106 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



and throughout all the correspondence about the potato bug, 

 I have been silent; I have not cried " Wolf," simply because 

 I do not believe the wolf is coming. The editor of the 

 * American Entomologist' informs us that there are "at least 

 a dozen different species of potato bug :" these are principally 

 of the genera Lytta and Epicauta, beetles very nearly related 

 to the familiar blister-beetle, Lytta vesicatoria. The more 

 destructive, or more noticed, are Epicauta marginata, 

 E. lineata, E. strigosa, E. murina, and especially, E. atrata. 

 The Count Deiean, with his usual fertility of name-giving, has 

 multiplied these names, but whether he has discovered new 

 species I will not venture to say. All these beetles, when in 

 the perfect state, devour the potato-haulra with a rapidity 

 and voracity that appears almost incredible, leaving the bare 

 stalks standing up like stag's-horns. Next in importance are 

 the various species of Chrysomela, or bloody-nosed beetle, 

 and entomologists incline to place the Chrysomela decem- 

 lineata of Thomas Say at the head of them for mischief; the 

 larva is even more voracious than/ the perfect insect : both 

 devour the haulm, and the haulm onlw. The third family of 

 potato-beetle comprises the genera /Cassida, Cryptocycla, 

 and Chelomorpha (tortoise beetles), t,ne larva; of which are 

 beset with prickles in a very c alius fashion: all these 

 beetles are leaf-eaters, and if I may t^ke the statement of our 

 friends in America they are poiatoAeaf eaters. It will be 

 hardly necessary to state that I have no practical acquaint- 

 ance with any of these beetles, except as preserved in 

 cabinets, or that I see small prospect of their crossing the 

 Atlantic; but still when I recollect that Pieris Rapae has 

 already crossed in a contrary direction, I can by no means 

 deny the possibility of such an event; and, therefore, I will 

 give my English readers an opportunity of studying the 

 remedies which our transatlantic friends think they have 

 found most efficacious. — Edward Neivman. 



^^ Artificial Remedies : Paris-green.— The many entomolo- 

 gists and agriculturists who have experimented on this 

 insect — with various poisons and other substances, in those 

 portions of the United States where it has been so destructive 

 for some years past— concur in recommending the use of 

 Paris-green diluted with flour, ashes, or air-slacked lime, as 

 the best remedy known for destroying the insect both in its 



