1 894-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. I43 



DEPARTMENT OF EGONOMIG ENTOMOLOGY. 



Edited by Prof. JOHN B. SMITH, Sc D., New Brunswick, N. J. 



"A strange Worm on a Grapevine." — A singular worm was picked from 

 -a leaf of a <i:rapevine yesterday by an aged gentleman, and was shown to 

 a number of people who have seen all sorts of worms, but who never 

 before beheld a worm like unto this. The creature was brought to the 

 Call office for exhibition and description. The worm is about two inches 

 and a half in length and a third of an inch in thickness. The color re- 

 sembles the underside of a grape leaf. The head is quite large in pro- 

 portion to the body and contains a large bright eye set in the forehead. 

 The worm has fourteen very short feet and walks backward, the tail being 

 ■erected and having the intelligent motions of a head. The motions of 

 the body are quick and sinuous, and the feet have a remarkable strength 

 in adhering to objects. The most singular feature of the worm,, however, 

 consists of a number of small white points sticking out from its body and 

 sides like quills on the fretful porcupine. These are probable cocoons 

 containing the young of the species. — From the Newark Sunday Call. 



"Grass-eating Insects." — Bulletin No. 64 of the Cornell Experiment 

 Station makes a departure in the character of publications issued by Ex- 

 permient Stations. The work is entitled, " A synopsis of the species of 

 Cranibus of the Ithaca fauna," and it is a thesis in Entomology by Mr. 

 E. P. Felt. The Bulletin covers rather more than fifty pages and is partly 

 popular, but much more technical. There are described first, the general 

 habits of the species of Cranibus and the remedies to be used against them 

 as a whole. Following we have a synopsis of twenty-seven species, based 

 first upon the markings and afterward upon the sexual characters, fhis 

 again is followed by special notes on certain of the species in which there 

 is an extremely generalized description of the insects, and a great deal 

 more detailed description in many cases of the early stages, together with 

 records of captures, etc. Finally, we have notes on the affinities of the 

 species, a very complete bibliographical list in which also geographical 

 distribution of the species is given, and a series of fourteen plates illus- 

 trating venation, the sexual characteristics, certain egg shapes and the 

 wing maculation of the twenty-seven species. To the farmer the Bulletin 

 will be of little value, principally because the character of the publication 

 will prevent him from reading it, and it was not written primarily with the 

 interest of the farmer in view. From the scientific standpoint the infor- 

 mation contained in the Bulletin is very decidedly interesting, and it is a 

 distinct contribution to our knowledge of these insects. There is much 

 that is original in the observations made, and of course the studies on 

 sexual structure, venation, etc., are original, and probably accurate. The 

 work will be an extremely useful one to entomologists, and it brings up 

 again the question that I have already mentioned on previous occasions 



