206 



lu place of tin caus a fenciugmay be maniifactuved from tin or zinc. They should 

 be about 2^ inches high and 3 inches in diameter. The top should be a little larger 

 than the bottom so that they will nest together to save room when not in use. Their 

 seams should be lapped and hooked together like stove pipe so that they may be 

 easily separated and taken from the plant in jilace of slipping them over the leaves, 

 as is to be done when the cans are not used. 



While this kind of a fence is a protection to small plants it is not so protected by 

 "letters j)ateut," and may be used by all persons who have faith enough to give it a 

 trial, and I hope that they may have reason to feel thankful for having seen this 

 article. — [T. B. Ashton, Kansas, January 27, 1891. 



Reply. — * * * Your idea has been suggested before, but is nevertheless a 

 good one. We have recommended the use of tin cans in just this way for a number 

 years to small gardeners. * * * — [January 31, 1891.] 



A Sphinx Larva feeding on Mints. 



Last year I found a dozen larvje of some species of Sphinx feeding on Pennyroyal 

 and wild Mint, color purple-black with minute white spots all over the surface, shiny 

 on each side, a row of oval yellow spots, head having a reddish tinge, anal horn 

 black with purplish-red point. I have never seen them before ; from this what were 

 they? — [George W. Berry, Iowa. 



Reply. — * * * xhe Spinx larvaj which you found upon Pennyroyal and wild 

 Mint were those of Sphinx eremitns. You will find this larva figured in the Annual 

 Report U. S. Department of Agriculture for 1870, jjage 80, while it is described by 

 the Rev. T. W. Fyles in the Canadian Entomologist, Vol. Xi, 1879. According to Prof. 

 Snow specimens taken in Kansas are light green in color, while Mr. Fyles describes 

 his Canadian specimens as sepia black. It is the only Sphingid whose larva is 

 known to feed upon mints. 



The Clover-hay "Worm. 



I send you herewith specimens of worms found in a mow of two-year old hay just 

 taken out. They eat the inside out of the stems. Cattle refuse to eat this hay. I 

 inclose stems of hay. They have never been known in hay before in this section. — 

 [Ed. V. Bohl, Illinois, April 13, 1891. 



Reply. — * * * The worms you found iu your hay mow are samples of the so- 

 called Clover-hay Worm {Asopia costalis). This insect is frequently reisorted from 

 Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and the more southern states. The eggs are laid by a small 

 moth in stacks of clover hay. These worms hatch from the eggs and feed upon the 

 dry hay, transforming to moths again in June or July. New hay should never be 

 stacked in contact with old, and the worst infested stacks are those which have been 

 placed upon the same sites for successive years. When practicable it is well to 

 build the stack on good rail ventilators with an air passage underneath. It is also 

 well to salt the hay two or three feet from the bottom. — [April 20, 1891.] 



A California TTvig-borer : Is it Auarsia ? 



A few days ago I went up to Kern County to investigate the gray Otiorhynchid I 

 sent you as having been received with the statement that it was very destructive to 

 deciduous fruit trees. You pronounced It probably an undescribed species of 

 Oj>hri/astcs. I saw the owner of the trees where this weevil was found, but neither 

 he nor any other person that I interviewed on the subject had actually seen the 

 beetle engaged in feeding upon the trees ; all reported having found them resting 

 motionless in the forks where the branches start out from the trunk of the tree, and 

 I strongly suspect that the weevils were there simply for shelter. The owner in- 

 formed me that several of the lateral branches on these trees were observed to wither 



