THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



[8i 



Meromyza 



return what they are ? I have an idea they result 



from the operations of the Hessian-fly. — J. K. 



P. Wallace, Andersonville, Tenn. 



There are various small worms infesting the 

 stems of wheat in this coun- 

 try and bearing a close resem- 

 blance to that which you send, 

 but they are genuine maggots 

 and produce small two-winged 

 flies. One of them, known as 

 the American Meromyza {Me- 

 romyza aniericana Fitch) is more 

 particularly injurious, and the 

 accompanying figure (Fig. 85) 

 will show its form and man- 

 ner of working, at a ; the form 

 of the maggot at b, and the pu- 

 pa to which it changes at c. 

 Your worm has, however, a 

 different structure, and belongs 

 to another order, being appa- 

 rently Hymenopterous. It is 



cana: «, work of mag- quite new to US, and we will 



got— nat. size; b, mag- 

 got; iT, pupa— enlarged endeavor to rear the perfect 

 (after Riley). \r,^Qci. No remedy of a prac- 



tical nature can be suggested at this time. The 

 worms have no connection with the Hessian-fl}'. 



Linden and Ash destroyers. — The Linden- 

 beetle made its first appearance here this 3'ear on 

 May 20th, in great numbers. Have observed cop- 

 ulation from the first, but the larva, if any, have 

 escaped my scrutiny. I inclose sample of leaves 

 and beetles [1]. 



The inclosed chrysalis are of large worms seen 

 feeding on the Linden leaves. They continued 

 to eat freeljr in captivity [2]. 



I also inclose a specimen of a very large beetle 

 or borer that have destroyed two fine trees upon 

 my lawn, of the native Poplar, or, as it is some- 

 times called, the Trembling Aspen. They perfo- 

 rate the trunk midway up amongst the branches, 

 when the top dies or is broken oft" by the wind [3]. 



Many here attribute the wide spread destruc- 

 tion of the Black Ash forests to leaf worms, a 

 sample of whose web nest I last autumn sent you, 

 and regard the Root-borer as a sequence rather 

 than a cause. — Shelby Reed, Scottsville, N. Y. 



[i] The species on the Linden is Odontota rubra 

 (Web.). We do wish you could manage to find 

 the eggs, and if the beetles have been noticed in 

 copula, we think you could succeed with a little 

 care. We are very desirous of learning just how 

 the eggs are laid, and just what they look like. 



[2] The chrysalides are those of the Fall Web 

 Worm (Jlyphatttria textor). 



[3] The borer from native Poplar is Saperda 

 calcarata Say, an insect which, as indicated on p. 

 161 of this volume, is very destructive to the 

 Cottonwood throughout the West. The destruc- 

 tion of your Black Ash is certainly more due to 

 the Root-borer than to the Web Worm above re- 

 ferred to, though what particular beetle the borer 

 will produce we do not yet know — probably 

 Neoclytus cap7-cea Say. 



Blister-beetles Wanted. — The Secretary of 

 the Smithsonian has been good enough to give 

 me your name, as likely to inform me how to ob- 

 tain a collection of such vesicant insects as are 

 found in the United States. A gentleman in 

 France who is. writing a work on vesicant insects 

 is desirous of obtaining, b}' purchase or other- 

 wise, a collection. Any information you could 

 give me I should be grateful for. — B. Phillips, 

 New York, N. Y. 



You can obtain many of our North American 

 Blistering-beetles, correctly named and at very 

 reasonable prices, through Mr. E. P. Austin, 

 46 East Newton St., Boston, Mass., who, upon 

 application, will furnish you a list of such species 

 as he has on hand. 



Larva boring along the axis of Apple-twigs. 

 — T. V. Munsou, Denison, Tex. — The larvae 

 which you send and which are boring cylindrical 

 burrows along the axis of the twig, are not those 

 of the Apple-twig borer {Amphicerus bicaudattts) 

 but of some Long-horned beetle, belonging evi- 

 dently to the genus Oberea. We shall be glad 

 to receive further specimens, and also any fur- 

 ther facts from you as to whether it is abundant 

 or occurs in diseased or healthy twigs. 



Aquatic Larvae. — Will you be kind enough to 

 give me specific names for the two larvae sent 

 herewith ; one of a Dragon-fly, the other of a 

 May-fly. The latter is extremely common in the 

 stomachs of a great variety of fishes. — S. A. F., 

 Normal, 111. 



The former is the young larva of Anax Junius 

 Drury, one of our largest Dragon-flies ; the latter, 

 the larva of Palingenia bilineata Saj^ and, judg- 

 ing from its size, that of a female specimen. As 

 3^ou are doubtless aware, Ephemerid larvae 

 largely form the food of all sorts of aquatic 

 animals. 



First Appearance of Cotton Worm in Prairie 

 Belt. — Herein I send you a slip from the Mont- 

 gomery Advertiser, in which it is shown that 

 Cotton Worms have been discovered in large 

 numbers on several farms in Butler Count}'. If 

 3'ou will examine the maps, 3'ou will see how 

 nearly this first appearance of the worms corres- 

 ponds in location with their first appearance last 

 season. Why do they always appear first on or 

 near the Prairie belt, and not on the sand}^ lands 

 further south? — James F. Baile3% Marion, Perry 

 Co., Ala., May 23, 1880. 



I send you a slip from the Montgomery Adver- 

 tiser of to-day, showing the Cotton Worms have 

 made their appearance on the Moss Place, which 

 is near the middle of Lowndes County. My son, 

 who knows the worms well, informs me he found 

 a worm nearly grown, last Monday, on the farm 

 of Mr. Geo. P. White, adjoining the field of 

 Howell, where the worms made their first ap- 

 pearance in this vicinity last season. — Id., May 

 29, i88c. 



We can best answer your questions by refer- 

 ring you to chapter six, p. 18, of Bulletin 3, U. S. 

 E. C. We think there is little question that on 

 the prairie belt the cotton is more luxuriant and 

 advanced than in the sandy lands farther south. 



