136 



from a packing house. Tlie larviv could not he distinguished from cheese skippers, 

 anil the fly, also, is very like that Pio]»hila. Is it distinct? I can not fin<l anything 

 aV)out "meat skii»pers" in any work in my lihrary. 



Simplosis dolichogaster. — A Gracilaria. yiarasite. 



Cecklomyia robinixr. — The larva' of these flies cause a gall-like thickening ami curl- 

 ing of the edges of the leaves of Black Locust {Uohhua})studacaci(v). 



Apanteh'Sii\). — This sj)ecie8 was hred from larvie of CoVias pliUodiee, hut seems to be 

 the same as the Cabbage-worm juirasitc, althougli the cocoons were a much deeper 

 yellow. 



Parasite of Ceratoniia on Elm ; Oak Edema in Michigan Forests. 



I send cocoons of a species of Ichneumon Fly produced by larva? which emerged, 

 September 7 and 8, from a larva of Ceratomia amiintor feeding upon Elm. The larvie 

 as they emerged were larger than the species of Microgaster commonly infesting 

 Sphinx larvie, and of a grayish-white color, but beyond that and the fact that it was 

 a species with which I was unacquainted, I made no observations ui)on them. 



The forest and shade trees in this vicinity are suffering severely this fall from 

 lepidopterous larvje of several species. Oaks are the worst infested and in the ma- 

 jority of cases the larvie are those of Edema albifrons, the ravages of which are as 

 serious as they were last fall when large tracts of oak forests were stripped ([uite 

 bare of foliage. 



Tlie only remedies so iar a^iplicd consist in girdling the trunks of the trees, at a 

 height of 3 or 4 feet, with either cotton or a band of sticky fly paper. Then some 

 persons pick oft" and destroy the larvse which gather below these obstructions which 

 tliey are unable to pass in their journey up the trunk. Of course this method is of 

 value only in preserving nninfested trees and ineventing the return of larva- once 

 dislodged. — [Robert H. Wolcott, Michigan, September 12, 1895. 



Reply. — You are correct in supposing that these cocoons are not those of the 

 conunon Apanteles (old genus Microgaster) so often reared from Sphinx larvaj. 

 They are the cocoons of MicropViiis ceralomuv Riley, described in a paper entitled 

 Notes on North American Microgasters in the Transactions of the St. Louis Academy 

 of Sciences (vol. iv, pp. 295-315). The cocoons which you send are described and 

 figured in ihe American Entomologist for February, 1870 (vol. ii, p. 128). — [September 

 14, 1892.] 



Success of the Carbon Bisulphide Remedy against the Cabbage Maggot. 



I received in due time your letter of June 7. recommending the use of bisulphide 

 of carbon for the Cabbage Maggot. I applied, as directed, on Ihe 11th and discov- 

 ered the plants so treated very seriously wilted on the 13th. They remained in this 

 condition for seA^eral days, but recovered from the effects of the carbon, and when 

 cutting time came there was no diff'erence either as to the time of heading or the num- 

 ber of salable heads in the rows containing three hundred and twenty-five to the row. 

 I examined the ground and the roots of the plants and found every worm of every 

 kind dead. My conclusion is that if the remedy had been ajijilied at least one month 

 earlier I might have saved the 25 i)er cent I lost. At the time I applied the carbon, 

 most of the maggots had gone into the pupa state, and their course had been about 

 run. 1 read the statement somewhere that muriate of potash, if liberally ap])lied, 

 would not only kill the young worms, but act as a fertilizer, too. Do you know this 

 to be a fact? — [P. I). Barnhart, Pennsylvania. 



Reply. — The success of your experiments with bisulphide of carbon for the Cal)- 

 bage Maggot is gratifying. We are familiar with the recommendati<uis concerning 

 muriate of potash, but have not, as yet, experimented with this substance. — [Sep- 

 tember 26, 1892.] 



