THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



247 



them, from the fact that they do not mix 

 with water, has been solved by first com- 

 bining them with either fresh or spoiled 

 milk to form an emulsion, which is easily 

 effected, while this in turn, like milk alone, 

 may be diluted to any extent, so that par- 

 ticles of oil will be held homogeneously in 

 suspension. Thus, the question of applying 

 oils in any desired dilution is settled, and 

 something practical from them maybe look- 

 ed for. — C. V. Riley in Scientific Atnerican. 



A New Enemy to Corn — the Long- 

 horned DiABROTiCA. — Several interesting 

 articles have lately been published in the 

 P)'airie Farmer by Prof. Thomas, G. H. 

 French and others, on the ravages of a 

 larva which, on the 17th of August, Mr. 

 FrenA proved to be that of Diabrotica lon- 

 gicornis Say. The injuries of this insect to 

 corn-roots have for some time been known 

 to us, and the first record of the fact will 

 be found in the introduction to our report 

 as entomologist to the Department of Agri- 

 culture for 1878. We first received it in 

 the larva and pupa states in August, 1874, 

 from Mr. H. Weber, of Kirkwood, Mo., 

 who found it burrowing in the roots of his 

 corn, and doing considerable damage. 

 While the general resemblance to the 

 known larva of Diabrotica vittata (the 

 Striped Cucumber-beetle) showed its re- 

 lationship, and we suspected it to belong 

 to G. iongicor7iis, on account of the fre- 

 quency with which this pretty, greenish 

 species was found in corn fields, yet we 

 failed to get positive proof by breeding 

 until August 14, 1878, when the first beetle 

 was obtained from larvse received the pre- 

 vious month from Mr. G. Pauls, of Eureka, 

 Mo. We have invariably found it in con- 

 junction with a real wire-worm, viz.: the 

 larva of Drasterius ainabilis Lee, which, 

 from its having been found by us preying 

 on locust eggs, probably frequents the corn 

 roots for the food afforded by the Diabro- 

 tica larvae. The following from the Western 

 Rural, of May 18, 1879, doubtless refers 

 to these two larvae : 



Information Wanted.— During the last few 

 years our corn fields in this section have been 



infested by a small white worm or larva, of which 

 farmers generally know but little. Except in 

 size, color and habits, it resembles the yellow 

 wire-worm. Instead of disturbing the kernels 

 of corn they attack the root, and soon as corn is 

 up we find the roots dying and the inside of them 

 filled with these little pests. They enter the root 

 at the base of the stalk and burrow under the 

 bark of the root until it is destroyed. They are 

 at first very small and can scarcely be detected 

 with the natural eye, but later they appear to be 

 one-half inch in length, with seemingly all appear- 

 ance of the wire-worm in shape. Some are claim- 

 ing them to be the young wire-worm, while others 

 claim different, and a few lines from j^our valua- 

 ble paper might give us some light, and would 

 be very acceptable to many farmers. — N. A., 

 Swan Creek, III. 



The damage the present year in some of 

 the Western States seems to have been con- 

 siderable, arid the only remedies that sug- 

 gest themselves, in case the pest becomes 

 more serious, are rotation of crops, the 

 destruction of the Ragweed {Ambrosia 

 trifidd) upon which the beetles congregate, 

 and the application of lime and ashes 

 around the young corn to ward them off. 



Migrations of Potato-beetles. — A 

 curious sight in the counties of Passaic and 

 Bergen, in New Jersey, is the migration of 

 the potato-bug. Meadows, wagon roads, 

 and railroads swarm with these pests, all 

 moving westward. In some places they are 

 so thick upon the rails of the railroad as 

 to impede travel on an up grade. Where 

 obstacles are met they turn out of their 

 way. Great numbers are destroyed by the 

 feet of travellers and the wheels of moving 

 trains, but the gaps thus made are soon 

 filled. On the coming of cold weather they 

 immediately go into the ground. A lady 

 in Hackensack avers that she swept up a 

 peck at one time in her front hall. They 

 are a plague in that section, creeping into 

 houses and entering all rooms. — N. Y. Sun. 



Phylloxera Congress in Spain. — We 

 have received a letter and circular from 

 Mariano Royo, Commissioner of Agricul- 

 ture at Saragosse, Spain, announcing that 

 a Phylloxera Congress will be held at that 

 place from the ist to the loth of October, 

 for the consideration of all topics con- 

 nected with the ravages of the Grape Phyl- 

 loxera, and especially its injuries in Spain. 



