LEPIDOPTERA. 253 



orange-colored and black hairs. The hind wings only are 

 transparent, and the fore wings expand from one inch to one 

 inch and a half. It deposits its eggs on the vines close to the 

 roots, and may be seen flying about the plants from the tenth 

 of July till the middle of August. This insect, which may be 

 called the squash-vine ^geria, was first described by me in 

 the year 1828, under the name of jEg-eria Cucurbitcc, the trivial 

 name indicating the tribe of plants on which the caterpillar 

 feeds.* 



The pernicious borer, which, during many years past, has 

 proved very destructive to peach-trees throughout the United 

 States, is a species of JEgeria, named exitiosa, or the destruc- 

 tive, by Mr. Say, who first scientifically described it in the 

 third volume of the "Journal of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia," and subsequently gave a represen- 

 tation and account of it in his " American Entomology." In 

 the fifth volume of the " New England Farmer," I have given 

 the history of this insect, have mentioned the principal authors 

 who have noticed it, and recommended preventive measures, 

 which have been found effectual in protecting the peach-tree 

 from its most serious attacks. The eggs, from which these 

 borers are hatched, are deposited, in the course of the summer, 

 upon the trunk of the tree near the root; the borers penetrate 

 the bark, and devour the inner bark and sap-wood. The seat 

 of their operations is known by the castings and gum which 

 issue from the holes in the tree. When these borers are nearly 

 one year old, they make their cocoons either under the bark of 

 the trunk or of the root, or in the earth and gum contiguous 

 to the base of the trees ; soon afterwards they are transformed 

 to chrysalids, and finally come forth in the winged state, and 

 lay the eggs for another generation of borers. The last trans- 

 formation takes place from June to October, most frequently, 

 however, during the month of July, in the State of Massachu- 

 setts. Here, although there are several broods produced by a 



* See "New England Farmer," Vol. VIII., p. 33 ; my Discourse before the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in 1832, p. 26 ; and " Silliman's Journal," 

 Vol. XXXVL, p. 310. 



