THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



22^ 



Sweet-potato Beetles— Suhscriher. Bunler Hill, 

 Ills.— The pretty goldcu and sfiipcil l.ectlt-> which in- 

 fest your sweet-potato vines are Tnrtoi-. l.. .ties (Cas- 

 SIDAD^). That with the beautiliil i;ni,l,ii iridescence 

 is commonly called the " GoUl lii.tl, •• [Cuptocycla 

 aurkhalcea, Fabr) and its larva ahuust eutinly eovers 

 itself with its black excrement, by means of a forked 

 tail with which it is furnished, in comuioii witli tlie 

 other species of the same genus. The striped blaek and 

 yellow species may be known as the Two-striped Sweet 

 Potato ^eet\el^Coptoc)jcla Umttata^ Say) and in the larva 

 state ditters from the other species of the genus, with 

 which we are acquainted. In not shielding itself with 

 its excrement; its pronged tail being ever enveloped 

 after the first moult in the prickly cast-off skin, and 

 being furthermore, generally held at an angle from the 

 body. Both these beetles feed in the larva as well as 

 the perfect states on the leaves of the sweet potato, but 

 while the former is likewise very commonly found on 

 the morning-glory and the bitter-sweet {Solamim 

 dulcamara), we have never found the latter on any- 

 thing but the sweet-potato . We shall in a future num- 

 ber give an illustrated account of these curious beetles . 



A. E. Trahie, JIannihal, Mo.— The sweet potato 

 beetles which you send are the same two species spoken 

 of in answer to " Subscriber." 



Beetle named— TAo*. W. Gordon, Gforgetnwn. 

 Ohio.—'' The small sample of animated nature ' ■ wliieli 

 you suppose would naturally be called the Gold Bug. is 

 in reality known by that name, it being the same speeies 

 (Coptooijcla aurichalcea, Fabr,) as the first spoken of in 

 the above answer to ' ' Subscriber. ' ' 



Injured Strawrberry and Grapevines — ITm. 

 P. Piersoa, Omrga, Jlls.—We are of your opinion, that 

 the diseased and blackened appearance of the straw- 

 berry vines, and of the grape vines which you send, is 

 caused by an insect. We are furthermore of opinion 

 that the culprit is a little olive-gray bug scarcely 1-5 inch 

 long, the Capsus oUineatus of Say. At all events we 

 know this mischievous bug has been very numerous 

 this year, and that its puncture has a peculiarly poison- 

 ous effect on most plants which it attacks ; for we have 

 seen pear twigs, grape canes, and potato stems totally 

 killed by it, and looking exactly as though they had 

 been burnt. If the vines which you send were not 

 killed by this bug we can offer no solution of the pro"b- 

 lem. We shall endeavor to figure this Insect in some 

 future number. 



Plum Tree Insects — J. F. Wafers, Sprinqjield, 

 Mo. — The black plant-lice on your plum trees are the 

 Cherry Aphis (Aphis cerasi. Fitch). See answer to 

 T. W. Gordon . The black flies which hang on these trees 

 in great quantities, and which are about ^ inch long, 

 witli the wings white, and having prominent black veins 

 and a stigmal black spot, are the White-winged Bibio 

 (Bibio aDdpennis, Say). In the larva state it feeds ou 

 damp dead leaves, and has also been found feeding 

 on oak galls by (' " ' " '"' " ' ' 



sidcred injurious. 



Apple-tree Bug:s — W. L. Yov.se, Hannibal, Mo. — 

 The two insects you send, and which you found on your 

 apple trees, are both enemies and not friends. The 

 beetle is the New York Weevil which we illustrate in 

 this number (p. 221), and the large angular bug, very 

 much of the same color as the beetle, i. e brown 

 speckled with grayish-yellow, and with the edges of the 

 body protruding "from the half-wings and the legs 

 marked transversely with black bars, is the Brochimeni 

 annulata of Fabrieius, and may be known in English as 

 the Annular Plant Bug. 



Hickory-stem Gall-louse— ^cn/ . F. Lon<i— The 

 large roundish galls on the leaf-stems of the Black 

 Hickory, and which open fl'om above with cross slits, 

 are produced by plaut-lice {Phylloxera carymauUs, 

 Kitcli) . The red insects found in tlie gall were a species 

 of Thrips in the larval or pupal state, and were prey- 

 jug on the true Gall-maker. ^ ^ 



\/ Grapevine L.eaf-hopper — It. M. ^Oppeland, West 

 Castleton, Vt. — The jiunping Insects whicu are so de- 

 structive to the Virginia Creeper are the common Grape- 

 vine Leaf-hopper ( Tettigonia [Erythroneura] vitis, Harr). 

 Syringe the vines thorouglily with strong tobacco water. 



Colurs-V 



XwelTe-spotted Diabrotica — E. S. Foster, Svsh- 

 hurn. Mo.— The vellow beetle with twelve Mark .spots 

 whieli we herewitli illiKtnite I'i- m, 

 [Fig.lGS.] nviee nuturul MZr.iiiid whirli 1k,~ Im in so 

 destmetive to vi.ui- « aK i-ni. l..ns and 

 Hulibard squashes, i.s llie l:;-spolled Dia- 

 brotica {ZHabrotica Vl-puiidata, Fabr.) 

 ■^ou say you have ' ' noticed that water 

 melons, Hubbard squashes and cucuiu- 

 Ijers. planted as much as two hundred 

 yards from where such things were ever 

 iij black planted before, are entirely untouched by 

 any kind of insect. Those that have suf- 

 fered so severely are planted where such things have 

 been grown two years in succession, immediately pre- 

 ceding." This is a most suggestive fact, and we 

 advise our readers to profit by it. The same 

 remedies that apply to the common Striped Cucumber 

 beetle {D. mttata, Fabr), apply equally to this species. 

 The large green wonii you found at the foot of a 

 hickory tree is the larva of the Polyphemus moth. 

 (See Fig. 95). 



It. D. Parker, Manhattan, Kans.— The beetles which 

 are on your squash vines, ' ' among almost innumerable 

 Striped Cucumber bugs," are the same as sent by Mr. 

 Foster, and of course are foes and should be destroyed. 

 ■M. McKenzie, 

 se some cater- 



jiillars' which are' causing some uneasiness in this part 

 of the State . They are in countless numbers , stripping 

 the timber of its leaves. Black oak and Post oak arc 

 their favorite trees, and where these trees are plenty, 

 as on the ridges and heads of hollows, the appearan<'e 

 is truly 'Winter in the lap of Summer.' J«othingl)ut 

 black trunks rising from the gi'een earth, the mid rib 

 alone of the leaf being left. White oak in bodies, they 

 give the go-by, but if it is scattering among the other 

 oaks, they attack it also. Most of the people here 

 depend ou mast to fatten their pork, and it is a great 

 item." The caterpillar is the Tent Caterpillar of the 

 Forest, as you will discover by referring to Figure 14« 



drieal roU of leaves on the trees which they fed 

 upon, these cocoons are easily perceived and shouhl 

 be immediately destroyed as far as possible, for 

 the moths will have begun to issue by the time this 

 number reaches you. The probabilities are. i since you 

 ask our opinion) that in your neigliborliood the-e eater- . 

 pillars are preyed upon by parasili > ;i~ mm il. --l.\ a> 

 they are known to have been in the lOa-t. Ic.i all time- 

 of those which you sent were attacked: and in sueli a 

 case they will not be likely to trouble you as much next 

 year as they have this. 



W. -Copley, Alton, 

 'As anything new 

 will be of interest, I would ask you for some informa- 

 tion in regard to the freaks of some (as yet) unknown 

 strawberry destroyers. So far as I know they have con- 

 fined themselves to the strawberries of Jlr. James God- 

 frey of Monticello, and threaten to make sad liavoe. He 

 finds the herriea piled -up in small piles, from a dozen to 

 a pint in a place. Do you know what do( s this strange 

 work? I have thought it might be tln' work cd' a field 

 mouse. It can hardly be an insect or bug. Whatever 

 it may be, it does not discriminate between green or ripe 

 ones, all share the same fate. Any light on this subject 

 will be gladly received. ' ' We can give no explanation 

 of this curious procedure, and if any of our readers are 

 better posted, we shall be glad to hear from them. 



Egrgs of Bn§^s on Strawberry — A. S. Fuller, 

 Uidgewood, N. J —The gray eggs vi'hieh you lound on a 

 strawberry, with a delicate fringe, visible oidy under a 



lens, around their upper border, are tl i;-> of some 



friend in the shape of a cannibal bn.i; i A. ./','/",. lamily). 

 They were all attacked by a minute para-Hi.' 1. lin.umon- 

 fly however, and instead of obtaiiiin.gthe y.)iin,g Ipii.gswe 

 obtained these parasitic tlies. 



"Galls" on L.eaves of Soft maple — /. M. 

 Shaffer, Fairfield, Iowa.— The peduncled wart-like ex- 

 crescences, on the leaves of your Solt Maples are not of 

 fungoid origin, but are produced by a minute species of 

 mite. See page 57 under the same head. 



