THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



29 



The history of this species is very curious, and as it has 

 only recently been elucidated by myself, and some addi- 

 tional details can now be added, may be briefly summed 

 up as follows: — About a hundred years ago this insect was 

 well known to Forstcr to inhabit the Locust in the State 

 of New York. Twenty years ago, although the best Illi- 

 nois botanists agree that the locust grows wild in the 

 Southern part of Illinois, it was still unknown in that 

 State. Shortly afterwards it commenced attacking the 

 locusts in the neighborhood of Chicago, and thence spread 

 gradually in a South, South-west and West direction 

 through the State, sweeping the locusts before it wherever 

 it came. In ISGO it had pretty well destroyed all these 

 trees in Central Illinois. Eock Island lies on the Missis- 

 sippi Eiver ISO miles South of West from Chicago. In 



1862 it had reached a point 20 miles East of Rock loland. 

 In 1863 it burst forth suddenly in great swarms from all 

 the locusts in Rock Island, and the two following years 

 about completed their destruction. It has now (1S65) 

 crossed the river into Iowa, and no doubt will continue 

 its travels westward as long as it finds any locust-trees to 

 prey on. 



Lest it should be supposed, that, agreeably to the belief 

 of all the older writers, the species that inhabits the 

 hickory is identical with that which inhabits the locust, 

 it is proper to add here, that I myself split the hickory 

 insect, out of a stick of hickory wood, as much as eight 

 years ago in Rock Island; that abundance of hickory 

 grows in the woods within half a mile of that city ; and 

 yet that our locust trees were never attacked by borers 

 until 1SG3, when they were suddenly attacked in the man- 

 ner mentioned above. Prof Sheldon of Davenport, Iowa, 

 has also repeatedly, for many years before 1S6.3, split the 

 hickory insectoutofhickory wood in Davenport, although, 

 so far as he is aware, the locusts in Davenport had not 

 been attacked by borers up to 18G3. Now, if the hickory- 

 borer is identical with the locust-borer, why did it not 

 attack the locusts in Eock Island and Davenport before 



1863 and 1804? And why, when it did attack them, did 

 it appear suddenly in great swarms ? 



The larva of this insect resembles so closely that of the 

 " Two-striped Borer," in shape, size and color, that the 

 general observer would see no difference at all between 

 them. It is, however, readily distinguishable in the eyes 

 of the entomologist by having six minute legs, while the 

 other is entirely legless. 



As to any available means of counterworking this in- 

 Bect, it is scarcely worth while to talk about it, when it 

 invades us in such prodigious swarms as it does, and 

 when, after all, it is only a shade-tree and not a fruit-tree 

 that is attacked. In case, however, any one should have a 

 favorite locust, which he is desirous of preserving, no mat- 

 ter at what cost, it may be stated that if it is well rubbed 

 with soap about the last of August, the mother-beetle 

 will in all probability avoid it in September, when she is 

 flying round in search of a suitable place whereon to lay 

 her eggs. The "Two-striped Borer" and the "Locust- 

 borer" are, entomologically speaking, so closely allied, 

 that we may with tolerable safety argue from the tastes 

 of the one to the tastes of the other ; and as soap is proved 

 to be highly offensive to the former, it is reasonable to 

 infer that it will also be offensive to the latter. 



Many persons, in places where the Locust-borer has 

 been swarming, have been much alarmed by the idea, 

 that after it has finished with the Locusts it will com- 

 mence on the Apples and other fruit-trees. There is no 



ground whatever for any such expectation. They might 

 just as reasonably expect a starved cat to take to eating 

 hay, or a hungry rabbit to make an onslaught upon the 

 bacon ; for there is no other tree but the Locust and occa- 

 sionally the Iloney-locust in which, so far as is at present 

 known, this insect can live. 



The painted borer. (Clj/tus pictus, Drury, Walsh.) 

 O.v Hickory a.vd Walnut. 

 The chief points in the history of this Beetle having 

 been already noticed under the head of the preceding, it 

 is only necessary to add that its larva differs from that of 

 the preceding in being absolutely legless; unless, indeed, 

 which I scarcely think can be possible. Dr. Horn made 

 some mistake in its identity.* The annexed figure re- 

 Fig. 6. presents the perfect or winged male; the 



female, except in the fact of its antennae 

 being a trifle shorter, almost exactly re- 

 sembles Fig. 5. In Illinois this insect is 

 rather rare; for in seven years' steady col- 

 lecting I have met with but three speci- 

 mens. Near Philadelphia it appears to be 

 quite common, and it is said to inhabit the 



Qg[g^g black w^'"'''' '^s 'wi^ as the hickory, which two 



and yellow. trees belong, as is well known, to closely 

 allied genera. In the Valley of the Mississippi our com- 

 monest Hickory Borer is the one noticed at the end of 

 this Article and shown in Fig. S, but that species seems 

 to attack the felled or dead timber only. 



The Currant Borer. {JEr/eria tipuUformis, Linn.) 

 The two Borers last noticed were Beetles, (Coleoptera.) 

 We now once more return to the Lepidoptera (Butterflies 

 and Moths), to which the Peach-tree Borer was found to 

 appertain. The "Currant Borer" is a species of the very 

 Fig. 7. same genus to which this last belongs, and 



consequently, as will he seen at once, it re- 

 sembles it a good deal, although it is con- 

 siderably smaller. The larva also closely 

 resembles that of the Feaeh-treo Borer, ex- 



^ ■ rr ■ , cept in its smaller size: but unlike that 

 Colors — black ana * 



yellow. insect, it does not inhabit the collar of the 



currant bush nor even any of its main limbs, but only 

 the twigs, which it bores lengthways much after the 

 fashion of the "Apple-twig Borer" (Fig. 3), so that they 

 either wither away and die, or lop down in an unseemly 

 manner, or break off with the first high wind. Unless it 

 occurs in unreasonably large numbers, I doubt very much 

 whether this insect is not beneficial, rather than other- 

 wise, to the shrub which it inhabits, by operating as Na 

 ture's own pruning-knife. For we all know that the Cur- 

 rant bush, in our climate, is naturally a little too much 

 inclined to run to wood; and gardeners tell us that sum- 

 mer-pruning inclines a tree to run to fruit. 



The readiest mode to get rid of this insect, where it oc- 

 curs in undue numbers, is to cut ofi* the bored twigs in 

 May, or earlier if convenient, and burn them. As the 

 perfect insect appears in June, it will thus be prevented 

 from running its natural course, and laying a fresh stock 

 of eggs on the twigs, to start a new brood of borers for 

 the succeeding year. Unlike the other seven Borers no- 

 ticed in this article, the Currant Borer is not a native 

 American, but an imported citizen. 



*See remarks on this subject in a Paper of mine now 

 printing in the Froceedings JSnt. Soc. PhUad. 



