3&& 



BUGS, INSECTS, ETC.— REMEDIES FOR. 



Remedies. — There are several para- 

 sites, and one in particular, that is very 

 useful in destroying the potato and tobac- 

 co worm. It is a minute, four-winged 

 fly, {Microgaster congregata,) which depos- 

 its its eggs in the caterpillar, and eventu- 

 ally kills it. The eggs of this parasite, to 

 the number of one hundred or more, are 

 deposited in the back and sides of the 

 caterpillar, in small punctures made by 

 the ovipositor of the fly. The larvae, 

 when hatched, feed upon the fatty sub- 

 stance, and when fully grown eat a hole 

 in the skin, and each maggot spins for it- 

 self a small white oval cocoon, one end 

 of which is fastened to the skin of the 

 worm, and the caterpillar appears as if 

 covered with small oval white eggs. 

 Eighty-four flies were obtained from one 

 caterpillar by Say, and Fitch counted one 

 hundred and twenty-four cocoons on an- 

 other worm, so that these insects must 

 destroy a great number of worms. The 

 parasite, however, is said to be destroyed 

 by another hymenopterous insect, (Plero- 

 malus tobacum,) which deposits its eggs 

 in the cocoons of the microgaster. An- 

 other species, forming an immense mass 

 of loose woolly cocoons, is also said to kill 

 the caterpillar of the potato-sphinx, and 

 most probably attacks also that of the to- 

 bacco-worm in a similar manner. It is, 

 theretore, of great consequence when de- 

 stroying the caterpillars by hand-picking, 

 to avoid crushing or injuring any cater- 

 pillars which appear to have either white 

 floss or egg-like cases on their backs or 

 sides, as these are the cocoons of a very 

 useful insect, which, if left undisturbed, 

 would produce multitude of flies, which 

 would destroy an immense number of 

 these injurious worms. 



The hornets, and an orange-colored 

 wasp, devour the caterpillar when young 

 and small. The best remedy against 

 these insects, however, is to poison the 

 fly which produces either the potato or 

 tomato worm, by dropping a mixture of 

 "blue stone" of the druggists, or crude 

 black arsenic, into the flower of the 

 Jamestown weed, or stramonium, in the 

 evening, when the fly will come and in- 

 sert its long proboscis into the flower, sip 

 up the poisonous mixture, and die before 

 depositing its eggs. 



A tobacco planter in Tennessee finds 

 it advantageous to cultivate a few plants 



of the Jamestown weed among his tobac- 

 co, and then to poison the blossoms, as 

 they appear, with the above mentioned 

 liquid, every evening, and has thereby 

 saved a great part of his crop ininjurecL 

 In Maryland some tobacco-growers util- 

 ize young turkeys by driving them into 

 the tobacco-field, where they pick the 

 worms from the leaves. Some planters 

 also pay a small premium to children for 

 the dead millers or flies, which are readily 

 killed with a piece of shingle or board as. 

 they hover over the flowers in the even- 

 ing twilight. 



FLEAS. — Fleas, although not men- 

 tioned by Loew or Ostensacken among 

 the diptera, by many other entomologists 

 are classed with them, and Professor 

 Verrill regards them as " degraded dip- 

 tera in which the wings are represented 

 only by two pairs of stiff scales, which 

 have little or no power of motion." 

 These insects are very abundant in the 

 neighborhood of hog-sties, etc., and may 

 be driven away by scattering quicklime 

 about their haunts. The principal remedy 

 against them is cleanliness, and should 

 the house dogs be permitted to sleep on 

 the door-mats or rugs, these should be 

 scalded every week or two to destroy the 

 living inmates as well as their eggs and 

 larvae, which are in the form of small 

 footless white maggots, and live upon de- 

 caying vegetable and animal matter found 

 in the dirt and rubbish. When dogs are 

 kept in kennels, the straw or shavings 

 upon which they sleep should be carefully 

 burned every few weeks, as door-mats 

 and old refuse straw are perfect nurseries 

 for these insects. When the animals, 

 themselves are very much infested with 

 fleas, a thorough washing in strong soap- 

 suds or a decoction of tobacco will drive 

 many of them away. Professor Verrill 

 says, " to remove fleas from the animals 

 themselves, a wash containing six to ten 

 per cent, of petroleum, naphtha, or ben- 

 zine, well shaken together, may be used ; 

 a weak solution of carbolic acid, about 

 two or three parts to one hundred parts 

 of water, will also be efficacious." A 

 mixture of ten parts benzine, five parts 

 soap, and eighty-five parts water has been 

 recommended. Great care should, how- 

 ever, be taken not to make any of these 

 mixtures too strong, as otherwise they are 

 very apt to injure the animals to which they 



