THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



227 



Snreet-potato Beetles — Suhscriher, Btinl-er Hill, 

 Ills.— The pretty goldeu and stripcil beetles which in- 

 fest your sweet-potato vines are Tortoise beetles (Cas- 

 SIDAD.E). That with the beautiful golden iridescence 

 is commonly called the "Gold Beetle" (Cvptoryclu 

 auHchalcea, Fabr) and its larva almost entirely covers 

 itself with its black excrement, by means of a forked 

 tail with which it is furnished, in' common with the 

 otlier species of the same genus. The striped black and 

 yellow species may be known as the Two-striped Sweet 

 Potato YieeiXe {Goptocycla bivittata. Say) and in the larva 

 state dillers from the other species of the genus, with 

 which we are acquainted . in not shielding itself with 

 its excrement; its pronged tail being ever enveloped 

 after the first moult in the prickly cast-off skin, ami 

 being furthermore, generally held at an angle fnmi thi^ 

 body. Both these beetles feed in the larva as well as 

 the perfect states on the leaves of the sweet potato , but 

 while the former is likewise very commonly found on 

 the morning-glory aud the bitter-sweet {Solantim 

 dulcamara), we have never found the latter on any- 

 thing but the sweet-potato. We shall in a future num- 

 ber give an illustrated account of these curious beetles . 



A. £. Trahiie, Hannibal, Mo. — The sweet potato 

 beetles which you send are the same two species spoken 

 of in answer to " Subscriber." 



Beetle named — Thos. W. Gordon, Georgetown, 

 Ohio. — " The small sample of animated nature " which 

 you suppose would naturally be called the Gold Bug, is 

 in reality known by that name, it being the same species 

 {Coptocyda aiirichalcea, Fabr,) as the first spoken of in 

 the above answer to ' ' Subscriber. ' ' 



Injured Stra'tvberry and Grapevines — Wm. 



P. Pierson, Onarga, IIU. — We are of your opinion, that 

 the diseased and blackened appearance of the straw- 

 berry vines, and of the gi'ape vines which you send, is 

 caused by an insect. We are furthermore of opinion 

 that the culprit is a little olive-gray bug scarcely 1-5 inch 

 long, the Vapstis oblineatus of Say. At all events we 

 know this mischievous bug has been very numerous 

 this year, and th.it its puncture has a peculiarly poison- 

 ous effect on most plants which it attacks; for we have 

 seen pear twigs, grape canes, and potato stems totally 

 killed by it, and looking exactly as though they had 

 been burnt. If the vines which you send were not 

 killed by this bug we can offer no solution of the prob- 

 lem. We shall endeavor to figure this insect in some 

 future number. 



Plum Tree Insects — J. F. Waters, Sprinfifield, 

 Mo . — The black plant-lice on your jjlum trees are the 

 Cherry Aphis {Aphie cerasi, Fiteh). See answer to 

 T. W. Gordon . The black files which hang on these trees 

 iu great quantities, and which are about ^ inch long, 

 with the wings white, and having prominent black veins 

 and a stigmal black spot, are the White-winged Bibio 

 '(Bibio albipennis. Say). In the larva state it feeds on 

 damp dead leaves, and has also been found feeding 

 on oak galls by the Senior Editor. It cannot be con- 

 sidered injurious. 



Apple-tree Bug^s — W. L. Youse, Hannibal, Mo — 

 The two insects you send, and which you found on your 

 apple trees, are both enemies and not fViends. The 

 beetle is the New York Weevil which we illustrate in 

 this number (p . 221) , and the large angular bug, very 

 much of the same color as the beetle, i. e brown 

 speckled with grayish-yellow, and with the edges of the 

 body protruding "ft-om the half-wings and the legs 

 marked transversely with black bars, is the Brochimena 

 aunulata of Fabricius, and may be known in English as 

 the Annular Plant Bug. 



Hickory-stem Uall-Iouse — Benj. F. Long — The 

 large roundish galls on the leaf-stems of the Black 

 Hickory, and which open from above with cross slits, 

 are ])roduced by plant-lice {Phylloxera caryaicaulis, 

 . Fitch) . The red "insects found in the gall were a species 

 ' of Thrips in the larval or pupal state, and were prey- 

 ing on the true Gall-maker. 



Grapevine Leaf-bopper — B. M. Copeland, Went 

 Uastleton, Vt. — The jumping insects which are so de- 

 structive to the Virginia Creeper are the common Grape- 

 j y\nc\jei\i-\io\>\}ev (Tettigonia[Er>)throneura] mtis, Harr). 

 Syringe the vines thorouglily with strong tobacco water. 



[Fig. Ids.] 



T«relve-spotted Diabrotica— jF. S. Foster, BvfJi- 

 burg. Mo. — The vellow beetle with twelve black spots 

 which we herewith illustrate (Fig. 168, 

 twice natural si/.ci ami which has been so 

 destriutive to your water-melons and 

 Hubbard sciuasbcs, is the 12-spotted Dia- 

 brotica {Diahruliai VI- punctata, Falir.) 

 You say you have " noticed that water 

 melons," llubbard squashes and cucum- 

 l)crs. planted as much as two huiidretl 

 vards fnim wliciv such things were ever 

 pliUiUMJ ljcf(.rc. :irr ciitirclv imlouclica hv 

 any kind of iiisci'l. Tlmse that have suf- 

 fered so severely are planted where such things have 

 been' grown two years in succession, immediately pre- 

 ceding." This is a most suggestive fact, and we 

 advise our readers to profit by it. The same 

 remedies that apply to the common Striped Cucumber 

 beetle (jP. nttata, Fabr), apply equally U> tliis species. 

 The large green worm you found at Wn; foot of a 

 hickoiTr tree is the larva of the I'olypliciiuis moth. 

 (See Fig. 95). 



K. D. Parl-er, Manhattan, /ums.— The beetles which 

 are on your squash vines, ' ' among almost innumerable 

 Striped Cucumber bugs," are the same as sent by Mr. 

 Foster, anil of course are foes and should be destroyed. 



Tent Caterpillar of the Forest — M. McKenzie, 



M. I). , Centreville, Mo. — You say, "1 enclose some cater- 

 pillars which are causing some uneasiness in this part 

 of the State. They are in countless numbers, stripping 

 the timber of its leaves. Black oak and Post oak are 

 their favorite trees, and where these trees are plenty, 

 as on the ridges and heads of hollows, the appearance 

 is truly 'Winter in the lap of Summer.' Mothiiigbut 

 black tninks rising from the green earth, the mid rib 

 alone of the leaf being left. White oak in bodies, they 

 give the go-by, but if it is scattering among the other 

 oaks, they attack it also. Most of the people here 

 depend on mast to fatten their pork, and it is a great 

 item." The caterpillar is the Tent Caterpillar of the 

 Forest, as you will discover by referring to Figure l-Ki 

 of our last, or to Figure 147 of this number. As they 

 almost invariably spin their yellow cocoons in a cylin- 

 drical roll of leaves on the trees which they fed 

 upon, these cocoons are easily perceived and shouUl 

 be immediately destroyed as far as possible, for 

 the moths will have begun to issue by the time this 

 luunber reaches you. The probabilities arc, (since you 

 ask our opinion) that iu your neighborhood these cater- 

 l)illars are preyed upon by parasites as mercilessly as 

 they are known to have been in the East, for all three 

 of those which you sent were attacked; and in such a 

 case they will not be likely to trouble you as much next 

 year as they have this. 



Strawberry Destroyer. — Geo. W. Cophy, Alton, 

 Ills. — We quote your query in full: "As anything new 

 will be of interest, I would ask you for some informa- 

 tion in regard to the freaks of some (as yet) unknown 

 strawben-y destroyers. So far as I know they have con- 

 fined themselves to the strawberries of Mr. James God- 

 frey of Montieello, and threaten to make sad havoc. He 

 finds the berries ^jaVc/Z yp in small piles, from a dozen to 

 a pint in a place. Do you know what does this strange 

 work? I have thought it mi^ht he the work of a field 

 mouse. It can hardly be an insect or bug. Whatever 

 it may be, it does not discriminate between green or ripe 

 ones, all share the same fate. Any light on this subject 

 will be gladly received. ' ' We can give no explanation 

 of this curious procedure, and if any of our readers are 

 better posted, we shall be glad to hear from them. 



tigga of Bugrs on Strawberry — A. S. Fuller, 

 Bidgewood. N^J. — The gray eggs which you louml on a 

 strawberry, with a dehcate fringe, visible only under a 

 lens, around their upper border, are the esrgs of some 

 friend in the shape of a cannibal bug (h',diin:,s lamily). 

 They were all attacked by a minute parasitic- lilMiriiinon- 

 fly however, and instead of obtaining the yuung bugs we 

 obtained these parasitic flies . 



"Galls" on Leaves of Soft ITIapIe— «/. M. 



Shaffer, Fairfield, Iowa. — The peduncled wart-like ex- 

 crescences, on the leaves of your Soft Maples are not of 

 fungoid origin, but are produced.by a minute species of 

 mite. See page 57 under the same head. 



