THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



125 



ENTOMOIiOGICAL JOTTINGS. 



[We propose to publish from time to time, uuder 

 tlie !il)ove lieading, such extracts from the letters of our 

 correspondents as contain entomological lacts wortliy 

 to l>e recorded, on account either of their scientific or 

 of their practical importance. We hope our readers 

 will contribute each theirseveral mites towards tlicgen- 

 iral fund, and in case they arc not perlectlTT certain of 

 the names of the in.sects, the peculiarities of which are 

 lo be mentioned, will send specimens along in order 

 that each species may be duly identified.] 



Bean-weevils— If e»t Farms, N. Y., N'ov. 1, 

 "ClI. — I enclose yon a sample of beau.s to show 

 you how thoroughly and effectually this little 

 A'agaboud is plying his time-immemorial avoca- 

 tions ill the bean-patches in this quarter. Five 

 or six years ago I had occasion to call on a 

 neighbor, and in passing llirough the barn he 

 pointed out to me a heap of threshed beans, on 

 the floor, of the Early Mohawk variety, which 

 he said had been destroyed by bugs getting into 

 them since they were threshed. (?) A casual 

 inspeclioii showed that they were destroyed 

 sure enough. At least one-half of them were 

 as badly infested as the sample I send you, but 

 as I pointed out to him, the damage which was 

 now an accomplished fact, had been commenced 

 during the growing season, aud the "bugs" 

 were now leaving the beans instead of entering 

 them. 



Next season I found a few among my own 

 beans, aud they have been on the increase ever 

 since; aud this year my Yellow Six "Week- 

 variety are nearly as bad as my neighbor's re- 

 ferred to above. They are nearly as bad this 

 year on a pole variety, the 'Dutch Case Knife," 

 as they are on the low growing ones. The small 

 black bush variety, however, seems to have 

 escaped them. If some check is not put to their 

 ravages soon, the culture of beans will have to 

 be given up here. Jas. Angus. 



[The weevil is the Bruchus obsoletus, Say, 

 about which we publish an article from Mr. S. 

 S. Ralhvon, in another portion of this num- 

 ber.— Ed.] 



Harmless Parasites on the Larva ov the 

 Li:na ^lo-m— Covington, Ky., Jan. 21, '70.— 

 East summer I took, feeding on walnut leaves, 

 a mature larva of Attacm Inna, upon which 1 

 counted about 22 eggs like those of a Tuchina 

 fly ; but I did not breed any parasites, and I 

 cannot conceive what became of them. Not 

 only was there a black patch under each Qgg, 

 but under some I distinctly saw with a lens a 

 minute orifice by which the parasite had entered 

 tlie integument of the Luna larva. There may 

 have been a few more than 22 eggs, as I counted 

 that number and then desisted from uncertaintv ' 



as to whether some had not been counted al- 

 ready. The larva became a pupa and about the 

 middle of last May produced a very fine motli, 

 which I now have. There was no room for 

 mistake, as this larva, and one which I took a 

 few days previously, and which had already 

 " spun up " when I took this one, arc the only 

 two Lnna larva> that I ever saw, and l)oth pro- 

 duced the moths. I have met with no similar 

 instance in my entomological reading, and I 

 supposed that a parasite once in the body of its 

 host, death invariably resulted. I can imagine, 

 however, that one, or a few, parasitic lai-v:e 

 might perish at an early stage of their exist- 

 ence without destroying the host ; but this would 

 hardly happen with so many as there were in 

 this instance, unless the present parasite had 

 made a mistake in depositing its eggs upon the 

 Luna larva, so that its progeny consequently 

 ibund an uncongenial habitat, and therefore 

 perished. y. T. C. 



The Handsome Digger Wasp as a Horse 

 Guard, AGAis—CIarksville, Term., Dec. %jth, 

 1869.— Allow me to state in confirmation of my 

 previous remarks, that I saw one of the speci- 

 mens of the Handsome Digger "Wasp which was 

 sent to you, carry a Horse-fly into its nest. I 

 secured the wasp as it came out of its hole, then 

 dug up the nest, which had five horse flies in it, 

 and one half-grown wasp larva. I could pro- 

 duce many witucsses to substantiate their habits 

 as I have staled them. Not only do they catch 

 Horse-flies, but like the Bald-faced Hornet 

 {Bcmbex fasciata), they catch house-flies also, 

 though I do not know whether they provision 

 their nests with these last, nor have I ever known 

 them to catch grasshoppers. 



A. H. R. Bryant. 



MR. WALSHS PORTRAIT. 



Our readers will be a little disappointed in 

 not receiving with this number, the portrait of 

 our late associate, which was promised last 

 month. Bear with us yet a little while. A jioor 

 portrait is worse than none at all, and rather 

 than hurry the artist, we have decided to give 

 him plenty of time, aud to send tlie portrait 

 with the next, instead of with the present num- 

 ber of the Entomologist. 



IW" Remember, that every one who sends us 

 Ave subscribers to the Amekic.vn Entomolo- 

 <:iST, is entitled to an extra copy free of charge! 



Erratlm.- Page 101, column 2, line 25, for 

 ' Cecfojna' refid 'Ceero^;«Vi',-' same column, note, 

 tor 'Chalcis mana ' read 'Chains mariiv.' 



