SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 141 



j^CIENTIFIC NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Newspaper Entomology. — A most extraordinary letter was pub- 

 lished in the Daih/ Chronicle of May 9th, which, if genuine, is probably 

 unique as an illustration of crass ignorance, misapplied energy, aber- 

 rance of observation and assumption of scientific knowledge. This 

 lucubration is contributed to the columns usually devoted to gardening. 

 Although it will take up a considerable amount of our valuable space, 

 we feel that all entomologists should know that much still remains to 

 be done to make the "man in the street " see a thing when he sees it. 



" Convinced in previous years that lady-bugs or lady-birds or May- 

 bugs are the procreators of blight and responsible for all its ravages, 

 I have in the last few days been closely watching on black currant 

 bushes: — 1. Arrival of the lady-bugs. 2. ' Mating ' of the lady-bugs. 

 3. Deposit of larvae on scene of No. 2. 4. Some five days later, 

 hatching of the green aphis. 5. appearance of the black blight. 

 6. General blighting of the leaves of the black currant bushes. (Note. 

 — The lady-bug is the first of every parasite to appear on freshly- 

 opened leaves after the winter season.) 



"The ocular evidence shows that the May-bug or lady-bird is the 

 mother of ' blight.' I have preserved leaves from bushes showing the 

 phases in the generation of aphis oc blight. The black currant bashes 

 have served as an early nursery of the blight ; the next stage will be 

 the blight on to beans, poppies, sweet peas, etc. 



" At the seashore, where ' blight ' abounds on decaying seaweed, the 

 lady-bug is also found at work, but it is of a yellower colour, just as 

 seashore poppies are yellower than the field poppies, and probably by 

 reason of the salt. 



" Up to the present, ' lady-birds ' have been supposed to ' eat up the 

 blight,' whilst they are merely ' couving ' it, and the hundreds of 

 thousands of pounds' damage done annually by ' blight ' has un- 

 questionably been aided by those who foster, rather than seeking to 

 extirpate, the lady-bug. 



" This question concerns the well-being of farmers more than 

 pigeons, pheasants, rabbits, or even the ravages of the common spar- 

 row. May I ask if the Board of Agriculture occupies its energies in 

 disseminating literature on the means to destroy the lady-bird, May- 

 bug or hanneton, in place of the ineffectual and costly processes for 

 dealing with its product ? 



" Also, what is the best means to employ at the present stage, when 

 the ' blight ' is already hatched, and the lady-bugs are still busy propa- 

 gating it on trees serving as a nursery for the aphis ? 



" If, in the interests of agriculture and gardening, you thought it 

 desirable to forward this letter to the Board of Agriculture, you would 

 be quite at liberty to do so, and perhaps render a service to the 

 community." 



In his appended remarks the gardening editor takes a very middle 

 course and pleads for further investigation. Subsequently several well- 

 known practical entomologists have sent crushing remarks on the 

 "observations" of the original writer, of which I hear privately that 

 only the mildest parts were published. Still the sample of brain- 

 work (!) is too good to be lost. — H.J.T. 



Natural combined Colonies of Ants. 



1. Incipient colony of Fonnica sanguinea and Formica fusca. 



