479 



be foiuul to contain either piipis or perfect beetles, which, if not de- 

 stroyed, would, next season, deposit eggs on the neighboring trees. 



The white poplar {Populus alba) in this neighborhood is subject to a 

 species of shedding of the twigs, but this does not appear to be caused 

 by any insect, as, upon examination of the fallen twigs, no eggs or ves- 

 tiges of the woric of any insect could be found, and the only peculiarity 

 exhibited by the twigs is a very great enlargement or swelling just 

 above or at the place where the twig is broken. 



A KEW ENEMY TO THE STRAWBERRY. — Last May a communication 

 was received from Mr. B. Bryan, of Silver Hill, Maryland, stating that 

 he had observed some small insects injuring his strawberries soon after 

 they had commenced blooming. In his letter he says : " I noticed that 

 the blossoms were dying, and, upon examination, found that a small insect 

 wSomewhat similar to the curculio was stinging or piercing with its snout 

 the blossom-bud and footstalk of the blossom-bud, thereby causing the 

 death of the blossom." " I found these little curculios in all parts of the 

 field where the berries were growing, and the danuige was the same 

 all over the place, and on some vines as high as two-thirds of the blos- 

 soms were killed." Mr. Bryan also states that if these insects deposit 

 eggs in the punctures they make, they fail to hatch in almost every 

 instance. On searching a neighboring patch of strawberry plants, he 

 "failed to find any of these small curculios." The insect 

 sent proved to be Anthonomus signatus, Say, (bisifpiatusot V/C 

 Sehonher,) (Fig. 3,) and as yet must be extremely local, ^^ 

 for although diligently searched for in several straw- /j 

 berry beds, both in this neighborhood and in Maryland, 

 not ope of these insects could be found. In the speci- 

 mens of blossoms injured, no eggs or vestiges of larvfe .^ 

 could be found, thus proving that the punctures are 'a^ % 



merely made for the sake of feeding upon the plant. As Fig. 3. 

 this insect has not yet been mentioned as injuring the strawberry, it 

 has been thought advisable to draw the attention of horticulturists to 

 Mr. Bryan's letter, as the fact of this beetle having injured his crop so 

 materially may perhaps account for the failure of the strawberry crop 

 in certain localities. This insect is about 0.11 inch in length ; including 

 snout, 0.15 inch. Oval in shape, the thorax one-half the width of the 

 body ; elytra or wing-covers reddish brown, with two large irregular 

 oval spots of a darker shade, margined with white, occupying a space a 

 little below the centerof each wing; inner margin around the scutellum 

 same color as the spots; scutellum, or triangular spot between the base 

 of the wing-covers, white; thorax, head, and legs dark chestnut brown, 

 coarsely punctured ; underside of body clothed with fine whitish hairs ; 

 end of abdomen reddish brown. They vary much, some of them being 

 almost entirely without the irregular oval spots on the wing-covers, and 

 of a nearly uniform chestnut-brown color. 



New iksects from the West.— During the summer, the assistant 

 entomologist, in company with the New York agricultural editorial 

 excursion party, made collections of insects in Kansas, Colorado, Wy- 

 oming, and Nebraska, among which five species have been described as 

 new. Arctia WilUamsii, Dodge, (Fig. 4,) recently described in the 

 Canadian Entomologist, occurs in the mountains. 

 It is a very pretty moth, with chocolate-brown \ 



upper wings marked with lines of creamy white; r~" 

 the hind wings rust red, with brown spots. It 

 is dedicated to Mr. Henry T. Williams, editor of 

 the Horticulturist. Caloptenus Dodgei, Thos., a 

 small, almost wingless grasshopper, is found near 

 4 



