ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



301 



Variety excpucians, (^ J. Three ,^ one §, bred. Julyjil 

 from the Oyiiipiiloiis gall scminator, Harris, which grows 

 exclusively on White Oak, tliffer ii-om the nonnal form of 

 nigriceps only in the scape of the antenna) being dull rufous 

 instead of brown-blivck . The antennal groove is black . 



Decatoma hyalipennis, n. ap.—^ black. Head sub- 

 ojiaciuo, conllueutly and very coarsely punctate; orbits, nar- 

 rowly interrupted above; the face below the antenna;, cheeks, 

 and mouth, pale yellow. Antenna' ■lull velhnv, joints i! 

 and :< dusky alwve rhvi-ax .-riil|,ini. >| :i. iln 'ii:i'l, but 

 still more coarsfh , ( Mllnn- i.ali ' i wide 



dorsal vitta. Wiii---raU- !iim1 a lon^::,,.! ,. ; ,M ,i.-iv.'it, 

 palerufous. Al/iioiurn \\\'r^]i\\ \">]i-]\. ^l [ . ,i^ ■• .\ re- 

 duncle ?; as lon^ a> the vest nf liir aiH|.,iii> n. I.<<i. |.:ilr yel- 

 low, basal -J of the hind orjxa-, iiiid a iiatch al)o\e cjri the 

 middle of the hind femora, black. Wiiiga hyaline; veins 

 brown ; stigma black . Ko vestige whatever of any stigmatic 

 cloud or patch. Length (^ 0.08 inch. 



The § differs from the ^ only as follows: 1st. The orbits 

 are wider and not interrupted .'vbove, and the face .and cheeks 

 .ire yellow higher up. 2nd. The antenme are dusky above to 

 their tips. 3rd. The black vitta on the collare is narrower 

 and sometimes abbreviated. 4th. The iiie.S"ii"tal .-mores are 

 more or less widely yellow, and the iileuia ami nn-tathorax 



are stained with yellow, .^th. The alnl iaul ii.Minicle is, 



as usual in the § $ of this genu.s, ccm.siclerably .-^hmter, and 

 the venter, and sometimes also the lower part of the abdomi- 

 nal dorsiun, are honey-yellow. 6th. The legs are immacu- 

 late 



Described from 1 (5' 2$ , all three captured at large. Ke- 

 sembles the paler varieties of sariaiw, but is sufficiently dis- 

 tinct by the total absence ol any stigmatic dark patch It 

 may possibly he the case that tlie (j" and § here described 

 belong to distinct species. 



Decatoma simplicistigma, n sp. — jj g pale ochre- 

 yellow. Head subopaque, confluentlv and very coarsely 

 punctate; disk of the occiput, ocelli, and sometimes a curved 

 band cuniua-tiii,- the .aa^lli and whirl! i, rarely (1 r? 1 $ ) 



black, Anirini;r with Ihr Ihmvlluiii .H-hll> c.Musi-ate al.c.ve, 

 and joint .; usually hl.ick aljij\r. l'h<n,ic -eulpturi'd as the 

 head, but still lU'.iv , oai-eh ( .illa.v rarely (1 §) with a 



slender dorsal black triauKle, tlh Na-e mI the triangle usually 

 starting from the suture b. luul the . ..ILin , sumetimes from 

 the hind part of the cnllare. auil th a|irx of the triangle 

 approaching mure nr l.-~ uearh. luii u.\erc|uite attaining 

 thescutel. Occasi..uallv nn , lli h -ide .,t this black triangle 

 two or three black d"t- are phual ni the suture bcbiiul the 

 collare. On the seutrl a lu ire or h-- wi.le dursal black line 

 not quite attaining it.- lip. \ er\ rarely (1 ^) Ihe entire mesu- 

 notum is imra.<iculute, nie^Mtle.ra.x always with a more or 

 less wide dorsal black line, which is uliuust always i^iro- 

 longed in a curve behind the luesothuracic scutel to the origin 

 of the front wing. Abdomen hi.nhlv poli-hed, with the pe- 

 duncle (3> g as in varians, the yel1(iw culor often merging 

 more or less into rufou?. I>eduiu-le al.ov.- and below, a dor- 

 sal line not attaining the tip. w liich-eiu rally expand- uj.un 



one large dorsal patch, all iil.iek ;,-,,» iiumaeulai.; Iml 



hyaline; veins brown; stignui hhuk; n.i veatige utauy ,-ti.^'- 

 raatic cloud or patch. Length ^ 0.00— 0.11, § O.B— o.ll 

 inch. 



Described from 7 jf U ? , bred Aug. 31st— Sept 30th, from 

 the Cynipidous Oak-gall Q. erinaceus, Walsh {=Q. pisum. 

 Fitch?) of the same year's growth, which occurs on White 

 Oak. Two (j", bred .Tune -iith and .July 8th, from the Cyni- 

 pidous Oak-gall Q. peliolicola, Bassett, of the same year's 

 growth, which occurs on .Swamp White Oak, and one g 

 l)red from the Oak-lig gall, which occurs on White Oak, 

 dill'er in no respect from the described type . 



Decatoma niibilisticnia, u sp. — ^ g differ from the 

 preceding onlv a- ill.',-; i-i I lu- general color is ochrc- 

 yellow, rangiii- I _ 11 pw to rufous. 2nd The 

 ocellar black spn; ii with the occipital black 

 spot. 3rd. The .11 ir 1- I \a - iiumaculatc, anil also (ex- 

 cept 5 (5" f 2) til.' ue iiii.i. au.l (except 2 0) the scutel. 



4th. The curve.l hla. k line behind the scutel is usually ex- 

 panded, ill coiiiiecii..n with the metathoracic black vitta, 

 into a bread black iriaugle, th.- apex of which does not 

 quite attain the abdominal ).eduncle. 5th. In the abdomen 

 the i)eduiicle is either immaculate or only vittate above with 

 black . Uth . The lismora and tibiie have a linear abbreviated 

 superior black vitta, scarcely perceptible in the front legs. 



and more obvious in each successive pair of legs. 7th, The 

 front legs have a pal.- I'.i-.-.iu- .-l-.u.l. scarcely — = ' - -■— 



Ihe stigma is long, " " 



of the way across 



Length (^0. OS— 0.10: ^ ■ : j : h 



Described from 9 q" ' _^ , i. ' .May 7th— 14th, from the 

 Cecidomyidous Willow-guU S batatas, Walsh, of the pre- 

 ceding year's growth. Eleven (J, bred June 2d, from an 

 nndescribed gall closely resembling Q. tuber, Fitch, but 

 occurring not on White Oak but on Swamp White Oak, and 

 in all probability Cynipidous, agree in every respect with 

 the described types . I possess also a single normal g cap- 

 tured at large . 



[To be continued.] 



A WORD FOR THE TOAD. 



During the past week the Striped Potato-bug 

 {Lytta vittatci) came into my potato patch, and 

 in two days defoliated about a thousand hill.s, 

 when four of us set to work gathering them. In 

 one liour we gathered a full gallon. Where did 

 such a quantity of these bugs come from in so 

 .short a time? But the most curious part is to 

 come. A black boy who was helping me said he 

 did not like to gather the bugs, because wher- 

 ever they were numerous he found a lot of toads, 

 and he was afraid of toads. This attracted my 

 attention, as I had seen a number of toads my- 

 self; and to my serprise I found that they were 

 eating the bugs. One fellow ate twelve bugs, at 

 the rate of four per minute. He would not eat 

 any faster, although we ran the bugs all around 

 and over him. Has any one else noticed this? 

 It is certainly new to me, for I did not think 

 anything would eat these Blister Beetles. The 

 Ladybird is shy of them ; and, so far as I have 

 observed, none of the common cannibal beetles 

 will attack them. S. F. T. 



Hannibal, Mo., .July, 1S70. 



Insect DEPRED.\TroNS. — If I were to estimate 

 the average loss per aniium of the farmers of this 



cuuutrv from in.-:ei-ts at .SUhi.iidii.ikki, I ^ilpmld 

 ilmil,tli'-ss be ttir bcliiw 111.- lii:n-k. 'flu- In-s of 

 tVuil iihiiie liv the (li'V;ishitinn- of iii-i-.-! s. williiii 

 :i radiiLs of lit'ty miles from this city, imi.st tiuiotuit 

 ill value to millions. In uiy neighborhood the 

 peach once flourished, but flourishes no more, 

 and cherries have been all but annihilated. Ap- 

 ples were till lately our iiiosi iirofit;ible ;iii(l per- 

 haps our most iiiiiiorfttnt iiroiliirl : 1 ml I lie worms 

 talie half our iiveiitue' rii>|i timl stiilly ihtiiitioe 

 what they do not utterly destroy, i'luui.s we 

 have ceased to grow or expect; our pears are 

 generally stung and often blighted; even the 

 currant has at last its fruit-destrojang worm. 

 We must fight our paltry adversaries more efii- 

 cieiitly, or allow them to drive us wholly from 

 the field. — Horace Greeley. 



Errata. — Page 270, column 1, line 8 from 

 bottom, for "quinquemacalata" read "qidnqne- 

 I maculata ;" same page, column 2, line 16 from 

 I bottom, for "Shaffer" read " Saffer." 



