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find it eutirely Iroc iVoui worms, wliili' the stacks arc bailly eaten, and swarnung 

 Avitli worms of all sizes. Evidently, if larviu or eggs had been npon the growing 

 tlover the worms shonld now l>e f<mud in all of the hay. — [G. M. Dodge, Missouri, 

 December 27, 185)1. 



The Box-elder Bug attacking Fruit in Washington State. 



First letteu. — Inclosed I send some bugs for your inspection. They ap])eared 

 last year, but did no damage till this siunmer, when they attacked the fruit in great 

 numbers, destroying large quautities of plvims, peaches, apples, and some grapes. 

 They suck the juice from the fruit, leaving it dry and fibrous. When about half 

 grown they begin to grow wings and become spotted with black. Before that time 

 they are blood-red. [I. N. Newkirk, Columbia County, Washington, October 22, 

 1891. 



Reply. — The insect which you sent is a rather common bug known scientifically as 

 Leptocoris trivittata. In some parts of the West this bug has in late years become 

 known as the '' Box-elder Bug " on account of its seeming preference for the Box-elder 

 (Xegnndo actroidcn), a tree which is commonly grown for shade in many of our cities. 

 We have seldom heard of this insect damaging fruit as you describe, but in 1885 re- 

 ceived a siuular account from Kanab, Kane County, Utah. The Entomologist would 

 be nuich interested to know whether the Box-elder tree grows in the vicinity of your 

 orchard. In the Utah occurrence insects bred upon the Box-elder and deserted this 

 tree for the ripening fruit. The l)est remedy which can be recommended is to spray 

 the bugs wherever noticed in any numliers with a dilute kerosene-soap emulsion 

 made according to the formula given upon page 3 of Circular No. 1, second series. 

 The application should be made as early in the season as possible, as the bugs breed 

 rapidly, and every one killed in the spring will be a considerable saving. Search 

 should be made for their breeding places, and they should be destroyed, if possible, 

 before they make their appearance upon the fruit. [Octol)er 30, 1891.] 



Secoxd Letter. — In reply to your inquiry relative to the growth of Box-elder in 

 the vicinity of those Box-elder Bugs, as you call them, I will make a general state- 

 ment which I deem pertinent to the inquiry. The bugs have been generally distrib- 

 uted iu Columbia and Garfield counties, within the bounds of my knowledge. There 

 are quite a numlter of timber cultures scattered through these counties in which Box- 

 elder is the ]iriucipal timber used. I have a grove of these trees standing beside my 

 orchard. These luigs are a tolerable make-shift for bedbugs wheu young, crawling 

 into beds and biting (luite sharply. They have been noticed hanging in bunches like 

 bees, to Box-elder branches. — [I. N. Newkirk, Washington, November 10, 1891. 



Notes on the "Blood-sucking Cone-nose." 



First letter. — Is not the Conorlihuis sfuuiiiisugu-s a relative of the genus i?«?HriH8? 

 They ily at night, alighting in a straight flight near a light, to seek on landing a 

 dark nook to hide. They are more common in fresh, cool, damp weather, becoming 

 scarce towards July. They are very active. I found one disturbing a settlement of 

 bedbugs, another eating what I think was a young Blattid. Their bite is very 

 severe and deep. I believe they have some hooks to cling with while sucking, and 

 have a kind of venom, making the wound sore and itching, with a burning ])aiu last- 

 ing two, three, and four days. ^Miile at a high temperature the sensation is more 

 acute, the general eft'ects do not last so long. I use volatile alkali against all such 

 stings of insects so far with success ; never tried spiders yet, and do not care to. 

 [Eniile J. Longuemare, Missouri, September 11, 1891. * * * 



Reply: Conorliiiius saiKjidmifius comes A'ery close in classification to the genus Kcdn- 

 vUix, and both genera occur in the same subfamily. Your having observed Couorhi- 

 iiHs feeding on a Blattid (?) is very interesting and well worth going on record. 

 Your experience also with the bite of this insect is quite a common one, and many of 



