THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



79 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPOXDEXTS. 



ESffs of tlic Wliitc-HarUcd Tiissork MotU— 



.1. M. Ihinnal,. S„!em. X. J.—T\u' o-^' m:iss which you 

 Hiul Khieit fast to youv fruit trees. mikI whi.li is enm- 

 posod of numerous perfectly rouml. iieiiin-cdlund i^js. 

 partly covered \\ith glistening white. I'mth-like iiiLittei-. 

 and attached to a gi-ay cocoon, are llie iirmhirt of the 

 above nauieil moth. Thev prdilmr miv iinltv .■:it<r- 



r..lor<-Bl!ick, Hhilf, yellow, mid iv.l. 

 pillars, the most striking featiu'es being a vermilUon red 

 head and neck; four cream-colored brushes on the 

 back, and two long plumes at the head and one at the 

 tail . Fig. G7 is a correct likeness of the full gro\vn 

 female worm. It is not often that we can guess the sex of 

 an insect in the larval state, but with this caterpillar we 

 can invariably do so after the ad moult. We bred a 

 great number of these worms during the past summer, 

 and discovered that the male never gets to be more than 

 half the size of the female, and that he undergoes but 

 three moults before spinning up, while she goes through 

 her fourth before making her cocoon. This insect seems 

 to have a wide range, but it is mostly confined to par- 

 ticular orckirds or localities. Indeed, since the female 

 is wingless and invariably attaches her eggs to the out- 

 side of her own cocoon, it follows that this insect can 

 only travel in the catennllar state, .ind that it is scat- 

 tered through the country, principally by being carried 

 in the egg state on nursery stock. It multiplies rapidly, 



for there are two broods a 



ehecki 



oursel 



; but, luckily for us, it : 

 M-ous parasites. We have 

 ■ •is flies from it, and also 

 . belonging to the genus 

 Pimrihi. Ill -iiilKiiii^ ihr r.i.-.jons in the winter time, 

 all those wliieh have iiu eggs uu the outside should be 

 left untouched, as they either contain the empty chry- 

 salis skin of the male, or else some parasite which w'ill 

 help to diminish their numbers another year. 



Currant Borers— 5. N. McKinstry, East Sumner, 

 Jll.—Tbe borers in the cuiTant stems, which were first 

 noticed in your neighborhood in 1867, and which are 

 causing the death of the bushes, are, we have little 

 doubt, the common Imported Currant-bush Borer— the 

 lan-a of a little moth (TrocUlium tipuliforme, Linn.), 

 which has transparent wings and a blue-black body. 

 We have in this country a native currant-borer, belong- 

 ing to the very same genus (Trochilium caudatum, Harr,) 

 the larwa of w'hich could scarcely be distinguished from 

 those vou have sent. But this native species seems to 

 be confined to the indigenous or native currant. The 

 real American curnant-borer, which attacks our culti- 

 vated currant bushes, is the larva of a beetle (Psenoceme 

 eupenwtaius, Say) , and may always be distinguished from 

 the other two by having no legs whatsoever. As is the 

 case with many other imported insects, the European 

 currant-borer is far more destructive than the natives. 

 All dead branches, and all such as contain borers, should 

 be cut down to the ground in early spring and burnt. 

 In answer to your query as to whether the currant worm 

 has ever done any damage in the Western States, we 

 will state that there are three distinct worms which 

 attack the currant in this country, and that we shall 

 shortly publish an illustrated article on these insects. 



Beecb-t'wig' Plant-lice — Geo. Burnside and J. T. 

 WhelpUy, South, Pass, Y«.— The woolly Plant-lice from 

 the twigs of a beech, are the same species spoken of in 

 the answer to F. H. Guiwits, on page 58 of the last num- 

 ber of the Entomologist. They belong not only to 

 a dificrent species, but to a diflerent genus from the 

 Woolly Root-lice that infest your apple-trees. Owing 

 to your excellent packing, the specimens |rcaclied us in 

 first-rate order. 



Insect intestine: tirapo Seed— .4. S. Fzillei; 

 Ridgeieood, N. J.—lthr ■j:v:i\<i'> v,\w\\ you received from 

 Canada came safely \« IkumI I'lie maggot which in- 

 fests most of the seed-, an. I raii-r- tlie berry to shrivel 

 up, was first described by >Ir W" Snundefs. of Lon- 

 don. Ont. The head is Jif tli.' -;une tran-lm-ent. milk- 

 while rolor as the body, but the .jaw^, wbi.li ari' finely 

 IKiiutr.l. are light brown, and llieri' is a pul.'li "fhrowii 

 at tliiir base. It has exactly lliiilei'ii >ri;niints exi'lii- 

 -i\enl'thc head, and every'-iuiiinit \n\< a IVw white. 

 lle-li\ hairs, these hairs beiiiu lliirl<( -t nrar tlir lieail 

 ami hmu'est on the under part ni ili,' ih-t tlinr -,i.Miiriits. 

 tliiis imitating leet, as is ofti n tlir ca-r wiih l'...,iless 

 larya> of this character Flu iisju.-:, niii^iiili.Mi \ icw- 



1 the spi-in-oniie year. and 

 have, at several diflerent 

 Color, miiii-Khitc. times, reeeiyed it from cor- 



respondents wiio found it in the same situation. It is 

 the Anthonomus sutumlis of Le Conte (eiythropterus of 

 Say) , and it may possibly be the parent of this seed- 

 larva . You say truly that this will prove a formidable 

 enemy to those who are endeavoring to raise new 

 varieties from the seed, and we advise the burning of 

 all the shriveled berries. In order to make sure of 

 breeding this larva to the perfect state , we should be 

 glad to receive further specimens of the infested grapes . 



museum Pests, asa.iia— Jonathan ITaggins, Wood- 

 iwr«, 7/?«.— You say : "Duiing the appearanee of the 

 locusts (Cii-a.lasi. I , nil, rlrd some half dozen speeimens. 

 andsetthein:i\\a\ in a .!,-,• jiajier liox. In the innlti- 

 plicitvof ear. -. til. \ wri-,. ncirle.'ted till to-dav (Nov 

 2d), On examining tin in 1 ilis.over ins.a-ts in tlie worm 

 state, which have e\ i.lmllv Ihm'ii tenliiii;' mi tin- l..i-iists 

 I send them for yoiir .■.liti.ati.ni,' ' it.'. 'I'lii' insects 

 are in all probability tli.' larxa' nf tin' .Mii>.iiiii pest 

 (Aiithi-enus museorum, Liiini Tli.y are nut p.aailiar to 

 the Cicada, but attack alike, all dried insects. We 

 noticed this pest in your collection while at your house 

 last June. On p.a™ GO of No. 3, in answer to T. W. 

 Holt, Jr., of St. Louis, Mo., we have suggested the 

 meiins of preserving a collection from its ravages. When 

 a collection is badly attacked we should advvse the use 

 of benzine with carbolic acid in it, for although we have 

 had no occasion to use it ourselves, we have the author- 

 ity of Mr. G. C. Rye, of Park Field. London. Mr. R. 

 is the leading coleopterist in England, and in a private 

 letter he strongly recommends this mixture, and further 

 states that, if a box is very badly infested with these 

 marauders, he pours benzine into it bodily, so as to 

 cover the bottom, and then shuts it up quickly. It 

 soon evaporates and leaves no stain. There is an- 

 other species (A. varius, Fabr), with the same 

 habit, and so closely resembling the one we have 

 been speaking of, that we doubt whether it could be 

 distinguished in the larva state. The hairs on these 

 Ian :c are of very singular forms, and make interesting 

 objects for the microscope. 



Grape-vine I.eaf-lioppers — P. C. Holmef, Gar- 

 diner, Maine. — There are eight or nine distinct species 

 of the small Leaf- hoppers, that have for a long time been 

 popularly kno'ivn as the " Thrip," common on the 

 grape-vine in various parts of Canada and the United 

 States. All of them belong to the same genus (Fn/- 

 throneura) and are of nearly the same size, but difler from 

 one another by marked and constant peculiarities of 

 coloration. Tlie sjMcies which you send, of a pale vel- 

 low color, witli tran-vir-e blood-brown bands, is "the 

 Grape-killin- L.al-li..i.|..r (Etylhroneura vitifex. Fitch). 

 You say that tli. -.■ in-, .is entirely de.stroy tlie foliage^of 

 your grape-Nines, tli.n'liy preventing the Iruit from 

 ripening, and that they will always atta.k tin' D.Iaware 

 before any other variety. A torch cani.-.l tliii.iiL:li the 

 vineyard at night has been found to b.' tin m..-t citi, ici.t 

 means of destroying the common Grap<-\ in.- Leat-hop- 

 per (Tettigoniii 'Erythroneura ritis, Harris), and would 

 undoubtedly prove as cfiectual for the species under 

 consideration. The operation should be repeated sev- 

 eral times through the summer. 



