48 BULLETIN NO. 4, DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



prove effective, or some of the many carbolic soaps recommended for 

 that purpose. 



Soluble phenyl (Little's) has been recently recommended as a valua- 

 ble insecticide, and it is said that a teaspoonful of the liquid in four 

 gallons of water will suffice to destroy aphids. If this be so (and it is 

 worthy of a trial) it will make a very cheap wash, and should be freely 

 used when first the insects make their appearance. 



NATURAL ENEMIES. 



The hop louse is not without its enemies in the insect world, and quite 

 a number of species feed on it, and in ordinary years suffice to prevent 

 its too rapid increase. Prominent among these are the "lady-birds'' 

 and their larvae known as " niggers." Three species of the lady-birds 

 are found in abundance on the vines. The most numerous is the two- 

 spotted lady-bird (Adalia hi punctata), a small red species, with two black 

 spots on the wing covers. Next comes the nine-spotted lady-bird (Goo- 

 cinella 9-notata), a larger species, with nine black spots on its yellowish- 

 red wing covers; and least numerous of all is the twice-stabbed lady- 

 bird (Chilocorus Mvulnerus), smaller than either, entirely black, except 

 two blood-red spots on the wing covers. The larvae of these species 

 are all very much alike, of an elongate, flat form, tapering toward the 

 tip, with six legs; of a grayish-black color, spotted and marked with red 

 or yellow. They are very active and very rapacious, feeding almost con- 

 tinually, and each larva destroys many aphids before attaining maturity. 

 When full-grown they attach themselves by the tail to a leaf, curl up into 

 a round pellet, and in a few days transform into the perfect beetle, which 

 also feeds on the Aphis, but is not so voraciously as the larva. There 

 are several broods of the insect in the season, the last transforming into 

 the perfect insect about the middle or toward the end of September. The 

 beetles hibernate in crevices of fences, under bark of trees, or stones, or 

 wherever else they can find shelter, and reappear in spring to continue 

 the work where they left off the year before. Were it possible to pre- 

 serve a sufficient number of these insects through the winter, so that a 

 goodly number of them would be on hand in early spring, the lice would 

 never become numerous enough to do injury ; as it is, but few sur- 

 vive the winter, and before they become numerous the lice, propagating 

 more rapidly, become so plenty that they are beyond control. But, 

 seriously, there is no reason why these coccinellids cannot be wintered. 

 They become very numerous in fall, and several hundreds of them could 

 be collected without difficulty, put into a large box with plenty of loose 

 rubbish, and put into some cool place not exposed to the fiercest cold 

 nor yet so warm as to cause them to become active — a barn or cellar 

 would answer. The box should be covered so as to prevent the entrance 

 of spiders which would feed on them. In spring the box could be placed 

 in the open air, and the insects would then scatter through the yards in 

 search of suitable places to deposit eggs. I firmly believe that this could 



