1181] 



Report of the State Entomologist. 



323 



The Death-Watch, Clothilla Pulsatoria. (Country Gentleman, for 

 October 22, 1885, 1, p. 861, c. 3-4 — 21 cm.) 



A supposed parasite found in cow-stalls in Warren, 0., is this insect, 

 a figure of which is given. The habits of the Psocidce are briefly stated, 

 and the reason why this species has received the name of the " death- 

 watch." It has previously occurred in immense numbers in barn refuse 

 after threshings, and in straw-packings in a wine cellar. 



[See Second Report on the Insects of N. Y., pp. 201, 202.] 



Eggs of a Katydid. (Country Gentleman, for October 29, 1885, 1, p. 

 881, c. 4 — 23 cm.) 



Eggs sent from Lexington, Ya., arranged in two rows upon the 

 opposite sides of the back fold of a copy of the Country Gentleman, are 

 those of Microcentnis retinervis, an insect common in some of the 

 warmer States of the Union, and classed by some writers with the katy- 

 dids, although strictly, the name of katydid would belong only to 

 Platyphyllum concavum. The eggs are described, and reference made 

 for the illustration and life-history of the species to the 6th Missouri 

 Report. 



[The name should have been given as Microcentrum retinervum.] 



A New Insect Foe to the Cut-worm. (New England Homestead, for 

 October 31, 1885, xix, No. 44, p. 405, c. 3-4 — 19 cm.) 



A correspondent from Winsted, Ct., sends for information a fly 

 hatched from some cabbage cut-worms kept in confinement. The fly is 

 a species of Gonia belonging to the Tachinidce, the parasitic habits of 

 which are given. Caterpillars bearing upon their body the white eggs 

 or the egg-shell of these flies should not be destroyed, but permitted to 

 furnish food for the beneficial larvae that are feeding within them. The 

 cabbage cut-worm was probably Mamestra trifolii (Rott.). 



Saw Fly on Fruit Trees. (Country Gentleman, for November 12, 

 1885, 1, p. 921, c. 3-4 — 25 cm.) 



In answer to an inquiry from Edinburgh, Scotland, of some small, 

 thin, nearly transparent objects nearly half an inch long and looking 

 like a leech, which for several years had nearly destroyed the leaves of 

 plum, pear, and cherry trees, reply is made that it is the larva of some 

 species of saw-fly, and probably of Eriocampa adumbrata. Its ravages 

 may be prevented by means of powdered hellebore, to be obtained pure, 

 and applied to the foliage by the hand or by a bellows. Its efficacy is 

 illustrated by an account of its use in the Hammond Nurseries at 

 Geneva, N. Y. Directions are given for using the hellebore mixed with 

 water, if more convenient in this form. 



