415 



Second Letter. — If these beetles "confine their attacks to decaying and injured 

 fruit" then juy fruit (figs) must be injured very strangely, and while yet only four- 

 fifths grown. 



I have a number of very fine trees bearing fine, large fruit. This kind, as it ap- 

 proaches the full-grown state and begins the ripening process, slightly opens at the 

 apex or bud end. No sooner does this very slight aperture form than these insects 

 enter and feed upon the fruit, and I judge live therein. In the very early part of the 

 season, for perhaps a week after ripening begins, we are not seriously troubled. 

 After that it is difficult to find a single fruit unmolested by these pests. The crop of 

 1889 was utterly destroyed by them after the first eight days. The crop of 1890 has 

 been destroyed, or is still in process of destruction. The trees are very healthy and 

 fine, the fruit also, so far as I can discover. But the process outlined above continues. 

 If I fail to discover the nature of the trouble and to secure au efficient remedy there- 

 for, I must and will be forced to abandon my fig crop. 



We esteem the fruit so highly that we are loth to yield to this result. Hence my 

 application to your Department. — [J. M. FuUinwider, Palestine, Texas, August 29, 

 1890. 



Reply. — From the facts which you give, it seems as though in the case of the fig 

 these two beetles have really become pests and injure sound fruit. They will be diffi- 

 cult enemies to tight, on account of their entering the orifice of the fruit, and hence 

 not being amenable to any treatment with sprays. The only remedy which I can 

 suggest is derived from the known preference of these insects for decaying fruit, and 

 is the use of rotten or damaged fruit as traps. At the time when this insect enters 

 the fig, scatter about the tree some such decaying fruit, picking it up and burning it 

 after it has become infested with the insects, i. e., after the beetles have gathered 

 tipon it and laid their eggs. There can be little doubt that they will preft-r such 

 rotten fruit to the sound figs, and many of them can doubtless be trapped and de- 

 stroyed in this way. If the lure fruit be sprinkled with arsenic it may save the 

 trouble of subsequent collecting. — [September 4, 1890.] 



The Weeping Tree Phenomenon. 



Inclosed please find an insect, the name and habits of which you will oblige me 

 by giving. I found it on a willow tree in a swamp on Island 73, in the Mississippi, 

 belonging to Arkansas. I was hunting deer, aud being tired lay down under a 

 small willow to rest. After lying there a few moments the air suddenly became 

 filled with little drops of water as if rain or mist were falling. I got out from under 

 the tree and as soon as I moved the mist ceased. I stood a short distance away and 

 watched, and gradually came closer, and after watching for half an hour I discovered 

 this little bug on a twig. When I first saw it, it was perfectly quiet, but soon put 

 its head to the limb and immediately minute drops of fluid began to be ejected from 

 the rear end of its body which extended past or even with the ends of its wings, 

 but since its death has shriveled to its present length. The leaves of the tree 

 on which I found it were pierced in thousands of places, and the mist from the tree 

 was thick; but this bug was not on a leaf, but on a small limb. I could find no other 

 insects on the tree, but know there are hundreds. The one I caught slipped around 

 the limb very much as a squirrel would, and I had difficulty in catching it. It 

 made no etfort to fly. The natives of the island called the tree a weeping tree, and 

 are very superstitious about it.— [R. J. McGuire, Rosedale, Mississippi, August 30, 

 1890. 



Reply. — * * ' The insect which you send is one of the so-called leaf-hoppers, 

 which has been frequently referred to in print on account of its habit of ejecting 

 honey dew and causing the phenomenon of so-called " weeping trees." The scientific 

 name of the one which you send is Proconia undata. I send you by accompanying mail 

 a copy of No. 5, Vol. II, of the Periodical Bulletin of this Division, and you will find 

 upon page 160 an account of a similar instance. — [September 4, 1890.] 



