THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 107 



bird, into the meshes of the cocoon while the latter was being formed. But 

 the kernels are found in the cocoons altogether too frequently to admit of 

 any such chance coincidence which must necessarily be of very rare occur- 

 rence. There is everj^ reason to believe, therefore, that these foreign ma- 

 terials are placed there, for safe-keeping, by some bird ; the loose end of the 

 cocoon admitting of their being forced in, even after it is completed. 

 Dr. LeBaron, thinks that this bird is very likely the Blue Jay which is 

 known to have the habit, in common with other Corvidse, of pilfering and 

 hiding in holes and crevices any small object that attracts its attention. 

 One of my correspondents from Geneva, Ills., who has found no less than 

 five of these cocoons containing kernels of corn, thinks that the Chickadee 

 (Parus atricapillus, L.) uses them as a storehouse, as well as the Blue Jay, 

 and, indeed, inclines to believe that the former is "the sole proprietor." 

 He has seen it, with corn in bill, searching about apple trees for such a 

 storehouse, and has witnessed it dejiosit a kernel in the crack of a board 

 fence. 



The- Cecrojiia worm, as maj^ be inferred from its size, is an immense 

 feeder, and a small number will soon defoliate a young apple tree. It has, 

 on a few occasions, been found numerous enough to do injury in this way; 

 but as a rule, natural enemies keejD it so thoroughly in cheek, that it can 

 hardly be classed as an injurious insect. The same maybe said of the other 

 large and native worms which I include with the silkworms, and which on 

 account of their silk-jiroducing qualities may, with propriet}', be treated of 

 rather as beneficial insects, though their products have not yet been utilized. 

 Their great«size and conspicuit}' not only renders them a ready prey to their 

 natural enemies, but enables us to easily destroy them by hand-picking 

 whenever they happen to become unduly multiplied on any of our fruit trees. 



In the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History (Vol. IX 

 pp. 342 — 5) Mr. 8. I. Smith has described a moth by the name of Samia 

 Columbia, and it is also mentioned, and the female figured, by Mr. G. J. 

 Bowles of Quebec, in the Canadian Entomologist (Vol. Ill, p. 201.) It is of 

 rare occurrence, and its larval history remains unknown, and I find noth- 

 ing in Mr. Smith's j)aper or in that of Mr. Bowles that ought to warrant us 

 in considering it anything more than a variety of Cecropia ; w^hile there is 

 much that would lead me to consider it either an abnormal variety or a 

 hybrid between Cecropia and Promethea. Hybrids occur more frequently 

 among insects than most entomologists imagine, and we should be careful 

 how we make new species out of abnormal variations of rare occurrence. 

 Columbia does not differ more from the normal Cecropia than do several of. 

 the varieties of yama-mai from each other, 



PARASITES OF THE CECROPIA WORM. 



The Long-tailed Ophion — (Ophion macrurum, Linn.) — This large 

 yellowish-brown Ichneumon-fly (Fig. 37) is often bred from the cocoons in 

 place of the moth which one expects. It is one of the most common parasites 

 of this large insect, and the females appear to be altogether more common 



