130 



rum powder, and many other substances have been recommended from 

 time to time, but all must be considered as inferior to the plans here 

 just outlined. 



It has been said that the best housekeepers are the most uncomfort- 

 able ])eople in the world, always on the lookout for dirt or indications 

 of insect pests ; but if the somewhat elaborate treatment I have given 

 is gone through with once a year, the good housekeeper may then sit 

 down and placidly fold her hands for all the ironhle Anthrenus scrophu- 

 larice will give her. 



THE CARNIVOROUS HABITS OF TREE CRICKETS. 



By Mary E. Murtfeldt. 



From observations and experiments on the Snowy Tree Crickets 

 {QiJccmthns niveus De Geer and (E. latipennisJiiley) during the past two 

 summers I incline strongly to the oi)iuion that they should be classed 

 with the beneficial rather than with the injurious species. They are 

 accused of cutting into and sipping the juices of various fruits, of sever- 

 ing the berries from grape clusters, and even of cutting the latter from 

 the vines. In the process of oviposition also they are charged with the 

 destruction of grai)e and raspberry canes and the twigs of various fruit 

 trees by their punctures and by crowding the pith with their eggs. 

 The latter charge is irrefutable ; but when we consider the amount of 

 wood that it is necessary to remove from vines and trees annually, the 

 few twigs punctured by these insects should not be allowed to count 

 against them. As to their injuries to growing fruit, I have never been 

 able to verify any observations of the kind. During the present season 

 I colonized a considerable number — mostly (E. latipennis — on a portion 

 of a grape vine and watched them at all hours of the day, without ever 

 detecting them in the nefarious work of snipping off either berries or 

 bunches. Nor was there any circumstantial evidence of tlieir haviug 

 done anything of the kind at night. Furthermore all mj' observations 

 upon them in the rearing cage i»rove that at no stage of their existence 

 can they subsist on vegetable food, either fruit or foliage. When de- 

 prived of other insects for their sustenance, they invariably perished. 



Early in June ol last year I had a colony of Q^. niveus hatch from 

 apple twigs that had also been badly punctured by Ceresa bubalus. At 

 hatching each tiny cricket left at the aperture of the bark through 

 which it emerged the filmy pellicle in which it had been inclosed in the 

 egg. There were about a dozen in all, and I kept them under constant 

 observation on my writing-desk. During the day they remained almost 

 motionless in one position, if possible concealed from light and sight on 

 the under side or in the folds of a leaf. They were, from the first, sup- 

 plied with various berries and tender leaves, but evidently never touched 

 them for food. On the morning of the fourth day two or three were 



