104 



THE PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Dr. Houghton, Penn. — The Blister-beetles which you 

 send auil which, as you say, " appear to feed upon the 

 flowers of the pear-tree and also upon the fruit when it is 

 young and tender," are the very same species (Lytta laiea) 

 that was recently sent me from Michigan with a state- 

 ment that it infested there the flowers of the Pear-tree. 

 (See Answer to J. M. Tracy in the last Number.) Possibly 

 it may be this identical species that also attacks the young 

 fruit; but I rather suspect that it is Lytta Sayi which at- 

 tacks the fruit, and that L. wnea confines itself to the 

 flowers. The two species — though perfectly distinct and 

 never running into one another by intermediate varie- 

 ties — ^yet resemble each other so very closely, that even 

 that most accurate observer Say supposed the one 

 to be a mere variety of the other. Your specimens reach- 

 ed me in excellent order. When I receive some taken off 

 the fruit, I can solve the above question with certainty. 



As to the Barklouse that infests your orchard, I should 

 recommend you to catch and place upon your infested 

 trees as many as you can procure of the Twice-stabbed 

 hadybird, {Chilocorus bivulncrus, figured in this Journal 

 II, p. 42). You can beat them in reasonable numbers iff 

 the boughsof forest trees into an inverted umbrella; oaks 

 in particular are full of them. I do not know by actual 

 .experiment that tliis remedy will prove effectual, but I 

 know that this insect pre3's upon barklice, and I am 

 going to try the operation upon my own trees this year. 

 You see I do not preach one thing and practice another. 

 In any case this remedy can do no possible harm to your 

 orchard — which is more than can be said of some of the 

 Patent advertised washes. 



Andrew S. Fuller, N. Y. — The opaque-white boring 

 larva, about one inch long, with a red head and a black- 

 ish mouth, which you found " boring the stem of a Black- 

 berry near the surface of the ground," reached me in ex- 

 cellent order, owing to having been carefully packed in 

 damp moss, and I hope to breed the perfect insect from 

 it this summer. It will produce sftme moth, and proba- 

 bly some species of ^rferia — the same genus to which the 

 common Peach-tree Borer appertains. No such larva has 

 hitherto, so far as I know, been recorded as infesting the 

 Blackberry, the common Borer of that plant being a leg- 

 less grub, and producing a Beetle — the Obcrea pcrspicil- 

 lata, of Haldeman — whereas your larva has sixteen legs, 

 and must necessarily therefore produce some kind of 

 moth. Besides the ^gcria which inhabits the Peach- 

 tree, there are distinct species known to infest the Pear- 

 tree, the Ash, the tame Currant, the wild Currant, the 

 Grape-vine, the Squash and Pumpkin vine, the Poplar, 

 the Maple and the Lilac. As a general rule, each species 

 seems to confine itself to a distinct genus )f plants, but 

 the Peach-tree borer is occasionally found to attack the 

 closely allied Cherry-tree and Plum-tree. Bo not be 

 afraid of " boring" me by sending such specimens as the 

 above. The more you send me, the better pleased I shall 

 be. 



PUBLISHEK'S NOTICE. 



The subscribers to this Journal will no doubt be sur- 

 prised to receive this month a number of only eight pagesj 

 and many will join in with the regret of the publishers, 

 that three more numbers will, for the present, close this 

 work. The decrease in the size of the numbers, is caused 

 by the want of sufficient funds, on the part of the Society, 

 to issue more pages, the expense of puplishing the Pap'er 

 having already considerably exceedea the receipts. 



It has become very evident that the time has not yet 

 arrived, when the Agricultural community — to whom 

 economic entomology is of the most importance — will sus- 

 tain a work devoted exclusively to that subject. 



The devastations of injurious insects will, no doubt, 

 continue to increase as long as the farmer, gardener and 

 orchardist remain ignorant of the habits of these insects, 

 and until they learn how to distinguish their friends from 

 their enemies. They will doubtless awake from their apa- 

 thy when they find that the "Hessian Fly," the "Wheat 

 Midge," and the "Chinch-bug" have destroyed the crops 

 of grain, — the "Potato-bug" the crop of potatoes, — the 

 "Curculio," the "Plum-gouger," the "Codling Moth," the 

 "Bark-louse," and the various kinds of "Borers" the crop 

 of fruit: and then, perhaps, they will — when too late — 

 Beck for practical knowledge how to destroy their insect- 

 enemies and how to encourage and foster theii- iusect- 

 fricuds. 



ILLINOIS STATE FAIB. 



We have received the Premium List of the Fair of the 

 Illinois Stale Agricultural Society, to be held at tiuiucv, 

 Sept. SOth — Oct. oth, Ibfi?. As the Iowa State Fair wi'U 

 be held at Lyons the week previous, and the great St. 

 Louis Fair the week subsequent, this arrangement will 

 be very convenient, both in time and locality, for those 

 desiring to attend all three Fairs. The premiums oflered 

 are exceedingly liberal and very judiciously apportioned; 

 and as we are informed, "the citizens of Quincy, with 

 great liberality, Jiave guaranteed to the Society every 

 facility for making the Fair a success, except weather." 

 What can the Quincy people mean by such a ridiculous 

 oversight? Why did they not subscribe a few extra 

 dollars and bribe the Clerk" of the Weather to lock up his 

 watering-pot during Fair Week? Such conduct is as bad 

 as that of the old miser who subscribed a thousand dollars 

 for some charitable purpose, and then deducted one- 

 eighth of one per cent, for prompt payment. 



The Lawrence Journal is a Weekly Agricultural and 

 Family Newspaper, published at New Castle, Penna. 

 Price Two dollars a yeiir, in advance. Its selections are 

 well and carefully made, and to those who do not desire 

 to take an exclusively Agricultural Journal, it will be 

 found a welcome guest. 



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