442 Injurious Insects. 
by this little insect has frequently been so great as to oblige the 
farmer to give up the cultivation of the plant. They do not con- 
fine their ravages to the pea alone, but are also found in the seed 
of many other of the leguminous vegetables. In this neighbor- 
hood, of late years, we have been informed that they have been 
gradually decreasing in numbers, much to the gratification, no 
doubt, of the cultivators of pulse. 
Deane has suggested an exceedingly simple remedy for the de- 
struction of this devastator, but it requires that it should be univer- 
sally adopted, to become successful; it consists merely in keeping 
seed peas in tight vessels rather more than a year before planting. 
Another method is to dip ihem in hot water previous to depositing 
them in the earth; this destroys the insect and likewise quickens 
the seed. The orioles and crow black-birds are here the benefac- 
tors, for they devour vast numbers of the larvae. 
Lamia Titillator. — In wandering through the forests in the 
neighborhood of our city, almost any time during the months of 
summer, the attention of an individual will frequently be arrested 
by a peculiar gnawing, or saw-like sound, proceeding from some 
aged and decaying pine tree, and more particularly so, should it be 
placed in an inclined or fallen position. Should he be induced to 
give it a closer inspection, it will be no unusual thing for him to 
discover some three or four large insects slowly perambulating over 
its surface, repeatedly tapping it with their lengthened antennae, 
as they pursue their course along; by placing his ear to the tree, 
he will distinctly hear the same singular sounds issuing from 
various portions of the trunk, with a sometimes feeble and then a 
louder noise: even in the aged log fences in the vicinity, these 
gnawings are likewise to be heard. These sounds proceed from 
the larvas of the insects observed upon the trees, while employed 
at their usual depredations within. It is the Lamia titillator oi 
Fabricius, commonly called the tickler, no doubt from the singular 
manner in which it taps with its antennae the surface of the tree 
upon which it walks. 
Well established instances are on record of some of the species 
of this family having remained a dozen or more years, in the 
larvae state, in some pieces of household furniture, which had been 
in constant use by the residents, and finally issuing out in the per- 
fect state. 
A few years since, while seated on a piece of hewn pine timber, 
which formed the door-way to one of the most ancient buildings 
of our city, we were somewhat surprised to hear this scratching 
noise directly alongside, and upon a close inspection a slight 
movement could be observed among the dry fibres of the wood, at 
the surface. On enlarging the orifice with the point of a knife, 
tlie perfect insect quickly emerged and was captured. It proved 
