ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



373 



Hybrid between a Guape-vine and a Hick- 

 ory 1 — Our friend Tlioinas Median, of the Gar- 

 dener's Monthly, lias kiiully sent us specimens 

 of tlie Grape-vine Apple-yall ( Vitis pomum, W. 

 & R.)) which was pronounced by the Newark, 

 N. J., Courier to be produced by hybridization 

 between a grape-vine and a liickory over wbicli 

 it grows. If tlie editor of the CourUr \\\\\ turn 

 to page 106 of our first vohinie, lie will fiiul that 

 his liybrid is in reality a gall caused bj' a gall- 

 gnat ; and that it was the poison injected by the 

 little mother-fly, and nol. the pollen from tlu; 

 Hickory calkin, which produced the wonder. 



Death of Noted Ento.mologists. — The year 

 1870 has witnessed the death of several noted 

 entomologists. Among them we may mention, 

 with deep regi'ct, the names of Julius Ledercr, of 

 Vicima, one of the most energetic Lciiidoijlcro- 

 logists, who passed away on the 30th of April; 

 and of Jean Theodore Lacordaire, who was con- 

 ceded to be the best Colcoptcrist of his day, and 

 whose death at Liege, l^rance, on the ISth of July , 

 is still mourned by the entomological wmld. 



Osage Orange for the Mui.BEUitv Sh.k- 

 WORM. — Our remarks on this subject, on page 

 29;5, have had the desired ell'ect of bringing out 

 the author's name. During the Fair week at St. 

 Louis wc had the pleasure of seeing All'. Town- 

 end Glover, the entomologist to the De|)arlment 

 of Agriculture, who showed us a letter from Mr. 

 Samuel Coriiaby, of Spanish Fork City, Utah 

 councy, Utah, reiterating the statement of his 

 successes, and giving a more detailed account of 

 his experience. This letter will be found in the 

 Monthly Department lleport for October. The 

 scientific world will now place confidence in 

 these interesting and important facts, whereas, 

 as formerly presented, they lacked significance. 

 We cannot be too circumspect in dealing with 

 experiences aud facts, and there is yet room for 

 improvement in this regard in the Monthly lio- 

 ports of the Department, as witness the records 

 of damage done by THE Potato Bug, pi). .310-1, 

 where the injuries of several distinct insects ai-e 

 all mixed up together under one common head. 

 The diflereuce in our own success and that of 

 Mr. Cornaby in feeding Osage orange to the 

 Mulberry Silkworm is owing, doubtless, to the 

 greater dryness of the atmosphere of Utah com- 

 pared with that of the Mississippi Valley. 



Grape Insect. — Among the articles we in- 

 tended to publish this month was one on the true 

 Grape Borer (^U{/erla poliDiiformis, Harris), 

 which, by an oversight, was omitted in our 

 account of the Lepidopterous insects injurious 

 to the Vine. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Insects Named— J/r«. M. ChappelUmith, A'ew Ear- 

 mony, Ind. — (1.) 'I'lie little oruiijje parasites on gr-LSS- 

 hoppers were, judging Iroiu your description, six- 

 legged mites, belonging to Latreille's genus Advma, >/ 

 aud for whieh Jlr. Walsh proposed the spccitic name of 

 locustarum. Similar mites attack the common Uouse- 

 fly and other insects, but very little attention has been 

 given to these uiirnite creatures by scientilic men. (2.) 

 The dusky brown, short, robust cricket, which gnaws 

 apples, pears, quinces aud peaches, is the Striped- 

 cricket {A'emvhiuK vitatua, llarr); and this species con- .- 

 sequeutly has these habits iu common with the Jumping 

 Tree-erickel(y;-yfA(im saltaloi; Uhler), which you sent V 

 ou aijrovious occasion. (3.) The larva, of which wc re- 

 ceived but the dry skin, was some species of cut-worm, 

 but of course unrecognizable. (4.) The smooth black 

 beetle is Hvrinue Itvvie, Oliv. 



Motliof Saddle-Back— r. C. /Jill, Yellow Springe , 

 Ohio.—Xitn will lind a lair liguie of the parent of thia 

 worm at I'bue 1, Figure 7 of lliiiis's Cvrrespoiulence. It 

 is there called LimacuJ^e ephippialiis, which is a syno- 

 nym for the more apinopriate name of Empitlia ttimu- 

 lea, Clem. 



liOcust Borer— Wm. Ji . Ihward, Forsyth, Ifo.— The 

 black and yellow-bunded, long-horn beetle, which you 

 found (Sept. 23) depositing its soft, elongate white eggs 

 iu the crevices of the bark of a Black Locust tree, is the 

 beetle of the common Locust Borer (Arhopalue rubinia, 

 Foster). Il is the larva hatching from thes*^ eggs which is 

 so destructive to the tree. The very ^nlall brown lly which 

 you uoliced lollowing the motions of the beetle was 

 perhaps an egg parasite; but we cainiol tell without 

 seeing specimens. 



Xlie Nortliern Kiady Bird; Us Larvie— tVias. 

 E. milings, PhilaMpliia, Pa.— The yellow larvas, which 

 are characterized by rows of branching thorn-like yel- 

 low spines, tipped with black, and which you found 

 feeding on the leaves of the common yellow gourd, are 

 the youugof the Northern h-x(iy-\)\ri\(Epilachiui hortalit, 

 Thunberg), the only vegetable-feeder among all the 

 North American Lady-birds (C'occtWiia family), though 

 there are several European species that have a similar 

 vegetarian habit. This insect has such a predilection 

 for vines of the gourd family, and is ofleu so injurious 

 to squashes, that Dr. Fitch called it the Squash Cocci- 

 nella. 



Not Hgga, tout Parasitic Cocoons—^. Vouch, 

 Fairbury, /U.—Tl>c worm you send is the llog Caterpil- 

 lar of the vine, and the white oval objects attached to 

 its skin are parasitic Microj/ader mcoons. Consequently 

 both your friends are wrong, the one iu persisting tha' 

 they are eggs, the other in slating that they are lice 

 The former mistake is excusable, as Ihcy might readily 

 be mistaken for eggs ; but they bear no resemblance to 

 lice, which are active creatures with limbs. 



Do Gapes Occur in Pig:eons !— H'. 0. barton, 

 Salem, Maes.— Wc have never heard of a case of Gapes 

 in pigeons, and Dr. I'aaren, of Chiciigo, informs us 

 that his pathological literature from almost all parts of 

 Europe does not mention pigeons among the birds 

 affected with this parasite. Itoup, however, is very 

 common and fatal with them, especially in the fall of 

 the year. 



