THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



81 



snout-beetles off the tree on to the sheets. I have 

 always myself succeeded in dislodging any number 

 of them from crab and thorn trees, by beating the 

 boughs into an inverted umbrella. But no doubt, 

 as it belongs to the same genus, and has the same 

 structural peculiarities as the Plum-gouger, it will 

 require equally severe jarring to bring it to the 

 ground. Whether it can be effectualjy counter- 

 worked in any other manner, can only be told af- 

 ter we become more fully acquainted with its habits. 



There arc several other snout-beetles which in- 

 fest fruit-trees, either cultivated or wild ; but their 

 history and habits yet remain to be fully investigated, 

 and 1 hope to be able to devote some considerable 

 attention to this subject during the coming season. 

 Mr. H. A. Terry, of Iowa, reports the Epicserus 

 ' imbricafus o{ Say, "as doing great injury to the 

 apple and cherry-trees, as well as gooseberry bush- 

 es/' but whether it operates upon the twigs, the 

 buds, the leaves or the fruit, has been left uncer- 

 tain to the present day. (See the Prairie Fanner 

 of July 18, 1863.) From the analogy of certain 

 allied European species, we may infer that it mere- 

 ly devours the leaves, and lets the fruit and the 

 twigs alone. The New York Weevil {Ithycerus 

 novcboraccnsis) — a gray species fully I inch long 

 — is likewise sometimes very injurious in nurseries 

 in the Western States, by gnawing off and destroy- 

 ing the bucls and the twigs of J'oung apple-trees. 

 I bave also received from Mr. Francis, of. Central 

 Illinois, two other snout-beetlcs, (^Gonotraehclus 

 puncticollix Walsh and Balaninus robusHis Walsh 

 MS.,) as jarred off his plum-trees, in company 

 with tlie common " Curculio" and the Plum-gou- 

 ger. It is not improbable, therefore, that both 

 these two insects occasionally, at all events, 

 deposit their eggs in plums, in some such way as 

 the " Curculio." But whether these two last be 

 identical with two Snout-beetles which Dr. Hull 

 finds on his plum-trees, and of which he has pro- 

 mised me specimens, remains to be proved. As 

 two other Snout beetles (^Conotrachclus cratxgi 

 Walsh and C. postieatus Schonherr) are known by 

 me to breed in the wild haw, it is not impossible 

 that they may also occasionally attack the apple. 



As to the three Curculios which I have describ- 

 ed in the preceding paragraphs, they may be readi- 

 ly distinguished, one from the other, in the follow- 

 ing manner: — The common "Curculio" has a snout 

 which hangs down like the trunk of an elephant, 

 and which he can, whenever he chooses, fold back- 

 wards between his logs, although he has no power 

 to project it straight forwards. On the other hand, 

 the Plum-gouger and the Four-humped Curculio 

 usually carry their snouts projected horizontally or 

 nearly so, in front of them ; but upon occasion can 

 depress them vertically, although they have no 

 power to fold them backwards between their legs. 

 Of these two, thus agreeing as to the structure of 

 their snouts, the Plum-gouger is at once distinguish- 

 able by having a smooth back, without any humps 

 on it, whereas the Four-humped Curculio, as its 

 name indicates, has two very conspicuous humps 



on each of his wing-cases. As regards their habits, 

 the common Curculio infests stone-fruit more espe- 

 cialljf, but not unfrequently has been known to at- 

 tack pip-fruit; while, so far as is at present known, 

 the Plum-gouger is exclusively confined to stone- 

 fruit, and the Four-bumped Curculio to pip-fruit 



B. D. W. 



THE IMPOBTED APPLE-TREE BABK-LOTJSE. 



[Aspidioius conchifovmis.) 

 From the Prairie Farmer. By C. V. Riley. 



That this insect is not exterminated, is not for want of 

 advertised cures; for the number of sham, empirical re- 

 medies — patented of course — that are now circulating 

 through the country, and whose ownei's are wheedling 

 the farmers into purchasing, is truly astonishing. Here 

 Mr. Michael O'Sullivan of Kochester, Wis., scatters to the 

 winds his circular, headed "Bark-louse Exterminator," 

 with a liberality that is praise-worthy indeed, consider- 

 ing the high price of paper. He announces the fact that 

 he has obtained from the patent-office, a patent for a com- 

 pound which is a sure remedy alike for the Bark-louse, 

 Borer and Canker-worm. It is to be introduced into a 

 hole bored above one of the main roots of the tree, by 

 means of a tin tube, rammed home, plugged tight, and 

 covered up with the soil; and it kills the bark-louse in 

 eight months, the borer in two, and the canker-worm in 

 from forty-eight hours to five days. 



As an illustration of how well such men are qualified to 

 provide proper remedies for insects, a Mr. Allen of Mt. ■ 

 Morris, 111., who has been canvassing Lee and adjacent 

 counties with another bark-louse remedy, on being asked 

 by A. R. Whitney, of Franklin Grove nurseries, what ho 

 knew of the insect's history, responded, that he didn't 

 know how they first came on the trees, but supposed they 

 became winged and flew oft'— that there was one animal 

 under each scale, which scale, he had but little doubt, 

 grew in the same manner as does the shell of a snail. Mr. 

 Allen's remedy, however, is more rational than that of 

 )iis competitor, being a wash for the bark, the principal 

 ingredient of whicdi is turpentine, if I am well informed. 



That men are constantly being imposed upon by these 

 sharpers is not to be wondered at, for insects are very 

 generally despised creatures — their consequence being 

 rated by their size — and there is great ignorance of Ento- 

 mology even among the most intelligent. Take as an in- 

 stance the last number of our new "American Journal of 

 Horticulture," where, under the head of "Apple Culture 

 — the Aphis," Ale.xandor Hyde makes some very general 

 and excellent remarks on tlie Bark-louse. The Aphis and 

 Bark-louse are two very different insects, and yet they 

 are there confounded, and the value of the article marred 

 by the mere misapplication of a scientific term. As no 

 comments are made by the editor, this statement might 

 be doubted, but the insect in question is distinctly term- 

 ed "-4;)Ais ma^i" on p. Kio, 4th lino; and a little lower 

 down the author says, "If, in the latter part of May, we 

 carefully raise the body of the Aphis, we can discover nu- 

 merous eggs," etc. Still further on he continues: 



"The female, after laying her eggs, dies ; but the outer 

 skin remains as a protection to the eggs. When first 

 hatched, the young have some motion, and disperse them- 

 selves over the tree. While in the larva state, the young 

 lieu grow rapidly, and must greatly exhaust the trees by 

 drawing from them the nourishment necessary for their 

 growth. In a few days they pass into the pupa or chry- 

 salis state, and the females become fixed, never changing 

 their location after they have once become stationary, 

 and seem merely a rough excrescence on the bark." 



Now these descrii)tion8 accord in every respect with 

 our bark-lice, but the writer never saw the eggs of the 

 Aphis mali under the female in May, nor is she the exact 

 color of the tree, nor does she ever become fixed, except 

 when preyed upon by a parasite. She in fact produces 

 her young — of which there are several generations in a 

 year" — alive, without any aid from the males, as these on- 

 ly make their appearance at the approach of winter. Af- 

 ter the females have coupled, however, they produce 

 small, shiny, black eggo, which they secure in the cre- 

 vices of the bark; and if the tree be smooth and infested 



