Ae ees a 
have already received from the same State, and which is undoubtedly abundant and 
destructive. It is as yet undescribed. 
Myriopods injuring Lettuce.—Mr. G. E. Keplinger, of Ohio, complains that his let- 
tuce crop is being destroyed by a Myriopod, which we have determined for him as 
Julus virgatus Wood. They attack the outside leaves near the main stalk. The 
leaves turn yellow and fall to the ground, and when they are partially decomposed 
the ‘‘ Thousand Legs” consume them entirely. 
Hibernation of Conocephalus.—Mr. J. Thompson, of Hampton, Va., sent us, under date 
of February 2, a specimen of Conocephalus ensiger, which was active and in the best 
of condition at this wintry season. 
What is the Stink-bush?—We have had some correspondence of late with Mr. S. B. 
Mullen, of Mississippi, regarding a plant which is known in that part of the country 
as the ‘‘stink-bush.” We have been unable to determine it scientifically from the 
poor specimens which Mr. Mullen has sentin. Insecticide properties-are claimed for 
it in Mississippi. It is an evergreen and is quite abundant in creeks. It hasa sick- 
ening odor in the summer. Can some of our correspondents identify this plant for 
us? 
A Mistake about Canthon.—A correspondent in Iowa has been misled by a curious 
coincidence and states that the ‘‘tumble-bug” is very injurious to vegetation. A 
field had been divided by a temporary fence, on one side of which cattle and horses 
had pastured in the autumn, while on the other side no stock had been feeding. On 
the side which had been pastured the corn crop was completely destroyed, while on 
the other side not a hill suffered. Tumble-bug larve were found in abundance on 
the injured side, from which our correspondent arrived at the conclusion previously 
mentioned. The truth of the matter probably is that the damage was done by cut- 
worms, and it is interesting to note that the uninjured side was fall-plowed while 
the injured side was not turned under until spring. 
A Quarantine Decision in California.—We have already noticed the importation of 
Chionaspis biclavis from the Sandwich Islands into California upon orange trees and 
also the fact that, failing to rid the trees of the scale, the quarantine officers directed 
that the entire shipment should be destroyed. The owners commenced legal pro- 
ceedings, as 60,000 trees were involved, and we learn from Mr. Coquillett that a de- 
cision has recently been rendered in favor of the quarantine officers, Judge McKinley 
directing that the trees should be destroyed immediately. 
A Clothes Moth as a Museum Pest.—Mr. F. M. Webster, our Ohio agent, has sent us 
specimens of Tineola biselliella, which he has found eating into a collection of moths. 
The bodies of the larger moths were badly riddled. We had previously reared this 
moth from grain with Gelechia cerealella, on dead specimens of which it had evidently 
been feeding, and Dr. Hagen has recorded it as feeding upon insect collections. It 
attacks principally large-bodied Lepidoptera while upon the spreading boards, but 
has been carried through several generations on dried specimens. 
The Box-elder Bug a Household Pest.—The Box-elder Bug becomes a household pest in 
winter time. Mr. J. W. Sommers, Wilson, Kans. wrote us under date of March 10 
that his house contains large numbers of the bugs, which come out by the hundreds 
during the day and shelter themselves in the walls of the building at night. An 
Oregon correspondent had previously reported the same fact, adding the informa- 
tion that they bite like bedbugs. 
Importation of Scale-insect Parasites—Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell writes from Kingston, 
Jamaica, that in his studies upon bark-lice he finds that specific parasites are rare, 
although his rearing experiments have not been extensive. He explains this fact 
theoretically on the-ground that there is good reason to suppose that most of the 
Jamaica Coccids, especially those upon cultivated plants, reached the island within 
comparatively recent times and many of them probably by human agencies. The 
parasites would very likely have failed to be introduced at the same time as their 
host and the probability of the occurrence of native parasites ready to attack scales 
would be less than in the case of a continent like North America. 
