188 



THE AMERICAN EKTOMOLOGIST. 



[Fig. l:il.] 



Egrgs of Cut-iworni Moths — ffustarus Pauls, 

 Eureka, i/b.— Tlie belt of minute eggs, of a flesh-color, 

 and all fastened closely together on the twig of one of 

 your Peach trees, we have figured in the annexed cut 

 (Fig. 131), a showing the belt, natural size, and h giving 

 one of the eggs highly magni- 

 fied. These eggs soon hatched 

 out after we received them-. It 

 Is not often that we can tell all 

 about an insect from its egg, 

 but the moment we saw those 

 which you sent, we knew from 

 their curious pattern what they 

 were . They are in fact the eggs 

 of the Unarmed Rustic (Agrotis 

 inermis, Harr,), and the worms 

 which hatch from them are 

 among the most destructive of 

 the cut- worm tribe. This worm 

 has been called the Variegated 

 Cut-worm by the Junior Edit- 

 or, and a full history of it will 

 be found in his First Anmuil 

 Report (pp. 7-2-74), where both 

 the moth and the worm wriich 

 produces it are figured (PI. I, 

 Figs 1 and 2) . It has heretofore 

 been supposed that all cut- 

 Coior-(a and 5) flesh-color, -worm moths dcposit their eggs 

 on or near the surface of the ground, but here we 

 have a clear case of their being deposited far away 

 from the ground, and we have seen these sanre egg.s 

 deposited on both Apple and Cherry twigs and on 

 Mulberry leaves. The shells of these eggs are ex- 

 tremely thin, and of a delicate glistening pink color, 

 and they are always devoured by the young larva; 

 soon after the latter hatch. These larva; are at fir.st 

 of a dirty yellow color, covered with black shiny 

 elevated spots. They have the full complement of 16 

 legs, but the two hiudermost pair of abdominal prolegs 

 are much longer than the two foremost pair, and the 

 worms have at this time the peculiarity of looping up 

 the back when in motion, in the same manner as does 

 the notorious Canker-worm, while they can also let 

 themselves down by a web. For a while they live, for 

 the most part, in company on the leaves, but after the 

 first moult, strange to .say! they lose their looping 

 habit, the legs having become of nearly equal size. 

 They can no longer let themselves down by a web, and 

 they now disperse and begin to show the true Cut-worm 

 characteristic of hiding during the day time just under 

 the surface of the ground, and of cutting otf our vege- 

 tables. 



T. A. Thi'op, Troy, 7Ms.— The belt of eggs which you 

 found attached to one side of a Mulberry tree are of 

 exactly the same kind as those sent by Mr. Pauls. We 

 carefully counted them and found there were no less 

 than 642. These were, beyond a doubt, deposited by 

 a single moth. With such fecundity, is it to be won- 

 dered at, that cut-worms appear so suddenly and plen- 

 tifully in our fields and gardens, when we reflect that, 

 as we have experimentally proved, each egg will pro- 

 duce a fat, greasy worm, two inches long, in the in- 

 credibly short space of three weeks ! 



Emory S. Foster, Bushhurg, i/b.— The eggs which you 

 find attached to your Concord grape vines, belong to 

 the same species of moth. They should be destroyed 

 wherever found. Your neighbor, Mr. I. Bush, was 

 last year troubled with the worms which they pro- 

 duce". 



Works ou Natural 'B.istory— Byron Carson, 

 FirtiLlay, Hancock Co., Ohio.— You ask what works we 

 would recommend to any one ' ' desiring a thorough 

 knowledge of Natural History." We reply that to 

 enumerate the works necessary to such a thorough 

 knowledge would require a whole number of the Ento- 

 mologist. First and foremost we advise you to com- 

 mence to read carefully the Great Book of Nature, and 

 as you have subscribed to us for the American Naturalist, 

 you will find at the end of each number of that period- 

 ical a tolerably fidllist of works on Natural History, and 

 the proper information as to how they can be obtained. 

 We have already advised as to the best works for the 

 beginner in the study of Entomology. (See pp. 39 and 

 120 of present vol.) 



Sno-nr rieas— .ff. jff. (?. Bradt, Eureka, TPi's.— The ■ 

 minute black insects which you send, and which you 

 found in countless myriads ou the surface of the thaw- 

 ing snow, are known by the name of Snow Fleas. 

 They are the Podura nimeola of Dr. Fitch, and may be 

 found at almost any time during the winter at the foot 

 of trees, under the bark of which they live. In such 

 situations they are not readily noticed, but as 

 soon as the sun becomes sufficiently warm to rouse 

 them into activity, they issue forth and seem to be at- 

 tracted by the snow, upon which, congregating by 

 millions, they become at once conspicuous and cause us 

 to wonder at their sudden appearance. They jump by 

 means of a forked "spring tail" placed on the under 

 side, near the extremity of the body. Their food 

 consists of decaying vegetable matter. 



Fuzzy Galls on Blackberry Tnrig-s — Jonathan 

 Huggins. Woodburn, i?is.— The globular, reddish, seed- 

 like,' hollow bodies which you find placed close together 

 in irregular belts around the canes of your blackberries, 

 each one measuring about one-tenth of an inch in 

 diameter, and each giving rise to one or more long 

 spines, are in i-eality Cynips-galls peculiar to the 

 blackberry, and caused by a four-winged fly — the 

 Diastrophus cusmtctformis of Osten Sacken — of a pitchy 

 brown or black color with l'^d feet and antenna. As 

 you rightly remark, many of them have been gutted by 

 the birds, but if you open those which are not thus 

 gutted yovi -will find, at the present time, the pupa of 

 the future fly lying snugly within the hollow gall. 



Pithy Oalls on Blackberry Xwigs— 7". \V. 

 Gordon, Georgetown, 0/m'o.— The large, dark red, pithy 

 swelling which you find on your blackberry tvi'igs, and 

 which looks not unlike a dried and crinkled apple, 

 is a polythalamous gall, produced by a small four- 

 winged fly belonging to the very same genus and of 

 much the same appearance as that spoken of above, in 

 answer to Mr. Hviggins. This fly was named Dias- 

 trophus nehulosus by Osten Sacken, and together with 

 the other species referred to, was described in the 

 " Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Phila- 

 delphia," vol. II., pp. 36-39. By making a trans- 

 verse section of the gall, you will find near the centre a 

 number of oblong cells which are at present occupied 

 by pupa;. Both these blackberry gall-makers are 

 attacked by parasites which doubtless serve to prevent 

 their undue increase. 



mCotlt Eggs — A. M. Shults, Iroy, Lincoln Co., 

 jlTo.— The belt of pale, cream-colored eggs encircling a 

 twig (of what tree?) apparently arc those of some 

 moth, but of what particular species we cannot tell 

 unless we breed tlinm. The eggs of the Tent Caterpil- 

 lar moth are much smaller, are fastened closer together, 

 and are covered with a sort of varnish, We have 

 formerly received just such eggs as you now send, from 

 C. R. Babbitt, of Carroll City, Iowa, who found them 

 encircling the twig of a Honev Locust. 



J. Haqcjins, Woodlurn, Ills. —The. circle of eggs which 

 you took from an Apple tree are of the same kind as 

 the above. 



Horse-hair Snakes — A. M. Ahbott, Tfnion Gi-one, 

 iHs.— The popular notion that these animals are ani- 

 mated horse-hairs is nothing but a superstition. Like 

 every other living creature, including ourselves, they 

 spring from an egg in the first instance. They are not / 

 true insects, but belong to the Class of Worms; and \j 

 just as man has intestinal worms that live and thrive in 

 his body, so many insects are infested internally by 

 these so-called horse-hair snakes. We have ourselves 

 seen living specimens six inches long, that came out of 

 the gigantic caterpillar of the Cearofiia mojjj; and have 

 often seen smaller ones come out of grasshoppers . 



Fungus on Blackberry— Tf'w.. Galwell, Sparta, 

 jll — The singular excrescence on the root of the Dor- 

 chester blackberry is evidently some kind of fungoid 

 growth and not the result of insect work. 



SPECIAIi UrOTICE. 



I HAVE specimens of Agrion basalis ^ and § , to ex- 

 chauge for either of the following insects : Ceralocampa 

 regalis, Harr., Dryocampa imperialis, Harr., Nymphalis ar- 

 themis, Harr., Philampelti achemon, Harr., Pepsis (Pompi- 

 lus) formosa, Say, or Slixus grandis. Say. 

 May D. H. BRIGGS, Norton, Mass. 



