164 



hatch and feed on the softer parts of the leaf, skeletonizing it. Full growth is 

 reached in June and the larva crawls or falls to the ground and buries itself in the 

 earth. The flies appear in July and deposit eggs for a second brood. The larvaB of 

 this brood enter the ground about the last of August and do not transform until the 

 spring following. They may be easily destroyed by spraying with hellebore, which 

 may be mixed with water in the proportion of one ounce to two gallons of water, or 

 by spraying with the arsenicals, London purple and Paris green. These m.ay be used 

 in the proportion of 1 pound of the poison to 100 or 125 gallons of water. — [June 27, 

 1890.] 



The Black-locust Hi spa. 



I inclose some locust leaves (which are stung or eaten by a worm or insect) for the 

 purpose of ascertaining if possible what it is that is doing the mischief, and if a rem- 

 edy can be suggested to prevent it. Nearly all the locust timber has been affected in 

 this manner in this section for about three years past. If it continues one or two 

 years more it will doubtless destroy all that kind of timber in this part of the coun- 

 try. It seems to blight nearly all the leaves on each tree. -[Henry Haymond, Clarks- 

 burgh, W. Va., August 4, 1890. 



Reply. — Your favor of August 4, together with inclosed specimens, was duly re- 

 ceived. The specimens in question are the common locust Hispa (Hispa dorsalis), a 

 very widely distributed beetle and one that frequently occurs in injurious numbers. 

 The injury is chiefly occasioned by the small, flattened larva which mines the locust 

 leaves. The beetle, which is of a tawny orange color, marked with black, and about 

 a quarter of an inch long, also feeds on leaves of the locust. The beetles that are now 

 appearing will hibernate through winter, and will deposit their eggs on the locust 

 leaves as soon as they are expanded the following spring. The fact that the larvae are 

 leaf-miners makes it difiicult, if not impossible, to reach them with any of the ordinary 

 insecticides. The beetles, however, may be destroyed by spraying with Paris green 

 or London purple, and these poisons may best be applied in spring as soon as the 

 leaves are expanded. The adult beetles feeding on the leaves will be destroyed be- 

 fore they have deposited their eggs. This treatment is impracticable over extensive 

 forests. — [August 7, 1890.] 



Importation of Hessian Fly Parasites. 



I mail you to-day a tin box containing about three hundred SemioteUus nigripes (the 

 actual numbers are 114 cf and 17.3 9) some of them bred since last Thursday — seven 

 days old — but the greater part bred since Sunday last. I hope many of them will 

 arrive alive and kicking and in laying condition. I sent one dozen and a half last 

 week. Next year I will try and send a package of screenings, for I think this would 

 be the surest way of introducing these parasites. So far my experimenting has been 

 successful, for out of 10,000 Puparia I have bred but a single pair of Hessian Flies 

 and about 700 parasites, which I am distributing in certain districts. Many of the 

 Semiotelli have been bred from screenings, and I am inclined to think there are two 

 species. — [Fred. Enock, 11 Parolles Road, Upper Holloway, London E., England, 

 June 11, 1890. 



Reply. — Your letter of the 11th instant, with accompanying specimens of Semiotel- 

 lus nigripes, came duly to hand. Unfortunately the insects were, without exception, 

 all dead, as were also a former lot received from you a few days since. I trust that 

 better luck will attend the sending of screenings which you promise for next year. 

 I shall be very glad if this parasite can be successfully introduced here. — [June 20, 

 1890.] 



Insects determined. 



You will find inclosed a few specimens of insects, which I would be glad to have 

 you identify through the columns of Insect Life. They were all taken from a wheat 



