ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



303 



many of the " shells" aud found most of them 

 empty. I found the white eggs under only one 

 ■or two of the scales wliich [ examined, the rest 

 being apparently empty. I notice that, on page 

 2i;j, Vol. II, in answer to D. P. Ilanan, you say 

 you can not repeat what you have already 

 written, but refer him to an article in your first. 

 State Report. That is certainly very unsatis- 

 factory to us down here, unless you have the 

 Reports to send out gratuitously to all who may 

 be interested in this matter. We take the Kx- 

 TOMoi.()(;isT in order to get, inlorination on such 

 subjects. I hope you will let us have an ex- 

 haustive article on the Oyster-shell Bark-louse. 



Tlie "Apple-root IMant-louse " does not kill 

 most of the trees which it infests in this part of 

 the country. They are very troublesome, and I 

 should like to know some cxpeililious way to 

 destroy them; but 1 think tliey MiUloni kill a 

 tree outright. The apple trees in this country 

 are mostly liberally supplied w'lh them. 1 

 notice that you advice scalding tlicm. That will 

 do very well where the water is poured around 

 the tree as it stands in the ground ; i)ut, by way 

 of experiment, 1 tried dipping the roots of small 

 trees in hot water — ihe water being nearly 

 boiling hot — ,ind the trees I "dipped" were all 

 killed. J. W. Mkkohant. 



[We shall defer our remarks on the Oyster- 

 shell Bark-lice until we manage to get specimens 

 from your locality, for at present we can only ■ 

 give opiiuon*. We do not believe that the 

 species can thrive, or even exist, in your latitude; 

 aud, from your remarks, incline to believe that 

 your lice were imported ami have died out. We 

 have never heard of their injuries in Mississippi, 

 aud if they have ever proved injurious it will be 

 easy enough to ascertain the fact. There are 

 dozens of common aud injurious insects of 

 which we wish to give accounts, but, as every- 

 tjung cannot be published at once, we generally 

 /give priority to such subjects as are compara- 

 tively little umlerstood, and which for the time 

 interest the greatest nundjer. It is not necessary 

 to have the water iu which to dip the apple trees 

 too near the boiling point. A heat anywhere 

 from 120° to 150° will suflice, and the roots must 

 be immersed a difl'ereut length of time according 

 to the temperature. It may be used much hotter, 

 however, when poured on the ground. — Eo.] 



NkST Ol- THE BALD-FACliU IIoUNET — Carthdl/C, 



Miss. — In your April number, in an article on 

 the Bald-faced Hornet, by Henry Oilman, he 

 says: "I once fouiul in the woods, on the north 

 side of Lake Michigan, a wasp nest nearly twice 

 as large as a man's head. * * * This was 

 the largest nest I ever saw." I have seen them 



liere as large as an ordinary water backet, aud 

 over a foot iu diameter. J. AV. M. 



(^>ii:kn Iltr.MBi.K-iiEK — Lelioti, X. Y.. June \, 

 1870. — On May I'lth 1 found this (|ueen Humble- 

 bee t^which I now enclose you) in its nest, which 

 was a deserted mouse nest. A mass of pollen 

 found in this nest contained twelve eggs, which 

 were placed in a ciicle, and upon their ends, 

 around a small central ball of i)ollen. A single 

 cell tilled with honey was also found in this nest, 

 and this cell had evidently just been completed 

 when the (jueen was captured. I have always 

 understood that no honey was collected until 

 alter the birth of the lirst brood—the cells thus 

 emptied being then used as honey-cells. Of 

 what species is this (pieen? it is marked 1 ; the 

 other species, marked 2, is much less common 

 here. .1. Oami'UKI.i., Jk. 



[Xo. 1 is 2 Bombiis pcmisi/h-anicus, DiiGcov, 

 and No. 'J is ? Ji.fervidus, Fabr. — Ed.] 



Attkaction Ol- :Malu Morns to thk Female 

 — Fuirjiehl, Iowa, July 22, "70. — Enclosed fiiul 

 a cocoon of -l/<rtc«.v cerropia. It was brought 

 from reunsylvania last fall. Ten days ago it 

 gave forth a moth, which was placed under a 

 common tlour sieve. In a very short time cfcccrt 

 moths of the same kind were under the sieve. 

 The gentleman insists thateleveu were "hatched"' 

 from this one cocoon. I suggested that only one 

 could possibly have come from it, and that the 

 others had been attracted to it, as is often the 

 case. But how did the moths get under the 

 sieve? There is no jiossible way for this to be 

 done; and the folks are satisfied that the eleven 

 moths actually came from the one cocoon — an- 

 other impossibility. Can you solve the matter? 

 1 went to the house, saw the cocoon and moths, 

 and am satisfied the people would not wittingly 

 practice a deception upon me. 



J. M. StlAl'l-EK. 



[The attractive power of the feuiale moths, 

 and especially of those belonging to the same 

 family {JSomhi/cidw) as the IMulberry Silk-worm, 

 is very great, and the only solution that can be 

 given of the above problem [?] is that the moth 

 hatched from the cocoon was $ , and that the 

 i^c? were attracted to her, and managed to lift 

 the sieve and get under it. It is well known 

 that these ? moths will collect, or "semble" the 

 (3" c? from long distances, though whether by 

 some peculiar odor or by some other power is 

 not yet satisfactorily decided. If all the circum- 

 stances relating to the above occurrence were 

 considered in detail, we should doubtless find 

 nothing strange about it. Of course, no more 

 than one moth issued IVom the cocoon. — En.] 



