92 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OP 



such and such a place. Accompanying these statements, remarks are 

 frequently added, that "THE Potato Bug" is preyed upon by such and 

 such insects, so that we may soon expect to see it swept from off the 

 face of the earth ; and that, even if this desirable event should not 

 take place, "THE Potato Bug" may be checked and controlled by 

 such and such remedies. 



Do the worthy men, who indite these notable paragraphs, ever 

 consider for one moment, that there are no less than eleven distinct . 

 species of bugs, preying upon the potato plant within the limits of 

 the United States? That many of these eleven species are confined 

 within certain geographical limits ? That the habits and history of 

 several of them differ as widely as those of a hog and a horse? That 

 some attack the potato both in the larva state and in the perfect or 

 ■winged state ; others in the perfect or winged state alone ; and others 

 again in the larva state alone? That in the case of eight of these in- 

 sects there is but one single brood every year, while of the remaining 

 three there are every year from two to three broods, each of them 

 generated by females belonging to the preceding brood ? That nine of 

 the eleven feed externally upon the leaves and tenderer stems of the 

 potato, while two of them burrow, like a borer, exclusively in the 

 larger stalks? Finally, that almost every one of these eleven species 

 has its peculiar insect enemies; and that a mode of attack, which will 

 prove very successful against one, two or three of them, will often 

 turn out to be utterly worthless, when employed against the remain- 

 der? 



THE STALK-BORER— Gortyna nitela, Guenee. 

 (Lepidoptera, Noctuida>.) 



[Fi? - 35] This larva (Fig. 35 2,) is of a 



'"" - ^ j livid hue when young, with 



• ; / t ^ light stripes along the body, as 



■, shown in the figure. When full 



grown it generally becomes 

 lighter, with the longitudinal 

 , lines broader, and at this time 



it more frequently resembles Figure 36. It commonly burrows in 

 [Kg- 36.] large stalks of the potato ; but is not peculiar 



to that plant, as it occurs also in the stalks 

 of the tomato, and in those of the dahlia and 

 aster and other garden flowers. I have like- 

 wise found it boring through the cob of grow- 

 ing Indian corn, and strangely confining itself to that portion of the 

 ear : though it is likewise found occasionally in the stem of that plant. 

 By way of compensation, it, is particularly partial to the stem of the 

 common cocklebur {XantMum strumarium); and if it would only 

 confine itself to such noxious weeds as this, it might be considered as 

 3, friend instead of an enemy. In I86S it was more numerous than 



