i8o 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



examined about a hundred plants taken at ran- 

 dom, and find from two to five beetles in each. 

 The plants have made but a small growth, and 

 are beginning to wilt under the hot suns. — W. A. 

 Henry, Ithaca, N. Y., May 23, 1880. 



The insect is the Clover-root Borer {Hylesinus 

 trifolii Muller, Fig. 81), first treated of in our 

 Report to the Department of Agriculture (1878), 

 from which we quote in answer to our correspond- 

 ent's questions ; 



I have found the insect in all three stages of 

 larva (see Fig. 81, b), pupa (c), and adult (d), 



[Fig. 81.] 



C'L.i)\iir-;-rcoriT Bketle--^, a, rt, 

 bored &tcm_and roots — nat. size ; 

 /', larva ; r , pupa ; d^ beetle — en- 

 larged (after Riley). 



up to the time of 

 frost, though the 

 perfect beetles at 

 this season very 

 greatly predomi- 

 nate. The insect hi- 

 bernates in any of 

 these three stages, 

 and continues pro- 

 pagating as soon 

 as spring opens, 

 the beetles issuing 

 from the ground 

 and pairing during 

 the early spring 

 months. The fe- 

 male then instinc- 

 tively bores into 

 the crown of the 

 root, eating a pret- 

 ty large cavity, 

 wherein she de- 

 posits from four 

 to si.x pale, whit- 

 ish, elliptical eggs. 

 These hatch in a- 

 '^^^ bout a week, and 

 the young larvae 

 at first feed in the 

 cavity made by the 

 parent. After a few 

 days, however, they 



begin to burrow downward, extending to the dif- 

 ferent branches of the root. The galleries made 

 in burrowing run pretty regularly along the axis 

 of the roots (Fig. Si, a, a, a), and are filled 

 with brown excrement. The pupa is formed in a 

 smooth cavity, generally at the end of one of 

 these burrows, and may be found in small num- 

 bers as early as September. 



It is the custom in Western New York to sow 

 the Clover in spring on ground already sown to 

 fall wheat. This is generally done while the 

 .snow is yet on the ground or while the frost is 

 disappearing, one peck of seed being used to the 

 acre. The Clover is allowed to go to seed in the 

 Fall, and usually produces but little. During 

 the second year one crop of hay and a crop of 

 seed are obtained. It is during this second year 

 that the injury of the Hylesinus is most observed. 



No experiments have yet been made with a 

 view of preventing the injuries of this clover pest, 

 and no other mode of prevention suggests itself 

 to my mind than the plowing under of the Clover 

 in the spring of the second year, if the presence 

 of the beetle is observed. 



The length of the beetle averages about 2.5""". 



Mud Wasp and Spider Egg-Nest.— I inclose 

 two little empty mud cells which I took from the 



evergreen hedge which surrounds my "insect 

 menagerie" — figured in Harper's for May [i]. 

 Also a curious little basket-like cocoon that I 

 took from a twig. I am inclined to think this the 

 work of a spider, but Dr. McCook thinks it the 

 work of some Hymenopter. I pulled a quantity 

 of silk from the hole, which clearly showed that 

 tiny spiders had been the occupants, but McCook 

 says a spider might have availed itself of the old 

 cell to rear its young. But how could a spider 

 large enough to fill the cavity with silk and eggs 

 get into such a small hole? r2l. — M. T., Vine- 

 land, N. J. 



The mud cells are those of the fraternal wasp 

 (Eunicncs fraterna Say) which has the interesting 



[Fig. 82 



EUMENES FRATERNA : iZ, S wasp : b, cell : c, do. cut open 

 (after Riley), 



habit of storing its cell with the destructive 

 Spring cankerworm {Paleacrita vernata. Peck), 

 [Fig. &3.] though it doubtless makes use 



ofother green worms as well. We 

 illustrate one of these cells at /;, 

 the same cut open at c, and the 

 wasp that makes them at a. 



There is no question in our 

 mind but that the pretty lit- 

 tle basket-shaped, dark-gray co- 

 coon (Fig. 84) is that of some spi- 

 der, but of what particularspecies 

 we cannot say, though it probably 

 belongs to some common spe- 



Pendulous Egg- cies of the Epeira. We have in 

 nest of Spider. , . , . 



our cabmet one bearing close 

 resemblance to it in size and co- 

 lor, but suspended from (he limb ^^'^' ^'^ 

 as at Fig. 83, and we have others tha; 

 are suspended with a girth like that 

 which you send, the girth, however, 

 being much more loose, and the 

 cocoon having in one instance a Basket Egg- 

 tail and in the other not. nest of Spider. 

 We are inclined to look upon all three of 

 these cocoons as modifications made by one and 

 the same species. 



Worm in joints of Wheat.— Herewith are 



some sections of wheat-stalks, in the joints of 

 which you will find a small worm. Nearly or 

 quite every stalk seems to be affected with them ; 

 as a consequence, the straw is inclined to fall 

 before the wheat is fully ripe. 



Will you kindly investigate and inform me in 



