228 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



and ornamental trees, by laying their eggs in the 

 twigs, but nothing very serious. Among forest 

 trees, oak and chestnut are their favorites. I 

 have found no egg cells at a greater distance 

 from the end of the twig than twenty inches, and 

 most of them within twelve inches. The Cica,/as 

 appeared only in certain small sections, where 

 they had been before, and do not seem to travel 

 much, except when carried by the wind. As to 

 their 17-year appearance, I can give you any 

 reasonable testimony from old settlers here that 

 it is no fable ; many remember 1863 as the " Lo- 

 cust-year," when they were very plenty. A few 

 also are positive in the statement that 1846 was 

 marked by a similar appearance. I shall be 

 pleased to furnish you any other information you 

 may wish, if in my power. — llarley Barnes, Mul- 

 berry Corners, Geauga Co., ()., July 15. 



" Stink Bush " as an Insecticide. — Should 

 the Cotton Worms mal\e their api>earance this 

 season in large numbers, I am quite sure that 

 I shall succeed in presenting a " destroyer," and 

 am very anxious to make the experiment when 

 the larvx appear. I shall use a decoction of the 

 leaves of what is known as " Stink Bush," which 

 grows abundantly in our swamps. I have seen 

 it used, and have used it myself, to kill vermin 

 (lice) on animals, cows, horses, and hogs, and it 

 never failed to prove itself an absolute success. 

 I would like to have it tested thoroughly. I 

 have well-founded hopes of its success. 



I am sorry that I am unable to present the sci- 

 entific name of this shrub, that you might judge 

 of its merits. It is an evergreen, from one-and- 

 a-half to six feet high, has a verv offensive smell, 

 and nothing touches it as food, not even insects ; 

 and it constitutes the principal undergrowth 

 upon our creek and some of our river bottoms in 

 South Mississippi, so far as I liave been able to 

 learn and see. Should you desire to experiment 

 with the same, notify me, and I will send you 

 some of the leaves. — S. H. Midlen, Harrisville, 

 Miss., July 30, 18S0. 



[We shall be pleased to receive leaves and 

 fruit of the shrub for determination, and Prof. 

 Jones, of Oxford, will experiment with it for us. 

 —Ed.] 



Cotton Worm in Texas. — 1 returned yester- 

 day from a visit of a few days to some of the Bra- 

 zos Bottom plantations, fifty to sixty miles away, 

 where the cotton worm was reported. In the im- 

 mediate neighborhood of their first appearance 

 there are several large plantations, but I found 

 the most of those entirely exempt, and only one 

 (hat had been partially affected. 



On the %vest side of the Brazos river, at one 

 point, there was on one small plantation the 

 largest exhibit of the worms, which were said to 

 be of the second progeny. The first appearance 

 that was observed in that section was about the 

 last days of June, on a small plantation on the 

 east bank of the river ; but were promptly poi- 

 soned, and but little, if any, injury sustained. 



In all the sections where shower}' weather has 



prevailed along the coast line, cotton has attained 

 a most extraordinary growth ; but the rapid 

 shedding of the forms is doing more serious in- 

 jury than the worms, where poisons are promptly 

 resorted to. — William ]. Jones, Virginia Point, 

 Texas, July 22d. 



Ailanthus Obnoxious to Insects. — Some 

 years since, when a caterpillar was stripping the 

 oaks in front of m)' yard, I observed that some, 

 which had ascended an Ailanthus tree(frequentl3' 

 called "the tree of Heaven"), fell from it par- 

 alyzed, and soon died. So, when the caterpil- 

 lars attempted to cross my fence, I placed in 

 their way, at short intervals, branches of Ailan- 

 thus leaves, and killed immense numbers of 

 them, effectually protecting my yard and garden. 

 I have to suggest the expediencj' of trying this 

 native poison, so abundant and easilj' accessi- 

 ble, on the Cotton Worm. I have found the 

 common larkspur an effective poison on insects. 

 Would it not answer as well for the Cotton 

 Worm ?— P. H. Skipwith, Oxford, Miss., July 24. 



Phora aletia Not a True Parasite. — In ex- 

 amining my breeding jars and boxes, I invariably 

 find a species of Phora present in them, when- 

 ever they contain an)' dead animal matter. This 

 is, so far as I can make out, the Phora aleliir 

 which Prof. Comslock considers one of the 

 parasites of Alctia. Mr. Treleasc gives his ex- 

 perience with this lly exactly as I should my- 

 self, from my own observations. He does not 

 consider it a true parasite, but yields the point 

 to Prof. Comstock. Evidence is daily accumu- 

 lating in my notes of the purely scavenger habits 

 of the I'hora. To-day I watched them pass 

 through the meshes of fine muslin gauze, cover- 

 ing my breeding jnrs. in which mollis have died, 

 or pupre been killed by dampness and mold. 

 They (the Hies) gather about moldy food and ex- 

 crement of larvx, but do not deposit eggs unless 

 they find dead moths, larvrc, or pupaj, and moist- 

 ure. The Hies .are very persistent in pushing 

 through crevices, and I watched with interest the 

 gravid v v try to squeeze through the gauze. 

 Sooner or later, after many trials, a 9 finds 

 a mesh that is loose, and gets through. I see 

 that thev have often widened the meshes, and 

 pass and re-pass through. — H. G. Hubbard, Cen- 

 treville, Leon Co., Fla., Aug. 6th. 



[This Phora was obtained by us on several 

 occasions from Aletia chrysalids, in 1879, and 

 quite commonly by Mr. Schwarz ; but we never 

 considered it truly parasitic, and doubt whether 

 it ever is strictly so. — Ed.] 



Harvesting Ants in New Jersey. — Permit 

 me through your columns to announce the dis- 

 covery of a Harvesting Ant, hitherto unknown. 

 My attention was first called to it in June, by 

 little piles of the husks of seed. 1 have exam- 

 ined several formicaries, and found some cells 

 filled with various kinds of seed in good pre- 

 servation. The worker is about a line long. 

 The soldier is much larger, and has an immense 

 head, marked with striae visible only under mi- 



