ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 279 



rise i>ii tlu' wing. In the cviMiiny: twiliprlit I nsnally s;nv very many of thoni In volnntary tlif^lil. very 

 many more tlian at any other time, presentinjr (juite an interesting spectacle as they staggereil along 

 in their awkwanl, unsteady tlight."— (I'roe. Ent. Soe., Jan. 1805.) 



15ut Irom these few remarks aljont jrolden eyed laee-wing Hies you mnst not he led to believe that 

 they are good for nothing except to murder eliineh l)ugs, for this is tint a minimum of the good work 

 they constantly perform. The chinch Inig has dei)arted but tlie lace-wing Hy is ever among us, 

 feasting upon plant lice, etc. 1 have learue<l many interesting lessons from these lace-wing Hies as 

 1 beheld them engagcfl in their work of destruction. Many kinds of tliem live upon trees, and In 

 this way become more directly the friend of the horticulturist also. I have bred an apparently new 

 and undescribed species from the larva which I found several years ago on the white pine tree, 

 feeding on the downy ajdiis, often so abundant on the trunk and limbs of these trees. 



Jly late observations have demonstrated tluit tills louse is not a coccus as former I'ntomologists 

 had always taught, but a plant louse of my Dactylospluera family. It is fonnil moving about slowly 

 and cautiously on tlie limbs. My attention was first called to it by a friend, who found It on a 

 declining wlilte pine tree in his door yard, he believing that the ll/.ard-like larva was the cause of 

 injury to his tree, overlooking the real cause, tlie minute downy louse, until I called his attention 

 to it and gave him correct notions about tlie value of the larval lace-wing fly. 



This creature has the wonderful intelligence that induces It to cover its body with the down of the 

 aphis. I have often seen it in the very act of clotliing itself in this manner : after devouring the 

 louse that it may find in a bunch of down, it bends its liead iiulte back over its body and (lei)oslts the 

 downy substance from its mandibles on ami among the hairs on its back so carefully and under- 

 staiidingly, that it sticks upon its body as if It were a part of its natural covering. Its grotescpie 

 appearance has given It the name of "sheep" among the common observers, but it was my duty to 

 inform them tliat it was only a wolf in sheep's clothing, as a mask of its true character, or more 

 likely a protection against enemies. They also make many a meal of grape leaf lice. I have often 

 observed them in the vetifollfp galls or with their heails In devouring the inhabitants. They are also 

 found on apple or other trees where plant lice abound, and woe to the unlucky colony of plant lice 

 that has sucli agnest Introduced among them. It Is more than i)ossil)le that they are of as much use 

 as even are the lady birds 



What I have said of the lady bird and the lace-wlnged fly will sultice for the present to give na 

 some fiotlon of their utility to the iKirtieulturist, and although I have stndleil a portion of their 

 habits in agricultural juirsults, yet the same natural history is equally applicable to the uses of the 

 man wlio is only a fruit grower. 



It is not fitting or proixr that I should now repeat the often published stories of the natural history 

 of the chinch bug. I have eontiued myself to a review of the great epidemic among them, bringing 

 together the elements of |)roof that time has since afforded me. not alone for its bearing upon the 

 chincli bug question, interesting as it may be, but for Its general application to insect economy : for 

 we have shown elsewhere and often demonstrated, although less vividly, that other insects- 

 common flies, plant lice, codling moths, potato worms, grasshoppers, etc.— are the subjects of 

 special diseases ; and why is this fact so eagerly objected to? Is the love of science or the love of 

 self the moving main spring? With many persons it unfortunately makes the greatest diflference in 

 the world who was the <liscoverer of a great truth. In this matter I hope that I see nothing but 

 science. 



I say, without fear of successful contradiction, that the chinch bug Is the greatest enemy to man 

 that lias ever appeared on tills western continent, by destroying the means that most of all others 

 oinds us together in the associations of civilized society, when it gets the ui)per hand of us. And 

 that illustrious entomologist, I?. D. Walsh, whose sun has unfortunately gone down In the zenith of 

 its activity, and whose irreparable loss we shall never cea.se to mourn, taught that as the cnrculio is 

 the most destructive to the crop of the western frnit grower, so the chinch bug is the most des- 

 tructive and the most nnmanapable insect among grain crops, the most difficult to combat, and 

 undoubtcfUy the "meanest bug" of the whole crowd of grain enemies. Not satisfied with a little 

 liere and a little there, he sweeps the whole country with the besom of destruction. And that truly 

 jjreat and good man wrote more on this than on any other insect, perhaps more than any other 

 author. And those useful and instructive writings have been the greatest stimulus to me. I shall 

 ever look up to Walsh in his public writing and i)rivate corresi)ondence as to a father who taught me 

 the first lessons of close obsiTvation In entomology. His criticisms and my i)rlvate correspomlence 

 with him during the many long years passed away, I shall ever hold most dear and sacredly preserve. 

 His virtues were many, his errors were few ; although sometimes keen as a two-edged |sword, no 

 one of true metal could ever meet him without receiving benefit ; as steel sharjieneth steel, so his 

 intellect those around him. (May he rest 'peacefully in ills eternal glory, and reap the highest 

 rewards of yonder worlil.) 



There be those living writings in this connection (by whom penned I have never inquired— he or 

 another)— that would bring forward pleasant discussion were he living and with us to-day. But 

 while the grass grows not over his new-made grave, and his manly form now cold as the clay that 



