ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



177 



to form an opiniou as to the correctness of his 

 theoi:j', and because if tliere be any probabilitv 

 of its correctness, it may be worth wliile to 

 investigate farther. Should be pleased to hear 

 from you in regard to it. 



II. II. BaI!<J()( K. 



[We have ourselves never observed this pecu- 

 liarity in the New York Weevil, but do not 

 doubt the correctness of the foregoiufi' observa- 

 tions. We have serious doubts, however, as to 

 this beetle being the cause of the real Pear 

 Blight, which is considered, by the most emi- 

 nent horticulturists of the land (and we agree 

 with them), to be of fungoid rather than iTisect 

 origin. The work described by our correspond- 

 ent very probably produces a sort of blight, 

 Jind several bark-boring and wood-boring bee- 

 tles are known to jiroduce a similar ctl'ect. But 

 this insect-blight u)ust not be confounded with 

 the far more subtle and destructive rear-Blight 

 so called; and the singular assertion of Dr. 

 Packard, that " the various species oi' Sco/i/tun, 

 Toiiiicux, !iui\ Xy/utenis give rise to the disease 

 called tire-blight,"* is, to say the least, very 

 loose and indefinite, and calculated to mislead. 

 We hope to find lime before long, to illustrate 

 the difTerences between these diflerent kinds of 

 blight, but meanwhile, shall gladly publish more 

 detailed sfatemonis from the gentleman from 

 Lake Forest.— Ed. J 



Thk Uksula Blttkulv moiu; cojimon tii.\n 



UlSll'PUS IN SOMK .SlCCTIONS 01' TIIK COUNTRY — 



Newport. B. I. — I was showing Mr. Scudder a 

 suite of Newport butterflies, and was asking 

 him what the Darwinian theorv* could make of 

 the close resemblance between the butterflies D. 

 archippus and Ntiinphnlis dmppus, while the 

 larvae are so utterly unlike, when he gave me 

 your paper on " Imitative Buttei flies.'' Let me 

 express to you the pleasure with which I have 

 road it. It is so very ingenious and suggestive, 

 whether true or not; and every one who, like 

 myself, is inclined to the Darwinian theory, must 

 be quite disposed to believe it. The only state- 

 ,ment from which I shall dissent is that the 

 Ursula Butterfly "is everywhere quite rare," 

 at least, as compared with the other species. I 

 have no doubt that this is generally true, but 

 since removing here from Massachusetts, 1 have 

 been struck with the fact that it is (juite other- 

 wise here. I am very sure that in Newport it is 

 one of the commonest of the larger butterflies, 

 aud decidedly more so thau the Disippus. I will 

 observe specially nest summer, but am sure of 

 the fact. Mr. Scudder also spoke of its abun- 

 dance on Cape Uod. This may, however, be 



• Guide, otc. p. f.n. 



due to special causes, which, if known, would 

 only further illustrate your theory — e. (/., the 

 absence of certain birds which attack the CrxKla 

 and spaie the others. I do not know which 

 birds do this; but our common fauna diU'ers in 

 some respects from that of Massachusetts. 



Thomas M'kntworth Hi<:ciiNS(jN. 

 Bi-ADPKK Plums — Alton, Ills. — I see in No. \ 

 of the Entomoi.uuist, an article on "Bladder 

 Plums,'' and a statement of Dr. Hull's, saying 

 that they are unknown in this locality. 1 fouud 

 them liere on the wild Plum (a blue variety) 

 two years ago. The tree on which these abnor- 

 mal plums grew had probably two or three hun- 

 dred of tliem on it, all aflected about alike. I was 

 particularly struck with this appearance of the 

 fruit, as it was new to me. I broke open several 

 of them, and found them, as you say, liollow, 

 and much larger than they would have been if 

 healthy and nalural; but these of mine had 

 iusectsin them. which much resembled in appear- 

 ance woolly lice, being of a downy appearance, 

 and of a bluish-white color. These lice adhered 

 to the interior wall of the phantom plum, anil 

 the plums and insects resembled galls more than 

 anything else. I noticed them very particularly, 

 because they weie something new. I have never 

 seen their like since, and mayhap never shall. 

 Gko. W. Coplky. 

 Corn Kiornkls in Cocoons ok Ckcroi-ia Moth 

 — Geneva, Ills., Feb. 22(1, 1M70. — In looking over 

 the American Entomoi.oc.ist, I see the curious 

 fact stated (page lOi)) of a kernel of corn being 

 found in the cocoon of a Cccropia Moth. I have 

 seen the same thing in two instances in cocoons 

 brought to me for exaniinatiou by a young gen- 

 tleman of this place. These repeated instances 

 show that the corn could not have been dropped 

 there by some bird accidentally, as you conjec- 

 ture The only plausible explanation I can give, 

 is that the corn is deposited there for safe keep- 

 ing during the formation of the cocoon (or pos- 

 sibly forced into the loose end of it after com- 

 pletion) by some bird. And this bird, I have a 

 strong suspicion, is the Blue ,tay, which is well 

 known to have the habit (like other Corvidn) 

 of pilfering and hiding in holes an<l crevices, 

 any small objects which attract its notice. 



W.M. LkBakon. 

 The Harlequin Caisuaok Bu<i—-1 ('*/('«, Tex., 

 Feb. 2»th, 1H70. — Within the past few days we U^ 

 have gathered by hand over 47,(»0o (forty-seven 

 thousand) of these bugs. This is a great bug 

 country, and 1 have my share of them in grow- 

 ing vegetables for market, and And your journal 

 very useful in enabling me to tell my friends 

 from my enemies. Ben.i. K. Townsend. 



