370 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
Spring-flowering Bulbs—The Scillas. 
There is suck a freshness and delicacy about 
the flowers of the early blooming bulbs, that 
we naturally associate them with the soft show¬ 
ers and gentle breezes of spring, and a garden 
from which they are absent seems only half 
SCILLA HYACINTHOIDES. 
enjoyable. Those wdio plant bulbs seldom go 
beyond the usual assortment of Hyacinths, Tu¬ 
lips, and Crocuses. The old Crown Imperial 
is much less frequently met with than formerly, 
yet it is a grand old plant. Its bulbs and leaves, 
it is true, are far fi-om fragrant, but then it 
throws up such a vigorous stem, and when it 
puts on its coronet of flowers it looks withal 
so stately, that we like it, even if it is not among 
the “novelties.” We began to say a word about 
the Scillas, or—despite the medicinal smack the 
name has—the Squills. These are for the most 
part hardy, early blooming bulbs, with flowers 
ot sorne shade of blue, or, sometimes, white. 
The spikes are but a few inches high, and to pro¬ 
duce much of a show, they are best planted in 
a bed by themselves. The bulbs, which are 
quite small, are to be planted this month or 
next, in good, light, rich, earth, at a depth of 
about two inches, in the same manner that oth¬ 
er bulbs are planted. Though most of the kinds 
are hardy, yet, like other bulbs, they do all the 
better if the bed be covered with leaves or 
coarse littery manure. We enumerate below 
the species usually kept by the bulb dealers. 
S. JiyacintTioides is one of the tallest species, 
free flowering, and of a soft, subdued blue. 
We saw last spring in the grounds of B. K. 
Bliss, at Springfield, Mass., a large bed, the 
effect of which was very pleasing. From 
this garden we obtained the specimen from 
which the accompanying engraving was made. 
S. Sihirica is a hardy and much smaller 
species, with flowers of an intense blue. 
8. amana is also deep blue, and is a rather 
later bloomer than the preceding. 
8. Peruviana is another blue species, of which 
there is a white variety. It is less hardy than 
the others, and well adapted to pot culture. 
The bulbs of the Scillas do not need to be 
disturbed oftener than once in four or five years, 
when it will be necessary to take them up and 
divide the clumps and replant the bulbs. 
Ichneiimoii Flies.—Pimpla Lunator. 
BT EDWARD NOKTOK. 
[Some time ago, we received from a corres¬ 
pondent in Indiana a specimen of an insect, 
which, he supposed, was injuring his trees. In¬ 
deed, from the formidable appendage borne by 
the insect, a stranger to its ways might be war¬ 
ranted to regard it with suspicion. Knowing 
that Mr. Norton was an enthusiastic student of 
this family of insects, we gave him the speci¬ 
men, requesting him to furnish some notes 
upon it, which he does as follo^vs.— Ed.] 
An inseet sent from Indiana to the Agricul¬ 
turist, for a name, by Mr.-, proves to be a 
friend to the farmer instead of an enemy, as was 
supposed. It belongs to that large family of in¬ 
sects, the Ichneumonidse, all the members of 
which occupy themselves in destroying other 
injurious insects. They are so called from the 
Ichneumon, formerly supposed to be a parasite 
upon the crocodile, and to deposit its eggs with¬ 
in its body, which served as food for the young 
when hatched. No tribe of insects is free from 
these parasites, which are created to keep down 
the excessive increase of injurious species, and 
are each fitted with an apparatus suited for the 
end proposed, as in the case before us. The 
borers, (or their grubs,) in trees, make their pas¬ 
sages, in many cases, so far below the outer sur¬ 
face that they can be reached in no ordinary 
way. Butceitain Ichneumon flies are provided 
with boring instruments, long enough to probe 
these tunnels. These, borers are hollow, and 
through them, when the proper spot is reached, 
the insect places its eggs in or near the grub, 
upon which the young Ichneumons may feed. 
Pimpla ox Physsa lunator (fig. 2),belonging 
to the group Pimpla and genus Bhyssa, and called 
lunator from the yellow crescents across its ab- 
Fig. 1.—insect at woek. 
domen, is one of the largest of these. It has an 
ovipositor, sometimes as much as five inches in 
length, which, when not in use, extends straight j 
out behind the insect, which is not more than 
two inches long itself, and is enclosed in two 
hollow sheaths of the same length. This ovi¬ 
positor and borer combined is apparently quite 
smooth and solid, but is really composed of 
three parts, two of which have fine saw teeth 
and rasps near the end, which are used when 
boring. When by some wonderful instinct the 
insect discovers its prey 
within the tree, often 
the grubs of the Tremex 
columba or Pigeon Bor¬ 
er, it takes its position, 
(fig. 1), the head down¬ 
ward, and raising its 
abdomen as high as pos¬ 
sible, curves its end, and 
bends the ovipositor so 
that its point touches 
the desired spot. As 
this is too long to be 
applied with power at 
once, the extra length is 
coiled at this time in a 
transparent membrane, 
which lies between the 
two last segments of the 
back, (marked c in fig. 
1,) and which pushes 
out like a thin elastic 
piece of rubber, vibrat¬ 
ing with the severe 
strain upon it from be- 
low^. The two sheaths do 
not enter the tree, but 
rising above the back, 
pass down upon each 
side of the ovipositor to 
give it strength. They 
are held in position, and 
stiffened by the hinder 
thighs between which 
they pass. In this way, 
the ovipositor is some¬ 
times introduced four 
or five inches into solid Fig. 2. -pimpla lunator. 
wood, although it is often pushed wholly or in 
liart into crevices, or more or less decayed trees, 
such as borers inhabit. Sometimes it becomes so 
firmly fastened in the tree that the insect cannot 
withdraw it, and dies there. A friend tells me 
that when he could not draw this out without 
breaking it, he has known the insect to succeed 
in extracting it when left alone. 
I had the pleasure of seeing this whole opera¬ 
tion, as above described, performed by three in¬ 
sects, a few days ago, August 15th, 1867, on an 
oak tree in the City Park, Brooklyn. Two of 
them, which I captured, were smaller, with the 
terebra about two inches long, and wmrked quite 
rapidly, depositing the eggs in a few minutes. 
One, which I took, was much longer about it, 
and I was forced to use some strength to draw 
out its borer. The wood w'as dead, and perfo¬ 
rated with small holes in many places, but was 
too solid to be penetrated with the point of a 
knife. The third insect which escaped, was 
much larger, and appeared to work more slowly 
from the inconvenient length of its ovipositor. 
This is one of the “wheels within wheels” 
which we constantly see in nature. Trees, from 
various causes, die, and their decay is hastened 
by insects which tunnel the hard wood, and 
open it to the air, and to other insects. But 
lest these should become too numerous, they are 
followed in their deepest hiding by insects, 
which are parasitic in their habits, and these 
are often, ir their turn, the prey of others. 
