264 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



exempt from the ravages of the Apple- 

 worm. Acting upon this suggestion, I 

 thoroughly sprayed some Siberian crab- 

 apple trees the 25th of May, and again the 

 20th of June; but I used London Purple, 

 one tablespoonful to two gallons of water. 

 The fruit of these trees has been seriously 

 injured whenever they have borne during 

 previous years. This year they were loaded 

 with fruit, but careful examination, made 

 August 19th, discovered not a single in- 

 jured apple. A few showed signs of the 

 previous work of the larvae; but as no 

 burrow extended for more than one-fourth 

 of an inch, no harm was done. Other 

 apple trees, only a few rods distant, which 

 were not treated with the poisonous liquid, 

 are bearing fruit, one-fourth to one-half of 

 which is " wormy." 



From the very small amount of the 

 poison applied to each tree, not more than 

 one-third of an ounce, the cost of the 

 remedy is very light. For the same reason, 

 as also the early application of the poison 

 when the fruit is yet immature, and is sure 

 to be washed by frequent rains before it is 

 gathered, we should expect no danger from 

 use of the London Purple. But to make 

 assurance doubly sure, I cut from a por- 

 tion of the apples on a part of a tree 

 where the poison was applied in such excess 

 as to destroy the foliage, one hundred of 

 the blossoms, the portion where the poison 

 would be most sure to lodge, and submitted 

 them to Dr. Kedzie for analysis. Not a 

 trace of the poison was found. If future 

 experience sustains the conclusions as to 

 the efficiency of this remedy, it will be a 

 very important discovery. 



Previous to the present time, there has 

 been no satisfactory method known of 

 fighting such pests as the Cabbage Maggot, 

 {A/itkomyia brassicce Bouche,) and other 

 insects of the same genus, and the Squash- 

 borer {Melittia cucurbita, Harr.). The late 

 Dr. Walsh recommended hot water, but 

 this has proved only partially successful. 

 During the present season my pupil, Mr. 

 Chas. McKenny, and myself, have tried 

 bisulphide of carbon, with the happiest 

 results. I was led to try this from its excel- 



lence in destroying museum pests, and the 

 success which has attended its use in 

 Europe in destroying the Grape Phyl- 

 loxera. To apply it, a small hole is made 

 in the earth near the main root of the 

 plant, by use of a walking-stick or other 

 rod, and about one-half a teaspoonful of 

 the liquid poured in, when the hole is 

 quickly filled with earth, which is pressed 

 down by the foot. In every case the in- 

 sects were killed, without injury to the 

 plants. I believe this substance promises 

 most satisfactory results in fighting the 

 above-mentioned insects, the peach-borers, 

 and other insects that attack the roots of 

 our cultivated plants. 



We must remember that this liquid is 

 very volatile, and the vapor very explosive. 



A NEW LEAF-CUTTING ANT IN NEW JERSEY. 



DY REV. G. K. MORRIS, VINELAND, N. J. 



At Island Heights, a new summer resort 

 on Barnegat Bay, N. J., I have found a new 

 leaf-cutting ant. That it belongs to the 

 Attidce, is the opinion of both Dr. McCook 

 and Mrs. Treat. It has the rugosity on the 

 head which characterizes Dr. McCook's 

 Texas cutting-ant, and resembles it in so 

 many other particulars as to leave no doubt 

 of their relationship generically. This, 

 however, is much smaller, being not much 

 more than an eighth of an inch in length. 

 Like other leaf-cutters it carries its burden 

 on the top of its head, and along the 

 back. A row of them marching in single 

 file, each carrying a piece of the fine 

 needle-like leaf of tender pine seedlings, 

 suggests a file of soldiers armed with rifles. 

 It is an amusing sight, and provokes a 

 smile. Sometimes the leaf carried is twice 

 as long as the ant. I have seen them 

 gathering only one other leaf besides the 

 young pine-leaf, viz: from cow-wheat {Mel- 

 ampyritm americannni). Of this plant they 

 gather also the petals. They make rela- 

 tively very large cells, of the general shape 

 of a coffee-cup, and from two to four 

 inches in diameter. The nests examined 

 were in fine white sand, but the cell walls 

 were made very firm and smooth. In sev- 



