62 



THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



above figure was drawn was quite large when I ob- 

 tained it, and after remaining two entire years in 

 my Breeding-jar, changed into the Click-beetle, 

 represented in the margin and seientifically known 

 as the LmUus atteiiuuUis of Say. Like most of 

 the larvae of our click-beetles, this one fed upon de- 

 cayed wood ; but there are several species which feed 

 underground upon living roots, one in particular 

 which infests young corn in the hill, 

 especially in newly-broken land; and 

 as these come more particularly under 

 the notice of the Farmer and the 

 Gardener, it is to these that the name 

 of " Wire-worm" more usually refers, 

 unless indeed it should be the bogus 

 Wire-worm, (or lulus) that is spoken 

 of. Of the perfect Click-beetles we Coior_ pitchy 

 have several hundred distinct species black. 

 found within the limits of the United States, and 

 in the single State of Illinois I have myself met 

 with about a hundred. But very few of them are 

 known in the larva state, owing to the great length 

 of time required to breed the larva to maturity. 



In the Country Gentlanaii of Dec. 13, 18(36, I 

 find the following observations from a New York 

 correspondent, who is evidently talking about the 

 bogus Wire-worm (Juhcs), and replying to another 

 correspondent from New Hampshire, who has been 

 talking about the true Wire-worm. This is quite 

 plain from the fact, that the former speaks of his 

 so-called " Wire-worms" laying large numbers of 

 eggs; which the true Wire-worms never can do, 

 that office being reserved for the fully matured 

 Click-beetle. 



The wire-worm Is an oviparous insect, like the ant. He 

 excavates cells like the ant in the hard subsoil, some 

 eight or ten inches under the surface of the earth, and in 

 those cells deposits his eggs, very much resembling ants' 

 eggs, and the sun hatches them out. This they do from 

 the commencement of warm weather in spring until the 

 cold in the autumn. This is proved by plowing, when a 

 careful observer will discover worms of all sizes, from 

 the large, fully developed insect, to the smaller ones of all 

 sizes, down to worms not over one-eighth of an inch long. 

 I have also found the eggs. Now, it may be asked, what 

 of all that? I answer thnt deep plowing, and using the 

 subsoil plow, will disturb those egg cells and prevent 

 their hatching out, by scattering them about on the sur- 

 face. I think one thing is certain — there is no way to 

 destroy the worm but with the plow'. Frequent plow- 

 ing, and taie plowing, cannot fail to be found the most ef- 

 fectual way to get rid of the insect, particularly in frosty 

 daya, when, as soon as the worms are exposed, they are 

 stiffened by the cold and frozen hard during the ensuing 

 night. This I am certain of, for I have tried it, and after 

 plowing, have found them dead on the surface, and seen 

 them blown by the wind on the snow to some distance 

 in winter. 



By the way I cannot agree with your New Hampshire 

 correspondent, that the wire-worm turns into a snap- 

 ping-bug. I have been here in the midst of them for 

 three years and over, and during all that time have 

 never seen a snapping-bug. I think your correspondent 

 has fallen into au error. 



Yes, sir, you are quite correct; your so-called 

 Wire-worm never does or can change into a " Snap- 

 ping-bug," or Click-beetle" as others call it. But 

 the true Wire-worm of the correspondent from New 

 Hampshire does so change. The difference be- 

 tween you two correspondents, is merely a differ- 

 ence in words, and not in things. You are designa- 



ting entirely different creatures by the same popular 

 name, and hence naturally arises confusion, mis- 

 conception and error. One of you is talking of 

 garlic and theother of onions; one is disputing about 

 chalk and the other about cheese ; one has a thou- 

 .sand-legged worm in his mind's eye and the other 

 the larva of a Click-beetle. Those who ridicule 

 the use of scientific tern)S, as disagreeable and un- 

 necessary, should ponder well into what sloughs of 

 mystification the use of popular names, unaccom- 

 panied by the corresponding scientific names, will 

 sometimes lead us. 



As to the assertion of the gentleman from New 

 York, that, during a period of three years, he had 

 "never seen a Snapping-bug" in the fields where 

 his so-called Wire-worms were found, all I can say 

 is, that Click-beetles must be very scarce in the 

 State of New York. In Illinois I do not think 

 that I ever collected for a few hours, without meet- 

 ing with scores and often hundreds of specimens, 

 of some species or other of the great Elater family. 



B. D. W. 



CEDAR APPLES. 



These are smooth, roundish, pale reddish brown 

 bodies, about i or f inch in diameter, and at- 

 tached by a very short stem to the twigs of the 

 Red Cedar. They were mistaken for Galls by Dr. 

 Fitch, and supposed to be produced by Gall- 

 flies. {New York Reports, II. § 285.) In reality 

 they are Epiphytous Funguses (or Mushrooms), 

 growing upon the twigs of the Red Cedar, as 

 many Lichens and Mosses grow on the trunk 

 and the main limbs of a variety of trees. They 

 commence their growth very early in the season, 

 and by the forepart of April they have nearly at- 

 tained their full size in the latitude of Rock Island, 

 111. At this time and for more than a month after- 

 ,wards, they are whitish and fleshy inside; whereas 

 the old last year's specimens, which still hang on the 

 trees, are rust-red inside and of a hard, dry, spongy 

 texture. Between the middle of April and the 

 latter part of May, there put forth from the surface 

 of these new Cedar Apples, many filaments, about 

 \ inch long and 7 or 8 times as long as wide, bear- 

 ing on their surface a quantity of a fine rust-red 

 powder, which consists of the '"spores" or seeds of 

 the fungus. 



As these Funguses are often so abundant as to be 

 very injurious to the Cedar, it is well to know how 

 we may easily get rid of them. All that is re- 

 quired is, early in April to cut off and destroy the 

 young growing " apples" before the " spores" or 

 seeds commence to develop themselves. The old, 

 dead, dry "apples," may, of course, be allowed to 

 hang on the twigs, as they have long ago shed their 

 seed. By persevering in this .system for a year or 

 two, or perhaps even for one year only, these un- 

 sightly excrescences may be subdued. But it is 

 not improbable that some of the spores may remain 

 in the crevices of the twigs for over one season, 

 before they finally vegetate, just as the seeds of 

 some weeds lie in the ground several years before 

 they start to grow. B. D. w. 



