271 



I know of no bettor way of cllVctually putting a stop to their dcpn-dations than hy 

 using nuadultciattMl kerosene quite freely wherever the castings of the hirva.' are 

 eeen protruding througli the bark. As soon as the kerosene eonies in eontaet with 

 these sawdust-like eastings it is absorbed and carried by capillary attraction until 

 it permeates the whole burrow and comes in contact with the larvje, and tln-n, soon, 

 this noted little tenant is lifeless. 



In using kerosene there is no use in cutting, digging into, or in any way mutilat- 

 ing the tree to lind the larva. The fluid kerosene Avill find it, and this is enough for 

 l)ractieal puri)oses, and then Nature "steps in" with her " healing ai"t" and mends 

 the danuige dont^ to the tree. The amount of kerosene used for this purpose is so 

 email that it endangers in no way the health of the tree. A person can visit and 

 inspect many trees in a single hour, and, if necessary, apply the spout of a can and 

 flow a small amount of kerosene in various places. 



The beauties of this way of killing the borers are no mutilation, quick work, sure 

 death, and little expense. — [T. B. Ashton, Kansas, November 13, 1891. 



Note on the Carphoxera Herbarium Pest. 



Carphoxera ptelearia. — This moth, which is so well described in the November uum- 

 her of IxsKCT Life, I became well acquainted with practically fifteen years ago, 

 while collecting plants in Southern California. Dried plants are nearly all subject 

 to the attacks of this insect in this country, and in two or three weeks they will de- 

 stroy a nice specimen, as they attack the buds and flowers first. 



It is about ten years since I first mounted a dozen of the little moths in my ento- 

 mological cabinet, and there they have remained to this day, unseen and unstudied 

 by Eastern entomologists excejit once, about six years ago, when a prominent New 

 York entomologist saw them. He thought them a species of Eupithecia. He took 

 away ei>ecimens of the moth, and also of the larva which I got for him from my dried 

 plants, but I never heard from him about them. 



This moth lives and breeds largely in barns where loose or unbaled alfalfa hay is 

 tept. Sometimes when I walk on a mow of loose hay a swarm of the moths, hundreds 

 in number, Avill arise from the hay. In fact the moth is quite at home here. 



As of late years I have been more interested in entomology than in botany, I have 

 asked Mr. S. B. Parish, a competent botanist of this place, about his exi>erience with 

 the pest in recent years. His oljservations indicate that a preference is shown by the 

 larviB for some plants while others are evidently avoided. Plants preferred are 

 Stillingia, all Lupines, Vicinus, and nearly all the Comiiosita?; and those avoided 

 noticeably are most of the Euphorbiacea?, Crotous, all gi'asses, and particularly all 

 ferns. 



Now as to means of defense against the pest. First, it is evident that the moths 

 find their mates or pair while in flight, at night, and any means of preventing their 

 pairing strikes at the root of the evil at once. To this end a tight cabinet of small 

 compartments is the best remedy. Or, wrapping the herbarium specimens in large 

 sheets of pa])er will help, if tight cabinets can not be had. Second, poisoning, and 

 frequent handling of the plants. — [W. G. Wright, Calitornia. 



Treatment of the Squash Borer. 



Having seen several communications in relation to Melittia cucurhiia, in Insect 

 Life, I would like to state my observations of the insect during the past few years. 

 Living as I do in the market gardening district of Long Island, I have had a good 

 opportunity of doing so. I find that the moths liegin to come out by the middle of 

 June and continue to do so until the middle of August or even later. During the 

 past season I caught something over 200 of them ami did not begin to take their\ 

 until after the 12th of July; on the 6th of July, on my return from the Jamesburg 

 convention of entomologists, in conversation with Prof. J. B. Smith he made the oh- 



