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 LIBRARY 
 

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 REPORT 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NOXIOUS, BENEFICIAL, AND OTIIER INSECTS 
 
 OP THE 
 
 STATE OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 BY ASA FITCH, M. D. 
 
 State Agricultural Rooms, 
 April 3 d, 1855 . 
 
 I 
 
 Hon. D. W. C. Littlejohn, 
 
 Speaker of the Assembly: 
 
 I herewith present a supplemental report of the New-York 
 State Agricultural Society, being the report on Noxious, Benefi¬ 
 cial, and other Insects, made by Asa Fitch, M. D., the entomo¬ 
 logist employed by the society in pursuance of the appropriation 
 made by the Legislature, at its last annual session, for an exami¬ 
 nation and description of the insects of the State, particularly 
 such as are injurious to vegetation. 
 
 This report was not completed at the time the annual report 
 was presented, and it is desired that it be printed in connection 
 with that report, of which it is designed as a part. 
 
 I am, very respectfully yours, 
 
 B. P. JOHNSON, 
 
 Cor. Secretary. 
 

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In Assembly, April 11, 1855. 
 
 Report of a select cotnmittee in relation to the report of the State 
 Agricultural Society on the “ Entomology of the State.” 
 
 Mr. S. B. Cole, from the select committee, to which was re¬ 
 ferred that portion of the State Agricultural Society’s report which 
 related to the “Entomology” of this State, have examined with 
 great interest the subject matter contained therein, and beg leave 
 to make the following report: 
 
 When the geological survey of the State was ordered by an act 
 of the Legislature of 1836, it was designed to obtain a full explo¬ 
 ration of the entire Natural History of the State. But in the pro¬ 
 gress of that survey, the eminent individual who had charge of 
 the zoological department, found his field so vast that it was im¬ 
 possible for him to accomplish all the work that had been assigned 
 to him; and having completed fiv e volumes upon the animals of 
 the State, thus presenting for publication an amount of matter 
 two-fold greater than that which was furnished by one of his col¬ 
 leagues in the original survey, he closed his labors without afiy 
 report upon the insects of. the State ; these forming a branch of 
 his department, in which for various reasons, he saw fit not to 
 engage. 
 
 The objects which were thus omitted, constitute a most im¬ 
 portant portion of our natural history. The number of their 
 species is six times as great as that of our plants. They are so 
 minute that they require the closest, most accurate, patient, and 
 persevering research. Hence, while every other department of 
 natural science has been assiduously explored in our country, by 
 a number of votaries, this remains comparatively uninvestigated. 
 Entire groups and families, including many scores and even hun¬ 
 dreds of species, have never been carefully examined, and a large 
 portion of the insects of our State, remain to this day, without so 
 
694 [Assembly 
 
 much as names by which to designate them, while of the remain¬ 
 der, comparatively few have been traced through the several 
 changes which they undergo, so as to acquaint us with their 
 entire history; yet in an economical point of view, no branch of 
 our natural history surpasses this in importance. Few are aware 
 of the amount of damage annually occasioned by insects. Not a 
 fruit or forest tree can be found within the borders of our State 
 that is not overrun, and more or less injured by one or another 
 class of these creatures; nor does there vegetate in our soil an 
 herb, on which at some period of its growth they do not commit 
 depredations. 
 
 The governments of other countries have been liberal in their 
 expenditures for investigations in this most intricate and obscure 
 department of science, and in many of these countries bounties to 
 a large amount are paid from the public treasury, for the destruc¬ 
 tion of the more pernicious species. In the south of France, at 
 particular seasons, the population of whole villages is occupied in 
 collecting and destroying the eggs and young of grasshoppers and 
 other noxious insects, to obtain the bounty paid therefor by 
 government. 
 
 Thus there were paid from the public treasury at Marseilles, in 
 one year 5,54-2 francs, in another 6,200; and in some years as 
 many as 25,000 francs have thus been paid for that purpose, and 
 similar sums in other provinces. Now, where our knowledge of 
 these creatures is so limited and imperfect, and where no atten¬ 
 tion is given to their destruction, we are sustaining an annual 
 loss and injury far greater than those of foreign countries. Yet 
 in France, it is the common estimate that property to the value 
 of twenty millions of dollars is annually destroyed by insects, 
 while in the State of New-York alone, we have full proof that a 
 single insect (the wheat midge) last summer destroyed property 
 to an amount exceeding fifteen millions of dollars, and could the 
 loss we sustain by the Hessian fly, the joint worm, (an insect 
 which has lately appeared) and innumerable other noxious species 
 within our borders, be ascertained and added to this, the aggre¬ 
 gate amount would be truly appalling. 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 695 
 
 It is not uncommon for the crops in some of cur wheat fields to 
 be entirely cut off. We have no accounts of such sweeping de¬ 
 struction as this ever taking place in Europe; indeed, such a 
 calamity there would reduce whole districts to beggary. Nor 
 have they any insect which strips the foliage from their trees to 
 an extent at all to compare with the Palmer worm of this country. 
 
 In view of the fact, that to complete the Natural History of 
 this State, as was originally designed, this branch was remainipg 
 to'be examined, and that these objects were so imperfectly known, 
 and were annually doing such a vast amount of damage, the Le¬ 
 gislature at its last session appropriated one thousand dollars with 
 which to commence this work. And it having been justly ob¬ 
 jected to the volumes of the Natural History of the State hereto¬ 
 fore published, that they were so purely scientific in their charac¬ 
 ter as to be unintelligible to the great mass of our citizens, and 
 hence, of little practical benefit to them, this examination of the 
 insects of the State was placed iu charge of the State Agricul¬ 
 tural Society, that the investigations might be conducted with a 
 direct reference to economy, as well as scientific accuracy. 
 
 The society here presents the report which has been prepared 
 pursuant to this appropriation. We find it a most interesting and 
 valuable production, embodying facts and observations of much 
 importance to the agricultural and horticultural interests of the 
 State. Pursuant to the instructions of the society, to the person 
 to whom this work was confided, it is chiefly occupied with an ac¬ 
 count of those insects which are injurious to fruit trees. Com¬ 
 mencing with the apple tree, those insects which infest the root, 
 the trunk, the bark, the leaves, and the fruit, are successively 
 considered. Next in similar order are considered those which in¬ 
 fest the pear, the plum t the peach, and the cherry tree. To these 
 are added several other species which appeared the last summer, 
 under circumstances favorable for learning their history and 
 habits, infesting the hickory, the maple, the pine, and other in¬ 
 digenous forest trees, and some which occur upon garden vege¬ 
 tables and flowers. 
 
606 
 
 An account is first given of the particular injury which each 
 species does to the vegetation which it infests ; to this succeeds a 
 description of the inseot itself, in the different stages of its exist¬ 
 ence, and finally an account is presented of the remedies by 
 which the insect can be destroyed, or the plant and tree which it 
 infests shielded from its attacks. The whole is couched in plain, 
 familiar language, perfectly intelligible to the general reader, and 
 giving a dear and distinct view of each topic discussed. It ^in¬ 
 tended also, to illustrate by wood cuts and engravings, the mode 
 in which the leaves, wood, &c., are gnawed or otherwise injured, 
 by each particular species, with figures of the insect in different 
 stages of its life. A number of the insects whose history is given 
 in the report, have never been named ami described before, al¬ 
 though occasional notices of the injuries done by some of them 
 have appeared in our agricultural periodicals ; and of the species 
 before known, the account here presented has been principally 
 drawn from original observations. 
 
 These observations frequently show that the accounts previously 
 published, even of some of the most common and injurious spe¬ 
 cies, are imperfect, and in some instances so inaccurate, that intel¬ 
 ligent nurserymen, farmers, and editors of agricultural papers, 
 have sometimes been misled, and have pronounced certain depre- 
 datorsto be a new and undescribed species. The full and thorough 
 examination that has been given to several of these species, has 
 led to the discovery of new and more efficient means for subdu¬ 
 ing them. For instance, the mode here pointed out for detecting 
 and destroying the apple tree borer, is so simple, and obviously so 
 effectual, that we doubt not, upon the publication of this report, 
 it will immediately attract notice, and will supercede all the 
 modes which have hitherto been employed for destroying this 
 most pei nicious insect. And your committee are of the opinion, * 
 that the able and interesting account which is here given of this 
 insect, will induce thousands of our orchardists henceforth to be 
 on the alert, and save their trees from this pest, now shown to 
 be so common, and thus annually save to our State, fiom the 
 depredations of this one insect, an amount much exceeding the 
 •sum required to continue these investigations. 
 
697 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 As it is the chief object of this examination to elicit and diffuse 
 information of much importance to our citizens, upon a subject 
 with which they are imperfectly acquainted, we would suggest 
 that an extra number of copies of the report be printed, for we 
 have no other legislative document which will be more accepta- 
 ' ble and profitable to our constituents in the rural districts, or to 
 any man who has even a fruit tree growing in his yard. 
 
 At the recent annual meeting, after a full consideration of this 
 subject, the State Agricultural Spciety, by a unanimous vote, 
 asked of the Legislature a continuance of the appropriation for 
 the ensuing year, but that vote not having been communicated to 
 the committee of ways and means, that item was not included in 
 the appropriation bill which passed the House last week. Cer¬ 
 tainly, if the request of any body of men merits consideration 
 from the Legislature, it is that of the State Agricultural Society, 
 convened at its annual meeting, embracing a large number of 
 our most intelligent and respec.table citizens from all parts of the 
 State, the very men upon whom the burthen of taxation most 
 heavily falls. 
 
 The document which has been referred to your committee fur- 
 , nishes ample evidence of the able and thorough manner in which 
 the work is conducted, and of the important information which 
 it will bring to light ; and when investigations of such value to 
 our citizens, and so important to science, can be secured by an ex¬ 
 penditure so small as the amount required for continuing this 
 work, your committee can but think the State does itself great 
 injustice, if it permits this examination of its insects to be sus¬ 
 pended ; indeed, the State is too poor to dp without the contribu¬ 
 tion which can thus be made to her resources, and science will 
 never excuse the Legislature, if it shall refuse the appropriation 
 for this work. It has been a topic of remark and congratulation 
 in scientific circles of Europe, which appreciate its importance, 
 that the additions which will be made to the science by the ex¬ 
 ploration of the insects of this State, will be of great value to 
 the student of “ American Entomology.” 
 
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 NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 The committee to whom the entomological report of Asa Fitch, 
 M. D., was committed, most respectfully report, 
 
 That they have examined said report with much interest, and 
 that it displays great care, as well as research, in relation to the 
 insects injurious to fruit trees, which are there described: The 
 minuteness with which the habits of the insects are detailed must 
 render this one of the most valuable contributions that has ever 
 been presented in this country. This is but the commencement 
 of a most valuable work, all important to the farmers and fruit¬ 
 growers of our State and country, and the Society can in no way 
 contribute more satisfactorily to the advancement of this great in¬ 
 terest than by continuing this work which has been so auspici¬ 
 ously commenced. Dr. Fitch has established a reputation as one 
 of the ablest entomologists of our country, and this work will but 
 add to his reputation. 
 
 The committee report that the work here submitted is in every 
 respect adapted to carry out the objects of the Society in com¬ 
 mencing this examination, and they trust that the appropriation 
 will be continued, in order to carry forward a work so important 
 to the interests of agriculture, and to the advancement of entomo¬ 
 logical science in our State. 
 
 W. ICELT.Y, 
 
 B. P. JOHNSON, 
 
 Committee. 
 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 New-York State Agricultural Society, ? 
 
 Agricultural Rooms, May 8, 1854. J 
 
 At a meeting of the executive committee of the Society, held at 
 the Astor House, in the city of New-York, May 4, 
 
 Mr. Johnson stated to the board that the Legislature had made 
 an appropriation of one thousand dollars for an examination of 
 insects, especially of those injurious to vegetation, and authorizing 
 the appointment of a suitable person to perform the work. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Johnson, 
 
 Resolved, That Asa Fitch, M. D., of Washington county, be 
 appointed to perform the work, and that he be furnished with 
 such accommodations as he may desire, in the rooms appointed 
 for the laboratory, in charge of the Society, and that the Presi¬ 
 dent and Mr. Johnson, Corresponding Secretary, be a committee 
 to prepare instructions for said entomological examinations. 
 
 The following instructions to the entomologist were prepared by 
 the committee and delivered to Dr. Fitch: 
 
 ENTOMOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS. 
 
 The Legislature, at its last session, having appropriated the 
 sum of $1,000, to be expended by the Society in an examination 
 of the insects of the State, especially those injurious to vegeta¬ 
 tion; the executive committee having appointed Asa Fitch, M.D., 
 of Salem, Washington county, to make the examination, the 
 following regulations for the guidance of the examiner were 
 prepared by William Kelly, President, and B. P. Johnson, Secre¬ 
 tary of the Society, the committee appointed for that purpose. 
 
701 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 As our State has had a thorough examination made of all 
 branohes of its natural history except its insects, it is of the 
 highest importance that the remaining branch—not less in im¬ 
 portance than the others—should receive attention. The com¬ 
 mittee feel assured that in the selection of Dr. Fitch they have 
 secured a person every way competent to discharge the duties 
 imposed in a manner oreditable to the Society and the State. 
 
 In carrying out this examination it is desirable that equal pro¬ 
 minence be given to economical as to scientific entomology, that 
 being the part of this science which is specially important to the 
 community at large. It has been objeoted to the volumes of the 
 natural history of this State, that they are too purely scientific in 
 their character to be of special value to the great mass of our 
 citizens, and in the work now to be performed it is obvious that 
 it will be of very little consequence to know that a particular 
 kind of moth or fly is an inhabitant of this State, unless we ane 
 also informed of its history and habits, and whether it is a depre¬ 
 dator upon any substance which is of value to man. The habits 
 and instincts of our insects are a proper subject for inquiry as 
 much as their names and the marks by which they are distin¬ 
 guished from each other. The whole history of ever y noxio us 
 species should at least be traced out as ttilly as circums tance^ vdtf 
 permit. 
 
 -The examiner is therefore directed, in the first place, to make 
 for the present season, the insects which infest our fruit trees the 
 leading object of examination. Those infesting our forest trees, 
 our grain and other crops, our garden vegetables, our animals, &c., 
 will remain to be particularly studied hereafter. The examiner 
 is desired in his examinations to search out every insect which is 
 a depredator upon our apple, plum, pear, cherry, peach and other 
 fruit trees, and study out all the facts in the history of each spe¬ 
 cies, both in its larva and in its perfect state, as far as he shall 
 have opportunity to do it. In this way a broad foundation will 
 be laid to which additions can be made, which future observa¬ 
 tions may show to he necessary. 
 
702 [Assembly 
 
 Should any important insect depredator appear the present 
 season in any other situation than upon the fruit trees, the oppor¬ 
 tunity for studying it should not be neglected, for the same spe¬ 
 cies may not appear again in many years under circumstances as 
 favorable for becoming acquainted with its real history. Secondly , 
 what time is not necessarily occupied in examining the insects in¬ 
 festing our fruit trees, should be devoted to collecting and classi¬ 
 fying the insects of the State, and to naming and describing such 
 species as have not been described. 
 
 A report to be prepared at the end of the season to be submitted 
 to the Legislature, showing what has been accomplished during 
 the season, to be divided into two parts. The first, upon econo¬ 
 mical entomology, giving an account of all that has been ascer¬ 
 tained respecting the insects infesting our fruit trees, and any 
 other injurious species that may have been obtained. The second 
 upon scientific entomology, giving a systematically arranged cata¬ 
 logue of all the insects of the State, so far as they are known, with 
 a brief description of such new and uudescribed as may be dis¬ 
 covered. 
 
 The work should be pursued with a view of eventually secur¬ 
 ing to the State as full and complete accounts of all the insects 
 of this State as far as to place this important science (which is at 
 present so greatly in the back ground, and so partially and im¬ 
 perfectly explored upon this side of the Atlantic,) in as perfect, a 
 position and as favorable a situation for being acquired as its na¬ 
 ture will admit of. Should there be time, in addition to the above 
 to perform other labor, it is desired, 
 
 Thirdly , that a commencement should be made in writing out 
 full descriptions of the species pertaining to some particular order, 
 with observations upon the time of appearing, habits, &c., with a 
 view of future publication, so as to secure a complete account of 
 all the insects of the State pertaining to that order. 
 
 Lastly , suits of specimens to fully illustrate both the economi¬ 
 cal and scientific entomology of the State should be gathered in 
 connection with the other parts of this work, to be placed in the 
 
703 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 cabinet of natural history; and in the agricultural museum, speci¬ 
 mens of the wood, leaves and fruits, and other substances depre¬ 
 dated upon by each and every species of our noxious insects, 
 showing the galls or other excrescences which they occasion, the 
 holes or burrows which they excavate, the webs or other cover¬ 
 ings for themselves which they construct, with preserved speci¬ 
 mens of the worms, caterpillars, &c., by which each of these de¬ 
 formities is produced. 
 
 Such further examinations as Dr. Fitch may deem necessary to 
 carry out fully the objects desired to be accomplished, as from 
 time to time may be deemed advisable, the committee desire may 
 be made. 
 
 WILLIAM KELLY. 
 
 B. P. JOHNSON, 
 
 Committee. 
 
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REPORT. 
 
 [OOrY-RIOHT SECURED TO TH* AUTHOR.] 
 
 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 Museuih 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 ot 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 lock for an 
 ■account of it. Even an experienced entomologist would be 
 equally embarrassed in the case we have supposed, and would be 
 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 larvae of 
 
 [Assembly No. 145.] 45 
 
706 
 
 [ Assembly 
 
 these widely separated groups resemble each other. I have there¬ 
 fore pursued a dilferent 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 duiing 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. 
 
 As it is the primary object of this report to diffuse information 
 upon an important topic with which very few are at present con- 
 
707 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 antennae, 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, larvae, &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. 
 
 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. 
 
 Fitc/i’s Point , (East Greenwich P. 0.,) 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 
 shall be able to obtain additional facts to render our account of 
 
708 
 
 Assembly 
 
 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. 
 
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, often accompanied with 
 larger winged ones having their bodies covered with a white cotton-like 
 matter. 
 
 The Apple-root Blight, Pemphigus Pyri. Synonyms, Eriosoma Pyri, Fitch, 
 Fourth Report of the N. T. State Cabinet of Nat. Hist., A. D. 1851, (Son- 
 ate Document, No. 30) p. 68. Pemphigus Americanus > Walker, List 
 of Homopterous Insects in the 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 ( Avielanchiei- 
 
710 [Assembly 
 
 Canadensis ), and it may possibly prove to be the fact, that this in¬ 
 sect is not limited to the Pomece 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 lodgment 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 insect be the ‘ woolly aphis V And if 
 so, what can nurserymen do to get rid of a pest which, unfortu¬ 
 nately, is by no means rarely seen 1 I have detected the presence 
 of the insect much the most frequently on trees which grow in a 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 
 
711 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 History, under the name of Eriosoma Pyri. All those Plant lice 
 which were formerly included in Dr. Leach’s genus Eriosoma , 
 which have all the veins of the wings simple, and those in the 
 disk of the hind pair two in number, now form the genus Pem¬ 
 phigus of Hartig (Germar’s Zeitsch. vol. iii. p. 366), to which 
 genus it is therefore 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 Scotia, 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. 
 
 t 
 
 To our nurserymen it obviously belongs, to fully elucidate the 
 history of this species, and the disease which it occasions, as they 
 enjoy opportunities tor 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. 63, observes that the name Bryso- 
 crypta (Byrsocrypta) of Haliday must be retained for Ilartig’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 bo restricted to such species as differ from Aphis bursarius.” There 
 is a contradiction here, which I can only account for by supposing the distinguished author, 
 who is so accurate a noinenclator, has inadvertently placed the name Pemphigus in the lat¬ 
 ter quotation, where he intended to insert Schizoneura. Tho first division of the old Lin- 
 na?an genus Aphis appears to have been made in 1819, when Sarnouelle (in his Entomologist’s 
 Companion, p. 232) published the genus Eriosoma from Dr. Leach's MSS., with the “ E. 
 Mali, the Aphis lanigera of authors,” or the well-known Apple tree blight, as its type. 
 Samouelle's little work, truly a “ Useful Companion” in its day, probably was not circulated 
 upon the Continent, and entomologists there seem to have been uninformed of its oontents. 
 Several synonyms, in consequence, have unfortunately been introduced into the science. Five 
 years afterwards, Blot (in the Memoirs of tho Linnman Society of Calvados, vol. i. p. 114) 
 named tho same insect Myzoxylus Mali , which name has been extensively circulated by 
 French writers. Still more recently, Hartig (in Germ.vr's Zeitschrift, vol. iii. p. 367) has 
 proposed the name Schizoneura for this same genus; whilst Macquart has bestowed the name 
 Eriosoma upon a genus of flies, in the Order Dip*era. Mr. Westwood is clearly right in re¬ 
 taining Dr. Leach's name for the genus*having Aphis lanigera os its type. 
 
 With regard to tho statement first made above, I would observe, Mr. Haliday first proposed 
 the genus Byrsocrypta, if I mistake not, in the Annals of Nat. Hist, for the year 1839, page 
 189, placing under this genus the Aphis Ulmi of Geolfroy, and a new species which he names 
 pallida. We hence regard the Ulmi and not the bursarius as the typo of Mr. Haliday’s 
 genus. Consequently the namo Byrsocrypta must be retained for the genus which has Ulmi 
 for its typo, namoly, the Tetraneura of Hartig; whilst his genus Pemphigus, with bursarius 
 as its type, is entitled to stand. I therefore givo our American species under this namo. 
 
712 
 
 [ Assembly 
 
 roots of the Apple tree and their more slender, fibrous, and capillary 
 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¬ 
 logical department of the Museum of the 
 State Agricultural Society.) It is of an 
 t 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 auy cavities in its center. Upon the 
 maiu root, between this and the surface of the earth, was a second 
 similar excrescence, but smaller; whilst upon several of the small 
 capillary fibres w ere 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 side 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 occasions an increased growth of 
 the wood, and results in the enormous development which we 
 have witnessed. As in other cases in this family, these lice pro¬ 
 bably continue to multiply without any intercourse of the sexes 
 
713 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 larva, 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 antennas ap¬ 
 peared much 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. The body, legs and antennae are coal black; the antenna; 
 are about half the length of the body, and the head and abdomen on its back 
 are covered with a ddnse 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 
 base 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 inner 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 sarao 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 
 
I ?14 [Assembly 
 
 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. Marginal vein 
 robust and black from the base to the stigma, very slender 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 point 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 diverging from the outer, both filaments undu¬ 
 lated beyond the base of the second vein; the two diseoidal 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 fuurth 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 trunk, 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 excrescences such as have been above described 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, /hat 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 cap 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 their kindred which 
 dwell upon the leaves and twigs of trees, they will at once be de- 
 
715 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 shovelful! 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, footless, 
 cylindrical grub, broadest anteriorly, with a brown head and black jaws. 
 
 The Arpi.E Tree Borer.' Saperda bivittata, Sat. Synonym, Saperda can 
 didal Fabricius. 
 
 This is one of the worst enemies against which our apple trees 
 have to’contend. It is much more common everywhere in our 
 country than is generally supposed. The editor of the Ohio Cul¬ 
 tivator (vol. x, page 212,) speaks of it as a 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 
 Illinois, and am informed by the editor of the Prairie Farmer 
 that it has for many years been found in the neighborhood of 
 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 dicing 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 vigorous and 
 
716 [Assembly 
 
 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 thex-e, the soil and situation 
 (a terraced flat of gravel, bordering upon Batten kill,) being 
 unadapted 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 borer, 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 othei's in the counti'y. 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 fx uit culturist who has had much experience with 
 some of the insects infesting our fruit trees, and to whom I am 
 indebted for several interesting facts 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 
 
717 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 its 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 
 (Cerambycida ) to which it pertains, it flies only by night. In the 
 course of this and the following month the female deposits her 
 eggs, one in a 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, 
 
718 [Assembl? 
 
 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, until 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 uuder 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 form 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 its burrow being so large, and forming 
 so much of a cavity as to he 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 
 
719 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 
 perforated 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 
 still empty. 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 
 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, 
 w’hen 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 
 w'hich it voids W’hen 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 lie 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 
 
720 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 tarns 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 ont of the tree. 
 
 It will thus be seen that-the burrow of this wormeonsistsof 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 variable 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 flat 
 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 cut 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 before entering the heart-wood. A most singular de¬ 
 viation from the usual habit was related to me by Esquire Bald- 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 721 
 
 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 I am after him immediately ‘ with a sharp stick,’ I 
 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 to a 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, forty 
 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 itssiae, but is most commonly rather lees 
 than an inch long, and over a quarter of an inch in diameter anteriorly at its broadest 
 part. It is of a cylindrical form, tire 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 horny, 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 liairs; the throat is also pale tawny yellow. The feelers 
 (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 
 
 (Assembly, No. 145.J 46 
 
722 [Assembly 
 
 form of a short roundish process at the inner base of the feelers. The feelers of the- 
 lower lip (labial palpi), are also perceptible, forming a conical two-jointed process 
 of a chestnut color, inside of each lower jaw. The antennae are also represented by 
 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 horn which we find 
 in the winged beetle. Scattered over the remainder of the body, more densely its 
 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 
 smaller transverse space, occupied by similar points, but with a 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 loneitudinal line. Along each side the spiracles or breathing 
 pores form a row of nine chestnut brown dots, situated upon the second, tho 
 fifth and each of the following segments; and immediately below these is an 
 elevated longitudinal ridge, which is intermpttd at the joints. Beneath, as 
 above, is a transverse wart-tike hump on the middle of each scgrqcnt 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, into 
 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 mates 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 or butternut brown color, 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 tine 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 dAts. The mouth is black, with the lahrum or upper lip 
 and the bases of the mandibles clothed with white appressed hairs. The eyes are 
 coal black. The antennae 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 mucih 
 
723 
 
 No.145 | 
 
 thicker than the others. They are covered with appressed white hairs upon a 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 lb 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 w'hich w'as 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, an<^ 
 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 w T hich 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 
 larvae. As these worms place themselves under the bark, down 
 
724 
 
 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 trausfix 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 wmodpecker 
 is the most lormidable natural enemy to the Apple-treo 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 w'ith 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 wmuld destroy not only the borer, but the tree 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 725 
 
 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 a 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 explicit 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 attackj 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 larvae, 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 to the outer bark of trees without danger of eroding 
 or otherwise injuring its texture, is common soft soap. Many 
 citizens 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 simple 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- 
 
726 [Assembly 
 
 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 chiefly, 
 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, early in June. Young thrifty trees, 
 especially, should be attended to, as this insect appears 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 theiein ; 
 for at this time, the minute worms in the haik can be more readily 
 destroyed than at any subsequent period, and before they have 
 
727 
 
 So. 145. | 
 
 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 orifices which they have 
 formed and destroys them. He makes it an invariable rule thus 
 to wash his trees every year, and siuce 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 4 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 loose at the root, in consequence, no doubt, of having so 
 many of their fibers cut off by the worm ; whilst unaffected trees 
 feel 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 for 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 hde, thrusting a wire into it, 
 &c , 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 being 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 
 
728 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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¬ 
 lain.” Experience shows that the wound thus made in the tree 
 fa 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 wnich 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 scalding the worm by pouring hot water 
 into the top of its burrow. The upper end of the burrow can 
 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 or a few inches more. It is discovered 
 by the point of the awl 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 eastings which are 
 packed into this part of the cavity, loosening and removing them 
 as far down as can conveniently be done. Then fi-^m a tea pot 
 or other vessel having a small spout, pour hot water into the hole,, 
 at intervals as it soaks downwards, for a few moments, uutil 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 
 culprit 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 
 at the burrow, in the manner above described, so as to permit the 
 
729 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 an inch loDg, its back 
 under its wings brilliant bluish-green. 
 
 The Thick-legged Buphestis, or Snappino-beetle, Chrysobothris femorata, 
 Fabkicius. 
 
 Another insect, which has not heretofore been noticed in our 
 country as a borer in the Apple tree, pertains to the Family 
 Buprestidje, 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 insect 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. It is 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 
 
730 [Assembly 
 
 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 in a 
 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. 
 
 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, iu order to prevent their becoming excefsively 
 muliiplied. We should expect that this and other borers, lying 
 as they do beneath the bark or within the wmod 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 
 shrivelled skin remaining, within and upon which are several 
 minute maggots or footless little grubs, soft, dull w'hi'e, shining, 
 of a long egg-shaped form, 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 larvae of some small Hymenopterous or Bee-like insect, per¬ 
 taining, there can be little doubt, to the family Ciialcjdid.® —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 puncturing the skin of the borer, drops her eggs 
 therein, which subsequently hatch and subsist upon the boier, 
 eventually destroying it. These minute larva} 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 
 
731 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 as I am 
 able to ascertain, the only figure of a larva like this which infests 
 our Apple trees, which has yet been published, is that o t Jigrilus 
 Fagi, in Dr. Ratzeburg’s work on the Forest Insects of Europe, 
 (plate ii, fig. 8 c.) 
 
 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, aud of a pale yellow color. In front two short robust 
 jaws of a deep black color and highly polished are slightly pro¬ 
 truded. When these are spread apart the tips of the feelers aud 
 between them the lips ate perceptible. The head is blackish 
 brown and polished, and 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 ; 
 seated, probably incorrectly, as arising from the second segment. 
 The second segment is deeplj sunk into the third, aud 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 nnd flattened above 
 and beneaih. Its upper side is occupied by a large, callous-like, trarisveise-oval ele¬ 
 vation, the surface of which is flat and covered with numerous brown raised points, 
 and in the middle are two smooth imprissed lines, which diverge from the anterior 
 to the posterior margin. Between these, on the middle of the basal edge, is a more 
 faintly impiessed 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 
 
732 [Assembly 
 
 Is a sraoothlsh 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 pupae 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 larvae 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 larvae 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 July, 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 larv® 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 
 
733 
 
 No. 145.J 
 
 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 in a 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 less 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, a continuation. 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 be of a brilliant 
 bluish-green color, and thickly puucturcd, 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 
 
734 [Assembly 
 
 thickly punctured, the punctures on the venter or hind part of the body openin’ 
 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 tibia) or shanks of these legs are slightly curved. 
 
 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 : 
 1st, 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 will be most successful, as they are then 
 most active, and show themselves abroad. The larvae, 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 
 for 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 with a 
 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 
 
735 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 on oyster shell, fixed to the smooth 
 bark; often in prodigious numbers; in winter and spring covering a number of minute, 
 round, whitish eggs. 
 
 The Apple Bark-louse, Aspidiotus conchiformis, Gmelin; Coccus arborum linearis, 
 Modker, and others; Diaspis linearis, Co.'TA. 
 
 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, I am unable 
 to say, though I incline to the opinion that the former is the case 
 with the chief part of them. 
 
736 [Assembly 
 
 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 in-ect 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 w'hich 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 aw r ay all my old 
 trees, upwards of thirty in number. I have now about one hun¬ 
 dred and fifty trees, none of them over twelve years old, and 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 737 
 
 have strong confidence that the remedy to which I now resort 
 will keep them freed 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 to a 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 ot readers. 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 u*e have here at the east, which 
 has all along been regarded as the same which has long been 
 knowm 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- 
 nm linearis, (which literally means the Linear Bark-louse of 
 [Assembly, No. 145.] 47 
 
738 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 Coccus 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 arborum. But if the original name is to 
 be rejected, in consequence of its non-conformity to the present 
 rules of scientific nomenclature, Gmeliii’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 Jhe 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 recently enclosed to 
 him for his opinion, specimens of our Apple Bark-louse, and also 
 a seemingly identical species found' upon our Red osier, (C ornus 
 sericea.) The following is an extract from his reply : “ I have 
 
 carefully examined your specimens. They are identical, and are 
 the Coccus arborum linearis , Geoft., 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 Jlspidiotus.” I trust this 
 information will satisfy some of my western friends who have 
 been reluctant to credit my 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- 
 
No. 145] 
 
 739 
 
 vated currant, but have found it upon our wild currant (Ribes 
 floridum,) pretty numerous. Scales very similar to those of the 
 Apple bark-louse, but of a smaller size, of a pale brownish color, 
 and not curved, may be met wilh 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, Jispidiotus 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 : t( 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. This is probably the Jispidiotus Roses 
 of Bouche, (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.. If 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 
 piessed against the bark—a similitude so striking as to 
 be readily perceived by every one, and 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. 
 
 I 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, the 
 number of eggs is reduced. 
 
740 
 
 | Assemble 
 
 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 
 in 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 
 cially designed by Providence for destroying the eggs of the bark 
 louse. 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 
 scale 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 hole through the scale. Scales which are thus 
 perforated may frequently be met with. Ou*' 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 length ; 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 larvse 
 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 crawl out from under the scale and scatter themselves over 
 the bark. To the naked eye they appear like minute white dots, 
 uniformly 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 
 
No. 145.J 
 
 741 
 
 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. I have not traced this insect through the subsequent 
 stages of its life with sufiicient 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 brush 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 ifoo 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, resorts is probably one of the 
 most efficacious, and as convenient as any; he boils leaf tobacco 
 in strong lye till it is reduced to an impalpable pulp, which it 
 will be in a 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 
 
742 [Assembly 
 
 washes are sure to be. 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 hundn d 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 limbs, resemb¬ 
 ling a whitish monldiness 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 standing 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 upon 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. 
 
 WoundiDg the twigs and causing them to wither and fall; a very large black fly 
 with four glassy wings, with orange-colored ribs Sind red eyes. 
 
 The Seventeen-year Locust, Cicada septemdecim, LiNNiEus. 
 
 On some accounts the Seventeen-year Locust is the most re¬ 
 markable insect of which we have any knowledge. The unusual 
 length 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 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 743 
 
 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 iu 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 least six others in other 
 parts of the United States. 
 
 One of these inhabits the valley of the Hudson River. Its nor-. 
 them 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- 
 pealc 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 
 
744 [Assembly 
 
 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 
 18ol. 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 last 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 Illinois and onwards, an unknown 
 distance, into Iowa. It reached south at least as far as Peoria, 
 and north to the line of Wisconsin. 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 1847. 
 
 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. 
 
745 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 are 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 Cohoes, 
 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 in our country several species of the largo 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 
 appoars annually in most parts of the State in autumn. The Creviced cicada, (C. rimosa — 
 Say,) and also the Bordered cicada, (C. marginata —Sav,) occur also within our bounds. 
 Farther south the species become more numerous. Among a number of those sent mo by Mr. 
 Robertson from tho Creek Indian territory, the following do not appear to have been hitherto 
 described. 
 
 The Sui*erb Cicada ( C. superba ) is of a rich olive green color, having a black band between 
 the eyes, and six black spots upon tho anterior margin of the middle segment of the thorax. 
 The abdomen above is olive-yellow, with two mealy-white spots at the base. Tho under side 
 is whitish-yellow, coated over with a mealy-white powder. The wings are clear and glassy, 
 the apical row of colls of the fore wings and the hind margin slightly smoky; tho veins are 
 bright green, except those surrounding the apical row of cells, which are dark brown, and tho 
 two short afiastamosing outer veinlets are margined with smoky-brown, forming the usual 
 dusky W-shapcd mark. This species measures an inch and three-fourths to tho tips of the 
 closed wings. It ocourrod 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; middle seg¬ 
 ment of the thorax yellowish brown, the elevated x green, and a large green spot at the end 
 of each of its anterior horns; wings glassy-hyalino, their veins slender, green, becoming light 
 yellow at their apices; rib of tho 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. 
 
746 [Assembly 
 
 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 M-e-e-E-E e-e-c-om, 
 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. 1 1 a 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 ihe seventeen-year lo ust, which had not completed his 
 transformation until three months af er his due time, and which 
 uttered.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 four h 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 barn, which was the most spacious edifice 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- 
 
747 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 larvae derive their nourish¬ 
 ment from the root 3 of the trees upon which the eggs were de¬ 
 posited, punctuiing 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 ihan 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 j, in which she attributes 
 the failure of pear and other fruit trees, in many cases, to the 
 exhaustion of the sap, produced by these larvse 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 larvae, clinging to them by means of their beaks inserted 
 in the bark. From one root, a, yard irf length and about an inch 
 in diameter, she gathered twenty-three larvae, varying in length 
 from a quarter of an inch to an inch—a much greater disparity in 
 size than fcould have been anticipated in larvae which were all of 
 the same age. 
 
 The habits and nourishment of these larvae is a topic which 
 needs further investigation. Mr. R. W. Kennicott, oi West 
 North field, Illinois, 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, to the 
 distance of a foot or more, he was unable to find a single one of 
 these grubs, a strong indication that whfen 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 came forth 
 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 
 
748 [Assembly 
 
 size, and came out of the giound upon the same day, with those 
 which appeared in the timber lands; nor were they afty 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 pupse 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 still' 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 
 
749 
 
 No. 145.1 
 
 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 cfdar, 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 turn them upwards, so as to form a kind ot 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- 
 
^50 [Assembly 
 
 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 
 fiom 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 in a 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. Reaumur thinks this is only 
 a fancy, as he could discover nothing of the kind. But‘t.o us it 
 appeals 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 
 
751 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 scorched 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 E009 of the locust arc 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 coi dieting 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 batches from the egg is but 0.06 in length, and of a 
 yellowish-white color, clothed with tine 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, resem’ling 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 aro admirably adapted for digging. 
 
 The rEREECT insect varies from an inch and a half to nearly an inch and three- 
 quarters in length, to the tips of its closed wings, and when these are spread, they 
 measure from two inches and a half 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 edgo. 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. 
 
"52 [Assembly 
 
 The two outer anastomosing 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 
 veinlet about the distance of its length in the male, but often by double this distance 
 in the female. The second veinlet is slightly curved in the male, whilst in the female 
 it is 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 ( Libellulidce )., 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 lady in 
 Illinois, who was thus stung, stating the attending circumstances 
 so definitely as to leave no doubt that the story u f as 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 
 
753 
 
 No. 145.j 
 
 as to cause death in a delicate person of irritable habits. But 
 such instances must be extremely 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 shrill note*, boys have been known sportively 
 to imprison numbers of them in the crowns of their hats, without 
 harm. Upon this subject, R. W. Kennicott writes me as follows: 
 <f I 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 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 black and green onea 
 having wings, all crowded together in vast numbers upon the green tips of 
 the twigs and under sides of the leaves, sucking their juices. 
 
 The Apple Plant-louse. Aphis Mali, Fadricics. 
 
 The Apple Leaf-louse. Aphis Malifolite. 
 
 These insects pertain to the Order Homoptera and the Family 
 Aphidze. The Genus J}phis 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 of which is twice forked. The insects of this 
 family, and of the closely allied family Coccida: or Bark-lice are 
 among the greatest pests which the fruit grower and ibe 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 
 [Assembly, No. 145. | 48 
 
754 
 
 | Assembly 
 
 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, w'hich affects the young succulent ends of the twigs and the 
 l aves, 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 I have heretofore been in much doubt whether this 
 common Aphis of our apple trees 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 th£ spring, sunk deep in the cracks and crevices in the 
 bark of the apple trees, may be seen numbers of small, oval, black, 
 shining eggs, from which these insects are produced. Scraping 
 off the dead bark of old trees, and coiling 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 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 755 
 
 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, the'e 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 
 Aphides 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 leaves of all my apple trees, many of them 
 occupied in laying their eggs. These were scattered along in 
 
756 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 of a light yellow or green color, and wer» 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 meaus anticipated such a great 
 diminution in their numbers as actually occurred. I should 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-g-owing 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 Astrakhan. 
 
 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 
 
757 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 to 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. 
 
 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 
 
758 [Assembly 
 
 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'l 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 antennae, 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 color, 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. Toe beak, by which it pierces 
 and sucks the juices of the twigs and leaves, the antennae, 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 males 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 a coal black color, with the 
 neck commonly green. I h antennse are inserted upon the front part of the head, 
 between t u 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 joiuts short and thick, almost as broad as long; 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 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 759 
 
 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 form, and obtusely rounded at its apex, 
 of a bright grass-green color, with a row of black dots along each side forwaid 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 in a greater or less degree, and shove 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 nectaries, 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 black, 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 towairis its 
 base, the third or forked vein is abortive and colorless at its base, and, as in 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 tho second at base 
 than thiH 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 tip of this last is com¬ 
 monly t wice as near the tip of the second fork 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 tlie fourth vein. 
 
 4 Left wing with but one fork to the third vein, the second wanting. 
 
 5. Right wing with three forks to tho third vein. 
 
 6. Left wing with the s< coud vein slightly foiked at its tip. 
 
 The following varieties in the colors and marks of this species may be specified. 
 The greatest diversiiy in these respects occurs afler the coming on of frosty nights in 
 autumn, it being then difficult to find two individuals with precisely ihe same hue 
 and marks. This diversity is undoubtedly produced by the Cold to which tho 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 wus now in a diseased state, if it were not that sexual 
 interc >urse takes place freely, aud the ft males are all industriously occupied in de¬ 
 positing their eggs. 
 
 Variety a, pullidicornis. The antennas brownish yellow instead of black. Young 
 individuals. 
 
[Assembly 
 
 Variety b, nigricollia. The neck not green, bnt of the same blaek color as th« 
 head and thorax. Comwson among aged individuals. 
 
 c, thoracica. The thorax dull green, with a black band forward of its 
 middle. Young. 
 
 i, fulviventria. The abdomen pale dull yellow instead of green. 
 
 t, nigriventria. The abdomen greenish blaek, with the row of blaek dots 
 along each side, indistinct. 
 
 /, immaculata. The abdomen without any dots or darker colored marks. 
 
 g, obsoleta. The lateral row of black dots faint and scarcely perceptible, 
 
 h, triaeriata. A row of black dots along the middle of the back, as well 
 as upon each side of the abdomen. 
 
 «, 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 diifer notably from those of .8-phis Mali in several 
 points. They are more slender, and the fourth vein is relatively 
 shorter and more strongly curved through its whole length. In 
 oonsequence of this curvature it is nearer to the second fork at 
 its base than at its tip. Two-thirds of the specimens which were 
 captured 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 Mulifolia). The specimens show the 
 following marks in addition to what has already been stated : 
 
 The Apple-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 ars 
 
761 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 lib-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 fluids 
 distasteful, and perhaps poisonous to the Aphides. We have al- 
 
762 [Assembly 
 
 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 iD the case of soap suds, has been reported 
 as a certain remedy. Moses L. Colton, of West Bolton, Vermont, 
 says (Country Gentleman, v> 1. 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 jeaves withered and died, 
 until he tried tobacco 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 box, a hogshead, or a kind of small 
 tent humorously described some time since by Prof. Lindley 
 (Gardener’s Chronicle, July 11, 1816,) under the name of a 
 “parapetiicoat,” 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 Jong securely tied to its handle. The petticoat 
 being then raised up in folds to the parasol, the staff is insetted 
 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 fs hereupon removed, and the foliage 
 
 immediately washed with lukewarm water from a large syringe, 
 
 v 
 
763 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 else it too would be liable to be destroyed. This utterly exter¬ 
 minates the aphis from the shrub, every insect being suffocated 
 and dropping from the plant, so that 
 
 “ 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 ihem. 
 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 w'ill foon 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 ihat is infested. Most of the>e 
 being in their larva state, and without wings, will not leave Iheir 
 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 w'hich 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 tw r igs, 
 were all covered and black with them. If not checked it was 
 evident that every tree would soon perish. I was about to im¬ 
 port from the neighboring fields and forests a stock of the natural 
 destroyers of these pests, when 1 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 theie so recently, a 
 
764 [Assembly 
 
 few of the empty, shrivelled skins, adhering to the leaves, was all 
 that remained. 
 
 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 this, as 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 compauy 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 call 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 (Formicid.®) 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- 
 
765 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 antennae they gently touch the backs of the 
 plant-lice, whereupon these eject this sweet fluid, 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 treb, 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 , 
 
766 [Assembly 
 
 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 being deep chestnut red, and its legs 
 black, with the thighs tinged with chestnut red, but always 
 daikei than the thorax, instead of being of the same color as we 
 generally find them in F. herculeana. These and other differences 
 to be 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 Dame of 
 
 The New-Yobk Ant (Formica Novceboracensis). 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. Thus I 
 have observed our common Blue wasp, (Pelopceus cceruleus , Lin- 
 nseus) 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¬ 
 nae, hereby tickling and causing them to eject their honey dew, 
 and their mouths following in the track of the antennae, sipping 
 up this fluid. Our common hornet or “yellow jacket” (Vespa 
 
767 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 maculata, Linnseus) 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. 
 
 Other wasp-like insects, of a smaller size, pertaining to the 
 family Crabronidje, 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 ot 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 nourifhment 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 is the 
 wasp to proceed in this dilemma without salt or spices with 
 which to preserve from putrefaction the stock of provisions which 
 she amasses? Nature has furnished her with a resort for 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 
 
768 [Assembly 
 
 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 
 
 “ In 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 
 in 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 
 can stow themselves, and using its four hind legs for walking 
 and turning around, with its two fore feet it gently scratches 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 769 
 
 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 occupied 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 cry 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 approaches 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 antennae 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 Tephritis, in the Ortalidan group 
 of two-winged flies (Family Muscidje, Order Diptera). Though 
 of the same size it is clearly a different species from the Tephritis 
 4-fusciata 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. melliginis.) 
 
 It measures about 0 23 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 ono 
 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¬ 
 fluent at its anterior end with a fourth band which is situated upon the anterior 
 
 [Assembly No. 145.] 49 
 
770 [Assembly 
 
 apical margin. These four bands upon the wings thus present a resemblance to the 
 Homan numerals YII placed in an inverted position. 
 
 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 hands 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 antenna; 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 scntel 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, I 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 or ball-like swellings upon 
 them, an inch in diameter, when the stalk above and below is 
 less than a quarter of an inch. 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 
 
771 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 is found at this season without any hole in it. In these the worm 
 is still remaining,"to complete its changes and. continue its spe¬ 
 cies 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 has an 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 (Jlcinia 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 antennae, mouth and legs are dull yellow, the face white, and the 
 top of the head yellowish or reddish brown, with a blackish spot 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 
 out^r margin beyond the middle are two small triangular hyaline spots, and a third 
 longer one inside of these, a large transverse hyaline spot on the apex and two large 
 ■triangular ones upon the inner margin, the inner one bring 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 speeies of jlcinia, 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 (A. Novaboracensis.) It mea¬ 
 sures 0.35 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 crossed 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 antenna; 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 antenna: and the eye, and a transverse 
 brown 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 wings are opake", black, with a slender, hyaline-white 
 crescent 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 
 he margin of all the larger dots. 
 
772 | Assembly 
 
 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 antennae 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 by plant-lice, 
 and, according to Desvoidy, their larvae live, some in the unripe 
 seeds of plants, others in the parenchyma of the leaves, stems or 
 roots. In addition to the guttularis or Dotted-winged Tetanocera, 
 we have, common in the State of New York, a species which is 
 probably the Canadian Tetanocera (T. Canadensis ) of Macquart, 
 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 tho tip of the abdomen and 0.80 
 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. Antenna; 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 boing 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 palo 
 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* 
 
773 
 
 No 145.] 
 
 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. Winge 
 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 strips being placed in the middle of each dell 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 Linnsean genus Diopsis. About a dozen species are 
 known, all inhabiting tropical Africa and the East Indies, with 
 one exception—the Short-liorned 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 Id 
 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 ana 
 somewhat surprised at this. A specimen from Senegal, ticketed 
 D. thoracica by Macquart, for which and numerous other speci¬ 
 mens of Diptera I am indebted to M. Bigot, of Paris, indicates 
 the foreign species of this tribe to be quite unlike ours in their 
 general appearance. Having recently taken 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 are 
 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 wiug, and a second band half way from this to the tip 
 
774 [Assembly 
 
 reaches nearly or quite across the wing, the same that it does in 
 brevicomis, whilst the apex of the wing is hyaline, without any 
 Yestiges 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 (i Sphyracephala sub-bifasciata), was swept from grass at the 
 base of the bluffs of the Illinois river, north of the city 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 fcrtidus), 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 
 flies. It seems limited to low shady situations, for other 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 
 captured a specimen the last of October, resting upon a sand bank 
 and basking in the sun. I state thesp facts thus particularly, as 
 so little is known respecting the habits of this tribe of insects. 
 
 The Two-banded Stem-eye measures 0.16 to the tip of its abdomen. It is black 
 and polished, the thorax brownish, the head and antennas 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 larvae of the Golden-eyed and Lace-winged flies, insects which 
 form the Family Hemerobiid^e in the Order Neukopteha. 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 
 
775 
 
 No. 145-1 
 
 brilliant golden appearance, which 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 has furnished 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 itgnaws 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 
 
770 [Assembly 
 
 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 have a 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 in a 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. On a young apple tree in 
 my yard, about eight feet high, I found these eggs the first of July, 
 scattered 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 larvae 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 
 
777 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 relates (Journal Royal Agricultural Society, iii. G2) that having 
 enclosed two of them iu a box with a caterpillar three-fourths of 
 an inch long, one overcome and devoured the other and then 
 sucked the juices out of the caterpillar, leaving only the skins of 
 his victims remaining. In the same connection, he says these 
 larvae “ begin to feed upon the Aphides as soon as they escape 
 from the egg.” Such being the current account of the larvae, 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 larvae 
 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 larvae 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 in a 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 da} s after they were 
 
778 [Assembly 
 
 found, small inch-worms (Geometridje), 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 occupying 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 
 
779 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 a reference to that mine of information upon 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. In a 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 larvae 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 
 
780 [Assembly 
 
 upon its pedicel, the other was laid upon 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 of 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. I can 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 Hemerobius larva enclosed together 
 and left at times without food, yet they have manifested no incli¬ 
 nation to molest each other. 
 
781 
 
 No. 145. | 
 
 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 respect 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 larva; 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 one 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 larvse 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 larva; are able to separate the 
 chaff surrounding a kernel of wheat sufficiently to insert their 
 jaws therein to destroy the larvse 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 
 
782 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 larvae as, scattered through a wheat-field infested by the 
 midge, would greatly diminish the damage done by this insect. 
 
 The larvae of different species of these insects differ consider¬ 
 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 larvae by 
 their two long slender jaws, curved like sickles, which project 
 hoiizontally 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 all directions. 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 Larv.e 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 
 pupaa. 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 
 
783 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 0.30 long, broadest in tho middle and tapering thence to both 
 ends, but more posteriorly; its color is reddish brown, paler in the middle of tho 
 back, with a narrow darker stripe the whole length of its body. It presents numerous 
 transverse impressed lines abeve, 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 antenna; 
 are about as long as the jaws, slender and tapering, 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 are also dusky. The twelfth 
 and thirteenth, or the two last segments are quite narrow and destitute of tubercles 
 tipped with radiating hairs on each side, but havo 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 can do with its feet. This adhesion appears to be effected by a power 
 of suction in this part. 
 
 The larva: of tho 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 centro 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 its cocoon. 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 
 
784 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 aftenvards spun than what the naked threads would be. In¬ 
 side of these the insect lies, with its tail plajing 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 w r hen 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 w'ere 
 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 width 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 tail is constantly add¬ 
 ing on every side, the insect is draw r n 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 lame contract and compress themselves into cocoons of 
 scarcely one-fourth their size, and from these cocoons come flies 
 
785 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 which are double the size of the larvse. 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 h ; de 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 antennse enclosed in separate sheaths. 
 The an ennje .'■heaths 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 cuiious 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 summer 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 
 at one 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 antennse 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, 
 
 [Assembly, No. 145.] 50 
 
786 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 resembling Chrysopa in most of its details, but instead of having 
 the antennae inserted close together, they are separated at their 
 bases, and a cylindrical protuberance or horn projects from the 
 front between them. For this genus I propose the name Mcleoma, 
 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: 
 
 SigniJhet’s Golden-eyed Fly, (Meleoma Signoretii ) is of a pate yellowish 
 green color, and is clothed with fine short pubescence, especially upon the abdomen. 
 The cylindrical horn which arises between the base of the antenna; is longer than 
 broad, and is directed forwaid upon a lino with the head and thorax. It is a third 
 longer and somewhat thicker than tho enlarged basal joints of the antenna;, 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 a deep excavation immediately 
 back of it. The face has a round smooth elevated brown spot upon each side of its 
 centre. The antennae 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 veinlcts 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 brow nish 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 Tcttigoniid.es 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 Chrysopa are all of a bright pale green 
 or yellowish color; the number and situation of the veins anu 
 veinlets or short connecting veins in their wings, is the same, 
 and they differ hut little in size. To the naked eye they seem to 
 form but a single species. I had long notice u that individuals ol 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 787 
 
 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, Ihe 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 othen, 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 sapne 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¬ 
 cating 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 
 
788 \ [Assemble 
 
 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 antennse 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 White-horned Golden-eye (Chrysopa albicornis ). Antennse 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 antennse 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 
 antennse 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. Veinletsblacli, those in 
 the disk green in their middle, those ending on the inner and apical marginsgreen 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 tlfs 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 antennse sockets; a black dot on 
 the base behind each eye. Antennae 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 antennse sockets in the middle of their under 
 
 i 
 
789 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 series 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. Whencaptured 
 it emits the disagreeable odor peculiar to several of its kindred species. 
 
 5. (2.) Head above with lolack 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 antennm 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. (10.1 Ends of the veinlets black. 
 
 The O-marked Golden-eye (C. Omikron ). This is of a pale green color with a 
 light yellow head and a black 0 mark surrounding the base qf 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 branching 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 antennae 
 is 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 Yellow-headed Golden-eye (C. xantliocephala ) is distinguished from the 
 foregoing by having the veins and veinlets all green, except those veinlets which 
 
790 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 are given off from the rib vein, which are black at their bases, and those on the outer 
 side at their tips also. It is of a pale yellowish green color with alight yellow head, 
 the orange red spot on the checks with a black streak towards its hind edge, and the 
 two anterior dots on the top of the head conll.u nt with the black margins of the 
 sockets of the antenna;, which, between these spots, is interrupted with tawny yel¬ 
 low. Its wings, expanded, measure 1.10. It is much less common than the pre¬ 
 ceding 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 itsveinlets. and the spots and.marks upon its 
 head, except that no black dot or s reak 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 cross’d 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 b ack 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 seve¬ 
 ral of the species, are two short blackish lines converging and confluent at their hind 
 ends. The second segment has also an impressed medial i ne, and two brown spots 
 upon each side. A variety occurs in which the e spots last mentioned are wanting. 
 The wings expand 1.10. Thisspecies 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 Mississippi Golden-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 antenna) 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 Jackson, Mississippi, by my daughter, in the 
 month of April. 
 
 14. (13.) A black dot under each eye. Tips of the wings 
 rounded. 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 791 
 
 15. (16.) Sockets of the antennae broadly margined with black 
 except upon their outer sides. 
 
 The X-marked Golden-eyi; (C. Chi). Antenna: whitish, towards tho 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 in the 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 op 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 -.heir bases. 
 Wings expand 1.25. Taken the last of June upon bushes In swamps. 
 
 16. (15.) A black Y-shaped mark between and dot below the 
 bases of the antenna. 
 
 The Y-marked Golden-eye (C. Upsilon). Light yellowish green. Antennre 
 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 riDgs, 
 Four black dots in a transverse row upon the top of the bead, the two inner ones 
 larger. Thorax with four equidistant black spots upon each side in a row, the hind 
 onts 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 fore wing. 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 tho 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 in the 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-dotted Golden-eye (C. bipunctata). Pale yellowish green. Head 
 pale yellow, with a black dot on each side of its base above, almost in contact with 
 the eye. Antenmu whitish, dark brown towards their tips; basal joint white, with a 
 tawny red band on its upper fide; second joint black; their sockets margined with 
 tawny red on the upper and with black on the under side. Eyes brilliant coppery 
 red when alivo. 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 antpnnoe 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, 
 
 « 
 
792 [Assembly 
 
 tl»se in the outer cell of the hind wings black. Wings expand_J1.05. Taken the 
 fore part of J une. 
 
 18. (1.) Sockets of the antennse not marked with black. 
 
 19. (38.) A dot or spot upon the cheeks. 
 
 20. (29.) Cheeks with a black streak or dots undereach eye. 
 
 21. (22.) Two black dots under each eye. 
 
 The Colon Golden-eye (C. colon). Light yellow. Antennae 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 angula'ed t their tips; the two rows of subagical veinlets, those branching 
 outwards from the rib vein and bases of those branching inwards black. Wings 
 expand 1 40. 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 Clean Golden-eye (C. emuncta). 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 anguiated; 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. 
 
 Kobertson’s Golden-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. Antenna: 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 S. 
 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 Weeping Golden-eye (C. 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 stripe posteriorly 
 under each eye. Antenr.je whitish, clay y ellow towards their tips. Thorax without 
 
793 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 spots. Beneath and legs greenish white, feet pale clay yellow, Wings rounded £t 
 tips, the, hind pair slightly angular; veins and veinlets pale greenish. A variety, 
 which 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 Counterfeit Golden-eye (C. pseudo^rapha). Very like the preceding 
 species, but of a straw yellow color without any tint of green, the head brightcrcream 
 yellow, the cheeks taWny yellow with a short black stripe running downwards from 
 the under side of the eye, the antennae, legs and feet, and veins and veinlets of the 
 wings pallid while, 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 the eye. 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 Solpiiur Golden-ey* (C. sulphured). 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. Wings expand 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 abdo,men. 
 
 Sichel’s Golden-eye (C. Sichelii). Pale yellowish green with apalo bright yel¬ 
 low stripe along the middle of the thorax and abdomen. Head white with a large 
 
794 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 joale yellow spot above, a streak from the eye to (he mouth, a small dot between the 
 antenme 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. Antennae white. 
 Palpi white, their tips brownish. Thorax pale yellow above, pale bright green on 
 each side, bluish while 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 adeeper 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 opalte pale green; veins pale green, the marginal 
 one white; veiulets 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 to this genus. I name it in honor 
 of my esteemed friend and correspondent Dr. Sichel, President of the Entomological 
 Society of France. 
 
 34. (33.) No orange spots along the sides of the back. 
 
 The New-Yoeic Golden-eye (C. Novmboraccnsis). Pale green with a pale yellow 
 stripe from the mouth the whole length of the body. Eyes dark greenish golden 
 when alive. 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 line on 
 their outer side. Antenna; 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, 
 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 end^* 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. Wings expand 1.05. Common the latter part of .Tune 
 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. 
 
 3§. (30.) Veinlets entirely pale green or white. 
 
 36. (37.)^ Stigma hyaline', scarcely obvious. 
 
 Harris’s Golden-eye (C. Harnsii). 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 explnd 1.15. Taken the last of 
 July and in 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 
 
795 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 externally, with numerous threads loosely attached to Us surface, and of a white^ 
 color and a globular form. I have heretofore regarded this species as the Clmjsopa 
 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 is to be applied, the British entomologists (Curtis, Journal of 
 the Royal Agricultural Society, iii. 63; Stephens, IllustrationsMandib. vi. 105) de¬ 
 scribing a different insect from that of Rambur (Neropteres, p. 424). But on com¬ 
 paring our speries 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. (36.) A blackish brown opake spot on the stigma. 
 
 T1 e Virginia golden-eve (C. Virginica ). Immaculate, save ablackish spot on 
 each side of the tjiorax at its apex. Wings slightly angular at their tips, veins and 
 veinlets pale green, those blanching 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 135. Taken in Vir¬ 
 ginia, near Cartersville, by the late Tha Idcus 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.) Antensse black towards their bases. 
 
 40. (41.) A black stripe on the outer side of the basal joint of 
 the antennte. 
 
 The Stripe-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 antenna}. Antenna: pale brown, basal 
 
 • Next to tho Perla Fabricius describes a species from the Society Islands in the Pacific 
 ocean, which he met with in the cabinet of Sir Joseph Banks, which is rather larger than Perla 
 and of an . sb gray color with whitish wings and antenme doublo the length of the body, from 
 which last character ho names it Jilosus , 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 Perla , tho wings expanding from 0 75 to 0 90, and cnly the posterior part 
 of the thorax is ash grey, its anterior part and the head being bright yellow and without spots. 
 The antennai are doublo the length of tho body, blackish, becoming yellow at tho base, with 
 a black dot on the uppor side of the basal joint; the tvings white, but pellucid, their veins and 
 yeinle's pale dull yellow. Should this prove to be different from the Fabrician species, as it 
 apparently is, it may appropriately be named the Chrysopa Jilicornis , or Thread-horned 
 golden-eye. 
 
796 [Assembly 
 
 „ 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 
 antennse at its tip. 
 
 The DoTTED-noRNED 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 antennse 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 antennas; the first segment of the thorax has two 
 transverse impressed lines and a longitudinal one behind the middle. The abdomen 
 has a brown stripe above on each side. Wings expand 1.15. This also occuis in 
 the middle of July. 
 
 42. (39.) Antennse pale. 
 
 The Consumptive Golden-eye (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 antenna; 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 Hemerobius differ 
 from each Other much more than those we have been considering. 
 They are generally of pale dull colors, but vary greatly in size, 
 in the veins and spots upon their wings, &c. 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 laoe-wino (Hemerobius irroratus, Say) is black and hairy witha 
 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 spets, and there is a largish darker colored spot 
 near the middle and another towards the tips of the iDner longitudinal veins, situated 
 upon their connecting veinlets. 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 veins alternating with white. The wings expand from 
 
797 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 bo designated the Stephensn, in 
 honor of its first describer, the eminent entomologist recently deceased. 
 
 Mr. Say in connection with the preceding (in the appendix to Long's Expedition, 
 page 306) describes another species, the vittalus or Striped lace-wing, from a speci¬ 
 men in the Philadelphia museum, found by Mr. Titian Peale, in New Jeisey. This 
 is of the same size with the Freckled lace-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, and a 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 Alternated lace-wino (H. alternate) 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 aloDg each side, which is margined above by a row of 
 spots and below by a slender line of a brown color. The wings are pellucid and iride¬ 
 scent red and green; the veins are white with alternating blackish spots givmg ofi 
 fine bristles of the same color. The veinlcts 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 anastomosing veinlct 
 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 ou the margin between 
 the tips of all the vein’s and their forks. The wings expand 0.80. This occurs the 
 last of June, particularly upon pine and hemlock bushes. 
 
 The Stioma-marked lace-wino (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; stigum opake tawny reddish; two series of black anastomos¬ 
 ing veinlets; a third veiulet 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 second 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 antennas 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 0.65 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 
 
798 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 tlnee being black. 
 
 The Chestnut lace-wind (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-vein 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 sid 3 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 larvae and the perfect insects 
 may always be found upon chestnut trees infested with piant-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 isannula- 
 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 on each 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 laoe-wino (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 mark# 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. This 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-winq (H. conjunctus) has pellucid wings becoming 
 dusky towards the margins; veins of the fore wings white with blackish rings and 
 bands; a 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 0.63. The wings are spotted much like those of 
 alternatus, except that the margin is wholly immaculate. Its spotted wings at once 
 separate it from the following species, which differ from all our other lace-wings with 
 
799 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 three discoidal veins by having, like thisfpecies, an anastamosing veiniet. running in¬ 
 wards from the base of the first discoidal. This species occurred upon pine bushes 
 the latter part of May. 
 
 The Pine-busu lace-wing (II. Pinidumus). Wings hyaline, slightly tinged with 
 smoky, the ma'ginal dotsall of a uuiform 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 tvtutrix, from 
 which, however, it is readily distinguished by having a slender anastamosing 'einlet 
 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 ti\l the last of July. 
 
 The Glassy lace-wing (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 with the margin. The 
 marginal dots are unicolor. Wings expand 0.46. Possibly this is only a variety of 
 the preceding. It occurs with it upon [line bushes in May, June and July. 
 
 The Little friend lace-wino (II. amiculus). Two discoidal veins only 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 theaxilla 
 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 wittfthe inner fork; slightly forward of this last is another veiniet 
 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 veiniet 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, antenme 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-wino (H. occidenialis) has the wingshyalineand 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 on 
 the margin between the tips of each of the veins; outer fork of the first discoidal 
 vein anastamosing with the rib-vt in 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- 
 
800 [Assembly 
 
 ceding. Body blackish; antennae shorter than the body, robust, thread-like and not 
 tapering, black; legs pale. Wings expand 0;38. Taken in Illinois, on bushes betide 
 Henderson river, the first of October. 
 
 The Tithan lace-wino ( H. delicatulus ). Two veins arising from tho 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 pale brown, those of the costal area blaekish, the 
 alternate ones towards the base forked, all the others simple; margin thinly fringed 
 with short hairs, a dot on the tips of the veins and a smaller one between them. Body 
 dusky yellowish; antennas longer than the body, brpwnish; legs pale. Wings ex¬ 
 pand about 0.40. Swept from the grass of prairies in Illinois, the first of October. 
 
 Another insect closely related to the Hemerobiid.®, and the 
 larva of which is supposed 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 oaptured I supposed I 
 had a species of Jlleurodcs 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 
 a’lied 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 
 antennae, 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. It is ob¬ 
 vious that our insect pertains to the order Neuroptera. 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 Psocid®, Mr. 
 Westwood regards it as having more affinities with the Hemero- 
 biid®. Important differences, however, separate it from both of 
 these families. It is unlike the Psocidse in having five-jointed 
 feet, and antennae of a different form and with joints doubly 
 numerous; and differs from the Hemerobiidse in having wings 
 
801 
 
 No. 145. | 
 
 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 Conioptery- 
 gidje 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 
 generai 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, w'hile 
 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 cilise or 
 fringe-like hairs along the margin, whilst here a series of short, 
 fine erect hairs are very distinct along the 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 
 JUeuronia (Greek dXeupov, farina or dust) having allusion to the 
 mealy coating with which these insects are covered. And as 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 its wings 
 would approximate this family more closely than heretofore to 
 the Psocidse their ciliated margins give it an additional resem¬ 
 blance to the Hemerobiidse, and leave the question as to which 
 
 (Assembly, No. 145. J 51 
 
802 [Assembly 
 
 of these families the present is most nearly related in much the 
 same doubt in which it has hitherto been. 
 
 ■Westwood’s mealy-winq (Jlleuronia 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 antennae, which are black, thiead-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 1< 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 cyliudric 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 branches 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 
 aecond 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 destroyers of the plant-lice, reserving a description 
 of their species for a future occasion. 
 
 Equal to, or even surpassing the aphis-lions, in the havoc 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 Coccinellidae, in the Order 
 Coleoptera. 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 
 
803 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 ac¬ 
 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 relics remaining around the 
 tail. It is thus with one of our largest species, named the apple- 
 tree lady-bird (Cocdnella Mali) 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. ocellata 
 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 Anatis 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- 
 
 0 
 
 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 
 
804 [Assembly 
 
 approach of a fly or other insect, the pupa gives a sudden spiteful 
 jerk, by which to frighten the intruder away,aud if this fail 1 ', 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 and 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 w r hich bred 
 the plant-lice, and who consequently made it a point to destroy 
 every one which they could discover upon the currant bushes, 
 cherry 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 SyupHiniE, in the Order Dir- 
 tera, which family has the genus Syrphus as its type. These 
 flies resemble 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 
 
805 
 
 No. 145 ] 
 
 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 hot fly glues to 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 to 
 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 Syrj 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, taw'ny 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 from the hind partof 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 
 
806 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 along Y-shaped mark. 
 
 The Am.® Thkips. Phlaothrips 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 
 
807 
 
 No. 145.j 
 
 apples, plums, and other fruits wither and fall from our trees, 
 often literally covering the ground beneath them. Young apples 
 are thus blasted in consequence 1 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 
 beside the relics of the flow’er. This cavity had the 
 ’ appearance of having been gnawed; it w r as 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 wmunding them slightly day after day, 
 had retarded their growth and finally caused them to wkher. 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 Tiiuipsidte, 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 w r ounded 
 spots upon young apples, appears to pertain to the genus named 
 Pklceothrips by Mr. Haliday, and I propose for it the specific name 
 Muli, or the Apple Thrips. 
 
_ 808 [Assembly 
 
 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 antennae 
 which are rather longer than the head and composed of eight nearly equal joints, 
 have the third joint of a white color. The abdomen 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 folded 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 measures 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-louse. Lecanium Pyri, Sciirank. 
 
 As the pear is so closely related to the apple, most of the in¬ 
 sects which aifect 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 alii 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 Boic. 
 ii. 1. 145), and which pertains to the modern genus Lecanium in 
 the Family CocciDiE 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¬ 
 casionally 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 
 
810 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 surface frequently presents shallow indentations as though 
 it had been slightly pressed upon in places with the head of a 
 |~—1 pin, and the outer margin is wrinkled, as shown in 
 
 yt&fo accompanying figure, and is sometimes marked with 
 l| ] 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 tw r ig 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 I could discover. The 
 following May the chalk-like spots where the scales 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 
 
 F 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 
 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 antennae of a hyaline-white appear¬ 
 ance. The antennae are thread-like or of equal diameter through 
 
811 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 their whole length, and are about one-fourth the length if 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 
 farther, but doubtless, like the other species of this genus, the 
 young larvse 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 lorm of the 
 hemispherical scales already described. 
 
 A parasitic insect, which probaly pertains to Mr. Westwood’s 
 genus Coccophagus, in the Family Chalcidid^: and Order Hyme- 
 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 w'ere 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'j a white cylindrical fourteen-jointed worm, with six true legsand 
 ten pro-legs. 
 
 The Peach-tree Borer. -®gena exiliosa, 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 so readily 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 
 
813 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 laud at the west and southw r est, 
 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 w T e 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 And 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 wuth 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 w'hich 
 has destroyed them. But in several instances where I have 
 informed persons of the condition of my own trees, they find, ou 
 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 
 
814 [Assembly 
 
 timely care. It would appear that tile 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 insects 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 insect 
 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 AIgeriid^; of the Order Lepidoptera. 
 
 This insect was named JEgwia exitiosa or the Destructive Algeria 
 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 
 
815 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 excavated, their backs being covered over with 
 their castings mingled with the gum and with cobweb-like threads, 
 
 % 
 
816 [Assembly 
 
 thus forming a kind of cell the cavity of which is considerably 
 larger than the body of the worm inhabiting it. The smaller 
 worms have no such cells, 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 crawl about, 
 which is of sufficient strength to hold them suspended in the air 
 when one drops from 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 follicle 
 or pod-like case 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 half an inch 
 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 hi£ discourse before 
 the Pomological Society (page 9), suggests that of grafting 1 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 
 I 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 
 
817 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 tinder 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 
 is a ‘ 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 larva 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, marked in front with 
 black and at base in the middle with whitish, wbioh last is also the 
 color of the throat. Two impressed lines on the face converge and 
 meet each other towards the base nf the head and then diverge. 
 Inside of and parallel with these are two slender black lines meeting each other in 
 the form of a 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 
 
 [Assembly No. 145.] 52 
 
818 
 
 [AsSEMBLr 
 
 apex of the lower jaws, a short obtuse projection with minute hairs at its tip. The 
 antennas 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 remaining 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 scmcely 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 opposite 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 tho 
 winged fly crowds itself forward, out of its follicle. All the teeth become longer and 
 morje 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 from one-halfto three fourths of an inch in length, 
 and the wings when extended are from 0 80 to 1 30 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 fen,ale 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 male is of a deep steel blue color with various sulphur yellow marks and has 
 a glossy lustre like that of satin. The antennae are black, less than half as long as 
 the body, abruptly curved outwards at their tips and densely fringed along their inner 
 
819 
 
 « 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 antennae and a deeper yellow transverse stripe at the base of 
 the head both above and beneath. The thorax has a yellow stripe on each sideof ite 
 middle, a transverse one at its base which is slightly interrupted in the middle, and a 
 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 have a 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 varieties occur in this sex: 
 
 a. The pale yellow spot between the bases of the antenn* wanting. 
 
 b. The same spot enlarged and extending backwards to the neck. 
 
 c. The abdomen without white stripes upon the sides of the tail. 
 
 i. The abdomen without any yellow bands. 
 
 e. 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 is a 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 thefourth segment some orange 
 scales often occur interspersed with the steel blue ones. The antenna; have nofiinge 
 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 
 hind 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 straw yellow stripe on the outer margin towards the tip. 
 
 * Say desoribee the abdomen as having only tho fifth segment of an orange color, but in 
 every apeciiaon whioh X have seen the fourth segment also is of this color. 
 
820 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 The female presents the following varieties: 
 
 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 Etiipe 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 inner 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 protecting 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 diiected 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, 
 and 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. Al¬ 
 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 
 certain of yielding to the collector quite a variety. This at least 
 has been my own experience. One of my correspondents, how¬ 
 ever, thinks he has captured insects as abundantly from this as 
 from other weeds. 
 
 The hollow cavity extending down the side of the root of the 
 peach tree, which is formed by the peach borer, does not become 
 
821 
 
 No. 145.1 
 
 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 cavity 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 I am 
 aware, some account of them may appropriately be given in this 
 connection. 
 
 These animals are popularly known in different countries under 
 the names of millipedes, wood-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 wood-lice w'ould here be 
 understood as designating the wood-tick, Ixodes Jlmeiicanus , and 
 its kindred species, and millipede would be regarded as a synonym 
 of centipede or “ thousand-legged worm,” a species of Julus or 
 Scolopendra. The sow-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 Crustacea, in allusion to the hard 
 shell-like crustaceous covering which forms the exterior coat 
 invmost 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, respite through spiracles or 
 breathing pores, placed in a row along eacli side of the body, 
 through which, by small pipes, air is admitted into two prino pal 
 tubes which run parallel to each other, and are extended the 
 whole length of the body. The crustaceans, like insects, have 
 jointed antennae 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 
 
» • 822 [Assemble 
 
 the animals under consideration pertain to the order Isopoda, i. e. 
 equal footed, having fourteen pairs of legs of nearly equal size, 
 and to the family Ontscid.®, which, like other families of this 
 order has four antennse, but here the inner pair of these antennae 
 is quite short and little apparent, consisting at most of only two 
 Joints. The typical genus of this family, named Oniscus by Lin¬ 
 naeus, is by modern naturalists restricted to those species in which 
 the external antennae 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 antennae. The genera Porcellio and Armadillo differ 
 from Oniscus in having the slender terminal portion of the an¬ 
 tennae divided into but two joints 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 i.tself 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 buildings and in our cellars, and they 
 are particularly numerous under any logs or billets of wood 
 which are left in our chip yards. They occur, in short, in all 
 situations that are damp, cool and dark. Frequently, by night 
 in wet weather, they crawl about the rooms in our dwellings. 
 They are perfectly innocent and harmless, subsisting upon decay- 
 
823 
 
 No. 145 | 
 
 in* 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 chief importance 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 iunute 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 qua¬ 
 lities, they must be wholly inert, and are now wisely discarded 
 from the pharmacopeias. 
 
 Six American species, pertaining to the genus Porcellio are 
 known to me, as follows: 
 
 The Smooth Porcellio (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; antennae and projecting apical filaments unicolor with the body. 
 Length half an inch. 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 species. 
 Toung individuals are slightly paler, and a variety which I name conjluentus, 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. I had 
 long regarded this as identical with the P. lavis 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 d fTerent. That 
 
824 [Assembly 
 
 species has a dusky spot below the knees which does not appear in ours. It also has 
 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 Unspotted Porcellio (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 Striped Porcellio (P. viltatus) is black or leaden blackish with the head 
 deeper black and the under side whitish; the segments are rough from elevated gra¬ 
 nnies 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 conflu¬ 
 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. 
 
 The Mottled Porcellio (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 (he 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■ 
 gatin') these lines are confluent, forming a longitudinal row of white blotches be¬ 
 tween the dorsal and lateral stripes. Sometimes the stripe on the middle of the back 
 is tawny yellow instead of whitish. This appears to be the most rare of any of our 
 species. 
 
 The Pretty Porcellio (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 
 0.60. This is our most common species, being thrice as numerous as any other. It 
 occurs in abundance in our cellars and under stones 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 successively 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. 
 
825 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 obvious in 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. margiaatus. The hind margins of the segments pale or whitish. 
 
 d. luterulis. The outer fourth part of each segment whitish with a black spot 
 therein. 
 
 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 here than upon the disk. In all our other species having the surface 
 granulated, these margins are smooth. 
 
 The Rough Porcelmo (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 0.46. This is much more 
 rough and the elevated points 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. Robert 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. 
 
 Tub Plum Leaf-locse, Aphis Pr uni folia:. 
 
 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. And so much does it disagree with the 
 accounts which we have of the plum louse of Europe (JJpkis 
 Pruni, Fab.) that I am 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, antennas 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 antennas 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. Arayot (Annals Entom. Soc. 2d series, v. 
 476,) gives the top of the head and the thorax of the plum aphis 
 as brown and d.usted with a white powder. This more strongly 
 
827 
 
 No. 145.1 
 
 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 less 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 a green 
 ish white color, the legs, nectaries, antenna: 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 Winged Plum Leaf-louse 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 antennae are black, their b^ses 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 veins are analogous to those of A. Pruni in 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: 
 
 a. Abdomen above deep black and shining. 
 
 b. Abdomen pallid whitish; tips of the thighs and veins of the wings dusky, not 
 
 black. 
 
 c. First fork at tip as far from the tip of the second fork as from the third vein, 
 
 d. First fork at tip much farther from the tip of the second fork than from ti e 
 
 third vein, the cell between the first fork and third vein narrower at its base. 
 
828 1 [Assembly 
 
 c. 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. 
 
 /. 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 tfficacious 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 Cherry Plant-louse. Aphis Cerasi , Fabricius. . 
 
 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 Linnaeus, Cerasus vulgaris of modern botanists. Upon 
 other vegetation where these vermin become located they are 
 commonly broken up by their insect enemies after 1 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 sion as the leaves begin 
 to put forth in the spring, these first individuals being hatched 
 from eggs w'hich 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 through 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 jtheir juices. The 
 
830 [Assembly 
 
 numbers which thus make out to stow themselves within a nar¬ 
 row compass are almost incredible. Upon the under surface of a 
 small leaf 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, as I 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 steins ; 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 not 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 out 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 wdien 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 larvae of the Syrphus flies upon almost every 
 
831 
 
 No. 145.1 
 
 leaf, whilst the Lady birds or Coccinellida with, their larvse and 
 Aphis-lions and other destroyers were equally numerous. All 
 fears as to the result were consequently allay*d. Still I 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 disbanded 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 relics of the teeming myriads which had so recently swarmed 
 there. It is by looking at the works of Nature in a definite man- ; 
 n?r 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 ot objects animate 
 and inanimate, each occupying its appropriate sphere, and all so 
 arranged as to fulfil 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'? 
 and has his mind passed onwards to a surmise of the probable 
 number of leaves 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 ot 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 upon 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 twelvemillions of these creatures. And yet so vigilant, so 
 
832 [Assemely 
 
 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. Bift the insect soon shows itself again. Most of the foliage, 
 however, has by this time become 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 leaves 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 antennae over the backs 
 ot 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 
 
No. 145.J 
 
 833 
 
 abdomen which we meet with in the true ants, these have two 
 round knot-like swellings; and their thorax is also armed w'ith 
 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 State 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 M. 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 is able to 
 penetrate the slightest cracks in boxes or cupboards. It is com¬ 
 mon in our dwellings, and when an individual finds any saccha¬ 
 rine substance the information is communicated to the rest of the 
 colony, and before the housewife is aware of the depredation that 
 is going on, the dish of sweetmeats or other preserved substance 
 becomes covered with them, whilst a procession of individuals 
 going and returning in a particular track may be traced along the 
 shelves and wainscots, 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 blades 
 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 
 
 [Assembly, No. 145. j 53 
 
834 
 
 on this account much complained of in this vicinity in the spring 
 of 1850, being so numerous and 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 Cherry ant (Myrmica Cerasi ). The neuters are 0.14 long, of a dark brown 
 color 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 teeih of equal size along their inner edge; the 
 antennae 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 an inverted 
 position. This, however, adapts it to the direction in whieh 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 
 cru'h 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 it a 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 
 
835 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 thrdwn 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 small 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 the se 
 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 [A. 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 Ije named and characterised as 
 follows: 
 
 The Cherry Leaf Plant-iouse (Jphis Cerasifolia ), measures 0.08 to the tip of 
 its abdomen, and 0.15 to the end of its wings, which expand 0 26. It is black with a 
 pale green abdomen, which has three dark green dots on each side forward of the necta. 
 nes, and above these a row of impressed deep green dots extending backwards past 
 16 " Bc,ane » 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 
 
836 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 half way to the tip and are dusty at least at their ends; the neck and lower side of 
 the head are green; the antenna; 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 and four hind thighs except 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 fork very 
 short. 
 
 The wingless females are 0.08 long, egg-shaped, pale yellowish green, their abdo¬ 
 mens coated with a white meal-like powder except at the sutures and on the medial 
 line, which last is deeper green, and the legs and antenna; dull white. 
 
 The larva when young are pea green with white antenna;, nectarids and legs. 
 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 confluent 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. 
 Fonscolomb (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 last of September it is 
 the most common of any species of this family. For years when 
 I have wished to investigate any fact in conuectian 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, 
 m company with larvae, pupae and wingless females. 
 
 The larvjs when newly born are about 0.03 long, of a dull white or pale yellow 
 color, with transparent and colorless legs and antennae 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 antenna; and the feet dusky 
 and the nectaries black. After casting their skins they are dull reddish brown or 
 chestflut 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, antenna; and nec¬ 
 taries are whitish trarsparent, the last equalling the tip. Others of this same size 
 and form have the thighs, feet, nectaries and tips of the antenna; dusky. 
 
 The wingless females are 0.06 long, with very plump broad egg-shaped bodies, 
 which are black and shining, with a slightly projecting tail, the nectaries equalling or 
 even surpassing its tip and of a black color, the antenna; shorter 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 coromonlly the 
 
No. 145.j 
 
 837 
 
 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 is a row of large impressed 
 punctures. 
 
 The Pup* are 0.06 in length, and like the wingless females in the details of their 
 colors and like the larva; iu their form, but are known by having the rudiments of 
 wings which appear like vesicular scales of a 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 blistered-like 
 appearance of a dull reddish yellow color, which sometimes is the color of the body 
 also; its nectaries equal the tip, which has no projecting tail-like appendage. If M. 
 Fonscolomb had confined the pupro 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 of 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 aj; the other aphides when newly 
 hatched, the wings remain dim for several hours, their surface appearing as though 
 it was sprinkled over with dew. The antennae 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 0 12 to the 
 ends of the wings, which when spread are 0.20 across; they are deep black and 
 shining, the abdomen nearly twice as broad as the thorax, and egg-shaped, with an 
 acute apex from which projects a short conical tail-like appendage, the nectaries 
 reaching to its base; antenna; black and about three fourths as long as the body; the 
 beak short, arising between tho 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, a D d the basal half of the thighs white. The wings are 
 transparent, their bases, outer margin and rib-vein white, 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 first 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 tjie tip of the third vein is equidistant be¬ 
 tween tlie first fork and second vein, in which the left wing has but one fork, and in 
 which the right wing has three forks. 
 
 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 Coccinellidee and their larvse, and those of the 
 
838 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 w'hen 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 Ichneumon-flies, and 
 they form the Family Ichneumon idas in the Order Hymenoptera. 
 One branch of this family i • composed of species w T hich feed inter¬ 
 nally upon plant lice. It consists of the genus named Jlphidius 
 and other genera, of the group which is named Jlphidiides. 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 
 wing d ant in ap| earance, may occasionally be discovered busily 
 at work amons: a colony of aphides. With her long thread-like 
 antennae 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 egg hatches a 
 minute worm which resides'within the aphis, 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 
 
839 
 
 No. 145. | 
 
 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 been 
 impregnated. Some of the species of Aphidius are larger than 
 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 destroyed. 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 
 antennse 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 iu its winged and perfect form. 
 
 These parasitic insects which feed internally upon the aphides 
 are as ethcient in destroying them as the aphis lions or any other 
 class of their enemies. And it is truly wonderful that whilst 
 
840 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 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 equal 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, and 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 to 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 stalks of lettuce 
 in our gardens. This in my manuscripts is named 
 
 The Lettuce-louse Apuidius (A. Lactucaphis ). It is 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; antenna: almost as 
 long as the body, 19-jointed, second joint smallest, globular, third joint longest with 
 a slight constriction in its middle, the succeeding joints successively shorter, the last 
 scarcely longer than the preceding one, long ovate; wings slightly smoky, outer 
 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 Knot-weed Aphidius (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 a short cylindrical pedicel, which with the legs and bases of the 
 antennse are of a bright reddish or beeswax yellow color, the tips of the feet being 
 black; its antennae arc inserted on slight broad elevations upon the front of the head 
 and are 17-jointed, the two short basal joints beiDg 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¬ 
 pand 0.16. 
 
 Another species is a common destroyer of a species of aphis 
 which infests the fruit stems of the high cranberry, (Viburnum 
 
841 
 
 No. 145. | 
 
 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 
 swoolen bodies of its victims remaining upon the stems crowded 
 together as closely as they can stow themselves. I name this 
 species 
 
 The Cranberry ArniDius (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 hind knees yellowish; antennaj 15-jointed, the basal joint wider than 
 long, the second nearly globular and slightly thicker than the following ones, the last 
 not larger than the one preceding it; wings hyaline, reins outer margin and stigma 
 black and shining. Length 0.076, wings expand 0.15. 
 
 In the following species the veins are few'er 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 to the outer margin forward of the 
 stigma. These pertain to the genus Trioxys. 
 
 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 aphis. But in a short time these in¬ 
 sects w r ere 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 
 following species: 
 
 The Willow Aphidius (Trioxys 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 posterior part; legs honey yellow, tips of the feet and of the shanks and some¬ 
 times the outer sides of the thighs dusky; feelers honey yellow; antenna! black, 
 two-thirds as long as the body, 13-jointed, 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 Poplar Aphidius (Trioxys Populaphis ) is black and polished, the abdomen 
 long elliptical and much narrower than the thorax, the basal sutures sulphur yellow; 
 legs sulphur yellow, the hind thighs black; antennae nearly as long as the body, 
 15-jointed, third and following joints about equal, cylindrical, the last joint rather 
 longer and thicker, oval with its apex rounded; stigma dusky, veins and outer mar- 
 
842 [Assembly 
 
 gin of fore wings blackish. Length about 0.07. Hatched from an nndescribed 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 svvoolen body securely to the smooth 
 surface of the cherry leaf, the worm of this species when ready to 
 enter its pupa state perforates 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 forming the floor 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 Cherry Aphidius (Trioxys Cerasaphis ) is black with its palpi or feelers and 
 legs pale yellowish brown; antenna; almost as long as the body, 18-jointed, the third 
 and following joints equal, 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-vijie Plume. Pterophorus periscelidactylus . 
 
 % 
 
 Both in Europe and in this country the leaves of the Grape¬ 
 vine constitute the favorite food of a number of larvae as well as 
 of several insects in their perfect state. Dr. Harris has given the 
 history of seven American larvae, 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 16 th 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 formjug’a retreat for 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. 
 
844 
 
 [Assemble 
 
 The larva when fall 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 elevated 
 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 pupte on the 25th of June, one suspending itself from 
 the gauze top of the cage, and hangiftg obliquely downwards, the 
 other attaching itself to 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 would 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 had 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 form, obliquely truncated at the 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 prominent marks. 
 
 The chrysalis is about 0.35 long and 0 08 in diametor. About the mouth and 
 head are divers raised lines and projecting angular points. The obliquely truncated 
 face is convex or gibbous in the middle, and here commence two elevated carina) 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 already 
 spoken of. Their length is equal to half the diameter of ilie body Viewed laterally 
 their outline is egg-shaped, with the edges irregularly toothed and the apex drawn 
 out into a long sharp thorn-like point. Forward ol these horns the raised lines are 
 more elevated in the middle of each segment, where they present two small tooth¬ 
 like spipes, the anterior one larger, and also two short diverging 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 line with them is a row of spines, one on each side 
 of each segment near its middle, which spines are’inclined forward, and each has a 
 
845 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 slight tooth upon its posterior face, and two short diverging club-shaped white 
 bristles. Lower down upon the sides is a 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 rows of small, elevated, wart-like pimples, which are the scars left by the 
 pro-legs of the larva. The legs, antenna; and wings are enclosed apparently in a 
 common sheath, the forked veins of these last forming faint elevated lines upon the 
 smooth outer part of the sheath. The ciysalis varies in color. One of the specimens 
 was bright pale green with a deeper green stripe along 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 Alucitidje and the ortjer Lepidoptera. 
 The moths of this family are distinguished from all others by 
 having their wings singularly cleft into two, three or more long 
 narrow lobes, 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 long. 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 shank#, 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¬ 
 naeus at first, when but a half dozen species were known to him 
 (Systema Naturae, 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 
 
846 [Assembly 
 
 like a garter, and as its wings are also banded, the name perisceli- 
 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 
 antenna; are 0.20 long, black, with a row ot 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 taivny brown or rust-colored in front, 
 their base3 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 forks, the space between these bands often rusty 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 crater the second upon 
 tbe inner margin. Fringe white with a blackish spot on the middle and a laiger 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 trifld, the anterior cleft reaching their middle, 
 the posterior one extending to the base; rusty brown, tawny yellow at base; hind 
 lobe slender, white and frmged with white with a broad blackish band near its tip. 
 
847 
 
 No. 145.j 
 
 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 w'inged'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 tvorms 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 tire, 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 of its 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 Pterophorn's embraces those species of 
 Alicitidje 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 Lobe-winged Plume (Pterophorus lobidactylus) is of a blackish color. Its 
 fore wiags are ash grey towards their bases, freckled with tawny brown atoms; to- 
 
848 [Assembly 
 
 wards their tips brownish black. An oblique tawny yellow bond ending in white on 
 the outer margin extends across the outer lobe near its base, and on the apex of the 
 outer margin is a white stripe. The fringe along their inner margin ia 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 streaks on the outer margin, the first rather forward of the middle and the last 
 on 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 antenme are black with white rings, and on their under sides ash grey. 
 The abdomen has white stripes 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 bates, 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 erf the two anterior pairs has a black stripe 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 Slender-lobed Plume (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 while with a 
 broad black band near the lip. The legs are white, striped with black, the feet, and 
 hind shanks with black bands. The antennm are white 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. 
 
 The Ashy Plume (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 antennas have a pale brown ring on each 
 joint, which is widely interrupted on the 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 0.76. Taken the fore part of July, in yards around 
 dwellings. . 
 
 The Brown-bordfred Plume (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 t^rk 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 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 849 
 
 their outer sides. Wings expand one inch. Occurs the.latter part of June, on weeds 
 along the borders of meadows. 
 
 The Cloudy Plume (P. nebuladactylus) is milk white, the fore wings clouded 
 with pate 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 
 arc 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, ia 
 yards around dwellings, frequently entering opened windows in the evening, being 
 attracted by the light of the lamps. 
 
 The Freckled Plume (P. navosidactylus). Milk white, the fore wings sprinklted 
 with black atoms, which form a black spot at the commencement of the cleft and a 
 det 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 fringes ashy brown. Wings expand 
 0.90. Appears towards the middle of August, in the same situation as the preceding. 
 
 The Chalky Plume (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 outy 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 one inch Taken the middle of July, in forests. 
 
 
 [Assembly, No. 145.] 
 
 54 * 
 
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. 
 
 The Tioee Cekambyx. Monohammus tigrinus , De (See*. M . tomentosui , 
 Zeiolek. 
 
 The insect which we are now about to consider is one of the 
 largest and finest of our American insects pertaining to the family 
 Cerambycipje or Long-horned beetles. Hitherto it has not been 
 known in what kind of wood the larva ot 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 
 numbefs 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 
 flreqents 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 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 851 
 
 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 succeed them, becomes so extensively perforated and 
 mined as to be worthless for anything except fuel. 
 
 The burrow of this worm is excavated in the solid heart-wood 
 of our American hickories and walnuts, and is almost two feet ia 
 length. It runs longitudinally upwards, in¬ 
 creasing in diameter as the worm has increased 
 in size. The anuexed 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-w;ood to'the bark. 
 All the lower part of this gallery is tilled with 
 a fine powder, of a tan color, the castings of the worm ; and some 
 two or three inches below its upper end, in plaee of tliese 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 lie 
 upon—-by their elasticity yielding to any elongation or other mo¬ 
 tion of the slumbering insect, which the fine castings woufM 
 become too compact and solid, by their settling together, to per- 
 
852 
 
 [Assemhly 
 
 mit. And when the beetle hatches from its pupa, it tears away 
 the tine powder above it, as it crawls 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 w'hich 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 which had been dug by a wood¬ 
 pecker, some two inches in depth, at the bottom of which, iucat-ed 
 in the wood, was the shell-like relics of a pupa wdiich the bird 
 had devoured, and below was the track 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 twrn inches deep in the wood, so as to be able 
 to bore directly inw'ards to the exact point where it was lying 
 until it occurred to him that the worm had itself made an open¬ 
 ing outw'ards to the bark, by which to effect its escape aftei its 
 changes were completed, and had then retreated-backwards into 
 the wood again; and the woodpecker by tapping upon the bark 
 had ascertained ^hat 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 iu 
 studying the works of nature, all concurring to show that these 
 myriads of creatures, each furnished with its peculiar organs, and 
 endow-ed with such marvellous faculties and instincts, could have 
 been formed no otherwise than by a Creator who is infinite iuhis 
 attributes. 
 
No. 145.] 
 
 853 
 
 Except in those cases where its burrow is taken possession of 
 by ants, the exterior opening which is made 
 by this beetle when it crawls out from the 
 tree, soon closes up, leaving a round, ragged 
 scar upon the smooth back of the bitter wal¬ 
 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 uufit 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 larvae of the important germs of wood-boring beetles to 
 which this species pertains. I therefore give a more full and 
 particular description of it. 
 
 The Larva when full growu 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 aDd 
 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 
 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 
 following segments. A faint darker stripe extends along the middle of the 
 back and is interrupted at the sutures, and upon the top of each segment 
 except 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 anf 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 side is 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 transveise line forming the arc 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, "Ith numerous minute punctures; its basal part has coarsev punctures and 
 short infuessed longitudinal lines which are more or less confluent with each other. 
 
854 [Assemblt 
 
 The head is retractile within and but half as broad as the second segment, and is coal 
 Mack except at its base, the black being edged posteriorly with ehesnut brown. The 
 wpper lip or labrum is transverse oval, rather broader towards its base, honey yellow, 
 •nd covered with short yellow hairs which incline forwards. The upper jaws or mandi- 
 Mesare robust, with an angular obtuse tooth-like projection near the middle of their 
 inner sides, their tips being simple and rather blunt. The antennas are minute conical 
 two-jointed points projecting outwards at the base of the mandibles and dtotant from 
 «ie base of the head. The feelers arc thrice the size of the antenna;, conical, three- 
 jainted and of a ehesnut brown color; the lobe of the lower jaws or maxilire 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 ehesnut brown. The apical segment of the body is divided 
 iirto two parts by a trausver.se impressed line, and might, as in many other larva;, be 
 ■Counted as two segments, the last one being much more narrow and short in this 
 insect. 
 
 The celebrated Swedish entomologist, Baron De Geer, long ?go 
 published a description and figure of this beetle in the fifth volume 
 his Meraoires on Insects, page 113, under the name of Cerambyx 
 tigrinus, or the Tiger Cerambyx, a napie suggested perhaps from 
 its size and colors. It has lately been described by Rev. D. 
 Xiegler, and by Prof. Haldeman, under the name of Monohammus 
 frmentosus, or the Wooly Cerambyx, which name, however, must 
 give place to that whicli 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 often only 0.85, 
 whilst the females are 1.16. The ground color is brown, sometimes tingfd with red- 
 Htfc or on the elytra with pale yellow; and the surface is covered beneath and for 
 the most part above with fine short oppressed hairs of an ashy o: a tawny-yellowish 
 white color. The head is punctured, at least on its summit, and has an impressed 
 fine in its middle. The mouth is of a honey-yellow colo#above aDd beneath, the 
 «^>er 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 is an elevation on which the 
 Mtennte 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- 
 nesa 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 seutel is brown, its spiral half covered with whitish or light yellow lmb.s. The 
 
855 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 elytra are covered with similar oppressed hairs on the middle and posterior part^ 
 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 mom 
 dense and coarse towards and at the base, where they open backwards aud have their 
 anterior edges elevated into little callous points, rendering the surface rough and 
 sliagreened, 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 brow*, 
 a longish, black, shining ant, its abdomen with equidistant transverse rows of fine 
 bristles, two rows upon each segment. 
 
 Tub Walnut Ant. Formica Caryas. 
 
 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 number* 
 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 
 other food within their reach, and was the cause of their collect¬ 
 ing together iu-the manner stated. And it is quite probable that 
 a recently cut piece of hickory wood may prove in other case* 
 one of the best traps for these pests, which occasionally become 
 quite an annoyance in our dwellings. Hickory aud 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 fur fuel* 
 these same ants were found in the wood, occupying most of ti e 
 galleries which the tiger cerambyx had bored therein, which gal- 
 
^ 856 [Assemble 
 
 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. 
 
 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 burrow's 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 w r as 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 w'hich ants secrete. To us it 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- 
 
857 
 
 » 
 
 No 145.] 
 
 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 oif from their bodies. 
 And nestling in this wet surface a few larvse of the ants were 
 also met with. 
 
 I 
 
 Those larva: were very small footless grubs’, measuring from 0.03 to 0.08 in length, 
 the largest individuals being about 0.03 iu diameter. They are of a cylindrical 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 semipcllucid, 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 by 
 these ants, extremely minute ticks may also be met with, numer¬ 
 ous in particular placed, 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 are similar in 
 their form, texture, &c., to the common Beetle- tick ( Gamasus 
 coleoptralorum, Lin.), but the hard shining plate covering their 
 backs consists of one piece only. They consequently pertain to 
 die genus Uropoda of Latrielle, and the species may appropriately 
 be named Formica, or the Ant-tick. Of the species figured in 
 Baron Walckenaer’s Atlas of Apterous Insects, it bears the closest 
 
 i 
 
858 [Assembly 
 
 resemblance to that of Uropoda vegetans (PI. 34, fig. 6), a species 
 which is quite common upon several of our American beetles. 
 
 The Ant-tick 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 legs are shortish, taper 
 gradually, and the feet are not half the thickness of the shanks. The anterior legs 
 have not the slendertect of the three other pairs, but are antennoe-like, and have at 
 their tips several short coarsish hairs and a single bristle slightly longer than theso 
 hairs. The palpi or feelers rarely project beyond the anterior margin, and their tips 
 arc 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. The Silky 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 abdominal segments. 
 
 The males of this species measure 0.30 to the tip of the abdomen which is about 
 0.08 in diameter, 0.32 to the t.ip of the closed wings, and the wings spread 0.45. They 
 arc black and shining. The head is nearly 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 fiicc 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 antennae are 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 or scale 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. The 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, scarcely 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 margin, the other near the 
 middle, these bristles arising from rows of equidistant punctures. At the tip 
 
859 
 
 No. 145. J 
 
 protrude three short thread-like processes, of which the outer ones arc slightly 
 longer. The feet arc 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 females 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, arc 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 bn 
 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 
 in the middle, which is the point where it.originates iu the 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 o.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 higher than it is wide, and is regularly 
 rounded above, without being cut off as iu the female, or notched as in the male; it 
 is convex on both sides, but with a slight concavity in the middle of its posterior face. 
 
 The following varieties may be found among these ants: 
 
 a. Female. Scale of the abdominal pedicel not at all notched. 
 
 b. Female. Middle transverse sutures of the abdomen strongly cons'ricted. 
 
 c. Female. Middle suture of the abdomen pale, forming a transverse bund. 
 
 d. Neuter. Basal suture of the abdomen pale yellowish brown. 
 
 e. Neuter. Two basal sutures of the abdomen pale yellowish brown. 
 
 /. Neuter. Antenn® 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 beooming oup-skaped. 
 
 The Hickory-gall Arms. Pemphigus Canjacaulis. 
 
 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 
 
 
' 860 [Assembly 
 
 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 iruit 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 
 I 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 alluded to has 
 ncP 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 growth. 
 
 The insect which forms these excrescences is a female plant- 
 louse, and her proceedings and the effect which they produefi 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 leafets, upon the leafstalk, or still farther down, upon the 
 green succulent twig which is the growth of the present year. 
 
861 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 in it. 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 ot 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 w’hole 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 everywhere 
 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 flam 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 
 
 
862 [Assembly 
 
 are the excrement of a larva which lives in the walls of the gall, 
 mining cylindrical channels in it. This larva is about the tenth 
 of an inch long, shining watery whitish, with a pale yellow cloud 
 iri 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 
 crawl 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 wain 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 spokep 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 larvae of a Syrphusfly, 
 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 visceral 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 leafstalks of the poplar, that 
 I 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 Vitifolicc ) 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 . 
 
863 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 The larva 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 antennic. Younger individuals are white, shining, and somewhat hyaline, 
 with pellucid white legs. The antenna; are short and robust, consisting of two shprt 
 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 wirtOLESs females, of which one is found in each gall, she being the parent 
 of the multitude of larvae 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 legs arc short, scarcely projecting beyond 
 the outer margin, and with the antenme 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 euds 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 tfse 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 
 meals. 
 
 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. 
 
 Consumiug the leaves; white caterpillars with eight tufts of converging black hairs on the 
 back and towards each end a pencil of long black (^ies on each side. 
 
 The Hickory Tussock-moth. Hophocampa Carycc. Harris. 
 
 Of the caterpillars of our State, one which will be most apt to 
 he observed on account of its clean neat appearance, and the re- 
 
,864 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 gnlar 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 whicli 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 caterpillars 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 hundred 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 
 i feeding a fly or other insect annoys it, 
 or even if tfie 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 
 
865 
 
 No. 145 J 
 
 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 j 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- 
 4 ing cut gives a view of these cast skins at each of 
 ft the moultings, and shows the increase which takes 
 place 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 scarcely 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 fobted, cylindrical, clean clear white, with 
 numerous black dots, and clothed with tufts and longer pencils of hairs, which are 
 beautifully branched or bearded, and of a white color, interspersed with other 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 a 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 black 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 sido, with 
 two larger ones anteriorly below these. The legs are black, the prolegs white, with 
 1 ' ar ge 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 length. Before they are 
 
 [Assembly, No. 145.] 
 
 55 
 
fAsSEMBLT 
 
 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 which 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 out the 
 following spring, though when reared in a dry room I have known 
 individuals to come forth in their winged state the latter part of 
 October and in November. These moths pertain to the family 
 AKcniDiE 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 fou» species pertaining to this genus, 
 and the caterpillars of tw'o 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 ^kin 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 a thin clothlike fabric formed of white silken threads matted 
 closely together which lines the cocoon upon its inner side. Its 
 texture is so 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 Cbry8aus 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 ovaltblack 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¬ 
 ing pores, &c., but is unduly contracted on the anterior half, the 
 width hero being the same as across the middle. 
 
867 
 
 So. 145 ] 
 
 The winged Morn 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 appearame, with a row of 
 tawny spots in the middle in the female; a band in front between the eyes, two dote 
 on the neck and the inner edge of the shoulder covers tawny; eyes spotted with 
 black; antennae 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, nankin 
 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 i> 
 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 antennae. 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 flatfish pale yel¬ 
 low lice, their antenuse with black rings. 
 
 The Little Hickory Aphis. Aphis Caryella. 
 
 The extensive genus Aphis , 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 
 antennae. The spec : es, however, which are embraced in thi 
 genus admit of being divided into smaller groups. This has been 
 shown in a.very able manner by M. Kaltenbach, whose arrange- 
 nn nt 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 
 defiue 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 
 •antennae shorter than the body> and the beak arising from the 
 lower part of the head instead of between the base of the fore 
 
86S [Assembly 
 
 % 
 
 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 antennae 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 Tilice. 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 laid 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 
 could be discovered with a lens, which tube appeared to be re¬ 
 tracted and became imperceptible soon after. Their secretion pf 
 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 antennae, 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, Linnaeus well remarks, are diffi¬ 
 cult to distinguish and more difficult to describe. That which is 
 
869 
 
 No. 145. J 
 
 most common upon the leaves of the hickory may be distinguished 
 by the following characters. 
 
 The little Hickory Aphis (Aphis Caryella ) is pale yellow with white antennae 
 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 antenna: 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 than 
 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-vein 
 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, wltich is dusky, and black at each end. 
 
 In addition to the species now described, four others occur 
 upou the under surface of the leaves of the hickory and walnut, 
 similar to it in size, form 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 obliged to regard them as dis¬ 
 tinct species. They may be named and briefly characterized as 
 follows: 
 
 The little dottkd-winoed Aenis ( A . punctatclla ) is much like the preceding 
 in the color of its body, antenruc and wings, but lias 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 
 ®alt.white with a brown streak at each end; the secon l vein is wavy and at its tip is 
 
870 [Assembly 
 
 curved towards the tip of the first vein; the third vein arises from the basal extremi¬ 
 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 amis (/?. maculella) differs from Caryella in having 
 only a slender black ring at each articulation of the antenme, the feet and a 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 (A. fumipennella) is of a dull yellow color 
 with blackish feet and the wings smoky with robust brown veins, the rib-vein much 
 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¬ 
 ling the stigma in length. 
 
 Tiie little black-margined aphis (A. marginella). Pale yellow, antennae 
 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, 
 outer margin and rib-vein coal-black, first vein with a black dot on its base; fourth 
 vein lender, 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¬ 
 cribed by Dr. Harris, under the name of A. Caryce. 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 ofj white, flocculont, down-like matter on the smooth bark, covering exceed¬ 
 ingly minute lice invisible to the naked eye. 
 
 The Pink Bliget _ 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¬ 
 ticularly around and immediately below the axils 
 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. 
 
 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 growih, and of a dull green 
 color, aud 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 he found the insect which is the cause of this 
 
872 [Assembly 
 
 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 w'as 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 pairs 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 glass. 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 attempt to 
 crawl 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 commonly accomplishes. 
 
 When highly magnified, the white meal-liko substance upon the back of this insect 
 is found to be a mass of short curling uneven filaments, coating the hack and giving it 
 a rough, shaggy appearance. The legs are short and robust, the shanks being near¬ 
 ly equal to the thighs in diameter, and the feet but li tie 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 seta;. 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 a very faint trans¬ 
 verse line. In the meal-like powder with which it is coated, nh antennae or organs 
 tj> the mouth can be discerned, but on carefully rubbing oil’ this powder two little 
 projecting conical points, one upon each side of the head, standing outwards like 
 little ears, appear to represent the antenna;. Often the white powder upon the back 
 appears like transverse bands, separated from each other by the slightly constricted 
 black sutures of the body. The fiat under side of the body is of a pale color, and in 
 some individuals the upper side is also tinged with pallid. 
 
873 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 
 Coccidje of the Order Homoptera, and the facts in its history which 
 are above recited, leave hut 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 as a shade tree 
 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 easier application here, than in most other cases w'here it is 
 the small twigs of trees which are infested with these vermin. 
 As Ihis 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. 
 
 THE CABBAGE. 
 affecting the leaves. 
 
 EatiDg holes in the outer leaves late in autumn ; a small cylindrical pale green 
 worm, wriggling briskly when disturbed, and letting itself down by a thread. 
 
 The Cabbage Moth. 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, however, subsisting upon mustard, turnip, and most other 
 plants of the extensive order Crucifera, seldom invades cabbages 
 in such numbers as to injure them. But I come to speak of 
 another worm, a moth, which makes greater havoc 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 
 
No. 145.1 875 
 
 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. It is hence altogether probable that 
 there are two generations of the moth iu 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, aud to 
 
876 
 
 [Assembly 
 
 which, as w6 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, w'hich may be found attached to the e ten 
 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 network, 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 for 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 of a thick paper-like texture and a brown color. They 
 are ol an eliptic form, rounded at both ends, and only about the 
 tenth of an inch long and a third as broad. These have been 
 constructed by the larvae 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 
 paiasite, as in other cases of this kind, attains its growth at the 
 same time that the worm reaches maturity, when the maggot 
 finishes its work by destroying the little that remains of its foster 
 Parent, and immediately incloses itself in this paper-like cocoon. 
 Ot three mature worms which I inclosed in a small box over 
 ni ';ht, only two were found the next morning. All vestiges of 
 the third had disappeared, and in place of it was one of these 
 paper-like cocoons. 
 
 But as the worm oi the Cabbage moth is such a choleric, mer¬ 
 curial little fellow that when he is molested, be it ever so slightly, 
 
877 
 
 No. 145.] 
 
 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 fee induces him to remain quiet or is 
 able to cling to him long enough to puncture and drop an egg 
 within his skin. The knowledge and skill which these Ichneumon 
 and other parasitic Hymenopters often show in- their proceedings 
 is tiuly wonderful. Every person will recollect the larva of the 
 Isabella tiger-moth (Jlrctia Isabella )—the large caterpillar with 
 still' 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 is rudely 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 r a tew 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. In a 
 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. 
 
[AsSEMBLy 
 
 This moth pertains to the genus Cerostoma of Latreille and the 
 British entomologists, a genus belonging to the family Tineim, 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 larvm of the two 
 genera are also identical in their appearance and habits.. The 
 genus Cerostoma is described as differing from that of CAatocAilus 
 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 
 antennae, 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, leave no 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 antennae 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 Pocket, a plant of the same family 
 with the cabbage, and which forms an open-net work cocoon the 
 same as our species. 
 
 The worm 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 fere 
 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 Jbe body is perceived to be 
 clothed with several short black hairs which proceed from minute 
 
879 
 
 No. 145-1 
 
 black (Jots each of which is surrounded by a faint pale ring. These dots arc sym¬ 
 metrically arranged, and are situated the same as in numerous other larvse of moths, 
 each 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 j whilst on each side are 
 four other dots, placed at the angles of an imaginary rhombus, 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 chrysalis 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 
 antennie 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 abrown 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 antennae 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 moth 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 a 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 antennae 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 suddenl) 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 Illinois, that was 
 said to be 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 fiiuit. 
 
 Th %X^~“ mingred and P utrid - containing within it one or more small bright 
 
 The Gooseberry Midge — Cecidomyia Grossvlariw. 
 
 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 
 nuit is lost in this way. This premature ripening of the goose¬ 
 berry is caused by inserts puncturing and depositing their eggs 
 in it. We have at least two insects which thus attack the goo'se- 
 berry One of these appears to be a species of moth which 1 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 Cecidomyia and 
 iatnily Iipulidie. 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 larva of the 
 Wheat midge, found in the ears 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 antenna, etc., 
 these correspond with the C. Ribesii of Europe, but that is des¬ 
 cribed by Macquart (Dipteres, vol. i. p. 1(52,) as having black 
 bands upon the thorax, the abdomen blackish, &c. Hence it is 
 evidently a much darker colored species. 
 
 G ° osi ? b ek r y MmCE is scarcely the tenth of an inch in length to the tins of 
 and ofTwa'x“vd'loJ h' 8 <>f a P a . l< : 3')' llow c< > 101 '. the thorax paler than the abdomen 
 l Y hyaline ned^r n l Ue t f^-T® ad<i ant “ nni f blackish > of twelve joint*, separated 
 roun R M.df ? ? o rd aS ° Dg aS the J oints > which are short-cylindrical with 
 
 faintW tt„„ft ’ tl . lt ; ,r , len « th scarcely tnort^ than double their breadth; legs si raw yellow 
 faintly tinged with dusky towards their tips; wihgs 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 lame 
 which come from these eggs lie in the ground during the winter; 
 ror 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 
 tails to the ground, should be gathered and thrown into the tire, 
 to destroy the worms which the berries contain, fly attention to 
 this measure the haunts of this insect in the garden can be easily 
 broken up, whereas, it 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 exterminate it 
 rom our country. But none of these wild gooseberries should be 
 permitted to grow in the vicinity of the garden, for from them, 
 i near, this midge will continually be finding its way to the 
 bushes oi the cultivated gooseberry. 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON THI 
 
 OP THE 
 
 STATE OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 By Asa Fitch, M. D. 
 
 Executive Committee of the New-Yorlc State Agricultural Society: 
 
 I herewith present a second Report on the Noxious and other 
 Insects of the State, continuing the account of those species which 
 are injurious to fruit and forest trees, and commencing those 
 which are injurious to field crops. The Report heretofore pre¬ 
 sented has been so favorably received, and has made the plan 
 and character of the work in which I am occupied so generally 
 known, that no explanations upon this subject are required. 
 Nor is it necessary that I should say a word upon the importance 
 of this Survey of the Economical Entomology of our State, our 
 citizens being universally aware of its value, and of the benefits 
 which will result to agriculturists, orchardists, and others 
 from being informed how they may manage their crops, treat 
 their fruit trees, &c., to shield them from the depredations of in¬ 
 sects. Yet but a small part of the injury which we are sustain¬ 
 ing from this class of creatures is at present known. Many of 
 them are so minute, so seemingly insignificant and powerless, 
 and conduct their operations where they are so concealed from 
 view, that the damage which they occasion is currently imputed 
 to other causes, and the real culprit is never suspected. Thus, 
 h is commonly supposed that the reason why we now fail to 
 raise such crops of wheat as our lands produced when they were 
 
 [Assembly, No. 217.] 27 
 
410 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 newly cleared, is because the soil has become exhausted, the 
 temperature of the winters has changed, &c. But my researches 
 the present season have impressed me with the belief that the 
 insect depredators upon this grain, which have found their way 
 into all parts of our country where wheat has long been culti¬ 
 vated, are the sole cause of the present meagerness and uncer¬ 
 tainty of this crop. Having been looking at the wheat midge 
 and the Hessian fly only, in former years, other insects living at 
 the expense of this grain had escaped my notice; and now, on 
 turning my attention again in this direction, I have been aston¬ 
 ished to find our growing wheat preyed upon by multitudes of 
 different species of Chlorops, Oscinis , and Thrips, insects which in 
 Europe have long been known as most inimical to the wheat 
 crops there, but which have never hitherto been noticed on this 
 side of the Atlantic. From the time that the blade shoots from 
 the ground until the ripened grain is carried into the barn, it 
 appears at every stage of its growth to be exposed to the attacks 
 of one and another of these vermin. And with such a host of these 
 enemies to withstand, our chief wonder is that this crop is not 
 utterly devastated every year. Could it be released from them, 
 it is evident wheat in all the old settled parts of our State and 
 country would be as sure and productive a crop now as it was 
 when our lands were newly cleared. Whether we shall be able 
 to discover remedies or modes of cultivation by which their at¬ 
 tacks may be prevented appears doubtful. Still, every one is 
 aware it is highly important that the habits and transformations 
 of each of these insects should be fully examined, and the infor¬ 
 mation thus elicited should be diffused among the cultivators of 
 our soil. That such knowledge will enable them to elude at 
 least a portion of these depredators, in many instances, there can 
 be no doubt. The following extract from the commencement of 
 a letter from a gentleman in Ohio, written soon after the wheat 
 harvest of 1855, shows what benefits result from knowledge of 
 this kind. He says: “ I see from the Country Gentleman that 
 you have become very familiar with the whole insect family. I 
 think that when this subject is brought to bear upon agriculture, 
 horticulture, &c., its usefulness will be unlimited. The farmers 
 here are beginning to see the necessity of some knowledge of 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 411 
 
 Entomology; for when they see whole fields of wheat and corn 
 cut oft’ and wholly destroyed by insects, they are in deep trouble, 
 and would spare no pains or expense to get out. A year ago 
 last fall as I was about to sow my wheat, I read very carefully 
 your articles on the wheat fly or weevil as we call it here, and 
 the Hessian fly, and treated the crop according to your reason¬ 
 ing, and the consequence was, I got one-third more wheat to the 
 acre from the poorest of my land than my neighbors did from 
 new ground.” 
 
 In a document of such compass as the one I here present, em¬ 
 bodying such a multitude of observations, upon subjects which 
 have hitherto been but little studied in our country, I do not 
 flatter myself that every thing stated is accurate and free from 
 error. Aware from my own experience in how many instances 
 reinvestigating the structure and habits of an insect causes me 
 to modify and change the opinions which previous observations 
 have led me to form, I cannot doubt that in numerous instances 
 further examinations of the species here treated of will show 
 that amendments are required. I regard these reports as only a 
 foundation, a stepping-stone to further researches in this direc¬ 
 tion, whereby any errors into which I may have fallen will be 
 corrected and the habits of each particular species will become 
 fully examined and made known. As it is german to this sub¬ 
 ject, I take the liberty to add a paragraph from a letter which 
 came to hand as my previous report was passing through the 
 press, from Mr. Curtis, whose recent articles on insects injurious 
 to field and garden crops, in the Journal of the Royal Agricul¬ 
 tural Society furnish such admirable models for essays of this 
 kind, and whose great work on British Entomology, illustrated 
 with unsurpassed clearness and accuracy, constitutes an endu 
 ring monument to his fame. He says, “ I rejoice to find 
 you are setting to work in good earnest with the noxious Insects 
 of America, One of the most important steps is to get their cor¬ 
 rect scientific names, and as far as possible to identify your spe- 
 cies by giving good figures of them. For want of correct names 
 a vast portion of the published accounts by Gardeners and Far¬ 
 mers previous to the publication of Dr. Lindley’s Gardeners’ 
 Chronicle, relative to economic Entomology, were worthless, 
 
412 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK STATE SOCIETY. 
 
 Wireworms, Bugs and Spiders, meaning anything and everything. 
 You must not hope, however, to arrive at perfection at once; 
 for the greater my experience, the more I am convinced that the 
 first accounts of the economy of noxious insects cannot be made 
 quite correct. So that in fact they become feelers and targets 
 for the critics to fire at. But from such attacks, it is incredible 
 what information may be collected and errors corrected. I am 
 sure you will excuse the liberty I take in thus offering you my 
 experience, and urging you to persevere in exploring the path 
 you have chosen, so full of interest to yourself, and so important 
 to mankind.” 
 
 ASA FITCH. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
INSECTS INFESTING FRUIT TREES. 
 
 THE APPLE. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 Consuming the leaves of apple and cherry trees in May, and forming largo 
 cobweb-like nests in the forks of the limbs; black, hairy, caterpillars, 
 witli white lines and along each side a row of blue spots; living 
 together in societies. 
 
 The Common Apple-tree Caterpillar, or American lackey moth, 
 Clisiocampa Americana, Harris. (Plate 3, fig. 3, the male; fig 4, 
 the female.) 
 
 There is scarcely an insect in our country more universally 
 known than is the one which we are now to consider, when in 
 its larva state, it being the common caterpillar, whose cobweb 
 like nests are everywhere seen, in the month of May and the 
 fore part of June, upon apple and cherry trees. But, though 
 every person is so well acquainted with these caterpillars, there 
 is not one of our citizens who knows the moth or miller into 
 which they change; and those to whom I have shown this miller, 
 have generally expressed their disappointment at finding it so 
 small, so dull colored, and so little ornamented with spots or 
 marks, they having supposed from the size of the caterpillar, 
 and the colors with which it was variegated, that it produced a 
 much larger and more gay looking insect. 
 
 This insect pertains to the Family Bombycidje, or the thick, 
 hairy bodied moths of the Order Lepidoptera, the silk worm 
 (Bombyx Mori ) being the type of this group. And the moth of 
 our apple-tree caterpillar in its size and general appearance has 
 much similarity to that of the silk worm, though differing from 
 >t notably in its color, and also in some of the minute but im¬ 
 portant points in its structure, which cause it to rank in a dis- 
 
414 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-VORK 
 
 tinct genus, named Clisiocampa. This genus was formed by Mr. 
 Curtis, for the reception of two common European moths, which 
 are most intimately related, both in their appearance and habits 
 to our American insect, one of them named C. Neustria , strip¬ 
 ping the foilage from the fruit trees in Europe, and forming its 
 nests upon the trees in the same manner as does our caterpillar. 
 It was hence formerly supposed that our insect was probably 
 identical with the Neustria. The botanist Sir James Edwin 
 Smith, however, in editing Abbot’s notes and drawings of the 
 Lepidopterous insects of Georgia, deeming that another American 
 moth which has been named Clisiocampa sylvatica by Dr. Harris, 
 was the Neustria , supposed this was the other European species, 
 and accordingly published it as the castrensis of Linnseus. It is 
 to Dr. Harris that we are indebted for setting this subject in its 
 correct light, and showing that both our American species are 
 distinct from those of Europe. And he accordingly named our 
 apple-tree caterpillar Clisiocampa Americana , or the American 
 lackey moth, the name lackey being the current English desig¬ 
 nation for these moths, in consequence of the blue, red and 
 yellow stripes upon the caterpillars having some resemblance to 
 those on the coats in which the lackeys or footmen are dressed. 
 About the only difference which can be discerned between our 
 American lackey moth and the Neustria , is in the two stripes 
 upon its fore wings, they being straight and parallel in our insect, 
 whereas in that of Europe these stripes diverge slightly, so that 
 at their inner ends especially, they are more distant from each 
 other than in the middle. But as the colors and stripes are sub¬ 
 ject to considerable variations, we could not be fully assured that 
 the insects of the two continents are distinct by merely examin¬ 
 ing them in their perfect state. When we come to look at their 
 larva;, however, all doubts upon this subject vanish, the cater¬ 
 pillar of the Neustria having three red stripes along each side, 
 which do not appear in our caterpillar, and it is destitute of the 
 rows of light blue spots on the sides which we always find in 
 the latter. And if any further evidence was necessary as to the 
 correctness of Dr. Harris in regarding these insects as being dis¬ 
 tinct species, we have it in some of the habits of the caterpillars- 
 The European insect attacks almost all kind of trees, evergreens 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 415 
 
 as well as deciduous. But our American caterpillar is unable, 
 I think, to subsist upon any trees of the evergreen class. A nest 
 of the young worms, on being attached to the limb of a pine 
 tree all died of starvation. A nest of half grown ones, tied 
 among the foliage of a tamerack or larch all forsook the tree in 
 the course of two or three days, without eating any of the leaves 
 that I could discover. Another nest of half grown worms 
 having consumed all the foliage of the bush on which they were 
 hatched, and. being obliged to migrate elsewhere, came first to a 
 spruce tree, but passed on without ascending it, as though aware 
 it was unsuitable for their nourishment. And in those rare in¬ 
 stances in which single full grown caterpillars may be met with 
 upon the hemlock and pine, they have probably ascended these 
 trees in search of a secure place for spinning their cocoons, and 
 not to feed upon the leaves. 
 
 Nor is our caterpillar by any means a general feeder upon de¬ 
 ciduous trees. The experiments and observations which I have 
 made, to ascertain upon what kinds of foliage it is able to sus¬ 
 tain itself may here be briefly recited. It is well knowm that it 
 decidedly prefers the wild or native black cherry to any other 
 tree, and next to this it is most fond of the apple, although it is 
 about equally fond of the choke cherry and of the cultivated 
 garden cherry. Its nests may also be occasionally met with upon 
 the bird or small red cherry, upon the wild plum and upon dif¬ 
 ferent species of the thorn ( Cratcegus ), and I doubt not the cat¬ 
 erpillar will thrive and grow to maturity upon almost auy of 
 the trees and shrubs which pertain to the natural order Rosace.®, 
 as I have repeatedly noticed it feeding upon the leaves of the 
 shad bush ( Amelanchier ), the rose, &c. Some of the trees of this 
 group, however, are unadapted to it; the peach, for instance. 
 On the tenth of June, when the caterpillars had mostly attained 
 their full size, a nest was noticed upon a peach tree, below r the 
 belt of eggs from which it had hatched. But all the worms in 
 this nest, were at that late date quite small, being only about a 
 third grown. So far as a single observation can be relied upon, 
 it appeared that this tree was unadapted to these caterpillars, 
 and that the parent insect had erred in placing her eggs upon it, 
 probably having mistaken it for a species of cherry. 
 
416 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 But this insect is not entirely limited to trees of the cherry 
 and apple kind. I have seen its eggs placed upon the witch 
 hazel ( Hamamelis ), and the caterpillars from them when nearly 
 mature, appeared as thrifty and well fed as those upon the apple 
 trees. Three small nests, each containing about two dozen 
 worms, were once seen upon a small beach tree. On willows 
 numbers of these caterpillars may be seen every year, when they 
 are nearly mature; and on tieitag a cherry twig, containing a 
 nest of worms but two or three days old, to the limb of a yellow 
 willow, they were found to grow as thriftily as those in other sit¬ 
 uations. The poplars, at least our indigenous species, appear to 
 be equally congenial to them. And the white oak, the leaves of 
 which are small and tender when the caterpillars are nearly full 
 grown, they feed upon freely. The black or quercitron oak 
 seems unadapted to them. The young worms of a nest tied to 
 this tree languished and after a time all died; a nest of half 
 grown worms ceased to advance further in size, and finally the 
 more robust individuals appeared to have abandoned the tree, 
 and the remainder perished. Nests of worms when half grown 
 were placed upon the lilac, the syringa (Philadelphus coronarius) 
 and the striped dogwood ( Viburnum Jlcerifolium ). In each of 
 these instances the nests were forsaken by the worms within a 
 day or two. A nest of worms newly hatched and too young to 
 migrate elsewhere, was placed upon the garden currant, and 
 another upon the alder ( Alnus ). In each of these instances the 
 worms sustained themselves upon the leaves but made scarcely 
 any advancement. When the caterpillars on other trees were 
 mature these had not attained a third their size. They however 
 all continued in their nests, feeding slightly upon the foliage 
 around them, until the period for spinning their cocoons had 
 nearly expired. They then suddenly dispersed themselves and 
 probably all perished, being too small and weak to construct 
 their cocoons. The fact shows that animal life may for a long 
 time be sustained upon food which is so unpalatable and so lit¬ 
 tle nutritious to the individual that no growth or development 
 can take place. 
 
 Like other insects, this is much more numerous in particular 
 years. This fact has been noticed from the earliest times. We 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 417 
 
 thus have it on record within thirty years after the first settle¬ 
 ment of Massachusetts, that 1646 and 1649 “were caterpillar 
 years,” and that in 1658 “ caterpillars did great harm to fruit 
 trees” (Flint’s Agricult, of Mass. 2d report, p. 33). Without 
 specifying other years which have been similarly distinguished, 
 I would state that during the past twenty-five years I have never 
 seen these insects a fourth as numerous as they have been the 
 present year, 1856; and they appear from accounts to have been 
 multiplied to an unusual degree all ’over our country. And it 
 would seem that those seasons which favor the growth of fruit 
 also favor the increase of these insects, our orchards having never 
 been so overloaded with fruit before as they were in the year 
 
 1855. 
 
 The eggs from which these caterpillars come are placed near 
 the ends of the twigs, in clusters, forming a ring or rather a 
 broad thick belt, surrounding the branch entirely or in part, as 
 represented (diminished in size) in the annexed cut. In these 
 belts I have counted from three hundred to three 
 hundred and thirty eggs. They are about three 
 fourths of .an inch in length and the tenth of an 
 inch thick. 
 
 The eggs are of a short cylindrical form with abruptly 
 rounded ends. They are about 0.04 long and two-thirds as 
 broad. The shell is of a very tough leathery texture and of 
 '■ an ash-gray or white color, the inside having a bluish tinge, 
 somewhat resembling that of mother-of-pearl. The eggs are 
 placed perpendicularly upon the twig, to which they are 
 firmly glued, the lower end being indented to give it a more 
 secure attachment'to the bark. They are also arranged side 
 by side somewhat symmetrically in rows, their sides being slightly indented 
 or moulded to each other and firmly glued together in one mass. Those eggs 
 which are at the ends or margin of the mass are placed in an inclined position 
 and the outermost ones are laid horizontally upon the bark, in order to pro¬ 
 duce a gradual slope from the surface of the mass to that of the bark. 
 
 The eggs are covered over with a thick coating of glutinous 
 matter which entirely hides them from view and protects them 
 from the weather. This matter is slightly transparent, and full 
 of small air bubbles, giving its surface the appearance of net 
 work. Its color varies from black to pale, but it is commonly 
 darker than the bark, and its outer surface is smooth and shining 
 as though coated with varnish. Although moisture cannot dis- 
 
418 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 solve and wash off this glutinous matter, it softens it, so that it 
 can readily be indented by the finger nail, whenever it is wet by 
 rain or dew. And when thus softened, birds frequently pick 
 into it, forming irregular openings in its surface, as represented 
 at the lower part of the figure in the foregoing cut. They proba¬ 
 bly suppose it to be the chrysalis of a moth, and that they will 
 enjoy a dainty repast on reaching the inside; but on coming to 
 the outer ends of the eggs and finding how tough and compacted 
 together they are, they desist, never destroying any of the eggs 
 that I have noticed. 
 
 These eggs are deposited upon the twigs the fore part of July, 
 and remain through the autumn and winter, and until the latter 
 part of April and the beginning of May, when the young cater¬ 
 pillars hatch from them. Thus during ten of the twelve months 
 of each year these insects repose in their egg state. They always 
 hatch in wet or at least damp weather, when the thick covering 
 o f glutinous matter in which they are enveloped is soft, so that 
 they gnaw a passage through it with ease. If it were not thus 
 softened the infantile worms would be wholly unable to work 
 their way through it. If a twig containing one of these belts of 
 eggs be brought into a stove room where the atmosphere is con¬ 
 stantly dry, scarcely a half dozen of the worms, if any, will be 
 able to come forth from their nest. And this glutinous matter 
 thus softened, forms a store of nourishment for the worms when 
 they first hatch. They remain clustered together upon its sur¬ 
 face and feeding upon it, for one or two days, until they have 
 acquired strength to travel away and forage for themselves. 
 
 Thus more or less of this matter is consumed, and 
 the belt of eggs now presents the appearance shown 
 in the accompanying figure, its surface not smooth 
 and shining as before, but rough and ragged, with 
 the white ends of the eggs exposed to view, at least 
 in places, and each egg showing a small perfora¬ 
 tion in its end through which the worm made its 
 
 exit. 
 
 The infantile worms having fed uppn the matter which en¬ 
 velopes the eggs until they have obtained sufficient strength for 
 the journey, move down the limb one after another, each spin- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 419 
 
 ning from his mouth a fine silken thread which he attaches to 
 the bark, whereby his foothold and that of those who follow him 
 is rendered more secure. On coming to a fork of the limb, they 
 halt, and there erect a kind of tent for their subsequent resi¬ 
 dence, by traveling around the spot, spinning their threads in 
 every direction, hereby forming a web resembling that of a spider. 
 This at first is quite slight, and wholly inadequate to shelter 
 them. Hence if a rain comes on it penetrates the web every¬ 
 where, and the young worms may be seen crowded together in a 
 mass, in its driest part, upon the under side of the limb. But 
 thousands of additional threads being added to it each fair day, 
 it rapidly becomes more substantial and better adapted for then- 
 pro tection. 
 
 The caterpillars hatch earlier or later as the season is more 
 forward or backward. Commonly the earliest clusters of eggs 
 are hatched by the twenty-fifth of April, and the latest are a 
 fortnight afterwards or even later in giving out their broods; 
 but the worms are mostly out of their shells by the first of May. 
 At this time the apple-trees are as naked as in winter, their buds 
 being merely swollen, and showing the red and green awl-like 
 points of the leaves beginning to protrude from their ends; and 
 the leaves of the garden cherry are also still inclosed within 
 their buds. The wild black cherry, however, is much earlier 
 in putting forth its foliage, its young leaves at this date and also 
 the stems which bear its flowers being half an inch in length. 
 Hence the young caterpillars which find themselves upon the 
 latter tree are most fortunate, having an ample supply of food to 
 meet their wants, whilst those upon the apple and cultivated 
 cherry are obliged to wander about, nibbling what little they 
 can reach in the ends of the buds, and probably are often much 
 pinched with hunger before the vegetation has advanced suf¬ 
 ficiently to enable them to feed fully. 
 
 When they first come from the eggs these worms are less than 
 the tenth of an inch long, and about the thickness of an ordinary 
 sized pin, their bodies broadest at the head, and slightly taper¬ 
 ing, of a black color with pale feet and slightly clothed with 
 fine whitish hairs. At first they merely nibble a small spot 
 upon the surface of a leaf, or perforate a small hole through it, 
 
420 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 or gnaw a slight notch in its side, for a meal, and as soon as 
 they have fed thus much it can be seen that their bodies are 
 more plump, and fine whitish lines begin to appear upon them. 
 As they increase in size, and especially each time they change 
 their skins, their color becomes more diversified. They change 
 their skins five or perhaps six times at intervals of from three to 
 nine days, the worm gaining from an eightli to a quarter of an 
 inch in length each time it throws off - its old skin. 
 
 When young they go out to feed much less frequently 
 than when they are larger. They move about entirely at hazard 
 in search of food, having no power of smell or other sense to 
 guide them, as I infer from having placed apple and cherry 
 leaves in the direction in which famishing worms were travel¬ 
 ing, and seeing them pass quite near and almost touching such 
 leaves without discovering them. Nor when a store of food has 
 been discovered by some of the worms of a starved nest, have 
 they any mode of communicating the information to the others. 
 The rest of the nest probably discover the fact that some of their 
 comrades have obtained a full meal, and thus know that food is 
 somewhere within their reach, but they are obliged to wander 
 about at hap-hazard until they find it. And I have noticed one 
 hungry worm and another after examining the end of every twig 
 upon a limb unsuccessfully for food, on returning down the limb 
 meet several others going out upon the same errand; yet they 
 pass their comrades without those who are coming in having 
 any mode of informing those who are going out that their jour¬ 
 ney will be wholly fruitless. 
 
 As a general rule each nest has its stated hours for feeding and 
 for repose, all the worms going out and returning in a regular 
 procession, one after another. They repair to a particular limb 
 of the tree, frequently a limb which is distant from the nest, 
 and there feed together, occupying every leaf and three or four 
 worms often eating upon one leaf. In pleasant weather they 
 have usually three meals in twenty-four hours, one in the morn¬ 
 ing, one in the afternoon, and another in the night. But there 
 is much irregularity in all these points of their history. A part 
 of the worms are often at rest in their nest while the others 
 are out feeding. And when they are about to cast their skins 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 421 
 
 they wholly cease from feeding for one or two days, remaining 
 all the time within the nest, those portions of the brood which 
 are not ready to moult being at such times the only ones which 
 go out to feed. From the most exact observations which I have 
 been able to make, each worm appears to consume about two- 
 thirds of an apple leaf at each meal—the leaves being small 
 when the worms are young, and fully grown as they attain their 
 full size. A worm an inch long which I confined in a tumbler 
 fifteen days, noting the number and size of the leaves I fed to it, 
 ate on an average an ordinary sized apple leaf, two and a half 
 inches long and half as broad, daily. But thus confined, it took 
 no exercise, and spun no web; and it thus required but half the 
 food, probably, which it would have consumed had it been at 
 liberty. I regard this therefore as confirming the correctness of 
 the observations which I had previously made. It thus appears 
 that each worm devours two leaves daily. And as each nest 
 contains about three hundred worms, every owner of an orchard 
 will perceive that with every caterpillar’s nest which he allows to 
 remain upon his trees, the trees lose six hundred leaves daily. 
 
 They always travel upon the upper side of the branches and 
 limbs. And each worm, wherever it goes, spins a thread of 
 silk, which not only gives it a more secure foothold, but serves 
 also as a clue to guide it back to the nest again. Much of the 
 traveling of these worms appears to be solely for exercise. As 
 one after another has satisfied himself with food, he comes back 
 to the nest and walks around upon its surface in every direction, 
 thus adding new threads to it. Other worms having also com¬ 
 pleted their meal, are coming home to their tent every moment. 
 Thus its surface begins to become crowded and is perfectly black 
 with the multitude of full fed individuals which are rambling 
 about upon it, and the throng is constantly becoming more dense 
 with new arrivals from the feeding ground. Hereupon some of 
 them start away, up one of the limbs leading from the nest, and 
 which is covered with cobweb threads from having been so 
 often traveled before. Others follow after these leaders, and 
 the limb through its whole length is soon thronged and black 
 with a procession of worms, going out to its extremity and back; 
 thus making room on the surface of the nest for other individ- 
 
422 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 uals who are every moment returning there from feeding. 
 Having taken this journey to the end of the limb and back and 
 thus had the amount of exercise which they require, they crawl 
 into the tent and there compose themselves to rest. Thus when 
 but a few straggling worms remain upon the limb on which 
 they have all been feeding, a few others will be seen journeying 
 homeward to the tent, a multitude of others will be seen walk¬ 
 ing about upon the surface of the tent spinning their threads, 
 many more will be seen traveling upon both of the branches 
 which fork off from the tent, some of them going out and others 
 coming in, whilst the inside of the tent is black with the multi¬ 
 tude that has completed their labors and retired to repose. The 
 ranks of each of the sections first specified gradually become 
 thinner, until at last all have withdrawn into the tent. 
 
 Dr. Harris (Injurious insects, 2d ed. p. 287) says these cater¬ 
 pillars “all retire at once when their regular meals are finished;” 
 and it must hence be inferred from his account that it is after 
 reposing and before going out to feed that they strengthen their 
 nests with additional threads. But from repeated observations 
 I am assured that it is after feeding and before retiring to rest 
 that they add the new threads to their nests. The routine in 
 which they pass their lives consists of the three acts, feeding, 
 exercising, and resting. Dr. H. also says that “At all times 
 when not engaged in eating, they remain concealed under the 
 shelter of their tents.” But upon warm days when the sky is 
 serene, they do not retire into their tent at all, but repose upon 
 its outside, which is literally covered with them, and so black 
 that at first sight persons suppose the nest to be a black hat 
 placed in the tree. They are very sensitive to atmospheric 
 changes. Upon rainy days they remain within their tents and do 
 not go out to feed; yet I have repeatedly seen them feeding at 
 night when the leaves were wet with dew, and still oftener in 
 the morning before this moisture had evaporated. On the eighth 
 of May, the worms on a bush which I had taken into my study, 
 went out of their nest to feed in the morning; but it coming on 
 to rain out of doors, they all quickly returned into the nest. 
 
 I hereupon kindled a fire in the stove and the warmth had no 
 sooner commenced diffusing itself through the room than these 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 423 
 
 worms poured out of the nest again and commenced eating, vora¬ 
 ciously. And invariably upon very warm days these caterpillars 
 eat much more ravenously than at other times. Two or three 
 days of hot weather, such as frequently occur about the time of 
 planting corn, give them greedy appetites and cause them to 
 advance rapidly in size. 
 
 The tent or nest, which is always placed in the fork of a limb, 
 is enlarged from time to time, until it becomes from eight inches 
 to a foot in diameter. It is composed of a number of sheets or 
 layers formed of silken threads woven closely together like dense 
 cob-webs. These sheets are placed parallel to each other, and 
 at such distances apart as enable the worms to crawl between 
 them to repose, the spaces being much narrower between the 
 inner layers, formed when the worms were small, than between 
 the outer ones. The nest thus resembles the several sheets, 
 blankets and other coverings upon a bed, separated sufficiently 
 to receive a row of sleeping persons between each of them. As 
 eacli new layer which is added to the structure is exactly pa¬ 
 rallel with the one below it, presenting the same elevations and 
 hollows, it was formerly a query in my mind how the worms 
 were able to place the first threads of these layers, for a scaffold¬ 
 ing on which to walk to complete the tissue. But, like many 
 other phenomena in nature which are a mystery to us at first, 
 this becomes quite simple when fully observed. The caterpillars 
 as already stated, repose in serene weather on the outer surface 
 of the nest, lying, side by side as compactly as they can stow 
 themselves. Straggling individuals coming in from feeding at 
 this time, to spin their threads upon the surface of the nest, and 
 finding it covered to a greater or less extent by their slumbering 
 comrades, proceed with their work as usual, traveling over the 
 hacks of the reposing caterpillars to and fro in every direction, 
 thus spreading a blanket upon them as it were. These caterpil¬ 
 lars on awakening from repose, in order to make their exit, 
 crowd the thin threads aside in two or three places, thus form¬ 
 ing round holes through the web, which thenceforth become the 
 doors through which they pass in and out of the new apartment. 
 The old portions of the nest become foul, being filled with the 
 shrivelled cast skins and black grains exoreted by the worms. 
 
424 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 In almost every nest a few small worms may be seen, not half 
 the size of the others. These do not appear to be individuals 
 which have been stung by parasites, as some have supposed, for 
 I find such dwarfs in nests I have reared within doors, where it 
 is not probable any parasites had ever invaded them. They are 
 probably individuals which have been diseased, or which have 
 been less fortunate than their comrades in finding the supply of 
 food which they required. 
 
 Sometimes also one or two very large worms may be found 
 reposing in a nest of small and more lately hatched ones. These 
 are evidently stragglers which have abandoned their own nest, 
 and in wandering about, happening to come to this nest, have 
 crowded into it to repose temporarily. The proprietors of the 
 nest make no resistance to these intruders. Nor do we ever see 
 these caterpillars show any unfriendliness towards one another. 
 When one of them is annoyed in any way, it throws its head 
 spitefully and with a sudden jerk from side to side, and when 
 menaced with danger it holds its head upwards and remains stiff 
 and rigid, or else it drops itself to the ground and there lies per¬ 
 fectly still, as though aware that if it moved its enemy would 
 more readily discover it. 
 
 As the black cherry is the favorite of these insects it often 
 happens that trees of this kind which stand solitary in the fields 
 or along the fences, attract the female moths from all directions, 
 and become greatly overstocked with eggs. A hundred nests 
 may sometimes be counted upon a small tree. In such instances 
 before the caterpillars are half grown every particle of foliage 
 upon the tree is consumed and every bud is gnawed to its core. 
 The small amount of succulent matter which continues daily to 
 grow in the buds does not suffice to give a taste of food to a 
 tenth part of the ravenous multitudes. The situation of the 
 worms at such times is truly pitiable. Famishing and tormented 
 with hunger and feeling that a mouthful of sustenance must and 
 can somewhere be found to alleviate the cravings of their appe¬ 
 tite, each worm hurriedly crawls for the hundreth time to the 
 end of every limb and twig. The tree thus becomes carpeted 
 over and the angles of the branches become filled with the cob¬ 
 web-like threads which are spun in these numberless journeys. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 425 
 
 At length driven to migrate elsewhere or perish from starvation, 
 they leave the tree, one following the track of another, travel¬ 
 ing in the direction in which they discern or suppose they dis¬ 
 cern other trees to be standing. If it is pasture land in which 
 they are traveling, every stalk of clover, every dandelion leaf 
 and other weed which they come to is examined to its summit 
 in search of something which is edible. I once saw a heap of 
 dry brush, every limb of which was overspread with the threads 
 of a swarm which was thus emigrating, so little ability have 
 they for discerning where food can be found. Their track may 
 commonly be traced through the grass by the threads which they 
 spin, to a distance of one or two rods, it gradually becoming 
 less distinct as one worm after another has strayed away from it, 
 impatient to find something wherewith to appease his hunger. 
 Being 'already famished before leaving the tree it is probable 
 that most of them perish before finding anything nutritious on 
 which to feed. The cherry puts forth a scanty crop of new 
 leaves after the worms have left it: and I have known trees to 
 be totally defoliated three and four years in succession by these 
 caterpillars, without being killed. But when thus assailed they 
 grow but little, if any, and acquire a decrepit appearance from 
 which they do not recover for several years. 
 
 The LARVA! when they first come from the eggs are 0.08 long, slightly taper¬ 
 ing, of a black color, the under side and legs pallid, and they are slightly 
 clothed with soft gray hairs. After they commence feeding they show a pale 
 ring at each of the joints, and a faint pale stripe lengthwise along the back upon 
 each side of its middle, and another low down upon each side. The head is 
 deep black, and some deep black dots may be discovered upon the body, from 
 which the hairs arise. When they are a few days old and before the first 
 moulting, they have increased to double their original size, and show some 
 ash-gray or whitish lines more or less distincly, running lengthwise upon the 
 back and sides. 
 
 A worm which I confined by itself cast its skin the first time on the 6th of 
 May, again on the 12th, a third time on the 15th, a fourth time on the 19th, and a 
 fifth time on the 28th, being now an inch long. I think it would not have 
 moulted again, but as it escaped from its confinement, a week after the last 
 date, I cannot be certain upon this point. 
 
 Sifter the first moult this worm was 0.20 long, of a dark gray color with 
 two ashy-white lines along the back and two along each side, the space above 
 the upper lateral line having a large blackish spot on each segment. The 
 hind edges of the segments and the under side of the body was also pale ask 
 
 [Assembly, No. 217.] 28 
 
426 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 gray, the head velvety black, and the body was clothed with numerous ash 
 gray hairs of different lengths. 
 
 rffler the second moult it was half an inch long and nearly cylindric, the 
 head being scarcely any broader than the body. It was black and hairy’ the 
 neck with numerous long hairs directed forward and overhanging the head, 
 which was velvety black. A broad dull blue stripe extended along the back 
 and a narrower wavy brighter blue one along each side, with several short 
 curved blue lines between them. 
 
 After the third moult it was three-fourths of an inch long, with yellowish 
 white hairs, and stripes, &c., much the same as before. 
 
 After the fourth moult it was 0.95 long, of a velvet black color with numer¬ 
 ous yellowish or fox-colored hairs, with a white stripe down the back and nu¬ 
 merous short crinkled white lines on the back and sides; a large black spot on 
 each side of each segment, in the hind part of which spot was a transverse oval 
 pale blue spot having an impressed line across it; a second pale blue spot in 
 the crinkled white lines below the black spot. 
 
 The full grown caterpillar is about two inches long and over a quarter of an 
 inch thick, cylindrical, sixteen-footed, and thinly clothed with fine soft yellow¬ 
 ish or fox-colored hairs of different lengths, the longest ones measuring a quar¬ 
 ter of an inch. These hairs are rather more numerous upon the neck, where 
 they project obliquely forwards, shielding in some measure the head, which is 
 black and furnished with shortish black hairs. The body is of a deep black 
 color. A white stripe extends along the back its entire length, commencing 
 upon the second or the base of the first segment back of the head. In this 
 stripe are numerous minute black dots. On each side of it are a number of 
 short crinkled irregular longitudinal lines, of a yellow color, which become 
 paler down upon the sides. Above the lowermost series of these lines is a row 
 of transverse oval pale blue spots, one upon the middle of each segment. On 
 the anterior side of each of these spots is a broader deep velvety black spot, as it 
 appears to the naked eye, forward of which is a rather faint pale blue oblong spot 
 or short stripe, reaching to the anterior margin of the segment. Lower down 
 the sides are mottled with the same tint of pale blue coloring, interspersed with 
 short crinkled pale yellow or whitish lines. The under side of the body and 
 the legs are black, the soles of the prolegs white. The neck or anterior edge of 
 the segment next to the head is also white, with two small somewhat square 
 yellow spots above. 
 
 Early in June, as these caterpillars approach maturity they 
 lose their social habits and leave the trees on which they have 
 been bred, wandering about and feeding upon whatever foliage 
 they find that is palatable to them. Being now so large and 
 well fed, they are able to travel considerable distances, and can 
 sustain themselves on such a variety of plants that they incur 
 little risk of suffering from hunger. For a number of days at 
 this period they may be seen everywhere, on plants in our yards 
 and gardens, or crawling along fences and upon the walls of 
 buildings, and frequently entering our dwellings at the open 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 427 
 
 windows and doors. They still prefer the cherry and apple to 
 all other food. One season on looking through an orchard of 
 young apple trees at this time, I was surprised to find some of 
 these caterpillars upon almost every tree. They must have come 
 from considerable distances, as every nest in the orchard and its 
 vicinity had been destroyed two or three weeks before. 
 
 It is for the purpose of finding secure retreats in which to form 
 their cocoons that the caterpillars thus disperse themselves. The 
 cocoons are mostly spun about the end of the first week in June. 
 They are placed commonly in a horizontal position, in crevices 
 in the rough bark of trees, on the lower edges of boards where 
 they are nailed to the posts of fences, on the under sides of rails, 
 in the corners at the lower side of clapboards of buildings, be¬ 
 neath the cornices, and in a variety of similar situations where 
 they will be sheltered from the rain. They are held in their 
 places by numerous loose crinkled threads on their outer sur¬ 
 face. 
 
 The cocoons are oval, white or pale yellow, hardly an inch 
 long and 0.40 in diameter. They are rather 
 loosely woven, and so thin that the inclosed 
 insect may be discerned through their sides. 
 Their meshes, however, are filled with a kind of thin paste, 
 which when dry crumbles to a flue powder resembling sulphur, 
 which sifts from the cocoons when they are handled. The loose 
 texture of the cocoon enables the moth when hatched to crowd 
 
 itself out through one end of it, forming a large round opening 
 therein, and giving to this end afterwards the blunt appearance 
 shown on the left end of the above figure. The moth also dis¬ 
 charges a colored fluid which wets and softens this end of the 
 cocoon and thus facilitates the operation of working a hole 
 through it; and this fluid also stains the orifice to a greater or 
 less extent, making it a light tawny yellow color. 
 
 The chrysalis which lies within this cocoon is variable in its 
 size, measuring 0.65 to 0 80 in length and about 0.28 
 in thickness. The accompanying figure will give the 
 reader an idea of its appearance. Its surface is densely 
 covered with fine short erect hairs, except upon the head and 
 the sheaths in which the wings, legs and antennae arc inclosed, 
 
428 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 When first formed it is of a dull white color with the head pale 
 green and a pale brown stripe along the back; but it gradually 
 changes to a darker color, and the shell which remains in the 
 cocoon after the insect has come from it is sometimes black and 
 sometimes chestnut brown irregularly spotted and blotched with 
 black. 
 
 Dr. Harris states that the chrysalis state of this insect lasts 
 from fourteen to seventeen days. The specimen which Abbot 
 bred was twenty-six days in its pupa form. Of nine early ma¬ 
 tured caterpillars which I had placed in a box the first 
 formed its cocoon on the morning of June 2d; two others spun 
 themselves up in the afternoon and two others in the evening 
 of the same day, and the remaining four enclosed themselves 
 the following night. The first moth was found in the box on the 
 morning of June 23d, four more were found in the box the fol¬ 
 lowing morning, three more came out in the course of that day, 
 and the remaining one that night. Three weeks thus appears to 
 be the usual period that these insects repose in their pupa state. 
 
 The winged MOTHS (see plate 3, fig. 3, 4) are of a dull reddish or fox color, 
 different individuals varying in the depth of their coloring, the females (fig. 4) 
 being often paler, approaching to grayish, and the males (fig. 3) often darker, 
 sometimes brown with scarcely any tinge of red. The mark by which this 
 species is most readily distinguished is two straight white stripes which extend 
 obliquely across the fore-wings, parallel to each other and to the hind margin, 
 dividing the wing into three nearly equal portions. The anterior stripe is often 
 slightly broader than the posterior one, especially towards the outer margin 
 of the wing. In some females these stripes are placed nearer to each other; and 
 though commonly parallel, in some instances from the middle of the wing to 
 the outer margin, or even through their entire length they diverge from each 
 other. In the males they are less variable, but the space between them in this 
 sex is frequently pale gray, and there are also numerous gray hairs on the 
 basal portion, and a few towards the apical margin also. The hind wings are 
 of the same color as the anterior ones, but without any pale marks. On their 
 under sides the wings are the same color as above, and commonly a white band 
 extends across both pairs near their middle, that on the fore wings being 
 straight and widened at its outer end, that on the hind wings broader and 
 curved. The fringe on tho fore wings has a white alternation near the outer 
 angle and another broader one on the middle; along the inner angle and on the 
 hind wings it is white slightly varied in places with dull reddish. These colors 
 of the fringe are much more distinct in the darker colored varieties of the male. 
 The hairs with which the thorax is densely coated are often grayish. The 
 stalk of the antenna is dull white and its branches are dark rusty red, some¬ 
 times with a whitish line on their outer side. The feet are white or yellowish 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 429 
 
 white, particularly in the males. The wings when spread measure from 1.20 
 to 1-30 in the males, and in the females from 1.40 to two inches. 
 
 The following varieties may be noticed. 
 
 I. In the males. 
 
 а. The space between the bands on the fore wings pale gray. Common. 
 
 б. The bands undulated near their outer ends. 
 
 c. The basal outer half of the hind wings whitish. 
 
 d. The hind wings with a whitish band across their middle. 
 
 e. The whitish band on the under side of the fore wings wanting. 
 
 /. The whitish band on the under side of both wings obsolete or wanting. 
 
 II. In the females. 
 
 g. The bands on the fore wings unusually distant, the middle space of the 
 
 wing wider than the hind space. 
 
 h. The bands unusually near each other, the space between them more than 
 
 four times as long as wide. 
 
 t. The bands perceptibly diverging from the middle of the wing to its outer 
 margin. 
 
 j. The bands slightly diverging through their whole length from the inner to 
 the outer margin. 
 
 These moths are most numerous about the end of the first week 
 in July. They pair and the females deposit their eggs within a 
 day or two after they come from their cocoons. Thus the belts ot 
 eggs begin to be seen upon the twigs of the apple trees as early as 
 the first of July. Like other insects of this group, these moths 
 frequently enter the open windows of our dwellings in the even¬ 
 ing, attracted by the lights. A dozen will sometimes come in 
 thus, in an hour or two of a sultry dark night. It is readily 
 known from other species at such times, by its motions. Dazzled 
 and bewildered by the light, it darts crazily about, here and there, 
 thumping against the table, the wall and the floor, and instantly 
 rebounding it circles around the candle with Jehu-like velocity, 
 till it blurts through the flame, nearly extinguishing it and 
 singeing its horns and wings, when it is glad to withdraw to 
 some obscure corner and there remain at rest. 
 
 This moth inhabits all parts of the United States. Persons 
 who have removed from New-York to Illinois and Wisconsin 
 inform me that they have these caterpillars in their orchards 
 there, but that they are by no means so common as here at the 
 east. Abbot remarks that in Virginia whole orchards are strip¬ 
 ped of their leaves by them, but that in Georgia it is not very 
 common. From the specimens of the moths which have been 
 sent me from Mississippi and from the Indian territory west ot 
 
430 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW'YORK 
 
 Arkansas, I should judge it to be common through the south 
 western states. And it probably occurs over all those parts of 
 our continent where the black cherry is a native tree. 
 
 Another caterpillar which has already been mentioned, named 
 Clisiocampa sylvatica by Dr. Harris, or the Forest caterpillar, is 
 so very similar to the insect we are considering, in its appearance 
 and habits, that it merits a notice in this connection, but as I 
 have not enjoyed an opportunity for carefully noticing its history 
 and transformations, I shall only allude to it briefly at present. 
 It is most fond of the oak but it is also frequently met with upon 
 the apple. Here at the north it is far less common than the 
 other species, and I have only occasionally met with one of its 
 nests, and with the caterpillars when they were wandering about 
 in search of retreats in which to spin their cocoons. But in 
 Virginia it is so abundant some years, according to Abbot, as to 
 strip the oaks of their leaves. Among my neighbors it has the 
 reputation of being more injurious to apple trees than the com¬ 
 mon species, as it not only consumes the leaves, they say, but 
 gnaws the stems of the young apples, causing them to wither and 
 fall to the ground. 
 
 These caterpillars build their nests against the side of the tree 
 instead of in a fork of the limbs. The worm has the same form 
 and size and is clothed with hairs similar to the common species, 
 but may easily be distinguished from it by its color and stripes. 
 It is pale blue tinged with ashy greenish low down on the sides, 
 and is everywhere sprinkled over with black points and dots. 
 Along the middle of the back is a row of white spots and on 
 each side of these an orange yellow or tawny reddish stripe, 
 and a paler cream yellow stripe lower down on each side, these 
 stripes and spots being margined with black; and each segment 
 has two elevated black points upon the back, from each of which 
 arise four or more coarse black hairs. They are rather later 
 than the common caterpillars in spinning their cocoons and in 
 giving out the winged moths, and these moths resemble those of 
 the common species, being of a cinnamon brown color, the fore 
 wings paler or nankin yellow, crossed by two oblique straight 
 parallel stripes of a rusty brown color, and the whole space 
 between these stripes is in many specimens rusty brown. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 431 
 
 The caterpillars which are seen wandering about, everywhere, 
 the fore part of June, all disappear by the middle of that month, 
 having wound themselves up in their cocoons. Straggling indi¬ 
 viduals, however, may be met with after this time. So late even 
 as the fourth of July, when the winged moths are generally out 
 of their cocoons, I have met with individual caterpillars still 
 lingering upon the leaves of apple trees. Several of these late 
 stragglers I have confined in boxes, deeming they might be infest¬ 
 ed with internal parasites. But in every instance they refused to 
 eat, and have died within a few days and their bodies have be¬ 
 come putrid, and no parasites were to be found within them 
 when examined. Hence it is probable that all these late indi¬ 
 viduals are diseased and too debilitated to spin cocoons, and that 
 they all perish. It will not therefore be worth while to give 
 any care in destroying them when we happen to meet with them. 
 
 When the caterpillars disperse themselves abroad, a few re¬ 
 main upon the tree and continue to occupy the nest. These also 
 appear to be diseased individuals which are too feeble to roam 
 abroad like their comrades And they eventually form their 
 cocoons within the nest. Thus on tearing open old nests a few 
 cocoons will almost always be found in them. Some of these 
 yield winged moths, but the insects in most of them are destroyed 
 by parasites. There are probably different species of Ichneumon- 
 flies and kindred insects which prey upon and destroy the Lackey 
 moth in its larva and pupa state. Sometimes a very small white 
 cocoon not half the size of a grain of wheat, and of a texture like 
 that of the silk paper on which bank bills are printed, may be 
 found slightly attached to the outer surface of the cocoons of the 
 Lackey moth. The insects make their escape therefrom by cut¬ 
 ting one end of the cocoon nearly oft and pushing it up like a 
 lid. These small cocoons are probably formed by parasitic 
 worms which feed upon and destroy the inmate of the larger 
 cocoon and make their way out of its body as soon as they have 
 attained their growth. 
 
 Many of these cocoons which are found in the old nests of the 
 caterpillars have a large hole perforated in them near one end, 
 this perforation also extending through the shell of the chrysalis. 
 In July and the forepart of August a multitude of minute Chal- 
 
432 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 cidian insects of a deep metallic green and black color, may be 
 found issuing from this orifice, being doubtlessly hatched from 
 small maggots which have subsisted upon the chrysalis. Why 
 the orifice is so much larger than is necessary for their exit I 
 am at a loss to conjecture. These same insects may also be seen 
 at the same time, walking around upon the exterior surface of 
 the nests and the limbs and leaves around it. They appear to 
 pertain to the genus Cleonymus of Latreille, as this genus is re¬ 
 stricted and defined by Westwood (Synopsis of British Genera, 
 p. 72) and by Brulle (St. Fargeau’s Hymenopteres, vol. iv. p. 
 594), and this species may appropriately be named 
 
 The Lackey-moth Cleonymus ( C. Clisiocampa'). The males are about 
 0.09 in length to the tip of the abdomen and of the wings, and the females 0.11. 
 The head and thorax are somewhat rough from numerous minute elevated 
 points giving their surface a shagreencd appearance. They vary in color from 
 dull metallic green to black, being the former color commonly in the males, 
 the latter in the females, with the face green in both sexes and sometimes with 
 a golden yellow reflection. The abdomen is smooth and highly polished, black 
 or purplish black, immaculate in the females, in the males with a large pal 
 yellowish spot near the base above and beneath, varying in its size in different 
 individuals, the sutures also being more or less marked with the same color 
 The antennae are black or dark brown, their long basal joint pale dull yellow, 
 which is also the color of the legs the tips of the feet being black, and in tho 
 female the thighs are more or less dusky or brown. The wings appear whitish 
 when closed and carried flat upon the back as they are when the insect is walk¬ 
 ing. When spread they are hyaline and glassy, their whole surface covered 
 with minute punctures, each bearing a fine short hair. Tho stigma or short 
 thick branch at the end of the rib-vein is slightly enlarged and triangular at 
 its apex, the angle which is towards the outer margin being prolonged into an 
 acute point, this stigmal branch being hereby curved on its outer and straight 
 on its inner side. The thickened rib-vein is confluent with the outer margin 
 about three times the length of the stigmal branch before giving off this branch. 
 The antennae are eleven jointed, the joints beyond the first compacted and 
 forming an elongated club, the third and fourth joints being much smaller than 
 the others, the third but half the size of the fourth and often difficult to per¬ 
 ceive. The second joint is longer than the fifth and following ones. The last 
 joint is double the preceding. The male is more slender than the other sex 
 and has the abdomen oval and convex above, its segments faintly marked by 
 slender transverse impressed lines, the fifth segment being longer than the 
 fourth. In the female the abdomen is broader than the thorax and has an 
 ovate form tapering to an acute point. It is flattened above and strongly pro¬ 
 tuberant in the middle beneath. 
 
 In the old nests of these caterpillars, in August, the larva of 
 a moth, probably of the family Tineidje, is common. It is a slen¬ 
 der sixteen-footed soft fleshy worm over a third of an inch long) 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 433 
 
 of a dull reddish color with a black head and neck. It subsists 
 upon the old effete matters of the nest, or perhaps consumes the 
 shells of the chrysalids after the moths or their parasites have 
 come from them, for cocoons frequently occur from which these 
 shells have disappeared. 
 
 For destroying these caterpillars a variety of measures are re¬ 
 sorted to by different persons in all parts of our country. Whilst 
 some of these are more or less efficacious others are puerile and 
 worthless, and some do the worms more benefit than harm. 
 
 I have known persons to content themselves with simply 
 thrusting a stick into the nest and tearing it asunder and knock¬ 
 ing or shaking the worms to the ground, thinking that few of 
 them would be able to find their way up the tree again and that 
 at least a part of them would perish from starvation. Such per¬ 
 sons have no correct conceptions of the distances which these 
 caterpillars can travel and the variety of leaves on which they 
 can subsist. 
 
 I have known other persons to tear open the nest and pom- 
 water into it till it was saturated, thinking this operation drowned 
 the worms. And in former years I -was myself accustomed to 
 cut off the limbs containing nests upon the choke cherries in my 
 meadow and throw them into the adjacent creek, supposing the 
 worms would thus be drowned and become food lor fish. I have 
 since learned that in this act I was no more wise than the sages 
 of Gotham when they sat about destroying an eel by drowning 
 it. I have known one of these worms after being immersed un¬ 
 der water two hours revive and crawl away on becoming dry. 
 Nor is hot water more efficacious. Several nests of quite young 
 caterpillars, through which water that was near the boiling point 
 was profusely poured were next day found all alive and appa¬ 
 rently unharmed by the operation. 
 
 I have sometimes poured soap suds into the nests and upon the 
 worms when exposed upon the limbs and leaves. When wetted 
 in this manner they shrink up and fall to the ground, dead as I 
 have supposed, but I am not certain that none of them have re¬ 
 vived again when thus treated. Some persons have used ley in 
 the same manner, and this is undoubtedly more destructive. A 
 swab charged with spirits of turpentine or with whale oil soap 
 
434 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 and thrust into the nest, it is said will kill many of the insects 
 and compel others to escape. 
 
 Burning the nests and thus destroying the worms when at rest 
 within them, has been recommended. A very neat method of 
 effecting this was given by Prof. Mapes at the meeting of the 
 Farmers’ club of New-York on the fourth of September last. It 
 is to saturate the nest with a mixture of alcohol and camphene 
 and set it on fire. I have not tested the efficacy of this mode, but, 
 clustered together in a mass as the worms commonly are in their 
 nests I should be fearful those in the inner part of the mass 
 would not be killed by the transitory heat thus produced, since 
 hot water fails to destroy them. Another method which has 
 often been resorted to is to hold to the nest the muzzle of a gun 
 lightly loaded with powder and discharge it. I have been in¬ 
 formed that only a part of the worms are commonly destroyed 
 by this operation. 
 
 Sulphur has been in higher repute and has been oftener re¬ 
 sorted to in this country than any other remedy, for expelling 
 caterpillars and all kinds of worms from trees. A hole is bored 
 in the trunk of the tree to the depth of about six inches; this is 
 filled with sulphur and a plug is inserted to retain it from being 
 washed out by the rain or by sap flowing from the wound. This 
 remedy obtained much currency from the experiments of the 
 late George Webster of Albany, reported in the Memoirs of the 
 old New-York Board of Agriculture, vol. ii, p. 250, and exten¬ 
 sively copied into other publications at that period. And like 
 Mr. Webster, many others have become assured of the efficacy of 
 this remedy, from the mere fact that the worms have all disappear¬ 
 ed from the infested trees within a day or two after this measure 
 has been resorted to. Now there is a peculiar liability to be de¬ 
 ceived and misled, by experiments like this. The larvre of in¬ 
 sects generally, become most voracious and make the greatest 
 havoc, just as they are arriving at maturity. And as they are 
 now grown to a larger size than they had previously been, they 
 commonly are not noticed until this time. Having nearly com¬ 
 pleted their growth, they of course forsake the tree which they 
 infest within a few days. Persons not conversant with the hab¬ 
 its of these vermin, will hence suppose the remedy which they 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 435 
 
 have applied has driven them from the tree; whereas it is their 
 natural habit to crawl trom the tree at this time. Now in all 
 cases like this it is an easy matter to conduct an experiment in 
 such a manner that there can be no deception or mistake in the 
 result. Obviously, if sulphur, applied in the manner stated, has 
 any effect in rendering a tree repulsive to the worms infesting 
 it, it is in consequence of its being absorbed and circulated in 
 the sap to every limb and leaf of the tree. For the purpose, 
 therefore, of ascertaining the effect of sulphur upon the apple 
 tree caterpillar, I on the third of May cut off the limb of a wild 
 cherry tree on which was a nest, the worms of which were a 
 quarter of an inch in length, and inserted the but-end of this 
 limb in a cup of sulphur slightly moistened with water—where¬ 
 by the twigs and leaves would certainly become much more 
 strongly impregnated with this substance than they ever can be 
 from sulphur inserted in a hole bored in the trunk of a tree. A 
 limb containing another nest was also cut off and inserted in a 
 cup containing water only. These two nests were placed side 
 by side in my office, where they would be subject to the same 
 temperature and influences, except in the one particular speci¬ 
 fied. As the leaves upon the first mentioned limb became con¬ 
 sumed by the worms, a fresh limb the but of which had been in¬ 
 serted in moistened sulphur during the twelve hours preceding, 
 was placed in contact with it. Sulphur was also sprinkled upon 
 a part of the nest. But the worms seemed to wholly disregard 
 this, traveling freely around and over it, and soon inclosing it 
 under the newly woven tissues of their nest. At the end of nine 
 days the caterpillars in both nests were larger than any of those 
 out of doors, the temperature of the office warmed by a stove 
 upon chilly days and evenings, having evidently favored their 
 growth. At this time, May 12th, the worms which had fed upon 
 ordinary leaves were four-tenths of an inch in length; those 
 which had subsisted upon leaves impregnated with sulphur were 
 double their size, measuring 0.80 to 0.85. It was clearly appa¬ 
 rent, therefore, that so far from being in the least degree prejudi 
 cial to them, the sulphur had rendered them more healthy and 
 robust, rapidly accelerating their growth. And it hence is quite 
 probable that those hundreds of persons in our country who 
 
436 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 have spent more or less time in inserting sulphur in the trunks 
 of trees infested with worms have hereby benefitted these vermin 
 more than they have injured them. 
 
 Soap being so efficacious a remedy against some insects in¬ 
 duced me to test its effects upon these. A nest of late caterpil¬ 
 lars, only half grown upon the last day in May, were upon the 
 limb of a small garden cherry, when I placed a band of soft soap 
 around the limb, slightly below the nest. Several worms started 
 out of the nest to feed, but each on touching its nose to the 
 soap retreated back hastily into the nest. Three worms coming 
 in from feeding, on touching the soap, turned about and crawled 
 away from it, whereupon I placed a second ring around the limb, 
 below r them. On coming to this they again turned around, up 
 the limb, and continued traveling backwards and forth from 
 one barrier to the other, without attempting to pass either of 
 them. My hopes were high that this substance would prove in¬ 
 valuable in combating these insects. Other rings quarentining 
 more worms, were placed around other limbs, and a quantity of 
 the soap was put in the forks of all the larger limbs. But, two 
 hour’s afterward, the surface of the soap having become dry so 
 as to give the worms a foothold, they were found everywhere 
 traveling over and scarcely noticing it. 
 
 Next, to ascertain whether the alkaline matter of the soap 
 would be absorbed and pass into the circulating juices of the 
 tree and impregnate the leaves sufficiently to render them un¬ 
 palatable to the caterpillars, the main trunk of the tree from 
 near the ground to the limbs, a distance of five feet, w r as pro¬ 
 fusely coated over with soap, and some of the larger limbs were 
 also rubbed with it. A slight rain coming on aided in washing 
 this substance into the small crevices of the bark. But I could 
 not discover that it had any effect upon the worms. They con¬ 
 tinued to feed and to thrive upon this tree. A fortnight after¬ 
 wards, when the caterpillars had almost universally forsaken the 
 trees, a ew were still remaining upon this tree. And I may 
 add that the leaves of this tree after the soap was thus copiously 
 applied to it, appeared as much infested with the black aphides 
 or cherry plant lice described in my First Report, as were the 
 leaves of other trees around it. It thus appears that this sub- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 437 
 
 stance is not such a sovereign prophylactic against all insects 
 upon fruit trees as the observations of some of our most success¬ 
 ful fruit growers have led them to suppose. And there can be 
 no doubt that in this as in the higher classes of animals, what is 
 poison to one may be meat for another. 
 
 There are two measures only which we can confidently recom¬ 
 mend, whereby to subdue these insects and save the fruit trees 
 from defoliation by them. And these universal experience con¬ 
 curs in pronouncing the only efficient and reliable measures to 
 which recourse can be had. 
 
 The first of these is destroying the eggs. This must be at¬ 
 tended to in the winter or early in the spring before the leaves 
 begin to put forth. As this is a period of the year when other 
 avocations leave us comparatively at leisure, it is economy to 
 accomplish now whatever can be done which will diminish the 
 demands upon our time during the busier parts of the year. And 
 every cluster of these eggs which can be discovered can be much 
 more easily and speedily destroyed than a nest of caterpillars 
 can be exterminated at a later date. The orchard should there¬ 
 fore be carefully passed through at this time and the ends at 
 least of all the lower limbs should be examined. And for this 
 work it is necessary to call into exercise the sharpest scrutiny 
 which we are able to give, for despite of our utmost care some 
 of these clusters will elude our search. A practised eye will 
 detect the unevenness or swelled appearance of the twig where 
 these eggs are placed, much more readily than that of a novice. 
 They are sometimes at the very end of the twig, sometimes one 
 or two feet from its extremity, and not unfrequently two belts 
 of eggs occur upon the same twig. The eggs are to be gathered 
 either by cutting off the twig to which they are attached or by 
 breaking and tearing them from the twig. They should be car¬ 
 ded to the house in a basket and thrown into the stove, for if 
 merely dropped upon the ground the worms will afterwards 
 hatch from them and many of these will be apt to find their way 
 to some tree or shrub on which to subsist. There perhaps has 
 never been more urgent necessity for a universal resort to the 
 measure now specified than there will be the coming winter, the 
 trees being stocked with eggs at the date when these pages aye 
 
438 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 going to the press, to an extent never before known. Persons 
 who have never seen these eggs upon their trees hitherto, now 
 notice them frequently, notwithstanding the trees are in full 
 leaf. And should the season prove favorable to them, and no 
 artificial destruction be had recourse to, our orchards bid fair to 
 be stripped of their foliage next year to an extent never before 
 paralleled. 
 
 But, as already stated, notwithstanding the most searching 
 scrutiny, many of these clusters of eggs will escape notice, par¬ 
 ticularly upon the higher limbs of the trees. The proprietor of 
 an orchard, therefore, is often vexed, alter entirely ridding his 
 trees of the eggs of these insects, as he supposes he has done, to 
 find nests of caterpillars appearing upon them when the leaves 
 are beginning to put forth. A second measure, the destruction 
 of the caterpillars, therefore becomes necessary. And certainly 
 the most expeditious and effectual method for accomplishing this 
 is to crush them when they are gathered together and reposing 
 in their nests. Practical orchardists are quite unanimous upon 
 this subject, although in killing the w r orms there is some diver¬ 
 sity in their practice. The best method is that stated by the 
 late Willis Gaylord: “With a suitable ladder and a pair of 
 stout mittens, if you are fastidious about using your hands, * 
 * * when the worms are all in their web, at a single grasp 
 
 every occupant may at once be destroyed.” (Trans. N. Y. State 
 Agric. Soc., vol. iii, p. 153.) Those, however, who are at all 
 squeamish in encountering work of this kind, which it must be 
 confessed is more agreeable when done than when doing, prefer 
 tearing the nest from the tree and trampling its contents into the 
 earth beneath the sole of the boot. By thrusting a stick or pole 
 through the nest as low down in the fork of the limbs as possible, 
 and then raising it outwards, nearly the entire nest and its occu¬ 
 pants can be removed from the tree, when there are no small late¬ 
 ral limbs growing within the fork to catch and retain portions of it. 
 Others thrust into the nest a cylindrical brush constructed by 
 the manufacturers for this purpose, or the top of a dry mullen 
 stalk, attached to a pole for those nests which are high up in the 
 tree, and turning it about in such a manner as to wind the nest 
 around it, by pressing* and rubbing it against the limbs, hereby 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 439 
 
 crush most of the worms, and complete the work by returning 
 to the nest on a subsequent day and repeating this operation. 
 Whichever of these methods is adopted, the work is in ail cases 
 the most easily performed and the least disgusting, when the 
 worms are young and small. It should therefore be done early 
 in May, as soon as the white nests, appearing like cobwebs in the 
 forks of the limbs, become sufficiently conspicuous to be readily 
 seen. The worms of some nests will be out, feeding, at the same 
 hours when others are resting within their tents. They are 
 more universally in their webs in the morning than at any other 
 time. But days during which there is a slight sprinkling rain 
 are probably the best for this work, as the worms are then all 
 in their nests, as a general rule, and are more torpid and less apt 
 to crawl away; though the nests when wet are not so easily dis¬ 
 covered. Often, too, when from the number of worms reposing 
 in the nest we imagine the whole of the brood is there, a portion 
 of them are in reality absent, engaged in feeding. Thus it fre¬ 
 quently happens that when we suppose we have entirely exter¬ 
 minated a nest, on returning to it a few days afterwards we are 
 surprised to find it rebuilt and quite a number of worms inhab¬ 
 iting it. In order therefore to entirely destroy these pests, it is 
 necessary to go through the orchard repeatedly. And every 
 owner of an orchard should make it a point to wage a war of 
 extermination against these insects, annually. Not the fragment 
 of a nest which is accessible should be allowed to remain. The 
 rich green foliage in which the trees will be clad when released 
 from this most common enemy, and the quantity and fairness of 
 the fruit which they are then enabled to grow, will amply repay 
 the care which is thus bestowed upon them. Within the circuit 
 of my own observation I presume one-half the owners of 
 orchards give no attention whatever to the caterpillars which 
 yearly invade their trees. Most of them are men of such strict 
 economy they think they cannot afford to spend their time in 
 such trifling work as destroying these worms’ nests. Now it re¬ 
 quires but a few moments, with a suitable ladder, to mount into 
 a tree and with one hand covered with a buckskin mitten, crush 
 every worm in the nest there. Ten of these nests can thus be 
 destroyed with ease in an hour. Each of these nests contains 
 
440 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 about three hundred worms, and each worm, as already stated, 
 devours two leaves daily. Six hundred leaves are each day 
 stripped from each tree on which there is one of these nests. 
 An hour’s labor therefore saves to the orchard six thousand 
 leaves daily, for the space of two or three weeks. Where else 
 can an hour’s labor be so profitably devoted as in destroying 
 these worms'? Surely men who are such close economists, when 
 they are apprised of these facts, will never allow one of these 
 nests to remain upon their trees for a single day. 
 
 Some persons do not allow any wild cherry trees to grow on 
 their lands, in consequence of the numbers of these caterpil¬ 
 lars which they breed. But the orchards of such men are 
 probably about as much infested with these insects, coming in 
 to them from the fields and forests of their neighbors, as they 
 would be were wild cherries growing upon their own lands. 
 And valuable as the timber of this tree is for cabinet work, we 
 cannot recommend its extermination. It appears to be the 
 young, thrifty growing trees of this species which are the espe¬ 
 cial favorites of these insects. Large old trees are rarely infest¬ 
 ed to a great extent, especially when trimmed of their limbs to 
 a considerable height from the ground. And even if every wild 
 cherry tree in our country was cut down and not a caterpillar’s 
 nest was tolerated in any of our orchards, these insects would con¬ 
 tinue to sustain themselves, though no doubt in greatly dimin¬ 
 ished numbers, upon the other species of cherry and upon the 
 thorn apples and other trees and shrubs on which they are able 
 to subsist and thrive. 
 
 As the wild black cherry is so much preferred to the apple or 
 any other tree by these insects, and as it is easier to destroy a 
 hundred nests upon one tree than a quarter of that number 
 where they are scattered upon different trees, it strikes me that 
 this tree may perhaps be turned to a valuable account as a decoy 
 for these insects. If one or two cherry trees are standing in the 
 fences on each of the sides of an orchard, the eggs of these 
 insects it is probable will nearly all be deposited upon these 
 trees which otherwise will be scattered over all the trees in the 
 orchard. These trees can be kept trimmed and headed down so 
 that all parts of them will be readily accessible. The ends of 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 441 
 
 the limbs, moreover, are so much more slender, long and straight 
 than those of the apple tree, that the eye detects the belt of 
 eggs upon them far more readily than upon the latter tree. 
 Hence a hundred clusters of eggs or a hundred caterpillars’ 
 nests upon a half dozen cherry trees on the outer edge of the 
 orchard can be exterminated much more easily than half that 
 number upon forty or fifty apple trees within the orchard. And 
 the work when brought within so small a compass can be much 
 more completely accomplished, leaving nothing to produce a 
 crop of these vermin another year, except what straggles in 
 from the surrounding premises of shiftless neighbors. Every 
 reader will perceive the plausibility of the measure now sug¬ 
 gested; but it is only after testing it by carrying it into practice, 
 that we can know with certainty whether it will fulfill our 
 expectations. 
 
 Eating the leaves, in July; a slender caterpillar with pale yellow hairs 
 and tufts and black pencils, its head and two small protuberances on 
 the hind part of the back bright coral red. 
 
 Tn winter, clusters of white eggs and a dead leaf adhering to a whitish 
 cocoon attached to the twigs or limbs. 
 
 The American Vaporer moth, Orgyia leucostigma, Abbot and Smith. 
 
 The term “caterpillar” is applied to a worm which is clothed 
 with hairs; and we commonly associate this term with something 
 which is ugly and repulsive in its appearance. But many cater¬ 
 pillars are far from meriting this prejudice, being in reality ob¬ 
 jects of much beauty. This is eminently the case with one 
 which mav frequently be seen in the month of July upon apple 
 trees, and also in our yards upon rose bushes. We cultivate the 
 rose for ornament; and nature, as if to further our designs, places 
 upon the leaves this neat prim little caterpillar, which is a more 
 delicate, elegant object than the handsomest rose that ever grew. 
 I well remember the first time I noticed one of these caterpillars. 
 It was in the hay-field, in my boyhood. One of the laborers, 
 who had little taste for any of the beauties of nature—a man of 
 that class of whom the poet sings, 
 
 “ The primrose growing by the river’s brim 
 Is but ‘A yellow primrose’—nothing more—to him”— 
 in stooping for a handful of grass to wipe off his scythe, had his 
 attention arrested by one of these caterpillars, Taking up the 
 [Assembly, No. 217. | 29 
 
442 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW YORK 
 
 leaf on which it was standing, he was for several moments ab¬ 
 sorbed in contemplating its bright colors and the artistic arrange¬ 
 ment of its elegant plumes. Then, as he was laying it down he 
 said to himself, “ That is the prettiest thing I ever saw! ” Let 
 us not murmer, if the leaves of our rose-bushes are somewhat 
 gnawed and eroded, when they hereby produce for our admira¬ 
 tion objects far more beautiful than we look for them to yield. 
 
 These caterpillars are an inch or more in length, slender, sixteen footed,and 
 have the skin of a cream yellow color with a black stripe along the middle of 
 the back and a broader brown or black one upon each side. The body is thinly 
 clothed with pale yellow hairs which radiate from small wart-like elevations, 
 and in a row on the fore part of the back are four brush-like tufts of a deeper 
 yellow color. On the hind part of the back are two little knobs or bosses of a 
 bright coral red color, or like scaling wax, and the head is of the same color. 
 Projecting upward from the hind end of the back like a camel’s hair pencil is 
 a bundle of long black hairs, and inclining forward and outward from each side 
 of the neck is a similar pencil. The hairs of these pencils are minutely bearded 
 through their whole length, and each hair has a small knob at its end, which 
 is formed of a tuft of minute bristles. The pencils have a jointed appearance, 
 from their hairs being in sets of different lengths. The yellow hairs are also 
 bearded, but have no knobs at their ends. 
 
 I have, on willows and on basswood met with caterpillars differing from the 
 preceding in having the head yellow, no red knobs upon the back, a black 
 spot behind each of the brush-like tufts except the first, and beyond theso a 
 deep y ellow instead of a black stripe, and no brown stripe along the sides. 
 "Whether these are a distinct species, or only a variety, I am unable to say, two 
 individuals which I reared having proved to be wingless females. 
 
 These caterpillars do not associate together in companies, nor 
 form any web for their protection, but live solitary, exposing them¬ 
 selves openly upon the leaves and in the glare of sunlight, as if they 
 thought that no creature would have a heart to injure anything 
 so pretty as they are. They eat irregular notches in the margins 
 of leaves, and where they are very numerous they consume the 
 whole of the leaf, leaving nothing but the mid-vein. They feed 
 upon many different kinds of trees, the elm, the maple, the horse 
 chestnut, the oak, &c., but they appear to be most fond of the 
 apple, the plum, the rose, and other perennials belonging to the 
 Family Rosacea:. They attain their growth and spin their co¬ 
 coons mostly during the latter half of the month of July. The 
 cocoons are attached to the twigs and limbs of trees, and some¬ 
 times to the leaves, and also to the posts and rails of fences, it 
 probably being some of those caterpillars which are to produce 
 male moths which select the latter situations. The cocoons are 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 443 
 
 formed of whitish silken threads so loosely woven together that 
 the enclosed chrysalis can often be seen. They consist of an outer 
 and an inner covering or tunic. The outer covering is commonly 
 formed in part of two leaves, which are bent and tied together 
 in such a manner as to make a kind of roof, sheltering the co¬ 
 coon from rain, the lower leaf being overlapped by the lower 
 edge of the upper one. There is considerable diversity, however, 
 in the mode in which the leaves are attached to the cocoon. 
 Sometimes they are drawn around it in the form of a cone with 
 its point upwards. Sometimes but a single leaf is used. I once 
 met with one of these cocoons upon the upper surface of a but¬ 
 ternut leaf, the sides of which were drawn upwards so that the 
 leaf formed half of the exterior portion of the structure. And 
 as if the worm was aware of the brittle attachment of the leaf 
 to the main stem, and was conscious that its own weight added 
 to that of the leaf would inevitably cause it to break off and 
 fall should a gale of wind arise, it had spun several threads to 
 the main stem, thus securely tying it thereto. It is impossible 
 for us to conceive how this worm came to possess such know¬ 
 ledge. The main stem would have fallen with the fall of the 
 leaves in autumn. This cocoon produced a male moth. The 
 female caterpillars undoubtedly place their cocoons, in every 
 instance, where they will remain upon the tree through the win¬ 
 ter; whilst the males are indifferent in this matter, caring for 
 their safety only for the short time they remain within them. 
 This is a signal instance of the harmony of nature, as will ap¬ 
 pear when we come to see where the eggs of the female are de¬ 
 posited. 
 
 Woven into the cocoon are numerous black and pale hairs, 
 derived from the body of the caterpillars; and the remains of 
 plant-lice are sometimes interspersed, probably from these stu¬ 
 pid creatures having wandered over the cocoon at the time of its 
 construction, and becoming inextricably involved in its meshes. 
 The cocoon is about an inch and a half long. The inner tunic 
 is but half the size of the outer, the space between being occupied 
 with single threads crossing each other in every direction, and 
 with the shrivelled remains of the caterpillar lying in the lower 
 end. This inner covering is a closed sack of a regular oval fopia ; 
 
444 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 smooth on its inside, and a little larger than the chrysalis which 
 reposes w'ithin it. The cocoon is placed indifferently either in 
 a perpendicular, an oblique, or a horizontal direction. 
 
 The chrysalis is of an oval form, twice as long as broad, measuring from 0.60 
 to 0.70 in length. It is rounded anteriorly and drawn out into a little horn¬ 
 like point at its hind end, furnished with minute hooks at its tip, which are 
 fastened into the threads of the ooooon. It is of a brown color with pale clouds 
 and the under side of the abdomen whitish. Sometimes it is black and shin¬ 
 ing, with scarcely any traces of whitish. Upon the head back and sides it is 
 thickly covered with rather long fine white hairs. The three anterior segments 
 next to the head have each upon their middle, above, an oval or square trans¬ 
 verse spot of a pale clay color, formed of scales which resemble little collapsed 
 vesicles or bladders, and each of tlieso spots is crossed by a slender line upon 
 its middle. The wing-sheaths appear to be of the same length in both the 
 sexes, reaching to the anterior edge of the first abdominal segment. On break¬ 
 ing open a female chrysalis, its inside is found filled with eggs which appear to 
 be grown to their full size. 
 
 In each instance when I have bred these insects, the moth 
 made its appearance on the thirteenth day after the cocoon was 
 spun. It therefore begins to appear abroad upon the wing about 
 the first of August. We sometimes, however, meet with the 
 chrysalis unhatched in the cocoon in the winter. These are 
 doubtless individuals which have been later in completing their 
 growth and from which moths will be given out early in the fol¬ 
 lowing spring. From the gay appearance of the caterpillar one 
 would expect a very pretty moth to be produced by it, and will 
 be disappointed on obtaining a dark sooty brown thing, little 
 variegated with spots or streaks. These moths may sometimes 
 be seen resting upon the door posts or the shady side of build¬ 
 ings, with their fore legs stretched out in front, and their antennae 
 elevated. They frequently enter open windows in the evening, 
 attracted by the light. They fly also in the day time. Their 
 mode of flight is peculiar, consisting of short jerks or in a flirt¬ 
 ing manner. This has probably obtained for insects of a similar 
 kind which occur in England, their common name, vaporer moths, 
 a term indicating something of a volatile, peevish, hysterical dis¬ 
 position. They pertain to the genus Orgyia in the family Arc- 
 tiidje and order Lepidoptera, and this species is named leuco- 
 stigma or the Pale vaporer moth, in the splendid work of Abbott 
 and Smith upon the Insects of Georgia, plate 79. The epithet 
 (< pale,” however, is inappropriate for these moths as they occur 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 445 
 
 in the State of New-York. Indeed the specimens which I meet 
 with in Washington county, fifty miles north of Albany, are so 
 uniform in their characters, and so unlike the insect figured and 
 described by Abbott and Smith that I should deem them a dis¬ 
 tinct species, were it not that the caterpillars, which are so pe¬ 
 culiarly colored and clothed, appear to be identical with those 
 of Georgia, and specimens of the moths from the vicinity of the 
 city of New-York are intermediate in their marks, between the 
 more northern and the Georgia insects, thus indicating that there 
 is a gradual transition from the one to the other. 
 
 The winged mot/is as they occur in the Southern States, appear from the 
 representations given, to he of a pale gray or ash color, the fore wings with a 
 white crescent near the inner hind angle, and crossed by two conspicuous curv¬ 
 ed black bands, the hind one of which and the black spots upon these wings 
 are nearly as in the following variety. 
 
 The intermediate variety (0 leucostigma var. intermedia ) which occurs in 
 the southern part of New-York measures about 1.40 across the extended wings. 
 The fore-wings are ash-gray, their basal third smoky brown, paler on the 
 inner side and crossed by a faint wavy pale band, which is confluent outwardly 
 with an ash-gray cloud which extends from this band to the base. A blackish 
 crinkled band commences on the inner margin behind the middle, running in¬ 
 ward and then curving backward, till it approaches the outer edge, when it 
 abruptly turns forward almost at a right angle and extends straight in an ob¬ 
 lique direction more than the tenth of an inch to the outer edge. In the mid¬ 
 dle of the pale gray space forward of this band is a slender black crescent hav¬ 
 ing some resemblance to the letter L, with a dot between it and the outer mar¬ 
 gin, a slender black line sometimes reaching with a curve from the crescent to 
 the dot. The wing back of the band is pale smoky brown, except towards the 
 outer margin, where it is pale gray, with a rhombic black spot on the margin 
 immediately behind the band, this spot being cut across longitudinally by a 
 slender gray line. Inside of this spot and much nearer the hind edge are tw o 
 smaller blackish spots or streaks. Near the inner hind angle is a large white 
 comma-like dot having its tail towards the inner edge. From this dot a pale 
 streak often extends across the wing, parallel with the hind margin. The 
 fringe is smoky, crossed by pale lines at the tips of the veins. 
 
 In the northern variety ( O. leucostigma var. borealis) which is met with 
 in the more northern sections of the State, the wings when spread measure 
 from 1.20 to 1.30. Both pairs arc alike in color, being dull smoky or dingy 
 brown. The upper ones have a large ash-gray patch on the middle of the outer 
 margin, which commonly extends to the tip, and is crossed by an oblique 
 blackish streak, which is all that can be perceived of the band noticed in the 
 preceding variety. Immediately back of this is a blackish spot, commonly of 
 a rhombic form and sometimes crossed by a pale line. The base of these wings 
 is somewhat clouded with ash-gray; and near the inner hind, angle is a roundish 
 white spot which is sometimes faint and almost effaced. Sometimes a row of 
 small dark brown crescent-shaped spots is perceptible along the apical edge at 
 
446 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 the base of the fringe. The specimens which I have gathered in Washington 
 county have uniformly been of this variety. 
 
 The antennce of these moths are about a third of the length of the wings. 
 They are gray, with a double row of dark brown branches resembling the teeth 
 of a comb. Each branch has a row of very fine hairs, like eye-lashes, along 
 each side, and at its tip three bristles, one of which is much longer and direct¬ 
 ed inward towards the head. The body is gray, with a small black tuft near 
 the base of the abdomen. The under side is paler and the legs are varied with 
 blackish. 
 
 It is the male insects which we have described above. The 
 females are totally different objects, to appearance, being desti¬ 
 tute of wings, and having in place of them two small scales the 
 tenth of an inch long and half as broad, situated upon each side 
 of the thorax. The vaporer moth therefore is analagous to the 
 canker worm in this respect, the females in both species resem¬ 
 bling worms more than perfect insects. The body of the female 
 vaporer moth is short and thick when it first crawls from the 
 cocoon, and longer and more cylindrical after the eggs have 
 been deposited, being over half an inch long and a third as 
 broad. It is of an ash-gray color from the hairs with which the 
 body is densely covered, and often a broad dusky stripe runs 
 the whole length along the middle of the back. The colors be¬ 
 come more dull and obscure after the eggs are deposited. The 
 antennae in this sex are short and not branched as in the males, 
 merely presenting a row of saw-like teeth along their inner side, 
 each tooth having a short bristle at its apex. 
 
 The females merely crawl from the inner to the outer side of 
 their cocoons, and there remain awaiting the approach of their 
 mates, who invariably find them immediately. The instinct of 
 the males for discovering the opposite sex is remarkable; and 
 collectors are accustomed to avail themselves of it for obtaining 
 specimens. By placing a box in which a newly hatched female 
 is enclosed, in the haunts of this species, dozens of males will 
 sometimes be attracted to it. Thus the females commence de¬ 
 positing their eggs often within a few hours after they have left 
 the chrysalis state. The eggs are from one to two hundred in 
 number, about the size of a mustard seed, white and round with 
 a small depression in the summit. They are placed upon the 
 cocoon from which the female came, and are enveloped in a large 
 quantity of frothy, milk-white, viscid matter, causing them to 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 447 
 
 adhere securely to the cocoon and to each other. They are ex¬ 
 truded in a continuous string, which is folded and matted 
 together so as to form an irregular mass. I once pierced one of 
 these females with a pin while she was in the act of depositing 
 her eggs; and so tenaciously did she adhere to them that for a 
 time it was uncertain whether the body would not tear asunder 
 before it would separate from the string. Within a day or two 
 after she comes out of the cocoon the female has completed her 
 labors. Her body which was at first plump, swollen and un¬ 
 wieldy, is now shrunken and flaccid, and she is so exhausted 
 that she soon lets go her foothold, falls to the ground and per¬ 
 ishes. The designs of nature in giving to these insects the 
 habits which they possess are very evident Having no wings by 
 which to escape when menaced with danger, were these worm¬ 
 like females to crawl about the limbs and trunk of the tree, as 
 the canker worms are accustomed to do, their pale gray bodies 
 would cause them to be discovered and devoured by birds. The 
 canker worm runs no risk of this kind, as it makes its ascent in the 
 winter and early spring when the birds are all absent upon their 
 migration to a warmer climate. The vaporer moth, coming out 
 in August, by remaining stationary upon its light colored cocoon, 
 is but little liable to be noticed. Still, there being even here 
 some risk of its discovery, it hastens to fulfill the purpose of 
 its existence immediately upon coming out of its cocoon, lest 
 some mishap should befall it if it were to remain longer in this 
 exposed situation. 
 
 The white frothy matter with which the eggs are covered be¬ 
 comes dry and hard and impervious to wet, thus protecting them 
 through all the storms and vicissitudes of autumn, winter and 
 spring. Nor will a bird be inclined to pick off and devour these 
 eggs with this foam and the hairs of the cocoon adhering to them. 
 They are thus shielded from harm although placed in such an 
 exposed situation, until the return of warm weather brings out 
 a crop of leaves for the subsistence of the worms; whereupon 
 they hatch from the eggs, early in May, and grow up till they 
 become the gay caterpillars which we first noticed above. 
 
 But though the vaporer moth is able to guard itself and its 
 progeny from destruction in several directions, it is not thus 
 
448 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 fortunate in other particulars. It is exposed to the attacks ot 
 parasites. These are minute bee-like insects pertaining to the 
 Family Chalcjdid.e in the Order Hymenoptera. They puncture 
 the skin of these pretty caterpillars dropping an egg therein, 
 from which hatches a minute maggot which feeds internally upon 
 the fatty matter of the caterpillar, thus exhausting and eventu¬ 
 ally killing it. I once gathered two of these caterpillars which 
 I placed with some leaves in a box. Two days afterwards one 
 of them was found to be dead, and the other being lively and 
 vigorous was removed to another box. Next day, what appeared 
 to be the ends of little worms were seen protruding from the 
 body of the dead caterpillar. Upon the following day these 
 worms were found to be seventeen in number. They had all 
 left the dead carcase of the caterpillar and just above it upon 
 the side of the box they had arranged themselves in a circular 
 row, and had changed to pupae of-a milk white color, 0.12 long 
 and half as broad, hanging by their tails with their heads down¬ 
 ward and their backs against the side of the box. This was upon 
 the last day of July. Next day they had changed to a pale red 
 color and had somewhat shrivelled, each having discharged a 
 little cluster of clay-yellow grains which were adhering to the 
 side of the box at the tip of their bodies. They subsequently 
 altered to a black color, and on the sixth of August they hatched 
 the winged insects, which were of a brilliant brassy green color, 
 with a blackish purple abdomen and white legs, and about the 
 same size as the pupte. In an account of the vaporer moth 
 which I published in the Country Gentleman in reply to enqui¬ 
 ries respecting it from some of the subscribers of that paper, I 
 named this insect (vol. vii, p. 235) the vaporer-moth parasite (Tri- 
 chogrammal Orgyict). 
 
 This parasite measures 0.12 to the tip of its abdomen, the wings being 
 slightly longer. The head is brassy green, as broad as the thorax, three or 
 four times as wide as long, and appearing slightly notched in front'when 
 viewed from above. The antennae are broivn, the basal joints pale yellow. 
 They are composed of six very distinct joints, of which the first is long and 
 forms an elbow with the following ones. The second joint is smallest) 
 the fourth and fifth are equal, oval, and shorter and thicker than the 
 third; the last is boader than the preceding and longer than the third, and is 
 shaped like an elongated egg. The thorax is brassy-green and finely sha- 
 greened, twice as long as wide, broadest across the middle, the collar of a 
 crescent shape and separated by a . very distinct suture, the scutel large, pro- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 449 
 
 jninent, rounded, tinged with golden-yellow, with an elevated line on each 
 side at its base, extending obliquely forward and outward upon the thorax. 
 The abdomen is purplish-black, very smooth and polished, shorter than the 
 thorax, short cylindrical with rounded ends, depressed above and in the dried 
 specimen deeply excavated and boat-like. Near its base is a pale yellow band 
 occupying the apex of the basal segment above and beneath, and nearly or quite 
 interrupted upon each side. The legs are yellowish-white, including the ante¬ 
 rior haunches, the tips of the feet being black. The shanks are without con¬ 
 spicuous spines at their tips, and the feet are composed of four cylindrical, 
 nearly equal joints, each joint having a coarse bristle at its tip on the upper 
 side. The wings are clear and glassy, with numerous minute punctures except 
 upon the basal part, each puncture yielding a fine bristle. A broad glabrous 
 stripe extends along the inner margin of the fore wings, in which is a single 
 row of equidistant punctures and bristles. The fore wings are destitute of 
 veins,’except a robust one of a pale color near the outer margin, which unites 
 with the margin through about one-fourth of the length of the wing, separatin g 
 from it again towards the tip, where it ends in a short branch or stigma which 
 is slightly thickened and notched at its apex. 
 
 Another parasitic insect, so much like the preceding in all its 
 details that it might be regarded as its brother reared at the 
 same table, I met with upon rose leaves in September last, where 
 it was very probably searching for these same caterpillars in 
 which to deposit its eggs. In the Country Gentleman this was 
 named 
 
 .The Brother p.uiasite, (Trichogrammal fraterna.) It is 0.10 in length 
 and its wings when extended are 0.15 across. The thorax is much less rough 
 than in the foregoing species, being very minutely shagreened and the abdomen 
 is of the same brilliant brassy-green color as the thorax, without any pale spot 
 or band towards its base, its under side being black. The sub-marginal vein 
 of tho fore-wings is also black, and is united with the margin two-thirds of its 
 length, with the stigmal branch quite short and more conspicuously notched 
 at its end. In all other respects the description given of the preceding species 
 applies to this also. 
 
 By these parasites, and probably other means of which we 
 are yet in ignorance, the vaporer moths of our country are crip¬ 
 pled and restrained from becoming so numerous as they other¬ 
 wise would be. In the vicinity of my residence I have never 
 known them to be sufficiently multiplied to merit any attention 
 on account of the depredations they commit. I should judge I 
 had never met with a half dozen of the caterpillars in any one 
 year, until last summer (1855), when they were noticed as being 
 unusually common. This is probably near the northern extreme 
 of their geographical range. In districts farther south and east, 
 where the climate is warmer, they are much more numerous and 
 
450 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 are frequently quite a nuisance. How pernicious they are upon 
 fruit trees, even when their numbers are not excessive, is suffi¬ 
 ciently shown in a communication from H. B. Ives, of Salem, 
 Mass., published in Hovey’s Magazine, vol. i, p. 52. Mr. Ives 
 removed all the eggs of these insects from three of his apple 
 trees. He found twenty-one clusters of eggs upon these three 
 trees. The rest of the trees in his orchard he left untouched. 
 The eggs hatched and the young worms had commenced their 
 ravages upon the tenth of May. He watched them “from time 
 to time, until many branches had been spoiled of their leaves, 
 and in the autumn were entirely destitute of fruit; while the 
 three trees which had been stripped of the eggs, were flush with 
 foliage, each limb without exception, ripening its fruit.” Dr. 
 Harris states (Treatise, p. 283) that these caterpillars were quite 
 abundant in the vicinity of Boston in 1848, ’49 and ’50; and 
 that the horse-chestnuts planted beside the streets and in the 
 parks of that city—trees which are so little liable to be attacked 
 by insects—were almost entirely stripped of their leaves by 
 them. 
 
 Fortunately it is an easy matter to exterminate these insects 
 from the trees which they invade, by picking off and destroying 
 their eggs. These are readily found during the winter, the dead 
 leaf adhering to the cocoon to which the eggs are attached, being 
 conspicuous upon the naked twigs. Sometimes, though very 
 rarely, little clusters of dead leaves will be met with adhering 
 to the limbs of fruit trees, which have not been tied there by 
 the vaporer moth, but by another creature belonging to this di¬ 
 vision of the animal kingdom. The careful orchardist will 
 hereby, when gathering the eggs of the vaporer moth, be some¬ 
 times deceived, and put to the trouble of mounting into a tree 
 and bending a limb towards him, by this impostor; though from 
 the greater number of the leaves, their more dull and decayed 
 appearance, and their being more loosely tied together, making 
 a rattling noise when agitated by the wind or by shaking the 
 limb, the cheat will generally be known at a distance of several 
 feet. These counterfeit clusters of dead leaves originally formed 
 the nest of a Palmer worm (Ckcetochilus pometellus) or some other 
 worm having the same habit of drawing several leaves together 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 451 
 
 by cob-web like threads, around the little web within which it 
 dwells. This is evident from the leaves as w r e see them in win¬ 
 ter, being worm-eaten and having the castings of the worm, in 
 the form of dry grains, still adhering to them. But the threads 
 by which such worms tie the leaves together are so slight and 
 fragile, that the leaves forming their nests are all torn off and 
 dispersed by the storms of autumn. In some instances, however, 
 it appears that after the worm has evacuated this abode, another 
 tenant takes possession of it, finding it to be the very situation 
 which he desires for his winter quarters. This new occupant is 
 a small spider, which ties the leaves anew, with threads of its 
 own, numerous threads being woven together, forming a narrow 
 fillet or ribbon which is so strong that although the leaves flut¬ 
 ter and rustle with every breeze, they are not torn away by the 
 most violent winds of winter. And within the leaves this spider 
 forms for itself a little oval cot of soft silken threads of snowy 
 whiteness and matted densely together, within which as in a bed 
 of down, it reposes through the winter in comfort and security. 
 
 This spider is very closely allied to an Alabama species, named 
 Epeira displicata, by Prof. Hentz in his valuable monograph of 
 the spiders of the United States, published in the Boston Jour¬ 
 nal of Natural History, (vol. v. p. 476.) It however is suffi¬ 
 ciently distinguished from that species by wanting the impressed 
 black dots on the anterior part of the abdomen, and by its col¬ 
 ors. In allusion to the circumstance which will probably cause 
 this minute object to be most frequently noticed, I propose to 
 name it 
 
 The deceiving spider (Epeira decipiens'). As it occurs in its nest in the 
 winter season, this spider is 0.12 long, and of a pale brown color, reddish 
 brown beneath, the head and legs being paler brown or yellowish horn colored, 
 sometimes with a greenish tinge. The abdomen is nearly globular, slightly 
 depressed, and is surrounded horizontally with a whitish band. Posteriorly 
 upon the upper side of this band is a row of six large equidistant black dots, 
 each of which is encircled with a pale yellow ring. Behind the two posterior 
 dots are two very minute ones, which are encircled in the same manner. The 
 spinnerets at the tip of the abdomen are olive green. There are traces of two 
 white cloud-like stripes along the middle of the abdomen, and in a particular 
 reflection of the light it appears to be crossed by imperfect white bands. The 
 legs are furnished with blackish bristles. As in several of the other species of 
 this extensive genus the two upper or posterior eyes are largest and arc almost 
 in contact with each other, and the two outer ones upon each side are contlu- 
 
452 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 ent, forming but a single dot, which is slightly elongated. When preserved in 
 balsam of fir this spider retains the black dots and pale rings and band, but 
 the abdomen changes to a bright blood red and the thorax and legs to a honey 
 yellow color. 
 
 In a few other instances dead leaves will be found upon the 
 apple and other trees during the winter; but these are chiefly 
 single leaves at the tip ends of the twigs, which had withered 
 prematurely from being ihfested with plant lice, and will not be 
 liable to be mistaken for the work of the vaporer moth. One of 
 the most remarkable pieces of mechanism may be met with upon 
 the sycamore or button wood, where the dead leaf is drawn to¬ 
 gether in such a manner as to form a little wheel, whirling 
 around and sliding up and down upon the last joint of the twig, 
 the bud at the end of the twig forming a knob or button which 
 prevents this wheel from sliding off its axle, and a tube or socket 
 in its centre the fourth of an inch long serves as a hub, prevent¬ 
 ing it from turning askew. It appears to be an insect, perhaps 
 a species of plant louse, which draws the sycamore leaf around 
 the twig in this truly curious manner. 
 
 Care should be taken to rid fruit trees especially from the 
 vaporer moth; for whenever one of these insects takes up its 
 abode upon a tree, a part at least of its progeny will be apt to 
 remain for several generations, sustaining themselves af the ex¬ 
 pense of the tree. In the winter, or before the foliage puts forth 
 in spring, search should be made for their nests of eggs. They 
 will be much more readily discovered than those of the common 
 caterpillar. Occasionally a cocoon will be met with having no 
 eggs upon it. In this the chrysalis is still lying unhatclied, or a 
 male moth has been given out from it. It will be the safest 
 course to strip the trees of all the cocoons found upon them, 
 whether covered with eggs and foam or not, tearing them off 
 from the larger limbs and cutting off the smaller twigs to which 
 they are attached, and throwing the whole into the fire. No 
 one but the veriest sloven will permit his fruit trees to be depre¬ 
 dated upon by insects which can be so easily subdued as the va¬ 
 porer moth. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 453 
 
 A pale yellowish green worm having a dusky or blackish stripe along 
 each side of the back with a narrower whitish stripe on its upper side 
 and a dusky line in the middle, and a shining yellow head, the hue 
 of beeswax; residing in worm-eaten leaves drawn together by silken 
 threads, and when jarred, dropping and hanging in the air suspended 
 by threads; appearing the latter part of June, at times excessively 
 numerous. 
 
 The Palmer-worm, Chxtocliilus pometellus, Harris, (Plate 4, fig. 4.) 
 
 Though not abundant, this worm is common upon the leaves 
 of orchards and forests, making its appearance every year about 
 the middle of June and continuing till the last of the month. 
 But it sometimes becomes multiplied in a most astonishing man¬ 
 ner, appearing suddenly in prodigious numbers over a vast ex¬ 
 tent of country, in a single day changing the green foliage every¬ 
 where to a withered browy hue, as though it had been scorched 
 by fire. And after continuing a week or two it disappears as 
 suddenly as it came, so that on a tree which to-day contains 
 hundreds of these worms, to-morrow not one can be found. 
 And the following year when the same season comes round and 
 we are looking for multitudes of these insects to make their 
 appearance again, no traces of them are to be seen. 
 
 As this worm comes forth nearly a month later in the year 
 than the apple tree caterpillar spoken of in the foregoing pages, 
 it is much more destructive to the trees. When their foliage is 
 stripped off and destroyed by this worm, only a slight crop of 
 leaves puts out upon them after it disappears. Old trees 
 and many of the limbs upon young thrifty trees die; and 
 after a visitation of these worms, should the weather during 
 the month of July prove to be dry, and hot, as it frequently is, 
 the damage is much more extensive, whole orchards and forests 
 perishing. 
 
 At a former period when the surface of our country was 
 covered with one continuous forest it must have been a singular 
 and sad spectacle to see the timber over such vast districts all 
 blighted and leafless, as it doubtless was at times, from having 
 been overrun by these worms. It is most probably these insects 
 to which the Sweedish naturalist, Kalm, in his travels through 
 this country a century ago, alludes in the following passage, 
 (vol. ii, p. 7 .) <t There is likewise a kind of caterpillars in these 
 
454 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 provinces, which eat the leaves from the trees. They are innu¬ 
 merable in some years. In the intervals there are but few of 
 them : but when they come, they strip the trees so entirely of 
 their leaves, that the woods in the middle of summer are as 
 naked as in winter. They eat all kinds of leaves, and very few 
 trees are left untouched by them; as, about that time of the 
 year the heat is most excessive. The stripping the trees of their 
 leaves has this fatal consequence, that + hey cannot withstand the 
 heat, but dry up entirely. In this manner, great forests are 
 sometimes entirely ruined. The Swedes who live here showed 
 me, here and there great tracts in the woods, where young trees 
 were now growing, instead of the old ones, which, some years 
 ago, had been destroyed by the caterpillars. These caterpillars 
 afterwards change into moths, or phalenas .” 
 
 If our western prairies were ever covered with wood it is most 
 probably by this insect that they were first made naked, those 
 trees only surviving the attack which grew upon the bottom 
 lands along streams, where the drouth of mid-summer would be 
 less felt than upon the uplands. 
 
 In the year 1791, the orchards and forests of New England were 
 overrun by this worm, and the leaves of the apple, oak and 
 other trees were devoured by it. It was at this time that it re¬ 
 ceived the name “palmer worm” by which it has since been cur¬ 
 rently designated. This name was evidently derived from our 
 English translation of the sacred scriptures. Another insect 
 which a month or two before had devastated the fruit trees to 
 an extent never previously known, appears simultaneously to 
 have received the name which it still retains, the canker worm; 
 for previous to this date we find this name given to what is now 
 called the army worm. Many persons at that time, we doubt not, 
 supposed them to be the very insects to whiSh the inspired pro¬ 
 phet alluded. Two years before, a clergyman who, from some 
 remarkable phenomena which had just then occurred, had formed 
 the opinion that the arm of the Lord was extended in wrath over 
 our land, had written a discourse, in which it was predicted that 
 great calamities were soon to happen. And the advent at that 
 time of one of these strange insects immediately after the other, 
 in such countless numbers all over the country, ‘the palmer worm 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 455 
 
 eating what the canker worm had left,’ was an event well calcu¬ 
 lated to make a deep impression upon community, and to strike 
 superstitious and weak-minded persons with awe and terror. 
 The facts here stated we obtain chiefly from Webster on pestilen¬ 
 tial diseases, vol. i, pp. 286, 293. 
 
 Another remarkable visitation of these insects occurred in the 
 year 1853, unparalleled by any event of this kind within the 
 memory of the present generation. It at this time appeared 
 suddenly in excessive numbers, over all the eastern part of the 
 State of New-York, and all the New England States, the news¬ 
 papers noticing it everywhere from Maine to Connecticut. Al¬ 
 though we have no definite information respecting it beyond 
 these limits, it was probably numerous in most parts of our 
 country, several specimens of the moth having been sent me 
 this year from the state of Mississippi, this being the only in¬ 
 stance in which I have ever received this insect from any of my 
 correspondents. It was on the sixteenth day of June that it first 
 attracted notice in the section where I reside, but in the southern 
 part of the State it began to be observed about a week earlier. 
 When attention was once directed towards it, it was found to be 
 common in all the orchards and forests around; and within a 
 few days of the date mentioned, its depredations were so conspic¬ 
 uous that in every town and neighborhood thoughout this dis¬ 
 trict of country it was noticed and had become the leading sub¬ 
 ject of conversation, commonly before they were aware at each 
 locality that every place aronnd them was invaded in the same 
 manner; and the worms were sent to me from different directions 
 by persons who supposed it did not extend beyond the vicinity 
 where they resided. It was currently regarded as a new and 
 unknown insect; and in the prevalent ignorance upon matters 
 of this kind, the most absurd and extravagant conjectures with 
 regard to the origin and transformations of this worm were 
 passed from mouth to mouth, even among educated men and 
 persons of good general intelligence. 
 
 As it is probably atmospherical causes or some peculiarity of 
 the seasons which favors the multiplication of this as of other 
 insects, it merits to be observed that the weather had been re¬ 
 markably dry and hot for some time previous to its advent. And 
 
456 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 according to my own observations, those trees which stood in 
 situations where they were openly exposed to the sun appeared 
 to be most severely devastated, whilst in some instances at least, 
 those standing in the shade of buildings remained green and un¬ 
 harmed ; though I was informed of cases in which trees in shaded 
 situations were stripped of their leaves. 
 
 The trees everywhere assumed a brown withered appearance, 
 looking as though they had been scorched by fire. Apple trees 
 and oaks seemed to suffer most, but all other trees and shrubs 
 were more or less infested with these worms at this time. On 
 jarring or shaking a tree, hundreds would instantly let them¬ 
 selves down from among the leaves, by fine threads like cobweb, 
 some dropping to the ground, others remaining suspended in the 
 air. Persons at work at this time upon potatoes or other field 
 crops growing in orchards would have numbers of them crawl¬ 
 ing everywhere over their clothes, and, as an instance of the 
 power of the imagination, the following may be related: A ro¬ 
 bust laboring man assured me that in three instances in which 
 these worms happened to fall upon his naked arm he felt a sting¬ 
 ing sensation like that from the puncture of a mosquito, this 
 being occasioned, as he was firmly persuaded, by their bite. But 
 other persons, with these worms crawling in numberless in¬ 
 stances upon their naked skin, experienced nothing of this kind; 
 and subsisting as they do exclusively upon leaves and other 
 succulent vegetation, it is not probable that they employ their 
 jaws upon any substance for which they can have no relish; their 
 natural resort when irritated being not to bite but to wriggle 
 violently and thus throw' themselves away from the place where 
 they are molested. 
 
 The worms continued in full force until the night of the 
 tw r enty-third of June, when brisk showers ooourred, accompa¬ 
 nied with heavy thunder, terminating the drouth which had pre¬ 
 vailed, and with this the w'orms suddenly disappeared. Upon 
 the following day not one could be obtained by shaking trees 
 which had been overrun with them the day before—the rain 
 drops falling upon the leaves having doubtless dislodged them, 
 in the course of the night, and perhaps drowning a considerable 
 portion of them after reaching the ground. With a beating net, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 457 
 
 however, a few specimens could be gathered trom the leaves for 
 several days afterwards. 
 
 The weather now becoming more moist, with copious showers 
 repeatedly during the month of July, the trees in a measure re¬ 
 covered their leaves, although the crop of fruit for the year was 
 everywhere destroyed. George Christie of East Greenwich 
 informed me that the trees on his farm, in good bearing years 
 produce probably a thousand bushels of apples, and the pros¬ 
 pects for an abundant yield were never fairer than they were 
 this year, until this worm made its appearance, blighting the 
 trees and causing the orchard to look as though it had been frost 
 bitten. And he gathered from it this year only two or three 
 bushels of fruit, of a quality so inferior that it was scarcely 
 worth picking. And similar to this was the experience of the 
 owners of orchards generally—young thrifty trees yielding a 
 scanty supply of inferior fruit which commonly sufficed for 
 family use, nothing being gathered from full grown and old 
 trees. 
 
 The following year, in June, it was universally expected that 
 these worms would again appear, but the month passed away and 
 no traces of them were anywhere to be seen. They could readily 
 be found, however, on searching upon the leaves of the apple trees, 
 but were no more common than several other kinds of worms in 
 the same situation. Last year, 1855, they were quite rare, a very 
 few specimens only having presented themselves to my notice. 
 The present year they have been much more abundant, and in 
 gardens in the city of Albany I observed a number of fruit 
 trees the leaves of which had been badly eaten by them. 
 
 At the time of the appearance of this worm in such myriads 
 in 1853,1 was answering a letter from Hon. B. P. Johnson upon 
 another apple tree insect, and inserted therein an account of 
 this worm, with a description of it and the cocoon which it had 
 then formed, stating that I would subsequently complete 
 its history. I suggested that a small gay yellow moth 
 which frequently occurred among apple leaves, a descrip¬ 
 tion of which under the name of Jlrgyrolepia pomariana I thereto 
 appended, might probably be the parent of these worms. For 
 the information of my immediate neighbors and friends upon a 
 lAssembly, No. 217.] 30 
 
458 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 topic which was of surpassing interest to them at that time, a 
 copy of this communication was inserted in the Salem Press 
 newspaper of July 12th, copies of which were distributed to all 
 my correspondents. Upon the 8th of July 1 obtained the insect 
 in its perfect state, and met with specimens in abundance, in 
 orchards and forests upon the following day. A postscript 
 to my previous communication was accordingly prepared, giving 
 a description of the moth, when I was not a little surprised to 
 receive from Dr. Harris a slip from the Cambridge Chronicle of 
 July 19th, containing a short description of this same insect, 
 under the name of Rhinosia pometella. Although this name, 
 thus published in a local newspaper, had no scientific validity, 
 I cheerfully adopted it. My communication of June 30th, and 
 a postscript thereto dated July 23d, was published in the Jour¬ 
 nal of the New-York State Agricultural Society, September 1853, 
 (vol. iv, p. 36), and was re-published with Dr. Harris’s article 
 from the Cambridge newspaper appended, in the Society’s Tran¬ 
 sactions for that year, (vol. xiii, pp. 178—192). These are the 
 principal papers upon this insect, so far as I am aware, which 
 have hitherto appeared. 
 
 Although from its habit of drawing leaves together in a clus¬ 
 ter, secreting itself between and feeding upon them, letting 
 itself down by a thread, &c., the palmer worm corresponds with 
 the Family Tortricida of the Order Lepiooptera, there is a section 
 of moths of Family Tineidje which possess these same habits, 
 and it is to this latter family which this insect pertains. The 
 genus to which it belongs is characterised principally by having 
 the scales with which the feelers or palpi are clothed very long, 
 jutting forward of the head horizontally like a camel’s hair pen¬ 
 cil, or a beak, with the last joint slender and projecting upwards 
 from the middle of this beak like a little horn or .spur, as repre¬ 
 sented in the profile view of the head, plate 4, fig. 4 a. The name 
 Chcetochilus given to this genus by Mr. Stephens, is retained by 
 Westwood and Humphrey in their recent work on British moths. 
 The name Rhinosia bestowed almost simultaneously upon this 
 genus by the German naturalist Treitschke and adopted by Dr- 
 Harris, is too nearly identical with the name Rhinotia , given 
 many year* anteriorly by Mr, Kirby to a genus of weevils, to 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 459 
 
 allow its being retained, were it otherwise entitled to stand. 
 Chatochilus pomrtellus thus becomes the scientific name of the 
 palmer worm moth. Dr. Harris proposes “the little Snout moth” 
 as the common name for this insect; but the designation Snout- 
 moth is popularly applied to a very different group of insects, 
 pertaining to the genns Hypena in the Family Pyralidee; and the 
 name palmer worm is so well established that no other designa¬ 
 tion for this species appears to be required or desirable. 
 
 When they are young these worms eat only the green pulpy 
 tissues of the leaf, leaving its net work of veins entire. But as 
 they become larger and more robust they consume the whole of 
 the leaf except the coarse veins. It is the young and tender 
 leaves, however, which grow at and near the tips of the limbs, 
 which they prefer; the older and tougher leaves are commonly 
 eaten only at their tip ends, and have irregular holes of various 
 sizes gnawed in them, some of these holes being no larger than 
 a puncture made with a pin. The green succulent ends of the 
 twigs are also frequently ate off. And the young apples which 
 were nearly as large as walnuts when these worms made their 
 appearance, almost without exception had either round holes or 
 larger irregular cavities gnawed in their surface. Thus wounded 
 they wilt and fall from the tree, a few only having the wounds 
 so slight that they recover and remain upon the tree till they 
 ripen. 
 
 Both the larvae or worms, and the moths are much more vari¬ 
 able in their colors and irregular in their marks when they are 
 excessively numerous, than they appear to be at other times. 
 
 The larva when small are somewhat tapering, as represented in the first 
 
 figure of the cut, and pale yellow varied only 
 with a darker stripe along the middle of the 
 back and a darker head. They grow to 
 nearly half an inch in length, and arc then 
 more nearly cylindrical, as represented in 
 the second figure. They have sixteen feet, 
 and bodies divided into thirteen segments by transverse constrictions. When 
 approaching to maturity they are commonly of a pale green or yellowish 
 green color, but when these worms are numerous, specimens of a sulphur 
 yellow, watery whitish and flesh red colors will be met with. They arc paler 
 or whitish beneath. Along each side of the back a dusky or blackish stripe 
 running the whole length of the body is the most conspicuous and constant 
 Wark which they possess. Above this a narrower whitish stripe is more or 
 
460 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 less distinct, and along the middle of the back is a slender dusky stripe between 
 the whitish ones. A transverse line of a clearer white color occupies the hind 
 edge of each segment. Several small black dots symmetrically arranged and 
 each one yielding a fine hair, may be perceived, whereof two above near the 
 hind edge of each segment are the most conspicuous. The head is polished and 
 of the yellow color of bees-wax. The neck or second segment is of the same 
 color, and has above on each side of the middle a black stripe which curves 
 inwards at its hind end, sometimes forming a hook, and outside of this are two 
 black oblong dots, the lower one smaller. 
 
 It appears to be the ordinary habit of these worms to remain 
 upon the trees and change to pupse in the same tuft of leaves in 
 which the lame have resided, the worm retiring into a plait or 
 fold of a particular leaf and spinning a slight web of line silken 
 threads over itself, of so thin a texture that it may be seen 
 through this web. But when they are numerous, multitudes of 
 the worms live openly exposed upon the leaves, and the foliage 
 is so totally destroyed on many trees that It can furnish no safe 
 retreats in which they can conceal themselves when they are 
 ready to change to pupae. In such cases, as I infer from the 
 habits of the worm when bred in cages, they secrete themselves 
 under dry leaves on the surface of the ground, in crevices of the 
 bark and similar situations, spinning a slight web over them¬ 
 selves. As they remain in the pupa state only a short time they 
 require no regular cocoon or other substantial fabric for their 
 protection. 
 
 The pupa is at first of a pale tawny yellow color with the head 
 and sheaths of the wings and legs lighter yellow, 
 and is about a quarter of an inch long. It gradu¬ 
 ally changes to a darker color, and in about ten or twelve days 
 after the worm ceases feeding and shuts itself up within its web 
 the perfect insect is disclosed. In different years the moths 
 which I have bred have mostly come out of their pupse state 
 upon the eighth of July; and on one occasion, passing on this 
 day under a large white oak tree which had been entirely 
 stripped of its leaves by these insects, at every step among the 
 weeds and grass a swarm of the moths would arise and flit a yard 
 or two aside and alight again, this fact showing that they were 
 mostly hatched at this date or earlier. The moths are of a gray 
 color and three-eighths of an inch long, and rest with their long 
 narrow wings folded together and laid flat uuon their backs, the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 461 
 
 fore part of the body being slightly raised from the surface on 
 which they are standing and the antennae turned backward and 
 pressed down upon the wings. 
 
 The moth of the palmer worm (see plate 4, fig. 4) measures about 0.65 
 across»its wings when they are expanded. It is of an ash-gray color. The 
 fore wings are sprinkled more or less with black atoms, and have on the apical 
 edge at the base of the fringe six or seven equidistant black dots. On the disk 
 are also four larger black or brown dots, two before and two behind the mid¬ 
 dle, the latter nearer together than the former. These dots are placed ob¬ 
 liquely with regard to each other, the anterior pair having the outer dot more 
 towards the base of the wing than the inner one, whilst the posterior pair has 
 the inner dot nearer the base than the outer one. Frequently there is a tawny 
 yellow streak or cloud between the anterior dots and the base, situated upon 
 the slight plait or groove formed by the midvein. Sometimes also a dusky 
 transverse band may be discovered on the posterior part of the wing, half way 
 between the posterior dots and the tip. The fringe on the inner tips of these 
 wings is dusky, with a pale tawny band occupying its basal half. The hind 
 wings above and beneath are dusky with a glossy azure blue reflection, and 
 blackish veins, their long fringes being dusky. The under side of the body and 
 the legs are dull whitish with a silky lustre, the feet darker with a white ring 
 at each joint. The antenna; are alternated with rings of black and white. 
 
 The varieties of this moth arc numerous, particularly in those years when 
 it is abundant. The more important ol these are as follows: 
 
 a. Ground color of the fore wings dull white instead of ash-gray. 
 
 b. Ground color of the fore wings pale tawny yellow. 
 
 c. The fore wings with a strong purplish-red reflection. 
 
 d. Dots on the middle of the fore wings three only, the anterior one being 
 
 effaced. Rare. It appears to have been a specimen of this variety 
 from which Dr. Harris’s description of the species was taken. 
 
 e. The four dots on the middle of the fore wings all wanting. 
 
 f. The dots on the apex of the fore wings faint or wanting. 
 
 Numbers of these worms are every year destroyed by a small 
 footless grub or maggot, which lives in the palmer worm until 
 it has attained its growth, when it perforates a hole through the 
 side of the worm, and crawling out, spins a small white oval 
 cocoon for itself, commonly attaching this cocoon very slightly 
 to the surface of the leaf. The worm from which this parasite 
 has crawled remains upon the leaf beside it, its feet seemingly 
 paralyzed, so that it is unable to move from the spot. It turns 
 its head at times from one side to the other, but eats no more 
 and soon perishes. 
 
 When these worms were present in 1853 some persons 
 attempted to save favorite trees from their ravages by repeatedly 
 jarring the trees and with a pole breaking ofl' the threads by 
 
462 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 which the worms, suspended themselves and carrying them to a 
 distance, repeating the operation day after day. But little benefit, 
 however, appeared to result from this measure. More good may 
 undoubtedly be dcyie by attaching a long stiff' handle to an old tin 
 pan, smearing the inside of the pan with tar, bird lime or some 
 similar adhesive substance, and catching the worms in this by 
 swinging it around under the tree, as they hang suspended— 
 renewing the coating as often as it becomes so covered with the 
 worms and their threads as no longer to adhere to them. 
 
 The fact of the sudden disappearance" of these worms with 
 showers of rain was noticed in several places in the year 1853, 
 and suggests the showering of trees when infested with the palmer 
 worm, with water, by means of a garden engine, as a measure 
 whereby to dislodge and destroy this enemy. At the time of 
 its disappearance in the manner .stated, worms of all sizes old 
 and young were upon the leaves, showing it was not in conse¬ 
 quence of their having come to maturity and being ready to 
 withdraw, that they left the trees thus abruptly. The fact is 
 reported (Trans. N. Y. State Ag. Soc., vol. xiii, p. 187) that 
 a gentleman having a farm near Albany, discovering that two of 
 the trees in his orchard had their leaves destroyed by these 
 worms, procured some whale oil soap and diluting it with water, 
 drenched the remainder of his trees with it, with a garden en¬ 
 gine, whereby they were entirely preserved from the ravages of 
 these worms. The worms were no doubt numerous upon those 
 as they were upon all other trees at that time. Whether the 
 whale oil soap made the application more efficacious than it would 
 have been without it can only be known by further experi¬ 
 ments. But the suddenness with which a portion of these 
 worms drop themselves from the leaves of a tree when it is 
 shook or jarred, renders it probable that the greater agitation 
 which showering the leaves, simply, will occasion, will entirely 
 rid them of these vermin. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 463 
 
 A slender pale yellowish worm with a tawny yellow stripe along each 
 side of its back, this stripe having a whitish stripe upon its lower as 
 well as its upper side, and a pale yellow head; residing in the fold of 
 a worm-eaten leaf, the fore part of July. 
 
 The tawn y-stkiped palmer-worm, Chmtochilus Malif nliellus , new species. 
 
 A similar worm, but having a shining black head and neck; residing in 
 a similar situation, the latter part of June. . 
 
 The comrade palmer-worm (probably), C. contubernalellus, Fitch. 
 
 In addition to the common Palmer worm, described in the pro¬ 
 ceeding pages, other worms very similar to it in their appear¬ 
 ance, motions and habits, and pertaining to the same genus of 
 moths with it, are occasionally met with upon the leaves of ap¬ 
 ple trees. One of these I have noticed in different years, the 
 fore part of July, at which time the common Palmer worm has 
 nearly or quite disappeared. It is rather more narrow and slen¬ 
 der than that worm but is otherwise like it in form and size. 
 The stripes along each side of its back, however, are of a tawny 
 yellow color, instead of dusky or blackish, and it has a pale 
 stripe along the lower as well as the upper side of this dark 
 stripe. It appears to be even more agile than that species, when 
 disturbed wriggling and throwing itself about with lightning- 
 like velocity. 
 
 One of these worms which I met with in an apple leaf which 
 it had folded and tied together with silken threads was placed in 
 a large mouthed vial. Three days afterwards it had eaten the 
 whole of the leaf except its mid-vein, under which and some 
 fine threads which it had spun, it remained concealed. Two 
 fresh leaves were now put into the vial, July 4th. Forsaking 
 its former domicil the worm now took up its abode in one of 
 these leaves, which it folded neatly together, with the edges ex¬ 
 actly adjusted to each other and securely sewed in their places. 
 Here entirely hid from view it ate but little more before enter¬ 
 ing its pupa state, from which the perfect insect was obtained 
 on the twenty-fifth of the same month. The accompanying fig¬ 
 ure is designed to represent the manner in which 
 these different species of Palmer worms draw r the 
 leaves around them, tieing them together with 
 fine silken threads and gnawing them more or 
 less. The pupa also lies within these tufts of 
 worm-eaten leaves, and when ready to disclose 
 
464 
 
 ' ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 the winged moth it crowds itself partly out from between them, 
 in which situation the empty shell remains after the moth has 
 evacuated it. At the upper left-hand corner of the figure the 
 relics of the pupa are represented, protruding in this manner 
 from between the leaves. 
 
 The larva when full grown is half an inch long and about 0.06 in diameter, 
 composed of thirteen segments, distinctly marked by strong wide contractions 
 at each of the sutures. The last segment is divided into two parts by a su¬ 
 ture across its middle. The body is slightly flattened and of a pale tawny 
 yellow color above, with two stripes upon the back and one along each side 
 of a white or yellowish white color. Below the lateral white stripe the body 
 on the sides and beneath is pale watery yellowish. Upon the back the edges 
 of the segments are yellowish white, and on the hind part of each, outside of 
 the white dorsal stripes is a polished black dot, from which arises a fine hair. 
 A few other hairs are scattered symmetrically over the surface, arising from 
 small faint dots. The head is flattened, slightly shining and of a paler yellow 
 color than the body, with the antennae and the tips of the feelers dusky. The 
 neck has five or six dark brown dots each side, irregularly placed and some of 
 them slightly confluent. 
 
 The moth is very similar to that of the common species, from which it may 
 be distinguished, however, by its fore wings being destitute of any black or 
 darker colored atoms. They are ash-gray and glossy, often with a purplish 
 red reflection, with a row of equidistant black dots on the apical edge at the 
 base of the fringe. Forward of the tips is a dull tawny yellow band margined 
 on its anterior side with dull white. Two dots behind and two forward of the 
 middle, placed as they arc in the common species, are also of a dull tawny 
 yellow color margined anteriorly with dull white, sometimes these dots are 
 confluent, forming two short oblique stripes. The expanded wings measure 
 0.65. 
 
 The common Palmer worm is so variable both in the larva and 
 the perfect stages of its life, that I am not without suspicions 
 this may be merely a variety of that species. But as it is later 
 in the season in making its appearance in each instance where I 
 have met with it, and is differently marked in its larva as well 
 as its perfect state, I am induced to regard it as a distinct spe¬ 
 cies. 
 
 Associated with the Palmer worms on apple and also on forest 
 trees are found worms which are in all respects like them, ex¬ 
 cept that the head and the upper side of the neck or second seg¬ 
 ment is black and highly polished, the neck having a slender 
 whitish line on the middle. Though I have not succeeded in 
 breeding any of these it is quite probable they are the progeny 
 of a moth which may occasionally be met with in company with 
 that of the Palmer worm, and which I named C. contubernalellus 
 
* STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 465 
 
 or the Comrade in the postscript to my communication on these 
 insects (Trans. N. Y. S. Ag. Soc. vol. xiii, p. 187). This moth is 
 of the same size with that of the Palmer worm and has the same 
 black dots on the middle and apex of the fore wings, but the 
 ground color of these wings is so very dissimilar as to separate it 
 at once from that species. 
 
 The Comrade of the Palmer worm moth has the fore wings dark brown on 
 their inner sides and their outer half white, often tinged with tawny yellowish, 
 and sprinkled with minute black atoms. When the insect is at rest this white 
 color forms a broad stripe along each side. The inner edge of this stripe is 
 well defined, and the stripe occupies all that part of the wing which is outside 
 of the two outer dots of the four black ones near the middle of the wing, these 
 two dots forming indentations upon its inner edge. Posteriorly the white 
 stripe is gradually narrowed and ends in the fringe slightly forward of the tip; 
 the fringe being black at the tip and yellowish white inside of this, becoming 
 pale dusky towards the inner angle of the wing. On their under sides the fore 
 wings are smoky and the fringe is blackish at the tip and pale dull yellow on 
 each side of this. In all other points this moth is quite similar to that of the 
 palmer worm. 
 
 We have several other New-York species pertaining to the 
 genus Cfuetoc/iilus. One of these is occasionally met with the 
 latter part of June in the yards about our houses. It also is of 
 an ash-gray color and has a white band near the tips ol its fore 
 wings and three small pale yellowish spots on their outer 
 edge beyond the middle, from which circumstance I propose 
 naming it 
 
 The triple spotted , ( C. tTimaculcllus'). It measures 0.65 across the wings 
 when spread, is ash-gray and very glossy, the fore wings paler on the inner 
 basal portion, black at their tips and on the outer margin towards their tips, 
 and with a broad blackish streak through the middle, not reaching to the base. 
 The surface of the lore wings is sparsely sprinkled with whitish scales, which 
 forward of the tips become more numerous and condensed, forming an angu- 
 lated white band, very obvious to the naked eye, shaped like the letter V with 
 its angle towards the tip of the wing. This band ends on the outer margin in 
 a somewhat triangular pale yellow spot, with a smaller spot of the same color 
 beyond it, almost on the tip, and another forward of it, nearly on the middle 
 of the outer edge. The fringe is black, with a row of small whitish spots on 
 its base and larger ones opposite them on the outer edge. The hind wings are 
 sooty, their outer margin broadly whitish except at the tip, and their fringe 
 pale dusky with a band on its middle formed of black spots transversely con¬ 
 fluent. The wings on their under sides are dark gray, the anterior pair slightly 
 freckled with whitish and on their outer edge showing the three pale yellow 
 spots which occur above. The body and legs are silvery white, the latter 
 blackish on their outer sides with a white band at each of the joints of the feet. 
 The feelers which project forward of the head are rather short and thick, of a 
 
466 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-VORK 
 
 gray color marked on their outer side with a broad black stripe which contin¬ 
 ues backward to the neck and embraces the eye. The spur-like tips of the 
 feelers are white with a black line on the fore side. The spiral tongue when 
 uncoiled is nearly as long as the antenn®, and these reach backward almost 
 two-thirds the length of the wings, and are black alternated with white rings. 
 
 I notice this species as it is the only one belonging to the genus 
 which I have captured when in the act of depositing its er^gs. It 
 passes these through a long tube or ovipositor which is half the 
 length of the abdomen when extended, and is composed of three 
 cylindrical joints of a pale color, which shut into each other like 
 the joints of a telescope. Its eggs are quite small, oval and opake 
 white, and those of the other species are probably similar. 
 
 Another species larger than either of the preceding occurs in 
 woods at the close of autumn, and is remarkable for having both 
 pairs of wings relatively broader and the tips of the anterior ones 
 much more obtuse and cut off obliquely so that the extreme apex 
 forms an obtuse angle instead of an acute one as in the other 
 species; and whilst the other species show no very distinct spots 
 or marks upon their bodies we here upon the under side of the 
 abdomen meet with a broad white stripe having a row of black 
 spots along its middle. It may hence appropriately be named 
 
 The belly-spotted ( C. ventrellus). Its expanded wings measure 0.80. It 
 is of an ash gray color with a satin-like lustre, the fore wings varied with paler 
 freckles and sprinkled with numerous black atoms which in places are partial¬ 
 ly arranged in irregular transverse wavy lines, and on the apical edge is a row 
 of equidistant black dots or short streaks placed on the intervals between the 
 ends of the veins. The fringes and hind wings are pale lead colored or smoky. 
 The abdomen is obscure yellowish, its apex ash-gray, and along each side is a 
 row of glossy whitish spots, one upon the hind edge of each segment. Its un¬ 
 der side is smoky, with a very broad white or pale dull yellow stripe along 
 the middle, in which is a row of conspicuous black dots, one upon the hind 
 edge of each segment, and on each side of these dots the edges of the segments 
 have a glossy white reflection forming bands of this color. The wings are paler 
 on their under sides and very glossy, the anterior ones whitish towards their 
 tips and along the hind edge and regularly alternated with dark spots, whereof 
 one is situated on the extreme tip, four others forward of it along the outer or 
 costal edge and four slightly smaller ones upon the apical edge. 
 
 Time only can show whether any of these near relatives of the 
 palmer worm which we have now been considering are liable at 
 times to become excessively numerous like that insect, and like 
 an allied species, the cabbage moth, described in my First lieport. 
 Should artificial interference to check their depredations become 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 467 
 
 necessary, it is probable that the same remedial measures to 
 which allusion has been made under the palmer worm, will be 
 of equal efficacy here. But commonly the numbers of these in¬ 
 sects are so limited that they are unable to do any amount of 
 injury which requires attention. 
 
 Cylindrical dull yellow worms, with light yellow stripes and hlack heads, 
 when large becoming black with light yellow stripes and a yellow 
 neck; when alarmed holding both ends of their bodies stiffly upward; 
 clustered closely together and wholly stripping the leaves from one 
 particular limb, in August. 
 
 The Yellow-necked apple-tree worm, or tho Handmaid Moth, Ea- 
 metupona vdnistra, Drury. (Plate 4, fig. 3.) 
 
 There is probably no other insect invading our apple trees which 
 excites more notice and alarm than does this. As it lives toge¬ 
 ther in families, and commencing at the end of a limb, strips it 
 perfectly clean of its leaves, the proprietors of orchards are ap¬ 
 prehensive when it makes its appearance that it will continue 
 and multiply until it utterly devastates their trees; and persons 
 have repeatedly brought this worm to me, sometimes coming sev¬ 
 eral miles to enquire its name and whether it is usual for it to 
 remain where it has once made a lodgement. The insect, how¬ 
 ever, is not very common. Some years a few clusters of these 
 worms will be found scattered upon diiferent trees and then 
 several years will commonly elapse before it is again seen. As 
 these pages are passing through the press it is far more common 
 in the vicinity of my residence than I have ever seen it before. 
 In 1853 it was also to be met with in almost every orchard. And 
 except in these years I have very seldom seen it. 
 
 The nakedness of the limb on which these insects are located 
 attracts attention to it, and on coming to look for the cause of 
 this nakedness, a whole family of plump glossy dull yellow or 
 large black worms is found upon one of the branches next below 
 those which have been devastated. If engaged in feeding they 
 are huddled together upon the under surfaces of the leaves, a 
 row of shining black heads, like a string of large beads, appear¬ 
 ing along the sides of the leaf, each mouth busily engaged in 
 
468 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 gnawing the margin, which rapidly melts away as they progress 
 in their operations. If at rest they are all crowded together as 
 closely as they can stow themselves, upon the twig where they 
 have last been feeding, clinging to it with their four middle 
 pairs of feet and with the ends of their bodies raised upwards. 
 If the limb be touched or any other alarm is given them they 
 all suddenly throw their tails upward at right angles with the 
 body and curve their heads backward over their backs, with 
 their anterior pairs of feet projecting outwards and resembling 
 little black prickles; and they remain rigidly fixed and motion¬ 
 less in this grotesque posture for several moments and until the 
 apprehended danger has passed away. 
 
 The moths begin to make their appearance upon the wing each 
 year as early as the middle of June and continue till the end of 
 July. Each female deposits her whole stock of eggs in a single 
 clustre upon the under side of one of the leaves at the end of a 
 limb. The eggs are from seventy to a hundred in number, white, 
 globular, about three-hundredths of an inch in diameter, placed 
 side by side in nearly straight rows, and securely glued to each 
 other and to the surface of the leaf. The young worm gnaws a 
 large opening through the top of the shell to make its exit. 
 Those eggs which are first laid are hatched about the twentieth 
 of July; others are fully a month later in giving out their broods. 
 Thus some colonies of worms that are almost full grown will be 
 met with when others are small and but a few days old. 
 
 The young worms eat only the pulpy under surface of the leaf, 
 leaving its upper surface and veins entire. But when the brood 
 has thus fed upon two or three leaves they acquire sufficient 
 strength to consume the whole substance of the leaf, so that only 
 its stem and a part of the mid-vein is left. The tender succulent 
 leaves growing at the end of the limb where the worms have 
 been placed by their parent, are first devoured; and as the worms 
 advance in size and become more robust, they gradually as they 
 move along down the limb come to leaves which are older and 
 more tough and leathery, such as they would not have been able 
 to feed upon when they were young and small. When the last 
 leaves upon one twig or branch have been consumed, they crawl 
 away to another, to finish their meal. Two or three stragglers 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 469 
 
 may be left behind when this migration occurs, being so intently 
 occupied in feeding as not to notice the departure of their com¬ 
 rades. But on becoming aware of their solitary situation they 
 hasten after their associates ; and it is curious to observe the un¬ 
 erring accuracy with which they track and find them. On com¬ 
 ing to where a twig branches off, it is examined, the worm reach¬ 
 ing up it a third of its own length it may be, when it ascertains 
 that the brood is not upon that twig, and drawing back, it tra¬ 
 vels onward, until it reaches the identical twig up which its pre¬ 
 decessors have gone, and up which it at once mounts. The worm 
 would seem to have some instinct by which it is informed of the 
 direction in which its fellows have located themselves, or to 
 possess an acuteness of smell like that for which the dog is noted, 
 to be thus able to scent their footsteps. But when we come to 
 examine the road they have followed, with a magnifying glass, 
 we discover the clue which has doubtlessly served to guide them 
 in this journey. Stretched along upon the bark we find a mul¬ 
 titude of threads resembling the finest cobweb, so fine that they 
 are wholly invisible to the eye. These threads the worms spin 
 from tfyeir mouths wherever they go. And though so exceed¬ 
 ingly slender they possess a surprising degree of strength, it be¬ 
 ing sufficient to sustain the weight of the worm. Individual 
 worms sometimes when they are disturbed suspend themselves 
 in the air hereby. They are more apt, however, to drop them¬ 
 selves to the ground. Others, when annoyed, throw their heads 
 spitefully from side to side; but their most common resort, as 
 already stated, is to throw the extremities of their bodies up¬ 
 ward, and some will even bend themselves so far as to touch 
 their heads and tails together, their bodies thus resembling a 
 hoop or a ring. 
 
 The Larva! are plump cylindrical shining worms, thinly clothed with long 
 soft white hairs. When young their groundcolor 
 is tawny yellow or sometimes tawny red; when ma¬ 
 ture they are coal black. They have been described 
 as gradually changing to a darker color with each 
 change of their skin, but I think this is a mistake- 
 They remain of nearly the same hue from infancy until 
 the last time they change their skins, when the}' are about an inch and a quarter 
 in length. It is commonly with this change of their skins that they lose their yel¬ 
 low color and bocome black. When quite young and less than a quarter of 
 
470 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 an inch in length, two black points surrounded by a pale yellow ring are 
 visible above upon each segment, and others upon the sides. From each of 
 these a white hair arises. These dots disappear as the worm beoomes larger 
 
 The immature or tawny yellow larvso have black heads and feet, and a spot 
 on each of the prolegs, another on the tip and the two conical processes on the 
 apex aro also black. They have four slender pale or sulphur yellow stripes 
 along each side of the body, and between the two lower of these stripes the 
 breathing pores form a row of black dots, one upon each segment. 
 
 The mature or black worm grows to two inches or more in length, and has 
 the same pale yellow markings as the immature worm. The head is black and 
 without any spots. The second segment or neck is of a wax yellow color, and 
 the lower one of the four sulphur yellow stripes on each side of the body is 
 prolonged forward across this segment, with a black stripe contiguous to it on 
 its lower side, and on its upper side a wider black stripe reaches half way 
 across this segment. Above this the next sulphur yellow stripe is prolonged 
 upon the base of this segment and has a short black line upon its upper side. 
 Beneath, this worm has a sulphur yellow stripe along the middle and another 
 upon each side. 1 These lateral stripes are interrupted by a wax yellow spoton 
 the middle of each segment, which spots are larger upon each of the feet-bear- 
 ing segments and are prolonged inwards, forming transverse bands across the 
 middle of these segments. The six anterior logs are black, the eight prolegs 
 are wax yellow with a black spot upon their outer sides. In place of the pair 
 of prolngs usually occurring at the end of the body this worm has two conical 
 processes, which are abruptly cut off at their tips, and project horizontally 
 backwards. They do not aid the worm in walking, being always elevated from 
 the surface over which it is moving. 
 
 These worms are from six to eight weeks or more in growing 
 up to their full size. More than half of them are usually de¬ 
 stroyed, mostly, no doubt, by birds, so that of a brood of eighty 
 or a hundred worms which come from the eggs only from twenty 
 to forty are commonly remaining when they approach maturity. 
 It has been reported that the worms of each brood all reach ma¬ 
 turity at the same time and evacuate the tree in a single night. 
 But in many broods dwarfish individuals occur, which are 
 scarcely half the size of their fellows, and I have noticed worms 
 which were still engaged in feeding a week or longer after the 
 first ones of their brood had buried themselves. 
 
 The pupa state of this insect, which lasts from September to 
 the following June does not appear to have been fully observed, and 
 I regret that I am not able at present to fully complete this impor¬ 
 tant link in its history. If Dr. Harris’s observations have been 
 exact, there is some diversity in the habits of these moths at this 
 time. He says they enter the ground to the depth of three or 
 four inches and within twenty-four hours cast their caterpillar 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 471 
 
 skins and become chrysalids. But on examining several of these 
 worms which buried themselves about ten days since, I find they 
 are not yet changed to pupae. They have not inclosed them¬ 
 selves in follicles or formed the slightest cavity in the earth 
 surrounding them. They are lying with their backs upwards, 
 and have become rigid and motionless, and are contracted to half 
 their previous size, now measuring an inch in length and 0.38 in 
 diameter. They are about two inches below the surface, and it 
 is surprising that such thick-bodied, soft and flesh-like worms as 
 these were, were able to penetrate earth which is so firmly com¬ 
 pacted that it almost breaks the blade of a knife to open and 
 pry it asunder in clods. 
 
 The moths (plate 4, fig. 3) commonly measure from two inches to 2.40 
 across the wings when spread. The fore wings vary from pale buff yellow to 
 russet and auburn brown. They are crossed by four and sometimes five nar¬ 
 row bands of a rusty or auburn brown color or blackish when the ground 
 color of the wings is dusky, and their surface is more or less sprinkled over 
 with rusty or blackish atoms. The anterior band is transverse and regularly 
 curved like a bent bow, with its concave side towards the base of the wing. 
 The other three bands arc parallel with the hind margin. The second, which 
 is commonly slightly broader and more distinct than the others, begins on the 
 middle of the inner margin and runs nearly straight three-fourths of the dis¬ 
 tance across the wing, when it curves strongly forward to the outer margin. 
 The third band is the most faint and is sometimes wholly wanting. It is par¬ 
 allel with the second and is similarly curved at its outer end though in some 
 individuals less strongly. The fourth band is half way between the third and 
 the tip and is slightly bent like a bow through its whole length, its inner half 
 being nearly parallel with the hind margin and its outer half gradually rece¬ 
 ding from this margin. A fifth band sometimes occurs, situated slightly for¬ 
 ward of this last one and parallel with it. Between the posterior band and 
 the hind margin, commencing on the outer edge of the wing is an oblique rusty 
 brown line, running obliquely inward and forward. Between the first and 
 second bands, outside of the middle of the wing is often a dusky dot and back 
 of it a transverse streak. The fringe of these wings is short and of the same 
 color with the bands, and is edged with whitish on the apex. The hind wings 
 are pale or whitish tinged more or less with tawny yellow or dusky. The 
 hind edge of both pairs is entire and not in the least scalloped or toothed. 
 Beneath they are paler, sometimes dull silvery white, sometimes dusky, at 
 least on the forward pair. The head and fore part of the thorax is bright 
 orange or tawny yellow, this color being deeper or brownish towards its pos¬ 
 terior edge. The remainder of the thorax and the abdomen and legs partake 
 of the color of the wings. The tongue or maxillae is almost the tenth of an 
 inch in length, when extended upward reaching the base of the antennae, and 
 is spirally coiled. The feelers or palpi are quite small, being only 0.05 long, 
 and are appressed to the under side of the head, occupying the space between 
 
472 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORIC 
 
 the oral orifice and the eye. They are clothed with short hair-like scales, their 
 tips being very slightly exposed. The basal joint is obconic, compressed, and 
 curved; the second or middle joint is scarcely as long as the basal and about 
 twice as long as wide, cylindric and compressed; the apical joint is minute 
 egg-shaped, and but half the diameter of the preceding joints. The antenna 
 in the males have two rows of short hairs along their inner sides, in the females 
 they are entirely naked and scarcely a third the length of the wings. 
 
 The following varieties occur in this species. 
 
 a. The third band on the fore wings wanting. 
 
 b. A fifth band slightly forward of the hind one, and parallel with it. Common. 
 
 c. A brown dot and behind it an oval transverse spot or short line between the 
 
 the first and second bands. Common. 
 
 d. The second and third bands straight and not curved forward towards their 
 
 outer ends. 
 
 e. The whole space between the first and second bands darker than the rest 
 
 of the wing. 
 
 /. The fore wings dark auburn brown, sprinkled with black atoms and the 
 
 bands black. 
 
 This insect was first described and figured in the year 1773, 
 from specimens gathered in New-York by Mr. Drury. He named 
 it PhalcEna minislra , the Latin word ministra meaning a maid-ser¬ 
 vant or handmaid. This name was perhaps suggested from the 
 plain, modest appearance of this moth, without any diversity of 
 colors or gay ornamental marks such as deck the insects of this 
 order generally. The Handmaid thus becomes the most appro¬ 
 priate common name for this moth, whilst its larva will most 
 readily be distinguished by the name Yellow-necked apple-tree 
 worm. It belongs to the Order Lepidoptera, and it can be refer¬ 
 red to no Family of this order except that of Notodontidje. The 
 essential mark by which this and the closely allied Family Arc- 
 tiidse are distinguished, is, that they possess a minute rudiment¬ 
 ary tongue (maxillae)—the larvae of the latter family being ge¬ 
 nerally thickly covered with hairs whilst those of the Notodon- 
 tidae are nearly or quite naked. The insects of these two groups 
 are thus intermediate between the Bombycidae in which the 
 tongue is wholly wanting and the other families of this order 
 which have it long and spirally coiled. In none of the genera 
 of the Family Notodontidae however is the tongue so long as to 
 be coiled, as we find it in the handmaid moth, save one, the ge¬ 
 nus Lophopteryx. In this genus also, the larva when alarmed 
 throws the ends of its body upwards, in the same manner that 
 our insect does. And in many of its other characters It coincides 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 473 
 
 closely with this genus, far more closely than with the genus 
 Pygsera in which it is placed by Dr. Harris, who had probably 
 overlooked the remark made by Mr. Westwood (Drury’s Exotic 
 Entomology, vol. ii, p. 28) that from the structure of the larva 
 this insect “ is nearly allied to Ptilophora and Petasia, and not to 
 Pygsera.” Mr. Westwood accordingly places our insect, though 
 with a query, under the genus Petasia. His specimens of the 
 larva, however, in being wholly denuded of hairs, misled him in 
 one character of some importance, the larvae of Petasia being 
 destitute of hairs. And not to mention other marks of more or 
 less moment, as from the full descriptions above given these 
 marks will be sufficiently obvious to professed entomologists, 
 who are the only persons that will be interested in this topic, I 
 may observe that in being destitute of any hump or protuber¬ 
 ance upon the back of the last segment of the larva, our insect 
 differs from both Petasia and Lophopteryx. Indeed it does not 
 appear to find an exact representative in its preparatory and 
 perfect states, in any European species, and its arrangement, 
 therefore, in any of the genera which have been instituted is pal¬ 
 pably incongruous. I am hence obliged to propose a new genus 
 for this insect, which, in allusion to the bright orange or tawny 
 yellow color of its head and the anterior part of the thorax, may 
 be named Eumetopona (eu beautiful, p-et-witov front). In a system¬ 
 atic arrangement of this group this genus will 6tand next to Lo¬ 
 phopteryx. 
 
 As the works of this insect are i evil only and that continu¬ 
 ally,’ and as the worms are so easily destroyed by cutting off 
 the twig on which they are clustered and throwing it into the 
 fire, whenever a brood is met with it should be exterminated at 
 once. Hens do not appear to relish them, 
 
 Eating irregular notches in the margin and holes in the middle of the 
 leaves, in June and September; a rather thick cylindrical light green 
 worm an inch long with five white lines and numerous white dots. 
 
 The Apple siiouldeu-striped Tohtrix, or the Many-dotted Apple- 
 leap worm, Brachytania Malaria, new species, (plate 8, fig. 5.) 
 
 There are many other kinds of worms in addition to those 
 which we have already spoken of, which feed upon the leaves 
 
 [Assembly, No, 217,J 31 
 
474 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OE NEW-VORK 
 
 of apple trees. But they are seldom noticed, as they are not 
 numerous and do not cluster together in societies, but occur soli¬ 
 tary and sparsely scattered among the leaves. One of the most 
 common of these, every year, is a pale green worm of nearly the 
 same hue as the under surface of the leaves, and having numer¬ 
 ous pale or white dots and five whitish lines running lengthwise 
 of its body. On beating the leaves of apple trees some of these 
 worms almost always fall into the net. They begin to appear 
 the last of May, and are then small and of a more bright lively 
 green color than when they are full grown. They live openly 
 exposed on the under sides of the leaves, without forming any 
 web or fold in the leaf for their concealment and protection. 
 Though they are more common upon the apple than elsewhere 
 they are not limited to this tree, but occur also on the cherry, 
 the peach, and upon elm, poplar and other forest trees. They 
 reach maturity about the last of June, and then measure an inch 
 and a quarter in length, and 0.20 in diameter. The worm then 
 selects an entire, thrifty leaf and contrives to bend one half of 
 it into a convex form by attaching a fine silken thread which it 
 spins from its mouth, first to the outer edge of the leaf and then 
 to or beyond the middle vein, drawing each successive thread 
 tight, as it fastens its end. It thus gradually curves the leaf until 
 it forms a hollow or cavity of sufficient depth to receive its body 
 under the threads. It then crawls into this cavity and continues 
 to spin its threads, crossing them in every direction, until it has 
 wholly shut itself in beneath the paper-like tissue which, it 
 wea ves. Thus whilst many insects are put to the labor of spin¬ 
 ning a ball or a pod-like cocoon for their protection during their 
 pupa state, this worm has the artifice of bending a leaf so that 
 it forms nearly two thirds of its cocoon, thus greatly abridging 
 the amount of work to be done at this period of its life. Within 
 the cavity thus formed it changes to a chrysalis, from which the 
 perfect insect, which is an ash-gray moth or miller with a lew 
 slender black lines marking its fore wings, is subsequently 
 hatched. One of the worms which shut itself within its cocoon 
 on the twenty-fifth of June gave out the moth on the twenty-fifth 
 of July. But I have captured the moths as early as the begin- 
 ping of July, and worms which have not enclosed themselves in 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 475 
 
 their cocoons will also be met with at this date. Hence it ap¬ 
 pears that some reach maturity and come out in their winged 
 state a month earlier than others. 
 
 The moths probably attach their eggs to the leaves, and from 
 them comes another generation of worms the same year. These 
 feed upon the leaves in August and September, and having en¬ 
 closed themselves in curved leaves in the same manner, are with 
 the fall of the leaves in Autumn carried to the ground, where 
 they lie in their pupa state through the winter and hatch winged 
 moths when the warmth of spring returns. It is quite probable, 
 however, that some moths come from their cocoons late in au¬ 
 tumn, and crawling into crevices under the loose bark of trees 
 and similar situations, pass the winter in a torpid state, and come 
 forth again upon the wing early in the spring — for freezing does 
 not kill them, as is shown by the following fact. A worm hav¬ 
 ing inclosed itself in an apple leaf the last of September, the 
 leaf was placed in a tumber of moist earth and was kept in a 
 warm room, whereby the winged moth was disclosed one even¬ 
 ing in the latter part of December. The tumbler was hereupon 
 placed out of doors, the night being intensely cold. Next morn¬ 
 ing the moth within it was found frozen as hard as a stone; but 
 on bringing it within doors, it thawed in a few minutes, and im¬ 
 mediately revived, flying and skipping about in perfect health. 
 
 ’The larvae of this insect will be recognised with ease from 
 what has already been stated respecting them. Worms however 
 which have a most close resemblance to them produce another 
 species of moth. When ready to change to pupae these bury 
 themselves in the earth and are eventually changed to a larger 
 ash gray moth pertaining to the Family Noctuidae. The two spe¬ 
 cies are so closely alike when in their larva state that I have 
 supposed they were but one. And I refrain from presenting a 
 description of this larger moth and a full description of the lar¬ 
 vae until more exact observations will enable me to state the 
 marks by which the worms of the one species may be distin¬ 
 guished from those of the other. 
 
 The insect whose transformations have been narrated belongs 
 to the Family Tortricid;e and the Order Lepidoptera. It is most 
 intimately related to a European species named semifasciana , 
 
476 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NF.W-YORK 
 
 which was formerly placed by Mr. Stephens in the genus Ditula, 
 but in his last work (Catalogue of British Micro-Lepidoptera, p. 
 25) he makes it the type of a new genus, named Braohytscnia, a 
 name meaning short marked or short barred, in allusion to the 
 stripes upon its fore wings. And I propose to designate our in- 
 seot Brachytccnia Malaria, or the short-barred apple Tortrix, 
 whilst its larva will be most readily distinguished as the Many- 
 dotted apple-tree worm. 
 
 This moth (see plate 3, fig. 5) measures from 0.80 to 1.15 aoross its wings 
 when spread. Its fore wings are ash-gray of a rather dark shade, but towards 
 their outer margins ashy-white and sprinkled with a few black atoms. A ser¬ 
 pentine black line towards their base extends fVom their outer nearly or quite 
 to their inner edge, this linebeing broader and less flexuous near its outer end, 
 and from this end a black streak on the outer edge of the wing reaches to the 
 base, where it meets a black band which runs across the anterior part of the 
 thorax. Parallel with this streak is another interrupted one, placed upon the 
 base of the cubital vein. From the middle of the outer margin a straight black 
 stripe extends obliquely towards the inner angle and ends abruptly near the 
 middle of the wing. Slightly back of this a small triangular black spot is 
 placed on the outer margin; and nearly half way to the tip is a second oblique 
 black stripe, parallel with the first and nearly as long, and from its inner end 
 a very zigzag and serpentine black line runs across to the inner margin. On 
 the hind'part of the wing the middle veins are black, commencing at their 
 forks, forming about four slender longitudinal lines. Near the centre of the 
 wing’is often a round whitish spot having a black dot in its middle. The hind 
 wings are dull whitish, slightly dusky towards their tips. Both pairs beneath 
 arc silvery whitish thickly sprinkled with blackish points towards their outer 
 sides, and on their hind edge is a black line which is slightly interrupted by 
 the tips of each of the veins. The head and thorax are of the same ashy-whito 
 color as the outer part of the fore wings. The head has an elevated transverse 
 ridge or crest between the bases of the antennas and another below this upon 
 the middle of the face, the space between these crests being occupied by a black 
 band. On the hind part of the thorax the scales are also elevated, forming a 
 semicircular crest. The antennae in the males are pectinated with two rows 
 of short robust branches. Those of the female (fig. 5 o) have rows of ex¬ 
 ceedingly fine short hairs along their insides. 
 
 A species which is closely related to the one now described 
 may be found in the forests early in the spring, before the leaves 
 have put forth. It is of an ashy white color with a large three- 
 sided black spot on the middle of the outer margin of the fore 
 
 wings, from which it may be named 
 
 The triangular-spotted tortrix, Brachytania Iriquetrana. Its ex 
 panded wings measure 0.80. The shoulders or outer bases of the fore wings 
 are occupied by a shdrt broad black stripe, and immediately back of this is » 
 black transverse angular mark, shaped like the letter V, with its inner par 
 more or less interrupted into two or three small spots. The triangular b ac 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 477 
 
 spot back of this on the middle of the outer margin, has its anterior side oblique 
 and its posterior transverse. Beyond this on the outer margin are two or 
 three obscure dusky spots, and the apical portion of the wing faintly shows 
 some wavy transverse clouds and vestiges of a transverse row of black dots. 
 
 These worms do not usually occur in such numbers as to ren¬ 
 der any efforts for their destruction necessary. Should they at 
 any time become so multiplied as to require attention, it is pro¬ 
 bable that by spreading sheets under the trees and shaking the 
 limbs or beating upon the foliage, most of them may be gathered 
 and destroyed, their thick heavy bodies rendering them so lia¬ 
 ble to loose their foothold and fall when the leaves are agitated. 
 
 AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 
 
 Clustering upon and devouring the young apples the latter part of June; 
 also infesting roses, plums, cherries and grape vines:—a smallish buff- 
 yellow beetle, with shining yellow legs and very long black feet. 
 
 The Rose-bug, Macrodactylus subspinosus , Fabricius. (Plate 2, fig. 3.) 
 
 An insect was recently (June, 1856) received from Dr. John 
 Doy, of Lawrence, Kansas, with a statement that it was greatly 
 infesting the young oak trees, and also the grape vines in that 
 vicinity. He also said it appeared to be virulently poisonous. 
 One of his hens with her nine chickens were found dead one 
 morning, and on opening them a quantity of these insects were 
 found in the crops of each. But the surmise that these insects 
 are poisonous is certainly erroneous, though it may be that the 
 poultry in this instance died in consequence of eating them. 
 Dr. Harris in his prize essay upon the insects of this family 
 (Mass. Agric. Repository, vol. x, pp. 1-12), informs us that fowls 
 eat these insects greedily, and that young chickens sometimes 
 suffer severely from swallowing them alive. He adds that a 
 simple remedy in such cases is pouring sweet oil down their 
 throats. It is not improbable, therefore, that full grown hens 
 when rapidly picking up these insects, may sometimes swallow 
 them whole, and that the irritation and wounds which their 
 prickly feet and sharp claws will occasion may prove fatal. 
 
 In his report to the Massachusetts legislature in 1838 (House 
 document No. 72, p. 72), Dr. Harris again states that these 
 insects are eaten greedily by domesticated fowls, and the same 
 
478 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 remark is repeated in both the editions of his treatise on injuri¬ 
 ous insects. This testimony in connection with the known 
 fondness of poultry for other species of insects most closely 
 related to these, led me to speak of fowls as one of the most 
 efficient means for restraining this insect from increasing, in a 
 communication to the Country Gentleman (vol. viii, p. 75). 
 But according to the observations of C. B. Meek, Esq. (Country 
 Gent. vol. viii, p. 106), fowls ana birds will not touch these 
 insects. The fact related by Dr. Doy, however, fully confirms 
 the statements of Dr. Harris. The discordant testimony upon 
 this subject may be reconciled by supposing, what is probably 
 the fact, that fowls after having suffered a few times from feeding 
 upon these insects, will afterwards avoid them. 
 
 This insect is a beetle which is known by the name of the 
 Rose-bug in different parts of our country. It has doubtless 
 received this name from the fact that it makes its appearance 
 towards the middle of June, about the time that the roses com¬ 
 mence flowering, and from the injury which it does them. 
 When these beetles are not excessively numerous it is chiefly 
 upon rose bushes that they are noticed, and they would appear to 
 be most fond of this and other vegetation pertaining to the same 
 natural order, including the apple, the plum and cherry. But 
 when we see the avidity with which they consume the foliage 
 of forest trees also, as well as garden vegetables, grain and grass, 
 we are left in doubt whether they really have any discrimination 
 in their taste. Elder, which from the earliest times has been 
 popularly esteemed as peculiarly repulsive to insects, and 
 sumach, they eat freely. Grape vines suffer severely whenever 
 these insects are numerous. They may frequently be met with 
 upon Indian corn. And they seem to be much attached to a 
 worthless Aveed which in many of our pastures usurps the place 
 of more valuable herbage, the ox-eye daisy (Chrysanthemum 
 leucanthemum). Fond as they are of the wild and the garden 
 rose, still there are some species of this shrub which it is reported 
 that they never molest—the cinnamon rose (R. cinnamomea) for 
 instance. And they devour with avidity the fruit as well as the 
 leaves and flowers of the plants which they visit. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that whilst in many places all over 
 our country this beetle is excessively numerous, in other districts 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 479 
 
 it is quite rare or wholly unknown. It is only occasionally that 
 I have found a specimen of it in the vicinity of my own resi¬ 
 dence, during the past twenty-five years. Some insects brought 
 m e from Bethlehem, Pa., while writing these lines, have this 
 species among them, but the collector informs me it is not so 
 common there as to have been noticed as a depredator. Dr. 
 Harris states that it was wholly unknown in Maine and New 
 Hampshire, and in the northern and western parts of Massachu¬ 
 setts, although in and around Boston it was excessively numer¬ 
 ous. My correspondents in some parts of Ohio mention it as one 
 of the greatest pests in their neighborhoods. And in Mercer 
 county, Illinois, two years ago, I received surprising statements 
 respecting it. It was the chief and almost the only pernicious 
 insect which had ever been known upon the fruit trees there. 
 The clerk of the county, T. C. Cabeen, Esq., of Keithsburgh, 
 stated to me that in many orchards its numbers could scarcely 
 be credited by persons who had not seen them. It invades the 
 trees when the young apples are about the size of hazelnuts; 
 and so eager is it for this fruit that it gathers upon the apples 
 like bees when swarming, crowding together and clinging one 
 on top of another, forming bunches as large as a tca-cup around 
 a single apple, or the two or three apples which commonly grow 
 from one bud. The fruit is wholly consumed by them, not an 
 apple remaining in the orchard; and when there are not apples 
 enough to satisfy them they eat the leaves of the trees also, more 
 or less. He said he was particularly acquainted with one 
 orchard, which had then for seven years in succession been 
 wholly stripped of fruit by these insects, except two of these 
 years, when the insect from some cause being not quite so 
 numerous, here and there a straggling apple could be discovered 
 upon some of the trees. Mr. James Burnet, residing in the same 
 vicinity, informed me, that whilst these insects are out, a person 
 cannot go into an orchard without their alighting upon his 
 clothes, frequently in such numbers as almost to cover him. 
 Though they do not continue long, their numbers and voracity 
 make ample amends for what they lack in consequence of the 
 shortness of their lives. They devour the young peaches also, 
 though they are less eager for them than for young apples. 
 
480 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 Prom other sources I was told that when they first show 
 themselves each year, it is chiefly in the fields of spring wheat. 
 They entirely consume the young wheat plants, and then invade 
 the orchards. In consequence of this, many persons are firmly 
 persuaded it is the spring wheat that breeds these beetles; and 
 some have made it a point not to have any spring wheat sowed 
 upon their farms, so long as these insects continue in their 
 neighborhood. But this idea is evidently erroneous. We have 
 a sufficient proof of this, in the fact, that this same insect has for 
 many years been excessively numerous in Eastern Massachusetts, 
 w'here no wheat, or but a very small quantity, is raised. The 
 known habits of the larva, moreover, show that wheat is by no 
 means essential to it. 
 
 This beetle belongs to the Family Melolonthuwe and the 
 Order Coleoptera, the same group which includes a common 
 insect of kindred habits, the May beetle (Lacknosterna quercina ), 
 which some years is so numerous in particular localities, as to 
 wholly destroy tiie fruit when in its germ. One of the insects 
 most common in Europe and most often mentioned in books, the 
 cockchaffer, also belongs to this group; and Dr. Harris states 
 that it would be more correct to call the species under considera¬ 
 tion the rose-chaffer, instead of rose-bug. But this would lead 
 to confusion, as another insect (Cetonia aurata ), is commonly 
 called the rose-chaffer. Rose-beetle would be the most appro¬ 
 priate name by which to designate it, the term “ bug” in strict¬ 
 ness belonging only to insects of the Order Hemiptera, although 
 in this country it is universally current for Coleopterous insects 
 also; and the proper term for the latter insects, “beetle,” is 
 never heard among us, except occasionally from a person who 
 has learned it from books. This insect, however, has become so 
 widely known by the name rose-bug, that it is useless to attempt 
 changing this name. 
 
 Its scientific name is Macrodactylus subspinosus. The generic 
 name Macrodactylus, i. e. great claws or great feet, was bestowed 
 upon it by the eminent French entomologist Latreille, in conse¬ 
 quence of the remarkable length of its feet. Nearly a dozen 
 other insects are now known which rank in this genus, all of 
 them natives of Brazil or of Mexico. Its specific name subspin ■ 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETV. 
 
 481 
 
 oS us, meaning slightly or somewhat spined, has allusion to the 
 sides of the thorax which jut out into an obtuse angle merely, 
 many beetles closely related to this having sharp pointed spines 
 or teeth where this angle occurs. In Dr. F. E. Melsheimer’s 
 Catalogue of Coleoptera, lately published, Linnaeus is cited as 
 having originally given this name to this species, but on what 
 authority it is credited to him does not appear. Dr. Harris says 
 this insect was first named and described by Fabricius in 1781; 
 but this author had previously described it (Syst. Entom. p. 39) 
 in the year 1775; and this appears to be the first notice of.it on 
 record. Herbst subsequently described it under the name don- 
 gala and Beauvois under that of angustata , both these names 
 having allusion to its long, narrow form. 
 
 The Rose-bug is 0.35 long or a little less. (The figure, plate 2, fig. 3 is in¬ 
 tended to represent it its natural size.) It is covered with minute scales which 
 give it a buff or ochre yellow color above, the head and thorax being of a 
 lighter yellow tint, and the under side of the body is white. If these scales 
 are rubbed off, the head, thorax and under side of the body is black and the 
 wing covers yellowish brown. The antennae are bright tawny yellow, their 
 tips black. When extended backward they reach the middle of the thorax. 
 They are composed of nine joints (as shown, magnified, plate 2, fig. 3 a), the 
 three last being long, flattened and shutting together like the leaves of a book, 
 and forming a large oval knob. The mouth and feelers arc tawny yellowish- 
 red often tinged more or less with black. The thorax is longer than wide, nar¬ 
 rower than the wing covers, broadest across its middle, where on each side it 
 bulges outwards forming almost an angular protuberance, from whence it is 
 strongly narrowed both before and behind, making it nearly six-sided. The 
 scutel between the base of the wing covers is rounded at its tip and almost 
 semicircular, being rather longer than broad. The wing covers have slightly 
 elevated ridges lengthwise. The whole of the last segment of the abdomen is 
 exposed beyond their tips and is inclined obliquely downwards. The legs are 
 bright tawny yellow, the four hind shanks are black at their tips and armed 
 with a pair of thorn-like spines. The feet are alike in both sexes; each joint 
 is narrower towards its base and of a tawny yellow color, black at its tip and 
 furnished with a crown of black spines and bristles. The feet end in two strong 
 claws or hooks of equal size, the tips of which are split. 
 
 This species presents several varieties, the scales being sometimes grayish- 
 white above instead of yellow, the thorax beneath the scales brownish-red, &c. 
 
 The rose-bug first strongly excited public attention, in Massa¬ 
 chusetts, in the year 1825, and the accounts of the extensive de¬ 
 vastation which it was producing in various parts of the State 
 induced the Massachusetts Agricultural Society to offer a pre¬ 
 mium for an essay upon its natural history, and some probable 
 means for checking its progress. No such essay being presented 
 
482 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 within the time specified, one of the active managers of the so¬ 
 ciety, John Lowell Esq., the following year drew up an interest¬ 
 ing statement of the facts in its history which had fallen under 
 his observation, which was published in the Massachusetts 
 Agric. Repository, vol. ix, p. 143. In the succeeding volume of 
 the same publication appeared, in July 1827, Dr. Harris’s essay 
 already referred to, entitled “ Minutes towards a history of some 
 American species of Melolonthidse particularly injurious to veg¬ 
 etation,” to which the prize which had previously been offered 
 was awarded. And shortly afterwards a communication from 
 Dr. Green appeared in the New England Farmer (vol. vi, p. 41 
 &c.) giving additional information respecting this insect. These 
 are the principal articles upon the rose-bug which have hitherto 
 been published; and from them we learn that its history and 
 transformations are as follows. 
 
 The insects make their appearance suddenly, in incredible 
 numbers. Esq. Lowell states that in 1826 not a rose-bug was 
 visible on the last day of May. On the first of June at eight o’¬ 
 clock in the morning he gathered a mess of peas, and not a bug 
 was then to be seen on the vines. At 10 o’clock happening to 
 visit the vines again, they were literally overrun with rose-bugs 
 of both sexes, generally paired or double. He proceeded to 
 kill them by hand. Three hours afterwards they had appeared 
 upon some rows of bush beans to the number of some thousands. 
 These were all killed, and then on returning to the peas to see 
 if any there had been overlooked, he found the vines as full as 
 before. The next day he found them upon his corn, then only 
 six inches high, twenty-five bugs being counted upon a single 
 leaf, and one hundred and five on one of the hills. They also 
 attacked his young cherry trees, and in twelve hours completely 
 stripped them of their leaves. He says it would be but a mode¬ 
 rate computation to allow that they killed a hundred thousand 
 of these insects on a quarter of an acre. They followed them 
 up regularly every morning, for a week, and thus nearly sub¬ 
 dued them upon that piece of ground. 
 
 They continue about a month, and then all disappear. To¬ 
 wards the close of their lives the females crawl an inch or more 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 483 
 
 into the ground, where they deposit their eggs, which are about 
 thirty in number, whitish, and almost globular. These hatch 
 twenty days afterwards, and the little grubs which come from 
 them, feed upon whatever tender, juicy roots they find. They 
 grow to their full size before winter, and are then three-quarters 
 of an inch long, and an eighth broad, of a yellowish white color, 
 the head darker, tawny yellow and polished, and with six short 
 legs inserted beneath upon the breast. The last segment of their 
 bodies is much the largest, bluntly rounded at its end, and is 
 turned under£the body. To pass the winter these grubs descend 
 in the ground below the reach of frost, and become torpid. When 
 warm weather returns they revive and crawl back towards the 
 surface, and each worm then forms for itself a pod-like cell of 
 a regular oval form, and smooth on its inside. This is made by 
 the worm turning round and round in one spot, whereby the 
 dirt surrounding it becomes firmly compacted together. In this 
 cell it changes to a pupa, which is soft and of the same color as 
 the worm, but in shape resembles the beetle, the short wings and 
 the horns and legs being traced out upon its surface, enveloped 
 in a thin film, which, when the beetle becomes matured, is cast 
 off. It then breaks open the earthy pod and digs through the 
 ground till it reaches the surface. On its first coming out it is 
 found upon the oak and elm before it invades either the wild or 
 the garden rose. 
 
 These beetles have several natural enemies. The large dragon¬ 
 fly or darning needles, and several other predaceous insects, 
 seize and devour numbers of them, whilst the insect-eating birds 
 as well as dung-hill fowls have been said to feast and fatten 
 upon them. But when they become so excessively multiplied 
 as they do in particular districts, these natural enemies are 
 unable to produce any material diminution in the myriads which 
 are abroad, and it becomes necessary to resort to artificial means 
 for destroying them. The only reliable measure for this pur¬ 
 pose, yet known, is to gather them day after day by hand, or by 
 brushing them into tin vessels of water, and by shaking and 
 beating them from trees into sheets spread underneath, and then 
 crushing, burning, or scalding them. This beetle is easily 
 captured, being sluggish and drone-like in its motions, and a 
 
484 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 person who enters resolutely upon this work will destroy count¬ 
 less numbers every hour. But it requires the combined efforts 
 of a multitude of persons, when a district is overrun, to rid it of 
 this pest; and bounties from the public treasury to encourage 
 the destruction of such vermin, might as appropriately be paid, 
 as for the destruction of wolves and other animals which are a 
 public nuisance. 
 
 I have only further to remark that where these insects have 
 abounded, grapes and other choice fruits, which it was earnestly 
 desired to save from destruction, have been effectually protected, 
 by covering the vines and shrubs with millinet or some other 
 similar netting. 
 
 In the interior of ripened and stored apples accelerating their decay, whilst 
 the outside remains fair; numerous slender tapering glassy-white 
 worms. 
 
 The Afplk midge, Molobrus Mali, new species. 
 
 The common apple worm or larva of the codling moth (Car- 
 pocapsa Pomonella,) a soft flesh-colored or white worm with a 
 shining tawny yellow head, which feeds upon the seeds and ad¬ 
 jacent fleshy parts of the apple and perforates a hole in its side 
 through which to make its escape when ready to become a pupa, 
 is the only insect which has been as yet noticed in our country 
 as residing within this fruit. But from having observed apples 
 the cores of which appeared to be depredated upon in a differ- 
 ent manner from that of this worm, I have long entertained the 
 opinion that we have other insects also which spoil this fruit 
 from feeding internally upon it. And I have recently met with 
 one insect of this kind, my investigations of which I here pre¬ 
 sent. 
 
 Among the apples exhibited at the annual meeting of the 
 State Agricultural Society, February 1856, I noticed one perfo¬ 
 rated with a hole from which a worm of the codling moth had 
 made its exit. I took this apple at the close of the exhibition 
 and examined it next day. It was a fine large specimen, fair 
 externally and without any blemish except the perforation al¬ 
 ready mentioned. But on cutting it open almost the whole of 
 its interior was found to be decayed. Its fleshy part was mostly 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 485 
 
 changed to a dull yellowish spongy substance resembling dried 
 apple, with deep fissures or sinuses running through it. The 
 seeds were blackened but entire and perfect, one only being worm 
 eaten. In the centre was a large irregular cavity or vacant 
 space, the sides of which were wet and slimy, and with numer¬ 
 ous black grains, the castings of the worms which had occupied 
 this cavity. And adhering to this slimy matter were found two 
 pup® of a small fly or midge, with numerous empty shells or 
 skins of other pup® from which the flies had hatched. And the 
 remains of some of these flies were also present, having perished 
 from their wings becoming entangled in this slimy matter. But 
 they had mostly disappeared, the hole perforated by the codling 
 worm giving them a passage way out to the external air. And 
 it hence appears probable that it is those apples only, which are 
 thus perforated, which are resorted to by these insects, as the 
 passage which may be seen leading from the flower end into this 
 cavity is scarcely of sufficient size to give them an exit after 
 they have completed their transformations. 
 
 A fly was also discovered, which had that moment left its pupa 
 shell, its wings being then undeveloped and only a third the 
 length of its body. But in less than half a minute they had ex¬ 
 panded to a length equalling that of the body, in which state 
 they remained, the dry atmosphere let into the apple by cutting 
 it asunder rendering them rigid and incapable of expanding to 
 their full size. This fact beautifully illustrates how extremely 
 delicate the wings of these flies are, requiring the damp atmos¬ 
 phere which they find in the interior of the apple to keep them 
 soft and pliant until they become fully developed; and if a 
 breath of dry air passes over them at this time, it dries them pre¬ 
 maturely and they thenceforth remain deformed. 
 
 Whether the parent fly places her eggs upon the flower end of 
 the apple and the young worms mine their way from thence into 
 its center, or whether she attacks those apples only which the 
 codling worm has left, crawling into the fruit through the per¬ 
 foration in the side which this worm has made, future researches 
 must determine. The latter, however, appears to be the most 
 probable. And this insect would hence appear to merely con¬ 
 tinue the mischief which the codling moth has commenced. The 
 
486 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 larvae of insects of this kind are long slender footless worms, 
 tapering gradually to a point at the head, the opposite end being 
 blunt. They are of a shining glassy white color, the viscera 
 and alimentary matter contained therein showing more or less 
 distinctly through their semi-transparent skins. They are more 
 than double the length of the pupae. 
 
 The Pupa of this specios is 0.12 long, though slightly variable in its dimen¬ 
 sions. It is not enclosed in a cocoon, and its surface is somewhat glutinous, 
 causing particles of dirt to adhere to it. It is of an elongated ovate form, 
 pointed at one end and rounded at the other. Its head, thorax and wing and 
 leg cases are black, the abdomen dull pale yellow, some specimens showing a 
 short broad pale dusky band upon the back, on each segment, and some have 
 a faint dusky stripe on the opposite side, from the leg cases to the tip. The 
 thorax has the same color as the abdomen. The region of the throat is dull 
 yellowish, more or less tinged with dusky. 
 
 The flies when at rest and with their wings folded and laid 
 flat upon their backs have a close resemblance to the Hessian 
 fly in every respect except that their legs are not so long and 
 slender. And they pertain to the same group of insects with 
 that, in the Family Tipulid.® and Order Diptera. They belong, 
 however, to a different genus, named Molobrus by Latreille, 
 which may be recognized by its having five longitudinal veins 
 in its wings, the middle one of which is forked. And the pre¬ 
 sent species, which appears to be different from those which have 
 hitherto been described, may be named 
 
 The Apple midge, Molobrus Mali. It measures 0.15 in length to the tips 
 of its wings. The head is black, spheroidal, transverse. The thorax is black 
 and smooth, the scutel separated from it by a deep wide fissure. The abdo¬ 
 men is dusky, almost black, with a bright yellow band at each of the sutures; 
 beneath it is yellow with the middle of each segment occupied by a large square 
 dusky spot; its tip is black, as is also the ovipositor, which is inclined down¬ 
 ward and is composed of two pubescent linear valves. The legs are about as 
 long as the body and are black as are the antenn* also, though of a less deop 
 tint than the head and thorax. The poisers are dusky. The wings are dull 
 hyaline tinged with smoky, and are a fourth longer than the abdomen. In the 
 female the antennae are half the length of the body and composed of fifteen short 
 cylindric joints half as broad as long, clothed with short bristles which inclino 
 towards the tip, the joints very slightly diminishing in diameter outwards and 
 but slightly separated from each other. The two basal joints are thicker and 
 shorter than the following ones, as broad as long, and compacted together, the 
 second and third joints being most widely separated from each other. 
 
 The flies belonging to this genus are all small, like the one we 
 have described, and of black or blackish colors. Most of the 
 larvae which have been noticed have been found in the roots of 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 487 
 
 decaying trees, beneath the bark. The genus is somewhat ex¬ 
 tensive, nearly thirty species occurring in Great Britain alone, 
 and they appear to be equally common upon this side of the 
 Atlantic. Three of our species have been described by Mr. Say, 
 and several others are in my own collection. Our most com¬ 
 mon species occurs from the last of June till the middle of Au¬ 
 gust, in woods and in the yards about our buildings, and may 
 frequently be met with upon the windows in our houses. It may 
 be named 
 
 The Common midge, Molobrus vulgaris. It measures 0.10 to 0.12 in length, 
 and is black, with blackish brown legs and pale thighs. Its poisers are whitish, 
 and its wings hyaline. The sides of its thorax below the wings are tinged with 
 pale, and the abdomen with brown, rarely pale. 
 
 Another common species found in the same situations and at 
 the same dates with the preceding, and quite similar to it in its 
 colors, may be distinguished from it by its much larger size and 
 the smokiness of its wings. 
 
 The Smoky-winged midge, Molobrus fuliginosus, measures 0.18 in length, 
 and is black with blackish brown shanks and pale thighs, their haunches being 
 commonly white. Its wings are semi-transparent and smoky. The sixteen 
 cylindrical joints of its antennae arc more widely separated from each other by 
 short intervening pedicles than in the preceding species. The gravid female, 
 when pinned, extrudes her eggs, connected together in a continuous string. 
 
 A smaller species than either of the preceding, attracted my 
 notice from the singular manner in which it ran about upon 
 the paper on which I was writing, one night the latter part of 
 December. As other individuals were found at the same period 
 upon the windows, there is little doubt they had hatched from 
 the earth in some flower pots which were in the room. This 
 tiny insect would advance very rapidly two or three inches and 
 then abruptly pause or move backwards a step or two and in¬ 
 stantly run again in another direction about the same distance, 
 and then back up again and start off in another course. It is 
 quite similar to the Molobrus (Sciara) fimoratus of Mr. Say, which 
 like the foregoing, is a common species on windows in the month 
 of July, but here the abdomen is of a uniform color, or pale 
 only at its tip. It may be named in allusion to its mode of 
 running, 
 
 The Pickle midge, Molobrus inconstans. It measures 0.08 in length, and 
 is black with the thorax smooth and slightly shining, the thighs pale and 
 whitish, aud the wings pellucid and glassy with an iridesoent violet and red 
 reflection. 
 
INFESTING FOREST TREES. 
 
 1. THE PINE. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 Fixed upon the sides of the leaves, exhausting them of their juices; small 
 oblong flattish white scales, with a pale yellow spot upon their pointed 
 end. 
 
 The Pine-leaf Scale-insect, Jlspidiotus Pint folia, new species. 
 
 In those sections of our country where it is not common as a 
 native of the forests there is scarcely any tree which is more 
 esteemed for ornamenting the grounds around a dwelling than 
 the white pine. Especially is it a favorite, and strenuous 
 attempts are making to cultivate it about houses upon the prai¬ 
 ries of the west; its tall growth and perennial foliage adapting 
 it so well for a shelter from the winds of winter which sweep 
 over those vast plains with such piercing severity; whilst by 
 many of the residents there it is further prized as having been 
 associated with the scenes of their early life, and thus reviving 
 pleasant remembrances of their childhood’s home. 
 
 But when it is transplanted the pine appears to be much more 
 subject to the attacks of insects than when it is growing sponta¬ 
 neously. At least we meet with some kinds of these depredators 
 upon cultivated pines, which we have never been able to discover 
 upon these trees when growing wild in our forests. One of these, 
 a species of coccus infesting the bark, and named the pine blight, 
 was described in my First Report. We come now to treat of 
 another insect of the same Family Coccidje, which fixes itsell 
 upon the leaves, exhausting them of their juices and thus causing 
 them to perish and fall, and the ends of the limbs to die when 
 thus defoliated. Specimens of the leaves, thronged with these 
 insects, were sent me by Robert W. Kennicott,. of West North- 
 
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ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK STATE SOCIETY. 
 
 489 
 
 field, Cook county, Illinois, who gathered them the fore part of 
 September, from pines in the yard of S. Francis, Esq., in the city 
 of Springfield, in that State. These insects pertain to the genus 
 Jlspidiotus. No species of this genus has hitherto been discov¬ 
 ered, infesting any tree of the pine or fir family. I infer this to 
 be dilferent, therefore, from anything which has been as yet de¬ 
 scribed, and accordingly name it the Pine-leaf scale-insect, Jls¬ 
 pidiotus Pinifoliat. In size and shape these scales bear a marked 
 resemblance to those of the Apple bark-louse ( J1. conchiformis) 
 described in my last year’s report, except that they are not 
 curved as those are. Thus their form is like that of a muscle 
 shell ( Mytilus ) rather than that of an oyster. Their color more¬ 
 over, distinguishes them from any of the other kinds of scale- 
 insects which are known to me, it being pure white, with a small 
 pale yellow spot upon the pointed end, which spot is readily dis¬ 
 cerned by the naked eye. 
 
 The leaves of the pine are three-sided or shaped like a prism, 
 and it is along one of the sides of these leaves that the scales 
 are mostly placed, a few scattering ones, however, frequently 
 being stationed on one of the other sides. In the specimens sent 
 me they are crowded as closely as they can stow themselves, and 
 frequently one scale overlaps the end of the next one. They are 
 arranged lengthwise in a row, extending the whole length of 
 the leaf, their width being just equal to that of the leaf. The 
 small end in some is towards the base, in others towards the 
 apex of the leaf. 
 
 When examined with a magnifier, those scales which are fully 
 grown appear externally to be composed of three distinct scales, 
 representing seemingly the head, thorax and abdomen of the 
 living insect—each being of an oval form with rounded ends, 
 and overlapping each other like the tiles of a roof. The largest 
 of these three segments is of a pure white color, and of a some¬ 
 what waxy lustre, resembling in its appearance a small oblong 
 drop of spermaceti tallow. Numerous parallel curved lines are 
 sometimes perceptible across its surface. Overlapping the end 
 of this is a pale dull yellow scale, a third or fourth of its size, 
 and having a raised line along its middle. To this succeeds 
 
 [Assem. No. 217.] 32 
 
490 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 another, half the size of the preceding, this third segment being 
 subhyaline, yellowish, and obtusely striated transversely. Be¬ 
 neath, this scale is white its whole length, without any indica¬ 
 tions of those divisions which appear upon its upper side. It is 
 the tenth of an inch in length. Specimens but half grown are 
 interspersed with the others, and all the scales on some of the 
 leaves are of this small size. These show a raised line or slightly 
 elevated keel along the middle of the white portion. Other 
 specimens still, are merely minute oval dull yellow scales, with¬ 
 out any whiteness at the end. 
 
 The scales which we have now described are the relics of the 
 dead bodies of the female insects, forming a shield for covering 
 and protecting their eggs. At the time the specimens before me 
 were gathered the eggs had not become developed. Consequently 
 on elevating one^and another of these scales with the point of a 
 needle, nothing is found beneath them except a small shapeless 
 mass of dried black matter, the remains of the viscera of the 
 insect. But at any time during the winter season, the little 
 cavity under these scales will undoubtedly be found filled with 
 minute round eggs. And the transformations of this species 
 will be similar to those narrated of the Apple bark-louse. 
 
 It is evident that an insect of the pernicious character of the 
 one under consideration, when so abundant as this appears to 
 have been upon the pines ffom which the specimens before me 
 were gathered, would soon cause the leaves to perish and the 
 trees to die, if permitted to proceed unchecked in its career. 
 But, fortunately, nature has in this as in most other analogous 
 instances, provided means for restraining these creatures from 
 becoming unduly numerous. A minute worm which feeds upon 
 the eggs of the Apple bark-louse was noticed in our account of 
 that species. Another insect, a species of Lady-bird, or Cocci- 
 nella, common throughout the United States, devours both the 
 Apple bark-lice and those of this species. I have repeatedly met 
 with this Coccinella upon apple trees, but had not ascertained 
 which particular kind of vermin it was in pursuit of upon those 
 trees. For authentic information upon this interesting topic we 
 are indebted to Mr. Kennicott, who has observed the larv® of 
 this lady-bird preying with tigep-like ferocity upon the App le 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 491 
 
 bark-lice, and who met with the same larvae and also the pupae 
 and perfect insects upon the pines on which the scale-insects ot 
 which we are speaking occurred. Specimens of the insects and 
 their pupae which he sent me, enable me to present an account 
 of the preparatory states of this species. The habits of the 
 group of insects to which this belongs, were narrated in my last 
 report. The lice upon which this species feeds are so exceed¬ 
 ingly minute that a large number of them will no more than suf¬ 
 fice it for a single meal; and therefore, in the course of its life, 
 each individual probably slaughters and devours such a multi¬ 
 tude as can scarcely be computed. They thus render us a ser¬ 
 vice of great value, and it is to be hoped that no one will fall 
 into the enormous mistake of supposing that these lady-birds 
 breed the lice among which they are found, and therefore under¬ 
 take to exterminate them, as was once done where a similar spe¬ 
 cies occurred upon currant bushes, as related in my last report. 
 
 In allusion to its habits this species may be named the Bark- 
 louse lady-bird. It pertains to the genus Chilocorus of the Family 
 Coccinellid.® and Order Coleoptera. It was noticed more than 
 a century ago, by the Swedish naturalist, Kalm, when traveling 
 through this country, who supposed it to be identical with the 
 European C. bipustulala. It was afterwards for a long time con¬ 
 founded with the C. Cacti, Linn., a Mexican species closely re¬ 
 lated to it, which feeds upon the Cochineal insect ( Coccus Cacti.) 
 We accordingly find it entered under this name in Dr. Harris’s 
 Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts. Mr, Say corrected 
 this error in an article in the Boston Journal of Nat, Hist. (vol. 
 i, p. 202) published in 1835, in which he thus speaks of this 
 subject“ C. Cacti Fabr. This species occurs abundantly in 
 Mexico; it certainly resembles very closely the stigma, Nobis, so 
 common in this country, and the renipustulata, Mull, of Europe; 
 but it is more than twice the size of either of those insects, and 
 may also be distinguished from the former by the superior mag¬ 
 nitude of the rufous spot of which the form is transversely oval, 
 whilst that of the stigma is orbiculor.” Two years after this, 
 this same species was named bivulnerus in the third edition of 
 Dejean’s Catalogue, and in 1851 Mulsant (Coleopt. Trimer. Secu- 
 rip. p. 460) published a description of it under this latter name, 
 
492 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 which is also the name under which it is entered in Dr. Mel- 
 sheimer’s Catalogue (p. 130) published by the Smithsonian In¬ 
 stitution. Although the name stigma is but incidentally given 
 by Mr. Say in the extract above quoted, it still is a published 
 name, accompanied with such a description as makes it perfectly 
 clear to what species this name is applied. This is all that is 
 requisite, in my view, to establish Mr. Say’s claim in the premi¬ 
 ses. In how many instances have authors bestowed names ac¬ 
 companied with no other description than a mere statement of 
 one or two points in which the species designated differed from 
 another known species. I consequently regard the correct sci¬ 
 entific designation of this insect to be Chilocorus stigma. 
 
 The larvae are of a dull white color, with black shining heads, 
 black legs and six rows of long black thorn-like spines running 
 the whole length of the body, one spine of each of the rows 
 arising from each segment. The spines are branched, sending 
 off numerous small slender sharp points on every side. Covered 
 thus formidably with prickles, it is probable that these little 
 alligator-like animals are never devoured by birds, and are able 
 to pursue their useful labors incessantly and without molesta¬ 
 tion from enemies. 
 
 At almost every step when studying this department of the 
 works of nature, we are meeting with phenomena which excite 
 our astonishment and admiration. These lady-birds are destined 
 to remain dormant and motionless in their pupa state, for a pe¬ 
 riod of about two weeks, in the middle of summer, when all 
 nature around them is full of life and activity. We should ex¬ 
 pect they would at this time select some obscure retreat where 
 they would not be apt to be noticed and devoured by birds or 
 annoyed by any other creature. We have already observed that 
 the leaves of the pine which are infested by the scale insect 
 perish and fall, and that the twigs thus denuded become with¬ 
 ered and dry. We should suppose that these dead leafless twigs, 
 where it will be so conspicuously exposed, would be especially 
 avoided by the lady-bird when seeking a place to repose during 
 its pupa state. But, to our surprise, we find these insects at this 
 time all crowding together upon the ends of these naked twigs. 
 And they here fix themselves by their tails, and become motion- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 493 
 
 less pupae, retaining around them the prickly skins of their lar¬ 
 va state. The appearance which they now present is truly re¬ 
 markable, the twig thus covered bearing the most perfect resem¬ 
 blance to a stem covered with burrs or thorny seeds, like the 
 ripened spikes of the hound’s tongue (Cynoglossum officinale) or 
 some more prickly plant. No bird will be disposed to approach 
 anything having such a noli-me-tangere aspect. And how curi¬ 
 ous it is that the scale insect by killing the leaves and making 
 the twigs bare should be adapting them for the abode of its mor¬ 
 tal foe. With such a discriminating eye has the Author of na¬ 
 ture planned the economy of these useful little creatures, making 
 it on the one hand their especial work to destroy a pernicious 
 family of insects, and on the other hand shielding them from 
 being destroyed in their turn. They would thus appear to be 
 under the special protection of Providence, and it is remarkable 
 that long ago, in a superstitious age, and when the habits of this 
 tribe of insects could have been but vaguely if at all known, 
 they were regarded in this same light, and in diiferent countries, 
 and are supposed to have thus obtained in France the name of 
 “ God’s cows ” and “ The Virgin’s cattle ” and in England “ Our 
 Lady’s birds,” and children were incited to regard them with 
 kindness and leave them at liberty, by chanting to them to “ fly 
 away home, your house is on fire, your children will burn.” 
 
 In this family, as stated in my last Report, the pup® remain 
 partly enveloped in the prickly skin of the larvae. In some spe¬ 
 cies, however, the larva skin is thrown entirely off, as I stated it 
 to be in the fifteen spotted or apple-tree lady-bird, and I observe 
 Mr. Westwood (Introduction, vol. i, p. 396) describes the C. bi- 
 pustulata as throwing off its skin in the same manner. In the 
 species now under consideration, the pupa appears from the 
 empty skins to be almost entirely enveloped in the skin of the 
 larva, with the rows of spines and their prickles protecting it in 
 every direction, and the head and legs of the larva retaining 
 their 4 natural form, the latter being on the side towards the twig 
 from which the pupa is suspended. The empty pupa skin is 
 glassy and of a dull yellow color with blackish clouds. It re¬ 
 gains partly protruded from the lower or anterior part of the 
 clelt in the back of the larva skin. 
 
494 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 In its perfect state the Bark-louse lady-bird is 0.17 or 0.20 
 long, very convex and almost hemispheric, highly polished and 
 shining, covered with numerous very minute punctures. It is 
 black with a round red or reddish yellow spot on the middle of 
 each wing cover. Beneath it is black with the abdomen red or 
 yellow, its basal segment black except upon each side. 
 
 It is probable that the scale insect of the pine can be destroyed 
 by thoroughly showering the leaves with a solution of soap or 
 with tobacco water immediately after the young larvse have 
 hatched from the eggs. Could we be so fortunate as to devise 
 some mode by which we could multiply the lady-bird at plea¬ 
 sure, it would undoubtedly be the most effectual mode of rid¬ 
 ding the pine and also the apple tree of these minute vermin 
 which are so pernicious to them. 
 
 2. THE LARCH OR TAMARACK. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 On the limbs in June and July, consuming the leaves; a largo flattened 
 ash-gray worm, resting appressed to and closely resembling the bark. 
 
 The LARcn cheater or lappet moth, Planoaa Laricia, (plate 2, fig. 5,6,) 
 new species. 
 
 The modes by which nature has endowed many insects to ena¬ 
 ble them to elude the search of birds and other enemies are 
 often truly wonderful. Among the insects thus endowed, the 
 lappet moths and their caterpillars have often excited the ad¬ 
 miration of the curious. The latter when in repose have the 
 body flattened, somewhat like that of a leech, and on each side 
 of each segment projects a little lappet or flat lobe. These lap¬ 
 pets are pressed down upon the surface of the limb on which 
 the worm is at rest. The sides of the body are also fringed with 
 hairs which are similarly appressed to the limb. Thus all ap¬ 
 pearance of an abrupt elevation or an interstice to indicate the 
 ends and sides of the worm is obliterated, and it resembles 
 merely a slight swell of the natural bark, the deception being 
 made complete by the color, which is commonly identical in its 
 hue with that of the bark. And when there are spots or marks 
 upon the caterpillar, they imitate the glandular dots, scars and 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 495 
 
 other discolorations which will be seen upon the bark around 
 it. Even upon the closest scrutiny the eye fails to detect any¬ 
 thing by which we can be assured this slight elevation is not a 
 tumor which has grown in the bark. A lady to whom I once 
 pointed out one of these caterpillars, I could perceive distrusted 
 my statement and supposed I was imposing upon her credulity, 
 the slight inequality at the point indicated being so exactly like 
 a natural tumor upon the bark and so totally unlike a living 
 worm. But a mite, wandering over the limb, on coming to this 
 elevated spot sought to crawl under it, whereupon it gave a con¬ 
 vulsive shrug to frighten the intruder away, by which the lady’s 
 skepticism was dispelled. The cocoons which they construct 
 upon the limbs are equally exact counterfeits of the bush. One 
 of these upon a limb of the wild black cherry is now in the mu¬ 
 seum of the State Agricultural Society. It is placed longitudi¬ 
 nally in the slight angle formed exteriorly where one limb 
 branches from another, and a piece of putty could not be more 
 perfectly moulded into this angle and smoothed off so as to leave 
 no inequality. The bark of the cherry is blackish with trans¬ 
 verse whitish streaks, and this cocoon presents the same colors 
 and of tints almost the same, and what is most remarkable, it 
 in one place shows a whitish streak continued from the bark 
 upon the surface of the cocoon. And finally, in their perfect 
 state, the moths imitate appearances which are common upon the 
 particular trees on which they dwell; those upon deciduous 
 trees, in the colors and scalloped margins of their wings resem¬ 
 bling a tuft of withered leaves; those upon evergreens resem¬ 
 bling a scar where the turpentine has exuded and concreted into 
 a whitish mass. 
 
 Two American species of these curious insects are already 
 known, both of them occurring in our State, upon the apple and 
 other deciduous trees. To these we now add a third species, 
 which resides upon the tamarack or American larch, Abies ( La - 
 nx ) Americana. It appears to be a rare insect. A specimen was 
 presented to me by Dr. Emmons, in 1847, captured in the neigh¬ 
 borhood of Albany that year by Mr. J. H. Salisbury, the chem¬ 
 ist. The only other instance in which I have met with it, was 
 upon a drooping larch in my front yard, in the year 1854. Upon 
 
496 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 a dead, leafless limb of this tree two worms were detected upon 
 the twenty-second day of June, reposing near each other. They 
 crawled from this limb by night to feed upon the leaves of the 
 other limbs and returned to it to repose during the day, as though 
 conscious that such tumors or excrescences as their bodies imi¬ 
 tated were natural to diseased and dead limbs rather than those 
 which were thrifty and in full foliage, and that they therefore 
 would be less liable to attract notice here than elsewhere. They 
 were observed daily upon this limb for a week, when one of them 
 having disappeared, the limb was cut off" to secure the other, 
 although as I afterwards learned, the worm was now but half 
 grown. 
 
 The young larva is pale ash-gray, identical in its hue with that of the 
 limbs on which it resides. Its surface is varied with minute brown points, the 
 larger ones of which are impressed. Along the middle of the back is a narrow- 
 black streak which is interrupted at each of the sutures. On each side of this 
 is a row of small elevated black dots or warts, one on each segment, these dots 
 giving out several black diverging bristles. On the outer side of each dot upon 
 the fifth and the following segments is a small yellow spot. The fourth seg¬ 
 ment or last one of the thorax is black above and on its sides and has a trans¬ 
 verse cream yellow spot on its hind margin; and the three segments before the 
 last are black above, between the black dots. The lappets or lobes along the 
 sides of the body are black at their tips and yield a few black bristles, and un¬ 
 der these and also along the sides of the lappets and of the body between their 
 bases arise numerous diverging white hairs, which are appressed to the surface 
 on which the worm is reposing. The head is ash-gray, with several blackish 
 spots, and is clothed with gray hairs. 
 
 The branch containing this worm was placed in a breeding 
 cage, and also a twig clothed with leaves, and to this the worm 
 immediately crawled, resting concealed among the leaves. JBut 
 it was very intolerant of confinement, eating but little if at all, 
 and in about a fortnight it perished. When in motion it has a 
 very diflerent appearance from what it presents when at rest, 
 being much longer and of a nearly cylindrical form. It moves 
 in a hurried impatient manner, its gait resembling that of the 
 hairy Arctian caterpillars. 
 
 On carefully examining the tree on which these two worms 
 were observed, July 17th, I was so fortunate as to find a mature 
 worm and four cocoons. None could be discovered upon other 
 larch trees in the yard, and these insects were probably the pro¬ 
 geny of one single parent, which had strayed hither from a 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 497 
 
 distance, there being no self-planted trees of this kind within a 
 circuit of several miles. The first moth came from these cocoons 
 upon the twenty-fourth of July and the others hatched soon after. 
 
 The mature larva was 1.38 long and about 0.25 broad when in repose. It 
 was of a very dull umber brown color, resembling that of the old rough bark 
 upon the body of the tree; its extremities were of an ash-gray tinge and upon 
 each side of the fifth segment was a cloud of the same color. Under a lens 
 some short, wavy, black streaks were perceptible upon the surface. Along the 
 back were little projecting points with rounded summits, one on each side of 
 the middle of each segment, those upon the ninth segment larger and of a paler 
 color, and with a small pale yellowish spot forward of their bases. The lap¬ 
 pets and hairs upon the sides were the same as in the younger worm. Many of 
 the white hairs were dilated at their ends into flat triangular heads, ciliated or 
 fringed at their tips. The under side of the body was naked and pale bluish 
 green. 
 
 The cocoon is of an ash-gray color, of the identical hue of the 
 bark of the smaller limbs to which it is attached, lengthwise. 
 It is an inch and a quarter in length, 0.30 broad, flattened and 
 moulded to the limb and partly surrounding it, its middle ris¬ 
 ing 0.20 or less than a quarter of an inch in height, forming 
 merely a slight bulge upon the limb, which is only observed upon 
 a particular search. Some wrinkles lengthwise at its ends and 
 sides may also be seen, similar to those of the adjacent bark; and 
 on its surface here and there is a little blackish wart-like spot, 
 placed transversely, closely counterfeiting the glands upon the 
 bark, and also minute blackish points, resembling the pores in 
 the bark. It is of a tough texture with a roughish surface, very 
 similar in appearance to the pale gray wrapping paper which 
 was formerly in common use among grocers and shop men. 
 Woven into its surface is an occasional hair derived from the 
 body of the caterpillar. Its inner surface is smooth and of a 
 paler gray color than exteriorly. The naked bark of the limb 
 forms the floor of the cavity within. And the moth makes its 
 exit by crowding itself forward and thus separating one end of 
 the cocoon from its slight attachment to the bark. 
 
 The pupa is 0.60 long and 0.25 wide, slightly depressed, 
 rather broadest across the middle, and tapered to a point 
 abruptly, with a very minute tooth standing outward upon each 
 side of its apex. Its relics are of a chestnut brown color, the 
 sheaths of the wings and legs paler and yellowish. 
 
498 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 The moths are short, stout, thick-bodied, densely coated with 
 long soft hairs, the males dark gray or almost black, the females 
 white and a third larger. Both sexes have a singular crest upon 
 the hind part of the thorax, formed of long curved scales which 
 are glistening and resin-like, of an auburn brown color, arranged 
 like the hairs of a moustache and jutting up from the surround¬ 
 ing prostrate hairs, forming a large tuft or protuberant oblong 
 spot, broadest posteriorly and narrowing to its anterior end. 
 The scales of this crest are of a peculiar form, being slender and 
 hair-like with their ends dilated into an oval flattened knob, 
 their shape thus resembling that of a spoon. When they are at 
 rest these moths appear like excrescences upon the limb on 
 which they repose, so exactly do they adjust themselves to it, 
 their wings being held together in the shape of a roof, with their 
 lower edges pressed firmly against the sides of the branch, and 
 their white fore feet stretched forward resembling pitch which 
 has exuded from a wound and running downward has dried in 
 white streaks upon the bark. 
 
 The males (plate 2, fig. 5) measure 0.60 in length to the tip of the abdomen 
 and of the wings, and one inch across the latter when they are spread. The 
 head is densely clothed with white hairs in front and with blackish ones upon 
 each side around the eyes. The feelers are minute and are wholly enveloped 
 and concealed by long fine hairs, their ends forming a slight projection like the 
 point of a camel’s hair pencil. These hairs are blackish on their outer sides 
 and ash-gray within. The antennae are short, about a third of the length of 
 the body, and are abruptly bent near their middle (as shown in the magnified 
 fig. 5 a ,) or with the ends straight in both directions from the crook near their 
 middle, when they present the shape of an inverted V. They are furnished 
 with two rows of coarse branches, which are long from the base to the crook, 
 where they are abruptly shortened to half their previous length, and continue 
 thence to gradually diminish in length to their tips. Each branch has a row 
 of very fine hairs along one side, resembling eye lashes. The mouth has only 
 the minute rudiments of a spiral tongue, and this not coiled as we see it in 
 moths generally. The thorax is clothed with long hairs of a dark gray color, 
 those at its anterior end white, and on its posterior part is the oblong crest of 
 glossy spoon-shaped scales previously mentioned. The abdomen tapers slight¬ 
 ly from its base to the tip and is clothed with blackish hairs above, whitish 
 ones beneath, its apex having a dense tuft of long pure white ones. The wings 
 are quite small for such a thick-bodied heavy moth. They are semi-trans¬ 
 parent, being thinly covered with brown scales which are commonly denuded, 
 the wings then appearing perfectly transparent like glass. Their veins nro 
 robust and white with darker irregular bands. The hind margins of both 
 pairs of wings are entire and not in the least toothed or scalloped. When at 
 rest they are pressed against the sides of the abdomen, in the form of a steep 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 499 
 
 roof the outer edges of the hind wings protruding more or less from under the 
 outer edge of the fore ones. The legs arc heavily clothed exteriorly with tufts 
 of long snowy white hairs, the forward shanks having a tuft of blackish ones 
 on their insides at the base. 
 
 The female (plate 2, fig. 6) is quite unlike the male, being much larger and 
 differently colored. It has a peculiarly delicate or mellow appearance, from 
 the softness of its colors and the thinness and translucency of its wings. The 
 latter when extended measure an inch and a half or slightly less. Their hind 
 edge is occupied by a slender white band or line. Forward of this is a narrow 
 pale dusky band which is abruptly widened near its middle to double its usual 
 breadth, this widened part occupying two of the intestines between the veins. 
 This band is margined on its anterior side by a white line, by which it is sepa 
 rated from a much broader and more dusky band, which is waved in its mid¬ 
 dle in conformity with the dilation in the narrow band behind it. Forward of 
 this the wings are milk white, crossed by four very faint equidistant wavy 
 bands of the same delicate pale dusky hue with those behind, these bands being 
 often obsolete upon the middle of the wing and distinct at their ends only. 
 The veins arc prominent and white, forming slender lines of this color crossing 
 all the bands. The hind wings are of the same soft dusky tint as the bands 
 on the fore wings, but more pale, and on their hind margin is a white line or 
 slender band. The hind edge of both pairs of wings is perfectly entire as in 
 the male, and their fringe is pale dusky, on the fore wings crossed with white 
 lines at the tips of the veins. The body is clothed with incumbent milk white 
 hairs, the tip of the abdomen having a pale brown tuft, and the crest on the 
 base of the thorax appears like a large elevated blackish spot. The antennas 
 in this sex (fig. 6 o) are very slightly crooked in their middles, and their 
 branches though equally thick with those of the males, are much shorter, be¬ 
 ing but about four times as long as the diameter of their stalk. These branches 
 are longest in the middle, and are gradually shorter from thence, both towards 
 the base and the tips. 
 
 This insect belongs to the Order Lepidoptera and the Family 
 Bombycidje. Those European caterpillars which have the sides 
 of their bodies projecting in lappets such as the larva of this 
 species presents form a genus to which the name Gastropacha 
 has been given, and it is to this genus that Dr. Harris refers 
 the two American species of lappet caterpillars which have 
 already been alluded to. One of these, named Americana by 
 Dr. Harris (the Ilicifolia of Abbot and Smith, but not the 
 species thus named by Linnaeus) in its colors and other charac¬ 
 ters is intimately related to the European species of Gastropacha. 
 The other, originally named Bombyx Velleda by Stoll, closely 
 coincides with the insect which we have now described, and 
 differs like it from the other insects included in the genus Gas¬ 
 tropacha in several important points. It has the same singular 
 
500 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 crest upon the hind part of its thorax. In both these species 
 the hind margin of the wings is entire and not scalloped as they 
 are in the genus Gastropacha, and their wings are more thin, 
 delicate and semi-transparent. In G. Americana the second vein 
 which is given oft' from the outer side of the outer principal 
 vein of the fore wings forks forward of its middle and both its 
 branches terminate in the outer edge of the wing forward of its 
 apex. In these two species the same vein forks much beyond 
 its middle, the two branches diverge much more strongly, and 
 both end in the hind margin of the wing, rather inside of the 
 apex, the tip of the wing here being rounded and not forming 
 an angle as it does in the former species. Such differences for¬ 
 bid our associating these insects together in the same genus. 
 And as their deceptive appearance is one of their most promi¬ 
 nent characteristics in each stage of their lives, the generic name 
 Planosa (Greek a deceiver,) or in English, the cheaters, 
 
 may appropriately be given to the Velleda and the species which 
 we have here described. The best distinctive name for the lat¬ 
 ter will be that of the tree which it infests. We therefore pro¬ 
 pose calling it Planosa Laricis , or the Larch cheater. 
 
 From one of the four cocoons mentioned above, came five 
 parasitic insects, which had destroyed the pupa. These gnawed 
 their way out of the cocoon at short distances from each other, 
 each making a round hole, the edges of which were rough and 
 jagged. They were all females of a pretty species of Ichneu¬ 
 mon fly (Family Ichneumonioe Order Hymenoptera) 0.30 long, 
 ol a black color with the abdomen and legs tawny red and the 
 hind feet, scutel and a band on the middle of the antenna; 
 white. They pertain to the genus Phygadeuon of Gravenhorst, 
 which genus is distinguished by having a depressed abdomen nar¬ 
 rowed at its base into a slender stalk or petiole, a protruded ovi¬ 
 positor, the joints towards the base of the antenna; somervhat 
 long and the small cell in the middle of the fore wings with five 
 sides. This genus embraces a number of described species, most 
 of which have the abdomen red or red and black, with the scu¬ 
 tel also black and not pale as we find it in the present instance. 
 This insect may be named 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 501 
 
 The cheater’s parasite, Phygadeuon Planosa. Its head is black with 
 the feelers and orbits of the eyes broadly white. The antennae are nearly as 
 Ion”- as the body, black, with a broad white band beyond the middle, which 
 includes four of the joints and is interrupted on its under side by a black line. 
 The thorax is rough from numerous confluent punctures, which are more 
 coarse and confused on its basal part, the angles on each side of the base above 
 presenting a small tubercle or obtuse tooth. It is black above and tawny red 
 beneath and on the sides, and shows several yellowish-white marks, as follows: 
 a short line above on each side of the anterior middle; the wing sockets and a 
 stripe from them to the head; an oblique stripe above the base of the anterior 
 legs; a spot behind the wing sockets; a transverse square spot occupying the 
 ecutel, and an oblique spot upon each side of the base. The abdomen is as 
 broad as the thorax, elliptic, flattened, convex above, concave beneath, the first 
 segment narrowed into a petiole, the following segments abruptly bent down¬ 
 wards at a right angle with the first; surface with close fine distinct punctures; 
 first segment smooth and polished, punctured each side at its apex, slightly 
 margined by a slender elevated line along each side through its whole length; 
 color tawny red, the five small segments which form the tip black with a slen¬ 
 der white band on the apical edge of each. Ovipositor half as long as the ab¬ 
 domen, tawny red, its valves black. Legs tawny red, hind shanks black at 
 their tips, hind feet white, their bases and tips black. Wings glassy-hyaline 
 and iridescent, without spots, their veins and triangular stigma black. 
 
 The following varieties occurred among the five individuals alluded to, two 
 of them being of the first and one of the other variety. 
 
 a. An additional white spot, upon each side of the thorax. 
 
 b. Tho two short white lines above on the anterior middle of the thorax 
 
 wanting. 
 
 3. THE MAPLE. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 Round holes cut in the leaves, and their pulp consumed in rings and semi¬ 
 circular spots; round scales containing a small white worm between 
 them, adhering to the surface of the loaves. 
 
 The Maple leaf cutter, Omix jicerifoliella, new species (plate 4, fig. 
 5.) 
 
 In the summer of the year 1850 an affection of the maple trees 
 causing their leaves to turn brown, appearing as though they 
 had been nipped by the frost, was so common in the eastern sec¬ 
 tion of New-York that it became a common subject of remark. 
 This withered appearance of the leaves began to be noticed the 
 fore part of August and it continued to increase for three or 
 four weeks, and remained until the fall of the leaves in autumn. 
 It was so conspicuous that it could be plainly perceived as far 
 
502 
 
 annual report op new-york 
 
 as a grove of maples could be seen. And what appeared to be 
 most singular, whilst the maples growing in forests were every¬ 
 where affected in this manner, those standing alone as shade 
 trees in fields, and those planted around houses and along the 
 streets of villages remained green and wholly exempt from the 
 prevalent malady. 
 
 The cause of this fading of the leaves was readily discovered 
 upon examination. They were found, when inspected, to present 
 the appearances which are very well illustrated, plate 4, figure 6. 
 The green parenchyma or pulpy substance of the leaf was de¬ 
 stroyed in spots and irregular patches, leaving only the fine net¬ 
 work of veins and the transparent cuticle. These spots were 
 commonly in rings or in segments of a circle, with the centres 
 green and unaffected. In addition to these, holes of a nearly 
 circular form appeared in the leaves, about a quarter of an inch 
 in diameter, with others of a smaller size. A dozen or more of 
 these holes were at that time found in almost every leaf. And 
 some of the pieces which had been cut out of the leaf, forming 
 these holes, might be observed, adhering like round scales to the 
 surface of the leaf, some on its upper others on its under side. 
 On elevating this scale from the surface of the leaf, another 
 smaller one was found beneath it, and between them was a small 
 white worm, which was evidently the artizan by whom all this 
 work had been done—cutting out these circular pieces from the 
 leaf to form a cloak for himself, and when hungry feeding upon 
 the pulpy substance of the leaf, thus forming the circular and 
 irregular spots seen upon it. Occasionally one of these scales 
 might be observed to move slightly along, the worm at such 
 times protruding its head from under the edge of the scale and 
 with its feet pulling its unwieldy domicil to another part of the 
 leaf. 
 
 Generally the worm was found inclosed by three of these 
 round pieces which it had cut from the leaf probably at succes¬ 
 sive periods of its life. First was a small one upon its back, 
 about 0.18 long and two-thirds as broad, slightly concave on its 
 under, convex on its upper side. Next was a larger piece, of 
 similar form, placed on the under side of the worm, its edges 
 overlapping those of the first piece, its concavity facing the con- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 503 
 
 cavity of the first piece, thus forming a little hollow between, 
 within which the worm lies like a clam within its shells. Fi¬ 
 nally, covering these two was a third piece still larger, 0.30 to 
 0.40 in length, placed on top of the first. The several pieces 
 were connected and held together at their edges by fibres of fine 
 silk. On the left hand of the leaf, plate 4, fig. 7, shows one of 
 these cases its natural size; that on the right hand represents it 
 magnified, whilst three cases of smaller sizes are represented 
 adhering to the surface of the leaf. Frequently, as is shown in 
 these illustrations the largest piece is cut from the leaf where it 
 is crossed by one of the coarse veins, perhaps to render the struc¬ 
 ture more substantial 
 
 The worm within these cases is nearly a quarter of an inch in 
 length when mature. It is slender, and of a flattened cylindri¬ 
 cal form, soft and contractile, composed of thirteen segments 
 marked by slight intervening constrictions. It is dull white, the 
 head, which is strongly depressed, and the three thoracic seg¬ 
 ments pale rusty brown. An interrupted broad blackish stripe 
 along the middle of the back is more or less distinct. Only the 
 three pairs of legs upon the thoracic segments are distinctly de¬ 
 veloped. 
 
 These worms, or many of them at least, are carried to the 
 ground upon the leaves, when they fall from the trees in au¬ 
 tumn. They remain in their oases and change to pupae, among 
 the fallen leaves beneath the trees, in which situation they may 
 be found early in the following spring. 
 
 The pupae are 0.18 long,pale yellow, and of an oval form, taper¬ 
 ing abruptly to a point at their tips. The wings, legs and antennae 
 are enclosed in separate sheaths, not attached to each other or 
 to the surface of the body. Upon the back each of the segments 
 of the abdomen except the two last have a row of minute teeth 
 along their anterior edges, inclined backwards, like the points 
 of needles. By means of these teeth, the pupa when ready to 
 disclose the perfect insect, crowds itself forwards out of its case, 
 by bending itself alternately up and down, the sheaths of the 
 feet upon the opposite side of the body serving as props to aid 
 in effecting this movement. From it comes a small moth of a 
 dark brilliant blue color with a bright orange yellow head, 
 
504 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 which may frequently be seen during the month of May, flying 
 by day or resting exposed upon the leaves, in forests and along 
 their borders. 
 
 The moth (plate 4, fig. 6, the cross lines above the left wing indicating its 
 natural dimensions) measures 0.35 across its wings when they are spread. 
 The fore wings arc brilliant steel blue or sometimes bluish green, with a purple 
 reflection, and without any spots. The mid-vein forms a deep groove, length¬ 
 wise, from the base parallel with the inner margin almost to its tip, and on 
 the middle of the wing towards the tip is another similar groove. The tips of 
 these wings are commonly bent inwards, giving them when closed, the appear¬ 
 ance of a little pod enveloping the abdomen. Their fringe is black interspersed 
 with scales of brilliant blue- On their under sides they are dusky with a 
 grayish silvery lustre and a pale purple reflection. The hind wings are pale 
 smoky brown and translucent, with pale blue and purple reflections, and their 
 fringe is pale brown. The head on the crown and between the antennae has a 
 dense tuft of erect bright orange yellow hairs. The feelers are straight, thread¬ 
 like, shorter than the head, inclined obliquely downwards and forwards, of a 
 gray color. The antenna) are black-brown, very thick and robust, thread-like, 
 their tips curved and often spirally coiled. In the males they show a short 
 spine-like tooth on each side of the apex of each joint, giving them a doubly 
 serrated appearance. The thorax is brilliant steel blue. The abdomen is 
 quite short and conical in the males, cylindrical and with a thin tuft of hairs 
 at its tip in the female. In common with the under side and the legs, it 
 is dark brown with a strong satin-like lustre, the feet being whitish. 
 
 This moth pertains to the Family Tineidie of the Order Lepi- 
 doptera. Many of the members of this family reside in mova¬ 
 ble cases of various kinds, which they construct from the sub¬ 
 stances on which they feed. The clothes’ moths, furrier moths, 
 and others thus fabricate garments for their covering. Others 
 roll pieces of leaves into cylindrical or conical tubes, within 
 which they reside. And a few cut out circular pieces from 
 leaves and stitch them together as it were, like the insect we 
 have now described. The moths having this last habit pertain 
 to the genus Ornix of Treitschke, one of the Greek terms for a 
 bird, the wings of some of these moths resembling those of par¬ 
 ticular birds, which has led to their being named the goose¬ 
 winged, turkey-winged, &c. The species under consideration, 
 however, will be best distinguished by the name of the tree 
 which it infests, and I accordingly call it Ornix Jlcerifoliellus, or 
 the Maple leaf cutter. In the arrangement of the British ento¬ 
 mologists it would probably be referred to Mr. Curtis’s genus 
 Eriocephala, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 505 
 
 This moth was much more common five and ten years ago 
 than it is at the present time. With the return of the month of 
 May each year it was then met with in numbers in the forests. 
 But for two years past not one has been seen, and last spring on 
 searching among fallen leaves for its pupse where they were for¬ 
 merly found in plenty none could be discovered. Still, a few 
 holes perforated in the leaves of maples continue to occur, show¬ 
 ing that the insect is still present in the neighborhood, though 
 in greatly reduced numbers. These holes are always nearly 
 circular when they are first cut, but by the subsequent growth 
 of the leaf they become oblong. A small Ichneumon fly of a 
 pale yellowish color, the tenth of an inch in length, with black 
 antennse longer than its body, has repeatedly hatched from the 
 cases containing the pupse of this moth, and this has probably 
 been one of the most efficient agents in reducing its numbers. 
 
 The fact has already been stated, that these insects do not in¬ 
 vade trees standing alone in fields and in yards around houses. 
 The reason of this is sufficiently evident, now when we know 
 their history. The leaves when they fall from such trees are blown 
 away by the winds, or are trampled into the earth by cattle tra¬ 
 veling around and standing under them. If any of these worms 
 therefore, happen upon such trees, when the leaves fall and carry 
 them to the ground, they become scattered and destroyed. And 
 a knowledge of this fact at once suggests a remedy, whereby to 
 save the trees from the depredations of this moth. Groves of 
 maples more especially which are valued for the sugar they pro¬ 
 duce, will be materially injured, there is no doubt, by having 
 their foliage destroyed as it was by these insects in 1850. But 
 nil mischief of this kind will probably be prevented by allowing 
 sheep or cattle to range the grounds occupied by the sugar 
 orchard; and if, notwithstanding this, the leaves of particular 
 trees show that they are preyed upon by this moth, it will be 
 well after the leaves have fallen in autumn, to feed salt to the 
 annuals under such trees, that any insects among the leaves may 
 he trampled upon and destroyed. 
 
 [Assembly, 217.J 
 
 33 
 
506 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 4. THE POPLAR. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 In July, consuming .all the leaf except its coarse veins, and reposing in a 
 cavity formed of leaves drawn together like a ball; large black cater¬ 
 pillars with white and yellow dots and stripes, and a hump on their 
 backs anteriorly and behind. 
 
 The WniTE-S, Clostera albosigma, new species, (plate 2, fig. 4.) 
 
 Several different kinds of singular looking caterpillars, humped 
 upon their backs and otherwise closely related to each other, 
 occur upon the poplars and willows in Europe and this country. 
 Although these insects upon the two continents very much re¬ 
 semble each other, the remark made by Dr. Harris appears to be 
 correct, that they dilfer essentially in their caterpillar state, and 
 their moths also present certain characters, which, on close 
 comparison, will enable us to distinguish them. One of our 
 species, named the American Clostera by Dr. Plarris, corresponds 
 in its marks with the anastomosis, and still more closely with 
 the reclusa of Europe; and we come now to present another 
 similarly analagous to the curtula and anachoreta. 
 
 The caterpillars attain their full size about the middle of July 
 and are then an inch and a quarter in length', black, dotted with 
 white above and with numerous wavy white lines on the sides, 
 where are two rows of yellow spots, and on the back are four 
 dull white stripes alternated with orange yellow on the middle 
 of each segment. On the top of the fourth or last thoracic seg¬ 
 ment is a conspicuous black hump prolonged into a teat-like 
 protuberance and a smaller hump upon the eleventh segment. 
 
 The caterpillar has a cylindrical form, and is clothed with fine white hairs. 
 The white lines along each side form divers shaped rings and letter-like marks. 
 The stripes upon the hack are interrupted upon the two humped segments, and 
 upon the middle of the two segments between the head and the anterior hump 
 is a slightly elevated point in each stripe, of a brighter orange color. The an¬ 
 terior hump is inclined backward, and is furnished with two long and numer¬ 
 ous short white hairs. The breathing pores form a row of broad oval black 
 dots along each side, each dot surrounded by a white ring. Above these is a 
 row of oblong yellow spots and below them another, each spot having a pimp e 
 in its centre from which arises a hair, and the posterior spots of the lower row 
 having two of these pimples. On the third and fourth segments, the breathing 
 pores being wanting, the two yellow spots are confluent, forming a sing 
 large spot with a pimple in its centre. The head is black and the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 507 
 
 suture upon its front is tawny yellowish. The legs are hlack and the prolegs 
 pale brown with a white ring on their middle. 
 
 Several of these caterpillars commonly live together upon a 
 particular limb, which they strip of its leaves, eating all the 
 leaf except its midvein and portions of the other coarse veins. 
 They construct a kind of nest by drawing two or more leaves 
 together, with the silken threads which they spin from their 
 mouths, forming a hollow ball-like cavity within, in which they 
 repose when not engaged in feeding. Three of these caterpillars 
 which I transferred with their nest to a breeding cage on the 
 14th of July all spun their cocoons within the nest a day or two 
 afterwards. The cocoons were formed of yellowish gray silk 
 loosely woven and attached to the under side of a leaf. The 
 moths all came out on the 25th of July, thus remaining in their 
 pupa state but a little over a week. The moth crawls from its 
 cocoon, and with its fore feet clinging to a twig, hangs perpen¬ 
 dicularly downwards, swinging with the breeze, until its wings 
 become dry and stiff. It then discharges one or more drops of 
 an opake brick red fluid, and takes to flight. One of these 
 moths dropped a number of eggs, which were of a hemispheric 
 form and dark brown with a wide glaucous gray ring on the 
 outer margin. 
 
 The moths (plate 2, fig. 4) measure an inch and a half across their wings when 
 spread. They are greyish brown, of a pale umber hue, with a large oval velvet 
 black spot, reaching from the front between the bases of the antenme to the middle 
 of the thorax. The fore wings are slightly sprinkled with black atoms, and are 
 crossed by four nearly equi-distant pale lines, forming slender bands, each of which 
 is faintly margined on its hind side by a darker line. The two anterior bands are 
 nearly straight and parallel, crossing the wing transversely. The third is less dis¬ 
 tinct than the others and can scarcely be discerned in some individuals. It begins 
 on the inner margin in contact with the fourth band, and inclining towards the sec¬ 
 ond, with a gentle curve becomes parallel with it through most of its length. It 
 commonly ends before reaching the outer margin and is interrupted in its middle, 
 and is sometimes dislocated at this interruption, as represented in the figure, its 
 outer part being moved backwards from the line of its course. This band is mar¬ 
 gined posteriorly by a broad band which is but slightly darker than the ground color 
 of the wing and of an olive green tint. It is broader on its inner end, where it is 
 cut across by the fourth band. This last is nearly parallel with the hind margin, 
 and is straight the first half of its length, when it curves slightly forward and then 
 gradually turns directly backward, running parallel with the outer margin a short 
 distance, and changing to a vivid snow-white color; with a curve it again turns out¬ 
 ward and forward, and finally with an abrupt turn it runs straight and obliquely 
 ackward to the outer margin. Its white outer end thus nearly forms a letter S, 
 which is the most conspicuous mark upon the wing. Immediate y back of this on 
 
508 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK STATE SOCIETY. 
 
 the outer edge is a rust red spot, and the outer half of all that part of the wing 
 which is hack of this fourth band is of a darker brown color, becoming velvet black 
 at its anterior side next to the band. Halfway between the fourth band and the 
 hind edge, on the middle of the wing, an irregular row of black spots or transverse 
 streaks is more or less distinct. The hind wings are paler, and beneath are crossed 
 by a slightly waved dark brown line. 
 
 This insect pertains to the same family with the handmaid 
 moth, described in the preceding pages, and to the genus Clostera , 
 which is characterised as having the scales upon the thorax 
 elevated into a crest, the wings entire at their hind edges, and 
 the antennm (fig. 4 a) short, curved and with two rows of 
 branches in both the sexes. The English species are popularly 
 named chocolate-tips, the dark spot at the tips of their fore wings 
 being of a chocolate brown hue. But in the species before us 
 that tint is so slight as to be scarcely obvious, and it will be better 
 distinguished by the name White-S, Clostera albosigma, this cha¬ 
 racter being in most individuals more conspicuous and vivid 
 than it appears in our figure of the species. 
 
INFESTING FIELD CROPS. 
 
 1, WHEAT, 
 
 AFFECTING the stalk. 
 
 Externally on tbe stalks sucking their juices, turning the field white in spots 
 where they are numerous; after harvest migrating to corn; a small narrow 
 coal-black bug, with closed white wings, having a black dot on the middle 
 of their outer edge. 
 
 The Chinch duo, Micropus leucopterus, Sat. (Plate 4, fig. 2, and 2a, the 
 same magnified.) 
 
 This is unquestionably one of the most pernicious insects 
 which we have in the United States. The locusts of Utah and 
 California are the only creatures of this class which exist within 
 the bounds of our national domain, whose multiplication causes 
 more sweeping destruction than does that of this diminutive and 
 seemingly insignificant insect. Although it has never appeared 
 as a depredator in this section of the Union, and was for a long 
 time supposed not to occur to the north of the celebrated “ Mason 
 and Dixon’s line,” I have at different times met with three 
 specimens of it in our own state, and Dr. Harris found it once 
 in Massachusetts. As it exists in our midst, therefore, we have 
 reason to fear that peculiar seasons or other favorable circum¬ 
 stances may at some future time arrive, which will cause it to 
 multiply and become as destructive here as it now is in some of 
 our sister states south and west. Hence its history is as deeply 
 interesting to us as that of any other insect within our borders. 
 And as enquiries respecting its correct name, its habits and 
 depredations are so frequently appearing in our agricultural 
 papers, I probably cannot render a better service than to present 
 these topics as fully and definitely as I am enabled to do from 
 the information which I have gathered. 
 
510 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 The chinch bug is a small insect of a coal-black color, with 
 snow white wing-covers, which are laid flat upon its back, and 
 show a black dot upon the middle of their outer sides. The 
 figure representing this insect its natural size (plate 4, fig. 2), 
 will give the reader a very correct idea of its appearance. It 
 belongs to the Order Hemiptera, the same order to which that dis¬ 
 gusting object, the bed-bug belongs, and it exhales exactly the same 
 loathsome smell which that insect does. It is by puncturing 
 the plants with its sharp, slender, needle-like beak, and sucking 
 out their juices, that this insect subsists. As it does not wound 
 the plant by gnawing it, one would suppose that it could do no 
 great injury. But their numbers are so immense that they bleed 
 the plants on -which they congregate, so copiously, as not only 
 to arrest their growth, but cause them to wither and die. They 
 prefer wheat to every other kind of herbage, and when that is 
 not at hand they gather upon oats or Indian corn or grass; but 
 they seem to be able to nourish themselves upon the juices of all 
 kinds of vegetables. They remain upon the wheat until it is 
 harvested. They then migrate to oats or corn growing adjacent 
 to the wheat field, running nimbly over the ground, appealing 
 at first glance like a swarm of black ants. Though they have 
 wings they seldom use them, and only fly the length of one or 
 two paces at a time. 
 
 It was just at the close of our revolutionary struggle,or about 
 the year 1783, that this bug was first noticed as a depredator upon 
 wheat, in the interior of North Carolina. It was at first supposed 
 to be identical with the Hessian fly, which at this time was mak¬ 
 ing such destruction in wheat crops on Long Island and in New 
 Jersey. Two years before this, the British army accompanied 
 by a detachment of its German auxiliaries had marched through 
 North Carolina, and the battle of Guilford was fought. Mr. J- 
 W. Jeffreys states (Albany Cultivator, first series, vol. vi, p. 201) 
 that an aged and highly respectable citizen of Orange county, 
 N. C., informed him that it was “ immediately after this event 
 that the Hessian fly or Hessian bug destroyed their crops of 
 wheat; and they believed and do believe to this day (1839), that 
 those soldiers left the flies or bugs as they passed through the 
 country.” The insects continued to increase and spread through 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 511 
 
 the Carolinas and Virginia for several years. In 1785 the fields 
 in North Carolina were so overrun with them as to threaten a 
 total destruction of the grain (Webster on Pestilence, vol. i, p. 
 279). And at length the crops were so destroyed in some 
 districts that they were obliged to wholly abandon the sowing of 
 wheat. It was four or five years that they continued so numer¬ 
 ous, at this time. 
 
 The only particular account which was published, of the 
 insect and its habits at this period, of which we have any 
 knowledge, appeared in London, in Young’s Annals of Agricul¬ 
 ture, vol. xi, p. 471. It is from this notice of it, Kirby and 
 Spence state, that they derived the information given in then- 
 introduction to Entomology (p. 127, American edition), which 
 is as follows: “America suffers also in its wheat and maize from 
 the attack of an insect, which, for what reason I know not, is 
 called the chintz bug-fly. It appears to be apterous, and is said 
 in scent and color to resemble the bed-bug. They travel in 
 immense columns from field to field, like locusts, destroying 
 everything as they proceed; but their injuries are confined to 
 the states south of the 40th degree of north latitude. From this 
 account the depredator here noticed should belong to the tribe 
 of Geocorisce Latreille; but it seems very difficult to conceive 
 how an insect that lives by suction, and has no mandibles, could 
 destroy these plants so totally.” 
 
 About the year 1809, we are informed by Mr. Jeffreys that 
 the chinch bug again became so destructive in North Carolina, 
 that in Orange county the farmers had to abandon the sowing of 
 wheat for two years, and according to his statement the insects 
 were subdued hereby. At various other times of which we 
 have no record, it has undoubtedly been abundant in that and 
 the adjacent states, that section of country appearing to be its 
 head quarters. 
 
 In 1839 we have accounts of its having again become exces¬ 
 sively numerous and destructive in Virginia and the Carolinas. 
 W. S. Gibbes, writing from Chester district, S. C., June 27th, 
 says, “ Though we are not yet afflicted with the grain worm 
 (wheat midge), nor much injured by the Hessian fly, a pest has 
 appeared among us within the last two years, which from their 
 
512 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 prodigious numbers threaten to be even a more serious evil. 
 They are called chinch bugs in Virginia, though they have no 
 resemblance to our domestic pests (the bed-bug, which is com¬ 
 monly named the “chinch” at the south), but their disgusting 
 smell. They are nearly the shape and size of the small black 
 flour weevil; can fly, but take to their wings reluctantly; have 
 no mandibles, but a proboscis with which they penetrate the 
 stalks of plants near the joints, and suck them to death. They 
 have destroyed my oat crop totally; I shall not make the seed 
 sown; my white May wheat, harvested the 28th of May, came to 
 maturity too early for them, and was but slightly injured; but 
 my white bearded wheat, harvested the 12th of June, was seri¬ 
 ously injured by them—many ears not having a single grain 
 filled in them. Bad as this is, it is nothing to what followed; 
 tor as soon as the small grain was cut, they took to our corn¬ 
 fields in suoh myriads as Is inconceivable to any but those who 
 have witnessed them. I have seen some of my corn so perftctly 
 black with them for two feet up, no particle of grain was to be 
 seen but five or six inches of the tips of the leaves; and they 
 hung to the under parts of them in knots like little swarms of 
 bees. It takes them only one or two days to destroy the corn. 
 From such an attack I saw no remedy but burning them up, 
 corn and all; and by prompt doing so in that part of the field 
 into which they first migrated in such immense numbers, hope I 
 have saved the rest of it from total ruin, though patches of corn 
 in some of my other fields have been totally killed.” (Cultiva¬ 
 tor, vol. vi, p. 103.) Although Mr. G. does not surmise that 
 this excessive increase of the chinch bug was caused by any 
 peculiarity of the season, yet we learn from another part of his 
 communication that the weather at this time was remarkably 
 dry and hot. He says, “We are suffering severely from drought. 
 The whole spring has been dry. Our gardens are burnt up, with¬ 
 out having yet given us anything. Our corn is in a most 
 deplorable state—so wilted it must perish if we do not get rain 
 in a tew days. We have had but one rain to wet the earth 
 below the furrow of a shovel plow since the 8th of May, and 
 very little all April.” 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 513 
 
 J. W. Jeffreys, writing from North Carolina the same year, 
 gives the following history of their operations through the sea¬ 
 son. “ They make their appearance in our wheat fields the last 
 of May and the first of June, and continue therein and in oat 
 fields until the grain is cut and secured, and they then march 
 with all their forces and commence their attack on our corn¬ 
 fields, where they continue until the cold weather commences, 
 and then take flight to the woods, though you may discover them 
 in our cornfields sheltered In the boot of the stalk in the depth 
 of winter, yet they rarely survive the winter. I have discovered 
 them in July taking flight from our wheat and oat fields, and 
 yon may see thousands and millions flying to the woods, from 
 which I am under the impression that they never return, but 
 they leave a new generation behind, which are more destructive 
 than their progenitors. No person can have the faintest idea or 
 conception of the ratio of their increase, unless they study their 
 history and movements. At this time there are myriads In our 
 cornfields attached to the stalk, and they shelter under the boot 
 or shuck of the stalk, and there multiply beyond conception, 
 hundreds perhaps thousands attached to a single stalk.” (Cul¬ 
 tivator, vol. vi, p. 201.) It would appear from this statement, 
 that in July the old insects, probably, which are about to perish, 
 take wing and fly to the forest ; and that on the approach of cold 
 weather a large part of the new generation also makes the same 
 migration. It may be that there is some truth in this statement, 
 as the bugs would thus obtain a more secure shelter than they 
 can find in the open fields; but I have seen no other testimony 
 corroborating this. 
 
 The bug had now become so numerous in Carolina and Vir¬ 
 ginia, that with its continued increase in 1840, the total destruc¬ 
 tion of their crops appeared inevitable. The prospect was so 
 alarming, that Sidney Weller, of Brinckleyville, Halifax co., 
 N. C., and others in his neighborhood, united in the spring of 
 1840, in pledging a handsome sum as a prize for some feasible 
 method to arrest the career of this depredator. But at this junc¬ 
 ture, Providence interfered to accomplish what no human agency 
 could have effected. Instead of being dry like the two or three 
 preceding years, the summer of 1840 proved to be of an oppo- 
 
514 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 site character, and the ravages of this insect were at once sup¬ 
 pressed. Mr. Weller, writing in November, says, “ Our fears 
 were disappointed and our hopes exceeded as to this pest, by the 
 hand of an overruling Providence. The season turned off wet 
 and very propitious to crops of all kinds, and the ravages of this 
 bug were arrested. Even fields of wheat that had been greatly 
 injured, suddenly revived and produced tolerable crops; and the 
 corn crop, which last season in places here, was ruined, escaped 
 uninjured.” (Cultivator, vol. viii, p. 21.) 
 
 It was about this period that the Chinch bug began to be no¬ 
 ticed along the upper Mississippi, and through the northern 
 parts of Illinois. It made its appearance there simultaneously 
 with the establishment of the Mormons at Nauvoo (1840-1844) 
 and many ignorant people firmly believed they were introduced 
 there by these strange religionists, and “ Mormon lice ” became 
 the name by which they were currently designated, through that 
 district. When we have such instances of the credulity and ig¬ 
 norance of our own day and generation, let us not smile at our 
 patriotic grandsires for deeming that the Hessian soldiers were 
 breeding and shaking off pestilent vermin and scattering them 
 over the country wherever they marched. It is quite probable 
 that these insects were originally natives of Illinois, and now 
 became multipled in consequence of the settlement of the coun¬ 
 try and the extensive cultivation of wheat, giving them a copi¬ 
 ous supply of more congenial food than they previously had ac¬ 
 cess to; or if it was newly introduced there at that period, as 
 was universally believed, it probably arrived by gradually ad¬ 
 vancing from the south. In that excellent periodical, the Prai¬ 
 rie Farmer, which has contributed so much to render the agri¬ 
 culturists of the west enlightened and intelligent in their voca¬ 
 tion, several communications upon the chinch bug appeared in 
 1845 and the following years. An enlarged figure of the insect 
 was given at this time (vol. v, p. 287) and in September 1850 
 vol. x, pp. 280, 281) a summary account of the insect with a 
 description and a scientific name for it, appeared from the pen 
 of Dr. Le Baron. As this is one of the most important origi¬ 
 nal papers which has ever appeared, relating to this insect, and 
 the volume containing it is now nowhere accessible, we repro¬ 
 duce if entire in the subsequent pages. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 515 
 
 The chinch bug has now multiplied and extended itself over 
 all parts of Illinois and the adjacent districts of Indiana and 
 Wisconsin, and has become a most formidable scourge. The dry- 
 seasons which have recently occurred have increased it exces¬ 
 sively. In passing over northern Illinois, in the autumn of 1854, 
 I found it in myriads. In the middle of extensive prairies, on 
 parting the grass in search of insects, the ground in some places 
 was found covered and swarming with chinch bugs. The ap¬ 
 pearance reminded me of that presented on parting the hair on 
 a calf that has been poorly wintered, where the skin is found 
 literally alive with vermin. Our western neighbors have for 
 many years been congratulating themselves upon the security of 
 their wheat crops, exempt from the midge and other insect dep¬ 
 redators which were causing us such losses here at the east. But 
 they now find they have in the chinch bug a foe more formida¬ 
 ble and destructive even than the wheat midge; since it not only 
 cuts off 1 their wheat but in many localities it takes the corn and 
 other cultivated crops also. Although it is commonly only a 
 strip upon the outer edge of the field whioh they devastate, yet 
 in several instances the entire field is invaded and swarms with 
 them, so that no grain is developed in the heads, and some have 
 set fire to their wheat fields to consume the hosts of these ver¬ 
 min which were gathered therein, with the hope of hereby les- 
 e ning the numbers upon their farms the following year. The 
 disgusting smell, moreover, which these bugs emit, is most loath¬ 
 some and sickening to the laborers engaged in harvesting the 
 wheat fields. Cilley’s reaping machine, made at Elgin, Illinois, 
 has small deep boxes sunk in the platform, for the raker and 
 three binders to stand in, that they may not have to stoop to 
 their work as they would if standing upon the platform. As the 
 machine is in operation, the feet of the men standing in these 
 boxes become buried among the insects and fine chaff which fall 
 into them. The men are so annoyed by these vermin, thus cov¬ 
 ering their feet and crawling up their legs, that they many times 
 stamp to shake off and crush the tormenting things. And 
 whether dead or alive, when thus heaped together in masses, 
 such a sfench arises from them, as, when wafted by the air it 
 happens to come full in one’s face, is the most loathsome and 
 Nauseating of anything that can be imagined. 
 
516 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 This information is communicated to me by Mr. Albert Bur¬ 
 net, of Mercer county, Ill., who further states, that in that vicin¬ 
 ity the chinch bug was the most numerous last year (1855) that it 
 has ever been known. Having attended a reaping machine through 
 the season of harvest, he says it was noticed in a number of 
 instances, that these insects were most numerous upon the south 
 and east sides of the fields. This is probably owing to these 
 parts of the field being more warm and dry, from their greater 
 exposure to the sun. And where a low damp spot occurs in a 
 field, the grain or corn is there wholly exempt from injury, 
 although all the rest of the field may be badly alfected. He 
 says he first saw the inseot in 1850, at which time it was very 
 abundant. The two following years it was but little noticed, 
 but the three dry summers which have now occurred have 
 increased it prodigiously. 
 
 William Patten, of Sandwich, De Kalb county, informs me that 
 it was in 1850 that it was first noticed in his neighborhood, and 
 that last summer it was more destructive than it had ever been 
 before, the last sowed wheat being greatly injured by it in many 
 fields. The early wheat in Illinois, as in Carolina, is ripened 
 before the bugs become so numerous as to injure it. 
 
 Charles Hastings of La Salle, tells me the chinch bug had not 
 been noticed in his vicinity until the year 1854, and it then did 
 but little damage, but the following year many fields were much 
 injured, and some were so much damaged that they were not 
 harvested. 
 
 Edward McCollister of Juliet, tells me it has been less destruc¬ 
 tive the present year (1856) than it was last, though it has 
 everywhere been quite a serious evil this season. Wheat from 
 fields which have been infested by the chinch bug is readily dis¬ 
 tinguished by the grain dealers, the kernels not being plump 
 and full, but more or less shrivelled and light of weight. These 
 insects seldom if ever injure the first crop upon newly broken 
 prairie. A strip of greater or less width upon one of the sides 
 of a field is sometimes destroyed in autumn, when the plants are 
 but a few inches high. Entering the field upon the side adjacent 
 to an old wheat field, they advance with the regularity of an 
 aymy, farther and farther, killing every leaf and spear as they 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 517 
 
 proceed, until a frosty night occurs, when their operations 
 instantly cease. • 
 
 Dr. Marshall of Keithsburg, informs me that in destroyed 
 patches individual stalks sometimes occur, which have been 
 missed by them. These remain green and thrifty, and their 
 heads become well filled, when all around is bleached and with¬ 
 ered. It is commonly a strip, two, three or even five or ten 
 rods in width upon one of the sides of a field, which is whitened 
 and destroyed by them, but in some instances they enter a field 
 in a narrow strip, and then spread out into a large patch. 
 
 D. Williams of Geneva, Wisconsin, says the chinch bug made 
 its advent there in 1854, coming apparently from the south, 
 its nearest approach the year before being thirty miles south. 
 In a letter written July 9th, 1855, he says it had that year caused 
 considerable damage, especially in spring wheat, but a heavy 
 rain two weeks before had checked its ravages. 
 
 The first appearance of the chinch bug at a particular locality 
 and its progress from year to year, is related with more exact¬ 
 ness than I have elsewhere seen, in a communication to the 
 Country Gentleman (vol. v, p. 396) from E. C. Smith of Christy’s 
 Prairie, la., from which the following extracts, containing further 
 information upon the economy and destructiveness of this insect 
 are taken. It is dated May 20th, 1855, before the extent of the 
 depredations of the bug that year could be fully known, and 
 was accompanied with specimens and a request for information 
 as to the correct name of the insect, it being termed the “corn fly” 
 in that neighborhood. Mr. Smith says:— 
 
 “The first time they were ever observed in this vicinity, so far 
 as I have been able to ascertain, was nine years ago last summer. 
 They were seen in a cornfield, about three miles from this place. 
 They appeared to come from the stubble of a wheat field that 
 bordered on the corn. They did but little damage. A few suc¬ 
 cessive days of rainy weather put a stop to their progress, and 
 nothing more was seen of them, that season. Two years later, 
 they appeared on the farm of one of my neighbors, about half a 
 mile distant. They came apparently, as before, from wheat 
 stubble, though none had been observed in the wheat while 
 growing; and they began on that part of the corn adjacent to it. 
 
518 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 But few appeared at this time, and not much damage was done. 
 In 1851,1 observed them for the firSt time, on the farm where I 
 now reside. The field in which they made their appearance had 
 corn on one side and oats on the opposite side, with a strip of 
 wheat between. They were seen immediately after the wheat 
 was cut, on the rows of corn next to the stubble; and were so 
 numerous, as to cover from one-fourth to one-half of the stalk, 
 in many of the hills. The corn soon began to wither. They 
 did not devour the solid parts of the plant, but pierced the outer 
 part or skin, full of holes, or destroyed it in large patches, here 
 and there, over the stalk, and appeared to feed on the juice. A 
 few rows next to the wheat, were completely destroyed. The 
 crop was more or less injured to the distance of about eight rods 
 from the stubble. On the opposite side, the oats were killed to 
 the distance of two or three rods from the wheat. The remain¬ 
 der ripened without injury. 
 
 “They appeared again the next year, and about the same time 
 of the year; but did little damage. Strange to say, it had not 
 yet entered my thoughts, that they had done, or could do, any 
 damage to wheat. The next spring, (1853,) my wheat looked 
 unusually promising. But when it had grown to the height of 
 a foot or more, I observed that moi’e than half of it had stopped 
 growing. This portion was only six or eight inches in height, 
 and it grew no more, but withered and died; from what cause I 
 could not imagine. The same fly appeared again in the corn, 
 after the wheat was cut. The rank growth of the corn, together 
 with one or two heavy showers, prevented it from doing much 
 injury. 
 
 “ Last summer, there was the same appearance in the wheat, 
 as the summer previous. A part of it dwindled away, after it 
 had grown to the height of a few inches. At the time of cutting 
 the wheat, these insects were observed, in motion towards the 
 corn, which was close by. In a few days the corn nearest to 
 the stubble was so covered with them, as to appear, at a little 
 distance, as if covered with black paint. The corn was back¬ 
 ward and dwarfish, and the season excessively dry, both of which 
 circumstances favored their destructive effects. About fifteen 
 acres of corn was destroyed by them. They swept over about 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 519 
 
 forty acres more, some parts of which were nearly destroyed, 
 others only slightly injured. One of my neighbors, had twenty- 
 six acres of corn completely destroyed by them last summer, and 
 fifty acres more greatly damaged. There was not a corn-field on 
 the prairie, in which the crop was not greatly damaged. I do 
 not know that they have ever been seen in this region, anywhere 
 else than on the prairies, till last summer. Then, they were seen 
 on farms formerly covered with timber, many miles distant from 
 any prairie. 
 
 “ The attention of people here, was so thoroughly called to 
 this insect, last summer, that when it appeared this spring, it 
 was readily recognized. It was first observed on fences, or flying 
 about, and alighting here and there, like other winged insects. 
 Soon it was found about the roots of w’heat,—then in oatfields, 
 and in timothy grass. Wherever it has been seen among grain 
 or grass, some of the blades were seen to turn yellow, and the 
 growth to be checked, or stopped entirely; and in many cases, 
 the whole plant completely killed. Probably, not less than one- 
 third of the wheat crop, in this vicinity, has already been des¬ 
 troyed by them; and their destructive operations are still in 
 progress.” 
 
 In Virginia and Carolina during the past year or two there has 
 also been great complaints of this insect, and the present year 
 an editorial in the Richmond (Va.) Whig, the latter part of July, 
 says “A general alarm, from the mountains to the seaboard is 
 felt for the corn crop. The chinch bug is universal, and like 
 the sand of the sea-shore for numbers. Many corn-fields are 
 entirely destroyed by them already, and others can only be saved 
 by timely and copious rains.” 
 
 The chinch bug is probably a common insect through all the 
 southern states. I have received specimens of it from Mississippi, 
 and am informed it some years has done much injury to the crops 
 of Indian corn there. I also have a specimen from western 
 Pennsylvania. It therefore appears to occur in all parts of the 
 United States between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, although 
 in the Eastern and Middle states it is exceedingly rare. 
 
 The three specimens which I have met with in this state, oc¬ 
 curred upon willo-ws in the spring of 1847 and May 12th 1851. 
 
520 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 It would thus appear to leave its winter quarters with nearly the 
 first warm days of spring, and resort to the earliest foliage which 
 puts forth, for nourishment after its long fast. It passes the 
 winter under the loose bark of decaying trees, in the cracks and 
 crevices of stumps and logs, and similar sheltered situations. 
 Mr. Albert Burnet informs me that in turning over chips and 
 pieces of boards lying upon the surface of the ground he has 
 frequently met with it alive, in February, though in a torpid 
 state upon cold days. 
 
 The history and description of these insects given in 1850 by 
 Dr. Le Baron, of Geneva, Kane Co. Ill. in the Prairie Farmer, 
 is as follows:— 
 
 These insects have prevailed the present season throughout this and the adjoining 
 counties in ruinous profusion. The season lias been oxcessivcly dry, which has 
 probably been favorable to their multiplication. I find by reference to the back 
 numbers of the Prairie Farmer that they have been equally destructive in other 
 sections of the country in former years. 
 
 They make their appearance in the latter part of June, confining their depreda¬ 
 tions at this period chiefly to the spring wheat. So rapid is their multiplication, 
 that in the course of a few days from the time of their first appearance, whole fields 
 are overrun by them, every straw being more or less infested. 
 
 They belong to the suctorial division of insects, and do their damage by imbi¬ 
 bing the juices of the plants which they infest. The sucking instrument, as in 
 other insects of the kind, consists of a slender four jointed beak, which when not in 
 use is bent back under the body, and rests upon the breast. Upon that side of the 
 beak which is undermost when at rest, is a narrow groove, in which is contained an 
 extremely fine bristle-like lancet, which is capable of being disengaged from its 
 sheath and used as an instrument for puncturing the straw. When a flow of sap 
 has been thus produced, the lancet is returned to its sheath, and the wholo instru¬ 
 ment is used for the purpose of suction. Collected in dense clusters, chiefly about 
 the lower joints of the straw, With their suckers partially inserted into it, or applied 
 to the punctures previously made, these little insects appear to repose in luxurious 
 contentment. Meanwhile the grain being deprived of its necessary nutriment, 
 becomes wholly blasted or much shrunken, whilst the straw turns white prematurely 
 and at length crinkles down beneath the lancets of this infinity of phlcbotomists. 
 
 When the wheat becomes too much dried up to afford them nutriment, they leave 
 the wheat field, and may be seen at this time running on the ground in all directions 
 in search of appropriate food. Next to wheat they usually attack oats, then corn, 
 and lastly timothy orherds-grass; and if none of these are at hand, they will subsist 
 upon some of the wild grasses. The Indian corn is so rapid and vigorous in its 
 growth that it is not usually much injured; yeti have seen, this season, whole 
 fields blackened with them, and largo patches of corn blasted and prostrate, as if a 
 fire had run over them. 
 
 They migrate from one field to another by running over the surface of the earth. 
 Nevertheless when they are obliged to move to a distance, the perfect or winged 
 individuals readily take to flight, and they have been seen flying in dense swarms. 
 
 They are seen in about equal numbers in their different stages of growth. The 
 younger specimens are found especially abundant in the earth to the depth of an 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 521 
 
 inch or more, about the roots of the grain; from which it may be inferred that the 
 eggs are deposited in this situation, though I tiave not as yet succeeded in discover¬ 
 ing them. 
 
 These insects present, in the course of their development, the following charac¬ 
 ters. The youngest individuals are vermillion red, the thorax or anterior part of 
 their bodies inclining to brown, and with a white band across the middle of the body, 
 comprising the two basal segments of the abdomen. As they increase in size they 
 become darker, changing first to brown, and then to a dull black, the white band 
 still remaining. The antenna; and legs are varied with reddish. In their final or 
 perfect state they acquire white wings varied with a few black spots and lines. 
 
 These insects belong to the Hemipterous order, and to the genusTthvparochromus 
 in the family of Lygafidae. The generic name is of Greek composition, and signifies 
 sordid color, in reference to the dull colors of the majority of the species. I have 
 not at hand the means of determining whether the present species has been scientifi¬ 
 cally described and named. It might be appropriately called the Khyparochromus 
 devastator. The following may serve for a more accurate description of the per¬ 
 fect insect than, so far as I am aware, has been heretofore published. 
 
 Length 1 2-3 lines, or three-twentieths of an inch. Body black, clothed with a 
 very fine greyish down, not distinctly visible to the naked eye; basal joint of the 
 antenna; honey-yellow, second joint the same tipt with black, third and fourth joints 
 black, beak brown; wings and wing-cases white; the latter are black at their inser¬ 
 tion, and have near the middle two short irregular black lines, and a conspicuous 
 black marginal spot; legs dark honey-yellow, terminal joint of the feet, and the 
 claws black. 
 
 So sudden is the invasion and so rapid the progress of these insects, that it is 
 scarcely probable that any preventive or remedy for their devastations will ever be 
 discovered. Yet it is an admirable provision of nature, that those creatures which 
 multiply at certain seasons in alarming profusion, do as suddenly and often as unac¬ 
 countably disappear. The common method by which the excessive increase of suoh 
 creatures is kept in check, is by the appropriation to each of them of some para¬ 
 sitic insect, which multiplies coextensively with them, and by preying upon thetn 
 restrains their increase within moderate limits. The migratory locust, for example, 
 and also the Hessian fly, and most kinds of caterpillars, are known to be infested 
 by parasitic insects. It is devoutly to be wished that nature may have provided 
 this, or some other remedy, against the indefinite extension of the ravages of the 
 present species, whose origin and progress seem to be so wholly removed from the 
 reach of human control. 
 
 Little requires to be added to this account. The eggs of these 
 insects according to an editorial in the Southern Planter (vol. 
 xv, p. 269) are deposited in the ground, in autumn, where they 
 remain through the winter and until the warmth of the ground 
 the following year causes them to hatch. This takes place in 
 May at the South and probably not till June at the West. 
 
 This insect never appears in the form of a worm or maggot, 
 like the larvae of moths, flies and beetles. Still, in its larva state 
 it is quite unlike what it is after it acquires wings, being more 
 flat and broad and having considerable resemblance to a bedr 
 [Assembly No. 217.] 34 
 
522 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 bug, though of a brighter red color when it is small. One of 
 these young chinch bugs which I met with in some diseased 
 wheat straw sent from Virginia presented the following charac¬ 
 ters : 
 
 The you yc; larva when 0.06 long is about 0.03 in width, with a very flattened 
 body of an oval form and a bright blood red color, with a band across its middle 
 above, of a yellowish white color, occupying the two first or basal segments of its 
 abdomen, behind which, in the centre of the back are two black spots, one behind 
 the other. Its six legs and its beak or sucker, are of a honey-yellow color. Its 
 antenna; are analagous to what they arc in the mature insect, having four joints, 
 the last enlarged, forming an oval knob tapering to a point at its end, the two ba¬ 
 sal joints being light yellow, and the two last ones dark brown. 
 
 These larvrn as they advance in size become darker colored 
 and finally blackish, still showing the white band across the 
 middle of their bodies. At length this band disappears, and 
 the insect becomes a pupa. It is now much like the perfect in¬ 
 sect in its form and colors, except that it is destitute of the white 
 wings upon its back, having in place of them an oval black 
 scale upon each side of the base of the abdomen. The edges of 
 the abdomen in the pupa are also of a dull pale yellow color. 
 So late as the fore part of October I met with several of these in¬ 
 sects still in their pupa state, and some of these I do not doubt, 
 would pass the winter in that state, and therefore would not de¬ 
 posit their eggs until the following spring. 
 
 The females of this species are tenfold more numerous than 
 the males. The magnified illustration, plate 4, fig. 2 a, shows all 
 parts of the insect so distinctly and exact that no description of 
 it is necessary, beyond what is given in Dr. Le Baron’s account. 
 It may be observed that the hind edge of the thorax is of the 
 same deep honey-yellow color with the legs, the beak, and the 
 base of the antennae, all the rest of the body and the antennse 
 being coal-black and clothed with fine erect hairs, except the 
 wing-covers which are snow white. The anterior end of the 
 thorax is not so full and broad as represented in the figure, and 
 extending across the thorax rather back of its middle is a trans¬ 
 verse depression, much more deep and distinct in some individ¬ 
 uals than in others. 
 
 Tins species presents several varieties. On a comparison of numerous sped 
 mens the following will be readily distinguished: 
 
 a, imingrginptus. Basal margin of the tliorax uot edged with yellowish. Conns 011, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 523 
 
 b iimidiatus. Basal half of the thorax deep velvety black, anterior half grayish. 
 Common. 
 
 C) fulvivenosus. The stripes on the wing covers tawny yellow instead of black. 
 j albivenosus. Wing covers white, without any black marks except the margi¬ 
 nal spot. A male. 
 
 e apterus. Wingless and the wing covers much shorter than the abdomen. 
 f t basalts- Basal joint of the antennae dusky and darker than the second. 
 
 vigricornis. Two first joints of the antenna; blackish. 
 h femoratus. Legs pale livid yellow, the thighs tawny red. Common, 
 j rvfipedis. Legs dark tawny red or reddish brown. 
 
 As will be seen from the historical notices which are given 
 above, this insect was at first called the Hessian fly or Hessian 
 bug, in Carolina. And as appears from the description given by 
 Kirby and Spence, it was only the red larvae of these insects 
 which were then supposed to be the depredators, no one being 
 aware that the black bugs with white wing covers were the same 
 insects in a more advanced state. As these larvre have a close 
 resemblance to the common bed-bug (Cimex lectularius, Linnaeus) 
 which through the Southern states is everywhere designated by 
 its name in the Spanish language chinche ,* when it was ascer¬ 
 tained that they were a very different insect from the Hessian 
 fly of New York, they were definitely distinguished by the name 
 chinch bug, or chinch bug fly. It is altogether probable, how¬ 
 ever, that the latter was the term by which the winged insects 
 were designated, and that the former was the name given to the 
 larval; and Kirby and Spence might well be at a loss to under¬ 
 stand why the epithet “ fly ” should be given to an insect with¬ 
 out wings, as this was represented to be. The name chinch bug 
 has now become the established title of this insect, and as the 
 same word has been adopted as a specific name in Natural His- 
 tory (e. g. Argas chinche , Gervais) it would be the most appro¬ 
 priate scientific designation for this species, had it not already 
 received a different one. 
 
 The chinch bug was first scientifically named and described by 
 Mr. Say, in a pamphlet (page 14) entitled “ Descriptions of New 
 Species of Heteropterous Hemiptera of North America,” pub¬ 
 lished at New Harmony, Indiana—the eight first pages of which 
 appeared in the year 1831, the remainder the following year. 
 This insect must have been much more rare throughout our 
 
 * ^ or f u 'l philological Information respecting this word and its use at the South I am under 
 0 ^8 a tioni to W. F. Brand, Eaq. of Eiperton, Maryland. 
 
521 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 country thirty years ago than it is at present, for Mr. Say had 
 only met with a single specimen of it, an individual of our 
 Variety dimidiatvs, which he found on the eastern shore of Vir¬ 
 ginia, and he was wholly unaware of its importance in an 
 economical aspect. He named it Lygceus leucopterus or the white¬ 
 winged Lygaeus. This genus now forms the Family Lygmda, 
 and is chiefly characterised by having the scutel or triangular 
 piece between the base of the wings short and not reaching the 
 middle of the abdomen, the antennse inserted upon or below a 
 line drawn from the eyes to the base of the beak, four-jointed 
 with the last joint thickest or at least not more slender than the 
 preceding one, and the thin membrane at the end of the wing 
 covers with not more than four or five veins. 
 
 At the date when Mr. Say described this insect, M. Serville 
 had proposed separating those species of the old genus Lygsus 
 in which the anterior thighs are swelled or thickened, into a 
 distinct genus which he named Pachymerus. But as this name 
 had anteriorly been applied by Latreille to another genus of 
 insects, it became necessary to alter it; and Mr. Say therefore 
 proposed abbreviating it to the name Pamerus, under which 
 name he placed nine of the nineteen new species which he de¬ 
 scribed in this family. The European naturalists have proba¬ 
 bly been unarvare of this correction made by Mr. Say, and the 
 following year M. De Laporte proposed to substitute the name 
 Jlphanus for that of Pachymerus. But M. Guerin had anteriorly 
 given the badly constructed name Aphoma to another genus of 
 insects, the orthography of which, when it came to be rectified, 
 became Aphanus. As this name, therefore, could not be retained, 
 Mr. Curtis proposed the name Rhyparochromus for these insects, 
 which name has been adopted by M. Serville and the European 
 naturalists generally. But the rule of priority will certainly 
 give Mr. Say’s name, Pamerus,the precedence of Rhyparochromus. 
 It may be objected to this name, however, that it is a hybrid, 
 not being regularly constructed nor yet a purely fantastic name. 
 Yet under the circumstances, it appears to us it was more judi¬ 
 cious and serviceable to the science thus to alter a name which 
 had become current, than to abolish it and introduce a new 
 
 one. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 525 ': 
 
 What has been stated will serve to give the common reader 
 some view of the embarrasments often encountered in this vast 
 science, in arriving at the correct designation for an insect. 
 Especially in this country do we experience such embarras¬ 
 ments and are obliged in many instances to remain in doubt and 
 uncertainty, from being unable to find in any of our public 
 libraries those authorities a reference to which is indispensihle 
 for obtaining the information we desire. 
 
 The pamphlet of Mr. Say in which this insect is described is 
 out of print and very scarce. Dr. Le Baron not having seen it 
 suggested the name Rkyparochromus devastator as being an ap¬ 
 propriate one for this insect. Although all the thighs are 
 slightly thickened in this species, the anterior ones are not ob¬ 
 viously more enlarged than the others, and are not sufficiently 
 inflated to place it in the genus to which Dr. Le Baron assigns 
 it, in which there is a striking contrast between the anterior and 
 the four slender posterior thighs. In more than two dozen 
 species of this genus which are now before me, this contrast is 
 very plain and evident in every instance. Mr. Say therefore 
 was clearly correct in referring this insect to the genus Lygseus 
 and not to his genus Pamerus, which, as we have seen above, is 
 synonymous with Rhyparochromus. 
 
 This group of insects has been subdivided into quite a number 
 of genera since Mr. Say’s day, and the present species now per¬ 
 tains to the genus Micropus , a name meaning small footed or 
 short legged, proposed by M. Spinola in his Essay upon the in¬ 
 sects of this order, published in 1840, page 218. I announced 
 this fact a year since in the Country Gentleman (vol. v, p. 396) 
 in reply to the enquiry of E. C. Smith, asking the correct name 
 of this insect. A communication appeared in the same periodi¬ 
 cal soon after (vol. vi, p. 106), stating among other things, that 
 the genus Micropus had not been recognized by some of the 
 standard writers upon this order of insects, and that “ Herrick 
 Schaffer would have placed the chinch bug, had it been known 
 to him, in the genus Pachymerus” — the same genus in which, as 
 we have seen above, Mr. Say long ago determined it did not be- 
 l° n g! I deem it unnecessary further to notice an anonymous 
 
526 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 writer, who is aiming to appear very erudite upon a theme on 
 which he unwittingly betrays himself to be very ignorant. 
 
 Another species of Micropus, named falicus by Mr. Say, who 
 discovered it in Missouri, I found common in northern Illinois 
 in October, and I have also met with specimens of it in New 
 Jersey in the month of May, though it has not yet occurred to 
 my notice in the State of New-York. Whether it partakes of 
 the injurious habits of the chinch bug I know not. It may be 
 called the Black-veined Micropus, its wing-covers being dull 
 white with black longitudinal stripes, following the veins to 
 their tips. It is longer and also narrower than the chinch bug, 
 being of a long linear form, 0.20 in length by scarcely 0.05 in 
 width. It is black with the base of the thorax and the legs 
 yellow. 
 
 The Black-veined Micropcs lias the base of the thorax elevated and smooth, 
 forward of which is a transverse wide shallow depression, and forward of this is a 
 slight elevation with a short wide longitudinal impression in its middle. The wing 
 covers and wings reach only to the anterior edge of the last segment of the abdo¬ 
 men, and are frequently shorter with the wings wanting or merely rudimentary. 
 
 Its pupa is dull yellow, except the antennae, which are black, with short fine 
 hairs, and are rather shorter and more thick than in the mature insect. Along the 
 back it often shows two rows of black punctures, one situated upon each side of the 
 middle of each segment. 
 
 Another insect which may frequently be met with upon the 
 same flowers and leaves with the chinch bug, in Illinois and 
 Wisconsin, from the fore part of July until the close of the sea¬ 
 son, so exactly resembles this culprit that no one would suspect 
 its being different unless apprised of the fact. Indeed it is only 
 by a very close inspection that the one can be distinguished 
 from the other. In one instance this has been sent me as the 
 chinch bug; my correspondent, as I suppose, on finishing his 
 communication, happening to meet with this, immediately in¬ 
 closed it in his letter, without a suspicion that it could be any¬ 
 thing else than the insect of which he had been writing. It 
 however is but little more than half the size of the chinch bug, 
 is destitute of hairs, its surface being smooth and shining, and the 
 thin membranous posterior part of the wing covers are without 
 any distinctly traced veins. Though belonging to the same 
 family it pertains to a different genus, named from the circum- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 527 
 
 stance of the species being mostly found upon flowers, ./hithocoris 
 or flower-bug. 
 
 The Fai.se chinch bug, JlnthocorU pseudo-chinche, is Imt 0.08 in length, and is 
 black, smooth and shining, with its antenna;, feet and lour anterior shanks and 
 knees’pale dull yellow. Its wing covers arc white, tinged anteriorly with yellowish, 
 with a large triangular black spot across their middle, occupying the whole poste¬ 
 rior part of the thick coriaceous portion, this spot being brownish on its anterior 
 edge. The thorax has an impressed line or groove across its middle. The thin 
 membranous part of the wing covers is somewhat transparent and clear, but a va¬ 
 riety (which may be named semiclarus ) occurs, in which its posterior half is per¬ 
 ceptibly tinged with smoky. This species is closely related to the European species 
 minutus Linn., and ni^rella Zetterstedt, but is readily distinguished by the colors 
 of its legs, not to mention other characters. Identical as so many of our American 
 species of this order certainly arc with those of Europe, it is possible that this 
 species has been described by some author whose work I have not seen. Another 
 small species resembling this in many points, the Xylocoris domcsticus Hahn, ap¬ 
 pears to be as comnion upon this side of the Atlantic as it is in Europe, as is also 
 the variety of this species, named dimidiata by Spinola and Parisiensis by Amyot 
 and Serville. , 
 
 This insect, so far as we yet know, is exempt from any molesta¬ 
 tion by predaceous insects and other animals. No bird probably 
 has a relish for such an unsavory morsel as one of these fetid 
 chinch bugs. And this is undoubtedly one of the chief reasons 
 why no check is given to its multiplication, and when one or two 
 favorable seasons arrive, it is able to increase with a rapidity 
 and to an extent which has few parallels among the insect races. 
 
 Nor has any mode for destroying this insect or preventing its 
 depredations, been discovered, of such efficacy as to bring it into 
 public notice and favor. When they are migrating from one field 
 into another, it is reported that they have been arrested by dig¬ 
 ging a trench before them, up the crumbling dirt of the sides of 
 which, they are unable to climb; and when the whole colony is 
 thus imprisoned, they have been covered with straw and burned. 
 By burning the dry leaves of the forest in places where they have 
 settled in numbers, multitudes have been destroyed. A subscri¬ 
 ber to the Southern Planter (vol. xv, p. 275), says he knows that 
 strong soap suds will kill them, when on corn, if a half gill or 
 gill be poured upon each stalk—a labor not half so great as a 
 single hoeing of the crop is. When this insect became so numer¬ 
 ous in North Carolina, in 1839, Mr. J. W. Jeffreys proposed 
 that the farmers and planters should all abandon the sowing of 
 wheat for two or three years, he deeming this the only measure 
 
528 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 by which it was possible to subdue it. Dr. Le Baron thinks it 
 improbable that any remedy can ever be discovered whereby to 
 prevent its devastations. My own belief is very different. I 
 do not think Providence has sent any injurious insect into our 
 world, but that when we come to study its history and habits, 
 and become fully acquainted with its economy, we can discover 
 some point where it is assailable, and human ingenuity will be 
 able to devise methods by which it will be practicable, either to 
 destroy the insect, or to shield the vegetation on which it preys, 
 from its depredations. Though often, no doubt, much patient 
 investigation and many experiments conducted by different per¬ 
 sons will be necessary, before we can arrive at the most certain 
 and successful remedies. 
 
 As regards the chinch bug, if the facts reported are true, we 
 think they point us to a feasible mode for subduing it. They 
 indicate that moisture is most uncongenial to this insect. If, 
 when it is overruning the land in myriads, a wet season arrives, 
 it is at once quelled in its career. Mr. Williams speaks of its 
 ravages as having been perceptibly checked by a single heavy 
 rain. And it appears from the statement of Mr. Albert Burnet 
 that so slight a circumstance as the dew evaporating before the 
 morning sun, first upon the south and east sides of a field, often 
 causes it to congregate upon those sides of the field exclusively. 
 In view of these facts it would seem that by drenching that part 
 of a field in which these insects are clustered, with water, by 
 means of a fire or a garden engine, they may be washed from 
 the plants and destroyed. Though it will be a formidable task 
 to shower a large wheat field profusely, yet if the crop can here¬ 
 by be saved from ruin, it will amply repay the expense. But 
 commonly it is only a narrow strip upon one side of the field 
 which will require this operation. And where there is a brook 
 or stream of water passing through or adjacent to a wheat field, 
 this measure can certainly be resorted to, repeatedly should it 
 be necessary, at no great cost. When the small red bugs, the 
 tender young larv® of these insects, have made their appearance 
 and are clustered about the roots of the wheat plants, in the 
 month of June, they can probably be more easily destroyed, than 
 at any subsequent stage of their lives. And it is earnestly to be 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 529 
 
 hoped that some one who is conveniently situated for testing the 
 efficacy of this measure, will do so, and make the result known 
 to the public. 
 
 Burrowing in different parts of the stalks, rendering them dwarfish and often 
 causing the heads to perish; small, slender, pale-green and watery-white 
 shining maggots. 
 
 The larva: of several small wheat flies and bakley flies of the genera 
 Chlorops, (plate 1, fig. 4), and Oscinis (plate 1, fig. 5). 
 
 In Europe it has long been known that among the worst depre¬ 
 dators upon the grain crops there, are the larvae of several small 
 flies belonging to the genera Chlorops and Oscinis. Some of these 
 attack the young plants, and taking their station slightly above 
 the root destroy the central stalk. Others burrow in the stalk 
 or straw, and others infest the heads. Thus every part of the 
 plant finds an enemy in one species and another of this group of 
 insects. And so seriously do they injure the crops on which 
 they prey, that Linnaeus a century ago computed the loss occa¬ 
 sioned by one of them (Chlorops Frit ), which infests the heads of 
 barley in Sweden, to amount to nearly half a million of dollars 
 annually. 
 
 It has not hitherto been known that the wheat in this country 
 was attacked by any insects of this kind. But I have the pre¬ 
 sent season discovered these small flies in abundance, in every 
 wheat field in my neighborhood. On sweeping with a net any¬ 
 where among growing wheat, a multitude of them will be 
 gathered. They are of several different kinds and all appear to 
 be of species distinct from those described in the works of Mac- 
 quart, Zetterstedt, and other European writers to which I am 
 able to refer. And upon examining the wheat stalks at different 
 times during the season, the larvae of one and another of these 
 flies are found therein—smooth, shining, footless little maggots, of 
 pale green and watery-white colors, commonly imbedded in the 
 straw in small burrows or cylindrical channels which they have 
 excavated. 
 
 As these flies appear to be native species, it is probable that 
 before wheat was cultivated upon this continent they sustained 
 
530 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 themselves upon some of our wild grasses. Their numbers must 
 therefore have been very limited at that period. But when 
 wheat was introduced and became extensively cultivated, it 
 gave them such an ample supply of most palatable nourishment 
 that they have gradually increased and are now excessively 
 numerous all over our land, laying every wheat field under con¬ 
 tribution for their support. And I doubt not it is from the 
 numbers of these and other insect depredators which abound 
 upon our wheat, that we are no longer able to produce such 
 crops of this grain as were uniformly harvested formerly, when 
 our lands were newly cleared. How is it possible for wheat to 
 grow with any thriftness when it is incessantly assailed by such 
 hosts of these enemies, bleeding it at every pore ? And if any 
 mode could be discovered by which our wheat could be pro¬ 
 tected from these depredators, I do not doubt that on our old 
 lands which have been under cultivation a century, we could 
 now, with our improved methods of tillage, rear crops of this 
 grain, surpassing those which grew upon the same lands when 
 they were newly cleared. And if wheat could thus be grown, 
 the intrinsic worth and the market value of lands in the old 
 settled sections of our state would be advanced probably one- 
 half. 
 
 At the time of placing the specimens from which the accom¬ 
 panying illustrations were taken, in the hands of the draughts¬ 
 man, I supposed I should obtain some one or more of the larvae 
 of these insects, in its perfect state, and thus be able to present 
 its history with some approximation to completeness, in the pre¬ 
 sent report. But my efforts to rear them have been unsuccess¬ 
 ful. And it will scarcely be worth while to state the situation 
 in which one and another of these worms is found, and the 
 manner in which it mines or otherwise injures the straw, until 
 the particular species by which the mischief is done in each case, 
 can be identified and named. For the present, therefore, I 
 merely state what will serve to explain the accompanying figures, 
 and give the reader some acquaintance with this group of flies 
 as they appear upon the wheat in their perfect state. 
 
 These flies form a particular tribe or sub-family, named the 
 Oscinides, the members of which may be distinguished from 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 531 
 
 those of the other groups of the extensive Family Muscidje in the 
 Order Diptera, by their small size, by having the last joint of 
 their antennae globular insead of ovakor oblong; by being desti¬ 
 tute of winglets, those small scale-like appendages which occur 
 at the base of the wings, having some resemblance in their shape 
 to the bowl of a spoon; and the veins and veinlets of the wings 
 being as they are represented in the accompanying figures. 
 
 One of the prettiest of the flies of this group, which we meet 
 with upon growing wheat the latter part of June, pertains to the 
 genus Meromyza , which is readily known from the other genera, 
 by having the thighs of the hind pair of legs thick and appearing 
 as though they were swelled. It is very similar to the European 
 M. saltatrix Linn., but is larger, the stripes on its thorax are 
 deeper black than those upon its abdomen, and here it is the 
 latter stripes which are united or confluent at their ends and not 
 the former. It may be named 
 
 The American Meromyza, M. Jtmericana. It is 0.17 in length to the tip of its 
 abdomen, and 0.20 to the end of its wings. It is yellowish white with a black spot 
 on the top of its head, which is continued backward to the pedicel of the neck. 
 Thorax with three broad black stripes, approaching each other anteriorly but not 
 coming in contact, the middle stripe prolonged anteriorly to the pedicel of the neck 
 and posteriorly to the apex of the scutel. Abdomen with three broad blackish 
 stripes, which are confluent posteriorly and interrupted at each of the sutures. 
 Tips of the feet and veins of the hyaline wings blackish. Eyes bright green. An- 
 tonme dusky on their upper side. 
 
 Another jninute pretty fly, often found with the preceding 
 upon wheat, and resembling it in its colors, is generically dis¬ 
 tinguished from it by its short, thick body, its abdomen, when 
 distended by a recent meal, being perfectly spherical and ab¬ 
 ruptly drawn out at its tip into a conical point. The second 
 veinlet of its wings, moreover, is very oblique instead of being 
 transverse as in all the other genera of this group. It thus be¬ 
 longs to Macquart’s genus Sip/ionella, and the present species 
 may be named in allusion to its plumpness 
 
 I* The obese SinioNELLA, S. obesa. It measures only 0.09 in length, to the tip of 
 its abdomen and 0.12 to the end of its wings. It is black and polished, with a slen¬ 
 der stripe on the middle of the thorax, the scutel and the under side of the body 
 bright sulphur yellow, the abdomen having a tinge of green beneath. Legs bright 
 tawny yellow. Head yellowish white. Antennm tawny yellow, their tips black. 
 Two dots on the anterior edge of the mouth, a large egg-shaped spot on the crown 
 two short stripes low down on each side of the breast, and the anterior pair of 
 feet, black. 
 
532 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 In the genus Chlorops , as the name will indicate to those who are 
 acquainted with the Greek language, the eyes are green. They 
 might hence be popularly named the green-eyed wheat-flies. 
 But as their scientific name Chlorops will be a more definite and 
 convenient designation it will be better to adopt it as the popular 
 name of these flies. Their bodies are commonly of a yellow 
 color, varied more or less with black in the different species. 
 One of these species was so abundant the latter part of June that 
 at almost every step in any of our wheat fields a dozen or more 
 of them could be seen. It may therefore be termed 
 
 The common Chlorops, C. vulgaris, (plate 1, fig. 4, the short line to the left of 
 the figure indicating the natural length.) It measures 0.15 or a little less to the 
 end of its abdomen and from 0.18 to 0.20 to the end of its wings. It is of a pale 
 tawny yellow color, with a round black spot on the top of its head, and the tips of 
 its antennae and of its feelers are also black. It has two black bristles at the end 
 of the middle shanks, and one at the end of the forward ones, and rows of black 
 bristles upon the thorax. On the top of the head (fig. 4 a) are two pairs of bristles 
 inclining backward and two pairs inclining forward, the anterior pair of the latter 
 being shorter. The abdomen is oval, and in its normal state is of the same color 
 with the thorax; but from inclosed alimentary matter it becomes variously dis¬ 
 colored, often showing obscure brown or reddish spots. 
 
 The feather-horned Chlorous, C. antennalis, is the same size as the preced¬ 
 ing, but with the abdomen commonly shorter. It is pale yellowish varied with tawny 
 and is whitish beneath. The antenna: are pale orange, their tips black, and the 
 bristle which arises from them, and which is simple in the other species, is here 
 feathered or plumose. On the top of the head is a black spot and the feelers are 
 also black. It is also clothed above with black bristles. The abdomen when dis¬ 
 tended with aliment is broad oval and of a dull livid or pale brown color, with the 
 sutures whitish. 
 
 The genus Oscinis is distinguished from Chlorops by having 
 the coarse vein which forms the outer edge of the wing prolong¬ 
 ed around the tip of the wing to the end of the inner of the two 
 middle veins of the wing, at which point this marginal vein ab¬ 
 ruptly becomes slender, (see plate 1 , fig. 5); whereas in the 
 genus Chlorops it is at the end of the outer middle vein that this 
 thick robust marginal vein terminates, (see fig. 4 of the same 
 plate). The species of Oscinis are further distinguished from 
 those of Chlorops by being of a smaller size and of black instead 
 of yellow colors. Several species of both these genera, in addi¬ 
 tion to those here presented were met with upon wheat, but I 
 defer a description of them to a future occasion. 
 
 The shank-banded Oscinis, 0. tibialis, (plate 1, fig. 5) is 0.08 in length to the 
 tip of its abdomen and 0.11 to the end of its wings. It is black, polished and 
 shining, its shanks and feet being pale dull yellow, the hind shanks having a broad 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 533 
 
 black band towards their bases (as shown in the separate illustration of the leg, 
 fio-. 5 a), and the middle ones having a narrower faint blackish one; the tips of the 
 f° e t being also black. Bristle of the antenna; black. A slight transverse tawny 
 yellow line above the base of each antenna;. The two veinlets of the wings are 
 distant from each other thrice the length of the second or outer veinlet. 
 
 Two of these flies were enclosed in a vial when captured. Adhering to one of 
 them was a small bright red mite, which is parasitic upon these flics. This fly died 
 in about three hours, the other remaining brisk and lively twelve hours afterwards, 
 when it was removed for examination. 
 
 The yellow-hipped Oscinis. 0. coxendix , is 0.07 in length to the tip of its ab¬ 
 domen, and 0.10 to the end of its wings. It is black with a white face and buff 
 yellow front shaded to blackish on the crown, where is a polished deep black semi¬ 
 circular mark, its concave side facing backward. Its anterior hips are testaceous 
 yellow. The veinlets arc less than twice the length of the second from each other. 
 
 The thick-legged Oscinis, O. crassifemoris, is the same size with the last, 
 and is black with a white head and the thorax with a gray reflection. The last 
 joint of the antenna; with its bristle is black. The legs are pale yellow, the tips of 
 the feet black. The veinlets are so near each other that they are almost united. 
 In the female the abdomen is egg-shaped and polished, its apex drawn out into a 
 long sharp-pointed ovipositor. The middle and anterior thighs are rather short 
 and thick, the hind ones longer and cylindrical. 
 
 The fly figured, plate 1, fig. 3, is a much larger species pertaining 
 to another group. It occurs in abundance upon the heads of wheat 
 the latter part of June. This is the species which was currently re¬ 
 garded in the circle of my acquaintance as being the fly from which 
 the little yellow maggots, the larva; of the wheat midge,proceeded, 
 until I came to investigate this subject,and discovered in our coun¬ 
 try the real culprit (Cecidomyia Tritici ) described by Mr. Kirby. 
 As I have had occasion repeatedly to allude to this popular mis¬ 
 take, and this fly has received no name, as I have been able to 
 discover, by which it may be specified, I here present a name 
 and description of it, and also of another common species closely 
 related to it. I as yet know nothing of their habits, beyond the 
 fact that they are both numerous, hovering over and alighting 
 upon the heads of wheat at the time they are in flower. 
 
 The deceiving wheat fly, Hijlemyia diceptiva , is a quarter of an inch in length 
 to the tip of its wings. It is ash gray, with black legs, antennte and feelers. Ab¬ 
 domen with a row of longditudinal brown-black spots forming an interupted stripe 
 along its middle. Thorax in a particular reflection of the light showing a brown 
 stripe anteriorly and on each side of it a brown spot. A tawny yellow spot upon 
 the front, more conspicuous in the females, and passing into a black stripe upon 
 the top of the head. 
 
 The similar wheat fly, Hijmelyia similis, resembles the preceding, but is a 
 size smaller, measuring 0.22 in length, and of a paler shade of ash gray, with the 
 tawny yellow spot upon the front replaced by black, and is destitute of the brown 
 •tripe and spots upon the thorax. 
 
534 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 Myriads of small pale maggots crawling from the mow of wheat soon after it 
 is placed in the barn; the kernels of grain shrivellod and dwarfish. 
 
 The WHEAT MOW ply, Jgromyza Tritici, new species (Plate 2, fig. ]). 
 
 Several years ago a fanner in my neighborhood, soon after 
 gathering his wheat into the barn, found countless myriads of 
 small worms were crawling out of it, literally covering the mow 
 of grain and wandering away from it to every part of the barn. 
 These worms it is evident had just now completed their growth 
 and were crawling about in search of the moist earth, wherein 
 to bury themselves, to repose during their pupa state. It would 
 seem that some cause had made them later than usual in reach¬ 
 ing maturity; and had the wheat remained in the field a few 
 days longer, they would have escaped from it there, so generally 
 that no notice of them would have been taken, and the fact 
 would never have been known that such an army of insects had 
 had their subsistence upon this crop. 
 
 Alarmed with the numbers of these worms, and fearing they 
 would perhaps wholly destroy the mow of grain, the proprietor 
 had the whole of it threshed immediately. I happened to visit 
 the barn as the threshed grain was being winnowed, when the 
 above facts were communicated to me. The heap of uncleaned 
 grain was literally alive with these worms and the cracks in the 
 floor were filled with them. The kernels of wheat appeared to 
 be shrunk in the same manner as when they have been infested 
 with the wheat midge. I put a number of these worms into a 
 small box, with some of the chaff and grain. Other engage¬ 
 ments diverted my attention from this subject and it was wholly 
 forgotten until many months afterwards, when, happening to open 
 the box, I found in it quite a number of small flies, which had 
 completed their transformations and perished in their confine¬ 
 ment. It therefore appears that it is by no means essential to 
 these worms to bury themselves in the moist earth, though that 
 is doubtless their natural habit. But if they can find any cre¬ 
 vice in the dry barn where they can stow themselves and lie un¬ 
 disturbed, it is all they require in order to complete their trans¬ 
 formations. 
 
 The worms, according to my recollection, were much like the 
 little yellow maggots of the wheat midge, but were of a dull 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 535 
 
 white color, and rather larger. Their transformations are like 
 those of flies generally, the outer skin of the larva or maggot 
 contracting and becoming dry and hard, and forming the case 
 within which the insect lies in its pupa state. When the larva 
 skin of this species is thus dried, with the pupa reposing within 
 it, it appears as represented, plate 2, fig. 2, 2 a being a highly 
 magnified view of its upper and 2 b of its under side. It is but 
 the tenth of an inch long, and 0.03 in diameter; it is shining and 
 of a pale yellow color, of an oval or rather an elliptical form, 
 more rounded at the head and pointed at the opposite end, the 
 segments distinctly marked by transverse constrictions. 
 
 These flies appear much like the common house fly, reduced to 
 an infantile size. I supposed they would prove to be one of the 
 European species of Oscinis, until I came to examine them, 
 when I found that, though they belong to the group Oscinides, 
 they are generically distinct from both Chlorops and Oscinis, in 
 having bristles or hairs-upon the face as well as upon the crown, 
 and in having the two little transverse veinlets ot the wings sita- 
 ated quite near the base. They thus pertain to the genus Jigromyza 
 a name meaning field flies, as this genus is characterised by Mac- 
 quart, and to his section AAA, and to his subsection DDD, but 
 they are clearly distinct from either of the species which he de¬ 
 scribes; nor am I aware that any of the members of this exten¬ 
 sive genus have hitherto been noticed as depredators upon wheat, 
 like their kindred of the genera Chlorops and Oscinis. The 
 present species may therefore be designated 
 
 The wheat mow fly, Jigromyza Tritici, (plate 2, fig. 1.) It is 0.08 in length, 
 and to the tip of the closed wings 0.11. It is black, with a broad pale reddish yel¬ 
 low band upon the front above the base of the antennae, and the mouth broadly 
 margined with dull yellow. The legs are brownish black, the knees slightly marked 
 with pale yellow. The wings arc notched on their outer margin near the base, at 
 the apex of the first vein. The veinlets are situated near the base of the wing and 
 near each other; and the inner middle vein is not prolonged beyond the second 
 veinlct. 
 
 In the same box in which these flies were hatched was found 
 four individuals of a parasitic fly which had evidently come from 
 some of the worms of the wheat mow fly. They pertain to the 
 Family Proctrotrupida: of the Order Hymenoptera, and to the 
 genus Diapria. They may therefore be named 
 
 The WHEAT MOW fly’s parasite, Diapria Jgromyza. They measure 0.06 in 
 length, and to the tip of the closed wings 0.08. They are black and shining, with shanks 
 
536 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 thickened towards their tips, the hind pair being very long, and the legs are pale 
 yellowish, with the thighs and the thickened ends of the shanks black. The abdo¬ 
 men is elliptic. The antennae in the males are thread-like and nearly as long as 
 the body, composed of fourteen joints, which are very distinct, equal, oval, a third 
 longer than broad, the apical one being a little longer and egg-shaped, and the ba¬ 
 sal one club-shaped and thrice ns long but scarcely thicker than the following ones. 
 In the female they are shorter and composed of twelve joints which arc compacted 
 together, the three last enlarged and forming a kind of knob or club, the last joint 
 nearly as long as the two which precede it, its end bluntly rounded. 
 
 Upon the heads and stalks in June and July, exhausting the juices of the 
 kernels and rendering them dwarfish and shrivelled; exceedingly minute, 
 active, long and narrow, six-legged insects, of a bright yellow or of a shin¬ 
 ing black color. 
 
 The Wheat Thiups, Thrips Tritici, new species. 
 
 The Thkee-banded Thrips, Coleothrips trifasciata, new species. 
 
 My attention has been called to these insects by a letter from 
 David Williams, dated Geneva, Wisconsin, July 9th, 1855, which 
 says : “ Enclosed I send you specimens of a minute little insect 
 that is causing some alarm in this vicinity. They are found in 
 all blossoms in great numbers. They first made their appear¬ 
 ance about the middle of June, or at least they were then first 
 noticed, so far as I have heard. For about two weeks they were 
 found in the blossoms of wheat and of clover, causing numbers 
 of the blossoms to wither, and in some cases the kernel was also 
 attacked. About a fortnight ago we had a very heavy fall of 
 rain, which appeared to destroy them; but within a few days I 
 have noticed their reappearance in countless numbers. They 
 are very nimble, requiring good eyes and ready fingers to secure 
 them, and I was obliged mainly to my wife for the capture of 
 those which I send you.” 
 
 The insects alluded to in the above extract are so minute, that 
 had only two or three specimens been sent me, I should have 
 been unable to give any definite account of their species. An 
 acknowledgment is due Mrs. Williams for the number of these 
 insects which she enclosed in the quill—a task which the bung¬ 
 ling fingers of a man could scarcely have accomplished. Among 
 them I find specimens in all the stages of their growth, and am 
 hence able to present a tolerably complete history and description 
 pf the species; although it is only from living specimens that such 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 537 
 
 minute objects can be satisfactorily studied, and described with 
 that precision and fullness which science requires. 
 
 Insects of the kind to which these belong may be distinguished 
 from .all others by their wings (see the accompanying figure, e ), 
 which are long, narrow and strap-like, and in most of the species 
 are fringed on both sides with long hairs like eye-lashes. Their 
 mouths are also different from those of all other insects, being 
 nearly intermediate between the beak or bill with which some of 
 the orders of insects puncture and suc/c the fluids on which they 
 subsist, and the jaws with which all the other orders gnaw the sub¬ 
 stances on which they feed. These insects originally formed the 
 genus Thrips , placed by Linnaeus next to the plant-lice, in the 
 Order Hemiptera. But as their wings and the structure of their 
 mouths is so wholly unlike that of any other insect, naturalists 
 of late rank them as a distinct order, which i5 named Thysan- 
 optera, i. e. fringe-winged. This order contains the single 
 family Thripididje (currently written Thripidae by authors, but 
 incorrectly), which is divided into seven genera by Mr. Halidav, 
 whose researches in this group have been unsurpassed. About 
 fifty species of these insects are known to the entomologists of 
 Europe. They are all of small size, more than half of them 
 being only about the twentieth of an inch in length, or less, and 
 but few slightly exceed the tenth of an inch; though recently 
 some have been found in Australia which are three times as large 
 as any which were previously known. 
 
 Most of the species are found in the flowers of different plants. 
 They feed upon the juices, and are very injurious, especially in 
 hot-houses, causing small dead spots upon the leaves and flowers 
 wherever they wound them. Some of them also infest melons 
 and cucumbers. One species is very injurious to the olive trees 
 in Italy. Another attacks peaches and other fruit to a mis¬ 
 chievous extent. But the species which appears to do the 
 greatest amount of damage is the grain Thrips (7’. cerealium). 
 Our first accounts of this insect are from Mr. Kirby, in 1796 
 (Einnaen Transactions, iii, 246), who however supposed it to be 
 the Thrips physapus of Linnaeus, until Mr. Haliday showed it to 
 be distinct from that species. An excellent history of this 
 
 [Assembly No.-217.J 35 
 
538 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 species is published by Mr. Curtis in his paper on insects affecting 
 the corn crops, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 
 vol. vi, p. 499; and figures of the insect and its dissected parts, 
 in the several stages of its growth, from Mr. Haliday’s manu¬ 
 scripts, are given in the list ot Homopterous insects in the British 
 Museum, part iv, plates vi, vii and viii. In the year 1805, one- 
 third of the wheat crop in the province of Piedmont is said to 
 have been destroyed by this seemingly insignificant little insect. 
 Mr. Kirby says it is by far the most numerous of any insect upon 
 the wheat in England; he does not think he ever examined an 
 ear of wheat without meeting with it. He says it takes its station 
 in the longitudinal furrow of the seed, in the bottom of which 
 it seems to fix its beak, and probably sucks the milky juice which 
 swells the grain. Thus by depriving the kernel of part, and in 
 some cases perhaps the whole of its moisture, it causes it to shrink 
 up and become what the farmers call “ pungled.” According to 
 Vassali Eandi, it also gnaws the young stalks just above the 
 knots, causing the ear to become abortive in consequence of these 
 wounds. It is late sown wheat which is reported to be chiefly 
 injured by this insect; and early sowing is the only remedy 
 which I find spoken of by those who have written upon it. 
 
 Our American species of this order of insects are probably as 
 numerous as those of Europe, but none of them have been ex¬ 
 amined and described, except one which occurs in small hollows 
 gnawed in young apples, of which some account was given in 
 my last report. I have repeatedly noticed different kinds of 
 these insects upon growing wheat in the State of New-York, but 
 not in such numbers that I supposed they were doing any ap¬ 
 preciable injury to the crop. One of these species is very simi¬ 
 lar to the PIdceot/trips Stalices, Haliday, which in Europe occurs 
 in myriads upon the flowers of the Thrift (Statice Jhraeria Lin.) 
 That which I have met with most common, upon wheat in my 
 own vicinity is the Tliree-banded Thrips, hereafter described. 
 Dr. Harris has also seen the larva of a Thrips (Treatise, p. 205) 
 which he supposes to be the T. cerealium. He merely states 
 that it was orange-colored; and as the larva of T. cerealium has 
 a black or dusky head and two spots of the same color oh the 
 fore part of the thorax, and its antenna; and legs have alternate 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 539 
 
 blackish and whitish rings, it is more probable that his speci¬ 
 mens were the same which I now have before me from Wiscon¬ 
 sin. Be this as it may, the communication from Mr. Williams 
 is important, as making us acquainted with an enemy of the 
 wheat crop of which we heretofore have had no definite know¬ 
 ledge, and which will undoubtedly at times be quite detrimental 
 in tlie wheat-growing districts of our country. 
 
 Although this species, like many others in this order, occurs 
 upon the flowers of different plants, it is upon wheat, in all pro¬ 
 bability, that it will be oftenest noticed, and to which it will 
 prove most injurious. It may therefore appropriately be named 
 the wheat Thrips, T. Tritici. 
 
 Attached to the surface of the shrivelled flower-leaves in the 
 quill in which these insects were sent me, I meet with what 
 I doubt not are their eggs (see figure a, next page,) deposited pro¬ 
 bably by one of the females after being imprisoned. They are so 
 minute as to be wholly invisible tg the naked eye, except when 
 placed upon clean white paper, when they can be merely dis¬ 
 cerned, appearing like an atom of dark colored dust. Under the 
 magnifier they are discovered to be of a bright red color, like par¬ 
 ticles of sealing-wax, and of an oval almost globular form; and 
 they are attached to the leaf by a short, thick, crinkled stalk or 
 stem, which is of a dull white color. 
 
 The larva (fig. b) resemble the perfect insects, except thai 
 they are wholly destitute of wings and are smaller and softer, 
 with the several segments of the body more equally and distinct¬ 
 ly separated from each other by transverse, constricted lines. 
 They are throughout of a bright orange-yellow color, of the 
 same hue as the worms of the Wheat-midge, which worms, how¬ 
 ever, small as they are, appear like giants when placed by the 
 side of these larvae. 
 
 Two minute black dots upon the anterior end of the head are the eyes. The 
 head is square and hut half as broad as the second segment, which is broadest at 
 its base, narrowing forward to its apex, where it is of the same width as the head. 
 The third and fourth segments are slightly longer and wider than the second, and 
 niuch longer than the following ones, which arc about equal to each other, the 
 apical one being narrowed, of a tubular conic form and two-jointed. The body is 
 quite convex above and beneath. The legs and antenna; are much like those of the 
 perfect insects, except that they are shorter. Tho two minute joints at the end of 
 the antenna; (see figure /) can commonly be perceived in the larva state of these 
 organs. 
 
540 
 
 ANNUAL HEPOItT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 During their larva state the insects of this order are very 
 nimble, skipping and throwing themselves to a distance by strik¬ 
 ing their abdomen suddenly against the surface upon which they 
 are placed. In their pupa state they are much more slow and 
 sluggish in their motions, and become quite active again when 
 they reach their perfect state. 
 
 The pupa are like the perfect insects in size and shape, except 
 that their wings are short or rudimentary. At first they are 
 merely oval scales, situated upon each side of the two last 
 segments of the thorax. Subsequently they become more de¬ 
 veloped so that they reach to the middle of the abdomen or 
 slightly beyond, but they are still incapable of being used for 
 Hying. The species under consideration, when in its pupa state, 
 is of the same yellow color as when a larva, but the abdomen, at 
 least towards its base, is paler than the thorax. 
 
 Tho perfect insect (figure c) is but four hundredths of an inch (0.04) in length 
 
 Its length is indicated by the short lino ne»f 
 the left forward leg in the cut. It is thus a 
 fourth smaller than Thrips ccrealium , and 
 instead of being black like that species, this 
 retains the yellow color which it has when a 
 larva, the head and thorax (which includes 
 the three large segments next to the head, 
 from each of which a pair of legs arises, as 
 shown in the figure) being of a deep orange 
 yellow, or like the yolid of an egg, whilst the 
 abdomen is paler, and the legs are yellowish 
 white. The antenna; (the apical joints of which 
 are represented more enlarged at/) are whi¬ 
 tish, tinged towards their tips with dusky. 
 The fringes of the wings are also dusky. The fore legs are shorter but no thicker 
 than the others. All the other details of its structure are so distinctly represented 
 i n the figure, that a particular description is unnecessary. 
 
 The species which I have noticed as the most common upon 
 wheat in Washington county, New-York, may be named the 
 Three-banded Tiirips (Coleothrips trifusciata). It is clearly dis¬ 
 tinct from the three European species included iu this genus, 
 though nearly related to the C. fasciata, Lin. It is nearly double 
 the size of the wheat Thrips, being 0.07 in length, and is so dis¬ 
 tinctly marked that even our preserved specimens can be readily 
 discriminated. It is of a black color, polished and shining, with 
 the third joint of its antennae white, and its wings black or dark 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 541 
 
 smoky brown, with three broad white bands, whereof one is upon 
 the base, another across the middle, and the third, which is 
 somewhat narrower, upon the tip. The wings show two longi¬ 
 tudinal veins, but no transverse ones were noticed upon them, 
 nor could I discover any fringe upou either their outer or inner 
 margin. The fore legs are larger than the others, and the 
 antennse (see figure g of the preceeding cut, representing the head, 
 eyes, left antenna and base of the right) instead of arising far 
 apart as in most of the species I have examined, come out from 
 the front of the head close together, and are composed of only 
 five principal joints, of which the two first are short, and a third 
 thicker than the others, which are long and cylindrical, the last 
 one gradually tapering to a slender point, its apical portion being 
 divided into small indistinct segments. 
 
 This species is common upon wheat as early as the first of 
 June. When the grain ripens it probably forsakes it and becomes 
 dispersed upon plants which flower later in the season; for I 
 have met with it upon flowers of tanzy (Tanacetum vulgare) the 
 last of July. 
 
542 
 
 ANNUAL KEIORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 2. INDIAN CORN. 
 
 AFFECTING THE STALKS. 
 
 Covering the young stalks by night at or near the surface of the ground; a 
 thick cylindrical pale dull colored worm an inch or more in length. 
 
 Cot-worms, the larvae of different species of dgrotis, (plate 3, fig. 1, 2 and 6.) 
 
 Common as the cut-worm is in all parts of our State and 
 country, our knowledge of it is still very imperfect. I remem¬ 
 ber in my boyhood it was a subject of discussion in my neighbor¬ 
 hood, whether if these worms were cut in two, both ends did not 
 live, thus producing two worms where but one existed before. 
 Though at this day I suppose no such absurd idea is anywhere 
 entertained, yet with regard to the transformations of these 
 worms, and their economy generally, very little authentic in¬ 
 formation is possessed. This clearly appears from the following 
 enquiry from West Haven, Ct., July, 1855, addressed to the 
 Albany Cultivator (third series, vol. iv, p. 115). “Will some 
 of your readers inform us how the Cut-worm is produced— 
 whether from the miller, or whether they bring forth their young 
 like the rabbit or any of the animal creation 1 I would like to 
 know also whether one kind of soil more than another, or 
 whether different manures, coarse or line, have a tendency to 
 increase their numbers. Their name is legion with us, this sea¬ 
 son. More than thirty have been found around one cucumber 
 hill. Whole fields of cabbages have been cut down in a night. 
 The subject of their production has been up for discussion, but 
 no one seems to know, nor is there any author that we have 
 that throws any light on the subject. I have had some experi¬ 
 ence relating to their production, but it is so at varience with 
 my previous ideas that I want more light before publishing it ” 
 
 Whether the cut-worm is more numerous in one kind of soil 
 than another, I am unable to say. The soil of my own neigh¬ 
 borhood is a gravelly loam, and in this the cut-worm is common. 
 I presume it is equally common in sandy and clay soils. In one 
 instance, at the bottom of a bowl-shaped hollow, where the soil 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 543 
 
 partook of the nature of a stiff clay, a number of cut-worms 
 were found, when there were scarcely any in the surrounding 
 gravelly soil; but it was probably the more juicy, tender growth 
 of the corn in this damp hollow, which caused the worms to 
 rather there, rather than the nature of the soil. 
 
 I do not think the fertility of the soil, or the kind of manure 
 which is applied to it, has any influence upon these worms, ex¬ 
 cept in making the plants grow more succulent, for it is vegeta¬ 
 tion of this character which appears to be their favorite food. 
 We all know these worms are common in our highly manured 
 gardens. And I have never found them more plenty than on 
 one occasion among beans planted upon a hill-side, so barren that 
 it was thought nothing else could be raised there. 
 
 The biography of these worms is briefly as follows: The parent 
 insect drops her eggs upon the ground, the latter part of summer. 
 These soon hatch, and the young worms which come from them 
 crawl into the ground and feed upon the roots and tender shoots 
 of herbaceous plants. When cold weather arrives they descend 
 a few inches below the surface and there lie torpid during the 
 winter, and renew their activity when spring returns. It is not 
 until they have nearly completed their growth, in the month of 
 June, that they show that habit which renders them so injurious, 
 and has acquired for them their name, “ cut-worm.” They then 
 crawl from the earth, by night, and with their sharp teeth cut 
 off the young succulent plants of maize, cabbage, beans, &c., 
 almost as smoothly as though it were done with a knife. When 
 daylight approaches, each worm crawls into the ground again, 
 entering it within a few inches of the plant it has severed—the 
 newly disturbed and rough appearance of the dirt showing the 
 exact spot where it has gone into the ground, and rendering it 
 easy to uncover and destroy the worm. Having got its growth 
 it forms a little oval cavity in the ground, within which it lies 
 and changes to a pupa or chrysalis. In this state it has some 
 resemblance to a long slim egg of a chestnut brown color, having 
 several impressed rings or joints towards its pointed or tail end. 
 From this pupa, in three or four weeks, hatches the perfect in¬ 
 sect, which is a dark colored miller or moth. 
 
544 
 
 annual report of new-york 
 
 Every observing person is aware there are several kinds of 
 these worms, differing from each other in the color of their heads, 
 the stripes upon their bodies, and in their habits. But unfortu¬ 
 nately we do not yet know which particular species of moth it 
 is which either of the kinds of these worms produces. I have 
 repeatedly endeavored to breed the moth from these worms, by 
 placing them in cages into which I transplanted young corn, 
 beans, &c., and'also by placing bell-glasses over corn hills where 
 worms had buried themselves. But I have never been able to 
 succeed. The worms on finding themselves imprisoned, refuse 
 to eat, and hurriedly crawl around and around the inner side of 
 their prison, night after night, until they literally travel them¬ 
 selves to death. They are by no means such sluggish, stupid 
 creatures as one would suppose from seeing them in the day 
 time. By night they are as active as any other animal whose 
 skin is stuffed and distended with food as theirs is. They are 
 evidently able to crawl quite a distance in a single night. It is 
 the common opinion that they are always bred in the ground near 
 the spot where they do their mischief. But I suspect they are 
 everywhere wandering about, nightly, in search of such tender, 
 succulent plants as will furnish them a dainty repast, and that 
 they thus in many instances enter our gardens and corn-fields 
 from the surrounding enclosures. They certainly, if so inclined, 
 could travel across the largest of our arable fields in a few hours. 
 
 The following short descriptions of the different kinds of cut¬ 
 worms which have fallen under my notice, and their habits, I 
 extract from my manuscripts. All these worms, except the 
 White one, are about an inch and a quarter in length when at 
 rest, and an inch and a half when crawling. They all have four 
 polished elevated dots upon each segment, on the back, and a 
 few others which are less distinct, upon the sides, each dot bear¬ 
 ing an exceedingly fine hair. 
 
 The Red- headed cut-worm is of a dull pale brown color, with¬ 
 out any stripes, and may be distinguished from all the other 
 kinds by its head, which is of a tawny red color, instead of 
 smoky yellowish as it is in each of the following, except the 
 last one.- Common in corn-fields, cutting off' the plants slightly 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 545 
 
 below the surface of the ground, and thus always destroying 
 them. On Staten and Long Islands, I am told, this species is 
 popularly named the “ Tiger worm,” from its destructive habits, 
 and that the name cut-worm is there applied only to the next 
 species. 
 
 The Striped cut-worm is dirty whitish or pale smoky, with 
 darker brown stripes, of which there are two along the back and 
 three broader ones along each side; dots black, as they are in the 
 preceding species, but not so minute. This is the most common 
 kind in corn-fields, cutting off the plants half an inch above the 
 ground; hence the stalk frequently shoots up again, from the 
 middle of the stump. This occasionally occurs among beans 
 also. It buries itself but slightly, and may sometimes be found 
 with half its back exposed, even though the sun be shining clear 
 and hot. 
 
 The Faintly-lined cut-worm is dull brown, with very faint 
 pale longitudinal lines, and the polished dots but little darker 
 than the general color. Found in cornfields, but more commonly 
 in gardens among cabbages and sometimes among onions. Buries 
 itself but slightly. 
 
 The White cut-worm is smaller, being scarcely an inch long 
 when at rest. It is dull white, with black dots and no stripes or 
 lines except a row of very faint brownish touches along the upper 
 part of each side. It is rare, a single individual being occasion¬ 
 ally found among corn and beans. 
 
 The Black-headed cut-worm is dull dark brown, with faint 
 traces of pale lines, and its head deep black. This is probably 
 what is named the “Black worm” in some neighborhoods. It 
 is the most common kind among beans, cutting them off slightly 
 below the surface, and drawing the severed stem into the hole 
 where it buries itself, and there feeding upon it during the day, 
 till the whole is devoured, or only pieces of the wilted leaves 
 remain, plugging up the entrance of the hole. Either the Striped 
 or the Lined cut-worm frequently treats corn in this same way. 
 Hence the stump may often be found without any wilted leaves 
 lying near it. 
 
 There are doubtless other species of cut-worms which have 
 not yet presented themselves to my notice, my investigations of 
 
546 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 these insects being as yet far from complete. My young cucum¬ 
 bers being always enclosed in boxes open at the bottom and top, 
 are never molested by cut-worms, and seldom by other insects; 
 hence I know not the worm which depredates on them. 
 
 As already stated, the particular species of moth or miller 
 into which either of our American cut-worms changes, has never 
 been ascertained. Most of the species, however, pertain to the 
 genus Agrotis , of the family Noctuidje, or Owlet-moths. In 
 England the insects of this genus are named “ Dart moths,” from 
 a peculiar spot or streak which many of them have near the base 
 of their fore wings, resembling the point of a dart or spear. 
 Much the most common species of this genus in the state of New- 
 York, can be nothing else than the Gothic Dart Agrotis sub- 
 gothica of the British entomologists, (Plate 3, fig. 1). This was 
 first described by Mr. Haworth in the year 1810, and is current 
 in all the books as a British insect. Mr. Stephens, however, say’s 
 it is very rare, only three or four specimens having been found 
 in England. I doubt not it is an American insect, the eggs or 
 larvae of which have accidently been carried to England, pro¬ 
 bably in the earth in which plants have been transported thither. 
 Here it is one of the most common of those moths which come 
 in at the open windows of our houses on warm summer evenings, 
 attracted by the lights of the candles. I have thus taken more 
 than a dozen specimens in an hour. It begins to appear early 
 in July and continues till September, and in Illinois I met with 
 it on one of the last days of this month. Its wings when spread 
 measure from over an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half 
 across. It is of a grayish-brown color, and the fore wings have 
 a broad whitish stripe on the outer margin from the base to be¬ 
 yond the middle, and another branching from this and running 
 through the centre of the wing. Between these whitish stripes 
 is a pale triangular spot having its outer side wholly confluent 
 with the outer stripe, and back of this is a second pale spot 
 which is kidney-shaped, the space before, between and behind 
 these spots being black or dark brown. And extending from the 
 base of the wing along the inner side of the inner stripe is a 
 broad black or dark brown streak (representing the dart head 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 547 
 
 above alluded to,) which streak is crossed by two slender pale 
 lines, these lines not parallel with each other. This last mark 
 with the two pale lines across it, will alone distinguish this from 
 all our other moths. 
 
 Our next most common species is the Devastating Dart 
 Jlgrotis devastator , (Plate 3, fig. 2,) thus named by Mr. Brace in 
 the year 1819, in a short article upon the cut-worm, published 
 in the first volume of Silliman’s Journal, page 157. And it ap¬ 
 pears to be this same species, which has recently been figured 
 and named Jlgrotis Marshallana by Mr. Westwood, from a single 
 specimen found in England by T. Marshall, Esq., (Humphrey’s 
 British Moths, vol. i, p. 122.) In this species the wings when 
 spread are from an inch and a half to over an inch and three- 
 fourths across. The fore wings are grayish brown, and are 
 crossed by four equidistant wavy whitish lines, which are edged 
 more or less with blackish. But commonly only the last one or 
 two of these lines can be perceived; and the last line has a row 
 of blackish triangular spots, like arrow heads, along its anterior 
 side, tljeir points directed towards the base of the wing. Often 
 these spots are so obliterated that only one or two of the middle 
 ones can be discerned in a particular reflection of the light. 
 But it is by these spots more than any other character that I dis¬ 
 criminate specimens of this species; for it is variable, with its 
 marks obscure and more or less obliterated, from its wings when 
 flying having been fluttered and rubbed against grass, leaves, &c., 
 as is apt to be the case with most of the insects of this order. 
 
 A third species, also very common, (Plate 3, fig. 6,) differs 
 generically from the two preceding, and appears to coincide more 
 closely with Graphiphora than with any other genus characterised 
 by European writers. It is named the clandestine owlet-moth, 
 Jfoctua dandestina , by Dr. Harris. It is of an obscure brown or 
 gray color, its wings when most perfect marked as represented 
 in the figure. Our illustrations of these three species are quite 
 exact, and will give the reader a much clearer view of the com¬ 
 plicated markings of their wings than he can obtain from any 
 written description. 
 
548 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 The insect figured in Dr. Emmons’ volume, plate 45, fig. 2 
 and mentioned in the text as being a common species of Agrotis, 
 is the Hadena arnica of Stephens. 
 
 Although more than a dozen other species of Dart-moths are 
 known to me, those now described will suffice as examples of 
 the insects whose eggs produce the cut-worms. Though so 
 common, they are seldom seen in the day time, being then at 
 rest, secreted in dark situations, such as the crevices in stone 
 walls and the cracks under the clapboards of buildings. By 
 looking behind the window-shutters of my office at any time in 
 July or August, I am able to obtain specimens of the Devastating 
 Dart and one or two other less common species. 
 
 These worms have several natural enemies. That universal 
 pest of the cornfield, the crow, visits the fields, equally as much 
 to obtain cut-worms as for corn, and would probably do but little 
 injury to the latter if he could find worms enough to glut his 
 appetite. Numbers of them are also destroyed by predaceous 
 insects. One of the most common of these is pretty generally 
 known to our farmers, who sometimes designate it the “ cut¬ 
 worm’s dragon,” from its singular form and ferocious habits. It 
 is a large black and rather slender and flat larva of a beetle of 
 the family Carabida;, and I presume it is the Pangus caliginosus, 
 but those individuals which I have attempted to rear have 
 always perished before completing their growth. It is very 
 agile in its motions, and roots and buries itself under the loose 
 dirt with facility. When not glutted with food, it is running 
 about incessantly, in search of these worms, and slays them with¬ 
 out mercy, with its powerful jaws seizing them commonly by 
 the throat, and regardless of their violent writhings and contor¬ 
 tions, sucking out the contents of their skins. M. F. Morrison, 
 of Bath, Steuben co., N. Y., gives some interesting particulars of 
 another insect enemy of the cut worm, in the Albany Cultivator, 
 vol. v, page 18. He says,“A few years since a remarkable insect, 
 somewhat resembling the black wasp, but longer, shaped some¬ 
 what more like the hornet, but of a shining black, and very 
 active, was pointed out to me as the natural enemy of the grub 
 worm. Its evolutions when on the ground were similar to that 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 549 
 
 of the hound upon the track of the hare. Its head was down, 
 as if in the act of smelling, and every few minutes it would dig 
 with its fore feet in the manner of the dog. At length it dug up 
 a worm, stung it to death, and left it. On a succeeding day I 
 saw the same insect engaged in burying the victims of its war¬ 
 fare. A hole was excavated in the soil sufficient to deposit the 
 worm by the use of its fore feet. The dead worm was then 
 seized by the forcep jaws of the insect, who drew it backwards 
 into the hole into which it entered in rear of the worm, and from 
 which it immediately emerged, and scraping the earth together 
 raised a tumulus over the grave.” 
 
 As to the best modes for subduing the cut-worm and guarding 
 against its ravages, only a few words will be necessary, as this 
 topic has been so often discussed in our agricultural journals. 
 Commonly only one or two stalks in a hill of corn or beans are 
 cut off, and the remainder are left unmolested, the worms appear¬ 
 ing to require but a few meals of this kind, just as they are 
 on the point of changing to pupae. It is well, therefore, to plant 
 so much seed as will enable these depredators to glut their appe¬ 
 tites without taking all the stalks in the hill. Observation has 
 long pointed to this as a precaution which should ahvays be 
 taken. Hence the old rule as to the number of kernels which 
 should be planted in each hill of corn— 
 
 “ One for the black-bird and one for the crow, 
 
 Two for the cut-worm and three to grow.” 
 
 But occasionally these worms are so numerous that active ex¬ 
 ertions must be put forth to save the crop from destruction. 
 And general experience shows we have as yet only one resort 
 which is perfectly certain and reliable, to wit, digging the worms 
 out from their retreats and destroying them. To go over a large 
 cornfield carefully, on this errand, and promptly as the exigency 
 of the case demands, is quite a formidable task. Still, every one 
 will perceive on a moment’s reflection that when this measure is 
 necessary to save the crop, the same amount of labor can scarcely 
 be bestowed elsewhere so profitably. 
 
 It however is very desirable that some effectual and more 
 speedy mode of combating these insects should be discovered. 
 So long ago as 1817, a notice in the newspapers stated that making 
 
550 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW'YORK 
 
 a few holes about the hills with a sharp stick was an easy way 
 to entrap these worms, as they would fall into such holes, and 
 being unable to crawl out of them, would perish—some of the 
 holes being found half full of worms thus gathered in a single 
 night. A writer in the Michigan Farmer, whose communication 
 was fully noticed in the Country Gentleman of June 7th, 1855, 
 bears strong testimony to the efficacy of this measure. From 
 my own observations it appears that these worms are never able 
 to crawl the length of their bodies up a perpendicular bank of 
 earth, before they loose their foothold and fall. I hence pre¬ 
 sume the measure above spoken of will be effectual. Indeed, if 
 my supposition is correct, that these worms mostly come from 
 the surrounding fields, to the places where we notice them, I have 
 thought that a single deep furrow, struck around the outside of 
 a field or garden, when the worms are first beginning to appear— 
 any break in the land-side of the furrow being repaired with a 
 hoe—would form a barrier over which it would be impossible 
 for them to make their way—thus protecting the whole field 
 effectually and at a very trifling cost. I hope in one or two sum¬ 
 mers to complete my observations so that I can speak with more 
 confidence upon this subject than I am able to do at present. 
 
 Crowded together and covering the stem which hears the ear; small dull- 
 green and reddish lice, slightly dusted over with a fine white powder. 
 
 The Maize Arms, -Aphis Maidis , new species. 
 
 In August, the person who is selecting soft corn for boiling, 
 will sometimes come to an ear, the stem of which is entirely 
 covered with vermin. On examining them they are perceived 
 to be small plant-lice of a lurid green color, intermixed with 
 slightly larger dull reddish ones, and an occasional individual is 
 found among them having wings and a black body. They are 
 thinly dusted over with a fine white powder, like meal, and 
 scattered about among them are seen the empty skins which the 
 larger ones have shed. Each individual is stationary, with its 
 beak inserted into the stalk, sucking its nourishment therefrom. 
 They continue upon those stems where they have once established 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 551 
 
 themselves, until the corn is cut down or ripens and the sap 
 ceases to circulate in the stalks, whereupon they perish. They 
 occur upon no other part of the stalk except the peduncle or 
 stem which bears the ears. And such a multitude of them as is 
 found clustered together upon this stem, of course abstracts 
 from it much of the sap which should go to nourish the ear and 
 swell the kernels. Should these insects, therefore, ever become 
 multiplied so as to infest a considerable portion of the ears in a 
 field, it is evident they would do much injury to the crop. And 
 like other kindered insects, it is probably they will at times 
 become thus multiplied. 
 
 These insects belong to the family Aphid.*: in, the order 
 Homoptera, and to the genus Aphis. They are plainly a different 
 species from one which infests the maize in Europe, the Aphis 
 Ze<e, of Bonafous, described in the Annals of the Ent. Soc. of 
 France, vol. iv, p. 658, and I propose to designate them the 
 Maize Apiiis, A Maidis. The remedies for insects of this kind 
 were treated of in my first report, under the apple plant-louse, 
 and it only remains for me to give a description of this species in 
 the different stages of its growth. 
 
 The i,arva, when newly born, is 0.03 in length, with the opposite sides of its 
 body parallel, or very slightly wider posteriorly; of a yellow color, the hue of bees¬ 
 wax, the head pale watery yellowish ,thc eyes black, the antenna:, legs and beak white, 
 the latter long, reaching beyond the base of the hind legs, the nectaries or honey 
 tubes short, merely slight tubercular elevations, and white. These, I think, are 
 individuals which are destined to acquire wings, whilst those which are to remain 
 without them are pale green, much the same color with the surface on which they 
 are placed, the thorax and the tip of the abdomen greenish white, the head slightly 
 dusky, and the tips of the antennae, legs and beak acquiring a blackish tint soon 
 after birth. 
 
 These latter larva: grow to an oval form and a dull green color, with the head and 
 thorax blackish, the abdomen above with two rows of black spots along the middle, 
 the anterior spots confluent transversely, forming a short band, and with three bands 
 at the tip, and an additional row of black spots upon each side. 
 
 The wingless females arc dull blackish faintly tinged with green, the color 
 obscured by a glaucous bloom or fine powder with which they are dusted over, the 
 head and commonly two bands upon the thorax smooth and black, with spots of the 
 same along the sides of the abdomen and sometimes upon its middle also, the tip 
 of the abdomen drawn out to a black point with two smooth black bands forward 
 of it, the nectaries black and their length about half equalling the distance from 
 their base to the tip, the antenna: black and nearly half as long as the body, tlio 
 legs black with the shanks whitish except at their tips. They are of a plump oval 
 form, rather broadest back of the middle. Their beak is pale, its tip black; it 
 arises from the lower part of the head and reaches only to the base of the middle 
 legs, between which is a deep groove for its reception when at rest. 
 
552 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 The yellow larva? first spoken of are about as numerous as the green ones, and 
 acquire a pale obscure red color, dusted over with a fine whitish powder. They 
 change to pupa;, which are known by having a scale on each side of the body, which 
 is the sheath in which the future wing is enveloped at this period. These scales 
 are pale yellowish, their tips dusky. The pupa) are 0.06 in length, dull red and 
 dusted over with a glancous powder, oval and less plump and convex above than 
 when they were in the larva state; their heads are dusky, antenna? obscure yellow 
 with dusky tips reaching to the base of the wing scales, legs dusky, the thighs except 
 at their tips, and also the anterior shanks obscure pallid. 
 
 The winged females which come from these pup® are scarcely 0.0G in Ungth, 
 and to the tips of their wings 0.10. They are black, the abdomen dull lurid green, 
 with black punctures and dots along each side, and three black bands at the tip 
 and opposite these on the under side a transverse black spot. The nectaries, legs 
 and antennae are similar to those of the wingless female. 
 
 AFFECTING THE STORED GRAIN AND MEAL. 
 
 In stale Indian meal and emptying-cakes made thereof; a soft white worm 
 half an inch long, with a brownish yellow head and polished yellowish 
 white spot above on the neck, and on the last segment. 
 
 The Indian meal moth, Tinea Zete, new species (Plate 4, fig. 1). 
 
 Our housewives are sometimes vexed with finding their 
 store of emptying cakes, which are used for exciting fermenta¬ 
 tion in dough, invaded and spoiled by worms. If the bag or 
 box in which these cakes are kept happens at any time to be 
 left open, the winged moths from which these worms proceed 
 are liable to find their way into it, and scatter their eggs through 
 the cakes, so that the whole of them are at a subsequent day 
 discovered to be infested with worms. As Indian meal is the 
 chief ingredient in these cakes, I infer that to be the favorite 
 food of this insect, and that it might therefore exclaim, with the 
 enraptured Barlow in his Ilasty-pudding, 
 
 “All my bones were made of Indian corn— 
 
 Delicious grain!” 
 
 More particularly where the meal of maize has been long kept 
 and has become stale, I suspect this insect will be apt to infest 
 it. But it is only in the situation first spoken of that I have as 
 yet met with it. 
 
 The worms appear to have the same habits with the larva of the 
 grain moth or the wolf, Tinea granella. They form cylindrical 
 burrows through the substance on which they feed, lining the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 553 
 
 sides of this passage with fine threads like cobweb. They crawl 
 over a smooth surface with facility but not rapidly, and when 
 annoyed they wriggle slightly and walk backwards. They grow 
 to the length of half an inch, and are of a cylindrical form, 
 slightly broadest in the middle. They are dull white, soft 
 and flesli-like, the sutures between the segments but slightly 
 marked and not constricted. Their heads are of a hard liorn-like 
 consistence, shining, brownish-yellow. The second segment or 
 neck on its upper side is also horny, shining, yellowish-white; 
 and on the top of the last segment is a spot similar to this. 
 They are sixteen-footed, the prolegs being short, and their minute 
 hooks form a brown ring around their soles. The surface shows 
 a few scattering hairs, which on the sides arise from very faint 
 smooth wart-like dots. 
 
 The pupa or chrysalis is 0.30 long, pale yellow or yellowish 
 white, its sutures marked by fine slender chestnut brown lines, 
 and the eyes prominent, rather large and black. It lies within a 
 slight cocoon which is attached to the side of the bag within 
 which the larva has been reared. The cocoon is formed of fine 
 snow-white silken threads, appearing like a coating of mildew, 
 through which the chrysalis is very visible. 
 
 The winged moth moves with frequent skips as it is walking 
 along. It crawls out of its lurking place, till it sees its way 
 clear from any obstruction, when it spreads its wings and flies 
 away, hovering about the shady corners of the room and sustain¬ 
 ing itself some time upon the wing without alighting. It is des¬ 
 titute of any marks or spots by which to distinguish it, being 
 merely of a dull gray or blackish color with the basal third of 
 the fore wings whitish. It pertains to the Family Tineidje of 
 the Order Lepidoptera, and appears to coincide more close]}' 
 with the genus Tinea than any other which has been cha¬ 
 racterised by systematic writers, although in the greater 
 length of its spiral tongue and of its body it does not fully agree 
 with the typical species of this genus. 
 
 The Indian-meal motu, Tinea Zece, (plate 4, flg. 1) is about 0.35 in length 
 |° tip of its abdomen and closed wings, and when the latter are spread 
 
 is from half an inch to 0.00 in width. It has a slightly greasy appearance, and 
 Us t° re wings are obscure gray or blackish, their basal third dull white or cream 
 
 [Assembly, No. 217. | 36 
 
554 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 colored, appearing as though denuded of their scales. Commonly a dull tawny yel¬ 
 low spot beyond the centre of the wing is more or less distinct, and sometimes 
 there is a band of the same color on the hind margin, which is broader towards the 
 outer edge. Their tips arc rounded and the hind margin is cut off obliquely and 
 feebly rounded. The hind wings are white and slightly glossy, with a pale leaden 
 blue reflection, their hiud edge and tips pale brown. They have a long silky 
 whitish fringe, which is longer on the inner margin, and shows a more pure white 
 band on its base. The body is of the same blackish gray color with the fore wings, 
 often varied with tawny yellow or reddish upon the neck and the hind part of the 
 thorax. Beneath it is of the same color ns above, the wings being pale leaden, 
 the lustre of satin, the hind pair paler. The shanks of the hind pair of legs aro 
 thickened and robust. The antennaj are without any hairiness; they taper slightly, 
 and are about two-thirds the length of the body. The feelers arc longer than tho 
 head and are held horizontally forward, forming, in connection with a small tuft of 
 hairs projecting forward from the face between their upper edges, a conical beak. 
 Their apical joint is distinctly exposed, small, twice as long as broad, and is oval 
 or slightly thicker towards its base. The spiral tongue is long, and whon alive the 
 abdomen extends to the tips of the closed wings. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 555 
 
 3. THE HOP. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 Eating numerous holes of various sizes in the leaf, often consuming nearly 
 all the leaves except their veins; a small pale green worm with whitish 
 stripes and black dots placed symmetrically. 
 
 The Hop-vine Snout-moth, Hypena Humuli. Harris, H. rostralis ? Linnxus. 
 (plate 1, fig. X.) 
 
 Although throughout our country generally, no attention is 
 given to the cultivation of the hop, it is a staple product of a 
 few of the central counties of our own State, and at times a most 
 lucrative crop, yielding its growers munificent returns. Nearly 
 three-fourths of all the hops produced in the United States are 
 raised in the State of New-York, the single county of Otsego, 
 according to the cenus of 1850, yielding over a million of pounds, 
 and the adjoining counties of Madison, Oneida, and Herkimer each 
 much surpassing any other districts of similar extent in any part 
 of our country. 
 
 In England, where the hop has been extensively cultivated 
 for a long time, it is well known that it is liable to be severely 
 depredated upon at times, by insects ; insomuch that the revenue 
 which the government derives from this source is extremely 
 fluctuating, frequently varying to the amount of half a million 
 of dollars per annum. And Kirby and Spence, alluding to this 
 subject, say: “ The hop-grower is wholly at the mercy of insects. 
 They are the barometer that indicates the rise and fall of his 
 wealth.” In our own country this crop appears to be similarly 
 exposed to injury from this class of beings, that it is abroad. 
 The larvae of the insect which we have named above, is with us 
 the most universal and formidable of these depredators, making 
 their appearance suddenly, and in a few days sometimes, and 
 before their presence is noticed, completely riddling and destroy¬ 
 ing the leaves of whole fields. 
 
 These worms begin to appear upon the leaves as early ns the 
 fore part of June, and by the middle of that month they will be 
 found of all sizes. The vines are now rapidly climbing the poles, 
 a nd the older leaves, near the ground, where the dense foliage 
 enables the worms to secret themselves more securely, are those 
 
556 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEAV-YORK 
 
 on which they first feed, perforating them with round holes 
 between the veins. The leaves are also sprinkled over with 
 black grains, the excrement of the worms. When not engaged 
 in feeding they repose upon the under surface of the leaves or 
 upon the leaf stalks, stretched out straight and more slender 
 than at other times, showing three or lour fine transverse 
 impressed lines at each of the sutures. When crawling it arches 
 its back upwards, like a span worm. Dr. Harris is in error in 
 saying that it does not suspend itself by a thread. On carefully 
 looking at an infested vine, some specimens will almost always 
 be noticed hanging down from the leaves. Their attachment 
 however is very slight, and on the slightest agitation of the leaf 
 the worm lets go its hold and drops to the ground, wriggling 
 briskly for a short time after touching the surface. They con¬ 
 tinue upon the leaves until the middle of August or later, new 
 broods appearing as the old ones vanish. The hops growing 
 upon vines thus stripped of their leaves are small and but few 
 in number. 
 
 The larva: when yonng are not thicker than a pin and are broadest at the head 
 and gradually taper l’rom thence to the tip; they arc watery white, more or less 
 clouded with grass green in the middle from inclosed alimentary matter. When 
 larger they become of a cylindrical form, strongly constricted at the sutures, and 
 are pale green above, commonly showing a deeper green stripe along the middle of 
 the back; head and under side greenish white; a white or pale greenish stripe 
 along each side of the back, and sometimes a slender whitish line along the middle 
 of each side; four black dots above, on each segment, at the angles of an imaginary 
 square; five dots upon each side, the upper one above and the next one in the 
 lower edge of the slender lateral whitish stripe; each of these dots yielding a hair; 
 head with several black dots symmetrically arranged, and on the three next seg¬ 
 ments the dots are placed in transverse rows; mouth yellowish, with the tips of the 
 jaws black. The legs are but fourteen in number, the prolegs being placed on the 
 8th, 9th and 10th of the thirteen segments. 
 
 The worms attain their full size in about a fortnight after they 
 hatch from the eggs, and are then an inch or more in length, 
 when stretched out in repose. Some of them enter the loose 
 dirt slightly, to change to pupa?, others crawl between or beneath 
 lumps of dirt, and others merely secrete themselves under or 
 partly under leaves lying on the surface of the ground. They 
 do not enclose themselves in cocoons, but assume the pupa form 
 by throwing off their larva skin. The pupa is half an inch long 
 and is at first of a grass green color on its back and greenish- 
 white beineath, with a tawny band on the middle of each seg- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 557 
 
 ment. It gradually changes to a mahogany brown and finally to 
 a black color. The pupa state, in the middle of summer, lasts 
 about twelve days. 
 
 The moths which come from these worms belong to the Family 
 Pyralida: of the Order Lepidoptera, and to the genus Hypena , 
 which is characterised by the length and form of its feelers, one 
 of which, highly magnified, is represented, plate 1, fig. 1 b. 
 They are quite long, and project horizontally forwards in front 
 of the head, resembling, when pressed together as they usually 
 are, a beak or proboscis, from which circumstance the species of 
 this genus have derived their common name, snout-moths. 
 These moths are extremely variable, being sometimes much 
 darker colored, and the markings and scales upon their wings 
 are peculiarly liable to be more or less obliterated from frequent 
 contact with the rough scabrous leaves of the hop. This ren¬ 
 ders it difficult to determine whether the hop-vine snout-moths 
 of this country are a distinct species from those of Europe, 
 which are similarly variable. Dr. Harris has treated of our in¬ 
 sect “ upon the supposition that it is distinct,” though he alludes 
 to no marks which indicate it to be different; and the full de¬ 
 scriptions of the European moth given by writers coincide quite 
 accurately with our insect. Mr. Westwood notices the singular 
 fact that some of these moths come from their chrysalids in win¬ 
 ter, about the period of Christmas, and that all these individuals 
 are the most dark colored and sooty, with their marks the most 
 obscured of any belonging to their race. And on last Christmas 
 eve captured a moth flying about my room which was found to be 
 one of these black obscure individuals of this species. From 
 whence it could have come at that inclement period of the year 
 was a mystery. Thus all the circumstances indicate that this is 
 a species which has been introduced upon this side of the At¬ 
 lantic among hop plants brought here from Europe. But until 
 I am able to verify this fact more fully, by comparing our insect 
 with European specimens, I refrain from making any alteration 
 in the record as it now stands. 
 
 The hop-vine snout-moth or iior-viNE IIypena (plate 1, flg. 1), measures 
 about an inch and a quarter across its wings when extended. It is very variable. 
 The most perfect specimens are of a dull brown color with a black stripe on the 
 Huddle of the thorax; fore wings with a large rhombic darker spot on the middle 
 
558 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 of their outer margin, with two elevated coal black dots near its inner anterior and 
 two others near its inner posterior angle; this spot sometimes extends to the baso 
 of the wing, and is commonly margined behind by a pale gray oblique spot or 
 streak, in which is sometimes an angular brown line, like the letter V when most 
 distinct; often a row of black dots posteriorly, parallel with the hind margin, as 
 shown in the figure; hind legs black; fringe blackish brown; surface with scattered 
 elevated black points. Hind wings pale dusky brown, edged posteriorly with a 
 darker brown line, the fringe paler. 
 
 When the worms commence their depredations on the leaves, 
 in June, the winged moths which are then found among the 
 leaves, and which there can scarcely be a doubt are the parents 
 of the worms, are of an ash gray or dull white color, so much 
 paler than those which hatch from the worms later in the sea¬ 
 son that they would not be regarded as belonging to the same 
 species. They at this time appear much like the species de¬ 
 scribed by British writers, supposed by Mr. Stephens to be the 
 Hypena obesalis of Treitschke. This came to be regarded as a 
 British insect, from a single specimen which was found in the 
 celebrated collection of Mr. Francillon. But as no other speci¬ 
 men has ever been met with in England, Mr. Stephens finally 
 rejected it from the British list, and supposes that the specimen 
 which had misled him was probably a native of Bavaria, where 
 Treitschke met with the species which he describes. But as it 
 is now known that many North American insects were carelessly 
 placed with the British specimens in Mr. Francillon’s collection, 
 it is quite probable that this Hypena was also from this country, 
 and is merely one of these pale vernal varieties of the hop-vine 
 snout-moth which occur upon this side of the Atlantic. Except 
 in being so much lighter colored and having their marks more 
 pale and indefinite, they correspond with the description above 
 given, but show in addition an oblique dusky streak upon the 
 tip of the wing, running towards the disk, this streak being 
 caused by a slight plait or groove in the wing, in which groove 
 the scales are less effaced. 
 
 Several of the species of Hypena are marked like the present, 
 with little elevated tufts of scales jutting abruptly out from the 
 surface of the fore wings. In other species no such tuffs appear. 
 We have a rather pretty example of this last kind of snout-moths, 
 in an insect which may be met v.'itli with in our forests about 
 the middle of June, and which I name. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 559 
 
 The elegant Hypena, H. elegantalis (plate 1, fig. 2). It is an inch in width 
 across the expanded wings, and of a bluish gray color, sprinkled with innumerous 
 tawny atoms. Across the middle of its fore wings is a broad wavy tawny yellow 
 band, edged posteriorly with a black line. This band is widened in its middle, 
 where it incloses a large cream white spot having a black dot on its inner part. 
 Forward of this, towards the base, is a narrow wavy tawny yellow band. On the 
 apical part of the wing is a large pale tawny cloud, around a gray patch upon the 
 apex. On the hind margin is a narrow tawny band, edged on each side by a black 
 line, the inner line regularly undulated. The fringe is white with black alterna¬ 
 tions. The hind wings have a black central dot in a broad whitish band which is 
 edged on each side with tawny brown lines, and behind this is an irregular tawny 
 yellow band. The hind margin is marked the same as that of the fore wings, and 
 the outer or anterior margin is white. 
 
 Syringing or showering hop vines with strong soap suds or 
 with a solution of oil-soap in the proportion of two pounds of 
 the soap to about fifteen gallons of water is the only remedy 
 which I have seen mentioned for ridding them of the Hypena 
 worms. 
 
 [Supplementary note to page 220. The dry leaf, forming a wheel or whirlgig on 
 the ends of the twigs of the button-wood or sycamore in the winter season, noticed 
 a 9 being perhaps drawn into this position by plant-lice or some other insect, I 
 since find to be the natural leafy bract or stipule of the twig, which upon withering 
 in autumn separates and surrounds the twig, forming the revolving wheel or collar 
 alluded to. It is certainly quite a curiosity, which I do not observe noticed in any 
 of our botanical works.] 
 

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 -.: A' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THIRD REPORT 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NOXIOUS AND OTHER INSECTS 
 
 or THE 
 
 STATE OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 By ASA FITCH, M. D , 
 
 ENTOMOLOGIST OF THE NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Copy-right secured to the Author. 
 
 Executive Committee New-Yorlc State Agricultural Society: 
 
 In presenting this, my third Report, I would observe that the 
 researches in which, pursuant to your instructions, I am occupied, 
 embrace a field of vast extent. These researches, for the present, 
 have a particular reference to those insects which are injurious — 
 the branch of science which is termed Economical Entomology. 
 They thus include a consideration of all those insects which are 
 detrimental, 
 
 1. To fruit trees. 
 
 2. To forest trees. 
 
 3. To the grass crop of meadows and pastures. 
 
 4. To grain and other field crops. 
 
 5. To the kitchen garden. 
 
 6. To the flower garden and greenhouse. 
 
 7. To domestic animals. 
 
 8. To man, molesting (1.) his person, (2) his household pro¬ 
 perty, such as furniture, clothing, stored provisions, &c. 
 
 These several heads will, I believe, embrace every object which 
 legitimately pertains to this branch of science; and this, in my 
 apprehension, is the most simple and appropriate division, the 
 
316 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 best classification of its subjects which can be made. And when 
 we call to mind how many insect depredators are to be found upon 
 a particular kind of tree, or a single one of our grain crops, it 
 will at once be perceived that the number of objects to be examined 
 under all of the several heads above specified, will be truly 
 immense. Many years will of course be required to investigate 
 each one of these sufficiently to render such a full and exact 
 account of it as the advanced state of knowledge at the present 
 day demands—an account which will give to the reader a com¬ 
 plete view of the history and economy of each species—such an 
 acquaintance with them, in shortens is requisite to enable those 
 who are suffering from these pests to devise the most suitable and 
 effectual modes for combatting them. 
 
 In the meantime, as the habits of a multitude of these depre¬ 
 dators have already been investigated more or less fully by different 
 observers, it is important that the information relating to them, 
 which is now scattered through a number of different works, 
 many of which are inaccessible to those who are most deeply inter¬ 
 ested in the premises, should be brought together in a condensed 
 form, so as to present a full view of this subject. More than a 
 century ago, the celebrated naturalist Reaumur, expressed the 
 wish that those observers who are laboring to elucidate the history 
 of insects, would prepare and give to the world lists of all the 
 kinds which feed upon each particular tree and plant. But in 
 this country, where so little accurate knowledge of our insects is 
 diffused among the population, in addition to its name, an indica¬ 
 tion of the external appearance and habits of each species is a 
 great desideratum. Our agricultural periodicals are making fre¬ 
 quent allusion to this as a most important want at the present time. 
 And I have hence thought that, in addition to the original matter 
 which I have to report as the fruit of my own investigations, I 
 could not render a more valuable service than that of posting up 
 this subject in such a manner as to present a map as it were of the 
 entire field. I therefore propose, in this and the succeeding 
 reports, to pass over this whole ground, giving every American 
 insect which is at present known as being an injurious species, 
 arranging them in their regular order under the several heads 
 above specified. I design to give the common and the scientific 
 name of each species, with the name of the order and family to 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 317 
 
 which it pertains, followed by a brief statement of (1st) the par¬ 
 ticular injury which each species does and the time of the year 
 when it commits its depredations, (2d,) the appearance of the 
 depredator, and if it be a worm or larva, add to this (3d) where 
 it secretes itself to repose during its pupa state, and (4th) the 
 appearance which it finally assumes when it comes out in its per¬ 
 fect form; and if it be a species the history of which has already 
 been published, give (lastly,) a reference to the work where 
 the most particular account of it and the remedies for opposing it 
 will be found. I endeavor in each instance to render this account 
 as succinct as possible, and at the same time sufficiently plain and 
 definite to enable any one, when he meets with an injurious insect, 
 to ascertain its name. As it is the leading design of these Reports 
 to impart information to common readers, I aim to use such terms 
 and give such comparisons as will make the subject most clear to 
 their comprehension, even at the risk in some instances of appear¬ 
 ing inelegant and uncouth. 
 
 Many insects, it is well known, feed upon several different 
 kinds of vegetation. The account of these is introduced under the 
 particular tree or plant to which each appears to be most attached 
 and on which it occurs in the greatest abundance, and under each 
 of the other trees or plants on which it is known to feed, its name 
 only is given, with a reference to the place where the descrip¬ 
 tion of it will be found, the species being numbered in a continuous 
 series to facilitate such references. A large portion of the insects 
 which now infest our fruit trees, originally subsisted upon the 
 native forest trees of this country, and many of these still occur 
 in their original haunts in greater numbers than in the new situ¬ 
 ations to which circumstances have obliged them to resort. But 
 as such insects will be much more frequently noticed upon fruit 
 trees, and are more important to us in consequence of the depre¬ 
 dations they are liable to commit upon the trees of this class, I 
 place the description of them under this head. The present Report 
 thus completes the account of all the insects at present known to 
 infest our fruit trees, both cultivated and wild, the latter embracing 
 the chestnut, hickory, butternut and hazelnut, which I class as 
 fruit rather than forest trees, for the reason that they are more 
 valued through our country generally, in consequence of the fruit 
 
318 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 which they yield, than for the timber and fuel which we obtain 
 from them. 
 
 Many things which are most interesting and remarkable are 
 brought to my view, in the researches in which I am occupied 
 and I sometimes think there is no kind of mischief going on in 
 the world of nature around us but that some insect is at the bot¬ 
 tom of it. Certain it is that these little creatures, seemingly so 
 insignificant and powerless as to be unworthy of a moment’s 
 notice from any body but the curious, occupy a most important 
 rank in the scale of creation, and on every side of us their per¬ 
 formances are producing most important results, tending probably 
 in an equal degree to our benefit in one direction as to our detri¬ 
 ment in another. We are accustomed to read with wonder the 
 accounts which authors give of the singular habits and amazing 
 achievements of these creatures in foreign lands, little suspecting 
 that in the fields and woods around our own dwellings, operations 
 are constantly going on which are every whit as interesting and 
 marvellous. Since my last Report was presented, I have suc¬ 
 ceeded in completing the history of an insect whose deeds are as 
 astonishing as anything on record in the annals of science. It is 
 well known that certain insects have been created apparently for 
 the sole purpose of preying upon other insects, and thus restrain¬ 
 ing them from becoming excessively multiplied. But I am not 
 aware of any discovery hitherto made indicating it to be the office 
 of any creature of this class to check the undue increase of any 
 of the higher orders of animals. The fact has long been known 
 of the squirrels of this country that the males are very frequently 
 emasculated, but how this deformity is produced has all along 
 been involved in doubt, it being the current popular supposition 
 that some of these animals seize and overpower their unfortunate 
 fellows and with their sharp teeth reduce them to the condition 
 of eunuchs. But I am now' prepared to report a fact which will 
 probably set this mooted point to rest. I find we have a species 
 of fly, analogous to the bot fly of the horse and the gad fly which 
 produces the w r arbles in the backs of cattle, the grub of which 
 resides in the scrotum of the squirrel and consumes its testicles. 
 Hqw r surprising that an insect should have been called into exis¬ 
 tence for the express purpose of executing such a singular work 
 as this! 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 319 
 
 And in connexion with the investigations which I am pursuing 
 other facts similarly valuable as shedding additional light upon 
 this branch of the natural history of our country are frequently 
 elicited, which, however, have no relation to the subject of noxious 
 insects. I have therefore appended a few supplementary pages to 
 the present report, in which the more important items of this extra¬ 
 neous matter is presented. Respectfully submitted, 
 
 ASA FITCH. 
 

 3olte41ex-^ liom 
 
 Lxtli-oi C .Van. B eiLblm-ywexu 
 
 . 
 
INSECTS INFESTING FRUIT TREES. 
 
 THE APPLE .—Pyrus Malus. 
 
 AFFECTING THE ROOT. 
 
 1. Applbroot blight, Pemphigus Pyri, Fitch. (Homoptera. Aphidse.) 
 
 Wart-like excrescences growing upon the roots, sometimes of an 
 enormous size; containing in their crevices exceedingly minute 
 pale yellow lice, often accompanied with larger winged ones, 
 having their bodies covered with a white cotton-like matter. 
 
 The mature, winged insect, a black fly with a dull greenish 
 abdomen and the wings transparent but not clear and glass-like, 
 with a faint smokiness at their tips, in the cell or space inclosed 
 by the last of the four oblique veins. Length to the end of the 
 wings nearly or quite a quarter of an inch, (0.25.) See Tran¬ 
 sactions of the New-York State Agricultural Society, 1854, page 
 709. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TRUNK. 
 
 Worms beneath the bark, mining cavities in the outer sap wood and boring holes 
 in the heart wood. 
 
 These are the most pernicious enemies which the apple tree 
 has, whole orchards of young trees, if neglected, being almost sure, 
 of late years, to become suddenly infested and destroyed by one 
 or more of these insects. 
 
 2. Apple tree borer, Saperda bivittata, Say. (Coleoptera. Ceram by cida;.) 
 
 [Plate I, fig. 2.] 
 
 A large cylindrical white footless grub, rather oroadest ante- 
 riorly, its head chestnut brown, its mouth black. Excavating 
 
 [Ac. Trans.] 
 
 U 
 
322 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLE. TRUNK. 
 
 irregular roundish or long and narrowish flat shallow burrows, 
 immediately under the bark, at the crown of the root, where tho 
 worm lies through the first winter; then boring upwards in the 
 solid wood about three inches, and reposing here through the 
 second winter, the perfect insect coming out of the tree the fol¬ 
 lowing June. 
 
 A cylindrical butternut-brown beetle, hoary white beneath, and 
 with two broad milk white stripes above, running the whole length 
 of its body. Length 0.60 to 0.75. 
 
 A full account of this species will be found in my first report, 
 Transactions N. Y. State Agricultural Society for 1854, p. 715. 
 Having recently enjoyed ample opportunities for inspecting the 
 work of this borer, I find it is more variable in its habits than 
 previous information had led me to suppose. The account given 
 by Dr. Harris, the best authority we have hitherto possessed on 
 subjects of this kind, has caused a very imperfect and in some 
 respects erroneous idea of its operations to become widely preva¬ 
 lent in our country. He says, “ The grub, with its strong jaws, 
 cuts a cylindrical passage through the bark, and pushes its cast¬ 
 ings backwards out of the hole from time to time, while it bores 
 upwards in the wood, penetrating eight or ten inches in the tree.” 
 But, as I have heretofore stated, it is when the worm first hatches 
 from the egg that it mines its way through the bark, and is then 
 so minute that the hole it makes is no larger than the perforation 
 of a pin, and often becomes wholly closed and obliterated. And 
 the worm does not now penetrate into the wood, but feeds upon 
 the inner layers of the bark and the outer layers o 1 the sap-wood, 
 for about a twelvemonth, and till it is half grown to maturity, 
 excavating hereby a shallow flat cavity between the bark and the 
 wood, which cavity extends some two or three inches up and down 
 and is half as broad, but is commonly very irregular in its form, in 
 consequence of several worms working in the same tree and avoiding 
 any encroachment upon each other. This cavity is almost inva¬ 
 riably found stuffed full and densely packed with the sawdust¬ 
 like castings or chips of the worm, a small quantity of which is 
 commonly protruded to the outside of the bark, sometimes throng.) 
 a natural crack formed by the bark becoming dead, dry and cun- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 323 
 
 APPLE. TRUNK. 
 
 tracted, sometimes through one or more small orifices which 
 appear to be gnawed by the worm. 13ut I have met with many 
 instances where none of this powder was protruded, the blackened 
 and slightly depressed surface of the bark being the only indica¬ 
 tion of the mischief that was going on beneath. And not unfre- 
 qitently the worm eats downwards, under the bark of the root, to 
 a distance of two to four inches below the surface of the ground, 
 instead of being always at or slightly above the surface, as pre¬ 
 vious accounts have implied. And it is of course impossible for 
 any castings to be protruded from this part of its burrow, as the 
 soil is firmly pressed against and moulded to the root. And 
 where this powder appears externally, it commonly has the aspect 
 not of having been thrust out by the worm, but of having 
 crowded itself out, from the mass under the bark swelling by 
 being dampened by rain soaking through the dead bark and satu¬ 
 rating it. 
 
 The worm is almost always found at some part of the outer 
 edge of its burrow, where it is lying apparently dormant, crowded 
 and tightly w r edged between the bark and the w r ood. Like most 
 other larvae, this moults, and its cast skin will sometimes be found 
 among the dust in the burrow. At length, in the course of the 
 second summer, whep it has grown to half or three-quarters of an 
 inch in length and its jaws have become sufficiently strong for the 
 work, it begins to bore a cylindrical passage upward in the solid 
 wood, making hereby a secure retreat, in the interior of the tree, 
 in which to lie and sleep during its pupa state. It is not till just 
 the close of the larva period of its life that it completes this cylin¬ 
 drical burrow by extending it onwards and obliquely outw'ards to 
 the bark. It then stuffs the upper end of this passage with 
 sawdust-like pow'der, and its lower end with short fibres of 
 wood arranged like curly locks of hair, thus forming an elastic 
 bed on which to repose during its pupa state. After it has 
 changed from its pupa to its perfect form, it still remains dormant 
 and motionless in its cell, sometimes for several weeks. Awaking 
 at length to life and activity, it crawls upward, loosening and 
 Pulling down the dust and chips from the upper end of its burrow, 
 till it reaches the bark. Through this it cuts a remarkably 
 
324 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLK. TRUNK. 
 
 smooth round hole, of the exact size requisite to enable it to crawl 
 out from the tree. This hole is commonly only four or six inches 
 above the surface of the ground. And sometimes a worm will be 
 met with boring its cylindrical burrow in the wood of the root, in 
 a situation where it is evident it intends to pass its pupa state 
 under the ground and emerge below or at the surface. 
 
 Although this borer is a native insect which has always existed 
 upon this continent, it appears to be recently that it has taken up 
 its residence in the apple tree. Aged persons inform me that no 
 insect except the caterpillar was formerly known to infest this 
 tree; and it is quite certain that our predecessors, fifty and a 
 hundred years ago, with the little attention they were accustomed 
 to bestow upon their orchards, could not have had such thrifty, 
 large, long lived trees as we know were common at that time, if 
 this and other insects attacked them then as they do now. We 
 have met with no record, pointing this out as a depredator, until 
 the year 1824, when Mr. Say, describing this species, notes that 
 “ In the larva state it is very injurious to the apple tree, boring 
 into the wood.” And the following spring its character appears 
 to have become known in the vicinity of Albany for the first time. 
 The reminiscence is one of too much interest in the history of this 
 insect to be permitted to pass into oblivion. April 27th, 1825, 
 the late Philip Heartt of Troy, in a letter to Jesse Buel, states 
 that an orchard of young trees which he would not have parted 
 with for two thousand dollars, he had just discovered were all 
 girdled and destroyed, or very nearly so, by worms under the bark, 
 of all sizes, from that of a large yellow grub, downward. Some 
 of these insects at that early season were found in their perfect 
 state, from which Dr. James Eights, Jr. ascertained them to be the 
 species which Mr. Say had recently named and described. Judge 
 Buel hereupon wrote to Mr. Say, soliciting further information 
 and a remedy, who replied, recommending a measure which had 
 then lately been found successful against the peach root borer, 
 namely, placing common mortar around the root of the tree. This 
 correspondence is published in full in the Memoirs of the New- 
 York Board of Agriculture, vol. iii, commencing on page 478; 
 and from it some facts may be gathered respecting the habits of 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 325 
 
 APPLE. TRUNK. 
 
 this insect, which have not been stated in any of the accounts 
 since published. 
 
 Remedies. —To repel the beetle from depositing its eggs upon 
 the bark, the tree should be rubbed with soft soap or some other 
 alkaline preparation, the latter part of May. Although the insect 
 has been found changed from its pupa to its perfect form in April, 
 
 I suppose such individuals would remain dormant in their cells 
 until the season became more advanced and warm; and we have 
 no knowledge of its appearing abroad until the beginning ot 
 June. We are yet in want of exact observations as to the date ol 
 its depositing its eggs. If preventive measures have been neg¬ 
 lected and these worms have established themselves at the root of 
 the tree, they should immediately be ferreted out and destroyed. 
 This can be done much more easily when they are young anil 
 small, as they are then lying directly under the bark. Young 
 trees should therefore be inspected every autumn or early in the 
 spring; and if any particles of powder, like new sawdust, are found 
 upon the ground around the root, the dead blackish bark at that 
 point, and at other places where such bark occurs, should be cut 
 away, until the worm beneath is discovered. A little experience 
 will render one expert in detecting the lurking places of these 
 pests. And they should never be allowed to remain until the 
 second summer, to finish their injury by boring in the solid wood 
 of the tree. 
 
 3. Apple Buprestis, Chrysobothrisfemorata, Fabriclus. (Colcoptera Bupres- 
 
 tidao.) [Plate I, fig 3.] 
 
 A pale yellow footless grub, its anterior end enormously large, 
 round and flattened. Excavating a cavity under the bark and 
 in the solid wood analogous to that of the preceding species, but 
 much smaller. 
 
 The insect a flattish oblong, shining black beetle, its under side 
 appearing like burnished copper, its wing covers with three 
 raised lines, the outer two interrupted by two impressed spots. 
 Length 0.50. Basking in the sunshine, upon apple trees, in June 
 and July. See Trans. N. Y. State Agricultural Society, 1854, p. 
 729. 
 
326 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLE. TRUNK. 
 
 I. Prickly Leptostyi.us, Leptostylus aculiferus , Say. (Colcoptera. Cerara- 
 
 bycidae.) [Plate I, tig. 4.] 
 
 Small worms, similar in appearance to young apple tree borers, 
 occurring sometimes in multitudes under the bark, forming long, 
 narrow winding tracks upon the outer surface of the wood, these 
 tracks becoming broader as the worm has increased in size. 
 
 A rather short and thick brownish gray beetle, with small 
 prickle-like points upon its wing covers, and back of their middle 
 a white curved or V-shaped band, with a black streak on its hind 
 edge. Length, 0.35. Appearing the last of August. See Country 
 Gentleman, vol. ix, p. 78. 
 
 The wood of the apple tree was formerly highly valued for cabinet work in 
 this country. In 1786, a son of Gen. Israel Putnam, residing in Williams- 
 town, Mass., had a table made from one of his apple trees. Many years after¬ 
 wards the gnawing of an insect was heard in one of the leaves of this tabic, 
 which noise continued for a year or two, when a large long-horned beetle made 
 its exit therefrom. Subsequently the same noise was heard again, and 
 another insect, and afterwards a third, all of the same kind, issued from this 
 tabic leaf-—the first one coming out twenty and the last one twenty-eight years 
 after the tree was cut down. These facts are more fully stated in the history 
 of the county of Berkshire, published at Pittsfield, 1829, pago 39. This, I 
 believe, is the longest period of an insect remaining alive in timber, of which 
 we have any record, and it is important to ascertain, if possible, what insect 
 this was. John J. Putnam, Esq., of Whitecreck, N. Y., was a young man, resid¬ 
 ing at his father’s in Williamstown, when these remarkable incidents occurred. 
 On showing to him specimens of all the larger long-horned beetles of this 
 vicinity, he points to the Cerasphorus balteatus (plate 1, fig. 8; see insects infes¬ 
 ting the trunk of the hickory,) as being the same insect, according to the best 
 of his recollection, though he is not certain but it might have been the Calli- 
 dium agreste. This testimony, in connection with what President Fitch of Wil¬ 
 liams college says of the insect in the notice above referred to, “ its color dark 
 glistening brown with tints of yellow,” releases us from all doubts upon this 
 subject, as the agreste is of a uniform brown color, whilst the balteatus com¬ 
 monly presents traces more or less distinct of an oblique yellowish spot or band 
 near the middle of its wing covers. We may therefore regard the balteatus as 
 another insect which occasionally bores in the trunks of the apple tree. 
 
 5. Apple bark beetle, Tomicus Mali, new sp. (Colcoptera. Scolytidse) 
 
 Young thrifty trees, soon after putting forth their leaves in 
 spring, suddenly withering, as though scorched by lire, the bark 
 becoming loosened from the wood, and soon after numerous per- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 327 
 
 APPLE. TRUNK. 
 
 forations like pin holes appearing, penetrating through the bark 
 and into the wood, from each of which comes out a very small, 
 cylindrical beetle, which is smooth, slender, black, sometimes dark 
 chestnut red, its legs and antenna; testaceous or dull pale yellow¬ 
 ish, its thorax anteriorly minutely punctured, the declivity at the 
 tip of the wing-covers less abrupt than usual, with an excavation 
 or groove along the suture, which gives the apex a notched 
 appearance, and near the middle of the declivity upon each side 
 of this groove a slightly elevated tubercle of the shape of a cres¬ 
 cent, with its concave side towards the suture. Length 0.09. 
 
 I only know this inseet from specimens recently sent me from 
 Middlefield, Mass., by Lawrence Smith, Esq., who writes me that 
 he took them July 6th, from the trunk of an apple tree ten inches 
 in diameter, which was numerously punctured from the surface 
 of the ground to where the limbs commenced branching off, above 
 which no traces of them were to be found. In another letter he 
 st; tes that this insect was first noticed in his neighborhood two 
 years ago, when several nursery trees were riddled by them. 
 Nothing was seen of them last year; but they have reappeared 
 the spring of the present year (1857) in greater abundance, and 
 a number of trees have been ruined by them. I find a specimen 
 of this same insect also in a collection sent me several years since 
 from Ohio, by Dr. Robert H. Mack, of Parma. 
 
 The joints of the feet and the contour of the antenna; is the 
 same in this insect as in the genus Tomicus; but between the 
 second joint of the antennae and the knob or club is a mere cylin¬ 
 drical pedicel to the knob, scarcely as long as the second joint 
 and less than half its diameter, destitute of articulations cutting 
 it up into small joints. The antennae are thus but five jointed, 
 the knob being composed of only three nearly equal joints. And 
 I find no genus defined, the antennae of which strictly coincide 
 with those of this species. 
 
 Pear blight beetle, Scolytas Pyri. See Pear insects, No. 56. 
 
 Several individuals of this species were also found by Mr. Smith, 
 associated with the foregoing, and coming out from the bark a 
 few days before them, making a perforation twice as large, the 
 holes of that species being but three-hundredths of an inch in 
 
328 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLE. TRUNK. 
 
 diameter, whilst those of this insect measure 0.06. A specimen 
 of the wood sent me, shows a perforation made by this larger 
 insect, running in a straight line through the bark and into the 
 wood three-fourths of an inch, with three lateral galleries of the 
 same size branching off from this at right angles upon one side 
 and one upon the opposite side, these galleries being excavated 
 up and down parallel with the grain of the wood. 
 
 It thus appears that the pear blight beetle, instead of being 
 limited to the twigs in its operations, as has heretofore been sup¬ 
 posed, attacks the trunk of the tree also. And it is therefore 
 evident that there are two generations of this insect each year. 
 The new shoots at the ends of the limbs are not sufficiently grown 
 to accommodate the earliest brood, and they are therefore nurtur¬ 
 ed in the trunk of the tree. When these reach maturity, the 
 newly grown twigs offer them a more dainty repast, and they 
 accordingly resort to them, blighting and destroying them in the 
 manner hereafter stated in the account of this insect, No. 56. 
 
 It was formerly supposed that the bark beetles only infested 
 trees which were already dying or dead. But more recent obser¬ 
 vations have shown that sound healthy trees are attacked and 
 killed by them. And these observations are fully confirmed by 
 Mr. Smith, who states that it is young thrifty apple trees, that 
 made a most vigorous growth last summer, which have been 
 killed this past spring by these insects. 
 
 Worms consuming the wood of old and hollow trees, hastening their decay. 
 
 The larvae of quite a number of beetles feed upon the old and 
 decaying wood of almost all our trees, showing little preference 
 for one tree over another. Those only which from their very 
 large size will be liable to attract notice when found as they fre¬ 
 quently are in the interior of aged apple trees, may here be speci¬ 
 fied, although they are equally common in oaks, willows, &c. 
 
 O. Horn-bug, Lucanus Capreolus, Linnaeus. (Coleoptcra. Lucanidao.) 
 
 Large thick nearly cylindrical white worms, with the hind part 
 of their bodies curved downwards and forwards, their heads and 
 six legs tawny reddish, the mouth darker. In the loose dirt 
 which accumulates in the hollow of the tree, forming large hard 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 329 
 
 APPLE. TRUNK. 
 
 brown pods, resembling eggs, in which to lie during their pupa 
 state. 
 
 The insect, a large oblong beetle, smooth and shining, of a 
 chestnut or mahogany color, the males with stout sickle-shaped 
 jaws as long as the head, and having a small tooth on their inner 
 edge near the middle. Length 1.00 to 1.20. Often flies in at 
 open windows, in warm evenings in July. See Harris’s Treatise, 
 p. 40. 
 
 7. Rough Osmoderma, Osmoderma scabra, Beauvois. (Coleoptcra Melolon- 
 thidao.) 
 
 A worm similar in size and shape to the preceding, but much 
 more rough and wrinkled transversely, changing to a broad oval 
 black beetle, coarsely punctured, flattened upon its wing covers, 
 which are rough from irregular elevations and have impressed 
 lines along the middle; the males smaller, purplish black and 
 slightly coppery, with the head flat and its edges turned upward. 
 Length 0.80 to 1.10. Appears in July. See Harris, p. 37. 
 
 8. Smooth Osmoderma, Osmoderma eremicola. Knoch. 
 
 This doubtless has the same form and habits with the preceding 
 though it has not yet been observed in its larva state. The beetle 
 is also similar in size and form, but is perfectly smooth, shining 
 and of a deep mahogany brown color, the males having a broad 
 transverse excavation on the fore part of the thorax. See 
 Harris, p. 38. 
 
 9. Big-eyed snapping beetle, Alaus oculatus, Linnaeus. (Coleoptera Elatc- 
 ridie.) 
 
 A smooth flattened tawny yellow worm, dark brown or black 
 at each end, growing to two and a half inches in length by 0.40 
 in width, rather broadest in the middle, the last segment with two 
 thorn-like points curving upward, and on its under side a large, 
 soft retractile pro-leg, with six small slender legs anteriorly; 
 changing to a long, rather flat black snapping beetle, with its 
 wing covers speckled with white, and on its thorax two large eye¬ 
 like spots of coal black, surrounded by a white ring. Length 
 LOO to 1.80. Occurs in June and July. See Harris, p. 48. 
 
330 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 
 APPLE. LIMBS. 
 
 Two other New-York species, very similar to this and doubtless 
 having the same habits, may here be noticed. They are much 
 less common, and are met with in the month of April. 
 
 10 . Purblind snapping beetle, Alans myops, Fab. 
 
 Brown, clouded with ash-gray, the eye-like spots much smaller 
 dim, and oval instead of round. 
 
 11. Blinking snapping beetle, Alaus luscus, Fab. 
 
 Differs from the foregoing only in being wholly destitute of any 
 gray or white coloring. 
 
 The Divaricated Buprestis (see No. 71,) is sometimes met 
 with upon decaying apple trees. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LIMBS AND TWIGS. 
 
 Mining the ttvigs internally causing them to perish. 
 
 12. Apple twig borer, Bostrichusbicaudatus, Say. (Coleoptera Bostrichid®.) 
 
 Particular twigs withering and their leaves turning brown in 
 midsummer, with a hole the size of a knitting needle perforated 
 at one of the buds some six or twelve inches below the tip end 
 of the twig, this hole running into the heart of the twig, which is 
 consumed some inches in length. 
 
 The insect, a small cylindrical beetle, dark chesnut brown, 
 black beneath, the fore part of its thorax rough from minute ele¬ 
 vated points, and in the males furnished with two little horns, 
 and the tips of their wing covers above, with two prickle-like 
 points which curve inwards. Length 0.25 to 0.35. 
 
 This insect occurs from Pennsylvania to Mississippi, and has 
 been common of late years in the orchards of Michigan and Illi¬ 
 nois, but has never been met with as yet in New-York or New- 
 England. 
 
 The blight beetle destroys the twigs similarly, perforating a 
 minute hole at several of the buds instead of one only, but it is 
 more common on the pear tree. See No. 56. 
 
 The oak pruner, represented on plate ii., fig 2, in its larva 
 state severs the small limbs, in summer, cutting them off as 
 smoothly as though the work were done by a saw. It is rare on 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 331 
 
 APPLE. LIMBS. 
 
 the apple and so common on the oak that the description of it 
 will be given under the latter. 
 
 Wounding the twigs externally, causing them to break and fall. 
 
 13. Neiy-York weevil, Jthycerus Novceboracensis, Forster. (Coleoptera 
 Attelabidse.) 
 
 A beetle in May and June, eating the buds and gnawing into 
 the twig at their base, cutting it often to the pith. 
 
 A gray weevil, the largest one in this country, each of its wing 
 covers with four white lines, which are interrupted by black dots, 
 the thorax with three whitish lines. Length 0.35 to 0.60. See 
 Horticulturist, vol. viii, p. 386. 
 
 14. Seventeen-year locust, Cicada septemdecim, Linn. (Homcoptera. 
 Cicadidse.) 
 
 Appearing in June, in immense numbers, at intervals of seven¬ 
 teen years; making slits in the small limbs of the trees, in which 
 to deposit its eggs, causing a profuse flow of sap from the wounds, 
 the limb commonly perishing. A very large black fly with red 
 eyes and four large glassy wings, the ribs of which are bright 
 orange yellow. Width across the wings when spread, 2.50 to 
 3.25. See Trans. N. Y. State Agric. Soc. 1854, p. 742. 
 
 This locust will next appear in this State in 1860 along the 
 Hudson river and on Long Island; in 1S66 in the west end of 
 the State; and again on Long Island in 1868 and 1872. S. Cal- 
 verly, Esq., of Brooklyn, assures me that some of these locusts 
 can be met with on Long Island every year. 
 
 dog-day cicada, see No. 72. 
 
 Puncturing the smooth bark of the limbs and extracting their juices. 
 
 15. Apple bark-louse, Aspidiotus conchiformis, Gmelin. (Homoptora. 
 Coccidse.) 
 
 An oblong flattish brown scale, one-eighth of an inch long, 
 shaped like an oyster shell, fixed to the smooth bark and resem¬ 
 bling a little blister; sometimes crowded together in such num¬ 
 bers as to wholly cover the bark. Beneath each of these scales 
 from a dozen to a hundred minute white eggs, which hatch the 
 latter part of May, giving out tiny lice, resembling minute white 
 
332 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLE. LIMBS. 
 
 dots or atoms, which disperse themselves over the smooth baric 
 and then become stationary, with their beaks inserted in the bark 
 sucking its juices. Some of these ere many days acquire two 
 wings and resemble small flies or midges. These are the males. 
 The others remain fixed to the bark, die, and become overspread 
 with a substance resembling fine blue mould, forming little 
 patches upon the bark through most of the month of June. As 
 this mouldiness wears off - , the little blister-like scale first noticed 
 again becomes visible, these scales being the dried relics of the 
 females, forming a covering to protect their eggs through the 
 autumn and winter. See Trans. N. Y. State Agricultural Soc. 
 
 ’ 1854, p. 732. 
 
 Of late years every orchard in the district adjacent to Lake 
 Michigan has been ruined by this insect. Numerous remedies for 
 abating the evil have been tried, without success. Now at last, 
 it is pretty well ascertained that anointing the trees with grease 
 or oil is an effectual remedy. I am assured of this by Dr. Hoy, 
 of Racine, and other correspondents, and by several communica¬ 
 tions in the Prairie Farmer and other agricultural periodicals. 
 
 16. Cotton scale insect, jfspidiotus Gossypii, new species. 
 
 It may not be wholly out of place in this connection to observe that almost 
 every tree and shrub, as well as many herbaceous plants, are infested, each 
 with a species of bark-louse or scale insect peculiar to it. As yet, however, 
 no insect of this kind has been recorded as pertaining to the cotton plant. But 
 on some dried specimens of the Gussippium rcligiosum, sent me from Ningpo, 
 China, by Rev. M. S. Culbertson, of the Presbyterian Board of Missions, l find 
 a scale insect placed along the sides of the mid-vein, upon the under surface of 
 the leaves. It is smaller than the scales of the apple bark-louse, pale yellow, 
 flattened, of a broad oval form, pointed at one end, the opposite or rounded 
 end being whitish, thin, and semi-transparent. It also shows a slender raised 
 line running lengthwise upon each sido of the middle, and slight transverse 
 wrinkles. There is reason to apprehend that this insect may find its way to 
 our shores at some future day, and become detrimental to one of the most 
 important staple products of our country. 
 
 17. Apple tree blight, Eriosoma lanigera, Ilausmnnn. (Homoptera. 
 
 Apliidae.) 
 
 Small patches of white down or cotton-like wool covering a 
 cluster of minute pale lice; situated near the root, particularly 
 around the base of twigs and suckers growing from the trunk, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 333 
 
 APPLE. LIMBS. 
 
 and where any wound in the bark is healing, and in autumn com¬ 
 mon also in the axils of the leaf stalks towards the ends of the 
 twi^s; sometimes so multiplied, in European countries, as to cover 
 the whole under sides of the limbs, and also the trunk, the tree 
 appearing as though it were whitewashed; preferring trees whose 
 fruit is sweetest. 
 
 Under each small patch of down is commonly one large female 
 and her young. The female is about 0.06 long, egg-shaped, dull 
 reddish brown, with a black head and feet and dusky legs and 
 antenna}. She is dusted over with a white mealy powder, and has 
 a tuft of white down growing upon the hind part of her back, 
 which is easily detached. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 193. 
 
 affecting the leaves. 
 
 Puncturing them and extracting their juices• 
 
 18. Apple aphis or plant louse, Jfphis Mali, Fab. (Homoptera Aphid ®.) 
 
 [Plate I, fig. 1, the male, fig. 5, the female.] 
 
 Small green lice without wings, accompanied by a few black 
 and green ones having wings, crowded together in vast numbers 
 upon the under sides of the leaves and the green succulent tips of 
 tlie twigs, the leaves becoming distorted hereby and turned back¬ 
 wards, often with their tips pressing against the twig from whence 
 they grow. 
 
 The winged individuals with a black thorax and a green abdo¬ 
 men, having a row of black dots along each side, and pale legs 
 with black knees and feet. Length 0.05 to the tip of the abdo¬ 
 men. The wingless individuals slightly larger, with the thorax and 
 abdomen green, the legs pale, with black feet. See Trans. N. Y. 
 State Ag. Society, 1854, p. 753. 
 
 19. Apple-leaf Aphis, Aphis Malifolia, Fitch. 
 
 Found with the preceding on apple trees in Illinois; distin¬ 
 guished from it by being slightly larger and having the abdomen 
 as well as the thorax black, the second fork of the wing veins 
 at its tip nearer to the end of the fourth vein than it is to the end 
 of the first fork, and other differences in the wing veins. See 
 Trans. N. Y. State Ag. Society, 1854, p. 760. 
 
334 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLE. LIMBS. 
 
 20. Mouldy aphis, Callipterus mucidus, new species. (Homoptera Aphid® ) 
 
 A solitary plant-louse, walking on the leaves or hovering on the 
 W'ing in their shade, having its body, legs and antennse coated 
 over, more or less, with pruinose matter resembling fine bluish 
 white mould. Pale green, whitish anteriorly, legs and antennae 
 black, their bases pale; wings clear and glassy with a small dusky 
 or black cloud on the tips of the veins; the rib-vein whitish to 
 the stigma, and from thence thicker and coal black. Length 0.075. 
 
 21 , Thorn-bush tree-hopper, Thelia Cratagi, Fitch. (Ilomoptera Mern- 
 
 bracidae.) [Plate ii, fig. 5.] 
 
 On apple trees and more common on thorn-bushes, in July and 
 August, standing upon the small limbs, and when approached by 
 the finger, leaping away with a sudden strong spring and becoming 
 lost to the view. A tree-hopper, shaped like a beech nut, 0.34 
 long, black varied with chestnut brown, with a large white spot 
 on each side, which is prolonged forwards into a band across the 
 front, and with a white band also across the hind part of its back, 
 the anterior end of its back with a protuberance extending 
 upwards perpendicularly. 
 
 In the present treatise I retain the genus Thelia in its original integrity, as 
 proposed by Amyot and Serville, including in it those species only which have 
 a horn-like protuberance, more long than wide, arising from the fore part of 
 the thorax, and compressed and rounded at its summit. The genus as thus 
 limited, embraces the bimuculata and acuminata Fab., the belligcra Say, the 
 univittata Harris, and the above species. In my Catalogue of the Ilomoptcrous 
 insects in the State Cabinet of Natural History, published in 1851, I proposed 
 the generic name Telamona for certain other species which could not be referred 
 to any of the genera in Amyot and Serville’s work, dilfering from Thelia in 
 having a protuberance jutting up from the middle instead of the anterior part of 
 the back, this protuberance being more wide than high when the insect is viewed 
 in profile, and more or less square in its form. M. Fairmairo in his valuable 
 memoir on the Membraciike, in the fourth volume of the second series of the 
 Annals of the Entom. Soc. of France, published a few years previous to my 
 Catalogue, and giving much the most full and clear exposition of this group 
 that has yet appeared, unites these insects to the genus Thelia, and also 
 includes the genus Smilia of Amyot and Serville in the same genus, employing 
 the name Smilia for an allied group of insects in which the apical cell of the 
 fore wings is quadrangular instead of triangular. The Thelia of M. Fairmairo 
 thus becomes an extensive genus, embracing insects which present notable dif¬ 
 ferences in their external form. I know not why M. Fairmaire founds a portion 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 335 
 
 APPLE. LIMBS. 
 
 of the genera in this family upon differences in the shape of the thorax, and 
 disregards analogous differences here, especially since these differences are not 
 in the least sexual here as they are in some of the other genera. I am there¬ 
 fore induced to retain the genus Smilia for those insects to which it was applied 
 by Amyot and Serville, being a portion of the first section of this genus as it 
 was originally proposed by Germar, and the equivalent of the first and second 
 sections of M. Fairmaire’s genus Thelia; his third section being the same with 
 my genus Telamona, and his fourth section being the Thelia of Amyot and Ser¬ 
 vile, and of the present Report. 
 
 22. Buffalo trek-hopper, Cercsabubalus, Fab. (IIomoptera.Membracidse.) 
 
 [Plate ii, fig. 4.] 
 
 A tree-hopper of similar form and the same habits with the 
 preceding, appearing on this and most other trees from July till the 
 end of the season. Color light grass-green when alive, freckled 
 with whitish dots; anteriorly with a short sharp point on each 
 side, jutting horizontally outwards, having some resemblance to 
 the horns of a bull or buffalo. Length 0.30 to 0.40. 
 
 23. Calf trek-hopper, Ceresa taurina, new species. 
 
 This is like the preceding in every respect, except that the 
 space between the horns is concave instead of rectilinear. It is 
 the insect named Membracis taurina in Dr. Harris’s Catalogue, and 
 perhaps is not a distinct species from the foregoing. 
 
 Several other kinds of tree-hoppers and leaf-hoppers occur 
 upon apple trees, but being more common on oaks, willows, and 
 other trees, will be noticed hereafter, each in connection with the 
 tree to which it appears to be most attached. Several ot these 
 insects puncture the tender bark of the small limbs as well as the 
 leaves. 
 
 24. Largf, tree-bug, Jtrma grandis, Dallas. (Ilemiptera. Pentatomidae.) 
 
 [Plate ii, fig. 7.] 
 
 A large flat bug, the size and somewhat the shape of a pumpkin 
 seed, but with a conspicuous sharp spine projecting outwards on 
 each side anteriorly. Color dull pale yellowish, with numerous 
 minute brown punctures above and red ones on the under side, and 
 with two burnished brassy green dots near each anterior angle ot the 
 thorax. Length of the male 0.G0, female 0.75. Appearing on 
 apple, oak and other trees from July till the end of the season. 
 
33b 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLE. LIMBS. 
 
 525. Spangled tree-bug, /Irma bracteata, new species. 
 
 Like the preceding and of the same size, but darker colored 
 and having in addition to the brassy green dots of that species 
 one on each anterior angle of the thorax, two on the middle of its 
 anterior edge, and two others back of these last, with several 
 small irregular greenish black spots on the scutel and wing covers. 
 Rare. Met with in July. 
 
 20. Spined tree-bug, Arma spinosa, Dallas. 
 
 Like the foregoing, but smaller and destitute of the brassy green 
 dots; a dusky brown spot on the membranous tips of the wing 
 covers: beneath with a row of black dots along each side of the 
 middle, and a large round spot on the middle of the last segment; 
 thighs with one or two black dots near their tips. Length 0.42 
 to 0.52. During summer and autumn common on apple trees 
 throughout the United States. Very similar to the Modest tree- 
 bug, No. 101. 
 
 Beetles eating the leaves. 
 
 Rose bug, see No. 50. 
 
 27. Cloaked Ciirysomela, Glyptoscelis crypticus, Say. (Coleoptera. Chrys- 
 omelidae.) 
 
 A thick cylindrical beetle, with its head sunk into the thorax 
 and the thorax narrower than the body; pale ash gray from being 
 entirely covered or cloaked with short incumbent whitish hairs; 
 the closed wing covers showing a small right angled notch at the 
 tip of their suture; scutel dusky. Length 0.32. Mr. Say met 
 with this insect in Missouri, and my specimens are from the same 
 vicinity, gathered by Wm. S. Robertson, who informs me that it 
 eats oak leaves, but seems to prefer those of the apple tree, on 
 which it is found in abundance. 
 
 Worms eating the leaves. 
 
 Probably a greater variety of worms are able to sustain them¬ 
 selves upon the leaves of the apple than upon those of any other 
 tree. Some of these will be numerous during one or two seasons 
 and will then scarcely be seen again for several years, whilst of 
 others a few will be met with almost every year. Some of them 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 337 
 
 applb. leaves. 
 
 take on different colors and marks with every change of their 
 skins, so that a description of the full grown worm will not apply 
 to it when it is small. Quite a number of these worms are yet 
 unknown to us in their perfect state. Of those mentioned below, 
 the eight first are caterpillars, clothed more or less densely with 
 hairs; the four next are large thick bodied worms, and the re¬ 
 mainder are small and more slender. 
 
 28. Apple-tree caterpillar, Clisiocampa Americana, Harris. (Lepidoptera 
 
 Bombycidae.) r • 
 
 In May, forming large cobweb-like nests in the forks of the 
 limbs; black, hairy caterpillars with white lines, and along each 
 side a row of blue spots; living together in societies; finally dis¬ 
 persing and spinning oval white cocoons, placed in sheltered cor¬ 
 ners. The moth appearing the first of July, dull brownish red, 
 its fore wings crossed by two straight white bands running parallel 
 with the hind margin. Width of the wings when spread, 1.20 
 to 2.00. See Transactions of 1855, p. 413. 
 
 Forest caterpillar, Clisiocampa sylvatica. See Oak insects. 
 
 Fall web worm, Hyphantria textor. See Cherry insects. No. 88. 
 
 Hickory tussock moth, Lophocampa Caryce. See Walnut insects. 
 
 2t>. Yellow-necked apple-tree worm, Eumetopona Ministra, Drury. 
 (Lepidoptera. Notodontidae.) 
 
 Clustered closely together and wholly stripping the leaves from 
 a particular limb, in August; when alarmed holding both ends 
 of their bodies stiffly upward; dull yellow, cylindrical worms 
 thinly clothed with long soft hairs, with light yellow stripes and 
 black heads, when older becoming black with a yellow neck and 
 light yellow stripes. The moth varying from buff yellow to 
 auburn brown, its fore wings crossed by three to five narrow 
 brown or blackish bands, the forward one curved and transverse, 
 the other straight and parallel with the hind margin. Width 
 2.00 to 2.40. See Transactions, 1855, p. 467. 
 
 “'‘^R'can lappet moth, Gastropacha Americana, Harris. (Lepidop- 
 
 bi July, August and September, appressed to and resembling a 
 natural tumor or swelling of the bark; a flattened ash-gray worm 
 [Ag. Trans.] V 
 
338 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 Apple, leaves. 
 
 2 50 long, fringed low down on each side with tufts of blackish 
 and gray hairs, and readily known by its having above on the 
 fore part two bright scarlet velvety bands. The moth tawny red¬ 
 dish brown, the inner angle of its fore wings notched as though 
 eaten off by a worm, and commonly a pale cloud extending from 
 this notch towards the tip, edged often on each of its sides by a 
 zig-zag dark brown line. Width 1.50 or more. Appearing the 
 latter part of May. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 293. 
 
 31. Vkli.eda lappet moth, Planosa Velleda, Stoll. (Lepidoptera. Horn¬ 
 by cidas.) 
 
 A worm similar to the foregoing in its habits ana appearance, 
 but of a faint pale green color with numerous irregular whitish 
 lines resembling the streaks upon bark, and with a narrow black 
 band above in the suture between the second and the third rings. 
 The moth milk white with a large auburn brown spot on the mid¬ 
 dle of its back, its fore wings entire, dusky gray, crossed by a 
 wavy white line near the hind edge and two others forward of 
 this near the middle; the males scarcely half as large as the 
 females. Width 1.25 to 2.75. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 293. 
 
 32. American vaporer moth, Orgyia leucostigma, Smith and Abbot. (Le¬ 
 pidoptera. Arctiidse.) 
 
 In winter, clusters of white eggs and a dead leaf adhering to a 
 whitish cocoon, attached to the twigs or limbs. In midsummer a 
 slender caterpillar with pale yellow hairs and tufts and black 
 pencils, its head and two small protuberances on the hind part 
 of the back bright coral red. The moth dull smoky or sooty brown, 
 its fore wings with a white dot near the inner angle, a rhombic 
 black spot on the outer edge near the tip, with an oblique black 
 streak fbnvard of it, which is often prolonged to the inner margin 
 and forms the hind edge of a broad ash gray band crossing the 
 middle of the wing. Variable. Width 1.20 to 1.40. Females 
 without wings, ash gray. See Transactions, 1855, p. 441. 
 
 33. Ckcropia emperor moth, Attacus Cecropia, Linn. (Lepidoptera. Bom- 
 bycidse.) 
 
 In August, consuming the whole leaf and its veins, a large 
 cylindrical pale green worm three or four inches long and as thick 
 as one’s thumb, and having two row's of pale blue urojecting 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY^ 
 
 339 
 
 APPLE. LEAVES. 
 
 points along each side, and two rows of pale yellow ones upon the 
 back, with four larger bright orange or red ones anteriorly, all 
 ending in little black prickles; attaching its large pod-like rusty 
 gray cocoon to the side of a limb. The moth large, its wings dark 
 gray, each with a large white crescent-like spot in the centre, 
 margined with red, and beyond this a red band crossing both 
 wings and margined on its fore side with white upon the hind pair. 
 Appears in June. Width five to seven inches. See Harris’ 
 Treatise, p. 299. 
 
 A few words in explanation of the name of this moth may not 
 be amiss in this connection. Sir James Edwin Smith says “ we 
 canuot in this instance commend the nomenclature of Linnaeus, 
 nor is it easy to conjecture what connection he imagined between 
 this moth, magnificent as it is, and the city of Athens, to which 
 its name implies it to belong.” And Dr. Harris, echoing the same 
 sentiment, remarks, “ Cecropia was the ancient name of the city 
 of Athens; its application, by Linnaeus, to this moth, is inexpli¬ 
 cable.” The great legislator of this department of human know¬ 
 ledge, as he is expressively styled by Latreille, it has frequently 
 been remarked, was endowed with a genius which few of his dis¬ 
 ciples have inherited, for selecting names for natural objects, which 
 are most appropriate and happy. The idea which was present in 
 the mind of Linnaeus, when he named this splendid moth, we 
 think is sufficiently evident. The Athenians were the most polished 
 and refined people of antiquity. The moths are the most delicate 
 and elegant of insects; they are the Athenians of their race. 
 Cecrops was the founder, the head of the Athenian people. When 
 the names of men were bestowed upon cities, ships or other 
 objects regarded as being of the feminine gender, classical usage 
 changed these names to the feminine form. The moths (Phalaena) 
 being feminine, and the name of Cecrops being more euphonious 
 in this form, probably induced Linnaeus to change it in the manner 
 be did. The name thus implies this to be the leader, the head of 
 the most elegant tribe of insects, or in other words, the first of all 
 the insect kind. What name more appropriate can be invented 
 for this “ost sumptuous moth 1 It was in the cabinet of Queen 
 Ulrica that Linnaeus met with this species, and it appears that 
 after having bestowed upon it this name, another species became 
 
340 
 
 ANNUAL BEPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APFLB. LEAVB3. 
 
 known to him, vieing with this in its adornment and much surpas¬ 
 sing it in size. One insect being already named, indicating it as 
 the first of the whole race, what name could now be found which 
 would suitably express the rank and importance of this new dis¬ 
 covery 1 The great master was at no loss in this dilemma. The 
 larger species was accordingly termed Atlas , indicating it to be 
 the foundation upon which the whole insect world rests. How 
 many have since been familiar with these most magnificent and 
 princely moths, wholly unconscious of the tact and skill which 
 Linnaeus manifested in selecting the names which they bear! 
 
 Some explanation of the generic names which are adopted in 
 this report, for this insect and those related to it, is also neces¬ 
 sary. The name Attacus , meaning elegant, or connected to the 
 Athenians, was originally given by Linnaeus to a section or sub¬ 
 genus of his group Bombycidje, having the wings expanded when 
 at rest. • Schrank afterwards gave the name Saturnia to these same 
 insects. Germar subsequently revived the original Linnaean name, 
 but most authors still continue the name proposed by Schrank. 
 Duncan (Jardine’s Naturalists’ Library, vol. vii,) has recently pro¬ 
 posed dividing these insects into quite a number of genera. Plain, 
 and in the main judicious as his arrangement of them is, he in 
 our view, improperly ignores the name Attacus , and unfortunately 
 gives an erroneous location to some of the species. Thus our 
 American Cecropia and Promethea are the two species which 
 he figures and fully describes as illustrating his genus Hy- 
 alophora. Yet, as its name implies, this genus is character¬ 
 ised as having large hyaline glass-like spots on the middle of 
 the wings. But no vestige of such spots exists in either of these 
 species. The author has evidently been misled by figures, 
 presuming the white spots represented in the centre of the wings to 
 be hyaline, whereas they are opake. A new situation must there¬ 
 fore be assigned to these two insects. And as the Cecropia is the 
 first species of Attacus named by Linnaeus, after those with glassy 
 spots are removed, it may most appropriately be taken as the type of 
 a genus to retain the original Linnaean name, which genus is par¬ 
 ticularly distinguished by having near the tips of the fore wings an 
 imperfect eye-like spot, formed by a round black spot mar¬ 
 gined on its inner side by a bluish white line. In the centre of 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 341 
 
 APPLE. LEAVES. 
 
 the wings also, at least in one sex, is a white crescent, beyond 
 which a white or pale red band crosses both wings. In addition to 
 our two American species, this genus includes the East Indian 
 Cynthia of Drury, the parent of the Arrindy silk-worm, noted for 
 yielding a fabric of such durability that garments made from it 
 outlast a person’s life time, and are handed down from parents to 
 children, like other heir-looms in a family. These three insects 
 also present as striking a resemblance to each other in their pre¬ 
 paratory as in their perfect states. And these species being thus dis¬ 
 posed of, the genus Saturnia will remain for those moths like 
 Pavonia , which have large opake eye-like spots in the centre of 
 the wings. 
 
 34. Apple Sphinx, Sphinx Gordius, Cramer. (Lepidoptcra. Sphingidne.) 
 
 The fore part of August, adhering when at rest to the under 
 side of a twig, W'ith the forward half of its body held obliquely 
 outward. A thick, cylindrical apple-green worm, 2.50 long, with 
 a reddish brown horn projecting upward from the hind part of 
 its back, and along each side seven oblique violet stripes margined 
 on their hind side with white. Burying itself deep in the earth 
 and producing a large strong narrow-winged moth the following 
 May or June, its fore wings sooty brown varied with ash gray, 
 with black streaks between the veins and a white dot near the 
 middle, placed upon a long slender black line. Width 2.80 to 
 3.50. See Silliman’s Journal, vol. xxxvi. p. 295. 
 
 35. Blind-eyed Sphinx, Smerinthus exccecatus, Smith and Abbot. (Lepi¬ 
 doptcra. Sphingidse.) 
 
 Similar in size, habits and appearance to the preceding, but the 
 worm with a rough granular skin of an apple green color, with 
 tile horn bluish, the seven streaks along each side narrow, yel¬ 
 lowish white, and two short pale lines before. The moth with 
 rose red hind wings, having near their inner angle a black spot 
 with a pale blue centre. Rare. See Silliman’s Journal, vol. 
 xxxvi, p. 290. 
 
 36. Large yellow butterfly, Papilio Turnus, Linn. (Lepidoptera. Pa- 
 pilionid®.) 
 
 In August, commonly seen resting day after aay upon a small 
 mass of cobweb-like threads upon the upper surface of a particu- 
 
342 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLE. LEAVES. 
 
 !ar leaf, a pretty, bright leaf-green, thick, smooth worm, tapering, 
 thickest anteriorly, where on each side is an eye-like spot formed 
 of a black spot having a pale blue centre and surrounded by a 
 pale yellow ring which is widened on its upper side and has a 
 short black line in this widened part. Growing to 1.25 in length 
 and 0.40 thick. The pupa naked, attached to the side of a limb 
 and held in its place by a silken thread passed around its body 
 in the form of a loop. The butterfly appearing in June, of a rich 
 pale yellow color, its wings with a broad black border in which 
 is a row of yellow spots, and with four black streaks, the inner 
 one extending across both pairs. Width 3.00 to 4.75. Somewhat 
 common. 
 
 37. Red-humped prominent, Notodonta eoncinna, Smith and Abbot. (I.cpi- 
 
 doptera. Notodontidse.) 
 
 In August, in a cluster, eating all the leaves from the end of a 
 particular limb, cylindrical prickly worms striped with black and 
 tawny yellow, and on each side with white also, with bright red 
 heads and a slight hump on the fourth ring, and with two rows 
 of black prickles along the back and shorter ones upon the sides. 
 Length 1.25. Forming a cocoon under leaves upon or slightly 
 under the earth. The moth appearing the last of June; light 
 brown, its fore wings dark brown on the inner and grayish on the 
 outer margin, with a dot near the middle, a spot near each angle 
 and several longitudinal streaks along the hind margin dark 
 brown. Width 1.00 to 1.20. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 329. 
 
 Unicoiin prominent, Notodonta unicornis, see Plum insects, No. C6. 
 
 IIag motii, Limacodes pithecium, see Cherry insects, No. 85. 
 
 38 . Canker worm, Nnisopteryx vemata, Peck. (Lepidoptera. Geomctridte.) 
 
 The last of May and in June, piercing small holes in the leaves 
 and when larger consuming all the leaf except the large veins. 
 A very variable measure-worm, nearly an inch long, ten-footed, 
 black, clay-yellow or greenish, commonly with an ash-gray back 
 and a pale yellowish stripe along each side. The pupa state 
 passed under ground, the moth hatching late in autumn and on 
 warm days in winter, but mostly early in the spring; the female^ 
 gray, without wings, crawling up the trunk of the tree to deposit 
 her eggs; the male With large very thin silky ash-gray fore wings, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 343 
 
 APFLE. LEAVES. 
 
 with a whitish spot on their outer edge near the tip and crossed 
 by two jagged whitish bands having blackish dots along their 
 edges, and a row of black dots at the base of the fringe. Width 
 1.25. Very variable, the white bands often wanting. A smaller 
 kind (Jlnisopteryx pometaria, Harris,) without the white spot and 
 bands and with the fore wings crossed by three interrupted dusky 
 lines, is thought by Dr. Harris to be perhaos a distinct species. 
 See Harris’s Treatise, p. 359. 
 
 39. V-mawckd measure worm, JErannis TUiaria, Harris. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Geometrid®.) 
 
 In June, eating large notches in the sides of the leaves; a very 
 variable ten-footed measure worm 1.25 long, brownish black or 
 pale yellow, often with black, white and pale yellow stripes along 
 its back, its head pale with rusty freckles, and commonly a black 
 V-shaped mark upon the front. The pupa under ground, the 
 moth appearing late in autumn; the females wingless; the males 
 nankin yellow, their fore wings large, thin, sprinkled with brown 
 atoms and crossed by two wavy brown lines, the forward one often 
 faint or wanting; a brown dot near the middle of both wings. 
 Width 1.50 to 1.75. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 370. 
 
 40. Apple Tortrix, Brachytcenia Malana, Fitch. (Lepidoptera. Torticid®.) 
 
 In June and September, eating irregular notches in the margin 
 and holes in the middle of the leaves; a rather thick, cylindrical 
 light green worm an inch long, with five white lines and numerous 
 white dots. The pupa in a cocoon in a curved leaf. The moth 
 appearing in July and again in the cold months, its fore wings 
 ash-gray, whitish toward the outer margin, and crossed by three 
 distant zigzag black lines which are faint or indistinct towards the 
 inneredge. Width 0.80 to 1.15. See Transactions, 1855, p. 473. 
 
 41. Unstable drab motii, Orthosia instabilis, SchifFerrmyller. (Lcpidotera. 
 
 Noctuidse.) 
 
 A worm which I have supposed was the same with that of the 
 preceding species, but which appears to be rather thicker bodied, as 
 though it had been fuller fed, and grows to a size a fourth larger, 
 and enters the ground to pass its pupa state, was alluded to in 
 tny last Report. Moths which I knew had come from these larger 
 
344 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEYV-YORK 
 
 APPLE. LEAVES. 
 
 worms, I obtained last winter. They appeared to be identical 
 with a very common European species, named Orthosia instabilis , 
 but as authors speak of that insect as feeding only upon oak 
 leaves, I was in doubt whether I would be justified in pronouncing 
 this which feeds upon the apple to be the same. In April, how¬ 
 ever, on going by night into a forest chiefly of oak trees, this same 
 moth was discovered quite common there. It was clinging around 
 the wounds made in the sugar maples, drinking the sap which 
 flowed therefrom, and instead of flying away when the light of the 
 lantern approached, it merely dropped itself among the dead 
 leaves for concealment, frequently falling into the vessels of sap 
 and drowning therein. It was evident that these moths had come 
 from worms which had fed on the foliage of the surrounding oaks. 
 All doubts of the insect in question being identical with that of 
 Europe were thus resolved. The larva is described in books as 
 being green, with a white line upon the back and a pale yellow 
 one upon each side. It is when it is young and small that it 
 answers to this description. When larger it commonly presents 
 five white lines and the surface becomes freckled with white dots. 
 I once was not a little vexed with myself on finding my memo¬ 
 randa of one of these worms which I was feeding, to be very 
 incorrect; but subsequent observations showed that it was the 
 worm that had changed. The species may well be called unstable, 
 as not only the larva but the moth also is extremely variable; 
 insomuch that authors have heretofore named and described a half 
 dozen species from what are now regarded as mere varieties of this 
 insect. It is commonly of an ash-gray color, varied more or less 
 with rusty. Near the middle of the fore wings is a faint round 
 spot and behind it a kidney-shaped one, of a blackish-gray color 
 margined by a whitish line, the space between these spots rusty 
 and often extended into a band crossing the wing. Towards their 
 hind edge is a rusty transverse streak on the middle, and in a line 
 with it a spot of the same color upon the outer and another upon 
 the inner margin. Width of the spread wings, 1.50. 
 
 42. Palmer worm, Chatochilus Pometellw, Harris. (Lepidoptcra. Tineida:.) 
 
 Appearing the latter part of June, at times excessively nume¬ 
 rous, residing in worm-eaten leaves drawn together by silken 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 345 
 
 APPLE. LEAVES. 
 
 threads, and when jarred dropping and hanging in the air sus¬ 
 pended by a thread; a pale yellowish green worm, having a dusky 
 or blackish stripe along each side of the back edged on its upper 
 side by a narrower whitish stripe, and with a dusky line on the 
 middle of the back. The pupa remaining in the same mass of 
 leaves occupied by the worm, and giving out the moth in about 
 ten days. The moth ash-gray, with its fore wings sprinkled with 
 black atoms, and having four black dots near their middle and 
 six or seven smaller ones around their hind edge. Width 0.65. 
 See Transactions, 1855, p. 453. 
 
 43. Tawny-striped Palmer worm, Chatochihis Malifuliellus, Fitch, 
 
 The fore part of July, residing in a folded worm eaten leaf; a 
 slender pale yellowish worm with a tawny yellow stripe along each 
 side of its back, this stripe having a white stripe upon its lower 
 as well as its upper side, and a pale yellow head. The moth like 
 the preceding, but the fore wings not sprinkled with black atoms, 
 and having, in addition to the dots of the common palmer worm 
 moth, a tawny yellow band toward the tips of the wings, edged 
 with whitish on its fore side. See Transactions, 1855, p. 463. 
 
 44. Comrade Palmer worm, Chatochilus contubemalellus, Fitch. 
 
 Appearing in company with the Palmer w r orm, and closely 
 resembling it, but having the head and neck shining black instead 
 of light yellow. The moth also sprinkled and dotted like that 
 of the Palmer worm, but the ground color of the fore wings dark 
 brown on their inner and white on their outer half. See Trans. 
 1855, 464. 
 
 45. Eye-spotted bud moth, Spilonota oculana, Harris. (Lepidoptera. Tor- 
 
 tricidce.) 
 
 In May and June, with silken threads fastening the young leaves 
 together as they are starting from the buds, and living within and 
 feeding upon them; a small pale dull brownish w T orm with shining 
 elevated dots each giving out a fine hair, its head, neck and a spot 
 on the top of the eighth ring dark brown. Changing to a pupa 
 in the same nest, from which the fore part of July comes a small 
 moth of a dark ash-gray color, its fore w'ings whitish in the middle, 
 mottled with dark gray, the tips light brown with four little black 
 
346 
 
 ANNUAL HEPORT OF NEW-YOKK 
 
 APPLE. LEAVES. 
 
 marks forming an eye-like spot, and another near the inner angle 
 formed by three minute black spots arranged in a triangle, having 
 often a black dot in its centre. Width 0.50 to 0.60. This is 
 probably identical with the European ocellana of Schifferrmyller 
 afterwards named luscana by Fabricius and comitana by Hubner 
 Stephens, and others. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 377. 
 
 46. Rosacean Tortris, Lozotania Jtosaceana, Harris. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Tortricidas.) 
 
 In May and the fore part of June, with silken threads drawing 
 together the young leaves at the ends of the limbs, secreting itself 
 within them and feeding thereon; a slender pale green or yellowish 
 green worm, sometimes flesh red or brownish, 0.75 long, its head 
 and neck above brownish, often a darker green stripe along its back, 
 and with a few smooth dots, each yielding a short fine hair; changing 
 to a pupa within its nest, from which about the first of July comes 
 a short broad flat moth, resembling a bell in its outline, its color 
 dull nankin or drab yellowish, of a dusky shade from numerous 
 small wavy dark brown lines crossing its fore wings, on which are 
 three slightly darker broad oblique bands, situated upon the base, 
 the middle and the hind part. Width of the spread wings 1.10.' 
 See Harris’s Treatise, p. 376. Both the worms and the moths vary 
 greatly as they are reared upon rose, apple, peach or cherry and 
 other leaves, and it is very doubtful whether this is different from 
 a common European insect possessing the same habits — the Rose 
 Tortrix (L. Rosana, Linn.) the several varieties of which have 
 heretofore been regarded as distinct species. 
 
 47. Rosy IIispa, Uroplata rosea, Weber. (Coleoptera. Hispid®.) 
 
 In July, large brownish blister-like spots appearing upon the 
 leaves, from a leaf-mining worm in their interior, eating the green 
 parenchyma and leaving the skin entire; the worm 0.20 long, taper¬ 
 ing, flattened, soft, yellowish white, its head and neck blackish; 
 changing to a pupa in the leaf, from which in six or seven days 
 comes a small flat coarsely punctured beetle, its wing covers form¬ 
 ing an oblong square, tawny yellow, posteriorly red or purple, 
 which color extends forward to the shoulders and onwards upon 
 the sides of the thorax iu a stripe which is often black. Length 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 347 
 
 APPLE. FRUIT. 
 
 0.20 to 0.25. Variable in its colors. This is the Hispa quadrata 
 of Fabricius; whether it is the anteriorly described rosea of Weber 
 is somewhat doubtful. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 106. 
 
 AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 
 
 4§, Codling motii, Carpocapsa Pomonella, Linn. (Lepidoptera. Tortricidse.) 
 
 Feeding upon the core and its seeds, causing much of the young 
 fruit to wither and fall, and occurring also in ripened stored 
 apples; a small white worm with a shining black head and neck 
 and with little smooth dots arranged in pairs, each giving out a 
 fine hair; when larger becoming flesh colored with a tawny brown 
 head and neck; in summer completing its growth in three or four 
 weeks, and coming out through a hole gnawed in the side of the 
 apple; surrounding itself with a w'hite web in a crevice of the 
 bark or similar situation and there passing its pupa state; the 
 moth appearing the latter part of June, but straggling individuals 
 occurring the whole year round, dropping their eggs singly upon 
 the flower end of the apple, from which the young worm pene¬ 
 trates inward to its centre. The fore wings of the moth occupied 
 by alternate irregular transverse wavy streaks of ash-gray and 
 brown, and on the inner hind angle a large tawny brown spot, 
 which is bordered by a brilliant golden mark nearly in the form 
 of a horse shoe. Width 0.75. See Kollar’s Treatise, p. 229. 
 
 49. Apple midge, Molobrus Mali, Fitch. (Diptera. Tipulidac.) 
 
 In the interior of ripened and stored apples, accelerating their 
 decay, whilst the outer surface remains fair; numerous slender taper¬ 
 ing glassy-white maggots; changing to pup in the interior of the 
 apple, from whence come a small slender black midge, 0.15 long, 
 its abdomen blackish with a pale yellow band at each of the 
 sutures, and its wings hyaline tinged with smoky. See Transac¬ 
 tions, 1855, p. 484. 
 
 Plum weevil. This makes the same crescent-shaped wound 
 upon young apples as on plums, causing them to drop to the 
 ground prematurely. See Plum insects, No. 70 
 
348 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 APPLE. FRUIT. 
 
 50 . Rose bus, Macrodactylus subspinosus, Fabr. (Coleoptera. Melolonthid*.) 
 
 Clustering, sometimes in multitudes, upon the young apples 
 and devouring them, the latter part of June, and when these do 
 not suffice it, eating the leaves also; infesting likewise roses, 
 grape vines, plums and cherries :—a smallish oblong buff-yellow 
 beetle, with shining yellow legs and very long black feet. Length 
 0.35 to 0.40. See Transactions, 1855, p. 477. 
 
 51 . Apple Tmups, Plilceothrips Mali, Fitch. (Thysanoptcra. Thripididje.) 
 
 Appearing in a roundish cavity ate near the tip end of the 
 young fruit; a minute, very slender blackish-purple insect with 
 narrow silvery-white wings lying upon its back resembling a long 
 
 Y-shaped mark. Length 0.06. See Transactions, 1854, p. 806. 
 s 
 
 Wasps and Hornets are frequently in the habit of feeding upon 
 growing apples and other sweet fruits, gnawing small roundish 
 cavities in them, and also in autumn when prepared apples are 
 placed in the sun to dry numbers of the same insects are again 
 attracted to them. The common hornet, Vespa maculata, Linn., 
 the yellow jacket, as it is usually designated, Vespa vulgaris, 
 Linn., and our common wasp, Polistes fuscala,Fab., are thechief 
 species which depredate in this manner. But as these insects are 
 most important on account of the injuries they are liable to inflict 
 upon our persons, the description of them more appropriately 
 belongs to another branch of this subject. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 349 
 
 PEAR. TRUNK. 
 
 2. THE PEAR.— Pyrus cvmmunis. 
 
 Most of the insects which infest the apple will be found to 
 attack the pear also, in the same manner, these two trees being so 
 closely related to each other. It will not therefore be necessary 
 to repeat their names. A few insects, however, appear to pertain 
 to the pear exclusively, and some belonging to other trees are 
 found upon the pear that have not yet been noticed upon the 
 apple. These are named below. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TRUNK, BARK AND LIMBS. 
 
 52. Pear-tree borer, TVochilium Pyri, Harris. (Lepidoptcra. Trochiliid®.) 
 
 Particles of powder, like sawdust, appearing upon the bark, 
 thrown out by a worm underneath, resembling the Peach-tree 
 borer, but much smaller; feeding mostly upon the inner layers of 
 the bark and there changing to a pupa; the moth coming out in 
 autumn, resembling a wasp, of a purple black color with a broad 
 yellow band on the middle of its abdomen and two narrow ones 
 forward of it, its under side golden yellow and its wings clear and 
 glass-like, their veins, margin and fringe purplish black, and the 
 ends of the forward pair blackish with a coppery yellow gloss. 
 Width 0.55. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 256. 
 
 Pigeon Tremex, Tremex Columba , a large soft white worm boring 
 deep in the interior of the wood. See Maple insects. 
 
 Plum weevil, Conotrachelus Nenuphar. (See No. 70.) In the 
 winter season, small crescent-shaped incisions appearing in the 
 smooth bark of the limbs, with the bark upon the convex side of 
 this wound elevated in a slight blister, in the cavity of which lies 
 several minute maggots, supposed to be the larvae of the plum 
 weevil in their winter quarters. 
 
 I am reluctant to publish any observations which are not fully 
 completed and known to be fully authentic. An affection of the 
 bark of the pear tree, however, has been presented to my notice, 
 which is of too much interest to be omitted in this place, although 
 
350 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PEAR. TRUNK. 
 
 I am not perfectly certain that it is caused by the insect to which 
 I attribute it. The importance of the facts which I have to report 
 will appear from a few preliminary remarks. 
 
 The history of the plum weevil or curculio, so far as at preseut 
 known, is briefly as follows. The beetle makes its appearance in 
 May and June, cuts a crescent-shaped incision in young plums 
 and other fruits, dropping an egg in the wound, the worm from 
 which, boring in the fruit, causes it to fall from the tree, and the 
 worm becoming full grown, buries itself in the ground, where it 
 remains from three to six weeks, and having completed its trans¬ 
 formations the beetle again comes abroad in July and August. 
 But what becomes of it from this time until the following spring 
 is not yet ascertained. Although this insect and its destructive 
 habits have been so long known in this country, and every owner 
 of a plum tree has year after year endured the most vexatious 
 disappointments from it, we to this day remain in ignorance of 
 its abode and condition during half the year. Most persons who 
 have written upon it, have supposed that some of the worms were 
 so late in leaving the fruit that they remained in the ground 
 through the winter and from these come the beetles which appear 
 in the spring; and several of the remedies which have been 
 recommended for abating this evil have been based upon this 
 theory. But that a whole generation of these insects should be 
 brought forth abortively each summer, to perish without making 
 any provision for a continuance of their species, and that their 
 perpetuity should every year be left to such a mere accident as a 
 few individuals casually belated in coming to maturity, w r ould be 
 an anomaly 'wholly unlike anything which we meet with else¬ 
 where in this department of nature’s works. And Dr. E. Sanborn 
 of Andover, Mass., in several communications published in the 
 Boston Cultivator and Cambridge Chronicle in 1849 and 1850, 
 gives it as the result of a series of observations which he had made 
 upon the larvae, that at no season of the year do they remain 
 longer than six weeks in the ground, and that neither they nor 
 the perfect insects lie under the ground during the winter. Dr. 
 Harris hence infers, in the last edition of his Treatise, that those 
 beetles which come out the latter part of summer lurk in some 
 place not yet discovered, during the winter, to come abroad again 
 in the spring and deposit their eggs in the fruit. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 351 
 
 FEAR. TRUNK. 
 
 But I now come to present a fact which I think will be more 
 satisfactory to the reader as to the place and circumstances in 
 which this insect passes the winter, than anything which has yet 
 been given to the public. In April, 1856,1 received from L. B 
 Langworthy of Rochester, a portion of the limb of a pear tree, 
 four and a half inches long and less than half an inch thick, upon 
 which were about thirty short curved or crescent-shaped incisions 
 in the bark, similar to those made by the curculio upon fruit. 
 They were all cut lengthwise of the bark, about 0.15 in length, 
 and upon their convex side the outer layer of the bark was ele¬ 
 vated in a little blister-like spot extending the whole length of the 
 crescent and about half as broad as long. On raising this, so as 
 to expose the cavity beneath, several little worms, commonly six 
 in number, were found therein, torpid and lying in a row side by 
 side with their tails toward the crescent and their mouths in con¬ 
 tact with the soft green pulp or parenchyma forming the middle 
 layer of the bark, ready to eat their way onwards as soon as the 
 warmth of spring awakened them again to activity. These worms 
 were rather long and narrow, 0.05 in length, broadest across their 
 middle, tapering to a point at one end, the opposite or head end 
 being rounded. They were without feet, transparent and pale 
 yellowish, resembling little specks of gum or turpentine. They 
 had evidently come from eggs which had been dropped in the 
 curved incision. A few of these incisions had no elevation of the 
 bark along their side, in which instances the weevil had doubtless 
 been disturbed and abandoned her work before it was completed, 
 or the eggs which she deposited in the incision had been dis¬ 
 covered and devoured by some predaceous insect. 
 
 Although until these worms have been reared we cannot be 
 certain what they are, there is the strongest presumptive evidence 
 that they are the progeny of the plum weevil. Fifty years ago, 
 one of the best authorities in our country upon a topic of this 
 kind, Rev. F. V. Melsheimer of Pennsylvania, stated that the 
 larva of this insect lived under the bark of the peach tree. But 
 from that day to this, no one of the many who have undertaken 
 to investigate this insect, have given any confirmation of this state¬ 
 ment. Yet in the light of what is reported above, we cannot but 
 "egard it as true. We are informed by Kollar, that the plum 
 
352 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PEAR. TRUNK. 
 
 weevil of Europe (Rhynchites cupreus) when there is no fruit for 
 it, resorts to the new shoots in which to place its eggs. All the 
 circumstances, therefore, lead us strongly to the opinion that the 
 conjecture advanced by Dr. Harris in the first edition of his 
 Treatise, but since abandoned by him, is correct, namely, that 
 those beetles which are hatched the latter part of the season, 
 finding no young fruit in which they can deposit their eggs, are 
 obliged to resort to the smooth tender bark of the branches of our 
 different fruit trees, and the worms from these eggs repose in, not 
 under the bark, through the winter, and produce the beetles 
 which appear the following June and oviposite in the young fruit. 
 
 If this opinion as to the winter quarters of the curculio proves 
 to be correct, it may lead us to most important results. After 
 allowing for all casualties, it is probable that a hundred beetles 
 might have been matured from the short piece of limb which came 
 under my observation. The worms, however, are only covered 
 by the epidermis and the thin outermost layer of the bark. Soft- 
 soap or some other alkaline substance applied externally, there is 
 little doubt would penetrate through this covering sufficiently to 
 destroy these worms when they are so small and tender. And it 
 appears probable that by a careful inspection of the limbs of those 
 trees whose fruit has been destroyed and other trees standing 
 adjacent to these, the winter retreat of this enemy may be dis¬ 
 covered by the marks he places upon the bark, and a remedy may 
 then be applied with greater ease and which will be more effec¬ 
 tual for his destruction than anything hitherto suggested. 
 
 53. Pear bark-locse, Lecanium Pyri, ScUrank. (Homoptcra. Coccidse.) 
 
 A hemispherical shell, the size of a half pea, of a chestnut 
 brown color, adhering to the under side of the limbs. See Trans¬ 
 actions, 1854, p. 809. 
 
 54. Scurfy bark-louse, ufspidiotus furfurus , new species. (Iloraoptera. 
 
 Coccidee.) 
 
 Little round or oval white wax-like blisters on the smooth bark 
 of the pear tree. 
 
 I know this only from specimens found upon the same limb of 
 the pear tree from the garden of L. B. Langworthy of Rochester, 
 on which the incisions of the plum weevil above spoken of occurred. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 353 
 
 PEAR. TRUNK. 
 
 The bark of this limb was covered with an exceedingly thin 
 gray film, appearing as though it had been coated over with var¬ 
 nish, which had dried and cracked and was peeling off in small 
 irregular flakes, forming a kind of scurf or dandruff upon the 
 bark. In places this pellicle was more thick and firm and ele¬ 
 vated into little blister-like spots of a white color and waxy 
 appearance, of a circular or broad oval form, less than the tenth 
 of an inch in diameter, abruptly drawn out into a little point at 
 one end, which point was stained of a pale yellowish color and 
 commonly turned more or less to one side. On breaking open 
 any of these spots with the point of a needle, quite a number of 
 exceedingly minute oval eggs of a glossy bright purple color were 
 found beneath. These eggs probably produce mites of such 
 minute size as to be wholly imperceptible to the naked eye, 
 myriads of which, there is little doubt, at times overrun the bark 
 of particular trees of this kind, exhausting their juices and 
 causing them to pine and droop, when the proprietor is wholly 
 unable to discover the occasion of their unthriftiness. The habits 
 and changes of this insect will be similar to those of the Apple 
 bark-louse, (No. 15) and other kindred species. It is probably 
 this species as it appears in autumn, of which, as this page is pass¬ 
 ing through the press, I notice some valuable observations by A. 
 0. Moore, in the American Agriculturist, vol. xvi., p. 287. 
 
 55. Pear-tree Psylla, PsyUa Pyri, Linn. (Ilomoptcra. Psyllidaa.) 
 
 The smaller limbs and twigs drooping, their bark rusty black¬ 
 ish, and a multitude of ants and flies gathering around them to 
 feed on the honey dew which is dropped copiously by a small 
 yellow jumping insect resembling a louse, which punctures the 
 bark and sucks its juices, frequently killing the tree. After the 
 middle of summer appearing with transparent wings, and its head 
 deeply notched in front, its color now being orange yellow with 
 the abdomen greenish. Length 0.10. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 
 202 . 
 
 <><*• Pear blight beetle, Scolytus Pyri, Peck. (Coleoptera. Scolytidoe.) 
 
 Particular twigs of the pear, apple, plum and apricot suddenly 
 Withering and dying in the middle of the summer; small perfo- 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] 
 
 W 
 
354 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORR 
 
 PEAR. LEAVES. 
 
 rations like pin holes appearing at several of the buus, from which 
 perforations issue a small cylindrical beetle of a deep brown or 
 black color, its antennae and legs rust-yellow. Length 0.10, 
 This works also in the trunk of the tree, earlier in the season, as 
 already stated, page 327. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 78. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 Cherry slug-worm, Celandria Ccrasi. A shining slimy blackish 
 slug worm, shaped like a tadpole, in June and July consuming 
 the parenchyma of the leaves and leaving their veins entire; 
 some years destroying almost the whole of the foliage. See Cherry 
 insects, No. 92. 
 
 57 . Goldsmith beetle , jfreoda lanigera, Linn. (Coleoptera. Scaralaeidu).) 
 
 In May and June, eating the leaves of this and of various forest 
 trees, a large thick oval beetle of a shining lemon-yellow color, 
 its thorax of a greenish golden tinge, and its under side coppery 
 or dark green with w'hite hairs. Length 0.80 to 1.00. See Har¬ 
 ris’s Treatise, p. 21. 
 
 AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 
 
 58 . Pear blistering fly, Cantharis Pyrivora, new species. (Coleoptera. 
 
 Meloidae.) 
 
 Early in June devouring the young fruit, a long cylindrical 
 blistering beetle, of a green-blue color and not shining, its legs 
 orange yellow with the hips, knees, feet and tips of the shanks 
 blue-black and the antennae black. Length 0.90. 
 
 For specimens of this insect I am indebted to my friend Wm. 
 S. Robertson, who informs me they were taken upon a pear tree 
 at Canajoharie about the first of June, 1838. Soon after its flowers 
 had fallen these beetles made their appearance, in numbers, eating 
 the young fruit voraciously and in a short time destroying all or 
 nearly all upon the tree. I have also received this same insect 
 from the southern section of the State. It equals in size our 
 largest American Cantharis hitherto known, the Nuttallii ol Say 
 (fulgifei- Le Conte) but is destitute of the brilliancy belonging to 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 355 
 
 PEAK. QUINCE. 
 
 that species. As the insects of this genus vary in their size it is 
 with considerable hesitation that I enter this as a distinct species, 
 it corresponds so closely in its colors and other characters with 
 the amca Say (nigricomis Le Conte). My examples of that species, 
 however, have the exact dimensions assigned to it by Say and Le 
 Conte (0.55), whilst all my examples of this species are more 
 than a third larger. They moreover have the anterior as well as 
 the middle shanks curved. 
 
 To test the blistering qualities of this species three of the legs 
 of a specimen nineteen years old were pulverized and mixed with 
 a little cerate and bound upon my arm. In six hours the spot 
 was as nicely vesicated as though the best Cantharides of the shops 
 had been employed. 
 
 The worm of the Codling moth (No. 48) and of the Plum 
 weevil (No. 70) are as prone to infest the interior of pears as of 
 apples. 
 
 3. THE QUINCE .—Cydonia vulgaris. 
 
 The only insects known to us as occurring upon the quince are 
 the same that are found upon the apple, and also the Cherry slug 
 worm, No. 92. Its worst enemy is the Apple tree borer (No. 2) 
 which appears to prefer the quince to any other tree; and in dis¬ 
 tricts where this insect abounds it is found to be almost impossible 
 to grow this fruit. 
 
356 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PEACH. TRUNK. 
 
 4. THE PEACH .—Persica vulgarts. 
 
 AFFECTING THE ROOT. 
 
 59 . Peach-tree Borer, Trochilium exitiosum, Say. (Lepidoptera. Trochi- 
 
 liid®.) [Plate I, fig. 6 the male, fig. 7 the female.] 
 
 Boring in and eroding the bark and solid wood, causing the gum 
 to exude so copiously as to form a thick mass around the root 
 intermingled with the castings of the worm, which is cylindrical, 
 soft, white, with a tawny yellowish red head and sixteen feet, and 
 grows to more than half an inch in length. It forms a tough 
 pod-like cocoon on the side of the root, jutting slightly above the 
 surface. The moth comes abroad the last half of July and in 
 August, and resembles a wasp in its appearance. It is of a dark 
 steel blue color, and in the male the wings are clear and glassy 
 with a dark blue band extending nearly across the forward pair 
 beyond the middle, whilst in the female only the middle of the 
 hind wings are clear and glassy and her abdomen has a broad 
 bright orange yellow band upon its middle. Width 0.80 to 1.30. 
 See Transactions, 1854, p. 813. 
 
 This important insect is so well known throughout our country 
 under the technical name JEgeria exitiosa that it is unfortunate 
 this term cannot remain undisturbed. But so long ago as 1777 
 Scopoli gave the name Trochilium to the same insects for which 
 the Fabrician name JEgeria was published thirty year’s afterwards. 
 The latter name, therefore, is merely a synonym of the former, 
 and is wholly rejected by the latest and best authorities. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TRUNK AND LIMBS. 
 
 Apple Buprestis, a flattened pale yellow grub under the bark 
 mining in the sap wood. See No. 3. 
 
 Divaricated Buprestis, a worm similar to the preceding and 
 found in the same situation. See No. 71. 
 
 60. Elm bark-beetle, Tomicus liminaris, Harris. (Colcoptera. Scolytidso.) 
 
 Small perforations like pin holes appearing in the bark particu¬ 
 larly of diseased trees, from which in August and September 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 35*7 
 
 PEACH. LEAVES. 
 
 issues a minute cylindrical bark-beetle of a dark brown color, its 
 wing covers with deeply impressed punctured furrows and short 
 hairs and its thorax also punctured. Length 0.10 or less. I 
 have obtained this from elm bark, the same situation in which Dr. 
 Harris found it, and this is doubtless its original residence. Hut 
 Miss Margaretta H. Morris has met with it under the bark of 
 peach trees which were affected with “ the yellows.” See Down¬ 
 ing’s Horticulturist, vol. ii, p. 502. 
 
 The Peach-tree borer above described (No. 57) is not confined 
 to the root, but frequently occurs also under the bark of the 
 trunk, particularly in the forks of the limbs, causing the gum to 
 exude from the spot where it nestles. 
 
 The Oak pruner, or a species possessing the same habits, bores 
 in the heart of the small limbs, the latter- part of summer, a few 
 inches or a foot or more in length, and then girdles the limb, 
 severing the wood as smoothly as though it were cut off bv a saw 
 See insects of Oak limbs. 
 
 61 . Peacii bark-louse, Lecanium Pcrsica, Modeer. (Homoptcra. Coccid;e.) 
 
 Fixed to the smooth bark, commonly beside a bud on the origin 
 of a twig, a blackish hemispherical shell the size and shape of a 
 half pea, its surface uneven, shining, commonly showing a pale 
 margin and stripe upon the middle; covering a multitude oi 
 minute eggs which hatch small lice like mites, which scatter 
 themselves over the bark, puncturing it and sucking its juices, 
 similar to the pear bark-louse No. 51. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 62 . Peach Tortrix, Orcesia Persicana, now species. (Lepidop. Tortricidie.) 
 
 Early in May when the young leaves are putting forth from 
 their buds, a worm tieing them together with fine silken threads, 
 secreting itself within and feeding upon them; the worm rather 
 slender, pale green with a whitish streak along each side of its 
 hack and a pale dull yellowish head; changing in its nest to a 
 pupa about the middle of June and giving out the winged moth 
 the beginning of July. The moth with the fore wings rusty yel- 
 
358 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PEACn. LEAVES. 
 
 low varied with black, their basal third much paler tawny yellow; 
 a large triangular white spot on the middle of the outer margin; 
 a transverse white streak forward of the middle of the hind edge, 
 which is divided by the veins crossing it into about four spots, 
 and is bordered on its anterior side by a curved black band. 
 Width 0.65. 
 
 Having bred this moth from worms gathered upon the peach, I 
 name it accordingly, though it is quite probable that, like other 
 insects of this family, it feeds upon the foliage of several differ¬ 
 ent trees. I have never observed it till the present season, and 
 presume that like many of its kindred, it will be common at 
 times, and will scarcely be seen again for several years. Of the 
 species mentioned in the books it most resembles the Schreberiana 
 as figured by Wood and described by Stephens (Haustellata, iv, p. 
 81.) We learn, however, from Stephen’s List of the British 
 Museum, that the specimen from which this figure and description 
 were taken is suspected to be North American, and is not the true 
 Schreberiana, but according to Mr. Doubleday (Zoologist, v. p. 
 1729) is the trileucana of Gmelin. There must be some error in 
 this citation, however, as no species bearing this name occurs in 
 Gmelin. Even though the specimen alluded to should be Ameri¬ 
 can and already named, the insect before us appears to be a dif¬ 
 ferent species, that having, among other discrepancies, a pale streak 
 upon the hind edge of the fore wings, whilst here the correspon¬ 
 ding streak is distinctly forward of the hind edge. 
 
 Rosacean Tortrix. Another worm tieing peach leaves together 
 in the same manner and at the same time with the preceding, 
 differs from it in being destitute of the whitish stripe or line along 
 each side of the back. It is light green with a line along the 
 middle of the back of a deeper green color, which is often faint 
 or wholly wanting. I have frequently found these worms upon 
 the peach, and some of them which I have reared have produced 
 moths which I can only regard as being a dark colored variety of 
 the exceedingly variable Rosacean Tortrix already described. See 
 No. 46. 
 
 The Apple shoulder-striped Tortrix also feeds upon the 
 leaves of the peach, but makes no nest in which to secreto -itself. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 359 
 
 PEACH. LEAVES. 
 
 It closely resembles the foregoing, but has three white or pale 
 yellow stripes when young, and five when mature, and is also 
 then freckled with pale dots. See No. 40. 
 
 The Unstable drab moth, occurs also upon the peach, at the 
 same time with the preceding, and most closely resembles it as 
 already stated. See No. 41. 
 
 03. PF.ACn Aphis, Aphis Persian ? Sulzer. (Homoptera. Aphid*.) 
 
 This begins to appear upon the first small leaves which protrude 
 from the buds and continues through the season unless swept away, 
 as it frequently is, with surprising suddenness, by its several insect 
 enemies. (See Transactions, 1854, pp. 767-806, where a full 
 account of our American destroyers of the Aphides will be 
 found.) It punctures the leaves to suck their juices and is a 
 common though probably not the only cause of “ the curl.” It 
 lives together in crowds, hid in the crevices of the curled, cor¬ 
 rugated leaves, most of the individuals being larvae and wingless 
 females. The winged individuals are 0.12 long, black with the 
 under side of the abdomen dull green, the shanks and bases of 
 the thighs pale brownish, and the horns or horny tubes as long as 
 to the tip of the abdomen. This would appear to be different from 
 the European peach aphis as figured in Koch’s invaluable mono¬ 
 graph and described by Fonscolombe and others, though the wing 
 veins coincide with Walker’s description. I however have not 
 yet given this insect a careful examination, and have noticed indi¬ 
 viduals so unlike those above described that they seemed to be 
 another species. 
 
 The Buffalo tree-hopper, a light green jumping insect shaped 
 like a beech nut, puncturing and sucking the juices. See No. 22. 
 
 The Saddled leaf-iiopper, a smallish oblong black jumping 
 insect with a large bright yellow spot like a saddle upon the mid¬ 
 dle of its back. See No. 69. 
 
 AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 
 
 The Blum weevil (No. 70) bores in the young fruit, causing it 
 to drop from the tree. The Rose bug (No. 501 sometimes invades 
 this fruit also, nibbling and killing it. 
 
360 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 NECTARINE. APRICOT. PLUM. 
 
 5. THE NECTARINE . — Persica Icevis. 
 
 The Plum weevil (No. 70) and other insects which depredate 
 upon the peach are liable to attack this tree in the same manner. 
 
 6. THE APRICOT .—Jlrmeniaca vulgaris. 
 
 The Pear blight beetle (No. 56) sometimes kills particular 
 twigs of the apricot in summer. The Plum weevil (No. 70) bores 
 in the fruit, and several of the other insects which attack the 
 plum may at times be met with upon this tree. 
 
 7. THE PLUM . — Prunus domestica, et al. 
 
 AFFECTING THE ROOT. 
 
 The Peach tree borer (No. 59) occurs in the root of the plum 
 also, boring under the batrk and destroying young trees, but with¬ 
 out causing any gum to exude as it does in the peach. See Tran¬ 
 sactions, 1854, p. 816. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TRUNK AND LIMBS. 
 
 The Pear blight beetle (No. 56) occasionally causes the death 
 of a single twig upon one part and another of this tree in summer. 
 
 64. UnarmedTRRE- noppER, Smiliainerniis , Fab. (Hoiuoptera. Menibracidtu.) 
 
 In August and September, making straight short incisions, about 
 0.10 long, in the bark of the small limbs, particularly where tin- 
 new growth of the year commences, and dropping a little cluster 
 of minute eggs therein, which remain till the sap begins to cir¬ 
 culate the following spring, when they hatch insects resembling 
 small mites, which immediately wander away from the spot and 
 subsist upon the juices of the leaves and green succulent twigs, 
 which they puncture with their minute sharp beaks. These insects 
 will be found fully grown in July and are then about 0.2S long 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 361 
 
 PLUM. LIMBS. 
 
 and of a triangular shape, resembling that of a beech nut, and of 
 a uniform pale green color without any spots or stripes. Like 
 other tree hoppers (which name I apply to insects of the family 
 Membracida ) and leaf hoppers ( Tettigoniida ) these insects when 
 approached by the finger give a sudden strong leap and become 
 lost to the view. 
 
 I am indebted to George Clark, Esq., of East Springfield, Otsego 
 county, for the above information respecting the work of an insect, 
 which, from his description of it, will be the species which I have 
 named; but specimens which were sent to Dr. Harris a few years 
 since, were said to be the Ceresa bubalus (See No. 22) in a letter 
 from him, published at that time in the Journal N. Y. State Ag. 
 Society. Mr. C. informs me the insect he alludes to has no pro¬ 
 jecting points resembling horns, anteriorly, and is of a uniform pale 
 or pea green color, destitute of any spots or marks, whereas the 
 bubalus when alive is deeper green, freckled with whitish dots, 
 and has a pale yellow streak from the horn backwards along each 
 side. The bubalus , however, is closely related to this insect and 
 is common upon the fruit and other trees in our yards, and both 
 these species it is probable cut the bark of the plum and other 
 trees in the manner stated above, and we presume the plum 
 weevil also makes a curved incision in the limbs of the plum 
 similar to those we have noticed in the pear. 
 
 Mr. Clark has for several years given particular attention to the 
 slits which this tree hopper makes in the bark of the plum and is 
 confident these wounds are the foundation of that most fatal malady 
 the “ Black knot.” The examinations of this disease which I have 
 made have convinced me that the different insects which writers 
 in our agricultural periodicals have pointed out as producing these 
 excrescences are species which are wholly innocent of the orime 
 laid to their charge. I have watched the growth of the excres¬ 
 cences from their first commencement to their full development, 
 without being able to detect the least indication of an insect in 
 some of them, and - in other instances where insects have been 
 present it was plain they were there as a consequence and not as 
 a cause of the disease. The fact, however, that tree hoppers and 
 the plum weevil make incisions in the bark at the same place 
 where this disease shows itself, calls for future investigations, to 
 
3C2 
 
 ANNUAL nEPORT OP' NEW-YORK 
 
 PLUM. LEAVES. 
 
 ascertain whether it is not these incisions which lay the foundation 
 for this disease, as Mr. Clark states. Where the incisions are 
 made by tree hoppers the insects will all escape before the swelling 
 in the limb commences, but the slits in the bark will remain, to 
 prove that these insects have been there. Where the plum weevil 
 makes the incisions its larvae will be present in the excrescence; 
 and this will account for the fact long ago published by Prof. 
 Peck, that he had bred the plum weevil from these excrescences, 
 and hence inferred it was this insect which caused this disease. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 The May beetle a large thick-bodied chestnut or black beetle 
 about the middle of May eats the leaves of this and the cherry 
 tree. See No. 75. 
 
 The Rose-bug, a smaller buff yellow beetle also feeds upon 
 them the last of June. See No. 50. 
 
 The Grape-vine flea-beetle, No. 128, sometimes eats numerous 
 small holes in plum leaves also. A young plum tree in my yard 
 had its leaves nearly all destroyed by this insect, every summer, 
 for many years in succession, and other trees near this were more 
 or less injured. Dusting the leaves with caustic and bitter pow¬ 
 ders proved to be of little if any benefit. At last I resolved to 
 give this unfortunate tree a respite from its enemies, for one season 
 at least, and accordingly picked off and crushed in my fingers 
 every insect that could be found upon it. They were less active 
 after sunset, and with a sudden dart one or two could be caught 
 between the thumb and finger upon almost every leaf. From 
 fifty to two hundred were thus killed daily, for a week or longer, 
 and the hunt was persevered in as long as any insects could be 
 found. This treatment was even more successful than I antici¬ 
 pated, for I have never seen a flea beetle upon my plum trees since 
 that season. 
 
 05. Plum Spiiinx, Sphinx drupiferarum , Smith and Abbott. (Lcpidoptera. 
 
 Sphingidae.) 
 
 A large cylindrical apple-green worm with a curved violet-bluo 
 horn on the hind end of its back, and along each side seven 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETV. 
 
 363 
 
 PLUM. LEAVES. 
 
 oblique white streaks margined with violet upon their upper sides, 
 the head with a white stripe on each side. The pupa under 
 ground, giving out the moth the following June, which hovers 
 about flowers at dusk, resembling a humming bird in its motions; 
 its fore wings measuring from 3.20 to 4.50 when spread; half 
 their surface occupied by a broad dark brown band extending 
 from their inner margin to the tip, in which are about five slender 
 oblique coal-black streaks; the space forward of this band pale 
 reddish gray or ashy clouded with hoary white, and having near 
 the middle a blackish crescent crossed by a long very slender 
 black line; its abdomen gray with a black stripe along the middle, 
 and the sides black with a row of white spots. 
 
 The Cecropia emperor moth, No. 33, a large pea green worm 
 with two rows of small yellow prickles on the back and blue 
 ones on the sides, is occasionally met with on the plum. 
 
 66. Unicorn Prominent, Notodonta unicornis, Smith and Abbot. (Lepi- 
 doptera. Notodontid. 
 
 In August and September, a worm eating a notch in the side of 
 the leaf, often of the exact length of its body, and placing itself 
 in this notch, with the humps of its back resembling the teeth 
 along the edge of the leaf, eventually consuming all the leaf but 
 a small portion of its base; the worm brown like a faded leaf, 
 with its second and third rings leaf green, its head large, and on 
 top of the fourth ring a long horn-like protuberance; growing to 
 1.25 in length; forming a cocoon on the ground under fallen 
 leaves; the moth appearing in July; its fore wings light brown 
 with patches of greenish white and many dark brown lines, 
 the hind margin white and near the inner angle a small white 
 and two black dashes. Width 1.25 to 1.50. See Harris’s 
 Treatise, p. 327. 
 
 Ct. Waved tussock motii, Trichetra opercularis, Smith and Abbot. Lepi- 
 doptera. Arctiidte.) 
 
 A caterpillar with brownish evenly shorn hairs rising to a ridge 
 “long the middle of the back and sloped off on each side like the 
 loot of a house; making a tough oval cocoon in September, 
 which is fastened to the side of a twig, its top opening by a flat 
 
364 
 
 ANNUAL BEPORT OF NEW-YOKK 
 
 PLUM. LRAVES. 
 
 circular lid, the moth coming from it the following July. This 
 moth is most readily distinguished by the fine prostrate curled 
 hairs covering its fore wings and arranged in regular waves run¬ 
 ning as it were from the base to the tip. Its body and legs are 
 also very hairy and at the tip of the abdomen is a tuft of long 
 soft hairs forming a bushy tail. It is of a straw yellow color 
 with the fore wings more or less dusky on the outer margin, and 
 the feet and orbits of the eyes black. The fore legs are often 
 black on their anterior side and sometimes the face is also black. 
 Width 1.20 to 1.80. I have never met with this in New-York 
 and it is omitted in the second edition of Dr. Harris’s Treatise, 
 but it appears to be common at the south and west. The Spar- 
 shalli of Mr. Curtis can scarcely be distinct from this somewhat 
 variable species, and I suspect Mr. Stephens (List Brit. Mus.) is 
 in error in giving that as an Australian insect and that Boisduval 
 was correct in regarding it as North American. Mr. Westwood’s 
 generic name Trichetra was published the year before Dr. Harris’s 
 name Lagoa. 
 
 American Vaporer moth. A slender pale yellow caterpillar, 
 its head and two little knobs on its back bright coral red. See 
 No. 32. 
 
 The Apple tree caterpillar No. 28, and the Fall wf.b worm 
 No. 88, frequently place their cobweb-like nests on plum trees. 
 
 The Canker worm. A measure worm eating holes in the 
 leaves in June. A gray soft hairy wingless insect crawling up 
 the body of the tree early in spring. See No. 38. 
 
 Slug worms. Slimy blackish worms in June and July, eating 
 the green parenchyma and leaving the veins entire. See No. 92. 
 
 6 §. Plum-leaf Aphis, j/phis Prunifolim , Fitch. (Homoptera. Aphid®.) 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and sucking their juices, causing them 
 to become wrinkled and distorted; a black shining plant-louse with 
 a pale green abdomen. Length 0.14. See Transactions, 1854, p. 
 826. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 365 
 
 PLUM. FRUIT. 
 
 69. Saddled leaf-hopper, Bythoscopus clitellarius, Say. (Homoptera. Tet- 
 tigoniidae.) 
 
 A small cylindrical slightly tapering leaf-hopper, 0.20 long, 
 black or dark brown, with a bright sulphur-yellow spot like a 
 saddle upon the middle of its back, a band forward of this and 
 also the head and under side pale yellow, the forehead with two 
 black dots. This probably punctures and sucks the juices of the 
 green succulent twigs as well as the leaves, but I have particu¬ 
 larly noticed it standing upon the fruit stems with its beak inserted 
 therein, extracting the tluids which should go to swell and perfect 
 the fruit. And it would thus seem that these leaf-hoppers, like 
 many other insects, are actuated by a spirit of pure malevolence 
 in making their attack upon that part of the plant where they 
 will do us the most injury, when they might nourish themselves 
 equally as well in places where their harm would be slight. 
 
 AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 
 
 70. Plum weevil, or Curculio, Conotrachelus Nenuphar, Hcrbst. (Cole- 
 optcra. Ourculionid®.) 
 
 Making a small crescent-shaped incision upon the side of the 
 young fruit and dropping an egg therein, from which comes a 
 small white footless worm or grub which bores in the fruit, causing 
 it to become diseased and gummy and to drop from the tree, the 
 worm when full grown entering the ground and in three or four 
 weeks coming out in its perfect state, when it is a short thick rough 
 beetle, shaped somewhat like a pear, and with a long snout like 
 an elephant’s trunk hanging down in front, its color dark brown 
 with a bruad white or yellow band on the hind part of the wing 
 covers, and small spots of black, white and yellow. Length 0.15 
 to 0.28. For the winter residence of this weevil, see insects of 
 ] ear limbs, p. 349. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 66. 
 
366 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHERRY. TRUNK. 
 
 8. THE CHERRY. — Cerasus vulgaris , et al. 
 
 Though some of the insects noticed below have only been 
 observed upon our wild cherries, Cerasus serotina and Virginiana , 
 there is little doubt but the same will at times invade the garden 
 cherry; and all the trees of this genus are so closely related to 
 each other that, for a purpose like the present, it appears unne¬ 
 cessary to divide them into different heads. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TRUNK AND LIMBS. 
 
 7 1. Divaricated Bupiiestis, Dicerca divaricata , Say. (Colcoptera. Bupres- 
 
 tidse.) 
 
 A flattened worm resembling a tadpole and otherwise similar to the 
 Apple JBuprestis, No. 3; mining in the sap wood under the bark; the 
 perfect insect appearing the last of June and through July, run¬ 
 ning up and down the trunk of the tree in the sunshine; a thickly 
 punctured snapping beetle, having a coppery lustre, its wing covers 
 striated and freckled with small blackish spots, their ends narrowed, 
 drawn out and spreading slightly apart, the tips blunt and as 
 though broken off. Length 0.70 to 0.90. The beech is undoubt¬ 
 edly the original residence of this insect, and wherever a dead 
 tree of this kind occurs some of these beetles will almost always 
 be found upon it on sunny days in midsummer. I know not why, 
 in the lately published Catalogue of F. E. Melsheimer, Kirby’s 
 generic name Stenuris is preferred to that of Eschscholtz, whilst 
 on a following page precedence is given to one of the generic 
 names of the latter author over one proposed by Mr. Kirby. As 
 Eschscholtz’s names for these genera were published several years 
 anterior to those of Kirby I have retained them. For some fur¬ 
 ther items respecting this insect see Harris’s Treatise, p. 42. 
 
 The Rough Osmoderma No. 7, and the Horn-bug No. 6, occur 
 in their larva state in old decaying cherry trees, and in their dead 
 stumps one or both of these grubs will be found in profusion and 
 of all sizes. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 367 
 
 CIIERRY. TRUNK. 
 
 72. Spotted iiorn-bug, Dynastes Tityus, Linn. (Colcoptera. Scarabseidce.) 
 
 In old decaying trees, a very large grub, like those of the last 
 named species, producing a beetle two inches in length, of a shin¬ 
 ing pale olive color, its wing covers with round black spots or 
 dots, the males having the middle of the thorax prolonged for¬ 
 wards in a long black horn which is hairy along its under side 
 and commonly notched at its tip, as if to receive the sharp point 
 of another similar horn which curves upwards from the crown of 
 the head; two other horns between these, short and sharp pointed, 
 one upon each side. This large beetle is frequently met with at 
 the south and I have specimens of it from Pennsylvania, but 
 know not of its ever being found in New-York. Mr. Say men¬ 
 tions possessing a specimen having the wing covers chestnut brown 
 and without spots, and I have a female in which the whole of the 
 thorax is black. But probably the most remarkable specimen 
 which has ever been discovered was captured west of Arkansas 
 by Rev. R. M. Loughridge and presented to the entomological 
 cabinet of the N. Y. State Agric. Society. This is a male having 
 the left wing cover black and without spots, whilst the right wing 
 cover and thorax is pale olive yellow. 
 
 73. Dog-day Cicada, Cicada tibicen, Linn. (Ilomoptera. Cicadidoo.) 
 
 In August and September, wounding the small limbs to deposit 
 its eggs therein, a large black fly with four clear glassy wings 
 having a green rib, its head and thorax with olive green spots and 
 marks, and its under side coated w r ith a white meal-like powder. 
 Length 1.60 to 2.00. The pruinosa , Say, is this same species, 
 with the white mealy powder not rubbed off as it frequently is in 
 old specimens. The canicularis , Harris, are merely small sized 
 individuals of the pruinosa The valves at the base of the abdo¬ 
 men in the males vary in their length both in large and small 
 individuals, and therefore furnish no valid mark, as Dr. Harris 
 supposed, whereby his species can be distinguished. The speci¬ 
 mens found in the State of New-York are of the smaller size, this 
 being the northern limit of the geographical range of this species. 
 It extends from hence south to Brazil. In Surinam, according to 
 Madam Merian, it is most common in the coffee plantations, the 
 trees of which are sometimes killed by the wounds which the 
 
368 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHERRY. UMBS. 
 
 female makes in the limbs to deposit her eggs. With us it appears 
 to resort to the maple more than any other tree, and in forests and 
 frequently in the trees around our dwellings the loud shrill note 
 of the male is heard every clear sunshiny day throughout dog- 
 days. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 190. 
 
 7 i . CnERRY bark-louse, Lecanium Cerasifex, new species. (Homoptera. 
 Coccidae.) 
 
 In June, adhering to the bark upon the under side of the limbs 
 of the wild black cherry, a hemispherical shell nearly the size 
 and shape of a half pea, of a black color more or less mottled 
 with pale dull yellow dots, covering a mass of minute eggs the 
 lice from which spread over the bark and subsist upon its juices. 
 I find no bark-louse indicated by authors as occurring upon the 
 cherry in Europe. We in this country have two insects of this 
 family infesting trees of this kind, the one now mentioned and the 
 following. 
 
 75. Cherry scale insect, jispidiotus Cerasi, new species. (Homoptera. 
 Coccidae.) 
 
 In winter, on the bark of the choke cherry, little roundish 
 white wax-like blisters, scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, 
 containing beneath them in an open cavity a cluster of minute 
 dull red or resin-like eggs. The history and habits of this species 
 will be analogous to that of the Apple bark-louse, No. 15. 
 
 affecting the leaves. 
 
 7C. May beetle, Lachnosterna fusca, Frohlich. (Coleoptera.Melolonthida).) 
 
 About the middle of May gathering by night upon the trees and 
 eating the leaves, sometimes in such numbers as to wholly strip 
 the foliage from the choicer varieties; a thick-bodied chestnut- 
 brown or black beetle nearly an inch long, its legs of a lighter 
 tawny yellow color and its breast coated with pale yellowish hairs. 
 
 The larva of this insect lives under ground and is most inju¬ 
 rious to meadows and pastures. It has been very destructive the 
 present year in some parts of our State, and enquiries have been 
 addressed to me for information respecting it and the best remedies 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 369 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES 
 
 for it. An article in reply to these enquiries is published in the 
 Genesee Farmer for August of the present year (vol. xviii, p. 249), 
 the substance of which may here be repeated with some additions, 
 as this is one of our most pernicious insects, and the measures for 
 subduing it which I have to suggest are regarded as important. 
 
 This insect is commonly called the May bug, though the name 
 May beetle will be a more definite and correct designation for it. 
 The custom of calling almost all insects “ bugs,” is often de¬ 
 nounced as being an Americanism; but this, like many others of 
 these reputed Americanisms we obtained from our father-land. 
 Thus the cockchaffer, the European analogue of this insect, we 
 see is termed the May bug in the English translation of Kollar’s 
 Treatise — a clear evidence that we have obtained the name which 
 we give to our insect from England. And in several other 
 instances, the name bug will be met with in British publications, 
 applied to beetles. Still, every person intelligent upon this sub¬ 
 ject is aware it will be an improvement in our language to give 
 the name beetle to all hard, crustaceous-coated insects, which 
 belong to the order Coleoptera, and restrict the name bug to the 
 order TIemiptera, or those flat-backed insects which emit the same 
 disgusting scent as the well-known bed-bug. 
 
 This insect is also frequently termed “horn-bug,” being confound¬ 
 ed with a larger, perfectly smooth and more flattened beetle, (No. 6, 
 Lucanus Capreolus, Linn.,) which comes out later in the season. 
 It is thus called more particularly, when, like the true horn-bug, 
 it flies in at the open windows of our dwellings upon warm even¬ 
 ings, which both of them frequently do, to the great annoyance 
 and even terror of the female portion of the household. Neither 
 of these insects, however, can harm our persons; and when they 
 intrude into my room in this manner, I find the quickest way to 
 dispose of the pests, is with my fingers to hold their heads in the 
 candle a moment or two, and then toss them out the window. 
 
 The name “ field grub ” has also been given to the larva of this 
 insect in some neighborhoods where its destructiveness has brought 
 it into notice and it was not known that it subsequently turned 
 into a beetle. 
 
 As this is one of our most important noxious insects and will 
 “ e frequently mentioned in the agricultural publications of this 
 [Ag. Trans.] X 
 
370 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 OHJSBRY. I.RAYKS. 
 
 country, it is a matter of no small moment that its scientific name 
 be correctly ascertained and well settled. Some confusion at pre¬ 
 sent exists upon this point, among diiferent writers. This discre¬ 
 pancy has chiefly arisen from a most disingenuous statement made 
 by Dr. Harris, in both editions of his Treatise, page 28 and 26, 
 where he Says the genus Pkyllophaga was “ proposed by me in 
 1826. Dejean subsequently called this genus Ancylonycha .” 
 Now the number of the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository in 
 which Dr. Harris’s essay appears (vol x, pages 1—12) bears the 
 date of July 1827! and the name Phyllophaga is there merely 
 suggested for this insect and its kindred, without any statement of 
 the marks by which the group thus designated can be recognized. 
 In this same year (1827) also, a distinguished British entomologist, 
 Rev. F. W. Hope, published the first part of his Coleopterist’s 
 Manual, in which this same group is distinctly set apart and 
 clearly characterized, and the name Lachno-sterna (i. e. hairy- 
 breasted) is given it. This name, therefore, is evidently the one 
 which the established rules of scientific nomenclature will give to 
 the genus to which our insect belongs. Dejean’s name Ancylonycha 
 mentioned above by Dr. Harris, not having been proposed until 
 several years later. 
 
 This insect has hitherto been generally entered under the spe¬ 
 cific name queicina , but Dr. LeConte has recently ascertained that 
 nearly ten years before Weber bestowed this name upon it, Froli- 
 lich, a German naturalist, had in the year 1792 described it under 
 the name fusca. 
 
 We thus reach the conclusion that Lachnostema fusca , a term 
 meaning blackish hairy breast, is the correct technical name ol 
 our common May beetle, which has so often hitherto been called 
 Phyllophaga quercina in our agricultural periodicals. 
 
 The May beetle is a glossy thick-bodied insect, 0.80 to 0.90 long and about 
 half as broad. It varies in color from chestnut-brown to black, and this differ¬ 
 ence of color does not appear to bo owing to age, for it is found in newly hatched 
 beetles before they have come forth from the ground. The head is commonly 
 darker colored than the thorax, is closely punctured, and its anterior edgo is 
 thin and turned upward, with a concavity but not an angular notch in its 
 middle. The feelers and antennae are somewhat paler yellow than the legs, 
 which are polished tawny yellow. The punctures upon the thorax are coarse 
 and farther apart than on the head. The wing covers though glossy and 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 371 
 
 CHBIIRV. LBAVKS. 
 
 shining are rough from being covered with shallow indented points the edges of 
 which are wrinkled, and running lengthwise upon each wing cover is three or 
 four raised straight lines. The breast is covered with glossy fine yellowish 
 gray hairs. 
 
 This species presents several varieties. Commonly the thori^ is a little nar¬ 
 rower than the wing covers, whereby the general shape approaches to that of 
 an egg with its small end forward. But sometimes the thorax is broader 
 equaling the width of the wing covers and giving the individual a form nearly 
 cylindrical. The sides of the thorax are regularly rounded, but sometimes a 
 specimen may be found having the lateral margin slightly angular in the middle. 
 Sometimes the punctures upon the thorax or those upon the wing covers are 
 larger and more distinct than usual. By different authors several distinct 
 species have heretofore been made out of these varieties of this insect. 
 
 In its larva state it is a thick soft white grub with a brownish 
 head and with the hind part of its body curved downwards and 
 more or less forward under its breast. It is several years in attain¬ 
 ing its growth, so that grubs of different sizes will be found in the 
 ground at the same time. When full grown it is almost as thick 
 as the little finger. These grubs feed upon the roots of grass and 
 other plants, which they cut oft' a short distance beneath the sur¬ 
 face; and when they are numerous they advance under ground 
 like an army, severing the turf as smoothly as though it were cut 
 with a spade, so that it can be raised up in large sheets and folded 
 over Or rolled together like a carpet. Often from a dozen to 
 twenty grubs will be exposed in every square foot when the turf 
 is thus raised. Large patches of this kind will occur in the 
 middle of a meadow or pasture, every blade of the grass being 
 brown and dead. 
 
 Early in spring, in spading or plowing the ground, these beetles 
 arc frequently exhumed, or sometimes in turning over a large 
 stone one of them will be found beneath, lying in a smooth cavity 
 or little round hollow in the dirt, like a chicken in its shell. 
 This cavity or cell is formed by the grub in the preceding autumn. 
 Turning itself around and around, it presses upon and compacts 
 the dirt and moulds it into this cell for its winter residence; and 
 in this cell it changes first to a pupa, in which the legs and wing- 
 cases of the insect are seen in their rudimentary state, aud after¬ 
 wards to a beetle, such as we have above described. This beetle 
 lies dormant in its cell until the warmth of the incoming summer 
 
372 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 cnBRnr. leaves. 
 
 penetrates the ground sufficiently to awaken it into activity. It 
 then breaks from its prison and works its way out of the ground. 
 
 These beetles begin to make their appearance each year about the 
 first of May, and become most numerous in the middle of that month. 
 They are sluggish, inactive, and seemingly stupid in their move¬ 
 ments. They repose during the day time, hid in the grass, or any 
 other covert which they find. At dusk they awake and fly about 
 slowly, aud with a humming noise, hitting among the leaves ol 
 the trees and clinging thereto, and feeding upon them. They are 
 most loud of the leaves of the cherry and plum, which trees they 
 every year injure more or less, and occasionally they congregate 
 in such numbers as to wholly strip them of their foliage, destroy¬ 
 ing all hopes of any fruit from them that season. An instance 
 of this kind was communicated to me four years since by Milo 
 Ingalsbe, Esq., of South Hartford, at that time President of the 
 Agricultural Society of this (Washington) county. He had 
 seventy plum trees and a number of cherry trees of the choicest 
 varieties, which never gave fairer promise of an abundant yield 
 of fruit than at that time. Put a swarm of these May beetles 
 suddenly gathered upon the trees, many of them being then splen¬ 
 didly in bloom, and in two nights, the 15th and 16tli of May, 
 wholly stripped them of their foliage, so that many of them were 
 as naked as in winter. With their humming notes, these beetles 
 were flying about the trees every evening until about ten o’clock, 
 when they would settle in clusters of eight, ten, twenty or more, 
 and would thus remain until daylight, when they would tumble 
 down from the trees, flying but little, however, and hiding them¬ 
 selves wherever convenient to stay through the day. These obser¬ 
 vations are important, showing that between midnight and day¬ 
 light is the best time for spreading sheets beneath the trees to shake 
 and beat these insects into them. In a subsequent letter, dated 
 June 29th, Mr. I. stated that these beetles had then disappeared 
 from all his trees except an Ox-heart cherry, on which about a 
 dozen were found, this being the choicest variety among his cherry 
 trees — indicating that thougli seemingly such stupid creatures, 
 they are good connoiseurs in selecting their food. And among 
 his plums, it was the Washington, Jefferson, Lawrence and others 
 of his best kinds which had been attacked with the greatest avidity. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 373 
 
 CnERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 Apple trees, which were standing alternately with his plum trees, 
 were not in the least molested. Mr. I. has recently informed me 
 that his trees have never been reinvaded by these beetles since that 
 time. 
 
 These insects are numerous all over our country. In my own 
 neighborhood they have been common every year, I think, since 
 I first became acquainted with them, more than twenty-five years 
 ago; yet I have here never known the trees to be stripped of theij? 
 foliage by them, or the turf to be severed by their larvae, although 
 two or three instances of the latter have been related to me as 
 having occurred in this town, and I have several times heard of 
 the same phenomenon in other places. It appears to be a most 
 singular and remarkable circumstance in the economy of these 
 insects, that, while it is their ordinary habit to live dispersed and 
 apart from each other, they at times become gregarious, both in 
 their larva and their perfect state, multitudes of them assembling 
 together in a flock, and by their conjoined labors utterly devasta 
 ting what they attack. Some other insects, however, show this 
 same habit. It is only occasionally that the migratory'locust of 
 the east, so renowned in story, congregates together in swarms 
 and flies off to a distance. And instances have occurred in which 
 the common red-legged grasshopper, which is scattered about the 
 fields of our own country, has done the same in years when it has 
 been unusually abundant. 
 
 The history of our May beetle and its transformations have 
 never been fully observed, but everything known respecting it 
 concurs to show that it is exactly analogous to the cockchaffer or 
 May bug of Europe, (Polyphylla Melolontha, Linn.,) and occupies 
 the place of that species upon this continent. The grubs of that 
 insect are about five years in obtaining their growth. The beetles 
 pair soon after they come from the ground, and the male lives but 
 a few days. The female crawls back into the ground and there 
 drops her eggs, which are nearly a hundred in number, after 
 which she again emerges, and being now decrepit with age, she 
 feeds but little and dies in a short time. 
 
 Among the natural destroyers of our May beetle is the skunk, 
 whose food appears to consist of these insects almost entirely, 
 during the short period of their existence. Some cats will also 
 
374 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 eat them, though I suppose it to be more for sport than food that 
 grimalkin is frequently seen at twilight, stealthily creeping 
 through the grass of the door-yard, and springing upon these 
 beetles as they crawl therefrom to take wing. Our domestic 
 fowls are also very fbnd of the grubs. But of all the destroyers 
 of these insects, no other animal can vie with the crow, which 
 frequently follows the track of the plow to feed upon the grubs 
 of the May beetle which are turned up thereby. 
 
 With regard to remedies we may observe, that in Europe the 
 experience of centuries has failed to discover any efficient measure 
 for destroying a similar insect during the larva period of its exis¬ 
 tence. And concealed in the ground as these grubs are, it is not 
 probable that any substance can be applied to the soil of sufficient 
 power to kill them without destroying also whatever vegetation is 
 there growing. But where these grubs are so numerous as to sever 
 the roots of the grass and pare the turf, I think there is a measure 
 which may readily be resorted to whereby they may be extermi¬ 
 nated. I would recommend the placing of a temporary fence 
 around that part of the meadow or pasture which is so thronged 
 with these grubs, and enclosing a number of swine therein, thus 
 for a while converting the patch into a hog pasture. The pro¬ 
 pensity of these animals for rooting and tearing up the turf, we 
 are all aware, is for the very purpose of coming at and feeding 
 upon the grubs and worms which are lurking therein; and who 
 knows but this rooting propensity, which has all along been com¬ 
 plained of as being the most troublesome and vicious habit which 
 belongs to swine, may after all turn out to be the most valuable 
 and necessary to us of any of the habits with which they are 
 endowed 1 At all events, it is one of man’s greatest achievements 
 to so observe and study the habits and instincts of the lower ani¬ 
 mals, as to devise ways whereby those habits and instincts, instead 
 of being exerted to his injury, are brought into his service and 
 made to work for his benefit. Therefore do not let us “ lords of 
 creation ” allow these vile field grubs to rob us of two or three 
 acres of grass without obliging them to give back to us an equiv¬ 
 alent for it. Let us have the value of that grass returned to us 
 in the increased size and thriftiness of our swine. I cannot but 
 think these animals, confined upon a spot so overstocked with 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 375 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 grubs, would in a short time ferret out and devour every one of 
 them, leaving the soil cleansed, mellowed, manured, and well 
 prepared for being immediately laid down to grass again, or for 
 receiving any rotation of crops for which the proprietor may deem 
 the spot best adapted. It should be observed that when cold 
 weather approaches, these worms sink themselves deep into the 
 ground so as to be beyond the reach of frost during the winter, 
 and return back to near the surface again when spring returns; 
 so that when they are severing the roots of grass there will proba ■ 
 bly be none deeper than hogs are accustomed to root. It will be 
 interesting to know how long a given number of swine will be 
 occupied in cleansing an acre of ground containing from twelve 
 to twenty of these grubs in every square foot. And I earnestly 
 hope those who have lands which are devastated in the manner 
 spoken of, will try the experiment which I have now proposed, 
 and will make the result known to the public, whether it be suc¬ 
 cessful or otherwise. 
 
 When these grubs have completed their growth, and come abroad 
 in their perfect state, another opportunity is presented for destroy¬ 
 ing them and preventing their future increase. Every year when 
 the middle of May is approaching, cherry and plum trees should 
 be inspected each evening, particularly our choicest varieties of 
 these trees, to ascertain if the May-beetles are collecting in num¬ 
 bers upon them; and if they are, they should immediately be 
 shaken off upon sheets spread beneath the trees, and emptied into 
 bags or covered pails, and should be killed by immersing them in 
 boiling water, or pouring this upon them; after which they may 
 be fed to the swine and poultry. Many years ago a writer in the 
 New-York Evening Post stated that trees could in this manner be 
 entirely freed from these beetles in a very few evenings. Trees 
 from which two pailsful were collected the first evening furnished 
 a much less number upon each succeeding night, imtil the fifth, 
 when only two beetles could be found upon them. 
 
 The Rose-bug, No. 50, a buff yellow beetle smaller than the 
 preceding, eats the leaves, the last of June. 
 
376 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 77. Violaceous flea-beetle, Crepidodera violated, Melskeimer. (Coleop 
 
 tera. Chrysomelidae.) 
 
 From the middle of May till August or later, eating numerous 
 small holes in the tender new leaves at the ends of the limbs, a 
 brilliant coppery, violet or greenish black flea-beetle, 0.10 long, 
 its under side black, its attennse and legs dull pale yellow with 
 the hind thighs black. It sometimes merely gnaws a little round 
 hollow in the under side of the leaf, leaving the thin transparent 
 skin on the upper side of the leaf entire. 
 
 Large yellow butterfly. The larva occurs on the cherry 
 the same as on the apple. See No. 36. 
 
 78. Glaucous butterfly, Papilio glaucus, Linn. (Lepidoptera. Papilion- 
 
 idae.) 
 
 I have not met with this butterfly in the State of New-York, 
 but a larva identical with that of this species as figured by Abbot, 
 I have repeatedly noticed upon the garden cherry and also on the 
 oak and ash, in August, resting day after day upon a thin cobweb 
 spun over the upper side of a particular leaf. . The larva is like 
 that of the large yellow butterfly, No. 36, with several blue or 
 violet dots superadded, namely, one above each of the eye-like 
 spots, four in a transverse row forward of the yellow band, a 
 similar row on each of the tliree rings forward of the last, and a 
 row lengthwise low down upon each side. The butterfly is black, 
 4.75 to 5.50 across its wings, and may be recognized by a row of 
 small oval spots of a pale yellow or white color extending across 
 the fore wings near their hind edge. 
 
 79. Purblind Sphinx, Smcrinthus myops, Smith and Abbot. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Spliingidse.) 
 
 In August, a large cylindrical apple-green worm with a curved 
 horn at the end of its back, two rows of rust red spots, and along 
 each side six oblique yellowish streaks; passing the winter under 
 ground, and in July changing to a moth which may be distin¬ 
 guished by its hind wings, which are dark snuff brown, their 
 inner half light ochre yellow inclosing a large round black spot 
 having a pale blue centre. Width 2.50. Rare. See Silliman’s 
 Journal, vol. xxxvi, p. 291. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 377 
 
 CUERRY. LEAVES- 
 
 The Cecropia emperor moth, No. 33. Two young worms 
 which I placed on a garden cherry fed freely thereon, remaining 
 till they were full grown, and I doubt not this species sometimes 
 occurs naturally upon this tree. 
 
 80. Promethea emperor moth, Attacus Promethea, Drury. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Bombycidm.) 
 
 In August, a large cylindrical, or whfin at rest a tapering pale 
 greenish-yellow worm coated with a white bloom except at each 
 end, with six rows of black dots or small prickles, the two upper 
 ones on the second or third rings larger, resembling little horns 
 of a bright red color like sealing wax, and on top of the ring for¬ 
 ward of the last a single bright sulphur yellow protuberance; 
 forming its cocoon inside of a rolled leaf the stem of which is tied 
 to the limb with silken threads; the moth coming from it the last 
 of June, its wings measuring from 3.60 to 4.40, sooty black, in 
 the female brownish red, bordered behind with drab gray in which 
 is a wavy black line having forward of it on the hind wings a 
 row of round black spots, in the female deep red, the inner ones 
 more or less united. 
 
 As Dr. Harris (Treatise, page 300) mentions the cocoons of this 
 insect as sometimes occurring on the cherry it will be inferred 
 that it feeds upon the leaves of this tree. And I introduce this 
 species here, to observe that I have reason to think the statements 
 which have hitherto been made respecting the vegetation on which 
 this insect subsists, are perhaps erroneous, writers having proba¬ 
 bly taken it for granted that it fed upon the trees on which they 
 have found its cocoons. This is a subject of more than ordinary 
 importance, since it has been shown upon a preceding page that 
 this moth and the Cecropia are most intimately related to the 
 Arrindy silk worm; and further experiments should be insti¬ 
 tuted to ascertain whether the silk of these moths of our own 
 country does not possess similar durability and strength with that 
 of the East India worm, and whether these insects are not suscep¬ 
 tible of being turned to a valuable account. 
 
 All the statements hitherto published' point to the sassafras as 
 the tree on which the larvm of the Promethea moth chiefly sub¬ 
 sist. Now for fifteen years past a sassafras has been growing in 
 
378 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CIIKRRY. LEAVES. 
 
 my yard without one of these worms ever appearing upon it; 
 whilst upon an ash tree standing beside this sassafras and not 
 three feet distant from it there lias repeatedly been a family of 
 these worms. Certainly if the sassafras were the favorite food of 
 this species some of these worms would have been placed upon it. 
 They have also occurred upon ash trees in other parts of my 
 grounds, and upon no other tree have I ever met with them. Last 
 year on the 18th of July a dozen young worms were found in a 
 cluster upon the under side of a leaf of the ash tree above alluded 
 to, and upon an adjacent leaf of the same stalk were the shells 
 of the eggs from which these worms had come, resembling little 
 cups or hemispheres of clear glass. The eggs were in contact 
 with each other on the under surface of the leaf, and this leaf 
 had been partly consumed by the worms when they first came 
 from their shells. I continued to notice them daily for about a 
 week, when they all disappeared, probably mounting high into 
 the tree, and I could discover no traces of them afterwards. Upon 
 the fall of the leaves in autumn I was disappointed to find no 
 cocoons upon this tree; but upon a lilac growing against the side 
 of the house four rods distant two dozen cocoons occurred. The 
 worms which formed these cocoons could not have fed upon the 
 lilac without being discovered, and I could not avoid the conclu¬ 
 sion that they had been reared upon the ash tree, and when fully 
 grown had migrated to this bush, though in doing so they passed 
 several other lilac bushes, and selected this, perhaps, because 
 growing against the side of the house it would be less apt to be 
 visited by birds than those standing in the open yard. Eut this 
 precaution did not save them. The last winter being unusually 
 long and severe, our winter birds were obliged to forage more 
 assiduously than usual, and before spring every one of these 
 cocoons were perforated and its inmate destroyed. In other 
 instances I have noticed these w r orms remaining till they u r ere 
 mature, upon small sprouts of the ash where they could be 
 observed daily. From all these facts I am confident the ash is 
 their favorite food. But when ready to spin their cocoons it is too 
 laborious a task for them with their silken threads to tie the long 
 leaf stalks of this tree to the limbs from which they grow, and I 
 have very seldom known a cocoon to be placed upon this tree. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 379 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 Having finished feeding, the worms invariably repair to other 
 trees having tough leathery leaves which will form a thick sub¬ 
 stantial mantle around the cocoon, and having short stems that 
 can readily be tied to the twigs from which they grow. We can¬ 
 not but admire the intelligence which they manifest in this proce¬ 
 dure. Authors mention the sassafras, cherry, poplar, Azalea, 
 Cephalanthus, snow-drop ( Halesia ) and bay, as the trees and 
 shrubs on which the cocoons occur; but in this district it selects 
 the lilac in preference to any of these. Few winters pass but 
 that some of these cocoons may be seen on the lilacs in all our 
 yards, and sometimes fifty or more will be observed upon a single 
 bush. In the city of Albany they are equally as common upon 
 the lilacs as in the surrounding country. But as the other insects 
 of this family feed upon several different trees and shrubs, it is not 
 probable that this is confined to one kind of food. Being found, 
 however, in Eastern New-York, so uniformly if not exclusively 
 upon the ash, and its cocoons upon the lilac, it is remarkable 
 that neither of these trees has ever been mentioned by writers, in 
 connection with this most interesting and beautiful moth. 
 
 81. Io emperor moth, Satumia To, Fab. (Lepidoptera. Bombycidae.) 
 
 In August, a thick apple green worm, 2.50 long, covered with 
 
 clusters of prickles having black tips and stinging like nettles if 
 touched, and along each side an orange or brick red stripe freckled 
 with white dots and edged on its lower side by a white stripe; 
 forming a cocoon on the ground under dead leaves; the moth ap¬ 
 pearing in June, its hind wings bright yellow', their inner margin 
 purplish red and on their middle a large black eye-like spot hav¬ 
 ing a pale blue centre in which is a white streak; the fore wings 
 yellow in the male, purplish brown in the female. Width 2.70 
 to 3.50. I have met with this on the wild black cherry and on 
 the thorn. From six to nine worms often occur upon the same 
 tree. They commonly eat all the leaves from the end of particular 
 limbs, leaving only a short stump of the leaf stalk. See Harris’s 
 Treatise, p. 304. 
 
 82. Misippus butterfly, Limcnitus Misippus, Fab. (Lepidoptera, Nym- 
 
 pbalidse.) 
 
 In June and July, a thick bodied w r orm 1.75 long, olive green 
 Varied with white, the second ring humped and with two long 
 
380 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHERRF. LEAVES. 
 
 blackish prickly horns, a row of small white prickly warts along 
 each side of the back, and the head white and covered with small 
 prickles; its pupa hanging with its head downwards, on the 
 under side of a limb or leaf, in a week or ten days giving out a 
 butterfly having bright tawny orange wings with black veins and 
 margins and a narrow black band across the middle of the hind 
 pair, the black border having a single row of white dots. Width 
 2.75 to 3.40. Abbot says the larva feeds on different species of 
 cherry, but it is much oftener met with on willows, and I have 
 also found it on poplar. 
 
 §3, Clyton butterfly, Apatura Clyton, Boisduval. (Lepidoptcra. Nym- 
 
 phalidse.) 
 
 A worm nearly 1.05 long and as thick as a goose quill, thickest 
 in the middle, pale green with four light greenish yellow stripes, 
 the top of its head having two yellow spines with branching 
 prickles; its pupa hanging from the under side of a limb with its 
 head downwards; the butterfly with blackish brown wings, tawny 
 orange on the basal half of the fore pair, beyond which is two 
 rows of small olive yellow spots and near the hind edge a narrow 
 yellowish band broken towards its inner end. Width 2.20. I 
 have never met with this in the State of New-York. It occurs 
 through the southern States on the cherry and other trees of the 
 same family. 
 
 84. American lappet-moth, Gastropacha Americana, Harris. (Lcpiclop- 
 
 tera. Bombycidas.) 
 
 The latter part of summer, a cylindrical worm when feeding 
 by night, but by day broad and flat, pressed to the limb and resem¬ 
 bling a tumor of the bark, 2.50 long, ash-gray varied with whitish 
 spots and having two transverse velvety red streaks anteriorly; 
 its pupa in a cocoon also resembling a slight swelling upon the 
 limb, of the same colors with the bark; the moth appearing in 
 May, its wings deeply notched along their hind and inner m.u - 
 gins, reddish brown, both pairs crossed by a broad whitish band 
 which has a wavy dark reddish line upon each side. Width l- ; >° 
 to 1.90. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 293. [Note. — This is the same 
 with No. 30. The repetition was not discovered till it was in type, 
 too far to cancel the error,] 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 381 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 85. IIag moth, Limacodes pitheciwm, Smith and Abbot. (Lopidoptcra. Arc 
 
 tiidsc.) 
 
 In August and Septemoer, a flattened dark brown singular 
 looking worm of an oblong and nearly square form, the sides of 
 its body prolonged outwards into eleven tooth-like processes, the 
 three middle ones of which are longer with their ends curved 
 backward, growing to nearly an inch in length, its pupa state 
 passed in a small cocoon fastened to a limb; the moth dusky 
 brown, its fore wings varied with pale yellowish brown, and 
 crossed by a narrow wavy curved band of this color, edged on its 
 hind side near the outer margin with dark brown, and having near 
 the centre a light brown soot. Width 0.95 to 1.25. See Harris’s 
 Treatise, p. 324. 
 
 80. Dry leaf measure-worm, Geometral siccifolia, new species. (Lcpidop. 
 
 tcra. Gcometridse.) 
 
 A measure worm in many respects like the preceding, but more 
 narrow and flattened and having a marked resemblance to a dry 
 withered leaf or the brown scraggy fragment of a dead twig, may 
 frequently be met with some years, in August and September, most 
 commonly upon choke cherry bushes. It is 0.80 long and a dull 
 dark umber brown color, sometimes of a paler yellowish shade, 
 and with a blackish streak along the middle of its back. The 
 three middle segments are nearly double the width of the others, 
 their sides being prolonged obliquely forwards and upwards in 
 thin flat triangular projections having their tips blunt or slightly 
 notched, and commonly ending in two little sharp teeth. The 
 next segment back of these is also slightly prolonged outwards. 
 On the top of the segment next to the last are two little horns 
 projecting upward. Adhering to a twig with its four hind feet, it 
 remains motionless with its body slightly bent and turned upward, 
 and if knocked to the ground it lies perfectly still. No one from 
 its appearance, would suspect it to be anything possessed of life. 
 The latter part of September it draws two or three leaves together 
 tieing them with silken threads, and spins its cocoon within them; 
 but I have not yet succeeded in obtaining the moth from these 
 cocoons. 
 
382 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 The Rosacean Tortrix, No. 46, is a common worm upon the 
 cherry 
 
 87. Oherrt-eating Tortrix, Lozotania Cerasivorana, new species. (I,e- 
 
 pidoptera. Tortricidae.) Plate ii, fig. 3. 
 
 In July, tieing the leaves together with silken threads; when 
 numerous, living in, societies and forming a large nest, drawing all 
 the twigs and leaves of a particular limb together; oftenest seen 
 on the choke cherry, but occurring also on the garden cherry; an 
 ochre yellow worm with the head, neck, hind end and feet 
 black, and a few fine hairs from smooth shining dots; form¬ 
 ing its pupa in the same nest; the moth broad and flat when 
 at rest, the outer edge of its fore wings being strongly rounded 
 towards the base and straight from the middle to the tip, 
 these wings with irregular wavy bands alternately of bright ochre 
 yellow and pale leaden blue, the yellow bands often varied with 
 rusty or blackish atoms forming darker spots, the most con¬ 
 spicuous one of which is placed on the outer margin near the tip, 
 and from this spot a broader ochre yellow band extends towards 
 the hind margin forward of its middle and curves thence to the 
 inner angle; hind wings and all beneath pale ochre yellow. 
 ■Width 0.75 to 1.10. Like others of this group this moth varies 
 greatly, the marks on its fore wings being confused and indistinct 
 or wholly obliterated in old rubbed individuals. It may always 
 be known, however, from the other moths related to it, by its 
 bright yellow color, in connection with its size and the shape of 
 its fore wings. None of the described insects of this genus appear 
 to have hind wings of so pure yellow without any smoky or dusky 
 shade. 
 
 88 . Fall web worm, Hyphantria textor, Harris. (Lepidoptera. Arctiid®.' 
 
 In August and the fore-part of September, forming a large thin 
 cobw r eb-like nest on the end of a limb and eating all the leaves 
 in and around it; smallish caterpillars living together in a society, 
 their color pale yellow, with a broad black or blackish stripe 
 upon the back and another beneath, thinly clothed with whitish 
 hairs growing from smooth orange yellow and black dots, the 
 head and feet black; the worms of the same nest varying greatly 
 
PL ATE .2. 
 
 Currarxi borer 
 
 Buffalo tree hopper. 
 
 Oak pruxiei: 
 
 Cherry Tortrrx. 
 
 ThorR-busK tree ftopper ■ 
 
 Spotted Pelidiuota. 
 
 ^■TolUy.Sa. 
 
 large tceebug 
 
 ■Eitlx-oE CYauBeHtKuysan.Alt>ai\y:yY. 
 
s * 
 
 . T 1 
 
 . 
 
 % 
 
 • . • i ' . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 j&i'imw 
 
 * \ 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 383 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 in size and colors; growing to about an inch in length and then 
 dispersing and spinning their cocoons in crevices of the bark and 
 similar sheltered situations; the moth appearing the fore part of 
 the following summer, a milk white miller without any spots or 
 dots on its wings, its fore thighs tawny yellow in front and the 
 anterior feet alternated with black and white on their fore side. 
 Width 1.25 to 1.35. This is quite common some years, and 
 occurs upon the ash, willow, and several other trees. See 
 Harris’s Treatise, p. 276. 
 
 A Brazilian moth very similar to that of our Fall web worm, has been sent 
 me from Bahia, by my friend A. de Lacerda. In this the basal part of the 
 outer edge of the fore wings and the feet are blackish, and the four anterior 
 shanks are orange yellow on their outer side with a blackish spot on their base 
 and another on their middle. Its expanded wings measure 1.50. Its pupa is 
 white with the abdomen flesh colored and is beautifully variegated with sym¬ 
 metrical black stripes and spots, from which circumstance, as I meet with no 
 description of this species, I have named it in my collection, Hyphantria picti- 
 pupa or the Painted puppet. 
 
 89. Yellow-neckf.d ermine moth, Ilyphantria collaris, new species. 
 
 A moth closely related to the preceding and doubtless possess¬ 
 ing the same habits, has been sent me from Mississippi, and pro¬ 
 bably occurs throughout the southern states. It is milk white 
 and glossy, its head, neck, base of the outer edge of the fore 
 wings and the anterior hips are pale ochre yellow, and its feet 
 pale brown. Width 1.35. 
 
 90. Dotted ermine moth, Hyphantria punctata, new species. 
 
 A worm similar to that of the Fall web worm and possessing 
 the same habits, producing in June a milk white miller having a 
 continuous black stripe on the fore side of its anterior feet and 
 shanks, their thighs and hips being yellow in front, and the fore 
 wings having a black central dot, and in the males a row of 
 small blackish spots extemding from the middle of the inner 
 margin to the tip. Width 1.65 to 2.00. This is frequently met 
 with in our district, though much less common than the Fall web 
 worm. 
 
384 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 ©1. Spotted ermine moth, Hyphantria cunea, Drury. 
 
 Caterpillars similar to those of the Fall web worm, and like it 
 forming a large cobweb-like nest on the ends of the limbs of the 
 wild cherry, willow and other trees in autumn. The moth a milk 
 white miller with its anterior feet black on their fore side and 
 alternated witli black and white on their hind side. Its anterior 
 shanks are black in front and the thighs and hips orange yellow. 
 In the male the fore wings have numerous small black spots and 
 dots which do not appear in the other sex. Width 1.30 to 1.60. 
 The males vary greatly in the number of their spots, and fre¬ 
 quently there is a curved black band upon the middle of their 
 fore wings cut across only by the white veins. This species, 
 named in allusion to its fore wings punctatissima or many dotted, 
 by Smith and Abbot, and cunea or w r edge spotted, by Drury, wa 9 
 described by the latter from specimens captured in the vicinity of 
 New-York city, and S. Calverley, Esq., of Brooklyn, to whom I 
 am indebted for a suite of specimens showing its several varieties, 
 informs me it is quite a common insect there. But I have no 
 knowledge of its occurrence anywhere north or west of the High¬ 
 lands. 
 
 The Apple tree caterpillar, No. 28, 
 
 Vaporer moth, No. 32, 
 
 Canker worm, No. 38, 
 
 Apple Tortrix, No. 40, and 
 
 Palmer worm, No. 42, may all be found feeding upon the 
 leaves of the cherry. 
 
 92. Cherry slug worm, Selandria Cerasi, Peck. (Ilymenoptera. Tcn- 
 
 thredinidsc.) 
 
 In June and July eating the upper surface of the leaves and 
 leaving the veins and skin of the under side entire; small shining 
 slimy slug worms of an olive brown and blackish color, dull yel¬ 
 low beneath, tapering and swelled anteriorly, resembling young 
 tadpoles; several often feeding upon one leaf; maturing in four 
 weeks and then burying themselves under ground through the 
 winter; changing finally to a small glossy black fly with four 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 386 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 transparent wings tinged with smoky which forms a dusky cloud 
 across the middle of the fore pair, its four anterior legs and the 
 knees of the hind pair dirty yellow or clay colored, their thighs 
 blackish. Length 0.22. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 419. 
 
 93. Cherry Abia, Abia Cerasi, new species. (Hymenoptera. Tcnthre- 
 
 dinidae.) 
 
 I only know this and the following species from specimens bred 
 from cocoons found attached to the limbs of the wild black 
 cherry, which is a sufficient evidence that their larvae subsist upon 
 the leaves of this tree. Like other larvae of the same genera, 
 they will be twenty-footed worms, having two pairs of pro-legs 
 more than the usual number, and they eat the edges of the leaves. 
 The cocoons of both these insects are cylindrical with rounded 
 ends, and are of a tougli firm texture, resembling coarse brown 
 paper. Those of the cherry Abia are 0.80 long by 0.38 in 
 diameter. Two of these cocoons were met with last March, upon 
 a low bush within three feet of the ground. One of them had 
 been perforated by birds and its inmate destroyed; the other 
 on being brought into a warm room hatched within a fortnight, 
 indicating that with the first warm days of spring these flies come 
 abroad. They cut off one end of the cocoon smoothly, to make 
 their exit from it, the severed end resembling a little lid, some of 
 the loose threads upon the outer surface of the cocoon forming a 
 hinge whereby this lid can be opened and shut. The fly is black 
 with the abdomen and thighs blue black and the feet and tips of 
 the shanks pale yellow. Its thorax is thinly covered with pale 
 grayish yellow hairs, and its wings are transparent, smoky 
 yellowish, with black veins, those on the basal third pale yellow. 
 Length 0.60, to the tip of the wings 0.80; width 1.35. 
 
 The species of this genus are very few, and little is known of 
 their habits. This is the first one, I believe, which has been 
 found in this country. It resembles a Cimbcx , the antennae being 
 short, with a round knob at their ends shaped like an egg with 
 its large end outwards, and in the specimen before me there are 
 tour joints to this knob, and four in the stem which precedes it, 
 this being one joint more than the normal number in this genus. 
 
 [Ag. Tuans.] Y 
 
386 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 94. Black-cai,fed saw-fi.y, Nematus suratus,new species. (Ilymenoptera. 
 
 Tcnthrcdinid®.) 
 
 This comes from a cocoon 0.30 in lengtn by 0.14 in diameter. 
 The fly eats off the end of its cocoon to make its exit therefrom. 
 It was met with at the same time with the preceding species, and 
 was a week later in hatching. The fly is black with four trans¬ 
 parent slightly smoky wings, its mouth lurid white as is also a 
 cloud-like spot on the shoulders, the edges of the abdominal seg¬ 
 ments, and the legs, the four anterior thighs being black upon 
 their under sides and the hind pair wholly black except at their 
 bases. Length 0.25, to the tip of the wings 0.30. 
 
 A surprising degree of intelligence was manifested by this 
 insect, in the situation which it selected for its cocoon. Upon a 
 small limb growing perpendicularly upward the moth of an apple 
 tree caterpillar had placed its belt of eggs, coated over with gum 
 in the usual manner, and immediately above this a small tender 
 leaf was growing. The worm spun its cocoon between this belt 
 of eggs and the leaf above it. The frosts of autumn subsequently 
 wilted this leaf and the rains saturating it weighed it downward, 
 causing it to adhere like a wet cloth to the belt of eggs, the gum 
 upon which afterwards drying glued the leaf securely in this 
 position. And thus the stem of the leaf came to form a band or 
 loop over the cocoon, holding it securely in its place. It is truly 
 wonderful how the worm which formed this little thimble-like 
 cocoon could have known that this spot was so well adapted for 
 its wants. Had it previously crawled over these caterpillar’s eggs 
 when they were wet, and thus discovered that their gummy cover¬ 
 ing then became soft and adhesive I And had it the intelligence 
 to foresee that the leaf growing immediately above them would 
 in a short time wither and lop downwards and become firmly 
 glued to the surface of this gum 1 It would so appear, from the 
 fact of its placing its cocoon crosswise of the twig, so that it might 
 become bound to it in this manner, instead of attaching it length¬ 
 wise as insects generally place their cocoons, and from the further 
 fact that it imbedded the lower end of the leaf stalk in the outer 
 surface of its cocoon, evidently for the purpose of holding the 
 leaf steadily in such a position that when it wilted it must lop 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 387 
 
 CHERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 directly downward and not sway oft' to one side. This curious 
 specimen may be seen in the Entomological department of the 
 Museum of the State Agricultural Society. 
 
 AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 
 
 The Plum weevil or Curculio, No. 70, a small white worm 
 occasionally found in the interior of cherries, is the only insect 
 known to us as infesting this fruit. 
 
 9. THE GRAPE. — Vitis vinifera , et al. 
 
 AFFECTING the root. 
 
 95. Grape vine borer, 7Vochilium Polistiformis, Harris. (Lepidoptcra 
 
 Trochiliidae.) 
 
 A worm resembling the Peach tree borer, No. 59, in its size 
 and habits, producing a moth resembling a wasp, of a dark brown 
 color marked with orange or tawny yellow, and with a bright 
 yellow band on the base of the second ring of its abdomen, its 
 fore wings dusky, hind ones glassy hyaline with the margins and 
 veins black. Width 1.00 to 1.50. Found by Dr. Kron, in North 
 Carolina, where it is exceedingly destructive to both wild and 
 cultivated grapes. See Patent Office Report, 1854, p. 80. 
 
 AFFECTING THE STALK. 
 
 96* Vine scale insect, Lecanium Vitis, Linn. (Homoptera. Coccidse.) 
 
 Appearing on the bark in June, a brown hemispherical scale 
 from under one end of which a white cotton-like substance pro¬ 
 trudes, more and more, till about the first of July, it becomes 
 four times as large as the scale, and from among it minute oval 
 yellowish-white lice, the hundredth of an inch in length, creep 
 out and distribute themselves over the bark, to which they 
 fix themselves and become stationary, sucking its juices. This 
 appears from the short descriptions given by authors, and from 
 
388 
 
 ANNUAL BEPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPH. STALKS. 
 
 specimens sent me by Dr. Signoret of Paris, to be the same with 
 the European scale insect of the vine. See Kollar’s Treatise, p. 
 155. 
 
 97. Four-spotted spittle insect, Aphrophora \-wotata, Say. (Ilomoptera. 
 
 Cercopidae.) 
 
 A spot of white froth resembling spittle, appearing upon the 
 bark in June, containing under it a pale wingless insect which 
 punctures the bark and sucks its juices, as does also the perfect 
 or winged insect which occurs upon the vines the beginning of 
 July, and is a flattened tree-hopper of a brown color, its wing 
 covers having a blackish spot at the tip, another on tire middle of 
 the outer margin and a third at the base, with the spaces between 
 these spots hyaline white. Length 0.30. 
 
 98. Signoret’s spittle insect, Aphropliora Signoretii, new species. 
 
 In habits and appearance like the preceding, but without any 
 black spots or marks, its ground color being tawny brown with 
 dull whitish clouds, and thickly punctured with black, the wing 
 covers having a small white spot on their inner margin near the 
 tip and a larger one opposite this on the outer margin. Length 
 0.32. 
 
 This species has a whitish stripe between two blackish streaks along tho 
 middle of the head, but no distinct raised line either here or upon the front. 
 Still, that it pertains to this genus, rather than to Ptyelus, is shown by its 
 ocelli or eyelets, which are placed nearer to each other than to the eyes, and by 
 tho base of its head, which is angularly notched in the middle instead of being 
 rounded in a regular curve, as we find it to be in both Ptyelus nnd Lepyronia. 
 I regard these as the most valid characters by which to discriminate these 
 closely related genera. Another spittle insect which I discovered common 
 upon the pitch pines on the sand plains of Saratoga, and described in my Cata¬ 
 logue of Homopterous insects in the State Cabinet of Natural History, under 
 the name of Lepyronia Saratogensis, was the same year described by Mr. 
 Walker, (List of the British Museum, p. 714,) under the name Ptyelus gelidus, 
 his description having issued from the press a few months subsequent to mine. 
 Mr. Walker has, accordingly, in the supplement to his list, (page 1153), done 
 me the justice of giving precedence to my name. I think, however, that both 
 this species and the parallela of Say must be carried back to the genus Aphro¬ 
 pliora, since tho nearness of their ocelli removes them from Ptyelus, whilst the 
 length and narrowness of their wing covers separates them from Lepyronia, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 389 
 
 GRAPH. STALES. 
 
 and the angular notch in the base of their heads, and the pale stripe, slightly 
 elevated, along the middle of the head and thorax, further separates them 
 from the genera to which they have been referred, and approximates them to 
 /Iphrophora. The foreign species belonging to these genera, with which I have 
 been most liberally supplied by Dr. Signoret, of Paris, enable me to trace the 
 affinities of these rather anomalous insects much more accurately than it would 
 be possible to do without such aid. 
 
 The Cercopis quadrangularis Say so closely resembles the European Lepxjro- 
 nia coleoptrata, that I am surprised to see it placed in any other genus. 
 
 The Cercopis obtusa, Say, also placed under Ptyelus by Mr. Walker, belongs 
 to the genus Clastoptera. 
 
 The Cercopis ignipecta of Harris’s catalogue, also supposed to be a Ptyelus 
 by Mr. Walker, pertains to the genus Monecphora. As this name, ignipecta, 
 was published more than twenty years ago and no description of this 
 species has ever been given, I may here supply this deficiency. In size and 
 form this insect has a marked resemblance to the Monecphora bicincta. Say, 
 but is destitute of bands or spots on its upper surface. It is black, old speci¬ 
 mens fading to brown, and on the under side the breast, the edges of the 
 abdominal segments, the anterior knees and the hind legs are bright blood red 
 with the tips of the feet black. Length 0.35. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 1. Puncturing them and sucking their juices. 
 
 99. Large green tree bug, Rhaphigaster Pennsylvanicus, Dcgecr. (He 
 miptera. Pentatomidae.) 
 
 A large flattened grass green bug edged all round with a light 
 yellow line, interrupted at each joint of the abdomen by a small 
 black spot, its antennse black beyond the middle of their third 
 joint, with a pale yellow band on the first half of the two last 
 joints. Length 0.60 to 0.70. This occurs, chiefly in September, 
 throughout the Northern States, upon hickory, willow and other 
 trees, as well as on grape vines. Mr. Dallas has recently des¬ 
 cribed it as a new species, naming it R. Sarpitius, List of British 
 Museum, p. 276, and Mr*. Say has also named it hilaris. 
 
 190. Bound tree bug, Pentatoma ligata, Say. (Hemiptera. Pentato¬ 
 midse). 
 
 A large grass green bug closely resembling the foregoing, but 
 more widely edged all round, except upon its head, with pale red, 
 
390 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 QR APR. LEAVES. 
 
 and with a pale red spot upon the middle of its back, occupying 
 the apex of the scutel, its antennse green, the second joint dusky 
 at its tip and the three last joints black. Length 0.55, width 
 0.34. Rare. Though so much like the preceding species this 
 pertains to a different genus, being destitute of the sharp point at 
 the base of its abdomen between the hind pair of legs which may 
 be seen in that insect. 
 
 101 . Modest tree duo, jlrma modesta, Dallas. (Hemiptera. Pentato- 
 
 n) idee.) 
 
 Tawny yellowish gray thickly dotted with brown punctures, 
 the wing covers commonly red at the apex of their leathery por¬ 
 tion, and with a brown spot at the tip of their glassy hyaline 
 ends, the under side whitish with a row of distant black dots 
 along the middle of the abdomen and another on each side. 
 Length 0.40 to 0.46. This is one of our most common tree bugs 
 and will be met with in autumn upon a number of different trees 
 and shrubs. It has the spine-like point on the base of the under 
 aide of the abdomen very short, and the angular projection on 
 each side of the thorax is not drawn out into a sharp point, by 
 which characters it is readily distinguished from another species 
 very similar to it, the spined tree bug, No. 26. 
 
 102. Single striped tree hopper, Theliaunivittata, Harris. (Homoptera. 
 
 Membracidse.) 
 
 A tree hopper shaped like a beech nut, with a perpendicular 
 protuberance on the fore part of its back, more high than wide, 
 its summit compressed and rounded, the insect of a chestnut 
 brown color, tawny white in front and with a white stripe along 
 the back, extending from the protuberance to the tip. Length 
 0.37, height 0.24. Often seen on grape vines in July and August. 
 
 The Buffalo tree hopper, No. 22, may also be noticed on 
 grape vines every day during the latter part of summer. 
 
 103 . Black backed tree hopper, Acutalis dorsalis, Fitch. (Ilomoptcra. 
 
 Membracidse.) 
 
 A small triangular shining tree hopper with a smooth rounded 
 back, greenish white with a large black spot on its back, from the 
 anterior corners of which spot a line runs off towards each eye, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 391 
 
 GRAPH. LEAVES. 
 
 the upper margin of the head and the breast being also black and 
 the wings hyaline. Length of the male 0.15, of the female 0.20. 
 Numbers of this insect may sometimes be met with on grape 
 vines, about the last of July, and a few stragglers remain into 
 October. The anticonigra of M. Fairmaire, (Ann. Soc. Ent., 2d 
 series, iv. p. 498,) differs from this species only in having the fore 
 wings with coarse black cr brown veins. All of the many speci¬ 
 mens which I have met with in the state of New-York, have the 
 wing veins colorless. This insect and the calva of Say, which is 
 slightly smaller and shining black, with the face, shanks and feet 
 dark yellowish, the tip of the thorax and abdomen pale greenish, 
 and the wings hyaline, are the only New-York species of Jlcutalis 
 which I have discovered, although several others occur in Penn¬ 
 sylvania and farther south, and some of them are quite numerous 
 upon the kinds of vegetation which they infest. 
 
 101 . Vine leaf iiopper, JErythroneura Vitis, Harris. (Homoptera. Tet- 
 
 tigoniidse.) 
 
 Pale yellow with two broad blood-red bands and a third dusky 
 one on the apex, the anterior band occupying the base of the 
 thorax and of the wing covers and scutel, the middle one ending 
 in a much narrower nearly square black spot situated on the 
 middle of the outer side of the wing covers. Length 0.13. 
 Though so small such swarms of these insects sometimes gather 
 on the vines in August and bleed the leaves so freely that they 
 become dry and stiff and of a yellow color, as when fading in 
 autumn. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 198. 
 
 There are numerous kinds of little leaf hoppers similar to those of the vine. 
 Hitherto they have all been included in the genus Typhlocyba by authors. In 
 consequence of their diminutive sine they have been less investigated than tho 
 other insects of the order to which they pertain. The number and arrange¬ 
 ment of the veins in their wing covers and wings, present such differences as 
 would probably have induced authors to separate them into distinct genera, 
 before this day, had they been of larger size and better known. The species, 
 moreover, are so numerous, and will be so largely increased no doubt by future 
 discoveries, that as a matter of convenience a separation among them appears 
 to be required. The characters assigned to the genus Typhlocyba, by different 
 authors, are very confused and contradictory, as they have been drawn from 
 one or another of the species, some defining it as with, others, without ocelli, 
 e tc. I was, hence, wholly at a loss with respect to the insects which it was 
 
392 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPH. LEAVES. 
 
 proper to include under this genus, several years since, when arranging and 
 naming the New-York Homoptera in the State Cabinet of Natural History, 
 The new genera Erythroneura and Empoa thus came to he proposed by me, 
 for the reception of a portion of these insects. The characters on which these 
 genera were founded, I since learn, make them the equivalents of some of the 
 leading sections into which the genus Typhhcyba is divided by Burmeister, 
 Zetterstedt, and others. These names may, therefore- remain for distinguish¬ 
 ing those species in which the veins of the wings are less numerous and fully 
 developed than they are in 'JTyphlocyba proper. The insects in question will 
 thus bo divided as follows: 
 
 Tyfulocyba. Wing covers bordered on the hind part of their inner side by 
 a submarginal vein running parallel with the exterior edge, and commonly 
 having a closed discoidal cell also. 
 
 Erytiironeura. Wing covers not bordered; their outer apical cell four 
 sided, or with two right angles at its forward end. 
 
 Empoa. Wing covers not bordered; their outer apical cell three sided or 
 with a single acute angle at its forward end. 
 
 Each of these genera or sub-genera admit of further division. About ten 
 New-York species or prominent varieties, known to me, fall under the first ol 
 these genera, thirty under the second and eighteen under the last. Several of 
 these are very similar to and are probably identical with European species. 
 
 105. Three-banded leap hopper, Erythroneura tricincta, Fitch 
 
 Like the preceding, but the bands narrower, the anterior one 
 not extended upon the base of the wing covers and the middle 
 one not widened in its middle. Length 0.13. I originally met 
 with this in abundance upon raspberry and currant bushes. 
 Having since found it repeatedly upon grape vines I am inclined 
 to think it may possibly be a variety of the foregoing species. In 
 both the color of the bands varies, being sometimes tawny red 
 and sometimes dusky or black. 
 
 106. Vine-destroying leaf hopper, Erytiironeura Vitifex, new species. 
 
 Yellowish white, the wing covers with oblique confluent blood 
 red bands and a short oblique black line on the middle of their 
 outer margin; thorax commonly with three red stripes, the middle 
 one forked anteriorly and confluent with two red stripes on the 
 crown of the head. Length 0.12. When the wing covers are 
 closed they appear red with a cream colored spot shaped like a 
 heart anteriorly, and on their middle a large diamond-shaped spot* 
 with a small red spot in its centre. It resembles an individual ot 
 the comes of Say, having the red spots so enlarged as to all run 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 393 
 
 GRAPH. LEAVES. 
 
 together, but the marks upon the thorax are totally different from 
 those of that species. I have sometimes met with this leaf hopper 
 in such numbers upon the grape vine, in September, that when 
 the leaves were agitated, the insects taking wing resembled a 
 shower of snow r flakes. I have also reared it from pupae found, 
 upon the leaves sucking their juices. The young begin to appear 
 a month or two earlier than the perfect insects, and resemble 
 them, but are smaller and destitute of wings. And their cast 
 skins, delicate, milk white, retaining the form of the insect that 
 lias left them, may everywhere be noticed adhering to the leaves. 
 
 107* Wounded leap hopper, JErythroneura viUnerata y Fitch. 
 
 Tawny yellowish, sometimes tinged with red, the wing covers 
 with white dots and veins and on the middle of the outer margin 
 an oblique black streak between two cream white spots, the hind 
 one smaller and with an oblique blood red line at its end; tips 
 smoky blackish. Length 0.12. Common in September. 
 
 108. Coquebert’s Otioceuus, Otiocerus Coqucbertii, Kirby. (Homoptera. 
 
 Fulgoridai.) 
 
 A slim four-winged fly of a yellowish white color with a bright 
 carmine red stripe along each side of the body and wings, which 
 stripe is widely forked at its hind end. Length 0.42. I have 
 met with these delicate pretty flies from the middle of July to the 
 end of the season, more frequently upon the wild grape vine than 
 on any other plant or tree, but they are never so numerous as to 
 do any perceptible injury, and are chiefly interesting to us as per¬ 
 taining to a genus peculiar to the United States, and very remark¬ 
 able lor possessing long slender cylindrical appendages attached 
 to the base of their antenna;, nothing analogous to which are 
 found in any other insects. These appendages vary in their 
 length and form in different species. They resemble a slender 
 tapering worm, irregularly crooked, lying upon and rigidly 
 oppressed to the cheeks of the insect’s face and sometimes passing 
 over the eye- The use of these curious appendages will form an 
 interesting subject for the investigation of some future naturalist 
 
 this country. Mr. Kirby long ago described eight species of 
 these singular insects from specimens found in Georgia by Mr. 
 
394 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 Abbot. To these I have recently added a ninth, and two addi¬ 
 tional species are now known to me, the characters of which may 
 briefly be stated in this place. 
 
 109. Otiocerus Signoretii. Pale yellow; wing covers with a broad dusky 
 cloud-like stripe from the base to the middle of the inner margin, and extend¬ 
 ing thence obliquely across to the outer margin at its tip, and sending a very 
 broad branch to the tip of the inner margin; a large blackish dot anteriorly, 
 on the inner side of the dusky stripe, situated in the middle of the subaxillary 
 cell, and four dots on the outer side of the stripe, placed at the angles of an 
 imaginary square, the outermost one of these dots being in the middle of the 
 outer or costal cell; veins yellow, posteriorly red; wings whitish hyaline, 
 their veins red; keels of the upper side of the head minutely toothed, those 
 of the frontal and lower side edged by a slender coal black line. Length of 
 the body 0.20; width of the spread wings 0.G0. The antenn® arc short, 
 scarcely reaching to the eye, and have but one appendage of about the same 
 length in males. This species is similar to Reaumurii, but the dots on the 
 wing covers are differently placed. Two specimens from west of Arkansas, 
 from W. S. Robertson. 
 
 110. Otiocerus JJmyotii. Light yellow; wing covers pale sulphur yellow, 
 with a brown stripe from the base to the middle of the inner margin and 
 thence to the outer tip; a row of blackish dots on the hind edge alternating 
 with the ends of the apical veins, and about six dots forward of the innermost 
 of these, placed on the tips of the subapical and on the bases of the apical 
 veins; three brown stripes on the thorax; an orange red stripe on each side of 
 the head, from the eye to the forward edge below the apex. Length 0.25, to 
 the tip of the closed wings 0.40; width of the spread wings 0.70. I havo 
 hitherto supposed this to be the fVoffii of Kirby, but having recently captured 
 an individual of that species, the differences between these two insects becomo 
 evident to me. The fVolfii possesses each of the characters above assigned to 
 the Amyotii, but the orange stripe on each side of the head is more faint and 
 runs obliquely upward to the apex of the head, where it ends in a short coal 
 black line, exactly as stated by Mr. Kirby; and the wing covers have three 
 distant blackish dots in a row, outside of the brown stripe, one of these dots 
 being placed near the baso of each of the discoidal cells. In both of these 
 species the females have two long appendages to the antenn®. The insect des¬ 
 cribed by Amyot and Serville, and by Spinola, under the name Stollii, certainly 
 is not the Stollii of Kirby, which is a dark colored species like the Degcerii; 
 but it is in all probability the same species which I have described above. I 
 havo met with this insect in only two instances in this State, and once in New 
 Jersey. All the specimens were females and were found upon hickory leaves. 
 
 111. Anotia IVestwoodii. Another genus of insects peculiar to this country 
 
 and closely resembling the preceding, except that they are destitute of appen¬ 
 dages at the base of the antenn®, was brought to light by Mr. Kirby, in con¬ 
 nection with the Otioceri. Only a single species of this genus, named Anotia 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 395 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 Bonnetii, has hitherto been known. We have in the state of New-York an 
 insect of this kind which may frequently be met with upon grass and on wil¬ 
 lows in lowland meadows, from the beginning of August till the end of the 
 season. I have hitherto supposed this to be the Bonnetii; but now, when I 
 come to compare a number of specimens with Mr. Kirby’s description, it be¬ 
 comes plain to me that this is a distinct species, and I therefore name it in 
 honor of the distinguished British entomologist who has furnished to the Lin¬ 
 eman Transactions a valuable paper upon some of the insects of this group. In 
 all the species of Anotia several oblique voinlets of a blood red color appear 
 along the outer sides of the wing covers towards their tips; but our New-York 
 species difters from the Bonnetti, in that the wing covers have no tint of yel¬ 
 low, and none of their veinlets are black. The veins and veinlcts are pallid, 
 and for the most part are broadly margined with pale brown, which color also 
 forms an irregular band before and another behind the middle, leaving large 
 whitish hyaline spots in the intervals. The rib vein commonly shows three 
 or four blackish alternations forward of its middle, and there is also a short 
 black streak upon the middle of the inner margin. The wings are whitish 
 hyaline with a blue iridescence, and their veins are slender and whitish with 
 the veinlet at the apex of the outer discoidal cell robust, black, and slightly 
 margined with brown. The thorax is pale yellow, smooth and shining, with 
 three elevated white longitudinal lines. Length 0.15 to tip of the wings 0.26; 
 width 0.45. 
 
 Two other species of this genus arc known to me, the distinctive marks of 
 which may here be stated. They are the same size with the preceding. 
 
 112 . Anotia Burnetii is much nearer related to A. Bonneti i, the three vein- 
 lets in the disk of its wing covers being blackish, but it is readily known from 
 the other three species by a black stripe above along the middle of the three 
 first segments of its abdomen. It is white, its wing covers milky white and 
 subhyaline, with faint clouds of a more dusky tinge forming about three imper¬ 
 fect bands. A single specimen was captured by Albert Gallatin Burnet, upon 
 ash bushes beside Henderson river in Illinois. The insects of this genus hence 
 appear to inhabit low humid situations, whilst those of the genus Otiocerus, 
 according to my observations, all occur upon bushes growing in dry uplands. 
 
 113 . Anotia Itolertsonii is very similar to the Burnetii, appearing to differ 
 only in having the tips of its antennso and its feet blackish or dusky and the 
 back of its abdomen white without any blackish discoloration. Two speci¬ 
 mens sent mo from west of Arkansas, by W. S. Robertson. 
 
 I here subjoin a short account of two other singular insects pertaining to 
 this family, as I have for several years been sending specimens of them abroad 
 with merely the name by which they are ticketed in my private collection 
 appended to them. They are most nearly related to the Caliscelis Bonelli of 
 Latreille, an Italian species very rare in collections, for a specimen of which I 
 am indebted to Dr. Signoretof Paris. This insect is commonly made the type 
 °f a distinct tribe or sub-family by authors, it differs so prominently from all 
 >ts kindred. Twenty years ago an insect possessing similar distinctive char- 
 
396 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPE. I.KATKS. 
 
 acters with the Caliscelis was found at Mount Pleasant in Ohio, by Mr. Foster, 
 the comrade of Mr. Doublcday, in his entomological tour in this country. It 
 has the head prolonged forwards and downwards in a protuberance which 
 gives it considerable resemblance to a weevil of the genus Bruchus. It was 
 hence described under the generic name Bruchomorpha by Mr. Newman, the 
 species being named oculata. Six additional species belonging to this genus 
 are now known to me. These have all been discovered by Mr. Robertson west 
 of Arkansas, and some of the same insects I have gathered in Illinois and have 
 received from correspondents there. They occur in grass and subsist ou its 
 juices. Much the most common species I name: 
 
 H I, Bruchomorpha dorxata. This is black and shining, with a pale yellow 
 stripe along the middle of its back from the front to the tip, its legs being also 
 pale yellow with a dusky stripe on the thighs. Length 0.10. Mr. Robertson 
 has discovered individuals having the wing covers and wings fully developed, 
 showing that it is a pupa which is described by Mr. Newman. Or it may be as 
 Mr. Westwood suggests in a letter to me, that these insects, like some of the 
 Nepidce and other species belonging to this order, attain to puberty and perish 
 without acquiring wings, whilst in other individuals of the same species the 
 wings become fully developed. An individual which I captured in Illinois in 
 October, I preserved alive in a vial more than a month, supplying it frequently 
 with fresh grass. During that time its rudimentary ' wing covers did not 
 appear to make any advance in size. And at so late a period in the season we 
 should expect it to be grown to the full dimensions which it is its ordinary 
 habit to attain. These facts render it highly probable that Mr. Westwood’s 
 supposition is correct. But be this as it may, those individuals whose wings 
 are rudimentary will always be the specimens found in cabinets and from 
 which the species will be chiefly studied, since they are so much more readily 
 captured and show the same colors and marks which belong to the full winged 
 individuals. Mr. Robertson informs me these insects are very shy and timid, 
 and difficult to obtain; they leap with surprising agility, throwing themselves 
 some eighteen inches at a single bound; and like other insects, when their 
 wings are fully grown they become still more spry and active. Hence speci¬ 
 mens having the wings perfect will always be comparatively rare in collections. 
 
 115. Naso Bobertsonii. Closely related to Bruchonutrpha is another insect 
 in which the protuberance of the head instead of being compressed is cylin¬ 
 drical and abruptly enlarged at its apex into a smooth polished black knob of 
 a spherical form, thus resembling a species of Bruchus with a drop of liquid 
 pitch adhering in a globule to the end of its beak. I hence name the genus 
 from the Latin, naso, having a great nose. This insect is of a dull pale yellow 
 color, with an elevated line along the middle, its whole length, on each side of 
 which the head and thorax have numerous coarse black punctures symme¬ 
 trically arranged in rows, and there are two oblong black spots above, upon 
 the beak, two round ones between the eyes and two smaller ones upon the 
 scutel. The segments of the abdomen are occupied with little short black fur¬ 
 rows running lengthwise. The wing covers are rudimentary, covering tie 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 397 
 
 GRAFS. LEAVES. 
 
 basal half of the abdomen, and are black with a net work of irregular coarse 
 elevated veins of a pale yellow color and an elevated dot of the same color in 
 the centre of most of the cells. Length 0.18. Several specimens have been 
 sent mo from west of Arkansas by Mr. Robertson, and I also found it in 
 Illinois. 
 
 116. Vine Aphis, jfphis Vitisl Scopoli. (Homoptera. Aphid®.) 
 
 A plant louse is reported as very destructive to the leaves and 
 young shoots of the grape at the south, which perhaps is the 
 same insect which infests the vine in the southern parts of Europe, 
 but as no description of it is given we are unable to judge whether 
 it possesses any resemblance to the foreign species. See Patent 
 Office Report, 1854, p. 79. 
 
 2. Forming excrescences upon the leaves 
 
 117. Grape leaf'louse, Pemphigus VUifolite, Fitch. (Homoptera. 
 
 Aphidse.) 
 
 Early in June, a small globular gall the size of a pea, growing 
 upon the edges of the leaves, of a red or pale yellow color and 
 its surface somewhat uneven and woolly, with a cavity inside, in 
 which is a pale yellow louse of a flattened hemispherical form, 
 with short blackish feet. Length 0.04. See Transactions, 1854, 
 page 862. 
 
 3. Worms eating the leaves. 
 
 118. Vinedresser, Chcerocampa Pampinatrix, Smith and Abbot. (Lepi- 
 doptera. Sphingidee.) 
 
 Eating the leaves and nipping ofl' the fruit stalks, causing the 
 clusters when but half grown to drop to the ground} a thick 
 cylindrical worm, tapering anteriorly, its third and fourth rings 
 thicker and slightly humped, a short horn at the end of its back, 
 forward ol which is a row of five round rusty yellow or clay 
 colored spots, surrounded except on their fore side by pale yellow; 
 ground color pale green freckled with pale yellow dots, when 
 mature changing to pale dusky olive with a dusky stripe on each 
 side of the buck, below which is a broad bluish or pink white 
 stripe sending five branches obliquely downward and forward 
 
398 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPH. LEAVES. 
 
 Length 2.25. The pupa under leaves on the ground, in a slight 
 cocoon, giving out the moth the following June, which hovers 
 about flowers at twilight, like a humming bird, (as do all the 
 other moths of this family,) and may be distinguished by its hind 
 wings which are rusty orange yellow without any spots or border 
 of a different color. Width 2.00 to 2.75. See Harris’s Treatise, 
 p. 149. 
 ujuiur 
 
 11». Satellite Sphinx, Philampelus Satellitia, Lin. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Sphingidse.) 
 
 / 
 
 In August and September a thick smooth worm resting with 
 its head and neck drawn in, making the anterior end blunt and 
 thickest; when young pea green with a tail standing upward and 
 curved forward like that of a dog; when older with a glassy eye¬ 
 like spot in place of the tail, and of a velvety olive brown color 
 paler on the back, freckled anteriorly with black dots and along 
 each side five or six large oval bright cream colored spots with 
 the breathing pore resembling a black dot in each spot. Length 
 3.00. Buries itself in the ground, the moth appearing the fol¬ 
 lowing July, its hind wings with an olive green border having a 
 large blackish cloud on its anterior edge, forward of which these 
 wings are pale greenish gray with a large black spot on the 
 middle of their inner margin. Width 4.00 to 4.75. See Silli- 
 man’s Journal, vol. xxxvi, p. 299. 
 
 120 . Acuemon Sphinx, Philampelus Achcmon, Drury. 
 
 A worm like the preceding, but with the edges of the cream 
 white spots scalloped, producing a moth having the hind wings 
 pink red with a dusky border in which is a row of small black 
 spots becoming faint towards the outer margin. Width 3.00 to 
 4.00 See Harris’s Treatise, p. 248. 
 
 121 . American Forester, Procris Americana Boisd. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Anthroceridas.) 
 
 In August, standing in a row side by side on the under surface 
 of the leaf, eating its edge and leaving only the coarse veins; 
 little yellow worms about 0.60 long and slightly hairy with a 
 transverse row of black spots on each ring; forming thin tough 
 oblong oval cocoons, in crevices; the moth appearing the follow- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 399 
 
 GIUPE. LEAVES. 
 
 ing July, wholly of a blue black color except the neck, which is 
 bright orange yellow, its body ending in a broad fan-like notched 
 tuft. Width 0.90. Much more common at the west and south 
 than in New-York. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 257. 
 
 122. Eigut-spotted Forester, Alypia 8-maculata, Fab. (Lepidoptera. 
 AnthroceridseJ 
 
 Hie last of June, a white or light blue cylindrical worm band¬ 
 ed with black lines and on the middle of each ring a broader 
 orange yellow band dotted with black, and posteriorly upon each 
 side a conspicuous white spot; growing to 1.25 in length, leaving 
 the vines about the middle of July, and inclosing themselves in 
 slight webs upon the ground. The moth appearing in May, black 
 with orange shanks, each of the fore wings with two large light 
 yellow spots, the hind ones with two white ones. Width 1.00 to 
 
 l. 50. This is a common insect at the south, and Mr. Calverley 
 informs me he has frequently captured it around New-York. It 
 has also been found occasionally in the vicinity of Albany. 
 
 m. Beautiful wood nymph, Eudryas grata, Fab. (Lepidoptera. Noto- 
 dontidae.) 
 
 In July and August, a worm in all respects like the preceding 
 one, except that it has no white spot on each side and is slightly 
 humped above at its hind end; burying itself three or four inches 
 in the ground, and there passing the winter in its pupa state, the 
 moth coming out in July. This has the fore wings milk white, 
 bordered behind, and also on their outer side from the base to the 
 middle with rusty brown edged on the inner side with greenish 
 olive, and with a wavy bluish white line on the hind edge at the 
 base of the fringe; hind wings nankin yellow with a blackish 
 brown border which does not extend to the outer angle. Width 
 h65 to 1.85. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 330. 
 
 Pkarl wood nymph, Eudryas unio, Hubner. 
 
 This is equally as common as the preceding, and the worms are 
 much alike that we as yet know not whether there are any 
 marks whereby they can be distinguished from each other. The 
 moths too are very similar, but the present species is somewhat 
 61I id ler, and has the border of the wings paler and of a tawny 
 
400 
 
 ANNUAL RErORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 red color, with the olive inner edge wavy instead of being straight 
 as it is in the foregoing species, and on the hind wings this light 
 red border is extended to the outer angle. 
 
 If these pretty zebra-like worms become so numerous upon the 
 vines that it is desired to exterminate them and the handsome 
 moths which they produce, this object will probably be most 
 readily accomplished by picking off each leaf on which a worm 
 is found and throwing it into the fire or otherwise destroying it. 
 Mr. T. B. Ashton, of White Creek, informs me that in 1854 he 
 found upwards of 150 of these worms on his vines, which being 
 destroyed, only one worm made its appearance the next year. 
 He also says, when the worms leave the vines, if they can find a 
 corn cob or a piece of soft decayed wood lying on the ground, 
 they bore into it rather more than the length of their bodies, 
 closing the orifice with their chips, and there pass their pupa 
 state, in preference to burying themselves in the giound. All 
 such observations as this are of value to us, and are not matters 
 of mere idle curiosity, as ignorant persons suppose. If the fact 
 be as above stated, it occurs to me that whenever these worms are 
 noticed to be common upon the vines, their further multiplication , 
 may be arrested with the greatest facility by scattering broken 
 corn cobs upon the ground beneath, where the worms when they 
 descend from the vines will find and will enter them, and in the 
 autumn or spring following, raking these cobs together in a heap 
 and burning them. 
 
 125 . White miller. Spilosovia Virginia, Fab. (Lepidoptera. Arctiidse.) 
 
 A large thick-bodied caterpillar two inches long, densely 
 covered with soft long hairs of a pale yellow, sometimes foxy red 
 or brownish color, its skin straw yellow, commonly with a black 
 stripe along each side, with the joints of its body and its under side 
 also blackish. This and the caterpillar of the Isabella moth 
 (Spilosoma Isabella) which has hairs much more stiff and even 
 shorn at their ends and of a fox red color and black at each end 
 of its body, are the two common large caterpillars seen everyw ieie 
 in the State of New-York, especially in autumn, often crawling 
 into our dwellings and spinning their cocoons behind chests ma 
 other furniture. Out of doors they place their cocoons slight 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 401 
 
 GRAPE. LKAVKS. 
 
 attached to the under side of boards, billets of wood, and in. 
 similar sheltered situations. The cocoon is about 0.85 long, oval 
 w ith the ends rounded, of a dirty gray or pale brown color, and 
 with the hairs of the caterpillar woven into its outer surface. The 
 moth of this species is most common in May and June, but spe¬ 
 cimens occur at all times, coming out even in winter in stove- 
 warmed rooms in which caterpillars have happened to secrete 
 themselves. It is snow white with a black dot in the centre of its 
 wings, and the hind part of its body has a row of black spots 
 above and another along each side, with a bright ochre-yellow 
 stripe between, and the forward hips and thighs in front are also 
 of this last color. Width across the wings 1.50 to 2.00. The 
 caterpillars are not stationary, but wander about and feed on a 
 great variety of leaves, eating their edges irregularly; aud they 
 seem to regard the texture rather than the taste of their food, for 
 I have noticed them in the greatest numbers upon trees and plants 
 whose leaves are most soft and tender, withering from the slightest 
 touch of frost, such as the convolvulus, bean, grape, butternut, 
 &e. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 268. 
 
 12ft. Spotted-winged sable, Desmia maculalis, Westwood. (Lcpidoptera. 
 
 Pyralidse.) 
 
 The side of the leaf rolled into a cylinder and tied with silken 
 threads, with a slender slightly tapering worm residing therein,0.90 
 long, leaf green, having a black U-shaped mark upon its neck aud 
 black spots upon the following ring; the pupa formed in the same 
 place, the moth coming out the last of June and in July, of a black 
 brown color with two large roundish snow-white spots on the fore 
 wings and the hind wings with a white band across the middle, 
 (broken apart in the female,) and with two white bands on the 
 abdomen. Width 0.75 to 1.15. This may frequently be met 
 with in all parts of the United States. The males are readily 
 distinguished from all the other insects of the order Lepidoptera 
 by a most remarkable peculiarity. Their antennae are elbowed, sim¬ 
 ilar to those of the weevils, and ants and bees. They have a little 
 brush-like tuft of hairs in their middle, jutting out upon one side, 
 their first joint being long and thickened towards its tip. See 
 Patent Office Report, 1854, p. 78. 
 
 Z 
 
402 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 127 . Gartered plu.mk, Pleropharusperiscelidactylus, Fitch. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Alucitidae. j 
 
 Consuming the young leaves, in June, and hiding itself in a 
 hollow ball made of one or more leaves drawn together by silken 
 threads; a cylindrical pale green worm, nearly half an inch long, 
 with rows of white elevated dots sending out radiating white 
 hairs, the pupa suspended by its tail and hanging with its head 
 downwards, and in about a week giving out the moth, early in 
 July. The moth tawny yellow, its wings split into long narrow 
 lobes, the fore pair 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. See Transactions, 
 1854 p. 843. 
 
 4. Insects eating the leaves. 
 
 128 . Grape-vine flea-beetle, Ilaltica chalybea, Illigcr. (Cotcoptora. 
 
 Chrysomelidae.) 
 
 Early in spring, eating holes in the buds and leaves, a small 
 oblong oval flea-beetle, 0.16 long, polished and sparkling, of a 
 deep greenish blue color, some of the individuals often deep 
 green, purple or violet, their under side dark green and their 
 antennae and legs dull black. This sometimes invades the plum 
 also, as mentioned p. 362, and it also infests the elm and the alder. 
 Its winter retreat is in crevices of the bark and in the earth 
 immediately around the root of the tree on which it feeds, and its 
 colors are then much less bright and sparkling than in summer. 
 See Harris’s Treatise, p. 114. 
 
 Chevrolat in Dejean’s Catalogue has cut up the Chrysomelidae into a multi¬ 
 tude of genera. Whether the divisions which he has instituted should be 
 received as anything more than subgenera appears doubtful. But however 
 this may be, Linnaeus originally gave the name Attica to a section or subgenus 
 of Chrysomela, which has since been currently admitted to the rank of a genus, 
 with a slight rectification by some authors in tho orthography of its name. 
 The species oleracea being originally placed at the head of this genus, must be 
 regarded as its type. Therefore, whatever may be tho destiny of M. Chcvro 
 lat’s other proposed genera, that which he names Graptodera, under which 
 eleracea and our American chalybea are arranged, can in our view be regarded 
 only as a synonym. Nothing stable and permanent can ever be reached in this 
 part of the science, if old generic names are to be cast overboard in this sum¬ 
 mary manner. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 403 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 The Eumolpus Vitis which often sadly devours the vine leaves 
 in southern Europe, Kirby states to be common in New-York and 
 Canada; but I think this is a mistake. 
 
 The Rose-bug, No. 50, is one of the greatest pests to the vine, 
 in neighborhoods where it abounds. 
 
 129. Light-loving Anomala, Anomala lucicola, Fab. (Coleoptera. Melo- 
 
 lonthidse.) 
 
 The fore part of July beetles resembling in their appearance 
 the May-beetle, No. 76, but of a much smaller size, being only 
 about 0.35 long, become common on both wild and cultivated 
 grape vines, feeding upon the leaves. From their colors and 
 marks they would appear quite plainly to be of at least four very 
 distinct species, and Fabricius has named and described three of 
 them as such. But as they are always found associated together, 
 and similar insects in Europe vary similarly in their colors, it is 
 probable they are as authors have supposed, mere varieties of one 
 species. They may be distinguished as follows : 
 
 1. The gloomy Anomala (A. mcerens, Fab.,) of a pale dull yel¬ 
 low color, the thorax sometimes reddish, and with the knob of 
 the antennae and tne middle of the breast black. 
 
 2. The spotted neck ( maculicollis ,) like the preceding, but 
 with a black stripe or large spot on each side of the middle of the 
 thorax, and often the hind part of the head and the outer side of 
 the wing covers also black. 
 
 3. The light-loving ( lucicola , Fab.,) pale dull yellow with the 
 thorax black except on each side and on the middle of its hind 
 edge, the hind part of the head, the scutel and under side of the 
 body being also black, with the abdomen brown or sometimes dull 
 yellowish. 
 
 4. The black ( atrata , Fab.,) black throughout, the abdomen 
 commonly tinged slightly with pale. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 29. 
 
 1*0. Spotted Pelidnota, Pelidnota punctata, Linn. (Coleoptera. Sea- 
 
 rabid®.) [Plate ii, fig, 6.] 
 
 A large broad oval beetle of a pale brownish yellow' color, 
 With a black dot on each side of the thorax and three others along 
 the outer side of each wing cover, as represented in the figure on 
 
404 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 OR APE. LEAVES. 
 
 plate ii, may almost a.ways be found on grape vines, in July, 
 August and September, and numbers of them frequently occur 
 upon the same vine. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 22. 
 
 131. White flower-cricket, (Ecanth-us niveus, Dcgcer. ( Orthoptera. 
 
 Achetidse.) 
 
 Mounted among and feeding upon the leaves of the vine, in 
 August, a slim narrow cricket about 0.70 long, of a clear white 
 color throughout. 
 
 The genus CEcanthus to which this insect pertains, was founded 
 by Serville upon a species common in the south of Europe, 
 named pellucens by Scopoli, for specimens of which, with many 
 other European Orthoptera, I am indebted to M. Brisout de Barne- 
 ville. Congeneric with this European insect we have three spe¬ 
 cies in the United States, which are but little known, although 
 they were named and described by Degeer nearly a century ago, 
 and two of them are so common in the State of New-York that 
 their song is often heard upon the vines and bushes in our yards, 
 night after night, through the latter part of summer. And as 
 they are on several accounts an interesting and singular kind of 
 cricket, I here present the investigations which I have made 
 relating to them. 
 
 The European and our American flower crickets all bear a 
 striking resemblance to each other, both in their external appear¬ 
 ance and their habits, showing this to be one of the most natural 
 genera in the family to which they pertain. They also differ 
 very much from all the other crickets. They are mostly of a 
 clear white color instead of black or dull brown which are the 
 prevailing colors among the insects of this group. Their form 
 also is long and narrow, particularly in the females, which have 
 the wings wrapped more closely around the body than they are 
 in the males. Their hind legs also are long and slender, resem¬ 
 bling those of a grasshopper more than a cricket; and their 
 hind feet have four joints, all the feet in other crickets having 
 three joints only. Brulle, who subjected the European species to 
 a rigid examination, and was the first to detect the number of 
 joints in its feet, and some other important points in its structure, 
 states (Hist. Nat. des Ins. vol. ix, p. 1741 that the thorax of this 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 405 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 genus is of a conic form and narrower towards the head than at 
 the opposite end, and Serville repeats this, as being one of the 
 most prominent characters whereby the insects of this genus may 
 be distinguished. But, as we shall see, the form of the thorax 
 varies greatly with the species, and approaches a conic form in 
 only one of our American flower crickets. The other marks, 
 however, which we have stated above, will suffice for readily dis¬ 
 tinguishing the insects of this genus. 
 
 In their habits they also differ remarkably from other crickets. 
 The observation of Latreille, that they dwell upon plants and are 
 pleased with flowers, applies with considerable exactness to our 
 American species, which may be met with in autumn quite com¬ 
 mon upon the flowers of the golden rod (Solidago), and in August 
 I have noticed them on rose bushes, several individuals being 
 sometimes seen on one bush. It was from this statement of 
 Latreille that Serville gave the generic name Qkanthus to these 
 insects, this name being formed from two Greek words, implying 
 “ I dwell in flowers.” But any situation where the foliage is 
 dense, furnishing them a cool shady hiding place, appears to be 
 what they particularly desire, as they occur quite frequently on 
 grape vines, on young oaks and other bushes, where no flowers 
 are near them. All other crickets it will be recollected reside 
 upon the ground, in holes under stones, and similar situations. 
 And it has been noticed of these insects and their kindred, that 
 a peculiarity in the structure of their feet appeared to be essen¬ 
 tial to adapt them for the situations in which they reside — the 
 catydids and other insects which dwell upon shrubbery having 
 soft flat cushion-like soles to their feet, to enable them to cling to 
 the stalks and leaves of plants, whilst in the crickets and other 
 insects which reside upon the ground no such structure exists, 
 (Westwood, Introd. i, 441.) The flower crickets, however, appear 
 to present an exception to this rule. They always reside upon 
 plants, elevated from the ground, and yet the under sides of their 
 feet are simple and merely covered densely with bristles, like 
 those of other crickets. But perhaps this is no just exception to 
 the rule stated. Though they dwell on plants, they do not 
 travel about upon them, but remain stationary, each one in 
 his own chosen abode, day after day. So I infer, from having 
 
406 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 noticed the song of one of these insects proceeding from the same 
 spot upon a mass of vines or upon a particular limb of a tree, 
 upon each evening for a number of nights in succession. And it 
 is quite probable therefore, that the simple structure of their feet 
 incapacitates them for clinging and leaping about from one leaf to 
 another. 
 
 Some of our most important information respecting the habits 
 of the flower cricket we obtain from a Memoir published in 
 Italy more than a century ago, by M. Louis Salvi, no subsequent 
 writer appearing to have observed the same facts. From him we 
 learn that the female with her awl-like ovipositor pierces upon 
 their under side the green succulent stalks of the vegetation on 
 which she resides, to the very pith, and crowds commonly only a 
 pair of eggs into the nest thus formed. A number of these punc¬ 
 tures are made near each other, till her whole supply of eggs is 
 disposed of. The eggs remain till near the middle of the follow¬ 
 ing summer, when they give out the young crickets, which 
 resemble their parents in form, except that they are without 
 wings. They secrete themselves in the thickest masses of leaves, 
 until they get their growth, changing their skin several times. 
 
 In the southern part of our State the song of the flower cricket 
 begins to be heard as early as the first of August, but it is a week 
 later before it commences in the vicinity of Albany, and later 
 still in the more northern parts of the State. Perched among 
 the thick foliage of a grape vine or other shrubbery, some feet up 
 from the ground, and as already stated, remaining in the same 
 spot day after day, its song begins soon after sunset and before 
 the duskiness of twilight arrives. It is distinctly heard at a dis¬ 
 tance of several rods, and the songster is always farther off than 
 is supposed. Though dozens of other crickets and catydids are 
 shrilling on every side at the same time, the peculiar note of this 
 cricket is at once distinguished from all the rest, consisting of 
 repetitions of a single syllable, slowly uttered, in a monotonous 
 melancholy tone, with a slight pause between. The children 
 regard this cricket as no votary of the temperance cause; they 
 understand its song to consist of the words treat — treat — treat 
 treat , which words, slowly uttered, do so closely resemble its notes 
 that they will at once recall them to the recollection of almost 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 407 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 every reader. And this song is thus continued without the slightest 
 variation and without any cessation, I think, the whole night 
 through. I however have sometimes heard it at the first com¬ 
 mencement of its evening serenade uttering three syllables resem¬ 
 bling the words treat , treat, two; treat , treat , two —as though the 
 songster was supplicating a libation for his voiceless female mate 
 as well as himself—a longer pause following each third note. 
 This prelude is probably performed in limbering or otherwise 
 adjusting his organs, preparatory to performing the regular carol, 
 which is struck into in a few moments. 
 
 It merits, in passing, to be remarked, that whilst the song ol 
 the common cricket of the eastern continent aids in producing 
 sleep and has been so much valued on account of this property 
 that it has in some countries been made an article of traffic, and 
 inclosed in cages is placed in the dormitory, the song of our 
 flower cricket has exactly the opposite effect. Occasionally, from 
 vines growing in front of the window, one of these little musicians 
 will find his way into the bed-chamber, when, as Dr. Harris 
 observes, his incessant and loud shrilling will effectually banish 
 sleep. Perhaps the lodger out of all patience at last gets up and 
 makes for the spot from whence the annoyance proceeds; but the 
 song abruptly ceases with his approach. He however fumbles 
 around in the dark, beating upon the wall high and low, and 
 probably encountering an unexpected number of chairs and wash- 
 stands, till he flatters himself he has destroyed his tormenter or 
 has at least frightened him into silence for the rest of the night. 
 Then returning to his pillow and adjusting himself again for 
 sleep, he is able to exult in the sweet stillness that pervades the 
 apartment, for a moment only, before the same execrable creaking 
 breaks forth again as shrill and vigorous as before. 
 
 Many persons have noticed the catydid when singing, so far as 
 to see that it is by rubbing its hind legs against the outer sides of 
 its wing covers that its stridulation is produced. In the cricket, 
 however, the hind legs arc much shorter, and here we find that it 
 is not by them but by raising its wing covers slightly so as to rub 
 the under surface of one of them against the inner edge of the 
 other that its song is caused. As the flower crickets have long 
 slender hind legs similar to those of the catydids, we might sus- 
 
408 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT 01' NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPH. LEAVES. 
 
 pect their note to be produced in the same manner. Wc how¬ 
 ever find that in this as in so many other points they are related 
 to the crickets. And when we come to examine their wing 
 covers, we are able to discover the very curious apparatus by 
 which their stridulation is produced; and we find a peculiarity in 
 its structure which at once explains why it is that the song of 
 this insect consists of a single note always followed by a full 
 pause or total cessation of the sound, instead of being continuous 
 or nearly so as it is in other crickets. 
 
 In the males the wing covers are flat and placed horizontally 
 upon the back, with their outer third turned perpendicularly 
 downwards and covering the sides. They are very thin and 
 transparent, like clear glass, and may be compared to a window, 
 with the veins like the sash dividing them into a number of panes 
 or cells of various sizes and shapes. The four largest of these 
 cells are placed in the disk or middle part of the wing, and are 
 divided from each other by three straight veins, crossing the wing 
 obliquely, the two hind ones parallel with each other, the forward 
 one meeting these at a right angle and forming with them the 
 likeness of a very full-faced letter V impressed transversely. They 
 thus resemble stout braces so placed in the wing as to keep the 
 ribs and other longitudinal veins pressed asunder, hereby put¬ 
 ting on the stretch the delicate membrane which forms the panes 
 between the several veins. Thus each of these panes is like the 
 head of a little drum or tabor, and when played upon, all vibra¬ 
 ting at the same instant produce the one shrill note which this 
 insect utters. And to augment the sound still more, it may be 
 observed that the membrane forming each one of these panes is 
 not a simple smooth surface, but is striated with numerous little 
 elevated lines. 
 
 It now remains for us to describe the curiously constructed 
 instrument by which all these little tabrets are excited into vibra¬ 
 tion. On the inner margin of the wing cover, at the anterior end 
 of the V-like mark above described, will be seen a small thickened 
 or callous-like spot from the fore part of which four veins extend 
 to the base of the wing. The inner or hindmost one of these is 
 the most thick and stout, and when particularly inspected it is 
 found to be in several respects different from all the rest of the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 409 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 veins. It first runs straight inwards, almost transversely, and 
 then abruptly turning extends with a curve to the base of the 
 wing, this curved portion being more slender. On the upper or 
 back side of the wing this vein is pressed strongly downwards, 
 whereby a furrow is formed in the surface above it. On the 
 under side it stands out from the surface in bold relief, forming 
 an elevated ridge. Now it is this prominent ridge which is applied 
 to the inner edge of the opposite wing cover, and as it runs trans¬ 
 versely it will at once be seen that when the wing covers are 
 slightly spread apart and closed again, the motion will draw this 
 ridge up and down against the edge to which it is applied, pre 
 cisely like the bow of a violin playing upon the strings. This 
 vein may therefore appropriately be named the fiddle-bow, M. 
 Goureau the only one who has particularly described these parts 
 in the common cricket having given to it the corresponding French 
 term archet. But if this vein were smooth like the other veins 
 it obviously could produce no vibration. It would be like a 
 fiddle-bow when greased. On examining it therefore with a mag¬ 
 nifying glass in a strong light, an appearance like that of very fine 
 transverse lines may be discovered. And on being placed in a 
 microscope the real structure of this part may plainly be seen. 
 What at first appeared like fine transverse lines is found to be a 
 regular row of little flat cogs or teeth, resembling the front teeth 
 of man, but rather more broad than high and slightly narrowed 
 into a neck at their bases. They are inserted at short distances 
 apart, somewhat as the nails of the fingers appeal’ when the end 
 of one finger is placed upon the top of another in a row. It is 
 but a short portion of the most projecting part of the vein that is 
 occupied by these teeth—little more than the twentieth of an inch 
 in length; and in that short distance twenty-one teeth are inserted, 
 with intervals between which are more than double the length of 
 the teeth. The teeth do not stand perpendicular to the surface, 
 but incline towards the inner margin of the wing cover, and that 
 portion of the vein which is studded with them is about the tenth 
 ot an inch from the inner edge. We shall now be able to under¬ 
 stand the cause of the several peculiarities in the stridulation of 
 this insect. It will readily be perceived that its fiddle-bow being 
 ilrawn against the edge of the opposite wing cover, and the teeth 
 
410 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 with which it is furnished grating thereon will cause such a jar 
 in the sash or frame work of both wing covers as will impart a 
 brisk vibration to all the little tabrets or membranous cells which 
 are placed in this frame work. And the shrillness of the note of 
 this insect is due to the extreme thinness of the membranes and 
 the violent vibrations into which they are thrown by the sharp 
 grating which these projecting teeth of the fiddle-bow with the 
 little intervals between them produce. As the teeth incline 
 inwards they act only when the wing covers are shutting together; 
 when they are opening apart no grating can occur. It hence 
 results from this peculiar mechanism that as the wing covers 
 are successively opened and closed, notes and intervals of about 
 equal length are alternately produced. The row of teeth more¬ 
 over being so short, they can cause a vibration of only a moment’s 
 duration, and it is not in the power of the insect to produce a 
 continuous sound ora prolonged note. The reason of the several 
 differences between the song of this and of the common cricket, 
 whose stridulation has been described with so much exactness by 
 M. Goureau (Annals Soc. Ent. vol. vi, p. 34) are all -readily 
 explained by the differences which we find in the structure of the 
 wing covers in these two insects. In the common crickets both of 
 Europe and of this country, the fiddle-bow instead of projecting teeth 
 is merely furnished with elevated transverse ridges or ribs, 
 and these occupy its whole length. Hence its note is more pro¬ 
 longed and far less loud and shrill than that of the flower cricket. 
 M. Goureau was able in the dead insect to so move its wing covers 
 whilst they were still pliant, as to produce the same sound which 
 it utters when alive; and by merely scratching with a pin upon 
 the fiddle-bow he found this sound was produced, though more 
 feeble, as but one wing cover was hereby vibrated. 
 
 The White flower cricket measures about 0 50 to the tip of its abdomen 
 and its total length is about 0.70. It is of a milk-white color, sometimes with 
 a slight tinge of green. The tips of its feelers and of its feet arc tawny yel¬ 
 lowish and there is commonly a spot of the same color upon the top of its 
 head, which is oblong and broader at its hind part, commencing between the 
 bases of the antenna; and extending back to a line with the bind side of the 
 eyes. The eyes in the living insect are of the same white color with the body, 
 but after death change to a brownish clay color, though in some specimens 
 they remain white. Upon the under side of each of the two first joints of tho 
 antenna is a black dot, which is sometimes lengthened into a slender stripe or 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 411 
 
 GRAPH. LEAVES. 
 
 line, and in rare instances a second dot is present upon the inner side of each 
 of these joints. The tip of the ovipositor of the females is also black. These 
 are all the characters which are presented by the color in this insect. Nume¬ 
 rous others, however, are derived from the form and sculpture of its several 
 parts, of which we notice the following. 
 
 The head is twice as long as wide and is inclined downwards obliquely and 
 in the preserved specimens often perpendicularly. It is shaped like an egg, 
 moderately flattened upon its upper side. In dried specimens it is crossed 
 between the eyes by a wide shallow groove. The feelers or palpi are long aud 
 thread-like, composed of cylindrical joints, of which the penultimate one is 
 almost as long as the last one, which is slighty thicker, long oval, and on its 
 inner side obliquely cut off in a straight slope extending two-thirds of the 
 length of this joint, the face of which slope is hollowed like the inside of the 
 bowl of a spoon. They are clothed with fine erect bristles, in addition to 
 which the last joint is densely coated with much finer prostrate hairs. The 
 antenna are double the length of the body, tapering and very slender, composed 
 of a hundred joints or more, the articulations of which are faint and towards 
 the apex arc scarcely perceptible. The basal joint is thrice as thick as the fol¬ 
 lowing one, cylindric and but little longer than wide. The succeeding joints 
 are very short, and towards the tip gradually increase in length and diminish 
 in diameter, here sometimes showing tawny brown rings upon the alternate 
 joints. 
 
 The tiiorax is as wide as long and of the shape of a half cylinder, being 
 rounded from above downwards, with its opposite sides parallel and its angles 
 rounded. On each side low down it forms a thin foliaceous edge which hangs 
 downward and curves a little outward. Both the anterior and posterior edges 
 curve slightly upward and the latter is fringed with short pale yellowish hairs. 
 Upon its surface posteriorly a shallow furrow’ may be seen along the middle 
 and on each side of it a curved impressed line. 
 
 The abdomen is long, cylindrical, soft and often much distorted in the dried 
 specimen and discolored from inclosed alimentary matter. It ends in a pair of 
 long slender tapering appendages which are about equal to the abdomen in their 
 length and are clothed with fine erect whitish hairs. In addition to these in 
 the female is the ovipositor, which is of the same length, with the appendages, 
 reaching to the tip of the wing covers, and is of a hard horn-like substance, 
 cylindrical and straight or very gently curved upwards. 
 
 The w r iNG covers of the male have already been partly described. When 
 folded together they appear perfectly flat and of the shape of an egg with its 
 small end forward. They aro rather more than half an inch long, and the 
 breadth of their upper horizontal portion is more than half their length. Their 
 deflected outer portion or costal area is divided by oblique veinlets into about 
 ten cells of a rhombic form. Above these is an elongated elliptic area reaching 
 three-fourths of the length of the wing cover, bounded on each side by two 
 coarse longitudinal veins which arc the proper ribs of the wing. This elliptic 
 area is subdivided into several small square cells by veinlets crossing it trans¬ 
 versely. The horizontal portion of the wing covers have two veins running 
 parallel with the hind edge and the hind part of the inner edge. The remain- 
 
412 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPF.. LKAVES. 
 
 ing veins have already been described. In the female the wing covers are quite 
 unlike those of the male, being much narrower, and wrapped more closely 
 around the body, giving this sex a more slender form. The flattened upper 
 portion is cut up into many small cells which are mostly square and are formed 
 by six or seven parallel veins which arise from the base of the wing covers and 
 from the inner rib-vein and run obliquely backwards and slightly inwards to 
 the inner margin, and are connected to each other by numerous transverse 
 veinlets. The deflected outer or costal area is similar to that of the males. 
 The longitudinal rib-veins do not form any elliptic area like that in tlie 
 male. The wings are folded together lengthwise under the wing covers, 
 and are of the same length with them in the male, whilst in the female they 
 are longer and project beyond their tips the eighth of an inch or more, resem¬ 
 bling little conical tails. 
 
 The four forward legs are rather slender and of moderate length and clothed 
 with fine short soft hairs. The thighs are cylindrical and have a shallow groove 
 along their under side. The shanks are but half as thick as the thighs and 
 taper slightly towards their tips. The forward ones near their bases are flat¬ 
 tened and widened and show on both sides a deeply impressed oval and almost 
 transparent spot appearing like a scar. The feet have three joints, of which 
 the first one is long and cylindrical, the middle one is very small and only 
 about as long as it is wide, and the last one with the claws at its tip does not 
 differ from the same joints in the hind feet. The hind thighs are very long and 
 slender, nearly equaling the tip of the wings and of the ovipositor. They are 
 much thickened towards their bases, flattened on their inner side and strongly 
 convex or rounded on their outer side. They have a narrow straight grobvc 
 running their whole length, both on the inner and the outor side, and an ele¬ 
 vated line along their lower edge. The hind shanks are also long and very 
 slender and thread-like, equaling the thighs in their length and like them 
 clothed with very fine short soft hairs, in addition to which they have along 
 their hind side two rows of small sharp spines or prickles which reach almost 
 to the knee, with three or four pairs of coarser ones towards their lower end, 
 and a crown of coarse ones at the tip whereof two are much longer and have 
 small thorn-like points branching from them. All these spines are white with 
 their points black. The hind feet arc covered with minuto spines or thorn-like 
 points, which are very densely crowded on their under sides. These feet 
 have four joints, one more than is found in other insects of the cricket kind, 
 but the articulation to the middle of these joints is so slight in the present 
 species that it is often wholly imperceptible in the dried specimens. The basal 
 joint is long and cylindrical and forms three-fourths of the total length of the 
 foot. The second joint is of the same diameter with the first, but is quite 
 short, only as long as wide, with the suture at its base slight and often dis¬ 
 cerned with difficulty. It is cylindrical and divided into two parts by a suture 
 running lengthwise upon each side. The upper half forms two large stout 
 spines, the bases of which are articulated to the apex of the first joint, then- 
 lower edge is joined by a suture to the lower half of this second joint its 
 whole length, their tips only being free, jutting onward and overlaying the 
 third joint more than half its length, each spine tapering to a point which is 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 413 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 black and curved gently upward. The third joint is of the same length with 
 the second but much narrower, when viewed laterally appearing twice as long 
 as wide and of a square form with the apex cut off obliquely. The last joint 
 is more slender and longer than the preceding two taken together, slightly 
 arched and thicker towards its tip. At its apex two small stout and almost 
 straight claws arc articulated at right angles with the foot, and at the base of 
 each claw is a small cylindrical pellet, half as long as the claw andof the same 
 diameter, with its apex cut off obliquely. 
 
 The following varieties of this species have fallen under my notice: 
 o. The black dots on the under side of the two first joints of the antennae 
 lengthened into short stripes. 
 
 b. First joint of the antennae with a black transverse stripo beneath, at its 
 apex, forming aright angle with a longitudinal stripe. 
 
 c. Two first joints of the antennae with a black stripe on their inner and a 
 black dot on their under sides. 
 
 J. Head without any spot or discoloration above. 
 
 e. disculoratus. The whole of the head, the first joint of the antennae, the 
 breast and abdomen of a brownish clay color. 
 
 f. fascipes. One or both of the hind legs more or less tinged with blackish. 
 
 g. angustipennis. The male with wing covers a third narrower and somewhat 
 shorter than usual, with the wings protruding like tails from under their 
 tips. Having seen but a single specimen, I cannot regard this as any¬ 
 thing more than a variety, since in other species of this family wo meet with 
 individuals having the wing covers but partly developed. 
 
 With the detailed description of this species which has now 
 been given, it will only be necessary for us to state the more pro¬ 
 minent points in which the two other flower crickets of our 
 country differ from it. 
 
 We suppose these insects do more mischief by perforating the 
 twigs of different trees to place their eggs in them, causing the 
 death of the parts thus wounded, in many instances it is probable, 
 than by eating the leaves. We are not aware that they ever 
 become so numerous upon vines as to require any exertions for 
 their destruction. Dr. Harris states that they were noticed in one 
 instance piercing and placing their eggs in the branches of a peach 
 tree, and that the tobacco cultivated in Connecticut has sometimes 
 been injured by these crickets eating the leaves. Wherever their 
 numbers and operations render them pernicious, the only modo 
 we are able to suggest whereby to abate the nuisance is to pick 
 them from the leaves by hand and destroy them. 
 
414 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 132 . Striped flower cricket, CEcanthus fasciatus, Degecr. 
 
 A slender white cricket very similar to the preceding, but hav¬ 
 ing three blackish stripes upon the thorax, the antennae, abdomen 
 and legs being also black or dark brown, and the thorax narrowed 
 anteriorly. 
 
 This is almost as common as the foregoing, in the State of New- 
 York, and the two are often met with associated together upon 
 the same shrubbery. And it is this insect which Dr. Harris 
 describes as being the female of the preceding species. He evi¬ 
 dently was unacquainted with the work of Degeer and the cha¬ 
 racters he assigns to these insects, or he would have been aware of 
 his error, the marks by which this species is distinguished being 
 so plain and so explicitly stated by that author. And the number of 
 specimens which he had for inspection must have been quite limited ) 
 or he would have been aware of the fact that females occur which 
 are of the same white color throughout as the males of niveus, and 
 that males occur which have the three black stripes on the thorax 
 and the other marks which he supposes are found in females only. 
 And though in their size and form these two insects are most 
 intimately related to each other, when we come to submit them 
 to a careful inspection differences may be detected which, in addi¬ 
 tion to their colors, serve to assure us that they are really distinct 
 species. Thus, the thorax here is plainly narrowed anteriorly, 
 instead of having its opposite sides parallel with each other. The 
 thin foliaceous edge at its lower margin on each side here hangs 
 perpendicularly downward instead of being curved slightly out¬ 
 ward. The furrow along its middle, between the centre and the 
 hind edge, is here more deeply impressed, as is also the curved 
 line upon each side of this furrow. In the wing covers of the 
 male, from the convex side of the curved vein which we have 
 named the fiddle-bow three veins are given off which are parallel 
 and equidistant from each other, and end in a vein which runs 
 lengthwise of the wing, these three veins obviously serving as 
 braces to hold the fiddle-bow tense and firm for the important 
 office belonging to it. In the present species these three veins are 
 straight and run directly into the longitudinal vein at their outer 
 ends, whilst in niveus they curve backwards and enter the longi¬ 
 tudinal vein very obliquely. The feelers also are rather more 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 415 
 
 GRAPE. LEAVES. 
 
 short and thick in this species, and the slope on the inner side of 
 the tip of the last joint is more distinct and more deeply excavated. 
 Such are the principal differences which the specimens before me 
 indicate as existing between these species. Hut as a large portion 
 of the insects of this order are subject to considerable variations 
 in the form and sculpture as well as the color of their several 
 parts, it is possible that other specimens may not show all these 
 details to be as I have reuresented them. 
 
 133. Dotted flower cricket, GEcanthus punctulatus, Degeer. 
 
 A slender white cricket with the head and thorax dull brown¬ 
 ish yellow above, the thorax twice as long as wide, and thp wing 
 covers transparent with a dusky dot or small oval spot in their 
 centre. 
 
 This probably occurs upon the same shubbery on which the two 
 preceding species dwell. I have never met with it in New-York, 
 though it will very likely be found within our borders, Degeer 
 having described it from specimens taken in Pennsylvania. The 
 male is unknown to me, the female only having been sent me from 
 the Southern States. It is more long and slender than the other 
 species, measuring to the end of its body 0.50, wing covers 0.60, 
 ovipositor 0.75, and to the end of its wings 0.90. It differs so far 
 in some important points from each of the other species that some 
 future writer will no doubt make it the type of a distinct genus, a 
 step which would be eminently proper should another species be 
 discovered coinciding with this in those differences. 
 
 The thorax is long and narrow, twice as long as wide, and when viewed from 
 above appears cylindrical with each end a little dilated or curved outwards. 
 The thin foliaceous margin upon each side is turned outward almost horizon¬ 
 tally, its hind part being widened. Upon the posterior part of the upper side 
 is a large round impressed spot appearing as though stamped with a seal, its 
 outer side forming a right angle. The wing covers in the females are but little 
 more than half as long as the wings and are very thin and transparent, with 
 opake white veins, whereof there are two straight longitudinal rib-veins the 
 inner one of >. hich is double, and the space between these two veins is divided 
 into a number of small square cells by transverse vcinlets. The deflected outer 
 area is crossed obliquely by parallel veins connected by transverse vcinlets 
 dividing the surface into numerous cells which are mostly square, those at the 
 base being much more -mall and irregular. Tho flat upper portion is cut im 
 into numerous irregular cells of various sizes by a net-work of short vcinlets 
 
416 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GRAPE. CURRANT. 
 
 anastamosing in every direction. The central dusky brown spot is placed upon 
 the inner side of the double rib-vein, and commonly there is a more faint spot 
 forward of this, which on its inner side is confluent with a slight cloudiness of 
 the same color which extends from the central spots forward along the middle 
 of the back to the base. Often also a third spot, much smaller, may bo dis¬ 
 cerned in the second or third cell back of the central spot. The ovipositor is 
 ns long as the abdomen and perfectly straight; its sides are dark brown and its 
 end black. The two appendages at its base are much shorter than in the other 
 species, being scarcely half the length of the ovipositor. The feelers are sensi¬ 
 bly shorter and thicker than in the other species, their penultimate joint hav¬ 
 ing the form of a reversed cone, its length scarcely double its width and less 
 than half the length of the last joint, which is thicker than those which pre¬ 
 cede it, and on its inner side is very plainly cut off in a sloping direction from 
 the middle to the tip, with the face of this slope deeply excavated and causing 
 the joint'to appear like a hollow tube. The antenna are blackish on their 
 upper side towards the base, or have a black ring at the tip of each joint. 
 
 10. THE CURRANT .—Ribes rubrum. 
 
 We place this shrub and the gooseberry in this connection, as 
 their woody stalks and the form and texture of their fruit give 
 them such a close relationship to the grape; though they might 
 with perhaps equal propriety be classed with the raspberry, straw 
 berry and other small fruits of the kitchen garden. 
 
 AFFECTING THE STALKS. 
 
 134 . American currant borer, Psenocerus supernotatus, Say. (Colcop 
 
 tera. Cerambycidae.) [Plate ii, fig. 1.] 
 
 Feeding upon the pith of the currant and killing the stalks, a 
 small cylindrical white worm wholly destitute of feet and with a 
 small chestnut brown head and black jaws; passing its pupa state 
 in the stalks and the latter part of May changing to a small slen¬ 
 der long-horned beetle of a black color edged with chestnut brown, 
 its wing covers each with two small gray spots forward of their 
 middle and a white crescent-shaped one towards their tips. 
 
 In all our gardens numbers of the currant stalks perish every 
 season. To such an extent does this mortality prevail that this 
 fruit would soon disappear from our country were it not that the. 
 roots of this shrub are so vigorous, sending up a multitude of new 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 417 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. . 
 
 shoots every year, whereby the places of those that perish are 
 constantly re-supplied. 
 
 After the leaves have fallen in autumn and during the winter 
 these dead stalks are readily distinguished from the live ones by 
 being dotted over with a pretty little fungus the size of a pin 
 head and of a pale bright red color and a corky texture, which I 
 suppose to be the Spheeria Ribesia of Fries. Another fungus also 
 appears on the small twigs, very similar to this but having its 
 surface flattened and of a coal black color. 
 
 If one of these currant stalks is split asunder the cause of its 
 death is plainly evident. Commonly through the whole length of 
 the stalk the pith is found to have been eaten away by a worm, 
 leaving it hollow or filled in places with a loose woody powder, 
 like fine sawdust. Each of the branches is also found to be bored 
 in the same manner. And lying in this cavity, one, two or more 
 of the worms which have done this mischief are met with, in all 
 the stalks which have recently been destroyed. 
 
 The only insect to which this injury has heretofore been impu¬ 
 ted in this country is a kind of moth closely related to the Peach 
 tree borer, which perforates the currant stalks in Europe in this 
 same manner and has been brought to this country with the cur¬ 
 rant. But the past winter, on coming to inspect these worms, 
 finding they were wholly destitute of feet, I became assured they 
 were a different insect from that which they have all along been 
 supposed to be. And on rearing some of them to their perfect 
 form, I obtained in place of the European currant borer, a beetle, 
 one of the native insects of this country whose history has hith¬ 
 erto been unknown, and which is nearly related to the Apple tree 
 borer. 
 
 This insect is the Clytus supemotatus of Mr. Say (Jour. Acad. Nat. 
 Sci. iii,425) and of Prof. Hal deman, (Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. x,42) 
 and the Psenocerus Pini of Dr. Leconte (Jour. Acad. 2d series, ii, 
 ) and of the Catalogue of Colcoptera lately published by the 
 Smithsonian Institution. It would be an incongruity much to be 
 regretted in the scientific names of the insects of our country, if this 
 species which subsists upon the currant had received a name indi¬ 
 eating it to belong to the pine. But fortunately this is not the 
 case. The Callidium Pini of Olivier, which Dr. Leconte supposes 
 
418 
 
 STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. 
 
 to be the same insect with the supernotatus of Say is in reality a 
 very different species pertaining to Dr. Leconte’s new genus 
 Euderces. How they have come to lie pronounced the same it is 
 difficult to understand, since Olivier explicitly states that the 
 antennae of Pini are longer than the body, whilst Mr. Say informs 
 us they are shorter than the body in his species. Olivier’s figure 
 a of Pini is a very correct representation of the insect as it appears 
 to the naked eye. His enlarged figure b is much less accurate, 
 especially in the coloring and in placing the posterior white baud 
 too far forward. His description of this insect shows this enlarged 
 figure to be inaccurate, and coincides so perfectly with my speci¬ 
 mens as to leave no doubt respecting the species to which the 
 name Pini belongs. The Piniadeus of Fabricius is evidently the 
 same insect described more briefly and much less accurately. 
 Both authors doubtless drew their descriptions from the same spe¬ 
 cimens, as they both cite the cabinet of Bose as containing the 
 insect they describe, which insect was found upon pine trees in 
 the neighbbrhood of the city of New-York Olivier states, whilst 
 Fabricius gives Carolina as its locality. The latter is probably 
 correct, as I have never met with this insect in New-York, and 
 know it only from specimens sent me from west of Arkansas by 
 Mr. Wm. S. Robertson. 
 
 The whole length of the dead currant stalks and their brandies, 
 from the buds at their tips down to the surface of the ground is 
 commonly found to have been mined by these borers. The hol¬ 
 low in the branches is usually but not always continued down 
 into that in the centre of the main stalk. At least a foot in 
 length of the pith appears to be required to support one of these 
 worms and bring it to maturity. They are particularly fond of 
 the younger and more tender stalks, and these being small have 
 their whole interior ate away almost or quite out to the bark, so 
 that they resemble hollow straws or sticks that have been con¬ 
 sumed by white ants so that merely an outer shell remains. And 
 not unfrequently a portion of the upper end of the stalk is broken 
 off, from being so much weakened. The worm hereupon essays 
 to plug up the opening thus made, with its sawdust-like chips, to 
 prevent rain from entering its cell and to exclude spiders and 
 other enemies. Sometimes a greater number of worms are placed 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 419 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. 
 
 in a particular stalk than can be accommodated in the pith. In 
 this case some of them resort to the soft outermost layers of tho 
 wood immediately beneath the bark, where broad shallow burrows 
 stuffed with the castings of the worm will be met with, occasion¬ 
 ally with the worm lying in them. I have in one instance found 
 twelve worms in the different parts of a single stalk. 
 
 When the worm has completed its growth and is about to leavo 
 off feeding it gnaws a small orifice out to the bark through the 
 wooden wall by which it is surrounded, in order that when it has 
 changed to a beetle it can make its exit from its prison by merely 
 rupturing the bark. The hole thus made is then stuffed full of 
 little chips to protect the bark from being prematurely broken. 
 It then withdraws itself down the stalk slightly below this hole, 
 and constructs a bed on which to repose during the long period 
 of inactivity that now follows. This bed is formed of short 
 woody fibres wadded together and filling the cavity for the 
 length of about half an inch. A similar mass is commonly 
 placed above the worm also, formed mostly of finer materials like 
 sawdust intermingled with brown and white grains, the castings 
 of the worms. The space between these two partitions is about 
 half an inch in length and forms the chamber in which the worm 
 reposes until it changes to a beetle. In the Entomological Museum 
 at the Agricultural Rooms is a currant stalk showing the burrow 
 of this insect, with one of the worms lying in its cell, having a 
 slip of transparent mica cemented over it, and also showing 
 slightly above it the orifice which this worm had cut through the 
 wood whereby to make its exit. 
 
 It is about the first of June that the parent insect deposits her 
 eggs upon the currant stalks, and the worms get their growth by 
 the close of the sea-son. They repose in their cells through the 
 winter, changing to pupae with the warmth of the following 
 spring, and begin to appear abroad in their perfect state as early 
 as the middle of May, the sexes pairing immediately after they 
 come out. 
 
 Although the larvae of this insect are now found in such abun¬ 
 dance in the stalks of the cultivated currant in our gardens, before 
 this shrub was introduced upon this continent it doubtless sus¬ 
 tained itself upon the wild currant. And it probably is not limit- 
 
420 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. 
 
 ed to this genus ol plants but feeds also upon several other small 
 shrubs growing in our fields and forests, the stalks of which have 
 a texture similar to that of the currant. I infer this from the first 
 pair of these insects which I met with, twenty-five years ago. , 
 occurring upon the small-flowered honeysuckle (Lonicera parvi- 
 fiora ) near which no currant bushes were growing. 
 
 The larva of this insect is nearly or quite 0.30 long and about 0.07 in 
 diameter, cylindrical and divided into thirteen segments by deep wide trans¬ 
 verse constrictions, the last segment being narrower and more oi less leti acted 
 into the one which precedes it. The head is scarcely half as broad as the body, 
 short and wide, flattened, dark chestnut brown with the base whitish and r\ ith 
 short stout triangular black jaws. The second segment or first ring is palo 
 tawny yellow above on its anterior part, the rest of this ring and all the remain¬ 
 ing segments being white, rarely straw yellow, shining, soft and flesh-like. It 
 is wholly destitute of feet. To compensate for this deficiency the worm upon the 
 back and beneath is furnished with a cluster of small round tubercles or elevated 
 dots forming an oval spot upon the middle of each'segment, whereby it is aided 
 no doubt in clinging to the walls of its burrow as it moves about therein. Ihe 
 breathing pores form a row of cinnamon brown dots along each side. The body is 
 slightly clothed with very fine short hairs, which on the last segment are moio 
 numerous and rather longer. 
 
 The BEETLE is 0.18 to 0.23 long, the thorax almost as wide as the wing 
 covers and nearly as broad as it is long, with its sides convex. Ihe head and 
 thorax are covered with small deep confluent punctures, those upon the u ing 
 covers are much more coarse and are deep and confluent except on the tips 
 where they become smaller and slightly separated. The wing covers have a 
 broad round elevated spot or tubercle at their base, and a narrower hump upon 
 the shoulder. Its color is black with the margins of the wing covers and tho¬ 
 rax pale chestnut brown. The wing covers have a large milk-white spot 
 beyond their middle, which is transverse, crescent-shaped with the convex side 
 forward, the inner end slightly separated from the suture and the outer end 
 often reaching to the outer margin; and forward of their middle arc two small 
 spots which are sometimes buff yellow, sometimes ash-gray, the forwaid spot 
 being a short oblique line placed nearer to the suture than to the outer margin, 
 the other spot being a small dot which is often oblong, situated back ol the 
 inner end of the first and nearly as far from it as from the suture. All these 
 spots are formed by very short hairs or more properly scales, which are 
 nppressed to the surface and in old individuals become rubbed so that the for¬ 
 ward spots are more obscure or partially obliterated. The scutel is ash-giny 
 from similar scales. The antennae are pale chestnut brown, commonly with a 
 darker brown or blackish band on the thickened apex of each joint, and they 
 arc thickly covered with short fine incumbent ash-gray hairs which in a pin 
 ticular reflection of the light give a gray color to the basal portion of the long 
 est joints. They are shorter than the body, thread-like, their first joint tine >- 
 est, long and tapering to its base, their second joint short, but little lon„cr 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 421 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. 
 
 than broad, and shaped like a reversed cone, the two succeeding joints longest 
 of all, the fifth one much shorter and all the following ones shorter still, the 
 last one being pointed at its tip. The under side is black with small punctures 
 which are close and somewhat confluent, and the surface is thinly covered with 
 short incumbent gray hairs. The legs have similar hairs and are pale chest¬ 
 nut with the thickened part of the thighs black and sometimes the tips of the 
 shanks also, the forward shanks presenting a slight wide transverse concavity 
 on their insides. 
 
 Variety a. Color chestnut brown throughout. 
 
 In the cavity in the interior of diseased currant stalks, I have 
 met with a small mite, which is described on one of the following 
 pages, and also with two kind c of larvae in addition to those of the 
 currant borer. One of these larvae lies naked among the chips 
 made by the borer, and is scarcely 0.10 long, white, glassy, with¬ 
 out feet, tapering to a point at one end, which point is thrust out 
 and retracted at the pleasure of the worm and shows two blackish 
 parallel lines upon one side. I have not yet succeeded in obtaining 
 these in their perfect state, but they are evidently the maggot of 
 some small two-winged fly, which is not a parasite upon the borer, 
 for the remains of no dead worm are seen near them. Their fur¬ 
 ther habits and economy still remain to be traced out. 
 
 The other worms are parasites, several of which live together 
 in the body of the borer till they get their growth, by which time 
 they have consumed all the internal parts of their foster-parent 
 so that only the outer skin remains. They then crawl from this 
 skin and spin their cocoons at short distances one above another 
 in the cell. Their cocoons are 0.20 long and of sufficient width 
 to fill the cavity where they are placed. They are thin and 
 almost transparent, appearing like a fine membranous substance 
 through which the worm within can plainly be seen. After finish¬ 
 ing their cocoons they cast their skins, which form a little black 
 mass in the upper end of the cocoon. The worms as found in 
 these cocoons in the winter season are 0.13 long by 0.06 in width, 
 white, shining, soft and of a flesh-like substance, their form ellip¬ 
 tic but curved into the shape of a crescent, the sutures marked 
 by transverse lines slightly constricted, with a very fine pale 
 brown transverse line placed at the mouth. These worms change to 
 pup® in the spring and give out the perfect insect the fore part'of 
 June. They thus come abroad about three weeks after the borers 
 have come out, so that by the time they are ready to deposit their 
 
422 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 I 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. 
 
 eggs the larva of the borer will be grown to a sufficient size to meet 
 their wants. For with such forethought and skill has Omniscience 
 appointed the times and seasons of every creature, that each little 
 insect comes into existence upon the very day that its food is in 
 readiness and everything is matured for it to fulfill its allotted 
 work in the economy of nature. 
 
 This parasite of the currant borer is a small four-winged fly 
 pertaining to the order Hymenoptera the family Ichneumonidce and 
 the sub-family Bracomdes. It is 0.10 long, black, the first joints 
 of its antennae and its feelers and legs deep honey-yellow, its 
 mouth, fore-breast and the two first segments of the abdomen 
 darker yellow with a black spot on the first of these segments, 
 and with a yellowish cloud upon the middle of the third segment, 
 the under side of the abdomen being black-brown. Its oviposi¬ 
 tor resembles a small bristle and is about a third of the 
 length of the abdomen. It is probable that as this insect walks 
 up and down upon a currant stalk with its antennae applied to 
 the surface and rapidly vibrating, the sense of feeling possessed 
 by these organs is of such exquisite delicacy that it is able to 
 detect the very spot where a small worm is lying in the centre of 
 the stalk, and that it then insinuates its ovipositor through the 
 bark and wood and punctures the skin of the worm, inserting 
 therein as many eggs as the borer will be able to sustain. 
 
 I have attached the name Ccnocwlius ? liibis to this insect in my cabinet. 
 The prsodiscoidal cell of the fore wings occupies but two-thirds of the length 
 of the oblique vein which bounds its anterior side, the first submarginnl cell 
 occupying the remainder of this vein, thus separating the prasdiscoidal cell 
 widely from the costa. This induces me to refer this insect to the genusCeno 
 ccrlius of Westwood’s Synopsis, though I am by no means certain that it is 
 congeneric with the undescribed species named as the type of that genus. The 
 feelers are very slender and elongated, the maxillarics being longer than the 
 head and about equal in length to the anterior thighs. The head is nearly as 
 long as broad and sub-globular. The antennae are slender and almost as long 
 as the body. The abdomen is obovate or nearly oval, slightly depressed, 
 equaling the thorax in length and exceeding it in width. 
 
 It should be observed before leaving this subject, that lam 
 uncertain whether this insect is the destroyer of the American^ 
 or of the European currant borer. Though there were several ot 
 the American borers in the currant stalk in which I met with 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 423 
 
 CMUIANT. STALKS. 
 
 them, the shrivelled remains of the worm from which these par¬ 
 asites came gave indications of its having been a Lepidopterous 
 rather than a Coleopterous larva. Five of these parasitic worms 
 had come from it, but of this number three were so weak and 
 immature that they died without forming their cocoons. 
 
 We have only to state in conclusion, that the utter carelessness 
 with which the currant is treated in most of our gardens, with a 
 thicket of young shoots annually left unpruned and crowding upon 
 and smothering each other, gives these borers and other pernicious 
 insects the utmost facilities for lurking unmolested and pursu¬ 
 ing their devastating work without interruption. Were this shrub 
 suitably trimmed and kept thinned out to only three or four stalks 
 from each root these stalks growing freely exposed to the light 
 and air would be little if any infested by these depredating 
 insects. 
 
 As these worms remain in the dead stalks through the winter 
 their destruction is easily effected. By breaking off all the dead 
 brittle stalks at the surface of the ground and burning them these 
 borers may at once be exterminated from the garden. But they 
 .will soon find their way back again unless the bushes are well 
 pruned every year. 
 
 135. European curiiant borer, Trochilium Tipuliforme Linn. (Lcpidop 
 
 tcra. Trochiliiilse.) 
 
 Feeding upon the pith of currant stalks causing them to 
 perish, a small whitish worm witlx a darker line along the middle 
 of its back and a brown head and legs; changing to a pupa with¬ 
 in the stalks, and the fore part of June giving out the perfect 
 insect, which is a small moth having some resemblance to a wasp, 
 its wings being clear and glassy, the fore pair opake yellowish at 
 their tips, with a black margin and band near the middle, and the 
 abdomen black with three yellow bands situated one upon each 
 alternate segment. Width 0.fi5 to 0.85. 
 
 This insect, to which the common names of Currant hawk- 
 moth and Currant clear-wing are given in English works will be 
 more readily known in this country by the name which we have 
 appended to it. A short history of it is given in Dr. Harris’s 
 Treatise, p. 255, under the name JEgeria Tipuliformis. The reason 
 
424 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. 
 
 why the name Trochilium is now given to this genus, instead of 
 JEgeria , has already been stated in connection with the Peach tree 
 borer, No. 59. The name Trochilium means a little humming¬ 
 bird, being a diminutive of Trochilus , the technical name of that 
 genus of birds, aud its appropriateness will at once be perceived 
 by every one who has noticed one of these insects or their kindred 
 of the Sphinx family hovering over flowers, the larger species 
 having often been mistaken for humming birds. 
 
 136 . Wild currant borer, TVochilium caudatum, Harris. 
 
 A worm similar to the preceding, boring in the stalks of the 
 wild black currant (Ribes floridum ) and producing a brown moth 
 with tawny yellow neck, feet, antennae and tail, which last in the 
 males is nearly as long as the body. Width 1.00 to 1.25. See 
 Silliman’s Journal, vol. xxxvi, p. 311. 
 
 lST. Currant mite, Tyroglyphus Ribis, new species. (Aptera. Acaridae.) 
 
 On diseased currant stalks, in the cavities which have been 
 excavated by borers and under the loose bark, a minute mite 
 scarcely the hundredth of an inch long and less than half as 
 broad, white, shining, its head about half as broad as the body, 
 the head and thorax forming a third of its total length. 
 
 Being met with sometimes in excessive numbers in those cur¬ 
 rant stalks which have been killed by borers, this minute crea¬ 
 ture merits a notice in connection with them, though we know 
 not whether it should be ranked as an injurious species. Several 
 of the insects of this family are known to be pernicious to the 
 vegetation and the living animals which they infest. But our 
 knowledge of their habits and economy is still so limited and 
 imperfect that it is uncertain whether a large part of them are to 
 be regarded as noxious or innocent. Many of them like the present 
 species appear to be present in the situations where we find them 
 in consequence of disease and decay already existing, and not as 
 the cause of maladies in connection with which they occur. It 
 is also probable that very many if not most of the species of 
 mites which we have upon this side of the Atlantic are identical 
 with those of Europe. One of the evidences of this is now fresh 
 in my mind, and possesses sufficient interest to be stated in this 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 425 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. 
 
 place. A few years since I made a partial investigation of the 
 insects which occur in diseased potatos. Among these I met 
 with excessive numbers of mites, mostly pertaining to two differ¬ 
 ent species. Within a few days past having received from M. 
 Guerin Meneville his paper upon this same subject, published in 
 the Bulletins of the Royal and Central Society of Agriculture, 1 
 observed that two species of mites were here described and figured. 
 On comparing these figures with the sketches which I had hereto¬ 
 fore taken, their coincidence was apparent on a moment’s glance, 
 rendering it evident that these two little creatures which resided 
 in myriads in my own cellar were identical with those found in 
 the same situation in the distant city of Paris. 
 
 The mite which occurs in diseased currant stalks, appears to 
 be unlike anything which I find mentioned by authors. It has a 
 considerable resemblance to the longer mite (Tyrcglyphus loiigior , 
 Gervais) which has been discovered in company with the cheese 
 mite in the rind of old cheese, but the head here is much larger 
 and the thorax longer, so that the abdomen forms but two-thirds 
 of the length of the insect. A slight but very distinct constric¬ 
 tion separates the thorax from the abdomen and a more slight one 
 divides the head from the thorax. The head is shaped like an 
 egg and from its anterior end two small very short bristles project 
 forward like little horns. Two longish bristles project backward 
 from the tip of the abdomen, and there are two shorter ones upon 
 each side of these and another standing directly outward upon 
 each side of the abdomen towards its base. The legs are of equal 
 length, rather slender and cylindric, each having near the tip a 
 longish bristle standing outward. When walking the four hind 
 legs are wholly hid as the insect is viewed from above. 
 
 Many hundreds of these mites may sometimes be met with in 
 their winter quarters, heaped together in a mass in the lower end 
 of the cavity which has been excavated by a borer. On bringing 
 them into a warm room they immediately awake to life, all 
 moving their legs but showing no disposition to separate and 
 crawl away. 
 
 138 . Amputating brocade moth, Hadena ampul atrix, now species. (Lepi- 
 
 doptera. NoetuiiUe.) 
 
 The latter part of May, severing by night the young succulent 
 stalks of currants, roses, &c., a cut-worm 1.50 long, of a brownish 
 
426 
 
 ANNUAL REPOUT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CURRANT. STALKS. 
 
 or livid color, shining, with a chestnut-colored head and a horny- 
 spot of the same hue on top of the neck and of the last segment, 
 and with faint dots symmetrically arranged, each yielding a very 
 fine short hair. Burying itself about a month, the moth coming 
 out in July, its fore wings rusty red clouded with gray and black¬ 
 ish, with the usual round and kidney-shaped spots near their 
 centre large, pale gray or white, and beyond these spots a broad 
 bluish-gray band parallel with the hind margin and not reaching 
 the outer edge, this baud margined on its hind side by tawny yel¬ 
 low followed by a wavy white line extending across the wing and 
 ending outwardly in a large gray spot which occupies the tip. 
 Colors and marks sometimes dull and obscure, sometimes bright 
 and distinct. Width 1.80. 
 
 This is one of our most common night-flying moths. Having 
 been found arranged with British species in some old English col¬ 
 lections it was supposed to be a native of that country and was 
 described as such by Mr. Stephens, who conjectured it to be the 
 species named arnica by Treitscke. Now that it is so evident that 
 this was an error it is improper to continue using this name for 
 this species, and I therefore propose for it a new one having refe¬ 
 rence to the habits of the larva, this being the first characteristic' 1 
 which comes into the mind, commonly, when this insect is thought 
 of. By this insect in addition to the borers above mentioned 
 Nature endeavors to lop off all that redundancy of stalks which 
 the roots of the currant produce and which man neglects to 
 remove. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 350. 
 
 Apple bark louse, No. 15. I have occasionally seen the bank 
 of both the garden and the wild currant crowded with these 
 minute oyster-shaped scales, the stalks being commonly dead in 
 consequence of their attack. A currant stalk thus excessively 
 over-run may be seen in the Entomological Museum of the Society. 
 
 139. Circular bark louse, Jlspidiotus circularis, new species. (Ilomop- 
 
 tera. Coccidue. 
 
 On the bark of currant stalks in gardens of the city of Albany, 
 early in the spring, I have observed a minute circular flat scale, 
 only 0.03 in diameter, similar to a species named Jlspidiotus Amu 
 but differently colored, being of the same blackish brown hue 
 with the surrounding bark and having in the centre a smooth 
 round wart-like elevation of a pale yellow color. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 427 
 
 CURRANT. LEAVES. 
 
 140 . Currant bark louse, Lecanium Ribis, new species. (Homopfera. 
 
 Uoccidise.) 
 
 • 
 
 A hemispherical scale of a brownish yellow color, about 0.30 
 in diameter, adhering to the bark of the garden currant, its mar¬ 
 gin finely wrinkled transversely; often perforated with one, two 
 or three holes, from which have issued minute brilliant green 
 four-winged flies which in their larva state have fed upon and con¬ 
 sumed the minute eggs which originally existed under these 
 scales. This is quite common in some gardens, and I suspect has 
 been introduced into this country with the currant, although 
 European authors have made no mention of a scale insect as 
 belonging either to this shrub or the gooseberry. It will be most 
 readily found before the leaves put forth in the spring. 
 
 AFFECTING 'THE LEAVES. 
 
 141 American Currant moth, Abraxas! Ribcaria. Fitch. (Lepidoptera 
 
 Geometridsa.) 
 
 About the middle of June, eating the leaves of the currant and 
 .gooseberry, in some gardens stripping the bushes entirely naked; a 
 cylindrical ten-footed measure worm nearly an inch long, bright 
 yellow varied on each side with white and with numerous black 
 spots and large round dots regularly arranged, each giving out a 
 fine black bristle, burying itself slightly and changing to a pupa 
 without forming any cocoon; the moth coming out therefrom 
 about the first of July, of a pale nankin yellow color, the wings 
 with one or more faint dusky spots behind their middle in the 
 male and in the female with an irregular band crossing both pairs. 
 Width 1.30 to 1.45. 
 
 This is the most remarkable depredating insect which we have 
 upon the currant in this country. It was fully figured and 
 described in the Transactions of this Society ten years ago (vol. 
 vii, p. 461), at which time it w r as much more numerous within 
 the sphere of my observation than it has since been, although 
 scarcely a year has passed but that some gardens might be seen 
 with their currant bushes nearly or quite defoliated by it. It has 
 been more numerous the present year (1857) than for several 
 years before, and I learn from Ilev. Wm. C. Reichel that in 
 
428 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CURRANT. LEAVES. 
 
 Eastern Pennsylvania this same insect has this year totally con¬ 
 sumed the currant leaves in several gardens. A letter from 
 Lorenzo Rouse of Paris Hill, Oneida county, enclosing some of 
 these worms in a vial of spirits and soliciting information respecting 
 them, states that they were first noticed in that vicinity three years 
 ago, and that they have continued to increase since that time, 
 stripping the leaves from the gooseberries first and then from the cur- 
 rancs. Our wild gooseberry (Ribes Cynunhati) was probably the 
 original habitat of this insect, for I have noticed the moth around 
 that bush, growing in the angles of fences, in years when none 
 were observed in gardens; and perhaps one of these bushes set in 
 an infested garden would allure most of these insects to it and 
 render their destruction more easy than when they are scattered. 
 Where these insects once establish themselves they there remain. 
 Tlie same gardens in my neighborhood which were most severely 
 ravaged by them ten and twelve years ago are the ones in which 
 they have been most numerous the present year, notwithstanding 
 that in some of the intervening years these gardens have appeared 
 to be nearly or quite free from them. 
 
 Mr. Rouse states that he has applied lime, ashes, soot, snuff, 
 tobacco water and whale oil soap suds to his bushes, but all to no 
 purpose. Shaking the bushes and picking the worms off' by hand 
 and destroying them is probably the only effectual mode of exter¬ 
 minating them, as I have heretofore said. Choice varieties of the 
 gooseberry and currant may be securely protected by wholly enclos¬ 
 ing each bush in netting made of the cheap fabric used for musketo 
 bars, or some similar material, every worm upon these bushes 
 being previously dislodged. 
 
 142 . Pjiogne butterfly, Vanessa (Grapta) Progne, Fab. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Nymphalidae.) 
 
 Eating the leaves the latter part of June, a gray worm 1.25 
 long with a white head and branching white prickles, their points 
 black; the pupa hanging with its head downwards from the under 
 side of a limb about twelve days and the fore part of July giving 
 out a butterfly with scalloped wings, the hind pair black shaded 
 into tawny yellow at their base where is two black dots, their 
 under sides with a central silvery straight mark bent to an obtuse 
 angle somewhat resembling the letter L. Width about 2.00. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 429 
 
 CURRANT. LEAVES. 
 
 So long ago as the year 1781 Fabricius (Species Ins. ii, 93) 
 described one of our American butterliies under the name Prngne, 
 this, in the failles of heathen mythology, being the name of a sis¬ 
 ter of Philomela who was said to have been changed into a swal¬ 
 low. The deeply notched wings of this butterfly, having some 
 resemblance to the forked tail of a swallow, perhaps suggested 
 this name to Fabricius. Figures and descriptions of this butter¬ 
 fly given by different authors since, have made it well known; but 
 to this day we have remained unacquainted with the vegetation 
 on which it is reared and the caterpillar from which it comes. In 
 June last, two worms were sent me from J. M. Stevenson of Cam¬ 
 bridge, one of the Vice Presidents of the State Agricultural 
 Society, found with several others of the same kind feeding upon 
 the leaves of his currant bushes. They proved to be the larvse 
 of the Progne butterfly, and I am thus able to give the complete 
 history of this species. I have also met with this butterfly in 
 thickets bordering on lowland meadows, where it had probably 
 been reared upon the wild black currant growing plentifully in 
 these situations. A caterpillar found upon elms is described by 
 Dr. Harris as being the larva either of this species or of the 
 Comma butterfly ( C-album=comma , Harris.) It now appears 
 beyond a doubt that it pertains to this latter species and not to 
 the Progne butterfly under which it is placed. As the Progne is 
 so intimately related to the Comma or White-C butterfly, and as 
 this species feeds upon quite a variety of trees and plants, it is 
 probable that further researches will show that the Progne is not 
 restricted to the currant but subsists upon other kinds of vegeta¬ 
 tion also. 
 
 In very many of its marks no sensible difference exists between 
 this butterfly and the White-C, and the collector who has but one 
 of these species in his hands will be much perplexed to determine 
 which of these names to give to his specimens, with only such 
 brief and imperfect accounts as authors have commonly given 
 to guide him. An exact description of each particular part of 
 an insect is a valuable aid to the student in his researches, in every 
 instance, and is specially required where different species are 
 closely related. I have therefore endeavored to draw up such a 
 description of this butterfly in its different stages as will serve to 
 
430 
 
 ANNUAL RErORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CURRANT. LKAVKS. 
 
 distinctly point it out hereafter to every one into whose hands it 
 may come. 
 
 The larva is gray with two or three deep transverse wrinkles at each suture, 
 the bottoms of which wrinkles are black and their summits whitish. On the 
 fore part of each of the abdominal segments is a whitish band which on each 
 side is interrupted by two oblique black spots. Each of these segments also 
 has a pale tawny yellow spot above the breathing pore and a smaller one below 
 it, with prickles placed in each of these spots. The head is white with black 
 dots, and is very rough from numerous short white spines of different sizes, 
 and placed upon its summit are two black prickles with numerous branches 
 which are mostly white with black tips. The two upper prickles upon the 
 second ring arc also black like those upon the head, thoso upon all the other 
 segments are white, mostly with black tips, their branches white, towards the 
 forward end of the body becoming tipped with black more and more. The first 
 ring or neck is destitute of long branching prickles and has only a belt of short 
 spines around its middle, similar to those covering the head. A few similar 
 spines also occur upon the sides of the following segments and on the outer 
 face of the pro-legs. The legs and pro-legs arc dull pale reddish, their outer 
 sides black. The mouth is dull reddish and the under side of the body white 
 mottled with brownish dots and short lines. 
 
 From this description it will be seen that in its larva as in its 
 perfect state this species is intimately related to the White-C. The 
 Progne however has but one brood each year, the butterflies 
 appearing in the month of July. The two larvae which were 
 sent me were found on the morning of June 29th to have cast 
 their skins and assumed their pupa form the preceding night, one 
 of them suspending itself from the stalk of a leaf, the other 
 attaching itself to the side of the net in which they were inclosed. 
 And on the morning of July 11th both were found changed to 
 butterflies, the pupa state thus lasting but twelve days. Dr. 
 Harris reports having obtained a Progne butterfly so late as the 
 eighteenth of August, its pupa state having continued but eleven 
 days. The few instances in which I have met with this butterfly 
 have all been in the month of July. 
 
 The pupa is 0.80 long and of a gray color with obscure olive clouds. It has 
 a deep excavation across the middle of its back in which on each side of the 
 middle is a burnished silvery-golden spot and outside of theso spots is a black¬ 
 ish streak at the margin of the wing-sheaths. On the opposite side of the body 
 and above this excavation is another similar excavation, at the base of tne ven¬ 
 ter and tips of the antcnnte-shcaths—these excavations giving to the pupa a 
 very humped and deformed appearance A broad dusky olive 6tripc in which 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 431 
 
 CURRANT. LEAVES 
 
 the breathing pores are placed, extends along each side of the abdomen and is 
 edged on its front side with a narrow white stripe, and on its opposite side is 
 an elevated black point upon each segment. Along the middle of the back is a 
 whitish stripe which becomes double towards its lower end, and on each side 
 of this is a dull olive spot on each segment with an obtuse elevated point out¬ 
 side of each spot. The lower end or head is deeply notched so as to form a 
 somewhat conical point on each side, resembling a pair of horns. 
 
 The butterfly measures across the spread wings from 1.90 to 2.30. Its fore 
 wings are of a bright tawny orange color, sometimes paler tawny towards their 
 tips or over their whole surface. Their hind border is black, commonly freckled 
 with yellow or gray scales on its outer half. Along the forward edge of this 
 black border is a row of seven faint crescent-shaped spots of a paler yellow 
 color than the ground, the second one from the inner margin largest, and 
 those next to the outermost one oval rather than crescent-shaped and commonly 
 with a black dot more or less distinct, placed upon their forward ends. For¬ 
 ward of these pale crescents is a dark rust-red spot upon the inner and a larger 
 one upon the outer margin. A large somewhat square black spot is placed for¬ 
 ward of this last one, upon the apex of the discoidal cell, which spot becomes 
 dark rust-red towards its outer end and sometimes does not reach the outer edgo 
 of the wing. Upon the disk are live smaller round black spots,the three for¬ 
 ward ones in a transverse row. of which the two outer ones are placed in the 
 discoidal cell and nearer to each other and are often smaller and ,deeper black 
 than the other three, which form a longitudinal row inside of and parallel with 
 the middle vein. The outer margin and hind part of the inner margin is black 
 r irregularly alternated with grayish white. At its base the outer margin is 
 strongly contracted or obliquely excavated instead of being straight or merely 
 rounded inward as in other species. The hind margin is irregularly scalloped 
 or wavy along its edge, with a more or less deep rounded excavation in the 
 middle, at the outer end of which is a projecting prominent angle which is com¬ 
 monly acute. The fringe is black with whitish alternations between the pro¬ 
 jecting teeth. The inner margin is also strongly excavated or arched. The kind 
 wings are black gradually shaded into rusty-red across their middle and here 
 often showing short transverse black lines, the basal portion tawny orange with 
 ' r. wide blackish margin and two round black spots, the inner one smaller and 
 tapering anteriorly to a point. In the black ground forward of thehind margin 
 is a row of pale yellow dots, those towards the inner margin more faint and 
 often obliterated. The hind edge is scalloped and wavy, with a deep round 
 excavation between the middle and the inner angle, on each side of which is a 
 projection resembling a short tail which is rounded at its apex and of a bluish 
 gray color. Under side dark gray with numerous irregular transverse streaks 
 of black, dusky and brown, giving the surface a peculiar curdled appearance 
 like that of the fabric called “ chcne cloth.” The fore wings are crossed pos¬ 
 teriorly with a broad paler gray irregular band, which is widened at its outer 
 end into a large hoary white patch occupying the whole apex of the wing. In 
 the centre of the hind wings is a silvery-white mark which is bent at an obtuse 
 angle in its middle with the two ends straight. This mark is variable, being 
 sometimes slender through its whole length, sometimes twice as thick at its 
 
432 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CURRANT. LEAVES. 
 
 lower end as at its upper; its lower part is commonly shorter but is sometimes 
 of the same length with the upper portion; the angle is sometimes but little 
 obtuse, the mark then closely resembling the letter L; the concavity sometimes 
 faces the hind margin near the outer angle of the wing, and sometimes opens 
 towards the outer margin forward of this angle, this last variety being 
 described as a distinct species under the name of C-argenteum by Mr. Kirby 
 An irregular wavy interrupted streak of brilliant green-blue scales extends 
 across the hind wings forward of their hind border and is continued half way 
 across the fore wings. This streak is irregularly margined with black and fades 
 to faint green, and in some individuals can scareely be discerned, especially upon 
 the hind wings. The body is black with a brilliant green-blue reflection to the 
 thorax and is clothed with tawny yellow hairs. The antennae are black and 
 alternated along their sides with white, and wholly white beneath, the knob 
 being black and its tip straw yellow. 
 
 Though this butterfly has been met with from the latitude of 
 Lake Winnipeg to the southern West India islands, and from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific coast, it does not anywhere appear to be 
 numerous, and will probably seldom if ever occur in our gardens 
 in such profusion as to do any appreciable injury. Indeed most 
 persons will desire to cherish and protect these pretty “ winged 
 flowers,” and domesticate them as much as possible in the yards 
 around their dwellings, rather than to destroy and expel them. 
 Although their larvae covered with prickles have a repulsive^ 
 aspect, they all disappear from the currant bushes before we have 
 occasion to go near them to gather their fruit. Should these worms 
 however become so numerous in any instance as to be detrimental, 
 picking off each leaf on which they are stationed and crushing it 
 beneath the foot will probably be found the only effectual mode 
 of destroying them. 
 
 143 . Write-C butterfly, Vanessa ( Grapta) C-album, Linn. 
 
 Eating the leaves the fore part of August., a prickly worm very 
 similar to the preceding, but of a brownish red color in front and 
 white or pale yellow posteriorly, its pupa state continuing about 
 sixteen days and the butterfly appearing in September, its wings 
 scalloped, the hind pair tawny yellow shaded to dusky brown on 
 their hind margin and with a black spot on their centre as well 
 as two others towards their base, and on their under sides with a 
 central sivery curved mark like a letter C. Width about 2.00. | 
 
 Like the Vunessa Antiopa , Atalanta and several other butterflies, 
 this species is common to both sides of the Atlantic. Dr. Harris 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 433 
 
 CURRANT. LEAVES. 
 
 regarded our American insect as different from the European, and 
 accordingly named it V. comma. He supposed the wings to be 
 more deeply scalloped or indented in the European than they are 
 in the American butterfly and that the specimens of the two con¬ 
 tinents could at once be distinguished by this mark. But how 
 perfectly fallacious this character is will appear from the remark 
 of Mr. Westwood (Humphrey’s British Butterflies, p. 50) who, in 
 describing the European insect observes, “ This species is subject 
 to an extraordinary variation in the form of its wings. In some 
 specimens the incision in the outer (posterior) margin of the fore 
 wings is so deep that it forms nearly a semicircle, whilst in others 
 it is scarcely more than a sextant; the other indentations being 
 equally varied.” Our American specimens vary in the same 
 manner, the principal incision in the fore wings being much 
 deeper than the sixth part of a circle in every instance which I 
 have before me. And on comparing them on the one hand with 
 the descriptions which European authors give of C-album, espe¬ 
 cially that of Mr. Westwood which is most detailed and clearly 
 expressed, and on the other hand with the description which Hr. 
 Harris gives of comma, every one must admit that, of the two, 
 the former is plainly the species to which our insect pertains. In 
 every particular they coincide most perfectly with the characters 
 assigned to that species. And when in addition to this we recur 
 to their habits, the larvae subsisting upon the same kinds of vege¬ 
 tation and two broods coming out each year, not a peg remains 
 on which to hang a doubt as to the identity of our American 
 insect with that of Europe. 
 
 In England this has obtained the common name of the Comma 
 butterfly, and Dr. Harris describes it as having a silvery comma 
 beneath, upon the middle of the hind wings. But in each of the 
 several examples which have come under my notice this mark 
 very exactly resembles a letter C and not a comma. A 
 translation of its technical name will therefore designate it more 
 explicitly than the common name which we meet with in English 
 books. In all its marks except those which we have specified 
 above, it is nearly or quite identical with the Progne butterfly. 
 The under side of its wings, however, are occupied only in places 
 by transverse black streaks. 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] Bb 
 
434 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CURRANT. LEAVES. 
 
 The larvae have as yet been noticed in this country only upon 
 the hop and the elm; but in addition to these it in England has 
 been found feeding upon the nettle, gooseberry, currant, honey¬ 
 suckle, hazle and willow, and will probably be found upon tin- 
 same vegetation here. The hop appears to be the plant of which 
 it is most fond. 
 
 Two broods of this butterfly come abroad each year, the 
 one in May, and the other mostly in September. Degeer has 
 remarked that it probably passes the winter in the perfect state, 
 as specimens are observed in the first days of spring. I once met 
 with it on the nineteenth of April, before warm weather had suf¬ 
 ficiently advanced, it would seem, to have disclosed it from 
 the pupa that season. And as the black Antiopa butterfly is 
 occasionally met with torpid in its winter quarters, beneath a 
 board or in the cavity of a decaying log and similar situations, 
 where, though for months buried deeply under the snow, it will 
 remain dry and in safety, to come abroad from its solitary cell 
 upon the first warm days of spring, so it is quite probable some 
 individuals of this species also, hatching from their pup® late in 
 autumn may go into winter quarters and reappear upon the wing 
 early in the following spring. But these can only be regarded as 
 exceptions to the general rule, for it is not till the beginning of 
 May that we commonly meet with this butterfly. I have cap¬ 
 tured it much oftener than the preceding species, although it is 
 probably no more common. It falls into the collector’s hands 
 more frequently, as it comes abroad twice in the season and makes 
 its first appearance when there are but few insects to be gathered. 
 
 The Cecropia emperor moth No. 33, in its larva state a very 
 large pale green worm with blue and yellow prickles, is occasion¬ 
 ally found upon the currant eating the leaves. 
 
 The White miller No. 125, its larva a large caterpillar 
 covered with soft pale yellow hairs, feeds upon the currant leaves 
 also. 
 
 144 . Pale IIispa, Uraplata pallida, Say, (Colcoptera. Hispid* ) 
 
 Blister-like spots upon the leaves, in which is a small tapering 
 flattened worm, feeding upon the green pulpy substance of the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 435 
 
 CURRANT. LEAVES. 
 
 leaf leaving the skin entire, producing a beetle which occurs 
 upon the bushes in May and June, its wing covers of an oblong 
 square form with elevated lines and intervening rough grooves, 
 its color light yellow, black beneath and with the antennge, the 
 sides and two stripes on the thorax and variable lines on the wing 
 covers also black. Length 0.15. As I have commonly met with 
 this beetle upon the wild black currant, I infer with considerable 
 confidence that its larvae subsist upon the leaves, mining them as 
 the Rosy Hispa No. 37 does those of the apple. 
 
 145 . Currant Aphis, //phis Jiibis, Linn. (Homoptera. Aphids.) 
 
 Irregular bulges or blister-like elevations of a brownish red 
 color upon the leaves, opposite which on their under sides are 
 corresponding hollows occupied by multitudes of plant lice suck¬ 
 ing the juices of the leaf and sometimes covering the green suc¬ 
 culent young shoots also; many of them without wings and of a 
 pale yellowish color; others with clear glassy wings, and these 
 mostly black with the abdomen light green and having a slightly 
 protruded tail and black horns or honey tubes reaching about hall 
 way to the tip, with a row of deep green or black dots along each 
 side forward of the horns, the antennae and legs also black with 
 the shanks and bases of the thighs pale, and with the third 
 oblique vein of the wings obliterated at its commencement. 
 Length 0.13 to the tips of the wings. More or less common in 
 every garden, attended by ants and devoured by lady-birds 
 ( Coccinellce ) which are always seen on the same bushes, and which 
 with other destroyers often wholly exterminate these lice so that 
 only the bulged spots on the leaves remain to indicate their 
 having been there. 
 
 146 . Oblique-striped leaf-hopper, Erythroneura olliqua, Say. (Homop- 
 
 tera. Tcttigoniidee.) 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and sucking their juices, a very small 
 white leaf-hopper 0.12 long, its head and thorax with two bright 
 blood-red or orange stripes and three short oblique ones on the 
 wing covers, the outer one placed on the shoulder, the middle one 
 on the disk and the inner one ending on the middle of the inner 
 margin. This is common, particularly upon the bushes of the 
 wild currant, but occurs on various other shrubs and trees 
 
436 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GOOSEBERRY. LEAVES. 
 
 throughout the year. Even in winter on turning over an old log 
 one of these pretty little insects will sometimes leap into view 
 from among the surrounding dead leaves. It is subject to con¬ 
 siderable variations, the stripes being sometimes of a pale yellow 
 color and one or another of them wanting Commonly three 
 black or dusky dots may be seen on the wing covers in an oblique 
 row forward of the membranous tips. 
 
 The Companion leaf-hopper of the raspberry, the Three-banded 
 leaf-hopper 105, and several other species of this group will also 
 be met with upon currant bushes. 
 
 11. THE GOOSEBERRY .—Ribes Grossularia. 
 
 Most of the insects which are found upon the currant are 
 equally common upon the gooseberry, though the stalks of this 
 shrub are so w r ell defended by prickles that they are rarely if 
 ever invaded by those borers which are so pernicious to the cur¬ 
 rant. In addition to the insects which are named under the cur¬ 
 rant, the following have been observed upon the gooseberry only. 
 
 147 . Gooseberry bark-louse, Lecanium Cynosbati, new species. (Ilomop- 
 tera. Coccidse.) 
 
 On the stalks of the wild gooseberry ( R. Cynosba/i ), a hemis¬ 
 pheric, smooth, shining resin-brown scale, commonly freckled 
 with dull yellow dots and with a dull yellow stripe along its 
 middle. Length about 0.15. This is evidently a different specie* 
 from that which we have found upon the currant. 
 
 148 . Mealy Flata, Pceciloptera pruinosa, Say. (Homoptera. Fulgorida).) 
 
 In July and August, puncturing and sucking the juices of the 
 leaves and the young succulent shoots, a four-winged fly which 
 is strongly compressed and wedge-shaped, its height almost double 
 its width, of a dusky bluish color covered with white meal-like 
 powder, its legs straw-yellow, and its wing-covers showing some 
 faint white dots and near their base three or four dusky ones. 
 Length about 0.30. 
 
 Ten years ago a gooseberry and pie-rhubarb growing contiguous 
 to each other in the yard in rear of the old State Hall in Albany 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 43 * 
 
 GOOSEBERRY. FRUIT. 
 
 were thronged with this insect in the different stages of its growth. 
 This is the northern-most point where it has yet been discovered. 
 The preceding year the privet (Ligustrum vulgare) in gardens in 
 the city of New-York was overrun with it, and a description of it 
 was published in the New-York Farmer and Mechanic newspaper, 
 of July 30, 1846, by Issacliar Cozzens, under the name Flu/a 
 bigustium, he being unaware that it had previously been named 
 by Mr. Say. Further south it is quite common on various shrubs. 
 
 149. Gooseberry moth. (Lepidoptera. Traeid® ?) 
 
 The fruit when about half grown perishing, its interior being 
 ate out by a slender greenish worm about half an inch long with 
 a dark colored nose, a dark band across the top of its neck, and 
 the three forward pairs of feet of the same color, which forms a 
 tube of silken threads from the cavity in the berry through a hole 
 in its side to an adjacent leaf, through which it crawls out and in. 
 
 This is too interesting and important a depredator upon the 
 gooseberry to be passed unnoticed, although I have not yet 
 obtained it in its perfect state, it having generally completed its 
 work and left the bushes before its destructive operations were 
 observed. I have sometimes seen bushes of the wild gooseberry 
 with every berry withered and reduced to a mere dry hollow 
 shell with a cobweb-like tube protruding from the orifice in one 
 side. And the present summer a letter to the Country Gentle¬ 
 man from E. Graves, jr. of Ashfield, Mass., states that for three 
 years past, his “ Houghton’s seedling ” gooseberries have been a 
 total failure, from this same worm, as I am assured by the account 
 which he gives of it and the specimens accompanying his letter. 
 
 150. Gooseberry midge, Cecidomyia Grossulariiz, Fitch. (Diptent. 
 
 Tipulid®.) 
 
 The berries turning red prematurely and becoming putrid, and 
 having in them small bright yellow maggots of an oblong oval 
 form and slightly divided into segments by fine impressed trans¬ 
 verse lines; changing to pupse in the berries and the latter part 
 of July giving out a small two-winged fly resembling a musketo, 
 of a beeswax-yellow color, its wings hyaline and slightly smoky, 
 and its antennae blackish and twelve jointed. Length 0.10. See 
 Transactions, 1854, p. 880. 
 
43S 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. TRUNK. 
 
 12. THE HICKORY.— Carya alba et al. 
 
 The several species of hickory and walnut are all preyed upon 
 alike by the same insects with a very few exceptions, and these 
 trees suifer much more from their attacks than any of our other 
 wild fruit trees. In the state of New-York are upwards of sixty 
 insect depredators belonging to these trees. Only a part of these, 
 however, are yet known to us in their perfect state so that we are 
 able to name and describe them. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TRUNK AND LIMBS. 
 
 151 . Tiger Cerambyx, Goes tigrina, Dcgeer. (Coleoptcra. Cerambycidse.) 
 
 Boring large holes lengthwise in the solid wood, a large cream- 
 yellow grub, slightly tapering, with a faint darker line along the 
 middle of its back, a black head chestnut-brown at its base, and 
 the first ring flattened and pale tawny yellowish; changing to a 
 pupa in the burrow it excavates (as do all other borers of the 
 beetle kind), and producing a long-horned beetle of a brown 
 color covered with incumbent short tawny gray pubescence, more 
 dense on the wing covers, which have a broad dark brown band 
 beyond their middle and another on their base, the thorax with 
 an erect blunt spine on each side, and the antennae pale yellowish 
 with their first joint dark brown. Length about one inch. This 
 is the common borer in all the hickory and walnut trees in my 
 neighborhood. Those species of the old genus Monohammus, in 
 which the feelers are blunt instead of pointed at their ends, have 
 recently been set off' into a distinct genus by Dr. Leconte, to 
 which the name Goes is given. See Transactions, 1854, p. 850. 
 
 The annexed cut handsomely illustrates the principal opera¬ 
 tions of this insect; and those of the Apple-tree borer and other 
 large borers belonging to the family Cerambycidae are closely 
 analogous to this. On the left hand side of the figure near its 
 lower end is seen a small cavity which the parent beetle gnaws 
 through the hard dead outer layers of the bark, and a small perfo¬ 
 ration through the soft new inner layers. Does the parent drop her 
 egg in the bottom of the cavity which she gnaws, and does the 
 young worm eat its way through the soft inner layers to the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 439 
 
 HICKORY TRUNK. 
 
 wood? or does she bore through 
 these layers with her ovipositor 
 and place her egg under the 
 bark and upon the outer sur¬ 
 face of the wood? The Apple- 
 tree borer deposits her egg 
 upon the outside of the bark, 
 according to the observations 
 of Esq. Baldwin, as related in 
 my first report (Transactions, 
 1854, pp. 717, 718). But ac¬ 
 cording to the statements of 
 my esteemed fellow townsman, 
 Wm. McKie, Esq., who has 
 had the misfortune of having 
 much experience w r ith this in¬ 
 sect, the results of which were 
 communicated by him to the 
 Horticulturist, published at 
 Rochester, a few years since, the parent insect pierces through 
 the bark and places her egg in contact with the wood. It 
 is probably impossible to decide from an inspection of the per¬ 
 foration in the bark, whether it has been made by a minute worm 
 which has gnawed its way through the bark, or has been pierced 
 by the boring apparatus of the parent insect. It is only by see¬ 
 ing the egg in place before it is hatched, or by finding the infan¬ 
 tile worm on its way through the bark that this point can be 
 settled. The young worm lives at first upon the soft outer layers 
 of the sap wood, mining a shallow cavity all around the orifice 
 in the bark, and the bark dies and turns black as far as this bur¬ 
 row extends. Its jaws having at length become sufficiently strong, 
 it gnaws its way into the solid wood from the upper part of its 
 burrow under the bark, boring obliquely inward and upward, all 
 the lower part of its burrow being commonly packed with its saw¬ 
 dust-like chips. Finally, having completed its growth, it extends 
 the upper end of its burrow outward again to the bark, as shown 
 in the cut heretofore given, Transactions, 1854, p. 851, which cut 
 illustrates, on a diminished scale, the exit of this insect from the 
 
440 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. TRUNK. 
 
 tree, as the one herewith presented shows its entrance and the 
 lower part of its burrow, of the natural size. 
 
 152 . Belted Cerambyx, Cerasphorus balteatus, Degcer. (Coleoptera. 
 
 Cerambycidae.) [Plate 1, fig. 8 ] 
 
 A worm similar to the preceding and boring the trunk in the 
 same manner, producing a more flattened long-horned beetle of a 
 dusky brown color with a short dull straw-yellow band placed 
 obliquely forward of the middle of each wing cover, and with a 
 small sharp spine on each side of the thorax and two slender ones 
 on the tips of each wing cover. Length 0.60 to 1.10. See Har¬ 
 ris’s Treatise, p. 86. 
 
 All our American authors have entered this species under 
 Drury’s name cinctus or the still later name garganicus of Fab- 
 ricius. Although it was figured and described in Drury’s first 
 volume, the name was not given till the appendix of his second 
 volume was published. The name given it by Degeer (Memoirs, 
 vol. v. p. Ill) thus appears to have preceded all others. 
 
 It is difficult to decide upon the most suitable common name 
 for many of our insects. In those instances where the generic 
 name is long and difficult of pronunciation by persons not clas¬ 
 sically educated, and where this name cannot readily be trans¬ 
 lated, I have deemed it better to fall back upon the family name, 
 thus following the example of recent English authorities in the 
 smaller Lepidoptera and several other groups. 
 
 153 . Discoidal Saperda, Saperda discoidea, Fab. (Coleoptera. Ccramby- 
 
 cidae.) 
 
 A similar but much smaller worm than the foregoing, changing 
 to a cylindrical long-horned beetle of a black or blackish-brown 
 color, clothed with ash-gray pubescence which is less dense 
 above and commonly forms three gray stripes upon the thorax and 
 a band or crescent upon the middle of the wing covers, its legs 
 being yellow or reddish. Length 0.40 to 0.60. 
 
 154 . Banded Saperda, Oncideres cingulatus, Say. (Coleoptera. Ceramby- 
 cidse.) 
 
 A worm similar to the preceding and producing a similar beetle 
 but distinguished chiefly by having its wing covers sprinkled over 
 with faint tawny yellow dots. Length about 0.60. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 441 
 
 HICKORY. TRUNK. 
 
 155. Slender-footed Dyspiiaga, JDysphaga tenuipes, Ilalderaan. (Coleop- 
 tera. Cerambycidas.) 
 
 Small grubs in the dead limbs and twigs, producing in May a 
 small black long-horned beetle with rough wing covers but half 
 as long as the abdomen and tinged with paler yellowish at theii 
 bases, its head having a furrow in the middle and its thorax 
 cylindrical. Length 0.25. 
 
 156. Lurid Buprestis, Dicerca lurida, Fab. (Coleoptera. Buprestidae.) 
 
 Mining shallow burrows in the sickly dying limbs, a long taper¬ 
 ing yellowish white grub, its second ring very broad and strongly 
 flattened, its head small and brownish, producing a blackish brassy 
 snapping-beetle which may be found upon the trunk and limbs 
 through the summer, its surface rather rough and with coarse 
 punctures running into each other, its wing covers with raised 
 lines on their inner part and two toothed at their tips, the end of 
 the abdomen having three teeth and its under side being more 
 brilliant brassy and with punctures opening backward. Length 
 about 0.70. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 43. 
 
 157. Walnut ant, Formica Carycc, Fitch. (Ilymenoptera. Formicidte.) 
 
 Mining long narrow passages in the interior of the trunk and 
 limbs and staining the adjacent wood light brown; a longish black 
 shining ant, its abdomen with equidistant transverse rows of fine 
 bristles, two rows upon each segment. Length 0.20 to 0.33. See 
 Transactions, 1854, p. 855. 
 
 158. RF.D-snoui.DERBD Apate, Apate basillaris, Say. (Coleoptera, Bos- 
 trichidoe.) 
 
 Boring small holes straight towards the heart of the tree, small 
 fleshy white six-footed grubs with backs transversely wrinkled; 
 changing to pupae at the inner ends of their burrows, and pro¬ 
 ducing small cylindrical black beetles covered with punctures, 
 with the fore part of their thorax very rough and their wing 
 covers with a tawny red or yellow spot on their base, their tips 
 abruptly cut off obliquely, the margin of the declivity showing 
 two or three little teeth on each side above and an elevated line 
 below. Length 0.20 to 0.25. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 81. 
 
 i 
 
442 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. BARK. 
 
 AFFECTING THE BARK. 
 
 159 . Four-bristled mite, Oribata quadripilis , new species. (Aptera. 
 
 Acaridte.) 
 
 Under the loose scales of the bark, a broad oval mite of a 
 shining resin-brown color and slightly transparent, with four 
 small bristles projecting forward in front. Length 0.02. 
 
 Though our knowledge of the habits of this mite is very limited 
 and we are not able to say whether it is an injurious species, it 
 still merits a short notice in connection with the other insects 
 which occur upon the bark of the hickory. The Hickory ant 
 w'hich has been mentioned above, in addition to occupying cavi¬ 
 ties in the interior of the tree is met with also under the loose 
 scales of the bark, in which situation numbers of them may be 
 found crowded together and torpid, in the winter season And 
 associated with it a small mite will frequently be found, which 
 appears to be closely related to the Oribata bipilis, described by 
 Hermann from specimens discovered upon the bark of a tree in 
 Germany. This mite is oval and about half as broad as long, 
 somewhat depressed, polished and shining, of a resin-brown color 
 and slightly transparent like resin. It has in front four project¬ 
 ing bristles of nearly equal length, the lower two curving inward, 
 the other two straight, and a few bristles occur scattered over the 
 body. The legs are also clothed with hairs of unequal length, 
 and at the tip of each shank is a long bristle extending outward 
 over and projecting beyond the feet. The four anterior thighs also 
 have a shorter bristle at their tips, projecting outward parallel 
 with those of the shanks. The four anterior legs are of equal 
 length and somewhat longer than the hind ones, and the articula¬ 
 ting part of their base is very narrow and slender. Their thighs 
 are of an elongated ovate form, being strongly inflated into a 
 kind of knot at their bases. In the winter season little groups 
 of these mites are found clustered together in the crevices of the 
 bark, torpid, but reviving when brought into a warm room and 
 thereupon crawling about, though very slowly and awkwardly, 
 the long bristles protruding out beyond the ends of its feet evi¬ 
 dently serving to aid it in clinging to the surface over which it 
 walks but at the same time impeding it from any briskness in its 
 movements. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 443 
 
 niCKORY. BARK. 
 
 160 . Hickory bark-louse, Lecanium Caryos, new species. (Ilomoptera. 
 
 Coccid*.) 
 
 Fixed to the bark of the small limbs, a large, very convex oval 
 scale of a black color fading to chestnut-brown, in May dusted 
 over with a white powder. Length often 0.40 by 0.25 in width. 
 
 161. Hickory blight, Eriosoma Carya, new species. (Homoptcra. Aphid®.) 
 
 The under sides of the limbs particularly of bushes and young 
 trees in shaded situations coated over with a white llocculent 
 down, covering and concealing multitudes of woolly plant-lice 
 which are crowded together upon the bark, sucking its juices; 
 the winged individuals of a black color, with the head, scutel and 
 abdomen covered with a white cotton-like substance, their wings 
 somewhat hyaline, the forward pair with an oval salt-white spot 
 or stigma towards the tip of their outer margin, their veins all 
 very faintly traced or abortive. Length to the tip of the wings 
 0 . 12 . 
 
 1 have never noticed this blight in the state of New-York, 
 though it no doubt occurs here. It was found common upon 
 walnut bushes growing along Henderson river in Illinois, a few 
 years since. 
 
 162. Hickory Aphis, Lachnus Cary a, Harris. (Ilomoptera. Aphid*.) 
 
 In clusters on the under sides of the limbs in July and August 
 and probably to the close of the season, puncturing the bark and 
 extracting its juices, an unusually large plant-louse, 0.25 long 
 and to the tips of its wings 0.40, its spread wings measuring 0.72, 
 its body of a black color coated over with a bluish white powder 
 like the bloom upon a plum, its antennae reaching to the base of 
 the abdomen, black and evenly bearded with shortish hairs, as are 
 the legs also, the thighs being clear tawny red; wings hyaline, 
 smoky at base and along the outer margin, their veins black, the 
 rib vein and two first oblique veins very thick and margined with 
 smoky, the third oblique vein and its two forks and the short 
 fourth vein very slender. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 208. 
 
 I his species clearly pertains to the genus Lachnus as now restricted 
 and admirably elucidated in the invaluable volume of Koch. 
 
444 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YOR.lt 
 
 RICKORY. L RAVES. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 1. Fanning galls and other excrescences . 
 
 1163.. Hickory-stem gall-lousk, Pemphigus Carytzcaulis , Fitch. (Ilomop 
 tera. Aphides.) 
 
 Forming bullet-like galls, hollow, green and of a leathery tex¬ 
 ture, upon the leaf stalks and succulent young shoots, with the 
 walls of the cavity inside covered with minute white and yellow 
 lice; the perfect, winged insect not yet discovered; the gall sub¬ 
 sequently turning black, opening and becoming cup-shaped. See 
 Transactions, 1854, p. 859. 
 
 164. IIickory-vein gall-louse, Pemphigus 1 Caryavencs, new species. 
 
 Forming plaits in the veins of the leaves, which project up 
 from the surface in an abruptly elevated keel-like ridge upon the 
 upper side of the leaf and with a mouth opening on the under 
 side, the lips of which are woolly and closed. 
 
 Although the Aphis which produces these plans in the veins of 
 hickory leaves is unknown to us in its winged state, its work will 
 suffice to distinguish it. from other species. The plaits occur 
 mostly near the middle of the leaf, upon one side of the mid-vein, 
 occupying the bases of the lateral veins, two or three of which 
 are commonly enlarged into these excrescences or galls, which jut 
 up in keel-like ridges from a quarter to a half inch in length. 
 These ridges are of a pale yellow color, turning brown and be¬ 
 coming dry and dead after a time, and frequently before they 
 perish the portion of the leaf between them withers and turns 
 brown, in which case the inhabitants of the gall forsake it, being 
 no longer able to obtain a due supply of nourishment from its 
 walls. The lips of the mouth which opens on the under side of 
 the leaf are covered with white or pale tawny yellow wool. They 
 are pressed together, but a small orifice is open at their outer end, 
 through which some of the young lice frequently crawl from the 
 interior of the gall and station themselves upon the under surface 
 of the leaf by the side of the mid-vein. The lips are readily 
 drawn apart, exposing the cavity within, the walls of which are 
 covered with minute wingless females and their eggs and young. 
 The females are egg-shaped, broadest anteriorly and tapering 
 behind to an acute but not an attenuated point. They are 0.03 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 445 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 long, 0.02 broad, very pale yellow and at the tip watery white. 
 The eyes appear like two minute brown dots widely separated, 
 the head being short and broad with the transverse sutures 
 between it and the other segments of the body very slight and 
 indistinct. The legs and antennae are short and tinged with dusky. 
 The antennae are three-jointed, the basal joint thickest and about 
 as broad as long, the second joint globular and the third elongated 
 and cylindrical, with a projecting point upon one side at the 
 tip. When moving about the antennae appear to be employed as 
 a fourth pair of legs, their points being pressed to the surface over 
 which it is passing, similarly to the feet. The eggs are small oval 
 shining grains of a watery yellowish white color. The young 
 larvae are intermediate in size between the eggs and the females, 
 and resemble the latter except that they are of an oval form and 
 their beaks are proportionally longer reaching to or slightly beyond 
 the tips of their bodies. 
 
 These excrescences are common upon hickory leaves through¬ 
 out the summer season. 
 
 105. Hickory Thrips, Phlaothrips Caryie, new species. (Homoptera. 
 
 Thripididse.) 
 
 Slender conical protuberances like the spur of a cock a quarter 
 of an inch long, standing out perpendicularly from the under 
 surface of the leaf and closed at their end, with a similar protu¬ 
 berance upon the opposite side of the leaf having its end open 
 and split into several long slender teeth; within these galls a 
 small slender shining black insect with the middle joints of its 
 antennse honey-yellow and its long narrow white wings appressed 
 to its back. 
 
 Whether these singular galls, which resemble a long slender 
 pod thrust half way through the leaf, are produced by the Thrips 
 found in them, or by some other insect which forsakes them 
 before this takes up its abode there, I am unable to say. In the 
 instance in which I noticed them particularly, they occurred upon 
 a young shag-bark hickory in the month of September. Quite a 
 number of the leaves had one and several had two or more galls 
 growing upon them, in each one of which was one or more of these 
 insects or their larvae. The galls were of a very tough leathery 
 texture, green where they adjoined the leaf and deep purple at 
 
446 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 their ends, though most of them at that date had become dry and 
 faded to a dark brown color. The leaf is often wrinkled around 
 the gall and has more or less of a fold extending from thence to 
 its outer edge. The insect within, when disturbed, turns its tail 
 upward over its back in a menacing manner, the same as the rove 
 beetles ( Staphylinidm) do; and when the point of a needle which 
 has been pressed upon one of these insects is touched to the tip 
 of the tongue, unless my imagination greatly deceives me, it will 
 frequently be found to impart a peculiar acrid biting sensation. 
 This insect is 0.07 long, of a deep black color and highly polished. 
 Its head is narrower than the thorax and nearly square. The 
 third, fourth and fifth joints of the antennse are longer than the 
 others, yellow and slightly transparent; the last joint is shortest 
 and but half as thick as those which precede it. The abdomen 
 is egg-shaped with its tip drawn out into a tube thrice as long as 
 it is thick, with four long bristles at its end, and the abdomen is 
 furnished with bristles at each of its sutures. The wings do not 
 reach the tip of the abdomen. They are white and slightly trans¬ 
 parent and fringed with black hairs. In its larva state it has a 
 more slender linear form with a dull greenish yellow head, a 
 white thorax with a broad black band anteriorly, a pale red 
 abdomen with a black band at its tip, and whitish legs. 
 
 16t>. Hickory leap wituereii, Phylloxera Carycefolitz, new species. (Ho- 
 
 moptera. Aphidae.) 
 
 Forming small conical elevations on the upper surface of the 
 leaf, each having an orifice in its summit; a very small black 
 plant-louse with a pale abdomen and legs and smoky wings laid 
 fiat upon its back, and having only three veins in addition to the 
 rib. Length 0.06. 
 
 The protuberances formed by this plant-louse are about 0.15 
 high and 0.20 broad at their bases, of a conical form and a dull 
 red or lurid brown color surrounded by a light yellow' ring which 
 occupies the substance of the leaf for a short distance around the 
 base of each cone. The apex of the cone is fimbriated or cleft 
 into a number of small teeth which turn outw'ards, and in the 
 centre between the bases of these teeth is a small orifice leading 
 into a cavity inside of the cone, the walls of which are scarcely 
 thicker than paper, but are very tough like leather. Some leaves 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 
 
 447 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 have only one of these conical galls upon them, others have two, 
 three or more. As many as a dozen may be found upon some 
 leaves. And wandering about upon the surface of the leaf the 
 mature winged flies will be found, which have crawled out from 
 the gall in which they were nurtured, and in which multitudes 
 of young lice in all the stages of their growth will be found 
 crowded together and covering the walls of the cavity, with a Jew 
 newly hatched winged individuals similar to those seen outside 
 of the gall, but smaller and lighter colored, the whole of their 
 body being pale yellow or with only a dusky band between the 
 bases of their wings. As soon as they leave the gall, however, 
 and expose themselves to the light and air, they change to a black 
 color, the abdomen only remaining pale yellow often tinged with 
 green. Some individuals may be observed in which the change 
 in their colors is not fully completed, showing a pale yellow band 
 upon their necks. Their legs are short and pale with black knees 
 and feet. The antennae are short, thick and thread-like, scarcely 
 longer than the head, and with but three or four joints, difficult 
 to discern. The wings are placed horizontally upon the back and 
 not elevated as in most of the plant lice. They are smoky-trans¬ 
 parent with a more dusky spot or stigma on the outer margin 
 between the tip of the rib-vein and the outer edge, the rib-vein 
 being perfectly straight and not curved as in other plant liee to 
 give a greater width to this stigma-spot. In addition to the rib- 
 vein the fore wings have only three oblique veins, all of which 
 are straight and black. The first of these is placed forward of 
 the middle of the wing and runs from the rib-vein to the inner 
 margin. The last one runs from the stigma to the tip of the wing 
 and is abortive or imperceptible at its base where it starts from 
 the stigma. The middle vein is parallel with this last and starts 
 from the first vein above its middle and reaches the inner margin 
 equidistant from the tips of the other two, its base being abortive 
 for a short distance. The hind wings form a very conspicuous 
 angular point on the middle of their outer margin and have a 
 longitudinal rib-vein but are wholly destitute of any oblique vein 
 running from it to the inner margin. 
 
 From what has now r been stated it will be seen that this small insect 
 presents some notable peculiarities. We have a second species, 
 
448 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 belonging to the oak, which is perfectly congeneric with it. None 
 of the figures in Koch’s works correspond with these insects, and 
 the genus to which they pertain is evidently unknown to him. 
 But on gathering from different sources the details of the Euro¬ 
 pean plant-louse named Quercus, on which the genus Phylloxera 
 has been founded by Fonscolomb, we find such a full coincidence 
 as to assure us that our insects are congeneric with that species. 
 We cannot but deem that the observation of M. Amyot (Ann. Soc. 
 Ent. 2d series, v. p. 485), that in that species the three oblique 
 veins arise directly from the outer margin of the wings, is inexact, 
 as such a structure would be a perfect anomaly among the species 
 of this family. Should that character, however, be as stated by 
 M. Amyot, our insects would constitute a new genus, since in 
 them the usual longitudinal rib-vein from which the oblique veins 
 are given off is perfectly distinct. 
 
 2. Puncturing the leaves and sucking their juices. 
 
 167. Hickory gay-louse, Callipterus Caryellus, Fitch. (Homoptera, 
 
 Aphid®.) 
 
 Scattered upon the under sides of the leaves, a small pale yel¬ 
 low plant-louse with white antennae alternated with black rings, 
 and pellucid wings laid flat upon its back, its abdomen egg- 
 shaped, somewhat flattened and with only minute rudimentary 
 honey tubes. Length 0.12. See Transactions, 1854, p. 869. 
 
 This and the four following species of very small delicate 
 bright-colored plant-lice inhabiting hickory leaves were described 
 in my First Report, at which time I remarked that they with 
 other similar insects occurring on oaks and other trees formed a 
 group so very distinct from the common species of the genus 
 Aphis that they would probably be regarded as entitled to the 
 rank of an independent genus. The same year in which that 
 Report was published the portion of M. Koch’s beautifully illus¬ 
 trated work (Die Pflanzenlause Aphiden) in which a few European 
 species similar to these is given, made its appearance. These 
 insects are therein formed into a new genus, to which the name 
 Callipterus , i. e. beautiful winged, is given. And the European 
 C. Juglandicola of Koch appears closely related to this present 
 species, though sufficiently distinguished from it by the black 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 449 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 rings upon the antennae, which are always broad in our insect and 
 are one of the first marks which the eye notices, but are repre¬ 
 sented as quite narrow and inconspicuous in the European. This 
 is rommon upon hickory leaves; but the insects of this genus do 
 not crowd themselves together and remain stationary like other 
 plant lice, 
 
 168 . Dotted-winged gay-louse, Callipterus punctatellus, Fitch. 
 
 A plant-louse like the preceding, but with black feet and a 
 black dot on the base and another on the apex of each of the 
 veins of its fore wings. Length 0.12. See Transactions, 1854, 
 p. 869. 
 
 169. Spotted-winged gay-louse, Callipterus maculellus , Fitch. 
 
 A plant-louse like the preceding, but with the veins of the 
 fore wings margined in part with smoky and a black band near 
 the tips of the hind thighs, the black rings upon the antennae nar¬ 
 row. Length 0.12. See Transactions, 1854, p. 870. 
 
 170. Smoky-winged gay-louse, Callipterusfumipennellus , Fitca. 
 
 A plant-louse similar to the preceding, of a dull yellow color 
 ivitli blackish leet and the wings smoky with coarse brown veins. 
 Length 0.13. See Transactions, 1854, p. 870. 
 
 171. Black-margined gay-louse, Callipterus marginellus, Fitch. 
 
 A plant-louse similar to No. 166 but with a black stripe along 
 each side of the head and thorax, and on the outer margin of both 
 pairs of wings. Length 0.15. See Transactions, 1854, p. 870. 
 
 172. Freckled leak-hopper, Jassus irroratus, Say. (Homoptcra. Tettwo- 
 
 niidse.) ° 
 
 A cylindrio oblong white leaf-hopper closely inscribed and reti¬ 
 culated with slender black lines and small dots which form irre. 
 gular spots along the margins of the wing covers, its legs white 
 dotted with black. Length 0.25. Whilst several of its kindred 
 draw their nourishment from grass and growing crops of grain this 
 very common species is usually found upon the leaves of a varietv of 
 bushes, oftener upon those of the walnut and hickory than any 
 other kind, according to my observations. 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] Cc 
 
450 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES 
 
 173 . Four-striped leaf-hopper, Teltigonia quadrivittata, Say. (Ilomop- 
 tera. Tettigoniidie.) 
 
 A flattened oblong leaf-hopper of a light yellow color, varied 
 on the thorax with orange, red or dusky, its wing covers olive 
 green each with two bright red or orange stripes, the tips mar¬ 
 gined with black. Length 0.35. This pretty insect, like the 
 preceding, occurs upon a variety of other bushes in addition to 
 the walnut. 
 
 174. Walnut sword-tail, Vroociphus Cuvyaz, Fitch, (Iloinoptera. Meiabra- 
 cidse.) 
 
 A dull brown tree-hopper with the terminal portion of its 
 wing covers obscure ash-gray, its abdomen and a ring on its shanks 
 pale yellowish, and its breast mealy white. Length 0.30, the 
 female 0.37. This is a somewhat common insect, which I have 
 found only upon the walnut. 
 
 175. One-colored tree-hopper, T damona unicolor, Fitch. (Ilomoptera. 
 Membracidae.) 
 
 A tree-hopper of a uniform dull ochre yellow color and some¬ 
 what like a beechnut in shape and size, with a prominent hump 
 jutting up on the middle of its back, highest anteriorly and de¬ 
 scending with a slight curve to its hind angle which is very ob¬ 
 tusely rounded and but little prominent, its anterior angle also 
 rounded and with only a slight concavity below it at the forward 
 end of the hump, whilst at its posterior base is a strong one, the 
 whole surface with close coarse punctures and showing a few 
 elevated longitudinal lines low down on each side and towards 
 the tip ; the upper edge of the hump black and also the tip of the 
 abdomen on its under side ; wing covers glassy with a black spot 
 on their base and tip and their veins margined with slender black 
 lines. Length 0.45, height 0.25. A variety ( irrorata ) occurs, 
 of a paler grayish yellow color freckled with numerous pale green 
 dots in the dried specimen. This is a rare species which I have 
 only met with in a few instances, always finding it on walnut 
 bushes. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 451 
 
 niCKOBY. LEAVES. 
 
 176. Banded tree-hopper, Telamona fasciola , Fitch. 
 
 A tree-hopper resembling the preceding in its form, but smaller 
 and of a tawny yellow color, its head and the anterior margin of 
 the thorax and the under side paler cream-yellow or straw-colored 
 with a single small black dot above each eye ; its thorax in front 
 and at tip blackish and also an oblique band across the hind end 
 of the dorsal hump and a spot on the tips of the wing covers ; 
 the dorsal hump more long than high, longer at its base than 
 above, highest anteriorly, with a stronger concavity at its anterior 
 end than at its posterior and at its anterior base compressed and 
 forming hereby a shallow indentation upon each side. Length 
 0.38, height 0.20. This is also a rare insect, and as in kindred 
 species, the black colors are often partially or totally obliterated, 
 except the black dot above each eye. 
 
 The V-marked tree-hopper ( Smilia vau , Say), an extremely 
 common and variable species is sometimes met with upon walnut 
 bushes, but belongs to the oak, on which it is always found in 
 abundance. 
 
 177. SiiORT-noiiNED tree-hopper, Ceresa brevicomis , new species. (Ilomop- 
 
 tera. Membracidse.) 
 
 This is so similar to the common Buffalo tree-hopper No. 22, 
 that it will scarcely be distinguished from it except by a practiced 
 eye, although it is undoubtedly a distinct species. It differs from 
 that in having the horns much more short, and the sides of the 
 thorax when viewed in front are not gradually curved outwards 
 but are straight or rectilinear with the horns abruptly projecting 
 from the corner at the upper end of this line. The acute spine 
 at the tip of the thorax is also more long and slender. The 
 thorax between the horns is slightly convex. The dried specimen 
 is of a pale dull yellow color freckled with faint pale green dots 
 and with a paler straw-colored stripe, quite distinct, upon the 
 angular sides of the thorax from each eye upward to the horn and 
 from thence to the summit of the thorax. Length of the female 
 °-36. It was met with upon hickory bushes in New-Jersey. 
 
 178. Face-banded Cixius, Cixius cinctijrons , new species. (Homoptcra. 
 
 Fulgoridae.) 
 
 A small four-winged fly of a white color varied with blackish 
 brown and with three elevated lines upon the face and thorax, its 
 
452 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 face snow-white crossed by two black bands, the outer raised lines 
 dotted with white in these bands: the thorax black, tawny yellow 
 on each side beyond the raised lines; neck white with a row of 
 blackish dots upon each side; wing covers smoky-brown, their 
 veins dotted with black in places, their basal edge, an oblique 
 band and a spot on the middle of the outer margin white, their 
 membranous tips white and somewhat hyaline, with a brown band 
 across the transverse veinlets and the hind margin blackish inter¬ 
 rupted by the snow-white tips of the veins; wings black and 
 transparent; under side yellowish-white with two blackish bands 
 on each of the four forward shanks. Length of the male 0.18. 
 This was taken in company with the preceding, the middle of 
 September. It may possibly be a variety of the F'.ata nava of 
 Say, much more colored with black than in the specimens from 
 which his description was drawn. 
 
 1.79* Cloudy-tipped Cixius, Oixius cohzj)eum> new species. 
 
 A small four-winged fly of a coal-black color with clear trans- 
 parent wings having a large smoky-brown cloud on their tips; 
 wing covers transparent, their veins dotted with black, the dots 
 on the outer margin larger; an irregular and somewhat broken 
 band of a smoky brown color extending across forward of the 
 middle and a broader one beyond the middle, having a black spot 
 or stigma on the anterior corner of its outer end; between these 
 bands a smoky brown spot on the inner and a smaller one nearly 
 opposite it on the outer margin; thorax with three raised lines; 
 face black with the raised lines brown; legs dull whitish. Length 
 0.22. This also is a rare species. 
 
 Amyot’s Otiocerus, No. 110. In each of the few instances in 
 which I have met with this insect it has occurred uoon walnut 
 bushes. 
 
 The Large green tree bug No. 99, is a common species upon 
 hickory as well as ou several other trees. 
 
 3. Eating the Leaves. 
 
 ISO. Luna moth, Mias Luna, Linn. (Lepidoptora. Bombycidffi ) 
 
 In August, a large thick-bodied worm three inches long or more, 
 of an apple-green color and its under side of a deeper or ea 
 
state agricultural society. 
 
 453 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 green line, each segment with six small bright rose-red elevated 
 dots, and low down along each side a pale yellow line running 
 lengthwise immediately above the lower row of dots, from which 
 line at each of the sutures a pale yellow line extends upwards 
 upon the sides and sometimes is continued across the back, the 
 head and six forward feet pale bluish green; spinning a whitish 
 tough oval cocoon with rounded ends, 1.75 long, with leaves 
 moulded to its outer surface; dropping to the ground in autumn 
 and lying among the fallen leaves through the winter, giving out 
 the moth the latter part of May; this of a delicate pea-green 
 color, its body coated over with soft white wool, with a brick-red 
 band across its anterior part and continued outward upon the 
 forward edge of the fore wings nearly to their tips; each of the 
 wings with a smallish eye-like spot near the centre, and the hind 
 pair with their inner angles prolonged into tails which are nearly 
 as long as the wings. Width 4.50 to 5.50. 
 
 It is a remarkable feature in the Insect Fauna of this country 
 that we possess such a number of large showy moths of the group 
 Attacus of Linnaeus. Though the insects of the United States 
 are generally so very similar to those of Europe and in some of 
 the families are identical in many of their species, we here observe 
 a notable difference. Whilst that continent furnishes only the 
 three kinds of Peacock, the Tau and the rare Caecigena, species 
 of moderate size and but little diversified in their appearance, we 
 have in the State of New-York alone eight of these elegant moths, 
 nearly all of them vieing in size and magnificence with the most 
 superb tropical products of this kind; and of a moiety of these the 
 two sexes are so very dissimilar that in the cabinet they appear to 
 form twelve distinct species. We have already presented some 
 account of the Cecropia, No. 33, the Promethea, No. 80, and the 
 Io, No. 81, and we here come to three others the larvae of which 
 occur upon the walnut. 
 
 Many persons on looking at these splendid insects in my collec¬ 
 tion have been much surprised on being informed that they were 
 captured here in the State of New-York and that they are not 
 rare species. They are very seldom seen, as they fly only by 
 night and repose during the day time, clinging commonly to the 
 sides of trees in groves and forests. This present species is less 
 
454 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 ornately adorned and diversified in its colors than the others. Its 
 peculiarly delicate modest appearance causes many to rank it as 
 “ pre-eminent above all our moths in queenly beauty,” and renders 
 the name bestowed upon it by Linnaeus most appropriate and 
 happy, Luna being the Latin designation of the moon, the “ queen 
 of the night.” 
 
 I have met with this feeding upon the beech as well as the 
 walnut, and at the south it is also found upon the persimmon and 
 the sweet gum. Varieties of the moth occur in which the fringe 
 of the wings is wholly yellow or pale green, but commonly it is 
 more or less of a rich purple or brownish red color along the 
 middle of the hind edge of each wing. Some specimens have the 
 margin of the hind wings sinuated or wavy from the tails to the 
 outer angles. And another variety shows a darker streak more 
 or less distinctly, forward of the hind border and running nearly 
 parallel with it, at least upon the fore wings. 
 
 A Chinese species named Selene by Dr. Leach is almost identical 
 with our Luna moth. So far as appears from a single specimen 
 of this, sent me from Ningpo by Rev. M. S. Culbertson, the two 
 insects can only be distinguished from each other by some of the 
 minor details in the colors of the eye-like spots in the centre of 
 their wings; varieties of the Luna occur which seem to coincide 
 with the Selene in every other point. 
 
 The eye-like spots in these insects are situated upon the apex of the discoidal 
 cell, and the transverse veinlet which bounds the outer end of this cell forms 
 also the centre of the eye-like spot. In Selene this veinlet has only a slight 
 narrow hyaline margin, whilst in Luna its margin is widened into an elliptic 
 glassy spot; the eye thus appearing to be half opened in the latter and closed 
 in the former. This central pupil is bordered on its forward or upper side by 
 a rose-red crescent in both insects, the anterior or convex side of which is 
 margined by an ochre-yellow line in Luna which is wholly wanting in Seleno 
 Finally, in both insects this spot is surmounted by a coal-black crescent accom¬ 
 panied by a white or bluish-white line, which is placed upon the concave margin 
 of the crescent in Selene, but inside of this margin in Luna, so that a black 
 line here borders it upon its hind or concave side. On the opposite or under 
 side of the central pupil in Luna is a broader and paler rose-red crescent than 
 that upon the upper side, sometimes faded to a white color, and this is suc¬ 
 ceeded by a still broader sulphur-yellow one, whilst in Selene we see only a 
 broad white crescent faintly edged exteriorly with yellowish. And outside of 
 this in Luna is a slender black line prolonged from the horns of the anterior 
 black crescent and forming with it a circular ring surrounding this eyc-likc spot 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 455 
 
 HICKORY. LKAVKS. 
 
 whilst in Selene no such ring occurs. The spot on the fore wings is much nar¬ 
 rower and of an elliptic form, but has all the parts of that upon the hind 
 wings. In Selene this spot appears to be more distant from the fore margin 
 of the wing than it is in Luna, and is destitute of the brownish red streak 
 which we see in Luna extending from the outer corner of this spot obliquely 
 forward to the border of the wing. 
 
 181. Polyphemus moth, Hyalophora Polyphemus, Fab. (Lepidoptera. Bomby- 
 cidse.) 
 
 In August and the fore part of September, a large thick-bodied 
 worm closely resembling that of the foregoing species, 3.50 long 
 and of an apple green color, not darker green beneath but having 
 a pale yellow stripe along the middle on its under side, and on 
 each segment six bright orange conical points, three on each side, 
 with a sulphur yellow stripe from the lower to the middle one of 
 these points, except on the anterior segments, and the upper 
 points sometimes silvery on their outer sides; its head and six 
 anterior feet of a clay-yellow color; crawling along the under 
 sides of the limbs with its back downwards, its body being too 
 heavy to be sustained in an upright posture; when at rest and 
 contracted each segment strongly humped and forming an angular 
 transverse ridge; constructing a cocoon in all respects like that 
 of the Luna moth, which gives out the perfect insect the middle 
 or latter part of May; this of a dull ochre or brownish yellow 
 color with a glassy eye-like spot near the middle of each wing, 
 crossed by a slender line and margined by a yellow succeeded by 
 a black ring, which last is much broader on the hind wings and 
 ou its forward part is widened into a large cap-shaped spot as 
 long as wide, with its concave end shaded into a bluish-white 
 crescent; a dusky band faintly margined with white on its hind 
 side crosses both wings forward of their hind margin, beyond 
 which the ground color is commonly paler; anterior margin gray, 
 which color is continued from the wings across the thorax in the 
 form of a band. Width 5.00 to 6.50. A specimen in the col¬ 
 lection of I. A. Lintner of Schoharie is much the smallest I have 
 ever seen, measuring only four inches across its spread wings. 
 
 I have met with the larva of this insect on walnut, butternut, 
 thorn and linden or basswood, and Dr. Harris (Treatise p. 298) 
 records its occurrence on oaks and elms also. It sometimes at¬ 
 taches its cocoon partly to the side of a limb or sometimes with 
 
456 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 its silken threads draws two or three twigs together sufficiently 
 to tie its cocoon between them, in which cases it does not fall to 
 the earth with the fall of the leaves in autumn, but is very apt, 
 by remaining exposed in the tree, to be perforated and have its 
 inmate destroyed by woodpeckers. 
 
 It is remarkable that two insects which are so similar in their 
 preparatory states that their larvae differ only by slight and un¬ 
 important marks and their cocoons cannot be distinguished from 
 each other still come to be so unlike each other in their perfect 
 state as is the present species and Luna. The fact shows that the 
 metamorphoses of the insects of this order is not so accurate a 
 guide to their correct systematic arrangement as many have 
 assumed it to be. This species having wings without tails and 
 with glassy spots in their disk will pertain to Duncan’s genus 
 Hyalophora, but as the type of this genus ( Jltlas ,) has the glassy 
 spots large and angular, whereas here they are small, round and 
 eye-like, it should probably form the type of a distinct genus. 
 
 The larvae of this species and Luna are naked, except that fine 
 hairs scarcely perceptible to the eye are scattered over the sur¬ 
 face, at least upon the back, and one or two bristles are given out 
 from each of the elevated dots. But I have met with larvae upon 
 the hornbeam and the butternut which I supposed to be the Luna, 
 in which both when young and mature the surface was covered 
 with numerous erect clavate scales, like short bristles gradually 
 thickened towards their tips. Whether the moths from these 
 larvae are in any respect different from those which come from 
 naked larvae I hope to ascertain from SDecimens which are now 
 in their pupa state. 
 
 182. Reoal hickory Mora, Ceratocampa regalis, Fab. (Lcpidoptera. Bora- 
 
 bycidse.) 
 
 In autumn, a very large apple-green worm, the largest larva in 
 our country, measuring live or six inches in length and nearly an 
 inch in thickness, with blue-black spots and rows of prickles and 
 anteriorly several long orange-yellow horns tipped with black and 
 studded with numerous black prickles, four of the upper ones 
 longest, the head and feet also orange-yellow; lying under the 
 ground in its pupa state through the winter, the moth coming 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 
 
 457 
 
 HICKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 out the beginning of July, of a bright red color with two yellow 
 stripes on the thorax, its fore wings olive grayish or lead-colored 
 with red stripes on the veins and light yellow oval spots mostly 
 in a row parallel with the hind margin, the hind wings paler red 
 with their anterior outer border and a large irregular triangular 
 snot on their inner side light yellow. Width 5.00 to 6.00. 
 
 The larva of this splendid insect feeds upon the butternut and 
 sumach as well as on the walnut and hickory, and at the south 
 it is common upon the persimmon also. Its large size and long 
 horns with branching prickles give it a truly formidable aspect, 
 from whence it has acquired the name of “The horned devil” 
 among the negroes at the south. It may be handled, however, 
 without harm, as its prickles do not possess the pow r er of stinging 
 which belongs to those of the Io larva; and this frightful looking 
 worm eventually becomes one of the largest, prettiest insects of 
 our country. It is rarely met with in our State and only in its 
 southern part. Some of its eggs sent in a letter from Philadelphia 
 by Mr. George Newman enabled me to rear this insect and observe 
 its transformations, and from these the specimen of the larva in 
 the Entomological Museum of the Society was obtained. When 
 reared in a colder climate than that to which it is native it is 
 retarded beyond its usual period in completing its transformations, 
 and thus its young do not have sufficient time to attain their 
 growth before the season closes. It is therefore impossible to 
 naturalize this elegant insect in the middle and northern parts of 
 our State. The eggs sent me hatched mostly upon the 22d of 
 July, and placed upon the sumach, the thriftiest one of the larva 
 finished feeding and buried itself the 8th of September, but it was 
 not till the 25th of the following July that the moth made its 
 appearance. The pupa lies naked in the earth, without forming 
 any cocoon. It is about two inches long and three-fourths of an 
 inch in diameter, with rather deep transverse furrows at the sutures 
 and wholly destitute of any rows of minute teeth. It has a small 
 round elevation at its tip, like the head of a nail, and from the 
 centre of this elevation two small blunt points project. It is of a 
 bluish black color and the inside of the shell after the moth has 
 left it is of a pale blue color and nacre-like, resembling the mother 
 of pearl on the inner surface of a clam shell. When this moth 
 
458 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 niCKORY. LEAVES. 
 
 first comes out it has a strong odor, exactly like that of opium, or 
 the flowers of the poppy, and the pupa shell has the same smell 
 also. It is common for the larger Lepidopterous insects when 
 newly changed from their pupa state and before they take wing, 
 to eject a few drops of an opake fluid, which is usually of a red 
 color. In former times, before this fact was known, a whole 
 brood of a particular species happening to come out on a single 
 night in summer has so covered the leaves and grass with these 
 drops over a wide extent of country as to lead to the confident 
 belief that a shower of blood had fallen—a phenomenon which 
 superstition would naturally regard as an omen of most alarming 
 portent. The fluid emitted by the Regal hickory moth is of a 
 milk-white color and of the consistence of thin paint, and it is 
 more copious than in any other insect I have reared, a single indi¬ 
 vidual ejecting over a table spoonful. 
 
 183 . Hickory tussock moth, Lophocampa Carya, Harris. (Lcpidoptcra. 
 
 Arctiidae.) 
 
 In July and August, eating the tender leaves at the tips of the 
 limbs, companies of snow-wdiite caterpillars with rows of large 
 black dots, and along the top of their backs eight black tufts ol 
 converging hairs and two black pencils of longer hairs towards 
 each end; growing to an inch and a half in length and in shel¬ 
 tered corners and crevices spinning ash-gray oval cocoons with 
 rounded ends, which give out the moth the following June, this 
 being a pale ochre-yellow miller, its fore wings with roundish 
 white spots edged with tawny yellow rings, the hind ones often 
 united together and forming two or three rows parallel with the 
 hind margin. Width 1.70 to 2.10. See Transactions, 1854, p. 863. 
 
 This caterpillar has been unusually numerous the present year, 
 1857. It has been tenfold more abundant than it was two years 
 ago when my account of it was drawn up. And it proves to be 
 a more general feeder than has been hitherto supposed. Though 
 it evidently prefers the walnut, butternut and sumach, it is com¬ 
 mon on the elm and ash also, and I have even met with clusters 
 of these caterpillars upon the tamerack or larch. As they ap¬ 
 proach maturity they separate and stray off to other trees, and 
 may then be seen on rose bushes, on the apple, oak, locust, &c., 
 the same individual often remaining several days in one place. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 459 
 
 HICKORY. FRUIT. 
 
 It is not till the latter part of September that they finally dis¬ 
 appear from the leaves. 
 
 The Forest caterpillar, a species resembling the Apple-tree 
 caterpillar, No. 28, but making its nest against the side of the 
 trunk instead of in the forks of the limbs, occurs on the hickory, 
 but is more common on the oak, under which the description ol 
 it will be given. 
 
 The fall web-worm No. 88, and the Y-marked measure 
 worm No. 39, are also common upon the hickory. A singular 
 shaped worm named The Skiff by Dr. Harris (Treatise, p. 323) 
 and several other species belonging to the genera Limacodes , JVo- 
 todoiita , Lophocampa , &c., which are not yet known to us in their 
 perfect state, also inhabit the hickory. 
 
 Of insects in their perfect state eating the leaves of the hickory, 
 the large Goldsmith beetle No. 57, is the only one which has yet 
 been noticed. 
 
 AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 
 
 184 . Hickory-siiuck moth, Ephippopliora Caryana, new species. (Lcpidop- 
 
 tera. Tortricidse.) 
 
 A slender white sixteen-footed worm about three-eighths of an 
 inch in length mining the shucks which envelope the fruit, 
 causing the nuts to be abortive and many of them to fall from 
 the tree prematurely. 
 
 There are few persons who have gathered hickory nuts but have 
 noticed this worm in some of the shucks and the cells which it 
 has excavated therein, filled with little grains of a tawny yellow 
 color. A specimen of the moth which conies from these worms, 
 and the pupa shell from which it issued, was sent me by Mr. 
 Lewis Potter of Easton, N. Y., in April last, with a letter stating 
 that the insect entered its pupa state about the first of February 
 and the moth came out the last of that month. This doubtless 
 refers to the fruit when stored within doors, for larvse which are 
 lying on the surface of the ground, torpid or congealed by the 
 winter’s cold, undergo no changes. 
 
 The shell of the chrysalis or pupa is of a pale dull yellow 
 color and shows upon each segment of the abdomen two rows of 
 
460 
 
 ANNUAL RErORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 niCKORY. FRUIT. 
 
 minute teeth with their points curved backward, those of each 
 anterior row being larger. 
 
 The specimen of the moth being somewhat mutilated does not 
 enable me to be perfectly certain respecting the genus to which 
 it pertains, though everything indicates it to be an Ep hip pop horn , 
 of which genus we have several undescribed species in the State 
 of New-York, some of them quite common. It is of a sooty black 
 color, its fore wings with reflections of tawny yellow, blue and 
 purple, their outer margin black with oblique triangular whitish 
 streaks placed at equal distances apart, these streaks gradually 
 becoming more faint anteriorly and disappearing for a short space 
 at the base, and all of them except the last three double or in 
 pairs separated only by a slender black line. A very oblique 
 faint silvery blue streak extends inwards from the points of two 
 of these white streaks, namely, the fourth and sixth ones from the 
 tip of the wing; and the usual white spot on the inner margin 
 of the wings in this genus is wanting in the present species. Its 
 hind wings are silvery whitish on their outer basal half, the scales 
 of the inner basal portion having a blue and a gray reflection, and 
 their fringe is bluish white. The face and fore breast is cream- 
 yellow, the hind breast and base of the abdomen hoary white, the 
 third and following segments of the abdomen coal-black. Width 
 of the spi’ead wings, 0.60. 
 
 Mr. Potter states that in his own neighborhood this insect had 
 been common for a few years and became so numerous in 1856 
 that several of the hickory trees scarcely produced a single nut. 
 The present year, 1857, all our native fruit trees have yielded an 
 unusual abundance of fruit, and I have not been able to find one 
 of these worms whereby to render this account of them more exact. 
 It is quite probable that, like many of its kindred, this moth will 
 be numerous at times, and will then suddenly disappear, being 
 destroyed by parasitic enemies, by unfavorable seasons, or other 
 causes. Picking up and burning the infested nuts is probably 
 the only mode whereby we can diminish its numbers. 
 
 185. Long-beaked nut weevil, Balaninus nasicus, Say. (Colcoptera. 
 
 Curculionidae.) 
 
 A weevil with its remarkably long slender beak drilling a hole 
 in the nut when it is young and soft and placing an egg therein, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 461 
 
 niCKORY. FRUIT. 
 
 the worm from which feeds upon the meat and causes the fruit to 
 fall, the worm finally boring out of the nut and burying itself in 
 the ground to pass its pupa state, the beetle appearing in July and 
 again the latter part of September, of a dark brown color coated 
 over more or less with rusty whitish scales or short flat hairs, 
 forming spots on the wing covers, which have punctured furrows, 
 the thorax being black and densely punctured, the shanks chest¬ 
 nut-brown and the beak as long as the body and no thicker than 
 a coarse bristle, polished and of a chestnut-brown color with a 
 blackish tip, straight to its middle and from thence curved to its 
 tip. Length 0.30 to 0.33 exclusive of its beak. 
 
 Worms seldom occur in hickory nuts in the State of New-York, 
 but are common in them at the west. We meet with worms much 
 more frequently in hazelnuts, chestnuts and acorns. A few 
 attempts which I have made to rear some of these worms have 
 been unsuccessful, nor was Dr. Harris any more fortunate in his 
 efforts. Hence we are not certain as to the species which infest 
 these respective fruits. Dr. Harris (Treatise, p. 65) states that he 
 has met with this weevil upon hazelnut bushes. I have found 
 another species similar to this upon the hazelnut, but have met 
 with this species only upon the hickory at a distance of more than 
 a mile from where any hazelnuts were growing. It appears pro¬ 
 bable, therefore, that this insect is not limited to one kind of nuts. 
 The diseased hickory nuts show a small discolored spot upon their 
 outer surface, and with a magnifying glass a round hole can be 
 seen perforated in the centre of this spot, but closed up slightly 
 within the nut. The meat inside is more or less eaten and the 
 cavity thus made is filled with little brown and whitish grains, 
 among which the worm is lying. It is a soft white grub, wholly 
 destitute of feet, like the other larvae of the weevil family. 
 
 The Plum weevil No. 70 is said by Mr. Say, on the authority 
 of Wm. Par tram, to sometimes destroy the fruit of the walnut. 
 
462 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 BLACK WALNUT. BUTTERNUT. 
 
 13. THE BLACK WALNUT .—Juglans nigra. 
 
 The Locust-tree borer (Clytus Robinice) is a common borer in 
 the trunks and limbs of the black walnut, and the beetles which 
 are reared in this tree appear to constitute a distinct variety of a 
 larger size than usual and with their yellow marks changed more 
 - or less to a white color. 
 
 18G. Black-Walnut Sphinx, Smerinthus Juglandis, Abbot and Smith. 
 
 (Lepidoptera. Sphingidae.) 
 
 Eating the leaves, a large pale blue-green worm tapering in both 
 directions from its middle and with a small head, a long horn at 
 the end of its back and seven oblique white streaks along each 
 side; when irritated making a creaking noise by rubbing the 
 anterior joints of its body together; burying itself under ground 
 through the winter and changing to a chestnut colored pupa with 
 a rough granulated surface and six small tubercles upon its head; 
 producing a narrow-winged moth of a drab gray, cinnamon-yellow 
 or bluish lilac color, its fore wings crossed by four rusty brown 
 lines, the two forward ones transverse the two hind ones parallel 
 with the hind margin, and with a large square rusty brown spot 
 on the middle of the inner margin between the two middle lines. 
 Width 2.25 to 3.00. See Silliman’s Journal xxxvi, p. 292. 
 
 14. THE BUTTERNUT .—Juglans cinerea. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TRUNK AND LIMBS. 
 
 187. Spotted Leptosttlus, Leptostylus macula, Say. (Coleoptera. Ccram- 
 bycidse.) 
 
 Under the bark of old decaying trees, a grub similar to that of 
 the Prickly Leptostylus No. 4, changing to a pupa in its cell and 
 early in July giving out a small thick long-horned beetle of a 
 brown or chestnut color with the sides of its thorax and a band 
 on its wing covers ash-gray, the latter sprinkled over with coarse 
 punctures and large blackish dots, the thorax on each side of its 
 disk with a black stripe interrupted in its middle. Length 0.25 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 463 
 
 BUTTERNUT. LIMBS. 
 
 to 0.30. The bark of old trees will sometimes be found every¬ 
 where tilled with these grubs, which in the month of June may 
 be seen changed to short thick pale-yellow pup® with a few per¬ 
 fect insects that are newly hatched and have not yet left the tree. 
 
 188. Butternut bark-louse, Aspidiotus Juglandis, Fitch. (Ilomoptcra. 
 
 Coccidse.) 
 
 Fixed to the bark of the twigs, minute pale brownish scales 
 resembling those of the Apple bark louse No. 15, but smaller and 
 not curved. This species was alluded to in my first report, 
 Transactions of 1854, p. 739. I have not yet had an opportunity 
 to trace out its history. Although this is so minute that the 
 naked eye can scarcely discern many of the scales, it is preyed 
 upon by a parasitic larva still smaller, which resides under the 
 scale and feeds upon the eggs which the scale covers, changing to 
 a minute four-winged fly of the family Chalcididm in the order 
 Ilymenoptera, which gnaws a small round hole in the side of the 
 scale through which to make its escape. 
 
 189. Butternut scale insect, Lecanium Juglandifex, new species. (IIo- 
 
 moptera. Coccidse.) 
 
 Adhering to the-bark on the under side of tne limbs, a hemis¬ 
 pheric dull yellowish or black scale about 0.22 long and 0.18 
 broad, notched at its hind end, frequently showing a paler stripe 
 along its middle and a paler margin and transverse blackish bands. 
 
 Whether this is the same insect with the European Lecanium 
 Juglandis of Bouche, I am unable to ascertain, as I have at hand 
 no description of that species. The details which I herewith pre¬ 
 sent of our American insect will probably suffice to enable those 
 who have an opportunity of observing that species to determine 
 whether it is the sanle. 
 
 The male pup® of this insect may be seen upon the limbs in 
 May. They appear the same with the pup® of other common 
 species of this genus, being oblong oval, moderately elevated 
 white scales about 0.10 long and half as broad, thin and some¬ 
 what hyaline, with a slender snow-white line running lengthwise 
 along each side of the middle and uniting at their hind ends, with 
 a similar line running transversely across the scale half way be¬ 
 tween its middle and its hind end. The male insects come out 
 
464 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 BUTTERNUT. LEAVES. 
 
 from these pupae the fore part of June. They are long and nar¬ 
 row delicate two winged flies, measuring 0.05 to the tip of the 
 abdomen and a third more to the end of their wings. They are 
 of a rusty reddish color, the thorax darker and the scutel and 
 head blackish, this last being separated from the body by a nar¬ 
 row pale red neck. The antennae are slender and thread-like, 
 half as long as the body, eight jointed, the basal joint thickest 
 and as broad as long, the second joint narrower and scarcely 
 longer than wide, the remaining joints cylindrical, the fourth 
 slightly shorter than the others and the last rather longer than 
 those which precede it. Two slender white bristles as long as 
 the body are given off from the tip of the abdomen. The wings 
 are transparent but not clear and glassy, and their rib-vein is 
 very distinct and of a reddish color, ending before it reaches the 
 margin of the wing. 
 
 The males of the several other species of the genus Lecanium 
 which have been briefly alluded to in different parts of this Report 
 will all be very similar to the one now described, differing only 
 in their colors, the joints of their antennae, and other minor points. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 190. Two-marked tree-hopper, Enchenopa binotata, Say. (Homoptera. 
 
 Membracidre.) 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and extracting their juices from July till 
 the end of the season, a small rusty brown or black tree-liopper 
 with two bright pale yellow spots upon its back, which part is 
 prolonged forward and upward into a compressed horn rounded 
 at its tip and giving the insect a resemblance to a little bird with 
 an outstretched neck, and the four forward shanks broad, thin and 
 leaf-like. Length 0.25 to 0.30. 
 
 This may always be found upon the butternut the latter part 
 of summer. It occurs also, though less constantly, upon several 
 other trees. 
 
 In my catalogue of Homoptera in the State Cabinet of Natural 
 History, I referred this insect to the genus Enchophyllum ol 
 Amyot and Serville. Mr. Walker, I see, places it in the next 
 genus, Enchenopa , of the same authors. It is too similar both in 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 465 
 
 BUTTERNUT. LEAVES. 
 
 its form and spots to the Brazilian Enchophyllum ensatum* to be 
 genetically separated from that species. Indeed the distinction 
 between the two genera is much too slight and vague, in my view, 
 to justify their division. In some of the species which authors 
 place under Enchenopa the thorax appears to be as distinctly 
 compressed, thin and foliacious as it is in some of those arranged 
 under Enchophyllum. The cells and veins of the wings are also the 
 same in all these insects. It is therefore on good grounds that 
 M. Fairmaire suppresses Dr. Burmeister’s section foliaceo-ensatce , 
 the equivalent of Enchophyllum and includes all these insects 
 under the one section, ensatce. At the same time we view this 
 group as too widely dilferent and conspicuously marked by the 
 horn-like protuberance of the thorax, to be retained under the 
 genus Membracis. We would accordingly drop the name En¬ 
 chophyllum , and include all these insects in the one genus Enche¬ 
 nopa, a term meaning sword-faced or sword-fronted, and which is 
 therefore appropriate for all the species of this group. 
 
 191. Butternut tree-hopper, Ophiderma mcra, Say. (Ilomoptera. Mcm- 
 bracidse.) 
 
 A greenish gray tree-hopper shaped like a half cone, with its 
 apex bright chestnut-red and behind its middle a black band 
 which is sometimes interrupted on the summit of the back, and 
 with a blackish spot on the tips of the hyaline wing-covers. 
 Length 0.36. 
 
 I have only met with this insect in a few instances, always 
 upon the butternut. I could find no place for this species among 
 the genera characterised by Amyot and Serville, and therefore 
 proposed a new genus named Caranota in my catalogue of Homop- 
 tera in the State Cabinet of Natural History. This genus appears 
 to be the same with that named Ophiderma by M. Fairmaire a 
 few years before. The single species, salamandra, given as the 
 type of this genus, is credited to the state of New-York, and ac- 
 
 • Upwards of a dozen individuals of this insect have fallen under ray observation, all of 
 which concurred in showing that it is the male sex which is described by Fabrioius, whilst 
 the females have been do oribed by M. Fairmaire as a distinct species under the naiuo 
 quinquc-maculata . A variety of the female occurs, which I name intermedia , in which 
 the anterior spot upon the back is merely a faint cloud slightly paler than the ground, 
 whilst the middle frontal spot is bright orange, as usual in this sex. 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] Dd 
 
466 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 BUTTERNUT. LEAVES 
 
 cording to the description is marked precisely like the arcuata of 
 Say, but the dimensions assigned it are a fourth larger than those 
 of that species. 
 
 192. Obtuse Clastoptera, Clastoptera obtusa , Say. (Ilomoptera. Ccr- 
 
 copidae.) 
 
 A short thick almost circular leaf-hopper of a gray color with 
 fine transverse wrinkles and three brown bands anteriorly, its 
 wing covers clouded with tawny brown with streaks of white and 
 a coal black spot near their tips. Length 0.22. 
 
 From the middle of July till the end of the season this insect 
 may frequently be met with on quite a number of different trees 
 and shrubs. Although the species of this American genus very 
 much resemble those of the genus Penthimia they certainly per¬ 
 tain to the family Cercopidse and not to that of Tettigonikke in 
 which they are placed by Mr. Walker. 
 
 103 . Butternut Tingis, Tingis Jugianats , new species. (Ilemiptera. 
 
 Tingidse.) 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and sucking their juices, a small singular 
 bug resembling a flake of white froth, its whole upper surface 
 composed of a net-work of small cells, an inflated egg-shaped pro¬ 
 tuberance like a little bladder on the top of the thorax and head, 
 the sides of the thorax and of the wi ng covers except at their tips 
 ciliated with minute spines, the wing covers flat and square with 
 their corners rounded, a large brown or blackish spot on the 
 shoulder and a broad band of the same color on their tips with an 
 irregular whitish hyaline spot on the inner hind corner; the body 
 beneath small and black, the antenna and legs honey-yellow. 
 Length 0.14. 
 
 This insect becomes common on the leaves of the butternut in 
 May and continues through the summer and autumn. It may 
 sometimes be met with also on birch, on willows, and other trees. 
 It corresponds with the arcuata of Say (Heteropterous Hcmiptcra, 
 p. 27) in every respect, except that the outer margin of the wing 
 covers is rectilinear and not arcuated or concavely excavated, and 
 their veins are not ciliated with minute erect spines. I have 
 never met with the arcuata in the state of New-York, but have 
 gathered it from bushes in the outskirts of the city of Chicago. 
 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 467 
 
 BUTTERNUT. LEAVES. 
 
 Both species are very similar to the Tingis rhoniboptcra described 
 in Fieber’s excellent monograph of this family, and figured, plate 
 8 fig. 37, but that has a spot on the middle of the outer margin 
 of the wing covers and their tips much less discolored with brown 
 than in our insects. 
 
 104. Butternut wooly-WORM, Selandria ? Juglandis, new species. (Ily- 
 nienoptora. Tenthredinidse.) 
 
 A worm remarkable for being enyeloped and wholly hid in a 
 thick coating of snow-white flocculent meal which falls off with 
 the slightest touch, resides in companies on the under sides of the 
 leaves, feeding upon them, in the month of July. It is of a cy¬ 
 lindrical form, a very little tapering from its head to its tip, and 
 has ten pairs of dull pale yellow feet, its body being of a blackish 
 color and its head pale yellow and polished, with a large black 
 dot upon each side. It has numerous transverse impressed lines 
 and a groove on the middle of its back its whole length. The 
 individuals I have examined were nearly half an inch in length. 
 My attempts to rear them have proved unsuccessful. In one in¬ 
 stance the leaf on which they were found was pinned to a leaf of 
 a butternut growing in my yard, without disturbing them, but 
 they refused to move from their original abode and perished as 
 the leaf withered. They are evidently a species of saw-fly, per¬ 
 taining there is scarcely a doubt to the genus Selandria and the 
 sub-genus Enocampa , thus named from its larva; being covered 
 with pruinose woolly matter. 
 
 The Hickory tussock-moth No. 183, occurs about as frequently 
 on the butternut as on the walnut, and two other caterpillars be¬ 
 longing to the same genus but which are not yet known to us in 
 their perfect state are also common upon this tree. Other cater¬ 
 pillars and worms which have been observed feeding upon the 
 leaves of the butternut are the larvae of 
 The White miller No. 125; 
 
 The Fall web-worm No. 88; 
 
 The Cecropia emperor moth No. 33; 
 
 The Polyphemus moth No. 181; and 
 The Black-walnut sphinx No. 186. 
 
46S 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHESTNUT. TRUNK. 
 
 15. THE CHESTNUT .—Castanea vesca. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TRUNK AND LIMBS. 
 
 We have never noticed any boring insect of a large size in the 
 wood of this tree. But the durability of its timber, which is so 
 highly valued, particularly for fence rails and posts, is much im¬ 
 paired by small insects which perforate it with holes that are only 
 of sufficient size to admit the head of a pin, but which are often 
 excessively numerous, and being pierced directly inward towards 
 the heart of the tree become filled with wet from every shower. 
 The decay of the wood is hereby greatly accelerated. These per¬ 
 forations are made by a slender cylindrical six-footed worm, half 
 an inch long, of a white color and brownish yellow at each end, 
 its apex cut off abruptly and obliquely and edged with small 
 black teeth. The beetle that is produced from this worm is not 
 yet ascertained. 
 
 Rails which have been pierced with pin-holes by this insect 
 should always be placed in the fence with their sap side down¬ 
 wards, as it is upon this side that these holes mostly open. 
 
 195 . Two-toothed Silvanus, Silvanus bidentatus, Fab. (Coleoptera. Mycc- 
 
 tophagidae.) 
 
 Under the bark of logs and decaying trees, probably loosening 
 the bark from the wood, a minute, narrow, flattened beetle, of a 
 light chestnut-brown or rust-color, its thorax longer than wide, 
 slightly narrowed towards its base and with a small tooth pro¬ 
 jecting outwards at each of its anterior angles. Length 0.10 to 
 0 . 12 . 
 
 This is a European insect, which, like a kindred species, the 
 Surinam Silvanus, has now become perfectly naturalized and as 
 common throughout the United States as it is in its native haunts. 
 On stripping the bark from recently cut logs of chestnut and of 
 oak, this minute beetle, which is so flattened and thin that it can 
 creep into the slightest crevices, will be found frequently in con¬ 
 siderable numbers. We have several other insects which inhabit 
 similar situations and are so much like this that a careful exami¬ 
 nation is requisite to determine their respective species. By the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 469 
 
 CHESTNUT. TRUNK. 
 
 characters which are subjoined, in addition to those above stated, 
 the Two-toothed Silvanus may be recognized. 
 
 Its head and thorax are often of a darker shade than its wing covers, espe 
 cially in the moist living specimen. Its wing covers have rows of close punc 
 tures with a slightly elevated line between each alternate row. Its thorai 
 also is densely and confluently punctured, and commonly shows a very fain* 
 elevated longitudinal line in its centre. The angles at its base on each side art 
 obtuse, and from these angles forward to the projecting tooth the lateral edges 
 are crenatc-dentatc, having sixteen little elevated tubercles or minute teeth 
 jutting out at equal distances along the margin. The point of the large ante¬ 
 rior tooth forms a right angle. Upon each side of the head behind the eye is 
 also a minute tooth of the same size with those along the sides of the thorax. 
 The surface is slightly clothed with minute inclined bristles. 
 
 In every group of these insects individuals will probably be found of the 
 following varieties :— 
 
 a. bisulcutus. The basal part of the thorax with two shallow grooves. The 
 few specimens which I have received from the south arc all of this variety and 
 have the grooves deeper and more distinct than they are in any of my New- 
 York specimens. Erickson supposes this variety to be the Colydium sulcatum 
 of Fabricius, but this can scarely be, since Fabricius characterizes that species 
 as having the wing covers smooth and makes no allusion to any projecting 
 teeth upon its thorax. 
 
 b. carinatus. A distinct elevated line upon the middle of the thorax its 
 whole length. 
 
 c. planus. Thorax wholly destitute of a longitudinal line on its middle. 
 
 190. American wniTE ant, Termes frontalis, Haldeman. (Ncuroptcra. 
 
 Termitidse.) 
 
 Myriads of white ants mining in and wholly consuming the 
 interior of fence posts and stakes whilst the outer surface remains 
 entire. 
 
 This insect has received its scientific name in allusion, I sup¬ 
 pose, to the deep notch which occurs in front upon the heads of 
 the soldiers, but as many other species are notched in the same 
 manner, I think the common name which I give it will be its 
 most appropriate designation, since it is common all over our 
 country, and is the only species of white ant which we have in 
 the United States. The workers or larvje which form much the 
 most numerous portion of each colony of these insects, are 0.18 
 to 0.20 long, white and glossy, with pale brownish abdomens 
 irregularly clouded with white. Winged individuals, supposed 
 to be the males, make their appearance in the month of May. 
 
470 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW. YORK 
 
 CHESTNUT. TRUNK. 
 
 They are of the same size with the preceding but are of a glossy 
 black color, with the mouth, shanks, feet and tip of the abdomen 
 pale yellow, and with four large wings which are twice as long as 
 the body, and hyaline but not clear like glass. About the begin¬ 
 ning of June, during the dampness of the mornings preceding 
 pleasant days, these winged white ants leave their retreats and 
 come abroad, and the air is everywhere filled with countless mil¬ 
 lions of them. The soldiers resemble the workers, but are 0.25 
 long with enormously large heads twice as long as wide and their 
 opposite sides parallel, with stout jaws half as long as the head 
 and of a blackish chestnut color. 
 
 Decaying stumps and logs lying upon the ground, especially 
 those of pine and other soft wood, are everywhere occupied by 
 these insects. The cavities which they excavate become thronged 
 with myriads of them. Fortunately for us it is only soft damp 
 wood in which they work; hence the dry timbers and furniture 
 of our dwellings are exempt from that havoc which some of these 
 insects occasion in tropical countries. But the posts and stakes 
 of our fences furnish a congenial resort for them, that portion 
 which is under ground being always sufficiently damp to answer 
 their requirements. Posts in particular from which the bark has 
 not been removed, whereby these creatures can remain hid from 
 view whilst they consume the soft sap wood immediately under 
 the bark, are a favorite abode for them. And as the sap wood 
 becomes destroyed they extend their burrows through the more 
 solid heart wood. I have seen a fence four years after it was 
 built, every post of which was reduced to a mere shell by these 
 insects, though externally there was not the slightest indication 
 of the mischief that was going on within. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 J97. Chestnut tree-hopper, Smilia Castanea, Fitch. (Iloinoptcra 
 Membracidae.) 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and extracting their juices, a triangular 
 tree-hopper shaped much like a beechnut, of a blackish color, 
 tinged with green more or less when alive, its head and the ante¬ 
 rior edges of its thorax and all beneath bright yellow, its fore 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 471 
 
 CHESTNUT. LEAVES. 
 
 wings clear and glassy with a blackish spot on their tips and 
 another on the base which is often prolonged along the middle of 
 the wing and united with the hind spot. Length of the male 
 0.25, female 0.30. This is a common insect on chestnut leaves 
 in the month of July, and I have never met with it upon any 
 other vegetation. 
 
 xos. Unadorned tree-hopper, Smilia inornata, Say. 
 
 A tree-hopper of the same size and shape with the preceding, 
 but of a light green color fading to light yellow, with a slender 
 black line along the upper edge of its back and a very slight 
 duskiness on the tips of its glassy wings. This is quite common 
 on the chestnut and on oaks from the beginning of July till the 
 last of September. 
 
 The Unarmed tree-hopper No. 64, is also met with on the 
 chestnut in May and July, and at first sight appears identical 
 with the preceding species. It may be distinguished from it by 
 the hind end of its thorax, which is drawn out into a slender, 
 sharp point, and its breast, which is black. 
 
 199 . Chestnut gay-louse, Callipterus Costarica, new species. (Homoptera. 
 
 Apliidae.) 
 
 On the under sides of the leaves, puncturing them and sucking 
 their juices in August and September, a small sulphur-yellow 
 plant-louse, with black shanks and feet, its antennae also black 
 except at their bases and as long as the body, its wings pellucid, 
 their first and second oblique veins and the tip of the rib-vein 
 edged with coal-black, and its thighs straw-yellow. Length 0.09, 
 to the tip of the wings 0.15. 
 
 This insect, in company with wingless larvae and pup® of the 
 same color, may frequently be met with upon the under sides of 
 chestnut leaves. The name “ gay-louse,” which is of the same 
 import with the generic term Callipterus, and is the equivalent of 
 the German name zierlaus which Koch applies to these plant lice, 
 will be the most appropriate designation which our language fur¬ 
 nishes for this and the other species of this genus, several of 
 which have already been noticed in the preceding pages, (No. 20, 
 167-171.) Their bright, lively colors, and their long, slender 
 
472 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CHESTNUT. FRUIT. 
 
 antennae and legs render them the prettiest objects belonging to 
 the aphis family. 
 
 203. CnESTNUT leaf-witherer, Phylloxera ? Castanece , Ilaldeman. (IIo- 
 
 mojitcra. Aphid®.) 
 
 In August and September, on both sides of the leaves, punctur¬ 
 ing them and extracting their juices and causing them to curl, a 
 very small louse-like fly of a bright sulphur-yellow color with a 
 black thorax, breast and eyes, its feet and antenna; tinged with 
 blackish and its wings translucent. The wingless individuals 
 associated with it are entirely yellow wiith red eyes. 
 
 I have never met with this species. The veins or nerves of the 
 wings are described as follows : “ First and third transverse ner- 
 vures normal; second arising from the middle of the first and 
 terminating in the normal position; posterior wings without ner- 
 vures.” From this description the veins appear to be essentially 
 different from those of the genus Chermes, to which Prof. Ilalde¬ 
 man refers this species. And I cannot but think that more exact 
 observations will detect a rib-vein in the hind wings, and will 
 show that this insect pertains to the genus Phylloxera. 
 
 The larva of the American maple motii (Jipatcla Americana , 
 Harris), a large thick-bodied caterpillar two inches long and of a 
 pale yellow color with two black pencils above on the fourth and 
 sixth rings and a single one near its tip, feeds upon the leaves in 
 August, but is much more common on the maple, under which 
 head it will be described. 
 
 AFFECTING TIIE FRUIT. 
 
 One would suppose that the fruit of the chestnut, wholly 
 inclosed as it is in a thick leathery bur, the surface of which is 
 crowded with prickles with their needle-like tips pointing in 
 every direction, was so effectually protected that no depredator 
 could possibly reach it, or if attacked, we should think it could 
 only be by some small insect panoplied like the rhinoceros, its 
 hard shelly coat enabling it to encounter these prickles without 
 harm. It is most wonderful, therefore, to discover that a little 
 insect with a soft tender body, has the artifice of inserting its eggs 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 473 
 
 HAZELNUT. TRUNK. 
 
 at a particular point iu the tip of this ball-like bur, where its 
 young can penetrate inwards and subsist upon the fruit. 
 
 Dr. Harris (Treatise, p. 65,) speaks of a “ weevil grub” as 
 being very common in the chestnuts of this country. But the 
 worm which I have met with in these nuts is the larva of a moth 
 and not of a weevil. It grows to more than a half inch in 
 length, and is cylindrical and thick, of a dirty white color with a 
 tawny yellow head, and sixteen feet. It eats the meat of the nut 
 mostly at its tip and on its convex side, the cavity which it makes 
 being filled with little brown and whitish grains; and a small hole 
 is perforated upon one side of the nut at its tip, out of which a 
 portion of these grains are protruded. I have not yet succeeded 
 in rearing this worm, and am therefore unable to give a descrip¬ 
 tion of the moth which is the source of this mischief. 
 
 16. THE HAZELNUT —Corylus Americana. 
 
 AFFECTING THE STALKS. 
 
 20 1. Hazelnut bark-louse, Lecanium Corylifex, new species. (Homop- 
 tera. Coccidse.) 
 
 On the under side of the stalks and branches, adhering to the 
 bark, a smooth shining hemispheric scale of various colors, from 
 pale dull yellow and deep tawny red to black, many individuals 
 showing a paler stripe along the middle and others with trans¬ 
 verse black bands, the surface often sprinkled over with project¬ 
 ing scales of a white wax-like substance. This is commonly 
 small in size, being but about 0.14 in length, but some specimens 
 are larger, measuring 0.20. A similar insect is common upon 
 the European hazlenut, but is said to be of an orange-yellow 
 color with red spots; I therefore infer it to be a different species. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 202. IIazelnut tree-hopper, Telamona Corxjli, Fitch. (nomoptera. Mem- 
 bracidoe.) 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and sucking their juices the latter part 
 of J une, a triangular tree-hopper of a pale dull yellow color with 
 
474 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HAZELNUT. LEAVES. 
 
 a hump upon the middle of its back of the same shape as in the 
 following species, with a rust-colored band occupying the ante¬ 
 rior end of this hump and a curved one margined with black 
 crossing its posterior end, the hind end of the thorax being also 
 rust-colored, and the tips of the fore wings with oval blackish 
 spots in the intervals between the ends of the veins. Length 
 0.32. Rare. 
 
 203. Sad tree-hopper, Telamona tristis, Fitch. 
 
 Extracting the juices of the leaves and succulent twigs in 
 August, a tree-hopper of the same shape with the foregoing but 
 of a much darker dull yellow or blackish color sprinkled over 
 with pale dots and without any transverse bands; the elevated 
 hump upon the middle of the back almost as high posteriorly as 
 at its forward end, its upper edge straight and at the anterior end 
 abruptly rounded, its hind end forming almost a right angle and its 
 posterior base deeply excavated and forming the third part of a 
 regular circle; an elevated polished black line along the middle 
 of the thorax its whole length, with a few pale alternations, and 
 widely interrupted with white in the excavation at the posterior 
 base of the hump; one or two small hyaline spots in the upper 
 edge of the hump; three black dots above each eye; a black spot 
 on the tip of the wings; under side pale dull yellow. Length 
 0.35. 
 
 The Obtuse Clastoptera No. 192, and the Bound tree bug 
 No. 100, also occur on the hazelnut, and its leaves are sometimes 
 consumed by a large pale green worm, the larva of the Luna 
 moth No. 180. 
 
 204. Elongated forked-claw, Dichelonycha elongatula, Gyllcnhal. (Co 
 
 leoptera. Melolonthida;.) 
 
 Eating the leaves the latter part of May and in June, a narrow- 
 ish cylindrical black beetle margined with chestnut brown, its 
 wing covers shining yellowish-green margined with pale yellow, 
 its under side pale yellow covered with short white incumbent 
 hairs, and its legs pale yellow with the hind shanks except at 
 their bases and the hind leet blackish. Length 0.33. 
 
 This is a common insect, usually found upon hazelnut bushes. 
 It was first described by Fabricius in the year 1791, under the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 475 
 
 HAZELNUT. LEAVES. 
 
 name Melolontha elongata , but Olivier had previously given this 
 same name to a much larger South American beetle. It there¬ 
 fore became necessary to re-name this species, and we accordingly 
 in the next record that is made of it (Schonherr’s Syn. iii, 210), 
 find the Fabrician epithet changed to elongatula. Thus the latter 
 comes to be the legitimate name of this insect. Dr. Le Conte 
 appears to have overlooked these facts and goes back again to the 
 Fabrician name. In Dr. F. E. Melsheimer’s Catalogue the genus 
 Dychelonycha is credited to Dr. Harris. Dr. H. originally pro¬ 
 posed the name Dichelonyx for this genus, but gave no description 
 of it; and it is therefore to Mr. Kirby that we are indebted for 
 this name and genus as it at present stands. 
 
 205. Linear forked-ci.aw, Dychelonycha linearis , Gyll. 
 
 In company with the preceding, a beetle closely resembling it 
 but slightly larger and having its thorax covered with short pros¬ 
 trate yellow hairs. 
 
 206. Back’s forked-claiy, Dichelonycha Backii, Kirby. 
 
 Occasionally found in company with the preceding, a beetle 
 differing from it by having its antennae and forward thighs 
 blackish instead of pale yellow. 
 
 207. Green-striped foiiked-claw, Dichelonycha subvittata, Leconte. 
 
 Associated with the foregoing, a beetle resembling the elongated 
 forked-claw, but having a shining deep green' spot on the 
 shoulder and another on the tip of each wing cover, these spots 
 sometimes connected by a green stripe on the middle of the wing 
 cover its whole length, and its hind shanks and feet not discolored 
 with blackish. Dr. Le Conte credits this species to Lake Supe¬ 
 rior, but it is common also through Northern New-York and 
 Vermont. 
 
 208. Hairy Attelabus, jfttelabus pubescens, Say. (Coleoptera. Attcla- 
 bidas.) 
 
 Eating holes in the leaves in June and July, a short thick¬ 
 bodied dull red or yellow weevil, its surface covered with short 
 pale yellow prostrate hairs which are often rubbed off' in places, 
 and its breast black. Length about 0.20. 
 
476 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HAZELNUT. LEAVES. 
 
 Mr. Say described this species in the year' 1826, and it is pro¬ 
 bably since that date that Prof. Bohemann’s name Rkois was 
 published, which name moreover is inappropriate, as it indicates 
 this insect to inhabit the sumach, whereas it is upon the hazelnut 
 that it is uniformly met with. It is a common species, and sits 
 upon the leaves in the posture of a dog, with its long fore legs 
 braced outwards and elevating its head high above its body. Its 
 larva probably subsists upon this shrub, but its habits are as yet 
 unknown to us. 
 
 AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 
 
 209. Straigiit-beaked nut-weevil, Balaninus rectus, Say. (Coleoptera. 
 
 Curculionidie.) 
 
 A small yellowish drab-colored weevil with a long slender beak 
 not thicker than a bristle and having the jaws placed at its tip 
 with which it bores a hole into the nut when it is young and soft, 
 and drops therein an egg which it crowds into the nut with its 
 beak. A small white footless worm hatches from this egg, which 
 feeds upon the meat of the nut and gnaws a small hole through 
 its side, out of which when full grown it escapes and buries itself 
 in the earth to pass its pupa state. 
 
 We are not certain as to the species of weevils which produce 
 the grubs in our American hazelnuts, walnuts and acorns. As 
 the Straight-beaked weevil has a long slender beak similar to that 
 of the species which breeds in the hazelnuts in Europe, and as 
 I have met with numbers of this insect upon hazelnut bushes the 
 latter part of June, there can be little doubt but it was there for 
 the purpose of depositing its eggs in the young fruit. Dr. Harris 
 records the Long-beaked nut-weevil No. 185, as occurring also upon 
 hazelnut bushes, and it may be that both these insects infest this 
 fruit. They are much like each other, differing chiefly in their 
 beaks, which in the present species is but half the length of the 
 body and usually straight nearly to its tip, where it is curved 
 downwards, but in some individuals it is slightly curved through 
 its whole length, and is of a pitchy black color tinged in its mid¬ 
 dle with chestnut-brown. Its body is clothed with prostrate 
 drab-yellowish hairs on a blackish rust-colored ground. These 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 477 
 
 HAZELNUT. LEAVES. 
 
 hairs often form a faint stripe on each side of the thorax, which 
 also shows an obtuse elevated line on its middle. Its scutel is 
 oval and ash-gray. Its wing covers have punctured impressed 
 lines, and the hairs being rubbed off in places, irregular spots of 
 a rusty color are produced. The under side is clothed with short 
 prostrate ash-gray hairs, which are less dense upon the chestnut- 
 brown legs. It measures 0.30 in length, exclusive of its beak. 
 
SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 As stated in the introduction to the present Report, a few 
 pages are here devoted to some of those insects which have come 
 under my observation, which do not pertain to the noxious class 
 but are yet too interesting on various accounts to be withheld from 
 the public. The limits, however, to which I find myself restrict¬ 
 ed oblige me to omit several species which I had purposed 
 noticing. 
 
 210. Emasculating bot-flt, Cuterebra emasculator, new species. (Diptera. 
 
 (Estridse.) 
 
 The history of this remarkable insect will be best presented by 
 extracting from my manuscript notes the successive memoranda 
 therein entered relating to this subject. 
 
 August 13th, 1856. Peter Reid of Lakeville informs me that 
 his cat yesterday brought into the house a striped squirrel ( Sci- 
 urus striatus.) On taking it into his hands he noticed its scrotum 
 was enormously swollen and hard, with an orifice in it about the 
 size of a wheat straw, and on pressing it with his fingers he could 
 distinctly feel the writhings of something alive in this tumor. On 
 enlarging this orifice with the point of a pen knife he discovered 
 it was a large grub lying with its tail to the opening. It dis¬ 
 charged at intervals three large drops of a fluid resembling gru- 
 mous blood mixed with purulent matter. On pressing upon it so 
 as to protrude the tail end of its body slightly out of the open¬ 
 ing it.exerted itself to crawl out, forcing its fluids into the part 
 which was out of the orifice so that it became swollen and hard, 
 and then regurgitating them into the body again, whereby the 
 extruded portion became soft and collapsed, thus pressing upon 
 and dilating the orifice, so that with three or four repetitions of 
 
ANNUAL REPORT 0E NEVV-YORK STATE SOCIETY. 
 
 479 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 this motion it worked itself out and dropped upon the floor. It 
 proved to be a very large soft blackish grub with numerous paler 
 spots. It was about an inch long and half as broad, oval, 
 slightly depressed, divided into segments, with its surface covered 
 with small, shining elevations resembling the granular surface oi 
 morocco leather. It had no feet or jaws that he could perceive. 
 On showing him the figure of the larva of CEstrus Bovis in West¬ 
 wood’s Introduction, vol. ii, page 580, fig. 1, he recognizes a 
 resemblance to that altogether more than to any of the other 
 larvae figured in that part of the volume. It seemed from its 
 motions to be a formidable, ferocious creature. He put some 
 damp chip dirt into a tin box and placed it thereon, it having 
 been exposed to the air only about four minutes. It immediately 
 worked its head down into the dirt and soon buried itself, evi¬ 
 dently understanding what it was about. Mr. Reid brings this 
 box and the squirrel to me. I sink the box in a flower bed in my 
 yard and invert a glass tumbler over it. On examining the squir¬ 
 rel I find the fleshy glandular tissue of the testicles wholly con¬ 
 sumed, nothing of them remaining but their empty outer skin. 
 Mr. Reid says the fact is well known to hunters, that of the grey 
 and other squirrels killed in this vicinity, at least one half of the 
 males are castrated. It is the current opinion with them that 
 this deformity is caused by the squirrels’ seizing and biting out 
 the testicles of their comrades, some of them strenuously main¬ 
 taining that they have seen these animals engaged in this act. 
 There are some hunters, however, that say they have found two 
 grubs in the scrotum of some squirrels, and they conjecture that 
 it is by these that the testicles are destroyed. 
 
 August 22, 1856. Mr. llurst, Taxidermist of the State Cabi¬ 
 net of Natural History, informs me that on one occasion he saw a 
 half dozen red squirrels (Sciurus Hudsonius) unite in mastering a 
 gray one (S. Catoliniensis) and castrating him. He had so fair 
 and distinct a view that there could be no mistake as to the fact, 
 his eyes witnessing the very work in which the animals were 
 engaged. Query. May it not be a flesh-fly which drops its egg 
 into the wound of the castrated squirrel, from which grows the 
 grub which Mr. Reid brought me 1 
 
 September 1st, 1S56. Mr. Reid brings me a striped squirrel 
 
480 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORJT 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 with two grubs in its scrotum, considerably torn and injured by 
 the coarse shot with which it was killed. These grubs are plainly 
 the larva of a bot-fly and not of a flesh-fly. They are placed 
 lengthwise in the scrotum, one forward of the other, producing a 
 tumor nearly an inch and a half in length. Each worm has a 
 cavity for itself, separated from the other, with an orifice towards 
 its hind part, larger than the head of a large pin. Though the 
 worms are probably immature the testicles appear to be entirely 
 consumed, but the parts are so torn that I do not attempt to trace 
 out the exact lesion which they have produced. 
 
 Of these two larva: that which is least injured is 0.65 long and 0.44 broad. 
 The other is smaller, being only 0.32 broad. They, are oval, moderately 
 depressed, more flattened beneath than above, rounded at one end and some¬ 
 what pointed at the other, of a coal black color and shining, the whole outer 
 surface being covered with slightly elevated small hard angular granules, like 
 shagreen, but without any projecting spines or teeth-like processes. The skin 
 is remarkably thick and tough like leather, and the rough angular points with 
 which it is covered must produce much irritation in the tumor, especially when 
 the worm moves. It is divided into ten segments by deeply impressed trans¬ 
 verse furrows, each segment forming a prominent ridge which is most elevated 
 towards its hind edge. Towards the outer side each ridge is cut across by a 
 conspicuously impressed longitudinal line, giving the worm a thrce-lobed 
 appearance similar to that of a trilobito fossil. On the under side is an analo¬ 
 gous impressed line, and between these at equal distances along each side arc 
 two others less deeply indented. The mouth does not show any jaws or other 
 appendages externally but appears like a simple elliptic orifice placed trans¬ 
 versely; and the perforation at the opposite end is similar. The specimens, 
 however, are so mutilated that they do not afford a satisfactory examination. 
 The worm is much like the figure in Westwood above referred to. 
 
 July 29th, 1857. I have repeatedly raised the tumbler to see 
 if the worm buried last August bad hatched, and began to des¬ 
 pair of obtaining anything from it, when to-day, to my great joy, 
 I find a large flv lying upon its back, dead, upon the surface oi 
 the dirt in the tin box, with the ends of its wings worn off from 
 flying in its narrow prison, but perfect in every other respect. It 
 proves to be of the bot-fly family (( Estridce ) and of the genus 
 Cuterebra of Clark, thus named from two Latin words, cutis tere- 
 bra, i. e. skin borer or skin piercer, this genus being distinguished 
 by having the bristle of the antennfc feather-like or ciliated with 
 a row of fine hairs along each side, and showing a distinct orifice 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 481 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 at the mouth—several of the bot-flies being destitute of any 
 opening at the mouth and taking no nourishment after they 
 reach their perfect state. Nine species have been described by 
 different authors as pertaining to this genus, all of them belong¬ 
 ing to America save one which occurs in India. Nothing, how¬ 
 ever, appears to be known of the habits of the flies of this genus, 
 except that the larvae of two of them, which are found in the 
 state of Georgia, reside under the skin of the rabbit. And this 
 species appears to be different from any of those heretofore de¬ 
 scribed. It is a large thick-bodied fly nearly three-fourths of an 
 incli long, its head, thorax and abdomen of the same width, with 
 the abdomen but little longer than wide and its smoky brown 
 wings of about the same length with the abdomen and held 
 together flat upon it. Its thorax is covered with whitish hairs 
 which are more dense upon the sides, where is a large black dot. 
 Its face is white with a large black dot upon each cheek, and the 
 last segment of its abdomen is clothed with whitish hairs. 
 
 The dirt in the box had a depth of about two inches and the 
 worm had penetrated to its bottom and there changed to a pupa, 
 its outer skin becoming dry and hard and forming the outer cov¬ 
 ering or pupa-case of the insect. 
 
 This pupamum is 0.80 long and 0.40 broad, nearly cylindrical, though flat¬ 
 tened anteriorly in the region of the breast, and rounded at both ends. It is 
 of a tough crustaccous substance, as thick and hard as the shell of a chestnut, 
 and its whole surface is rough like shagreen, being crowded with elevated 
 black shining points, to which a coating of dirt adheres as though it were 
 glued thereto. It does not show any elevated transverse ridges, like those 
 upon the larva, but six impressed lines or sutures are very perceptible, divid¬ 
 ing it into seven segments which are mostly of equal length. The anterior one 
 of these segments breaks off obliquely at its suture, to enable the fly ts escape, 
 the piece thus separated being a large roundish or egg-shaped scale, more broad 
 than long, being 0 30 broad, and this scale shows upon its inner surface two 
 curved elevated lines, which are sutures dividing it into three segments of 
 nearly equal length; and at its anterior end is a small fourth segment marked 
 by a strong depression in the surface. We thus find a total ol ten segments in 
 the pupa-case, the same number which we saw in the larva, those representing 
 the head and thorax being much changed and soldered together into a single 
 flattish piece instead of the circular rings which they formed in the larva. 
 The small anterior segment has a wide shallow notch on its forward edge, on 
 each side of which, exteriorly, is a round tuft or button composed of a mass 
 
 TAg. Trans.] EE 
 
482 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 of short pale yellow hairs evenly shorn at their tips and projecting out from 
 the surface, and opposite these tufts on the inner surface is a small round spot 
 of the same yellow color, formed of exceedingly fine lines radiating from the 
 centre to the outer margin of the spot, which is bounded by an elevated ring 
 or hoop which is also of a pale yellow color. From this description the ento¬ 
 mologist will perceive that the pupa-case of this fly is analogous in almost 
 every particular with those of many other insects of this order. 
 
 The fly is a female and measures 0.70 in length to the tip of its abdomen 
 and wings. Its head is black above, with close fine punctures, and is densely 
 covered with short erect black hairs; its under side is brownish flesh-colored, 
 closely punctured and clothed with white hairs which incline inward towards 
 the mouth. Upon each cheek, below the eye and adjacent to the outer edge 
 of its orbit, is a large shining black dot, in which the punctures are coarser 
 and more distant from each other, and the space between this and the eye is 
 darker brown. The antennae are dark liver-brown and have a few whitish 
 hairs overlying their bases, like eye-lashes. Their bristle is black at its base 
 and the fine hairs with which it is ciliated are whitish. The cavity in which 
 the antennae repose has an ash-gray reflection, and on each side between this 
 cavity and the eye is an elevated smooth shining space which is coarsely 
 punctured. The thorax is black, finely punctured and clothed with soft hairs 
 which incline backwards and appear of a tawny brown color when viewed 
 from above but when seen from the side are white slightly tinged with yellow. 
 Upon each side these hairs are much more dense, and half way from the wing- 
 socket to the lower edge of the eye is a dot formed of black hairs. The scutel 
 is black and clothed with black hairs. Beneath it on ench side is a small yel¬ 
 lowish-white dot, from which a short white line extends outwards. The 
 abdomen is black, shining, densely punctured and covered with fine short hairs 
 which incline backwards, those at the base being longer and those on the last 
 segment tawny yellowish-white when viewed laterally but appearing black 
 when seen from above. The segments are prolonged to the under side of the 
 body, where their ends are of a glaucous grayish color with a large black dot 
 upon each. The legs are black and covered with short black hairs, those 
 towards the tip of the forward thighs on the hind side being yellowish white. 
 The wings are smoky’ brow r n and imperfectly hyaline. At the base on their 
 inner side is a large lobe of a square form with its corners rounded and its in¬ 
 ner edge slightly concave. The winglets are blackish and opake with a liar 
 row chestnut-brown margin. 
 
 A specimen of this same insect, sent me from west of Arkansas by William 
 S. Robertson, varies in having the hairs upon the last segment of the abdomen 
 much more dense, causing this segment to appear of a yellowish-white color, 
 and the ends of the other segments are but obscurely tinged with gray without 
 any black dot. 
 
 From what has now been stated I think that every one will 
 agree with me in the opinion that it is by this fly that the squir¬ 
 rels in our country are emasculated, and that this remarkable 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 483 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 fact in our Natural History which has hitherto been involved so 
 deeply in doubt is hereby satisfactorily elucidated, but what are 
 we then to think of the statement of Mr. Hurst, above related, 
 and much other testimony of the same purport. The act which 
 these persons aver that they have witnessed is so unnatural and 
 so much at variance with everything which has been observed 
 elsewhere in the domain of nature, that no scientific writer, that 
 I am aware, has given any credit to these statements. Yet the 
 testimony appears to be too explicit and positive to be wholly 
 rejected. I am therefore led to believe that these animals do 
 attack each other in the manner that has been stated; not, how¬ 
 ever, for the purpose of emasculating their comrades, as has been 
 supposed, but for the purpose of coming at and destroying these 
 bot-grubs, the enemies of their race. We know the terror which 
 some of these bot-flies give to the animals on which they are para¬ 
 sites, and the efforts which such animals make to escape from 
 them. The squirrel also is undoubtedly conscious that this insect 
 is his greatest foe; he probably has sufficient intelligence to be 
 aware that from the grub which is this year tormenting one of his 
 unfortunate comrades, will come a descendant which next year 
 may afflict him or some of his progeny in the same frightful man¬ 
 ner. Hence his avidity to destroy the wretch and thus avert the 
 impending calamity. Future observations must determine 
 whether this conjecture is correct. We fervently hope that the 
 sportsman or other person who next witnesses a squirrel over¬ 
 powered by its fellows in the manner stated, will kill that 
 squirrel and let the world know whether he does or does not find 
 in it one of these grubs. If a grub is discovered, no doubt can 
 remain as to the object of the other squirrels in making the attack 
 which they do. 
 
 Hie fact has repeatedly been noticed of the squirrels in our 
 country, that they sometimes become excessively numerous 
 throughout a particular district, doing much injury to the corn 
 aud other crops of the farmer, both in the field and in the barn, 
 and that they then suddenly disappear, so that scarcely one of these 
 animals is anywhere seen. Writers on our Natural History adver¬ 
 ting to this fact, say that their food becoming exhausted in the 
 section of country where they are thus numerous, they migrate to 
 
484 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. ' 
 
 other districts. But it now becomes altogether more probable 
 that this sudden thinning in the ranks of these creatures is caused, 
 not by their migration, but by their increase being suddenly 
 arrested by this insect. Recently the field mice have been very 
 abundant all over our country, and complaints were everywhere 
 made of apple and other trees being girdled and destroyed by 
 them in the winter of 1855-56. The same causes which pro¬ 
 duced such unusual numbers of these vermin appear to have 
 favored the increase of other small animals also. In my own 
 vicinity at least, the squirrels, having been quite plenty in the pre¬ 
 ceding years, became unusally numerous last year, and from the 
 readiness with which individuals containing parasites were then 
 obtained, it is evident that the males were generally infested with 
 these insects. The present year, sportsmen inform me there is a 
 remarkable paucity in the numbers of these animals, not a quar¬ 
 ter as many being now present in the forests as were found there 
 a year ago. This diminution it can scarcely be doubted, has been 
 occasioned by the insect of which v.e are treating. And when¬ 
 ever the squirrels are becoming multiplied these parasites will 
 rapidly increase their numbers also. We know what a multitude 
 of eggs a single bot-fly glues to the hairs of a horse’s fore legs. 
 If this squirrel-fly is similarly prolific what a host of these unfor¬ 
 tunate animals will a single female mutilate, since she places only 
 one or two eggs in each ! By some mysterious instinct she undoubt¬ 
 edly knows -whether a squirrel is already inoculated, and thus 
 avoids consigning a single one of her progeny where it will be 
 forestalled and unable to obtain the amount of nourishment which 
 it requires. Hence, when the numbers of these insects become 
 but moderately increased, as each female will be intently on tho 
 alert to dispose of her stock of eggs, it will scarcely be possible 
 for a male squirrel anywhere to escape them. 
 
 Emasculated individuals are met with belonging to each of the 
 species of squirrel common in our country. It is a fly bred from 
 the striped squirrel which I have described above. Whether this 
 same fly attacks our other squirrels also, or whether each kind ol 
 squirrel has a distinct species of bot-fly peculiar to it, future 
 observers must determine. As there are two species of these 
 insects residing under the skin of our American rabbits it is quite 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 485 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 probable there may be more than one species producing this 
 mutilation in our squirrels. 
 
 211 . Lintner’s butterfly, Vanessa Lintnerii, new species. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Nymphalidae.) 
 
 To discover a new species of butterfly of a large size, in the 
 State of New York, at this day, is quite an achievement, as these 
 insects are such ornaments to collections that they have been 
 sought after with the greatest avidity, and next to the beetles, our 
 larger Lepidoptera have been more fully investigated and are 
 better known than the insects of any other order. The honor of 
 such a discovery belongs to I. A. Lintner, Esq., of Schoharie, a 
 gentleman who takes much interest in the insects of this order, 
 and has communicated to me several valuable facts relating to 
 those which inhabit the section of our State where he resides. 
 
 rids butterfly is closely related to the Antiopa or White-bordered butterfly, 
 a species which is common upon both sides of the Atlantic. Its wings have 
 perfectly the same form and arc similarly colored to those of the Antiopa, but 
 their pale border is twice as broad as in that species, occupying a third of the 
 length of the wings, and it is wholly destitute of the row of blue spots which 
 occur in Antiopa forward of the border. Its ground color is deep rusty brown, 
 much more tinged with liver-reddish than in Antiopa. The fore margin of 
 the anterior wings is black freckled with small transverse white streaks 
 and lines, but is destitute of the two white spots which are seen in 
 Antiopa. The broad outer border is of a tarnished pale ochre-yellow hue, 
 speckled with black the same as in Antiopa, and becomes quite narrow at 
 tho inner angle of the hind pair. The wings beneath arc similar to those of 
 Antiopa, but are darker and without any sprinkling of ash-gray scales or any 
 whitish crescent in the middle of the hind pair, and the border is speckled with 
 gray and whitish in wavy transverse streaks, without forming the distinct band 
 which is seen in Antiopa. Any further description is unnecessary. A variety 
 of the Antiopa has sometimes been met with in Europe, in which the blue spots 
 are wholly wanting, and individuals occur in this country in which these spots 
 are faint and some of them obliterated. But this butterfly differs from the 
 Antiopa so decidedly in several other characters as to forbid our regarding it 
 as a variety of that species. Its width across the spread wings is 2.75 It was 
 captured in a grove of willows according to Mr. Lintner’s recollection. 
 
 212 . Irene butterfly, Natlialis Irene, new species. (Lepidoptera. Papi 
 
 lionidaj.) 
 
 A small yellow butterfly inhabiting Mexico closely resembles 
 those belonging to the genus Terias , but differs genetically in 
 having the feelers standing apart from each other, and long and 
 
4S6 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YOBK 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 bristly, as they are in the genus Pieris. It forms the type of a 
 distinct genus, named JVat/ialis by Boisduval, this species being 
 designated Iole. A similar butterfly occurs in the valley of the 
 Mississippi, which, from a specimen received from W. S. Robert¬ 
 son, appears to be a distinct species, differing from that of Mexico 
 in having the under side of the fore wings destitute of a blackish 
 central dot, and of the three blackish spots towards their inner 
 angle the hindmost one is here prolonged into a broad stripe 
 extending to the base of the wing and slighly separated from its 
 inner edge; and the base of the wing instead of its outer margin 
 is orange yellow. I therefore propose for this insect the abo\e 
 name. It is but an inch in width across its spread wings. 
 
 213. Tiirbe-colored LunosiA, Jltolmis tricolor, new species. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Lithosiidae.) 
 
 The Vermillion-striped Lithosia, L. miniata, Kirby, which is the 
 same insect with the Gnophria vittata , Harris, I have met with in 
 New-York only upon the Highlands of the Hudson. A similar moth, 
 but much less bright in its colors, is commonly confounded with 
 that species, from which it differs in having a large lead-colored 
 spot on the centre of its thorax, the head and also the outer mar¬ 
 gin of the fore wings, their apical edge, their inner margin and 
 the basal half of the stripe on their middle being nankin yellow 
 instead of bright Vermillion red, and the hind wings are lead- 
 colored on their outer margin nearly or quite to the base. This 
 is not rare in Washington county, and has been sent me from 
 Schoharie by Mr. Lintner, and from Northern Pennsylvania by 
 Dr. G. F. Horton. Its larva feeds upon the lichens or moss grow¬ 
 ing on the trunks of trees, the moth coming out in July. 
 
 214. Golden LunosiA, Deiopeia aurea, new species. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Lithosiidse.) 
 
 A truly elegant little Lithosia, sent me from Savannah, Georgia, 
 by Mrs. Wm. G. Dickson, has the fore wings bright marigold- 
 yellow with four bands of round pale sulphur-yellow spots upon 
 a brilliant steel-blue ground, the hindmost band almost upon the 
 apex, its outer half abruptly widened and slightly united with 
 the third band, which is the broadest, and towards its outer end 
 is abruptly narrowed and almost interrupted. Its hind wings are 
 
■ 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 487 
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 transparent, with a dusky margin and blackish veins. Its width 
 is one inch. 
 
 215 . Johnson's Cicindela, Cicindcla Johnsonii, new species. (Ooleop- 
 
 tera. Cicmdelidae.) 
 
 Several specimens of a beautiful Cicindela met with in the 
 buffalo trails upon the prairies west of Arkansas were sent me 
 several years since by W. S. Robertson. They are 0.50 to 0.58 
 long, bright green or blue, the wing covers broadly margined 
 exteriorly with white, from which margin projects inwardly a 
 medial tooth, the rounded anterior end of an apical lunule, and 
 the nearly obsolete posterior end of a humeral lunule; mouth 
 white; antenme with the four basal joints green, the fifth tawny 
 yellow and the apical joints brown; beneath bright blue clothed 
 on each side of the breast and abdomen with dense white hairs; 
 legs green or purple, the shanks brownish yellow. I dedicate 
 this species to the Hon. 13. P. Johnson, Secretary of the State 
 Agricultural Society, and a prominent patron of the examination 
 of our insects now in progress, whose assistance extended in 
 various ways has been of much service in facilitating my 
 researches. 
 
 NOTICE OF THE GIGANTIC LOCUSTS OF TROPICAL AMERICA. 
 
 The late Lieut. Ciiari.es M. Van Rensselaer, first officer of the ill-fated 
 steamship Central America, William N. Herndon commander, which vessel 
 foundered at sea September, 1857, with a loss of four hundred and twenty- 
 three lives, and bullion to the value of nearly a million and a quarter dollars, 
 when on the trip next preceding that sad catastrophe, gathered at Panama and 
 presented to the State Agricultural Society a number of specimens of a gigantic 
 grasshopper or locust which he had noticed as being common at the isthmus. 
 From the terms in which Lieut. Van Rensselaer is spoken of by those who 
 were well acquainted with him in Albany, the place of his nativity, I doubt 
 not it can truly be said that of the many noble, gallant spirits in the naval 
 service of our country, not one survives, more noble, more gallant than he. 
 Public attention was strongly directed to the devastations produced by insects 
 of this kind, the past season, in consequence of the accounts with which our 
 newspapers abounded, of the swarms of grasshoppers which threatened to lay 
 waste portions of the territory of Minnesota. And it was probably these ac¬ 
 counts which prompted Lieut. V. R. to obtain these specimens, and thus show 
 to our citizens that other countries contain creatures of this kind which are 
 vastly more formidable than anything with which we have to contend in our 
 own favored land? As the insects which are thus brought to our notice are 
 the largest of the many species belonging to a group which in all ages of the 
 world has stood pre-eminent for its destructiveness, it is but meet that the 
 
488 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 GIGANTIC LOCUSTS. 
 
 carefully executed figures of them which are herewith presented, Plates iii and 
 iv, should have a place in the Transactions of the Society, as a memento of the 
 lamented donor. 
 
 When we look upon these huge creatures, the Goliaths of their race, we are 
 led to think that the statement of Pliny is not so gross an exaggeration as has 
 been supposed, when he speaks of grasshoppers which are three feet in length, 
 with legs so large that the people use them for saws. And recollecting what 
 voracious cormorants the insects of this group are, the first query which arises 
 in the mind is, Are these insects common in the countries which they inhabit ? 
 And when we learn that they are often quite numerous we next ask, How then 
 is it possible for anything to grow there ? A dozen of these insects in one of 
 our gardens would in a few days utterly ruin everything therein. But the 
 same causes which in hot climates give such vigor to animal life as to produce 
 insects of this enormous size, operate equally upon the vegetable kingdom, 
 stimulating it to such a rapidity and exuberance of growth, such a rank luxu¬ 
 riance ofdevelopment, as appears incredible and miraculous to those acquainted 
 onlj' with the vegetation of temperate and cold latitudes. Hence the havoc 
 which these insects and hosts of others which are akin to them occasion, 
 becomes speedily repaired. 
 
 The migratory or Asiatic locust, which, like the Asiatic cholera among dis¬ 
 eases, stands most prominent for the sudden and sweeping destruction which 
 it occasions, is one of the largest insects of this kind which inhabit the eastern 
 continent, measuring two inches in length. But in the tropical countries of 
 America four different insects of the same group are met with which arc nearly 
 or quite double the size of that noted species. And wo are informed that like 
 it, these insects are migratory, uniting together in swarms at times when they 
 are numerous, taking wing, and causing the most frightful devastation in the 
 districts where they alight, often consuming every green thing and leaving the 
 spot as naked and black as though fire had passed over it. Hence the name 
 locust is supposed to have come from the Latin words locus ustus, signifying a 
 burnt place. 
 
 Whilst the U. S. ship Portsmouth was lying in the harbor of Acapulco, 
 Mexico, in the summer of 1854, Lieut. Thomas Pattison informs me that per 
 sons visiting the vessel frequently gave accounts of the terrible havoc which 
 was then going on a few miles back from the coast, from swarms of large 
 grasshoppers which had alighted there; and some of the officers on their re¬ 
 turn from an excursion on shore, among other things related that they had 
 seen the limbs of trees which were thicker than a man’s arm, broken down by 
 the numbers of these insects which had alighted upon them to feed upon the 
 leaves. A large grasshopper which Lieut. P. found upon the coast and which 
 he thought might perhaps be a straggler from these swarms, probably was not 
 the species concerned in this ruin, as it pertains to the group called caty-dids 
 or green grasshoppers (Family Gryllitbe) and not to the family of locusts 
 ( LocustidtB ). These two families are readily distinguished from each other by 
 their antenna!, which are short and of equal thickness, like a thread, in the 
 latter, and in the former long, slender and perceptibly tapering towards their 
 

STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 489 
 
 GIGANTIC LOCUSTS. 
 
 tips. As the insect presented me by Lieut. P. is remarkable for the length of 
 its antennal, which surpass those of any species which I find described by 
 authors, I here give a short account of it. 
 
 The Long-horned caty-did, Acanthodis macrocerus, has antennae four 
 times the length of its body and measuring eight inches or more in length. It 
 is live inches in width and two in length, and is of a pale dull yellow color 
 The head is smooth and shining, with a projecting tubercle between th 
 antennae, which is hollowed on its upper side like the concavity of the bowl 
 of a spoon, and from this hollow a wavy impressed line extends back to the 
 base of the head. An elevated ridge margining the sockets ot the antennae has 
 an impressed furrow on its outer side, in which on the under side are two black 
 dots. The antennae are tawny yellow, towards their tips black, their basal 
 joint thick, cylindric, pale greenish yellow, with an oblique brown stripe on 
 its under side. The thorax is rough from irregular elevated warts and ridges, 
 and is crossed by two transverse grooves, in which and in the other indenta¬ 
 tions arc several black dots and irregular spots. The wing covers are pale 
 olive green, 2.40 long and 0.00 broad, widest in the middle and rounded at 
 their tips, with a clear glassy spot on the inner base of each. The wings are 
 smoky blackish with pale dull yellow veins and black vcinlets and a very 
 narrow pale hind border, and four rows of cells upon their outer margin are 
 colorless and transparent but not clear and glassy. The four forward thighs 
 have three rows of small brown spots towards their tips, the row upon their 
 fore sides being longest, and on their under sides is a row of five small spines. 
 The shanks have two rows of similar spines, of which there are about ten in 
 the forward row and eight in the hind one. The hind thighs have a row of 
 ten spines on their under side, and their shanks have on their outer sides two 
 rows of spines, about fourteen in the inner and one less in the outer row, and 
 on their inner sides two rows, the outer with thirteen and the inner with ten 
 spines, all these spines being tipped with black. The individual is a male and 
 was preserved in diluted alcohol. 
 
 The gigantic locusts of tropical America, of which as already stated there aro 
 four distinct species, are so similar to each other in size and in several of their 
 most prominent and peculiar marks, that three of them were for a long time con¬ 
 founded together and were supposed to be but one or two species. Now that 
 we come to possess a number of specimens taken together at one locality and 
 see how alike these all are in their colors and other characters, it is evident that 
 these insects arc not subject to any material variations, and that the species 
 into which they have been separated are well founded and are clearly distinct. 
 They all pertain to the genus to which authors generally have given the name 
 Acrydium, this genus differing from that to which the Migratory locust and 
 most of our common grasshoppers in this country pertain, and to which the 
 name Locusta most appropriately belongs, in having a spine or teat-like pro¬ 
 cess hanging downwards in the middle of the breast between the haunches of 
 the anterior pair of legs. These large species form a distinct group or section 
 of that genus, differing from all the other species in having the thorax rough, 
 with its anterior part elevated in the middle into a sharp-edged keel or crest 
 which is cut across by three deep transverse furrows, dividing this crest into 
 four lobes, as will be seen by a reference to the figures herewith presented, and 
 the anterior end of this crest jutting forward in a point which projects over 
 the base of the head. Their hind thighs also have two rows of white spots on 
 their outer face, those of the upper row being commonly round and the others 
 broad oval. In addition to this, three of these species further agree in having 
 
490 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK STATE SOCIETY. 
 
 GIGANTIC LOCUSTS. 
 
 the wings spotted with black in a peculiar manner, as shown in the figure on 
 plate iii, these spots having some resemblance to waves running from the body- 
 outwards and becoming more dense till they pass into a border which is totally 
 black, upon the hind margin of the wings. The wing covers of these species 
 also show faint spots forming obscure transverse bands. Agreeing with each 
 other in these several marks, it is notsurprising that these insects should have 
 been regarded as forming but one or two species, the differences between them 
 being imputed to a fading of particular specimens. The four species can bo 
 most readily distinguished from each other by the ground color of their wings. 
 Their names and the colors alluded to are as follows : 
 
 The Chested locust, Aerydiam cristulum, Linn. Greenish blue. 
 
 The Leader locust, A. Dax, Drury. Brick red. 
 
 Latreille’s locust, A. Latreillei, Perty. Pale yellow. 
 
 The Half-red locust, A. scmiruLrum, Serville. Vermillion red, the outer 
 half pale green. 
 
 The females are usually three and a half inches long in each of theso species 
 except the third, in which they measure from four to nearly four and a half 
 inches. Their males are remarkably smaller, being but about half the size of 
 the females. The Crested locust is the most common of all these gigantic 
 locusts, occurring in abundance along the river Amazon and other parts of 
 Brazil and in Cayenne. This has also received the name of White-legged 
 locust (albipes) from Degecr. Authors usually state this species to be four 
 inches in length, but my specimens received from M. Lacerda and others, each 
 measure as above stated. All the insects of this family, however, vary in their 
 size. The Leader locust inhabits the same countries with the Crested locust, 
 and according to Drury it occurs at Honduras also. Indeed it is probable that 
 each of these insects will be found in all the countries between the tropics. 
 Latrcille’s locust has heretofore been known as occurring only along the Ama¬ 
 zon and in other parts of Brazil, but the specimens gathered by Lieut. Van 
 Rensselaer show that it is common at Panama also. Its width across the 
 extended wings is from eight to nine and a half inches, its thorax being 0.00 
 wide and 0 80 high. Its four anterior legs are an inch and a half long and the 
 hind pair 3.05 to 4.10, its antennae 1.60. The specimens were preserved in 
 diluted alcohol, and are of a pale dull yellow color. The figures herewit 
 presented show the form of the several parts so distinctly that a detaile 
 description is scarcely necessary. According to Stoll’s figures the male is bu 
 two and a half inches long with the colors brighter, and the wings of a rose-re., 
 tint bordered and spotted with black the same as the female. The Half-red 
 locust has as yet been captured only in Cayenne. It differs from the other 
 three species in having the wings destitute of a black border and spots. It 
 ivas first made known by Stoll, under the name of the Yellow-horned locust 
 (Jlavicome) , and this author appears to have regarded it ns identical with a 
 Chinese species, the Rose winged locust (A. roseum) of Degeer, subsequently 
 named Jlavicorne in the works of Fnbricius, Donovan, Serville and others. 
 Hence Serville changed the name to that which it now bears. 
 
FOURTH REPORT 
 
 ON TIIK 
 
 NOXIOUS AND OTHER INSECTS 
 
 OF TIIE 
 
 STATE OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 By ASA FITCII, M. D., 
 
 ENTOMOLOGIST OF THE NEW-YORK STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETT. 
 
 Copy-right secured, to the Author. 
 
 Executive Committee of the New-Yorlc State Agricultural Society: 
 
 The interval between the issuing of the volume of the Trans¬ 
 actions for 1856 and the going to press of the volume for 1857 
 is so brief, that it does not enable mo to furnish so full a Re¬ 
 port on this as on previous occasions, or to give to all of the 
 topics of the present Report so careful an examination as I 
 desire. In my last Report an account was given of all the 
 American insects at present known as being injurious to Fruit 
 trees, both cultivated and wild, embracing a brief history and 
 description of each species, and a detailed statement of any facts 
 known to me in addition to what had previously been recorded, 
 which would aid in rendering our knowledge of any of these 
 species more complete. Next in order comes the insects inju¬ 
 rious to Forest trees, and these I had expected to complete in 
 the present Report; but in consequence of the shortness of the 
 time at my disposal, I am able to finish only a portion of this 
 subject. The present Report is therefore limited to those spe¬ 
 cies which infest the pine and other evergreen trees. All those 
 insects of our country which are at present known as depreda- 
 
688 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 tors upon the trees of this order, will be found noticed in the 
 following pages. But as these insects have been much less in¬ 
 vestigated than those which infest fruit trees, it is impossible in 
 many instances to give an explicit statement of their habits and 
 the appearance of their larvas. To facilitate references from 
 one species to another, the numbering of them is continued on¬ 
 ward from the last Report in one continuous series. 
 
 The evergreens are so highly esteemed for ornamental pur¬ 
 poses, and some of them, particularly the pines, are so valuable 
 on account of the timber they yield us, that we are much inte¬ 
 rested in knowing the insects which wo have in our country, 
 which infest these trees to their injury, eithei' by stinting their 
 growth, marring and deforming them, or causing their prema¬ 
 ture decay and death. Fortunately for us, it is upon trees that 
 are sickly and decaying or upon their dead trunks and timber 
 that most of these insects make their attack. Such insects are 
 currently regarded as being of but little importance, those only 
 which are the source of the evil, which prey upon trees that aro 
 healthy and in full vigor, causing them to become sickly and 
 decrepit, being deemed of a character so pernicious as to merit 
 special observation. And yet those insects which only invade 
 dead trees and their timber are at times occasioning serious 
 losses, showing they are very far from being such trivial evils 
 as we are accustomed to deem them. Whilst this Report is in 
 the course of preparation a casuality occurs in our midst which 
 furnishes a forcible illustration of the truth of this statement. 
 I allude to the breaking of the railroad bridge over the Sau- 
 quoit creek near Utica, on the morning of May 11th, by which 
 frightful disaster eight persons lost their lives and upwards of 
 fifty others were maimed and injured more or less severely. 
 We are informed by the Utica Morning Herald, in an article 
 prepared immediately after the writer had visited and examin¬ 
 ed the scene of this catastrophe, that the principal timbers of 
 this bridge, though externally perfectly sound in their appear¬ 
 ance, were profusely perforated with minute worm holes, whilst 
 all the interior was so decayed and rotten that the slightest 
 force sufficed to break it into fragments. This fully explains 
 to us why a structure which had been so recently erected that 
 no suspicions could reasonably be entertained of its being in the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 689 
 
 least defective and unsafe, was yet iti reality fearfully so. Some 
 one of those minute timber-beetles which subsist upon the wood 
 of dead trees had here had its abode, multitudes of them proba¬ 
 bly mining their burrows everywhere through the interior, as is 
 their habit, and then eating their way out and departing to 
 found new colonies elsewhere. As the little pin-holes which 
 they perforate scarcely diminish the strength of the timber in 
 the least, they are deemed of no consequence. And yet from 
 every shower that passes, water is admitted through these per¬ 
 forations to the interior of the timber, filling the multitude of 
 little cells which these insects have there excavated and satu¬ 
 rating the wood as though it were a sponge. The outer surface 
 being exposed to the atmosphere speedily dries and thus re¬ 
 mains perfectly sound, whilst the interior continuing damp for 
 several days, rapidly though insidiously decays. Thus the sad 
 disaster to which we have alluded, and the destruction of pro¬ 
 perty and loss of life with which it was attended, there can 
 scarcely be a doubt, was caused by one of those minute insects 
 which are popularly regarded as being of trifling consequence, 
 since they never attack healthy living trees. 
 
 Thus, in addition to those insects which prey upon it when 
 alive and growing, every kind of wood appears to have one or 
 more of these small creatures peculiar to it, which make their 
 attack after it is dead, rapidly accelerating its decay. Instances 
 of timber, furniture and utensils ruined by insects of this kind, 
 are frequently presenting themselves to our notice. Wood thus 
 perforated externally with pin-holes and having its interior 
 everywhere mined with the tracks of these small beetles and 
 their larvrn, with its substance more or less reduced hereby to 
 a fine dry powder, is currently termed “powder posted” in 
 our community; and in books this same affection is sometimes 
 referred to as constituting one of the kinds of “ dry rot.” 
 
 On bringing together, as I am endeavoring to do, all the in. 
 sects of our country which are at present known to be injurious, 
 it forms a list of depredators upon some of our trees that ap¬ 
 pears truly formidable. And yet, no one must deem that what 
 is now presented in these Reports, embraces all the insects, or 
 even all the important ones that occur upon the several kinds 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] 44 
 
690 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 of vegetation under wliich they are arranged. Our knowledge 
 of this branch of our Natural History is still limited and imper¬ 
 fect. How many of these pests are still lurking unobserved and 
 unknown to us, we know not, but that the number is considera¬ 
 ble there is no doubt. Correspondents are frequently address¬ 
 ing me with inquiries respecting species of which they are una¬ 
 ble to find any account, as yet, in these Reports; and when 
 such communications are accompanied with specimens which I 
 am able to identify, I not unfrequently find the insect to be one 
 which, if known at all, has not hitherto been known as inimical. 
 Though but part of a year has elapsed since my last Report was 
 completed, more than one species in addition to those therein 
 noticed, occasioning serious losses to nurserymen and fruit grow¬ 
 ers in some sections of our country, has already come to my 
 knowledge. And such numbers of these depredators still re¬ 
 main undiscovered, that the day must be regarded as yet distant 
 before our acquaintance with this subject can approximate com¬ 
 pletion. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 July 21, 1858. 
 
 ASA FITCH. 
 
INSECTS INFESTING EVERGREEN FOREST TREES. 
 
 The pines, firs and other evergreen trees forming the natural 
 order Coniferm, constitute a very distinct group among the forest 
 trees of every country, differing remarkably by the sap or tur¬ 
 pentine which forms their circulating fluid, a substance very 
 unlike the mild watery juices of other trees. This substance is 
 so repulsive and even poisonous to insects generally, that its 
 essential oil has been much employed to protect the specimens 
 in cabinets, drawers of clothing, &c., from the invasion of moths 
 and other vermin of this class. Hence the trees of this kind are 
 among the most cleanly that we possess, being seldom disfigured 
 and stripped of their foliage by caterpillars and worms. This 
 exemption is one prominent cause of their being so highly valued 
 for ornamental purposes. And yet. as the following pages will 
 show, these trees, particularly the pines, have a formidable 
 number of insect enemies. But fortunately it is the bark and 
 wood of decaying and dead treds which most of them prefer. 
 In the introduction to a most valuable series of articles upon 
 the insects of the maritime pine of southern Europe, now in the 
 course of publication in the Annals of the Entomological Society 
 of France, the author, M. Edouard Perris, gives a list of more 
 than a hundred species which he has met with infesting this one 
 kind of tree. He finds that every part of the tree has its 
 enemies among this class of creatures. The flowers, the seed- 
 cones, the leaves, the twigs, the bark, the wood, all have their 
 peculiar insects, which they serve, some for food, others as a 
 cradle for the repose of their offspring. Of these insects one 
 portion infest the tree only when it is young, and a different 
 sett resort to it when it is old. Some make their attack when 
 the tree is in full health and vigor, others invade it only when 
 it is sickly and feeble, and others still are attracted to it after 
 it is dead and decaying, whilst yet a number more infest the dry 
 timber and furniture made from its wood. Most of these dopre- 
 
692 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 dators moreover have carnivorous and parasitic insect destroyers 
 which subsist upon them in various ways. And in addition to 
 all these, there are still other insects which live upon the fungous 
 plants growing upon this tree. Thus, as M. Perris well observes, 
 this one tree is necessary for the existence of a vast concourse 
 of animals of this class, and were it destroyed it would cause 
 the immediate ruin of such a multitude of species and such a 
 throng of individuals, that we may well ask if the consequences 
 of such an event, apparently of little importance, would not in 
 reality result in great physical disorder—if the rupture of this 
 single link would not produce a commotion in the whole length 
 of the chain and convulse the laws which regulate the natural 
 world. 
 
 On perusing the list of M. Perris above mentioned, and the 
 works of other foreign authors who treat upon the same subject, 
 every one will be struck with the close correspondence between 
 the insects infesting the pines in Europe and in this country. 
 Each European species appears to have a representative upon 
 this side of the Atlantic, closely related to it and depredating 
 upon the tree in the same manner, and accompanied also and 
 preyed upon by insect destroyers which are equally similar. 
 Only one prominent exception do we observe, to what has now 
 been stated. We have in this country no insect occupying the 
 place of the Pine processionary moth ( Thaumatopoea Pityocampa,) 
 the most formidable enemy to the leaves of the pine of any insect 
 known to us, the caterpillar of which makes its appearance in 
 July and August, in numerous companies, each company form¬ 
 ing a cobweb-like nest, like that of our common apple-tree 
 caterpillars, this nest being usually placed on the tip of a limb, 
 the worm reposing in it through the winter and continuing its 
 devastations the following spring, often killing the limb on which 
 it resides. The only worm which we have in the State of New- 
 York, which lives in societies upon the pine, stripping particular 
 limbs of their leaves, is a species of saw-fly, (see No. 273,) 
 analagous to the pine saw-fly (Lnphyrus Pini) of Europo. 
 
 Our knowledge of the insects which prey upon the pines and 
 other evergreen trees in this country, is at this day quite limited 
 and imperfect, extending chiefly to the larger species only; ami 
 of most of these very little is known, beyond the general fact 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 G93 
 
 that they reside upon these trees, and pertain to groups that are 
 injurious to vegetation, all the details of their particular habits 
 and economy remaining to be investigated. And a multitude 
 of small insects, species of moths, midges, etc., which, from their 
 occurrence upon these trees in Europe, there can be little doubt 
 exist here also, remain yet to be discovered. Were one or two 
 seasons specially devoted to ascertaining the insects which 
 depredate upon the pine, the number of species which we are 
 at present able to present would be greatly augmented. And 
 to attain a knowledge of the particular habits of each one of 
 these depredators, and the diversified structure of the galleries 
 which very many of them mine beneath the bark and in the 
 wood, will require the assiduous observations of many years. 
 
 The pines, spruces, firs and cedars are so closely related to 
 each other that we should expect a portion of the insects which 
 live upon one of these trees would be able to subsist upon some 
 or all of the others also. But as the evergreens differ so widely 
 from all our other forest trees, and as their terebinthine sap is 
 so repulsive to insects generally, it would be deemed quite 
 improbable that any insect which lives upon these trees will be 
 able to sustain itself upon trees which do not pertain to this 
 group. It is a remarkable fact, therefore, that among the insects 
 noticed in the following pages, instances occur of species which 
 are not confined to this class of trees, but feed and thrive equally 
 well upon particular trees of the deciduous class also. A 
 notable example of this we have in the large caterpillar of the 
 Pine emperor moth, (Ceratocampa imperialist) which inhabits the 
 sycamore as well as the pine, than which two trees can scarcely 
 be found whose characters and properties throughout appear 
 more dissimilar. 
 
 f 
 
694 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 1. TELE PINE .—Pinus strobus, rigida , etc. 
 
 AFFECTING THE ROOT. 
 
 The American white ant, Termes frontalis of Haldeman, 
 already described (No. 196) as being often destructive to 
 chestnut posts and rails, mines its burrows in the white pine 
 (P. strobus) more than in anj- other tree, the softness of the 
 wood probably rendering it favorite food for this insect. When 
 pines of the “ second growth,” which are so much softer than 
 the original or first growth of these trees, are cut down, their 
 roots, and also their trunks, when lying upon the surface of the 
 ground, immediately become the abode of colonies of these 
 insects, which rapidly multiply into countless mj'riads, whose 
 operations are continued until the stumps are reduced to mere 
 shells. 
 
 Since my previous notice of this insect, I have observed that 
 it sometimes lives in societ}' with, and is nursed and protected' 
 by the common black and red ant (Formica rufa). Early in 
 April, on opening a hillock of the red ant, white ants were found 
 therein in much greater numbers than the builders and true 
 owners of the hillock. In addition to the workers, numerous 
 soldiers, and pup<e with four rudimentary wings nearly half the 
 length of the abdomen, were found at that early date; and 
 although they were quite active in secreting themselves by 
 running into the deeper cells of the hillock, the more brisk and 
 stout red ants eagerly aided them in withdrawing, grasping 
 them in their jaws and carrying them off under ground, making 
 no discrimination between these white ants and the eggs and 
 young of their own kind in this operation. And it was curious 
 to notice that, though a white ant were running to hide itself 
 as rapidly as its six legs could carry it, when met and grasped 
 by a red ant, it instantly became perfectly passive and motion¬ 
 less, allowing its more athletic friend to tug and toil in dragging 
 it away, without stirring to assist in the labor, evidently feeling 
 that it was much more safe and sure of protection when in 
 charge of the red ant, than when left to its own resources. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 695 
 
 PINE. ROOT. 
 
 216 . Bristlt-neckrd Valgus, Valgus seticollis, Beauvois. (Coleoptera. 
 
 Melolonthidse.) 
 
 Beneath the bark around the crown of the roots of ant-eaten 
 stumps, feeding upon the wood, fleshy, white, thick cylindrical 
 grubs, resembling small larvae of the May beetle (No. 76), having 
 three pairs of legs anteriorly and the body curved into an arch, 
 its hind part being bent more or less inward under the breast, 
 divided by impressed transverse sutures into twelve rings; the 
 pupae and perfect insects also occurring in the same situations; 
 the latter short thick beetles about 0.28 long, the males chestnut 
 brown, beneath black, the females dull black, both sexes with 
 chestnut colored feet, and covered more or less with little ash 
 gray scales, flattened upon their backs, their wing covers much 
 shorter than the abdomen and marked with rather obscure im¬ 
 pressed lines, a broad shallow groove along the middle of their 
 thorax, which groove is more deep anteriorly, and their anterior 
 shanks with a row of about five little uneven teeth along their 
 outer edge. 
 
 In the month of April last, I met with sixteen of these beetles 
 beneath the bark of a pine stump, slightly above the surface of 
 the ground. The stump had been much eaten, by white ants 
 apparently, the sap wood being all consumed and the cavity 
 thus formed being stuffed with sand and dirt which had been 
 carried up from the soil beneath, in which these insects were 
 lying, torpid in their winter quarters, most of them crowded 
 together in a heap in a single cavity in this dirt, the others 
 scattered about in it singly, their larvae having no doubt sub¬ 
 sisted upon the decaying wood. 
 
 1 his is the insect which is named Tric/iius dispar in Dr. Har¬ 
 ris’ Catalogue. It however had been long before described by 
 Beauvois under the name Trichius seticollis. The genus Valgus , 
 in which it is included by entomologists at the present day, is 
 distinguished from Trichius by its hind pair of legs arising wide 
 apart from each other, and its forward shanks having usually 
 five teeth instead of but two or three. 
 
 1 he sexes of this insect difieringso much in their colors, has 
 caused great perplexity to authors and has led to much confu¬ 
 sion in the few notices of it which have been published. Thus 
 
696 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. ROOT. 
 
 Beauvois described the male as a distinct species under the 
 name squamiger ; and Burmeister has given the male of our other 
 American species (the Channel-necked, Valgus canaiiculatus, 
 Fab.) as being the male of squamiger, and the male of this spe¬ 
 cies as its female, retaining the female of this as the true seticollis. 
 This will serve to show the reader some of the embarrassments 
 which are frequently besetting ones’ path in investigating this 
 branch of nature’s works. At length M. Zimmerman having 
 met with two of these beetles paired, M. Schaum was enabled 
 from these specimens to see this subject in its true light and disen¬ 
 tangle it from the confusion in which it was involved. And 
 now having myself found such a number of these beetles of both 
 sexes, under circumstances which indicated them all to be the 
 progeny of one parent, I am able to confirm the statements of 
 M. Schaum. 
 
 In addition to their color, M. Schaum states that the females 
 differ from the males in being more long and thick ; but I am 
 unable to discern any difference between the sexes in respect to 
 their size. Several other characters, however, may be noticed, 
 which serve to distinguish the sexes. In the male, when viewed 
 laterally, the last segment of the abdomen declines much more 
 nearly in a perpendicular direction than it does in the female. 
 The inferior or hind edge of this segment has a slight concavity 
 in its middle in the latter which does not occur in the former. 
 Beneath, also, the penultimate segment of the abdomen in the 
 male is scarcely double the length of that which precedes it, 
 whilst in the other sex it is plainly much more than double the 
 length of the same segment. The last segment also is longer in 
 the female than in the male. In addition to this the second and 
 sometimes the third segment commonly shows an impressed 
 line lengthwise on its middle in the male, whilst in the female 
 no traces of such a line occur. The teeth of the forward shanks 
 are longer and stouter in the female than in the male. Of these 
 teeth the middle one is the most prominent, and there is a wider 
 interval between it and the next one forward of it than between 
 the others. 
 
 In connection with this, I may notice the following species 
 which appears to be undescribed. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 697 
 
 PINK. ROOT. 
 
 217 . Saw-necked Valgus, Valgus serricollis, new species. 
 
 Differing from our two other species in being smaller sized, the thorax hav¬ 
 ing along each side a regular series of small sharp-pointed teeth as broad as 
 long, resembling those of a saw, the middle of the abdomen beneath densely 
 coated with scales of a bright orange yellow, and the anterior shanks with but 
 two or three short teeth as broad as long. Length 0.17. 
 
 - Of this species I have seen but one specimen and the abdomen of another, 
 which were received from the vicinity of Jackson, Mississippi. They are males, 
 of a chestnut red color, the hind breast and abdomen beneath black, its last 
 segment chestnut. A large blackish cloud also occupies the middle of the 
 closed wing-covers. The thorax is grooved, the wing-covers are striated, and 
 the surface is sprinkled with scales, similarly to the other species. On the 
 under side the scales are rather sparse and of the usual gray color, but on the 
 middle of the abdomen they become dense, wholly hiding the surface, and are 
 here bright orange. The anterior shanks have a tooth at their tip, and another 
 near their middle, and a very slight angular projection of the surface near their 
 base. 
 
 AFFECTING TIIE TRUNK. 
 
 218 . Virginia Buprestis Chalcophora Virginiensis, Drury. (Colcoptera, 
 
 Buprestid®.) 
 
 Occurring upon the leaves of the pine in autumn and 
 spring, a hard oblong elliptic beetle, always an inch or more 
 in length, of a burnished brassy or coppery color, and rough 
 from confluent confused punctures, with elevated polished coarse 
 black lines, of which there are three on the thorax, the outer 
 ones obscured with coarse punctures, and four on each wing 
 cover, all of nearly equal width and curved anteriorly, the 
 second one from the suture almost totally interrupted by two 
 impressed spots crossing it, and the third obliterated posteriorly 
 and uniting anteriorly with the fourth. Its larva boring in the 
 sap wood. 
 
 Quite a number of the insects of the family Buprestidje, in 
 our own as in foreign lands, live at the expense of the pine, fir 
 and other evergreen trees; and M. Perris remarks that of all 
 the insect enemies of the pine, some of these beetles are the 
 most pernicious, since they make their attack upon living trees 
 that are in perfect health, causing them to become sickly and 
 to perish, whereas most of the other insects which infest this 
 tree prefer it when it is decrepit and diseased, or after it is dead. 
 
 It is in their larva or growing state that these insects injure 
 the trees, some of them boring in the interior of the sap wood, 
 
698 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 but most of them excavating their burrows in its outer layers 
 immediately beneath the bark, girdling the tree more or less by 
 their operations. Of the habits of the several American species 
 which we know are bred in the pine from uniformly finding the 
 beetles upon this tree, our knowledge is at present very limited. 
 Hence we can give the reader but little information respecting 
 them, except as they appear in their perfect state. The larvae, 
 however, all bear a close resemblance to each other, and are so 
 very different from the larvae of all other insects, that they can 
 be recognized at a glance. They are destitute of feet, and their 
 shape has been compared by different writers to that of a tad¬ 
 pole, a battledoor, a pestle with its head flattened, a flattened 
 matrass bottle, that is a round-bellied bottle with a long slender 
 neck; and these comparisons will give the reader a sufficiently 
 exact idea of their appearance, to enable him to distinguish a 
 larva of this kind whenever it occurs to his notice. And on a 
 particular inspection it will be seen that its anterior end is very 
 broad, round, and strongly flattened, as though it had been 
 pressed and distorted by some casuality, the upper and under 
 surface of this flattened portion being covered with a harder 
 callous-like plate which is differently sculptured in different 
 species, and is marked on the upper side with two straight 
 impressed lines, approaching each other anteriorly like an 
 inverted letter Y, and on the under side similarly marked, or with 
 only a single impressed line along the middle. This dilated 
 portion forms the first segment of the thorax, and has the head 
 sunk into its anterior end, with its black sharp-pointed mandi¬ 
 bles or jaws projecting in front, like the blades of nippers. 
 Sometimes, as in the Thick-legged Buprestjs, figured in my First 
 Report, page 27 (Transactions, vol. xiv., p. 731,) an impressed 
 line, resembling a suture, crosses the fore part of this dilated 
 segment, seemingly dividing it and forming a short segment 
 between it and the head. Two short segments succeed to this 
 dilated one, the suture between which is sometimes so slight 
 that t hey appear like one segment only. These short segments 
 are followed by longer, narrower ones, ten in number, of nearly 
 equal size, add only about half as broad as the anterior portion, 
 to which they appear to form a cylindrical or slightly tapering 
 tail-like appendage, the terminal segment being narrower than 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 699 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 the others and rounded at its tip. Thus, including the head, 
 these larvae are composed of fourteen segments, which is one 
 more than is found in the larvae of any other insect of this order, 
 except the long-horned beetles. 
 
 The burrows which they excavate are also so peculiar that 
 on raising the bark they are at once distinguished from those 
 of the several other larvae which reside in the same situation. 
 They are long, narrow and very shallow grooves in the surface 
 of the wood, forming irregular wavy or serpentine tracks which 
 gradually increase in width as the worm has increased in size, 
 and are stuffed with its chips and castings firmly packed 
 together. At the larger end of the burrow an oval hole is 
 usually seen, running down into the wood, into which the larva 
 has retired to repose during its pupa state. These burrows, 
 however, as well as the larvae which excavate them, are subject 
 to considerable variety in the different genera and species of 
 these insects. Some of them mine their galleries in the interior 
 ot the sap wood at the depth of a half inch or more bteneath its 
 surface, and in a longitudinal direction, the larger end of the 
 perforation turning outward to the bark to enable the insect to 
 make its exit when it attains its perfect form. Ratzeberg thinks 
 the larva; are two years in obtaining their growth, but Perris 
 is confident they come to maturity in one year when no unfavor¬ 
 able circumstances retard them. 
 
 The pupae are very different from the larvae, and resemble 
 the perfect insects in their form, but are soft and white, with 
 their rudimentary legs and wing covers appearing upon their 
 exterior surface, enclosed in sheaths like the hand in a glove, 
 the same as in the pupae of most other insects. 
 
 The perfect insects are often adorned with brilliant green, 
 coppery, golden or other metallic colors, rendering them the 
 most splendid subjects of the order to which they pertain. 
 They are mostly about three times as long as wide, and of an 
 elliptic form, more rounded in front and tapering behind, flat¬ 
 tened and rather more convex beneath than above, their bodies 
 covered with a very hard shell and quite compact, the head 
 being sunk into the thorax to the eyes, and the thorax closely 
 fitted to the base of the wing-covers. Their feet are five-jointed, 
 their legs rather short, and their antennae small and thread-like 
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 ' 700 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 with-each joint projecting in an an°'le along one side, whereby 
 they resemble a saw. A point projects backward from the 
 middle of their breast and is received into a notch in the hind 
 breast, but this point is not compressed and sharp so as to slip 
 into the notch with that powerful spring which it possesses in 
 the snapping beetles (Elaterida:,) and hence these beetles when 
 laid upon their backs are unable to throw themselves upward 
 to regain their normal position. 
 
 The short statement which has now been given of the general 
 characters of these insects will suffice to distinguish them, and 
 render a repetition of the same characters unnecessary under 
 each of the several species which we have to notice. 
 
 A variety ( immaculata ) of the Virginia Buprestis may some¬ 
 times be met with, in which the impressed spots upon the wing 
 covers are scarcely perceptible, the second raised line continuing 
 of nearly its full size across the position which these spots occupy. 
 
 219 . Liberated Buprestis, Cfmlcophora liberta , Germar. 
 
 [Plate iii, fig. 5.] 
 
 Very similar to the Virginia Buprestis, but always smaller 
 sized, measuring from 0.75 to 0.90 in length,-with the second 
 raised line of the wing covers broader than the first or inner 
 line, and totally obliterated where it is crossed by the posterior 
 impressed spot, its middle portion between the two impressed 
 spots usually showing a few scattered punctures. 
 
 This species is much more common in Eastern New-York than 
 the Virginia Buprestis, the beetle appearing upon the leaves of 
 pines throughout the summer and autumn. From a small grove 
 of young pines only a few rods in extent, upwards of a hundred 
 specimens were taken, the middle of last September, one or two 
 1 being found upon almost every tree and bush; whilst only four 
 individuals of the preceding and two of the following species 
 were found in company with them. They had probably been 
 bred in the numerous stumps of larger trees which had been 
 cut down the year before by the side of this grove. They 
 stationed themselves at the tips of the limbs, clinging to the 
 leaves with their feet, with their heads inwards, their position, 
 shape and size giving them a close resemblance to the young 
 aments or fruit cones which were growing from the same points 
 on several of the limbs; and they appeared to be eating the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 701 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 young buds, which are probably the food on which all these 
 beetles subsist a/ter arriving to their perfect state. 
 
 Other marks which characterise this insect may be gathered 
 from the description which we present of the following species 
 and the comparison between the two which is there instituted. 
 The rough intervals between the elevated smooth black linos in 
 this species are usually of a brilliant brassy yellow color, but 
 varieties occur in which they are coppery red, black, brassy 
 gray, or beautiful brassy green. In one specimen before me 
 the two middle raised lines of the wing covers are confluent, 
 separated only by punctures but with no depression between 
 them. 
 
 220. New-Yoiik Buprestis, Chalcophora Novaboracensis, new species. 
 
 A beetle closely related to the preceding, but slightly larger, 
 the males measuring 0.90 and the females one inch in length, 
 with the raised lines of the wing covers much more broken and 
 irregular, the third line small and commonly wholly obliterated 
 except an elevated smooth spot on the outer side of the poste¬ 
 rior impressed spot, which smooth spot is confluent with the 
 outer raised line, this line being more slender than either of the 
 other raised lines and much more slender than the correspond¬ 
 ing line in the foregoing species. 
 
 Only five individuals of this species have fallen under my 
 notice, two of them males. Though' closely resembling the 
 insect last described it is undoubtedly distinct; and a compari¬ 
 son of these two species will give the reader a more distinct 
 view of each than to describe them separately. 
 
 In both these insects the front has an impressed line along its middle, but 
 here this impression is mqre widened and is crossed on the middle of the face 
 by a transverse indentation of the shape of a crescent with its convex side up¬ 
 ward. The smooth elevated lines on each side of this middle line, which are 
 more or less distinct in the foregoing species are not obvious here. The eleva¬ 
 ted smooth line on the middle of the thorax is much more narrow here and 
 often becomes narrower posteriorly, sometimes wholly vanishing before it 
 reaches the base, whilst in the preceding it tends to widen posteriorly. The 
 elevated smooth irregular stripe on each side of the middle, in which are a few 
 punctures, and which is forked ns it were at its forward end, with the outer 
 branch of the fork more broad, is here continued to the base of the thorax, 
 whilst there it terminates, wholly or partially, before it reaches the base. 
 The elevated smooth pyramidal spot on the base outside of this and opposite 
 
702 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 the middle of the base of each wing-cover, here has its angles, acute and its 
 sides concave, whilst there its angles are blunt and rounded. The sculpture 
 of the wing covers presents still more conspicuous differences. In the foregoing 
 species a regular furrow or deep groove divides the elevated sutural line from 
 the first or inner raised line or rib its whole length, except near the base, 
 where, for a short distance, it is narrowed to half its usual width and depth. 
 But in the species before us, this furrow at the same point is totally oblitera¬ 
 ted, and is but slightly impressed on the anterior half of the wing covers, 
 being often replaced by numerous small deep punctures. The elevated line 
 on the outer side of this furrow is here marked by a transverse indenta¬ 
 tion immediately back of the posterior impressed spot. In the foregoing 
 species it is usually the second elevated line of the wing covers which extends 
 straight backward from the posterior impressed spot to the tip, the first line 
 terminating in this second one at no great distance back of this spot. Here, on 
 the other hand, it is the first line which is prolonged to the tip, the second 
 one, however, accompanying i,t and being partially blended with it through 
 nearly half the distance from the spot to the tip. It is scarcely necessary to 
 pursue this subject further, since what has now been adduced will suffice to 
 clearly distinguish these species and prevent their being confounded together, 
 as they have been hitherto. 
 
 Sisil. Oregon Buprestis, Chalcophora Oregonensis, new species. 
 
 A beetle intimately related to the preceding species I meet 
 with in a collection of insects made at the Dalis on Columbia 
 river many years since, by Rev. George Gary, of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and presented to me by the late Dr. Skilton, 
 of Troy. Its close relationship to the species above described 
 renders it altogether probable that its larva is similarly perni¬ 
 cious to the pine timber of the region whore it abounds. And 
 as no insect of this genus has hitherto been recorded as an 
 inhabitant of that vicinity, that I am able to discover, I here¬ 
 with submit a short account of its distinctive marks. 
 
 The Oregon Buprestis slightly exceeds an inch in length, with the elevated 
 smooth lines and spots black and for the most part broader than the rough 
 intervals between them, which are burnished brassy tinged with coppery red. 
 Its sculpture is very similar to that of the species last described above. The 
 elevated line on the middle of the thorax is here twice as broad as in that 
 species and at each end is rapidly but not abruptly widened to double the 
 breadth which it has in the remainder of its length, those widened portions 
 having a few scattered punctures. Both at the apex and the base this widened 
 portion is continent with the irregular elevated stripes which are placed upon 
 each side of tho middle. The smooth pyramidal spots on the baseopposito the 
 middle of the anterior end of each wing cover are here larger and more promi 
 neut than in either of the foregoing species and each of theso spots has tho 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 703 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 shape of a right angled triangle, the line bounding its outer side running 
 directly forward instead of obliquely inward and forward, each spot being also 
 more broad than long. The rough depression which extends forward from 
 these spots to the anterior angles of the thorax has in its middle a well marked, 
 elevated, smooth spot, which is oblong and placed obliquely, with an oblique 
 groove on its outer side separating it from a smooth and somewhat triangular 
 spot on the outer margin, which is more distinct in this than in either of the 
 preceding species, and produces a slight undulation of the outer edge, this 
 edge being almost rectilinear with the opposite sides parallel with each other 
 two-thirds of their length, and then abruptly or angularly inclining inwards 
 to the anterior angles. The wing covers have the elevated lines much broken 
 and irregular, resembling those of the preceding species, though on a particu¬ 
 lar examination several differences will be noticed, which it is scarcely neces¬ 
 sary to dwell upon in this place, as what has already been stated sufficiently 
 distinguishes this species. 
 
 222. Harris’s Buprestis, Chrysobothris Ifarrisii, Hentz. (Coleoptera 
 
 Buprestidae.) 
 
 Appearing on the trees in May and becoming most common 
 about the middle of June, a small beetle 0.32 long, of a brilliant 
 blue-green color with black antennae and feet, and in the male 
 the sides of the thorax and the thighs copper colored, its sur¬ 
 face punctured, with a groove on the middle of the thorax and 
 two indentations near the base of each wing cover, slightly 
 separated by a raised line, the inner one running into a groove 
 which extends along the suture to its tip. Its larva living 
 under the bark of young trees and small limbs. 
 
 I know not why this beautiful little species is placed under 
 the genus Trachypteris in the Catalogue of Coleoptera lately 
 published by the Smithsonian Institution, since it so evidently 
 pertains to the genus Chrysobothris. 
 
 223. Golden Buprestis, Buprestis aurulenta, Linmeus. (Coleoptera. 
 
 Buprestidae.) 
 
 Appearing upon pine and spruce trees in May and June, a 
 brilliant and sparkling copper-red beetle 0.55 to 0.70 long, its 
 wing covers marked with a broad brilliant bluish green stripe 
 on each and with four elevated smooth lines in which are several 
 deep punctures, the two outer lines nearly or quite united at 
 their hind ends and thd exterior middle one a fourth shorter, 
 the depressed spaces between these lines twice as wide as the 
 lines and rough from coarse confluent punctures; its thorax 
 
704 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 with a wide shallow groove along the middle, which is some¬ 
 times very slight, the surface covered with coarse punctures 
 which become dense and confluent along the sides, as they are 
 upon the head also, which has a slender elevated line along its 
 middle; the under side brilliant coppery. 
 
 Like many other insects of this family, the Golden Buprestis 
 is subject to some variations in its colors, which have led authors 
 into the error of regarding it as forming two additional species, 
 namely, 
 
 The Striated Buprestis ( B. striata, Fabricius). The blue- 
 green stripe on the wing covers wanting, their whole surface 
 being coppery red. The name has allusion to the elevated lines 
 on the wing covers. 
 
 The Intricate Buprestis ( B. impedita, Say). The coppery 
 red color of the head, thorax and under side tinged more or less 
 with green. The name was suggested by the close resem¬ 
 blance of this to the preceding and to some other species de¬ 
 scribed by authors. 
 
 Like most of the other insect borers in the pine, it appears to 
 be the dead wood of logs and stumps which this species prefers, 
 to living trees. T. B. Ashton informs me he once found the 
 fragments of one of these beetles in the interior of a pine log. 
 I have met with it in two instances, stationed at the tips of 
 the limbs of young spruce trees in my yard, and it is probable 
 that in its perfect state it feeds upon the tender young buds of 
 the pine and the spruce. It will be liable to attract the notice 
 and admiration of every one, wherever it presents itself, its 
 sparkling lustre and the fine bright colors with which it is 
 adorned, rendering it one of the most beautiful insects of our 
 country. 
 
 224. Ultramarine Buprestis, Buprestis ultramarina, Say. 
 
 This truly elegant species, which closely resembles the prece¬ 
 ding in size and colors I notice in connection with it, it having 
 been but partially described by Mr. Say, from a specimen in 
 which the head and thorax were wanting. I however know 
 nothing of its habits, except that the beetle was met with the 
 middle of July in a forest of pines and other trees. Its close 
 relationship with the foro'going species indicates that it will 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 705 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 probably be a depredator upon the same kinds of vegetation 
 with that. 
 
 The Ultramarine Buprestis is half an inch long and of a brilliant green color 
 tinged with golden yellow, the sides of the thorax being pure golden and also 
 a stripe along the middle where is a very slight wide groove, scarcely obvious. 
 The wing covers are brilliant blue, which color is margined on each side and at 
 the base with golden yellow tinged with green, the suture and outer margin 
 being burnished coppery red. On each wing cover are about eight rows of 
 large deep punctures placed closely together, and some of them united or con¬ 
 fluent, and between each of these rows is a series of smaller round punctures. 
 Their tips are cut off transversely and on the side next to the suture is a minute 
 projecting tooth. The scutel is circular, deeply concave, and green with its 
 sides blue. The thorax is covered with close, deep, coarse punctures, which 
 are more dense and confluent on each side. The head is rough from similar 
 confluent punctures, with a slender, smooth elevated line in its middle. The 
 antenna) are black with the basal joints coppery red. The under side is bur¬ 
 nished coppery with the sutures of the abdomen green. 
 
 225. Spotted-winged Buprestis, Buprestis maculipennis, Gory. 
 
 A shining brassy-black beetle, sometimes blue-black or dark 
 bottle-geeen, of the same shape with the preceding and 0.45 to 
 0.65 long, each wing cover with from three to six pale tawny 
 yellow spots of irregular shape and very variable, the mouth and 
 throat often and sometimes the face of the same color, and also 
 a spot on each side of the last segment of the abdomen beneath, 
 the wing covers with several impressed lines and a row of punc¬ 
 tures on each of the interstices between them, the thorax with 
 coarser close punctures and a single large one on the middle of 
 its hind edge. 
 
 I have met with this in July, on pines growing at a distance 
 from any other trees, an evidence that it had been bred from 
 them. The spots on its wing covers are extremely variable, 
 being alike in no two specimens; and it is quite probable, as 
 our American entomologists have supposed, that this is only a 
 variety of the following. 
 
 22G- Orange-lined Buprestis, Buprestis lineata, Fabricius- 
 
 Very like the preceding species, but slightly larger, measur¬ 
 ing 0.G0 to 0.75 in length, and the wing covers with two tawny 
 orange stripes on each, the inner one of which is widest at its 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] 45 
 
706 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINK. TRUNK. 
 
 base and does not reach to the tip. Here also the last segment 
 of the abdomen, beneath, has a tawny orange spot on each side, 
 and the throat, mouth and face and a stripe on each side of the 
 thorax are yellow, varied in places with red. 
 
 227. Yellow-dotted Boprestis, Trachypterufulvoguttata, Harris. (Colcop- 
 
 tera. Buprestidao.) 
 
 Appearing upon pines in June, a more flattened beetle than 
 the foregoing, 0.30 to 0.43 long, of a brassy black color with 
 three pale yellow dots on each wing cover placed towards the 
 hind part and equidistant from each other, the hindmost ones 
 nearest to the suture and the middle ones farthest from it; the 
 fore ends of the wing covers moderately rounded and fitting 
 into corresponding concavities in the base of the thorax ; the 
 whole surface covered with shallow rough puncture? running 
 together transversely and somewhat resembling the grained side 
 of morocco leather, and the thorax having an indentation on the 
 middle of its base like the impression of the head of a pin. See 
 Harris’ Treatise, page 44. 
 
 228. Punctulated Bcprestis, Dicerca punctulata, Schonlicrr. (Coleoptera. 
 
 Buprestidee.) 
 
 Occurring mostly upon the pitch pine (Pinus rigida ); an ob¬ 
 scure coppery or black beetle, half an inch long, convex above 
 with the tips of its wing covers tapering, and this narrowed 
 portion more lengthened than in any of the foregoing species, 
 their surface occupied with close fine punctures and double rows 
 of coarse ones, the narrow spaces between these rows often ele¬ 
 vated in places, the elevations forming smooth oblong spots or 
 irregularly interrupted ribs ; the thorax with coarser confluent 
 punctures and with four elevated smooth stripes, the outer 
 ones narrower and interrupted by a slight depression in the 
 surface back of their middle ; and finally, a smooth transverse 
 elevation upon its front extending from one eye to the other, is 
 a mark whereby this species may be readily distinguished from 
 most of those related to it. 
 
 229- Tuberculated Buprkstis, Dicerca tuberculata, Gory. 
 
 Another beetle which is met with upon the pitch pine, and 
 resembles an individual of the preceding species of a more brassy 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 707 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 tint and having all its marks more coarse, rough and irregular; 
 but the rows of coarse punctures on its wing covers are at equal 
 distances from each other instead of being in pairs, the interve¬ 
 ning spaces having many irregular elevated black polished spots, 
 and the elevated transverse line upon the front is interrupted 
 and less prominent, and its size is rather larger, being about 
 0.60 long. 
 
 330- Marked pine borer, Morwhammus notatus, Drury. (Coleoptcra. 
 
 Cerambycidas.) 
 
 Boring a cylindrical hole transversely in the interior of the 
 wood, chiefly of decaying and dead trees and their logs and 
 stumps, often doing serious injury to timber; a large white soft 
 and flesh-like grub, nearly cylindrical, without feet and with 
 numerous fine hairs of a fox red color, divided into fourteen 
 segments by strongly constricted transverse sutures, the second 
 segment larger than the others and flattened, horny and inclined 
 obliquely downward and forward, the next ones very short, and 
 all the following except the last one with a transverse oval 
 rough space on their middle above and below; its pupa state 
 passed in the interior of the wood; changing into a Long¬ 
 horned beetle which gnaws its way out of the wood, forming a 
 perfectly smooth round hole nearly large enough to admit the 
 end of the finger; the beetle appearing in July, 1.05 to 1.20 long, 
 with remarkably long slender tapering antennas, nearly thrice 
 the length of the body in the males, and shorter, little exceeding 
 the length of the body in the females ; its body brownish gray, 
 on the wing covers freckled with small black spots interspersed 
 with a few hoary white ones, which towards the base are often 
 placed symmetrically; the thorax with but a few faint punc¬ 
 tures and in its centre a polished black elliptic callous-liko spot, 
 and on the middle of each side a stout conic spine, which is 
 coated around its base with hoary white hairs; the antenme 
 black gradually changing to clay yellow towards their tips, and 
 not alternated with gray bands in either sex; the middle shanks 
 with a tooth-like prominence on their outer edge beyond the 
 middle, as in the two following species also. 
 
 r l his and the two following are the most common and perni¬ 
 cious borers which we have in pine timber, in the State of New- 
 
708 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 York. On a still summer’s night the peculiar grating or 
 crunching noise which the larvae; make in gnawing the wood 
 may be distinctly heard at a distance of eight or ten rods. 
 That the insect does not open a passage out of the wood 
 whereby to make its exit until it attains its perfect state, I 
 infer from the fact that several of these beetles gnawed their 
 way out of one of the pillars of the portico of a newly built 
 house in my neighborhood, some years since, the noise being 
 heard several days before they emerged, and whilst they were 
 still at some distance in the interior of the wood. 
 
 "When pine timber after being felled is allowed to remain in 
 the forest through the summer months, it is liable to become 
 much injured from becoming infested with these borers. They 
 invariably make their exit from the wood upon its upper side, 
 and the holes which they perforate becoming filled with water 
 from every shower, the decay of the timber is rapidly accelera¬ 
 ted. Experienced lumbermen are well aware of these facts, and 
 are careful to peel the bark from logs that remain where- they 
 are cut, during the hot season of the year. The nidus in which 
 the beetles deposit their eggs being thus removed, the timber 
 escapes their attack. 
 
 The marks of this species and of several others related to it 
 are so vague that it is very difficult to describe them in such a 
 manner that they can be easily recognized and clearly discrimi¬ 
 nated. And hence authors have been much embarrassed and 
 discordant in the names they have applied to this insect. It is 
 the Monohammus titillator of Dr. Harris’s Treatise. The spe¬ 
 cimens which I have are too obscure to enable me to form a 
 decided opinion, but I doubt not Dr. Le Conte is correct in 
 pronouncing the titillator of Fabricius to be a different species 
 occurring only at the south ; though ho obviously errs in sup¬ 
 posing the dentator of Fabricius to be the female of titillator, 
 since Fabricius explicitly states that the antennae in dentator 
 are three times the length of the body. Mr. Kirby also regarded 
 this as different from the titillator, and gave it the name confu- 
 sor, in allusion no doubt to its having been confounded with 
 that species. And this name becomes doubly appropriate in 
 view of the remark justly made by Dr. Lo Conte, that it is 
 difficult to determine from Mr. Kilby’s description whether this 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 TOD 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 species or the following one is his cotifusor. Indeed it is only 
 from the dimensions he assigns to it that we are assured this is 
 the species to which he refers. 
 
 One of these insects in which the black spots upon the wing 
 covers are more numerous and distinct than in any specimen 
 which had previously fallen under my notice, obligingly flies 
 into my room by night, at the very time I am copying this 
 account for the press, and I hereby become assured of what I 
 had previously been suspicious. The black spots in specimens 
 that are newly disclosed from the pupae and most fully marked, 
 are chiefly of a square form, some of them oblong and others 
 equilateral, and in such specimens it is plain to perceive that 
 these spots are arranged in three rows running lengthwise upon 
 each wing cover, the hoary white spots alternating irregularly 
 with them in the same rows. In the specimen before me, the 
 black spots, at least on the anterior half of the wing covers are 
 so identical in their position and shape with the representation 
 given in Drury’s fig. 2, pi. 35, vol. ii, that no one can doubt its 
 having been an insect of this species from which that figure 
 was taken. Drury states that his specimen was received from 
 Norway. Mr. Westwood, however, remarks that no such beetle 
 is known to inhabit Norway or any other country of Europe. 
 There is no doubt, therefore, that Drury’s insect was either 
 transported in its larva state in pine timber taken from this 
 country to Norway, as might readily happen (i. e. if coals are 
 ever carried to Newcastle), or else it was captured in New- 
 York, in common with a large portion of the other insects in 
 Mr. Drury’s collection, and the ticket belonging to it became 
 accidentally misplaced. Mr. Westwood notices the very near 
 correspondence of Drury’s figure with the Lamia dentator of 
 Eabricius, the name, very likely, by which the species before us 
 may be ticketed in his cabinet. We, however, are at a loss to 
 understand why Mr. Westwood gives precedence to this Fabri- 
 cian name, when that of Drury clearly has the priority, and 
 must therefore supercede all those which have more recently 
 been applied to this insect. 
 
 The synonyms of this species, it thus appears, are as follows : 
 
 Ccnmiby.r notatus, Drury, vol. ii, Appendix. (PI. 35, fig. 2),.. 1773 
 
 Not Lamia notata, Fab. Mant. ins. i, 139,. .• . 1787 
 
710 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEVV-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 Not Lamia titillator, Fab. Species ins. i, 219,. 1781 
 
 Monohammus titillator, Harris, Cat.. 1835 
 
 do do Dejean, Cat. p. 367,. 1837 
 
 do do Harris, Treatise, p. 87. 1842 
 
 do do do 2d ed., p. 93,. 1852 
 
 do do Hai.dkman* Longicornia, p. 51. 1847 
 
 do do Mki.sii ? Smithsonian Cat. p. 109,. 1853 
 
 Not Lamia dentator, Fab. Ent. Syst. ii, 278,. 1792 
 
 Monochamus dentator ? West w. Drury, ii, 68,. 1837 
 
 do confusor, Kirby, North. Zool. iv, 168,. 1837 
 
 Monohammus confusor, Leconte, Jour. Acad, (new s.) ii, 148, 1852 
 do do Melsh. Smithsonian Cat., p. 109,. 1853 
 
 231. Marbled pine-borer, Monohammus marmoratus, Randall. 
 
 A largo white grub very similar to the last preceding one, and 
 boring in the interior of the wood, often in the same trees and 
 logs with it. The beetle coming abroad in July and very simi¬ 
 lar to the preceding, but always smaller, measuring 0.75 to 0.90 
 in length, and distinguished from it by having the short hairs 
 coating the base of the spine on each side of the thorax of an 
 ochre yellow color instead of white, the thorax with numerous 
 confluent punctures across its middle, its wing covers ash gray 
 marbled with tawny brown cloud-like spots, and punctured like 
 the preceding species, but the punctures here becoming much 
 more dense towards the base and running into each other, the 
 antennae in the females with an ash-gray band at the base of 
 each joint, their length in the two sexes as in the preceding 
 species. 
 
 232- White-scutblled pine-borer, Monohammus scutellatus, Say. 
 
 [Plate iii, fig. 7.] 
 
 A large white grub closely like the foregoing and boring in 
 the wood in a similar manner, in the month of June producing 
 a beetle of similar form but of a shining black color, its wing 
 covers having small patches of short hairs here and there, re¬ 
 sembling spots of white mould, their surface rough from coarse 
 confluent punctures and the thorax similarly punctured across 
 its middle, its base and apex with irregular transverse wrinkles, 
 and its sides with a conical spine which is not clothed with 
 hairs, the scutel coated over with white hairs, and the antennae 
 double the length of the body in the males, and in the females 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 711 
 
 PINK. TRUNK. 
 
 with a gray band on the base of each joint; its length varying 
 from 0.60 to 0.75 
 
 233. Fragrant Oallichroma, Callichromasuaveolens, Linnaeus. (Coleoptera. 
 
 Cerambycidae.) 
 
 Though I know nothing of its habits, as it closely resembles the foregoing 
 insects in size, form, long slender antennae, spiny thorax and some other par¬ 
 ticulars, though pertaining to a different section of this family, I here introduce 
 a short account of a species which is decidedly the most splendid Long-horned 
 beetle which we have in the United States—my attention having been recently 
 directed to it from its having been sent me from west of Arkansas by my valued 
 friend Win. S. Robertson. A congeneric European species in its larva state 
 very closely resembles the larvae of the preceding insects and bores in the inte¬ 
 rior of trees like them, living in the willow. 
 
 The Fragrant Callichroma is an inch and a quarter in length or more, and 
 its head and thorax are of a brilliant golden green, its wing covers bright blue- 
 green, its breast brassy green, its antennae and legs black with their thighs 
 and the abdomen orange yellow. Its hind shanks are singularly compressed 
 and sharp edged upon each side. 
 
 It appears in considerable numbers, some seasons, in the states bordering 
 on the Gulf of Mexico, and on the West India Islands, and was long ago 
 figured and described by Sir Ilans Sloane, in his Natural History of Jamaica, 
 (vol. ii., p. 208, pi. 237, fig. 40,) under the name of “ The Musk Fly,” or 
 Scarabaus Capricornis viridis suaveolens, and he quaintly observes, “It smells 
 very strong and not unpleasantly.” A specimen was sent to Linnaeus, from 
 Carolina, by Doctor Garden, and was one of the last insects which were 
 named and described by that illustrious man, who gave it, from Sloane, the 
 name Cerambyx suaveolens, in the appendix to the last edition of his Systema 
 Naturae, vol. iii, p. 224, published in 1770. It also appears under the same 
 name in Gmclin and in Turton, though by a clerical error of this compiler ho 
 and his translator state the shanks to bo rust-red, instead of the thighs. I 
 strongly suspect, however, that the C. virens of Linnaeus and of Fabricius, of 
 which a figure is given in the works of both Drury and Olivier, and the larva of 
 which bores in the Rose-wood ( Amyris balsamifera), will prove to be merely 
 the other sex of sauveolens, and that that name having been first published 
 must supersede this. Linnaeus, however, with that species in his view, re¬ 
 garded this as different. Prof. Ilaldcman, in his history of the insects of this 
 family gives this as the C. elegans of Fabricius, but from Olivier’s figure and 
 description of that species it is plainly another insect. DcJean, unaware that 
 this species had been named and described gave it the name Callichroma splen- 
 dida in his Catalogue, under which name Dr. LeConte lias recently described 
 it, and it is also entered under this name in Dr. Melcheimer’s Catalogue lately 
 published by the Smithsonian Institution. 
 
712 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINK. TRUNK. 
 
 234 . Pine- ~ ” ogonius Pinivora, new species. (Co!e- 
 
 A small grub resembling a young apple-tree borer, mining the 
 wood of the pine, and in July becoming a small cylindrical long¬ 
 horned beetle, which is found upon the leaves, 0.25 long and 
 about a third as broad, clothed with numerous erect black hairs 
 on the body and antennas, and grey ones on the legs; its color shi¬ 
 ning pale chestnut, with irregular oblique and transverse spots 
 and streaks of gray on the wing covers, Avhich are coarsely punc¬ 
 tured, the punctures dense on the base and fine on the apex; its 
 thorax narrower, slightly darker colored, closely punctured, ha¬ 
 ving a very small tooth-like point on each side and along its 
 middle a gray line which is widely interrupted in the centre, the 
 sides and also the head with thin gray pubescence ; its antennae 
 shorter than the body, coarse, and the joints becoming suddeidy 
 shorter after the fourth ; its under side blackish brown, the legs 
 pale chestnut. 
 
 This species is of the same color with E. tomentosus of Halde- 
 man, which however is larger, with gray hairs instead of black, 
 and the wing-covers with ochre-yellow spots and streaks. 
 
 235 - Commixed Leptostyi.us, Leptostylus commixtus, Haldeman. (Colcop- 
 tera. Cerambycidoe.) 
 
 A small Long-horned beetle occurring on the leaves of the pine 
 in July, its appearance and shape closely like that of the Prickly 
 Leptostylus No. 4, plate 1, fig. 4, and its larva probably having 
 similar habits and the same form ; the beetle 0.25 to 0.36 long, 
 its thorax closely punctured, blackish obscurely varied with ash 
 gray and with elevated black dots placed symmetrically, the 
 sides convex and with a small angular tooth back of their mid¬ 
 dle ; its wing-covers coarsely and closely punctured, dull and 
 gray varied with paler gray and with black clouds and dots, 
 two faintly elevated ribs on each wing-cover of a slightly paler 
 gray tint alternated with black dots, the inner rib having an 
 elongated black spot near its base, another beyond the middle, 
 and a third one farther back, formed by obscure dusky transverse 
 clouds which cross the ribs at these places; the sides black 
 alternated with a whitish cloud-like spot near the base, and a 
 smaller one near the middle. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 713 
 
 PIN B. TRUNK. 
 
 I have met with this in a pine grove distant from any other 
 trees, rendering it certain it had been bred in this wood. 
 
 236. Pine Enderces, Enforces Pint, Olivier. (Coleoptera. Cerambycidse.) 
 
 A small cylindrical Long-horned beetle, having a wide separa¬ 
 tion between its thorax and abdomen, giving it some resem¬ 
 blance to an ant, 0.23 to 0.30 long, of a bright chestnut color, 
 with its abdomen and the posterior third of its wing-covers 
 black, the wing covers crossed obliquely forward of their mid¬ 
 dle by a silvery white line which does not reach to the suture, 
 and posteriorly on the fore part of their black portion a gray 
 band, which is placed in a shallow groove running obliquely and 
 parallel with the silvery line; the thorax covered with fine im¬ 
 pressed lines running lengthwise. 
 
 This is said by Olivier to have been found on pines around 
 the city of New-York, but it is probably a southern insect. 
 See remarks on this species in connection with the Currant 
 borer, No. 134. 
 
 237 - Black-iiorned Calmdium, Callidium antennatum, Newman. (Coleop- 
 tcra. Cerambycidse.) 
 
 A flattened Long-horned beetle, appearing in May and Juno, 
 about 0.52 long, of a deep Prussian blue color, often with shades 
 of green in places, its antennae and legs black, its thorax hairy, 
 and as broad as the wing covers, with the sides strongly rounded 
 and above on each side of the middle a little round hollow spot, 
 and its wing covers rough from close shallow punctures. 
 
 Doctor Harris regarded this as identical with the European 
 C. violaceum, deeming the latter to have been probably intro¬ 
 duced into Europe from this country. See his Treatise, page 88. 
 But entomologists now consider the insects of the two continents 
 to be distinct species. Ours, doubtless, has the same habits 
 with that of Europe, the larva living in the trunks of pines, ex¬ 
 cavating a wavy shallow track under the bark, which is packed 
 full of sawdust, and when almost fully grown, sinking itself 
 obliquely downwards several inches into the wood, to repose 
 during its pupa state. 
 
 Specimens occur in which the thorax is plainly narrower than 
 the wing covers, more distinctly punctured, and destitute of 
 
714 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 the two impressed spots. These are the Violet-colored Calli- 
 dium, C. janthinum of Dr. Le Conte, and of Dejean’s Catalogue. 
 But individuals appear to occur of all intermediate varieties, 
 and I am therefore inclined to think they can scarcely be re¬ 
 garded as constituting two distinct species. 
 
 238 - Porter Hylotrupes, Hylotrupes bajulus, Linnseus. (Coleoptera. Ceram- 
 bycid®. 
 
 A beetle very similar to the preceding in its shape and habits, 
 appearing in July and August, 0.45 to 0.75 long, of a black 
 color, its thorax nearly circular and clothed with white hairs, 
 with a smooth polished black line in its center and a callous- 
 like spot on each side of it, and its wing covers with very coarse 
 shallow confluent punctures and some downy whitish spots 
 forming two irregular bands near the middle. 
 
 This species is supposed to have been introduced in its larva 
 6tate in timber from Europe, and is found in our country only 
 near the sea coast. See Harris’ Treatise, page 88. 
 
 239 . Pennsylvania Prionus, Orthosoma Pennsylvanica, De Geer. (Coleop- 
 tcra. Ccrambycid®.) 
 
 A flattened Long-horned beetle, 1.00 to 1.30 long, and less than 
 a third as broad, with its opposite sides parallel, its thorax 
 twice as broad as long, and with three sharp teeth on each side, 
 its wing covers with two or three slight elevated lines, its an¬ 
 tennae scarcely as long as the body, and its color chestnut red, 
 darker anteriorly. Appearing from the beginning of July till 
 into September, often entering open windows on warm evenings, 
 and, as it flies, repeatedly hitting against the ceiling over head 
 with a sharp click, and making a crashing kind of noise when it 
 alights. 
 
 The larvae which I suppose to be this species, but which I 
 have never been able to succeed in rearing to its perfect state, 
 is common under the bark of pine logs, and is a white, flattened, 
 soft worm, scarcely three times as long as broad, slightly taper¬ 
 ing from before backwards, its jaws or mandibles black, stout 
 and tapering to a very sharp point, the two first rings of its 
 body larger than the others and of a horny substance, the first 
 of these rings longer that the. second, tawny yellow, with a 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 *715 
 
 PINK. TRUNK. 
 
 groove along its middle, the second broadest and tawny on its 
 forward corners, the third and fourth rings short, together only 
 equaling the fifth and following rings which are of equal length, 
 and have an oval flat transverse elevation above and two ele¬ 
 vated folds of the skin on each side, and with six small white 
 feet anteriorly on the under side. 
 
 This common species has received a number of names from 
 different authors, Foster having bestowed upon it that of 
 brunneus in 1771, Drury unicolor in 1773, Fabricius cylindricus 
 inT781, Gmelin cylindroides in 1788, and Olivier sulcatus in 1795. 
 Though I have not at hand the date of the volume in which De 
 Geer’s name was published, I suppose it to have preceded all 
 the others. 
 
 240- Harris’s Prionus, 7 Vagosoma Harrisii, LcConte. (Coleoptera. Ce- 
 
 rambycidse. 
 
 A beetle closely resembling the preceding, but with much 
 shorter antennae^ only one tooth on each side of the thorax, and 
 several raised lines on the wing covers. 
 
 This rare insect, which has only been found hitherto in New 
 England and Newfoundland, inhabits New-York also, and I infer 
 it to be bred in the pine, having in one instance met with the 
 beetle, dead, under the loose bark of one of these trees. 
 
 241. Ribbed RnAGirar, Rhagium lineatum, Olivier. (Coleoptera. Lepturidie.) 
 
 Common in the pitch pine, several often in the trunk of the 
 samo tree, excavating a broad irregular patch in the outer sur¬ 
 face of the sap wood, the cavity being mostly filled with saw¬ 
 dust; a yellowish-white grub about an inch long, divided into 
 segments of nearly equal length and width, except the second 
 which is the broadest, and the last which is narrowest with its 
 end rounded; surrounding itself with a broad oval ring of 
 woody fibres, like short threads, placed between the bark and 
 the wood, in which to pass its pupa state; changing to a beetle 
 which lies in the same cell through the winter and comes abroad 
 in the spring; the beetle 0.40 to 0.70 long, long and narrowish, 
 its head and thorax much narrower than the wing covers, cyl- 
 indric, clothed with soft gray hairs upon a black ground, the 
 thorax with a black stripe above and one on each side, where is 
 
716 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 •also a stout spine; the antennae only reaching the base of the 
 wing covers, which are dull yellowish gray variegated with 
 black, each with three elevated lines, the outer two uniting at 
 their tips. See Harris’s Treatise, page 102. 
 
 242 . Wood-engraver bark-beetle, Tbmicus xylographus, Say. (Colcoptora. 
 
 Scolytidie.) 
 
 In the outer surface of the sap wood and inner layers of the 
 bark, mining a long slender thread-like track, usually straight, 
 lengthwise, four to eight inches long, from which numerous 
 smaller short tracks branch off mostly at right angles; a small 
 bark-beetle 0.12 long, which comes abroad mostly in May, of a 
 chestnut color, the declivity at the tip of its wing covers having 
 four or five minute projecting teeth upon each side. 
 
 This, like the other bark beetles, has a compact cylindrical 
 body at least three times as long as broad, with the thorax 
 forming almost half of the entire length and having the head 
 deeply sunk in its anterior end and almost hid. Their antenna? 
 are quite small and are composed of a long basal joint which 
 becomes thicker towards its tip and is followed by five very 
 small joints surmounted by a large round flattened club which 
 is divided by sutures into three or four segments. 
 
 This species is glossy and beurded with fine hairs. Its thorax is shagrecned 
 anteriorly with minute elevated points which farther back become less dense, 
 and the basal half is covered with fine punctures, with a smooth line above 
 along the middle from the centre backwards. The wing covers have rows of 
 coarse punctures and minute ones on the interstices between these rows, and 
 their tips are abruptly declined as though cut or gnawed off, the outer margin 
 of this declivity having four or five small projecting teeth upon each side, ft 
 is usually chestnut colored, with the antenna: and legs paler, but individuals 
 may be met with of the following varieties: 
 
 Variety a, nigricollis. Thorax black. 
 
 b, niger. Thorax and wing covers black. 
 z,Julvus. Thorax and wing covers pale yellowish. 
 
 The wood-engraver bark-beetle is the most common and pro¬ 
 bably the most pernicious of all the insects infesting the forests 
 of white pine in the State of New-York, and of yellow pine ( P. 
 varialilis ) in the states south of us; and we are surprised that 
 no notice of this important depredator is contained m Hr. Har- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 717 
 
 PINE. TRUNK 
 
 ris's Treatise. Whilst it is old and decaying or dead trees that 
 most of the larger borers which we have described above attack, 
 this small insect is liable to invade trees that are in full health 
 and vigor, those that are young as well as old, mining beneath 
 the bark and loosening it from the wood, so completely separa¬ 
 ting it that it breaks off in large pieces. Frequently, on eleva¬ 
 ting this loosened bark, its inner layers and the whole outer sur¬ 
 face of the wood is found plowed in every direction, and the fur¬ 
 rows are so intricate and confused that it is impossible to follow 
 the track which any one individual has traveled. Butin places 
 where they have been less numerous, the work which each in¬ 
 sect has performed is distinctly marked and is so regular and 
 artistic in its appearance as to have suggested to Mr. Say the 
 name of the wood-engraver as a most appropriate designation for 
 this beetle. The cut on the following page is an exact copy of 
 the tracks made by one of these beetles and its young, tlieir 
 natural size. It will be seen to consist of a main central track 
 running nearly straight, from which numerous-smaller short ones 
 branch off at nearly right angles. Though I have not observed 
 the habits of these insects sufficiently to be perfectly certain 
 respecting all the points in their operations, the course they 
 pursue in forming these tracks appears to be as follows: The 
 female having selected a situation which will furnish suitable 
 sustenance to her young, bores through the bark to the outer 
 surface of the wood, and then mines a passage between the bark 
 and the wood, in a straight line lengthwise of the tree or limb 
 where no obstructions occur to cause her to deviate from her 
 course. The male probably accompanies her and shares with 
 her in this labor, each working by turns. Thus a long slender 
 cylindrical gallery is formed, which is excavated about equally 
 in the outer surface of the wood and in the inner layers of the 
 bark. In some instances, two, three or even six tracks will be 
 seen to start from one point, running in opposite directions, but 
 always lengthwise of the tree or limb, and with lateral branches 
 so similar to those in the figure, thatT am in doubt whether they 
 are the work of this or one of the other species which belong to 
 this tree. Upon each side of the main track, little notches are 
 excavated at intervals, whilst the work is in progress, similar 
 
718 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 to those represented in our figure of the tracks of the Pinebark- 
 beetle on a succeeding page, though larger than those, being 
 
 TRACKS OP TUB WOOD-ENGRAVER BARK-DEETLE. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 719 
 
 PINK. TRUNK. 
 
 about equal to the width of the track in their length, but less in 
 their width, and having their outer ends evenly rounded. In 
 each of these notches from one to four eggs are placed. And 
 as the beetles mine their way onwards, the fine dust which they 
 form probably becomes strewed along the track behind them. 
 Then, as they travel backwards and forwards in the burrow 
 from time to time, the little stiff hairs with which their bodies 
 are bearded, serve as a brush to sweep this dust into these late¬ 
 ral openings. Thus the mouths of these notches become filled 
 and the eggs therein covered and concealed from any predace¬ 
 ous insect which may enter the burrow after the parent has 
 completed her work and before the eggs have hatched and the 
 young have mined their way beyond the reach of such enemies. 
 The female continues her operations until her stock of eggs is 
 exhausted, forming a burrow from four to eight inches or more 
 in length. 
 
 The eggs of this beetle are about 0.025 long, of a broad oval 
 6hape and a watery white color. They may be met with in 
 their newly formed burrows beneath the bark the fore part of 
 June. They probably hatch in ten to twenty days, according 
 to the temperature of the atmosphere at this time. The infan¬ 
 tile larva is invariably found lying with its back towards the 
 sawdust with which the notch in which it is bred is filled, its 
 mouth being thus brought in contact with the soft innermost 
 layer of the bark at the extremity of the notch—the elastic 
 nature of the sawdust probably aiding in pressing its mouth 
 against its destined nourishment. Thus it has only to part its 
 jaws and close them together again to fill its mouth with food. 
 And by repetitions of this motion a cavity is gradually formed 
 between the bark and the wood, into which its head sinks, and 
 afterwards its body. This cavity consequently takes a direc¬ 
 tion outwards at right angles with the central burrow. And 
 thus the larva eats its way onward until it has obtained its 
 growth, forming hereby a gallery varying in its length from 
 about one to three inches, as the material consumed has been of 
 a quality more or less nutricious, and winding and turning 
 where impediments have been encountered or the track of an¬ 
 other larva has been approached. Many of these lateral 
 
 I 
 
720 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINK. TRUNK. 
 
 galleries, however, end abruptly before they are half completed, 
 the worm having been destroyed by insect enemies or some 
 other casualty. And it is curious to notice how these little 
 creatures respect the territory which is already in possession 
 of another, changing their course to avoid any encroachment 
 thereon; and if one of them finds himself so surrounded and 
 hemmed in by other tracks that it becomes impossible for him 
 to refrain from encountering them, he so shapes his course as to 
 cross his neighbor's road as nearly as possible at right angles 
 instead of obliquely, thus intruding thereon as little and for as 
 short a time as possible. Sometimes also two females happen 
 to excavate their galleries parallel with each other, and so near 
 that no adequate space remains between them for their young 
 to mine their burrows, the beetles having been unaware of their 
 proximity, no doubt, until too much labor had been expended 
 to admit either one to abandon the ground and go elsewhere. In 
 such cases the eggs are all placed along the outer side of each 
 gallery, and thus the larvse all mine their way outward in oppo¬ 
 site directions to each other. 
 
 The larva is a plump soft white worm, broadest anteriorly, 
 and with its body bent into an arch or having its tail turned 
 paitially inward under the breast. By transverse impressed 
 lines it is divided into thirteen segments, the head being counted 
 as one. Its head is polished and white, at least during the first 
 periods of its life, with its maudibles chestnut brown, and no 
 indications of eyes, and no feet, but with their places supplied 
 by two small round retractile teat-like protuberances on the 
 under side of each of the three segments next to the head. 
 Having completed their growth, they sink themselves into the 
 wood to repose during their pupa state. The small round hole 
 which they perforate in the wood for this purpose, is seen at or 
 near the outer end of each burrow in which tho worm has lived 
 to reach maturity. 
 
 Hie pupa resembles the perfect insect in its size and shape, 
 with the rudimentary legs and wings enclosed in sheaths and 
 appressed to the outer surface of its body in front. After tak¬ 
 ing on its perfect form it perforates a small round hole through 
 the bark and comes out from the tree. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 721 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 This and the other bark beetles of the pine have numerous 
 insect, enemies which wage incessant war upon them. Various 
 species of small beetles pertaining to the families Staphylinidce , 
 Histeridce, &c., are always to be met with under the loose 
 worm-eaten bark of pines, and M. Perris has ascertained that 
 these insects resort to this situation for the purpose of rearing 
 their young, their larvm being predaceous and subsisting upon 
 the larvae and pup® of the bark beetles. 
 
 243 . Fine-writing bark-beetle, Tbmicus calligraphus, Germar. 
 
 Under the bark of the pitch pine and other species of pine, 
 mining long and often zigzag tracks lengthwise of the tree, these 
 tracks having short, coarse, irregular branches; a chestnut-brown 
 bark-beetle 0.18 to 0.22 long, cloathed with numerous yellowish 
 gray hairs, its thorax rough anteriorly from close elevated points, 
 and punctured posteriorly, its wing covers with rows of coarse 
 punctures, their tip broadly excavated as though with a gouge- 
 chisel, the surface of this excavation rough from coarsish punc¬ 
 tures, and its margin on each side with five or six small unequal 
 teeth. Appearing mostly in the month of May. 
 
 This species was originally named exesus, or the excavated 
 bark-beetle, in allusion to the tips of its wing covers, in the old 
 Catalogue of Rev. P. V. Melsheimer, under which name a short 
 account of it was published by Mr. Say, in the year 1826. Ger¬ 
 mar, however, .had described it two years before, under the 
 name calligraphus , meaning elegant writer, which name it must 
 retain, although not happily chosen, the tracks which this beetle 
 forms under the bark being coarse, irregular, confused, and far 
 less beautiful than those of many of the species of this genus. 
 
 It is in the pitch pine that this beetle mostly occurs in the 
 State of New-York, but I have also met with it in the limbs of 
 aged white pines, and farther south it is common in the yellow 
 pine. Its burrow is somewhat like that of the preceding species, 
 consisting of a single long furrow extending lengthwise of the 
 tree or limb, from six to twelve inches in length, but it is less 
 straight in this species, being usually curved more or less, and 
 according to accounts it is often perfectly zigzag. The same 
 
 notches are formed along its sides as noticed in the foree-oiim 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] 46 
 
722 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 species, in which the eggs are deposited; hut the lateral bur¬ 
 row's which branch from the central one have no regularity 
 whatever to them, being given off sometimes obliquely and 
 sometimes at right angles, sometimes abruptly widening into a 
 broad irregular flat cavity, and sometimes continuing of the 
 samo width through their whole length, either straight, irregu¬ 
 larly w'avy or tortuous, turning here and there, wherever an 
 unoccupied space occurs into which they can be extended. 
 These branches are usually of the same width v'ith the central 
 gallery, and like it are furrowed equally deep in the outer sur¬ 
 face of the w T ood and the inner surface of the bark. The pupa 
 state is passed in a cell excavated in the bark, and not in the 
 w'ood, as in the foregoing species, and when changed into a 
 beetle this cell is extended onwards through the bark for the 
 escape of the insect. Being a larger species than the preceding 
 the galleries which it excavates, and the holes it perforates 
 through the bark, are proportionally larger. Several dead in¬ 
 dividuals may usually be found in the galleries of this as of the 
 other species. 
 
 244. Pine bark-beetle, Tomicus Pini, Say. 
 
 From a common centre excavating several broad shortish gal¬ 
 leries lengthwise of the trunk in opposite directions, resembling 
 the spread fingers of a hand ; a bark-beetle very similar to the 
 preceding but of a smaller size, measuring only 0.15 in length, 
 and with but four small teeth on each side of the concave de¬ 
 clivity at the tips of its wing covers, and usually showing more 
 or less distinctly an impressed line along the middle of the hind 
 part of its thorax. 
 
 The tracks formed by this insect are so different from those 
 of the other species that they are recognised at a glance. They 
 occur under the bark of old trees of the white pine, and have 
 some resemblance to the fingers of a hand spread apart, or to 
 the track of a bird. From a common centre they run off in op¬ 
 posite directions up and down the tree, lengthwise of the grain, 
 mdderately diverging or nearly parallel with each other, appear¬ 
 ing, when the bark is stripped off, like linear grooves in the 
 outer surface of the wood and inner surface of the bark. They 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 123 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 are about 0.10 wide and 1.50 to 2.00 long, all belonging to the 
 the same cluster being of nearly equal length. Along the sides 
 of these grooves several short sinu¬ 
 ous excavations or notches appear, 
 in which the eggs have been placed, 
 where they would remain undis¬ 
 turbed by the beetle as it crawled 
 backwards and forth through the 
 gallery. The accompanying figure 
 is a representation of one of the 
 clusters of these tracks, copied 
 from the surface of the wood. In 
 this instance the commencement of 
 some of the galleries and the prin¬ 
 cipal part of the lower one on the 
 right hand had been excavated 
 wholly in the bark and thus made 
 no mark upon the wood. 
 
 M. Perris has ascertained that 
 with the European T Laricis , which 
 excavates several galleries from a 
 common centre like the insect now before us, a male beetle is 
 found in each of the galleries, whilst only one female is associ¬ 
 ated with them, she being stationed sometimes alone, in the 
 centre, and at other times in one of the galleries in company 
 with the male. And from his observations it appears that these 
 galleries are excavated by the males, each of them being the 
 work of one individual, whilst the female supplies the whole of 
 them with eggs. 
 
 As there are no. lateral galleries branching off from these 
 main ones, I infer that the young of this insect move and feed 
 along the sides of the galleries in which they are born, and that 
 thus these galleries become widened and broad as we find them, 
 their width being much greater than those of the other species, 
 although tho insect is but the usual size. 
 
724 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 245 . Little bark-beetle, Tomicus pusillus, Harris. 
 
 Under the bark of small sapling pines, mining exceedingly 
 fine slender wavy burrows running in every direction; a cylin¬ 
 drical chestnut brown bark-beetle much smaller than any of our 
 other species, measuring only 0.06 in length, its surface shining 
 and pierced with small deep punctures which on the wing 
 covers are placed in close rows, the thorax but half as long as 
 the wing covers and rough anteriorly from dense minute ele¬ 
 vated points, the middle of the outer edge of the wing covers 
 showing a slight concavity, the declivity at their tips with a 
 moderate excavation formed by a smooth longitudinal groove 
 upon each side of the suture, the suture itself being elevated and 
 having on each side of it an impressed line in which are minute 
 punctures, the outer margin of the declivity with numerous fine 
 bristles, but without any projecting teeth, and the tips of the 
 wing covers drawn out into a very small acute point. 
 
 This beetle very closely resembles the T. ramulorum of Perris, 
 which mines the small twigs of European pines, but it is evi¬ 
 dently a distinct species. It was described by Dr. Harris in 
 the Transactions of the Natural History Society of Hartford, 
 Conn., vol. i, p. 82, from a specimen imperfectly displayed, 
 which he met with in the collection of Mr. Halsey, but he had 
 no knowledge of its habits. And this I believe is the only 
 notice of this insect which has hitherto appeared. Its minute 
 size has probably caused it to be overlooked by collectors, 
 although it is so common that the bark of dead young pines 
 which are two inches in diameter or less, can seldom be broken 
 away without coming upon its tracks, with some of the dead 
 insects in them. Its tracks are readily distinguished from those 
 of other species by their extreme slenderness, and being packed 
 with fine white sawdust they resemble a tangled mass of small 
 threads lying upon the surface of the wood. On coming to 
 inspect them particularly, small irregular cavities will be 
 noticed, one of which is represented by a knot-like appearance 
 towards the lower part of the following figure on the right side. 
 This cavity is appropriately termed the nuptial chamber by 
 French and German writers. From it there are usually four 
 galleries leading off in opposite directions and running obliquely 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 125 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 to the grain of the wood, but curving, commonly, till they obtain 
 a longitudinal direction. And from these numerous smaller 
 and irregular wavy galleries branch off, at right angles or nearly 
 so, and overspread the whole surface with a seemingly confused 
 multitude of little furrows. The bark being quite thin in the 
 young trees to which these beetles resort, their galleries are 
 excavated mostly in the wood, the surface of which is deeply 
 grooved whilst only a shallow impression is made on the inner 
 surface of the bark. But at the end of each of the lateral 
 galleries, a deep cavity will be noticed, sunk in the bark, in 
 which cavities the insects repose during their pupa state. 
 
 The accompanying figure of the tracks of these beetles hand¬ 
 somely illustrates some of the facts which have already been 
 stated above under the Wood-en¬ 
 graver bark-beetle, and it may in¬ 
 terest the reader to notice some of 
 the habits of these insects as shown 
 by this figure. In its upper half 
 two leading galleries are seen run¬ 
 ning parallel with each other and 
 so near together that no adequate 
 space exists between them for any 
 young larvae to form their burrows 
 there without encroaching upon each 
 other or crossing the tracks already 
 made. The parent beetles appear 
 to have been aware of this and ac¬ 
 cordingly so disposed of their eggs 
 that all their young with but two or three exceptions mined 
 outwards, traveling away from each other. Again, on the outer 
 side of the left gallery two notches are observed, in which no 
 eggs appear to have been placed, the parent beetle probably 
 perceiving, wliat the figure indicates, that there was not suitable 
 room to the left of these notches to duly accommodate all of the 
 other larvae that would traverse that spot. Furthermore, it will 
 be noticed that of the burrows leading off to the right, above 
 the large knot or nuptial chamber, the worm which excavated 
 the fourth one, soon after commencing his journey, perceived 
 
726 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 that the course he was pursuing would run his track into that 
 of the third one. He hereupon abruptly alters his course, hear¬ 
 ing directly away from the track of this neighbor until he has 
 attained a suitable distance therefrom, and he then travels for¬ 
 ward again, keeping at this exact distance from his neighbor’s 
 path. But this soon brings him into proximity with another 
 neighbor upon the other side ; and he now becomes aware of 
 the fact that he is between two paths that are approaching each 
 other, and that will consequently come so near together forward 
 of him that he cannot proceed onward without running into one 
 or the other of them. In this dilemma, to encroach the least 
 that is possible upon his neighbors, he makes an abrupt turn so 
 as to go square across one of these tracks. But this only serves 
 to bring him into similar proximity with another track, and 
 after this comes another and another; and now he reaches a 
 fifth one, running in a different direction, requiring another 
 alteration of his course to cross it at right angles. But we need 
 not follow this subject further. Others also of these galleries 
 when carefully inspected will be found scarcely less curious. 
 How wonderful is nature, that thus presents an interesting sub¬ 
 ject for our study in each particular track an inch or two in 
 length which a family of little worms make as they eat their 
 way along in the bark of a. tree, the parenchyma of a leaf, or 
 elsewhere! How marvellous, that in such minute and seem¬ 
 ingly unimportant and insignificant operations we invariably 
 meet with so much to admire ! 
 
 240* Pine tiaiber-beetle. Tomicus materiarius , new species. 
 
 In the interior of the sap wood, mining slender straight cylin¬ 
 drical burrows in a transverse direction, parallel with the outer 
 surface, from which very short straight lateral galleries branch 
 off at right angles above and below ; a rather slender cylindri¬ 
 cal black shining bark-beetle, 0.15 long, with pale dull yellow 
 legs and antennae, the fore part of its thorax and of its wing covers 
 tinged with reddish yellow; the thorax equaling two-thirds the 
 length of the wing covers, with a small elevated tubercle in the 
 middle, forward of which it is rough from minute elevated points, 
 the wing covers with rows of minute punctures, their tips round- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 727 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 ed, the upper part of the declivity with a shallow longitudinal 
 depression or groove along the suture, forming a slight notch. 
 
 The insects belonging to the genus Tomicus and kindred genera 
 of the same family by their habits divide themselves into two 
 distinct groups. The larger portion of them reside in or imme¬ 
 diately beneath the bark of different trees and are currently 
 termed bark-beetles. But this designation is inappropriate for 
 another portion of them which dwell in the interior of the wood, 
 and there excavate their galleries. The name timber-beetles 
 appears to be the most appropriate for these. Another point 
 in which, from the observations of M. Perris, these two groups 
 appear to differ in a remarkable manner, is the relative numbers 
 of the two sexes. With the bark-beetles there are commonly 
 several males in company with but one female, and the former 
 appear to perform the chief part of the labor in the excavation 
 of their galleries. With the timber-beetles, on the other hand, 
 the femalos are much the most numerous, and probably mine 
 their galleries without any assistance from the other sex. M. 
 Perris states of one of the species, that upwards of fifty females 
 were met with in the burrows they had excavated, without a 
 single male being found there. 
 
 It is the habit of these timber-beetles to penetrate the tree in 
 a straight line, passing inwards through the bark and into the 
 sap wood to a depth of from half an inch to two inches, and 
 then abruptly turning they extend their burrow in another 
 straight line parallel with the outer surface and at right angles 
 with the fibres of the wood, for a length of two to six inches. 
 The only instance in which the burrow of the species now under 
 consideration has come under ray notice, was recently, in a billet 
 of stove wood, which unfortunately did not contain the extreme 
 end of the gallery. The annexed cut is an exact representa¬ 
 tion of this burrow, in which a 
 live and a dead beetle were 
 
 found, both of them females, 
 
 and the only specimens of this ^ - 1 n r== 
 
 species which have come under Ul 
 
 my observation. The transverse burrow was excavated in the 
 sap wood at the depth of half an inch from its outer surface. 
 
728 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEVV-YORK 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 Near its middle it was crossed by another perforation extend- 
 from the outside directly towards the heart of the tree, which 
 is indicated by a black dot in the figure ; and at this point the 
 burrow curved slightly outwards towards the exterior surface, 
 as represented in the section above the principal figure in the 
 cut; and at its end on the left where it passed out of the billet 
 of wood it commenced curving inwards towards the heart of the 
 tree. Twelve lateral burrows of the same diameter as the trans¬ 
 verse one extended upwards and two downwards, as shown in 
 the figure, all of the same length, each one having been exca¬ 
 vated probably by a single larvae. The gallery of our insect 
 thus differs widely from that of the European species (T. eury- 
 gaster, Erichson) which mines in the interior of the pine, which 
 has no lateral burrows branching off from it. 
 
 The presence of these timber beetles in the wood can be dis¬ 
 tinguished from those which mine under the bark, by the littlo 
 piles of sawdust which they throw out at the mouth of their bur¬ 
 rows, this dust being so much more white and clean, and not com¬ 
 posed in part of the brown or rust colored particles of gnawed bark 
 which are intermixed with the dust produced by the bark-beetles. 
 
 In addition to the short description of this beetle which is given above, it 
 may be observed that the head is finely punctured, the punctures on the face 
 giving out small pale yellowish hairs, whilst those on the vertex or crown are 
 destitute of hairs, and there is a slight transverse elevation of the surface be¬ 
 tween the face and the vertex, from which an elevated smooth line extends 
 backwards along the middle of the vertex. Thorax, when viewed from above, 
 with its base transverse and rectilinear, its basal angles rectangular, its oppo¬ 
 site sides parallel for a distance equalling the length of the base, and from 
 thence rounded in a semicircle at its anterior end; its surface anteriorly with 
 minute asperities, which, viewed vertically, appear like fine transverse wrinkles; 
 its basal half with very minute punctures, and in its centre a small transverse 
 tubercle. Wing covers with fine shallow punctures in rows; the upper part 
 of the apical declivity moderately depressed in the middle, producing a slight 
 concavity in its outline when viewed from above anteriorly, the suture not ele¬ 
 vated in this depression, but showing a slightly impressed line along each side; 
 the hind end bearded with hairs similar to those upon the front. Under side 
 black, the legs and antennae pale dull yellow. 
 
 247 . Boring IIyi.urgus, Iltjlurgus terebrans, Olivier. (Colcoptera Scoly- 
 tidas 
 
 Perforating larger boles in the bark than any of the preced¬ 
 ing bark-beetles, and mining curved galleries in every direction 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 *729 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 in the inner layers of the bark, and slightly grooving the outer 
 surface of the wood; a cylindrical light chestnut red or yel¬ 
 lowish fox-colored beetle 0.23 to 0.33 long, bluntly rounded at 
 each end, thinly clothed with yellowish hairs, its thorax nar¬ 
 rowed anteriorly and with coarseisli shallow punctures, and a 
 slightly raised line along the middle, at least on the posterior 
 half, a faint blackish line along the middle of the upper part 
 of the head, and its wing covers rough, with rather shallow 
 furrows in which are coarse indistinct punctures. Appearing 
 abroad early in May, numerous in pine forests and in lumber 
 and mill yards. Its larvie common under the thick bark of 
 pine logs and stumps; a yellowish white footless grub thinly 
 clothed with yellowish hairs, and divided into thirteen seg¬ 
 ments, its head polished and horny, of a tawny yellow color 
 with the mouth black, and the neck having on each side, above, 
 a large polished spot tinged with tawny yellow. See Harris’s 
 Treatise, page 75. 
 
 Neither the description of Olivier nor that of Dr. Harris clearly 
 designates this species, and it is chiefly from its size and its 
 commonness that I feel assured this must be the insect to which 
 they refer. And I know not what the Hylurgus rufipennis of 
 Kirby, which is indicated as being common through New-York 
 and British America, can be, unless it is this same species, 
 faultily described from discolored specimens. 
 
 248 . Pine Hylastes, Hylastes Pinifex, new species. (Coleoptera. Scoly- 
 tidse.) 
 
 A beetle which closely resembles the preceding and is fre¬ 
 quently met with in company with it upon pine lumber in mill 
 yards early in May, requires to be noticed in this place. I am 
 unable to find any description of this species, although it is so 
 common it can scarcely have been overlooked by authors till 
 this time. It is the Hylastes Pinifex, or the pine-destroying 
 Hylastes of my cabinet. Its habits arc doubtless very similar 
 to those of the Boring Hylurgas, but the beetle is always 
 slightly smaller, measuring 0.20 in length, and is darker colored, 
 being deep chestnut red or sometimes black tinged with chest¬ 
 nut. It moreover is destitute of the hairiness of that species, 
 having only a thin fine short beard on the hind part of its wing 
 
730 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 covers. Its thorax and wing covers have the same sculpture 
 with that. Its head shows no line along the middle, except 
 upon the upper lip where is a slender short elevated one which 
 ends before it reaches a slight transverse depression which 
 crosses the lower part of the face. Its body beneath is black, 
 the legs dark chestnut with the thighs commonly black. It 
 moreover differs generically from the preceding in having seven 
 instead of but four small joints in its antennas between the long 
 club-shaped basal joint and the knob at the tip, which knob is 
 shaped like an egg and is divided by transverse lines into four 
 short joints. Its shanks also have only fine denticulations along 
 their outer edge near the tip, in place of the coarse saw-like 
 teeth which are seen in the foregoing insect. It thus pertains 
 to the genus Hylastes of Erichson. 
 
 249. Coal-black Hylastes, Hylastes carbonarius, new species. 
 
 A beetle so closely like the preceding that it merits to be noticed in con¬ 
 nection therewith, is the Hylastes carbonarius of my cabinet. It is 0.20 long, 
 of a pure black color, except its feet and antennae which are chestnut red. Its 
 face shows no transverse depression inferiorly, but has an elevated line along 
 the middle, reaching a third of its length. The smooth line along the middle 
 of the thorax is less distinct than in the foregoing species, being slightly if at 
 all elevated, and the punctures of this part are more coarse. Its wing covers 
 are not bearded posteriorly, and its general form is plainly more narrow and 
 slender than that of the Pine Hylastes. The only specimen I have seen was 
 captured the middle of July, in the yard in front of my dwelling. 
 
 250. Pales weevil, Hylobius Pales, Herbst. (Coleoptera. Curculionidae.) 
 
 A large dark chestnut colored or black weevil 0.30 to 0.40 
 long, sprinkled over more or less with dots whereof one on the 
 middle of the outer side of the wing covers is more bright, 
 these dots being formed by fine short yellowish gray hairs. 
 Quite common in May and June among pine trees and in mill 
 yards and on piles of pine lumber; with its long cylindrical 
 snout perforating the bark and crowding an egg into the hole, 
 the larva from which, similar in its appearance to that of the 
 white pine weevil No. 255, fully described on a following page, 
 burrows beneath the bark, loosening it from the wood. See 
 Harris’s Treatise, p. Gl. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 131 
 
 PINE. TRUNK. 
 
 251 . Pitch-eating weevil, Hylobius picivorus, Schonherr. 
 
 A black weevil very similar to the preceding but destitute 
 of any spots or dots, and having the same habits. This occurs 
 in the southern part of our State, and becomes common farther 
 south, but I have never met with it to the north of Albany. 
 See Harris’s Treatise, p. 62. 
 
 252 . White-horned Urocerus, Urocerus albicornis, Fabricius. (Ilymen- 
 
 optera. Uroceridse.) 
 
 [Plate iii, fig. 2.] 
 
 A large black four-winged fly an inch long, having some 
 resemblance to a wasp, but with a stout cylindrical body hav¬ 
 ing the head and abdomen closely joined to the thorax, the 
 base of the shanks and of the feet white, and also the antenna) 
 except at their ends, and a spot behind each eye and another on 
 each side of the abdomen, the wings smoky transparent. The 
 abdomen ends in a point shaped like the head of a spear, below 
 which is a straight awl-like ovipositor, about 0.40 long, with 
 which it bores into the tree to deposit its eggs, the worm from 
 which forms winding burrows in the wood, and is of a thick 
 cylindrical form, divided into thirteen nearly equal segments, 
 including the head, which is small, polished and horny, the last seg¬ 
 ment beinglargest of all and ending in a conical horn-like point, 
 and the under side with three pairs of very small legs anteriorly. 
 
 These insects vary considerably in their colors and marks, 
 and the two sexes are very dissimilar. The male, according to 
 Dr. Harris, is black, with a white spot behind each eye, and a 
 flattened rust colored abdomen. See Harris’s Treatise, p. 427. 
 
 253. Yellow-banded Urocerus, Urocerus abdominalis, Harris. 
 
 A four-winged fly similar to the foregoing, about 0.80 long, 
 of a blue-black color, with from two to four of the middle seg¬ 
 ments of its abdomen bright orange yellow, and also a broad 
 band on the antenme and the four forward legs except at their 
 bases, its wings hyaline, tinged at the tips with smoky. There 
 is sometimes a yellow spot behind each eye, and the hind knees 
 and some or all of the joints of the hind feet are usually yellow. 
 My specimens are males, nor has any female answering to this 
 been found, and I am forced to entertain suspicions it is the 
 
732 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TWIGS. 
 
 true male of the preceding species. These insects aro not com¬ 
 mon. See Harris’s Treatise, page 428. 
 
 254. Pine blight, Coccus Pinicorticis, Fitch. (Ilomoptera. Coccidoo.) 
 
 Externally, upon the smooth bark of young trees, patches of 
 white flocculent down-like matter, covering exceedingly minute 
 lice invisible to the naked eye. See Transactions N. Y. State 
 Ag. Soc., 1854, page 871. 
 
 AFFECTING THE TWIGS. ^ 
 
 255. White-pine weevil, Pissodes Strobi, Peck. (Coleoptera. Curculionidse.) 
 
 [Plate iii, fig. 1.] 
 
 In May, depositing numerous eggs in the bark of the topmost 
 shoot of young trees, the larvm from which mine in the wood 
 and pith, causing the shoot to wither and die, hereby occasion¬ 
 ing a crook in the body of the tree at this point; an oblong 
 oval and rather narrow weevil about a quarter of an inch long, 
 of a dull dark chestnut-brown color, with two dots on the 
 thorax, the scutel and a short irregular band back of the mid¬ 
 dle of the wing covers milk white, the wing covers also varie¬ 
 gated with a few patches of tawny yellow. 
 
 This is a common insect in our State, and specimens of it 
 may be found around and upon pine trees at all times of the 
 year, but it is in the month of May that they are abroad in the 
 greatest numbers, and it is chiefly at that time that their eggs 
 are deposited. Young thrifty-growing pines are its favorite 
 resort, and among these it selects those that are most vigorous, 
 and whose topmost shoot has made the greatest advance the 
 preceding year. But I have seen it 'so numerous that not only 
 the topmost shoots of every tree in the grove, but many of the 
 lateral ones also were invaded and destroyed by it. 
 
 It is in consequence of its smooth straight growth to such a 
 lofty height that the pine has been prized beyond any other 
 timber for large buildings and bridges, and is especially valua¬ 
 ble for the masts of ships. So very highly were the American 
 pines esteemed for this last purpose, at an early day, that they 
 were ranked with the precious metals, and a largo portion of 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 733 
 
 PINE. TWIGS. 
 
 the lands of the State of New-York were originally granted by 
 the British crown, with an explicit reservation of “All mines of 
 Gold and Silver, and also all White and other sorts of Pine trees 
 fit for Masts, of the growth of twenty-four inches diameter and 
 upwards at twelve inches from the earth, for Masts for the 
 Royal Navy of us, our heirs and successors,” under the stringent 
 condition that “If they, our said grantees or any of them, their 
 or any of their heirs or assigns, or any other person or persons 
 by their or any of their privity, consent or procurement shall 
 fell, cut down or otherwise destroy any of the Pine trees by 
 these presents reserved to us, our heirs and successors, or 
 hereby intended so to be, without the Royal Lycence of us ’our 
 heirs or successors for so doing first had and obtained, that 
 then, and in any of these cases, this our present grant, and 
 every thing therein contained, shall cease and be absolutely 
 void, and the lands and premises hereby granted, shall revert 
 to and vest in us, our heirs and successors, as if this our pre¬ 
 sent grant had not been made, anything herein before contained 
 to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.” Now the per¬ 
 fect straightness of the pine, which has adapted it so eminently 
 for this important use, and has caused it to be thus valued, 
 depends upon the healthy growth of its leading shoot for a long 
 succession of years. If this leading shoot is destroyed the on 
 ward growth of the tree is checked until one of the lateral 
 shoots starts upward and becomes the leading shoot. But this 
 causes a crook in the body of the treo at the place where this 
 lateral shoot originally arose, and thus the main value of the 
 tree is destroyed. And it would appear to be a spirit of pure 
 malevolence that instigates the White pine weevil to select the 
 leading shoot of this tree in which to deposit its eggs, when its* 
 young can be nourished equally well in the lateral shoots, where 
 they would do little injury, or perhaps would be a direct bene¬ 
 fit to the tree by cutting off the ends of the branches, and thus 
 promoting the upward growth of the main trunk. 
 
 The weevil deposits her eggs in the bark of the topmost shoot 
 of the tree, dropping one in a place at irregular intervals 
 through its whole length. The worm which hatches from 
 lese eggs eats its way inwards and obliquely downwards, till 
 
734 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TWIGS. 
 
 it reaches the pith, in which it mines its burrow onwards a 
 short distance farther, the whole length of its track being only 
 about half an inch. But such a number of young weevils are 
 usually placed in the affected shoots that many of them are 
 cramped and discommoded for want of room.' The worm on 
 approaching the pith often finds there is another worm there, 
 occupying the very spot to which he wishes to penetrate. lie 
 hereupon, to avoid intrusion upon his neighbor turns down¬ 
 ward and completes his burrow in the wood outside of the pith. 
 Those also which enter the pith are often unable to extend 
 their galleries so far as is their custom without running into 
 those of others. When its onward course is thus arrested the 
 worm feeds upon the walls of its burrow, until it obtains 
 the amount of nutriment it requires and is grown to its full 
 size. 
 
 The tree that is attacked continues its growth upward during 
 the fore part of the season as usual, sending out from the sum¬ 
 mit of the shoot that is infested, a leading shoot with a number 
 of lateral branches around its base. But the growth of these 
 new succulent twigs is arrested and they begin to wilt and 
 wither about the middle of July, the worms having by this 
 time become so large and mined and wounded the stalk below 
 to such an extent that its juices are exhausted and it fails to 
 transmit any nourishment to these tender green shoots at the 
 summit, which consequently dry up and perish. 
 
 If the affected shoot be now examined, little oval cells about 
 0.30 long, placed lengthwise of the stalk, will be discovered, all 
 along its centre, so close in some places that their ends are in 
 contact, and in other places more or less widely separated with 
 the intervening space stuffed with sawdust; whilst here and 
 there in the wood on each side of the pith similar cells show 
 themselves. In each of these cavities lies a white glossy worm, 
 its body, soft, plump and curved into an arch, 0.30 long, and 
 not quite a third as broad at its anterior part where it is 
 broadest. 
 
 This larva is divided by transverse constrictions into thirteen segments, 
 including the head, with the breathing pores forming a row of small round 
 tawny yellow dots along each side. Its head is about half tho width of the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 735 
 
 PINE. TWIGS. 
 
 bod}', round, flattened, polished and horn-like, tawny yellow, with an im¬ 
 pressed line along its middle, a faint whitish line on each side parallel with 
 this, and a more distinct transverse arched white line anteriorly, and a minute 
 black dot on each side representing the eye; the mouth darker colored, with 
 the points of the mandibles slightly projecting, these organs being black, tri¬ 
 angular, and with exceedingly minute sharp teeth along their inner edge. The 
 neck has two smooth pale tawny yellow spots above. It has no °feet, but 
 their places are supplied by roundish elevations of the skin on the under side 
 of the three segments next to the head. The surface shows a few very fine 
 short hairs, particularly on the ends. 
 
 1 Iiesc laivas change to pupas and to perfect insects in their 
 cells, the latter coining abroad mostly early in the spring. The 
 short description at the commencement of this account will 
 suffice to distinguish this weevil from all our other species. It 
 varies in its length from 0.20 to 0.30. Dr. Harris thinks they 
 are more than a year in obtaining their growth, hut I am quite 
 confident the eggs deposited in the spring become mature 
 beetles by the following spring or earlier. 
 
 In midsummer, as soon as the shoot in which these insects are 
 nestling becomes withered and dry, the thin bark covering it is 
 commonly sepn to be broken and peeled off in spots, or all its 
 lower part is torn away, and newly perforated holes, larger 
 than the mouths of the burrows of this insect, may be observed 
 here and there in the wood. This is the work of small birds, 
 which are very efficient and serviceable in ferreting out and 
 devouring the larvae and pupae of this weevil. And in addition 
 to these, it has several insect enemies which aid in restraining 
 it from becoming excessively numerous. But notwithstanding 
 the great inroads which are hereby made upon its ranks, this is 
 quite a common insect in every part of our State and country 
 where the pine abounds, deforming these valuable trees and 
 retarding their growth. The proprietor of every grove of young- 
 pines should therefore make it a rule to examine them every 
 yoar, in August or September, and cut or break off the top of 
 every tree that is blighted by these weevils and commit it to 
 the flames. With every shoot that is thus treated, from ten 
 to fifty or more of these weevils will be destroyed, which other¬ 
 wise will come abroad the following year to dwarf and deform 
 a number of the other trees in the same manner. No one, on 
 
73G 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TWIGS. 
 
 casting this subject over in his mind for a moment 01 two, will 
 doubt but that a few hours devoted to such work, or a whole 
 day, should it be required, will be time well spent, and labor 
 that will be amply rewarded. 
 
 Pine moths. Equally injurious with the White-pine weevil, 
 though fortunately less numerous, are certain small moths per¬ 
 taining to the family Tortricidce, which appear to be identical 
 in their habits with the Reiinia buoliana and its kindred Euro¬ 
 pean species. These in their larva state erode the bark and the 
 outer surface of the wood, at one of the uppermost whirls of 
 twigs, causing a profuse flow of resinous sap, which, mingled 
 with the castings of the worm, concretes and forms a covering, 
 which hides and protects the depredator, as he continues his 
 work, often completely girdling the main stalk and the bases of 
 the branches which are given out at the same point, llicse 
 large masses of hardened turpentine around and below the bases 
 of some of the upper limbs may 'be noticed in every grove of 
 young pines. The leading shoot is hereby often destroyed and 
 the tree deformed similarly to the operations of the W hite-pine 
 weevil. But I have not yet observed these moths sufficiently 
 to attempt drawing up a history and description ot them. 
 
 256- White-pine Aphis, Lachnus Strobi, Fitch. (Homoptera. Aphidoe.) 
 
 Colonies of plant-lice on the ends of the branches, puncturing 
 them and extracting their juices, the bark of the infested trees 
 having a peculiar black appearance; numbers of ants in company 
 with them, and traveling up and down the trunks of the trees 
 which they inhabit. The winged individuals 0.20 long to the 
 tips of their wings, black, hairy, and sometimes slightly dusted 
 over with a white meal-like powder, with a row of white spots 
 along the middle of the abdomen, the thighs dull pale yellow at 
 their bases, and the fore wings hyaline, with black veins, of 
 which the forked one is exceedingly fine and slender. The 
 wingless individuals far more numerous, 0.12 long, brownish 
 black with a white line along the middle of the thorax am 
 white spots along each side of the abdomen which are sometimes 
 faint or wanting, the antennas pale with their tips black. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 737 
 
 PINK. TWIGS. 
 
 The fluctuations which occur from time to time in the numbers 
 of the plant-lice and the bark-lice are vory remarkable. Three 
 and four years since these parasites abounded on almost every 
 kind of tree and herb in my neighborhood. The pines were 
 everywhere thronged with this species. The present summer I 
 have searched in vain for a colony of these insects; and other 
 vegetation appears to bo equally clean and free from vermin of 
 this kind. 
 
 In autumn winged individuals of this species having the third 
 vein of their wings but once forked are so common that on some 
 occasions nearly half the specimens I have gathered have prov¬ 
 ed to be thus abnormal ; and I was hereby misled by the first 
 specimens I examined, which, happening to be of this variety, 
 induced me to regard this species as intermediate between and 
 pai taking of the characters of both the genera Eriosoma and 
 Lachnus, as stated in my description in the Catalogue of Ho* 
 moptera in the State Cabinet of Natural History. 
 
 In many instances it is extremely difficult to decide whether 
 the Aphides of this country are or are not identical with those 
 which occur upon similar vegetation in Europe. I entertain 
 strong doubts with respect to the present species being distinct 
 from the Lachnus Pini of Linnaeus. Heretofore, on carefully 
 comparing specimens of these insects with the descriptions of 
 L. Pini , given by Fonscolomb, Walker and others, I have some¬ 
 times been confident they were different, and at other times 
 have been equally confident they were the same. Different 
 colonies appear to vary, and it may be that here, as in Europe, 
 we have more than one species of Lachnus inhabiting the pines. 
 An investigation more extended and thorough than I have yet 
 had an opportunity to give these insects is necessary to settle 
 these doubts. 
 
 257- Parallel spittle-insect, Aphrophora parallella, Say. (ITomoptera. 
 
 Cercopidse.) 
 
 In June, a spot of white froth, resembling spittle, appearing 
 upon the bark near the ends of the branches, hiding within it a 
 small white wingless insect having six legs, which punctures 
 and sucks the fluids of the bark, and grows to about a quarter 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] 47 
 
738 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OP' NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. TWIGS. 
 
 of an inch in length by the last of that month, and then becomes 
 a pupa of a similar appearance, but varied more or less with 
 dusky or black, and with rudimentary wings resembling a vest 
 drawn closely around the middle of its body; the latter part of 
 July changing to its perfect form with wings fully grown, and 
 then no longer covering itself with foam, but continuing to the 
 end of the season, puncturing and drawing its nourishment from 
 the bark as before. The perfect insect a flattened oval tree- 
 hopper, 0.40 long, with its wing covers held in form of a roof, 
 its color brown from numberless blackish punctures upon a 
 pale ground, a smooth whitish line along the middle of its 
 back, and a small smooth whitish spot in the centre of each 
 wing cover, its abdomen beneath rusty brown. 
 
 The reasons why I regard this species as pertaining to the 
 genus Aphrophora, to which Say had assigned it, instead of the 
 genera in which it has recently been placed, will be found stated 
 under a kindred species in my Third Report, No. 98. 
 
 858. Saratoga spittle-insect, Aphrophora Saratogensis, Fitch. 
 
 A similar insect with the same habits with the preceding, but 
 differing from it in having the punctures uncolored, and the 
 head above with its anterior and posterior margins parallel. It 
 is of a lighter color than the foregoing, being pale tawny yellow 
 varied with white. It is much more attached to the pitch pine 
 than to the white pine, and is very common upon the small 
 trees of that kind growing upon the sandy plains of Saratoga 
 county. 
 
 AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 
 
 259 Pine Clastoptera, Clastoptera Pini, Fitch. (Homoptera. Ccrcopidas 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and sucking their juices, in July, a small 
 shining broad oval tree-hopper 0.14 long, of a black color, its 
 head pale yellow with a black band on its anterior margin, its 
 thorax prettily sculptured with fine transverse lines and with a 
 pale yellow band anteriorly, its wing covers with a broad 
 hyaline white margin on the outer side, interrupted with black 
 back of the middle and having a shining black dot near the tip, 
 its under sido and legs pale yellow. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 739 
 
 PINE. LEAVES. 
 
 260. Testaceous Clastoptera, Clastoptera testacea, Fitch. 
 
 A similar insect to the preceding, but of a pale yellow color, 
 0.20 long, its scutel darker tawny red or yellow, its wing covers 
 with a shining black dot near the tip, and often with a black 
 dot upon each side of the breast. Appearing upon pines and 
 also on oaks the latter part of July and in August. 
 
 201- White-pine leap-hopper, Bythoscopus Strobi, Fitch. (Homoptera. 
 
 Tettigoniidse.) 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and sucking their juices in May, an 
 oblong tawny yellow or yellowish brown leaf-hopper, 0.20 long; 
 its wing covers inscribed with numerous blackish lines and 
 dots, with a few small spots mostly on the outer margin, and 
 crossed by three broad bluish white bands, its legs pale yel¬ 
 lowish with numerous black dots from which arise small spines. 
 
 2G2- Pine Cixius, Cixius Pini, Fitch. (Homoptera. Fulgoridie.) 
 
 Puncturing the leaves and sucking their juices in May and 
 June, a brownish black four-winged fly, 0.23 long, its thorax 
 diamond-shaped, with three elevated longitudinal lines, its fore 
 wings transparent but not clear and glassy, stained with smoky 
 yellow forming a few transverse spots, their veins white alter¬ 
 nated with numerous black dots, its logs pale with the thighs 
 brown. 
 
 2G3. Vernal DiRApniA, Dimphiavernalis, Fitch. (Homoptera. Psyllidie.) 
 
 Upon the leaves, puncturing them and sucking their juices, 
 a small orange yellow four-winged fly, 0.15 long, with a square 
 flattened head concave on its upper side and with a slight 
 impressed line along the middle its whole length and a small 
 notch in the middle of the anterior edge; the antennae project¬ 
 ing forward from the anterior corners of the head, short and 
 thread-like, of the same length with the head, their basal joint 
 largest and forming one-fourth part of their total length, their 
 tips black and ending in two short fine bristles of unequal 
 length; the fore wings thick and leathery, feebly transparent, 
 dull pale brownish yellow; the breast and hind breast coal 
 black, and the legs dull whitish. 
 
140 
 
 ANNUAL KEPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. LEAVES. 
 
 This, with the four preceding and the following species, were 
 first described in my Catalogue of Homoptera in the State 
 Cabinet of Natural History. At that time I had only met with 
 this insect early in the spring, drowning in vessels of sap under 
 the sugar-maple. I have since beat it from pine leaves, in 
 every month of the year except August and those of winter. 
 The name which I selected for it is therefore an unfortunate 
 one, but cannot now be recalled. 
 
 This species clearly pertains to the genus Diraphia of M. 
 Waga (Annals Soc. Entom. France, vol. xi, p. 215,) and is 
 closely like the species he describes, but differs in its color and 
 in not having the fore wings in the least more dusky at their 
 tips. 
 
 2C4- Black-legged Dirapuia, Diraphia fcmoralis, Fitch. 
 
 This differs from the preceding in having all the thighs of 
 the same deep black color with the breast. It perhaps is only 
 a variety of that species. The only specimen I have yet met 
 with was beat from pine leaves the last of July. 
 
 265. Calamus Diraphia, Diraphia Calamorum, new species. 
 
 In connection with the preceding I may notice two other species pertaining 
 to the same genus, and showing our own country to abound in these insects, 
 much more than Europe. I met with both these species the middle of May in 
 the extensive tracts of sweet flag ( /Icor us Calamus') occupying the banks of 
 the Raritan river two miles below New Brunswick, in New Jersey. 
 
 The Calamus Diraphia is 0.10 long to the tip of the abdomen in the dried 
 specimen, and 0 15 to the tip of the wings. It is paler than the preceding, 
 being of a dull gray or clay color, with the anterior lobes of its head of a red 
 tint, and has no impressed line along the middle of the head. It is black 
 beneath, with the abdomen and legs dull whitish, and in other respects it 
 does not differ perceptibly from the Vernal Diraphia. 
 
 266- Spotted-winged Diraphia, Diraphia maculipennis, new species. 
 
 This is a smaller species, measuring but 0.10 to the tips of its wings, and is 
 tawny red, with the thorax tinged more or less with dusky, the antennae with 
 a broad black, band towards their tips, the anterior wings more short and 
 broad than in any of tho other species, and hyaline with a broad smoky brown 
 band on their tips, a spot back of the shoulder, and some freckles near the 
 margin also smoky brown, the veins, including the marginal, all white alter¬ 
 nated with numerous black rings, the breast and hind breast blackish, and the 
 legs dusky brown tinged more or less with tawny yellow. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 741 
 
 PINK. LEAVES. 
 
 207* Pinb-lrAf Chermks, Chernies Pinijbluz , new species. (Homoptera. 
 
 Aphid®.) 
 
 Stationary upon the leaves, usually towards their ends, punc¬ 
 turing them and sucking their juices, a very small black fly 0.08 
 long to the tip of its abdomen, and 0.12 to the end of its wings, 
 which are dusky gray, its abdomen dusky red and slighty 
 covered with fine cottony down. 
 
 The females of these insects do not extrude their eggs. Cling¬ 
 ing closely to the leaf with their heads towards its base, they 
 die, their distended abdomens appearing like a little bag filled 
 with eggs. The outer skin of the abdomen soon perishes and 
 disappears, leaving the mass of eggs adhering to the side of the 
 leaf, but completely covered over and protected by the closed 
 wings of the dead fly. I have met with the dead females thus 
 adhering to the leaves the first of July, and have noticed the 
 same insects on the leaves in full life and vigor the middle of 
 May. 
 
 The rib vein of the fore wings runs straight to the outer margin forward of 
 the tip, and gives off from its middle on the outer side a very oblique branch 
 which runs to the outer margin, its tip producing a slight angular projection 
 of the edge of the wing, and the whole space on the outer side of the rib vein 
 beyond this branch is more opake than the rest of the wing and of a smoky 
 yellowish color. From its inner side the rib vein sends off three simple 
 oblique veins, the last one of which ends in the extreme tip of the wing. The 
 hind wings have an angular point on their outer side beyond the middle, and 
 a longitudinal rib vein, which, forward of its middle sends off a branch almost 
 transversely inward, its tip curved backward. The antennal are short, thread¬ 
 like, and composed of four or five small joints. It will hence be seen that this 
 insect is a true Chermes—the first species of this genus that has been dis. 
 covered in this country. 
 
 2G8. Pine-leaf scale-insect, dspidiotus Pinifolu e, Fitch. (Ilomoptera 
 Coccidise.) 1 
 
 Fixed upon the sides of the leaves, exhausting them of their 
 juices; small oblong flatfish white scales, with a pale yellow 
 spot upon their pointed end. See Transactions, 1855, page 
 488. 
 
742 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. LEAVES. 
 
 269. Club-horned Capsus, Capsus clavatus, Linnaeus. (Hemiptera. Cap. 
 sidse.) 
 
 In July and August, common on the leaves of this and other 
 trees, puncturing them and subsisting on their juices, a small 
 oblong black bug, 0.20 long, with three silvery white transverse 
 lines on its wing covers, the middle one longest, the middle 
 joint of its antennaB long and towards its tip thickened and 
 black, the last joint slender and white with its tip black, and 
 the hanches of its legs also white. This bug is equally common 
 here as in Europe. Its marks are so peculiar as to remove all 
 doubts of its being one and the same species which inhabits 
 both sides of the Atlantic. 
 
 Several other species of bugs occur upon the pine, but as 
 they are found in greater numbers upon other kinds of vegeta¬ 
 tion, it is scarcely necessary to notice them under this head. 
 
 270- Pine SrniNX, Sphinx Coniferarum, Smith and Abbot. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Sphingid®.) 
 
 Eating the leaves of the pine -and other evergreens, a large 
 cylindrical worm checkered with brown and white spots, with 
 a whitish line along the middle of its back and a short lioin 
 above on its hind part; burying itself in the earth to pass its 
 pupa state, and producing a gray humming-bird moth, 1.75 to 
 2.75 in width across its spread wings, its fore wings with about 
 three narrow indented brownish bands, a spot near the middle, 
 one or two streaks beyond the middle and the veins near the 
 hind margin also brown, its hind wings blackish gradually 
 fading into gray towards the base, their fringe spotted with 
 brown and white, its abdomen gray with the sutures brown. 
 This species is extremely rare in the State of New-York. 
 uxumi 
 
 271. Pine emperor moth, Ceratocampa imperialis, Drury. (Lepidoptera. 
 
 Bombycid®.) 
 
 [Plate iii, fig. 4.] 
 
 Eating the leaves in September, a large cylindrical grass- 
 green worm three inches long and as thick as one’s finger, thinly 
 clothed with soft shortish white hairs, each ring of its body 
 with six elevated polished greenish white dots, the two upper- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 743 
 
 PINK. LKAVE3. 
 
 most ones more elevated, conical and ending in two or three 
 minute prickles, those on the second and third rings always 
 much longer, forming little horns varying from 0.10 to 0.25 in 
 length, wrinkled and of a straw yellow color, its head polished 
 pale lemon yellow with three black stripes, the two outer ones 
 shorter, its hind end with a polished triangular black or blue- 
 black spot in which are several elevated yellowish white dots, 
 and a similar spot on the outer face of each of the hind legs; 
 passing its pupa state a few inches under the ground, and the 
 following June giving out a fine large moth, measuring from 
 3.75 to five inches across its wings, which are of a bright deep 
 buff yellow color sprinkled with blackish dots resembling grains 
 of gunpowder burnt under the skin, their basal fourth part red¬ 
 dish purple, varied with yellow, and a round central spot and 
 beyond this a wavy scalloped band of the same color, that on 
 the fore wings extending from the middle of the inner margin 
 straight to the tip, these wings sometimes wholly reddish pur¬ 
 ple with only a large yellow spot on their outer margin from 
 the middle to the tip, and a yellow cloud opposite it on the 
 inner side. 
 
 Dr. Harris mentions this insect as inhabiting the button wood 
 or sycamore only, but it is certainly the pine on which it is 
 almost invariably found, in the northern states. At the south 
 Abbot says it feeds on the button wood, oak, liquidamber and 
 pine. It is remarkable that trees so widely different in their 
 nature should be relished by this worm. 
 
 272. NipnoN butterfly, Thccla Niphon, Hubner. (Lepidoptcra. Lycenidso.) 
 
 [Plate iii, fig. 6.] 
 
 Feeding upon the leaves in summer, a flattened oval worm, 
 0.75 long when full grown, of the same deep green color as the 
 leaves, with a light yellow stripe along the middle of its back 
 and a white one on each side and a brown head; changing to 
 a short thick grayish pupa with two rows of small blackish 
 spots, and outside of these a row of more conspicuous rust-red 
 ones, which is attached by its tail and by a thread around its 
 middle in form of a loop; giving out a smallish butterfly which 
 comes abroad in April and the fore part of May, 1.00 to 1.15 in 
 
744 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 PINE. LEAVES. 
 
 width across its wings, which are of a dusky rust color and 
 without spots above, paler grayish beneath, the fore ones with 
 a dislocated black band beyond the middle, edged on its hind 
 side with snow white, and beyond this a row of black crescents, 
 each with a white spot in its concavity, and the hind wings simi¬ 
 larly but more complexly variegated. 
 
 Boisduval says, “ This insect lives in Georgia and Florida, on 
 several species of pine, and is very rare and seldom seen in col¬ 
 lections.” It, however, is a common species in the State of New- 
 York, in all our forests where pine trees abound, coming out 
 with the first warm days of spring, before collectors are much 
 abroad in search of insects, and continuing but a short time. 
 
 273. Leconte’s saw-fly, Lophyrus Lecontei, new species. (Hymcnoptcra. 
 
 Tenthredinidse.) 
 
 Clusters of cylindrical, slightly tapering worms with twenty- 
 two legs may occasionally be noticed on pines, particularly those 
 6et in our yards for ornament, stripping the limbs which they in¬ 
 vade of their leaves. They are the progeny of different species 
 of saw-flies pertaining to the genus Laphyrus. One of these, 
 which occurs upon the fir as well as on the pine, the transfor¬ 
 mations of which have been traced by Dr. Harris, will be found 
 described on a succeeding page with the other insects of the fir 
 and spruce. Another kind which 1 have noticed at different times, 
 but have not yet had an opportunity to rear to its perfect state, 
 grows to an inch in length and is white with two rows of oblong 
 square black spots along its back and a row of broader square 
 ones along eacli side, with the head and the six anterior legs 
 also black. When nearly mature these worms are so large that 
 the end of a single leaf of the pine probably furnishes them a 
 very insufficient mouthful, hence two worms often unite, stand¬ 
 ing face to face, and thus hold the five leaves which grow from 
 each sheath on the white pine pressed together in a bundle as 
 they eat them, commencing at the tip and gradually stepping 
 backwards as the leaves become shorter. It is only the old 
 leaves of the previous year’s growth which these worms con¬ 
 sume, never touching the new ones at the outer end of the limb, 
 hence they injure the tree much less than they would were they 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 745 
 
 PINE. LEAVES. 
 
 to strip the limbs they invade of the whole of their foliage. 
 At least two broods of these worms appear annually, the one 
 in July the other in September and October, the latter often 
 remaining on the trees after frosty nights have occurred. 
 Having finished feeding they leave the tree and inclose them¬ 
 selves in cocoons under fallen leaves or other shelter on the 
 surface of the ground, in which they remain during their pupa 
 state. 
 
 In addition to the Lophyrus described by Dr. Harris, four 
 other North American species were described by the late Dr. 
 Leach, the preparatory states of which are not known, but 
 they doubtless feed upon the pine or fir as do all the species of 
 this genus whose habits have been observed. I therefore sub¬ 
 join a brief description of each of these species, as they may 
 perhaps prove to be inhabitants of New-York. 
 
 A sixth species, larger than either of the others, is known to 
 me. This, its size indicates, may very probably be the parent 
 of the worms which I have described above. I name it in 
 honor of our distinguished American entomologist, whose labors 
 have added so vastly to our knowledge of the Coleopterous in¬ 
 sects of our country. 
 
 Leconte’s Lophyrus measures 0.38 to the tip of the abdomen 
 and 0.48 to the end of the wings in the female, and it may at 
 once be distinguished from all our other described species by 
 the joints of its antennae, which are twenty-one in number. It 
 is shining dull tawny yellow, with the antennae black, and also 
 the abdomen and base of the thorax. The under side is paler 
 yellow, with two broad black stripes on the abdomen. The 
 wings are smoky hyaline, their veins black. Captured the 
 middle of May. 
 
 274. American saw-fly, Lophyrus jfmericanus, Leach. 
 
 The female 0.42 long, clay colored with the abdomen darker, 
 the antennae black, with nineteen joints, the thorax spotted 
 with black, and the wings hyaline with the forward pair slightly 
 yellowish at least towards the base. 
 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 746 
 
 PINK. LEAVES. 
 
 275- Abbot’s saw-fly, Lophyrus Abbotii, Leach. 
 
 The female 0.30 long, rust colored, the head, under side and 
 legs clay colored, the antennae black and seventeen-jointed, and 
 the wings hyaline with a slight tinge of yellowish. 
 
 270- Fabricius’s saw-fly, Lophyrus Fabricii, Leach. 
 
 The female 0.30 long, clay colored, the thorax spotted with 
 black, the antennae black and sixteen-jointed, and the wings 
 hyaline with a slight tinge of yellowish. 
 
 277- Partner saw-fly, Lophyrus compar, Leach. 
 
 The female 0.33 long, black with pale shanks and feet, 
 hyaline wings and sixteen-jointed antennae. 
 
 278. Philadelphia Chrysomela, Chrysomela Philadelphica, Linnaeus. 
 
 (Coleoptera. Chrysomclidai.) [Plate iii, fig. 3.] 
 
 Feeding upon the leaves from May till September, a very 
 convex broad-oval beetle about 0.30 long, of a dark bottle-green 
 color with white wing covers sometimes tinged with yellow and 
 having on them numerous spots and dots of dark green with a 
 black line on the suture widened anteriorly and a second line 
 parallel with this on each side, the antennas and legs rusty red. 
 This is also common upon willows, with other species closely 
 similar to it. 
 
 279. Pine Chrysomela, Glyptoscelis hirtus, Olivier. (Coleoptera. Cliryso- 
 
 melidao.) 
 
 Feeding on the leaves in May and Juno, a thick cylindrical 
 beetle resembling the Cloaked Chrysomela, No. 27, but with 
 the pubescence much thinner than in that and the other Ame¬ 
 rican species of this genus. Its color is brassy, more brilliant 
 on the under side and tinged with coppery. The male is 
 usually 0.28 and the female 0.35 long. 
 
 In American collections of insects this is usually ticketed 
 with the name Eumolpus Pint, under which Say described it. 
 But it had long before been named differently by Olivier. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Y4T 
 
 PINE. LEAVES. 
 
 280- White-Necked Pine-beetle, Dichelonycha albicollis, Burmeister. 
 (Coleoptera. Melolonthidse.) 
 
 A small beetle half an inch long or somewhat less and re¬ 
 sembling the Rose bug, No. 50, in its shape but with wing 
 covers of a shining brilliant green, becomes quite common upon 
 pines about the middle of May, eating the leaves, and continues 
 about a month. It may be distinguished from the several 
 other species of tho genus to which it belongs by its thorax 
 having a more distinct but a very shallow groove along its 
 middle. 
 
 This species has a black head with its fore part dull pale yellow. Its thorax 
 is black and is covered with incumbent ash gray or yellowish hairs, but not 
 so close as to hide the ground beneath, whilst the scutel is densely coated 
 with white hairs. The bright green wing covers are dull pale yellow along 
 their outer margin and also on their inner edge. They are rough from con¬ 
 fluent punctures and show (Jirce smooth raised lines on each, running length¬ 
 wise. The legs are pale yellow with the hind feet and inner side of the hind 
 shanks black or blackish, and the fore shanks have at their outer tips two 
 projecting teeth with a small tubercle indicating the place of a third tooth. 
 Its length varies from 0.40 to 0 50. 
 
 281. Pine Anomala, Anomala Pinicola, Melsheimer. (Coleoptera. Melo- 
 lonthidaa.) 
 
 Feeding on the leaves in June and July, beetles resembling 
 the common May beetle, No. 76, but of a much smaller size, 
 being only 0.35 long, black, shining, their wing covers slightly 
 tinged with chestnut with the suture and outer margin broadly 
 black, their antennae pale dull yellowish, and their feet pitchy 
 black. I only know this species from specimens from the south, 
 but as it occurs in Pennsylvania it will probably be found also 
 in our own State. 
 
 2. THE HEMLOCK .—Pinus Canadensis. 
 
 This is much tho most free from insects of any tree in our 
 country. Its thick masses of foliage would appear to present a 
 favorite lurking place for those insects which delight in a 
 deep shade, and the collector is hence often allured to this 
 
748 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 HEMLOCK. 
 
 tree; but it is very seldom that his beating net gathers anything 
 from it. And I have never noticed any perforations made by 
 insect larvrn in the wood or bark of this tree. The Porter 
 Ilylytrupes, No. 238, is however reported to sometimes attack 
 the hemlock. Its bark, oftencr than that of the apple or any 
 other tree, is seen perforated with numerous holes in transverse 
 rows, the work of the downy woodpecker (Picus pubescens, Lin.), 
 and many persons suppose that this bird when it makes these 
 holes is in pursuit of insects or their larvm, lurking in or under 
 the bark. But it is solely for the purpose of regaling itself 
 upon the sweetish sap of the tree that it makes these perfora¬ 
 tions. The larvm of the Pine emperor moth, No. 271, is said 
 to feed upon the leaves of the hemlock as well as those of the 
 pine, and the larvae of some one or another of the smaller moths 
 may occasionally be met with, eating the leaves. The Bound 
 tree-bug, No. 100, and some others akin to it, sometimes occur 
 on this tree, sucking the juices of the leaves it is probable. 
 But what is most remarkable, I have never been able to find 
 any plant-lice or bark-lice upon it, though I cannot but think 
 it has some parasites of this kind belonging to it which future 
 observations will detect. 
 
 3. THE SPRUCE AND FIR. — Pinus (Mies') nigra , alba, ct 
 
 balsamea. 
 
 The Porter nylotrupes, No. 238 ana the Golden Buprestis, 
 No. 223, are recorded as borers in the trunks of these trees. 
 A species of wooly Aphis is frequently located upon the green 
 succulent twigs of the spruces standingin our yards, and I have 
 also met with another plant-louse, pertaining to the genus Lack- 
 nus, in the same situation, but have never been able to find 
 winged individuals, whereby to complete a description of theso 
 two species. The Pine Cixius, No. 2G2, is also detrimental to 
 the leaves of the spruce, as is also the two following insects. 
 
 282- Spruce-tree leaf-hopfer, Atliysanus Abictia, Fitch. (Ilomoptera. 
 
 Tettigonudsa.) 
 
 Puncturing their leaves and extracting their juices the latter 
 part of May and during the month of June, an oblong black 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 749 
 
 SPRUCE. FIR. 
 
 shining leaf-hopper 0.20 long, tapering posteriorly and broadest 
 across the base of the thorax, with a light yellow head having 
 the mouth black and also two bands upon the crown the ends 
 of which are often united, and commonly with a white streak 
 on the middle of the inner edge of the wing covers, its legs be¬ 
 ing pale yellowish varied more or less with black. I first met 
 with several specimens of this insect eleven years since, upon 
 the black spruce and Fir balsam, on the summit of the Green 
 mountains, in an excursion hither with that martyr of science, 
 the late Prof. C. B. Adams. Since then I have repeatedly cap¬ 
 tured this same insect upon birch trees, distant from any 
 spruces, and it is possible it might have been accidentally pre¬ 
 sent on these latter trees in the instance first mentioned, there 
 being numerous birch trees in the same vicinity. 
 
 283 . Fir-tree saw-fly, Lophyrus Abietis, Harris. (Hymenoptera. Ten- 
 thredinidse.) 
 
 In June and July, stripping all the leaves from the ends of 
 particular limbs of the spruce and the pine, clusters of cylindri¬ 
 cal tapering worms with twenty-two feet and otherwise anala- 
 gous to those of the pine, No. 273, but only about half as largo 
 and of a dirty green color with two darker green stripes along 
 the back and two upon each side, their heads and six forward 
 legs black; forming cocoons in crevices and under fallen leaves; 
 the perfect insects appearing in May and again about the first 
 of August; the females larger than the males and measuring 
 0.30 to the tip of the abdomen, of a yellowish brown color with 
 a short blackish stripe on each side of the middle of the thorax, 
 transparent wings, and antennee with nineteen joints. See 
 Harris’s Treatise, p. 411. 
 
 I suspect Dr. Harris’s observations upon this species were 
 not full, and that like the analagous saw-fly which we have 
 noticed on the pine, No. 273, there are two generations of this 
 species annually; for wo are informed that the perfect insect 
 appears in May, producing a crop of worms in June and July, 
 from the cocoons of which the perfect insect come out the last 
 oi the latter month. But Dr. Harris supposes the most of these 
 cocoons remain unhatched through all the hot weather of Au- 
 
750 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 CEDAR. JUNIPER. 
 
 gust and September and the winter succeeding, to give out the 
 flies which appear in May. It is much more probable, however, 
 that the flies all come out of their cocoons about the beginning 
 of August, and like the species we have seen on the pines, pro¬ 
 duce another brood of worms in autumn, which has escaped the 
 notice of Dr. Harris; and it is these which lie in their cocoons 
 through the winter and give out the flies which are met with 
 in May. 
 
 4. THE CEDAR AND JUNIPER .—Juniperus communis , etc. 
 
 The wood of the red cedar (Juniperus communis ) is in high 
 repute as being most repulsive to insects, especially to moths 
 and other vermin which destroy clothing, furs, collections of 
 insects, &c., hence it is prized before all other kinds of wood 
 for the manufacture of drawers and boxes in which such articles 
 are to be stored. And yet this wood has its particular enemies 
 among this class of animals, which, so far from being poisoned 
 are fed and nourished by it. In the Museum of the State Agri¬ 
 cultural Society a specimen of this wood may be seen in which 
 is a large hole bored by some insect, probably a species of wood¬ 
 mining bee, in which to place the cells for nurturing its young. 
 Another, and no doubt the most important enemy of the red 
 cedar, is the first of the following species: 
 
 284 . Cedar bark-beetle, Ilylurgus dentatus, Say. (Coleoptcra. Scolytidio.) 
 
 Perforating small pin-holes through the bark, and between it 
 and the wood excavating long slender burrows with numerous 
 branches leading off therefrom at nearly right angles, similar to 
 those of the Wood-engraver bark-beetle, No. 242; a very small 
 cylindrical dark brown bark-beetle, scarcely the tenth of au 
 inch long, its wing covers rough from little elevated grains 
 which are more prominent towards the hind part, and arranged 
 in rows with impressed lines forming little furrows between 
 them. See Harris’s Treatise, page 77. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 751 
 
 CEDAR. JUNIPER. 
 
 285. Six-spotted Metachroma, Metachroma 6 notaia, Say. (Coleoptera. 
 
 Chrysomelid®.) 
 
 Feeding on the leaves in July, an oblong pale shining beetle, 
 0.15 long, narrower anteriorly and punctured, the punctures 
 in rows on the wing covers, becoming very faint towards their 
 tips, and on each wing cover three black spots, the forward one 
 long and narrow, the other two situated on the middle, parallel 
 and almost in contact, the inner one placed rather farther back. 
 
 286- Facetious Leiopus, Leiopus facetus, Say. (Coleoptera. Cerambycid®.) 
 
 Feeding on the leaves in July, a small black Long-horned 
 beetle 0.18 long, with long slender hair-like tawny yellow an¬ 
 tennas, their basal joint and the tips of two or three following 
 joints black; its thorax with an ash gray stripe on the middle 
 and an oblique one on each side of this, the hind ends of these 
 stripes sometimes uniting and forming a letter W; its wing 
 covers with a large ash gray spot forward of the middle and 
 almost reaching the suture, having in it an oblique triangular 
 black spot, and towards the tip an ash gray band concave on 
 its hind side. 
 
 Mr. Say states that he obtained his specimens from the juni¬ 
 per, but its occurrence thereon was perhaps accidental, as I 
 have found it on apple trees in a section of country where no 
 juniper grows. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing there are probably one or more 
 species of gall-fly belonging to the cedar, producing the roundish 
 galls which we meet with on its leaves and twigs. 
 
 5. THE LARCH or TAMERACK — Finns ( Larix) Americana. 
 
 The Pine bark-beetle, No. 244, is reported to mine the bark 
 and outer surface of the sap wood of the tamerack the same 
 that it does the pine. 
 
 In July and August troops of white caterpillars with black 
 dots and along their backs eight black tufts of hairs, the larvae 
 of the Hickory tussock moth, No. 183, are sometimes found on 
 this tree, nearly stripping the leaves from the limbs which 
 they occupy. 
 
752 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 LARCH. 
 
 287. Larch chbater, Planosa Laricis , Fitch. (Lepidoptera. Bombycidae.) 
 
 On the limbs in June and July, feeding on the leaves; a large 
 flattened ash gray worm resting appressed to and closely re¬ 
 sembling the bark; forming an oblong flattened gray cocoon 
 moulded to the limb and resembling the bark in its color; the 
 latter part of July producing a thick-bodied moth with thin 
 delicate wings, which are almost transparent in the males and 
 1.00 broad, in the females 1.50, and of a white color with faint 
 wavy dusky bands. See Transactions, 1855, page 494. 
 
 288. Larch Aphis, Lachnus Laricifex, new species. (Homoptera. Aphides.) 
 
 Solitary upon the small twigs, stationed in the axils of the 
 tufts of leaves, with its beak sucking the juices that should go 
 to the leaves, a wingless brown plant-louse slightly tinged with 
 coppery, 0.12 long, with a dull white line along the middle of 
 its back and a similar whitish band at the sutures of each of 
 the abdominal segments, in which bands on each side of the 
 middle are three black punctures, the short tubercles on each 
 side of the tip deep black, the under side dull white and dusted 
 with white powder, the legs pale with the feet and knees black 
 and also the apical half of the hind thighs and shanks, and the 
 antennm pale with black tips. 
 
 Many of these lice were noticed on a particular tree the 
 latter part of May, but no winged ones were to be found. Ants, 
 as usual, were guarding them and drinking the honey dew 
 which they ejected. Many of them were accompanied with 
 four or more young, huddled close around the base of the 
 sheath from which the leaves arise. These were scarcely half 
 the length of the parent, of a light dull yellow color with two 
 brown spots above on the base of the abdomen, the legs and 
 antenuaj similarly colored to those of the parent but more pale. 
 
 289. L.uicn CnERMES, Chernies Laricifolice, new species. (Homoptera. 
 
 Aphidae.) 
 
 Solitary and stationary upon the leaves, extracting their 
 juices, small black shining flies 0.10 long, having the abdomen 
 dark green, the legs obscure whitish, the wings nearly hyaline 
 with pale brown veins and the largo stigma-spot upon their 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 753 
 
 LARCH. 
 
 outer margin beyond the middle more opake and pale g’reen. 
 This is closely like the Pine Chermes, No. 267, but has the 
 wings more clear, and differs also in some of the details of its 
 colors. 
 
 [Ac Trans.] 
 
 48 
 
SAY’S HETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 Note. —As I am unable for the reason already stated, to prepare for the pre¬ 
 sent volume of Transactions a sufficient amount of matter to occupy the space 
 which has latterly been assigned to Insects in this publication, I have thought 
 this deficiency might well be supplied by an exceedingly rare tract of the late Mr. 
 Say’s. J see this tract is quoted by Fieber and hence learn there is a copy of it in 
 Germany. Mr. Say also sent a copy to his friend and correspondent Dr. Harris. 
 And these two appear to be the only copies of this tract which are now extant. 
 It would be very unjust to the greatest zoologist America has yet produced, 
 were we, his countrymen, to allow this valuable production, which evidently cost 
 him much labor, to remain thus in oblivion and lost to the world. Through 
 the courtesy of Dr. Harris, I several years since was permitted to make a 
 transcript of his copy, which I now place in the hands of the printer, well 
 knowing that the scientific world will prize this production far higher than 
 anything which my pen is able to furnish, whilst the agricultural and common 
 reader cannot fail to value it, as containing the original descriptions of the 
 Chinch bug, and many other important insects of our country which arc sim¬ 
 ilarly injurious by puncturing and extracting the juices of vegetation. 
 
 This tract was very carelessly printed, and abounds in typographical errors. 
 I have avoided making any correction of these, thinking every one will prefer 
 having this work as nearly as possible in the very form in which it originally 
 appeared. In several instances, letters or words not in the original, are here 
 inserted between brackets, where the text is elucidated hereby. Although the 
 title page bears the date 1831, only the four first pages were printed in that 
 year, as is evident from the reference under P. hilaris on page five, and fre¬ 
 quently in the subsequent pages, to another tract, entitled “ New species of 
 N. Amer. Insects found by J. Barabino,” which was not published till Jan¬ 
 uary, 1832. 
 
 A “Correspondence relative to the insect that destroys the Cotton Plant,” 
 which I believe has never been published except in the New-IIarmony Disse¬ 
 minator newspaper, and which certainly merits to be preserved, is inserted at 
 the end of this tract. A-' F/ 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 755 
 
 SAY’S ni'TEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 Descriptions of new species of HETEROPTEROUS HEMIP¬ 
 TERA OF NORTH AMERICA. BY THOMAS SAY. NEW HARMONY, 
 INDIANA. DECEMBER, 1831. 
 
 Scutellpra, Lam. 
 
 S. viridipunctata, Piceous, with green impressed punctures. 
 
 Inhab. Florida. 
 
 Body entirely piceous or dark reddish, with all the punctures, 
 above and beneath distinctly bright green; thoracic punctures 
 more numerous on the anterior and lateral margins: scutel with 
 a black spot each side before the middle: feet honey yellow. 
 
 Length seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 I obtained two individuals when in East Florida with Mr. 
 Maclure. 
 
 Tetyra, Fab. Leach. 
 
 1. T. marmorata, Variegated ; costal margin with transverse 
 fuscous lines. 
 
 Inhab. New Jersey. 
 
 Body variegated with more or less bright yellow and fuscous; 
 punctures numerous: antehnce pale reddish-brown: scutel with 
 the fuscous color almost reticulate: hemelytra, coriaceous por¬ 
 tion with transverse fuscous lines or spots: ter gum on tho 
 margin with quadrate fuscous spots: feet yellow, with brown 
 points. 
 
 Length three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 This insect is very variable, in the arrangement and bright¬ 
 ness of its colors. It inhabits the Pine regioii of New Jersey, 
 whence several individuals were sent to me by my brother, B. 
 Say. 
 
 2. T. fimlriata, Nob. Amer. entom. vol. 3 much resembles 
 T, diana , F. which, however, is somewhat larger, with fulvous 
 markings and blackish antennae and feet. The latter is a 
 
756 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OE NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s HBTEROPTEKOUS EEMIPTERA. 
 
 southern species and I have obtained many specimens from 
 New Orleans preserved in a solution of muriate of mercury 
 Thyreocoris, Schrank. 
 
 1. T. histeroides, Blackish, antenna) dull honey-yellow. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body oval, greenish-black, polished, with rather small, not 
 dense or profound punctures: antennae, dull honey-yellow: feet 
 dark piceous. 
 
 Length from over three-twentieths to one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 Resembles T. scarabaeoides Linn, but is larger, the puncturing 
 is less profound and not so dense. The lateralis F. has the 
 margin of the hemelytra white. It is a common insect and 
 varies in magnitude. 
 
 Nuttal presented me with a large individual from Arkansaw. 
 
 2. T. albipennis, Fulvous; hemelytra white. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri. 
 
 Body pale fulvous, oval; head; thorax blackish before and on 
 each side; lateral margin white: scutel each side at base with a 
 small black spot: hemelytra white with a small rufous spot: 
 beneath picous ; lateral margin of the poctus white. 
 
 Length less than one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 This insect is mutilated; but it is a very distinct species. I 
 obtained it on the Missouri river, when with Major Longs 
 exploring party. 
 
 Edessa Fab. Lat. 
 
 1. E. eruciata , Above with a sanguineous cross. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body greenish yellow : antenna pale rufous: thorax with a 
 sanguineous band on the posterior margin extending upon the 
 lateral obtuse angles; hemelytra, the coriaceous poition, with 
 the inner and posterior margins, sanguineous, giving the appear¬ 
 ance of a cross on the back: beneath yellowish: venter with 
 abbreviated’, lateral, slender, sanguinous lines, tip sanguineous. 
 
 Length two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 When the hemelytra are at rest their sanguineous margins 
 represent a common cross. 
 
 Curtis gives this genus the name of Acantliosoma, but the 
 character upon which it is instituted enters into the natural 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 757 
 
 say’s jieteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 character of Edessa as stated by Fabricius, “ Sterno saepius 
 elevato,” notwithstanding which, however, he referred some of 
 the species to another genus, probably without observing their 
 distinguishing trait. 
 
 2. E. lateralis , Tergum sanguineous, lateral margin yellow 
 with a black spot. 
 
 Inhab. N. W. Territory and Canada. 
 
 Body yellowish-green, with large, sparse, dusky punctures: 
 antenna a little tinged with rufous ; terminal joint blackish at 
 tip: thorax on the edge immediately behind the posterior late¬ 
 ral angles obtusely deeply emarginate : hemelytra slightly 
 bifasciate with pale fuliginous and a slight spot of the same 
 color on the membranaceous portion : tergum sanguineous: late¬ 
 ral margin yellow, interrupted with quadrate black spots : 
 venter pale sanguineous, with deeper colored punctures and 
 lateral transverse abbreviated lines. 
 
 Length three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 A smaller species than the preceding and quite distinct by 
 many characters. I obtained several specimens in Major Long’s 
 expedition to the source of St Peter’s river. 
 
 Pentatoma, Oliv. Lat. 
 
 f Thorax armed on each side with a spine or prominent angle. 
 
 1. P. cynica, Yellowish, with impressed rufous punctures; 
 antennae rufous. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri. 
 
 Body yellowish tinged with green; with numerous impressed 
 punctures, those beneath more strongly contrasting: head before 
 the eyes rather wider near the tip than in the middle: antenna 
 pale rufous, first joint oval, yellowish ; second joint considerably 
 longer than the third: thorax with the posterior lateral angles 
 prominent, acute ; anterior to which the' edge is granulated : 
 tergum rufous; lateral margin yellowish-rufous, with blackish 
 incisural margins ; rostrum robust. 
 
 Length over three-fifths of an inch. 
 
 This insect was presented to me by Nuttal. It differs 
 from punctipes, Nob. inasmuch as that common species has 
 the second joint of the antennae shorter than the third; and 
 ultimate joints are black; the punctures of the body also are 
 
758 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S IIETEUOPTEROUS nEMIPTKRA. 
 
 black, the feet have black points and the rostrum is slender. 
 The present species is also larger. 
 
 2. P. augur, Thoracic spines pointing forward; beneath 
 with five vittrn. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia. 
 
 Body rather slender, attenuated from the thoracic spines to 
 tlio posterior extremity; yellowish-green; Acad with two vitt® 
 of impressed black punctures: • antenna pale rufous; first joint 
 long oval; third joint longor than the second : thorax, spines 
 acute, pointing forwards; punctures of the disc pale rufous, of 
 the lateral margin blackish : scutel and hemelylra, punctures 
 blackish: beneath with three or five vittao of black punctures: 
 thighs with black points. 
 
 Length two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 In most, respects this agrees with typhaeuf F., but it has po 
 sanguineous mark in the middle pi the homelytra. It was sent 
 to me by Mr. Oemler, of Savannah. 
 
 3. P. emarginata, Bluish; scutel with three fulvous dots. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia. 
 
 Body purplish blue; rostrum pale fulvous: thorax at posterior 
 angles, with a cylindrical emarginate spine : scutel having threo 
 orbicular fulvous spots: feet at base pale fulvous : beneath, under 
 the rostrum, region of the feet, middle of tlio ventral base, aims, 
 and triangular lateral spot fulvous. 
 
 Length half an inch. 
 
 Female, Thorax with the anterior and lateral margins and longi¬ 
 tudinal lino in the middle) dull fulvous; tlio two basal spots of 
 the scutel sometimes confluent. 
 
 Length three-fifths of an inch. 
 
 The Jloridanus, Linn, is described to be black, otherwise I 
 should suppose this.to be related to it.; that, species is said to 
 be an inhabitant of South America. I received this species 
 from Mr. Oemler of Savannah as an inhabitant of Georgia. 
 
 The basal joint of the antennae is oblong-oval and the third 
 joint is rather longer than the second. 
 
 4. P. tristigma, Venter with a series of throe or four black 
 dots, the posterior one largest. 
 
 Inhab. U. S, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL, SOCIETY. 
 
 750 
 
 SAY’S HETEROPTEIIOUS IIBMtPTEIU. 
 
 Above pale yellowisb-olive or whitish olivaceous, with dense 
 blackish punctures and a few small, irregular, scattered, impunc- 
 turcd spots: posterior portion of the eye beneath whitish: 
 antenna rufous; fourth and fifth joints brown, excepting the 
 base of the fourth; second joint considerably shorter than the 
 third; a black lino from the base of the antenna) to the eye: 
 thorax with the lateral angles rather prominent, angulated but 
 not spiniform; lateral edge whitish and concavely arquated: 
 hemelytra, membrano with small, obsolete, brown spots: ter gum 
 blue-black, on the lateral margin with a pale dot on the middle 
 of each segment; beneath yellow, with reddish points : with a 
 black spot on the middle of each of the three or four posterior 
 segments, the posterior one largest and oval: feet pale, with 
 black points a black point at the termination of each incisure. 
 
 Length seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Female with a black line on the middle of the 'one or two 
 posterior segments of the venter. 
 
 Length nearly two-fifths. 
 
 This species is not rare. It resembles P. punctipes Nob. 
 Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. vol. 4, p. 314, which is so common on 
 thistles, &c. but is smaller and is distinguished by the ventral 
 spots, and black points on the lateral edge of the venter. 
 
 5. P. serva , Above pale dull yellowish, with dense black 
 punctures: head with a black edge; a black line from the 
 base of the antenna) to the eye: eye on the posterior portion 
 whitish : antenna yellowish, dusky at tip, second joint hardly 
 shorter than the third: thorax , lateral edge granulated and 
 concavely arquated; lateral angles prominent, but rounded: 
 scutel whitish on the posterior edgo; ter gum blue-black, with 
 yellowish spots on the margins : beneath yellow, with a black 
 point at the lateral tip of each incisure: feet with black points. 
 
 Length one-half inch. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 I have found specimens in Pa and Florida. It is larger than 
 P. punctipes N. and the lateral thoracic angles aro prominent, 
 but not angulated, as they are in that species. The punctipes 
 also is destitute of the black points at the lateral terminations 
 of the ventral incisuros. 
 
760 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s ueteropterods hemiptera. 
 
 ff Thorax unarmed with a spine. 
 
 6. P. ligata, Dull olive green, external edge sanguineous. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri. 
 
 Body olive green, rather dull; confluently punctured : antennae 
 black ; second joint rather longer than the third : thorax , late¬ 
 ral margin sanguineous passing to yellowish on its inner side : 
 scutel at tip bright sanguineous : hemelytra sanguineous on the 
 lateral margin nearly to the middle, abdomen on the lateral 
 margin from the middle to the tip sanguineous: beneath tinged 
 with yellow on the pectus : feet greenish, yellowish at base. 
 
 Length eleven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Presented to me by Nuttall as a native of Missouri. The 
 edge of the head is not reddish. 
 
 7. P. laticornis, Second joint of the antennae elongated, 
 compressed ; lateral margin of the thorax red. 
 
 Inhab.'U. S. 
 
 Body somewhat depressed; marbled with fuscous and brownish- 
 cinereous ; antennae second joint compressed and grooved, as long 
 as the anterior tibi; remaining joints. 
 
 thorax on the lateral edge denticulate; lateral margin rufous ; pos¬ 
 terior angles a little prominent, rounded: hemelytra on the lateral 
 basal margin rufous: ter gum, margin alternating with rufous 
 and black : beneath dusky, pale about the insertion of the feet; 
 rostrum extending beyond the insertion of the posterior feet. 
 
 Length seven-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Aspect of P. annulata P. but widely distinct. It perhaps 
 ought to be in the previous division of the genus inasmuch as 
 the lateral thoracic angles are a little prominent; but they are 
 obtusely rounded. Belongs to the genus Halys Fabr. 
 
 8. P. senilis, Long oval; terguin blackish, with two paler 
 spots at tip. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body greenish-olivaceous, rather dull; rather oblong or long 
 snbovate; with rather close-set punctures, somewhat confluent 
 on the scutel and thorax, more distinct on the hemelytra, and 
 smaller and more dense on the head : head emarginate at tip ; 
 tubercle which supports the antennae extended into an obvious, 
 acute spine: antenna dull rufous, a little hairy; second joint 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 761 
 
 say’s reteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 slightly longer than the third : thorax a little paler on the lateral 
 margin; lateral edge rather concave than rectilinear : hemelytra 
 rather paler on the exterior margin; membranaceous tip almost of 
 the same color: ter gum. black, with a dull yellowish margin; penul¬ 
 timate segment with two large obscure yellowish, quadrate spots. 
 
 Length over three-fifths of an inch. 
 
 This species is rather more slender than usual, and the tuber¬ 
 cle which supports the antennae is a little produced into an 
 acute spine. 
 
 9. P. hilaris, Oblong-oval; green; tips of the three last joints 
 of the antennae blackish or rufous, the two last whitish at base. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 P. hilaris Nob. New Sp. N. Am. Ins. found by J. Barabino 
 1832, p. 9. 
 
 Body , bright green; punctures very numerous and dense; 
 edges of the head, thorax and abdomen white, yellowish or ru¬ 
 fous ; antennae, second and third joints subequal, the latter 
 longer, third and following black or rufous at their tips, whitish 
 at their base, the ultimate one whitish at tip: thorax, lateral 
 edge rectilinear from the anterior angle to the posterior round¬ 
 ed angle : abdomen on the edge with a black point at each in¬ 
 cisure ; rostrum terminated between the posterior feet. 
 
 Length from one-half to more than three-fifths of an inch. 
 
 This species inhabits various parts of the Union. Nuttall 
 gave mo two individuals which he obtained in Missouri; Mr. 
 Barabino sent me two from Louisiana, and I have also found it 
 in this state. A lablo attached to one in my cabinet says 
 “like pensylvanicus, Beauv. pi. II, but not the same.” I have 
 not at present access to Beauvois’ work. Sexes alike. 
 
 10. P. abrupt a, Green; short oval; edges of the head, thorax 
 and abdomen whitish. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia. 
 
 Body rounded-oval; immaculate, densely punctured; edges 
 of the head, thorax and of the base of the hemelytra obsoletely 
 whitish: antennae, second and third joints nearly equal; third 
 and fourth, black at tip ; fifth 
 
 : thorax with the anterior angles 
 obtusely rounded, a small tubercle at the tip of the eye; lateral 
 
762 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s heteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 edge convexly arquated; posterior angles obtusely rounded : be¬ 
 neath green; region of the base of the feet a little tinged with 
 brownish; abdomen on the lateral edge whitish with a black 
 point at each incisure; spiracles white with a blackish point. 
 
 Length nine-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Much like the preceding, but it is shorter and more rounded, 
 and the lateral edges of thorax are decidedly arquated. The spe¬ 
 cimen is deficient in the terminal joint of the antennae. It wag 
 presented to me by Mr. Oemler. I formerly supposed it a 
 variety of hilaris. 
 
 11. P. inserta, Thorax deeply emarginato before, rounded 
 each side; venter with a series of black dots. 
 
 Inliab. Missouri and Arkansaw. 
 
 Body oval, pale yellowish, with numerous black punctures on 
 every part, excepting the membranaceous portion of the hemely- 
 tra: head unarmed, seated very deeply in the thorax: thorax 
 profoundly emarginate before for the reception of the head; 
 lateral edge arquated, so as to include the posterior angles in 
 the curve; line on the middle and posterior narrow margin im- 
 punctured : scutel with a longitudinal impunctured line extend¬ 
 ing to the middle: hemelytra nervures impunctured: ter gum 
 black, densely punctured margin of the general color: beneath 
 with two black spots behind the anterior feet; venter with a 
 series of black dots; lateral margin darker or blackish at the in¬ 
 cisures; feet with black points. 
 
 Length half an inch. 
 
 The specimen from the Arkansaw was givien me by Nut- 
 tall. The lateral line of the thorax is less oblique than that of 
 the preceding species, and the thorax is somewhat more de¬ 
 pressed. 
 
 (Male) destitute of the ventral spot? 
 
 12. P. saucia, Scutel with a yellowish line; hemelytra with 
 a fuscous line. 
 
 Inliab. U. S. 
 
 Body greenish-yellow; punctures not dense, but rather more 
 so on the head and scutel: antenna, rufous, paler at base; basal 
 joint greenish ; supporting tubercle with a short acute conic spine: 
 thorax , lateral edge rectilinear to the posterior rounded angle; 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 763 
 
 say’s heteroptbrous iiemiptera. 
 
 scutel with a distinct yellowish vitta : hemelytra with a fuscous 
 vitta, not reaching the base or tip; superior margin yellowish; 
 tergum black, minutely rugose, but not punctured; margin 
 yellowish. 
 
 Length about two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 The dark brown vitta on the hemelytra is a distingnishiug 
 mark. 
 
 I took an individual on the eastern shore of Virginia, an¬ 
 other in Florida, and a third either in Pennsylvania or Indiana. 
 
 13. P. calva, Reddish-brown; head and anterior half of the 
 thorax yellowish. 
 
 Inhab. Virginia. 
 
 Body reddish-brown, punctured: head yellowish; edge darker: 
 antenna: rufous; first and second joints green; third joint a little 
 longer than the second : thorax on the anterior half yellowish; 
 lateral edges rectilinear: tergum sanguineous, blackish at tip, 
 beneath whitish; venter with a few rufous points and some 
 clusters of rufous points each side; lateral margin with a black 
 point at the incisures. 
 
 Length about two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 I caught this species on the Holly (lie). 
 
 14. P. dimidiata, anterior part of the thorax of a different 
 color ; second joint of the antennae half the length of the third. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia and Florida. 
 
 Body dull greenish, varying to almost reddish-brown: head 
 not contracting anteriorly, rounded at tip: antenna rufous, 
 terminal joint a little darker towards the tip; at base paler; 
 second joint not longer than the first, and not more than half 
 as long as the third : thorax , rather more than the anterior half 
 yellowish ; lateral edge rectilinear : tergum purple-black, some¬ 
 what polished, rufous at tip; sometimes entirely rufous, except¬ 
 ing the margin which is yellowish. 
 
 Length about seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 The brevity of the second joint of the antennas, will readily 
 distinguish this species from the preceding. I obtained speci¬ 
 mens in Florida, and an individual was sent me from Georgia 
 by Mr. Oernler. 
 
764 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S HETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 15. P. aequalis, Cinereous, with black punctures; tergum black 
 with large punctures towards the tip. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body dull cinereous, with numerous rather large, black punc¬ 
 tures : head rather long, rounded at the tip : antennce with close 
 set black points; second and third joints equal: thorax , lateral 
 edge nearly rectilinear, slightly concave; scutel scarcely con¬ 
 tracted before the tip, which is rounded; tergum black, the 
 punctures small and sparse at base, and becoming large and 
 numerous towards the tip ; lateral margin with cinereous spots: 
 beneath with black punctures, sometimes assembled in groups ; 
 feet with black points. - 
 
 Length three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Smaller than either of the preceding, and the second and third 
 joints of the antennas are equal. 
 
 16. P .rugulosa, Green, with minute, transverse rugae; tergum 
 black at base; antennas third joint short. 
 
 Inhab. N. W. Territory. 
 
 Body pale greenish, with minute rugae, particularly on the 
 thorax; antennce third joint hardly more than half the length of 
 the second: thorax much contracted before; lateral edge rather 
 concave than rectilinear: tergum black at base, the three 
 ultimate segments and the margin green : hemelytra punctured : 
 beneath and feet with small green punctures. 
 
 Length over one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 The third joint of the antennae is very short and small, and 
 the small rugae of the thorax distingiusli this species. 
 
 17. P. undata, Scutel but little narrowed at tip ; lateral edge 
 of the head undulated. 
 
 Inhab. N. W. Territory. 
 
 Body dull yellowish, with numerous black, deep punctures; 
 head with the lateral edge undulated, the tip abruptly nar¬ 
 rowed, with a narrow, deep fissure: antennce blackish rufous, 
 second joint longer than the third: thorax with the lateral 
 narrow margin and longitudinal line impunctured ; lateral edge 
 rectilinear : scutel rather large, not being much narrowed at 
 tip: tergum black, punctured, with a yellowish margin: beneath 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 765 
 
 SAT’S IIETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 punctures more dense: venter black, punctured; with the 
 margin yellow -.feet with black points. 
 
 Length about one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 I he scutel in its form resembles that of the preceding species, 
 hut the brevity of the third joint of the antennae and the undu¬ 
 lated edge of the head distinguish it. I obtained this species 
 when with Major Long’s party in the North. 
 
 18. F. delia, rather widest behind the middle; scutel but 
 little narrowed at tip. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri and Mass. 
 
 Body dull yellowish-green; ovate, being slightly widest be¬ 
 hind the middle; with rather large profound, black punctures 
 not closely set: head somewhat long; the obtuse carina impunc- 
 tured: antenntz rufous, darker at tip ; second joint much 
 shorter than the third : thorax , lateral edge rectilinear; lateral 
 margin without black punctures; anterior angles transversely 
 truncate to receive the eyes, and without any tubercle; poste¬ 
 rior angles not wider than the hemelytra: scutel , not much nar¬ 
 rowed at tip: ter gum black punctured, margin yellowish : heme¬ 
 lytra, coriaceous portion rounded at tip : beneath with a series 
 of black points on the margin and another on the edge. 
 
 Length three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 The scutel is not so much narrowed at tip as usual. One was 
 presented to me by Nuttall and another by Dr. Harris. 
 
 19. F. calceata, Green, thorax with a band, and yellow spot 
 each side before enclosing a green dot; tarsi rufous. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Above green, densely punctured; autennm dull sanguine¬ 
 ous ; 1st and 2d joints green; 2rd and 3d joints equal ; 
 ultimate joint dusky : thorax with a yellow or rufous band be¬ 
 tween the lateral angles; on the anterior submargin are two 
 transverse, yellow spots, each enclosing a green dot; lateral 
 edge granulated and nearly rectilinear, black or dark rufous; 
 lateral angles but little prominent, rounded : scutel and heme¬ 
 lytra immaculate, membrane whitish or little tinged with rufous: 
 beneath yellow, tinged with green ; venter with a lateral 
 submarginal series of points and another series of black points 
 on the lateral edge ; tarsi rufous. 
 
766 
 
 annual report of new-york 
 
 say’s heteropterous remiptera. 
 
 Length over two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 Var. A. Thoracic band obsolete. 
 
 Male much smaller: the anterior portion of the thorax yel¬ 
 lowish, obliterating the two spots; feet not obviously rufous. 
 
 Length three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 The variety of this species was taken by my brother in New- 
 jersey. 
 
 One of my male specimens has one of the antennae not 
 more than half the length of the other, in consequence of the 
 unnatural brevity of the second, third and fourth joints, which 
 are hardly longer than broad; the fifth joint is much com¬ 
 pressed but not dilated. 
 
 20. P. nervosa , Rufous, with black punctures ; antennae, sec¬ 
 ond joint half as long as the third. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Above rufous or deep testaceus, with numerous separate 
 black punctures: head with confluent punctures, excepting on 
 the carina : antenna dusky at tip; second joint hardly over 
 half the length of the third; eyes on the posterior part whitish: 
 thorax, lateral edge impunctured, and on its anterior part 
 almost rectilinear, curving towards the lateral angles which are 
 hardly prominent beyond the humerus, and very obtusely round¬ 
 ed : scutel, lateral edge at base arquated so as to leave an ob¬ 
 vious interval between its basal angles and the thorax: hemely- 
 tra, membrane with its nervures blackish : ter gum blue-black ; 
 margin yellowish with black spots: beneath pale rufous with 
 black punctures, which become rufous on the abdomen ; a black¬ 
 ish, interrupted, lateral vitta from the eyes becomes obsolete 
 on the venter : venter with double black marginal spots; feet 
 with black points. 
 
 Length nearly two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 The specimen is a female. 
 
 21. P. semivittata, Pale, with confluent black punctures so 
 arranged as to leave three vittae on the head and about five on 
 the scutel. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Above yellowish white, with confluent black punctures, and 
 numerous short. hairs: antenna dusky at tip; second joint 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 767 
 
 say’s heteropTerous iiemiptera. 
 
 ratlier longer than the third : head with three dull yellowish vit- 
 tae: thorax with three vittae, becoming obsolete behind ; lateral 
 margin a little depressed, impunctured ; lateral edge very 
 slightly arquated ; lateral angles rounded, not prominent: scutel 
 with five vittae confluent behind: ter gum blue-black; margin 
 with yellowish, large, quadrate spots: beneath yellowish; two 
 black lines before the eyes: an interrupted lateral vitta of 
 black punctures from the eyes nearly to the posterior extremity: 
 feet immaculate, tarsi dusky. 
 
 Length three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 The specimen is a female. It is more than usually hairy. It 
 has some resemblance to Stoll fig. 102, but is shorter. 
 
 22. P. gamma, Fabr. (Cimex) Syst Rhyng, p. 177, C. albipes, 
 E. Ent. Syst. suppl. P. 4 P. punctipes, Nob. Jour. Acad. 
 Nat. Sci. V. 1, p. 313 ? A common species. 
 
 23. P. bioculata, Fabr. (Cimex) Syst. Rhyng. 175. 
 
 Var. A. transversa 1 thoracic spots transverse. 
 
 This species inhabits the southern states. 
 
 23. [bis.] P. bifida , Nob. Descr. of North American Ins. found 
 by Joseph Barabino. Metasternum elevated and bifid at the 
 tips. 
 
 25. P. tenebrosa, Nob. ibid. p. 8. Blackish, antennae and feet 
 varied with white. 
 
 Cydnus, Fabr. 
 
 1. C. ligatus, Blackish; thorax and hemelytra with a white 
 exterior edge. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body piceous-black : head emarginato: antennee , second joint 
 dull rufous; ultimate two joints rather long: thorax with 
 numerous punctures, before the middle impunctured; lateral 
 edge white: hemelytra on the lateral edge white: abdomen 
 excepting at base, with a white edge: tibae white on the exte¬ 
 rior edge. 
 
 Length about one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 It is smaller than bilineatus Nob. and larger than spinifrons 
 Nob. and very different from cither by many characters. A 
 very common species. It much resembles the binotatus but is 
 destitute of the white spots of the hemelytra. 
 
768 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s HETEROPTEROUS remiptera. 
 
 2. C. bilineatus Nob. 
 
 Var. A. picea , Entirely light piceous. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Gonocerus Lat. 
 
 G. antennator Fabr. The author describes this species to 
 have the second joint of the antennae scabrous and the “ ultimo 
 claviformi.” Now if these characters are correct, a species 
 in my collection, and which is not rare, is altogether new; but 
 this I consider doubtful. I will however state the differential 
 characters, viz : 
 
 G. dubius, Antennae, first joint scabrous or with short spines; 
 ultimate joint oblong oval. 
 
 Length nearly half an inch. 
 
 Inhab. Penns, and Indiana. 
 
 It is probably the insect that naturalists refer to antennator F. 
 
 Syroma[s]tes, Lat. 
 
 1. S. rejlexulus, Reddish-brown ; head carinate before. 
 
 Inhab. Pennsylvania. 
 
 Body reddish-brown, with rather large, confluent punctures: 
 head not extending more than half the length of the basal joint 
 of the antenna}, obviously carinate between the antennae, tuber¬ 
 cles each side of the antennae ; acute : antennae , first joint robust, 
 rough, much narrowed: second joint shorter than the third; 
 terminal joint half as long as the third : thorax , lateral margin 
 a little reflected, the edge concavely arquated : posterior angles 
 rounded; anterior angles prominent, acute: scutel narrowed 
 before the tip: hemelytra, corium yellowish, rufous near the 
 scutel; nervurus very distinct; lateral edge a little reflected ; 
 membrane hyaline : beneath greenish-yellow ; feet palo rufous ; 
 posterior thighs dilated, spinous beneath. 
 
 Length one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 The rostrum hardly reaches the posterior coxae. The last joint 
 of the antennae is elongate-oval and much shorter than the 
 preceding joint, as defined by Latreille in this genus. 
 
 2. S. fratercuius, Anterior point of the head extending nearly 
 to the tip of the first joint of the antenna}. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia and Indiana. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 *769 
 
 SAT’S nETEROPTKRQUS HEMIl’TERA. 
 
 Closely resembles the preceding species, but is smaller; the 
 anterior tip of the head extends nearly or quite to the tip of the 
 first joint of the antennas ; the lateral margin of the corium is 
 very distinctly punctured with black ; the membrane is 
 marked with a longitudinal obsolete brown line and small 
 points; the general color is darker; the tergum is sanguineous, 
 black at base. 
 
 Length less than one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 A small specimen was sent to me by Mr. Oemler from the 
 vicinity of Savannah, and I have obtained the two sexes in 
 Indiana. 
 
 3. S. obliquus, All above punctured ; rostrum and head rather 
 short. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body pale yellowish-rufous : head obviously punctured, notex¬ 
 tending to the tip of the first joint of the antenme : antenna, first 
 joint robust; second hardly two-thirds as long as the third : 
 thorax with rather large punctures; no obvious transverse im¬ 
 pressed line: hemelytra on the corium with large separate 
 punctures; posterior edge very oblique and elongated; mem¬ 
 brane immaculate, undulated by the nervures: beneath more 
 obviously tinged with rufous; feet paler; rostrum hardly reach¬ 
 ing the intermediate coxae. 
 
 Length less than three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 It may be distinguished by the remarkable obliquity of the 
 terminal line of the corium. 
 
 Coreus, F. Latr. 
 
 1. C. ccnjluentus, Fale brownish ; thorax bilineato ; abdomen 
 with a spotted margin. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 Body depressed with numerous minute hairs, paleyellow- 
 brown : thorax with a transverse, slightly elevated line on the 
 posterior submargin ; two broad black vittae, confluent before 
 and suddenly narrowed on the posterior margin ; a black late¬ 
 ral marginal vitta before ; posterior angles obtusely rounded : 
 scutel at base and an abbreviated line black: hemelytra imma¬ 
 culate; corium finely reticulate : abdomen dilated; tergum on 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] 49 
 
770 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW*YORK 
 
 SAY’S HBTKKOPTBROCS HKMIPTEllA. 
 
 the margin alternating with blackish and yellowish: beneath 
 blackish varied with yellowish ; feet blackish; knees and coxae 
 fulvous. 
 
 Length three-fourths of an inch. 
 
 This is a dilated and somewhat depressed species. 
 
 2 C. diffusus, Brownish ; abdomen dilated ; antennae and feet 
 blackish. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia. 
 
 Body depressed pale yellowish-brown; with short hairs; 
 dilated: head unarmed, the middle of the tip not reaching 
 the base of the first joint of the antennoe: antenna blackish, 
 hairs very obvious; basal joint a little excurved ; second joint 
 a little longer than the third: thorex somewhat transversely 
 punctured; lateral edge irregularly denticulated, particularly 
 anteriorly ; posterior angles very obtusely rounded : scutel 
 black in the middle: hemelytra immaculate; carium finely 
 reticulate; the disks of the basal cellules blackish : abdomen 
 dilated; margin elevated and with a series of black points on the 
 edge ; feet blackish piceous. 
 
 Length seven-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Resembles the confluenta Nob. but is somewhat more dilated 
 and the anterior lateral edge of the thorax is rectilinear; whereas 
 in that species it is arquated. 
 
 This insect was sent me by Mr. Oemler of Savannah, who 
 took it in the neighborhood of that city. 
 
 Anisoscelis, Latr. 
 
 1. A . cor cuius, Fuscous; antenme rufous; posterior tibiae 
 dilated, not sinuous. 
 
 Inhab. Florida. 
 
 Body reddish-brown, rather dark, minutely and densely punc¬ 
 tured : head simple, with three rufous lines: antenna rufous; 
 basal joint much shorter than the second, blackish above, second 
 joint longest; ultimate joint rather shorter than the preceding 
 one, fuscous: thorax with the angles not prominent, rounded: 
 scutel undulated on the disc : ter gum on the lateral margin 
 with yellowish lines at the incisures: beneath dull rufous with 
 numerous black points; rostrum extending to the middle of the 
 venter: thighs blackish above towards the tip, spinous beneath, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 m 
 
 say’s hkteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 posterior pair a little thickened : tibae dull yellowish ; posterior 
 pair dilated, not undulated on the edge, fuscous with small 
 yellowish spots; the dilatation not continued to the tip ; inner 
 edge with a few short spines. 
 
 Length four-fifths of an inch. 
 
 I obtained two individuals on St. John’s River. In one of 
 the two specimens the nervures on the middle of the hemelytra 
 are ot a paler color, as if, in some individuals, a pale band 
 might exist in that part. 
 
 2. A. albicinctus , Ferruginous ; hemelytra with a white 
 band ; posterior tibaj dilated, sinuated. 
 
 Inhab. Florida. 
 
 Body above light reddish brown or ferruginous: antenna 
 basal joint blackish: head blackish, with three yellowish lines; 
 thorax with short hair; elevated behind; lateral angles sub¬ 
 acute; hemelytra with a slender, white, transverse line; mem¬ 
 branous part blackish: beneath yellowish with irregular, black 
 punctures: feet reddish-brown; thighs spinous beneath; pos¬ 
 terior tibiae foliaceous, two or three toothed on the posterior 
 edge, the superior tooth smallest; a double hyaline spot, bisected 
 by the lateral carina; tip not dilated. 
 
 Length three-fifths of an inch. 
 
 Resembles balteatus Linn. But according to Drury’s figure, 
 that species has simple posterior tibiae. It is still more like L. 
 phyllopus, Linn, which however has the white line undulated and 
 oblique, as figured by Stoll, the posterior thighs more elongated 
 and the posterior tibiae still more dilated, particularly on the 
 inner side, than this species. 
 
 It is common in Florida. The male has but two denticula- 
 tions on the dilated edge of the posterior tibiae, whilst the female 
 has three; the sinuations of the edge correspond with the num¬ 
 ber of teeth. 
 
 3. A. oppositux, Reddish-brown ; hemelytra with a white 
 point in the middle of the corium; antennas rufous; head 
 trilineated; posterior tibia; dilated and sinuated. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
*772 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT Op' NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S nETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 This is very closely allied to albicinctus Nob. but is uniform 
 in its differential characters. It may be known by the small 
 white point, of the homelytra. 
 
 4. A. declivis, Nob. (Rhvnuchus, Kirby,) New Sp. N. Am. 
 Ins. found by Jos. Barabino, p. 10. Thorax dilated at the 
 posterior angles; beneath whitish sericeous; posterior tibim 
 dilated and compressed their whole length, more prominent 
 towards the exterior base. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia and Louisiana. 
 
 Length one inch and one-fifth. 
 
 5. A. nasulus, Nob. (-”-) ibid p. 10. Thorax 
 
 lateral angles more or less prominent; posterior tibim dilated 
 and compressed all their length ; inner edge minutely denticu¬ 
 late ; exterior edge a little undulated; width decreasing to the 
 tip. 
 
 Inhab. Ga., Flor. and Louisiana. 
 
 Length one inch. 
 
 This genus seems to include Petalopus and Rhinuchus 
 Kirby, of which however I have not seen the characters stated, 
 which alone can establish a generic name. 
 
 Berytus Fabr. 
 
 B. muticus , Unarmed ; a short groove between the antennae. 
 
 Inhab. N. AV. Territory. 
 
 Body punctured ; pale yellowish brown unarmed : head not 
 much narrowed before, the tip rounded downwards and com¬ 
 pressed ; and with a profound short groove above : thorax with 
 a glabrous line : scutel carinate, acute at tip, but not produced 
 into a spine: hemelytra , coriurn with the punctures dilated: 
 beneath blackish along the middle to the middle of the venter. 
 
 Length nearly seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 ' Quite distinct from the tipularis F. of which the head is elon¬ 
 gated before and hemelytra are spotted ; and from the spinosus 
 Nob. by being destitute of spines before the posterior coxae and 
 on the scutel. 
 
 Lygaeus, F. Latr. 
 
 1. L. sandarachatus , Hemelytra yellowish, with a black band 
 and tip ; venter sanguineous with a lateral black vitta. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 773 
 
 say’s heteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 Head sanguineous, with an abbreviated line above the ros¬ 
 trum, and more or less dilated orbits and vertex, black: 
 antenna and rostrum black: thorax black, anterior margin 
 white ; lateral margin yellowish tinged with sanguineous before; 
 a dorsal slender yellowish line slightly elevated before : scutel 
 black yellow at tip : hemelytra pale yellow, a band on the mid¬ 
 dle and membranous tip, black : pectus and pospectus black 
 with whitish incisures and margins: venter sanguineous, with 
 white incisures and lateral, abbreviated black vittse: feet black, 
 coxae sanguineous. 
 
 Var. A. Anterior thighs sanguineous. 
 
 Var. B. Head above black, with three abbreviated sanguine¬ 
 ous lines. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 Resembles mimus Nobis, which however, has no appearance 
 of the thoracic dorsal line or lateral ventral vittae. 
 
 2. L.facetus, Black, with rufous margins and thoracic line. 
 
 Inhab. Florida. 
 
 Body black, opake: head at tip narrowed and half the length 
 of the basal joint of the antennae: antenna second joint longest, 
 ultimate joints rather longer than the third: thorax with two 
 transverse punctured indentations on the anterior margin and 
 middle; margin pale rufous, interrupted near the anterior 
 angles; a longitudinal rufous line not reaching the anterior 
 margin: scutel, disk elevated in the form of a T, which is pale 
 rufous at tip: hemelytra on the lateral and terminal margins 
 pale rufous: abdomen pale rufous on the margin: pectus, ante¬ 
 rior and lateral margins pale rufous. 
 
 Length over three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 I took several specimens in Florida. 
 
 3. L. bistriangularis, Black, base of the hemelytra ; and 
 venter sanguineous. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 Head black: thorax black; lateral margin behind the middle 
 and posterior edge sanguineous; scutel black: hemelytra san¬ 
 guineous, membranous portion black with a slight edging of 
 whitish: pectus and pospectus fuscous: feet black; venter san¬ 
 guineous with a black tip. 
 
774 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAT’S HETBROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 Length over one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 Allied to bicrucis Nob. but is not half so large and the 
 coloring of the thorax is quite different. 
 
 4. L. reclivatus, Nob. Var. a. enotus, Destitute of the white 
 spots of the membranaceous portion of the hemelytra. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 5. L. leucopterus, [Chinch bug,] Blackish, hemelytra white 
 with a black spot. 
 
 Inhab. Virginia. 
 
 Body long, blackish, with numerous hair3 : antenna , rather 
 short hairs ; second joint yellowish, longer than the third ; ulti-. 
 mate joint rather longer than the second, thickest: thorax ting¬ 
 ed with cinereous before, with the basal edge piceous: hemelytra 
 white, with a blackish oval spot on the lateral middle; rostrum 
 and feet honey-yellow: thighs a little dilated. 
 
 Length less than three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 I took a single specimen on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. 
 
 The whiteness of the hemelytra in which is a blackish spot 
 strongly contrasted, distinguishes this species readily. 
 
 6. L. disconotus, Blackish; third joint of the antennae much 
 shorter than the fourth; hemelytra dull whitish. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri. 
 
 Body blackish, punctured, rather wider behind : head a little 
 convex : antenna first and second joints yellowish; third equal to 
 the first; fourth joint almost double the length of the third, and as 
 long or rather longer than the second: thorax very slightly con¬ 
 tracted each side of the middle; basal half and anterior edge 
 piceous; hemelytra dull yellowish-white punctured ; membrane 
 on the disc brown; tip wide and obtusely rounded -.feet whitish; 
 thighs honey-yellow, anterior pair a little more dilated; post- 
 pectus with a pure white posterior margin. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra less than three-twentieths of an 
 inch. 
 
 7. L. geminatus, Hemelytra with two small central spots, 
 and four on the posterior edge of the membrane. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana and Missouri. 
 
 Body dull greenish-yellow; head dull fulvous, blackish each 
 side behind: antenna obscure rufous; first joint, incisures and 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 775 
 
 say’s hkteroptkrous hkmiptera. 
 
 terminal joint, black: rostrum extending a little beyond the origin 
 of the posterior feet: thorax with the transverse impression rather 
 deep and blackish : scutel dull fulvous, blackish on tne basal 
 margin: hemelytra on the corium tinged with yellowish, almost 
 hyaline, and having on the middle two, approximate, abbreviated 
 fuscous lines and on the posterior edge four or three fuscous, 
 small dots; membrane pellucid : beneath black-piceous; a white 
 line over the insertion of the posterior pairs of feet and a honey- 
 yellow line over the anterior pair : feet honey-yellow, immacu¬ 
 late; tarsi blackish. 
 
 Length three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Nuttall presented to me an individual which he took in Mis¬ 
 souri and I obtained others in this state. 
 
 8. L. scolopax, Hemelytra with a rufous tip of the corium; 
 rostrum extending to the middle of the venter. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri and Indiana. 
 
 Body yellowish, inclining on the head and scutel to obscure 
 fulvous; punctured : head, punctures obsolete, tip a little longer 
 than the basal joint of the antennae: antennce black; second 
 joint equal to or slightly longer than the third: thorax with the 
 anterior margin and transverse impressed line black: scutel 
 blackish each side of the middle ; the middle line impunctured: 
 hemelytra , corium yellowish, a dull rufous spot at its tip; mem¬ 
 brane jhilky white with pale brownish spots; tergum fulvous 
 spotted with black as well on the disc as on the margin: be¬ 
 neath more or less spotted with blackish; blackish along the 
 middle; around the origin of the feet yellow; feet obscurely 
 annulated; rostrum extending to the middle of the venter. 
 
 Length less than one-fifth to one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 I obtained a specimen at Council bluff and one in Indiana. 
 
 9. L. numenius, Hemelytra with a pale rufous tip of the 
 corium; rostrum as long as the body. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body greenish-yellow: head long, the tip extending beyond 
 the first joint of the antennae: antennce pale yellowish; first 
 joint rather short; second joint a little longer than the third; 
 fourth joint tinged with honey-yellow: thorax with separate punc¬ 
 tures, anterior edge and dorsal line impunctured; transverse 
 
776 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S tIRTKHOPTKROUS IIEMIPTERA. 
 
 indentation interrupted by the dorsal line: scutel pale rufous 
 each side; hemelytra with a pale rufous spot at tip of the 
 corium; membrane with an obsolete fuliginous line in the mid¬ 
 dle; terguinbn the lateral margin with pale rufous spots: be¬ 
 neath tinged with rufous; feet pale; rostrum extending to the 
 tip of the abdomen. 
 
 Length less than one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 Resembles scolopax Nob. but the second joint is obviously 
 longer than the third, and the rostrum is more elongated. I do 
 not recollect in what part of the Union I took this species. 
 
 10. L. falicus, Elongated; hemelytra yellowish with brown 
 nervures. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri. 
 
 Body biackish, elongated somewhat depressed : antenna 
 short, robust, hairy ; second joint longest: thorax at the basal 
 margin piceous; transversely a little depressed in the middle 
 and with a longitudinal indentation before the middle : scutel 
 with a carinate line : hemelytra shorter than the abdomen, dull 
 yellowish, with brown nervures; corium short and very oblique 
 at tip; membrane long but little different in appearance from 
 the corium: abdomen, margined with rufous; feet rufous; 
 thighs a little thickened. 
 
 Length over three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Pamera*, Lepel. and Serv. Nob. % 
 
 1. P. constricta, Black; thorax constricted near the middle; 
 hemelytra with hyaline lines; anterior thighs dilated. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body black, punctured : antennae second and third joints dull 
 honey yellow; terminal joint slightly thicker than the third: 
 thorax convex, constricted a little behind the middle; anterior 
 to the stricture impunctured ; posterior angles with an oblong 
 tubercle above; posterior margin somewhat piceous: hemelytra 
 fuscous, with whitish lines and spots, those of the membrane 
 arquated : feet greenish-yellow; thighs annulated with black 
 at tip; anterior pair dilated, spinous beneath, black, yellowish 
 at tip and base: tibiae, anterior pair slightly thickened at tip. 
 
 • The original word of these authors is Pachymera, which Latrcille informs us is pro- 
 occupied. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 vn 
 
 say’s deteropterous hkmiptera. 
 
 Length three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Male, Hemelytra pale with fuscous points and lines. 
 
 Length about one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 2. P. contracta , Blackish ; thorax constricted near the base; 
 hemelytra at base and two spots hyaline; anterior thighs 
 dilated. 
 
 Inhab. N. W. Territory. 
 
 Body piceous black: head with a few hairs: antenna pale 
 yellowish, terminal joint fuscous: thorax subcylindric, with 
 hairs; much contracted behind the middle; behind the stric¬ 
 ture piceous, punctured : scutel punctured: hemelytra punctured 
 at base, fuscous, base of the corium and spot near its tip and 
 spot at tip of the membrane whitish : feet yellowish : anterior 
 thighs dilated, spinous beneath towards the tip and piceous in 
 the middle: anterior tibia a little dilated at tip. 
 
 Length one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 I obtained this species on the Expedition of Major Long to 
 the Sources of the St. Peters river. It is much like constrictus 
 Nob., but the thoracic stricture is a little nearer to the posterior 
 margin and the arrangement of colors on the hemelytra is 
 different. 
 
 3. P. vincta, Thorax constrained near the base and with a 
 transverse line before; hemelytra whitish with a fuscous spot. 
 
 Inhab. Florida. 
 
 Body blackish, punctured: antenna , basal joint yellowish, 
 tipned with black; remaining joints -; thorax much con¬ 
 
 stricted behind the middle, sub-cylindric, anterior margin with 
 a transverse impressed line, anterior to which the margin is 
 piceous; posterior margin of the stricture with a cinereous 
 reflection; basal edge piceous; scutel with a carinate line: 
 hemelytra yellowish-white and punctured on the corium, the 
 posterior margin of which is fuscous; membrane milk-white: 
 abdomen on the margin dull rufous; feet whitish; anterior 
 thighs honey-yellow, dilated. 
 
 Length one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 Differs from contracta Nob. in size, arrangement of colors 
 and by the very distinct, impressed line before. 
 
778 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAT’S HETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 4. P. fera , blackish ; thorax transversely indented behind the 
 middle; feet piceous; anterior thighs dilated. 
 
 Inhab. United States. 
 
 Body blackish ; antennse piceous, terminal joint darker: 
 thorax a little transversely indented behind the middle, but not 
 affecting the lateral edge ; lateral narrow margin depressed, 
 yellowish and almost translucent behind the middle : hemelytra 
 piceous; membrane with a pale, translucent spot at tip of the 
 corium: beneath black; rostrum and feet piceous; anterior 
 thighs much dilated and spinous beneath; anterior tibia© 
 arquated, dilated at tip on the inner side. 
 
 Length under three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Male, Hyaline spot of the membrane very obvious. Length 
 nearly one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 Var A. Thorax behind the stricture piceous ; feet entirely 
 honey-yellow. 
 
 5. P. una, Punctured; antennae hairy; anterior thighs 
 dilated; thorax a little indented transversely behind the 
 middle; lateral edge arquated. 
 
 Inhab. Ia. 
 
 Body piceous-black; punctures numerous, distinct, profound : 
 antenna, distinctly hairy, dull honey-yellow : thorax transversely 
 a little indented behind the middle, and posterior to which the 
 punctures are large and more distant; lateral very narrow 
 margin depressed and somewhat translucent; lateral edge a little 
 arquated at the middle: hemelytra piceous; punctures distinct, 
 distant, on the corium; membrane dusky with two or three 
 hyaline arquations and obselete at tip of the corium : feet 
 piceous; anterior thighs dilated, with about one small spine 
 beneath; anterior tibiae a little dilated. 
 
 Length one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 Resembles fera Nob. but the lateral thoracic edge of that 
 species is rectilinear. 
 
 G. P . fallax, Anterior thighs dilated; thorax with tho lateral 
 margin dull whitish with brown spots. 
 
 Inhab. N. W. Territory. 
 
 Body blackish, punctured : thorax on the posterior portion pale, 
 but so densely covered with blackish punctures as to appear 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 779 
 
 SAY’S HKTEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 blackish; lateral margin depressed, narrow, dull whitish or yel¬ 
 lowish, with a series of brown punctures furnishing hairs: scutel 
 with two yellowish lines behind, confluent at tip: hemelytra 
 dull yellowish with blackish punctures; membrane a little 
 clouded with dusky; rostrum piceous ; a yellowish spot and line 
 over the incisure of each foot; coxae and trochanters pale yel¬ 
 lowish; thighs somewhat robust, anterior pair thickest and 
 with a small spine beneath ; tibiae dull yellowish. 
 
 Length less than one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 The thorax is rectilinear on the lateral edge as in fera Nob, 
 but in that species the anterior part of the lateral thoracic mar¬ 
 gin is not depressed, and the hemelytra are distinguished by a 
 whitish spot. 
 
 7. P. bilobata, Honey-yellow; hemelytra whitish, with a fus¬ 
 cous band and spot at tip of the corium. 
 
 Inhab. Lousiana and Mexico. 
 
 Body pale honey-yellow or dusky somewhat hairy: antenna, 
 terminal joint fuscous slightly longer than sub-equal to the pre¬ 
 ceding and a little thicker : rostrum, second joint whitish, third 
 dusky: thorax with the anterior lobe longer, transverse quad¬ 
 rate ; posterior lobe not more elevated, but separated from the 
 anterior lobe by a profound contraction and a little wider : he¬ 
 melytra whitish ; corium with a fuscous band on the middle 
 and spot at tip : thighs pale honey-yellow, fuscous towards their 
 tips; anterior pair dilated spinous beneath blackish; pectus 
 and postpectus black in the middle: venter black, margin piceous. 
 
 Length one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 This varies considerably in the coloring of the head and 
 thorax which are sometimes even obscure cinereous, with 
 obsolete blackish lines, and on the posterior part of the thorax 
 of many specimens are three distinct black lines. It resembles 
 vincta Nob. which however is not banded in the middle of the 
 corium. 
 
 8. P. dorsalis, Thorax with a whitish line; three last joints 
 of the antenme subequal. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body dull honey-yellow, punctured: head with an obsolete 
 whitish line: antenna rather robust, dull rufous; joints a little 
 
780 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEVV-YORK 
 
 SAY’S HETEROPTEUOUS IIEMIPTERA. 
 
 thicker to the tip ; first joint longest; remaining joints subequal; 
 ultimate joint of the usual form but hardly longer than the pre¬ 
 ceding one: thorax transverse line not impressed; longitudinal 
 whitish line, not reaching the head or scutel: corium with a 
 blackish edge on the inner side at tip; membrane with a double 
 interrupted dusky line: aldomen dark livid with a yellowish 
 margin; pectus gray, darker in the middle: feet yellowish; 
 thighs with dusky punctures; anterior pair blackish beneath, 
 and armed with many spines. 
 
 Length over one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 Corresponds with the Fabrician description of Lygaeus 
 crassimanus, excepting that the anterior thighs are armed. 
 
 The following species has the third and fourth joints of the 
 antennae dilated subovate. 
 
 Subgenus Ptochiomera [Plochiomera .J 
 
 9. P. nodosus , two ultimate joints of the antennae thick; 
 thorax constricted behind the middle. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body piceous-black; antenna yellowish; two ultimate joints 
 equal, dilated, blackish ; second joint not longer than the third : 
 thorax behind the middle constricted, particularly on the lateral 
 edge; behind the stricture dull yellowish, punctured: scutel 
 with a yellow carina: hemelytra shorter than the abdomen, 
 pale yellowish, punctured; membrane obsolete; wings imperfect: 
 rostrum and feet honey-yellow, anterior thighs a little thicker 
 than the others, with a few small spines beneath; anterior 
 tibiae a little ciliated at tip: asmall spine on the anterior coxae. 
 
 Length about one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 Yar. A. All beneath honey-yellow. 
 
 This is a very common species in various parts of the Union, 
 and the 2 dilated joints of the antennae distinguishes it readily. 
 
 Saloa, F. Latr. 
 
 1. S . picea, Piscous-black; hemelytra entirely coriaceous. 
 
 Inhab. Massachusetts. 
 
 Body robust, oval, piceous-black; obviously punctured, some¬ 
 whatpolished : head impunctured, honej'-yeliow before; wider 
 than the greatest width of the thorax: antenna black-piceous: 
 thorax but little wider behind than before : hemelytra with the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 781 
 
 SAY’S HETEROPTEROUS nEMIPTERA. 
 
 corium extending nearly to the tip, the membrane being very 
 short, not more than a mere margin: feet honey-yellow. 
 
 Length under three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 For this insect I am indebted to Dr. Harris, of Milton, 
 
 1. [2] S. bullata , Cinereous, beneath black; feet yellowish. 
 
 Inlmb. U. S. 
 
 Body robust, oval, whitish-cinereous, with numerous, obvi¬ 
 ous, dusky, profound impressed punctures: head rather wider 
 than the body, dusky with a longitudinal yellowish line be¬ 
 fore : antenna: whitish above ; last joint rufous : thorax with 
 two small transverse impunctured spots before the middle; a 
 little dusky on the disc: scutel with a slightly carinate line, 
 and each side of the middle a longitudinal dull yellowish spot: 
 hemelytra with deep punctures; corium with a blackish margi. 
 nal line on the middle of tip ; membrane whitish : beneath black, 
 feet yellowish. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra over one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 This species is not uncommon in various parts of the Union. 
 
 Yar. A. punctipes, Feet yellowish with numerous black points ; 
 scutel with a yellow spot each side at base. 
 
 3. S. uliginosa, Blackish, corium brown, margin whitish; 
 feet yellowish. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body blackish, punctured : head with an oblique impressed line 
 each side bet ween the eyes : thorax with a glabrous transverse line 
 before the middle and a yellow exterior edge : hemelytra whi¬ 
 tish ; inner portion of the corium fuliginous; sexual carina or 
 ovipositor yellowish: rostrum and feet yellowish; posterior 
 thighs dusky at tip. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra over one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 Resembles the preceding but may be distinguished by its 
 darker color. It is less common. 
 
 Myodociia, Latr. 
 
 Mopetilata, Blackish; feet white at base. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body piceous-black, deeply punctured : head black impunc¬ 
 tured polished; neck elongated : antennce yellowish; first joint 
 black, at tip yellowish ; ultimate joint and apex of the preco- 
 
782 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEYV-YORK 
 
 say’s HETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 ding one fuscous : thorax constricted in the middle; anterior 
 portion impunctured : hemelytra piceous; lateral narrow margin 
 yellowish, expanding behind into a small dot; membrane fuligi¬ 
 nous with the nervures whitish; rostrum yellowish, first joint 
 piceous : feet yellowish; anterior thighs dilated, with a few 
 spines beneath beyond the middle, and with a piceous annulus 
 near the tip. 
 
 Length over seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 This insect is not [unjeommon in many parts of the Union. 
 
 Astemma, Latr. 
 
 A. mavortia, Thorax cylindrical constricted before the basal 
 margin. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body black: antenna: honej'-yellow: thorax cylindrical, nar¬ 
 rowed before to the width of the head, constricted on the basal 
 6ubmargin ; base hardly wider than the middle : hemelytra punc¬ 
 tured, piceous, a little shorter than the abdomen : wings imper¬ 
 fect: ter gum rufous; margin and tip black: feet honey-yellow; 
 anterior thighs dilated, with six or seven equal, equidistant 
 spines : anterior coxae with a short spine. 
 
 Length over seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Male, Anterior tibiae arquated towards the base and with a 
 spine near the middle. 
 
 I have taken this species in Pennsylvania, Florida, Indiana 
 and Missouri. I have placed it in the present genus on account 
 of its cylindrical thorax; but it ought perhaps to form a dis¬ 
 tinct subgenus. 
 
 « Capsus, F. 
 
 1. C. ocreatus, Sanguineous; band on the hemelytra and their 
 membrane black. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia. 
 
 Body light sanguineous : thorax with two transverse 
 impressed lines before the middle; lateral edge black; heme¬ 
 lytra with a narrow, black band ; the lateral edge a little reflect¬ 
 ed ; membraneous part purple black, with a white terminal 
 margin: beneath immaculate ; thighs simple, anterior pair about 
 four spined beneath at tip; tibiae blackish-piccous. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 783 
 
 say’s heteropterous iiemiptera. 
 
 Length less than two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 A very pretty species. It was presented to me by Mr. Oeinler. 
 
 I have not seen the characters of Fallen’s genera Corizus. and 
 Phytocoris, and it is probable that I have included in this genus, 
 species of both, for the antennae of a few of these are filiform. 
 
 2. C. succinctus, F. Var. A. Surface paler, with numerous 
 black punctures, giving a dusky appearance ; origin of the an¬ 
 tennae, and a line on each side of the origin of the rostrum 
 sanguineous. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 Antennae in this species robust filiform, the last joint being 
 equal in diameter to the others; eyes remarkably prominent. 
 
 3. C. mimus. Hemelytra yellowish, with a black spot and 
 tip; beneath whitish with sanguineous incisures. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 Head sanguineous : antenna excepting at base, and terminal 
 joint of the rostrum black; thorax anterior margin white, 
 bounded by an impressed line, beyond which the surface is san¬ 
 guineous to an impressed line on the middle, posterior half pale 
 yellowish with a black central base : scutel black: hemelytra 
 pale yellow, with a large triangular spot on the middle, and 
 membraneous tip, black, the latter edged with piceous: beneath 
 white, incisures sanguineous: feet piceous black: thighs san¬ 
 guineous, anterior pair two spined near the tip. 
 
 Length over two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 Var. A. Hemelytra black, with a pale yellowish lateral margin. 
 
 Var. B. Hemelytra black, exterior and terminal margins of the 
 corium pale yellowish. 
 
 The rostrum extends beyond the base of the posterior feet. 
 
 4. C. rapidus, Reddish brown; hemelytra with a yellowish 
 margin. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body dull reddish brown : head rufous : antennae black; first 
 joint nearly half as long as the third, [second joint: Harris MS.] 
 white on the basal half, hardly perceptibly larger at tip than at 
 base: third joint not much shorter than the second, and with ' 
 the last white at base: thorax pale yellow; anterior margin 
 
784 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S HETEROPTEROUS nEMIPTERA. 
 
 rufous; a black abbreviated band behind the middle: hemely- 
 tra, corium at tip with a bright red, almost sanguineous, trian¬ 
 gular spot: beneath rufous: venter dusky on the disk; tibise 
 pale yellowish. 
 
 Length, to tip of hemelytra three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 5. C. i-vittatus, Yellow with 4 black vittae. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body bright yellow : head tinged with fulvous : antenna, black: 
 thorax tinged with fulvous before: four black vittae not reach¬ 
 ing the anterior margin, the latter ones marginal and more 
 slender: scutel with a black spot each side at base : hemelytra 
 with two blackish vittae on each, the exterior one having a 
 black annulatcd dot at tip: membrane blackish, with a dull 
 yellowish arc. 
 
 Length, to tip of hemelytra three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Inhabits a considerable part of the Union. I have taken it 
 in the N. W. Territory, Pa. Ia. and Mo. and Mr. Oemler sent 
 me a specimen from Georgia. It is common.—Can it be Lyg- 
 aeus lineatus, P. Syst. Rhyng. p. 234? 
 
 6. C. dislocatus, Pale rufous, with two black vittae dislocated 
 on the hemelytra. 
 
 Inhab. Pennsylvania. 
 
 Body pale rufous or somewhat fulvous: head with a black 
 mouth and band on the vertex; antenna black; basal joint at 
 least half as long as the second; second joint distinctly larger 
 towards the tip, base white for a short space: thorax with two 
 black dilated lines from the middle.to the base: scutel black 
 with a yellow vitta: hemelytra with a black vittae, widely dis¬ 
 located in the middle: beneath piceous with a yellow line each 
 side : feet honey yellow. 
 
 Length, to tip of hemelytra one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 Occurred on the Verbascum thapsus L. 
 
 7. C. oblineatus, Thorax green with black lines; scutel with 
 a yellow Y. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body greenish, sometimes tinged with brown or clouded with 
 obscure rufous, puhetures distinct: head yellowish lineated with 
 reddish-brown : antennae first joint not half as long as the 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 785 
 
 say’s hetkropterous hemiptera. 
 
 second: thorax greenish, more or less lineated with blackish: 
 scutel blackish, with the lateral edge, and a line in form of a 
 V, yellow: hemelytra with a pale spot at tip of the corium, at 
 the apex of which is a black point: membrane a little dusky, 
 with one or two whitish dots and arc: beneath dusky: venter 
 with a yellowish lateral vitta, or green with a black lateral 
 vitta: feet yellowish with two rufous annulations near the 
 tip of the thighs. 
 
 Length, to tip of hemelytra over one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 This is a very common species and subject to vary conside¬ 
 rably. I have taken it in Pa., Ia., N. W. Terr, and Mo. 
 
 The thigli-bauds are somewhat like those of flavovarius F. 
 It is much like the lineolaris Beauv. 
 
 8. C. insitivus Black; thorax and scutel fulvous. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body velvet black; antenna , first joint half as long as the 
 second; third joint over two-thirds the length of the second, 
 and not abruptly smaller; second joint not larger at tip than 
 at base: thorax and scutel bright orange: pectus orange; the 
 anterior trochanters black like the remaining part of the infe¬ 
 rior surface and feet. 
 
 Length, to tip of hemelytra nearly seven-tv r entieths of an inch. 
 
 Var A. Head fulvous. 
 
 Var B. Thorax with a longitudinal black vitta. 
 
 Var C. Beneath reddish fulvous, with bjack feet. 
 
 9. C. goniphorus, Black, broadly margined with sanguinous. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body black: head more or less sanguineous generally blackish 
 at base and tip: antenna black, second joint generally a little 
 thicker towards the tip; orbits above sometimes a little tinged 
 with yellow: thorax very widely margined each side with san¬ 
 guineous, leaving a large triangular black spot, of which the 
 base corresponds with the base of the thorax and the tip with 
 the tip: hemelytra , corium with a broad sanguineous lateral 
 margin. 
 
 Var. a. Black thoracic triangle deeply emarginate before. 
 
 Var. b. Beneath sanguineous on each side. 
 
 [Ag. Trans.] 50 
 
786 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s HETEROPTEKOUS iiemiptera. 
 
 Var. c. Thighs rufous; tibiae and tarsi pale yellowish. 
 
 Var. d. Thorax sanguineous, with scarcely any appearance 
 of black. 
 
 Length from one-fifth to one-fourth of an inch to the tip of 
 the hemelytra. 
 
 Not uncommon in various parts of the Union. Nuttall ob¬ 
 tained a specimen in Arkansaw. 
 
 10. C. nubilus, Varied with blackish and grayish; antenna}, 
 basal joint hairy, robust. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body above varied with black and grayish green; with nu¬ 
 merous short hairs : head and thorax chiefly green; antenna , 
 joints black at tip ; basal joint at least half the length of the 
 second, robust, hairy; second joint perceptibly a little thicker 
 at tip: hemelytra with a grayish spot at tip of the corium, and 
 on the membrane a whitish marginal spot, and a yellowish an- 
 gulatedline: beneath grayish green, a little dusky each side: 
 feet greenish : rostrum extending between the posterior feet. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 Var. a. Tip of the corium with an obscure rufous spot; be¬ 
 neath dusky irrorate with pale, greenish along the middle. 
 
 11. C. medius, Sanguineous, antennae, scutel and inner por¬ 
 tion of the hemelytra black. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body sanguineous, more or less tinged with fulvous, not dis¬ 
 tinctly punctured : head with two black vittae between the eyes 
 and one at base of the rostrum, a transverse black line on the 
 neck : antenna black : thorax sometimes a little dusky behind ; 
 scutel black: hemelytra black; exterior margin of the corium 
 sanguineous: pectus a little dusky in the middle : abdomen black 
 at tip : feet black, whitish at base: rostrum black. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 Var. a, General color ochreous. 
 
 Resembles goniphorus Nob. but is a smaller and more slender 
 insect, aside from other differences, such as the antennae being 
 entirely black, the second joint not larger at tip than at 
 base, &c. It is more closely allied to confluentus Nob., which 
 however has the inner margin only of the corium dusky and tho 
 feet whitish at base. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 787 
 
 SAY’S HETHROPTEROUS beviptera. 
 
 12. C. insignis, Black; head, thorax and scutel more or less 
 sanguineous. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body black; sanguineous with a black mark at the base of the 
 rostrum, sometimes extending into a triangle, of which the apex 
 is at the base of the head: antenna, black; first joint not half 
 as long as the second; second joint not remarkably larger at 
 tip; remaining joints not abruptly smaller: thorax sangui¬ 
 neous, sometimes with two blackish spots at base, which in some 
 specimens are so dilated as to occupy nearly all the surface ex¬ 
 cepting the anterior margin and a re-entering angle; scutel san¬ 
 guineous, with sometimes a blackish more or less dilated spot 
 each side at base: hemelytra immaculate ; beneath sanguineous 
 varied with black: feet black. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra about one fourth of an inch. 
 
 A specimen was sent me from Georgia by Mr. Oemler, and 
 in my cabinet are others which I think were taken in Pa. A 
 variety has the scutel entirely black and the thorax black ex¬ 
 cepting the anterior margin. 
 
 13. C. scrupeus, Black; thorax with two black dots, and with 
 the scutel yellowish. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body black: head with a dull yellowish line and superior 
 orbits, variegated at the mouth and beneath : antenna , first joint 
 more than half the length of the second, and rather robust 
 hairy; second joint a little thicker at tip : thorax yellowish, 
 anterior margin, two dots and a slight dot near the posterior 
 angles black: scutel yellowish, dusky on the middle of the base 
 and on the basal angles: hemelytra immaculate: feet with 
 minute pale points. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra nearly one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 Resembles insignis Nob., but the second joint of the antennee 
 of that species is not obviously thicker at tip ; the first joint is 
 naked and much shorter than that of the present species, &c. 
 
 14. C. circumcinctus , Above black; with a sanguineous mar¬ 
 gin, thoracic line and scutel. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body black : head beneath excepting the trophi, sanguineous : 
 
788 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S IIETERO PTE ROUS BEMIPTERA. 
 
 thorax with the anterior and lateral narrow margins and dorsal 
 line acute before and gradually dilating behind, sanguineous: 
 scutel with a much dilated sanguineous line, broadest before and 
 gradually narrowing behind, occupying the greater portion of 
 the surface : hemelytra black with a sanguineous lateral margin, 
 extending as far as the membranous portion; pleura and pectus 
 sanguineous, with two black lines connecting the coxae: feet 
 black; venter sanguineous, a black line each side connected 
 with a large longitudinal spot behind the middle, extending to 
 the tip of the venter. 
 
 Length one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 Resembles C. medius Nob., but may be distinguished by the 
 black thoracic vittae. 
 
 15. C. confluentus, Above sanguineous; inner margin of the 
 corium dusky; membrane black. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri. 
 
 Body sanguineous: head blackish on the disk, or with two black 
 lines confluent behind and before: thorax with a dusky trans¬ 
 verse line before the middle : corium a little dusky on the inner 
 margin; membrane black: scutel dark rufous or blackish: 
 pectus and postpectus varied with blackish: feet black : venter 
 black at tip. 
 
 Length about one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 Several specimens were obtained by Nuttall in Missouri. 
 Resembles goniphorus, but differs in many respects. 
 
 16. C. submarginatus, Black; disc fulvous, hemelytra with 
 whitish vittae. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body oblong, blackish; not'distinctly punctured; head dull 
 fulvous, disk black: antenna black ; first joint hardly one-third 
 the length of the second; second joint cylindric: thorax black; 
 disk dull fulvous: hemelytra with a broad submarginal whitish 
 vitta, originating at the humerus and curving outward at tip: 
 beneath dull fulvous: feet dull fulvous. 
 
 Length one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 I obtained one specimen in Missouri and another in Indiana. 
 
 17. C. geminus, Black; a yellowish spot at tip of the corium. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 789 
 
 SAT’S IIKTEROPTEROUS HF.MIPTERA. 
 
 Body black; punctures distinct: antenna, basal joint white ; 
 
 remaining joints-: hemelytra at tip of the corium, with a 
 
 large whitish yellow spot; rostrum white: feet entirely green¬ 
 ish-white. 
 
 Length nearly one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 The contrast between the hemelytral spot and the general 
 color, gives it a little the appearance of C. gothicus F. but it 
 cannot be confounded with that insect. 
 
 18. C. stygicus, Black; tibiae and tarsi whitish. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body deep black, polished; minutely punctured or somewhat 
 rugulose : antenna, first joint less than half the length of the 
 second; second joint very slightly larger at tip; third joint 
 three-fourths the length of the second; incisure between the 
 first and second joints whitish: feet with the trochanters, knees, 
 tarsi, excepting at tip, and tibiae excepting the base of the 
 posterior pair, white. 
 
 Length over three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 19. C. fusiformis, Blackish, with three yellowish vittae ; an¬ 
 tennae, second joint fusiform. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body rather slender, blackish; antenna , first joint rufous, 
 cylindric; second joint robust, fusiform, more slender at base; 
 third joint with a white base : thorax anterior edge white : scu- 
 tel with a dilated white line : hemelytra, on the lateral and inner 
 margins of the corium whitish : abdomen at base and feet rufous. 
 
 Length less than one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 The lateral margin of the corium is sometimes yellowish 
 brown. The base of the abdomen in the recent specimen is 
 often sanguineous. 
 
 20. C. vitripennis, Yellowish; hemelytra hyaline; subbifasciate. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body oblong, pale greenish yellow: head impunctured, neck 
 blackish : antenna, first joint three-fourths as long as the second, 
 pale rufous; second joint not obviously larger at tip; third joint 
 very short, whitish: thorax with large punctures : scutel yellow, 
 black at base : hemelytra hyaline, the corium being as transpa¬ 
 rent as the membrane, with a common dusky vitta, curved out- 
 
790 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S heteropterous demiptera. 
 
 ward behind the middle so as to form a band ; beyond is another 
 oblique arquated band originating at the middle of the prece¬ 
 ding one : beneath greenish. 
 
 • Length nearly one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 A male in my collection has a large blackish spot on the base 
 of the thorax. I have taken it on the oak, in August, in Penn¬ 
 sylvania. I have also found an individual in Indiana. 
 
 21. C. invitus, Dark livid or blackish; beneath green with a 
 blackish lateral vitta. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body dark brownish livid or blackish, with numerous short 
 prostrate yellow hairs: head dull yellowish, with an impressed 
 longitudinal line : antenna , first joint less than half the length 
 of the second, which is hardly perceptibly larger at tip ; third 
 joint more than half the length of the second, and as long again 
 as the fourth : thorax with small transversely confluent, super¬ 
 ficial punctures: scutel with a pale obsolete vitta beyond tho 
 middle: hemelytra with a whitish spot at tip of the corium and 
 a greenish lateral edge: beneath green, with a broad lateral black 
 vitta: feet green; posterior thighs black towards the tip. 
 
 Length nearly one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 22. C. imbecilis, Blackish ; antennae second joint white at tip; 
 hemelytra with a white band before the middle and spot at the 
 coriaceous tip. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body blackish-piceous ; clypeus at tip and rostellum piceous: 
 antenna, first joint dull rufous, terminal third of the second joint 
 white: thorax, anterior segment with an impressed longitudinal 
 line : hemelytra with a white band before the middle, and a ru¬ 
 fous spot near tho tip of the coriaceous portion; tergum pale, 
 feet pale rufous : coxae, intermediate and posterior pairs white 
 
 Length under one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 23. C. irrorratus, White; hemelytra and posterior thighs 
 with green points. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body white, tinged with green : antenna, first joint with green 
 each side ; remaining joints very pale brownish, the second black 
 at the basal incisure: thorax with a transverse indented line 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 191 
 
 SAI’S HETEUOPTEROUS UEMIPTERA. 
 
 on the anterior submargin, connected with the anterior edge by 
 an indented line from its middle : hemelytra except on the mem¬ 
 braneous portion, irrorate with green points: posterior thighs 
 on the superior edge with five or six green points. 
 
 Length less than one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 24. C. chlorionis, Green; first and last joints of the antenna 
 short, equal. 
 
 Inliab. Indiana. 
 
 Body green, immaculate, with numerous short hairs, impunc- 
 tured : antenna, pale; first joint hardly one-fourth the length of 
 the second; second joint cylindric; third joint two-thirds the 
 length of the second; last joint nearly half as long as the third: 
 thorax a little tinged with yellowish: rostrum , feet yellowish 
 
 Length nearly three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 25. C. colon. Grayish; thorax with two black dots. 
 
 Inliab. Indiana. 
 
 Body brownish-gray, with numerous short yellowish hairs; 
 antennae, basal joint robust, narrowed at base, two-thirds the 
 length of the second ; second joint very slightly thicker at tip, 
 whitish in the middle and for a short space at base, and black¬ 
 ish at tip : third and fourth joints as long as the first, whitish : 
 thorax with a black orbicular dot each side of the middle : heme¬ 
 lytra with from three to five obsolete brownish spots on the 
 corium, and two or three on the membrane: beneath dusky, 
 varied with yellowish lineations on each side of the venter : feet 
 yellowish; thighs dusky at tip; tibia with about two dusky 
 annulations. 
 
 Length over one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 This species like many others is subject to vary. It is some¬ 
 times yellowish, variegated with brownish, but the thoracic 
 orbicular spots and the annulations of the second joint of the 
 antenna? distinguish it. 
 
 The following species having large and very prominent eyes; 
 antenna?, excepting the first joint, remarkably slender and fili¬ 
 form, situated on the front above an imaginary line drawn 
 between the anterior angles of the eyes, and with elongated 
 feet, may bo separated under the subgeneric name Cylapus. 
 
792 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s heteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 26. C. tenuicornis, Blackish; hemelytra one or two spotted 
 with whitish; antenn®, second joint white at tip; thighs annulate. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Head somewhat variegated with yellowish; almost vertical, 
 deeply impressed between the eyes, and with an impressed line : 
 eyes very prominent: antennce elongated, first joint robust, black; 
 remaining joints slightly thickened at tip and terminating in a 
 white spot: thorax punctured, anterior margin somewhat 
 elevated, with an impressed line; an obsolete slender pale line 
 proceeds thence to the base: scuttl punctured, with a hardly 
 elevated, carinated line, tip obsoletely whitish : hemelytra punc¬ 
 tured ; an obsolete interrupted and abbreviated band near the 
 middle and a rather more distinct band near the tip of the 
 coriaceous portion, whitish : beneath piceous ; a triangular spot 
 over the interval between the intermediate and posterior feet, 
 pale green: feet long, pale reddish brown: thighs biannulate 
 with whitish beyond the middle : tibiae with an obsolete annulus 
 a little beyond the middle. 
 
 Length one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 Readily distinguishable by the tenity [tenuity] of the antenn® 
 and the very prominent eyes; the head also is almost vertical 
 and the feet are long. In the magnitude and prominence of 
 the eyes it resembles Saida and Acanthia. 
 
 27. C. bractatus , Black; hemelytra with numerous golden 
 points. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body black: antenna first joint nearly one-fourth the length 
 of the second; dull honey yellow at base; second joint rather 
 long, very slightly larger towards the tip, dull honey yellow in 
 the middle: hemelytra with numerous small spots consisting 
 each of a few golden hairs; membrane fuliginous: knees tibia 
 and tarsi yellowish. 
 
 Length less than one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 It is a very small species often in company with the preceding. 
 
 Miris, F. 
 
 1. M. vagans , F. I have compared our specimens with those 
 of Europe and do not observe a specific difference. It is com¬ 
 mon. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 193 
 
 SAY’S IIETEROPTEROUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 2. M, dorsalis, Pale yellowish rufous, immaculate : head with 
 an abbreviated indented line: antennce rather robust, tapering, 
 rufous; first joint rather thick, as long as the third; second 
 joint about three times as long as the third, cylindric; tergum 
 pale sanguineous, excepting the margin: sexual carina elevated, 
 single. 
 
 Length less than three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 The small hairs of the antenme are not equal to the diameter 
 of their respective joints. 
 
 Tingis, Fabr. 
 
 1. T. ciliata, dilated; nervures and edge ciliate with short 
 spines : hemelytral lateral edge rectilinear. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Whitish, reticulate with nervures on which are short spines; 
 widely margined ; color whitish; thorax with an inflated carina 
 before, extending over the head; sides dilated, bullate, a little 
 elevated, lateral and anterior margins ciliate with short spines: 
 scutel with the lateral margin elevated and an acute highly 
 elevated carina on the middle: hemelytra dilated, with an in¬ 
 flated carina before the middle of each on which is a brown' 
 spot; edge ciliate with short spines, excepting the posterior 
 third and tip, which are unarmed rectilinear; beneath piceous- 
 black: feet pale yellowish. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 The larva is spinous, fuscous, with a large yellowish spot each 
 side of the middle, and before the middle a broad yellowish vit- 
 ta. The species is very common. 
 
 2. T. cinerea, Not dilated hemelytra with six or seven mar¬ 
 ginal spots. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body gray; not dilated on the margin; with much dilated 
 punctures; head deeply bifid at tip and with a short robust 
 spine between the eye and antenna;; antennce basal joint spheri¬ 
 cal, abruptly smaller at base; second joint not longer than the 
 first and less dilated: thorax with four elevated lines obsolete 
 behind; anterior lateral margin a little dilated: hemelytra 
 covered, like the thorax, with dilated, approximate punctures, 
 
794 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s hetkropterous hemiptera. 
 
 and having on the lateral margin a series of six or seven black 
 spots ; beneath grayish, more or less varied with brown : venter 
 brownish, with spots or lines of grayish. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra more than one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 In form much resembling T. cardui, F. It is not uncommon. 
 
 3. T. mutica , Thorax and scutel with a single line; hemelytra 
 with a brown spot. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body grayish brown, unarmed, not dilated on the margin; 
 with much dilated punctures : antenna , second joint rather 
 thicker than the first: thorax , with a paler, slender, glabrous 
 line, and paler line each side: scutel with a paler line on tho 
 middle and a short one each side, not elevated : hemelytra like 
 the thorax with dilated approximate punctures; on the middle 
 an obvious darker, irregular spot or band ; membrane reticulate 
 with brown: beneath dusky : tibia paler. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra over one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 4. T. plexus, 1 horax and scutel trilineate; hemelytra obscurely 
 and minutely reticulate. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body brownish, more or less tinged with yellow, with dilated 
 approximate punctures ; head with three elevated lines : thorax 
 not dilated on the sides; with three elevated lines : scutel also 
 with three elevated lines : hemelytra with small, symmetrical, 
 oibicular reticulations of nervures; two series of which on tho 
 lateral margin are a little larger ; those near the inner margin 
 of the membrane also a little larger. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra nearly three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 5. T. arcuata, dilated; nervures and edge ciliate with short 
 spines; lateral edge of tho hemelytra arquated. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Whitish with brown spots; dilated; edge, excepting behind, 
 and many of the nervures, ciliated with short spines; nervures 
 pale brownish : thorax with an inflated carina, extending over 
 the head, with one or two large brown spots; sides dilated, 
 bullato, with a brown spot: scutel with an acute, highly elevated 
 carina on the middle, on which is a brown transverse line: 
 hemelytra with an inflated carina before the middle of each, 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 795 
 
 SAY’S HETEROPTEROU3 HEMIPTERA. 
 
 on which is a brown spot; and a brown band before the carina 
 and another on the terminal margin; lateral edge concavely 
 arquated, without spines on its posterior third and tip : ter gum 
 and beneath black: feet yellowish. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra nearly three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Resembles ciliata N. but may bo distinguished by the brown 
 bands and the arquated exterior edge of the hemelytra. 
 
 Araous, Fabr. 
 
 1. A. crenatus, Antennae, second and third joints subequal, 
 cylindrical [;] edge of the abdomen obtusely crenated. 
 
 Inhab. U. S.» 
 
 Body dull brown or yellowish brown; head inequal, with two 
 longitudinal, indented lines: an acute projecting point before 
 each eye; tip prominent, obtuso: antennce, second joint cylin- 
 dric, hardly longer than the third, which is cylindrical, slightly 
 narrower at base: fourth joint a little shorter than the third, 
 rather thicker at the tip and obtuse : thorax quadrilineate; sides 
 widely rounded, obviously recurved and irregularly dentato on 
 the edge: scutel, margin elevated: hemelytra minutely dentate 
 on the exterior basal edge: ter gum rufous; margin cinerous 
 with blackish angular spots; edge rather deeply crenate: 
 beneath dull rufous in the middle: feet yellowish, annulate with 
 brownish. 
 
 Length nearly nine-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Much larger than quadrilineatus Nob. which has short and 
 robust antennae, the second joint smaller at base, &c. Mr. 
 Nuttall presented me with an individual taken iu Missouri, and 
 I possess other specimens obtained in this State. 
 
 2. A. acutus, Third and fourth joints cf the antennae together, 
 two-thirds the length of the second. 
 
 Inhab. Florida and Indiana. 
 
 Body fuscous: head inequal, with two longitudinal, indented 
 lines; an acute, projecting point before each eye; tip promi¬ 
 nent, obtuse : antennce black ; second joint elongated, narrower 
 at base; third and fourth joints equal, thaken together not more 
 than two-thirds the length of the second : thorax quadrilineate, 
 three or four very obvious denticulations on the anterior part 
 
796 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s hrteroptbrous itkmiptera. 
 
 of the lateral edge; scutel on the edge a little elevated; he- 
 melytra on the humerus dull yellowish with a denticulated edge, 
 tergurn with quadrate cinerous spots in a series within the 
 .margin; margin with obsolete pale spots and incisures: tibia 
 paler than the thighs : venter tinged with rufous. 
 
 Length over seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Like planus Fabr.; but the second joint of the antennae of 
 that insect is shorter, cylindric, and the third and fourth joints 
 together are nearly equal in length to the third. 
 
 It is abundant in Indiana as well as in Florida and varies in 
 having the nervures of the hemelytral membrane margined with 
 whitish. 
 
 3. A. similis , Third and fourth joints of the antennae together, 
 as long as the second. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body brown: head inequal, with two longitudinal, indented 
 lines: an acute, projecting point before each eye; tip promi¬ 
 nent obtuse: antenna , second joint cylindrical, very slightly 
 thicker towards the tip; third joint whitish, cylindric, half as 
 long as the second; fourth joint fuscous, a little shorter than 
 the third and narrowed a little toward the base: thorax quadri- 
 lineate, lateral edge dentate: tergurn slightly serrate on the 
 lateral edge: beneath fuscous on the disk: feet brownish. 
 
 Length over one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 Resembles the acutus Nob. which however has the second joint 
 of the antennae longer and the ultimate joints equal. It still 
 more resembles planus F; but the antennas of that species are 
 obviously more robust. The penultimate joint of the antennae 
 is sometimes very dull and almost obsoletely whitish. 
 
 4. A. rectus, Hemelytra not dilated at the humerus. 
 
 Inliab. Missouri and Florida. 
 
 Body fuscous, rather slender: head with an indented line each 
 side; an acute, projecting point before each eye; tip prominent, 
 obtuse: antenna, joints very slightly smaller towards the base; 
 second joint nearly as long as the third and fourth together; 
 the latter a little shorter than the third: thorax quadrilineate 
 and having the thicker abbreviated line near the exterior angle 
 very distinct; scutel with the edge considerably elevated: 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 197 
 
 say’s heteropterous remiptera. 
 
 hemelytra, corium rather long, the humerus not dilated, but rec¬ 
 tilinear with the remaining part of the edge; grayish with fus¬ 
 cous nervures. 
 
 Length over three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 A small species; sufficiently distinct from the preceding by 
 the rectilinear edge of the hemelytra. 
 
 5. A. ornatus, Hemelytra, abdomen and feet pale; antennae 
 robust. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body blackish-fuscous: head with the process before the eyes 
 prominent, acute; antennae robust: thorax rather short; sides 
 depressed and a little reflected; edge regularly rounded; pos¬ 
 terior margin with about three glabrous, polished spots: scutel 
 concave towards the tip : hemelytra whitish, more or less spotted 
 with brown; humerus prominent, rounded : abdomen pale rufous, 
 margin paler, with blackish lines: feet yellowish: thighs at 
 base and tibiae blackish, but paler on the posterior pairs. 
 
 Length under one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 Resembles quadrilineatus Nob. but the polished thoracic spots 
 and the much more prominent and rounded humerus, not to 
 mention its coloring, readily distinguishes it. 
 
 6. A. cequalis, Second and third joints of the antennae equal, 
 thoracic margin reflected. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body fuscous: head with the process before the eyes acute and 
 rather prominent; nasus somewhat robust: antenna reddish- 
 brown, second and third joints equal; fourth joint two-thirds 
 the length of the third : thorax with two approximate elevated 
 lines and a less obvious lateral line which is obsolete before; 
 lateral margin rather widely reflected, yellowish: hemelytra 
 varied a little with dull yellowish; humerus yellowish, dilated; 
 tergum with rather broad transverse rufous linos on the margin ; 
 rostrum longer than the head; venter on the margin like the 
 margin of the tergum. 
 
 Length seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 The equality in length of the second and third joints of the 
 antenna), distinguishes this species. 
 
798 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S hetbropterous hkmiptera. 
 
 7. A. granulatus , Second joint of the antennae shorter than 
 the third; corium but little longer than the scutel, edge of tho 
 thorax obtusely emarginate. 
 
 Inhab. Florida and Indiana. 
 
 Body fuscous, densely granulated: head with an impressed 
 line each side near the eyes and two near the middle, an acuto 
 point before the eyes and an obtuse tip: antennce rather short, 
 second and fourth joints equal; third joint longest: thorax 
 slightly lincated before, but without any appearance of elevated 
 line behind ; lateral edge obtusely emarginate before the middle : 
 scutel broad, obtuse at tip : hemelytra narrower than the abdo¬ 
 men; humerus not dilated; nervures distinct; corium but little 
 longer than the scutel, with rather prominent nervures; mem¬ 
 brane dull whitish: wings as long as the hemelytra: ter gum, 
 beneath the wings, rufous: rostrum not longer than the head. 
 
 Length one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 I found it common in Florida. 
 
 "W ith the two following species, it possesses many characters 
 in common with Aneurus and may be considered as the connec¬ 
 ting link with that genus. It has the short, dilated rostrum; 
 the second joint of the antennse shorter than the third; tho 
 wide, obtuse scutel; the short feet, and the anterior feet set 
 wide apart as in that genus, but the appearance of the head 
 and the structure of the hemelytra correspond with Aradus, 
 excepting the brevity of the corium. 
 
 8. A. emarginatus , 1 horax obtusely emarginate before the 
 middle, edge with out elevated lines behind. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 Body black: head with an acute tubercle at base of tho 
 antennae, and another behind the e) r e : antennce , first joint more 
 robust than the others, rather suddenly attenuated at base, some¬ 
 what larger than the apicial prominence of the head ; second 
 joint shorter than the first, and not longer than the last; third 
 joint longest; terminal joint attenuated at base, pale at- tip : 
 thorax transversely impressed in tho middle, the impression 
 terminating each side in an obtuse emargination, edge very 
 minutely crenate; anterior margin slightly quadrilobate; heme- 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 790 
 
 say’s heteroptbrous hkmiptera. 
 
 lytra at the termination obliquely rectilinear ; corium but little 
 longer than the scutel. 
 
 Length nearly three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 The thorax has no appearance of elevated lines, but these are 
 substituted by four slightly elevated obtuse bullae on the ante¬ 
 rior margin. This species is closely allied to granulatus Nob. 
 but is a much larger insect. 
 
 9. [A.] lobatus, Thorax acutely emarginate before the middle 
 of the edge, without elevated lines behind. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body fuscous, granulated: head with the projection before the 
 eyes rather obtuse, tip robust, obtuse: antenna, third joint longer 
 than the second: thorax quadrilineate before the middle; lateral 
 edge acutely emarginate before the middle, the anterior angles 
 lobiform : scutel with an elevated line and lateral edge : heme¬ 
 lytra with a short corium; much narrower than the tergum: 
 rostrum not longer than the head. 
 
 Length seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Resembles granulatus and emarginatus Nob. but the nasus and 
 angulated projection before the eye are much more obtuso, and 
 the emargiuation of the lateral edge of the thorax is acute and 
 more profound, and the thoracic lineations are in much higher 
 relief. The species is uncommon. 
 
 Aneurus, Curtis. 
 
 A. politus, Rufous; tubercle before the eyes short obtuse. 
 
 Inhab. Florida. 
 
 Body rufous, somewhat polished ; minutely rugulous, much 
 depressed : head fuscous, excepting the prominent lobe or nasus 
 which is subacute, tubercle before the eyes scarcely prominent 
 obtuse : thorax brown behind ; anterior angles rather prominent 
 and rounded; lateral edge widely emarginate: scutel brown, 
 convex : hemelytra brown at base, fuliginous towards the tip. 
 
 Length three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Resembles the Icevis, Fabr, but the hemelytra are not dull 
 white on the margin; and the tubercle before the eyes is not 
 prominent as represented by Curtis. 
 
800 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s RKTEBOPTEROUS hemiptera. 
 
 Ruduvius, Fabr. 
 
 1. R. linitaris, Black, thoracic and abdominal margin, basal 
 margin of the hemelytra, coxa: and pectoral spots sanguineous. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body black, somewhat hairy : thorax transversely impressed 
 before the middle; a narrow sanguineous margin all around: 
 scutel with a narrow sanguineous margin: hemelytra with the 
 basal third of the costal edge dilating a little on the humerus, 
 sanguineous: abdomen on the superior and inferior margin san¬ 
 guineous : feet anterior pairs, trochanters and above each foot 
 on the pectus, sanguineous; posterior tibiae slightly curved near 
 the tip, and with a hairy dilation nearly equal to the diameter 
 of the tibiae. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra seven-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Both this and the following species have many points of agree¬ 
 ment with theFabrician description of crassipes, which however is 
 “ fuscous“ thorax margine laterali et postico tenuissime rufo. 
 Scutellum nigrum.” It is the anterior pairs of the tibiae that are 
 robust and they exhibit on the anterior tip a groove to receive the 
 tarsi. 
 
 2. R. ventralis, Brown-black; posterior margin of the elytra, 
 and abdomen sanguineous, the latter with lateral black spots 
 and lateral vittaj beneath. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri. 
 
 Body brown-black, somewhat hairy: thorax transversely im¬ 
 pressed before the middle; anterior portion inequal; posterior 
 portion margined each side and behind narrowly with sanguine¬ 
 ous : hemelytra with a rufous corium: abdomen sanguineous, 
 with large marginal quadrate black spots above and beneath 
 and dilated lateral black ventral vittm: coxa sanguineous: feet 
 not remarkably distinguished. 
 
 Length about two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 The feet are not remarkably dilated as in crassipes F.: the 
 species is also described to have "elytra fuscabasi parum rufa” 
 “ corpus nigrum pectore utrinque punctis, abdomine margine 
 rubris” “ pedes incrassati” <fcc. I owe it to the kindness of Nuttal. 
 
 3. R. acuminatus, Yellow, dusky along the middle; head 
 vesicular behind; hairy. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 801 
 
 say’s retebopterous hemiptkra. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body honey-yellow, very hairy: head short, almost rounded, 
 sub-eqnally divided by a deeply indented line behind the eyes; 
 posterior lobe vesicular, somewhat inflated, short; antenna; fus¬ 
 cous, pale at base : rostrum, basal joint longer than the second 
 and third together: thorax sub-equally divided by a deeply 
 indented line; anterior lobo somewhat longer, deeply divided 
 by a longitudinal lino ; posterior portion with an indented line 
 before, and a blackish disk; scutel with three elevated lines 
 and terminating in an acuminated spine; hemelytra dusky along 
 the middle ; anterior tibite a little dilated at tip: beneath with 
 a broad piceous vitta each side and a carinate line along the 
 middle. 
 
 Length one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 When alarmed, the basal joint of the antennm, which is 
 nearly as long as tlio head and thorax, is thrown backward and 
 the second joint deflected. It is common. 
 
 4. R. biceps, Yellowish ; hemelytra whitish; head bilobate. 
 
 Inhab. Pennsylvania. 
 
 Body a little hairy : head elongated; profoundly impressed 
 behind the eyes, bilobate ; rostrum robust; second joint longest: 
 antenna, second and third joints equal, fourth hardly shorter, 
 and no less robust; basal joint shorter : thorax with two trans¬ 
 verse impressed lines and a slightly indented longitudinal one : 
 hemelytra and wings whitish; anterior feet somewhat robust; 
 their tibim gradually dilated to the tip. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra over one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 * 1 he impressed line of the head is remarkably deep, giving 
 The appearance of a double head; the impressed lino of tho 
 thorax is on the posterior sub-margin, and the anterior impressed 
 line is very obvious. 
 
 5. R. insidiosus, Black; hemelytra pale at base of the corium; 
 membrane milky-white. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body very small, black, punctured : antenna whitish, somewhat 
 hairy; basal joint blackish; second joint longer than the third: 
 fourth joint as long as the third, a little dilated and compressed : 
 thorax minutely rugulous transversely and with a slight trans- 
 
 [Ag. Trans.J 31 
 
802 
 
 ANNUAL REPQRT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 sat’s heteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 verse indentation: scutel transversely rugulous: hemelytra 
 yellowish-white on the corium at tip of which is a large, trian¬ 
 gular, blackish spot; membrane milky white : feet whitish; 
 thighs, excepting their tips, black. 
 
 Length more than one-twentieth of an inch. 
 
 This is a very common little species in almost every part of 
 the Union, on flowers. The largo triangular black hemelytral 
 spots are very conspicuous. The antennae are rather short and 
 robust. The lateral edge of the thorax is not interrupted. 
 
 6. It. musculus, Black; hemelytra white, corium and mem¬ 
 brane blackish at tips; feet lioney yellow. 
 
 Inhab. N. W. Territory. 
 
 Body small, unarmed, black, somewhat polished: antenna 
 
 -: thorax a little contracted on the anterior margin, 
 
 almost like a short neck; on the middle an obtusely impressed, 
 but not profound band, behind which the surface is minutely 
 wrinkled ; posterior margin deeply and obtusely emarginated : 
 scutel rugose towards the depressed tip: hemelytra whitish, 
 hyaline; corium with a large blackish spot occupying the pos¬ 
 terior half; membrane dusky towards the tip : feet honey yellow; 
 tarsi dusky at tip. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra over three-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Resembles the preceding, but is larger, the head more elon¬ 
 gated and otherwise very distinct. 
 
 *7. R. pectoralis, Nob. New species of N. Amer. Ins. found by 
 J. Barabino. A complicated spine beneath the eye and a pro¬ 
 jecting spine each side of the pectus before. 
 
 Petalocheirus, Beauv. * 
 
 1. P. cruciatus, Sanguineous, thoracic spot, scutel and heme¬ 
 lytra black; scutel bifid at tip. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body sanguineous: head black behind the eyes: antenna black: 
 thorax with a longitudinal impressed line extending nearly to 
 the base and forming a cruciate mark with the transverse line; 
 an irregular black spot on the disk; scutel rugulous, lip [tipj 
 orbicularly bifid: hemelytra black; humerus yellowish : pectus 
 and postpectus black: feet whitish; thighs at tip and tibiao 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 803 
 
 say’s hetbropterous hemiptera. 
 
 at tip and base blackish; tarsi dusky; rostrum pale, second 
 joint blackish. 
 
 Length half an inch. 
 
 I have taken this insect in Indiana and Missouri and Mr. 
 Oemler sent me a specimen from Georgia. 
 
 2. P. biguttatus, Nob. New Sp. of N. Amer. Ins. found by 
 J. Barabino p. 13. Hemelytra with a yellow spot beyond the 
 middle and another at base. 
 
 Nabis, Latr. 
 
 1. N. purcis, Drury (Cimex) Ins. Y. 3 p. 63. pi. 45, f. 4. I 
 took many specimens in Georgia and Florida. 
 
 2. N. novenarius, Nob. (Reduvius) Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. 
 
 Ploiaria, Scop 
 
 1. P. fraterna, Brown; feet immaculate; hemelytra as long 
 as the head and thorax. 
 
 Inliab. New Orleans. 
 
 Body slender and elongated, brown; resemblingP.—; Ainer. 
 Entom. v. 3, pi. 47, but is smaller; feet immaculate; largest 
 spine of the anterior feet white, with a black tip: tibiae black¬ 
 ish : head paler than the thorax with a double brown line 
 diverging anteriorly, before tbe transversed impressed line; 
 posterior portion pale; hemelytra hardly longer than the ante¬ 
 rior portion of the body. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra seven-tenths of an inch. 
 
 This insect was sent to me by Mr. Barabino. It closely 
 resembles our common species represented in the Am. Entom. 
 Yol. 3, pi. 47, but it is much smaller and the feet have no 
 appearance of annulations. 
 
 3. [2] P. errabuiida, This is so closely allied to P. vagabunda, 
 Fabr. that I give it a distinct name with much hesitation; never¬ 
 theless the anterior thighs are somewhat less elongated, with 
 the two basal spines much more prominent than the others, the 
 abdomen is immaculate, the annulations of the feet are much 
 more obvious; the lateral carinate line of the thorax has a 
 
 f iinence like an obtuse spine before : In these characters it 
 rs from the vagabunda: but in the spotted appearance of 
 hemelytra and the form and magnitude of the scutellar 
 spinel it resembles that species. 
 
804 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s HETEBOPTEROUS hemiptera. 
 
 Acanthia, Schr. Latr. 
 
 1. A. ligata, Black, with yellowish spots; exterior margin of 
 the thorax and hemelytra yellowish. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body black: head with yellow orbits: thorax with an indented 
 spot before the middle: lateral margin yellow with a black 
 edge; at base two yellow spots: scutel with a yellow spot on 
 the lateral margin near the base and two other spots or abbre¬ 
 viated lines near the tip : hemelytra with yellow spots; a yellow 
 lateral margin and black edge; membrane fuliginous, with a 
 transverse series of dull yellowish, oblong spots, and a yellow 
 marginal spot: jfre^'palo with one or two longitudinal black 
 lines, which on the thighs are more or less dilated: venter , seg¬ 
 ments on their posterior margins pale yellow. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 2. A. hirta, Hairy, brownish, darker before. 
 
 Inhab. Indiana. 
 
 Body densely hairy, dull yellowish brown or fuliginous : head 
 a little darker at base: thorax blackish before the transverse 
 line: s'cutel blackish: hemelytra conspicuously hairy, with a 
 [few] dull yellowish spots, as well on the membrane as the cori- 
 um: pectus a little varied with black; remaining inferior sur¬ 
 face including the feet immaculate. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra under one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 This species may be recognized by its more obviously hairy 
 vesture; its color is also paler than usual in this genus. 
 
 3. A, lugubris, Black; membrane of the hemelytra obtusely 
 [obsoletely] spotted. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri. 
 
 Body black, subopake: head between the antennae with throe 
 yellowish points : antennae- first and second joints dull yellowish 
 before : thorax and scutel immaculate: hemelytra immaculate on 
 the corium, or with an obsolete dull yellowish point on the 
 middle of the tip; membrane with two or three obsolcto dub 
 yellowish spots, [on the ?] inner margin and tip : beneath with a^ 
 yellowish spot before each of the anterior feet; feet palo yellowy 
 ish ; tibiae and tarsi more dusky: thighs, particularly t/iie 
 anterior and posterior pairs, with a more or less dilated Iciaek 
 
 •‘LA 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 805 
 
 say’s iieteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 line toward their tips: coxa; black: anterior pair yellowish at 
 tip, remaining pairs slightly tipped with yellowish. 
 
 Length to tip of liemelytra less than three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 For this species I am indebted to Nuttal, who obtained it in 
 Missouri. 
 
 4. A. humulis, Black, hemelytra with a yellowish margin and 
 three spots. 
 
 Inhab. Florida. 
 
 Body black, with short, scattered hairs: head with a trans¬ 
 verse white lino before and a longitudinal yellowish line on the 
 nasus : antenna fuscous, basal joint whitish before : thorax with 
 an impressed puncture before the impressed transverse line; 
 hemelytra with the exterior margin [and] three rather large spots 
 along the sub-margin, yellowish, membrane dull yellowish, with 
 black nervures and fuscous oblong spots in a transverse series 
 alternating with the nervures: feet and rostrum yellowish. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra one-tenth of an inch. 
 
 The interstitialis, Nob, which this resembles, has the exterior 
 margin of the hemelytra black and is much larger, it has also a 
 large spot on the middle of the tip of the hemelytra, that does 
 not exist in this species. 
 
 The inter stitialis is much like the littoralis, Fabr. but in none 
 of my specimens of the latter is there a large yellowish spot on 
 the middle of the tip of the c'orium. 
 
 5. A. confluenta, Black; membrane of the hemelytra with a 
 blackish band. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Antenna pale at base; head and thorax immaculate: corium 
 with a large marginal spot before the middle and another at tip; 
 two 6inall spots [where?]; membrane with fuscous nervures 
 and a continuous, blackish, arquated band on the middle : feet 
 whitish ; tarsi with blackish tips ; thighs with an obsolete brown 
 lino : venter whitish at tip. 
 
 Length to tip of hemelytra one-fourth of an inch. 
 
 The band of the membrane does not reach the inner margin. 
 It is equal in size to ligata. 
 
806 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S heteroptkrous hemiptera. 
 
 Hydrometra, Latr. 
 
 H. lineate, Fuscous; hemelytra dull whitish with black 
 nervures. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body fuscous, or brown more or less deep : hemelytra dull 
 whitish or dusky, with black nervures: wings opake white, with 
 black nervures : ter gum pale, quadrilineate with black ; two of 
 the lines on the edge and the interval between the two inner 
 lines dull whitish or bright yellow ; the incisures of the segments 
 more or less black : beneath and feet obscure yellowish : thorax 
 with a more or less obvious pale line. 
 
 Length seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 This is very much like the stagnorum, F. but the hemelytra 
 are not testaceous, and there is no thoracic impressed line. 
 
 [Male ?] Body blued-black ; thorax with a pale lino; antennae 
 and feet dark honey yellow; tergum and venter without lines. 
 
 Yar. a. australis, Head beyond the eyes a little longer and a 
 little more dilated at tip; second joint of the antennae a little 
 more dilated at tip : abdomen with five lateral whitish points. 
 
 Inhab. New-Orleans. 
 
 Gerris, Latr. 
 
 I. G. remigis, Dark Olivaceous; thorax rounded behind, 
 without an elevated line. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body dark brownish-olivaceous ; thorax transversely rugulose 
 without much appearance of a dorsal raised line : a dull ochra- 
 ceous and indented lino before; posterior margin regularly and 
 obtusely rounded with but a very narrow depressed margin: 
 tergum with a black line on the middle, in which is a series of 
 obsolete gray lines; lateral margin with a series of grayish 
 points or short transverse lines : beneath with a silvery sericeous 
 reflection, an impressed line on the anterior part of the pectus 
 . behind the anterior feet. 
 
 Length half an inch. 
 
 A great similarity exists between some of the species of this 
 genus, and I have ventured to separate this species from tb 
 puludum F. which is said to have an elevated lino on the thp 
 and another on the pectus and postpectus. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 807 
 
 SAT’S heteropterous hemiptei\a. 
 
 The thorax on the posterior segment, is generally obtusely 
 tinged with dull yellowish, with a blackish longitudinal line in 
 the middle. 
 
 Yar. A. Thoracic elevated line rather more obvious; grey 
 lines of the middle of the tergum more distinct. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 2. G. marginatus, Thorax with an elevated line; behind 
 with an obvious depressed margin; abdominal margin dull 
 rufous. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body blackish, more or less tinged with olivaceous : thorax 
 with a raised line, more elevated behind; lateral indented edge 
 dull rufous; posterior depressed margin rather wide and very 
 obvious : abdomen with the margin dull rufous : feet dull rufous; 
 anterior thighs with a blackish line on both sides; coxoe dull 
 rufous beneath : beneath with a slightly elevated line, terminat¬ 
 ing anteriorly in a depressed one; blackish with a silvery 
 reflection. 
 
 Length over seven-twentieths of an inch. 
 
 Much smaller than the preceding and more slender, of a 
 darker color; abdominal margin of a different color, and the 
 posterior margin of the thorax is broadly depressed. I obtained 
 an individual, and Nuttal gave [me] one which he took in 
 Missouri. 
 
 3. G. canaliculatus, Above brownish; beneath yellowish, 
 with a pectoral groove extending to the venter. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia. 
 
 Head dark brown with a silvery line from the eye to the 
 antenna;: antenna honey yellowish and feet of the same color, 
 the tarsi dusky: thorax dull yellowish or dull fulvous, darker 
 each sido. with a dorsal dull fulvous line and lateral margin, 
 beneath which is a double black line enclosing a silvery one : 
 hemelytra brown with black nervures: tergum fulvous, with a 
 black lateral line and yellowish margin; terminal spines even 
 with the tip of the tail: beneath yellowish fulvous: pectus with 
 an obvious groove, extending to the venter and in which behind 
 is a blackish line. 
 
 Length less than two-fifths of an inch. 
 
808 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S IIF.TEROPTEROUS IIEMIPTERA. 
 
 - Differs from marginatus, Nob. in having an obvious groove 
 beneath, extending to the venter. The whole inferior [surface] 
 also is yellowish, with the usual silvery reflection; the posterior 
 depressed margin of the thorax is not so wido as in that species, 
 and has no raised line. 
 
 Naucoris, Geoff. Latr. 
 
 1. N. profunda, Oval, dark greenish, rugulous; inferior mem¬ 
 brane velvet black. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 The whole surface is covered with a minute, confused rough¬ 
 ness ; the form is rather dilated oval: thorax profoundly emar- 
 ginate to receive the head; posterior sub-marginal line very 
 distinct; lateral margin depressed; posterior angles obtusely 
 rounded: hemelytra with the covered membrane deep velvet 
 black: tergum dull yellowish with a blackish line on the edge 
 and spots on the margin: beneath blackish fuscous: feet green¬ 
 ish ; anterior pair of thighs dilated, triangular, ciliated with 
 golden hair. 
 
 Length two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 The femorata, Beauv is less dilated, polished, the head laigei, 
 and less profoundly inserted into the thorax, the thorax is also 
 not marginally depressed and its angles are not obtusely rounded 
 as in this species. It was taken by Win. Bennett and presented 
 to me by Mr. Maclure. 
 
 2. N. stygica, Black, front quadridentato. 
 
 Inhab. Georgia. 
 
 Body oval, brown-black, rather rough: head crcnate on the 
 front so as to form four denticulations: eyes rounded, rather 
 prominent: thorax not emarginate before, with a slightly depressed 
 margin behind; anterior thighs dilated triangular: hemelytra 
 with oblique lines ; they appear united at the suture. 
 
 Length three-tenths of an inch. 
 
 I have but one mutilated specimen which was sent to me by 
 Mr. Oemlcr. If I am not deceived by this specimen, the species 
 is apterous and the hemelytra are united by a rectilinear sutuje, 
 which will require the formation of a separate genus which 4 
 may be named Nerthra. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 809 
 
 SAT’S HETEROPTEROUS REMIPTERA. 
 
 Belostoma, Latr. 
 
 1. B. Jluminea, Fuscous; bead before tbe eyes attenuated; 
 feet spotted. 
 
 Inliab. U. S. 
 
 Body rather long ovate, grayish or fuscous: head rapidly 
 tapering from the anterior cauthus of the eyes to the tip, form¬ 
 ing in that part an equilateral triangle, of which the tip is 
 obtuse, but less than one-fourth the breadth of the space 
 between the eyes; the anterior lobe or nasus hardly reaches the 
 line between the anterior canthus of the eyes: thorax a little 
 emarginate before, and less obviously so on each side, posterior 
 to the transverse suture and a narrow lateral margin, paler; 
 tibiae and tarsi each with three black spots or interrupted annu- 
 lations. 
 
 Length from seven-tenths to four-fifths of an inch. 
 
 This species is no doubt related to B. rustica, Fabr. but he 
 describes tho thorax of that species as being white before. 
 Like that species the female carries her eggs upon her back. 
 Stoll’s figure of the rustica represents it of a short ovate form. 
 It has an extensive range. I purchased a specimen taken at 
 New Ilaven, one was sent to me from Georgia by Mr. Oemler of 
 Savannah and it i3 found in Pennsylvania and in Indiana and 
 Louisiana. 
 
 Yar. A. immaculata, Much smaller; lateral margin of tho 
 thorax depressed and slightly reflected; feet immaculate. 
 
 Length half an inch. 
 
 Most probably a distinct species, but I have seen but one 
 specimen. 
 
 As tho large North American species does not appear to have 
 boen noticed I will add a description of it. 
 
 2. B. grisea, Oblong-oval; head before the eyes very short, 
 not attenuated; beneath with three blackish vittae. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body oblong-suboval, slightly wider behind the middle, gray- 
 isflrbrown varied with fuscous or blackish, particularly on each 
 side of tho disks of the thorax and scutel : head between the 
 eyes hardly tapering from the base to the tip; from the anterior 
 '■anthus of the eyes to the tip, shorter than broad, not narrowed : 
 
810 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 say’s heteropterous hemiptera. 
 
 thorax, lateral edge rectilinear: jpectus and postpectus yellow, 
 with three broad black vittse, which become more dilated, 
 brown and less obvious on the abdomen : feet obsoletely sub- 
 annulate. 
 
 Length two inches and one-fifth; greatest breadth less 
 than nine-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Occurs in various parts of the Union. I received a specimen 
 many years since from Dr. F. V. Melsheimer labeled Nepa grisea, 
 which name I retain. It differs from the preceding in magni¬ 
 tude, in the form of the anterior part of the head, &c. It is 
 much like the B. grandis, Linn, but is hardly half as large, and 
 if Stoll’s figure of that insect has any pretensions to accuracy, 
 it is in other respects quite distinct. In that figure the greatest 
 breadth is at the base of the elytra, &c. 
 
 It inhabits from Canada to Florida. 
 
 3. B. dilatata, Dark grayish-brown, much dilated, ovate some¬ 
 what depressed; head obsoletely varied with dull-yellowish: 
 thorax with the lateral margin very distinct; anterior edge 
 obviously elevated ; impressed line of the posterior submargin 
 well defined, not abbreviated ; feet somewhat annulated; venter 
 tinged with rufous. 
 
 Inliab. Mexico. 
 
 Length one inch and one-tenth. 
 
 Resembles fluminea, Nob. but is much larger and proportion¬ 
 ally much more dilated. It was found between Vera Cruz and 
 Jalapa by Wm. Bennett and presented to me by Mr. Maclure. 
 
 Corixia, Geoff, Latr. 
 
 1. C. calva, Thorax eight or nine lined: lines of the hemelytra 
 subequal. 
 
 Inhab. U. S. 
 
 Body above glabrous, polished, pale yellowish, with transvorse, 
 black lines: head immaculate, the posterior angles distinct: 
 thorax with eight or nine black transverse lines: hemelytra with 
 numerous, undulated or angulated black transverse lines more 
 or less bifid and inosculated ; those of the anterior inner portion 
 not larger than the others; lateral grooves and all beneath ye’ 
 lowish white. 
 
 Length less than one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 / 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 811 
 
 SAY’S HETEROPTEBOUS HEMIPTERA. 
 
 Quite distinct from the interrupta and alternata, Nob. which 
 are both minutely rugulous. 
 
 2. C, abdominalis, Abdomen sanguineous at base. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 Body blackish, with slender, yellowish transverse lines : head 
 greenish-yellow, with a broad dusky line each side of the mid¬ 
 dle, not extending to the orbit and hardly reaching the vertex, 
 but dilated over the mouth: thorax with twelve to sixteen linea- 
 tions: hemelytra minutely wrinkled longitudinally; transverse 
 lineations not larger on the inner margin; lateral groove pale 
 fulvous, particularly towards the base where it is hooked, and 
 On the middle it has an oblique black spot: tergum at base 
 sanguineous: pectus and postpectus black : feet yellowish; ante¬ 
 rior pair black at tip : intermediate pair black on the tibiae and 
 the tip of the thighs; posterior pair, tibiae and tip of the tarsi 
 black : venter at base sanguineous. 
 
 Length two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 This was found in Mexico by Wm. Bennett and sent me by 
 Mr. Maclure. In point of size it resembles interrupta, Nob. 
 which however is but obsoletely wrinkled at the base of the 
 hemelytra, its transverse lineations are much more undulated, 
 and the abdomen is pale yellowish beneath; the feet also are 
 immaculate. 
 
 3. C. mercenaria , with the line snbequal and an immaculate 
 space at base. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 Body smooth, pale yellowish ; head immaculate, convex before 
 and with an obsolete carina, and a few punctures: thorax with 
 about eight or nine transverse black lines: hemelytra with 
 numerous, equally slender, transverse somewhat confused, black 
 lines; a large immaculate space at base; channel of the exte¬ 
 rior margin interrupted, immaculate, excepting a dusky dot at 
 tip and a less obvious one beyond the middle; tip rounded: 
 venter blackish, lateral margin and posterior margins of the 
 segments whitish. 
 
 Length one-fifth of an inch. 
 
 On comparison with the alternata , Nob. it may be distinguished 
 by the equality of the lineations of the hemelytra, those of that 
 
812 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 SAY’S HETEROFTEROUS UEMIPTF.RA. 
 
 species being muck more regular and wider on the inner ante¬ 
 rior margin than on other parts of the hemelytra. The thorax 
 and hemelytra also of that species are minutely rugulose. Pass¬ 
 ing through the market in the city of Mexico I obtained a few 
 specimens from the quantity of at least a peck, exposed for sale 
 by an Astec woman They are made use of as food. 
 
 It is larger than calva, Nob. and further distinguished by the 
 immaculate base of the hemelytra. 
 
 Notonecta, L. Latr. 
 
 1. N, undulata, Whitish; scutel and band blackish. 
 
 Inhab. Missouri and Indiana. 
 
 Body greenish-white: thorax dusky or blackish behind: scutel 
 velvet black, a slight dull fulvous spot each side near the base 
 and another more or less dilated, at tip: hemelytra with an 
 undulated, fuscous band behind the middle ; tip simply emargi- 
 nate, not fissile: beneath, blackish, varied with yellowish: feet 
 greenish. 
 
 Length two-fifths of an inch. 
 
 Var. A. Small spots at base of the scutel, none. 
 
 This approaches the description of N. americana , F. which, 
 however is said to be ’’postice nigro” corresponding with speci¬ 
 mens in my cabinet from Mexico. The black color of tho 
 posterior portion of tho thorax is only transmitted from the 
 part of the scutel which is beneath it. 
 
 Var. B. Yellowish, or greenish white; beneath varied with 
 blackish and yellowish: feet green: hemelytra with three 
 lateral, longitudinal brown spots; a lateral, submarginal black¬ 
 ish line. 
 
 Var. C. Scutel black: hemelytra blackish with a line at base 
 and tip whitish. 
 
 Inhab. Mexico. 
 
 This may possibly prove to bo a distinct species, but as it 
 possesses many characters in common with the undulatus, I 
 refer it for the present to this species as a variety. I owe it 
 to the kindness of Mr. Ma[c]lure; it forms part of the 
 taken by William Bennett. 
 
 I found an individual in Missouri that appears to hi 
 as Var. C. 
 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
 
 813 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO THE INSECT THAT DESTROYS 
 THE COTTON PLANT. 
 
 To Thomas Say Esq., 
 
 Prof, of Natural History , University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Sir! I have for several years paid some attention to an insect 
 which has infested our cotton, whose character and species I 
 have been very desirous of ascertaining. I addressed a letter 
 to Mr. Stephen Elliot on this subject and he referred ine to you, 
 not being able to give me the description wanted. I also sent 
 to Dr. Samuel Mitchell of New-York, but he likewise was not 
 able to give any satisfactory account, and referred me to Mr. 
 Le Cont; but owing to some adventitious circumstances I never 
 heard from him, and have now taken the liberty of addressing 
 you, although an entire stranger, and must make my love of the 
 sciences generally, as well as my desire to be acquainted on 
 this particular point, my excuse. I have therefore sent a box 
 containing the moths. They were put into the box in the cat¬ 
 erpillar state, with a few cotton leaves to feed on. After a 
 time they went into the pupa state and finally becamo moths. 
 I have written an essay on these insects which is incomplete 
 from not knowing their scientific name and character. If you 
 will so far oblige me, please address a few lines on the subject 
 to your obedient servant, C. W. CAPERS. 
 
 New-Harmony Nov. 1, 1827. 
 
 Sir 1 I received your interesting communication of the date 
 of Jan. 21, not until Thursday last, and how to account for its 
 long detention I know not. It was brought by private convey¬ 
 ance in due time from Philadelphia, so that the delay must 
 have occurred in that city or on its way there. Any future 
 package you may wish to send me, may be confided to the care 
 of a house in New Orleans. 
 
 I have carefully examined the contents of the box which 
 accompanied your letter. It contained several cotton moths, 
 which aro much injured, but as far as I am enabled to judge by 
 their remaining characters, they constitute a new species, of 
 which I have made the following description. 
 
 * Noctua, Fabr. 
 
 N. xylina, Olivaceons, tinged with vinaceous ; superior wings 
 with a black spot. 
 
814 
 
 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
 
 COTTON INSECT. 
 
 Description. — Head vinaoeous, with a small whitish tuft before : 
 antenna pale honey yellow, of moderate length, covered with 
 scales above and short hair beneath: labrum rounded, small: 
 mandibles conic, whitish, with a fascicle of sericeous fulvous hair 
 on the inner base : maxilla as long as the antennae, papillaceous 
 towards the tip: palpi densely covered with short, equal scales, 
 which are intermixed rufous and white; second joint much 
 longer than the first; third joint very distinct, conic, linear; 
 thorax vinaceous with more or less of olivaceous, particularly 
 on the sides: superior wings vinaceous towards the posterior 
 margin obsoletely olivaceous ; a little above and partly on the 
 second bifurcation of the post costal nervure is an oblique sub- 
 qval, blackish spot, in which are paler scales, forming almost a 
 double pupil; posterior to this spot is an obsolete, much undu¬ 
 lated, interrupted, dull rufous line, reaching the anal margin 
 near the middle and the costal margin at two thirds the distance 
 from the humerus; behind this line is a less distinct one, and in 
 some specimens a still less distinct one towards the base of the 
 wing, accompanied by a small spot: inferior wings on the inferior 
 page with a slight, slender, rufous band : anterior tibia with a 
 6pine : posterior tibia with spines on the middle and tip: claws, 
 distinct, emarginate beneath. 
 
 Length to tip of superior wings nine-tenths of an inch. 
 
 Larva sixteen-footed, spotted ; ej r es spotted; beneath immacu¬ 
 late, simple. Pupa simple, dark chestnut or blackish ; three of 
 the abdominal segments with dilated, rufous, posterior margins. 
 
 In the above description, if any errors occur as respects color, 
 you pan rectify them from more recent and perfect specimens. 
 With these moths a single individual occurs of the Noctua lota 
 Linn. Whether or not this is a confederate of the xylina in de¬ 
 stroying the cotton plant, you are best able to judge; but I should 
 rather suppose that its ravages are not particularly directed 
 against that plant, and that its presence here is rather fortuitous. 
 
 One of the small vials contains a Gryllotalpa americana. 
 
 I take the earliest conveyance for this letter in hopes it may 
 reach you early enough to be of some utility. 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 T. SAY. 
 
i >*T)r.XT. 
 
 ISSUED TO 
 
 DATE