THE 



Pra{[tka^I #tttxrm0l00fei 



A MONTHLY BULLETIN, 



Published by the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, for the dissemination of valuable 

 knowledge among Agriculturists and Horticulturists. 



Vol. II, No. 2. 



NOVEMBER, 1866. 



Whole No. 14. 



i;he frattical tfutamiilajisi 



.^^Published by the Entomological Society op Phil- 

 adelphia, at their Hall, No. 518 South Thirteenth Street, 

 Philadelphia. 



^^^~Edited by Benj. D. Walsh, Eock Island, Illinois. 



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PHILADELPHIA, NOVEMBER, 1866. 



THE KEW POTATO BUO. 



The following figures, which are slightly magni- 

 fied, give a very good idea of the New or Colorado 

 Potato Bug, the left hand figure showing the larva 

 and a bunch of the eggs, the right hand figure the 

 perfect or winged beetle. Of the native home, the 



Colors — cream-color and black, 

 eastward migrations, and the natural history of this 

 insect, I have already treated at great length. The 

 story of its having already made its appearance in 

 Maine was a mistake ; but no doubt in 10 or 12 

 years from now it will be there. 



It was the uniform habit of the great Napoleon, 

 after a battle had been fought, to pass personally 

 over the field of battle, ascertain the number of 

 killed and wounded, and then issue his Bulletin, 

 giving in detail the results of the contest. 



Exactly 13 months ago, in the first number of the 

 first Volume of the Practical Entomologist, I 

 showed that this new and very destructive foe to the 

 Potato, had passed from the Rocky Mountain re- 



gion into Iowa, and had already crossed the Missis- 

 sippi into the State of Illinois at at least five dif- 

 ferent points along a line of 200 miles. From en- 

 tomological data I predicted also, that it would 

 gradually advance eastward at the probable rate of 

 at least 50 miles a year, till it reached the Atlantic 

 Ocean, and that wherever it was introduced, there 

 it would remain as a permanent colonist. 



Having recently attended the Illinois State Fair, 

 and conversed with men from all parts of the State, 

 I am now enabled to state approximately the region 

 of country which has been already occupied and pos- 

 sessed by this little pest. Not to weary the reader 

 with a long list of counties and towns, it will be suf- 

 ficient to state, that if we draw a straight line con- 

 necting Chicago and St. Louis, the country to the 

 North West of this line, or fully one-half of the 

 State, is already occupied and possessed by the 

 gentleman from Colorado, and the country to the 

 South East of it is generally as yet untouched. 

 There are, it is true, as we might naturally expect, 

 some irregularities in the march of this grand ar- 

 my; but on the whole, the above statement gives 

 us a tolerably correct view of its progress. For ex- 

 ample, in Putnam County, which lies a little to the 

 Northwest of the line of demarcation, I could hear 

 of no Colorado bugs, although plenty were found 

 in Marshall and Bureau counties, which lie respec- 

 tively south and north of Putnam; but on the 

 other hand, in Champaign and Coles Counties, 

 which lie considerably to the South-east of the di- 

 viding line, and are only separated from Indiana 

 by a single tier of counties, I heard of them from 

 several quarters; and the Prairie Farmer has pub- 

 lished accounts of their occurring at two distinct 

 points in the latter county, Milton Station and 

 Charleston. {Prairie Farmer, June 30, 1866, and 

 June 23, 1866.) I have my.self received specimens 

 from Half Day, in Lake County, which occupies 

 the extreme North-east corner of the State and 

 abuts on Lake Michigan ; and I heard at the Fair 

 that it had been found at Waukegan, in that coun- 

 ty, which lies actually upon the Lake. Mr. C. V. 

 Riley, of Chicago, has also assured me, that he him- 

 self found immense numbers of them in a large 



