96 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



trees belong to the same geuus, and several of the 

 species are exceedingly similar to European ones. It 

 is, hence, quite probable that many of the insects inju- 

 rious to our Ibrests are also quite nearly allied to those 

 of Europe. In Europe, there are the excellent worlcs 

 of Professor Ratzeburg, who, in his capacity of super- 

 intendent of a foresters' university, has conducted his 

 observations with untiring energy for forty years. His 

 latest VFOi'ks contain his experience in a condensed form. 

 In the " Waldverderbniss," etc., may be found all 

 that tlie celebrated author has elicited concerning the 

 growth and damage done to our trees through the 

 agency of insects and other animals. Numerous wood- 

 cuts in the text, and sixty-one plates of excellent exe- 

 cution, adorn this work. It is highly interesting to see, 

 inthc figured portions of the forest, how the injury done 

 by insects has changed the entire character of the land- 

 scape. The pliysiological parts, based on microscopical 

 studies, abound in new facts . The healing process that 

 the diseased or injured trees go through, has not only a 

 scientific interest, but also directly concerns the proi^ri- 

 etor. 



Eatzebtirg's works possess the advantage of being 

 almost entirely made up of j)ersonal observation, though 

 the author has also considered the contemporaneous 

 and past literature on the subject. Their greatest, and 

 as I think, most important value for Americ.i, however, 

 consist in this: that they all put the practical point in 

 the foreground. It is not merely theoretical uistruction 

 which is there given, but it is positively money; for it 

 either saves or mal-es money . ■ 



The sixth edition ol' his ' ' Waldverderber ' ' (Hurt- 

 ful Insects: Berlin, 18G9. $i 00, gold,) with ten ex- 

 cellent plates, gives, in a popular fashion, a good and 

 instructive account of such animals as interest the 

 farmer, the forester, and the entomologist, and it is the 

 best work of this kind. 



Closely connected with the above is an older work ot 

 his—' ' Die Unkraeuter" (The Weeds), treating of one 

 of the most important and interesting subjects for the 

 agriculturist. I will here remark that more than two- 

 thirds of the named weeds cover also the entire north 

 of America, west to the Mississippi, and even farther 

 west. 



llatzeburg's works are, no doubt, of the highest— of 

 the greatest importance. It is ray opinion that they 

 ought not to be found missing in the library of any uni- 

 versity, school of agriculture, or similar institution. 

 To the observing entomologist, they are positively in- 

 dispensalile, and for such the world-wide celebrity of 

 the author renders every recommendation superfluous. 



Annual Keport of the Bo.\rd of Eegents 

 OF THE Univeesitt of Wisconsin.— From W. 

 W. Daiiiclls, Prof, of Agriculture and Analyti- 

 cal Chemistry. 



List of the Nests and Eggs of Birds in the 

 Museum of the Boston Society of Naturai, 

 History. 



The American Sunday School Worker. — 

 A new monthly iournal, just started by J. W. 

 Mcliityrc, of St. Louis, Mo. 



Iowa Agricultural Report for 18G8. — From 

 J. M. Shaffer, Secretary. 



The Country Gentleman's Magazine— 

 Loudon, England. Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 



ANSWERS TO CORESPONDENTS. 



Inforiuation Tvaiited — M. A. Kendall, Fiizwil- 

 Ham,N. H.—Vit: The insects seen by you last summer, 

 darting so quickly and noiselessly among the flowers of 

 your lilacs, were, judging from your description, the 

 gigantic Carpenter Bee {Xylocopa Carolina, Linn.) You 

 will find it figured and described on page 9 of our first 

 volume . If you wiU send us specimens next year, we 

 can decide jiositively ; otherwise not. 2d: The "wasp- 

 ish looking thing ' ' on the left hand side of our cover, 

 is the § of a long-tailed Ichneumon fly which may be 

 popularly called the Lunate Khyssa {Shi/ssa lunator, 

 Fabr.) It is one of the largest of our Ichneumon flies, 

 and attacks certain wood-boring larva;, and especially 

 those of the Pigeon Tremex (?>'<!OTfic co&mia, Linn.), 

 which infest our elms and sycamores. By means of its 

 long ovipositor this large Ichneumon fly is enabled to 

 reach the wood-borer In its hidden retreat, and to de- 

 posit an egg in its body. The larva hatching from tliis 

 egg eventually destroys the original wood-borer. 3d : 

 The odd looking insect at the right of our cover, is the 

 C? of the common Stick-bug {Spectrum ftmoraium. Say), 

 a vegetable-feeder of sluggish movements. It receives 

 its poiJidar name from the remarkable habit which it has 

 of stretching forward its two front legs and its anten- 

 na;, in the manner represented in that figure. It often / 

 remains a long time motionless in this position, so that 

 it in reality looks very much like a dead s^ick growing 

 from the tree or shrub ujion which it hajipens to be. 

 Its scieutitlc name refers to the immensely swollen 

 middle thighs of the ^ . For a fuller account of this 

 singular insect, see Vol. I, p. 58. 



Insects named— t/os. E. Chase, Holyolce, Mass. — 

 No. 1, Tctrojoium cmnamopterumj'Kiv^iy. Nos. 2 and 3, 

 varieties of No. 1. 'So. i, Boros wiicolor,Sia.y . No. 5, 

 SapHmis pennsyl'i:anicus,Viiy]L. No. G, Tenbrio molitor , 

 Liun. 'So.'J, PMlontUisUandis, Gv:a\. So. 8, J/altica 



nana, Say. So. d, ITarpahis ? So. 10, Colas- 



tvsiinicolor, Say. No. 11. Bruchys orata, Lee. No. 

 VI, Priontis imhricomis (small dimorphous form). No. 

 13, Photinus ncglectus, Lee. No. 14. Bryacantlia 10- 

 pustulata, Melsh. No. 15, Haltica {Pliyllotreia) striolaia, 

 lUig. No. 10, Soia pamila, Dej. ^ ? oviita, Say- 

 No. IT, Chalcoplutna conixaia, Say. No. 18, Pediac-us 

 siihgluhc-r, Lee. No. 10, Apjirastus taniatits. Say. No. 

 20, Calligrup%amv.ltipunctuta,?,xy. So. 'i\, Clytuslm- 

 coyomts, L. and G. No. 22, Listroderes. No. 23, Gal- 

 cophana picipes,0\iy . No. 24, Galemca 7ia-unatica,Lcc. 

 No. 25, i'aprinus assimilis, Er. No. 2G, Epdrocliaris 

 obhisatus. Say. No. 27, Golymhetes ligutialus. Say. 

 No. 28, Ilydrophilas glaler, Hbst. No. 29, Berosusfra- 

 ternus, Lee. No. 30, Podaims rugnlosus, Lee. We 

 are indebted to Dr. Geo. H. Horn of Phihidelphia, 

 for the proper determination ol several of the above 

 named insects. 



Disease in Wlieat— ^1. L. Child, M. ii,— We re- 

 gret to say that the ears of wheat which you sent last 

 summer, were retained so long in the publishers' office 

 that nothing could be made of them when they were 

 handed to us. In writing upon business matters al- 

 ways address the publishers, but in writing on edito- 

 rial matters, or in sending specimens, you should as 

 invariably address the editor. 



