96 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



trees belong to the same gcuus, and several of the 

 species are exceedingly similar to European ones. It 

 is, lience, quite probable that many of the insects inju- 

 rious to our forests are also quite nearly allied to those 

 of Europe. In Europe, there are the excellent works 

 of Professor Ratzeburg, who, in his capacity of super- 

 intendent of a foresters' university, has conducted his 

 ohscrvatioiis with untiring energy for forty years. His 

 I:itr>i w.i/k- roiiiuin his experience in a condensed form. 

 Ill ilic ■• \V:iMvcrderbniss," etc., may be found all 

 that thf . elc I'latcd author has elicited concerning the 

 growth and damage done to our trees through the 

 agency of insects and other animals. Numerous wood- 

 cuts in the text, and sixty-one plates of excellent exe- 

 cution, adorn this worlc. It is highly interesting to see, 

 in the figured portions of the forest, how the injury doue 

 l)y insects has changed the entire character of the land- 

 scape 'I'lir pliysiological parts, based on microscopical 

 ^tiidir-. al>Miiii,l ill uew facts. The healing process that 

 tlic c|i-ra-i 1 iir iiijiired trees go through, has not only a 

 sciriitiiir iiitiirsi, but also directly concerns the propri- 

 etor. 



Katzeburg's works possess the advantage of being 

 almost entirely made up of personal observation, though 

 the author has also considered the contemporaneous 

 and past literature on the subject. Their greatest, and 

 as I think, mo.st important value for America, however, 

 consi.stiu this: that they all put the practical point in 

 the foregi-ound. It is not merely theoretical instruction 

 which is there given, but it is positively money; for it 

 either saves or mal-es money . 



The sixth edition of his ' ' Waldverderber ' ' (Hurt- 

 ful Insects: Berlin, 1809. U 00, gold,) with ten ex- 

 cellent plates, gives, in a popular fashion, a good and 

 instructive account of such auimals as interest the 

 farmer, the forester, and the entomologist , and it is the 

 best work of this kind. 



Closely coiniected with the above is an older work ol 

 his— "Die Unkraeuter" (The Weeds), treating of ouc 

 of the most important and interesting subjects for the 

 agriculturist. I will here remark that more than two- 

 thirds of the named weeds cover also the entire north 

 of America, west to the Mississippi, and even farther 

 west. 



Katzeburg's works arc, no doubt, of the highest— of 

 the greatest importance. It is my opinion that they 

 ought not to be Ibinid missing in the library of any uni- 

 vpi-sity. school of a'j-ric'ulturc. rir similar institution. 



Annual Hei'OUT of tihc Boviid oi>' Re(;ents 

 OP THE University of Wisconsin. — From W. 

 W. Daniells, Prof, of Agriculture and Analyti- 

 cal Chcmistiy. 



List of tue Nests and Eggs of Birds in the 

 Museum of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History. 



The American Sunday School Worker. — 

 A new monthly joiirnal. just started by J. AV. 

 Mclutyre. of St'. Louis, Mo. 



Iowa AintKii.TURAL Report for 1808.— From 

 J. M. Shaller, Secretary. 



The Country Gentleman's Magazine — 

 Loudon, England. Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Information tranted — M. A. Kendall, FitziHl- 

 Uam, X. H. —1st : The insects seen by you last summer, 

 tiarting so quickly and noiselessly among the flowers of 

 your lilacs, were, judging from your description, the 

 gigantic Carpenter Bee l^Xylocopa Carolina, Linn.) You 

 will find it figured and described on page 9 of our first 

 volume. If you will send us specimens next year, we 

 can deeide positively; otherwise not. 2d: The "wa.sp- 

 ish looking thing" on the left haml side of our cover, 

 is the $ of a long-tailed lelnicuiiuui tly which may be 

 popularly called the Lunate lUiyssa (lihyssa lunator, 

 Fabr.) It is one of the largest of our Ichneumon flies, 

 and attacks certain wood-boring larva;, and especially 

 those of the I'igeon Tremex {Jremtx mlumla, Linn.), 

 which infest our elms and sycamores. By means of its 

 long ovipositor this large Ichneumon fly is enabled to 

 reach the wood-borer in its hidden retreat, and to de- 

 posit an egg in its body. The larva hatching from this 

 egg eventually destroys the original wood-borer. 3d : 

 The odd looking insect at the right of our cover, is the 

 cf of the common Stick-bug {Specti-umfemoratum, Say), 

 a vegetable-feeder of sluggish movements. It receives 

 its popular name from the remarkable habit which it has 

 of stretching forward its two front legs and its anten- 

 na;, in the m.anner represented in that figure. It often 

 remains a long time motionless in this position, so that' 

 it in reality looks very much like a dead stick growing 

 from the tree or shrub uj^on which it happens to be. 

 Its scientific name refers to the immensely swollen 

 middle thighs of the (f. For a fuller accoinit of this 

 singular insect, see Vol. I, p. 58. 



Insects named— /fls. E. Chase, Ilohjol-e, Mass.— 

 No. 1, Tdropium cinnamopterum, Kirby. Nos. 2 and 3, 

 varieties of No. 1. No. 4, 5oto» a/ijcoZtfr, Say. No. 5, 

 Saprinus p' " ' : ' ' ' . Tayk. No. 6, Tenbrio molitor , 

 Linn. No.:., .//,, Grav. No. 8. y/aWca 



nana,S:iy. N '. ? 'So. 10, Colas- 



ivs vnicolor. .'^.l\ . ^*u. 11. Li-achys ovaia, Lee. No, 

 Vi, Primius imbriaomis (small dijnorphous form). No. 

 13, PhoHims negleaus, Lee. No. 14. Bryacantha 10- 

 pvstulata, Jlelsh. No. 15, Haltica (Phyllotrtta) siriolata, 

 Illig. No. 16, JS'oda pai-rula, Dej. = ? ovata; Say. 

 No. 17, Chalcophana eonmxa. Say, No. 18, Pediaeus 

 siilgluher, Lcc. No. 19, Apkrastns tanialus. Say. No. 

 20, CalUgraphamuUipunctuta, Say, No. 21, Clyfus hu- 

 coyoms, L. and G. No. 22, Listroderes. No. 23, Gal- 

 cophana pia'pes, 0\iv . No. 24, Galeruca Jiavnatica , Lev. 

 No. 25, Sapvinus assimilis, Er. No. 20, ffpdrocharu 

 oUusatus, Say. No. 27, Colymiietes liguitalus. Say. 

 No. 28, I/ydvopMlas glaher, Hbst. No. 29, Beroamfra- 

 termis, Lee. No. 30, Podahrus mgulosus, Lcc. We 

 are indebted to Dr. Geo. H. Horn of rhiladelphia, 

 for the proper determination of several of the ahove 

 named insects. 



Disease in Wlicat— vl. L. Child, M. ii.— We re- 

 gret to say that the ears of wheat which you sent last 

 summer, were retained so long in the publishers' office 

 that nothing could be made of them when they were 

 handed to us. In wilting upon business matters al- 

 ways address the publLshers, but in writing on edito- 

 rial matters , or in sending specimens, you should as 

 invariably address the editor. 



