THE PRACTICAL EiNTOMOLOGIST. 



53 



(Anoniis [nor/urj] :ri/lma Say,) which has this year 

 done millions of duUurs' woi-th of damage to tlie 

 Cotton crop, is treble-brooded, the first brood of lar- 

 vae appearing towards the end of June and during 

 ' July, and hatching out from eggs deposited by 

 those few moths which have managed to survive 

 the winter ; as is also the case with the common 

 house fly, the different meat-flies, &c. Now, if this 

 first brood can be wholly or partially destroyed, 

 either in the larva or moth state, it is evident that 

 in a proportionate degree the propagation of the 

 two succeeding broods will be put a stop to, and 

 the evil nipped in the bud. In order to effect this, 

 I should recommend a quantity of coarse molasses 

 — the coarser and ranker the better — to be mixed 

 with a little rum and a small quantity of some poi- 

 sonous drug in a fluid state. Then, at the time of 

 the year when the first brood of the cotton moths 

 may be expected to make their appearance, and es- 

 pecially on warm, dark, cloudy evenings, when all 

 these night-flying moths come out in great force, 

 smear the mixtui-e on the trunks of trees, or on a 

 few boards sot up for the purpose, in the cotton 

 fields. The moths will be attracted by the smell 

 of the rura and the sweet taste of the molasses, and 

 will fiH victims to their own gluttony. Of course, 

 if every female cotton moth could be thus destroy- 

 ed before it laid any eggs at all, the further breed- 

 ing of this pest of the cotton-ph.nter would be defi- 

 nitively checked. But as this, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, is not likely to be the case, it would be 

 advisable to repeat the process through the whole 

 season.* 



For many years back, collectors in England have 

 practiced this method of attracting certain night- 

 flying moths, omitting, of course, the poison, as 

 their object is merely to attract the moths, and the 

 killing them is accomplished by other methods, 

 which it is not necessary here to particularize. The 

 idea was first suggested by an English collector's 

 having found that certain moths were attracted 

 in large numbers by an empty sugar-hogshead, and 

 the plan, which is technically termed ''sugaring," 

 was first brought to its present state of perfection 

 by the celebrated English entomologist, Doubleday. 

 It has been found, however, that where willows, or 

 ivy, or any other plant peculiarly attractive to the 

 moths, happens to be in flower in the immediate 

 vicinity, the "sugaring" process measurably fails. 

 And in case any such moth-frequented flowers ex- 

 ist near the cotton fields, the cotton-planter who 

 wishes to try the process recommended above must 

 govern himself accordingly. In this, as in so many 

 other instances, a knowledge of the peculiar habits 

 ot the in.sect, which we are attacking, will be found 

 of great practical utility. The trapper and the 

 hunter must study the habits of the wild animals 

 which each is in pursuit of, before he can become a 

 successful ti'apper or hunter. And just in the same 



■■■'■■ I observe that Mr. Glover has hit upon tiiis same idea. 

 Speaking of this moth, he says : — " Could not some favorile 

 aliment be found on which the moth prefers to feed, as in 

 the case of the Tobacco-fly, and then poison them with 

 some effective agent?" {Monthly Sep, Agr, Dcp. 1866, p. 

 • 335.) 



way, before we can trap insects successfully, we 

 must become acquainted with all the minutiae of 

 their mode of life. 



vVt first sight it might be supposed, that the above 

 method would be equally applicable to all night-fly- 

 ing moths, for example, to the Apple-worm Moth 

 ( Cdrpocapsa pomonella )-, the Handmaid Moth 

 (^Diitana ministra), the Tent-caterpillar Moth (^Cli- 

 fiincampa amcricana), the Canker-worm Moth 

 {Anixoptcryx vmiata), &c., &e. But P]nglish ento- 

 m )logists, who have been familiar for years with 

 this system of "sugaring," tell us that it is almost 

 exclusively the Owlet-moths (Nocfitse) that "come 

 to sug.ir," as they phrase it. Now, the Cotton Moth, 

 the Boll-worm Jloth (Hdiothis armigera\ the 

 S luthern Grass Caterpillar {Laphri/gma macro'), 

 our Northern Army-worm Moth {Leucania nni- 

 piinrta), and the various species of Cut-worm jMotlis 

 (Ai/rotis and Hadnui'), all belong to the Owlet- 

 moths, and may consequently be expected "to come 

 to sugar ;" but most of our other noxious moths, in- 

 cluding the four referred to above, belong to other 

 families, and would, therefore, not be likely to be 

 entrapped and slain in the manner recommended 

 above.' Verb. sat. sap. b. d. Vf. 



Bag-worms alias Biskot-worms a/ms Drop-worms. 

 ( T lit/ridopteryx ephemeneformis.) 



BV S. S. RATnVON, PESNA. 



The following passage in the Pr.^cticat, Ento- 

 mologist (Vol. II, p. 33) is very likely to lead 

 the reader into a grave error, in regard to tlie 

 sphere of operations of the insect named therein. 



For example, the "Basket-worms" that you speak of, 

 which I suppose are the larvteof Tliyridopteryx ephemercc- 

 fofmia, otherwise known as "Bag-worms," never have 

 been known, I boliev*'. to attacli any of the trees grown 

 in oar orchards for fruit. 



My attention was first called to this insect upon 

 an Apricot tree, in the summer of IS li), in the City 

 of Lancaster, Pa. The tree stood alone in a yard, 

 and was literally covered with them, and the crop 

 of fruit rendered almost worthless, on account of 

 the early deprivation of the leaves. From that pe- 

 riod to the present, I have observed this insect in 

 greater or smaller numbers every year, on the fol- 

 lowing trees : — Plum, Apple, Quince, Apricot, 

 Cherry, Pear, Linden, Silver iMaplo, Red Cedar, 

 Locust and Arbor Vitre. On the Jjinden and Lo- 

 cust especially, I have found them in thousands, if 

 not tens of thousands, stripping them almost entire- 

 ly of their leaves. On fruit trees I have found 

 them most abundant on the Apricot and Quince. 

 In a small enclosure of my own, which contained 

 ail Apple, a Quince, a Plum and an Arbor Vitte, 

 they seemed to prefer the latter. I believe I have 

 never seen them on the Peach, and but rarely on 

 the Cherry, and then only in limited numbers. 



On one occasion I had retained some of the cases 

 or "follicles," inhabited by the wingless female of this 

 species of moth, in my snucliim, where they were ne- 

 glected for a few days. When my attention was 

 directed to them again, I found that the eggs con- 

 tained in them had hatched, and the young larva 



