THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



121 



IVuit. The teachings of instiiu-t arc so exact 

 iiud unvarying that one punctured pluiu over 

 water explodes the theory; and it' tlie tiicory is 

 correct, a tub of water under ;i tree must pro- 

 tect a column of plums of the tub's circunifcr- 

 once from the bottom to the top of that ti'ee, 

 and that certainly would be a curiosity with 

 some of (he light-colored, full-bearing varieties. 



It is not at all likely that many will i)laiit 

 trees in this way; but as some have done so, 1 

 have been thus explicit on this point, to guard 

 otlicrs against such an expen.^ivo and awkward 

 way of trying to outgeneral the Curculio, since 

 reason and obsci-vatiou teach us that it is of 

 very little value. 



In order to .idd weight to my own testimony, 

 1 copy the two following letters, which bear on 

 this subject: 



Dn. I. r. TMIMM.K—Bear Hii-: I vuiy well rciniin- 

 Ijcr our visit at t'roton Point, by request of Dr. Un- 

 ■ Icrliill, iiiiulc to "The Fruit-(;rowers' Club'" lor a 

 " coimiilttcc " to examine lils vineyards. Dr. U. 

 especially called our attention to bis siilccss of growing 

 l>liinis over water, and of their not being attacked by 

 tlie Curculio. 



The account you publi.«licd >oon after was Inie in 

 every particular. I n member your picking oft plums 

 ■■md showing the crescent niarksto all of the conuuitfee 

 as well as to Dr. Underbill himself. I remember also 

 distinctly the Doctor's remark, that although they 

 were stiing •' the Nrr NEVEK n.vrciiEii.'' 



I have visited the Doctor's plum trees since, and 

 ha\c seen tlic plums just as much punctured by the 

 Curculio as in many other places where the trees did 

 not lean over the water. 



I know several others who planted treca to lean over 

 tlie water, but the " Little Ttu-k ' ' ilid not favor them. 

 that I could discover. 



Truly, yours, K. Vf. Hoi.ToN. 



llAVKIiSTIt.WV, Dec. 32, '611. 



Dlt. I. r. TltlMBLE — Bear ■Sir: I have at last seen 

 the person 1 spoke to you ubout; his name is .Johu 

 llowlctt, a tlorist of this city. Some few years since, 

 on the i)lacc where he then resided, was a pond of 

 water, and in the centre of the pond a small island just 

 large enough to grow a tree . On this islaml be pbii'iliil 

 a plum tree, and a row of plum trees all aiouml ihc 

 pond on its edge. Persons then, as now, .assLrled that 

 iu such i)ositions they would be tree from the depre- 

 dations of the Curculio; but, as Jlr. Ilowlett has just 

 remarked to me. it had not the least ctt'cct; the Iniit 

 was stung and dropped (|uite as much as anywhere 

 else. In fact, he got no fruit, and the plan was a lutal 

 failure, though Mr. Ilowlett is an exccllenl practical 

 gardener, and knew well how to caic Ibr his tiucs. 

 '!'<«: varieties were the leading kinds, such as ('olum- 

 bia, Smitli's Orleans, Imperial Gage, Washington, etc. 

 IJespectlully, .Ixo. S.vUL. 



W.tsiii.NGTON, U. C, Dec. 14, '«9. 



1^ There is yet a rast and nnexplored field 

 for the Entomologist in the South. Our South- 

 eru brethren sutTer from some of the most 

 grievous insect foes, and their insect fauuii is 

 rich and diversified. We consequently take 

 pleasure in announcing, that Mr. J. Parish 

 Stclle, of Savannah, Tenn., is at work in tlie 

 field, and will continue to send us the " South- 

 ern Notes " which were commenced in the last 

 number. 



THE ti(i.VT-)VEKI) liliT'l'KK'l'hV. 



{P.i/i/,ia /jliicerium, Doublcday. 

 |l'-ig. SI.] 



( ol„rs-(„) imk- ?lnuc(iiis-gr.TM ; (/.) s;nij isli-^-r, in 



There is an iuleresling and rare bultcilly 

 known to entomologists by the name oi' J'(ij)/iiii, 

 (jljicerium, which occurs iu Missoiiii, Te.\as, 

 and Illinois, tiud perhaps iu other soutlnvesiern 

 States. It is an interesting si)eiies on account 

 of the dissimilarity of the se.xes, and of llie posi- 

 tion it holds among the butterflies; and as its 

 natural history has never hitherto been recorded, 

 we wUl briefly transcribe it from notes and 

 specimens which were kindly s-ent to us last 

 September by Mr. J. K. Muhlcman, of Wood- 

 burn, Ills., and I'roiu lurlher facts ceiuimiiii- 

 cated by Mr. L. K. Ilayhurst, of Sedalia. Mo. 



Dr. Morris, in his " Synopsis of the Ijepidop- 

 tcra of North America," places this butterfly 

 with the NymphuUs family, of which the Dis- 

 ippus Butterfly (JVymplialia (lixippiis, (Jodt., 

 A. E., I, Fig. loo) is representative. The 

 larva, however, has more the form and habits 

 of that of tlie Tityrus Skipper (genus Oonilohu), 

 while singularly enough, I lie chrysalis resem- 

 bles that of the Archippus Butterfly (genus 

 Danais). which we figured on ji.nge "28 of our 

 first volume. 



The larva feeds on an annual {Crolon cupi- 

 tutum) which is tolerably common iu Illinois, 

 Missouri, Kentucky, and westward, where it 

 is known by the name of (ioat-Weed. The 

 plant has a peculiar avooIv or hairy whitish- 

 green appearance, and in the month of Septem- 

 ber its leaves may fre(piently be found volieil 



