380 



Reply. — I beg to acknowledge tlie receipt of your iuterestiug letter of the 30ch 

 ultimo. The specimen which you send is the common Meal Worm (larva of Tenehrio 

 moVttor). This is a common insect all over the world, feeding in corn meal and flour, 

 and it is not unlikely that the story of its ejection from the stomach of a woman is 

 correct. You can readily conceive how the larva could have been swallowed by her 

 in corn-meal mush, which she naturally would not chew, and it is also readily con- 

 ceivable that the worm would disagree with her and would cause vomiting. Such 

 cases have been iireviously placed on record, and, though always interesting, are not 

 remarkable.— [May 2, 1839.] 



Another Note on the retarded Development of Caloptenus spretus Eggs at 



Manhattan. Kans.* 



lu 1874 Kansas was devastated by Caloptenus spretus (as you know), and much was 

 published upon the subject, true and false. At the time I made mauy careful exam- 

 inations of them on ray farm in Marshall County ; their eggs, etc. At that time, after 

 they had deposited their eggs all over, the Agricultural College at Manhattan, Riley 

 County, Kansas, had occasion to build a small blacksmith-shop on a plat of bare 

 ground. This shop was used till the summer of 1880. In August of 1880 I con- 

 ducted the Riley County " Teachers' Normal Institute" at Manhattan, and visited the 

 '•Agricultural College" daily. During that time the authorities had occasion to take 

 down and remove the blacksmith-shop above-mentioned, and, lo! the ground covered 

 by a floor was perfectly full of grasshopper (Caloptenus spretus) eggs. To see if they 

 were still vital, we gathered great quantities of them and placed them in the sun, 

 and they hatched the true insect — Caloptenus spretus. Placing some in gauze-covered 

 boxes, I raised many through all stages to maturity, thus showing that the eggs de- 

 posited in 1874 had retained all their vitality under that building until 1880, or six 

 years; for there had been none on that ground during that interval. — [F. W. Parsons, 

 California, Mo., July 15, 1886. 



Reply. — * * " Are you perfectly sure of your dates iu the case of retarded de- 

 velopment of the eggs of Caloptenus spretus ? Cases almost parallel to this are on 

 record, as you will see if you will consult the American Naturalist for 1881, pp. 748 

 and 1007. One of these instances is reported by a Manhattan man, Mr. I. D. Gra- 

 ham, and in this instance the occurrence of the locusts at Manhattan is stated to 

 have been in 1876. Are you sure that the blacksmith shop was built in 1874 ? It is 

 such an interesting and important observation that you will pardon my desire to be 

 very particular on this point. * * * — [July 19. 1886. ] 



[Note. — Subsequent correspondence with Mr. Parsons leaves doubt as to the date 

 of building the blacksmith shop, which was probably 1876.] 



GENERAL NOTES. 



LINEN INJURED BY AGROTIS LARV^. 



Mr. C. G. Barrett publislies a very interesting article in the March 

 number of the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (Loudon, England), 

 describing the serious* damage done to the linen manufacturing in- 

 dustry in the north of Ireland by the larv;e of Agrotis exclamationis. 

 The damage is done after the linen is removed from the grass upon 

 which it has been laid out for bleaching. It remains upon the grass for 

 some days or a week, and is then gathered up and laid in a heap, before 

 * See American Naturalist, vol. 15, 1881, pp.748 and 1007. 



