208 



THE AMERICAN EKTOMOLOGIST. 



' Xeiit-Catei'j>illar_-i StepTien Blamhard, Oregon, 



'"Sfo. — The '^worffls'^fnfestiii^ -vour tr°es wliicli "cover 



the hmbs%\ith a web," aie the comiuoii Tent Cater- 



[Fig Ho ] 



Colors— Blue, ilack, white and rufons, 

 pillar (Clisiocampa americuna, Ilarr.) For the benefit 

 of the rest of our suljscribcrs we give the above illus- 

 tration of this caterpillar, a representing it from a side 

 view, 5 from a back view, e showing the eggs from 

 Avliicli it hatches, and d, the cocoon which it spins. 

 The moth which produces them is known by the name 

 of the American Lackey moth, and is of a rusty-browu 

 color, the fore wings crossed by two oblique, straight 

 dirty white lines . This insect need never become trou- 

 blesome, for its large web-nests are very conspicuous, 

 and the worms may easily be destroyed while sheltering 

 within them. Its eggs ("Fig. 145 c,) are also easily dis- 

 cerned and destroyed during the winter. 



Hatirlc's i»ellets — Vhas. 11. (?., Central, Mo. — In 

 our hist number (p. 1S7) we expressed the opinion 

 that the pellet composed of the hard shelly parts of 

 a species of grasshopper was certainly discharged 

 from the stomach of some Bird of Prey, and prob- 

 ably from that of some species of Owl. From 

 what we have since heard from our ornithological 

 friend, Dr. Velie, we think now that the pellet must 

 have come from the stomach, not of an Owl, but of a 

 Hawk. He writes as foUows : "The pellet you men- 

 tion must, I think, be the one ejected by the Broad - 

 winged Hawk (iJufeo permsylvanicus, Wilson). On dis- 

 secting one of these Hawks, killed near Eock Island in 

 the spring of 1865, 1 found inside it the legs and wing- 

 cases of a species of grasshopper probably the same as 

 that which you refer to. It also contained a number of 

 the wing-cases of the Indian Ghafnv {Cetonia inda). I 

 know of no other Hawk which feeds so exclusively , or 

 nearly so exclusi\'ely, upon insects as does this one. I 

 cannot now bx'ing to mind any of the Owls which feed 

 upon insects, they being all or nearly all nocturnal in 

 theii' habits. All the Rapacious Birds eject these pel- 

 lets, composed of the indigestible portions of quadru- 

 peds, birds or insects." 



Plant-lice on Berbcrrj" — -/. Jl. Preston, Biclt- 

 mond. Ind. — The insects on your Berberry leaves are 

 some species of Plant-louse {Aphis family). They were 

 all dried and crushed when we received them, and as 

 we could find no wings we can not tell you to what 

 particular genus they belong. A good syringing with 

 strong soap suds will doubtless clear your trees of them. 



Tent-Caterpillar ot tlie Forest— feo. Whit- 

 cd'ird),_Charhston, Miss. Co., i/o.— We copy your letter 

 of inquiry entire, as it is short, and well describes the 

 caterpillars which you send: "Enclosed I send you 

 specimeus of a Caterpillar which Is devastating oiu- 

 treeSj particularly apple, plum and oak. There are 

 none on my peach trees yet. They do 

 [Fig. no.] not make webs like the old-fashioned 

 Caterpillar, and Mr. MiUer, an experi- 

 enced J'armer, says they are a dift'erent 

 species . Will you please let me know 

 what they are, and what remedy, if 

 any, for their ravages?" 



This Insect is known as the Tent- 

 caterpillar of the forest, so called be- 

 cause it occurs more generally in our 

 forests than does the common Tent- 

 caterpillar which is represented on 

 the left hand column of this page 

 (Fig. 145.) These two caterpillars 

 closely resemble each other in colors 

 and general appearance, and have been 

 frequently confounded . The markings 

 of the back, in the two kinds, are very 

 dissimilar, however, as may at once be 

 seen by comparing Figure 140 which 

 gives a dorsal view of the Tent-cater- 

 pillar of the forest, with Fi^ire 145 b 

 which gives a similar view of the com- 

 mon Tent-caterpillar of the orchard. 

 The moth produced by the species now 

 under consideration was named Clisf^ 

 "wTi'itc ai\i"itifuaB."' ocmnpa sylratiai by Dr. Harris, antl 

 diflcrs only from C. Americana in 

 the space between the two oblique lines on the fore 

 wings being usually dai'ker than the rest of the wing, 

 and by the lines themselves being edged inwardly with 

 a deeper shade . Good figures of both moths may be 

 found ou PI. VII (Figs. 17 and 18) of "Harris's Injurious 

 Insects. ' ' The Forest caterpillar does not shelter under 

 a tent as does the true Tent-caterpillar, but it often spins 

 a conspicuous web, upon the outside of which it con- 

 gregates. It is therefore about as easilj"" destroyed, as 

 that species, in the manner suggested in answer to Mr. 

 Blanchard. We have found it quite common this 

 spring, not only upon the different trees upon which 

 you yourself found it, but also, in one instance, on a 

 peach tree. In 18G8, we gathered a single egg-mass 

 belonging to this species oft a Peach-tree upon Judge 

 Brown's place at Villa Ridge in South Illinois. These 

 egg-masses are very similar to those of the other spe- 

 cies ; but may be distinguished by being perfectly cylin- 

 drical and by the two ends being docked squarely oil 

 instead of sloping more or less obliquely upwards and 

 downwards. In 1867 this Forest caterjiillar was quite 

 destructive in Western New York, but its numbers 

 have since been greatly reduced , as we learn from cor- 

 respondence to the Country ff<;ftrte??s«n,* by two parasitic 

 insects which are known' to attack it, the one a Two- 

 winged fly (TacMiia), the other a Four- winged fly 

 {Pimpla) . 



Garden Mite — 0. H. Crill, Arlinrjton, Phelps Co., 

 Mo. — The bright scarlet animal which you found on the 

 ground m the woods, is the Tromljidimii seriemm of Say. 

 It is a true mite (Acams) belonging to the same class 

 (Araclmida) as the spider, and not to the true insects 

 [Insecta) . 



•Vol. XXXir, PI). 47 andC.?, and Vol. XXXIII, v. ;;oi. 



NOTICE. 



All letters, desiring loforniation respecting noxious or other insects, should 

 be accompanied by Bpecimeos, the more in number the better. Such speci- 

 mens should always be packed along with a little cotton, wool, or some such 

 substance, in any little paste-board box tliat is of convenient size, and never 

 enclosed loose in Che leUer. Botanists like their specimens pressed as flat as n. 

 pancake, but entomologists do not. 'Whenever possible, larvfe (i. e. grubs, 

 caterpillars, maggots, etc) should be packed alive, in some tight tin 

 box— the tighter the better — along with a supply of their appropriate food 

 sufficient to last them on their journey ; otherwise they generally die on the 

 road and shrivel up to nothing. Along with the specimens send as full an 

 account as possible of the habits of the insect, respecting which you desire 

 information ; for example, what plant or plants it infests ; whether it destroys 

 the leaves, the buds, the twigs, or the stem ; how long it has been known to 

 you; what amount of damage it has done, etc. Such particulars arc oflen 

 not only of high scientific interest, but of great practical importance. 



