259 



as by l)ees, but it is not improbable that this is only an inference, for since ants are 

 well known to be very partial to the honey-dew secreted by various insects, the 

 sweet substance may prove to be derived from that source. — [R. Allan Wight, Auk- 

 land, New Zealand, August 1, 1892. 



Keply. — * * * -pijg boney ant is very iuteresting. It differs from our Myrme- 

 cocystus melUger of Colorado. So far I am unable to identify it with the species pre- 

 viously described from Australia, of which, however, I have never seen specimens. 

 Emery, in the Ann. Mus. Civ. Geuova, 2, IV, 1S87, describes a species from Aus- 

 tralia which he calls Myrmccocystus irridiscins, while I notice in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, for November, 1880, that Sir John Lubbock has described a honey-pro- 

 ducing species from Australia under the name of Camponotus hi flatus. » * * Our 

 American species is very similar in form, and the larva is probably practically the 

 same. One form of the worker has its abdomen distended to the size of a currant 

 and entirely filled with grape sugar or "honey." The honey-bearers are found 

 clinging to the roofs of the chambers a few inches under ground and act simply as 

 cells for the storing of the sweet substance, which is collected by the active workers 

 from the exudations of a gall, Cynips q. mellaria Riley on Quercnsnndulata. In times 

 of famine the honey-bearer or "rotund" regurgitates the honey drop by drop and it 

 is transferred to the stomachs of the hungry individuals in waiting. In other re- 

 spects, the economy of the colony does not differ materially from that of other siiecies. 

 It is supposed that the worker majors are transformed by the gradual distention of 

 the crop and expansion of the abdomen into the lioney-bearers and that the latter do 

 not compose a distinct caste, although some of the majors may have a special ten- 

 dency to this change by reason of some peculiar structure of the intestine or abdom- 

 inal walls.— [September 14, 1892.] 



The Jumping Beau again. 



The inclosed seeds, from California, when held in the hand exhibit motions that 

 have gained for them the name of jumping seeds. On piercing the shell a live cat- 

 erpillar was found with seed gone. I would like to know the name of the plant and 

 the insect. It would remain in a dormant state I suppose until the leaves of the 

 same plant were large enough to furnish it food. Can I hope to rear it? — [Mrs. J. 

 M. Hunter, New York, October 26, 1892. 



Reply. — The specimen sent is one of the so-called "Jumping Beans" infested by 

 the larva of a little Tortricid moth known as Carpocapsa saltitans. There are three 

 species of plants belonging to the genus Sebastiania, viz, S. hilocidarts, S. pahncri, 

 and S. pringlei, the seeds of which are infested by this insect in the United States. 

 The adult insect is a small, grayish moth, and if you keep the seeds you will prob?..bly 

 be able to rear some specimens. — [October 27, 1892.] 



A Corn Bar-Worm Crusher. 



My Heliothis-crushiug instrument is not yet made, and I dare not say whether it 

 ■would succeed. It was (or rather is) to be two wooden butter-pat-like instruments, 

 with a groove down each to admit the convexity of the stalk (but not loo deep of 

 course), and an arrangement so that they would lock together and give projier lev- 

 erage. 



I give you this information because you ask for it, but likely enough the thing 

 would fail in practice. However, a corn-grower in the country here, to whom I first 

 suggested it, thought it a very good idea. It would in some ways be simj)ler to 

 have a hinge in front, but that would make it harder to see what one -Avas doing. 



The larviT? complained of (of which I received samples) were in the green tops (no 

 ear formed as yet), which I understand they mainly aft'ect. In my own specimens 

 it would be easy to crush the larvai by pressure which would not injure the corn, 



