THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



227 



Parthenogenesis in Orgyia antiqua.— Curi- 

 ously and without exception every cocoon I have 

 examined since the middle of Januarj' — at least 

 fifty specimens — had the mass of eggs upon it, 

 indicating some remarkable things : i, that it has 

 no enemies to destroy it ; 2, that it is perfectly 

 fitted to withstand our climate; 3, that all of the 

 winter-brood are females, and must reproduce, 

 without the co-operation of a male, hy part/u-no- 

 geiti'sis, which has already been discovered in 

 some wingless insects. The eggs hatched (May 

 15th, 1880) as soon as the leaves were expanded, 

 yielding the vernal brood, to which must belong 

 the males described by others. — W. S. B. 



[It is possible, also, that the males, always 

 issuing before winter and having no occasion for 

 permanent attachment like the females, form 

 their cocoons on or among the leaves, which 

 subsequentl)' drop to the ground. — Ed.] 



Dominican Case-bearer. — Last season I bred 

 Coscinoptera doviinicana from the eggs, and con- 

 firmed your observations on it. Two which I 

 had hihernating under a stone came forth as 

 adults from their cases a few da)'s since. They 

 [Fig. 118.] 



CosciNOPTKKA DOMiNiCANA: rt, Karva extracted from case ; 

 ^, do, with case ; c, beetle showing punctures ; d, same, nat. 

 size ; f, egg ; y, head of larva, underside ; g, head of male 

 beetle; /«, jaw of same ; z, eggs, nat. size ; _/', leg of larva ; 

 k^ jaw of same ; /, maxilla of samo. (After Riley.) 

 are very voracious, eating the margins off from 

 a label in the bottle with them, and, what seems 

 contrary to their vegetarian nature, they have 

 devoured a small black caterpillar (probably 

 Lithosia miniata Kirby) which I placed with them. 

 — W. S. B. 



Notes on Cotton Worm in Florida. — I de- 

 voted the entire' day to examining McGrady's 

 cotton fields. I have before reported in regard to 

 this plantation that last year's crop was nearly 

 destroyed by "the worm," which made its ap- 

 pearance about the middle of September after a 

 severe easterly storm. The wind blew at first 

 from northeast, then east, and finally southeast. 

 This year cotton is planted in two fields, a small 

 one adjoining and a large one on the other side 

 of a small lake or pond about 300 yards distant. 

 Cotton is growing still between the corn, and has 

 been all winter. There has been no frost at all 

 this winter. I have given a great deal of time to 

 the examination of this field, and have searched 

 nearl)' every individual cotton plant now growing 

 in it. There is no trace of Aletia, although last 

 March the dead chrysalides were not uncommon 



on the old stalks of the season before. The 

 young cotton of this year is, some of it, 2 to 3 

 feet high and coming into bloom. It appears to 

 be remarkably free from insects of all kinds. 

 There are a few Aphis, and a red mite (specimens 

 of which I have mounted in balsam) is found up- 

 on some plants, but is doing hardly any damage 

 as yet. I have not yet finished the examination 

 of the largest field. I learn to day from Mr. 

 McGrady that " the worm " is eating cotton (long 

 staple) in the western part of Putnam Co. — H. G. 

 Hubbard, Crescent City, Fla., May 24th\ 



Army Worm in Queens Co., New-York. — 



I send with this mail a sample of the Army Worm, 

 so called by our farmers. It is doing vast dam- 

 age to our crops : corn, wheat, and Timothy 

 grass. It made its presence first known June 4, 

 in wheat fields, and does not seem to be any less 

 in numbers. — John S. Hicks, Roslyn, N. Y., 

 June 10, 1880. 



The Clover Root Borer has taken all the 

 clover in portions of Genesee County. I 

 examined clover in half a dozen fields to-day, 

 during a ride of ten miles, and found every plant 

 I pulled up was more or less injured. While 

 most of the plants are yet alive, they are of little 

 value for hay, seed, or pasture. — W. A. Henry, 

 Ithaca, N. Y., July 6. 1880. 



Hair-worms and Red-mites Remarkably 

 Abundant upon Locusts in California. — Since' 

 reading my brother's articles last week (being ab- 

 sent myself last Fall and winter), I am reminded \ 

 of having seen about one-fourth of an acre ofl 

 my meadow thickly filled last Fall with locust! 

 eggs, in the pools and along the creek, as the' 

 snow went off, covered with millions and mil- 

 lions of what I now think may have been Gordius\ 

 (white hair snakes), about one inch long; also, 

 another quarter of an acre fairly covered with.] 

 little red mites, which hereafter I will observej 

 more closely. 



The red mite I know nothing about personall}', 

 except as found on the locust last summer; but! 

 the white grubs [Fig. 37 of the First Report of the! 

 U. S. Entomological Commission] ate out and 

 destroyed thousands of the eggs last Fall, but, 

 to all appearance, have eaten nothing since, hav- 

 ing lain dormant all winter, and being now found 

 still among the eggs which are fast hatching out. 

 The season being favorable for a great growth, we 

 expect about half a crop of grass, which is our 

 principal crop. — W. C. Lemmon, Sierra Valley, 

 Cal., June 13th, 1880. >^,^^ ^ 



Seventeen Year Cicada in Ohio.— I mai 



1 vou 



to-day a few apple twigs containing eggs of 

 cada septcmdccini. I think the eggs were depos- 

 ited about four or five days before. The Cicadas 

 appeared here about May 2d, and were all gone 

 July 1st. They have done some damage to fruit 



