38 



ing northward and lias now readied about the middle of the State, 

 having been sent to me from Phelps, Washington, and Boone counties. 

 The mature bugs are long-lived, and my correspondents claim that 

 eggs, young larvse, nymplme, and perfect insects are contemporaneous 

 throughout the season, and that wherever they abounded the cabbage 

 crop was almost, or quite, a failure. With a view to test insecticides 

 upon them, I obtained in July, from Philiipsburg and elsewhere, several 

 lots of the mature insects. Many of these had deposited their beauti- 

 ful egg-clusters in the boxes by the time they reached me. There was 

 considerable variation in the intensity of the markings of these eggs, 

 some being very dark, while others had the black lines but faintly in- 

 dicated, and one set of about a dozen was entirely pearl white. The 

 young bugs batched in the course of two or three days, emerging 

 through the lids of the little " barrels," which were lifted on one edge, 

 the sliell retaining its form and ornamentation after giving up its in- 

 mate. 



Part of the young bugs were transferred to plants in the garden con- 

 fined under wire screens, while others were retained in the breeding 

 cages. 



The insecticides experimented with were X. O. dust and Pyrethrum, 

 neither of which made much impression, and arsenites of ammonia in 

 the proportions of two tablespoonfuls to a gallon of water. This killed 

 some of the young bugs, but also sevorely burned the plants, and 

 would not, in any case, be safe to use on such a vegetable as cabbage, 

 Kerosene emulsion killed the young bugs but did not affect those that 

 were full-grown. Thymo-cresol — one part to thirty of water — a very 

 strong solution, was also of no avail. Hot water was then used, taken 

 boiling from the range, carried about 100 yards to the garden, trans- 

 ferred to the sprinkling can and immediately applied to the infested 

 plants. The temperature was not taken, but it could not have been 

 much below 150° Fahr. The plants were but slightly wilted, and the 

 bugs were all killed. In this experience all my correspondents who 

 have tried the remedy concur. The only difficulty is to bring this, or 

 any other application in contact with all the insects, as they seem to pre- 

 fer feeding on the undersides of the leaves. But if the drenching withhot 

 water be supplemented by careful hand-picking, two or three times 

 during the season, the pest may be temporarily eradicated. 



Cutworms this season gave far less trouble than usual. I am con- 

 vinced that warm, wet winters do not agree with them. NeplieJodes 

 violans was the only abundant species. This was found in hay fields 

 eating the stalks and blades of timothy grass. 



Orsodachna atraAhv. — This Chrysomelidwas observed early in April, 

 on the grounds of a neighbor, swarming on the blossoms of the peach. 

 It would crowd into the unfolding buds, tear open the anthers, and 

 devour the pollen proceeding from blossom to blossom with great ra- 

 pidity, destroying every anther in its progress. In their haste and 



