41G 



Injury to Asters by the Black Blister Beetle. 



I had a grand bed of China Asbers, which in two days has been wholly destroyed by 

 an army of bugs, of which I inclose two specimens. How are these bugs generated ? 

 Is there any remedy against them ? Is it necessary to get new seed? — [Prof. A. 

 Sabetti, Woodstock, Howard County, Maryland, August 28, 1890. 



Eeply. — The insect which you send is the common Pennsylvania Blister Beetle 

 {Epicauta pennsylvanica) , and a remedy will be a difficult matter, although it will not 

 be necessary for you to get new seeds. This insect breeds in the ground, usually 

 feeding in the early stages on the egg pods of grasshoppers. The adult beetles fly 

 readily, and often damage various crops, such as beets, potatoes, and beans, and are 

 found very abundantly upon the flowers of the golden-rod, where they engage in eating 

 the pollen. The damage to China Aster has been frequently noticed, and during the 

 time when these insects are abundant there is no remedy except constant watching, 

 or inclosing the plants in gauze. 



It is possible that if the flowers are sprinkled with a strong whale-oil soap solution 

 they will be distasteful to the beetles, and sprinkling them with London purple or 

 Paris green, in the proportion of a tablespoonf ul of the poison to a bucket of water, 

 will kill all of the beetles which begin to eat the plants; but if their numbers are 

 very great, this course will probably not save the flowers. — [August 29, 1890.] 



Isosoma Notes from Washington State. 



In Exxjeriment Station Record, Vol. i, No. 5, page 277, I notice that the Saw-fly 

 Borer {Cephus pygmceus) in wheat is spoken of as being found in New York, but no 

 further record is given of it. I believe they are widely distributed over eastern 

 Washington. In my field I find from one to four wo rms in almost every good, healthy 

 stalk. In those spots where the wheat has ' ' burned " there are none. I have noticed 

 them here for at least two years, but not so many as there are this year. I believe that 

 our way of harvesting by heading will favor them, for they will have time to reach 

 the roots to winter there. I send you some straws which contain them. — [Hans 

 Mumm, Rosalia, Whitman County, Washington, August 16, 1890. 



Reply. — The insect which you send, and which you find in your wheat stems, is 

 not the Wheat Saw-fly (Cephus pygmmus) which the Experiment Station Bulletin 

 mentions as having been found in New York State and probably recently imported 

 from Europe. It is, on the contrary, the Wheat Isosoma {Isosoma tritici), an insect 

 which is closely allied to the common Joint Worm of Wheat, Rye, and Barley in 

 the East. You will find this insect treated in the Annual Reports of this Depart- 

 ment for 1881-82 and 1886. They do not, as you suppose, burrow down into the roots, 

 but transform to pupae in about the same portion of the stalk in which you find 

 them. In other words, they travel very little. Your method of harvesting is par- 

 ticularly favorable to their development provided the stubble is not burned soon after 

 harvest. — [August 27, 1890.] 



The Texas Mule-killer Again. 



I send this day by mail another specimen of the insect referred to in my letter of 

 August 4, and which was lost in the mail, for identification and opinion regarding its 

 poisonous effects on horses and mules, when accidentally swallowed. — [J. O. Skinner, 

 captain and assistant surgeon, U. S. Army, post surgeon, Fort Davis, Texas, Septem- 

 ber .5, 1890. 



Reply. — The insect which you send is the common Thick-thighed Walking-stick 

 {Biaplieromera femoraia). The story that this insect is poisonous to horses and mules 

 is absurd. I have heard it on several other occasions, and it has always come from 

 the State of Texas.— [September 11, 1890.] 



