THE CURRANT SAW FLY. 359 



the web sticking to their beaks, and those completely concealed 

 in the web are left unmolested. When branches covered with the 

 web of Hi/ponomenla evonyniella (a little moth of the Tinea fam- 

 ily) were introduced into the aviary, those larva; only which ven- 

 tured beyond the protection of the web were eaten." " Smooth- 

 skinned, gaily-colored caterpillars (such as the currant Abraxas, 

 or span worm), which never conceal themselves, but on the con- 

 trary appear to court observation " were not touched by the 

 birds. He states, on the other hand, that " all caterpillars 

 whose habits are nocturnal, and are dull-colored, with fleshy 

 bodies and smooth skins, are eaten with the greatest avidity. 

 Every species of green caterpillar is also much relished. All 

 Geometrce, whose larvae resemble twigs, as they stand out from 

 the plant on their anal prolegs, are invariably eaten." Mr. A. G. 

 Butler of London has also found that frogs and spiders will not 

 eat the same larvae rejected by birds, the frogs having an 

 especial aversion to the currant span worms (Abraxas and 

 Halia). 



The natural enemies of the Currant saw fly are three kinds of 

 ichneumon flies, of which one is a minute egg-parasite. Mr. 

 Lintner of New York states that of fifty eggs laid by the parent 

 saw fly, only four or five hatched out the currant worm. We 

 see, then, that though the birds apparently destroy none, an 

 immense number are carried off, even before they have a chance 

 of doing any mischief, by minute insects of their own order. 



One of the best remedies next to picking them off" by hand, 

 and which is really the most practicable method of getting rid 

 of them, is to dust powdered white hellebore over the bushes, 

 by sprinkling it from a muslin bag tied to a stick, as it other- 

 wise excites violent sneezing. Used in this small quantity it is 

 not poisonous. This is the remedy used with most success in 

 the West, and recommended by Messrs. Walsh and Riley. Dr. 

 W. Mack of Salem tells me that he has used a solution, consisting 

 of a pound of copperas to six gallons of water, with much success. 

 It blackens the leaves, but does not injure them permanently. 



Dr. E. Worcester, of Waltham, according to the Boston 

 Journal of Chemistry, finds that this worm " may be fully and 

 almost immediately destroyed by the use of carbolate of lime. 

 The doctor tried the powder in many instances during the past 

 summer, and found that while it was fully as effective as helle- 



