THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



79 



of mine, who cannot sleep if a mosquito is within 

 a mile of him, tells me he has only to put a little 

 powder on some burning paper in his room, and 

 there is " perfect peace." — A. T. Elliott, Stockton, 

 Cal. 



Interesting Cotton Worm Notes from Vera 

 Cruz, Mexico.— In this Consular District about 

 8,000,000 lbs. are produced. The peculiarities 

 of culture are striking. The ground is prepared 

 by removing rubbish, and then the seed is planted 

 by inserting a sharp stick in the ground at con- 

 venient intervals ; into the holes thus made the 

 seed is deposited and covered by the foot. No 

 plows are used in this preparation for the seed, 

 nor are they often used in the subsequent stages 

 of cultivation. They pull out the larger weeds 

 or use the hoe, confining their labor to little more 

 than such. It is clear from that kind of culture 

 that the cotton plant must be forced into much 

 bad company, and be assaulted with destructive 

 enemies. After extensive inquiries I find no one 

 scientifically informed on the full habits of these 

 enemies. 



****** 



It is a hotly disputed point as to what becomes 

 of the worm during the " six or eight years " when 

 it does not appear, and no one in my circuit of 

 acquaintance gives me anything better than a 

 superstition for a solution of the problem. Our 

 climate, never giving us frost, scarcely affects the 

 constant germinal qualities of plants or the ene- 

 mies thereof, and it has been asserted to me that 

 at one place or another the Cotton Worm can 

 always be found. However, the difficulty I have 

 experienced in obtaining the specimens sent, in- 

 duce me to doubt the correctness of that assertion. 

 ****** 



The worm has been here as long as cotton has 

 been cultivated by the Mexicans. 



We have historical accounts that cotton was 

 grown and utilized since the twelfth century, but 

 have no data that it was or was not naturally in- 

 digenous. But if said history be reliable it is 

 fair to presume that it was indigenous, because 

 there is no knowledge of commercial relations 

 with foreign countries at that period. 



* * * * * * 



The winds here are Easterly and South-easterly. 

 — S. T. Trowbridge, U. S. Consul, Vera Cruz, 

 Mexico, March 3, 1880. 



I send you a bottle containing various kinds 

 of worms that destroy the cotton and plant. 

 They are all I have been able to procure. This 

 is now the part of the year in which the worms 

 usually appear, and they have been gathered near 

 San Andres Tuxtla, on the Southern coast from 

 here. 



****** 



On the coast they are called palomas (moth) 

 or salomilla (chrysalis or aurelia). Said paloma 

 is ash-color, and is nocturnal in its habits. The 

 m.oth produces a multitude of microscopic eggs 

 on the plant, which eggs create the worm, also 

 microscopic, and which commences immediately 

 to devour the plant, and so continues until it 

 gets to the state of enrolment, in order to pass 

 through the last metamorphosis. I have not been 

 able to obtain sufficient data to say whether they 

 were imported into this country, but I am assured 

 that they do not make their appearance every 

 year at the same place, or better said, they only 

 come one or two years in succession, then dis- 



appear for six or eight years. They are not to 

 be found in all the country at one time. Their re- 

 production is usually ascribed to our southern 



coast. 



******** 



I understand their invasion can be victoriously 

 combated by sprinkling dry chloride of lime 

 over the ground and plants, or an aqueous solu- 

 tion of the same, and I have recommended this 

 remed)' to those living on the coast for a trial. — 

 R. de Zayas Enriquez, Vera Cruz, March 2, 1880. 



[The worms sent by Signor Enriquez are the 

 genuine Aletia of all sizes, but mostly full-grown. 

 The facts communicated in the above reports are 

 most interesting, not only on account of the re- 

 mote period to which the growth of cotton may 

 be traced on this continent, but also because of 

 the general observations as to the re-occurrence 

 of the insect in injurious numbers at irregular 

 periods only. In other words, the insect pre- 

 sents the same phenomena in Mexico as in this 

 country, and the same facts upon which the 

 theory of annual immigration to the United 

 States have been largely based, will hold equally 

 true of a country essentially below the frost line. 

 This all goes to prove the correctness of our con- 

 clusions that the absence of Aletia during certain 

 j^ears is apparent only, and that its undue multi- 

 plication during other years is paralleled by simi- 

 lar phenomena in respect of many other insects, 

 and notably of the Northern Army Worm, the 

 apparently sudden appearance and disappearance 

 of which over vast regions is even more marked 

 than in the case of Aletia. Yet, as we have 

 shown in the case of both these insects, they 

 may always be found in limited numbers even 

 when their presence is not suspected.] 



Answers to Correspondents. 



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

 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 never be 



ENCLOSED LOOSE IN THE LETTER. 



Whenever possible, larvae (z. ^., 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.] 



Clover-root Borer. — I send you, by the mail 

 that carries this, a small box with a few Clover- 

 beetles in it, which, if I remember correctly, are 

 the same as you described about a year ago. I 

 shall be greatly obliged to you if 3'ou will give 

 the scientific name, together with information as 

 to where I can find a description and history of 

 the beetle. It has ruined eighteen acres of Clover 

 on the University farm, and is actually to be found 

 in every clover plant on the campus. I have 



