250 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



August 15th, a species of large, red Aphis, found 

 on cockle-burr, but they did not relish them, and 

 ate but little. They also ate sparingly of crushed 

 Aletia\2iXw<c, but prefer the Phoras to everything 

 else. August 17th they retired to bottom of the 

 bottle, and were torpid two days. August 19th 

 all had completed their second moult, and are 

 darker in color. They are now quite strong, and 

 can pierce the skin of Phora maggots given them 

 for food. The markings on dorsum are now 

 quite distinct.— H. G. Hubbard, Centerville, Fla., 

 Aug. 2ist, 18S0. 



Vertebrate Enemies oi KX^Wa..— August 2']ih. 

 Heavy rains during last night. At four o'clock 

 this morning I went into the field. The cotton 

 was very wet, the air cool and foggy. I remarked 

 at daybreak great numbers of night hawks flying 

 slowly and very low over and among the cotton. 

 From their actions I strongly suspect they were 

 after moths, which were stirring. I saw also man}^ 

 bats similarly occupied, but did not observe 

 them actually capturing Aletia. As soon as it 

 became light, I saw a great many large dragon 

 flies {Acschnal) hovering about the cotton. — H. 

 G. Hubbard. 



Oviposition of Asilus Fly. — I also observed 

 a light yellow ^J27«.f-/?)' ovipositing in the ground 

 in an open space between the cotton-rows. She 

 inserted her abdomen to a depth of half an inch, 

 and deposited only three or four egggs, which I 

 secured. During oviposition she imitated most 

 comically the actions of a dog dropping its dung, 

 and after finishing, immediately raked the earth 

 into and over the hole, apparently very carelesslj', 

 but so effectively, that although I had marked 

 with my &y& the exact spot, I failed to detect it, 

 until I unearthed the eggs. The eggs are oval, 

 yellowish white, smooth and quite large. — H. G. 

 Hubbard, August 27th, 1880. 



Spider and Cotton Worm, — Aug. 28///, iriSo. 

 In the field to-day I observed a spider Oxyopes 

 viridans eating a Tachinid (?) fly. These large, 

 green spiders are quite common. I am inclined 

 to think they do not attack the caterpillar. I 

 watched one resting upon the same leaf with a 

 worm, to which the spider paid no attention. 

 During the entire morning the spider remained 

 upon the same leaf, while the caterpillar wan- 

 dered to the next leaf, and fed in plain sight of the 

 spider unmolested. Another specimen of the 

 same spider ran over a leaf, on the underside of 

 which a caterpillar was feeding. The caterpillar 

 jerked and shook the leaf, but the spider paid no 

 attention to it. 



Sept. 3</.— This morning I could not find a 

 caterpillar in the " Simpson cotton," excepting 

 one just hatched. I saw the green Oxyopes feed- 

 ing upon a bee, Anthophora or Megachile or some 

 bee of medium size. (I did not succeed in secur- 



ing it). There are many burrows of a Cicindela 

 larva, (probably C. punctulaia, which is abundant 

 in the cotton fields). They (the larvae) capture 

 ants chiefly. — H. G. Hubbard. 



Boll Rot caused by Boll Worm.— The work 

 of the Boll Worm is now fearful in Texas. I 

 have seen nothing to compare with it in point of 

 extent before. While the Cotton Worm is doing 

 serious damage in certain localities, I find the 

 Boll Worm operating with about equal energy all 

 over the State. A letter from an intelligent 

 planter at Pilot Point, received by me this week, 

 reports it sweeping ever)'thing in all the counties 

 bordering upon Red River. The press reports it 

 everywhere. 



Careful observation has shown me that the Boll 

 Worm does more damage than it has heretofore 

 had credit for. We have generally supposed that 

 the extent of its injurious work consisted in bor- 

 ing into the bolls at some stage of their growth 

 from the blossom down to maturity, but I find 

 that a hole bored is not absolutely necessary to 

 the destruction of the lint. The worm makes an 

 attempt on large numbers of bolls which prove 

 too hard for boring into, so it abandons them after 

 having merely bruised the cuticle in a small spot, 

 as it were. In almost, if not quite every case, at 

 least half the lint of that bruised boll is ruined : — it 

 rots under the bruise. In many cases the interior 

 of the entire boll rots ; where it does not, it invaria- 

 bly matures an inferior grade of lint. The plant- 

 ers call it the "Boll Rot," but seem to have no 

 idea as to the cause of it. I claim the discovery, 

 for I find it always the result of the bruise, and I 

 have several times detected the worm in the act 

 of making the bruise. I now have experiments 

 pending to show whether or not similar bruises 

 made by scraping the surface with a knife will rot 

 the boll.— J. P. Stelle, Calvert, Tex. 



Sudden Increase of one of our large 'Lo- 

 custs.— A a-idium americammi has appeared at one 

 point in this county, near here, in greater num- 

 bers than ever before known. Horses have been 

 frightened in passing through them along the 

 road. They are injuring orchards. This shows 

 how soon very dry weather, such as we have re- 

 cently had, may bring them forward. — Cyrus 

 Thomas, Carbondale, 111., Aug 28, 1880. 



Effects of Pyrethrum on different Insects.— 



I am trying every day experiments with Pyreth- 

 rum powder. I find very little difference between 

 the sample of imported powder sent me and the 

 California Buhach. The latter is somewhat 

 stronger, but the difference appears very slight. 

 Tried upon different insects, it appears to aflFect 

 the higher Hymetioptera more than other insects. 

 Ants are almost instantly affected. Wasps con- 

 tinue feeding for about twenty seconds, and are 

 violently affected in from one to two minutes. 



