THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



201 



made a poor choice for a liome, as tlicy got 

 Inirncd out. 



Editohial lliiJiAUKS. — The llonicts, resemb- 

 ling our common Bald-laced species, of which 

 Mr. Nichols noticed a single nest in a hollow 

 log, were probably the common European Hor- 

 net {Vespa crahro, Linn.), which according to 

 that excellent observer, Mr. Angus of Long 

 Island, N. Y., has become domesticated in the 

 neighborhood of the City of Xew York.* This 

 species has the head and thorax mostly of a dull 

 rufous color, without any white face such as our 

 native Hornet has; but the abdomen is marked 

 and colored in almost exactly the same manner 

 as in our species. Its habit in Europe is to 

 build in hollow trees, so that in this respect it 

 agrees very well w^ith the w'asp observed by Mr. 

 Nichols. In Europe, however, instead of being 

 " about half the size of the ordinary Bald-faced 

 Hornet," it is one or two sizes larger; audit 

 does not seem at all agreeable to analogy that, 

 when imported into America, it should degen- 

 erate in size. How the European Hornet camo 

 to be introduced into this country, unless some 

 mischievous person brought a nest of them over 

 with him in a steamship by way of '• devilry," 

 is difficult to explain; but we suppose that the 

 fact is indisputable. With the exception of the 

 Bald-faced Hornet, all the American species of 

 this social genus ( Vespa) , that we are acquainted 

 with, are colored yellow and black and not 

 greenish-white and black. Mr. Nichols's re- 

 mark that his wasp Avas "much shorter than 

 the Yellow-Jacket," excludes the idea of its 

 having been some species of the other genus 

 (Poh'stes) of Social "Wasps found in the Atlantic 

 States. The question can only be finally solved 

 by the actual examination of specimens by some 

 competent entomologist. "We hope to receive 

 such from JTr. Nichols in the course of the com- 

 ing season, and also specimens of the genuine 

 European Hornet from Mr. Angus or any other 

 citizen of New York who may meet with them. 

 They will form an interesting accession to our 

 Cabinet. 



Mr. Nichols is mistaken in quoting us as 

 asserting that " the Yellow-Jacket always builds 

 underground." "What we really did say (p. 141), 

 was, that " all the species with which we are 

 acquainted build their nests underground ;" 

 and so far as we are at present advised, none of 

 the species that build upon trees and bushes 

 occur in Illinois or Missouri. "We shall be glad 

 to receive from any of our correspondents, 

 whether in the East or the "West, Yellow-Jack- 



•See Paokai'il's Guide, clc, \). 153. 



ets taken from nests built in the open air, that 

 wo may compare them with the different species 

 captured by us in the West. The best way to 

 transmit such specimens is, to kill the insects by 

 immersing the bottle or vial in which they arc 

 confined, nearly up to the cork, in w^atcr so hot 

 that you cannot bear your finger in it for a single 

 second, and then without suffering them to get 

 dry to pack them immediately, along with a 

 little moistened paper to fill up the empty space, 

 in any small stout pasteboard box. 



MOUNDING PEACH TREES. 



Aih't'irs ^ltni:i-ii:tiii Kntoinolotjid ; 



Your article in last issue leads mc to give my 

 experience with the Peach borer. In 18(55, when 

 I purchased my present farm, I knew nothing 

 of the borer. In the spring of 1866 I found 

 from ten to thirty in each tree of all sizes. |: 

 thought that would never do ; by enquiry and. 

 reading I found the moth laid the egg for the 

 future borer during the sumnaer months. I 

 thought then to head it ott", ami in 1867, I 

 mounded the trees about a foot above the gen- 

 eral level, and in October I scattered the mound 

 away. In 1868 I did not find one borer to fifty 

 trees. I was pleased with iny experiment, and 

 again mounded the trees; but in the summer I 

 thought to see if the mound was the remedy, 

 and so hoed it awaj' in July. This spring I 

 found from ten to thirty (more or less) in nearly 

 every tree, all of them about the size of a 

 needle, and from one-sixteeuth to one-eighth of 

 an inch long; and all of them on the exterior 

 bark, showing that they were produced from 

 eggs laid last summer. 



I shall continue to mound my trees in the 

 spring and hoe away the mound in the fall, for 

 the reason that my experience shows tliat, to 

 mound the tree iu the spring leaves a place for 

 the fly to lay the a'^^g, the same as though on 

 level ground, and hoeing the mound away in 

 the fall scatters the eggs not hatched, and 

 freezes or dries up the young grub before it can 

 penetrate the exterior bark. 



I may be all wrong, but I prefer this to hav- 

 ing an unsightly mound of two or three feet iu 

 height and the same in diameter in my orchard. 

 KespectfuUy, 11. L. Wells. 



St. Joseph, Michigan, 1803. 



[The above experience of Mr. Wells, speaks 

 well for the mounding system. So long as he 

 kept the mound around the tree till into the 

 month of October, he found no borers the fol- 

 lowing spring. When he scattered the mound 

 away as early as July, he afterwards found 



