40Q 



have already received from the same State, and which is undoubtedly abundant and 

 destructive. It is as yet uudescribed. 



Myriopods injuring Lettuce. — Mr. G. E. Keplinger, of Ohio, complains that his let- 

 tuce l•r^>l^ is being destroyed by a Myriopod, which we have determined for bim as 

 JuJus rinjatiis Wood. They attack the outside leaves near the main stalk. The 

 leaves turn yellow and fall to the ground, and when they are partially decomposed 

 the "Thousand Legs" consume them entirely. 



Hibernation of Conocephalus. — Mr. J. Thompson, of Hampton, Va., sent us, under date 

 of February 2, a specimen of Conocephalus ensiger, which was active and in the best 

 of condition at this wintry season. 



What is the Stink-bush ? — We have had some correspondence of late with Mr. S. B. 

 Mullen, of Mississippi, regarding a plant which is known in that part of the country 

 as the "stink-hush." We have been unable to determine it scientifically from the 

 poor specimens which Mr. Mullen has sent in. Insecticide properties are claimed for 

 it in Mississippi. It is an evergreen and is quite abundant in creeks. It has a sick- 

 enino- odor in the summer. Can some of our correspondents identify this plant for 

 us? 



A Mistake about Canthon. — A correspt)ndent in Iowa has been misled by a curious 

 coiucidencc and states that the "tumble-bug" is very injurious to vegetation. A 

 field had been divided by a temporary fence, on one side of which cattle and horses 

 had pastured in the aiitumn, while on the other side no stock had been feeding. On 

 the side which had been pastured the corn crop was completely destroyc', while on 

 the other side not a hill suii'ered. Tumble-bug larvae were found in abundance on 

 the injured side, fi-om which our corresj)ondent arrived at the conclusion previously 

 mentioned. The truth of the matter probably is that the damage was done by cut- 

 worms, and it is interesting to note that the uninjured side was fall-plowed while 

 the injured side was not turned under until spring. 



A Quarantine Decision in California. — We have already noticed the importation of 

 Chio)iaspis biclaris from the Sandwich Islands into California upon orange trees and 

 also the fact that, failing to rid the trees of the scale, the quarantine ofticers directed 

 that the entire shipment should be destroyed. The owners commenced legal pro- 

 ceedings, as 60,000 trees were involved, and we learn from Mr. Coquillett that a de- 

 cision has recently been rendered in favor of the quarantine officers, Judge McKinley 

 directing that the trees should be destroyed immediately. 



A Clothes Moth as a Museum Pest.— Mr. F. M. W^ebster, our Ohio agent, has sent us 

 specimens of Tineola hiscUiella, which he has found eating into a collection of moths. 

 The bodies of the larger moths were badly riddled. We had previously reared this 

 moth from grain with GelechiacerealeUa, on dead specimens of which it had evidently 

 been feeding, and Dr. Hagen has recorded it as feeding upon insect collections. It 

 attacks principally large-bodied Lepidoptera while upon the spreading boards, but 

 has l)een carried through several generations on dried specimens. 



The Box-elder Bug a Household Pest. — The Box-elder Bug becomes a household pest in 

 winter time. Mr. .J. W. Sommers, Wilson, Kans. wrote us under date of March 10 

 that his house contains large numbers of the bugs, which come out by the hundreds 

 during the day and shelter themselves in the walls of the building at night. An 

 Oregon correspondent had previously reported the same fact, adding the informa- 

 tion that they bite like bedbugs. 



Importation of Scale-insect Parasites. — Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell writes from Kingston, 

 Jamaica, that in his studies upon bark-lice he finds that specific parasites are rare, 

 although his rearing experiments have not been extensive. He explains this fact 

 theoretically on the ground that there is good reason to suppose that most of the 

 Jamaica Coccids, especially those upon cultivated plants, reached the island within 

 comparatively recent times and many of them probably by human agencies. The 

 parasites would very likely have failed to be introduced at the same time as their 

 host and tlie proba1)ility of the occurrence of native parasites ready to attack scales : 

 would be less than in the case of a continent like North America. 



