ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



175 



IOWA BUrTERFLIES. 



SOUTHERN NOTES. 



The foUowiug species, collected in Giiiiiiell, 

 except as otherwise stated, are to be added to 

 the Preliiniiiary List of Iowa species reported 

 by Mr. Samnel H. Scudder in Vol. I, I'art 2, of 

 the Transactions of the Chicago Academy of 

 Sciences. Gri-nnell is on high rolling prairie, 

 the summit level between the Mississippi and 

 Des Moines Rivers, by tiie Rock Island and 

 Pacific Railroad : 



Papilio Turniis. I.inn — Yrllow variety. Com- 

 mijii. 



Papilio Astcrias. Fubi'.— Common. 



Papilio Fhileiior. Fabi'.— (iriiiuell iiikI Keokuk. 

 Differs fiom Boisduv.ir.s description in primaries not 

 ;;reenisli; tail not whitish at base. Differs from Say ' s 

 in first thigh having a conspicuous yellow line; cren;e 

 xellowish- white. Two specimens— that from (irinnell 

 ixpaiuls near 4 inches. 



Papilio Xboas. Linn.— Keokuk and Davenport. 



Papilio AJax, var. J/rt)w??«.s-,. Cram.— Keokuk and 

 I>avcnport. 



Argrnnis Itlyriaa. Cram.— Add to ISoisduval's 

 de-^cription — underside of primaries witli three dull 

 wliitish spaces, two of which flank the middle nacre, 

 and are each divided by a transverse brown line. An- 

 tenna; not conspicuously annulated with white. Kx- 

 l)ands2.;). 



Argjniiis Belloua, Godt. — Not uncommon. Am- 

 plify Boisduv al's description — summit of primaries with 

 ferruginous pateli. and before it a pitle yellow oblique 

 band, b'our of live specimens expand nearly i inches: 

 the other 1 Tj. 



Vanessa Autiopa, Linn — Not rare 



A'anessa Progne, Cram.— Rare so far as oliservi d. 

 Kxpands 2.5. 



Erebia Xephele. Kirliy.— Not inieommon. \'er\' 

 dark brown. Expands -J inches 



Hesperia Balliylltis, Sm. Abb. [Pjilades. Scudd.) 

 — One specimen. 



Nisoniades Catullns Godt. — Add to Abbott's 

 description— head spotted with white above. Front of 

 palpi and neck, white. No spots on secondaries. Ex- 

 pands a little more than 1 inch . 



Xbecla Strig^osa, Harr. 



The following species, reported by Jlr. .Scudder, I 

 have collected at Grinnell : 



Glaucus, Protodice, Philodice, Earytlumt, Coesoitia, 

 Comi/ntas, Synchtus, Erippus, Mislppus, Ursula, Idaliu , 

 Aphrodite, Nycteis, Tharos, Atalanta, Cardui, HunUra, 

 Interrogationis , Portlandia, Alope, Moteduvalii, Tztyiiia, 

 BathyUus, Maiiiah's, Ahaton, EohomoTc, Aphrodite, J- 

 album, Also, a Coenia from Keokuk, where it is said 

 to have been common a few years since, but not noticed 

 of late. 



If W. P.VRKEI!. 



low.v COLLEGE, .Mari'll. 1S7(I. 



specimens cannot differ from BoisdiivMr.s di-criiilinn in the 

 tail not being whitish at b.ase, because lioi^duvul mentions 

 no such character in tlie original Frtucli [Lepidvpicres diur- 

 nes) . So doubt Mr. Parker has been led into error by the 

 English rendering in Morris's Synopsis. It is ahv-ays dan- 

 .irerous to quote second-hand from an author.] 



1!Y ,1. I'AUISII STEI.LE, OF TE.NNESSEE. 



Ax Experiment i-or Touai co-Growers. — I 

 visited the plantation of a Mr. George Harris, 

 in "West Tennessee, last summer, and found 

 him protecting his crop of tobacco from the 

 ravages of the Tobacco Worm (Sjihiiix .'i-macti- 

 hifa, Ilaw.) in a most novel kind of way. A 

 border some six or eight feet wide, and running 

 entirely around his tobacco-patch, was thickly 

 grown with Jimpson or Jamestown weed (Da- 

 tura stramonium, Linn.), the seed having been 

 .sown, I suppose, for I neglected to ask. At 

 the time of my visit the weeds were in full 

 bloom, and on every third day Mr. Harris, so 

 he told me, went among them and dropped a 

 little arsenic into the bell of each fiower. The 

 hawk moths came at night to deposit their eggs 

 upon the tobacco plants, but when they reached 

 the border they could not think of cros.sing 

 without first having a dip into their favorite 

 fiowers; and, as a consequence— to use Mr. 

 Harrris's own expression—" two minutes later 

 found them laid out to dry." He assured me 

 that on some mornings hundreds of dead moths 

 were to be found lying about the edges of his 

 patcli, and that the appearance of a worm on 

 any of his plants was considered a rare thing, 

 indeed. 



I was only a short time on Mr. Harris's plan- 

 tation, therefore I cannot, of course, stand good 

 for all he claimed as the result of his experi- 

 ment; still, I will say, without hesitation, that 

 I saw nothing which led me to form a single 

 doubt. His tobacco was clear of worms, and I 

 saw him putting arsenic on his Jimpson fiowers. 

 I also saw a number of dead moths, and a 

 knowledge of the fact that they fly near the 

 ground, and slowly from plant to plant, on their 

 way to deposit their eggs, caused me to believe 

 that they were killed as he claimed, and that 

 few would be likely to cross liis border without 

 sharing the same fate. It would cost but little 

 to try the thing, at all events, and therefore I 

 think our tobacco-growers would do well to 

 give it a fair test. If it will protect tobacco it 

 will also protect tomatoes ; and I am inclined 

 to think that fly-cobalt would be a more efli'ectual 

 poison to use than arsenic. 



To.YDS IN THE G.\RDEX.— I wish to Say, by 

 way of postscript to the article on page 91, Vol. 

 II, of this magazine, entitled •• Toads vs. Bugs," 

 that I kept about a dozen toads in my garden 

 all through the last summer, and found them to 

 be zealous insect exterminators. The only ob- 



