OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



119 



increasing, and Virginia is reported to have seventeen sumach mills 

 which turn out annually (i,000 tons, on which §00 per ton are realized. 



In Missouri several parties have entered into its preparation, from 

 the wild shrubs;butnoone,Ibelieve,has yet cultivated sumach, though 

 it may be cultivated as easily as corn, by cutting down to the ground 

 in the fall, and harvesting from the sprouts sent up each year. Wm. 

 Neison, of Fox Creek, has realized several hundred dollars by prepar- 

 ing it; but Mr. A. W. McPherson of Springfield, who once went into 

 the business quite heavily, found it unremunerative. 



There are three species possessing an economic value, found 

 throughout the State, and especially in the southern part on our prai- 

 ries and glades. These are, the Stag-horn Sumach, {Rhus typhina), 

 the Smooth ^nm.diC\\(^R.glahra) and the Dwarf Sumach (7?. copallind). 

 Should they ever acquire greater money value than they now possess, 

 and come to be cultivated, there will be one serious drawback, in the 

 injuries of the beetle under consideration. Indeed, as it is as fond of 

 the Venetian Sumach {Rhus cotirms^ commonly called Smoke-tree or 

 Purple-fringe, and cultivated for ornament) as of th-e three indigenous 

 species just enumerated, it must be even now classed with our insect 

 pests, and it will be well to set forth its habits, especially as they have 

 not heretofore been given, and the insect is not mentioned in the 

 works of Harris, Fitch or Packard. 



[Ki?. ;53.] 



As soon as vegetation starts 

 in spring, the beetles, (Fig. 

 33, f\ which had passed the win- 

 ter, as such, in sheltered situ- 

 ations, may be seen upon their 

 food-plants, sometimes in great 

 numbers,and generally coupled- 

 Though not as shy and active 

 as many of the smaller flea- 

 beetles, they yet jump with 

 alacrity by means of their thick- 

 ened hind thighs — a fact which 

 has been doubted by some en- 

 tomologists, but certainly by 

 none who have known the in- 

 sect in life. The wing-covers 

 are of a bright mahogany - 

 brown, marked, as in the illus- 

 tration (/'), with white, and the 

 head and thorax are of a bright 

 _^.. "vered ghiny green. In cabinet speci- 



with excrement; c, c, c, <•, larva; rf, cocoon; f, imii!i; •' '^ 



f, beetle: f,,h,i,j,k, /, mouth parts ofiarva. mens thcse colors fade; and the 



1>LEI'1IAR1DA KHOIS 



