104 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sept. 1, 1883. 



attttjiil gjipom 



USE OF A COLLECTION OF INSECTS. 



Y\/ r HAT is ilie use of all these colled ions';" 'asked a 

 ' > visitor of uu attendant at the MJnsuum of Natural 

 History in the Park, The speaker was a fnnuer. He had 

 enjoyed the big museum, was interested in the cm iou ani 

 mats, and aCKUOfl lodged ihal U was a •■l»i^- show," but out 

 his way taxpayers were not in the habit of building museums 



u 



worth half a millic 

 the attendant, "< 



•ely to 



of these 



■'ill-: 



work to do. as a part and parcel of ourpiibli 



Iu the eollectiui) of fishes j 

 use to man. The young ft', 

 everything about t'hem that ^ 



r usheitltii 



:• pi 



Tl 



possi 



t CO iu 



ill din 



ill bi 



id all th 



ages, tin 

 )f val 



"Well." said 

 has a certain 

 • school system. 



thr 



and 



the Imildci 



fact, 

 the practical 



_ on tin.-, nl. ]■ ( , js 

 ice for their capture, 

 ountry in the world. 

 I and woods that rep- 



ami 



ally h< 



. special 



fish 

 perfeel 



and the uses I hey; 



"In the colleelio 

 resent Hie quarrii 

 seel ion of the glob' 

 finds valuable Mnt 



could not obtain. The collections of fossil- and i 

 l gri :it value to the miner mid chemist. The 

 their economic value; in fact, every colli JCtioi) 1 

 of its value as a general educator and a show, ha 

 end in view. You are a farmer. Here is a collection that 

 will show almost every insect in Ihe world that is injurious 

 to -vegetables, and its maimer of working, while the books 

 on the subject in the library give pcrfeetinforrnation when 

 to expect them, the precautions to be taken, how to tell the 

 various kinds, etc. In other words, if you are troubled with 

 potato bugs, locusts, or what not. Sew York shows you 

 these pests in all their forms, and gives all information as to 

 the best preventatives (reft It is a part of her public school 

 system. 



"Many of the insects injurious to vegetation are so minute 

 that a microscope is needed to distinguish them as they lie 

 in the eases, and the seedier I hey are the more injury they 

 seem capable of doing. The Oalaudm, or wheal, weevils, 

 are among these. They do immense injuries in granaries 

 by boring a hole with their snout into the grains of wheal, 

 or barley, or rye, and depositing therein am egg, froi 

 proceeds a white maggot, which devours all the far 

 .substance, so that nothing remains bul the hull 

 creatures live in this condition about thirty days, when they 

 metamorphose into while COOOOUS, from which, after about 

 ten days, the perfect insects proceed, the females of which 

 immediately deposit their eggs, each laying about one hun- 

 dred and fifty. Strange 10 say, tliej came originally from 

 Europe, being imported in grain, li i-. some satisfaction, 

 however, to know that they are now being sent back with 

 interest. Farmers who deal largely iu peas an troubled 

 with a minute brown beetle, ornamented with white spots. 

 When the peas are in blossom and begin to have pods, the 

 females deposit their eggs upon them, and we find, there- 

 fore, a very small maggot in almost every green pea, the ex- 

 istence of which eaa only be perceived by a small dot upon 

 it. In almost every seed pea, also, we find a perfect beetle, 

 or at least an aperture from which il has already crawled 

 out. In some parts of Europe they put their seed peas into 

 hot water before planting, for the' purpose of killing these, 

 beetles, and several of uur scientific American horticulturists, 

 according to Dr. Harris, advise to keep seed peas in air 

 tight vessels over ,,n. year before planting them, Or at least 

 not to plant them before The end of May. 



"A curious beetle, much larger, with triangular antenna: 

 terminating in a knob, and a' long snout upon which is a 

 hairy crest like the mam- of a horse, is auoilicr 

 that devastates the palm trees of the sou then 

 and. strange to relate, they are eaten iu St. Don 

 are roasted upon •■•■ wooden spit, or broiled, and 

 dried and pulverized im ' 

 and considered by many 



which 

 aceous 

 these 



I II, e family 

 counti 



epi 



and peppe 

 ultra of del 



Our tu 

 and lew 1 

 ins beetles, M't: 

 tie" mid "black ji 

 year in Devi 



lestl 



1 Kirbv 



..lie !:- ..f several insects; 

 tese crops as the little Jump- 

 called by the farmers "the 

 id Speni ' record that in one 

 did damage to the turnip 

 crops to the amount of '.'lull. (Kill. 



The 8ealytllS, a small round beetle, is said to have nearly 

 i lesi i 'oyed the elms near London, and in one of the mining- 

 districts of Germany, not supplied with coal like similar 

 districts in Our own country, but dependent for fuel on the 

 forests of fir-trees, a species of ////ien/esi began to increase 

 about the year JTOQ to such an fixtent as to destroy in a 



lew years whole forests The working of the mines was iu 

 this way materially affected, as the proprietors had no fuel 

 to curry on their operations. The eSeet of their' ravages is 

 to interrupt the course of the descending sap and adinil 



wet between the bark and Hie wood, so thai decay of Ihe 

 tree quickly ensues. The tfylesfnua frawtd attacks ihe ash, 

 and the &■<)!)// "■■spi/f/iati, it* the oak. The latter small beetle 

 killed fort y thousand trees in theBoisde Vincennes, near 

 Paris. 



In the shield lice, almost invisible to the naked eye, we 



find another foe to the farmers. They resemble sen |. iv 



than, anything else, and like their relatives, the cochineal, 

 it was a long tune before they were known to be in- 

 sects. Probably hundreds have' passed through their or- 

 chards day aft, r day. without noticing this insect, although 

 myriads have been in sight. Many well-educated farmers 

 have seen their peaeh tree.- covered with biowmsh warts, 



and have suffered them to wither and die, withohl dream- 

 ing that these warts Were live animals, sucking the sap. the 

 I of the tree; and yet these motionless BXCreSCenCBS 



have laid waste wbole orchards, have: devastated .lie fairesl 



of bushes null the DTOSl fruitful of tree:,, and in place of 



fragrance and verdure have leit naught /but desolation and 



decay. They an:- essentially noxious insects, which, if tin 

 mole'sted. multiply immensely, and liencp Should tie carefulbj 

 sought, upon tin branche • ■ irtrees .and, as sthej 



make their appearance, destroyed M the point of tie knife, 

 Their color very nearly resembles that Of flle branches upon 

 which they alight, usually a brown tt a black, but some- 

 times a reddish or violet, and hence they scarcely ever at- 

 tract, attention unless looked for. The branches of peach 

 trees are their particular resort, and may often lie seen cov- 

 ered with them, making the branches look rough and 

 knotty and the leaves and fruit dirty and black, from the 

 rain Washing Upon them from the bodies of these filthy 

 creatures. 



II your pet oleanders droop and appear dry and parched, 

 examine them carefully, and you will find flattened upon the 



leaf, appearing a part of it, one of this voracious family that 

 seems to gorge itself with the life sap of its victim. 



The cochineal is a red shield louse, and when Plumicr, in 

 1692, first stated that il, was an insect, he was laughed at. 

 Another of the family that we find here that represents a 

 great commercial interest is the PSmm irUrjijaii, found in the 

 banyan tree, where it secretes from its body a hard gummy 

 substance, adhering to the branches like a crust, and we'll 

 known in commerce by the name of shellac. This substance 

 is a most invaluable material in the manufacture of varnishes, 

 sealing-wax, heads, arm-bracelets, necklaces, waterproof 

 hats, etc., and is extensively used in dyeing. Mixed with a 

 very fine sand it forms grindstones, and added to lamp or 

 ivory black, being firsl dissolved in water and a little borax, 

 it composes an ink of a very good quality, and, when dried, 

 not, easily acted U|.on by dampne-s or moisture. Notwith- 

 standing the vast amounl of this substance that is couslantly 

 consumed in manufactures of vaiious kinds throughout the 

 world, still this Mttle insect, produces it, so fast, andSO abun- 

 dantly, thai, were the consumption of shellac ten times 

 greater than it is, it could readily be supplied. Others are 

 found upon our currant bushes, peach and apple trees. Har- 

 ris describes a, method of de&rovihg these pests by introduc- 

 ing among them an insect that lives upon them— the. lace- 

 winged fly. It is of a pale green color, and has four wings 

 resembling delicate lace, and" eyes of Ihe brilliancy of polished 

 gold, as its generic name implies; but, notwithstanding its 

 delicacy and beauty, it is extremely disgusting from the of- 

 fensive odor I hat it exhales. It suspends its efg„, by threads 

 in clusters beneath the leaves where plant lice'abound. The 

 young, or larva, is a rather long and slender grub, provided 

 with a pair of large curved and sharp teeth (jaws), moving 

 laterally, and each perforated with a hole through which ft 

 sucks the juices of its victims. The havoc it makes is as 

 tcinishing, for one minute is all the time which it requires to 

 kill the largest plant louse, and suck out the fluid contents 

 of its body. 



The maggots of the geni.s ByTph/tM also live upon tin m. 

 and Mr. lilrby says, that an examining his cUrranl isb 

 which but a' week before were infested by nivriads of 

 aphides, not one was to be, found; Inil beneath each leaf wet 

 three or four well-fed maggots, surrounded by heaps of tl: 

 slain, the trophies of their successful warfare". He also sa\ 

 that he has found it very easy to clear a plant or small tre 

 of lice by placing upon it several larva; of Cocriniltu or Syrph 

 Here ard severa [ large sphinx caterpillars, inflated with ail 

 arid a smaller one, blue and orange wilh black clots, that 

 would be recognized by grape raisers as inveterate enemies. 

 These caterpillars begin to appear about the middle of July, 

 and others are hatched afterward.lt, as late, perhaps, as the 

 middle of August. When not eating they generally rest upon 

 the under side's of the leaves, and. although many maybe 

 found on one vine, lliev do not associate with each other. 

 They live on the common creeper as well as on the grape- 

 vine. They eat. all paris of the leaves, even to the midrib 

 and stalks. When fully grown and at. rest, they measure an 

 inch and a quarter, but" si retch out, in creeping,' to the length 

 of an inch and a half or more. Towards the end of August 

 they begin to disappear, and no more will be found on the 

 vmes alter September. They creep down the vines in the 

 night, and go into the ground, burying themselves three or 

 four inches deep, and turn to chrysalids without making 

 cocoons. 



Locusts of all kinds and in all stages are here, and their 

 powers too well-known to dwell upon ; from the earliest 

 times they have been the dread of culturists, especially in 

 the East, "and no remedy has been found. In the south of 

 France at one time, people made it their business to collect 

 them and their eggs, the latter being turned out of the 

 ground in little masses cemented and covered with a sort of 

 gum in which I hey are enveloped bv the insect. Rewards 

 were offered and paid for their collection, half a franc being 

 given for a kilogramme (about two pounds and three anil 

 oue-qutu'lcr ounzes avoidupois) of the insects, and u quarter 

 of a franc for the same weight of their eggs. At this rate 

 twenty thousand francs were paid in Marseilles, and twenty- 

 live thousand in Aries, in the year KilH; in 1824 five thou- 

 sand and five hundred and forty-two, ftndin 1826 six thousand 

 two hundred francs were paid iu Marseilles. It is staled 

 that an active boy can collect thirteen to fifteen pounds of 

 eggs in one day. The locusts are taken by means of a piece of 

 sloul cloth, carried by lour persons, two of whom draw it, 

 rapidly along so that Ihe edge may sweep over the surface 

 of the soil, and the two others hold up the cloth behind at 

 an angle of forty-live degrees. This plan was also tried in 

 N. H-. bUt with poor results: the only remedy seems to be 

 those thai nature gives — a parasitic worm, Fil'iria, and num- 

 bers of red mites. 



Among the flies are many that are injurious to wheat, 

 barley, rye and oats. The maggots are about one-eighth of 

 an inch long and as many as twenty have been found on one 

 grain. After a shower of rain they have been seen in such 

 countless numbers on the beards of the wheat as to give a 

 yellow color lo Ihe whole field. These insects prey on the 

 grain in the milky stale, and their ravages cease when the 



we find Some eggs of the corixa that arc used by 



-i iei -I aedge called "tuf'." on which the aquatic insects 



deposit, their eggs, the place being one of those great marshy 

 hikes called l,he"Uigunc of Chnleo. These sedges are col- 

 lected into bundles and floated on the water, where the in- 

 sccls are attracted to them as places on which to deposit 

 their eggs. The bundles lie for about a month in the lake, 

 when they are removed from the water and dried. The 

 myriads of eggs are beaten from them inlo a large cloth. 

 They are then cleared and sifted, and put iuto sticks, and 



Id to the people, who make of them a kind of cake or bis- 

 cuit, which they call "haiitle." 



Such are a few of the insects that it would be well for our 

 agriculturists to familiarize themselves with. Almost, every 

 large museum, notably the Smithsonian, and the American 

 Museum, have all their collections arranged for practical use 

 and value to the laborer as well as the man of science. 



0. F. H. 



Obow Sense.— Brighton. X. Y., Sept. 4.— The droll 



antics of a pet crow, owned by a neighbor, have amused me 

 not a little, and the following' exhibition of its intelligence 

 seems deserving of record. A few days since Jim was given 

 some dry erusls of bread for his breakfast. After making 

 several unsuccessful attempts to devour them, ho seized one 

 in his beak and hopped upon a chair, then on to the sink, 

 and finding a basin containing some water, dipped the crust, 

 into the water until softened, then removing it, ate <•■ ad 

 juinpetl down and got ihe other piece, and after softening it 

 as before, finished his meal. — W. W. C. 



PERFORMING SEALS. 



AN interesting account of the docility and intelligence of 

 the seals in the Westminster Aquarium is given by 

 Mr. W. B. Tegetmeier, in a late issue of the London Field. 

 He writes: 



The performers are two in number, male and female, both 

 of the common species (the I'hoai rUulraa of Linnaeus). The 

 male, which is the larger, has been about three years in the 

 collection: the smaller female about two. 'Some time 

 since, their lameness and attachment to their keeper sug- 

 gested to the directorate Ihe idea of training them to per- 

 form trh-ks for the amusemcit of the visitors, which has 

 been most successfully accomplished. They are exhibited 

 in the large tank which was constructed for the white whale, 

 and has been recently devoted to the exposition of the nata- 

 torial powers of Miss Annie Beckwith. At one end a small 

 tent, has been erected ou a platform raised a couple of inches 

 above the water. From the upper surface of this the seals 

 can glide into the fluid or return at will. Their first per- 

 formance was a violent tugging at two bell pulls, to give 

 notice to the visitors. The "bells were in hideous discord. 

 and the noise was continued far too long for the comfort of 

 the auditors. 



The bells removed, the animals took, at the command of 

 their keeper, their stations on two inclined boards, which 

 raised their heads and fore limbs above the general surface 

 of the platform. To one hand-like forefoot of the male was 

 attached a cymbal, with which it struck another conveniently 

 placed in fronl, while the female was playing a tambourine 

 by striking it with very great, rapidity. The musical discord 

 was varied by the keeper holding a banjo to;tke'sraaller per- 

 former, who evoked hideous sounds by rapidly scraping 

 across the strings with her nails. This d'oue, the audience 

 were informed that the animals were about to indulge in 

 smoking. Short pipes about six-inches long were placed in 

 their mouths, from the bowl of which issued flames one or 

 two inches high. On my first, visit both animals held these 

 flaming pipes in their mouths; but on my second the male 

 g been alarmed by the too near approach of 



logs of wood, etc. , were then 

 re quickly and easily retrieved 

 nds by both Hie at, finals. 

 rted iii both animals climbing 

 i ladder rising from the 



ttce 



thrown iuto the water, 

 and brought to the kee 



The next performani 

 up, by the aid of their 



surface of the water at an angle of about 45 deg. After 

 diving into the water from the top of the ladder, the animals 

 shot themselves by the Impetus of their rapid motion ou to the 

 platform, and. seizing a couple of short cords attached to re- 

 volvers, fired a rapid succession of shots. 



The performance concluded by a remarkable exposition of 

 the strength possessed by these animals when in the water. 

 A small boat capable of holding three children, whose united 

 weights must have been eight or nine stone, was dragged 

 very rapidly T around the tank by the two seals in succession. 

 A small collar was placed over the head, to which traces 

 were attached that were secured to the boat. 



The strength displayed -by the seals was remarkable; the 

 little boat, pulled by the muscular strength of one animal, 

 threw off the water from its bows as if it had been propelled 

 by a vigorous sculler. 



"The exhibition was to me of a peculiarly interesting char- 

 acter. The animals manifested a great degree of intelligence 

 and docility-, in keeping with their high cerebal development, 

 Nevertheless, they have their peculiar mental idiosyncrasies. 

 One of their characteristics is extreme susceptibility to alarm: 

 the slightest alteration or fright wiU throw them out of 

 work, and it is difficult to reassure them. Then - training 

 iv as effected by a system of rewards, without any punish- 

 ment, and the visitors may notice a piece of fish dropped into 

 the mouth of each after the performance of every trick. The 

 amount of fish devoured by these two animals is about 301b. 

 per diem. The oleaginous Ulupeidre, herrings, pilchards, 

 etc., arc preferred; but failing these, whiting, haddocks, etc., 

 are given, these being carefully cut open to assure the absence 

 of any fish-hooks, which have repeatedly caused the death 

 of captive seals, and possibly of wild ones also. 



WASPS and Katydids. — Johnsontown, Ya., Aug. 27. — 1 

 was much interested in the account of the wasps in the 

 Fouest ant) Stream, and I will contribute my mite. Seme 

 years since a neighbor and friend of mine was very much 

 surprised at bringing up in his well bucket with the water 

 dead katydids, and this continued for some time, much to 

 his annoyance. One day. however, being at the well, he 

 saw a mud-dauber wasp bring a katydid and drop it into the 

 well. After that he saw the same thing a number of times, 

 as did also the rest of the family. The common brown 

 wasp catches the green worms that infest the cabbages and 

 parries them off. I saw a wasp take one from a cabbage 

 this morning. From where 1 sit. I see ihe two goslings and 

 the rooster together as usual. The goslings are. now the 

 largest. A note about them was published in your issue of 

 Aug. 10.— Old Fogy. 



He Received the Snakes.— Boom of the Director of 

 the Museum, Buffalo, Aug. %&.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 My wish to procure live rattlesnakes, which you so kindly 

 inserted in your paper, litis procured me four correspondents 

 and enables me to make satisfactory arrangement* in this 

 matter. — Irurs Poulman. 



Weight of Opossums.— Tiffin, 0., Aug. 36.— Opossum 

 very scarce here. Caught one three years ago, weight, 

 twelve pounds. Largest 1 ever saw.— F. M. H. 



WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT IT. 



It ia no mean compliment to be able to say truthfully that Forest 

 AND Stkeaji is altogether ihe ablest and raoBt readable ot the several 

 journals published ia this conntrj devoted to sueh oar-door sports as 

 hunting, ashing, yachting aud kindled pastimes. The Sunning Post 

 says, justly, that "its correspondence is full of interesting remin- 



eflorl, it, is making to 



thei 



-llfOIV 



We 



appreciated, and that it enters upon a new volume enl.ee 1 to 

 twenty-eight pages— a sure sign of deserved prosperity.— Albany 

 Evening Journal. 



A cent placed at compound interest when Adam was a dav old 

 vould amount to a sum more than equal to a globe of solid gofd the 

 izo of the earth. Without the use or logarithms what a lot of work 

 iUIi an Ksterbrook Ledger Pen would be required to make the 

 alenlation, — Adc, 



