[106] REPORT 



Note 25*(p.87). — An interesting instance of the appetite of swine for Cotton Worms 

 is told by a writer in the Shelby (Ala. ) Guide. Two pigs, nearly dead with cholera, 

 were turned into a field of cotton to graze. The field was overrun with worms, and 

 the pigs fed exclusively upon them, recovering from their cholera and growing fat on 

 the diet. Their presence induced another *' gang" of pigs to enter the field, and it 

 was surprising to see .with what activity and persistence they hunted the worms. 

 The half-starved dogs of the poor freedmen and also their cats are also reported to 

 feed upon the worms. 



Note 26 (p. 88). — In the Report upon Cotton Insects, Department of Agriculture, 

 1879, a tolerably complete list of Southern birds is given (pp. 159-162), those nesting 

 in the South being especially designated. This list was compiled by Mr. Robert Ridg- 

 way, of the Smithsonian Institution. 



Note 27 (p. 89). — It is a question as to how far the English Sparrow will be able to 

 hold its own in the extreme southern portions of the country. We find, upon corre- 

 spondence with the members of the American Ornithologists' Union, and especially 

 with members on the special committee on migrations, that very little seems to be 

 known to ornithologists as to the exact distribution of this bird in the SoTith and 

 West. From other sources and from our own correspondents it has obviously ex- 

 tended all over the South and is now even found on the Pacific coast. But it is also 

 equally obvious that in the hotter portions of the country it is confined to towns and 

 villages, and has not become in any way an important factor in the suppression of 

 the Cotton Worm. "* 



Note 28 (p. 89). — Having turned these spiders over to Dr. George Marx, with a re- 

 ■quest that he make a brief report upon them, he has kindly submitted the following 

 notes with the accompanying figures : 



The following list of spiders which are found inhabiting the cotton plant and feed- 

 ing on the larva of the cotton moth Aletia, certainly does not comprise the full num- 

 ber of those spiders which, by destroying insects noxious to agriculture, deserve par- 

 ticular mention and description. But although the number of the present list is small 

 and insufficient, the mentioning of these few beneficial spiders seems to me justified 

 by the fact that it is the first attempt to draw the large and interesting order of Araneas 

 out of an undeserved and superstitious interdict into a more friendly relation to us. 

 The spiders which have been observed to devour the larvae of Aletia belong to six 

 different families, and were the observations more complete would probably comprise 

 all the families of the order. 



Epeiroid^. Epeira stellata H. (PI. LXIII, Fig. 1). 



TetragnathaextensaW. (PI. LXIV, Fig. 1, ^ and $ ). 

 Tetragnatha lahoriosa H. 

 Argiope fasciata (H.) (PI. LXIII, Fig. 2). 

 Theridioid^. Theridula sphcerula (H.) (PI. LXIII, Fig. 3). 

 Theridula quadrijpunctata Keyserling. 

 lAnypliia communis H. (PL LXIII, Fig. 4). 

 Euryopis funebris ( H. ) . 

 Teutana triangulosa (Keyserling). 

 Mimeius interfector H. 

 THOMisoiDiE. Misumena americana Keyserling. 

 Misumena georgiana Keyserling. 

 Xysticus quadrilineatus Keyserling. 

 Drassoid^. Cheiracanthium piscatorium (H.). 

 ATTOiDiE. Attus fasdolatus H. 

 Attus parvus H. 

 Attus cardinalis H. 

 OxYOPOiD^. Oxyopes viridans H. (PL LXIV, Fig. 2). 



The mode of capturing their victims differs with the different families, but obser- 

 vations in this connection are very limited, though it may be stated, with consider- 

 able certainty, that the members of the Thomisoid, Drassoid and Attoid families sim- 

 ply jump suddenly upon the larvae, killing them instantly by biting them to death; 

 but the way in which the smallest and most frail of all the spiders enumerated here, 

 the Theridula sphcerula, captures her prey, shows so much intelligence and skill that 

 it deserves a more full description. 



