186 STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



on the battle field, directing tlie artillery full upon the swarms of invaders, 

 and warning the people of our beautiful State of their approach, by a letter 

 published in the Detroit Post and 'L'ribune. Examination showed that they 

 came from the barn, whicli was connected with the house, nothing but a wall 

 separating the iwo. In anotlier of our large cities the other two species of 

 these beetles appeared in the mills, doing much damage to grain and ilour. 



These little beetles are members of the same family, Atamaridae. The 

 species that appeared in Detroit was tlie grain sylvanus (Sylvanus surlnamen- 

 eis). Tlie beetles of this species are of a chestnut brown color, one-eighth of 

 an inch in length, and have on the edge of the thorax irregular, pointed pro- 

 jections. They are so ilat that one of them could easily crawl through a 

 crack one-thirtieth of an inch in width. From this fact we can readily per- 

 ceive how they can enter a building through closed doors and windows, since 

 the cracks in doors and windows are usually one-sixteenth of an inch wide. 

 The eggs are laid on grain ; the larvae as soon as hatched eat into the kernels. 

 In this insect, as is almost universally the rule, the mischief is done in the 

 larval state. The number of eggs which a single pair will produce is not 

 known, but is probably very great. A single pair of an allied insect, the grain 

 curculio, is known to pi'oduce over six thousand descendants in a year. The 

 grain sylvanus is a very general feeder. Besides wheat, it infests oats, corn, 

 apple, and other fruir, seeds, tobacco, sugar, tea, coffee, meal, flour, raisins, 

 figs, and dried fruits of almost every kind. Hence it is liable to bo intro- 

 duced in purchasing any of these articles. 



The next of these little pests may be called the grain paloris (Paloris 

 depressus). It is one of the species that appeared in tlie mills above men- 

 tioned. These little coleopterous are nearly three-sixteenths of an inch long 

 and much broader in proportion than the grain sylvanus. They are of a more 

 reddish brown color, and the antenna3 are proportionately shorter. The 

 larvse are white with brown heads, and its habits are much the same as the 

 preceding species. 



The third and last to be described of these insects also works in grain. It 

 is the grain laajmophlaeus (La3mophlaous alternarns). It is a very little smaller 

 than the grain sylvanus and of a lighter color. The antennaj are nearly as 

 long as the body. The habits of this species do not differ materially from the 

 others. 



REMEDIES. 



As a remedy for an allied insect, the grain curculio, Harris gives kiln-drying 

 wheat, and says that wheat that is kept cool, well ventilated, and frequently 

 moved is not attacked by it. According toCurtiss, wheat heated to 18U° Fahr. 

 will kill the grain curculio and "fleeces of wool laid on the grain will attract 

 and kill the insects." Without doubt the above remedies would prove equally 

 effective for the insects just described. 



Unfortunately we can expect no help from that insecticide which has done so 

 much in the last few years in destroying our insect foes, pyrethrum. Larvae 

 of tlie grain sylvanus entombed in it over a week were still alive. 



Prof. Cook suggested as a remedy, papers covered on one side either with 

 grease or fine-cut meats. Only one of the species, however, the grain sylvanus, 

 can be attracted by this method. The beetles gather on the [)ai)er and may 

 then be eitlier scalded or cremated. A Detroit gentleman who tried this col- 

 lected over a gill at a single trial. 



But the remedy from which the best roeults can be obtained, where it can 



