399 



Damage to Geranium by Heliothis ; Cannibalistic Habit of this Larva. 



I send to your address to-day a box containing moth of a corn worm. Last fall I 

 noticed that soiuething was eating the leaves of the Geraniums in the greenhouse; 

 on examination I found it to be a pale green worm about two-thirds the size of the corn 

 worm, which I was unable to determine positively. I placed a geranium in a cage with 

 the worm and changed the plant as often as the leaves became soiled or scarce ; the 

 worm devoured the leaves rapidly. I also placed a cabbage worm {Pieris profodice) 

 on the plant with it ; on examining the plant next day, I found the corn worm was 

 eating the cabbage worm and had already nearly devoured it when I tirst noticed it, 

 and in a short time nothing was left of it but the head and a little of the skin. 

 The moth sent is from tlie corn worm mentioned in this letter. The fact that this 

 worm worked on geraniums, or that it was cannibalistic in its habits was new tome, 

 and as I can find no notice of either, I write this and send the moth to you. — [John 

 W. Clark, Missouri Agricultural College and Experiment Station, Columbia, Missouri, 

 February 19, 1891. 



Reply. — You are right in supposing that the moth which you send is the adult of 

 the common Corn Ear worm {Heliothis armigera). Your letter is interesting, but 

 both of the points which you notice have been observed before. If you will consult 

 the article upon the Boll Worm (the same species) in the Fourth Report of the U. S. 

 EutomologicalCommission, you will find the cannibalistic habit mentioned upon pages 

 364 and 36d, while upon page 3o3 you will find the geranium mentioned as a food 

 plant.— [February :24, 1891.] 



A "Curious Condensation." 



Clipping attached is from column of " Curious Condensations" in Pittsburgh (Pa.) 

 Gazette. Can such things be?— [J. M. Shaffer, Keokuk, Iowa. February 20, 1891. 



" One of the most curious natural productions of the West Indies is the famed vege- 

 table fly, an insect about the size and color of a drone bee, but without wings. In 

 the month of May it buries itself in the earth and begins to vegetate. By the begin- 

 ning of June a sprout has issued from the creature's back and made its appearance 

 above the surface of the ground. By the end of July the tiny tree (known on the 

 island as the fly-tree) has attained its full size, being then about 3 inches high, but a 

 perfect tree in every particular, much resembling a delicate coral branch. Pods ap- 

 pear on its branches as soon as it arrives at its full growth ; these ripen and drop off 

 in August. Instead of containing seeds, as one would naturally suppose, these pods 

 have from three to six small, hard worms upon the interior." 



Reply. — * * * The newspaper story is a romance with a grain of truth. You 

 are familiar with the white grub fungns, are you not? It is a Cordyceps, which 

 grows from the head or thorax of the white grub, and its shoots sometimes reach a 

 length of several inches. The same phenomenon in the West Indies is the founda- 

 tion for this story. It is quite within the bounds of possibility that the fungus may 

 subsequently beome infested by the larvae of some fungus-feeding insect, as some 

 Mordellid or Mycetophagid beetle or some Mycetophilid fly, and this may account for 

 the " pods" containing worms instead of seeds. — [February 24, 1891.] 



The "Mexican Jumping Bean." 



I recently had a curious bean shown to me by a friend, and, desiring to learn more 

 about this most interesting article, I take the liberty of addressing you on the subject, 

 and will thank you kindly for any information you can give me regarding it. 



The bean in question came from Mexico, is brown in color, and a section through it 

 at right angles to its length would be a triangle. My friend said the name he had 

 heard for it was " Broncho Bean," given from the fact that it had the power of loco- 

 motion, by means of quick, short jumps or tumbles, imparted to it, as I have since 



