ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



301 



Variety excrncians, ^ 2 Three |^ nnc $, bred July 20 

 from the Cyiupkioiis giiU seminalor, Harris, which (ji'ows 

 exclusively on White Oiik, cliCfer liom Ihe normal form of 

 nigricepa only in the scape of the anteiuue being dnll nifons 

 instead of brown-black. The antennivl groove is black. 



Decatoma hyaiipennis, n x]).— |-^ black. Head .lub- 

 opacinu, cdiilUieully anil viTy coarsely punctate; orbits, nar- 

 rowly internipteil above; the face below the anlenn;e, cheeks, 

 and month, pale yellow. Antenna' dull yellow, joints ii 

 and 8 dusky above Thorax sculptured as the head, hut 

 still more coarsely. (Jollare i)ale \ellnw, excepl a wide 

 dorsal vitta. Wing-scale and a longitudinal line above it, 

 pale rufous, iltiiorncn highly polished, piceims below. Pe- 

 duncle "j' as long as the rest of the abdomen. Leys pale yel- 

 low, basal '^i of the hind cox;e, and a patch above ontlie 

 middle of the hind femora, black. IViiiga hvaline; veins 

 brown; stigma black. No vestige whatever of any stignuitic 

 cloud or patch . Length f? 0.08 inch. 



The 2 differs from the ^ only as follows: 1st. The orbits 

 are wider and not intcrrnptcd above, and the face and cheeks 

 are yellow higher up. 2nd. The antenn;e are dusky above to 

 their tips. .'Ird. The black vitta on the collare is narrower 

 and sometimes abbreviated. 4tli. The mesonotal sutures are 

 more or less widely yellow, and the pleura and metathorax 

 ai-e stained with yellow. Sth. The abdominal peduncle is, 

 as usual in the $ § of this genus, considerably shorter, and 

 the venter, and sometimes also the lower part of the abdomi- 

 nal dorsum, are honey-yellow. 6th. The legs arc iiimiacu- 

 late 



Described from 1 (j" ig , all three captured at large. Re- 

 sembles the paler varieties i>f tiaciajw, but is sufficiently dis- 

 tinct by the total absence ol any stigmatic dark patch. It 

 may possibly be the case that the (j" and $ here described 

 belong to distinct S[)ecies. 



Decatoma simpticistigma, n sp — cT 2 pale ochre- 

 yellow. Head subopa([Uc, continently and very coarsely 

 punctate; disk of the occiput, ocelli, an'tl sometimes a curved 

 band connecting the ocelli and which is rarely (1 (^ 1 $ ) 

 contluent by a narrow tongue with the occipital spot, all 

 black . Antenna' with the llagellum slightly obfuscate above, 

 and joint i usually black above. Thorax sculptured as the 

 head, but still more coarsely, Collare rarely (1 §) with a 

 naiTow <lorsal black line; mesonotum with a more or less 

 slender dorsal black triangle, the base ol the triangle usually 

 starting from the suture behind Ihe collare, sometimes from 

 the hind part of the collare, and the apex of the triangle 

 approaching more or less iiearlv, but never quite attaining 

 thescutel. Occasionally on each side of this black triangle 

 two or thiTe black dots are placed in the suture behind tlie 

 collare. On the scutel a more or less wide dorsal black line 

 not quite attaining its tip. Very rarely (I §) the entire meso- 

 notttm is immaculate, mesothorax always with a more or 

 less wide dorsal black line, which is almost always pro- 

 longed in a cui-ve behind the mesothoracic scutel to the m'lgin 

 of the (Vont winjj. Abdomen highly poli.shed, with the |ie- 

 dunc'e (^ § **^ "• variatis, the yellow color often merging 

 more or less into rufous. Peduncle above and below, a dor- 

 sal line not attiuiiiii'r the tip, which .■.'enerally expands np.in 

 each suture into a hitiral tooth, and is si.nietimes diluled iiil.. 

 one lai-Lle dorsal patch, all I. lack Lf./,v iMiniaculate; Ijul 

 the suture at tlicri-iu "t Ihe hind a,K:y is black IViiui.i 

 hyaline; veins brown; stigma black; n.i vestige ofanv .stig- 

 matic cloud or imtch. Length ^f OOG— 0.11, § o.s— 0.11 

 inch. 



Described from 7 <;? U $ , bred Aug. .■ilst— Sept SM]\, from 

 the Cynipidous Oak-gall Q. crinacetia, AValsh (=Q. pisuvi. 

 Fitch?) of the same year's grosvth, which occurs on White 

 Oak. Two (^, bred .lune 24th and .July Sth, from the Cyni- 

 pidous Oak-gall Q. petiolicola, Bassett, of the same year's 

 gi-owth, which occurs on Swamp White Oat, and one J 

 bred from the Oak-llg gall, which occurs on White Oak, 

 ditler in no respect from the described type. 



Decatoma nubilistigma, n sp.— ff 5 differ from lh|. 

 preceding only as follows: 1st. The general color is ochre- 

 yellow, raiigiiig thmugli honev-vellow in rufous. 2ncl The 

 ocellar black spot is never conlbient with the occipital black 

 spot. ;ird. The collare is aUvajs immaculate, and also (ex- 

 cept 5 (f" 4 $) the inesouotunl, and (except 2 ^) the scutel. 

 4th. The curved black line behind the scutel is usually ex- 

 panded, in connection wilh the metalhoraoic black villa, 



'-• - ■ ■ ■■■-■■■'• triangle, Ihe apex of which iloes not 



al peduncl.-. .lib In the alpil.iioeii 



broad black tr 

 quite attain the abdoni 



ld:lle 



the peduncle 



black, (ith. The leniora anil tibia' have a 



superior black vitta, scarcely perceptible 



the trout le 



and more obvious in each successive pair of legs. 7th. The 

 front legs have a pale fuscous cloud, scarcely wider than 

 Ihe stigma is long, extending fi-oni the stigma fi-om 'i lo '; 

 of Ihe way across the wing, or (1 g) onlv ',, of the way. 

 Length ^ 0.08—0.10; $ 0.07—0.12 inch 



Described from a ^ •«) $, breil May 7Ih— lUh, frnm Ihe 

 Cecidomyidous Willow-gall S batatas, Walsh, of the pre- 

 ceding year's growth. Kleven i-^, bred .lune 2d, from an 

 undescribed gall closely resembling q. tuber, Kilch, but 

 occuniMg noton White Oak but on Swamp White Oak, and 

 in all probability (Cynipidous, agree in every respect with 

 Ihe described types. 1 possess also a single normal $ cap- 

 lureil at large. 



[To be continued..] 



A WORD FOR THE TOAD. 



During the past week the Striped Pot.ato-l)ug 

 (^Lj/tta vittata) came into my potato patcli, and 

 ill two days defoliated about a tliousand liills, 

 when four of us set to wori< gatheriiio- them. In 

 one liour we gathered a full gallon. Where did 

 such a quantity of these hugs come from in so 

 short a time? But the most curious pari is to 

 come. A black boy who was helping me said he 

 did not like to gather the bugs, because wher- 

 ever they were numerous he found a lot of toads, 

 and lie was afraid of toads. This attracted my 

 attention, as I had seen a number of toads my- 

 self; and to my scrprise I found that they were 

 eating the bugs. One fellow ate twelve bugs, at 

 the rate of four ptu- minute. He would not eat 

 any fiister, although we ran the bugs all around 

 and over him. Has any one else noticed this? 

 It is certain])' new to me, for I did not think 

 iiuything would eat these Blister Beetles. The 

 Ladybird is shy of them ; and, so far as I have 

 observed, none of the common cannibal beetles 

 will attack them. S. F. T. 



Hannibal, Mo., July, 1S70. 



Insect Depuedations. — If I wore to cstimale 

 the average loss per annum of the farmers of Ihi.-^ 

 country from insects at .$10(1,000,1100, I should 

 <louhtl('ss be far below tlie mark. The loss of 

 fruil alone by the dcvtistations of insects, witiiin 

 a radius of fifty miles from this city, must amount 

 in value to millions. In my neighhorhuod (he 

 peach once flourished, but flourishes no more, 

 and cherries have been all but annihilated. A))- 

 ples were till Itilely our most profitable and per- 

 haps our most important product ; but the worms 

 take half our average crop and s.adly damage 

 what they do not utterly destroy. Plums we 

 luive ceased to grow or expect; our jiears are 

 generally stung and often blighted; even the 

 currant has at last its fruit-destroying worm. 

 We must fight our paltry adversaries niorc cfh- 

 citMitly, or allow them to drive us wholly from 

 the field. — Horace Greeley. 



Eru.vta. — Page 270, column 1, line 8 from 

 bottom, for "rjuim/icemacaMa" read "f/uinr/iie- 

 maculatn;" same page, column 2, line 10 from 

 bottom, for "Shall'er"' read "Satrcr.'" 



