﻿722 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  Tbe 
  question 
  arises 
  whether 
  the 
  cultivation 
  of 
  this 
  weed 
  around 
  po- 
  

   tato-fields 
  in 
  the 
  East 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  a 
  means 
  of 
  relief 
  from 
  its 
  attacks, 
  

   though 
  it 
  might 
  breed 
  in 
  larger 
  numbers, 
  if 
  that 
  were 
  possible. 
  

  

  In 
  Colorado 
  I 
  first 
  noticed 
  the 
  beetle 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Denver, 
  where 
  

   it 
  was 
  not 
  then 
  common, 
  but 
  earlier 
  in 
  the 
  season 
  had 
  ravaged 
  potato-fields 
  

   out 
  of 
  town. 
  At 
  Golden, 
  July 
  3, 
  it 
  was 
  observed 
  in 
  abundance 
  on 
  80- 
  

   Icmum 
  rostratum, 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  eggs 
  but 
  the 
  larvae 
  in 
  all, 
  stages 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  

   the 
  beetles. 
  I 
  was 
  told 
  by 
  one 
  farmer 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  two 
  rows 
  of 
  potatoes 
  

   devoured 
  by 
  them 
  earlier 
  in 
  the 
  season. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  evident 
  that 
  in 
  Colorado 
  the 
  injury 
  to 
  the 
  potato 
  will 
  always 
  be 
  

   limited. 
  Five 
  or 
  six 
  miles 
  up 
  Clear 
  Creek 
  Caiion 
  it 
  has 
  injured 
  the 
  

   potato-plants 
  for 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  years, 
  but 
  nowhere 
  above 
  an 
  altitude 
  of 
  

   about 
  7,000 
  feet 
  could 
  I 
  learn 
  that 
  it 
  occurred, 
  and 
  it 
  seems 
  indigenous 
  

   only 
  to 
  the 
  plains, 
  and 
  the 
  canons 
  among 
  the 
  foot-hills. 
  E"one 
  were 
  

   to 
  be 
  seen 
  in 
  Utah. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  T. 
  Martin 
  Trippe 
  writes 
  me 
  that 
  it 
  destroyed 
  potato-plants 
  early 
  

   in 
  the 
  season 
  in 
  Howardsville, 
  Southern 
  Colorado. 
  

  

  Its 
  journey 
  from 
  tlie 
  plains 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  RocJcy 
  Mountains 
  to 
  tlie 
  Atlantic. 
  — 
  

   The 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  successive 
  invasion 
  of 
  the 
  prairies 
  of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  

   Valley 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  wooded 
  district 
  of 
  the 
  Middle 
  and 
  Northeastern 
  States, 
  

   until 
  only 
  the 
  ocean 
  proved 
  a 
  sufficient 
  barrier 
  to 
  their 
  advances, 
  is 
  a 
  

   subject 
  of 
  a 
  good 
  deal 
  of 
  interest 
  to 
  the 
  naturalist, 
  whatever 
  may 
  be 
  

   thought 
  of 
  the 
  dismay 
  with 
  which 
  eastern 
  farmers 
  have 
  looked 
  upon 
  its 
  

   arrival. 
  Some 
  years 
  ago 
  it 
  was 
  confidently 
  announced 
  that 
  the 
  Colo- 
  

   rado 
  beetle 
  would 
  not 
  flourish 
  in 
  the 
  damp, 
  cold 
  climate 
  of 
  New 
  Eng- 
  

   land 
  ; 
  that 
  the 
  summers 
  were 
  so 
  wet 
  that 
  it 
  would 
  die 
  while 
  lying 
  as 
  a 
  

   pupa 
  under 
  ground. 
  But 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  of 
  writing, 
  September 
  15, 
  

   1876, 
  it 
  is 
  doing 
  perhaps 
  as 
  much 
  damage 
  in 
  the 
  Northeastern 
  States 
  as 
  

   in 
  the 
  Western, 
  and 
  the 
  newspapers 
  report 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  crossed 
  the 
  At- 
  

   lantic 
  and 
  effected 
  a 
  landing 
  in 
  Bremen, 
  Germany, 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  

   why 
  it 
  should 
  not 
  overrun 
  Europe 
  after 
  successfully 
  withstanding 
  the 
  

   great 
  differences 
  in 
  climate 
  between 
  the 
  eastern 
  and 
  western 
  regions 
  of 
  

   the 
  United 
  States. 
  This 
  insect, 
  so 
  indifferent 
  to 
  ordinary 
  climatic 
  dif- 
  

   ferences, 
  may 
  be 
  compared 
  to 
  a 
  weed 
  which, 
  introduced 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  coun- 
  

   try, 
  overruns 
  and 
  displaces 
  the 
  native 
  vegetation. 
  Like 
  weeds, 
  the 
  Col- 
  

   orado 
  potato-beetle, 
  with 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  other 
  widely-destructive 
  insects, 
  

   may 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  prepotent 
  animals. 
  

  

  Fortunately 
  for 
  the 
  historian 
  of 
  the 
  movements 
  of 
  this 
  insect, 
  the 
  late 
  

   Mr. 
  B. 
  D.Walsh, 
  at 
  an 
  early 
  date 
  after 
  it 
  began 
  to 
  spread 
  eastward 
  from 
  

   the 
  plains 
  of 
  Colorado, 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Practical 
  Entomologist, 
  vol. 
  i, 
  

   No. 
  1, 
  October, 
  1865, 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  travels. 
  In 
  1859 
  it 
  had 
  in 
  its 
  

   journey 
  eastward 
  reached 
  a 
  point 
  100 
  miles 
  west 
  of 
  Omaha, 
  iNebr. 
  It 
  

   appeared 
  in 
  Kansas 
  and 
  Iowa 
  in 
  1861. 
  It 
  entered 
  Southwestern 
  Wis- 
  

   consin 
  in 
  18G2. 
  In 
  1864 
  and 
  1865 
  it 
  crossed 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Eiver, 
  en- 
  

   tering 
  Illinois 
  from 
  the 
  eastern 
  borders 
  of 
  North 
  Missouri 
  and 
  from 
  Iowa 
  

   " 
  upon 
  at 
  least 
  five 
  different 
  points 
  on 
  a 
  line 
  of 
  200 
  miles." 
  Thence 
  it 
  

   has 
  traveled 
  eastward 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  a 
  little 
  over 
  70 
  miles 
  a 
  year. 
  In 
  

   1867 
  it 
  had 
  appeared 
  in 
  Western 
  Indiana 
  and 
  Southwestern 
  Michigan, 
  

   and 
  in 
  1868 
  had 
  generally 
  overspread 
  Indiana 
  and 
  appeared 
  in 
  Ohio. 
  

   From 
  the 
  statements 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Eiley, 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  this 
  insect 
  entered 
  Can- 
  

   ada 
  in 
  J 
  uly, 
  1870, 
  and 
  swarmed 
  in 
  1871 
  between 
  the 
  Saint 
  Clair 
  and 
  Niag- 
  

   ara 
  Elvers. 
  The 
  same 
  year 
  Dr. 
  Trimble 
  reported 
  its 
  presence 
  in 
  Pennsyl- 
  

   vania, 
  and 
  in 
  1871 
  it 
  also 
  was 
  seen 
  in 
  New 
  York. 
  A 
  southern 
  column 
  

   advanced 
  eastward 
  into 
  Kentucky, 
  arriving 
  there 
  probably 
  in 
  1869. 
  In 
  

   1872 
  it 
  had 
  reached 
  Lancaster 
  County, 
  Pennsylvania, 
  and 
  Cattaraugus 
  

   County, 
  New 
  York 
  ; 
  and 
  in 
  1873, 
  according 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Eiley, 
  it 
  had 
  pushed 
  

  

  