1871 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST,. 



109 



^ntomologg. 



Dn. S. H. KniDELBAuau, Editor, Clakinda, Iowa. 



0B^Rend in- the IxsECTJ*. — Dr. R. is chairman of tin* Com- 

 mittee on Entomology for the State Iloiticnltural Society, 

 and would take it as a favor to be furnislied witli i^pecimcnri 

 of insects from the various localities of the State, by mail 

 durin.? thi*-year. Those sending will plea«e state all tliey 

 know "concerning: the habits of tne iussects tscnt : what they 

 are found feeding on, etc. 



More about the Canker TVorm.—In Answer. 



Mr. James Redpath, a correspondent of the Hoine- 

 tUfid, of the 3d of March, denies the practicability 

 of destroying the canker worm by the use of the 

 soft, sticky bands around the bodies of the trees, 

 and asserts tliat the male "frequently carries the fe- 

 male from near the ground, to a place of his own 

 selection for the deposit of her eggs." He also says 

 we intimate that the moths live fourteen or fifteen 

 weeks. 



Mr. R.'s experience with this great orchard pest 

 differs from all others of which we have any knowl- 

 edge, in one particular. He asserts that the male 

 "frequently carries the female trom near the ground 

 to a place of his own selection for the deposit of 

 her eggs." Now, we would like to know how Mr. 

 R. knows all this to be true ? Would it not be a 

 big job for an insect which is much smaller, to car- 

 ry one at least one third heavier than itself from 

 near the ground into the branches of a tree? We 

 fear our friend has been misled, as many others 

 have been, by not commencing his work of destruc- 

 tion early enough, and because he has not captured 

 all the females in his bands of tar, if he used them, 

 and wc presume he did, he has come to the conclu- 

 sion that the male conveys the female into the tree. 



As to the other error he saj'S we intiniatcd, we 

 have to say : Our friend must remember that the 

 moth of the canker worm commences hatching late 

 in autumn, and continues, all through the winter, 

 and until about the middle of May ; but the great- 

 est number of them hatch from the middle of 

 March to the first of Ma.y. 



As those hatched in Autumn and during the first 

 two winter months are liable to perish, it may be 

 tolerably safe to commence the use of the soft, 

 sticky bands about the body of the trees the first of 

 February, and continue until the middle of May. 

 Hence wc spoke as we did, having no reference, 

 however, to the length of the natural life time of 

 the moth. 



Why would it not do to omit scraping and burn- 

 ing eggs, if white wash kills all the missing ones? 

 Why not white wash at once and be done with the 

 pests ? 



'What Insects Do. 



Prof. Lattimore, in an article to the American 

 Rural Home thinks a true knowledge of ento- 

 mology may well be said to be in its infancy, and 

 in support of this position saj's : "The cabbage- 

 butterfly, recently introduced from Europe, is esti- 

 mated to destroy annually $250,000 worth of cab- 

 bages in the vicinity of Quebec. The Hessian fly, 

 according to Dr. Fitch, destroyed $15,000,000 worth 

 of wheat in one year. The army-worm of the 

 North, which was so abundant in 18G1, from New 

 England to Kansas, was reported to have done 

 damage in Eastern Massachusetts alone, exceeding 

 half a million of dollars. The joint-worm alone 

 sometimes cuts off whole fields of grain in Virginia 

 and Northward. The Colorado potato-beetle is 

 steadily moving eastward, now ravaging the fields 

 in Indiana, and only the forethought and ingenuity 

 in devising means of checking its progress, result- 

 ing from a thorough knowedge of its habits, will 

 deliver our wa.sted fields, from its destructive rava- 

 ges." 



Caterpillars. — Those who do not wish to have 

 their trees disfigured by the tent caterpillars should 

 attend to the matter through this month. On small 

 trees the clusters of these embryo insects maj' be 

 easily detected. They look like a bandage about 

 three fourth of an inch in length around the .small 

 twigs, of a brownish cast. They are easily removed 

 by the thumb and finger, without marring the 

 twig. On very large trees this method of riddance 

 is impracticable. Watch for the first appearance of 

 the web, and with a pole in hand with the top end 

 splintered, thrust it into the web and wind it up, 

 worms and all. 



The Willow for Honet. — A correspondent of 

 the Rural New Yorker writing from California says : 

 "The willow, of different species, the evergreen 

 oak, and cottonwood as well, produce much sac- 

 charine matter, and when run through the laboratory 

 of the honey bee is converted into fine honey. 

 The heads and horns of our domestic animals to- 

 day are besmeared with the honey dews, as they 

 are driven among the brushwood by drouth and 

 troublesome flies here in California. I have known 

 empty hives to be filled with good honey in the 

 month of January, collected from the willow 

 mostly." 



Tent Caterpillars. 



As soon as the necessary cuts can be made, arti- 

 cles will be published in this department, giving 

 the Natural History of both Cli&ioamipa Americana, 

 and C'lisiontriijia Syhiitica. 



