20 



THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ously quotes me as referring this grape-gall iTisect to the 

 genus Coccus. What I said was merely that it was "a true 

 bark-louse belonging to the Coccus family," which is a 

 very different thing from the assertion which he puts into 

 my mouth. He is also altogether wrong in assuming that 

 all bark-lice inhabit the bark; for the boccus Hcspcridumf 

 so often found on the Oleander, inhabits the leaves, and 

 yet no entomological purist has yet been found absurd 

 enough to call it, on that account, a "leaf-louse." One 

 might as well insist on it that the common Bed-bug ceases 

 to be a Bed-bug when, as I have known it to do, it quits 

 the bods of christian folks, and infests Hen-houses in en- 

 ormous numbers. 



I had previously been under the impression that no 

 species belouging to the Coccus family were known to pro- 

 duce galls upon plants ; but Baron Osteu Sacken has 

 kindly informed me, that in the Transactions of the Vi- 

 enna Zoological and Botanical Society there is an account 

 of various galls produced bjt true Barklice in Australia, 

 "some of which Barklice are an inch long, the males pro- 

 ducing galls of different shape from those of the females, 

 and other odd things." Westwood also refers to the enor- 

 mous size of certain Australian Barklice. (Introd. II, p. 

 450.) We may be thankful that our species are of more 

 moderate dimensions. Fancy all the barklice on a badly- 

 infested Apple-tree suddenly becoming an inch long! 



, . ■ ♦ I 



The Striped Ba^. 

 By A. of Quincy, Mass. 

 In the last [Aug. 1866,] number of the Practical Esto- 

 MOLOGTST, I saw an article on the striped cucumber-bug, 

 in which the writer recommended as a protection to the 

 vines, a frame of "four short pieces of board, nailed to- 

 gether in the form of a bottomless box and roofed over at 

 the top with musketo-bar." I can tell you something 

 better than that. As S"on as the bugs begin to attack the 

 vines, sift or sprinkle plaster of paris over the vines. This 

 will keep the bugs oil, as they cannot alight on the plas- 

 ter. If they do, they cannot rise again, for it sticks them 

 to the spot like glue. I have tried this remedy for 12 

 years and have never known it to fail. If it rains and 

 washes off the plaster, sift it on again as soon as it is done 

 raining, and keep it ou until the vines get so large that 

 the bugs cannot hurt them. 



Remarks by B. D. W. — As one of our largest 

 market gardeners at Rock Island uses the above 

 plan, I presume that it does some good. But that 

 it is not so efiFeetual as A. represents it to be, I have 

 seen with my own eyes. For although every hill 

 of vines was dusted with plaster in this gardener's 

 field, I found him in the spring of 18G5 commenc- 

 ing on the windward side of the field and driving 

 the Cucumber bugs before him like so many Quails. 

 Of course, if the plaster had been an effectual re- 

 medy, he would not have taken all this trouble. 



Doctoring Fruit-trees. 



The following is from the proceedings of the N. 

 Y. Farmers' Club, as published in the N. Y. Sem. 

 Tribune, Oct. 23, 1866 :— 



Apple Tree Borers. — John Thompson, jr., Rochester, N. 

 Y., proposes to extirpate borers by boring three or four 

 holes with a large gimlet into the sap-wood of the tree, 

 then put into each hole a grain of blue mass, fill up with 

 suli)hur, and cork, and finaliy seal over with wax. The 

 idea is to medicate the sa]>, so as to make it disagreeable 

 to the insects. He says : " By the use of sulphur I have 

 found a way to check them. 



" Blitfld lit Pear Trees. — Besides inserting the sulphur, I 

 drove about a dozen cut nails into the body of each tree. 

 I intend to try calomel upon my peach trees." 



And why not try jalap too ? And rhubarb ? 

 And ipecac ? But be careful not to give too large 

 a dose of Blue Mass or of Calomel, or you may sal- 

 ivate your trees. Clearly, Mr. Thompson, jr. does 

 not read the Practical Enlomoluijist. 



Beetles destroying Corn. 

 [From the Rural American, July 15. 1S66.] 



Mr. Miner: — Knowing that you are interested in any- 

 thing connrrtcd with agricultural pursuits, I take the 

 liberty of sending, for your inspection, a few specimens 

 of small beetles, taken out of three hills of corn. They 

 burrow down in the hill, and attach themselves (head 

 downwards) to the young corn, about two inches below 

 the surface of the ground, and insert their proboscis into 

 the corn plant, and suck the juice until the blade turns 

 blue and dies. I find from one to five of them in each 

 hill. One of my neighbors has lost eight acres of corn 

 (old sheep pasture) by them. If you can suggest anything 

 to stop their ravages, you will confer a favor on severs? 

 subscribers to the RuuAL American. 



Hannibal, N. Y. Jas. M. Masks. 



Remarks. — The small beetles sent to us are an insect 

 with which we are not acquainted ; but perhaps some of 

 our subscribers can throw some light on their depreda- 

 tions and a remedy. — Ed. 



If Editors in the above predicament would send 

 us the insects with which they are " not acquaint- 

 ed," we would cheerfully give their names and any 

 other information about them that we could fur- 

 nish. How can " Subscribers " tell what beetles 

 are spoken of, when all that is said about their size, 

 shape, sculpture or color is that they are "small?" 

 But are they really beetles ? If they have a "pro- 

 bocis" and "suck sap," they must be "Bugs" and 

 not " Beetles." By some unaccountable perversity, 

 people will persist in calling "Beetles" "Bugs," 

 and now it would seem that "Bugs" are dubbed 

 "Beetles." Just so amongst the peasantry of the 

 County of Dorset, in England, toads are called 

 "frogs" and frogs are called "hop-frogs." B. D. W. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Isaac Hicks, N. Y. — You say that, according to the de- 

 scription of the larva of the Native American Gooseberry 

 Sawfiy, (Prisfiphora grossularice.) given in the Practical 

 Entomologist, No. 12, you had it on your currant bushes 

 in the nursery last year, but not this year. This is an 

 important fact, as showing the presence of this insect in 

 the East as well as in the West. You remark further 

 that persons living in Otsego and Onondaga Counties, N. 

 Y., told you that their currant-worm was a measurer. Of 

 course, therefore, it must have been the Abraxas f ribea- 

 ria o( Fitch, spoken of in the Practical Entomologist, 

 Vol. I, p. 122, and which is now called Ellopia ribearia. 

 It was by an error of the printers that you were stated to 

 have tried the "sulphur cure" on your peach-trees in 

 1860, instead of ISIO. (Practical Entomologist, I, p. 125). 

 The insects with long antennae, and a few of them hav- 

 ing wings "banded with light and black or slate-colored 

 bands," which you saw huddling together in clusters of 

 50 or 100 on the trunks of large trees, were probably the 

 Psocus venosus of Burmeister, which has that remarkable 

 habit, and sometimes marches in large dense groups up 

 and down the trunks of trees like a regiment of soldiers. 

 This species belongs to the Psocus family in the Order 

 Neuroptera — the same family to which the minute book- 

 lice belong, which are often found in books, collections 

 of insects, &c., and feed on dead animal and vegetable 

 substances. It is, however, only about J inch long, in- 

 cluding in the measurement the closetl wings, and you 

 describe your insect as J inch long or more. But perhaps 

 on this point you trusted to your general recollection of 

 the insect. 



Calvin Ward, A^ermont. — You complain of a "small 

 worm, almost J iuch long, of the size of a common pin in 

 diameter, with no appearance of any legs, the color of 

 the pul)! of the apple and with a little black on the top 

 of the head," that bores your apples in all directions. 

 When taken out of the apple and placed upon the win- 

 dow-etool " it moved," you say, " very slowly, either end 



