8? 



THE LOCUST HISPA. 



(Odontota dor sails, Oliver.*} 



This beetle was extremely plentiful on the locust leaves at the 

 time the investigation was being made, as many as eight were fre- 

 quently found on a single leaf. The beetle is about one-fourth of 

 an inch long, yellowish above with a black head and black stripe 

 along the back. They are rough and ridgy above; but smooth and 

 shining black beneath. They probably appear in May or June when 

 they deposit their eggs on the under side of the leaf, which hatch 

 into small grubs that burrow into the leaves and feed upon the sub- 

 stance beneath the surface; forming blisters near the edges which 

 usually extend to the mid-rib. When these grubs or larvae become 

 full grown, they resemble e Fig. i, as seen in the microscope. They 

 then change within the blister to the pupa form which the beetles 

 soon emerge, and feed on the surface of the remaining unaffected 

 leaves, The blisters formed by the larvae of this insect, the leaves 

 skeletonized by the beetle, together with the blisters formed by 

 other leaf mining larvae, cause the leaves to turn brown, wither and 

 fall. 



By referring to my notes and collections, I find that this beetle 

 and another belonging to the same genus represented at Fig. 2, were 

 taken feeding on the leaves of the locust, at Morgantown, June roth 

 and at Kanawha Station, June i6th. 



While this_ insect has been known to Entomologists for a number 

 of years, and has been frequently reported as doing damage to locust 

 trees in different parts of the country, especially in the Middle States; 

 very little has been written on the subject, at least as far as is at 

 present accessible to me. It is my intention to make a complete 

 study of the habits of this insect the coming summer, and endeavor 

 to find, if possible, a remedy in its parasites and natural enemies. 



Like the plum curculio, it is the habit of this beetle to fall to the 

 ground when alarmed, and in the case of valued shade trees, it may 

 be possible to destroy them by the jarring process which is so suc- 

 cessful with the curculio. Their habit of feeding on the upper sur- 

 face of the leaves would make it easy to treat them by spraying the 

 trees with poison liquid. While it may be possible to successfully 

 destroy these insects by jarring and spraying sufficient to preserve 

 the foliage of a few valued shade trees, such a remedy could not be 

 applied to those of the forest and field. This insect alone will prob- 

 ably do no more harm than to mar the beauty of the locust as a 

 shade and forest tree, yet combined with other and na ore destructive 

 insects found preying upon the trees, may result in a complete de- 

 struction of the locust timber, which if so, would cause a loss of not 

 only thousands but millions of dollars to the State. It is therefore 

 of the greatest importance that a thorough investigation should be 

 made of the locust tree insects to find if possible a practical, natural 

 or artificial remedy against their ravages, 



