call note for its mate. The anteunro of tho males 
are often more than twice the length of the body 
(as shown in Fig. 1); thosoof the females much 
shorter (Fig. 5): the bodies of the latter are 
somewhat broader and usually a little longer. 
The scientific name of this insect, is Mnnoham- 
mus fitill.al.or. It. is of a brownish color, varie¬ 
gated and mottled with spots of gray. It infests 
the pine, especially the whito pine, appearing to 
prefer working among tho branches instead of 
on tho stem, as usual with the larger kinds of 
wood-borers. Eight species of Monohammi have 
boon described as inhabiting tho United States, 
but it is quite probable that some of them will 
have to be suppressed and considered only as 
local variotiea of the species to which they are 
now considered closely allied. This is very likely 
to bo the case with the M. clamalor and Oret/nm* 
ensis of Leconte, which vory closely resemble 
the M. scutillatw of S.vy, which is found brood¬ 
ing in pine trees from Maine to Oregon, although 
those found in tho Far West are generally con¬ 
sidered as either clamator or Ongonentifo, ac¬ 
cording to the absence or abundance or light- 
colored markings upon the thorax and wing-cov¬ 
ers. The non-scientitic reader, however, cares 
very little about the points of difference between 
species and varieties of insects, his interest ex¬ 
tending scarcely beyond the faot that such in¬ 
jects exist, and are more or less destructive to 
certain kinds of trees.—[To be continued. 
From each tuberclo there projects one or more 
hairs. This caterpillar is found at this season 
of tho year within apple loaves, the two halves 
of which are folded together. On tearing the 
edges of a loaf apart, they are found to be fast¬ 
ened together with silk, and the leaf to bo more 
or less eaten. This caterpillar is found in groat 
numbers in some parts of this State, and is 
thought to injure the apple trees seriously. 
9. A hair-worm, about 5 inches in length, 
found inside of apples. This is a parasite on 
the Codling-moth, and a complete knowledge of 
its history is very desirable. Yours, respect¬ 
fully, ,T. Henry Comstock. 
Important roaults are expected of this com¬ 
mittee, with .such a man as Prof. Comstock at 
its head. Col. Brooks of Pearl Creek, who was 
Chairman of tho Committee last year, may be 
credited largely for this movement. This gen¬ 
tleman is on the committee this year, and will 
not be idle, from tho faot, ns he states it. “ that 
he hates huge.’’ Chari.es A. Green. 
Clifton, if. Y. 
into each nest while the hen is sitting, to keep 
off insects. 
Do not put more eggs under any hen than she 
can cover. Each egg should be marked. A 
light ring of ink, near the end of the egg, is a 
good mark, and will show at a glauce if any 
other is laid in with them. If the mark is made 
round the middle of the egg, it may impede the 
hatching, as the shell breaks there. Each nest 
should be looked into every day. If any eggs 
get broken, carefully cleanse the nest and wash 
any soiled eggs, or they will putrify, spoil all the 
eggs left, and quickly breed vermin. Keep food 
and water always accessible to sitting hens, 
otherwise they may stay off their nests too long 
searching for those or waiting to have their 
wants supplied. Henry Hales. 
From the above, it may readily be seon that 
the names alone of the different native species 
would fill several columns of the It urai, Nf.w- 
POULTRY WINTERED IN STABLES WITH 
CATTLE. 
I have lately been living in Canada, and there 
witnessed the keeping of hens in winter-quarters 
in the cow and horse stables, or in a place where 
the breath of the animals keeps the air warm. 
In most instances there is notfiing to prevent 
the fowls from running behind the cattle, in the 
day time, and picking and scratching among the 
dung and litter, nor have I over hoard any com¬ 
plaints of lice or any other evil results affecting 
the stock on this account. 1 should, however, 
be pleased to learn whether any one knows of 
any objection to tho placing of a hen - roost 
under the same roof that covers cattle. Of 
course, tho poultry need not be admitted into 
the cattle stable, but there might be, in the par¬ 
tition, an opening largo enough to allow the 
warmth from the cows and horses to boat the 
hen-house and other poultry compartmonts, 
which might be placed al one end of a very 
large barn, or oven in a basement connected 
with it. Whoro a great number of animals are 
stabled, tho air is quite as warm as in buildings 
in which fires are kept; and as, iu the vory cold 
and snow-clad regions about Quebec, the hens 
will lay all winter, under the circumstances 
stated, it would bo well, if there are any well- 
grounded objections to having poultry in tho 
immediate vicinity of cattlo, to havo them ex¬ 
plained. 
Many years ago, when a boy, at home in En¬ 
gland, I recollect my mother had a regular roost 
for her fowls, but there was one rooster and 
some liens which left the crowded hen-house, 
whereabout 100 birds were generally kept, and 
this small colony took up their quarters over a 
cow house, on a part of a floor largo enough to 
prevent the hen-dung from dropping on the 
cows, and these few fowls -about a dozen or 
fifteen—used to lay more eggs than the whole 
lot still remaining in the proper roost. In En¬ 
gland winters aro very mild, and poultry range 
all the year round, without restriction, on farm 
premises. Georoe Gardner. 
Figure 2. 
Yorkf.r, consequently we can do little more than 
mention a few of tho most common and best 
known, at this time, and give a brief history of 
their operations, and this, too, mainly for the 
purpose of calling attention to a large and very 
interesting family of insects. \Vo may, more¬ 
over, add that tho 
as a whole, 
remarkable 
their large 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS, 
The Western New York Horticultural Society 
has appointed an Entomological Committee for 
special work, with Prof. J. Henry Comstock of 
Cornell University, as Chairman. Prof. Com¬ 
stock was present, at tho last meeting of the 
Society, and delivered an able addroHb on this 
important subject. 
Wo have received the following communica¬ 
tion, which will bo of interest to all producers 
and fruit-growers, and it is hoped that they will 
forward to him tho rosulta of any observations 
made: 
Cornele University, ) 
Department ok Entomoi.gov, Ithaca, N. Y. f 
Dear Sir:—Y our co-oporalion in the accumu¬ 
lation of facts respecting our noxious and bene¬ 
ficial insects, is earnestly desired. If you will 
•communicate to mo any observations which you 
havo made, or may make during tho coming 
season, I will ornbody those that are now or 
seem important iu my report to the Western N. 
Y. Horticultural Society, which will be published 
next winter, giving you duo credit for your ob¬ 
servations. I will also ho greatly indebted to 
you if you will send to this University such 
entomological specimens (and by this I mean 
& Fig. 4. ^ 
and elegance of A /*•. 
form, and many 
of the species are _ 
bedecked with tho igure 
most brilliant colors imaginable, no burnished 
gold or silver excelling them in beauty or unique 
ornamentation. 
PRIONUS, 
Tho broad-neckcd Prion us (Prionus la/icoUis) ! 
is probably one of the most common of the very 
largo spccieB of Longicorns inhabiting the East¬ 
ern States. Tho male of this species is shown 
in Fig. 1, and the female m Fig. 2; but the 
former is quite variable iu size, an occasional 
specimen being found scarcely more than one- 
half tho length of the one from which our 
illustration was made. They appear early in 
summer, and may he frequently met with in the 
woods, the female actively engaged depositing 
her eggs on the bark of some large tree, just 
under a leaf or leaf-mold close down to the roots. 
Slio is not at all timid while ovipositing, as we 
havo reasons for knowing whilo watching the 
operation at close range. The grubs which hatch 
from these eggs bore into tho tree, and in¬ 
crease from year to year, but for how many 
years before reaching maturity, no one us yet 
knows. Judging, however, from the length of 
their burrows and the kinds of wood Which they 
eat, it must require a long period for them to 
pass through their various transformations. 
This broad-necked Prionus inhabits the pop¬ 
lars, oaks, and probably other kinds of forest 
trees, but, wo behove, has not yet been found in¬ 
festing cultivated fruit trees. There are also a 
half-dozen olosely allied species of Prionidx, all 
Of them wood-borers, and of a rich rnahogany- 
brown color. The California Prionus (/’. C'ali- 
foruicus ,) infests the sterns of the pine tree, and, 
we havo taken specimens from the heavy-wooded 
pine (P. ponder oxa), as the beetles were gnaw¬ 
ing their way out through the hark. 
SPfKE-NECKEO ERQATES. 
This monstrous species of Longicorn inhabits 
Northern California and Oregon, and perhaps 
other regions on the Pacific Slope, but we have 
only received it from the localities named. It is 
of a light mahogany color, and of the form and 
size shown in Fig. 3. which represents a female. 
The males have a rough, almost black thorax, 
with aides not so much rounded and not so desti¬ 
tute of spines as tho female. The males are 
quite rare, and aro to bo found in few cabinets, 
but the females seem to be quite abundant. We 
do not know what kind or kinds of trees this 
insect inhabits, but hope some of our readers, hi 
the regions where it is found, will lo k it up and 
inform us for the benefit of science. 
THE TICKLER BEETLE. 
This handsome insect is supposed to have been 
given its common name on account of its habit of 
throwing its long antenme forward and touching 
the baik of the log or tree upon which it is walk- 
' iug, producing a light, ticking sound, probably a 
THE LONGICORNS, 
Wherever trees grow, there the entomologist 
is sure to find more or less beetles, known under 
the general name of “ Longicorns,'’ a name sig¬ 
nifying long horn, in allusion to the great length 
of the antenme of most of the species of this 
great family of noxious insects. There is an 
immense number of species, all of which live in 
their ItirvaL state in the woody parts of plants. 
Probably there is no known kind of tree which, 
in its native country, is not preyed upon by gome 
kind of longicorn, and many havo half-a-dozen 
or more of sueh enemies. In the tropics, where 
plants grow rapidly, insects keep pace with vege¬ 
tation, not only in num- ^ 
bera but also in size, and , J 
the timber borers are, A '■•Lk'JL' (5 
in some instances, of S r J'1/ 
prodigious dimensions, * 
measuring several inches 
in length, and nearly or V 
quite an inch in diam- 3 
eter. Our little apple-tree 
and locust borers, of the a p 
Northern climates, are *1 
but gimlets by the eido loll t v 
of inch augers in com- 
parisou with their allies r \ 
of the tropics. But no / 4 
one will wish for more of \\ M 
these pests than we now 
possess, for our euto- dp 
mologista have already A 3 
named and described ^ 10, !• 
over five hundred and fifty species which inhabit 
the United States. They are classed under the 
general family name of Cennnbyridctt, and then 
subdivided into one hundred and sixty-foui 
genera, according to the latest classification and 
arrangement of the Coleoptera or beetles ol 
North America. 
