HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 171 



Another insect, the Buffalo Tree-hopper, is also illustrated upon 

 the canvass. This is a comical looking triangular affair, trying to 

 look like a ferocious buffalo, but lacking the size to inspire alarm. 



This hopper (Ceresa biibahis) be- 

 longs to the order hemiptera, sub- 

 order homoptera. In describing its 

 personal appearance we might say: 

 a very green looking object, mottled 

 FliS . m 4# with brown dots, one- third of an 



inch long, very active and apt to jump away upon the slightest 

 provocation. It is very shy, and if it knows that we observe it it 

 will immediately hide behind a branch, or vanish by means of an 

 extraordinary powerful jump. By looking at this creature the ori- 

 gin of its name, both of the scientific and popular, becomes self- 

 evident. Yet this insect (and two others closely resembling it), small 

 as it is, becomes sometimes very numerous, and injurious in pro- 

 portion. Like all true bugs it absorbs the sap of plants by means 

 of a rather long and sharp-pointed beak, thus injuring the plant. 

 But the chief damage it causes is by laying its eggs in canes or 

 twigs. They are punctured in a peculiar manner, as shown in the 

 illustration. The young insects which hatch from these eggs are 

 even more ridiculous looking things than their parents, as may be 

 seen in the illustration and in the specimens before you in the box. 

 As the insects themselves feed only by means of a beak, any ap- 

 plication of arsenical poison is of no avail. The careful removal 

 of their eggs and the use of an oiled umbrella is in most cases suffi- 

 cient to keep them in check. 



There are two other insects which often cause great injury to the 

 canes of currants. Both are common in Minnesota and require 

 strict vigilance to keep them under control. Both are illustrated 

 by figures and specimens. They are cane-borers of the worst kind, 

 though very dissimilar in general appearance. 



The Imported Currant-borer {JEegeria tipuli-formis) is a very 

 beautiful insect when quite fresh from the 

 pupa. It is a moth, but does not greatly re- 

 semble such an insect, but looks more like a 

 wasp or a long-legged fly. When flying, 

 which is indulged in during the hottest parts 

 of the day, this insect would not be taken for 

 a moth at all. Still its beauty is but skin 

 •Fig-, o. deep, as the ornamenting scales drop imme- 



diately when touched, and it is after all but one of the worst 

 pests of the currant in a gaudy dress. The larva and pupa are 

 shown also in the illustration. Both resemble very closely the 

 early stages of the peach-borer, an insect not found in 

 any great numbers in this the Banana-belt of Minne- 

 sota. The larva, which is yellowish white, of a cylin- 

 drical shape, is distinguished by the possession of a 

 Fig. e. dark-colored head and legs, and differs in this respect 

 from the iarva of our native current- borer, which lacks all traces 

 of legs. When full grown, and before changing to a pupa, it eats 



