THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



223 





same place, and seldom more than one by the 

 same insect in the same individual fruit or tree. 

 A. Dkan. 



Otto, Intl., June 61h. 



[We cheerfully insert the above experience 

 from Mr. Dean, and hope that our readers will 

 jyrotit by it. We are a little susi)icious ourselves 

 that the worms spoken of by Mr. Wells (p. 2i)l) 

 were in reality, not true Peach-borers, but the 

 larvje of a little two-winged gnat (Jfi/celophila 

 evsicm, Riley's MS.) which live on the gum ancl 

 detritus of the peach-tree, and which wc have 

 bred to the fly state. These little worms do no 

 harm to the tree, and can always be distiu- 

 guished from the young Peach-borer, by the 

 greater relative length in proportion to the 

 width of their bodies, and by being entirely 

 destitute of legs ; whereas the Peach-borer, no 

 matter how small it may be, has always sixteen 

 legs.— Eds.] 



OVERCKOWItEl). 



We have received such a deluge of letters and 

 in(]uiries, during the past month, that, what with 

 our many other duties, it has been impossible to 

 answer them all in the present number. A great 

 many of these letters are of such trivial import- 

 ance that it is necessary to answer them by 

 private letter; but all such as are not thus at- 

 tended to, will in time be answered through the 

 Kntojiologist. But few persons duly compre- 

 hend the arduous duties of a State Entomolo- 

 gist. Called hither and thither; with hundreds 

 of insects at home whose transformations and 

 habits must he watched, he often receives in a 

 single mail, enough letters of inquiry, and 

 specimens to name, to occupy him a full week. 

 Oh that in this active, busy month of June, while 

 Nature's pulses beat so audibly, we could multi- 

 ply ourselves and be here and there and every- 

 whci'e, and at the same time attend to all duties ! 

 but as we are but poor mortals, our readers will 

 bear with us for any shortcomings ! 



NO AIR-HOLES NEEDED IN SENDING INSECTS. 



Most jiersons who send us insects are in the 

 habit of punching holes in the boxes in which 

 such insects are packed; and sometimes these 

 lioles arc large enough to allow the inmates to 

 escape, and we arc thus mortified at receiving 

 only empty boxes. Not unfrequently the senders 

 go to the trouble of launching these holes tlirough 

 thick tii\ boxes. Now we wish we could make our 

 readers understand, that the punching of these 

 holes not only involves entirely useless and super- 

 fluous labor, but that it is actually detrimental to 



most living specimens. Insects do not smother 

 as readily as do we human beings; many of 

 them live at their ease deep down in the ground; 

 some hide themselves in the hearts of trees, and 

 others again swim in the water, or dwell in 

 places where wc should instantly suflbcate. In- 

 deed, moisture is far more essential than air to 

 most insects, and we advise our readers to use 

 as tight vessels as possible in sending them — 

 especially if they are living specimens. We 

 also advise the use of tin wherever practicable, 

 tor if the insect to be sent has strong mandibles, 

 it is apt to gnaw through a pasteboard box and 

 to escape; besides the tin keeps them, as well as 

 the food on which they live, in much the fresh- 

 est condition. 



THE GILPIN NOT WOltM-PROOF. 



Jlr. 15. L. Kingsbury, of Alton, Ills., sends us 

 the following: "There is a stalcnieiit in (lie 

 ENTOMor,0(iiST (p. 10(1) that the (;il[)in or Little 

 Komanile ajiple is not troubled with the Ct)dling 

 Moth. A great mistake, so far as it applies to 

 this section. I keep some over every year, and 

 we Iiave trouble to find sound ones enough to 

 bake. It may be more exempt than some other 

 sorts, but not enough so to be worthy of 

 mention." 



.ANSWERS TO CORRESI'OXDENTS. 



Plum -leaf AVornis — W. I). llUl'ey, Mliinedjivlh, 

 Minn. — The minute six-legged green worms, willi 

 large blaek heads and a black thorn growing out of 

 eaeli side of their tails, whicli you timl iiuloMd in a 

 kind of web on a phun-leaf, are tlic lai'\a' nf a sjieeies 

 ot Lyilu — a very intei-eslini; and anomalous genus cjlthe 

 Sawilies ( 7«//.;A'm/(, family) in llie Orderof Clear-wini'ed 

 Flies. A similar but '.istinct s|ici-ics oecurs on Wild 

 Cherry {C. terotin:/}; but although both kinds went, 

 underground in great numbers, we have always tailed 

 to rear either to the perfect state. When fnil grown 

 these larva.' are almost an inch long. Ynur specimen is 

 remarkable for showing the hollow shells of the empty 

 eggs still adhering in a double row to the lower sm'faee 

 of the midrib of the leaf. 



Small IVhite Motlis— IF. D. J/i'shi/, Miiimnpo- 



lis, Minn. — The little white moths wliirli' you cuc'losc 

 along with the SawHy larva', thinking tlicy may pos- 

 sibly be their ancestors, can have no possible connec- 

 tion with these larva; which belong to a distinct Order 

 of Insects. They are the Con/cin leKtiilinfn of Guenee. ^ 

 .Singularly enough, they havehcen sent us from another 

 (piartcr, under the idea that Ihcy indduce certain small 

 green worms upon Applc-lrccs. which finm the de- 

 scription of them gi\en bv nui- cnrrcpoiulent are 

 probably generated by an entirely dill'eiciU moth. It 

 is always the male moth that has the hooks at the ti|i ot 

 his .abdomen; and as in other male insects these hooks 

 are, as your friend infers, used for sexual purposes. 



Insects named — Chan. Veaich <0 Jno. P. ./<«(■«, 

 Clnii-itvn, J/o.— No. ."i, rluma imprcuKa, SIclsh. No. li. 



Atfaijuiiis lMr,fulvw,i)t,nwliis, S:\\. Mo. 7, Aphodiiis 

 iimnarius .\Mm. (importeil Irom Km-ope). No. S, 

 Hoplocepl'ala tiritlipiiniis, l-'abr. No 0, broken to pieces. 

 No, lOj AgonoJerus pallijjes , Fabr. 



