115 



its (lopredatious aro coramit.te<l. You will notice that it does not eat tlie leaf, but only 

 the parencbj'uia on both sides. It also eats the flowers and the ver^' small youug 

 pods. 



I also send you another box with a bug of the Heiniptera order, which I found in a 

 garden at Las Vegas, preying upon young cabbage plants, which it sucks, causing 

 the leaves to dry and the young jjlants t6 wilt and die entirely, in the same manner 

 as the squash bug preys upon Cucurbitiu. This very pr>^tty harlequin-colored He- 

 mipteron appears frequently in immense numbers, living on various plants of the 

 genus Brassica, such as cabbage, mustard, turnip, etc., and sometimes appears in 

 immense numbers, destroying everything and causing very great havoc. It is also 

 said to have existed in this region from time " immemorial." I am told that it has 

 originated on a native plant of the Brassica family, which has purple or bluish flow- 

 ers, but I have never seen the plant and do not know how the insect propagates it- 

 self. I also send you a third, grayish insect, which abounds in immense quantities on 

 the farm of Mr. Kroenig. It is omnivorous, at least apparently. It does especially 

 great damage on young apple trees. I inclose two apple leaves to show how it works, 

 eating the parenchyma, some young trees being entirely denuded in appearance, al- 

 though none of them die from the effect. They are not entirely killed, only greatly 

 retarded in growth. I have seen this bug on apple trees, pear trees, plum trees, apri- 

 cots, gra^je vines, on a native wild siiecies of willow, even on beans, but it does not 

 appear to touch the peach. It abounds in millions, very much like the May bug 

 (hanneton) of Europe. I know nothing about its mode of multiplication. * * * 

 [J. F. Wielaudy, Springer, N. Mex., July 30, 1889. 



Second keply. — Thank you very much for your long and interesting letter of the 

 30th ultimo, concerning the New Mexican Bean Bug. I shall be glad to publish this 

 letter nearly in full. The two Lady-birds which you found feeding upon the eggs are 

 Eippodamia converycns and Coccinella transversoyuttaia. The bug which you found 

 upon cabbage is the couunon Harlequin Cabbage-bug {Murgautia histrionica). The 

 beetle which jon found upon young apple trees is congeneric with our Rose Bug of 

 the North. It is Afacrodactijlus nuiformis. The beans which you inclose have been 

 handed to the head of the Seed Division with the request that they be planted. — [Au- 

 gust 5, 1889.] 



The Corn-feeding Syrphus-fly. 



A few days ago, while passing through a corn-field, I noticed that most of the 

 lower leaves of the x)]ants were brown, yellow, and drii d up. My first idea was that 

 this was due to the Chinch Bug. Of course I s^t to work at once to investigate, and 

 found only a solitary bug here and there, not sufficiently numerous to do any damage. 

 On carefully stripping down the leaves that were partially discolored I found, snugly 

 feeding between the base of the leaf and the stem, many lively but delicate-looking 

 larva>, sometimes five or six at the base of one leaf. The larvaj seem to be all of one 

 species, but of various sizes, or ages, and here and there in the same places where the 

 larvai were feeding I found pupa) of different ages, some black and some only re- 

 cently changed. The stems under the enfolding base of the leaf, where the larvae 

 feed, are bathed in or covered with the juice of the plant, aud the effect produced is 

 exactly the same as that produced by the Chinch Bug. To-day I mailed you a can- 

 ister, in which I hope you will find plenty of larv;e and pupa; of different ages, if they 

 are not dried up before they reach you. You will also, perhaps, find a few small in- 

 sects that I found in the same places with the larvte. No corn can successfully con- 

 tend with this pest. At this time, although there has been an unusual amount of 

 rain this summer, the leaves of the coru are "sere and brown" half way up the 

 stalk.— [J. G. Barlow, Cadet, Mo., August 9, 1889. 



Reply. — Your letter of the 9th instant with specimens has been received. The In- 

 sect in corn is a very interesting thing, and you will find it figured and described un- 

 der the caption of the Corn-feeding Syrphus-fly {Mcsofjrapta polita) in No. 1, Vol. I, of 

 Insect Life. Your letter is therefore of considerable interest, and will go on record 

 among our notes. — [August 14, 1889.] 



