bugs.” Flies, no doubt, frequent these 
bunches of spittle, but do not produce it any¬ 
more than those which frequent a sugar 
hogshead have anything to do with the 
manufacture of sugar. There are many spe¬ 
cies of these frog-spittle bisects, and, of 
course we could not name the one to which 
you refer -without seeing a specimen; and 
even then it is quite likely that it has never 
been named or described, although the hab¬ 
its of the genus are well known. 
ment several dozen seedlings of the Yucca 
filamenlom in full bloom, and this spring 
flowers produced on stems five or six feet 
high are not surpassed in elegance by any¬ 
thing in my garden at this time. The flow¬ 
ers arc mainly pure white, although an occa¬ 
sional variety will be found with a slight 
yellow-green or reddish tinge. In form they 
are usually oval, the ettds of the petals turn¬ 
ing back only when the flowers arc nearly 
ready to drop oiT. They also vary somewhat, 
in size and form. I have raised varieties of 
the species named above with flowers that 
were perfectly globule r in form and not more 
than an inch in diameter, and others that 
were two or more inches in length and ex¬ 
panding about the same. A good, vigorous 
stem will produce from 200 to 200 flowers. 
The plant is evergreen, the lea ves are about 
ail inch and a-half wide and a foot or more 
in length, from the edges of which hang 
numerous thread-like filaments, hence the 
specific name—fllatne.nl osa. This species is 
found growing in Virginia, south, and west¬ 
ward to Texas, and is knowu by several com¬ 
mon local names, such as Bear-grass, Adam’s 
Needle, etc,, etc. There are several valuable 
local wild varieties, which were described 
by our early botanists as distinct species. 
The narrow-leaved Yucca (Yucca angusti- 
folia) grows in great abundance on the plains 
west of the Mississippi. It is smaller than 
the former, the leaves not more than a half 
inch vide, distinctly edged with white. The 
flowers are yellowish-white. It is quite 
hardy in our Northern States, and well 
worthy of a place in every garden. There 
are also many other species, natives of tlie- 
extreme South and Mexico, not hardy at the 
North. The seeds are borne in large pods 
and several hundreds in each. They arc flat 
and thin, resembling in form those of our 
common lilies. The plants may be propa¬ 
gated by division of the large, fleshy, tuber¬ 
ous roots, but I prefer to grow them from 
seed for the sake Of vis riety. The seed grow 
almost as readily as corn, and may be sown 
in fall or spring. The plants require consid¬ 
erable room, therefore it is well to transplant 
the seedlings when a year old, placing them 
at least two or three feet apart. As the 
plants come into bloom just after the first 
flush of spring flowers is past, they are wel¬ 
come additions to our gardens. 
ANSWERS TC CORRESPONDENTS. 
July 5.—A correspondent signing himself 
“ Galveston Boy,” sends me two wox-ms and 
asks for a name. The worms are completely 
dried up—nothing left by which I could even 
make u reasonable guess as to what family 
they belong. It is difficult to pack such per¬ 
ishable specimens and have them arrive in 
2 x>od order for identification. The better 
way would be to feed the worms mil il they 
pass into the pupa?, then send rolled in some 
soft material which will prevent injury. It 
is not always an easy task to identify the 
perfect insect, and it is still more difficult to 
name worms, grubs and caterpillars. I will 
always do my best to impart information 
and answer the questions of correspondents, 
but they should bear in mind that there is a 
limit to human knowledge. 
The bottle of beetles sent me by Dimon 
Kkoft, Hinsdale Co., Mich., arrived in good 
order, but they were all species common in 
this vicinity. This fact, however, should not 
discourage or deter you from making still 
larger collections. I wish my young friends 
who gather bisect s or other specimens would 
try and gather knowledge tit the same time. 
Always observe the habits of insects and 
note when and where found. Learn, if pos¬ 
sible, their food as-well as abiding place. If 
you gather plants, remember tho location, 
soil and whether very abundant or other¬ 
wise. Always do the same in collecting 
minerals, fossils and shells,—in other words, 
do not be afraid of learning too much of your 
surroundings. Remember that some one 
may be asking for information of you by- 
and-by, and it will be very pleasant and 
profitable to be able to give it. Knowledge 
brings wealth as well as power, and that 
which many persons may think is vey simple 
and useless may be, in the end, the most 
valuable. To know the character and com¬ 
position of rocks enables men to find gold, 
silver and other precious metals. Every man 
and woman during some period of their lives 
tread upon fortunes, but for the lack of the 
proper knowledge, few are able to gather 
wealth or happiness. 
DOBSON 
OR CORYDALIS, 
DAILY RURAL LIFE. 
In the matter of “ Dobson,” mentioned in 
“Daily Rural Life,” Rural New-Yorker, 
July 12, I have had more inquiries about 
them than any other water insect for the 
past five years ; have only known what they 
were for three years, the other two I spent in 
asking scientific men, but as I sent no speci¬ 
mens I never found out until I did. Now, I 
wish to say the name “ Dobson ” is too firm¬ 
ly fixed to try to change ; and, to use “Daily 
Rural Life’s ” own argument, Dobson is as 
easy to pronounce as Corydalis; and then 
every fisherman, angler and sportsman who 
knows anything of the, insert, would know to 
what particular thing you refer. The “Dob¬ 
son” is known as a “Dobson” by every 
bass-fisher from Maine to California ; and 
when, three years ago I asked that distin¬ 
guished entomologist, Cjias. V. Rii.ey, the 
simple question, “What is a Dobson?” I 
must confess to a feeling of disappointment 
at his answer — “ I do not know -what insect 
is called a “ Dobson ” in your locality.” The 
italics lire mine, but merely put to show 
where my disgust at a learned man’s ignor¬ 
ance of coinman names comes in. I immedi¬ 
ately put Mr. Rily down as no fisherman. 
He will feel the disgrace as keenly perhaps 
as I should if you were to intimate that I was 
no entomologist. 
But, seriously, scientific men should try to 
inform themselves as to popular names more 
than they do, for although the latter are 
fearfully mixed, yet we of the common herd 
are attached to them, as J am to the name 
of “ Dobson.” I do not think that there is a 
black bass of my acquaintance who would 
condescend to nibble at your hook if you 
were to drop him a line with “ Corydalis ” 
upon it; but just give him a hint that, •’Dob¬ 
son” is on your bill of fare, and you’ll find 
that he will “ bite like a steel trap and pull 
like a horse.” I never could discover what 
they feed upon in the larva state, although I 
have opened many. Fred. Mather. 
Hoaeyoye Falls, N. Y. 
From the Diary of a Gentleman near New 
York City. 
DUTIES TROM NORTHERN NEW YORK. 
July 3.—The following has just come to 
hand : 
Daily Rural Life: —Inclosed find two 
bugs or beetles. The larger one was taken 
from an old apple tree. Is it an insect that 
will destroy fruit, and what is its name ! 
Please answer through the Rural New- 
Yorker. — N. L. Stevens, ,S7. Lawrence . 
Co., N. Y. 
The largest beetle, with two black, eye¬ 
like spots on the top of the thorax, and wing 
cases spotted with white, is the A laws ocu~ 
latus, Linn, frequently referred to and de¬ 
scribed in the Rural New-Yorker, [The 
accompanying illustration of this beetle ap¬ 
peared in the Rural, April 5, page 221.— 
Editor.] This beetle —\ 
is sometimes known Jr 
by the name of big- \ ^ A, Jj 
eyed spring-beetle, be- 
cause when laid on its 
back it will, with a 
sxidden jerk, throw it- 
self upward several \ 
inches, usually falling S \ 
spots on Its thorax, ' vf jwK 
which look like eyes, I Kr'uJfllin u 
are more ornamental / A 
than useful, the ej es ( wjw J 
being quite small and ” 
situated on the head the same m other in¬ 
sects or animals of higher order.'. There are 
hundreds of species of these spring-beetles, 
but this is the largest found in our Northern 
States. The beetles do no harm' either to 
fruit or plants—at least I have never known 
them to 1 jurio ; but 1 1 ■ Ian 
which is transformed into a beetle, may do 
harm by boring into wood or perhaps vege¬ 
tables. You should always remember that 
beetles pass through four different stages, in 
two of which they may bo injurious or bene¬ 
ficial. The first stage is the egg, in which, of 
course, they can do no harm. The next is 
the larva, usually called grubs, worms and 
caterpillars. In this stage of their existence 
a majority of insects do harm, if at all, be¬ 
cause they eat. and grow until ready for the 
next change, which is termed the pupa or 
chrysalis stage, when they remain quiet, 
neither eating nor possessing the power of 
moving from one place to another. From 
the pupa they change to the imago or perfect 
insect, and tro born, as it were, full-size, 
never becoming any larger. I wish aD the 
young folks who read my Diary would re¬ 
member that beetles, bugs, butterflies, moths 
and even house flies do not grow, but are 
born just the size that, we find them. 
Now, the grub or larva of the big-eyed 
spring-beetle no doubt lived in and fed upon 
the wood of the apple tree in which you 
found him, but it. did not eat the live wood, 
only the dead and decaying, consequently 
we can scarcely place it among the injurious 
insects. Sometime I may tell you and 
other of my young friends how important is 
the work which these minute creatures per¬ 
form, even in eating nothing but the wood of 
dead trees. 
The other beetle which you sent did not 
seem to have attracted your special atten¬ 
tion—at least you say nothing of its habits or 
where caught. It is about an inch long wit h 
quite a large and prominent hea d ; antennee, 
or feelers, about uu eighth of an inch long, 
terminated with a yellowish knob. The 
body, legs and thorax black, but the wing 
cases (elytra) have quite a large, reddish, ir¬ 
regular-shaped spot near the extremi t.y and 
another about the same size near the front. 
The name of this beetle Is Nceropharuss arhi- 
caltis, Sat. It. is a carrion beetle, its larva 
feeding upon t he dead and decaying carcasses 
of animals. A dead snake appeal's to be par¬ 
ticularly attractive to this beetle and, if there 
is one about they are pretty sure to find it, 
for the purpose of feeding upon as well as 
depositing egg* in the carcass. This beetle 
is, therefore, useful, inasmuch as it helps us 
to put dead luiimd.s out of the way, prevent¬ 
ing the noxious effluvia passing into the at¬ 
mosphere which we are obliged to breathe. 
YUCCAS AS ORNAMENTAL PLANTS. 
July 4.—The Yuccas are all more or less 
showy plants, belonging to the great lily 
family. For many years 1 have been raising 
seedlings of our hardy native species, not 
only because i admire them as ornamental 
plants, but by adopting this mode of propa¬ 
gation one stands a chance of producing new 
and improved /varieties. I have at this rno- 
APPLE TREE BORER, 
Inclosed find specimen of an insect which 
I find preying upon the tender twigs of trees. 
What is it ?— -Wm. Clawson. Arlington, Mo. 
The beetle is the well-known striped apple 
tree borer, Saperda biviltata, frequently 
mentioned in answer to our correspondents. 
The beetles do very little injury in the way 
of eating the bark from the tender twigs of 
apple trees, but their larvie bore into the 
stems of tho trees, frequently killing them. 
Wrapping the lower part, of the stems with 
tar-paper in spring will prevent the female 
laying her eggs upon them. 
AN UNPATENTED BEE HIVE 
M. S., New Salem, Fairfield county, Ohio, 
writes to the Cincinnati Gazette, telling how 
to make a good bee hive, as follows :—In the 
first, place you want rabbets, half an inch 
deep, at each end of the hive to receive the 
ends of the frame ; next you want your 
frames made true, so that they will hang 
plumb in the hive. There should be one 
frame for every inch and a-half of space in 
width of our hive. Next prepare your bot¬ 
tom board and lay it level. Rut your hive 
on the board so that the frames will run 
from front to rear; then elevate your luve 
about three inches, and your hive is ready 
for the bees. Make your frames just three- 
fourths of an inch shorter than the inside of 
your hive, and have them SO that they will 
not touch at either end nor swing against 
each other. I have a center-opening hive 
that is very convenient, and different from 
any that 1 have seen. 
I wish it understood that when I raise the 
rear of the hive, that 1 raise the bottom board 
with it. If your hive lean to one side, the 
bees will build across the frame. I have my 
bees in a yard, and each hive is covered with 
a cover made by nailing two boards together 
and resting it. on the top of the hive. I make 
the top board of my hive in three pieces, by 
nailing two cleats on the top of them, and 
making two holes to run across the frames, 
each hole six inches long. This is to make 
room for tho bees to pass into the surplus 
honey-boxes. When the boxes are on, the 
cover alluded to rests on t he box. 
PASSALUS AND DESMOCERUS 
W. F. M., Jamestown, Pa. The large, 
black, shining beetle, a little over an inch 
long, with short horns projecting over the 
head, and which you probably found in old, 
half-rotten wood, is Passalus r,ornutux, 
Faiir., frequently referred to in our columns. 
It was figured and described on page 150 of 
last volume. It. is a perfectly harmless in¬ 
sect, and we might call it useful, inasmuch 
as its larva? aid in the decay of old stumps 
and logs. 
The smaller beetle of the two, which is of 
a bright Prussian blue, with a broad band of 
orange-yellow extending entirely a cross the 
front of the wing covers, like a cloak thrown 
over one’s shoulders, is now known as Des- 
mocerus eyancus , Fabr. Li Harris’s work 
you will find it under the name of D. palli- 
utas. Fa 1 ST., the latter name meaning, or 
was designed to mean, cloaked. It is plenti¬ 
ful wherever the common elder bush grows, 
and will be found feeding upon its flowers 
at whatever time this shrub comes into 
bloom. Tho larvie are said to live in the elder 
berry, stems feeding upon the pith. 
The beetle which W. A. Egbert, Bedford, 
Ohio, sends as a unique specimen, as an insect 
never before seen, even by the “oldest in¬ 
habitant” in that locality, is the same as the 
one named above, viz: D-cyaneus. They 
are probably abundant enough, only requir¬ 
ing eyes that are accustomed to look for 
such things, to see them. 
HOW TO FILL EMPTY COMB 
A correspondent having asked Mrs. Tup- 
fer the following question, “How we can 
best fill up a number of hives of empty combs 
with bees ? We have ten living colonies 
healthy, though weak, and twenty-nine ltives 
full of comb,” she replies through the Iowa 
Homestead as follows:—“The best way to 
fill up your comb is to watch the bees now 
that warm weather has come, and every few 
days put one empty comb between two that 
the queen has filled with brood. hi this way 
you will soon have any love full of hro*d if 
honey is plenty ; if not, you must feed quite 
liberally with sugar sirup. There will be no 
trouble in getting your hives all full of bees 
again if you manage in this way. if the 
season is good, it may be necessary for you 
to extract honey frequently from the comb 
to give the queens room.” 
BEE NOTES AND QUERIES 
FROG-SPITTLE BUGS, 
Spiders and Bees .—A correspondent, of the 
American Bee Journal says :—“ Most apia¬ 
rians have considered the spider the common 
enemy of the bee. That they make, their 
webs in unwelcome places about an apiary, 
and now and then entangle a bee is true, hut 
the web iseasily brushed away, audit- murks 
destroyed ; the writer has found that inside 
of a Langstroth hive (/. e„ where the boxes 
are put on) the spider is a real benefit. A 
little observation will show that no moth 
miller escapes them, and though the spider 
cannot get into the innermost hive, he i* a 
complete exterminator of all intruders. Let 
him live.” 
Book for Beginners in Bee Keeping.—A 
correspondent asks the best hook for begin¬ 
ners in bee keeping. We don’t know which 
is the “best,” but Quinby’s mysteries of 
Bee Keeping, which may be obtained at this 
office for $i.'5L), is an excellent one. 
Italian Queens. — W., Friendship, N, Y., 
asks where he can get Italian queens. Our 
advertising columns have told, and ought to 
tell now. 
At this season we are annually troubled 
with a great many of (what we call) the 
Prairie or Horse Fly—three or more kinds, 
A little matter resembling spittle or froth is 
deposited on the weeds and grass with the 
young fly, which in a few days can fly, and 
in places will attack a horse m such numbers 
and with such ferocity as to kill him, from 
irritation and loss of blood. I have never 
been able to ascertain what insect deposits 
the said spittle. Can 1 be informed through 
the Rural J— J. S. V., Muscogee, Indian 
Territory, June 13, 1873. 
The spittle-like substance found upon 
grass, weeds, and frequently upon various 
kinds of trees, is produced by a genus of 
insects belonging to the Ceroopts familly of 
the order Homoptera, or whole-winged bugs. 
The larvae of these bugs suck out the juices 
of the plants, and, after passing through, it is 
deposited about them in the form which lias 
been termed frog-spittle; hence the more 
common name of these insects, “ Frog-spittle 
Tea, as Grown in the South, is said to 
lack the indispensable theme for which it 
is alone valuable — that it does not, when 
Steeped, yield the flavor or fragrance of the 
Chinese production, is this true l Can any 
of our Southern readers send us a sample of 
American-grown tea ? 
