302 



THE AMERICAN 



EXTOMOLOGICAL JOTTINGS. 



propose to pultlis 



iiWisli from time 



cal importance. We iiope our tpi 

 towttrds thcceiicral fund; and i 

 imiiies ot the msects. the pcculia 

 speeimeiie atoDK 111 order that eai 



to time, under the ahove heedinf;, sue! 

 rspoiidents m contain ciitumoluf^ical fact 

 either of their scientitic or ot tlieir practi 

 irs will contribute eacli their several mite 



esot which arc to be mentioned, will sen 

 species may be duly identified.] 



Do NOT UISSKMINATE INJURIOUS INSECTS — 



liidgeivood, N. J. — A few days ago I was asked 

 to purcliasc some dama.ned .uraiu for feeding out 

 loslofk; liiit, iiiMiii cxainiiiing the same, I cou- 

 cliKlfd lli;it (he Ik'sI (liiii- icil)c done with it was 

 (o burn or boil (lie suiiic on the premises; and 

 (his course I advised without delay. It was all 

 infested lilce the ear 1 send [with larvje of Angou- 

 mois Gi-ain Moth]. In the same room there 

 were beans, all bored tlu-ough by the Bean 

 Weevil enclosed [^Brwchus obsoletus, Say] . You 

 can well imagine my surprise to find this insect 

 in such large numbers ; and it is surely time that 

 entomologists sounded tlie tocsin, and waked up 

 our agriculturists upon this insect question. I 

 know that there are thousands of farmers in our 

 country who will not pay two dollars a year for 

 the Entomologist, just because they think it is 

 economy not to do so, while at the same time 

 they lose hundreds every 3-ear in consequence of 

 their ignorance of what this periodical teaches. 

 Not one farmer in a thousand would know this 

 com insct^t if it should come to him in purchased 

 gi-aiii. i(iusc(|ii('iitly he would not hesitate to sow 

 atliMlcil >i'v^, aud thereby bring ruin to himself 

 ami iicighlmrs. I bid you God speed in your 

 great work. If coaxing will not do, scold, fret 

 and condeniu, with an unsparing pen, those who 

 will persistently ignore the value of entomology 

 to our people. It is a pity, as well as a disgrace 

 to our nation, that we have no money to aid 

 science — which is only another word for pros- 

 perity — while there are millions to squander upon 

 tilings, and even ideas, Avliich will never benefit 

 us as a people, nor bring happiness to one indi- 

 vidual. A. S. Fuller. 



A IlOVE-IiEETLE AS A PaKASITE ON THE CaB- 



li.vGE Maggot — Boston, Mass., July 18, '70. — 

 Since I sent you the box containing larvte, &c., 

 I have bred a new parasite from part of the same 

 lilt ; perhaps some of your pupffi produced 

 Shiiilniliiiiiilii' instead oi Dipt era. Ibelieve this 

 laii iirw to srience, at least it is so to us here. 

 Early (his sjuiiig my neighbor, Com. John Pope, 

 callcil my atteulion to a fly larva destroj'ing his 

 young cabbage plants, just set out. I also found, 

 on looking over my own, some that were wilted 

 during the heat of the day, which proved, uiioii 

 examination, to be caused bj' the same insect at 

 work on the roots. I found from ten to thirl)' 

 of different sizes on each infested plant. They 



destroy all the tender rootlets, aud follow the 

 centre of the main stock to the surface of the 

 ground, finally killing the plant. This enemy, 

 new to this particular location, I immediately 

 took steps to become more familiar Avith. After 

 transplanting some of my cabbages to my breed- 

 ing cases, I left one strong, healthy stock, Avhich 

 I suspected of being infested, to remain in the 

 ground until it was perfectly dead, when T opened 

 the liill, .June 20th, and took therefrom twentj'- 

 six pupa3, part of which I put into two boxes, 

 one with moist earth the other dry. On opening 

 them, July 12th, I found in each a perfect fly, 

 wliich proved to answer exactly to tlie descrip- 

 tion given by Dr. Fitch, in the New York State 

 Agricultural Report for 1806-7, of tlie Cab- 

 bage Fly {Anthomyia brassicm, Bouche). On 

 .igain examining my boxes, July loth, I found 

 a pretty little black Hove-beetle {Staphi/Unus) , 

 0.15 inch long, and new to my collection. I 

 then presumed it came from a pupa acci- 

 dentally put in the box witli the .soil ; but 

 when I again opened my boxes, July 17th, what 

 was my surprise to find iu each thi-ee more of 

 the same species of beetle. Upon further ex- 

 amination, I found six of the fly pupas with a 

 rough hole gnawed through the side, aud as my 

 boxes were perfectly tight, I had but one con- 

 clusion to come to. After a careful examination 

 with the microscope of the remaining pupse, I 

 could detect no break in thcin. each segment or 

 ring was entire. On exaniinhig the balance I 

 found one live and one dead imago in one pupa, 

 and the rest lly pnii:e alive: llius proving bej'ond 

 a doubt that eit her the eggs, ov what seems more 

 probable, the young larva; of this Staphylinus 

 entered the fly larvte long before they had arrived 

 at maturity. Philip S. Sprague. 



[It would be well for our correspondent to 

 determine the species of Stapliylimts which 

 plays in this new role, aud we shall be glad to 

 hear further from him. — Ed.] 



Oysteu-shell Bark-lice in Mississippi ; 

 Apple-tree Root-louse— Ca)'Z/taflre, 3Iiss., July 

 18, '70. — I am satisfied that we have the Oyster- 

 shell Bark-louse in this neighborhood. I last 

 winter cut down and burned about 200 apple 

 frees whicli were infested with it. It was mostly 

 on three or four large trees, from which it 

 seemed to have spread to the others, which were 

 small nursery trees. I kept a few of the limbs 

 mostly infested, aud thought that I should send 

 them to you, but they have been mislaid in some 

 way, 80 that I am unable to find them. There 

 is no doubt, however, I think, but that it is the 

 real Oystcr-sheli Bark-louse ; ii suits your de- 

 scription exactly. I examined under a great 



