28 BULLETIN NO. 2, DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 
nothing. I took a light, about eight o'clock in the evening, and killed from 20 to 25. 
The next night about a dozen were killed, and the night following four, and the 
next, one. After that I could see no signs of any until three days ago. I found one 
plant eaten in a different part of the bed to where the others were caught. Each 
night I took out a light, but could not find anything until last night, when the one 
sent was caught. Every morning I could see where he had been feeding ; each day 
his appetite increased, for as much again more was eaten each night than the last. 
A neighboring farmer says it is the Cut-worm. The plants of smilax are from 1 to 2 
feet high, quite tender and succulent. Our smilax in summer time is infested by an 
insect very closely resembling the cabbage or turnip fly. Will pyrethrum destroy 
it? — [Edwin Lonsdale, Germantown, Pa., September 14, 1882. 
Reply. — The Cut-worm accompanying your favor of the 14th instant was a speci- 
men of the Variegated Cut-worm (Agrotis inermis), which you will find fully treated 
in my First Missouri Entomological Report, p. 72. Your remedy of hand-picking will 
perhaps be the most satisfactory under the circumstances. I should like to see speci- 
mens of the fly on the smilax, if you can conveniently send them to me. Pyrethrum 
will undoubtedly destroy them. 
I send' by this mail a few of the lively little insects which infest the smilax in the 
summer time. The cool nights seem to stop their depredations, for they do not bother 
us much after this date. I have put in a few leaves of smilax for you to see. They 
do not seem to do the smilax so much damage ; only to disfigure it, rendering it unfit 
for sale. The leaves sent are not nearly so badly marked as they are in June and 
July. Hoping to hear what he really is. I thank you for your attention to what I 
have sent before. — [Edwin Lonsdale, Germantown, Pa,, September 26, 1882. 
Reply. — Your letter of the 26th September, 1882, and the insects injurious to 
smilax were duly received. The latter proved to belong to a common little species 
of flea-beetle known as Ealtica paUicornis Fabr. They are found on many species of 
plants, and not infrequently do considerable damage to those cultivated in flower 
gardens. 
SPREAD OF THE OCOVER-LEAF WEEVIL. 
Has the report relating to the Phytonomus punctatus appeared yet ? The beetles 
appear to be about as destructive and plentiful as last year, and are now found in all 
parts of the country about here. — [L. D. Snook, Barrington, N. Y., September 12, 1882. 
THE CORN-MEAL WORM INJURING CONFECTIONERY. 
I herewith mail you some samples of moth about which I desire some information. 
You will find in one box two moths, and two worms which will in time deA r elop into 
moths. In the other box are three lozenges, which will probably be found on examination 
to contain worms. Please give me their name, and state if more than one yearly crop 
is "raised" ; also, if in your judgment a heat of 130° F.. or thereabouts, applied for a 
period of eight or nine hours, will certainly kill the eggs. What worknvill give me 
the fullest practical information in regard to them ? Your kind attention to the above 
will greatly oblige.— [J. W. Wickersham, New York, September 16, 1882. 
Reply. — The insect which has eaten the lozenges is the corn-meal moth {Ephestia 
zeie Fitch). It is a very general feeder, and it is not surprising to hear of it in loz- 
enges. In my judgment a heat of 130° F. will kill the insects in every stage, if con- 
tinued for eight or nine hours, and it will probably be the simplest method of 
destroying them. There are probably two broods each year in New York, the moths 
appearing in the spring and early fall. The fullest account of this insect will be found ■ 
in Dr. Fitch's 2d Report, p. 320, under the name of Tinea zees. 
