1884-1 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



87 



va dies in that state, but usually not before 

 the developmeut of tlie juvrasite. At other 

 times the larva is transformed into a pupa, in- 

 closing the parasite in tlie cliange, and subse- 

 quently it issues forth from the dead 2»ipo,. 

 It was under these latter circumstances that 

 ray brown "wasp" was evolved. 



Now, this parasitic wasp does not come forth 

 from the pupa of its host in the orderly evolu- 

 tion which cliaracterizes the transformations 

 of the insect upon which it subsisted— it cuts a 

 round hole through the side, or any wliere else 

 that it is most convenient, and makes its es- 

 cape through that. It, without a doubt, 

 evolves from its own pupa; in an orderly man- 

 ner, but after it is freed from its own pupal 

 shell it avails itself of the only means it has to 

 reach the outer world. And here allow me 

 to suggest that a writer in the Schnol Journal 

 for March, 1SS4, on the transformation of an 

 insect, does not sec "through a glass clearly" 

 when he or she states that a PoZ.i/p/ic>»MS moth 

 evolves from its pupa case through a vest-like 

 fold on the breast. I have always found the 

 breast or sltrnum of the pupa shell intact, and 

 a dorsal suture or cleft through which the in- 

 closed insect had emerged. Sometimes there 

 are also lateral clefts near the point of emerg- 

 ence, and there are also frequently transverse 

 clefts, but they are all dorsal— that is, on the 

 back of the thorax. In some small insects 

 whicli have a delicate pupal covering, we ver/ 

 often find the whole anterior end of tlie pupa 

 pushed off. It often occurrs in the Papilians 

 or butterflies, that after the escape of the in- 

 sect the suture closes again, and but for the 

 light weight and color, a novice could hardly 

 tell whether the imaoo had vacated the prem- 

 ises or not. Under"durance vile" this order- 

 ly process of development may possibly be re- 

 versed, but that is not the normal process. 



The brown parasitic wasp referred to I long 

 subsequently learned was named Tragus fulvus 

 and belongs to a very different order of insects 

 from that of the butterfly upon which it preys. 

 The generic name is from a Greek term — 

 Trodil — which means a cavern or hole, and 

 the specific name relates to its color, whicli is 

 a light brown or rust color. It is not the larg- 

 est, but it is one of the largest of our parasitic 

 species, and very properly called an "Ichneu- 

 mon fly." Tliese Ichneumons perform a very 

 important function in tlie economy of nature. 

 Some of them are an inch and a-half or more 

 in length, and some of them are so very small 

 that they find sufllcient to subsist upon and 

 complete their development within the cavity 

 of an insect's egg that is barely visible to the 

 naked eye. I presume that you are all ac- 

 quainted with the Egyptian Iclineumon, . 

 ■which belongs to the class Mammalia, and to 

 the order Carnaria and family carnivora of 

 Cuvier, of which there are many genera and 

 species. The typical Egyptian species was 

 named by LinuiEiis, Viverra ichneumon; but 

 Cuvier refers it to genus Mangusta. These 

 animals are celebrated for their combats with 

 the most dangerous serpents, and for having 

 lead to the discovery of a plant (Ophiorhiza 

 mungas) as an antidote to the venom of those 

 serpents. Tliey are particularly destructive 

 to the eggs of the crocodile, to lizzards.to rats 

 and mice, to serpents of all kinds, and they 

 are vigilant in their pursuit of them, killing 

 a hundred times more than they consume ; 



but the story of their entering the throat of 

 the crocodile in order to destroy it is quite 

 fabulous, although they do frequently destroy 

 the young or immature ones. Notwithstanding 

 this bloodtliirsty characteristic they are said to 

 be capable of domestication, become playful, 

 and learn to recognize theirdomicilesand their 

 masters ; but wo betide the snake, lizzard, 

 rat, mouse or other taboed animal that visits 

 the house. A distinguished writer says : " It 

 presents a lively image of a benevolent power 

 perpetually engaged in tlie service of man, by 

 destroying those noisome and dangerous rep- 

 tiles which are the pests of hot and humid 

 climates." When we contemplate the fearful 

 statistics of the deaths by serpents in the 

 East Indies every year, we may imagine 

 what it would be if it were not for 

 the ichneumons. Now, these are approxi- 

 mately the characteristics of our parasitic, or 

 ichneumon flies, in their relations to the insect 

 world, and to the human family. They are 

 constantly on the keen lookout for some insect 

 or insect larva upon which, or in which to de- 

 posit their eggs, and an insect so infested 

 will never be able to perpetuate its species. 

 There is no nidus into which these insects 

 would deposit their eggs save a living one. If 

 the host were to perish before the maturity of 

 the parasite the latter would also perish, il it 

 ^Ould not betake itself to another living body. 

 How nimble and intelligent they seem a 

 moment after they come into this outer world. 

 I have witnessed a small species (Microgaster 

 congregata) to the number 100 evolving from 

 the body of a single " Horn-worm," [Macro, 

 silla Carolina) and after seemingly leering me 

 for a moment they appeared to indicate that 

 I need not trouble myself in instructing them 

 in the ways of the world, for they knew all 

 about it. A redundancy of the insect popu- 

 lation is always annoying and often very de- 

 structive, but no human calculation can esti- 

 mate what it might be if there were no para- 

 sitic insects, and especially no Ichneumon flics. 



One more remark and I have done for the 

 present. I am often asked the question — Why 

 it is, that a certain insect only appears every 

 seventeen years, whereas other species of the 

 same genus appear everg year. Well, I can- 

 not tell, any more than I can tell why it re- 

 quires the "Century-plant" so much longer 

 time to develope its bloom, than it does a cab- 

 bage plant. Botli arc perhaps physological 

 questions, contingent upon physical develop- 

 ment. 



On one occasion I procured and reared to 

 maturity, about a dozen specimens of Pajnlio 

 asterias, in order to get good specimens, all of 

 which transformed to chrysalids within about 

 12 hours, occurring during the last quarter of 

 Juno. About the middle of July following 

 five butterflies evolved, and about a month 

 later three others. Of the remaining four 

 one evolved in September, two near the end of 

 May in the following year, and the last one 

 in the month of June next thereafter. As 

 the conditions were all the same, so far as I 

 could recognize them, 1 cannot explain tliis 

 irregular development. It may have been a 

 necessary provision, under the circumstances, 

 for the perpetuation of the species, and it may 

 have been contingent upon their artificial 

 surroundings. 



Mr. John Best, of this city, on one occa- 



sion, brought me a wood-boring beetle (Hylo- 

 trupes) that must have been in the pine wood 

 drawers and bottom of a sewing machine box 

 for a period of fourteen or fifteen years ; for, 

 it was heard down to only a month previous 

 to its ultimate discovery. lie possessed the 

 machine about sixteen years, and the eggs or 

 larvaj must have been in the pine wood before 

 the manufacture of the box, the outside of 

 which was hard well-sea.soncd walnut. How 

 long it would have reipiired for the develop- 

 ment of this beetle in a state of nature is more 

 than I can say, but I had been in the habit of 

 capturing the same species of beetle annually, 

 in the month of June, for many years. These 

 are physical anomalies that require the deep- 

 est philosophy to solve ; and yet they are 

 effects that cannot possibly be independent of 

 a cause. From this it will be observed that 

 there is yet a vast field of research that is 

 open to exploration and investigation ; and 

 this must be explored and investigated by the 

 rising generations, and they cannot begin the 

 work too soon, nor pursue it too zealously, nor 

 too jierseveringly. 



Now, from what I have here narrated, you 

 cannot draw a legitimate inference that I in- 

 herited a predilection for natural science; 

 nothing of the kind. I do not think I had 

 ever heard the terms, and I am sure I would 

 not have known what they meant if I had. I 

 am quite sure I had never heard the term 

 "entomology" or any other kind of "ology;" 

 and I am not sure that I had even heard the 

 term "insect." Such names as hornet, wasp, 

 yellow-jacket, bumble-bee, honey-bee, butter- 

 fly, "snake-doctor" (for dragon-fly), blow-fly, 

 shad-fly, cricket, grasshopper, " wooly- 

 wcaver" (for ant-lion) caterpillar, and 

 tumble-bug, including ants and com- 

 mon flies, were quite fiimiliar, and also the ob- 

 jects which these names represented. Doubt- 

 less some men inherit stiong proclivities to- 

 wards certain pursuits, but I don't think I did 

 for the natural sciences. Ijpng trivally spent 

 years intervened between those eaily observa- 

 tions, and the subsequent period when I be- 

 gan to take an interest in natural science. It 

 formulated itself this wise : Seated upon the 

 shop-board on a summer day, about five and 

 forty years ago, with a window ojiening on a 

 garden full of weeds, the blooming umbel of a 

 wild parsnip plant resting on the sill of the 

 window, I noticed a great variety of insects 

 visiting the plant, then flying away and soon 

 returning again. I was perfectly astonished 

 at the number and variety. I had previously 

 been reading "St. Piere's Studies of Nature," 

 in one of which he had related a similar ob- 

 servation, having noticed thirty species 

 of insects visiting a single plant during a sin- 

 gle day. Said I to myself, "I will see how 

 many different kinds of insects will visit this 

 plant in a day," and forthwith I commenced 

 capturing and impaling them on common pins 

 and needles, and as I proceeded I became fired 

 with a sort of enthusiasm; especially as the 

 number far exceeded that of St. Piere; al- 

 though I subsequently discovered tliat the dif- 

 ferentations were largely varietal and sexual. 

 These insects were mainly Hymenoptera and 

 Diptera, the former having four membraneous 

 wings and the latter only two. A few, but 

 only a few were Coleoptera, otherwise named 

 beetles or shield-winged insects. Without 



