110 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



IMPORTED INSECTS AND NATIVE AMERICAN 



INSECTS. 



If we examine into the history, as detailed in 

 a recent number of our Magazine, (pp. 15-22) 

 of the Imported Currant "Worm and the Native 

 Currant Worm, we shall find a very curious 

 state of things. These two insects both pro- 

 duce Sawflies, which are so closely allied to each 

 other, that although they are referred to dis- 

 tinct genera by Entomologists, it may be 

 doubted whether the genus {Pristiphora) under 

 which the native species is classified be not a 

 mere subgenus of that under which the im- 

 ported species is classified. Reasoning ain-iori, 

 therefore, we should expect to find a very great 

 similarity in the destructive powers of these 

 two worms, especially as each of them infests 

 the leaves both of the Red Currant and of the 

 Gooseberry. But what are the actual facts? 

 On the one hand we see a Native American 

 species — which must have existed here from 

 time immemorial, feeding on our wild Goose- 

 berries and perhaps on our wild Red Currant, 

 and which yet has troubled our tame Goose- 

 berries and tame Red Currants so very slightly, 

 that it cannot be proved with absolute certainty 

 to have ever done so at all, except in Rock 

 Island Co., Ills., and in Scott Co., Iowa.* 



On the otlier hand we see a species, only 

 introduced into this country from Europe 

 some twelve years ago, which has already al- 

 most put a stop to the cultivation of the 

 Gooseberry and Red Currant throughout a 

 large part of the State of New York, the 

 northern borders of Pennsylvania, and the 

 whole of Canada "West, and is slowly but sure- 

 ly extending itself in all directions from the 

 point where it was originally imported. "\V"hat 

 can be the reason of such a wide diiference in 

 the noxious powers of two such closely allied 

 insects, feeding on exactly the same plants, but 

 one of them indigenous to America and the 



*Iu Volume Ifjtli of the PrMi-ie Fdrmer, page SOt, a eon es- 

 lioudent from Jefl'ei'sou Co. , Iowa, states lliat as early as 

 ./line 11th, in the year 1885, ' 'a small {ji'eeu worm had taken 

 the lion's shave of his ciuTaots ami goosebeiTies " 'I his 

 may yossibly refer to the Native Currant Worm, which feeds 

 upon gooseberry and currant leaves, but it more probably 

 means the Gooseberry Fruit-worm [Pempelia grossularitE, 

 Packard,) which feeds upon the gooseberries and currants 

 themselves, and which may be found hgured and described 

 in our First Missouri Keport, page 14(1. What a vast fund 

 ol' in formation is scientifloally unavailable, simply because 

 correspondents are so stingy with their pen, ink and paper. 

 Again the editor of the Farmers' Union, published at Min- 

 neapolis, Minn. , says in a recent number of that paper, that 

 several gardens in that vicinity have beeu for the past few 

 years infested with the Currant AVorni, and that last year 

 they visited his own garden tor the second time, having, the 

 previous year, made sad havoc with the foliage before they 

 were discovered. Now, as there are three perfectly distinct 

 worms which attack tlie leaves of currant bushes, and as the 

 editor contents himself with referring to "The Currant 

 Worm," the information he imparts is perfectly valueless 

 to the Entomologist, and the practical man may be led astray 

 by the remedies suggested. 



Other imported into America from Europe? 

 Nor is this the only case of the kind. "We can 

 point out at least three other such cases. The 

 imported Onion-fly {Anthom.yia cejiarum), of 

 which we herewith present drawings, (Fig. 72, 

 a, larva, b larva magnified, c flv magnified,) is a 



[Pig. 72,] 



Color.s— (a and fc) white; (t) ash gray . 



terrible pest to the onion-grower in the East, 

 though it has not yet made its way out "West. 

 On the other hand, the Native American Onion- 

 fly (Ortalis arcuata, "Walker, Fig. 73,) which is 

 a closely allied species and has almost exactly 



[Fig, 73.] 



Color— Whitish . Color— Blackish. 



the same habits, has only been heard of in one 

 or two circumscribed localities in the "West, and 

 even there does comparatively but little dam- 

 [Fig, 7i.] age. Again, the 



Imported Oyster- 

 shell Bark-louse 



{AspicUotus con- 



cliiformis, Fig. 74) 



is a far worse foe 



to the Apple and 'n^ 



certain other fruit 



trees than our in- 

 digenous Harris's 



Bark-louse {Asp. 



Harrisii, Fig. 75) 



though each of 



thein infests the 



same species. Fi- 



ally, the imported 



Meal-worm beetle 



Color— Greenish ,,,,,. , . — 



brown; the egEs (leneOriO »WOrt-C..lor-Milk-whita; the OCRS 



iniaer uie sl-gic under the sealc blood-rcd. 



n.iik-whitc tor) swarms 



throughout the whole United States, and is a 



great ijest ; while the Native American species 



