THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



55 



there may be exceptions to the rule in southerly 

 hitituclcs, and that iii such latitudes it may some- 

 times be double-brooded ; for we have known the 

 moth to issue near St. Louis during the first 

 days, of August, aud have this very year found 

 two worms in the same locality as late as the 

 2")th of October, neither of which was quite 

 full grown, though the leaves on the vines upon 

 which they were found had almost all fallen. 



In Rock Island county, in North Illinois, out 

 of three larvse that we had in our breeding- 

 cages in 1868, every one of them developed into 

 the moth state in the first few weeks of the Au- 

 gust of the same year; and we heard several 

 years ago of one larva developing the same sea- 

 son in the adjoining county of Henry. Appa- 

 rently such premature development of iSphinx 

 moths is a well-known occurrence among the 

 dillerent European species. For Chas. Darwin 

 remarks that " a number of moths, especially 

 Sphinx moths, when hatched in the autumn out 

 of their proper season, arc completely barren ; 

 though the fact of their barrenness is still in- 

 v(>lved in some obscurity."* J^ 



The moth (Fig. 35 c) is of a brown-gray color 

 variegated with light brown, and with the dark 

 spots, shown in our figure, deep brown. The 

 hind wings are pink with a dark shade across 

 the middle, still darker spots below this shade, 

 and a broad gray border behind. We once had 

 an excellent opportunity of observing how it 

 bursts open the chrysalis shell, for while we 

 were examining a chrysalis, the moth emerged. 

 By a few suddeu jerks of the head, but more 

 especially by friction with the knees of the 

 middle pair of legs, it severed and ruptured the 

 thin chrysalis shell, and the very moment the 

 anus touched the ruptured end, the creamy fluid 

 usually voided by newly-hatched moths was 

 discharged. 



AV'e have never found any parasite attacking 

 this species, but its solitary habit and large size 

 make it a conspicuous object, and it is easily 

 controlled by hand, whenever it becomes unduly 

 numerous upou the grape-viue. 



•See Varialionof Animals and Plants, etc., II, \>\i. 157-8, 

 English Edition, iiiiil tlie rel't'iences there given in llie lout- 

 note. 



CuKCur.ios AND Rose Bugs. — The Vinelaiid 

 (N. J.) Uorticultural Society, having deter- 

 mined, if possible, to rid their place of these 

 pests, oflfered eight prizes to those who should 

 destroy the greatest number during the season. 

 It appears by the reports of the committees to 

 award the prizes, that the parties applying for 

 them had destroyed 9,289 curculios and 12(1,000 

 rose bugs. — Country Gentleman. 



SWARMS OP LADTBIRT)S. 



We learn from English exchanges, that connl- 

 less millions of Ladybirds have ai)pearcd in 

 Kent and Sussex, and have even extended their 

 flight to London. Streets, roads, buildings and 

 dresses of persons moving in the open air were 

 covered withlhem. At Ramsgate,Broadstairs, 

 and surrounding country, they were so thick 

 that the ground seemed covered with red sand ; 

 and children, for amusement, gathered them in 

 paper bags in large quantities, and in one place 

 men were found shoveling them through the 

 gratings into the sewer. These insects appeared 

 to be moving westward, and they presented a 

 front of several miles. It is currently believed 

 that these immense swarms came from the Con- 

 tinent across the channel; but Mr. T. Sonlli- 

 well, of Norwich, in the October iinmbcr ol' 

 Jlardicicke's Science Gosaip, argues (and wc 

 think rightly) that they could not possibly have 

 crossed the channel. It appears that both the 

 beetles and their larva; had been unusually nu- 

 merous in England in gardens, and more espe- 

 cially in hop-yards, where they saved the crop 

 which was once threatened by the Hop-louse , 

 and it is easy to understand that their onward 

 movement in search of food, would cause them 

 to congregate on the sea shore. Strangely 

 enough, we cannot glean from any of the ac- 

 counts that we have seen, what particular spe- 

 cies it is that has thus swarmed, or whether 

 more than one species is concerned. 



THE SQUASH BUtJ DOES NOT TOUCH THE AVHITE 



BUSH sroLhop. 



Our friend, Major E. S. Foster of Bushberg, 

 Mo., planted, last spring, side by side, two long 

 rows of squash vines, the one row consisting 

 entirely of the "Hubbard," and the other of the 

 "White Bush Scollop"' variety. We were much 

 surprised to find, that while the common Squash i,-^ 

 Bug {Coreus tristis, Detieer) had almost en- 

 tirely ruined the plants of the former variety, 

 aud had furnished almost every leaf with a batch 

 of eggs, it had left untouched those of the latter 

 sort. Should further experience prove that this 

 immunity is general, the knowledge of the fact 

 will be invaluable to the scpiash-grower, for the 

 Squash Bug is one of his very worst enemies. 



We will state right here, for the benefit of 

 those who are troubled with this pest, that one 

 of the most effectual methods of destroying it, is 

 to lay down pieces of board along the rows. 

 During the night time the bugs congregate 

 underneath the boards, and in the early morning 

 they may be killed by wholesale. 



