ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



341 



Caterpillars named— i>r. E. S. King, Wtsl Lihetiy, 

 lowa.—l. The green, black and yellow worms feeding 

 on celery are the larv:e of the common Asterias Swallow- 

 tail {Papilio asterias, Cram.) The forked process, or 

 osmaterium, is simply a scent-organ, and has no sting- 

 ing or otherwise injurious power. The smaller blacker 

 worms are the young larvae of the same species. This 

 insect feeds on all sorts of plants of the Parsley Family 

 (Umbellif*ra). 2. The black and yellow worms, with 

 reddish warts on the back, and covered with stifl" yellow 

 and brown hairs, are a very common species of cater- 

 Iiillar, the larva of a speckled gray moth (Acronyeta oh- 



CFiB. 210.] 



Colure— (a) Black, ycllmv nnd reddisli , {)') pale j ellow ur iiroMn; (c) Rray. 



linata, Gucn.) wliicli may be known in popular language 

 as the Smeared Dagger, the moths belonging to this 

 genus being very generally called Daggers in England, 

 on account of a dagger-like mark which is common to 

 most of them near the anal angle of the front wings. 

 This insect is a very general feeder, occuiTing on a great 

 variety of herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees, and it 

 often proves injurious to Apple and Willow. We pre- 

 sent her.'with (Fig. 210) figures of the larva (a), the 

 cocoon (h), and the moth (c). 



Insects named— Z. P. Kraft, Belleville, /««.— No. 

 1, Callimorpha vestalis, Pack. (undoubtedly=/?ifeVoK«>). 

 Mo. 2, Acronyeta populi, Riley. No. 3, &gia diffinis, 

 Boisd. No. 4, Acronyeta pH,i-.\wa. No. &, Acronyeta 

 Americana, lla.rr . Jio. 6, Grapta progne, Cram. No. 7, 

 Catocalainnubens,Guen. No. 8, ffomoptera lunula, Drury. 

 No. 9, Calopteryx maculata ? No. 12. Penthemis domitia. 

 No. 14, Diplax ruhicundula, Say^^assimulata, Uhlcr. No. 

 15, Libellula luctuosa, Burm. No. 16, Agrion apicalist^, 

 Say. 



The Botanical Department— 7%o«. W. Duffy, 

 Jefferson, 7ea;a.«.— The botanical department, as we have 

 before stated, is under entire charge of the botanical 

 editor. We have nothing to do with it, and arc not re- 

 sponsible for anything that appears in it. On the ques- 

 tion of the Origin of Species, we have for many years 

 admired Darwin's development hypothesis, and the 

 longer we live the firmer we believe in it. 



Colorado Potato Beetle— (7. C. Collins, Chicago, 

 IIU. — Your l)eetle is no more nor less than this dreaded 

 insect. 



Dr. S. Holman, Springfield, Jfo.— The "grubs" you 

 send are its larvae. 



Tiie Abbot Spiiinx; Parasites on Its tarva- 



Thos. W. Gordon, M.D., tfeor^rfojcre, 0.— The caterpillar 

 sent is the larva of the Aljbot Sphinx, a pretty choco- 

 late-brown hawk moth, having a yellow patch on each 

 hind wing, and which wc recently illustrated . These 

 and other larv.'e of the Sphinx tribe are frequently at- 

 tacked by a very small four-winged fly belonging to the 

 genus Microgaster, in the Order Hymenoptera. The fly 

 does not eat the flesh of the caterpillar, but punctures 

 its skin, and inserts in its body minute eggs at various 

 points; these eggs hatch therein, disclosing small white 

 grubs or maggots, which subsist on the fat and flesh 

 of the caterpillar until the latter is full grown. The 

 parasites then make their exit through the skin and 

 spin their cocoons, loosely attaching them to the sur- 

 face of the caterpillar, which generally dies from ex- 

 haustion soon after, while the parasites themselves pass 

 through their transformations in a few days and become 

 four-winged flies like their parent. 



Crane-flies — Rose-bugs— Ants— 5r. J. W. Potts, 

 Elizabeth, Jnd.— The long-legged insect sent, is an unde- 

 termined species of Crane-fly LTipula). They feed in 

 the larva state on the roots of grass and other plants. 

 No. 2 is, as you suggest, the common Rose-chafer (Ma- 

 crodactylus mhspinosus), which is almost omnivorous, 

 very few plants being unpalatable to its taste. All male 

 and female ants when first developed from the pupa 

 have wings, the barren ones or workers never. The 

 males and females alter pairing, which they cfl'ect on 

 the wing, drop to the earth and cast off their wings. 

 The males soon die, and the females retire to their 

 chambers to lay eggs; but neither ever again acquire 

 wings. The females are the largest; the workers, or 

 nurse-ants, generally next in size, and both kinds may, 

 of course, be found in the same nest. 



Not a Gall but a Wasp IVest— Aafe Parsons. — The 

 round cell which you found at the root of a nasturtium 

 is not a gall, but the mud cell of the Fraternal Potter 

 Wasp (Emnenes fraterna. Say) which we illu.strated at 

 Figure 110 of the first volume. 



Cabbage Worms— -B. H. Foster, Babylon, N. Y — 

 The green cabbage worms which are causing such de- 

 struction to the cabbages in your part of the covintry , 

 are the larva; of the imported Rape Butterfly (Pieris 

 rapas), which we have several times referred to. Salt Is 

 foHnd more effectual than either tobacco, cresylic acid" 

 soap, or guano. 



The Unicorn Prominent— ^mma Payne, Racine, 

 Wis.— the reddish-brown worm, with the second and 

 third joints green, and a prominent horn just behind 

 them, which worm you found on a rose bush, is the 

 Unicorn Prominent (Notodonta unicornis, Sm. & Abb .) 

 The moth has the front wings light brown, variegated 

 with greenish-white and dark brown : the hind wings 

 in the ^ are whitish with a dusky spot on the inner 

 hind angle, while in the $ they are dusky. The worm 

 feeds on a variety of trees and shrubs, and though when 

 perched on the edge of a dark green oak leaf there seems 

 little resemblance between the animal and its food, yet 

 we quote your interesting remarks about its mimicry : 

 " I think this worm furnishes a wonderful instance of 

 mimicry of the vegetable by the animal organism. The 

 green segments just back of the head resemble a small 

 portion of the green leaf, and the otlier p;irts admirably 

 counterfeit the brown-and-russet tints of the dead leaf, 

 while the form of the animal in its various postures aids 

 the deception by its resemblance to a leaf partly alive and 

 partly dead, the green mostly eaten and the brown torn." 



