138 



together; then the insect turned ami iu the same way cut the other .side. 1 did 

 not see the final movements, as my attention was called oft" for a few moments, and 

 when I again looked the pieces were cut oft' and lay on the bottom of the tumbler, 

 iu which a cluster of leaves were, and the edges had been drawn together. I see 

 that some of the insects do not leave the leaf — are iiossibly dead from fungus. 



* * * — [George F. Waters, Massachusetts, September 10, 1891. 



Reply. — * * * fpi^g Leaf-miner which infests Nyssa or Sour Gum is Antispila 

 nysscefoliella Clem. A description of the larva and cocoon, with an account of its 

 habits, was given by Clemens iu the Proc. Academy Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, Pa., 

 in 1860. Chambers has since written on the same insect in Psyche, vol. iii, p. 363. 



* * * —[September 14, 1891.] 



Disippearance of the Gypsy Moth in England. 



* * * I observe you have had a discussion on the probability of ridding your- 

 selves of the Gypsy Moth Ocneria dispar. The difficulty would be to bring about 

 united action, the vis inertice of the ordinary man is so hard to overcome ; but I sup- 

 pose you know that we have unintentionally exterminated it in this country. It 

 used to be found in our fen districts in plenty. I have some old specimens so obtained ; 

 but I think it must be forty years at least since one has been taken wild. All the 

 modern British specimens have been bred for many generations in captivity and 

 have become small. 



It is singular that our two dlspars have disappeared, the species in question, and 

 also Chrysophanus dispar, both fen insects. 



I thiuk the Gypsy Moth must have been destroyed simply by collectors, but the 

 C. dispar was destroyed by drainage indirectly ; for in consequence of the rapidity 

 with which the water accumulated during one wet season, all the larvaj were at one 

 fell swoop drowned while feeding — alas! a well defined local form of ('. hippothce 

 lost to the world. They now fetch from £ 4 to £ 5 a pair. — [J. Jenner Weir, 

 England, August 6, 1891. 



Remedies for Squash Borer. 



I corresponded with you lately in regard to the Striped Cucumber Beetle. I was 

 able to overcome, apparently, that pest, and my squash vines grew and looked vig- 

 orous, and had on large squashes, and then began to die. While the false blossoms 

 were on, the beetle would enter them, and they would fall to the ground while the 

 stems were green. Then I noticed that the leaves iu places would turn yellow, then 

 the leaf stem, and finally the vine. I took a wire and dug into the vine at the joint 

 of the leaf and found a white grub, with a black head, fully an inch long. A num- 

 ber were in each vine. Can you tell me what makes the grub, and a preventive f — 

 [George W. Van Eps, New York, August 31, 1891. 



Reply. — The larva found mining your squash viues is the common Squash Borer, 

 MelitUa cucurhitw Harris. The parent of this larva is rarely seen, and belongs to the 

 family of clear-winged, wasp-like moths known as Sesiidae. The moth appears in 

 the Middle and Northern States from the middle to the last of June, the female de- 

 positing her eggs in the morning and afternoon on the stocks of the plant just about 

 or at the surface of the ground. Spraying with Paris green or London purple will 

 destroy the young larvie as they eat into the stem, but is not as successful as it 

 might be, owing to the fact that it is diflicult to get the mixture to wet the vine on 

 the underside where the egg is deijosited and where the larvte enter the plant. Pro- 

 fessor Smith, of the New Jersey Station, has found a more satisfactory remedy to 

 consist in lifting the vines and rubbing the underside of the leaf with the finger, 

 thus crushing the eggs. This should be done twice or three times during the egg- 

 laying season, say from the middle to the last of .June, at intervals of about a week. 

 In Mr. Smith's experience this process was eminently successful. AVhere planting 

 can be deferred until July the moths will hav^e disappeared and no injury need be 



