriorly hnd in three narrow longitudinal dorsal lines which gradually approach towards raeta-
thorax ; bearded at sides and behind with a few decurved black bristles, those behind
interspersed with a few smaller pale hairs ; scutel of the same color, with upward-curving, black
bristles; halteres brown. Abdomen, (3* , general color dull leaden-yellow, with darker transverse
bands at insections ; the light color produced by a yellowish pubescence and numerous short close-
lying yellow hairs, the dark bands produced hy the absence of this covering at the borders of each
segment ; basal segment broad, bilobed, and with lateral black bristles ; segments 6, 7, 8 and anal
valves with a decided pink tint, especially 7; Shut one-third as long as 7 above. $, broader,
flatter, more polished and brassy, with no transverse darker bands, segments 7 and 8 polished
black, the latter narrow and longer than any of the others ; anus with a few black bristles. Legs,
dull purple-brown, with black bristles ; thighs very stout, the hind pair rather darker than the
others, the two front pair of trochanters with long, yellowish hairs ; pulvilli, generally
fulvous.

Described from two ^ , and two $ , all captured while sucking honey-bees. I have not access
to Loew's descriptions, and cannot therefore compare it with already described species ; but speci-
mens have been sent to Dr. Wm. LeBaron, of Geneva, Illinois, and to Baron Osten Sacken, of New
York, and both these gentlemen are unacquainted with it, and believe it to be new. In the well
marked ^ specimens, the body bears a general resemblance to that of Trupanea \_Vromachus\ ver-
tebrata, Say.

Of course the apiarian will care very little to know which of these
two Bee-killers is weakening his swarms. They f hould both be un-
mercifully destroyed, and though very strong and rapid flyers, they
may be easily caught when they have settled on anj'- little promi-
nence with a bee in their grasp ; for they are so greed}' of the bee's
juices that they are at this time less wary, and even when disturbed,
will fly but a fev/ yards away before settling again. A net such as
that described in the article on "Cabbage worms" will be found use-
ful in catching these mischievous flies.

The habits and preparatory stages of our Asilus flies are not verj'
well known. They are all cannibals in the fly state, sucking out the
juices of their victims with the strong proboscis with which they are
furnished, and by which they are capable of inflicting a sharp sting
on the human hand. The larvas are footless, and live in the ground,
and such as are known in this state are strangely enough, vegetable-
feeders.

The only N. A. species that has heretofore
been bred to the perfect state, is the Silky
Asilus {Asilus sericeus^ Say., Fig. 91) belong-
^^ V^/ ^^jj^^ing to the typical genus ^.5^7w5. Its larva feeds
upon the roots of the Rhubarb, and was bred to
the perfect state by Dr. Harris {Inj. Insects, p.
605). I have succeeded in breeding to the fly
^ V\ \ state another species, belonging however to the

M U \ genus Erax, and subjoin a description of the

larva, as it is of considerable scientific interests
The fly is figured below (Fig. 93 a).

124

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

[Fig. 92.] Erax Bastardi {?)— Larva— (See Fig. 92.) Length 1.05 inches. Only twelve joints,
tk the three anterior and the three posterior ones tapering gradually, the rest of equal width ;
slightly depressed ; translucent yellowish-white, the chitinous covering tolerably firm how-
ever ; a swollen lateral ridge ; two rufous dorsal spiracles on joint 1 and two similar ones on
joint 11. Head dark brown, very retractile, pointed, divided at tip into two mandibulat*
points, and having two unguiform appendages ; anal segment with two depressed longitudi-
nal lines above, ridged on anterior edge and with a central depressed line below. It make<<
use of its head in crawling.

Pupa — (Fig. 93 b). Stout, honey-yellow; the leg and wing-sheaths soldered together though
separated from the abdomen ; eyes large and dark ; head with two large brown spines in
front, and a lateral set of three rather smaller ones ; thorax with two small thin rounded
dorsal projections and a set of two small lateral spines just behind the
head; abdomen, with each segment ridged in the middle and furnished
on this ridge with a ring of brown blunt thorns sloping backwards ;
anal segment with a few rather stouter spines.

Two specimens, one found by Mr. G. C. Brodhead of Pleasant Hill.
Mo., under a peach tree, the other by Mr. G. Pauls of Eureka, Mo., un-
der a "creeping vite" of which he did not know the name. They were
found full grown in May, and gave out the flies the fore part of July.
Both produced $ $, on which account the species cannot be determined
with absolute certainty. Osten Sacken informs me that it is allied to
tabescens Loew, but is different. It is marked lictor in my MS., but from
Macquart's description of Bastardi, and from (^ and $ specimens of that
species kindly furnished by Dr. Le Baron, I feel pretty confident that it is
^ of that species, which is described as follows : Abdominis seg7nentis tribus apicalibus niveus (3*;
omnibus sog^nentis olbido marginatis §. Pcdibus nigris : tibiis rufis : alis Jlavidis. Long. 7^1-
He then adds : "Face and front black with grjiy down ; moustache with the upper half black and
lower half white; as also the beard. The middle band of thorax divided. The first four seg-
ments of the abdomen with the posterior and lateral borders whitish. Extremities of the legs
black. From North America. From 8 f^, I have seen one which had the four terminal segments
of the abdomen white." My females accord very well with this description so far as it goes,
though I cannot see why Macquart restricts the whitish borders to the first four segments in the
French description, when in the Latin it is stated that all the segments are so bordered, which i»
the case with my specimens.

INNOXIOUS INSECTS

THE GOAT- WEED BUTTERFLY— Pa-^^^A^^ glycerium, Boubleday,

[Lepidoptera, NymphalidaB.)

[Fig. 94.] There is is an interesting

and rare butterfly known to
entomologists by the name of
Paphia gly cerium^ which oc-
curs in Missouri, Texas and
^Illinois, and perhaps in other
southwestern States. It is an
interesting species on ac-
count of the dissimilarity of
the sexes, and of the position
it holds among the butter-
, flies; and as its natural his-
tory was unknown till the
present year, I will transcribe
from the American Ento-
mologist^ the following ac-
count of it, which I was ena-
bled to prepare from speci-
mens kindly sent to me last
September by Mr. J. U. Muhleman, of Woodburn, Ills., and from
further facts communicated by Mr. L. K. Hayhurst, of Sedalia, Mo.

Dr. Morris, in his " Synopsis of the Lepidoptera of North Amer-
ica," places this butterfly with the Ni/mphalis family, of which the
Disippus Butterfly {NympKalis disijypus, Godt.), is representative.
The larva, however, has more the form and habits of that of the Ti-
tyrus Skipper (genus Goniloha), while singularly enough, the chrysa-
lis resembles that of the Archippus Butterfly (genus Danaits).

The larva feeds on an annual ( Croton capitatum) which is toler-
ably common in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and westward, where it
is known by the name of Goat-weed, and as no value whatever is at-

126 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

tached to it, the insect which attacks it cannot be classed among the
injurious species. The plant has a peculiar wooly or hairy whitish-
green appearance, and in the month of September its leaves may fre-
quently be found rolled up after the fashion shown at the left of Fig-
[Fig. 95.] _„^ ^^^'® ^^1 with the larva inside.

c" » . .^itKt^s^ 'Th\^ roll of tlie leaf is gen-

\ y , -■/ erally quite uniform, and is

\t '/^ made in the following man-

ner : Extending itself on the

midvein, with its head to-
wards the base of the leaf,
the larva attaches a thread
to the edge, at about one-
fourth the distance from the
W^ base to the point. By a

^' w' tension on this thread, it

draws this edge partly toward the opposite one, and fastens it there,
being assisted in the operation by the natural tendency of the leaf to
curl its edges inwards. Fastening a thread here, it repeats the ope-
ration until the edges meet, and then it proceeds to firmly join them
nearly to the apex, leaving a small aperture through which to pass
the excrement. During hot days the larva remains concealed in the
leaf, and towards evening comes out to feed, though sometimes it
feeds upon its house, eating the leaf down half Avay from base to point.
It then abandons it and rolls up a new one. In the breeding cage,
when placed in a cool shady room, the larva seldom rolls up the
leaves, but feeds at random over the plant, and when at rest simply
remains extended on a leaf. From this we may infer that its object
in rolling the leaves is to shield itself from the rays of the hot August
and September sun; for the plant invariably grows on high naked
prairies.

The young larva has a large head, larger than the third segment,
which is the largest in the body. The head preserves its general form
through the successive moults ; it is light bluish, thickly covered with
papillae of a dirty-white color, and there are also a number of light
orange papillae of a larger size scattered among them. The skin of
the caterpillar i?, green^ but the general hue is a dirtj'-white, owing to
the entire surface being very closely studded with white or whitish
papillae with dark-brown ones interspersed. These prominences are
hemispherical, hard, opaque, shining, and the larva feels rough and
harsh to the touch.

x\.t each moult some of these papilla disappear, especially all the
brown ones, the body increases in size so that the head is smaller than
the third segment, the green color of the skin becomes more appar-
ent, the body is softer to the touch, and the whole larva assumes a
neater appearance.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

127

Thus this larva has very much the same peculiar whitish glau-
[Fig. 96.] cous-green color as the

j)lant on which it feeds ;

and any one who has seen

it upon the plant, cannot

V ^BB^Htf^^^^^^^^^^K help concluding that it

furnishes another in-
stance of that raimickry
in Nature, where an in-
sect, by wearing the ex-
act colors of the plant
upon which it feeds, is
enabled the better to es-
cape the sharp eyes af its natural enemies. When full-grown, which
is in about three weeks after hatching, this worm (Fig. 94, a) meas-
ures!^ inches, and although, as above described, the little elevations
frequently disappear so that it looks quite smooth, yet sometimes
they remain until the transformation to chrysalis takes place, as was
the case with two which I bred.

Paphia GLYC^RWz-a.— Full-grown Za?vo— Length 1.60 inches. Cylindrical. General appear-
ance shagreened, pale glaucous-green, lighter above stigmata than elsewhere. Ground-color, of
body clear green. Thickly covered with white papilhe or granulations, which are oiten inter-
spersed with mint'-te black or dark-brown sunken dots. Head quite large, (rather more than i aa
large as the third segment), nutant, subquadrate, bilobed, granulated like the body, but with the
black sunken dots more numerous, and having besides, several larger granulations above, some
four of which are generally black and the rest fulvous ; a row of three very distinct eye-spots at
the base of palpi ; the triangular V-shaped piece elongated and well defined by a fine black line,
and divided longitudinally by a straight black line; palpi and labrum pale, the latter large and
conspicuous ; jaws black. Neck narrow, constricted, green, smooth, and retractile within first seg-
ment. Segments 1—3 gradually larger and larger ; .3 to last gradually smaller. Stigmata fulvous.
Venter less thickly granulated than tergum. Described from five full-grown specimens received
from Mr. Muhleman.

Preparatory to transforming, it suspends itself by the hind legs
to a little tuft of silk which it had previously spun, and after resting
for about twenty-four hours with its head curled up to near the tail,
it works off the larval skin and becomes a chrysalis, which in from
two to three weeks afterwards gives out the butterfly. This chrysa-
lis (Fig. 94, h) is short, thick, rounded, and of a light green ; some-
times becoming light gray, and being finely speckled and banded
with dark gray. The skin is so thin and delicate that the colors of
the butterfly may be distinctly seen a few days before it makes its
escape.

Tlie male butterfly (Fig. 95), is of a deep coppery-red on the up-
per side, bordered and powdered and marked willi dark purplish-
brown, as shown in the figure. The under side is of a feuille morte
brown with a greasy lustre, the scales being beautifully shingled
transversely so as to remind one of that article of dry-goods which
the ladies call rep ; whilethe bands which commenced on the front
wings above, may be traced further across the wing, and there is a
transverse band on the hind wings, with an indistinct wliite spot near

123

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

the upper edge. The female (Fig. 96), is of a lighter color than the
male, marked with purplish-brown as in the figure, the transverse
bands being quite distinctly defined with very dark-brown. The
under side is very much as in the male.

A few of the butterflies, in all probability, manage to live through
the winter, and are thus enabled to perpetuate the race, by deposit-
ing their egg?, the following summer, on the leaves and stems of the
Goat-weed, which is the only plant upon which the insect is yet
known to subsist.

THE BLACK BREEZE-FLY- Tahanus atratus, Fabr.

(Diptera, Tabanidae.)

[Fig- 97.] There is a family of large

Two-winged Flies, com-
monly called Breeze-llies in
England, but more com-
monly known as Horse-
flies in this country, the in-
sects belonging to which
are, in the perfect state,
great nuisances, though
there is every reason to be-
lieve that as larvae they are
beneficial to the husband-
man, by devouring many
noxious underground vege-
table-feeding larvEe.
This family comprises some of the very largest flies, and they are
all noted for the tormenting powers which the female has of piercing
the skin and sucking the blood of diff'erent quadrupeds and even of
man. They are widely distributed, and species occur in all parts of
the world, torturing alike the huge elephant and fierce lion of the
tropics, and the peaceful reindeer of the arctic region. It is during
the hottest summer months that they "do most abound," and they
frequent both our timbered and prairie regions. One of the most
common species in the West is the so-called "Green-head Fly"
{Tahamis Uneola, Fabr.) and every farmer who has to work on the
prairies, especially during the hay-making season, knows how blood-
thirsty it is, and how absolutely necessary it is to cover the horses at
this season of the year, in order that they may be able to work at all.
Two other species of nearly the same size (T. costalis, Wied. and T.
oinGtue, Fabr.) are common with us, and I have found the striped

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 129

Chrysops {Chrysops vittatus^ Wied.) — a smaller yellow species with
black stripes, and a broad smoky band across the middle of each
wing; to be very troublesome in our wooded regions, confining its
attacks more especially to the horses' ears, from which habit it is fre-
quently called the " Ear-fly."

It is only the female flies, as is the case also with our mosquitoes,
which thus torment our animals by means of their sharp lances, the
males living on the sweets of flowers, and their mouths being desti-
tute of mandibles. The flight of these Breeze-flies is very strong and
rapid, and is attended with a buzzing, tormenting noise. The males
may often be seen with the wings vibrating so rapidly that they be-
come invisible, resting motionless in one place, and then darting
rapidly and resting suddenly again, generally turning the head in
some other direction each time they dart; and St, Fargeau has as-
certained that this manoeuvering is performed in order to intercept
and seize the females.

Although these flies swarm so prodigiously on our prairie and es-
pecially on our low swampy lands, yet hitherto very little has been
known of their larval character and habits. De Geer very many
years ago described the larva of the European Cattle Breeze-fly {^Ta-
hanus hovinus, Linn.), and up to 1864 this was the only larva of the
kind known. In February of that year Mr. Walsh published the de-
scription of another Tabanide larva, but without being able to refer
it to any particular species.* I had the good fortune last summer to
breed to the perfect state the very same kind of larva which Mr.
Walsh described. It proved to be one of our most common and
largest species, namely The Black Breeze-^y (Taha^ius atratus^ Fabr.)
This Fly (Fig. 97, c) is black, the back of the abdomen being cov-
ered with a bluish- white bloom like that on a plum ; the eyes are
large, and the wings are smoky dark brown or black.

The larva (Fig. 97, a) is a large 12-jointed, cylindrical affair, ta-
pering at each end, of a trailsparent, highly polished, glassy, yel-
lowish or greenish appearance, shaded with bluish-green and fur-
nished above and below, as in the figure, with large roundish
sponge-like tubercles which are retracted or exserted at the will
of the insect. Though the external integument is so transparent,
that the internal structure is readily visible, yet this integument
is firm and the larva is most vigorous and active, burrowing with
great strength either backwards or forwards in the earth, and be-
tween one's fingers while it is being held. Placed in water it will
swim vigorously by suddenly curling round and lashing out its tail,
but it is apparently not as much at home in this element as in the wet
earth, for it is restless and remains near the surface, with the tip of
the tail elevated in the air. When the water is foul it moves
about actively near the surface, but when it is fresh it remains more

*Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. IX, pp. 302-6.
9 — E R

130 SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

quiet at the bottom. The specimen which I succeeded in breeding,
was sent to me by Mr. Adolph Engelmann of Shiloh, St. Clair Co.,
Ills. It was found by Mr. Wm. Cooper of the same county, about ten
feet from a small but permanent stream of water. Mr. 0. at first took
it to be a leech, and when he attempted to capture it, it immediately
commenced burrowing in the ground.

Mr. Walsh's description of this larva is so full, and agrees so well
with mine, that I cannot do better than transcribe it.

Tabanus atuatus. — Larva, — Length 2.25 inchps when extended, 1.75 inches when contracted ;
diameter .25 — .30 inch. Body cylindrical, 12-jointed, the three or four terminal joints much tapered
at each end of the body, but more so anteriorly than posteriorly, and joints 1 and 11, each with a
retractile membranous prolongation at tip. Joints 1 to 10 are subequal ; 11 is about two-thirds
as long as 10 and 12 about one-fourth as long, and .05 inch in diameter. [Joints 1 and 12 pear-
shaped when extended]. Color a transparent greenish-white, paler beneath ; an irregular dark-
green or greenish-black annulus, paler beneath, on the anterior and posterior margins of joints
2 to 11, the anterior annulus laterally connected with the posterior by two to four dark-green
lines. On the dorsum of 4 to 9, and more obscurely on 10, a dark-green basal triangle, extend-
ing half-way to the tip; joint 1 with paler markings, and with no dark annulus behind ; joint 12
entirely fuscous. Head small, apparently fleshy, pale, truncate-conical, .03 inch wide, and about
.04 inch long in repose, inserted in joint 1 without any shoulder. The trophi occupy two-thirds of
its length, but it has a long cylindrical internal prolongation, extending to the middle of joint 2,
which is sometimes partially exserted, so that the head becomes twice as long as before. All the
trophi are pale and apparently fleshy, except the mandibles, which are dark-colored and evidently
horny, and they have no perceptible motion in the living insect. The lubrum is slender, a little
tapered, and three times as long as wide, on each side of and beneath which is a slender, thorn-
like, decurved, brown-black mandible. The labium resembles the labrum, but is shorter, and on
each side of it is a slender palpiform, but exarticulate maxilla, extending beyond the rest of the
mouth in an oblique direction. No palpi. On the vertex are a pair of short, fleshy, exarticulate^
filiform antenna, and there are no distinct eyes or ocelli. In the cast larval integument the entire
head, .25 inch long, is exserted, and is dark-colored and evidently horny, all the parts retaining
their shape except the antennae, labrum and labium. The whole head has here the appearance of
the basal part of the leaf of a grass-plant, clasping the origin of the maxilliB on its posterior
half, and bifurcating into the somewhat tapered cylindrical mandibles on its anterior half. Tho
maxillEe are traceable to two-thirds of the distance from the tip to the base of the head, scarcely
tapering, bent obliquely downwards at two-thirds of the way to their tip, and obliquely truncate
at tip. On the anterior margin of ventral segments 4 — 10, in the living insect, is a row of six
large, fleshy, roundish, tubercular, retractile pseudopods, the outside ones projecting laterally, and
each at tip transversely striate and armed with short, bristly pubescence ; on the anterior half of
ventral joint 11 is a very large, transversely-oval, fleshy, whitish, retractile proleg, with a deeply
impressed, longitudinal stria. On the anterior margin of dorsal joints 4 — 10, is a pair of smaller,
transversely-elongate, retractile, fleshy tubercles, covering nearly their entire width, armed like
the pseudopods, but not so much elevated as they are. No appearance of any spiracles. Anua
terminal, vertically slit with a slender, retractile thorn .05 inch long, not visible in one specimen.
Head, and first segment or two, retractile.

The larva reared by De Geer was terrestrial. This larva is semi-
acquatic, for it is quite at home either in water or moist
earth. My specimen was kept for over two weeks in a large
earthen jar of moist earth well supplied with earth-worms.
It manifested no desire to come to the surface, but burrowed in every
direction below. I found several pale dead worms in the jar, though
I cannot say positively whether they had been killed and sucked by this
larva. Mr. Walsh in speaking of its haunts and of its food, says : " I
have, on many different occasions, found this larva amongst floating
rejectamenta. On one occasion I found six or seven specimens in the
interior of a floating log, so soft and rotten that it could be cut like

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. .131

cheese. Once I discovered a single specimen under a flat, submerged
stone, in a little running brook. And finally, I once met with one
alive, under a log, on a piece of dry land which had been submerged
two or three weeks before, whence it appears that it can exist a long
time out of the water. I had, on several previous occasions, failed to
breed this larva to maturity, and the only imago I have, was obtained
in lh61, from larvse, which, suspecting them to be carnivorous from
the very varied stations in which they had occurred, I had supplied
with a number of fresh- water moUusks, but the habits of which, in con-
sequence of having been away from home, I was unable to watch. On
September 2d, 186-3, I found a nearly full-grown larva amongst floating
rejectamenta, and between that date and September 23d, he had de-
voured the mollusks of eleven univalves {Goi. Planorhis) from one-
half to three-lburths of an inch in diameter; and on three separate
occasions I have seen him work his way into the mouth of the shell.
In this operation his pseudopods were energetically employed, and I
found, on cracking the shells after he had withdrawn, that a small
portion of the tail end of the animal was left untouched— no doubt
in consequence of his being unable to penetrate to the small end of
the whorl of the shell — and also the skin of the remaining x^art, and
the horny-tongued membrane."

My larva transformed to pupa (Fig. 97, h) within the ground, during
the lore part of July ; it remained in this state but a few days, and
the fly issued July 13th, and soon made its presence known by its loud
buzzing inside the jar. It was a perfect ? specimen, and the pupal
integument was sufficiently firm and polished, that by carefully wash-
ing off" the earth, an excellent cabinet specimen was obtained, which
retained almost the exact form and appearance of the living pupa.
Before the escape of the fly which was eff"ected through a longitudi-
nal fissure on the back of the head and thorax, reminding one of the
mode of escape of our Harvest-flies (Cicadce)^ this pupa by means
of the thorns with which it is furnished, had pushed itself up to the
surface of the earth. My specimen being female, may account for the
very slight difference between the following description and that of
Mr. Walsh's.

Pupa, (described from pupal integument). — Cylindrical, lying curved as in the figure ; rounded
at the head, and tapering at the last two joints; pale semi-transparent yellowish-brown. Head
with two transverse, narrow-edged, somewhat crescent-shaped dark-brown projections representing
the mouth, two rounded tubercles above, on the front, of the same color, and each giving out a
stiff bristle ; and midway between these four, two much smaller, lighter, rounded tubercles, set
closer together ; on each side in a line with the upper tubercles, a wrinkled antenna, trigonate at
base, appressed to the surface and pointing outwards; below these antennas, on the eyes, two small
bristled warts. Thorax, pronotum commencing behind antennas, with a pair of small bristled brown
tubercles* on its anterior dorsal submargin ; mesonotum twice as long as pronotum, with a pair
of large obliquely-placed, reniforra, purple-brown tubercular spiracles, bordered on the outside
above, with a distinct fine white line ; between these spiracles are four small brown elevations the
two middle ones quite small and close together; a short metanotal piece, about one-seventh as long

^Evidently not spiracles as Mr. Walsh supposed. The mesonotal spiracles are well defined, with
the white Ijorder above mentioned, and the abdominal spiracles are each marked behind by a dis-
tinct white line ; but these tubercles have no such annulus and are illy defined.

132

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF

as pronotum and without spiracles. Abdomen, with 8 suhequal segments, with two well defined
lateral impressed lines, and all but the last bearing between these lines, a rounded brown tubercu-
lar spiracle, the posterior upper borders lined with white. The first segment is simple and extends
to the tips of the wing-sheaths ; the others are all furnished, on the posterior one-third, with an an-
nulus of fine, yellowish bristles, depressed and directed backwards. Anal thorn robust, yellow,
truncated, and furnished with six stout brown thorns, hexagonally arranged. Length 1.20 inches ;
greatest diameter 0.30 inch. One $ specimen.

This large Black Breeze-fly does not attack horses to any consid-
erable extent that I am aware of, but is said to bite cattle. The
smaller species of real Horse-flies mentioned above, and which oc-
cur in prodigious numbers on our Western prairies, away from any
large streams of water, must evidently be terrestrial in the larva
state, and not aquatic, and must just as surely live on other food than
snails, which are quite rare on the prairies. They are certainly car-
nivorous however, and it is but natural to suppose that they feed on
underground vegetable-feeding larvas, such as the diff"erent kinds of
white grubs, the larvse of Crane-flies ( Tipulidce), etc. Thus, in all prob-
ability, they perform a most important part in the economy of Na-
ture, by checking the increase of those underground larvae which are
the most unmanageable of the farmer's foes. They therefore partly
atone for the savage and blood-thirsty character of the perfect females,
and I prefer consequently to place them with the other Innoxious In-
sects.

GALLS MADE BY MOTHS.

As a sequence to the article on the Solidago Gall Moth ( GelecJiia
gallcBSolidaginis^ Riley) published in my former Report, I will here
describe two other gall-making moths, with which I was not then ac-
quainted, the first of which, as I have since ascertained, occurs in this
State. The other I have never yet met with.

THE FALSE INDIGO GALL-MOTH— TTaZsfiio amorphella, Clemens.
(Lepidoptera, Tineidae.)

On the leafless stems of the False Indigo {Amorpha fruticosa)
may often be seen, during the fall, winter and spring months, an elon-
[Fig. 98.] gated swelling such as that

shown at Figure 98, c, two
of them often occurring
one above the other. This
swelling is a simple enlarge-
ment of the stem to five or
six times its natural diam-
eter, and measures from
three-quarters of an inch to
an inch in length. If cut
open during any of the win-
ter months, the interior will
present a tough woody ap-
pearance, with an irregular brown channel, almost always

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 133

at one side of the gall, and communicating above with a small
closed-up tubercle (See Fig. 98, <?,). At the bottom of this channel
the larva (Fig. 98, J, enlarged), which is whitish with a conspicuous
black head and black collar, may always be found, and it does not
transform to the chrysalis state till a few weeks before appearing as a
moth. The tubercle near the top of the gall is evidently caused by
the young larva penetrating the stem when it first hatches out; and
this larva must, after it has burrowed the proper length down the
stem, turn round and widen the burrow right up to the point of en-
trance; for it is from this point that the moth escapes in the spring.
The moth, of which Figure 98, a, represents an enlarged female, is
easily distinguished from most other small moths belonging to the
same family ( TineidcB) by its beautifully tufted front wings, which
are not easily represented in a wood-cut. It is of a yellowish-brown
color, marked with darker brown, and the males are generally a little
darker than the females. This little moth was first described by Clem-
ens (Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil., Vol. II, p. 419), who named the genus in
honor of Mr. Walsh, its first discoverer, and so far as I am aware it is
the only representative of the genus.

The twigs invariably wither and dry up above this gall, but as the
shrub has no particular value, the little gall-maker may be placed
among the harmless insects.

Walshia amorphella — Larva — Length 0.35 — 0.40 inch. Cylindrical, tapering each way, but
more especially towards anus. Yellowish-white, each segment with about two distinct transverse
folds. Two dorsal rows of pale but polished piliferous spots, two to each segment; stigmata
round, jet black with a white centre, with a pale piliferous spot above, and two contiguous ones on
a lateral fold, below each ; on joints 1 and 2 the folds are more numerous and the piliferous spots
are larger and arranged in a transverse row. Head either black or dark brown, the tropbi except
the maxillae white, and the eyelets, arranged in a crescent, also pale. Cervical shield same color as
bead, divided in the middle by a distinct pale line. Both have a few white hairs, arising from pale
points. Anal shield small and brown. Thoracic legs pale but slightly horny, transparent, fur-
nished with hairs, and with two basal semi-circular brown lines behind, the largest terminating on
the inside, in a black thorn. Prolegs very small and scarcely distinguishable except by a faint
brown circular rim at extremities, and a still fainter one at their base. Described from numerous
specimens, all very uniform.

Pupa — Unknown.

Moth — Front wings yellowish-fuscous, with a rather large blackish brown patch at the base of
the wing, somewhat varied with spots of the general hue, and a blackish-brown tuft, having the
scales directed toward the tip of the wing, on the basal third of the fold, and a smaller one above
it near the costa. Near the end of the fold is another small tuft of the general hue, having the
ends of the scales tipped with dark brown, and in the middle of the wing nearly adjoining the lat-
ter is a large tuft of the general hue. Above the end of the fold is a small blackish-brown tuft,
the scales of which are not so much erected as in the other tufts ; between this and the central tufts
is a blackish-brown patch which sends a streak of the same hue into the fold. The apical portion
of the wing is somewhat discolored with brown, and along the inner margin, at the base of the cilia,
are five or six black dots. Cilia dull testaceous. [Hind wings shiny yellowish-brown, long, nar-
row, lanceolate, with very long cilia] Antennae fuscous [the basal joint long, smooth and clavate].
Head and thorax blackish-brown ; labial palpi yellowish-fuscous. [Abdomen above dark brown, the
joints bordered behind with gray, the terminal joint with a yellow tuft. Legs short, the tarsi only
of hind pair reaching beyond abdomen ; marked with gray and brown. Under surface uniform
grayish-brown, the hind wings somewhat paler, and all the wings bordered with a paler line.
Length 0.20 ; alar expanse 0.53 inch.] (After Clemens).

134

SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OP

[Fig. 99.]

THE MISNAMED GALL-MOTE-Euryptychia, saligneana, Clemens.
(Lepidoptera, Tortricidae.)

The only other gall-producing moth known in this country is the
species illustrated herewith (Fig. 99, «), and there are some doubts in

my mind as to whether it is a real
gall-maker or an "inquiline" or in-
truder on my true Solidago Gall-
[■•^7-,(ira¥^aker {Gelechia ga.llcesoUdaffin-
''is.) But two specimens of the moth
have ever been found, one of which
is in the cabinet of the late Brack-
enridge Clemens, at Philadelphia,
and the other in my possession.
They were both bred by Mr.
Walsh from golden rod galls re-
sembling those of my Solidago
gall in being elongated and hol-
low; and from specimens kindly furnished to me before his death, I
am enabled to give the above sketch of the dried gall, with the pupa-
skin attached, and likewise that of the moth. The only description
which exists of the larva is of a dead and somewhat shrunken speci-
men, in the following brief note taken from Mr. Walsh's journal:
"Larva 16-footed, yellowish; spiracles (fuscous) on all but i2d, 3d
and anal segments. Head and 2d [1st] segment horny and rufous.
Length 0.40."

The moth is the only representative of its genus {Euryptycliia)
50 far known. It was described in 1865 by Dr. Clemens * as E. sa-
ligneana^ under the false impression that it was reared from a willow
gall. But the scientific name of the insect must stand, however inap-
propriate.

EaRYPTYcuiA SALiGNEANA—il/o//i— Front wings white, tinted with yellowish. The basal
patch is dark brown. The wing beyondTlie basal patch is nearly white, varied with leaden-colored
speckles and striped over the nervules with dull, leadcn-gray, transverse stripes, two of which
near the anal angle form a white ocelloid patch. Immediately interior to the ocelloid patch is a
small black spot, having a line of black atoms running into it, from above and beneath. Below
the ape.\, on the hind margin, is a triangular brown patch, which is varied with grayish and
dotted with black in the middle and along the inner edge. The costa is geminat>?d with white,
and striped with brown. Hind wings dark fuscous. (After Clemens.)

Generic character— Jlini wings broader than front wings. Costal and subcostal veins with a
common origin; branches of subcostal connivent. Median vein 4-branched, three of which are ag-
gregated, the two central ones from a common base. Front wings with a broad fold, extending to
the middle of the costa, closely appressed ; atleast three times longer than broad ; costa straight,
tip moderately acute, apical margin rounded. The nervules given off from the posterior end of
the cell are bent toward each other or are somewhat aggregated.

Head smooth, with ocelli at base of antenna3. Antennte filiform, simple. Labiiil palpi, do
not exceed the face, are curved, smooth, rather slender, expanded toward the tip, the apical joint
scarcely perceptible, except in front. (Clemens.)

My reasons for thinking this insect an intruder on the rightful
gall-maker, are : 1st, because if it were a true gall-maker we should

* Proc. Ent. See, Phil., V., p. 141.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 136

naturally expect to find its gall more common ; 2d, because on sev-
eral occasions I have found within the Gelechia gall, a pale worm
very different irom the true gray gall-making larva. But until more
decided proof can be obtained, and until the fact is settled by further
experience and experiment, we must, from such evidence as we have,
consider the Misnamed Gall-moth, a true gall-maker.

Thus we have three different and distinct gall-moths in this
country, belonging to two distinct families and three distinct genera ;
while a fourth ( CocJiylis Mlarana) belonging to still another genus is
known to form a gall on the stems of Artemisiain Europe. It is very
manifest that all of these galls are formed by the irritating gnawings
of the larva after it is hatched, and not induced by any poisonous fluid
injected with the egg by the ovipositor of the parent, as is demon-
strably the case with those galls which are produced by gallflies
{Cynips family), and with such as are produced by some gall-making
Saw-flies. It is not at all improbable, however, that these moth larvae
do in reality secrete from the mouth some peculiar fluid which tends
to produce the gall ; for we know that very many other moth larvae
burrow in the stems of different plants without producing any
abnormal swelling.

ERRATA.

Page 13, line 25, for "cupable" read "culpable."

Page 16, line 13, for "lava" read "larva"

Page 23, line 6 from bottom, for "hole" read "holes."

Page 32, line 17, for "insect" read "insects."

Page 50, line 4 from bottom, for "leucaia" read "leucaniez.

INDEX.

Abbot Sphinx 78

Achemon Sphinx , 74

Acoloithus falsarius 86

Acronycta populi 119

" tridens 121

" psi 121

" leporina 121

" occidentalis...., 121

" lepusculina 121

" interrvpta 121

" Americana 121

Agrotis inermis 50

Alypia octomaculata SO

American Procris 85

Amount of damage done by the Chinch Bug 28

Anacharis canadensis > 11

Anisopieryx vernata 94

" pometaria 97

Anomis xylina 37

Anthocoris insidiosus 27^ 32

Anthomyia ceparum 9

Apatela Americana 121

Aphis brassicce 10

" ribis • 10

" avence 5, 6, 10

" mali 6, 10

Apple-worm 6

" -tree Plant-louse 6

Arma spinosa 32

Army Worm 37

" " —Past history of 41

" " — Its sudden appearance and disappearance 46

'• " —Natural History of 47

" " —Parasites of 60

" " Ichneumon Fly 63

Ash-gray Leaf -bug 32

Asilus Missouriensis 1^1

" sericeus ' 123

Aspidiotits conchiformia .....9> 1"

" Harrisi , ^

INDEX.

B

Beautiful Wood Nymph 88

Black Breeze-fly 128

Black-legged Tortoise-beetle , 63

Blatta orientalis .' 10

Blepharida rfiois 68

Blue Catterpillars of the Vine 79

Bogus Chinch Bugs 31

Bordered Soldier-bug 34

Broad-necked Prionus 87

Bruchus pisi 11

" granarius 11

Cabbage Worms 104

" " —Southern Cabbage Butterfly 104

" " —Potherb Butterfly 105

" " —Rape Butterfly * 107

" " — Remedies for , 109

t' a —Zebra Caterpillar 112

Calosoma scrutator 103

" calidum 103

Cannibal foes of the Chinch Bug 25

Oanker-worm 94

" " —Origin of 96

" " — Remedy against 98

" " —Destroyed by plowing 100

" " —Enemies of 102

Carpocapsa pomonella 10

Capsus oblineatus 113

Cassida guttata 60, 63

" bivitatta , 61

" aurichalcea 62

" pallida 62

" nigripes 63

" cruciata 63

" signifer C3

" trabeata 63

Gecidomyia destructor , 10, 19

Chinch Bug 6, 15

" " —Past History of IT

" " —Natural History of 18

" " — Destructive powers of , 22

" " — Heavy rains destructive to 24

" " — Cannibal foes of 25

" " — Amount of damage done by 28

" " — Remedies against 28

" " —Bogus 31

" " — Recapitulation 36

Charocnmpa pnmpinatrix 71

Chrysopa plorabunda 26

" Illinoiensis 26

Chrysops viftatus 129

Chalets albifrons 52

Chelymorpha cribronia 58

Cicada tredecim 19

" teptemdecim 19

INDEX. 3

Clisiocampa America7ia 7

" sylvalica 7, 37

Vlostcra Americana 19

Coccinella munda 25

CochyHx hilar ana 135

Corimelcena jiulicaria 33

lateralis 35

" unicolor 35

Cottonwood Dagger 119

Cotton-Worms 37

Crioceris mcrdigera 58

" csparagi 10, 19

Cucumber-beetle 65

D

Dcloyala ilavata 57

Destructive powers of the Chinch Bug 22

Diabrotica vittata 64

" \2-punciata 66

Diminished Pesomachus 52

Diplosis tritici 10

E

Ectobia gcrmanica 10

Eight-spotted Forester 80

Erax Baslardi 124

Erigeron tanadense H

Eudryas grata °3

" utiio °"

Eumenes fralerna 103

Euryptychia saligneana 1^4

Exorista leucanicB 50

" militaiis ~ 50

" Osten Sacke7iii 51

" Jluvicauda 51

F

False Indigo Gall-moth 132

Fiery Ground-beetle 103

Flea-like Xeg^o-bug 33

Fraternal Potter-wasp 103

G

Gallerea cereana 10

Gall-moth — False Indigo 132

" " —Misnamed 134

Galls made by Moths 132

Gelechia gaUcesolidaginis 20, 132, 134

Glassy Mesochorus 52

Glyphe viridascens 53

Goat-weed Butterfly 125

Golden Tortoise- beetle 62

Grape-vine — Insects injurious to 71

" " — Hog-calerpillar of ^1

t< it — Achemon Sphinx ^^

" " —Satellite Sphinx ^6

INDEX.

ape-vine —Abbot Sphinx 7g

" — Blue Caterpillars of J9

" — Eight-spotted Forester 80

" — Beautiful Wood-Nymph 83

" — Pearl Wood Nymph 83

" American Procris 85

" — New Grape-root Borer 87

" — Broad-necked Prionus 87

" — Tile-horned Prionus 89

H

HalHca cucumeris ^ 57

Heavy rains destructive to the Chinch Bug 24

Hippodamia maculata 25

Hockeria perpulcra 53

Hypogymna dispar 10

Ichneumon leucania 53

Innoxious insects 125

Insects — Imported and Native American 8

" infesting the Sweet-potato 66

" injurious to the Grape-vine 71

Insidious Flower Bug 27, 32

Isosoma vitis 92

Lachnosterna quercina 19

Laphrygma frugiperda 41

Lema trilineata , 53

Leucania unipuncta 5, 11, 37

M

Mamestra picta 112

Mesochorus vitreus 52

Micropus leucopterus 15

Microgaster militaris 52

" acronyctce 120

Militajry Microgaster 52

Misnamed Gall-moth 134

Missouri Bee-killer 121

Mottled Tortoise-beetle 63

My gale Hentsii 106

Myrmica molesta 11

N

Natural history of the Chinch Bug 18

" " " Army-worm 47

'Nothrus ovivoruf 102

Nymphalis disippus 125

Nebraska Bee-killer 122

INDEX.

O V

Ophion purgatus , 53

Or talis arcuata 9

Oyater-sLell Bark-louse &

P

Pale-thighed Tortoise-beetle 62

Past history of the Army-worm 41

" " " Chinch Bug 17

Papilio philenor 116

Parasites of the Army-worm , 60

Pearl wood iNymph 83

Pempelia grossularicB 9

Pepsis formosa 106

Pesomachus minimus 52

Phacellura nitidalis 7, 64

Philampelus achemon. 74

" satellitia 76

Philenor Swallow-tail 116

Phytocoris linearis 113

Phylloxera vitifolics 27

Phylloptera oblongifolia »• 57

Physonota quinquepunctata 59

Pickle Worm 7, 64

Pieris protodice 104

" oleracea .j« 105

" rapm 10, 107

Piesma cinerea 32

Piophila casei ^^

Plutella cruciferarum 10

Plum Curculio 6

Plusia brassicce HO

" precationis 112

Poplar Dagger 119

Potherb Butterfly 105

Prio7ius laticollis °»

" imbricornis 89

Procris Americana °5

" vitis 86

Promachus Bastardii 122

" vertebrata 123

Psylla pyri 10> 33

Purged Ophion 5o

R

Rape Butterfly , 107

Red-tailed Tachina Fly 50

Remedies against the Chinch Bug 28

Report of Committee on Entomology, read before the State Horticultural Society 5

Rhizopertha pusilla 1*

Rummaging Ground-beetle 103

Saperda bivittata 1"

Satellite Sphinx 7*

t> ■ INDEX.

Selandria rosee 19

" coraai IS

Silky Asilus 123

Southern Cabbage Butterfly 104

Sphinx myron 71

" crantor , 74

" hjcaon 76

Spined Soldier Bug 32

Spotted Ladybird 25

Striped Cucumber-beetle 65

Sudden appearance and disappearance of the Army-worm ..^ 45

Sweet-polato — Insects injurious to 61

T

Tabanus bovinus 129

" atratus 128, 130

" costalis 128

" H'.eola 128

Tarnished Plant Bug 113

Tenebrio molitor 9

" obscurus 9, 11

Tent-caterpillar of the Apple 7

" " of the Forest 7, 3"

Termes^ front alls 11

Thyreus Abbotii 78

Tile-horned Prionua 89

Tinea tnpelzella 10

" vestianella , 10

" pellionella HI

Tingis pyi 33

Tortoise-beetles 66

<' beetle— the Golden 62

" " — the Pale-thighed 62

" " —the Mottled 63

" " —the Black-legged 63

Trim Ladybird 25

Trupanea opivora 122

Two-striped Potato-beetle 61

w

Walshia amorphella 132

Weeping Lacewing 26

Y

Yellow-tailed Tachina Fly , 61

z

Zebra Caterpillar 112

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT

ON THE

NOXIOUS,

BENEFICIAL A.lSri> OTHER

INSECTS,

OF THE

STA.TE OF MISSOUHI,

MADE TO TIIE STITE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, PURSUANT TO-

AX APPROPRIATION FOR THIS PURPOSE FROM THE

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE.

BY CHARLES V. RILEY,

State Entomologist.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO.:

HORACE WILCOX, PUBLIC PRUTTER.
1871.

Entered according to act -of Oongress, in the year 1871, by Charles Y. Eiley, in the
office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PREFACE.

To the Memha-s of the MissotcH Slate Beard of Agriculture :

Gentlemen: I herewith submit for publication, mv Third Annual

Report on the Noxious, Beneficial and other Insects' of the S^ateo
Missouri. •oiciLt; ui

No particular action seems to have followed the su-'.-estions
thrown out ,n n,y last year's preface, as to the procuring o?°a I ett" .
quahty o paper and ink for these Reports. The impressions of the
cuts whjch Illustrate the text, are consequently quite inferior in v
second lieport, and fail to do justice to the engraWn..s ^

As will be seen from the following pages, many hnportant discov-
eries m Economic Entomology have been made during the vear a^ d
some few insects have been very abundant. On the whole however
we have enjoyed more than the usual immunity from insect denred '
tions throughout the State, Complaints have^,een nun lou/atd
arucles giving extravagant accounts of the increase of noxious in
sects are continually appearing in our agricultural papers B^t
while some insects are on the increase, others are on the decrease
and the cause for alarm is in a great measure imaginary. More is now
said and written about insects in the industrial lourifals of the StatI
than formerly, because, through the agency of these Kepo. ts the , el
pie have had tlieir eyes opened to the importance of the sub ect ami
the impression that insects generally are on the increase muTt be in
a great measure, attributed to this fact rather than to anv relt
crease that has occurred. ^"- '^'"'' '"-

The America,i EiHomologUt, in the columns of which some of
the observations contained in this Report havealready appeared was
contoued during the year, and a botanical depart iienredlfedb,
Di. George Vasey, of Normal, Illinois, was added to it. The chai4
of such a journal, together with my State duties kept me 1 , ,
confined, and for these and other rea ons given, the ina ^az ne los '
suspended during the coming year, 1871 '""gazme has been

This suspension will enable me to spend more time in the field
and as these annual Reports have but a limited circula ion ' ,^ aj
very many cultivators of the soil must in consequence, fail to' gef tile

4 PREFACE.

information contained in them, I have concluded to devote more
time the coming year to lecturing; and have already prepared for
that purpose a number of large, colored illustrations.

I am satisfied that by this means I can materially add to the good
effected by these Reports, and I shall endeavor to fill any engage-
ments which the officers of our county agricultural and horticultural
societies may desire to make, providing they give me notification a
sufficient time beforehand.

In the following pages the same rules are complied with as were
laid down in my first Report. When the insects treated of are new,
or the existing descriptions of them are imperfect, or in a foreign
language, I have added a full description, which is, however, always
printed in smaller type, so that it can be skipped by the non-inter-
ested reader. The popular name of each insect is accompanied by
the scientific name, and the latter is always printed in italics and
mostly in parenthesis, so that it may be skipped bj^ the practical
man without interfering with the text. The Order and Family to
which each insect belongs, is also given under each heading. The
dimensions are expressed in inches and the fractional parts of an inch,
and the sign (? wherever used, is an abbreviation for the word "male,''
the sign? for "female," and the the sign ? for neuter. It must also
be recollected that many of the figures are magnified, and that the
hair line at the side of such gives the natural size.

The scientific reader will notice that some of the insects are
referred to the old instead of the more modem genera, and this course
has been pursued because the generic nomenclature is constantly
changing, and because the old name has often become thoroughly
associated with the insect in the mind of the practical man, who
would be confused by, and is not interested in, the nice changes
taking place in classification.

All the illustrations in this, as in the previous Reports, have been
drawn from life by myself, or under my direct care, unless otherwise
stated.

1 have secured a pleasant office, connected with that of your
iSecretary, at Room 29, Insurance Building, Southeast corner of Fifth
and Olive streets, St. Louis, and all letters sent to me should be thus
addressed.

My acknowledgments are due to the Superintendents of the fol-
lowing railroads, for free passes over their respective routes: The
Pacific Railroad of Missouri, Atlantic and Pacific, St. Louis and Iron
Mountain, Hannibal and St. Joseph, North Missouri, Chicago and
St. Louis, Illinois Central, and the Rockford, Rock Island and St.
Louis.

All which is respectfully submitted by

CHARLES V. RILEY,

State EntomMlogi^t'

St. Louis, Mo,, December 2, 1870.

NOXIOUS INSECTS.

SNOUT-BEETLES,

(Coleoptera Curcalionidso).

AN ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THOSE SPECIES WHICH ARE INJURIOUS TO FRUITS

AND VEGETABLES.

In my First Annual Report 1 gave an account of the common
rium Ourcuho, which was as complete as our knowleda:e of the insect
would then permit. Since the publication of that Report many new
and most important facts, relating to this insect, have been brought
to light, and I deem it wise in this review of some of our more iniu-
rious snout-beetles, to lay these facts before the reader. Many of
them were embodied in an essay read by myself at the Fifteenlh An-
nual Meeting of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, recently
held at Galesburg, in that State, and therefore, with some impo;.
tant additions, I reproduce that essay, which embraces the first five
insects here treated of.

Insects, like other animals, derive their nourishment from the
vegetable and animal kingdoms; but a glance is sufficient to show
that they possess a far greater field of operations than all the other
animals combined. Indeed, the food of insects is a theme so large
that 1 might occupy page after page by dwelling upon it alone. The
o her animals use as food but a very small portion of the inexhausti-
ble treasures of the vegetable kingdom, and the remainder is unpala-
table or even poisonous to them. Not so with insects, for, from the
gi^^niic Banyan which covers acres with its shade, or the majestic
Oak to the invisible fungus, the vegetable creation is one vast ban-
quet, to which they sit down as guests. The larger plant-feeding ani-
mals are also generally confined, in their diet, to the leaves, seeds or
stalks being either foliaceous or farinaceous; butinsects make every
possible part of a plant yield them valuable provender. We have an
excellent illustration of this omnipresent character of insects in those
species which are well known to attack the common apple tree
ihus, beginning at the root, we find it rendered knotty and unhealthy
on the outside by the common Root-louse {EHosnnia pyri, Fitch)
while the heart is often entirely destroyed by one or the other of two

6' THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

gigantic Root-borers {Prionus iwlricor^iis., Linn, and P. Jaiieollis-
Drury), The trunk is riddled by the larvae of several Long-horn
beetles, and pre eminently by the Two-striped Saperda {Saperda
hivittata^ Say), as well as by other smaller beetles; the liber and
alburnum are destroyed by the Flat-headed borer {C/irysohothris
femorata^ Fabr.), the outer bark eaten by bark beetles {>:eolytu»
family) and sucked by Bark-lice peculiar to it. The branches and
twigs are bored along the axis and pruned by the larvae of the com-
mon Pruner (Klaphidion mllosu7n, Fabr.), and by that of the Paral-
lel Pruner (p". parallelum^ Lee), girdled by the Twig-girdler ( Onci-
deres cinyulatus^ Say*), sawed and rasped by the Periodical Cicadas
{Cicada septemdecim^ Linn, and C. tredecim^ Riley), otherwise
known as Seventeen-year Locusts, by tree-hoppers and a dozen other
Homopterous insects; bored into from the side by the Twig-borer
{Bostrichus hicatidaius^ Say), wounded by the bites of such beetles
as the New York Weevil {Ithycerus novcehoracensis^ Forster), or
pierced as by a red-hotwire by small boring beetles {Soolytidce).

The buds before they expand are infested with the larvae of the
Apple Bud-moth ( Grapholitha oculoAia^ Harr.), or entirely devoured
by voracious cut- worms (Ay rolls scandens^ Riley, etc.). The blos-
som has no sooner unfolded its delicate and beautiful petals than it
is devoured entirely either by the Brazen Blister Beetle (Pytta mnea^
Say), the Striped Cucumber Beetle {Diahrotica vitiaia^ Fabr.), the
Rose bug, or by a great many other insects that might be mentioned,
some, as the different bees, confining themselves to the pollen or honey
from the nectaries, while others again prefer other parts. The young
truit is either eaten partly or entirely by Snapping beetles {Melano-
tics communis and M. incertus\ or punctured by either the Plum or
Apple Curculios, and afterwards bored through and through by their
larvae, or by that ubiquitous Apple Worm {Carpocapsa pomonella);
as it matures it is eaten into by the larvae of the Plum Moth f {Sema-
sia prunivora^ Walsh), rendered putrid by the Apple Maggot ( Try-
peta p>omoneUa^ Walsli), and by the Apple Midge { Molohrus mali^
Fitch); as itripensit is gouged by the Flower Beetles {PuryoTniaindd
and E. vielancJwlica), and disfigured by a variety of other insects,
while the skin is often gnawed off and corroded by the larvae of the
Rose Leaf-roller {Loxotmnia rosaceana, Harr.); and even the seed,
if it should be preserved, will be attacked by the Grain Sylvanus
{Silvanus surinam.ensis^lAnn.),i\\Q DwarfTrogosita ( 2\ nana., Melsh.)
and the larvae of one or two small moths. And as to the leaves, they
are not only sapped and curled by the Apple Plant-louse {Aphismalii
Fabr.), and by leaf hoppers ; rolled by several leaf-rollers; folded at
the edges by a small pale, undescribed worm which I shall soon de-
scribe; blistered by the Rosa Hispa {TJroplata rwsa., Weber);

*r have bred specimens of this insect from apple twigs.
"(■Inappropriately so called by Mr. Walsh, as I shall presently show.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGEST. 7

crumpled by the Leaf Crurapler {Phycita nehulo, Walsh), mined by
the Apple Micropteryx (3liGropierj/x pomivorella, Pack.}; skeleton-
ized and tied together by another undescribed worm, which I shall
some day name Aorohasis Ilammondii; but they are greedily de-
voured by a whole horde of" caterpillars, from the tiny Microptery,r
to the immense Oecropia worm, some of which conline themselves
to the parenchyma, some to the epidermis, some to the tender parts,
without touching the veins, while others bodily devour the whole
leaf. The sap forms the sole food of some insects, and even when the
poor apple tree dies, a host of different insects revel in its dead and
decaying parts, and hasten its dissolution, so that it may the more
quickly be resolved into the mold from which it had, while living, de-
rived most of its support, and through which it is to give nourishment
for the young trees which are to take its place.

Thus we perceive that there is not a single part of the apple tree
which is not made to cradle, or to give nourishment to some particu-
lar insect, and the same might be said of almost every plant that
grows on the face of the earth, even those which produce resinous
or gummy substances, or which are pithy in the center, having spe-
cial insects which feed upon these parts and on nothing else. There are
insects — the gall makers, for instance — which, not satisfied with any
existing part of the plants, as such, cause abnormal growths, in which
their young are reared.

Nor are insects confined to vegetables in their recent state. The
block of hickory wood, fifty years after it is made up into wagon
wheels, is as palatable to the Banded Borer {Cerasi)horus cinctttfis
Drury), which causes "powder-post," as it was to the Painted Borer
{Clytus pictus, Drury) while green and growing; and a beam of
oak, when it has supported the roof of a building for centuries, is as
much to the taste of an Aiiohlum as the same tree was while grow-
ing, to the American Timber Beetle {Hyleoechis Ainerlccuiits^ Harr. )
Some, to use the words of Spence, "would sooner feast on the herba-
rium of Brunfelsius, than on the greenest herbs that grow," and
others, " to whom

' a river and a sea

Are a dish of tea,

And a kingdom bread and butter,'

would prefer the geographical treasures of Saxton or Speed, in spite
of their ink and alum, to the freshest rind of the flax plant."

Indeed, it would be difficult to mention a substance, whether ani-
mal or vegetable, on which insects do not subsist. They revel and
grow fat on such innutritions substances as cork, hair, wool and
feathers; and "with powers of stomach which the dyspeptic sufferer
may envy, will live luxuriously on horn;" they insinuate themselves
into the dead carcasses of their own class ; they are at home in the
hottest and strongest spices, in the foulest filth, in the most putrid
carrion ; they can live and thrive upon, or within the living bodies of
the larger animals, or of those of their own class ; they are at home in

8 TUTUD ANNUAL KEPORT OF

the intestial heat of many large animals, reveling in the horse's
stomach, in a bath of chyme of 102° Fahr., or in the bowels of man,
in an equally high temperature. Some have even been supposed to
feed on minerals, and, not to dwell upon Barchewitz's tale of East
India ants, which eat iron, certain it is that the larvae of our May flies
(Ephemerae) do eat earth, and I have known the larvae of the common
May Beetle to feed for three months upon nothing but pure soil ; but
in both these cases the insects undoubtedly derive nourishment from
the vegetable raat*:er which is extracted from the earth by the action
of the stomach.

These facts will serve to show that, seek where we may,
we cannot find a place or a substance in which or on which,
some insect does not feed. They people the atmosphere around us,
swim at ease in the water, and penetrate the solid earth beneath our
feet; while some of them inhabit indifferently all three of these ele-
ments at different epochs of their lives.

Now when we reflect that there are at least half a million — if not
a full million — distinct species of insects in this sublunary world of
ours, and that their habits and habitations are so diversified, it would
really seem as though entomology was a subject too vast for any one
man to shoulder; and indeed it is in all conscience extensive enough.
The science of entomology is, however, so perfect in itself, and its
classification so beautiful and simple that a particular species is re-
ferred to its Order, its Family, its Genus, and finally separated from
the other species of that genus, with the greatest ease, and with a
feeling of true satisfaction and triumph, by those who have mastered
the rudiments of the science. And, very fortunately, it is not neces-
sary for the practical fruit-grower to enter into the minuti£B of species
or even of genera in order to learn the habits of the insects which in-
terest him in one way or another. These minutiae must be left to the
professed entomologist.

There is not an insect on the face of the globe which cannot be
placed in one or the other of seven, or more properly speaking, eight
great Orders; so that, unlike the botanist, the entomologist is not
bewildered by an innumerable array of these Orders, though he has
five times as many species to deal with. These Orders comprise
about two hundred families, many of which may, for practical pur-
poses, be grouped into one family — as, for instance, the seven families
of Digger-wasps and the five large families which have all the same
habits as the true or genuine Ichneumon-flies. Many more may be
neglected as small, rare, or unimportant; so that practically
there will remain about a hundred family types to be learned. Each
family, as Agassiz, has well remarked, may, with a little practice, be
distinguished at a glance by its general appearance, just as every child
with a little practice, learns to distinguish the family of A's from the
family of B's, and these from the family of C's in the alphabet.
There is the old English A, the German text A, and a host of orna-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. y

mental A's, both in the capital letter and the small or " lower-case "
letter, as the printers call it; bnt the family likeness runs through all,
and it is astonishing how quick a child learns to distinguish each
family type. It is true there are a few abnormal or eccentric insects
— there were some which deceived even Linnaeus — which put on the
habit of strange families, just as an eel, which is a true fish with fins,
puts on the habit of a snake — a reptile without fins. But these are
the exceptions and not the rule.

Now it is wisely ordained that every family^ as a general rule, has
not only a distinctive family appearance, but also distinct family
manners. For example, nobody ever saw an Ichneumon-fly construct
a nest and provision it with insects, as does a Digger-wasp ; and nobody
ever saw a Digger-wasp deposit its eggs in the body of a living in-
sect at large in the woods as an Ichneumon-fly does. But each fam-
ily maintains its peculiar family habits, and cannot be induced to de-
viate from them.

So universally is this the case, that if an insect is brought me
which I never saw in my life, I will tell half its history at a glance.
It is this ''Unity of Habits," this beautiful provision of nature — defi-
nite family likeness, accompanied by definite family habits — which so
simplifies the task of the practical man ; for, instead of having to
study the diversified habits of half a million species, he has but to
acquaint himself with the appearance and characteristics of one hun-
dred families; and if the rudiments of Entomologj^ had been taught
in the schools of this country, so that the farmer had become familiar
with these hundred family types, he would now be much better able
to cope with his insect enemies. When I think that it would take a
child no longer to learn these one hundred family types than it does
to learn the one hundred diff"erent types which compose the four al-
phabets— the Roman capital and small alphabet and the writing cap-
ital and small alphabet — I fully expect, and sincerely hope, that in the
public schools of this country we shall soon have text-books intro-
duced which will cover the ground as well, and occupy the same I
place as do those useful works of Leunis, and Troschel and Ruthe, in
the j)ublic schools of Germany.

With these few remarks, which are intended to show that the
practical man may easily obtain a general knowledge of his insect
friends and enemies, notwithstanding the wide field of their opera-
tions and the immense number of species which exist, we will now
dwell for a while on one of these families, which deeply interest us
as fruit-growers, namely:

THE CURCULIONIDxE OR SNOUT-BEETLES.

This is one of the very largest and most conspicuous families in
the Order of Beetles (Ooleoptera), comprising, as it does, over 10,000
distinct and described species. It is at once distinguished from all the

10 THIRD ANKUAL REPORT

other families of beetles by the front of the head being produced into
a more or less elongated snout or rostrum, at the extremity of which
the mouth is situated. This snout is sometimes very long and as fine
as a hair (genus Balaninus)^ and sometimes as broad as the head
{gen\^^ BrtJithus); but it always forms part and parcel of the head,
and does not articulate on it as does the snout or proboscis of the true
Bugs {Ilemiptera)^ or the tongue of Molhs and Butterflies, The other
chief characteristics of the family are an apparently four jointed
tarsus or foot (though in reality there are more generally five joints),
an ovoid form narrowing in front, the sides pressed by the convex ely-
tra or wing-covers, the antennae or feelers attached to the snout, and
either elbowed or straight, and composed of nine, ten, eleven or twelve
joints — the first of which is always long, and the terminal three gen-
erally united in a club or knob; and finally stout legs with swollen
thighs, sometimes bearing spines.

The larvai of these snout-beetles are whitish or yellowish and
fleshy grubs, usually without legs or having only in the place of them
fleshy tubercles, which in a measure perform the functions of legs;*
the body is oblong, with the back generally arched but sometimes
straight. With these characteristics in mind, the farmer cannot fail to
recognize a snout-beetle when he sees one. Now there is hardly one
of the one hundred families that I have referred to from which so
many injurious species can be enumerated, for with the exception of
an European species {Anthribus varius) whose larva was found by
Ratzeburg to destroy bark-lice, they are all vegetarians, the larvas
inhabiting either the roots, stems, leaves or fruits of plants ; and the
beetles feeding on the same. So whenever you find an insect with
the characters just given, you may rest morally certain that it is in-
jurious, and should be destroyed without mercy. This family is not
only one of the most injurious, but, on account of the secretive habits
of the larvas, the insects comprising it are the most difficult to con-
trol. When a worm is openly and above board denuding our trees,
we at least readily become aware of the fact, and can, if we choose,
Q-Pply the remedy; but when it surreptitiously, and always under
cover, gnaws away at the heart of our grains and fruits, we become
in a measure helpless to defend ourselves. But even here where the
enemy is so well ambushed and hidden, the proper tactics, based on
thorough knowledge, will frequently enable us to penetrate the de-
fenses and conquer the foe.

Before leaving this subject of families, let me impress upon the
mind another important fact, namely, that the family is not peculiar
to any one country, and that while species vary, the family has the
same habits and characteristics all over the world. Thus in Europe

*It is generaUy unqualifiedly stated by authors that Curculionid larv» are apodous ; but there
are exceptions to the rule, and I may cite as an example the larva of Cratoparis lunalus, Fabr.,
which I have found in fungi, and have bred to the perfect state, and which has six conspicuous
thoracic legs.

OF TUE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

11

we find the snout-beetles as iajurious, and as difficult to manage — if
not more so — than they are in this country. One species {RJiyncJiites
co/iicus, llerbst.,) deposits ei2;i>s in the twigs of Pear, Plum, Cherry
and Apricot, and girdles the twig to make it fall; another, {Rhyn-
chltes hacGlms, Schoen.) infests the fruit, and still another {AntJiooio-
?/?w5 jy?/;'^, Schoen.) the tlower bud of the Pear. One, {Rhynchites
hetuleti^ F.,) rolls up grape leaves and partly cuts the stems, so that
they perish, while another, [Anthonoimis pomoriinu Schoon.,) infests
the blossom bud of the Apple, and renders it unfertile. Still another
inhabits the blossom bud of the Cherry. Balaninus nucum is found
in their common Hazel nut, and B. cerasorutn in Cherry pits ; Apion
a^yricans devours the seed of Clover ; Otiorhynclins sulcaius, Schcen.f
infests the crown of strawberries and two different species (Boris
Ghlorizans^ Schoen., and CeutorJiynchiis napi^ Schoen.,) infest the
stems of cabbages and turnips.

But after all, a single species — the "little Turk," for instance —
sometimes causes more loss of fruit in this country' than all the above
enumerated species do to the European cultivator, and though much
of this comparative incapacity for harm, on the part of their insects,
may be in a measure due to the better knowledge of his foes which
the transatlantic cultivator possesses ; to the more carelul culture
which he pursues, and the usually limited extent of his orchard, com-
pared with ours; yet it greatly depends on other causes, which it
is not necessary now to dwell upon. So I will at once proceed to
say a few words about those of our own Snout-beetles, which more
particularly interest us.

THE COMMON PLUM CV'RC^JlAO—CoTiotrachehts oiemiphar,

Herbst.

IT IS SINGLE BROODED, AND HIBERNATES AS A BEETLE.

I shall not here repeat what has already been published about
[Fig. 1.] this insect ; but shall confine m}^ remarks

principally to the unsettled and mooted

?^' points in its natural history, and to the new
discoveries that have been made since the
appearance of my first Report. I am glad
to be able to say that I have forever set-
tled the principal question, namely, as to
its being single or double brooded. Authors
have, from the beginning, held different
views on this subject, and this fact should
not surprise us, when we bear in mind that

12 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

they reasoned simply from conjecture ; nor will it surprise us when we
understand the facts in the case. The facts that fresh and softCurcu-
lios are found in this latitude as early as ihe last of June, and
that they still come out of the ground in August, or as late as Sep-
tember, and even October in more northerly latitudes, are well cal-
culated to mislead; while it was difficult to imagine an insect living
ten months before ovipositing, without dwindling away through the
action of its enemies. But in the beetle state, the Curculio has few,
if any enemies, and in my former writings on this subject, I have
shown that the other facts do not in the least prove the insect to be
double-brooded. Among those whose opinions commanded respect,
from their profound entomological knowledge and general accuracy,
was Mr. Walsh, who, during his last years, strenuously contended that
this insect was double- brooded. For several years I have entertained
a different opinion, believing that it was single brooded, as a rule, and
only exceptionally double-brooded; and the facts so fully bear me
out in this opinion, that were my late associate living to-day, I should '
bring forth the testimony with a feeling of triumph, for he was not
often in the wrong! It is worthy of remark, however, that Mr.
Walsh's first impression, as given by him in the year 1867*, was that
this insect is single brooded; his first opinion thus coinciding with
what I have now proved to be the facts in the case. In my first Re-
port I have reviewed the experiments which led him to change his
opinion, and have shown that they did not warrant his final conclu-
sion.

The many words that have been penned in the discussion of this
question would fill a volume; but one stern fact, one thorough exper-
iment, is worth more than all the theories that were ever conceived,
or the phrases that were ever written on the subject. At first it seems
to be a very simple question to settle, but the fact that it remained
unsettled so long would indicate the reverse. Judge A. M. Brown of
Villa Ridge, at my suggestion, endeavored in the summer of 1869 to
solve the problem by imprisoning the first bred beetles and furnish-
ing them with plucked fruit. Dr. Hull partially performed a like ex-
periment, and I did the same myself; but we w^ere met by the advo-
cates of the two-brooded theory with the objection that such a test
was of no value, as the Curculio would not deposit on plucked fruit or
in confinement ; and to add weight to their argument they could cite
us to numerous instances among butterflies to prove that many insects
really will not deposit in confinement. But, as we shall see, they
placed too much confidence in the instinct of Mrs. Turk when, from
such premises, they made these deductions apply to her.

As I proved over and over again, the question could not be solved
with any more certainty, by confining beetles to living boughs con-
taining fruit, as the boughs could not well be covered with any sub-

* Practical Entomologist, Vol. II., No. 7.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 13

stance through which the beetles would not gnaw their way out. So
I determined last spring to build a frame over a large tree and entire-
ly enclose it in stout gauze, that would neither let a flea in or out^
much lers a Curculio. Having accomplished this before the blossoms
had fallen oif the tree, I awaited with pleasurable interest the result
from day to day, from week to week, and from month to month ; en-
gaging a competent person to watch, when, from necessity, I was
obliged to be awa3^ It were worse than waste of time to detail here
the many interesting observations made on this tree which I had un-
der control, or to enumerate the many other experiments which I
conducted in other woys, or the innumerable facts obtained; and
it will suffice to give in a summary manner the results — premising
only that every precaution was taken, and no expense spared, to pre-
vent failure; that the experiments were satisfactory beyond my ex-
pectations, the results conclusive beyond all peradventure, and that
I can prove every statement I make. To sum up then : — The Plum
Curculio is single-hrooded^ and 1 have a number now alive wliicli were
bred during the latter part of June from the first stung peaches. (At
the time the printer is ready for this Report the beetles are still alive
and flourishing — February 24th, 1871.) But, as there seem to be ex-
ceptions to all rules, so there are to this ; yet the exceptions are only
)ust about sufficient to prove the rule, for as far south as St. Louis not
more than one per cent, of the beetles lay any eggs at all, until they
have lived through one winter; or in other words, where one female
will pair and deposit a few eggs the same summer she was bred,
ninety-nine will live on for nearly ten months and not deposit till the
lollowing spring. In more northern latitudes I doubt if any excep-
tions to the rule will be found.

As to the other mooted point, namely, whether this insect ever
hibernates under ground in the larva state, I am perfectly satisfied
I hat it never does, but that it passes the winter invariably as a beetle,
J.nder all sorts of shelter in the woods ; generally, however, near the sur-
lace of the ground. Indeed, it often makes for itself a hole in the ground,
seldom however deep enough to more than barely cover its own body,
in short, there is very little to alter or modify in the established facts
]i\its natural history, which I have already published. The egg, instead
ot" being" oval," as there stated, would be better described as "ob-
long-oval," measuring exactly 0.03 inch in length, and being nearly
I l.ree times as long as wide. It should also be remarked here, that
V. hen depositing the eggs in apples, the female often neglects the
'i-;ual symbol of Mohammedanism, which she so invariably inscribes
oon stone fruit; and that where this mark is made on apples, it more
eAsily becomes obliterated.

During their beetle life, these insects feed continually, just as
long as the weather is mild enough to make them active. While fruit
iasts, they gouge holes in it, and after peaches have gone, apples are

14 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

badl}'' attacked. They also gnaw large holes in the leaves, and when
nothing else presents, will feed on the bark of the tender twigs.

The beetles often make a peculiar creaking noise (a fact not
mentioned before of this species) b,y rubbing the tip of the abdomen
up and down against the wing-covers.*

Let us be thankful, therefore, that there can no longer reasonably
be difference of opinion, or discussion on these questions, v/hich,
though of no very great practical imi)ortance, were yet of great
interest to us all.

IT IS NOCTUNRAL RATHER THAN DIURNAL.

Before leaving this little Turk, however, I have some other facts
to mention which were first brought to light the present year, and
which have a most important practical bearing. The people of the
West have been repeatedly told, and with so much assurance that
they no doubt have all come to believe it as gospel, that Ourculios
fly only during the heat of the day, and that it is useless to endeavor
to catch them after say 10 o'clock in the morning. What I am about
to utter will no doubt astonish many, but I know whereof I speak.
TJie Curculio is a nocturnal rather than a diurnal insect ; is far
more active at night than at clay, and Hies readily at night into the
'bargain. If any one doubts this assertion, let him go into his peach
or pJum orchard at midnight with a lantern and sheet, and he will
catch more than he could daring the day, and will also find, to his
sorrow, that they are then much more nimble and much bolder —

*A great many different beetles belonging to widely different families have the power of mak-
ing a stridulating creaking noise, and though the instrument is found upon different parts of the
body in different species, yet it is always made after one plan, namely, a file-like rasp and a
scraper. In Darwin's new book (Descent of Man, pp. 3G6-73) an interesting account of the dif-
ferent methods employed will be found. Every entomologist knows how commonly this creaking
noise occurs in the Long-horn beetles, and that the rasp is situated on the mesothorax and i^'
rubbed against the prothorax. In the Burying beetles (Necropiioridj:) these rasps are situated on
the fifth abdominal joint, and are scraped by the posterior margin of the elytra. In the Dung-
beetles again it is variously situated upon different portions of the body. Dr. Fitch (lOth Ann.
Rep. p. 12) has noticed the creaking noise made by the Three-lined Leaf-beetle {Lema trilineala)
which is produced by the same motions as those witnessed in our Curculio ; but in this instance, as
in all other stridulating Chrysomelidre, the rasp is situated on the dorsal apex of the abdomen
known as the pygidium, and is scraped by the wing-covers ; while in the closely allied Curculionidae
which have this power the parts are completely reversed in position. Anyone who will take the
trouble to carefuUj' examine the wing-covers of our Plum Curculio will find on the lower apical
edge of each, a horny, slightly raised plate, about a third as long as the whole wing-cover, and
transversely and obliquely ribbed by numerous parallel ridges. There is also a longer cord or carina
near the sutural edge which may help to intensify the noise. The dorsal apex of ths abdomen or
pygidium forms a yellowish and roughened plate, with the sides horny and emarginate, so that
when the abdomen plays up and down, these horny edges grate or scrape at right angles against
the rasp.

In some instances the stridulation is possessed principally by one sex and serves no doubt as
a sexual call ; but with our Curculio as with most otber stridulating beetles, both sexes seem to
share alike in the power, and it then no doubt serves as a mutual call, or is used under the in-
fluence of distress, fear, or even pleasure; for I have always more particularly noticed the noise
of an evening when the Curculios were moat active and preparing for their active night work.

THE STATE EJSTOMOLOGIST. 15

scarcely feigning death at all. Indeed, Avith the exception of such
females as are busily occupied in depositing eggs, most of the Cur-
culios rest during the day, sheltered either by the foliage or branches
of the tree, or by any extraneous substance on the ground near by.
They are also more active in the evening than in the morning, and
these facts lead us to the important question, whether the morning
or the evening is tlie best time to jar the trees. My experiments so
far are not conclusive, for I have some days caught more in the morn-
ing, and at others more in the evening. All other things being equal,
the evening will prove preferable to the morning, from there being
less dew at that time; and I particularly draw attention to this mat-
ter now, that the proper experiments may be instituted during ihe
coming year by more than one individual.

THE RANSOM CHIP-TRAP PROCESS.

Another grand and successful mode of fighting the little Turk
was also brouglit to light again, and to a great extent practiced the
past summer. I allude to the Ransom chip process for entrapping
tliis insect. About the middle of May the Horticultural world was
startled by a somewhat sensational article, which was the burden of
an extra to the St. Joseph (Michigan) Herald^ headed : — "Great Dis-
covery— Curculio Extermination Possible," The process consists in
laying close around the butt of the tree pieces of chips or bark, under
which, according to their instinct, a great many of the Curculios se-
crete themselves during the day, and may thus be easily destroyed.
Now that we better understand this insect's habits, we also better
comprehend the philosophy of this process. Being noctural in their
habits, the beetles naturally seek shelter during the day, and espe-
cially is this the case early in the season, when the days are chilly,
and before the females are too much engaged in %^'2, depositing. Nu-
merous opinions were expressed as to the value and efficiency of this
method; but I will here repeat my own, as given to the readers of
the American Entomologist and Botanist; first, because I endeavored
to be candid and truthful, and secondly, because the opinions ex-
pressed have been so far fully corroborated by subsequent experience.
Letitbe distinct]}' understood that in recording what I believe to be
the facts in the case, 1 jhave no wish to detract one particle from the
credit due Mr. Ransom, for bringing this method prominently before
the people, and demonstrating its practical applicability; for to him
imdoubtedly belongs the honor of the re-discovery and of the proper
application of the method :

'^We are really sorry to damp the ardor and enthusiasm of any
person or persons, when enlisted in such a good cause, but truth ob-
liges us to do so, nevertheless. Of course Curculio extermination is
possible ! but notby the above method alone, as our Michigan friends
will find to their sorrow. For a short time, early in the season, when
the days are sometimes warm and the nights cold, and before the

16 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

peach blossoms have withered away, we have succeeded in capturing
(Jurculios under chips of wood and in other such sheltered situations ;
but we have never been able to do so after the fruit was as large as a
hazlenut, and the little Turk had got fairly to work. Our Michigan
friends will, we fear, lind this to be too truly the case.

'"Tiiis process, furthermore, cannot we 11 be called a new discovery,
because it was discovered several years ago, as the following item
from Moore's Rural New Yorker of January 2Sth, 1865, will show :

"How TO CATCH CuRCULio. — In May last vre had occasion to use some lumber. It was laid
down in the vicinity of the plum yard, and on taking up a piece of it one cold morning, we dis-
covered a number of curculios huddled togetiier on the under side. On examining other boards
we found more, so we spread it out to see if we could catch more, and we continued to find more
or less every day, for two weeks. We caught in all one hundred and si.xty-one. So I think if
people would take a little pains they might destroy a great many such pests. These were caught
before the plum trees were in flower. W hat is most singular is, that we never found a curculio on
a piece of old lumber, although we put several pieces down to try them. They seemed to come
out of the ground, as we could find them several times a day by turning over the boards.

Johnsonville, New York. Mrs. H. Wieu.

"But though Mr. Ransom cannot properly claim to have made a
new discovery, and although this mode of fighting will not prove
sufficient to exterminate the Curculio, yet we greatly admire the
earnestness and perseverance which he has exhibited. In demon-
strating that so great a number of the little pests can be entrapped in
the manner described, Mr. li. has laid the fruit growers of the country
under lasting obligations to him. It is a grand movement towards
the deleat of the Ibe, and one which, ironi its simplicity, should be
universally adopted early in the season. But we must not relinquish
the other methods of jarring during the summer, and of destroying the
Jallen fruit; for we repeat that the Plum Curculio will breed in the
forest."

I subsequently visited St. Joseph, for the express purpose of ex-
amining more closely into Mr. Ransom's Curculio remedy. I found
that so few Curculios had been caught under the chips after the first
week in June, that nearly everybody, except Mr, Ransom, had for
some time abandoned the method, and were jarring their trees by one
process or another. Mr. Ransom himself, by dint of unusual persever-
ance and great care in setting his traps, had much better success
than I had expected he would. On the 15th June he caught 78; on
the 16th, 97; and on the 17th; 71. For about a week after this he
scarcely caught any, but from the 24th to the 27th inclusive, he caught
about SCO. On the 6th of July I accompanied him around the outside
rows of his orchard and caught five under the traps. We had no op-
portunity to use the sheet, but I am satisfied that more could have
been jarred down. Mr. R. had a very fair crop of peaches, and — for-
getting that crops have often been grown before with very little care,
and that others around him who did not bug so persistently had
fruit also this year — is very sanguine of his new method, and too
much inclined, perhaps, to attribute his crop solely to this remedy.
Nevertheless, contrary to the impression made by his published views,
he was candid enough to admit that it might be found necessary to
resort to the jarring process, after a certain season of the year; and
indeed the number of stung peaches on the ground showed too plain-
ly that there is no hope oi exterminatio7i by the chip plan alone. The
soil around St. Joseph is, for the most part, a light sandy loam, never

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 17

packing, and very easily Ivept in good cultivation. To this character
of the soil must be attributed much of the success with the Hansom
method ; for I am satisfied, after full experiment, that in the warmer
climate and heavier soil of St. Louis, it is otuo practical use after the
middle of May, or at the farthest, ^ffer the first of June. fTie few
specimens that I have captured H|^ t^. method at St. Louis were
found under small pieces of new snTngle; and Mr. W, T. Durry, who
has 2,300 trees in his orchard at St. Joseph, also found this the best
kind of trap. Mr. Ransom, however, prefers small pieces of oak bark,
which he places close around the tree, with the inner or concave side
pressed to the ground. Stones do not answer well, and corn cobs are
objectionable because it requires so much time to discover and de-
stroy the Curculios, which hide in their deep cavities.

The best time of day to take the Curculios from under the chips is
undoubtedly in the afternoon ; but it must not be left too long, as they
begin to leave and scatter over the trees as soon as the sun approaches
the horizon. The chips should be laid around the trees as soon as the
frost is out of the ground, or at least by the time the blossoms begin to
expand; for more beetles will be caught under them during a few
Weeks thus early in the season than throughout the rest of the year.

Before concluding this branch of the subject, I earnestly urge
upon fruit-growers throughout the State to give this process a good
trial during the coming season, and to report the results to me. The
observations of a hundred persons in as many different parts of the
State must necessarily be of more value than those of a single indi-
vidual in any one locality; and as the process was not prominently
brought before the public last year, until it was too late to make
thorough experiments, it is very desirable to have the true value of
the method in Missouri definitel}" a&certained in 1871. To arrive at
such definite knowledge of its value, I need the co-operation of intel-
ligent fruit-growers, and for this reason I hope that notes and experi-
ments will be made and sent to me at my office, any time during the
summer. The number of trees experimented on, number of beetles
captured, time of year, hour of day, character of soil, and all other
facts connected with the experiments should be noted ; as they all
help us to a more thorough knowledge of the true value of the process

KEEPING IT IN CHECK BY THE OFFER OF PREMIUMS.

After visiting St. Joseph and vicinity, I passed into Ontario, \vhere
I found the trees overloaded with fine unblemished fruit. I found mj'-
friend, Mr. Wm. Saunders, of London, also much occupied with, and
interested in, the Curculio question. He was, in fact, carefully count-
ing different lots of this insect which had been received from different
parts of the Dominion; for be it known, that the enterprising Fruit
Growers' Association of Ontario, in its praiseworthy efforts to check
the increase of. the Curculio, offered a cent per head for every one

S E— 2

IS THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

which should be sent to our friend, who happens to be secretary of
that body. What would our own people think if the Legislature or
the State Horticultural Society should offer an equally liberal -pre-
mium pe)' capita for ever j little Turk captured? Wouldn't they set
about capturing them in earnest, though ! The Legislature might
stand it, and I am not sure but that some such inducement, held out
by the State to its fruit-growing citizens, would pay, and prove the
most effective way of subduing the enemy. But the Horticultural
Society that should undertake it, would have to be pretty liberally
endowed. Just think of it; ye who catch from three to five thousand
per day. The bugs would pay a good deal better than the peaches.
However, very fortunately for the (Ontario Fruit-Growers' Associa-
tion, their good offer did not get noised abroad as much as it might
have been, and the little Turk occurs there in such comparatively small
numbers, that up to the time I left only 10,731 had been received.

PARIS GREEN AS A REMEDY.

Mr. G. M. Smith, of Berlin, Wisconsin, in an article written last
fall to the St. Joseph (Mich.) Horticultural Society, recommends Paris
Green for the Plum Curculio. Even if the uniform application of
such a poisonous drug on large trees were practicable, it would never
succeed in killing one Curculio in a hundred. Paris Green kills the
leaf-eating beetles by being taken internally with the leaves ; but
the Curculio, with its snout, prefers to gouge under the skin of the
fruit; and only exceptionally devours the leaves. Yet, notwithstand-
ing the palpable absurdity of the remedy, it has very generally passed
from one journal to another without comment.

JARRING BY MACHINERY.

Of course there is no more expeditious way of jarring down the
Curculio than by the Hull Curculio-catcher (Fig. 2.) Yet I confess
that after extensive observations in many different parts of the coun-
try I am forced to the conclusion that this machine does not give the
satisfaction one could wish. I have already shown that where it was
constantly used the trees suffered serious injury from bruising, and it
is a rather significant fact that in most orchards where it has been in-
troduced, some modification has soon followed, or else it has been
entirely abandoned ; while in the East they still adhere to the im-
proved stretchers and mallet. It seems to me that the machine, as made
by Dr. Hull, two years ago, was not only too heavy and unwieldy, but
incapable of giving the i-equisite sharp jafring rap to the branches of
a large tree without causing too much injury to the trunk ; and that if
a modification of it could be made to satisfy the peach-grower, there
would soon be a greater demand for such a machine.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

li)

20

THIBD- ANNUAL REPORT OF

As a step in the right direction I will briefly describe a machine-
which I have herewith illustrated, (Fig. 3^ back view; Fig. 4, front
view), and which I found in quite general use around St. Joseph and
Benton Harbor, Michigan. It was gotten up by IVIr. L. M, Ward of the
latter place, and proves, in the orchard, to have decided advantages-
over the Hull machine, of which it is a modification. It is a much
lighter machine, and, as the diagrams indicate, instead of running on
a single wheel it is carried and balanced by two, (Fig. 3, c c) and sup-
f^^^- ^-^ ported with legs on the han-

dles, (Fig. 3, I I), when not
running. The Ourculios and
stung fruit are brushed
through a hole in the centre
(Fig, 3, rf), and as the oper-
ator passes from one tree to
^another he closes this hole, to
[prevent the beetles from es-
|caping, by means of a slide,
(Fig. 3, «), which he has under
control. Bags previously pre-
pared, by being fastened on a
square piece of wood with a
hole in the centre correspond-
ing to a hole in the side of the
bag, are snu-gly buttoned be-
low (Fig. 3, e and /'}, so as to
secure everything that falls
e through from above, and when

one bag is full it is easily replaced by another, and its contents de-
stroyed by scalding, or otherwise, and emptied out. In most of the
orchards where this machine was being used, the jarring was per-
formed by a separate mallet, which is easily hung, as is also the brush, -
on the shafts when the machine is being operated by one person, or,
-which I think a better way, where help is not scarce, it can, with the
brush, be carried by a second person (an intelligent boy will answer,)
who performs the jarring and brushing while the first person wheels
I the machine.

The machine is simple in construction, and anyone with ordinary
■mechanical ability can build it — modifying, of course, the diameter
of the wheels and the inclination of the sheet to suit the character of
his trees or of his ground. Mr. Ward has taken no patent out for it,
and the machine is, therefore, public property. The platform may be
made narrower than shown in the illustration, for the nearer the
wheels approach and the lighter the machine, the better. It has been
argued in favor of the onerwheel.machirLe, that it can be more easily

TH'E SfCATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

21

run on rough ground and more
readily turned, which, in a
great measure, is true; but
the Ward machine might be
so made that it could easily
be tilted on one wheel in
turning, and our Benton Har-
bor friends have so far found
no difficulty in operating it.
The two wheels have the ad-
ditional advantage that the
machine is not rendered un-
wieldy by strong wind. It
also stands firm when left by
the operator, who is thereby
better enabled to use a mallet
if he prefers it, the mallet
being hung to the shafts, and
taken down after the machine
is wheeled into position. Either machine can be used with a bumper,
or with a mallet, and there are certain rules Avhich should be adopted
in jarring for the Ourculio, no matter whether a one-wheel or a two-
wheel machine is used. These rules are: First. In jarring with a
mallet, it is best to prepare each tree by squarely sawing off" some
particular limb, or else the mallet must be well protected with rubber
to prevent bruising of the tender bark. The former custom is by far
the best, as we are enabled to give the tree a sharp, vibrating rap
with the bare, hard wood. Secondly. If the mallet is dispensed with,
and the tree is bumped with the machine — a method which certainly
has the advantage of expedition — it will be found altogether more
profitable to drive a shouldered spike or to insert a shouldered screw
in the trunk at the right distance from the ground, and the jarring
can then always be done on this spike without injury to the tree.

If the trees are headed high enough to admit of a sufficient in-
clination of the canvas, the beetles will naturally roll to the centre
and fall into whatever receptacle there may be for them below ; but
such an inclination is not often practicable, and the brush or broom
is almost always needed.

The orchardist must also be guided in his choice of machines by
the character of his land, for the two-wheel machine doubtless owes
much of its success around St. Joseph, Michigan, to the smoothness
of their land. No machine will work well on rough, cloddy soil.

There are various improvements that might be made in the above
machine by any ingenious person, and at my suggestion Mr. J. E.
Porter of the Eagle Agricultural Works, Ottawa, Illinois, has com-
menced building these two- wheel machines with adjustable arms.
The canvas also is to be so made that it can be fastened on and taken

22

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

off again so that the whole may be more compactly packed for ship-
ping, and for storing away out of the wet. Exclusive of the canvas,
the whole can be made ready for shipment for from $16,00 to $18,00,
and the machine will no doubt be advertised the coming season.

It is gratifying to know also that the inventive genius of some of
oar Western men is being applied to the improvement of this imple-
ment. Thus Messrs. Olaxton & Stevens of the Insane Asylum, St.
Louis county, have just applied for a patent on a one-wheel machine,
the principle feature of which is a bumper which works with a spring.
[Fig. 5.] I have seen the model, but am not favorably impressed
with the machine as one having any great practical
value. The spring bumper is an expensive and unneces-
sary addition, and in other respects the machine is in-
ferior in utility to that I have just described. One good
feature, however, is an arrangement for closing up the
tree-way where the bumper touches the tree. It con-
sists simply of two long strips of sheeting fastened to a
light frame, each one of which is so attached to the
sides of the tree-way that when dropped they form a
roof as at Figure 5. The tree easily separates these two
pieces when the machine is worked. The frame of this
J I machine is quite flat with an upturned rim, but each
[j ,4 I half-circle is so arranged that it can be raised on
hinges.

Dr. M. M. Hooten, of Centralia, Illinois, patented last
summer a machine made very much alter Dr. Hull's plan, but he
has since made several improvements and changes and has made appli-
cation for another patent for the improved machine which I herewith
illustrate from a model with which he has kindly furnished me.

He first constructs a long narrow wheel-barrow with a level and
smooth platform (Fig. 6, a,) made of ^ inch pine or other light mate-
rial, firmly nailed down to two arms (J, 5,} and covering them from
the front end to within twenty inches of the rear end. These rear ends
serve for handles (c, c). The anterior ends, at a point one foot from
the extremity, rest upon the axles of the wheel, which is two feet in
diameter. He then attaches a half circle (d., d) to each outer side of
the forward ends of the arms of the platform. These half circles
are ten inches in diameter, and are so placed as to be about two-
thirds of their width in advance of the platform, which at the for-
ward end is from ten to twelve inches wide. Thus enough room is
left for the tree to be admitted between the flat sides of the half
circles.

There are now to be five or six movable arms {e^ e) placed on
each side of these iron half circles, and a single half-inch bolt (f)
passed through a hole in the inner ends of them, and through the
straight bar next to the tree-way. The arms are now permitted to
rest on the half circles, and are held down to the circle by a hook

THK STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

23

which is attached, to the
lower side of the arm
and curves over the out-
side of, and under, the
circle {g,(j).

These movable arms
are now arranged at
equal distances on the
circles, and fastened with
twine, while the canvas
is being tacked on, be-
ginning first by tacking
it to the sides of the plat-
form of the barrow and.
then to the arms. At the
inner end of each of
these movable arms is
a raised finger (A, 70,
which holds the canvas
lip so as to keep any in-
sects from being thrown
over into the tree-way.
A semi-circular cog-
wheel (^, *), which works
by its centre, is now
placed on the lower end
of the same bolt that
passes through the inner
ends of the movable arms. The forward arm on each side is firm
ly attached to this cog-wheel, which works under the canvas.
When made to revolve backwards or forwards on the bolt, this cog-
wheel carries the outside arm around on the iron half circle, and the
sheet-covered frame is thus easily stretched and opened, as at J, J, or
closed as at /j, h.

This motion is quickly accomplished hj means of a lever (/),
which works on a hinge at the rear of the platform, and which moves
a rod armed on one side at the forward end with cogs (w, w), which
tread in the cogs of the semi-circular cog-wheel before described, to
which it is held by a keeper (n). The handle of the lever lies on the
platform when the machine is folded, and stands upright when it is
extended; so that by a single motion of one hand of the operator, the
machine may be folded into a very small compass, or as quickly ex-
tended. The hinder part of the machine is supported by two swing-
ing legs (o, o). These may swing back to the handles, but cannot go
forward beyond a right angle. The machine is very light, and works
so easily that, according to the inventor, a boy of fourteen years can

24 THIED ANNUAL REPORT OF

easily run one of them. The whole machine does not weigh over
forty pounds.

The above figure represents a back view of the machine, with
one side open and the other closed. The principle advantage of the
machine lies in this folding apparatus, which enables the operator to
defy the wind which on some days renders the original Hull machine
almost useless as it plays powerfully against the stretched canvas.
This feature also enables the owner to store the machine away with
less trouble. I have my doubts, however, whether the advantage
gained sufficiently compensates for the extra machinery. Another
advantage which Mr. Hooton claims for the machine is that it is so
low that it will swing its broad folds under low-headed trees. That
portion of the wheel which rises above the platform is protected by
a circular box, and it is found that every time the canvass is ex-
panded, there is a slight jerk, which casts everything that has fallen
upon it to the centre, where the bugs and fruit consequently remain
until removed. The raised fingers to which the canvas is attached
at the centre, and similarly raised pieces along each side of the tree-
way, prevent the insects and fallen fruit from escaping ; and there is
no receptacle below into which they can be brushed. The machine
is therefore built with the idea that it is as easy to pick up and re-
move the fallen beetles and fruit as it is to brush them into a recep-
tacle below.

In operating the machine it is wheeled up to the tree while
closed, then expanded and drawn back a little so as to give the tree
a jar, and then closed and wheeled away to the next tree. Mr. Hoo-
ton has had a full sized machine in operation, and it seems to give
very good satisfaction. As there is considerable casting needed, the
ordinary fruit-grower will not be able to manufacture it as easily as
he can the Ward machine; but as all these machines will doubtless
be put upon the market the coming season, the reader must choose
for himself which he prefers.

I have been urged to take an interest in two of these machines,
and even to take out a patent for certain improvements suggested ;
but as a public officer I have refused to do either. My object is to
give a disinterested and candid account of what I conceive to be the
merits or demerits of any machine that may appear, in the hope that
ere long we shall have something in the market, so cheap and effi-
cient that no peach-grower will have any excuse for not jarring his
trees.

TWO TRUE PARASITES OF THE PLUM CUKCULIO.

THE SIGALPHUS CtJRCBLIO PARASITE.

Just 10 years ago, in his "Address on the Curculio," delivered at the
annual meeting of the N. Y. State Agricultural Societ}", Dr. Fitch
gave an account, accompanied with a figure, of a small Ichneumon-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

25

fly which he named Sigalphus curouUonis, and which he believed was
[Fig-''] parasitic on the Curculio. Be-
fore that time no parasite had
I XX xy- ever been known to attack
^^y^ \\£l ^^^is pestilent little weevil,
-""■"''^^^^ \ «^' ....*-->. g^j^^ even up to the present
time it is currently believed

>^PF|! ? ^^ ^^""^^^1^^^""^^ ^ that no such parasite exists;
^ l>^=^ l~/r/ll\ft for unfortunately the evidence

given by Dr. Fitch was not suf-^
ficient to satisfy some of our
most eminent entomologists. These parasites were in fact received
by him from Mr. D. W. Beadle of St. Catherines, (J. W., who had bred
them from Black-knot, from which he bred at the same time a certain
number of Curculios ; but as other worms besides those of the Cur-
culio are likewise found in Black-knot, we had no absolute proof that
this fly was parasitic on the insect in question. Consequently we find
that Mr. Walsh, in his Report as Acting State Entomologist of Illi-
nois, rather ridicules the idea of its being a Curculio parasite and en-
deavors to prove that it is parasitic instead on the larva of his Flum
1\Q>Wi{Sema8ia iJrunivora). But I have this year not only proved
that poor Walsh was himself wrong in this particular inference, but
that he was equally wrong in supposing his little Plum-moth, so
called, to be confined to plums; for I have bred it from Galls ( Quer-
Gus frondosa^ Bassett) ; from haws, from crab apples and abundantly
from tame apples.

To be brief. Dr. Fitch's Sigalvliiis is a true parasite on the Plum
Curculio and I have bred hundreds of the flies from Curculio larvee.
The first bred specimens gave me much pleasure, for as soon as I saw
they belonged to the same genus as Dr. Fitch's fly, I felt assured that
another disputed question was settled. But to make assurance
doubly sure, I repeatedly half filled large jars with pure earth, finely
sifted so that no living animal remained in it. Into these jars I placed
Curculio larvce from day to day as they issued from peaches that
were thrown into another vessel, and in due time the parasitic flies
began to issue from the ground along with the perfect Curculios. Nay
more than this, I soon learned to distinguish such Curculio larvae as
were parasitised, and after they had worried themselves under the
ground — seldom more than half an inch — I would uncover them, and
on several occasions had the satisfaction of watching the gnawing-
worm within reduce its victim until finely nothing was left of him.

As soon as the Curculio larva is de-
stroyed by the parasite, the latter
(Fig. 8, a) encloses itself in a tough lit-
tle yellowish cocoon of silk (Fig. 8, S},
then gradually assumes the pupa state
^(Fig. 8, g) and at the end of about the
<^ same length of time that the CurcuUa

[Fig. 8.]

26 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

requires to undergo its transformations and issue as a beetle, this, its
deadly foe, gnaws a hole through its cocoon and issues to the light of
day as a black four- winged fly (Fig. 7, a male ; I female). In the
vicinity of St. Louis, this fly was so common the past season that af-
ter verj' careful estimates, I am satisfied three-fourths of all the more
early developed Curculio larvas were destroyed by it. On the 17th
and 18th of April, in that locality a severe frost killed the peach buds
on all but a few of the young and most vigorous trees of Hale's Early
and Crawford, so that instead of a large and abundant crop of peaches
to depredate on, the little Turk had to concentrate its attacks on the
few peaches that were left: and no one expected that any fruit would
be saved. Yet the work of this little parasite was so effectual that,
wherever fruit set, a fair crop was gathered even by those who made
no effort at all to protect their trees !

"While visiting Dr. Fitch last August, at his house in Salem, N. Y.,
I compared my bred specimens with his species, and found them
identically the same; but a full description of it will be found below,
and it is not necessary at present to dwell upon its characters.

As Mr. Walsh bred this same parasite from the larvae of his little
Plum Moth, it doubtless attacks other soft-bodied larvae and does not
confine itself to the Plum Curculio. This is the more likely as it would
scarcely pass the winter in the fly state. The female, with that won-
derful instinct which is exhibited in such a surpassing degree in the
insect world, knows as well as we great Lords of Creation what the
little crescent mark upon a peach or plum indicates ; and can doubt-
less tell with more surity, though she never received a lesson from
her parents, whether or not a Curculo larva is drilling its way through
the iruit. When she has once ascertained the presence of such a
larva by aid of her antennae — which she deftly applies to different
parts of the fruit, and which doubtless possess some occult and deli-
cate sense of perception, which, with our comparatively dull senses,
we are unable to comprehend — then she i3ierces the fruit, and with
unerring precision, deposits a single egg in her victim, by means of
her ovipositor.

Now there is, as I shall show in the description, a variety (ruAis)
of this parasite, with the ovipositor nearly one-fifth of an inch long,
but in the normal form the ovipositor is only twelve-hundredths of
an inch long, and the Curculio larva must therefore be reached soon
after it hatches, or while yet very young. Consequently we find that
the earliest Curculio larvae, or those which hatch while the fruit is
yet small, are the most subject to be parasitised, and while from larva
obtained early in the season, I bred more parasites than Curculios,
this order of things was reversed a little later in the year. Some
persons will no doubt wonder how such a large fly can be developed
from a Curculio larva which is stung while so young; but we do not
know how long the parasitic egg remains unhatched, and it must be re-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 27

membered that it is a rule, wisely ordained and long known to exist
in insect life, that the parasitic larva does not at first kill outright,
but subsists, without retarding growth, upon the fatty portions of its
victim, until its own growth is attained. Thus the first worm derives
its nourishment from the juicy fruit, and grows on regardless of the
parasite which is consuming its adipose substance, until the latter is
sufficiently developed, and the appointed time arrives for it to de-
stroy its prey by attacking those parts more vital.

This parasite, which I will now proceed to describe, belongs to
the second sub-family (Braconides) of the Ichneumon-flies (Ichneii-
monidce), and the venation of its wings, and 3-jointed abdomen, place
it in the genus Sigalphus. Westwood (Synopsis, p. G3) gives three
cubital panes or areolets in the front wings as characteristic of the
genus ; but Brulle (p. 510) and, as Mr. Cresson informs me, Westmael
in his Braoonides de Belgique^ give only two, which is the number in
our insect.

Sigalphus curculionis, Fitch — Imago — (Fig. 7, a male ; 6 female). Hcod black, sub-polished
and sparsely covered on the face with short whitish hairs ; ocelli touching each other ; labrum
and jaws brown ; palpi pale yellow ; antennte (Fig. 7, c) 27-jointed, filiform, reaching, when turned
back, to middle joint of abdomen or beyond, the bulbus and small second joint rufous and gla-
brous, the rest black or dark brown, though 3-10 in many specimens are more or less tinged with
rufous ; 3-14 very gradually diminishing in size ; 14-27 sub-equal. Thorax black, polished, the
metathorax distinctly and broadly punctate, and the rest more or less distinctly punctate or
rugose, with the sides sparsely pubescent. Abdomen pitchy-black, flattened, the dorsum convex,
the venter concave, and the sides narrow-edged and slightly carinated ; the three joints distinctly
separated and of about equal length ; the first joint having two dorsal longitudinal carinee down
the middle; all densely marked with very fine longitudinally impressed lines, and sparsely pubescent;
(Dr. Fitch in his description published in the Country Gentleman, under date of September, 1859,
states that these lines leave " a smooth stripe along the middle of its second segment and a large
smooth space on the base of the third ;" which is true of a few specimens, but not of the majority,
in which the impressed lines generally cover the whole abdomen.) Ovipositor longer than abdo-
men, but when stretched in a line with it, projecting backwards about the same length beyond ;
rufous, with the sheaths black. Legs pale rufous, with the upper part of hind tibias aud tarsi, and
sometimes the hind femora, dusky. Wings subhyaline and iridescent, the veins pale rufous, and
the stigma black. Length 2j 0.15-0.16 inch, expanse 0.30; (^ differs only in his some-
what smaller size and in lacking the ovipositor. In many specimens the mesothorax and the eyes
are more or less distinctly rufous.

Described from 50 $$, 10 c3^(j', bred June 23d-July 29th, 1870, from larvas of Conotrachelus
nenuphar, and 2 $ § obtained from Dr. Fitch.

Larva (Fig. 8, a) — White, with translucent yellowish mottlings.

Pupa (Fig. 8, c $)— 0.17, inch long; whitish, the members all distinct, the an tennte touch-
ing hind tarsi, the ovipositor curved round behind, reaching and touching with its tip the
third abdominal joint, which afterwards forms the apical joint of imago; five ventral joints,
which in the imago become much absorbed and hidden, being strongly developed.

Cocoon (Fig. c, b) — Composed of one layer of closely woven yellowish silk.

Variety RUFos — Head, thorax and most of first abdominal joint entirely rufous, with the
middle and hind tibiaj dusky, and the ovipositor three times as long as abdomen and projecting
more than twice the length of the same beyond its tip.

Described from three $ 5 bred promiscuously with the others. This variety is slightly
larger and diB"ers so remarkably from the normal form that, were it not for the absolute corres-
pondence in all the sculpturing of the thorax and body, and in the venation of the wings, it might
be considered distinct. The greater length of the ovipositor is very characteristic, and accompa-
nies the other variation in all three of the specimens.

28 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

THE PORIZON CURCUI/IO PARASITE.

The other parsite works in very much the same manner, but

instead of issuing the same summer as a
fly, it remains in its somewhat tougher
and more yellowish cocoon all through
the fall and winter, and does not issue
, in the winged state till the following
^spring. This parasite was first discov-
ered by Dr. Trimble, who sent me the
cocoons from which I subsequently
bred the perfect fly. It belongs to the
first sub-family {Tchneuinonides) of
the Ichneumon-flies, and apparently to the genus Porizon* of which
it forms a new species. It is only necessary here to state that it
diff'ers from the other species in its reddish-brown abdomen, as well as
in form, as may be readily seen by referring to the figures (Fig. 9, a
female; 5 male; c antenna).

PoRizoN CONOTRACHEU, N. Sp.— Hfflfi pitchy-black, opaquGj the ocelli triangularly placed and
close together ; ej'es oval, polished, and black ; face covered with a silvery-white pubescence ;
iabrum rufous, with yellowish hairs ; mandibles and palpi, pale yellowish^brown ; antennas in-
serted in depressions between the eyes, reaching to metathorax when turned back, filiform,
24-jointed; black with basal joints 6-1 becoming more and more rufous, the bulbus always dis-
tinctly rufous ; bulbus rather longer and twice as thick as joint 3 ; joint 2 about one-third as long.
Thorax pitchy-black, opaque, the sides slightly pubescent with whitish hairs, the mesothorax
rounded and bulging anteriorly, the scutellum slightly excavated and sharply defined by a carina
each side ; metathorax with the elevated lines well defined and running parallel and close together
from scutellum to about one-fourth their length, then suddenly diverging and each forking about
the middle. Abdomen glabrous, polished, very slender at base, gradually broader and much com-
pressed from the sides at the apex which is truncated; peduncle uniform in diameter and as long
as joints 2 and 3 together ; joints 2-6 subequal in length ; color rufous with the peduncle wholly,
dorsum of joint 2, a lateral shade on joint 3, and more or less of the two apical joints superiorly,
especially at their anterior edges, black; venter more yellowish: ovipositor about as long as ab-
domen, porrect when in use, curved upwards when at rest, rufous, with the sheaths longer and
black. Legs, including trochanters and cosa3 uniformly pale yellowish-brown with the tips of
tarsi dusky. Wings subhyaline and iridescent, with veins and stigma dark brown, the stigma
quite large, and the two discoidal cells subequal and, as usual in this genua, joining end to end,
but with the upper veins which separate them from the radial cell, slightly elbowed instead of
being straight, thus giving the radial cell a quadrangular rather than a triangular appearance,
(3' diS"ers from $ only in his somewhat smaller size and unarmed abdomen. Expanse J 0-32
inch, length of body, exclusive of ovipositor 0.22; expanse (j* 0.28, length 0.18.

Described from 3 J $j 1 cT bred May 26th-28th, 1870, from cocoons received from Dr. I. P.
Trimble, of New Jersey, and 1 $ subsequently received from the same gentleman — all ob^
taiijed fronj larvBB of Conotrachelus nenuphar,

"But of what use are these parasites?" say you ! Well, they can
not, it is true, be turned to very practical account, because they are
not sufliciently under our control; but it is a source of great satisfac-
tion to those who have been looking for many years for some natural
aid to help them in the artificial warfare waged against the Curculio,

* As I am informed by Mr. E. T. Cresson, of Philadelphia, who pays especial attention to the
classification of the lchneumonid<c, it might more properly be referred to IJolmgre'i's genus Ther-
silochus, which differs from Porizon in the greater distance between the ^ntenoje at base, jind in
the vejiatjon of the iving,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGISl'. 29*

to know that besides its several cannibal foes, there are at last two
true parasites which attack it. Indeed, with the knowledge of the
Cnrculio enemies figured and described two years ago in the Ameri-
can Entomologist^ and of the egg-destroying Thrips which I men-
tioned last year in a paper published in the Illinois State Horticul-
tural Transactions for 1869 (p. 90), and these tAVO parasites, the grower
of our luscious stone-fruits may with good reason begin to hope for
better days, for the prospect brightens. There is no philosophy in
the statement of Mr. W. B. Ransom,* that we can never hope for
assistance from parasites, because, as he confidently expresses it,.
"there are none at present but what have always existed!" Such ar-
gument will do for the believers in the old-school doctrine, that every
thing was created just as we find it; but not for those who rightly
comprehend the Darwinian hypothesis of development, and who
believe that life is slowly undergoing change and modification to-day
just as it ever has since it had an existence on this Earth. For my
own part, nothing has ever appeared more absurd than the direct
creation of something out of nothing, and I would as soon believe
that we all dropped full grown from the clouds — instead of being
brought into the world by natural means and gradually developing
into manhood and womanhood — or that we have the same habits as
our barbarous ancestors had; as to believe that the animal life about
US is now as it was in the beginning! Therefore, though these Curcu-
lio parasites may have existed in this country long ere the white man
first beheld its shores, yet they may only have acquired the habit of
preying upon the Curculio within the last comparatively iew years.
Moreover, much benefit may be derived from their artificial propaga-
tion and dissemination, and — Utopian as the scheme may appear
—I intend next year, Deo votente, to breed enough of the first
mentioned species to send at least a dozen to every county seat in the
State, and have them liberated into some one's peach orchard.

THE APPLE CVRO\] LlO.—AntJwnomus quadrigihhus. Say.

"Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good !"
This injunction of St. Paul applies with just as much force to us
to-day, as it did in centuries past to the Thessalonians. In v/hat has
been said above about the Plum Curculio, we have had abundant op-
portunity of testing the soundness of the old proverb, and in ascer-
taining the history of the Apple Curculio, which I am about to give,
it was very necessary to bear the advice in mind. It often takes years
to undo the assertions of men who are in the habit of talking glibly of

* Prairie Farmer i June 4th, 1870.

30

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

that which they really know nothing about, and I ought to comment
severely on what has been said about this insect; but I refrain from
doing so, in this case, lest it be said that ray words are prompted from
personal considerations.* I shall therefore content myself with a
plain narrative of this insect's habits.

First then, let us explain the differences between the perfect
states of this insect and the Plum Curculio, that any one may distin-
guish between them.

The snout of the Flum Curculio hangs down like the trunk of
an elephant; it is short, stout, and does not admit of being stretched
out horizontally forwards ; and as may be seen by referring to the
figure (Fig. 1, c) is scarcely as long as the head and thorax together,
and can be folded back between the legs, where there is a groove to
receive it. The Plum Curculio is broadest across the shoulders and
narrows behind, and moreover, the black sealing-wax-like, knife-edged
elevations on the back, with the pale band behind them, characterize
it at once from all our other fruit boring snout-beetles.

The Apple, or Four-humped Curculio
(Fig. 10, (2, natural size; h, side view; c,
back view,) is a smaller insect with a snout
which sticks out more or less horizontally
and can not be folded under, and which in
the male is about half as long, and in the
female is fully as long as the whole body.
This insect has narrow shoulders and broad-
ens behind, where it is furnished with four
very conspicuous humps, from which it takes its name. It has nei-
ther the polished black elevations nor the pale band of the Plum Cur-
culio. In short, it differs generically, and never attacks stone fruit.

The size varies from l-20th to nearly l-12th of an inch, but the col-
ors are quite uniform, the body being ferruginous or rusty-brown
often with the thorax and anterior third of the wing-covers ash-gray
—the thorax having three more or less distinct pale lines.

ITS NATURAL HISTORY.

This beetle like the Plum-weevil is a native American insect, and
has from time immemorial fed on, and bred in, our wild crabs. It is
also commonly met with on the Thorn, and Mr. Wm. Saunders, of
London, C.W., tells me that though abundant on the last named tree, i t
has not yet learned to attack the apple in his locality. It eventually
learned to like our cultivated apples and pears, and is also found on
quinces. At present it does considerable damage to the crop in some
localities, though it yet prefers the wild to the cultivated fruit. Like

«My views on this subject, with comments on whiit has been said about this insect, may be
found in a controversy, in articles published in the American Entomologist and Botanist, Vol. 11,
pp. '225-7 and 268-7J ; the Prairie Farmer, Ju]y 16th, 2:id and Aug. 27th, 1870; and the Journal of
Agriculture, Oct. 13th, and Nov. 10th and 17th, 1870.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

31

the Plum-weevil also, it is single-brooded, and winters over in the
beetle state, though I was led to believe differently a year ago. With
its long thin snout it drills holes into the fruit, much resembling the
puncture of a hot needle, the hole being round, with a more or less
intense black annulation. and an ash-gray centre. Those holes made
for food are about one-tenth of an inch deep and generally scooped
out broadly at the bottom in the shape of a gourd. Those which the
female makes for her eggs are scooped out still more broadly and the
eg^ at the bottom is often found larger than the puncture at the orifice
— thus indicating that it swells from absorption, by a sort of endos-
mosis, of nutritive fluid from the surrounding fruit, just as the eggs of
many saw-flies and of some other snout-beetles are known to do.

The egg is fully 0.04 of an inch long, nearly oval, not quite three
times as long as wide, and of a yellowish color, with one end dark
and empty when the embryo larva is well formed. The egg-shell is
so very fine that the larva seems to gradually develop from it
instead of crawling out of it ; and by taking a matured egg and gently
rolling it between the thumb and finger, the young larva presents
itself, and at this early age its two little light brown mandibles show
distinctly on the head. As soon as this larva hatches it generally
goes right to the heart of the fruit and it feeds there around the core,
producing much rust-red excrement, and acquiring a tint of the same
color. It feeds for nearly a month, and when full grown presents the
appearance of Figure 11, h.

It differs so remarkably from that of
the Plum Curculio that the two insects
can be distinguished at a glance even in
this masked form. It is softer, the chi-
tinous covering being thinner and much
whiter. It cannot stretch straight and
travel fast as can that of the Plum Cur-
culio, but curls round with an arched
back, joints 4-7 being larger than the preceding. It is more crink-
led, each joint being divided into three principal folds much as in the
common White Grub. The space between the folds is frequently blu-
ish-black, and there is a very distinct, continuous, vascular, dorsal
line of a bluish color. It has no bristles like nenuphar except a few
weak ones on the first joint, arising from some ventral tubercles
which remind one of feet. The head is yellowish-brown with the
jaws somewhat darker, and the breathing pores, except that in the fold
of the first joint, are not easily seen.

[Fi

IT TRANSFORMS IN THE FRUIT.

The fruit of the wild crab containing this larva never falls, and
the fruit of our cultivated apples seldom ; and in this respect the
efi"ect of its work differs remarkably from that of the Plum Curculio,

53 xaiRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

or even of the Codling Moth. Why such is the case it would be diffl-
cult to explain ! It is one of those incomprehensible facts which at
every turn confront the student of Nature's works. We might with
-equal reason ask why it is that of the two stone fruits, the plum and
the cherry, the larger falls and perishes and the smaller hangs on and
lives, when infested with the Plum Curculio; and of the two poma-
ceous fruits, the apple and the haw, the larger likewise falls and
perishes and the smaller hangs on and lives, when infested with sim-
ilar larvte? Most persons would naturally infer that the larger in-
stead of the smaller fruits would best resist the injurious gnawings of
the worm within ; and though we may explain away the paradox by
supposing that the longer stem of the smaller fruits prevents the in-
jury from reaching its juncture with the branch, so readily as it does
through the shorter stem of the larger fruits; or that the greater
weight of the larger fruit causes it to fall so readily ; yet this is only
assuming, and I doubt whether the vegetable pathologist will ever be
■able to show the peculiarities of the fruits which cause the different
effects.

The larva of the Apple Curculio has no legs and is so hump^
backed that it cannot stretch out, and would cut a very sorry figure
in attempting to descend the tree. Therefore, as the fruit containing
it mostly hangs on the tree, the insect is effectually imprisoned. But
Nature's ways are always ways of wisdom and her resources are inex-
haustible ! Consequently we find that instead of having to go under
ground to transform, as does the Plum Curculio, the normal habit of
our Apple Curculio is to transform within the fruit. The larva, after
becoming full fed, settles down in a neat cavity, and soon throws off
its skin and assumes the papa state, when it appears as at Figure 11,
a. After remaining in this state from two to three weeks it under-
goes another moult and the perfect beetle state is assumed. We thus
see that the Apple Curculio is cradled in the fruit in which it was
born till it is a perfect beetle, fully fledged, and ready to carry out
the different functions and objects of its life. In other words, itnever
leaves the fruit, after hatching, till it has become a perfect beetle.
This fact I have fully tested by breeding a number myself both from
infested crabs which I collected, and from cultivated apples, also in-
fested, that were kindly forwarded to me by Mr. J. B. Miller, of Anna,
Illinois. I learn also from Mr. George Parmelee of Old Mission,
Michigan, that he has satisfied himself of the same trait in the natural
history of this insect, and I fully convinced myself that such was the
normal habit, by repeatedly removing the full grown larva from the
fruit and placing it on the surface of the ground, when, in every in-
stance, it would make no attempt to bury itself, but would always
transform on the surface.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 33

TUE AMOUNT OF DAMAGE IT DOES.

Tlie observations that I have been able to make on this insect's
work in our cultivated orchards are limited, but I think that it attaclvs
vrith equal relish both summer and winter apples. Whenever a beetle
has ijerfected in the fruit, it cuts quite a large hole for its escape, and
these holes are sufficiently characteristic to enable one who has paid
attention to the matter to tell with tolerable certainty whether an
apple has been infested with Apple-worm, Plum Curculio, or Apple
Curculio — even after the depredator has left.

In the southern portion of Illinois and in some parts of Missouri
this insect is very abundant and does much damage to the apple crop ;
it occurs in greater or less numbers in most States of the Union, but
in other localities again its work is scarcely ever seen, and I am satis-
fied that the damage it does has been much overrated. We can only
judge of the future by the past, and though we may expect this insect
to increase somewhat with the increase of our orchards, it is folly to
suppose that it can go on increasing in geometrical ratio ; and the pretty
mathematical calculations which are intended to alarm the cultivator
at the gloomy prospects of the future, are never made by those who
understand the complicated net- work in which every animal organism
is entangled, or who rightly understand the numerous influences at
work to keep each species within due bounds. Such figures look well
on paper, but, like air-castles, there is nothing real about them.

Our apples suffer much more, in many localities, from the goug-
ings of the perfect beetle and the burrowings of the larva of the Plum
Curculio, than they do from the work of this Apple Curculio ; and
this was so much the case in my own locality the past summer, that
I found a dozen larvae of the former in apples, where I found one of
the latter.

At the late meeting of the Illinois State Horticultural Society,
Mr. K Daggy, of Tuscola, Illinois, had on exhibition some pears that
were very much deformed and gnarled. This injury had been caused
by the Apple Curculio, which Mr. Daggy recognized from figures and
specimens which I had with me. Upon examining the pears I found
a little dark circular spot which indicated distinctly where the snout
of the beetle had been inserted. This spot was the center of a hard
and irregular but generally rounded knot or swelling, which was sunk
in a depression of the softer parts of the pear, thus indicating that
the growth, by some property of the puncture, was checked and
hardened, while the other parts went on growing and swelling. Some
of the fruit was so badly disfigured that it could no longer be recog-
nized, and Mr. Daggy informed me that his Vicar of Winkfield, Berga-
mott and "Sugar" pears were most affected in this way, and that his
Duchesse pears were unblemished.

While the fruit is growing these punctures, in almost every in
stance, cause just such calloused spots and deformities as those des
s E— 3

34 THraD' ANKUAL REPORT OF

crifced above, "bnt when ike fruit is ripe they have a far more perni-
cious effect, for they generally cause the fruit to rot. It is now a well
established fact that the common Plum Ourculio causes the dreaded
rot in peaches, plums, etc., to spread at a fearful rate by the punctures
and gougings which it makes on the ripening fruit; and that where
this predisposing influence is guarded against, such rot is generally
confined to comparative narrow limits or does not occur at all. Many
varieties of apples are disposed to rot in a similar manner, and to fall
from the tree just as they are ripening. This rot in apples, as may be
seen from the transactions of our State Horticultural S^ociety, was
very prevalent last fall — the Kawles Janet being especially predis-
posed to it — and there can be no doubt but that the punctures and
gnawings of the little Turk, combined with those of the Apple Cur-
culio are likewise the pricipal agents in producing it; for I have over
and over again noticed the rot to spread in a circle from thes« punc-
tures, not only on hanging fruit but just as invariably upon fruit
punctured after it was plucked. Whether we believe that the fungus
growths, often noticeable on such rotting fruit, are the direct result of
the punctures, or that the latter only act indirectly by furnishing a
proper nidus for the infectious fungus-spores which are supposed tO'
be ever floating in the atmosphere, is a question which I shall not
mow stop to consider, though I have my own views which are some-
■wliat^feterodox. In either case, the Curculios are just as much to
blame, and this should be an additional incentive to a general war^
if^re .upon them. Judge A. M. Brown, of Villa Ridge, has noticed that
■some varieties of apples are mucli more subject to rot and also more
.subject to the attacks of Curculios than others,* and it is to be hoped
that he will make further observations and give us a reliable list of
such varieties, and that other fruit-growers will do the same.

THE SEASON OF THE YEAR DURING WHICH IT WORKS.

The beetles come from their winter quarters and begin to work on
lithe fruit at about the same time as does the Plum Curculio — if any-
thing, a little later. They have generally got fully to work, and larvae
may be found already hatched by the first of June, and they may be
found in the fruit, in one stage or another, all along through the
;months of June and July and the greater part of August.

JIEMEDIES AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES.

Notwithstanding we have had reports, published in the columns of
. our agricultural papers, of the relative number of Apple and Plum Cur-
culios captured from peach trees by jarring with the Curculio-catch-
er, I am fully convinced that such reports were not based on facts, and
that we may never expect to subdue this insect by the jarring pro-
cess. It is not as timid or. as much inclined to drop as the Plum Cur-

ii-prairie Farmer, January 28, 1871.^

THE STATE ENT0M0L00I6T. rg6

ciilio, and though it can occasional!}- be brought clown, it generally
remains defiantly on the fruit or on the bough, through the gentles^t
as well as the severest jarring of the tree. Indeed, its habit of trans-
forming in the fruit, places it in a great measure beyond our control,
and I fear that this is one of the few insects with which we cm\ do
but little by artificial means. But we have only just commenced to
understand this foe, and there is much yet to learn about it. I sin-
cerely hope that the few facts which have been here given, will in-
crease the reader's interest in this insect and enable him to carry on fu-
ture observations and experiments with a better understanding; so
that they will at last result in making us masters of this rather difficult
situation. Mr. H. Lewelling, of High Hill, Montgomery county. Mis
souri, who has had much of his fruit injured by this insect, informs me
that Tallman's Sweet is preferred by it to all other varieties, and our
observations should, as much as possible, tend in the direction of de-
ciding which varieties are most subject to, and which most exempt
from its attacks; and which varieties fall most readily when infested
by it. For it is obvious that with our present knowledge, the onl}^
real remedy which yet exists, is the destruction of the infested fruit,
whether upon or off the tree; and it may turn out that although we
cannot jar down the beetles, we can jar down much of the infested
fruit, which w^ould, without jarring, remain on the trees.

Anthonomus quadrigibbus, Say — Larva (Fig. 11, 6) — Average dorsal length wbeai full grown
0.45 inch; soft and ■white, with a very few sparse soft hairs ; arched and wrinkled Lamellicorn-
fashion, the space between the wrinkles, and a distinct dorsal vascular line, bluish-black. Head
free and almost perpendicular, yellowish-brown with the mandibles darker. A pair of polished
ventral tubercles on each of the three thoracic joints, and each bearing a distinct bristle.

Pupa (Fig. 11, c) — Average length 0.40 inch. Whitish, the snout of $ reaching beyond
tip of wing-cases, that of ^5* not much beyond the elbow of middle femora and tibia}. Thorax
wilh a few short stiff hairs springing from slight conical elevations. Wing-cases showing the
striffi and humps of future beetle, the tip of the upper case usually terminating in a thorn. The
nine abdominal joints deeply and distinctly separated, the first showing a rounded scuttellar tur-
bercle ; the sides angular, conically ridged and armed on each joint with two brown thorns or
bristles, which become stouter towards apex ; a transverse dorsal row of about eight similar bris-
tles on the posterior sub-margin of each joint, also becoming larger towards apex: Terminal sub-
■segment ending in one stout, slightly curved, thorn.

THE QUINCE CURCVLIO—Conoirachelus craicBffi, Wsihh.

HOW IT DIFFERS FROM THE OTHERS.

This insect has been called the Quince Curculio by Dr. Trimble,
and though it breeds in other fruits, the name is a good one as it "will
enable us to distinguish it at once from our other fruit snout-beetles.
I have had the beetle in my cabinet for several years, but knew noth-
ing of its larval history till a year ago last falL It breeds very abund-
antly in our common haws, and I raised a number of them the pres-

85 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

ent season from the fruit of the Pear or Black Thorn ( Cratoegus to-
mentosa) obtained from Mr. Walsh.

Though belonging to the same genus as our
'Plum Curculio, and having ver}" much the same
form; as may be seen by referring to the figure,
(Fig. 12, a side view ; h back view), yet it differs
remarkably in its habits from both of the preced-
,ing weevils. It is, like them, an indigenous spe-
cies, and its original fruit was evidently the wild
Haw, which in the West it yet seems to prefer to
the cultivated fruits. But in the East it has become very injurious
to the Quince and, as we might naturally expect, also attacks the
Pear, and especially the Lawrence and other late varieties. In Sep-
tember, 1868, 1 received specimens from W. W. Sweet, of Highstown,
W. J., with the statement that they were found on pears, and Dr.
Trimble at a late meeting of the New York Farmers' Club (Oct. 22,
1870), gave the following account of its injuries in New Jersey the
present year:

"Yesterday five or six hundred were taken from the bottoms ot
two barrels of quinces, although those quinces had only been gath-
ered four days before. A friend of mine has a quince orchard of 286
trees. These trees this season should average seventy or eighty
quinces to a tree, making more than twenty thousand. Upon a most
careful search I was unable to find one specimen perfect, or clear of
one or more blemishes caused by the punctures of this insect. Fre-
quently four, five, or six grubs will be found in a single quince. Mr.
Goldsmith, the owner, keeps this orchard in first-rate order; he has
faithfully kept out the borers, so fatal to the quince trees; has fertil-
ized very freely, and the cultivation is perfect. He told me yester-
day, that his crop this year is thirty barrels, which will yield him
about §!125. Had this insect let him alone he should have had at least
100 barrels, worth .f800 to $1,000. Many of his later pears, including
the Seckel and Lawrence, have suff'ered greatly, though not to the
same extent as his quinces. A few days ago he emptied a barrel of
cullings, chiefly Lawrence pears, and in and near the bottom of that
barrel were found at least 4C0 of these grubs. A month ago I visited
the orchards attached to one of the best nurseries in Pennsylvania,
and I found the sad evidence of the presence of this enemy. Even
the Seckel pears, though very abundant, were almost worthless;
later varieties still worse. Mr. Fuller tells me that he has seen this
season, in Western New York, the same condition of fruit at a well
known nursery, even the Duchesse pears almost totally destroyed.
This fruit enemy seems yet confined to localities; but is spreading
rapidly."

This beetle was first very briefly described by Mr. Walsh in a note
in the Prarie Farmer for July 18th, 1863, p. 37, from specimens found
by him on the hawthorn, but until I bred it this spring, nothing was
known of its larval history. It is a somewhat larger insect than the
Plum Curculio, has a comparatively longer snout, and is very broad-
shouldered; thus tapering just the opposite way to the Apple Curcu-

OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 37

lie. Its general color is a tolerably uniform ash-gray, mottled more
or less with ochre-yellow, dusky and whitish, and it has a dusky
somewhat triangular spot at the base of the thorax above, and seven
distinct narrow longitudinal elevations on the wing-covers, with two
rows of punctures between each.

This beetle differs farther from the others, in the fact that it does
not appear, even in tlie latitude of St. Louis, till about the first of
June, and I have had its larvae of the previous year in the ground in
May, when the newly hatched larvne of the Plum Curculio were
already working destruction in the fruit. In some of the more north-
ern States it would not appear till the middle of July.

ITS TRANSFORMATIONS AND HABITS.

This snout-beetle does not make a crescent like the Plum Cur-
culio; but, like the Apple Curculio, makes a direct puncture for the
reception of its egg, the hole being somewhat larger than that of the
latter, and the bottom of the cavity similarly enlarged and gnawed,
so as to form a neat bed for the egg. The egg is very similar to that
of the Plum Curculio, and hatches in a few days after being depos-
ited. In all probability it also swells and enlarges somewhat before
hatching. The larva works for the most part near the surface of the
fruit, and does not enter to the heart. It is of the general form of
that of the Plum Curculio, and differs principally in being somewhat
larger, more opaque-white, and in having a narrow dusky dorsal line
and a distinct lateral tubercle on each joint. When full grown, which
is in a month or more from the time of hatching, it leaves the fruit
through a smooth cylindrical hole and burrows two or three inches
into the ground. Here, singularly enough, it remains all through the
fall, winter and spring months without changing — no matter whether
it left the fruit as early as the first of August or as late as the first of
October. This is the peculiar feature of the insect, namely, that it
invariably passes the winter in the larva state, and does not even
assume the pupa state till the fore part of May, or a few days before
issuing as a beetle. In this respect it resembles the nut-weevils
which^infest our hickory-nuts, hazel-nuts and acorns. In higher lat-
itudes than that of St. Louis, there is evidence that some of the late
hatched larvae do not leave the haws they infest till frost overtakes
them, but pass the winter within the fruit as it lies on the frozen
ground. The pupa differs only from that of the Plum Curculio in the
greater length of the proboscis.

I have already referred to the fact that Dr. Fitch supposed the
Plum Curculio to be two-brooded, and those who have read his "Ad-
dress" on this insect will readily perceive that he based his opinion
on finding what he took to be its larvae in the tender bark of a pear
twig late in the fall, and on finding what he similarly mistook for
such larvae in haws in winter. Of course, we know positively now

3'8 THIKD ANNUAL REPORT OF

that the Plum Curculio does not so breed in pear twigs, and it is very-
evident that what Dr. Fitch took to be Plum Curculio larvae in such a
twig, were the young of some other insect, or perhaps even the eggs
of some leaf-hopper {Tettigonia), which are generally placed in the
position described by him. But, though this first error of Dr. Fitch's
has been explained away, the second never has till now, when we may
assume, with great reason, that the larva3 which misled the Doctor,
and w;hich were found in haws in winter time, were in reality the
larvas of our Quince Curculio. How easily are fallacies exploded,
and errors corrected, even years after they are committed, hj a few
well tested facts !

The two former Curculios which we have been considering have
a beetle existence of between nine and ten months, during most of
which time, or as long as the weather is sufficiently mild, they feed in
the manner described. The present species has a beetle existence of
not more than two months, and as though aware of the short term
allotted to it for enjoyment, it endeavors to make the best use of its
time. Consequently we find it more ravenous than either of the
other species, and it is really astonishing how much this insect eats.
It excavates immense holes for food, often burying itself in them com-
pletely, and I have known apples furnished to these beetles in con-
finement, to have their substances so completely devoured that noth-
ing but the rind was left. Two years ago last fall there was scarcely
a quince that came into the St. Louis market that was not marred by
numbers of large gougings, and though I was then inclined to attrib-
ute such holes to the gnawings of grasshoppers, I feel pretty well
convinced at present that the work might with more justice have
been attributed to this Quince Curculio.

The question will naturally arise, since this insect breeds in the
Haw, the Qaince and the Pear, whether it will also breed in the
closely allied Apple ? So far as my experiments go, they indicate
clearly that it Avill not; tor although the beetle will eat and greatly
disfigure apples, when no other nourishment is athand.yeta number
which I confined to a large branch of an apple tree on the 14th of
June last, absolutely refused to deposit eggs, and died three weeks
afterwards.

REMEDIES.

Very fortunately this insect drops as readily when alarmed as
does the Plum Curculio, and the jarring process will be found just as
effectual in catching it, with the additional advantage that the jar-
ring need only be carried on for about ten weeks of the year, namely,
from about the first of June to the middle of August in this latitude.
Moreover, in accordance with its late appearance, we find that,
according to Dr. Trimble, whenever it attacks pears, it prefers the
late ripening varieties. Again, it is, like the Plum Curculio, nocturnal

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. ^9'

in its habits, and secretive during the day, so that the Ransom pro-
cess will undoubtedly prove effectual with it, if used at the right
season. All fruit that falls should be destroyed, and as we know that
the larva hibernates in the ground, many of them will be injured and
destroyed by late stirring of the soil.

CoNOTUACHELUs ccAT,EGi, Walsh — Larva — Average length when fuU grown 0.32 inch; 4J times
as long as wide, and straight. Oi)aque whitish, with a narrow dusky dorsal line, generally obso-
lete on thorax, and a few very short hairs. Distinct lateral tubercles on allthe joints. Head
rufous with mandibles black, except at base, and distinctly two-toothed at tip.

Pupa — Average length 0.28 inch. Snout reaching a little beyond elbow of middle tibia; and
tarsi, with two stout rufous thorns near the origin of antennte, two more at base and sometimes
others more toward the tip. Head and thorax also armed with such thorns, and also two to each
■elbow of the femora and tibiae "Wing casee with rows of short rufous bristles along the elevations
between the stria;. Abdomen cylindrical, the basal joint with u central scutellar bristleless
tubercle and two others, one each side of it, each bearing a bristle ; the other joints conically
tubercled, laterally, each tubercle bearing a stout bristle, and each joint bearing dorsally about four
other bristles on its posterior sub-margin. Terminal sub-segment squareljf cut off and bearing two
£.tout inwardly-curved brown thorns.

THE PLUM GOUGEK— AHtho7ioniuspmnicida, Walsh.

ITS CHARACTER, DISTRIBUTION, AND FOOD,

This name was given by Mr. Walsh to another indigenous weevil
-which is represented enlarged in the accompanying illustration (Fig.
[Pig'. 1.3.] ][3j. It is easily distinguished from either of the pre-

ceding weevilS; by its ochre-j'^ellow thorax and legs,
and its darker wing-covers, which are dun-colored,
or brown with a leaden-gray tint, and have no
humps at all. Its snout is not much longer than the
thorax, but as in the Apple Curculio, projects for-
wards, or downwards but cannot be bent under as
in the Plum Curculio. This insect was first described in the Prairie
Farmer for June 13th, 1863, and the description was afterwards repub-
lished in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History for
February, 1864.

Mr. Walsh gave such a good account of it in his report as Acting
State Entomologist of Illinois, that it is unnecessary for me to go into
detail, and I will therefore only briefly allude to those traits in its his-
tory which are well established.

The Plum Gouger seems to be unknown in the Eastern States, or
at least is not common there ; but it is very generally distributed
throughout the Yalley of the Mississippi. As a rule it is much less
common and does much less injury than the little Turk, though in
some few districts it is found equally abundant, and I received speci-
mens on the first of June last, from my esteemed correspondent Mr.

40 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

Huron Burt, of Williamsburg, Callaway county, Mo., with the state-
ment that it was doing great damage to the plums in that locality,
though the little Turk was scarcely met with. There is a plum known
there as "Missouri Nonsuch" which, though said to be Curculio proof,
is worked upon verj'- badly by the Gouger.

The Plum Gouger is often found on wild crab trees, and may, like
the Plum Curculio, occasionally deposit and breed in pip fruit; but
it is partial to smooth-skinned stone-fruit such as prunes, plums, and
nectarines, and it does not even seem to relish the rough skinned
peach.

OriEN MISTAKEN FOR THE PLUM CURCULIO.

It has often been confounded with the Plum Curculio, and was
once supposed by my friend L. C. Francis, of Springfield, Ills., to be
the male of that species. We all have a right to suppose what we
please, and as long as our suppositions are not thrust on the public
for ascertained facts, they can do no possible harm. But Mr. J. P.
Williamson, of Des Moines county, Iowa, is not satisfied with suppos-
ing this or some other straight-snouted weevil, to be the female of the
Plum Curculio, but, in a last summer's issue of the Prairie Farmer^
not only emphatically speaks of it as such, but, finding that these
supposed females frequent the trees two weeks earlier than the males,
(?) he concludes for some unexplained reason, that the sole object of
visiting the fruit is for the deposition of eggs ; and straightway hatches
the theory that the Flum Curculio can do no harm till the males ap-
pear! Consequently, instead of jarring our trees as long as fruit re-
mains on them, we are informed by Mr. Williamson that it is only
necessary to jar them about six weeks.

And thus it always is with men who do not sufficiently understand
the absolute importance of care and caution in reading Nature's
secrets: from supposition to assumption ; from assumption to theory;
from theory to advice, which — it is unnecessary here to say — is of a
most pernicious character.

ITS TIME OP APPEARANCE.

This beetle appears in the spring about the same time as the Plum
Curculio, but as no eggs are deposited after the stone of the fruit
becomes hard, and as its larva requires a longer period to mature
than that of the latter, its time of depositing is shorter, and the old
beetles generally die off and disappear before the new ones eat their
way out of the fruit, which they do during August, September, and
October, according to the latitude.

ITS NATURAL HISTORY.

Though we have no absolute proof of the fact, analogy would
lead us to believe, and in my own mind there is no doubt, that this

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 41

insect passes the winter in the beetle state, and that it is, like the
other species, single-brooded. Both sexes bore cylindrical holes in
the fruit for food, and these holes are of the exact diameter of the
snout, and consequently somewhat larger than those of the Apple
Curculio. These holes are broadened at the bottom, or gouged out
in the shape of a gourd; and especially is this the case with those in-
tended by the female for the reception of an egg. The egg., in this
case also, enlarges from endosmosis, and it is probable that all wee-
vils that make a puncture for the reception of their eggs, gnaw and
enlarge the bottom, not only to give the egg room to swell, but to
deaden the surrounding fruit, and prevent its crushing such egg — the
same object being attained by the deadened flap made by the cres-
cent of the little Turk. Wherever this insect abounds, plums will be
found covered with its holes, the great majority of them, however,
made for feeding purposes. The gum exudes from each puncture, and
the fruit either drops or becomes knotty and worthless.

The young larva which hatches from the egg, instead of rioting in
the flesh of the plum, or remaining around the outside of the kernel,
makes an almost straight course for that kernel, through the yet soft
shell of which it penetrates. Here it remains until it has become full-
fed, when by a wise instinct it. cuts a round hole through the now
hard stone, and retires inside again to change to the pupa and finally
to the beetle state. When once the several parts of the beetle are
sufiiciently hard and strong, it ventures through the hole which it
had already providently prepared for exit with its stronger larval
jaws, and then easily bores its way through the flesh and escapes.

It must not be forgotten that, while the kernel of the fruit is yet
soft, the larva of the little Turk often penetrates and devours it ; but
in this case the soft stone is more or less reduced to reddish powder,
whereas the larva of the Plum Gouger enters the stone and feeds on
the inside while the outside hardens. The normal habit of the for-
mer is to feed on the outside ; that of the latter on the inside of the
stone.

KEMEDIES.

This Plum Gouger is about as hard to deal with as the Apple
Curculio. It drops almost as reluctantly and we therefore cannot do
much by the jarring process to diminish its numbers. Moreover it
takes wing much more readily than the other weevils we have men-
tioned ; and though fruit that is badly punctured for food, often falls
prematurely to the ground, yet, according to Mr. Walsh, that infested
with the larva generally hangs on the tree until the stone is hard and
premature ripening sets in. In all probability the stunted and pre-
maturely ripened fruit containing this insect will jar down much more
readily than the healthy fruit, but I have so far had no opportunity of
making any practical observations myself, and must conclude by

42 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

hoping that our plum-growing members will make the proper experi-
ments and give us the results.

THE STEAWBERRr GnO^YN■BOREU.—A7lalcis fragarice N. sp.

This is another indigenous insect, which seems to be confined to
our Mississippi Valley, lor I have heard no complaints in any of the
^^'s- 14-] Atlantic States, of injuries that

could be attributed to this weevil.
In the Maine JF'armer for July 25th,
1S67, we find a brief reference,
made by Mr. G.E. Brackett of Bel-
fast, Me., in answer to a certain
"E. B.," of a "worm that eats into
the crown of the plant and kills
it." The worm referred to was, in all probability, the Crown-borer
under consideration, but as no postofiice address of the questioner is
given, the paragraph might just as well never have been written, for
any light that it throws on the distribution of the insect. However,
no such insect has ever been mentioned by our Eastern writers on
the Strawberry, and w^e must necessarily conclude that it does not
exist in the Atlantic States.

This insect has done considerable damage to the strawberry crop
in the southern portion of Illinois, especially along the line
of the Illinois Central Railroad ; and I have seen evidence of its
work in St. Louis county, Mo. At the meeting of the Southern Illi-
nois Fruit Growers' Association, held at South Pass, in November,
1867, several complaints were made by parties from Anna and Makan-
da, of a white worm which worked in the roots of their strawberries
and in 1868, the greater portion of the plants of a ten-acre field at
Anna, belonging to Mr. Parker Earle, was destroyed by it.

In the fall of 1869 I had some correspondence with Mr. Walsh on
this insect, and learned that he had succeeded in breeding it to the
perfect state ; and had it not been for his untimely death, its history
would no doubt have been published a year ago. Through the kindness
of Jos. M. Wilson, of Sterling, Whiteside county, and of J. B. Miller,
of Anna, Union county. Ills., I received during the past year speci-
mens of the larvae, from which I succeeded in rearing the perfect
beetle. It is therefore by the aid of these gentlemen, and especially
from the experience of Mr. Miller, that I am enabled to give the
above illustrations (Fig. 14) of the Strawberry Crown-borer, and the
following necessarily imperfect account of its mode of working. I
give them in the hope that they will prompt further investigation, and
serve as a clue to enable others who have opportunit}', to in-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 43-

crease our knowledge of this pest; for there is much yet to learn of
its habits, and consequently of the best means of iighting it.

From the middle of June to the middle of July in Southern Illi-
nois, and later further north, the larva hatches from an egg which, in
all probability, is deposited in the crown of the plant, and it imme-
diately commences to bore its way downwards, into the pith. Here
it remains till it has acquired its full size, working in the thick bul-
bous root and often eating through the more woody portions; so that
when frost sets in, the plant easily breaks off and is heaved out of the
ground. When full grown it presents the appearance of Figure 14, «5,
being a white grub with arched back and tawny-yellow head, and
measuring about one-fifth of an inch when stretched out. It under-
goes its transformations to the pupa and perfect beetle states within
the root, and the latter makes its appearance above ground during the
month of August.

The beetle (Fig. 14, h side view; g back view) is about l-6th of an
inch in length, of a chestnut-brown color, and marked and punctured
as in the figure.

From analogy we may infer that the beetle feeds on the leaves of
the strawberry, for it is a very general rule with snout-beetles, that
the perfect insects feed on the leaves of such plants as they infest in
the larva state. But whether it lives on through the winter as a
beetle and does not commence depositing eggs again till the follow-
ing June; or whether it is double-brooded and produces a second lot
of larvos which pass the winter in the roots, are questions which are
not yet decided; and until we get a more comprehensive knowledge
of this insect's ways and doings, we shall be in a measure powerless
before it. From all the facts that can be obtained, the first hyiDothesis
is the correct one, and in that event we can, in an emergency, easily
get rid of this pest by plowing up and destroying the plants soon
after they have done bearing, or sa}^ about the latter part of June in
the latitude of St. Louis. By doing this the whole brood of borers
will perish with the plants. Most strawberry-growers renew
their plants, in some way or another, about every three years, and
where this insect abounds, it will be best subdued hy destroying the
Avhole bed at the time already suggested and afterwards planting a
new one; rather than by annually thinning out the old and leaving
the new plants in the same bed. Here we have an elFectual means of
extirpating the little pest, if, as I believe, the first hypothesis is the
correct one ; but if the second hypothesis be correct — i. e.,if the insect
be double-brooded — then it will avail nothing to carry out the above
suggestions, and we thus see how important it is to thoroughly under-
stand an insect's habits in order to properly cope with it. Though we
may occasionally hit upon some plan of remedying or of preventing an
insect's injuries without knowing its habits, yet as a general rule we
but grope in the dark until we have learned its natural history!

According to Mr. Miller, all plants infested with this larva are

44 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

sure to perish, and he has also noticed that old beds are more apt to
be injured by it than new ones.

In one of the roots received from him, I found a parasitic cocoon,
so that there is every reason to believe that, as is so very generally
the case with insects, this noxious species has at least one natural
enemy which will aid us in keeping it in dae bounds. Indeed, Mr.
Miller so often found this parasitic cocoon, that he at first surmised
that the Crown-borer spun it. But no snout-beetle larvfp spin cocoons.

This Crown-borer must not be confounded with another white
worm of about the same size which lives in the ground and subsists
on the roots by devouring them from the outside. This last may
always be distinguished by having six distinct legs near the head, and
its habits are quite different. It occurs earlier in the season, and, as
I have proved the past summer, is the larva of the little clay-yellow
beetle, known as the Grape-vine Colaspis {Colaspis Havida, Say).
A full account of this last insect, with illustrations, will be given in a
later portion of this Keport.

The Crown-borer belongs to the genus Analcis which is distingu-
ished by its sub-cylindrical oblong-oval body, its short robust snout
which fits into a deep grove, its 10-jointed antennae, and its simple or
unarmed thighs. As it is a new species I subjoin a description of it
for the scientific reader : —

Analcis fragari.e, N. Sp. — Imago, (Fig 14, b, c) — Color depp chestnut-brown, sub-polished,
the elytra somewhat lighter. Head and rostrum dark, finely and densely punctate and with short
coarse fulvous hairs, longest at tip of rostrum ; antennse rather lighter towards base, 10-jointed,
the scape much thickened at apex, join 2 longest and robust, 3 moderately long, 4-7 short, 8-10
connate and forming a stout club. Thorax dark, cylindrical, slightly swollen across the middle
and uniformly covered with large thimble-like punctures, and with a few short coarse fulvous hairs,
unusually arranged in three more or less distinct longitudinal lines ; pectoral groove ending
between front legs. Abdomen with small remote punctures and hairs, which are denser towards
apex. Legs of equal stoutness, and with shallow dilated punctures and uniform very short hairs.
Elytra more yellowish-brown, dilated at the lower sides anteriorly, and with about 9 deeply-
punctured striaj, the striaj themselves sometimes obsolete ; more or less covered with coarse and
short pale yellovr hairs which form by their greater density, three more or less conspicuous trans-
verse bands, the first of which is at base ; between the second and third band, in the middle of the
elytron, is a smooth dark-brown or black spot, with a less distinct spot of the same color below
the third, and a still less distinct one above the second band. Length 0.16 inch.

Described from four specimens bred from strawberry-boring larvas. The black spots on the
elytra are quite distinct and conspicuous on two specimens, less so on one, and entirely obsolete on
the other.

Larva, (Fig. 14 a) — White with back arched Lamellicorn-fashion. Head gamboge-yellow,
glabrous, with some faint transverse striations above mouth ; mandibles rufous tipped with black ;
labrum emarginate, and with palpi, pale. A faint narrow dorsal vascular line. Legs replaced
by fleshy tubercles. Length 0.20 inch when stretched out.

THE FEA-WEEYIL—Bruchtis pisi, Linn.

Our common garden pea has not many insect enemies, for with
the exception of the Striped Flea-beetle {Haltica striolata}^ M^hich

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 45

gnaws numerous small holes in the leaves, and the Corn-worm alias
Boll-worm {Ileliothis armigera)^ which eats into the pod, there are
very few others besides the Pea weevil under consideration. This
species alone is so numerous, however, as to be a serious drawback
to pea culture in this part of the country.

[Fig, 15.] rri i. 7-> 7

j^y.—.^^^^^,,..,^^ the term hruclius^ meaning a devourer,

was given by the celebrated Linucneus to a
genus of beetles which at first appear to
have very little resemblance to the onout-
beetles. They form, however, at present, a
^sub-family (^r?<c7i*(7t\9) of the great Snout-
^ il ^^w^ il t)eetle family, though they posses nearly as

„a^ G> X, close affinities to the great Chrysomela fam-
ily, and really form a connecting-link between the two. They are
characterized by a depressed head and very short snout, by the an-
tennas being 11-jointed, straight and but slightly thickened towards
the end, by the wing-covers being shorter than the abdomen, and by
the rather long hind legs and much swollen thighs. Their larva? are
short, arched, and swollen in the middle, with a camparatively small
head; and their depredations are confined all over the world, to le-
guminous or pod-bearing plants — another beautiful illustration of the
"Unity of Habits" referred to on page 9.

They are far more abundant in the tropics than in more tempe-
rate climes, and in North America we have not many species to con-
tend with. With the exception of the Honey-locust seed-weevil
{Spermopliagus rohinice^ Fabr.), which I have bred from the seeds of
that tree, there are only two species, namely: the Pea and the Bean
weevils that are really injurious in our State, though BriLchus dii.-
coideus^ Say, often badly infests the seeds of Ipomea. A third species
however, namel3% the Grain Bruchus of Europe, has lately been intro!
duced into this country, and may some day become unduly multi-
plied in our midst.

The Pea-weevil is very generally dubbed "Pea-bug," but this
latter term is not nearly so appropriate as the former, to which it
should give way. Though everybody may notknow by sight the per-
fect beetle, yet every one has most assuredly seen the work of the
worm, and though knowledge of the fact may not add to our enjoy-
ment of a mess of green peas, yet the fact nevertheless remains, that
those of us in the Mississippi Valley who indulge in this delicious
esculent, necessarily devour a young worm with nearly every pea
that we eat. Gray's oft quoted lines,

— "Where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise,"

Would seem to apply here with great force ; but when we reflect that
the diminutive and almost imperceptible worm, nourished so to
speak in the very marrow of the pea, really has no flavor and pro-
duces no injurious effects on the human system ; we can chuckle in

4.6 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

our sleeves and console ourselves with the thought that, notwith-
standing the above truism, "wisdom is justified of her children.''
JSTeither this nor any other of the true weevils mentioned in this pa-
per, can do harm when taken as food in the larva state, but there
is good testimony that the hard-shell beetles are injurious when fed
in aground or unground condition, along with the seeds they infest,
either to man or to other animals.

The Pea-weevil which is here well illustrated, Figure 15, a show-
ing aback view, and 17, 1 a side view, the small outlines at the sides
showing the natural size, is easily distinguished from all other species
of the genus with which we are troubled, by its larger size, and by
having on the tip of the abdomen projecting from the wing-covers?
tw^odark oval spots which cause the remaining white portion to look
something like the letter T. It is about 0.18—0.20 inch long, and its
general color is rusty-black, with more or less white on the wing-
covers, and a distinct white spot on the hinder part of the tho-
rax near the scutel. There is a notch on each lateral edge of the
thorax, and a spine on the under side of the hind thighs near the
apex. The four basal joints of the antennae and the front and middle
shanks and feet are more or less tawny. It is supposed to be an in-
digenous N. A. insect, and was first noticed many years ago around
Philadelphia, from whence it has spread over most of the States where
the pea is cultivated. This supposition is probably the correct one
though we have no means at present of proving it to be so, and cer-
tain it is that, as the cultivated pea was introduced into this country,
our Pea-weevil must have originally fed on some other indigenous
plant of the Pulse family. It is at present found in the more southern
parts of Europe and in England, and is one of the few injurious insects
which have found their way there from this country ; but in accord-
ance with the facts given in my last Report, under the head of "Im-
ported Insects and Native American Insects," which clearly prove
that our native plants and insects do not become naturalized in the
Old World with anything like the facility with which thoseof the Old
World are every day being naturalized here, this Pea-weevil does not
begin to be as destructive there as it is at home.

THE FEMALE DEPOSITS HER EGGS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE POD.

It is a very general remark that peas are " stung by the bug,"
and the impression prevails almost universally, not only among gard-
eners but with many entomologists, that the female weevil punctures
and deposits her eggs -^'^^ the pea in which the larva is to be nour-
ished. It is a little singular that so many writers should have fallen
into this error, for it is not only the accepted view amongst writers
for the agricultural press, but has been adopted by many eminent
entomologists, Taschenberg, Harris, and Dr. Boisduval being about
the only authors who have rightly comprehended the true manner of
: egg^depositing. All this. comes of course from one man's palming off

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

47

tlie opinions of another as his own, and by his adopting such opin-
ions, whether good or bad, without due credit. Even Noerdlinger in
his " Kleinen Feunde der Landwirtschaft," though he cites the excel-
lent and original observations of Taschenberg, feels himself called
upon to doubt their correctness, and himself inclines to believe that
the female may put her eggs in the pea. In Packard's Guide, the
eggs are erroneously said to be laid on the blossoms.

The true natural history of the Pea-weevil may be thus briefly
told. The beetles begin to appear as soon as our peas are in
bloom, and when the young pods form, the female beetles gather
upon them and deposit their eggs on any part whatever of the sur-
face without attempting to insert the eggs within the pod.

The eggs, (Fig. 16,) are deep yellow, 0.035 inch long, three times
as long as wide, fusiform, pointed in front, blunt behind, but larger
[Fig. 16.] anteriorly than posteriorly. They are fastened to the pod
by some viscid fluid which dries white and glistens like silk.
As the operation of depositing is only occasionally noticed
during cloudy weather, we may safely assume that it takes
place for the most part by night. If pea vines are carefully
examined in this latitude any time during the month of June,
the pods will often be found to have from one to fifteen or
twenty such eggs upon them, and the black head of the future
larva may frequently be noticed through the delicate shell.

As already stated, the eggs are deposited on all parts of the pod,
and the mother beetle displays no particular sagacity in the number
which she consigns to each, for I have often counted twice as many
eggs as there were young peas, and the larvas from some of these eggs
would of course have to perish, as only one can be fully developed
in each pea. The newly hatched larva is of a deep yellow color with
a black head, and it makes a direct cut through the pod into the near-
est pea, the hole soon filling up in the pod, and leaving but a mere
speck, not so large as a pin-hole, in the pea. The larva feeds and
grows apace and generally avoids the germ of the future sprout, per-
haps because it is distasteful, so that most of the buggy peas will
germinate as readily as those that have been untouched. When full

grown this larva presents the
appearance of Figure IT, c,
(after Curtis) and with won-
derful precognition of its fu-
ture wants, eats a circular hole
on one side of the pea, and
leaves onl}^ the thin hull as a
covering. It then retires and
lines its cell with a thin and
smooth layer of paste, pushing aside and entirely excluding all ex-
crement, and in this cell it assumes the pupa state (Fig. 17, d, after
Curtis,) and eventually becomes a beetle, which, when ready to issue,

48 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

lias only to eat its way through the thin piece of the hull which the
larva had left covering the hole. It has been proved that the beetle
would die if it had not during its larval life prepared this passage way,
for Ernest Menault asserts* that the beetle dies when the hole is
pasted over with a piece of paper even thinner than the hull itself.

REMEDIES AND PREVENTIVES.

Sometimes, and especially when the summer has been hot and
prolonged, many of the beetles will issue from the peas in the fall of
the same year that they were born, but as a more general rule they
remain in the peas during the winter and do not issue till new vines
are growing. Thus many yet remain in the seed peas until they are
planted and especially is this apt to be the case with such as are
planted early. We see, therefore, how easily this insect may be in-
troduced into districts previously free from it by the careless planting
of buggy peas, for it has been demonstrated that the beetle issues as
readily from peas planted in the earth as it does from those stored
away in the bin. All peas intended for seed should be examined and
it can very soon be determined whether or not they are infested. The
thin covering over the hole of the peas that contain weevils, and
which may be called the eye-spot, is generally somewhat discolored,
and by this eye-spot those peas which ought not to be planted can
soon be distinguished. Where this covering is off and the pea pre-
sents the appearance of Figure 15, h, there is little danger, for in that
case the weevil has either left, or, if still within the pea, is usually
dead. It would of course be tedious to carefully examine a large lot
of peas, one by one, in order to separate those that are buggy, and
the most expeditious way of separating the sound from the unsound,
is to throw them into water, when the sound ones will mostly sink
and the unsound swim.

There are, however, other and more certain means of preventing
the injuries of this insect, and whenever agriculture shall have pro-
gressed to that point where by proper and thorough organization all
the farmers of a county or of a district can, by vote, mutually agree
to carry out a measure with determination and in unison, then this
insect can soon be exterminated ; for it is easy to perceive that such
a result would be accomplished by combinedly ceasing to cultivate
any peas at all for one single year! Until some such united action
can be brought about, we shall never become entirely exempt from
this insect's depredations, for no matter how sound the peas may be
that I plant, my vines are sure to be more or less visited by the
beetles as long as I have slovenly neighbors. Yet comparatively, my
peas will always be enough better to well pay for the trouble, even
under these circumstances.

'^Imcctes Nuisibles a I' Agriculture.

'THE STATE ENXaMOLOGISTv 49

As already hinted the Pea- weevil prefers a Warm to a cold climatej
and its devastations are scarcely known in high latitudes. On this
account the impression prevails that it does not occur in certain parts
of Canada, and few persons are aware that it is nearly as bad, espe-
cially in Ontario, as it is with us. We are in the habit of sending to
Canada for our seed peas, because we get them free from bugs ; but
the reason that their seedsmen have such a reputation is to be traced
to their greater care in destroying the weevil and in sorting their seed
rather than to any immunity from its ravages which their peas possess
The following extract from a letter from Mr. Wm. Saunders, of London,
Ontario, who, as secretary of the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association
and as a prominent member of the Canadian Entomological Society,
is as well posted, perhaps, as any one in the Dominion, will give some
idea of its occurrence there:

The Pea-weevil I find prevails in all parts of Canada to a greater
or lesser extent, from the Red Kiver settlement to Quebec. In some
places it is so numerous as to discourage farmers from attempting to
grow peas at all, while other localities are but little troubled. About
the neighborhood of Windsor (opposite Detroit) there are no peas
grown worth speaking of ; but 60 or 70 miles iurther east, towards
London, they are an important crop, and about London, say within 30
or 4 ' miles, and as far east as Guelph and Hamilton, will include the
chief district from which your western supplies are drawn.

During 18691 grew a ifield of peas on my own farm. They pro-
duced a good crop, and although we have some of them on hand yet
I have never observed a buggy one amongst them, although I have
examined them several times. But it is rare to find them so Iree as
that and something depends on the season. Last season the weather
was very wet and the crop very light, and the dealers tell me now
that there are scarcely any peas fit to ship in the country on account
of the quantity of bugs they contain. They say that they always
have to select for shipping, and while sending them as clean as pos-
sible they do not profess to send them entirely free from bugs.

Our farmers here are perhaps a little more particular than yours
about their seed. They will sometimes keep it over till the second
year or else scald it before planting so as to destroy a large propor-
tion of the bugs. The general opinion seems to be that if peas are
sown late, say about the first of June, they will be almost free from
bugs in any season, and some adopt this method, but it is not by any
means a general thing, for should the weather set in very hot, as it
sometimes does about that time, they would become somewhat
dwarfed and the crop lessened. I have not heard of anyone growing
two crops in one season.

Many eminent seedsmen— Mr. Langdon for instance as I have been
credibly informed— effectually kill the weevils by enclosing the peas
in tight vessels along with camphor. The same object is attained by
keeping peas two years, and taking care that the beetles do not es-
cape before they die. Peas will grow well when kept for two years
or even longer, but they should always be well dried so as not to
mould. A good plan is to tie them up in bags and hang them in an
airy place from the time they are gathered till about Christmas, and
then in order that they may not become too dry, to put them into
s £ — 4

50 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

tighter vessels. To a certain extent sound peas may be obtained by
planting late, for the period of egg-depositing is limited to about a
month. Peas, as Mr. F. A. Nitchy of Jefferson City has demonstrated,
may be planted in the central part of the State as late as the first of
June, and by the time the plants from such late planted seed begin
to bear pods, all the weevils will have died and disappeared. Wher-
ever a second crop of peas can be grown the same year, this second
crop will be entirely free from weevils, and though there seems to be
some difficulty in producing a second crop in our State, on account
of mildew, it is often done in higher latitudes. Choice lots of seed, if
found to be infested when received from the seedsman, may be thrown
into hot water for a minute or two, and the sprouting of the peas will
be quickened, and most of the weevils, but not all, be killed. But
whatever plan be adopted to obtain sound seed, it should be every
man's aim, in duty to himself and to his neighbors, to plant none but
bugless peas!

As natural checks, the Crow Black-bird is said to devour great
numbers of the beetles in the spring, and according to Harris the
Baltimore Oriole splits open the pods to get at the grubs contained in
them.

THE GRAIN ^RJJCRUS—Bruc/ms gmnarhts, Linn.

There is a weevil in Europe which is very
common, attacking peas there as badly aa our
T^ S^^^: ^^^ Pea-weevil does in this country. It also in-

J?575rfnimv ^gg^g beans and several other grains and seeds.
It has on several occasions been imported with
foreign seeds into this country, but very fortu-
nately does not seem so far to have obtained a
istrong foothold. There is nothing to prevent its
doing so, however, except the utmost vigilance on the part of those
who import seeds, and it may at any time get scattered over the
country by the distribution of infested seed from the Department of
Agriculture, unless the authorities are ever watchful to prevent such
a catastrophe. To enable a ready recognition of this weevil, I present
an enlarged portrait of it at Figure 18. As will be noticed by that
figure it bears a tolerably close resemblance to our own Pea-weevil^
but it may always be distinguished from the latter species by the fol-
lowing characters as given by Curtis: —

It is in the first place a smaller insect, averaging but 0.14 inch
while pisi averages nearly 0.20 inch. It is rather darker, there are tw»
small white spots on the disk of the thorax, and the tooth at each side
of the thorax is indistinct; the suture of the wing-covers forms Br
brown stripe, and the apical joint of the abdomen which pretrudes '

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 51

beyond the wing-covers and which is otherwise known as the py-
gidium, is densely clothed with grayish pubescence, and shows in cer-
tain lights four minute dark dots, but no indication of the two large
oval spots so characteristic of our Pea-weevil. The four basal joints
of the antennae and the front legs are reddish, and the inner spine of
the hind shanks is prolonged.

It would be a sad misfortune to have this insect added to our list
of injurious species, and it is no wonder that ui)on discovering speci-
mens of our own Pea-weevil just disclosed in a parcel of peas which
he had taken with him from America, the Swedish traveler Kalra
was thrown into such a trepidation lest he should be the instrument
of introducing so fatal an evil into his beloved country.

To give some idea of the habits of the Grain Bruchus, I quote the
following account from Curtis's Farm Insects: —

''This species, which is everywhere abundant as eari}^ as Febru-
ary on the furze when it is in blossom, inhabiting also the flowers of
various other plants in the beetle state, as the Rhubarb, Meadow-
sweet (<S??m<:' a ulmaria), etc., is a most destructive insect in our pea
and bean fields, the larvas feeding in the seeds and sometimes destroy-
ing more than half the crop. They are exceedingly abundant in some
parts of Kent, where they often swarm at the end of May, and are oc-
casionally found as late as August; indeed I killed one in November,
imported with Russian beans, which had been alive since the end of
September. It attempted to fly away in October ; it then became
torpid, but on warming it by a tire in the middle of November, it was
as lively and active as in the height of summer, and I dare say would
have lived through the winter.

"It is said that the female beetles select the finest peas to deposit
their eggs in, and sometimes they infest crops to such an extent that
they are eaten up by them, little more than the husk being left. The
various kinds of beans are equally subject to their inroads; besides
the long-pods I have alluded to, I have had broad Windsor beans sent
to me containing these Bruchi; and Mr. C. Parsons transmitted me
some horse-beans in the beginning of August, 1SJ:2, which were en-
tirely destroyed by them. Mr. F. J. Graham showed me some seed
beans which were inoculated by these beetles to a great extent, and
some of them were alive in the seeds ; yet to any one ignorant of the
economy of this pest, there would not appear the slightest external
indication of their operations. I also received from a gentleman resid-
ing in Norfolk a sample of seed beans from Russia, for winter sowing,
a large proportion of which was perforated by this Bruchus.

" It has already been intimated that as the beetles generally leave
the germ uninjured, the vitality of infested seeds is not destroyed. I
doubt, however, if they produce strong healthy plants; and from my
own experience I have no doubt if peas and beans be sown contain-
ing the BriicMis granarius, that the beetles will hatch in the ground,
and thus the cultivator will entail upon himself a succession of dis-
eased pea and bean crops. Now to avoid this loss, the seed should be
examined before sowing, when to an experienced eye the presence of
these beetles will be discernible, where to a common observer they
would appear sound and good. The maggots, when arrived at their
full size, gnaw a circular hole to the husk or skin of the seed, whether
pea or bean, and even cut around the inner surface which covers the
aperture, so that a slight pressure from within will force this lid ofl';

52 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

these spots are of a different color to the rest of the seed, generally
having a less opaque appearance, and often are of a duller tint ; on
picking off this little lid, a cavity will be found beneath containing
either a maggot, pupa, or beetle."

THE AMERICAN BEAJOi-WEEYlL-BruGhus fahce, N. sp.

This is another BrucJius which bids fair to out-do the celebrated
Pea-weevil in its injurious work, and since it has but just made its
[F's- 19-] appearance in our State as a bean destroyer,

and is yet confined, so far as I am aware, to
one single locality, I hope that the following
account of it will have the effect to prevent
[• ^'tjl ^r^/H|ffl|S|,V_ its introduction into neighborhoods where it
is now unknown, and thus keep it from spread-
"^ » 'Hl^^ <([ ing over the State. It appears to be a native

American insect and doubtless fed originally
on some kind of wild bean {PJiaseohis or LatTiyriis^) but it was first
noticed in our cultivated beans about ten years ago, in Rhode Island,
and has since at difi"erent times suddenly made its appearance in sev-
eral other parts of the country. Maj. J. R. Muhleman, of Woodburn?
Ills., informs me that while in South Carolina in 1863, some kind of
weevil was often so common in the beans used by the army that be-
fore using such beans the men had to soak them, and afterwards lay
them out to dry, in order to allow the beetles to escape. The weevil
was doubtless the species under consideration, but there is no means
of ascertaining from which part of the country the beans came.

Though already pretty well distributed in some of the Eastern
States, especially in New York, it appears to be yet confined to cer-
tain localities in the Mississippi Valley. It has for instance, been
quite troublesome of late years in Madison county, Ills., for I re-
ceived last spring numerous specimens from Mr. Geo. W. Copley, of
Alton, and am informed by Mr. J. F. Wielandj^, of Jefferson City, Mo.,
thait his father who is a resident of that county has been much troub-
led with it; yet it has never been heard of in other parts of the State,
The only place in which I have, so far, found it in Missouri, is around
Eureka, in St. Louis county, where it was first noticed in 1869, but
where it occurred the present year in great numbers in two different
fields of a white pole bean. It occurs in some parts of Pennsylvania,
and is quite common in New York, and to illustrate the amount of
damage it is capable of doing, I make room for the following letter^
which was received in November, 1870, from Mr. James Angus, of
West Farms, N. Y., and which refers to this insect:

I enclose you a sample of beans to show you how thoroughly and
effectually this lii tie vagabond is plying his time immemorial avoca-
tions in the bean-patches in this quarter. Five or six years ago I had
occasion to call on a neighbor, and in passing through the barn he

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 53

pointed out to me aheap of threshed beans, on the floor, of the Early
Mohawk variety, which he said had been destroyed by bugs getting
into them since they were threshed. (?) A casual inspection showed
that they were destroyed sure enough. At least one-half of them
were as badly infested as the sample I send you, but as I pointed out
to him, the damage which was now an accomplished fact, had been
commenced during the growing season, and the "bugs" were now
leaving the beans instead of entering them.

Next season I found a few among my own beans, and they have
been on the increase ever since; and this year my Yellow Six Week
variety are nearly as bad as my neighbors referred to above. They
are nearly as bad this year on a pole variety, the "Dutch Case Knife,"
as they are on the low growing ones. The small black bush variety,
however seems to have escaped them. If some check is not put to
their ravages soon, the culture of beans will have to be given up
here.

In a short article on this weevil, published by Mr. S. S. Rathvon,
in the American Entomologist^ (Vol.11, pages 118-119,) that gentle-
man gives the following account of its appearance in his neighbor-
hood :

My specimens evolved in the months of June, July, August and
September, from three varieties of the domestic bean {Phaseohis^)
commonly called "Cranberry," the "Agricultural," and the "Wrens-
egg" beans, obtained from Mrs. P. C. Gibbons, Enterprise, Lancaster
county, Pa. * * * * I have not yet heard of this insect
being found in any other locality in Lancaster county than the one
above named. The tenant from whom Mrs. Gibbons received these
infested beans has been engaged in the bean culture for twenty-five
years on the same farm, and never noticed these weevils until within
the last two or three years, and only last year did their destructive
character become conspicuously apparent; for out of a small sack of
seed-beans hung awa}', containing less than two quarts, she gathered
nearly a teacup-full of the weevils at planting time, in the early part
of June, and had all been infested as those were which she brought to
me, she could have easily doubled the quantity. About five years
ago Mrs. Gibbons received some seed-beans of the "Cranberry" va-
riety, from Nantucket, Mass , and prior to that, she also received some
from the Agricultural Department of the Patent Office, and with the
one or the other of these, the impression is that the weevils must
have been received.

If, as I have supposed (and by perusing what is printed below in
small type, the reader will see that no other conclusion can be drawn),
this weevil is indigenous ; it may possibly occur over large tracts of
our country, though the fact that, till a few years ago, it had never
been collected by any American entomologist, would strongly inti-
mate that, in what may be termed its wild state, it was quite rare and
had a limited range. But even if it should occur in this wild state more
generally through the country than the facts would lead us to believe,
there is nevertheless more danger of its being introduced into a bean
field hitherto exempt by the planting of infested cultivated beans,
than by its spreading from the wild food. And if once a few buggy
beans are planted, they will in a few years contaminate the other
beans cultivated in the neighborhood, so that the man who year after

54 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

year grows his own seed will suffer as much as the man who origirr-
allj'- introduces the weevils from afar.

Except in being smaller, the larva and pupa of this weevil have
a close resemblance to those of the Pea-weevil, and its habits are
very similar, with the exception that the female deposits a greater
number of eggs on a single pod, so that sometimes over a dozen lar-
vae enter a single bean. I have counted as many as fourteen in one
small bean, and the space required for each individual to develop is
not much more than sufficient to snugly contain the beetle. The
little spot where the Pea-weevil entered can always be detected even
in the dry pea, but in the bean these points of entrance become al-
most entirely obliterated. The cell in which the transformations take
place is more perfect and smooth, and the lining is easily distin-
guished from the meat of the bean by its being more white and
opaque. ITie excrement is yellow or darker than the meat, and even
where a bean is so badly infested that the inside is entirely reduced
to this excrementitious powder, each larva, before transforming, m.an-
ages to form for itself a complete cell, which separates it from the
rest of its brethren. The eye-spot, as in the pea, is perfectly circular
and quite transparent in white-skinned varieties, so that infested
beans of this kind are easily distinguished by the bluish-black spots
which they exhibit (Fig. 19, h). Dark beans when infested are not so
easily distinguished.

I have always found the germ either untouched or but partially
devoured even in the worst infested beans, so that when but two or
three weevils inhabit a bean, it would doubtless grow ; but where the
meat is entirely destroyed, as it often is, the bean would hardly grow
though the germ remained intact, and it would certainly not produce
a vigorous plant.

Many of the beetles are perfected in the fall, but many of them
not till the following spring, so that there is the same danger of in-
troducing them in seed-beans, as in the case of the Pea-weevil. The
remedies and preventives given in the former case will of course ap-
ply equally well in this, and I hope that every bean-grower in Mis-
souri who reads this article will make some effort to keep the scourge
out of his own neighborhood, by urging upon others, at the Farmers'
Club, or at the meetings of any local societies, the necessity of sow-
ing only sound seed, and of thoroughly destroying any that may be
received from abroad and found buggy.

Regarding the proper nomenclature of our Bean-weevil, there
has been some confusion, and though it has heretofore been consid-
ered by several eminent entomologists as the Brnchiis obsoletus
of Say, and I have heretofore, upon insufficient grounds, referred it to
that species myself, it nevertheless turns out to be undescribed. In
Europe, besides the Grain Bruchus which I just treated of, there are
several other species belonging to the same genus which attack

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST; ^^

beans ; but our insect differs from all of them and especially from the
Grain Bruchus, to which it has been erroneously referred by Dr. A.
S. Packard, Jr.* Jf it were the imported Grain Bruchus, our peas
and some other grains would probably suffer as much from its attacks
as our beans, because that species infests peas and other seeds in Eu-
rope ; but in reality we have no more reason to believe that our Bean-
weevil will attack our peas than that the Pea-weevil will attack our
beaiis.

The general color of our Bean weevil is tawny-gray, tiie ground-
color being dark and the whole body covered with a grayish pubes-
cence which inclines to yellow or fulvous, or wears a slight moss-
green hue, and is shaded as in Figure 19, a. It is but half the size of
the Pea-weevil and has the four or five basal joints and the terminal
joint of the antennae, and the legs, with the exception of the lower
and inner part of the hind thighs, reddish-brown.

Brdchus fab-e N. Sp. (Fig. 19,) — General color tawny-gray with more or less dull yBllowisL.
Bodi/ black tinged with brown and with dull yellowish pubescence, the pygidium and sides of abdo-
men almost always brownish. Head dull yellowish-gray with the jaws dark brown and palpi
black ; antenna; not deeply serrate in $, more so in (j' ; dark brown or black with usually 5, some-
times only 4, sometimes 4 and part oJ 5 basal joints, and with the terminal joint, more or less
distinctly rufous, or testaceous, the color being so slight in some specimens as scarcely to contrast
at all with the darker joints. Thorax narrowed before, immaculate, but with the pubescence
almost always exhibiting a single pale medio-dorsal line, sometimes three dorsal lines, more
rarely a transverse line in addition, and still more rarely (two specimens) forming a
large dark, almost black patch each side, leaving; a median stripe and the extreme
borders pale and thus approaching closely to erythroccrus Dej. ; base with the edges
almost angulated ; central lobe almost truncate and with a short longitudinal deeply impressed
median line : no lateral notch : scutel concolorous and quadrate with the hind edge more
or less notched. Elytra with the interstitial lines having a slight appearance of alternating
transversely with dull yellowish and dusky; so slight however that in most of the specimens it can
hardly be traced ; the dark shadings form a spot on each shoulder and three transverse bands
tolerably distinct in some, almost obsolete in others, the intermediate row being the most persistent
and conspicuous : between these dark transverse rows the interstices are alternately more or less
pale, especially on the middle of the 3rd interstitial lines. Legs covered with grayish pubescence,
and with the tibiiv and tarsi, especially of first and second pair, reddish-brown ; the hind thighs
usually somewhat darker, becoming black below and inside, and with a tolerably long black spine
followed by two very minute ones. Length 0.09 — 0.14 inch. Described from 40 specimens all
bred from different kinds of beans. Hundreds of others examined.

This insect has been for several years ticketed in some of the Eastern collections by the name
of B. /«&«;, or else, what is worse, the corruption of it, /a6i. The former name has been disseminated
by my friend F. G. Sanborn of Boston, Massachusetts, who says that he received the weevil thus
named, together with beans attacked by it, in the year 1S62 from Rhode Island. The name was
credited to Fabricius, but I can find no notice in any of the works I possess of any European
Bruchus fahcE, and several of my Eastern correspondents who have access to large libraries have
been unable to find any description or allusion to a species by that name. Dr LeConte has given it
the MS name of varicornis but as his description will not appear perhaps for years to come and
as no comprehensive description has yet been pviblished, 1 have deemed it advisable to dispel in a
measure the confusion thatsurrounds the nomenclature of the species. There is need of a descrip-
tion of so injurious an insect, and a,? fab a. is not preoccupied I adopt the name because it is entirely
appropriate and because it is more easily rendered into terse popular language tha^t varicornis . f

-■■ Injurious insects new and little known, pp. 19-21.

f No one can have a greater regard than I have, for the work of our great Coleoptenst, Dr.
LeConte, who is justly looked up to as our authority in his specialty ; and for no other reason
than the one given above would 1 venture to disregard even one of his manuscript names. Were
he now at home, I should have corresponded with him on the subject, and I feel satisfied that he
vould have sanctiooed this course. These remarks are prompted by the fact that certain entomolo-

5(? THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

It resembles most closely of any other species whicli I have seen, the B. erytKrocerus, Dej",
which, however, is smaller, and differs in having a mtrrower thorax which has light sides and a
dark, broad dorsal stripe divided down the middle by a pale narrow line : erythrocerus is further
distinguished by the antennto being entirely testaceous and the hind thighs more swollen.

From otsoletuB Say, fabx differs materially : obsoletus is a smaller species, dark gray, with thft
antenna? all dark, the pygidium not rufous, the thorax with a perceptibl}' darker dorsal shade so
that the sides app/ear more cinfrreous, a white scutel, and each interstitial line of the elytra with a
slight appearance of alternating whitish and dusky along its whole length ; for though ther©
is nothing in Say's language to indicate whether it is th« interstitial lines that alternate trans-
versely, whitish and dusky, or each line that so alternates longitudinally, I find from an examina-
tion of a specimen in the Walsh collection, that the latter is the case, and so much so that the
insect almost appears speckleKi. The two species differ both in size and color, though, as Say's
description is short and imperfect it is not surprising that /aft* should have been referred to it.

IVom the European bean-feeding Br. Jtavimanus (which is apparently either a clerical error
for, or a synonym of Br. rufimanus, Schoenh.) as described by Curtis, it differs notably; as it does
likewise from their Br, serratus. 111., which also attacks beans.

Dr. LeConte, according to Mr. Rathvon, was inclined to consider this insect the obsoletus of
Say, from the fact that in specimens which the latter gentleman sent him, the antennae were not
varied as in his MS. varicornis, but uniformly black, A few specimens which Mr. Rathvon fent
me nearly two j'ears ago, taken from the same lot as were those which he forwarded to Dr. Le-
Conte, were singularly enough, all decapitated but two ; and these two showed the varied antennae.
These specimens had all been kept in alcohol, and I am greatly inclined to believe that the uni-
formly dark appearance of the antennae that was noticed by LeConte was the effect of the alcohol
on those which naturally had the rufous joints but faintly indicated. At all events, though Mr.
Rathvon tells me that he found a small proportion of beetles with dark antenna), after examining,
at my suggestion, over two hundred specimens that had thus been kept in alcohol ; yet from over
one hundred specimens which he had the kindness to send me, I only find (after thoroughly drying
them) three with the terminal joint really as dark as the subterminal, and not a single one in
which the rufous basal joints cannot be more or less distinctly traced.

gists have objected to isolated descriptions of insects, on the plea that they cause confusion and an
unnecessary synonymy in our nomenclature. There is, in fact, a certain class of persons — and they
have been aptly termed closet-entomologists — who manifest a superlative contempt for anything
that does not appear in the transactions or publications of some scientific society ; and they even
claim that the descriptions which have appeared in State Entomological Reports are invalid and
should be disregarded. The descriptions of Dr. Fitch, and many of those of the late Mr. Walsh, and
my own, would of course come under this head. It is a little significant, however, that the very per-
sons who manifest such a contempt for scientific work, whenever it is combined with the practi-
cally useful, are the very ones who indulge in the fatal monomania for grinding out new species
from the mere comparison of a few more or less damaged specimens of the perfect insects, ob-
tained nobody knows how, when or where ; and without even the slightest knowledge of the larval
and pupal history and the general habits of the so-called species. They make species out of the
slightest individual variation, and even erect genera upon a slight individual difference in the size
or shape of the wing. So baseless a system must necessarily be fraught with great scientific un-
truthfulness, and is well calculated to disgust the student who endeavors to rightly interpret the
significances in Nature. An immense number of the published descriptions in the Class of insects
in this country are based upon the simple examination of solitary specimens of the perfect insects,
without the fact being mentioned, and are therefore not in any true sense of the term descriptions
of species, but mere descriptions of individuals. The few men whose sole ambition seems to be
to attach their names to as many of these so-called species as possible, are the ones who are most
inclined to sneer at, and treat lightly the honest work of more practical men — forgetting that
science does not consist of mere classification and orderly arrangement, but that she wears a
nobler mien when applied to penetrating and comprehensive search after Nature's truths.

A truth is equally scientific, whether published in a plain, practical work, or in the drier
pages of the transactions of some august scientific body ; and so far as the science of entomology
is concerned, it will certainly be more advanced by the full and comprehensive description of a
species, albeit such description be clothed in plain terms and published in a popular work, than
by a less complete and more confused description, in the transactions of an Entomological Soci^
ety ; and provided it is published in a work essentially entomological, the monographer will cer-
tainly prefer the former to the latter. In the pMst, science belonged to the few, and was always
paraded before the world in as unattractive and technical a form as possible. To-day she is fast
becoming the property of the multitude, and should be popularized as much as possible ; for it is
folly to suppose, as some men do, that in science " popular" and "inaccurate" are synonymous
terms, simply because some writers have failed to combine the scientifically accurate with the
popular and practical.

The entomologist who occupies himself with the habits of insects, cannot well become a sys-
teraatist, and would far sooner accurately describe the hitherto unknown habits and transforma-
tions of a single common species, than describe a dozen new ones. He may have hundreds of new
species in his cabinet; but these he prefers to turn over to the specialist, whose work he fully
appreciates and whose aid he must often seek. "W^hen, however, in the course of his work, he is
obliged to ]>ublish an isolated description, the specialist proper should certainly not depreciate
l»is labor, providing it is well performed^

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 57

THE NEW YORK y^'KEYlL—Ithycerus novehoracensis, Forster.

cut

The large graj'' beetle represented at c, in the accompanying
often does considerable damage to fruit trees, and I con-

tinually receive it every spring by persons
who desire to know more of its habits. It kills
the twig by gnawing off the tender bark, in
the early part of the season before the buds have
put out, and later in the year it destroys the ten-
der shoots which start out from old wood, by
entirely devouring them. It eats out the buds
and will also frequently gnaw off the leaves at the
^ base of the stem, after they have expanded. It
attacks, by preference, the tender growth of the
Apple, though it will also make free with that of
Peach, Plum, Pear and Cherry, and probably of
other fruit as well as forest trees. It is the largest
snout-beetle which occurs in our State, and with
the rest of the species belonging to the same gen-
us (Tt7u/cerus=strRight-horD) it is distinguished from most of the
other snout-beetles by the antennas or feelers being straight instead
of elbowed or flail-shaped as they are in the common Plum Curculio^
for instance. The specific name novehoracensis which means " of New
York" was given to this beetle just 100 years ago by Forster, doubt-
less because he received his specimens from New York. But like
many other insects which have been honored with the name of some
Eastern State, it is far more common in the Mississippi Valley than
it is in the the State of New York, it scarcely being known as an
injurious insect in the East. It was subsequently described as Pa-
hyrhynchus SoTicenherri by Mr. Kirby. The general color of the
beetle is ash-gray, marked with black as in the cut (Fig. 20, c), and
with the scutel or small semi-circular space immediately behind the
thorax, between the wings, of a yellowish color. Its larval habits
were for a long time unknown, but two years ago I ascertained that
it breeds in the twigs and tender branches of the Bur oak, and have
good reason to believe that it also breeds in those of the Pignut
hickory. The female in depositing, first makes a longitudinal exca-
vation with her jaws (Fig. 20, a) eating upwards under the bark
towards the end of the branch, and afterwards turns round to thrust
her egg in the excavation. The larva, (Fig. 20, h) hatching from the
egg is of the usual pale yellow color with a tawny head. I have
watched the whole operation of depositing, and, returning to the
punctured twig a few days after the operation was performed, have
cut out the young larva ; but I do not know how long a time the larva
needs to come to its growth, nor whether it undergoes its transforma-
tions within the branch, or leaves it for this purpose to enter the
ground; though the former hypothesis is the more likely.

58

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

This insect is more active at night than during the day, and is
often jarred down upon the sheet or the Curculio-catcher, for it falls
about as readily as the Plum Curculio.

The destructive pear blight, otherwise known as fire-blight, has
been attributed to a peculiar poisonous fluid which this beetle se-
cretes and with which it poisons the wood.* I have never noticed
any such secretion, and feel quite convinced that it has nothing to
do with the real pear blight (and there are more than one kind)
which is very justly considered by the most eminent horticulturists
of the land to be of fungoid rather than insect origin. It is quite
probable that the beetle secretes some such fluid which causes a sort
of blight, because several bark-boring and wood-boring beetles are
known to produce such an eff"ect ; but this insect-blight must not be
confounded with the far more subtle and destructive Pear Blight, so
called.

THE IMBRICATED SNOJJT-BEETLE—J^pzecerus imhicatus, Say.

This is another insect, which is quite frequently met with on our
different fruit trees, doing considerable injury to apple and cherry
trees and gooseberry bushes, by gnawing the twigs and fruit. Its
natural history is, however, a sealed book, and I introduce it at pres-
[Fig. 21.] ent more to draw the attention of orchard-

ists to this fact than to give any informa-
_^tion with regard to it. The beetle is a
native of the more Western States and is
found much more commonly in the wes-
ern part of the State, in Iowa, Kansas, and
,;^ towards the mountains than it is on the
eastern side of the great Father of Waters.

The general color is a dull silvery- white with brown markings as
in the figure (Fig. 21), which are sometimes dark and distinct, and at
others almost obsolete. Indeed the species is so variable that
it has received no less than four distinct names, i. e. four distinct spe-
cies have been fabricated out of one.f

■■■See a commnnication from H. H. Babcock, of Chicago, in the Am. Entomologist and Botanist,
Vol. II, p. 176.

fThere can be no doubt of this, for the range of variation is so great that specimens agreeing
in every respect -(vith imbricatus, fornudolosus, vadosus andfallax, are to be met with in very limi-
ted localities ; and both Dr. LeConte and Mr. Walsh -were of opinion that these four so-called
species were but varieties.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 59

THE CORN SPJlE^OFROmjS—Sphenophorns zece, Walsh.

In the last number of the Practical Entomologist^ Mr. Walsh gave
the first account of a weevil which in certain years does great damage
[Fig-. 22.] to the corn crop by puncturing the young plant

near the ground, and riddling it with holes of
about the size that an ordinary pin would make.
They may even be found under ground attached
firmly to the stalk, and when numerous enough
the plant always dies.
^1 1 ^ \ e The color of the beetle is brown-black or

black, often obscured by yellowish or grayish matter adhering to, and
filling up the hollow punctures. Figure 22 gives a good illustration
of it, a showing a shaded back view, h an outline side view, and g
showing the manner in which the wing-covers are punctured. The
original description as given by Mr. Walsh will be found below.

In the spring of 1S68, Mr. L. V. Smith, of Geneva, Ontario county,
N. Y., sent me numerous specimens; and I have often found it in
great numbers on the lake-beach at Chicago, though it does not seem
to be common in our own State. But it is well that corn-growers be
made familiar with its appearance.

The larval history of this weevil is unknown, but there seems
good reason to believe that it breeds in rotting and moist wood,
situated in places where it is constantly washed by the water; for the
beetles, with others belonging to the same genus are found in such
situations and in decayed logs floating in swamps. If this supposi-
tion be the correct one — and the fact that it has been injurious only
in the immediate neighborhood of rivers and lakes adds great weight
to such a supposition — then this weevil will not be likely to multiply
unduly where there are not large bodies of water.

" SpENOPnoRUs ZE.E, new species? Color black, often obscured by yellowish matter adhering-
to the hollow places, which, however, can be partially washed o£f. Head finely punctured towards
the base, with a large dilated puncture between the eyes above. Snout one-third as long as the
body, of uniform diameter, as fine as a stout horse-hair, and curved downwards. Before the
middle of the thorax a polished diamond-shaped space, prolonged in a short line in front and in a
long line behind; and on each side of this an irregularly defined polished space, somewhat in the
form of an inverted Y ; the rest of thorax occupied by very large punctures, which fade into finer
and sparser ones on the polished spaces. Wing-cases with rows of still larger punctures, placed
very wide apart in the usual grooves or striaj ; the sutural interstice, that between the 2nd and 3rd
striae, and that between the 4th and 5th stria3 wider than the rest, elevated, and occupied by very
fine punctures ; a small elongate-oval polished spot on the shoulder and another near the tip of the
wing-case. Beneath, polished, and with punctures as large as those of the thorax. — Length
about three-tenths of an inch, exclusive of the snout. Comes very near Sphenophorus truncalus
Say, but the snout is not "attenuated at tip" and has no "elongated groove at base above ;" and
moreover, nothing is said in the description of that species of the very large and conspicuous punc-
tures, found in the elytral striaj of our species."

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

THE COCKLEBUK SFRENOFRORVS—Sphenop/iorus pulchellus,

Schoenherr.

[Fig. 23.] ^ In closing this chapter on snout-beetles I intro-

duce this species (Fig. 23, a shaded back view;
I> outline side-view,) not that it is injurious, but
because it belongs to the same genus, and is
closely allied to the preceding insect; and be-
cause its larval habits, which are now given for
' the first time, may lead us more readily to discover
those of its more injurious ally.

The color of this beetle above, is of a deep
brick-red inclining to blood-red, often with a tinge of orange, and it is
marked with black as in the figure^ the whole underside being also
black. The larva bores the stalks of the common cocklebur (Xan-
tliiuin striimariumS) and differs from most other snout-beetle larva in
having a dark mahogony-brown head, and in the anal joint being
slantingly truncated and furnished with fuscous elevations which give
rise to short stiff bristles. It transforms in the fall of the year within
the stem and issues as a beetle about the end of September.*

Of our other N. A. snout-beetles may be mentioned as especially
injurious the Grape Curculio {Codiodes inmqualis^ Say), Grape-cane
Curculio {Baridius sesostris^ Lee.) Potato-stalk weevil {Baridius
trinotatus^ Say), the different nut-weevils (genus Balaninus)^ the
Grain-weevil {SitopMlus granarius, Linn.), the White-pine weevil
(Pissodes sirohi, Peck), and the Cranberry-weevil {Anthonom^is
sutic7'alis,Jjec.) The first three have already been treated of in my
first Report, the nut-weevils will form the subject of a future article,
and the others have either been fully treated of in standard works or
are not particularly injurious in Missouri.

"•"This insect seems to differ from IS-punctatus, Say, in absolutely nothing but in having a
large black patch at the tip of the elytra instead of two spots. I have bred four specimens from
cocklebur, and they are all tolerably constant in the characters accorded to pulchellus. But I am
etrongly of opinion that we have to deal here with but one species, and that with a sufficiently
large series, the dividing line could not be drawn. At all events 13-pu7ictatus is very variable in
the size of its spots, and the greatest variation occurs in these two at the tip of the elytra, while
Say describes and figures a variety of his \S-punctatus which is singularly intermediate between
the two species. In three specimens of l3-punctatus in my cabinet, the two posterior spots are
so large that they almost meet, while in some specimens they are not larger than the other elytral
spots.

TUE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

61

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THF GRAPE VINE.

The following articles under this head are a continuation of the
series began in my first and continued in my second Report, and I
shall continue the series until all the insects of any note, which affect
the Grape-vine, shall be treated of.

THE GRArE LEAF-FOLDER— />^5we^ maculalis, Westw.

(Lepidopteia, Asopidae.)

S 3

The subject of this sketch has long been know^n to depredate on
the leaves of the Grape-vine in many widely separated parts of North
America. It is not uncommon in Canada West, and is found in the
extreme southern parts of Georgia. It appears to be far more inju-
rious, however, in the intermediate country, or between latitude 35°
and 40°, than in any other sections, and in Southern Illinois and Cen-
tral Missouri proves more or less injurious every year. It was first
described and named by Westwood,* who erected, for it, the genus
Desmia.

The genus is characterized by the elbowed or knotted appear-
ance of the c? antennfe, in contrast with the smooth, thread-like ?
antennae; the maxillary palpi are not visible, while the compressed
and feathery labial palpi are recurved against the eyes, and reach
almost to their summit; the body extends beyond the hind wings.

The moth of the Grape Leaf-folder is a very pretty little thing,
expanding on an average almost an inch, with a length of body of
about one-third of an inch. It is conspicuously marked, and the
sexes differ sufficiently to have given rise to two names, the female
having been named Botys hioolor. The color is black with an opal-
escent reflection, and the under surface differs only from the upper
in being less bright ; all the wings are bordered with white. The

« Mag. Zool., par M. Guerin, 1831 ; pi. 2.

f Mr. Glover, In the Agricultural Report for 1854, p. 79, says that the male has a semi-lunar
mark of white on the outside of each spot, which in his figure, pi. 6, ibiil., is very distinct. In
dozens of specimens bred in Illinois and Missouri no such mark appears, though there is an appa-
rent coincident shade, barely distinguished from the black ground-color, on the outside of each spot
in both male and female.

62 THIRD ANNUAL REl>ORT OF

front wings of both sexes are each furnished with two white spots ;f
but while in the male (Fig. 24, 4) there is but one large spot on the
hind wings, in the female (Fig. 24, 5) this spot is invariably more or
less constricted in the middle, especially above, and is often entirely
divided into two distinct spots. The body of the male has but one
distinct transverse band, and a longitudinal white dash at its extrem-
ity superiorly, while that of the female has two white bands. The
antennae, as already stated, are still more characteristic, those of the
male being elbowed and thickened near the middle, while those of
the female are simple and thread-like.

There are two broods in this latitude — and probably three farther
south — during the year; the first moths appearing in June, the sec-
ond in August, and the worms produced from these last hibernating
in the chrysalis state. The eggs are scattered in small patches over
the vines, and the worms are found of all sizes at the same time.
These last change to chrysalids in 24 to 30 days from hatching, and
give forth the moths in about a week afterwards.

The worm (Fig. 24, 1) folds rather than rolls the leaf, by fastening
two portions together by its silken threads ; and for this reason, in
contradistinction to the many leaf-rollers, may be popularly known
as the " Grape Leaf-folder." It is of a glass-green color,* and very
active, wriggling, jumping and jerking either way at every touch.
The head and thoracic segments are marked as at Figure 24, 2. If
let alone, these worms will soon defoliate a vine, and the best method
of destroying them is by crushing suddenly within the leaf, with both
hands. To prevent their appearance, however, requires far less
trouble. The chrysalis is formed within the fold of the leaf, and by
going over the vineyard in October, or any time before the leaves
fall, and carefully plucking and destroying all those that are folded
and crumpled, the supply for the following year will be cut off. This
should be done collectively to be positively effectual, for the utmost
vigilance will avail but little if one is surrounded with slovenly neigh-
bors.

I believe this insect shows no preference for any particular kind
of grape-vine, having found it on well nigh all the cultivated as Avell
as the wild varieties. Its natural enemies consist of spiders, wasps,
and a small undescribed species of TacJiina-^y which I have ascer-
tained to infest it in the larva state, and to which I have given the
MS. name of desmice. There is every reason to believe that it is also
attacked by a small clay-yellow beetle, the Grape-vine Colaspis

* I subjoin a description of this worm, as first given by me in the Prairie Farmer Annual for
1868. Average length, 0.80. Largest on abdominal joints, and tapering thence slightly each way.
Color glass-green, always darker above than below. A narrow darker dorsal line, with each joint
swollen into two transverse wrinkles. Laterally paler or yellowish, and a large and distinct pilif-
erous spot on each joint, with others scarcely visible with a lens. Ilead fulvous, polished, hori-
zontal, with two small eyespots and two larger dark patches. Joint 1 of the same color, and
marked as in Figure 24, 2. Joint 2 has two small spots, with an intermediate larger one, on each
side. Legs yellowish. Acquires a carneous or pink tint before changing to chrysalis, which lat-
ter is of the normal color, size and form of Figure 24, 3, and has at the tail several very minute
curved hooks, joining and forming into a point.

ME STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

63

{Ootaspis Uavida^ Say,) which is described further on, and which,
though a vegetable feeder, may often be found in the fold of the leaf
in company with some shrunken, half-dead worm.

THE GRAPE-VINE Y.V\yi^m-^.—FsyGliomorpha epimenis,

Drury.

(Lepidoptera Zygsenidse.)

Under the head of " Blue Caterpillars of the Vine," an account
was given in my last Report (pp. 83-5) of the Pearl Wood Nymph,
{Eudryas unio, Huebner), and of what I thought there was good rea-
son to believe was its larva, namely, the smaller of the blue caterpil-
lars (Fig. 25, a full grown caterpillar; h enlarged side view of one of
the joints; c enlarged hump on the 11th joint). I have since been

[Fig

[Fig. 26.]

able to decide defin-
itely as to the charac-
ter of this larva, hav-
ing bred numerous
specimens to the per-
fect state. It turns out to be an en-
tirely different insect to what I had conjectured, and produces a beau-
tiful little moth (Fig. 26), which may be known to the grape-grower
as the Grape-vine Epimenis.

This moth is most strikingly marked and bears no resemblance
whatever to the Pearl Wood Nymph. Its color is deep velvety-black
with a broad irregularly lunate white patch across the outer third of
the front wings, and a somewhat larger, more regular patch of orange-
red or brick-red on the hind wings. The underside is similarly
marked, but that of the front wings is less velvety with two additional
white spots inside near the costa, the outer one generally, and some-
times both of them, connected with the broad white patch. Espe-
cially is this the casein the males; the wing appearing to have a
large triangular white patch with two quadrate black spots in it con-
nected with the costa. The wings are beautifully tinselled with steel-
blue, or purplish scales, which form a narrow band near the outer
margin of each and appear more or less distinctly on the basal half of
the front wings. On the under side the steel-blue is especially con-
spicuous on the costa and hind border of the hind wings. In old spe-
cimens the scales get much rubbed off and the general color appears
duller and more brown. The antennae of the female are thread-like
and with alternate black and white scales. Those of the male are
beautifully and broadly toothed on two sides, or bi-pectinatC; and he
is furthermore distinguished from the female bv the more uniform

64: THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

diameter of his abdomen which is slightly tufted and squarely cut off
at the apex.

A full account was given of the larva in the article already re-
ferred to, and the proper remedy for its injuries suggested, so that I
shall simply add below a technical description x)f it. Its habit of bor-
ing into some substances to prepare for the change to pupa, is invete-
rate, and it always neatly covers up the orifice so that it is difficult to
detect. I have had over a dozen of them enter a single cork but 1^
inches in diameter and about an inch deep ; and such a cork, if given
during May of one year to an uninitiated person, with instructions to
keep it in a glass vessel, will cause much surprise and interest the
following March when the moths will begin to issue from it.

Dr. Melsheimer* wrote to Dr. Harris on the 28th of Februar}^
1840, that he had bred this moth from the larva, and rightly states
that recent specimens are not brown, and that the larva is a half
looper; but he does not mention its food-plant. Dr. Packard,! who
does not mention the sexual differences, quotes Harris as stating on
the authority of Abbott, that the larva feeds on the wild Trumpet-
creeper {Bignonio radicans) in Georgia. But no one has heretofore
mentioned its Grape-vine feeding propensities, and it is consequently
now added ^or the first time to our list of Grape-vine depredators,
and there are four instead of three bluish caterpillars, all bearing a
close general resemblance, which feed upon that plant. They all
occur in Missv,\iri, but the present species is far more numerous and
destructive than the other three put together. I have now described
three of them, and shown wherein they differ from one another, and
the fourth, namely, the larva of the Pearl Wood Nymph, is said by
Dr. Fitch to so closly resemble that of the Beautiful Wood Nymph
that we know not yet whether there are any distinguishing charac-
teristics between them.

PsYcnoMORPHA EPiMENis, Drury — Larva. — General appearance bluish. The ground-color is
however pure white, and the apparent bluish cast is entirely owing to the ocular delusion pro-
duced by the white with the transverse black bands as in Alypia octomaculata. Transversely
banded with four black stripes to each joint, the third and fourth being usually rather wider apart
than the other two, and diverging at the lower sides where they make room for two more or less
conspicuous dark spots placed one below the other ; the third on some of the middle joints is fre-
i[uently broken, with an anterior curve, justabove stigmata, and on joints 2 and 3 it is twice as thick
as the rest. Cervical shield, hump on joint 11, anal piate, legs and venter, dull pale orange.
.Joint 1 with about 14 large shiny piliferous black spots, 8 of which form two rows on the cer-
vical shield (those in the anterior row being largest and farthest apart,) and six of which are late-
ral, namely, three eacli side, with more or less distinct dusky marks between and in front of them.
The spots on the hump are usually placed as at Figure 26, c, but vary very much, though the four
principal ones on the top are generally placed in a square. The anal plate is marked with 8 such
spots, very much as in the cervical shield, but smaller. The tips of the thoracic legs are black
and the other legs and venter are also spotted. Head gamboge-yellow, inclining to orange, with
!S principal and other minor black piliferous spots. The ordinary piliferous spots are small, and
except two dorsal ones which are in the white space between the second and third band, they are
not easily detected. The stigmata are also quite small and round. The abdominal prolegs de-

® Harr. Corr., p. HI.
t Guide, etc., p. 281.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

^t

crease in size from the last to the first pair, and the larva curves the thoracic joints and is a half-
looper, especially when young. Average length about one inch. Described from numerous
specimens.

Chrysalis. — Average length 0.37 inch ; reddish-brown; rugose, especially on dorsum of ab-
dominal joints, but distinguished principally by the truncated apex, which has a large horizontally
compressed ear-like horny projection at each upper and outer edge.

THE GRAPE-VINE FLUME— Pter op horus periscelidactylus. Fitch.

(Lepidoptera, Alucitidae.)

In my first Report a short account has already been given of this
insect, but as it was very numerous last spring, and as I had good op-
[Fig. 27.] portunities of making further observations,

I have concluded, by aid of the accompany-
ing figure, to give a more complete account
of it.

In the earlier published Proceedings of
our State Horticultural Society reference is
occasionally made to " small grey or green
worms which feed on the young leaves be-
fore blossoming," * without any definite
name being given to them. Husmann, in
his "Grrapes and Wine," (p. 80) mentions
similar worms, and I have little doubt but
that the insect referred to is the little Plume
we are now considering.

Just about the time that the third bunch
of grapes, on a given shoot, is developing,
many of the leaves, and especially those at
the extremity of the shoot, are found fas-
tened together more or less closely, but generally so as to form a hol-
low ball. These leaves are fastened by a fine white silk, and upon
opening the mass and separating the leaves, one of two caterpillars
will generally be found in the retreat. I say one of two, because the
retreat made by the smallest of the Blue Caterpillars of the Vine,
namely, the larva of the Grape-vine Epimenis (Fig. 26, «) which we
have just treated of, so closely resembles that of the Grape-vine
Plume under consideration, that until the leaves are separated it is
almost impossible to tell which larva will be found. Both occur at
the same time of year, and both were more destructive than usual
the past season in the vicinity of St. Louis. In an ordinary season
they do not draw together the tips of the shoots till after the third
bunch of grapes is formed, and in devouring the terminal bud and
leaves, they do little more than assist the vineyardist in the pruning

* Proceedings for 1860, p. 68, and 1861-2, p. 77.
S E— 5

^^

66 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT Of

which he would soon have to give. They act, indeed, as Nature^
pruning-knives. But the late and severe frost which killed the first
buds last April, so retarded the growth of the vines that the worms
were out in force before the third bunch had fully formed, and
this bunch was consequently included in the fold made by these
worms, and destroyed.

The larva of the Grape-vine Plume invariably hatches soon after
the leaves begin to expand; and though it is very generally called
the Leaf-folder, it must not be confounded with the true Leaf-folder,
■which was just now described, and which does its principal damage
later in the season. At first the larva of our Plume is smooth and
almost destitute of hairs, but after each moult the hairs become more
perceptible, and when full grown the larva appears as at Figure 27; a,
the hairs arising from a transverse row of warts, each joint having
•four above and six below the breathing-pores * (see Fig. 27, e). After
feeding for about three weeks, our little worm fastens itself securely
'by the hind legs to the underside of some leaf or other object, and,
casting its hairy skin, transforms to the pupa state. This pupa (Fig,
27, J), with the lower part of the three or four terminal joints attached
to a little silk previously spun by the worm, hangs at aslant of about
40^. It is of peculiar and characteristic form, being ridged and angu-
Ilar, with numerous projections, and having remnants of the larval
warts; it is obliquelj'' truncated at the head, but is chiefly distin-
guished by two compressed sharp-pointed horns, one of which is en-
larged at Figure 27, <?, projecting from the middle of the back; it
measures, on an average, rather more than one-third inch, and varies
in color from light green with darker green shadings, to pale straw-
color with light brown shadings.

The philosophic student ot insect life cannot fail to be struck
with the wonderful disguises which these little animals often assume,
the better to escape detection from their enemies. The instances of
protective mimicry are more numerous among insects than among
any other Class of animals, and in the last part of this Report, I shall
have occasion to refer to this subject more fully. I had often won-
dered why the pupa of the Grapevine Plume was seldom noticed in
the open vineyard, and I very well recollect, when three j^ears ago,
this worm was abundant in the vineyard of the Rev. Charles Pea-
body of Glenwood, L M. R. R., that he one day expressed great aston-
ishment at their total and sudden disappearance. I told him that

••• As Dr. Fitch's description of this larva is the only one I know of, and is rather incomplete,
'I subjoin the following for the scientific reader :

Mattrk Larva df PrwROPiioRCjs pkriscelidacttlus. — Average length 0.50 inch. Color pale
greeiiish-jellow. Joints separated by deep constrictions. Each joint with a trarisverse row of
largp cream-colored w.irt^, giving rise to soft white hairs, many of which are slightly clubbed at
tip. Four of. these warts above, and si.v below stigmata, the four lower smaller than the sL^c upper
ones. Tne hair.s from warts above stigmata diverging in all directions and strai£;ht. those from
the row immediately below stigmata decurving. Other short and more minute club-tipped hairs
spring from the general surface of the body between the warts. Heiid yellow, witli labruin
slightly tawny. Legs also ^yellow, immaculate and very long and slender. Described from nu-
merous living specimens.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 67

tliey had changed to the pupa state and were more thoroughly hid-
den among the leaves; but he did not succeed in feeding any of the
pup£e, and I did not then suspect that we have here a case of mimicry.
From some interesting facts communicated to me by Mr. M. C. JRead
of Hudson, Ohio, I am atistied, however, that we have here a clear
•case of protective disguise. He says : " Of a large number raised in
jars by me, there were two well defined colors, one a reddish-brown
resembling closely the bark of ripe grape wood, the other a light green,
or exactly the color of the leaves and young wood. Without an ex-
ception the green ones were attached to the green leaves and green
wood, or to the sides of the glass jar of very similar color ; while all
of the brown ones were attached to stems of the ripened grape-wood."
Having noted this fact he put large numbers of larv£e in a jar with
sticks and material of various colors, but he obtained only the two
"varieties of pupae and each was invariably attached to an article of
the same color as itself.

So far as I recollect the facts noticed in my own breeding of this
insect, the}^ accord with the observations of Mr. Read, and there is no
reason to doubt that in a state of nature the green variety confines
itself to the leaves, and the brown variety to the wood of the vine.
Upon the theory of Natural Selection, ? . g., in this case, the preserva-
tion of the best disguised specimens, these facts become significant,
and it is easy to understand how the two distinct forms would in time
inevitably be produced; but whether these singular disguises be ex-
plained on that theory or on any other, they are equally interesting
and afford good food for the reflective mind.

The moth (Fig. 27, d) escapes from this pupa in about one week,
and, like all the species belonging to the genus, it has a very active
and impetuous flight, and rests with the wings closed and stretched at
right angles from the body, so as to recall the letter T. It is of a
tawny yellow color, the front wings marked with white and dark
brown as in the figure, the hind wings appearing like burnished cop-
per, and the legs being alternately banded with white and tawny yel-
low.

All the moths of the family (ALUCiiiDiE) to which it belongs have
the wings split up into narrow feather-like lobes, and for this reason
they have very appropriately been called Plumes in popular lan-
.gunge. In the genus Pterophorus the front wings are divided into two,
and the hind wings into three lobes. As I have shown in my first
Heport we have a somewhat larger species (P. carduidacUjlus^ Riley)
which occurs on the Thistle, and which, though bearing a close re-
semblance to the Grape-vine Flume in color and markings, yet dif-
fers very remarkably in the larva and pupa states.

From analogy we mav infer that there are two broods of these
worms each year, and that the last br)od passes tlie winter in the
moth state. I have, however, never noticed any second appearance
of them, and whether this is from the fact that the vines are covered

68

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

•with a denser foliage in the summer than in the spring, or whether
there is really but one brood, are points in the history of our little
Plume which yet have to be settled by further observation.

On account of its spinning habit, which enables us to detect ity
this insect is easily kept in check by hand picking.

THE COMMON YELLOW BEAU— Spilosoma virginica, Fabr,

(Lepidoptera, Arctiidae.)

This is one of the most
common North American in-
sects. The moth (Fig. 28, c)
which is very generally dub-
bed " the Miller," frequently
flies into our rooms at night ;
and there are quite a number
of our farmers who, somehow
or other, have got the idea
that this "Miller" is the in-
sect that infests their bee-
hives— that it is, in short, the
Bee-moth. Of course no such ridiculous idea could for a moment pre-
vail among those who read these Reports.

Though the moth is so common, how few persons ever think of it
as the parent of that most troublesome of caterpillars, which Harris
has so aptly termed the Yellow Bear (Fig. 28, a). These caterpillars
are quite frequently found on the Grape-vine, and when about one-
fourth grown bear a considerable resemblance to the mature
larva of the Grape-vine Plume which we have just described. They
seldom appear, however, till that species has disappeared, and may
always be distinguished from it by their semi-gregarious habit at this^
time of their life, and by living exposed on the leaf (generally the
under side) instead of forming a retreat within which to hide them-
selves, as does the Plume,

The Yellow Bear is found of all sizes from June to October; and
though quite fond of the vine, is by no means confined to that plant.
It is, in fact, a very general feeder, being found on a great variety of
herbaceous plants, both wild and cultivated, as butternut, lilac, beans,
peas, convolvulus, corn, currant, gooseberry, cotton, sunflower, plan-
tain, smart-weed, verbenas, geraniums, and almost any plant with
soft, tender leaves. These caterpillars are indeed so indiff"erent as to
their diet, that I have actually known one to subsist entirely, from
the time it cast its last skin till it spun up, on dead bodies of the
Camel Cricket {Mantis Carolina).

When young they are invariably bluish-white, but when full-
igrown they may be found either of a pale cream-color, yellow, light
brown or very dark brown, the different colors often appearing in the
same brood of worms, as I have proved by experiment. Yellow is the
most common color, and in all the varieties the venter is dark, and
there is a characteristic longitudinal black line, more or less inter-
rupted, along each side of the body, and a transverse line of the same
color (sometimes faint) between each of the joints: the head and
feet are ochre-yellow, and the hairs spring from dark yellow warts, of
which there are 10 on each joint, those on joint 1 being scarcely dis-
tinguishable, and those on joint 12 coalescing. There are two broods
of these worms each year, the broods intermixing, and the last pass-
ing the winter in the chrysalis state. The chrysalis (Fig. 28, h) is
formed in a trivial cocoon, constructed almost entirely of the cater-
pillar's.hairs, which, though held in position by a few very fine silken
threads, are fastened together mainly by the interlocking of their
minute barbs, and the manner in which the caterpillar interweaves
them.

The moth makes its appearance as early as the first of May in the
latitude of St. Louis, but may often be found much earlier in stove-
warmed rooms. It is easily recognized by its pure white color, by its
abdomen being orange above, with three rows of black spots, and by
the black dots on its wings. These dots vary in number, there being
usually two on each of the front and three on each of the hind wings,
though sometimes they are all more or less obsolete, except that on
the disk of the front wings.

It is fortunate for us that this caterpillar is attacked by a large
number of insect parasites; for, were this not the case, it would soon
multiply to such a degree as to be beyond our control. I know of no
less than five distinct parasites which attack it — some living singly in
the body of the caterpillar, and issuing from the chrysalis without
spinning any cocoon of their own ; others living singly in the body,
but forming a cocoon of their own inside the chrysalis of their vic-
tim, and still others infesting the caterpillar in great numbers, and
completely filling the chrysalis with their pupas.*

The best time to destroy these worms is soon after they hatch
from their little round yellow eggs, which are deposited in clusters ;
for, as already intimated, they then feed together.

* For the benefit of the scientific reader I enumerate the five parasites which I have ascer-
tained to infest this caterpillar : 1. Anomalonjlavicorne {BruUiJlym IV, p. 171). 2. Ichneu-
mon iVLbcyanem, Cress. (Proc. Ent. Sec, Phila., Ill, p. 148), and Ich. pullatus, Cress. (Pro. E. S.
P.. Ill, p. 146), described as a distinct species, hutpullatui is evidently the male, and subcyaneus the
female of the same species, as I have bred from Spilosoma virginica three males all answering to
the description of the former, and two females both answering to the description of the latter. 3.
Jchneumon lignatipes, Cress. (Trans. Araer. Ent. Soc,, I, p. .^508). 4. Ophion bilineatus, Say, (Ent.
•of N. A., I, p. '379). ft. A.fimaU undetermined, and probably undescribed Dipteron belonging to

70

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

THE SMEARED BAGGER— Aoromjcta ohUnita, Sm. & Abb.

(Lepidoptera, Acronyctidae.)

Ihis is another insect which is occasionally found upon the Grape-
vine, but never in sufficient
numbers to do any considerable
harm. It is one of our most
common insects, and a very
general feeder, occurring on a
great variety of herbaceous
plants, among others asparagus
and cotton, and being especially
'^partial to the common smart-
weed {^Polygonum hydropiper).
It also feeds on some shrubs
and trees, occasionaly proving;
qiite injurious, for Mr. F. A.
Nitchy, of Jefferson City, sent
me specimens last summer with
the statement that they were-
very numerous on his peach trees, and I have known it to denude
both apple and willow trees.

The larva (Fig. 29, a) is easily recognized by the distinct wavy
bright yellow band at the side, and the transverse row of crimson-red
warts and stiff yellowish or rust-red bristles across each joint, in con-
trast with the black color of the body. When full grown it draws a
few leaves or stems together, or retreats into some fence corner, and
spins a narrow elongated cocoon (Fig. 29, I) generally white, tut oc-
casionally inclining to ochre-yellow, some which I have found on
Willow being of this last color. The chrysalis is very dark brown^
and, with the exception of a smooth shiny band on the posterior bor-
der of each abdominal joint, is rough or shagreened. It has the
power of violently turning round and round in its cocoon when dis-
turbed, thereby causing a rustling noise. The moth (Fig. 29, c) has
the front wings of an ash-gray color, caused by innumerable dark
atoms scattered over a white ground, and there is a distinct row of
black dots along the posterior border, a more or less distinct black
zigzag line across the outer fourth, and some dusky spots just above
the middle of the wing. The hind wings are pure white.

There are two broods each year, the first brood of worms appear-
ing for the most, part during June, and giving out the moths in July,
and the second brood occurring in the fall, passing the winter in the
chrysalis state, and producing moths the following May.

Handpicking is the only remedy that it has been found necessary
to adopt with this caterpillar whenever it liecomes troublesame^

THE STATE ENTOMULOGIST. 71

There arc at least three natural enemies which serve to keep it
in check. The largest of these is the Uni-banded Ichneumon-fly
{Ichneumon unifasciatorius^ Say), a large black fly, 0,60 inch long,
and characterized by a white annulus about the middle of the an-
tenna, a large white spot about the middle of the thorax, and a white
band on the first joint of the abdomen.

This fly oviposits in the larva of the Smeared Dagger, but the latter
never succumbs till after it has spun up and become a chrysalis, fori
have always obtained the Ichneumon from the chrysalis. The other
parasites are smaller and work differently. They each cause the larva
of the Smeared Dagger to die when about full grown, and its contracted
and hardened skin, which may often be seen during the winter, with
the head attached (F'ig. 30, a), fastened to the twigs of apple and wil-
t|[^.- '^"^How trees, forms a snug little house where the parasite under-
goes its transformations and through which it gnaws a round
hole (Fig. 30, J), to escape the latter part of April. One of
these flies {Alewdes Rileyi^ Cresson,) is described on page
3S2, of Volume II, of the Transactions of the American Eiito-
° mological Society, and is of a uniform reddish-yellow color*
The other is a black fly of about the same size, but belonging
to an entirely different genus, PolysphluGta. It has two prom-
inent carinee on the dorsum of the basal joint of the abdomen, and
the legs, except the hind tarsi and last half of hind tibiae are rufous.
It is marked hlcarinata in. my MS., but I omit the description as I
do not possess the female. The first of these parasites is in its turn
preyed upon by a minute Chaleis^y of a steel-blue color with honey-
yellow legs, which issues in great numbers through a very minute
hole, from the dried caterpillar skins.

As I know of no description of obllnita in the English language, and as that of Guenee is
rather summary, I subjoin the following :

AcaoNYCTA OBLINITA, Sm. and Abb. — Imago — Front wings oblong ; apex more or less prolonged :
posterior margin sometimes rounded, sometimes straight ; color ash-gray, caused by numerous
dark brown atoms more or less suffused on a white ground, from which the ordinary lines are
barely discernible in the better marked individuals; a row of distinct black dots along posterior
border ; the ordinary spots represented by blurred marks or entirely obsolete ; the undulate line
across posterior fourth of wing distinct, and relieved inside by a pale coincident shade, with the
teeth quite aciculate and with the psi-spot so characteristic of the genus, but rarely traceable ;
fringe narrow and generally entire. Hind wings pure white, with afaintrowof dark spots around
posterior border. Underside of both wings white with faint fulvous tint and faint irrorations ;
each wing showing the brown discal spot and the row of points at posterior border. Head and tho-
rax speckled graj' ; abdomen whitish-gray ; antenna; short, simple in both sexes, graj' above and
brown below ; palpi small. Two specimens with the front wings very dark, showing the ordinary
lines and spots conspicuously, and with the antennae brown above as well as below. Average
length, 0.75 ; expanse, 1.75 inches.

Described from numerous bred specimens.

Larva — Prevailing color black. Each joint with a transverse dorsal crimson-red band across
the middle from stigmata to stigmata, and containing six warts, each furnishing 10 or 12 or more
stiff yellow or fulvous bristles, and the two dorsal ones being farthest apart. A sub dorsal longitu-
dinal yellow line interrupted by this transverse band and at incisures, in such a manner that the black
dorsum appears somewhat diamond-shaped on each joint. A broad, wavy, bright-yellow stigmatal
line, containing a yellow bristle-bearing wart in middle of each joint. Lateral space occupied with
different sized pale yellow spots, largest towards dorsum. Head chesnut-brown. Venter crimson-

72

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

black, with bristle-bearing warts of same color. Stigmata oblong-oval and pale. Thoracic legs black*
prolegs with black extremities. Such is the normal appearance of this larva, but it is very varia-
ble. In some the yellow seems to predominate over the black, and there is a more or less distinct
dorsal line. In some this dorsal line forms a mere speck at the incisures of the middle joints.
The transverse crimson band is often entirely obsolete, and the warts distinctly separated, while
in others where this band is distinct, the warts frequently coalesce.

Pupa— Almost black, and shagreened with the exception of a smooth and polished rim, at pos-
terior border of joints, which becomes reddish, especially ventrally, on the three joints immediately
below wing-sheaths. Terminal joint horizontally compressed, squarely cut off, and furnished with
a little brush of short evenly-shorn, stiff rufous bristles.

THE PYRAMIDAL GRAPE-VINE WOmiL.—AmpMpijra pyrami-

doides^ Guen.

(Lepidoptera, Amphipyrid».)

Another worm, never hitherto mentioned as injurious to the
Grape-vine, is often found resting upon it in the posture shown in
f^'s- 31-] Figure 32, and may be at once distin-

guished from all others that are known
to attack it, by having a pyramidal
hump near the end of its body. This
worm I have also found upon the Red
Bud {Cercis canadensis)^ the Rasp-
berry and the Poplar, but it is only as a
vine-feeder that it can be considered
injurious. It was more abundant in the summer of 1869 than it has
been since. According to the experience of Mr. G. Pauls, of Eureka,
it takes the Hartford, Israella and lona first, and the Concord and
North Carolina next, and devours the blossoms as well as the
leaves. It is of the form shown in the figure and of a delicate green
color, marked with pale yellow or cream-colored lines and spots, as
there indicated. It is found on the vines during the month of May
with us, and during the forepart of June descends to the surface of the
ground, where it spins a loose cocoon of whitish silk, generally con-
structed between some fallen leaves. Within this cocoon it remains
some time in the larva state, but eventually becomes a shiny mahog-
ony-brown chrysalis from which emerges a moth (Fig. 31), with the
front wings bark brown and [Fig- 32.]

glossy and marked with dark
brown and pale grayish-brown
as in the cut; and with the hind
wings of a lustrous copper color,
from which character it may be called in popular language the Amer-
ican Copper Underwing. In Chicago, Illinois, this insect is single-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. IS

brooded, for a poplar-feeding larva found the latter part of May, and
which spun up on the 14th of June, did not produce the moth till the
following April; but specimens obtained near St. Louis often produce
the moth during July of the same year that they are found as worms.
In this last case a second brood is doubtless produced the same year
though it is barely possible that the moths winter over and do not
deposit till spring; for they are characterized by having very flat
bodies, and with their wings folded flatly on their backs they are
often found hiding in narrow cracks and crevices where they seem to
love to shelter.

There is an insect (^AmpJdpyra pyramidea^ Linn.) very common
throughout the continent of Europe, on Elm, Poplar, Oak, and other
trees, and known in England as the Copper Underwing, which our
pyrariiidoides, as its name implies, so very closely resembles in all its
stages, that it is difiicult for one who has become acquainted with
both insects in the field, to bring himself to believe that they are
really distinct species. No one can behold the two moths and specu-
late on their great similarity, without feeling that such close resem-
blance between the insects of two continents is hard to account for
on any other theory than that of community of descent ; or without
-questioning whether there really are difi'erences enough to make two
species, when he reflects that far greater variations often occur in the
particular species of a given continent! The most constant diff'er-
ence seems to occur in the larvae which, though they agree in almost
every other detail, difier in the European species having the pyra-
midal hump more strongly developed and capped with a red horn-like
point which curves backwards, while in our species this point is more
or less obsolete and not red.

Remedies. — This worm is easily kept in check hy hand-picking,
and though its moth is attracted by sweets, it has never been numer-
ous enough in the past to warrant this mode of capturing it. We
have no good description of this insect in the English language, so I
subjoin one.

AstPHiPYRA PYRAMiDoiDES, Guen. — Larva, (Fig. 32.) — Length when full grown 1.20-1.30
inch. Smallest at joint 1, largest at joint 11 which rises pyramidally above the others. Color
pale bluish-green inclining to whitish dorsally, and rather darker at each end than in the middle
of body. A condnuous narrow cream-colored medio-dorsal line extending from the head to ex-
tremity of anal shield ; a subdorsal line of the same color or somewhat more yellow, wavy and
broken into 4 or 5 unequal spots on each of joitits 1-10, more or less distinct, ascending continu-
ously on joint 11 to the summit of pyramid, descending in a curve and vanishing in the anal shield;
a broader stigmatal line, bright sulphur-yellow,' except where intercepted by stigmata where it is
white, distinct on joints 1 and 2, less so on 3 and 4, and running straight to the extremity of anaj
shield. Looking downwards from the top of the pyramid, six lines seem to radiate from it in as
many different directions. Besides these lines, each joinc has about ten cream-colored piliferous
spots, namely, 4 in dorsal space — the anterior ones nearest together — one in the middle of each
joint in subdorsal space, and 2 smaller substigmatal ones. These spots are more or less obsolete
on the thoracic and anal joints ; they are arranged transversely on the former, and the hairs arising
from them are so insignificant that they are scarcely visible. Stigmata white, with a black annala-
tion. He.ad free, smaller than joint 1, concolorous with body. Venter darker green with cream-

74: THIRD ANNUAL REPOKT OF

colored points. Legs of the same color, the thoracic with three brown, or black spots outside, the
prolegs with purplish dingers. Described from two grape-feeding, two poplar-feeding specimens.

Pupa. — Highly polislied mahogony-brown, rather short and thick, impunctate, and with two
small short spines and several fine curled bristles at the extremity.

Imago. — Front Wings, with the costal margin more or less arched and the posterior margin
more or less scalloped or dentate ; general color brown, being variegated with a pale glossy gray,
with more or less fulvous, glossy purple-brown and unpolished purple-black; the transverse an-
terior nearly obsolete or tolerably well defined, in strong zigzag, pal-e with a dark shade each side;
reniform spot entirely obsolete, or well indicated and pale ; orbicular small and illy defined, or
large and forming a pale ring with the centre sometimes concolorous, sometimes lighter than me-
dian space, and with the basal side sometimes, not always, extended into a beak or point ; trans-
verse posterior well relieved inside but not outside, except at costa ; itstarts distinctly about the
middle or a little outside the middle of costa, runs outwardly at right angles along costal nerve,
either its own width or twice its width, thence obliquely outwards towards the middle of the wing,
with a more or less conspicuous inward jog or curve in discoidal cell ; thence across the wing in 4
undulations : in some specimens it makes an obtuse angle, so that the inner half runs parallel with
the posterior margin, in others it runs almost straight across the wing, so as not to be parallel with
the margin at any point ; in some it traverses the wing so as to leave a full third, in others so ss to
leave only a fourth of the wing outside; subterminal line pale and broken, scarcely distinguisha-
ble, or well defined, especially at costa, where the apical space is pale and blends with it, or as
brown as the rest of wing and relieves it; a series of 8 more or less distinct pale terminal dots, often
relieved by an outer black shade, fringes concoloroMs : sometimes with a pale middle line often
broken and appearing like a second series of dots; the posterior median space is the darkest, and
the subterminal space the lightest portion of the wing, though the contrast is often very slight.
In one dark specimen the sagittate spots and a longitudinal shade in the discoidal cell and another
below the sub-median nerve — the two dividing the wing in three equal parts longitudinally — are very
conspicuous from their being very dark and without gloss ; in two specimens these marks are en-
tirely obsolete ; under surface smoky-gray, more or less suffused with fulvous, and with a dark
shade below transverse posterior. Hind vnr.gs bright glossy cupreous, or with but a very faint tint
of this color, and more or less distinctly grayish-brown along the costa to the third superior nerve
and the upper posterior border ; fringe scalloped, grayish-brown, with an inner paler hue; under
surface more or less concolorous, with the lunule indicated and with a broad line, half black, half
cupreous. Thorax, with the scales large and mixed fulvous and brown. Abdomen, with the sides
dark, intercepted by the fulvous margins of joints ; anal tiift more or less rufous. Legs with the
tibia3 and tarsi alternately fulvous and brown. Expanse 1.G5-1.90 inches.

Described from four bred and four captured specimens.

The differences between the European /iy.>amjdea and this species, as given bj' Guenee, are : First,
Inpyramidea the transverse posterior curves outward near the costa, so as to produce an inward sinus
in the discoidal cell, while in pyramidoides it runs nearly straight and obliquely ; Secondly, in /Ji/ra-
midoides this line is said to border a median space almost always darker than the rest of wing and
absorbing the darker longitudinal lines, while the lightlines are given as narrower than in pyrcmidea,
and the subterminal more continued to costa, where it borders, or cuts, as Guenee has it, a light
apical space. While the difference mentioned in the transverse posterior is tolerably constant in
the eight specimens of pyramidoides in my possession, I have seen two in other collections where this
line was almost a fac-simile of the same line in pyramidra ; and the other characters, as will be seen
from the above description are quite variable, sometimes approaching the typicalpi/ronudfc and some-
times the typical pyramidoides. The same variations doubtless occur in the European species, lor if
we can rely on Mr. Edward Newman's figure (British Moths, p. 457,) the median space is sometimes
as much darker than the subterminal in their insect as it is said, by Guenee, to be in ours Upon
critically examining two European specimens of pyramidea in the collection of my friend, Mr. A.
Bolter, of Chicago, I find this shade very distitict on the posterior portion of the median space,
but instead of closely bordering and relieving the transverse posterior it fades somewliat before
reaching it. The transverse posterior crosses the wing nearer the middle than in our species, leav*
ing, in one of the specimens, more than one-third of the wing outside. But the distinguishing
features which struck me as less subject to variation than those mentioned by Guenee, are the
somewhat more elongate wings aud the broader, more distinct, subterminal line of pyiamiilea. I
have little doubt, however, but that from a hundred specimens of each species at least one pyiomi-
dea and one pi/ca7nfdoidei could be found that were undistinguishabie in themselves. The under-
gides of the two species agree entirely.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 75

There is but one other described, N. A. Amphipyra, namely, the A. inornala of Grote — {Proc
Ent. Soc, Phil., Ill, p. 86,) which upon the very face of it, seems to be but a small variety of
pyramidoidcs, as will be seen by comparing his description with tliat found above. The species
was described from a single specimen belonging to Mr. Wm. Saunders, of London, Ont., who
agrees with me in believing it to be but a variety of piframiuoides.

I have a unique in my cabinet which differs so.emarkably in the front wings from pyramidoides
that I feel constrained to briefly describe it, and yet in all other characters it so closely resem-
bles that species that I should hesitate to do so, had I not bred it from the larva. It looks exactly
as though something had been sprinkled uniforraily over the front wings and had eaten the dark
color away in spots and splashes, but the specimen is in i-eality perfect, with not a scale ruffled*
It may be called the Spattered Copper Underwing : —

Amphipyka conspersa, N. Sp. — L'lrva. — Found full grown July 2nd, 1S67 on Hazel. No pyra-
mindal hump, and of a uniform emerald-green, the dorsal palpitations visible and the stigmata pale
with a black annulation, but with no other markings either on the head, body or legs.

Imago — Like pyramidoides in every particular except that the brown of front wings is almost
uniformily spattered over, more or less suffusely with pale grayish spots so that no regular marks
appear. The costal marks are however tolerably distinct as in pyramidoides and by careful exami-
nation and comparison, traces of the more conspicuous marks of that species ma^' be discerned^

Described from one § bred July iJlst.

THE GRArE-ROOT BOB.ER—^(/eria polistiformis, Harr.

(Lepidoptera, Jilgeridre.)

The most common root-borers of the Grape-vine in this State are
those which I have termed Gigantic Root- borers, namely, the larva©
of two large beetles {Prlonus latiGollis an^ P. imhricornis) which
were treated of in my previous Reports. The insect now under con-
sideration is a moth and not a beetle and has for a number of years
been known as THE Grape-root Borer. It bears a very close resem-

[Fig. 33.]

blance to the common Peach Borer, botli in habit, and in the size and
general appearance of the larva, but it is a somewhat larger insect
and the moths diiFer materially.

It has usualh' been considered a Southern insect and certain it is
that it is not as destructive in the vineyards of Missouri as the Gigantic
borers. But I captured specimens of the motli and found the larva
in St. Louis county last summer, and it has long been known to be
destructive throughout Kentucky. It was also reported around Gin-

76 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

cinnati in 1867, though there is no evidence that the insects attacking
vine roots there were this species and not the Gigantic borers.

The larva can easily be distinguished from the Gigantic root-
borers, by having 16 legs as in all normal Lepidopterous larvae,
namely, six true horny legs head near the and ten false or membranous
legs, eight of which are in the middle and two at the end of the body.
When full grown it measures from an inch to an inch and three-quar-
ters, and it then forms a pod-like cocoon of a gummy sort of silk cov-
ered with little bits of wood-bark and dirt, within or adjacent to the
injured root. 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 looks very much like a wasp and especially like some
belonging to the genus Polistes—^hQnce its specific name— and the
resemblance becomes still more striking when flying, for its flight is
accompanied by a buzzing wasp-like noise. The sexes differ consid-
erably though not as much as in the case of the Peach Borer. The
colors are dark brown and tawny-orange, and the male is well repre-
sented at Figure 33, a, and the female at 5, but as the description
which was published seventeen years ago by Harris, and copied by
Mr. Walsh in his Report, is brief and defective, I subjoin one which
is more complete : —

^GERiA POLiSTiPORMis, Harris,— J.Tiagro $— Head, including the palpi, orange-tawny. An-
tenna simple, blue black; orange-tawny above at their extreme base and tip and below for their
entire length. TAoraa? black ; varied with orange-tawny and bright yellow on the lateral and
posterior surface above, and below for its entire surface, jlftdomen generally with the four basal
joints black and the rest orange-tawny ; sometimes almost entirely orange-tawny ; sometimes
almost entirely black; always with a narrow yellow ring at the tip of the second joint above
and generally with another such ring at the tip of the fourth joint ; venter mostly black with
the tip of all the joints more or less edged with orange-tawny, and with a short lateral penci^
of orange-tawny hairs springing from the tip of the penultimate joint below, and reaching a
little bpyond anus. Legs orange-tawny above, mostly black below but with a yellow patch at the
origin of the middle spurs on the hind tibiiB. All the spurs and tarsi more or less tinged with yel-
low. Front wings brown-black with a more or less distinct clear space at base, longitudinally tra-
versed by a nervure ; hind wings hyaline, with the veins, the terminal edge and the fringe, brown-
black. Length 0.66—0.85 inch ; expanse 1.15—1.50.

The (^ differs from the $ as follows: — 1st. The antennae are bipectinate four-fifths of the way
to the tip, which is strongly clavate and, as in the J , bears a few hairs at its apex. The bi pec-
tinations are fully one-fourth as long as the head is wide, and, as well as the entire basal half of
the antennas are orange-tawny. 2nd. Both thorax and abdomen are darker, and in addition to the
pair of short anal pencils below, there is a pair nearly twice as long above. 3rd. The short hyaline
space straddling a black nervure at base is more distinct. Length 0.68 inch; expanse 1.10 inch.

Described from 1 i^ 1 $ bred July 8th — 16th, from grape roots, and others captured during
August at Kirkwood, Mo. It is remarkable that although Dr. Harris chronicles in his correspond-
dence with Dr. LeBaron, as a notable event, his having captured an JEgeria with pectinate anten-
nas in New England in 1850, * in 1854, when for the first time he described the moth of our Grape-

*i£arris correspondence, p. 262.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. TT

root borer, he did not say a single word about the (^ antennae being bipectinate, if we are to judge
from the account he gives in a Report made to the American Pomological Society in 1854 (p 10.)
Either his cf specimens had lost their antennse, or the pectinations were rubbed oflF, the former
being the more likely occurrence. Certain it is that the males received by Dr. Harris once had
pectinated antennas, for though Mr. Glover, copying after Harris, likewise fails to mention this
sexual character in his account published in the Patent Office Report for 185-1 (p. 80), he neverthe-
less plainly figures the pectinations (Ibid, PI. 6, lower right hand figure) and the specimens from
which he made the figure were received from the very same person who furnished Dr. Harris with
his specimens.

Unlike the Peach Borer which makes its abode quite near the
surface, this borer lives exclusively under ground, and unlike the
Gigantic root-borers which hollow out and bore up along the heart of
the roots, it confines itself almost entirely to bark and sap-wood, and
the effects of its work are consequently more fatal to the vine. Hoots
attacked by it, to use one of Mr. Walsh's expressions, look " as if a
drunken carpenter had been diligently scooping away the sap-wood
with a quarter-inch gouge." It must, however, sometimes hide under
the bark of the roots, as Mr. H.J. Kron of Albemarle, North Carolina,
in the Monthly Report of the Department of Agriculture for 1867, (p.
329), describes it as being shielded by the bark.

Remedies — It has been ascertained by observation and experi-
ment that the Scuppernong grape-vine — which, according to Gray, is
a cultivated variety of the Southern Fox Grape (vitis vulphia) — is
never attacked by this borer, and consequently that other varieties
grafted on to the Scuppernong share its immunity from attack. This
is a very easy mode of preventing its ravages in the more Southern
States where the Scuppernong flourishes ; and if this borer should ever
become very numerous with us, it may be deemed advisable to in-
troduce that stock here. At present we have no other preventive
than mounding, and the insect is so comparatively scarce that I have
not yet had an opportunity of testing whether such mounding would
work as well as it does with the Peach Borer. When it is once ascer-
tained that the borers are at work on a vine, they may be destroyed
by clearing away the earth and applying hot water to the roots.

THE SPOTTED V^UXy^OTK—Pelidnota punctata, Linn.

(Coleoptera, Scarabseidae.)

This is the largest and most conspicuous beetle that attacks the
foliage of the Grape-vine, and in the beetle state it seems to sub-
sist entirely on the leaves of this plant, and of the closely allied
Virginia Creeper. Though some years it becomes so abundant
as to badly riddle the foliage of our vineyards, yet such instan-

78

THTRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

[Fig. 34.] ces are exceptional; and it usu

ally occtirs in such small num-
bers, and is so large and clumsy,
that it can not be considered a
very redoubtable ere ny.

Its larva has, for a number 6f
years been known to feed on
the decaying roots of different
trees, but was first described by
me last September.* It is a
large clumsy grub (Fig. 34, a)
bearing a close reseml)la*ioe to
the common White Grub of
our meadows, and it difters
from that species princiiially
in being less wrinkled, and in
having the chitinous covering (or skin, so-called ) more polished and
of a pure white color, and in the distinct heart-shaped swelling
above the anus (Fig. 34, d). Towards the latter part of June I
have found this larva in abundance, in company with the pupa
(Fig. 34, ?>), in rotten stumps and roots of the Pear. In pre-
paring for the pupa state, the larva forms a rather unsubstantial
cocoon of its own excrement, mixed with the surrounding wood. The
pupa state lasts but from eight to ten days, and the beetle (Fig. 34, c)
is found on our vines during the months of July, August and Septem-
ber. It is not yet kno"vV^n how long a time is required for the develop-
ment of the larva, but from analogy we may infer that the insect
lives in that state upwards of three years.

This beetle was named about a century ago by Linnaeus who met
with a specimen in the magnificent collection of shells and insects
belonging to Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden. It occurs throughout
the States and Upper Canada, and is even met with in the West
Indies. It flies and feeds hj day, and is most abundant during the
months of July and August. The wing- covers are of a slightly metal-
lic clay-yellow color, with three distinct black spots on each, and the
wings themselves are dark-brown inclining to black; the thorax is
usually a little darker than the wing-covers, with one spot each side;
the abdomen beneath, and legs, are of a bronzed-green. It is easily
kept in check by hand-picking.

Pelidnota PUNCTATA, Linn. — Larva (Fig. .3i, o)— Length 2 inches; clumsy, moving on the
side. Head, bright chestnut-brown, smooth, rounded, with a short, impressed, longitudinal line
on the top, and three shallow impressions in front ; epistoma trapezoidal and darker ; labrum
rough, irregularly punctate, and t^eset on the margin with a few stiff rufous hairs ; antennte (Fig.
34, c; as long as epistoma and lubrum together, 4-jointed exclusive of bulbus or tubercle in which
they are inserted; joints cylindrical, proportioned in length as 2, 6, 4, 1, the terminal joint being
often a mere bud ; mandibles strong and black, with three denticulations at tip, and a very slight
toe th at inner basal portion ; maxillaa brown and subcylindrical on outside, angulated on inside,
bearing two lobes, each terminating in an inwardly-curved corbeous tooth, and each furnished

* See American Entomologist and Botanist, Vol. I, p. 295.

THE STATE EKTOMOLOGIST.

19

on their Inner narrow edge with stiff bristles, the outside one arising close by base of palpus, the
insid» one extending lower down, and recalling by its form, the terminal joint of the front leg of
a scorpion ; maxillary palpi 4-jointod, joints cylindrical, short, very gradually longer and longer
from 1 to 4, the terminal joint more pointed and narrower than the others ; labium quadrangular,
labial palpi 2-jointed, the palpigerous piece strongly beset with bristles. Body, smooth with but a
few wrinkles at thorax ; polished translucent white, with faint bluish marblings on all but thoracic
joints which are slightly narrower than the rest ; a narrow vascular dorsal line, and a very slight
yellowisli liorny plate in a depression on joint 1 ; a very slight pubescence observable, and a trans-
Terse tergal row of sparse but tolerably long hairs on posterior part of each joint ; more dense and
conspicuous hairs on lower fides of anal joint, which joint is short, cut offstjuarely, with a heart-
shaped swelling [Pig. 34, d) sunk into a circular depression, each lobe of the- heart with a darker
oval corneous elevation; spiracles sub-elliptical, dark Chestnut-brown, placed on a prominent
swelling-, the lateral openings all facing the head, the Ist on joint 1, the rest on joints 4, 5, 6, 7, 8>
9, 10 and 11, gradually becoming smaller and smaller from first to last. Legs (Fig. 34, /) horny,
light-biuwu and covered sparsely with hairs ; coxaj long and stout, with a rounded swelling at low-
er anterior edge ; femora cylindrical, sometimes, distinctly, at others indistinctly, separated from
tibiffi, sometimes prolonged into a thorn below, with a distinct carina along the inside, at others
not; tibite cylindrical, incrassated anteriorly, especially below; tarsi cylindrical and terminating
in a distinct claw.

Pupa (Fig. 34, b) of the form of Lochnosternai

Described from 12 living specimens i

THE GRAPF VINfi FLEA-BEETLE— /ia^^;^ca chaiyhea, Illeger.

(Coleoptera, Chrysomelidfe.)

[Fig. 35.]

entirely inapplicable.

Is there a grape-grower in
the State of Missouri who does
not know, to his sorrow, what
the Grape-vine Flea-beetle is ?
Hardly one! Andyethowfew
ever connect it with its dis-
gusting little shiny brown lar-
v£e, which generally prove still
more injurious than tne beetle,
by riddling the leaves in the
middle of the summer.

The Grape-vine Flea-beetle
(Fig. 35, d )tiften goes by the
cognomon of "Steel-blue Bee-
le," and is even dubbed
'"Thrips" by some vineyardists.
The latter term, however, is
The former name is not sufficiently charac-

«■ Tlie term Thrips is conKned to an anomalous group of insects— mostly cannibal, l)Ut excep-
tionally \e;etnble feeding— of which Ilalliduy made a separate Urder Clhy-siin, p-ei n). but which are
to-day "includt=d in the HomoiJti^rn, or Whole-winged Bugs, by most authors, though they seem to
have close affinities to the Orlhopltra) and to the Pseudoneuroptera.

80 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

teristic, because the color varies from steel-blue to metallic-green and
purple, and because there are many other flea beetles to which it
would equally apply.

The Grape-vine Flea-beetle is found in all parts of the United
States and in the Canadas, and it habitually feeds on the Alder (Al-
nus serrulata), as well as upon the wild and cultivated Grape-vine.
Its depredations seem first to have been noticed in 1831, by Judge
Darling, of Connecticut, and in 1834 Mr. David Thomas, of New York,
published an account of it in the 26th volume of Silliman's American
Journal of Science. Its transformations were, however, unknown till
some time after Dr. Harris wrote his excellent work on Injurious In-
sects, and the figure of the larva was first published by myself last
fall.

The beetles hibernate in a torpid state under any shelter which
is afforded them in the vineyard, such as the loose bark and crevices
of stakes, etc., etc., and they are roused to activity quite early in the
spring. The greatest damage is done by them at this early season,
for they often bore into and scoop out the unopened buds, and thus
blight the grape-grower's bright expectations. As the leaves expand,
the little jumping rascals feed on the leaves, and soon pair and de-
posit their small orange eggs in clusters, very much as in the case of
the Colorado Potato- beetle. These eggs soon hatch into dark-col-
ored larvae, which may be found of all sizes during the latter part of
May and early part of June. They are generally found on the upper
surface of the leaf, which they so riddle and devour as to give it the
appearance represented at Figure 35, a. When very numerous they
devour all but the very largest leaf-ribs, and I have seen the wild
vines throughout whole strips of country rendered most unsightly by
the utter denudation which these insects had wrought. The larvae
feed for nearly a month, and when full grown present the appearance
of Figure 35, 5, the hair line at the side showing the natural size.
They then descend from the vine and bury themselves a short dis-
tance in the earth, where, after each forming a little earthen cell (Fig.
35, c), they change to pupae of a deep dull yellow color, and in about
three weeks more issue as beetles. These beetles leave the ground
from the middle of June to the middle of July, and, so far as I am
aware, do not breed again till the following spring — there being but
one brood each year. They subsist on the leaves during the fall, but
the damage they inflict is trifling compared to that which they cause
in spring.
[Fig. 36.] Like all other Flea-beetles, this species has very stout,

swollen hind thighs, which, though hidden in Figure 35, 6?,
are well represented in the accompanying cut (Fig. 36). By
means of these strong thighs they are enabled to jump
about very energetically, and are consequently very diffi-
cult to manage during the summer months. In the winter
time, however, they can be destroyed in great numbers while hidden

THfi STATE ENTOMOLOQISl:. 81

in a torpid state in their retreats, for Dr. E. S. Hull, of Alton, Illinois,
lells ns* that they were otice so numerous in a small vineyard of his
that in the spring of 1867 he burnt them out by surrounding them
with fire, and letting the fire run through the dry grass in the vine-
yard. "It was a rough remedy, but as his crop was destroyed, he let
the beetles follow suit." Clean culture and general cleanliness in a
vineyard will, to a great extent, prevent this insect's increase. Espe-
cially should the stakes be clean and free from old bark.

The larvae can be more easily destroyed by an application of dry
lime, used with a common sand-blower or bellows. This has been
found to be more efi'ectual than either lye or soap-suds, and is withal
the safest, as lye, if used too s'trong, will injure the leaves.

This insect, like so many others, will one year swarm prodigiously,
and then again be scarcely noticed ; and such changes in its numbers
depend mainly on conditions of the weather, as no parasite is known
to attack it. In the spring of 18G8, though they were at first out in
full force, yet after some subsequent severe and cold weather, they
had mostly disappeared. They are apt to be most troublesome where
Alder abounds in the woods.

Haltica chalybea, in'ig.— Full-grown Larva.— Length, 0.35 inch. Head polished black.
Body livid-brown above, paler beneath ; subcylindrical, the joints bulging, especially at sides, and
each divided superiorly into two transverse folds ; on each fold a row of six shiny-black elevated
spots, the dorsal ones larger than the others, and often (especially the posterior two) confluent, or
divided onlj' by a very narrow dorsal line ; each spot giving rise to a single short stiff hair ; one
such substigmatal black spot placed in middle of joint, and more elongated than the rest, being
apparently composed of two confluent ones, as it gives rise to two hairs. Three ventral spots, one
anteriorly, which is large, transversely-elongate, central, and without hairs ; and tw^o posteriorly
(one each side) which are small and piliferous Six black thoracic legs, and one anal orange pro-
leg.

Pupa. — Length, 0.14 inch. Of the normal Chrysomelid form. Deep dull yellow, and covered
more or less above with short black bristles arranged in a transverse row across each joint, and each
arising from a slight elevation : two stouter anal bristles or thorns. Eyes brown. Tips of jaws
browa.

Described from numerous living specimens.

THE GRAPE-VINE COL^SFIS—Colaspis Uvida, Say.

(Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae.)

There is a little clay yellow beetle (Fig. 37, magnified, natural

size), which does great injury to the Grape-vine by riddling the

[Fig. 37.] leaves. It is more or less abundant with us every

year, butjudging from recorded accounts is still more

, injurious in the Eastern States, and especially in New

York. In the Country G enileman iov Kngwst ZOih.^

1^ 1866, occurs the following account of it by Dr. Fitch,

in answer to a correspondent who wrote that they

were destroying grape-vines by the wholesale :

* Proc. Alton Hort. Soc. for May, 1867.
S E — 6

^2 THIRD ANifUAL I^^EPORf (?#

''The rascals alluded to are a beetle of the Cbrysomela famify,^
and are the Browii Colaspis,*^ Cblmpis hrunnea. Fab. It is an oval,-
drab-colored beetle, nearly twice as long a« broad, and nearly two-
tenths of an inch in I'etigth, having the outer edge of his wing covers
black, and also the under side of its body and th^'e tip of its antennae.
It is rather a common insect througliout'the United States, appearing
in the latter part of June, each year, and continuing through the
month of July. I have frequent^iy gathered it from the wild grape-
vine, the Cinquefoil or Potentilla, and some other plants, but have
never known it to invade the cultivated grape until this year.

It has this season been the worst enemy that has attacked the-
■yj,n-e jn my neighborhood— riddling the leaves with small round holes.
intei;^persed with large irregnlar ones— and I hear of it in several
£>tlier pa^'ts of the country. * * ^

Wherever the Leaf- folder (Fig.24) abounds^ this^ beetle will almost
jnvarjably be found in conjunction with it in the fold of the leaf. Oii'
finding it so inyariably in this fold, I at first supposed that \i merely
took advantage of the position for shelter^, little suspecting that it
would feed upon the worm, since the family to which it belongs is
essentially herbivorous, and the Leaf folder is so very actiye ; but from-
having found numbers of the shrunken and half-dead worms, I was^
(i to conjecture that it does actually prey upon them :. just as-
maiiy true hw.gQ {Hemiptera) though living naturally on the juices*
f)f piawts, will still appropriate and relish those of certain caterpillars.
Thus may one great pest serve to check another!

Of the natural history of this beetle nothing has hitherto been'
known. As the beetle was often found upon and greedily devours-
the leaves of the Strawberry, and as a white worm was known to in-
jure the roots of that plant, J inferred several years ago (Prairie-
Farmer Annual 1S68, p. 56). that this worm was the larva of the Co-
laspis. From the facts, however, that the larva of the European Co-
laspis harhara was described as a hexapod, blackish, glabrous grub

® Dr. Fitch rpferred this insect to brunnca, Fabr., and Mr. Walsh {Practical Entomologist, II,
p. 68) criticised hie course, and referred the species to Jlavida, Say. I adopt Say's name simply
because it best indirates the general appearance of the insect, and not because I thinli Mr. Walsh
was rio'ht in his strictures. I have kindly been allowed to examine Dr. Fitch's specimens ; have
examined specimens in other hirg-e Eastern collections, and those in the Walsh collection, and am
convinced that the difficulty between the above two authors arises from the confounding of varie-
ties with species. It is here, as in almost every other genus and Family, the closet systematist
divides up and arranges with insufficient knowledge of the variation which species are suliject to,
and this was especially the case in years gone by, when every little colorational difference was
generally supposed to be immutable. The naturalist, therefore, who studies insects for oiher and
more laudable purposes than the mere naming and classifying of them, though fully aware of the
importance and necessity of good and clear nomenclature, may well despair of bringing order out
of the confusion which often exists, and which the miserably short and incomplete descriptions of
older authors have had much to do in causing. The economist can spend his time more profitably,
and so long as he always adds the authority to the name he uses, there will be no danger of causing
more confusion, and he can coolly disregard the interminable disputes between different authors as
to the proper technical name by which an insect should be known. In the present case, I simply give
it as my opinion that brunneo, Fabr., snilla, Fabr., and Jlavida, Say, are all varieties of one species,
because specimens accordingwith each are found in the same vineyard, and because Say himself
gives a variation in flavida, which differs much more from his description than does either biunnea
tor suilla. Mr. Walsh gives the antenna of ^ai-irfa as having the last joint or two, and the tip of
the last joint but four, brown -black, but there is variation here, and the dark color on the last joint
but four is often obsolete. The exterior edges of the elytra are either concolorous or of all shades
cf brown to black, and the same may be said of the sutural edges. There is also a somewhat
)arc;er form, which must certainly be referred to the same species, which has the punctures so
much less profound as to give it a much smoother and more highly polished appearance.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

83

living unx)roiected upon the leaves of hicern and clover,* and that
such was the character of the larvjie of most other insects b-elonging
to the great Chrysomela fcunily, I had little confidence tiiat m^' ref-
erence would prove the correct one. Yet it so X'roved to be, and^I
have bred the beetle from larviR infesting strawberry roots that v/ere
kindly sent to me by Mr. J. B. Miller, of Anna, Ills. Just as in the
European Turnip 'Ple^i-heeilQ {Phyllotreta nemorum)^ the larva mines
the leaves above ground, while in our very closely allied Striped
Flea-beetle {Pkyllotretfjt striolata^ IHig-)^ it feeds upon the roots be-
low ground; so there seems to be the same difference of habit in the
^enus Colasp is. In this last case the difference is not only of habit,
but the structure is modified in accordance with the habit, and we
have in our Grave-vine Colaspis a Chrysomelid larva bearing a very
<;lose resemblance to that of a Lamellicorn.

It is indeed a most singular larva, and differs from all others with
which I am acquainted, in having on the underside of the le^-less
joints a pair of curious fleshy projections reminding one of legs, and
terminating in about two stiff hairs (Fig, 38, a). The office of these
appendages it is di'fficult to conjecture, for they seem to impede rather
than aid in locomotion on a flat surface, though,
when the habits of the larva are more critically
studied, these appendages will doubtless be found to
subserve some useful purpose. The color of this larva
is yellowish or grayish-white with a gamboge-yel-
low head. The pupa is formed in the ground and ex-
hibits no unusual characters.

We are now only treating of this insect as a
Grape-vine pest; but it is difficult to say whether the
Orown-borer (Fig, 14) or this root-eater is the most
injurious to the Strawberry. The work of the two is
-essentially different, the white Crown-borer confining itself to the
«rown, and its more dingy ally devouring the fibrous roots and work-
ing into the more woody parts from the outside. At this work sev-
eral of them may frequently be seen with their heads stuck into differ-
■ent parts of one root. They may be found upon the roots all through
the fall, winter and spring months, and do not begin to change to
pupoB in this latitude till about the month of June, the beetles ap-
pearing during that month and continuing to issue from the ground
till towards fail. As soon as they issue from the ground they com-
mence to feed upon the tender leaves, and in a measure injure the
plants by riddling them with holes. After feeding for a v/hile on
strawberry leaves, and depositing their eggs, they spread on to other
plants and are generally found most numerous in the vineyard dur-
ing the latter part of July and during August, where, according to
Mr. Miller, they show a partiality for the leaves of the Delaware.

«Notice sur les Devastations de la Larve du Colaapis baibara, parM. Leon Dufour— Annales de
aa Soc. Ent. de France, 1S36, pp. 371—372.

81

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

Such, in brief, is the history of this common beetle, as far as I have
been able to trace it. It doubtless has natural enemies, and ants are
so fond of the helpless pupjE that the (Jolaspis never occurs on the
roots where they abound. The evil effects of its work are more ap-
parent on young and newly set plants than on older ones, and the
only way to prevent the ravages of the worm, which we yet know of^
is to so protect newly set plants that the beetles will not get access
to them. I have had no opportunity to make experiments, but it may
turn out that some application to the ground or to the plant, such as
ashes, soot, lime, or salt, will ward off the perfect beetle, and I shall
be glad to hear reports from those who are troubled with the pest.
The same remedies used in killing the Colorado Potato-beetle would
also kill this species.

CoLAsris FLAviDA, Say — Larva, (Fig. 38) — Color dingy yellowish ; uniformly covered witb
sparse stiff yellowish hairs. Having the general appearance of a Laraellicorn larva. Slightly
[irched but capable of stretching out tolerably straight. Narrowest in middle of body, the tho-
racic and anal joints b«ing slightly swollen. The joints with about three dorsal wrinkles to each.
[lead honey-yellow, rounded, flattened in front ; epistoma and labrum of same color ; jaws darker.
Legs pale, setous, and terminating in a brown claw. Spiracles scarcely perceptible, the first
mb-ventral between joints 1 and 2, the others placed on a lateral series of swellings commencing
with joint 4. Joints 4-11 inclusive, each with a pair of soft ventral leg-liK* appendages, ending,
n two or more stiff hairs. Anal joint somewhat horny below (Fig. 38, b) but with no trace of
)rolegs. Length 0.25 — 0.30 inch. Described from two rather poor alcoholic specimens.

THE GRAPE-LEAF GALL-LOUSE— PAyZZor^^m vitifolim. Fitch,

(Homoptera, Aphida).)

Here we have an insect, the life-history of which is as interesting
0 the entomologist as its devastations are alarming to the grape-
[^•s- -^Q] grower, I have given it consid-

erable attention the past summer^
and though it is a difficult task
to present definite and satisfac-
tory information from the multi-
tude of facts obtained, yet I shall
endeavor to give a comprehen-
Jsive account of this little louse,,
so far as my present knowledge
of it will permit. In doing so I
am made painfully aware that
there is much room left for fur-
ther observations, and he who
will patiently and persistently
devote his time for a few years to
ta study, and will with candor and accuracy give to the world the re^

THE STATE EKTOMOLOGI&T. ^i)

suits, will doubtless be rewarded by new and important discoveries,
and will render valuable service to the cause of science and of econ-
omic entomolog;y.

The first reference to this insect was briefly made by Dr. Fitch, of
New York, in the year 185G,** and he subsequently described it in a
very insufficient manner, under the name of Pewphicjus vitifolice /*
but though the specific name must be retained, the insect was wrongly
referred to the genus Pemphigus^ as we shall presently see. Ten
years afterwards this louse was again referred to by myself in the
Prairie Farmer for August 8, 1866, and during the fall of the same
year articles were written upon it by Dr. Shimer,f and by my late as-
sociate, Mr. WalshJ— the former claiming that it was a true Plant-
louse (ApJiis family), and the latter that it was a Bark-louse {Coccus
family). In this Dr. Shimer was evidently right, and Mr. Walsh
wrong. In January, 1867, Dr. Shimer proposed for this insect a new
family (Dactylosph.erid.e),§ which, in my opinion, cannot stand.

But not to weary the general reader with purely scientific ques-
tions, I shall give the reasons for my opinion on this point, together
with some other details, in smaller type at the close.

This louse Avas subsequently treated of by Mr. Walsh in his report
as Acting State Entomologist of Illinois (pp. 21-2f), where he still
felt inclined to place it with the Bark-lice, though I have good reason
to believe that he afterwards changed his mind. During all this time
a serious disease of the roots of the Grape-vine began to attract at-
tention in the south of France, audit finally caused such alarm that
the Minister of Agricultuj-e and Commerce in France offered a prize
of 20,000 francs for the discovery of an efficacious and practical rem-
edy.

A special commission was also appointed to draw up a programme
of conditions, examine memoirs submitted "to it, settle the experi-
ments to be made, collect evidence from local commissions, and if
they saw reason for so doing, to award the prize offered by govern-
ment. The commission consisted of M. Dumas, M. Milne Edwards
and M. Duchartre, of the Paris Academy of Sciences ; M. Gervais, M.
Planchon, M. Henri Mares and M. Louis Vialla, of Montpellier; the
Comte de Vergue, of Gironde; M. Bedel, of Vaucluse, and three
members of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The disease is known b.s pourridie, or rotting. It is in the form
of little cankerous spots, which cut off the supply of nourishment
and cause the roots to rot, and these spots were ascertained by
MM. Planchon and Lichtenstein, of Montpellier, to be caused by a
louse {Pliijlloxera vastatrix^ Planchon,) which bears a close resem-

»» N. Y. Rep. I, p. 158.

« Rep. 3, ?i 117.

f Prairie larmer, Nov. 3 and Dec. 8, 1866.

j Pract. Ent., Vol. I, p. Ill ; Vol. 11, p. 19 ; and Proc. Ent. Soc, Phil., VI, pp. 2S3-4, notes.

I Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil., Jan. 1867.

S6 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

blance to our gall-insect. This is not all, for a leaf-gall absolutely
identical with ours also occurs there, and the identity of the gall-in-
habiting with the root-inhabiting insect was demonstrated by "J. O.
W.," in the Gardener'^s Chronicle^ of England, for January 30, 186^,
and M. J. Lichtenstein even contended that their European species
Avas identical with ours, and imported from this country, in which
opinion he was supported by A. Combe-Dalmas.*

Of course these views expressed in Europe gave increased inter-
est to our own gall-louse, and I determined to make every effort to-
decide the question of identity, together with some other questions
which presented themselves. To this end I opened correspondence
with M. V. Signoret and M. J. Lichtenstein, who were making experi-
ments in France while I was doing the same here. But the blighting^
effects of the war have not only entailed untold misery and woe to
millions in France, but have either paralyzed or eflectually balked
scientific investigation within her borders, so that at last accounts M.
Lichtenstein was in Spain, and M. Signoret shut up in Paris. f I was,
however, fortunate enough to receive from the latter gentleman, a
iQ-w days previous to the investment of Paris, a letter stating that
upon examination of specimens of our gall-lice, which I bad expressed
to him, he was convinced of their identity with the European species.
This was indeed satisfactory, and coupled with the fact that I have
discovered that our gall-insect likewise attacks the roots of our vines
in precisely the same manner as does the European species, and that
the Avinged specimens found in this country by Dr. Shimer agree in
haA^ng the characteristic dusky band around the middle of the tho-
rax described in the winged female of Europe, it leaves no doubt in
my mind that the insects of the two continents are really identical.

As already stated, the war put a stop to investigations in France,
and Ave do not know that any effectual remedy was discovered, or that
the premium was disposed of. Carbolic acid, and two other sub-
stances, namely, sulphuret of lime dissolved in water, and an empy-
I'eumatical oil, known among veterinary surgeons by the name of "oil
of cade," dissolved in water, Avere found to be the best specifics ; but
neither of them have been tried on a suflSciently extensive scale, and
1 have little faith in any medicinal remedy.

The two parties Avho have written most upon the disease, namely^
Mr. Signoret and M. Lichtenstein, took entirely opposite grounds as
to its cause. The former claimed that it had a botanical rather than
an entomological cause, that it was principally due to drouth, bad
culture and poor soil, and that the Phylloxera was therefore inci-
dental; and acting upon this view, suggested that Avater, Avith manure

* Imectologie Agricole, 1869, p. 189.

{• Since the above was written, I have beard from M. Signoret through M. Lichteristein.
Nothing daunted by the siege, the former c.'jrried on his studies of this little louse, and wrote by
balloon, that though he himself was reduced to cats, dogs and horse-flesh, the Phylloxera, which
he had in boxes, kept well and in good health. No doabt our enthiisiastic friend finds much solace
in thus pursuing knowledge under difficulties.

ffUE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 157

and p;0od cultivation, would do away with it; while the latter main-
tained that the Phylloxera was the sole cause of the trouble. There
are, doubtless, certain conditions of soil whi«;h will prove favorable to
the increase of the louse, and it may also be influenced by the sea-
sons and by gDod or poor cultivation; but that this insect should be
found only on such roots as are already diseased is highly improbable,
and there can be no reasonable doubt that M. Lichtenstein is right in
attributing the disease directly to the PJajlloxera. The appearance
•of mites is the almost inevitable consequence of diseased and rotting
vegetation, but Plant-lice cannot live on such vegetation, and inva-
riably leave it as soon as they have, by their punctures, reduced the
healthy tissues to such a state. Moreover, the history of our louse,
which I shall now proceed to give, corroborates M. Lichtenstein's
views.

In Missouri this insect has proved very injurious to the Clinton
vine for several years past — at least as far back as 1864, when the fo-
liage of the Clinton was reported, in the proceedings of our State Hor-
ticultural Society, as "very bad" — and Mr. Geo. Husmann informed me
that in 1869, it actually defoliated three-fourths of an acre of Clin-
tons and Taylors on bottom land at Bluft'ton, though it did not appear
to do much injury on the hills. It was quite bad around Kirkwood
the present year, and, judging from reports, of correspondents and
from my own observations, it was more than usually abundant in most
of the Eastern States.

In this latitude the first galls are noticed by about the middle of
May, and by the middle of June they begin to be quite common. It
occurs most abundantly on the Clinton and Taylor, but is also found
on the wild Frost Grape( V. conllfolia), and such other cultivated
varieties of it as Golden Clinton and Huntington; also on the Dela-
aware, and early in the year I even found a few large galls on the
Concord. According to Dr. Morse it also occurs on thelona, which is
a variety of the Northern Fox Grape ( V. lahriisca). The galls vary
somewhat in appearance, accorJing to the vine upon which they
occur, those I have noticed on the wild Frost Grape being more
hirsute than those on the cultivated Clinton, and these again rougher
than on the Taylor.

The few individuals which start the race early in the year station
themselves upon the upper side of the leaves, and by constant suc-
tion and irritation soon cause the leaf to swell irregularly on the op-
posite side, while the upper part of the leaf gradually becomes fuzzy
and closes, so that the louse at last sinks from view, and is snugly set-
tled in her gall. Here she commences depositing, her bulk increasing
during pregnancy. Eventually she grows to be very plump and
swollen, acquires a deep yellow or orange tint, and crowds the space
within the gall with her small yellow egg^^ numbering from fifty to
four or five hundred, according to the size of the gall. The young
lice are pale yellow, and appear as at Figure 40, rZ, e. As soon as

88 THIRD ANNUAL BEPORT OF

they are hatched they escape from the gall through the orifice on the
upper surface of the leaf, which was never entirely closed ; and, ta-
king up their abode on the young and tender leaves, in their turn
form galls. The mother-louse, after completing her deposit, dies, and
the gall which she occupied dries up. There are several generations
during the year, and this process goes on as long as the vines put
forth fresh leaves. As the gxlls multiply and the growth of the vine
becomes less vigorous, the young lice sometimes so completely cover
the upper surface of the newly expanded leaves as not to leave room
for them all to form galls. In this event the leaf soon perishes, and
the lice perish with it. When two or more lice are stationed closely
together they often form but one gall, which accounts for the pres-
ence of the several females that are sometimes observed in a single
gall. Those leaves which have been badly attacked turn brown or
black, and sooner or later fall to the ground, so that the vine may he-
come entirely denuded.

By August the insects generally become so prodigiously multi-
plied that they often settle on the tendrils, leaf-stalks, and tender
branches, where they form excrescences and gall-like growths, differ-
ing only from those on the leaves in such manner as one would natu-
rally expect from the difference in the plant tissues. By this time
the ro.any natural enemies of the lice begin to play sad havoc with
them ; and after the vine has finished its growth, the young lice, find-
ing no more succulent and suitable leaves, begin to wander and to seek
the roots, so that bj^ the end of September tlie galls are deserted, and
those few remaining on the vines generally become mildewy, and
finally turn brown and dry up. Upon the roots the lice attach them-
selves singly, or in little groups, and cause by their punctures little
swellings and knots, which eventually become rotten. Where vines
have been badly affected with the gall, it is difficult to find a perfectly
healthy [fibrous root. Strange enough, these lice not only change
their residence as winter approaches, from the leaf above ground to
the root below ground, just like the Moor, who, having passed the
summer on his roof, gets into his house in the winter; but. Proteus-
like, they change their appearance in shedding their skins, and at the
present writing (Nov. 6th) have all become tubercled, as represented
at Figure 40,^.

No doubt the insect passes the winter on the roots in this tuber-
cled state, but whether in the spring these tubercled individuals pro-
duce winged males and females, which rise in the air, pair, and by de-
positing eggs give birth to the apterous females which found the gall-
producing colonies; or whether, as spring opens, they lay eggs on
the roots, and the young hatching from these eggs crawl up on to the
leaves and found those gall-producing colonies, are questions yet to
be settled in the life-history of our Grape leaf-louse. The former hy-
pothesis is, however, by far the most probable, for analogy would lead
us to infer that winged males and females must be developed at some

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 89

time during its annual course, and winged males are so rare in the
galls that I have never been able to find them, though I have opened
thousands upon thousands of the galls during the summer and fall
months. Dr. Shinier, indeed, is the only fortunate individual who has
found tlie winged insect in the galls, and, as he himself tells us, he
only succeeded in finding four specimens in the fall of the year, after
cutting open ten thousand galls; and he has really given us no proof
that his winged specimens were really males, and not females. Let
us hope, however, that by pointing out the gaps in the biological his-
tory of this insecl, attention will be drawn to them, so that they may
be the more readily filled.

These discoveries lead us to some most important practical con-
siderations. It now becomes evident that this insect can be trans-
ported from one place to another on the roots, either upon trans-
planted vines or in earth containing fibrous roots. Doubtless it was
by some such mode as this that the insect was introduced into France
from this country. It may be in this manner likewise that it has in
part spread from one portion of our country to another, though as it
is found indigenously on the -wild Frost Grape, the greater probabili-
ties are that it exists wiierever this wild grape is ibund, and has grad-
ually spread from it on to the cultivated varieties. These probabili-
ties are strengthened by the fact that new grape wood is always rooted
in the spring, wlien the lice, according to my views, are leaving the
roots. But the important fact remains, that the insect winters on the
roots, and that to exterminate it from a vineyard we have but to root
up and destroy, late in the fall, such vines as were affected with the
galls. From the poor success that has attended the experiments
made abroad to destroy the lice on the roots, and from the fact that it
is so difficult to reach them, I have little hope that any other remedy
will be found than that of extermination by the means indicated, or
by plucking and destroying the gall-infested leaves as fast as they ap-
pear in the spring.

Another very important practical lesson may be derived from the
facts here mentioned, namely, that no variety of the Frost Grape
( V. cordifolia) should be cultivated and encouraged Avhere those of
the Fox Grape ( V. lahrusca) or of the Summer Grape ( V. cestivalis)
are known to be as good. Some of our best grape-growers, especially
in the Mississippi Valley, already discard the Clinton and its nearest
relatives as worthless, and, considering its liability to this disease, we
heartily commend their conduct.

At the 15th annual meeting of the Illinois State Horticultural
Society, at Galesburg, the Clinton was highly recommended by Mr.
D. B. Wier, of Lacon, Ills., principally for its vinous and medicinal
qualities; but in this recommendation he did not meet with much
support except from Dr. Hull the State Horticulturist, who also, in
the course of his remarks sustained Mr. Wier in his recommendation
of the Clinton, though in our own State Horticultural Report for 1S64

90 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

(p. 66.) he is reported as being much inclined to discard it, his objec-
tion being thatitis "troubled by the apple-worm" — by which is doubt-
less intended, the Grape-berry Moth.

There is some difference of opinion among botanists and expe-
rienced grape-growers as to the number of indigenous species of the
Grape-vine, and as to the true character of some of the cultivated
varieties. Some botanists are inclined to the opinion that we have
but two, or even but one, species; and certain it is that the fertile
character of the hybrids would lead to such an opinion, if infertility
of hybrids is to be taken as a test of specific character. But it is
more generally accepted that we have four distinct species ( K lahnis-
ca., (jBstivalis^ cordifolia and vulpina) and this view is held by most
western men,* and is perhaps warranted when we reflect that the
very term species is but arbifrary, and that fertility of hybrids is not
valued so much as an indication of specific identity among plants
and some of the lower animals, as it is among more highly organized
beings.

As already stated, our Grape leaf-louse is now principally con-
fined to varieties of the Frost Grape ;f but as it has been found in
limited numbers on lona and Concord, which are considered as varie-
ties of the Northern Fox, and on the Delaware, which is considered
either as a Summer Grape or as a hybrid between the Summer and
the Northern Fox, I fear it may yet spread and become injurious to
these species. Morever, now that we know that our insect is identi-
cal with that of Europe, there is also great danger that it will attack
all hybrids with the European Vlnifera, some of which, as the
"Goethe," now promise well. Thus the reasons for discarding the
Clinton and other Frost grapes become multiplied, for their cultiva-
tion ma}' endanger the whole grape-growing interest of the country.
On entomological grounds, I say emphatically to western men, do not
plant any more Clintons, and get rid Of those you now have as quickly
as possible.

At the recent meeting of our State Horticultural Society at St.
Joseph, some little discussion followed a paper which I read on this
gall-louse and I was pleased to find that Dr. C. W. Spaulding, well
known as a successful and experienced grape-grower, together with
many other members, fully concurred in the advice here given. He
had examined many of his vines, after his attention had been called
to the matter, and found that the lice were found principally on the
roots of old vines, and not on those of young ones. At this meet-
ing it was almost unanimously agreed that the Clinton was compara-
tively worthless and should be done away with, but a few of the more

* See Husmann, "Grapes and Wine"; Flagg-, Hearthand Home, Sept. 3, 1870; Spaulding, Lec-
ture delivered at tlie Illinois State Fair, 1870.

t Tlioug'h Gra3' considers the Clinton a variety of the ^ICstivalis, it is more generally cou-
sidered as belonging- to Cordifolia, which its great liability to the gall-louse would indicate.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 01

conservative members, hesitated about discarding it for fear that such
action would bring about the very result which it was intended to
avoid, / (^., the spread of the insect on toother and more valuable
varieties. In other words they feared that by taking away the Clin-
ton, tiie lice which now prefer this variety and flourish and multiply
upon it, would be forced to attack other varieties. They looked upon
the Clinton, as a protector to the better kinds, by drawing the lice
away from them, arguing, to parady the words of Shakespeare, that

" 'Tis better far, to bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of."

Now while I admire the cautious spirit manifested in such an
argument and admit that it seems plausible, I cannot believe there
is any logic in it. The argument presupposes that the louse, as a species,
can suddenly change its habits and tastes when forced to do so ;but
to my mind, a new habit is not generally acquired in a species by the
simultaneous change of all the individuals composing it, but by some
aberrant individual first taking on the new habit, and transmitting
that habit to its descendants until a new race is in time produced, A
single Clinton vine may stand in the midst of a vineyard of Concords
for years, and, as we know to be the case, may be badly infested with
this louse without its spreading on to the surrounding Concords. The
lice may, and perhaps do, year after year spread on to and settle on
the comparatively tougher leaves of such Concords, but year after
year they perish from incapacity to sustain themselves. Some day,
liowever, one or more aberrant individuals, may, by some slight consti-
tutional difference from the normal type, be enabled to sustain them-
selves on the Concord leaves, and, by the laws of inheritance, trans-
mit their characteristics to their descendants until, by the survival of
those from each generation best fitted to llourish on these leaves, a
new Concord-feeding race will be produced. Therefore, as already
stated, I believe that there is danger of this louse spreading on to
other varieties, and especially onto such as are more closely allied to
the Cordifolia, or, to use a common but inexact expression, that have
Cordlfolia "blood" in them. But it must not be forgotten that we are
here only supposing, from analogy, whsLimay occur, because we know
not positively that it loill occur, and it is very obvious that even if
there is this danger the chances of such an occurrence will be far
greater as long as the Clinton is allowed to grow in the vineyard, than
when it is uprooted and banished ; and so far as all experience goes,
we can safely conclude that to destroy all those vines in a vineyard
that are infested with this louse, is to banish it from such a vineyard
so that it will in future confine its attacks to the wild frost, as it did in
the beginning.

The Apple-maggot {Trypeta pomoneUa^ Walsh), as Mr. Walsh has
demonstrated,* is an indigenous American insect and breeds in our

"•■•lleport as Acting State Entomologist of Illinois, pp. 29-30.

93 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

wild hawP,occiirring abundantly in the West, as well as in the East. Of
late years it has acquired an appetite for the cultivated apples in
some of the Eastern States, where it already does much damage to (he
apple crop. Yet, strange to say, it has not yet, and may never attack
the cultivated apples in the West, and there is more danger that in
process of time the more civilized Apple maggots of the East will
spread to the West, than that our haw-feeding maggots which are now
among us, will acquire that habit, as a race of them once did in the
East. Now no one will argue that if the Apple-maggots of the East
were to be exterminated, the maggots in the wild haws would any the
sooner attack our cultivated apples ; and in like manner the exter-
mination of the lice on our Clinton vines will not cause those on the
Wild Frost to any the sooner attack our Concords.

To give another illustration : — Our White pines have for years
been greatly injured by the Pine-leaf Scale {AspidiotuslMytilaspis]
pinifolice^ Fitchi) and I know that this same scale occurs to a slight
extent on several other species of the genus, and have good reason
to believe that it (or a race of it) is becoming more and more numer-
ous on the Scotch pine around St. Louis. Yet to get rid of this scale
I would not hesitate to destroy such White pines as were infested with
it, for fear that by such a procedure I should drive the scales on to
any other pines ; because I believe that the scales on the Scotch pine
for instance, multiply among themselves rather than by the annual
transportation of individuals from the White pine, and because the
experience of the past teaches that the latter is the only pine which
has really suffered injury from this scale.

Other similar illustrations might be given, but I close by reiter-
ating the opinion that there is nothing in the past history of the Grape-
leaf Gall-louse to warrant the belief that by destroying the Clinton
we shall force it on to those more valuable varieties which it has not
hitlierto attacked, and that whenever, as is admitted to be the case in
the central portion of our State, the Clinton can be replaced by other
and better varieties, it will be most wise and judicious to discard it.
I have no idea that we shall ever exterminate this louse from our
vineyards, because we can never obtain concert of action all over the
country, and because it will flourish in a measure on other cultivated
varieties of the Cordifolia group. But let each individual act for
himself, and I feel satisfied that so far as he follows the advice here
given, just so far will he be benefited.

Tliere are several cannibal and parasitic insects which attack
this Gall-louse, but for lack of time to make the proper illustrations, I
shall have to leave their consideration to a future Report.

Figure 39, at the head of this article, represents a leaf covered with
galls. Figure 40, {a) represents the winged female; (J) her foot or
tarsus — after Signoret; (c) an enlarged egg;(fZ) the newly hatched
gall-inhabiting type, ventral view ; (<?) same, dorsal view ; (f)

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

is

a section of a gall; (^) the
tubercJed root -inhabiting
form ; (A) the mother gall-
louse at the heighth of her
fertility, ventral view ; (i)
same, dorsal view — all from
nature ; (j and /i) differently
veined wings of the Oak
Pliyllouiera of Europe. All
these figures are greatly
enlarged, and the natural
size is approximately shown
by hair-lines.

The following discus-
sion of this insect's proper
place in our classification,
and of its characters, may
be passed over by the
practical reader, as it is in-
tended for those only who
take an interest in such
questions. lappenditwith
but very slight alteration, as
I wrote it for the last num-
ber of the second volume
of the American Entomol-
ogist :

It will be remembered that in what was said about this insect on page 248 of our first volume
ive criticized the founding of the Family Dactylospharidm by Dr. Shimer. In an essay read before
;he Illiaois State Horticultural Society, at 0tta\7a, last winter, Dr. Shimer took exception to our
■emarks, and called upon us to give a reason for the faith that is in us. Not considering a horti-
uiltural meeting the proper place to enter into the discussion of purely entomological questions,
ive declined to waste the precious time of the members, but intimated that we should be glad to
anrswer the Doctor whenever a favorable occasion presented. The opportunity did not offer till
low, as the Transactions of the Society, containing the essay in question, have butrecently been
)ubli3hed, but as we ourselves wrote the strictures, we will briefly give our reasons for so doing.
[n order to lay the question clearly before those interested, it will be necessary to quote that por-
ion of our former article which so exercised friend Shimer. It runs as follows :

The louse which forms the gall was first describe:! as Pemphigus vitifoUcc by Dr. Fitch, of New
fork, though it does not belong to that genus, Dr. Shimer, of Mt. Carroll, made some luterest-
ng observations on the habits of this insect, and made it the type of a new family {Dacylof^ph^z-
■idcB) and of a new genus {Dactylosphmra.) The distinguishing features of this supposed family
u-e certain appendages attached to the legs which Dr. Shimer calls riigituli, though tlie characters
)f the wings point unmistakably to the genus Phylloxera o£ ihe true Plant-lice. ^Ve shall not now
liscuss the validity or propriety of this new family, as we intend to give a more complete account
)f this louse in our future articles on Grape insects ; but we will say here tliat Dr. Shimer is un-
ortunate in grinding out new genera and new families, for he has proposed a new family and
;enus (Lepidosaphcs) for the common Apple-tree Bark-louse {Aspidiotns) [Mytilaspis] conchiforinis,
iinel.) based upon similar appendages, which he found on its legs ; whereas, if he had been better
losted he would have known that these appendages are characteristic of almost all Bark-lice.

And here is Dr. Shiiner's appeal :

Here they would like to make the public belive that these appendages, digituli, are the charac-
ters out of which I have proposed two families in Entomology ; whereas, the leading cliaracter
ipon which I propose my family Dactylospht^rida, is two claws on a one-jointed tarsus, and the
fading characters in Lepidosaphidcs. are a tarsus without a claw, and a scale-making, not a scale-
like insect. The dtfrj<;(/t froTi their g-lobe-ended extremities I consider of some importance, but

94 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

fey no means of primary weight in the first named family, and in the second family I give them no
more than secondary importance. What reasons the junior editor, for he alone now becomes res-
ponsible, can assign for so gross a misrepresentation I am not able to anticipate. He certainly,
however, will be able to give some reason for the faith within him. * * * ■•=^ * "*
I have not the slightest personal feeling in the matter, and I hope that my much respected friend,
Mr. Riley, State Entomologist of Missouri, will be free to defend the position he has taken against
me.

Now, we believe Dr. Shiiner is sincere in stating that he has no personal feeling in the matter,
else \re should not even notice his request. We hope, therefore, that he will believe us when we
state that in the few words we are about to pen we are governed by no personal considerations
whatever, but by a love of truth for truth's sake. As Dr. Shimer becomes more familiar (and we
hope he will so become) with the minute and interesting insects to which he has more especially
turned his attention, he will no doubt regret that he ever proposed those two families without lon-
ger pondering and considering.

Regarding the Bark-louse, we will dismiss the subject in a few words, as it is foreign to the
topic under consideration. Dr, Shimer, it is true, deserves severe handling for the cool and skep-
tical manner in which he refers to the work of all preceding entomologists, and the laughable way
in which he arrogates to himself the power of correct observation;*-''' but at present we will simply
accede to his request, as follows :

We confess that in stating that Dr. Sliimer had based his new family, Lepidosaphid.k, upon
the occurrence of digitali, we should have qualified our language by inserting "partly" before
*'upon," since the characters as given by him are, "Four digituU terminated by pulvilU or arolia,
and no claw, and the female living beneath a scale or shelMike habitation of hir own construct-
ing.'"'^ But we insist that the proposition of a family on such grounds was not only unfortunate,
but unwarranted, for the following reasons ; First, the so-called digitull are not even of generic,
much less of family value, as they are nothing but modified hairs, and occur in a more or less per-
fect form in all young Coccidde and Aphida; which we have examined, and are acknowledged by the
best authorities to be common to both these families. Secondly, the insect in question really has a
more or less perfect claw, as we have abundantly demonstrated the present year. Thirdly, the as-
sumptionf that the scale in all Coccid.k should be part and parcel of the insect itself, is a purely
gratuitous one, since there are many other species which live separate from their scales, and since
the genus Aspidiotus was especially erected by Bouche for those species which thus live under and
seperate from them. Consequently there remains not a single character mentioned by our
author but what is well known to belong to the Cocuid.e, and there is not even the slightest excuse
imaginable for seperating it from Costa's genus Diaspis, to which it is now correctly referred by
Signoret — our highest authority on this family.

Now let us return to our Grape-leaf louse. We have no trouble in proving by Dr. Khimer's
own words that we were perfectly justified in saying that the " digituli " were the " distinguishing
features " of his supposed family Dactyfosphceridcc. The very meaning of the Word (globe-fingered)
given to the family indicates such to have been the case, and he himself expressly says :+ "The
wing neuration of Dactylofphara is synonymous with that of Phylloxera; it is, therefore, upon the
other characters that I found this genus." Now what are the other' characters ? Turning to the
family characters given, we find : "Wings four, carried flat on the back in repose. Antenniv few-
jointed. Tarsi composed of one joint terminated by two claws, and from two to six digituli-
Honey tubes none ; otherwise resembling Aphidce.."'ji^ The only other character given which is not
Aphidian is the one-jointed tarsus, which, as we shall presently show, cannot, strictly speaking, be
considered a character of our Gall-louse, and which, even if it were, would scarcely warrant the
making of a new family. Every other character, including the "digituli," is common to dozens of
plant-lice, and the neuration of the insect's wing!| places it beyond any doubt in the genus Pyllox-

**Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. I, pp. 371-2.
» Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, I, p. 372.
t Ibid, p. 371.

X Ckai-actcrs for a supposed neio family, yi. 5, note; from the Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil,,
Jan., 1867.

y/. Ibid, p. 1.

II The neuration of the wing differs slightly from the typical European Phylloxera qucrcus, in
the two discoidal veins of the front wing uniting in a fork instead of being perfectly separated.
On this account Mr. Walsh proposed for our insect, and for certain other species found in hickory
galls, which have the same neuration, the generic name of Xerophylla. But it seems to us that the
polvmorphism of Aimiio.k has not yet been sulficiently investigated to allow of inakingeven differ-
ent species, much less different genera, upon a forked or unforked nervure, for there is frequently
much greater difference in specimens coming from the same parents ; and, as we are informed by
M. Lichtenstein, the European P.'ylloxcra of the Oak actually presents both kinds of neuration ;

THE STATE E^•TOMOLOGIST. 9o

Ird, ^v^lic{l lias long been ready to receive it, and -which, with the genera Vacuna and Chermes,
form the sixth Tribe, Chcrmesintv, of the ArmD.B, according to Passerini's latest revision of thia
family.

We can commend the carefulness with wliich Dr- Shimer made the interesting observations
tvhich he has given us on this insect, but no man should undertake to found new families without
first informing himself more thoroughly of what has already been done by others.

It was by no very easy means that we arrived at the conclusion that our Gall-'louse is identica\
Avith the European species, but now that the fact seems sufficiently proved, Planchon's specific nama
iHistatrix will have to give way to Fitch's vitifoUcC,'^' or at the most be retained as a variety.

At first there seemed to be many reasons for considering the two insects distinct. First, the
Enrope.an root-louse was exceedingly destructive, and their gall-louse of only exceptional occur-
rence ; while our gall-louse was very common and destructive, and no root-lice were known to exist
here at all. Secondly, the insect found in the galls was smooth, while that on the roots was dis-
tinctly ornamented with piliferous tubercles, and the two were suflBciently unlike to cause M.
Lichtenstein, who believed in their identity, to propose the term gall-inhabiting {gaUicole) for the
One race, and root-inhabiting {radiciole) for the other. Thirdly, our insect was described as having
a one-jointed tarsus, whereas M. Signoret described and figured the tarsus of the winged root-
inhabiting form as two-jointed. Fourthly, there seemed to be a difference even in the form of
our gall-inhabiting louse and theirs, as ours appeared much more obese and globular than tlieirs, as
represented in their figures. All these apparent differences were rather calculated to give rise to
doubts as to the identity of the tvro insects ; but by careful observation and persistency we have
been enabled to dispel them all.

First, we might naturally expect — and those who believe in the Darwinian hj^pothesis certainly
iTould — that, presuming our insect to have been imported into Europe, it would undergo some
modification in its habits, not only because of change of climate, but because of its having to live
On another species of the Grape-vine — all the European species belongs to Vitis vinifcra. Hence
its normal habits there, of feeding on the roots, may have been gradually acquired. We believe
a parallel case presents itself in our Apple Root-louse {Eriosoma pyri, Fitch) and the Wool}' Aphis,
or so-called "American Blight*' {Eriosoma lanigcra, Ilausm). It is conceded on almost all sidest
that the last insect was imported into Europe from this country, and there is now every reason to
believe that the two insects are identical, or that at furthest they can only be considered as varieties
of one species. Yet while in this countrj' our root-'louse is very injvirious in the West, and only
exceptionally found on the limbs above ground (though more often so found in the Eastern States);
all authors that we are acquainted with have spoken of it as occurring solely on the limbs in Europe;
though M. Lichtenstein informs us that he has found it on the roots also, and that in those cases it
caused just such swellings of the roots as our root^louse does here. We know in St. Louis of an old
apple-tree, standing in a yard where the ground is trodden hard, the limbs of which have been for
the past three years more or less affected with this insect, though none can be found on the roots.
But where the ground is more porous, and not so closely pressed to the roots, it seldom occurs on
the branches, but often on the roots, even in the immediate neighborhood. Upon the closest
examination we cannot find the slightest difference between the root and branch-inhabiting lice,

there being red specimens with unforked nerves (Fig 40, j) and yellow specimens with forked nerves
(Fig. 40, k). 1 have in my possession the very drawing made by Mr. Cresson from Dr. Shimer's
specimen of viliJoUcC, which Mr. Walsh refers to in his Report, and which led Mr W. erroneously
to place our louse with the Coccids. The drawing is rough, evidently imperfect, and well calcu-
lated to mislead, for the discoidal nerve of the front wing is represented more as a fold, the fork?
are omitted, and the costa of hind wing is represented perfectly straight. The drawing is also ac-
companied by Mr. Crosson's statement that he could not give any decided opinion as to the neura-
tion, as the wings on the speciaien were not spread out.

* M. .1. Lichtenstein has objected to Fitch's specific name "vitifolice" on the score of its bein"-
ungrammatical, and has substituted the term "vi/is-foHi" in his published reports. Now Dr. Fitch
has given the termination "folia" to a number of his specific names, and though "folii" would of
course be more grammatically correct, one would suppose the Doctor had some reason for his con-
duct. At all events I believe it is perfectly proper to drop the middle s in compoundine; llie two
words, and certain it is that Fitch's term has been adopted by all subsequent writers in spealun"-of
the insect. Irregularities in entomological nomenclature seem to be allowable, or at least are
very frequently and purposely ])erpetrat3d for the srke of euphon}'. "Whatever is, is right "
is as true in language as it is in religion, and if we alter citifolia: we must alter a thousand other
entomological names that are not, strictly speaking-, grammatically correct. It is quite proper to
correct a faulty name, but after showing that it is faulty it seems best, to prevent endless confu-
sion, to adopt the faulty name, and thus make its author shoulder the blame, until he himself cor-
rects it.

f M. Eudes-Deslongchamps and M. Blot are the only authors, according to Amyot and Serville.
who believe it is indigenous to Europe.

^6 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

and no doubt their habitat is governed somewhat by the character of the soil, though in this country
their normal habit is to attack the roots, and to appear above ground onlj^occasionly in the fall.

Secondly, we have proved, by transferring on to roots the young grape-lice hatched from galls,
and by successfully feeding them on those roots, that our smooth gall-iuhabiting tj'pe gives birth
to the tubercled root- inhabiting type; and we have discovered that our gall insects take to the roots
in the fall, on which thej' cause the same cankerous spots and swellings as does the vaslatrix ot
Europe, and on which they evidently hibernate just as vastatrixis known to do.

Thirdly, although in the gall-inhabiting type, in both countries, the tarsus seems to he one-
iointed, yet in the root inhabiting type it is really two-jointed ; for though the basal joint is small,
and not visible from above, it is plainly visible from the side or from below (See Fig. 40, b). We
have here what certain speculative entomologists-- would consider an excellent illustration of the
inferiority of Coccida? compared with the Aphida;, namely, a true Aphidian, exhibiting in its larval
and agamic stage the one-jointed tarsus of a Coccid, and only showing the two-jointed tarsus of its
family in the more perfected tubercled form, and in the winged state. And this Coccid-affinity in
the less perfect gall-producing state is sometimes carried still farther, as we have often been unable
to discern but a single claw to the tarsi of some of the young gall-inhabiting individuals.

Fourthly, the fact that M. Signoret, who alone has compared actual specimens from both
countries, decides them to be identical, would sufficiently indicate that the difference noticeable in
the form depends on the observer, and on the stage of growth at which observations are made.

It was the one-jointed tarsus in the gall insect which no doubt in part led Dr. Shimer to pro-
pose a new family for it, and it was this character — coupled with the facts that it is oviparous, that
it does not secrete any sugary or flocculent substance (as do most gall-inhabiting Plant-lice), and
that the young forsake the gall and scatter over the leaves as soon as hatched — which led Mr.
Walsh to consider it as an anomalous and aberrant Coccid. The genus Phylloxera seems also, ac-
cording to Westwood, to have been doubtingly introduced into this family by Curtis in his Guide.
We have already shown that, in the root-inhabiting form, the two joints of the tarsus are plainly
to be seen ; and Dr. Shimer himself admits* that, in the winged insect which he found in galls, he
noticed a constriction on the under side of the tarsus, though he is unwilling to allow that it was
a joint, because there was no motion. But even if the 2-jointed character of the more perfect
louse were not demonstrated, all the other characters are so unmistakably Aphidian that there is,
we think, no warrant in making a new family. In such degraded insects, where the antennal
joints are so variable, we might naturally expect to find variation in the joints of the legs. The
more familiar we become with the biological secrets of Nature, the more di) we find, not only spe-
cies but genera, and even families, approaching each other through modifications found in indi-
viduals; and these aberrant gall-lice only help to give us a better idea of the close connection be-
tween tlie CoccidcB and Aphida. Our Phylloxera brings the two families close together, by its affin-
ities on the one side with Chennes of Linnseus, which, though looked upon as a Coccid by Katze-
burg, is generally considered an Aphidian, and on the other with the Coccidan genus Dac.'yl ipius
which contains Linna;us's Cocctn adonidum. The oviparous nature of these gall-lice will also have
less significance when v?e reflect that there is a sort of gradation in this process, and that many
Plant-lice which are considered viviparous or ovoviparous do in reality bring forth their young
enveloped in a more or le.ss distinct egg-like film or covering, from which they have to free them-
selves by a process analogous to that of hatching. This has not only been observed by Curtis, in
the case of an Aphis found on the turnip, f but by Dr. Wm. Manlius Smith, of Manlius, N. Y.,X in
the case of Pemphigus ; but we have, the present year, assured ourselves of the accuracy of Dr.
Manlius's observation as to Pemphigus, and witnessed the same thing in Eiiosomo, namely in E.
pyri, Fitch. In this last case the newly deposited louse (or egg) remains motionless for a conside-
rable time ; and the covering, after the young louse has extricated itself from it, may be as dis-
tinctly seen attached to the end of its body as the covering or egg-shell of our Grape gall-louse,
and was figured by Fitch, who mistook it for the »;otton-liko matter, which, however, is not secre-
ted till the louse fastens itself and begins to grow.f Moreover those Aphidians which are vivipa-
rous through the spring and aummer months, generally lay eggs in the fall; and though agnmous
and viviparous multiplication can be prolonged by submitting the lice to a continued artificially
warm tempi=rature, there is doubtless a limit to this prolongation ; and it may bs laid down as a
rule that, with most Aphidians, tlie (^ element and the production \)i eggs are, at some time or
other, indispensable to the continuance of the species.

*Characters of a Supposed New Family, p. 3.
tFarm Insects, p. 66>

Lvuctore Walsh, P. E. S. P. VI, p. SS2, nots.
|N. W Rep. I, p. 9.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 97

THE COLORADO POTATO BEETLE AGAIN.

THE BEST MEANS OF FIGHTING IT — A WOKD TO OUR CANADIAN NEIGHBORS.

To give some idea of the onward march of this destructive insect,
and to lay before the reader the experience that has been gained since
the publication of my first Report, I transmit the following article
from the American Entomologist of last September.

Last July, while spending a few days in Ontario, we ascertained
that this most destructive insect had just invaded the Dominion at
two different points, namely, near Point Edward, at the extreme south
of Lake Huron, and opposite Detroit, near Windsor, at the south-
western corner of Lake St. Clair. These are precisely the two points
at which we should naturally expect to first meet with it on the Can-
adian border; for all such beetles as fly into either of the lakes from
the Michigan side would naturally be drifted to these points. As we
know from experience, many insects that are either quite rare, or en-
tirely unknown on the western side of Lake Michigan, are frequently
washed up along the Lake shore at Chicago; and these are so often
alive and in good condition, and so often in great numbers, that the
Lake shore is considered excellent collecting ground by entomol-
ogists. In like manner grasshoppers are often washed up on the
shores of Salt Lake, in Utah, in such countless numbers that the stench
from their decomposing bodies pollutes the atmosphere for miles
around. We have not the least doubt, therefore, in view of these
facts, that the Colorado Potato Beetle could survive a sufficient
length of time to be drifted alive to Point Edward, if driven into Lake
Huron anywhere within twenty or thirty miles of that place, or if
beaten down anywhere within the same distance while attempting to
cross the lake.*

How truly is Mr. Walsh's prophecy being fulfilled, that the north-
ern columns of this great army would spread far more rapidly than
the lagging southern columns. f

Now, what will our Canadian brethren do ? Will they stand by
and listlessly see this pernicious insect spread over their territory
like a devouring flame, as it has done over the Western and Central
States ; or will they make some determined and united effort to pre-
vent such a catastrophe ? Of one thing our friends across the border
may re&t assured — they have not here a sham and braggart Fenian
army to deal with, but an army which knows no retreat, and whose

*The following item which was clipped from the St. Joseph (Mich.) Herald, after the above
was written, attests the accuracy of the inference : — "Whoever has walked on this shore of Lake
Michigan has observed large numbers of the Colorado potato beetle, crawling from the water.
Many have doubted the source whence they came. It would seem from the following that they fly,
and swim from the western shore of Lake Michigan. Capt. John Boyne of the Lizzie Doak, re-
ports finding his deck and sails infested with potato bugs when half way from Chicago toSt. .
Joseph at night. Not a bug was on deck when the schooner left Chicago."

f Practical Entomologist, 1, p. 14.

S E— 7

98 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

embers, though of small and insignificant stature, will fully make
up in number what they lack in size.

When we calculate the immense loss, amounting to millions of
dollars, which this insect has cost the Western States during the past
nine or ten years — when we contrast the healthful and thrifty aspect
of the potato fields in Ontario and in those States to which this potato
plague has not yet spread, with the sickly, denuded, or Paris-green-
besmeared fields at home — but above all when we reflect that, noth-
ing preventing, it will infest the whole of Ontario within, perhaps, the
next two, and at farthest within the next three years — we feel that it
is high time to make some effort to prevent its onward march through
Ontario, if ever such an effort is to be made. The warnings and in-
structions given by the Agricultural press, and through our own col-
umns, will avail but little, as they reach the few only. It may be, and
doubtless is, true that successful culture, as our country becomes
more thickly settled, will be confined to the intelligent and well-in-
formed; yet the fact nevertheless remains, that the masses will do
nothing to ward off an evil until they are forced to it from necessity.
The plodding, non-reading farmer will take no notice of the few bugs
he first sees in his potato field, because they do him no material in-
jury ; but when the bugs have increased so as to make it a question of
"potatoes or no potatoes '' with him, then his energies will be aroused.
But alas! his best efforts, at this time, often prove unavailing, and he
has to spend days to accomplish that which a few minutes would have
accomplished before. We therefore fully expect to see this great
army of bugs continue its eastward march without hindrance, unless
other preventive measures are taken than those already employed.
A standing premium offered by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr.
Carding, for a given number of beetles, or for the greatest number
collected and killed in o«e season, or for the cleanest and best field
•of potatoes, of a given number of acres, within the infested districts
along the eastern shores of the lakes mentioned and those of the St.
Clair river; might, and undoubtedly would, be the best means of
stamping it out, and of keeping it out of the Dominion.*

No doubt that, in suggesting any expenditure of money for such
purposes, our Canadian brethren will deem us over-enthusiastic about
"•small things," and over-anxious for their welfare. Well, be that as
it may, we don't forget that there is considerable of Uncle Sam's ter-
ritory beyond Niagara. It is a mere matter of dollars and cents, and
we venture to say that, when once this insect shall have spread over
Ontario, a million dollars would be freely spent to accomplish that
which will then be almost impossible, and which a very few thou-
sands would effectually accomplish now — namely, its extermination
from the Dominion.

An excellent chance is now afforded in Ontario — almost sur-
rounded as it is by lakes — to keep this destructive enemy at bay. In
the summer of 1869, reports of this insect's ravages, and of its prog-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST, 99

S'ess eastward, came thick from Wisconsin and Indiana; but no or-
ganized effort was made to cliecl?; it, and indeed there was very little
chance of doing so. )!t is fast spreading through Ohio ; and accord-
ing to Dr. Trimble of New Jersey, has already reached Pennsylvania.
Uncle Sam cannot well prevent its spread around the southern shore
t)f Lake Erie, through Pennsylvania and eastward; but, if it can be
eifGctuaJly resisted between Point Edward and the Detroit river,
there will be little difficulty in preventing its crossing at Niagara.
A victory would indeed be gained if, by intelligent effort, this griev-
ous pest could be kept out of Upper Canada, while it is devastating
the potato fields on all sides in the iStates; and Minister Carding
would add to his well-deserved popularity by making the effort,
whether it succeeds or not.

PARIS GREEN A REMEDY.

While on this subject it may be well to say a few words about the
\ise of Paris green. This substance lias now become THE remedy
for the Colorado Potato Beetle, and it is the best yet discovered.
Having thoroughly tested it ourselves, and having seen it exten-
sively used, we can freely say that, when applied judiciously, it is effi-
cient and harmless. If used pure and too abundantly, it will kill the
vines as effectually as would the bugs, for it is nothing but arseniteof
copper (often called '^Scheele's green" by druggists), and contains a
varied proportion of arsenious acid, according to its quality — often as
much as fifty-nine per cent., according to Erande & Taylor. But when
used with six to twelve parts, either of flour, ashes, plaster or slacked
lime, it causes no serious injury to the foliage, and just as effectually
■kills the bugs. Tlie varied success attending its use, as reported
through our many agricultural papers, must be attributed to the dif-
ference in the quality of the drug.

We hear many fears expressed that this poison may be washed
into the soil, absorbed by the rootlets, and thus poison the tubers;
but persons who entertain such fears forget that they themselves
often apply to the ground, as nourishment for the vines, either ani-
mal, vegetable or mineral substances that are nauseous, or even poi-
sonous to us. Animal and vegetable substances, of whatsoever na-
ture, must be essentially changed in character and rendered harmless
before they can be converted into healthy tubers, and a mineral poi-
son could only do harm by being taken with the potatoes to the ta-
ble. That any substance, sprinkled either on the vines or on the
ground, would ever accompany to the table a vegetable which de-
velops underground, and which is always well cooked before use, Ib

® The Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, in the Canada Farmer for October 15th, 1S70, also recommended
the marking; o£F of a tract of country about ten mile? in width, all along the border line betnten
the Joot of Lake Huron and the ht-ad of Lake Erie, with the exception, possibly, of a portion of
the eastern shore of Lake 8t. Clair, and stopping the culture of tlie jjolato throughout that wI;ole
%ract during the prevalence of the pest ia the ueighboring State of Michigan.

loo THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

rendered highly improbable. There can be no danger in the use of
sound tubers. But the wise and well-informed cultivator will seldom
need to have recourse to Paris green, as he will find it more profitable
to use the dift'erent preventive measures that have from time to time
been recommended in these colums.

The poison may do harm, however, by being carelessly used, and
it is most safely applied when attached to the end of a stick several
feet long, and should not be used where children are likely to play.

NATURAL CHECKS INCREASING.

In many parts of the West this insect is being kept in due check by
_[Fig. 41.] ^its cannibal and parasitic enemies, which are still increasing.
Thus we learn from many sources that in Iowa and Kansas it
is not nearly so injurious as it formerly was, while in some
parts of Illinois and Missouri it has also become less trou-
"^^.blesome. Last year Mr. T. Glover published the fact that
the Great Lebia {Lehia grandis-, Hentz, Fig, 41) was found
devouring its larvae,* and though hitherto considered rare this Lebia
has suddely fallen upon it the present year in many parts of Missouri.
During a recent trip along the Missouri Bottom we found this canni-
bal very abundant in some potato fields belonging to Mr. Wm. Cole-
man, where it was actively engaged in destroying both the eggs and
larvEB of the Potato Beetles. The head, thorax and legs of this canni-
bal are yellowish-brown, in high contrast with its dark-blue wing-
covers.

This makes fourteen conspicuous enemies of our Colorado Potato
Beetle which we have figured, and a dozen more, mostly of small size
and inconspicuous markings, might easily be added to the list. More-
over, chickens have learned to relish the eggs, and have even
acquired a taste for the young larvas. So we need not wonder that
the army is being decimated in those States first invaded by it.

BOGUS EXPERIMENTS.

It was recently reported to us that a neighbor had succeeded in
driving away all his Potato bugs by strewing Elder branches among
the vines. We went to examine the field and found our friend enthu-
siastic over his discovery; and indeed though the vines were nearly
devoured, there were but a few full grown larvee to be found. But, as
he could not tell us what had become of the "slugs," we undertook to
show him where they had gone, and after digging a few moments with
a trowel, unearthed dozens of them, the majority in the pupa, but a
few yet in the larva state. Our neighbor had, in fact, been misled by
appearances, for want of better knowledge of his enemy. The larvae
as they acquired their growth suddenly became so destructive, that
to save his vines he was obliged to try some means of killing them,

* Dept. of Agr. Rep. 1868, p. 81.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 101

a^d as an experiment he tried the Elder. The larvae were just ready
to disappear of their own accord, and as the great bulk of them did
really disappear in two or three days after the application, the appar-
ently logical inference was made that they had been driven away by
the smell of the Elder.

How many of the published remedies that flood the country owe
their origin to just such defective proof ! The sun-scorching remedy,
which consists of knocking the bugs off the vines on to the heated
ground between the rows, and which has been so often recommended
the present year, partakes a good deal of this character; for it can
only be of benefit in a very dry season, and at a time of year when
the bugs have done most of their damage. A goodly proportion of
the larvae that are thus knocked off will always manage to burrow
into the ground and transform, or to get back upon the vines j. and

TIIE TRUE REMEDY

consists in preventing them from becoming numerous so late in the
season. Watch for the beetles in early spring, when the vines are
just peeping out of the ground. Ensnare as many of them as you can
before they get a chance to pair, by making a few small heaps of po-
tatoes in the field planted : to these the beetles will be attracted for
food, and you can easily kill them in the morning. Keep an eagle
ej'^e for the eggs which are first deposited. Cultivate well, by fre-
quently stirring the soil. Plant early varieties in preference to late
ones because the bugs are always more numerous late in the season
than they are during the spring and early summer. Give the prefer-
ence to the Peach Blow, Early Rose and such other varieties as have
been found most exempt from attack,* and surround your fields on
the outside by rows of such tender-leaved varieties as the Mercen
Shaker, Kusset, Pink-eye and Early Goodrich ; but, above all, isolate
your potato field as much as possible, either by using land surrounded
with timber, or by planting in the centre of a cornfield. Carry out
these suggestions thoroughly and you will not have much use for
Paris green -and still less for the scorching remedy.

THE CODLING MOTH AQAm.— Carpocapsapomonella.Unn,

HAY-BANDS VS. RAGfS — ALWAYS TWO-DROODED IN MISSOURI.

After a series of experiments, instituted the past summer, I have
proved that, after all, the hay-band around the trunk of the tree is a

••- After experimenting- last summer with eighty-one varieties of potatoes, the Superintendent
of the garden of the Iowa Agricultural College reports the varieties of the Peach Blow, the
Peerless and Chili No. 2, as most exempt from the xarag-es of this insect, the last named variety
i3iot being vyorked upon at all.

102 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

more effectual trap for the Apple-worm than the rags placed in the
forli, of the tree. Tliere is no. superiority in the rags over the hay-
band, unless the former are made to encxircle the tree as thoroutzhly
as the latter. Where rags are placed simply in the forks, many or' the
worms pass down the tree from the outside of the branches. If the
rag is tied around the trunk, it will impede almost every worm tliat
crawls down the tree from the fruit which hangs on, or that crawls up
the trunk from the fruit which alls; and it then has a decided advan-
tage over the hay band, because it can either be passed through a
roller or scalded, and used again.

It has been very generally accepted in this country that the Cod-
ling Moth is double-brooded, and in all my writings on the subject I
have stated it to be so, though no one, so far as I am aware, ever
proved such to be the case beyond a doubt. Mr. P. 0. Zeller, of Stet-
tin, Prussia, informed me last winter that it is only single-brooded in
that part of the world, and Harris gives it as his opinion that it is
mostly so in Massachusetts. Now, such may not improbably be th&
case in northern Prussia, and the more northern of the United States,.
though I incline to believe otherwise. At all events, this insect is-
invariably double-brooded in the latitude of St. Louis, and its natural
history may be briefly told as follows: The first moths appear, and
begin to lay their eggs, soon after the young apples begin to form.
The great bulk of the worms which hatch from these eggs leave the^
fruit from the middle of May to the middle of June. These spin up,,
and in from two to three weeks produce moths, which pair and in their
turn commence, in a few days, to lay eggs again. The worms (second
brood) from these eggs leave the fruit, some of them as early as the
first of September, others as late as Christmas. In either case they
spin their cocoons as soon as they have left the apples, but do not as-
sume the pupa state till towards spring — the moths from the late ma-
tured worms appearing almost as early as those from the earlier ma-
tured ones. The two broods interloc so thafc in July worms of both
maybe found in the fruit of one and the same tree. 1 have repeat'
edly taken worms of the first brood, bred the moths from them, and
obtained from these m ths the second brood of worms ; and I have
done this both on enclosed fruit hanging on the tree in the open air,,
and on plucked fruit in-doors. In the latter experiments the moths
would often cover an apple with eggs, so that when the worms
hatched they would enter from all sides, and soon so thoroughly per-
forate and devour the fruit as to die of starvation. This is a clear
case of misdirected instinct in the parent, caused doubtless by con-
finement.

Prom the foregoing facts, it becomes obvious that the rags or the-
hay-band should be kept around the tree, say from the first of May
till the fruit is all off; and to be thoroughly effectual, the insects col-
lected in or under them should be destroyed regularly every fortnight,
during that time.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 103

There is a fact connected with the Codling Moth which, though of
interest to entomologists is not generally known, and has never been
published in this country. It has always been difficult to distinguish
the sexes of this moth, but there is an infallible index recently pointed
out by Mr. Zeller inhis "Lepidopterologische BeobachLungen im jahre
1S70." It consists of a black pencil or tuft of hairs of considerable
length on the upper surface of the hind wings. It springs from a
point close to the base of the wing and by the side of the median
nervure, and lies in a groove running alongside ot that nervure to
about half the width of the wing, the groove forming a distinct carina
on the under surface. The tuft when closely fitted into this groove is
not easily noticed, but since my attention has been drawn to it, I
have readily detected it on all ray cabinet specimens, and it can easily
be raised by the point of a needle.

Thus we find that important features are often revealed upon
close scrutiny of our commonest insects, and the fact that this fea-
ture was so long overlooked in our Codling Moth should teach us to
be all the more careful and cautious in our examinations and descrip-
tions. Two similar instances of general oversight of common features
in common insects were pointed out to me last fall by that excellent
observer, Mr. J. A. Lintner, of the Agricultural [looms, Albany, N.Y.>
"who ascertained the facts that in the Butterfly genus Argynnis the
males have invariably a beautiful fringe of hair on the sub-costa of
the hind wings, while the females have not; and that in the genus
Grapta the males have hairy front legs while the females have not.*

In my first Report (p. 65) I mentioned as an excepLional occur-
rence that this insect had been found quite injurious to plums around
London, Ontario ; but it has not hitherto been recorded as infesting
peaches. Mr. Huron Burt, of Williamsburg, Callaway county, in-
forms me, however, that three-fourths of the peaches in his vicinity
were infested with this worm, and that it was more abundant in this
stone-fruit than in apples, though its gnawings in the former are not
followed by the same serious consequences as they are in the latter.
In the peach the worm always lives near the stone, and bores no
other holes through the flesh than the one required for egress, and
the excrement is packed close to the stone, so that the fruit is gener-
ally but little injured for eating, cooking, drying or other purposes.
Mr. Burt did not actually breed the moths from these peach-inhabit-
ing worms, but as he is one of my most valued correspondents and an
excellent observer and has paid considerable attention to insectss, I
have little doubt but that he is correct in concluding that they were
the larvae of the Coddling Moth, the more especially as he lia^^ fiir-

* The first mentioned feature, ns a secondary sexual character, has \'tf\% since been pointed
out, and according to Mr. H. W. Bates (Trans. Linn. Ent. -Soc , Vol. XXIII, p. 602, 1861) is com-
mon to all rlie tropical genera but two (Lycoiea and Iluno) composing the lianoid Helicotndm. Yet
Mr, Lintner's observation is certainly original in this country, lor, striking and us'fnl as the
feature is as a sexual characteristic, it is never given in the beautil'ul plates of Mr. Edwards's
"Butterflies of North America."

104 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

nished me, in detail, his reasons for this conclusion ; but until the
matter is settled beyond all doubt it would be premature to speculate
farther on such a new and remarkable habit in such a common and
well known insect.

THE CORN- WORM, «?^6^s BOLL-W ORM—Beliothis armigera, Hub-

ner.

(Lepicloptera^ Noctuidoa.)

This is a worm which is every year more or less destructive to our
corn in the ear, and which was this year very injurious in many sec-
tions.

It has a very wide range, and a Mr. Bond, at the meeting of the
London (England) Entomological Society, on March 1st, ISGJ, exhib-
ited specimens of the moth from the Isle of Wight; from Japan, and
from Australia; and, as might be expected from its extended habitat,
ihe insect is a very general feeder. The " Boll- worm" has become a
by-word in all the Southern cotton-grov/ing States, and the " Corn-
worm " is a like familiar term in those States, as well as in many other
parts of the Union ; but few persons suspect that these two Avorras —
the one feeding on the corn, the other on the cotton-boil — are identi-
cally the same insect, producing exactly the same species of moth.
But such is the fact, as I myself first experimentally proved in 1864.
It attacks corn in the ear, at first feeding on the "silk," but afterwards
devouring the kernels at the terminal end ; being securely sheltered
the while within the husk. I have seen whole fields of corn nearly
ruined in this way, in the State of Kentucky, but nowhere have I
known it to be so destructive as in Southern Illinois. Here, as in our
own State, there are two broods of the worms during the year, and very
early and very late corn fare the worst; moderately late and moder-
ately early varieties usually escaping. I was formerly of the opinion
that this worm* could not live on hard corn, and it certainly does
generally disappear before the corn fully ripens, but last fall Mr.
James Harkness, of St. Louis, brought me, as late as the latter part of
October, from a corn field on the Illinois bottom, a number of large
and well ripened ears, each containing from one to five worms of dif-
ferent sizes, subsisting and flourishing on the hard kernels. This is,
however, an exceptional occurrence, brought about, no doubt, by the
long protracted warm weather which we had, and the worms were in
all probability a third brood.

« Am. Ent. T, p. 212.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

105

This glutton is not even satisfied with ravaging these two great
stai)les of the country — cotton and corn — but, as I discovered in 18G7,
it voraciously attacks the tomato in South Illinois, eating into the
green fruit, (Fig. 42), and thereby causing such fruit to rot. In this

manner it often causes
serious loss to the tomato-
grower, and it may justly
be considered the worst
enemy to the tomato in
that section of the country.
Mr. Glover also found it
^feeding in.a young pump-
kin, and it has been ascer-
tained by Mrs. Mary Treat
of Vineland, New Jersey,
---.^^L^mi.,,; . ,E^g^gggg_^ not only to feed upon the

■ "="?^^ _7^;r-^^^ " undeveloped tassels of

corn and upon green peas, but to bore into the stems of the garden flower
known as Gladiolus, and in confinement to eat ripe tomatoes. Last
summer it was also found by Miss M. E. Murtfeldt in common string
beans, around Kirkwood, and in Europe it is recorded by M. Ch. Gou-
reau* as not only infesting the ears of Indian corn, but as devouring
the heads of hemp, and leaves of tobacco, and of lucern. The fact of
its attacking a kind of pea, namely, the chick-pea or coifee-pea ( Cicer
arietimnn) has also been recorded by M. J. Fallou (See Insectologie
^^/ ^V6>^(?, 1869, p. 205) in certain parts of France, the young worms
feeding on the leaves but the larger individuals boring through the
pods and devouring the peas.

Thus it seems to be almost as promiscuous in its tastes as the
Stalk-borer {Goriyna nitela^ Guen.), which burrows in the stalks of
the Potato, of the Tomato, of the Dahlia, of the Aster and other garden
flowers, of the common Oocklebur and of Indian corn, besides boring
into green corn-cobs and eating into green tomatoes and ripe straw-
berries, and in a single instance in Missouri eating into peach twigs,
and in Illinois inhabiting the twigs of the Black Currant. f

But for the present we will consider this insect only in the two
roles of Boll-worm and Corn-worm, because it is as such that it inter-
ests the practical man most deeply.

The egg from which the worm hatches (Fig. 43, a side view; 5,
top view magnified) is ribbed in a somewhat similar manner to that
of the Cotton-worni; figured in my Second Report (p. 38) but may
readily be distinguished by being less flattened, and of a pale straw
color instead of green. It is usually deposited singly on the outside

* Imectes Nuisibles, 2ncl supplement, ISfio, p. 132.
t See Am. Ent. I. p. 2CG ; 11. p. 13,

106

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

of the involucel or outer calj^x of the flower or young boll, and each
'^^'^•^^''•^ female moth is capable of

thus consigning to their
proper places, upwards of five
hundred eggs. Mr. Glover, in
his account of the Boll-worm,
published in the Monthly Re-
port of the Department of
Agriculture for July, 1866,
says : " Some eggs of the
Boll-worm moth hatched in
three or four days after being
brought in from the field, the
enclosed worms gnawing a
hole through the shell of
the egg and then escaping.
I'hey soon commenced feed-
ing upon the tender fleshy
substance of the calyx, near
the place where the egg; had been deposited. When they had
gained strength, some of the worms pierced through the calyx,
and others tiiroiigh the petals of the closed flower-bud, or even pene-
trated into the young and tender boll itself. The pistils and stamens
of the open flower, are frequently found to be distorted and injured
without any apparent cause. This has been done by the young Boll-
worm ; when hidden in the unopened bud, it has eaten one side only of
the pistils ;>nil stamens, so that when the flower is open the parts in-
jured are distf)rted and maimed, and very frequently the flower falls
without forming any boll whatever. In many cases, however, the
yonng worm bores through the bottom of the flower into the imma-
ture boll before the old flower falls, thus leaving the boll and involu-
cel or envelope still adhering to the foot-stalk, with the w^orm safely
lodiied in the growing boll. The number of buds destroyed by this
worm is very great, as they fall off when quite small, and are scarcely
observed as they lie brown and withering on the ground beneath the
plant. The instinct of the Boll-worm, however, teaches it to forsake
a bud or boll about to fall, and either to seek another healthy boll, or
to fasten itself to a leaf, on which it remains until at length it ac-
quires size and strength sufficient to enable it to bore into the nearly
matured bolls, the interior of which is nearly destroyed by its at-
tacks, as, should it not be completely devoured, rain penetrates
tlirough the hole made by the worm, and the cotton soon becomes
rotten and will not ripen. ********

One thing is worthy of observation, and that is, whenever a young
boil or bud is seen with the involucre spread open, and of a sickly
yellow color, it may be safely concluded that it has been attacked by
the Boll-worm, and will soon perish and fall to the ground. * * *

TUB STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 1(7

The budsinjured hj the wormmay be readily distinguished by a minute
hole where it has entered, and which, when cut open, will bo found
partially filled with small black grains, something like coarse gun
powder, which is nothing but the digested food after having passed
through the body of the worm."

This insect is very variable in the larva state, the young worms
varying in color from pale green to dark brown. When full grown
there is more uniformity in this respect, though the difference is often
sufficiently great to cause them to look like distinct insects. Yet the
same pattern is observable, no matter what may be the general
color; the body being marked as in the above figures with longitudinal
light and dark lines, and covered with black spots which give rise to
soft hairs. Those worms which Mrs. Treat found in green peas and
upon corn tassels had these lines and dots so obscurely represented
that they seemed to be of a uniform green or brown color, and the spe-
cimens wiiich I saw last summer in string beans were also of a dark
glass green color with the spots inconspicuous, but with the stripe be-
low the breathing pores quite conspicuous and yellow. The head, how-
ever, remains quite constant and characteristic. Figure 42 may be
taken as a specimen of the light variety, and Figure 43, c, as illustra-
ting the dark variety. When full grown, the worm descends into the
ground, and there forms an oval cocoon of earth interwoven with silk,
wherein it changes to a bright chestnut-brown chrysalis (Fig. 43, cl)^
with four thorns at the extremity of its body, the two middle ones
being stouter than the others. After remaining in the chrysalis state
from three to four weeks, the moth makes it escape. In this last and
perfect stage, the insect is also quite variable in depth of shading,
but tlie more common color of the front wings is pale clay-yellow,
with a iaint greenish tint, and they are marked and varigated with
pale olive and rufous, as in Figure 43, (e showing the wings expanded,
and f representing them closed), a dark spot near the middle of each
wing being very conspicuous. The hind wings are paler than the
front wings, and invariably have along the outer margin a dark brown
band, interrupted about the middle by a large pale spot.

Mr. Grlover says that there are at least three broods each year in
Georgia, the last brood issuing as moths as late as November. With
us there are usually but two, though, as already hinted, there may be
exceptionally three. Most of the moths issue in the fall, and hiber-
nate as such, but some of them pass the winter in the chrysalis
state and do not issue till the following spring. I have known them
tois>ue, in this latitude, after the 1st of November, when no frost had
previously occurred.

lu 1860 — the year of the great drought in Kansas — the corn crop
in that State was almost entirely ruined by the Corn-worm. Accord-
ing to the Prairie J^armer, of JannaYy 31, 1881, one county there
which raised 436,01)0 bushels of corn iu 1859^ only produced 5,000 bush-
els of poor wormy stuff in 1860; and this, we are told, was a fair sample

103 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

of most of the counties in Kansas. The damage done was not by any
means confined to the grain actually eaten by the worm; but '* the
ends of the ears of corn, when partially devoured and left by this
worm, afforded a 'secure retreat for hundreds of small insects, which,
under cover of the husk, finished the work of destruction commenced
by the worm eating holes in the grain or loosening them from the
cob. A species of greenish-brown mould or fungus grew likewise in
such situations, it appearing that the dampness from the exuded sap
favored such a growth. Thus decay and destruction rapidly pro-
gressed, hidden by the husk from the eye of the unsuspecting farmer."
It appears also that many horses in Kansas subsequently died from
disease, occasioned by having this half-rotten wormy corn fed out to
them.

Remedies. — It is the general experience that this worm does more
injury to very early and very late corn than to that which ripens in-
termediately, for though the broods connect by late individuals of the
first and early individuals of the second, there is nevertheless a pe-
riod about the time the bulk of our corn is ripening, when the worms
are quite scarce. I have never yet observed their work on the green
tassel, as it has been observed in New Jersey, and do not believe
that they do so work with us. Consequently it would avail nothing
as a preventive measure, to break off and destroy the tassel, and the
only remedy when they infest corn is to kill them by hand. By
going over a field when the ears are in silk, the presence of the
worms can be detected by the silk being prematurely dry or by its
being partially eaten.

In the South various plans have been adopted to head off the
Boll-worm, but I believe none have proved very successful. The
following experiment with vinegar and molasses, was made by B. A.
Sorsby, of Columbus, Ga., as quoted by Mr. Glover:

" We procured eighteen common-sized dinner plates, into each
of which we put half a gill of vinegar and molasses, previously pre-
pared in the proportion of four parts of the former to one of the lat-
ter. These plates were set on small stakes or poles driven into the
ground into the cotton field, one to about each three acres, and
reaching a little above the cotton plant, with a six-inch square board
tacked on the top to receive the plate. These arrangements were
made in the evening, soon after the flies had made their appearance ;
the next morning we found eighteen to thirty-five moths .to each
plate. The experiment was continued for five or six days, distribu-
ting the plates over the entire field; each day's success increasing
until the numbers were reduced to two or three moths to each plate,
when it was abandoned as being no longer worthy of the trouble.
TliM crop that year was but very little injured by the Boll-worm. The
flios were caught in their eagerness to feed upon the mixture by
ali.^hting into it and being unable to escape. They were probably
attracted by the odor of the preparation, the vinegar probably being

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 109

an important agent in the matter. As the flies feed only at night, the
plates should be visited late every evening, the insects taken out, and
the vessels replenished as circumstances may require. I have tried
the experiment with results equally satisfactory, and shall con-
tinue it until abetter one is adopted."

Mr. J. M. Heard, of Monroe county, Wisconsin, patented in 18G0,
a device for trapping the moth, which consists of a tin plate placed
on a funnel, which is connected with a bait-pan made of the same
material, and which is to be partially filled with molasses mixed with
a little anise, fennel or other essential oil. From one summer's test
of the trap, I do not think much of it as a decoy for the moth, and it
would be altogether too expensive, when the great number required
to properly protect a large cotton field is taken into consideration.

THE FALL ARMY-y^OUli—Proclenia antumnalis, Kiley.

[Lepidoptera, Noctuidre.]

In 1868 the true Army-worm appeared in certain portions of the
State and I gave a full account of it in my second Report. Last fall
another worm very generally mistaken for thatinsect made its appear-
ance very generally over the State, and caused considerable alarm.
Specimens were sent to me from Moniteau, Jefferson, Pulaski and
Cole counties, while it was common throughout the greater portion of
the county of St. Louis.

The first notice I received of it was from the following item which
appeared in the Journal of Agriculture of St. Louis :

Army- WORM. — Editors Journal Agriculture: Since Friday (26th
August), the Army-worm has made its appearance in distressingly
large numbers almost everywhere in this ((^ole) county. They have
destroyed for me more than an acre of turnips, a good deal of my late
soiling com, and are still on the march for more. Farther in the
country they have eaten up the buckwheat, which is just coming into
bloom. Could our esteemed friend Riley give us an article in the
ne:s.t Journal ? — F. A. Nitcliy.

JtFFERSON City, Mo., August 2l)th, 1870.

The following published paragraphs, which all refer to this same
worm, and which chanced to meet my eye, will give some idea of the
extent of country through which it ranged.

Fall Army-w^orm. — We have received specimens of the Fall
Army- worm from several persons. The complaints of its ravages are
quite numerous almost all over the State ; they are very bad in north-
east Missouri. Threatening at Tipton, from which place we have
samples, and in St. Louis and Jefferson counties they are quite bad.
This pest only returns at intervals, perhaps on account of parasitic

110 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

and other enemies gaining the ascendancy over them. — Rural World.,
Sept. 2nd, 1870.

Army-worm in Callav^ ay Oountit.—- I have found that the Army*
worm has been more or less on almost every farm, and have been ex-
amining some of the meadows over which they have passed, and have
come to the conclusion they are about ruined. From my examina-
tion I think that nineteen-twentieths of the grass is entirely killed t
at least there is not more than one bulb in twenty that shows any
signs of vitality. Why should this insect make its appearance at this
season? Mr. Kiley, I believe claims that it makes its advent in the
spring. But now we have it appearing at the end of summer and be*
ginning of fall, and in numbers as great and as destructive as ever it
did in spring. Could it be that the extreme heat of this season, with
favorable conditions of moisture, has brought them forth prematurely ?
1 noticed that some plum trees, cherry trees, smoke trees, summer
roses and strawberries are blossoming freely from premature develop-
ment.— //. ^., Journal of Agriculture^ Oct. loth, 1870.

The Army-worm, on the 28th of August, appeared in force in my
neighbor's wheat stuuble, moving south towards a piece of land that
I had planted in corn, and then sown in rye tiiat was up nicely. When
they reached the fence (which they did on the 28th of August), I scat-
tered salt thickly on the rich blue grass on my side of the fence, all
along it, while the dew was on. They came no further. As I v/as
obliged to be away i'rom home, I cannot say whether the salt checked
them or not — at any rate, it caused the grass to wilt and die.

A very small dark worm about half an inch long, has been doing
some damage to the young grain of late. — J. L. Erioin., Fulton, Cal-
laway County^ Mo.

The Army-wokm — A Slander on the Birds — Editor Farmer :
Feeling it a duty, as well as a privilege, to contribute all good, or
even really bad news for the farmers, through your truly valuable
and very much improved and highly esteemed Farmers' journal, en-
closed (in a small phial) please find some specimens of Army-worm,
many millions of which infest our county. They are everywhere. It
is said they are brought by a small, yellow bird, which goes in covies
of twenty-five to two hundred — that wherever they alight, the worms
first appear. It is said that eacii petaled portion of the feathers is
covered with nits, and their number is legion.

¥/e would be pleased to hear from some of our scientific men on
the subject, as we are very much interested. They take a twenty-
acre wheat field in two days.

These pestiferous little pests are rapidly arriving at maturity. In
traveling, their course seems westward. They last appeared here in
1866, but too late in the season to do any great damage, as a cold rain
sent them the v;ay of all tiie earth. That being in October, nothing
ofthe kind can be expected at this time ; and if they are to remain
here until October, woe to our wheat fields in this vicinity!

JMiNERAL Point, Kansas, Aug. 29th, 1870.

[The above letter came to us too late for insertion last month.
Our friends are doing great injustice to our little harmless "•'Prairie-
birds,'^ in supposing that they have anything to do with bringing the
Army-worm — Editor]. — Kansas Farmer, Octohe?% 1870.

Army woHM. — Late rains are keeping corn too green. Too muddy
to plow for wheat. The Hessian-fly and Army-v/orm are too numer-
ous to allow farmers to seed much this fall. The early sown wheat

THK STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. Ill

and much of the meadows are eaten up bv the Army- worm. Dr. C'
W. Tliornton, of Warrensburg, Kansas, in Kansas Farmer.

ARMr-woRM. — We have received from S. S. Tipton, of Mineral
Point, a specimen of the above genius, but a little the worst demora-
lized specimen we ever saw. The bottle v/as broken, and, as well as we
can determine, by the aid of a powerful magnifying glass, the worm
is in about sixty thousand pieces. We shall refer to the subject in
our next ; but in the mean time, we advise our i'riends to plow and
scrape out ditches, in which to spread dry straw. Then muster your
force armed with brushes, drive them into the ditches, and set fire
to the straw. We have seen them very successfully treated in this
way. JuiJisas Farmer.

Thus in all the above accounts this worm was supposed to be a
fall brood of the true Army-worm, and in the following letter, we
shall see that it was also mistaken for the Corn-worm treated in the
last article — a mistake not at all surprising considering the close
resemblance between the two worms,

C. V. Riley., Dear Sir. — I herewith send you a box of what I
believe to be the Boll-worm although its actions here were similar
to the true Army-worm. At my father's and in the neighborhood they
complain too o^ the Army-worm eating up the young oats and timo-
th}^ With me they commenced about two weeks ago in afield of young
oats, or rather oat stubble which had been plowed under and sown to
buck-wheat. The oats had got to be about six inches high and were
eaten first, next the worm took what little crab grass they could find
and they are now scattered, eating grass, corn silks, soft corn, luta-
baga leaves and whatever in the grass line comes before them. They
have not entered ray meadow yet, nor a piece of wheat stubble which
is plowed under. G. Pauls.

Eureka, Mo., Sep., 7, 1870.

On the farm of Jno. J. Squires atDeSoto, this worm at first ate ofT
all the grass, then comijletely stripped the leaves from some corn-
fodder, injured his corn, ate into his tomatoes and ruined his turnips
— injuring his crops to the amount of nearly fil,000.

In some cases the worm acted strangely, and I have know it to
take a whole field of rye in preference to wheat. Judge Wielandy, of
Cole coujity informs me that it was abundant on his potatoes, cutting
ofi" the lateral stems. It invaded a large cucumber field and entirely
cleaned out the crab grass, and would have injured his cucumbers
had he not applied slacked lime. In some parts of Jefferson count}^
it was ver^y abundant and destructive, and Senator J. H. Morse, of
Morse's Mills had twenty acres badly injured by it. I have also been
iniormed that in some vineyards it did great damage by gnawing
around the stems and causing the bunches to drop off and fall to
pieces so that the grapes would scatter on the ground. But I cannot
vouch for the correctness of the observation. With me it did more
injury to corn than to anything else. It not only greedily devours the
leaves and stems, but bores large holes through the ears, burrowing in
them in all directions. On late corn it is frequently found in the same
ear with the Corn-worm, «Z?'a5 Cotton Boll-worm. The Boll-worm ie,.

112

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

however; rougher, generally paler, striped differently (see Figs. 42 and
43, c,), and always readily distinguished b}^ having a larger gamboge-
yellow or reddish head, which invariably lacks the distinct white in-
verted Y-shaped mark, and the darker shadings of the head of the
Fall Army-worm.

Now, until the present year nothing was absolutely known of the
natural history of this worm, and though I knew that it was not the
true Army-worm, and suspected, from comparing it with the descrip-
tion of certain corn-feeding worms received in 1868 from Mr. E.
Daggy, of Tuscola, Illinois, that it would produce a certain moth
which I bred from Mr. Daggy's worms — yet I could not feel positive
without breeding the Fall Army-worm to the perfect state. This I
very luckily did, and I am therefore able to give its complete history.

In the fall of 1868 I received a few specimens from Mr. T. R.
Allen, of Allenton, with an account of their injuring newly sown
wheat on oat stubble, and on page S8 of my first Report it was briefly
described by the name of Wheat Cut-worm. The popular term of
''Fall Army- worm" is, however, altogether more indicative than that
of ''Wheat Out- worm," since the species does not confine its attacks
to wheat, and not only very closely resembles the Army-worm in
appearance but has many habits in common.

HOW IT DIFFERS FROM THE TRUE ARMY-WORM.

The two insects need never be confounded, however. The true
Army-worm never appears in the fall of the year, but always about
the time when wheat is getting i^^s- 45.]

j'jbeyond the milk state; and it
generally disappears, in thelat-
(jitude of St. Louis, by the first
of June. It confines its attacks
' entirely to the grasses and ce-
reals, whereas the species under |
consideration is a much more
general feeder, devouring with
equal relish most succulent
plants, such as wheat, oats,
corn, barley, grasses, purslane,
turnips, and, as Mr. J. M. Jor-
dan of St. Louis informs me, even spruces. Moreover, when critically
examined, the two worms show many characteristic differences, as
will be seen by comparing Figure 44, which represents the true
Army-worm, Avith Figure 45, which represents at a the Fall Army-
worm natural^ size, at h its head magnified, at <? a magnified dorsal
view of one of the joints, and at d a magnified side view of same.
Our Fall Army-worm moth is a most variable one — so variable,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

113

indeed, that at least three species mi^lit easily be fabricated by any

species-grinder who happened to capture at
large the three most distinct varieties, without
knowing anything of their transformations.
I have bred 31 specimens, all from larvae found
on corn, and have others which were captured
at large, and though half a dozen sufficiently
distinct varieties might easily be picked out
from among them, and though scarcely any
two are precisely alike, yet they may all be
divided into three distinct sets or varieties.
The first of these, which is the more common,
J is represented at Figure 46, «, the second at J,
and the third at c. For those who are more curious in such matters
I append, at the end of this article, a more elaborate description of
this new moth. Not only do I find this great variation in this particu-
lar species, but all the species of the genus to which it belongs are
variable; and Guen^e has truly remarked that they resemble each
other so closely, and their modifications are so complicated, that it is
next to impossible to properly separate them. By comparing the
annexed Figures 46 a, h and c, with that of the true Army-worm moth
(Fig. 47) the two insects will be found to differ widely.

We have in this country a very common moth {Prodenia comme-
ince, Abb.) which may be popularly called the Spiderwort Owlet
C^'s- ^''O moth, some of the varieties of which ap-

proach so nearly to some of the more
strongly marked varieties of our Fall Ar-
my-worm moth that it is necessary to
show the very great difference which
really exists between them, in order that
the cultivator may not be unnecessarily
alarmed when he observes the former,
by confounding it with the latter, and erroneously inferring that he
will be overrun with Fall Army-worms when there is no real danger.

The Spiderwort Owlet moth, (Fig. 48, b and
c) is a handsomer and more distinctly
marked species, the front wings inclining
more to vinous-gray, or purplish-gray, and
the ordinary lines being more clearly de-
fined by very deep brown, than in the Fall
Army-worm moth. But, however much
these characters may vary — and they are
quite variable — there are yet two others
which will be readily noticed upon com-
paring the figures of the two species, and
by which the Spiderwort moth may always

.ni.\

S E— E

114 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

'be distinguisTied from its close ally, namely, by the tip of tlie wing
being more prolonged and acuminate, and by the three-forked nerve in
the middle of the wing being much more conspicuous. Its larva never
congregates in multitudes as does the Fall Army-worm, and differs so
materially from that worm, and is'withal so characteristically marked,
that it may be recognized at once by the above illustration (Fig. 48, «).
Contrary to what its name would indicate, it is a very general feed-
er, as I have found it on all sorts of succulent plants, both wild and
cultivated. This insect is more or less numerous every year, but has
never been known to multiply so prodigiously as the Fall Army-worm,
which we have under consideration. It passes the winter either in
the larva, pupa or perfect state, but more generally in the former.

REMEDIES.

Now that I have sufficiently dwelt on the characteristics of the
Fall Army-worm to enable any one to distinguish it, even from its
nearest relative, let us consider for a moment what can be done to
prevent its great injuries to grains and to vegetables. I have proved
that there are at least two, and probably as many as three or even
four broods during the course of the year; for those worms which
appeared in such multitudes in August and the forepart of Septem-
ber, in due time produced moths, and these gave birth to a new gen-
eration of worms, which began to make their presence manifest
towards the end of October. In 1868, also, I bred the moth as early
as July, from worms received from Mr. Daggy. In this prolificacy the
Fall Army-worm differs remarkably from the true Army-worm, as
well as from most of its close allies, which generally produce but one,
and seldom more than two, broods each year.

The moths were so numerons during the latter part of September
and the forepart of October, that I not only found them common at
Decatur, Vandalia and other parts of Central Illinois, and wherever I
traveled in our own State, but I captured a goodly number in the
very heart of St. Louis, and even caught some while riding by rail.

The eggs are deposited in small clusters, often in two or three la}'-

. ers one above the other, and the whole cluster is covered sparsely

with the yellowish hairs from the ? abdomen. Each egg is nearly

spherical, of a pale fulvous color, and differs only from that of the

Unarmed Rustic {Agrotis inerm/is, Fig. 49, «, showing one magni-

■fied, and 5, a batch of natural size,) in being less compressed

and less distinctly ribbed. The clusters were found abundantly, not

only on the under side of peach and apple leaves, which the worms

■readily devour, but on the leaves of such trees as sycamore, which,

so far as we at present know, they do not feed upon. Under these

last circumstances the young worms, upon hatching, would soon

descend the tree to feed upon the more succulent herbage below ;

and the more I learn of the habits of our different Owlet moths,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

115

the more 1 become convinced that the long-accepted
theory of their eggs being deposited on the ground
is a false one, and that most of our cut-worms
though fat, lazy and groveling in the ground when
we find them, have been born in more elevated and
exalted positions.

In the fall of 1868 this worm proved very des-
tructive to the newly sown wheat in many parts of
Franklin and St. Louis counties. Mo., and seemed to
be confined to such wheat as Vv^as sown on oats stub-
ble. I then accounted for this singular state of things
by supposing that the scattering oats which were left
after harvest had sprouted before the wheat, and had
thus attracted the parent moths* ; and, acting
upon this supposition, I suggested that the attacks of the worm might
effectually be prevented by plownng the land early and keeping the
ground clear of all vegetation until the w^heat w^as planted. This
inference proves to be well warranted by the facts; and in future,
when the Tall Army-worm is heard of during the months of August
or September, as it was the present year, it wall be wise for those who
live in the immediate neighborhood, either to sow no fall grain at all
or to endeavor, in doing so, to carry out the above suggestions. The
last brood of worms, wdiich at this writing (Nov. 7th) are not yet quite
full grown, must evidently pass the winter in the ground, either in
the larva or the pupa state. In either case a great many of them
would be killed by late fall plowing which should be used, when prac-
ticable, as a remedial measure in fields where this insect has been
numerous. When the worms are overrunning a field of fall grain
most of them could be destroyed by means of a heavy roller, with-
out injury to the grain.

The question has been repeatedly asked : '^ Will this worm be as
numerous next year as it has been this; or will it go on increasing in
geometrical ratio, and be still more numerous ?" jNow, although I
greatly dislike to weaken the confidence that some people seem to
place in the oracular power of an entomologist to peer into the future
yet I must meekly confess my inability to give any definite answer to
such questions.

Byron has truly said that, '"^the best of prophets of the future is
the past;" and we may reasonably draw the inference that this worm
w^ill not be so abundant next year, because in the past it has only
occasionally been so troublesome, and never, so far as the record
shows, during two consecutive years. And we may rest tolerably
well assured that it will not increase in geometrical ratio, because
most vegetable feeding insects are preyed upon by more predaceous

^Keport I, p. 83.

116 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

species and by parasites,* and because such continued increase of one
species is inconsistent with the harmony we find everywhere in Na-
ture. But we may not venture beyond the inference, as the happen-
ings of the future are not for mortals to know. Some persons may
also be curious to learn why this worm increases so much more in
late summer and fall than in spring, since there are so many broods
during the year; or why it is only noticed in certain years? Such ques-
tions, likewise, can receive no definite answer.

" Till old experience do attain
To something- like prophetic strain.

For though, to meet the first, we may assume that the winter decim-
ates their numbers, or that the spring weather is not favorable to their
increase; and to meet the last we may conjure up a hundred reasons,
yet assuming is not knowing, and we m.ust content ourselves with the
facts as they occur.

In conclusion, it will afi"ord a grain of comfort to those who have
had wheat fields cleaned off bj'- this worm, to know that their wheat
is not necessarily ruined ; for, as I personally ascertained, wheat that
had been thus cutofl!"in the fall of 1868 made a good stand the follow-
ing spring; and in one instance, where part of a field had been in-
vaded and the rest left untouched, it really appeared that the part
which had been eaten off yielded the heaviest. Mr. Huron Burt, of
Callaway county. Mo., also informs me that this insect always leaves
blue-grass untouched.

Prodenia AUTUiiNALis, Riley. — Imago (Fig. 46, a, b and c.) — Fro7it winr/s narrow with the
apex usually well rounded, and with the middle of the hind margin sometimes, but not often, ex-
tending beyond apex : general color mouse-gray variegated with smoky-brown, fulvous and pearly
or bluiih-white : apical patch bluish-white and never extending beyond nerve 5 : the subterminal
line — which is pale and bends like a bow, approaching nearest the terminal line between nerves 3
and 4 — generally blends wich this patch so as to appear to start from its lower edge, but is some-
times well separated from it so as to be traced further towards apex : dark space preceding subter-
minal line, confined between nerves 3 and 5, blending gradually with the rest of the wing, barely
showing two darker sagittate spots : transverse anterior and transverse posterior either subobsolete
or tolerably well defined, each by a geminate dark line : basal area divided longitudinally by an
irregular dark line, the wing below it quite light-colored : orbicular spot large and elongated, a
little lighter than surrounding surface, and well defined by a fulvous annulation, the pale oblique
shade which generally encloses it in this genus confined to a fulvous shade above, and either a more
distinct fulvous line behind or none at all : reniform spot generally dark, but sometimes lighter
than space preceding ; not well defined, the small pale spot at top being generally distinct, and
either partaking of the same form, or resembling the small letter e [left wing] ; the lower edge oc-
cupied by a distinct white dash, which however never extends beyond it and but seldom shows any
tendency to furcate with the nerves : four tolerably distinct equidistant pale costal spots from
reniform spot to apical patch : terminal line pale, even, parallel with posterior margin : terminal
space dark, except near apex and anal angle, divided into subquadrate spots by the pale nerves :
fringe either broad or narrow, of same color as wing, with a narrow darker inner line, relieved by
two very fine paler ones which are barely distinguishable : under surface smoky, but paler inte-

* Many of the Fall Army-worms had the thoracic joints of the body more or less covered with
the eggs of a Tachina fly, and I have bred from the worms the same parasite (Exorisla leucanice,
Kirk; 2d Rep. Fig. 17) which infests the true Army-worm, and still another allied species {Tachina
archippivora) which infests the larvaa of the Archippus butterfly, and will be referred to on a fu-
ture page.

*IHE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 117

riorly and terminally, and fulvous alonp; costa ; the whole with a nacreous lustre and more or less-
irrorate with brown, and often with a flesh-colored tint near apex ; fring-es dark. Hind wings white
with a faint fulvous tint; serai-transparent and slightly irridescent, with extremities of nerves and
borders, especially above, brown ; fring-es duskj', especially at apex, and with a paler inner line;
under surface similar. Thorax, abdomen and legs of same general color as front wings, being
paler below ; the longer lateral and anal abdominal hairs more fulvous. Sexes with difficulty dis-
tinguished, the size and shape of the abdomen not even being a safe criterion. Maximum expanse
1.40 : minimum expanse 1.05 inches. Described from 18 specimens, bred Sept. 20th — Oct. 10th,
from corn-fed larvic.

Variety Fulvosa, (Fig. 46, h.) — Front icings greatly suffused with fulvous, especially in the-
lower median space, which often inclines to ochraceous ; apical space more or less defined; oblique
median band distinct to median nerve, and orbicular spot with an ochre-colored centre. Described
from 5 specimens, bred Sept. 25th — Oct. 3rd, from corn-fed larvaj.

Variety Obscura, (Fig. 46, c.) — Front wings of a much more uniform and darker color, either
grayish-brown with a slight vinous tint, or deep smoky brown inclining to black, or a deep warm
brown with but little gray; apical space either entirely obsolete or but very faintly indicated ; ob-
lique fulvous band across upper middle of wing also dbsolete ; the ordinary lines either entirely
obsolete [one specimen only] or distinctly marked ; the ordinary spots sometimes obsolete, but
more generally indicated by fulvous lines. Described from 8 specimens, bred Sept. 21st — Oct. 2d,
from corn-fed larv£B.

Larva, (Fig. 45, a.)— Ground-color very variable, generally dark and pitchy-black when young,
but varying after the last moult from pale brown to pale dirty green, with more or less pink or
yellow admixed — all the markings produced by fine, more or less intense, brown, crimson and yel-
low mottlings. Dorsum brownish with a narrow line down the middle, rendered conspicuous by a
darker shade each side of it. A dark, subdorsal band one-third as wide as each joint is long j
darkest at its upper edge, where it is bordered and distinctly separated from dorsum by a yellow
line which, except on joint 11 where it deflects a little upwards, is quite straight; paler in the mid-
dle of each joint. A pale^ either buff or flesh-colored, substigmatal band, bordered above and be-
low by a narrow, yellow and wavy line. Venter pale. Head pale yellowish-brown, with sometimes
a tinge of green or pink ; the triangular piece yellowish, the Y-mark distinct and white, the cheeks
with four more or less distinct lateral brown lines and with dark brown mottlings and nettings,
which become confluent and form a dark curved mark at the submargin behind the prongs and each
side of the stem of the Y. Stigmata large, brown, with a pale annulation, and just within the
lower edge of the dark subdorsal band. Legs either light or dark. Cervical shield darker than
body, with the narrow dorsal and subdorsal lines extending conspicuously tlirough it : anal plate
also dark, narrow and margined by the pale subdorsal lines — both plates furnishing stiff hairs, but
without tubercles. Piliferous tubercles on joints 2 and 3, arranged in a transverse row, and quite
large, especially on joint 2; on joints 4-10 inclusive the superior eight are arranged as follows :
4 in a trapezoid in dorsal space, the posterior two as far again from each other as the anterior two,
and two near stigmata, one above and one behind; on joint 11 the dorsal 4 are in a square, and on
joint 12 in a trapezoid, with the posterior and not the anterior ones nearest together : the thoracic
joints have each a large subventral tubercle just above the legs. Length 1.10-1.50 inch. Described
from numerous specimens.

Pupa. — Formed in the ground, without cocoon; of normal form, bright mahogany-brown, and
with a distinct forked point at extremity.

THE APPLE-TREE TENT-CATERPILLAR, OR AMERICAN
LACKEY MOTH. — Clisiooamjya Avierioaiia, Harr.

(Lepidoptera, Bombycidffi.)

What orchardist in the older States of the Union is not familiar
with the white web-nests of this caterpillar? As they glisten in the
rays of the spring sun, before the trees have put on their full summer

lis

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

dresS; these nests, which are then small, speak volumes of the negli-
gence and slovenliness of the owner of the orchard, and tell more
[Fig-. 50.] truly than almost anything else

why it is that he fails and has
bad luck with his apple crop.
Wherever these nests abound
one feels morally certain that
the borers, the Codling-moth,
and the many other enemies of
the good old apple tree, men-
tioned in the beginning of this
Report, have full play to do as
they please, unmolested and un-
noticed by him whom they are
ruining ; and when I pass through
an orchard with two, three or
more "tents" on every tree, I
Ij never i)ity the owner, because
ll there is no insect more easily
kept in check.

The small, bright and glist-
ening web, if unmolested, is
soon enlarged until it spreads
over whole branches, and the
caterpillars which were the architects, in time become moths, and
lay their eggs for an increased supply of nests another year.

This insect is so well known throughout the country, and has
been so well treated of b}'^ Harris and Fitch, that it is only necessary
to give here the most prominent and important points in its history,
the more especially as the figures alone which are given herewith
will enable the novice to recognize it the moment it appears in a
young orchard. Though some years quite abundant, it is not as com-
mon with us as in some of the Eastern States.

The eggs (Fig. 50, c) from which these caterpillars hatch are de-
posited mostly during the month of June, in oval rings, upon the
smaller twigs, and this peculiar mode of deposition renders them
conspicuous objects during the winter time, when by a little practice
they can easily be distinguished from the buds, knots or swellings of
the naked twigs. Each cluster consists of from two to three hundred
eggs, and is covered and protected from the weather by a coating of
glutinous matter, which dries into a sort of net-work. The little em-
bryonic larvfe are fully formed in the egg by the commencement of
Vv'inter, and the same temperature which causes the apple-buds to
swell and burst, quickens the vital energies of these larvae and causes
thf m to eat their way out of their eggs. Very often the}^ hatch dur-
ing a prematurely warm spell and before there is any green leaf for

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 119

them to feed u|;on, but they are so tough and hardy that they cau
fast for many days with imx)unity, and the glutinous substance on
the outside of their eggs furnishes good sustenance and gives them
strength at first. It is even asserted by Mr. H. C. Kaymond., of Coun-
cil Bluifs, Iowa, that the eggs often hatch in the fall and that in these
cases the larvee withstand the severity of the winter with impunity.

The young caterpillars commence spinning the moment they are
born, and indeed they never move without extending their thread
wherever they go. All the individuals hatched from the same batch
of eggs work together in harmony, and each performs its share of
building the common ten!', under which they shelter when not feed-
ing and during inclement weather. They usually feed twice each
day, namely, once in the forenoon and once in the afternoon. After
feeding for five or six weeks, during which time they change
their skins four times, these caterpillars acquire their full growth,
when they appear as at Figure 50 {a side view, l back view) the col-
ors being black, white, blue and rufous or reddish. They then scat-
ter in all directions in search of some cozy and sheltered nook, such
as the crevice or angle of a fence, and having finally decided on the
spot, each one spins an oblong-oval yellow cocoon (Fig. 50, d) the silk
composing which is intermixed with a yellow fluid or paste, which
dries into a powder looking something like sulphur. A few individ-
uals almost always remain and spin up in the tent, and these co-
coons will be found intermixed with the black excrement long after
the old tent is deserted.

Within this cocoon the caterpillar soon assumes the chrysalis
i^^' lii _ state, and from it, at the end of about

^ three weeks, the perfect insect issues as
a dull yellowish-brown or reddish-brown
moth (Fig. 51), characterized chiefly by
., _ _. the front wings being divided into three

'^* nearly equal parts by two transverse

whitish, or pale yellowish lines, and by the middle space between
these lines being paler than in the rest of the wing in the males,
though it is more often of the same color, or even darker in the fe-
males. The species is, however, very variable.*

The moths do not feed, and the sole aim of their lives seems to be
the perpetuation of their kind ; for as soon as they have paired and
each female has carefully consigned her eggs to some twig, they die,

* Dr. Fitch, in the very exceUent and detailed account of this insect in his second Report,
shows how very variable the moth is, and from a large series of bred and captured specimens, I
can fully corroborate the fact. I have specimens which are of an almost uniform pale tawny-yel-
low, while others are very dark, being what might be termed a bay-brown with the pale markings
conspicuous, while others have a pale band across the hind wings so conspicuous as to very closely
resemble the European neustria. Dr. Fitch in referring to his figures must certainly have made a
mistake, for he calls Figure 4 the female and Figure 3 the male, while the reverse is apparent from
the figures themselves. My own figure is intended to represent the female, but the middle space of
the upper wings seldom if ever appears so light in this sex, as the engraver has erroneously repre-
sfiDted.

120 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

and when the proper time comes around again the eggs will hatch,
and the same cycle of changes takes place each year.

This insect in all probabilit}'- extends wherever the w^ld black
cherry ( Cerasus serotina) is found, as it prefers this tree to all others ;
and this is probably the reason why the young so often hatch out be-
fore the apple bads burst, because, as is well known, the cherry leafs
out much earlier. Besides the Cherry and Apple, both wild and cul-
tivated, the Apple-tree Tent-caterpillar will feed upon Plum, Thorn,
Rose and perhaps on most plants belonging to the Rose family,
though the Peach is not congenial to it, and it never attacks the Pear,
upon which, according to Dr. Trimble, it will starve. It does w^ell on
Willow and Poplar and even on White Oak, according to Fitch, who
also found it on Witch Hazel {^HamameUs) and Beech.

REMEDIES.

Cut off and burn the egg-clusters during winter, and examine the
trees carefully in the spring for the nests from such clusters that may
have eluded the winter search. The eggs are best cut off in the man-
ner presently to be described for the Tent-caterpillar of the Forest.
Though to kill the caterpillars numerous methods have been resorted
to, such as burning, and swabbing with oil, soap-suds, lye, etc., they
are all unnecessary, for the nests should not be allowed to get large,
and if taken when small are most easily and eiTectually destroyed by
going over the orchard with the fruit-ladder, and by the use of gloved
hands. As the caterpillars feed about twice each day, once in the
forenoon and once in the afternoon, and as they are almost always in
their nests till after 9 a. m., and late in the evening, the early andlate
hours of the day are the best in which to perform the operation. As
a means of facilitating this operation, it would be a good plan, as Dr.
Fitch has suggested, to plant a few wild cherry trees in the vicinity
of the orchard, and as the moths will mostly be attracted to such
trees to deposit their eggs, and as a hundred clusters on a single tree
are destroyed more easily than if they were scattered over a hundred
trees, these trees will well repay the trouble wherever the Tent-cat-
erpillar is known to be a grievous pest.

The chrysalids of this caterpillar are often found filled with little
maggots, which produce minute Chalcididan 4- winged flies of metallic
green and black colors,* and belonging to the very same genus as
the celebrated Hessian-Hy parasite. This parasite, with other canni-
bal insects, and perhaps more or less favorable seasons, tend to pro-
duce a fluctuation in the numbers of these caterpillars, so that they
are more numerous some years than others, and they were more nu-
merous in 18GS than they have been since. It has also been noticed
that dry summers are injurious to them. According to Dr. LeBaron,

■•■ Described as Cleonymus clisiocampce by Dr. Fitch (Rep., vol. I, p. 200), but subsequently
more properly referred to the genus Semietellus (Rep., Vol. Ill, p. 141.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 121

the Baltimore Oriole occasionally pecks at the nests, but does not
make a common article of diet of the caterpillars, and the only birds
that devour them greedily are the American Cuckoos ( Coccyzus
Americanus and erythrophthalmus).

THE TENT-CATERPILLAR OF THE YOn^^H—Clisiocam^pa syl'

vaiica, Harr.

(Lepidoptera, Bombycida3.)

There is another insect which in all its stages so closely resem-
bles the Apple-tree Tent-caterpillar as to be very generally confoun-
ded with it. This insect was first described by the great Massachu-
setts entomologist, Dr. Harris, and very appropriately named the
Tent-Caterpillar of the Forest, the better to distinguish it from the
other species which is more common in our orchards. He, however,
unqualifiedl}^ states that it lives in communities under a common web
or tent; but with this exception gives a very clear and truthful ac-
count of it.* It has been quite destructive in many parts of Missouri
during the past two summers, and as I have had good opportunities
of studying its habits I shall endeavor to dispel the confusion and
uncertainty about them which have hitherto existed in the minds of
most of our farmers.

ITS NATURAL HISTORY.

The egg-mass from which the Tent-caterpillar of the Forest
hatches (Fig. 52, «, showing it after the young larv^ have escaped)
may at once be distinguished from that of the common Tent-caterpil-
lar by its being of a uniform diameter, and docked oiF squarely at
each end. It is usually composed of about 400 eggs, the number in
five masses which I counted ranging from 3S0 to -116. Each of the eggs
composing this mass is of a cream-white color, O.Oi inch long and 0.025
inch wide, narrow and rounded at the attached end or base, gradually
enlarging towards the top, where it becomes slighth'' smaller (Fig. 52
6?), and abruptly terminates with a prominent circular rim on the out-
side, and a sunken spot in the centre (c). These eggs are deposited
in circles, the female moth stationing herself, for this purpose, in a
transverse position across the twig. With abdomen curved she gradu-
ally moves as the deposition goes on, and when one circle is com-

* Inj. Ins. p. 376.

1-22

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

CO

[Fig. 52.] pleted, slie commences another —

and not before. With each egg is
—-^ :„—- secreted a brown varnish which

-jr'^;^^^'^''^ firmly fastens it to the twig and
lo its neighbor, and which, upon
becoming dry, forms a carinated
net-work of brown over the pale
egg-shell. These eggs are so regu-
larly laid and so closely glued to
each other, and the sides are often
so appressed, that the moth econo-
mizes space almost as effectually as does the Honey-bee in the forma-
tion of its hexagonal cells. In confinement the moth very seldom
succeeds in forming a perfect ring, but in her abortive attempts,
deposits them in different sized patches ; and as I have found such
unfinished patches attached to an oak leaf out-of-doors, we ma}'- con-
clude that either from injury or debility of some kind, the parent's
instinct sometimes fails it even when all the conditions are normal
and natural.

The eggs are deposited, in the latitude of St, Louis, during the
latter part of June. The embryo develops during the hot summer
weather, and the yet unborn larva is fully formed by the time winter
comes on. The young hatch with the first warm weather in spring —
generally from the middle to the last of March — and though the buds
of their food-plant may not have opened at the time, and though it may
freeze severely afterwards, yet these little creatures are wonderfully
hardy, and can fast for three whole weeks, if need be, and with-
stand any amount of inclement weather. The very moment these
little larvae are born, they commence spinning a web wherever
they go. At this time they are black with pale hairs, and are
always found either huddled together or traveling in file along
the silken paths which they form when in search of food. In about
t^'o- ^^-^ two weeks from the time they commence feeding they go
through their first moult, having first grown paler or of a
light yellowish brown, with the extremities rather darker
than the middle of the body ,with the little warts which give
rise to the hairs quite distinct, and a conspicuous dark inter-
rupted line each side of the back. Mter the first moult,
they are characterized principally by two pale j^ellowish
subdorsal lines, which border what was before, the dark
line above described. After the second moult, which takes
= place in about a week from the first, the characteristic
ipale spots on the back appear, the upper pale line becomes
yellow, the lower one white, and the space between them
bluish : indeed, the characters of the mature larva are from
this period apparent. Yery soon they undergo a third moult,
after which the colors all become more distinct and fresh

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 123

the head and anal plate have a soft bluish velvety appearance, and
the hairs seem more dense. After undergoing a fourth moult with-
out material change in appearance, they acquire their full growth in
about six weeks from the time of first feeding. At this time they ap-
pear as at Figure 53, and for those who are interested in such mat-
ters, I quote below Dr. Fitch's description of the full-grown larva, as it
is the first accurate and detailed description ^hat was published, and
as I have occasion to refer to it further on :

"The caterpillar, as seen after it has forsaken its nest and is wandering about, is an
inch and a half long and 0.20 thick. It is cylindrical and of a pale blue color, tinged low
down on each side with greenish gray, and is everywhere sprinkled over with black points and dots.
Along its back is a row of ten or eleven oval or diamond-shaped while spots which are similarly
sprinkled with black points and dots, and are placed one on the fore part of each segment. Behind
each of these spots, is a much smaller white spot, occupying the middle of each segment. The
intervening space is black, which color also forms a border surrounding each of the spots, and on
each side is an elevated black dot from which arises usually four long black hairs. The hind part
of each segment is occupied by three crinkled and more or less interrupted pale orange.yellow
lines, which are edged with black. And on each side is a continuous and somewhat broader stripe
of the same yellow color, similarly edged on each of its sides with black. Lower down upon each
side is a paler yellow or cream-colored stripe, the edges of which are more jagged and irregular
than those of the one above it, and this stripe also is bordered with black, broadly and unevenly on
its upper side and very narrowly on its lower side. The back is clothed with numerous fine fox-
colored hairs, and low down on each side are numerous coarser whitish ones. On the under side is
a large oval black spot on each segment except the anterior ones. The legs and prolegs are black
and clothed with short whitish hairs. The head is of a dark bluish color freckled with numerous
black dots and clothed with short blackish and fox-colored hairs. The second segment* or neck is
edged anteriorly with cream white, which color is more broad upon the sides. The third and fourth
segments have each a large black spot on each side. The instant it is immersed in spirits the blue
color of this caterpillar vanishes and it becomes black.

At this stage of its growth the Tent-caterpillar of the Forest may
be seen wandering singly over different trees, along roads, on the tops
offences, etc., in search of a suitable place to form its cocoon. It
usually contents itself with folding a leaf or drawing several together

■■■ It is necessary to remark here that in the above description, Dr. Fitch reckons the head as
the first segment and the first leg-bearing segment of the body, which he calls the neck, as the sec-
ond segment. If Lepidopterists could be induced to adopt some uniform rule in describing Isltwss,
it would prevent much confusion and error.

It is astonishing how loosely these segments are referred to by most authors. Thus Dr. Fitch,
after calling the head the first segment in the above description, excludes it in the descriptions of
the larva; of Dryocampa senatoria and Dnjocampa stigma which immediately follow (Reports 3, 4
and 5, g^ 322 and 323), and speaks of the long anterior horns as proceeding from the second seg-
ment, whereas, to be consistent, he should have made them proceed from the third segment, as Mr.
Wm. Saunders has done with Dnjocampa rubicunda (Can. Entoinologist II, p. 76). Dr. Packard
(Guide etc, p. 271) speaks of the caudal horn of the larva; of SphingidcB as proceeding from the lait
segment, which it certainly does not, whichever custom be adopted. Westwood (Intr., II,) though
his language on page 319 would lead one to suppose that he included the head as the first segment,
more often adopts the other rule, as for instance when he refers to the 11th segment in Mamestra,
etc., (p. 34-1). Burmeister in his Manual of Entomology evidently excluded the head as a segment,
for he refers (p. 35) to the " three first segments of the body following the head," and afterwards
(p. 41) speaks in more precise terms of the body consisting of 12 segments.

Strictly speaking, the normal insect larva is composed of 13 segments, and a more or less dis-
tinct terminal sub-segment ; but in all those larvaj in which the anterior segment is covered by a
horny case, so as to form a distinct head, it seems more appropriate to consider this as the head in
contradistinction to the twelve articulations of the body. Especially is this the case with Lepidopte-
rous larvae, which are so plainly marked with a horny head, 12 soft joints and a terminal sub-
joint; and this plan has been adopted by most of the leading entomologists, including Boisduval,
Guence, Harris, etc.

In my own descriptions I have always adopted this course, so that when I speak of the first
joint I mean that immediately following the head. Of late I have adopted the term joint because
it is shorter and perhaps more strictly accurate than segment. I also discard the term feet, as often
applied to the horny articulate legs, for they are not feet in any sense of the word, but are the
true legs of the insect, and the simple term legs or thoracic legs will at once distinguish them from
the abdominal an ana] prolegs or false legs.

124 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

for this purpose, though it frequently spins up under fence boards and
in other sheltered situations. The cocoon is very much like that of the
common Tent-caterpillar, being formed of a loose exterior covering of
wliite silk with the hairs of the larva interwoven, and by a more com-
pact oval inner pod that is made stilf by the meshes being filled wilh
a thin yellowish paste from the mouth of the larva, which paste,
when dried, gives the cpcoon the appearance of being dusted with
powdered sulphur exactly as in that of the other species. Three days
after the cocoon is completed the caterpillar casts its skin for the last
time and becomes a chrysalis of a reddish brown color, slightly dusted
with a pale powder, and densely clothed with short pale yellow hairs,
which at the blunt and rounded extremity are somewhat larger and
darker. In a couple of weeks more, or during the forepart of June,
the moths commence to issue, and fly about at night. This moth (Fig.
52, J?) bears a considerable resemblance to that of the Common Tent-
caterpillar (Fig. 51), being of a brownish-yellow or rusty-brown, and
having two oblique transverse lines across the front wings. It
differs, however, in the color being paler or more yellowish, especi-
ally on the thorax; in the space between the oblique line being, even
in the males, usually darker instead of lighter than that on either
side ; but principally in the oblique lines themselves being always
dark instead of light, and in a transverse shade, often quite distinct,
across the hind wings. As in Americana., the male is smaller than
the female, with the wings shorter and cut off more squarely. Con-
siderable variation may be found in a given number of moths, but
principally in the space between the oblique lines on the front wings
being either of the same shade as the rest of the wing, or in its being
much darker; but as I have found these variations in different indi-
viduals of the same brood, bred either from Oak, Hickory, Apple and
Rose, they evidently have nothing to do with the food-plant. The
scales on the wings are very loosely attached, and rub off so readily
that good specimens of the moth are seldom captured at large. So
much for the natural history of our Forest Tent-caterpillar.

THE LARVA SPINS A WEB.

From the very moment it is born till after the fourth or last moult,
this caterpillar spins a web and lives more or less in company; but
from the fact that this web is always attached close to the branches
and trunks of the trees infested, it is often overlooked, and several
writers have falsely declared that it does not spin. At each succes-
sive moult all the individuals of a batch collect and huddle together
upon a common web for two or three days, and during these periods
— though more active than most other caterpillars in this so-called
sickness — they are quite sluggish. During the last or fourth moult
they very frequently come low down on the trunk of the tree, and, as
in the case of the gregarious larvae of the Hand-maid Moth {Datana

TUE STATE EKTOMOLOQIST. 125

ininistra)^ which often entirely denude our Bhick Walnuts, they
unwittingly court destruction by collecting in such masses within
man's reach.

IT FEEDS BOTH ON ORCHARD AND FOREST TREES.

In the summer of 1SG7 this insect did great damage in Western
New York, where it is falsely called THE "Army-worm." From the
fact that Mr. Peter Ferris, of Millville, Orleans county, N. Y., w^as
greatly troubled with it that year in his apple orchard, and that he
did not notice any of the same worms on the Oak and Walnut timber
of that section, he concluded that his Apple-feeding worms must be
dilTerent from those feeding on forest trees. In an article signed "F.,
Orleans county, N. Y.," which appeared in the Country Gentleman
of July 23d, 1S6S, the same writer endeavors to prove his Apple-feed-
ing worms distinct by sundry minute characters, as may be seen from
the following extract:

Now I am not an entomologist, but still must be allowed to be-
lieve that there are several points, if not ^'distinctive characters," in
which our caterpillar differs from the Tent-caterpillar of the Forest,
as described by Dr. Fitch. His larva is of a pale blue color, tinged
lower down on each side with greenish -gray. In ours the prevailing
color on the back is black ; there is a sky-blue stripe on each side but
no greenish-gray. Both have the white spots on the back much
alike, though perhaps ours are more club shaped, looking to the naked
eye nearly the shape of ten-pins. Both have these spots surrounded
with black; in ours there is quite a broad black stripe on each side
of the spots. This black stripe is more or less filled with fine, crin-
kled, bright orange lines. In some, these orange lines are so plenty
as to be seen plainly without the glass; in others the color to the
naked eye is a fine velvet-black. In the larva described by Dr. Fitch
there is much less of black and of the fine crinkled lines, which are
pale orange yellow. There is a somewhat broader stripe of the same
yellow color, in place of a narrow orange one in ours. The lower
yellow stripe may be much alike in both, but what is sky-blue in one
is greenish- gray in the other. In both, the head is of a dark bluish
color, but in his it is freckled with numerous black dots ; in ours, both
to the naked eye and under a glass, it is plain. In his "the second
segment or neck is edged anteriority with cream-white, which color is
more broad on the sides. The third and fourth segments have each a
large black spot on each side." Both the cream white edge and black
spots are entirely wanting in our caterpillars.

The habits of the larvre also appear to be different. According
to Harris and Fitch, the Tent-caterpillar of the Forest lives in large
societies, under a tent or cob-web-like nest placed against the side
of the tree, and comes out to feed on the leaves. Others, as well as
myself, have watched our caterpillars and entirely fail to discover
that they lived in communities, or in any one place that they went
from and returned to. While small, they remain scattered over the
smaller branches and on the leaves, and are first seen to begin to get
together when about half grown, on some of the higher limbs in the
sun. They only collect in large bunches on the trunk and lower
limbs; when nearly full grown, and the weather is hot, they get in
the shade ; and then they never have any web or particular place

126 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

they return to, or show any uniformity in the size of the bunches.
But tliey only manage in this way while the leaves last. As soon as
one tree is stripped they go to another, and when one orchard is used
up leave for another. They are great travelers; on a smooth track,
like a hard road or a fence cap board, they get along quite fast. They
do not try to keep together, but each one goes on his own hook.
There is very little said about the Tent-caterpillar of the Forest
traveling in this way.

Then our larviie appear decidedly to prefer the leaves of the Ap-
ple-tree, and only feed on the leaves of other trees when the former
are not to be had. Though I am not prepared to say that they will
not feed on Oak, Walnut or Hickory trees, under any circumstances,
I have repeatedly found these trees in full leaf when not only Apple
trees, but Ash and Basswood trees near by, were entirely stripped.
The eggs are sometimes laid on Hard- Maple shade trees, but the cat-
erpillars leave these trees as soon as they get much size, evidently
in search of food more suitable to their taste. This may be the case
in regard lo Oak and Walnut trees.

They also select different places for their cocoons. Dr. Fitch says
the Tent-caterpillar ol the Forest selects a sheltered spot for its co-
coon, such as the corner or angle formed by the meeting of two or
three sides. In this the cocoon is suspended. Our larva selects one
or more leaves on any tree that is convenient. The edges of the
leaves are drawn together, forming a shelter in which there is gen-
erally one cocoon; though when the space is large, and they are very
numerous, there are often two or three cocoons together. The co-
coon is not suspended, but fastened to the leaf. They spin their co-
coons in the forepart of July, and the moths appear in the latter part
of the month. The Tent-caterpillar of the Forest spins its cocoon
about the 20th of June, and the moth appears in the forepart of July.

Now I think enough has been given to show that two distinct in-
sects are under consideration, but, being only a farmer, I may be mis-
taken. I would like to see Dr. Fitch's views on this question. Un-
doubtedly he has read Dr. Walsh's article on "The Three so-called
Army-worms," in the PraGticcd Entomologists and can tell whether
our caterpillar is a distinct insect, or only shows the variations that
may be expected in the Tent-caterpillar of the Forest.

Now since Dr. Fitch has not, to my knowledge, complied with
Mr. Ferris's courteous wish, the labor has devolved upon me. I have
taken upwards of 200 specimens from the same batch of Oak-feeding
worms, and upon critically examining them, find that Dr. Fitch's
description is accurate, and that the differences or variations men-
tioned by Mr. Ferris arise in every case, either from a misapprehen-
sion of Dr. Fitch's meaning, or from variations which may be found
in the same brood. The only real difference between the two writers
lies in the statement of Dr. Fitch that the worms live under a large
cob-web-like nest, and that of Mr. Ferris that they do no such thing.
Both statements should have been qualified, and were made without
sufficient observation ; for though the normal habit of the worms is
to collect outside of their nests, I have seen exceptional instances of
their collecting within or underneath it, especially when young.

Now it is just barely possible that in Western New York there
may be a race of these worms that has taken to feeding on Apple and

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 127

has lost all appetite or become incapacitated for feeding on forest
trees ; in other words, that there is a phytophagic variety, or a phyto-
phagic species in process of formation. I could mention several
similar occurrences among insects,* and to those who believe in the
immutability of species these occurrences are incomprehensible
enough ; but to those who accept the more modern Darwinian views,
and believe that species are slowly being formed to-day, just as they
have been for long ages and ages in the past, they are most signifi-
cant, and exactly what we should expect. But that such a race has
yet been formed is rendered highly improbable from the following
facts: 1st. It is spoken of both by Dr. Fitch and Dr. Harris as oc-
curring on Oak, and by the latter as also occurring on Walnut,
Apple and Cherry in the New England States. Mr. George E.
Brackett of Belfast, Maine,! "i referring to its ravages in the
orchard, states that it also ravaged the forests in the summer of 1867^
eating the leaves of most kinds of deciduous trees, though Poplar and
Ash seemed to be their favorites. 2nd. I have, in our own State^
successfully transferred them from Oak to Apple, and from Apple to
Oak, and now have a suite of moths bred from larvae which were fed
half the time on the one and half the time on the other. Given
an equal quantity of Oak, Apple, Plum, Peach, Cherry, Wal-
nut, Hickory, Rose, they have invariably seemed to prefer and thrive
best on the Apple.

IS IT EVER VERY DESTRUCTIVE ?

This question is raised by Dr. Fitch, who, on insufficient ground?;
discredited the previous assertion of Abbot, that it "is sometimes so
plentiful in Virginia as to strip the oak trees bare." The destruction
it caused in some of the Eastern States in 1866 and in 1867, is suffi-
cient to decide this question ; but there is every reason to believe
that in the South and West its injuries are of still vaster extent. From
Mr. John H. Evans of Des Arc, Ark., I learn that it last summer com-
pletely stripped the over-cup timber in the overflowed bottoms of
that country, and for the past two years it has been quite destructive
both to forest and orchard trees, in many parts of Missouri. In the
Oak timber these worms prefer trees of the Black Oak group, and will
seldom touch the White Oak in bodies, though when scattered among
the other kinds, they attack it also.

*Por an account of such insects as are known to have phytophagic varieties or phytophagic
species I must refer the reader to Mr. Walsh's papers on the subject in the proceedings of the
Entomological Society of Thiladelphia for 1S64 and 1865. But, as tlie most familiar and striking
examples I will mention, first — tlie polyphagous black-pencilled larva o£ Halesidota tassellata,
Sm. and Abb., found feeding on Oak, Hickory, Elm, Plum and other trees, and the monophagous
orange-pencilled larva of H. Ilarrisii, Walsh, found exclusively on Sycamore ; the moths from the
two being absolutely undistinguish.ible. Second — the yellow-necked larva of Datana ministra,
Drury, found on Apple and other trees, and the black-necked larva of the same moth found on
Black-walnut and Hickory. Third— the large Butternut and AValnut-feeding form of the common
Plum Curculio {Conotrachclus nenuphar, Herbst.)

■fAmer. Journal of Hort., Sept., 1867. ,.

128 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

ARTIFICIAL REMEDIES.

From the time they are born till after the third moult these worms
will drop and suspend themselves mid-air, if the branch upon which
they are feeding be suddenly jarred. Therefore when they have been
allowed to multiply in an orchard this habit will suggest various
modes of destroying them. Again, as already stated, they can often
be slaughtered en masse when collected on the trunks during the last
moulting period. They will more generally be found on the leeward
side of the tree if the wind has been blowing in the same direction for
a few days. The cocoons may also be searched for, and many of the
moths caught by attracting them towards the light. But pre-eminently
the most effective artificial mode of preventing this insect's injuries
is to search for and destroy the egg-masses in the winter time when
the trees are leafless. Not only is this course the more efficient be-
cause it is more easily pursued, and nips the evil in the bud, but for
the reason that, in destroying the eggs only, we in a great measure
evade killing, and consequently co-operate with, the natural parasites
presently to be mentioned, which infest the worms themselves. A
pair of pruning shears attached to the end of a pole, and operated by
a cord, will be found very useful in clipping off the eggs ; or, as recom-
mended by Mr. Ferris, a more simple instrument may be made by
fastening a piece of an old scythe to a pole. If the scythe is kept
sharp, the twigs may very handily be clipped with this instrument.
Tarred bandageS; or any of the many remedies used to prevent the
female Canker worm from ascending trees, can only be useful with
the Forest Tent-caterpillar when it is intended to temporarily protect
an uninfested tree from the straggling worms which may travel from
surrounding trees.

NATURAL REMEDIES.

It is always wise to co operate, whenever w^e can, with our little
friends among the Bugs, and it is consequently very necessary to be
acquainted with them. It happens, fortunately, that we have several
which aid us in keeping the Tent-caterpillar of the Forest in check,
and in the natural forest we must trust entirely to these auxiliaries,
as the mechanical means that can profitably be employed in a moder-
ate sized orchard are impracticable in broad extents of timber. In-
deed, these cannibals and parasites do their work so effectually that
this caterpillar is seldom exceedingly numerous for more than two
successive years in one locality, It prevails suddenly in great num-
bers, and again is scarcely noticed for years, very much as is the case
with the true Army- worm. Thus, after attracting such general at-
tention in lS67in many parts of the East, it has scarcely been noticed
since. This is its history everywhere, and we may reasonably hope
that in those parts of the West where it has been cutting such a figure

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 189

the present summer, it will suddenly be so subdued as not to be
noticed for some j'-ears to come. Its undue increase but combines the
assaults of its enemies, until they multiply so as to gain the ascend-
ency. Then, from insufficiency of food these enemies suddenly de-
crease in numbers, and their natural prey has a chance to increase
again. And so it goes on in the "Struggle for Life," and in the great
complicated net-work in which every animal organism is involved:
a check here and a check there, and no one of all the myriad
forms allowed to keep the ascendency beyond a limited time. The
most efficient cannibal insects in checking the increase of this Forest
Caterpillar, are the larger Ground-beetles belonging to the genus
[Fig. 54.] Colosoma. These beetles will pounce

upon the worms with astonishing greed,
and are especially prone to attack them
when helplessly collected together during
the moulting periods. The Rummaging
Ground-beetle {Colosoma sorutator^
Fabr.), which every one will recognize
from the figure (54), is especially fond of
them. The most common parasite which
occurs abundantly in the West, as well
as in the East, and which I have bred
from several other caterpillars, is a mag-
got producing a Tachina-fly, which differs
only from the Red-tailed Tachina-fiy {Exorista leucanicB, Kirk.),
which infests the Army-worm, in lacking the red tail.* The other
parasite which infests it in the East, but which I have not yet met
with, is a species of Pimpla very closely allied to P. melanocephala^
Brulle, but differing from that species in the head being red and not
black. f

SUMMARY.

The Tent caterpillar of the Forest differs from the common Orchard
Tent-caterpillar principally in its egg-mass being docked off squarely
instead of being rounded at each end; in its larva having a row of
spots along the back instead of a continuous narrow line, and in its
moth having the color between the oblique lines on the front wings
as dark or else darker, instead of lighter than the rest of the wing. It
feeds on a variety of both forest and orchard trees ; makes a web
which from its being usually fastened close to the tree is often over-
looked; is often very destructive, and is most easily fought in the egg
state.

*i:izorfs*ff iewcowicc, Kirkpatrick = JB. mt/t/am, Walsh. I have bred the variety lacking the
red at tip of abdomen from larva? of Altacwi cecropia, Linn., Datana ministra, Drury, Agrotis
inermis, Riley, and of two undetermined Agrotidians.

■f Practical Entomologist, II, p. 114. '
S E— 9

130

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

THE FALL y^^B-y^ORU—HypJiantria textor, Harris.

(Lepidoptera, Arctiidse.)

With the two preceding caterpillars is often confounded a third

which in reality has nothing in
common with them, except that it
spins a web. The insect I refer to
is known by the appropriate name
of Fall Web-worm, and whenever
we hear accounts of the Tent-cater-
pillars taking possession of trees
and doing great injury in the fall of
the 3'ear (and we do hear such ac-
^ counts quite often), we may rest
assured that the Fall Web-worm is
the culprit and has been mistaken for the Tent-caterpillars, which
never appear at that season of the year,

I do not know how injurious this insect is in the more Southern
States, but he who travels in the fall of the year, with an eye to the
beauties of the landscape, through any of the Northern and Middle
States, especially towards the Atlantic sea-board, will find the beauty
fearfully marred by the innumerable webs or nests of this worm. If
they are as common as they were last fall, he will very naturally de-
plore the unsightly appearance of the forests, and feel amazed at the
number of these signs of carelessness and slovenliness which occur
in the cultivated orchards ! The Web-worm is found on a great many
kinds of trees, though on some more abundantly than others; but
with the exception of the different grape-vines, the evergreens, the
sumachs and the Ailanthus, scarcely any tree or shrub seems to come
amiss to its voracious appetite. This insect passes the winter in the
pupa state under ground and the moth emerges during the month of
May or as late as the fore part of June. The female deposits her eggs
in a cluster on a leaf, generally near the end of a branch, and these
eggs hatch during the months of June, July and August, earlier or
later, according to the latitude. Each worm begins spinning the
moment it is born, and by their united effort they soon cover the leaf
with a web, under which they feed in company, devouring only the
pulpy portions of the leaf. As they increase in size they extend
their web, but always remain and feed underneath it. When young
the worn s are pale-yellow with the hairs quite sparse and with two
rows of black marks along the body and a black head. When full
grown they generally appear pale-yel1owish or greenish with a broad
dusky stripe along the back and a yellow stripe along the sides, and
they are covered with whitish hairs which spring from black and
oriiuge-yellow warts. Figure 55, a, gives a very good idea of a full
grown worm, but the species is very variable both as to depth of color-
ing and markings.

JCHE STATE ,ENTOMOLOG-IST. 131

Both Dr, Harris and Dr. Fitch state that this worm spins its thin
cocoon in crevices of bark and similarly sheltered places above
ground, but a great many of the specimens which I have reared (and
I have bred -specimens three different years) buried themselves and
formed their cocoons just under the surface of the ground — thus giv-
ing evidence that the same insect will sometimes variously spin up
-above oi' below the ground. The chrysalis (Fig. 55, h) is of a very
dark brown color, glabrous and polished and faintly punctured, and is
characterized by swelling or bulging about the middle. The moth
{Fig. 55, c) is white with a very slight fulvous shade: it has immacu-
late wings, but the front thighs are tawny-yellow and the feet black-
ish: in some the tawny thighs have a large black spot, while the
shanks on the upper surface are rufous.; in many all the thighs are
tawny-yellow, while in others they have scarcely any color. One bred
specimen in my caljinet even has two tolerably distinct spots on each
front wing — one at base of fork on the costal nerve, and one just
within the second furcation of the median nerve.

Daring the summer and fall of 1870 this worm was unprecedently
numerous, not onl}'- in our own State but all over the country, and, as
was remarked by others as well as m^'^self, it hatched out much earlier
than usual ; for the first webs were noticed around St. Louis by the
middle of June. It has always been supposed to be single-brooded,
and in the New England States it never does perhaps produce more
than one brood each year; but though such may be its normal habit,
even in the latitude of St. Louis, yet there is good evidence that it
sometimes produces tv/o broods in that latitude, and in all probability
does so constantly still further south. There appeared to be two
broods with us the present year, and Mr. J. R. Muhleman, of Wood-
burn, Illinois, informed me that on August 5th, he had a second brood
of worms, the first brood having appeared in June on Pear and Osage
Orange. He did not, however, breed one generation from the other,
.ind until this is done during the same year, we cannot say with abso-
lute certainty that the species is two-brooded, for the disparity,-in
time of appearance can be accounted for in other ways. The climate
of the Central portion of our State is intermediate between that of
the more Northern and the more Southern States, but the fauno par-
takes more of the character of the latter; and our summers are so
variable in their duration and in their general intensity, that our in-
sects show a great variability in their habits. It is for this reason
that I find it very difficult to draw the rigid lines that many of our
New England writers have done when treating of a particular insect,
and it is for this reason that we frequently find insects, normally
single-brooded there, often producing two broods a year here.

With us the Fall Web-v/orra appears to be most partial to the
hickories and to the Black walnut, and least so to the oaks; but I
have found scarcely any tree or shrub exempt from its attacks except
those already mentioned, and it is even said to feed on the Hop-
Plantain, Bean, Sunflower, and many other herbaceous plants.

132

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

From the foregoing account it will at once be seen how widely
this Fall Web-worm really diiFers from the Tent-caterpillars. It hi-
bernates in the pupa state, they in the egg state ; it appears mostly
in the fall, they mostly in the spring; its moth is pure white, theirs
reddish brown ; its eggs are deposited on a leaf, and hatch before the
leaf falls, theirs are deposited around a twig, because they have to
pass the winter and would get lost with the leaves if deposited upon
them; it feeds solely on the parenchyma of the leaf under its web,
they devour the whole leaf outside of their tent ; and on account of
these differences, we cannot employ the preventive measures against
it which we take against them.

REMEDIES.

As, therefore, nothing can be done to materially affect this insect
during the winter, we must do all the fighting when the worms first
hatch. Their web soon betrays them, and the twig or branch con-
taining it may be pruned off in the same manner described for the
Tent-caterpillars. As the worms are always under the tent, the ope-
ration in this case can be performed at any time of the day without
the risk of missing any wanderers.

IIyphantria TEXTon — Larva — (Fig. 55, a) Ground-color greenish-yellow. Dorsum velvety-
black, with a narrow median pale line on thoracic joints. Sides speckled with black, except along^
subdorsal and stigmatal lines, where longitudinal yellow patches are left clear. Venter dusky or
smoky-brown. Head shiny black with labrum and antennje white. Thoracic legs black ; prolegs
long and narrow, smoky-black with faint orange extremities. Covered with long straight hairs,
lonp-est on joints 2, 3, 11 and 12. These hairs are either dirty white with a few blrsck ones inter-
spersed, or of a more uniform reddish-brown. They spring in bundles from around large warta
situated as follows on each joint ; 4 which are black and dorsal, arranged in a trapezoid, the ante-
rior pair being the smaller ; and four which are orange on each side, and arranged in a transverse
row in the middle of the joint. Stigmata light yellow. Average length, 1.10 inches.

Varies considerably, in some the black predominating, in others the yellow. Those found on
hickories are usually the darkest. When newly hatched it is pale yellow with two longitudinals
rows of black marks and a black head.

Described from numerous specimens.

THE BLUE-SPANGLED PEACH WORM-

Clem.

■Oallimorp/ia fulvicosia,

(Lepidoptera, Arctiidtc.)

In examining apple trees, but more especially peach trees, dur-

[Fig. 56.]

ing winter or early spring, we
often come across little black
worms, covered with short,
stiff, sprangling hairs, and stud-
ded with minute blue spots,
sheltering under the loose
bark. As soon as the leaves
^put out, these worms issue
from their winter retreat and
commence feeding. They

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 133

grow apace and by the end of April have usually acquired their full
size, when they present the appearance of Figure 56, a ; c showing
an enlarged side section of one of the principal joints, and d a back
view of the same. The color is now velvety black above, and pale
bluish, speckled with black below; there is a deep orange line along
the back, and a more distinct wavy and broken one along each side :
the warts, illustrated in the enlarged sections are steel-blue and gran-
ulated, and their irregularities, as they catch and reflect the light,
look like minute pale blue diamonds, the whole body, upon casually
glancing at it, appearing studded with these blue points. This worm
spins a slight cocoon of white silk in any sheltered place it can find,
and changes to a chrysalis of a purple-brown color, finely and thinly
punctured an»i terminating in a horizontally flattened plate, which is
furnished with numerous yellowish-brown curled bristles. The moth
(Fig. 56, h) issues from this chrysalis during the fore part of June. It
is a very plainly marked species, being either milk-white or cream-
colored, with the head, collar, basal and apical joints of the abdomen
above, and the whole body, legs, and anterior margins of the wings
fulvous or dull orange.* It was described in 1860 by Dr. Brackenridge
Clemens under the name of Hi/percoiiipa falviGosta\ but is now prop-
erly referred to the genus CalUmorpha. It may be known in English as
the Cream Oallimorpha as it is disguished from all other moths by its
unspotted creamy appearance.]: This worm is found more commonly on

"^^ CalUmorpha vestalis, Packard (Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil. Ill, p. 108), must be considered as a sy-
nonym oi fulvicosta , for Dr. Packard has certainly given no characters that should be considered
specific. To show on what grounds the new species is founded I will quote in full the original de-
Ecription of fulvicosta and afterwards that of the so-called vestalis:

C. fulvicosta, Clem. — "White. Palpi yellow orange, tips blackish. Head prothorax, the
anterior edge of the fore wings, esj>ecially beneath, yellow-orange ; sometimes the costa of the
fore wings is dark brownish. Breast and legs yellow orange, the middle and fore tibiae and tarsi
blackish. Abdomen tipped with yellowish orange.

"Illinois. From Robt. Konnicott."

C. vestalis, Pack. — "(^ and 5 pure immaculate milk-white, $white. Tips of the palpi brown.
Head and prothorax, basal half of the patagia and eosta of both wings above and beneath yel-
lowish. The legs are also yellow beneath. The abdomen is white and unspotted. An tennaj brown.
Body c? .65, $ .65. Exp. wings (^ 1.70, § 1.70 inch.

" Middle Atlantic States (Coll. Ent. Soc. Phil., through A. R. Grote."

Now, comparing the descriptions, ves/a/is differs in no other respect from /wZyicos^a, than in
the legs being yellow beneath instea,d of having the middle and fore tibia3 blackish as described by
■Clemens. Three bred specimens in my possession differ in this trifling character, and though Dr.
Packard says that his species differs remarkably [.'.'] from the other in being pure white and of small-
er size, yet Dr. Clemens gives no measurements and there are specimens in my own cabinet and in
Mr. Walsh's of all shades of white to cream color and some of them fully as small as the measure-
ments above quoted. Moreover I have a specimen marked vestalis, kindly sent me by my friend
■CreesoQ of the Am. Entomological Society, and while in Philadelphia last fall I e.Kamined all the
specimens marked or said to be vestalis without finding any distinguishing characters at all. If a
new species is to be made out of such trifling characters in the face of the fact that the species
of the genus CalUmorpha are very prone to vary, and that twenty times as much variation is found
in hundreds of other species of Lepidoptera, what is the science of entomology to come to ?

fProc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1860, p. 536.

:5:The only insect which very closely resembles it is a pale variety of a moth known as the Egle
{Euchates egle, Harr.) whose beautiful larva is tolerably common on our milkweeds. This last
however may always be distinguished by the feathered antennas of the male, the different shaped
orings and the deep orange iind black spotted abdomen.

131 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

the Peach than on any other tree, and as it appears very early in iher
season and commences to feed on the young leaves before they are
fully expanded, it does considerable damage when numerous. 1 have
been acquainted with the worm for several years past but its natural
history was unknown till last summer when Dr. LeEaron and myself
simultaneously bred the moth from peach-leaf feeding larvae, so that
its history is now given for the first time. Figures of the larva were-
given in the Prairie banner last summer by Dr. LeBaron who was
misled by Dr. Hull into the belief that they were the Tent-caterpillar
of the Forest already described. Two years ago I found this Blue-
spangled worm tolerably common in the peach orchard of Mr. E. J-
Ajre& of Villa Ridge, Ills., and he says that he destroyed over a thou-
sand of them last spring. In this State I have frequently met with
it but it is by no means common. Hand picking will' easily keep ife
in check.

Calldiorpha fulvicosta, Clem. — Larva (Fig. 56, a)— Color velvcty-Blact above, pale bluish-,
gray spMkled with black below. A deep orange medic-dorsal line (usually obsolete towards eack
end) and a more distinct, wavy,, broken, yellow stigiuatal line, with a less distinct coincident pale-
line below it. Covered with large highly polished, roughened, deep steel-blue warts, the irregu-
larities of which as they catch and reflect the light, look like' pale blue diamonds. Closely ex-
amined these warts are found to be covered with small elevations each of which furnishes a short
stiff yellow hair, these hairs radiating in all directions around the warts, which are placed as fol-
lows :— Joint 1 with an anterior transverse row of 8 and a posterior dorsal row of 4 ; joints 2 and
3 each witli a transverse row of 8 across the middle ; joints 4 — 11 inclusive, each with 4 circular-
ones anteriorly, and 2 irregular ones posteriorly on dorsum (Fig. 56 d, each of the last evidently
formed by the blending of two), and 2 on each side near the middle of joint (Fig. 58 c). Joint 12
with 2 that are irregular, on the back, and 1 that is circular, on each side. Anal shield formed of
one large irregular wart. In addition to these there is a narrow subventral wart each side, and 2
small ventral ones on the legless joints. Head polished black with a few black hairs. Thoracic-
legs polished blaclc, but pale at the joints inside : prolegs black outside, flesh-colored within and
at extremities. Stigmata not perceptible. Largest in the middle of body. Average length 0.90,,
greatest diameter 0.15 incli.

Described from 6 peach-feeding specimens. Alcoholic specimens do not reflect the pale blue-
points.

The larva3 of our different Callimorphas seem to 'bear a very close resemblance to each other. I
have bred C. clymene, Ilubner, from a larva found full grown on oak (tho' w&ether it fed on oak I
did not ascertain) which sa resembled that of fulvicosta that I fully expected it would produce'
nothing else. The only difference noticeable was that it was vevj' bright colored, with the medio-
dorsal line very clear and distinct. Mr. Wm. Saunders has reared C. LeContei from larvre feeding
on Horse Gentian [Tr-iosteum pnr/oliatum), and from his description of the ',arva"--- it differs prin-
cipally from the above in lacking the klue reflections and in having a pale dotted subdorsal liue.

THE ASH-GRAY VmiON—Zj/lina cinerea, N. sp.

(Lepidoptera, Xylinidie).

There is a pale green worm with cream-colored spots and a broad
cream-colored lateral band, which I have for several years known ice

* Canadian Entomologist I, p. 20»

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

135

\

r

[t'ig- 57.] be common on the Apple,

Poplar, Hickory and some
other trees, the leaves of
which it devour?, but
which last summer at-
t^,racted unusual attention
My its being frequently
iomid boiing into apples
at.d peaches, and as 1 also
commonly found it hiding
in and feeding upon one of our large oak-apples (the spongiUca) we
may conclude that it is a very general feeder and that it is foni of
boring.

This worm (Fig. 57, a) is found during the months of May and
June and when full grown burrows beneath the surface of the gro.und
where it forms a very thin cocoon of filmy silk with the earth adher-
ing to it on the outside. It changes to a mahogony-brown chrysalis
and generally issues as ;i moth during the Septemberor Oct:ober iol-
lowing, though in northern Illinois I have known it to remain in the
chrysalis state through the winter and not issue as a moth till April.
The moth (Fig 57, a) varies considerably in its appearance, but
is characterizL-d by the cold ash-gray appearance of the front wings
which are variegated with darker gray as in the figure. It is an un-
decribed species and belongs to a gernus {Xt/lina) which is easily
recognized by the long narrow almost rectangular wings, the very
square thorax which is often furnished behind the collar with a bifid
crest, and the rectangular and flattened abdom-n. The wings are
folded in repose and appear almost parallel and like a flattened roof-
giving the insect an elongate appearance.

Xylina cinerea, N. Sp.— Lart-a (Fig. 57, a.) Length when fuU grown 1.20— l.-^O inches, color
shiny silvery-green on the back, darker below. A medio-dorsal cream-colored stripe ; a subdorsal
one represented by 3 or 4 irregularly shaped spots on each joint. A broad deep cre<im-colored stig-
matal line, with a few green dints in it, extending to anal prolegs. Four slightly elevated cream-
colored spots, encircled by a ring of rather darker green than the body, in the dorsal space, and in
the subdoi-sal space there are four or more similar but smaller spots. Venter glaucous-gray.
Head as large as joint 1, free, glassy-green with white mottlings at sides and top, and pearly-white
lips. Thoracic legs whitish. Prolegs concolorous with venter. When young the body is darker
and the markings paler. — Described from two living specimens.

Imago (Fig. 57, b)— Front wings, with the ground-color pale cinereous shaded and marked either
with light brown, having a faint purplish tint, or with darker brown, having a similar reflection,
or with a colder grayish-brown with the faintest moss-green reflection : in the first two cases the
dark color either blends and suffuses with the ground-color so as to give the wing a nearly uniform
and smooth appearance, or else contrasts sufficiently to bring out all the marks distinct; in the lat-
ter case (two specimens) the markings are very distinct and the ground color is whiter and more
irrorate. In the well marked specimens the usual lines are readily distinguished, the basal half line,
transverse anterior and transverse posterior being quite wavy, pale, and bordered each side with a
dark shade, the median shade dark and well defined and the subterminal line, though sometimes
pale near costa, forming a series of dark angular spots : in the more uniform specimens these lines
are barely distinguishable and perhaps the most constant is the sub terminal which most often takes,
the form of a series of dark angular spots : the ordinary spots have a pale inner and a more or
less distinct dark outer annulation ; the orbicular is larger than the reniform and is suflSciently
double to take on the form of an 8, the upper part of which is always largest and with the interior-

136 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

space paler than the general surface, while that of the lower part is either concolorous or darker ;
the form is, however, quite irregular and differs sometimes in the two wings of the same species :
the reniform spot is generally well defined, and is either darker, or has a tinge of reddish-brown,
interiorly : at the base of the wing is a more or less distinct pale space occupying the upper half,
and bordered below by a brown line which is straight about half its length and then extends up"
wards and outwards towards transverse anterior. A tolerably distinct terminal line, with the fringes
dark. In taking a general view of the varying specimens this pale basal space, the pale upper
part of the orbicular and the dark subterminal line, seem to be the most constant characters of the
species. Hind ivings gray-brown inclining to cinnamon-brown, with the posterior border but slightly
darker and the fringe paler. Under surface quite uniform, that of front wings being nacreous
gray with a faint discal spot and with a narrow costal and broad terminal border of pale fulvous,
dusted with purple-gray; the hind wings of this last color with the lunule and line distinct. Head
nearly entire, though the quadrifid arrangement of the hairs is traceable ; palpi hairy throughout.
Thorax quite square, of same color as primaries and with the collar bordered behind with brown
and sometimes the edges of the tegulje similarly bordered. Abdomen of same color as hind wings
with lateral tufts, and cut off squarely at apex. Expanse 1.32 — 1.82 inches.

Described "from 3 specimens fed on grape-vine, 2 on peaches and 1 on Cercis canadensis.
Other captured specimens examined.

This species is the analogue of, and very closely resembles the European Xijlina conformis,
which is known under various synonyms. A specimen sent to Mr. P. C. Zelier of Stettin, Prussia,
was, however, pronounced distinct. The well-marked irrorate form still more closely resembles
Guenbe's cinerosa found in Switzerland, and which he himself thinks may prove to be a variety of
conformis. The more I study the species of the Noctoid^ as they occur in nature, the more I am
struck witli their great variability, and there can be no doubt that many of the so-called species
will turn out to be but varieties when we better understand them. In this large family none but
the more strikingly marked species should ever be described without an accompanying description of
their preparatory states and of their principal variations. I am unacquainted with any of Walker's
species except sitbcostalis which is very different, and if this should prove to be a synonym of any
of them, the fault must be laid to the difficulty under which the naturalist in the Western States
labors for want of proper libraries to refer to. It differs essentially from Grote's Bcthunei and
capax as described and illustrated in Volume I of the Transactions of the American Entomological
Society. I am informed by Mr. A. Lintner of Albany, N, Y., that Dr. A. Speyer of Rhoden,
Furtsenthum Walldeck, Prussia, who gives much attention to the Noctuidae, has it marked Celoena
obknga in his MS., but the insect evidently does not belong to that genus, and as the German pro-
nunciation of Xijlina much resembles the English pronunciation of Celcana, the reference to the lat-
ter, is doubtless due to a verbal misunderstanding.

BENEFICIAL INSECTS,

It is not often that there will be much to say in this Department,
as most of the beneficial insects are treated of in connection with the
injurious species upon which they prey. But the following little
fellow is so important to the grape-grower that it should be recognized
bj" every vineyardist in the State, and cherished as the very apple of
his eye :

THE GLASSY-WINGED SOLTHER-BJJQ—Campi/loiieura vitri-

2)ennis, Say.

A NEW FRIEND TO THE GRAr£-GK0V/ER.

This is the bug ; and a pretty little thing it is too ! Take a good
[Pig. 58.] look at the figure and remember that the hair-line at
I ^ IS. I ^^^*^ ^^^® represents the natural size.

li^v There are perhaps no insects more dreaded by the
^^%X grape-grower than the different species of leaf-hoppers
^, '™ 1°^ which sap up the substance of the leaves of the Vine;
^ ^ "f J. j\Vbut as they will be treated of, in all probability, in my
next Report, we will pass them over for the present.
No parasitic or cannibal insect has ever been known
to prey upon these leaf-hoppers before, but last September, while in
the vineyard of Dr. C. W. Spaulding, at Rose Hill, on the Pacific rail-
road, I discovered that this Glassy winged Soldier-bug Avas preying
upon them. The leaves were actually covered on the underside with
the dead carcasses of the leaf-hoppers, which, in their death-struggle,
had firmly attached themselves, and hung thickly, with wings ex-
tended and body sucked dry— dead proof of the surprising thorough-
ness with which their mortal foe had done its work of slaughter. On
a single leaf not so large as a man's hand a half hundred of these
skeleton leaf-hoppers could be counted, and though this number was
above the average, there were few leaves that did not show quite a
number. To use Dr. Spaulding's language, "■ the sight was enough to

138 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

gladden the heart of any grape-grower, who had long looked upon the
leaf-hopper as a permanent evil against which he could not success-
fully contend."

Moving about among the leaves our little Soldier-bug* was often
seen in its pretty full dress uniform, but far more commonly disguised
in its larval or pupal coat; for it is only when full grown and full
fledged that it presents the appearance of the first figure. The larva and
pupa both have an opaque, mealy, bluish-white appearance, and the
[Fig. 59.] latter differs only from the former in the more conspicuous
wing- stubs, which project so as to give it a somewhat
'diamond shaped outline (Fig. 59.) It is during these im-
mature, and less conspicuous stages that this insect doubt-
iy/^^)\V.less does most of its work, for in common with the rest of
the true Bugs {Iletero'ptera) it is active and feeds during
its whole life, from the time it hatches from the Q,g^ till it
dies of old age.

When I first saw the hosts of leaf-hoppers so mercilessly stabbed,
I was at considerable loss to understand Avhat animal could be so wary
and dexterous as to surprise insects so shy and active, and with such
w^onderl'ul jumping powers as the leaf-hoppers possess, and I could
not rest sure that it was our little Glassy- winged Soldier-bug till I had
enclosed specimens in a bottle with living leaf-hoppers, and found
the latter dead next day. Like many other animals of prey, it can
move actively when necessary, but no doubt prefers to surprise its
victims hy stealth, assisted perhaps by its colors which resemble those
of the leaf-hoppers themselves.

The more common color of this insect is pale greenish-yellow.
The antennas are brown with the basal joint and sometimes part of
the second joint blood-red. The head and thorax are pale yellow
with a slight tinge of pink, and the eyes, neck, and front part of the
thorax, except a pale line on the back, are jet black in high contrast.
The scutel is pale yellow or white, and black at base, and the upper
wings (hemelytra) are beautifully transparent with a rose-colored cross
band and a dusky curved line. The species is a very variable one,
however, being dichromous or double-colored, some varieties pos-
sessing much more brown than others, and having no rose-color at
all. In a variety kindly sent me by Mr. P. R. Uhler, of Baltimore,
Maryland, the antennae are pale, and there is no black on the thorax
in front, but a large brown patch behind; there is also a large brown
patch each side of the scutel, and the rosy transverse band on the
wings is quite brown.

JMow this insect is commonly found by collectors in the fall of the
year on different kinds of Oak, but no one ever heard before of its

•■•"I have preferred to apply this popular term to this species, because its black, white and red
marks, and its war-like propensities suggest something of the sort; and though the term is more
strictly and correctly applied to larger cannibal bugs belonging to the genus Arnia, yet it is not in-
appropriate here, and will appeal to the popular mind far more readily than the generic name Cam-
pyloneura, or the English rendition of it, curved-nerve.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 1^

attacking^ the leaf-hoppers of the Grape-vine, and it certainly could
not have done so in past years to the extent that, it did at Kose Hill
last fall, ^vithout its work having been noticed. I have been through
vineyards by the hundred in the fall of the year, and never before
noticed such work. How "are we then to account for its sudden ap-
pearance in such force in the vineyard of Dr. Spaulding ? To my
mind it is an excellent illustration of an insect acquiring a new liabit..
Some individual or individuals wandering from the oaks and from
whatever food they there subsisted upon, came upon Dr. Spaulding's
vineyard and found the leaf-hoppers of tlie Vine to their taste. Their
food being abundant, they soon multiplied, so as to make their work
appreciable, and commenced to spread from one vineyard to another.
The facts in the case would support such a theory, for the bugs and
their slaughtered victims were found in diminishing numbers in the
vineyards in the immediate neighborhood until at the distance of
three miles, no sign of either could be found. Consequently, though
our little cannibal friend occurs sparingly throughout the country in
the native timber, it is found in the cultivated vineyard in a limited
district only, so far as we now know. But there is no reason why the
field of its operations in the vineyard should not in time become co-
extensive with that of the troublesome leaf-hoppers; and with our
present mail facilities we can materially help to make it so by arti-
ficially introducing a few dozen of the living bugs from one vineyard
to another.

This species was first described by Say as CapsMS ■yiinpewreis. The Phytocorida, &s the aame-
indicates, have all been hitherto considered as plant-feeders, and at first the species above con-.
sidered would appear to be an exception to the unity of habit in the family. But Mr. Uhler in-
forms nie that his investigations of the elongated forms of many of the recently established g-enera
have taught him that the affinities of many of them are largely with the Reduviidce through An-^
thocoridcs ; for he has often found them in places where small caterpillars were nuaoprous ;. among;
the larv?? of Tin^idce, and has even caught them in the act of sucking the juices of plant-Uce^

INNOXIOUS INSECTS.

THE WHITE-LINED MORNING SFRmX—Deilep7dla Uneata,

Fabr.

, (Lepidoptera, Sphingidas.)

[Fig. 60.]

/ \

The beautiful moth which heads this chapter is quite common in
the State of Missouri, and has upon several occasions been sent to
me for identification. Almost every one must have been struck
with the great resemblance which it bears to a humming bird, as, of
a summer's evening, it flits rapidly from plant to plant in the garden,
and ever and anon hovers noiselessly over some particular flower,
and stretches forth its long tongue to sip the sweet nectar which that
flower contains.

Few persons are, however, aware what this beautiful moth looks
like, or what it feeds upon, in the caterpillar state ; wherefore this
brief account of it.

The very great diversity of form and habits to be found amongst
the larvae of our butterflies and moths, has much to do with the inter-
est which attaches to the study of these masked forms. I am moved
to admiration and wonder as thoroughly to-day as in early boj^hood,

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 141

every time I contemplate that within each of these varied and fan-
tastic caterpillars — these creeping and groveling "worms" — is locked
up the future butterfly, or moth, which is destined, fairy-like, to ride
the air on its gauzy wings, so totally unlike its former self. Verily
the metamorphoses of the lov/er animals must prove a never-failing
source of joy and felicity to those who have learned to open the pages
of the great Book of Nature !

But beyond the general satisfaction experienced in studying
these transient forms, there will be found ample food for the philo-
sophic mind in the larval variations to be met with in the same species.
Some vary according to the character of their food-plant, and the
study of these variations— of phytophagic varieties and phytophagic
species — must ever prove interesting as well as important, by throw-
ing light on the question of the origin of species. Some (e. g. the
common Yellow Bear, Fig. 28, a, p. OS) vary very much without regard
to food-plant. Our Sphinx larvae, more particularly, are subject to
these variations, and it is for this reason that larval characters alone,
unaccompanied by those of the perfect insect, are of so little value
in classification.

The White-lined Morning Sphinx (Fig. 60) presents one of the
most striking cases of larval variation, as may be seen by comparing
the light form of Figure 61 with the dark form of Figure 62. In the
summer of 1SG3 I took both these forms on the same plant, and have
repeatedly met with them since ; but the mollis bred from them show
no differences whatever.

This beautiful moth is called by Harris the ¥/hite-lined Morning
Sphinx, though its generic name means "Evening Friend." It is dis-
tinguished principally by its roseate under-wings, and by a broad,
pale band running from the apex to the base of the dark-olive front
wings.

[Fig. 61.]

•

The larva feeds upon purslane, turnip, buckwheat, watermelon,
and even apple and grape leaves, upon any of which it may be found
in the month of July. It descends into the ground and, within a
smooth cavity, changes into a light brown chrysalis, from which the
moth emerges during the month of September.

The most common form of this larva is that given at Figure 61 ;
its color is yellowish-green, with a i^rominent subdorsal row of ellip-

142 THIRD ANNUAL REPOST Of

tical spots, each spot consisting of two curved black lines, inclosing
superiorly a bright crimson space, and inferiorly a pale yellow line —
the whole row of spots connected by a pale yellow stripe, edged
■above with black. In some specimens these eye-like spots are dis-
connected, and the space between the black crescents is of a uniform
cream-yellow. The breathing-holes are either surrounded with black,
or with black edged with yellow. The other form is black, and char-
acterized chiefly by a yellow line along the back, and a series of pale
yellow spots and darker yellow dots, as represented in the illustra-

[Fig. 62.]

tion (Fig. 62). Even this dark form is subject to great variation, some
specimens entirely lacking the line along the back, and having the
spots of different shape.

This insect has a wide range, as it occurs in the West Indies, Mex-
ico and Canada, as well as throughout the United States. Feeding,
as it does, j>rincipally on plants of but little value, and being very
'Commonly attacked by the larva of aTachina-fly, this insect has never
become sufficiently common to be classed as injurious. The Tachina-
fly which so commonly infests it, is readily distinguished from the
other more common form by the abdomen, which is bright rufous with
the exception of a broad dorsal stripe which is dark.

TWO OF OUR COMMOH BUTTERFLIES.

MEIR natural history ; with some general remarks on TRANSt'ORM''
ATION AND PROTECTIVE IMITATION AS ILLUSTRATED BY THEM.

In the following pages 1 propose to give tlie complete natural
history of two of our commonest butterflies, and to close v/ith such
philosophical thoughts as the subject warrants. I do so the more
willingly as many of the facts are published for the first time ; for
notwithstanding the butterflies are so common, their complete natu-^
ral history has hitherto been unknown.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 143

THE ARCHIPPUS BJJTTERYLY— Dan ais arc/nppus,'' Fabr.

(Lepidopteia, Danaidtc.)

ITS NATURAL HISTORY.

[Fig. 03.]

" What more felicitie can faU to creature
Than to enjoy delight with libertie,
And to be lord of all the workes of Nature,
To raine in th' aire from earth to highest skie,
To feed on floivres and weads of glorious feature."

The Fate of the Butt erf ySiiensCT.

This beautiful butterfly, like most of the species of the family
to which it belongs, enjoys a wide range, occurring in the more north-
ern of the States and in Upper Canada and extending into South
America, where, according to Mr. Bates, it is common throughout
the region of the Lower Amnzons.f In the Mississippi Valley it is
one of our most common species. The family to which it belongs is
distinguislied by the front legs being spurious or abortive; by the
large cell in the centre of each wing being closed, and by the exist-
ence of a small nervule originating at the base of the front wing just
below the lower or sub-median nerve, and joining that nerve a short
distance from its base. J This nervule is so covered with scales that
it is hardly visible till they are removed. In the genus Danais the
sexes are readily distinguished by the male having a small horny

* Some late writers use the specific name erippus of Cramer, because it seems to have the pri-
ority. I have not all the works of the old authors to refer to, but Mr. Sanborn, of Boston has
been kind enough to refer to them for roe, and he writes that erippus was first applied by Cramer
to tho $ in 1775, and plcxippus to tlie <^ by the same author in 1780. Fabricius published his name of
archippus in 179.'?, and the name had already been applied by Cramer to the Disippus butterfly. Ac-
cordingly Cramer's erippus has the priority ; but as this insect has been very generally known by
the name which Fabricius gave it, among entomological writers, nnd as it has become familiar to
the popular ear, I prefer to retain it — especially since it is no longer applied to the Disippus but-
terfly.

t'l'rans. Linna'an Soc, Vol. XXIII, p. 516.

JMr. Bates in a note to the paper already referred to, (p. 497,) gives this as a constant and ex-

eellent character discovered by Dr. C. Fehler, of Vienna, and describes it as "a small nervule at

the base of the foVe-wing median nervure which anastomoses with the median a short distance from

ts origin." I have no means of referring to Dr. Felder's original article, and cannot say whether

e is correctly quoted ; but in the two N. A. species of the genus {D. archippus aad bcrenice) thin

hervule originates below and anastomoses with sub-median nerve.

144

THIRD AI^KUAL REPORT OF

excrescence near the disk of the hind wing, close to, or upon the fourth
nerve. This excrescence or tubercle is faintly shown in the above fig-
ure, which represents the male, and it is entirely lacking in the
female. The color of the Archippus butterfly is of a bright orange-
red, marked with black and cream-color as in the figure — the underside
being similarly marked but paler, that of the hind wings being bright
fulvous. The species feeds upon most of the different kinds of Milk-
weed or Silk-weed (AsclepiasJ^Sind also upon Dogbane {Apocynum)^
according to some authors. It shows a wonderful dislike, however, to
the Poke Milk-weed {Asclepias phytolaGcoides)^ and I was surprised
to find that larvae furnished with this plant would wander about their
breeding cages day after day, and would eventually die rather than
touch it, though they would eagerly commence devouring the leaves
of either A. iuherosa^ curassavica, cornuti or purpurasoens as soon as
offered to them.

The butterflies hibernate, though whether anj'' but the impregna-
ted females survive until the Milk-weeds commence to grow is not
definitely ascertained. They commence depositing eggs in the lati-
tude of St. Louis during the fore part of May. Some of the earliest
developed butterflies from these eggs begin to appear about the mid-
dle of June and others continue to appear for several v/eeks. These
lay eggs again, and the butterflies abound a second time in October.
Thus there are two broods each year, and though the first brood of
larvo3 are hatched more uniformly apd within a more limited time
than the second, the two broods yet connect by late individuals of the
first and early individuals of the second, and the caterpillars may be
found at almost any time from May to October, but are especially
abundant during late summer and early fall.

The egg (Fig. 64, a, magni-
fied ; c, natural size) is invari-
ably deposited on the under
side of a leaf, and is conical and
delicately reticulate with longi-
tudinal ribs, and fine transverse
strioe. It is yellowish when first
deposited but becomes gray as
the embryo v/ithin develops.

Description OF Egg. — Length 0.05; greatest diameter 0.0.3 inches. Conical, slightly narrower at
base than in middle, and generally slightly contracted towards apex. Color pale cream-yellow;
opaque, smooth; the shell but slightly polished and rather soft. About 22 longitudinal narrow car-
inate ribs, usually regular and single, though oceasionally one gives forth a branch; interstices
crossed by about 30 very fine transverse striae, often subobsolete. Apes smooth. Slightly and singly
attached to the underside of leaf.

Described from numerous specimens.

It is a little singular that this egg has not previously been des-
cribed. It is very easily found, and I had no difQculty in obtaining great
numbers last summer, though I owe the first one ever obtained to the
sharp eyes of Miss M. E.Murtfeldt, of Kirkwood, a lady who takes much

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 145

interest in Entomology, and is an excellent observer. It were greatly
to be wished that more of our ladies would interest themselves in
such studies, for we have altogether too few Madam Merians.

In about five days after deposition, the egg hatches, and the young
larva as soon as hatched usually turns round and devours its egg-
shell ; a custom very prevalent with young caterpillars. At this stage
it differs considerably from the mature larva ; it is perfectly cylindri-
cal, about 0.12 inch long and much of a thickness throughout. The
head is jet black and polished ; the color of the body is pale green-
ish-white with the anterior and posterior horns showing as mere
black conical points, and with two transverse-oval black warts, nearer
together, on the first joint. It is covered with minute black bristles,
arising from still more minute warts, six on the back and placed four in
a row on the anterior portion and one each side on the posterior por-
tion of each joint, (Fig. 64, f)\ and three on each side, one in the
middle of the joint, and two which are substigmatal, pos-
teriorly, (Fig. 64, e.) There is a sub-triangular black spot on
the anal flap, the legs are alternately black and white and the stig-
mata are made x)lainly visible by a pale shade surrounding them.
When the young worm is three or four days old, a dusky band ap-
pears across the middle of each joint; and by the fifth or sixth day
it spins a carpet of silk upon the leaf, and prepares for its first moult.
After the first moult the anterior horns are as long as the thoracic
legs, the posterior ones being somewhat shorter; the characteristic
black stripes show quite distinctly, but the white and yellow stripes
more faintly. After this it undergoes but slight change in appear-
ance, except that the colors become brighter and that at each suc-
cessive moult the horns become relatively longer. There are but
three moults. ^^ and the intervals between them are short, as the worms
frequently acquire their full growth within three weeks from hatch-
ing.

Some persons may be curious to know how the larva acquires
longer horns at each moult. The explanation is simple. During
each period of growth the skin which is to serve for the next period
is forming and perfecting under that which at the the time serves
the worm. Upon this inner skin and beneath the outer one, the horns
are also developing, and when the outer skin has become useless and
the worm, alter a short period of rest and fasting, bursts it near the
head and works it off, the old horns go with the old skin and the new
ones appear as mere stubs. The new skin is now very fresh and
moist, and no sooner is the old skin off than these soft stubs begin
to swell, and it is then easily seen how wonderfully the long horns

'•■■I do not include the last moult by which the larva is transformed to the chrysalis. Some
persons in counting the diflferent moults that larvae pass through, are content with counting the
heads that are shed. Whenever this method is relied on it should be borne in mind that the beads
really increase in size between each moult, though not in proportion to the increase of body. Thus,
in the present species the first head is considerably larger when shed than it was when the larva
hatched, and though appearing uniformly black when hatched, it shows the usual white marks
more or less distinctly when shed.
S E— 10

^46

TfliRi) ASJilUAli REPORT OP

fiave been folded tip and curled over and between the wrinkt(t?s of tb
body so as not to impede the casting o-f the skin. At Figure 64, 5, 1
have given a somewhat enlarged view of a worm just in the act of
xiasting its last skin in order to show (at d) how the flexible horns
were folded. They unbend of their own accord, though the worm

often helps to straighten
them out by cunningly
.turning its head and
drawing them over the
surface of the leaf.

When full grown the
worm presents the ap-
pearance if J'igure 65, the colors being black, white and yellow.

HOW THE LARYA BECOMES A CHRYSALIS.

The metamorphoses of insects will ever prove a source of won-
der and admiration. If a naturalist were to announce to the world
the discovery of an animal which, for a short term of its life, existed
in the form of a serpent; which then, after performing its own inter-
ment and weaving itself a shroud of pure silk, changed to something
like an Egyptian mummy ; and which after remaining thus buried
without food or motion, for a much longer term, should at length
struggle through its shroud and start into day a winged bird— every
one would be interested in the history of such a marvelous creature!
Yet the transformation of insects are scarcely less startling than such
an occurrence would be, and it is only by drawing such a picture,
that we are made to fully appreciate these changes. The methods of
transformation are varied, as the reader who has perused these
Reports is well aware. A good illustration is often needed in our
schools, and as the present species furnishes an excellent illustration
of the process in those butterflies which are suspended in the chrysa-
lis state from the tail, and is withal so common that those who desire

[Fig. 66.]'^

to witness the process will
have no difiicultyin doing
so, I will give some ac-
count of it ; for the person
who had never witnessed
the true method employed,
might gaze a long time at
the full grown larva (Fig.
65,) and the chrysalis (Fig.
67) without divining how
the latter was produced by the former. We have on the one hand
a crawling worm, and on the other a legless body hanging securely by

*These figures are drawn from memory and are perhaps a litUe ideal and inaccurate.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. HI

its tail. What has become of the larval appurtenances and how did
the chrysalis attach itself? Let us see.

As soon as the larva is full grown it spins a little tuft of silk to
the underside of whatever object it may be resting upon, and after
entangling the hooks of its hind legs in this silk, it lets go the hold of
its other legs and hangs down with the head and anterior joints of the
body curved as at Figure 66, a. In this position it Iianga for about
twenty-four hours, during which the fluids of the body naturallj^ gravi-
tate towards the up-turned joints, until the latter become so swollen
that at last,by a little effort on the part of the larva,the skin bursts along
the back behind the head. Through the rent thus made the anterior
portion of the pupa is protruded and by constant stretching and con-
tracting the larval skin is slipped and crowded backwards until there
is but a small shriveled mass gathered around the tail (Fig. 56, J).
Now comes the critical period — the culminating point

The soft and supple chrysalis, yet showing the elongate larval form
with distinct traces of its prologs, hangs heavily from the shrunken
skin. From this skin it is to be extricated and firmly attached to
the silk outside. It has neither legs nor arms, and we should suppose
that it would inevitably fall while endeavoring to accomplish this
object. But the task is performed with the utmost surety, though
appearing so perilous to us. The supple and contractile joints of the
abdomen are made to subserve the purpose of legs, and by suddenly
grasping the shrunken larval skin between the folds of two of these
joints as with a pair of pincers, the chrysalis disengages the tip of
its body and hangs for a moment suspended as at Figure 66, c.
Then with a few earnest, vigorous, jerking movements it suc-
ceeds in sticking the horny point of its tail into the silk, and
firmly fastening it by means of a rasp of minute claws with which that
point is furnished. Sometimes severe effort is needed before the point is
properly fastened, and the chrysalis frequently has to climb by stretch-
ing the two joints above those by which it is suspended, and clinging
hold of the shriveled skin further up. The moment the point is
fastened the chrysalis commences, by a series of violent jerkings, and
whirlings to dislodge the larval skin, after which it rests from its efforts
and gradually contracts and hardens until it presents the appearance
'^^'^" ^;L of Figure 67. The really active work lasts but a few
^^^^^^S minutes, and the insect rarely fails to go through with
it successfully. The chrysalis is a beautiful object and
as it hangs pendant from some old fence board or from
the underside of an Asclepias leaf, it reminds one of
somo large ear-drop; but though the jeweller could
successfully imitate the form, he might well despair of
ever reproducing the clear pale green, and the ivory
black and golden marks which so characterize it.
This chrysalis state lasts but a short time, as is the case with all
those which are known to suspend themselves ^nakedly by the tail.

148 THIRD ANNUAL REPOET OF

At the end of about the tenth day the dark colors of the future butter-
fly begin to show through the delicate and transparent skin, and sud-
denly this skin bursts open near the head and the new-born butterfly
gradually extricates itself, and, stretching forth its legs and clamber-
in"- on to some surrounding object, allows its moist, thickened and
contracted wings to hang listlessly from the body. Under the direct
influence of the air, the circulation quickens so that the fluids of the
body are driven into every portion of these wings, and they visibly
expand under the eye, while the other parts of the body gain in
strength and firmness. In less than an hour, and often within half an
hour, the wings are ready to perform their intended work and our
o-ay Archippus takes his first lesson in aeronautics. Ah I what an
enviable fellow is he,

-Lazily flying

Over the flower-decked prairies, West ;
Basking in sunshine till day-light is dying,
And resting all night on Asclepias' breast ;

Joyously dancing,

Merrily prancing,
Chasing his lady-love high in the air.

Fluttering gaily.

Frolicking daily.
Free from anxiety, sorrow and care !

THE LARVA ENJOYS GREAT IMMUNITY FROM THE ATTACKS OF BIRDS AND OTHER

PREDACEOUS ANIMALS.

Many of our insects, from one cause or another, enjoy a wonderful
immunity from the attacks of predaceous and parasitic animals and
there exists a curious relation between color and edibility. It is a
very general rule that those which have such an immunity from the
attacks of enemies, are conspicuously colored and feed openly upon
the plants they attack; while those which are persecuted are generally
of sombre and evasive colors, and often possess some protective
resemblance to the objects upon which they occur, or hide themselves
in one way or another. For several years past Mr. J. Jenner Weir, of
London, England,— a gentleman whom I had the pleasure of meeting
some eleven years ago— has made numerous experiments with the
direct view of ascertaining what species of insects are eaten by birds
and what species are rejected; and the results of these interesting
experiments are recorded in the Transactions of the London Ento-
mological Society (1869, pp. 21-26 and 1870 pp. 337-9). They point
conclusively to the facts above given, and Mr. A. G. Butler of the
British Museum made corroborating experiments, with, lizards, frogs
and spiders. Prompted by these experiments made in England, I was
led to make similar ones with our gaily colored Archippus larva, and
the result fally accords with that obtained by Mr. Weir ; for neither
turkeys, chickens, toads or snakes would touch it. The reason why
predaceous animals refuse these gaily colored larvae is not always

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 119

SO easy to explain, but in the present case it is undoubtedly owing to an
odor which the larva possesses. This odor is hardly appreciable, when
the larva3 are in the open air; but by confining a few of them for a
short time in a tight box, it soon becomes apparent, and is pungent
and nauseous in the extreme even to our sense of smell, and it is
doubtless more intensely so to the keener sense of birds and other
animals.

Mr. A. R. Wallace believes that the gay colors of such larvas are
realb'- protective, because if by more sombre colors they were undis-
tinguishable from edible species, they would be seized by birds, and
though rejected afterwards, would be so much injured that the prob-
ability of their producing butterflies would be very remote, even if
they were not killed outright.

The same immunity is enjoyed bj'our Archippus butterfly in all its
stages, and especially in the perfect state, in which the peculiar odor
is still stronger; as I have abundantly proved.

The larva does not however enjoy entire immunity from parasites
as has been hitherto supposed, for though after extensive experience
I have never found any of the numerous Hymenopterous parasites
attacking it, it is nevertheless often killed by a Dipterous Tachina-
fi3\ I have never noticed any such parasite in the first brood of
larvns, but last year in the immediate vicinity of St. Louis, not one in
fifty of the second brood escaped its fatal work; and this same para-
site was by no means confined to one locality, as I received it trom
Mr. S. S. Rathvon, of Lancaster, Pa., who found the Archippus larvas
and chrysalids badly infested. The eggs of the Tachina-fly must be
deposited for the most part while the larvas are j^oung, for specimens
of larva3 taken at the first moult and confined in cages where no flies
could get access to -them, were frequently parasitised. These victim-
ized larvfe usually succumb a day or two before they are full grown,
though occasionally one succeeds in efl"ecting the change to the chry-
salis. They grow sickly and, hanging by the hind legs, become flaccid
and discolored, while the parasitic maggots pierce the skin and fall to
the ground, which they enter to transform. A silky liquid escapes
from the breathing pores and from the holes made by these maggots,
which, when dry, forms long white semi-elastic threads; and as the
discolored larvcie hang by hundreds from the milkv/eeds, with these
glistening filaments, one might at first imagine they had been smitten
with some epidemic disease.

The Tachina maggot is not specially distinguishable from the
many other larvfe of this kind which are known to infest the bodies
of other insects, but the spiracles are encircled by a very distinct dark
brown ring.*

••■ The larva of this Tachina-fly, after it enters the ground, contracts very rapidly to the pupa
etate, and if retained on a hard surface, one may watch with interest how, as the chitinous cover-
ing- thickens and hardens, the dark head is vigorously kept at work underneath it, gnawing or
abrading the thickening skin in a constant circle, so as to partially sever that portion which serves
as a lid to be easily pushed open by the future fly. I have often wondered how tliis lid in so many

150 THIRD ANNUAL KtPORT OF

OurTacliina-flies generally very closely resemble each other, and
very little attention has been paid to them in this country. The present
species seems to be new to science, but I forbear to describe it for the
simple reason that it varies so much in itself and so closely resembles
many others, that it would be next to impossible to characterize it
sufficiently. It may be provisionally known, for purposes of reference,
as the Archippus Tachina-fly — DtGliina* archijjpivora. It may be at
once distinguished from the two flies described in my second Report
(p. 51), and which attack the true Army-worm, not only by the diifer-
ent form and smaller size, but by being of a paler gray, and by lacking
the reddish or yellowish tail. The eyes are perfectly smooth. An
interesting fact connected with this fly is that it likewise attacked
the Fall Army-worm (as already mentioned on page 116, note,)
which was so abundant at the same time of year. I have also bred it
undescribed cut worm.

The Tackinarics can only be satisfactorily studied in connection with their habits, and even
then they must prove a most difficult Division to work up. The species are very apt to grease in the
cabinet and where they do not grease, the colors, especially of the face, lose their brilliancy. I am
satisfied that the same species often attacks indiSerently many widely distinct larvce and that there
are, in consequence, entomophagic varieties. I have a score of different lots, bred from as many
distinct species of Lepidopterous and even Coleopterous larvae; and the individuals of each lot,
often bred from a solitary specimen of some particular species of larva, differ more among them-
selves than from individuals of some other lot, bred from a distinct species of larva. Indeed,
unless there are striking characters, it would be folly for any but the specialist to attempt to
describe them. These Tachina-flies, indeed, form such an extensive Division that in order to facil-
itate study, authors have inclined to erect genera upon characters most trivial and such as would
certainly not be looked upon as of more than specific value in other groups. Sixteen specimens
bred from Danais archippus vary from 0.18 — 0.30 inch in length and from 0.33 — 0.60 inch in ex-
panse : some have a rufous spot on the side of the second abdominal joint, while others show no
signs of any such spot. From among them two somewhat distinct forms occur in about equal
numbers. In the one, which is on an average the largest, the abdomen is rather broader, and when
dry shrinks so as to become flat, while the antenna have the third joint from four to five times as
long as the second. In the other the abdomen is rather narrower, remains more cylindrical when
dry, and the antennas have the third joint from five to sis times as long as the second. These dif-
ferences are, I believe, sufficient to cause the specialist to make distinct species or even genera;
but as the same two forms occur in those bred from other species of larvaj, and as all the other

coarctate pupaa was so regularly and smoothly opened by the nascent fly ; but am now satisfied
from observations made on this particular species, that it is previously prepared by the larva while
contracting, in the manner described above. This mil be more especially the case where the con-
tracted skin is thick as in Cuterebra, CEstrus, etc., while in those where the skin L« thin and delicate
as in Anthomyia and many of the smaller Muscida, the habit probably does not obtain, as the fly
can crowd itself out, and the opening is quite irregular, sometimes transverse, at others forming a
simple longitudinal slit. I have witnessed the same wonderful forethought in the larva of Chry-
sopa, after spinning its small cocoon. In this case the sharp sickle-like jaws of the larva enable it
to cut very finely and smoothly, and the edge of the severed parts show plainly, under the lens, a slight
discoloration. The circle inscribed is often, but not always, slightly spiral so that when pushed
open the lid hangs as on a hinge. The same habit no doubt prevails in the Lepidopterous genus
Limacodes and its allies ; for I have experimentally proved, by opening several cocoons of Callo-
chlora vitidis, Reakirt, both while the inmate was yet in the larva or pupa state, that the lid opens
with the slightest pressure, and just as regularly as if pushed from within. There is, however, a
marked difference in the working in these last two cases and that of our Dipterous larva;. The
former enclose themselves in cocoons, in which they have abundant room to turn round and par-
tially cut their lid, while the Tachina larva performs the work on its own skin while it is harden-
ing and before it has become separated from the transforming body within.

* I forwarded specimens of this fly to Dr. LeBaron, the State Entomologist of Illinois, who is
better posted as to the minute generic differences between these flies, than any one else in the AYest,
and he refers it to the genus Masicera, Macq., in speaking of which Macquart says : "they are the
only Tachince which have the third joint of the antenna; very long without at the same time having
the front very prominent." This and other minor genera of Macquart and Meigen have been dis-
carded by some modern authors, such as Walker and Zetterstedt, and referred to Tachina.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 151

details of structure, coloration, etc are precisely similar, and as these differencas themselves grad-
uate, I cannot consider them specific. I have bred the same fly from larva; of Prodenia autumnalis
as stated above ; also from larva; of an imdescribed Noctuan, closely resembling Agrotis subgothica.
Haw. These specimens differ only ia the rather smaller average size and more slender body, frona
^specimens bred from several other distinct larvtB, and from the pupa of Cynthia cardui. It is also
an interesting fact that the largest specimene of what appear to be but one species are those bred
from the largest larvia', as for instance that of Citkeronia regalis.

THE BUTTERFLY OFTEN CONWREGATES IN IMMENSE SWARMS OR BEVIES,

Various butterflies have long been known in Europe, to swarm
prodigiously at certain periods; but in this country no other butter-
fly congregates in such swarms as our Archippus, though the Painted
Lady {Cnythia cardui)^ an insect found in all four quarters of the
globe, and often seen in swarms in Europe, has been known also to
swarm in Canada.

The Archippus butterfly appears in large bevies or flocks almost
every year in some part or other of the West. In September, 186S, I
received accounts of their sudden appearance in difl"erent parts of
the city of Madison, Wisconsin, and at Manteno, Ills.; while on the
19th of that month Mr. P. B. Sibley of St. Joseph, Mo., sent me speci-
mens with the statement that he saw millions of them filling the air
to the height of three or four hundred feet, for several hours flying
from north to south, and quite as numerous as the grasshoppers had
been the year before.

In the spring of 1870 I received the following account of such a
swarm from L. J. Stroop of Waxahachie, Ellis Co., Texas :

During my ramble this morning (March 31st) I happened upon a
flock or bevy of butterflies known as Danais arolilppus^ Fabr., con-
taining thirty individuals, four of which I captured for the purpose of
identification, only two of which, however, I pinned down. I find
them to be of the genuine archippus^ identical in every respect with
specimens bred from the caterpillar by myself last summer, except
in that of color, which is somewhat paler in these captured this morn-
ing than it was in those bred by me in the summer. They have the
appearance of having been on the wing some days.

A little later the same spring similar swarms were noticed in dif-
ferent parts of Kansas, the most remarkable of which was one which
occurred at Manhattan about tho middle of April, and which, as I
learn from Mr. Thos. Wells of that place, came rapidly with a strong
wind from the N. W. and filled the atmosphere all around for more
than an hour, sometimes so as to eclipse the light. Again, large
flocks passed over the same place in a southerly directio'), on the
evening of the 27th and morning of the 28th September, while at
Alton, Illinois, great numbers of them were seen passing in a S. W.
direction on ihe laet day of October of the same year.

It would be diflicult to give any satisfactory reason for this as-
sembang together of such immense swarms of butterflies. Insects
otherwise solitary in their habits sometimes congregate thus for pur-
poses of emigration ; but this can hardly be the object of our butter-

152 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

fly bevies. They certainly do not travel very long distances or we
should hear more numerous accounts of them. There are two signifi-
cant facts connected with them from which some corollary might be
deduced, namely, that only those species which have a very extended
ran;;e are known to form such flocks, and that they always travel,
under these conditions, in a southerly or south westerly direction.
Mr. Bates* gives an interesting account of the uninterrupted pro-
cesL-ions. of butterflies belonging to the genus Oallidnj as, which
passed from morning to night in a southerly direction across the
Amazons; and as far as he could ascertain these migrating hordes
were composed entirely of males.

If our Archippus flocks should turn out to be all males, this fact
may lead to some solution of the cause of their congregating; but I
incline to believe the flocks are composed of both sexes. Again, if
the swarms occurred during the egg-depositing season, we might even
then venture to solve the problem. For it is evident that a species
which enjoys such immunity from predaceous animals and which is
confined in its diet to a single family of plants, must occasionally
multiply in particular districts beyond the capability of the plants to
sustain them ; and as most female butterflies instinctively refuse to
deposit eggs on a plant that has already been abundantly supplied
by some other individual, the females of our Archippus would natur-
ally roam in vain for fresh plants when once the latter had all been
stocked; and would thus congregate together, and, followed b}' the
males, form migrating bevies. Or we might suppose that after the
larvas had eaten up all the milk-weeds in a district, the butterflies
they produced, finding no plants upon which to lay their eggs, would
be forced to migrate in swarms. But neither of these suppositions
can have much weight from the fact that the swarms occur either late
in the fall or early in spring; and the mqst plausible solution under
the circumstances is that, as these are the seasons when the milk-
weeds are either destroyed or have not. yet started to grow, the but-
terflies, having nothing to confine their attention and keep them iso-
lated, naturally congregate together, and that when in motion, the
low temperature of the seasons instinctively prompts them to wend
their way southwards. The probabilities are that these swarms are
eventually destroyed, for no species can multiply beyond a certain
limit, and when there is not check to increase in one direction, there
will be in another. Of course this is as yet all theory and hypothesis,
but hypotheses in such cases are necessary, for they are threads
on Avhicli to string and combine the known parts of a case so as ulti-
mately to arrive at the real truth in the matter.

* No-turalist on the River Amazons, I, p. 249,

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

153

THE DISIPPUS B\]TTEIIFLY—Li7ne7iitis disippus, Godt.

(Lepidoptera, Nyiuphalida!).

This is another butterfl}^ (Fig. QS) which is well known in the
Mississippi Valley. It belongs to a family which agrees with that to
[Fig- 68.] which the previous insect

belongs, in the front pair

iof legs being more or less

'functionally impotent, but

differs remarkably from

it in the large cell in the

centre of each wing never

being closed externally

by a distinct tubular vein,

and in its being generally

open towards the outer margin of the wing : also in lacking the small

nervule at the base of the front wing, spoken of on page 143.

The food plants of the Disippus butterfly are Willow, Poplar and
Plum, and though not as numerous as the Archippus, it is yet toler-
ably common in the Mississippi Valley and occurs sparingly all over
the' United States and in the West Indies. As will be seen by re-
ferring to the figure*, though belonging to an entirely distinct family,
it nevertheless bears a great general resemblance to the Archippus
butterfly, and this resemblance is rendered more striking by the col-
ors of the two insects being identicaliy the same.

The natural history of this species is fully as interesting as that
of the Archippus butterflj^— if not more so. The egg which, so far
[Fig. 69.] as I am aware, has never be-

and

01^ fore been described
tiscfigured, differs remarkably
^from that of the Archippus
^^butterfly and is well repre-
^1!: sented at Figure 69, a show-
Jj ing it greatly magnified, c of
.<l-^ the natural size and d giving
a greatly magnified view of
one of the cells with the filamentous processes from each angle of
the hexagon. The color is at first pale yellow but soon becomes gray
as the embryo within develops. It is usually deposited singly near
the tip of the leaf, generally on the underside but often on the upper
side; and I have exceptionally found as many as three together, and
sometimes one on either side of the leaf, opposed to each other.

* In Figure 68, which represents the Disippus butterfly, the left wings represent the upper sur-
face, and the right wings, which are detached from the body, represent the lower surface. The
difference in the coloration of the two surfaces is but slight in this species, neither does it amount
to much in the Archippus butterfly ; but in some butterflies and in others belonging to the same
genus, it is very considerable.

154

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OP

Description op the Egg. — Length 0.38 inch. Diameter at base about the same. Globular,
with the top often slightly depressed. Hexagonally reticulate, the cells more or less regular,
sunken so as to give the egg a thimble-like, pitted appearance, and about 10 of them in the longi-
tudinal row and 30 in the circumference. Covered with translucent filamentous spines, one aris-
ing from every reticulate angle and giving the egg a pubescent appearance. Each spine about as
long as the cell is wide, those on the top being longest.

The young larva differs materially from its more mature self, as
will be seen from the description which follows. It grows apace,
casting off its old coat and devouring the same three times during its
growth, and eventually suspending itself by the hind legs and trans-
forming to the chrysalis, frequently within a month from the time of
[Fis- 70.] hatching. The mature larva

(Fig. 70, a) presents a
roughened tubercled ap-
pearance and varies much
in color, the predominau
colors being moss-green,
brown and creamy- white;
the moss-green parts being
studded with beautiful light
blue points. The pupa
Fig. 70, h) is marked with
burntumber brown, ash-gray, flesh-color and silvery white, and is
characterized like that of the other species of the genus, by a curious
thin almost circular projection which has been likened to a Roman
nose, growing out of the middle of its back.

Description of mature Larva. — Length 1.20, diameter 0.25 inch. General color either
whitish or olive-green. Body thickly granulated. Head dull olive, with dense minute prickles ;
its vertex bifid and terminating in a pair of prickly cylindrical horns, transversely arranged and
each about 0.03 inch long. Back speckled and mottled with olive of difi"erent shades above the
line of the spiracles, except joints 2 and 8 and the upper part of 7 and 9, but with a continuous pure
white line below the spiracles, beneath which white line on joints 4-10 is a large olive patch ex-
tending on joints 6-9 to the external tip of the prolegs. A pair of black transversely-arranged
dorsal dots in the suture behind joint 2, and a more or less obvious lateral one just above and be-
hind the 5th and 7th pair of stigmata surmounting the lateral white line. Joints 3-7 and 9-11
with more or less, shining, elevated, blue dots. On joint 2 a pair of prickly cylindrical black horns,
transversely arranged and 0.16 inch long. On joints 3, 10 and 11 a pair of large dorsal tubercles
transversely arranged, each crowned by a little bunch of 8-12 robust prickles. On joint 5 a pair of
similar tubercles, but still larger, of a yellowish color, and mamma-like. On joints 4, 6, 7 and 9
tubercles similar to those on joints 3, 10 and 11, but smaller. Onjoint 12four black prickly dorsal
horns, quadrangularly arranged and each about 0.03 inch long. Stigmata and legs blackish.

Described from many specimens. Such are the prominent and more constant traits of this
larva, but it is so variable in the general depth of coloring and in the proportion of the lighter
and darker shades that it is next to impossible to frame a description which shall alike agree with
half a dozen specimens.

The newly hatched larva presents a quite different appearance. It is 0.09 inch long with a
yellowish-brown head twice as large as the first joint and distinctly bilobed. The first joint is also
larger than the others. Each joint is divided by a transverse impressed line, and upon the dorsum
of each fold thus made are 4 pale elevated spots, the anterior outer ones larger than the rest, as
shown at Fig. 69, b, especially on joints 2, 3, 5 and 11 where they appear conical with a darker an-
nulation at base. There is a subdorsal and a sub-stigmatal row of similar rounded warts, and they
all give rise to little pale bristles or spines. The general color is pale yellowish-brown, mottled
with dark streaks, especially below the stigmata. The second period scarcely differs from the first

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 155

except in the somewhat greater length of the horns. In the third period the horns acquire their
mature proportions, and the whole larva becomes more granulated. In the fourth or last the blue
points appear and the lateral rows of tubercles lose their conspicuousness to a great extent.

ITS WINTER QUAKTERS.

One of the most interesting features in the life-history of our
Disippus butterfly is its mode of hibernating. A great many moth
larva3 pass the winter in the larva state sheltered in one way or
another; but no other American butterfly has hitherto been recorded
as hibernating in this state, except the closely related Ursula butter-
fly,* though no doubt the few other species belonging to the same
genus possess a similar habit. Misled, perhaps, by the fact that the
butterfly is seen flying about so early in the spring that it could not
have had sulficient time to hatch out from the egg and acquire its full
larval growth the same season, and with its wings so bright and un-
worn that it could not have hibernated as a butterfly as some other
closely allied species are known to do ; Dr. Harris, in his work on In-
jurious Insects (p. 282) asserts that it hibernates in the i)upa state,
though he subsequentlj^ in the year 1850, became aware of the facts
in the case.f

In reality the larvae of the autumnal brood, when about one-
fourth or one-third grown, build for themselves curious little houses
(Fig. 70, c), in which they pass the winter. First and foremost — with
wise forethought, and being well aware through its natural instincts,
that the leaf which it has selected for its house will fall to the ground
when the cold weather sets in, unless it takes measures to prevent
this — the larva fastens the stem of the leaf with silken cables securely
to the twig from which it grows. It then gnaws ofl" the blade of the
leaf at its tip end, leaving little else but the mid-rib, as shown in Fig-
ure 70, d. Finally, it rolls the remaining part of the blade of the leaf
into a cylinder, sewing the edges together with silk.;]; The basal por-
tion of the cylinder is of course tapered to a point, as the edges of
the leaf are merely drawn together, not overlapped ; and invariably
the lower side of the leaf forms the outside of the house, so as to
have its projecting mid-rib out of the way of the larva, as it reposes
snugly in the inside. The whole when finished (Fig. 70, c) has
somewhat the appearance of the leaf of a miniature pitcher-plant
{Sarraoenia)^ its length being 0.50-0.65 inch, and its diameter 0.11-
0.11 inch.

*There is good reason to believe, however, that some of those butterfly larvae which habitually
protect themselves by a sort of loose cocoon, made by drawing together or rolling up the leaves of
their food-plant; likewise pass the winter in the larval state. At least I have known an oak-feed-
ing larva of Nisoniades juvenalis, Sm. and Abb., kept by a lady friend of mine, to remain in the
larva state nearly all winter before transforming to the chrysalis. But there is not strict analogy
between such a case and that of the hibernation of the immature Disippus.

"f" Harris Correspondence, p. 245.

J In the article in the A7n. Entomologist — which was the greater part of it written by Mr. Walsh,
with my own facts and experience inserted here and there — it is stated that the ''gnawed portion of
the leaf forming the flap, is bent down and fastened by silken cords, so as to act as a door to the
house." After fuller experience, I find that this is very seldom the case, but that the orifice is
more often left open.

156

THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

These curious little cases may be commonly /ound upon our wil-
lows or poplars in the winter time, I have examined hundreds of
them, and although they are invariably built upon the same plan,
they vary greatly in the degree of perfection which the architect at-
tained ; and this is especially the case when they have been built in
confinement. The blade on the tip piece is sometimes gnawed oft'
right down to the rib ; at others it is left almost as broad as the tube.
Sometimes it is bent over the orifice ; at others not. They are also
[Fig. 71.] much more irregular and ungainly when made from
broad leaves such as those of the Silver poplar,
than when made from the more narrow leaves of
the Willow. These autumnal larvm have also an-
other peculiar habit not heretofore recorded, and
which was first pointed out to me by Mr. J. A. Lint-
ner, of Albany, N. Y. They exhibit a tendency to
build from the time they are born, and will always
a eat the leaves from the side, gnawing large holes
and cutting along the sides of the mid-rib, as at
Fgure 71, a. They commence at the tip and as they
work downwards towards the base, they collect the
debris into a little bunch, which they fasten with
silk to the mid-rib. When the hibernaculura is fin-
ished the seam is perfectly smooth and the whole
inside is lined with silk. The larva, after completing its work, com-
poses itself for the winter, with the tail towards the orifice. Here it
remains till the catkins are in bloom the next spring, when it retreats
from its house and commences feeding. Not the least wonderful part
of the phenomenon is, that it is only the autumnal brood of larvas
that form pitcher-like houses to live in during the inclement season
of the year, the summer brood having no occasion to shelter them-
selves from the cold. We thus have an instance of a curious archi-
tectural instinct being only developed in alternate generations;
which is much the same thing as if, with a certain race of men, the
great-grandfathers, the fathers and the grandchildren ran wild in the
woods, and the grandfathers, the sons and the great-grandchildren
lived in houses and led the life of civilized human beings.

When we duly consider this peculiarity in our Disippus larva, we
may well pause and ask —

What wondrous power enables it so well,
The coming cold of winter to foretell,
And to provide for its long torpid rest,
A house, from means at hand, the very best ?

We can but admire the beautiful adaptation of means to an end
— no matter how we choose to explain it ! There can be little doubt
but that man-y of the phenomena in animal life which we so summa-
rily dispose of by the ready use of that rather blind term "instinct,"

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 157

might be explained in a more natural way. The term is justly applied
to those actions which are prompted by exterior influences or pecu-
liarity of organization, and which are performed unconsciously; but
by its too general application, most people have acquired a deep-set
idea that all animals act under its power, and Jiave nothing akin to
our reason ; whereas there is hardly anything more certain than that
true reason of degree exists very generally in the animal liingdom;
or that what we know as pure instinct may have been developed by
natural law, i. <?., first acquired by experience and afterwards fixed as
a habit by heredity.

The subtle influences of the late fall which seem to convey
through every pulse of nature, intelligence of the approaching win-
ter, and which cause all animals to prepare for their hyperborean
sleep, no doubt originally induced the young larva of the ancestral
type from which our Disippus and the other species of the genus
sprung, to prepare for itself some shelter. The gradually increasing
cold and the decrease of nourishment in the leaf, would act as physi-
cal prompters, and the pitcher-like house, which at first strikes us as
so remarkable, is the simplest structure that could be made with the
materials at command. The characteristic smoothness of its food-
plant — forbidding as it does the shelter under loose bark which many
larvcB seek — would also tend to develop such a trait. That this trait
— this instinct — should only be developed under similar conditions to
those which gave birth to it, is not so remarkable; and that it does
only so develop, seems certain, for I have every reason to believe
that while the insect is two-brooded further north, it is sometimes
three-brooded with us, and consequently that this peculiar instinct
obtains either in the second or third generation, according to circum-
stances.

ITS PARASITES.

Though not generally known to entomologists, our Disippus
butterfly is very subject to the attacks of parasites, at least three
distinct species infesting it in the preparatory states. One of these
is a Tachina-^j, of which I have often noticed the eggs fastened
transversely on the back of the neck of the larva, but of which I
have not obtained the fly. In all probability it does not destroy the
larva till the latter is nearly full grown. The other two I will briefly
describe as no mention has heretofore been made of them.

The Disippus Egg-parasite.— The eggs already described were

very abundant last fall on a certain clump
of willows near Kirkwood, and of about
two hundred obtained, fully one half of
them were parasitised. Instead of hatch-
ing out into larvae, as they would have
done if they had been unmolested, these
last produced little dark colored four-
winged flies, from four, to six of which

158 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

would gnaw their way through the shell of each egg. This little fly-
belongs to the great Chalcis family, and though scarcely more than
0.02 inch long, it can jump to the distance of several inches. Its
wings, especially the hind ones, are beautifully fringed with hairs. It
is inconspicuously marked, the body being dark brown with the an-
tennfB and legs pale, and the wings iridescent. The highly magnified
outlines at Figure 72 will convey a good idea of its appearance, a
showing the fly with wings folded on the back, I one of the front
wings. G one of the hind wings, d one of the legs, and e one of the
antennae.

I shall leave the proper determination of this insect to those who pay more particular attention
to the Chalcidid^b. It comes nearest the genus Trichogramma, Westw., and may be provisionally
called Trichogramma {1) minuta. It differs from that genus and from all other Chalcididan
genera with which 1 am acquainted, in the antennae being but 6-jointed (scape, plus 4 joints), the
scape stout and as long, or longer, than joints 2, 3 and 4 together ; joints '6 and 4 small and to-
gether as long as joint 2 ; 5 very stout, fusiform and as long as 2, 3 and 4 together. The legs have
the trochanters stout and long, the tibia; not quite so long nor so stout as the femora, and with a
long tooth ; the tarsi are 3-jointed, with the joints of equal length and with the claws and pulvilli sub-
obsolete. The abdomen is apparently 6-jointed, the basal joint wide, the 2nd narrower, 2 — 5 in-
creasing in width till 5 is as wide as 1. The ovipositor of $ extends a little beyond the apex, and
starts from the anterior edge of the 5th joint.

The Disippus Microgaster. — The third parasite which also very
[Fig. 73.] commonly infests the last brood of larvae, and kills its
victim during the second period, is a little black four-
winged fly belonging to the genus Microgaster. The para-
sitic maggot eats its way out just before the Disippus larva
gets ready to build its winter tenement, and spins a pale
yellowish cocoon of silk, either upon the back of its victim
or upon the leaf close by ; and from this cocoon the fly soon after-
wards issues. Figure 73, which represents the Army-worm Micro-
gaster enlarged, will convey a good idea of its Disippus relative.

The genus Microgaster is a very extensive one, and the species
have not yet been well studied in this country. They are all of small
size, and in many instances resemble each other so closely that they
can only be satisfactorily studied in connection with their habits and
the particular larvas which they infest. Some appear to confine their
attacks to one particular kind of caterpillar, while others infest alike
many different species. Thus the one under consideration not only
infests the Disippus larva, but I have also bred it from that of the
Golden-rod Gall-moth {Gelechia galloesolidaginis., Riley) obtained
from Canada ; which indicates it to be a widely distributed species.

Microgaster limenitidos, N. Sp. — (^ $ . Length 0.09 inch. Color pitchy-black. Antenna)
black, about as long as body ; palpi whitish. Thorax minutely punctured. Abdomen with the two
or three basal joints emarginate and rugose, the terminal joints smooth and polished. Legs dus\iy ;
front and middle femora yellowish, hind femora black ; front and middle tibite yellowish, hind
tibiae with terminal half dusky, but the spur pale ; front and middle tarsi yellowish tipped with
dusky, hind tarsi dusky above, paler below. Wings hyaline, iridescent, the nervures and stigma
black or dark-brown, the radial nervule, the cubital nervules and the exterior nervule of the dis-
coidal cell, sub-obsolete.

THE STATE EKTOMOLOGIST. 159

Described from 6 $, 1 c?> ^Ted from larvic of Limenitis disippus, 3 $ bred from larvaa of Gc-
Idvhia gallcesolidaginis. In the latter the nervures of wings are paler and less distinct than in the
former. Most of our N. A. species of this genus have been described by Mr. Cressonwho has seen
this and considers it new. It certainly differs from the other described species.

MIMICRY AS ILLUSTRATED BY THESE TWO BUTTERFLIES, WITH SOME REMARKS
ON THE THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION.

The means by which animals are enabled to escape from their
enemies and obtain their food, or in other words to sustain them-
selves in the great struggle for existence that is continually going on
between each species, are as varied as they are wonderful. There is
generally a conformity of tint between all animals and their surround-
ing, and in the higher classes Mr. A. R. Wallace has shown* that in
general terms it may be stated that desert animals are desert colored
arctic animals white, and nocturnal animals gray, i. e., of such colors
as best to accord with the surroundings. Animals, birds, fishes and
reptiles come under this rule to a great extent, and the reader will be
amply rewarded by perusing the details given in the valuable and
interesting work referred to. But in no Class of animals does this
principle of adaptation to environment occur so generally and in such a
striking manner as in insects. With them mimicry and other protec-
tive resemblances are almost universal, and it may be given as a rule
that all insects living above ground, when not naturally protected by
odor, luminosity or defensive covering such as hairs, spines, hard
shelly wings, etc., or by armor such as stings, beaks, etc., either
cover themselves with one substance or another, or similate their sur-
roundings, or mimic either other animals, plants, or even inorganic
substances. With insects in their larval states, will this rule especi-
ally hold good.

What entomologist has not been deceived by the close resemblance
of the beetles belonging to the genus Ghlamys to the dung of cater-
pillars; or is not familiar with the quaint and close resemblance of
the Walking-sticks and Walking-leaves to the objects from which they
take their names? Chapter after chapter might be written on these
wonderful imitations which deceive the. best trained eyes ; and there
are many most striking instances among our American insects which
have never yet been published and which I hope some day to illus-
trate. Bat my present purpose is simply to draw attention to the
illustration aiforded by the two butterflies which we have been con-
sidering.

These striking resemblances were formerly looked upon, for the
most part, as curious analogies in nature, intended to carry out the

^Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection.

160 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

general plan of the Creator ; but viewed in the light of modern science,
and especially by that of the Darwinian development hypothesis,
they have acquired an immense significance. One of the most interest-
ing phases of this mimicry, and one which has only within the last few
years been brought to light, is the imitation by an otherwise defenseless
butterlly, of one whose great numbers and wide distribution indicate
that it enjoyspeculiar advantages. This specific imitation of one but-
terfly by another is precisely of the same nature as the mimicking of a
vegetable orinorganic substance, and may consequently bejust as prop-
erly termed mimicry. Some authors seem to make a distinction between
this so-called mimicry and what is known as "protective resemb-
lance," while others again misconceive the true import of the word
"mimicry" as used in this connection. Thus, Maj. J. R. Muhleman in
an essay on "Mimicry in Insects," read before the Central Illinois Hor-
ticultural Society this winter, gave the word so broad an interpretation
as to apply it to the possum-playing of some insects, and even to the sup-
posed and far-fetched resemblances such as that of the female Canker-
worm to a plant-louse, and of the female Bag-worm to a Dipterous
maggot. True mimicry can only occur where it is of benefit to the
species, no matter whether the benefit be derived by enabling harm-
less species to avoid their enemies in one way or another; or by enab-
ling predaceous species to deceive their prey by assimilating the form
and colors of the latter.

As already stated, the particular group to which our Archippus
butterfly belongs is a large one, and the species comprising it are
very numerous. They are especially abundant in South America, and
like our own species, they all possess a pungent odor which seems to
pervade all the juices of their system. So much is this the case that
according to Mr. Wallace,^' when an entomologist "squeezes the
breast of one of them between his fingers to kill it, a yellow liquid
exudes which stains the skin, and the smell of which can only be got
rid of by time and repeated washings." The wings of these butter-
flies, as may be seen by referring to Figure G3, are rather longer than
usual, but their flight is comparatively slow, and they do not dodge
and zig-zag about with sudden skips and jerks as the "Skippers,"
(Hesperid^e,) are known to do. They furthermore possess no adap-
tive coloring to protect them during repose, for they take no pains to
hide themselves, and their colors are bright, and those of the under-
side as conspicuous as those of the upper.

Hence we cannot assume that they are enabled, by their pecu-
liar mode of flying, to escape to a great extent those cannibal
animals that would otherwise catch and devour them; and if we pro-
pose to account for their prodigious abundance at all, we are driven
to have recourse to some other hypothesis. Indeed, so far is it from
])eing the case that it is their mode of flight which enables them to

^Coutributiousi etc., p. 7S.

THE SIATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 161

escape from their cannibal foes, that Mr. H. W. Bates, the English
naturalist, who spent eleven years in the Valley of the Amazon River
studying the natural history of the insects of that region, where this
particular group of butterflies is very copiously represented, declares
that he never saw a single one of them attacked by any cannibal foe
whatever, whether bird, or Dragon-fly, or lizard, or Asihis-fiy.

It is therefore reasonable to assume that their peculiar odor ren-
ders them unpalatable to animals of prey. We have seen that the Arch-
ippus butterfly enjoys an almost perfect immunity from the attacks
of predaceous animals, consequent, in all probability, upon this pecu-
liar odor which attaches to it both in the larval and perfect states..
In this case the supposition is even strengthened by the fact that the
only parasite known to attack it is a Taohina-fiy^helongmg to a fami-
ly which is notoriously defiant of strong odors, the larvas often rioting
in filth and the flies many of them known to be especially attracted
to such odors.

Now there is another large group of butterflies, known as the
Pieris family, to which the white cabbage butterflies belong, which
were mentioned in my last Report (pp. 104-110.) This group difl"ers
widely in structure from the Danais group, and is represented by
many species in the Valley of the Amazons; but instead of the spe-
cies being exceedingly abundant in individuals, as in the case of those
belonging to the Danais family, it is quite the contrary; the propor-
tion between the number of individuals belonging respectively to
two of the commonest genera of either group {Leptalis din^ ItJiomia)
being only 1 to 1000. Hence, it is reasonable to infer that this group
must be much persecuted by cannibal foes, and such has been found
to be the case.* '

The colors found in the species of the Z>(a5;^a^s family are red,
yellow, orange, white and black; while only the last two colors obtain
in the Pieris famil}'^, the white being sometimes tinged with green-
ish yellow. So far so good. We see flitting about in the great Val-
ley of the Amazons, vast swarms of long-winged butterflies, gorgeous-
ly dressed in red, orange, yellow, white and black; and certain short-
winged butterflies, in very much smaller numbers, whose proper liv-
ery is but the plain black and white that befits a funeral. We see
the former enjoy an entire immunity from the attacks of all preda-
ceous animals, and the latter snapped up by every hungry bird. Dra-
gon-fly or Asilus-^j that happens to come across them. Will it be
believed, now, that there are certain particularspeciesof the homely,
much persecuted, short- winged group, that assume the livery worn by
certain particular species of their gaily dressed compatriots, and ac-
tually even copy their elongated wings ? Yet such is the indubitable
fact. In the Memoir of Mr. Bates, already referred to, will be found

»These facts were first brought to light about nine years ago, by Mr. Bates, in a most inter-
esting and valuable Memoir, published in the Transactions of the Linnteaa Society, (Vol. XXIII
p. 496.) '

S B—ll

162 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

beautiful colored figures, in the hi.2:hest style of art, both of the
species that mimic and of those that are mimicked; and no one that
looks at those figures with an unprejudiced eye can believe for a mo-
ment that the resemblance is merely accidental.

Even the practiced eye of the entomologist is sometimes deceived
by these close resemblances, and to illustrate, I cannot do better than
to quote Mr. Bates's own language :

These imitative resemblances, of which hundreds of instances
could be cited, are full of interest, and fill us with the greater aston-
ishment the closer we investigate them ; for some show a minute and
palpably intentional likeness which is perfectly staggering. I have
found that those features of the portrait are most attended to by na-
ture, which produce the most effective deception when the insects are
seen in nature. The faithfulness of the resemblance, in many cases,
is not so striking when they are seen in the cabinet. Although I had
daily practice in insect-collecting for many years, and was ahvays on
my guard, I was constantly deceived by them when in the woods, (p.
.507).

Mr. Bates accounts for these singular cases of mimicry by sup-
iposing that, ages and ages ago, certain individuals of this plainly-
dressed and much persecuted Pieris family happened to vary slightly-
so as to resemble slightly some species or other belonging to the gaily-
dressed and unpalatable Danais family; that, in consequence of this
slight resemblance, they were sometimes mistaken for their more for-
tunate compatriots by cannibal animals, which would otherwise have
preyed upon them forthwith; and consequently that they survived
long enough to propagate their species, while almost all the individuals
that had not varied in this particular manner perished prematurely
by a violent death. Now, we know that, in the language of breeders
and stock-raisers, "like produces like," which is what naturalists ex-
press by the well-known term of the "•Law of Inheritance." Hence
the descendenis of this primordial race of imitative butterflies would
naturally, most of them, vary in the same manner as did their ances-
tors from the normal type ; and some of them would probably vary in
a still more marked manner and in the same direction. These last in-
dividuals, as they would bear a still closer resemblance to the unpal-
atable butterflies, would of course stand a still better chance of sur-
viving and propagating their species, in the course of that great
Struggle for Existence, which we see going on all around us, not only
among the inferior animals, but among the human species itself. By
the perpetual repetition of this process, during indefinite ages, that
perfect imitation of the imitated butterfly would at length be formed,
which at first view appears so utterly inexplicable. And when it had
once been formed, the very same process that originally formed it
would afterwards keep it up to the standard of perfection. For all in-
dividuals, that varied in a backward direction towards the primordial
type, would be more liable than the rest to be devoured in early life
by cannibals, and would therefore be less lil^ely than the rest to pro-
pagate their own image in succeeding generations. The whole pro-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 1^3

cess, indeed, is so beautifully simple and intelligible, that, but for cer-
tain prepossessions and prejudices, it would at once command the as-
sent of every logical mind. In fact, it is strictly analogous to the com-
mon operation of ''rogueing" a bed of seedlings, which every gardener
is familiar with. The only difference is that, when the gardener pulls
up what he calls the "rogues" out of a thousand seedling tulips, *. g.,
those which deviate from the standard of perfection which he is aim-
ing to attain, he acts with the definite object of preventing the further
propagation of those so-called "rogues;" whereas, when cannibal an-
imals destroy the "rogues" among the imitative butterflies, they are
of course perfectly ignorant of the consequences likely to follow, and
act wholly and solely for the gratification of their own carnal appe-
tites. In short, the whole phenomenon is explained on the theory
t)f Natural Selection as expounded by Darwin.

Since the publication of Mr. Bates's paper, a great many addition-
al cases of similar mimicry among butterflies have been observed by
Mr. Wallace* in the Malayan region of South America, and by Mr,
Trimen in South A^frica.f But though most of these wonderful cases
of mimicry occur in the tropics, where insect development is so rapid
and species are so abundant, we also have a striking instance of sim-
ilar mimicry in our two N. A. butterflies, Arcliippua and Dlsippus.
The resemblance between them must long ago tave been noticed, for
it is so servile that Prof Jaeger in his Life of North American In-
sects^ has actually favored his readers witZi a figure of the Disippus
and gravely informs them that it is the Archippus butterfly. Indeed
it is far more striking than my figures would indicate, and in a state
of nature the two insects could h.'jrdly be distinguished at a short
distance \>^ the sharpest eyes. TAe fact that these two species offer
an illustration of similar roimiery to that observed so frequently in
the tropics, was first made clear by Mr. Walsh and myself in the
American Entomologist for June, 1869; and the facts which have
since come to ray knowledge all tend to confirm the opinion.

The only other species belonging to the same genus as our Disip-
pus butterfly, which occurs in the Mississippi Yalley, is the Ursula
butterfly;]: {Limeniiis ursiila^ Fabr.}, an insect which differs remark-
ably from our Disippus in being of a sombre blue-black color, with its
wings bordered both above and below with blue, and below with a
series of dull orange spots inside the blue border. Its larva feeds on
Willow, Scrub-oak, Whortleberry, Cherry and Plum, and as already
stated, has the same habits as that of Disippus, which it resembles so
closely as scarcely to be distinguishable. The pup£e of the two spe-
cies are also undistinguishable.

* See the Chapter on Mimicry among Lepidoptera in his Contributions, etc.

f Sep his paper on "Mimetic Analogies among African Butterflies," in the Transactions of the
Linniean bociety for 1368.

J There are seven ilescribed species of N. A. L'?nenitis, but with the exception of the two abov*
named they are all confined to the more eastern or western portions of the Continent.

1Q4: THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

If this Ursula butterfly were placed side by side with the Archip-
pus butterfly, everybody would say at once that no two species could
possibly be more unlike in the general style of their coloration.
Clearly, therefore, it cannot be considered as in any wise mimicking
the latter. Now, the Ursula butterfly is found everywhere through,
out the Northern States wherever the Disippus butterfly is met with ^
and yet, while the latter is a common and abundant species, the
former is quite rare. This is certainly the case in the Mississippi Val-
ley, and will, according to my own experience, and that of others*
very generally hold true all over the country.

To what are we to attribute this fact ? It can scarcely be owing
to structural diff"erences in the external organization of the two spe-
cies ; for the two belong to one and the same genus. It surely cannot
be because the larvae of the former are more exposed to the attacks
of predaceous animals than those of the latter; for they inhabit the
same, or very nearly the same trees, and in size, shape and general
coloration the two are almost exactly alike. Certainly it can not be
because the pupas of one species are more subject to be devoured by
birds, insects, etc., than those of the other species ; for it is impossible
to tell one pupa from another when placed side by side. The only
cause to which we -^an reasonably attribute the great abundance of
the Disippus butterfly and the comparative rarity of the Ursula but-
terfly is, that the former mimicks the Archippus butterfly, as has been
shown above, and is conseq^uently often mistaken bj'- birds, tree-frogs,
Dragon-flies, Asilus-'^ies and other beasts of prey for its unsavory
prototype and allowed to escape with impunity, while the latter, hav-
ing no such disguise, is ruthlessly devoured by every insect-eating
animal that can get hold of it.

All the facts lead to such a conclusion. The mimicked species
enjoys an almost perfect immunity from the attacks of enemies in all
its stages, while the mimicker is persecuted by several. The raim-
icker is often found in company with the mimicked, as I have myself,
and as others have witnessed. f But what is still more conclusive is
the fact observed by Mr. S, H. Scudder;): that in the extreme Southern
States where the Disippus butterfly occurs, and Archippus is replaced

* According to Mr. J. A. Lintner, Ursula is "rnre" and Disippus is found abundantly in New
York. (Pioc. Ent. Soc. Phil., III., pp. 63-4.) According to Mr. J. Kirkpatrick Ursula is "rather
rare" and Disippun "common in the fall" in Ohio. (Ibid., p. 329.) According to Mr. Sam H.
Si'udder, Ursula is "rather rare" and Disippus is "common" in New England. (Proc Essex Inst.,
III., p. 165.) According to Mr. Billings, who does not seem to have met wit\i any Ursula at all,
bisip us is "very common from July to October" in Canada West. (Ccnad. Kntum., I., p. 45.)
There appear to be some exceptions to this rule, however, for Mr. Thos. W Higgiuson, of New-
port, R. I., declares {Am. Entomologist, II., p. 177.) that Ursula is one of the commonest of the
large butterflies there and decidedly more so than Disippus. I was also informed while at Troy
last fall, that the former outnumbered the latter in the vicinity of Xew York City in tlie year 1868,
though the previous years it had been quite rare. These e.xceptious to the rule may be owing to
one clause or another, but I shall attempt to explain them when I come to consider the objectiona
to the theory which I espouse.

t Mrs. Mary Treat, of Vineland, N. J., writes that Archippus was unusually abundant there last
fall, and that she found Disippus in company with it.

j Nature, Vol. Ill, p. 147.

THK STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 165

by the Berenice butterfly — a species of the same genus and of similar
appearance but of darker color — ^the color of the mimetic Disippus
deepens nearly or quite to the tint of the Southern Danais. Thus it
is that facts before unintelligible are explained by Darwinism!

In a discussion on the difBculties of Natural Selection, which took
place in late numbers of the London journal Nature^ some ingenious
objections have been urged. As many of them have especial refer-
ence to the mimicry we have been noticing, a brief summary of these
objections will prove interesting in this connection, the more espe-
cinll}^ as all objections must in the end only serve to strengthen a
theory, if that theory is sound.

Mr. Alfred W. Bennett* undertakes to show upon mathematical
considerations, that Natural Selection could not produce these mim.
etic forms, lie assumes that it would take iOOO steps to enable the
normal form of a Leptalls for instance, to pass into the protective
form of an lthomia\ that no change less than one-fiftieth of the whole
alteration — i. e. 20 steps — would be of any use to the insect, and that
the alterations in the early stages, being useless to the animal, would
not be preserved, and even if they were, could not be attributed to
Natural Selection, but to an accumulation of chances. He reiterates
what has already been well shown and acknowledged by Darwinians^
namely, that Natural Selection cannot produce the first change, and
asks with good reason why the same principle that works the first
change should not also work the subsequent changes? He does not
dispute the secondary power of Natural Selection, but believes in an
unconscious organizing intelligence which co-operates with it to pro-
duce the mimetic results. He endeavors to strengthen his position
by showing that there is a close connection between instinct and
mimicry, and ventures the theory that "the power of mimetism, so far
as is known at present, runs •A\mo?,t 2) ari passu with the development
of the nervous system."'

The essay is an able and interesting one, and the arguments are
skillful and ingenious. It pays due and just respect to Darwinism
and forcibly presents the fact, which no one has denied, that some
other power than natural selection acts in i^roducing first change
The mathemaiical argument, however, will have little weight with
those who fully appreciate the changes in Lepidoptera that take
place in nature. No entomologist who has had any experience in
rearing Lepidoptera will admit with Mr. Bennett that 1000 steps are
necessary to produce mimetic resemblance, and when this foundation
stone of his objection is taken away, much of his other reasoning
which is built upon it becomes weak. Instances of great and sudden
variation among butterflies and more particularly among moths are by

* Nature, Vol. Ill, pp. 30-33-

166 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

no means rare. In this Report instances of great variation in species
have been given, and hundreds of others might be cited.*

Mr. Bennett furlhermore, as Mr. Wallace subsequently pointed
out.f fails to take into consideration the fact that each butterfly
produces not only one, but numerous offspring, that the right varia-
tion has, by the hypothesis which he combats, a greater chance of
surviving than the rest, and that at each succeeding generation, the
inflnence of heredity becomes more and more powerful, causing the-
chance of the right variation to become greater and greater. He alsa
appears to forget that this imitation in butterflies is of comparatively
rare occurrence, and that the mimickers generally belong to genera
which naturally show a tendency to depart from the normal coloring
of their own family and to approach that, of the mimicked, so that the-
first steps are greatly facilitated. I consider therefore tliat the math-
ematical objection utterly falls to the ground ; but that there is some-
thing in the closing ideas which Mr. Bennett throws out, which may
yet lead to important discoveries, I can very well conceive. Indeed
it must be rash to deny some such influence as he describes when we-
reflect upon the extraordinary power which the mii^d of the mother ex-
erts, during pregnancy, on her oflspring ; and when we iurther consider
that Mr. Wallace himself admits that man's present mental and piiysi-
ca! condition could not have been brought about by natural selection
alone. It must be obvious to every one, however, that such an admis-
sion is no argument against the theory of Natural Selection. All oth-
er modifying influences though they may lessen her potency siujply
assist her in her grand work.

The next objector we find in Mr. Saml. H. Scudder of Boston^
Mass.,J who, while admitting that there can be no possible doubt of
the fact of mimicry, questions its advalitage among butterflies, since
the greatest destruction occurs in their preparatory states. But as
he refers especially to the two butterflies w'e have been treating of
and as from the context it appears that he is also aware of the exis-
tence of some of the parasites which I have described, I will quote
the greater portion of his letter which was written from Cairo, Egypt^
under date of November 9th, 1S70; and, will afterwards reply to hia
objections:

" But of how m;ich actual benpfit to the mimetic species is this so-called "protective" resem-
blance? It seems to occur where it can be of the least possible advantas^e to the species. The great
sources of destruction here, as in all groups of animals, are in early life. IIow large a proportion
of the eggs that are laid by butterflies ever finally produce imagines ? Let those answer who havft
attempted to follow their history in their native haunts. My experience leads me to believe that
at the very least, nine-tenths — perhaps ninety-nine hundredths — never reach maturity. Hymenop-

*A most remarkable case came under my notice the past summer. From a single batch of
flattened and ribbed eggs, overlapping each other under a piece of Hickory bark, I succeeded in
raising eighteen imagines of Cutocala phclungca, Guen. The upper wings vary greatly in the indi-
viduals, and in one specimen the ground-color and markings are so very aberrant, tliat there is more
difference between it and some of the others belongiag to the same batch, than there is between the-
latter and a dozen distinct species.

■f Nature, 111, p. 49.

Xlbid, Vol. Ill, p. 147.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 167

terous and Dipterous parasites beset them at every step. The eggs, although so small and ofton so
heavily ridged, cannot escape the ovipositors of the tiny Pteromali, while in attempting to breed
caterpillars taken in the field, the chance is so greatly against the evolution of a butterfly, that
Hymenopterists actu-dly choose this method of supplying their cabinets. ' Of two hundred larvas
of Pieiis brassiccB,' Mr. Drewsen, of Denmarlv, writes to me, 'I obtained only twenty pupae, all the
rest were attacked by Microgcster glomeratua, and my own attempts with the larvas of Pijrameu Ata-
lanta, both in America and Europe, have been even more unavailing. These caterpillars seem to
be peripatetic banqueting halls of Microgasters and Tachina;.

«Now it is a curious fact that while the globular egg of Limenitis Misippusr- with its deeply-pitted
shell, defended by long filamentous spines, is constantly attacked by parasites ; and the gro-
tesque hump-backed, strangely-colored caterpillar of the same species is likewise infested to an
e.xtraordinary degree, I have been unable to discover by very careful search any evidence that the
egg or larva of Daiais Archi/rpus is ever pierced by a parasite ; yet the egg is not small and only
lightly ribbed, and the caterpillar large, fleshy, smooth-skinned, and gaily banded, living on the
widely-separated leaves of Asclepias, with no attempt at concealment. The abundance of the ima-
go of the Danais is then due quite as much to the immunity of the egg and larva from the attacks
of parasites, as to any freedom it may itself enjoy from pursuit by insectivorous birds. [I.]

" Although I have hunted butterflies for fifteen years, I confess I have never seen one in a bird' «
bill, and my faith in that method of lessening their numbers is very slight. Birds, too, must be
their greater foes in earlier life; and the chances of living, which are certainly against them
before they take wing, seem afterwards rather in their favour, at least, until they have accom-
plished their mission. [2.]

" If, then, such an extraordinary element as Mimicry is to be summoned to the aid of Natural
Selection, and can perform its task in such a masterly manner, why has it been made to waste its
energies upon unimportant material ? If the object of the resemblance be protection, why does not
the unfortunate caterpillar of the Limenitis mimic the more favoured larva of the Danais ? P>.]

" I cannot now consult the writings of Messrs. W.allace and Bates, nor do I remember their
statements respecting the abundance of the mimetic species compared to that of its normal congen-
ers. In my own country Limenitis Mis ppusis, as a general rule, more common than L. Ursula, but
the difference in their numbers is not very marked. It is by no means as great as one would expect
had Mimicry in the imago state so strong a protective power as has been assumed. [4.] Two close-
ly allied species occupying the same geographical area, do not often occur in the same abundance,
whatever be the cause, and the disparity in numbers in these two species of Limenitis is no greate
than occurs in many instances where mimicry plays no part. [5.]

[1.] No one will deny the facts, after what I have already set
forth.

['^.] Such an experience from a butterfly hunter surprises me
Individually I have on several occasions seen butterflies captured by
birds, and have seen Dragon-flies dart after them. Any amount of
evidence might be collected on this head, and Mr. Scudder has already
been answered by Mr. Arthur G. Butlerf of the British Museum,
who mentions often having seen birds catch and devour the
unprotected species upon the wing, while he has received
abundant evidence respecting the immunity of the Danais
group. '^ T. G. B." of St Johns College, Cambridge, has also
often seen the common English sparrow capture Vanessa tcrfioce
and Pieris rapceX; while Mr. Wallace has shown that great numbers
of butterflies are destroyed on the wing by insectivorous birds such
as jacaniars, trogons and pufl'-birds, and gives conclusive evidence
that while our Disippus congeners, the NympJialidce, suffer such per-
secution, the Archippus congeners do not. § Thus, though there

»The reader must bear in mind that Misippus is but a synonym for Disippus.

t Nature III, p. 165.

X Ibid, p. 166.

I Contributions, etc., p. 79,

168 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

seems to be no record of any person having actually seen a bird or
other animal attack the species of Limenitis in this country, there
is every reason to believe that they will do so. This fact once being
admitted, it must also be admitted that the resemblance oi Dinppiis
to Archippus serves the former as a protection. I freely grant how-
ever, that the species of Limeniiis are kept under by enemies far
more in the preparatory states than in the perfect state; but this fact
only adds importance to the mimicry of Disipxjus as throwing light
upon its greater numbers. The larvae and pup^e of Ursula and Di-
sippus so closely resemble each other that it is not likely their ene-
mies would make any discrimination between them ; and if in a given
district where Arcluppus is abundant, the two former species, by the
undue multiplication of their enemies in some particular year, should
be so thinned out while \w the immature states, that only a dozen
imagines of each were perfected in an area of say 100 square miles;
it becomes obvious that by deceiving the birds, or by associating with
Archippus^ the twelve specimens of Disippus would stand a much
better chance of escape than those ot Ursula^ and that consequently
more would succeed in perpetuating the species.

[3.] Natural Selection does not, therefore, waste its energies upon
unimportant material, in giving protection to the jjerfect insect; and
any one, with a little reflection, will perceive that there are the best
of reasons why the unfortunate caterpillar of Limenitis cannot
mimic the more favored larva of Danais. They never come in con-
tact ! The perfect insects are enabled by flight to associate together ;
but their larvae— the one being confined to plants of the Willow and
Po[:flar families, the other strictly to those of the Milkweed family —
can never so associate. That there is, however, an eff'ort at protec-
tion in the preparatory stages of Limenitis^ no entomologist who has
studied them in the field will deny. The egg, as Mr. Scudder has
admitted, is in a measure protected by the long filamentous spines,
wliich may protect it from the attacks of some of the very numerous
parasites that might otherwise aid in exterminating it. The larva is
very variable, and wears a remarkable protective resemblance to its
surroundings. I have often noticed that in the mature specimens
found on the dark Scrub willow the dark colors predominate; that
those found on Golden willow are much brighter and greener, and
the palest specimen I ever saw was found upon Silver poplar. Only
those who have diligently searched for these larva can fully appre-
ciate the protection which their appearance aff'ords. In one instance
I chanced to espy a large full grown specimen of Disippus on a Golden
willow not more than seven feet high. The specimen on account of its
brightness and greenness struck me as remarkable, and I searched
for others. In taking a casual glance I could detect none, but after
a diligent search I succeeded in finding seven specimens, and then
left, fully convinced that I had espied every one upon the tree. The
next day, however, my confidence in the sharpness of my eyes was

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 169

considerably shaken, for upon returning to the same small tree I suc-
ceeded in finding three more, all of them more than half grown.

As to the chrysalis, it bears a very strong resemblance to a bit of
bird dung, and for the first few hours of its being, while the parts are
yet soft and elongated this resemblance is truly striking.

[-l.j I have shown that the disparity in numbers between Disip-
pus and Ursula is very marked in the Mississippi Valley, and there
is every reason to believe that the former is most abundant wherever
its protector, the Archippus butterfly, abounds. I have Mr. Scudder's
own authority for the statement that the latter is comparatively rare
in the northeastern States, and my own experience would indicate
such to be the case. Now it is extremely probable that where Arch-
ippus aboundf, birds and other natural enemies are continually re-
minded of its nauseous qualities both by smell and taste.*

It would very naturally follow therefore, that where Arc/u'pptis is
rare, birds would not be so continually warned of its evil properties,
and the deceptive resemblance in Disippus would lose much of its
protective power in such a case. This explanation of the fact that
Ursula is in some districts more common than Dlsixfpus will acquire
greater force, if we find that such a state of things occurs only where
Arohippus is rare, and the facts as they at present stand indicate such
to be the case.

Mr. Wallace! is inclined to account for the fact that Ursula is in
some districts as numerous, or more so than Disipp>us^ on tlie supposi-
tion that Ursula is also a mimicker, resembling the Philenor swallow-
tail ( P apilio phileiior^ DruryJ) especially on the underside, which is
exposed when the insects are at rest. We must, however, be very cau-
tious in accepting such resemblances as cases of mimicry, without first
ascertaining whether there can be any real cause for mimicry or whether
the two butterflies ever associate together. Under the circumstances I
incline to believe that the markings on the underside of Ursula are of a
generic character since they obtain in other N. A., species of Zm-
initis; and that the resemblance to P. philenor is merely casual and
bears no more relation to mimicry than does the close resemblance
of certain plants belonging to different continents. P. j^hilenor is
itself a rare insect where ^r^i^^a is common, and must always be so
on account of the scarcity of its food-plant; and, if anything, Ui'sula
bears a greater general resemblance to P. troilus^ Linn, an.d P. aste-
ri-f/^, Drury, which are both more common species. It also bears a
greater resemblance ui^on the upper surface to the female of Argy fi-
nis Diana^ Cramer.

■■■A sinsular fact bearing on this point has been communicated to me by Jlr. Otto Lug-ger of
Chicago, a gentleman who takes much interest in entomology and is a good collector. While
employed on the U. S. Lake Surve3' he once saw a bird dart after an Archippus butterfly, seize it
andiiiHiH'diately drop it without devouring the body. The butterfly dropped close by his side and
he picked it up and examined it, and had no means at tlie time of accounting for the singular
action of the bird.

■\Nalurp.\\\, p. 166.

% See my 2ud Rep. Fig. 86,

170 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

[5] This in nowise alters the fact, however, of the existence of
mimicry in Dhippus^ which Mr, Scudder fully admits. It is, there-
fore no argument against Natural Selection having produced such
mimicry. Because we are able to explain the principle power work-
ing to produce the relative abundance of one species, compared with
another that is closely allied, it does not follow that we must also give
the varied infiaences which cause the relative abundance or rarity of
other species in other groups !

The third objector is Mr. A. Murray, who undertakes to show that
these mimetic resemblances have nothing to do with Nnaural Selec-
tion,* He takes it upon himself to assert that every inch of ground
which Mr, Bates has gone over is '"mined and unsound" — that the
"bad smell has not been observed in North America where similar
mimicry occurs"; and that "birds and insects of prey hunt by sight and
not by smell." Any one who will take the trouble to carefully read
the paper in which these assertions occur, will, I have little doubt-
come to the conclusion that it is the author's ground which is "mined
and unsound," The second assertion, as I have already shown, is false 5
and even if the third is admitted, it does not in the least affect the
arguQient in favor of Natural Selection, because the fact nevertheless
remains that some groups do enjoy immunity from the attacks of
birds while others do not. The manner in which Mr. Murray would
account for this mimicry is by hybridization, and he endeavors to draw a
parallel between the phenomenon and hybridization in plants. He car-
ries little weight in his arguments, which were in a measure anticipated
by Mr. Bates himself, and have since been refuted by Mr. Butler and
Mr. Wallace. f He forgets that hybridization cannot play any part
in the mimicry of insects to the vegetable kingdom, or to backgrounds
generally. It has never been known to occur between insects of dif-
ferent Orders, families, or even genera, and produce fertile oifspring,J
w^hile mimicry does occur even between insects of distinct Orders 5
and though he of course supposes the hybridization to have taken
place at a very remote date, when the structural characters of the
mimickers and mimicked were less specialized, yet had such been
the case, these structural characters Vv^ould not now remain so distinct
between them, because it is quite fair to suppose that the hybrids
wouLl partake of the characters of each parent. Indeed the assump-
tion of the theory is unsupported by facts. He ignores in a measure
the great difference in the affinities of species belonging to the natural
Orders of plants, and those belonging to the Orders of insects, and
depreciates the importanoe of the latter by comparing the Orders

''^Nature III, pp. 164-6.

■\Ibid., Ill, p. 1-65.

tCnses of bybridization even between species of the same genus are very rare, and it is doubt-
ful if tbe hybrids would ever be fertile ; and ns to hybrids between e;enera I do not think a case
has ever been recorded. In 18G5 I succeeded in obtaining thorough coitus between a (^ Aftacua
Cynthia, Ilubn., and 2 Attacus cecropia, Linn., but for some reason the eg-gs resulting from this in-
tercourse did not hatch. Last year I succeeded in produc'ing an equally thorough coitus between
a 1^ Atlacus cecropia, Linn., and a J yl//flcws^oZi//;/!emMSj Linn., but the eggs subsequently deposited
by tbe latter were likewise infertile.

TUE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 171

simply to families in other animals — thus showing that he has not a
due appreciation of the true affinities of insects.

It must not be forijotten that Natural Selection is not the only
power at work producing this raimicr3\ This we do not claim. There
is an inherent tendency in all things to vary — a fact universally ad-
mitted. We may not be able to fully comprehend the causes producing
this first variation, ibr they are complicated, and depend on numerous
external conditions, and physical and mental influences. But our
ignorance in this respect does not affect the theory, because "spon-
taneous" change is the material out of which Natural Selection has
fixed and perfected tiie mimicry and adaptation; and it is not neces-
sary to know how the "spontaneous" change is produced to learn the
origin of the mimicry. AVhatever be the causes of variation, and
wliether or not they continue to act after the first change takes place^
Natural Selection is still potent, for the change would be perfectly in-
operative in producing specific character without it.

There may be a hundred different influences that have ]ed Dis?p-
j)us to mimic Archrppus. The resemblance being purely colora-
tional, there may have been a tendency from the first in the color
of the former to approach that of the latter, and this is ren-
dered very probable from the fact that the red-brown color oc-
curs more or less in all the N. A. species of the genus.*

The very smell which protects ArcJtippus may have had, and
may still have, attractions for its mimioker, for Mr. Henry Edwards
found that a Californian species of the same genus {Limeniiis Bre-
duioii) was greatly attracted by any offensive odor.f Again, when
we reflect that we owe so many of our flowers and fruits to what are
called "sports," which are simply instances of great and sudden va-
riation; it is not difficult to imagine that the mimicry of Disip2)us-
may be due in a measure to some such sudden original variation — an
idea that is greatly strengthened by the fact that instances of such
great variation are common with butterflies and moths, and that one
is known to occur in the very genus Limonills.X ■

We may give due weight to the somewhat Lamarckian theory
advanced by Mr. Bennett; we may attach the greatest importance to
the influence of physical conditions — and we knov/ that similar habi-
tat sometimes produces modification of allied forms in a simihir direc-

"■'" In the seven described N. A. species of Limenii'is, namely, L. disippus, Godt., Ursula, Fabr.'
Proserpina, Edw., Wcidemeyerii, Eilw., Arthemis, V)vi\ry, Lorqumi, Ho'mA. AnOi li'-edoivii, llnhn'
the red color obtains more or less in all of them, especially on the underside, and Uiis is more par~
ticularly the case in the last two. I also possess specimens of Vrmla in which a very distinct
shade of red blends with the blue-black and spreads over the upper surface of the primaries, and
is in two individu.ils quite marked towards the apices. That the blue and black is closely connec-
ted with, and shows a tendency to affiliate with the brick red and black, or vice verse, we mny alsa
reasonably infer from the wonderful contrast existing- between the ^ and J Argijnnis Uiann, Cram.^
the former colors obtaining- in the § and the latter in the (^.

f Bsttlerjlies of Xorlh Ameiica, by Wm. II. Edwards It is impossible to make any explicit
reference to this beautii'ul work as it is not pag'ed : this, to my mind, is a deplorable oversight.

X Limeniiis Sibij.'la figured in "Xewman's English Butterflies," and referred to by S. N. Car-
valho, Jr., in Nature, Vol. Ill, p. 66.

172 THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF

tion — but all these agencies willnot produce specific imitation of one
species by another, for they only prepare the way for it. It is there-
fore quite evident that such imitation can only be brought about to
use Mr. Bennett's own words, "by the continuous preservation,
through countless generations of those individuals which sponta-
neously approach most nearly to the ultimate forms;" and Natural
Selection is the Preserver.

I have thus endeavored to frankly consider the objections raised
against the theory of Natural Selection, as it applies to the mimicry
of our two N. A. butterilies. It would be out of place here, and might
justly be considered a work of supererogation on my part to undertake
to defend it on more general grounds. It has been so well developed
by Darwin, Wallace, Bates, and many other writers, both English,
French and German, that it only asks a hearing to be understood and
appreciated. The rapid increase of organisms is demonstrable, and
the consequent struggle for existence, since, all organisms considered;
tliere are as many deaths as births, is manifest. The result of this
strugs^le is the survival of the fittest, by which organic forms are con-
stantly changing to keep in harmony with the changed conditions
which it is demonstrable have taken i)lace, and are still taking place,
in the inorganic world. And, to use Wallace's language, " as the
changes of conditions are permanent changes in the sense of not re-
verting back to identical previous conditions, the changes of organic
forms must be in the same sense permanent, and thus originate
species."

That its influence and importance has been overrated by some
writers is not at all unlikely, for Mr. Darwin himself now believes that
ho at first attributed too much to its action; and certain it is that it
could have had no influence in producing many purely ornamental
features of certain animals, that are of no use to the species tiius or-
namented. No theory was ever yet propounded, however, which has
so well stood the test of scientific investigation in all departments of
research, or that has such a power of absorbing new facts ; and no
theory has in such a short time been so very generally accepted by
the leading scientific minds.

A two-fold reason has led me to give it prominence in this Report.
First, I believe that when well understood it must prove of the utmost
importance to the husbandman, by giving him an intelligent concep-
tion of the growth and development of animal and plant life about
him, and by adding zest and interest to his efforts to produce superior
varieties and breeds. Secondly, my studies of insect life led me sev-
eral years ago to appreciate the hypothesis, and the more I become
acquainted with these tiny beings in the field, the more I become con-
vinced of its truth and importance. It is not to be wondered at that
the entomologist who treats the different varieties in any group as inde-
pendent species, should have implicit faith in the absolute distinctness
and immutability of species ; but whenever he pays more attention to

TDE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 173

the biological part of his science, and studies insects more in the field,
his views must necessarily change. Indeed, next to plants, insects
offer, perhaps, the best material for the inquiring mind to work upon.
Their rapid multiplication, the rapid manner in which one generation
is often followed by another, the wonderful manner in which they are
often affected by climate and food, especially during the preparatory
or adolescent stages — all tend to furnish variation for Natural Selection
to work upon, in a profusion unknown in the higher animals. Though
the formation of a species in the other Classes of animals may never
be in man's power to trace, on account of the great lapse of time re-
quired; it seems highly probable that the process may some day be
traced in insects, and Mr. Bates gives strong proof of the derivation
of one butterfl}'- {Jleliconius theJxiope) from another {Ileliconius
melpomene) and a clear insight into the manner in which the gradual
modifications take place, till at last the two forms cease to interbreedy
and are in every sense of the word true species.*

After all, the great objection to the theory of Natural Selection,
in the minds of many, is, that it involves belief in the broader doc-
trine of Development — of Evolution. Very true! But, no matter
how much importance be attached to Natural Selection, the funda-
mental truth of the development of species is'now almost universally
accepted by scientific men best able to judge of its merits; and those
■who have not considered the subject may be excused from judging of
it. Indeed it can hardly any longer be considered a hypothesis : it is
in reality established as a law, and as eminent a naturalist as (Jarl
Vogt has even ventured the assertion that "no one in Europe dares
any longer sustain the independent and direct creation of species."
Development is a fact in nature, and the revelations of science
strengthen faith in the universality of her laws and principles. No
one can study well the facts in natural science, or the truliis of phil-
ology, which point to corresponding results, v/ithout feeling more
strongly than ever words can express, the general truth of the doc-
trine. Our own Agassiz is about the only great naturalist who op-
poses it, though it is rather significant that many of his leading pu-
pils have, within the last few years, boldly proclaimed their faith in
Darwinism. If there is one error in Agassiz' life, I take it to be the
authority which he has lent to that popular prejudice which has al-
ways opposed inquiry into the order of nature, and which has ignor-
antly accused Darwin of atheism.

A theory which is so opposed to deep-set tradition and to present
theological interpretations, must necessarily at first meet with
very great objection. Such has been the history of all great sci-
entific truths, for we have Agassiz' own words that " the his-
tory of the sciences is present to tell us that there are few of
the great truths now recognized which have not been treated

*Naturalist on the River Amazons, Vol. 1, pp. 255-265.

174 THIRD ANNUAL KEPOKT OP

as chiine'rical and blasphemous before lliey were demonstrated.'
Truth must, hov/ever, in the end prevail 1

Science and theology have little in common, and will, perhaps,
always be at variance, but science and true religion are twin-sisters,
and will ever go hand in hand. In the present question, theology af-
firms supernatural causes beyond man's investigation, and conse-
quently sets an embargo on inquiry; while science affirms natural
causes within the limits of investigation: the one appeals to man's
senses, the other appeals to man's reason, whose throne should never
be abdicated, and whose power to trace effects to antecedent causes
is unlimited.

The belief that Darwinism is irreligious and atheistic, is wide-
spread; but this belief is the direct result of prejudging and
unfounded prejudice. For no one who understands the theory
can entertain such an idea for a moment. The individual is not
created by a special miracle, but develops by natural means. Yet no
one would claim that the individual was any the less a creation. And
so when it is argued that species also develop by natural means— ac-
cording to natural law; they are none the less therefore creations!
It is only a question as to the method which the Almighty employs;
for not only does the development hypothesis imply an Infinite cause,
but to use Prof. E. L. Youman's language "its conception is as much
grander than the common theological idea, as the conception of the
Cosmos which science has revealed, transcends the petty ideas of the
world which were entertained in the grovelling infancy of the race I"
Creation by a process of development is tangible and conceivable,
whereas we can have no knowledge and no conception of creation
without any process.

Haeckei, one of Darwin's strongest supporters, says : "In recog*
nizing the unity of nature and the efficacy of the Divine Spirit in
everything, we may perhaps lose the hypothesis of a personal Creator,
but we evidently gain the idea of a Divine Spirit, which pervades the
whole universe. God is the highest, the most living, the most active
unit through all things which only appear as sensuous representa-
tives for sensuous creatures." Can such men be called atheists or
materialists ?

The supposition that the creative mind produced all things as we
now find them, by a single act of unstinted power, requiring only such
time as can be reckoned by ourselves, is the direct outgrowth of our
own comparatively feeble minds — is to gauge the power of the Al-
mighty by our own. The supposition that he works through natural
law, originally ordained, and by a constant exercise of his preroga-
tive, is a far higher and more comprehensive conception ; for it helps
to broaden our views and enables us to grasp something more than
we have hitherto done. It carries us back seons in the past, and shows
us that creation has not only been continuous but still endures, and it

IHE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 175

helps us to rise to sublimest contemplation of that unknown Infinity
which pervades all.

Von Baer has truly remarked that "the scientific investigation of
Nature strives to learn everything in detail, in order to get nearer to
the cause of everything," and though we may not always reach the
goal we aim at, we should not therefore cease to try. The law of the
age is progress, and the f)oint we reach to-day will form our starling
point to-morrow. Every step which enables us to more truly inter-
pret the workings of the Divine Mind in nature, necessarily brings
us nearer to, and gives us a more intelligent idea, of a Creator. Each
new insight into the significances and harmonies around us, helps us
to lift the mystic veil and behold with awe and wonder the might and
majesty of God — to converse with him as flesh with unknown Infinity;
and I look forward to the day when the development of species will
not only be universally recognized as a law, among naturalists ; but
when the liberal-minded theologian will revere the names of men
like Darwin, who help to a higher conception of creation — instead
of anathematizing them and ignorantly charging to their doctrine?
those atheistic tendencies which in times past have been vainly
thrown up to those of so many other great, clear-thinking, discover-
ing minds 1

ERRATA.

Page 7, line 13 from bottom, for " Hylecectus," read " Hyleccctus."

Page 57, line 18, add "c" before the first "h."

rage 58, line 2 from bottom, for "formidolosus" read "formidolosut."

ERRATA OMITTED IN THE FIRST REPORT.

Page 14, line 16 from bottom, for "females" read "males." Page 30, note, for "F" read
"T." Page 32, line U from bottom, for "III" read "V ;" same page, line 7 from bottom, for
''XIII" read "VIII." Page 38, line 5, for "Tredeim" read "Tredeciin." Page 53, line 19 from
bottom, for "laid'-" real "lain." Page 54, line 4 from bottom, for "hatcb" read "are deposi-
ted." Page 87, line 11 from bottom, for "F" read "T." Page 132, line 16, for "ampelo])sis" read
"ampelopsidos." Page 150, line 6, for "ruddy" read "vigorous )" same page, line 26, for "thy-
ridoptenjx read "thyridopterygis." Page 154, in the heading, for "seas" read _"se«."__ Page 155,

"wiu"-." Page 173. linos 2 and 3, for "gelechia" read "gelechice."

INDEX.

Acronycta eblinita « ,..- 76

JEgeria polistiformis .^ > « 75, 76

Agrotis inermis ,, ».. 15, 129

Aleiodes Rileyi • • 71

Amphipyra, pyramidoides . ■ « —> ~ - 72, 74

" pyramidea , , 73, 74

" contpefrta '»•. ~... •'- 7-^

" inornata „ « - ^. ...,...„ -. -.. 75

American Bean-weevil , , ^ ~ - 52

Analcis fragaruB „. .^^ ~ ...42, 44

Anomalon Jlavicorne „.^, ......'...., » ^ • 69

Anthonomns qviadrigibbut •...,...,.—. ■^■^ ^ „.....,... .29, 35

" prtinicida. .....ft ~ • «....~ •.-. Sf

Apple insects - ^ ~... - S

" Carcalio « - 23

'^ " —Its natural history ^ 3*

*< " — It transforms in the fniit « ..„^........^....^..:..»....» 3L

'' *' — The amount o£ damage it does .,....,....-..»..^.....,.... — 33

" ^' — Season during which it works ,.. ^^.... 34

« « —Remedies , , M

" -tree Tent-caterpillar ,..™... ^..«............^.,... Ill

Archippus Butterfly ., „ _ ..................^w.......^.. liS

<* " --Its natural history . 145

*' ** — How the larira becomes a chrysalis — .,, 14S

*' " — The larva enjoys immaaity from fchi; afetacks of predsiceaus aaimals....... 14S

** ** — It often congregates in imiaenEe swarms 151

ArgynnM diana « „..,.,........................................<.... I&^

Ash-gray Pinion ., .......,.,...........«..............~.. 134

Aspidiolua pimfoliiB ...„..,. .....*...,...,..,.,...................«..............«»»......>.....>........... 92

Atlacv4 cecropia ...,...,.........,.,....,..,«.........«...».«.......«. ......««..».«.««.»»«..«.......... 129, 17^

" jjoZypAemtM ..„..„,.,.,«„,.„».....,..«..,.,....>....,........... ....««».%...«.«<»»%«»««>**««««.»>»*»«.>< 179

S E— 12

2 INDEX.

B

Bean-weevil 52

Beneficial Insects 137

Blue-spangled Peach-worm 132

Boll-worm 104

Bruchus pisi '. 44

'*' discoideus 45

granarius ,

50

" fabce 52, 55

" erythrocerus 55

" obsol«tas 56

" rufimanus 56

" serratus 56

c

Callimorpha fulvicosta 132

" vestalis , 133

" clymcne 134

" LeContei 134

Calosoma scrutator 129

Campyloneura vitripennis 137

Carpocapsa pomonella 101

Glisiocampa Americana H'

" sylvatica 121

Cocklebur Sphenophorus - 60

GodljngMoth 101

Oolaspls flavida 44, 81

" brunnea °2

" suilla . • ^2

" barbara «.« 82

Common Yellow Bear 67

Colorado Potato Beetle 98

" " " — Best means of fighting it 97.

" " " — Paris Green a remedy 99

" " " — Natural checks increasing 100

" " " — Bogus experiments 100

" " " —True remedy 101

Conotrachelus nenuphar , 11> 12'

" cratccgi 35, 39

Corn-worm , 104

" Sphenophorus i 59

Curculionidae or Snout-beetles • 9

Curculio— The Plum H

" —The Apple 29

" —The Quince 35

" -catcher— Hull's , 19

INDEX. 3

Curculio-catcher — Ward's 20

<• " Hooten's 23

D

Danais arckippus 143

Datana minis! a 127, 129

Deilephila lineatt , 140

Desmia maculalis 61

Disippus Butterfly log

" " — Di>3cription of mature larva 154

" " — " " the ej5 154

" " — Its winter quarters 155

" " — Its parasites 157

" Microgaster 15S

E

Epiccerus imbricatun 58

" formidolosus 53

" vadosus 58

'•' fallcx 58

Euchales egle 133

Eudryas unio 63

Exorista leucariice 116, 129

F .

Fall Army- worm 109

" " — How it differs from the true Army-worm , 112

" " —Remedies 114

Fall Web-worm 130

" " — Remedies 132

Forsst Tent-caterpillar 121

G

Srapa-vina — Insects injurious to 61

" —Leaf-folder 61

" — Epimenis 63

" —Plume 65

" — Common Yellow Bear 63

" — Smeared Dagger 70

" — Pyramidal Worm 72

" — Root-borer 75

'•' — Spotted Pelidnota 77

" —Flea-beetle 79

" — Colaspis 81

" —Leaf Gall-louse 84

4 INDEX*

(itrape-^rower — A new friend to the 137

Grl assy-winged Soldier-bug ►, 137

tiortyna nitcla 105-

Grain Brucbus .^..^ „ „„ — oO

H

Halesidota tesselata ^ „ 127

" Harrisii i 127

Haltica striolata 44-

" chalyhea-. 79

Heliconius thelxiope 173

" melpomenCi ^ 173

Heliothis armigera 45, 104^

Hooten's Curculio-catcber 23^

Hull's Curculio-catcber 19

Hyphantria textor 130

i

Ichneumon subcyaneus ^ 69

" pullatus 1 , 69

" signatipcs 69

" unifasciatoriui .- 71

Imbricated snout-beetle 58

Innoxious Insects 140-

Insects injurious to the Grape-vine 61

Ithycerus noveboraccnsis >. 67'

Limenitis disippus-. 153, 171

" Ursula 171

" proserpina ■ 171

" weidemcyerii > 171

" arthemis 171

" lorquini: ^ « 17r

" bredoioii 171

" Sibylla, 171

M

Microgaster Timenitidos, 15S

" glomeratus i 167

Mimicry in Butterflies 159"

N

New York "Weevil < 57

, Natural Selection — Kemarks on 159

, Niso7iiadcs juoenalis ^ 155

IJSDEX. O

O

O^hion bilinealus ^^

Papilio philenor ^^^

" troilus 16i>

" asteiias ' 169

P*a-weevil ^'^

i< (I — the female deposits her eggs on the outside of the pod 46

" " — Remedies 13

Peach-worm — Blue-spangled 132

Pelidnola jjunctata '7

Phyllotrcta striolata ' S3

" iiemorum ' S-'

Phylloxera vitifolice S4

" vastatrix ••••• »••• 8^

Pieris brassica • 167

rapm.

167

Pimpla melanocephala 12t>

Plum Curculio H

" " — Single-brooded and hibernates as a beetle 11

" " — Nocturnal rather than diurnal H

" " —The Ransom Chip-trap process 15

•' " — Keeping it in check by the offer of premiums 17

" " — Paris green as a remedy ■. IS

" " — Jarring by machinery 18

" " — Hull's Ourculio-catcher - I'J

« —Ward's " " * 20

" " — Hooten's -' " 2,5

" " — Sigalphus Curculio Parasite 24

ii t( —Porizon " " 23

" Gouger — Its character, distribution, etc SS)

" " — Of ten mistaken for the Plum Curculio k>...i 40

" " — Its time of appearance i 40

" " — Remedies i i ..* 41

Polysphincta bicarinata ' 1\

Porizon Curculio Parasite < 2S

Porizon conoirackcli < <> 2S

Potato Beetle t 97

Piodcnia autumnalis 109, 116

" cornmelincB. 13

Protective Imitation 142

Psychomorpha cpinienis , < 6.3, 64

Pterophorus periscelidactylus 65

" carduidactylus j 67

Pyramidal Grape-vine worm 72

Pyrameis atalr.nta .. 187

Q INDEX.

Q

35

Quince Curculio

" —How it differs from the others

u " —Its transformations and habits

,. 38

<' " — ilemedies

s

12U

Scmiotellus clisiocampa:

, 70

Smeared Dagger '

Uo

Sigalphus Curculio Parasite

Sigalphus curcuHonis «»-....

Snout-beetles

05

Snout-beetle— the Imbricated

45

Spcrviophagus robinicc

f 59

Sijhenopkorus zecB

GO

" pulchellus •

eo

" l'i-l)unctatus

68

Spilosoma virginica

Spotted Pelidnota '

Strawberry Crown borer

T

116, 15a

Tackina archippivora.

Hi

Tent-caterpillar of the Apple

<< << " Forest •

u it I' " — Ittj natural history

, 124

u it it «< — The larva spins a web

., ,, << a _lt feeds both. on orchard and forest trees 5-'

127
it it it " — Is it ever destructive?

128
,( (i n '' —Artificial remedies

,. 12S

<< it it i< — Natural remedies

129

.t It '• " — Summary

105

Tomato— Corn-worm in

..•.«..•••••• • 14i

Transformation— Remarks on •••

Tnjpcta pomonclla

Two of our common Butterflies .••«

15o

Trichogramma (?) minitta •

V

167

Vanessa uriicce

w

2l>

Ward's Curculio-catcher

Ui>

White-lined Morninp; Sphinx _

Xijlina cinerea

" con/ormis...
" subcoftalis.
" Bethunei.,..

INDEX. t

X

134

13«

1*6

136

capax 1 '''"

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

ON THE

NOXIOUS, BENEFICIAL

AND OTHER

INSECTS,

OP THE

ST^TE OF MISSOURI,

MADE TO THE STATE BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE, PURSUANT TO AS
APPROPRIATION FOR THIS PURPOSE FROM THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE.

BY CHARLES V. RILEY,
State Entomologist.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO.:
BEGAN & EDWARDS, PUBLIC PRINTERS.

1872.

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1872, by Charles V. Kiley, in the office
of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PREFACE.

To the Members of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture :

Gentlemen: — I herewith submit, for publication, my Fourth Annual
Eeport on the Noxious, Beneficial and other Insects of the State of
Missouri.

The year just closing has been remarkable for the high mean temperature
of its spring and summer, and the unprecedented small amount of rain-fall.
Yet mother Earth has yielded abundantly of all kinds of Agricultural pro-
ducts, and our fruit "crop has generally been unusually fine. The injuries of
the notorious Plum Curculio were, comparatively, so insignificant that plums
and even apricots ripened where they had failed for many previous years;
and though this result may in great part be attributed to the partial failure
of such fruit and the consequent scarcity of the "little Turk" in 1870, I
think the Sigalphus parasite described last year must receive some share
of the credit. But it is unnecessary to anticipate in any manner the burden
of the following pages.

During the extreme heat of the season I made a hasty trip to Europe,
for the improvement of health and for scientific purposes. During two
months' stay there, I was able to gather some facts of importance without
which I could not have laid before you the articles on " Grape Disease/'
and "Silkworms" to which I call your especial attention, and which, I
trust, contain some important truths of vast moment to the State.

I have devoted considerable time to lecturing the past year; and hope
to be able to fill still more engagements during the year to come.

Respecting the printing of this Report it is necessary to state that I did
everything inYay power last winter to have the printing and press-work of
the third volume done creditably and in a manner which would do justice
to the engravings. Mr. Wilcox was obliging, and did all that could, per-
haps, be expected of him; but' in truth it is utterly impossible for any one
to turn out a creditable piece of work from the old rickety presses at the
capital ; and, with the three years' unsatisfactory experience of the past, I
shall strive to get the publishing of this fourth Report done in St. Louis.
To enable me to do so, I hope to get your aid and encouragement.

The same rules, in printing, that have been adopted in the other Reports,
are followed in this ; and the reader will bear in mind that, unless otherwise
stated, the latitude of St. Louis is always intended when speaking of the

4 PREFACE.

eeason of an insect's appearance or disappearance. The older and more
familiar generic names are generally employed, and the names in brackets
indicate the genera to which the insect is referred in more modern systems.
Figures 35, 45, 46, 47 and 49 have been kindly loaned by Mr. Charles
L. Flint, Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture ; 51 by
Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr., of Salem, Mass., and 52, 53 and 54 purchased of the
same : the rest are original.

My office is still at Eoom 29, Insurance Building, Southeast corner of
Fifth and Olive streets, St. Louis j and all letters sent to me should be thus
addressed.

I thankfully acknowledge the receipt of free passes over the following
railroads: St. Louis and Iron Mountain, Missouri Pacific, Atlantic and
Pacific, Hannibal and St. Joseph, North Missouri, Chicago and St. Louis,
Illinois Central, and Eockford, Eock Island and St. Louis.

Eespectfully yours,

CHAELES y. EILEY,

State Entomologist.
St. Louis, Mo., December 2, 1871.

NOXIOUS INSECTS.

NOTES OF THE YEAR.

Of the more prominent and important of our insect enemies prolonged
experience is continually teaching us something new, and of some of those
already treated of in former Eeports, I shall, hereafter, under the head of
"Notes of the Year" bring together such additional facts and discoveries as
are worthy of being recorded. These notes are therefore intended to sup-
plement the original articles, and I shall endeavor to avoid anything like
repetition of what has already appeared. By thus adding the observations of
the year the original reports will be rendered more complete and circum-
spect.

THE COLOEADO POTATO BEETLE.

In its onward march across the continent, this insect attracts, perhaps,
more attention than any other. In extending over new territory we find
that its enemies increase and that even its habits become more varied; while
our means of counteracting its injurious work become more numerous and
efficient. For these reasons it demands prominence in the "Notes."

Its Injuries in 1871.— Never before was the insect so numerous with
us as last spring and summer. In March the beetle was turned up in great
numbers while the ground was being plowed, especially in fields that had
been planted the previous year to late potatoes. During the warm days of
April they were seen everywhere sailing through the air— their striped ely-
ti-a or wing-covers raised and held motionless from the thorax, while the
more gauzy wings, unfolded and vibrating, reflected pleasantly to the eye as
the sun intensified their rosy hues.

Before the potatoe leaves were fairly out of the ground the beetles were,
as usual, after them, and the fighting on the part of potato-growers com-
menced with vigor, for it seemed that twenty bugs came to the funeral of
every one slain. It had become very generally known that no powder unless
it had Paris green as its base, was efficient enough to be of any practical

b FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OP

use, and consequently the demand for Paris green, suddenly became so great
that the price went up from 20c. to 75c. and even $1.00 per lb. Indeed, for
a while it was not to be had at all in St. Louis. Several parties in our State,
taking advantage of the demand, prepared pound packages, already mixed,
and advertised them for sale at 50c. per package. The price was exhorbitant,
and by inducing the well known firm of Michell Bros. & Kern, of St. Louis,
to prepare packages according to my recommendation, I soon had the sat-
isfaction of seeing the price reduced to a more reasonable standard. During
the latter part of May the demand for the green was at its height, and the
bugs were in such force throughout the Western country, that the agricul-
tural papers teemed with notices of it, and some writers gave loose rein to
their fancy, and allowed so prosaic a subject to prompt to poetic deeds.
From among the doggerel, the following taken from the columns of the
Western Sural will bear repeating and exhibits the right spirit :

POTATO BUGS AND I.

In deadly strife we did engage ;
From week to week the warfare wage
With no abatement of our rage —

Potato bugs and I ;
From two to 'leven like Falstaflf's foes —
In one brief hour their number grow —
Yet neither any yielding knows

Potato bugs or I.

Brave fought in ancient times the knight
In coat of mail and vizor bright,
But more tenacious was our fight —

Potato bugs and I.
Armed to the teeth were foes of old,
But teeth and hands our ai-ms all told.
Yet still we struggled strong and bold — .

Potato bugs and I .

I fought my fav'i'ite bulb to save,
Which to the world Sir Walter gave.
Each had our reasons strong and grave —

Potato bugs and I.
To exterminate was what they meant,
And I toward them had like intent;
Nor one short hour would we relent —

Potato bugs or I.

Green armor I've procured of late,
Provided by that city great
Where bloodshed seems the normal state ;
And now our warfare we'll abate —

Potato bugs and I;
For all their energy is spent.
Their spears are broken, armor rent,
And now I think we're both content —

Potato bugs and I . Agra.

But if the bugs themselves were unprecedently numerous, so also were
their natural enemies. I passed through potato patches where almost every
Boryphora larva had upon the back of the neck, just behind the
head, one or more eggs of its deadly parasite Lydella doryphorce, Riley, (Eep.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

I, Fig. 48), which is the only genuine parasite yet known to attack it; and
what with the work of such natural enemies and the efforts of man, the pest
suddenly became about as scarce as it had been numerous before.

All accounts agree as to the sudden diminution of its numbers in the
month of June, and so far as Missouri is concerned, it did not increase to any
alarming extent during the rest of the year. The disappearance was, in
many sections, so thorough that it is very questionable whether man and natur-
al enemies should alone be credited with the cause. The spring was uncom-
monly dry and warm, and, so far, was favorable to the increase of the in-
sect; but the summer drought and extreme heat which followed were quite
unfavorable to its multiplication. Warm, dry weather in spring is conge-
nial to the growth and well-being of the larv£e as they swarm upon and de-
vour our vines; but at a later stage of their lives when they have to enter
the earth to undergo their transformations, a great many of them will un-
doubtedly die if the earth continiies excessively dry and hot. They will, in
short, be dried and baked to death. Those who have had large experience
• in breeding insects, and who understand the importance of coolness, and es-
pecially of moisture in the successful development of those which transform
underground, feel perfectly warranted in such an inference, even though no
systematic and accurate experiments have been made to test its validity.
The extreme heat and dryness of the season, furnished a good opportunity
to employ the sun-scalding remedy, and it was fully shown that in an in-
tense summer sun, the larvse and even the beetles will very generally die if
knocked from the vines on to the dry and heated ground, especially if the
vines have been well hilled ; and it is doubtless because the insect cannot
thrive when the thermometer ranges near 100^ F. that the southern
columns of the spreading army extend far more slowly than the northern.
Moreover, the past summer was not the first one in which the sudden dis-
appearance of this insect under conditions of heat and drought has been no-
ticed ; for a similar state of things occurred in 1868, and Dr. Henry Shimer,
of Mt. Carroll, 111., then attributed such disappearance to the dryness of the

season.*

We are justifiable, therefore, in concluding that while dryness and warmth
may be very pleasant and agreeable to the Colorado Potato Beetle in the
spring or in the fall, they are nevertheless very destructive to it when inten-
sified in the summer months.

Amount op Damage caused by it in Missouri. — Notwithstanding such
sudden disappearance of the potato bug, the falling off in the potato pro-
duct of the State compared with 1870 is fully 20 per cent. In Illinois it is
35 and in Michigan 34 per cent.; while in most of the so-called Middle States
it has increased. Much of this decrease may j ustly be attributed to the same
heat and drought that killed off" the bugs, but a certain amount of it may be
attributed to the early ravages of the latter. In 1870, the Statistician, Mr.
J. E. Dodge, informed me that the potato crop of Missouri was 5,525,000
bushels; and after careful estimates of the average market price in St.

• Am. Naturalist, Vol. IH. pp. 91-99.

8 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

Louis, and of the damage done to the crop by this one insect, I showed, in
a lecture delivered before the Kansas State Agricultural College, that this
one pest had abstracted nearly $500,000 from the pockets of our farmers
during that year. No insignificant sum to be sneered at, and well worth
saving when the means are at hand !

New Territory invaded. — In the fall of 1870 the northern columns
of the great army, in its eastward march, had reached the Canadian border
and made their way some little distance into the Dominion. In the spring
of 1871 the Detroit river was literally swarming with the beetles and they
were crossing Lake Erie on ships, chips, staves, boards or any other float-
ing object which presented itself. They soon infested all the islands to the
west of the Lake and by June were common around London, and finally
occupied the whole country between the St. Clair and Niagara rivers.

It would be difficult to indicate, with any degree of exactness, the pre-
cise eastern limit they have attained in the States; but it can be confidently
stated that they have reached in some places the borders of New York and
Pennsylvania. Specimens of dried larvae were sent to Mr. A. S. Fuller of
the Rural New Yorker , from Martinsburgh, N. Y., but he was not able to
decide positively whether they were the genuine Colorado article or the
Three-lined Potato beetle (Eep. I. Fig. 42). They were also reported during
the summer to have obtained a foot-hold in Massachusetts, as the following
item from the New England Farmer will show :

"Hon. M. P. Wilder informs us that this long dreaded scourge of the
potato field has beeil found in the town of Worcester, whither it probably
stole a ride on the cars of the western railroad, or was introduced by some
carpet-bagger. We understood Mr. Wilder that the State Board of Agri-
culture were contemplating the adoption of some action with a view to
'stamping out' the pest. AVe are not informed as to the extent of the foot-
hold the insect has secured, but we should certainly advise a most earnest
endeavor by hand picking, by poison, by fire, and by every means in their
power, to check its further extension in our State."

But I am able to say, with sufficient assurance, that no foundation what-
ever existed for the rumor, and that the Three-lined species was here the
innocent cause of alarm. While visiting Prof. Geo. Thurber of the Ameri-
can Agriculturist, I learned that he himself had unintentionally started the
rumor by mistaking certain dried 3-lineata for the genuine 10-lineata
larvae.

I have already given it as my opinion that nothing will stay its onward
march. There was a possible chance of keeping it out of Ontario, but that
is now lost. It might perhaps be stayed for a time, if, by some edict, no
potatoes were allowed to be grown for several years within a belt of one
hundred miles east of the district at present infested. But we do not live
in the time of edicts, and the chances of its getting across such a belt by one
way or another would always be great. So I expect this irresistible army
to march on. Indeed it is quite possible that even the broad Atlantic may
not stay its course; but that when once the beetles swarm in the streets of
New York as they did in those of St. Louis last spring, some female, loaded

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 9

with fertile eggs and hidden in the nooks and crannies of some vessel, may-
be safely borne over to the land of " murphies," whore she might easily-
found a colony which would soon spread consternation into other potato-
growing countries to the eastward. In giving, through Walter Ealeigh, the
precious tuber to Europe, America conferred upon the Old World an ever-
lasting boon. She may j'ct unwittingly be the means of bequeathing as
great a bane, by sending across the ocean the deadliest enemy of that tuber !
At all events, it behooves oxir European neighbors to be on the look-out,
and to prevent, if possible, any such catastrophe.

The southern columns of the army lag far behind. In South Missouri
it is gradually spreading, but has not yet touched the extreme southern
counties. I saw it at Springfield in 1870 and it had then only just reached
Green county. It was noticed the past summer b}^ Mr. Wm. E. Howard for
the first time in Webster, but had not then reached Taney county. It also
made its first appearance in 1871 in Phelps and Eeynolds, as I am informed
by Dr. Thos. Ferguson of Arlington in the former, and by Dr. M. M. Ken-
zie of Centreville in the latter county. It also appeared in Wright, Dent
and Texas, and will doubtless in time appear in all the extreme south and
southwestern couftties.

To the east this southern column does not roach much beyond Louis-
ville, Ky., as I learn from Mr. T. J. Key, of that place, that it has only been
there two years, and Mr. V. T. Chambers informs me that it was seen at
Covington for the first time last year. Broadly speaking, therefore, it may
be said to occupy more or less all the territory between latitude 37° and
46° — bounded on the west by the Eocky Mountains and on the oast by
a line drawn from the extreme eastern limit of Lake Erie to Cairo, 111.

To the north the posts have extended beyond this limit in Michigan, and
I have heard of them even on the northern shore of Lake Superior. An
incident related to me by Jno. Hurlburt, Jr., who has been engaged in sur-
veying and prospecting in that part of the country, will illustrate how great
a distance they may extend without food, when aided by water. He found
them in immense quantities on a potato patch belonging to some Indians on
the Menomonee river; yet this potato patch was in a clearing of about
twenty acres, with no other clearing near ; and to his certain knowledge
there could not have been another potato patch within one hundred and
fifty miles. To the east and south they extend a little beyond the imagin-
ary line, in Ohio, as Mr. Klippart, Secretary of the State Board, made special
inquiries as to their progress, and he informed me that they have been found
in every county in the State.

It spreads, but does not travel in the Sense of leaving one District
FOR Another. — Let it not be understood that this insect, in its onward spread,
or march, ever entirely quits any district where it has once obtained a foothold.
This idea of its itinerant character seems very generally to prevail, and a
great many people labor under the impression that soon after its advent,
this dreaded foe to the potato will of its own accord take its leave as sud-
denly as it came— that, like every other dog, it will have its day. This idea

10 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

is rather encouraged, though I believe unintentionally, by Dr. LeBaron in
his first Illinois Entomological Report, where he gives it as his opinion that
the beetle will in time disappear '' especially in those localities where it is
most abundant, even though we leave the work wholly to Nature." Noth-
ing could, however, be farther from the truth, or less in accordance with
past experience. It may, and very generally does, prove more injurious
during the first two or three years of its advent than subsequently ; because
time is required for its natural enemies to multiply sufficiently to keep it in
check. But wherever it once obtains a footing, there it may be expected to
remain for all time to come — vascillating, it is true, from year to j'^ear, in
numbers and conseqiient power to do mischief, according as the conditions
for its increase or decrease are favorable; but always present to take its
chances in the great struggle for existence, and to get the upper hand if it
can.

Mr. Thomas Meehan of the Gardeners' Monthly, writes me that while in
Colorado the past summer he met with very few beetles, and that these
seemed to favor the Solanum cornutum; and j)ersons often wonder why the
insect does not swarm in the Territory from which it takes its popular name.
I have been repeatedly informed by men living on or near the Eocky Moun-
tains, and more especially by Mr. J. Savage, of Lawrence, Kans., that at a
certain altitude it scarcely ever touches the Potato, but confines itself to the
wild cornutum; and it necessarily cannot be as numerous in thinly settled
parts of the country as in parts more thickly populated. It received the
popular appellation of "Colorado," not because it was numerous there, but
because it was first found there by entomologists long before it had advanced
to any of the Territories or States to the East. There are hundreds of in-
sects that in like manner take their name from some particular district where
first discovered, though they often afterwards jsrove to be far more common
in other districts.

New Food; Cabbage. — It is a notable fact, and a most important one
for us, that the Colorado Potato Beetle has in the past been found incapable
of flourishing on any other plants but those of the Nightshade Family {So-
lanacece), and hitherto it has only been known to thrive upon the nightshade
genus proper (Solanum) which includes the Egg Plant, the Horse nettle and
some other wild species west of the Mississippi, such as rostratum and cornu-
tum, which are known by various popular and local names. Upon the
Nettle (S. caroUnense), which is common with us but is mostly replaced in
Kansas by the S. rostratum, it seems to delight even more than upon the
Potato, and I have found it quite injurious to other plants of the same genus,
such as the warscewiczi, robustum, discolor and sieglinge, which are often cul-
tivated for their ornamental foliage. The other common plants of the Fam-
ily such as the Tomato (Lycopersicum), Ground-cherry (Physalis), Thorn-ap-
ple (Datura), Henbane {Hyoscyamus), Apple of Peru {Nicandra), Tobacco
(Nicotiana), Belladonna, Petunia and Cayenne Pepper, are not overmuch to
its liking, though upon a pinch, it will feed on all of them, and especially on
the first named. The Cayenne Pepper, if eaten to any extent, is actually
poisonous to it, as we learn from Dr. LeBaron.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 11

Under these circumstances it is an interesting fact (as showing how a
new habit may be acquired under fiivorable circumstances), that last summer,
this insect was jjositively found feedinjjj upon the Cabbage, which is botanic-
ally so very distinct from the nightshade Family. It would be sad indeed if
so all-important an esculent should in the future be doomed to suffer, with
the Potato, from the insatiate appetite of such a pest, and I have no idea that
cabbage raisers need fear anything of the sort. Yet stranger things have
happened ! and certain it is that it was found devouring cabbages by Mi-. H. H.
McAffee, Superintendent of the Wisconsin University Experimental Farm,
while Miss Mary E. Murtfeldt, of Kirkwood, in whose testimony I can place
the \itmost reliance, found that in parts of Northern Illinois it did consider-
able injui-y to growing cabbages and was even breeding in great numbers
upon them.

Its Hibernation. — Subseqiient experience has corroborated the accu-
racy of the account given in my first Report, of this insect's natural history,
and as some authors have since claimed that it winters in the pupa state, I
must insist that with us it never does, but that the last brood invariably
hibernates in the perfect beetle state. Specimens have been found at a depth
of eight and even ten feet below the surface, but the great majority do n^bt
descend beyond eighteen or twenty inches, and many will not enter the
ground at all if the}- can find other substances above ground that will shel-
ter them sufficiently. The beetles are found abundantly above ground in th*
month of April in the latitude of St. Louis, but often re-enter it after they
have once left, especially during cold, damp weather.

A few Words more about Paris Green. — A good deal of objection has
been raised against the too general use of this poison, and perhaps with
some reason. Mr. H. H. McAfee, who has had a good opportunity of test-
ing its value, strongly opposes its use on the grounds of its dangerous
nature, and shows in the following paragraph, which is from his pen, that
the bugs can be subdued by determined hand-picking.

With an astonishing large supply of beetles to start on this spring,
we have fought them through to this time at an expense of just $20.15, and
we have dug potatoes enough to pay, at market price when dug, for the
seed upon the whole plat, also to pay for the picking of the bugs, and a
profit of $6.51, and there yet remains to be dug over half the potatoes,
which, after paying cost of cultivation and rental, will give a fair profit.
There will be a slight bill for picking bugs from this on, for the late pota-
toes, but we are perfectly sure of a balance of profits, if the potatoes now
in the ground never grcAv another ounce. "Early Rose," yielded at the
rate of 232.56 bushels per acre, "King of the Earlies," at the rate of 157.24
bushels per acre. I feel sure that we can count on several million less bugs
to winter over, than were on the farm last fall, and I believe that the
expense of gathering them another year may be lessened more than three-
fourths, by using proper implements for that work.

Some persons have even imagined that potatoes groAvn on land where
it has been used are often watery, rank and of bad flavor, and according to
the Monthly Repoi't from the Dejiartment of Agriculture for August and

12 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OP

September last, peas planted in soil mixed with the green rotted immedi-
ately and would not germinate, while those in unadulterated soil grew finely
and flourished, but died immediately when transplanted into the soil mixed
with the green. How far these statements are to be relied on, each one
must judge for himself, but it is certainly advisable to avoid as much as pos-
sible the use of the poison, by carrying out the other methods, both pre-
ventive and remedial, advocated in previous Eeports; for wholesale remedies
always have the disadvantage of destroying some friends with the foes, and
in this case the true parasite and those cannibals which by mastication par-
take bodily of their green-covered prey, certainly fall in the general
slaughter. But this remedy has now been so extensively used with good
results. and without any apparent harm to the tubers, that full and thorough
proof against it will be necessary to cause its abandonment. Properly
mixed I have used it without the slightest trace of evil eifect on the
leaves or tubers, and I know hundreds of others who have done likewise;
80 that with present experience I should not hesitate to recommend its
judicious use. What is wanted on this subject, is a long series of thoroughly
accurate and reliable experiments. Let our Agricultural colleges make
them ! Meanwhile Paris green will be extensively used, especially while
the vines are young and most need protection; for after the expense
of preparing the land and planting has been incurred, it will not pay to
get discouraged and abandon the field to the enemy, when such an
efficient remedy is at hand. We must take lesson from one of ^Esop's
instructive fables, and instead of relying on providence to help us out,
put our shoulders to the wheel and help ourselves out of the difficulty.
The green may be shaken over the vines in various manners, and some per-
sons have found an old sleazy sack, such as those used for table salt, to do good
service, when attached to the end of a stick. It is most safely applied, how-
ever, by aid of a perforated tin box attached to the end of a stick three or four
feet long. Such a box (Fig. 1) I induced Messrs. Michel
Bros. & Kern to manufacture last summer. It can be
made of any desirable size. The least possible dusting
suffices, and by taking the handle of the dust-box in the
left hand, and then tapping the box with another stick
held in the right hand, one can walk rapidly along the
rows and regulate the amount sifted. The green can-
not well be mixed with the flour or j^laster except by
the aid of a mill, and it is for this reason that those who
mix in large quantities have the advantage. It is most
effectual when mixed with flour, though plaster has the
merit of cheapness. I have generally used and have hitherto recom-
mended from 12 to 15 parts of flour to one of green, but it has been abun-
dantly demonstrated that, if the green be pure, it may be diluted with 25
or 30 times its weight and still be effectual.

Abundantly as this mixture has been used, I have not been able to
learn of a single authenticated case of poisoning resulting in death, except

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 13

where it was left exposed in quantity so as to allow animals to get at and
eat it. A few cases of slight poisoning of the skin have occurred, and these
might have been avoided ; and perhaps I cannot better illustrate how small
is the risk of its judicious use in the field with the precautions given in my
last Eeport, than by the following circumstance which came under my
notice : Two young men of St. Louis — Messrs. August Eeitemeyer and J.
Fleming — were daily engaged, through the greater part of the month of
May, in preparing the mixture for the market. They became unnecessarily
careless in their work, and were actuallj' living in an atmosphere heavily
charged with the dust, while their clothing was saturated with it through
and through. Yet they experienced no ill effects from it till about the first
of June, when the weather became so warm that they begun to perspire.

These fticts should, however, form no excuse for the careless use of the
poison, and it is well to know that it must be especially guarded against
during the heat of the day. It should, in fact, always be dusted in the cool
of the morning while the dew is on the plants.

At a meeting of the N. Y. Farmer's Club, I made the acquaintance of
Dr. Eichard Scuppernong, who has had much experience with Paris green,
having been engaged in its manufacture with the firm of C. T. Eeynolds &
Co. of that city. Manufacturers would rather make and sell at 25 cents per
pound in winter than to make it at 40 cents per pound in summer, the skin
being so much more susceptible to its effects, during the latter season. Men
do not ordinarily work at its manufacture continuously more than a week
at a time, and every one in the factory is obliged to take an occasional anti-
dote. Those who contemplate using it on their potatoes would do well to
procure a supply in the winter time, as they would thus save money. Very
much depends on the quantity obtained, and none but that of a deep bright
green should be bought, as the jjaler brands are weaker and adulterated.

Antidote for Paris Green. — The antidote for Paris green poison is
hydrated sesquioxide of iron. Nearly every druggist keeps it always on
hand. If it cannot be bought it may be prepared thus : — Dissolve copperas
in hot water, keep warm, and add nitric acid until the solution becomes yel-
low; then pour in ammonia water — common hartshorn — or a solution of
carbonate of ammonia, until a brown precipitate falls. Keep this precipi-
tate moist and in a tightly corked bottle. A few spoonfuls taken soou after
even a bad case of poisoning with Paris green or arsenic is a per'ect rem-
edy. Every farmer who uses Paris green for the bugs should keep this
medicine always in his house.

Other Applications. — One would naturally suppose that since arsenic
forms one of the principal ingredients of Paris green, it > ould also kill
potato bugs, with the advantage of being much cheaper. With a view of
ascertaining its value I tried it last spring, but with no sr. ^sfactory results.
I also tried powdered cobalt which is so generally used to kill flies, and it
likewise failed to kill with anything like the certaint. which Paris green
does. White hellebore has been recommended, by th; c who claim to have

14 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

been benefitted by its use ; and Mr. Hay, gardener at the Illinois Institution
for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, says that he has found that black
pepper and ashes in the proportion of a pound of pepper to the pail-full of
ashes, is an infallible remedy. How reliable this last may be, can be ascer-
tained next year, but at present I can safely recommend nothing but the
mixture of green.

Prom a series of experiments made last summer by Messrs. Wm. Saun-
ders and E. B. Eeed, of London, Ont., who were directed by the Agricul-
tural Department to institute them, we also learn the great advantage of the
green ; and as the results of these experiments are interesting and important,
I quote herewith those obtained with other chemicals :

Absenious Acid (Arsenic). — This chemical being much cheaper than
Paris Green, and more uniform in its composition, we hoped it would have
proved a practical and safe remedy. We tried it in the proportions of half
ounce, one ounce and two ounces to a pound of flour, and while we are not
prepared, from the few trials we have made, to entirely disapprove of its
use, the results we have obtained point to the conclusion that where it has
been used in sufficiently large proportions to destroy the insect, it has caused
more or less injury to the leaves. In cases where Paris Green is not obtain-
able, this might be used as a substitute, in the proportion of one ounce to one
pound flour, which should always be colored with some black powder, such
as charcoal or black antimony, so as to lessen the risk of accident from
its use.

Another Arsenical compound was also tested, known in commerce as
Powdered Cobalt or Fly Poison ; this was used in the same projDortions as the
last mentioned, and with similar results, but owing to its higher price we do
not recommend it for general use.

Sulphate of Copper (Blue Stone). — A strong solution of this salt was
tried in the proportion of two ounces to one gallon of w^ater, and showered
on the vines with a watering pot, without damage to either the insect or
the plant.

Bichromate of Potash. — This is a poisonous substance largely used in
dyeing, and one which has attracted some attention in France of late, as a
remedy for insects. We used it dissolved in water in the proportion of two
ounces to three gallons of water. This killed the insects effectually, but at
the same time destroyed the plants. Whether, in a more diluted form, this
remedy could be effectively used without injury to the foliage, w^e are unable
at present to say, but shall experiment further with it.

Powdered Hellebore. — This powerful irritant which is so effectual as
a remedy for the Currant Worm we tried without perceptible effect, both in
powder and also mixed with water, in the proportion of one ounce to the
gallon of water. Several other poisonous substances were also used with
like results.

Carbolate of Lime. — There are several preparations sold under this
name, which w^e found to vary much in composition and character, and equally
so in effect. We tried an article known as Dougall's without any good re-
sult, but succeeded better with one prejjared by Lyman Bros, of Toronto, a
black powder manufactured, we understand, from coal tar. This destroyed
a large proportion of the larvae, but we doubt whether it would kill the per-
fect insect; it is, moreover, used in an undiluted form, which would render
its cost greater than that of the Paris Green mixture, so we see no advan-
tage in using it, although the fact of its being less poisonous may induce some
to try it who are prejudiced against Paris Green.

Ashes and Air-slacked Lime, we found, had been extensively used by

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

15

many of the farmers on the frontier districts, but, as far as we could see or
leai-n, without any perceptible results.

I last year showed how futile it is to use elder leaves as a remedy; but it
is so easy for persons who are not thoroughl}' posted as to the habits of this
insect to form wrong conclusions about the efficacy of whatsoever application
they may make to the vines, that we this 3-ear find the sprinkling of a decoc-
tion made from Dog fennel, or from the root of the May apple or Mandrake
{Podophyllum peltatuiii) strongly recommended for the same purpose. Mr.
John Oliver, of Glencoe, — determined to fully test the latter — went to consid-
erable trouble and expense to jirocure a sufficient quantity of the May apple
decoction j and after thoroughly trying it, he informs me that it had no effect
in killing the bugs. Even were these methods successful, they could not be
everywhere employed, and must always prove more expensive than the
Paris green.

"We learn from the JPrairie Farmer of Chicago, that an intelligent Eussian
gentleman of that city employs the following method :

He takes finely pulverized, air slacked lime, commences at one end of
the field and scatters it over the vines for the distance of about ten rods. In
the course of the day, if the lime is applied in the morning, the bugs nearly
all betake themselves further down the rows where no lime w^as scattered.
The next day he scatters lime on the vines for a like distance, and thus
continues day by day, till the bugs are driven on to a small area, when they
are destroyed by Paris green or by other means.

Mechanical Means. — Various contrivances have been devised for
knoeking the bugs off the vines. Mr. Geo. Squires, of Montgomery, 111., as
I am informed by Dr. LeBaron, built a machine to be drawn b}^ horses,
which worked very effectually the past summer. It is a modification of that
of Mr. Benson, of Iowa, described in my first Eeport, being a simple box six
inches high, with wheels to which brooms are attached to sweep the vines —
the brooms circling towards the box.

Mr. Samuel Creighton, of Lithopolis, Ohio, has
been kind enough to frfrnish me with an "Improved
Patent Insect Destroyer," which is especially in-
tended for the potato bugs. It is a hand machine of
a very simple nature, and the accompanying outline,
(Fig. 2.) will give a very good idea of it. In using, it
is held in the right hand by the handle a, and placed
at one side of the potato hill, with the
upper end more or less inclined, according
to the size of the jjlants. In this position
the lower branches of the plants will
overhang the forward edge of the plate
d; and the flanges' of the sides, cc, which
are slightly bent outwards, will embrace
the second and third sides of the vines,
leaving the fourth exposed. The opera-
tor then strikes this exposed side, with a

[Fig. -2.]

16 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

light, flat and broad broom, thus detaching the bugs which fall to the bottom
of the trap. Whenever the trap is filled the bugs are emptied out through
a sliding door b, and destroyed in whatever manner the operator sees fit.
A good size for this trap is 2 1-2 feet in height; 15 inches from flange to
flange and 7 inches across the narrow way of the pocket. It should be made
of tin or, if of wood, the pocket should be lined with tin ; as when kej^t smooth
or moistened with oil or water the bugs cannot easily crawl out, as one goes
from hill to hill. This contrivance is but an improvement on the common
tin pan, and its principal merit lies in its simplicity and cheajDness.

The great difliculty with all mechanical contrivances of this kind, lies
in the fact that they can only be used when the vines are of a considerable
size, whereas the enemy must be most j^ersistently fought from the moment
the ground parts to give way to the sprouting tuber, until the plants are a
few inches high. Hence the great advantage of Paris green.

A cheap, rapid and effective method which commends itself to the good
sense of every one, is for one person to go along the rows with a short-
handled broom and by quick motions knock all the bugs off, while a second
person follows immediately after, dragging by a single horse a heavy bun-
dle of brush, or close-toothed harrow made for the purjjose. Some of the
bugs will escape being killed, and a few of the younger larvae may not be
knocked off; but the operation is so rajDidly performed that it will bear
repetition as often as necessary.

Natural Enemies increasing. — To those who have carefully watched
the eastward progress of this insect, the manner in which its natural ene-
mies have increased in number and kind is interesting and significant. In
previous Eeports fourteen cannibal or parasitic insects, specially observed
to attack it in one state or another have been figured, and I am now able
to add seven more to the list. The toad, and perhaps some other reptiles
devour them, and among birds the ci'ow has been observed to do so.
Among domesticated birds, the duck was for several years the only species
that would touch it, and chickens for a long time would invariably give it
the go-by. Last year I stated that chickens had learned to eat the eggs, and
had even acquired a taste for the young larvae; but this year cases are
numerous, in various parts of the countiy, where the beetles, as well as the
larvce and eggs have been devoured by them. I know of one case near St.
Louis where, with a few specimens of the common May Beetle, no less than
thirty-one perfect specimens of the Colorado Beetles were found in the crop
of one chicken ; while in another instance, in the same neighborhood, the
chickens forsook every other kind of food for these nauseous insects. In
these instances the chickens have taken naturally to the new food, but it
has been shown (See Dr. Brown, Trans. Ind. Hbrt. Soc, 1871, p. 81) that
they may easily be taught to like it, by first shutting them up and, after
denying them all animal food for about ten days, turning them into an
infested potato field and keeping them there. Indeed, coops may be taken
into such a field, and young chickens raised there to good advantage. To
these birds we may also add that blithe and pretty field companion whose

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

17

services as an insect devourer have been altogether too much underrated —
the common quail. A correspondent of the Rural New Yorker from Onargo,
111., found six Colorado Potato Beetles in the crop of one that was killed on
his place. Among quadrupeds, Dr. LeBaron has shown good reason for
believing that the skunk likewise preys upon them. As it is also known
to destroy great quantities of the common AVhite Grub, and to clean tomato
patches of the Tomato Worm, this much abused beast in a measure compen-
sates for its Avell known disagreeable attributes.

Among spiders we may mention an undetermined species of Phalan-
gium(Fig. S re-presents P. dorsatum, Say). These animals are popularly

[Fig. 3.]

called "__ Grand-Daddy-Long-Legs " in this couiitr}-, but are also known|]as
" Harvest-men " and " Grandfather-Gray-Beards," in some parts. They
all have similar habits, being carnivorous and seizing their prey very much
as a cat seizes a mouse ; but they differ from other sjiiders in that they bod-
ily devour their victims, instead of sucking out their juices. They are
known to devour great numbers of plant-lice, and Mr. Arthur Bryant, of
Princeton, 111., found them devouring the larvae of our Colorado immi-
grants.

But the most important of our auxiliai-ies to be added to this list of
natural enemies of the Doryphora are to be found in its own Class. They
consist of the following species :

The 15-Spotted Ladybird. — This may be known as the large 15-spotted
2

18

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

Lrtdybird (Mysia 15-

'inmctafa, Oliv.) It is

the largest of the

ladybirds that we

have, and the oi\\y

other species of the

Family in this coun- _ -- ^^^.

try that is larger, is ^-/^

the Northern Squash-beetle (Epilachna borealis) — a species which has the

wing-covers spotted in a somewhat similar manner, but which I have not

yet met with in Missouri. The 15-spotted Ladybird is a very variable

insect, and at d, e, f and g (Fig. 4), are represented four of the more striking

forms. In the more common form the thorax is cream-colored and the

wing-covers cream-colored, with a tinge of chocolate. In this form (d) the

black spots and marks are consj^icuous. In the next form (e) the thorax

remains the same, but the wing-covers are chocolate-brown and the black

ppots ar.e surrounded with a paler brown annulation. In the third form

(/)the thorax is a little darker, and the wing-covers so dark that the spots

Are scarcely perceptible; while in the fourth form the whole insect is of a

uniform deep brown-black color.

The larva of this beetle (Fig. 4, a) is jet black, with six rows of long
spines and six long black legs. It has a paler yellowish stripe along each
«ide, intercej^ted by two bright orange spots behind the legs, and there is
also an orange sj)ot on the back of the flattened first joint (c). I found this
black fellow devouring the young potato bugs last May at Allenton, and my
friends E. B. Eeed and Wm. Saunders, of London, Ontario, have found the
beetle at the same commendable work in Canada. When about to change,
this larva fastens itself to the plant and changes to a cream-yellow pupa,
marked with black, as at Figure 4, b. .

The Icy Ladybird. — This species {Hippodamia glacialis, Fabr.) which
was doubtless so named from occurring so far north, where it is often found
under ice and snow, has likewise been seen in great numbers carrying on
the [same commendable work. Figure 5 represents it of the natural size,
IFig. 5.] the wing-covers being of a bright orange-red, each marked behind
with three black spots, the two upper of which are confluent. The
. , head and thorax are black marked with cream-yellow as in the
'^ illustration. The species is closely allied to the Convergent Lady-
bird (ditfering principally in being nearly twice as large, and in lacking the
spots on the anterior portion of the wing-covers), and will be found to have
similar transformations.*

The Eing-banded Soldier-bug. — The third of these new friends of the

♦See 1st Rep. Fig. 52.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

19

f

potato grower is a prettil}' marked in.seet — a genuine
Bug — belonging to the same extensive group (Scuttel-
Jera family) of the true Bugs (Heteroptero) as the 8pined
Soldier-bug, which is now so \v(ill known for its efficiency
in thinning out the ranks of our potato pest, and which
was illustrated in my first Report (Fig. 54).

The Eing-banded Soldier-bug (Pen'Uus circumcinc-
tt<s. Stal.)Avhich is illustrated at Figure 5 (b showing an enlarged view of its
antenna and c of the beak with which it sucks the juices of its prey), is of
a rich polished brown color, marked as in the figure, with pale yellow.
Underneath, on the venter, there is a large yellow patch containing four
Mack spots quadrangularly arranged, and there is a border of yellow extend-
ing around the edge of the whole body. It is a not uncommon species in
Missouri, and was found by Mr. Eeed, of London, Ontario, preying
voraciously upon potato bugs.

These three species are so conspicuously marked that they can be easily
recognized. Wherever found let them be kindly dealt with!
The fourth species to be added may be popularly known as

The Dotted-legged Plant-bug.— This insect (Eiischistus pimctipes, Say,
Fig. 7) is minutely speckled and of an
ochre-yellow color, and so closely re-
sembles the Spined Soldier-bug that I
reproduce the illustration (Fig. 8) of
this last to contrast with it. The most
obvious features whereby to distin-
guish these two insects are those fiir-
iiished by the figures, namely, the more flattened form of the Soldier-bug
(Fig. 8) and especially of its squarish head, compared to the Plant-bug (Fig.
Tj; and the sharp-pointed thorax of the former compared to the more round-
ed thorax of the latter. This last character is variable, in both, so that spec-
imens of the former occur with the thorax rounded, and of the latter with
it more pointed ; but there are two other structural diiferences which are al-
ways constant and can always be relied on to distinguish the two insects. If
the Spined Soldier-bug be examined underneath, its beak (Fig. 8, a) will be
found to be quite stout, especially at the base, and between the hind legs at
the base of the venter, a prominent tooth pointing towards the head will
be noticed. This last feature is entirely absent in the Plant-bug; while the
more slender beak (Fig. 6, c) of the latter, the average larger size, the
black-dotted legs, and the absence of the opaque brown streak at the trans-
parent and glassy tip of the wing-cases, or hemelytra, combine to distin-
guish it still further from its more ferocious simile.

The Dotted-legged Plant-bug has heretofore been considered a purely
vegetable feeder, and its being caught partaking of more carnivorous food
must be considered exceptional. It is however an interesting fact, entomo-
logically considered, and shows that the carnivorous is not so widely sepa-
rated from the herbivorous habit as we are wont to suppose. Many other

20 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

facts of a similar nature might be cited, some of which have been already-
mentioned in these rej)orts ; and it has long been known to entomologists
that Bugs of this particular Scutellera family which normally are plant-
feeders, will yet attack other soft-bodied insects when opportunity offers.

According to Dr. LeBaron, there is some evidence, not yet sufficiently
conclusive however, that the Tarnished Plant-bug (Rep. If, Fig. 83) also
feeds on the Dorj^phora larvfe.

While touching upon the Spined Soldier-bug, it will be well, j^erhaps^
to state that though, with all true Bugs, its larva and pupa are active, and
have the same habits and general form of the mature insect, yet they differ
so much in coloration and pattern, that they are scarcely
ever properlj' identified and have often been sent to me
as a new Potato bug enemy by those who have found
them boldl}^ carrying out theii- naturally voracious in-
^ -^ <^ a^ \^ stincts.
The eggs of this Soldier Bug, as I have good reason to believe, are
pretty little bronze-colored, caldron-shaped objects, with a convex lid^
around which ciliate fifteen or sixteen white spines (Fig. 9, c). They are
neatly placed side by side in clusters of a dozen or more, to leaves and other
objects, and are so much subject to the attacks of a minute Hymenopterous
parasite, that those who undertake to hatch such as are found out of doors
will more often get flies than bugs. The newly-hatched bug is ovoid, and
shiny black, with some bright crimson about the abdomen. In the full
grown larva (Fig. 9, b) the black still predominates on the thorax but some
four yellowish spots appear, and the abdomen becomes more yellow-
ish, though still tinted with red. In the pu])a (Fig. 9 a) which is readily
distinguished by the little wing pads, the ochreous-yellow extends still more^
and finally, with the last moult, the black disappears entirely^ in the perfe ct
insect. Throughout the immature stages the shoulders are rounded, and not
pointed, and the antenna or feelers have but four joints instead of five as in
the mature bug, while there are but two visible joints to the feet or tarsi in-
stead of three. *

We have been taught to admire the muscular power of the lion, which
is enabled to grip and toss an animal larger than itself with its powerful neck
and jaws ; but feats performed by these young Soldier Bugs, throw the lion's
strength completely in the shade, for they may often be seen running nim-
bly with a Boryphora larva, four or five times their own size, held high in air
upon their outstretched beak.

♦These facts do not seem to be t^enerallv known, but I believe it will be found a very genemlrule
that iu the larval and pupal slates," all the Scutelleridce have one joint less to the antenna; and tarsi.
Westwood mentions the fact with reference to Pentatoma riifipcs of Europe, but, so far as I am aware,
it is not mentioned bv Douglas & Scott, Amyot & Serville, or any other authors. With regard to the
tarsi, the small third joint may perhaps be detected upon dissection, especially in the pupa, but the
antenna; are never more than ibur-jointed in such species as I have had opportunity to study m the
preparatory staires, namely, Arma spinosa, Dallas; Brochymciia annulata, Fa.br . •. Stiretrxisfimbriatus,
Say, Euscliistus'^punctipes, Sav. It is the second joint of both the antenn;e and the tarsi, in the larva
and pupa, which elongates and divides in the perfect insect. [Since the above was written, I have had
the pleasure of examining Mr. Uhler's collection of Hemiptera at Baltimore, and I noticed that the
same trait occurs in the larva and pupa oi Rhaphig aster and Nazara. Mr. R. had. also noticed thi^
physiological peculiarity of the Scvtelleridce.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

21

The fifth additional enemy of our Potato bug is the Nebraska Bee-
killer (Fromachus Bastardii, Loew.) * This active and savage two-winged
fly was observed by Mr. A. E. Whitney, of Franklin Grove, 111., to seize and
carry off the mature beetles, as we are informed by Dr. LeBaron. The Mis-
souri Bee-killer (Asilus Missouriensis, Eiley) would doubtless do likewise,
though the fact has not yet been observed; and neither of these- flies would
be likely to kill Potato bugs enough to atone for their pernicious bee-killing

propensities.

The sixth is the Kansas Bombardier beetle {Brachimis Kansanns, Lee)
—an insect bearing a general resemblance to the Great Lebia (3d Eep., Fig.
41) but being one-third larger and more lengthened, and with the wing-cov-
ers of a duller, less polished blue. The beetles of this genus all have the
power of discharging from the anus, when disturbed, an acrid fluid of so
volatile a nature, that upon coming in contact with the air, it tenuates with
an explosive noise and pungent smell, and hides the beetle in a bluish va-
por which enables the little artilleryman to effect his escape. The species
in question, was found attacking the Colorado Potato bug larvae, by Mr.
Thos. Wells, of Manhattan, Kansas, who furnished me with specimens for
identification.

Lastly, we may;add a species of Eove-beetle, belonging to the genus
Fhilonihus. An undescribed species of this genus was found by Dr. Shimer
maliciously killing the Doryphora larvse in one of his breeding cages. ^There
is no evidence yet, however, that it follows the same habit when free in the
field. The particular species noticed by Dr. Shimer was in the Walsh cabi-
net, which was destroyed in the great fire at Chicago, but to give the reader
a correct idea of this genus of insects I present a figure of Fhilonihus apicalis,
Say (Fig. 10). The larva are active and voracious and bear considerable
resemblance to the perfect insects. Figure 11 is ta- [Fig. ii.]
ken from Westwood and shows that of Goerius olens. '/tV
The pupsB are quiescent and incapable of motion, all \>y/'
" the parts being soldered together and encased almost f^'Zl^
as firmly as in the chrysalis of a butterfly. The head
and pro-thorax are suddenly bent forwards, the former
touching the breast j and the back is curiously flat-
tened. Figure 12 represents the pupa of an allied
insect* found ,in the ground and from which I bred Quedius
[Fig. 1-2.] molochinus, Grav. The rove-beetles are, as a general rule, car-

rrion feeders, preying voraciously on decaying animal and veg-
etable substances ; but some of them are true cannibals, while a
few are even parasitic. Indeed they are no doubt more carnivor-
ous than is generally supposed.^
« Thus we have twenty-one enemies of its own Class, that have

• See first Rep. , p. 168, and second Rep. , p. 122.

+ This nuna is yeUowish-brown in color. Dorsum perfectly flat with the sides compressed and
iiarrow-edffXFlrstTbdominal joint with a lateral spine; second with a larger, blunter, roimded
taWe- elch of the others with a stiff bristle : apical joint with two converging thorns. Abdomi-
nal joints 2, 3 and 4 with a tubercle each side of dorsum.

+ It is well known that these larva; are diflicult to rear to the perfect state, and one reason no
doubt is th^t they Ire often adephagous in habit, and are too generally ti-eated as rypophagoiu*

22 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

actually been observed preying on the Colorado Potato-beetle, a round
score of which have been figured ; but the one true parasite is undoubt-
edly more efficient than any of the others.

THE CODLIISTG MOTH, AGAIN.

A few additional and important facts in connection with the manage-
ment of this insect, have come to light during the year just past, and are
worthy of record.

Time of Year that the first Moths appear. — To make the state-
ment answer for any latitude, what was said in my first Eeport may be
safely relied on, namely, that the moths begin to appear as soon as the
apple trees are in bloom. Egg-laying commences soon after apples form.
Of course, the time of blossoming vai"ies slightly with the variety ; but the
time of issuing of the moths varies still more, so that the statement holds
good. As the seasons vary from two to three weeks, or even a month, in
relative earliness, and as the appearance of the moths varies accordingly,,
the futility of giving exact dates becomes apparent.

Time required for its Development. — Having bred some moths near)}'
every year for ten yeai's, in different localities, I can safely give the follow-
ing as the average length of time required in the adolescent stages of the
first brood; but which, of course, do not hold good in the second brood,,
which hibei-nates : — Egg state, 4 — 10 days ; larva or worm state, 25 — 30 days
outside and 3 inside cocoon; pupa state, 12 — 18 days. Little can be gained
by isolated experiments, because the length of time required varies accord-
ing to the state of the atmosphere, temperature, etc.

Proper Time to commence applying the Bandage around the Tree. —
I have heretofore given the first of June as the proper time to commence
applying the bandages, but late experience would lead me to advise their
application nearly two weeks earlier. For reasons already stated it is diffi-
cult to give dates with any degree of accuracy, and the best advice that ean
be given is to have the bandages on the trees about a week after the
first Wilson's Albany strawberries are ripe. It is of no use to put them
on earlier with a view to entrap the moths, as I am convinced that these
cannot be entrapped in sufficient numbers to make it pay. The bands
should be removed and the insects destroyed at least once a fortnight from
this time till the apples are all off the tree.

It attacks Peaches. — Ijast year (3rd Eep. p. 103) I gave reasons for
believing that this insect had attacked peaches in some parts of the State,
and had, according to Mr. Huron Burt, infested three-fourths of the crop
around Williamsbui-g. I am now able to say positively that the insect men-
tioned is the genuine Codling Moth, as Mr. Burt has since furnished me
with specimens of the worms. Thus, Ave have a second example in this

Goerius olens of Europe is noted for it* rapacious character, and Philonthus may now be included ia
this category. Westvvood (Int. II, p. 164) cites Velleius dilatatus us parasitic in the nests of Vegpii
crabro, and other smaU species of the genera Dinarda and LojncchusaAs residing in the nests of ants.
Mr. Fred. Smith (ibid, p. 365, note) found a species of Megarlhrus \)M-a,sitic on the larva of Saperda
populnea while Alcochora anthomyix, Sprague (Am. p]nt. II., p. 370) is parasitic in the larva; of
Anthoinyia brassica.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

2S

same species of an insect normally confined to pip-fruit, all at once taking
to stone-fruit, and thus acquiring a new habit. Yet, so far as \ve now know,
the stone-fruit-feeding branch is yet confined to plums around London, Ont.,
and to peaches around Williamsburg, Mo.

The kind of Bandage that is best for the Purpose. — There has been
some difference of opinion as to the best form of bandage to be used. To
be thoroughly effectual and durable it should be sufficiently firm in texture
that it cannot be too easily cut through by the jaws of the worm, or drawn
in folds and wrinkles by its silken threads. A stout and narrow piece of
cloth or canvas, drawn around and fastened to the tree by a tack, is per-
haps the simplest form of bandage and the most quickly fastened. Mr. Jas.
Weed of Muscatine, Iowa, (Western Pom. Sep. 70) uses strips of cloth 1 1-2
inches wide. But every one must decide for himself what will be cheapest
and most expedient, according to the extent of his orchard and the facility
with which he can procure rags, cloth, haybands, or other substances. A
good bandage, ready made, is greatly needed in the country, and if some
enterprising firm would manufacture canvas strips about six inches wide^
lined on one side with four inches of tow, cotton wadding, or some other
loose material, and would put it upon the market at a reasonable price per
yard, there would be an unlimited demand for it. Such strips would last
for years, and could be cut of any desired length, drawn around and tacked,
with little labor, to each tree ; while, by smearing with tar or molasses, it
might also be made to do good service, after the apple worm season, in those
orchards infested with the Canker-worm. The advantage of the looser,
thicker inside lining (which should however be closely and compactly
pressed) would be that it would enable us to fill up all the inequalities of
the bark, so as to absolutely prevent the young Canker-worms, as well as
the moths, from ascending ; and at the same time it would furnish a most
enticing substance for the Apple-worm to spin up in.

New methods of trapping. Thomas Wier's Apple-worm Trap. — Mr.
Thos. Wier of Lacon, 111., has hit upon a very simple device for alluring the

worms, which is destined to
play an important role in
' counterworking their injur-
r£ ies. In conjunction with his
' cousin, Mr. D. B. Wier, he
has patented the trap, and
though I do not think that
the patenting of such simple
devices is quite in accordance-
with a progressive horticul-
tural spirit, or that the paten-
'» tees will find it a very profit-
able undertaking, they have a
[ perfect right to think other-
wise.

24 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

It was too late in the season when the trap was brought to my notice,
to give it a thorough trial, but I was at once very favorably impressed with
its usefulness, and what little I have seen of its work has not altered that
impression.

The trajD (Fig. 13, A closed, B open,) consists simply of two, three or more
thin pieces of board, 12 to 20 inches in length, and 2 to 4 inches wide,
with a screw (a) through their center. The screw must be long enough
to be firmly driven into the trunk of the tree, so as to hold the boards in po-
sition. The boards are cut out on each side of the screw, as at c, to facili-
tate their separation when fastened together by the silken threads of the
worms, and so as to better expose the latter when the trap is opened.

The advantages of this trap, to my mind, may briefly be stated as fol-
lows, and I think they so far outbalance the disadvantages that it may be
considered the best trap we yet have : It is cheap, accessible to all, easily
placed on the tree and removed again ; wood forms, perhaps, the most nat-
ural covert for the worms ; the traps may be collected with little trouble by
the barrowfull, submitted to a killing heat, in one way or another, and re-
placed again ; they may be used on the ground as well as on the tree. Its
disadvantages are few. One it has in common with all other snares or traps
for this insect, namely, that it can never exterminate the Codling moth, for
the several reasons given in previous Reports. Another is that where one
only is used it can be attached to but one side of the tree, and in this single
respect, notwithstanding all the theories of my friend Wier, it must always
be inferior to any trap that encircles the tree.

The worms will spin their cocoons between the inner shingle and the
tree as freely as between the shingles themselves, and I suspect that it will
be found less tedious and cheaper to detach the traps and kill the worms by
wholesale, than to open them on the tree. Those who prefer the latter
method, will be pleased to learn of the means described by Mr. D. B. Wier,
who says : " The quickest and best way to do this is to have a large tin pan
bent in on one side, so as to fit closely to the trunk of the tree. When you
reach the tree drop upon your knees, place the depression in the pan against
the trunk of the tree, hold it there by pressing j'our body against it, and
you have both hands free to open the trap. When opening it many of the
pup£e or chrysalids will fall into the j)an and some of the worms. Kill the
rest or scrape them into the pan. The trap must be turned clear around, as
many will be found between it and the bark of the tree. A person will
open and kill the worms in from 400 to 800 traps in a day."

The inventor informed me that he believes his trap is more apt to come
into general use by being patented, than if offered without price to the pub-
lic. If in his hope to realize a fortune from it, he sends out agents among
the fruit-growers of the country, I am not sure but he is correct ; especially
if such agents are enabled, by proper circulars giving a true and condensed
history of the Codling moth, to disseminate important information. But
the danger is, that patentees are sure to claim too much for their pet
creations. This fact is well exemplified in the present instance, for already

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 25

Mr Wier absurdly claims that all the worms descending a tree will be en-
ticed to the side where the trap happens to be fastened, and the label pasted
on such of the traps as have so far been sent out, commences as follows :

THOS. WIEE'S

APPLE WORM

AND

OXJRCXJLIO TRAP,

Which catches Apple Worms, Curculio, and every species of insect infesting

Fruit.l!!!]
The love of gain obscures the light of truth; and this wonderful power
of a pair of shingles to catch " every species of insect infestmg fruit, is alto-
gether too much like Mi-. Quackenbosh's patent universal, never-failmg
Elixir which cures all diseases that possess mankind ! It will not deceive
the well informed, but the glittering of its panaceal power may lure the un-

sophisticated. ,

Other evils will likewise result from the sale of this trap under such
spurious claims, and without some explanation of the insect's habits. One
ofthemmaybe illustrated by the following dialogue, which is not alto-
gether imaginary, but is founded on an actual occurrence: Agent bam-
greedy-his desire to sell rights being stronger than his love of accur^j—
meets farmer Glauball, and straightway expatiates upon the merits of the
patent trap. He shows how the worms gnaw their way m between the
shingles, and how easily they may be destroyed. " Ach," cries the credu-
lous German, "und is it treu das de wurm rader eat de schmdel als de ap-
fel " " Oh yes " says Gaingreedy, " screw one of the traps on to this tree,
and in a week I will come back, and you will see." At the expiration of
the week, the trap is opened, and upon viewing with wonder the worms that
have secreted in it, Glauball rapturously exclaims, "Mein Gott, das ist de
best ting I yet see," and purchases the right to use much quicker than he
would if he knew that the worms had already been in his apples.

It may be claimed that so long as men can be induced to use the trap, and
kill the worms regularly, it matters little whether or not they understand
the philosophy of its use; but, barring the principle at stake, the spread of
error can never be fraught with any continued good; and as errors on this
subject are continually creeping into our best horticultural journals, it be-
comes patent that it is not the credulous German alone who needs correct
rather than bogus information.

I have thus indicated the mischief that may be done by over-estimating
the value of this trap, in order that the patentees may strip it of all appear-
ance of sham, and present it to the fi-uit-grower for what it is— a very useful
and important device— and not extol it as a sure Codling moth exterminator.

Jarring.— It is well known to all those who have had any experience
with this insect, that the young apples infested with the early brood of
larvffi fall much more readily from the tree than the more mature apples in-
fested with the later brood. This fact has been denied by those whose

26 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

interests incline them to theorize in a different waj', but the bushels of wind-
falls that cover the ground early in the year, under trees that are badly
troubled with the worms, are sufficient attestation of the fact. Working
upon this well known fact, Mr. Oliver Chapin, of East Bloomfield, N. Y., has
been in the habit of jarring down these windfalls and then collecting them
together and destroying them. He has been able by this means to preserve
the fruit of a large orchard of a hundred acres, at the rate of about one acre
an hour, with two men and a boy. An interesting account of his method
was given in the Country Gentleman of the 25th of January last ; and as he
has also proved the insect to be double-brooded in that latitude ; and in or-
der to make a suggestion or tAvo, I copy the following passages from the
article :

Two men with poles usually knock off the wormy specimens about as
fast as one boy gathers tTiem into a basket. Where .they are very numer-
ous, more boys may be needed. As the fruit all hangs downward on the
stems, the affected points may be easily seen from the ground, by the exuda-
tions from the "blossom," and the men with poles know where to strike. The
wormy fruit may be thrown into a large stream or pond and the larvae thus
destroyed, but if the apples float ashore, they will crawl out and escape. A
kettle of hot water may therefore be better.

Mr. Chapin informs us that he has tried a series of experiments to de-
termine the season when the insects commit their depredations. The earli-
est winged moths which he has found appeared on the 4th of June. These
oame from the cocoons in various hiding places and crevices, where they
had passed the winter. About the 15th of July he first detected the presence
of the worm in the young fruit by the exudations already alluded to. They
continue appearing for some weeks. Hence the best season for the first at-
tack is about the middle of July. By caging the insects, and watching their
transformations, he finds that a second brood comes out early in August.
He consequently attaches great importance to making the first attack in
July a very thorough one. By doing so, but few insects escape for the sec-
ond attack on the fruit, and the number of late summer specimens is much
diminished, so that instead of having most of his apples spoiled by this sec-
ond brood, as would otherwise be'the case, very few are injured. He finds
that the moth will not travel far in search of a place to deposit her eggs, if
there happens to be plenty of fruit near at hand for this purpose ; but in the
absence of loaded trees, she will fly to an indefinite distance. * * *
He does not, therefore, fear the results of neglect on the jDart of his neigh-
bors, so long as they raise apples enough to keep their own moths at home^
although it would be better for all to make common cause for their destruc-
tion.

I have italicised those passages that I more particularly wish to call
attention to. The exudations from the blossom end, twice mentioned, are
not indications of the presence of the worm, but, on the contrary, are sure
indications of its absence in such apples; for they are caused by the exit of
the worm. The middle of July is, therefore, by Mr. Chapin's own showings
a little too late to commence operations most successfully, and I have no
doubt he will find it more profitable to commence a fortnight earlier, or
about the first of July.

In the latitude of St. Louis, operations should commence by the middle
or end of May ; and those who use the rubber-tipped \)o\q or mallet for the-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 27

Curculio, will find it just the thing needed; while those who have hogs to
feed will find it pay to boil the fruit and feed it.

Fires, Lights, Bottles of Liquid as Eemedies. — I have elsewhere giv-
en it as my decided opinion that neither fires, lights or bottles of sweetened
water, vinegar or of any other liquid, can be used with any degree of suc-
cess in fighting the Codling moth, and I have good reasons for so doing.
During one whole summer, three years ago, I had a patent moth catcher,
constantly in a garden surrounded by several old apple trees badly infested
with this insect, and I never caught a single specimen of Carpocapsa poino-
nella. The trap was made of bright tin, with an inverted cone so placed in
a basin that I could attach a light, and fill the basin with sweetened fluid.
Again, during the summer of 1870, I was in the habit of working till late at
night in an ofiice surrounded by apple orchards known to be badly infested.
I worked by the aid of two large kerosene lamps, each having a strong re-
flector, and the light in the room was so bright as to form a constant subject
of conversation among the neighbors. Insects of one kind and another
would fly into the room by hundreds, and on certain warm, moist eveninp;s
would beat against the windows with such rapidity as to remind one of tlio
pattering of rain. Yet during that Avhole summer I caught but one or two
Codling moths in that room, and there was more reason to believe that they
had bred in the house than that they were attracted from without. At the
same time I had hung up in an orchard close by, many wide-mouthed bottles,
half-filled with various liquids, such as diluted syrup, sugar water, and vine-
gar more or less diluted. Every two or three days these bottles would contain
great numbers of insects, which were critically examined. Many of them
would be small moths of one kind and another; some of them larger moths
known to be injurious, and many other insects — such as beetles, true bugs,
wasps and two-winged flies — that were beneficial. Indeed, there were al-
most as many beneficial as injurious species, and as I shall presently
show, the only two species yet known to prey on Carpocapsa pomojiella ,
were among the more numerous victilns of these hanging bottles. From
my notes I find that but three Codling moths were caught in these bot-
tles during the summer. Indeed, so small is the jji-oportion of Codling
moths which I have caught by the above mentioned process, that the
chances of their accidentally flying into such situations are about as great
as of their being attracted. I might add further experience on this head,
but it is unnecessary. Upon showing specimens of the Codling moth to
many dozens of eminent and intelligent fruit-groAvers, who have had to <1()
Avith apple orchards, and consequently with apple worms, most of their lives,
I have seldom found one who did not candidly confess that he had never l)c-
fore identified the insect; and under these circumstances it is not surprisini;-
that other similar moths should have been mistaken for the genuine ar-
ticle. The moth is, therefore, occasionally caught in such traps, and iii
the face of other intelligent testimony the tact cannot be denied, though
the experience on this head of non-entomologists is conflicting. But
whether we consider that the few so caught are really attracted, or are

28 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

captured accidentally, I believe that the methods indicated have no prac-
tical value. They are blind ways of shirking the more sure and efficient
remedies.

I have been thus explicit as to these would-be remedies because my
statement "that the Codling moth was not attracted (to any extent) by
light/' has been recently quoted by Mr. J. W, Eobson as an evidence "that
scientific men don't know everything." It would be strange indeed if they
did, and I have always labored under the impression, somehow or other,
that they were the last to claim any such universal knowledge, and that
it was the charlatan alone who was blessed with the knowledge of ev-
erything. In the latest work on apple culture that has been given to
the public, namely, " The Apple Culturist, with illustrations, by S. E.
Todd," we naturally look for all that is new and important about this in-
sect, which cuts such a figure in apple culture. Alas! what do we find?
The descriptive j^art is a perfect plagiarism, almost word for word, from
an article in the " American Entomologist," (Yol. I, pp. 112-114,) all
palmed off as original; while under the head of remedies, he concludes
his advice as follows: ''By keeping the bottles containing sweetened
water and the pan half filled with thin molasses, with a lighted lamp
near it in the orchard every night, in good order, almost every insect
will be trapped in a few days," and this excellent (!) advice is accompa-
nied by an illustration of a shallow pan with a kerosene lamp on one
edge of it, and " flies " as thick as a swarm of bees around it.

Natural Enemies. — The natural enemies of the Codling moth among
birds are principally the Creepers (Cer^Ai'a^og), especially the Black-capped
Tit-mouse. The Downy woodpecker guts great numbers of the cocoons,
while the Blue bird and Crow Black-bird also feed upon it, according to Mr.
Eobson. Among insects two Ichneumons — PJiygadeuon brevis and Pachy-
merus vulnerator — have been bred from it in Europe, * but no enemies have
hei'etofore been kno wn to attack it in this country. I have, however, dis-
covered two which destroy the woums while they are leaving the fruit, and
which in all pi'obability seek them out Avhile in the fruit. The first of these
is the larva of the

[Fig. u.] ^ Pennsylvania Soldier Beetle (CAaM-

, Uognathus Pennsylv aniens, DeGeer) and

ffP/ ^ '^M VwV "^^^Z ^ reproduce its likeness (Fig.l4, a, larva ;

'^^ f *« I 7. 1 HSP i^^ ^^ d^ g^ y^ g^ ji^ head parts; i, beetle)

P^ from my first Report, where it was shown
^ I to prey on the larva of the common Plum
*• ^ Curculio. This larva passes the win-
ter in a nearly full grown state, feeds ravenously during the spring and early
summer months; goes into the ground to transform and makes its appear-
ance as a beetle during August, September and October, when it is met quite
abundantly on the flowers of such rich pollen-bearing plants as the Golden-
rod. While the larva is such a voracious cannibal, the beetle feeds solely on
the honey and pollen of these flowers, and it is eminently fitted for this pur-

* Taschenbere's ' 'Eiitomoloj'ie fur Gartner and Gartenfreunde . ' '

Vt'

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 29

pose by the lower ja\V8 {maxillce) being prolonged into slender extensile
pilose set®, which form a sort of tongue analogous to the tongue of moths
and butterflies.

The second of these enemies of the Codling moth is

The Two-lined Soldier Beetle, {Telephorus bilineatus, Say). — This is a
soft-winged beetle of the same general form of, and closely allied to, the
[Fig. 15.] preceding — both species belongingto the Family

^ /^ ^^ &. Telephoridce. The Two-lined Soldier Beetle (Fig'
S^C' I^P mi ^^ ^'^ ^'^^ brown-black wing-covers, and a reddish-
l^^v 1^ yellow head and thorax, the latter having two
^'^^ m short black longitudinal marks, from which the
'^'*^^ ^ ® insect takes its name. The underside is a pale
reddish-yellow, with a dusky band on the metathorax ; the antennae, feet,
shanks, tips of thighs and a band on the head, between the eyes, being
also dusky. This beetle makes its appearance much earlier in the season
than the other, being found as early as April. It, also, seems to be princi-
pally a vegetable feeder, and is quite common with us crawling over the
leaves of a variety of trees, I have repeatedly jarred it down with the Cur-
eulio catcher from Plum, Peach and Apricot, and Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr.,
says that it feeds, in the East, on the newly expanded leaves of the Birch.
Mr. C. E. Dodge, of Washington, D. C, informs me that he has found it
eating into a Lepidopterous chrysalis, a trait which must be considered ex-
ceptional.

The larva was unknown till last year, when Dr. Packard gave a figure
and description of it, * without, however, giving any specific account of its
habits. I have bred the beetle from larvse found feeding on Apple worms
and afterwards nourished upon them; and as the larva is quite frequently
met with under apple trees, among early wind-falls, we may conclude that
it has a partiality for the in-dwellers of this fruit; though it doubtless feeds
also upon other soft-bodied animals. It is more usually found on the surface
of the ground under the fallen fruit, stones, boards or other substances ; but
I have found it, as well as the larva of the Pennsylvania species, up in the
branches, and on the hanging fruit of apple trees.

Both these larvae are of a rich velvety-brown color, and that of the
Two-lined (Fig. 15, a natural size; b head and first two joints magnified)
differs from the Pennsylvania species in having more conspicuous black
spots along the body, and an interrupted white line along the middle of the
back. For the scientific reader I give below a technical description of it :
The most important fiict for the practical man, in connection with what
has been said, is, that both these soft-winged beetles — among Nature's
appointed checks to the increase of the Apple worm — were quite frequent-
ly found by me among the insects in the bottles suspended among apple
trees ; thus showing that we may do more harm than good with such bottles.

* First Ann. Rep. on the luj. and Beneficial Insects of Mass. , pp. 26-2S.

30 FOURTH ANNUAL RFPORT OF

SUMMARY,

The Apple worm or Codling moth is an imported insect. There are
two broods each year, and the second passes the winter within the cocoon in
the larva state. Use hogs and sheep in the orchard wherever it is feasible
to do so. Place no confidence in lights and bottles, but rely on the bandage
system. Have the bandages in place a week after the first Wilson's Albany
strawberries ripen, and destroy all the cocoons underneath them every two
weeks till the apples are harvested. Be sure and destroy, as soon as the
ground thaws out in the spring, all the cocoons found around storehouses.
Urge your neighbors to combine with you in this work.

Telepuokus bilixeatus, Say. — Larva (Fig. 15, a) — Body, 12-joiiited, joint 1 longest, 4 shoi'test,
the rest of about equal length; flattened; tapering slightly at each end; velvety; of a rich deep
brown above, pale below ; intersections deep and broadening from sides to middle of dorsum ; two deep
longitudinal lateral furrows, and two, les.s deep, ventral ones; a medio-dorsal pale line continuous
on the thoracic joints but showing only on the .sutures of the rest; joints 2 and 3 each with a large
sunken, suboval brown spot, each side of dorsum, these spots with a pale centre; in a line with these
on all the abdominal joints but last is a more or less distinct, slightly sunken, pale line, and still
another parallel with it further out on the side. Between these pale lines, on every joint but the
last, is a slightly elevated, dark, bead-like tubercle which might readily be mistaken for spiracles;
but these last which are dark and quite small are placed on the anterior edge of the first eight
abdominal joints, in the upper lateral furrow, and between the first two thoracic joints — there being
nine pair in all; anal joint with a moderate pooleg. Legs rather short, pilose, the tarsus terminating
in a prominent Jaud sharp claw. Head flattened, divided superiorly a little beyond the middle by a
transverse suture, the basal portion of an opaque, velvety, sooty-black; the anterior portion polished,
forming three well defined lobes, with the anterior edge irregularly broken; eyes prominent, placed
laterally immediately before the occipital suture: antenuie inserted in a deep socket, 2-jointed, the 2nd
four times as long as first and bearing a small sub-joint at tip : labrum not visible [Packard describes
it as ' ' broad and perfectly square in front, with a medium notch dividing the edge into two slight
lobes." As Walsh describes that of ChauHognalhus iis being retractile, it is probably retracted in
my specimens which are alcoholic] : mandibles falcate, with a strong tooth a little beyond the
middle of the inner edge: beneath, the anterior edge is deeply and semi-circularly cut out: mentum
extending between maxillie for two-thirds their length: maxillffi large, projecting beyond labium,
especially on the inside where they seem to be produced into a slight point; maxillai-y palpi 3-jtd. ,
the second twice as long as the first, the third rudimentary: labium small, formed Of a basal quad-
r.>lte piece and two palpigerous pieces that are soldered together; labial palpi 2-jtd. , the second rudi-
mental.

Described from two alcoholic specimens.

Dr. Packard describes the labial palpi as 3-jointed, doubtless considering the palpigerous piece
as a basal joint. He makes no mention of the stigmata, and as Wnlsh describes the closely allied
larva of Ckauliognaihus with 11 pair, which is certainly anomalous; and as Chapuis and Candeze give
to Telephorid larvae but 9 pair, I have very critically examined my specimens, and find the stigmata
as described above.

THE PEEIODICAL CICADA.

It will be well from time to time to note the appearance of this inter-
esting insect, in ditferent parts of the country, so as to see how far its chron-
ological history, as given in my first Eeport, is correct. The time for the
appearance of six of the broods has passed away, and I will reproduce
what was said of them in 1868, and append such facts, confirmatory or oth-
orwise, as have come to my knowledge since.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 31

BUOOl) I.— S«^/cmdedm— 185-2, 1869.

In the your 18()i>, aivl at iuterviils of seventeen years thereafter, they will, in all probability,
a)i))enr in the valley of the Connecticut river. According: to Dr. .V.sa Fitch (X. Y. Kep. 1, p. 40),
they appeared there in 18liS and 18:5.'>, and accordinj;- to Dr. Smith they occurred in F'rankliu, Bristol,
and Hampshire C(nintie.s, ^Massachusetts, in 1707, '81, 1801, '18, ':!.'• and '.Vi.

The genuineness of this Brood was fully established, as its appearance
in Connecticut in 1869 was recorded b}^ several diiferent journals.

BROOD 11. — Tr^dccim— 185(), 18G9.

In the year 1860, being the same as the preceding, they will, in all probability, ajipear in Georgia,
in Habersham, Kabun? Muscogee, Jasper, Greene, Washington and adjacent counties, having
appeared there in 18-t;5 and IS.^iG, according to Dr. Smith.

True to time, this Brood appeared in great numbers in the northv est-
ern part of Georgia, as I am informed by Mr. A. E. McCutchen, of Lafay-
ette, Walker county, in that State. There is a great deal of evidence,
however, which goes to show that it is the 17-year Brood XXII which
occurs in the northeastern counties, and Mr. Geo. P. KoUock, of Clarks]
Habersham county, writes that the " locusts " were not there in 1869, bi
they swarmed in 1868 and 1851. Habersham county must therefoi
stricken from the above Brood II, and perhaps Eabun also ; while Wi
and adjacent northwest counties should be added.

BROOD \U..—Septemdecim^\m%, 1870.

In the year 1870, and at intervals of seventeen years thereafter, they will, in all probi
appear in what is known as the " Kreutz Creek Valley," in York county. Pa., and possibly
ton county, Ohio, and Jo. Daviess county, 111. Mr. S. S. Rathvon, of Lancaster, Pa., speal
this Brood says; ' ' Lancaster county is bounded on the southwest by the Susquehanna river, t
it from the county of Y'ork, along the northeastern margin of which there is a mountain ran
iiig down to the river. Along that slope Cicadas were abundant the present season (1&
XXII) . But on the southwest side of the range, in what is known as the Kreutz Creek Valle;
were none. They appeared last in this Valley in 1853, and previous to that year at intervals o
teen years from time Lmmemorial." Dr. Smith records their appearance in 1853, both iu
county, Ohio, and Jo. Daviess county, Illinois.

From all that I can learn, this Brood is invalid and has no existence.
Mr. Eathvon foiled to record its appearance in 1870 in the Kreutz Creek Yal-
ley. and the Eev. Dr. J. G. Morris of Baltimore, Md., writes positively that
it did not apjjear. He says: "Our Lancaster friend, Eathvon, was a little
mistaken in presuming that this would be the year of the appearance of the
Cicada in Kreutz Creek Yallej-, York county. Pa. I have made diligent
inquiry of persons familiar with that district, and they report no locusts.
Now, it may be that he gives that title to a district different from that which
I know by that name (for I was born in that vicinity), but the Kreutz Creek
Yalley, 7 or 8 miles east of York, and bordering on the Susquehanna, was
iiot visited this year by this singular Cicada."

I likewise failed to hear of the " locusts," either in Yinton county, Ohio,
or in Jo. Daviess county, Ill>, and as all three of the localities are restricted
and widely sejjarated, and as those in Illinois and Pennsylvania are within
the range of Brood Y, which occurs one year later, the insects recorded to
have appeared in the localities named in 1853, were most likely precursors
onlv of the more extensive Brood Y.

32 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

BROOD IV .—Tredecim—18o~ , 1870.
In the year 1870, being the same as the preceding, they will, in all probability, appear^in Jack-
son, Gadsden and Washington counties, Florida, having appeared there, according to Dr. Smitli, in
1844 and '57.

The appearance has been fully confirmed, and as the following commu-
nication will show, the Brood extends even into Alabama, Mississippi and
Tennessee.

Dear Sir — The 13-yoar Brood of the Periodical Cicada mentioned in
your first Missouri Eeport (your Brood IV) appeared, according to predic-
tion, in northwestern Florida this year, extending northward over Alabama
and a good portion of eastern Mississippi, and into Tennessee as high as
this i^oint. I think I wrote you when they were here. They wei-e not in
great numbers at any point. I was at Mobile at the time of their appear-
ranc^ there, and found them singing quite merrily in the woods below the
city. I J' Parish Stelle.

Savannah, Tenn., Sept. 2, 1870.

BROOD v.— Sep^ewdecnn— 1854, 1871.

ear 1871, and at intervals of seventeen years thereafter, they will, in all probability,

ound the head of Lake Michigan, extending as far east as the middle of the State of Mich-

d west an unknown distance into Iowa. Also in Walworth county and other portions of

h^rn Wisconsin, and southward into Illinois. This brood is equal to Dr. Fitch's Sixth. It

icls all over Northern Illinois, and as far south as Edgar county, and its appearance in 1837 and

swell and thoroughly recorded. In Champaign county. 111., it overlaps Brood XVIII, or the

icrn Illinois tredecim brood, while it also interlocks with Brood Xll^ {septcmdecim) in the same

hey will also appear in the same years in the southeast by eastern part of Lancaster county, Pa. .
lat i^ called the " Pequea Valle\-," having appeared there in vast munbers in 1854.
he ' arliest known record we have of the appearance of periodical Cicadas, is in Morton's-
iiiul, ' ' in which it is stated that they appeared at Plymouth, Plymouth county, Mass. , in the
Now, according to that date, one might be led to suppose that this recorded brood of Mor-
longed to this Brood V, as exactly fourteen; periods of seventeen j^ears will have elapsed
on 1633 and 1871; but, strange to say, we have no other records of this brood than that in the
i-uii^rial," whereas there are abundant records of their appearing one year later in the same
ly^^ffliralttyt ever since 1787. There is, therefore, good reason to Vjelieve that the visit recorded by Mor-
ton was a premature one, and that it was properly due in 1(134. I have therefore placed it in Brood
Vm, and have little doubt but that if records could be found, these would prove the Cicadas to have
appeared in 1651, 1668, 1685, 170-i, 1719, 1736, 1753, and 1770, as they did in 1787, 1804, 1821, 18.38, and
1855.

Throughout the country mentioned in the first paragraph, the woods,,
orchards, cornfields and even meadows were vocal with the shrill song of
these seventeen-year visitors. I was absent during the time of their appear-
ance, but through the kindness of Dr. LeBaron, Mr. Suel Foster, of Mus-
. catine, Iowa, Mr. H. H. McAfee of the Wisconsin Universit}^, and several
other correspondents, I am enabled to fix more precisely the northern,,
southern and western boundaries of this Brood. Thus, in Wisconsin we
may draw a line from Milwaukee on the east, gradually southward to the
middle of the southern line of AVaukesha county, then making a sudden dip
to the centre of Walworth county, and rising again a little above the south-
ern line of Jeff'erson county; then falling a little below Dane; then rising
from the S. W. corner of Dane to the X. W. corner of Iowa count}-, and
from thence along the Wisconsin river to its mouth. There seems also to
be a detached branch commencing about the middle of the northern part of
Iowa county and running across the Wisconsin river into Sauk county. In
Iowa the boundary line extends from the mouth of the Wisconsin river,.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 33

S. W. to Vinton, in Benton county ; thenco S. E., skirting the Iowa river, to
the Mississippi at a point in the northern part of Louisa county — thus em-
bracing about a dozen counties, or l-12th part of the State. In Illinois the
boundary line, in a general way, may be drawn from the N. W. portion of
Mercer county, S. E. to the Illinois river at Peoria, W. along the Toledo,
Wabash and Western railroad. There seem to be detachments extending
further south, especially in the eastern portion of the State, and they oc-
em*red as far south as Shelby county. In Indiana the line is not well de-
fined, but includes the extreme N. W. counties, extending as far south as
the Kankakee river. In Michigan it does not extend north as far as St.
Joseph on the Lake.

As this insect can only appear in districts which were timbered or
planted to orchard 17 years ago, it follows that in such an extensive prai-
rie country as that within the limits indicated, the Brood must be very
much detached and scattered.

They did not appear in the Pequea Valley in Lancaster county. Pa. :
at least I have been unable to get any authentic record of the fact.

From all I can learn no Cicadas apj)eared at Plymouth, Mass., a fact
which corroborates my view expressed in 1868, that the visit recorded by
Morton in 1633 was a premature one and that it was due in 1634 :

BROOD VI.— Tredecini— 1858, 1871.
In the year 1871, being the same year as the preceding, and at intervals of thirteen years thereaf-
ter, they will, in all probability, appear in the extreme southwestern corner of Mississippi and in the
adjoining part of Louisiana. Dr. D. L. Phares, ofNewtonia (near Woodville,) Miss., says that in 1S53,
they extended over most of Wilkinson and part of Amite coimties, Mississippi, and East and West
Feliciana, La. He has himself witnessed the appearance of this Brood during the years 1832, 1845 and
1858, while it is distinctly remembered by aged people in his neighborhood as having also appeared
there in the years 1806 and 1819. Dr. Smith gives their range from the Mississippi river, east to a
ridge forty-five miles from the river that divides the State north and south, and north and soutli to
the bo'indaries of the State; recording tliem as occurring in 1806, '19, '32, '45 and '58.

This Brood also appeared last summer, and a few precursors were noticed
in 1869, but none in 1870. I quote the following account of it from a
letter from Dr. Phares : " A few males began to appear about the 20th
of April. Not many of any kind came out till the 7th and 8th of May.
On those two days from 5 1-2 till 8 p. m., or about dark, they came forth
fi'om the earth in vast numbers ; and in large numbers from that time for
ten days more — the last I noticed, issuing on the 18th of May and being
mostly of the smaller and sometimes darker colored individuals. Perhaps
three-fourths of those coming up on the 7th and 8th of May were females.
They are now (May 22nd) in full song, and I notice, with others, that when
my large bell (412 pounds) is rung, they sing with redoubled fury."

Dr. Phares also sent me a large number of specimens, and measure-
ments to show that there is a variation of at least half an inch in the expanse
of the wings, and that the small dark form which has been named Gassinii is
connected with the larger normal form by infinite grades. He is more con-
vinced than ever that the small form cannot be a distinct species, and that
there should be no C. Gassinii recognized ; in which opinion I fully concur.

The exj)erience of the past year furnishes nothing new beyond what I
3

34 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

gave in 1868. As usual, a number of cases of stinging were reported, and
my conclusion that such stinging is caused by the beak, is strengthened by
the experience of Dr. LeBaron. It was quite apparent that the eggs sel-
dom, if ever, hatched from twigs which fell oif the tree and became dried.
The foregoing record clearl}^ proves the genuineness of five out of my
first six Broods, the third being the only one, so far, which must be re-
jected.

THE GRAPE-YINE COLASPIS, AGAIN— Colaspis flavida, S&j.

I have had an opportunity of ex-
amining a number of additional speci-
mens of the larva of this insect, which
has continued its injuries to strawberry
roots in some parts of St. Louis county
and of South Illinois ; and though I have nothing to add to its economy as set
forth in my last Eeport, I find it necessary to revise the description of the
larva for the benefit of the entomological student. As stated at the time, my
former description was drawn up from two rather poor alcoholic specimens,
and after more carefully examining a great number of good, living larva, I find
that description not sufficiently accurate. Upon more careful study, this larva
plainly shows its Family characteristics, and the ventral appendages are rarely
as prominent as previously indicated (Eep. 3, Fig. 38), being in reality
but largely developed tubercles w^hich the larva has the power of extending
or retracting. The following description should therefore replace the
other :

CoLASPis FLAviDA, Say— Larua— Color yellowish. Body slightly arched. Anal joints smaUer
than the others. First joint horny above and of the same color as head. Dorsum with about tliree
wrinkles to each joint and sparsely clothed with yellowish hairs, each springing from a minute
rufous polished point. Stigmata, 9 on each side, rufous, the first between joints 1 and 2, the others
placed on a lateral series of swellings, commencing with joint 4. Joints 4—11 inclusive, each with 8
substigmatal concolorous shiny plates (Fig. 16, a), the upper row lateral and divided from the
second by a longitudinal depression : the second row forming tubercles which are reti-acted or pro-
jected at will. Head (Fig. 16, 6, under side; c, upper side), honey-yellow, rounded, slightly flat-
tened in front; epistoma and labrum of same color: mandibles darker, triangular, with the inner
edge slightly excavated near the tip; antenna3 apparently two-jointed, short and with the terminal
joint often bifid; maxillas well developed, the inner lobe furnished with strong hairs; maxillary
palpi prominent, 4-jointed; labium sub-obsolete; labial palpi forming simply two smaU piliferous
tubercles. Legs scaly, pale, setous, and terminating in a brown claw. Anal joint not horny below.
Length, 0.25—0.30 inch.

Described from numerous specimens .

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

35

THE HAELEQUIN CABBAGE-BVG.—Strachia [Murgantia'] histrionica,

Hahn.

(HetcroiJtera, Scutelleridaj .)

Prior to the year 1870 the insect
■which forms the subject of this sketch
was not known to occur in Missouri. It
has of kite years been gradual!}^ travel-
ing towards us from the more southern
States, and has already made its presence
a little too manifest in some of our south-
ern counties, and in Kansas I have met
with it at a latitude higher than St. Louis.
It extends to Guatemala, and is found in
Mexico ; and it varies very much, as most
species are found to do when their geographical distribution is studied. As
it extends southward we find the dark colors predominating, and becoming
more intensified and brilliant, and Stal has described a species {Murgantia
mnnda) from Mexico, which is doubtless but a geographical race, since all the
intermediate grades occur between it and the more northern form of histri-
onica. My friend, Mr. P. E. Uhler, has made some interesting experiments
on the species, which have clearly proven that when reared in the dark the
pale red parts predominate ; while if reared in the bright daj'-light, the dark
blue colors predominate. I gave a short account of it in the American Ento-
mologist (Vol. II., pp. 79, 80), and cannot do better than repeat that account
here with such modifications and additions as are necessary to render it
more complete.

Cabbage-growers in the North are apt to think that the plant which
they cultivate is about as badly infested by insects as it is possible for any
crop to be, without being utterly exterminated. No sooner are the young
cabbages above ground in the seed-bed, than they are often attacked by sev-
eral species of Flea-beetles. By these jumping little pests the seed-leaves
are frequently riddled so full of holes that the life of the plant is destroyed ;
and they do not confine themselves to the seed-leaves, but prey to a consid-
erable extent also upon the young rough leaves. After the plants are set
out, the larvas of these insects are found upon the roots, in the form of tiny
elongate six-legged worms. Through the operations of these subterranean
foes, the young cabbages, especially in hot dry weather, often wither away
and die; and even if they escape this infliction, there is a whole host of cut-
worms ready to destroy them with a few snaps of their powerful jaws; and
the common White Grub, as we know by experience, will often do the very
same thing. Suppose the unfortunate vegetable escapes all these dangers of
the earlier period of its existence. At a more advanced stage in its life, the
stem is burrowed into by the maggot of the Cabbage-fly {Anthomyia bras-
sicce) — the sap is pumjDcd out of the leaves in streams by mjTiads of minute

36 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OP

. Plant-lice covered with a whitish dust (Aphis brassicce) — and the leaves them-
selves are riddled full of holes by the tiny larva of the Cabbage Tinea
(Plutella cruciferarurn), or devoured bodily by large fleshy larvae of the differ-
ent owlet moths or of the white butterflies that were treated of in my second
Eeport.

Severe as are these inflictions upon the northern^* cabbage-grower,
there is an insect found in the Southern States that appears to be, if possi-
ble, still worse. This is the Harlequin Cabbage-bug, so called from the gay
theatrical harlequin-like manner in which the black and orange-yellow colors
are arranged upon its body. The first account of the operations of this
very pretty but unfortunately very mischievous bug appeared in the year
1866, fi'om the able pen of Dr. Gideon Lincecum, of Washington county,
Texas, and was printed in the Practical Entomologist (Vol. I. p. 110). His
remarks are to the following effect :

The year before last they got into my garden, and utterly destroyed
my cabbage, radishes, mustard, seed turnips, and every other cruciform
plant. Last year I did not set any of that Order of plants in my garden. But
the present year, thinking the bugs had probably left the premises, I planted
my garden with radishes, mustaitl, and a variety of cabbages. By the first
of April the mustard and radishes were large enough for use, and I discov-
ered that the insect had commenced on them. I began picking them off by
hand and tramj)ing them under foot. By that means I have preserved my
434 cabbages, but I have visited every one of them daily now for four
months, finding on them from thirty-five to sixty full-grown insects every
day, some coujDled and some in the act of depositing their eggs. Although
many have been hatched in my garden the present season, I have suffered
none to come to maturity ; and the daily supplies of grown insects that I
have been blessed with, are immigrants from some other garden.

The perfect insect lives through the winter, and is ready to deposit its
eggs as early as the 15th of March, or sooner, if it finds any cruciform plant
large enough. They set their eggs on end in two rows, cemented together,
mostly on the underside of the leaf, and generally from eleven to twelve in
number. In about six days in April — four days in July — there hatches out
fi'om these eggs a brood of larvae resembling the perfect insect, except in
having no wings. This brood immediately begins the work of destruction
by piercing and sucking the life-sap from the leaves; and in twelve days
they have matured. They are timid, and will run off and hide behind the
first leaf-stem,. or any part of the plant that will answer the purpose. The
leaf that they puncture immediately wilts, like the effects of poison, and
soon withers. Half a dozen grown insects will kill a cabbage in a day.
They continue through the summer, and sulficient perfect insects survive
the winter to insure a full crop of them for the coming season.

This tribe of insects do not seem liable to the attacks of any of the can-
nibal races, either in the egg state or at any other stage. Our birds pay no
attention to them, neither will the domestic fowls touch them. I have, as
yet, found nO way to get clear of them, but to pick them off by hand.

To give some idea of their numbers in Texas, Mr. Benj. E. Townsend,
of Austin, in that State, wrote me, under date of February 28, 1870, that he
had, within a few days, gathered 47,000 of the bugs.

In September, 1870, I received from William E. Howard a single speci-
men of this bug, which was found depositing her eggs near Forsyth, in

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 37

Taney county, and this was the first announcement of its appearance in
Missouri. From the same source I learn that last July myriads of the
insects appeared on the cabbages of the Hon. Jesse Jennings in that county,
and that the plants were finally ruined. They have likewise been found on
the grounds of Mr. B. F. Lee, in Marshfield, Webster county. Through the
kindness of Mr. Howard and of Mr. Townsend I have received a number of
specimens and have been enabled to present the following facts in its
economy :

The eggs (Fig. 17, c), are 0.05 inch long and 0.03 inch wide, and, as
stated by Dr. Lincecum, are usually deposited in two rows of about half a
dozen each, and they are beautiful objects. When first deposited they are
of a light green color, but they soon become white, with black bands. They
may be likened to little barrels, for though the sides are straight, the edges
are rounded off and the black bands, recalling the hoops, and a black spot
near the middle, recalling the bung-hole, add to the resemblance. There
are two black bands, the upper thicker than the lower, and the black sj^ot is
just above the lower band (Fig. 17, d). The upper edge is slightly crenated
and drawn a little over a convex lid which is marked with a crescent-shaped
black spot on the outside (Fig. 17, e). . The inner sides by which the eggs
are fastened to each other are almost entirely black. In depositing, the
ovipositor is moved from row to row in a zig-zag line. To afford a passage
to the young larva, one of the heads of the barrel — the one, of course, that
is not glued to the surface of the leaf — is detached by the beak of the little
embryo as neatly and as smoothl}' as if a skillful cooper had been at work
on it with his hammer and driver. And yet, instead of emploj'ing years in
acquiring the necessary skill, the mechanic that performs this delicate opera-
tion with unerring precision, is actually not as yet born into this sublunary
world !

The larva (Fig. 17, a) is of a uniform pale greenish color, marked with
polished black as in the figure. The pupa (Fig. 17, h) differs from it only
in some of the pale marks inclining to orange, and in the possession of con-
spicuous wing-pads ; and they both differ from the mature bug, not only in
the non-possession of wings, but in their antennae being but 4 instead of 5-
jointed, as they afterwards become.

There are several broods of this bug during the course of the year, and
the eggs will sometimes hatch the third or fourth day after deposition ;
while Mr. Howard informs me that the bugs will go through all their moult-
ings and be ready for reproduction within a fortnight.

The mature bug (Fig. 17, g &h)iH prettily marked with polished orange
and blue-black, the relative proportion of the two colors being very varia-
ble and the orange inclining either to yellow or red. Besides cruciferous
plants, Mr. Howard has found it feeding on a variety of the Pea.

It is said that no criminal among the human race is so vile and de-
praved, that not one single redeeming featui-e can be discovered in his
character. It is just so with this insect. Unlike the great majority of the
extensive group to which It belongs, it has no unsavory bedbuggy smell,

38

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

but on the contrary exhales a faint odor which is rather pleasant than oth-
erwise, I have already referred to the beauty of its coloring. As offsets^
therefore, to its greediness and its thievery, we have, first the fact of its be-
ing agreeable to the nose, and secondly the fact of its being agreeable to the
eye. Are there not certain demons in the garb of angels, occasionally to
be met with among the human 8j)ecies, in favor of whom no stronger argu-
ments than the above can j^ossibly be urged?

iSTo remed}^ other than hand picking, is yet known ; and I have had no
opportunity of trying the effects of the various applications such as salt^
ashes, soot, etc.

It is an interesting fact that in Europe, the cabbage grower is pestered
with a bug {Strachia ornata, Linn) Avhich bears a striking general resem-
blance to our insect in color and ornamentation, and which, as I was assured
by M. E. Mulsant, of Lyons, France, has the light parts red in spring and
3^ellow in autumn.

THE ExiSCAL LEAF-CRUMPLER— P%ciYa * lAcrohasis] nebulo, Walsh.

(Lepidoptera, Phycida?.)

[Fig. IS.]

Such is the name given to an insect
which is quite common in the Western
Jj States, and which also occurs in Ontario,
5^ but does not seem to be known in the
Eastern or extreme Southern States. It
was first described by Mr. Walsh, in the
Prairie Farmer for May, 1860, p. 308.

It is one of those insects Avhich is
hardly noticed while carrying on its most
destructive work; for it is most vora-
cious during the leafy months of May and
June, and is then more or less hidden by
the foliage of the tree which it so effect-
ually helps to denude. But the naked-
ness of winter, though it does not reveal
the surreptitious worm, laj^s bare and ren-
ders conspicuous its little house, and

<Y reasons repeatedly given, I retain tlie technical name first given to this moth by Mr. Walsh.
;ertainly properly referred to that genus as characterized by Westwood (Synopsis, p. 113).
lera have become so multiplied of late rears, that many of the older and earlier erected are fast

*For
It was cert

But genera have become' so multiplied of late rears, that many •

vanishing from our classification. None but the specialist can undertake to keep up with the endless
new generic characters that are being made, too otten, to my mind, on the most trivial ground*; and
none but the specialists are particularly interested in these changes. For practical purposes, there-
fore, unless there are good and sufficient reasons for making a change, it is best to adhere as much as
possible to those names by which notorious insects have Ijecome generally known. This course is al-
ways safe, if the more modern genus to which the insect should be referred is in some way hinted at,
for the entomological student. Phycita nebulo, Walsh is Myelois indiijinella, Zeller, as I am informed
by the latter author who has had occasion to examim' specimens which I forwarded to him. In real-
ity it belongs to the genus Acrobasis as characterized by the same author in the his of 184S, p. 60(3.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 39

these houses — these larval eases — whether closely attached in clusters to the
twigs as at Figure 18, b, or hidden in a few seared and silk-sewed leaves a&
at Figure 19, are unerring tokens of past injury to the tree, and symbols of
increased injury in the future, unless removed. The bunches of leaves an-
[Fig. 19.] chored to the tree by strong silken ca-

bles and breasting defiantly every win-
ter's wind, are, indeed, significant
insignia upon w^hich is written in char-
acters, if not in words — " result of care-
less culture and unpardonable neglect."
This insect sometimes becomes so
prodigiously multij)lied in young or-
chards or in the nurser}'-, as to seriously
affect the health of the trees ; for it does
not confine itself to the leaves, but often
in early spring commences on the swelling buds, attacks the young fruit, or
gnaws the tender bark. Though I have not met with this Leaf-crumpler
in Southern Illinois, it nevertheless occurs throughout our own State, and
is quite injurious in the southwestern counties. There is but one brood a
year, and the larva, about one-third grown, invariably passes the winter
protected in its case. At this season of the year it is always of a deep red-
dish-brown color. As the leaves expand in spring it rouses from its winter
lethargy, and after "heaving anchor"— to use a nautical expression— by
severing the silken connections of its case, travels in search of food, and,
having found it, secures its case again and breaks its long fast. Toward the
end of May it acquires its growth, when the earlier brown color frequently
takes on a more or less decided deep green hue. It is a smooth worm with
the head and thoracic joints as represented at c. The case at this time usu-
ally presents the appearance of Figure 18, a, being crooked and twisted
like a little horn, gradually enlarging, cornucopia-fashion, from tip to
mouth, and reminding one strongly of a piece of bird dung. It is formed of
the worm's excrement and other debris, interwoven with silk, and is com-
pletely lined on the inside with a carpet of the last named material. The
worm leaves it for feeding purposes mostly during the night. The chrysa-
lis is formed inside this case, and the moths commence to make their appear-
ance during the forepart of June, and later as we go further north.

The moth (Fig. 18, d and Fig. 20, c) has the fi-ont wings of a pale ash-gray
color, variegated with cinnamon-brown and dark brown ; while the hind
wings are of a uniform dusky-gray. The male is distinguished from the
female by a little horn-like tuft on the basal joint of the antennse, which is a
characteristic of the genus. The worms hatching from the eggs deposited
by these moths are about one-third grown when winter sets in, and they
pass this season as already described, and thus the insect continues from
year to year the cycle of its life.

I have bred this insect from Apple, Cheriy, wild and cultivated ; Plum,
wild and cultivated j Quince, and Crab-apple, and have noticed. the cases on

40 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

Peach. Near St. Louis it has been, if anything, more injurious to quince
than to apple trees. Yet it does not seem to be able to live on the Pear.

Remedies. — The Pascal Leaf-crumpler is one of those insects which,
from their peculiar habits, are easily subdued. The orchardist has but to
bear in mind that it is single-brooded, and that it passes the winter in its
case, and he will understand that by collecting and destroying these cases
in the dead of the year when the tree is bare, he effectually puts a stop to
its increase. If this fact were more generally recognized, .we should see
fewer of these insects in our orchards and nurseries. Whether collected in
the winter or pulled off the trees during the sj)ring and summer, these cases
should always be thrown into some small vessel, and deposited in the centre
of a meadow, or field, away from any fruit trees. Here the worms will
wander about a few yards and soon die from exhaustion and want of food;
while such parasites, hereafter mentioned, as are well developed or in the
pupa state, will mature and eventually fly off. In this manner, as did Spar-
tacus of old, we swell the ranks of our friends while defeating our foes.

When so simple a remedy is at hand it is hardly necessary to seek for
others. Applications of air-slacked lime to the tree when the foliage is
moist, have been urged as a remedy j but it would seem that the worm is
too snug in its retreat to be much affected by any such dustings, and there
is scarcely any occasion to resort to any other than the simple and effectual
remedy suggested. Because empty cases are found after such applications,
men must not run away with the idea that the inmate has been scared away ;
for there is always a certain proportion of old cases which are emi)ty.
These stick to the tree long after the moths have escaped from them, and
furnish a snug retreat for some other insects. The female Canker-worm
particularly is fond of depositing her eggs within such old cases, as I have
frequently found them crowded with such eggs.

Natural Enemies. — In Mr. Walsh's time but one real parasite was
known to infest the Leaf-crumpler, and that was a little two-winged fl}',
which might easily be confounded with the common House-fly. It has not
yet been described, and as my friend Dr. LeBaron bred it on seyeral occasions
the past year and has undertaken to describe it, I present below his descrip-
tion, as kindly furnished me for use. This Tachina larva becomes a pupa
within the case of its victim, and Mr. D. B. Wier tells me that it was so
abundant at Lacon, that the Leaf-crumpler was not one-tenth as numerous
in 1871 as it had been in 1870.

Tachina [ExoeIsta] phycit^e, LeBaron— Zmago.— Length, 0.20 inch. Antennas black, third
joint twice as long as the second; face silvery, without bristles at the sides; sides of the front silvery
at the lower part, pale golden above; the middle black vitta occupying a little more than half of the
width of the inter-occular space ; frontal bristles continued down the face to opposite the end of the
second joint of antennas; palpi blackish-brown; eyes hairy. Thorax black, with the ordinary ciner-
eous stripes scarcely perceptible. Abdomen black, varied with cinereous at the base of the segments;
a large fulvous spot on the side of the abdomen occupying nearly the whole of the side of the sec-
ond segment, half or more of the third, and sometimes ft sraaU spot on the lirst; bristles on the mid-
dle as well as at the hind-margin of the second and third segments . Venation of the wings of the
usual type; first posterior cell almost closed, before the end of wing; fourth long vein slightly curved
after the angle; fifth long vein prolonged to the margin; hind cross vein moderately sinuous. Tarsal
claws and pulvilli unusually long.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 41

Female ? A single specimen, a very little larger than the others, was obtained from the same lot
of leaf-crumplers, which possibly may be the Q of the same species. It diflers as follows: Front
broader; antennaj dark brown; the cinereous markings of the body more distinct; the tip of abdomen
fulvous, but without the fulvous spot at the sides; and with the tarsal claws of ordinary length.

This species appears to belong to the subgenus Exorista of Meigen, closely allied to Tachina
proper, and difl'ering from it chiefly in having the eyes hairy, and in the presence of bristles on the
middle, as well as at the hind margin of the second and third abdominal segments, whereas Tachina
has only the latter.

Mr. Wier has given me specimens, said to be bred from it, of a small
Ichneumon-fly which proves to be Limneria \_Banchus] fugitiva, Say.*
It is a small black species with the legs pale yellow, except the hind
tibia? which are white with black base and tip, and the hind tarsi which are
black Avith the base of the first joint white. In this genus the terminal
part of the abdomen is compressed laterally, and arched, and the $ ovipos-
itor is so short that it does not extend beyond the tij) of abdomen, so that
the sexes do not differ very strikingly. This particular species infests other
insects,f and I have obtained it from larvae, at Chicago, 111., as well as at
St. Louis.

Phycita [Acrobasis] nebulo, Walsh — Imago. — I reproduce here the description of the moth in
Mr. Walsh's original words : "Expansion of wings 7-10. Length of body 3-10. General color
light cinereous, varied with dusky. A row of about seven subsemiluuar or linear dark spots on
outer-margin of fore wing. Then one-fourth of the distance to the body a waving light cinereous band
parallel to the exterior margin, marked on each side with dusky black. Nearly at the centre a much
abbreviated black band. Beyond the centre on the costal margin a subtriangular dusky black .spot,
the apex of which connects with the apex of a much larger subobsolete triangular brick red spot which
extends to the interior margin, andisboundedou the outside by a wavy light cinereous band, which is
again bounded by a wavy dusky black band proceeding from the apex of the costal triangle. Base of wing
dusky black, enclosing a small round light cinereous spot. Hind wings and all beneath light cinereous
shaded with dusky, the fore wings darker. Tarsi dusky with a narrow light cinereous fascia at the
apex of each joint. Hind tibia fasciate with dusky at the apex, sometimes obscurely bifasciate.
Intermediate tibia fasciate with dusky at the ceuti'e, the fascia generally extending to the base, but
becoming lighter. Anterior tibia dusky, with a narrow apical light cinereous fascia. Palpi, both
labial and maxillary, dusky. ' '

When compared with other closely allied and resembling species, this little moth may be charac-
terized in the following manner: The ground color of the front wing is decidedly bright and pale;
the discal spots are almost always confluent, thus forming an abbreviated transverse bar; the dark
markings are well defined and the triangular dark costal spots starting from the inner third of the
wing is distinctly relieved, while the "brick-red" (nearer a cinnamon-brown) triangular spot which
opposes it is large, so that the space it occupies on the inner margin is nearly as wide (generaUy
within one-third) as that between it and the transverse posterior line. The lower half of the basal
space is often of a distinct cinnamon-brown, and an oblique dusky band, which Mr. Walsh has not
mentioned, is often quite distinct, running from near the apex to the brown triangle, where it connects
with the inner margin. The species recalls, in facies, the European Myelois suavella. In a suite of
specimens bred from Apple, Quince, Plum and Cherry, there is sufficient variation to prevent a too
rigidly drawn description, but the above characters obtain in all of them, and such variation as
occurs, runs in the direction of the variety presently to be described.

Larva — Brown or greenish in color. Cj'lindi-ical. Tapering gradually from first to last joint.
Head and cervical shield darker than the rest of body, slightly shagreened, sparsely covered with
long hairs, the shield quite large, convex, and occupying the whole surface between stigmata — there
being in front of the latter a sub-cervical dark horuyplate. Joints 2and3 wrinkled as at Figure 18, cthe
fonner with two rather conspicuous dark dorsal piliferous spots. The other joints with a few fine
hairs, the stigmata ijlainly visible, and the anal covering but slightly horny. Legs and prolegs
of moderate size and of same color as body.

Described from numerous specimens.

Chrysalis — Mahogony-brown, with no striking character. Abdomen, especially above, with very
minute punctures.

*Ent.-of X. A. II, p. "01.

t Mr. J. A. Lintner, of Albany, N. Y., has given me specimens bred from Saturnia maia, Drury;
Mr. H. T. Bassett, of Waterbury', Vt., specimens bred irora Dryocampa senatoria Sni. , and I have
bred it from Dryocampa stigma,' Sm. , from Euchate* egle, Harr, and from ClUiocampa sylvatica,
Harr.

42

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

Vaeiety nebulella (Fig. 20, e) . — I have bred a single specimen from -wild Crab (Cralcegus)
which differs in some essential features from the normal form, but which nevertheless can only be
considered a variety of it, as I observed no larval differences. It differs in the more uniform and
subued tone of the front wings, the markings being more suffused and indistinct; but principally in
the relative narrowness of the space outside the transverse posterior line the greater consequent
width of the middle area, and smallness of the triangular brown spot — the space it occupies on the
inner margin being scarcely one-half as wide as that between it and the transverse posterior line.
The discal spots are also separated.

Described from one good specimen. An interesting fact connected with this variety is, that pre-
cisely the same form occurs in Europe, as I found a single specimen in the cabinet of M. J.
Lichtenstein of Montijcllier, France, which he had captured in that vicinity, and which he allowed
me to bring home for comparison. It seems to be rare, even there, and whether indigenous or impoi"ted
from this country, is a question yet to be solved.

THE WALNUT CASB-BEAEEE— ^cro6as«s juglandis, LeBaron.

(Lepidoptera Phycida3.)

. 20.]

There are several other worms
tolerabl}' common with us which
form cases very much like those of
the Rascal Leaf-crumpler just de-
scribed. One of these which is tor-
tuous and crooked, like the pre-
ceding, is found attached to the leaf
of the Post oak, the worm skeleton-
izing the leaf for food. Another,
which is straight, is found on the
Soft maple, the inhabitant drawing
a few leaves together and likewise
skeletonizing them. The moths which these produce are not yet known j
but there is a straight case-bearer found on Hickory and "Walnut which pro-
duces a moth so much resembling our nebido, that, though the insect cannot
be considered a very injurious one, I am led to give a brief account of it for
l)urposes of comparison, and to show how distinct species, with constant
larval characteristics, may so graduate into each other in the perfect state
as to render knowledge of their larval habits absolutely necessary to dis-
tinguish them.

The case of this insect (Fig. 20, b) is invariably straight, and the excre-
mentitious grains which cover it on the outside, are very closely and neatly
woven together. It is attached by the small jDosterior end to the main leaf-
stalk, and the worm draws down and fastens two of the leaflets to hide it,
and then feeds upon them from the point to the base (Fig. 20, a). The
worm differs in no respect from that of nebulo, excej)t in being more com-
monly dark greenish. There is, in all probability, but one brood a year,
and as with nebulo the larva passes the winter in a partially grown condi-
tion; and as it lives during the simimer on a comi)Ound leaf, it very wisely
abandons this leaf, and anchors its case firmly to the more enduring twig,
before winter sets in.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 43

The moth very closely resembles nebulo, as may bo seen by referring to
Figure 20, d, which shows its wing characters, the colors being the same. In
this cut I have given two subsidiaiy sketches, the one at c showing the typ-
ical nebulo, the other at e representing a crab apple feeding variety of the
same; and the general reader will readily perceive (providing the public
printer -does not give us too muddy an impression) that the intermediate
figure (d) differs less from the upper (c) than from the lower one (e). Yet
the differences in the habits of the larvae show that the Walnut Case-bearer
is a distinct sj)ecies.

AcROBAi?is JUGLAXDis, LeBarou. — (Fig. '20, d) — I have bi'ci.1 this species from Hickory, but as Dr.
LeBarou has also bred it abundaiitlj' from Walnut, and has siguifled his intention of describing it in
his second annual Report, I adopt his proposed name, and shall content mjself with pointing out tlu?
manner in wliich it may generally be distinguished from nebulo. Firstly, by the paler basal area of
the front wings, which is sometimes almost white, especially near the costa, and by the head and
shoulders and sometimes the cf antennal horn partaking of this paler color. Secondly, by the darker
median space, the dark triangular costal spot not being well relieved posteriorly, but extending so
as sometimes to darken the whole space. Thirdly, bj' the discal spots always being well separated.

Such are its speciflc characters as taken from 3 hickory-bred and U walnut-bred specimens;
but of the former there is 1 which when placed alongside of some of the more abnormal specimens
of nebulo, can scarcely be distinguished from them, and, if chosen without knowledge of its larva,
would certainly be placed with them; while of the latter there are two which nearly as closely
resemble the variety nebulella. In general characters, in the size of the brown triangular spot, and
the manner in whicli tlie inner margin is divided, juglandis is intermediate between nebulo and nebu-
lella. In one of the hickory-bred specimens, the general color is quite warm, and the basal area
carneous rather than white.

iN'ATURAL Enemies. — From a lot of parasites bred from this insect by
Dr. LeBaron, I find four distinct Ichneumon-flies. Thi-ee of them are black
with legs variously marked with yellow reddish and black, and they all be-
long to the genus Pimpla^ which is characterized chiefly by the joints of the
abdomen being for the most part broader than long, and the ovipositor of
the female, with its sheaths, never extending more than the length of the
abdomen beyond its tip. The fourth is a yellow fly belonging to the genus
Perilitus, and as I am kindly informed by Mr. E. T. Cresson, is a ncAv spe-
cies. I therefore describe it by the name of

Perilitus iNDAGATOR, X. Sp— Imago— $, Head almost glabrous, transverse, deep honey-yellow,
the trophi pale, except the tips of jaws, which are dusky; ocelli touching each other, black; eyes
black, very large, occupying nearly the whole side of face, and with a few very short hairs; antenure
with about 24 joints, pale fuscous; reaching, when turned back, to about the middle of abdomen.
Thorax honey-yellow beneath and very slightly pubescent; very finely pimctured and slightly pubes-
cent above ; prothorax honey-yellow and prominently convex ; mesothorax with lateral and posterior
sutures black; metathorax black. Abdomen with the pedicel black and slightly punctured; depressed,
narrow at base, widening behind, slightly pubescent above; the other joints glabrous, polished, deep
honey-yeUow, the second joint largest and as long as all the subsequent ones together; ovipositor ex-
tending about the length of the abdomen beyond its tip, rufous with the sheaths black. Leys pale
honey-yellow, the tarsi, especially at tips, slightly dusky, the hind femora and tibiaj a little dusky
towards tips, and a narrow rufous ring at base of former. Wings hyaline, iridescent; veins brown;
stigma honey-yellow, with an opaque bi'own eland; two cubital cells, the outer small, sub-quadrate;
the radial large; one discoidal, long and narrow. Length, exclusive of ovipositor O.IS inch.

Described from 1 Q bred from Acrobasis juglandis, LeB.

♦These are PimpZa co«5«i&i/or. Say (Ent of N. A. II, p. 689,) Pimpla indagatrix, Walsh, Cress.
(Trans. Am. Ent. Soc. Ill, p. 146,) and Pi?npla annulipes Br. (Hist. Nat. des Ins. Hym. IV, p.

44

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

THE APPLE-LEAF SKELETOOTZEE— Pm;)e?ia Hammondi, N. Sp.

[Fig. 21.]

fLepidoptera, Phycidoe.)

The leaves of apple trees, and especially of
young trees, are preyed upon by such a host of
insects that their histories alone would furnish
material for a good sized volume. The little
worm which forms the subject of this sketch
has never been described, and yet it is often-
times so injurious and its work is so intimately
associated with that of one or two other species,
with which perhaps it has been confounded,
than an account of it becomes doubly necessa-
ry. Though having different habits, it is quite
closely related to the better known Eascal
Leaf-crumpler.

In the fall of the year the foliage of trees in young orchards, and es-
pecially in the nursery, often wears a blighted, corroded, rusty look, and
upon carefully examining it such appearance will be found to result from
the gnawings of this little Skeletonizer. A badly infested orchard or nur-
sery presents such a decidedly seared aspect that it attracts attention at a
great distance ; and while traveling b}- rail 1 have often pointed out the
work of this insect and felt as sure of its presence in certain orchards, as
though I had closely examined the trees.

The rusty appearance is produced by the worm feeding solely on the
green pulpy parts of the upper surface of the leaf, and thus leaving un-
touched the more fibrous frame-work. In some cases the pulpy portions are
eaten off very thoroughly so that nothing remains but the semi-transparent
epidermis below, and the net-work of veins ; but more usually a certain
amount of the parenchyma is left and this it is which acquires a bright rust-
red appearance. The worm always covers the leaf with loose tender silken
threads, with which it mixes numerous little black,, gunpowder-like, excre-
mentitious grains ; and it is under this covering that it feeds. It is semi-
gregarious, either living alone on the leaf, or in company within a bunch of
leaves tied together.

The worm (Fig. 21, a) is usually of a brown color marked on the
back as at b, but it varies from brown to pale yellowish-brown or greenish.
The markings are pi-etty constant, however, and the distinguishing feature
consists of four conspicuous black shiny tubercles, with a pale basal an-
nulation near the head, as at c.

The chrysalis is of a light brown color with no striking characters. It
is generally formed among* the leaves, in a very slight cocoon, and often in
the folds made by a leaf-roller which is generally found in company with
it. In confinement I have known the worms to go below ground where
they cemented their cocoons on the outside with grains of sand.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 45

The moth expands about 0.45 inch and has the front wings of a deep
glossy purplish-gray, marked with two transverse pale bands, as in the
figure ((i). It may be popularly known as Hammond's "Knot-horn." I
first received specimens of this worm in the summer of 1869, from Mr. A.
C. Hammond of Warsaw, and \V. T. Nelson of Wilmington, Ills. My
late associate, Mr. AValsh, had intended to describe the. species, and I now
carry out his intention by naming it in honor of Mr. Hammond, whose
experience with it, as given in the following extracts from one of his letters,
will throw further light on its habits :

In August and September, 1868, I noticed that the leaves of my apple
trees were oeing destroyed by some insect. An examination revealed the
fact that the mischief was caused by a small greenish larva about half an
inch long, with two dark stripes on its back. Their mode of operating
appeared to be*to locate themselves on or near the end of the twigs in commu-
nities of fi*om three or four to a dozen, and form a dwelling place by
webbing together a quantity of leaves with a material resembling spider's
web. Within this shelter they live, feeding upon the leaves.

In June, 1869, I found the same insect at work in my orchard in great
numbers. At this time the apples were about one-fourth grown, and we
found that the worms generally inclosed two or three apples within the mass of
leaves and that they were feeding upon these as well as upon the leaves, of
course causing them to drop. Their ravages wei-e principally confined to
a few vai-ieties. The yellow Bellflower, Winesap and Ben Davis appeared
to be their favorites. They had caused fully one-half of the fruit to fall
from several hundred trees in my orchard.

In Europe a larger species of a closely allied genus (Acrobasis consoci-
ella), which I have received from Mr. P. C. Zeller of Prussia, works upon
the leaves of the oak in very much the same manner as ours does on those
of the Apple ; and it is one of those insects attended by a companion larva,
Our insect seems to be similarly attended by two companion larvae, namely,
the two species next to be treated of. At least it is almost always found in
conjunction with them. So far as we now know there is but one annual brood
of the Apple-leaf Skeletonizer; but the moths issue very irregularly, and
the worms may be found all through the summer, but particularly in the
fall, as long as the leaves remain on the tree. I have found but partially
grown worms as late as November — unfortunates that seemed doomed to a
wintry death. The moths commence to make their appearance in the vicin-
ity of St. Louis by the first of May, but I have had them issue as late as the
last of July.

Eemedies. — This insect, like a good many others, shows a decided pre-
dilection for unthrifty, tender trees, and careful, clean culture is the best
preventive. A little hand picking at the proper time will do much to
prevent its injuries, and I incline to believe that it may be extirpated by dust-
ing the trees with air-slacked lime. I have bred from it two small Ichneu-
mon-flies, one. of which is a Microgaster ; but during "my absence last
summer the specimens were destroyed by mice. The larva of some Lace-
wing fly (CAri/so^a) also preys upon it, and its round white cocoon may often
be found among the skeletonized leaves, and should be saved.

il

46

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

Pempelia* Hajvimoxdi, N. Sp. Imago (Tig. 21, d).— Average expanse 0.48 inch. Front wings
glossy purplish-brown with two silvery gray transverse bands dividing the wing on costa in about
three equal parts, the basal band sharply defined outwardly and always extending to inner margin,
the posterior band never extending more than half way across the wing, and generally not more than
one-third, illy defined. In some specimens the basal transverse band is quite narrow, with the
basal space a shade paler than the median: in others the band forms a double line. In some speci-
mens also, a narrow pale transverse line outside the second band, and a pale terminal shade, are
visible. Hind wings uniformly paler gi-ay. Under surface glossy gi-ay, with no marks, the front
wings a shade darker than the hind. ^ differs from Q in the basal portion of the antennse being
curved, and the curve filled with a tuft of scales.

DescrilK'd from munerous bred specimens. The species has the general facies of the European
Crijptoblales bistriga, which is a larger insect.

Lar i-a.— Length 0.45—0.56 inch. General color olive, or pale green, or brown, with a broad dark
stripe along each side of back. Tapers slightly both ways, joints 4-12 inclusive, divided into
two transverse folds. Freckled with numerous pale specks and with piliferous spots, the specks
often taking the form of two pale broken lines along the upper edge of dark stripe. The piliferous
spots are pale with a central black dot, and are best seen in the dark specimens . On joints 4-12
inclusive they are placed 4 in a square on the middle of the back, and four more each side, the two
upper lateral ones being on the anterior fold, the stigmata appearing as minute rufous specks between
them. Both these spots are often double. The third lateral spot is on the posterior fold and the
fourth ;is Isubventral and anterior. The hairs proceeding from these spots are long and setaceous.
Head horizontal, freckled, pale behind, tinged with green in front and with a few long hairs. Joint 1
also freckled and with a large black piliferous tubercle with a pale basal annulation and in range with
middle of dark stripe. Joint 2 with similar black tubercles with a white centi-e and replacing the
uppermost lateral pale spot. There are but two of the small pale dorsal piliferous spots on this joint
(between the tubercles) as well as on joint 3. Beneath immaculate, except that the thoracic legs have
sometimes a few dusky dots.

In the very dark specimens the head, cervical shield and anal plate remain pale. The cervical
shield is then well defined with four small piliferous specks at anterior edgae, and the large shiny
tubercle forms the extreme anterior angle .

In many specimens the subdorsal dark stripe is obsolete or sub-obsolete, but even then the four
black tubercles on joints 1 and 2 characterize the larva sufficiently.

Described from numerous specimens.

Pupa.— 0.24 inch long; rather stout and short, with two minute diverging spines and a few stiff
bristles at tip.

THE GEEEN APPLE LEAF-TYEE.— To?Yria: Cinderella, N. Sp.

(Lepidoptera Tortricid£e .)

[Kig

In company with the foregoing Leaf Skel-
etonizer may almost always be found two or
three different sjiecies of small green worms
which aid materially in withering and denud-
ing the leaves from young aj^ple trees. These
worms bear so close a resemblance to each
other that it is almost imj^ossible to character-
ize them. Tbe species under consideration is
of a uniform yellowish-green color, with the
head and neck horny and a shade more tawny,
the head being marked with a crescent-shaped

* Genera ami families, so-called, are often instituted on such ti-ivial and even variable characters
ara^ng the smaller moths, that the proper placing of a species becomes very difficult, and ofttimes
impossible. As Mr. Walsh informed me in 1S69, specimens of this moth were that year sent to the
EnglLSh microlepidopterist, Mr. H. T. Stainton, who referred it to the genus Acrobasis (See Am. Ent.
I p. 32) . Upon carefully examiningmy own specimens, I found that the antennal characters of the
(f placed it ni the genus Pempelia rather than Acrobasis, and I at once suspected that the specimens
sent by Mr. Walsh to Mr. Stainton were all Q . Upon conmiunicating with Mr. Stainton on the sub-
ject, and sending him the (f, my supposition was verified. But, after all, as the late Dr. Clemens
tritely remarked, our system of classification is yet ' 'one of convenience and not of nature. ' '

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. '*'

black mark on which are the eyelets, and another dusky spot at base on the
sides (Fig. 22, a). It webs the leaves together, generally folding a single
leaf in two, and living within the fold. Like all true leaf-folders it is very
nimble, and ^vl•iggles away and drops to the ground when disturbed, while
the Skeletonizer makes no especial effort to escape. In feeding, the Leaf-
tyer is not confined to the parenchyma.

This worm changes to a chrysalis within a fold of the leaf, lined with
eilk, and when about to give forth the moth, works its way partially out at
one end (Fig. 22, d.) The chrysalis (Fig. 22, b) is peculiar from having a
rounded projection in front of the head. The moth (Fig. 22, c) is amost
unassuming little body with the front wings of a dark ash-gray without a
shade of any other color, the hind wings paler.

In the early part of the year this species may often be found more
numerous than the Skeletonizer, but the latter predominates, so far as my
experience goes, in the fall. There is much more to observe yet of its hab-
its, and I now merely introduce it and give it a name because of its associ-
ation with the preceding species. The same remedies which apply to that
will answer for this.

ToKTRix CiNDEKELLA, N. Sp.— JwiflS'o (Tig. "22, c) .—Alar expanse exactly 1-2 inch. Front wings
deeyi glossy ash-gi-ay, immaculate. Under a lens they have an irrorate appearance, while in cer
tain lights some of the scales appear to form a series of darker transverse sinuous lines. Also scat-
tered over the wing may be noticed a dozen or more reddish scales, which are not sufficient, how-
ever, to destroy the uniform immaculate appearance. Head, mouth-parts, antennre, legs, and
abdomen of same color. Hind wings paler and semi-transparent. Fringes of all wings concolorous .
Under surface of wiugs^jale nacreous, inclining to pale fulvous around the margins.

Described from two bred specimens.

Lirva (Fig. 22, a) .—Length 0..W inch. Form of that of Acrobasis nebula, wrinkled very much in
the same manner. Color yellowish-green, the piliferous spots of the same color, but readily dis-
tinguished by their polished surface; they are placed in a transverse row on thoracic joints, and on
joints 4—12 there are four rhomboidaUy on dorsum, two laterally on the first fold and one subventral.
stigmata between the two lateral spots, and yellowish. Head and cervical shield gamboge-yellow;
only a shade darker than body; labrum and two basal joints of antenna; paler or white, the terminal
joint llro^vn; ocelli on a somewhat crescent "shaped black spot (the most conspicuous character)
a second dusky spot at base of head laterally. Legs immaculate.

Described from many specimens.

Pupa (Fig. 22, b) .—Length 0.25— 0.30 inch. Brown, characterized by a peculiar rounded projection
from front of head; by a little pointed prominence at base of each antennas, and each side of penul-
timate abdominal joint ; and by terminating in a broad suppressed piece which produces two decurved
hooks. Posterior rim of abdominal joints rasped dorsally, and a slight rasped dorsal ridge near the
anterior edge of larger joints. Legs reaching only to end of wing-sheaths. The head-prominence
vari'-~ in size and slightly in form.

THE LESSEE APPLE LEAF-FOLDER.— Tor/n.r waZjuorana, LeBaron.

(Lepidopter a , Tortric idre . )

This is the name given to a small pale green worm, by Dr. LeBaron,*
who found it doing much damage to the young apple trees in the nursery
of Mr. D. B. Wier, of Lacon, 111., in the summer of 1870, but which almost
disappeared in 1871. In habit and in size, form and color, it is the exact

♦ First Ann. Rep. on the Ins. of 111., pp. 20—23.

48 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OP

counterpart of the Leaf-tyer just described.* The chrysalis is also similar,
but the moth, instead of being uniformly ash-gray, is of a bright orange,
but of exactly the same size and equally uniform in coloration ; so that by
imagining a bright golden orange instead of deep ash-gray, Figure 22, c)
would answer for this species.

I have little doubt but this worm is also very generally associated with
the Skeletonizer, as I found the latter had been quite abundant in Mr.
Wier's nursery last fall ; and it very probably helped in some degree to
cause the blasted appeai-ance of the nursery which was attributed solely to
the Lesser Leaf-folder the year before.

In the Prairie Farmer for February 10th, 1872, M. Wier gives the fol-
lowing account of the habits of this Lesser Leaf-folder :

This is one of those ephemeral, and as we might sa}^, local insects, that
often do great damage at some point, and may not be troublesome again in
that locality for years.

Our nurseries were scourged with it during the summer of 1870 to so
great an extent that from the twentieth of June until the first of September,
hardly a green leaf could be found on the younger trees.

My attention was first called to it in the fall of '63, by a neighboring
nurseryman, who wished me to call and see how the Codling moth (as he
termed it) had injured his apple seedlings.

His acre or more of seedlings could have looked no worse if they had
been sprinkled over with dry straw, and burned over, yet, as was the case
in our nursery, there was scarcely a Tortrix to be seen the succeeding sum-
mer, and his seedlings made a very strong growth. I next saw it In my
nursery in June '64, when it swept over a large lot of two-year-old apple
trees in June, but did no serious damage, as there appeared to be but one
brood. It was next seen as stated above about the 12th of June, 1870,
involving the entire apple nursery here, and more or less the orchards. At
that time the caterpillars were about half grown, but were not numerous
enough to do serious damage. They commenced to change to chrysalids'
about the 20th of June, and in three to four days, the little bright oi-ange
moths were flitting around amongst the trees, depositing the eggs for another
brood of worms. The eggs soon hatched, and as the second brood of worms
was at least one hundred times more numerous than the first, the trees soon
began to show signs of damage. I did not determine positively, but I am
quite certain that this brood changed to moths in about thirty days, or the
20th of July, and they at once laid their eggs, increasing perhaps fifty fold
(enemies had begun to prey upon them). They matured about August 20th,
and laid eggs for another brood, about equalling the second. These so far
as I could see were all killed by frost, that were not destroyed by their nat-
ural enemies, when about two-thirds grown.

The first thing that will be noticed where it is present, is that in look-
ing along nursery rows, leaves will be seen with large reddish-brown spots
on them. A close examination will show that these leaves have been folded
upwards until their edges met, and are closely fastened together with fine
silken threads. Grasp the leaf between the thumb and finger, open it care-
fully and a small, greenish, ver}^ lively caterpillar will be found between
the folds, and if you do not grasp the leaf so as to squeeze it, the worm
will wriggle out and fall to the ground. It has a pale, amber-brown head,
and in many individuals the whole body is of a brownish tint, especially on

* Specific diflferences may yet be discerned, as Dr. LeBaron has not very minutely cliaracterized
his larva.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST,

49

the anterior portion, and when near mature. We do not usuall_y observe
the caterpilhir until well ^^•own, for the reason that when first hatehed it
appears to be in the centre of the opening bud, out of which it eats the
heart, and of course stops the growth, leaving generallj' only three to four
leaves to expand. It soon chooses one of these and folds it up as above,
and tlien feeds on its upper cuticle, which makes the conspicuous brown
blotches on the exposed side, or under side of the leaf. One leaf is gener-
ally more than sufficient to feed the caterpillar. When mature it lines the
sides of the leaf with soft white silk, and changes to a dark mahoganj^-
brown chrysalis j about three-tenths of an inch* long, slender and lively;
its most distinguishing point is a little knob terminating its anterior extrein-
ity. In a few days these chrysalides change to bright orange-colored moths,
three-tenths of an inch long and spreading their wings about half an inch.

There is no noxious insect, that has "come unde'r my observation, that
is more difficult to combat successfully than this. There appears to be no way
of getting at it with any of the remedies usually employed for destroying such
insects. While it is young it is too inconspicuous to be seen, and 'is always
covered by a close web, or hid in the folds of the young leaves, and when
It becomes larger it is snugly sealed up between the folds of a leaf, at all
times out of reach of liquid or dr}' applications.

The only remedy that I can suggest is the tedious one of looking over
the trees about the time the first brood of larva? are coming to maturity,,
carefully picking the injured leaves off", with the worms in them and destroy-
ing them. Yet the little things are so delicate, and so easily destroyed by
natural causes, that our labor in doing this Avould be more than half the
time thrown away, for the reason that a first brood is no sure sign that there
will be a second, and a second that there will be a third; the weather must
be continuously dry and hot for them to breed to a noxious degree. Thus,
we had here ten times as numerous a first brood the spring of 1871 as we
had the spring of 1870; yet the last season they did but little harm, while
the year before they swept everything before them. Yet these two seasons
were quite similar in this neighborhood, and the difference in their ravao-es
can only be accounted for on the hypothesis that being numerous two years '
in succession in the same place, their natural enemies bred up also, an<l
destroyed them.

THE APPLE-LEAF BVCCVLATJilX-Bucculatrix pomifoUelhi, Clew.

(Lepidoptera Tineida;.)

This is a small insect hitherto com-
paratively little known, and which yet
attracted some attention during the past
two years. It was sent to the office on
several occasions for name, and was
found, though by no means abundantly.
in several orchards, and more espe-
cially in that of Mr. T. E. Allen of
Allenton. It cannot be classed as a
very injurious insect with us, but to
illustrate how unduly multiplied it may

time become, and the importance ofa proper knowledge of its habits. I

4

at any

50 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

will quote the following paragraph which was addressed last spring to the
Rural New Yorker:

While visiting the grounds of I. M. Babcock & Sons in Brighton, near
Rochester, N. Y., we entered a tield of eight hundred apple trees in the very
zenith of their bearing capacity, loaded down with the finest of winter fruit.
But mv attention Avas directed to the branches of the trees, which, to my
utter surprise, were thoroughly lined with these insects or minute worms
inclosed in their silk-like cocoon, and tightly attached to the small branches
which you will readily perceive; also the leaves of the trees are infested
with a similar worm incased within the leaf, from one-fourth to one-half an
inch in length — what some Avould call the leaf-rollers. The effect of their
ruinous work on the trees is to almost denude them of their leaves, and
greatly to diminish the future prospects for fruit. Now, Mr. Editor, through
the Rural New Yorker, we shall look for some solution of the nature and
character of this most formidable enemy that has appeared upon our apple
trees. I send you a branch that has the insects on, and the leaf which I
believe contains the parent, which is the cause of all the mischief. "Will you
have this subject investigated b}' competent hands, and report through the
Bnral ? . '

H. N. Langworthy.

The little worm which is the cause of such mischief feeds externally
tipon the leaf, and is quite active, letting itself down by a web when dis-
turbed. It measures, when full}^ grown, nearly one-half inch in length, and
is of a dark green color, with the joints swollen so as to look like a series of
beads, with a small head held horizontal!}', and with sparse, short hairs over
the body. It has the normal complement of legs, namely, ten false and six
true ones. When full grown it spins a dirt}' white cocoon, which i« charac-
terized by being ribbed longitudinally (Fig. 23, h, represents one enlarged).
Within this cocoon it soon assumes the pupa state, in which state it is of a
dark brown color, rough-punctured on the back, and with a smooth, pol-
ished anal cap. The pupa works itself partly out of the cocoon and gives forth
a little moth (Fig. 23, c, enlarged, the hair lines showing the natural size),
which is of a dirty-white, or gray color, marked with brown as in the figure.
It was first described in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences
of Philadelphia, for 1860, p. 211.

In this latitude the worm does its principal damage during the montli
■of September, and the greater number of cocoons are formed during the
latter part of that month and during October. The moths commence to
issue in April, and immediately deposit their eggs on the tender leaves.
Fresh cocoons I have found as early as the first of June, and there are at
least two, and perhaps more, broods of the worm during the year.

Remedies. — The great peculiarity of this insect is its habit of forming
its little ribbed cocoon in company on the bark — a habit which at once give?
us the mastery over it; for as the pupa remains in the cocoon all through
the winter, we can make war upon it at any time during that season. When
the insect is abundant these cocoons will absolutely cover the smaller twigs in
the manner shown at Figure 23, a ; and they will be found even on the larger
branches and trunk. Anything applied to the tree with the object of kill-
ing these pupfe, must be of an oily nature, so as to readily soak through the

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

51

oocoon. I have expci'imoutally proved that an application of kerosene oil
is death to them, and thuugli I have had no opportunity of testing it on an
■extensive scale, I have little hesitancy in advising its use, or that of linseed
oil. Alkalies might also be tried. The best time to apply the remedy
■would doubtless be in March, when tree-growth recommences; but it
must not be delayed beyond the end of that month, when the moths com-
mence to issue. The most expedient way of applying the kerosene would
be by aid of a force pump and spray machine or atomizer, and it would pay
well to first vigorously prune a tree that is badl}' infested. The kerosene
will not injure the tree if applied in a diluted form; and it may be «o
applied b}' means of the spray machine.

The only other injurious insect known to form cocoons in company is
a little species belonging to the same genus (B. thuieUa, Pack), which is
described by Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr.,* as being common on the leaves of
A cedar tree (I presume the Eed Cedar is intended), but whose cocoon is
smooth instead of ribbed. This species, which I have not met with, is
preyed upon by a minute Chalcis-fly, allied to the genus Eulophus, and our
apple-leaf Bucculatrix is similarly attacked by some such parasite, as many
of the cocoons may be found with minute round holes at one end, through
which such parasites have issued.

BrccuLATRix POMIFOLIELLA, Clem.— Larva. — Cylindrical and subnioniliform; tai)ers anterioilv
and posteriorly ; with punctiform points and isolated hairs ; first segment with rather abundant dorsa I
hairs ; thoracic feet three ; abdominal four and very short, terminal one pair. Head small , ellipsoidal ,
brown: body dark yellowish-green, tinged witli reddish anteriorly; hairs blackish and short.—
Oeinens.

Pupa. — O.l'i inch long. Amber-brown. Head often ending in a little point. Dorsum sha-
greened, except a hind rim on each joint which is slightly ridged and smooth. Penultimate joint
longest and most slender. Apical joint blunt, with au anterior carinated, transverse ridge above
and sometimes forming a point at each side. Legs reaching to penultimate joint: wing sheaths
(which are paler) to the preceding one.

THE APPLE-TWIG BORE^— Bostrichus [Amphicenis'] bicavdatns, Say

(Coleopetra, Ptinida;)

(Kig. 24.] There is a little brown

cj-lindrical beetle, which is

so common in Missouri, and

is so veiy ajjt to attract the

notice of nurserymen, tha^

numerous specimens are re-
ceived at my office every spring and fall. I have jiassed it by unnoticed in
previous reports, in hope of completing its natural history before treating
of it; but to satisfy the numerous inquirers, I present the above figures
with the accompanying short account of the beetle.

» First Ann. Rep. on the Inj. and Bsn. Ins. of Mass. p. 24.

52

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

It is a modest looking dark brown insect, varjnng from l-5th to 2-5ths of
an inch in length, the thorax rounded and rough-punctured, especially in front
where it is produced into two little horns, and covered with small rasp-like
prominences. The wing-covers are also rough-punctured, and while in the
female (Fig 24, a) they have but a slight keel-like elevation at the hind
end, they are furnished in the male (Fig. 24, h) Avith two little horns, from
which characteristic the specific name (two-tailed) is derived. The species-
is not mentioned by Harris, and does not occur on the Atlantic seaboard^
but is found in the whole countiy between the Alleghany and Eocky
Mountains, becoming more and more common as we progress westward,
and being most common in the States immediately west of the Mississippi.
Its range southward is at least as far as Texas.

The holes made in the twigs, generallj- have their entrance just above a
bud or fork as at Figure 25, c. I have never known this insect to bore more
than one and a half inches into the twig (Fig. 25, d), and the holes are gen-
erally made downwards, and in wood of the previous year's growth, though
I have seen them exceptionally bored upward and in three-year-old wood.
The beetles seem to prefer some varieties, such as Benoni and Eed June, to
other varieties of the Apple, and though they likewise occur in grape, pear
and peach stems, I have never found them in those of the crab apple.

Both the male and female beetles bore these holes, and may alwaj-s be
found in them, head downwards, during the winter and spring months.
The holes are made for food and protection, and not for breeding purposes.
Indeed, common as this insect is, its preparatory stages are entirely un-
known, and that person who will ascertain its larval histor}-, will confer »
favor on the community. I have bred a very closely allied species (Sinoxy-
lon hasillare, Say), which not only inhabits the wood of apple trees, but is
found in that of peach and hickorj^ trees and in grape canes. Its larval
habits, which I shall presently illustrate, will throw some light on those of
our Apple-twig Borer.

Indeed, according to Mr. S. H. Kriedelbaugh, of Clarinda, Iowa,* both
sexes of this last have be«n" found in company during the winter, in the
sai>wood of "forest trees j" and though we are not informed as to the par-
ticular kind of forest trees, j^et, since the Oak is the most common in our
forests, we may infer that this tree is intended, among the rest. The j^roba-
bilities are, therefore, that our Twig Borer breeds under the bark of oak
trees, and that it is in such situations that we must search for its larva, t
That it so breeds in the forest and not in the orchard, is rendered still more
probable Avhen we consider that its larval habits have so long evaded de-

* Western Pomologist,Vio\ . '71.

t It maj^, and doubtless docs, breed in other kinds of wood besides oak. I have often found the
beetles boring into grape-canes for food and shelter, with no other indications of breeding in
them, than we And in apple twigs similarly bored. Dr. Henry Shimer, in a communication to the
American Entomological Society, in September, 1868, speaks of finding them in grape-canes, and he
also tound certain larvie in such canes, which he conjectured were the larvae of bicaudatus. But,
notwithstanding Dr. Packard (Guide p. 472), in speaking of the species, briefly describes its larva
which he received from Dr. Shimer, it is evident that the latter gentleman has given no proof of the
soundness of his conjecture, and, as he informs me by letter, he cannot now find his notes on the
subject. And since so far as it goes, the description accords with the larva of Sinoxtjlon basillare.
Say, which, as I shall presently show, inhabits grape-stems; the probabilities are that Dr. Packard's
description was, in reality, from this last named species.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

53

tection. We may furthermore infer that it comes to maturity late in the
summer, and, flying into our orchards and vineyards, the beetles bore into
twigs during the fixll. Here winter overtakes them, and they hibernate in the
holes, some of them dying; but most of them surviving till spring, when
they continue feeding for a while, and afterwards repair to the forest again
to propagate their kind. I have caught both sexes flying as early as the
middle of March, during genial, sunny weather.

The bored twigs most always break off by the wind, or else the hole
catches the water in spring and causes an unsound place in the tree. If the
twig does not break ofi", it withers and the leaves turn brown. The only
way to counteract the injuries committed by this beetle, is to prune the in-
fested twigs, whenever found, and take great care to burn them with their
contents. It is in the nursery that most injury is done, as the -insect is sel-
dom numerous enough in an orchard of large trees to more than cause what
the philosophic orchardist has been w^ont to term "a good summer pruning."

The genus Bostrichus was formerly considered the type of a Family (Bos-
TRICHID.^;,) to which older authors referred our insects; but the family is now
generally united with the Ptinid.e, to which hicaudatus is consequently
referred.

INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE-VINE.

In continuing the articles under this head, considerable space is devoted
in this Eeport to the Grape root-louse, as it is deemed of most importance.
As illustrative of the habits of the Apple-twig Borer, I will, however, first
introduce —

THE RED-SIIOULI)ERED ^l^ OXXIjO^— Sinoxylon basillare, 8ay.

(Coleopti'i-a, Ptiuidre.)

This insect is not so commonly seen
in the beetle state as is the preceding, but
unfortunately it is much better known in
its larva state; and as it belongs to the
same Family and is very closely allied to
the Apple-twig Borer, its habits in the
early stages may serve as an additional
<» clue to those of its close ally, and the ac-
companying figures of the larva and pupa of the Sinoxijlon, may be consid-
ered illustrative of the general appearance which the yet unknown larva
and pu])a of the Bostrichus will present.*

.f nJP''fc" ^'•I-"*"?'',^"!^'''}"^^' l}"^^"?'!-. tliit because the larva of Sr>0T2//07! iasi/Zare has lejrs, that
ol Bostrichus bicauiatus has legs also; for niiny Bos/nc^iis hirva; are known to be legless.

54

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

This beetle (Fii^. 26, c) is black, but easily recognized by having a large
reddish spot at the base of each wing-cover.* It measures about I-5th of
an inch. The antennse and palpi are rufous. The thorax is punctured and
armed with short spines in front. The wing-covers are rough-punctured^
and have the appearance of being cut off obliquely behind, the outer edge
of the cut portion being armed with three teeth each side. The larva (Fig.
26, a) is a yellowish, wrinkled, arched grub with a very small head. Tin-
thoi'acic joints are swollen and furnished with six small legs.

The ])upa (Fig. 26, b) is formed in the galleries gnawed by the larva.
Ft is pale yellowish, and exhibits the characters of the futui'e beetle. '

Last spring Dr. 0. W. Spaulding, of Kirkwood, brought me certain
grape stems which were being badly gouged under the bark and bored more
or less in the heart, by a small grub. He met with such injui'ed grape-stem*
([uite frequently, and feared that the insect which caused the trouble might
become a serious impediment to grape-growing. The beetles most numer-
ously reared from these canes proved to be the Ked-shouldered .Sinoxylon.-j-

Dr. Harris (Lij. Ins. p. 92), and Dr. Fitch after him (3d Eep. § 158)^
speak of this insect as living in the trunk of the Shagbark hickory, boring
holes straight towards the heart of the tree, and changing to the pupa state
at the inner ends of their burrows.^ But this is not the height of its
offense, for I have found it boring into apple trees, and Mr. J. M. Beecher,
of J^ewport, Franklin count}', has forwarded me a number of specimens
with the statement that he finds them penetrating to the heart of the trunk
and main branches of some of his peach and apple trees, and they have
caused the death of two of the former and one of the latter kind.

The only way to get rid of this pest is to burn the infested wood.

SiNOXYLOX IJ.VSir.I.AKi;,

[Fig. :i7.]

-Lirva (Fig. 37, head and thoracic joint.s enlarged) — Color yi-Uow-
ish. Body smooth, arched and wriukletl ti-ansversely. Tho-
racic joints much enlarged, the prothoracic being slightly horny
iit the anterior margin a1)ove. Six setoiis legs carried forward
clo.se to the bo<ly, the lirst jiair (Fig. 27, c) bent closely under
the head, the .second pair (d) longer and straight, the third pair
(c) short. Stigmata!), and very ditlicult to detect. Head small,
liorny, rounded, rather dar)|er tlian body: antennie conspicu-
)us, 3-jointed; epistoma dark brown, not as wide aslabrum;
'abrum dark brown, rounded, covered and fringed with stifi'
lairs; mandibles stout, jet black, triangular, edges entire (b
.eitreseuting them when open) ; maxilhe very .small with an elon-
gated basal piece, and an inner lol)e covered with hair; maxil-
lary palpi with two indistinc/t joints; labium inconspicuous with

no palpi apjiarenf . Length ().:J0 inch.

r)escribe<l from three alcoholic si)ecimeus.

Pupa (Fig. -US, b) .—Yellowish, elongate, with all the parts of the future beetle distinct, the head

at right angles witli thorax, the aatenn;e laid'straight under the thorax, the last pair of legs, except

the tar.si hidden under the wingsheaths. Length^0.;50 inch.
Described from se%'eral specimens.

* Some specimens occm' which are entirely black, the reddish spots being ob.solete; but they ai-e
excei)tional.

t [ have also reared from similar cAnea ',CalUdium anoanttm. Say, and Dr. Shimer in the i)aper
alluded to, on page 'ri, states that he has likewise bi-ed this species as well as Lyctus opaculus, Lee.
I have also hrvA Elaphidion parallclum. Lee. abundantly from such canes.

I Dr. Geo. H. Horn (P. K. S. 1'. [, j). 2!)) also refers to this larva as infesting hickory trunks,
but neither of these authors give any tlescription of the larva.

TllK STATK ENTOMOLOGIST. DO

On the Cause of Deterioration in some of our Native Grape-vines, and one of the
probable reasons why European Vines have so generally failed with us.

THE GRAPE-LEAF GXLJj-hOll^E— Phylloxera vitifolia'* Fitch.

The experience of the ])ast year, eiiubles me to add iiuicli of interest
and importance to last year's account of the above insect. This experience
has already been made public in an article ])ublished in the Rural New
Yorker, and reproduced in the Rural IP'orW of St. Louis. I am pleased to
know that the views there set forth receive the indorsement of such an ex-
perienced and practical nuui as Mr. Geo. llusmann, the well known i;-rape
authority in our State, and editor of the vineyartl department of the last-
named journal, f

It is well known that nearly all the varieties of the European grape-
vine (^Vttis vinifera) have, in the end, proved valueless when introduced and
cultivated in the eastern half of the United States. The majority of them
grow well at first, and a few exceptional cases might be mentioned where

•This is the .specilic lumu- ))y wliicli [ last year gave au account of this grape-vine insect; and I
employ it again for that very reason, and for the further reason that it is the name most familiar to
the American reader. I have alreadv given aiy opinion (.'Srd Re;.>. j). i)5, note) that though the
name is objectionable, it ought jierhaps" to be retaine<l. It is <louljtful, howt'ver, whether many other
entomologists will agree with m.'; and while I l)elieve in carrying out the "law of priority" to its
fullest extent, consistent with reason, tliere are many cases' where it must give way to that of
"accord." The present is perhaps just such a case; for"aside from the technical objection, Pr. Fitch
knew so little of the insect's true characters, when he named it, that he cannot be said to have de-
scribed it, and did not refer it to its proper genus which was already erected to receive it. His name
will, therefore, doubtless give way to that of Phylloxera i'a.s/fl/n>, "which I'lanchou first gave to the
root-inhabiting form, and which "has generally been recognized ain'oad. The same may be said of
Westwood's name Peritymbia vilisana, which was also jjroposed for the same insect in 1868, in a com-
munication to the Ashmolean Society of Oxford, P^ngland.

While 1 would not, therefore, carry out the "law of jirioritj'" too relentlessly, I have no sym-r
pathy or patience with a certain mo<lern system of attaching to an insect the name 'of the author "who
erects the last new genus, instead of that'of the desci-iljer of the si)ecies. This pernicious system —
which if not frowned down, will lead to utter confusion and land us in al)solute chaos — seems to be
getting moi-e and more fashional)le among naturalists in thir. country, and I regret to say, among
some entomologists. T'hat man, in my opinion, is no true naturalist, who can iiass through the
museums of this country and witness' the manner in which the names of tlie older authors are
ignored, without feeling,-;" of just indignation! He will very naturally look upon it as an attempt on
the part of modern ingrates to rob well-earned and long- worn laurels" from the older authors, whose
spirits still survive, if their bodies are prevented Ity the grave, from I'ebuking the insult. Aside
from the moral injustice of such a rule, it is Inirtful to any science in its j)ractical application; for,
as genera multiply, the student will tlnd increasing ditliciilty in referring to original descriptions;
whereas, by the old established rule, the describer's name i.s an infallil)le index, ni lists or cata-
logues, such as that of Colcoplcra hy I.eConte, and that of Bombycida by Cirote & Robinson, where
the synonyms arc given, this ditliciilty does not present itself, though the moral objection remains.
As the science of entomology groMs,"aiul .synonymy multiplies, it will, in my opinion, become more
and more necessary to attach the author's name to a species in ordinary works, and any system
which will require a continual changing of authorship should not be countenanced. Species— how- •
ever much they may be changed and modilied in the course of ages— have for all the purposes of the
naturalist a permanency which under the old rule Avould render our specilic nomeiudatiire like
permanent, and secure it against constant change; whereas, genera — though in the projier sense they'
may have a similar permanency — are, for all practical i)ur|)oses, more the creatiiHis of man than of
Nature; and as they have been unstable and changeable in the past, so they will be in the future, and
our generic nomenidature will ever have an indehnite, protean, insecure character.

In Europe this system is almost universally ostracised; and — let botanists and ornithologists do
as thev please — it is'to be hoped it will not grow in favor among entomologists in America. It was
not followed liy any of the older authors, and I am glad to know that some of our leading living
entomologists, 'including Dr. (i. II. Horn, Mr. K. T. Cressou, Mr. P. K. Uhler, Mr. J. A. Lintner,
Dr. Asa Fitch, and Dr. LeIJaion, are opiiosed to and do not ailopt it. In these Kejiorts— how-
ever prevalent the contrarv fashion may become — I shall always attach to the species the name of
its first describer; and shall never clian'ge the orthography', even of a name that may be gramma t-
icallj" objectionable, until corrected by the author himself. "

t Mr. Husmannsavs : (Rur. IK. , Nov. 18, 1871); " We copy the following from the Tlura/ .Veic I'or^--
cr, and think it one of' the most interesting |)ajiers we have read for a long time — one that will be of
more use to the vintner in his selection of varieties, and throw more light on the deterioration of for-
merly healthy varieties than anything that has been said or done lately. Tlie grape growers of the
country owe I'rof. Itiley a debt of' gratitude for his thorough and scientific investigation of this sub-
ject."

50 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

some of them, such as Black Hamburg and Chasselas, have even fruited
successful]}^ for many years, especially when isolated or trained against
walls; while they more generallj^ do well when isolated in cold houses.
But the general truth of the first statement holds good. It is also well
known that some of our native vines, which for a while were universal fa-
vorites on account of their productiveness, vigor and other excellent quali-
ties, have of late years sadly deteriorated. Among such the Catawba was
for a long time the popular grape; but its cultivation is now entirely aban-
doned in many parts of the Mississippi Valle}-, and even at Hammondsport
and other parts of New York, and Nauvoo, Illinois, where it is still largely"
cultivated, I learn from experienced grape-growers that it is fast on the de
•cline.

This deterioration — this failure, has been attributed to a variety of
causes, for in the absence of anything definite and ascertainable to keep it
within bounds, the speculative turn of our minds is sure to have full scope-
and grasj^ing at every shadow of probability, leave no possible theory un-
searched. As in all such cases, also, the mind gets lost in, and is satisfied to
vaguely rest with, the theory least provable; and to some occult and mys-
terious change of climate we are at last satisfied to attribute the change
though if the meteorological records were carefully examined, they would
probably show no difference in the mean annual condition of our climate
during the past half century.

It is very natural to suppose that vines of European origin should be
less hardy in this country than our native varieties, that as in the case of the
Spanish Chestnut, the English G-ooseberry, etc., etc., there is something in
our climate which precludes their flourishing as well here as there. I would
by no means deny that such is the case, for it is this verj^ comparative ten-
derness which predisposes them the more to the destructive agent of which
I am about to speak. Yet when we consider that in some parts of Europe,
where the Vine flourishes, the extremes of heat and cold are as great as here ;
that we possess a great variety of soil and climate, and that by covering and
other modes of protection in winter, we maj^, where necessary, counteract
the rigor of the latter — it would appear that we certainly have attributed
too much to climatic influence : and such a view is strengthened by the fact
that our native varieties, if free from the insect which forms the subject of
his article, usually do well when cultivated in Europe, and further that the
Vitis vinifera is not a native of Europe, but of western Asia.

The above reflections are of a genei-al character, but apply more par-
ticularly to the great State of Missouri, which is admitted to be, in many
parts, eminently adapted, both by soil and climate, to the cultivation of the
Vine.

One of the reasons why the European vines do well in California, out-
side of and beyond the more favorable clime in that portion of the continent,
is, no doubt, because the insect which here aflects them, like many other
species common on this side of the Itocky Mountains, has not yet crossed to
the other side. If such is the case, our California neighbors should take
warning from Europe, and guard, if possible, against an invasion.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 57

The announcement that I have at hist ascertainotl one of the principal
causes — if not the sole cause — of this decline, and tlial, knowing the cause,
we may in a measure obviate it, will doubtless cause many a grape-grower
to wonder. Some may even pooh-pooh the idea, and deem it impossible
that they have so long remained in ignorance of so important a flict, that a
*' bug-hunter" should discover it at last. Let the facts speak. *

This destructive agent is none other than the little insect we are now
treating of.

The general history of the louse, and the habits of the gall-inhabiting
type were sketched in my last Report, and need not be repeated.

FURTHER PROOF OF THE IDENTITY' OF THE AMERICAN INSECT WITH THE

EUROPEAN.

That the two are identical there can no longer be any shadow of a
doubt. I have critically examined the living lice in the fields of France,
and brought with me, from that country, both winged male and female
specimens, preserved in acetic acid. 1 find that the insect has exactly the
same habits here as there, and that winged specimens which 1 bred last fall
from the i-oots of our vines, accord perfectly with those brought over with
me. In the different forms the insects assume, in their work, and in every
other minutia — the two agree.

AVHY I CONSIDER THE GALL-LOUSE AND ROOT-LOUSE IDENTICAL.

Firstl}', wherever this insect has been noticed in England, both the
gall-inhabiting and root-inhabiting types have been found. In France the
galls occur abundantly on such of our American varieties as are subject to
them here, while a few have occasionally been found on their own varieties.
Secondly, I have successfully transferred the leaf-lice on to the roots, while
M. Y. Signoret has succeeded in obtaining leaf-galls from lice hatched on the
roots. Thii'dly, the winged form obtained by Dr. Shimer from the galls in
this country agrees in its characters with those from the roots. Fourthl}^,
the nodosities on the roots are, as alread}" stated, perfectly analogous to
the galls on the leaves, and differ only in just such a manner as one would
expect from the difterence in the plant tissues — a view greatly strengthened
by the fact that when the gall-lice are forced, by. their excessive numbers,
to settle on the tendrils or leaf-stalks, the}^ produce swellings and knots
apjDroaching more nearly to those on the roots than to the galls. These

•It is really amusing to witness how the facts here set forth have l)een received by those who
never spent ten minutes investiuatioii of the subject in their lives. In the silkworm disease that has
of late years been so ju'evalcnt in Kurope, M. Pasteur, after the most painstaking and elaborate ex-
periments, at which he sacriliced liis health, unraveled its mysteries, gave to the world the true pa-
thology ot'pebrine, and what is m')re, showed how it might be eradicated. Yet, as I shall show fur-
ther oii, the men most interested Were very slow to believe the hard, dry facts which liad been
.snatched from the unknown, and — never having studied the case themst'lves — were more inclined to
consider the disease as snni'thing mysti'rious— something altogether beyond man's un<lerstanding,
and consequently unontroUaljle. I'll • m^st ignorant are ahvay.s the m )st skejitical! I might men-
tion several parties who h ive e.vpressed their opinion thit the Pkijlloxera has no connection with dis-
ease or decline in the Vine. To such, I simply say : examine for yourselves, before giving an opinion.
Others wh nn I might m -ntion go to the other extreme and assert that it must be the cause of mildew,
oidium, etc. , and witlioiit any good reason jnit a similar opinion in my mouth. To these last, 1 say :
Ilv-ad aright, do not misconstrue, aii<l by no in-ans jump to conclusions!

■>^ FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

facts sufficient]}^ attest the identity of the two types, and we have here
another case of an insect possessing two distinct habits. It is also like
many others of its Family, polymorphic, /. e., it exists in different forms ;
yet we have to do with but one species.

FURTHER FACTS RESPECTING THE HABITS OF THE KOOT-INHABlTINd TVPE.

The young- hatched from the eggs on the roots are absolutely uadis-
tinguishable from those hatched in the galls; and the gravid apterous female
differs in no respect whatever from the mother gall-louse. There is, how-
3ver, a different egg-depositing form, which, as it moults, becomes tubercled,
ind more elongated or pear-shaped, as shown at Figure 28, j. Some of
Ihese tubercled individuals remain without wings, while others seem''to be

KxpLAXATiON OF Fkutre HS.—n, shows 11 healthy i-oot; b, one on wlik-h the lice are working-,
presenting the knots and swellings cansed by their puuctures; c, a root that has been deserted by
cm, and where the rootlets have coninienced to decay; d, d, d, shows how the lice are found on the
rgcr roots; e, female pupa, dorsal view; /, same, ventral view; g, winged female, dorsal view; h,
me, ventral view; i, magnitied antenna of winged insect; j, side view of the wingless female, lay-
g eggs on roots; k, shows how the punctures of the lice cause the larger roots to rot.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. o9

destined from the iivst to acquire wings. The young, after attaching them-
selves, become in a measure stationary, and remind one very much of young
bark-lice. The fine hair-like setfe, which in their functions and elasticity
are analogous to our tongue, become loosened from the more fleshy ros-
trum or sheath, as shown at Figure 28, j, and are often so firmly inserted
into the root that the louse, if disturbed from its place, generally hangs by
them. Three of the threads of this tongue ai'e sufficiently conspicuous, but
there should be, from analogy, four. The females on the roots seem to be less
prolific than those in the galls, and their eggs if anything are rather larger.
These eggs arc always of a bright yellow color, and, on the dark root, are
detected with the naked eye as i-eadily as the lice, which become darker or
of a dull orange as they grow older.

The insect is found on the roots in all stages during the summer months.
In the winter it is found dormant, principally in the larva state, and no eggs
are to be seen. With the circulation of the sap in spring, the activity ot
these young recommences, and in a short time afterwards eggs are depos-
ited again. At this season the punctures of their little beaks produce very
decided swellings and an excess of moisture at the wounded parts. The
winged forms are by no means uncommon and commence to issue from the
ground perhaps as eai-ly as July. When I last examined the roots before
\ny departure, or about the middle of May, no pupae were found; but Avinged
insects were obtained as early as July in France, and aftei- my return I had
no difficulty in obtaining all I wished, especially during the latter part of
September. The pupa? are easily recognizable with a good lens, by the lit-
tle dark pad-like wing-sheaths at the sides of the body (Fig. 28, e,f) — and the
sexes may even be distinguished at this stage by the greater constriction
of the bod}" near these pads in the female, compared to the male, her abdo-
men being larger. Before giving forth the winged insect, these pnpas Ijecome
quite restless and active, and in a state of nature they no doubt issue from
the ground.

The winged female (Fig. 28, g, h), seems to be much more common than
the male, and is distinguished by her more lengthened abdomen — the wings,
when closed, extending not much more than its length beyond the tip,
while in the male they extend more nearly three times its length. The
dusky thoracic band is not so distinct and the abdomen is more produced
at the a-pex in the male; and there is also a slight difference in the venation
of the wings of the two sexes*, which venation is best seen in the fresh
specimens, as it becomes in a measure obsolete in drying. In \hc abdo-
men of the female two or three large eggs are jDlainly visible, especiallj^
after being soaked in acetic acid. The two-jointed tarsus or foot is also
plainly visible in such specimens, and I have found the joint movable, while
M. V. Signoret, of Paris, has obtained the skin of the tibia or shank with
the basal joint of the tarsus hanging to it. Prof. Westwood also refers to a
short basal tarsal joint in the gall insect which he described. These facts,
trivial as they may appear, are very important in a scientific view, as they
forever settle the differences that have existed as to the proper systematic
position which the louse occupies.

0 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF
SUSCEPTIBILITY OF DIFFERENT VINES TO THE ATTACKS OF THE LOUSE.

I have carefully examined a great many different kinds of vines within
! circuit of thirty miles of St. Louis, as well as in Cole, Jefferson and Boone
oimties, in this State, and the summary which follows indicates the sus-
eptibilit}^ of the different varieties to this disease. There ma}' be objec-
ion on the part of some persons to the placing of some of the varieties in
he following tables; and the opinions both of botanists and vine-growers

re so at variance that I shall give in the subsidiary note* mj' reasons for

i

1 * Classification of the N. A. Gkape-vixes. — In few genera of plants, is it more necessary tc
^cumulate abundant material in order to arrive at correct chissiflcation, than in the genus Vitis.
he .species are with rtillioult}' delined, a.s thej' vary in a marked manner in dill'erent sections of the
)untry ; and the foliage of the same individual vine often varies greatly at dillerent ages and seasons .
^•eserved leaves are not alone to be trusted, therefore, but every stage of growth must be considered,
om the wood to the diflerent leaves, the blossom, bunch, berry and even the seed, which in its
lapc, and especially in the development of its raphe (or cord) furnishes, according to Dr. Engel-
.ann, some of the most permanent distinguishing traits between- the species.

It is interesting to know that not a single real species has been addeil to those belonging to the old
'rritory of the United States, east of the Mississippi river, since the time of Linnicus and Michaux;
lough Rafinesque, LeConte, and perhai)s others, have attempted to distinguish agreat many more.
\ The number of Grape-vines bearing edible fruit, * now considered sijecies by the best botanists,
■ the territory of the United States, is limited to 9. They may l)e tabulated as follows:

Vhien which are of prncticdl consequence, an having yielded our different cultivated vari-
eties.

1. V'lTis Labuusc.^., Linn. Northern Fox.

i. " ^5:stivai,is, 3Iichx. Summer Grape.

?,. " ripauia, Miclix. River Bank Grape.

I. " vulpixa, Linn. Southern Fox, or Miiscardine.

r. fines of less eonseq.uence, and which have thus far given no cultivated varieties.

5. ViTis CORDIFOLIA, Michx. Winter or Frost Grape.

6. " (.'alifoknica, Benth. Confined to California.

7. " AiiizoxicA Engelm. Similar to the last.

3. " CAXDICANS, Kugelm. Mustang Grape of Texas.

!). " iiuPESTuis, Scheele. Bush Grape or Sand Grape.

Of these 9 species only 4 grow wild in our own State, viz: cestivaUs, cordifolia, riparia, and >■«-
Uris. ' ^

I In stating last year (3rd Rep. p. 90) that our cultivated (Varieties had been referred to four species,
eluding cordifolia and omitting riparia, I followed the later editions of Gray's Manual, in which the
tter is considered as a variety of the former. The reasons for adopting a dilTerent course will be
tuid in the following synopsis which has been kindly prepared for me bj' the author:

I THE TRUE GRAPE-VINES OF THE OLD UNITED STATES.

r BY DR. GEORGE ENGELMAXX, OF ST. LOUIS.

I I. Crrajte-vines with loose hark (at last separating in shreds), climbing by tlie aid of
anched tendrils, or (in JVo. 4) scarcely climbing at all.

Berries small, 3 — 6 or rarely 7 lines in diameter; seeds obtuse, icith the raphe {or cord) more or less promi-
nent (except in No. 4) over the top. All the species of this group, just like the Euro>pean grape-vine, ex-
' hittit onieeU grown shoots a regular alternation of two leaves each having a tendril (or its equivalent,
an inflorescence) , opposite to them, and a third leaf unthout such a tendril.

1. ViTis CORDIFOLIA, Michaux — Usually tall, climbing high, trunks not rarely 6 — 9 inches in di-
leter. Leaves middle sized, heart-shaped, mostly entire or rarely slightly tri-lobed, with shallow
r>ad teeth, usually smooth and shining on both sides, the young ones sometimes slightly downy be-
v; berries among the smallest; in large bimches, black without a bloom, maturing late in the fall,
lally with only one short and broad seed marked by a prominent raphe.

This is a common pkmt especially of the river-bottoms, and well known under tlie name of Winter
il)e. Frost grape or Chicken grape. It is found from New England to Texas, and westward to the
stern limits of the wooded part of the Mississiijpi valley. In this valley, at least, the fruit has a

♦There are a few species forming the sections (or according to others, genera) Cissus and Amp elop-
Which are now classed with Vitis; but they bear no edible iruit, and are otherwise easilv distin-
shed from the ti-ue Grape-vines.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 6

80 placing them. I am familiar with the views of many of the leadinj
grape-growers of the country, and have had an opportunity of studying
the genus hy the excellent herbarium of Dr. Engelmann. It is gratifyin;
to know, therefore, that the position given to such cultivated varieties a
obtain in this herbarium, agrees with that given to them by leading grape
growers — the views of the botanist and the practical man coinciding.

When we find it so difficult to properly separate the wild species, av
can no longer wonder at the difference of opinion as to the nature of man^^

stronyly iind even futiiUy-iinimatic taste. No cultivated varieties of the species are known.

2. ViTis Rii'AiUA, iV(c7ini/,r— Mostly a smaller plant tlian the last, but with larger and more o
less cut-lolied glabrous shining (or rarely when young, slightly downy) leaves, the lobes long an
pointed ; the teeth also m >re pointed than in cordifolia ; berries as small, or usually larger than in th
last, mostly with a bloom, in smaller bunches, mostly lor 2 seeded; seeds with a less promlnen
raphe .

This species prefers thickets or rocky soil on river banks and extends as far west and south as th
last, and much farther north, being tlie only grape-vine in Lower Canada, where it is found even C
miles north of Quebec. The northern form, in Canada, northern New York to Michigan and Nebras
ka, has fewer and larger berries in a bunch and is easily distinguished from V. cordifolia. Th
southwestern form, however, approaches more closely to this last species, with which Prof. Gray inth
later editions of his Manual has united it. The fruit ripens earlier than that of cordifolia, and is rauc
pleasanter. In St. Louis a variety found on the rocky river banks is brought to market in July. ^
number of cultivated varieties are referable to this species, among which the Taylor Bullit, the Deh
ware and the Clinton, are the most prominent.

3. ViTis AESTIVALIS, Michaux: Smaller than the first, climbing over bushes and smaller trees
leaves large, of firmer texture than the preceding ones, entire, or often more or less deeply and ob
tusely 3 — j lobed, with short and shallow, l)rciad teeth ; when young always very woolly, mistly brigh
red or rusty; at last smoothish but dull and never shining like the preceding ones; berries usuall
larger than in both others and, when well grown, in compact bunches, coated with a distinct bloom
seeds usually 2 or 3, with a very prominent raphe.

This is the well known Summer grape common throughout the middle and southern States, usuall
found on uplands and in dry open woods or thickets, maturing its fruit in September. It is the mo;
variable of our grape-vines and hence has seduced superficial observers into the establishment of nu
merous nominal species. A form with large leaves which retain their rusty down at full maturit
has often been mistaken for Labrusca, which does not grow in our State. Anolher form, more bush
than climbing, with deeply lobed rusty-downy leaves and very sweet fruit, is Vitin Lincecumiioi th
sandy soil of Louisiana and Texas.' This species assumes a peculiar form approaching T'. cordifoli
through its smaller black berries without bloom and in larger bunches, when it gets into shady wood
with rich soil. Another form Avith ashy-white, doM'nj-, scarcely lobed leaves, and fruit like the las
mentioned, which grows in our bottoms, often climbing high trees, or growing over bushes on th
banks of lakes, I have distinguished by the name oicinerea. It is not alwaj'S easy to distinguish sue
torras from the other species and perhaps less so to unite them under the single species, cestivalis, iin
less the essential characters above enumerated be closely attended to, and the numberless gra4|iu
transitions from one form into the other be watched. I

We cultivate many varieties of this valuable species, the most important of which are the Virgii
ia Seedling, the Cynthiana and the Herbemont. \

4. ViTis Rui'ESTRis, Schcele: A small bushy plant, often without any tendrils, rarely somewhj;
climbing; leaves small (2 — 3 inches wide) mostly broader than long, heart-shaped, scarcely ever slight
ly lobed, with broad coarse teeth and usually an abruptly elongated point, glabrous, and of a rathe
light green color; berries middle-sized, on very small bunches; seeds mostly 3 — I, obtuse, with a ver
delicate raphe.

This very peculiar gi-ape-vine is found only west of the Mississippi, from the Missouri river t
Texas and westward probably to New Mexico. In our State where it is called Sand grape, and in Ai
kansas, it grows on the gravelly banks and over-flowed bars of miuntain streams; in Texas also, o
rocky plains, whence the Latin name; it is there also known under the name of Sugar grape. Its lu.:
cious fruit ripens with us in August.

It is nowhere yet in cultivation but may in future prove of value. \

b. Berries large, 7 — 9 or even 10 lines in diameter; raphe scarcely visible on the more or less deepi

notched top of the seed. — These plants on well grown shoots bear a tendril opposite each leaf with oni

rare and irregular intermissions.

5. ViTis Labrusca, Linnceus: Plants usually not large, climbing over bushes or small treet
though occasionally reaching the tops of the highest trees, with large (4—6 inches wide) and thiol
entire or sometimes deeply lobed, very slightly dentate leaves, coated when young with a thick rust)

i

62 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

of our cultivated varieties; for some of them have become so modified that
the}- furnish scarcely any indication of their parentage. If those grape-
growers who take interest in such matters will send specimens of siieh cul-
tivated varieties as they wish to properl}' classif}-, to Dr. Engelmann, eithei-
directh' or through me, they will at least get the opinion of one who is
good authority, and such action may he mutually i)rofitable. Sjjecimens
should be sent at flowering time, and should include the whole shoot with
full-sized and young leaves, blossom, and tendril ; and after the fruit is ripe
a bunch of the berries and seeds from the same stock should follow.

The proj)er classification of our different varieties is of more import-
ance, in this connection, than would at first appear. Since the publication
of some of the facts set forth in this article, a few enterjirising French grape-
growers, in the districts desolated by the louse, have conceived the idea of
importing from this country such varieties as are most exempt from the
attacks of the Phylloxera, and M. LeFranc, the Minister of Agriculture, has
likewise expressed his intention of so doing. Already a number of varie-
ties, and especially Cunningham, Ilerbemont, Norton's Virginia, Concord,
Hartford Prolific, Clinton and Martha have been shij^ped to M. J. Leen-
hardt, of Montpellier, France; and others to Switzerland, by Messrs. Isidor
Bush k Co. If America has given this plague to Europe, why should she
not in return, furnish her with vines which are capable of resisting it ? At
least nothing but good can come of the trial, for though our grapes are gen-
erally sneered at on the other side of the water, we have made such rapid
improvements in viticulture during the last ten years, that they scared}'
know anything of our better kinds ; and many of those which do well in

or eometimes whitish, wool or down, which in the wild plant remains on the lower side, bnt almost
disappears in the mature leaf of some cultivated varieties; berries large, in rather small or middle-
sized bunches, bearing 3 or 3 or sometimes 4 seeds. -^

Tliis plant, usually known as the Fox-grape or Northern Fox-grape is a native of the eastern
slope of the continent from New England to South Carolina, where it prefers wet thickets; it extends
into the Alleghany mountains, and here and there even down their western declivity, but is a
stranger to the Mississippi Valley . The most important varieties of this grape-vine now cultivated in
our country (such as the Catawba, Concord, h-abella, Ilar/ford Prolific, and dozens of others) are the
oflspring of this species; they are all easily recognized by the characters above given, and mo
readily by the peculiar arrangement of the tendrils as above described.

IJ. Grape-vines with a firtnly adhering barJc, which does not scale off; tendrils almost
ahvai/.s simple; berries very large (7 — 10 lines in diameter) , very few in a bunch; seeds
with transverse wrinkles or shallow yrooves on both sides.

H. ViTis V0LPINA, Linnceus: Bushy, or sometimes climbing high, with small (2 or at most 3
inches wide) rounded, heai-t-shaped, firm and glossy dark green leaves, smooth or rarely slightly
hairy (;n the under side, with coarse, large or shallow teeth.

'I'his southern species, known under the name o{ Southern Fox-grape, Bullace, or Bullet-grape is,
found along water-courses, not further north than North Carolina and Arkansas, and may possibly
straggle into southeastern Missouri. Some of its cultivated varieties, especially the white Scupper-
nong, are highly esteemed in the South but do not perfect fruit in the latitude of St. Louis.

I recognize only three other species of true grape-vines in the territories of the United States . The
most remarkable of these is the Mustang grape of Texas, Vitis candicans, Engelm. (F. Mustangensis,
Buckley), with rather large, rounded, almost toothless, rarely deeply-lobed leaves ; white woolly on
the under side, bearing large berries, which in its native country are now beginning to be made into
wine. Vitis Californica, Bentham, the only wild grape of California, has rounded downy leaves, and
small berries, and is not made use of as far as known. Vitis Arizonica, Engebn. similar to the
last, l)nt glabrous, with middle-sized berries, reported to be of a luscious taste. Neither of these
show a prominent rai)he on the seed, so that this character is peculiar only to the first 3 species
h«-e enumerated.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

63

Missouri will doubtless succeed in France. Such of our vines as have
already been cultivated there are often differently classified by their writers
to Avhat they are by American authors, and confusion consequently ensues.
Thus, one of my correspondents, M. Laliman, of Bordeaux, who has cul-
tivated a number of them for several years, classes the Clinton and Taylor
as a'.^tivalis, and the Norton's Virginia and Delaware as Labrusea*

I will now indicate the susceptibility of different varieties to the disease.
Vitis vinifera (European). — All European varieties with roots badly
affected. In many instances decomposed and gone, with the vines about
dead. No leaf-galls.

T^ riparia (River Bankj. Clinton. — Leaf-galls extremely abundant.
Jioot-lice only moderately so. Taylor— Where leaf-galls are few, i-oot-lice
abundant; where galls are abundant, fewer root-lice. Delaware — A few
leaf-galls 5 lice abundant on roots. Othello (hybrid with vinifera)— Both
leaf-galls and root-lice, the latter tolerably numerous. Louisiana (some
say a seedling of vinifera, others again believe it aestivalis)— Leaf-<^ii\h and
root-lice, but neither bad. Alvey— Few leaf-galls; plenty of root-lice.
Cornucopia (hybrid with vi7iifera)—'No leaf-galls; roots badly affected with
lice. Wild vine — Numerous leaf-galls and a few root-lice; much in same
condition as Clinton.

V. aestivalis (Summer). Cunningham— No leaf-galls, but a few root-
lice. Cvnthiana — Occasionally a few galls; lice abundant on roots. The
vine has a vigorous growth ajid the roots are large and strong. Ilerbemont
— A few leaf-galls, and scarcely any root-lice. Norton's Virginia— No leaf-
galls, but some root-lice.

T". Labrusea (Northern Fox). Isabella, or seedlings of Isabella— No leaf-
galls ; a few root-lice : roots strong and vines flourishing. Martha — No
leaf-galls; very few root-lice. Hartford— No leaf-galls; very few root-lice.
Concord— No leaf-galls; scarcely any root-lice. Almost entirely exempt,
lyes— No leaf-galls ; lice tolerably abundant on roots. North Carolina— No
leaf-galls; very few root-lice. Maxatawney— No leaf-galls; root-lice quite
abundant. Creveling— A few leaf-galls; root-lice abundant. Catawba—
No leaf-galls; root-lice ver}' numerous, abounding even on the largei
roots as on the European vines. Goethe (hybrid with vinifera) — No leaf
galls, but lice on roots very numerous. In the vineyards of Messrs. Isidoi
Bush & Sons, of Bushburg, Mo., this vine was very vigorous and thrifty in
1869 and 1870, but has done poorly the present year. Dracut Amber— No
leaf-galls; few root-lice. Wilder (hybrid with vinifera)— No leaf-galls; not
many root-lice. Challenge (hybrid with vinifera— No leaf-galls; roots af
fected but moderately. Diana— No leaf-galls, but plenty of root-lice.

Y. vulpina (Southern Fox or Muscadine) — As it is not grown in this local
ity. being considered absolutely worthless here, I know little about it.

From this experience it would appear that no vines of those named, art
entirely free from the attacks of the root-louse; but that the European va
rieties are most susceptible to it — the Northern Fox, next in order, th€

• Kttule ^ur les clivers Pliyllcixera, ft leur medications.

64 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

Eiver Bank grape next, and the Summer grape the least affected. It would
likewise appear that galls are occasionally found on all of the species ex-
cejit the EurojDean, and as they have in a few instances, been found on thisi
species in Europe, it cannot be considered entirely exempt. * Nevertheless,
in general terms, the River Bank grape must be considered the species which
the gall-louse jJi'efers. Exj)erience on this point Avill, no doubt, vary in dif-
ferent jDarts of the country, and more extended experience may modify some
of these deductions.

We thus see that no vine, whether native or foreign, is exempt from
the attacks of the root-louse. Yet, on the principle that a small dose of poi-
son may prove harmless or even beneficial where an over-dose will kill, we
find that a small niimber of root-lice produce no serious effects upon the
vine ; and that it is only where they are very numerous, and cause not only
the fibrous roots, but even the larger ones to Avaste away, that their evil
effects are perceptible. With most of our native vines when the conditions
are normal, the disease seems to remain in the former mild state, and it is
only with the foreign kinds, and with a few of the natives^ under certain
conditions, that it takes on the more acute form.

In France, according to M. Laliman, the American varieties which have
resisted the root-louse best are the Clinton, Taylor, Herbemont (known there
as Warren), and some others which are considered valueless here, such as
Pauline, Elsimboro, Lenoir, Mustang of Texas, and a kind of York-Madeira ;
while those which su.cconib are Isabella, Scup^jernong, Concord, Norton's
Virginia, Maxatawn}', Hartford Prolific, C^nthiana, etc. This exjierience
differs a little from ours, but shows that the Labruscas suffer most there
also.

MEANS OF CONTAGION FROM ONE VINE TO ANOTHER.

The young lice, whether hatched upon the roots or in the galls, are
quite active and crawl about for some time; and that they will spread from
one vine to another, either under ground upon the roots or on the surface
of the ground during the night, is highly probable. Such, however, cannot
be the mode of spreading from one vineyard to another; for were it so, the
malady could not possibly have assumed such proportions in so short a time,
as it has done abroad. One method of transport is upon the i-oots of seed-
lings and cuttings, but the insect cannot in this manner find its way to an
old vineyard, and there must be still another means. Here we come to that
part of the natural history of our louse which must assume the form of hy-
pothesis until further observations shall be made. In this country the mal-
ady is general, but in France, where it is still spreading from one place to
another, they have a good opportunity to watch its progress ; and Planchon
finds that it always commences at certain circumscribed points and spreads
from these points in more or less regular circles. There is no way of ac-
counting for these nuclei — these starting points in the center of an old vine-

* Since this was written I have been informed by Mr. Glover, of the Department of Agriculture,
that the leaves of certain Kurojiean vines, in green-house, such as Muscat Hamburcj and Madam Pince-
were crowded with the galls, even as late as December; and that they had begun to spread on to Son-
ora and the Due de Malacojf',

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. *)£>

yard that never showed signs of the disease before, except on the hypothe>>i8
of the winged insect having flown there and started the colony.

We have alrcad}' seen that certain individuals of the root-inhabiting
type become winged. Why these individuals become winged while others
never do, is, perhaps, not for us to understand. Signoret ventures the La-
niarckian suggestion that the need of quitting roots that are already de-
stroyed may be one reason, and the pupaj are certainly found more particu-
larly on badly infested roots. All plant-lice multiply agamically during the
summer months while they are abundantly nourished, but towards winter
when, by this mode of reproduction, and by the diminishing nutriment in
the dying foliage, the lice become, so to speak, exhausted, then lo and be-
hold winged males and females apjicar ! Numerous other facts in insect life,,
such as the production of drone bees solely from unfertilized eggs, etc., indi-
cate that the Avinged male may be, in some way or other, connected with defect-
ive vitality; and Mr. Thomas Meehan, of the Gardeners' Monthly, has so ire-
quently observed such to be the case with plants, that he considers it a law
" that with a weakened vitality .comes an increased power to bear male flow-
ers."* But this throws no light on the production of winged females, and
here, as in thousands of other instances, nature tells us })lainly to be sat-
isfied with the tacts without the explanation.

Our winged female is a reality ! What, then, are her functions? In
the breeding jars she invfiriabl}* flies towards the greatest light, and her large
compound eyes, and ample wings indicate that she was made for the light
and the air. AVe have also seen that she is burdened with two or three eggs
only, and m}' opinion is that after meeting her mate, her sole life duty is to .
fly off and consign her few eggs to some grape-vine or grape-bud, and that the
lice hatching from these eggs constitute the first gall-producing mothers.

I am led to this opinion by the fact that about the middle of May. in
looking for the galls, 1 always find but two or three to a vine, and general-
ly but one to a leaf These vernal galls — as one would expect from the
greater vitality of the young from fertilized eggs, and the gi-eater succuleucy
of the leaves at that season — are miich larger than the ordinary summer
form, and generally have a decidedly rosy tint on one side. Similar galls
have also been found in France. Just as many other insects prefer cei'tain
species of plants, or even certain varieties of a species, so our winged P/'i/l-
loxera shows her preference for the Clinton and its close allies. She occa-
sionally deposits her eggs on other varieties, as I have found the large ver-
nal galls on Concord, Hartford Prolific, etc., and it follows that she must
do so whei-e no riparia vines occur. But, exce^jt on the varieties of the
latter species, the young lice hatching from her eggs do not seem h:> be
capable of forming galls, on the leaves, but make straightway for the roitts.
Onl}'- in this manner can we account for the galls abounding so much more
on some varieties than on others.

Some persons may wonder how a minute insect with such delii ate
wings, braced with so few simple veins, as those possessed by our Phylloxera

*Proc. Am. Asd. Adv. Sci., 1869, i'. AiO.

5

66 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

can manage to flj" through the air to any great distance; and those wlio
have not witnessed them in flight are very apt to underrate their power of
volitation. There is a conical gall very common on the upper surface of the
leaves of our Shell-bark hickories. This gall is made by a louse very closely
allied to our Grape-leaf gall-louse and was named Phylloxera carycefolice
by Dr, Fitch. * This louse occurs abundantly in the winged form, and fur-
nishes an excellent illustration of the power of the insects of this genus to
fly. Let any one watch these wiiiged gall-lice, as they issue, during some
warm day in June, from the fimbriated mouth of their gall, and he will be
struck with astonishment at the facility and jjower with which they fly ofl".
They are no sooner out of the gall than the wings commence to vibrate so
as to become invisible, and the insect suddenly darts away with wonderful
force. They must likewise, often be carried great distances by the wind.

Again, it would at first sight seem almost impossible for the female to de-
posit her loose eggs which have no viscous property, upon a swaying leaf;
but this very feat is accomiDlished by another little louse of the same genus,|
which may be found dejiositing its eggs all through the summer months,
on the under side of the leaves of our young Post oaks.

PROBABLE REASON WHY ITS INJURIES ARE GREATER IN EUROPE THAN WITH US.

It is a well recognized fact amiong careful observers, that in the natural
state there is greater harmony between the fauna and flora of a countrj-
than in the more artificial state that civilized man "induces by cultivation.
Through a long series of ages, the species least able to contend in the
struggle for life, "go to the wall," until at last, by a process of elimination,
the balance is struck and we find the animal and plant world well adapted
and adjusted to each other. For this reason the native vines which now
flourish in this country are those which have fought the long battle in the
past and have best resisted the enemy. They are, in short, best adapted to
the circumstances, and by their more vigorous nature resist the hypertrophy
of the bark caused by the punctures of the lice, and form new bark under
it. The Eurojjean vines, on the contrary, are not onl}- of a more highly
improved and tender character, but have not been accustomed to the dis-
ease. They consequently succumb more readily, on the same principle that
many diseases that are comparatively harmless among civilized nations,
acquire greater virulency and play fearful havoc when introduced among
savage, or hitherto uncontaminated peoples.

There may be other reasons, such as the different modes of culture and
difterence of soil ; for in the French districts so badJy affected the vinos are
either grown with a single stake or no stake at all, and their soil is gener-
ally- much poorer than ours. In America, also, we know that there are sev-
eral natural enemies of the louse, and these checks have, in all likelihood,
never been imported into Europe with their prey. That the louse will in

*Kep. III. § lOG.

t This is a species of PhtjUojrera which is yet undescribed, bat which M. J. Lichtenstein proposes
to call Ph. Rileiji. It infests the haves of our Post oak very much in the same mauuer as the European
Ph. quercus infests their oaks — causing a simihirly pale speckled appearance of the upper side of tiie
leaves. It differs from all desci'ibed si)ecies in the great length and prominence of the tubercles.

THE STATK ENTOMOLOGIST. 67

time tiud enemies, ami lose its acute power of doing harm even in Europe,
is highly probable ; and M. Planohon has already noticed that the infested
vines in the later invaded departments of Gard and Herault retained a com-
I^aratively greener color than in that of Vaucluse, first invaded. Such has
been the history of the Hessian tly and a number of other insects imported
into this country. These are the exphmations 1 venture, and whether they
be generally accepted or not, the facts remain.

OUTWARD AND MORE VISIBLE EFFECTS OF THE ROOT DISEASE.

As long as the lice are confined to the more fibrous roots Avhich, in a
measure, are renewed each year, the vines show ho decided outward signs
of the malad}^, w^hich may then be considered in its incipient stage. As
they become multiplied and fasten on to the larger roots, their work
becomes more visible in a sickly, yellowish ai^pearance of the leaf ; and a
reduced growth of the vine is the result. A4 the roots waste away these
symptoms become more acute, and at thie stage of the disease the lice have
generally left, so that when the vine is about dying it is often difficult to
find any trace of the cause of death. On the rotten roots little eight-
legged mites are frequently met with, and they are also to be found in the
galls. They may always be distinguished from the true lice by their white,
or dirty-white, color.

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.

Last year, from the knowledge we then had of this insect in this
countr}-, 1 recommended the destruction of the Clinton vine, where other
and better varieties succeeded as well. This advice was given in order to
get rid of the galls, and wherever it has been followed it has had the desired
effect. It was given, however, under the impression that the lice
would not attack the roots except where the leaves were covered with
galls ; whereas, in truth, the roots would ap})car to be less affected (at least
during the grooving season) where the leaf-galls are abundant than where
they are scaix-e; while they may be absolutel}" ruined where no signs of
galls exist. Consequentlj' there is no longer any urgent need of, or good
reasons for, destroying our Clinton vines. By doing so we may diminish
the number of galls, but we can never exterminate the root-lice. Future
experiments will no doubt show that good results will attend the grafting
of such varieties as are known to be most seriously aftected, on to the roots
of less susceptible varieties.

The insect should be especially watched, as it is apt to be most trouble-
some, on poor, gravelly or clayey soils. • In deep, rich soils I think therQ is
less danger. In France it has been found to be less troublesome on sandy
soils, and in my studies I have alwa3\s noticed that minute, soft-bodied
insects do poorly in sand.* The greater the growth of vine the greater the
growth of root, and consequently, vines that are trained on walls and
which thus more nearh* approach the wild state, or which are rendered vig-
orous by a rich soil, are least susceptible to the disease.

*In examining vine roots this fall iu som:.' parts of Kortlu-rn Ulinois, whei-e sand formed a proni-
inent portion of the soil, 1 found very few root-lice, except on Cordifolia vines whose leaves had
been covered with galls. Even on these the general healthfulness of the roots, indicatecl that they
had not been infesteil during the sumiiiL^r, and that the lice had all come from the last galls of the
season.

68 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

REMEDIES.

Destruction of the GtALL-lice. — From what we have already seen, we
may justly infer that this insect cannot of itself spread from one vineyard
to another without going through the gall-producing jDhase; and a few galls
on the leaves are, no doubt, invariably the first signs of its advent, by nat-
tural means, into a vineyard not previously attacked. By natural means,
I mean without the aid of man's assistance, b}' which they are introduced
from one place to another on the roots. If these galls, therefore, could only
be found and destroyed, it would be one way of effectually heading off the
evil ; and in a new vineyard a little vigilance in searching for these galls
might save much subsequent loss and labor. I shall not treat here of the
natural enemies of the louse, which are of such a nature that they cannot
be practically controlled and increased.

Destruction of the Root-lice. — I hope next spring to institute a series of
experiments on the root-lice, with a view to the discovery of a practical
remedy. It were to be desired that others having opportunity and occasion
would do likewise. Here is an excellent chance for our different agricul-
tural colleges, which have greater means and facilities than any one
individual can possibly have. As a guide to such experiments, and to
profit as much as possible by the experience of others, I will synopsize the
results of trials in France. From these results, which I give below, we
may learn that no reliable and cheap remedj-, that will destroy all the lice
after thej- have become numerous, has yet been discovered ; and the best
advice that can at present be given is to guard against the insect's introduc-
tion into new vineyards by carefully examining the roots before planting.
If knots and lice are found upon them, the latter may be destroyed l>y the
same means used against the Apple root-lice — i. e., by immersing the roots
in hot soap-suds or tobacco-water.

Preparations of carbolic acid have, so far, given most satisfaction, and
I have great hopes of benefit from the saponaceous compound prepared in
this country by James Buchan & Co., of New York. This compound is
•not yet manufactured in France, where they have to use the pui*e acid or
the crystals.

Carbolic acid added to water at the rate of one-half to one per eent^
has been successfully employed, and M. Leenhardt, of Sorgues, has by its
use, succeeded in keeping his vineyard alive and bearing, while all those
around him are destroyed. He uses a heavy bar, thickened! and pointed
at the end, wherewith to make two or three holes, a foot or more deep,
around the base of each vine. He then fills these holes with the liquid,
which gradually permeates the soil in all directions. A good post-hole
augur, such as we use in this country, would work more rapidly, with the
advantage of compressing the earth less, but it would do more injury to
the roots.

Old of cade. — This empyreumj^tical oil, which is common and cheap in
France, when dissolved in an}- alkali (the urine of cows being good enough)

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 69

and applied in the same manner described above, has also g-iven good results.
A mixture coftiposed of lime and sulphur boiled in water at the rate of
about five pounds lime and five pounds sulphur to one gallon of water, and
applied when hot, has been found good.

Alkalies seem to invigorate the vines, but do not affect the lice. They
are also too costly. Salt. — Vines on lands strongly impregnated with salt
have been found to resist the attacks of the lice. Acids generally are neu-
tralized by the lime which most soils contain.

Sulphur has been thoroughly tried without any good I'esults, cither
upon the leaf-lice or root-lice.

Sulphuretted hydrogen. — Thc}^ have tried to pump this into the soil, but
the pumps alwa^'S break, and no one would think of going to such trouble
here.

Sulphate of iron is of no account. Sulphate of copper destroys the roots.
Numerous other chemicals have been experimented with, but with very lit-
tle or no success, and they are besides not applicable on a large scale.

Irrigation and submersion have been pretty thoroughly tested, and it is
doubtful, even where they can be employed, whether the}- have anj- other
effect than that of invigorating the vines, as the lice arc, many of them,
still found alive after a submergence of months. These methods must be
considered conservatives rather than curatives.

RESU3IE or THE INSECT's HISTORY.

We have had in this country, from time immemorial, an insect attack-
ing our native vines, either forming galls on the leaves or gall-like excres-
cences on the roots.* This insect is polymorphic, as many others of its
Family are known to be. It also exists in two types, the one, which may
be termed radicicola, living on the roots, wdiile the other, which may be
termed galloecola, dwells in galls on the leaves. The latter is found more
especially on the Clinton and its allies, while the forniej is found on all
varieties, but flourishes best on vines belonging to the vinifera species. The
gall-iuhabiting type was noticed and imperfectly described in 1856, but the
root-inhabiting type, being less conspicuous, was unknown in this country
till last year.

Such an insect is very readily transported from one countrj^ to another
on grape roots, seedlings, etc., and just as our Apple root-louse (Eriosoma
lanigera, Hausm.) was imported into Europe towards the close of the last
centur}', so we find that our Grape-louse was similarly imported, in all
probability within the last decade. The mode of transport will become all
the more intelligible when I state that M. Signoret showed me, last July,
the yet living progeny of some lice which he had placed in a tightly-corked
glass tube the year before; and that he had managed to keep a few alive
for study all through the siege of Paris up to the time mentioned.

Xothing would be more natui-al than its introduction at Bordeaux,

* I liave been able to trace them with absolute certainty as far back as 184'), for in the herbarium
of Dr. Eugelmann is a specimen of wild riparia gathered in this State in that year, the leaves of
which are disfigured by the very same gall.

70 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

where M. Laliman has, for a number of years, been assiduous in the cultivation
and trial of our different American vines. Or it might have t)een introduced
at the nui'series of the Audebert Bros., near Tarascon,* where all sorts of
American plants have been cultivated; and, if T mistake not, M. Planchon,
with commendable zeal, has so thoroughly sifted the history of the subject
in France that he can trace the first invasion, with tolerable certainty, to a
point near this place, Tarascon. It doubtless existed in France a few years
before its injuries attracted attention, and the first notice of its work was
made in the vineyard of M. de Penarvan, at Ville-neuve-les-Avignon, in
1863. The scourge soon increased and spread, and in 1868 and 1869 acquired
such dimensions as to thoroughly alarm the great grajDC-growing districts
of beautiful France. At first all sorts of hypotheses were put forth as to
its cause. Some book-worms even thought they had found in this root-louse
the Phtheir of the ancient G-reeks, but the intelligent labors of M. Planchon
soon disiielled all such illusions, and proved that the Phtheir of the ancients
was a true bark-louse (^Dactylopius longispi7ii(>!, Targ.) of a totally different
nature, and still existing in the Crimea.']'

In this manner our root-louse was known and studied in a foreign land
before its presence was even suspected in this — its native country.

CONCLUSION — NO NEED OF UNNECESSARY ALARM.

Knowledge of the flicts I have here brought forth need not alarm the
grape-grower an^^ more than correct knowledge of some indisposition, hith-
ei'to incomprehensive and consequently uncured, should alarm the human
patient. It was only a few years ago that our eyes were opened to the true
character of the entozoa known as Trichina spiralis, and there can be little
doubt but that previous to our knowledge of this parasite man}^ a death
occasioned by it was attributed to other unknown causes. It may not be
more easy to cure the disease now than it was formerly, but we are, by
understanding its nature, enabled to easily guard against and prevent it.
"Full knowledge of the truth," says Ilelmholz, "always brings with it the
cure for the damage which imperfect knowledge may occasion." The Phyl-
loxera has always existed on our vines, and those varieties which in the past
have best withstood its attacks will be very likely to do so in the future.
The presence of a few lice on such varieties need cause no fear, for the idea
of ever entirelj' exterminating such an insect from the country must be per-
4 fectly Utopian, and all we can do is to watch and more particularly care for
those varieties that most easily succumb. In the future, the vineyardist
will be enabled, by the revelations here made, to trace to a definite cause
many a failure which has hitherto been wrapped in conjecture and mys-
tery.

In thus calling the attention of the grape growing community to this
interesting little insect, which is sapping the roots of their vines, mj^ inten-

* M. Laliman in the essay already mentioned (p. (i3) , shows that this nursery has not existed for
nearly tifteeu years; but this fact does not preclude the possibility of the louse having been ttrst intro-
duced there. It would only indicate — if the spread of the disease can be traced from that point — that
it existed in France, without attracting attention, at an earlier epoch than is generally supposed.

t See an Essay entitled La Plithiriose on Pediculaire de la Vigne ches les Aucieus. Bulletin de la
Soi. des Agr. de Fraice, Jiilv, 1870.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 71

tion is to do good and not cause unnecessary con ternation. Let me Ixipe
that others may bo induced to study the microscopic plague and thus not
only assist to fill the gaps yet occurring in its natural history, but help us
to become better masters of it. Only those who have witnessed the fearful
havoc it has made abroad — where in three years it caused a loss of 25,000,-
000 francs in the single department of Vaucluse, France, — can fully appre-
ciate its importance and its power, under favorable circumstances, to do
harm.

I must remind those who live outside of Missouri, that my observa-
tions in this country have been confined to different parts of this State^
and apply more especially to this portion of the Mississippi Valle}'.
The insect occurs, however, very generally over the country east of
the Mississippi river, even into Canada ; and there are strong indica-
tions that it produces similarly injurious effects elsewhere. To give a
single example : According to the records, most of the vineyards <:)n
Staten Island which were flourishing in 1861, and which were composed
principally of Catawba, had failed in 1866, and Mr. G. E. Meissner, of Bush-
berg, who then owned a vineyard on that island, informs me that he had
noticed the nodosities, and that the roots of the dying vines had wasted
away.* I cannot conclude without publicly expressing my indebtedness to
Messrs. Lichtenstein and Planchon, of Montpellier, France, for the cordial
and generous manner in which they gave me every facility for studying the
insect there, and witnessing experiments in the field.

* Since the above was written, I have listened to an essay on Grapes, by Mr. P. Manny, of Free-
port, Stephenson county, Illinois. In this essay, which was read before the Illinois State Horticul-
tural Society, the writer states that his Delaware, lona and Salena vines lose their lower roots. He
attributes this loss of roots to the tenacity of the soil (though more likely owing to unseen root-lic<-i
and has remedied it in a measure by grafting on Clinton roots.

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT pF

BENEFICIAL INSECTS.

SILK\VORMS

^^ Si Patrice utilis compensatus est labor."

INTRODUCTORY.

g

Silk is at once the stroiigest and most tenacious of fibres, and makes
the most beautiful, durable and valuable of tissues. What gold is to metals,
or the diamond to precious stones, that silk is to all other textile fibers.

Upwards of 35 years ago speculators succeeded in creating an immense
furore throughout this country on the subject of silk-culture. It is not my
purpose to repeat the history of the silk excitement, which by the name of
the Morus imdiicanlis fever stands out j)rominently as an integi-al part of the
history of our Republic. Inflated to its utmost the bubble soon burst, and
Avith its collapse came a reaction which has ever since prejudiced Americans
against an industry which is justlj^ considered one of the very richest with
many nations of the earth. As a peo^jle we are too apt to go to extremes,
and the history of the White Willow hedge fever in the West, some ten
years ago, and of other similar sj^eculations which have for a while excited
the people's mind, is present to tell us that the 3Iorus multicaidis fever does
not stand alone as an evidence of the fact.

Strong as was the reaction and the prejudice against silk-culture, 3-et
during the last few years the subject has received increasing attention, and
Commissioner Capron refers hopefully to it in his last report from the De-
partment of Agriculture. * It has been shown that some races of the worm
will feed and flourish on Osage orange, and that some parts of this great
country are, so far as climate is concerned, eminently adapted to the rear-
ing of this precious insect, whose industry increases that of man. Indeed
so much of an exaggerated nature has been said and written on the subject,
sincd the close of the Reballion, and mare particulai-ly in California, that
there is some danger of a repetition of the history of 35 years ago.

It has occuri'ed to me that an accurate account of the Mulberry Silk-
worm, and of such other introduced or indigenous species as seem to war-
rant it, xaay, in great measure, prevent any such unfortunate recurrence,
and really prove interesting and valuable to the people of Missouri as not
only revealing the habits of some of the most splendid moths which enrich

♦1^70, p. 8.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.. I 6

our fauna and constantly attract the attention of the knowledge-seeker; but
as giving information which may at any future day become invaluable in an
industrial sense.

Though we may not, at present, be able to compete, in their own mar-
kets, with the cheaper labor of parts of Europe and Asia, there is no reason
why, with proper ijitelligence, we may not produce our own silk as cheaply
as it can be brought here from those countries; and I am convinced that
should we ever be cut off by war, from those countries on which we rely for
our present silk supply, we can easily fall back on our own resources ; and
there are few parts of the United States better adapted to the raising of silk
than the southern counties of Missouri. Even now, there is no reason Avhy
the young peojile, and those unable to do harder work, in thousands of fam-
ilies, in that section of the State more espeeiall}', should not spend a few
weeks each j-ear in the pleasant work of producing cocoons. The spinning
wheel and the distatf have been superceded and driven from the household
by modern machinery; and the time which used to be given to their work-
ing in former days, might be profitablj" devoted now-a-daj'S to silk-raising
and reeling. Such a substitution of the finer for the coarser fiber would in-
deed be typical of our modern civilization and progress compared with the
old.

Xot very many years have elapsed since grape-culture was considered
impracticable in this country, while the practicability of pisciculture is only
just now beginning to be realized; and to one who is familiar with the de-
tails of sericulture abroad, it becomes very clear that, with the endless
variety of our soil and climate, the production of silk might soon be added
to our constantly increasing resources — especially if fostered and encouraged
at the start by wise government. It is not always wise to prophecy, and
yet, to me, the day is not far distant when there will be on our Pacific coast
silk-reeling establishments, worked it may be by the most skilled Japanese
labor — establishments which will create a ready market for cocoons reared
with us, even if we do not erect filatures or reeling establishments ourselves;
for the completion of the Union Pacific railroad brings us into direct com-
munication with the far West, and an import duty of about 10 per cent, on
raAV silk, though it would of course be protested against by the manufactur-
ers, would give stimulus to this production and certainly benefit the countrj'.

Xothing in that well known " Boy's own Book " had half the interest
for me, in childhood, as the chapter on the Silkworm. The feeding of the
worms was the pet summer occupation of my boj'hood ; while the i-isks ven-
tured and obstacles surmounted to procure mulbeny leaves for the same
purpose, are prominent among the reminiscences of after college life. Since
then I have lost no opportunity to inform myself of the details of the silk
industry, so that I speak from no little experience.

Before proceeding to the more specific consideration of these silk-
worms, I ma}' as well state that my object is not so much to go into detail,
since whole volumes might be, and have l>een, written on the Mulberry Silk-
worm alone. My purpose is to lay before the people of Missouri such ex-

74 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

perience as is yet unrecorded, and to sift from the mass of nnimpr)rtant
facts, the more salient and valuable ones.

Of the eight species Avhich will be treated of, four, namely, mori, cynthla,
yama-)nai, and Ferny i, are of foreign origin, and the other four, namel}-^
Cecropia, Promethea, Luna, and Polyphemus, are native. I shall give an ac-
count of the changes these different worms undergo, because these changes
have not before received sufficient attention. It will be noticed that, when
newly hatched, all of them, even to the mulberry species, are, in form and
structure, exactly alike; and that they differentiate more and more as they
increase in size, until each acquires its specific characters. This is in accord-
ance with a law which has only lately been fully appreciated, and which
prevails throughout nature; namely, that in the early stages, the species of
a genus or of a Family closely resemble each other, no matter how dissimi-
lar they afterwards become. To the Darwinian such facts are significant, as
impl^^ing descent from a common ancestry.

All these silkworms cast their skin four times during the feeding period,
and thus have five different stages of growth ; the worm resting and fasting
from one to three daj's, then gradually working off the old skin, and uftei'-
wards knocking off the head.

The males of all generally issue from the cocoons before the females.
This is no doubt due to the fact that the females are generally the largest,
have the most vitalit}'^, and consequently require a greater time to i'l^Qid,
and to assimilate the food ; for it has often been noticed that a small female
will develop faster and consequently issue sooner than a large male.

The males generall}' have much broader antennaa than the females; but
in Pi'omethea the difference is not great, and m cynthia it is often impercep-
tible.

They all, Avhen in the cocoon, are f+irnished with an acrid or Eomljycie
fluid, with which they weaken the resisting force of their cocoons, and facil-
itate the exit of the moth; though those which make rounded or closed co-
coons are much more amply supplied than those which form pointed or
open ones.

All the cocoons, whether pointed or rounded, are spun in one continu-
ous thread. In issuing, the moths of all of them rupture, more or less, the
threads of the cocoon, thus rendering it valueless for reeling. Many writ-
ers assert to the contrary- ; but I have examined no deserted cocoon which
has not shown some broken threads, and have witnessed the threads break
during the emergence of the moth. Such as are naturally open are broken
less than the others; but if only a half dozen threads are sundered, the
cocoon is spoiled for reeling jDurposes. All the native cocoons are at times
found drilled with large holes, and gutted by birds or squirrels; and those
which fall to the ground are frequentl}^ destroj-ed by mice, rats and moles.

All the moths are night flyers. All the large heavy worms, when full
grown and in a state of nature, hang on the under side of leaves and twigs,
being too heavy to sustain themselves in an ujjright position. They are all of
some shade of green — no matter what their color when younger — and in a

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 75

measure similate the leaves of theix- food-tree, so as to render detection
difficult.

They all, whether native or foreign, need fresh air for their well-being;
continement in rooms and in large numbers together undoubtedly predis-
posing to disease. In breeding insects entomologists well know that those
species even which best bear confinement, rapidly degenerate in the course
of a few generations, and it is a very general law with animal and plant life,
that the more it approaches the artificial in contradistinction to the natural,
the less vigorous in constitution it becomes.

It is a little singular that the jH'incipal trees which may be used for
producing the best silk, namely, the Mulbeny, Osage orange and Ailan-
thus, are all three of them remarkably free from the attacks of other insects.

By judicious breeding and selection I believe that the native worms
may be improved in their silk-jDroducing qualities, and that the foreign ones
may be acclimatized and better adapted to our conditions.

With this brief prelude I will at once introduce —

^^The worm that spins the Queen's most costly robe,"
THE MULBEEEY SlJJK^YOm,i—Bombyx ISericaria-] mori, Linn.

(Lepicloptera Boinbyciilse.)
ITS PAST HISTORY.

Silk seems to have been first manufactured and used as an article of
clothing in Asia. At least it was first obtained from thence by the ancients,
and the Eomans called it, from the name of the country whence it was sup-
posed to be brought, Sericum. According to the best records its cultivation
commenced in China under the reign of Emperor Houng Ti (Emperor of
the Earth), and the Mulberry Silkworm is undoubtedly indigenous to China,
where it fed naturally on their wild mulberries.

The wild worm has yet to be discovered, however, and will doubtless
be found eventually in some of the provinces of China. A wild variety, of
small size, living on Mulberry, is said to occur in Java, but it is difficult to
say whether it is there indigenous and has always been wild, or whether it
has sprung from escaped specimens of the domesticated races.*

Long before the Christian era, silk was cultivated both in China and
India, where a class, whose occupation was to attend to silkworms, appears
to have existed from time immemorial, being mentioned in the oldest San-
scrit Books.f Its cultivation can be traced back in China to at least 2700
B. C. From China it was exported to India, Persia, Arabia, and the whole
of Asia.

*Maurice Girard. Lea Auxiliaries du ver a sole . p. 5. 1864.
tColebrook in Asiatic Researches, V. (51— quoted by Kirby & Spcnce.

76 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

The milliner in which silk was produced long remained a mystery to
the ancients, and Aristotle first rightly conjectured that it was unwound
from the pupa of a caterpillar. At Eome, even as late as A, D. 280, a silk
attire of purple was considered by the Em^jeror as a luxury too expensive
for an empress — it being worth its weight in gold.

In Europe the mode of jDroducing and manufiictui-ing it was not made
known till about the middle of the sixth century, when two monks of the
order of St. Basil, ai*rived at the court of the Emperor Justinian, at Con-
stantinople, from a missionary expedition to China, and brouglit with them
the seeds of the Mulberry, and communicated the mode of rearing the
worms. In Greece its culture and manufacture soon spread, and the Vene-
tians in the hight of their prosperity carried supplies to the whole West of
Europe. It was introduced in time into Sixain, Portugal and Sicily, and in
1540 extended to Piedmont, and throughout Italy. Here the jjroduct soon
outranked in excellence the very best of Asiatic origin. In France we hear
of mulberry trees being planted near Avignon as far back as 1340. Later,
naraelj^, in 1494, silk-culture was introduced into Alan ; but it did not become
thoroughly established till 1603, when encouraged b}' Henry IV. It has now
become one of the most important industries of that country. In 1865 the
value of silk goods produced w^as estimated at $106,500,000, of which 826,-
500,000 (raw material) was imported. The home consumption was
$35,000,000, and the export -$71,500,000. The number of silk looms
employed in the empire was about 225,000, and gave bread to half a million
of the inhabitants. The United States paid France in 1865, $9,900,000 for
her silk goods. During and since the war we have been more economical.
About the year 1605, James I, who, while king of Scotland, was forced to
beg of the Earl of Mar the loan of a pair of silk stockings to appear in
before the English ambassador, endeavored to encourage its culture in Eng-
land ; but the climate is not ftivorable to the rearing of the worm, and jet
the Englisli annually import millions of dollars' Avorth of raw silk, and
only recently a "Silk Supply Association" has there been formed, which
now publishes a monthly journal, and the objects of which are thus stated :

1. To stimulate the production of silk, by cottage cultivation and other-
wise, in every county where the mulberry tree is c-apable of giving food to
the silkworm. 2. To encourage the introduction and exchange of the best
kinds of silkworms in silk-producing districts. 3. To offer practical sug-
gestions and encouragement to the producers of silk for improving the
quality and securing a better classification, and for ensuring greater care in
the reeling of the silk. 4. To promote the cultivation of silk in the various
silk-producing districts in India, where the production of silk has not
recently increased, and in other districts of India, where the cultivation of
the silkworm has almost ceased, but which are known to possess special
advantages, by the growth of the mulberry tree and the habits of the peo-
ple, for its propagation. 5. To promote the exportation of cocoons from
countries not well able to reel them. 6. To communicate with the Foreign,
Colonial and Indian Departments of her Majesty's Government, and to
obtain the aid of the English representatives in the British colonies and
consular agents in all foreign countries to promote and extend the cultiva-
tion of silk.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. i I

There are but four countries which export raw silk ; namely, China,
Japan, Italy and France. Estimates o-leane<l from recent statistics bring the
different countries in the following order in regard to their production of
this export. At the head is China, which produces every year silk to the
value of nearly $100,000,000; then Italy, $42,000,000; France, $26,000,000;
India, $24,000^000; Japan, $17,000,000; Turkey and Asia Minor, $12,000,-
000; Persia, $5,000,000; Spain and Portugal, $3,000,000; Syria and Austria,
each, $2,000,000; Oreece, $1,000,000. Then follow other countries, aver-
aging fi'om $900,000 to $100,000, while the United States at present produces
scarcely any — the product for ten years being, according to the last census,
3,945 pounds; of which California produced 3,587; Pennsylvania, 1; Vir-
ginia, 15; North Carolina, 95; Georgia, 14; Mississippi, 31 ; Louisiana, 1;
Tennessee, 153; Kentucky, 45; and Missouri, 3.

An interesting proof of the gradual spread of silk over the globe is
furnished by the similarity of name given to it b}- different nations as fol-
lows : China, se ; Mongolia, sirkeh; Corea, sic; Arabia, serik ; Greece,
qr]piK6v ; Roman, sericum; Medireval Latin, seda; Ital}', seta; France, soie,
satin; German, seide; Denmark, silcke; Sweden, silke; Anglo-Saxon, siolk;
England and America, silk.

ITS HISTORY IN AMERICA.

During the reign of James I. of England, or in the beginning of the
17th century, sericulture was first attempted in Virginia. Other efforts were
subsequently made, but were very naturally abandoned for the obvious
reason that the raising of tobacco, cotton and sugar were found more prof-
itable.

Many years subsequently it began to attract renewed attention, and
was gaining strength and imjjortance when the Revolution deranged and
crushed it. After the Declaration of Independence, feeble efforts were
made to naturalize the worm in the more northern States; and, according
to William H. Vernon, of Rhode Island,* $30,000 or $40,000 were annually
realized from rearing the worms in Connecticut, at the beginning of the
present century.

But from the few data which we have to guide iis, we may conclude
that silkworm culture, tv'ith the exception of the fitful start during the mul-
ticaulis fever, was very generally abandoned in the States. And indeed the
climate of the New England States is by no means well adapted to the rais-
ing of the worms; and woi'se still, there was no market for the cocoons.
But the conditions have materially changed within the past decade. Under
the stimulus of the duties on the manufactured goods, the growth of silk-
manufacture has been unprecedently rapid; for there is no duty on the raw
material, and the completion of the Union Pacific railroad has enabled its
rapid and direct importation from China and Japan.

The Oneida Community, of Oneida Co., IST. Y., have been far more suc-
cessful as manufacturers than as raisers. They turn their attention to the

* Methodical Treatise o.i the Cultivation of the Mulberrj- Tree; on the liaising of Silkworm-, etc.
From the French ot M. De la lirousse. Boston, 1828.

78 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

manufacture of sewing silk of different grades, and though the first silk was
made in 1866, they realized the very next year the sura of 825,000, and at
present their business has so increased that they employ about 150 female
operators in their factories.

Half a dozen years ago, within a radius of fifty miles of New York,
there were not 50 looms running on broad silks and serges, where now
there are nearer 500. In and around Boston there are nearly as many ;
and Philadelphia boasts of about 30. Last fall I visited Patcrson, N. J.,
and spent some time in the surrounding countrj^ for the pm-pose of inquir-
ing into this new industry. From Mr. Thos. N. Dale, of the Dale Manufac-
turing Co., I learned that in Paterson alone there are some 30 establish-
ments manaflicturing silk, employing about six hundred persons, and
making nearly all kinds of goods. Of ribbon factories, the largest in the
United States are there, two of them employing from three to four hundred
hands, though the leading specialty is silk dress goods, chiefly blacks. A
large business is also done in pongee silks, or handkerchiefs, which are sold
plain to New York merchants, by whom they are sent to various print
works on Staten Island for a finish.

The establishment of the Dale Manufacturing Company, which is the
largest, produces braids, cords, dress trimmings, etc., in great variety. This
concern, like others, does a heavy business in manufacturing trams and
organzines (warp and filling) for silk establishments throughout the country.
Another factory emjjloj^s numerous hands exclusively on ladies' trimmings,
gimps and fringes. Several others are making sewing silk, hat bands, etc.

3Ir. Dale uses the best European machinery, and has a seri-meter and
dynamometer for testing the strength and elasticity of the thread, and scales
for weighing it, all from Berthand & Cie of Lyons, France. He employs
350 hands, earning on an average from S5 to $6 a week. He uses nearly a
bale (100 lbs.) of raw silk each day, for which he pays from $9 to $12 per
pound.

85,000,000 of capital are invested in the business in Connecticut, the
establishment of Cheney Bros., at Hartford, being the largest in that State.

All these facts serve to show that there is at present an unlimited
demand for reeled silk right at home, and I believe that reeling establish-
ments will be built wherever sufficient cocoons are raised to warrant them.

The production of the raw material is beginning anew under far more
favorable auspices than ever before, and not only in California, Arizona
and New Mexico, which for this purpose are favored by heaven ; but right
here, in this poi-tion of the Mississippi Yalley, I believe the day will soon
come when silk-raising will be carried on profitabl3\ Any community by
cooperation might add to its annual jn-oduct by this indastr}^, without in the
least affecting its other industrial pufsuits. Individuals have successfull}-
raised the worms, and Mr. J. F. Wielandy informs me that his uncle, Mr.
Pagan, of Highland, Illinois, raised them successfully for four consecutive
years. He had some of the silk on exhibition before the Board of Trade
of St. Louis; and specimens were sent to Switzerland, and pronounced, by

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 79

six different miinufticturers, equal to the best grown in Europe. Some atten-
tion has been paid to the subject in Utah, and worms have been repeatedly
raised, on a small scale, by myself and othei^ in various portions of our
own State. All these trials have gone to prove that the woi'ms can be
raised with us; and they have not been i-emunerative simply because they
were carried on more for pleasure than profit, and not extensively
enough to warrant the purchase or manufacture of suitable reeling ma-
chines.

SILK GROWING IN CALIFORNIA.

Through the efforts of Colonel Warren, of the California Farmer ; the
late M. L. Prevost, and others, much attention has been paid to silk-raising
on the Pacific Coast since the close of our civil strife. That they have, in
that section of the country, a climate most eminently adapted to the growth
of the Mulberry and the rearing of the worms, admits of no doubt what-
ever. The extremes of heat and cold; the thunder storms and rains which
often occur in France and Ital}" during the rearing and breeding season, ?'. e.,
in May, June and July, are almost unknown in some of the California
Coast YalleA's.

M. L. Prevost, who bj' his enthusiasm earned for himself the title of
''Pioneer Silk Culturist of the Pacific Coast,"* selected some 10,000 acres
in San Bernardino'county as a basis for a silk settlement. In a short time
he managed to create a great interest in the subject, especially in Los Ange-
los, Santa Barbara, and San Bernardino counties. In 1867, he published
the " California Silk-growers' Manual," and though he is now no more, and
it is unnecessary to criticise the work as it deserves, it is important to point
out a few of its inconsistencies in order to prevent others from being de-
ceived and misled by it. It is made up principally of a series of fugitive
newsj^aper articles brought together in an undigested form, and without re-
gard to ai'rangement or chronological order. He never once mentions the
race of worms he raised; asserts without proof that one man can take care of
as many Avorms in California as can eight in Prance; argues without suffi-
cient ground on a constant demand for California eggs from Europe; and
asserts prematurely that Califoriiia silk by the superiority of the climate is
bound to be a superior article, and consequent!}' Mill command the market
in all parts of the M'orld. On page 162 he speaks of the bones [!I] of the
scull of the worm. On page 59 he shows that a lot of worms which he
attempted to raise in Sacramento in 1866, were, from one cause or another,
very badly diseased ; while on page 152, in a chapter which was evidentl}-
written subsequently, he roundly asserts that ho had never been able to
observe any disease in California worms. On page 60 he says that a change
from Mulberry to Osage leaves started the disease above mentioned, and
afterwards (p. 120) clearly shows that it was started before the Osage was
fed. On page 105 is. given a list of prices of cocoons at Lj-ons, France, the
average of which is 61.96 per lb.; while Ure's Dictionary gives the price of

♦ According to his own showing-, however, (Altmual p. ViiS,) Mr. Henry Hentsch was the first to
import tlie eggs of the worm and the seed of tlie Mulberrv.

80 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

cocoons in France in 1851 at about 30c., and M. Combier-Blanchon, of
Livron (Drome), France, informed me last summer, that the best of cocoons
only bring there about 5 francs the kilogram, which is about 50c. gold j^ei"
lb. On page 77 he makes the statement that he had raise'd silk for two
successive years at a net result of $104, and (valuing the raw silk at $4.50
per lb.) of $108 per acre. Yet on page 237 there is a calculation to show
that the net return from an acre may be $2800 ; and by taking some of the
figures given it might be made still greater.

These few inconsistencies will serve to show how unreliable the work
is. M. Provost was an enthusiast, and we may admire his enthusiasm, but
when enthusiasm becomes fanaticism and carries one beyond the bounds of
reason, it is often j^roductive of more harm than good. Had M. Prevost
shown more moderation and reason in his writings; had he been as prone
to report failure as he was to magnify success, the silk interests of Califor-
nia would not now be endangered b}^ a reactive depression which is as unnat-
ural as was the over-enthusiasm a few 3-ears since. Ilis little work, by false
showing, was better calculated to induce another muUicaylis fever, than to
healthily stimulate silk industry. Its exaggerated ^^ictures and immoder-
ate accounts annulled what little of value it did possess, and earned for its
author the name of.hlagueur, which has been applied to him in France.

Silkworms were first hatched in California in 18G0. In 1868 the inter-
est in silk culture there was at its height, and the legislature of the State^
in order to encourage the enterprise, offered liberal bounties. In 1869, the-
premiums amounted to $115,000; but from this time on the reaction began
to take place, and the evil effects of the visionary clamor of enthusiastic
advocates began to tell. The season was exceptionably unfavorable, an4/
many of their eggs were spoiled for want of experience how best to keep
them.

For a while the diseased state of the Silkworm in Europe created a
large demand for foreign eggs, and the trade in the East assumed large pro-
portions. In 1869 two millions of cards, costing on an average three dollars
each, were sent to Europe from Japan, and special steamers were cliartered
to carry home the valuable freight. The denuind was such that some eggs
raised in California were also sold to France, and large profits were the re-
sult. Mr. I. N. Iloag made the following ver}^ favorable report of his busi-
ness in 1868, in a letter to the Sacramento Union — a report well calculated
to induce others to attempt to do likewise :

In 1868 I fed the leaves from three and one-half acres of land covered
with two year old Morus multlcaulis trees. The trees had been grown from
cuttings wdiere they then stood. The}^ had been cut back in the spring oi-
Avinter close to the ground and the tops used for cuttings, so that the^' did
not furnish much over half the early fgliage they Avould have done had thej-
only been pruned with an eye to that purpose. The result of that opera-
tion concisely stated, is as follows : Receipts, 486 ounces and 13^ penny-
w-eights of eggs sold to Ilentsch & Berton at $4 per ounce, $1,946.70; eggs
retained for self and sold to other parties, $1,897.50; perforated cocoons sold,,
$75.30; total, $3,919.50. Contra; labor and other expenses, $472.00. Net
profits, $3,449.50. The feeding was commenced on the first of June. On

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. i^l

the 25th of July it was fully completed and the eggs all made. On the Ttb
of August I had my money from Ilcntsch & Berton, and could have sold the
entire product to them.

But it subsequently turned out that Messrs. Ilentsch and Berton lost
81,000 by the operation, and that no other such liberal men were to be
found who would take such risks.

3Ir. Thos. A. Garc}', of Los Angelos, gave similarly encouraging results
of one of his year's doings in silk-culture, having netted $2,700 from one
acre, from eggs and mulberry cuttings. 'Many other similar cases might be
given. Indeed, whenever profits Avere made they were not legitimately from
the cocoons, which seem to have found no sale at all ; but from eggs and
mulberry cuttings. This was owing to the fact that no reeling establish-
ments had been erected and there was consequently no market for the raw-
cocoons, while none of the raisers seem to have attempted the reeling of
their own silk. But the demand for California eggs never had become an
established one, and ceased entirely when the Franco-Prussian war broke
out. This war had the eifect to depress and almost destroy the spirit of en-
terjjrise which had prevailed a few j^ears previous. It even left the Jap-
anese egg ti'ade in a bad condition, so that some lots were shipped to San
Francisco at a time when the Californians had a surplus of their own. One
lot of 130,000 cartoons left a record that will not encourage further consign-
ments. In the center of the lot the heat hatched the worms, and they had
to be reviewed and re2-)acked when they arrived. After some use of the tel-
egraph ])arties in Xew York were found who risked the shipment overland
"to be sent thence to Europe; but the eggs were all ruined, and every cent
invested was sunk.

For these various reasons there is great despondency in silk circles in
California at present, and the business has very generalh' been pronounced
a failure. The Santa Clara Agriculturist says it has given less practical sat-
isfaction and poorer grand results than almost any other industry undertaken
on the Pacific coast.

At present there are lots of mulberry trees in nursery, with no demand;
and the premium offered has fiiiled of its intended object to promote the in-
terest, because a bounty was also offered for cocoons; and there has been no
etfort to jiroduce reeled silk, not a single hank having thus far resulted-
There has been more speculation than work.

The whole question of the success of silk-culture in that State, and in-
deed in an}' part of the country depends, therefore, on the ability to reel the
silk and thus furnish a market for the cocoons; and State aid and encour-
agement should be directed to this end. It always has been a serious ques-
tion Avhether or not in producing reeled silk we can compete with the cheap
labor of southern Europe and of China and Japan. If by superior intelli-
gence and the advantage of climate the Californians can produce reeled silk
— and I sincerely believe they can — so as to furnish it at home at the same
rates that it can be imported from abroad, they will succeed, and silk-cul-
ture will become one of the prominent industries of the countrj-. If thej

cannot, it will be a signal failure.
6

82 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OP

The manuflieturing interest, encouraged as it is by import duties, will
take care of itself, and silk flictories are already springing up on the Pacific
coast and proving remunerative, as they are on the Atlantic. Let the pro-
ductive industr}' be similarly encouraged, and let all premiums hereafter be
offered for reeled silk !

SILK CULTURE IN KANSAS — MONS. E. V. BOISSIERE's ESTABLISHMENT.

About three 3-ears ago, Mons. E. Y. Boissiere, a French philanthropist^
of considerable means, came to this country from Bordeaux for the express
purpose of purchasing a large tract of land for general agricultural pur-
poses, but primarily for the cultivation of mulberry trees and the raising of
silk. He finally settled in Franklin count}', Kansas, about 18 miles south-
west of Ottawa, 10 miles west of Princeton station, on the Leavenworth,
Lawrence and Galveston railroad, and three miles south of the little town
of Williamsburg. Here, in 1869, he j^urchased 3,500 acres of undulating
prairie land, and at once commenced operations b}^ erecting a three-story
frame building, 50x30 for his operatives. The land is rich and clayey,
with a limestone subsoil and of good elevation. He has already fenced in
360 acres and broken about 150; and contracts are let for the fencing with
stone walls of 160 acres intended for j^asturage. The place has been
christened "Silkville."

He does not contemplate the cultivation of this entire tract; but intends
to devote the greater portion of it to the raising of cattle, for which he
whishes to have sufficient range on his own land. Only the moi-e valuable
portions will be devoted to the silk interest. Already there is a good stable,
a few sheds for rearing the worms, and a stone factory 83x28 for working
the silk. If the silk business succeeds, the reeling of the cocoons and the
manufacture of velvet trimmings will furnish oceujjation through the win-
ters; but the hope of success now entertained by M. Boissiere cannot be
realized for at least two 3'ears, which will bo required to establish the pos-
sibility of profitabl}' raising the worms, and to await the growth of the
trees. Meanwhile, to avoid any chance of fiiilure, he intends to embark in
several industries which have received no attention in that part of the
country, and which will give employment to the operatives, and may be
carried on entirely from the products of the farm. Of such industries, he
mentions more especially broom-making; the preservation of meat in tin
cans; the manufacture and refining of sorghum syrup; of castor oil; potato
starch; morocco leather, and dark-headed matches, which have nothing
poisonous about them and cannot be ignited except on the box containing
them.

There are already planted 8000 mulberry trees which have made
a wonderful growth, and there are 2,500 fine young trees in nursery to be
set out. There is also a young orchard of 900 trees, and 2,000 peach trees ;
1,000 Concord vines ; and belts of Black locust, Black walnut and Ailan-
thus, will be planted the coming spring.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 83

The forepart of last November I paid M. Boissiere a visit, as I was
interested in this novel enterprise just started in a neighboring State. I
found him sitting at an immense table with all the operatives, partaking
in common of a plain but substantial meal. He is a bachelor of some sixty
years of age ; a philanthropic, intelligent man — a man of plain habits^
and with such broad democratic views that he originally came to this
w^untrv in sheer disgust of Napoleo-n III. He is fully imbued with the
fact that there should be no conflict between capital and labor, and intends
to make the colony self-supporting; but to form eventually a co-operative
society, with equital)le distribution of profits, mutual guarantees, association
of families, integral education aiul unity of interests — something after the
jilan proposed by Mr. E. T. Clrant, in a work on Co-operation, issued from
the office of the New York Tribune. So soon as the organization is effected
he intends to donate to the association all the capital invested by himself up
to that time, reserving only the right of as manj^ votes as the capital will
represent.

I found the looms in the factor^' idle for reasons which need not affect
the ultimate siiccess of the enterprise, and the samples of velvet ribbon and
silk trimmings which had been hiade from French and Japanese silks, and
which may be seen at Carson Bros., 121 Locust street, St. Louis, sufficiently
attested the capabilities of these looms. Other looms have already' been
ordered from France. I shall await with much interest future developments
in this colony, for upon its success very much depends. That it will suc-
ceed as a colony I have little doubt, but whether it will do so as a silk
settlement, time only will tell. If it becomes a success in this last sense, it
will form the nucleus of a new and important industry in the Mississippi
Valley ; for I cannot help thinking that there are localities innumerable^
and plenty of them in oiir own State, where such colonies could be formed
with better commercial facilities, less severe climate, and especially where
there would be less annoyance from severe cold winds, which, as M. Boissiere
informed me, pi'cvail there to a remarkable' degree in the spring, and bid
fair to form the most serious obstacle to the rearing of the worms. The
State of Kansas, if it looks well to its own interests, will not let the under-
taking fail for want of encouragement; for when an individual embarks in
some new enterprise, the success of which is of so much importance to the
State, he deserves encouragement from the Legislature, if it is necessary.

SILK GROWING IN MISSOURI.

I cannot find that the Silkworm has ever been raised in any considerable
numliers in this State. I have raised them under a variety of circum-
stances during each of the last four years, having employed three white
and yellow races from Eqin, China, received through the^Department of
Agriculture ; and three rather inferior European varieties."^,, They have alsc
been raised, at my request, by several different persons near St. Louis, by
Judge J, F. Wielandy of Jefferson City; Wm. E. Howard of Forsyth, and
J. L. Townsend of Columbia. These trials fully warrant the assertion that

8 I: FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

the worms can be reared here with perfect siu-ci'ss, and that where the rules
hiid down under the liead of " Best Methods of bearing " are pro]ierly carried
out, we may be as sure of a good harvest as they are in most of the silk-
:Xrowing* districts of Europe.

Tlie worms naturally commence to hatch with us from the middle to
ihc end of A])ril. They commence spinning usually within thirt}" tlays, and
i-emain in the chrysalis state just about two weeks. The feature in our cli-
mate which we have most to guard against is the excessive heat that some-
times occurs in May, Avhen the worms arc in their last stage. A Avet spring
with a hot early summer, is most injurious, and these features of 1870 in-
duced a greater mortality than occurred during any of the other four years
of my experience. Excessive -heat, and too great richness of the food, is
very apt to jtroduce jaundice in the worms* and it manifests itself more
]iarticularly just before spinning time. Our fall season cannot besurjtassed
tor this industr}', as the weather is driei-, more uniform in temjierature, and
the leaves are ri])er and sweeter tlian in the spring. For these reasons,
future experience will doubtless prove that September and October will be
propitious months for rearing the Avorms ; and that consequently it
will be best to retard the hatching of eggs by keeping them constantly at a
temperature below 40° F.; or we might employ the Bivoltins — raising only
enough of the first brood to give us a good supply of eggs for the second.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SILKWORM.

The Silkworm is interesting to us, not only from the value of its silk,
but from the fact that it is about the only insect that has been under man's
complete management for a long series of years, and that has been carried
by him from one country to another in widely ditferent parts of the world.
It is, so to speak, the only domesticated insect to which we have been able
TO ajjply the principle of selection for an}- length of time; for though the
Cochineal insect and the Hone3";bee have been in a measure under our con-
trol, these prineii^les have never been applied to the former, and it is only
within the last few years that we have been enabled, b}' hive-improvements
and deeper knowledge of its habits, to apply them with any degree of satis-
faction to the latter. The Silkworm has been subjected to a variety of dif-
fering conditions, both of climate and management; and if species are, as
many of the more advanced thinkers now contend, not immutable but muta-
ble; we should exj)ect to find great differences in the characteristics of this
particular one. These differences we do, in fact, find ; for it is notorious
that there are about as many breeds of the Silkworm, as there are of the
domestic Dog. In the form of the egg, the colors of the larva, and more
especiall}^ in the size, color, form and quality of the cocoon ; and in the
varying length of time required for development ; the races of Bombyx mori
show such differences that, if found in any of our wild species, they would
be considered as specific by most naturalists. Yet no naturalist pretends to
give these differing races specific scientific names, though they are often
designated by popular distinguishing terms.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. So

There is one race known as Annual which will not produce more than
one brood each year, no matter how the eg!i;s are manipulated; another
known as Bivoltin which [troduces two broods a year; and a third (^TrevoWn ),
which produces three annual genei'ations. Yet by changed conditions each
of these races can, in a few years, be rende'red inconstant and variable in
these particular characteristics. There are races (and they are more esjK'ci-
nlly adapted to warm countries) such as that of Milan, and most of tin.
Trevoltins, vfhioh. habitually' moult but three times; and it is evident thai
even this important difference has been artificially produced, since ordinary
worms occasionally moult but thi'ee times and the three-monlters or rac('S n
trois mues, as the French call them, sometimes moult four times.*

The Mulberry silkworm is, Avhen compared to other insects, an
anomal}'. It had alread}- been so long under the influence of human man-
agement ere it was introduced into Europe, that we find the larva, when full
grown, possessing the white color so typical of domestication; which is the
more remarkable that white is extremely rare in Lepidopterous larva^, and
unknown in any of the external feeders belonging to the Silkworm Family
{Bombycidce). That this lack of color is the dii-ect result of doinestication.
as in so many other animals, ma}' be very justly inferred, because when
newly born the worm is almost black, and in the older worms there are con-
stantly appearing individuals with dark or tiger-like marks which have been
attributed to reven-sion by Captain Hutton, who, by separating and breed-
ing from them, found that in the third generation they had become darker
and that their moths were likewise dai"ker, and resembled in coloring the
wild Huttoni of Westwood.| We find furthermore, that it has lost all desiix-
of escape, and the worm will seldom crawl out of the shallowest tra\' s<>
long as it is supplied with food, while the moth is equally contented ti>
•remain in the same trays. So thoroughly has it lost all instinct of self
preservation that, as we learn from good authorit}', when placed ujjon a tree
out of doors, the worm is easily blown down by the agitation of the wind.
and not unfrequently commits the blunder of severing the petiole of the
leaf upon which it rests, and thus unconsciousl}' brings itself to the ground
from Avhich it seldom has the tact or power to rise again. We find also,
that the moth has lost almost all traces of color and vqy\ nearly all power
of flight; its wings scarcely ever expand much beyond the length of the
cocoon, from Avhich it issues, while most of the wild silkworms, (take, for
instance, the Polyphemus, figures 50 and 53,) expand from four to five times
the length of their cocoons. The male flutters a little, but the female can-
not rise off her feet, and never makes the attempt; yet there is every reason
to believe that they both flew in the wild state, and it has been shown that
after three generations reared in the open aii', the males recover in great
part the lost power.

* See Darwin's Animals and Plants, .etc., p. 302.

t Trans. Lonrt. Ent. Soc. Snl Serie~, Vol. S, pp. 15', SOS.

86

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

In short, the ordinary Silkworm bears unmistakable evidence of having
been modified according to man's wants. He has been interested maiidy in
j^roducing the largest amount of silk from the smallest amount of leaves,
and we consequently find to-day vast ditferences in the cocoons of the dif-
ferent races, and great bulk of cocoon compared with the insect which
makes it.

The Mulberry silkworm is anomalous in one other respect, namely, in
having a curved horn on the eleventh joint; for though in those silkworms
which are tubercled, there is always a large middle tubercle on the back of
this eleventh joint, ^^et none of them possess this Sphingidous character in
the same degree.*

From the foregoing, it will become obvious that what follows of the
natural history of the Silkworm is of the most general character.

The Egg. — The egg is nearly round, a little flattened, and in size rather
less than a mustard seed. It is j^ellow when first deposited, and so remains
if unimpi-egnated,! but when impregnated soon acquires a gray or slate
color and becomes indented. It is fastened bj- a gummy substance which
the moth secretes in the act of ovijjositing. Each female will lay upwards
of 300 eggs. One ounce of good eggs will produce 40,000 Avorms. The
color of the albuminous fluid in the egg corresponds, 6r is correlated with,
that of the cocoon; so that when this fluid is white the worms produce
white cocoons, and when yellow they will produce yellow ones.

As the hatching point apjiroaches^ the egg becomes moi'e pale in color
which is due to the intervening space between the roUed-up worm and the
shell which is semi-transparent. Just before the worm hatches there is
often heard a slight clicking noise, which, however, is common to many
other insect eggs; and when loosened it will sometimes bound p short dis-
tance, evidently by the sudden jerk of the woi'm within, as in the case of
some so-called jumping seeds and jumping galls.

The Larva. — The newly hatched worm, as already stated, is black or
dark graj'. It is covered with long stLft' hairs, and if closely examined these
hairs will be found to spring from jjale . tubercles of the same number and
placed precisely in the same position as those to be ibund at the same age

on all the other silk-
worms to be hereafter
described. It becomes
paler at each moult
and after feeding for
nearl}' a month, pre-

* This tVature is generallv ('(insidered so entirely characteristic ofthi' l;irv;B of a Family of Moths
])i)ljularlv called Hiiwk-niotl'is (Si)hingid(t), which, for the mast part, underfro their transformations
n.ikedlv "underfjround; and so micliaracteristic of those of the large Fiimily ofSilk-moths (Bombi/cida) ,
that— reasoning- from analogy and foi-g-tting his earlier expei'ience with the Silkworm— s(» good an
eiitoniologisi as mv late iVii'n'd Walsh, at first took me to task for putting a horn on the tignre of this
worm, wiiich apjieared mi t\^' finvr oX' the American Entomolo(/ist . To nii' this horn exhibits merel}-
a case of i)ersistence of the middle tn1)ercle on the eleventh Joint, while those on the other joints have
beom.' ol)solete; anil we have an ai)proach to the same condition in nuv Prometliea (Fig. 43, d) , which,
as it grows, loses all its tubercdes except four near the head and this one on the eleventh joint.

t On very rare occasions the embrvo in unimpregnated eggs continues to develo)) and the young
worm has even been known to hatcli.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

87

seats the appearance of Figure 29, having lost its long hairs, and all its
tubercles but that on the eleventh joint. It does not become entirely
smooth, however, as there are short hairs along" the sides, and verj' minute
ones not noticeable with the unaided ej-e, all over the body. The prepar-
ation for each moult I'equires from two to three days of fasting and rest,
during which the worm attaches itself lirml}' l)y the abdominal prolegs and
holds up the forej)art of the body, and sometimes the tail, .in front of
the first joint a dark triangular spot is at this time noticeable, indicating
the growth of the new head, and Avhen the term of " sickness," as it is
often called, is over, the worm casts its old integument, rests a short time to
recover strength, and then freshened, supjile and hungry, goes to work feed-
ing voraciously to compensate for lost time. It is usually estimated that
it consumes its own weight of leaves every daj' it feeds; but this is not
strictly correct. It does, however, consume more during the last few days
-of its worm-life than during all the rest put together. When about to
spin up it shrinks somewhat in size, acquires a clear translucent pinkish ap-
pearance, becomes restless, ceases to feed and thi-ows out silken threads.

According to Quatrefages* the color of the silk is correllated with the
color of the abdominal pi-olegs.

The Cocoon. — The cocoon (Fig. 30) consists of an outer lining of loose
or floss silk, which is used for carding, and of a strong, tough pod. Its form

1

{^'Mfn

is usuall}^ oval and its color
yelloAvish ; but in b o t h ^
these features it varies

i}\ S^'^^^h'} ' being either pure
silvery-white, cream, or
carneous, o-reen, and even
i ' roseate ; and very o ft e n

jlj constricted in the middle.

[Fig. .31.]

\^ '//' The male cocoon is often more pointed than that of the

^%]^?5^ The Chrysalis. — The worm completes its cocoon in

about three days and in three days more becomes a chrysalis. In this state
it remains from two to three weeks when it issues as a moth.

The 3Ioth — Is of a cream-color with more or less distinct brownish
markings across the wings as in Figure 31 : neither sex flies, but the male
is more active than the female. Coitus takes place very soon after issuing,
and the female begins depositing in a day or two, whether her eggs be fer-
tilized or not.

enemies and diseases.

It has generally been supposed that no true parasites attack the mul-
berry silkworm; and certain it is that none such are known in Europe.
But in China and Japan great numbers of worms are killed by a disease
called " Uji," which is undoubtedh' produced by th^ larva of some parasite,

'Quoted b}- Darwin.

88 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

thou"h Avliether Ilymenopterous or Dipterous I have not been able to learn
with assurance.

Several diseases of a funi:;oid or epizootic nature and several maladies
which have not been sufficiently characterized are, however, Avell known to
afflict this worm. One of these diseases called tnuscardine, has been more or
less destructive for many years in Europe. It is of precisely the same nature
as the fungus (Empusa nmscce) which so frequently kills the common House-
fly and sheds a halo of sporules, readily seen upon the window-pane, around
its victim.

A worm about to die of this disease, becomes languid and the dorsal pul-
sations become insensible. It suddenly dies and in a few hours becomes stiff,
rio-id and discolored; and finally, in about a day, a white powder or efflor-
escence manifests itself, and soon entirely covers the body, developing most
rapidly in a warm humid atmosphere. No outward signs indicate the first
Btao-es of the disease, and though, it attacks worms of all ages, it is by far the'
most fatal during the fifth or last age or stage.

This disease was proved b}^ Bassi to be due to the develojiment of a fun-
gus (Botrytis Bassiana) in the body of the worm. It is certainly infectious ;
the spores when they come in contact with the worm, germinating and send-
ing forth filaments which penetrate the skin and, upon reaching the inter-
nal parts, give off' minute floating coi-jjuscles, which eventuaih' spore in the
efflorescent manner described. Yet most silkworm raisers, including such
good authorities as E. F. Guerin-Meneville and Eug. Eobert,* who first implic-
itly believed in the fungus origin of this disease; now consider that the Botry-
fis is only the ultimate symptom — the termination of it. At the same time
they freely admit that the disease may be contracted by the spoi-es of the
botrytis coming in contact with worms predisposed, by unfavorable condi-
tions, to their influence. Such a view implies the contradictory belief that
the disease either may or may not be produced by the fungus ; and those
who consider that the fungus is the sole cause have certainly the advantage
of consistency.

Whichever view be held, it appears very clear that no remedies are-
known; but that care in procuring good eggs, care in rearing the worms,
good leaves, pure, even-teinj)eratured atmosphere, and cleanliness are checks
to the disease. The drawers and other objects with which diseased worms
have come in contact should also be purified by fumigations of sulphuric
acid, which will destroy all fungus spores.

This museardine, or a disease which has not yet been distinguished from
it, has also made its appearance in some of the Eastern States among silk-
worms, both imported and wild; and in the fall of 1870 it was so common
around St. Louis, that I found hundreds of caterpillars stiffly fitstened to
their food plants and covered with the white efflorescence. It was especially
noticeable among the " Wooly-bears," or hairy caterpillars of our different
Tiger-moths (Arctians); and as the efflorescence is not very apparent at the
base of the long dense hairs, such diseased caterpillars look quite life-like.

* See their Guide il I'eleveur dc vers a soie.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 89

The}' die in all sorts of positions, and I hrvc man}' cabinet specimens of
such, cleverly prejjared, stuffed and mounted by the hands of dame
Nature.

Another disease, known as pebrine, has proved extremely fatal in
Southern Europe. This is the disease referred to on page 80, which for fif-
teen j-ears has almost paralyzed silk-culture in France. It is a disease which
in its na ure and action, except in being hereditary, bears a striking analog}'
to cholera among men ; ami its cause and origin have been the subject of
almost as much speculation and study. It has been ascribed variously to
the vengeance of God, to mildew or other parasitic plants upon the loaves
eaten; and more especially to the artificial manner in which the woi-ms
have been raised, some authors roundly asserting that it disappears when
the worms are reared in the open aii', and that it is the result of a conspiracy
among opticians who have purposely persuaded silk-raisers that a tempera-
of 70° Fahr. (24° Cent.) is too cold for the health of the worms; when in
reality they can stand with imjiunity a temperature of four or five degrees
below freezing point.*

Theories and remedies innumerable have been proposed, and as is
so often the case, those who gave the least study t( the disease, were the
most prolific of them.

The worms affected by pebrine grow unequall}', become languid, lose
appetite, and often manifest discolored spots on the skin. They die at all
ages, but, as in muscardine, the mortality is gi-eatest in the last stage. The
real nature of this malady. was for a long time unknown. In 1849 M.
Guerin-Meneville first noticed floating corpuscles in the bodies of the dis-
eased worms. These corpuscles were sujjposed by him to be endowed with
independent life ; but their motion was afterwards shown by Filippi to de-
pend on Avhat is known as the Brownian motion ; and they are now known
either by the name of panhisto'phi/ton, first given them by Lebert; or by that
of psorospermice. They fill the silk canal, invade the intestines and spread
throughout the tissues of the animal in all its different states ; and though
it was for a long time a mooted question as to whether they were the true
cause or the mere concomitant — the result — of the disease; the praiseworthy
and assiduous researches of Pasteur have demonstrated that pebrine is en-
tirely dependent upon the presence and multiplication of these corpuscular
organisms. He has so epigrammatically analyzed the malady that what
was occult and uncurable before has now become clear and comprehensible;
and is within man's power to stay or even eradicate.

The disease is both contagious and infectious because the corpuscles
which have passed with the excreta or with other secretions of diseased
worms are taken into the alimentary canal of healthy ones in devouring' the
soiled leaves; and because it may be inoculated by wounds inflicted by the
claws. It is hereditary on the mother's side because the moth may have

* See results of rearing out of doors for four years, by M. le Dr. Jeanuel, of Bordeanx— Bulletin
Mens, cle la Soc. Imp. Zool. d'Acclimnfalion •Imc Serie, Tome 17. Juillel, ISO'J. A Monsieur siutne has
al.sd reared the worms succe.ssfully and free from disease, in the open air, luFraiiee; and Jno. s
Uallaher, Jr., of Washinjjton, 1). C, wrote to tlie iJm-flZ Acw i'or/tcr in August, ISTO, tliat he had I' I
tlie Worms successfully in tlie open air tliere.

90 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

the o;erm of the disease and j^et oviposit. Indeed, the eggs may be affected,
and 3^et look fair and good, the m.iQvoscoinc psorospermice not being visible;
so that the only true test of disease or health is an examination of the par-
ent moth. Healthy moths produce health}- eggs, and here we have. the key
to the perfect subjugation of the disease.

Both the diseases mentioned are, therefore, in the strict sense of the
word silkworm plagues. The one is of a fungus and the other of an ej^izo-
otic nature. Each may become epidemic whenever the conditions are fa-
vorable for the undue multiplication of the minute organisms w^hich produce
them • or when the checks to the increase of such organisms are removed b}'
carelessness or ignorance. The exceptional energy which they exhibit is
precisely analogous to the exceptional increase of the Army-worm, and of a
number of other insects which have been mentioned in these Eeports, and
which at times, under favorable conditions get the mastery over their nat-
urally appointed checks. The disease may remain indefinitel}' latent, until
the proper conditions offer, just as seeds ma}-, and do so remain in our for-
ests and prairies until change of circumstance enable's them to germinate
and grow.

These seeds of disease which are now known to ever pervade our at-
mosi)here play a most important part in the economy of IS'ature. They are
omnipresent guards wisely ordained to keep order and harmony in her Do-
j^-iain — to insure the proper keeping of her laws, whose violation they are
ever ready to punish with death — to right the wrong which man's ignorance
jjecrets — sacrificing sometimes the just with the unjust; but fulfilling God's
will itself in prompting us to better and higher effort; to broader and deeper
knowledge.

' ' All nature is but art, uuknown to thee;
All chiince, direction which thou canst not see;
All discord, harm jny not untlei'stood;
All, partial evil, universal good."

Such a view of the nature and origin of these diseases is not only far
more plausible and tangible, than to believe that they are caused by some
influence beyond our ken or that they originate de novo by some " fortui-
tous concourse of atoms," or by what Huxley has termed abiogenesis ; but
it is the most scientific, being based on the most elj^borate experiments, and
supported by experience. Pasteur has been able to prophecy with certainty,
by examination of the moths, whether the progeny will be diseased or
health}-, and through his efforts and the greater care that has resulted from
the experience and trial of 15 years' suffering, pebrine is rapidly diminishing
in France, and the harvest was belter last year than it has been for a long

time.

An excellent proof of this epizootic nature of pebrine and of the sound-
ness of Pasteur's deductions is furnished by the experience of Mr. L. Trou-
velot in cultivating our Polyphemus worm. As I shall presently show he
reared it in large quantities in 1865, and fully hoped and expected to con-
'tinue his experiments. But some silkworm eggs which he imported from

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 91

abroad proved to be infected "with the disease; and though upon recogniz-
ing it he inuuodiately destroyed the hirva*, and at that time his Polyphe-
mus eggs Avere not 3'et hatched — the precaution was of no avail, as the
infection was about the house, and the native worms all eventually died
of it. Speaking of this fearful disease among them, Mr. Trouvelot writes
me : " A few days after the third moultings the worms begun to manifest
sj-mptoms of the deadly disease, and two or three days after, of a million,
I had but a single one left, and this one even died in the pupa state. The
following 3'ear, I thought I could begin anew, but I found that the epidemic
had spread among the wild ones and all those I found were attacked with
it, even to a distance of seven miles from my place. But the disease did not
spread further as I had feared, and the third year the wild individuals were
as robust as usual, but the disease, or at least the seed of it was infesting
my buildings, and as soon as the healthy wild Polyphemus would approach
them they became sick and died." Of late the disease has also been intro-
duced by means of Italian eggs, into China and Japan ; and while it is on
the decrease in Europe, it bids fair to run a fearful course, unless jDrevented,
in these the native counti'ies of the silkworm:

Pebrine, as we have already seen, ditfers from muscardine in being her-
editary" as well as infectious. It will not suftice, therefore, simply to take
the precautionar}' measure of purification and cleanliness advocated for the
latter; we must also take care that our eggs are sound, b}" microscopic ex-
amination of the moths. This may be done after the eggs are laid; and if
the corpuscles are found in the mother, her eggs should be discarded.

Silkworms are subject to other diseases l)ut none of them have ever ac-
quired the importance of those described. What is called gattine by older
authors is but a mild phase of jJebrine. The worms are apt to be purged by
unwholesome leaves; the}^ get sickly by too great heat; they become yel-
low, limp and die of a malady called grasserie or jaundice, which is almost
sure to appear in large broods, or as the French more ajjprojiriately say,
educations, and which I have most frequently noticed in those reared in this
country. When the worms die from being unable to moult they are called
lusettes ; and such worms are most abundant in the third age. All these dif-
ferent ailments and others, not mentioned, have received names; some local,
others more general ; but they none of them warrant further notice here,
as they are not likeh' to become verj' troublesome if the proper attention
and care be given to the worms.

BEST VARIETIES, OR RACES.

Since the diseases just mentioned have been so px'evalent in Eurojie,
among the French and Italian races, the Jajjanese annuals have been the
most esteemed. The eggs are bought at Yokahoma in September, and ship-
ped during the winter. There are two principal varieties in use; the one
producing white, and the other greenish cocoons, and known respectively
as the White Japanese and the Green Japanese annuals. These cocoons ai'e
by no means large, but the pods are solid and firm, and yield an abundance

92

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

of silk. They arc of about a size, and both varieties are almost always
constricted in the middle (Fi<>-. 32 r green ; '/ white). Another valuable race
is the White Chinese annual (Fig. 32 t^) which much resembles the White
rFisr. .•?■>. 1 .Japanese, but the cocoon is not so generally constrici('(L

Previous to the prevalence of disease, a i-ace known as
•the White French annual was the most esteemed, and in
reality the cocoon (Fig. 32 a) is very large, oval, and
of a pure white. The Yellow French annuals (Fig. 32 b)
which are of a deep rich cream, or straw color out>ide
but more yellow inside, were also esteemed, and the co-
coon is large and beautiful.

There are local races or varieties in all the large
silk-})roducing countries, and they generally bear the
inline of the locality where they are produced. The co-
coons may be divided into the yellow, green and white,
some races producing cocoons uniform in color; while
others produce mixed cocoons. The white silk is the
nn st valuable in commerce, but the races producing the yellow, cream-
colored or tlesh-colored cocoons are generally considered the most vigorous,
and have certainly proved so .in my experience in this country. The An-
nuals are more valuable than the Bivoltins or Trivoltins ; though the Bivol-
tins are often reared, and Mr. Alfred Brewster, of San Gabriel, ('al., says
that he found a green .Japanese variety of these last more hardy than the
Chinese Annuals.

now BEST TO REAR.

Volumes have been written oii the rearing or education of the Silk-
worm j and most persons who have had no experience with it, fancy that
there must necessarily be something unusually ditficult in the treatment of
the worm whose marvelously lustrous product— the pride of kings and
queens, and once weighed in the balance with gold— has always been asso-
ciated with everything that is choice, delicate and beautiful. Yet it we
travel through the different silk-producing countries at feeding or breeding
time, we shall find the \vork very simple. From the reports on silk-culture
that have lately been issued by Mr. F. O. Adams, Esq., Secretary to Her
Brittanic Majesty's Legation in .Japan, we may learn that the culture is car-
ried on there in the most simple and even careless manner, with the most
primitive machinery; and that the people are actually in ignorance of some
of the very simplest truths, the knowledge of which would enable them to
more than double their harvest. It is even worse in China; and in South-
ern Europe most of the silk is reared by a peasantry which knows abso-
lutely nothing beyond plucking the leaves and feeding them to the worms;
and in the best educations they lose one-half the worms hatched.

There are few farm operations more simple, or which require so little
training; but proper knowledge is all imi)ortant to insure success and pre-
vent umlue mortality in the brood. It will be well to bear in mind the
character of the climate of that part of Ja[)an where silk-culture has at-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 93

laiiifil most iiuj)ortjiiiee — an area of about 240 square miles around Yoka-
lioma. As I am informed b}' a fellow-entomologist, who has resided there
for manj' years, and, in an ofticial capacity, has made minute and daily me-
teorological observations, the winters are less severe than with us, the snow
seldom remaining on the ground more than an hour: the summers are like-
wise less hot ; but the climate during the rearing season is quite siniilar to
that of our southern counties during the same period, though with fewer
sudden changes. The mean annual temperature is 03.50 F. and the solar
radiation 18. 5o. The Avettest months are April and June, the average rain
fall in April being 10.5 in May 5.1 and in June 12.4 inches. The rains stop
suddenly- in June, when feeding commences. The temperature of the four
months of April, May, June and Jul}- averages as follows : April, maximum
70'. minimum 52°; Maj', maxm. 07°, minm. 50° ; June, maxm. 74°, minm.
00': July, maxm. 80°, minm. 72°. Thus their feeding months — parts of
June and July — do not comjiare unfavorably with ours — parts of April
and May.

We have already seen the importance of getting health}' eggs, free from
hereditai-y disease, and of good and valuable races. Eggs keep best during
the winter at a temperature of 40° F., and should be placed in zinc or tin
boxes where no mice or other animals can reach them, and where the at-
mosphere is not too moist. The temperature may be decreased and maj-
even sink below freezing point, without injury; but should never be al-
loAved to rise above the 40°. Great care should especially be taken to
prevent a too early incubation in the sj)ring. Mulberry leaves start to grow
quite late, and unless the eggs are kept back by being placed in some room
or cellar that is cooler than the atmosj^here, our early warm April days will
cause them to hatch before there are any leaves for the 3'oung worms to feed
on. The hatching may be indefinitely delayed providing the eggs are kept
at a temperature below 40° F.; for in France it is often deferred by carry-
ing eggs up in the mountains until the second croji of mulberrj' leaves can
be used.

As soon as the mulberry leaves commence to put forth, the eggs may be
brought out and they will, then very soon hatch by the natural heat of the
•season; though if the weather be changeable, it is best to regulate the tem-
perature by means of fii-es^ commencing at about 75° F. and increasing it
about 2° per day until it reaches 85°, when the worms will begin to hatch.
By no means must the eggs be exposed to the sun's rays, which would scorch
them in a ver}- short time; and even, in the shade, as the temperature is
i-aised and the hatching period approaches, the atmosphere should be kept
more and more moist, either by sprinkling the floor or b}' other means.
The worms will thus eat through their egg shells more easilj^ and be more
fresh and vigorous.

Any room with a northeastern exposure, and which can be well and
thoroughly ventilated will answer for the rearing of the worms. An open
fire-place is always desirable, as in cold, damp weather, the room may be
rendered comfortable and at the same time purified by the draft which the

94 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

fire creates. Buildings erected solely for feeding purposes, should combine
these requisites. The feeding may be done on shelves or tables or in trays j
but the wood should always be well seasoned, as green wood is injurious to
the health of the little spinners, which must from now forth be well supplied
with food and guarded from too much moisture or too much light.

Each day's hatching should be kept separate, in order that the worms
may be of a uniform size and go through their different sicknesses Avith
regularity and uniformity ; and all eggs not hatched after the fourth day
from the appearance of the first, should be thrown away as they will be apt
to contain inferior, weakl}^ or sickly worms. It is calculated that one ounce
of eggs of a good race, will i^roduce 100 lbs. of cocoons; while for every addi-
tional ounce the per centage is reduced, if the worms are all raised together,
until for 20 ounces, the average does not exceed 25 lbs. of cocoons per oz.
Such is the general exijerience throughout France according to Guerin-
Meneville, and it shows the importance of keeping the worms in small
broods. Indeed, nine-tenths of all the silk produced in Europe is raised in
small quantities, i. e., in separate households.

The young worms ma^^ be removed from one place to another by means
of a small camel's-hair brush, but should be handled as little as possible.
The best mode of managing them is to spread over the hatching eggs a jjiece
of netting or mosquito-bar, upon which are to be placed either plucked leaves
evenly scattered or a few leaf-bearing sprigs. The worms will cluster
upon the leaves, which, when loaded with them, may be removed from
time to time, either by taking the twigs, uj^on which they do not collect,
separately between the fingers, or by lifting altogether with the netting.

This feeding net, which must have larger meshes as the Avorms increase
in size, may be used every time fresh food is furnished, and will save a won-
derful deal of time. It entirely obviates the necessity of handling the
worms, and enables the person having charge of them to keep them thor-
oughly clean; for while they pass up through the fillet to their fresh
food, their excrement drops through it and is always taken away with the
old litter beneath. It really acts as a detective of disease, also, for such
worms as are injured, feeble or diseased, usually fail to mount through
the meshes, and should be carried off and destro3-ed with the frass and other
debris.

So important is this feeding net or fillet as it ma}^ be termed, and so
much does it facilitate the caring of the worms, that for many years in Eu-
rope it has been made of paper, stamped by machinery with holes propor-
tioned to the size of the worms. The paper has the advantage of cheapness
and stiffness, the latter quality enabling its removal, when loaded, Avithout
lumping the worms all in the middle. But with a little practice this can be
avoided even where other more flexile netting is used ; and it is the princi-
ple which I wish to lay before the reader — the details of" material and
method will suggest themselves according to the circumstances.

It is important to get the same batch of worms to go into their sick-
nesses simultaneously, and as soon as most of those constituting such a batch

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 95

begin to lose appetite, become more shiny, and especially when the trian-
gular dark spot appears above the head, feeding should cease, and the
shelves or traj-s be rendered as clean as i^ossible. At each moult there will
always be some few which remain sick after the great majority have cast
their skins. These should either be set aside and kept separate, or de-
stroj^ed; as they are usually the most feeble and inclined to disease; other-
wise the batch will grow more and more irregular in their moultings, and
the diseased worms will contaminate the healthy. Eegnlarity may also be
insured by causing those which first shed their skins to wait on their more
tardy brethren for one or even two days without feeding; for they can at
this time fast without any injury. Indeed, no food should be given till the
majority of the batch have moulted.

As the worms increase in size, and become crowded on their shelves or
in their trays, they are readily divided by 1-emoving the net, when about half
the worms have mounted, and replacing it Vy ^i^ additional one.

The food must be renewed as often as the leaves are devoured or as
they become in the least w-ay dry, and of course they get dry much quicker
when young and tender than when mature.

Many rules are laid down for regularity of feeding, and riiuch stress is
put upon it by some writers; but I am convinced that rules are of no avail,
as so much depends on circumstances and conditions. In parts of France,
for instance, they chop the leaves; but in this country such chopping is
worse than waste of time; fqr Nature has furnished the worm with far bet-
ter chopping instruments than man can invent; and the chojiped food dries
much sooner than does the whole leaf. Where the nets are not used, there
is an advantage in feeding the worms u])on leaf-covered twigs and branches,
because these last allow" free passage of air, and the leaves ujjon them keep
fresh for a longer time than when plucked. In thus feeding with branches,
consists the whole secret of the California system so much lauded and ad-
vocated by M. L. Prevost.

The meals most relished are those given early in the morning and late
in the evening, and the best time to give them is between 5 and 6 A. M. and
10 and 11 p. M. One or two intervening meals during the day may be
given according to circumstances. The leaves given in the morning are
best plucked the evening before, as, if plucked and fed w^ith the dew on, they
are injurious. During the night the temperature may be lowered a few de-
grees with impunity, as such lowering is natural and the worms will be more
quiet during their night fast. A mean temperatwe of 75° or 80° F. wall
usually bring the worms to a spinning jjoint in from 35 to 40 days after
hatching, but the rapidity of development dejDends on a variety of other
causes, such as quality of leaf, race of worm^ etc. If it can be prevented,
the temperature should not be j)ermitted to rise above 80 ° ; and it is for this
reason that in our climate a room with a northern or northeastern exposure
is preferable to any other.

During the fifth or last age the worms require the greatest care and at-
tention. Frass and litter must be removed often, and all sickly and diseased

96 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

worms culled from tlie rest. Good ventilation must be had, and the tem-
perature be kept as even as possible. At this and at all times during the
life of the worms, they must be guarded against the attacks of mice and prc-
daceous insects.

COCOONERY.

When the worms show the signs of spinning, alreadj* described, the co-
coonery must be prepared by forming arclies of the smaller twigs, well dried,
of different trees, intermixed with broom-corn, or of any other kind of
brush. If tiers of shelves have been used these arches are readil}^ formed
by tying together small bunches of twigs exceeding a little in length the
distance between the shelves. The feet of these bundles, wdiich should be
about a foot apart, are placed upon the lower, and the tips spread out
againsi the up])er shelf, insuch a m,anner that the woi"ms can crawl between
them. ^Yhere tables are used, arches ma}' be made b}' intertwining the
brush, roof- fashion. The worms' will then mount upon this brush and com-
mence forming their cocoons. The thermometer should not be allowed to
sink below 80° F. daring the spinning, as the silk does not flow so freelj- in
a cool- atmosphere. Such worms as do not mount readih", should be separ-
ated, and furnished with brush, laid carefullv over them. If allowed to
remain and spin at the bottom of the arches their cocoons will be soiled bj^
the excreta from the worms above, the last fteces ejected, after the cocoon
is commenced, being soft and semi-fluid.

In about a week after the last worms have'mounted, or when all sound
of spinning has died away, the cocoons may be detached from the brush,
care being taken not to taint them with the black fluids of such worms as
may have died and become putrid — there being almost always a few such in
every cocoonery. The loose silk is then torn from the pods which should
be separated according to color, weight, and firmness of texture ; those
Avhich l;)est resist pressure, indicating that the worm has properly accom-
plished its work.

CHOKING THE CHRYSALIS.

In most silk-producing countries, the parties who raise the cocoons sell
them to the reeling establishments before suftbcation is necessaiyj as these
establishments have better facilities for the work than are to be found in pri-
vate lamilies. The cocoons, which if left over a fortnight would be i)ierced
by the moths, in their egress, are choked either by steam or drj^ heat. By
steam they can be choked in 20 minutes ; by dr}- heat from 2 to 24 hours
are required, with a temperature of about 200 ° F. They are placed in shal-
low baskets, and these slipped on iron drawers into an oveu. A certain
humming noise continues as long as there is an}' life, and its cessation is an
indication that'the chrysalides are all dead. Where the choking is well
done, there is little loss, only about one per cent of the cocoons bursting at
the ends. After choking, the cocoons are strewn on long wooden shelves
in the shade, with plenty of air, and for the first few days are frequently
stirred. After remaining on these shelves for about two months, with occa-
sional stirrings, the chrysalides become quite dry and the cocoons will pre-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

serve indefinitely — being subject onl}- to the attacks of Der/n<'.sf<'S or museum
pests which are attracted by the dead chrysalis within, and penetrate and
injure the cocoon for reeling purposes.

EOO-LAYING.

There are establishments, especiall}- in Japan, which are entirely de-
voted to the production of eggs; and most silk-growers prefer to purchase
their eggs at the proper season, rather than go to the trouble of caring for
the moths and keeping the eggs over winter. AVhen properly managed, so
that hygienic rules are carefull}- carried out, there is an advantage in mak-
ing the pi-oduction of eggs a specialty; but their production in too large
quantities also has its disadvantage, and it is well for all silk-raisers to pro-
vide their own eggs. For this jjurpose none but those cocoons which are
firm, fine and of the right color should be chosen, large size not being so
much of an object. Double or treble cocoons, i. e., cocoons which have been
spun by tAvo or three worms in company and which,, in consequence, are un-
fit to reel, will often give good moths for breeding jiurposes. The cocoons,
when chosen, may be strung in a chaplet and suspended in the same room
where the feeding Avas done, or they may be pasted on to card-board — the
object in both cases being to secure them so that the moths can the more
readily make their escape. The male and female cocoons may be approxi-
mately separated, by weighing; the whole, say a lot of 50 or 100, being
weighed first so as to get at the average, and each being re-weighed sepa-
rately afterwards; all those below the average to be set aside as males and
those above the average as females. The moths come out most abimdantly
during the early morning hours, and, as the}' issue, they should be taken by
the wings and the sexes kept apart for a short time. The males may then
d with the females. Coitus, according to the best breeders, should
not last more than six or eight hours, and at the end of that time the couples
should be separated b}' holding the female gently by the wings with one
hand, and pressing the abdomen of the male with the other. The males may
then be thrown away and the females placed for a few minutes on sheets of
blotting paper, where they will free themselves of much yellowish or ful-
vous fluid, which Avould otherwise soil the cloth upon which the eggs are to
be laid. They may then be placed side by side in trays, lined with linen
<:-loth, when they will immediately commence depositing. The trays may
be tipped up at one end so that they incline a little, as the moths are then
more apt to la}' their eggs uniformly. They should also be kept in the dark,
in accordance with the nocturnal habit of the moth. Most of the eggs will
be deposited in about 24 hours, and the moths may then be thrown away,
as eggs deposited after that time are not as well impregnated. iSTo de-
formed moths should be used. The eggs are best preserved on the cloth
where originally deposited, as they are protected by a natural coating of
varnish, and, being fiistened, the worms when hatching, eat their way out
better. For commercial purposes, however, they are usually detached dur-
ing- the Avi liter bv immersing the cloth containing them in cool soft Avater for

98 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

a few moments ; the moisture being then drained off b}' means of blotting
paper and the eggs scraped otf by means of a paper knife. They are then
washed in soft water, thoroughly dried and put away for keeping. All eggs
Avhich swim on the surface are considered bad, and discarded. The Japan-
ese egg-producers sell their eggs on cards or cartoons made of some kind of
coarse silk. The cards are placed in wooden frames, the rims of which are
varnished, so that the moths — disliking the varnish — are made to confine
their eggs upon the cards, which are consequently covered in a very regular
and uniform manner.

REELING.

If the mere rearing of the worm — the production of the cocoons — is
simple; the reeling of the silk is by no means so, as the greatest skill is re-
quired to accomplish the work properly, and the value of a hank of silk
depends as much upon the skill of the reeler as upon the quality of the orig-
inal thread. In the best cocoons the silk Avill measure upwards of a thou-
sand feet in length, and though it appears single, it is in reality composed of
two threads which are glued together and covered, as they issue from the
spinneret of the mouth, with a glossy varnish which enables the worm to
fasten the silk where it wills^ and which is soluble in warm water.

It is not my jDurpose to give a detailed description of a reeling estab-
lishment, though I made it a point to visit a number of the best around Ly-
ons, when there last summer. Those who contemplate erecting such an
establishment in this country will not rely on written description, but will
go to headquarters to get their machinerj^, Avhich is manufactured by Bur-,
det & Cie., Euc Desiree 17, Lj^ons, France. There is also a little work by
M. Turgon, Avhich gives a description of the establishment of M. Louis
Blanchon, of Livron! My object is merely to state the focts and principles
which should govern the unwinding and reeling, for the benefit of those
who may wish to use single basins and mills worked b}^ hand. In the great
reeling districts of France everything is brought to such perfection in the
filatures or reeling establishments, bj- the aid of steam, that the hand mills
have there almost gone out of use. But most of the silk is unwound by
hand jDower in china; and excellent silk may be made by dextrous manage-
ment with a good hand mill.

Eaw silk is classified into organzine, tram and floss. Organzine is con-
siderably twisted and is the choicest. Tram is made from inferior cocoons
and is but slightly twisted. Floss is made of the loose silk carded and spun
like cotton or wool.

The thread of silk as it unwinds from the cocoon is valueless for manu-
facturing purposes, several of them combined going to make the stajDle of
commerce.

The persons employed in unwinding silk are mostly women, one stand,
ing or sitting before each basin, of which she has entire charge. The basin
is made of copper, and in the large establishments the water in each basin
is heated by steam at the control of the operator. The cocoons are plunged
into the water when it is near the boiling point and moved about so that the

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 99

gum which fastens the threads becomes uniformly and thoroughly softened.
They are then beaten with a small birchen broom, having the tips split so
that the loose threads readil}- fasten to them. After beating a short time
the operator gets ail the cocoons fiistened, and, taking the bundle of threads,
shakes the cocoons till each hangs but by a single one. She now takes up
five or more threads, (brijis) according to^the quality of silk wanted, unites
them and introduces the combined staple or strand (fil) into a little glass
eye on one side of the basin. She then forms a second similar strand and
introduces it into a second eye on the other side. The strands are then
brought together, twisted several times, sei)arated above the twist, and intro-
duced into two other glass eyes or ringlets through which they are led one
to each end of the reel or tambour which is kept revolving in astpad}- rapid
manner and to which is also given a certain back-and-forth side motion.
The great object in reeling is to get the threads uniform, rounded, well
joined, proj^erly freed of moisture, and so crossed on the reel that they will
not stick or glaze as it is termed. These objects are attained by the twist-
ing and by the to-and-fi'o lateral movement of the reel, as also by properly
regulating the distance between reel and basin. The uniformity of the thread
depends on the skill of the operator, who must supplj' a new thread as soon
as one begins to give out. This is called nourishing the silk and is done by
dexteriously casting, with the thumb, the new thread onto the combined
strand to which it immediately adheres. In this she must use much j udgment^
for the silk of a cocoon gradually gets lighter and finer as it approaches the
end, and the uniformity of strand does not entirely depend on the uniformity
in number of the individual threads forming it. Whenever the silk rises in
locks the temperature of the water is known to be too hot; and when it
unwinds with difficult}', the temperature, on the contrary, is too low. The
operator is supplied with a skimmer with which to remove all chrysalides and
refuse silk ; also with a basin of cold- water in which to cool her fingers
which are being constantly dipped in the hot basin. This constitutes the
whole operation of unwinding; but before the skeins, as they come from the
reel, are ready for the manufacturer, they must undergo still further man-
ijiulation. The staple is firstpassed through a cleanser, consisting of a clasp
lined with cloth, which catches any loose silk or other matter that may be
adhering to it. It is then further cleansed and purged by being passed
through four similar cleansers (jpurgeurs) ; then twisted about 500 times to
the yard ; then doubled and again twisted about 400 times to the yard. It is
finally run on to reels about 11 feet in diameter and taken off and twisted
in a peculiar knot or hank. Through all these operations the oscillating to-
and-fro lateral motion is kept up so as to produce the diagonal crossing of
the strands; and it will be readily understood that each staple is in the end
composed of ten or more of the simple threads first spun by the worm.

Tne loose or flock silk, together with all which, from one cause or another.
O-innot ba i*eeled, is soaked in water for three days, boiled for one-half hour
in clear lye, washed in rain water, aud when dry, carded and spun : it makes
an inferior floss silk.

100 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

BEST FOOD.

There are several varieties of the Mulberry, some of which are by no
means adapted to the wants of the worm. I have tried in vain to rear it on
the leaves of our indigenous Red mulberry (^Morus rubra); but it either I'e-
fuses them entirely, or dwindles and soon dies upon them. Morus multicaulis
has been the most extensively planted in this country, but the wood is so
tender and the leaf so thin and delicate, in this vai'iety, that it often gets in-
jured by our severe winters and strong winds. Morus aiba, with its numer-
ous sub-varieties, and moretti furnish the best food. They delight in a light,
loamy and deep soil, and grow with great vigor in the West. There is a
dwarf variety, called the roS(!, which leafs out earlier than the others and
this is an advantageous character in our climate.

The Mulberry propagates easily by cuttings or layers and is also readily
-j:rown from seed. When grown in plantations for silkworm purposes the
trees are best planted 8 or 10 feet apart and kept dwarfed^ so that a good
sup23ly of young succulent leaves and shoots will alwa^-s be in easy reach.
The tree needs a warm location and should bo at least two years old before
robbed of any leaves. Leaves grown in the sun, with but little moisture,
are the sweetest and make the best silk, and all which are yellow or
blighted should be discarded. Where irrigation has to be employed it
should be abandoned three or four weeks before feeding time. Where the
leaves only are plucked a few of the terminal ones should always be left.
In the silk-growing parts of Europe, though often grown in plantation or
orchard, the trees are more frequently grown along roadsides and in all
sorts of out-of-the-way corners ; and a second crop, not used for the silk-
worms, is carefully gathered- just before the natural fall of the leaf in au-
tumn, and used as fodder for cattle, being very nutritious and highly es-
teemed for this purpose.

Silkworms have been fed on the leaves of a few other plants, and es-
pecially on lettuce, which is very useful, in case of too early hatching, as the
worms do very well on it during the first age ; but seldom attain the spin-
ning age upon it. Some varieties — more especially the inferior ones — take
more kindl}' to it than others.

The mulberry leaf is exceedingly free from the. attacks of noxious in-
jects. A species of woolly Aphis called Kinva jirami sometimes covers the
leaves in Japan-; but no insect of the sort is known to attack them here.

OSAGE ORANGE AS SILKWORM FOOD.

The Osage orange (Madura aurantiaca) first discovered b}' Lewis &
Clark in 1804 and named bj- Nuttal in honor of Wm. Maclnre, the cele-
brated geologist, and founder of the Philadelphia Academy of Science, is
well known as a hedge plant in the West. At first sight it seems to have
little affinity with the Mulberry, but it belongs to the same botanical Fam-
ily (Urticacece), and next to the Mulberr}'- furnishes the most palatable silk-
worm food. This plant was first introduced into France in 1820, by M.
Ce\s, of Paris, who received it through Michaux from M. LeEoi of Balti-

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 101

more, Md. In 1833 M. P. Farel published a papei* on the value of the leave.s
as a substitute for mulberry leaves in feeding silkworms*, citing the exper-
ience of M. Eudolphi, Avhieh was not favorable. In 1831, however, M. Farel
published a second paper showing how M. Bonafous ])roduced from osage-
fed worms, cocoons which were very regular, firm and apparently perfect
in ever}' way — the worms being eight days longer in maturing than when
fed with mulberry leaves. In 1835, in the Bulletin of the same Association,.
M. Dclile, Prof, of Botany and vice president of said Association, gave a
history of Madura and showed that very good cocoons were produced from
it. He says ("cette sole a ete pai"faite, facile a tirer, sans pcrte du premier
jasqu''au dernier bout, dans tous lescocons") that the silk was perfect, easr
to unwind, and without loss from beginning to end in all the cocoons..

Still later, M. Seringe, who wrote an interesting paper on the Osage-
orangef also made experiments with its leaves as food for silkworms, and
found that the latter did well upon them. Yet no one in France to-day pro-
tends to use this plant in lieu of the Mulberrj'.

In 1866 M. Prevost fed some of his worms on Osage orange,;}; and Mr^
Glover of the Departm'ent of Agriculture, likcAvise raised some successfully
upon it about that time.

For the last four 3-ears Mr, Samuel Cornab}^ of Spanish Fork City.
Utah, has had very good success in feeding worms with these leaves. He
writes to me :

Last summer [1871] our worms that were fed on Osage orange all did
remarkably well ; quite a number of persons in this place fed on Osage the
past season, and all with good success. Several of m^^ neighbors remarked
to me that the worms preferred the Osage leaves to Mulberry, when the two
kinds of leaves were within reach : that has also been m^^ own experience. I
have never tried any other variety on Osage, but intend this season to try
some French Annuals.

I have fed the same worms on Osage orange four successive seasons..
and they continue perfectly healthy and vigorous ; in fact, I think they
have improved since I commenced feeding on Osage. I do not know the
exact number of worms that have been fed here the past season on Osao-e.
but believe the number is not less than 50,000.

In 1870 I attempted to feed some worms of Japanese origin on Osage
leaves ; but I obtained no cocoons, though some of the worms fed well to
within a few days of the spinning point. The worms themselves were not
of the hardiest, howevei", and while the fore part of May was unusuallv
cold, wet and changeable^ the last' of the month was unj^recedently hot ;
so that similar poor results might have been obtained even with mulberry
leaves. At all events, in 1871 I had perfect success in feeding Osage, and
obtained great numbers of cocoons. At my request Mr. Cornaby sent me
a number of eggs produced by his Osage-fed stock, and these were distrib-
uted among several friends, and part of them retained. Some were fed on

* De.s feuilles de Madura comme succedanees de celle.s dii Miirier. Bulletin de la Soc. d' Anr de
r Ucrault, 1833.

tXotice sur leMuclure Orange— Sof. Roy ale d'Agr. etc. de Lyon, Decembre, 1835.

JCal. Silk Growers' Manual, p. GO.

102 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

Osage ; some on Mulberry. From the first the young worms took to the
Osage with avidity, and I never raised a brood with less mortality; and the
experience of all those to whom eggs were sent was equally felicitous. In
two instances they were fed in the city of St. Louis, the atmosphere being
anything but pure, and the leaves often laden with lime-dust and smoke.
In one case, where there was some difficulty in procuring leaves, the worms
were fed alternately on lettuce, Osage and Mulberry, and often made to
fast for a whole day ; yet they were proof against such hard usage, and
eventually spun their cocoons with but trifling loss.

As soon as mine began to mount and form their cocoons, I recognized them
as a Syrian race which I had often seen feeding in Covent G-arden Market,
in London, England ; and upon inquiry I learned from Mr. Cornaby that his
stock originally came from London, the eggs having been brought over by
Mr. A. K. Thurber of Spanish Foi-k City. The cocoons are ovoid, rather
more pointed at one end than the other, and of two distinct shades of yellow,
viz., a bright golden inclining to orange, and a pale-greenish or sulphur.
^sTow this race, like most other inferior stock, certainly has the merit of con-
stitutional toughness and vigor; otherwise the worms could not have
endured the hardships they were submitted to here last year. The worms also
form a very pretty cocoon and are therefore well calculated to give pleasure
and edification to the amateur. But the cocoons have little or no commer-
cial value ; the silk bSing inferior, and so loosely spun that the major part
of it would beat away and rise- in flocks in the basin before the end would be
found. I took a number of them with me to France and had them fully
tried. It was this same Syrian race that was fed with Osage orange l)y M.
Mathieu Bonafous, in 1831: ; and though other races have been fed with it,
it is doubtful if they thrive as well upon it.

Two advantages which the Osage has over the Mulberry must be men-
tioned in this connection. Ist. It is hardier, and the young leaves will resist
a late frost which will kill those of the Mulberry. 2nd. The leaves do not
Avilt so soon. It leafs out about the same time, though some plants in a
hedge-row are always in advance of others in this respect, and an early
leafing variety might undoubtedly be jsroduced in the course of a few
years, by propagating from such.

The effect of the osage compared with the mulberry leaves is quite
marked. The osage-fed worms generally lose the fi*esh creamy-white color
dui'ing the last age, and the skin becomes more or less shiny and slightly
greenish. The cocoons from these worms are also less firm than those from
Mulberrj', tlie difference being perceptible by trying alternately a handful
of each.

For these various reasons I cannot see any jDresent advantage that is to
accrue from feeding osage, where mulberry leaves can be obtained, though
the former may be very useful on exceptional occasions. As, however, it is
within our power to improve the Syrian race which does so well upon it,
by choosing from year to year only the best and firmest cocoons for breeding
purposes ; and as the plant is native and so extensively cultivated, I hoj)e

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 103

Mr. Cornaby will continue his efforts. If we can contrive to furnish our
hxdies their silk dresses from our own hed^-erows, we shall certainly be out-
doing those nations which at present rival us; and such a result is not
impossible! Indeed, by constantl}^ choosing the darker and more vigorous
worms and moths, there is no reason why a race may not in time be pro-
duced, which in the climate of Utah, would feed freely out of doors; and
in this manner an}' amount of silk, though perhaps not of the best quality,
could be cheapl}' grown by simply covering the hedges with some kind of
netting, so as to protect the worms from birds and other enemies.

THE CECEOPIA SILKWORM— A^^acw-s* IPlafysamia] Cecropia, Linn.

(Lepidoptei-a, Bombycidai.)

In the American Entomologist for February, 1870, I published. an article
on this insect from which is quoted much of what follows. Few insects are as
frequently sent to me for identification as this magnificent moth (Fig. 33). It is
common and its great size and beauty attract general attention. It is also more
easily obtained, for the cabinet, than most of our other large moths, because
its cocoon is always fastened to a twig where it remains all winter a con-
spicuous object; whereas those of Luna and Polj^phemus, for instance,
fall to the ground with the leaves, and are seldom seen. The ground-
color of the wings is a grizzled dusky brown with the hinder mar-
gins clay-yellow; near the middle of each of the wings there is an opaque
kidney-shaped white spot, shaded more or less on the outside with dull red,
and edged with black ; a wavy dull red band edged inside with white, crosses
each of the wings, and the front wings next to the shoulders are dull red
with a curved white and black band, and have near their tips an eye-like
black spot with a bluish-white crescent ; the upper side of the body and legs are
dull red ; the forepart of the thorax, and the hinder edges of the rings of the
abdomen are white, and the venter is checkered with red and white. There
is considerable variation in the ground-color of individuals, some being quite
dark and others quite light, but the female differs from the male in nothing
but her larger abdomen and much smaller antenna? or feelers.

The genus Attacus — meaning eleg.^nt — was founded by Linnaeus, and
our moth received its specific name from the same author. As Cecropia
was the ancient name of the city of Athens, and as it has puzzled some nat-

* We have here an exceUent illustration of the effect of the custom of attaching to an insect the
name of the author of the genus instead of that of the describer of the snecies. In 1707 Linnaeus
described this insest as ^»flf MS Cccropjfl. In 181(i it becomes Somia Cecropia, Hilbn; in 1852, Hyalo-
phora Cecropia, Duncan, and in IStio, P/atijsainin Cecropia, Grote.

For reasons, reiieatedly stated, I shall refer this and the six other large insects which follow, to the
old and well known Linnaean genus Attacus, indicating in brackets the more i-ecent genus to which each
is at i)resent referred by modern systematists. To my own mind it is very clear that they constitute
but three distinct genera instead of six; and I should myself refer Cecropia, ci/ntliia and Promethea
to one genus; Polyphemus, yama-mat and Pernyi to a second; and Luna to a third, in giving this
opinion I intend no disrespect either to Dr. Packard, who erected the genus Callosamia for Promethea
(P. E. .S. P. III. p. 379), or to Jlr. Grote, who proposed another genus Platysamia for Cecropia
(P. E. S. P. v. p. -i-iS) ; for our present genera are for the most part the creations of man and not of
Xature, and men's opinions will always differ. There must be a limit to genus-making somewhere,
as no two species agree in all minute particulars; and in their adolescent and perfect states, as well
as in their habits, few insects show a closer generic connection than the three tirst named. The
iniquitous law above mentioned has no doubt been the cause of much of this generic hair-splitting;
Init I do not believe that it will hold its own in entomology even in this country wliere it has already
obtained a foothold.

104

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

urahsts to divine why Linnaeus applied this name to our moth, 1 P-ive the
lollowHig explanation by Dr. Fitch : " The great legislator of this depart-
ment of human knowledge, as he is expressively styled by Latreille it ha<
been frequently remarked, was endowed with a genius that few of his dis-
ciples have inherited, for selecting names for natural objects, which are mosi
appropriate and happy. The idea which was present in the mind of Lin-
naeus, when he named this spleiuJid moth, we think is sufficiently evident
The Athenians were the most polished and refined people of antinuitv'
The moths are the most delicate and elegant of insects; they are the Ithe-
nians of their race. Cecrops was the founder, the head of the Atheni-in
people. When the names of men were bestowed upon cities, ships or other
objects regarded as being of the feminine gender, classical usage chan.-ed
these names to the feminine form. The moths (Phal^na) being feminiTie
and the name of Cecrops being more euphonius in this form, in-obablv in'
dueed Linnanis to change it in the manner he did. The name thus implies
this to be the leader, the head of this most elegant tribS of insects, or in
other words, the first of all the insect kind. What name more ap,>ro .riate
can be invented for this sumjituous moth ?"

[Fig. U.]

During the winter time, the large cocoons of
this insect (Fig. .34) may be found attached to the
twigs of a variety of trees. I have found them
upon Apple, Cherry, Currant, Barberry, Hazel,
Plum, Hickory, Blackberry, Elderberry, Eldeiv
Elm, Lilac, Eed-root, Maple, Willow and Honey-
locust. It has also been found on the Pear. This
cocoon tapers both ways, and is invariably fastened
longitudinally to the twig ; it is formed of two dis-
tinct layers, the outer one, which is loose, wrinkled,
and resembles strong brown paper, covering an
inner oval cocoon composed of the same kind of
silk, but closely woven like that of the Mulberry
silkworm. Inside this cocoon Mill be found the
large brown chrysalis (Fio\ 35). The cocoon of
the Polyphemus moth, fF'?. 85i

an insect which will be
presently treated of, am'
which has been called b}
Mr. L. Trouvelot, of Med-

ford, Massachusetts, the <' American Silkworm," is
rounded, and the silk is very closely and com-
pactly woven ; and though that of our Ceeropia
IS not as valuable for utilitarian purposes, yet I
incline to believe that it will. some day be propa-
gated for the silk which it produces ; and though it
may not lay claim to the national title of THE
American Silkworm, it will nevertheless rank as
second best, among those which are indigenous to

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 105

this country. The following are some of Mr. Trouvelot's reasons, as com-
municated to me, for preferring Polj-phemus to Cecropia :

1st. The silk fibre spun by the latter is not so strong nor so glossy as
that of the former. 2ndly. The cocoon of the latter being double, pointed,
and open at one end, makes it nnfit to reel, as the water of the bath in till-
ing the cocoon would sink it to the bottom, a very unfavorable circum-
stance, since it would cause the fibres of the different cocoons to entangle
and break every moment. . 3rdly. The larva of Cecropia is a very delicate
worm to raise, it does not suffer handling, and when once feeding on a given
species of plant, it does not readily bear changing to anoth(#, or even to a
variet}" of the same plant. 4thly. It has the misfortune to be more gener-
ally* attacked by birds and parasites, four-fifths of thom being thus sacrificed
in a state of nature.

I entirely concur in the first two reasons given, but since, as 1 shall
presently show, a method has been devised for unwinding cocoons naturally
open, such as those of cynthia and Cecropia, the second objection loses much
of its force. As to the last two objections, though they undoubtedly apply
in Massachusetts, wher? Mr. Trouvelot made his experiments, they will not
hold ti'ue in the West ; for I have always been more successful with in-door
broods of Cecl^opia than of Polyphemus, and with us the latter is fully as
much subject to jjarasites as the former, as might have been inferred from
its comparative scarcity. I have also learned from several correspondents
in the Atlantic States that whereas it was foi'merl}* almost impossible to raise
a singly specimen of Cecropia to the perfect state, they now have no diffi-
culty in rearing any number.

In the month of May, in the latitude of St. Louis, and earlier or later the
farther north or south we go, our Cecropia moth issues from its cocoon, and
there can be no more beautiful sight imagined, than one of these gigantic fresh-
born moths with all its parts soft and resplendent. The unintiated would
marvel how such an immense creature had escaped from the small cocoon
which remains at its side, retaining the same form which it always had, and
showing no hole through which the moth could escape. The operation — so
interesting and instructive — can be witnessed by any one who will take the
trouble to collect a few of the cocoons and place them in some receptacle
which has sufficiently rough sides to admit of the moth's crawling up, to
hang its heavy body and wings while they dry and expand. The caterpillar
has the wonderful foresight to spin the uj)per or anterior end of its cocoon
very loosely, and when the moth is about to issue it is still further aided in
its efforts by a fluid secreted during the last few days of the chrysallis state,
and which is a dissolvent of the gum which so firmly unites the fibres of the
cocoon. This fluid is secreted from two glands, which ojDen into the mouth,
and as soon as the chrysalis skin is split open on the back, by the restless
movements of the moth within, the fluid flows from the mouth and wets the
end of the cocoon, dissolving the gum and softening the silk to such an
extent, that by repeated contractions and extensions of the body, the moth
is at last enabled to separate the fibres, and to thrust out its head and unbent'

106

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

its front legs; after which it rapidly draws out the , rest of its body, the
mouth of the cocoon afterwards closing, by the natural elasticity of the silk.
At this moment the body of the moth is much swollen and elongated, the
wings are small, folded, and pad-like, and the whole insect is soft and moist ;
but, attaching itself to the first object at hand where it can hang its heavy
bod}^ and clumsy wings, the latter become expanded in about twent}' min-
utes, and the superabundant fluids of the body sufficiently evaporate in a
few hours to enable the insect to take wing.

The eggs of the Cecrojiia moth are 0.09 inch long, sub-oval, flattened
and of a pale cream-color, shaded with light brown ; and they are deposited
in small patches on the j^lants which are to form the food of the future
larvae. They are deposited in June, and hatch in from six to ten days after
being deposited. Some remarkable exceptions have been known, however,
and my friend P. E. Uhler of Baltimore, Md., has had them remain over
two years, and yet hatch at the end of that time.

L.vitVAL, Chaxges. — The young worms differ so much from tho mature ones, and undergo such
great changes in appearance in the course of their lives, that it is surprising that no account is to be
found of tliese hirval clianges in any of our entomological works. Wlien flrst hatched they are en-
tirely black, with the tubercles placed in the same position, but being larger at the base and with a
narrower stem than in the more mature individuals, the upper and smaller end bein^ crowned with a
I whorl of conspicuous still' black bristles. After tlie lirst moult the body is of a deep orange color,
with the tubercles and head black, and with longitudinal rows of black dots running between them.
I After the second moult, a still gi-eater change takes place; the body acquires a beautiful yellowish-
I gi-een tint, the tubercles on the back are blue on joints 1, 12 and 13; coral-red on 2 and 3, and yellow
i with black spines, and a black spot on the inside and outside of the stem, on 4^11; those at the sides
-are blue, and the head is of tho same color as body. After the third miult, the black spots, except
1 a row below the stigraatal row of tubercles, disappear; the tubercles themselves lose all bluftk except
the spines, and the head and body become delicate bluish- green rather than yellowish-green as
tformerly . After the fourth and last moult, the red tubercles near the head frequently become yellow,
.and when full-grown, the worm measures over four inches, and presents the appearance of Figure
|36, the tubercles being respectively of the most delicate yellow .and blue.

Two weeks after the worm first began to spin, it changes to a chrysalis,
and as already stated, passes the winter in this form, there being but one
brood each year.

[Fig. 36.] . ,

The cocoon of this insect is often found to contain a kernel of corn, a
rain of wheat, or even an acorn, and the first time I found a corn-kernel
I one of them, I was sorely puzzled to comprehend how it came
lere, and imagined that it must have been accidentally dropped by some

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 107

bird, into the meshes of the cocoon while the hitter was being formed. But
the kernels are found in the cocoons altogether too frequently to admit of
any such chance coincidence which must necessarily be of very rare occur-
rence. There is every reason to believe, therefore, that these foreign ma-
terials are placed there, for safe-keeping, by some bird; the loose end of the
cocoon admitting of their being forced in, even after it is completed.
Dr. LeBaroii, thinks that this bird is very likely the Blue Jay which is
known to have the habit, in common with other Corvidai, of pilfering and
hiding in holes and crevices any small object that attracts its attention.
One of my correspondents from Geneva, Ills., who has found no less than
five of these cocoons containing kernels of corn, thinks that the Chickadee
(Parus atricapillus, L.) uses them as a storehouse, as well as the Blue Jay,
and, indeed, inclines to believe that the former is "the sole proprietor."
He has seen it, with corn in bill, searching about apple trees for such a
storehouse, and has witnessed it deposit a kernel in the crack of a board
fence.

The Cecropia worm, as may be inferred from its size, is an immense
feeder, and a small number will soon defoliate a young apple tree. It has
on a few occasions, been found numerous enough to do injury in this way;
but as a rule, natural enemies keep it so thoroughly in check, that it can
hardly be classed as an injurious insect. The same maybe said of the other
large and native worms which I include with the silkworms, and which on
account of their silk-producing qualities may, with proprietj^, be treated of
rather as beneficial insects, though their products have notyet been utilized.
Their great size and conspicuity not only renders them a ready i)rey to their
natural enemies, but enables us to easily destroy them by hand-picking
Avhenever they hap])en to become unduly multiplied on any of our fruit trees!

In the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Js^atural History (Vol. IX
pp. 342—5) Mr. S. I. Smith has described a moth by the name of Samia
Columbia, and it is also mentioned, and the female figured, by Mr. G. J.
Bowles of Quebec, in the Canadian Entomologist (Vol. Ill, p. 201.) It is of
rare occurrence, and its larval history remains unknown, and I find noth-
ing in Mr. Smith's paper or in that of Mr. Bowles that ought to warrant us
in considering it anything more than a variety of Cecropia; while there is
much that would lead me to consider it either an abnormal variety or a
hybrid between Cecropia and Promethea. Hybrids occur more frequently
among insects than most entomologists imagine, and we should be careful
how we make new species out of abnormal variations of rare occurrence.
Columbia does not difi-er more from the normal Cecrojna than do several of
the varieties of y ama-ma'i ivom each other.

PARASITES OF THE CECROPIA WORM.

The Long-tailed OpmoN—{Ophion macnirum, Linn.)— This large
yellowish-brown Ichneumon -fly (Fig. .37) is often bred from the cocoons in
place of the moth which one expects. It is one of the most common parasites
of this large insect, and the females appear to be altogether more common

108

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

than the males, for I have bred no less than seven of the former and not
a single one of the latter sex. The female, according to Mr. Trouvelot^
deposits from eiglit to ten eggs iijDon the skin of her victim, and the yonn^^
larvae soon hatch from them and commence to prey upon the fatty parts
of the worm. Hut as only one of the parasitic larvaj can find food suth-
[•■''•-• •*'l cient to mature, the rest all die from hun-

i^-er, or else are devoured by the strong-
est one which survives" them. At first
one Avould suppose that this deposition
of several eggs by the parent Ichneumon,
where onl}' a single laiwa can develop, is
a striking instance of misdii'ected instinct )
but we find a similar prodigality through-
out Nature, for every individual is so sub-
ject to disasters of one kind or another
in its struggle for existence that a pro-
vision of several ova is often necessary to
insure the future d evelopmeiit of a sin-
gle one, just as we often sow several seeds
of some particular ]>lant, in order to insure the growth of a single one.

'^ * After the Cecropia worm has formed it*

cocoon, the parasitic larva, which had
hitherto fed on the fatt}' jjortions of its
'\ victim, now attacks the vital parts, and,
when nothing but the empty skin of the
worm is left, satins its own cocoon, Avhich is oblong-oval, dark brown inclin-
ing to bronze, and spun so closely and compactly, that the inner layers when
separated have the ajDpearance of gold-beater's skin. If Ave cut open one
of these cocoons soon after it is completed, we shall find inside a large fat
legless grub (Fig. 38), which sometimes undergoes its transformations and
issues as a fl}- in the fall, but more generally waits till the following spring.
The Cecropia TACHiNA-FLY^(Xror/sfa Jeucanice, Kirk. var. cecropice.
Eile}-) — The Ichneumon-fly last mentioned usually causes a dwarfed appear-
ance of the worm which it infests, and parasitized cocoons can generally be
distinguished from health}- ones by their smaller size. The larvae of this
Tachina-fly, which is also parasitic on the Cecropia worm, seem to produce
an exactly- opposite effect — namely, an undue and unnatural growth of their
victim. In the beginning of September, 1866, I received from Eockford
Ills., an enormous Cecropia AVorm. It measured over four inches, was a full
inch in diameter, and weighed nearly two ounces ; but like many other large
specimens which I have seen since, it was covered with small oval opaque
Avhite egg-shells, clusters of four or five occurring on the back of each seg-
ment, invariablj^ deposited in a transverse direction. The skin of the Avorm
was black where the young parasites had hatched and penetrated. This
large worm soon died and rotted, and in about twelve days a host of mag-
gots gnawed their way through the putrid skin. These maggots averaged

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 10'.»

about ouc-half inch in length, and in form were like those of the common
Blow-fly. The head was attenuated and retractile and furnished with two
minute curved hooks, and the last segment was squarely cut off, slightly
concave and witli the usiial two spiracles orbreathing-holes which this class
of larvae have at their tails. Their color was of a translucent yellow, and
they looked very much like little pieces of raw fat "beef. They w^ent into
the ground and remained in the larva state all winter, contracted to pupa?
in the April folloAving, and the tlies commenced to issue the last of May. ■
This fly differs only from the Army-worm Tachina-fiy {Exorista militaris,
Walsh, Eep. II, Fig. 17) in lacking the red tail entirely or in having
but the faintest ti'ace of it, and I consider it but a variety of that species. I
infer that this same Tachina-fly attacks the Cecropia worm in widel}:^ differ-
ent parts of the country ; for I have received from Mrs. Mary Treat, of
IS'ew Jersey, two dipterous pupae which probably belonged to this species,
and which had also in the lai'va state infested a Cecropia worm.

The Mary CHALcis-FLY-(CAfl?c«s 7narice, Eiley) — In May, 1869, 1 received
from Mr. Y. T. Chambers, of Covington, Ky., numerous specimens of the
f*''-- •■'•'■] beautiful large Chalcis-tly figured here-

with (Fig. 39), which he had taken
from the cocoon of the Poh^^^^^®"^^^
moth, which is quite common, and is-
sues as early as the middle of Febru-
aiy in that locality. Hesaj^s, " I was
sutistied that the cocoon did not con-
tain a living Polj^phemus and therefore
opened it. It contained so little be-
sides these insects and their exuviae,
as to suggest strongly the old idea that the caterj^illar had been metamor-
phosed into them (as in a sense it had). There were 47 of them, of which
23 were females. As all the males and some of the females were dead when
I opened the cocoon, I think it likely that the former never do emerge, and
perhaps but few of the latter ; otherwise Polyphemus would soon be ex-
terminated."

I can very well imagine thrt most of these Chalcis-flies would die in
their efforts to escape from the tough cocoon of the Poh'phemus, but it so
happens that these same parasites have been found l)}' Mrs. Mary Treat, of
Yineland, X. J., to prey upon the Cecropia worm, from the cocoon of ^.hich
they can more easily escape. The same fly also attacks the Promethea worm,
and Mrs. Treat has had a similar experience with Mr. Chambers, of finding
them dead in its cocoon. She has upon two occasions found cocoons with
a dead Chalcis-flj' fast in the hole which it had eaten to make its escape ; and
upon cutting open such cocoons they were found literally packed with dead
Chalcis-flies. It would seem that they all make their escape through the
hole made by some one of their number, and that if this particular one
fails in the undertaking, they all perish rather than make holes for them-
selves. • ' ' •

110

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

I subjoin the original description of this % which is of a yellow color,
marked, as in the figure, with black :

Chalsis maki.t:, Ril<-y— ? , yellow, beautifully marked with black. Head, yellow with an arcu-
ate black mark behind base of the antenna3, connected with a line sliort longitudinal black line lead-
ing to lower ocellus, and from thence to posterior margin ol occiput which is margined with black;
prothorax with amedium 1)luck dot. Antenna (scape i.his !) joints) 10-jointed; scape fulvous with su-
perior ed'-e black tiagellum dark l)rown or black. Thorax with large shallow close-set puncture- :
mesothorax somewhat striated transversely, triliiiear with black, the three lines connected by a
transverse line which separates the prothorax from mesothorax, the middle line straight, the outer
ones deeply impressed, approaching l)ehind and connected on the posterior margin by a short trans-
verse liiie, and the.i suddenly diverging on lateral suture of scutellum; a longitu.linal black dot on
each side over tegulK; scutellum edged anteriorly with black and with a central longitudinal black
line- basal margin of metothorax, with a spot on eacli extreme side and a large subtriangular mark
on disk black; pleura; with two black lines on each side. IFmr/s hyaline. Abdomen yellow with
sometimes a faint tinge of green, black at base and tip, and each segm.-nt banded with black superi-
orly petiole yellow, black at tip above. Legs yellow, the tarsi inclining to fulvous; abroad line on
posterior coxa; al)ove, and interior edge of femora and tibie, and tip of femora, black; the femora
about as large as abdomen with over 1-2 minute black spines on inferior edge. Average length u.-2(>

inch. ' . , :- i »

cf diifers in the less pointed abdomen, and somewhat longer petiole, in the scape of antenna; not
bein- black superiorly and being much more robust; in the flagellum being of the same color as
scape, and in the coxa; having a black line both above and beneath. Average length 0.15. Described
from 10 c?s 4 $ s bred from Altacm Polyphemus and 2 ^61^^ bred from A Promothea. Variable in size
some (-? (-? being much larger than some $ § .

say's ama^na, bred from a Thecla, in which no sexual difference is mentioned somewhat resem-
bles the Q of this species, but differs from it principally in having the thorax quadrilinear with black,
the petiole black, the pleura black, with four yellow spots, and in the thighs having six or eight prom-
inent spines, the superior one divided into three or four.

The Cecropia CRYvrvs—iC ryptus extramatis, Cresson).— Another Ich-
neumon-fly often infests the Cecropia worm, the larvae tilling its cocoon

41.]

SO full of their own thin parchment-like
cocoons, tb.ata transverse section (Fig. 40)
bears considerable resemblance to a honey-
comb. The flies issue in June, the female
presenting the appearance of Figure 41, -/.
the hair-line showing [Kig 4')

natural size. Tlie
wings have a smoky
appearance, caused, as
nui}- bo seen who n
viewed under a micro-
scope, by innumerable
little hooks reguhirh'
arranged over their sur-
ji a/ face as at d. The an-

tennae have a pale annulus, the head and thorax are black, the abdomen
reddish-brown except near the end where it is black tipped with white; and
the legs are reddish ringed with black. The male has a more slender abdo-
men which lacks the oVipositor and the white spot at its tip. This sex
has not yet been described; for what Mr. Cresson took to be the male
turns out to be the male of another species (C. nu7idus, Say), which infests
the Promothea worm, and the female of which has a much shorter ovipositor
(by Crypus samice, Pack., which, for reasons given below, may turn out tc*

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. Ill

be but a variety of extrematis ; and Cryptus Simthii, Pack,, (Pr^c. Bost. Soc.
Nat. Hist., IX, pp. 345-6) infest the form that has been described as Samia
Columbia.

As the f^ of extrematis hiis not yt-t been describcl, and as ui)on con^paring numerous .specimens,
in conjunction with Mr. Cressou, it appears that his ^ extrematis is really (^ nunc i us, Say, I shall
append Mr. Cresson's original description of the $ , with a few ami)lilications, and then describe the ^
by comparison. It i.s proper to add that Say's description of 7iuncius is so incomplete that the ^ is
not clearly made out, and from ought tliere is in the text he may have described from a single $ spec-
imen; and the ^^otthv two species could ..iily be separated by breeding, and by comparison of
numerous speciinens.

CKYi-Tis EXTHEM.VTis, Cress., v^^-" Bh.ck, shiuiug, somcwliat robust; head short and broad;
antenna; as long as the body, slender, black, the 7th to l-2th [more often 11th] joiut.s white [or dirty
yellow], the 3rd and «h joints long, the 3rd rather the longest, oth a little shorter than the 4th, and the
6th about hall as long as tlie 3r<l. [I'alpi black or only wliite at joints] . Thorax linely punctured,
the dorsal lines rather deep; scutellum subcouvex, poli.shed; niftathorax linelv scabrous, opaque, its
base smoother and shining, the elevated lines tolerably well defined, forming a large more or less dis-
tmct, subrhomboidal central area, lateral tubercles not well defined. Wings faintly tinged with fus-
cous; nervures and stigma blackish, pale at l)ase; areolet large, subquadrate. Legs pale rufous, [the
iront coxie black] the posterior femora and tib:e at tips, and the base and apex of their tarsi blackish
[basal joint always black], rest of their tarsi white. Abdomen rather stout, sub-ovate, polished
rulous or yellowish-rufous; basal segment strongly arcuated, broad at tip; the 4th and following
joints black, the Oth or 7th [mostly 7th] or both, more or less white above; ovipositor about as Ion-
as tlie body [abdomen], rufous, valves black. Length 4-53, lines; expanse of wings6-<J% line.s." °
C5^-Diflers from $ by his more slender abdomen, by his front cox<e being rufous sometimes
tinged, especially above, with black; his posterior coxw black or blacki.sh, especiallv above- his
lour anterior trochanters paler; his palpi white, the terminal joint a little duskv: his antenna- with
the two ba.-<al joints black, the rest brown on the upper surface interrupted, bv a i.aler yellowish line
trom joints 9-15 or lu, uniformly pale te.vfaceous on the lower surface; the basal abd..miiuil joint ru-
tous, more or less tinged with black; the apex of abdomen, or from 5rh t- last joint, entirely black
with no white spot.

I h.ive bred 7 (f's, 29 $ s all from one cocoon of Cecropia , and have r.^cei ved 10 $ s -I ^i also bred
from the cocoon of that .species, from Mr. Otto Lugger now of St . Louis . Other specimens bred from
Leaopia are m the collection of the Eut.miological Society at Philadelphia and they all agree closelv
C. extrematis $ may be distinguished from nuncius $ by the palpi being alwav> mostly black bv
the posterior tarsi being always broadly black both at base and apex, by the greater length of the ab-
uomen and especially by the greater length of the ovipositor w/iich is as long as the abdomen or nearlv
*o. Extrematu (^ diflers from nuncius ^ by the four anterior cox;e being rufous, the front ones iu-
chning to black, by the basal abdominal joint being rufous, by the apex of abdomen being black
with no white spot, and by the posterior tarsi being broadly black at base and apex.

C. nuncius, $ may be distinguished from extrematis $ by the palpi being more or less white bv the
posterior tarsi being generally entirely whitish, except terminal joint; bv the broader and shorter ab-
domen, and more especially by the ovipositor being much shorter, never exceeding one-half the Icnoth
of abdomen. Mincius ^ is distinguished from extrematis ^ by the four anterior coxa- bein- white the
posterior tarsi generally entirely whitish except terminal joint, 'by the basal ."bdominal joint b'ein.-
generally black, and by having generally-uot alway,s-a white spot on joints 6 or 7, or both

I have bred G $s from the cocoon of Promethea, and Mr. Cresson has examined numerous spec-
imens of both sexes likewise bred from Promethea; and they all agree, though the species is more
inclined to vary than extrematis, and especially in the size and conspicuousness of the white apical
.>pot. ^S ere it not that Say's nuncius was also bred from the same species 1 should feel inclined to be-
lieve It distinct irom the species here characterized as such; but rather than describe a new species 1
prefer to believe that Say inadvertently overlooked the white aj.ical spot on abdomen of Q or that' it
may have been more or less obsolete; a.n.l that he either had no ^. or overlooked sexual ditlerencs

If authors were more careful in describing species, and especially if thev would tell ushowmanv
specimens they describe from, these difficulties in separating them would rarelv arise

The only other species, Mhich 1 know of, at all likely to be confoun.led with extremoti. is one
subsequently described as Cryptus samio^hy I)r. Packard (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. V..1 IKp ■54.5-
I860.; and bred from Samia Columbia, Smith, in whose cocoon it forms a collection of 'its owii
cocoons just as c^Vr.m^n. does in those of the genuine Cecropia. Indeed if we substitute the words
tiochanters lor coxie" and "cox.-e" for "trochanters," in Dr. Packard's description, itagrees
in e^ ery minute particular with extrematis, except in lacking the apical white spot in the 0 From
the similarity of habit, and from the exact similitude in every other respect, I stronglv suspect
here ore, that Dr. Packard has inadvertently misapplied the terms "coie" and "trtchant<i'r-
that the white apical spot, which is variable in size, may'sometimes become as obsolete in the Q -w'in
the ^ , an. > that samice should at the most be considered a varietv of extrematis.

]^J2 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

THE AILANTHUS SILKWORM— Aftocws ISamial cynthia, Hubn.

(Lepidoptera, Bombycidfe.)

Of the ditfereiit worms which have been introduced from Asia, either
into Europe or America, the Ailanthus worm is the onlj^ species which has,
so for, proved hardy ; or which has become fully acclimated. Indeed it
seems' to possess the same vigor of constitution so characteristic of the tree
upon whicti it feeds, and which enables that tree to flourish on all kinds of
soil and in widely diiferent latitudes. This merit at once gives it a claim
to our attention.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CASTOR BEAN AND AILANTHUS SILKWORMS.

There are two insects which very closely resemble each other. One
was brought from India, and feeds on the Castor Bean (Eicmi/s communis).
It is domesticated in Hindostan and was introduced into France by M.
Milne Edwards in 1854, and was tested at Paris, and at many other points
in France, Italy, Spain and Algeria. The silk is soft and glossy, and the
worm goes through its changes with great rapidity, producing four or five
generations annually. The rearing of this insect was soon abandoned in
Europe, because in the first place it had no advantage over the Ailanthus
worm and in the second, there was no prospect of obtaining, m that coun-
try any great quantity of a raw material which depended on the Castor
Oil'plant for its production ; for there, as with us, the plant is only annual,
and kills down each winter. It has been ascertained, however, that the
worm will feed and flourish on Lettuce, Chickory, Willow and Teasel (Dip-

This insect was first figured in 1804 by the English botanist Koxbury,
who confounded it with the genuine c^nMia under consideration. It like-
wise feeds upon the Ailanthus, and the resemblance to cynthia m all stages,
is so great, that it might well be considered as but a Castor Bean feeding
variety; the more especially as both insects are known to vary greatly,
and that in its domesticated state in Bengal, ricini acquires an orange c:olor,
and looks quite different to what it does in the feral state^ ^^^''^J^'t'
of the two are also quite vigorous and fertile inter se. But ^^ 1^^' ^.
G-uerin-M6neville pointed out what he considered sufficient specific difter-
enccs, and the Blcinus-feeding from is now known to entomologists as
Samia ricini, G-K. These differences maybe briefly set forth as follows :
While the eg..- oU^ynthia is covered with dark particles, that of ricini is im-
maculate. The full grown larva of cynthia is of an emerald green with
black specks, and d.xrk freckles; while that oi ricini is of a pale azure and lacks
the spots. The cocoon of the former is larger, more compact and of a paler
crav than that of the latter, and while the former produces but two or at
the most three broods, the latter produces five or six, annually. The moths
when closely examined will be found to differ in some essential points .
CVni^uUias^separate^^

^l^;;;^;;rLi^u. soc. of Load.m VI p. 42 pi m ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ vanatioas ob-

tsee aLs,. some- inti-resting obj^erva ions '7' J, .•^-^j.-.V/''^;^'''!," / Ith, 18fi7.) where he gives reasons

[Fig. 42.]

AILANTHUS SILKWOEM.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 113

iinited in parallel bands, but these characters cannot be relied on as
they connect b}^ variations: in cynfhia the rosy band across the wings
is broader than in ricini : the crescent-shaped lunule on the front wings *of'
cynthia is yellow beneath, the yellow being bordered with white above; in
ricini the Avhite surrounds the yellow, and the hinule is generally smaller.
A tliird species by the name of Gnerinii has been described, but with
scarcely any evidence that it is anything more than a variety of either
of the former.

RETROSrECTIVE HISTORY OF THE ATLANTHUS SILK\V0RM.

The Ailanthus silkworm was first mentioned in the Avritings of mission-
aries about the middle of the last century. In 1760 or 1765, according to
Dr. Morris, a fair figure of the moth was published by D'Aubenton^he
younger, who called it the Croissant. * In 1773 Drury gave the moth the
name which it now bears, but its larva, and general habits were not knoAvn
till the middle of the present century.

The first eggs of the Ailanthus silkworm obtained in Europe were sent
by the Abb6 Fantoni, a Piedmontese missionary, from the province
of Shang Tung, a little south ofPekin, in the north of China, to some
friends at T urin . From these eggs two successive generations of worms were
produced in 1857, and in 1858 Mons. Guerin-Meneville received from Turin,
both eggs and fertile females, and experimented with them in the acclima^
tization gardens in Paris.

From the very outset this worm promised well. It adapted itself read-
ily to the climate and its food-plant was everywhere abundant. Soon after
its introduction into France it attracted the attention of scientific men in
England and other jjarts of Europe ; and the Emperor himself, charmed by
the tune of the Avords chanted to him by M. Guerin-Meneville, and the evi.
deut prospect of the success of the new enterprise, lent his aid to the carrying
out of experiments on a large scale, and in the summer of 1859 thousands of
the caterpillars were reared on M. Aquillon's property at Toulon, and also
on that of Count Lamotte Barace, near Chinon, (Indre et Loire).

In 1859 Mr. F. Moore of the East India Museum, reared a few in Eng-
land, and exhibited them before the London Entomological Society. Sub-
sequently they were fully tested in England by Lady Dorothy Nevill of
Dangstein, Dr. Alexander Wallace of London and others. Mr. Wallace, in
1865 published an interesting memoir on the subject, entitled " Ailanthicul-
ture, or the Prospect of a new English Industry," in which he showed that
the worm did very well in that moist climate: Indeed it was supposed to
do better in England than in France, and the following paragraph which I
quote from the memoir will very well reflect the opinions and hopes enter-
tained at the time.

i^» 1862, at Lady D. Nevill's town house, I first beheld these beautiful
larvie feeding on the leaves of the Ailanthus qlandulosa. In 1863 I became
possessed, through the kindness of her ladyship, of some eggs and procured
others from France, and I obtained that summer,, as also in 1865, two gen-

♦PKinchcs d' Histoirenat., cnlr.minees, X, \,\. 42. Ins.

114 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

erations. In confirmation of the statement that the cocoons in England
were remarkable for their size, M. de Eoo viin Westmas, writing from the
Netherlands, a moister and more temperate clime than France, in August,
1864, says "The acclimatization of _B. Cynthia has perfectly succeeded, and
presents a remarkable fact, viz., that the race is, without doubt, ameliorated.
The moths are larger and more vigorous than those of the preceding year.
The fentales laid last year from 100 to 150 eggs, but now give from 300 to
350, and what is still more remarkable is, that the eggs are larger and heav-
ier, for whereas before a gramme contained 540 — 500, now I find only 440 — 100
in that weight; this fact ap])eared to me of such importance that I counted
the eggs in five grammes taken from a weight of thirty grammes. I found
the number 2261 which gives an average of 452 eggs to a gramme." A
gramme being equal to loo grains (nearly), this gives twenty-nine or thirty
eggs to the grain. My own ex]XM'ience tallies exactly with that of Mr. de
Roo ; specimens bred in 1865, the progeny in part of French eggs pui"-
chased in 1863, exhibited as the result of two years' acclimatization in Eng-
land a marked improvement in ^ize, color, etc., in all their stages, as con-
trasted Avith their French |n"ogenitors, and the cocoons were finer in 1865
than in 1864. Lady Doroth}^ Xevill also reports that the English eggs and
cocoons are finer than the French. If this be proved by further observa-
tion it becomes an important argument in favor of English Ailanthiculture^
for a larger cocoon implies a greater weight of silk.

AVIIEN INTRODUCED INTO AMERICA.

In 1861 the Ailanthus worm was introduced into this country, the credit
of which is due to Dr. Thomas Stewardson of Philadelphia, Pa. Two able
and interesting-papers on the subject were published by Dr. J. G. Morris of
Baltimore, Md., in the Agricultural Reports for 1861 and 1862, great hopes
being entertained as to the success of the new enterprise.

Since that time the insect has been raised by a great many different
persons in the United States, and has been fully experimented with. In the
summer of 1865 I gave it a very thorough trial at Chicago, and raised large
quantities both indoors and on trees in the open air; and the following par-
agraphs from an article which was published in the Prairie Farmer of April
28th, 1866, will serve to illustrate its real value :

I raised two broods last summer without difficulty, the last worm of the
second brood having spun on the 23d September. Not one died, either of'
those raised in doors or out on the trees exposed to the weather, except by
accident or from the attacks of birds.

So, therefore, as regards hardiness and adaptibility to our climate there
is little question of its merit, there being few places on our continent sub-
ject to more sudden changes and extremes of temperatui-e than Chicago;
but in an economical jiOint of view, the sanguine expectation of its advo-
cates have not been realized, and notwithstanding the furore which it at
first occasioned in France and the much that has been said in its favor b}'
our Commissioner of Agriculture,* it never will take the place of the Mul-
berry Silkworm, and M. E. F. Cluerin-Mencville is at this day making re-
searches for, and experimenting with other worms, and has lately laid'
before the Academy of Sciences, Paris, a species of Bombyx (Anthercea) which
was obtained on the frontier of Cashmere and feeds on an Oak,(Quercvs in-
cana).

The Ailanthus worm has tAvo rather sei-ious disadvantages. The cocoon

* Isaac Newton was inciinibi'iit at tli;it time.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. !!•>

is prolongatofl and its threads arc attached by .strong and very tenacious
gluten ; for which reasons it lias never been successfully unwound, and even
carding is not an easy operation. In endeavoring to dissolve this gluten
by different compositions, I obtained great quantities of a soapy substance
or varnish, which might ])erhaps be turned to some use. When, by pa-
tience, I succeeded in dissolving the gluten from a few cocoons, sufficiently
to unwind them, the thread often broke by the weight of its own cocoon.
The silk when wound off compares unfavorably with that of some Mulberry
worms I reared several years ago : the threads have not the gloss, are not
as thick by one-third, and not over one-half as strong. Mr. Townend
Glover, Entomologist to the Department of Agriculture, Avhile in Paris last
summer, made manj- inquiries about new silk-reeling machines for the pur-
pose of unwinding the cocoons, but could learn nothing about them.

THOROUGHLY ACCLIMATED IN AMERICA.

Since 1866 this worm has become thoroughly acclimated, and is now
found in a wild state around the cities of Baltimore, Washington. Philadel-
phia, New York, Brookljni and Chicago. Indeed, it had multiplied to such
an extent in ISlO around Brooklyn, that the Ailanthus trees were in man}-
parts of the city entirely strijiped of their foliage by it. The bare 2")etioles
bore unmistakable evidence of the hardihood of the worm, and of its power
to multipl}' so as to become a nuisance. Singularly enough, a certain Mr.
J. Q. A. Warren, who travels between this country and Eui-ope, and deals
in natural history specimens, was at this very time attempting to get gov-
ernment aid for the introduction and encouragement of this insect.

Arriving from Europe, in apparent ignorance of what had already been
done in this country', and possessed of a sort of a seri-mania, h? extolled it
in a most enthusiastic manner in lectures delivered before the scientific
academies of our principal cities.

It has also become so abundant in Australia, where it was inti'odueed
some years since, that unless kept down by birds, it will soon become a per-
fect pest. One interesting fact connected with its naturalization as an
American citizen, is that, as I am informed by Mr. J. S, Eidings of Phila-
delphia, the moths reared in a wild state in that city have very generally
become darker than they originally were; thus showing how, in a ver}'' few
years, change of conditions and especially of climate may affect coloration.
During the past year, for some I'eason, it has not been as abundant as it
Avas in 1870.

VALUE OF THE COCOON.

The silk is valuable in the same sense as that of some of our
native worms, and if ever the supply from the Mulberry silkworm should
fail, would undoubtedly be turned to good account. It bleaches well, and
has long been used in China, where it is known to be so durable that a dress
made from it frequently descends as an heirloom for generations. It has
for many years been in the market in France, and I saw sjiecimens of man-
ufactured stuffs from it, both In London and Paris, and they had taken on
sundry dark colors very well, and looked remarkably fine. I understand

116 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

also from Mr. P. E. Uhler of Baltimore, that specimens have been woven
successfully in Paterson, N. J. This class of goods is known by the name
of Ailantine and might bo put to a great many uses, as there is always a
demand for coarse silks. But it has so far been woven principally from
carded silk, and no cheap, efficient and simple method of reeling the cocoons
has been made public. The value of anj' silkworm depends on our ability
to unwind its cocoon. The cocoon of the Ailanthus worm, like that of our
Gecropia, is open at one end, and though the thread is continuous, and if
disengaged of the glutinous matter which binds it, may be continuously
reeled oif ; yet such reeling is rendered extremely difficult from the fact that
the moment the cocoons are placed in the basin they fill with water, sink to
the bottom, and cause the threads to continually break.

Sevei-al devices for unwinding the cocoons have been patented in
Europe, but as already stated, none seem to have come into general use.
The method invented by M. Forgemol, and described in a report made in
1864 to the Imperial Society of Acclimatization, in France, will indicate in
Avhat direction experiments may be made, and I copy the descriptiopi of that
method from Dr. Wallace's essay. M. Forgemol says:

By Avay of experiment, seeking to follow in your steps, I myself, a
«hort time ago, exhibited before you a particular method of reeling open
cocoons. This method has since been studied anew, and I have thought it
right to bring before you the following alterations. Let me remind you
that the cocoons conveniently prepared were placed within linen or some
other fabric permeable to water; were then passed through manj^ Avaters in
succession containing soap and potash, in order to separate the ditferent
layers of silk which compose the cocoon; were placed, not too drj^ nor yet
too moist, in a vessel of a cup-shape (either one or in compartments), and
were then reeled when nearly dr}^ — differing from the method of reeling
closed cocoons, which is done on the surface of water more or less boiling.

Such was our first method. The following are the modifications result-
ing from our experience : — It seemed easier, and likely to save time, to have
A plate divided in several cujds, which might be removed at will, and to place
therein the cocoons for reeling. This plate, of any form, should tit the basin
of the ordinary winding machine, sucli as they use in the South of France.
Each cup is pierced with little holes in its centre, for the admission (if desir-
able) of steam from the hot water in the basin, in order to supply the
uecessar}' amount of moisture which the cocoons may have lost. No change
is made in preparing the cocoons and reeling them when neai^l}" dry, but
they are placed in the moveable cups pierced with holes fitting into the
plate as described. These plates, with moveable cups, are well suited to
reel cocoons naturally open, so long as they contain the chrysalis (plein),
but seem no longer to answer when the cocoons are empty (vides), that is,
when the moth has escaped.

In fact, the force used to draw apart and collect the single thi-eads
(brins), no longer finds a counterpoise in the empty cocoons, which do not
remain in the cups, but are dravvn out. Hence it becomes necessaiy to give
the empty cocoon a certain weight, a certain resistance, sufficient to retain
them " in situ," but not so great as to rupture the threads. After consider-
able experience, I conceived an apparatus intended to retain the empty
cocoons, and j^et to allow the reeling to proceed easily and rapidly. This
apparatus is composed of several skewers (broches), carrying needles of
varying height, and it is placed on a basin for the purpose, if necessary, of

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 1 IT

keeping the cocoons in a state of slight moisture, by means of steam from
watei" beneath, more or less boilirtg in the basin. These empty cocoons are
reeled, as we have already stated, when ncarl}- dr3', but yd they require a
certain amount of moisture, whic-h is indispensable for the perfect torsion
of the several threads (hrins), which go to form the one strand (_/??)• '^^'''^'
needles have, 1st, an olive-shaped head, which is capped by the empty cocoon,
suitably prepared beforehand and divested of its outer envelope ; 2ndi3', a
middle portion sliding through a ring, secui'cd by an upright (v?/u/r, prt/t< .swr
les hroclics) attached to the skewer; and Brdly, a base, with a blunt point.,
which revolves in a little cup worked in the thickness of the skewer.

The needles are very moveable on their ])ivot, and the cocoons being move-
able also on the olive-shaped heads, turn on them in every direction, follow-"
ing the position and the direction of the threads as they unwind. The head
is olive-shaped to avoid making a hole in the base of the cocoon during the
movement and rotation by the resulting friction, which must ensue were
the head pointed. The needles are of ditfei-ent lengths to allow more
cocoons than one to be reeled off at once, those of the first skewer being the
smallest, those of the second bigger, and so on according to the number of
the strands and the required thickness of the thread. The skewers, armed
with needles of ditf'erent height, after being capped with em])ty cocoons
suitabh' prepared, are placed on the basin so that two or more may be used
at once. So arranged, the skewers slide into a groove made into the frame
of the machine. They are kept apart by a little bar of division fixed at
either extremity. When the cocoons are reeled the skewers, whose needles
are now free, are pushed forwards and removed, they are immediately re-
placed by others prepared beforehand, and placed read}' at the end of the
groove. There is no interrujition in reeling; the mechanism of the skewers
and needles is both simple and eas}'. These, as also thejilate with moveable
cups, are easily and without cost adapted to the well-known machine, which
seems a great advantage since the old implement for reeling closed cocons
is now made available, almost without change, by the simple method which
I have described."

ITS NATURAL HISTORY.

The female depo;;ts, on an average, two hundred and fifty eggs (Fig.
42, .5). These are about 0.07 inch long, oval in form, and of a cream color.
They are spotted in places with dark green or black particles which can be
rubbed off and which under the microscope are found to consist principally
of gum, mixed with minute hairs. Thej^ become depressed four daj's after
being deposited and acquire a greener hue just before hatching. The shell
is very hard and tough and the clicking noise mentioned in speaking of
the eggs of 7nori (p. 86) may often be heard. The moth fastens them hj means
of a gum with tolerable firmness to whatever object she may be upon.
They are however easily detached, and if subsequently placed on moist
cloth or paper will again adhere. They hatch at a temperature of. 65° Fahr.

Larval Changes— The young worm is yellow, with a doi-sal, subdorsal, and stigmatal row of
black spots — each row with two to a joint — the anterior one in the stigmital row being the smiUest
and the posterior one the largest. Betwein eacli ofthese rows, in the middle of each joint, is a blaclc
tubercle, crowned with white bristles, and there is an additional row (G in all) which is sul)stig-
matal. The head is [lolished black, and there is a black jiatch on joint 1, on the caudal plate, and on
the outside of the anal proleg.s. 'i'he thoracic legs are black, and the prolegs yellow with a black
mark outwardly near e.xtremiry. After the lirst moult the head is brown and the tijjs only of the
tubercles remain black, the rest of the stem being light yellow. After the ind moult the color is
paler, being of a ci-eam-yellow : the hea<l is entirely yellow, except the feelers which are brown, and
all the tubercles, except the stigm'.ital row, are cream-colored, with bristles ending in a knob of the
same color: the stigmatal row is black, with cream-colored bristles: legs of a bright yellow: stigma—

118 • FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OP

ta lilack. At this stage a mealy powder begins to manifest itself on the surface of the body. After
The 3rd moult it is of a still paler cream-color, and only the stem of the stigmatal tubercles i-emains
black, the knob and bristles being cream-c )lored: the head, legs, and anus are now sul|)hur-yellow;
the stignitita are larger, and there are two black spots at base of prolegs and three at base of thoracic
legs, the central one elevated and forming, as it were, a spine. (These spots are often visible after
the second moult.) The white powder-like or wax-like secretion, now covers the body giving it a
most delicate look. After the last moult the tubercles become blue— the lower row having black at
base— and as the worm approaches its full growth, the white powder for the most part gets
rubbed off and vanishes. When full grown it ai)pears as in the upper part of Figure 42 and is of a
light msaly bluish-green, freckled — aside from the black or, as they now often appear, blue-black
spots already mentioned — with numerous roundish spots of a darker green, more decided laterally
and veutrally : the head and thoracic legs are shiny yellowish-green, and the |)rolegs and anal joint
pale orange-yellow.

Within a month after hatching the worm spins up, forming its cocoon
(Fig. 2, 5) within the leaf which is drawn partly around it, and fastening the
leaf stalklet to the main stalk with strong silk. In five da3's it becomes a
chrysalis (Fig. 2, Ji) and, if of the first brood, produces the moth within three
weeks afterwards. The second brood of worms generally have the instinct
to fiisten- their Cocoons to the more permanent twigs, to which they hang
securely during the winter; but the}" often attach them to the leaf stalk,
with which they are carried to the ground in the fall; and the streets of the
cities in which they have become wild are often strewn with such cocoons
which get trodden on and ruined.

The moth (Fig. 42, i?, $) is of a rusty yellow color inclining to green
and marked with pale lilac and white with transparent crescent spots as in the
illustration. The males are smaller than the females, having smaller bodies
and narrower Avings, tiie hind ones, especially, being much less rounded.
The male antennae are scarcely any broader than those of the female.

The above descriptions are general in their character. The insect is
not only variable in intensity of markings and coloration; but likewise, to
an unusual degree, in the time required for development. Some of the first
ones I bred were very irregular in tliis respect, part of the second brood is-
suing as moths in the fall, and part remaining over winter in the cocoon till
the middle of the following June. I have also had the chiysalis remain not
only through one winter, but throughout the summer and succeeding sec-
ond winter, and not give forth the moth till the second summer; though
the cocoons were submitted to precisely the same conditions under which
others, hatched from the same batch of eggs, issued in the fall of thej-earin
which they were hatched. Tliis is the common experience of most persons
who haye raised the worms in large quantities.

A high temperature generally hastens their development, as it does in
other insects; and while m}^ summer broods averaged but 25 days from the
time of hatching to spinning, those of the fall brood which issued the same
year, averaged 30.

Some specimens which I hajij^ened to have feeding in 1869 in cages
contiiining plum twigs as well as ailanthus, seemed to eat the leaves of the
former with as much relish as of the latter; aiul no doubt other food-plants
might be found for this insect, if it were desirable. In Europe they have
also been fed with success on Rhus coriaria and Pimpernel; while Dr. Wal-
lace has fed them with Plum and Laburnum producing moths weakened and

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 119

•ilefeetive in size; and gives a very interesting account of some dwarfs pro-
duced from celery fed worms.

BEST METHOD OF KAISlNCi THE WOHMS.

As this worm takes so kindly to our climate, there will be no difficulty
in rearing it in any quantit}' in the ojjcn air, if onlj^ care be taken to pro-
tect it from the attacks of birds and predaceous insects such as ants, ground-
beetles etc. It does not seem to be palatable to birds, as Dr. Wallace found
that none of them touched it in England, except the tom-tit, robin and rook.
Consequentl}^, by a little vigilance in keeping away enemies, it may be
reared with but slight loss, upon trees without covering. Yet it would be
expedient and satisfactory in making an Ailanthery to keej) the trees in
plantation so trimmed and pruned that an awning of some kind of light ma-
terial could bo stretched over them during the feeding season, and removed
and*[)ut away during the rest of the year. A few cocoons, well choaen for
size and quality, might be left on the trees for breeding jJiii'poses, and the
moths as they issue would soon pair naturally and the females deposit their
eggs upon the branches of the trees. The males show a wonderful power
in finding the females, as the following incident will demonstrate. In 18G5,
knowing that the moths I reared in Chicago were the first that had been
introduced there, and that there were no others within himdreds of miles,
it occurred to me that an excellent opportunity was oflfered to test the at-
tractive power of the female; this power being generally very strong in the
£oinbi/cid<t, and often made use of bj" entomologists to semble the males of rare
species. Accordingly I took a virgin female bred indoors before anj^ out
of doors had issued, and after placing her upon a tree where she inclined to
remain, went the same evening a full mile awa}', with the wind, and let
loose a male with wings slight!}" notched so as to be recognizable again. I
hardly expected the experiment to result favorably ; but sure enough, the
next morning the identical male which I had marked was with the female.
Two broods can easily be produced each year, and the time of hatchmg of
the eggs, of the issuing of the moths, and that required for the development
of the worm, depends so much on the temperature, that the broods can be
produced at the seasons most convenient and favorable. When this control
is desired, the eggs and the cocoons must be properlj^ managed. The
cocoons intended for breeding purj>oses ma}- be suspended in chaplets so
that the moths ma}" issue more readily and have good opportunity to hang
their damp wings as they expand. They may then be coupled and placed
in wicker boxes or any other well ventilated vessels, from which the eggs,
when laid, can be easily removed. The eggs when about to hatch may be
fiistened to the trees in various ways, so that the young worms, from the
first moment of their lives, will find the leaves convenient. They may be
jiasted on to thin wood, paper or linen, and pinned in small quantities to the
leaf-stalk; or portioned into lots of fifties or hundreds and suspended in
small muslin bags pinned near a leaf.

The young worms are gregarious and generally remain on the under-

120 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

side of the leaves; and as they do not consume much at this period, and are
more liable to the attacks of their enemies, it may be found profitable to
rear them during the first stage indoors upon cut branches or 3'oung ti-ees-
in pots.

A GOOD WORD FOR THE AILANTHUS.

This tree (.4. glandvlosus), taken from Japan to Europe in 1851, and for
a long time suj^posed to be a sumac and known as the Jajmn Varnish tree,.
was first rightly described b}^ the French botanist Desfontaines. It is now
(j-rown as a shade tree all over this country and is one of the most valuable,,
and at the same time worst abused trees we have. A 2:)eculiar odor, reinind-
ing one of the urine ofa male cat, and quite nauseous to man}- piersons, attaches
to the staminate flowers, and in a slight degree to the leaves and the rest of
the tree. This odor is even faintly communicated to the silkworm which
feeds upon it; and is the cause of the prejudice which many have against the
tree; it is never disagreeable in the open air, except daring the flowering-
season, and may be entirely avoided by growing only the female or pistil-
late tree, or by clipping off" the blossoms of the staminate tree. The advan- .
ta'-'es of the Ailanthus so far outbalance this one obnoxious feature that I con-
sider it one of the most valuable shade trees we have. Growing freely in
chalky jSandy, or clayc}' — in the poorest or the richest soil ; defiant of city
smoke or prolonged drought; wonderfully free from insect injuries; easily
l)ropagated by root or seed ; a rapid growei-, with a graceful semi-tropical ap-
])earanee — it is quite undeserving of the abuse that has been heaped" uj)on it.
Away out on the plains on the Kansas Pacific railroad, wher-c tree-planting-
is yet an experiment, Mr. E. S. Elliot has had excellent success with it, an<i
I was never more fa voi-ably impressed with it than in passing through the
thronged streets of New York and Brookljni last sutiimer. There it was,
on ever}- side, presenting its fresh rich foliage to the eye, and giving ele-
gance to the streets where all other trees either failed or looked unhealthy.
During the excessive drought of the past year, it held its own in our owt»
city of St. Louis better than all other trees; and when it finally shed its
leaves, they formed a welcome and nourishing morsel to the hungry cattle
who at that time found little else to browse upon. The female tree may
alwaj-s be secured by root propagation and is not only free from the nause-
ous odor^ but grows more symmetrically than the male, and when laden
with its large seed-bunches, tinted with shades of yellow, orange and crimson,,
it is really beautiful. The Ailanthus is said to impoverish the ground and
is supposed to furnish the best food for the worms when grown on a chalky,
or limestone soil.

[Fig. «.]

t'i:u.\iL:iii.:A Mum, mal

N

[Pig. Hk]

vnoMKnwA MOTH, fe.male

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

121

THE PEOMETIIEA SlLK\YOnK~Attacus'[CallosamHq Pronuihca,

Brtirv.

(Lt'i)i<loi)ti'ru, Bombycida'.)

This is one of om- native worms posscsi?-
iiio- many eharae ers which closoly ally it to
the Cynthia worm. Its cocoon is, like thrtof
the two preceding species, elonoate and open
at one end. It is alsO double, but the outer
coat is not loose and rough, but smooth and
solid like a piece of tough manilla i)uper; and
there is very little space, and consequently
very little floss silk between it and the inner
coat. The silk is finer, weaker, less in quan-
tity, and much more closely compacted and
-^ agglutinated than in the others, and, Avhen
I coupled with the fitct that it is suspended by a
^^ rope or cord, as long as, and often long.er than,
^ the cocoon itself; these qualities render it less
> valuable than that of either the Cecropia or
J^ Cynthia worms. Indeed, under present con-
ditions, the cocoon of Promethea is valueless,
as it cannot be reeled, and I doubt whether it
could even be carded.
The Promethea moth la3'S her eggs on the twigs of the tree which is to
supply the worms with food, in clusters of five or six together. They are
of the size and form of those of cynthia, of a pale cream color var-
iously shaded with a brown gumni}^ substance, which is often mixed with
the hairs of the mother's abdomen. They hatch in the latitude of 8t. Louis
from the middle to the last of June.

Larval CuAN-GEs.-The young, in the first stage, is very much lilie that of cyntkia, lieing vcl-
low, with six rows of tubercles ; but instead of having two spots to each joint between thes:e tubercles,
It has two transverse dorsal black stripes on each joint, the posterior reaching a little further do'vii
than the anterior. The tubercles are blunt, tliickened at tip, and are white, except on the thoracx
and anal joints, where they are ti|)ped with black : they are furnished with long bristles, which are
also pale, except on the joints just inention.'d. The head is yellow, withtwo transverse dark bands the
upper one bi-oad and excavated laterally. In the second stage there is no essential change, except
that the black tips arc oufin^d to the i uiipermost tubercles on the first, and those on the anal
joints; the black stripes are also more conspicuous. In the third stage (Fig. 43, a) the body is paler-
the transverse stripes are more conspicuous, the bristles on the tubercles are shorter, having m.)ri'
the appearancL^ of spines, and the two ui)).ermost tubercles on joint 2 are often tipped with black In
the tourth stage there is considerable variation, but generally the body is still paler and covered with
a whitish pruinescence or powder which recalls the powdery appearance of cjnthia at the same age-
the transverse stripes are broader (Fig. 4;{, c, represents an enlarged side view of one of the joints) and
show a tendency to approach between the tubercles; the dorsal rows of tubercles are sulphur-yellow
except on joints 1 and \1, where they are black, an.l the central yellow tubercle on joint U becomes
mere prominent; the subdorsal row is entirely black, an.l the sti^-matal row is black <.n the thoracis
joints and yellow on the rest; three black ventral tubercles each side of thoracic joints are now often
quite con.spicuous; the spines correspond in color to the tubercular stalk; the head (Fig. 4:J b) is yel-
low, with the lip. a:il triangular piece Iwhite, and is prettily miirked with black, a.T follows- two

122

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

black spots on fr«ns, one bcliin I auteiuue, a striiic aroiiml labrmu, ami ouo at lower base of cheek:
theanal legs are also niirkeil above with a rectangular black stripe. In the lifth stage, i. e. , after the
fourth niDUlt, the ai)i)earance is totally changed ; the Ijody is of a most delicate bluish- white, with a
faint prninescence; all the spiny tubercles I)ec()mi' siiiooth, and with the excc'i)tion of the four dorsal
ones on joints 2 and ."i and the l.irge one on joint 11, they are mere rounded,* polished, black or Ijhie-
black elevations; the fmir on joints '2 anrl .'.are at lirst yellow, with a black basal annulation, but thex
soon become red; that on joint 11, which is of the same size, remains yellow with its black base; the
rectangular black m;irk on anals becomes sub-triangular; and the murks on front of head generally
disappear. The legs and anal shield are yellowish, the abdominal ))rolegs having each a black spot
outside, while there is often a minute black spot on eachside of venter, to correspond with them, on
joints 4 and 5. The stigmata are narrow and brown.

As this worm acquires its full growth, the pruincscenee, nientioned
above disappears, and it acquires a more greenish cast, except around the
base of the tubercles where there is a more decided blue annulation. At this
[Fig. 44] time it presents the appearance of Figure 43, d. It

is quite irregular in developing, but usually acquires
its full growth within a month from hatching. In
making its cocoon it instinctively fastens to the
twig, b}' woolding around it a strong band or cord ol
silk, the leaf which it intends to use for the pur-
pose, and connects the leaf with this anchor-band
b}' continuing the silken girdle around the leaf-
stalk. In the wintertime the leaf-stalk shrinks and
rots, so that the cocoon swings either the whole
length of its fastening, or but part of its length,
as at Figure 44. As may readily be inferred, the
length of this fastening depends on the length of
the leaf-stalk, and if no leaf-stalk is at hand the
worm may form a cocoon without a -cord. This
insect is single-brooded, and the cocoons hang
tlirough the winter and give forth the moths
during the end of Ma}' and beginning of June. 1
have known the latter to issue, however, during the
same year, but such an occurrence must be considered exceptional.

The sexes ditfer strikingly in appearance. As with cynthia the wings
of the male are more narrow and more falcate than those of the female, but
though the same design is manifest in both sexes, the general color of the male
(Fig. 45) is a deep rich smoky or amber-brown ; while that of the female (Fig.
46) is of a lighter rust- or reddish-brown. Both have a pale wav}- line
across the middle and a claj-colored border along the hind edges of the wings.
Both also have an ej-e-like black gpot withapale bluish crescent inside, near
the tip of front wings ; but the female has a pale angular spot, shaded out-
side with black, near the middle of each wing, which is only occasionally
faintly indicated on the underside in the male. The antenn.T of the male
are about twice as broad as those of the female.f

* Sometimes conical on the back of joints 3 and 12.

t Occasionally specimens are found combining the pattern of the female with the dark colors of
the male, and the'se should be considered either as herma])hrodites or anomalies, But they have
been described as a new species under the name of nra(7M/J/>ra by Mr. Francis Walker of the British
Museum. I have seen the specimens under this name in said'Museum and in the collection of the
IJntomological Society of Philadelphia and should not think of considering them anything else than

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST, 123

The eoeoons are found upon the Ash, Sassafras, AVild cherry, Tulip
xvee (Liriodendron,) Sweet gnm (Liquidambar), Since bush (Lindera), Ma-ple
Plum, Poplar, Azalea, Cephalanthus, Snowdrop tree (Halesia), Barberrj-,
Birch, Baj'berrj' {Myricd) and Lilac. Of course it does not follow that the
worm feeds upon all trees and shrubs upon which its cocoon is found :
on the contrary, there is good evidence that it often prefers to wander onto
some tree, other than that on Avhich it fed, when about to spin up ; and Dr.
Fitch (Rep. HI, § 80) has shown that in New York it spins up by preference
on Lilac. But I have fed it successfully on the five trees first mentioned
while m}' correspondents in Pennsylvania and Mar^^Iand have fed it on Tulip
tree. Sweet gum and Spice bush ; and there is reason to believe that it will
feed upon the others. In fact Mr. Chas. S. Minot of Boston, Mass.^ informs
me that at a pinch it will feed on Arbor-vitse. It is most commonly found
on Sassafras and Cherry Avith us, while singularl}- enough, Dr. Fitch has
shown that in his locality, it prefers the Ash, and does not touch Sassafras
oven when adjoining Ash. These facts goto show how a species maj- o-et
to prefer different trees in diflFerent sections of a countrj-, and indicate how
incipient races at first, and in time varieties and species maj' be formed.

NATURAL ENEMIES.

The cocoons are often guttCd by birds, hard pushed for food in the
winter ; while the Avorm is attacked by several parasites. The cocoon is of-
ten found to contain numerous other small silken cocoons, verjMiiuchas rei>
resented in Figure 40, but formed of a somewhat darker material ; and from
th3>3 I have brei Oryptm nunctus, Say which diifers prineipall}^ from ex-
trematis, Cresson, in having the ovipositor shorter than the abdomen as in
Figure 41, b ; instead of nearly twice as long as at a*. Chalcis marice also
preys upon it, and Mrs. Chas. S. Minot has bred an Ichneumon, an OpMon
and a J)ttcAma-fly from it.

'HE LUN'A SlJAvWOW^—Attacus lActias] Luna,\.mn.

(Leiiidoytera, Bombycidaj.)

Whichever of the preceding moths may carry off the palm of beauty in
the eyes of different persons, no one will hesitate for a moment to accord
to Luna, our "queen of the night," entire supremacy in grace, elegance and
ohasteness. K"o other N. A. insect can win this distinction from "her. All
the large moths figured in this article on silkworms draw forth expressions
of admiration from those who see them in my cabinet ; but the delicate green,
relieved by the eye-spots and by the broad purple-brown or lilaceous an-
terior border; the soft downy hair of the body, and above all the graceful
— ^

n;?'.,'vVnn,i'fvf''!'>"' ""^ f; ^''om.fhy ''^^^ 'h 't fhLs ex •eptional form has been reared froni cocoons spun
to niegnmiul "'' '^' ""'• '^ '' ""''" produced from enfeebled ,worm^ which have fallen

*For further details se? i aje 111.

124

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

prolongation of the hind wings (See Fig. 47) of iwna, are the first to attract
the e^-e. Tlie green varies in tint, having either a cold, bluish, almost
pearly look, or being strongly sutlused with yellow. The body is some-
times pure white but more generally yellowish or cream-colored, and though

[Fig. 48.]

[Fig. 49.]

the hind
borders o f
the wings
are usually
yellowish,
they are
sometimes

stained with the same deep color as
the anterior or costal border.

The cocoon of this insect (Fig. 49)
is formed within a leaf, or leaves
drawn together, and in the fall of
the year drops to the ground where
it remains all through the winter.
It is whitish or brownish*, closely spun, tough, oval and closed at each
end ; but it is so thin and contains so little silk, that it cannot be unwound
and possesses no value compared with some of the others.

The eggs are deposited in small batches on the twigs : they are slightly
lai-o-er than those of cynihia, and more or less deeply colored with a brown
adhesive fluid.

The worm feeds with us principally on Walnut and Hickorj'; but is
also found on Sweet gum, Beech, Birch, and even Willow and Plum.

Larval CiiAXCE^i. — In the lir.st .stago the -wonii Is of :i i):ik' green color, witli two brown tr;^l.'^-
verse bands across the head sometlilng as in Figure 4:5, 6, and a brown longitudinal mark along each
side of the body, especially distinct on the four anterior joint.s and sometimes meeting on the back of
the 4th. It is covered with setaceous tubercles, placed in in-ecisely the same posilim, and of the
same size as those of Cecropia, Promeihea and the others at the same age, the stifl' hairs beingniostly
tinged with brown. In the second stage the brown marks on the heail mostly remain, but often are
less distinct; the lateral brown stripes vani.sh and the four dorsal tubercles on joint 1, the two upper-
most tubercles on joints '2 and 3 and the middle one on joint 1 1 are generally orange-red . In the third
sta^e there is very little change; the upper band on the head usually disappears entirely, the tuber-
cles become uniform in color again, and some of the bristles become more conspicuously black
and more spinous. In the fourth stage, the tubercles are reduced in relative size, especially the sub-
dorsal row. In the fifth stage these tubercL'S become relatively still smaller, and some fe\v other
changes take place. The full grown larva (Fig. 48) alni'ist ujuals the parent moth in delicacy of
color, being of a remarkably Cli'ar pale green inclining to yellowish above and bluish below. The
sides slope, roof-fashion, from the spiracles to the back, which is comparatively narrow, and where
the sutures are very deep, causing each joint to forin a sort of tubercle having a crescent shaped in-
denture, and reminding one of those on the back of some of our wood-borers such as the Uouud-
headed Apple-tree Borer. There is a longitudinal substigmatal yellow line each side, and a trans-
verse yellow line on the posterior edge of the 4th to the loth joints inclusive. The tubercles are ver-
million-red, the lower ones darkest, the upper ones verging on to orange; and on joints '2—5 there is an
additional ventral tubercle each side. The spiracles are deep reddish-brown: the head is bluish-
green shaded above with light brown, and at sides with darker brownf: the upper lip is produced
into two appendicles more i)r()minent than in any of the species yet described and serving no doub
to steady the leaf whichthe worm is gnawing. The <;ervic.il shieM is horny, with a tinge of blue. The
thoracic li'gs are brown with yellow at base, and the pro'.egs light brown with a black outer line jusi
above the coronet of hooks. The caudal plate is nari-ow, bluish, with brown edges ancL bordered

* Doubtless according to food-pl:int. Specira.'ns fed on Hickory have given me the darker cocoons.
t Exceptional specimens occur with the head and thoracic legs almost black.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

125

;iV).jve with yellow, aiul there are platos on the anal legs of nearly the same size, form and color.
The whole body is sparsely covereil with sliort yellowish bristles, aside from tlie few longer ones
which emanate from each tubercle.

The moths issue durina; the mofith of April up to al)Out the middle of
■!Mny. The worm acquires its full growth in al)Out a month from the time
of hatching, and goes through the earlier moults quite rapidly. In a state
of continement the moths from these first worms have alwa3'S issued in
Jidy near St. Louis, and it is quite probable that the insect is frequentl}'
2-br()oded with us though considered single-brooded further north.

I have never known this insect to be parasitized, but Mr. Y. T. Cham-
bers, of Covington, Ky., has know a Tachina-fiy to deposit eggs upon the
worm, Avithout, however, preventing its maturing to the moth.

There is a moth occurring in China (A. Selene, Leach) which must, I
believe, be considered identical with our Luna, or at the most should be
considered only jls a variety. Dr. Fitch has minutely described such differ-
ences as are supposed to separate the two as sjiecies. *

THE POLYPHEMUS SILKWORM— .4f?'(^;//x [ ^^0 Polyphemus, Linn.

(Le|iicl ptera, Bombycida^ )

[^''-- ■'- ] This is the

insect which, as
1 have already
remarked, has
1 ) e e n styled,
with much jus-
tice, '' the Amer-
ican Silkworm "
by Mr. L. Trou-
velot, of Med-
ford, Mass. That
gentleman made
a series of very
interesting ex-
periments in rearing the worm in large quantities in the open air, and in
1865 he had not less than a million feeding upon bushes covered with a net.
An interesting account of these experiments, but more esj^ecially of the
natural history of the species may be found in the first three numbers of
that excellent periodical the J.meriet?7iiVa!'MmZ;'sf.

The eggs of Polyphemus are deposited singly, or in twos or threes, on
the under side of a leaf or upon a twig; and as a further instance of the
fallibility of instinct, Mr. Trouvelot has known them to be deposited in
the open air upon jjlants which could not nourish the young worms. They
are of about the same size of those of Cecropia, less oval — the lateral cir-

vir.l X. V. n-]'., §1S0, Xote.

126

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

cumferenee being iiearlj' cylindrical — and more flattened. They are whit-
ish, inclining to flesh color on the top and bottom, and encircled
on the sides by a characteristic broad band of amber-brown, which is the
natural coloring of the egg-shell and^iistinct from the brown fluid which is
secreted with and fastens them to whatever object they are eonsignetl.
This brown band has a narrow pale s^iot at the two smaller ends. The
moths issue with us the latter part of April, or in May, and the female com-
mences depositing very soon afterwards. The eggs hatch in about ten
days after deposition.

The worm feeds on Oak, Walnut, Ilickor}-, Bass-wood (^r<Z/rt), Elm, Ma-
ple, Hazel, Apple, Eose, (Quince, Thorii, Plum, Choke cherr}-, 83-camore,
Poplar, Birch, Honey locust. Blueberry and Willow; on the tirst nine of
which I have found it myself. It- has the general form of that of Luna,
though the sides are not so sloping nor the incisions so deep. When full-
grown (Fig. 52) it is a most delicate and beautiful object, being of a clear
apj^le-green color, with oblique yellow lateral lines, and tubercles tinsel leil
Avith orange, gold and silver. The head, spiracles, legs and ends of j^rolegs
are of a buff-3'ellow, the front edge of the tirst joint sulphur-yetlow, and the
dges of the anal shield purple.

Lakval CiiAXCiES. — lu the first ^^tage the larva is yeUow, becoming greener in appearance as it
increases in size. The tubercles are situated as in the other species ami are yellow, capped with a
whorl of rufous bristles. The two dorsal rows are large, conspicuous, and except on joint 11 uni-
form in size. In the subdor.sal row they are large on the thoracic and 12th joints, but almost obsolete
on the rest. In the stigmatal row they are small and of equal size. Each joint has two transverse
black lines between the subdorsal and the stigmatal rows of tubercles : the head is reddish-brown,
and there is a transverse line of the same color on the lirst joint. In the second stage it is of a beau-
tiful green; the tubercles are of the same relative size, those on the back having a length of ,'4 the
diameter of the bf)dy : they are thick and slightly Ijell-shaped , green at base, yellow in the mi<^ldle, ami
orange-red at tip, witli the bristles or spines mostly black. Only one of the black lines renaains
to each joint and that is very faint, contains the spiracles, and is shaded with paler green behind.
The head and cervical shield are of a deeper red-brown and the anal i)late is edged with pearly whiti-h-
green. In the third stage there is little change: the tips of the tubercles deepen into coral-red;
the subdorsal row becomes almost as conspicuous as the stigmatal, and there is no longer any blaek
lines between them, though the spiracles are now ipiite black and well relieved by pale green behind.
In the fourth stage the tubercles are relatively smaller, the head is of a still deeper purple-brown,
with the front edge of lirst joint, and the lateral oblique line, which is now more distinct, of a deli-
cate sulphur-yellow; the spiracles are deep brown, and the edge of the anil plate is silvery-white
below, graduating into lilaceous and then into deep jjurple above. As it approaches thefourth moult,
the tubercles acquire a metalic, or silvery cast, and the other colors deepen. In the fifth stage the
seven oblique lines, connecting the subdorsal with the stigmatal tidjercles on joints .3—11 are bright sul-
phur-yellow, the tubercles appear tinselled and reflect golden, silver and purple hues: the dorsal
rows give forth but two or three straw-colored bristles, and the subdorsal rows but one of the same
color, all pointing upward and forward; while the stigmatal row produces one light and one dark
one which point exactly in the opposite direction. Numerous other stiff hairs spring directly from
the skin, especially below; the sul) ventral thoracic tubercles are conspicuous; and there is a faint lon-
gitudal ventral band. The front edge of the first ioint is bright sulphur-yellow, with a soft retractile
band of slate color between it and the head.

The cocoon (Pig. 53) is formed of
strong silk which when unwound has
a glossy fibre. It is oval and closed
at both ends, dense and generalh' fas-
tened to a leaf or leaves, with which it
falls to the ground, though sometimes
it is fastened to twigs and therefore re-
mains exposed during the winter, to

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 127

its enemies. This cocoon is said by Fitch to so closely resemble that of Luna,
that the two cannot be distinguished from each other, and Harris speaks of
their great similarity : but with us they are vei-y easily distinguished. That
of Polyphemus is not only more dense, but its fibres are intermixed and
cemented with a gummy substance which when dry gives the cocoon a
hard chalkv appearance. This hardness renders the exit of the moth un-
usually tedious and difficult, and the process has been so well described by
Mr. Trouvelot, that though I have watched it mj-self, 1 repeat his words:

" But the moth must have some means of exit from the cocoon. In
factit is provided with two glands opening into the mouth, which secrete
durino- the last few days of the pupa state, a fluid which is a dissolvent for
the <''um so firmly uniting the fibres of the cocoon, This liquid is
composed in great part of bombycic acid. When the insect has accomplished
the work of transformation which is going on under the pu])a skin, it man-
[Fig. o4.] ifests a great activity, and soon the chrysalis

covering (Fig. 54) bursts open longitudinally
upon the thorax ; the head and legs are soon
disengaged, and the acid fluid flows from the
;iouth wetting the inside of the cocoon. The
process of exclusion from the cocoon lasts for
as much as half an hour. The insect seems to
be instinctively aware that some time is required to dissolve the gum, as it
does not at first make any attempt to open the fibres, but seems to
wait with patience this event. When the liquid has fully penetrated the
cocoon, the pupa contracts its body; and pressing the hinder end, which is
furnished with little hooks, against the inside of the cocoon, forcibly ex-
tends its body ; at the same time the head pushes hard upon the fibres
and a little swelling is observed on the outside. These contractions and
extensions of the bod}' are repeated many times, and more fluid is added to
soften the gum, until under the efforts the cocoon swells, and finally the
fibres separate, and out comes the head of the moth. In an instant the legs
are thrust out, and then the whole body appears; not a fibre has been broken,
they have only been separated.*

" To observe these phenomena, I had cut open with a razor, a small por-
tion of a cocoon in which was a living chrysalis nearly ready to transform.
The opening made was covered with a piece of mica, of the same shaj^e as
the aperture, and fixed to the cocoon with mastic so as to make it solid and
airtight ; through the fransiiarent mica I could see the movements of the
chrysalis perfectly well."

Mr. Trouvelot also gives some xqvj interesting facts to show the won-
derful vitalitj^ of the chrysalis. He once thrust a pin through a cocoon
which he wished to preserve, and, as might be supposed, the pin also pierced
through the body of the chysalis inside. This was done in October, and
nine months afterwards, in June of the following j'eai*, he was surprised to
find a great commotion in the cabinet where the specimen was pinned, and

* As I have already intimated (j). 74) this statement is not sullieieutly giiarded.

128 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

the moth with head and legs projecting, endeavoring in vain to escape from
its prison. To prove also that no air is needed from outside for the proper
development of the moth, he carefully covered cocoons so as to make them
air-tight and kept them so covered all winter without in the least affecting
the exit of the moth.

The moth (Fig. 50 ^ ; Fig. 51 ?) is of a dull ochre-yellow, shaded more
or less distinctly with innumerable black particles and with a broad gray
band along the front, or costal edge, and passing over the thorax. There
is a darker, reddish-brown shade across the middle of the wings, and near
this shade on each wing is a transparent eye-like spot, divided by a slender
opaque line, and margined by a yellow and a black ring, the last much
broader on the hind than on the front wings, being there Avidened on the
inside into a large black spot with the part adjoining the eye-spot bluish-
white. Near the hind margin of each wing is a dusky band, (bluish on the
front ones) edged with pink-white behind; and near the base of the front
wings is a zig-zag crimson line, edged inside with white. There is great var-
iation in the colors of this insect, dependent in some measure no doubt on the
food of the larva; and it is a wonder that some of them have not been de-
scribed as distinct species by those who consider Callosamui angulifera or
Samia Columbia good species. Specimens occur which have the general tint
either very dark or very pale; either brown, smokj. -yellow, cream-color,
rust-red or greenish ; while the large black spot on the hind wings is some-
times replaced by rust-red.

The male is easily distinguished from the female by his smaller abdo-
men, and very broad antennse which are, in fact, broader than represented
in my figure, as I have known them to spread nearly half an inch. They
have actually been mistaken for a third pair of wings by inexperienced per-
sons, and my friend, M. Provancher, gives the following amusing account of
such a mistake in the Natumliste Canadien, which he edits : *

We must look in order to see ; and in Natural History perhaps, more
than in any other department of knowledge, we must know how to look, in
order not to bo deceived in our observations. One day one of our worthy
neighbors came to call upon us with a very self satisfied air. ' Oh, bir,
sayl he, " I can show you— you who are so fond of rare things—an insect
such as you have certainly never seen." "Take care: my collection is
pretty large." " I have seen your collection and you have nothing like it.
It is a butterfly with six wings !" " A butterfly with six wings .'" "Yes,
sir with six wings. Besides the four wings in the ordinary places, it has
two little ones in addition on its head. It has a body as stout s^s that of a
middling sized mouse, and two large e3-es in its hind wings. All those to
whom I have shown it say they have never seen anything like it. .but
what is most extraordinaiy about it is these little wings on its head. \V hat
can be the use of them?" " Recoonizing without trouble bv means of this
description the insect that was referred to, we replied: "^ou know that
butterflies are travelers, or rather navigators, in the air. Ordinarily they
have only four wings, which, if you please, we may liken to the mainsails
and topsails of our common sloops or cutters. Probably your butterfly,
having a longer voyage than usual to make, has found it advantageous to

♦ v.)]. 1, p. -.'J.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 129

add a foresail; and I should not be at all surprised if some other one took
It into his head, to hoist a jib ahead of his other sails, so as to be still more
complete. But in the meantime let us go and see how yours is rigfred out "
Our triend, who had received our raillery with a self-satisfied air, because he
believed that he should soon have his revenge, by the stupefaction into
which we should be thrown by the sight of his wonderful phenomenon, was
quite put out of countenance when, at the first glance that we threw ui)on
his insect, we recognized the male of our Polyphemus Moth, and invited
him to come and see five or six others just like it in our collection. He had
mistaken for wings the feathered antennji) of that magnificent moth which
are especially well developed in the male sex, and which he had not taken
the trouble to remark in the specimens in our cabinet. But ftir from wish-
ing to turn aside our young naturalist from his observations, in consequence
of this unfortunate result of his first attempt, we made him fiiithfully prom-
ise to examine well all these little beings which are every day presenting
theinselves before our eyes; assuring him that, although he "would never
find insects with wings on their heads, he would nevertheless find other
wonderful things that would interest him still more.

We repeat the same advice to all our readers. Look! observe ' exam-
ine ! and you will see wonders without number unfold themselves before
your eyes.

It is a rule, without exception, that no insect has more than four true
wings. The wings may be split up as in the Plumes, of which the Grape-
vine Plume (Eep. 3, Fig. 27) is an example; or they may be furnished with
a membranous lobe as in the European gernxB LobojjMmi^ but they never
are increased in number beyond four. '

The principal difficulty in the way of reeling the cocoon of Pol;yT)he-
mus is the hard matter which binds it; but it is not an insurmountable one,
and the cocoon could no doubt be improved by a proper process of contin-
ued selection. The silk, as already stated, is strong and lustrous.

.As with some of the other species already mentioned, two broods ol
this insect are frequently produced each year in this latitude, though it nor-
mally appears to be single-brooded in the more northern States. In the
South it is always -double-brooded, the first moths issuing about the middle
of February in Louisiana. If it is ever grown for silk the South will be the
most favorable part of the country, for it often abounds in New Orleans in
such numbers, on Sycamore, Elm, and live Oak— especially the latter— as to
be easily gathered hy bushels.

The parasites of Polyphemus are, the ]\[ary Chalcis-fly (Fig. 39), the
Long-tailed Ophion (Fig. 37) and a Tachina-fiy which I shall not* now de-
scribe for reasons given in my 3rd Eeport (p. 150).. It difi^ers from that
which I have bred from C.ecropia, principally in its gray color being less
bluish, and in having smooth eyes; and may be provisionally designated as
Tachina a7iorii/ina*

from'^m^r:^';^J^X^\:l^Jl^!:^^;:,^^^ I ha^ br..d precisely the snme species

9

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

130

THE YAMA-MAI SILKWOEM— .4f^/c(<s lAnthema'] yama-mal, Guer.-Men.

(L('lii(l(»l)tir:i, Boiiihycida'.)

This worm is a native of
the northern parts of Japan, liv-
ing, as its name (meaning
" worm of the mountains ") im-
plies, in the mountainous dis-
tricts. It feeds on a species of
Oak known botanically as Quer-
cus serrata, and called Kunogi
by the natives. Its silk is jDro-
duced in large quantities in its
native country and already
forms an article of export. It
was first introduced into Europe
ill 1861 and soon afterwards
named and described by Cluer-
i 11 -Men evil le.* It has been
found more ditHcult to acclima-
tize than the Ailanthus worm,
and but indifferent success has
attended its culture. Yet there
are striking exceptions and in
Austria it has been successfully
reared in considerable quantities for sevei-al jx^ars. It is withal so valuable
an insect that further trial is fully justified. In America it has been experi-
mented with only since 1868, and I have for two years attempted to raise it in
small quantities in Missouri, In 1869, the weather was quite unfavorable, and
from two dozen eggs I failed to obtain an}^ moths though most of the worms
passed through the third moult. The eggs hatched jn-ematurely and I had
to feed the young worms on crushed buds. The disease they died of was
similar to one which attacks them in their native country^ and which has
also been noticed in Europe. I am very much inclined io attribute it to ex-
cessive heat. The worms become speckled and blotched, the beautiful clear
green changes to dull j-ellow, diarrhoea ensues, the body hangs by the pro-
legs, a flaccid shapeless mass of putrid fluid which soon bursts through its
tender and rotten covering, and finally leaves nothing but a dry shrunken
skin. In 1870 I had a little better luck with a second two dozen, though
nearly one-half hatched before food could be obtained for them, and conse-
quently died, and only one went through all its transformations and pro-

* For details of the history of this worm, and its culture in Europe, the reader may refer more
especially to the fDllowing works : Different papers by Gueriii-Meneville in the Revue et Mayazin de Zoo-
logie, iixuX Revue lie Sericicidturc (or tiwy<'t\rslS(il-Z.' Le ver a Sole du Clicne (liombyx i'ama-mai) son
histoire, sa description, ses mceurs, by M, Camille Personuat. Rapport sur une education en Anion flu
ver du Chene (ISfi;)) by F. Blain. Also two essays by Alexander Wallace, M. I). , one published in the
Transactions of the London Entomological Society (Vol. V, Part V, 18()7) and one in separate form in
18G9.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

131

•duccd a beautiful male moth. This specimen was hatched on the 13th of
April, commenced spinning June 3rd and produced the moth September 8th
— thus requiring the unusually long period of nearly five months for its
changes.

Mr. W. Y. Andrews, of New York, who has taken great interest in the
introduction of foreign silkworms, gives me tl>e encouraging information
that last summer, nearly 800 cocoons were obtained from about 1600 eggs,
in the vicinity of ]S'ew York. The moths issued at such irregular intervals,
however, and were so scattered among different ex]>erimenters, that no fer-
tile eggs were jjroduced.

Yama-mai undoubt-
edly belongs to the same
natural genus as Poly-
phemus, which it closely
resembles in habit and
aj)pearance. Its culture
may be carried on in
the same manner as
that of cynthia, and it-
will suiKce here to point
out such. of its peculiari-
ties as will guide in its
maiuigement.

The egg is rather
larger (Fig. 56 shows it
of natural size and mag-
nified) than that of Pol-
ypJiennis, less flattened
and of a pale straw-
color with a pinkish
tint. It appears brown
from being more or less
thickly coated with a
brown tenacious gum,
/--, which may l»e washed
off by any alkaline
fluid. The eggs should
be kej^t over Avinter in
a temperature never
higher than 40° F. When
hatching they should be
moistened or kept in a moist atmosphere. As in the case of our American
Tent-caterpillar, the young larva is fully developed Avithin a month after
the deposition of the egg, and passes the winter in a curled-up, quiescent
state within the egg-shell.

The worm thrives best in an atmosj^here that is cool, moist and shady,

132 FOURTH ANNUA'L REPORT OP

and the heat, if4t can be controlled, should not exceed 80° F. It is a lazy-
slothful creature, and often rests for hours in the position given in Figure
56. As we learn from Mr. F. O. Adams, who has lately made an interest-
ing report on the culture of this species, * the color of the more mature
worms so thoroughly corresponds with that of the leaf on which they natu-
rally feed that they can with difficulty be detected while clinging, motion-
less, to the branches and leaf-stems. They are of a beautiful clear green
with generally two silvery spots each side on the fifth and sixth joints, and
a pale yellow line running along the sides. This line, with the position
which the worm sometimes assumes, strengthens the resemblance to the
leaf, and I reproduce a rough outline (Fig. 57) from Mr. Adams' Eeport
which will well convey this resemblance to the reader's mind — the worm
being outlined at a.

The life of the worm lasts from 50 to 80 daj's, and it feeds on all kinds
of Oak, but prefers those of the white oak group. Dr. Alexander Wal-
lace, of Colchester, England, to whom I am indebted for specimens of the
moth, and who has extensively experimented with it, found that the worm
would feed also on Beech, Apple, Quince, White thorn, Neapolitan medlar
(Photinia glabra) and Chesnut.

Larval Changes.— The larva in the first stage is yeUow with tubercles corresponding exactly in
number and position with those oi Polyphemus, and the others described at the same age. It has a
narrow, but distinct, dorsal, subdorsal and stigmatal black line. The four upper rows of tubercles,
(except the two dorsal ones on joint 3, and the central one on jt. 11, which are large anddark) are yel-
low and give rise to stout black outwardly-curving bristles; the stigmatal row is black with a white
basal annulation, and gives rise to white bristles. The bristles are longest on thoracic joints,
and are all white on the first. Head shiny gum-copal yellow; cervical shield paler, more orange and
without polish; a black spot on anal shield and on each anal proleg. Thoracic legs black with yel-
low extremities; prolegs with brown extremities. Appi-oaching the first moult, the yellow color
becomes more greenish. In the second stage the color of body is greener, the head is chesnut-bvown,
the longitudinal lines are almost obliterated, the medio-dorsal one being of a faint and delicate blue:
there is a broad lateral band of the same faint blue, witli a light j'ellowish line below it. The tuber-
cles are longer, especially on joints 2, 3 and 4, the dorsal rows of a delicate yellow, the lower one of a
delicate blue with yellowish base. The bristles from all are black with a few scattering pale ones ,
The anal shield is edged with blue. In the third stage there is not much change; the tubercles are
relatively still more pi'ominent, the lateral ones tipped only with blue, the green of the body is more
intense, and is speckled with straw-color; and the lateral J' ellow line is suppressed on the thoracic
joints. In the fourth stage the change is slight, but from one to three silvery spots appear on the
lateral yellow line, usually on joints 5, 6 and 7. In the fifth or last stage, and when full grown, it
presents a most beautiful and delicate appearance, but varies considerably, and the following de-
scription is taken from those I fed, and more especially from that which produced the male moth. It
is of the same form as Luna and Polyphemus, the joints being deeplj' insected, narrowing from stig-
mata upwards, and flattened on dorsum by a crescent-shaped depression. Head opaque green witli
slight bluish tint, the five ocelli distinct and brown ; a few pale hairs especially around, and decurved
over, the trophi; antennas with bulbus yellow, the other two joints brown, the last terminating in a
long seta; epistoma with sutures and margins pale lilaceous; labrum very large, with pale margins.
Cervical shield paler than body, only slightly polished, ridged behind, and edged in front with yel-
low. Body clear yellowish-green; tergum of joints (.j— 10 especially) paler, and almost nacreous at
insections; studded with minute (0.02 inch long) short, clavate, sulphur-yellow projections or scales;
the tubercles are blue and emit black hairs, and there are besides about half-a-dozen long j'ellow
dorsal, anteriorly-curving seta; on joints i — 11; joint 1 is small and retractile, 2 and 3 large and ren-
dered square by the prominence of the dorsal tubercles; 5 — ^9 subequal ; 9 — last diminishing; a lateral
pale yellow line, faintly edged above with lilaceous, extends from middle of joint 4 to tip of anal
legs; a' silvery spot in this band on joint 5, and sometimes on joints 4 and 6. Stigmata immediately
below the yellow line, slightly oblique, sub-elliptical, fulvous, with (except on joint 1) a brown
fringe; a broad triangular brown patch on anal prolegs, and a broad margin on the caudal iilate,
extending and diminishing to anterior part of joint 11, also purple-bro'wn.

*3rd Rep. on Silk-culture in Japan, p. 8.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST,

133

The cocoon (Fig. 58) is large,
heavy and handsome, and requires a
full week for its completion. It is
formed within a single leaf or
within several drawn together and
attached to a twig. It is oval and
usually of a bright golden-yellow
color on the outside though nearly
white inside. Those raised out-of-
doors are more green, while those
raised in-doors are more yellow,
and white specimens have alread}'
been produced. The silk is strong
and valuable; it bleaches well
and may then be dj-ed; fewer
I threads are required to make a
strand than in that of mori, and it
unwinds with perfect facilit}", by
the ordinar}- process. It shows its
affinity to that of our Polyphemus
by the gum which surrounds it containing a chalky or calcareous substance
which may be noticed upon tearing or rubbing the cocoon.

The Moth (Fig. 55, male) is magnificent in point of size and color.
The front wings are broadly falcate and more so in the male than in the
female. The collar and broad costal margin are always of an ash-gray-
The eye-spots are surrounded Avith more or less pink and yellow, white and
black, the black always being on the outside. The broad lines across th.e
wings are either v^'avy and slate-colored, with an inner wavy coincident
shade, or more straight with a whitish outer shade, relieved hy a darker
more reddish posterior shade. The posterior margins are either paler than
the general surface, or ornamented with a dark M^avy line. The median
shade across front wings is either very distinct and scolloped, or obsolete ;
and there is either one or two such shades on the hind wings. The species
varies, in fact, very much in the detail of ornamentation, and in general
color, being either yellow, brown, graj'ish or olivaceous, and some speci-
mens much resembling certain forms of our Polyphemus.

According to the testimony of those who have had most experience
with this species in Europe, coition invariably takes place at night, and
lasts but a comparatively brief time. As the moths issue very irregularl}-
and the males are apt to appear many days before the females, and as it has
been further ascertained that unless they emerge within a day or so of each
other, the sexes show little affinity ; it is best to retard the male cocoons.
This can be done by first separating them, by weighing as described on
page 97, and keeping the male cocoons in a cooler place than those of the
female

From the foregoing it is evident that while yama-mai is the most valu-
able silk producer next to mori, it is nevertheless very difficult to rear. It

134 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

cannot well endure a heat beyond 80° F., and will doubtless thrive best in^
the more northern States, for it will bear a moderate amount of cold, even
below freezing point, for brief periods, with imjiunity. It is invariably
single-brooded, and runs a longer course of life than any of the other
species treated of. The hatching of the eggs must be retarded till the first
oak leaves (the buds of the Post oak are among the earliest to swell, but
some species of the black oak group, especially the Laurel-leaved oak, leaf
out first) put forth, and moisture, which is prejudicial to the Mulbeny silk-
worm, is grateful to this one at all times. I have already said that the
embr3"o larva is fully formed soon after the egg is deposited. Xow all our
eggs, so far, have been obtained indirectly from Japan via Europe, and in
the traiisit they must necessarily be subjected to too much dampness and
confinement, too great changes from heat to cold, and the reverse; and the
vitality of the young worm thus impaired. Mr. Andrews * believes that
to this fact must be attributed miich of our failure in this country, and I
fully concur with him. In this country which, comjDared with Europe, is so
rich in oaks, and in the large silk-producing insects so closel}^ allied to
yama-iitai, and which is so varied in climate, we certainly ought to meet
with better success than our European friends; and imtil we procure eggs
more directly, or obtain them from insects reared in this countr}", so as
to preserve them in uniform and flivorable conditions, it cannot be said
that we have taken the projior steps towards acclimatizing it. Let us hojje
that friend Cllover Avill induce Minister Capron to send direct from Jaj^an
a good supply of eggs, next winter, to experiment with !

Before concluding my notice of this insect I will transfer from the third
Eeport of Mr. F. 0. Adams, already alluded to, the following excellent
account of rearing it in Japan, which will be found valuable and interest-
ing in this connection :

The eggs of the Yaiha-mai are deposited by the female on the bars of
cages ijjade of plaited bamboo strips, of the bell-like form delineated in the
sketch (Fig. 59). This is. probably towards the end of July, and the cages
are hung up one under the other, in rows of ten, under the eaves of the
roof where ventilation can be secured without exposure to sun, i-ain, or
smoke.

In the 10th month (November-December) it is generally the custom to
take the eggs off the cages with the fingers, and place them in hemj^en trays
of oblong form, with wooden rims about three inches high. Care must be
observed that the eggs are not crowded one upon another. The trays are
l)laced upon the verandah. A cold atmosphere is essential at this stage.
Sometimes the eggs are not detached from the cages, and the latter are
placed in a shed outside the housesj where good ventilation can be secured.
The walls of the shed are formed of a coarse matting composed of reeds, and
the roofs should be constructed of such material that no rain can penetrate
inside and injure the eggs. About the end of the 2nd Japanese month
(say the beginning of April) the eggs are collected in small hempen bags,
which are placed in boxes pierced with holes, in order to admit of proper
ventilation. These boxes are either suspended out-ofdoors amongst the
trees where no sun can reach them, or kept in a cold cellar, where they are
put into deep holes dug in the ground. This operation is only necessary
when the hatching has to be retarded, because the buds of the Kunogi have

* Scientific American, March isth, 1871.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

i;

not come out. The eggs, in short, have to wait for the buds, Avhich are ex-
pected about the 8Sth day after the Japanese new year, (say at the end of
April or in the first ten days of May), though the}- may be mucli later. As
soon, however, as the buds have come out, all the eggs, Avhelher iVom out-
side or from the cellar, are brought into the house, and fixed with paste
made of barle}', or still better, of buck-wheat, on the middle of slips of
paper five inches long and a quarter of an inch broad. About ten ego-sare
placed upon each pa])er, and all the slips are then taken to the ])lantation
and tied to the branches of the Kunogi in a single knot, which the nature
of Japanese paper readily admits of, the two ends standing out at ri<>-ht
angles to the branch. The paper thus surrounds a snuili section of the tree
the eggs lying on the external surflice. The slips are placed in such man-
ner that the eggs maj- have a northern aspect, and not be exposed to the
rays of the sun. One slip is sufficient for a small plant, two or three may
be attached to a large one. In four or five days the hatching will com-
mence, and it continues for five or six days more; the 3-oung caterpillars,,
on leaving the shells, inimediatel}' crawl from the papers'^ ui)on Kunoi;i, and
seek the leaves. We saw a number of these papers still remaining on the trees
as they had been tied before the hatching, Avith the empty shells sticking to
the surfaces, and we untied some and brought them away with us as
specimens.

(H'J- .V.I.J

The length of time between
hatching and spinning, during
the whole of which the" larva re-
main in the open air, passing
through four periods of rest, is
reckoned at about 60 daj'S, more
or less, according to the temper-
ature. We were told that the
first rest commenced on the
seventh day, and continued for
two da3-s, that the succceding
three periods of activitj' and
tor])or Avere severalh' longer
than the first, and that the spin-
ning commenced about ten or
eleven days after the fourth rest.

Three days after the com-
niencem(?nt of spinning, said our
informants, the hinder part of
the cocoon is seen to be stained
a white color. This comes from
the secretion of the Yama-mai
which it emits after having finish-
ed spinning. The cocoons are then taken off the Kunogi, together with the
leaves to which they are attached, and a small portion of the branches.
They are then brought into the house, and placed upon shelves. About ten
days subsequently the leaves are stripped off, and the cocoons, held b}' the low-
er and broader ends, are shaken. Those which do not rattle are considered to
contain dead chrj-salides, and after having been dried through the action
of a charcoal brazier, are reeled. Those which rattle on being shaken are
considered to be in good condition, and such of them as are to be reserved for
seed are placed in tra^-s, and the moths emerge in about twenty-five days
from the time of spinning. The remainder are, of course, subjected to heat^
in order to kill the chrysalides, and are reserved for reeling.

136 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

The moths emerge between 4 in the afternoon and night, and the great
majority of the first moths are males. The proportion was stated to us to
be 300 males to 10 females.* The males are then secured in the bell-shaped
cages already mentioned, and as the females emerge, they are distributed
among the males. It would be best, we heard, to place but one couple in a
<:'age; in practice, however, several couples were put into the same, other-
wise there would not be sufficient cages. One of the men said he had as
as man}" as 500. The bottoms of the cages are then closed with paper.
The coupling commences in the evening, and lasts ten or twelve hours,f
after which the males are thrown a^vay and die. It happens now and then
that other males, coming from a distance, fly to the bars of the cages and
couple with the females inside; these however are looked upon not as legit-
imate husbands, but as interlopers, and their presence or absence does not
enter into the calculations of the rearers of this district. The females then
lay their eggs, as already stated, on the bars of the cages. This operation
lasts four or five days, the average number of eggs to each female being es-
timated at from 150 to 200. The females then die. The best eggs are those
laid on the first two or three days, and it is considered preferable that
the males which emerge on one evening should couple with the females
which emerge on the following evening.

The same process which has alreadj" been described is then adopted
with the new eggs.

The men to whom we spoke did not seem to trouble themselves much
about the Uji. They all allowed that this parasite preys upon the chrysalis of
the Yama-mai, and they considered that it was more prevalent after a rainy
season. They even talked of ten Uji found in one chrysalis. To our ques-
tions as to how" they knew whether it existed, and at what stage of the
Yama-mai's life it was observable, we received the invariable answer, that
they could only detect it after the worm had become a chr^'salis, which did
not rattle in the cocoon when the latter was shaken ; that such chrysalides
never turned into moths, and generally contained Uji.

With regard to other diseases, they stated that after the 4th rest dark
spots sometimes come out upon the worms, which subsequently die before
spinning : that they are also subject to attacks of diarrhoea, which prove fa-
tal; that another disease shows itself by a watery fluid exuding from the
pores, the worms turning a brown color and then dj-ing. No particular
names appeared to be given to these maladies. Our informants also said
that if a considerable amount of rain falls whilst the egg-papers are attached
to the Kunogi in the open air, the eggs are apt to be spoiled.

"We were shown a species of creeping plant called Tonzuru, with leaves
resembling those of the Convolvulus and a dark stem, which sometimes
clings to the Kunogi. If the Yama-mai eats of these leaves, it is poisoned and
dies at once.

*Itis not clear what our author here iruaiis; but probably that in a given lot of cocoons 300 males
will appear by the tira-. lOfeiniles have issued. If he mnius that the sexes are proportiouod as 300 cf
to 10 g , then the statem^it is erroneous, as in a given lot the females predominate at last, sq as nearly
to equal the males in number.

tThis is also mjst probably an error; for there is abundant evidence to show that coitus lasts sel-
dom as long as an hour.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

137

THE PERXYI SlliKWOmi—AttacuslAntheroea} Fernyi, Gu6r-Men.

(Lepulopti'ni, Boinbycidaj)

This is also an oak-feeding species which has
been introduced from Northern China, and it so
closely resembles yama-mai that a few remarks
by way of comparison with the latter, will serve
my purjiose.

It was named after M. Perny, a missionary
who, in 1850, sent it to France from Mandchoiiria,
China. It has been cultivated in Europe with
better success than has attended the culture of
yama-mai, unA in this country the success with it
has also been greater. It develops more rapidly
than the yama-mai and differs essentially from
that species in being double-brooded, and in pass-
ing the winter in the chrysalis state, like cynthia
and our native species. This trait gives it agreat
advantage over yama-mai, as not only can more
silk be produced, but we can more easily obtain
sound eggs. It is also less affected by confinement
indoors. Its cocoon is not so valuable, thoup-h
ranking third best of the eight species treated of.
The egg (Fig. <31, enlarged and natural size) is of about the same size,
form and color. The worm in the first stage is of a chocolate-brown with
the tubercles reddish and emitting reddish bristles. In the second stage it
is yellowish-green ; in the third and fourth it becomes greener, while sil-
very spots begin to show at the base of the "anterior tubercles. In the last
stage it is of a dark green with a faint reddish lateral lino over the stigma-
ta; the head and legs are light brown with black spots and the triangular
anal mark is chocolate-brown. In form and general appeai-ance it resembles
yama-mai.

The cocoon (Fig. 61) is suspended by a cord which does not, however,
materiall}' effect its reeling proj^erties, as it is attached onlj^ to the loose
outer silk. The silk is yellowish-gray, stout, brilliant and valuable. It is
almost twice as thick as that of yama-mai and stuffs made of it are said to
have the appearance and. nature of mixed silk, cotton and wool.

Some eggs which I received from Dr. Wallace, of England, in 1869,
were so injured on the way hither that but few of them hatched, and none
of the worms completed more than one moult. I have not, therefore, been
able to present a figure of the worm, but through the courtesy of Dr. Wal-
lace, who sent me si>ecimens, I present good figures of the cocoon and
moth. The moth (Fig. 60, female) bears a striking resemblance to yama-
mai, and varies nearly as much in color. The tips of the front wings are
generally a little more curved; there is less black about the eye-spots, the
hind wings are less produced behind, so that their transverse band is more
in a line with that of the front wings, and the ground color is usually darker
and more uniform.

138 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

In China the species is reared in the open air in a wild state, and also
in-doors on cut bi'anches kept fresh by insertion in vessels containinui; water.
In this country Mr. Andrews obtained cocoons from the tirst brood of
worms by the 4th of July : the moths began to issue about three weeks
later; copidation immediately ensued, and by the middle of August, or
about ten days I'rom the time of laj^ing, the second brood of worms began
to hatch. lie also found that the worms would feed on Beech and Sweet
gum.

The Tusseh Silkworm (Aitaciis 3IyJ itta=Anthcrcea Paphki), an insect
found in India, and which is quite common in the wild state, especially in
Bahar, Assam and Bengal, feeding on the Rhamnus jujuba, is very closely
allied to Fcrnyi, and should, perhaps, only be considered a geographical
race. It bears the same relation to Fernyi as does the India castor-bean-
feeding ricini to the Chinese ailanthus-feeding cynthla'; and differs princi-
pally in the cocoon which is more solid, and hangs by a more solid, harder
cord. It has never been introduced into America, though its silk is much
used in its native countr}-, and, if not put into hot-water, the goods made
from it have a wonderful durability.

SUMMAKY

There can be no good reason given wh}- silk-culture may not become one
of the industries of this country, or of our State — especially if fostered at the
start. I would, however, advise no one to enter into it on a large scale, as
a business. The raising of silk is seldom lucrative, even in the most favor-
able countries ; for in this as in most other industries, the principal profits
accrue to the middle men, reelers and manufacturers ; but on a small seale^
and prosecuted in connection with other branches of Agriculture and Hor-
ticulture, it will give most desirable returns for the time employed. The
erection of a few reeling establishments is absolutely necessary to establish
this industry.

For in-door culture, no worm surpasses tlie Mulberrj- sf)ecies (mori).

out-door culture none at present surpass the Ailanthus species (c?/nif/«'a),
though if yama-mai and Pernyi can once be acclimated, their cocoons are
more valuable. Of the native worms Polyphemus is the most valuable
and important, its silk being easily reeled and of excellent quality: Cecropia
comes next in order, its silk being reeled with difficulty^ while that of
Promethea and Luna is of less value, has never yet been, and jjrobably
cannot be, reeled.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

139

INNOXIOUS INSECTS.

THE HOIiXED PAHSXLUS— Passed us coniutus^ Vnhv.

(Coleoptera, Lucanidse.)

t*''i''- *'--i Man}- an one will doubtless

recognize in the insect illustrated
at Figure G2, c, the " bug " with
which he, or she, as a child, was
wont to play at " oxen " — the
curved horn on the head forming
such an inviting projection on
which to hitch, \)y means of a
thread, small chij^s and other
diminutive objects, to be dragged
by the rather awkward beast ot
of burden. Every pioneer in
this Western country, as he rolled over huge decaj-ed logs, in the work of clear-
ing his land to make it ready for the plow, must have become familiar with this
highly polished coal-black beetle. Every woodsman who has split or
grubbed an old stump, will be likely to recognize in this horned " bug " an old
acquaintance. Every entomologist who has dug into or pulled to pieces old
rotting stumps, in search for other treasures, must time and again have seen
this lazy, clumsy Passalus tumbling down wnth the loose and crumbling
dust and excreta of its own making, and expressing its disapproval of such
summary disturbance in the plainest manner, by emitting a peculiar half-
hissing, half-creaking noise. And though met with at almost every step in
his forest rambles,

' ' Where wild birds sing beneath the leafy bowers, ' '

the inquisitive student has no doubt found himself repeatedly examining
specimens, not only to admire the elegance and beauty of form, but to as-
certain the means by which the peculiar noise is produced. A sufficiently^
careful examination will end in the knt)wledge that it is caused b}" the rub-
bing of the rather hoi-ny terminal joints of the abdomen, known as the
pygidium, against the inside of the hard wing-covers.

This insect cannot be considered injurious in any sense of the word.

140 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

and might with propriety- be introduced in the section of '< Beneficial In-
sects." It is never found in sound or green wood, but invariably in that
which is decaying; and it very materially assists and hastens the reduction
of stumps which might otherwise remain treble the length of time to occupy
valuable ground, and serve as an ej^e-sore to the careful farmer in wooded
countries. Unseen and unheard it carries on incessantly' the good work of
converting useless timber into mould which enriches the soil; and this has
been its office in all the past ages of its existence. A decaying, moist con-
dition of the wood is necessary to its development, and it will be found most
common on low moist ground, and in Oak, Hickorj- and Sweet gum logs or
stumjis.

Common as is this beetle, its larva and pupa are rarely seen, and seem
to be unknown even to most entomologists, while no good figures of them
have been published.

The larva (Fig. 62, a) is of a very exceptional character being the only
one in this country which possesses but four well developed legs, for though
man}^ butterflies in the imago state have the front pair functionally impo-
tent, no other insect than our Passahis exhibits a similar feature in the
larva state. Indeed the only other larvae in the whole Class of Insects
which are similarly characterized, are those belonging to the same geims in
other parts of the world. The third j^air of legs really exists, however, in
a rudimentary state, as shown at Figure 62, d. This larva is of a bluish-
white color with the anterior joints broader and flatter than the rest. It
transforms in the fall of the j'ear, Avithin the wood it inhabits, to a whitish
pupa (Fig. 62, h) in which the front pair of legs is thrown forward under the
head, and the horns of the future b(?etle show plainly on its top. The pupa
lasts but about a fortnight, when, throwing off" the pupal garb, it becomes a
perfect beetle. At first the parts are all beautifully white and delicate;
then the head, thorax and limbs gradually become amber-brown, and lastly
the wing-covers assume this color. The whole body then deepens very
graduall}' so that many days elapse before the coal-black color is acquired;
and in the month of August the beetle is as often found brown as black.
As larvae only half grown are found in companj- with those that are full
grown, they require at least two years to mature.

Passalus corxutus Fabr.—Larya— Color bluish-white, with a dark medio-dorsal line; polished,
with scarcely any hairs; 13 joints exclusive of head; slightly arched; thethoracic joints broader and
flatter than the rest [though in alcoholic specimens they often appear the reverse] ; joint 1 with a pronii-
nent neck- wrinkle underneath, and with a slight horny depression each side above, the prominences
immediately outside of the depression being often marked with dark brown; abdominal joints, 4—11
inclusive, each with a broad, slightly elevated fold, occupying the hind % of the joint in the middle
of the back, gradually increasing until at the sides it occupies the whole width of joint; Kith or anal
joint, bulbous, as long or longer than any of the others; anus transverse, surrounded by triangular
folds. Head, except the parts mentioned below as dark brown, light rust-brown; rather small;
flattened above; smooth, with a few stiff lateral yellowish hairs springing from ocelli-like dots; an-
tennaj 3-jointed, the basal joint broad, short; 2nd only half as wide and about the same length; 3rd
brown, as long as 1 & 2 together and fusiform; epistoma large, transverse, divided in two by a brown
transverse line; labrum smaller, transverse-oval, and sparsely furnished with stiff, yellow hairs;
mandibles moderately large, with two sharp-pointed teeth at extremity and a larger single tooth in-
side; brown with the teeth black; maxiUa3 composed of a basal transverse piece, a stout cardinal
piece; two inner lobes, well separated, pointed and curved inwardly in the same direction as tlie
madibulary teeth and with their inner border fringed with stiff hairs; maxQlary palpi 3-jointed, the

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

141

basal broa(iest, 2iid rather longest, 3rd brown, fusiform, constricted a little near the tip, and directed
inwards; labium narrow, elongated, divided into .3 transverse pieces, the basal as long as the other
two combined, the 3rd or palpigerous piece short and trapezoidal with a square, horny, brown plate
extending between the palpi; labial palpi i-jointed, joints of about equal length, tlie -ind fusiform
and directed inwards. Lfj-s, well developed only on joints 1 and 2, being long, with a stout thigh,
a slightly curved shank, and a fine-pointed liorny claw; rudmientary on joint 3, consisting of a sinv-
ple horny pi'ocess, projecting obliquely outwards under the second pair of legs, and armed on the in-
side witli5 small blunt teeth (Fig. 02, c) . Sligmata 9 in numl)er, tlie first in a line with the others, on
posterior portion of joint 1, the others on anterior portion of joints 4 — 11 inclusive. Average length
1.60 inches.

Described from one living, and two alcoholic specimens.

Madame Merian, in her work on the insects of Suriuam, 1*1. .W, has figured what purports to be
the larva of Passalus intcrruplus with six legs, but as slie has incorrectly figured, on the same plate,
what isapi)arently a Limiellicorn larva for that of Bupreslis fjiganica, tlie probability is that her Pes
saltis Idrva is equally spurious. Chapuis & Candeze (Catalogue des Larvcs des Coleoptei-es, 1853) des-
cribe and ligure that of P. distiiictu^ which, as in ours, has but 4 well developed legs. In their de-
scription they allow but 2 joints to the antennw, and consider the joint which I have described as ba-
sal but a part of the head; in cor/iK^us it is certainly well divided by sutures from tlie liead. They
likewise consider the anal joints i) and 10 as but one, but, though bearing no stigmata, they are as
thoroughly and distinctly segmented as are any other two joints of the body. I have not at hand the
description o{ cornutus l)y Burmeister, to which they refer, but if he mentions more than nine pair '
of stigmata, as tliey indicate, he errs. Mr. Walsh (Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil., Ill, p. 559, note) speaksof
the rudimentary legs being ' ' decussated on the sternum. ' ' If the larva has the power of moving them,
they may possibly be found in such a position but I have never seen them thus crossed.

Pupa— (Fig. 62, b) White, with all the parts of the beetle distinctly traceable, the head bent al-
most at right angles from the thorax, the jaws, enclosing tlie labrum, projecting prominently nearly
in the same direction, and the front legs brought obliquely forward under them. The third pair of
legs fully developed.

THE GEE AT LEOPAED 'K0T:3:—Ecpantheria scribonia, Stoll.

(Lepidoptera, Arctiada?. )

There is a large Family of moths, known as Arctians or Tiger-moths,
which is rendered conspicuous by the beauty of design and boldness of con-
trast in color which its members generally present. There are two whose
caterpillars are often seen, either rolled up cozil}^ under some plant or
crawling rapidly across a path, but which are not by any means generally
known in their more beautiful and perfect states. They were both more
than usually common the past year, and both have very similar habits.
They neither of them can be considered injurious; but a brief account of
their transformations, in this department of my Eeport, will doubtless
please and gratify many an inquisitive reader, who has wondered what
these "hedge-hog" caterpillars produce.

The sjiecies above-named is the largest, and perhaps the most beautiful
of the Family in North America.

[t'ig- f5'5.] Its larva (Fig. 63)may be called the Large

Black Bear, as the hairy worms of our ditferent
Arctians are jDopularly called bears, and the
Family name was derived fi'om the Greek word
for " boar. " It is often observed in the fall of
the year, though few persons have ever seen the
moth which it produces. This larva is black,
and so thickly covered with jet black spines as
almost to hide a series of roughened warts on
^'"'^^ each joint, from which the spines spring. When.

142

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

[Fig. 04.]

disturbed, it curls itself uj), and then the sutures of the joints are seen to be
reddish brown, in strong contrast with the black of the rest of the body. If
carefully observed, the'spines will be seen to be barbed, as represented at b.
This worm fet?d.*i, mostly during the night, ui)On the wild Sun-flower
(Helianthus decapetalus), the different species of Plantain (Platitago), and
upon WilloAvs. My friend J. A. Lintner, of Albany, N. Y., thinks it like-
wise feeds on Black Locust, as he has often found it beneath that tree and
has fed it on the leaves. It comes to its growth in the fall, and curls up
and passes the winter in any shelter that it can find, being especially fond
of getting under the bark of old trees. In the spring, it feeds for a few
days on almost any green thing that presents itself, and then forms a loose
cocoon, casts its prickly skin, and becomes a chrysalis. The chrysalis is
black, and covered with a beautiful pruinescence, which rubs off almost as
readily as that covering a Duane's Early plum. It has a flattened blunt
pi'ojection at the extremity, armed with a few barbs and bristles.

In a few exceptional instances I have known both this and the follow-
ing species to go through all the transformations and produce the moth in
the fall. The chrysalis state lasts but about a fortnight when the moth es-
capes.

The accompa-
nying illustration
(Fig. 64) represents
the female moth at

a, and the male at

b. The upper por-
tion of the abdomen
is steel-blue, or
blue-black, marked
longitudinally
along the middle
and sides with yel-
low or orange.
Vith this excep-
tion, the whole in-
sect is white mark-
ed and patterned
with dark brown,
as in the figures.

The male ditiVi-s from the female principally in his smaller size and more
acuminate wings, and by the narrower abdomen, which is also generally
duller in color, with the pale markings less distinct. The markings on the
Avings, var}^ in a striking manner in different individuals, the oval or ellip-
tical rings sometimes filling up, especially in the male, so as to look like
black blots. This insect is considered rare in New England, but is much
more common in the Mississippi Yallej'. It occurrs still more abundantly
in the Southern swamps, where the larva is dubbed "Fever Worm" by the
negroes, under the absurd impression that it is the cause of fever and ague.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST.

143

As an illustration of the wondeiiiil power of resisting extreme cold,
which this caterpillar possesses, I will quote the following experience com-
municated to me by Mr. Lintner. lie says : " I had placed one for
hybernation in a small keg among leaves, which I inserted in the ground.
During my absence from home, either the thawing of the snow or the wind
had overturned the keg, and driven away the leaves. On my return I
found the laiwa remaining, but stifH}- frozen, Avith its head encased in ice
and fastened to the ground. As an experiment I detached a piece of the
ground with the larva, and placed it in a warm room. On the thawing of
the larva and the release of its head, it was restored to activity. "

EcPAXTiiKUiA scitii'.oxiA, Stoll. — Lofvit — ( I Iviiow (if but one good iIlsci iptiou cil'lhis larva, and
that by Mr. Wm. s.aunders, in Proc. Ent. Soc. , Phil. , II, p. -iii; but a.s that is not as lull us it might
be, I give the following ) : Average length -J'^ inches. Head black, polished, browni.'^h at sides and
below: cpistoina, anteniKe andpaljn nioreorlessdistinctly glassy white, the joints of ant enn:e marked
with light 1 rown, cervical shield brown-bl;ick. Body above black, inclining to brown laterally;
bright reddish-brown at sutures, showing in strong contrast, especially between joints ;i— 10 when
the larva is curled up, but scarcely visible when sti'aighteued and contracted. Verrucose warts
arranged as follows: On joint 1, two each .-ide of cervical shield; on jts. 2 and 3, a transverse row of
S; on jts. 4— 11 inclusive 12, the 4 on dorsum trapezoidal, the two anterior .ones appi'oaching nearest;
onjt. 12 a transverse row of (>. Venter dull purplish-brown, the legs of the same color, the legless
joints with i small verruc )se warts. Hairs barbed, still', spiuc-like and jet black.

THE ISABELLA TIGET^. MOTH— Arctia ImheUa, Smith.

( Lepidoptrra , .Vvctiad;e. )

The larva of this insect (Fig. Q^,
a) is very common with us and is
familiarly known by the name of the
Hedge-hog Caterpillar. It is thickly
covered with stiff black hairs on
oach end and with reddish hairs on
the middle of the body. These hairs
are ])retty evenly and closely shorn
so as to give the animal a velvety
look ; and as they have a certain
elasticity, and the caterpillar curls up
at the slightest touch, it generally
manages to slij) away when taken
into the hand. It feeds on Plantain,
Clover, Dandelion, grasses, and
a variety of other plants, and after
passing the winter in some sheltered spot, rolled up like a hedge-hog, it
comes out in the spring to feed upon the first herbaceous vegetation, and
finally spins its cocoon (Eig. 65, b represents one cut open, giving a view of
the chrj'salis) and goes through its transformations. The cocoon is com-
posed principally of the caterpillar's hairs (which are likewise barbed) in-
terwoven with coarse silk. The chiysalis is brown with tufts of very short
irolden bristles, indicating the positions of the larval warts, and with a tuft

144

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF

of barbs at the extremity. The moth is of a dull orange color, with the
front wings variegated with duskj^, and spotted with black, and the hind
wings somewhat lighter and also with black spots.

Mr. Huron Burt, of Williamsburg, informs me that this caterj)illar is
also called "Fever-worm" in his neighborhood. As the miasma of the
Southern swamps induces ague, and as the large black species is found abun-
dantly in such situations, the two circumstances have doubtless been asso-
ciated through ignorance; and some Ethiopean, right from Dixie, has per-
haps perpetuated the name in Missouri, by applying it to our more nor-
thern Hedge-hog Caterjiillar.

Neither of these insects are, so far as known, attacked b}^ any parasite,
though a peculiar fungus-disease, probably identical with Muscardine in the
Silkworm, (see p. 88) often causes the laiwre to die. AVorms attacked with
this disease fasten themselves tirmly to some stem, and, stretched out nat-
urally^, death would scarcely be suspected were it not for a certain rigidity,
and a mildew-like powder covering the skin.

THE ACOEN MOT^—Holcocera glanduMla, Eiley.

(Lepidoptera, Tiiiciilw. )

The mast which is so valua-
ble to the swine breeder in the
oak-land sections of the State, is
ofte)i very seriously affected and
greatly diminished in quantity by
the workings of the larva or
" grub " of a species of long-snouted
nut- weevil {Balanimis rectus, Say.)
The female, with her long bill,
pierces a hole in the 3'oung acorn, and deposits therein an egg which gives
birth to a legless, arched grub with a brown head. This grub devourg dur-
ing the summer, the contents of the acorn, and in the autumn drops, with
the rifled fruit, to the ground, where it soon gnaws its way out through a
circular hole' and buries itself for the winter. It becomes a pupa in the
spring, and eventually issues as a beetle.

After the original depredator has vacated its tenement, a little guest-
moth comes along and drops an egg into the already ruined acorn. The
worm hatching from this egg grows fat upon the crumbs left by the former
oceujDant, rioting amid the refuse (Fig. 66, a) and securing itself against in-
truders by closing with a strong covering of silk, the hole which its prede-
cessor had made in egress (Fig. 66, b). In the winter time," or in spring, or
early summer, the farmer who notices three-fourths of the acorns under his
trees infested, as they have been for the past two years, by this worm ; is
very apt to consider it the true culprit, whereas it is rarely, if ever, found
in acorns that have not first been ruined by the weevil above mentioned or
injured by some other insect, or in some other way.

THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. I45

This after-comer is of a yellowish or grayish-white color, often with dark
PKirkson the back, a light brown head, and a horny piece of the same
(..lor on the first and last joints, and small hair-emitting dusky points over
the body (see Fig. 66, ., ./, .). It i., withal, easily distinguished from the
Aveevd larva by its full complen^ent of six true and ten false le.^s It
changes to the chrysalis within its borrowed domicile, and the chrvsalis
gives forth the moth by first pushing partly through the silken door. "

The moth (Fig. 66,/, ?) is ash-gray in color, and characterized chiefly
l)y two distinct spots near the middle of the front wings and a transverse
pale stripe well relieved behind, across their basal third. The male differs
from the female by the basal joint of his attenn.-e being much flattened and
articulating with the stalk by means of a nodule (Fig! 66, <j\ The moths
.ssue all along from the end of April till September. They vary
much 111 size and conspicuity of design. The following description of the
species was first published in the Canadian Entomologist (Vol. lY, pp. 18—19)

win"''ii?'''''''' •^'''^^'^^^^^^^' Ril^y. (Fig. 66. /, S)-/ma^o.-A!ar expanse 0-5(J, SOinch Fn.ut
u .ng. Mh c. y-gray , more or less distinctly suffused and marked with fuscous • two distinct dirk disci
spots ; a pale transverse stripe across the basal third of wing, sli<.htl v elbow«l ou7w.v II v",t t ,?

tjus stripe is weU relieved behindby a dark shade, and th,: shaf g;.;" :u - x^:"nlr ^^Z^'!!
the costa above discal spots, forming a more or less distinct triangular sLadeiu tie rte^or^-/
portion of wmg: three tolerably distinct dusky spots surround the discal dots 1 tl eTutX . , a
ser es of mmute vem-specks mark the posterior margin; fringes concolorous. Hin wings of k m r^
glossy, warmer, brownish-gray, the reflection inclining to golden in certain li-hts- f-^fr' ,

orous but not glossy. Under surface uniformly of sam^ tint afmnd w ^gr-Head' tJorlx a'^d w"
Z^:^uZT r'.:'''^ :*"'^--"-^^f^hind wings, the joints of^rin^.^t^:^^.

o.o-haU he length of abdomen, of same color. The basal antennal joint of f the nodule on,^
attennaj, ba.se of palpi, an.l sometimes tarsi, also tinged with fulvous « '^ ' f'^'^ ""^"1^ on g

Described from 8 Qs, 20 cf s, all bred from acorns. The intensity of the dark shadin<^s is ouite
V anable, and xn some specimens the basal space shows decidedly pale^- than the "est of wht' '

hairs springing from them pale andToT S^do^s oil es'^rio'lnt'r'^^; T"^ ^'^^"^ ''^^^' "-
transverse row <i. e there are 4 uair Pic r« J l^t ! .! •* ^ ''"'^ ^ ''""^ geminate and in a

:u,gularly arranl^ed; tt^WonT^^m^ fim^slrr^^^^^^^

Described from numerous specimens.

Pupa-Light brown, smooth, with no characteristic marks.

ERRATA.

\':ijH' IIJ, ill llif luiiilin^;, lt>r "Hiiliii." r<':iil "Diury."

ScvvimI loivij;-!! wiinls are- not iin>|>i'rly iH-ciMited for lack ol' proin-r ty|

INDEX.

A

A roni Motli ' ^^

A ctias Luna, ' -•"•

AciobaiiiJi nebulo •'•'^

' ' nebulella +-

' ' juglandis ■*"-

' ' vonsociella +•"'

A ilanthus tree— A good word for 1-"

Allan thus .silkworm '1-

' • " — DUlVreuce between Castor Bean and Ailantlnis Worms 1I-'

• ' " — lletrospective History of 1 l^l

" " —When introduced into America lU

" " — Thoroughly acclimated in Ainerica ll'>

" " — Value of Mie Cocoon 1 1'l

" " — Its Natural History li"

" " — Larval Changes - "^

" " — Best Method of .raising II''

Ainpliicerm bicaudatus •"> 1

Anthera-a ijnmtv-mai '•'"

" Pernyi 1'^'

' ' Paphia l-'!'^

Antidote for Paris Green !•!

Apide-leaf Skeletonizer -W

" Tyer t'l

" " Folder — The Lesser ii

" ' * Bucculatrix +!•

" " Twig Borer "d

" " Worm, again -"-

Arctia Isabella It'!

Anna spinosa i^

Arsenious acid for I'otato hugs II

Ashes and Air-slacked Lin>e foi- I'otato hugs ■ H

Asiliis MlxnouricnHis -1

A ttacuK Cvcropia HKJ, l;'„s

' ' ' cynthia 112, l;js

' ' Luna l"2;j, la."^

' ' Polyphemus 121 , 138

' • Promo thea 121, l.is

' ' Selene I2.">

' ' yamor-mai 130, l.'is

Pernyi 137 , l;js

Mijlilta l;i!S

B

Hanchwt fufjitivuH 41

Beneticial insects 72

Z INDEX

Best Bandage for Apple- worm 23

Birchromate of Potash for Potato bugs li

Boissiere's Silk Establishment 82

Bombyx moH 75, 138

BosMchus bicaudatus 51

Botrytis Bassiana 88

Brachinus Katisahus 21

Brochimena annulata 20

Bucculatrix pomifoliella 4!)

" thuiella 51

Buprestis yigantea 141

c

Cabbage as Food for Colorado Potato Beetle 10

' ' bug — The Harlequin 30

Castor Beau Silkworm 112

(jaliforuia — Sllk-growiug in ■ "!(

Callidium ninccaum 54

Callosainia Proinethea 121

' ' angulifera 122

Carbolate of Lime for Potato bugs 14

Cecropia Silkworm 103

" " — Larval Changes 100

" " — Parasites of 107

" Cryptus 110

" Tachina-tly 108

Chalcis maricB 109, 110

Chaulioynalhus Pennsylvanicus 'J8

Chrysapa 45

atheroma regalis. 120

Classification of X. A. Grape-vines 60

Cltsiocampa sylvatica 41

CodUng Moth, again 22

" " — Time ot Year that the first Moths appear •-'•2

" '• — Best kind of Bandage for 23

" " — New Methods of trapping ' 23

" " — Wier's Trap 23

" " — It attacks Peaches 22

" " — .Jarring 25

" " — Fires, Lights, Bottles of Liquid as liemedies 27

" " — Natural Enemies 2S

Colaspis Jlavida 34

Colorado Potato Beetle 5

" ■' " — Us Injuries in 1871 J*

" " " — Amount of Damage caused by it in Missouri 7

" " '' — New Territory invaded J^

I oloniclo I'l.hilo IJeelli— It sitreads, but does not travel in the Sense of leaving one l.)istriol for

Another "J

" " " —New Food: Cabbage 10

" " " — Its Hibernation 1 11

" " " — More about Paris Green 11

" " " — Antidote lor Paris Green \'.>

" " " — Otiier Applications for 13

" " " — Mechanical Means of destroying l.">

" " " — Avsenious acid 14

" " " —Sulphate of Copper 14

" " • " — Bichromate of Potash 14

" " " — Powdered Hellibore 14

" " " --Carbolate of Lime 14

" " " —Mandrake or May-ap|)le .^ 15

" " " —Upg- fennel 15

" " " --Natural Enemies increasing It!

Cryptui extrematis 110

' ' nuncius 110

' ' xajniee 110

' ' Smitfiii Ill

INDEX. 6

Ci/nthia cardiii 1"'

D

Danais archippus ■■• '2''

Ihilana minisira I-'*

I )iseasi'S (if Mulberry Silkwdrm , • • f''^

Dvitti'il-legKi'd Plaut-biig '■ ■ • 1"

Drijocampa senaluria ■*'

' ' alitima <■■■ *'

E'

Kcpantheria scribonia 1-U. ^^'^

Elaphiilion panitlfluni •>^

Kinpusa muscce '*'

l^riosoma laniyerii ''•'

Kiuh(Ble.i egle %.- ■• '

Eiischistiui punclipes '•'. -"

E.vurista pkijcitce -^^

' ' leucania l'*f^

' ' var. cecropice ''•*<

' ' militarig ; 1"-'

t

F

h'il'tefn-s|K)tteil Ladybird.
Fires for Oodlins? M«th...

G

Gairius olens ■. '-•

(Jrand-daddy-loug-leg.s IT

(ir;i[ie-viiu- Ciihipsis -'l

— Insects injurious to ■">•'

t ;r:i|)i--vin< — Ked-shouldered Sinoxylon •'>•■>

Disease ■">■"'

lenf (iail-louse ">^'

— Further Proof of the Identity of the Anierieaii and Furopean

Insects ''7

•' " — (iall-louse and Koot-louse identical .">7

" " —Habits (if Root-inhabiting Type 'iS

" " — Susceptibility of different \'iueri to its Attacks tiO

'• '^ " — Means of Contagion from one Vine to .Vnother tH

" " —Probable Ueason why its Injuries are greater in Kurope than witli us iJti

" " " — Practical Suggestions iii

' • " " — Kejiiedies against 'if^

" " " — liesurae of its History r>!i

" " " — (j'onelusion To

» i rape- vines— I 'lass ilicatlon of X. A Tu

Great Leopard moth / 1^1

tireeu Apple-leaf 'Iyer i*'

JI

Hammond's Knot-horn ■*■•

Harloiiuin I'alibage-bug '•^•'

Hcliotliis armiyera I-''

Hellebore for Potato bugs 'I

Hiiilophora Cecropia I"'"*

Hippudamia glacialis '^"^

H(flcocera glandulella l^> ^^^

Horned Passalus ^-'^

4 FNl^EX.

I

ley Liulyltiiil IS

Impi'oved I'atent Insect Destroyer , 15

Insects injurious to Grape-vine '. :>;{

Isabella Tiger Moth 14:;

J

.farrint? for Ap|)le-W(>nn ; -J")

K

Kiiiisas Bombarillcr-beetle , . -21

L

Larval Changes of CecropLa worm loCi

" " Cynthia " 117

" " " Luna " 1-il

" " " J'olyphemns " l->r,

" " " Promothea " '. 121

" " " Yama-mai " _. 132

.^ " " I'ernyi " 137

Les-tr Apple Leaf-folder 47

Limnena fugitiva 41

Lobophora !2!t

Long-tailed Ophion 107, 12!)

Lyctiis o-paculus ,")4

Luna Silkworm 123

— Larval Changes 124

M

i\Ia ndrake for Potato bugs I ."i

Mary Chalcis-fly I(i!(, I211

Moscicera 1 12'.i

May A pyde for Potato bugs , I.")

Microganter 45

Missouri Hee-killer 21

' ' — Silk-growing in s:i

Mulberry Silkworm 75

— Us past History 75

— Its History in America 77

" " — Silk-growing in California • • ^ ■ ■ "•'■*

" " — " " " Kansas sj

" — " " " Missouri s.;

— Natural History of «4

" " — Enemies and Diseases S7

" " — Best Varieties or Kaces 91

' ' ' — How best to rear !t2

" ' ' — -Cocoonery '. !i(>

— Choking the Chrysalis Hi;

—Lgg-laying :t7

—Heeling 9!S

" " —Best Food for luii

" ■ " — (.)sage orange for loo

Murgatitia histrionica 35

" miinilii 35

Muscardine fW

Mijclois indigirtella ^58

Mysia V^-pimctata ; IS

N

natural Ui-loi\ oniic Mulberry silkworm ^\

INDEX. 5

Nazara -JO

Xeliraska IJt'i'-killcr. •>{ '

New Methods of ti'a))|)ii)^ Applf-wonn •.>;>

Notes of the '^'(•ar *. 5

Noxious luseots 7-j

o

OpMoti macnirum KIT

Osage orange for Mullierry Silkwonu Khi

Piiilii/mi'riix rulncralor -js

I 'aris Green for Potato bugs II

" " Duster rj

" " — Antidote for , I:;

I'arasiles of Cecropia Worm 1((7

Partis alncapillun ^. loT

Pdnnfihis cornul nx i:i<i

' ' distinctuis U I

' ' interruptus 141

IVaches — Codling Motli attacks -i-^

Pebrinc S!i

Pempelia Hatnmondi U

Penfatoma rufipen •_'(!

I'eunsylvania Soldier-beetle is

Prritymbia vitisana .V)

Pprilitus indagator +;;

Perillus circumcinctuH J !i

I'eriodical (Jicadu ;;((

reriij'i Silkworm |;!7

I'linianyium dorsatum , 17

Philontkus apicalU 21

Phyyadeuon brevis js

Phycita nebulo : .'{s

Phylloxera vitifolicB . . . : 55

' ' vastatrix 55

Riley i ; . (j(;

Pimp/a conquiiitor 4;;

' ' indagatrix 43

" anmUipes 4;{

Platysamia Cecropia lo:;

Prodenia autumnalis l^ii

Proviachus Bastardii -jl

Proniothea Silkworm 1 1-j I

" " — Its natural Enemies I'J.'J

" " —Larval Changes j-jl

Polyphemus Silkworm l-iS

" " — Larval Changes 126

" " — Xatm-al Knemies 126

Qn<'(/iU8 mo lot: til HUH 21

E

Kascal Leul-i-Tumpler :ts

Red-8houl<lered Sinoxylon 5:{

Ra/ihty aster 20

Kiiig-banded Soldier-bug , IS

' s

Samia Columbia ,, 1(»7, Hi

6 INDEX.

Snmin n/vlhin 1 J-J

' ' G uerinii I ] 2

' ' ricini .■ ^ 11 .'

' ' Cerropia • l(t:i

Sntiirnia inaia .' 41

Sfricaria mori T.j

silk-gvowing in ('aliloniiii 7!»

" " Fvaii.sa.s M2

■ • " Mi.s.souri H:i

SilkwKi-nis 7'_'

" — siimmnry i:;s

silkworm — The Mulberry 7.">

" — The Cee,roj)ia .■ Kc;

' ' — 'I'he .\ilinitlius l!-.'

' ' — The l'olyi>hcinii.s I'J.'i

' ' — The lAina - I'li

' ' —The Promothea I J I

' ' — The Yiiini-inai l.!(»

—The Terny i 1:57

Sintwillon ba^lare .V;

Spined .Soldier-huj^ lit

Sphinx Carolina I2!i

SIrachia hinlrionica ;5.">

" ornata ."is

SfirefrnH fimbria lus 'iO

Sweftencd-water for Codling' 31oth -27

T

Tmrhiiia phi/cifeB 40

' ' aiionijma J'iii

Tclephoriig bcUneatwt •_".!, :j(i

Teiea Polyphemus 1-2.')

Tortrix Cinderella 17

' ' malivorana 17

Two-lined Soldier Beetle i\)

Vinegar for Codling Moth

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Walnut Case-bearer

Wier's Apple-worm Traj)

Yama-mai Silkworm 130

" " —Larval Changes 132

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