﻿PACKARD.] 
  THE 
  COLORADO 
  POTATO-BEETLE. 
  723 
  

  

  to 
  the 
  "extreme 
  eastern 
  limit" 
  of 
  that 
  State. 
  It 
  was 
  reported 
  iu 
  the 
  

   same 
  year 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  District 
  of 
  Columbia, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  

   Monthly 
  Report 
  of 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  for 
  August 
  and 
  Sep- 
  

   tember," 
  1873. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1876 
  it 
  was 
  observed 
  by 
  Prof. 
  H. 
  W. 
  Parker 
  

   in 
  great 
  abundance 
  at 
  Long 
  Branch, 
  being 
  thrown 
  up 
  in 
  windrows 
  

   on 
  the 
  beach. 
  The 
  two 
  following 
  extracts 
  from 
  the 
  daily 
  papers 
  also 
  

   show 
  how 
  abundant 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  and 
  in 
  Connecticut 
  : 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  the 
  potato-bugs 
  on 
  Long 
  Mancl 
  are 
  very 
  numerous 
  and 
  have 
  already 
  

   made 
  sad 
  havoc 
  with 
  the 
  early 
  crops. 
  Sir. 
  Jacob 
  Schoemaker, 
  a 
  farmer 
  at 
  Flatbusb, 
  

   has 
  had 
  about 
  $2,000 
  worth 
  of 
  early 
  sprouts 
  destroyed, 
  aud 
  the 
  farmers 
  in 
  that 
  section, 
  

   in 
  plowing 
  up 
  their 
  grounds, 
  discovered 
  bushels 
  of 
  the 
  bugs. 
  — 
  (Forest 
  and 
  Stream, 
  April 
  

   27, 
  1876.) 
  

  

  Colorado 
  potato-bugs 
  have 
  been 
  washed 
  ashore 
  at 
  Milestone 
  and 
  other 
  places 
  in 
  Con- 
  

   necticut 
  in 
  such 
  numbers 
  of 
  late 
  as 
  to 
  poison 
  the 
  air. 
  The 
  captain 
  of 
  a 
  New 
  London 
  

   vessel 
  says 
  that 
  they 
  came 
  on 
  board 
  in 
  such 
  swarms 
  while 
  at 
  sea 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  to 
  close 
  

   the 
  hatches. 
  

  

  In 
  1874 
  it 
  became 
  well 
  established 
  in 
  Connecticut, 
  New 
  Jersey, 
  New 
  

   York,* 
  Pennsylvania, 
  Delaware, 
  Maryland, 
  and 
  Virginia. 
  (Eiley's 
  

   Seventh 
  Eeport.) 
  In 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1874 
  it 
  appeared 
  at 
  Williamstown, 
  

   Mass., 
  in 
  small 
  numbers, 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  told 
  by 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  S. 
  Kingsley. 
  In 
  1875 
  

   they 
  were 
  commonly 
  seen, 
  especially 
  on 
  the 
  railroad-track, 
  before 
  July 
  9. 
  

  

  Concerning 
  its 
  habits 
  in 
  Connecticut, 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  H. 
  Pillsbury 
  writes 
  me 
  as 
  

   follows 
  from 
  Middlebury, 
  September 
  26, 
  1876 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  took 
  from 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  a 
  glass 
  jar, 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  had 
  confined 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  beetles 
  of 
  

   Dori/phora 
  decemUveata, 
  a 
  few 
  eggs, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  laid 
  May 
  30, 
  and 
  placed 
  them 
  iu 
  

   circumstances 
  for 
  hatching 
  them. 
  The 
  eggs 
  hatched 
  June 
  6, 
  and 
  the 
  larvfe 
  were 
  placed 
  

   upon 
  fresh 
  leaves 
  of 
  the 
  potato. 
  They 
  immediately 
  commenced 
  eating, 
  and 
  continued 
  

   almost 
  without 
  ceasing 
  during 
  the 
  day, 
  until 
  June 
  22, 
  when 
  all 
  _but 
  one 
  entered 
  the 
  

   earth 
  that 
  had 
  been 
  provided 
  for 
  them 
  to 
  pupali 
  in. 
  The 
  remaining 
  larva 
  entered 
  the 
  

   earth 
  the 
  next 
  day. 
  

  

  Two 
  of 
  the 
  beetles 
  appeared 
  July 
  1, 
  and 
  more 
  the 
  nest 
  day. 
  Upon 
  examining 
  the 
  

   earth 
  I 
  found 
  one 
  pupa 
  with 
  the 
  wings 
  only 
  slightly 
  developed, 
  and 
  this 
  one 
  did 
  not 
  

   mature. 
  As 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  beetles 
  were 
  out 
  they 
  were 
  fed 
  with 
  potato-leaves, 
  and 
  re- 
  

   sumed 
  their 
  eating 
  as 
  if 
  determined 
  to 
  make 
  up 
  lost 
  time. 
  The 
  first 
  eggs 
  laid 
  by 
  these 
  

   beetles 
  were 
  found 
  July 
  7. 
  The 
  whole 
  time, 
  therefore, 
  from 
  the 
  one 
  brood 
  of 
  eggs 
  to 
  

   another 
  is 
  only 
  thirty-eight 
  days, 
  twenty-two 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  spent 
  in 
  actively 
  devouring 
  

   the 
  plant 
  on 
  whicli 
  it 
  feeds. 
  If 
  we 
  suppose 
  the 
  female 
  to 
  continue 
  to 
  deposit 
  her 
  eggs 
  for 
  

   forty 
  days, 
  as 
  Professor 
  Packard 
  states, 
  sixty-two 
  days 
  of 
  the 
  seventy-eight 
  which 
  the 
  

   insect 
  lives 
  are 
  spent 
  in 
  vigorous 
  destruction 
  of 
  its 
  favorite 
  plant, 
  the 
  potato. 
  These 
  

   observations 
  also 
  indicate 
  the 
  probability 
  of 
  three 
  broods 
  from 
  the 
  earliest 
  of 
  each 
  

   season 
  before 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  September, 
  up 
  to 
  which 
  time 
  the 
  insect 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  on 
  

   the 
  potiHo 
  in 
  our 
  section. 
  

  

  J. 
  H. 
  PILLSBURY. 
  

  

  MiDDLETOWN, 
  CoNN., 
  September 
  26, 
  1876. 
  

  

  Its 
  first 
  appearance 
  in 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  was 
  in 
  Belchertown, 
  

   where, 
  I 
  am 
  informed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  L. 
  W. 
  Goodell, 
  " 
  a 
  single 
  larva 
  was 
  found 
  

   July 
  15, 
  and 
  was 
  apparently 
  the 
  last 
  one 
  of 
  a 
  brood, 
  as 
  several 
  hills 
  of 
  

   potatoes 
  near 
  were 
  entirely 
  denuded 
  of 
  foliage, 
  and 
  I 
  could 
  find 
  no 
  

   others 
  nor 
  signs 
  of 
  any 
  in 
  that 
  or 
  other 
  fields 
  of 
  potatoes 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity, 
  

   although 
  I 
  searched 
  carefully. 
  The 
  one 
  taken 
  was 
  placed 
  in 
  a 
  box 
  of 
  

   earth 
  and 
  immediately 
  buried 
  itself, 
  and 
  was 
  transformed 
  to 
  a 
  beetle 
  

   eleven 
  days 
  thereafter. 
  About 
  this 
  time 
  I 
  found 
  and 
  killed 
  some 
  fifty 
  

   of 
  the 
  beetles 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  potato-patch, 
  which 
  were 
  probably 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  same 
  brood. 
  No 
  more 
  of 
  the 
  larvae 
  were 
  seen 
  for 
  about 
  three 
  weeks, 
  

   when 
  they 
  made 
  their 
  appearance 
  in 
  large 
  numbers 
  in 
  several 
  fields." 
  

   When 
  I 
  visited 
  these 
  fields 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  September, 
  thousands 
  of 
  

   the 
  larvse, 
  in 
  different 
  stages 
  of 
  growth, 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  on 
  the 
  vines. 
  

  

  * 
  At 
  Norwich, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  S. 
  Kingsley 
  first 
  found 
  the 
  larvee 
  in 
  July, 
  1874, 
  and 
  they 
  

   were 
  much 
  more 
  abundant 
  the 
  year 
  following. 
  He 
  found 
  them 
  in 
  abundance 
  in 
  1875, 
  

   in 
  Biughamton 
  and 
  Owego, 
  

  

  