THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



63 



Gall on Spotted Touch-me-not— Pro/. A. A'. 



Prentiss, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. }'.— The succu- 

 lent green globular galls, which you find on the 

 Spotted Touch-me-not (Impatiens /aha), and which 

 contain numerous deep orange colored larvie, have been 

 briefly described {Cecidomyiaimjyatient/s, O.fi.) by Os- 

 ten Sacken, but the gall -gnat is as yet unknown. The 

 larviB went into the ground soon after their receipt, and 

 we hope to obtain the fly from them in due time. Succu- 

 lent galls perish so easily that they cannot well be pre- 

 served, so we have made the accompanying drawing 



(Fig. 42) of this Touch-me-not gall, u showing the 

 entire gall, h a cross-section, with the cavities in which 

 lie the larva;, and c the breast-bone of the larva highly 

 magnified. This breast-bone is almost clove-shaped, 

 as shown in the figure. For the benefit of the rest of 

 our readers we c£uote that part of your letter which re- 

 fers to the color and growth of the gall : 



I have examined a number of galls very carefully, in- 

 cluding some in their fresh state some time ago, and 

 always find some touches of color, orange usually — in 

 some" instances quite bright — on the end of the gall op- 

 posite the stem, but the prevailing color is green. I 

 judge the greater ]<:\yt of tin- ;.':ill'i~ r(.iiiiici>rd of the 

 stem immcdiatflv miilii- ilir ili.wcr. I In- |iM-iiion of 

 the bract would iniliiMtr tlii-. I'.iir I lind dii tlie end 

 of the gall wlicri- tlic Huwir >lioiil(l ]r.nv lirni. a num- 

 ber of /o/wcevus /itof«, which are not ea>y to account 

 for except they be regarded as aljorlive remains of the 

 flower. These plates are the colored part ol the gall. 



Unknown Ijarvx—J. M. Harrold, Salem, jS'. J.— 

 The small white wooly worms which " in proportion 

 to their size will afford a larger 'staple' than either a 

 Cotswold or a Southdown," are the larviK of some 

 moth. They were dead when they reached us, and we 

 shall not be able, in consequence, to breed the perfect 

 insect. They may possibly be the young larvic of the 

 Kabbit Moth {Lagoa opercularis, Sm. & Abb.) spoken of 

 on page 29 of our last number, in answer to H. A. 

 Green of your State; but we incline to believe that 

 they belong to a closely allied species {Liujoa pyi-idifera, 

 Sm. & Abb.) 



Blood-suckingr Cone-nose— /> B. Watson, St. 

 Lmiin, J/b.— Tire bug sent by you is the Blood-sucking 

 Cone-nose (Coftw*!n«s mnn'iimum, Le Conte.) See Vol. 

 I, Fig. 74. 



Eg^g^s on a Grape-cane — J. Cochrane, Harunna, 

 /««.- Inno one of tli.ir Iniii- M:i-r~ :iif iiiM'.-i^ so <liili,'ult 

 to identify as in thr i-- -la-r, Thr i-,mm,ii i- -iinpli'. 

 There arc so few cliara.'tri-., t,. .li-iin^iii-li ..nr .-^ ironi 

 another; and mon-uvci-, but mtv lew >i)ri-ii> aic 

 known and described in the e,gg state. Wc can often 

 identify a squashcil beetle or a squ.ashcd moth; but a 

 s(iuashed egg is almo.st always beyond oiu- abilities. 

 Hence the row of eggs attached to a grape-cane, which 

 you send us wrapped up in paper and enclosed in 

 your letter, without any other protection from the 

 heavy hands of Uncle Sam's P. O. clerks, might .just as 

 well have been kept at home. AVe really arc liiiil to 

 death of continually repeating to our comsiioiKlLiits 

 —besides our standing "Notice" to that elln-t— that 

 siHMiniens should be enclosed in .some kind ot box or 

 otbiT, in order that they may reach u.s in recognizable 

 order. Is there no drug-store at Havanna? Arc there no 

 gun-cai)3 for sale there? or do the druggi.sts there retail 

 their pills, and the gunsmiths their gun-caps, loose over 

 the counter and without any package to hold them? Do 

 pray, Jlr. Cochrane, try and do better for the future! 



Gregarious "Willo^v AVorms — G. C. Brachtt, 

 Lairnnce, Kansas.— The pale yellow wonns— marked 

 with three slender black lines along the back, and three 

 other black lines each side, but charactcrizi'd chiefly by 

 two black warts close together on the top rcspl■l■ti^ ely 

 of the fourth and eleventh y<-ji;i<nl-- :vliic!i you found 

 feeding on your "New Am.! i m W ■ i r. ' ' an' the lar- 

 vie of the American Spiniin ' ■.'«./, llarr.) 

 These worms are gregarimis. li in lining closely hud- 

 dled together, in swarms of twenty or more, within a sort 

 of coi-oon formed of leaves. They are found on poplars 

 as well as on willows, and seem to be i^specially i)artial 

 to the common cottonwood. You will find an illus- 

 trated account of this insect in Harris's Iiijuiious Iii- 



Catcrpillars named — G. W. Cdphi/. Alton, Hh: 

 — The worms that h.avc been so common, folding up the 

 lea\ cs of the Black Locust, are the larvie of the Tityrus 

 Skipper (Eudamus tityrus, Fabr.), spoken of on page 

 27 of our last number in answer to T. W . Ci. of 

 Georgetown, Ohio. The worm, which you call the 

 "Mock-eyed worm," is the larva of the Troilus 

 Sw.allow-tail (Papilio frcilus, Limi .) . It feeds on Sassa- 

 fras and Prickly Ash. 



U'. D, Butter, Wehster, Mo. — Your worm on Sassafras 

 is the larva of the same Troilus Swallow-tail, spoken ol 

 above. 



Insects Named— Z«'/ G. Safer, ElizaUth, Jnd.— 

 The large hairy wingless insect known in your locality 

 as the "Stinging Ant," and which h.as only been 

 known tliere for about ten years, is the same Mutilla 

 ,'n,;-ii,e,i, Linn., ($) which was spoken of on jiage :12 of 

 our last number in answer to Dr. M. M. Kciizie. of 

 Ccnlrcvillc, Mo. The large "hornet" with palo rust- 

 colored wings and black abdomen marked with pale yel- 

 low, and which you say is quite rare in your part of the 

 country, is the Handsome Digger AVasp {Stizua spe- 

 ciosus, Drury), figured on page 12!) of our First Volume. 



Rang-e of the Rear-Horse— F. T. C/mmhirs, 

 Coeirifftoii, Ky. — The Kear-horse {ifantis Carolina, 

 Linn. J, is known to range as far North as Lat. to". AVe 

 have no doubt but they woidd live in your iiart of the 

 country. 



