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CORNELL UNIVERSITY

 

 

THE
Hlower Ueterinary Library
FOUNDED BY
ROSWELL P. FLOWER

for the use of the

N. Y. STATE VETERINARY COLLEGE
1897

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Cornell University Library
SB 824.N7F54

iii
 

 

 

 

 

 

FIRST REPORT

_ 77" UBRARY
NYS. VETERINARY COLLEGE
ON THE IHACA, N.Y,

NOXIOUS, BENEFICIAL AND OTHER INSECTS,

 

OF THE

STATE OF NEW YORK,

MADE TO THE STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, PURSUANT TO AN
APPROPRIATION FOR THIS PURPOSE FROM THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE.

BY ASA FITCH, M. D.,

~~
ENTOMOLOGIST OF THE N. ¥. STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY; MEMBER OF THE
ENTOMOLOGIOQAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE, OF PENNSYLVANIA, ETC.

 

ALBANY:
C. VAN BENTRUYSEN, PRINTER TO THE LEGISLATURE.

No. 407 Broadway,
1855.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
State of New=Mors.

 

 

No. 151.

IN ASSEMBLY, APRIL 8, 1855.

 

REPORT

Of Asa Fitch, M. D., on the Noxious, Beneficial, and other
Insects of the State of New-York.

Executive Committee of the New-York State Agricultural Society:

I herewith submit a Report upon the Noxious and other Insects
of the State of New-York, particularly such as are injurious to
fruit trees, pursuant to your instructions, delivered to me in May
last. I also present specimens of the several insects herein
described, and of the vegetation as depredated upon by them,
from which drawings may be taken for illustrating this report,
and which are thereafter to be deposited in the Entomological
department of the Museum of the Society.

It has been common in treatises upon economical entomology,
to arrange the several species in their scientific order. Although
this mode of arrangement has its advantages, it presupposes such
an acquaintance with scientific entomology as but very few indi-
viduals in our country possess. A person who meets with a
worm, say, mining a cavity in.the leaves of the apple tree, and
consuming their parenchyma, knows not whether that worm is the
larva of a Coleopterous, a Lepidopterous, or some other Order of
insects, and consequently is at a loss in what part of a work upon
noxious insects, arranged in the usual manner, to look for an
account of it. Even an experienced entomologist would be
equally embarrassed in the case we have supposed, and would be

1
\

2 INTRODUCTION.

unable to decide whether such worm was a leaf-mining moth of
the Order Lepidoptera, or a Prickly beetle (Hispa) of the Order
Coleoptera—so closely, according to accounts, do the larve of
these widely separated groups resemble each other. I have there-
fore pursued a different mode of arrangement. As the insects
which infest our fruit trees occupy the chief part of this report,
they are first considered. Commencing with those which occur
upon the Apple tree, I speak in succession of those which affect
the root, the trunk, the twigs, the leaves, the flowers, and the
fruit. In the same order, insects which occur upon the Pear, the
Peach, the Plum, and the Cherry, are successively taken up.
From our Fruit trees I pass to some species of much interest
which have been examined, infesting our Forest trees, our Field
crops, and our Garden vegetables. This mode of arrangement of
the several topics will be perfectly intelligible to every reader;
and, aided by the brief heading which precedes the account of
each species, will enable him to turn at once to any insect which
he wishes to find, which is here described.

In a field of such extent, and comprising such a multitude of
objects, it will not be expected that the researches of a single
season can suffice to bring this subject to anything approaching to
completeness. I think it is Saint Pierre who remarks that he had
made it a point to examine the several insects which made their
appearance upon a particular rose bush in his garden, and at the
end of thirty years he continued to find new kinds which he had
never seen upon the bush before. And however assiduously one
may investigate the history of a particular species during the
period of its appearance one season, if he returns to the same
insect another year, additional traits in its habits commonly con-
tinue to be discovered, equal in importance frequently to those
which were first noticed. Those species which I have been able
to investigate since I received your instructions, including several
which have never been noticed in our country before, will be
found fully reported in the following pages. The history of some
important depredators upon our American fruit trees, the Plum
weevil, for instance, and the Canker worm, which I have not as
yet had time and favorable opportunities for examining, I hope to
present on a future occasion,
INTRODUCTION.

As it is the primary object of this report to diffuse information
upon an important topic with which very few are at present con-
versant, I have throughout endeavored to treat the subject in a
plain, familiar manner, avoiding any unnecessary resort to techni-
cal language, and using no terms but such as will be found clearly
defined in dictionaries which are in every school district in our
State. A few words, such as antenne, thorax, abdomen, and elytra,
which are so common in works upon insects that no one can
expect to obtain the slightest acquaintance with this science with-
out becoming familiar with them, I have employed, as it would
savor of fastidiousness to substitute in their stead the correspond-
ing English terms of horns or feelers, chest, body, and wing-
covers, which applied to insects are modified from their common
meaning, and the general reader will encounter much the same
task in familiarizing himself to this modified signification that he
will have in learning the more definite and convenient technical
terms and their signification.

Those portions of the report which are designed for perusal
only when one has specimens before him of which he is desirous
to ascertain the names, are inserted in a type of a smaller size.
The dimensions of the several insects, larve, &c., are expressed
in inches and the fractional parts of an inch, 1.25 thus implying
an inch and a quarter, 0.75 seventy-five hundredths, or three-
fourths of an inch, &c. 2

With these explanations I submit to you this report, with the
hope that it may aid in rendering this branch of science more
known to our citizens and available in adding to their comfort and
welfare.

ASA FITCH.

Fitch’s Point, (East Greenwich P. O.,) March 14, 1855.

P. S. The Legislature having made provisions for a continu-
ance of this work, as another report will be presented the coming
year, a number of species which are in a state of forwardness for
publication, and which we had contemplated inserting in the pre-
sent document, are withheld in the crowded state of the Society’s
volume of Transactions the present year, with the hope that we
4 INTRODUCTION. -

shall be able to obtain additional facts to render our account of

these species more complete and exact, and also with the antici-

pation that we shall be able to accompany them with suitable

illustrations, which could not be got ready for insertion in the

present volume. A. F.
August 7, 1855.

[Nore.-—This report is also published in the ‘‘ Transactions of the New-York State
Agricultural Society,” vol. xiv, pp. 705-880.]
INSECTS INFESTING FRUIT TREES.

1. THE APPLE.

AFFECTING THE ROOT.

Wart-like excrescences growing upon the roots, sometimes of an enormous size;
containing in their crevices exceedingly minute lice, oftenaccompanied with
larger winged ones having their bodies covered with a white cotton-like
matter.

The ApriE-RooT Birout, Pemphigus Pyri. Synonyms, Eriosoma Pyri, Firon,
Fourth Report of the N. Y. State Cabinet of Nat. Hist., A. D. 1851, (Sen-
ate Document, No. 30) p. 68. Pemphigus Americanus? Wauxer, List
of Homopterous Insects in tue British Museum, 1852, p. 1057.

Upon the 29th day of October, 1849, I was occupied in setting
out a number of young Apple trees which had been brought me
from the nursery at Glens Falls, Warren county, when, on the
roots of one of these trees, I observed some very singular excrescen-
ces. I was conjecturing as to the cause of this remarkable dis-
ease, which appeared to be sufficient to destroy the tree, when,
nearly concealed in one of the largest excrescences, a woolly Plant-
louse was perceived, and on further inspection, a second one was
found, similarly secreted—one of these being dead, the other alive.
And on examining the crevices of this excrescence with a magni-
fying glass, they were discovered to be occupied by numerous
lice, so minute as to be wholly imperceptible to the naked eye.
These, there can scarely be a doubt, were the young of the larger
winged lice, first noticed.

Upon the wing, in groves, late in the autumn, I have captured
numerous individuals of this same species, where no apple trees
were growing within a half mile. These were probably bred
upon the roots of the Thorn or the Shad-bush (melanchier
6 APPLE-ROOT BLIGHT—ITS EXTENT.

Canadensis), and it may possibly prove to be the fact, that this in-
sect is not limited to the Pomee family, but infests the roots of
other deciduous forest and fruit trees.

This affection of the roots of Apple trees has occasionally been
noticed in our agricultural periodicals, and various enquiries have
been made respecting the insect which occasions them, which en-
quiries have received no satisfactory answers, for the reason that
the insect is a new species, different from any hitherto described ,
in books or known to our nurserymen and fruit growers. A com-
munication from J. Fulton, jr., of Chester county, Pa., in Down-
ing’s Horticulturist, vol. iii, p. 394, gives additional evidence of
this being a common disease over a large extent of our country,
and causing great losses to our nurserymen. He says: “ The
main purpose of my writing is to call attention to an important
matter, and to ask for light upon the subject. In taking up trees
this fall (1848), I notice that some of the roots will be full of ex-
crescences, or warts, and covered with a minute white, woolly in-
sect; and that some of them find ludgment on the trunks of the
trees, in the partly closed wounds made by pruning. As the
trees seemed vigorous, I paid little attention to the subject, until
another nurseryman called my attention to the subject, and stated,
that not being able to supply the demand for Apple trees, he had
been at several nurseries in this State to purchase, and was hard
set to get a supply, because so many proved diseased in this way,
and that thousands had to be thrown away. Since this, a young
friend of mine has returned from Virginia, where he had sold and
delivered several thousand trees; and he informs me that his
trees were very generally so, and that he was not aware that the
appearance was. at all prejudicial to the health or value of the
trees, nor did the propogator of them seem to be aware of their
hurtful nature. Can this inseet be the ‘woolly aphis? And if
80, what can nurserymen do to get rid of a pest which, unfortu-
nately, is by no means rarely seen? I have detected the presence

of the insect mnch the most frequently on trees which grow ina gra-
velly or ‘slaty soil, and seldom on trees growing in a mellow loam.”

A short description of this species was published in my cata-
logue of the Homopterous Insects, in the State Cabinet of Natural
APPLE-ROOT BLIGHT—ITS GENERIC NAME. q

History, under the name of Eriosoma Pyri. All those Plant lice
which were formerly included in Dr. Leach’s genus Lriosoma,
which have all the veins of the wings simple, and those in the
disk of the hind pair two in number, now furm the genus Pem-
phigus of Hartig (Germar’s Zeitsch. vol. lil. p. 366), to which
genus it is therefure necessary to refer this insect.* Several of
the other species of this genus, as well as the present one, are
known to infest the roots of plants. I entertain scarcely a doubt
that this is the same species which Mr. Walker soon afterwards
described, from specimens obtained in Nova Scvtia, under the
name of Pemphigu Americanus; though the length which he as-

signs to it (four lines) is rather greater than any individuals I
have met with.

To our nurserymen it obviously belongs, to fully elucidate the
history of this species, and the disease which it occasions, as they
enjoy opportunities for observing it such as belong to no other
profession. The knots, or excrescences, occur both upon the large

*Mr. Westwood, in his Arcana Entomologia, vol. ii. p. 68, observes that the name Bryso-
erypta (Byrsocrypta) of Haliday must be retained for Hartig’s genus Pemphigus. And on
the next page we are told: ‘The generic name of Eriosoma (Leach) must take place of:
that of Pemphigus, and be restricted to such species as differ from Aphis bursarius.” Thero
is a contradiction here, which I can only account for by supposing the distinguished author,
who is so accurate a nomenclator, has inadvertently placed the name Pemphiyzus in the lat-
ter quotation, where he intended to insert Schtzoneura. ‘The first division of the old Lin-
nean genus Aphis appears to have been made in 1819, when Samouelle (in his Entomologist’s
Companion, p- 232) published the genus Eriosoma from Dr. Leach’s MSS., with the “ EB,
Mali, the Aphis tanigera of authors,’’ or the well-known Apple tree blight, as its type.
Samouelle’s little work, truly a ‘‘ Useful Cumpanion” iu its day, probably was not circulated
upon the Continent, and entomologists there seem to have been uninformed of its cuutents. .
Several synonyms, in consequence, have unfortunately been introduced intv the science. Five
years afterwards, Blut (in the Memvirs of the Linnzean Society of Calvados, vol. i. p. 114)
named the same insect Myzorylus Mali, which nawe has been extensively circulated by
French writers. Still more recently, Martig (ia Germur's Zeitschrift, vol. ili. p. 367) hag
proposed the name Svkizoneura for this same genus; whilst Macquart has bestowed the name
Eriosoma upon a genus of flies, ia the Order Dip‘era. Mr. Westwool is clearly right in re-
taining Dr. Leach’s name for the genus having Aphis lanigera as its type.

With regard to the statement first made above, I would ubserve, Mr. Hualiday first proposed
the genus Byrsocrypta, if I mistake nut, in the Anais of Nat. list. for the yeur 1839, page
189, placing under this genus the Aphis Uloni of Geoffroy, and a new species which he names
pallida, We hence regard the Ulmi and not the bursarius us the type of Mr. Maliday’s
genus. Consequently the name &yrsocrypta must be retained for the genus which has Ulmé
for its type, namely, the Tetraneura of Martig; whilst bis genus Pemphigus, with bursarius
ag its type, is entitled tu stand. I therefure give our American species under this name.
8 APPLE-ROOT BLIGHT——EXCRESCENCES DESCRIBED.

roots of the Apple treeand their more slender, fibrous, and capillar¥
branches. In the single instance in which they have come under
my notice, the main root of the young tree was half an inch in
diameter, half a span below the surface, at which point it was
two-thirds surrounded by an excrescence two inches in length and
three inches in diameter and height, and connected to the root
by a neck much smaller than its base. (The accompanying
figure is a view of the back of this excre-
scence, reduced to one fourth its actual
size, and one of the small fibrous roots,
with an excrescence thereon. The origi-
nal specimen is preserved in the Entomo-
ee | (VER logical department of the Museum of the
7  \. State Agricultural Society.) It is of an
. » irregular, knobbed form. Its surface is
of the same yellowish-brown color as the bark of the root, and is
everywhere crowded with little round elevations, from the size of
a mustard seed to that of a buck shot or a small pea. On cutting
one of the projecting knobs, it is found to be of a very hard,
woody texture, and without any cavities in its center. Upon the
main root, between this and the surface of the earth, was a second
similar excrescence, but smaller ; whilst upon several of the small
capillary fibres were similar tubers, from the size of a pea to that
of a bullet. ;

   

These excrescences are doubtless formed in much the same way
that galls and other morbid enlargements in the structure of vege-
tables are produced. The parent insect insinuates herself down-
wards along the sifle of the root, as it would appear, at the close
of autumn, and there deposits her stock of eggs, and perishes.
These eggs hatch when the ground becomes warm the following
spring, and the young lice insert their beaks into the bark of the
root to extract their nourishment therefrom. Their punctures
produce a kind of irritation, which causes an increased flow of
fluids to the spot where they are located. This excessive amount
of sap thus diverted to this part oceasions an increased growth of
the wood, and results in the enormous development whieh we
have witnessed. As in other cases in this family, these lice pro-
bably continue to multiply without any intercourse of the sexes
-

APPLE-ROOT BLIGHT——INSECT DESCRIBED. 9

until autumn, when winged individuals are developed, which
leave their retreat, and coming abroad into the open air, copu-
late, and search out new situations in which to plant their species.
Others, as I infer from the lateness of the season when I found
young lice upon the excrescences, remain in their abode through
the winter, to continue their operations upon the same roots
the following year.

The young larve, as appears from the hasty notes and sketch which I was able to
take whilst they were still alive, were scarcely four hundredths of an inch in length,
of an oval form and a pale dull yellow color. Their legs were
-shortish; robust, and nearly equal in length. The antenne ap-
peared mush like a fourth pair of legs, being robust, and about
the same length as the legs; they seemed to be five-jointed, the
joints successively diminishing in diameter, the one next to the
last being longest. From the tip of the abdomen of each of
these young lice protruded a white filament, or short thread of
flocculent cotton-like matter, variously curled and crinkled in
different individuals. The whiteness of this filament rendered
it perceptible to the naked eye, and served to show the situation of the insect as it
moved about upon the surface of the excrescence, when otherwise it would have been
wholly invisible.

 

The mature winged individuals are nearly or quite a quarter of an inch in length
to the tips of the closed wings, and these, when spread, measure thirty-eight hund-
dreths of an inch across. Thebody, legs and antennz are coal black; the antennz
are about half the length of the body, and the head and abdomen on its back
arecovered with a dense mass of snow white or bluish white flocculent down. The
upper wings are transparent and slightly smoky, as though fine dust had settled upon
them. This cloudiness is rather more dense at their tips. The veins are black,
faintly margined with dusky brown. The rib vein is robust, and from its base to the
stigma very slightly approaches the margin, it then gradually diverges from it to the
pase of the fourth vein, where it is more distant from the margin than in any other
part of its course; it thence curves slightly towards the margin, and joins it at a very
acute angle, the margin being commonly slightly contracted, or obtusely notched, at
the point of junction. The first vein curves slightly towards the tip on its basal part,
and then runs straight, or near its apex curves almost imperceptibly towards the
inner margin. The second vein is rather more robust than the first, is thickest in
its middle, at its base curved towards the tip, middle portion straight, apical third
curving towards the fnner margin; its base is nearer to the base of the first vein than
to the outer margin, and it is about seven times as far from the first vein at the apex
as it is at the base. The third vein is rather more slender than the first, nearly
straight, sub-parallel with the second vein two-thirds of its length, its basal third
abortive and imperceptible except in a particular reflection of the light, base about
the same distance from the base of the second vein that this is from the first, apex
nearer the apex of the second vein than this is to the first. The fourth vein is more
10 APPLE-ROOT BLIGHT—REMEDIES.

robust than the first and third, thickest at base and gradually more slender thence
to the tip, basal portion gently curved, the remaining part straight, its apex nearer
that of the third than that of the rib vein, about the same distance from the apex of
the rib vein that the apex of the third vein is from that of the second. Margiual vein
robust and black from the base to the stigma, very sleader and black along the outer
margin of the stigma, slender and brown from the stigma around the tip of the wing
and along its inner margin to the apex of the first vein, thence robust and black,
gradually becoming brown towards the base, stigma dark smoky brown, oblong, its
opposite sides nearly parallel, abruptly converging to an acute pvint at each end, the
basal end more acute than the apical, and slightly attenuated. Lower wings more
clear and hyaline, marginal vein and outer filament of the rib vein pale brown, inner
filament black and very gradually divergiug from the outer, both filaments undu-
lated beyond the base of the second vein; the two discoidal veins blackish, the first
slightly undulated, its apex the same distance from the apex of the second that this
is from that of the inner filament of the rib vein. , '

An abnormal variety has fallen under my notice in one instance, in which the apex
of the fourth vein of the right wing was slightly forked.

When a tree ceases to grow with its usual vigor, and its leaves
are of a paler and more yellow hue than usual, and no borers in
the truuk, or other obvious cause of disease can be discovered,
the presence of this blight upon its roots may be suspected, and
the earth should be removed from them sufficiently to ascertain
whether execrescences such as have been above deseribed are
formed upon them, and if discovered, it will be well to clear
away the earth from around them as much as can conveniently
be done, and pour strong soapsuds upon them, that it may satu-
rate the crevices in the excrescences, for there is little doubt that
every insect that is reached and wetted by this solution will im-
mediately perish. And ashes should be freely mingled with the
soil with which the roots are covered. It is probable that by a
resort to these measures an affected tree can in most instances be
cured.

It is chiefly in nurseries, upon the roots of young trees taken
up to be transplanted, that the blight will be detected. In con-
Sequence of it thousands of trees in our country have undoubted-
ly been thrown away. But there is probably no necessity for
rejecting such trees. If the root be dipped in soap suds, unless
the lice upon it are a much hardier race than the kindred which
dwell upon the leaves and twigs of trees, they will at once be de-
APPLE-TRUNK BORER—ITS EXTENT. 11

stroyed, and such trees may then be set out with as much safety
as though they had never been affected. This, at all events, is a
point which any nurseryman can easily ascertain by experiment.
Mr. Downing recommends the mixing of a shovelfull of ashes
with the earth in which such trees are set, which may be equally
as effectual as an immersion of the roots in soap suds.

AFFECTING THE TRUNK.

Excavating a round flat cavity under the bark near the root, and then boring a
cylindrical hole upward in the solid wood: a yellowish or white, fuotless,
-eylindrical grub, broadest anteriorly, with a brown head and black jaws.

The Appts Tree Borer. Saperda bivittata, Say. Synonym, Saperda can
dida? Faxnicivs. ;

This is one of the worst enemies against which our*apple trees:
have tu contend. Itismuch more common everywhere in oyr
country than is generally supposed. The editor of the Ohio Cul-
tivator (vol. x, page 212,) speaks of it asa New England insect,
which has never been. seen as yet, to his knowledge, in Ohio.
There can be no doubt, however, that it is common in that State,
for I met with it last autumn in the orchards of Michigan and
Illinvis, and am informed by the editor of the Prairie Farmer
that ithas fur many years been found in the neighborhoud cf
Chicago. Specimens of the beetle have also been sent me from
Arkansas; and as this is a native insect, which breeds in the dif-
ferent species of thorn, in the mountain ash, and the shad-bush,
there is a strong probability that it is as widely spread over our
country as these trees are. And notwithstanding it has been so
often noticed in our agricultural and other papers, many of our
citizens are yet wholly unaware of its existence, and others who
are familiar with the published accounts, suppose it occurs only
in some distant localities, and are wholly unsuspicious that their
own neighborhoods and their own trees are suffering from it. We
have reason to believe that in many instances where orchards are
dwindling and dieing fiom the attacks of this insect, their pro-
prietors suppose there is something in the soil or local situation
which prevents their fruit trees from being more vigoruus and
12 APPLE-TRUNK BORER—ITS EXTENT.

flourishing. In many sections of our country, it is the current
opinion that particular localities are unfavorable to the growth of
fruit trees, and this opinion has almost invariably arisen from the
fact that orchards planted in these situations have not been thrifty
and productive. Now there is a strong probability that, at least
in many cases, those failures have been caused by the attacks of
insects, and that these localities which are in such bad repute are
in reality as well adapted for fruit culture as any others in their
vicinity. The justness of these remarks will be evident from the
following case: A lot at East Greenwich, Washington county,
recently purchased by Dr. Henry K. McLean, had ten young
apple trees standing upon it, which are about ten feet high. The
bad condition of these trees was noticed by the doctor, when bar-
gaining for the land, and he was told by the former owner that he
must not expect fruit trees to do well there, the soil and situation
(a terraced flat of gravel, bordering upon Batten kill,) being
inadapted to them. Other residents in the neighborhood reite-
rated the same statement. The doctor, on inspecting the trees
more closely, soon afterwards, discovered that they were badly
infested with the horer, and going to work with his knife, he last
spring dug out and destroyed from these ten trees, over sixty
worms, as he assures me, although the statement is almost incredi-
ble. Several of the trees were almost girdled, and would have
been quite so in a short time. These trees now show for them-
selves that during the past summer they have scarcely been
equalled in the rapidity of their growth and their thrifty condi-
tion, by any others in the country. And it is thus rendered evi-
dent that the gardens and yards of that neighborhood are-well
adapted for the cultivation at least of the apple tree, and that the
bad repute in which they have heretofore been held has been
wholly unmerited.

Elmer Baldwin, Esq., of Farm Ridge, La Salle county, Illinois, an
intelligent fruit culturist who has had much experience with
some of the insects infesting our fruit trees, and*to whom I am
indebted for several interesting tacts relating to this and other
species, informs me, that he sat out fifty apple trees in the year
1838, and in 1843 when they had grown to about three inches in
APPLE-TRUNK BORER—ITS EGGS. 13

diameter, a neighbor enquired if the borer was among his trees,
saying it had killed nearly half the trees in his orchard. This
was the first time his attention was directed to this insect, and on
examination he found that almost every one of his trees had from
one to five worms in them; and several were destroyed, beyond
all possibility of saving them. In one instance he has found
twenty of these worms in one tree. For a few years past they
have not been so numerous in his vicinity as they previously
were. He has kept a pretty accurate account of his fruit trees,
and finds that of all the apple trees he has planted, he has lost
one in every eight from the borer. The insect is more fond of
the quince, even, than it is of the apple, insomuch that he has
found it impossible to grow this fruit, the stalks, notwithstanding
all the care he has given them, being almost invariably riddled
by the borer. Though-he has set out very many quince trees
during the past sixteen years, he has never been able to get but a
dozen quinces, and these were gathered in the fall of 1853, when
all kinds of fruit were so abundant in his section of country.

The accounts which have been given, and the ideas that are
prevalent respecting the burrow which this worm excavates in
the trees which it attacks are very imperfect, and in part errone-
ous. It is the common opinion that it simply bores a cylindrical
passage upwards in the solid wood of the tree, which passage it
keeps clean and empty. If this were the case, a constant effort,
I think, would be required to prevent this footless worm from
falling to the bottom of ifs burrow. As we shall see, that part
of its operations whereby it does the most injury to the tree, has
been hitherto overlooked.

The winged beetle makes its appearance every year early in
June. Like other species of the family of long horned beetles
(Cerambycide) to which it pertains, it flies only by night. In the
course of this and the following month the female deposits her
eggs, one ina place, upon the bark, low down, at or very near
the surface of the earth; but when these beetles are numerous,
some of their eggs are placed higher up, particularly in the axils
where the lower limbs proceed from the trunk. From each of
these eggs is hatched a minute grub, or more properly a maggot,

°
14 APPLE-TRUNK BORER—ITS BURROW.

for it has no feet. It is of a white color, with a yellowish tinge
to its head. This maggot eats its way directly downwards in the
bark, producing a discoloration where it is situated. If the outer
dark colored surface of the bark be scraped off with a knife the
last of August or fore part of September, so as to expose the clean
white bark beneath, as can easily be done without any injury to
the tree, wherever there is a young worm it can readily be detected.
A little blackish spot, rather larger than a kernel of wheat, will be
discovered wherever an egg has been deposited, and by cutting
slightly into the bark the worm will be found. It gradually
works its way onwards through the bark, increasing in size as it
advances, nntil it reaches the sap-wood; here it takes up its abode,
feeding upon and consuming the soft wood, hereby forming a
smooth round flat cavity, the size of a dollar or larger, imme- -
diately under the bark. It keeps its burrow clean by pushing
its excrement out of a small crevice or opening through the bark,
which it makes at the lower part of its burrow, and if this orifice
becomes clogged up it opens another. This excrement resembles
new fine saw dust, and enables us readily to detect the presence
of the worm by the little heap of this substance which is accumu-
lated on the ground, commonly covering the hole out of which
it is extruded, and by particles of it which adhere around the
orifice where it is higher up, or in the fork of the tree; the outer
surface of the bark also often becomes slightly depressed, or flat-
tened, over this cavity.

When the worm is half grown, or more, as if conscious it would
now fourm a dainty tid bit for a woodpecker or any other insectiv-
orous bird, and that it was daily becoming less secure in its pre-
sent situation, by reason of it#burrow being so large, and forming
so much of a cavity as to be liable to be detected by any scrutiny
made on the outside of the tree, it seeks to place itself in a less
exposed situation, by gnawing a cylindrical retreat for itself up-
wards in the solid heart-wood of the tree. Some of its habits are
now reversed. The flat cavity which it was so careful to keep
clean it is now intent upon filling up and obliterating, as far as it
is able, that it may not be discovered. It ceases to eject its cast-
ings, and now crowds and packs them in the lower part of its
APPLE-TRUNK. BORER—ITS BURROW. 15

burrow, as it bores a round hole, upward, in the solid wood,
This hole runs slightly inwards, towards the centre of the tree,
and then outwards, so that when it is completed its upper end is
perfurated through the sap- wood, and is only covered by the bark.
The lower flat portion of its burrow is by this
time stuffed in every part with its castings,
whilst the long cylindrical passage above is
stillempty. As if fearful that these castings,
being so fine and dry, might sift,out, and thus
leave an open passage for some marauding in-
sect or other enemy to crawl in and destroy it
during its defenceless pupa state, and that it
W may, during this period of its life, be securely
“held in the middle of its cylindrical hole, the
worm now turns itself around, (as I think, for
it is impossible to conjecture how otherwise
this long round cavity becomes filled in the
manner in which we usually find it,) and with
its jaws strips a quantity of woody fibres from
the inner walls of the middle part of its bur-
row, thus enlarging this part sufficiently to give
it ample room to repose here in its pupa state,
when its body becomes more short and broad
than it has previously been. With these fibres
of wood, which are from a half to three-fourths of an inch in
length, it firmly plugs up all the lower part of its burrow above
the flat excavation in the sap-wood, placing the fibres frequently
in as regular order as the hairs of a mustache. And the castings
which it voids when in this inverted position are crowded, and
firmly packed together in the upper end of its burrow. Thus
the long cylindrical hole which it has bored becomes filled up,
and securely plugged with woody debris at each extremity, leav-
ing only a vacant space in its middle, where it is deepest sunk in
the wood of the tree, for the insect to Ne during its pupa state.
The annexed cut will give an idea-of these burrows and their
contents, as they appear when. the bark is removed and the wood
cut away sufficiently to expose their whole length to view.
" Having now finished its labors and attained its growth it again

 
16 APPLE-TRUNK -BORER—ITS BURROW.

turns itself around to its former posture, with its head upwards,
becomes inactive, and lies dormant during the winter season, and
the following spring is transformed to a pupa. From this pupa
the perfect insect soon after hatches, and tearing away the saw-
dust like powder which has been packed in the upper end of its
burrow, it has only to break through the bark here, which it
easily does with its sharp, powerful jaws, to come out*of the tree.

It will thus be seen that the burrow of this worm consists of two
distinct parts—a round flat excavation in the sap-wood, imme-
diately under the bark, and a long round hole in the solid wood,
running upwards from the upper part of the flat cavity, first in-
wards towards the centre of the trunk, and then outwards to the
bark. This upper portion of the burrow is vari#ble in its length,
being sometimes no more than an inch and three quarters, and at
other times, as I am informed, a foot or more. The lower fiat
portion, as already stated, is about the size of a dollar, but is fre-
quently much larger than this; and when the worm comes to
knots or other obstructions when excavating it, instead of making
it round it is eut out in an irregular form. But in all cases the
worm passes the first periods of its life in consuming the sap-
wood, its jaws probably being too weak as yet to enable it to work
in the harder wood of the interior of the tree, and it is by thus
mining in the sap-wood, and cutting off so many of its vessels,
that this worm does the chief injury to the tree, stinting it in its
growth, and causing the leaves to assume a yellowish, sickly hue.
And where four or five worms are‘at work in one young tree, as
is often the case, these flat cavities in the sap-wood are liable to
come in-contact with each other, and thus completely girdle and
destroy the tree.

Numerous variations in the form and direction of the burrows
of these borers may be met with. Some of the worms seem to be
very wild and erratic in their proceedings. It is sometimes the
case that as soon as it reaches the sap-wood it works directly up-
wards, under the bark, and then turns, it may be, obliquely
downwards betore entering the heart-wood. A most singular de-
viation from the usual habit was related to me by Esquire Bald-
APPLE-TRUNK BORER—THE LARVA. 17

win, as follows: “ The borer first made a flexuous channel up-
wards, under the bark, a distance of two feet, the channel be-
coming gradually larger as the worm had increased in size.
Having traced its burrow thus far by means of a pointed twig,
for (said my informant) whenever I find one of these fellows in
my trees Iam after him immediately ‘with a sharp stick, J
found he had bored directly through the centre or heart of the
tree, which was four inches in diameter, taking a cqurse slightly
upwards, so that after loosening and removing some of the stuff-
ing in the hole, I discovered my rod had pricked through the
bark on the opposite side of the tree, and yet did not encounter
the worm; but on examining upon this side of the tree I found,
having not quite completed his feast, he had gone upwards
in. the sap-wood three inches further, where I finally discovered
‘the gentleman.’ He evidently had finished his travels, for he-
was an inch and a half in length, was sluggish and inactive, and
to all appearances was about changing toa pupa.” According to
Dr. Harris (Treatise on New England Insects, page 95,) the larva
state of this insect continues from two to three years.

Mr. T. B. Ashton, of Whitecreek, New-York, informs me that
he has in different years captured about one hundred and fifty of
these beetles in their perfect state, and that only one-third of
these have been females. According to his observations the time of
their appearance varies somewhat, as the season is more forward
or backward, but commonly, here in Washington county, furty
miles north of Albany, they begin to be found upon the trees
about the 20th of June, from which time until the close of the

' month they appear to be more numerous than they are afterwards.

The mature worm varies considerably in its size, but is most commonly rather legs
than an inch Jong, and over a quarter of an inch in diameter anteriorly at its broadest
part. It is of a cylindrical form, the second segment being bulged and rather broader
than the others. It is soft and fleshy, and of a very: pale yellow or a white color.
The head is chestnut-brown, polished and thorny, with scattered hairs; the upper
jaws (mandibles) are deep black, sloped at their tips, which are obtusely rounded;
between them appears the labrum or upper lip, of a tawny yellow color, and
densely clothed with short hairs; the throat is also pale tawny yellow. The feclers
(palpi) consist of a conical, three-jointed process, on the under side of each mandible,
and inserted upon the lower jaw (maxilla), the tip of which slightly projects in the

2
18 ' APPLE-TRUNK BORER—THE BEETLE.

form of a short roundish process at the inner base of the feclers. The feelers of the
lower lip (labial palpi), are also perceptible, forming a eonical two-jointed proces
of a chestnut color, inside of each lower jaw.. The autennz are also represented b¥
a small, jointed, projecting point, near the outer angles of the head, so minute that
we should little suspect it would become developed into the long born which we fing
in the winged beetle. Scattered over the remaindcr of the body, more densely in
particular places, are numerous short brown hairs. The second segment is larger
than any of the others, as shown in the following cut; its upper side slopes obliquely
downwards and forwards, and' is occupied by a large smooth spot of a pale tawny
yellow color, the posterior part of which is covered with brown points; beneath is a
smaljJer transverse space, occupied by similar points, but with 4 band destitute of
them running across its-middle, and on each side is a pale tawny yellow spot desti-
tute of these brown points. The third and fourth segments are shorter than the
following ones. On the top of the fourth and each of the succeeding segments, to
to the tenth, is a ‘transverse wart-like elevation, divided into two parts by a strongly
impressed longitudinal line. Along each side the spiracles or breathing
pores form a row of nine chestnut brown dots, situated upon the second, the.
f4 fifth andeach of the following segments; and immediately bclow these is an
elevated longitudinal ridge, which is interrupted at the joints. Beneath, as
above, is a transverse wart-like hump on the middle of each segment from
the fourth to the tenth, with a faint longitudinal impression across its
middle. There are thirteen segments in all, separated from each other by
strong constrictions. The last one of these is double, or appears like two

 

segments, its posterior portion being but half as broad as the anterior, inte
which it is deeply sunk.

The perfect insect or beetle measures from slightly over one-half to plump three-
fourths of an inch in length, and from 0.17 to 0.25 in width, the males being smaller
and much more slender than the females. It is covered with dense appressed!
milk-white p bescence, and above are three broad stripes, formed by short appressed,
hairs, of an umber orbutternut brown evlor, not a fuscous brown, as is stated in
some of the descriptions. These stripes commence upon the base of the head and
extend the whole length of the body. Both upon the thorax and the elytra
they are coarsely punctured, each puncture yielding a short black nearly erect
bristle. The middle stripe embraces the suture of the elytra, is gradually nar-
rowed to a point posteriorly, and does not reach the apex of the suture. The outer
stripes are narrower on the thorax, and occupy the outer half of each elytrum,
and are edged exteriorly at their tips with white. The white portions of the sur-
* face are clothed with fine white hairs, which on the face are interspersed with black
bristles arising from fine black punctures. The head has an impressed black line in
its middle, upon which in the center of the face is a brown spot, which is round,
Kidney-shaped. or like the letter V. -In the females this spot is sometimes wanting,
or is replaced by two faint dots. The mouth is black, with the Jabrum or upper lip.
and the bases of the mandibles clothed with white appressed hairs. The eyes are
coal black. The antennz are inserted upon a short broad prominence which arises
in the notch of the eyes. They are slightly longer than the body in the males, and
shorter in the females. They are composed of eleven joints, whereof the second
one is quite short and all the others long and cylindrical, the basal one being muck:
APPLE-TRUNK BORER—ITS SCIENTIFIC NAME. 19

thicker than the others. They are covered with appressed white hairs upona black
ground, causing them to appear gray in the males and white in the females. The
basal joint has several.scattered black bristles, and upon the under side is a row of
similar bristles to the end of the fifth joint, and three at the tips of each of the three
following joints. The thorax presents a slender line in its middle, which line is
impressed posteriorly and elevated anteriorly, its anterior end being often of a white
color, The legs are of the same color as the antenna, the soles of the feet being pale
brown or yellowish, and the hooks at their tips are reddish-brown.

'

This insect was regarded as a new species by Mr. Say, and he
accordingly described it in the year 1824, in the Journal of the
Academy of Natural Sciences, (vol. iii. p. 409,) under the name
of Saperda bivittata or the Two-striped Saperda,.which name is
also adopted by Dr. Harris, and is currently known throughout
our country as the scientific name of this insect. Fabricius long
since very briefly noticed a species (Entomologia Systematica,
vol. i. 6. p. 307,) which he found in the museum of Dr. Hunter,
the native country of which was unknown, under the name of
Saperda candida, or the White Saperda. He merely says of this
insect that it is white, above fuscous with two white stripes, and
with obtuse, smooth elytra. As Dr. Hunter’s museum contained
many insects from this country, Prof. Haldeman and Dr. Le Conte
regard our Apple tree borer as being without doubt the S. can-
dida of Fabricius. In this they are probably correct; but as our
insect is clearly of an umber and not a fuscous brown color, and
has punctured elytra, marks which are at variance with the Fa-
brician account, I deem it more safe to retain the name given by
Mr. Say, connected ‘with which there is no query, until our insect
has been compared with the specimen, which is probably still in
existence, from which Fabricius drew his description.

Among the means provided by the Author of Nature for de-

stroying this borer and keeping it from becoming unduly multi-

plied, the woodpeckers of our country, and particularly the
Downy woodpecker (Picus pubescens, Lin.), which is so frequently
seen in our orchards, stands conspicuous. This gay bird seems
to have been endowed with the habits and furnished with the
organs which it possesses, for the express purpose of enabling it
to discover and prey upon the Apple-tree borer and similar
larve. As these worms place themselves under the bark, down
20 APPLE-TRUNK BORER—DESTROYED BY BIRDS.

at the very surface of the ground, their lurking place can only be
found by.a bird which makes its examinations with its head down-
wards; and the slender, extensile, flexible, barbed tongue of this
bird was evidently constructed to enable it to probe the holes and
explore the crevices and cavities of the bark, and transfix and
drag from its cell any worm which is found reposing there. Es-
quire Baldwin tells me that in numerous instances he has found
the flat cavity excavated by the borer under the bark, without
any vestiges of a worm in it, and has been wholly at a loss to ac-
count for its disappearance at this time, when its burrow is not
half completed. My neighbor, Peter Reid, who has devoted much
attention to our birds and their habits, informs me he has repeat-
edly noticed the woodpecker remaining some considerable time
down at the very root of the Apple tree, busily occupied in some
operation at that particular part. These facts we think clearly
elucidate each other, and render it evident that the woodpecker
is the most formidable natural enemy to the Apple-tree borer
which exists. .And whether such a war of extermination should
be waged against this bird, as has been declared by high authority
(Kirtland’s Zool. Ohio, p. 179), we leave to be considered hereafter.

It is probable, from what is said of the next species, that this
also is subject to the attacks of Hymenopterous or Bee-like para-
sites, which feed upon and destroy the worm, although I am not
aware that any of these have as yet been actually discovered
preying upon it.

On glancing over the various remedies which have been pro-
posed, and which may be met with in our agricultural papers, for
the destruction of this borer, we are forcibly impressed with the
fact, that, although these publications are doing great good in our

“community, they still unwittingly circulate many things that are
foolish, and some that are pernicious. As an instance, we may
cite the following: “ One of the surest means to destroy the borers
in Apple trees, is to make a solution of potash, two pounds to a
gallon of water, which must be injected into the hole where the
borer has entered, by means of a syringe holding half a pint.”
Now, we are not without suspicions that so strong a solution of
canstic potash would destroy not only the borer, but the tree

e
APPLE-TRUNK BORER-—-REMEDIES—SOAP. 21

pe ‘

also, especially if a half pint of it could be injected into each of
the holes which are frequently made by four or five worms in one
young tree. But as these holes are commonly already stuffed
full of sawdust-like matter and woody fibres, we see not how
anything can possibly be injected until these are removed. And
this solution, we are further told, must be injected “into the hole
where the borer has entered.” Now this hole is at first no larger
than u pin, and often becomes wholly closed up in the course of
a few weeks, so that, as Hood says, “there a’n’t no Billy there”
—the worm having opened another orifice through which to eject
its castings. Yet the terms of the prescription are explidtt and
peremptory. Through the hole where the worm has entered the
solution “ must be” injected.

In the treatment of the Apple-tree borer, to use a medical term,
there are two “indications.” The first is, to protect the tree
from attack; the second, to destroy the worm. And as we have
simple, direct, and effectual modes for accomplishing both these
purposes, there is no occasion for dwelling upon those which are
of doubtful efficacy or inconvenient to be applied.

Experiments amply show that alkaline preparations of suitable
Strength are most repulsive, nay, directly poisonous to most in-
sects and their larve, whilst upon vegetation they have an oppo-
‘site effect, promoting the health and accelerating the growth of
plants. Of these preparations, one of the least expensive, one
which is-‘everywhere at hand, and of suitable strength for being
applied freely tu the outer bark of trees without danger of eroding
or otherwise injuring its texture, is common soft soap. Many
eitizens from all parts of our State, who were present at the last
annual meeting of the State Agricultural Society, will recollect
the high encomiums passed upon this article, by the Hon. A. B.
Dickinson, and his statement that a handful of it placed in the
axils of the lower limbs was a sovereign prophylactic, repelling all
insects from the tree.‘ Although we cannot deem the application
of this substance in this simp]e manner such a panacea as was in-
timated—indeed, we are confident it could have no effect to pre-
vent a moth or a plant-louse from alighting and depositing its
eggs upon the distant leaves and twigs—yet against all those in-
22 APPLE-TRUNK BORER— REMEDIES—~SOAP.

sects which infest the trunk or which are obliged to crawl up
the trunk to gain access to the tree, we have little doubt it will
prove an effectual safeguard. Washed downwards as it will be
by the rains so as to impregnate the bark over the chief part of
the trunk and to the very root, there is little probability that the
beetle of the Apple-tree borer will venture to deposit its eggs in
a situation where those eggs, or the young worms which proceed
from them, will be exposed to destruction from encountering this
alkaline matter. The late Mr. Downing (Horticulturist, vol. ii.
p. 531) recommended a mixture of soap, sulphur, and tobacco
water, with which to paint the bark of the tree immediately above
the surface of the ground, and in the axils of the lower limbs;
subsequently (vol. iv. p. 536) he recommends soap merely thinned
with tobacco water, to the consistence of thick cream, to be ap-
plied to the same places. According to his observations, the
borer entirely forsook the trees which were thus washed, even
though the mixture had been applied some weeks previous to the
appearance of the winged beetle. There can be little doubt that
the efficacy of these prescriptions of Mr. Downing depend chiefty,
if not entirely, upon the soap they contain. It will be as well,
therefore, to apply this alone, in the manner in which it is used
by Senator Dickinson, or by rubbing it in the axils of the lower
limbs and around the base of the tree, these being the parts
which are liable to be attacked by this insect. In all orchards
where the borer is present or where a visit from it is apprehen-
ded, this measure should invariably be resorted to the latter part
of May, or, in more northern localities, where the beetle will be
somewhat later in appearing, earlyinJune. Young thrifty trees,
especially, should be attended to, as this insect gs to be par-
ticularly inclined to infest them.

With regard, in the next place, to destroying the worm, where
the trees have been neglected and the beetle has been permitted
to invade them and deposit its eggs. If time permits, the orchard
should be examined the last of August, and the outer surface of
the bark at the root scraped, to detect any black Spots therein;
for at this time, the minute worms in the bark can be more readily
destroyed than at any, subsequent period, and befure they have
APPLE-TRUNK BORER—HOW DISCOVERED. : 23

done any injury to the tree. It is the practice of Esquire Bald-
win to wash the butts of his trees with strong lye, the last of
August. The newly hatched grubs are now’but slightly sunk in
the bark. The lye penetrates the small orifiees which they have
formed and destroys them. He makes it an invariable rule thus
te wash his trees every year, and since he commenced this treat-
ment it is very rare that he has found a borer in them.

But if, through the pressure of other avocations during the busy
summer months, the orchard has been neglected and these borers
have penetrated the wood, they should still be carefully searched
out and destroyed, for they continue to cause irritation and injury
to the tree so long as they remain in it. Before the fall of the
leaf, trees which are badly infested may be known by their
sickly, chlorotic appearance. Mr. Ashton informs me, an expe-
rienced person can easily determine when young trees are suffer-
ing from the borer, by taking hold of them and swaying them to
and fro. Infested trees, when thus handled, feel as though they
were lose at the root, in consequence, no doubt, of having so
many of their fibers cut off by the worm; whilst unaffected trees
fee] more stiff, and as though they were firmly bound by the soil.
But at all seasons of the year the presence of this worm can be
most readily and certainly ascertained by examining the surface
of the ground where it is in contact with the tree. The small
heap of sawdust-like castings remains piled up against the bark,
covering the orifice from whence they were extruded, for months
afterwards. Therefore, in warm days in winter and early spring,
when almost every one is most at leisure and has the strongest
relish fur some out-door work of this kind, the snow being off the
ground, these borers may be hunted with success.

Various expedients for killing the worm, such as injecting dif-
ferent solutions, plugging up the hole, thrusting a wire into it,
&e , have been proposed, many of them, I must think, by persons
who had very little practical acquaintance with the subject on
which they were writing—the opening into the burrow heing at
the surface of the earth in most cases, so low down and difficult
of access by grass and often by suckers or young shoots growing
in front of it, as to render a resort to many of these remedies very
SA APPLE-TRUNK BORER—REMEDIES—-SCALDING WATER.

difficult if not absolutely impracticable. On the whole, I think
the best resort of any now in use, is that which is most commonly
practised, namely, opening the burrow with a chisel or a stout
bladed knife, to where the worm lies, and destroying “the vil-
Iain.” Experience shows that the wound thus made in the tree
-is of little account, as it readily heals, and injures the tree far
less than does a continuance of the worm therein. Even where
three, four, or five worms are cut out of one small tree, the vigor
with which it starts forward immediately afterwards sufficiently
attests the benefit which has been rendered it.

But when I came to examine the situation of this worm and
the construction of its burrow, a remedy suggested itself to me so
perfectly simple and sure, and so easy of application, as I have
found on trial, that I am surprised it has never before been pro-
posed. It consists in sealding the worm by pouring hot water
into the top ofits burrow. The upper end of the burrow ean
easily be found by puncturing the bark with an awl, or even with
a stiff pin directly above the orifice where the castings have been
ejected. It is commonly about three inches above this orifice,
but may be an inch less ora few inches more. It is discovered
by the point of the aw] readily sinking in much deeper here than
it will elsewhere. Then, with the point of a pen-knife cut away
the bark, which is already dead, which covers the upper end of
the burrow, and scrape out the saw-dust like castings which are
packed into this part of the cavity, loosening and removing them
as far down as can conveniently be done. Then from a tea pot
or other vessel having a smal] spout, pour hot water into the hole,
at intervals as it soaks downwards, for a few moments, until you
are certain, from its oozing out at the lower orifice, or otherwise,
that it has reached the worm sufficiently to kill it. By cutting
downwards into the wood, and extracting the Worm, a few
minutes after this operation, any one can satisfy himself that the
eulprit is, as-Patrick says, “ killed dead,” and that

‘A kettle of scalding hot water injected
Infallibly cures the timber affected,

The worm it will die and the tree will recover.”

Indeed it is quite probable that merely opening the upper end
of the burrow, in the manner above described, so as to permit the
APPLE-TRUNK BUPRESTIS—ITS HISTORY. 25

rain to enter and soak downwards, will destroy the worm. And
it may be that by introducing soap or some other substance into
the hole, the tree will be-aided in its recovery, and the bad scar
be prevented which commonly results from the wound made by
this worm. These are points which can only be determined by
experiments which I have not yet had opportunities for carrying
into operation.

,

Boring under the bark and in the solid wood; a pale yellow, footless grub, its
anterior end enormously large, round, and flattened.

Running up and down the trunk and limbs in June and the fore part of July;
an oblong, brassy-blackish snapping beetle, nearly half aninch long, its back
under its wings brilliant bluish-green.

Tur Tuick-Leacep Burresris, on SNAPPING-BEETLE, Chrysobothris femorata,
Fasricivs.

Another insect, which has not heretofore been noticed in our
country as a borer in the Apple tree, pertains to the Family
Burrestip&, or the brilliant snapping beetles. Mr. P. Barry, of
the Mount Hope nurseries, Rochester, has forwarded to us sections
of the body of some young Apple trees, which were sent to him
from a correspondent in Hillsboro, in southern Ohio, who states
that in that vicinity the borer, which is contained in the specimens
sent, is doing great damage to the Apple trees, and that he has had
Peach trees also killed by this same worm. From an examination
of these specimens, it appears that this insect is quite similar to
the common Apple tree borer in its habits. The parent inseet de-
posits its eggs on the bark, from which a worm hatches, which
passes through the bark and during the first periods of its life con-
sumes the soft sap wood immediately under the bark. But when
the worm approaches maturity and has become more strong and
robust, it gnaws into the more solid heart-wood, forming a flattish,
and not a cylindrical hole such as is formed by most other
borers—the burrow which it excavates being twice as broad as it
is high, the height measuring the tenth of an inch or slightly
over. Itis the latter part of summer when these worms thus
sink themselves into the solid heartwood of the tree, their burrow
extending upwards from the spot under the bark where they had
26 APPLE-TRUNK BUPRESTIS—“PARASITIC DESTROYERS.

previously dwelt. On laying open one of these burrows I find
it is more than an inch in length and all its lower part is filled
and blocked up with the fine sawdust-like castings
of the worm. Thus when the worm is destined to lay
torpid and inactive during the long months of winter,
. it has the forethought, so to speak, to place itself ina
safe and secure retreat, within the solid wood of the
): tree, with the hole leading to its cell plugged up, so
as effectually to prevent any enemy from gaining
admission to it.
A Still, this worm is not able to secure itself entirely
from those parisitic insects which are the destroyers of so many
other species of its race, and which, as is currently remarked,
appear to have been created for the express purpose of preying
upon those species, in order to prevent their becoming excessively
multiplied. We should expect that this and other borers, lying
as they do beneath the bark or within the wood of trees, were so
securely shielded, that it would be impossible for any insect
enemy to discover and gain access to them, to molest or destroy
them. But among the specimens sent me by Mr. Barry, is one,
where the worm has been entirely devoured, nothing but its
Sshrivelled skin remaining, within and upon which are several
minute maggots or footless little grubs, soft, dull whi:e, shining,
of a long egg-shaped furm, pointed at the tip and blunt in front,
their bodies divided into segments by very fine transverse im-
pressed lines or sutures. They are about one-tenth of an inch
long and 0.035 broad at the widest part. These are evidently
the larve of some small Hymenopterous or Bee-like insect, per-
taining, there can be little doubt, to the family Cuatcrpripx2—the
female of which has the instinct to discover these borers, probably
in the earlier periods of their life when they are lying directly
beneath the bark, and piercing through the bark with her ovipo-
sitor, and - puneturing the skin of the borer, drops her eggs
therein, which subsequently hatch and subsist upon the burer,
eventually destroying it. These minute larve were forwarded to
me under the supposition that they were injurious to the Apple
tree, whereas, by destroying these pernicious borers, it is evident
they must be regarded as our best friends. This fact illustrates

 
APPLE-TRUNK BUPRESTIS—THE LARVA. 27

how important it is for us to be acquainted with our insects in
the different stages of their lives, that we may be able to discrimi-
nate friends from foes, and know which to destroy and which to
cherish.

The preparatory states of but a very few species of the exten-
sive family of insects to which the borer now under consideration
belongs, appear to have been hitherto noticed; and, so far asl am
able to ascertain, the only figure of a larva like this which infests
our Apple trees, which has yet been published, is that of Agrilus
Fagi, in Dr. Ratzeburg’s work on the Forest Insects of Europe,
(plate ii, fig. 8 ¢.)

The form of this borer is quite singular, and bears some resemblance to that of a
tadpole, or a battledoor. It consists of a very large, round, flattened portion, ante-
riorly, which is suddenly tapered into a long cylindrical tail or handle-like portion.
The broad anterior part of this worm is about two-tenths of an inch in diameter and
the narrow posterior part is but half as wide. Its length is about 0.65. It is soft,
flesh-like, and of a pale yellow color. In front two short robust
jaws of a deep black color and higbly polished are slightly pro-
truded. When these are spread apart the tips of the feelers and
between them the lips are perceptible. The head is blackish
brown and polished, aid is deeply sunk into the second segment.
Near each outer angle of the head is a small, pale yellow, bead-
like protuberance, which is probably the antenna. In Dr. Ratze-
burg’s figure, above alluded to, this slight protuberance is repre-
sented, probably incorrectly, as arising fiom the second segment.
The second segment is deeply sunk into the third, and like all the
remaining segments is pale yellow, and clothed with short minute hairs. The third
or large segment is rather more broad than long, and is round and flattened above
and beneath. Its upper side is occupied by a large, callous-like, transverse-oval ele-
vation, the surface of which is flat and covered with numerous brown raised points,
and in the middle are two smooth impressed lines, which diverge from the anterior

 

 

to the posterior margin. Between these, on the middle of the basal edge, is a more.
faintly imp: essed line, running forward, but becoming effaced before it reaches the
centre. On the under side is also a callous-like elevation, similar in all respects to
that on the upper side, except that in place of the impressed lines it has in its middle
a single channel or furrow, which does not extend to the posterior nor quite to the
anterior margin. The fourth segment is a third narrower than the preceding, and
has an impressed transverse line in its middle. In the deeply impressed suture
which divides this from the third segment, on each side, is a smooth, crescent shaped,
elevated spot of a chestnut brown color, resembling a little tick adhering in the fold
of the skin. The nine remaining segments are of nearly equal length and diameter,
except the two last, which are successively narrower. They are separated from
each other by sutures which are strongly constricted. ‘Along the middle of the back
28 APPLE-TRUNK BUPRESTIS—TREES IT INHABITS.

4s a smoothish faintly-marked line, and on each side-of each segment is an irregular
triangular indentation, from the inner angle of which a faint impressed line extends
inwards. On each side, beneath, is an impressed, longitudinal line. There are no
conical projecting points at the apex of the last segment.

These borers, sent to me as above stated, have not yet completed
their transformations; but they will in all probability remain in
their present cells in the wood, and be changed to pupe the com-
ing spring, from which the perfect insects will issue the latter
part of May and during the month of June. And there can be
little doubt that they will prove to be the species named by Fabri-
cius Buprestis femorata, which species pertains to the modern
genus Chrysobothris. This insect may be met with in all parts of
our country. The natural place for its larva is in the White oak,
and it is probable that being deprived of a sufficient supply of
this wood, in which to deposit its eggs, in consequence of our
forests being so rapidly and extensively cut down, this insect has
been obliged to resort to the Apple and Peach trees. Dr. Harris
speaks of meeting with it upon and under the bark of Peach
trees, and I have captured it upon the Apple tree. Professor
Kirtland, of Cleveland, Ohio, doubtless alludes to this species,
(Downing’s Horticulturist, vol. ii. p. 544,) when he says, “Our
Apple trees are often injured by the larvee of the Buprestis, which
will girdle out extensive portions of the bark and young wood.”
This, moreover, is in all probability the beetle of which a wood
cut illustration is given in the Ohio Cultivator, vol. x, page 242.
Although no description of the insect or its larve is given, the
figure presents more points of resemblance to C. femorata than to
any other common American species. The following interesting
particulars, there stated, sufficiently indicate that this beetle will
be liable to do great damage in our orchards. The editor says,
“‘ The late Dr. Barker, of McConnellsville, (Morgan county, Ohio,)
called our attention to the injury done to his Apple trees, by the
beetle represented above, several years ago. It was in the month
of J uly, and large numbers of these beetles were seen running up
and down the trunks and branches of the trees, while beneath
the bark extensive ravages of the larvee were found. We ob-
served, however, that these injuries seemed in nearly or quite all
cases to have commenced where the bark had previously been
APPLE TRUNK BUPRESTIS—THE BEETLE. 29

killed from some other cause, and were almost invariably on the
south side of the trees. We have since found occasional marks
of these insects in other orchards, but never where the trees
appeared to have been in perfect health previous to their attacks.”
This beetle, however, is by no means limited to old and decaying
trees, as the observations of the editor of the Ohio Cultivator
leads him to infer. The sections of wood sent me by Mr. Barry
are from young and thrifty Apple trees; and it occurs in Oaks,
also, of this character, as well as those which are aged and
perishing.

Like other species of its family, the Thick-legged Buprestis is variable in
size, measuring from four to five tenths of an inch in length, and about two-tenths in
width. It is of a black or greenish black color, polished and shining, with the sur-
face rough and uneven. The head, and sometimes the thorax, and the depressed
portions of the elytra, are of a dull coppery color. The head is sunk into the
thorax to the eyes, is densely punctured, and is clothed in front with fine white
hairs, which are directed downwards. Upon the middle of the top of the head is a
smooth, raised, black line, with a narrow impressed line through its middle, a mark
which serves to distinguish this from some of the other species which are closely
related to it. The thorax is much more broad than long, and is widest forward of
the middle, Its surface is covered with dense, coarsish punctures, which run into
each other ina somewhat transverse direction. It is also somewhat uneven, with slight
elevations and hollows, but has not two smooth raised lines on its middle and anterior
part, which are met with in another species very similar to this, the Tooth-legged
Snapping-beetle, (Chrysobothris dentipes, Germar.) The elytra. or wing-covers
present a much more rough and unequal surface than any other part of the insect.
Three smooth and polished raised lines extend lengthwise of each wing-cover, and
the intervals between them are in places occupied by smaller raised lines, which
form a kind of net-work ; and two impressed transverse spots may also be discerned
more or les3 distinctly, dividing each wing-cover into three nearly equal portions,
These spots reach from the inner one of the three raised lines nearly to the outer
margin, crossing the two other raised lines, and interrupting them more or less.
They are commonly of a cupreous tinge, and densely punctured, but are more
smooth than the other portions of the surface. A smaller and more deeply im-
pressed spot may commonly be found in the space next to the suture, and forward
of the anterior spot, of which it is, as it were, acontinuation. The wing covers are
rounded at their tips, so as to present a slight notch at the suture when they are
closed; and the outer margin, towards the tip, has several very minute, projecting
teeth. When the wing-covers are parted the back is discovered to he of a brilliant
bluish-green color, and thickly puuctured, with a row of large impressed spots along
the middle, one on each segment, and half way between these and the outer margin

_is another row of smaller impressed dots, having their centres black. The under
side of the body and the legs are brilliant coppery, the feet being deep shining green,
their last joint and the hooks at its end black. Here also the surface is everywhere
30 APPLE-TRUNK BUPRESTIS—-REMEDIES.

thickly punctured, the punctures on the venter or hind part of the body opening
backwards. The last segment has an elevated line in the middle at its base, and its
apex is cut off by a straight line, in the middle of which is commonly a small pro-
jecting tooth. The anterior thighs are remarkably large, from which circumstance
this species has received its name, and they have an angular projection on their inner
sides, beyond the middle. The tibix or shanks of these legs are slightly curved.

e

The remedies for destroying this borer must necessarily be
much the same with those already stated for the common borer
or Striped Saperda. They consist essentially of three measures :
Ist, coating or impregnating the bark with some substance repul-
sive to the insect; 2d, destroying the beetle by hand picking ;
and 3d, destroying the larva by cutting into and extracting it
from its burrow.

As it is during the month of June and fore part of July that
the beetle frequents the trees for the purpose of depositing its
eggs in the bark, it is probable that whitewashing the trunk and
large limbs, or rubbing them over with soft soap, early in June,
will secure them from molestation from this enemy. And in dis-
tricts where this borer is known to infest the Apple trees, the
trees should be repeatedly inspected during this part of the year,
and any of these beetles that are found upon them should be cap-
tured and destroyed. It is at midday of warm sunshiny days
that the search for them wil] be most successful, as they are then
most active, and show themselves abroad. The larva, when
young, appear to have the same habit with most other borers, of
keeping their burrow clean by throwing their castings out of it
through a small orifice in the bark. They can therefore be dis-
covered, probably, by the new sawdust-like powder which will be
found adhering to the outer surface of the bark. In August or
September, whilst the worms are yet young, and before they have
penetrated the heart-wood, the trees should be carefully examined
fur these worms. Wherever from any particles of the sawdust-
like powder appearing externally upon the bark, one of these
worms is suspected, it will be easy, at least in young trees, where
tne bark is thin and smooth, to ascertain by puncturing it witha
stiff pin, whether there is any hollow cavity beneath, and if one
is discovered, the bark should be cut away with a knife, until the
worm is found and destroyed. After it has penetrated the solid
APPLE-TRUNK BARK-LOUSE—ITS APPEARANCE, 31

wood, it ceases to eject its castings, and consequently we are then
left without any clue by which to discover it. Hence the im-
portance of searching for it seasonably.

A small, oblong, flattish, brown scale, shaped like an oyster shell, fixed to the smooth
bark ; often in prodigious numbers; in winter and spring covering a number of minute,
round, whitish eggs.

Tux ApPLe Bark-Lovse, Aspidiotus conchiformis, GMELIN; Coccus arborum linearis,
MopeeR, and others; Diaspis linearis, Costa.

The Bark-louse is, on the whole, the most pernicious and de-
Structive to the apple tree, at the present time, of any insect in
our country. Every where through the northern States it is in-
festing the orchards to a grievous extent, causing the death of
many trees, and impairing the health and vigor of many more.
It appears in the form of minute scales, resembling the
shell of a muscle or an oyster in their shape, adhering to
the surface of the bark, as shown in the annexed cut. It
is no rare occurrence to meet with young trees, the bark
of. which is literally covered and crowded with these
scales from the root to the end of the twigs, and some in-
dividuals finding no vacant spot upon the bark where they can
fix themselves, are driven to the leaves and the fruit, for upon
these one or more of these scales may sometimes be found. And
where a tree continues to be thus infested, year after year, it
dwindles away and finally dies. I have observed this to be the
case especially with young trees standing alone in fields, where,
when the vigor of the tree becomes impaired, the insect has no
other tree to which it can migrate, better adapted for its suste-
nance. Other trees have been noticed as overrun by this insect
for a year or two, when, probably from the tree becoming so ex-
hausted as no longer to be capable of suitably sustaining the in-
sects, they cease to affect it, and it, after a few years, recovers.
Whether in such instances the insects perish for want of due
nourishment, or whether they migrate to other trees, Iam unable
to say, though [incline to the opinion that the former is the case
with the chief part of them.

 
32 APPLE-TRUNK .BARK-LOUSE—ITS DESTRUCTIVENESS WEST.

Badly as this insect is infesting our orchards in the State of
New-York, it is scourging our western neighbors far more severe-
ly. In those districts bordering upon Lake Michigan, in parti-
cular, it is at the present time making the most appalling havoc,
surpassing anything which has hitherto been recorded of this
species. Scarcely a tree is free from them, and unless measures
for destroying the insect are resorted to, the tree is sure to perish
within a few years after it is invaded.

George Kimball, Esq., of Kenosha, Wisconsin, gave me the fol-
lowing interesting account of the introduction and spreading of
this insect among his trees: “The bark-louse appears to have
been introduced here in the year 1840 by four young sweet apple
trees which my son brought from Cleveland, Ohio. These trees
dwindled, their limbs had a black appearance, and the bark was
everywhere covered with these lice, crowded upon and over-
lapping each other, so that they would peel off in large scales,
and be washed off by rains, clusters of them adhering together in
sheets, till finally, in the year 1848, these trees died, having
grown not more than an inch annually for the three last years.
And the same lice had now spread upon and were covering my
other trees more or less. All my trees became badly infested,
the sweet ones being overrun more than the others. Some of
them took up their abode upon my pear trees also, particularly
upon a small tree which I happened to have, bearing hard worth-
less fruit; this was covered with them as badly as some of my
apple trees. We could find nothing in books, or in agricultural
or horticultural papers which seemed to apply to this louse, and
hence were thrown upon our own ingenuity to combat it. Efforts
were made in this village to organize a society, with an admission
fee of ten dollars, to raise a fund with which to encourage expe-
riments, and handsomely reward the person who discovered the
best remedy. A secret remedy, which proved to be worthless,
was extensively sold all over this section of country for one dol-
lar to each person. Hoping that my younger and more vigorous
trees would outlive the pest, I dug up and threw away all my old
trees, upwards of thirty in pumber. JI have now about one hun-
dred and fifty trees, none of them over twelve years old, and
APPLE-TRUNK BARK-LOUSE—ITS WESTERN LIMIT. 33

have strong confidence that the remedy to which I now resort
will keep themtfreed from the bark-louse. But through all this
district of country the trees are overrun and dying from these
insects, a tree not living but about three years after it becomes
badly infested, and on almost every farm several dead trees may
be seen, and many more which are so far gone that they can
never recover.”

This insect does not appear to have penetrated west, as yet,
beyond the districts bordering upon Lake Michigan. I found the
orchards upon the Mississippi river free from it, and on a most
particular inspection of the trees of Esquire Baldwin, of Farm
Ridge, less than a hundred miles west of Chicago, they were found
to be wholly uninfested. But that it will gradually extend itself
onwards over the entire west, there can be no doubt. And it is
to be feared that for some years after its first arrival in each place,
it will run much the same career it is now doing on the borders
of Lake Michigan, it being common for a noxious insect when
newly introduced, to multiply and thrive toa much greater ex-
tent than it does subsequently, after it has become fully natural-
ized.

At the west it is generally supposed that this insect is a new
species, peculiar to that section of country, as no distinct de-
scription and account of it is given in works accessible to the
mass ofreaders. -And, entertaining this view, my friend Robert
W. Kennicott, of West Northfield, Illinois, in a communication
read‘in June last, before the Cleveland Academy of Natural
Sciences, and published, with a figure of the young larva, in the
newspaper report of their proceedings, names it the Coccus Pyrus
Malus, under which name I observe it is since spoken of in some
of the western agricultural periodicals. But this insect is cer-
tainly identical with the one which we have here at the east, which
has all along been regarded as the same which has long been
known upon the apple and some other trees and shrubs in Europe.
It was first described by Reaumur, in 1738, who found it upon an
elm in France ; and it appears to have been named Coccus arbo-
rum linearis, (which literally means the Linear Bark-louse of

3
34 APPLE-TRUNK BARK-LOUSE—ITS SCIENTIFIC NAME.

trees,) first by Modeer, (Act. Gothenb. i. 22,) by which name it
-has been noticed by Geoffroy, and authors generally since. Gmelin
refers to the same insect, at least as it has been generally supposed,
under the name (occus conchiformis, or the Shell-form or Oyster-
shaped Bark-louse. The specific name, arborum linearis, if really
designed for the Bark-louse upon the Apple-tree, is a very unfor-

tunate one, as this species is not linear in its form, but tapering, '

and nearly all the other species of Bark-lice infest trees as well
as this. Costa has recently reformed this name, by omitting from
it the redundant word arberum. But if the original name is to
be rejected, in consequence of its non-conformity to. the present
rules of scientific nomenclature, Gmelin’s name conchiformis must
assuredly take its place, in consequence both of its priority and
its appropriateness. Some of the latest authorities, however,
‘regard the conchiformis and linearis as being two distinct species.
‘This threw such doubts upon the question which of these names
should be adopted for our Apple Bark-louse, provided it was
identical with the European insect, as I felt myself scarcely com-
petent to resolve, with the few authorities upon these insects
which I have at hand. As Mr. Curtis, the distinguished British
entomologist, now president of the Entomological Society of Lon-
don, had communicated a series of articles upon several of the
species of this genus, to the third volume of the Gardener’s Chro-
nicle—a volume to which I have not access—and as I had _here-
-tofore had some correspondence with him, I recenily enclosed to
him for his opinion, specimens of our Apple Bark-louse, and also
a seemingly identical species found upon our Red. osier, (Cornus
sericea.) The following is an extract from his reply: “Ihave
carefully examined your specimens. They are identical, and are
‘the Coccus arborum linearis, Geoff., and I believe the C. conchi-
 formis of Gmelin, which is in that case a synonym. You are
right in placing them in the genus .Aspidiotus.” I trust this
information will satisfy some of my western friends who have
been reluctant to credit iny statement that their insect is not new,
but is common here at the east, and also in Europe.

Mr. Rennie speaks of having found this species in great plenty
upon currant bushes. I have never met with it upon the culti-
APPLE-TRUNK BARK-LOUSE——-KINDRED SPECIES. 35

vated currant, but have found it upon our wild currant (Ribes
Jloridum,) pretty numerous. Scales very similar to those of the
Apple bark-louse, but of a smaller size, of a pale brownish color,
and uot curved, may be met with also upon the twigs of the but
ternut. Some of these are so small as to be imperceptible to the
naked eye. As they are evidently a distinct species, I propose to
name them the Butternut Bark-louse, Aspidiotus Juglandis. My
friend Dr. A. S. Todd, of Wheeling, Virginia, has sent me speci-
mens of another species of this same genus, occurring upon Rose
bushes. He says: “ My finest roses are cursed with these ver
min. They kill ‘ for certain’ every Rose bush they get upon It
dies to the ground.” This is a round, flattish, white scale, about
five hundredths of an inch in diameter, often with a light yellow
spot or cloud in its center. Thisis probably the Aspidiotus Rose
of Bouché, (Schadl. Gart. Ins , p. 53,) which is briefly noticed in
Kollar’s Treatise, English edition, page 179.

The Apple Bark-louse is about one-eighth of an inch long, of
an irregular ovoid form, often bent in its middle, and more or
less curved at its smaller end, which is pointed, the opposite end
being rounded. It is of a brown color, of much the same tint
with the bark, its smaller end being paler and yellow.
It closely resembles an exceedingly minute oyster-shell
pressed against the bark—a similitude so striking as to
be readily perceived by every one, dnd is frequently
designated in common conversation, under the name of
the Oyster-shaped Bark-louse. These shells or scales are situa-
ted irregularly, though the most of them are placed lengthwise
of the limb or twig, with the smaller end upwards. These scales
are the relics of the bodies of the gravid females, covering and
protecting their eggs. During the winter and spring, these eggs
may be found, on elevating the scales. The number of eggs under
each scale is very variable. Several which I have counted, have
shown the following numbers—13, 22, 36, 54, 58, 71, 86, 102.
J have uniformly found a greater number of eggs where the scales
were upon a thrifty tree. When a tree becomes overrun, so as
to dwindle and not afford a copious supply of nourishment, ihe
number of eggs is reduced.

 
36 APPLE-TRUNK BARK-LOUSE—EGG-PARASITE, LARVA.

Under these scales I have also repeatedly met with a small
maggot, three hundredths of an inch long, or frequently much
smaller, of a broad oval form, rounded at one end and tapering
to an acute-point at the other, soft, of a honey-yellow color,
slightly translucent and shining; with an opake brownish cloud
i the middle, produced by alimentary matter in the viscera, and
divided into segments by faintly impressed transverse lines. This
is probably the larva of some minute Hymenopterous insect, spe
eially designed by Providence for destroying the eggs of the bark
lonse. That these eggs are its food is shown by the fact that
when the maggot is small a number of eggs are found under the
seale with it, when it is larger the eggs are fewer. The indivi-
dual from which the above measurement and description was
drawn had but two eggs remaining for it to consume. Whether
the maggot be larger or smaller it, with the eggs, appears to com-
pletely fill the cavity beneath the scale, and I have only met
with this parasite upon thrifty trees, where each scale had a large
number of eggs beneath it. It doubtless remains beneath the
scale during its pupa state, and then makes its exit by perforating
a small round hele through the scale. Scales which are thus
perforated may frequently be met with. Our cut represents a
scale magnified and perforated for the escape of a parasite, the
short line on the right hand side of the figure indicating the natu-
ral length of the scale.

The eggs are somewhat less than the hundredth part of an inch
in Jength; they are of a regular oval shape, about twice as long
as broad, smooth but not shining, opake, most of them of a white
color, others dull pale yellow.

As early as the 12th of May I have found individual larve
hatched, and running about with much activity among the eggs,
but remaining under the scale for protection. It is not till about
a fortnight later that the eggs mostly become hatched, and the
young craw] ont from under the scale and scatter themselves over
the bark. To the naked eye they appear like minute white dots,
anifurmly diffused over the smooth bark of the twigs, and ap-
pearing like natural white points or glands of the bark. A per-
son to whom I once pointed out these white specks was reluctant
APPLE-TRUNK BARK-LOUSE—REMEDIES, 37

to believe they were anything else than white dots natural to the
smooth young bark, until by careful watching some of them could
be perceived to be moving about upon the bark.

When first hatched from the egg the larva is but about half the
size of the egg, of an oval form and a pale dull yellow color.
Three pairs of legs are perceptible, two placed anteriorly, the
other posteriorly and distant. It walks about with much life and
agility. Ihave not traced this insect through the subsequent
stages of its life with sufficient accuracy of observation to give its
history.

A number of remedies for the bark-louse will be found report-
ed in late volumes of the Prairie Farmer and other western agri-
cultural papers. The secret remedy which was hawked through
that section, as perfectly sure of destroying these lice, was simply
an infusion of quassia, with which the trees were to be wet from
a syringe or watering pot. This of course was soon discovered
to be worthless, or effectual only when applied to the young new-
ly hatched lice, at which time infusion of tobacco or soap suds
would be a more economical and still more effectual remedy.
These, and also strong lye, potash water, whitewash, dry ashes,
sulphur, and I know not how many more articles have been re-
commended by different writers. In a late number of the Michi-
gan Farmer (vol. 13. p. 82,) A. G. Hanford gives a very favorable
account of the effects of tar and linseed oil, beat together and ap-
plied warm with a paint brnsh thoroughly, before the buds begin
to expand in the spring. This, when dry, cracks and peels off
bringing off the dead scales with it. Trees which were thus
treated grew from two to two and a half feet last summer, which
had advanced only a few inches in previous years. The remedy
to which Esq. Kimball, of Kenosha, reserts is probably one of the
most efficacions, and as convenient as any; he boils leaf tobacco
in strong lye till it is reduced to an impalpable pulp, which it
will be ina short time, and mixes with it soft soap, (which has
been made cold; not the jelly-like boiled soap,) to make the mass
about the consistence of thin paint, the object being to obtain a
preparation that will not be entirely washed from the tree by the

first rains which occur, as lye, tobacco water, and most other
a
38 APPLE TWIGS—SEVENTEEN-YEAR LOCUST.

washes are sure tobe. The fibres of the tobacco, diffused through
this preparation, cause a portion of its strength to remain where-
ever it is applied, longer’ than any application which is wholly
soluble in rain water can do. He first trims the trees well, so
that every twig can be reached with the paint brush, and applies
this preparation before the buds have much swelled in the spring.
Two men, strictly charged to take their time, and be sure that
they painted the whole of the bark to the end of every twig, were
occupied a fortnight last spring in going over his hundred and fifty
young trees. When I saw his trees, the latter part of September,
this composition was still plainly to be seen upon the rough bark
of their trunks and upon the under sides of their limba, resemb-
ling a whitish mouldiness of the bark. The trees had grown very
thriftily, and yielded well, whilst.only a single scale could here
and there be found upon the twigs of the present year’s growth,
all the older parts being entirely free from them. Although
trees perishing with lice were standiug in the adjacent yards and
gardens, it seemed these insects preferred starvation at home
rather than being poisoned by invading these trees, hence it ap-
pears that one thorough application of this preparation is suffi-
cient to destroy all the insects npon the trees, and to protect
them from invasion from neighboring trees for a period of two
years; for free as the trees were from these insects in September,
there can be no call for a renewal of this composition upon them

the coming spring.

Wounding the twigs and causing them to wither and fall; a very large black fly
with four glassy wings, with orange-colored ribs and red eyes. °

The SevenTEEN-YEAR Locust, Cicada septemdecim, Linnxvs.

On some accounts the Seventeen-year Locust is the most re-
markable insect of which we have any knowledge. The unusual
Jength of time which it requires for completing its growth, and
the perfect regularity with which every generation, numbering
many millions of individuals, attains maturity, so as to come forth
at the end of seventeen years, the entire brood hatching within a
few days’ time, has caused this more than any other American

 
APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST—DIFFERENT BROODS. 39°

insect to be noted throughout the world. And it was, doubtless,
from its suddenly appearing in such vast numbers, at long inter-
vals of time, like the Migratory Locust of the East, that the early
settlers of this continent gave it the name of “ Locust,” by which
it is now universally designated; although it: is wholly unlike
those insects which are properly termed locusts, both in its form
and habits. .

Another remarkable fact with respect to this species is, that in
different districts of our country broods appear in different years ;
yet the brood of each district invariably preserves the interval of
seventeen years for coming out in its winged state. We have
three of these broods partly within the bounds of the State of
New-York, and there appear to be at Jeast six others in other
parts of the United States.

One of these inhabits the valley of the Hudson River. Its nor-
thern limit is the vicinity of Schuylerville and Fort Miller, and
this appears to be the most northern point to which this species
anywhere extends. From thence it reaches south along both
sides of the Hudson to its mouth, where it extends east, at
least to New-Haven in Connecticut, and west across the north
part of New-Jersey and into Pennsylvania. Its last appearance
was in the year 1843, and it will consequently make its next ap-
pearance in 1860.

The second brood occurs in Western New-York, Western Penn-.
sylvania, and Eastern Ohio. The last year of its appearance was
1849; it will consequently reappear in 1866.

The third brood appears to have the most extensive geographi-
cal range. From the southeastern part of Massachusetts it ex-
tends across Long Island and along the Atlantic coast to Chesa-
peak Bay, and up the Susquehanna at least as far as to Carlisle in
Pennsylvania. And it probably reaches continuously west to the
Ohio, for it occupies the valley of that river at Kanhawa in Vir-
ginia, and onwards to its mouth, and down the valley of the Mis-
sissippi probably to its mouth, and up its tributaries, west, into
the Indian territory. This brood has appeared the present year,
1855, and I have received specimens from Long Island, from
40 APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST—DIFFERENT BROODS.

Southern Illinois, and the Creek Indian country west of Arkan-
sas, these last having been gathered by my friends, Robert W.
Kennicott and William S. Robertson. They show that from one
end of this vast stretch of territory to the other, the species is
quite uniform in its size and marks. Mr. Robertson, writing
from Tullehassie, under date of May 24th, says: “I have heard
the Seventeen-year Locusts for ten days past, but they are not
plenty here. At Park Hill, however, twenty-five miles south of
this, in the Cherokee country, they are very numerous, and in
these hungry times, occasioned by the severe drouth of last year
and this spring, the people are glad to gather and eat them.”

. A fourth brood, and which has been the oftenest and most fully
noticed of any, reaches from Pennsylvania and Maryland to South
Carolina and Georgia, and, what appears to be a detached branch
_ of it, occurs also in the southeastern part of Massachusetts. It
was observed as long ago as 1715, and its reappearance has been
recorded seven times since, the last one of which was in the year
1891. It will consequently reappear in 1868. |

A fifth brood extends from Western Pennsylvania, through the
valley of the Ohio river, and down that of the Mississippi to
Louisiana. This appeared Jast in 1846,*and will therefore re-
appear in 1863.

A sixth appeared the past year around the head of Lake Michi-
gan, and as far east as to the middle of the State of Michigan, and
extended west across Northern Ilinois and onwards, an unknown
distance, into Iowa. It reached south at least as far as Peoria,
and north to the line of Wiseonsin. Mr. M. P, Weter, of Tirade,
Walworth county, Wisconsin, informed me that a narrow strip,
but about a mile in width, extended through his neighborhood,
and onwards, north, for a distance of at least twenty miles.

A seventh is recorded as having appeared in the western part
of North Carolina in the year 1817.

An eighth was noticed at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., in 1833.

A ninth was noticed in the valley of the Connecticut river, in
Massachusetts, in the years 1818 and 1835.
APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST—OTHER SPECIES. 4]

* It is possible that in. some of these last cases other species may
have been mistaken for the seventeen-year locust, and that in
those instances where straggling individuals of this locust ale re-
ported to have occurred during the intervals between the appear-
ance of the main swarm, other species have been confounded with
this, particularly the Creviced cicada, (C. rimosa, Say,) which
comes out in the same month, and in its colors, &c., closely resem-
bles the C. septemdecim.*

I have personally met with this species in two instances; the
first was upon the forenoon of the tenth of June, 1826, upon the
oaks and other trees and shrubs between West Troy and Cuhoes,
which were covered with these insects at that date, making the
neighborhood ring with the discordant din of their shrill song.
After the long interval of seventeen years, in a grove in the town
of Stillwater, the same note was heard again, and was instantly

* We have iu our country several species of the large interesting insects which pertain to
this family. The most common one in our State is the Dog-day cicada, (C. canicularis—
Harris,) which probably is not distinct from the Frosted cicada (C. pruinosa) of Say. It
appears annually in most parts of the State in autumn. The Creviced cicada, (C. rimosa—
Say,) and also the Bordered cicada, (C. marginata—Say,) occur also within our bounds.
Farther south the species become more numerous. Among a number of those sent me by Mr.

Robertson from the Creek Indian territory, the following do not appear to have been hitherto
described.

The Surers Cicapa (C. superba) isof arich olive green color, having a black band between
the eyes, and six black spots upon the anterior margin of the middle segment of the thorax.
The abdomen above is olive-yellow, with two mealy-white spots at the base. The under side
is whitish-yellow, coated over with a mealy-white powder. The wings are clear and glassy,
the apical row of cells of the fore wings and the hind margin slightly smoky; the veins are
bright green, except those surrounding the apical row of cells, which are dark brown, and the
two short anastamosing outer veinlets are margined with smoky-brown, forming the usual
dusky W-shaped mark. This species measures an inch and three-fourths to the tips of the
closed wings. It occurred in August upon two small elm trees growing two rods apart, be-

side a brook in the middle of a prairie, with no other trees near, and no elms within some
miles of these. On climbing one of these trees the cicadas, of which there were a number of
individuals, all flew to the other tree; on climbing this last they all flew back, so that on
climbing one tree three times and the other twice, but a single specimen could be captured, so
shy were they.

RoBertson’s CicaDA, (C. Robertsonii.)—Green, variegated with brown and black ; upper
side of the abdomen black and shining, with two yellowish spots near the base; niddle seg-
ment of the thorax yellowish brown, the elevated x green, anda large green spot at the end
of each of its anterior horns; wings glassy-hya'ine, their veins slender, green, becoming light
yellow at their apices; rib of the anterior wings edged with black on its inner side; length to
the tip of the closed wings, in the female, two inches and fifteen hundredths.
42 APPLE-TWIGS, LOCUST—ITS SONG.

recognized, though at a distance of some twenty rods. As it was
repeated at short intervals, I was able to draw near and capture
the songster, who had come out some days in. advance of the
main swarm. The note, which is uttered only by the males, is
peculiar, and may be represented by the letters fsh-e-e-E-E E-E-€-0u,
uttered continuously, and prolonged to a quarter ora half minute
in length, the middle of the note being deafeningly shrill, loud

-and piercing to the ear, and its termination gradually lowered till
the sound expires. Ina wood in the vicinity of Ottawa, Illinois,
on the 22d of September last, I heard the note of a cicada identi-
cal with the above, except that the syllables were short, and
uttered at regular brief intervals, thus, tsheeou, tsheeou, tsheeou,
much resembling the creaking of a grindstone when in want of
grease. This was probably some autumnal species, a native of
that vicinity; but it might possibly have been a straggling indi-
vidual of the seventeen-year locust, which had not completed his
transfurmation until three months after his due time, and which
utiered his notes in this hurried, impatient manner, upon finding
himself “solitary and alone.”

Circumstances may cause this insect to appear and disappear
somewhat earlier at some of its visits than at others. Mr. Wight,
editor of the Prairie Farmer, informs me that the Illinois brood
last year had mostly disappeared upon the fourth of July, whilst
the preceding visit of this same brood was in vigorous life and
activity at that date, as was recollected from the fact that a
particular neighborhood had met together to commemorate the
day, in a harn, which was the most spacious edilice in the vicini-
ty, and the company were much annoyed in their festivities by
the incessant din which these locusts kept up in and around the
building.

This insect dwells entirely in timber land, never inhabiting
fields which have been cleared seventeen years, or the prairie
lands of the west. It was noticed the past year as being more
wide-spread in many places in Illinois than it was on its previous
visit. Fruit or forest trees, wherever they had been planted
upon the prairies, were seventeen years ago destitute of these in-
APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST—FOOD OF THE LARVA. 43

sects, but the past year they came from the ground among such
trees as abundantly as in the original timber lands. It has been
commonly supposed heretofore that the larve derive their nourish-
ment from the roots of the trees upon which the eggs were de-
posited, puncturing the bark with their beaks and extracting the
juices, and in this way it has‘been supposed that much greater
injury was done to the trees than by the wounds made upon the
twigs by the perfect insects. This view has been sustained by
Miss Margaretta H. Morris, in an interesting communication to
the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, and published also
in Downing’s Horticulturist (vol. ii. p. 16),in which she attributes
the failure of pear and other fruit trees, in many cases, to the
exhaustion of the sap, produced by these larvee fixing themselves
upon the roots. On examining a pear tree which had ceased to
thrive, she found that all those roots which were six inches or
more beneath the surface were thronged with countless numbers
of the larve, clinging to them by means of their beaks inserted
in the bark. From ene root, a yard in length and about an inch
in diameter, she gathered twenty-three larve, varying in length
from a quarter of an iuch to an inch—a much greater disparity in
size than could have been anticipated in larvee which were all of
the same age.

The habits and nourishment of these Jarvie isa topic which
needs further investigation. Mr. R. W. Kennicott, of West
Northfield, Mlinois, writes me that in the month of November in
following down the roots of several trees and shrubs, the twigs of
which were badly cut to pieces by the locusts last year, tu the
distance of a foot or more, he was unable to find a single one of
these grubs, a strong indication that when young they descend
deeper than Miss Morris supposes. And a more important fact
is, that they subsist upon the roots of grass and herbs as well as
those of trees. I learn from Dr. J. W. Moody that at Spring
Arbor, Jackson county, Michigan, in fields which had been
cleared of their timber some sixteen years, and which have been
under cultivation most of the time since, the locusts eame fourth
last June as plentifully as in the timber land; and these seemed _
to have been equally as well nourished, for they were of the same
44 APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST—HABITS OF THE PUPA.

size, and came out of the ground upon the same day, with those
which appeared in the timber lands; nor were they any more plenty
beneath two or three shade trees standing in the cleared grounds
than in other parts of the fields. In other places I was also in-
formed of their coming from the-earth plentifully in fields which
had been cleared several years. Indeed, the pup emerge in all
situations, except where the ground has been wholly destitute of
trees and shrubs for seventeen years or more. They even work
their way out in the middle of the most solid and hard-trodden
roads. This fact is noticed by Rev. Andrew Sandel in the first
recorded notice which we possess of this insect, in 1715, (Medical
Repository, vol. iv., p. 71,) and was also stated to me by different
persons in Illinois. It serves to show the remarkable strength
which the anterior legs of the pupa must possess to enable it to
dig through ground so compacted.

It is in the night time that the pupa (of which the accompany-
ing figures, taken from specimens of C. rimosa,
give a view,) emerges from the ground. The
warmth and dryness of the air by day would
doubtless cause its exterior shell-like case to
become stiff and crack open prematurely.
Some of the pupa hatch upon the ground, near the holes from
which they have emerged; others crawl up the sides of fences
and upon bushes and trees, sometimes to a height of twenty feet.
The pupa fixes itself securely by its feet, its thin shell-like cover-
ing cracks open anteriorly upon the back, and the inclosed insect
withdraws itself therefrom, leaving the empty case adhering to
the place where it was fixed,

 

 

The oak is the tree which the Seventeen-year locust appears
most to infest, for the purpose of depositing its eggs, and next to
this is probably the apple tree. So numerous were these insects
in several orchards in Illinois last June, and such injury did they
threaten the trees by their wounds, that the proprietors were in-
duced with poles and goads to whip and drive them from the trees,
And B.S. Rollin, of Wyoming, Wisconsin, in the Wisconsin and
Iowa Farmer of November last, (vol. vi. p. 254,) reports that in
APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST—EGGS, HOW DEPOSITED. 45

his vicinity the oak and apple tree limbs were breaking off with
every wind, at the point where they had been operated upon by
the locusts, and that some of the trees were badly injured hereby.
The editor of the Farmer, in commenting upon this communica-
tion, thinks that the damage will prove to be but slight, and will
in reality be that “ heading in” which is often serviceable to fruit
trees. But it must be rare that our apple trees can be benefited
by any heading in, all experience showing that the perfection of
the fruit requires that this tree should be kept well trimmed, ‘so
as to permit a free circulation of air and light among its branches;
and the same condition of the tree is one of its best safeguards
against tree-hoppers, plant-lice, and many other insect enemies
which particularly prefer situations where the foliage is dense.

In addition to the trees already mentioned, this insect deposits
its eggs in the poplar, the locust, the hazlenut, and probably in
all our deciduous trees and shrubs. The different species of wal-
nut and hickory, however, are said to be exempt from its attack.
It will probably prefer those trees having the twigs thick and ro-
bust, to those in which they are slender and flexile; it has even
been known, according to Dr. Harris, to commit its eggs to the
white cedar, but it is probable that pines and the evergreens
generally will be avoided by it.

Dr. Harris, (New England Insects, p. 184,) gives the following
description of the manner in which the female locust wounds the
twigs and deposits her eggs. They select those branches and
twigs which are of a moderate size. These they clasp on both
sides with their legs, and bending their ovipositor downwards at
an angle of about forty-five degrees, they repeatedly thrust it
obliquely into the bark and wood in a longitudinal direction, at’
the same time putting in motion the lateral saws of the ovipositor,
and in this way detach small splinters of the wood at one end,
and tuyn them upwards, so as to form a kind of lid or cover to
the perforation. The hole is bored in a slanting direction, to the
pith, and By a repetition of the same operation, is gradually
enlarged, forming a longitudinal fissure of sufficient extent to
receive from ten to twenty eggs. The lateral pieces of the ovi-
46 APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST—ITS WOUNDS OF TREES.

positor serve as a groove to convey the eggs into this nest. They
are placed in pairs side by side, but separated from each other by
a portion of woody fibre, and they are fixed into the limb some-
what obliquely, so that one end points upwards. When two eggs
have been thus placed, the ovipositor is withdrawn for a moment,
and is then inserted again, dropping two more eggs in a line with
the first; and this operation is repeated until the fissure is filled
from one end to the other. The insect then removes a short dis-
tance, and commences making another nest, to contain two more
rows of eggs. She is occupied about fifteen minutes in making
one of these slits and filling it with eggs; and frequently fifteen
or twenty of these nests are formed upon one limb. Fifty nests
have been counted in one instance, upon a single limb, extending
along ina line, each containing from fifteen to twenty eggs in
two rows—the whole appearing to be the work of one insect.
After one limb is sufficiently stocked, the insect passes to another.
She thus goes from limb to limb and from tree to tree, until her
supply of eggs, consisting of four or five hundred, is exhausted.
And by her assiduous labors in thus providing for a succession of
her kind, she becomes so wearied and weak as to fall to the
ground, in attempting to fly, and soon dies.

From the wounds which are thus made in the limbs, the sap
exudes, often profusely. This attracts numerous ants to the spot,
to regale themselves upon this sweet fluid. The naturalist, Pon-
tedera, who gave some attention to the operations of the insects of
this family, says that when the eggs have been deposited, the
insect closes the mouth of the hole with a gum, capable of pro-
tecting them from the weather. M. Reanmur thinks this is only
a fancy, as he could discover nothing of the kind. But to us it
appears quite probable that what Pontedera supposed was a gum
which had been deposited by the parent insect, was the dried
juice of the twig. :

The fissures which the female makes, in which to deposit her
eggs, are not the only wounds which this insect occasions upon
the trees. It inserts its sharp beak into the bark for‘the purpose
of sucking the sap, this being the nourishment on which the locust
subsists. Although some of my correspondents express doubts
APPLE TWIGS, LOCUST—-THE LARVA AND FLY. 47

whether this insect takes any nourishment after it arrives at its
perfect state, Mr. Weter informs me that an orchard of young
trees upon his farm had the smooth bark of the trunk and limbs
punctured profusely, and that the sap exuded copiously from
these punctures; and Mr. Robertson makes the same observation.

It however is only those twigs and limbs which are badly
wounded by the female in depositing her eggs, which perish and
fall to the ground. But in this way ‘extensive injury is often
done. Mr. Thomas W. Morris. speaks of having seen the tops of
the forest trees in Pennsylvania and Ohio, for upwards of a hun-
dred miles, appearing as if sgorched by fire, a month after this
locust had left them. (Horticulturist, vol. ii, p.17.) Many of
the wounded limbs, however, survive the injury which they
receive.

The xcas of the locust are 0.08 long and 0.06 in diameter. They are of an oval
form, rounded at each end, and of a white color. Statements are very corflicting as
to the length of time that elapses after the eggs are deposited before they hatch,
some saying it is but a fortnight, others that it is six or seven weeks.

The young Larva, when it hatches from the egg is but 0.06 in length, and of a
yellowish-white color, clothed with fine hairs, its eyes and the claws of its fore legs
being tinged with red. It has six legs, of which the anterior pair is much the
largest, resembling the claws of the lobster, and armed on the under side with
strong spines. It is quite active and lively in its motions, and drops itself from the
limb to the ground, in which it immediately buries itself by means of its fore legs,
which are admirably adapted for digging.

The PEREFCT INSECT varies from an inch and a half to nearly an inch and thyee-
quarters in length, to the tips of its closed wings, and when these are spread, they
measure from two inches and a balf to three and a quarter across. It is of a coal
black color, marked with bright orange yellow as follows—upon the transverse and
oblique raised lines at the base of the thorax, a large spot on each side of the thorax
forward of the wings, the whole under side of the abdomen in the males, but only
the posterior margins of the segments in the females, the veins of the wings, the beak
and the legs. Varieties occur having the feet black, the shanks marked with black
towards their bases, this color either occupying the whole outer side, or merely form-
ing a stripe on their anterior side. The anterior thighs are also black along their
inner edge, including the spines which arise from this edge. The four hind thighs
often have a black stripe along their posterior sides. The angular edges of the ante-
rior hips are also black. There is commonly a small dull white spot in the groove on
the middle of the head, behind the small simple eyes. The veins of the wings are
margined each side by a slender black line; they become dusky at their tips, and the
oblique vein, parallel with the apical margin, is black, and is margined with smoky.
48 APPLE TWIGS, LUCUST—PERSONS STUNG BY IT.

The two outer anastamosing veinlets of the fore wings are black, with only a slender
orange line along their middle, and are margined with smoky, forming a W-shaped
mark, which superstition to this day, continues to a slight extent, to regard as por-
tending ‘“‘ war.” The small opake orange basal cell is black on its inner side, and
the elevated vein running from the outer side of this cell to the base of the wing is
also deep black, with a large black spot behind and a small one before its basal ex-
tremity, as seen when the wings are spread. The folded inner part of the hind wings
is margined with smoky, and on its apical side with black.

Characters drawn from the veins of the wings, by which to discriminate the species,
would appear from this insect to be of little value. Thus, the first or outermost
veinlet, or cross-vein as it is termed by Mr. Walker, is separated from the second
veiulet about the distance of its length in the male, but often by double this distance:
inthe female. The second veinlet is slightly curved in the male, whilst in the female
itis straight, with a slight curve towards its inner end, and in one specimen before
me it is abruptly bent, forming an angle of less than 135 degrees. It is of the same
length with the first veinlet commonly, but is sometimes much longer.

It would be interesting to carefully study over a large collec-
tion of specimens of the seventeen-year locust, belonging to sepa-
rate broods of this insect, and gathered from different localities, to
ascertain if some marks cannot be detected by which the individu-

als belonging to each brood can be discriminated from the others.

When newly hatched from the pupa, the locust is soft, heavy,
and sluggish in its motions. At this time, as I am informed by
Mr. Kennicott, it is preyed upon by our large species of dragon-
flies or darning-needles (Libellulide), which seize and devour
numbers of them.

Mr. W.S. Robertson informs me, that the Indians make the
different species of Cicada an article of diet, every year gathering
quantities of them, and preparing them for the table by roasting
them in a hot oven, stirring them until they are well browned.

Accounts of persons having been stung by the seventeen-year
locust, and dying in consequence of the wound, are current in
different sections of our country, every time this insect makes its
appearance. The past summer, a newspaper article gave the
name, residence, and particulars of the death of a young Jady in
Illinois, who was thus stung, stating the attending circumstances
so definitely as to leave no doubt that the story was authentic.
And it is possible that the sharp beak of this insect, or the ovi-
positor of the female, may inflict a puncture so extremely painful
APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—ITS NUMBERS. 49

as to cause death ina delicate person of irritable habits. But
such instances must beextremely rare. The insect has been freely
handled, times without number, by different persons, without its
manifesting any malevolence or disposition to injure, and to secure
a concert of their shril] notes, boys have been known sportively”
to imprison numbers of them inthe crowns of their hats, without
harm. Upon this subject, R. W. Kennicott writes me as follows:
“T consider the common idea that Cicadas can produce death by
stinging, to be highly preposterous. If it were so,I fancy I ought
myself to be about a dozen corpses at this time, for I have handled
hundreds of them in such a manner as gave them a fair chance
to try their stinging powers on me, had they been possessed of
such. I observed that when I pulled them off from a branch,
while in the act of depositing eggs therein, they would often con-
tinue instinctively to work the ovipositing apparatus for some
time; and should any one’s hand or finger happen to be in the
way at this time, it would be very apt to get severely pricked,
such is the sharpness of the instrument.”

—_— ——

AFFECTING THE LEAVES.

Small green lice without wings, accompanied by a few biack and green ones
having wings, all crowded together in vast numbers upon the green tips of
the twigs and under sides of the leaves, sucking their juices.

Tur ApreLe PLaNt-Lovuss. Aphis Mali, Fasricrvs.

Tae Aprre Lear-touss. Aphis Malifolic.

These insects pertain to the Order Homorrera and the Family
Apuipm. The Genus Aphis is at once distinguished from all other
insects by having its fore wings with one longitudinal vein, the
rib-vein, from which branches three oblique veins, the last or
outermost one «f which is twice forked. The insects of this
family, and of the closely allied family Coccipm or Bark-lice are
among the greatest pests which the fruit grower and the gardener
have to encounter. They are astonishingly prolific; and every
kind of tree, shrub and herb, it is probable, has a species of louse
infesting it, whilst many have two, three or more, each part of

4 :
50 APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—ITS HISTORY.

the tree having its peculiar species. Thus upon the apple tree,
we have already noticed the Apple root blight, a species of woolly
_ louse producing excrescences upon the roots, and the Apple Bark
louse. There is also the tree blight, (Eriosoma lanigera,) which in-
fests the trunk and limbs. We come now to consider this, spe-
cies, which affects the young succulent ends of the twigs and the
leaves, and another species which we have observed upon. the
leaves, which appears to be distinct from the Mali, though pro-
bably possessing the same habits. We thus have five kinds of
these vermin infesting our apple trees.

In many instances it is extremely difficult to determine whether
the lice upon our American trees and plants are identical with
those which occur upon the same or similar vegetation in Europe,
the descriptions given of them by the old authors being so very
brief, and often drawn up from a superficial examination of the
species. And J have heretofore been in much doubt whether this
‘common Aphis of our applegtrees was the same insect which
similarly infests the orchards of Europe, named Aphis Mali by
Fabricius; that species being described by him, by Kollar and
others, as being of a green color, whereas, our insect in its winged
state is almost invariably black, its abdomen only being green.
But having recently been favored with specimens of the European
insect, from my esteemed friend Dr. Signoret, of Paris, and also
on comparing our Aphis with the description given of the Euro-
pean by M. Amyot, (Annals Entom. Soc. France, 2d series, vol.
v. page 478,) and the detailed account of the veins of its wings,
furnished by Mr. Walker, (List of British Museum, page 985,)
not the slightest doubt remains in my mind, but that the insects
of the two continents are identical, and that upon this side of the
Atlantic it has been introduced by the trees brought hither from
Europe.

The history of this species and its annual career is as follows:
Early in the spring, sunk deep in the cracks and crevices in the
bark of the apple trees, may he seen numbers of small, oval, black,
shining eggs, from whieh these insects are produced. “Scraping
off the dead bark of old trees, and coiting the trunks of all the
trees with whitewash at that period of the year is a practice of
much utility, since thereby most of the eggs of this and some other
; APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—ITS FECUNDITY. 51

insect depredators will be destroyed and the health of the tree
promoted. These eggs hatch quite early, as soon as the buds
begin to expand, and the young lice locate themselves upon the
small, tender leaves, inserting their beaks therein and pumping
out their juices. All of the lice thus hatched are females, and
reach maturity in ten or twelve days. Without any intercourse
of the sexes, these females that were produced from eggs, now
commence giving birth to living young, bringing forth about .two
daily, for a period of two or three weeks, when, having become
decrepid with age, they perish. The young mostly locate imme-

diately around the parent, as closely as they can stow themselves.
Upon a young leaf, in a space less than half an inch long and the
tenth of an inch wide, I counted thirty-six young lice and four
winged females, which had recently alighted there to begin a new
colony. The young reaching maturity after a similar length of
time, in their turn become parents. Thus these vermin continue
to breed, and as fast as new leaves expand they are in readiness
to occupy them. When favorable circumstances attend them,
their multiplication surpasses all power of computation. In the
warmth of summer they attain maturity in less than half the time
they do early in the spring. And like most of the species of the
Aphidés they at this period of the year produce winged as well
as wingless females, the former dispersing themselves to found
new colonies upon other trees. It is reported of the insects of
this family, that there are from sixteen to twenty generations
in the course of the season, from twenty to forty young being pro-
duced from each parent. Thus, from one egg, as stated by Mr.
Curtis, in seven generations, 729 millions of lice will be bred.
And if they all lived their allotted length of time, by autumn
everything upon the surface of the earth would be covered with
them. When cold weather begins to approach, males as well as
females are produced, and their operations for the season close
with the deposit of a stock of eggs for continuing their species
another year. On the last day of last October, it being a warm
sunny day, after many nights of frost, I observed myriads of
winged and apterous lice wandering about upon the trunks, the
limbs and the fading Jeaves of all my apple trees, many of them
occupied in laying their eggs. These were scattered along in
52 APPLE.’LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—BLACKENS THE TREE.

every crevice of the bark, in many places piled up and filling the
cracks, and others were irregularly dropped among the lichens
and moss growing upon the bark—every unevenness of: the sur-
face, or wherever a roughness afforded a support for them, being
stocked with as many as could be made to cling to it. The eggs
were then ofa light. yellow or green color, and were so slightly
glued in their places that it was evident by far the largest part of
them would be washed away by rains or brushed off by the driv-
ing snows of winter. But I by no means anticipated such a great
diminution in their numbers as actually occurred. Ishould judge
that in the spring several hundreds had disappeared for every one
that then remained.

The present year (1855) the apple plant-louse, as well as species
infesting willows and some other trees, appears to be unusually
prolific, and has excited much alarm among many owners of young
orchards, for it is young thrifty-growing trees which are most in-
fested by it. In one instance a gentleman came to me a distance
of twenty five miles, bringing specimens of this insect, to learn its
name.and what measures he could resort to for destroying it, and
in the Country Gentleman of July 19, (vol. vi. p. 48,) is a letter
from William Gilchrist, of Hebron, Washington county, giving an
account of its depredations upon his trees, many of which were in
danger of perishing unless they were relieved from these vermin.
Norman Briggs, Esq., of Schaghticoke Point, informs me that par-
ticular varieties of the apple appear to be much more infested by
this insect than other varieties; thus the Sour Bough, wherever it
was growing in his grounds, was overrun with lice, whilst among
the kinds least affected were the Northern Spy and Red Astrachan.

As already stated, this insect locates itself upon the green suc-
culent shoots at the end of the twigs, upon the under surface of
the leaves, and upon the leaf-stalks. The leaves being of a com-
paratively stiff, leathery texture, do not become wrinkled and
plaited like those of the peach, the snowball, and many other
shiubs and trees; they, however, curve backwards, often to such
an extent that the point of the leaf touches the stalk on which it
grows, thus furnishing to the insect a comparatively secure covert
APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—HONEY DEW. 53

from rains and the night dews. The leaf-stalks also become bent,
so that all the leaves growing upon‘a twig are, in badly-infested
trees, turned backwards, pressing against the twig, and thus
shielding that’ part of the colony which is located thereon. An
infested tree may be distinguished at a distance of several rods
by the leaves on the ends of its twigs being thus turned back-
wards, instead of standing freely out in their natural position.
The bark of the limbs, and the surface of the leaves also, becomes
blackened as if it had been smoked by the flame of a candle or
other burning substance. This blackness does not rub off upon
white paper, but Mr. Briggs informs me that washing the bark
with a solution of sal soda removes it entirely. He had observed
this black appearance of his trees before he noticed the lice which
caused it, and seeing a newspaper-recommendation of this wash
for cleansing trees, he applied it 1o four of those in his orchard.
The next day he was astonished at finding myriads of these lice
crawling down and up the trunks of these four trees, and upon
the ground they were heaped together in a ring around their
bases. The alkaline matter in this wash had evidently tinctured
the sap of the tree, and made it unpalatable to these insects, and
they endeavored to emigrate to some place free from it, but on
reaching the ground they knew not where to go, and many, there-
fore, travelled up the trunk again in search of some other avenue
of escape.

A strong disagreeable smell is also emitted from trees that are
badly infested with the apple plant-louse, and when a person has
been examining infested twigs this smell remains upon his hands.
The odor is peculiar and very loathsome, and reminds me of the
smell of stale fish more than anything else with which I am able
to compare it.

s

All the insects of this family secrete copiously a sweetish fluid,
called honey dew. This is ejected from the two little horns, or necta-
ries, which project one on each side of the hind part of their bodies.
Often a clear drop of this fluid may be seen at the tip of one or
both of these horns. This fluid, falling upon the leaves and eva-
porating, gives the leaves, under a colony of these lice, a shining
54 APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—-DESCRIPTION.

appearance, as though they were coated with varnish. For the
purpose of regaling themselves upon this honey dew, or to de-
stroy the aphides, different species of ants, flies, and quite a num-
ber of other insects are always found in company with them. Seve-
ral of these, and their habits, will be more particularly considered
at the close of our account of this species.

Grouped together, and covering the surface of the twigs and
leaves which they infest, these lice are found in a!] stages of their
growth. When newly born they are almost white, but soon be-
come pale dull greenish yellow, which is their prevailing color
during the larva period of their lives, the antenne, the nectaries,
the knees and feet being dusky, and sometimes black. The ma-
ture females are generally without wings, and their bodies are
much broader than in the larva state, being shaped like an egg,
the smaller end forward. These, as well as the winged indivi-
duals, vary greatly in their colors and marks, as will be seen
from the description of this species and its varieties which we
here give.

The WINGLESS FEMALES are somewhat less than the tenth of an inch long, and are
of a pale yellowish green colour, with the head frequently more yellow than the body.
Stripes of a deep green color are commonly present upon the back, or sometimes
there is a single stripe in the middle, and transverse ones at each of the sutures or
impressed lines between the segments, but these transverse stripes do not extend to
the margin upon either side. The eyes are black. The beak, by which it pierces
and sucks the juices of the twigs and leaves, the antennz, and the legs, are whit-
ish, their tips black or dusky, and the knees also are commonly dusky. The necta-
ries are equal in length to the distance from their bases to the tip of the abdomen,
and are dusky or white, with their outer ends black. Protruding from the extremity
of the abdomen is a short tail-like appendage, nearly half as long as the nectaries,
and of a black color. But in females examined in autumn, at he time of depositing
their eggs, this appendage was not observed. I hence infer it pertains only to those
which bear living young. |

The maxes and the wINGeD FEMALES appear to be alike in their colors. They mea-
sure about 0.12 to the tips of the wings, this being double the length to the tip of
the abdomen, or more. The head and thorax are of acoal black color, with the
neck commonly green. The antenne are inserted upon the front part of the head,
between the eyes. They are black, slightly tapering towards their tips, scarcely as
long as the body, and slightly covered with very fine short hairs. They are seven-
jointed, the two basal joints short and thick, almost as broad aslong; the third joint
is longest of all, and often shows several slight equidistant constrictions, dividing it
seemingly into several short joints; the fourth and fifth joints are equal, and each
APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—VARIETIES. 55

‘but little shorter and more slender than the third, whilst the sixth is but. half as long,
and the seventh is double the length of the sixth, and quite slender and thread-like.

The abdomen is short. and thick, of an oval forts, ‘and obtusely rounded at its apex,
of a bright grass-green color, with a row of black dots along éach side forward of the
nectaries, one dot upon each segment. On its under side at the tip, are two square
brown spots, more or less separated from each other as the abdomen is distended
with aliment ina greater or less degree, and above the apex are often three short
blackish transverse stripes. The tail-like appendage in the female is black, and about
a third as long as the nettaries, which are also black, and if pressed against the ab-
domen, would reach its tip in the females, but are shorter in the other sex. The legs
are pale dull yellow or whitish, with numerous even hairs; the feet, tips of the
shanks, and of the thighs, black or dusky; the hind thighs luck, except upon their
basal third. The wings are transparent, but not perfectly pellucid, the stigma or
opake spot towards the end on the outer margin, is dull white, and the veins are dark
tawny brown, the longitudinal rib-vein being paler and becoming whitish towards its
base, the third or furked vein is abortive and colorless at its base, and, asin many
other species, the first vein has a dusky mark from its tip. running upon the margin,
towards the base. The first and second veins are more than twice as far apart at’
their tips as they are at their bases; the third vein.is slightly farther from the second
at its tip than at its base, and is a third farther, or more, from the second at base
than this is from the first; the tip of the first fork is much nearer the tip of the
second fork than that of the third vein, and is about the same distance from the tip
of the third vein that this is from the second; the tip of the second fork is equidis-
tant between the tips of the first fork and the fourth vein; the tipof this last is com-
monly twice as near the tip of the second furk as it is to that of the rib-vein.

Individuals have been observed, in which the wing-veins varied from their normal
state as follows:

1. Tip of the third vein nearer that of the first fork than that of the second.
Common.

2. The second and third veins parallel with each other.

3 The second fork very short, its tip only half as far from the tip of the first fork
as from that of the fourth vein.

4. Left wing with but one fork to the third vein, , the second wanting.

5. Right wing with three forks to the third vein.

6. Left wing with the second vein slightly forked at its tip.

The following varieties in the colors and marks of this species may be specified.
The greatest diversity in these respects occurs after the coming on of frosty nights in
autumn, it being then difficult to find two individuals with precisely the same hue
and marks. This diversity is undoubtedly produced by the culd to which the insects
have been exposed, and the unhealthy juices of the faded and decaying leaves which:
now furnish the only nourishment which is accessible to them. It might hence be
deemed that the whole race was now in a diseased state, if it were not that sexual
intercourse takes place freely, and the females are all iudustriously occupied in de-
positing their eggs.

Variety @, pallidicornis. The antenpe brownish yellow instead of black. Young

individuals.
56: APPLE LEAVES—LEAF-LOUSE DESCRIBED.

Variety b, nigricollis. The neck not green, but of the same black color as the.

head and thorax. Common among aged individuals,

c, thoracica. The thorax dull green, with a black band forward of its
middle. Young.

d, fulviventris, The abdomen pale dull yellow instead of green.

e, nigriventris. The abdomen greenish black, with the row of black dots.
along each side, indistinct.

J, immaculata, The abdomen without any dots or darker eolored marks.

g, obsoleta, The lateral row of black dots faint and scarcely perceptible.

h, triseriata. A row of black dots along the middle of the back, as well
as upon each side of the abdomen.

4, bivincta. Two black bands towards the apex of the abdomen, on its
upper side.

j, tergata. Abdomen above, with two black bands towards its tip, and
three rows of black dots anteriorly.

Several specimens of Plant-lice which I gathered from the
leaves of Apple trees, in Mercer county, Illinois, upon the 4th
day of October last, and which at the time of capturing them I
supposed were varieties merely of the common species which we
have been considering, prove on examination to pertain to a dif-
ferent species. They are a size larger and of a shining black
color throughout. In the common species the legs are uniformly
pale with black feet and Knees, the preserved specimen showing
this character almost as distinctly as living individuals; in these
specimens on the contrary the legs are entirely black, or at most
brownish yellow at their bases in some instances. The wing-
veins moreover differ notably from those of Aphis Mali in several
points. They are more slender, and the fourth vein is relatively
shorter and more strongly curved through its whole length. In
consequence of this curvature it is nearer to the second fork at
its base than at its tip. Two-thirds of the specimens which were
eaptured at that locality coincide with each other in these differ-
ences. This fact would indicate this to be a more common species
upon the Apple trees in Illinois than ‘the Aphis Mali; but its
darker color and larger size rendering it more conspicuous than
that species may have occasioned a disproportionately large num-
ber of this species to be gathered. It may appropriately be named
the Apple-leaf louse (Aphis Malifolie). The specimens show the
following marks in addition to what has already been stated :

The ArpLiE-LEA¥ Louse measures 0.15 to the tips of its wings. The third vein of
t efore wings is but slightly abortive at its base. The second and third veins are
APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—REMEDIES, SOAP. 57

parallel with each other, or.in some instances are nearer at their tips than at their

“bases. In Aphis Mali the first fork branches from the third vein beyond its middle.
Here it is given off much lower down, at about a third the distance from the base to
the tip. Commonly the second fork is here half as long as the first fork; in Aphis
Mali it is much shorter. The tip of the fourth vein is as near that of the rib-vein as
it is to that of the second fork. The callous point on the outer margin of the hind
wings is much more distinct in this species, and here the two oblique veins branch
from the rib-vein at a much less acute angle than in Aphis Mali.

We come next to speak of the remedies for destroying these
vermin.

Drenching the vegetation infested with any of the species of
Aphis with strong soap-suds or weak lye is a measure which has
been much recommended, and is certainly one of the most effica-
cious within our knowledge. But it is those insects only which
are wetted by the solution that are destroyed. These are crea-
tures which “sprinkling” will not cleanse from the tree; “im-
mersion” must be resorted to. As it is the green succulent ends
of the twigs of young thrifty trees, and the leaves growing from
these parts that are most infested and liable to be seriously in-
jured, they may be rid of these vermin to a great extent by pre-
paring a solution of soft soap in a tin pan or other convenient
vessel, and whilst one person holds this under the infested twigs,
let another person bend them one after another down into it,
holding them there for several seconds. This will, in most cases,
destroy all of the lice upon the twigs and leaves, which are thus
immersed, and will cleanse and impart new vigor to them. But
this is by no means so infallible a remedy as some writers have
represented it to be. Some of the lice, perhaps from being more
hardy than the generality of their race, will survive. It, how-
ever, will reduce their numbers so far as to allay all fears of im-
mediate injury to the trees from this pest.

Instead of a solution of soft soap, a writer in a late number of
the American Agriculturist (vol. xiii. p. 295) recommends
thoroughly rubbing this substance about the trunks and limbs
two or three times a year. It is very probable that thus applied,
a sufficient amount of the alkaline matter would be absorbed «and
taken into the circulating fluids of the tree to render these fiuids
distasteful, and perhaps poisonous to the Aphides. We have al-
58 APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—REMEDIES, TOBACCO.

ready seen how repulsive to these insects the trees of Mr. Briggs,
immediately became upon being washed with a solution of soda.

Tobacco water, prepared by pouring a gallon of boiling water
upon a quarter of a pound of tobacco, and used in the same man-
ner as above directed in the case of soap suds, has been reported
as a certain remedy. Moses L. Colton, of West Bolton, Vermont,
says (Country Gentleman, vol. vi. p. 78), a nursery of about
twelve hundred Apple trees became so infested with lice that
most of the trees turned black and the leaves withered and died,
until he tried tobaceo water, prepared, however, much stronger
than above recommended. This completely destroyed the insects,
and the leaves they had killed having fallen off, new ones started
out. For six years past he has been obliged to resort to this more
or less every year, in his nursery and orchard, and he finds it an
effectual remedy when made strong enough. He prepares a de-
coction, made by boiling four or five pounds of tobacco in water
sufficient to nearly fill a tin pan.

The remedy which is admitted on all hands to be the most
effectual, and sure of ridding infested vegetation of every aphis
upon it, is the smoke of tobacco. But unfortunately this
can only be resorted to in the case of rose bushes and other low
shrubs or small trees, For enclosing a shrub to be operated upon,
gardeners abroad use a large bux, a hogshead, or a kind of small
tent humorously described some time since by Prof. Liudley
(Gardener's Chronicle, July 11, 1816,) under the name of a
“ parapetticoat,” made by sewing the upper end of a wornout but
entire petticoat to the outer edge of an opened parasol that has
been thrown aside, any holes in its cover being first mended, and
a staff six feet long securely tied to ifs handle. The petticoat
being then raised up in folds to the parasol, the staff is inserted
into the ground under the centre of the infested shrub, and the
petticoat is drawn down to surround and inclose all of the foliage
of the shrub. The interior is then filled densely with tobacco
smoke for the space of five or ten minutes, or long enough to in-
sure the fumes penetrating every curl, plait and crevice of the
foliage. The apparatus is hereupon removed, and the foliage
immediately washed with lukewarm water from a large syringe,
APPLE LEAVES, PLANT-LOUSE—REMEDIES, ITS INSECT ENEMIES. 59

else it too would be liable to be destroyed. This utterly exter-

minates the aphis from the shrub, every insect being suffucated
and CROPPIDE from the plant, so that

a
“ unnumbered corses strew the fatal plain.”

One measure more, and this the most important of all, whereby
to subdue these insects, remains to be stated A person who is.
acquainted with the aphides, and the several kinds of other in-
sects which prey upon and destroy them in different ways, will
never permit a valuable tree or plant to suffer injury from them.
He will at once repair to the hedges and borders of the forests in
his vicinity, and with a beating net, such as is used by entomolo-
gists for gathering insects, or an opened inverted umbrella, or some
other implement convenient for this purpose, he will >oon collect
from the foliage a few scores of these natural enemies of the plant-
lice, and conveying them alive in small boxes and vials, will set
them free upon the tree or shrub that is infested. Most of these
being in their larva state, and without wings, will not leave their
new situation so long as any food for them remains there. This
is said to be the remedy to which all the more intelligent French
and German gardeners are accustomed to resort in an emergency
of this kind. The rapidity with which these natural enemies of
the aphides not only suppress but utterly exterminate them, in
instances where they are so multiplied and excessively numerous
as to seem unconquerable, is truly surprising. “At one time the
present season (1855) the cherry trees in my grounds became
overrun with the Cherry plant-louse—to be considered hereafter—
to such an extent that the under surface of the more young and
‘tender leaves, and the succulent ends of the limbs and twigs,
were all covered and black with them. If not checked it was
evident that every tree would soon perish. I was abvut to im-
port frum the neighboring fields and forests a stock of the natural
destroyers of these pests, when J found on examination that nature
had already scattered numbers of these every where among the
aphides. All apprehensions as to the result were hereupon at
once allayed. A week afterwards, upon a careful inspection,
not a single aphis could anywhere be found upon these trees.
Of the teeming millions which were revelling there so recently, a
60 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—ANTS.

few of the empty, shrivelled skins, ipl to the leaves, was all
that remained. — ae

We have seen the prodigious increase of these creatures which
would take place if they were allowed to multiply to the extent
they are susceptible of doing. Such is their fecundity, that if no
check was given them, it is evident that from the cedars of Le-
banon to the hyssop upon the wall, every leaf and spear of vege-
tation springing from the bosom of mother earth, would be
thronged and blighted by the countless myriads which would be
produced in the space of a few months. Fortunate indeed is it
for man that in thisyas in so many other instances, Providence
has furnished remedies for an evil which would otherwise be so
calamitous—remedies which are far more effective than any which
human skill has been able to devise. As this family of insects
appears to outstrip every other in the rapidity with which it is
liable to multiply, to keep it restrained within its appropriate
bounds means more efficient are here requisite than elsewhere,
and we accordingly find that the aphides have enemies more
numerous, more active and inveterate, than any other group
in this department of the works of nature. Whole families of
other insects, some of them numerous in species, appear to have
been called into existence chiefly for the purpose of feeding upon
and destroying these vermin, and an acquaintance with the seve-
ral kinds of insects which, in our country, occur in company with
these pests of vegetation is quite important, that we may know
which to destroy or pass by in indifference, and which to
cherish and protect, and ca)] to our aid in instances where nature
herself does not furnish them in sufficient numbers.

_ By far the most constant comrade of the aphis is the ant. One
species or another of this family of insects (Formicipm) is almost
invariably found wherever a colony of plant-lice have established
themselves. By this means we frequently discover colonies of
these insects which would escape our search if our attention was
not attracted by these larger sized sable colored attendants. The
fondness of the ant for sweet substances is well known, as it is
always prowling about cupboards and other places where saccha-
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—ANTS. 61

rine matters are kept, and it is for the purpose of feeding upon
the honey-dew that.the aphides secrete so copiously that they are
such constant attendants upon these insects. The mode in which
they obtain this from the plant-lice is quite interesting; with
their long flail-shaped antenne they gently touch the backs of the
plant-lice, whereupon these ejeot this sweet fiuid, which stands in
the form. of a small clear drop at the tip of one or both of the
nectaries or little horns towards the end of their bodies. This
the ant immediately sips, and by passing from one aphis to an-
other he obtains his fill of this delicious sweet. A family of ants
is thus supplied with an important part of its nourishment by dis-
covering a tree on which the aphides have located themselves,
and thereafter one after another of the ants may always be seen
passing up and down the trunk of the tree. Plant-lice have hence
been styled the kine or cattle of the ants, as they come to them
regularly to milk them as it were, and in return for this savory
food which they furnish the ants, some of the latter remain con-
stantly by them night and day to protect these small weak crea-
tures from being molested by their insect or other enemies. Thus
before we are able to inspect a colony of plant-lice we are first
obliged to brush off or destroy the ants which are guarding them,
and I have frequently noticed that when a colony of aphides
is newly established, and before it has been found by these in-
sects, it remains small and does not thrive and increase so rapidly
as when nursed and guarded by these industrious heroic creatures.
Thus a colony of the Cone-flower plant-louse (Aphis Rudbeckia)
a species which I described in the Fourth Report of the State
Cabinet, page 66, which has been established more than a fort-
night upon a stalk of golden rod (Solidago) near my door, al-
though it has not been molested by any destroyer, numbers only
twenty-five individuals, and these are scattered about upon the
stalk and leaves, seemingly pining in want of their accustomed
attendants to herd and nurse them.

The species of ant which I have most frequently met with, asso-
ciated with plant-lice upon the apple tree, is a large black ant,
with a dark red thorax, and is‘very similar in its size and colors
to the wood-eating ant, (Formica herculeana, Linn. F. lignivora,
62 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—WASPS.

Latr.) which excavates its burrows in the trunks of old and
‘decaying trees, in which it is sometimes met with in countless
numbers. And I am not without suspicions this may be a variety
of that species rendered darker in its colors by being more ex-
posed to the light and air. ‘It is much darker colored than the
species alluded to, its thorax beiag deep chestnut red, and its legs
black, with the thighs tinged with chestnut red, but always
darker than the thorax, instead of being of the same color as we
generally find them in F. herculeana. These and other differences
to he specified appear to be constant, occurring in all the speci-
mens which I find attending the aphides of the apple and other
trees, and induce me to regard it as a distinct species, which I
propose to distinguish under the name of

The New-Yorx Ant (Formica Noveboracensis). The neuters are uniformly
about 0.30 long. The body and legs, as in F.herculeana are covered with very
short fine appressed hairs, which on the head and body are interspersed with a few
longer erect bristles, whereof several are clustered upon the elevated posterior part
of the thorax, others stand out from the edge of the wedge like scale at the base of
the abdomen like eye-lashes, and others are arranged in transverse rows upon the
abdomen, of which there is one upon each side of each suture. The scale at the
base of the abdomen, instead of being the same red or yellow color as the thorax, or
only somewhat dusky at its summit, is here black, with its base only sometimes dark
red. The posterior face of this scale in F; herculeana has a broad Shallow concavity,
like the hollow of the hand, whilst here it is merely flattened, or in some instances
has a small concavity in its middle. In the preserved specimen, the edges of the
abdominal segments, especially the basal one, are often membranous and of a pale
dull yellow color; and a variety occurs in which the anterior suture is impressed or
constricted.

In addition to ants, different kinds of wasps are common,
hovering about the foliage of trees infested with plant-lice. Most
of these appear to be attracted to them on the same errand with
the ants, namely, to regale themselves upon the honey-dew, with-
out molesting them further than to obtain this fluid. Yhus I
have observed our common Blue wasp, (Pelopeus ceruleus, Lin-
neeus) the base of whose abdomen is contracted into a long slen-
der penduncle, standing beside a colony of lice, and turning its
head from side to side, gently touching their backs with its anten-
ne, hereby tickling and causing them to eject their honey dew,
and their mouths following in the-track of the antennz, sipping
up this fluid. Our common hornet or “ yellow jacket” (Vespa
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—WASPS. 63

maculata, Linnzeus) is also frequently noticed in the same situa-
tions. These insects are so much larger and more powerful than
the ants that the latter make no attempts to drive them away
as they do most other intruders. They quietly stand aside and
permit the large wasp to pilfer from them what would serve as
a meal for a dozen of their own family.

s

Other wasp-like insects, of a smaller size, pertaining to the
family Crasronipa, seize and carry off the plant-lice. These
excavate holes in decaying posts, rails and similar situations, and
collect young spiders for food for their young, several of the spe-
cies gathering plant-lice for the same purpose. These they
enclose in the same cells in which they drop their eggs, the egg
being in the bottom of the cell, often attached to the end of the
abdomen of an aphis, that the young worm when it hatches may
find its food placed directly in contact with its mouth; and the
exact quantity of food is put into each cell before it is sealed up,
which the worm will require for bringing it to maturity. But
the most astonishing trait in the instincts of these small wasps, is
their manner of preserving the spiders and other food which they
gather. The wasp is evidently aware that if it kills the spider or
aphis before packing it in its cell, it will become putrid and
unadapted for the nourishment of the worm before the latter will
hatch from the egg. On the other hand, if the young spiders are
enclosed in the cell alive and in full vigor, their incessant strug-
gles to escape from their prison will wound and destroy the egg
or the young tender worm which is in the same cell. How isthe
wasp to proceed in this dilemma without salt or spices with
which to preserve from putrefaction the stock of provisions which
sheamasses? Nature has furnished her with a resort fur effecting
this, superior to any known to man for a like purpose; and if
some chemist, taking the hint from these little insects, could
devise some analogous mode whereby we might preserve animal
food for weeks in all the perfection it has when newly slaugh-
tered, it would be a discovery conducive to human health and
comfort equal to any of the other great discoveries of this remark-
able age. The wasp on seizing her prey appears to sting it
slightly, injecting into the wound only so much venom as will
64 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—FLIES.

serve to paralyze and stupefy her victim without killing it. It
remains alive, but lies perfectly still and passive. The insects
thus prepared are stowed away in the cells of the wasp as skill-
fully and compactly as the most expert packer in our slaughter
houses fills his barrels. The farmer in repairing his fences will
sometimes notice on splitting a decayed rail or stake, holes exca-
vated therein and filled with young spiders, commonly of bright
* beautiful colors, which lie still and quiet, with only a slight

quivering of their limbs, and is puzzled to know why, when thus
broken in upon, they do not awake from their lethargy and run
away, little suspecting the manner and purpose of their being
accumulated there. And similar interesting and curious pheno-
mena are passing under the farmer’s eye daily, as he pursues his
labors—phenomena which, if

“Tn nature’s infinite book of secresy

A little he can read,”
aid in rendering his vocation beyond all comparison the most
pleasant of any pursuit known to man.

In addition to ants and wasps several kinds of flies are common
about cherry and other trees infested with plant-lice, being at-
tracted hither, like the ants, for the purpose of sipping the
sweet honey dew.- One of these which is common during the
month of July, and which will be most likely to attract notice,
both on account of its prim neat appearance and the briskness of
its gait when walking, is a small blackish green fly, with clear
glass-like wings, which are crossed by three black bands. With
its wings extended horizontally outwards, and often gently
waving them up and down, with many abrupt turns it walks
with a rapid pace up and down the limbs, and out upon the leaves
io the vicinity of colonies of plant-lice. It is so tame that if the
hand has hold of a limb it fearlessly walks around upon it. But
the most curious part of its movements can only be seen with a
magnifying glass. Watching its opportunity, when the ants have
all left a herd of their cattle, the plant lice, unguarded, it runs
in upon them, where they are crowded together as closely as they
ean stow themselves, and using its four hind legs fur walking
and turning around, with its two fore feet it gently scratches
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—HONEY-DEW FLY. 65

upon the backs of the lice, its feet at this time moving with in-
credible rapidity, corresponding exactly with those of a dog when
eagerly oceupied in digging open the hole of a woodchuck; at
the same time the lips at the end of its beak are held down be-
tween its fore feet, instantly sucking dry every particle of honey
dew which the lice, having their backs thus briskly irritated, in-
continently spirt out. Thus in a moment the fly runs about over
the backs of the whole flock, milking every one of them “dry,”
as a dairyman would express it, and filling himself with the de-
licious sweet. But rapid as the fly is in doing this work, he
finishes it none too soon for his own safety, for any ant that is
near by, from a ery or some other signal given by the lice, seems
immediately to know that a thief has broken in among the flock,
and with his utmost speed hastens to the spot. As soon as the
ant approachés the fly takes to his heels, as if aware he might
come off minus a leg or a wing if he allowed the enraged ant
to grapple him. And the ant now with his antenne gently
strokes the backs of the aphides, as if soothing them after such
rude treatment, and assuring them of his future watchfulness and
protection.

This fly pertains to the genus Tepuritis, in the Ortalidan group
of two-winged flies (Family Muscrpa, Order Diprera). Though
of the same size it is clearly a different species from the Tephritis
A-fasciata of Macquart (Exotic Diptera, ii. 226), and also from
his 3-maculata, two species which inhabit our southern States.
It may be named the Honey-dew fly, or the Honey-dew Tephritis,
(T. melliginas.)

It measures about 0 28 to the tip of its abdomen and.0.28 to the end of its wings.
It is polished and shining, its head black, the orbits of the eyes margined above with
white; the thorax is dark green and the abdomen greenish black; the under side of
the abdomen, when distended, is of a dull reddish or yellowish brown color and
somewhat hyaline, with a broad black stripe in the middle, which is interrupted at
the sutures; ‘the legs are black, the basal joint of the feet dull yellow; the wings are
perfectly colorless and pellucid, and are crossed upon the disk by three black bands,
which are narrower than the intervening spaces; the middle and inner of these bands
are oblique and shorter, not reaching the inner margin of the wing, and the inner one
is broadly dilated towards its anterior end, which dilation is extended along the
margin of the wing to its base. The outer one of these three discoidal bands is con-
Anent at its anterior end with a fourth band which is situated upon the anterior

5
66 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—GOLDEN-ROD FLY.

apical margin, These four bands upon the wings thus present a resemblance to the

Boman numerals VII placed in an inverted position.
a

Another of our New-York species of Tephritis is closely related to the one now
described, and probably has the same habits, though as I have met with it but sel-
dom I have not had an opportunity to observe its movements. It is slightly smaller
than the honey-dew fly, and like it has four black bands upon the wings, but here
these bands are broader than the intervening spaces, and the two inner ones are con-
fluent at their posterior ends, which do not reach the margin, whilst the two outer ones
are confluent at their anterior ends, the bands thus resembling an upright letter V
followed by an inverted one. The outer band, moreover, only touches the margin at
its ends, and the wings are somewhat opake and of a white color, with only the axil-
lary portion hyaline. The head and antennz are light yellow, the face white; the
thorax is black, with a milky-white stripe on each side and four broad ash-grey
stripes above, the outer ones interrupted towards their anterior ends; the scutel is
white and waxy, or porcelain-like; the abdomen is black, with the posterior edges of
its segments whitish; the feet and shanks are yellow, the thighs black. I name
this, in allusion to the marks upon its wings, the Lettered Tephritis (T. tabellaria).

In this connection I may observe that the fly named Tephritis
Asteris by Dr. Harris (New England Insects, p. 498,) the larva
of which infests the stalks of our American Asters producing glo-
bular swellings or galls therein, the size of walnuts, J have never
met with. But a larger species, attacking the Solidago or golden-
rod in the same manner, is quite common in eastern New-York.
This fly, however, pertains to the genus Acinia, which has been
separated from Tephritis by Desvoidy. Every farmer’s boy has
noticed how the slender, straight, smooth stalks of the golden-rod,
growing with other weeds along old fences, quite often has one
and sometimes two large round galls cr ball-like swellings upon
them, an inch in diameter, when the stalk above and below is
less than a quarter of aninch. And many have had the curi-
osity to cut into these balls, and have found a plump well-fed
white maggot in their centre. By the first of August the swel-
lings have about completed their growth, although the worm
within is as yet so small as to be scarcely perceptible to the naked
eye. In the winter season, the leaves having fallen and left the
stalks naked, these balls are more frequently observed: but at
this period of the year most of them are found to be empty, with
a round hole perforated in them, the worm having completed its
growth and the winged fly having come out through this perfora-
tion the preceding autumn. But occasionally one of these. balls
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—NEW-YORK ACINIA. 67

is found at this season without any hole init. In these the worm
is still remaining,"to complete its changes and continue its spe-
eles the coming summer. And if one of these balls be placed in
a tumbler with a piece of paper tied over it, the fly can in due
time be obtained therefrom. Its form and size is much like that
of the common house-fly, but it hasan odd appearance from its
wings being opake and of a tawny brown color, with clear spots
upon the inner margin and at the tip. It may appropriately be
named the Golden-rod fly (Acinia Solidaginis).

This fly measures from 0.35 to 0.40 to the tip of its wings. Its body is of a pale
brownish yellow or a tawny whitish color with two darker brown stripes above upon
the thorax. - The antenne, mouth and legs are dull yellow, the face white, and the
top of the head yellowish or reddish brown, with a blackish spet at base where the
three ocelli or simple eyes are situated. The wings are tawny brownish-yellow,
with blackish clouds, and with several dots and the veins lighter yellow. On the’
outer margin beyond the middle are two small triangular hyaline spots, and a third
Jonger one inside of these, a large transverse hyaline spot on the apex and two large

_triangular ones upon the inner margin, the inner one being larger and prolonged
upon the margin to the base. Upon the margin of the wing, in these large hyaline
spots are some tawny yellowish dots or small spots, namely, three in the apical spot,
one in the smaller triangular one, one or two in the larger triangular one, and three
where this last spot is prolonged in the axilla.

Another pretty species of Acinia, which is commonly found resting upon brakes
in our meadows in midsummer, but which I have not yet discovered in its prepara-
tory state, may be named the New-York Acinia (4. Noveboracensis.) It mea-
sures 0.85 to the tip of its wings, and is of a pale brownish or tawny flesh color, and
like the preceding species, is clothed with a short stiff beard, which is of a silver
gray color, with scattered black bristles. The orbital edge of the eyes is whitish,
and the eyes when the fly is alive are of a pale coppery red color erossed with three
golden yellow stripes having a green reflection, the middle one of these stripes being
broadest, and the upper one slightly narrower than the lower one. When dead the
eyes change to blackish brown and the stripes to black, and they are now much less
obvious. The antennz are pale tawny yellow with a simple black seta or coarse
bristle on their upper side. The face is whitish with two large black dots in the
middle and one on each side between the antennz and the eye, and a transverse
drown spot is placed on each side between the anterior part of the mouth and the
eye. The abdomen is dull pale yellow, with the apical segments black except on
their posterior margins. The wingsare opake, black, with a slender, hyaline-white
erescent upon their tips, the anterior horn of which is sometimes tinged with
tawny yellow, and upon the middle of the anterior margin is'a small streak of the
same color. The whole wing is covered, except towards the anterior side and the
apex, with numerous white dots, those in and towards the axilla being larger. In
some specimens a pruinose powder of a more intensely ‘white color forms a ring upon
the margin of all the larger dots.
1

68 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—SARATOGA TETANOCERA.

Similar to the fly last described, in size and in the dots of its
wings, is another species which Macquart regards as being the
Tetanocera guttularis, of Wiedemann, although it differs slightly.
from his description. The genus Tetanocera belongs to a small
group of the Ortalidan flies, differing from the other genera in
having the second joint of the antenne equal in length to the
third joint, instead of being but half as long or less. Another
character presented by all the species I have seen I do not ob-
serve noticed in books. The whole surface of the wings in our
American Tetanocerides is finely striated with obtusely impressed
lines and intervening ridges, which have a longitudinal direction
towards the apex, and an oblique one towards the inner margin.
These flies also subsist upon the honey-dew secreted Ly plant-lice,
and, according to Desvoidy, their larve live, some in the unripe
seeds of plants, others in the parenchyma of the leaves, stems or
roots. In addition to the guttularts or Dotted-winged Tetanocera,
we have, common in the State of New York, a species which is
probably the Canadian Tetanocera (7. Canadensis) of Maecquart,
although the spots in its wings are sub-hyaline rather than white,
and there are six only of these spots in the outer or costal cell.
Associated with this species is frequently found another, similar
to it in size and colors, but without any sub-hyaline spots in the
dusky outer and apical margins of the wings. From that part
of our State in which I have captured this species, I propose for
it the name Saratoga Tetanocera (T. Saratogensis), as the mineral
waters in this neighborhood have given to the locality a world-
wide celebrity.

The dried specimen of this fly measures 0.23 to the tip of the abdomen and 0.30
to the end of the wings. The head above is golden yellow with two small rusty
stripes on its fore part, a black spot at base and dot each side anteriorly, almost in
contact with the eye, and a second one, also black, on the anterior margin, between
the eye and the antenna. Face silvery white. Antenne light yellow, second joint
longer than broad, with fine short’ black bristles along its upper and under edge;
third joint tinged with brown, narrow and curved, its upper side being concave, its
lower: side convex and nearly parallel with the upper side, but slightly narrowing
towards the apex, which is rounded; seta yellowish white, plumose. Thorax pale
dull yellow, with a faint darker stripe each side of the middle, which stripes have
an ash gray reflection when viewed from the front; clothed with a short black
beard and a few long black bristles. Scutel ash gray with two nearly erect black
bristles each side. Poisers (the little pedicels back of the insertion of the wings,
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—SHORT-HORNED STEM-EYE. 69

ending in an oval knob) yellowish white. Abdomen dusky, clothed with a short
black beard, hind ‘edges of the segments pale dull yellow. Legs pale yellow, with a
fine black beard, and the spine-like bristles at the end of the shanks black. Wings
iridescent, smoky ‘brown on the outer and apical margins, hyaline towards the axilla,
the space between divided into numerous square hyaline spots by dusky longitudinal
stripes, one stripe being placed in the middle of each cell and -sending short, trans-
verse branches to the veins at regular intervals; veins and veinlets black.

Nearly related to the flies which we have been considering are
those very singular ones, called Stem-eyed flies from having
straight horn-like processes extending outwards from the sides of
the head, upon the ends of which the eyes are inserted. These
form the old Linnean genus Diopsis. ‘About a dozen species are
known, all inhabiting tropical Africa and the Kast Indies, with
one exception—the Short-horned Stem-eye of this country, origi-
nally described by Mr. Say under the name of Diopsis brevicornis.
As this species has the tubercles on which the eyes are inserted
quite short, their length being less than their breadth, whilst tn
the other species they are much longer and cylindrical, Mr.
Say, in the third volume of his American Entomology, plate 52,
proposed for it a distinct genus, which he named Sphyracephala.
The European entomologists, however, ignore this genus and con-
tinue to arrange our species in the old genus Diopsis. I am
somewhat surprised at this. A specimen from Senegal, ticketed
D. thoracica by Macquart, for which and numerous other speci-
mens of Diptera Iam indebted to M. Bigot, of Paris, indicates
the foreign species of this tribe to be quite unlike ours in their
general appearance. Having recently takeh a second species
closely related to the brevicornis, I think our two American
species must be ranked as generically distinct from those of the
old world. In addition to the extreme shortness of the ocular
protuberances and the minuteness of the projecting points to the
scutel and on the sides of the thorax towards its base, they ane
further distinguished by having an anastamosis between the cos-
tal or anterior marginal vein and the sub-marginal or short vein
which runs into the anterior margin near the middle, this anas-
tamosis taking place a short distance before the two, veins unite.
In the new species which I have alluded to a dusky spot or short
band extends from this anastamosis across the two basal cells of
the wing, and a second band half way from this to the tip
70 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS ATTENDANTS—-TWO-BANDED STEM-EYE.

reaches nearly or quite across the wing, the same that it does in’
brevicornis, whilst the apex of the wing is hyaline, without any
vestiges of the dusky spot which occurs at the tip of the wing in Mr.
Say’s species. This species, which I name the Two-banded Stem-
eye (Sphyracephala sub-bifasciata), was swept from grass at the
base of the bluffs of the Illinois river, north of the eity of Ottawa,
the middle of last October. The Short-horned Stem-eye I first
captured in Saratoga county, upon a cold windy day the latter
part of May, between the leaves of the Skunk’s-cabbage (Symplo-
carpus fotidus), where it had probably retired for shelter—this
being the same situation in which it was originally discovered by
Mr. Say. Near my present residence, upon sunny days in the
middle of April several were found associated with other flies and
small bees, drinking the sweet sap of a newly cut maple, beside
a stream of water at the base of a hill. It was more tame and
less inclined to take wing when approached than any of the other
fiies. It seems limited to low shady situations, for ether stumps
upon the side and summit of the same hill, equally frequented by
other flies, had none of this species. Near the same spot I once
eaptured a specimen the last of October, resting upon a sand bank
and basking in the sun. I state these facts thus particularly, as
so little is known respecting the habits of this tribe of insects.

The Two-banded Stem-eye measures 0.15 to the tip of its abdomen. It is black
and polished, the thorax brownish, the head and antenne tawny yellow, and above
on the middle of the head is a black spot. The legs also are tawny yellow, and the
anterior thighs have a brown cloud-like spot upon each side, the anterior shanks
being black. The middle legs have a brown band above and another below the knee.
The hind thighs and shanks each have a brown band at tip. The wings are hyaline,
with two dusky bands, the inner one short, as already described.

Prominent among these insects which subsist upon and destroy
plant-lice are the Aphis-lions as they have been termed. These
are larvee of the Golden-eyed and Lace-winged flies, insects which
form the Family Hemrrognpm in the Order Nevroprera. In
their perfect state they are delicate slender-bodied insects, most of
them less than half an inch long, with four large Wings beautifully
reticulated with veins, resembling the finest gauze or lace-work,
whence they have received the name of Lace-wings, and with
prominent globular eyes, which in many of the Species have a
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—EGGs. 71

brilliant golden appearance, whieh has obtained for them the
name of Golden-eyes. These. last are mostly of a bright pale
green color, and several of these, although they have such a
pretty appearance, emit a peculiar and very disagreeable odor,
which remains upon the fingers for some time after one of them
‘has been handled. This odor appears to be given out constantly
by those species which possess it, and not merely when they are
disturbed, as is frequently stated; for in numerous instances I

have by it been aware of my nearness to one of these insects be-
' fore I had seen it.

These flies may be met with daily during the summer season,
generally in the vicinity of trees or other herbage infested with
plant-lice. Their eggs are placed in a very curious manner.
This work is done in the night time, so that no one has been able
to inspect one of these insects when engaged in this operation,
they being so timid as to flit away when approached with a light.
Still, the mode in which the fly proceeds in this work is sufficiently
evident. Nature hasfurnished these insects with a fluid analogous
to that which spiders are provided for spinning their webs, which
possesses the remarkable property of hardening immediately on
being exposed to the air. When ready to drop an egg, the female
touches the end of her body to the surface of the leaf, and then
elevating her body, draws out a slender cobweb-like thread, half
an inch long, or less, and places a little oval egg at its summit.
Thus a small round spot resembling mildew: is formed upon the
surface of the leaf, from the middle of which arises a very slen-
der glossy white thread, which is. sometimes split at its base, thus
giving it a more secure attachment than it would have if single.
The egg at its summit is of a pale green color when newly de-
posited, but before it hatches it becomes whitish, and shows two
or three faint dusky transverse bands. The larva leaves it, com:
monly I think in less than a week from the- time it is deposited,
through an opening which it gnaws in the summit, and the empty
shell remains supported on its stalk, somewhat shrivelled and of
a white color. And where several of these are placed together
in a group, they- bear a close resemblance to the fruit-bearing or-
gans of those mosses whose capsules are elevated upon capillary
72 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS, LIONS—EGGS.

, pedicels, insomuch that botanists have in some instances actually
mistaken them for-vegetable productions of this kind.

Authors state that these eggs are deposited on leaves in clusters
of ten or a dozen. I havea small willow leaf, upon the mid-vein
of which, in a distance of one inch, twenty-three of these eggs
‘are implanted, with seven more in a row close by the side of these,
and five more ina second row, making thirty-five eggs in all,
which undoubtedly was the stock deposited by a single individual
in one night. But, however it may be with the European Lace-
wings, certain it is that most of our American species of these
insects do not place their eggs in clusters, but singly, one or two
upon the edges or surface of the leaf. Ona young apple tree in
my yard, about eight feet high, I found these eggs the first of July,
seattered over all the leaves. This tree had ten limbs, each about
three feet long, and inserted upon the leaves of one of these limbs
and its twigs I counted sixty-four eggs, and some probably escaped
my notice. There was thus at least six hundred eggs upon that one
small tree, all seeming to have been newly laid. And upon look-
ing about, I discovered these eggs upon every other fruit and for-
est tree in my yards, and also upon the fillets of cloth by which
newly set trees were tied to stakes for support, and two were even
found attached to the iron trimmings of the latch to my office
door. Being thus profusely scattered, it will readily be conceived
what an amount of benefit these insects render us.

Having enjoyed favorable opportunities for inspecting the habits
' of this family of insects, and having noticed several points in
their economy different from the observations which have hereto-
fore been recorded, I give their history somewhat in detail, be-
lieving I shall thus render a more valuable contribution to the
stores of human knowledge, than by occupying the same space

with brief and superficial notices of a number of dissimilar in-
sects.

From the accounts usually given in books it would be inferred
that plant-lice were the exclusive food of the larve of this family
of insects. It however is recorded that when in confinement and
pressed with hunger, they will devour each other, and Mr. Curtis
ih

APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—FOOD WHEN YOUNG. 73

relates (Journal Royal Agricultural Society, iii. 62) that having
enclosed two of them in a box with a caterpillar three-fourths of
an inch long, one overcome and devoured the other and then
sueked the juices out of the caterpillar, leaving only the skins of
his victims remaining. In the same connection, he says these
larve “begin to feed upon the Aphides as soon as they escape
from the egg.” Such being the current account of the larve, I
was surprised at meeting with their eggs in abundance upon trees
which were wholly free from Aphides, and which had none of
these insects established anywhere in their vicinity. The small
apple tree which was stocked with so many hundred eggs had no
lice or other insects upon it or near by it, that I could discover.
And still more was I surprised on hatching some of these larve
from their eggs, and putting both old and newly born plant-lice into
the vials with them, to find that they died of starvation, utterly
refusing to touch the lice or to devour each other. In one instance
a hungry young aphis-lion was noticed to cautiously approach a
louse which was standing still, and grasp one of her feet between
his jaws. The louse instantly pulled her foot away, whereupon
the Aphis-lion drew back in evident fear, as though expecting the
aphis would pounce upon and destroy him. Had it been a spider
he could not have showed more alarm. Repeated experiments
produced the same results—the infant larve dying of starvation
with young and tender plant-lice wandering around them. At
length, the middle of July I found upon a leaf a cluster of insect’s
eggs of a brick red color, and a half-grown aphis-lion standing
with his jaws sunk into one of them, sucking out its contents,
three eggs in the group having been already exhausted, nothing
remaining of them but the empty clear and glass-like shells.
Every observer knows it is not rare on meeting with a cluster of
the eggs of insects to find some of them which are mere empty
transparent shells, but I believe it has never been noticed before
that it is young aphis-lions which thus destroy these eggs.

The leaf above alluded to was secured with its contents and
placed ina vial. Only two or three more of the eggs were sucked,
when they became too old for the use of the aphis-lion, and he
remained without food for a time. Six days after they were
74 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—-DEVOUR WORMS AND SPIDERS.

found, small inch-worms (Gzomerrwz), about 0.15 long were
hatched from them. The aphis-lion was at this time reposing at
the top of the vial when one of these worms approached him. It
was instantly seized, and the contents of its skin were sucked out
with avidity, and he now commenced searching for another worm,
probing every crevice in the cork stopper with his long jaws, and
then walking down the vial, examining from side to side as he
” went along, until he came to the leaf at its bottom, now curled
and shrivelled. He first crawled through every fold of this and
then wandered over its surface, till coming to another worm, it
was instantly seized. Thus sixteen of these newly-born inch-
worms were consumed as fast as he could find them. They were
seized indifferently by whatever part of their bodies was first ac-
cessible, and he was occupied four or five minutes in sucking out
the fluids of each worm. As the skin became empty it was folded
together, and rolled about between the tips of his jaws in a little
wad, until the last particle of juice which it contained was ex-
hausted. The skin was then adroitly wiped off from the tips of
his jaws, and he started off in search of another worm, always
carrying his head down close to the surface on which he was
walking. Sometimes on coming to a skin which had already
been sucked, it was taken up and rolled between the tips of his
jaws again, as if to ascertain whether he had done his work well.
When occupied in sucking a worm he stood still, adhering more
by means of his tail than his feet, and there was a pulsating mo-
tion to his body indicating the satisfaction he felt in the act in
which he was engaged. If another worm approached so near as
to touch him at this time, he gave a sudden spiteful shrug, where-
by it was frightened away. Only three worms;remained when I
introduced into the vial a cocoon of spider’s eggs, with some of
the young spiders hatched and crawling about the cocoon. These
were immediately discovered by the aphis-lion, and leaving the
worms he commenced devouring these small spiders in the same
manner, each spider oceupying him about half the length of time
one of the worms did. The fine cobweb of the spiders appeared
to adhere closely to his jaws, and to wipe this off, after finishing
one spider, and before seeking another, he thrust his jaws repeat-
edly into the cocoon. Thus quite a number of the spiders were
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—DEVOUR THEIR OWN EGGS. 75

destroyed, when, having,fully glutted his appetite, he retired into
a corner of the vial to repose. This larva pertained to the
species hereinafter described under the name of the New-York
golden-eye.

It is thus evident that many of the species of: this family of in-
sects, contrary to what has been heretofore published, when first
hatched are too feeble and timorous to attack plant-lice or any
other living prey, and subsist during the first stages of their lives
upon the eggs of insects. By destroying these eggs they are often
as beneficial to us, probably, as they would be if aphides were
their sole food. The aphis-lion, however, is perfectly indiscrimi-
nate in his appetite, consuming the eggs of beneficial as well as
injurious insects, and we now learn why it is that the parent of
these insects places her eggs upon thread-like pedicels, whereby
they are elevated from the surface of the leaves. Hitherto it has
been unknown why this insect deposits her eggs in this singular
manner. By areference to that mine of information upor all
subjects of this kind, Westwood’s Introduction, (vol. ii. p. 47,)
we find it merely stated that these eggs have been supposed to be
placed in this manner to protect them from the attacks of para-
sites. But we see not why a parasitic insect may not alight upon
and puncture and drop its eggs within these eggs almost as readi-
ly as it could do if they were placed upon the surface of the leaf.
Certainly many of these parasitic insects display far more sagacity
than this would be in discovering the appropriate receptacle for
their eggs. But speculation upon this subject is no longer neces
sary when we have facts to guide us to a conclusion. Ina recent
communication to the Country Gentleman, which is not yet. pub
lished, (No. 5 of my series of entomological articles in that peri-
odical,) I suggested that these eggs are elevated upon pedicels to
prevent their being found by the young larve of their own kind,
which probably would instantly devour them if they were laid
upon the surface of the leaves. To ascertain more fully the cor-
rectness of this opinion, I sought an egg which was upon the point
of hatching, and placed it in a vial; the next day a young aphis
lion was found disclosed from this egg. Two freshly laid eggs
were now obtained; one of these was placed in the vial elevated
76 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—THEIR CANNIBALISM.

upon its pedicel, the other was laid upo# the surface of a leaf in
the vial. Next morning the latter was found flattened, and with
only a small portion of fluid remaining in one end, and the plump
size and green tinge of the young larva showed plainly that he
had appropriated the missing contents of this egg to himself, and
in a short time he approached the egg and inserting his jaws into
it wholly exhausted it of its remaining contents under my eye.
We thus see that the young aphis-lion will devour the eggs of its
own species if they are placed within its reach. Is it not won-—
derful that the female knows this fact when no other insect pos-
sesses this knowledge! It would seem as though she had a re-
collection cf what her own habits were in the larva period of her
life, else why does not instinct inform other insects of this same
fact, and excite them to similar artifices for placing their eggs be-
yond the reach of these destroyers ? .

A cocoon of spider’s eggs was now introduced into the vial last
spoken of, upon which the aphis-lion therein became plump and
well fed. Three days after this the other egg elevated upon its
pedicel, having been wholly undisturbed, hatched, and the infant
larva from it approaching the older one, which was full three
times its size, the latter to my astonishment passively and with-
out manfesting the slightest resentment, permitted the newly-
born infant to pierce him repeatedly with its jaws until life was
extinct. His carcase was then shoved off from the leaf and aban-
doned, little if any of the juices being sucked from it. Ican only
account for this strange phenomenon—the young and weak de-
stroying the strong—by supposing there had been some poisonous
quality in the spider’s eggs on which the older aphis-lion had fed,
which had rendered him diseased and weary of life, for he even
seemed to solict his pigmy kinsman to slay him. Our American
species, however, appear to be less inclined to cannibalism than
those of Europe, this being the only instance in which I have
known one to destroy another, and for several days I have had a
Chrysopa and a much larger Hemerobdius larva enclosed together
and left at times without food, yet they have manifested no incli-
nation to molest each other.
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—USE OF THEIR LONG Jaws. 77

Later in the season I have known young plant-lice to be de-
stroyed by newly born aphis-lions. And although the fact is
indisputable that plant-lice are the chief food of this family of
insects during their larva state, they are by no means so limited
in this yespect as is represented in the accounts heretofore pub-
lished. They appear to seize and devour worms of different
kinds with the same avidity that they do the plant-lice. I have
more than once seen them devour the maggots of the Syrphus-
flies which were feeding upon the plant-lice on the same leaves
with them. And a few days ago I placed in a box with a newly,
captured aphis-lion an imbricated gall which is formed by a
species of midge (Cecidomyia) at the summit of the stalks of the
golden rod, having first torn off the outer valve-like leaves of this
gall until I came to one of the larve residing in it. The aphis-
lion immediately began to examine this gall, and coming to the
maggot, instantly grabbed it, sucking out the contents of its skin
with an evident relish. With his long jaws he then commenced
probing the fissures between the remaining valves of the gall and
soon found another worm so deep between the valves that he
could only reach and pierce it with ong of his jaws, and thus he
remained stationary until he had sucked the fluids of this worm,
the point of the unemployed jaw being pressed against the outer
surface of the gall during this operation. His proceedings at this
time plainly showed the purpose, I think, for which Nature has
furnished these larve with such remarkably long slender sickle-
shaped jaws, namely, to probe narrow crevices and small holes
and fissures—the situation in which a portion of their prey lurks.
The dexterity with which he insinuated sometimes one, at other
times both of these instruments between the valves of the gall
showed he was no tyro in operations of this kind. He. even
crowded the valves somewhat apart, at times, to reach further in
between them. Whether these larve are able to separate the
chaff surrounding a kernel of wheat sufficiently to insert their
jaws therein to destroy the larva of the wheat-midge (C. Tritici),
I have not ascertained, though I should judge them capable of
doing this. If so it may be possible to turn the labors of the
aphis-lion to a most valuable account in restraining the ravages
of this insect which is making such appalling havoc in our wheat
78 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—DESCRIPTION.

crops of late years. A number of the small yellow grubs
sufficient to destroy every kernel in a head of wheat would no
more than suffice an aphis-lion for a single meal. And if these
voracious creatures are usually so common as I have found them
to be the present season, it would be an easy matter for a person
who is familiar with them to gather such a number of the eggs
and larve as, scattered through a wheat-field infested by the
midge, would greatly diminish the damage done by this insect.

The larve of different species of these insects differ considera-
ably in their colors. They are mostly of a reddish-brown color,
with a darker stripe in the middle, and are cream-colored along
each side. They have bodies of a long narrow weasel-like form,
wrinkled transversely, with six rather-long legs anteriorly. But
they may be distinguished from all our other insects and larve by
their two long slender jaws, curved like sickles, which project
horizontally forwards from their heads. Along each side is a
row of projecting points, one to each segment, from the ends of
which several fine bristles radiate in alledirections. Others have
the whole of their backs covered with rows of similar elevated
points and radiating bristles, giving them a truly frightful ap-
pearance. But these have the artifice to conceal themselves from
view, by placing the empty skins of their victims between their
radiating bristles, so that they adhere, and completely hide the
insect from view. It is the skins-of the woolly plant-lice which
they mostly employ for this purpose. Thus covered they resem-
ble a little mass of white down adhering to the bark of the apple
tree, and at a short distance one of these insects thus covered can
scarcely be distinguished from a colony of the Apple-tree blight,
which is usually covered with a mass of down of similar size and
appearance. Thus disguised they are able to approach their vic-
tims without exciting their alarm and putting them to flight. It
is in autumn that the species which thus cover themselves appear
upon the apple trees. I have noticed none but the naked kinds
without bristly backs in July and August.

The Larva cast their skins soon after birth and often before they have taken any
nourishment. No other moulting occurs, that I have observed, until they change to
pupe. When newly born the larva of the New-York Golden-eye is 0.05 long, soft
and tender, long and narrow, with the opposite sides of the head and thorax straight
APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—DESCRIPTION. 719
and parallel, the abdomen tapering. It is white, with two dusky stripes upon the
head, and the outer side of itslong sickle-shaped jaws is blackish. Its back is at this
time clothed with numerous long fine hairs. It walks about with an easy, sedate
step, making very good progress, and could readily crawl down a tall tree and pro-
bably travel some distance therefrom before it has taken any nourishment. When
full grown it is about 0.80 long, broadest in the middle and tapering. thence to both
ends, but more posteriorly ; its color is reddish brown, paler in the middle of the
back, with a narrow darker stripe the whole length of its body. It presents numerous
transverse impressed lines above, those at the sutures being more conspicuous. The
sides of each segment are cream-yellow and protuberant, forming elevated points,
with short diverging white hairs at the apex. Underside pale. Head pale with two
blackish stripes which taper and diverge from each other anteriorly. The antennze
are about as long as the jaws, slender and taperjng, without any apparent joints. The
jaws are tinged with dusky. The legs are pale and somewhat translucent, with a
dusky band above and another below the knees; the feet arealso dusky. Thetwelfth .
and thirteenth, or the two last segments are quite narrow and destitute of tubercles
tipped with radiating hairs on each side, but have two black stripes on their upper
side. They form a kind of tail turning in every direction, and by the tip of the last
segment the insect adheres, particularly to smooth surfaces like glass, much more
securely than it cando withits feet. This adhesion appears to be effected by a power
of suction in this part.

The larvee of the other species of Chrysopa appear to be similar to the one which
has now been described. One of them, however, has fallen under my notice, having
the whole surface above mottled» with light yellow and brownish red, with a slender
black line on the middle of the back, having a reddish spot upon it in the centre of
each segment, and the head with two black spots on its base and a black stripe ante-
riorly upon the middle. The species which is produced from this I have not yet
ascertained.

Having attained its growth, the aphis-lion for its final meal
gluts itself as full as its skin can hold. For two days afterwards
it remains torpid and inactive, as though. sick of a surfeit. It
then commences spinning itscocoon. This operation is performed
by its tail, which is supplied with a glutinous fluid similar to that
from which the spider spins its web, which adheres to whatever
point it'is applied, and hardens immediately upon exposure to the
air. The amount of life and motion which the tail possesses at
‘this time, when all the rest of the body is lying still and unem-
ployed, is truly astonishing. Like the head of a leech it con-
tracts, elongates and turns from side to side and up and down
with the vivacity of the hand of a musician beating upon a tam-
bourine, attaching its thread here and there as it darts around
from point to point. By the New-York golden-eye scattering
threads are first fixed around the hollow in the bark or elsewhere

L
80 APPLE LEAVES, APHIS LIONS—COCOONS—HOW SPUN.

where it lies, and to these the skins of any dead plant-lice or
particles of dirt which may be within reach are affixed, to serve
as more convenient points of attachment for the threads which
are afterwards spun.than what the naked threads would be. In-
side of these the insect lies, with its tail playing around back-
wards and forth. At first the skin is so distended and the body
so stiff that it can only bend inwards in the form of a semicircle
or of a horse-shoe, and the head is thus brought opposite the tail,
giving the insect a ludicrous aspect as it lies still, with its eyes
gazing fixedly at the tail as if in astonishment at seeing it fly
around in such a singular manner. The tail at this times reaches
around to every part of the half of a sphere, and when one side
has become sufficiently filled with threads, the body moves along
to give it access to another side, the insect thus lying at one time
upon its side or its back, and at another time standing as it were
upon its head. Occasionally, as if tired with its cramped position
it straightens out somewhat, thus putting the threads upon the
stretch and moulding the sides of the cavity in which it lies into
a smooth and even surface. As so much matter is given out from
its body to form the threads of the cocoon, the skin ceases to be
distended as it was at first, the body shrinks and becomes more
flexile, and as the cavity in which it lies becomes more and more
contracted in size by the threads which the tailis constantly add-
ing on every side, the insect is drawn together into a smaller
space and becomes coiled into the form of a ball, the head being
pressed down upon the breast, with the tail directly over it briskly
continuing its work in the small vacant space which here remains.
The feet are now so cramped that they are incapable of turning
the body around as at first, and it now only moves along slightly
by a vermicular motion often repeated. The threads have now
become so numerous and close that finally no open meshes are
left between them, and thus a small ball of paper-like texture is
formed in the centre of the cocoon, within which the insect is
entirely hid from view, tightly bandaged like the feet of a Chinese
lady and compressed to a quarter of its previous size. This is
a most remarkable circumstance in the history of these insects—
that the larve contract and compress themselves into cocoons of
scarcely one-fourth their size, and from these cocoons come flies
APPLE LEAVES—APHIS-LIONS, PUPA. 81

which are double the size of the larve. It is like a full grown
hen hatching from an ordinary sized egg.

It requires five or six hours for the New-York Golden-eye to
spin so much of its cocoon as to hide itself from view. The
threads of which it is composed are of a white color, and the
little paper-like ball in its centre is scarcely the tenth of an inch
in diameter. Within this the insect changes to a pupa of a pale
green color, with large hemispherical eyes, and with each of the
legs, the wings and the antenne enclosed in separate sheaths.
The antenne-sheaths show the bead-like joints of these organs
very distinctly. They stand out in strong relief upon the sur-
face, passing above the eyes and along the sides of the thorax,
and on the outer surface of the wing-sheaths near their anterior
margin to their tips, where the remainder of their length is coiled
and doubled together in a singular and curious manner.

These insects lie through the winter enclosed in their cocoons.
Some of the species, however, have two generations annually, and
these remain in their pupa state in the summér season about a
fortnight. M. Andouin informed Mr. Westwood that they escape
from their cocoons by means of a slit made in a spiral direction
. atone end. But this certainly is not their usual manner of open-
ing their cocoons. One side of the cocoon where it is globular,
and one end where it is oval, is cut smoothly off, so as to form a
little lid, which commonly hangs to the cocoon by some of the
loose exterior threads, which serve as a hinge to retain it in its
place. Through the opening thus made the pupa crawls out of
its cocoon before it casts its ‘skin to become a perfect fly.

Of this family of insects, which are rendering us such important
services, our American species are somewhat numerous. Only
two of these, I believe, have as yet been named and described. I
therefore present herewith descriptions of most of the species
which are known to me. These pertain to two genera, Hemerobius
or the Lace-winged flies, having the joints of the antennz globu-
lar, and Chrysopa or the Golden-eyed flies, in which they are
short cylindrical. To these genera it is necessary to add a third,

6
82 APPLE LEAVES—SIGNORET’S GOLDEN-EYE.

resembling Chrysopa in most of its details, but instead of having
the antenne inserted close together, they are separated at their
bases, and a cylindrical protuberance or horn projects from the
front between them. For this genusI propose the name Meleoma,
formed from two Greek words, implying bad smell, in allusion to
the odor which in common with several species of Chrysopa, these
insects exhale. But one species is known to me, which may be
named and described as follows:

Sicnorer’s GotpEN-zyep Fir, (Meleoma Signoretii) is of a pale yellowish
green color, and is clothed with fine short pubescence, especially upon the abdomen.
The cylindrical horn which arises between the base of the antennz is longer than
broad, and is directed forward upon a line with the head and thorax. It is a third
longer and somewhat thicker than the enlarged basal joints of the antenne, is
slightly dilated at its anterior end, where it is abruptly turned downwards almost at
a right angle, this deflected part forming a thin transverse lamina of a light yellow
color, vertically striated on its anterior face, and with a projecting acute tooth in the
middle of its lower margin, which is of a brown color and turned backwards. Upon
the top of the head is a transverse elevation, with « deep excavation immediately
back of it. The face has a round smooth elevated brown spot upon each side of its
centre. The antenne are very pale brownish, the two basal joints light green. The
basal edge of the anterior segment of the thorax is elevated, and there is a more
prominent obtuse elevation forward of this, separated from the base by an inter-
vening transverse groove. The basal elevation shows a longitudinal impressed line
on its middle, and back of this a more strongly impressed line extends across the
middle of the anterior elevated lobe of the second segment. The legs are whitish,
the feet tinged with dull yellow, with black hooks at their tips. The wings are
slightly angulated at their tips, the hind pair more conspicuously so. They are
hyaline and glass-like, with a slight opacity at the stigmas or that part of the wing
which is forward of the extremity of the outer margin. Their veins and veinlets are.
whitish except the two subapical series of veinlets of the anterior pair, and those
which are given off along the inner side of the rib-vein, which are brownish black.
This species measures 1.15 across the wings when spread It was captured the lat-
ter part of July, near the summit of Mount Antonio, one of the outliers of the Green-
Mountain range, slightly beyond the boundary of our State, in Rupert, Vermont. I
name it in honor of my valued friend, Dr. Signoret, of Paris, whose elegant Icono-
graph of the Tettigoniides now publishing in the Annals of the Entomological Society
as well as his previous productions, are an enduring monument of the extent and
accuracy of his researches in that branch of the science to which he devotes himself.

The species of the genus Curysora are all of a bright pale green
or yellowish color; the number and situation of the veins and
veinlets or short connecting veins in their wings, is the same,
and they differ but little in size. To the naked eye they seem to
form but a single species. I had long noticed that individuals of
APPLE LEAVES—GENUS CHRYSOPA. | 83

this genus presented black dots and other marks upon the head
and thorax, but they were in all other respects so much like
others destitute of these spots, that I was in doubt whether they
were anything more than mere varieties of two species, the Perla
and chrysops of the old authors, or the American representatives
of those species, the one having the veinlets pale green, the other
having them varied more or less with black. Awaiting for some
fact that would throw light upon this subject, I several years ago
met with ten chrysalids upon the leaves of a yellow pine, attach-
ed near each other, and all obviously the progeny of one parent.
It occurred to me that when these disclosed the perfect insect
they would furnish evidence whether the same species presented
those slight differences in its markings which I had noticed
among different individuals of this genus. I accordingly gathered
them, and in a short time obtained from them the mature flies.
These were all alike in every respect, and were destitute of any
dots or other marks except a tawny yellow spot upon the
cheeks. I therefore regarded this mark upon the cheeks as form-
ing the distinctive character of a species. All the specimens
which were obtained in the manner stated had the veinlets of
their wings pale green; other individuals, however, occurred,
having the same tawny yellow spot upon the cheeks, but in which
the ends of the veinlets were dark green or black. These I had
been inclined to regard as only varieties of the species, until the
present season I discover that these individuals which have the
ends of their veinlets black or dark green come from cocoons
which are globular, white, with a rough ragged surface from nu-
merous loose fibers of silk adhering to them, whilst those which
were gathered upon pine leaves were oval, pale green and smooth.
From the cocoons, therefore, it is evident that they are of dif-
ferent species. It is thus shown that a variation in the color of
the veinlets of the wings, as well as in the dots and other marks
upon the head and body in this genus, is to be regarded as indi-
eating a difference in the species. The general reader is com-
monly inclined to the opinion that naturalists make their favorite
science unduly complicated and obscure by founding multitudes
of species upon what appear to be slight and unessential dis-
tinctions. But the facts here stated will show him some of the
84 APPLE LEAVES—CHRYSOPA SPECIES.

evidences which compel us to regard these minute and seemingly
unimportant marks as valid indications of differences which ac-
tually exist in nature.

To facilitate the discrimination of these species of this genus
which are here described, they are arranged in an analytical
series, which, on a slight inspection, will be intelligible to every
reader.

1. (18.) Sockets in which the antenne are inserted margined
more or less with black.

2. (5.) Two black or dusky stripes upon the‘top of the head.

3. (4.) Veinlets mostly black, a few with a short green band
on their middle.

The WuHITE-HORNED GoLDEN-EYE (Chrysopa albicornis). Antenne whitish,
basal joint with an orange-red ring surrounding it wholly or in part, second joint
with a black ring; sockets at their base with an uninterrupted black margin. Head
above with two parallel black stripes confluent anteriorly with the black margins of
the antennz sockets; face with an orange-red spot each side upon the cheeks and a
black crescent under each eye, its anterior horn running into the black margin of the
antenne sockets. First segment of the thorax with an impressed line in its middle,
and three brown spots on each side, behind which are two black dots and a fourth
brown spot situated upon the basal edge; second segment with two short black lines
upon its anterior and two brown spots near its posterior edge. Veinletsblack, those in
the disk green in their middle, those ending on the inner and apical margins green ex-
cept at their bases, those of the hind wings green except the row towards the tips,
those outside of the rib-vein and the bases of those branching from the inner side of
the rib-vein. Wings expand 1.15. My specimens of this species were captured in
the State of Mississippi in April.

4. (3.) Veinlets green, slightly marked with black at their
bases.

The DisaGREEABLE GOLDEN-EYE (C. illepida). Pale yellowish green clothed
with short white hairs. Head yellowish white, pale yellow above with two black
stripes which are often dusky in their middle and slightly converge anteriorly, their
anterior ends confluent with the black margins of the antennz sockets; a black dot on
the base behind each eye. Antennz pale yellow, becoming dark brown towards
their tips; basal joint white with a pale tawny spot on the upper side ; second joint
with a black ring; sockets broadly margined with black except above between the
anterior ends of the longitudinal stripes where is an interruption of bright tawny red.
Eyes dark golden green. A black crescent under each eye, the anterior horn of
which joins the black margin of the antenne sockets in the middle of their under
‘APPLE LEAVES—CHRYSOPA SPECIES. 85

‘sides, and from that point a black stroke is sent downwards upon the cheeks, which
stroke is margined on its anterior side with tawny red. Palpi black with white rings.
A small oval black spot upon each side of the throat. Thorax with a dusky or black °
mark each side at its apex and four spots above at the angles of an imaginary square,
and behind these a faint yellowish brown spot each side of the middle. Feet pale
dull yellowish. Wings pellucid, their tips angular, those of the upper pair very
slightly so; an opake pale greenish yellow stigma; veins pale green; veinlets branch-
ing from the rib vein on both sides black at their bases; two scries of veinlets towards
the tip of the wings black, some of them sometimes pale green. Lower wings, veinlets
on the outside of the rib-vein and bases of those opposite to them black. Wings ex-
pand 1.10. Found the last of June in this State and also in Illinois. When captured
it emits the disagreeable odor peculiar to several of its kindred species.

5: (2.) Head above with black dots but no stripes. A tawny

yellow spot on each cheek, commonly with a black line or dot on
its posterior edge.

\ -

6. (17.) More than two dots upon the top of the head.

7. (12.) Dots six in number, four at the angles of an imaginary
square, the anterior two often confluent with the black margin of
the antennz sockets, and one each side behind the eye.

8. (11.) A black dot or streak on the posterior edge of the
tawny spot on the cheeks.

9. (10.) Ends of the veinlets black. ‘

The O-maRKED GotpEN-Eyx (C. Omikron). This is of a pale green color with a
light yellow head and a black O mark surrounding the base of each antenna, broader
on the under side, and above interrupted with orange red between the two anterior dots
on the top of the head, which are commonly confluent more or less with these black
rings. This species corresponds with the one last described in all its details, except
that in addition to wanting the black stripes on the head, the veinlets branchivg from
the rib-vein on both sides.are black at their tips as well as their bases, and the remain-
ing transverse veinlets are mostly black at their bases; and instead of a line in the
tawny spot upon the cheeks this commonly has only a black dot. <A variety occurs
in which the tawny reddish spot on the upper side of the basal joint of the antennz
ig wanting. The wings expand from 0.95 to 1.10, the females being slightly larger
than the other sex. It is a common species during the month of June, and exhales
the same disagreeable odor as the preceding.

10. (9.) Ends only of the veinlets on the outer side of the rib
vein and bases of those given off from its inner side black, all the
others green.

The Yeviow-HeApED GoLpEN-EvE (C. xanthocephala) is distinguished from the
foregoing by having the veins and veinlets all green, except, those veinlets which
86 APPLE LEAVES—CHRYSOPA SPECIES.

are given off from the rib vein, which are black at their bases, and those on the outer
side at their tips alsa. It is of a pale yellowish green color with alight yellow head,
the orange red spot on the Cheeks with a black streak towards its hind edge, and the
two anterior dots on the top of the-head confluent with the black margins of the
sockets of the antenne, which, between these spots, is interrupted with tawny yel-
low. Its wings, expanded, measure 1.10. It is much less common than the pre-
eeding species, and occurs with it in the month of June. Specimens have also been
sent me from Michigan by T. E. Wetmore, Esq.

11. (8.) The tawny spot on the cheeks without any black dot
or mark.

The YELLOW-CHEEKED GOLDEN-EYE (C. fulvibucca) corresponds with the O-
marked golden-eye in the color of its weinlets, and the spots and marks upon its
head, except that no black dot or streak occurs in the tawny spot upon its cheeks.
Like that species also, this has an impressed line the whole length of the first seg-
ment of the thorax, but here that line is crossed slightly back of its middle by a
straight transverse one, the ends of which on each side are deep black, and a pale
umber brown spot extends from this backwards, nearly to the base of this segment,
having an oval black dot outside of it. Forward of the brown spot is a smaller one
of the same color, and on the anterior margin on each side behind the eye, as in seye-
ral of the species, are two short blackish lines converging and confluent at their hind
ends. The second segment has also an impressed medial line, and two brown spots
upon each side. A variety occurs in which these spots last mentioned are wanting.
The wings expand 1.10. This species occurs the last of July and in August.

12. (7.) Four dots only upon the top of the head, situated in
a transverse row.

13. (14.) A black crescent-shaped mark under each eye.

The Mississtpr1 GoEDEN-EYE (C. Mississippiensis.) The dead specimen sulphur
yellow. Antenna white, dull yellowish towards the tips, their sockets margined
with black with a tawny yellow interruption above in the middle. Head with two
black dots above, and one behind each eye. A black crescent under each eye, its
anterior horn uniting with the black margin of the antenns sockets, from which
point a black dash is sent downwards upon the cheek, which is edged with pale
tawny yellow. Thorax with spots on the first and dots on the second segment anal-
ogous to those in the following species. Legs pale green, feet pale dull yellow.
Wings rounded at tips; veinlets mostly black, their middle pale green, those towards
each end of the outer cell and the two veins towards the tip entirely black. Wings
expand 1.20. Taken in the vicinity of J ackson, Mississippi, by my daughter, in the
month of April. :

14, (13.) A black dot under each eye, Tips of the wings
rounded.
APPLE LEAVES—CHRYSOPA SPECIES. 87

15. (16.) Sockets of the antennz broadly margined with black
except upon their outer sides.

The X-maRKED GoLpEN-EYE (C. Chi). -Antenne whitish, towards the ap
black, their sockets widely edged on their inner sides with black, forming a mark re-
sembling the Greek letter chi, or an italic x, A large black dot under each eye and
another forward of it, with a black point inthe centre of the face. Four large black
dots in a transverse row upon the top of the head. First segment of the thorax
with four large brownish black spots at the angles of an imaginary square; second
segment with four black dots also forming! the angles of an imaginary square, and a
minute one:above the base of each fore wing. Abdomen black, except at its tip.
Veins black at their ends; veinlets black, the middle ones on the outer side of the
rib-vein with a green band on their middle; veinlets of the hind wings which branch
from the rib-vein black, those on its inner side with a green band on their middle,
those branching inwards from the wavy longitudinal vein slightly black at their bases.
Wings expand 1.25. Taken the last of J une upon bushes in swamps.

16. (15.) A black Y-shaped mark between and dot below the
‘bases of the antenne.

The Y-maRKED GoLDEN-EYE (C. Upsilon). Light yellowish green. Antennz
dull whitish, dusky towards their tips; basal joint pale green, blackish at its apex on
the under side. A black dot under each eye and a somewhat square spot forward
of it towards the mouth. Mouth tinged with dirty whitish. Palpi with black rings.
Four black dots in a transverse row upon the top of the head, the two inner ones
larger. Thorax with four equidistant black spots upon each side in a row, the hind
ones on the anterior edge of the second segment; back of these four black dots at the
angles of an imaginary square, and another above the base of each forewing. Abdo-
men obscure greenish above with two faint brownish dots near the middle of each
segment. Wings pellucid, veins pale green, veinlets black, mostly with a pale
green band on their middle, their hairs and those of the veins black; hind wings
with the veinlets towards the tip, those in the outer cell and bases of those in the
next cell black. Wings expand 0.90 in the male, 1.10 inthe female. This is one of
the earliest appearing species, coming out the last of May and early in June.

17. (6.) Two black dots only upon the top of the head.

The Two-porrep GoupEN-zYE (C. bipwnetata). Pale yellowish green. Head
pale yellow, with a black dot on each side of its base above, almost in contact with
the eye. Antenne whitish, dark brown towards their tips; basal joint white, with a
tawny red band on its upper side; second joint black; their sockets margined with
tawny red on the upper and with black on the under side. : Eyes brilliant coppery
red when alive. Face with a tawny red spot on each side, having an oval black dot
in its hind margin. A black stripe under each eye sending a slender line from its
lower end forwards to the margin of the antennz sockets. Palpi white with black
tips and rings. Thorax without spots. Wings rounded at tips; veinlets green,
some of those arising from the rib vein slightly marked with black at their bases,
88 APPLE LEAVES—CHRYSOPA SPECIES.

those in the outer cell of the hind wings black. Wings expand’1.05. Taken the
fore part of June.

18. (1.) Sockets of the antenne not marked with black.
19. (38.) A dot or spot upon the cheeks.

20. (29.) Cheeks with a black streak or dots under each eye.
21. (22.) Two black dots under each eye. i‘

‘The Coton GonpEn-ryE (C. colon). Light yellow. Antenne pale tawny yel-
low, black towards their bases; basal joint light yellow, unspotted. Face with two
black dots each side upon the cheeks. Thorax with a black dot on each side at the
apex, and in the middle a transverse but no longitudinal impressed line. Wings
slightly angulated at their tips; the two rows of subapical veinlets, those branching
outwards from the rib vein and bases of those branching inwards black. Wings
expand 140. Taken the fore part of June.

22. (21.) A black streak or short line under each eye.
23. (26.) The black line not margined with tawny yellow.
24. (25.) Several of the veinlets black at one or both ends.

The Crean. GoupEN-EYE (C. emuneta). Light yellow. Head without dots or
marks except a short black stroke under each eye, anteriorly joining the narrowed
end of a second black stroke. Thorax without spots, save a black point at the apex
on each side. Wings rounded at tips, hind pair slightly angulated; veinlets on the
outer side of the rib vein black at their bases only in part, all those upon the inner
side black at base and tip. Palpi black on their outer sides. . Wings expand 1.30-
Taken the middle of August.

25. (24.) Veinlets all green.

Roserrson’s Goupen-EYE (C. Robertsonii). Pale green with a whitish stripe
from the head along the middle of the back. Head sulphur yellow, without spots
except a short shining black stripe under each eye. Antenne pale dull yellow,
basal joint white. Thorax without spots, Legs whitish, feet tinged with brown.
Wings rounded at their tips; stigma green, slightly opake; veins and veinlets all
pale green. Wings expand 1.05. Captured at Tullehassie, in the Creek Indian
Territory, west of Arkansas, the middle of May, and sent me by William §.
Robertson.

26. (23.) Cheeks with a tawny yellow spot in which or on its
hind edge is a black line or dot.

27. (28.) Color pale green.

The Weerinc GoLDEN-EYE (ce. plorabunda). Very pale green, with a paler
cream yellow stripe from the head the whole length along the middle of the back.
Head cream yellow; cheeks pale tawny yellow, with a small black stri pe posteriorly
under each eye., Antenne whitish, clay yellow towards their tips. Thorax without
\

APPLE LEAVES—-CHRYSOPA SPECIES. 89

spots. Beneath and legs greenish white, feet pale clay yellow, Wings rounded at
tips, the hind pair slightly angular; veins and veinlets pale greenish. A variety,
whtich is common,‘has a brown or reddish spot above upon each side of the head,
contiguous to the eye, in which an ocellus or small simple eye appears to be situated.
Wings expand one inch. This is an abundant species the last of September and in
October, both in this State and in Illinois, occurring upon the foliage of apple and
peach trees, and also upon various wild bushes and weeds.

28. (27.) Color straw yellow.

The Counrerreir GoLDEN-EYE (C. pseudographa). Very like the preceding
species, but of a straw yellow color without any tint of green, the head brighter cream
yellow, the cheeks tawny yellow with a short black stripe running downwards from
the under side of the eye, the antenne, legs and feet, and veins and veinlets of the
wings pallid white, the wings rounded at their tips, the abdomen with a smooth more
clear white stripe along the middle of the back, upon each side of which at the apex
of each segment is a pale tawny yellow spot. A variety has a band of this last color
upon the apex of each segment of the abdomen. Though so closely related to the
weeping golden-eye, and associated with it, it is evidently a distinct species and is
easily discriminated. The wings expand one inch. Several specimens were cap-
tured upon apple trees in northern Illinois the fore part of October.

29. (20.) No black dot or mark under theeye. Cheeks tawny
~yellow between the eye and the mouth.

30. (35.) Ends of some or all of the veinlets black or dark
green. —

31. (32.) Color sulphur yellow, with orange yellow spots each
side of the abdomen at base.

The SutpHur GoLpEN-EYE (C. sulphurea). Bright sulphur yellow, with an
orange colored spot under each eye, one on each side of the apex of the thorax and
of the basal segments of the abdomen. Antenna, legs and feet whitish. Wings
rounded at tips, the hind pair slightly angular, veins white, the ‘rows of veinlets
towards the tips of both pairs of wings and the ends of most of the. other veinlets
black. Wingsexpand 1.05. Taken in New Jersey the latter part of September.

32. (31-) Color pale green, with a pale yellow stripe on the
back.

33. (34.) A row of orange colored spots above on each side of
the thorax and abdomen.

SrcHEL’s GotpEn-EvE (C. Sichélii). Pale yellowish green with a pale bright yel-
low stripe along the middle of the thorax and abdomen. Head white with a large
90 APPLE LEAVES—CHRYSOPA SPECIES.

pale yellow spot above, a streak from the eye to the mouth, a small dot between the
antenne and a spot on the base behind each eye bright orange yellow. Eyes brilliant
coppery red with a golden yellow reflection in the living specimen. Antenne white.
Palpi white, their tips brownish. Thorax pale yellow above, pale bright green on
each side, bluish white beneath ; first segment with a row of three equidistant bright
orange spots on each side, the anterior one largest and placed rather more outwardly,
an impressed transverse line across the middle; second segment with an impressed
longitudinal line crossing the two anterior elevated lobes, and a bright orange spot
on each side on the anterior edge. Abdomen pale greenish yellow with a deeper bright
yellow stripe above, on each side of which on the five first segments is a bright orange
spot, each spot crossed by an impressed longitudinal line, those on the second and .
third segments larger, their centres tawny ; those on the fifth segment small and pale.
Legs pale bluish white, feet yellowish. Wings obtusely angular at their tips, the
fore ones very slightly so; stigma opake pale green; veins pale green, the marginal
one, white; veinlets pale green, the two series towards the tip and the ends of most
of the others black. Wings expand 1.05. Taken the first of August. This is the
most variegated of our American species belonging tothis genus. J name it in honor
of my esteemed friend and correspondent Dr. Sichel, President of the Entomological
Society of France.

2

34. (33.) No orange spots along the sides of the back.

The New-Yorx Gonpen-Eye (C. Noveboracensis). Pale green with a pale yellow
stripe from the mouth the whole length of the body. Eyes dark greenish golden
whenalive. A bright orange red stripe between each eye and the mouth. Sides of
the head greenish white. Palpi pale dull yellowish, tips black and a black Jine on
their outer side. Antenne whitish slightly tinged with dusky towards their tips.
Thorax commonly with a large blackish spot anteriorly on each side, formed of two
or three confluent smaller ones. Beneath greenish white. Legs very- pale green, feet
yellowish white. Wings angular at their tips, the hind ones more conspicuously so 3
veins pale green; veinlets black at both their ends except those ending in the inner
and apical margin, the two series of veinlets towards the tip entirely black; veinlets
of the outer cell of the hind wings black at both ends, those branching from the inner
side of the rib vein black at their bases. A variety has the veinlets marked with
dark green instead of black. Wingsexpand 1.05. Common the latter part of June
and through most of the month of July, :depositing its eggs singly, commonly on the
margins of apple and other leaves, elevated upon threads the tenth of an inch long-
This, like some of the other species, is perfectly inodorous.

35, (30.) Veinlets entirely pale green or white. ‘
36. (37.) Stigma hyaline, scarcely obvious.

Harris's Goupen-nyeE (C. Harrisit). Like the preceding in all respects, except
that it is slightly larger and the veinlets of the wings are greenish white without any
traces of dark green or black at their ends. Wings expand 1.15. Taken the last of
July andin August. Its cocoon is smooth, of a bright pale green color and a regular
oval form, 0.14 long by 0.11 in diameter, whilst that of the preceding species is rough

+
APPLE LEAVES--CHRYSOPA SPECIES. 91

externally, with numerous threads loosely attached to its surface, and of a white
color and a globular form. I have heretofore regarded this species as the Chrysopa
Perla of Europe, and it is probably the species designated under this name by Dr.
Harris (New England Insects, page 215). It does not appear to be fully settled to
what species this name isto be applied, the British entomologists (Curtis, Journal of
the Royal Agricultural Society, iii. 63; Stephens, Illustrations Mandib. vi. 105) de-
scribing a different insect from that of Rambur (Neropteres, p. 424). But on com-
paring our species with the full descriptions given by these authors, it is evidently
distinct from both the European species that have received this designation, neither
of which appear to possess a paler dorsal stripe and some other marks belonging to
our insect.*

37. (86.) A blackish brown opake spot on the stigma.

The VIRGINIA GOLDEN-EYE (C. Virginica). Immaculate, save a blackish spot on
each side of the thorax at its apex. Wings slightly angular at their tips, veins and
veinlets pale green, those branching from the inner side of the rib vein faintly tinged
with dusky at their bases; first veinlet of the second row towards the tip black and
margined with smoky; stigma with an opake brown spot, more strongly marked on
the hind pair. The small semi-oval cell which is formed in the straight mid-vein to-
wards its base in all our other species is here irregularly quadrangular, and bounded
by straight veinlets on each of its four sides. Wings expand 1.35. Taken in Vir-
ginia, near Cartersville, by the late Thaddeus A. Culbertson, of Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania, whose love of science and activity in its pursuit. rendered his early
death a loss to our country.

38. (19.) Cheeks pale and without any spot or dot.

39. (42.) Antenne black towards their bases.

40. (41.) A black stripe on the outer side of the basal joint of
the antenne.

The SrripE-HORNED GOLDEN-EYE (C. lineaticornis). Pale green. Head white,
greenish on the top with two or three small dark brown dots on each side anteriorly,
upon the upper edge of the sockets of the antenne. Antenne pale brown, basal

* Next to the Perla Fabricius describes a species from the Society Islands in the Pacific
ocean, which he'met within the cabinet of Sir Joseph Banks, which is rather larger than Perla.
and of an 2sh gray color with whitish wings and antennz double the length of the body, from
which last character he names it filosus, or the Threadlike golden-eye. I have specimens
from the same locality, presented to me by Lieut. Pattison, U. S. Navy, which are perhaps the
same species, as they coincide with the description in most of its points. They however are
rather smaller than Pcria, the wings expanding from 0.75 to 0.90, and only the posterior part
of the thorax is ash grey, its anterior part and the head being bright yellow and without spots.
The antenne are double the length of the body, blackish, becoming yellow at the base, with
a black dot on the upper side of the basal joint; the wings white, but pellucid, their veins and
veinlets pale dull yellow. Should this prove to be different from the Fabrician species, as it
apparently is, it may appropriately be named the Chrysopa filicornis, or Thread-horned
golden-eye.
92 APPLE LEAVES—HEMEROBIUS SPECIES.

fourth part of their length black, basal joint white with a black stripe the whole
length on its outer side. Thorax with an impressed transverse line forward of the
base of the first segment, and a longitudinal one on the anterior elevated lobe of the
second segment. Legs white. Wings very slightly angulated at their tips; stigma
marked by a slight opacity; veinlets dusky or black. Wings expand 1.10. Taken
the middle of July.

41, (40.) A black dot on the outside of the first joint of the
antenne at its tip.

The Dorrep-Horyep GoLDEN-EYE (C. puncticornis) is perhaps only a variety of
the preceding, as it corresponds with it in all respects, except that the basal joint of
the antenne has only a black dot at its apex on the outer side and there are no dots
on the edge of the sockets of the antenne; the first segment of the thorax has two
transverse impressed lines and a longitudinal one behind the middJle. The abdomen
has a brown stripe above on each side. Wings expand 1.15. This also occurs in
the middle of July. ;

42. (39.) Antenne pale.

The Consumptive GoLpEN-EvE (C. tabida) is pale green, almost white; the head
is white and without spots, except a slight discoloration on the cheeks in some indi-
viduals which commonly disappears in the preserved specimen; the antenne are white
their whole length; the thorax is white along the middle and pale green upon each
side; the wings are obtusely angulated at their tips, their veins white tinged in places
with green, the veinlets greenish white, their ends black, the two series towards the
tip entirely black. Wings expand 0.95. Occurs the fore part of August. -

The Lace-wing flies pertaining to the genus Hemerosius differ *
from each other much more than those we have been considering.
They are generally of pale dull cvlors, but vary greatly in size,
in the veins and spots upon their wings, &e. Most of-the fol-
lowing species have three longitudinal veins branching from the
rib vein towards its base on the inner side ; the three last species,
however, have only two such veins, whilst the first has several,
and the second has four. -

The FRECKLED LACE-WiNG (Hemerobius irroratus, Say) is black and hairy with a
pale yellowish stripe on the middle and another upon each side of the thorax. The
head, scutel and under side of the body is also pale yellowish. The wings are hyaline
and glassy, with numerous irregular blackish spots and dots, those on the margin
larger and alternated with whitish spots, and there is a largish darker colored spot
near the middle and another towards the.tips of the inner longitudinal veins, situated
upon their connecting yveinlets. The veins are black alternating with white, The
hind wings are without spots except in the region of the stigma; their veins are black
with only the marginal and rib veinsalternating with white. The wings expand from
a

APPLE LEAVES—HEMEROBIUS SPECIES. 93

2.25 to 3.20. This species israther rare. It begins to be met with about the middle
of July and continues until the arrival of cold weather.

Mr. Stephens has also described a species under this same name. Mr. Say, how-
“ever, appropriated the name to our insect more than ten years anterior to its use by
Mr. Stephens. Another name therefore becomes necessary for the British species,
which, if it has not already been re-named should be designated the Stephensii, in
honor of its first describer, the eminent entomologist recently deceased.

Mr. Say inconnection with the preceding (in the appendix to Long’s Expedition,
page 806) describes another species, the vittaius or Striped lace-wing, from a speci-
men in the Philadelphia museum, found by Mr. Titian Peale, in New Jersey. This
is of the same size with the Freckled lact-wing and closely resembles it, but has the
body of a pale yellowish color with a broad blackish stripe upon each side of the
thorax, anda small white spot on the outer edge of the fore wings near the tip. I
have never met with this, which appears to be a rare species.

The ALTErNnatep Lact-wine (H. alternatus) is dull whitish or yellowish white
varied with dark brown, and is clothed with short pale yellowish hairs. Its face and
a stripe on each side of the thorax is blackish brown, The abdomen is dull whitish
with a clearer white stripe along each side, which is margined above by a row of
spots and below by a slender line of abrown color. The wingsare pellucid and iride-
scent red and green; the veins are white with alternating blackish spots giving off
fine bristles of the same color. The veinlets are black, robust, and broadly margined
with smoky, forming two irregular rows of spots across the wing, with a third short
one between them upon the inner margin. The margin is whitish, with dusky spots
of different sizes, the larger spots having two or sometimes only one smaller spot be-
tween them. The hind wings are pellucid, their veins white, those next to the rib-
vein with dusky spots, the veinlets blackish but not margined with smoky; the inner
fork of the innermost longitudinal vein is also blackish from the anastamosing veinlet
half way to the furcation. The margin of these wings is whitish alternating with
dusky spots around the apex. A dot or short line is placed on the margin between
the tips of all the veins and their forks. The wings expand 0.80. This occurs the
last. of June, particularly upon pine and hemlock bushes.

The SrigMA-MARKED LAcE-wina (H. stigmaterus) has the veins of the fore wings
black with white bands; the cells are smoky with clearer spots at'each of the white.
bands upon the veins; stigma opake tawny reddish; two series of black anastamos-
ing veinlets; a third veinlet near the inner base connecting the first longitudinal vein
with the inner fork of the second longitudinal, and on the opposite side continued to
a branch of the first longitudinal, thus forming two closed basal cells, the outer one
of which is long and narrow, with the sccond longitudinal vein forking near the mid-
dle of this cell. This last mentioned veinlet is more robust and more obviously
margined with dusky than the others. Head and antenne pale dull yellow; legs
paler; thorax and abdomen blackish brown. A variety which is common has the
tip of the abdomen pale yellow, and another variety has a pale stripe along each side
of the abdomen. The wings expand from 0.55 to 0.60. This is a common species
throughout the Northern and Western States, occurring from March until October,
resting upon the foliage of various evergreen and deciduous trees and upon the grass
94 APPLE LEAVES—HEMEROBIUS SPECIES-

of meadows and prairies. I have met with it upon peach but never upon apple
leaves. The margin of the fore wings presents a curious appearance, being occupied
like several of the other species with a row of dots, which, when magnified, resemble
a string of beads, and it is almost always the case that, around the entire margin,
every fourth dot is white, the other three being black.

The Caxsrnur Lacz-wine (H. Castanea) has all the veins white alternated with
black or brown rings, with the usual two series of veinlets black feebly margined
with dusky; a large blackish dot on the first longitudinal vein at the apex of the
outer basal cells, and a smaller one at the next fork beyond this, and similar dots on
the inner rib-yein at the origin of each of the discoidal veins; wings hyaline, the
margins faintly tinged with smoky. Body whitish with a large spot under each eye,
a stripe on each side of the thorax and a row of spots on each side of the abdomen
brown. Wings expand 0.65. This is one of the most common species throughout
the northern and northwestern States, and both the larve and the perfect insects
may always be found upon chestnut trees infested with plant-lice, and also upon the
walnut and other trees, from April till October. It varies much in the depth of the
color of the dots on the wings and the rings upon the veins, these being sometimes
black and very distinct and at other times much more faint, either brown or tawny.
The dots on the margin are white interspersed irregularly with black ones. A va-
riety has all the rings upon the veins black and more broad than usual, and instead
of the three dots which commonly occur upon the inner rib-vein this vein is annula-
ted with black through its whole length. The larva is white or tawny yellowish, with
a slender brown line in the middle and a‘row of , blackish spots oneach side, the head
with two large longitudinal black spots and a black dot above the base of each leg.
Its sides have a serrated appearance, from a row of projecting tubercles the tips of
which are furnished with slender radiating hairs.

The PResERVER LACE-WiNG (H. tutatrix) has translucent wings with white veins,
which on the fore wings have black rings at somewhat regular intervals, and from
each side of each ring proceeds a short smoky brown line, which is inclined towards
the apex of the vein, thus forming a series of V-shaped marks crossing the veins at
each ring; near the base of the inner margin of the fore wings are a few black dots.
The body throughout is white tinged with yellowish; the thorax has three brown
spots on each side which are often somewhat confluent into a continuous stripe; the.
abdomen has a row of eight brown spots each side of the middle, situated upon the
sutures. The wings expand 0.60. ‘Chis is much like the preceding species, but is a
size smaller, with the wings more clear and glassy and without any dusky tinge to-
wards their margins, and with the series of marginal dots all white. It was captured
in September upon apple trees.

The UNITED-VEINED LACE-wina (H. conjunctus) has pellucid wings becoming
dusky towards the margins; veins of the fore wings white with blackish rings and
bands; @ blackish spot around each of the veinlets except the two innermost ones,
and a smaller spot at the base of each discoidal vein; marginal dots alternately black
and brown, the black ones occupying the apices of the veins; lower wings and their
veins without spots. Wings expand 0.53. The wings are spotted much like those of
alternatus, except that the marginis wholly immaculate. Its spotted wings at once
separate it from the following species, which differ from all our other lace-wings with
APPLE LEAVES—-HEMEROBIUS SPECIES. 95

three discoidal veins by having, like this speeies, an anastamosing veinlet running in-
wards from the base of the first discoidal. This species occurred upon pine bushes
the latter part of May.

The Pine-susw LACE-wING (H. Pinidumus). Wings hyaline, slightly tinged with
smoky, the marginal dotsall of a uniform brown color; veins of the fore wings white
with brown rings; veinlets black margined with dusky, forming a few brown spots, of
which three or four form a curved row across the disk. Body pale dull yellow, sides
of the thorax brown. Wings expand 0.45. This is nearly related to tutatriz, from
which, however, it is readily distinguished by having a slender anastamosing veinlet
connecting the second longitudinal vein with the base of the third longitudinal or the
first of the three which branch from the rib-vein. It may frequently be met with
upon pine bushes, from May till the last of July.

The Guassy LacE-wina (H. hyalinatus) is much like the preceding, but the wings
are more clear and glass-like, their veins very faintly mottled with dusky, the veinlets
colorless instead of brown and not in the least margined with dusky, and in the mid-
dle of the inner margin forward of the medial series of veinlets, are two or three
veinlets connecting the first longitudinal vein and its branches withthe margin. The
marginal dots are unicolor. Wings expand 0.45. Possibly this is only a variety of
the preceding. It occurs with it upon pine bushes in May, June and July.

The LirrLe FRIEND LACE-WinG (H. amiculus). Two discoidal veins ouly arising
from the inner rib-vein, as in the remaining species. Wings hyaline mottled with
smoky dots and irregular unequal ‘spots; margin of the fore wings with a regular
series of black dots, one between the apex of each of the veins, but none upon the
tips of the veins; veins brown dotted with black, more conspicuously so in the axilla
and the area outside of the rib-vein; veins of this last mentioned area (the costal)
forked ; the two rib- veins rather distant from each other, with an anastamosing vein-
let towards their base; second discoidal fork anastamosing with the outer branch of
the first near its base, then forking, with the outer fork anastamosing twice with the
rib-vein and once with the inner fork; slightly forward of this last is another veinlet
connecting the inner fork of the second discoidal with the outer fork of the first dis-
coidal, and a second, commonly continuous with this last, connecting the outer with
the middle fork of the first discoidal; another veinlet is situated half way between
this and the base of these forks, which is the first of a series extending inwards and
bordered with dusky, which color is continued onwards to the inner margin; there
are also three veinlets towards the base. The hind wings are hyaline and without
spots or veinlets; the margin. has.a dot between the tip of each vein. Body dull
brown, anteunse yellowish, legs dull white. Wings expand about 0.42. Taken from
May until October, on peach trees and on wild shrubs, both in this State and Illinois.

The WESTERN LACE-wine (H, occidentalis) has the wings hyalineand not mottled
with smoky dots or clouds, but adorned with two faint parallel lines of a more dusky
tinge in all the cells; margin dusky; veins and veinlets robust, black; a black dot op
the margin between the tips of each of the veins; outer fork of the first discoidal
vein anastamosing with the rib-vein near its base instead of with the second discoidal
as in the preceding species, the other veinlets similar in situation to those of the pre-
96 APPLE LEAVES—MEALY-WINGED FLY.

ceding. Body blackish; antenne shorter than the body, robust, thread-like and not
tapering, black; legs pale. Wings expand 0.38. Taken in Illinois, on bushes beside
Henderson river, the first of October.

The Tirman Lacs-wine (H. delicatulus). Two veins arising from the inner rib-
vein, the first more towards its base, the second more towards its tip than in the pre-
ceding species; wings hyaline with dusky dots on the veins and a single row of veinlets
running obliquely across the disk from the rib-vein to the first longitudinal and broad-
ly margined with dusky; veins palé brown, those of the costal area blackish, the
7 alternate ones towards the base forked, all the others simple; margin thinly fringed
with short hairs, a dot on the tips of the veinsand a smaller onebetween them. Body
dusky yellowish; antenne longer than the body, brownish; legs pale. Wings ex-
pand about 0.40. Swept from the grass of prairies in Ilinois, the first of October.

Another insect closely related to the Hemeropipz, and the
larva of which issupposed to feed upon plant-lice, may be noticed
in this connexion. It is of minute size, and by no means rare,
occurring upon apple and other trees, and also upon the wing at
twilight or in shady situations, from early in June until the end
of July. It is so anomalous that, at one time and another, I have
been occupied several days in investigating it and determining
where it should be arranged. When first captured I supposed I
had a species of .@eurodes in hand, its minute size, its mealy-
white coating, and the size of its wings giving it a close resem-
blance to the insects of that group. Indeed the European species
allied to this were at first placed by Mr. Stephens in that family.
But the number of veins in the wings and of joints in the feet and
antenne, and above all the structure of the mouth with jaws for
masticating food and not a beak for suction, absolutely excludes
these insects from such an association, and also from being arranged
with the moths, where the old authors placed them. Itis ob-
vious that our insect pertains to the order Neuroprera. And in
this order its. many points of resemblance to the Coniopteryx
Tineiformis, Curtis, leaves no doubt that it finds its true relatives
with that insect and its associates, the classification of which has
so much perplexed the entomologists of Europe’ Whilst Messrs.
Curtis and Stephens associate this genus with the Psocipm, Mr.
Westwood regards it as having more affinities with the Hemrnro-
BUD. | Important differences, however, separate it from both of
these families. It is unlike the Psocide in having five-jointed
feet, and antenne of a different form and with joints doubly
numerous; and differs from the Hemerobiides in having wings
APPLE LEAVES—MEALY-WINGED FLY. | OF

with but few veins and veinlets, the hind pair smaller than the
anterior, &c., and is separated from both these families by the
mealy coating of the perfect insects. Its arrangement in either is
evidently incongruous. Dr. Burmeister has therefore elevated
these insects to the rank of a distinct family, named Conioprery-
cipz or Mealy wings, the single genus Coniopteryx, with its four
European species, being all that is at present known pertaining to
this, family. .

On comparing our insect with those of Europe, although its
general resemblance is so close, we notice some important dis-
crepancies in its details. The veins of its wings are more simple
and less connected by anastamosing veinlets, there being but one
of these veinlets in the disk of the wing, and three near the base,
arranged in a continuous line, and leaving only the outer and
inner veins insulated from their origin to their tips. Thus, while
the European insects have three closed discoidal cells, in our
insect there is but one. The veins of the hind wings in the
European species are forked and connected by veinlets, whilst in
ours there are no veinlets, and only one of the veins is forked.
Westwood states the wings to be wholly destitute of cilie or
fringe-like hairs along the margin, whilst here a series of short,
fine erect hairs are very distinct along tlie apical and inner edges.
The eyes moreover are widely notched and kidney-shaped, instead
of being round. These differences forbid our including our insect
in the same genus with those of Europe. It will therefore form
a second genus in this family, for which I propose the name
Alleuronia (Greek oAcupov, farina or dust) having allusion to the
mealy coating with which these insects are covered. Andas Mr.
Westwood (through whose kindness my cabinet has been enriched
with specimens, particularly of some of the minute and interest-
ing species which he has described) was the first to separate the
insects of this group generically, this species may appropriately
be dedicated to him. Whilst the more simple veins of ity wings
would approximate this family more closely than heretofore to
the Psocide their ciliated margins give it an additional resem-
blance to the Hemerobiide, and leave the question as to which

7
98 APPLE LEAVES—MEALY-WINGED FLY.

of these families the present is most nearly related in much the
same doubt in which it has hitherto been.

Westwoon’s MEALY-wina (Aleuronia Westwoodii) measures one-tenth of an
inch to the tips of its wings which project a third of their length beyond the tip of
the abdomen, against the sides of which they are held almost perpendicularly when
at rest. It is of a blackish color, its abdomen bright yellow of a paler or deeper
tint, its legs pale, and the whole surface of its body and limbs is dusted over with a
white meal-like powder, except the antenne, which are black, t).rcad-like, about
two-thirds the length of the body and composed of about twenty-eight joints, whereof
the basal is the thickest, and the second is i nger than those which succeed, which
are all of equal size and short cylindrical, their length and breadth equal, the apical
oval. The head is elevated upon a short neck in the living specimen and is wider
than long, round and flattened in front; the palpi rather long, five-jointed, the apical
joint oval, and as long as the two which precede it taken together; the labial palpi
three jointed, their apical joint large and egg-shaped. Legs of medium size, the
hind pair longest and about equalling the body in length; feet five-jointed, the basal
joint cylindric and forming nearly half of their whole length, the third joint shortest,
the tips ending in two minute hooks. The wings are broad, rounded at their ends,
with six veins proceeding from the base, whereof the second or rib-vein gives off two
branches, one at the end of the anastamosing veinlet near the base and the.other for-
ward of the middle, both of these brauches forking rather beyond their middle, thus
making ten veins which end in the apical and inner margin. The first of these
branches forward of its furcation sends an anastamosing veinlet inwaid to the next or
mid-vein, which, with the rib-vein, are obviously thicker and more robust than the
other veins. The hind wings have five veins ending in their margin, whereof the
second and third unite near the middle of the wing.

Having occupied so much space in describing the aphis-lions
and their habits, we present but a brief sketch of the habits of
the remaining desiroyers of the plant-lice, reserving a description
of their species for a future occasion.

Equal to, or even surpassing the aphis-lions, in the havoe which
they make among colonies of plant-lice and the numbers which
they devour, are the insects popularly called lady-bugs or lady-
birds. These pertain to the Family Cocciyetuipa, in the Order
Coteorptera. The eggs of these insects—smooth, oval, and of a
bright yellow color—may frequently be met with upon the under
surface of leaves, placed in a cluster of twenty, thirty or forty, in
contact with each other, and gummed by one end to the leaf.
These hatch within a few days, a small blackish larva coming
from them, which is slender bodied, tapering posteriorly and with
six legs anteriorly. It walks about with much animation, and
APPLE LEAVES—LADY-BIRDS. 99

coming to a plant-louse, much larger than itself it may be, the
little hero, though only a few minutes old, boldly seizes the louse,
which, like a cowardly poltroon, makes no. resistance except try-
ing to pull himself away. But the little assailant hangs lustily
to him, preventing his advancing a single step further, and. using
his anterior legs as arms, he commonly raises the louse off from
the leaf and leisurely devours his body, leaving only the empty
skin remaining. As he grows, the sides, and in some species the
whole surface, becomes diversified with bright red and yellow
spots and rows of tubercles or elevated points. He is a most ae-
tive voracious little creature, running briskly over the limbs and
leaves in search of his prey, and consuming hundreds of aphides.
He grows to about a quarter of an inch in length in the course of
two or three weeks; he then fixes himself by his tail to a leaf, or
the limb or trunk of a tree, and hanging with his head downwards
the skin cracks open along the middle of his back, and the smooth
back of the pupa protrudes partly out of the prickly skin of the
larva, and thus remains, the old larva skin continuing to cover
the pupa on each side and beneath. But in some of the species,
a fact which I do not find mentioned by authors, the larva skin
is thrown entirely off, its shrivelled relies remaining around the
tail. It is thus with one of our largest species, named the apple-
tree lady-bird (Coccinella Malt) by Mr. Say, but which had long
before been described by the celebrated French entomologist
Olivier, under the name of the fifteen-spotted lady-bird (C. 15-
punctata); and probably the pupa of the European C. ocedlata
will be found to throw off its larva skin in this same manner, as
these two species are closely related, and have been elevated to
a distinct genus named natis by Mulsant. The pupa of the
fifteen-spotted lady-bird is quite pretty, being of a clear white
color with the middle of its back tinged with flesh-red, and with
from two to six black spots of different sizes on each of the seg-
ments, the sheaths of the elytra also having a broad black border
upon their inner side and four black spots. Exposed as the pupa
is upon the surface of a leaf or of the bark, it probably is often
discovered and devoured by birds, and to save it from such a
casualty appears to be the design of Nature in having most of the
species retain their’ prickly larva skins. When annoyed by the
100 APPLE LEAVES—LADY-BIRDS.

approach of a fly or other insect, the pupa gives a sudden spiteful
jerk, by which to frighten the intruder away, and if this fails, by
a sudden spring it elevates itself so as to stand out at right angles
from the surface to which it is attached, remaining motionless in
this posture about a half minute, when by a similar spasmodic
snap it returns to its usual position.

The insect remains dormant in its pupa state about a fortnight,
when its hard exterior shell cracks open, and from it crawls a
small shining beetle nearly the size and shape of a half pea,
though often much smaller than this. The species generally are
prettily colored, being bright red, yellow or white, with black
spots, or black with red or yellow spots. These different spots
and colors serve as marks whereby to distinguish the different
species, of which nearly a hundred are named and described, in-
habiting the United States. The perfect insects subsist upon
plant lice also, though they pursue aud devour them with less
avidity than when in the larva stage of their lives. They may
always be met with where plant-lice abound, and I have known
persons who supposed that it was these insects which bred
the plant-lice, and who consequently made it a point to destroy
every one which they could discover upon the currant bushes,
eherry trees, &c., in their yards, and who were surprised to find
that notwithstanding all their care and pains in searching out
and destroying these ‘old ones,” their shrubs and trees appeared
every year to be worse infested with lice than were those of their
neighbors. This fact is but one of a multitude which might be
adduced, showing to what'sad mistakes ignorance leads, and how
important it is that information with respect to our insects and
their habits should be diffused among our citizens.

Other inveterate enemies of the plant-lice are certain two-
winged flies pertaining to the Family Syrpuip#, in the Order Dip-
Tera, Which family has the genus Syrphus as its type. These
flies recemble our common house-fly in size and shape but are
much handsomer, being of a bright yellow color with various
spots and bands of black, according to the Species. They may
frequently be seen in summer hovering around and alighting
APPLE LEAVES—SYRPHUS-FLIES. 101

upon flowers. These flies drop their eggs, one in' a place, upon
leaves and twigs which are infested with plant-lice, so that their
young may have their appropriate food immediately around them
the moment they require it, One can seldom inspect many in-
fested leaves without meeting with one or more of the eggs of
these flies scattered around among the lice—little white smooth
oval bodies, much like the eggs which the bot fly glues tu the
hairs of horses’ fore-legs. From them a maggot hatches which
in its motions will remind one of a leech or blood-sucker. It has
no eyes, and consequently cannot see in which direction to crawl
in search of its food; but fixing the hind extremity of its body te
the surface of the leaf, it reaches as far as it is able to stretch it-
self and feels around first upon one side and then upon the other.
If nothing is discovered it moves along one or two steps and again
feels all around, until finding a plant-louse it at once fixes its
tiny mouth at the slender-pointed anterior end of its body to its
prey, having such power of suction as not only to hold the louse
from escaping but to tear it away from its attachment and raise
it up in the air wholly away from the surface of the leaf. The
louse sprawls its long legs about in a vain endeavor to touch some
support to enable it to escape. Its body is soon perceived to be di-
minishing in size, the worm sucking out the fluids which it con-
tains, and in a minute’s time, or less, nothing of it remains but
an empty shrivelled skin. These Syry hus-worms are of various
colors, almost transparent and watery, or white, or greenish, and
commonly clouded or spotted, particularly in the centre of their
bodies, with more opake white, yellow, tawny or red, and their
skin is so thin and transparent that the circulation of the fluids
within may be distinctly seen even with the naked eye in the
larger worms. Some of them have two cylindrical processes like
little straight horns jutting out trom the hind part of their bodies.
One or more of these worms may almost always be met with
wherever a colony of plant-lice is located, and one medium sized
worm will consume a hundred of these insects in an hour. The
ants do not appear to molest them, but the aphis-lions, as already
remarked, devour them with avidity. When the worm has com-
pleted its growth it fixes itself to the surface of the leaf or the
bark, and contracts to a shorter oval form; its skin becomes hard
102 APPLE. FRUIT—APPLE THRIPS.

and horny, with numerous impressed transverse lines, and changes
to a dull yellow or a black color, and those species which have
two horns forward of the tip still retain them. Within this shell
the insect puts on its pupa form, from which the fly subsequently
hatches.

The aphis likewise has foes within as well as without. In ad-
dition to the several insects of which we have now treated, all of
which attack it externally, it has internal enemies also, a group
of insects which dwell in the interior of its body during their
larva state, and eventually kill it. These are nearly as efficient
in keeping its numbers reduced as any of those which we have
been considering. We will speak more particularly of them in
connection with the aphis which infests the cherry.

A succession of the several species of these different kinds of
destroyers are making their appearance the whole season through,
and as many of these species are among our most common insects,
it will at once be perceived that they render us most important
services in destroying these pests of vegetation, and preventing
them from becoming excessively multiplied notwithstanding their
unparalleled fecundity. But without actually observing them at
their accustomed work no one can fully appreciate their value to
us, and the amount of herbage which they save from destruction.
Wherever plant-lice become numerous there these several kinds
of enemies speedily congregate and rapidly multiply, devouring
incredible numbers of these vermin, and often in a surprisingly
short space of time completely exterminating them.

AFFECTING THE FRUIT.

In a round cavity ate near the tip end of the young fruit; a minute, very slender
blackish-purple insect, with narrow silvery- white wings upon its back
resembling a long Y-shaped mark.

Taz AppLte Turips. Phleothrips Mali.
Although a profusion of flowers in the spring is often hailed as
a harbinger of a copious yield of fruit, this expectation is very
frequently disappointed. Whilst they are yet young, quantities of
APPLE. FRUIT—APPLE THRIPS. 103:

appies, plums, and other fruits wither and fall from our trees,
often literally covering the ground beneath them. Young apples
are thus blasted in consequence of the punctures and wounds
which they receive from the Apple worm or Codling moth, the
Plum weevil, and other insects. Among these destroyers is one
which has hitherto escaped notice, more in consequence of its
minute size, probably, than its rarity; for we suspect it will
prove to be a common insect.

In the month of August several apples were noticed upon the
trees which were small, withered, and ready to fall, yet without
any of those worms in them which occasion the destruction of so
much fruit at this season of the year. On searching for the cause

: of this withering of these apples we found a small
cavity or little hollow at the tip end, commonly close
j beside the relics of the flower. This cavity had the
appearance of having been gnawed; it was about the
size of a pea, and its surface of a black color. Several .
of these cavities were occupied by a minute slender
insect ; and from appearance I inferred that the young of these
insects had taken up their residence upon the apples whilst they
were quite small, and by wounding them slightly day after day,
had retarded their growth and finally caused them to wither. It
is possible that some other insect had originally produced these
wounds, and that these which were now there had been attracted
to the wounds to suck their juices; but every appearance indica-
cated that these were the real culprits. They pertain to the
group Turipsipm, which is composed almost entirely of minute
species like the present, which subsist upon the juices of plants,
especially melons, cucumbers, beans, &c., to which they are often
quite injurious, producing small decayed spots upon the leaves.
They also occur in numbers upon different flowers. We have
several American species of these insects, none of which have yet
been studied out and described. This which occurs in wounded
spots upon young apples, appears to pertain to the genus named
Phleothrips by Mr. Haliday, and I propose for it the specific name
Mali, or the Apple Thrips.

 
104 APPLE, FRUIT—APPLE THRIPS.

This insect measures only six hundredths of an inch in length and one hundredth
in width. It is polished and shining, and of a blackish purple color. Its antenne
which are rather longér than the head and composed of eight nearly equal joints,
have the third joint of a white color. The abdomeh is concave on its upper side,
and is furnished with a conical tube at its tip which has a few bristles projecting
from its apex. The wings when fulded are linear, silvery-white, and as long as the
abdomen ; they are pressed closely upon the back, spreading asunder at their bases,
and appear like an elongated white Y-shaped mark. Viewed from above, the head
is of a square form, longer than wide. The first segment of the thorax is well sepa-
rated from the second, is broadest at its base, and gradually tapers to its anterior
end, where it is as wide as the head. The following segment is the broadest part of.
the body and square, with its length and breadth equal.

The insects of this tribe, abroad, ‘are found to be great pests
and difficult to exterminate. Dusting the vegetation which they
infest with flower of sulphur and washing it off a few days after-
wards has been found successful in some cases. It is probable
that when young and in their larva state they are more tender
and more easily destroyed than when mature. But until the his-
tory of this species which infests our apples has been more fully
observed we shall scarcely be able to decide upon the most judi-
cious measurés for combatting it.
2. THE PEAR.

AFFECTING THE LIMBS.

A hemispherical chestnut-brown scale, the size of a half pea, upon the under
sides of the limbs the latter part of June.

The Pear Bark-Lousz. Lecanium Pyri, Scuranx.

As the pear is so closely related to the apple, most of the in-
sects which affect one of these trees will be found upon the other
also. We have already noticed this fact in repeated instances
when considering the insects of the apple tree. But in addition
to those species which are common to both, there are others
which are limited to one of these trees and never invade the other,
except perhaps in those extreme cases when they become so mul-
tiplied upon their appropriate tree that it fails to afford sufficient
room and nourishment for all the individuals which are called
into existence.

Of those insects which are peculiar to the pear, the only one
which has as yet fallen under my notice is a species of bark-louse,
which, it is altogether probable, is the same which occurs upon
this tree in Europe, named Coccus Pyri by Schrank (Fauna Boie.
ii. 1, 145), and which pertains to the modern genus Lecanium in
the Family Cocciroz and Order Homoptera. This insect had
never been publicly noticed as an inhabitant upon this side of the
Atlantic, that I am aware, when, upon the first of July, 1854, I
met with it quite common upon pear trees in the cities of Albany
and Troy. I observe, however, that Dr. Harris, in his discourse
before the American Pomological Society in September last (page
8), incidentally mentions the fact that our pear trees “ suffer oc-

-easionally from bark-lice.”

The form under which this insect appears is that of.a hemi-
spherical scale about 0.20 in diameter and of a chestnut brown
106 PEAR. LIMBS—PEAR BARK-LOUSE.

color, adhering to the bark on the under sides of the limbs, par-
ticularly of young trees which are growing thriftily. These
scales are the relics of the dead females covering and protecting
their young. Some are of a darker color than others, and smaller
ones occur which are of a dull yellow hue. These scales are not
freckled with paler spots like many of our species of bark-lice ;
their surtace frequently presents shallow indentations as though
it had been slightly pressed upon in places with the head of a

pin, and the outer margin is wrinkled, as shown in

accompanying figure, and is sometimes marked with
[ faint black bands. If one of these scales is removed

a round white spot the size of the scale remains upon
the bark, appearing as though made with chalk. Upon the un-
derside of one small twig, in a distance of nine inches, thirteen
of these scales occurred and five white spots where other scales
had been rubbed off.

 

At the time when I noticed these scales the young lice under
them were active and so minute that they appeared to the eye
like particles of dust. I conveyed a twig to my residence and
bound it to a thrifty limb of a young apple tree, to ascertain
whether they could subsist upon this tree ; but they all perished,
not one of them leaving the pear twig, that Icould discover. The
following May the chalk-like spots where the seales had been
fixed upon the twig were still distinct, the storms and frosts of
autumn and winter having scarcely dimmed them in the least.

Beneath the scales the young lice are interspersed through a
~ mass of white cotton-like matter. This subsequently increases in
volume and protrudes from under one end of the scale, elevating
it from the bark, as shown in the annexed cut. The
young lice now crawl out from among this matter and
diffuse themselves over the smooth bark, appearing to

iu the eye like minute whitish specks or fine dots. When
magnified they are found to be of an oval form, somewhat flat-
tened, about the hundredth part of an inch in length, and two-
thirds as broad as they are long. They are of a dull white color,
with six legs and two short antenne of a hyaline-white appear-
ance. The antenne are thread-like or of equal diameter through

 
PEAR. LIMBS—PEAR BARK-LOUSE. 107

their whole length, and are about one-fourth the length of the
body. They are composed of several small joints and are clothed
with a few fine longish hairs.

I have not had an opportunity to trace the history of this insect
further, but doubtless, like the other species of this genus, the
young larve in a short time fix themselves to the bark and in-
crease somewhat in size, but retain the same form through the
winter; and early in the spring the males enter their pupa state,
and soon after come out under the form of minute delicate flies
with only two wings; whilst the females, without undergoing any
very obvious change, gradually grow to the size and form of the
hemispherical scales already described.

A parasitic insect, which probaly pertains to Mr. Westwood’s
genus Coccophagus, in the Family Cuatcioinm and Order Hymz-
NopTERA, lives in the bodies of the females, subsisting upon their
young. The worm, which is doubtless similar to that noticed
under scales of the Apple bark-louse, but of a larger size, having
completed its changes makes its escape through a rather large
round hole which it gnaws in the scale. Several scales were ob-
served which were thus perforated, the hole being rough and
jagged at its edges, and the scale being of a paler color at the part
surrounding this perforation.

This insect cannot but prove very detrimental to the pear tree
when the females are present in such numbers as they were in the
instances in which I met with them. No tree can remain thrifty
and vigorous with such a number of tiny beaks inserted every
where in the smooth tender bark as a few of these females upon
each limb will breed. Fortunately they are of such a size that they
can easily be seen upon a careful inspection of the under sides of
the limbs, and can readily be removed. They should be looked
for the latter part of June, as the females will then have attained
their full size; and wherever they are discovered the under side
of the limbs should be rubbed with a brush or a sponge to dis-
lodge every scale which can be perceived. Being at this time
nearly or quite dead, and wholly destitute of legs, they will .be
unable to reascend the tree when brushed off, nor are the young
sufficiently strong to crawl away from their parents.
3. THE PEACH.

AFFECTING THE ROOT.

Cankering and destroying the bark of the root and causing the gum to. exude
profusely ; a white cylindrical fourteen-jointed worm, with six true legs and

ten pro-legs. ;

Tun Peacu-tree Borer. Egeria exitiosa, Say.

With all the care and attention which can be bestowed upon
the Peach tree, it is much more short lived at the present day than
when the country was newer. What medical men would term a
change of “‘diathesis” appears to have taken place; some altera-
tion in the soil or climate has occurred, whereby this valuable
fruit tree cannot be grown soreadily and successfully as formerly.
Hon. John A. King informs me, that when the property which he
now occupies at Jamaica, on Long Island, was purchased by his
father, in the year 1816, there were growing contiguous to the
farm mansion, peach trees which were thrifty and vigorous,
although they were scores of years old and of such size that it
was necessary to climb up among the limbs to gather the fruit.
The fruit, moreover, was of a finer quality and a more delicious
flavor than any which is met with at the present day. Upon the
same ground he can now obtain but one fair crop of fruit ; as soon
as a tree has-yielded this it produces no more, but rapidly dwin-
dles and dies. The Messrs. Parsons, nurserymen at Flushing,
confirm this statement. They say that four bearing years is the
utmost that can be anticipated from this tree, and that to insure
a supply of this fruit annually, it is indispensable that new trees
be set out every year. They say there would seem to be
some peculiar principle or quality in the soil favorable to the
growth of the peach, which has now become exhausted upon
PEACH. ROOT—THE BORER. ITS EXTENT. 109

Long Island and in the adjacent districts, so that this tree does
not now flourish as formerly. And similar to this is the concur-
rent testimony of nurserymen and writers in our agricultural
periodicals. Whilst upon new land at the west and southwest,
without any of the care and attention which we here bestow, this
tree grows with all its pristine vigor and luxuriance.

Two maladies, more particularly seem to attack and destroy
this tree, preventing it from attaining that age and size which it
formerly acquired. These are, the “yellows,” which seems to be
a kind of decline or consumption peculiar to this tree, and the
borer or grub at the root, the insect which we are now to consider.
This last is confessedly the worst enemy which the peach tree has
to encounter in our country. During the past year, 1854, I
noticed it everywhere, from the banks of the Hudson to those of
the Mississippi. At the west, however, it is much less common,
and by no means so destructive as with us. My own residence is
near the northernmost limit where the peach can be cultivated,
the severity of the winters commonly destroying the trees whilst
they are young and tender; and as I here had never captured the
moth which produces these borers, I ‘have hitherto supposed
this was beyond the limit to which this insect reaches. But of a
dozen peach trees in my yard, now about ten years old, I the present
spring find all except one are destroyed, the roots being sur-
rounded and enveloped in a mass of jelly-like gum from one to
three inches in thickness at the surface of the ground, and the
bark entirely eroded and with worms of all sizes burrowing in it.
And throughout this district of country the peach trees are almost
all found to be dead the present spring. It is universally sup- :
posed and confidently affirmed that it has been the winter which
has destroyed them. But in several instances where I have
informed persons of the condition of my own trees, they find, on
coming to examine theirs, that the roots are surrounded in the
same manner with a bed of exuded gum, in which a number of
worms are nestled. It is thus evident that it is the borer and not
the winter that has occasioned this wide-spread calamity, and
that the evil which we have suffered might have been averted by
110 PEACH. ROOT—-THE BORER. TIME OF ITS APPEARANCE.

timely care. It would appear that the excessive drouth of the
past summer and autumn had favored the multiplication of the
moths which produce these borers, bringing them out in such
numbers that the roots of all our peach trees were stocked to
repletion, and the inseets were obliged to resort to other kinds. of
trees to dispose of a surplus portion of their eggs, as we shall
presently see.

)

Many intelligent persons, who are acquainted with this inseet
and the Apple tree borer only in their larva states, cannot fully
persuade themselves that the two are really different insects, so
much do the worms resemble each other in their external appear-
ance and the habit of attacking the trees at the surface of the
ground. But any one who places them side by side will readily
perceive that they differ from each other in several important
particulars. The Peach borer is cylindrical and not broader
anteriorly, like the Apple tree borer; it has three pairs of small
feet, whilst the Apple tree borer has none; it has only a few
scattered coarsish hairs, whilst the Apple tree borer has numerous
fine shorter ones. Such important differences prove that these
worms are really distinct. They differ much more widely when
they come to attain their perfect state. Whilst the Apple tree
borer is transformed, as we have already seen, to a Long-horned
beetle, the worm of the peach tree changes to a four-winged fly,
bearing some resemblance to a large wasp, and pertains to the
Family Acer” of the Order Lepinoprera.

This insect was named £geria exitiosa or the Destructive Egeria
by Mr. Say, and was described by him in a communication giving
an account of its habits by Mr. James Worth, which was pub- -
lished in the Journal of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural
Sciences, (vol. iii. p. 216) in the year 1823. Mr. Worth having
obtained the winged moths in July supposed this month only was
the one in which the perfect insect makes its appearance. But
whoever examines infested roots will find worms upon them of
all sizes, at all times of the year. Even in the winter small
worms occur with others which are full grown, showing that these
last will complete their changes much earlier in the season than
PEACH. ROOT—THE BORER. ITS HABITS. 111

the former. The insect, however, does not commence coming out
in its winged form so early as would be expected from the large
size and matured appearance of many of the worms in the winter
season. The stumps of five of my dead trees were allowed to
remain undisturbed. Around these thirteen chrysalids were
found upon the tenth of July, none of them having hatched the
perfect insects. They were removed to a pot of moist earth, and
the first winged moth came out upon the fourteenth of that month.
The first female appeared upon the twenty-fourth, six males
having hatched upon the preceding days. Twelve more chrysa-
lids were found at this date and were placed in the pot with the
others. Males and females continued to come out in about equal
numbers afterwards, the two last of this stock making their ap-
pearance upon the fifteenth of August. The pupa state there-
fore lasts at least three weeks in the warmest part of the summer,
and it appears to be the latter part of July and in August that the
females come abroad to deposit their eggs in this latitude. Far-
ther south they doubtless begin to appear earlier in the season.

The eggs are smooth, oval, slightly flattened, of a dull yellow
color and 0 025 long. Some of the dark blue scales from the tip
of the abdomen of the parent are often glued to them. They are
deposited’ upon the bark at the surface of the ground, and the
worms hatching from them work downwards, at first in the bark
of the root, forming a slender flexuous channel which becomes
filled with gum. At the distance of an inch or two below the
surface the whole of the bark of the root be-
comes consumed in badly infested trees, and
the soft sap-wood is also extensively gnawed
and eroded, so. that frequently the root is
nearly severed, as shown in the accompany-
ing figure. The larger worms in the winter
season repose with their heads upwards, in
contact with the exterior surface of the root,
commonly in smooth longitudinal grooves
which they have exeavated, their backs being covered over with
their castings mingled with the gum and with cobweb-like threads,

 
112 prscH. ROOT—THE BORER. INFESTS THE PLUM ALSO.

thus forming a kind of cell the cavity of which is considerably
‘Jarger than the body of the worm inhabiting it. The smaller
worms have no such eells, but lie promiscuously in the gum or
between it and the root. Although from their habits they would
seem to have no particular use for it, these worms, like those of
their order generally, spin a silken thread as they craw] about,
which is of sufficient strength to:hold them suspended in the air
when one drops trom a stick on which he is placed.

When ready to enter its pupa state the worm crawls upwards
to the surface of the ground, and there forms for itself a fdllicle
or pod-like ease of a leathery texture, made from its castings, held
together by dry gum and cobweb-like threads. This follicle is of
a brown color and oval in its form, with its ends rounded ; it
is about three-fourths of an inch long and over one-fourth in dia-
meter, but is variable in its size, being sometimes but halfan ineh
long.’ Its inner surface is perfectly smooth and of the color of
tanned leather. It is placed against the side of the root, often
sunk in a groove which the worm appears to have gnawed for
this purpose, with its upper end slightly protruding above the
surface of the ground. But if the earth has been recently stirred
so as to lie loose around the root, the worm will commonly form
its follicle an inch or more below the surface. —

Among the means whereby to grow the peach securely from
the depredations of this worm, Dr. Harris, in his discourse before
the Pomological Society (page 9), suggests that of grafting it upon
plum stalks, saying when it is thus reared he believes it is never
injured by the borer. Unfortunately for-the success of the plan
proposed, the root of the plum is attacked by this same borer,
in which it appears to thrive equally as well as in the peach
root. My friend Mr. J. E. Gavit, of Albany, who is a close
observer, recently assured me of this as an item of information
which he presumed I would be reluctant to credit, not supposing
T had myself already noticed the same fact. Some young plum
trees in my grounds were found to be dead this past spring, and
on rooting them up the peach borer was discovered to be the
PEACH. ROOT—THE BORER. THE WORM DESCRIBED. 113

cause of the mischief, several of the worms being present in the
roots. This, taken in connection with the modification which the
habits of the worm undergo when in this situation,
is a remarkable fact. Although the plum abounds
in gum like the peach, none of this gum exudes
from its root when attacked by this borer. The
worm, therefore, having no covering to protect it,
does not erode the bark and nestle upon the out-
side of the root of the plum as it does in the peach,
but lies under the bark and subsists entirely upon
the soft sap-wood of the root. Commencing slight-
ly below the surface of the ground it works its way
downwards immediately under the bark for a dis-
tance of about four inches, forming a long and some-

 

what irregular cylindrical channel. The annexed
cut shows this burrow as it appears when the bark is removed from
the root. As the worm moves along it packs its castings, which
appear like a tan colored powder, into the channel behind it.

This is an important fact, showing that if no peach trees were
cultivated in our country this species would still sustain itself
without difficulty in the roots of the plum. Indeed, as this insect
isa ‘Native American, wholly unknown in the peach trees of
other countries, it is quite probable that before the peach was in-
troduced upon this side of the Atlantic it bred exclusively in our
indigenous species of plums, and has now almost entirely forsaken
these and attached itself to this. more congenial foreigner.

The tarva is a naked soft white cylindrical grub, slightly flattened on its under
side (of which the left hand figure of the accompanying cut gives a
view), and when full grown measures over half an inch in length
and nearly a quarter of an inch in diameter. It is divided into
fourteen nearly equal segments by broad shallow transverse con-
strictions. Its head is shining yellowish red, maiked in front with
black and at base in the middle with whitish, which last is also the
color of the throat. Two impressed lines on the face converge and
meet each other towards the base «f the head and then diverge.
Inside of and parallel with these are two slender black lines meeting each other in
the form ofa letter V. The jaws are black and strongly notched at their tips, form-
ing two sharp equal teeth. The upper lip is blackish with a pale stripe in the mid-
dle. The palpi or feelers are conical and two-jointed, and inside of their base is the

8

 
114 PEACH. ROOT—THE BORER. PUPA. MALE MOTH.

apex of the lower jaws, a short obtuse projection with minute hairs at its tip. The
antennz are conical and three-jointed, the last joint minute and the second one
armed exteriorly with a short bristle. At their base on'the under side of the head
are three or four dilated punctures. There are a few scattered brown bristles upon
the head and also upon each of the other segments; those on the third, fourth,
twelfth and thirteenth segments are arranged in transverse rows, and on the other
segments they are placed symmetrically and arise from faint smooth wart-like spots.
The second segment is tinged with yellowish above and has a breathing pore upon each
side. The two next segments are somewhat shorter than the following ones and are
destitute of breathing pores. These three segments each bear a pair of conical legs
ending in a black polished claw. The remaiving segments except the two last show
a faint stripe, at least posteriorly, upon the middle of the back, and each has also a
transverse impressed line in the middle and a breathing pore upon each side. The
two last segments, which perhaps should be regarded as one double segment, are
narrower, shorter, and retractile, shutting into each other and into the segment for-
ward of them, like the joints of a telescope. Beneath is a pair of prolegs upon the
seventh and three following segments, which scarcely protrude from the general sur-
face, but are very perceptible from their soles being furnished with two transverse

rows of minute black hooks, about twelve hooks in each row; and the last segment
has a single shorter row of six similar hooks upon each side.

The young worm is quite similar in its details to the mature one; its breathing
pores upon the second and the twelfth segments, however, are much larger and more
obvious than the intervening ones.

The Pupa enclosed within its follicle is at first white, the wing and leg sheaths and
the thorax being slightly tinged with tawny yellow. The breathing pores form a
row of tawny dots along each side of the abdomen, each segment of which has a row
of little sharp-pointed teeth on its anterior and a second shorter row of smaller ones
on its posterior margin, extending half way around, from one row of breathing pores
over the back to the oppcsite row, these teeth being of a pale tawny color and direc-
ted backwards. The three apical rows of these teeth, however, have no intervening
rows of smaller ones. At the tip is a row of eight larger teeth extending entirely
around. It is by means of these teeth that the pupa when ready to disclose the
winged fly crowds itself forward, out of its follicle. All the teeth become longer and
more sharp-pointed as the pupa approaches maturity, and the whole of the surface
now assumes a pale tawny yellow color, with a darker ring at each of the sutures.

The mature insect, like most of the species of butterflies and moths, varies con-
siderably in its size. It measures fiom one-half to three fourths of an inch in length,
and the wings when extended are from 0 80 to 1.80 across. the female being more
variable in its size than the male and furnishing both the smallest and the largest in-
dividuals. The wings of the female also measure more than those of the male when
their bodies are of equal length, the more thick and heavy body of the female plainly
requiring larger wiugs to sustain it in the air.

The maxx is of a deep steel blue color with various sulphur yellow marks and has
a glossy Justre like that of satin. The antem.a are black, less than half as long as
the body, abruptly curved outwards at their tips and densely fringed along their inner
PEACH. ROOT—THE BORER. VARIETIES. FEMALE. 115

sides with numerous fine short hairs, with aslight vacancy between them at each of the
joints. The feelers are yellow on their lower sides; there is a paler yellow spot be-
tween the bases of the antenuze and a deeper yellow transverse stripe at the base of
the head both above and beneath. The thorax has a yellow stripe on each side of its
middle, a transverse one at its base which is slightly interrupted in the middle, anda
short broader one on each side under the wings; its base on the underside is white.
The abdomen commonly has two slender yellow bands above, at the apex of the
second and fourth segments, and a white line on each side of the tuft of hairs at its
tip. The forward hips are yellow on their anterior face, the four others at their tips.
The shanks are yellow at their tips, the hind ones have a yellow ring on their middle
interrupted on the inner side, the other four have a large yellow spot on their ante-
rior sides; their spines are white, their upper sides black at least on the basal half.
The fore feet have a white ring at the apex of each joint and a broad white stripe
upon the inner side; the middle and hind feet havea slender white line on their inner
sides. which is often nearly obliterated, showing only a few white scales at the apex
of each joint. The wings are transparent and glass-like with a slight tinge of smoky
yellow; their veins, margins and fringe is steel-blue. The fore-wings have a steel-
blue band beyond the middle upon their transverse anastamosing veinlet, a slender
yellow line upon their outer or anterior margin both above and below, and a similar
line on the inner edge of their, inner margin, the hind wings also have a similar line
on the inner edge of their outer margin.

The following varietres occur in this sex:

uw. The pale yellow spot between the bases of the antenna wanting.

b. The same spot enlarged and extending backwards to the neck.

c. The abdomen without white stripes upon the sides of the tail.

d. The abdomen without any yellow bands.

¢. The abdomen with but one band, that upon the apex of the, second segment
wanting.

f. Three yellow bands, one on the apex of the fifth segment. Common.

g. Four bands, one on the apex of each segment from the second to the fifth in-
clusive, that upon the third segment often imperfect.

The FEMALE differs from the male so much that it would not be supposed to pertain
to the same species. The abdomen is of a long oval form instead of being slender
and cylindrical, and is twice as broad across the middle as that of the male. This
sex is of a glossy steel blue color with a purplish reflection in places and blackish upon
the face, and upon the middle of the abdomen isa broad band of a bright glossy
orange yellow color occupying the whole of the fourth and fifth segments* except
upon the middle of the underside, where, at least on the fourth segment some orange
scales often occur interspersed with the steel blue ones. The antennz have no fliinge
along their inner sides. The fore wings are opake and of the same steel blue color as
the body, their tips and fringes being of a purplish tint both above and beneath. The
bind wings are transparent broadly margined upon both sides and marked at the base
with steel blue, the glass-like portion being crossed by five robust veins, and com-
monly there are traces of a strawyellow stripe on the outer margin towards the tip.

* Say describes the abdomen as having only the fifth segment of an orange color, but in
every speeimen which I have seen the fourth segment also is of this eolor.
116 PEACH. ROOT—THE BORER. REMEDIES.

The female presents the following vaniuTIEs:

a. A slender transverse black line in the middle of the orange band upon the suture
between the fourth and fifth segments of the abdomen. Common.

b. The o ter edge of the hind wings with a slender straw yellow stripe its whole
length.

c, No vestiges of a straw colored stripe on the outer edge of the hind wings.!

d. The space between the two irner veins of the hind wings nearly or quite covered
with blue-black scales, forming a stripe which divides the transparent disk into two
parts. Quite common.

Various remedies have been proposed for proteeting the peach
trees from this pernicious insect, by the numerous writers who
have treated upon this subject in our agricultural and horticul-
tural publications, such as raising a mound of earth around the
tree and removing it during the winter season; pouring boiling.
water around the root; placing around it a bed of cinders, of
ashes, of lime, &c.; surrounding it with a collar of mortar; en-
veloping the root and base of the trunk in matting or in paper.
There is much testimony showing that several of these measures
are, singly, a sufficient safeguard. Recently an article has been
going the rounds of the papers, stating that tanzy set out around
peach and other fruit trees would protect them against this and
other insects. Attention was said to be directed to this remedy
from the fact of a large peach tree, upwards of forty years old,
being noticed as having a bed of tanzy growing around its trunk,
aud the account states that upon setting out this herb around
several trees it grew thriftily, and it appeared that whilst sound
trees were preserved by it, unsound ones were renovated. AJ-
though some editors have expressed themselves as skeptical with
regard to the efficacy of this measure, I am inclined to think it
merits a trial. That this herb is repulsive to insects generally I
infer from the fact, that on sweeping it for insects only a very few
can be obtained, when a similarly dense growth of other weeds is
eertain of yielding to the colleetor quite a variety. This at least
has been my own experience. One of my cor:espondents, how-
ever, thinks he has captured inseets as abundantly from this as
from other weeds.

e

The hollow cavity extending down the side of tke root of the
’ peach tree, which is formed by the peach borer, does not become
PEACH. ROOT—SOW-BUGS. 117

obliterated after the worm has left it, but remains often for years
afterwards, and forms a favorite abode for those pseudo-insects
which are commonly designated sow-bugs or wood-lice. When
one of these old burrows of the borer is examined, these little
animals will commonly be found huddled together within it, and
covering the sides of the cayity as closely as they can stand. And
on digging around the root of a peach tree at any time several of
them will commonly be found. As no notice of our American
species of these creatures has ever been published, that IT am
aware, some account of them may appropriately be given in this
connectiun.

These animals are popularly known in different countries under
the names of millipedes, wocd-lice, hog-lice, slaters or sclaters,
and sows. In this section “sow bugs” is the popular name in-
variably given to them, whilst the name wocd-lice would here be
understood as designating the wood-tick, Izodes Americanus, aud
its kindred species, and millipede would be regarded as a synonym
of centipede or “ thousaud-legged worm,” a species of Julus or
Scolopendra. The suw-bugs were ranked as insects by the older
naturalists, but by most writers at the present day they are
grouped with the lobster, crab, craw-fish, horse-hoof, &c., in a
distinct class, which is named Crusvacea, in allusion to the hard
shell-like crustaceous covering which firms the exterior coat
in most of the species. They differ from true insects essen-
tially in their breathing apparatus, which is a kind of gills of a
pyramidal form, and made up of thin plates or short threads
placed on the under side of the body, commonly at the base of
the legs. Insects, on the other hand, respire through spiracles or
breathing pores, placed in a row alung each side of the body,
through which, by small pipes, air is aduwitted into two pring pal
tubes which run parallel to each other, and are extended the
whole length of the body. The crustaceans, like insects, have
jointed antenne and legs, and.the body composed of a number of
segments connected by transverse sutures, but they differ from
most insects in being destitute of wings, and in undergoing no
metamorphosis, the young when first hatched having the same
form and parts which belong to it when mature. In this class
118 PEACH. ROOT—SOW-BUGS-

the animals under consideration pertain to the order Isopopa, i. €.
equal-footed, having fourteen pairs of legs of nearly equal size,
and to the family Ontscwwm, which, like other families of this
order has four antenna, but here the inner pair of these antenne
is quite short and little apparent, consisting at most uf only two
joints. The typical genus of this family, named Oniscus by Lin-
neeus, is by modern naturalists restricted to those species in which
the external antenne have eight joints, the three last joints being
much more slender than the others, and the sutures separating
them much less distinct than those between the other joints. I
have never met with any American species having this number of
joints to the antenne. The genera Porcedlio and Armadillo differ
from Oniscus in having the slender terminal portion of the an-
tenne divided into but two juints instead of three, making the
number of joints seven in all.

The genus Armadillo is distinguished from Porcellio, and from
Oniscus also, by being destitute of the two conical projecting
points or short tail-like processes which we observe at the tip of
the abdomen in those genera, and also by having the faculty of
rolling itself into a ball, resembling when thus rolled up a pea or
pill, whence they are popularly named pill-millipedes. We have
one or more species of these inhabiting the southern part of the
State and Long Island, but they do not extend to the neighbor-
hood of my residence, and I have not examined them sufficiently
to determine whether they are different from the European species
of this genus. .

_All the animals of this family which have yet been discovered
in the central and northern sections of our State pertain to the
genus Porcellio, These crustaceans are everywhere common
about the roots of trees, under logs and stones, in the crevices of
the foundation walls of our buildiags and in our cellars, and they
are particularly numerous under any logs or billets of wood
which are Irft in our chip yards. They occur, in short, in all
situations that are damp, cool and dark. Frequently, by night
in wet weather, they craw] about the rooms in our dwellings.
They are perfectly innocent and harmless, subsisting upon decay-
PEACH. ROOT—SPECIES OF PORCELLIO. 119

ing vegetable and animal substances. They afford a dainty bit
to domestic fowls, which devour them with avidity, and are always
scratching our yards in search of these more than any other arti-
cle of diet. This is their chiefimportance in an economical aspect,
and being so abundant they form an item of no small value to the
poultry breeder, though one of which but little notice is taken.
In former times the species of this family were highly reputed for
their supposed medicinal virtues, and old books upon the materia
medica inform us that when dried and pulverized “they have a
faint disagreeable smell, and a somewhat pungent sweetish nause-
.ous taste, and are highly celebrated in suppressions, in all kinds
of obstructions of the bowels, in the jaundice, ague, weakness of
sight, and a variety of other disorders.” And the wine of Milli-
pedes, prepared by crushing these animals, when fresh, and in-
fusing them in “ Rhenish wine,” is spoken of as “an admirable
cleanser of all the viscera, yielding to nothing in the jaundice
and obstructions of the kidneys.” In the light of modern science
we can imvute the cures attributed to these creatures only to the
effect produced upon the imagination of the patient, and the
curative powers of nature, for beyond some slight demulcent qna-
lities, they must be wholly inert, and are now wisely discarded
from the pharmacopzias.

Six American species, pertaining to the genus Porcellio are
known to me, as follows:

The Smoora Porcetyio (P. glaber) has the surface of the body smooth and
slightly shining, of a brownish black color, each segment presenting, except along
the middle of the back, numerous short whitish lines or oblong dots arranged longi-
tudinally and near the outer margin a whitish spot; under side and legs white. or
cream yellow; antennz and projecting apical filaments unicolor with the body.
Length half anioch. This sometimes when captured doubles itself into a ball, simi-
lar to the Armadillos, but is incapable of assuming a form so compact and perfectly
spherical as the crustaceans of that genus. It is less common than our other spécies.
Young individuals are slightly paler, and a variety which I name confluentus, and
which is quite rare, has the oblong dots more or less confluent, forming irregular
white spots. This is at once distinguished from all our other species by having the
surface perfectly smooth-and even, without either elevated points or granules. JT had
long regarded this as identical with the P. levis of Europe, but specimens of that
species, taken in the forest of St. Germain, France, and kindly sent me, with other
species of these crustaceans pertaining to western Europe, by my esteemed friend
and correspondent, Andrew Murray, W.S , Edinburgh, show it to be different. That
120. PEACH. ROOT—SPECIES OF PORCELLIO.

species has a dusky spot below the knees which does not appear in ours. It also haa
a double row of whitish lines, more or less distinct, towards the outer margin, which
in our species is replaced by a single row of whitish spots. Other differences might
be specified, but these’ suffice to show the glaber distinct from its European

analogue.

The Unsrorrep Porcetiio (P. immaculatus) is dull blackish brown or leaden
brown with faint short pale lines and the middle of each segment rough from elevated.
granules; under side and legs white or lurid. Length 0.30 or less. This is readily
discriminated by its uniform brown color unvaried by spots or stripes save the short
longitudinal lines which are so faint as scarcely to be perceived and are frequently
wholly wanting. It is also our smallest species. It probably occurs throughout the
United States, for I met with it in Illinois, and specimens have also been sent me by
Mr. Robertson from west of Arkansas.

The Srrirep Porceuio (P. viltatus) is black or leaden blackish with the head
deeper black and the under side whitish; the segments are rough from elevated gra-
nules with their hind margins smooth; along the middle of the back is a row of white
spots and another more distinct near the outer margin; these spots are often -eonflu-
ent, forming continuous stripes. Length 0.35. The same pale short longitudinal
lines which are common in other species are more or less perceptible in this also.
Young individuals are of a pale or even whitish color but show the usual stripes of a
more clear white. It is one of our most common species. 7

The Morriep Porcettio (P. mixtus) is tawny yellow variously dotted and spotted
with black, and with a row of whitish spots which are often confluent into stripes
along the middle of the back and near the outer margin; outer edge pale, at least on
the angles of the segments; segments rough from elevated black granules, their basal
and apical margins smooth. Length 0.40. The elevated granules form round and
oblong black dots, and often on each side of the back the intervals between them are
white, thus presenting short longitudinal lines of this color, and in a variety (varie.
gatus) these lines are confluent, forming a longitudinal row of white blotches be-
tween tbe dorsal and lateral stripes. Sometimes the stripe onthe middle of the back
is tawny yellow instead of whitish. This appears to be the most rare of any of our
species.

The Paerry Porcetiio (P. limatus). Black or blackish, with a stripe each side
and the outer margin broadly whitish, and two rows of bright yellow spots along the
back; the segments rough with raised granules over their whole surface. Length
0.50. This is our most common species, being thrice as numerous as any other. It
occurs in abundance in our cellars and under stoves and billets of wood in the yards
about dwellings and barns. It is quite variable in its colors. In young individuals
the two rows of spots along the back are pale or whitish. As it increases in size they
all gradually change to yellow, or one or two of these spots take on a bright yellow
color whilst the rest remain whitish, but this yellow color is sucr essively assumed by
the others, and in old individuals the whole become of a vivid ochre yellow. Dots
of this same color sometimes appear also upon the narrow posterior or caudal seg-
ments prolonging the rows to the tip of the body. The following varieties of this
‘species may be distinguished.
PEACH. ROOT—SPECIES OF PORCELLIO. 121

a. dorsalis. The space between the rows of yellow spots of a deeper black color
than other parts of the body, forming a broad black stripe along the middle of the
back. This stripe is much more obviousin the living specimen than after death.

b. multiguttatus. A row of smaller whitish spots along the middle of the back
between the yellow ones. Common.

c. marginatus. The hind margins of the segments pale or whitish.

d. luteralis. The outer fourth part of each segment whitish with a black spot
thereia.

e. limbalis. The spots of var. d confluent forming a black stripe with a brown or
blackish spot on each side of each segment outside of the stripe.

It is difficult, in short, to find two individuals of this species which are alike in
every respect. Still, the species is in all instances readily distinguished by its sculp-
ture, the raised granules occupying the hind marg ns of the segments although they

are less elevated herethan uponthe disk. In all our other species having the surface
granulated, these margins are smooth.

The Rouen Porceuio (P. scaber, Latreille). Blackish lead-colored often varied
with irregular blotches of whitish, the surface rough from numerous elevated points
which are arranged in irregular transverse rows. Length 0.45. This is much more
rough and the elevated pwints more acute than in either of the foregoing species. I
have not met with it in this State. Specimens sent me from Ohio by Dr. Rubert H.
Mack, and from Illinois by R. W. Kennicott, differ in no respect that I am able to
perceive from European individuals of this species.
THE PLUM.

AFFECTING THE LEAVES.

Wrinkling and distorting the leaves; a black, shining plant-louse, with a pal
green abdomen.

Tue Prom Lear-touss, Aphis Prunifolie.

The Aphis which infests the under sides of the leaves of our
native and also our cultivated plums, curling and distorting
them, is one of the most variable species which I have met with
pertaining to this family. Andso much does it disagree with the
accounts which we have of the plum louse of Europe (Aphis
Pruni, Fab.) that Iam constrained, though with some doubt, to
record it as a distinct. species. The descriptions given of the
plum louse are quite discordant. Walker (List of British Mu-
seum, p. 989) describes the viviparous winged female as dark
gray with nectaries hardly projecting above the surface of the
abdomen, whereas, in all the winged individuals of our American
insect which have fallen under my observation, the nectaries are
cylindric, nearly or quite equalling the tip of the abdomen. It
further disagrees with his description, in having the third vein
of the fore wings not much further from the second at tip than at
base, and the fourth vein strongly instead, of slightly curved.
Fabricius (Ent. Syst. iv. 213) describes the European insect as
having a greenish body, antenne and legs, with a darker abdo-
minal stripe and point each side of the base, and the margin
plaited. Unless this description is very faulty our plum louse
must be distinct, it having the thorax and antenne uniformly
black, and no plication on the sides of the abdomen; nor can the
large dusky spot be termed a stripe. Since the foregoing was
written I notice that M. Amyot (Annals Entom. Soe. 2d series, v,
476,) gives the top of the head and the thorax of the plum aphis
as brown and dusted with a white powder. This more strongly
PLUM. LEAVES—PLUM LEAF-LOUSE. 123

indicates the European species to be distinct from ours, which

has a smooth shining thorax not in the least coated with any meal-
like matter.

This aphis is much Jess common than those which pertain to
our other fruit trees. Its generation and habits are so similar to
those of the Apple plant louse that a separate account would be
little more than a repetition of what has already been related.

It only remains, therefore, to give a description of this species in.
its larva and its perfect states.

The Larva when first hatched is of a white color, the body slightly tinged with
green, the feet, tip of the beak and eyes black. As it increases in size three stripes
of a deeper green begin to appear and become more distinct and are finally of
a bright green color. One of these stripes extends along each side of the thorax
and abdomen, and has in it on the thorax a large deep green dot, and upon the abdo-
men two or three less deeply colored dots; the third stripe is on the middle of the
abdomen and is not extended to the thorax. The body has now become of 4 green
ish white color, the legs, nectaries, antennz and beak white without any tint of
green, and somewhat pellucid. The tip of the beak, the ends of the feet and the
eyes are black. It is of an oval form, and measures 0.06 in length by 0.03 in width.

The Wincep Prium.Lerar-tovseE is 0.14 long to the tip of its wings. It is black
and shining, its abdomen pale green with a black dot on each side of the middle of
the two or three anterior segments, a large dusky spot rather behind the middle,
and a short dusky band between this and the base; tip of the abdomen acuminate;
nectaries cylindric, equalling the tip. The legs are pale yellowish, the tips of the
thighs and the feet dusky or black. The antennz are black, their bases pallid. Th
wings are pellucid, their veins slender, blackish, the rib-vein and base of the third
vein pallid; inner margin with a black line extending inwards from the apex of the
first vein. The veinsare analogous to those of 4. Pruniin their relative distances,
except as already noticed; they, however, vary so much that it is seldom an indi-
vidual occurs having them normal in both wings. The third vein is as near the
second at its apex as at its base, oftener than it is more distant.

The following are some of the VARIETIES which may be met with among individu.
als of this species:

u. Abdomen above deep black and shining.

. Abdomen pallid whitish; tips of the thighs and veins of the wings dusky, not
black.

. First fork at tip as far from the tip of the second fork as from the third vein,

. First fork at tip much farther from the tip of the second fork than from the
third vein, the cell between the first fork and third vein narrower at its base.

o

a 9
124 PLUM. LEAVES—-PLUM LEAF-LOUSE.

e. First fork at tip much farther from the tip of the second fork than from the
third vein, the cell as broad towards its base as at its apex.

J. The same cell very narrow, not half the width of those each side of it.
g. Only a single fork in the left wing.

h. Only a single fork in the right wing.

The remedies already stated for the apple aphis, will be
equally efficacious for this and other species of this family.
5. THE CHERRY.

AFFECTING THE LEAVES.

Black wingless lice with a few winged ones, their wings appearing like white
parallel lines each side of the body; covering the under side of the young
leaves.

The Cuerry Piant-Lousr. Aphis Cerasi, Fapricius.

No tree or plant within the sphere of my observation is so con-
stantly infested with Aphides as the garden cherry, the Prunus
Cerasus of Linneus, Cerasus vulgaris of modern botanists. Upon
other vegetation where these vermin become located they are
commonly broken up by their insect enemies after a time and do
not again become established upon the same tree. But upon the
cherry within a week or two after every individual appears to be
destroyed new colonies are discovered to be planted upon one and
another of the young leaves.

This species commences to appear as soon as the leaves begin
to put forth in the spring, these first individuals being hatched
from eggs which were deposited the preceding autumn. All the
individuals which are bred during the spring and summer appear
to be females, some of them with wings upon almost every leaf,
but most of them without wings. The individuals which are
hatched from the eggs resemble the mature wingless females, ex-
cept that they are smaller and lighter colored, none of the species
of this family passing throngh those remarkable changes in their
form which most of the orders of insects undergo. They bring
forth their young alive during the continuance of warm weather.
These huddle around their parents upon the under surface of the
leaves as closely as they can crowd themselves ; indeed they often
are found two deep, a portion of the colony standing upon the
backs of the others, requiring only sufficient space between them
to insert their beaks into the leaves to suck their juices. The

'
126 cHERRY. LEAVES—-CHERRY PLANT-LOUSE. ITS NUMBERS.

numbers which thus make out to stow themselves within a nar-
row compass are almost incredible. Upon the under surface of a
. small Jeaf three-fourths of an inch long and half an inch wide I
have counted upon one side only of the mid-vein one hundred
and ninety of these lice. Yet this leaf was not more densely
covered than many others. The-two surfaces of a small leaf but
an inch long would therefore furnish ample space to accommo-
date a thousand of these insects.

As all the leaves are tender and juicy early in the season the
aphides multiply rapidly, and in about a month after the first in-
dividuals make their appearance, namely, between the 15th and
25th of June, asI find the dates entered several times in my notes
taken in different years, some of the trees become literally over-
run with these vermin, their black bodies covering not only the
under sides of the leaves but also the leaf-stalks, the tender suc-
culent ends of the twigs, and sometimes the green young cherries
and their stems; whilst a swarm of flies, wasps and other insects,
attracted to them to feast upon their honeydew, keep up a con-
stant buz and hum around the infested trees during warm sunny
days. The leaf of the cherry, however, is of such a tough coria-
ceous texture that it does nut become curled and corrugated like
those of most trees when similarly circumstanced. Its edges
merely turn backwards or become slightly rolled. The tips of
the twigs, however, and the young leaves growing from them,
having their juices pumped ont and drained by such a multitude
of tiny beaks, shrivel and die, looking as though they had been
scorched by fire; and the whole tree would soon perish, it is evi-
dent, if this severe infliction was protracted. But when the
aphides become thus numerous their natural enemies and de-
stroyers are attracted to the tree and multiplied in such numbers
as to make the most astonishing havoc among this feeble race of
beings. Although single trees in my grounds have been equally
infested in some former years, I never knew them all to be over-
run with these lice as they were the 25th of June the present
year. It was evident if the evil continued the trees could live
but a short time. But on examination upon that day I found
two or three yellow larve of the Syrphus flies upon almost every
CHERRY. LEAVES—CHERRY PLANT-LOUSE. ITS NUMBERS, 127

Yeaf, whilst the Lady birds or Coccinellide with their larve and
Aphis-lions and other destroyers were equally numerous. All
fears as to the result. were consequently allayed. Still little an-
ticipated such a rapid and utter extermination of these vermin as
actually occurred. A week afterwards upon a careful examina-
tion not a living aphis could be found upon the leaves of any of
the trees, and the conquerors had already dishanded their forces
and had nearly all retired. The empty skins of the slain, adher-
ing to the leaves, with the swollen bodies of others which had
been punctured by parasites—for these too it appeared had
Stepped in to give their progeny a share in the feast—were the
only relies of the teeming myriads which had so recently swarmed
there. It is by looking at the works of Nature in a definite man-
ner and tracing out her operations specifically and in their minute
details that we arrive at some faint conceptions of their magnitude
and grandeur, and become vividly impressed with the truth that
no other agency than that of a Creator infinite in wisdom and
power could have peopled the world which we inhabit with such
countless numbers and such an endless variety of objects animate
and inanimate, each occupying its appropriate sphere, and all so
arranged as to fultil the objects for which they were called into
existence. Has the reader as he has passed a forest ever at-
tempted to conjecture the number of trees which it contained 2—
and has his mind passed onwards to a surmise of the probable
number of Jeaves growing upon each tree, and onwards still to
the number of insects which may be drawing their sustenance
from each one of these leaves, and still further to the number of
minute and infinitesimal parasites which may be subsisting upon
each of these insects?) Among the cherry trees alluded to above,
was a row of’seven young ones which had attained a height of about
ten feet. By counting the number of leaves upon some of the limbs
and the number of limbs upon the tree, I find a small cherry tree
of the size above stated is clothed with about seventeen thousand
leaves. And at the time alluded to these leaves could not have
averaged less than five or six hundred lice npon each, and there
was fully a third more occupying the stems and the tips of the
twigs. Each of these small trees was therefore stocked with at
least twelve millions of these creatures. And yet so vigilant, so
128 cHERRY. LEAVES—CHERRY PLANT-LOUSE. ANTS WITH IT.

sharp-sighted and voracious were their enemies that at the end of
a few days the whole were exterminated.

The aphides being thus swept away from the cherry the latter
part of June, almost every year, the trees enjoy a temporary re-
spite. But the insect soon shows itself again. Most of the foliage,
however, has by this time hecome so mature and hardy that their
weak beaks appear unable to pierce it. They therefore occupy
only the few young and tender leaves at the ends of the twigs
and upon the young shoots which start up from the roots. This
being the only foliage from which they are able to draw their
nourishment they do not again multiply and flourish as at the
beginning of the season. But they continue to dwell upon these
tender leaves through the summer. On the approach of cold
weather males are produced, a stock of eggs is placed about the
bases of the buds and in the fissures of the bark for the continu-
ance of their race another year, and their career for the season
terminates. The Jeaves fall from the cherry earlier in autumn
than from the apple and peach, and whilst the lice which infest
those trees are still abroad in full force those of the cherry have
all disappeared. :

A small black ant is a constant attendant upon the plant-lice
of the cherry tree. It remains with them more constantly and in
much greater numbers than the New-York ant which we have
described upon a preceding page as accompanying the aphides
upon the apple and other trees. Upon one small leaf half a
dozen or more of these ants are often present, a part of them
industriously occupied in vibrating their antenne over the backs
of the aphides so as to rub them gently. They are constantly
engaged in this employment and appear to be much more atten-
tive and faithful nurses than the larger New-York ants. They
pertain to the genus Myrmica of Latreille, differing from the true
ants in being furnished with stings. These insects however are
so small and this implement is so weak that it is wholly incapa-
ble of penetrating the human skin. It may be seen in preserved
as well as living specimens, resembling a short fine hair protrud-
ing from the tip of the abdomen. In addition to this, in place of
the single wedge-like scale on the peduncle at the base of the
CHERRY. LEAVES—LITTLE YELLOW ANT. 129

abdomen which we meet with in the true ants, these have two
round knot-like swellings; and their thorax is also armed with
thorn-like spines, of which there are in most of the species two,
situated at its base and projecting backwards.

Altogether the most abundant and annoying species of ant
which we have in the Staté of New-York pertains to this genus.
It is commonly called the “ Little yellow ant” and was named
the Troublesome ant (Myrmica molesta) by Mr. Say in a communi-
cation published in the first volume of the Boston Journal of
Natural History, page 293, and by a strange oversight the same
Species is again described upon the succeeding page under the
name JV. minuta. The neuter or worker of this species is of a
honey yellow color with the head and abdomen tinged with brown,
the abdomen being broad oval and almost globular. It is but six
hundredths of an inch in length, and being so small it i, able to
penetrate the slightest cracks in boxes or cupboards. It is com-
mon in our dwellings, and when an individual finds apy saccha-
rine substance the information is communicated to the rest of the
colony, and be!‘ore the housewife is aware uf the depredation that
is going on, the dish of sweetmeats or other preserved substance
becomes covered with them, whilst a processiun of individuals
going and returning in a particular track may be traced along the
shelves and wainscvuts, frequently extending through different
rooms of the house. I have experienced some difficulty in pre-
serving my collection of insects from this depredator, some box
or drawer not perfectly tight being invaded by them ere I am
aware of it, almost every season. But by crushing every indivi-
dual which does not escape into some crevice, and permitting their
bodies to remain where they are slain, their comrades take warn-
ing and cease to frequent the spot. The vapor of camphor also
repels them. Small colonies of this same species are also com-
mon in our gardens, throwing up in the paths and beds little
hillocks of dirt around the hole which leads to their underground
dwelling. It is also common in our pastures and plowed fields,
and sometimes does much injury in cornfields, gnawing the blaces
of corn when they are but a few inches high, for the purpose of
drinking the sweet juice which flows from the wounds. It was

9
130 | CHERRY. LEAVES—CHERRY ANT.

on this account much complained of in this vicinity in the spring
of 1850, being so numerousand active in some fields as to threaten
to cut off every blade of corn in them.

The species which accompanies the plant-lice of the cherry
tree does not appear to have been described hitherto, I therefore
name it .

The Cuerry ant (Myrmica Cerasi). The neutersare 0.14 long, of a dark brown
eolor and slightly translucent, resembling resin; their abdomen is deep black and
highly polished, egg-shaped and acutely pointed at.its apex, its basal segment covered
with minute punctures of an oval form placed longitudinally, and the remaining seg-
ments are similarly punctured upon their apical margins; the head, thorax, and
anterior sides of the legs are also covered with similar punctures, but more fine; the
jaws are reddish-brown and have four teeth of equal size along their inner edge; the
antenne are black, their tips brown and clothed with very fine short hairs, the long
basal joint punctured; the legs are black, their bases and the tips of the shanks pale
brown, and the last joints of the feet brown; a few gray hairs are scattered over the
head and body.

The abdomen of this ant presents a curious appearance. It is
flattened upon its upper side and very convex on its under side,
thus looking as though it was attached to the thorax in aninverted
position. This, however, adapts it to the direction in which it is
frequently used—this ant being accustomed to throw its abdomen
upward over its head and back, thus presenting its sting to any-
thing which molests it in front. The venom of its sting has a
peculiar pungent smell which remains upon the fingers when they
erush one of these insects. This venom is ejected copiously and
may frequently be seen forming a small clear drop at the end of
the sting. And being thus armed these small ants are able to
defend themselves against other insects far superior to them in
size. It is wonderful to witness this ant conquer the large New-
York ant and rob him of his flock of aphides. This may be wit-
nessed by placing two or three of the cherry ants in a vial and—
introducing into ita leaf of poplar or apple-lice with one of the
New-York ants attending them. No sooner does one of these
small ants approach, than, jealous of the intrusion, he seizes it by
its thorax in his powerful jaws, but is instantly informed of the
fact that it carries a sting in its tail and knows how to use it. He
is as prompt to drop his intended victim as he had been to seize
CHERRY. LEAVES—CHERRY LEAF PLANT-LOUSE. 131

it, and returns to guarding his flock of aphides, till another of
the small ants approaches, which is similarly seized, but with the
same result as before. After two or three such encounters he
seems to suspect that some mischance has thrown him out of his
proper latitude, and he walks around to take a survey of the
parts adjacent. He no sooner leaves the flock of lice than one of
the sma} ants hastens to them and rapidly passes its sting around
among them, hereby marking them as its own property. From
that moment the large ant ceases to notice them, and the small
ones gather around and commence rubbing and nursing them as
attentively as though they were old acquaintances. It is evidently
the pungent fluid of their stings which they throw around among
the aphides which render them repulsive to the large ant; and
when he first seized one of these small ants it was the suffocating
fumes of this fluid which induced him to drop his victim so
hastily, for their sting is not powerful enough to penetrate the
hard horny outer surface of his body.

It is somewhat remarkable that, so closely related to each other
as the different kinds of cherry trees are, the aphides which in-
fest one of these kinds of trees do not’establish themselves upon,
the others also. Yet we never see the black aphis of the garden
cherry invading any of our native or wild cherry trees, and thrse
appear each to have a species of plant-lice peculiar to them which
seldom if ever fix themselves upon the foliage of the other kinds.
Thus a species which I described in the Fourth Report of the
State Cabinet, page 65, under the name of the cherry-inhabiting

aphis (4. Cerasicolens), pertains to our common black cherry.
Another species may here be noticed which infests the under sides
of the tender apical leaves of the choke cherry, curling their
margins downwards and inwards, and changing them to a paler.
yellowish green color. It may be named and characterised as

follows:

The Currey Lear Puant-Louse (Aphis Cerasifolie), measures 0.08 to the tip of
its abdomen, and 0.15 to the end of its wings, which expand 0.26. Itis black witha
pale green abdomen, which has three dark green dots on each side forward of the necta-
ries, and above these a row of impressed deep green dots extending backwards past
the nectaries with a deep green stripe upon the middle of the back which does not
reach to the tip; the sutures are also of a deeper green color; the nectaries reach
132 CHERRY. LEAVES—CHERRY PLANT-LOUSE.

half way to the tip and are dusky at least at their ends; the neck and Jower side of
the head are green; the antenng are two thirds of the length of the body, dusky,
and in young individuals green at their bases; the beak is short, pale green, its apex
blackish; the legs are dull white, the feet ard four hind thighs exccpt at their base,
blackish ; the wings are pellucid, the stigma salt white margined with dusky, more
widely so on its inner side, the veins black, the rib-vein white, the second fuik very
short.

The wingless females are 0.08 long, egg-shaped, pale yellowish green, their abdo-
mens cvated with a white meal-like powder except at the sutures and on the medial
Tine, which last is deeper green, and the legs and antenna dull white.

The larve when young are pea green with white antenna, nectarics and 'egs.
When older a deeper green stripe appears along the middle of the back and a row of
' deeper green spots each side which are more or less cunfluent into stripes.

The aphis upon our garden cherry is the species which is named
Aphis Cerasi by Fabricius. It undoubtedly has been introduced
upon this side of the Atlantic with the tree which it infests. M.
Fonseolomb (Annals Ent. Soc. x. 173), speaking of this species
in the southern part of France, says it occurs the last of July,
and that he has never met with any winged individuals. This

would indicate the species to be much more rare than it is with °

us. Here from the middle of May till the Jast of September it is
the most common of any species of this family. For years when
I have wished to investigate any fact in connectian with the
aphides I have turned to this species, always finding it at hand,
and always with two or three winged individuals upon every leaf,
in company with larve, pup and wiugless females.

The Larva when newly born are about 0.03 long, of a dull white or pale yellow
color, with transparent aid cclorless legs and anteunze They are of an oblong oval
form, with the opposite sides of their bodies parallel and their nectaries shorter than
to the tip and transparent or slightly dusky. As they become larger they are broader
across the abdomen and deeper yellow, the tips of the antennz and the feet dusky
and the nectaries black. After casting their skins they are dull reddish brown or
chestnut colored with black heads, and are much broader across the abdomen, being
now shaped like an egg and measuring 0.05 in length. Their legs, antenus and nec-
taries are whitish trar sparent, the last equalling the tip. Others of this same size
and form have the thighs, feet, nectaries and tips of the antennx dusky.

The wingless females are 0.05 long, with very plump broad egg-shaped bodies,
which are black and shining, witha slightly prejecting tail, the nectaries equalling or
even surpassing its tip and of a black colur, the antennae ‘horter than the body
and whitish, their two short basal joints and the apical half black; the beak whitish
with a black tip; the legs white with the feet, tips of the shanks, and commonly the
CHERRY. LEAVES—CHERRY PLANT LOUSE. 133

thighs at least of the hind legs, except at their bases, black. The abdomen has an

elevated lateral margin, upon the upper side of which isa row of large impressed
punctures. :

The Purz are 0 06 in length, and like the wingless females in the details of their
colors and like the larvee in their furm, but are kuown by haviog the rudiments of
wings which appear like vesicular scales of # white or pale green color on each side of
the body rather forward of its middle, and as it approaches maturity the thorax
between the fore part of these scales becomes swelled, presenting a blister: d-like
appearance ofa dull reddish yellow color, which sometimes is the color of the body
also; its nectaries equal the tip, which has no projecting tai!-like appendage. If M.
Fonscolomb had confined the pupee which he describes, they would probably have
furnished him with winged specimens within twenty-four hours. When the perfect
insect crawls out of its pupa skin the head and thorax are dark reddish brown, and
the wings are milk white and still folded in the form cf small scales, as they are in
the pupa; but in a few moments they start out longer and longer, gradually extend-
ing and unfolding until they attain their full size, but still retaining their white hue,
They soon, however, become transparent, but like all the other aphides when newly
hatched, the wings remain dim fur several hours, their surface appearing as though
it was sprinkled over with dew. The antennz and legs are also white when it first.
comes from its pupa state.

The WINGED FEMALES measure 0.05 to the tip of the abdomen, and 012 to the
ends of the wings, which when spread are 0.20 across; they are deep black and
shining, the abdumen nearly twice as broad as the thorax, and egg-shaped, with an
acute apex from which prejects a short conical tail-like appendage, the nectarieg
reaching to its base; antenne black and about three fourths as long as the body; the
peak short, arising between the two fore legs and scarcely reaching the bases of the
middle pair, its color black or dusky with the tip black; the legs black with the
shanks except at their tips, and the basal half of the thighs white. The wings are
transparent, their bases, outer margin and rib-vein whire, the remaining veins black-
ish with their bases pale; the stigma opake and dull white with its margins black,
that on the inner side being wider; the second vein is about a third farther from the
first at its tip than at its base; the third is slightly farther from the second at its tip
than at its base, and rather farther from the second at its base than this is from the
first; the tip of the firs®fork is but little nearer the tip of the second fork than to
that of the third vein, much nearer the tip of the third vein than that is to the
second; second fork nearer at tip to the fourth vein than to the first fork, much
nearer the fourth vein than this is to the tip of the rib-vein.

Varieties have been observed in which the tip of the third vein is eqnidistant be-
tween the first fork and second vein, in which the left wing has but one fork, and in
which the right wing has three furks.

The remedies already spoken of in connection with the Apple
plant-louse are equally applicable to this species, and the same
destroyers which were there described, namely the Aphis-lions,
the Lady-birds or Coccinedlide and their larvae, and those of the
,oa

134 CHERRY. LEAVES—ICHNCUMON-FLIES. APHIDIUS.

Syrphus flies are equally efficient in destroying this and all the
other species of plant-lice. In connection with our account of
those destroyers, all of which attack the aphides externally, it
was stated that there were others which live in the bodies of
these insects and thus destroy them. And we come now to pre-
sent to the reader some information respecting our American
species of these insects. whose habits are so remarkable.

It was anciently supposed that an Egyptian quadruped which
is named the Ichneumon had the habit of darting down the throat
of the crocodile when it was sleeping, and there remaining, feed-
ing upon the entrails of this reptile until it perished. This, how-
ever, has long been known to be fabulous. But among insects ©
there is an extensive group, resembling wasps and bees, which
possess this very habit which was formerly ascribed to the Ichneu-
mon. They in their larva state reside within the bodies of their
victims, feeding upon them until they destroy them. They have
from this circumstance obtained the name of [chneumon-flies, and
they form the Family Icansumonip# in the Order Hymenoprera.
One branch of this family is composed of species which feed inter-
nally upon plant lice. It consists of the genus named Aphidius
and other genera, of the group which is named Aphidiides. These
are all exceedingly small insects little exceeding the twentieth of
an inch in length, and mostly with black bodies variously adorned
with bright tawny yellow and pale sulphur yellow bands and
other marks. One of these small ichneumon-flies, resembling a
winged ant in appearance, may occasionally be discovered busily
‘at work among a colony of aphides. With her long thread-like
antenne stretched out in front of her and rapidly vibrating, she
approaches an aphis and touches it gently, much like an ant when
nursing these creatures. By this slight touch she at once ascer-
tains whether the aphis has been previously visited. If it has
not she curves the tip of her abdomen forwards under her, punctu-
ring the body of the aphis and inserting an egg therein. She
then passes to another and another. From this ege hatches a
minute worm which resides within the a;-his, subsisting upon the
juices which the latter extracts from the plant. Thus it grows
with the growth of the aphis, which furnishes the exact amount
CHERRY. LEAVES—-APHIDIUS. ITS HABITS. 135

of sustenance which the worm requires for bringing it to maturity.
It is singular that the parent ichneumon-fly knows if two eggs
were deposited in the aphis the worms from them would die for
want of a due supply of food, and that by a mere touch with her
horns she is able to ascertain which individuals have already beent
impregnated. Some of the species of Aphidius are larger thaw
others and their offspring consequently require a larger quantity
of food; but each parent has the instinct to select an aphis of
such size as will yield the precise amount of sustenance which its
young: requires.

By the time the worm has attained its growth the aphis becomes
‘so exhausted that it dies. If it should now drop from the leaf to
the ground it would be liable to be found and devoured by centi-
pedes or other insects which feed upon the carcases of animals of
this class, and thus the worm within it would be destroy:.d. Na-
ture has therefore so constituted the aphis that in these circum-
stances it dies without a struggle or a spasm, with its beak inserted
and its claws clinging to the surface of the leaf, standing with its
antennz turned backwards and its whole aspect so life-like that
in the infancy of my studies I supposed these were one of the
varieties natural to the species with which they occurred. Their
bodies are remarkably plump and smooth, commonly clay colored
or the hue of brown paper, and the aphis-lions and other insects
which destroy the aphides appear to pass by those which have
these parasites within them. Hence where a leaf or twig has
recently been cleared of plant-lice by their enemies, several of
these ichneumonized individuals may frequently be found remain-
ing upon it, dead and unmolested. In other instances the whole
colony of aphides appears to be exterminated by these parasites
alone, the dead swollen bodies of their victims covering the sur-
face of the leaves or twigs as closely as they can stand. The
worm remains within the body of the dead aphis during its pupa
state. It then cuts a circular hole through the dry hard skin and:
comes out in its winged and perfect furm.

These parasitic inseets which feed internally upon the aphides
are as efficient in destroying them as the aphis lions or any other
class of their enemies. And itis truly wonderful that whilst
136 CHERRY. LEAVES—APHIDIUS SPECIES.

,

every kind of tree and plant appears to have one or more species
of aphis infesting and blighting it, each species of aphis seems to
have a particular parasite preying upon and devouring it; for
each kind of aphis from which I have reared these insects has
furnished a species differing from all the others, and in some in-
stances two species have been obtained from one kind of aphis.
The British entomologists enumerate upwards of fifty species of
these insects, which is nearly equa! to the number of their aphides.
They differ from all the other insects of the family to which they
pertain, by having. commonly a very large triangular stigma to
the fore wings, aud very few veins, and these commonly end
abruptly without reaching the apical or inner margins. Hence
there are but few if any closed cells or’ panes tv the wings. One
of our species having the wings more fully veined and forming
complete cells may be met with accompanying what appears to be
an undescribed species of aphis which infests the stalksof lettuce
in our gardens. This in my manuscripts is named

The Lerruce-Louse Aputpius (4. Lactucaphis). Itis deep black with legs tinged
with brownish, their bases and knees very slightly paler; the abdomen long obovate,
flattened, rather narrower than the thorax, its apex rounded; antenne almost as
long as the body, 19-jointed, second joint smallest, globular, third joint longest with
a slight constriction in its middle, the succeeding jcints successively shorter, the last
scarcely longer than the preceding one, long ovate; wings slightly smoky, euter
marginal vein and the vein bordering the cell beyond the stigma black, the outer
veins brown, stigma dusky white. Length 0.06 to the tip of the abdomen.

One of the prettiest species which I have met with was bred
from aphides upon the spotted knot-weed (Polygonum persicaria),
and may be named

The Knor-werp Apuiptus (Praon Polygonaphis). It is black and shining with
a slender elliptical abdomen of a bright sulphur-yellow color tinged with dusky above
and at its tip beneath, with broad clear yellow bands at the anterior sutures, its base
being narrowed into @ short cylindrical pedicel, which with the legs aud bases of the
antenne are of a bright reddish or beeswax yellow color, the tips of the feet being
black; its antennz are inserted on slight broad elevations upon the front of the head
and are 17-jointed, the two short basal joiuts being a third thicker than the following
ones, which are equal, cylindric, four times as long as they are thick, the last rather

longer than the preceding, its apex abruptly rounded. Length 0.08, wings ex-
paud 0.15,

Another species is a common destroyer of a species of aphis
which infests the fruit stems of the high cranberry, (Viburnum
CHERRY. LEAVES—APHIDIUS SPECIES. 137

Opulus, var. Americanum). These stems are often covered with
lice, and the aphidius discovering them passes from one indivi-
dual to another, dropping an egg into the body of each. The
whole colony is thus destroyed by this parasite alone, the dead
swovlen bodies of its victims remaining npon the stems crowded
together as closely as they can stow themselves. I name this
species

The Cranzerry ApHipius (Praon Viburnaphis). It is black and shining, with
the short abdominal pedicel and the anterior legs wax yellow, their feet blackish at
the tip, the hiud knees yellowish; autenna 15-jointed, the basal joiut wider than
long, the second nearly globular and slightly thicker than the fullowirg ones, the last
not latger than the one preceding it; wings hyaliue, veins outer margin and stigma
black and shiuing. Length 0.075, wings expand 0.15.

Tn the following species the veins are fewer in the fore wings
and do not form any closed cells in the disk; there is merely a
short robust curved vein from the inner angle of the stigma di-
rected towards the apex and ending abruptly, and a vein running
obliquely from the mid-vein tu the ourer margin forward cf the
stigma. These pertain tu the genus Tricrys.

The latter part of June the present year the willows in this
vicinity were overrun, and many trees were almost defoliated by
an undescribed species of aphbis. But in a short time these in-
sects were all destroyed by their enemies, and the under surface
of the leaves were thickly covered with the swoolen gray bodies
of those which had been killed by parasites. These yielded the
fullowing species:

The Wittow Apnipius (Triorys Salicaphis). This is black and shining, with a
long elliptical abdomen, of a honey -yellow color at its base gradually passing to black
on its pos erior part; Icgs honey yellow, tips of the feet and of the shanks and some-
times the outer sides of the thighs dusky; f.elers honey yellow; antenna black,
two-thirds as long as the body, 18 joiuted, the third and following joints nearly
equal, cylindrical, thrice as long as wide; stigma dusky. Length with the abdomen
in its usual arched posture 0 06.

The Portar Apnipius (Triorys Populuphis) is black and polished, the abdomen
long chiptical and much narrower than the thorax, the basa] sutures sulphur yellow;
Jegs sulphur yellow, the bind thighs black; antenna nearly as Jong as the body,
15-joiuted, third and following joints about equal, cylindrical, the last joint rather
longet and thicker, oval with its apex rounded ; stigma dusky, veins aud outer mar-
138 CHERRY. LEAVES—CHERRY APHIDIUS.

gin of fore wings blackish. Length about 0.07. Hatched from an undescribed aphis
infesting the base of the leaves of the Balm of Gilead (Populus candicans).

But without dwelling longer upon this interesting group of in-
sects which render us such important services, we close with a
notice of a species which destroys the aphis of the garden cherry,
and which differs from all the foregoing in its residence when in
the pupa state. As if fearful that the beak and feet of the dead
aphis would not hold its swoolen body securely to the smooth
surface of the cherry leaf, the worm of this species when ready to
enter its pupa state'pertorates the abdomen of the aphis upon its
under side, probably as soon as its life is extinct, and spins a
cocoon for itself between the leaf and the body of the aphis, the
leaf furming the fluor of the room for its residence, the abdomen
of the aphis forming its roof, and a gray paper-like membrane
which it weaves constituting the sides and attaching the body of
the aphis securely to the leaf. The walls of its domicil are so
thin that the inclosed pupa can sometimes be seen faintly through
them, of a bright yellow color.

The Cuerry Aputpivus (Trioxys Cerasaphis) is black with its palpi or feelers and
legs pale yellowish brown; antenoz almost as long as the body, 18-jointed, the third
and following joints eyual, cylindric, thrice as long as broad, the last elongated
ovate; abdomen elliptic, rather narrower and shorter than the thorax, scarcely pedi-
celled at its base, shining, tinged with brownish; wings pellucid, stigma smoky white.
Length 0.07.
6. THE GRAPE-VINE.

AFFECTING THE LEAVES.

A pale green cylindrical worm, nearly half an inch long, with rows of white ele-
vated dots sending out radiating white hairs. Consuming the young leaves,
and hiding itself in a hollow ball made of leaves drawn together by cobweb-
like threads.

The GaRTERED or GRAPE-VINE PLUME. Pterophorus periscelidactylus.

Both in Europe and in this country the leaves of the Grape-
vine constitute the favorite fuod of a number of larve as well as
of several insects in their perfect state. Dr. Harris has given the
history of seven American larve, mostly of the larger moths,
which feed upon these leaves; and every season, species which
have not yet been described are presenting themselves to notice.
One of these equally interesting and quite as injurious as either of
the species whose history has already been published, I here pre-
sent to the reader’s view.

‘On a visit to Union Village upon the 16th of June, John T.
Masters, Esq., pointed out to me several curious instances of the
depredations of insects, in trees along the village streets, and in
the vegetation of his garden and yards. One of these insects was
then in the midst of its career, consuming the young and tender
leaves of his grape vines, which are mostly of the Isabella variety,
and forming a retreat fur itself by drawing the edges of one, two,
or three leaves together, by means of fine silken threads like cob-
web, thus making a large roomy cavity, commonly of a globular
form, within which the worm appeared to lie in repose during
the day time. If the edges of the leaves at any place did. not
exactly come together, the gap between them was closed by a
patch made of silken threads woven together into a membrane

resembling bank note paper.
,
\

140 GRAPE-VINE. LEAVES—GARTERED PLUME. LARVA.

The larva when full grown measures about half an inch in length. It is al-
most cylindrical, sixteen-footed, of a very pale green color, divided into fourteen
segments by rather deep wide transverse constrictions. It has two rows of elevated
white spots along the back and one along each side, each segment having one spot
in each row, or four spots in all, and between the spots is a smaller white clevated
dot, and another similar dot below the lower spots. From each of these elevated
spots and dots white bristles of different lengths stand out in all directions.

Two of these worms which I inclosed in a breeding cage had
changed to pup on the 25th of June, one suspending itself from
the gauze top of the cage, and hanging obliquely downwards, the
other attaching itself tu the glass side of the cage, having first
spun several short threads here and there upon the surface of the
glass as if to ascertain whether they wonld adhere to it, and then
making a small patch of numerous threads, into which to insert
the minute hooks at its tail, whereby to suspend itself. The
relics of its larva skin, forming a little lump of fine hairs, remained
adhering to the glass, downwards and to one side of the spot
where the pupa was attached, being as far off as the length of the
insect enabled it to reach. After releasing itself from this skin
the pupa kad turned to the opposite side, and thus remained
hanging stiffly downwards and outwards from the surface of the
glass, resembling the dead fragment of a little scraggy twig. It
is of a slender conical f.rm, obliquely truncated at tle head, and
has two long compressed horns placed side by side and jutting
upwards from the middle of its back. Numerous smaller pro-
jecting points and ridges diversify its:surface, a particular de-
scription of which would occupy a page or two. I therefore limit
myself to a recital merely of some of its most promineut marks.

The chrysalis is about 0.35 long and 098 in diameter. About the month and
head are divers raised lines and projecting angular points. The obliquely truncated
face is convex or gibbousin the middle, and here commence two elevated carinse or
sharp edged ridges which extend backwards nearly parallel with each other to the
middle of the back, where they shoot upwards into the compressed horns aleady
spoken of. Their length is eqnal to half the diameter of ihe body Viewed laterally
their outline is egg-shaped, with the edg:s irregularly toothed aud the apex drawn
out into a long sharp thorn-like point. Forward of these horns the raiscd lines are
more elevated in the middle of each segment, where they present two small tooth-
like spines, the anferior one larger, and also two short divergi: g white bristles which
are club shaped or enlarged towards their tips. And on the five abdominal segments

next back of the horns and in a live with them isa row of spines, one ou each side

of each segment near its middle, which spines are inclined forward, and each has a
GRAPE VINE. LEAVES—GARTERED PLUME. CUuRYSALIS. 141

slight tooth upon its posterior face, and two short diverging club-shaped white
bristles. Lower down upon the sides isa row of slight oblong elevations, one on
each segment, below which the breathing pores form a row of minute round points,
and below these an obtuse angular edge divides the lateral from the under side. On
the under side are four longitudinal rows of short white club-shaped bristles, inclined
backwards, two bristles at each point. Between the two inner rows of these bristles
are two 10ws of smal', elevated, wart-like pimples, which are the scars left by the
pro-legs of the larva. The legs, antenns: and wings are enclosed ayparen'ly in a
common sheath, the forked veins of these last forming faint elevated lines up: n the
smooth outer part of the sheath. The crysalis varies in color. One of the specimens
was bright pale green with a deeper green stripe alorg the middle of the back, and
the long horns and a spot on the crown of the head dull brownish yellow. The other
was pale brownish yellow throughout, with a black stripe along its middle.

These insects remained at rest in their pupa state only six and
eight days when they hatched moths, pertaining to the genus
Pterophorus in the family Auucitipa@ and the order Lerwortera.
The moths of this family are distinguished from all others by
having their wings singularly cleft into two, three or. more long
narrow lubes, whence they were termed Fissipennes or Split-
winged moths by Latreille. The lobes are densely ciliated with
fine hairs, which, along their inner margins are very lung. They
thus resemble the feathers of a bird, and have hence in English
received the name of Plumes. Their legs are long and slender,
and are furnished with long robust spines, of which there is a
single one at the tip of the forward shauks, and a pair at the
tip of the middle shanks, whilst the hind ones have a pair at their
tips and another near the middle.

The names of all the species belonging to this family are com-
pounds ending with the word dactylus, meaning a finger; Lin-
neeus at first, when but’a half dozen species were known to him
(Systema Nature, 10th edition, 1758), having supposed they
could ‘all be distinguished merely by the number of the
branches of their wings, he hence numbered them two-fingered,
five-fingered, &c.; and at a later period, when two or more
species were discovered which were alike in the number of

_their lobes, he named these wing-fingered, square fingered, &c.
The species of which we are speaking, at each pair of spines, has
tufts of scales of a tawny yellow color surrounding its hind legs
142 GRAPE-VINE. LEAVES—GARTERED PLUME. ‘MOTH.

like a garter, and as its wings are also banded, the name pertscelt-
dactylus or Gartered Plume, may appropriately be given to it.

Like other species of this family, this moth is very agile, rapid,
and impetuous in its motions, when disturbed, bounding from
side to side of the cage in which it is confined, almost with the
velocity of lightning, for a moment, and then resting, clinging
with its four anterior feet to the top of the cage, its wings spread
and its body hanging perpendicularly downwards and swinging
to and fro with the wind, with its long hind legs extended as if to
protect the sides of the abdomen, and the feet nearly in contact
below its tip. It is of a tawny yellow color, the fore wings with
three white spots and beyond these two white bands, the fringe
white with a blackish spot on the middle and another on the apex
of the inner margin.

This moth measures 0.35 to the tip of its abdomen, and its wings expand 0.85. Its
antenuze are 0.20 long, black, with a row of small white spots on each side running
their whole length. The palpi, which curve upwards in front of the head to a level
with its crown, resembling two little horns, are tawny brown or rust-colored in front,
their bases whitish. The thorax is tawny yellow, white at its base. The three first
segments of the abdomen have a white spot at their bases and the third has two
diverging white stripes which reach its apex. The fourth segment is without spots
and of a darker color, its apex blackish. The remaining segments have two parallel
white stripes which are faint or obsolete on the base of each segment. Beneath, the
abdomen is snowy white with two tawny yellow stripes, or tawny yellow with three
rows of large white spots confluent into stripes at the base. Legs white; haunches
with a tawny yellow stripe on their outer side; four anterior legs with black stripes ;
middle shanks with a projecting spine-like tuft of tawny yellow scales above t. eir
middle, and encircled at tip by a darker colored tuft; hind shanks with a similar tuft
at each pair of spines ; spines black beneath and at base, those of the hind shanks
black at their tips also. Feet white, apical joints of the four anterior ones, and a
band on the apex of each of the other joints tawny yellow. Fore wings bifid, the
cleft reaching almost to their middle, tawny-yellow, with two oblique white bands
crossing both their furks, the space between these bands often tusty brown; a trans+
verse white spot at the commencement of the cleft, edged on its inner side with rusty
brown; two white spots inside of this, the first towards the outer the second upon
the inner margin. Fringe white with a blackish spot on the middle and a larger one
at the apex of the inner-margin. The inner lobe of the wing between the black spot
and its tip notched in the form of a semicircle, with a blackish line upon the base of
the fringe in this notch, Hind wings trifid, the anterior cleft reaching their middle,
the posterior one extending to the base; Tusty brown, tawny yellow at base ; hind
lobe slender, white and fringed with white with a broad blackish band near its tip.

\
GRAPE-VINE. LEAVES—-GARTERED PLUME. REMEDIES. 143

As this insect completes its transformations so early in the sea-
son, it is quite probable there are two generations of it annually,
the moths which come out the first of July laying their eggs for
another brood of worms at a later period, when the foliage upon
the vines will be so dense that they will be much, less liable to be
noticed. Whether this second generation completes its trans-
formations and the winged moth appears in autumn, and deposits
its eggs to be hatched the following spring, or whether it only
reaches its pupa state, and thus remains through the winter,
future observations must determine. The former, however, ap-
pears most probable.

When these worms are neglected and are permitted to feast
unharmed upon the foliage of the grape vine, unless they are kept
in check by their natural enemies, they will be liable to appear
in increased numbers, with each succeeding generation. To pre-
vent them from becuming so multiplied as to injure the vines,
they should be carefully sought for in the fore part and middle
of the month of June. Wherever one or two leaves are found
drawn together by cob-web like threads, forming a lurking place
for one of these worms, they should be picked off, gently, that the
worm may not be alarmed and escape from his retreat, and thrown
into the fire, or crushed beneath the foot. The pupa probably
attaches itself to the trellis work of the arbor, most commonly,
during the few days that this stage ofits life continues, and if
any of these happen to be seen, they also should be crushed, or
cut asunder with a knife.

This, I believe, is the first American species of this family of
moths that has ever been described. In connection with it, there-
fore, a few other species pertaining to the same genus may be
briefly noticed. The genus Pterophorus embraces those species of
Axvucitip= which have the fore wings divided into, two and the
hind wings into three lobes. The two first of the following spe-
cies have several points of resemblance to the Gartered Plume,
but are much darker colored, and are otherwise clearly distinct
from it, :

The Loze-wincep Prume (Pterophorus lobidactylus) is of a blackish color. Its
fore wings are ash grey towards their bases, freckled with tawny brown atoms; to-
144 GRAPE-VINE. LEAVES—SPECIES OF PLUME-MOTHS.

wards their tips brownish black. An oblique tawny yellow band ending in white on
the outer margin extends across the outer lube near its base, and on the apex of the
outer margin is a white stripe. The fringe along their inner margin is blackish, with
a few white hairs forming a small spot at its apex, another white spot forward of it,
a larger one towards the base of the inner lobe, and a small one forward of the base
of this lobe. The hind wings and their fringes are blackish brown, and the inner lobe
near the middle of its inner side sends out some coal black scales forming a spot of
this color in the fringe, with a faint ash gray spot immediately forward of it. Be-
neath, the wings are blackish brown and the anterior pair have three equidistant
white strvaks on the outer margin, the first rather forward of the middle and the last
0a the apex; the outer lobe of the hind wings has a white spot near its tip. the inner
lobe has a slight white spot on its apex:and another on the middle of its inner mar-
gin. The antennz are black with white rings, and on their under sides ash grey.
The abdomen has white stripcs on its under side. The legs are striped alternately
with black and white and are banded with a broom-like tuft of black scales at each
pair of spines. The spines are white, their bases, under sides, and also the tips of
those on the middle shanks, black. The feet are white with a black band on the apex
of each joint, and the first joint of the two anterior pairs has a black stiipe on its
outer side. The wings when spread measure 0.80 from tip to tip. Taken the last
of June on bushes in meadows.

The Stenper-Losep Piume (P. tenuidactylus) is of a dark tawny brown color
somewhat tinged with coppery red, and on the fore wings has a white spot towards
the base of each lobe, and often on the outer lobe a transverse white streak between
the spot and the apex; their fringe is whitish, with a black spot in the middle and
larger one at the apex of the inner margin. The hind wings are of the same color,
their lobes very slender, the inner one thread-like, white, its fringes white with a
broad black band near the tip. The legs are white, striped with black, the feet and
hind shanks with black bands. The antennee are while with a slender black ring to
each joint. The abdomen is blackish, and at base on the under side silvery white.
The wings when extended measure 0.60 across. This species is common upon brakes
and other weeds growing in swamps in the middle of July,

» “1

The Asny Prume (P. cineridactylus) is ash gray throughout, of a darker tint
upon the breast. The fore wings are sprinkled with, blackish brown atoms, chiefly
towards the inner margin and the base. The antennz have a pale brown ring on each
joint, which is widely interrupted onthe under side. The feet and shanks are whitish
and the hind shanks have a faint brownish band at tip and another on the middle.
The expanded wings measure 0.75. Taken the fore part of July, in yards around
dwellings.

The Browy-borprrep Pruwe (P. marginidactylus) is tawny brown, the fore
wings varied with white cloud-like spots, whereof there is one on the outer margin
towards the tip and two on the inner margin, the apical and outer margins and a
cloud-like central space extending from the cleft inwards are of a dark brown color;
fringe whitish, brown at the outer and inner apical angles, and a small brown spot
beyond the middle of the inner margin; under side and hind wings pale tawny brown;
legs white, thighs, anterior shanks and apical third of the hind shanks brownish on
GRAPE-VINE. LEAVES—SPECIES OF PLUME-MOTHs. 145

their outer sides. Wings expand one inch. Occurs the latter part of June, on weeds
along the borders of meadows.

The Cuoupy Prume (P. nebuledactylus) is milk white, the fore wings clouded
with pale tawny brown which color occupies the basal portion and forms two: broad
bands towards the’ apex, the last one often faint and not perceptible on the inner lobe;
hind wings and their fringe and under side of both pairs of the same pale tawny
brown color; abdomen white, sides and stripe on the middle of the back pale tawny
brown; legs white. Wings expand one inch. The tawny marks on the fore wings
are often obscure in old individuals and sometimes wholly obliterated ; still the species
may be discriminated by the pale tawny color of the hind wings and the under sur-
face of the fore ones contrasting with the whiteness of their upper surface. It is our
most common species, occurring from the middle of June till the middle of July, in
yards around dwellings, frequently entering opened windows in the evening, being
attracted by the light of the lamps.

The Frecxiep Proms (P. nevosidactylus). Milk white, the fore wings sprinkled
with black atoms, which form a black spot at the commencement of the cleft and a
dct half way from this to the base; a tawny brown spot on the outer margin near
the tip; fringes, under side, hind wings and their fringesashy brown. Wings expand
0.90. Appears towards the middle of August, in the same situation as the preceding.

The CHatxy Prume (P. cretidactylus) is white tinged with tawny yellow, and
has a small brownish black spot on the fore wings at the cleft and a brown streak on
‘the outer margin slightly beyond the black spot, with traces of a brown oblique
band from the one to the other; legs white, four anterior shanks banded each with
a broom-like tuft of scales of a pale tawny yellow color at tip and another upon the
middle. Expands oneinch Taken the middle of July, in forests.

10
INFESTING INDIGENOUS FRUIT TREES.

THE HICKORY.

AFFECTING THE TRUNK AND LIMBS.

Boring large holes, lengthwise in the heart-wood; a long, soft, whitish, flattened
grub.

i . .
Tur Tiger Cerassyx. Monohammus tigrinus, De Gees. M. tomentosus,
ZEIGLER. ,

The insect which we are now about to consider is one of the
largest and finest of our American insects pertaining to the family
Cerampycip& or Long-horned beetles. Hitherto it has not been
known in what kind of wood the larva of this species occurred.
Indeed, the insect itself is rarely met with in collections, having
been captured only in the State of Pennsylvania. But from the
numbers of its burrows, which I find in almost every hickory and
walnut tree which I have had an opportunity of examining, I am
impressed with the belief that this is a much more common insect
than has been hitherto supposed, and now that the trees which it
freqents are known, it will probably be readily found, over a con-
siderable extent of our country.

Some hickories and bitter walnuts which were split for fuel at
my door, gave me opportunities for observing the extensive exca-
vations made by this borer and by the ants next to be noticed,
which take up their residence in the burrows which this worm
forms. The trees alluded to had stood solitary in the open fields,
a situation in which all trees are much more liable to be infested
with insects than when growing together in forests. And though
to external appearance, these trees were sound and healthy, they
’

HICKORY. TRUNK—TIGER CERAMBYX. ITS BURROW. 147

‘

had for many years advanced but little in size, and some of their
limbs were annually perishing and falling to the ground. And
in every instance where a tree was infested at all, it was badly
infested ; and the wood of the hickory which is so much esteemed,
and for particular uses is so valuable in consequence of its tough-
ness and elasticity, when once attacked by these borers and the
ants which sueceed them, becomes so extensively. perforated and
mined as to be worthless for anything except fuel.

The burrow of this worm is exeavated in the solid heart-wood
of our American hickories and walnuts, and is almost two feet in
length. It runs longitudinally upwards, in-
creasing in diameter as the worm has increased
in size. The annexed cut gives a view of por-
tions of two of these burrows much reduced in
size. The hole which the worm bores is some-
| what flattish, or more wide than high, and in its
# largest part it is nearly half an inch in width,
and considerably over a quarter of an inch in
depth. At its upper extremity it turns obliquely
outwards through the sap-wood to the bark.
All the lower part of this gallery is filled with
a fine powder, of a tan color, the castings of the worm; and some
two or three inches below its upper end, in place of these fine
castings, it is stuffed for a distance of an inch and a half, or more,
with a coarser material, namely, short fibres of wood, which are
bent and packed together commonly in a perfectly regular man-
ner. Above these is another layer of the finer castings, the upper
end only of the burrow being vacant. And I presume this borer,
like that of the apple tree, having completed its burrow and
opened it out to the bark, retires backwards a short distance and
stuffs the upper end of the cavity with its castings, having the
castings above it and the cushion of coarser woody fibres imme-
diately below it during its inactive larva and its pupa state—the
coarser fibres being placed there as a bed for the pupa to Hie
upon—by their elasticity yielding to any elongation or other mo-
tion of the slumbering insect, which the fine castings would
become too compact and solid, by their settling together, to per-

’

 
148 wuIcKoRY. TRUNK—TIGER CERAMBYX. ITS BURROW.

mit. And when the beetle hatches from its pupa, it tears away
the fine powder above it, as it erawls forward, which powder thus
falls down upon the cushion of woody fibers, where we meet with
‘it in the evacuated cells—and breaking through the bark, it
emerges from the tree.

What is here described seems to.be the common habit of most
kinds of our timber borers. They complete their burrow by
gnawing a passage out to the bark, and then retire backwards a
short distance and stuff this upper extremity of the burrow with
their castings, that birds, especially the woodpecker, may not be
able to detect, by its hollowness, the hole which they have here
formed under the bark. But this artifice is not always successful.
Mr. P. Reid informs me that he once observed in the trunk of a
sapling, a funnel shaped opening whieh had been dug by a wood-
pecker, some two inches in depth, at the bottom of which, incased
in the wood, was the shell-like relics of a pupa which the bird
had devoured, and below was the traek by which the worm had
come upwards in the wood to this point. At first he was exces-
sively puzzled to account for this phenomenon—by what instinct
or other faculty it was possible for a bird to discover a worm
which was buried two inches deep in the wood, so as to be able
to bore directly inwards to the exact point where it was lying—
until it occurred to him that the worm had itself made an open-
ing outwards to the bark, by which to effect its escape after its
changes were completed, and had then retreated backwards into
the wood again; and the woodpecker by tapping upon the bark
had ascertained that there was a cavity beneath, and immediately
thereupon opened and enlarged this cavity sufficiently to enable
him to reach the insect. What curious habits, what astonishing
instances of foresight and intelligence do we daily meet with in
studying the works of nature, all concurring to show that these
myriads of creatures, each furnished with its peculiar organs, and
endowed with such marvellous faculties and instincts, could have
been formed no otherwise than by a Creator who is infinite in his
attributes. ,
HICKORY. TRUNK—TIGER CERAMBYY. THE LARVA. 149

cabens those cases where its burrow is taken possession of

Ve scar upon the smooth back of the bitter wal-
i nut and the limbs of the shag-bark walnut)
|) which is visible for many years afterwards.
‘ Two of these scars are represented in the
annexed cut. By the occurrence of these
scars upon the bark we may be able to ascer-
tain what trees have been infested by these
and other borers, and will consequently have the wood perforated
with holes and unfit for any valuable use.

 

Neither in Dr. Ratzeburg’s celebrated work upon forest insects
nor any other author which I have at hand do I find any account
of the larve of the important genus of wood-boring beetles to
which this speciés pertains. I therefore give a more full and
particular description of it.

The Larva when full grown is somewhat over an inch in length and a quarter of
an inch in diameter across the second or broadest segment. It is a soft, smooth and~
slightly, shining worm of a cream yellow color and a cylindrical form, slightly bulged
and broader at the thorax, and is divided into thirteen segments by strongly
} impressed transverse lines, the sutures of the abdominal segments being more
wide than those of the thorax. The nine breathing pores upon each side
F form elliptical pale yellow spots with a dark chesnut colored line in the
centre of each; the first pore is situated in the suture at the base of the
second segment, the others are near the middle of the fifth and each of the
t following segments. A faint darker stripe extends along the middle of the
pack and is interrupted at the sutures, and upon the top of each segment
Seeant the three first and two last is a transverse oval space composed of somewhat
irregular rows of small elevated points, one row forming a ring upon the outer mar-
gin of the oval space and one or two other rows running transversely across its disk.
Beneath, upon these same segments is a similar oval space, but the elevated points are
here rather more confused and indistinct. The second segment is longest and the
two next are shorter than any of the following ones. The second segment upon its
upper sideis flat and inclines obliquely downwards and forwards; it is clothed with fine
brown hairs, and similar hairs are scattered along the sides of the body; across its
middle is an impressed transverse line forming the are of a large circle, the ends of
which line are turned backwards and are continued to the basal margin by a small
semicircular impressed line. The anterior part of this segment is of a pale tawny
color, with numerous minute punctures; ‘its basal part has coarser punctures and
short impressed longitudinal lines which are more or less confluent with each other,

 
150-  wicxory. TRUNK—TIGER CERAMBYX. THE BEETLE,

The head is retractile within and but half as broad as the second segment, and is cea?
black except at its base, the black being edged posteriorly with chesnut brown. The
upper lip or labrum is transverse oval, rather broader towards its base, honey yellow,
and covered with short yellow hairs which incline forwards. The upper jaws or mandi-
bles are robust, with an angular obtuse tooth-like projection near the middle of their
inner sides, their tips being simple and rather blunt. The antenna are minute conical
two-jointed points projecting outwards at the base of the mandibles and distant from,
the base of the head. The feelers are thrice the size of the antenne, conical, three-
jointed and of a chesnut brown color; the lobe of the lower jaws or maxillz projects
at the inner base of the feelers and is more than half their length and clothed with
short dense pubescence. The feelers of the lower lip or the labial palpi are minute but
perceptible. The throat is whitish, the suture at the base of the oral organs black
edged posteriorly with chesnut brown. The apical segment of the body is divided
into two parts by a transverse impressed line, and might, asin many other larve, be
counted as two segments, the last one being much more narrow and short.in this
insect. ‘
1

The celebrated Swedish entomologist, Baron De Geer, long ago

published a description and figure of this beetle in the fifth volume
1

of his Memoires on Insects, page 113, under the name of Cerambyz
tigrinus, or the Tiger Cerambyx, a name suggested perhaps from
its size and colors. It has lately been described by Rey. D.
Ziegler, and by Prof. Haldeman, under the name of Monohammus
tementosus, or the Wooly Cerambyx, which name, however, must
give place to that which was previously bestowed. Some of the
descriptions that have been published have evidently been drawn
from imperfect specimens, denuded of their pubescence in places.

The medium length of this beetle is about one inch, though, like most other Long
horned beetles the two sexes differ much in size, the males being cften only 0-85,
whilst the females are 1.15. The ground color is brown, sometimes tinged with red-
dish or on the elytra with pale yellow; and the surface is covered beneath and for
the most part above with fine short appressed hairs of an ashy or a tawny-yellowish
white color. The head is punctured, at Ieast on its summit, and has an impressed
line in its middle. The mouth is of a honey-yellow color above and beneath, the
upper lip being hairy and blackish except at its anterior edge, and the mandibles are
deep black, their bases brown. In the notch of the eyes isan elevation on which the
antenn are inserted. These are rather shorter than the body, eleven-jointed, the
second joint very short and more broad than long; the basal joint is double the thick-
nesg and but half the length of the third joint, which, with those that succeed it are
about equal in length and gradually diminish in thickness. The two basal joints are
brown, all the others whitish or pale yellow and stained with brown at their tips.
The thorax is everywhere covered with short appressed hairs, which are more dense
beneath, and has on each side in the middle, a conical erect spine rounded at its apex.
The scutel is brown, its apical half covered with whitish or light yellow hairs. The
HICKORY. TRUNK—WALNUT ANT. ITS BURROW. 151

elytra are covered with similar appressed hairs on the middle and posterior parts,
leaving a broad brown band behind the middle (which is interrupted at the suture
and sometimes does not attain the outer margin), and at the base a similarly colored
band, which, posteriorly, is gradually shaded and without any definite edge. The
anterior half of the elytra is punctured, the punctures black and becoming more
: dense and coarse towards and at the base, where they open backwards and have their
anterior edges elevated into little callous points, rendering the surface rough and
shagreened, each puncture yielding a short black bristle. The hooks of the feet are
pale yellow.

Mining long narrow passages in the trunk and limbs, and staining the wood light brown;
* a longish, black, shining ant, its abdomen with equidistant transverse rows of fine
bristles, two rows upon each segment.

Toe Waunur Ant. Formica Carya.

The fact is reported in the Albany Cultivator (1853, page 116)
by C. B. Brown, of Damascus, Pa., that a house that was.overrun
with ants had been rid of this pest by placing a piece of shag-
bark hickory wood upon a shelf in the pantry where these ver-
min appeared to be the thickest. The ants gathered upon this
billet of wood in the course of an hour or two in such numbers
as literally to cover it, whereupon they were brushed and shaken
off into the fire, and the stick was replaced to collect another
swarm; and in this mode the house was soon entirely cleared of
them. No reason is assigned for the ants being thus attracted by
this wood, but there can be no doubt that the sweet. syrup-like
sap of the hickory was more congenial to their taste than any
othér food within their reach, and was the cause of their collect-
ing together in-the manner stated. And it is quite probable that
a recently cut piece of hickory wood may prove in other cases
one of the best traps for these pests, which occasionally become
quite an annoyance in our dwellings. Hickory and walnut trees
whilst growing are also a favorite resort of these insects, and we
have one American species which appears to be a constant resi-
dent upon them, to the great injury of the trees. In the winter
season I have repeatedly met with little clusters of this ant, when
searching for insects under the loose scales of bark of the hickory,
and on coming recently to work up some of these trees for fuel,
these same ants were fuund in the wood, veenpying most of the
galleries which the tiger cerambyx had bored therein, which gal-
152 HICKORY. TRUNK—WALNUT ANT. ITS BURROW.

leries they had extended and connected together by their own
mining labors. These passages were extended every where
through the wood of the trunk and branches, often running out
even into the small limbs less than three inches in diameter.

4
Our other wood-eating or carpenter ants (Formica Pennsylvanica

ligniperda, &c.) seem to reside only in the dead wood of the in-
terior of trees and in the timbers of our buildings, but this species
is of a more pernicious character, attacking the sound wood of
living trees. Its burrows are long narrow passages, never widen-
ed into those spacious apartments which. our other carpenter ants
excavate. Sometimes portions of dead wood in the heart of the
tree and at its butt will be met with, mined in a different manner,
large chambers and galleries being excavated which are separated
by partitions no thicker than pasteboard; and not unfrequently
a few dead individuals of the Pennsylvania ant, which is a larger
species, may be found lying in these galleries, showing that these
apartments were constructed by them and not by the walnut ant.
And it appears to be a common occurrence for a colony of the
Pennsylvania. ants to establish themselves in the dead wood of
the walnut, and to be afterwards so encroached upon by the more
numerous and thriving colony of the walnut ants that they aban-
don or are driven from the tree, for I have never met with any
living individuals of this species in these cavities, which had
manifestly at some previous period been excavated by them.

It has been remarked of one of the European ants (Formica
fuliginosa) that the sides of its burrows are always of a black
color, and our American ant has a similar habit. It paints the walls
of its rooms, as we may say, of a butternut or snuff brown color.
Huber could not satisfy himself whether the black color of the
wood occupied by the European ant alluded to was caused by its
being exposed to the air, by some vapor emanating from the
bodies of the ants, or by its being acted upon and decomposed by
the formic acid which ants secrete. To usit appears that the
last of these is probably the cause, for with our species this dis-
coloration is not confined to the surface of the burrow, but pene-
trates through the wood surrounding it on all sides, to the dis-
HICKORY. TRUNK— WALNUT ANT, TICKS UPON. 153

tance of an inch or more. This discoloration will be observed in
every part of the trunk and limbs of the walnut tree, wherever
the burrows of these ants occur. And it seems quite probable
that the ant by thus saturating the wood with acid, hastens its
decay, in order to adapt it for being more easily mined. If we
are correct in this supposition, this curious faculty which our
walnut ant possesses of softening the wood in order that it may
be able to gnaw and excavate it more readily, renders this species
much more injurious than it otherwise would be.

It is commonly stated of the insects of this family that males
and females are developed only in the summer, and that it is the
neuters alone that are to be found at other seasons of the year;
but of this species I meet with all three of the sexes, in a torpid
state in their burrows, in the winter season. Those parts of the
burrows where the ants were present had their walls quite wet,
probably from the perspiration given off from their bodies.

’ And nestling in this wet surface a few larve of the ants were
also met with.

These larve were very small footless grubs, measuring from 0.08 to 0.08 in length,
the largest individuals being about 0.03in diameter. They are ofacylindrical form,
but always lie with the body doubled together in the form of the letter U, or in the
larger individuals with the head bent downwards against the breast. They are of a
white color, shining and semipellucid, with a blackish cloud in the center of the body
from alimentary matter in the viscera. The surface is covered with numerous short-
ish white hairs, and the segments are marked by transverse impressed lines, which
are much more obvious in the large than in the small individuals. No projecting
jaws can be discerned at the mouth.

Upon the wet surface of the walls of the cavities occupied ky
these ants, extremely minute ticks may also be met with, numer-
ous in particular places, and of a pale red color, bearing some re-
semblance to a minute Coccinella or Lady-bird. These, it is
probable, are parasites living upon the ants. They afe similar in
their form, texture, &c., to the common Beetle-tick (Gamasus
coleoptratorum, Lin.), but the hard shining plate. covering their
backs consists of one piece only. They consequently pertain to
the genus Uropoda of Latrielle, and the species may appropriately
be named Formice, or the Ant-tick. Of the species figured in
Baron Walckenaer’s Atlas of Apterous Insects, it bears the closest

‘
.

154 HICKORY. TRUNK—-WALNUT ANT DESCRIBED.

resemblance to that of Uropoda vegetans (PI. 34, fig. 6), a species
which is quite common upon several of our American beetles.

The Ant-T1cK measures from 0.010 to 0.015. It is of a cherry red color, younger
individuals being translucent and pale reddish; it is shining, with translucent legs
clothed with short hairs. It is of a circular form, very slightly longer than wide,
flattened, and commonly presents a translucent margin. The legsare shortish, taper
gradually, and the feet are not half the thickness of the shanks. The anterior legs
have not the slender feet of the three other pairs, but are antennz-like, and have at
their tips several short coarsish hairs and a single bristle slightly longer than these
hairs. The palpi or feelers rarely project beyond the anterior margin, and their tips
are also clothed with short hairs.

This ant appears to be a distinct species from those which have
been heretofore described, and I therefore propose for it a name
in allusion to the situation in which it occurs. It may be distin-
guished by the segments of its abdomen being glabrous and
polished at their bases and minutely punctured on their posterior
half, with two transverse rows of fine erect bristles, one in the mid-
dle the other at the tip of each segment. TheSilky ant (Formica
subsericea) described by Mr. Say in the Boston Journal of Natural
History (vol. i. p. 289), is closely related to this species, but is
destitute of punctures on the ebdominal segments.

The mauzs of this species measure 0.30 to the tip of the abdomen which is about
0.08 in diameter, 0.32 to the tip of the closed wings, and the wings spread 0.45. They
are black and shining. The head isnearly globular, and there are, as usual in this sex,
three distinct ocelli or little eyes upon the crown, and from the anterior one of these
a fine impressed line runs forward to the face. The face is rough and unequal, with
impressed punctures, from each of which arises a short hair. The tips of the jaws
are tinged with brown; the upper lip is blackish-brown or sometimes cinnamon-yel-
low; the feelers are long slender and thread-like, and clothed with fine short hairs;
the antennee arc long and slender, of equal thickness, their tips with an ash-gray re-
flection. The thorax is slightly broader than the head, oval, smooth, and without
punctures or hairs. The abdomen is somewhat wider than the thorax, and composed
of seven segments, of which the basal one is contracted as usual, forming a slender
pedicel, with an erect hump orscale on the middle of its upper side, which, viewed
laterally, is of a wedge-shaped form, short and thick, and bears a few short hairs;
its summit is cut off transversely and is distinctly notched in its middle. ‘Lhe re-
maining segments form a regular oval mass, rounded at base and pointed at tip. The
basal third or half of each segment is glabrous and shining, the remainder is minutely
punctulated and clothed with fine short hairs, searcely perceptible, whilst on each
segment are two transverse rows of fine bristles which are sometimes interrupted
along the middle of the back, one row on the posterior Inargin, the other near the
middle, these bristles arisicg from rows of equidistant punctures. At the tip
HICKORY. LIMBS—HICKORY-GALL APHIS. 155

protrude three short thread-like processes, of which the outer ones are slightly
longer. The feet are long slender and tinged more or less with brownish towards
their tips. The single spur at the tip of each of the shanks is of a pale yellow color.
The wings are transparent and glassy but not clear, the surface being minutely gran-
ular as usual in this genus and strongly iridescent. Their veins are honey-yellow
and have a waxy appearance ; those which traverse the posterior portion of the wings
are hyaline and colorless, and become abortive at their tips in the margin-

, The remaves differ from the males in being of a much larger size, measuring
almost half an inch to the tips of the wings, which, when spread, are three-fourths of
an inch across. The head approaches to a square form, and is broader than the
thorax; the upper jaws are more robust, and of a dark reddish brown color; both the
head and thorax are minutely punctured and pubescent; the abdomen is propor-
tionally larger and less narrowed towards each extremity, is but six jointed, and has
no projecting processes at its tip, the scale on the peduncle at its base is very slightly
and sometimes not at all notched, and the two transverse rows of short bristles on
each segment are much more distinct; the feet and sometimes the shanks are of a
dark reddish brown color; and in the wings the vein which bounds the inner side of
the cubital cell arises outside of the middle of the transverse medial vein, instead of
inthe middle, which is the point where it originates inthe males. Some females are
met with which have gnawed off their wings and cast them away, this being a com-

. mon habit among ants of this sex. These wingless females may be distinguished
from the largest sized workers by being of a still larger size, and the cicatrices
of the cast. off wings are very obvious on the sides of the thorax.

The neuTERs or workers are always destitute of wings, and are generally smaller
than the males, varying in length from 0.20 to 0.83. In all other respects they
resemble the females, except that they have no ocelli and a very narrow thorax
plainly divided into three segments by impressed sutures. The scale of the abdo-
minal pedicel is almost circular, being a little highcr than it is wide, and is regularly
rounded above, without being cut off as in the female, or notched as in the male; it
ig convex on both sides, but with a slight concavity in the middle of its posterior face.

The following varietizs may be found among these ants:

u. Female. Scale of the abdomiral pedicel not at all notched.

b. Female. Middle transverse sutures of the abdomen strongly constricted.

c. Female. Middle suture of the abdomen pale, forming a transverse band.

d. Neuter. Basal suture of the abdomen pale yellowish brown. 2

e. Neuter. Two basal sutures of the abdomen pale yellowish brown.

tf ‘Neuter. Antenne and legs dark reddish brown, instead of black. These are
probably young individuals, recently hatched.

Upon the twigs and leaf-stalks, hollow green bullet-like galls of a leathery texture, their
inner surface covered with minute white and yellow lice; the gall afterwards turning
black, opening and becoming cup-shaped.

The Hickory-GaLu Arnis. Pemphigus Caryacaulis.
A disease of the young limbs of the hickory, which will remind
one of the well known black knots upon the cherry, is of such
156 HICKORY. LIMBS—-HICKORY-GALL APHIS.

frequent occurrence that it has probably been observed by many
of my readers. About fifteen years ago I first noticed a tree upon
my farm which was severely affected by this disease, and which
has continued to suffer from it annually down to the present time.
Within two rods of this tree are two others which have remained
wholly unaffected, and have regularly produced a fair yield of
fruit, whilst not a single nut has been matured upon the diseased
tree. The excrescences upon the limbs at the time of gathering
the fruit in autumn, which was the only time I had heretofore
noticed them, are black, ragged, leathery and cup-shaped, having
a marked resemblance to some of the species of fungi of the genera
Peziza, Cenangium, and their kindred. But whether they really
were of a vegetable nature or were the work of insects I was un-
able to determine from their appearance at that period of the year.
Mr. T. B Ashton having recently informed me that he had al-.
ways met with the Elegant weevil (Conotrachelus elegans Say),
a species most nearly related to the Plum weevil (C. Nenuphar
Herbst), exclusively upon these diseased hickory trees, although
T had myself captured it upon butternut, hazlenut and other foli-
age, I resolved the present year to investigate these excrescences
at the commencement of their growth, and ascertain their cause,
not knowing but it might throw some light upon the mooted
origin of the black knots upon the plum and cherry. I have been
successful in this examination, and have ascertained that although
these excrescences are of insect origin, the weevil a'luded to has
no direct conection with them, and if it really is more common
upon these diseased walnut trees than elsewhere, as Mr. Ashton’s
observations indicate, it is only because, like many other insects, it
prefers diseased and weakened vegetation to that which is healthy
and of rank vigorous crowth.

The insect which forms these excrescences is a female plant-
louse, and her proceedings and the effect which they produce is
truly wonderful. Hatching probably from eggs that were laid
the preceding autumn, each individual, early in the season, sta-
tions herself at a particular spot, either upon the mid-vein of one
of the Jeafets, upon the leaf-stalk, or still farther down, upon the
green succulent twig which is the growth of the present year.
HIOKORY, “LIMBS—HICKORY-GALL APHIS. 157

This last is most frequently the situation which she prefers. Punc-
‘turing the part with her beak she causes a profusion of sap to
flow from the wound. This evaporating and coagulating becomes
organized vegetable matter, which gradually grows upward into
a wall around her, and as she continues to puncture it its growth
continues until it finally closes together over her, and shuts her
into a cavity having only sufficient room for her to turn freely
around init. Yet within this cell in which she is thus closely im-
prisoned, she is to give birth to several hundreds of young. To
make the cavity sufficiently roomy for them she continues to
puncture its walls upon every side, thus causing them to expand.
Her young also, as soon as they are born, fix themselves to the
inner surface of the gall, inserting their beaks therein to feed
upon the vegetable juices, thus adding to the irritation and expe-
diting the growth of their domicil. Thus as they increase in
number and size the gall increases, so as to furnish the amount
of room which each requires, without any vacant space between,
the whole surface being covered with these young lice.

It is thus that these excrescences are produced. They are of a
globular form and of different sizes, from that of a pea to an
ounce ball, and are attached to the side of the stem the whole
length of their base, often causing a bend or distortion of the
stem, especially when two or three are contiguous and confluent,
as they frequently are. The walls of the gall are about the tenth
of an inch in thickness, and of a succulent fleshy texture, white
upon the inside and green on the outside at first, but soon becom-
ing discolored with black, which spreads until the whole is of
this color. The hollow inside has its surface covered with minute
smooth shining lice of different ages and sizes, so that it resembles
the geode of a mineral, the surface of which is lined with a mul-
titude of minute crystals, whose sparkling points are every where
glittering in the light. Numerous dusky specks are also observed
among the lice. These are the cast skins of the lice, all of which
moult as they increase in size, their original skins becoming too
small to contain them, and being of too firm a texture to expand
with the growth of the insect.

In addition to the dusky cast skins which have been mentioned,
in many of the galls numerous round black grains occur. These
158 HICKORY. LIMBS-——HICKORY- GALL APHIS.

are the excrement of a larva which lives in the walls of the gall,
mining cylindrical channels in it. This Jarva is about the tenth
of an inch long, shining watery whitish, with a pale yellow cloud
in the middle of its body, from visceral matter in the intestines,
and a flattened polished pale tawny head with the jaws appearing
like two brown dots on its anterior edge. It has no feet, and to
erawl forward it elongates itself and with its jaws grasps the
spongy side of its burrow, and then contracting, it draws its body
up towards its head. By this singular mode of progression it
moves along with rapidity in its burrow, but when placed upon
paper it strives in vain to lay hold of the smooth surface with its
jaws, and is incapable of advancing. It is quite probable that
this worm is the larva of the Elegant weevil above spoken of.

It would be supposed that the lice which occupy these galls,
being wholly shut in as they are by a thick wall upon every side,
would be secure from the assaults of the numerous and inveterate
enemies of the aphides which have been noticed in the preceding
pages. But in one instance, four worms, which from their appear-
ance and motions I supposed to be the larve of a Syrphus-fiy,
were met with in one of these galls. They were the tenth of an
inch long, of an elongated oval form, more pointed anteriorly,
and of a pale rose-red color, with a broad yellow stripe in the mid-
dle from inclosed viscera] matter.

Though I have not been able to find winged individuals of
the insect which forms the galls upon the hickory twigs, it is so
like the Pemphigus bursarius of Europe in its habits, a species
which forms similar galls upon the leaf stalks of the poplar, that
T entertain no doubt our insect is co-generic with: that species.
We have still another species which is closely related to these in
its habits. It is the grape leaf louse (Pemphigus Vitifolie) of my
manuscripts, and forms small globular galls about the size of a
pea, upon the margin of the leaves of the grape vine. They are
of a red or pale yellow color, and their surface is -somewhat
uneven and woolly. They are met with the fore part of June, hav-
ing only the wingless females inclosed within them at that time.
These closely resemble the same sex in the species under con-
sideration. :
HICKORY. LEAVES—HICKORY TUSSOCK-MOTH. 159

The larve which occur in the walnut galls are of different sizes, the largest being
0.025 long, of an oval form and a light yellow or yellowish ‘green color, with dusky
legs and antenne. Younger individuals are white, shining, and somewhat hyaline,
with pellucid white legs. The antennz arc short and robust, consisting of two short
thick basal joints and a longer terminal one of a conical form, and giving off a short
bristle on one side near the tip. The legs are also short and thick.

The wINGLEss FEMALES, of which one is found in each gall, she being the parent
of the multitude of larvee around her, measures 0.04 in length, or somewhat more.
She is of a plump egg-shaped form, narrower posteriorly and flattened on the under
side. The segments of the abdomen are much longer than those of the thorax, and
are separated by impressed lines. The Jegs are short, scarcely projecting beyond
the outer margin, and with the antenne are blackish, the general color of the body
being yellow, often of a dull or dirty tinge. :

Trees are much disfigured by the excrescences upon the ends of
the limbs which this louse produces, which show conspicuously
after the leaves have fallen. It requires two or three years for
them to decay and become obliterated, and in te mean time a
new stock is annually added, for where these insects obtain a lodg-
ment they continue year after year, stinting the tree in its growth
and blasting its fruit. Though there sometimes grows upon such
trees nuts which are full sized and appear externally to be fair
and well formed, they are found upon cracking to be destitute of
meats,

It is quite probable that these insects may be expelled from the
trees which they infest by rubbing the ends of the limbs with soft
soap soon after the leaves put forth. Or a month afterwards,
when the galls are green and filled with lice, by cutting off and
burning all the twigs and leaf-stalks on which these galls are
growing, the tree will probably be relieved from a renewed at--
tack the following year.

AFFECTING THE LEAVES.

Consuming the leaves; white caterpillars with eight tufts of converging black hairs on the
back and towards each end a pencil of long black ones on each side.

The Hicxory Tussocx-mots. Lophocampa Carye. Harris.

Of the caterpillars of our State, one which will be most apt to
_ be observed on account of its'clean neat appearance, and the re-
160 HICKORY. LEAVES—-HICKORY TUSSOCK-MOTH.

gular arrangement of the colors to the tufts and long pencils of
hairs with which it is clothed, is the hickory tussock-moth. And
any one who is desirous of rearing an insect in order to inspect
the remarkable changes which it undergoes as it grows up to its
perfect state will succeed better with this, probably, than with
any other species. One or more of the eaterpillars placed in a
tumbler or a box, and supplied with fresh leaves two or three
times a week, will require no further care. So hardy are they
that they will even feed upon leaves which are dry and brittle,
and their cocoons may be kept in a warm stove-room during the
winter without the inclosed insect withering from the dryness of
the atmosphere.

Although the hickory and walnut appear to be the trees of
which these caterpillars are most fond they are by no means
limited to them. Dr. Harris records his meeting with them upon
the ash and elm, and I have found colonies of the young worms
upon the butternut, the sumach and the slippery elm. They
hatch from the eggs early in July, and whilst young they re-
main together, a bundred or more in a company, all being pro-
bably from one parent. They occupy a leaf near the end of a
limb, forming for their residence a slight covering or tent made
of the fine silken threads which they spin. If the limb is jarred
most of them let themselves down from it by means of their
threads, some dropping to the ground,
others remaining suspended in the air at
different heights. They have their re-
gular periods for feeding and reposing.
They consume the whole of the leaves
where they reside, leaving only the mid-
veins and some small fragments of the
green tissue remaining. The annexed
figure is taken from a leaf partly con-
sumed by them. If when engaged in
feecing a fly or other insect annoys it,
or even if the rays of the sun shining
through the foliage happen to fall directly upon it, it moves away
to another place; and if when thus crawling away its hairs touch

 
HICKORY. LEAVES—HICKORY TUSSOCK-MOTH. 161

those of one of its comrades, he too stops feeding, and moves at least
a short distance aside. When ready to cast its skin it fixes itself to
the surface of the leaf by means of the minute sharp hooks of its
feet; its exterior skin separates, and through a cleft at its anterior
end the worm crawls from it, leaving the empty skin with its
white and black tufts and pencils of hairs adhering to the leaf,
with the legs, particularly the pair at the extremity of the body
spread widely apart. They cast their skins three
times in attaining their growth. The accompany-
ing cut gives a view of these cast skins at each of
€ the moultings, and shows the increase which takes
Nee in the size of the caterpillar during the inter-
vals. With each change of its skin a very perceptible alteration
takes place in the appearance of the caterpillar. Its hairs, which
at first are so fine as to be searcely noticed by. the naked eye, be-

 

come so coarse and numerous at last as to hide from view the
skin and the dots with which it is ornamented.

The Larva or caterpillar is sixteen footed, cylindrical, clean clear white, with
numerous black dots, and clothed with tufts and longer pencils of hairs, which are
beautifully branched or bearded, and cf a white color, interspersed with otber tufts
and pencils which are black, the longest of the pencils being half as long as the body.
The accompanying figures present a dorsal and lateral
view of the young and w dorsal ‘view of the mature cat-
erpillar, the last much contracted in its length, being
taken from a dried cabinet specimen. On the anterior
segments the black dots are arranged in a transverse row;
on each of the others there are four black dots above, at

 

the angles of an imaginary square, the anterior two being nearer each other, and
upon each side is a row of three equidistant dots, the upper one larger, with three
minute biack dots slightly below it, and a short black stripe back of it. From each
of these dots arises a tuft of white or black hairs, there being a row of eight black
tufts along the back, the ends of which converge in the form of a steep roof, and two
pencils of long black hairs on the fourth and also on the tenth segments. Some long
white hairs overhang the head, which is black, smooth and shining, the bases of the
feelers and of the jaws and upper lip being white. The neck has a large crescent-
shaped spot above, placed transversely, and two small black dots on each side, with
two larger ones anteriorly below these. The legs are black, the prolegs white, with
a large black spot on their outer sides.

The caterpillars attain their full size in about two months, and
are then nearly an inch and a half in Jength. Before they are
11
162 HICKORY. LEAVES—HICKORY TUSSOCK-MOTH.

half grown they scatter themselves and thenceforth live apart and
solitary. The state of the atmosphere influences them somewhat
as to the time of spinning their cocoons. Ten worms whieh I
reared in a cage together from their infancy, after a period of
severe drouth, on the occurrence of a rainy day the second of
September, spun their cocoons simultaneously, all save one, which
performed this labor ten days earlier. When ready to form its
cocoon the caterpillar crawls into some secure cavity, in the
crevices of a wall or beneath a stone, to which the cocoon is very
slightly attached. From this the winged moth is given ont the
following spring, though when reared ina dry room J have known
individuals to come forth in their winged state the latter part of
October and in November. These moths pertain to the family
Axctimp# or the Tiger-moths. They cannot be referred to any
of the genera defined by the European naturalists, and Dr. Harris
(New England Insects, p. 279) has therefore constructed for them
a genus which he names Lophocampa, a word meaning crested
caterpillar. He indicates four species pertaining to this genus,
and the caterpillars of two additional species are known to me.
The Cocoons of the hickory tussock-moth are of a regular oval form, nearly an
inch long and over a half inch broad, of an ash gray color, composed exteriorly of the
short stiff hairs of the caterpillars, woven loosely together and with their points
standing in all directions, so that it is impossible to touch one of these cocoons with-
out having the skin filled with these hairs, resembling cowhage and producing
the same irritation of the skin which that substance causes. The pencils: of
long black hairs of the caterpillar are separated and drawn in among the others
so skilfully that the eye is seldom able to discern their color. The whole are
held together by « thin clothlike fabric formed of white silken threads matted
closely together which lines the cocoon upon its inner side. Its
. texture isso slight that when the moth is ready to leave the cocoon,
; by merely crowding its head forward it ruptures it at one end and
forms a round orifice through which it makes its exit, elongating

the cocoon slightly hereby, at this end, as represented in the ac-
companying figure.

 

The Curysatts or Pupa lies in the cocoon with the-black head and other relics of
the larva at its pointed end. It is 0.70 long by 0.30 in diameter, of a pale chestnut
color, its sutures marked by slender black impressed lines and the breathing pores
forming a row of, seven oval black dots along each side. Its surface is smooth, with-
out those rows of little spines which we see in the pupa of the peach borer and seve-
ral other moths, and the empty shell remains within the cocoon after the moth is

; disclosed. The figure presents a dorsal view of the sutures, breath-
i(D ing pores, &c., but is unduly contracted on the anterior half, the
width here being the same as across the middle.
HICKORY. LEAVES—LITTLE HICKORY APHIS. 163

The winged Moru measures from 0.65-to 0.80 in length to the tip of its abdomen
and the expanded wings are 1.70 to 2.20 across, the females being larger than the
males. It is of a pale ochre yellow color, hairy above, the abdomen on its under side
covered with scales of a whitish and somewhat silvery appearance, with a row of
tawny spots in the middle in the female; a band in front between the eyes, two dots
‘on the neck and the inner edge of the shoulder covers tawny; eyes spotted with
black; antennz three-fourths the length of the body, tawny yellow, with two rows
of teeth along their inner sides, which are short in the female and in the male long
and comb-like. Fore wings long and narrow, somewhat pointed at their ends, nankia
yellow freckled with tawny yellow atoms, and with the veins and a ring surrounding
each of the spots tawny yellow; spots mostly round or oval, white and somewhat
transparent, arranged in three rows extending obliquely across the wings parallel with
the hind margin, each row having one spot between each of the veins, the number
being eight in the two hindmost rows and six in the forward one; the third spot in
the middle row the largest; the forward row situated half way between the middle
one and the base, with two additional spots behind and two forward of it, and a large
irregular spot upon the inner margin at its base; under side similarly colored and
marked. Hind wings whitish, thin and semitransparent, without spots. The spiral
tongue is almost as long as the antenns. The feelers project horizontally forward
and are clothed with hairs similar to those upon the head, their apical joint being
covered with scales only.

On the under surface of the leaves, sucking their juices; small flattish pale yel-
low lice, their antennz with black rings.

The Lirrtz Hickory Apuis. Aphis Caryella.

The extensive genus. 4phis, several species of which we have
had occasion to treat of in the preceding pages, is well character-
ised by having three oblique veins crossing the disk of the fore
wings, the third one of which is twice forked, and seven-jointed
antenne. The species, however, which are embraced in thi
genus admit of being divided into smaller groups. This has been
shown ina very able manner by M. Kaltenbach, whose arrange-
ment is reproduced by M. Amyot in his valuable review of these
insects in the Annals of the Entomological Society of France, 2d
series, v. 473-480. But none of the sections which these authors
define appear to present differences of sufficient value to warrant
their elevation to the rank of genera, although Mr. Curtis in his
British Entomology has proposed to separate those having the
autenne shorter than the body, and the beak arising from the
lower part of the head instead of between the base of the fore
164 HICKORY. LEAVES—WITTLE HICKORY APHIS.

legs into a distinct genus under the name Cinara. But we
have certain American species inhabiting the leaves of the
hickory, oak, and high cranberry, which differ so much both
in their form and habits from the general character of these
insects, that they will probably be regarded as entitled to
the rank of an independent genus. Having the last joint of
the antenne shorter than that which precedes it, they would be
included in the last section of M. Amyot’s arrangement, the type
of which is the Aphis Tilie. But, from specimens of this species
received from Dr. Signoret of Paris, and the descriptions given of
it by M. Fonscolomb and others, our American insects differ in
several important points. Their wings are not elevated in the
usual steeply inclined manner but are Jaid flat upon the back in
a horizontal direction ; their bodies are strongly depressed ; their
nectaries are merely pores without any perceptible elevation,
though in one instance, examined when a globule of honey dew
was protruding, the end of an exceedingly short cylindrical tube
eould be discovered with a lens, which tube appeared to be re-
tracted and became imperceptible soon after. Their secretion of
honey dew appears ‘to be quite limited as compared with ‘other
aphides, nor do they extract a sufficient amount of juices from
the leaves to cause any very perceptible distention of their flat-
tened abdomens.. They do not remain fixed to the leaves with
their beaks inserted therein, but are wandering over its surface
much of the time, nor do they live in societies like other aphides,
only a few being met with upon the same leaf, and these are scat-
tered upon its under side, chiefly along the sides of the midvein,
in the angles where the lateral veins are given off from it. Ants,
moreover, are never met with accompanying them.

These aphides are smaller and of a more tender delicate ap-
pearance than their kindred. Most of the species are of a pale
yellow or white color, with black rings upon their antenne, and
their legs and wings are frequently varied with black or brown
marks, which are much more clear and distinct than is usual in
this family, the species of which, Linneus well remarks, are diffi-
eult to distinguish and more difficult to describe. "That which is
HICKORY. LEAVES—LITTLE. HICKORY APHIS, 165

most common upon the leaves of the hickory may be distinguished
by the following characters.

The uirrte Hickory Apais (Aphis Caryella) is pale yellow with white antennz
which are alternated with black rings, the wings transparent and without spots,
their veins slender and pale yellow, the legs yellowish white to their ends. Length
0.12 to the tips of the wings. The abdomen is depressed, egg-shaped, its apex
slightly narrowed and elongated. The antenne are longer than the body, tapering,
seven-jointed ; two basal joints as broad as long, twice the diameter of the following
joints; third joint longest, slightly thicker towards its base; fourth and fifth joints
rather shorter than the third, cylindric; two last joints together about equaling the
fifth in length; the sixth swelled at its tip into a long oval knob, the seventh more
slender but not capillary, shorter than the sixth; a broad black band at the apex of
the third and each of the three following joints. First vein of the fore wings straight
and almost transverse; second vein bent near its base, running first towards the apex
and then turning rather abruptly and continuing straight to the inner margin, more
than twice as far from the first at tip as at base; third vein arising from the stigma
near its anterior end, and not from the rib-vein forward of the stigma, as it does in
the aphides generally, except those pertaining to this group, its base and its apex
about the same distance from the second vein that-this is from the first, forking rather
forward of its middle, strongly bent at this point, and from hence to its tip parallel
with the third vein or but slightly diverging from it, its tip a third nearer that of the
third vein than this is to the second; second fork nearer the fourth vein at tip tham
to the first fork, the triangular cell between it and the first fork with its three sides
equal; fourth vein short and often nearly abortive, shoiter than the second fork,
equally curved through its whole length, its tip much nearer that of the rib-veim
than that of the second fork; rib-vein very slightly diverging from the margin from
the base to the stigma, curved from thence to its tip. Stigma oval, about twice as
long as wide, watery, sometimes tinged with yellowish. A Variety has the stigma
dusky at its tip. Another variety (costalis) has the rib-vein coal black interrupted
with whitish towards the stigma, which is dusky, and black at each end.

In addition to the species now described, four others occur
upon the under surface of the leaves of the hickory and walnut,
similar to it in size, furm and general color, and as some of these
are frequently met with upon the same leaves with the preceding
they might be suspected to be mere varieties. Their spots and
marks, however, are so clear and definite and the veins of their
wings are so dissimilar that we are ebliged to regard them as dis-
tinct species. They may be named and briefly characterized as .
follows:

THe LITTLE DOPTED-wincED ApRIs (A. punctatella) is much like the preceding
in the color of its body, antenuze and wings, but has black feet and a black dot on the
base and another on the apex of each of the veins of the fore wings; the stigma is
salt-white with a brown streak at each end; the second vein is wavy and at its tip is
166 HICKORY. LEAVES=—-LITTLE HICKORY APHIS.

eurved towards the tip of the first vein; the third vein arises from the basal extremf-
ty of the stigma and forward of its furcation curves perceptibly towards the apex of
the wing; the fourth vein is longer than the second fork.

THE LITTLE SPOTTED-WINGED aPais (4. maculella) differs from Caryella in having
enly:a slender black ring at each articulation of the antennz, the feet anda band near
the tips of the hind thighs blackish, the stigma salt-white, its base black, its apex
dusky; fourth vein with a black dot on its base and a dusky one on its apex; the
first vein, apical third of the second vein, and the first and second forks broadly mar-
gined with smoky brown; second vein wavy and parallel with the third vein till near
its tip where it curves towards the first vein, its “base a third nearer the third than it
is to the first vein; third vein arising from the anterior extremity of the stigma, with
a dusky ‘spot on its apex.

THE LITTLE SMOKY-WINGED APHIS (4. fumipennella) is of « dull yellow color
with blackish feet and the wings smoky with robust brown veins, the rib-vein muck
more distant from the margin the first half of its length than in the other species, and
from its middle to the stigma approaching the margin, the fourth vein long, equal-
Hing the stigma in length.

THE LITTLE BLACK-MARGINED APHIS (4. marginella). Pale yellow, antenne
white, their bases and four bands black; a coal black band in front between the eyes
and continued along each side of the thorax to its base; elytra pellucid, stigma,
éuter margin and rib-vein coal-black, first vein with a black dot on its base; fourth
vein slender, black, ‘the other veins colorless; outer margin of the hind wings black.
Length 0.15.

In addition to the preceding a remarkably large aphis is des-
eribed by Dr. Harris, under the name of 4. Carye. A species
which forms plaits or folds in the veins of the leaves and which
probably pertains to the genus Pemphigus, and also a woolly
aphis (Eriosoma) inhabiting this tree is known to me. These,
with the species which forms galls upon the leaf-stalks and twigs,
make nine different kinds of these vermin which live at the ex-
pense of our hickory and walnut trees.
INFESTING FOREST TREES,

——_——,

THE PINE.
AFFECTING THE TRUNK.

Patches of] white, flocculent, down-like matter on the smooth bark, covering exceed-
ingly minute lice invisible to the naked eye.

The Pinz Bureat.—Coccus Pinicorticis.

Upon young White Pine trees, especially those which are
transplanted to ornament our yards, may frequently be seen a
species of blight, showing itself in the form of a white, flocculent
cotton or down-like substance growing upon the smooth bark, par-
m ticularly around and immediately below the axils
i where the limbs are given off from the main trunk
of the tree. Often small white spots of this
same substance are scattered irregularly and more
or less densely over the whole of the bark from one
whorl of limbs to another. It is upon the north or
shaded side of the trees that these patches are most numerous,
and upon the lower part of the body of the tree, where the foliage
of the limbs growing above, produce a constant shade. Those
parts of the body of the tree which are much exposed to the light
of the sun are seldom, if ever, coated with any of these spots.

ae

      

Where a tree is much coated with this white substance, it be-
comes sickly and presents a slender, dwindled appearance, its
leaves are short and stinted in their growth, and of a dull green
color, and the annual growth of the tree is much curtailed.

If, with the point of a needle, this white cottony substance be
carefully parted asunder, under it, attached to the bark of the
tree, may frequently be found theinsect which is the cause of this
168 PINE. TRUNK-——-PINE BLIGHT.

evil. When parted under a magnifier, the white matter appears
like very fine Saxony wool, the crinkled fibers drawing apart as
do those of wool. And under them, in each tuft, is discovered
by means of the lens, a cluster of the insects alluded to, huddled
closely together and fixed to the bark. They are so very minute,
and so like the bark in their color, that it was not till after re-
peated examinations that I was able to detect them. The insect
is a louse, so exceedingly small as to be wholly imperceptible to
the naked eye, and is discovered with difficulty even when the
eye is aided by a magnifying glass. Of these lice the larger indi-
viduals are little over the hundredth part of an inch in length,
and smaller ones are associated with them not half this size.
They are broad oval and nearly hemispherical in form, soft, of a
black or blackish brown color, with their backs coated over more
or less with a whitish meal like powder. Three pails of legs are
perceptible, which are equidistant from each other. They are
short, filiform and black. Little more than what has now been
stated can be discerned with a common magnifying glacs. When
placed upon white paper, the dark color of the insect renders it
very perceptible, and a very slight motion may be seen, but for
which, one would deem it a speck of shapeless inorganic matter.
Its powers of locomotion are so small that it does not zttempt to
erawl away from the point where it is placed, a slight gliding
motion, to the distance of little more than a hair’s breadth, being
all that it commouly accomplishes.

When highly magnified, the white meal-like substance upon the back of this insect
is found to be a mass of short curling uneven filaments, coating the back and giving it
arough, shaggy appearance. The legs are short and robust, the shanks being near-
ly equal tu the thighs in diameter, and the feet but li.tle narrower at base than the
shanks ; they are conical, and seem to be of one single piece, ending at tip in two
minute short bristle-like setaz. The shanks are but little longer than broad and
slightly enlarged towards their tips. The thighs are slightly longer than the shanks
and thickest in their middle. There are no thread-like or other projections at the
hind end. The head appears to be separated from the body by avery faint trans-
verse line. In the meal-like powder with which it is coated. no antenna or organs
to the mouth can be discerned, but oa carefully rubbing off this powder two little
projecting conical points, one upon each side of the head, standing outwards Jike
little ears, appear to represent the antenne. Often the white powder upon the back
appears like transverse bands, separated from each other ly the slightly constricted

black sutures of the body. The flat under side of the budy is-of a pale color, and in
some individuals the upper side is also tinged with pallid.
PINE. TRUNK—PINE BLIGHT. 169

I have never succeeded in discovering any winged individuals
of this species, and hence cannot decide with confidence as to its
genus. The one jointed feet indicate that it pertains to the Family
Coccipa of the Order Homoprera, and the facts in its history which
are above recited, leave but little doubt that it belongs to the ge-
nus Coccus as restricted in systematic works at the present day.

By many the white pine is much esteemed asa shade treet
around dwellings, particularly upon their north and west sides,
for breaking off the winds of our severe northern winters. It is
also highly prized as an ornamental tree in those sections of our
country where it does not grow naturally. Hence whatever re-
tards the growth and impairs the health of these cultivated trees,
becomes a matter of interest. I have repeatedly noticed this
blight upon transplanted trees, but have never observed it upon
trees growing in their native situations.

There is every probability that scrubbing the affected parts of
a tree with soap-suds, will prove a sovereign remedy for this as
it is known to be for other species of lice. And this remedy will
be of easiér application here, than in must other cases where it is
the small.twigs of trees which are infested with these vermin.
As this blight is located upon the trunks, chiefly of young trees,
it can be readily reached by the scrub-broom. The remedy is so
simple and so easy of application, that no one should suffer the
young pines in his yards to dwindle and become stinted and sick-
ly from this cause.
INFESTING GARDEN VEGETABLES.

ao

THE CABBAGE.

AFFECTING THE LEAVES.

Hating holes in the outer leaves late in autumn; a small cylindrical pale green
worin, wriggling briskly when disturbed, and letting itself down by.a thread,

The Caspace Mors. Cerostoma Brassicella.

One of the most important culinary vegetables which we culti-
vate, the cabbage, is in Europe subject to the attacks of quite a
number of caterpillars and moths, some of which prey voraciously
upon it. In our own country this vegetable probably has as
many of these enemies as abroad ; but so little attention has been
bestowed upon our noxious insects, that only two of these have as
yet been publicly noticed—the cut worm, which is everywhere
such a grievous pest, and the caterpillar of our white butterfly,
which, ho:vever, subsisting upon mustard, turnip, and most other
plants of the extensive order Crucifere, seldom invades cabbages
in such numbers as to injure them. But I come to speak of
another worm, a moth, which makes greater havoe upon the
leaves of the cabbage than any insect which has yet been noticed
at home or abroad. And although it has not yet been observed
within the confines of our own State I entertain no doubt that it
exists here, and that it will at times become multiplied in par-
licular localities, to the same extent that it has been in one of our
sister States the past season.

In the neighborhood of Ottawa, Illinois, in October last, I ob-
served the cabbage leaves in the gardens perforated with nume-
rous holes of variable size and irregular form, by a small green
worm. Some gardens were so much infested that all the outer
CABBAGE. LEAVES-—CABBAGE MOTH. 171

leaves of the cabbages were literally riddled with holes, more
than half their substance being
eaten away. And at almost every
step, numbers of the little moths
which hatch from these worms
would arise upon the wing and
flit away a few yards, to some
covert. Fortunately, it is only
the free outer leaves of the cab-
bage which are preyed upon by
this worm, whilst the compacted
inner leaves, forming the head,
on which the value of this vegetable depends, are left uninjured.
But there is no doubt the eating away of the outer leaves, to such
an extent as is frequently done by this worm, weakens and stints
the growth of the head, which, it is well known, continues to
advance in size until the very end of the season. And among
those varieties of the cabbage which do not form large and com-
pact heads, such as the Savoy and broccoli, this moth must be
utterly ruinous. Even if it did no direct injury to the vegetable,
the presence of these little green worms, in such numbers upon
the leaves, wriggling about so spitefully when disturbed, is quite
annoying; and the eroded leaves mar the tidy appearance of the
garden. ,

 

It is a little remarkable that this species occurs in all its states
so late in the autumn as the middle of October, as the several
British moths which are co-generic with it all make their appear-
ance in July and August. Itis hence altogether probable that
there are two generations of the moth in each year; and if so, the
first generation will make its appearance, it is quite likely in the
month of June, or at all events before the heads have begun to
form and when all the leaves are young, open, and adapted for
its resort. It will consequently be liable, then, to do great
injury to this vegetable.

This worm, in its appearance, motions and habits, has a close
resemblance to the Palmer worm which has recently stripped
the foliage from our orchards and forests so extensively, and to
172 CABBAGE. LEAVES—CABBAGE MOTH.

which, as we shall presently see, it is nearly related. When it is
disturbed, with a wriggling motion it runs briskly backwards, or
by a fine cob-web like thread lets itself down from the leaf. Its
castings are little black grains; which appear like gunpowder
sprinkled thickly over the leaves and the ground beneath them.
The pupa or chrysalis is enveloped in a very pretty gauze-like
cocoon, which may be found attached to thee ten
359 leaves, two or more of them frequently in a clus-
ter together. It is spun of clean white threads,
crossing each other and forming an open net-work, through the
meshes of which the inclosed chrysalis may be distinctly seen.
The threads composing the net-work are coarsish and not very
stout. They may readily be broken with the point of a needle,
and the inclosed pupa be thus removed from its case fur exami-
nation, though the cocoon is so slightly attached to the leaf that
it is frequently torn loose in thus breaking it open.

 

Interspersed with these gauze-like cocoons upon the leaves,
others may be met with quite different in their appearance, being
opake and ofa thick paper-like texture and a brown color. They
are of an eliptic form, rounded at both ends, and only about the
tenth ofan inch long and a third as broad. These have been
constructed by the larve of parasitic Ichneumon-flies which have
destroyed the worms of the cabbage moth. And from the infor-_
mation I possess, it appears that this parasite deposits but a single
egg in each worm, from which a maggot hatches, which feeds
internally upon the worm, yet without attacking any vital part
whereby the worm would be prematurely destroyed. Thus the
parasite, as in other cases of this kind, attains its growth at the
same time that the worm reaches maturity, when the muggot
finishes its work by destroying the little that remains of its foster
parent, and immediately incloses itself in this paper-like cocoon.
Of three mature worms which I inclosed in a small box over
nizht, only two were found the next morning. All vestiges of
the third had disappeared, and in place of it was ong af these
paper-like cocoons.

But as the worm of the Cabbage moth is such a choleric, mer-
curial little fellow that when he is molested, be it ever so slightly,
CABBAGE. LEAVES—CABBAGE MOTH. 173

he darts backwards and wriggles about so suddenly and spitefully,
it will be an interesting topic for some future observer to notice
by what artifice his mortal fue induces him to remain quiet or is
able to cling to him long enough to puncture and drop an egg
Within hisskin. The knowledge and skill which these Ichneumon
and other parasitic Hymenopters often show in their proceedings
is truly wonderful. Every person will recollect the larva of the
Isabella tiger-moth (Arctia Isabelld)—the large caterpillar with
stiff even-shorn hairs of a tan color and black at each end of his
body, which crawls about our yards and often enters our dwell-
ings—and will probably have observed the fact that if when
crawling he isrudely touched he suddenly stops and doubles him-
self together for a moment, and then straightens himself again
and resumes his journey. The long stiff hairs with which he is
protected much like a porcupine, we should think would render
it impossible for an insect enemy to place an egg anywhere upon
his skin. Mr. P. Reid tells me he once saw one of these cater-
pillars crawling with a hurried eager step across a dusty road,

with an Ichneumon fly pursuing him, striving to cling upon his
back, but falling off in consequence of the rapid motion of the
caterpillar. The fly finding itself frustrated in its every effort,
next, as if humming to itself the refrain “‘’Twill never do to give
. it up so,” flew a few feet forward of the caterpillar, and turning,
darted back with all its energy, hitting the caterpillar square in
his face. The caterpillar thus roughly assailed suddenly stopped
and bent himself together in his accustomed manner, and in an
instant the fly, alighting upon his back, appeared to fix an egg at
the margin of one of the breathing pores, which had become fairly
exposed by the caterpillar doubling his body thus together. Ina
moment the caterpillar was recovered from his shock and was
crawling rapidly forward again, when the fly struck him a second
time in the same way, and thus he was stopped and had an egg
deposited upon his side three times, before he reached the tall
grass beside the highway, in which he was secure from further
molestation. And it is probable that by some artifice equally
curious and remarkable, the parasite of the Cabbage moth is able
to drop an egg into the skin of his irritable, brisk motioned
victim. |
174 CABBAGE. LEAVES—CABBAGE MOTH.

This moth pertains to the genus Cerostoma of Latreille and the
British entomologists, a genus belonging to the family Trverpa#, and
intimately related to that to which the Palmer worm pertains—both
genera having the feelers with a tuft of scales projecting forward
like a beak, from the middle of which beak the slender terminal
joint stands upwards like a little horn. The larve of the two
genera are also identical in their appearance and habits. The
genus Cerostoma is described as differing from that of Chetochilus
in having the wings narrower and rounded at their ends, differ-
ences which are so slight as to be scarcely discernable on a com-
parison of this species with the moth of the Palmer worm. The
antenn#, moreover, are directed forward instead of being turned
backwards and lying upon the back; but this is a character which
is liable to be deceptive except when observed in the living speci-
men. The light color of the inner margin of the wings, however,
and the lace-like cocoon of the pupa, leaveno doubt that it is the
genus Cerostoma to which our insect must be referred. Stephens
(Illustrations, Haustellata, vol. iv. p. 341) says the spiral tongue
in this genus is “‘shortish,” whilst Westwood (Humphrey’s British
Moths, vol. ii. p. 245) gives it as “long and slender.” The lat-
ter is certainly its character in our insect, where it is about equal
to the antenne in length. Our species is closely allied to the C.
porrectella, Lin., the worm of which Mr. Westwood found feed-
ing upon buds of the White Rocket, a plant of the same family
with the cabbage, and which forms an open-net work cocoon the
Same as our species.

The wora of the Cabbage moth is nearly cylindrical in its form, rather thickest in
the middle, and slightly tapering towards each end. It is over a quarter of an inch
long, measuring when full grown 0.35, and is the thickness of a coarse knitting
needle. It is variable in its color, but is most commonly pale green, of the same hue
as the cabbage leaf. Some are of a deeper tinge and others paler, varying to green-
ish yellow or pale yellow. Often the hind part of the body is paler than the fore
part. Frequently the head or the apical segment or both are pale yellow, the rest
of the body being of the usual green hue. Individuals may sometimes be met with
having the head dusky or black with dusky clouds. The neck is fre-
quently tinged with red. Commonly a stripe along the middle of the
back is more or less distinct, of a deeper green color, or blackish in
places; and on each side of the back a similar stripe may be dis.
cerned, whilst low down on each side a whitish stripe is sometimes
apparent. With a magnifying glass the body is perceived to be
clothed with several short black hairs which proceed from minute

 
CABBAGE., LEAVES—CABBAGE MOTH’ 175
/

black dots each of which is surrounded. by a faint pale ring. These dots are sym-
metrically arranged, and are situated the same as'in numerous other larva of moths,
. ach of the segments of the body having four of them above , placed at the angles of
an imaginary square, of which the anterior side is shortest; whilst on each side are
four other dots, placed at the angles of an imaginary vhomnbise, the upper and lower
angles of which are very acute. There are numerous dots on the neck, and the head
is commonly freckled with a number of dark brown dots. There are sixteen legs,
and the two first segments of the abdomen at first glance appear to be furnished with
legs also, being bulged on their under sides, so-as to touch the surface on which the
worm stands.

The curygaxis or pupa is one-fourth of an inch long by 0.05 in width. It is com-

monly of a white color, with large deep-black eyes situated inside of the base of the

Gass antennee sheaths. Quite frequently the white color is varied

with umber-brown stripes, whereof there is one on each side of

the back, with a very slender brown line between upon the mid- —

dle of the back. The wing sheath is brown on the upper margin, with a brown stripe

in the middle and a more slender one inside of it, parallel to each other, and both

running into the marginal stripe, this last being prolonged upon the abdominal seg-

ments to the tip. The sheaths of the antenne and of the legs are also brown. These

brown stripes remain upon the pupa skin after the moth has been hatched from it,
but the black color of the eyes then disappears.

The winged morH measures 0.30 in length to the tips of the closed wings, and these
when expanded measure 0.58. It is'of an ash gray color. The fore wings are
freckled with black dots on the disk and apex and have « common white stripe on
their inner margin reaching to the hind angle, which stripe is wavy upon its inner
edge and near the middle of the wing is bordered by a dark brown streak ; the fringe
of these wings is traversed by one or more blackish lines which are parallel with the
margin. The hind wings and also the under sides of both pairs are leaden brown,
glossy, and without any spots or dots. The antenne and the under side of the abdo-
men are white. This moth is somewhat variable in the depth of its color, being fre-
quently dark gray, and the stripe on its wings is not always pure white and distinct.

Facts so far as observed indicate that when this and its kin-
dred species are favored with unusually dry weather at the date
of their appearance in the larva state, the species. suddenly be-
comes excessively multiplied, overrunning particular sections of
country like an invading army. When I observed this cabbage
worm a drouth was prevailing through northern Jlinois, that was
said to he without a parallel since its settlement. And hence we
infer that thoroughly showering the vegetation which is attacked,
with water, will be found a most effectual remedy for the expul-
sion of the worms of this group. With the cabbage moth this
measure can easily be resorted to, a common watering pot being
the only apparatus which is required.
*

THE GOOSEBERRY.

AFFECTING THE FRUIT.

The young fruit becoming red and putrid, containing within it one or more small bright
yellow maggots.

The GooseseRry MiDer.—Cecidomyia Grossularie.

It is common to find upon the gooseberry bushes in our gardens
some of the young fruit of a prematurely ripe appearance, turn-
ing red and dropping to the ground. Some years much of the
fruit is lost in this way. This premature ripening of the grose-
berry is caused by insects puncturing and depositing their eggs
in it. We have at least two insects which thus attack the goose-
berry. One of these appears to be a species of moth which J have
not yet obtained in its perfect state. The other is the larva of a
midge or a small two-winged fly, of the genus Cecidumyia and
family Treutiom. On examining some of these affected gooseber-
ries early in July, their pulp was found to be putrid and infested
with small maggots of a bright yellow color and oval form, their
bodies divided into segments by five impressed transverse lines,
and their whole appearance being closely like the larve of the
Wheat midge, found in theears of wheat. These completed their
transformations and gave out the winged flies the latter part of
the month of July. In size, number of joints to the autenne, ete.,
these correspond with the C. Ribesit of Europe, but that is des-
cribed by Macquart (Dipteres, vol. i. p. 162,) as having black
bands upon the thorax, the abdomen blackish, &c. Hexce it is
evidently a much darker colored species.

The Gooseserry Mince is scarcely the tenth of an inch in length to the tips of
the closed wings. It is of a pale yellow color, the thorax paler than the abdomen
and of a wax-yellow hue; eyes black; antenne blackish, of twelve joints, separated
by hyaline pedicels one third as long as the joints, which are short-cylindrical with
rounded ends, their length scarcely more than double their breadth; legs straw yellow
faintly tinged with dusky towards their tips; wings hyaline faintly tinged with dusky.

It is probable that those flies which come out the latter part of
July deposit a second crop of eggs in the gooseberries, or else re-
sort to some other fruit of a similar nature, and that the larve
which come from these eggs lie in the ground during the winter;
for we do not perceive how, otherwise, there can be flies in June
to deposit their eggs in the young fruit.

All fruit upon the gooseberry bushes which is found premature-
ly decaying and assuming a ripened appearance, and all which
falls to the ground, shouid be gathered and thrown into the fire,
to destroy the worms which the berries contain. By attention to
this measure the haunts of this insect in the garden can be easily
broken up, whereas, if this step is neglected the evil will be liable
to continue year after year. As this insect breeds equally
well in the wild gooseberries, we cannot hope to extermiuate it
from our country. But none of these wild gooseberries should be
permitted tu grow in the vicinity of the garden, for from them,
if near, this midge will continually be finding its way to the
bushes of the cultivated gooseberry.
INDEX.

 

  
 

 

       
   

 

Acinia Noveeboraceniis,.........055 67 | Apple leaf-louse,........... Seine 59
‘¢ Solidaginis,.......... seeeee 66] ‘  plant-louse,........... ve. 49, 54
Aligeria exitiosa,...eeseeeeeee 108, D142) 8 thTIPS. cca seceses enews 102
‘Agrilus AGL, snatmeitss Sarerscata is Gia eats, WE] E> ARCS DUNGY cece sony neces 7, 50
albicornis, Chrysopa, ...........06. CL] EE LE POLE. vgs ee seiy sees 11, 25
Aleurodes, sarc eciieieie Meares ae ea ae 96 fe “ Jady-bird,........ scensiges 99
Aleuronia, new genus,......- savers 2O0)|) S84 POOt DU gh ties cad sserarancvsreteyavataans 5
He Westwoodii, ... ....... 98 | arborum linearis, Coccus, ....... 81, 34
Alternated lace-wing,..... Sparano Shel 93 | Arctia Isabella,.......... eee eee eee 1738
alternatus, Hemerobius, ........... 93 | Armadillo, .......... ye eaeeee eae 118
AMICIUIG a8 re a deiaia ace scsidiaisresiata diatesie Ss 141] Ashy plume, .........-... cece eee 144
Americanus, Ixodes, ........-.0005 117 | Asteris, Tephritis, ................ 66
: Pemphigus, Tes ste ete 7 | Asters, galls on. .........., i apatehalacs 66
amiculus, Hemerobius,............ 95 Aspidiotus conchiformis, -....... 31, 34
Anatis 15- -punctata,.. seesseeeeeee 99 a Jug ANS, coe ews ganas 85
Ant, CATPENLEL, oe eeeeeeeeeeereees 152 a ROSH) css saae ney 4 345005 385
CRETE) vies evs panes saaseces 180 | Bark- louse py OPPlO sy exciecten wee eoaes 81
“little yellow, sateen sdb a sie Siete 129 butternut, ........... . 35
«¢ New-York,.......- eesee 61, 180 ce currant, é
‘Pennsylvania, .....-+...e2eee 152 ee ozier, .
‘silky, ..... a aid ay eae PSE S's 154 if Palys vamerey ss te
“troublesome, ...-...eeee se ees 129 e LOSE) esau
(6 WalWUtisc2 vs vase Gecs as sas ee 151 | Beetle tick, ......... ccc eee eeees
‘C wood-eating, ..... Rie . 61, 152 | bipunctata, Chrysopa,
Ants, larvae Of, .....seceeeeereeees 153 | Black-margined aphis,
‘¢ with plant-lice,......--..-.+5 60| Blight, apple root,............
evans POVUS eet ass sees sees sree AO ‘¢ apple tree, .-.. es eeeaes
ChELTy, ooo cee ee eee ee ees 138 pines reise aca ieaalnla pate 4-6
re CTANDEITY, -- see ee cece eee 187 | Blue wasp ysssccesakeoewayawewenss
(  enot-weed, ......ee.eeee 136 | Bordered cicadi,..............0008
ee Lactucaphis, ............ 136 | Borer, apple tree, ..............
lettuce,......+-- sewig sts 136 ‘¢  hickory,....+..e005 Sa See shi
#6 Polygonaphis, ........... 136 CO OAK cslen necro seee yeaa aes
“ poplar, ...eseeeeeeeeees - 187 6G peach tree, .......... wssuye 108
" WILLOW, oo. cence eee eee eee 137 | Brassicella, Cerostoma,............ 107
Aphis GENUS. Loree ee cere eee eeeeee 163 | brevicornis, Sphyracephalus, ....... 69
bursariug,.......-+--- teseens 7 | Brown-bordered plume,.........++. 104
Cary, ..--s dine eee ReS 166 | Buprestis, apple..... aheehecarevenack heats 25
6 Caryella, ..--sseeeeeeee ences 163 | bursarius, Pemphigus, .......... 7, 158
6 Cerasi,...-seeeeee ¥ 32| Butternvt bark-louse, ......... » 325
“¢  Cerasicolens, .....+- Byrsocrypta genus,........ ee 7
‘© Cerasifoliz, ....-.e..eeeeeeee Cabbage moth,............ iaea cans 170
fC cherry, ..-+-s-eeee eec%ae L205 132 Canadian Tetanocera, sae err 68
“ cherry-inhabiting, ........... 181 | candida, Saperda,.......ssseeeeeee 19
“ cherry-leaf, 6.1... .seeeeeee «. 131 canicularis, Cicada; .sieesvecas sees 89
‘¢ fumipennella, ...... si dcalgiauneiens 166 | Carpenter ants, sve. Rishnibenrebasiele Bes aves 152
‘€ hickory-gall, ..--+-..seeeeee - 155) Caryz, Aphis,.......+. ‘
“ little black- margined, xseeiear 166 ‘Formica, ......-.
“ 6 dotted-winged, ........ 165 ‘¢ — Lopbocampa,
“ f€ hickory, ....-2--eeeee. 163 | Caryzecaulis, Pemphigus, .......... 155
‘©  smoky-winged, ....-... 166 | Caryella, Aphis. ............ i asec 163
‘ ‘¢  spotted-winged,........ 166 | Castaneee, Hemerobius,........... » 94
6 maculella, ....eeeeeee Sakon 166 Cecidomyia, (ja Maxccnusxwee eawaws 77
66 Mali, ... cece cece eee eee .. 49, 54 ae Grossularize, Saco Papen’ 176
6 Malifolia,......eeees ‘i Centipede, ......... pMieeeesenaaiey kde
(© marginella,.....-..seeeeeeee Cerambyx, tiger, ..... sattayeetas's LAG
6  Ppuntieed medtinarvaasiorimasse He woolly,.......... Sievaib-aze 150
“ Prunifoliw, ...... wxoabereans Cerasaphis, Trioxys, ....s-....e00. 138
‘© punctatella,....-.-..- Cerasi, Aphis, .........- evseda's san D256
«© Tlie, ..--. a a tn Sk OE MVNA) c's 9:6 Bele g o'eleis Fa eicle 130
‘© Ulmi.....- “ardashanan eee pao Cerostoma genus,........... - 174
& Woolly,.ceseeeereeeee: “«__ Brassicella,........ "170, 175
Apple bark-louse,....-.+++. Chalcidide, nies. aesisseradnessas 26
178 INDEX. e

Chalky plume,........--- ceseeeeee 145 | filicornls, Chrysopa,....sssssseeee- OF

Cherry Aphidius,........- seeeeeee 188] filosus, Chrysopa,......- weacwwnite “OL
me Tahabitiug aphid; sasacese: 181 | Fissipennes, .......0.eeeeeeseeeeee 141
“« Jeaf aphis,..... ah olayayaiel aaa . 181] Flies, golden-eyed,........+-++-- 82-92,

sie 125, 10

««  plant-louse, .......
tocecee 94

Chestnut lace-wing,........-

  

 
    
 

  

  
 

 

 

66  Tohneumon,......ssececeeeee 134
“© Jace-winged, .

 

  

  

  
 

 

Chi, Chrysopa,....+seesecseeee sere OF] ff mealy-winged, . mitwennexeccs 96
Cheetochilus genus, . sesaceceoeccces AT4} 66 Syrphus, -...-seeseeseeeeees 100
Chrysobothris dentipes,............ 29] Fly, golden-rod,...-.+..-2.-2+.0-+ 66
femorata,........-.. 25] ‘ honey-dew,....+-s-seeceeeees 65
Chrysopa genus, ........ Gaeta «. 82] Formica Cary, .ossceessesceeeees 7
¢ species Of,....eeereeeee 84-92 ‘¢ herculeana, ...-+.......0-
Cicada Robertsonii, .. siatgnee: 89 “  Jigniperda,.....+..--.. 61, 153
«  septemdecim,.....+..e.+--- 38 ee Noveeboracensig, ......++.. 62
(¢  guperba,...-+se.eees seeeeee 89 s¢  Pennsylvanica,............ 152
cineridactylus, Pterophorus, ....... 114 sc subsericea,......ee06. seve 154
Clean golden-eye,....- seeceeeeeeee 88} Formicee, Uropoda,........++++++2 152
Cloudy plume, ........ - sicssseee 145| Freckled lace- “WING, .cccceeccsrece - 92
Coccinella 15 punctata,.......6.00. 99 (€ plumes. ec eeeeeeeceeeeees 145
es Malis, ssarvcisiee se es eee 3 99 | Frosted cicada, ........ diet yniecene OD
Coccinellide, ........-- sarees eae a . 98) falvibucca, Chrysopa, ...........2- 86
Coccophagus,....+.eseseeeees eseas LOT fumipennella, Aphis, ......0--55++. 166
Cocecus arborum-linearis, cede - 81, 84] Galls on asters,..-......seeesesee. 66
‘© Pinicorticis, ...........+... 167 “ ~ golden-rod,..... see - 66, 67
60 PTI) wessencediviee geececeee 100 <€ — grape leaves, siedsigas awe LOS
‘¢  Pyrus Malus, ....-. sie ecewaas 383 st hickory twigs,............ 155
coeruleus, Pelopceus, .....+...2..-. 62 s¢  poplars,....-++. seesesecee 158
coleoptratorum, Gamasus,......... 153 | Gamasus coleoptratotum,.......... 153
Colon golden-eye,....-+ svecceesees 88} Gartered plume, ....... seer eeeeee 139
conchiformis, Aspidiotus, ....... 81, 84] Geometridae, ......6..cceeeeeeeeee 74
Confluent Porcellio,............... 119] glaber, Porcellio, .........++2.---- 119
Coniopteryx Tineiformis, .......... 96 Glassy’ lace-wing, ....... 95
conjunctus, Hemerobius,...... seeee 94} Golden-eye, Signoret’s,.... 82
Conotrachelus elegans,........ weeee 156 ee species of, .... 84-92
« Jarva, ....++. 158} Golden-rod fly, .....seeeeeceeesee. 66
& Nenuphar, ........06 156 7 Galls, -. eer eeeeeeeee 66, 67
Consumptive golden-eye,........... 92] Gooseberry midge,. sail siorajpeciarsieaiueis 176
Counterfeit golden-eye,....... «eee. 89) Grape leaf galls,....  sssseeseeees 158
Cranberry Aphidius, ..... sesceases DBT 8 © JOUse, vases eweies Paisiniesa: ADS
cretidactylus, Pterophorus, ........ 145 «¢ vine plume, ....... eocceesee 139
Creviced cicada, .......e..eeeeee+- 389] Grossularie, Cecidomyia, ssivewreiee 176
Crustacea class,......esseeeeeeeeee ILT | guttularis, ‘Tetanocera, ae asiwa 68
Currant bark-louse, .........s060.2. 34 Harris’s golden- SCY O, wee cseseuscenws 90
delicatulus, Hemerobius,.. seceseesees 96} Hemerobiide, ..... SSeeweencasenan 0!
dentipes, Ghrysobothris,. seseee oes 29} Hemerobius, species of,.......... 92-96
Destructive Aigeria,....cecseeeeees 110 | herculeana, Formica,. imeevekeoewen EL
Diaspis linearis, .....e,seeeee ..- 81, 34} Hickory aphis, avons winsicisielroaveaecase LO)
Diopsis brevicornis,...........+6.. » 69 0 DOVEL, gseceeene esswxascas 146
(  thoracica, ....ceessesecees . 69 0” Paap his jaseeecw veniea-s 6.8 ¥ 5 155
Disagreeable golden- -eye,.. Disreporet tear . 84 ‘¢ tussock moth, ..... deine ys ADD
Dog-day cicada, .....ssseesseeeees 89| Hog-lice, .... 2.0.08 Aiineeekeeus sx LIT
dorsalis, Porcellio, .....+.......... 121 | Honey-dew,..... Sienieitaas. “BO:
Dotted-horned golden-eye,......... 92 ae DY seicwsaw eens isis eck’, (BO
«¢  -winged aphis,.............. 165 | Hornet,. ern . 62
a “  Tetanocera,......... 68 | hyalinatus, Hemerobius,. eeeseceeee 95
Dragon-flies,..... Seskints iSaae eae ++++. 48] Ichneumon-flies,........... eeeeeee 184
Eggs of insects, .........4 «ese. 78, 85] illepida, Chrysopa,............2... 84
‘¢ spiders, .....@-........+.. 76 | immaculatus, Porcellio,............ 120
elegans, Conotrachelus,....... «see 156 | Inch- -worms, peameR RENTS ed we Taree Ok
Elegant weevil, ......... «eee 156, 158 Insects, distinctive marks, ......... 117
emuncta, Chrysopa,. icouehoatcene 8 | irroratus, Hemerobius, ai ene Be e35 92
Eriosoma lanigera, ......... Isabella tiger moth, ............... 178
““ Mali, ..... eles Isopoda order,....++...0.. 20.0... 118
s¢ on hickory, ............. 166] Ixodes Americanus,... eaeenee eee ELT
exitiosa, Algeria, ........... Jaws of Aphis- ‘lions, (SEEKER UE
Fagi, Agrilus,......... seseeeeeees 72) Juglandis, Aspidiotus,........ .... 35
femorata, Chrysobothris, srawionoeeate » 25) UUlUS, ay cceviwsixvisaccccec seelaeer WELe:
Fifteen-spotted lady-bird,.......... 99 | Knot- weed Aphidius,.............. 136
‘

INDEX.

Lace-winged flies,........seeeeee 92-96
Lactucaphis, Aphidius,............ 136
Lady-bird, 15-spotted,....
lanigera, Eriosoma,.............. 7, 50
Larva of ants,......cceesceenerees 158

  

    
 

6 Jady-birds,............. 98
ke Monohammus,....+..-..+ 149
‘¢ Syrphus,........... 100, 158
‘es weevils,..... : sesecee 158

-striped Porcellio, ..........
lateralis, Porcellio,.....e.eeeeeeees
Leaf-louse, apple,.....ceseeeeseees
SVAPC, sc ecvecsceecseees
plum,.....-.
Lecanium Pyri,..........cseeeeeee
Lettered Tephritis,..........+0
Lettuce-louse Aphidius,.....
Libellulidae, .......cccecee sence
ligniperda, Formica,........... 61,
limatus, Porcellio, .ccscscseseseeee 120

Lateral-spotted Porcellio, i

“

ee

  

limbalis, Porcellio,...sseeeseeeeses 121
linearis, Diaspis,.....- sesecceeee OL, 84
lineaticornis, Chrysopa,..... .+.... 91

Little black-margined aphis, ....... 166
dotted-winged aphis, ........ 165

  
 

   
  

  

“friend lace-wing, ..... eae 95
‘¢ hickory aphis, ..... 7 --. 163
‘© smoky-winged aphis, ........ 166
‘¢  spotted-winged aphis,........ 166
(¢ yellow ant, .seseeecceeceeees 129
Lobe-winged plume, ..... wenseans 143
lobidactylus, Pterophorus,.. . 143
Locust, seventeen-year, ....+--.-+- 388
Lophocampa Carye, .....2-ecee--. 159
Louse, apple, ..... a8 wees 49, 54
apple bark, ............. 31, 34

‘¢ butternut. bark,......+..-+. 35

(€ CHETTy,. cece ee seeeeeseeee 125

‘¢ cherry-inhabiting, .......... 131

66 cherry leaf, .....e. eee eeeee 131
“currant Dark,.ceecsseereeee 34

‘© prape leaf,....seeeees e838 158

‘¢ ozier bark, ....-+-+ sietanmere OF

‘© pear bark, ......e+eee+- 82, 105

6 plum, ...seeeeeee dates 122

& plum-leaf,........eeeeseee- 122

f¢ rose bark, .....++-+++- soee. 86
maculata, Vespa, ..+ssseereceeeeee 62
maculella, Aphis, ....eseceeceeeeee 166

Mali, Aphis, ...cceceecceeessese 49, 54
Coccinella, .. 99

6€ Eriosoma, ..ceseeeeseeeess 7
«© Phieothrips,.....-.+--+-+++- 102
Malifolia, Aphis, .......sesee-ee+- 56
Many- -spotted Porcellio, ... ...-++- 121
marginata, Cicada,.......+-seee+05 39
Margired Porcellio, .....s++e-eeee- 121
marginella, Aphis, .....+-.++see+s . 166
marginidactylus, Pteropherus peoesas 144
Mealy-winged flies, . 96
Meleoma, new genus,. 82
ee Signoretii, ..
melliginis, Tephritis, ........
Midge,.....ccccccceccscccrnsecees
we gooseberry, seteenseise serait. aie 176
Millipedes, seaceae'senee ALT
minuta, Myrmica,....+sessseeeeees 129

eer eeraereccesce

  
 

 

mixtus, Porcellio,..

   

179

saseeudietaasere- 120

Mississippi golden-eye, .........6.. 86
molesta, Myrmica,........e.0.2... 129
Monohammus tigrinus,........ 146, 150
a tomentosus, ......... 150
Moth, cabbage, ....... ...eeeeeeee 170
‘¢ “‘Tsabella tiger, ........0e-0+4 178
Moths split-winged, ............... 141
multiguttatus, Poreellio, eeseecesecs 121
Myrmica Cerasi,........-+.- seceee 180
(  minuta, ...ceeeeeeseeeeee 129
(€ — Molesta,.,cceseereceeceee 129
Myzoxylus Mali,.. avoaecwemeee oP
neevosidactylus, Pterophorus, weverwas LAD:
nebuledactylus, Pterophorus,...... 145
Nenuphar, Conotrachelus,.......... 156
New-York Acinia,........ cacaaou-<OU
a BNE icgniicewinm en es «. 62, 1380
ee golden-eye,......eseeeee 90
O-marked golden-eye,......+....5. 85
Oak borer, ..... ccc cece w eee neces - 28
occidentalis, Hemerobius,.......... 95
ocellata, Coccinella,............. «- 99
Omikron, Chrysopa,.......6- sidiersisias 80
Oniscidze, ........ceeceeeeseeceeee LID
Osier bark louse,.............0.-.. 34
Parasites of apple borers,.... veces 26
bark lice, ..... «ee. 86, 107
sé cabbage moth, ....... 172
ee - Isabella tiger moth,.... 178
Peach tree borer, .......-.-.. 108, 114
Pear bark louse, .........+.... 36, 105
Pelopoeus cceruleus,............005 62
Pemphigus Americanus,........... 7
bursarius,..........0685 158
e Caryzecaulis,.. veeeceseeee 155
e SPY THs ciadesiaicis ists 5
a Vitifolie, iG ahistervs -». 158
ec on walnut leaves,. ssteeie 166
Pennsylvania ant, ..... Soesaauuunes 152
periscelidactylus, Pterophorus, . ieee 139
Perla, Chrysopa,..... Huesca eu a. 91
Phizothrips Mali jeisisas a's cise eaiete aie 102
Pine blight, ............- veteneece LOE
Pine-bush lace-wing,......... sage 8D
Pinicorticis, Coccus,......... veeeee 167
Pinidumus, Hemerobius,........... 95
plorabunda, Chrysopa, ....... veces, 88
Plant-louse, apple, ..........+.. 49, 54
es cherry, ..... wees. 125, 182
cs cherry leaf, ........... 181
te plum, .......... eoeeee 122
fs plum leaf,............. 122
Plum leaf louse,........... sagan st 222
“ce

Plume set spavies,
Polygonaphis, Praon,..

Poplar Aphidius, .....
Populaphis, Trioxys,........

6“ gpecies,....seeeeseee

porrectella, Cerostoma,...
Praon Polygonaphis, .......
“¢  Viburnaphis, .........0.+-

 

Preserver lace-wing, ...-..+es.ss+-
‘Pretty Porcellio,..........-

  

eevee 141-145
186
sasesecvecee 187

sewers 187
Porcellio genus, ....... aie Paetarecarets

118

. 119-121
180

389

eee

pruinosa, Cicada, .....ssseeeees

  

 

Pruni, Aphis,.......++.-sseeeeee +. 122
Prunifoliz, Aphis, ...... eo» 122
pseudographa, Chrysopa, .-.+..... . 89
Pterophorus periscelidactylus, jayne 139

“ | species, .....+.... 148-145
punctatella, Aphis,..... desvewaces - 165
puncticornis, Chrysopa, .......... - 92
Pyri, Eriosoma, .... ..sessseeeeee 5

Lecanium, .........-+- veeeee 105

‘¢ Pemphigus, .........- eee 5

Pyrus Malus, Coccus, ......-...... 33
quadrifasciata, Tephritis, - 65
quindecim-punctata, Coccinella,.... 99
Ribesii, Cecidomyia,...... Heaseiees %.. 176
rimosa, Cicada,..ceceseesecseeeces 39
Robertson’s cicada,

ee golden-eye,
Rose bark louse, ....+

Rough Porcellio,
Saliaphis, Trioxys,..
Saperda, bivittata,...

 

 
 
 

 
 

 

66 candida, .. cesses seeeoeee
Saratoga Tetanocera,..... saves aeaists 68
scaber, Porcellio, ........seeeeeeee 121
Schironeura genus,..... se eeenneee it
Sclaters, ..... oun weaseenmeeivestls
Scolopendra, . ....eeeee essence -. 117
Seveateen-year Locust,............ 38
Short-horned stem-eye, shaceisaienee . 69
Sichel’s golden-eye, .....- ewseasxae” 89
Signoret’s golden-eye,...... Sse 102
Silky ant,........... nveeieie swe 154
SIG6ETS). ids ciandeeasecas wardens 117
Slender-lobed plume, esha soaceee 144
Smoky-wingnd aphis, ...... sidwase 166
Smooth Porcellio .......---s0++ a
Snapping-beetle, thick-legged, . 25

“  tooth-legged,..... 29
Solidaginis, Acinia,
Solidago, galls, ...... BG
Sow-bugs, ...... aise alias eee
8 phyracephala brevicornis,........ - 69
ae sub-bifasciata, ...... 70
Spiders, ccscsxscseeeeeanawenese 68, 74

6 “CRES; wi saeewaecssssae evaee 76
Split- -winged moths,..... Sr 141
Spotted-winged aphis, .....

Stem-eye, short- horned, Savemiens deseo
fe two-banded,..........08
Stigma-marked lace-wiug, sits A
Stripe-backed Porcellio,...........
Striped lace-wing,...........000

{© Porcellid,.<sciasessuseee
Striped-horned golden-eye,........ 91
sub-bifasciata, Sphyracephala, ..... 70

subsericea, Formica,
Sulphur golden-eye, .
Superb cicada,.......
Syrphus-flies,. .
tabellaria, Tephritis, :

 

tabida, Chrysopa, Lomiexie cece ae
tenuidactylus, Pterophorus,. vecdaats LAE
Tephritis Asteris, ..... sete eeewees - 66
“ -lettered,..... sereeeeeeeee 66
te melliginis, cia Rees eeaee 65
ae tabellaria, .......... tsareer 166.
Tetanocera, Canadian,............. 68

 

INDEX.

 
 

Tetanocera, dotted-winged, ........ 68
ee Saratoga, ..... semevsne (68
Tetraneura genus,......++eeeeeeee 8
Thick-legged snapping beetle, Swine 25
thoracica, Diopsis, ....++++++..-+ - 69
Thousand-legged worm, ....+..+4+ 117
Thread-horued golden-eye, ....---- 91
‘like golden-eye,....+++.--. 91
Thrips, apple, ......-- Deisesidierass eee. 102
Tick, on ants, ...... see eneeesenes + 153
sf beetles, ....sseee eee aes «-- 153
Tiger CerambyXx, ..-+-+++e.eeeeeee 144
Tiger-moth, Isabella, sigialguets - 178
tigrinus, Monohammus,.. a) sia/avejecesSiniaes 144
Tiliz, Aphis,.......+.eeseeseeee «+ 164
Tineiformis, ConispteryX,.....-.... 96
Titman lace-wing,......-.seeeeeeee 96
tomentosus, Monohammus, ........ 150
Tooth-legged snapping-beetle,...... 29
trimaculata, Tephritis, .........-+. 65

Trioxys Cerasaphis, ...-....
“ Populaphis, ...

 

“«  Salicaphis, ....
Tritici, Cecidomyia, ........--...50
Troublesome ant, .......
Tussock-moth, hickory,
tutatrix, Hemerobius,.............
Two-banded stem-eye,...... aie miles - 70
Two-dotted golden-eye,....+...... . 87
Ulini, Apuis, cccccxetonesainane a cee 7
United-veined lace-wing, ...... seaw 94
Unspotted Porcellio, .............. 120
Upsilon, Chrysopa,..... inte yaigak sess s: -8T
Uropoda Formice,......-......+-. 153
ae VEZCLANG, sicisiccamecasiaces 154
Variegated Porcellio,......... eeeee 120
vegetans, Uropoda,
Vespa maculata,.. .........eseeee

Viburnaphis, Praon,
Virginia golden-eye,
Vitifolie, Pemphigus, ...

 

  
 

  
 

 

vittatus, Hemerobius, ......
a Porcellio, ........... cee ee
Walnut ant,............ ais
a borer, sav sieis WEEE Eau en ey 146
Wasp; DIWG ys a cctosicccicsaae cassadvos . 62
Weeping golden-eye, .............. 88
Weevil, elegant, ...... seseeee 156, 158
EF OPIUM cc ee Peis ees
Western lace-wing, ........
Westwood’s mealy-wing,........ see
Wheat midge, ...............
White-horned golden-eye,
Willow APlRIOSs cacagecuissainens 137
Wood-eating ants, .............005 152
Wood-lice, ............... ereeeane ly
Woodpecker, ....... sia - 19, 150
Wood-tick, -.es.ssseceeee ase, LLY
Woolly aphis, on apple,.. - 7, 50
oS hickory, .. <a «+. 166
«  Cerambyx,.... ....05 sseew 150
X-marked golden-eye, ...... ciewalees 87
xanthocephala, Chrysopa, SHinecawe 85
Y-marked golden-eye, ........ vues, ST
Yellow-ant, .......eccecuecnee seee 129
“ -cheeked golden-eye,........ 86
«¢  -headed golden-eye,. jaeeaewnke 85
«¢ jacket hornet,.............. 62

 
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