42 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of fertile eggs, aud doubtless caterpillars from 

 these would be healthier, and consequently 

 would feed better, and be less predisposed to dis- 

 ease than those produced from imported eggs. 



The great objection hitherto to the cultiva- 

 tion of Cynthia is the difficulty of reeling oif the 

 cocoons. As I said before, no difficulty of this 

 kind occurs with Yama-mai; for Mr. J. P. 

 Murray of England, to whom I am indebted for 

 a valuable pamphlet on silk-worms, has suc- 

 ceeded in reeling 2o0 yards in one continuous 

 thread from this cocoon, and is of opinion that 

 360 yards may be obtained. This is encourag- 

 ing, and it would seem very strange if none of 

 our silk manufacturers can discover a plan by 

 which large quantities of this silk may either 

 alone or mixed with other staples, be profitably 

 made up into at least coarse goods for ordinary 

 wear, for umbrella covering, or foi- a variety of 

 other articles of that nature. 



For those intending to make experiments 

 next season with Yama-mai, it is desirable that 

 they should this fall house some young oak 

 trees, so as to be prepared with early food in 

 case of premature hatching of the egg. They 

 should also ascertain the localities of the earliest 

 budding oaks, there being doubtless a consider- 

 able difference in the time of early vegetation. 

 It was stated before the Royal Dublin Society 

 in November last, by Messrs. Moore and An- 

 drews, that at Killarney Q. sessili flora came into 

 leaf full a month earlier than any other species. 



Over our widely extended country it is 

 scarcely possible that any one species of oak 

 has the advantage universally over all others ; 

 but it would be of service to amateur silk- 

 growers, if the botanists would help us on this 

 point by stating what species are earliest in dif- 

 ferent latitudes. 



[Our own experience the past summer with 

 this Japanese Silkworm was very unsatisfac- 

 tory, and we learn from Dr. Wallace that ex- 

 perimenters met with but poor success in Eng- 

 land in 1809, though an Austrian Baron suc- 

 ceeded in rearing 20,000 cocoons. — Eds.] 



Nkw Food for Silk-worms.— The Illustra- 

 ted iSidney Neios (Australia), says that a native 

 shrub has just been discovered both on Phillip 

 Island and the shores of the western port bay, 

 which has proved far better for feeding silk- 

 worms than the Mulberry. 



To all persons interesting themselves in the 

 American Entomologist we will allow twenty- 

 five cents on every dollar, on all over five names 

 which they send. 



THE BOLL-WORM OR CORN-WORM. — 2(1 ARTICLE. 



(Heliothis armigera, Ilubner). 



In number 11 of our first Volume we gave an 

 account of this insect, illustrated by figures. In 

 this Article we stated that it fed in the larva 

 state on the bolls of the cotton plant, on the silk 

 and the soft kernels of roasting ears of corn, 

 and also on green tomatoes and young pump- 

 kins. From the following passage in an Ad- 

 dress on Insects, delivered at Vineland, N. J., 

 by that excellent observer, Mrs. Mary Treat of 

 that place, and published in the Vineland 

 Weekly of August 21, 1869, it appears that this 

 very same larva also feeds upon the unde- 

 veloped tassels of corn and upon green peas; 

 and, as will be subsequently shown, it likewise 

 bores into the stems of the garden-flower known 

 as Gladiolus ; and in confinement will even eat 

 ripe tomatoes. Thus it seems to be almost as 

 promiscuous in its tastes as the Stalk-borer 

 {Gortyna nitela, Guen.), which burrows in the 

 stalks of the Potato, of the Tomato, of the Dah- 

 lia, of the Aster and other garden flowers, of 

 the common Cocklebur and of Indian corn, be- 

 sides boring into green corn-cobs and eating 

 into green tomatoes and ripe strawberries, and 

 in a single instance in Missouri eating into 

 peach twigs, and in Illinois inhabiting the 

 twigs of the Black Currant.* 



This year green peas have been eaten into by 

 a hateful looking worm, and a similar one ate 

 into the staminate flowers of the corn before it 

 tasseled out, commencing their depredations 

 while the tassels were still enfolded in the 

 leaves. I have examined considerable corn, 

 and in some gardens this worm has done much 

 damage. While feeding it is of a green color; 

 but when it comes to full size it turns brown, 

 and goes into the ground to assume the chrysa- 

 lis form. I already have the moths of the cater- 

 pillars that lived upon the peas, and am waiting 

 for those that lived upon the corn to make their 

 appearance, so that I may decide whether they 

 are distinct species. It is a query with me what 

 the second brood of caterpillars will live upon, 

 as green peas and untasseled corn will be out 

 of their reach. 



There can be no doubt about the identity of 

 the moth, the larva of which fed upon peas, be- 

 cause Mrs. Treat obligingly forwarded to us in 

 the middle of August specimens actually bred 

 by her from green peas, which differ in no res- 

 pect from the common type of the Corn-worm 

 moth. Unfortunately, she has mi.xed together 

 promiscuously the moths bred by her from 

 green peas and those which she subsequently 

 bred from corn-tassels ; but at our express de- 



*Sl'C AMElt. ESTOM., I, p. 200111. p, l:t. 



