232 



THE POMOLOGIST i^ND GARDENER. 



1871 



fields known to be infested, and to rake out of the 

 fence rows all rubbish and submit it also to the fire. 

 By this kind of management the numbers of the 

 chinch bug will be greatly reduced, so much so that 

 their ravages will be materially lessened. Clean 

 farming appears in all cases, to be a pre-requisite to 

 success, and so far as insects are concerned, it holds 

 good, as well as for the growth and developement 

 of grains, fruits and roots. 



On account of the disagreeable odor possessed by 

 the chinch bug, birds as a general rule, do not prey 

 upon them very ravenously, if we except the Par- 

 tridge—the common Quail. This bird almost lives 

 on them when it can get them. And for this rea- 

 son they are now protected by law, which law 

 should never go out of force, but be made more 

 stringent than it now is. 



Splned Soldier-Bng.— ylrma Splnosa Dallas. 



Ed. Pomologist and Gardener : — Not being 

 an entomologist, I send you some bugs, beetles, or 

 " varmints " for a name — and they are worthy of a 

 first class name, for they are death to the potato 

 bugs— commencing as soon as they deposit their 

 eggs, and follow tliem until they disappear in the 

 fall. 



I hope you will give a description of them in 

 your Pomologist, with illustrations, that people 

 may know and protect them and not destroy them 

 with the potato bug. I have watched them for the 

 last two years — they will hold a full grown potato 

 bug in their bill or proboscis and eat him up in a 

 very short time. 



They are increasing very fast. I find a dozen 

 this year where I found one last year. I hope they 

 will be a great help to the farmer and gardener in 

 destroying those pests. 



S. D. Redfibld. 



Vinton, Bento?i Co., loiea'. 



Remarks. — The bugs you send are fine specimens 

 of one of our best insect friends — the Spined Sol- 

 dier-Bdg, known to science as the Arnut Spinosa, 

 of Dallas. He is a true bug, half winged — Heterop- 

 tera, and belongs to an extensive group— the Scut- 

 ellera family, and may easily, without 

 the use of a microscope, be easily dis- 

 tinguished from all others on account 

 of the large size of the scutel, which 

 is triangular, and covers nearly half of 

 his back. This genera of bugs furnish- 

 es a larger number of plant feeders than cannibal 

 feeders; there is however, in it a sub-group — Spis- 

 airostres, to which our cannibal friend belongs, the 

 greatest distinguishing feature between which is 

 that the cannibal, or bug eat bug sub-group have 



robust beaks, while 

 the plant-eaters have 

 beaks more delicate. 



The most general 

 color of this insect is 

 dull-olive with yellow 

 markings, although 

 we have seen speci- 

 mens of an ash-gray, 

 and of green color, al- 

 most entirely f r e e 

 from any yellow 

 markings. The wing 

 covers or anterior pig. 2. 



wings of the A. Spinosa are spinous, hard, and small 

 for a bug of its size, with about one-third on the tip 

 and iridescent, the remaining portion presenting a 

 beautiful opaque olive, horny or shell like appear- 

 ance. The posterior wings when seen, by remov- 

 ing the anterior ones, are also iridescent, and look 

 like the finest of tissue paper, of an a.sh-gray color, 

 so fine that they as well as the tip*^ of the anterior 

 wings are transparent. 



As early as the year 1864 we noticed the subject 

 of these remarks preying on the Colorado potato 

 beetle — Doryphm-a 10-Uneata, and it has to our cer- 

 tain knowledge been on the increase ever since. It 

 however, does not prey on the D. 10-lineata alone, 

 but has been known to attack 1 he "Wild Bee — A7i- 

 (irena ; the native American Gooseberry Saw-fly — 

 Pristiphora Grossuln/rio' ; the Locus — Cicada, and 

 when the Colorado gentlemen have become scarce 

 in the potato field, it attacks the Lady-Bird — Coccin- 

 ella Q-?iotala. 



For the benefit of our horlicnltural and farmer 

 readers we present engravings that will enable 

 them to readily recognize and protect this most use- 

 ful enemy of the potato bug. 

 Fig. 1. The bug natural size. 

 Fig. 2. The bug magnified and in the act of stab- 

 bing the larviE of a potato bug. 



In our remarks we have said this insect has a 

 more robust beak than the i>Iant-feeders belonging 

 to the same genera ; this beak it turns back under 

 it when at rest, but has the power ol thrusting it 

 forward when it desires to make war upon other 

 members of the insect world, inserting it into its 

 prey, and extracts from them their life's blood, and 

 leaves the hard parts to dry. The beak is com- 

 posed of four sections, or joints, the first joint com- 

 mencing at the head, is longer than any of the oth- 

 er three ; but in the plant feeder, most liable to be 

 confounded with tlie A. S2yino.ia — the large Bkown 

 Squasu-Bug — GariVK Tristia, the second joint of tlie 

 beak is much longer than any of tlie other three 

 joints of its beak. 



