60 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Butterflies named— Z>;v W. W. Butterfidd, la- 

 lanapolis, Ind.—So. 1, (the sulpbur-yellow insect 

 , itli a black border to Its wings) is the male of the Phi- 

 Klin' Buttcrflv (Co?/«s P/«7orfic«, Godart); and No. 2, 

 ■ith a lu-nailor lilar-k liordor to its front winjs aiidsome 



ei-y rrd in<rrt witli many black spnt. ainl ;i -li-lit 

 owdcrini; of sky-blue on the outer r>r -ii ii wini^-;. 

 i the Comma Butterfly (Vanessa .. ilm: no 



lUcd because it has a silvery mark li ■ i ; n nii 

 le lubliUe of the lower surface of its Inml wiii^-. No. 

 (ilii> \( rv lamr red insect with coarse black veins to 



(/• , Fabr.), the same species which we 



li-iiKil ill all lis three Stages in our last number (pp. 

 ■JS-;),, and -lated to have occurred in immense swarms 

 on three ditl'erent occasions and in three different local- 

 ities in the United States. 



Museum Pest— 7. W. ffoit, Jr., St. Louis, Mo — 

 The insect which ent^ your enbinet specimens, we 

 should judge from your ilrsniiitinii, to be tlic-lai\aof 

 the conmion museum pi'-t i.l''./-"- ■,.(..'/■.;„, Linn.). 

 It is the dread of entninoln^i~i- in ilii- .■,,iinir\ a- well 

 as in Europe, and has utbaiy cle<lrn\r,l a linr coller- 

 tion of beetles belonging to Mr. .■\laurir,- s, Im-i. i. of 

 your eitv. The greatest precaution is iien-^.-arx in keep 

 these pests out of a coUection, and non.> bin ili.n i.ii-hly 

 tight boxes should be used for the ealiimt. i amiilior 

 should always be kept in the boxes, anil the insects 

 tlinr.ni'jhiv e'xaiiiiued from time to time. When a eol- 

 le.tinii is 'one,' attacked by them, a weak solution of 

 ciin-u^iM' sublimate in alcohol, poured oyer the bottom 

 of the boxes, will kill all that it touches. This little 

 beetle is aided in its <lestruettve work by several others 

 that are eloselv allied to it . and especially by the Larder 

 beetle (Iknii, '-.td^ l.inUtrhix, Linn.). 



Insorts iiuinod. — /';■, Jas. Weal. Muscatine, Jcnoa. 



M> 



{Papilio TurnuK. Linn ) 11 Ibe \\ ,,n llie wiiu 



Locust (OV.fi/^f) predicted «•.//•, Ilic 1 ilir 



of this insect probably predicted that tiie w: 

 last lor ten, years . 



Grupes spoiled l>r somctUing.- /as 

 " " You say that a good many o 



spoiled 



something or othe 



Wood, 

 f your 



skin "of a sound urape. Thanks for the article from the 

 Ohio Fanner, wliich we shall duly make use of. 



AVliitc Pine Worms— Jos. T. Little, Dixon., III.— 

 The worms which in October, and sometimes even as 

 late a- N.iMinbii-, Mill tin<l nn ,\.iur White I'ines, de- 

 ■\unriirr tiic Inlia'jc', liut, as usual, ncM r c.n any other 

 lund r.i' ri n-rcrn, wlicibn- .s^cnicli rinc. Austrian 



following :May; and about two weeks afterwards the 

 perfect Saw-fly emerges from one cud of the cocoon. 

 Insects named — Stephen JSlanchard, Oregon, Holt 

 Co., J/b— The "grasshopper rather beyond the usual 

 size" is the A.xaa\-K3.u A.aviCi\\i.m(Acridiumaitiericam(.m, 

 Drury). The large gray moth is the very same species 

 (Sphinx 5--maculata, Ha worth), which we figured on the 

 lir.stpage of No. 2. 



The Tarantula of Texas — Jas. Jkll, EureTca, Mo. 

 The immense spider-like animal which you left at the 

 oflice of the pubUshers, and which was captured in 

 Missouri, is the Tarantula of Texas (Mygale Hentzii, 

 Marcy). It excited uo httlc curiosity aniougst those 

 who saw it for the fijst time . If you have access to the 

 American Naturalist you vriU find it figured on 

 page 139 of the first volume. Formidable as this animal 

 appears, yet it is attacked by a Large species of Dauber 

 wasp (Pompilus formoms. Say), known by the name of 

 the "Tarantula Killer." The female of this wasp 

 stings and Instantly paralyzes the Tarantula, in the 

 same manner as our smaller Mud-daubers par.alyze our 

 common spiders. She then excavates a Imle in the 

 earth, places the Tar,antula in it. ib iin-ii- mi c-l' under 

 its body, and then covers u]! tin IimIc \rr\ -ecurely. 

 In due time the larva of the ,i;icat w.i-i' bau bes from 

 the egg and commences to feed on its l.ieuumbed victim. 

 The sting of all the Mud-daubers has a most wouderlul 

 efl'ect on the caterpillars, spiders, and other insects 

 which are to serve as food for their young. It does not 

 kill, but paralyzing and suspending all animation, 

 I'enders them capable of resisting decomposition for a 

 long time. 



neck, which you traced from the calyx to the seed of a 

 Rambo apple, is the common Apple-worm or larva of 

 the Codling moth (Carpocapsa po!»o«.«Zfo, Linn). The 

 head and neck of this worm are usually jet black when 

 young, though they are brown when it is full grown. 

 The caterpillar feeding upon the leaves of the apple 

 tree, is the larva of the Hand-maid mutli (Ihit.ina min- 

 istra, Drury). These worms, if left alone, s.imetimes 

 jirove quite injurious; but, as it is tlnir nature to con- 

 gregate together, they are readily ilestroyed. The 

 wooUy lice on the roots of the apple tree, lue the com- 

 mon Apple-root lice (Pemphigus pi/ri. Fitch). They 

 may be killed- by pouring a sufficient amotuitof hot 

 water on the roots. 



Grape-leaf Folders eaten by Spiders — A. A. 

 Ililliard, Brighton, 111. — The "small spiderish -looking, 

 lively fellow ' ' which you found in the fold of a grape- 

 leaf, and which you suspect to be the Grape-leaf fold- 

 er, is in reality a spider, Tliis spider hail evidently 

 destroyed the true occupant, which we judge from the 

 shape of the fold, to have been the Grape-leaf 

 folder (P.^mhi m„.-uhih:s. -West.) This last is a little 

 ;-;lass-i;recn, active, wriu-Jinu' wnnii, and be.ars no re- 

 semblance In a spider. Airspidci's are more or less 

 bi iielicial lu llie Iruit-.muwcr, and instead of crushing 

 them as yuu have been doing, youshould cherish them. 



Caterpillar of tlie Troilus Butterfly—^. S. 

 Fuller, Ridgewood, N. /.—The caterpillar which crawl- 

 ed into your oflice and fixed himself tliere for winter 

 quarters, is the larva of the large black Swallow-tsiil 

 biiitciily (/■//;.;/;.. /,•.,;?««, Linn.). It feeds on sassafras, 

 and wi b.iNc I his .iinnner found it on the prickly ash ; 

 bnl wc li:n, ncMi- l^ullvvnit to become sufliciently nu- 



roiato Beetles— P. //. Foster, Balryloii, N. T.— 

 'I'lie two kinds of bUster beetles that were infesting 

 yinn- pntab.es of the Harrison variety, are the Striped 

 and the lilack bUster-beetles. The former was illus- 

 trated in No. 2 (Fig. 13), and the latter much resem- 

 bles the Black Rat blister-beetle , figured on the same 

 page, (Fig. 14 J), the difterenccs between the two be- 

 ing explained in the foot-note . 



c i^ursuj^y* — jsauu Jiii-Aj, ijunu ^svuriu, j.i, i. — 



These are probably made by the large olack Rhinoceros 

 Beetle (Xyloi-ydes Satyrus, Fabr.), which you sometimes 

 find near them. Its- larva, which only differs from the 

 connniin While (irub liy being much bigger and by 

 liavin- a blackhead instead ol' a red one, lives under- 



Locust Borers — rriali I'.niner. Omaha, Neh. — The 

 beetles which you found on the trunks of locust trees, 

 are the common Locust Imrer ( ( 7////(s rohiniie, Forster,) 

 You say you found them in ureal luinibers. They may 

 be found on the trunks of the Locust during the month 

 of September, and should invariably be destroyed. 

 Theu- larvaj have pretty nearly ruined the Locusts 

 thi'oughout the country. 



