045 
ENTOMOLOGICAL RECORD. 
By TOWNEND GLOVER, ENTOMOLOGIST. 
INSECTS INJURING CoRN.—In the month of June Mr. J. 8. Nixon, of 
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, sent to the Department of Agriculture 
specimens of what he calls ‘‘a new enemy to ‘the agriculturist,” in the 
form of a small beetle, which on examination proved to be the Systena 
Fig.1, ° blanda of Melsheimer. This insect is about 0.12 of an 
inch in length, and of a light creamy clay-color, having 
three. longitudinal darker stripes on the wing-covers. 
These insects vary very much in color. Mr. Nixon writes 
that the beetles have nearly devastated a field of corn, 
eating the leaves and leaving the bare stalks standing. 
They hop like a flea, and when disturbed hide themselves 
in the soil, if they have not time to escape by flying away. 
They are very active and voracious, and being found in 
. ereat numbers, they are very destructive to the corn-plant. 
They have not attacked anything but the corn (maize) so far. 
_ These small beetles have not hitherto been reported as injurious to 
any of our crops, and as they are nearly related to the cucumber or 
flea beetles, the same remedies used for them will apply to the Systena 
blanda. 
THE COLORADO POTATO - BEETLE.—The much-dreaded Colorado 
beetle, Doryphora decem-lineata, has made its appearance in Mary- | 
land, specimens having been received from Mr. Onderdonk, president 
of the College of Saint James, Washington County, where they were 
injuring potatoes materially by devouring the foliage. Larve were 
also received from G. 8S. Dressler, Oriental post-office, Juniata County, 
Pennsylvania; so it appears that this destructive insect is making its 
way east, and next year we may expect to hear more of its ravages in 
Pennsylvania and Maryland. 
THE GRAPE-VINE-ROOT LOUSE.—The roots of the grape-vines, both 
foreign and native, in the gardens of the Department of Agriculture, 
have been examined carefully for the Phylloxera vastatrix, or grape-vine 
root gall-louse, especially where the vines appeared sickly and weak, 
and although the grape-vine leaf gall-louse, Pemphygus vitifatic of Fitch, 
had been extremely plentiful on two of the vines (Muscat-Hamburg and 
Black Prince) in the grape-house, indeed so much so as to necessitate 
cutting them down, yet neither on these vines nor on any others near 
them could a true root-louse (Phylloxera) or any other insect be found, 
either in the autumn, winter, or spring. A deep trench was also cut 
between a long row of grape-vines planted for experimental purposes, 
and the roots being exposed, were carefully examined, yet none of the 
destructive root-inhabiting species could be found, proving conclusively 
that this destructive insect has not made its appearance in our ex- 
perimental grounds. 
TRAP-DOOR SPIDER.—The Department of Agriculture has received 
from Mr. M. B. Wever, of Johnson’s Depot, Edgefield County, South 
Carolina, through Mr. Charles R. Dodge, a very remarkable specimen 
of the nest and spider of the so-called trap-door spider. Some doubts 
‘having been expressed as to the locality of this spider, Mr. Wever 
writes: 
