120 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



.- XUe 'White-marked Tussock mCotli, agraiu.^ 



^ A. S. Fuller , Ridqewood., K. J.—Tivn seven specimens 

 which you gathered from your apple trees reached us in 

 good condition. They all belong to the above named 

 insect, and its parasites. On jjage 79. of number 4, 

 you will find a figure and description of the cater- 

 pillar from which they wei-e all produced. Xo. 1 is a 

 piece of the back of the female chrysalis, and the batt' 

 colored specks on it are not eggs, but minute hair 

 masses, representing in a reduced foi'm the brushes 

 which adorned the caterpillar. Xos. 2 and 3, were both 

 of them 2 chrysalids, ,each containing pupai of some 

 two-winged flyj belonging most likely to the Taehina 

 family (see Fig. 35). Ko. 4 is one of the dried up cater- 

 pillars, but containing no parasites. No. 5, contains the 

 parasitic cocoons of some small Ichneumon fly ; bclong- 

 ^ ing most likely to the genus J/iVcog'asfer. No. 6, is an 

 egg-mass^oftfie moth, and Ko. 7 contains the brown co- 

 coons of a four-wingedfly which wehave frequently bred 

 from this caterpillar. It is of a black color, the legs be- 

 ing conspicuously banded with black and white. It 

 is the Pimrila cmUhs, of AValsh's US., being closely allied 

 to P. 'inquisitor, S<ay, from W'hlch it ditiers very con- 

 spicuously in the face of the male being white. Be- 

 sides these three distinct parasites wliich you send, 

 we are acquainted with four more which attack this 

 c.iterpillar, and if in collecting the egg-bearing cocoons, 

 care enough be taken to leave these ijarasites so that they 

 can continue their good work, they will undoubtedly 

 keep this pest eliectually in check . 



erassliopper Eg'gs^Will ttey hatcli? — (.'. ,J. 

 Jones, Troy, Doniphan Co., Kans. — You say that the 

 Colorado Grasshoppers deposited their eggs in your 

 neighborhood early in the fall (August and September), 

 and that upon examining the eggs just before the 

 ground froze, you found the young all developed and 

 apparently ready to hatch , and you wish to know wheth - 

 er or not they will hatch next spring, or whether they will 

 freeze with the thermometer at 20= below zero." We 

 could tell you more definitely if you sent specimens for 

 examination, though there is" every probability that they 

 tcill hatch, as the frosts arc not likely "to aflect 

 them. The progeny from these eggs is .apt to die away 

 however, without doing material damage, as explained 

 in the article on this insect which appeared in our De- 

 cember number. 



Injured Apple Tree*. — G. C. Broadhcad, Pleasant 

 JHll, Mo. — We cannot tell without seeing specimeus, 

 what it is that is eating arountl your apple trees just 

 under the bark, and causing tlieni to die and break off 

 at such places. It may be the Flat-headed apple tree 

 borer ( Ch'ysoT>ot}iris fenoraUt, F'abr. ), and if so, he should 

 be searched for within his retreat, \vlierevor he is acces- 

 sible, and killed. After killing all that can be found, the 

 tree should, receive a thorough washing w itii soft ^oap. 

 We advise our subscribers, when it is practicable, to ac- 

 company their questions with specimens of the insects 

 they refer to, with as full and minute account of their 

 work as possible, as otherwise wc can never gi-\e po.si- 

 tive or satisfactory answers. 



Small Snails in Gardens — Munjiucf Chappell- 

 smith, JS'ew JIarmomi , Ind. — The minute snails 'whicli 

 you consider ' ' as great pests as ever a garden was 

 plagued with," and which injure so many of your 

 flowers and strawberry plants by scraping off "patches of 

 the epidermis of their "leaves and stalks, "\vere, with the 

 exception of a single shell, crushed to atoms on their 

 way hither. This specimen agrees very well with Pu- 

 j-iiUafallax, Say, which is quite common throughout the 

 Xorthem, Middle and Western States. We suggest 

 the application of salt around those plants infested with 

 them, as we have seen it used in England with excel- 

 lent effect on slugs and snails, which attack plants tliero, 

 to a far grciiter extent than they do in this country. 



Bag-worms — W. ^Y. Btdterpdd, Indiiinapolis, Jnd. 

 — The specimen sent is the Bagvvorm, alias Basket- 

 worm, alias Dropworm {TJii/ridoptfi-i/x ephemeraformis). 

 It infests a great variety of trees, but more especially 

 evergreens, and can be" readily got rid of by gathering 

 the cases oif the infested trees "in the winter! 



Butterfly CUrysalis— IF. W. BuHerfeld, Indian- 

 apolis, Ind.— The gray pupa, su.spended by a silken 

 thread passing round its middle, is that of" the great 

 Yellow Swallow-tail Butterflv {Papilio Tvrnzis). 



Eggs o* the Apple-tree Plaut-louse.-if. W. Sea- 

 man, ibhipman, Jlh.— The, httle oval black eggs that are 

 salted so thickly over the bark of your apple-tree, arc 

 those of the "common Apple-tree Plant-louse (Jplus 

 mali). If there should be a warm spell in your neigh- 

 borhood early next spring, followed by a frost, most of 

 them will hkely enough hatch out and be killed by the 

 frost; for though the eggs can stand almost any degree of 

 cold,the younglarva cannot. Even if they allhatch out and 

 survive, they will be attacked shortly afterwards by so 

 many cannibal and parasitic Insects, that they will prob- 

 ablydo no very material amount of damage. But for 

 this wise provision of nature , they would soon increase 

 with such frightful rapidity as to make it impossible to 

 grow any apples. As it is, nobody ever knew an Apple 

 tree to be killed by these insects, and possibly in small 

 numbers they may produce the same beneficial results 

 as a summer pniiiing. 



Entomological "Works.— i.'. B. Warfield, Lex- 

 ington, Ky.—The '• In.sect8 of Kew York," by B. Em- 

 mons, is out of print, and forms a part of the "Natural 

 History of New York," published by the State. A 

 copy liiay possibly be had of B. Westermanu & Co., 440 

 Broadway, N. Y. Dr. Fitch's Keports are published 

 in the transactions of the New York State Agricultural 

 Society, and are also published separately in volumes, 

 the copyright being secured to the author. They may 

 possibly be had by addressing the CoiTesponding Secre- 

 tary of "the State Ajjricultural Society, Mr. B. P. John- 

 son", of Albany, N . Y. , though we understand that the 

 first two volumes are out of print. Mr. AValsh's first 

 Report can probably be obtained from Mr. W. 0. 

 Flagg, of Alton Ills . , the Corresponding Secretary of 

 the Illinois State Horticultural Society, by enclosing a 

 10 cent postage stamp to pay for postage; while Mr. 

 Riley's first Report is not yet published, but will ap- 

 pear in the Report of the State Board of Agriculture. 

 Wc believe there is no fixed price for any of these works. 



Insects Wanted. — /. B. Merwin, St. Louis — The 

 insects you send for names are as follows : The giganflc 

 fly is the ^ Hellgrammite Fly, ( Corydalis cornvtus^ Linn., 

 Fig. oG, 0.) an account and figure of which were given on 

 the frontpage of No. 4. The four butterflies with rich 

 purple-brown wings, marfjined with a butt'-yellowband, 

 near the inner edge of which there is a row of celestial- 

 blue spots, are specimens of the Aut.iopa Butterfly ( Van- 

 essa, anfiopa, I.inn . ) It is produced from a black "prickly 

 caterpillar, which feeds on the willow. The butterfly 

 with black w"ings, the fore ones having a beautiful 

 orangc-vcruiilliou band across their middle, and large 

 while spots near their tips, andthehind ones with an or- 

 ange band at their lower margin, is the Atalauta Butterfly 

 Cynthia atalania, Linn.) Its caterpillar is also prickly, 

 but is not so black as that of the other species. Both 

 these butteiHies arc conunon alike to Europe .and 

 America. 



-White Grubs.— ICk:. r. J/obr.es. Plattslxmj, .Vo.— 

 From your description, we judge that the white worm 

 which cuts oft' the roots of your'blue grass and destroys 

 your youn.g osage orange plants, is the common White 

 iSrub", the larva of the May beetle {Lachnosterna c/uercina, 

 Knoch.) AVe cannot, however, decide with certainty, 

 nor can we tell you whether or not they will rema'in 

 another year on "the same land, until you send us speci- 

 mens, if our surmises arc correct as to the species, and 

 if the grubs were fuU grown last fall, the probability is 

 that you will not be so badly troubled with them next 

 season, for the reasons given in answer to .John I'. 

 McCartney, of Cameron, Mo . , nn page .'!", of our sccon<l 

 number. 



Class Book o£ Entomology — A. I). Lee, L'urul 

 Seminary, Scio, Ohio .—T\KV(i is no American w-ork that 

 w'ill answer asa class book for students. Harris's "In- 

 jurious Insects," will best serve the purpose, and has 

 recently been republished by Orange Judd «fc Co., of 

 New York, though we do not know their prices. The 

 " Guide to the Study of Insects."' is now being pub- 

 lished in parts, cach"part 50 cents, by A. S. ra'ekard, 

 Jr., of Salem, Mass. , but it is of too scientific a nature 

 for a class book. We refer you to what was s.aid on 

 this subject on page 39, in answer to B. M. Reynolds of 

 Madison, Wis. We advise the publishers to advertise 

 in our columns, as wch.ave frequent queries of this kind. 



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