386 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[October, 
they have eaten all the leaves within reach, (some at 
least feeding only at night,) and then cut away their 
fastening, and move away to another spot. They arc not 
very particular as to food, but will live upon almost any 
tree. When full-grown, the caterpillar fastens its hag 
very securely to a twig, and then goes into the pupa 
state, and Anally the male comes out as a little moth, 
with a black body and glassy wings. The female never 
comes out, but makes the bag her coffin ; she lays a 
great lot of eggs, and 
dies there; the bag con¬ 
taining the eggs hangs 
upon the tree all win¬ 
ter, and in spring the 
young hatch out to eat 
more leaves, and weave 
more sacks. They are 
sometimes very numer¬ 
ous upon shade trees, 
and injure them very 
much. The only way 
to get rid of them is to 
pick them off. Those 
found upon the trees 
now are either the 
empty cases of the 
males, or those of the 
females, almost filled 
with eggs, and if the 
sacks of eggs are taken 
off before spring, it will 
save much trouble, ft is 
Fig. 1.— bag-ivorm. said that there is a Bag- 
worm in the West 
Indies, which makes a sack sis inches long!....A 
few years ago, as I was drawing a bucket of water from 
the w r ell, an enormous Bee went by my head with a 
whoom ! into the curb, and disappeared; how so big a 
bee could get out of sight so quickly, puzzled me, and I 
watched. At length another came, and I being on the 
look-out, saw that it suddenly popped into a ho!e in one 
of the boards of the well-curb. Here, thought I, is some¬ 
thing that will please the boys and girls, but the old 
curb was taken down and destroyed, while I was away 
from home, and I missed the chance of examining the 
nests. This year the same kind of bees are at work in a 
small porch that is over a cellar door, and they have 
bored holes as neatly as a carpenter could. Indeed, 
these insects are called 
CARPENTER BEES, 
and this particular one the Virginian Carpenter Bee ; it 
is of the size shown in figure 2, and is much larger than 
the common Bumble Bee, but being much less hairy, its 
body does not look much larger. The bee usually bores, 
by means of very strong jaws well formed for cutting, in¬ 
to the edge of a board, and when she (for the females do 
this) has a hole across the grain, about her own length, 
she turns and cuts the rest of 
the hole with the grain of 
the wood. You may be sure 
that she does not turn car¬ 
penter for amusement; she 
is really building a nest to 
provide for her young. The 
hole is about half an inch 
wide, and from four to five 
inches deep. As I could not 
well tear down the porch to 
get at the board in which the 
bees were at work, I have bor¬ 
rowed the engraving, figure 
3, from Mr. Packard. This 
show's one of the holes cut 
through, so that you can see 
the inside. The bee puts an 
egg into the bottom of the 
hole, and then provides food 
for the young grub that will 
hatch from it, for you must 
know that bees, like butter¬ 
flies and beetles, when just 
hatched, are larva or grubs, 
and only turn into perfect in¬ 
sects after they have made 
their growth. The food of 
the young or grub bee, is pol¬ 
len, the dust of flowers, such 
as you see in such abundance 
in lilies; this the mother 
bee collects, and makes into a 
ball, giving each egg a lump 
as large as a common bean. 
The egg and the food being 
ready, the bee then takes the chips she has made, sticks 
them together with saliva, and builds a partition quite 
across the hole; she then puts in another ball of pollen, 
lays another egg, and shuts this in with a sawdust wall 
in the same way. When she is through, the hole or tun. 
nel is divided acrrfss, as shown in figure 3, into cells, not 
quite half-an-inch long, each the home of a little grub. 
The lower two 
colls in the en¬ 
graving show 
the grub hatched 
out, and feeding 
5 on its pollen ball. 
After the grubs 
get full grown, 
they then go 
into the pupa 
state, and finally 
come out as full 
sized bees. Other 
carpenter bees 
bore into shrubs, such as the blackberry and elder, 
and if you keep a sharp look out, you may find more than 
one kind_The other day there came from New Hamp¬ 
shire a little box, in which was packed in cotton some¬ 
thing that might w'ell be taken for 
Fig. 2.— CARPENTER BEE. 
A BEAUTIFUL JEWEL. 
Nothing among the costly jewels at the Centennial, can 
be more truly beautiful than this, and yet it was only one 
form of a rather common insect. Figures 4 and 5 are two 
views of this “jewel,” of real size. You must imagine 
it to be of the most delicate clear pale green, of a color 
only seen in some rare minerals, such as jade ; then it is 
hung to a twig by the blackest of all black little stems ; 
at the widest part there is a row of golden dots, placed 
closely together, and as if to make them show all the 
more brightly, there is just under them an intensely black 
line, and below these are a few scattered golden spots. 
When I say golden, I do not mean merely yellow, but 
shining with exactly the luster of the metal, and much 
more like real gold than much of the cheap jewelry that 
is worn. Of course the spots are not gold, nor is there 
any metal about them, but the effect of the skin upon the 
light, produces that appearance. This beautiful object 
Figs. 4 & 5.—CHRYSALIS OF ARCHIPPUS BUTTERFLY. 
is the pupa or chrysalis of the common Archippus butter¬ 
fly. The caterpillar feeds upon the milkweeds, and when 
full grown, is a black, white, and yellow “ worm,” about 
two inches long, and with a pair of black horns at each 
end. When it goes to rest, to get ready to come out as a 
butterfly, it hangs itself up, doubles into a small space, 
and after throwing off its old skin, appears as in figures 
4 and 5. I do not know of anything about insects that is 
more wonderful than that such a large caterpellar should 
pack itself away in so small a space, or that out of this 
little jewel should come an orange and black butterfly, 
with four inches spread of wings. By examining the pupa 
closely, you can see under the half-transparent skin, the 
rings of the body and the folded wings of the future but¬ 
terfly. Another thing strange about it is, that all this 
beauty lasts only for about 10 days, for the change from 
caterpillar to butterfly takes place in that time. All this 
gilding must be of some use to the insect; the rough case 
of the Bag-worm deceives the birds, and I think that this 
green and golden pupa case must so astonish the birds, 
that they stop to admire it and forget that it may be good 
to eat. Iu some parts ot the country these butterflies are 
so numerous that it is said that there are sometimes mil- 
lions of them in swarms. How wonderful to think that 
each one of these came from such a beautiful case as I 
have described! 
The talk about insects has taken so much space that 
the other letters must wait. Do not think that questions 
not answered at once arc lost or forgotten. I have a nice 
“ pigeon hole ” in my letter case which is marked “ B. 
and G.,” and all your letters are safely kept until I can 
find it convenient to reply. 
Aunt Sue’s Puzzle-Box. 
WORD PUZZLE.—ACROSTIC. 
My first signifies “ the grace or mercy of The Lord.” 
My second signifies the same as Joshua, “ a saviour. 
My third signifies “ a rose.” 
My fourth signifies “a cluster of figs.” 
My fifth signifies “ made of stone.” 
My sixth signifies “ rewarded.” 
My initials form the name of a river called “River of 
ludmnent. My finals for the name of a man signifying 
‘ Beautiful.” J. B. G. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
4, 5, G, — 6, 2, 4, and 1, 5, 3, 3,-1, 2, 8, 4, 3. 9, 4, 4, three 
little boys, lived in the city of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
They went out one evening to play 1, 2, 3, 3, and when 
they returned their father (who, by the way, was a very 
4, 2, 3, 3, man, and sometimes as cross as a 1, 9, 2. 8.) 
said to them that they could never go out to play. 6, 7, 8, 
9, if they were ever so 3, 2, 4. 9, again ; and he gave 5, 
G, (a little 0, 5, 4, 9. of a chap) a 1. 2, 4, on his head, al¬ 
though he was the least to 1, 3, 2, C. 9. He began to 8. 7, 
2, 8, and said he did not know what 4. 5, G, 9,-5, 4, was. 
His sister 6, 2, 1. 9, 3, a lovely G, 7. 8, 4, 2, 3, came and 
comforted the little fellow'. Although she was a little 3, 
2, 0, 9, she walked a G, 5, 3, 9, to school, every day. Mat. 
ties. 
1. Detuitrag si het isafret lobmoss chhwi gnirspS morf 
eth olus, dan eht earth fo mini howntek onne rorae 
trangfar. Weliil sit potennop. edituginrat, si a ledday 
dewe, ton noly noginisop ni isfelt, till) greatginnimp het 
vrye stopherema ni chhwi ti worgs tliiwtidef sprova. 
2. Ileret si on olary doraot nalrengi. Charlie G. B. 
square word. 
1. A bird. 2. A cavity. 3. A metal. 4. To dispatch. 
Nip. 
decapitations. 
1. Behead one animal and leave another. 
2. Behead one musical instrument and leave another. 
3. Behead one bird and leave another. 
4. Behead an animal and leave a grain. 
5. Behead part of a tree and leave a boat. 
G. Behead a piece of wood and leave a fastening. 
7. Behead a package and leave a beverage. 
8. Behead a country and leave something unpleasant. 
Isola. 
DIAMOND PUZZLE. 
The central letters form a river in the United States. 
I. A quarter of a cent. 2. To assign. 3. A boat. 4. A 
man of great power. 5. Genuine. G. A river in the 
United States. 7. A county in Kentucky. 8. A county 
in Tennessee. 9. To traduce. 10. To lay. 11. Part of 
a trunk. Billy Button. 
concealed birds, animals, fish, and fruit. 
1. Charles had a very fine tool-chest. 
2. He gave me a monkey-wrench yesterday. 
3. It had a particular kind of screw. 
4. He is always trying to do good. 
5. Beer from the tap pleases many an old toper. 
6. Pat routed a flock of geese on the meadow. 
7. He was engaged in spearing fish. 
8. He can’t elope without being detected. 
9. He will either have to abscond or die. 
10. Cato’s soliloquy has been often quoted. 
II. They had permission to range around the neigh¬ 
borhood. 
12. They used slime for mortar. John M. Wheatley. 
DROP LETTER PUZZLE. 
Otighblsnheeigi, 
C 1 i g h r s i g a d o r y r ; 
H m sbnsonoli r v r f o 
Adlntekayngo— 
Tue’niedyisonnhW s 
Weteelsaligsoeetrs! 
Thanks for letters, puzzles, etc., to E. B. E., C. M. J., 
Grace H. K., Annie M. M., Lydia J. R., Alice A. B., 
Mattie McB. A., Clara D. L., Joe, Harry G., Guy C. N., 
Ernest F. D., and C. D. 
Send communications intended for Aunt Sue , to Box 111, 
P. O., Brooklyn , N. Y., and not to 245 Broadway. 
A Etcmarkablc History. 
Here is a remarkable history. It is about Stephen and 
the bird. You know that the savages, who do not have 
letters, use pictures instead, and picture writing is the 
only kind of writing they know anything about. This 
being a remarkable story, it needs both pictures and wri¬ 
ting—or what is the same thing, types. Once there was 
a boy named Stephen. Stephen was a remarkable hoy. 
Stephen had a sister—never mind what her name was— 
she was a remarkable sister. Stephen’s sister had a bird 
—never mind what kind it was, it was a remarkable bird. 
If you don’t think so, here is its picture. 
STEPHEN’S SISTER’S REMARKABLE BIRD. 
