403 



interest as the Wistaria. The sow bugs feed at night chiefly. This conntry is in- 

 fested with many species of them.— [\Y. G. Wright, San Bernardino, California, No- 

 vember 1, 1890. 



Nezara again Injuring Plants. 



A neighbor has handed me a number of bugs which have been doing much mischief 

 in this section. Besides preying upon the products of the garden, they are devouring 

 the cotton plants in the field. I have been familiar with this insect for years, but it 

 has heretofore done but little mischief. — [Robert Gamble, Tallahassee, Florida, No- 

 vember 14, 1890. 



Reply. — This is the so-called Green Soldier Bug {Xezara hilaria). This insect was 

 mentioned in the Fourth Report of the U. S. Entomological Commission, page 79, as 

 having been actually observed to prey on the cotton caterpillar, and in Hubbard's 

 Report on Insects Atfectiug the Orange it is said that it has sometimes been observed 

 to suck the tender shoots of the orange, causing them to wither and die. It is then, 

 apparently, both carnivorous and a plant feeder, and if your account is founded upon 

 definite observations, it is quite probable that the harm done with you overbalances 

 the good. If this is so, it will be necessary for you to apply some remedy. In this 

 case you could do no better than to spray garden vegetables while the bugs are on 

 them with a dilute kerosense emulsion made according to a formula copy of which is 

 inclosed on a separate sheet. — [November 19, 1890.] 



Another Letter. — I have sent by this mail, in a box, some specimens of insects 

 which seem to be Eaphigabter pennsylvanicus. They were sent me by a man who re- 

 ported them destroying peafields at the rate of half an acre per day. I cannot find 

 any account of this insect attacking such plants. This pest, being a sucker, can not 

 be poisoned with arsenic, and seems rather difficult to deal with. Do you know any- 

 thing better than hand-picking? — [Gerald McCarthy, Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion, Raleigh, North Carolina, September 5, 1890. 



Reply. — The bug which you send is Xezara hilaris Say. It is exceedingly closely 

 allied to X. pennsylvanica, and I do not wonder at your mistaking it for the latter. 

 These bugs seem to be both phytophagous and carnivorous, and I do not doubt your 

 statement that this one attacks peas, although you will find it mentioned in the 

 Fourth Report of the U. S. Entomological Commission as one of the Heteroptera 

 which prey upon the Cotton Worm. We apply to all these sucking insects an emulsion 

 of kerosene and soap, varying in strength according to the crop upon which the in- 

 sects are feeding. Susceptible plants, such as the Peach, should be sprayed with one 

 part of our standard emulsion to 15 parts of water, but the orange and other less sus- 

 ceptible plants will stand one part to ten. — [September 11, 1890.] 



Mosquitoes in Boreal Latitudes. 



Vol. I, No. 2, page 5*2, Insect Life, contains an article on the " Hibernation of the 

 Mosquito," and reminds me of a trip on snow-shoes from Mackinaw to the Sault de 

 Ste. Marie in March, 1844. One noon we were delayed by the melting of the snow, 

 which was from 2 to 4 feet deep, on a hillside, the sun coming out good and strong. 

 The mosquitoes appeared by thousands, and annoyed us and our train dogs that pulled 

 the mail on toboggans, so that we really had to make fight against them until nearly 

 sundown. I have told this story before, but only got a laugh in reply. I hope with 

 you I will meet with better success. 



The Arctic region is the home of the real gray-back biting mosquitoes, and some of 

 my friends who have wintered there inform me that they make their appearance on 

 man about as soon as the sun peeps above the past winter horizon. — [Dr. E. Sterling, 

 Cleveland, Ohio, November 14, 1890. 



Reply. — Mosquitoes are known to occur in enormous numbers in the Arctic re- 

 gions, and accounts of the excessive annoyance occasioned both to human beings 

 and to animals in northern regions have been not infrequently given. The adults 



