AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 409 



producing 30,000 maggots. I. am opposed to the destruction of 

 beetles with one exception, because they consume an immense 

 amount of decomposing vegetable matter, which, were it not for 

 them, would destroy the air we breathe. I cherish wasps, because 

 they put an end to the existence of countless thousands of spiders 

 and other similar insects. The tiger beetle should on no account 

 be destroyed, from the fact that it is the enemy of all living 

 insects, and kills indiscriminately. Hornets, dragon flies and 

 ants should be protected, as the earth would be overrun with 

 insocts were it not for them. Many insects show great instinct in 

 choosing a proper place fjr the deposit of their eggs, where they 

 will not only be protected from the attacks of their foes but 

 from the effects of tempestuous weather. When the mosquito 

 lays her eggs she balances herself on water, and as they drop 

 catches them between her hind, legs, which are so positioned as 

 to represent a triangle. Here they are formed into an oblong, 

 concave shape, numbering about 350 eggs, which is finally dropped 

 into Ihe water, and there sails about for a certain period, when 

 they liatch, descend below the surface, and remain until they 

 undergo transformation, and finally become the pests of mankind. 



The excepted beetle belongs to the family of the Buprestidae, 

 and is, when full grown, half an inch long, striped brown and 

 white, and generally Hies after sunset. It is the progenitor of 

 the apple-borer, and deposits its egg near the root of the tree, 

 about the middle of June. It prefers a bruised spot where the 

 bark has become partially decayed. The grub resembles a tad- 

 pole, having a large body and head, and grows to the size of an 

 inch in length. It preys upon the tender wood and minor bark, 

 and leaves a track of dust behind it by which its course may be 

 easily followed. They sometimes remain several years in a tree 

 before assuming the beetle form. They are frequently introduced 

 into different sections of country by the importation of nursery 

 trees. I have often found them, and never plant without criti- 

 cally examining such before planting. A vigorous growing tree 

 is seldom selected by the beetles, nor will they attack a tree that 

 has been carefully scraped in May and washed with a preparation 

 made as follows : four pounds of soft-soap, one pound of powdered 

 sulphur, half a pound of strong tobacco, diluted with boiling 

 water, and applied with a whitewash brush. 



I have always found, in my endeavors to destroy destructive 

 insects by poisons, such as honey, sugar, &c., mixed with arsenic, 

 cobalt and other virulent substances, that my friends have suf- 

 fered likewise. My honey bees have partaken and died. They 



