THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



55 



THE LATE EXHIBITION OP USEFUL AND DE- 



BTRUCTrVE INSECTS AT FABIS. 



Ail association nuclei- the uarne of the "Societe 

 iV Insect ologie Agricole," was established in 

 Paris ill 1SC7, for the special study of those 

 brandies of entomology whicb arc of practical 

 importance to the agricultural and iudustrial 

 portions of the community. Its affairs are con- 

 ducted by a committee of tliirtcen, with the 

 usual officers, and all persons desirous of joining, 

 are eligible for membership without distinction 

 of nationality or residence. 



The Society held an exliibition in 1867, and a 

 second one in August of the present year. From 

 an account published in the Journal cV Agricul- 

 ture Pratique, of Paris, and from a communica- 

 tion received on the subject from Mr. Clias. 

 Dadant, of Hamilton, Ills., we learn that this 

 last exlubition far excelled the first. The very 

 existence of a society of this kind, shows how 

 thoroughly the French people are alive to the 

 great importance of the insect question ; and it 

 is to be hoped that the day is not far distant 

 when we shall have a similar organization in 

 tills country. By association and by combina- 

 tion, we can always accomjilish more than by 

 individual effort. 



That our readers may get some idea of the 

 character of this exhibition, we make the follow- 

 ing extract from a report published by Mr. 

 R. T. Lewis, in the October number of Ilard- 

 wicJce's (London) Science Gossij): 



" The second division of the exhibition (in- 

 sectes nuisibles) was subdivided into ten classes, 

 iu which the insects were arranged according to 

 their habits, instead of in the scientific order of 

 their genera; a plan admirably designed for 

 practically useful purposes. Here, at a glance, 

 a person interested in the cultivation of a 

 particular plant might see specimens of every 

 insect known to attack it, and not only were 

 they shown in their perfect form and of both 

 sexes, but also in the larva and the pupa states, 

 with specimens of their eggs, and of dried por- 

 tions of plants which had suffered from them. 

 To each series labels were affixed, upon which 

 were written the names of the insects, in Latin 

 and in French, with brief notices of their 

 ravages, and in some instances also the means 

 of their extermination. One exhibitor in this 

 department showed a collection so remarkable 

 for its completeness and the care bestowed upon 

 it that I cannot pass it by without a special re- 

 ference ; it consisted, in all, of eighteen glass- 

 covered trays, the first five of wliicli contained 

 the destroyers of various kinds of fruit, arranged 



as described above. In the next three were 

 those injurious to potherbs and edible fungi, 

 and in the three following were ravagers of 

 meadow and field produce, and of the leaves of 

 forest trees. Two more were filled with insects 

 which make havoc in dift'erent kinds of dry or 

 growing timber, and another contained such as 

 trouble animals and men. Those persons who 

 are interested in the mosquito question may, 

 perhaps, be glad to know that of the two species 

 shown here, one was the common C'lilex pijnens, 

 the other, a somewhat larger insect, being de- 

 signated Culex maculipennis. For the destruc- 

 tion of hurtful insects an extraordinary number 

 of devices were exhibited ; such as bottles, fly- 

 papers, poisons, and insecticide powders, to- 

 gether with a variety of apparatus for tlieir 

 effectual application. 



"In the third division (Insectivora) there 

 was an excellent collection of stufl'ed birds, with 

 their nests and eggs, and many contrivances for 

 the fostering and preservation of their young. 

 The value to the agriculturist of these feathered 

 allies, especially in a country teeming with in- 

 sect life, was demonstrated by carefully tabu- 

 lated statements, and by the exhibition of up- 

 wards of 300 glass tubes, each of which con- 

 tained the debris of cockchafers and other de- 

 structive insects taken from the crops of little 

 birds. In the same class were also a number of 

 live tortoises, lizards, and other insect-feeders, 

 as well as of ichneumons, and such insects as 



prey upon their fellows." 



• ♦ » 



DESTROYING BLACK ANTS IN GARDENS. 



Mr. "W. S. Patten, of Providence, R. I., writes : 

 I should be willing to pay a good many years sub- 

 scription to yourpiiper if it would till ine liow to ex- 

 terminate black ants from my gardoii, witliout destroy- 

 ing tlie shrubs, box edging, etc., undir wliich they bur- 

 row. 1 have waged a ten years' unsuccessful war 

 against them. 



There are but two methods which we can 

 advise ; the one is to pour copiously hot water 

 down their burrows and over their hills; the 

 other, to entrap them by narrow sheets of stiff 

 paper or strips of bqard, covered with some 

 sweet, sticky substance. In the first operation 

 the water should be hot, avcU nigh to the boiling 

 point, and often applied. In the latter the refuse 

 skimmings of sorghum would be found efl'ect- 

 ual and economical. The ants are attracted to 

 these strips by their fondness for sweets, and 

 sticking fast, can be destroyed whenever a suf- 

 ficient number are entrapped. 



ty If God takes pains to create an insect, 

 man may take pains to study it, without lower- 

 ing Ms dignitv. 



