379 



spices, tobacco, and other piiiigeut substauces. Ic i^f Lasioderma serricoriie. This in- 

 jury to cigarettes has been observed iu other localities, and samiiles of damaged goods 

 have been sent to the Division before. In tobacco warehouses in Baltimore iiarticu- 

 larl J' it has done much inj ury to cigars and cigarettes, preferring the latter. It is very 

 abundant one year and then disappears almost entirely for a number of years. It is 

 a night llyer, and enters store-houses through open windows or cracks at night only. 

 The best way to destroy the lavv;e and eggs is to thoroughly steam all the tobacco. 

 The steaming which is done iu the preparation of cigarette tobacco is either not thor- 

 ough enough or the tobacco is left for a longer or shorter time after steaming and 

 before being made up, and in this interim the beetles enter it. Many precautions 

 should be used. Cut tobacco should be kept in tightly-closed boxes when not in use. 

 All manufactured cigarettes should be packed up at the close of the day's work, or if 

 this be not possible, they should be closely covered with llannel cloth. All the win- 

 dows in the building should be closed at night, and its general cleanliness should be 

 carefully looked after. No dust heaps should be allowed to accumulate, aud the walls 

 should be kept whitewashed. The bisulphide of carbon would hardly be a safe or 

 pleasant remedy iu this case. It would be of considerable interest if you would 

 carefullj'' rear the insect and note its habits and natural history, particularly the 

 length of time of the different larval stages and the number of annual generations. 

 —[January 18, 1886. ] 



Injury by the Fall Web-worm in Texas. 



* * * The "Fall Web-worm" has been doing great damage to the trees on this 

 island, more this year than formerly, owing. I presume, to the little attention that has 

 been paid here to its ravages. It seems to jirefer the leaves of the Mulberry. I have 

 two large Black Mulberry trees, which the Web-worms would defoliate in a week 

 but I have kept the numbers down by cutting off the branches as I noted the webs 



on the leaves. The worms are now coming out for the third time this season. [E. P. 



Clegg, Galveston, Tex., Septembers, 1888. 



Dryocampa imperialis on Elm and Linden. 



I herewith send you a larva that I have never seen before. It feeds on the Linden 

 tree, Norway Spruce, aud Elm tree. I can not find it in any book I have. It is about 

 the size of the Cecropia Silk-worm {Attacus cecropia), has long white hairs all over it 

 and the warts are yellow. Please send me the name of it if you can. — [Victor Braid- 

 wood, Viueland, N. J., September 10, 1888. 



Reply.—* * * The worm sent is the larva of the Imperial Moth (Dryocatnpa 

 imperialis). It is known to feed on the Buttou-wood or Plane-tree, Sweetgum, Alder 

 Willow, Pine, Spruce, Tamarack, but isnot included iu Packard's Report upon Forest 

 Insects, Bulletin 7 of the U. S. Entomological Commission, among the enemies of the 

 Elm or Linden ; so this fact may prove of interest. The caterpillars attain their fall 

 size from the middle of August to the last of September, when they descend from the 

 trees to go into the ground. The moth appears in June aud is of a fine yellow color, 

 sprinkled with purple-brown dots, with large patches at the base of the wings, and 

 with smaller spots near the middle and a wavy band of purplish-brown toward the 

 hind margin of each wing. It expands from 4^ to 5 inches. — [September 12, 1888.] 



Larvae of Tenebrio molitor in a Woman's Stomach. 



I send herewith inclosed one of a couple of insects claimed to have been ejected 

 from the stomach of a woman in an adjoining county, and seat me for diagnosis and 

 treatment. It is not an Eutozoa that I know or can find auy information about. 

 Please examine, name, classify, and tell me its habitat. — [John S. Apperson, M. D., 

 Glade Springs, Ya., April 30, 1889. 



