until tlu'3'nre fairly cstnl)llsliccl in the soil, which should lie turfy loam mixed with 

 well <loeayed manure or leaf soil. 



When kept under pclass to flower in pots for in-door decoration, they are not 

 h:ilf so I)eautiful as when exposed to the open air; their color in doors being a 

 kind of greenish-pink, gives the ])lants a sickly appearance. .Slightly fumigating 

 them during the spring months, will keep them free from insects, which are aj)t to 

 infest them, especially the under sides of their leaves. — M.,?'/i Gardeners'' Chruniclc. 



INSECTS, NO. 3. — ILLUSTRATED. 



GRAPE VINE CATERPILLARS, ETC. 



BY T. STAUFFER, MOUNT JOY, TA. 



As early as the Gth of July, and as late as the 15th of September, we often find 

 herds of small, greenish-yellow caterpillars on the under side of the grape leaves, 

 feeding side by side, in considerable numbers. It is well, however, to observe 

 that there are two distinct classes of gregarious larvaj found on the grape. Those 

 (if the Frocris Americana, a Lepidopterous insect, and those of a species of saw 

 Hies (the Selandria vitis) belonging to the Hymenopterous orders. 



Fig. 1(9) represents the female Frocris depositing her eggs in the axils, and 

 along the veins of the leaf. So intent are they, that they continue the operation 



though the leaf be cut off 



^' ^>«^ir J/V'U'Pfctr ^ , i?rA-*rf^a ^"^^ carried to some dis- 

 tance, as I have observed. 

 The spot is first touched, 

 perhaps with a portion of 

 gummy fluid, and the eggs 

 then deposited thereon, 

 in succession, until some 

 twenty-five or thirty are 

 planted. Those, in the 

 course of a few days, drop 

 their lids, and the minute 

 larvtiQ come forth, as seen 

 (Fig. 3) on the same leaf. 

 They undergo their several 

 changes until matured. 

 Fig. 4 is a magnified view. They are C3'lindrical, with a few scattered hairs, with 

 a transverse row of warts, armed with short, stifl", radiating, black prickles on 

 each segment; head and tail, dark. They have sixteen feet. The female Fro- 

 cris (j) is a wasp-like moth, with narrow, blue-black wings, a saffron-colored 

 collar, and notched tuft of hairs on the extremity of the body. The male (5), 

 Fig. 2, is larger, has a yellow collar, and dark, fawn-colored wings ; the antennae 

 scarcely toothed; those of the female strongly so, or pectinated. This replaces, 

 in America, the Frocris vitis of Europe, so destructive to the vine in Tuscany. 



In their diurnal flight and general appearance, they approach the^Egeria; there 

 is, however, no relationshi[) in their transformations and habits. The larva? of 

 I'rocris devour the leaves of plants, and make their cocoons of coarse silk, of a 

 flattened form and tough texture, found in crevices and under the leaves, being 

 more like the Fhalaena; in their habits, among which they are arranged by some 

 naturalists. 



Procris Americana. 



