102 TtUTCMARMiM AT THE SOUTH. 



of those instances of remarkable and sudden change in 

 the food-habit of a tolerably common and otherwise well- 

 known species, which led us to the remarks on p. 152 of 

 this volume anent ' New Insects Injurious to Agricul- 

 ture.' As in other cases of this sort, the causes of such 

 changes are not readily ascertained. In this particular 

 case, the new habit may be only temporarily developed in 

 a restricted region, either by the disappearance or the poor 

 condition of Solanum Carolinense; or it may become per- 

 manent, and cause D. juncta, hitherto looked upon as 

 harmless or even beneficial, to vie with its ten-lined rel- 

 ative in destructiveness. Time alone will indicate, as we 

 have no grounds upon which to base any confident pre- 

 diction." I may mention that the horse-nettle was 

 neither absent, nor in poor condition, and, that after 

 writing to Prof. Riley, I found the perfect insect on both 

 egg-plant and the former. 



The same author writes: "Another case very similar to 

 that just mentioned, may here be recorded. There is a 

 small tortoise-beetle ( Cassida Texana) easily distinguished 

 from its congeners by the uniformly pale-green color of 

 its upper surface, and the coarse striae of punctations on 

 the elytra. In 1879, we found it in all stages abundant- 

 ly in Southern Texas, feeding on the leaves of Solanum 

 elcBagnifolium. Dr. Oemlernow writes (June 13th) that 

 he finds eggs, larvae and images of this beetle quite com- 

 monly depredating on his egg-plants, though there is no 

 previous record of any such habit, and, indeed, the spe- 

 cies is not recorded from the Atlantic States, albeit we 

 have fo*und it this very season at Washington on Solanum 

 Carolinense." Probably neither of these insects may 

 ever become very destructive pests; but finding in our 

 cultivated crops more abundant and succulent food than 

 its former, wild-growing and tougher food plant afforded, 

 the probabilities are that both will increase, and the pres- 

 ent is the proper time for their destruction. 



