242 



THE AMERICAN 



The Grape-leaf Gall-louse — Montpellicr, 

 France. — Your remarks ou page 248 of the first 

 volume, in reference to the Grape-leaf Gall-insect 

 are perfectly in concorilauce with the views of 

 my brother-in-law, Dr. Planchon, ami of my 

 own. * * » You arc perfectly right 

 in your criticism of Dr. Shimers new family, 

 l)acti/los2>hcB)-idai, as the globular hairs at tlie 

 extremity of the legs are conunon to all Coccus 

 and C'occMS-likc Leaf-lice, and Phylloxera stands 

 very close to Coccus. J. Lichtenstkin. 



Development oi- Egg of Impouted Clrkant 

 Saw-fly (Nematus i:entricosus)-rLondo7i, C. W., 

 May Will, 1870. — I send you a small tin box, 

 containing some eggs and a few young- larva?, 

 just hatched, of Nematus ventricosus. I found 

 them in the garden to-day, and hope they will 

 reach you in good order. I observe that the 

 freshly deposited eggs are much smaller than 

 those from which the larva is about to proceed ; 

 but cannot see that they are attached to anytliing 

 more than the mere surface of the ribs of the 

 leaves. If this is the case, do the females use 

 their saw-hke appendage at all in connection 

 "\vith the depositing of eggs? The subsequent 

 swelling of the egg must. I fancy, proceed alto- 

 gether from the development of the enclosed 

 lai-va. Tlie texture of the enclosing membrane 

 appears to be very elastic. "Wm. Salndeus. 



A Kare Captl ke — Covington, ICy., April 10, 

 1870. — The only notice that I have ever seen 

 of Phymajihora pulchella is that in Packard's 

 Guide, and from that I infer it is very rare. It 

 may therefore be worth while to record the cap- 

 ture of a single specimen b>- me upon a plank 

 fence around timbered land last summer. I do 

 not remember the exact date, but I tliink it was 

 about the last of April. It Avas left for some 

 time among other material, and did not attract 

 my attention until a short time ago. 



V. T. Chambers. 



Beech-nuts in Cocoon of the Cecropia. — 

 In the last number of the American Entomolo- 

 gist AND Botanist, mention is made of kernels 

 of corn being loucd in the cocoon of the Cecropia. 

 Two similar instances have come under my 

 notice. Twice I have found beech-nuts in the 

 inside of the cocoon at the small end, between 

 the caterpillar and the innermost layer of silk. 

 The explanation ottered by Dr. LeBaron seems 

 hardly admissible under these circumstances. 

 [Why?] On the other hand, the fact of no 

 beech trees being within an eighth of a mile, 

 would indicate that they must have been placed 

 there by the blue-jays, or some other bird, as he 

 supposes. C. S. MiNOT, in Canadian Ent. 



THE WHEAT-BARBERRY RUST. 



Says the Country Gentlei 



AVc have no controversy 



(/ist on tlic si-iciititii- \h>>\\ 



' Kiiloiiiolo- 



this suhjeel. ihat il oiilv ar-iie~ Inr the iileiUitv 

 of the wiieat ami liarlieiTv rust, adding "we have 

 never assiimed that heallhy barberry bushes, free 

 from rust, will pnnlme any rust in wheat." 



mcnts ])n)viiiu- thai llie liailieir\ nianiilaei iiics 

 rust ami then sealter- it far and \\i,le omt wheat 

 tiehls. we will aeeepi Ihe pnH.fa- lar a^ il -.le^. 



Wi' would ueiitly reinind (nir eonleniporary 

 that, ill the lirst iilaee. Iheiv i- m. identity be- 

 tween the Apple and the i'luiu Ciireulio, and, in 

 the second place, if these two insects were iden- 

 tical, the analogy drawn in the first paragi-aph 

 above quoted is a purely false and supposititious 

 one. If there existed a curcijlio which in tlie 

 larva state fed on apples, but which could only 

 undergo its transformations to the pupa and 

 perfect states in plums, such an iiiseet might 

 furnish the illustration required. 



It does not become our Albany Iricnds, after 

 ttrst criticising our position, to attempt to throw 

 the burden of proof on us. "We like not such 

 modes of arguing a point. We have already 

 furnished proof in support of our own position, 

 and to deny in the face of it that barberry rust 

 has any influence on wheat rust, is tantamount 

 to denying, in the face of scientific evidence, that 

 Ave derive the tape-worm from the cystadids 

 which inhabit the liver and other parts of tlie 

 hog. Until this last fact was proved by experi- 

 ment, few could comprehend or imagine that wc 

 derived that dreaded parasite from one of our 

 most conunon domestic animals ; and though it 

 may be equally difficult for some persons to com- 

 prehend hoAV the pregerminal form of a parasitic 

 plant may be wafted hundreds — nay thousands — 

 of miles from its place of development ; or how 

 it may lie almost ubiquitous, and yet remain 



