﻿758 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SUEVEY. 
  

  

  4 
  

  

  and 
  nibble 
  the 
  ferns 
  and 
  make 
  considerable 
  havoc 
  among 
  the 
  plants 
  

   before 
  its 
  presence 
  is 
  suspected. 
  

  

  On 
  July 
  16 
  I 
  found 
  one 
  in 
  a 
  thin 
  silken 
  semi-transparent 
  cocoon 
  at- 
  

   tached 
  to 
  a 
  leaf 
  of 
  Lathyrus 
  maritimus 
  ; 
  the 
  cocoon 
  was 
  large 
  and 
  fall, 
  

   being 
  nearly 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  long, 
  cylindrical, 
  both 
  ends 
  being 
  rounded 
  

   alike. 
  

  

  Description. 
  — 
  This 
  insect 
  (Fig. 
  29, 
  enlarged) 
  is 
  pitchy 
  brown, 
  

   and 
  covered 
  with 
  microscopic, 
  pale 
  scales, 
  resembling 
  a 
  scallop- 
  

   shell, 
  being 
  marked 
  with 
  a 
  few 
  prominent 
  ribs. 
  Indeed, 
  many 
  

   of 
  the 
  weevils 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  provided 
  with 
  scales 
  like 
  those 
  

   of 
  butterflies, 
  Poduras, 
  and 
  a 
  few 
  other 
  insects. 
  The 
  beak, 
  

   so 
  short 
  and 
  slender 
  in 
  the 
  radish-weevil, 
  is 
  here 
  broad 
  and 
  

   short, 
  square 
  at 
  the 
  end, 
  from 
  which 
  the 
  elbowed 
  reddish-brown 
  

   antennas 
  arise. 
  The 
  head 
  is 
  a 
  little 
  darker 
  than 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  

   body, 
  and 
  is 
  coarsely 
  punctured. 
  The 
  prothoras 
  is 
  coarsely 
  gran- 
  

   ulated, 
  the 
  granulations 
  being 
  arranged 
  in 
  irregular 
  rows. 
  The 
  

   wing-covers 
  are 
  adorned 
  with 
  about 
  eleven 
  high, 
  rounded, 
  longi- 
  

   tudinal 
  ridges 
  on 
  each 
  cover, 
  and 
  with 
  coarse 
  punctures 
  along 
  the 
  

   furrows 
  between 
  them. 
  There 
  are 
  also 
  about 
  twenty 
  rows 
  of 
  pale 
  

   dots 
  along 
  the 
  wing-covers, 
  consisting 
  of 
  scales. 
  The 
  legs, 
  includ- 
  

   . 
  ing 
  the 
  claws, 
  are 
  rather 
  paler 
  than 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  body. 
  The 
  body 
  

  

  Fig. 
  29. 
  Pitchy- 
  jg 
  ajgo 
  covered 
  with 
  scattered 
  pale 
  hairs 
  bent 
  down 
  on 
  the 
  surface. 
  

   Legged 
  Weevil, 
  especially 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  head 
  ; 
  these 
  hairs 
  remain 
  after 
  the 
  

   enlarged. 
  scales 
  are 
  rubbed 
  off. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  quarter 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  length. 
  

  

  Wire- 
  Worms 
  and 
  Cut-Worms. 
  — 
  Larvae 
  of 
  various 
  snapping-beetles^ 
  

   Elater^ 
  Agrotis, 
  etc. 
  — 
  Although 
  these 
  insects 
  have 
  been 
  fully 
  described 
  

   among 
  those 
  preying 
  on 
  wheat, 
  corn, 
  and 
  grass, 
  they 
  are 
  very 
  destruc- 
  

   tive 
  to 
  young 
  cabbages 
  and 
  allied 
  garden 
  -plants. 
  Wire-worms 
  feed 
  on 
  

   the 
  roots, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  destroy 
  the 
  whole 
  crop 
  in 
  Kentucky. 
  In 
  En- 
  

   gland 
  wire-worms 
  are 
  destroyed 
  for 
  many 
  successive 
  years 
  by 
  sowing 
  

   salt 
  over 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  six 
  bushels 
  per 
  acre 
  

   just 
  as 
  the 
  small 
  grain 
  is 
  coming 
  up. 
  

  

  Cut-worms 
  are 
  more 
  difficult 
  to 
  contend 
  with 
  than 
  wire-worms. 
  They 
  

   are 
  active 
  at 
  night, 
  hiding 
  by 
  day 
  in 
  the 
  soil 
  around 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  the 
  

   plants 
  they 
  infest. 
  It 
  would 
  be 
  well, 
  therefore, 
  to 
  examine 
  the 
  soil 
  

   around 
  the 
  young 
  cabbage-plants, 
  or 
  to 
  inclose 
  the 
  plants 
  in 
  tubes 
  of 
  

   stout 
  paper 
  to 
  prevent 
  the 
  attacks 
  of 
  the 
  worm. 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  remedy 
  for 
  wire-worms, 
  J. 
  H. 
  Charnock, 
  of 
  Canada, 
  advised 
  the 
  

   use 
  of 
  rape-cake. 
  " 
  The 
  remedy 
  consists," 
  says 
  Mr. 
  Eiley, 
  " 
  in 
  applying 
  

   3 
  cwt. 
  per 
  acre 
  of 
  rape-cake 
  broken 
  into 
  small 
  lumps, 
  and 
  not 
  crushed 
  

   into 
  dust. 
  It 
  is 
  spread 
  on 
  the 
  land 
  and 
  plowed 
  in 
  before 
  sowing 
  the 
  

   seed. 
  The 
  worms 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  so 
  fond 
  of 
  it 
  that 
  they 
  leave 
  all 
  other 
  

   kinds 
  of 
  food, 
  while 
  the 
  cake 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  act 
  upon 
  them 
  as 
  a 
  vermifuge 
  

   and 
  to 
  kill 
  them, 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  it 
  afterward 
  in 
  all 
  stages, 
  ' 
  from 
  re- 
  

   pletion 
  to 
  death 
  and 
  decay.' 
  Rape-cake 
  is 
  extensively 
  used 
  in 
  England 
  

   as 
  a 
  fertilizer, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  the 
  least 
  doubt 
  but 
  that 
  it 
  attracts 
  the 
  

   wire-worms, 
  and 
  may 
  be 
  used 
  as 
  a 
  trap 
  for 
  this 
  purpose 
  like 
  sliced 
  pota- 
  

   toes, 
  etc." 
  

  

  Eiley 
  questions 
  whether 
  it 
  is 
  so 
  efficacious 
  as 
  has 
  been 
  claimed, 
  but 
  

   considers 
  that 
  it 
  "is, 
  however, 
  well 
  worthy 
  of 
  further 
  trial, 
  for 
  even 
  if, 
  

   as 
  1 
  suspect, 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  kill, 
  it 
  has 
  the 
  advantage 
  over 
  the 
  other 
  sub- 
  

   stances 
  to 
  be 
  strewn 
  as 
  traps 
  and 
  then 
  collected, 
  in 
  that 
  it 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   time 
  acts 
  as 
  a 
  fertilizer. 
  Where 
  it 
  can 
  be 
  safely 
  done, 
  rape-cake 
  as 
  well 
  

   as 
  sliced 
  potatoes, 
  turnips, 
  etc., 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  used 
  as 
  baits 
  for 
  these 
  in- 
  

   sects, 
  might 
  be 
  poisoned 
  with 
  Paris 
  green, 
  and 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  collecting 
  

   the 
  worms 
  to 
  destroy 
  them 
  thus 
  avoided. 
  I 
  know 
  of 
  nothing 
  manufact- 
  

   ured 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  that 
  has 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  rape-cake, 
  or 
  could 
  take 
  

   its 
  place." 
  

  

  