1856.] Agricultural Entojnology. 393 



the beautiful and elegant butterfly of the Papllio asterias. Any 

 humane and kind-hearted farmer, unversed in entomology, who should 

 see his children chasing and killiug the beautiful black and yellow- 

 spotted butterfly that was flitting joyously over his vegetable garden, 

 in the spring or early summer, apparently leading a life of mere 

 harmless pleasure, would no doubt reprove them for wantonly de- 

 stroying such a pretty, harmless insect; and yet, if the truth was 

 known, this pretty and much to be pitied insect is the parent of all 

 those nauseous-smelling green and black spotted worms that, later in 

 the season, destroy his parsley, celery, parsnips and carrots. Yet by 

 merely crushing the parent fly with one blow early in the season, 

 before it has deposited its eggs, he would be spared the vexation of 

 either seeing his plants devoured and seed destroyed, or having the 

 disagreeable task of picking ofi", one by one, some hundreds of cater- 

 pillars later in the season. This fact will be more apparent when I 

 state how incredibly fast some insects multiply, especially in the 

 warmer climate of the South, where there is little frost to destroy insect 

 life, and there are several generations in one season. Dr. John Gamble, 

 of Tallahassee, Florida, assisted by myself, dissected one female ball- 

 worm, moth, or miller, (an insect which in the caterpillar state is most 

 destructive to cotton,) and we discovered a mass of eggs which when 

 counted, amounted at the least calculation to five hundred eggs, duly 

 hatched, for the first generation, say one half males, the rest females, 

 the second generation, if undisturbed, would amount to 125,000, and 

 the third would be almost incalculable. Now, these mother flies are 

 not very numerous early in the season, owing to the birds devouring 

 them, the rigor of winter, and various other accidental causes; and if 

 practicable means were found to destroy them as earh^ in the spring as 

 possible, the immense ravages of the second and third generation might 

 be prevented. In one female (ceceticus) case, or hangworm, so destruc- 

 tive to shade trees, I counted nearly eight hundred eggs, although the 

 specimen was but small. Now were all these cases taken from every 

 infected tree in the winter, when they can most easily be seen, owing 

 to the fall of the leaf, and then immediately burned, the trees would 

 be comparatively free the next season; and by following this plan for 

 one or two years more, the work growing gradually less and less, the 

 insect might finally be exterminated; inasmuch as the female never leaves 

 her case, but forms her nest of eggs inside; and yet these noxious 

 pests are suffered year by year to increase, when so little trouble would 

 destroy them. Other insects again have other habits which, if fully 

 knowU; would likewise lead to their destruction. 



