THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 9 



with fertile eggs and hidden in the nooks and crannies of some vessel, may- 

 be safely borne over to the land of " murphies," where she might easily- 

 found a colony which would soon spread consternation into other potato- 

 growing countries to the eastward. In giving, through Walter Ealeigh, the 

 precious tuber to Europe, America conferred upon the Old World an ever- 

 lasting boon. She may yet unwittingly be the means of bequeathing as 

 great a bane, by sending across the ocean the deadliest enemy of that tuber ! 

 At all events, it behooves our European neighbors to be on the look-out, 

 and to prevent, if possible, any such catastrophe. 



The southern columns of the army lag far behind. In South Missouri 

 it is gradually spreading, but has not yet touched the extreme southern 

 counties. I saw it at Springfield in 1870 and it had then only just reached 

 Green county. It was noticed the past summer by Mr. Wm. E. Howard for 

 the first time in Webster, but had not then reached Taney county. It also 

 made its first appearance in 1871 in Phelps and Eeynolds, as I am informed 

 by Dr. Thos. Ferguson of Arlington in the former, and by Dr. M. M. Ken- 

 zie of Centreville in the latter county. It also appeared in Wright, Dent 

 and Texas, and will doubtless in time appear in all the extreme south and 

 southwestern counties. 



To the east this southern column does not reach much beyond Louis- 

 ville, Ky., as I learn from Mr. T. J. Key, of that place, that it has only been 

 there two years, and Mr. V. T. Chambers informs me that it was seen at 

 Covington for the first time last year. Broadly speaking, therefore, it maj'- 

 be said to occupy more or less all the territory between latitude 37° and 

 46° — bounded on the west by the Eocky Mountains and on the east, by 

 a line drawn from the extreme eastern limit of Lake Erie to Cairo, 111. 



To the north the pests have extended beyond this limit in Michigan, and 

 I have heard of them even on the northern shore of Lake Superior. An 

 incident related to me by Jno. Hurlburt, Jr., who has been engaged in sur- 

 veying and prospecting in that part of the country, will illustrate how great 

 a distance they may extend without food, when aided by water. He found 

 them in immense quantities on a potato patch belonging to some Indians on 

 the Menomonee river; yet this potato patch was in a clearing of about 

 twenty acres, with no other clearing near ; and to his certain knowledge 

 there could not have been another potato patch within one hundred and 

 fifty miles. To the east and south they extend a little beyond the imagin- 

 ary line, in Ohio, as Mr. Klippart, Secretary of the State Board, made special 

 inquiries as to their progress, and he informed me that they have been found 

 in every county in the State. 



It SPREADS, but does NOT TRAVEL IN THE SeNSE OF LEAVING ONE DISTRICT 



FOR Another. — Let it not be understood that this insect, in its onward spread, 

 or march, ever entirely quits any district where it has once obtained a foothold. 

 This idea of its itinerant character seems very generally to prevail, and a 

 great many people labor under the impression that soon after its advent, 

 this dreaded foe to the potato will of its own accord take its leave as sud- 

 denly as it came— that, like every other dog, it will have its day. This idea 



