THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



107 



died together close to midrib. The eight-legged 

 mite again changes its skin and becomes the 

 active little mite described in Canadian Entomol- 

 ogist. 



Scales, on the same leaf with these mites, are 

 always empty, proving that they are beneficial to 

 the orange grower.— Wm. H. Ashmead, Jackson- 

 ville, Fla. 



Habits of Gall-making Plant-lice. — The most 

 astonishing feature of my recent observations on 

 "Pemphigus hursariiis" is, that the first " pupi- 

 fera" come back to the tree before even the last 

 "emigrants" have left it, and, as the first ones 

 bearing the sexuated young enter in the old galls 

 just left by the emigrants, it looks as if some of 

 the "emigrants" instead of leaving the tree re- 

 mained in it. — J. Lichtenstein, Montpellier, 

 France. 



Answers to Correspondents 



[We hope to make this one of the most interesting and in- 

 structive departments of the Entomologist. All inquiries 

 about insects, injurious or otherwise, should be accompanied 

 by specimens, thc_ more the better. Such specimens, if dead, 

 should be packed in some soft material, as cotton or wool, and 

 Inclosed in some stout tin or wooden box. They will come 

 by mail for one cent per ounce. Insects should never be 



ENCLOSED LOOSE IN THE LETTER. 



Whenever possible, larvse (/. f ., grubs, caterpillars, maggots, 

 elc.> should be packed alive, in some tight tin bo.\ — the tighter 

 the better, as air-holes are not needed — along with a supply of 

 their appropriate food sufficient to last them on their journey : 

 othenvise they generally die on the road and shrivel up. If 

 dead when sent, they should be packed in cotton moistened 

 with alcohol. Send as full an account as possible of the habits 

 of the insect respecting which you desire information ; for 

 e.\ample, what plant or plants it infests ; whether it destroys 

 the leaves, the buds, the twigs, or the stem ; how long it has 

 been known to you ; what amount of damage it has done, etc. 

 Such particulars are often not only of high scientific interest 

 but of great practical importance.] 



Gouty Gall on Blackberry and Raspberry 

 Canes. — A friend has referred me to you for the 

 name (common and scientific) of the insect which 

 stings blackberry canes and causes them to 

 swell and die. If an account of the habits, etc. 

 of this insect is published in any of your Re- 

 ports, please tell me how or on what terms I can 

 get the number desired. — P. S., Vineland, N. J. 



We are troubled with an insect that bids fair to 

 destroy our canes both of Blackberry and Rasp- 

 berry more especially on the " Early Wilson " 

 Blackberry and the Red varieties of the Rasp- 

 berry. The insects deposit their eggs from six 

 inches to a foot above tlie ground, and the first 

 indication of their work is an enlargement of the 

 cane: they usually select the largest canes, and 

 they remain over the winter above the enlarge- 

 ment, where they can be found ver}' readily at 

 this time. I would like to know if there is a 

 practical remedy? I have been watching their 

 work for a number of years and find they are on 

 the increase. I would like to know how soon 

 the insect's work can be dctictcd and how long 

 are they depositing their eggs? — T. A. C, Anna, 

 III. 



One of our principal revenues here is derived 

 from raising blackberries ; within a few years, 

 swells have appeared on the canes ; and are 

 increasing from year to year, threatening to 

 either destroy the business, or make it verj' un- 



profitable. We are alarmed for our safety and 

 have appointed a committee (of which I am one) 

 to investigate the cause, and if possible to find a 

 remedy; f appeal to you, hoping you will be so 

 kind as to give us the necessary information by 

 which we can save a crop upon which we so 

 much depend. Many of the swells this year are 

 below ground. — J. W., Vineland, N. J. 



All three of the above inquiries refer to the 

 same insect (Agrilus ruficolUs), treated of and 

 illustrated in another part of this number. The 

 larva retires into the pith to transform in April 

 and May, and the canes should therefore be cut 

 and burned before the month of April. The 

 beetles should be looked for in June and July 

 when the females are laying their eggs, and are 

 easily seen and captured. 



Sowing Cotton Seeds in hot-beds and 

 transplanting as a means of preventing injury 

 from the Cotton Worm.— ?;>/. J. W., Fori 

 Magaia, Youngsloivn, N. }'.— The suggestion 

 which you make of planting cotton seeds in hot 

 beds during the winter and transplanting the 

 plants thus raised when spring opens, in order to 

 gain time and produce a crop before the Cotton 

 Worm appears, occurred to us two years ago on 

 our first visit to the South, but, upon suggesting 

 it and urging it to experienced planters, they in- 

 variably replied that the cotton plant forms such 

 a long tap-root and is so very sensitive to re- 

 moval or transplanting, that it will be impractica- 

 ble to do as we do in the more northern States 

 with young sweet-potato plants. The only way 

 in which cotton plants could be successfully 

 transplanted would be from small pots, and such 

 mode is precluded on accoynt of the expense, 

 though paper bags, it seems to us, might in many 

 instances be successfully used for this purpose. 



Not the Cotton Moth.—/). B. IVoodhiry, Paris, 

 Oxford Co., Me. — The moth which you send is 

 not the Cotton Moth, but something quite dis- 

 tinct, known to entomologists as Tolype velleda. 

 Its larva feeds on Apple and sundry other trees. 



Moths caught in Alabama ; Muscle-shaped 

 Bark-louse on Apple trees South—/. /'. Bailey, 

 Marion, Ala. — Your specimens were duly re- 

 ceived. Of the moths it would be useless to 

 give you the names, as they were not numbered ; 

 none of them, however, were Alctia, but there 

 were specimens of the common Northern Army 

 Worm and of one of the commonest Cut-worm 

 moths (Agrotis ypsilon). The large black butter- 

 fly \% Papilio philenor, the larva of which feeds on 

 Aristolochia. You are right in the determination 

 of Pieris rapte. The large bee which is robbing 

 the honey bees of their scanty stores is Bomlnis 

 virginicus S . The mussel-shaped scales on 

 apple-twigs from the orchard of Mr, E. A. Heard 

 are the dreaded mussel-slwped bark-louse of the 

 Apple (Mytilaspis pomicortieis Riley). We have 



