109 



Blister beetles attracted to lights. — Mr. Otto Holstein, Cline, Tex., wrote dur- 

 ing August, 1901, that he succeeded in getting rid of bUster beetles as well as other 

 insects b}' placing a lighted lamp in a basin of water; the insects flying about the 

 light invariably fell into the water and drowned, a little oil upon the surface render- 

 ing it impossible for them to escape. This is an old-time remedy against a number 

 of insects, and it is well known that blister beetles are frequently attracted to lights 

 in considerable numbers. The troul)le with this remedy, however, is that it is apt 

 to destroy also man}- beneficial insects. 



Parasites of tlie tent caterpillar {Clisiticanqia americana Harr. ). — Writing June 

 17, 1902, Mr. F. E. Brooks, Frenchcreek, W. Va., sent specimens of parasites of this 

 species, with report that out of 43 cocoons collected on apple trees 9 yielded moths 

 and 8 the tachina fly {Froniina frenchii WiW.) , while all the remainder gave 201 indi- 

 viduals of the ichneumon {Pimpla maura Cr. ). Later, our correspondent sent two 

 chalcis fly parasites {Miotrojns disiocampn: K»\nn. and Dihrnrhif.<< Jiovrheamix Ratz.), 

 as well as a species of Compoplegine from the same host. 



Parasites of the plum curculio. — Mr. Brooks also sends us from the same locality 

 a Braconid parasite of the plum curculio {Con.otrachelus nenuphar), viz: Bracon mel- 

 litor 8ay; and a chalcis fly, a species of Eurytoma, also a parasite of the curculio. 



Note on Pog-onomyrmex barbatus, one of the agricultural ants of Texas. — 

 Mr. G. M. Dodge has recently sent specimens of this ant, together with samj^les of 

 seeds on which he observed it feeding at Ingram, Kerr C'ounty, Tex. These seeds 

 have been identified by Mr. A. J. Pieters, of the Bureau of Plant Industry of this 

 Department, as Texan grama {Bouteloua texana), sand liur {CeiicJirus iribulouli's), and 

 lance-leaved sage {Salvia lanceoJata). Our correspondent stated that he had seen the 

 ants harvesting these seeds. 



A Cimbex in British Burma. — Mr. George Field, of ^yashington, an importer 

 of orchids, found attached to the roots of Dendrobium iixtrdlanum, an orchid from 

 British Burma, a rough, brown silken cocoon from which issued May 17, 1902, in 

 the insectary of this Department, a new species of sawfly of the genus Cimbex. This 

 fact is of very considerable interest, since it seems that no species of this genus has 

 ever been taken in Farther India. 



Note on the ox warble in Mississippi. — March 27, 1902, Mr. Lawrence C. 

 Johnson, geologist, Pachuta, Miss., wrote in regard to this ' species, which is also 

 called the ox bot or heel fly {Ilypoderma Uneata Vill.), stating that al)out two weeks 

 prior to the date of writing, with the first spring-like weather, this specie^ had 

 appeared in large numliers and had proved a great torment to cattle. The insect did 

 not confine itself to attack on the heel, this, according to popular belief, being becau.se 

 the cattle stamped so much. 



Christian Science for Cattle. — Mr. Franklin, formerly district attorney at San 

 Antonio, Tex., vouches for the fact that two cattle owners at Llano, Tex., treat their 

 cows for screw worms by Christian Science. 



Scavenger flies as a creamery pest. — A correspondent at Garrison, Mo., 

 writing May 16, 1902, transmitted specimens of the fly Culllphora riridescens Desv., 

 with the report that these insects were new, and that they were troublesome in a 

 room where milk was kept. They laid eggs in the cream when it was nearly sweet 

 and l)eginning to turn. They did not appear to infest the butter, but tried to get into 

 the sweet milk. 



Notes on kissing bugs. — Juiae 28, 1902, we received a specimen of lieduvius per- 

 sonatus Linn., from Mr. W. T. Hubbell, Philo, Ohio, with the information that it 

 was caught in the night within the folds of a lady's nightdress after twice stinging 

 her. The lady described the sensation as like the sting of a wasp, causing sickness 

 and something like a chill, symptoms which, however, might have been due to nerv- 

 ousness, as the lady was not very strong. 



July 28, 1902, Mr. J. C. INI. Johnston, New Wilmington, Pa., sent a minute larva 

 of a lace-winged fly {Chrysopa sp.), with rejiort that it had bitten him on the liand, 



