50 



THP: AMERICAN ENTOiMOLOdlS T. 



Extracts from Correspondence, 



[We shall publish in this Department such extracts from the 

 letters of our correspondents as contain entomological facts 

 worthy to be recorded, on account either of their scientific or 

 of their practical importance. We hope our readers will con- 

 tribute each their several mites towards the general fund ; and 

 in case they are not perfectly certain of the names of the in- 

 sects, the peculiarities of which are to be mentioned, will send 

 specimens along in order that each species may be duly 

 identified.] 



Wandering Habit of Larvae belonging to 

 the Genus Bucculatrix. — The first number of 

 the Entomologist is at hand. I hope it may 

 prove as useful and interesting as its predecessor 

 of the same name. 



lam afraid you will find that the "habit (of 

 Bucculatrix poiiiifoliella) oi ioxvaxng its little rib- 

 bed cocoon in company on the bark " of apple 

 trees, will nqt "give us the mastery over it." Like 

 some of its European congeners the larva of this 

 species has a habit of crawling away to consider- 

 able distances from its food-plant to spin its co- 

 coon. I have sometimes found as many as twenty 

 cocoons in a cluster on stalks of Elder {Sanibucus) 

 as much as fifty yards from the nearest apple tree; 

 and have bred the moth from these same cocoons. 

 But I hav^e never found any indication that the 

 larva (or any Tineid larva) feeds on leaves of 

 Samhucus . This habit is not uncommon in larvae 

 oi Bucculatrix : and this fact together with the 

 singularity of a larva of this genus feeding on a 

 coniferous tree, lead me to suspect that possibly 

 B. thuiella Packard does not feed on Thuja. If 

 I remember Dr. Packard's account he does not 

 state that he saw the larva feeding, but only that 

 he found it and the pupa on that tree ; just' as I 

 found the pupa; of B. potiiifoliella on Sainbucus, 

 which however does not feed thereon. Just so I 

 bred i9. amhrosiicella Cham, from Ambrosia trifida 

 but did not see it feeding on it, and it may result 

 that both B. ain/>rosi,€ella and B. thuiella are 

 unfortunately named. — V. T. C, Covington, Ky. 



Russian Remedy for Hydrophobia.— A cor- 

 respondent of Za;;,/rt;/a'^Frt/^;-(London), describes 

 the following Russian treatment of Hydrophobia: 

 In Saraton the inhabitants collect the larva of the 

 rose beetle {Cetonia attrata), which are chiefly 

 found in the wood-ants' nest. The grubs are 

 gathered in the spring, placed in earth, and their 

 change of metamorphosis watched for. When 

 this takes place they kill the beetles and dry 

 them. The powdered insect must be kept in her- 

 metrically sealed bottles, or the dried beetles 

 may be kept in sealed pots and reduced to powder 

 when wanted. Three beetles powdered are consid- 

 ered a dose for an adult, given immediately after 

 the bite. One for a child and five for an adult in 

 which the disease has declared itself. The effect 

 is to produce a long sleep, which must not be 

 interrupted. The bite is also treated surgically. 

 The beetles caught on flowers are not so benefi- 

 cial; they must be secured in the larva stage, 

 and killed directly after they attain the imago. 

 Some of the Russians give their dogs occasionally 

 half a beetle as a preventative. 



We give the above for what it is worth. 

 As we have several species of Cctoma in 

 the United States, perhaps some one inay 

 desire to go into the business of making 

 Hydrophobia powder from them. These 

 beetles may possess some curative proper- 

 ties not as yet discovered, but we leave the 

 finding of it out to the medical faculty. 



Answers to Correspondents. 



[We hope to make this one of the most interesting and in- 

 structive departments of the Entomologist. All inquiries 

 about insects, injurious or otherwise, should be accompanied 

 by specimens, the more the better. Such specimens, if dead, 

 should be packed in some soft material, as cotton or wool, and 

 inclosed in some stout tin or wooden box. They will come 

 by mail for one cent per ounce. Insects should nexer be 



ENCLOSED loose IN THE LETTER. 



Whenever possible, larv£e {i. e.^ grubs, caterpillars, maggots, 

 etc.) should be packed alive, in some tight tin box — the tighter 

 the better, as air-holes are not needed — along with a supply of 

 their appropriate food sufficient to last them on their journey ; 

 otherwise they generally die on the road and shrivel up. If 

 dead when sent, they should be packed in cotton moistened 

 with alcohol. Send as full an account as possible of the habits 

 of the insect respecting which you desire information ; for 

 example, what plant or plants it infests ; whether it destroys 

 the leaves, the buds, the twigs, or the stem ; how long it has 

 been known to you ; what amount of damage it has done, etc. 

 Such particulars are often not only of high scientific interest 

 but of great practical importance.] 



Tipula Eggs in Stomach of Cat-bird. — If you 



will again look at the vial I sent, you will find a 

 number of oblong black eggs, convex on all sides, 

 in the same bottle with the ovipositors. The lat- 

 ter I put in as an illustration of the Tipulids 

 found with the eggs. In fact, there is no evidence 

 apparent that the cat-birds picked up the eggs 

 separately. The occurrence of Tipulid fragments 

 in every case where the eggs were found, would 

 indicate that all the latter came from the abdo- 

 mens of the females. S. A. F., Normal, Ills. 



We failed to find any other than the Tipula 

 eggs described, and were misled by our corres- 

 pondent's language, as given on page 24 of our 

 last issue. We entirely agree with him that the 

 birds do not pick up the eggs separately, and 

 shall be glad to receive specimens of the eggs he 

 now describes for examination. 



Beetles supposed to be feeding on Wheat.— 

 A few months since our Professor of Agriculture 

 received a small quantity of wheat from the De- 

 partment at Washington. He planted the wheat, 

 and upon examining the grains obtained from the 

 crop, he found a large number of small insects 

 that were rapidly destroying the wheat. I send 

 one of these insects by this mail with the request 

 that you will examine it for me and inform me 

 what it is. By doing this you will greatly oblige 



Yours very truly, P. H. M. 

 Agr. and Mec. Col. Auburn, Ala. 



The insect you send, supposed to be destroying 

 wheat received from the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, is in reality the larva of some species of 

 Cryptorhopalum , belonging to the family Dernies- 

 tidiE. This family of beetles preys in the larval 

 state upon a great many dead animal substances 

 but is not known to feed on any vegetation. The 

 probability is that the wheat in question was in- 

 jured by some one of the numerous enemies to 

 that grain, e. g. the common Grain-weevil, {Calau- 

 dra remotipunctata) and that the larva you sent was 

 preying upon its remains. If you will send a lar- 

 ger quantity of the injured grain I may be able to 

 solve the question for you more satisfactorily. 



The Apple-twig Borer. — Enclosed (in short 

 quill) find beetle just taken from grape-vine in 

 vineyard of Concords which was so severely 

 trimmed last winter by an unskillful operator 

 that scarcely an inch of the previous season's 

 growth was left. Much of the old wood died 

 down to the stocks and that dead wood has been 



