THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



57 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



X\vig:s aiuputatcd by soiuc uukuoivu aui- 



mal.— Geo. BurnHde, South Fass, III. — It is ii iJcrfei't 

 mystery to us what animal has girdled the twigs which 

 you seud, so that they break entirely oft" and tail to the 

 ground, or for what purpose it should operate in this 

 sin^iilar manner. We had heard a good deal from 

 various fruit-growers In the South about twigs being 

 amputated in this way, and had always hitherto sup- 

 posed it was done by some lan'a allied to the well- 

 known Oak-pnmer, (Elaphidion pidntor. Peck), Which 

 cuts off the twig in which it i-csidc-s W.vp the part which 

 it inhabits, and thereby f:ills rviiituallv, twig and all, 

 to the ground, like the'lii~l]iii:iii tliat ^:iwed off close to 

 the trunk the limb on wliii li lir was sitting. But your 

 twgs are evidently, as you remark, girdled from the 

 outside, and not cut oSinside the bark, which is the 

 manner In which the Oak-pruner operates. And bo- 

 sides, one of the two twigs sent miinifestlv grew ahoee 



the point wliere the sii'illini;- took plarr. anil vd it - 



tains no larva ami no llol■ill^•s. a> it mi^iil |o",| i n,,. 



Oak-pruner tlieorv In nuinr|-nu- aiipl.-lwi- ml 

 off in tliesaiue manner as vour ,■■,..•, iiurn-, wliirli » , 

 ourselves saw at .SuutU i'ass, there i» an eg^ e\rii 

 here and there inserted under the bark in e\civ 

 amputated portion. Hence it would seem that som', 

 insect first deposits its egg in the twig and tie n 

 cuts it off. It would be very desirable to deli, i 

 the culprit in the act of girdling the twig, and if it 

 really is an insect, to forward it for our inspection. If 

 really an insect, it is not improbably some kind of 

 large beetle, and in that event we can only (jucss that 

 itamputato-i the twii. in ordn- lo all'oi-.l a liion- suit- 

 able hat. -liin;.' |il;hr |li|- it^ r---. JUlt ^U.--illj- i- Unl 



knowin-, aiel lailli i- umi ^, ■],']!,: Aiiiilc iwie-. ap- 

 parently aui|iulalr.l u|ioh Ihr -.aiai' luiu.-ipl,' a^ j oui' 

 hickory twigs, weie sent to us two veals ago lioin the 

 State of Mississippi, by M. W. rhilips. 



Twig's grirdled by some animal, — Judc/e 

 Brown, Villa Bidge, Hl.—Tlia pear twigs you send, 

 which have been amputated by some animal or other, 

 and most probably by some insect, are similar to the 

 hickoiy twig sent by Mr. Burnside and noticed in the 

 preceding answer. You say tliat vou have noticed 

 much larger l.nuiehrs on Hie piTsimiiion trie ampu- 

 tJitedintiirsamr inannrr, aiellhal \un liaM- -iipposeil 

 that this was iloiir l,v tlir opn~.inii. in onln- to 'ri at 

 the fruit, of whiili it is Miy ri.n.i. in almost all 



the! 



■ur, hickory, or porsii 

 portion one or nior 

 ng, of an oval shape, 

 , imbedded between 



bers, whether on tie 



find on till' ainpuia 



eggs, about u 1(1 ii„-l 



3j times as long as w 



and the wood." Usu 



a bud, and on some speriiih n, lilnii-i . \ i iv Innl I'm- a 



considerable length is tlm- rinni-lh l. i )ii ilu- othi r 



hand, on the portion of \h.- i-,\ij ihii n maiii^ on Ihr 



tree, we liml no sUrll r— -. Ilcnrr \M. inlrl- II, al 



whether flio work hr ilonr on ihr pn-iimiion. He' hirU- 

 ory, or tin- prar. ii i^ in r\ ,t\ .a-r iloiir l,v s'omr lar,. 

 insect, ami that llir ol.iiri ,,r ihai iii-rrt ill' ampulaliii" 

 the twig or braneh eontainiii-- its r--- i- to kr,-p ilaan 

 moist through the winter, iiy eaii-iiig tlir twig lliat 

 contains theiu to lie on thcgroiiml A\ .rxpi-it loliatrh 

 out some of the eggs ncxtsiiring, wlim wo shall In- al.l.- 

 to speak more positively as totiie s]Hrir> iliat p. iioiia^ 

 this extraordinary work. The eg-- ih, iii-rl\ ,- lia\c 

 the character of those of certain rr/',,' -..iiu- c :,. 

 limum), some of which we know P. li. .!< po ip <| in ii,, 

 autumn, by the mother insect, in tho sPms of woo.ly 

 weeds. But the character of the aniputatioii is rather 

 such as we should e.\pect from some large beetle. 



Parler Earle, South Pau, lU.—Xoui' pear twigs are 

 amputated by the same insect as are those sent by Mr 

 Burnside, and by Judge Brown. 



Hop-vine Caterpillar—//. J. Vimlap, Cham- 

 paign, Ills.— Tlie worms which you send, and which 

 are eating the foliage of tlie hop-vines, are the larv.-e of 

 the Semicolon butterfly. It is spoken of under the 

 head of " Insect foes of the Hop-vine," in answer to 

 Mrs. H. C. Freeman, in number 2 of this journal, 

 page 39. 'I 



"Galls" on leaves of Soft Itlaple. — Zir. A. 



L. Child, GlendaU, Cass Co., Kehr. — The roundish, 

 peduncled , wart-like, green excrescences , mostly on the 

 upper surface of the leaf of the soft maple, and the 

 largest of them only 0.15 inch long, are galls pro- 

 duced by a minute and almost microscopic species of 

 Mite, (.'Imr«s family). There is amueh more elongate, 

 but otherwise very similar gall, that is . rinini.iiih i<iiinil 

 on the leaf of tlie sugar maple, audi- LI :;< iii. l '.'.x i.ii.- 

 tinct species of mite. To the fonm i l : :, ,. :\rn 

 themanuscriptnameofMapleroii.il .-i: 



to the latter that of Maple i'ur.se (J ; ; .i u. ,.,:.. i,. X 

 very similar one growing on the leaf of the \Viid riuin 

 has been illustrated and described by the senior editor 

 of this journal, in his First Annual EepoH (p. 43). 

 If you open your maple gall about the end of July or 

 the fore part of August, ami examine it under a high 

 magnifying power, vou h ill liml in it scores of minute, 

 whitish, or pale-rosy y..ung :Mit.s, very duU and slug- 

 gish in their movements wli.ii small, but always of an 



llsori.ginatedbvMil 

 stationing herself o 

 f the leaf, and gr 

 le vegetable matter 



oi-igin. III lea- wano.r- away through the half-open 

 lU'eiih i.t 111.- l.a.;- 1.. r..un.l n..\\- g.alls, or perishes of old 

 a.ge wheiT sho has lai.l lirr rggs. The rough and often 

 woolyscar, wlii-re these white galls lia\i. ..ri-imited, 

 may alwaj's be pLiinly seen on the oppi.-ii. -!.!.■ ..i the 

 leal' to that from which the gall its.li pi-..ji.i- riie 

 subject is a very curious one, but ha- hiili.ito been 

 illustrated Iw no other North American . nloinologists; 

 and but lor the fact of our having ouisel\es paid'par- 

 tieular attention to it, we eould not solve the enigma. 

 I iisisiilly jrall* on (In- t'otlouwood— />r. A. 

 I. ''.''.'. /,'. ...',.'.. .V A - -Till- laig.. scraggj' coxcomb- 



!''■'' -'""",' "lii' .'"t:"ii\\ 1 in .'> which have so in- 



'■I'l-;!'.;' "I t.ii.- > .ar-. lliai i!ii- ii-i .'- begin to lan,a:uish 



the former. The best mode of ridding your trees of 

 these galls is to pluck and burn them upon their first 

 appearance in the summer. 



Insects named— J'. Baxter, JS'auvoo, /«.— What 

 \ . . 1 1 all a • • green cicada ' ' is the Slendermeadow Ka- 

 i\.li.l I iirrhiiimum aracile. Hams), and tlie strange 

 snal>.-hke .animal which came out of its abdomen is the 



bodies of many other oiiTiiiifTi:Knrs in-...-, aii.l we 

 have often obtained it from dill'eiriii >p. . i. , .".r ., ,..- 

 hoppers. The 'Micw Ini" foiiml on ih.' -.'.p.' rin',. ■ • 

 is the Indian Cetonia {.iMo„ia ],„l,i. Ilaiiisj. It is 

 found, at the present time of year, on a number of 

 plants, and is quite p.artial to, sweet fVuits. Dr. War- 

 der mentions it as being very destructive to the peach 

 m Ohio, 



