58 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Tlic Sticte-bug.— ^c/w. F. 

 The long-bodied, long-legi?r. 

 greenisU-brown insects, abou 

 exclusive of tlicir long, skivl 

 eaehoftheia inarly :i> iiiaiiy ii 

 mon Stif1:-h''i I V"' :'.' ■ ■', /. '/,.., 

 best and nm-i :i|i|inipii;iir V.n; 

 they have iW rriii:iiKalilr ha 

 their two front U'-> ami llinr 

 manner that the four loiin api. 

 gate limb projecting linni tlji- 

 and the whole insect. « liirli n 

 fectlv motionless, lo(.ks ixarti 

 ing from the tree on which tin 



lich thc^ creature happens to be 

 wever, a variety of other local 

 names for them: 1st, Prairie Alligators; 2nd, Devil's 

 Horses; ard, Uevil's Darning-needles; and, 4th, Wood 

 Horses. The tirst of these foiu- names is very inappro- 

 priate, because their home is. not the prairie but the 

 woods. The second is more prnpcrly given ti> the Rear- 

 horse, or Camel-cricket (i/«////s .■,in'li,i,( . Linn.), found 

 so abundantly in South Illinois, Mi-oiui. ami other 

 southern regions, and wliirh i- a \n-.\~\ oiincy iicMdiar 

 to the .South, while iKir Stirl.-l,ii- i> .a.ninion .-vcry- 

 wherein the Western Stat.^s, an<l i< noi a .aunilial Imt 

 a leaf-eater. The third nann i- nioir |m niliaily ap- 

 proprhated by the little Dragon-llirs.,r-Mo>.inito-luiwks. 

 with bodies only the size of a stout pin. and often col- 

 ored with the most brilliant idtraniarine blue (./;///..// 

 fiuuily). that flit sluggishly among aquatic hcrliago ui 

 search of the various small tlh-. and gnals upon wliiili 



theyprey. The fourth name'. ■ • \\' l-lioi-,.' ' i-only 



objectionable, because it niiglil l.r Ju-t a- a|>i>roiiria|rly 

 given to dozens of other largo in>r,ts lliat air rxcln- 

 sively found in the woods — the common ( aUilid, ioi- 

 example. As to the habits of the "Mirk-lni^," ' \\r 

 have already said that he is a vegetablo-lr,.l( i , ami. 

 therefore, to a certain extent injurious, liv ih \ oui ing 

 the leaves of the trees and shrulis wln.li lir inhalnls; 



insects; am 

 every Cucui 

 lies in our \ 

 kill this intc 

 to the popu 

 can still- li 

 error llo , 



did \\i- wantonly maim or 

 naloii^ lilllr laTa'turc. As 

 lliat 111' i- poi...nious, .and 



are indistinguishable in color from the females. 



IVoolly lice on the BcccU— i^. //. Guiwits, 

 Clintuii, Mich. — The curious woolly lice which are in- 

 festing the terminal twigs of the lifp.-b. ami which, as 

 you remark " have a -li-ano' 'I'l'li -iT o'lioinally wag- 

 ging their tails up and .loMi. !.;■ Ill I ill' wingless 

 state, belong to tlir umu- i liis spi'cies 



s tL, ^ , 



both on the tvcigs and leaves of the 



The Sliecp-bot or W.ca.A-vaa.^^ot.— 'Ro'h. W. 



Scott, Frankfm-t, .&.— You send us papers, in which, 

 as you remark , "the opinion is expressed bjr a veteran 

 observer, that the .Sheep-bot ((Edrus ovis, Linn.) pro- 

 duces its young .alive:" and. thinking that this is not 

 the noi-mal habit of tlio insect, vou ask our opinion on 

 the subject. KuroiM-aii entomologists, including 

 KoUar, who wrote >iMrially uixni injurious insects, 

 assert positively that the female .Sheep-botfly "lays her 

 eggs in the nostrils of the sheep , whence the larvie creep 

 up into the frontal sinus." (KoUar, p. 62.) On the 

 other hand, we have been personally assured by Mr. 

 Dan. Kelly, of Wheaton, DuPage co.. Ills., that he 

 reared these flies from the grub under a tumbler, and 

 that, when opened, the fly had, not eggs, but living 

 larvKln her body. Moreover, Mr. Cockrill, in the 

 very excellent article on wool-growing, which you have 

 cut out for us from the Pij-ie Fanner, asserts that he 

 "has opened thr^o tlii's. wlien after the sheep, and 

 found over 3IW livr, moving worms in ONE of them." 

 And we have al^o luin a^-^l•od by several intelligent 

 sheep-growers in the \\'c.-t, that all the female flies that 

 they had examined contained not eggs, but living 

 larva;. AVe think that these ai)parentry contradictory 

 statements may be easily reconciled. Many flesh-flies, 

 or blow-flies, as they are commonly called, if they can 

 not find any suitable iniat or carrion of any kind to lay 

 their cu^is on. rrtain tlio-o lu-gs so long in their bodies 

 that thoy actually liat.-h tln-mout into living larvae, as 

 wi' havc'inusrh r- iiiicatidiy remarked. Yet the nor- 

 mal habit oi' ihc-c -aiiic ilii'^'i^ to lav eggs. In thesame 



way w iccivc thai tlir iiormal'liahit ot the Sheep- 



lioi'il\ i^ to lay cuus, ami that it is (.nly when she can 

 noi liml am Vhccp at all to pivv on. lU- when by any 

 incaii^ Nhc is piTMiilrd from rcachin- Ihoii- no-trils, or 

 whrii >lic is coiilincil in a clo>.' \csm1 lor an umlue time 

 a^ ua- piohahly threat' in .Ml-. Kcliv ;- cxpn-inients— 



ami arc soinciiincs dcpositcil afterwards in the form of 

 living larvie, or maggots, in the nostrils of any unfor- 

 tunate sheep that she can come across. 



Licaf-mlncrs of the Iiocnst. — EoU. W. Scott, 

 Friuil-fiirt, 7u/.— The tawny orange beetles, about a 



in August. With you 

 somewhat earlier, aiul it 

 as in the case of other 

 lar Spinner, (Vlnsfeni . 



ids and a broad 

 ir bodies above, 

 k color, are the 

 ///a/n; f.-utellari/i 

 prL i^uttitalis of 

 ibserved by Dr. 

 cs ot the locust, 

 in the latitude 

 luing to beetles 

 lid probably be 

 iiprobable that, 

 ample the Pop - 

 n-is), you may 

 M ly year doWU 



I- iheic is but a 

 ■He- lia\i' eaten 

 ■lion -o severely 

 miallv to injure 

 add tiiat "they 

 "' Inallproba- 

 ■d to a consider- 

 lincipal damage 



killing them. 



beating the beetles oU tin 



to two distinct genera 

 Leaf-hoppers whidi y 

 Of one species \ ou - 

 other three; ami yon 

 by the very ditl'e 



-Rich. Parnell, Queens 

 distinct species belonging 

 d up together in the lot of 

 il as infecting early celery. 

 nir siieiimens, and of the 

 ■eadilv distinguish the two 

 ii-s of the head. Both, so 



far as we ai-e aware, are undescribed; as indeed are a 

 great many other small species belonging to this group, 

 (Teltigonia family, order Honwptera) . 



