55 



Reply.— The insect upon the twigs is the commoa Barnacle Scale of Florida. 

 (Ceroplastes cUripediformia Comst. ) It is figured and described in the Annual Report 

 of this Department for 1880, and in Hubbard's Report on Insects Affecting the Orange. 

 Its occurrence upon Persimmon has, I believe, never been publicly noticed. It is 

 usually found upon the species of Eupatorium, and occasionally upon Orange and 

 Quince. It is not a very common insect, but if it should become numerous enough to 

 threaten damage, it can be killed while young, before the wax is hard, by the appli- 

 cation of the ordinary kerosene emulsion. — [August 19, 1887. J 



Euryomia Melancholica vs. Cotton Bolls. 



I send you by this mail a small box containing a specimen of damaged cotton-boll 

 and the bug which my correspondent thinks is the culprit. It comes from Mr. C. H. 

 Estes, Talbotton, Ga , who writes me that he took them from the farm of his 

 neighbor, Mr. H. C. Greene, and that as many as 39 bolls similar to the one sent were 

 taken from one stalk of cotton. I have written to Mr. Estes, expressing doubts 

 about the truth of his theory. It does not appear to me that the injury was done by 

 the beetle. However, I know but little about such things, and know that new 

 insect depredations are being developed (!onstantly. Please give me your views or 

 the history of the bug.— [J. T. Henderson, Atlanta, Ga., August 21, 1885. 



Reply. * * * The insect is a beetle which is very comi! on throughout the 

 South. It has been called the Melancholy Euryomia (^M/T/oj/iia meZanc/ioHca). It is 

 a very general feeder, and occasionally damages peaches and other fruit, but seems 

 to prefer such fruit as is rotting and has been previously gnawed into by some other 

 insect. It is also found clustering about bruised and cut places in the trunks of 

 trees from which the sap is exuding. Your surmise was therefore correct, and an 

 examination of the boll sent seems to indicate prior damage by the boll-worm. — 

 [August '26, 1885.1 



A Peach Fruit-worm in Japan. 



During my stay in Japan as naturalist of the United States Eclipse Expedition my 

 attention has been attracted to the general prevalence of disease among fruit trees of 

 a deciduous growth, due for the most part to the ravages of insects. My attention 

 has been especially attracted to the fact that the peach crop is rendered an almost 

 complete failure, so far at least as the quality of the fruit is concerned, by the attacks 

 of a small lepidopterous larva which bores the fruit, causes it to decay, prevents its 

 coming to a sound maturity and ripening in a marketable condition. In consequence 

 of this liability to insect attacks, the custom prevails almost universally, as you are 

 well aware, of taking the fruit from the trees while yet green and hard and thus ex- 

 posing it for sale and consumption. 



I desire to suggest, inasmuch as large exports of trees and plants to the United States 

 are constantly taking place from the Japanese ports, that wise precautions shduld be 

 adopted to prevent the accidental introduction into the United States of this perni- 

 cious insect, which so far as I know has not yet made its appearance upon our soil. 

 While it is barely possible that the climatic condition in the United States might prove 

 unfavorable to its development and propagation, this is altogether unlikely. There 

 should be, in my judgment, steps taken to absolutely prohibit the transportation to the 

 United States of Japanese peach trees, or of trees and plants which have been grown 

 or packed in soil taken from the vicinity of peach trees and peach orchards, inas- 

 much as the larva of this insect undoubtedly pupates in the soil or upon its surface. 

 For the sake of the farmers and fruit-growers of Japan I would like to suggest that 

 if no entomologist has hitherto worked out the life history of this insect and ascer- 

 tained the best means of combating its attacks, it would be desirable that the Japa- 

 nese departii:ent of agriculture should take the matter into hand and have the work 

 done. I would like to suggest as a useful precaution the destruction of all badly in- 



