478 



the caterpillars was probably due to the fact that the country immedi- 

 ately to the east of Lumberton is low and swauipy, aud in the past 

 much of it has beeu over- flowed for a longer or shorter i:>eriod during 

 the winter and spring. Last summer, however, a canal was dredged 

 through the swamp, in consequence of which the water the past winter 

 and spring has been much lower than usual. It is quite probable that 

 to this fact the extraordinary number of larvic may be charged, the 

 improved conditions due to drainage having encouraged the multiplica- 

 tion of the species. 



This outbreak of G. disstria is of interest chiefly in that it enables 

 us to add two more genera to the list of its food plants. In Psyche iv, 

 p. 275, Mrs. A. K. Dimmock gives references which show the larvie to 

 feed upon i^lants of the following genera: Quercus, Juglaus, Fraxiuus, 

 Tilia, Eosa, Carya, Pruuus, Acer, Crataegus, aud Fagus. To these we 

 may now add Liquidambar and Nyssa, for the larvic were found feed- 

 ing freely upon both the Sweet Gum {Liquidambar sfyracijlua) and the 

 Sour Gum [Nyssa multijiora). Indeed, the Sweet Gum seemed to be its 

 favorite food plant, for almost invariably these trees were completely 

 defoliated, while maples, hickories, and even oaks in the immediate 

 vicinity were often scarcely injured at all. E^ext to the Sweet Gums, in 

 the amount of injury received, were the various species of oaks, aud 

 then the Sour Gum. 



We notice in the Scieniijic Americayi of recent date that a similar 

 occurrence was reported from Mankato, Minnesota, May 23. The larvte 

 were not determined, but the statement was made that they occurred on 

 the railroad tracks in such enormous numbers that the engineers 

 exhausted their sand boxes, and one freight train took an hour and ten 

 minutes to go two miles. 



Almost any insect when abnormally abundant will prevent proper 

 traction of railroad wheels, and accounts of train stopping occur almost 

 yearly. The insects most often involved are, the Army Worm, the 

 Cotton Worm, the Tent Caterpillar of the forest, and various migra- 

 tory locusts. 



In another case, recorded in the New York Herald of May 31, the 

 insect was not a caterpillar, but a large bug or beetle, either Belostoma, 

 Dytiscus^ or Hydrophilus. The locality was near Brighton Corners, 

 New York (a place near Syracuse) 5 and the story goes that as a freight 

 train approached a deep dark cut over which an electric light was 

 placed, the engineer noticed a dark moving mass extending for 60 feet 

 along the track. With some hesitation he drove his train into the mass, 

 which thereupon emitted a number of loud crackling noises like toy 

 torpedoes. The wheels began to slip and the train was finally brought 

 to a standstill. An examination showed the presence of swarms of 

 insects which were described in the Herald as bearing a resemblance 

 to the electric-light bug, a po[)ular name now given to Behstoma. 



The electric light over the cut accounts for the swarm, which was 

 probably composed largely of water-beetles. 



