116 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[[Augusti 



these facts are rollated, "the aggregate an- 

 nual product of the manufacturing and me- 

 chanical industries of the United States is 

 now more than $0,000,000,000. Of this vast 

 product less than $200,000,000 are exported. 



Queries and Answers. 



A BIG BUG. 



FAir.FiELD, July 3], 1882. 



I send you herewith a bug, or something of 

 the buggy nature, handed me by two of your 

 readers — Messrs. Samuel Martin and Hiram 

 Harvey, who would be pleased if you can 

 persuade Dr. Rath von to kindly classify it 

 through your columns. It was found in Mr. 

 Martin's tobacco patch, and the gentlemen 

 are desirious of knowing the name of the 

 "quar looking thing." 



For myself, I am not much an admirer of 



"Great ugly things, 



All legs and wings, 

 With nasty long tails armed with 



Nasty long stings, 



nor have any inclination to be 

 "Poking and peeping 

 After things creeping, 

 Or eternally thinking 

 And blinking and winking, 

 At grubs," 



but one is forced to manifest an interest some- 

 times, and the learned doctor's previous kind- 

 ness has spoiled us. — Yours very truly, W. F. 

 M., in Intelliyeiicer. 



The insect referred to above is the Belas- 

 toma Americana, of naturalists, for wliicli I 

 know no common name other than the 

 "American Belastoma." 



It is a true "bug," and a "big bug" at that 

 — indeed, it is distinguished as being the 

 largest species of bug that exists in North 

 America. 



It is amphibious in its character, and dur- 

 ing the larval and papal periods lives exclu- 

 sively in the water; its cursorial or ambula- 

 torial abilities are very defective, but it is a 

 great swimmer and diver, and when its wings 

 are fully developed it is to a limited extent a 

 good flyer. But "it overrates its strength 

 nor measures well the foe;" hence, it is often 

 "brought to grief" when it ventures abroad; 

 because, when it once falls to the earth it 

 cannot rise ajain, and its legs being oar- 

 shapcd, and used as oars, it can make little 

 progress on dry lau'd. 



It is entirely carniverous in its habits, and 

 although destitute of mouth and teet it has a 

 powerful sectorial apparatus with which it 

 pierces the bodies of other animals and ab- 

 sorbs their fluids. It has long been known to 

 destroy small fishes and sometimes infests 

 fish ponds and preys upon the fry. 



The flying abroad is said to be during the 

 nuptial season, when the sexes meet and pro- 

 vide for the continuation of the species. 



Its systematic position in insect cassifica- 

 tionis in the order Ilemiptera (Half-wings) 

 because its elytroe or wing-covers are not 

 wholly coriaceous, or leathery, but on the con- 

 trary the apical portions are membranaceous. 

 This order includes the odoriferous "squash- 

 bug," the "chinchbug," and many other 

 pestiferous suctorials. Still, there are some 

 individuals in it that prey upon many of our 

 noxious species of insects, and hence they may 

 be tolerated. 



TOMATO HORN-WORM. 



Miss S. S. L. and others. — The large green 

 worm with diagonal whitish .stripes along the 

 sides, and a horn on the back near the hinder 

 end, is the larva of Sphinx (Macrosila) Caro- 

 lina, the same that also infests the tobacco 

 plant, the potato, the egg-plant, etc; and the 

 little white follicles that stud the entire 

 bodies of tliem, are cocoons of a small Hymen- 

 opterous parasite, that infests them (Jiicro- 

 yuster congrerjata) and which has a very pecu- 

 liar history. The parent, a small four winged 

 fly — deposits her eggs on or in the worm, and as 

 soon as they are hatched they penetrate the 

 body of the worm and feed upon its sub- 

 stance. When they are mature they issue 

 from the body of the worm, and each one 

 spins a small white cocoon, that resembles a 

 grain of rice. After a few days in the pupal 

 state the fly is evolved, cuts off the upper end 

 and issues forth a small fly, like the parent, 

 and is soon ready to repeat the operation on 

 some other worm. A worm so infested, 

 rarely, if ever, has strength to effect its usual 

 transformations. Even if it should be able to 

 go into the ground and assume the pupal 

 form it would be hardly able to change to a 

 moth. The worm usually dies with its 

 hooked feet firmly fixed in the plant, without 

 the ability to disengage them, and as we have 

 found the dried carcass of the worm with the 

 cocoons on it so suspended during the winter 

 season, it is very probable that those that 

 evolve late in the season hibernate in that 

 condition during the winter, and thus perpet- 

 uate the species the following season. It is 

 possible that those which may be carried 

 under ground in the body of the worm, would 

 hibernate there and come forth the following 

 spring. Be this as it m.ay, it is very certain 

 that they are in some manner carried from 

 one season to another, for as often as the host 

 occurs, the parasites are also present. These 

 little insects may therefore be esteemed as 

 friends, for, if the horn-worm is a female, 

 they at least prevent the generation of as 

 many horn-worms as tlie female would de- 

 posit eggs, which frequently amounts to two 

 or three hundred if not more. 



GOLDSMITH-BEETLE. 



Gebmantown, July 24, 1882. 



Peof. Bathvon— Dear Sir: A large bronze 

 and black beetle has been sent to me, with a 

 blackberry on which it was preying. The 

 account is tliat these were on a cluster eating 

 the fruit, and that they came out of the ground, 

 mounted the stalk and began feasting. I 

 know from this you have a very poor basis to 

 say anything, unless the beetle is a familiar 

 acquaintance. But if you have leisure plea.se 

 tell me iu brief what you know, if anythino-. 

 _. Very Truly, P. B. F. 



We have answered what we supposed the 

 insect alluded to in the above, may have been, 

 notwithstanding the paucity of the descrip- 

 tion ; but, since that au.swer was written, Mr. 

 John Thomas, of East Orange street, Lan- 

 caster city, sent us three specimens of the 

 commmi "Goldsmith Beetle," (Oymnetis 

 nitida) wliich he captured in the act of feast- 

 ing upon his peaches. He found as many as 

 five on a single peach, fairly wallowing in 

 percican luxury, and never abandoning it 

 until the whole pulp of the fruit was devoured 

 except the "skin aud bone," (stone). 



This is nothing new for master goldsmith. 



We have observed it on many occasions di>- 

 ring the last fifty years or more, but never in 

 sufficient numbers to create any special alarm. 

 We are inclined to believe also that the in- 

 sect alluded to in the above note was either 

 the goldsmith, or a nearly allied species; 

 because we have found both, on rare occa- 

 sions, feeding on the blackberry; and both 

 are developed from a "white grub-worm" 

 that lives under ground, and feeds upon the 

 roots and tubers of vegetables. 



About the Jirst insect the average country 

 or village boy observes, on terra firina, is the 

 "Tumble-dung" (Caiii/wn ?cecis)and the second 

 is the "Goldsmith;" and, whatever may have 

 been the character or quality of the sport, the 

 boy that had not "flyed" a goldsmith, with a 

 thread tied to one of his hind legs, would 

 have been considered no "great shakes." 



It is the absence of this positive recogni- 

 tion by the writer of the above note, which 

 alone involves the subject in doubt. 



In an editorial "Eemark" the writer of the 

 above states that the Goldsmith "fills the 

 bill." 



THE ENGLISH SPARROWS. 



The papers complain of the injurious habits 

 of the English sparrows, showing that they 

 drive other small birds away. It is plain that 

 they are becoming a nuisance. One farmer in 

 Canada says there are about five thousand of 

 them upon his farm, and liave done great 

 harm in eating up his corn and barley and 

 other productions of the ground. Our good 

 wife complains that they clestroy many of her 

 garden products. Shall this evil be permitted 

 to continue':* Is there a law to protect the 

 Uttle depredators? If there is, let it be re- 

 pealed, and let the boys have the privilege of 

 trapping and shooting them, and there will 

 soon be a lessening of their numbers. I 

 would suppose they would be a nice morsel for 

 the breakfast table for those who have a love 

 for little birds to eat. — J. F. W., Lancaster. 

 Aug, 10, 1882. 



Our views on the " English Sparrow " have 

 been given at length in vol. 14, page 17 of the 

 Farmer, and it is hardly necessary to repeat 

 tliem here. They are doubtless protected 

 under the laws protecting other birds, so far 

 es they are insectivorous, but we do not con- 

 sider the sparrow as legitimately belonging to 

 this class ; and therefore, its introduction and 

 domestication here was a mistake. 



Mr. Kdouard Ferris, of France, says, 

 "the peasents of Lombardy prepare nesting 

 places for the sparrows and then destroy the 

 nests." This might be a good plan to eflfect 

 their ultimate extinction here, without a re- 

 peal of the laws. Prevent their procreation, 

 and their sires and dams will eventually die of 

 old age. Tlie same authority says, "the spar- 

 row is a pillager who carries on his depreda- 

 tions in the harvest-field, in the garden, in the 

 granary, and among the ripe grapes on our 

 trellises; and I cannot join in the kind of 

 wor.ship paid him by certain persons more 

 credulous of his pretended utility than struck 

 by his instinct of rapine and waste." As we 

 may refer to this able essay on some future 

 occasion again, it is only neces.sary to add at 

 this time, that the above characteristics of the 

 sparrow are being loudly echoed from various 

 parts of the county. True, his character 

 may sometimes be tradueed,but there maybe 

 a well founded suspicion of the innocence of 

 one, whom everybody deems guilty. 



