\^P.^ \^P INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. Struggle begins, the chrysalis-skin bursts open, and from the rent issues a butterfly, or a moth, whose small and flabby wings soon extend and harden, and become fitted to bear away the insect in search of the honeyed juice of flowers and other liquids that suf- fice for its nourishment. The little fish-like animals that swim about in vessels of stag- nant water, and devour the living atoms that swarm in the same situations, soon come to maturity, cast their skins, and take an- other form, wherein they remain rolled up like a ball, and either float at the surface of the water, for the purpose of breathing through the two tunnel-shaped tubes on the top of their backs, or, if disturbed, suddenly uncurl their bodies, and whirl over and over from one side of the vessel to the other. In the course of a few days these little water-tumblers are ready for another trans- formation ; the skin splits on the back between the breathing- tubes, the head, body, and limbs of a mosquito suddenly burst from the opening, the slender legs rest on the empty skin till the latter fills with water and sinks, when the insect abandons its native element, spreads its tiny wings, and flies away, piping its war-note, and thirsting for the blood which its natural weapons enable it to draw from its unlucky victims. The full-fed maggot, that has rioted in filth till its tender skin seems ready to burst with repletion, when the appointed time arrives, leaves the offensive matters it was ordained to assist in removing, and gets into some convenient hole or crevice ; then its body contracts or shortens, and becomes egg-shaped, while the skin hardens, and turns brown and dry, so that, under this form, the creature appears more like a seed than a hving animal ; after some time passed in this inactive and equivocal form, during which wonderful changes have taken place within the seed-like shell, one end of the shell is forced off", and from the inside comes forth a buzzing fly, that drops its former filthy habits with its cast-off dress, and now, with a more refined taste, seeks only to lap the solid viands of our tables, or sip the liquid contents of our cups. Caterpillars, grubs, and maggots undergo a complete transfor- mation in coming to maturity ; but there are other insects, such as crickets, grass-hoppers, bugs, and plant-lice, which, though differing a good deal in the young and adult states, are not subject to so great a change, their transformations being only partial. For INTRODUCTION. 7 instance, the young grasshopper comes from the egg a wingless insect, and consequently unable to move from place to place, in any other way than by the use of its legs ; as it grows larger it is soon obliged to cast off its skin, and, after one or two moult- ings, its body not only increases in size, but becomes proportion- ally longer than before, while little stump-like wings begin to make their appearance on the top of the back. After this, the grasshopper continues to eat voraciously, grows larger and larger, and hops about without any aid from its short and motionless wings, repeatedly casts off its outgrown skin, appearing each time with still longer wings, and more perfectly formed limbs, till at length it ceases to grow, and, shedding its skin for the last time, it comes forth a perfectly formed and matured grasshopper, with the power of spreading its ample wings, and of using them in flight. Hence theie are three periods in the life of an insect, more or less distinctly marked by corresponding changes in the form, pow- ers, and habits. In the first, or period of infancy, an insect is technically called a larva, a word signifying a mask, because therein its future form is more or less masked or concealed. This name is not only applied to grubs, caterpillars, and maggots, and to other insects that undergo a complete transformation, but also to young and wingless grasshoppers, and bugs, and indeed to all young insects before the wings begin to appear. In this first period, which is generally much the longest, insects are al- ways wingless, pass most of their time in eating, grow rapidly, and usually cast off their skins repeatedly. The second period, wherein those insects, that undergo a partial transformation, retain their activity and their appetites for food, continue to grow, and acquire the rudiments of wings, while others, at this age, entirely lose their larva form, take no food, and remain at rest in a death- like sleep, — is called the pupa state, from a slight resemblance that some of the latter present to an infant trussed in bandages, as was the fashion among the Romans. The pupae from caterpillars, however, are more commonly called chrysalids, because some of them, as the name implies, are gilt or adorned with golden spots ; and grubs, after their first transformation, are often named nymphs, for what reason does not appear. At the end of the second period insects again shed their skins, and come forth fully grown, and (with few exceptions) provided with wings. They thus enter 8 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. upon their last or adult state, wherein they no longer increase in size, and during which they provide for a continuation of their kind. This period usually lasts only a short time, for most in- sects die immediately after their eggs are laid. Bees, wasps, and ants, however, which live in society, and labor together for the common good of their communities, continue much longer in the adult state. In winged or adult insects, two of the transverse incisions, with which they are marked, are deeper than the rest, so that the body seems to consist of three principal portions, the first whereof is the head, the second or middle portion the thorax, or chest, and the third or hindmost the abdomen, or hind-body. In some wingless insects these three portions are also to be seen ; but in most young insects, or larvae, 'the body consists of the head, and a series of twelve rings or segments, the thorax not being dis- tinctly separated from the hinder part of the body, as may be perceived in caterpillars, grubs, and maggots. The eyes of adult insects, though apparently two in number, are compound, each consisting of a great number of single eyes closely united together, and incapable of being rolled in their sockets. Such also are the eyes of the larvae, and of the active pupae of those insects that undergo an imperfect transformation. Moreover, many winged insects have one, two, or three little single eyes, placed near each other on the crown of the head, and called ocelli, or eyelets. The eyes of grubs, caterpillars, and of other completely transforming larvae, are not compound, but con- sist of five or six eyelets clustered together, without touching, on each side of the head ; some, however, such as maggots, are total- ly blind. Near to the eyes are two jointed members, named an- tennce, corresponding, for the most part, in situation, with the ears of other animals, and supposed to be connected with the sense of hearing, of touch, or of both united. The antennae are very short in larvae, and of various sizes and forms in othef insects. The mouth of some insects is made for biting, that of others for taking food only by suction. In biting-insects the parts of the mouth, which are variously modified to suit the nature of the food, are these : an upper and an under lip, two nippers or jaws on each side, moving sidewise, and not up and down, and four or six little jointed members, called palpi or feelers, whereof two belong INTRODUCTION. 9 to the lower lip, and one or two to each of the lower jaws. The mouth of sucking-insects consists essentially of these same parts, but so different in their shape and in the purposes for which they are designed, that the resemblance between them and those of biting-insects is not easily recognised. Thus the jaws of cater- pillars are transformed to a spiral sucking-tube in butterflies and moths, and those of maggots to a hard proboscis, fitted for pier- cing, as in the mosquito and horse-fly, or to one of softer consist- ence, and ending with fleshy lips for lapping, as in common flies ; while in bugs, plant-lice, and some other insects resembling them, the parts of the mouth undergo no essential change from infancy to the adult state, but are formed into a long, hard, and jointed beak, bent under the breast when not in use, and designed only for making punctures and drawing in liquid nourishment. The parts belonging to the thorax are the wings and the legs,. The former are two or four in number, and vary greatly in form and consistence, in the situation of the wing-bones or veins, as they are generally called, and in their position or the manner in which they are closed or folded when at rest. The under-side of the thorax is the breast, and to this are fixed the legs, which are six in number in adult insects, and in the larvae and pupas of those that are subject only to a partial transformation. The parts of the legs are the hip-joint, by which the leg is fastened to the body, the thigh, the shank (tibia), and the foot, the latter consisting sometimes of one joint only, more often of two, three, four, or five pieces (tarsi), connected end to end, like the joints of the finger, and armed at the extremity with one or two claws. Of the larva) that undergo a complete transformation, maggots and some others are destitute of legs ; many grubs have six, namely a pair beneath the under-side of the first three seg- ments, and sometimes an additional fleshy prop-leg under the hindmost extremity ; caterpillars and false caterpillars have, be- sides the six true legs attached to the first three rings, several fleshy prop-like legs, amounting sometimes to ten or sixteen in number, placed in pairs beneath the other segments. The abdomen, or hindmost, and, as to size, the principal part of the body, contains the organs of digestion, and other internal parts, and to it also belong the piercer and the sting with which 2 10 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. many winged or adult insects are provided. The piercer is some- times only a flexible or a jointed tube, capable of being thrust out of the end of the body, and is used for conducting the eggs into the crevices or holes where they are to be laid. In some other insects it consists of a kind of scabbard, containing a central borer, or instruments like saws, designed for making holes wherein the eggs are to be inserted. The sting, in like manner, consists of a sheath enclosing a sharp instrument for inflicting wounds, con- nected wherewith in the inside of the body is a bag of venom or poison. The parts belonging to the abdomen of larvae are vari- ous, but are mostly designed to aid them in their motions, or to provide for their respiration. An English entomologist has stated, that, on an ayerage, there are six distinct insects to one plant. This proportion is probably too great for our country, where vast tracts are covered with forests, and the other original vegetable races still hold ^possession of the soil. There are above 1200 flowering plants in Massachu- setts, and it will be within bounds to estimate the species of insects at 4800, or in the proportion of four to one plant. To facilitate the study of such an immense number, some kind of classification is necessary ; it will be useful to adopt one, even in describing the few species now before us. The basis of this classification is founded upon the structure of the mouth, in the adnlt state, the number and nature of the wings, and the transfor- mations. The first great divisions are called orders, of which the following seven are very generally adopted by naturalists. 1. — CoLEOPTERA (Beetles). Insects with jaws, two thick wing-covers meeting in a straight line on the top of the back, and two filmy wings, which are folded transversely. Transfor- mation complete. Larvae, called grubs, generally provided with six true legs, and sometimes also with a terminal prop-leg ; more rarely without legs. Pupa with the wings and the legs distinct and unconfined. Many of these insects, particularly in the larva state, are very in- jurious to vegetation. The tiger-beetles (Cicindeladc^), the preda- * See the Catalogue of Insects appended to Professor Hitchcock's Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts. 2d edit. 8vo. Amherst. 183.5. INTRODUCTION. 11 ceous ground-beetles {CarahidcB), the diving beetles (DyfiscidcB), the lady-birds {CoccinelladcB), and some others, are eminently serviceable by preying upon caterpillars, plant-lice, and other noxious or destruc- tive insects. The water-lovers {Hydrophilida;), rove-beetles (^Staphy- liiiidoi), carrion-beetles (Silphadce), skin-beetles {Dermestadce, Byr- rhidcB, and Trogida), bone-beetles (some of the NitiduladcE. and de- rides), and various kinds of dung-beetles (Sphceridiadce, HisleridcB, Geoirupidcz* , Coprididce*, and Ap/wdiadcB*), and clocks {Pimeliadce and Blaptidm), act the useful part of scavengers, by removing car- rion, dung, and other filth, upon which alone they and their larvae subsist. Many Coleoptera (some Staphylinidce and Nitiduladce, Dia- perididcE, some Serropalpidce, MycetophagidcB, Erofylidce, and En- domychidcB) live altogether on agarics, mushrooms, and toadstools, plants of very little use to man, many of them poisonous, and in a state of decay often offensive ; these fungus-eaters are therefore to be reckoned among our friends. There are others, such as the stag- beetles (LucanidcE), some spring-beetles (Elateridce), darkling beetles (TenebrionidcB), and many bark-beetles {Helopidce, CisteladcB, Serro- paJpidce, (EdemeradcB, Cucujadcc, and some Trogositadcs), which, liv- ing, under the bark and in the trunks and roots of old trees, though they may occasionally prove injurious, mu§t, on the whole, be consid- ered as serviceable, by contributing to destroy, and reduce to dust, plants that have passed their prime, and are fast going to decay. And, lastly, the blistering-beetlbs (CantharididcB) have, for a long time, been employed with great benefit in the healing art. 2. — Orthoptera (Cockroaches, Crickets, Grasshoppers, &fc). Insects with jaws, two rather thick and opake upper wings, overlapping a little on the back, and two larger, thin wings, which are folded in plaits, like a fan. Transformation partial. Larvae and pupae active, but wanting wings. All of the insects of this order, except the camel-crickets (Manii- dce), which prey on other insects, are injurious to our household pos- sessions, or destructive to vegetation. 3. — Hemiptera {Bugs, Locusts, Plant-lice, ^c). Insects with a horny beak for suction, four wings, vi'hereof the up- permost are generally thick at the base, with thinner extremi- * All the Scarabffiidaj of my Catalogue, from Aleuchus to Geotrupes inclusive, to which may be added many included in the genus ScarabcBus. 12 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. ties, which lie flat, and cross each other on the top of the back, or are of uniform thickness throughout, and slope at the sides ' like a roof. Transformation partial. Larvae and pupse nearly hke the adult insect, but wanting wings. The various kinds of field and house bugs give out a strong and dis- agreeable smell. Many of them, (some PentatomadcB and LygceidcBy Cimicidce, Reduviadce, Hydrometrad(B, Nepadce, and Notonectadce), live entirely on the juices of animals, and by this means destroy great numbers of noxious insects ; some are of much service in the arts, affording us the costly cochineal, scarlet grain, lac, and manna ; but the benefits derived from these are more than counterbalanced by the injuries committed by the domestic kinds, and by the numerous tribes of plant-bugs, locusts or cicadae, tree-hoppers, plant-lice, bark-lice, mealy bugs, and the like, that suck the juices of plants, and require the greatest care and watchfulness on our part to keep them in check. 4^, — Neuroptera [Drngon-Jiies, Lnce-winged Jlies ; May- Jlies, Ant-lion, Day-fly, White ants, &fc.). Insects with jaws, four netted wings, of which the hinder ones are the largest, and no sting or piercer. Transformation complete, or partial. Larva and pupa various. The white ants, wood-lice, and wood-ticks {Termitidce. and Psoclii- dce), the latter including also the little ominous death-watch, are almost the only noxious insects in the order, and even these do not injure living plants. The dragon-flies, or, as they are commonly called in this country, devil's needles (Libelluladce), prey upon- gnats and mosquitos ; and their larvae and pupae, as well as those of the day-flies (£j)/temerad«), semblians [SemMididce), and those of some of the May-flies, called cadis-worms {Phryganeadce), all of which live in the water, devour aquatic insects. The predaceous habits of the ant- lions [MyrmeJeonlidcB) have been often described. The lace-vvlnged flies {Henierobiadce), in the larva state, live wholly on plant-lice, great numbers of which they destroy. The mantispians (Mantis- padcs), and the scorpion-flies {PanorpadcB), are also predaceous insects. 5. — Lepidoptera [Butterflies and Moths). Mouth with a spiral sucking-tube ; wings four, covered with branny scales. Transformation complete. The larvae are caterpillars, and INTRODUCTION. 13 have six true legs, and from four to ten fleshy prop-legs. Pupa with the cases of the wings and of the legs indistinct, and sol- dered to the breast. Some kinds of caterpillars are domestic pests, and devour cloth, wool, furs, feathers, wax, lard, flour, and the like; but by far the greatest number live wholly on vegetable food, certain kinds being exclusively leaf-eaters, while others attack the buds, fruits, seeds, bark, pith, stems, and roots of plants. 6. — Hymenoptera (Saw-Jlies, Ants, Wasps, Bees, &fc.). Insects with jaws, four veined wings, in most species, the hinder pair being the smallest, and a piercer or sting at the extremity of the abdomen. Transformation complete. Larvae mostly mag- got-like, or slug-like, of some, caterpillar-like. Pupse with the legs and wings unconfined. In the adult state these insects live chiefly on the honey and pollen of flowers, and the juices of fruits. The larvae of the saw-flies ( Ten- lliredinidoi), under the form of false-caterpillars and slugs, are leaf-, eaters, and are oftentimes productive of much injury to plants. The larvae of the xyphydrians (XiphydriadcB), a.nd of the horn-tails ( C/roce- ridce), are borers and wood-eaters, and consequently injurious to the plants inhabited by them. Pines and firs suffer most from their attacks. Some of the warty excrescences on the leaves and stpms of plants, such as oak-apples, gall-nuts, and the like, arise from the punctures of four-winged gall-flies {Diplolepididcs), and the irritation produced by their larvae, which reside in these swellings. The injury caused by them is, comparatively, of very little importance, while, on the .other hand, we are greatly indebted to these insects for the, gall-nuts that are extensively used in coloring, and in medicine, and form the chief ingredient in ink. We may, therefore, write down these insects among the benefactors of the human race. Immense numbers of caterpillars and other noxious insects are preyed upon by internal enemies, the larva? of the ichneumon-flies {Evaniadce, Ichneumonidce, and Chalcididce), which live upon the fat of their victims, and finally destroy them. Some of these ichneumon-flies (Ichneumones ovulo- rum*) are extremely small, and confine their attacks to the eggs of other insects, which they puncture, and the little creatures produced * Now placed among the Proctotrupidce. 14 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. from the latter find a sufficient quantity of food to supply all their wants within the larger eggs they occupy. The ruby-tails {Chrys- ididcB), and the cuckoo-bees {HylcBus, Sphecodes, Nomada, Melecla, Epeoliis, Calioxys, and Stelis), lay their eggs in the provisioned nests of other insects, whose young are robbed of their food by the earlier hatched intruders, and are consequently starved to death. The wood- wasps (Crabroiiidce), and numerous kinds of sand-wasps {Larradce, Bernhicidce, Spegidce, PompilidcB, and Scoliadce)^ mud-wasps (Pe- lopceus), the stinging velvet-ants {Mutilladce), and the solitary wasps {Odynerus and Eumenes), are predaceous in their habits, and pro- vision their nests with other insects, which serve for food to their young. The food of ants consists of animal and vegetable juices ; and though these industrious little animals sometimes prove troublesome by their fondness for sweets, yet, as they seize and destroy many insects also, their occasional trespasses may well be forgiven. Even the proverbially irritable paper-making wasps and hornets {Polistes and Vespa), are not without their use in the economy of nature; for they feed their tender offspring not only with vegetable juices, but with the soft parts of other insects, great numbers of which they seize and destroy for this purpose. The solitary and social bees {Andre- nadce and Apidce) live wholly on the honey and pollen of flowers, and feed their young with a mixture of the same, called bee-bread. Various kinds of bees are domesticated for the sake of their stores of wax and honey, and are thus made to contribute directly to the com- fort and convenience of man, in return for the care and attention afforded them. Honey and Wax are also obtained from several spe- cies of wild bees, {Melipona, Trigona, and Tetragona), essentially different from the domesticated kinds. While bees and other hymen- opterous insects seek only the gratification of their own inclinations, in their frequent visits to flowers, they carry on their bodies the yellow dust or pollen from one blossom to another, and scatter it over the parts prepared to receive and be fertilized by it, whereby they render an important service to vegetation. 7. — DiPTERA (Mosquitos, Gnats, Flies, ^c). Insects with a horny or fleshy proboscis, two wings only, and two knobbed threads, called balancers or poisers, behind the wings. Transfor- mation complete. The larvae are maggots, without feet, and with the breathing-holes generally in the hinder extremity of the body. Pupae mostly incased in the dried skin of the larvae, some- INTRODUCTION. 15 times, however, naked, in which case the wings and the legs are visible, and are found to be more or less free or unconfined. The two-winged insects, though mostly of moderate or small size, are not only very numerous in kinds or species, but also extremely abundant in individuals of the same kind, often appearing in swarms of countless multitudes. Flies are destined to live wholly on liquid food, and are therefore provided with a proboscis, enclosing hard and sharp-pointed darts, instead of jaws, and fitted for piercing and suck- ing, or ending with soft and fleshy lips for lapping. In our own per- sons we suffer much from the sharp suckers and blood-thirsty propen-" sities of gnats and mosquitos ( CulicidcB), and also from those of certain midges {Ceralopogon and SimiiUum), including the tormenting black- flies (Simuliiim molestum) of this country. The larvae of these insects live in stagnant water, and subsist on minute aquatic animals. Horse- flies and the golden-eyed forest-flies {Tahanida), whose larvae live in the ground, and the stinging stable-flies {Siomoxi/s), which closely resemble common house-flies, and in the larva state live in dung, attack both man and animals, goading the latter sometimes almost to madness by their severe and incessant punctures. The winged horse- ticks {Hippobosccz), the bird-flies {OrnithomyicB), the wingless sheep- ticks {Melophagi), and the spider-flies {Nycteribice), and bee-lice (Braulce), which are also destitute of wings, are truly parasitical in their habits, and pass their whole lives upon the skin of animals. Bot- flies, or gad-flies, ((Es^ricZ^e), as they are sometimes called, appear to take no food while in the winged state, and are destitute of a pro- boscis ; the nourishment obtained by their larvas, which, as is well known, live in the bodies of horses, cattle, sheep, and other animals, being sufiicient to last these insects during the rest of their lives. Some flies, though apparently harmless in the winged state, deposit their eggs on plants, on the juices of which their young subsist, and are oftentimes productive of immense injury to vegetation ; among these the most- notorious for their depredations are the gall-gnats {Cecidomyice), including the wheat-fly and Hessian fly, the root- eating maggots of some of the long-legged gnats {TipuJce), those of the flower-flies {Anthomyice), and the two-winged gall-flies and fruit- flies {Ortalides). To this list of noxious flies, are to be added the common house-flies {Muscce), which pass through the maggot state in dung and other filth, the blue-bottle or blow-flies, and meat-flies {LucilicB and CalUphorc^), together with the maggot-producing or 16 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. viviparous flesh-flies {SarcophagcB and Cynomi/icE), whose maggots live in flesh, the cheese-fly {Piophila), the parent of the well-known skippers, and a few others that in the larva state attack our household stores. Some flies are entirely harmless in all their states, and many are eminently useful in various ways. Even the common house-flies, and flesh-flies, together with others, for which no names exist in our language, render important services by feeding while larvse upon dung, carrion, and all kinds of filth, by which means, and by simi- lar services, rendered by various tribes of scavenger-beetles, these offensive matters speedily disappear, instead of remaining to decay slowly, thereby tainting the air and rendering it unwholesome. Those whose larvse live in stagnant water, such as gnats {CulicidcE), feather-horned gnats {Chironomus, &c.), the soldier-flies {Strati- omyadce), the rat-tailed flies {Helophilus, &c. &c;.), tend to prevent the water from becoming putrid, by devouring the decayed animal and vegetable matter it contains. The maggots of some flies {Myce- tophilcE and various Muscadce) live in mushrooms, toadstools, and similar excrescences growing on trees; those of others (Sargi, Xylophagidce, AsilidcB, TherevcB, Milesice, XylotcB, Borbori, &;c. djc), in rotten wood and bark, thereby joining with the grubs of certain beetles to hasten the removal of these dead and useless sub- stances, and make room for new and more vigorous vegetation. Some of these wood-eating insects, with others, when transformed to flies {AsilidcB, RhagioriidcB, DolichopidcB, and Xylophagidce), prey on other insects. Some (Syrphidce), though not predaceous them- selves in the winged state, deposit their eggs among plant-lice, upon the blood of which their young afterwards subsist. Many {Cono- pidcB, excluding Stomoxys, TachincB, Ocypterce, PhorcB, &c.) lay their eggs on caterpillars, and on various other larvae, within the bodies of which the maggots hatched from these eggs live till they destroy their victims. And finally others {AnthracidcB and Volucellce), drop their eggs in the nests of insects, whose offspring are starved to death, by being robbed of their food by the offspring of these cuckoo-flies. Be- sides performing their various appointed tasks in the economy of nature, flies, and other insects,subserve another highly important purpose, for which an all-wise Providence has designed them, namely, that of fur- nishing food to numerous other animals. Not to mention the various kinds of insect-eating quadrupeds, such as bats, moles, and the like, many birds live partly or entirely on insects. The finest song-birds, nightingales and thrushes, feast with the highest relish on maggots of INTRODUCTION. 17 all kinds, as well as on flies and other insects, while the warblers, vireous, and especially the fly-catchers and swallows devour these two-winged insects in great numbers. The seven foregoing orders constitute very natural groups, relatively of nearly equal importance, and sufficiently distinct from each other, but connected at different points by various resem- blances. It is impossible to show the mutual relations of these orders, when they are arranged in a continuous series, but these can be better expressed and understood by grouping the orders together in a cluster, so that each order shall come in contact with several others. Besides these seven orders, there are several smaller groups, which some naturalists have thought proper to raise to the rank of independent orders. Upon the principal of these, a few remarks will now be made. The little order Strepsiptera of Kirby, or Rhipip- TERA of Latreille, consists of certain minute insects, which un- dergo their transformations within the bodies of bees and wasps. One of them, the Xenos Fcchii^ was discovered by Professor Peck in the connnon brown wasp (Polistcs fuscatn) of this coun- try. The larva is maggot-like, and lives between the rings of the back of the wasp ; the pupa resembles that of some flies, and is cased in the dried skin of the larva. In the adult state the Strepsipterous insects have a pair of short, narrow, and twisted members, instead of fore-wings, and two very large hind-wings, folded lengthwise like a fan. The mouth is provided with a pair of slender, sharp-pointed jaws, better adapted for piercing than for biting. It is very difficult to determine the proper place of these insects in a natural arrangement. Latreille put them between the Lepidoptera and Diptera, but thinks them most nearly allied to some of the Hymenoptera. The flea tribe {Pidicid^e) was placed among the bugs, or Hemiptera, by Fabricius. It constitutes the order Aptera of Leach, Siphonaptera of Latreille, and Aphaniptera of Kirby. Fleas are destitute of wings, have a mouth fitted for suction, and provided with several lancet-like pieces for making punctures ; they undergo a complete transformation ; their larvse are worm-like and without feet ; and their pupae have 18 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the legs free. These insects, of which there are many different kinds, are intermediate in their characteristics between the He- miptera and the Diptera, and seem to connect more closely these two orders together. The ear-wigs (Forficulado'.)^ of which also there are many kinds, were placed by Linnaeus in the order Coleoptera, but most naturalists now include them among the Orthoptera ; indeed they seem to be related to both orders, but most closely to the Orthop- tera, with which they agree in their partial transformations, and active pupae. They form the little order Dermaptera of Leach, or Euplexoptera of Westwood. The spider-flies, bird-flies, sheep-tick, &c. {Hippoboscncla), which, with Latreille and others, I have retained among the Diptera, form the order Homaloptera of Leach, and the English entomologists. The May-flies, or case-flies [Phryaneacl(E)^ have been separat- ed from the Neuroptera ; and constitute the order Trichop- tera of Kirby. Latreille and most of the naturalists of the continent of Europe still retain them in Neuroptera, to which they seem properly to belong. The order Bomboptera of MacLeay, was made to in- clude the horned-tailed wood-wasps (Uroceridce) ^ which, how- ever, are retained in the order Hymenoptera by all other natural- ists. In form and habits the larvae of these insects closely resem- ble the wood-eating larvae of some beetles. Certain intermediate groups connect them, however, with the saw-flies {Tcnthredin- ida), and the latter, though truly Hymenopterous insects, ap- proach the Lepidoptera in the forms and habits of their larvae, or false caterpillars, and in the nature of their transformations. The Thrips tribe consists of minute insects more closely allied to Hemiptera than to any other order, but resembling, in some respects, the Orthoptera also. It forms the little order Thy- sanoptera of Haliday ; but I propose to leave it, as Latreille has done, among the Hemiptera. The English entomologists separate from Hemiptera the cica- das or harvest-flies, lantern-flies, frog-hoppers, plant-lice, bark- lice, &c., under the name of Hojioptera; but these insects IJNTRODUCTION. 19 seem too nearly to resemble the true Hemiptera to warrant the separation. Burraeister, a Prussian naturalist, has subdivided the Neu- roptera into the orders Neuroptera and Dictyotoptera, the latter to include the species which undergo only a par- tial transformation. If Hemiptera is to be subdivided, as above mentioned, then this division of Neuroptera will be justifiable also. Objections have often been raised against the study of natural history, and many persons have been discouraged from attempting it, on account of the formidable array of scientific names and terms, which it presents to the beginner ; and some men of mean and contracted minds have made themselves merry at the expense of naturalists, and have sought to bring the writings of the latter into contempt, because of the scientific language and names they were obliged, to employ. Entomology, or the science that treats of insects, abounds in such names more than any other branch of natural history ; for the different kinds of insects very far outnum- ber the species in every class of the animal, vegetable, and min- eral kingdoms. It is owing to this excessive number of species, and to the small size, and unobtrusive character of many insects, that comparatively very few have received any common names, either in our own, or in other modern tongues ; and hence most of those that have been described in works of natural history, are • known only by their scientific names. The latter have the ad- vantage over oth^r names in being intelligible to all well-educated persons in all parts of the world ; while the common names of animals and plants in our own and other modern languages are very limited in their application, and moreover are often misap- plied. For example, the name weevil is given, in this country, to at least six different kinds of insects, two of which are moths, two are flies, and two are beetles. Moreover, since nearly four thousand species of weevils have actually been scientifically named and described, when mention is made of " the weevil", it may well be a subject of doubt to which of these four thousand species the speaker or writer intends to refer ; whereas, if the scientific name of the species in question were made known, this doubt would at once be removed. To give to each of these 20 LNSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. weevils a short, appropriate, significant, and purely English name would be very difficult, if not impossible, and there would be great danger of overburdening the memory with such a number of names ; but, by means of the ingenious and simple method of nomenclature invented by Linnaeus, these weevils are all arranged under three hundred and fifty -five generical, or sir names, requir- ing in addition, only a small number of different words, like christian names, to indicate the various species or kinds. There is oftentimes a great convenience in the use of single collective terms for groups of animals and plants, whereby the necessity for enumerating all the individual contents or the characteristics of these groups is avoided. Thus the single word tivmiuantia stands for camels, lamas, giraffes, deer, antilopes, goats, sheep, and kine, or for all the hoofed quadrupeds, which ruminate or chew the cud, and have no front teeth in the upper jaw ; Lepi- doptera includes all the various kinds of butterflies, hawk- moths, and millers or moths, or insects having wings covered with branny scales, and a spiral tongue instead of jaws, and whose young appear in the form of caterpillars. It would be diffi- cult to find or invent any single English words, which would be at once so convenient and so expressive. This, therefore, is an additional reason why scientific names ought to b,e preferred to all others, at least in works of natural history, where it is highly important that the objects described should have names that are short, significant in themselves, and not liable to be mistaken or misapplied. There is no art, profession, trade, or occupation, which can be taught or learned without the use of technical words or phrases belonging to each, and which, to the inexperi- enced and untaught, are as unintelligible as the terms of science. It is not at all more difficult to learn and remember the latter than, the former, when the attention has been properly given to the subject. The seaman, the farmer, and the mechanic soon become familiar with the names and phrases peculiar to llieir several callings, uncouth, and without apparent signification, as many of them are. So too the terms of science lose their for- bidding and mysterious appearance and sound by the frequency of their recurrence, and finally become as harmonious to the ear, as they are clear and definite in their application. COLEO?TERA. 21 COLEOPTERA. Beetles. — Scarab^ians. Ground-Beetles. Trei>Beetles. Cockchaf- ers OR May-Beetles. Flower-Beetles. Stag-Beetles. — Bupkestlans, OR Saw-horned Borers. — Spring-Beetles. — Timber-Beetles. — Wee- vils. — Cvr.iNDRicAL Bark-Beetles. — Capricorn-Beetles, or Long-horn- ed Borers. — Leaf-Beetles. Criocerians. Leaf-mining Beetles. Tor- toise-Beetles. Chrysomelians. — Cantharides. The wings of beetles are covered and concealed by a pair of horny cases or shells, meeting in a straight line on the top of the back, and usually having a little triangular or semicirc61ar piece, called the scutel, wedged between their bases. Hence the order to which these insects belong is called Coleoptera, a word sig- nifying wings in a sheath. Beetles* are biting-insects, and are pro- vided with two pairs of jaws moving sidewise. Their young are grubs, and undergo a complete transformation in coming to maturity. At the head of this order Linnsus placed a group of insects, to which he gave the name of Scarab.eus, It includes the largest and most robust animals of the beetle kind, many of them remarkable for the singularity of their shape, and the formidable horn-like prominences with which they are furnished, — together with others, which, though they do not present the same impos- ing appearance, require ta be noticed, on account of the injury sustained by vegetation from their attacks. An immense num- ber of Scarabseians (Scarab^id^.), as they may be called, are now known, differing greatly from each other, not only in structure, but in their habits in the larva and adult states. They are all easily distinguished by their short movable horns or an- tennae, ending with a knob, composed of three or more leaf-like pieces, which open like the petals of a flower-bud. Another feature that they possess in common, is the projecting ridge (Clypcus) of the forehead, which extends more or less over the face, like the visor or brim of a cap, and beneath the sides of this visor the antenna are implanted. The peculiar form of the fore- head in these insects seems to have given rise to the term beetle- * Beetle, in old English, bed, bytl, or hitel, means a biter, or insect that bites. 22 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. browed, applied to those persons who are remarkable for the prominence of their brows. Moreover, the legs of these beetles, particularly the first pair, are fitted for digging, being deeply notched, or furnished with several strong teeth on the outer edges ; and the feet are five-jointed. This very extensive family of insects is subdivided into several smaller groups, each com- posed of beetles distinguished by various peculiarities of structure and habits. Some live mostly upon or beneath the surface of the earth, and were, therefore, called ground-beetles by De Geer ; some, in their winged state are found on trees, the leaves of which they devour ; they are the tree-beetles of the same author ; and others, during the same period of their lives, frequent flowers, and are called flower-beetles. The ground-beetles, including the earth-borers (Geotrupulce), and dung-beetles (dopridiclcc and Apho(Had(s)^ which, in all their states, are found in excrement, the skin-beetles (Trogidct)^ which inhabit dried animal si/b- stances, and the gigantic Hercules-beetles (Dynastidce), which live in rotten wood or beneath old dung-heaps, must be passed over without further comment. The other groups contain insects that are very injurious to vegetation, and therefore require to be more particularly noticed. One of the most common, and the most beautiful of the tree- beetles of this country is the Areoda lanigcrn, or woolly Areoda, sometimes also called the goldsmith-beetle. It is about nine tenths of an inch in length, broad oval in shape, of a lemon-yellow color above, glittering like burnished gold on the top of the head and thorax ; the under-side of the body is copper-colored, and thickly covered with whitish wool ; and the legs are brownish- yellow, or brassy, shaded with green. These fine beetles begin to appear in Massachusetts about the middle of May, and continue generally till the twentieth of June. In the morning and evening twilight they come forth from their retreats, and fly about with a humming and rustling sound among the branches of trees, the tender leaves of wiiich they devour. Pear-trees are particularly subject to their attacks, but the elm, hickory, poplar, oak, and probably also other kinds of trees are frequented and injured by them. During the middle of the day they remain at rest upan the trees, clinging to the under-sides of the leaves ; and endeavour COLEOPTERA. 23 to conceal themselves by drawing two or three leaves together, and holding them in this position with their long unequal claws. In some seasons they occur in profusion, and then may be ob- tained in great quantities by shaking the young trees on which they are lodged in the daytime, as they do not attempt to fly when thus disturbed, but fall at once to the ground. The larvae of these insects are not known ; probably they live in the ground upon the roots of plants. The group to which the goldsmith- beetle belongs may be called Rutilians (rutilad^), from Rutela^ or more correctly Rutila, signifying shining, the name of.the principal genus included in it. Tne Rutilians connect the ground-beetles with the tree-beetles of the following group, hav- ing the short and robust legs of the former, with the leaf-eating habits of the latter. The spotted Pelidnota, PcUdnota punctata^ is also arranged among the Rutilians. This large beetle is found on the culti- vated and wild grape-vine, sometimes in great abundance, during the months of July and August. It is of an oblong oval shape, and about an inch long. The wing-covers are tile-colored, or dull brownish yellow, with three distant black dots on each ; the thorax is darker, and slightly bronzed, with a black dot on each side ; the body, beneath, and the legs, are of a deep bronzed green color. These beetles fly by day ; but may also be seen at the same time on the leaves of the grape, which are their only food. They sometimes prove very injurious to the vine. The only method of destroying them, is to pick them off by hand, and crush them under foot. The larvae live in rotten wood, such as the stumps and roots of dead trees ; and do not difl^er essentially from those of other Scarabseians. Among the tree-beetles those commonly called dors, chafers; May-bugs, and rose-bugs, are the most interesting to the farmer and gardener, on account of their extensive ravages, both in the winged and larva states. They were included by Fabricius in the genus Melalojitha, a word used by the ancient Greeks to distin- guish the same kind of insects, which were supposed by them to be produced from, or with the flowers of apple-trees, as the name itself implies. These beetles, together with many others, for which no common names exist in our language, are now united in 24 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. one family called melolonthad^, or Melolonthians. The fol- lowing are the general characters of these insects. The body is oblong oval, convex, and generally of a brownish color ; the antennae are nine or more commonly ten jointed, the knob is much longer in the males than in the females, and consists gener- ally of three leaf-like pieces, sometimes of a greater number, which open and shut like the leaves of a book ; the visor is short and vi^ide ; the upper jaws are furnished at base on the inner side with an oval space, crossed by ridges, like a millstone, for grind- ing ; the thorax is transversely square, or nearly so ; the wing- cases do not cover the whole of the body, the hinder extremity of which is exposed ; the legs are rather long, the first pair armed externally with two or three teeth ; and the claws are notched be- neath, or are split at the end like the nib of a pen. The powerful and horny jaws are admirably fitted for cutting and grinding the leaves of plants, upon which these beetles subsist ; their notched or double claws support them securely on the foliage ; and their strong and jagged fore-legs, being formed for digging in the ground, point out the place of their transformations. The general habits and transformations of the common cock- chafer of Europe have been carefully observed, and will serve to exemplify those of the other insects of this family, which, as far as they are known, seem to be nearly the same. This insect de- vours the leaves of trees and shrubs. Its duration in the perfect state is very short, each individual living only about a week, and the species entirely disappearing in the course of a month. After the sexes have paired, the males perish, and the females enter the earth to the depth of six inches or more, making their way by means of the strong teeth which arm the fore-legs ; here they de- posit their eggs, amounting, according to some writers, to nearly one hundred, or, as others assert, to two hundred from each female, which are abandoned by the parent, who generally as- cends again to the surface, and perishes in a short time. From the eggs are hatched, in the space of fourteen days, little whitish grubs, each provided with six legs near the head, and a mouth furnished with strong jaws. When in a state of rest, these grubs usually curl themselves in the shape of a crescent. They subsist on the tender roots of various plants, committing ravages COLEOPTERA. 25 among these vegetable substances, on some occasions of the most deplorable kind, so as totally to disappoint the best founded hopes of the husbandman. During the summer they live under the thin coat of vegetable mould near the surface, but, as winter approaches, they descend below the reach of frost, and remain torpid until the succeeding spring, at which time they change their skins, and reascend to the surface for food. At the close of their third summer, (or, as some say, of the fourth or fifth,) they cease eating, and penetrate about two feet deep into the earth ; there, by its motions from side to side, each grub forms an oval cavity, which is lined by some glutinous substance thrown from its mouth. In this cavity it is changed to a pupa by casting off its skin. In this state, the legs, antennae, and wing-cases of the future beetle are visible through the transparent skin which en- velopes them, but appear of a yellowish white color ; and thus it remains until the month of February, when the thin film which encloses the body is rent, and three months afterwards the per- fected beetle digs its way to the surface, from which it finally emerges during the night. According to Kirby and Spence, the grubs of the cock-chafer sometimes destroy whole acres of grass by feeding on its roots. They undermine the richest meadows, and so loosen the turf that it will roll up as if cut by a turfing spade. They do not confine themselves to grass, but eat the roots of wheat, of other grains, and also those of young trees. About seventy years ago, a farmer near Norwich, in England, suft'ered much by them, and, with his man, gathered eighty bushels of the beetles. In the year J 785 many provinces in France were so ravaged by them, that a premium was ofl'ered by government for the best mode of destroying them. The Society of Arts in London, during many years, held forth a premium for the best account of this insect, and the means of checking its ravages, but without having produced one successful claimant. In their winged state, these beetles, with several other species, act as conspicuous a part in injuring the trees, as the grubs do in destroying the herbage. During the month of May they come forth from the ground, whence they have received the name of May- bugs, or May-beetles. They pass the greater part of the day upon trees, clinging to the under-sides of the leaves, in a state of 4 26 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. repose. As soon as evening approaches, they begin to buzz about among the branches, and continue on the wing till towards midnight. In their droning flight, they move very irregu- larly, darting hither and thither with an uncertain aim, hitting against objects in their way with a force that often causes them to fall to the ground. They frequently enter houses in the night, apparently attracted, as well as dazzled and bewildered, by the lights. Their vagaries, in which, without having the power to harm, they seem to threaten an attack, have caused them to be called dors, that is darers ; while their seeming blindness and stupidity have become proverbial, in the expressions, "blind as a beetle," and " beetle-headed". Besides the leaves of fruit-trees, they devour those of various forest-trees and shrubs, with an avidity not much less than that of the locust, so that, in certain seasons, and in particular districts, they become an oppressive scourge, and the source of much misery to the inhabitants. Mouffet relates that, in the year 1574, such a number of them fell into the river Severn, as to stop the wheels of the water-mills ; and, in the Philosophical Transactions, it is stated, that in the year 1688 they filled the hedges and trees of Galway, in such in- finite numbers as to cling to each other like bees when swarming ; and, when on the wing, darkened the air, annoyed travellers, and produced a sound like distant drums. In a short time, the leaves of all the trees, for some miles round, were so totally consumed by them, that at midsummer the country wore the aspect of the depth of winter. Another chafer, Anomala vitis F. h sometimes exceedingly injurious to the vine. It prevails in certain provinces of France, where it strips the vines of their leaves, and also devours those of the willow, poplar, and fruit-trees. The animals and birds appointed to check the ravages of these insects, are, according to Latreille, the badger, weasel, martin, bats, rats, the common dung-hill fowl, and the goat-sucker or night-hawk. To this list may be added the common crow, which devours not only the perfect insects, but their larvae, for which purpose it is often observed to follow the plough. In "Ander- son's Recreations," it is* stated that "a cautious observer, having found a nest of five young jays, remarked, that each of these birds. COLEOPTERA. 27 while yet very young, consumed at least fifteen of these full-sized grubs in one day, and of course would require many more of a smaller size. Say that, on an average of sizes, they consumed twenty a-piece, these for the five make one hundred. Each of the parents consume say fifty ; so that the pair and family devour two hundred every day. This, in three months, amounts to twenty thousand in one season. But as the grub continues in that state four seasons, this single pair, with their family alone, without reck- oning their descendants after the first year, would destroy eighty thousand grubs. Let us suppose that the half, namely forty thous- and, are females, and it is known that they usually lay about two hundred eggs each ; it will appear, that no less than eight millions have been destroyed, or prevented from being hatched, by the la- bors of a single family of jays. It is by reasoning in this way, that we learn to know of what importance it is to attend to the economy of nature, and to be cautious how we derange it by our short- sighted and futile operations." Our own country abounds with insect-eating beasts and birds, and without doubt the more than abundant Melolonthae form a portion of their nourishment. In the year 1817, the Fabrician genus melolontha contained three hundred and five known species, two hundred and twenty- six of which still retained that name, and seventy-nine were sep- arated into five distinct genera. A great number of new species have since been added to this list, which it has become necessary still further to subdivide. In a prize essay on the noxious insects of this genus, written by me in 1826, and published in the tenth volume of the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal, several new genera were proposed, and the principal insects they were designed to include were pointed out. Several years after- wards it became known to me, that similar genera, founded on a consideration of the same insects, had been made by European naturalists, some of whom published the result of their investiga- tions before, and others after mine had appeared. Those of my names, therefore, that had been anticipated in point of time, must be dropped ; the others, I have thought proper to retain in the present essay. We have several Melolonthians whose injuries in the perfect and grub state approach to those of the European cock-chafer. 28 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. Phyllophaga* quercina of Knoch, the May-beetle, as it is gener- ally called here, is our common species. It is of a chestnut- brown color, smooth, but finely punctured, that is, covered with little impressed dots, as if pricked with the point of a needle ; each wing-case has two or three slightly elevated longitudinal lines ; the breast is clothed with yellowish down. The knob of its antennae contains only three leaf-like joints. Its average length is nine tenths of an inch. In its perfect state it feeds on the leaves of trees, particularly on those of the cherry-tree. It flies with a humming noise in the night, from the middle of May to' the end of June, and frequently enters houses, attracted by the light. In the course of the spring, these beetles are often thrown from the earth by the spade and plough, in various states of maturity, some being soft and nearly white, their superabundant juices not having evap- orated, while others exhibit the true color and texture of the per- fect insect. The grubs devour the roots of grass and of other plants, and in many places the turf may be turned up like a carpet in consequence of the destruction of the roots. The grubf is a white worm with a brownish head, and, when fully grown, is nearly as thick as the little finger. It is eaten greedily by crows and fowls. The beetles are devoured by the skunk, whose bene- ficial foraging is detected in our gardens by its abundant excrement filled with the wing-cases of these insects. A writer in the "New York Evening Post " says, that the beetles, which fre- quently commit serious ravages on fruit-trees, may be effectually exterminated by shaking them from the trees every evening. In this way two pailsful of beetles were collected on the first experi- ment ; the number caught regularly decreased until the fifth even- ing, when only two beetles were to be found. The best time, however, for shaking trees on which the May-beetles are lodged, is in the morning, when the insects do not attempt to fly. They are most easily collected in a cloth spread under the trees to * A genus proposed by me in 1826. v It signifies leaf-eater. Dejean subsequently- called this genus Jlncylonycha. t There is a grub, somewhat resembling this, which is frequently found under old manure heaps, and is commonly called muck-worm. It differs, however, in some respects, from that of the May-beetle, or dor-bug, and is transformed to a dung-beetle called Scarabwiis relictus by Mr. Say. COLEOPTERA. 29 receive them when they fall, after which, they should be thrown into boiling water, to kill them, and may then be given as food to swine. There is an undescribed kind of Phyllophaga, or leaf-eater, called, in my Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts, */ra«e?-na, because it is nearly akin to the quercina, in general appearance. It differs from the latter, however, in being smaller, and more slender, the punctures on its thorax and wing-covers are not so distinct, and the three elevated Hues on the latter are hardly visi- ble. It measures thirteen twentieths of an inch in lei gth. This beetle may be seen in the latter part of June and the beginning of July. Its habits are similar to those of the more abundant May- beetle or dor-bug. Another common PJiyllophaga has been described by Knoch and Say, under the name of hiriicula, meaning a little hairy. It is of a bay-brown color, the punctures on the thorax are larger and more distinct than in the quercina, and on each wing-cover are three longitudinal rows of short yellowish hairs. It measures about seven tenths of an inch in length. Its time of appearance is in June and Jul)^ In some parts of Massachusetts the Phyllophaga Georgicana of Gyllenhal, or Georgian leaf-eater, takes the place of the qucrcina. It is extremely common,' during May and June, in Cambridge, where the other species is rarely seen. It is of a bay-brown color, entirely covered on the upper side with very short yellow- ish gray hairs, and measures seven tenths of an inch, or more, in length. Phyllophaga pilosicollis of Knoch, or the hairy necked leaf- eater, is a small chafer, of an ochre yellow color, with a very hairy thorax. It is often thrown out of the ground by the spade, early in the spring ; but it does not voluntarily come forth till the middle of May. It measures half an inch in-length. * In order to save unnecessary repetitions, it maybe well to state, that the Cata- logue, above named, to which frequent reference will be made in the course of this essay, was drawn up by me, and was published in Professor Hitchcock's Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts, and that two editions of it appeared with the Report, the first in 1833, and the second, with numerous additions, in 1835. oO INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. Hentz's Melolontha* variolosa, or scarred Melolontha, differs essentially from the foregoing beetles in the structure of its an- tennae, the knob of which consists of seven narrow strap-shaped ochre-yellow leaver, which are excessively long in the males. This fine insect is of a light-brown color, with irregular whitish blotches, hke scars, on the thorax and wing-covers. It measures nine tenths of an inch, or more, in length. It occurs abundantly, in the month of July, at Martha's Vineyard, and in some other places near the coast ; but is rare in other parts of Massachusetts. The foregoing Melolonthians are found in gardens, nurseries, and orchards, where they are more or less injurious to the fruit- trees, in proportion to their numbers in different seasons. They also devour the leaves of various forest-trees, such as the elm, maple, and oak. Omaloplia vespertina of Gyllenhal, and sericea of Jlliger, attack the leaves of the sweetbriar, or sweet-leaved rose, on which they may be found in profusion in the evening, about the last of June. They somewhat resemble the May-beetles in form, but are pro- portionally shorter and thicker, and much smaller in size. The first of them, the vespertine or evening Omaloplia, is bay-brown ; the wjng-covers are marked with many longitudinal shallow fur- rows, which, with the thorax, are thickly punctured. This beetle varies in length from three to four tenths of an inch. Omaloplia * In my prize essay, before alluded to, I proposed to restrict the genus Melolon- tha to those species that have more than three leaves in the knob of the antennee, as in the variolosa, and the European ScarabcEus Melolontha of Linnaeus. This has actually been done by Latreille, but probably without being aware of my sugges- tion. It would have been better, however, to have given this genus some other name, instead of Melolontha, because this was first used by Linnreus as a specific name, which, according to the well known rule of priority, cannot be discontinued in its original application, without manifest injustice to the first describer. To continue the comparison made, on another page, between the names used in nat- ural history and those of persons, — insects, like ladies, may and do, frequently and repeatedly, change their generical or family names ; but there is no good or commendable authority for depriving either of them of their specific or baptismal names. I therefore propose to restore to the Melolontha of the ancients and of Linnaeus, its original distinctive or specific appellation, by calling it Polyphylla Melolontha, literally the many-leaved Melolontha, in allusion to the unusual num- ber of leaves in the knob of the antennae. Mr. Hentz's species will then become Polyphylla variolosa. COLEOPTERA. 31 sericea, the silky Omaloplia, closely resembles the preceding in every thing but its color, which is a very deep chestnutrbrown, iridescent or changeable like satin, and reflecting the colors of the rainbow. All these Melolonthians are nocturnal insects, never appearing, except by accident, in the day, during which they remain under shelter of the foliage of trees and shrubs, or concealed in the grass. Others are truly day-fliers, committing their ravages by the light of the sun, and are consequently exposed to observa- tion. One of our diurnal Melolonthians is supposed by many natural- ists to be the Anomala varians of Fabricius ; and it agrees very well with this writer's description of the lucicola ; but Professor Germar thinks it to be an undescribed species, and proposes to name it ccelebs. It resembles the vine-chafer of Europe in its habits, and is found in the months of June and July on the culti- vated and wild grape-vines, the leaves of which it devours. Dur- ing the same period, these chafers may be seen in still greater numbers on various kinds of sumach, which they often completely despoil of their leaves. They are of a broad oval shape, and very variable in color. The head and thorax of the male are greenish- black, margined with dull ochre or tile-red, and thickly punc- tured ; the wing-covers are clay-yellow, irregularly furrowed, and punctured in the furrows ; the legs are pale red, brown, or black. The thorax of the female is clay -yellow, or tile-red, sometimes with two oblique blackish spots on the top, and sometimes almost entirely black ; the wing-covers resemble those of the male ; the legs are clay-yellow, or light red. The males are sometimes en- tirely black, a;nd this variety seems to be the beetle called airaia, by Fabricius. The males measure nearly, and the females rather more than seven twentieths of an inch in length. In the year 18:25, these insects appeared on the grape-vines in a garden in this vicinity ; they have since established themselves on the spot, and have so much multiplied in subsequent years as to prove ex- ceedingly hurtful to the vines. In many other gardens they have also appeared, having probably found the leaves of the cultivated grape-vine more to their taste than their natural food. Should these beetles increase in numbers, thev will be found as diflicult 32 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. to check and extirpate as the destructive vine-chafers of Eu- rope. The rose-chafer, or rose-bug, as it is more commonly and incorrectly called, is also a diurnal insect. It is the Melolontha subspinosa of Fabricius, by whom it was first described, and be- longs to the modern z,enus* Macrodactylus of Latreille. Common as this insect is in the vicinity of Boston, it is, or was a few years ago, unknown in the northern and western parts of Massachusetts, in New Hampshire, and in Maine. It may, therefore, be well to give a brief description of it. This beetle measures seven twen- tieths of an inch in length. Its body is slender, tapers before and behind, and is entirely covered with very short and close ashen- yellow down ; the thorax is long and narrow, angularly widened in the middle of each side, which suggested the name subspinosa, or somewhat spined ; the legs are slender, and of a pale red color ; the joints of the feet are tipped with black, and are very long, which caused Latreille to call the genus Macrodactylus, that is long toe, or long foot. The natural history of the rose-chafer, one of the greatest scourges with which our gardens and nurseries have been afflicted, was for a long time involved in mystery, but is at last fully cleared up.f The prevalence of this insect on the rose, and its annual appearance coinciding with the blossoming of that flower, have gained for it the popular name by which it is here known. For some time after they were first npticed, rose- bugs appeared to be confined to their favorite, the blossoms of the rose ; but within thirty years they have prodigiously increased in number, have attacked at random various kinds of plants in swarms, and have become notorious for their extensive and de- plorable ravages. The grape-vine in particular, the cherry, plum, and apple trees, have annually suffered by their depreda- tions ; many other fruit-trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and * Stenothorax, in my prize essay. \ See my essay in the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal, Vol. X. p. 8; reprinted in the New England Farmer, Vol. VI. p. 18, &c.; my Discourse before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, p. 31, 8vo. Cambridge, 1832. Dr. Greene's communication on this insect in the New England Farmer, Vol. VI. pp. 41, 49, «&c., and my Report on Insects injurious to Vegetation, in Massachusetts, House Document, No. 72, April, 1838, p. 70. COLKOPTERA. 33 corn, and even the trees of the forest and the grass of the fields, have been laid under contribution by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, flowers, and fruits are alike consumed. The unexpected arrival of these insects in swarms, at their first com- ing, and their sudden disappearance, at the close of their career, are remarkable facts in their history. They come forth from the ground during the second week in June, or about the time of the blossoming of the damask rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. At the end of this period the males become exhausted, fall to the ground, and perish, while the females enter the earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, and, after lingering a few days, die also. The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in number, and are deposited from one to four inches beneath the surface of the soil ; they are nearly globular, whitish, and about one thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. The young larvae begin to feed on such ten- der roots as are within their reach. ' Like other grubs of the Scarabaeians, when not eating, they lie upon the side, with the body curved so that the head and tail are nearly in contact ; they move with difficulty on a level surface, and are continually falling over on one side or the other. They attain their full size in the autumn, being then nearly three quarters of an inch long, and about an eighth of an inch in diameter. They are of a yellowish white color, with a tinge of blue towards the hinder extremity, which is thick and ob- tuse or rounded ; a few short hairs are scattered on the surface of the body ; there are six short legs, namely a pair to each of the first three rings behind the head ; and the latter is covered with a horny shell of a pale rust color. In October they descend below the reach of frost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring they approach towards the surface, and each one forms for itself a little cell of an oval shape, by turning round a great many times, so as to compress the earth and render the inside of the cavity hard and smooth. Within this cell the grub is trans- formed to a pupa, during the month of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed downwards in folds from the head to the tail. The pupa has somewhat the form of the perfected beetle ; but it is of a yellowish white color, and its short stump-like wings, its antennae, and its legs are folded upon the breast, and its whole 34 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. body is enclosed in a thin film, that wraps each part separately. During the month of June this filmy skin is rent, the included beetle withdraws from it its body and its limbs, bursts open its earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus the various changes, from the egg to the full development of the perfected beetle, are completed within the space of one year. Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it is evident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, or the pupa state ; the enemy, in these stages, is beyond our reach, and is subject to the control only of the natural but unknown means appointed by the Author of Nature to keep the insect tribes in check. When they have issued from their subterranean retreats, and have congregated upon our vines, trees, and other vegetable productions, in the complete enjoyment of their propensities, we must unite our efforts to seize and crush the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded, or burned, to deprive them of life, for they are not affected by any of the applications usually found destructive to other insects. Experience has proved the utility of gathering them by hand, or of shaking them or brushing them from the plants into tin vessels containing a little water. They should be collected daily during the period of their visita- tion, and should be committed to the flames, or killed by scalding water. The late .John Lowell, Esq. states,* that in 1S23, he dis- covered, on a solitary apple-tree, the rose-bugs " in vast numbers, such as could not be described, and would not be believed if they vi^ere described, or, at least, none but an ocular witness could con- ceive of their numbers. Destruction by hand was out of the ques- tion", in this case. He put sheets under the tree, and shook them down, and burned them. Dr. Green, of Mansfield, whose investiga- tions have thrown much light on the history of this insect, proposes protecting plants with millinet, and says that in this way only did he succeed in securing his grape-vines from depredation. His remarks also show the utility of gathering them. " Eighty-six of these spoilers", says he, "were known to infest a single rose- bud, and were crushed with one grasp of the hand." Suppose, as was probably the case, that one half of them were females ; by * Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, Vol. IX. p. 145. COLEOPTERA. 35 this destruction, eight hundred eggs, at least, were prevented from becoming matured. During the time of their prevalence, rose- bugs are sometimes found in immense numbers on the flowers of the common white-weed, or ox-eye daisy, {Chrysanthemum leu- cnnthemum), a worthless plant, which has come to us from Europe, and has been suffered to overrun our pastures, and encroach on our mowing lands. In certain cases it may become expedient rapidly to mow dowfi the infested white-weed in dry pastures, and consume it, with the sluggish rose-bugs, on the spot. Our insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of these insects, and deserve to be cherished and protected for their ser- vices. Rose-bugs are also eaten greedily by domesticated fowls ; and when they become exhausted and fall to the ground, or when they are about to lay their eggs, they are destroyed by moles, insects, and other animals, which lie in wait to seize them. Dr. Green informs us, that a species of dragon-fly, or devil's needle devours them. He also says that an insect which he calls the enemy of the cut-worm, probably the larva of a Carabus or pre- daceous ground-beetle, preys on the grubs of the common dor- bug. In France the golden ground-beetle (Carahus ouratus) devours the female dor or chafer at the moment when she is about to deposit her eggs. I have taken one specimen of this fine ground-beetle in Massachusetts, and we have several other kinds, equally predaceous, which probably contribute to check the increase of our native IMelolonthians. There are several more tree-beetles in Massachusetts, which are injurious to vegetation ; but a mere description of them, with- out an account of their previous history, which is not yet fully known, would be of little use to the cultivator of the soil. Very few of the flower-beetles are decidedly injurious to vege- tation. Some of them are said to eat leaves ; but the greater number live on the pollen and the honey of flowers, or upon the sap that oozes from the wounds of plants. In the infant or grub state most of them eat only the crumbled substance of decayed roots and stumps ; a kw live in the wounds of trees, and by their depredations prevent them from healing, and accelerate the decay of the trunk. The flower-beetles belong chiefly to a group called Cetoniad^, or Cetonians. They are easily distinguished from 36 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the other Scarabaeians by their lower jaws, which are gener- ally soft on the inside, and are often provided with a flat brush of hairs, that serves to collect the pollen and juices on which they subsist. Their upper jaws have no grinding plate on the inside. Their antennse consist of ten joints, the last three of which form a three-leaved oval knob. The head is often square, with a large and wide visor, overhanging and entirely concealing the upper- lip. The thorax is either rounded, somewhat square, or trian- gular. The wing-cases do not cover the end of the body. The fore-legs are deeply notched on the outer edge ; and the claws are equal and entire. These beetles are generally of an oblong oval form, somewhat flattened above, and often brilliantly colored and highly polished, sometimes also covered with hairs. Most of the bright-colored kinds are day-fliers ; those of dark and plain tints are generally nocturnal beetles. Some of them are of im- mense size, and have been styled the princes of the beetle tribes ; such are the Incas of South America, and the Goliah beetle [Hegemon Goliatus) of Guinea, the latter being more than four inches long, two inches broad, and thick and heavy in propor- tion. Two American Cetonians must suffice as examples in this group. The first is the Indian Cetonia, Cetonia i/ic?a*, one of bur earhest visitors in the spring, making its appearance towards the end of April or the beginning of May, when it may sometimes be seen in considerable numbers around the borders of woods, and in dry open fields, flying just above the grass with a loud humming sound, like a humble-bee, for which perhaps it might at first sight be mistaken. Like other insects of the same genus, it has a broad body, very obtuse behind, with a triangular thorax, and a little wedge-shaped piece on each side between the hinder angles of the thorax and the shoulders of the wing-covers ; the latter, taken together, form an oblong square, but are somewhat notched or widely scalloped on the middle of the outer edges. The head and thorax of this beetle are dark copper- brown, or almost black, and thickly covered with short greenish yellow hairs ; the wing- cases are light yellowish brown, but changeable, with pearly and * ScarabcBus Indiis of Linnaeus, Cetonia harbata of Say. COLEOPTERA. 37 metallic tints, and spattered with numerous irregular black spots ; the under-side of the body, which is very hairy, is of a black color, with the edges of the rings and the legs dull red. It meas- ures about six tenths of an inch in length. During the summer months the Indian Cetonia is not seen ; but about the middle of September a new brood comes forth, the beetles appearing fresh and bright, as though they had just completed their last transfor- mation. At this time they may be found on the flowers of the golden-rod, eating the pollen, and also in great numbers on corn- stalks, and on the trunks of the locust-tree, feeding upon the sweet sap of these plants. On the approach of cold weather they disappear, but I have not been able to ascertain what becomes of them at this time, and only conjecture that they get into some warm and sheltered spot, where they pass the winter in a torpid state, and in the spring issue from their retreats, and finish their career by depositing their eggs for another brood. Those that are seen in the spring want the freshness of the autumnal beetles, a circumstance that favors my conjecture. Their hovering over and occasionally dropping upon the surface of the ground is probably for the purpose of selecting a suitable place to enter the earth and lay their eggs. Hence I suppose that then- larvae or grubs may live on the roots of herbaceous plants. 7 The other Cetonian "beetle to be described is the Osmoderma scaler*^ or rough Osmoderma. It is a large insect, with a broad oval and flattened body ; the thorax is nearly round, but wider than long ; there are no wedge-shaped pieces between the cor- ners of the thorax, and the shoulders of the wing-cases, and the outer edges of the latter are entire. It is of a purplish-black color, with a coppery lustre ; the head is punctured, concave or hollowed on the top, with the edge of the broad visor turned up in the males, nearly flat, and with the edge of the visor not raised in the females ; the wing-cases are so thickly and deeply and irregularly punctured as to appear almost as rough as shagreen ; the under-side of the body is smooth and without hairs ; and the legs are short and stout. In addition to the diflerences between the sexes above described, it may be mentioned that the females * Trichius scaber, Palisot de Beauvois ; Gymnodus scaler, Kirby. 38 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. are generally much larger than the males, and often want the cop- pery polish of the latter. They measure from eight tenths of an inch to one inch and one tenth in length. They are nocturnal insects, and conceal themselves during the day in the crevices and hollows of trees, where they feed upon the sap that flows from the bark. They have the odor of Russia leather, and give this out so powerfully, that their presence can be detected, by the scent alone, at the distance of two or three yards from the place of their retreat. This strong smell suggested the name Osmoder- ma, that is scented skin, given to these beetles by the French naturalists. They seem particularly fond of the juices of cherry and apple trees ; in the hollows of which I have often discovered them. Their larvae live in the hollows of these same trees, feed- ing upon the diseased wood, and causing it more rapidly to decay. . They are whitish fleshy grubs, with a reddish hard-shelled head, and closely resemble the grubs of the common dor-beetle. In the autumn each one makes an oval cell or pod, of fragments of wood, strongly cemented with a kind of glue ; it goes through its transformation within this cell, and comes forth in the beetle form in the month of July. We have another scented beetle, equal in size to the preced- ing, of a deep mahogany-brown color, perfectly smooth, and highly polished, and the male has a deep pit before the middle of the thorax. This species of Osmoderma is called eremicola*^ a name that cannot be rendered literally into English by any single word ; it signifies wilderness-inhabitant, for which might be sub- stituted hermit. I believe that this insect lives in forest-trees, y but the larva is unknown to me. The family LucANiDiE, or Lucanians, so named from the Lin- naean genus Lucanus, must be placed next to the Scarabseians in a natural arrangement. This family includes the insects called stag- beetles, horn-bugs, and flying-bulls, names that they have obtained from the great size and peculiar form of their upper jaws, which are sometimes curved like the horns of cattle, and sometimes branched like the antlers of a stag. In these beetles the body is hard, oblong, rounded behind, and slightly convex ; the head is * Cetonia eremicola of Knoch. COLEOPTERA. 39 large and broad, especially in the males ; the thorax is short, and as wide as the abdomen ; the antennae are rather long, elbowed or bent in the middle, and composed of ten joints, the last three or four of which are broad, leaf-hke, and project on the inside, giv- ing to this part of the antennae a resemblance to the end of a key ; the upper jaws are usually much longer in the males than in the females, but even those of the latter extend ccnsiderably beyond the mouth ; each of the under-jaws is provided with a long hairy pencil or brush, which can be seen projecting beyond the mouth between the feelers ; and the under-lip has two shorter pencils of the same kind ; the fore-legs are oftentimes longer than the others, with the outer edge of the shanks notched into teeth ; the feet are five-jointed, and the nails are entire and equal. These beetles fly abroad during the nighi, and frequently enter houses at that time, somewhat to the alarm of the occupants ; but they are not venomous, and never attempt to bite without provocation. They pass the day on the trunks of trees, and live upon the sap, for procuring which the brushes of their jaws and lip seem to be designed. They are said also occasionally to bite and seize cater- pillars and other soft-bodied insects, for the purpose of sucking out their juices. They lay their eggs in crevices of the bark of trees, especially near the roots, where they may sometimes be seen thus employed. The larvae hatched from these eggs resem- ble the grubs of the Scarabaeians in color and form, but they are smoother, or not so much wrinkled. The grubs of the large kinds are said to be six years in coming to their growth, living all this time in the trunks and roots of trees, boring into the solid wood, and reducing it to a substance resembling very coarse saw- dust ; and the injury thus caused by them is frequently very con- siderable. When they have arrived at their full size, they enclose themselves in egg-shaped pods, composed of gnawed particles of wood and bark stuck together and lined with a kind of glue ; within these pods they are transformed to pupae, of a yellowish- white color, having the body and all the limbs of the future beetle encased in a whitish film, which being thrown off in due time, the insects appear in the beetle form, burst the walls of their prison, crawl through the passages the larvae had gnawed, and come forth on the outside of the trees. 40 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. The largest of these beetles in the New England States, was first described by Linnaeus under the name of Lucanus Cop-eolus*, signifying the young roe-buck ; but here it is called the horn-bug. Its color is a deep mahogany-brown ; the surface is smooth and polished ; the upper jaws of the male are long, curved like a sickle, and furnished internally beyond the middle with a little tooth ; those of the female are much shorter, and also toothed ; the head of the male is broad and smooth, that of the other sex narrower and rough with punctures. The body of this beetle measures from one inch to one inch and a quarter, exclusive of the jaws. The time of its appearance is in July and the beginning of August. The grubs live in the trunks and roots of various kinds of trees, but particularly in those of old apple-trees, willows, and oaks. Several other and smaller kinds of stag-beetles are found in New England, but their habits are much the same as those of the more common horn-bug. All the foregoing beetles have, by some naturaHsts, been gath- ered into a single tribe, called lamellicorn or leaf-horned beetles, on account of the leaf-like joints wherewith the end of their an- tennae is provided. In like manner, the beetles, next to be de- scribed, have been brought together into one great tribe, named serricorn or saw-horned beetles, because the tips of the joints of their antennas usually project more or less on the inside, some- what like the teeth of a saw. The beetles belonging to the family BuprestidjE, or the Buprestians, have antennae of this kind. The Bupresds of the ancients, as its name signifies in Greek, was a poisonous insect, which, being swallowed with grass by grazing cattle, produced a violent inflammation, and such a degree of swelling, as to cause the cattle to burst. Linnaeus, however, un- fortunately applied this name to the insects of the abovemen- tioned family, none of which are poisonous to animals, and are rarely, if ever, found upon the grass. It is in allusion to the ori- ginal signification of the word Bujprestis, that popular English writers on natural history, sometimes give the name of burncow to the harmless Buprestians ; while the French, with greater * Lucanus Dama of Fabricius. COLEOPTERA. 41 propriety call them richards, on account of the rich and brilliant colors wherewith many of them are adorned. The Buprestians, then, according to the Linnaean application or rather misapplica- tion of the name, are hard-shelled beetles, often brilliantly col- ored, of an elliptical or oblong oval form, obtuse before, tapering behind, and broader than thick, so that, when cut in two trans- versely, the section is oval. The head is sunk to the eyes in the forepart of the thorax ; and the antennae are rather short, and notched on one side like the teeth of a saw. The thorax is broadest behind, and usually fits very closely to the shoulders of the wing-covers. The legs are rather short, and the feet are formed for standing firmly, rather than for rapid motion ; the soles being composed of four rather wide joints, covered with lit- tle spongy cushions beneath, and terminated by a fifth joint, which is armed with two claws. Most beetles, as already stated, have a little triangular piece, called the scutel, wedged between the bases of the wing-covers and the hinder part of the thorax, commonly of a triangular or semicircular form, and in the greater number of coleopterous insects quite conspicuous ; in the Bupres- tians, however, the scutel is generally very small, and sometimes hardly perceptible. These beetles are frequently seen on the trunks and limbs of trees basking in the sun. They walk slowly, and, at the approach of danger, fold up their legs and antennae and fall to the ground. Being furnished with ample wings, their flight is swift and attended with a whizzing noise. They keep con- cealed in the night, and are in motion only during the day. The larvae are wood-eaters or borers. Our forests and orchards are more or less subject to their attacks, especially after the trees have passed their prime. The transformations of these insects take place in the trunks and limbs of trees. The larvae that are known to me have a close resemblance to each other ; a general idea of them can be formed from a description of that which attacks the pig-nut hickory. It is of a yellowish white color, very long, narrow, and depressed in form, but abruptly widened near the anterior extremity. The head is brownish, small, and sunk in the forepart of the first segment ; the upper jaws are provided with three teeth, and are of a black color ; and the antennae are very short. The segment which receives the head is short and trans- 6 42 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. verse ; next to it is a large, oval segment, broader than long, and depressed or flattened above and beneath. Behind this, the seg- ments are very much narrowed, and become gradually longer ; but are still flattened, to the last, which is terminated by a round- ed tubercle or wart. There are no legs, nor any apparatus which can serve as such, except two small warts on the under-side of the second segment from the thorax. The motion of the grub appears to be effected by the alternate contractions and elonga- tions of the segments, aided, perhaps, by the tubercular extremity of the body, and by its jaws, with which it takes hold of the sides of its burrow, and thus draws itself along. These grubs are found under the bark and in the solid wood of trees, and sometimes in great numbers. They frequently rest with the body bent side- wise, so that the head and tail approach each other. This pos- ture those found under bark usually assume. They appear to pass several years in the larva state. The pupa bears a near re- semblance to the perfect insect, but is entirely white, until near the time of its last transformation. Its situation is immediately under the bark, the head being directed outwards, so that when the pupa-coat is cast off, the beetle has merely a thin covering of bark to perforate, before making its escape from the tree. The form of this perforation is oval, as is also a transverse section of the burrow, that shape being best adapted to the form, motions, and egress of the insect. Some of these beetles are known to eat leaves and flowers, and of this nature is probably the food of all of them. The injury they may thus commit is not very apparent, and cannot bear any comparison with the extensive ravages of their larvae. The solid trunks and limbs of sound and vigorous trees are often bored through in various directions by these insects, which, during a long-continued life, derive their only nourishment from the woody fragments they devour. Pines and firs seem particularly subject to their attacks, but other forest-trees do not escape, and even fruit-trees are frequently injured by these borers. The means to be used for destroying them are similar to those employ- ed against other borers, and will be explained in a subsequent part of this essay. It may not be amiss, however, here to remark, that wood-peckers are much more successful in discover- COLEOPTERA. 43 ing the retreats of these borers, and in dragging out the defence- less culprits from their burrows, than the most skilful gardener or nurseryman. Until within a few years the Buprestians were all included in three or four genera. A great number of kinds have now become known, probably six hundred or more. In a paper on these insects, pubhshed by me in 1829, in the beginning of the eighth volume of the "New England Farmer," the characters of several groups were pointed out ; these have since been made into genera, and many more new generical groups have been proposed and described by European naturalists. As the insects belonging to the greater number of these new genera do not differ essen- tially from each other in their habits and transformations, I have retained most of them in the old genus Bupresiis, but have indi- cated the new groups by enclosing the names given to them within parentheses. The largest of these beetles in this part of the United States is the Bwprestis {ChalcojjJwra) Virginica of Drury, or Virginian Buprestis. It is of an oblong oval form, brassy, or copper-colored ; sometimes almost black, with hardly any metallic reflections. The upper side of the body is roughly punctured ; the top of the head is deeply indented ; on the thorax there are three polished black elevated lines ; on each wing-cover are two small square impressed spots, a long elevated smooth black line near the outer, and another near the inner margin, with several short lines of the same kind between them ; the under-side of the body is sparingly covered with short whitish down. It measures from eight tenths of an inch to one inch or more in length. This beetle appears towards the end of May, and through the month of June, on pine- trees and on fences: In the larva state it bores into the trunks of the different kinds of pines, and is oftentimes very injurious to these trees. The wild cherry-tree (Prunus serotina), and also the gar- den cherry and peach trees suffer severely from the attacks of borers, which are transformed to the beetles called Buprestis (Di- cercn) divaricata by Mr. Say, because the wing-covers divaricate or spread apart a little at the tips. These beetles are copper- colored, sometimes brassy above, and thickly covered with little 44 INSECTtf INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. punctures ; the thorax . is slightly furrowed in the middle ; the wing-covers are marked with numerous fine irregular impressed lines and small oblong square elevated black spots ; they taper very much behind, and the long and narrow tips are blunt-pointed : the middle of the breast is furrowed ; and the males have a little tooth on the under-side of the shanks of the intermediate legs. They measure from seven to nine tenths of an inch. These beetles may be found sunning themselves upon the limbs of cherry and peach trees during the months of June, July, and August. The borer of the hickory has already been described. It is transformed to a beetle which appears to be the Bwprestis (Di- cerca) lurida* of Fabricius. It is of a lurid or dull brassy-color above, bright copper beneath, and thickly punctured all over ; there are numerous irregular impressed lines, and several narrow elevated black spots on the wing-covers, the tip of each of which ends with two Ihtle points. It measures from about six to eight tenths of an inch in length. This kind of Buprestis appears dur- ing the greater part of the summer on the trunks and limbs of the hickory. Buprestis (Chrysobothris) dentipesf of Germar, so named from the little tooth on the under-side of the thick fore-legs, inhabits the trunks of oak-trees. It completes its transformations and comes out of the trees between the end of May and the first of July. It is oblong oval and flattened, of a bronzed brownish or purplish black color above, copper-colored beneath, and rough' like shagreen with numerous punctures ; the thorax is not so wide as the hinder part of the body, its hinder margin is hollowed on both sides to receive the rounded base of each wing-cover, and there are two smooth elevated lines on the middle ; on each wing- cover there are three irregular smooth elevated hnes, which are divided and interrupted by large thickly punctured impressed spots, two of which are oblique ; the tips are rounded. Length from one half to six tenths of an inch. Buprestis [Chrysobothris) fnnorata of Fabricius has the first pair of thighs toothed beneath, like the preceding, which it resem- * Buprestis obscura, F., found in the Middle and Southern States, closely resem- bles the lurida. \ Buprestis characteristica, Harris. N. E. Farmer, Vol. viii. p. 2. COLEOPTERA. 45 bles also in its form and general appearance. It is of a greenish black color above, with a brassy polish, which is very distinct in the two large transverse impressed spots on each wing-cover ; and the thorax has no smooth elevated lines on it. It measures from four tenths to above half of an inch in length. Its time of appearance is from the end of May to the middle of July, during which it may often be seen, in the middle of the day, resting upon or flying round the trunks of white oak trees, and recently cut timber of the same kind of wood. I have repeatedly taken it upon and under the bark of peach-trees also. The grubs or larvae bore into the trunks of these trees. The Bvprestis [Chrysobothris) fuliwguttata,* or tawny spotted Buprestis, first described by me in the eighth volume of the " New England Farmer," is proportionally shorter and more convex than the two foregoing species. It is black and bronzed above, and brassy beneath ; the thorax is covered with very fine wavy trans- verse lines, and is sometimes copper-colored ; the wing-covers are thickly punctured, and on each there are three small tawny yellow spots, with sometimes an additional one by the side of the first spot ; the tips are rounded, and the fore-legs are not toothed. It varies very much in size, measuring from about three to four tenths of an inch in length. I have taken this insect from the trunks of the white pine in the month of June, and have seen others that were found in the Oregon Territory. Professor Hentz has described a small and broad beetle having the form of the above, under the name of Buprestis (Chrysoboth- n's) Harruii. It is entirely of a brilliant blue-green color, except the sides of the thorax, and the thighs, which, in the male, are copper-colored. It measures a little more than three tenths of an inch in length. The larvae of this species inhabit the small limbs of the white pine, and young sapling trees of the same kind, upon which I have repeatedly captured the beetles about the middle of June. These seven species form but a very small part of the Bupres- tians inhabiting Massachusetts and the other New England States. * Mr. Kirby has redescribed and figured this insect under the name of Bvprestis (Trachypteris) Drummondi, in the fourth volume of the " Fauna Boreali-Ameri- 46 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. My knowledge of the habits of the others is not sufficiently per- fect to render it worth while to insert descriptions of them here. The concealed situation of the grubs of these beetles, in the trunks and limbs of trees, renders it very difficult to discover and dislodge them. When trees are found to be very much infested by them, and are going to decay in consequence of the ravages of these borers, it will be better to cut them down, and burn them immediately, rather than to suffer them to stand until the borers have completed their transformations and made their escape. Closely related to the Buprestians are the Elaters, or spring- beetles (Elateridje), which are well known by the faculty they have of throwing themselves upwards with a jerk, when laid on their backs. On the under-side of the breast, between the bases of* the first pair of legs, there is a short blunt spine, the point of which is usually concealed in a corresponding cavity behind it. When the insect, by any accident, falls upon its back, its legs are so short, and its back is so convex, that it is unable to turn itself over. It then folds its legs close to its body, bends .back the head and thorax, and thus unsheaths its breast-spine ; then by suddenly straightening its body, the point of the spine is made to strike with force upon the edge of the sheath, which gives it the power of a spring, and reacts on the body of the insect, so as to throw it perpendicularly into the air. When it again falls, if it does not come down upon its feet, it repeats its exertions until its object is effected. In these beetles the body is of a hard con- sistence, and is usually rather narrow and tapering behind. The head is sunk to the eyes in the forepart of the thorax ; the an- tennae are of moderate length, and more or less notched on the inside like a saw. The thorax is as broad at base as the wing- covers, it is usually rounded before, and the hinder angles are sharp and prominent. The scutel is of moderate size. The legs are rather short and slender, and the feet are five-jointed. The larvse or grubs of the Elaters live upon wood and roots, and are often very injurious to vegetation. Some are confined to old or decaying trees, others devour the roots of herbaceous plants. In England they are called wire-worms, from their slen- derness and uncommon hardness. They are not to be confounded with the American wire- worm, a species of lulus, which is not a COLEOPTERA. 47 true insect, but belongs to the class Myriapoda, a name derived from the great number of feet with which most of the animals included in it are furnished ; whereas the English wire-worm has only six feet. The European wire-worm is said to live, in its feeding or larva state, not less than five years ; during the greater part of which time it is supported by devouring the roots of wheat, ryfe, oats, and grass, annually causing a large diminution of the produce, and sometimes destroying whole crops. It is said to be particularly injurious in gardens recently converted from pas- ture lands. We have several grubs allied to this destructive insect, which are quite common in land newly broken up ; but fortunately, as yet, their ravages are inconsiderable. We may expect these to increase in proportion as we disturb them and de- prive them of their usual articles of food, while we continue also to persecute and destroy their natural enemies, the birds, and may then be obliged to resort to the ingenious method adopted by European farmers and gardeners for alluring and capturing these grubs. This method consists in strewing sliced potatoes or tur- nips in rows through the garden or field ; women and boys are employed to examine the slices every morning, and collect the insects which readily come to feed upon the bait. Some of these destructive insects, which I have found in the ground among the roots of plants, were long, slender, worm-like grubs, closely re- sembling the common meal-worm ; they were nearly cylindrical, with a hard and smooth skin, of a buff or brownish yellow color, the head and tail only being a little darker ; each of the first three rings was provided with a pair of short legs ; the hindmost ring was longer than the preceding one, was pointed at the end, and had a little pit on each side of the extremity ; beneath this part there was a short retractile wart, or prop-leg, serving to support the extremity of the body, and prevent it from trailing on the ground. Other grubs of Elaters differ from the foregoing in being proportionally broader, not cylindrical, but somewhat flattened, with a deep notch at the extremity of the last ring, the sides of which are beset with little teeth. Such grubs are mostly wood- eaters, devouring the woody parts of roots, or living under the bark and in the trunks of old trees. After their last transformation, Elaters or spring-beetles^ make 48 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. their appearance upon trees and fences, and some are found on flowers. They creep slowly, and generally fall to the ground on being touched. They fly both by day and night. Their food, in the beetle states, appears to be chiefly derived from flowers ; but some devour the tender leaves of plants. Most of the insects of this family were included in the genus Elater^ which has recently been subdivided into many smaller groups. These, in the few species which I propose to describe, will be indicated by having their names enclosed within parentheses. The largest of our spring-beetles is the Elater [Mam] ocula- tus, of Linnaeus. It is of a black color ; the thorax is oblong square, and nearly one third the length of the whole body, cov- ered above with a whitish powder, and with a large oval velvet- black spot, like an eye, on each side of the middle, from which the insect derives its name oculat2is,.ov eyed ; the wing-covers are marked with slender longitudinal impressed lines, and are sprinkled with numerous white dots ; the under-side of the body, and the legs, are covered with a white mealy powder. This large beetle measures from one inch and a quarter to one inch and three quar- ters in length. It is found on trees, fences, and the sides of buildings, in June and July. It undergoes its transformations in the trunks of trees. I have found many of them in old apple- trees, together with their larvse, which eat the wood, and from which I subsequently obtained the insects in the beetle state. These larvae are reddish yellow grubs, proportionally much broader than the other kinds, and very much flattened. One of them, which was found fully grown early in April, measured two inches and a half in length, and nearly four tenths of an inch across the middle of the body, and was not much narrowed at either extremity. The head was broad, brownish, and rough above ; the upper jaws or nippers were very strong, curved, and pointed ; the eyes were small and two in number, one being placed at the base of each of the short antennae ; the last segment of the body was blackish, rough with little sharp-pointed warts, with a deep semicircular notch at the end, and furnished around the sides with httle teeth, the two hindmost of which were long, forked, and curved upwards hke hooks ; under this segment was a large retractile fleshy prop-foot, armed behind with little claws, COLEOPTERA. 49 and around the sides with short spines ; the true legs were six, a pair to each of the first three rings ; and were tipped with a single claw. Soon after this grub was found it cast its skin and became a pupa, and in due time the latter was transformed to a beetle. Elater (Pyrophorus) nociilucus, the night-shining Elater, is the celebrated cucuio or fire-beetle of the West Indies, from whence it is frequently brought alive to this country. It resembles the preceding insect somewhat in form, and is an inch or more in length. It gives out a' strong light from two transparent eye-like spots on the thorax, and from the segments of its body beneath. It eats the pulpy substance of the sugar-cane, and its grub is said to be very injurious to this plant, by devouring its roots. The next two common Elaters, together with several other species, are distinguished by their claws, which resemble little combs, being furnished with a row of fine teeth along the under- side. The thorax is short and rounded before, and the body tapers behind. They are found under the bark of trees, where they pass the winter, having completed their transformations in the previous autumn. Their grubs live in wood. The first of these beetles is the ash-colored Elater, Elater (Melonotus) cinereus of Weber. It is about six tenths of an inch long, and is dark brown, but covered with short gray hairs, which give it an ashen hue ; the thorax is convex ; and the wing-covers are marked with lines of punctures, resembling stitches. It is found on fen- ces, the trunks of trees, and in paths, in April and May. Elater (Melanotus) communis of Schonherr, is, as its name im- plies, an exceedingly common and abundant species. It closely resembles the preceding, but is smaller, seldom exceeding half an inch in length ; it is also rather lighter colored ; the thorax is proportionally a little longer, not so convex, and has a slender longitudinal furrow in the middle. This Elater appears in the same places as the cinereus in April, May, and June ; and the recently transformed beetles can also be found in the autumn un- der the bark of trees, where they pass the winter. Another kind of spring-beetle, which absolutely swarms in paths and among the grass during the warmest and brightest days in April and May, is the Elater (Ludius) appressifrons of Say. Its specific name probably refers to the front of the head or visor 7 50 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. being pressed downwards over the lip. The body is slender and almost cylindrical, of a deep chestnut-brown color, rendered gray, however, by the numerous short yellowish hairs with which it is covered ; the thorax is of moderate length, not much narrowed before, convex above, with very long and sharp-pointed hinder angles, and in certain lights has a brassy hue ; the wing-covers are finely punctured, and have very slender impressed longitudinal hnes upon them ; the claws^ are not toothed beneath. This beetle usually measures from four to five tenths of an inch in length ; but the females frequently greatly exceed these dimen- sions, and, being much more robust, with a more convex thorax, were supposed by Mr. Say to belong to a different species, named by him brevicornis, the short-horned. The larvae are not yet known to me ; but I have strong reasons for thinking that they live in the ground upon the roots of the perennial grasses and other herbaceous plants. Although above sixty different kinds of spring-beetles are now known to inhabit Massachusetts, I shall add to the foregoing a description of only one more species. This is the Elater [Agri- otes) obesus of Say. It is a short and thick beetle, as the specific name implies ; its real color is a dark brown, but it is covered with dirty yellowish gray hairs, which on the wing-covers are arranged in longitudinal stripes ; the head and thorax are thickly punctured, and the wing-covers are punctured in rows. Its length is about three tenths of an inch. This beetle closely re- sembles one of the kinds, which, in the grub state, is called the wire-worm in Europe, and possibly it may be the same. This circumstance should put us on our guard against its depredations. It is found in April, May, and June, among the roots of grass, on the under-side of boards and rails on the ground, and sometimes also on fences. The utility of a knowledge of the natural history of insects in the practical arts of life was never more strikingly and triumphantly proved than by Linnaeus himself, who, while giving to natural science its language and its laws, neglected no opportunity to point out its economical advantages.* On one occasion this great * Seethe preface to Smith's " Introduction to Botany," and Pultenej's" View of the Writings of Linnaeus" for several examples, one of which it may not be amiss COLEOPTERA. 5 1 naturalist was consulted by the King of Sweden upon the cause of the decay and destruction of the ship-timber in the royal dock- yards, and, having traced it to the depredations of insects, and ascertained the history of the depredators, by directing the timber to be sunk under water during the season when these insects made their appearance in the winged state, and were busied in laying their eggs, he effectually secured it from future attacks. The name of these insects is Lymexylon navale^ the naval timber- destroyer. They have" since increased to an alarming extent in some of the dockyards of France, and in one of them, at least, have become very injurious, wholly in consequence of the neglect of seasonable advice given by a naval officer, who was also an entomologist, and pointed out the source of the injury, together with the remedy to be applied. These destructive insects belong to a family called Lymexyl- ID.E, which may be rendered timber-beetles. They cannot be far removed from the Buprestians and the spring-beetles in a natural arrangement.* From the latter, however, the insects of this small group are distinguished by having the head broad before, narrowed behind, and not sunk into the thorax ; they have not the breast-spine of the Elaters, and their legs are close together, and not separated from each other by a broad breast-bone as in the Buprestians ; and the hip-joints are long, and not sunk into the breast. In the principal insects of this family the antennae are short, and, from the third joint, flattened, widened, and saw- toothed on the inside ; and the jaw-feelers of the males have a singular fringed piece attached to them. The body is long, nar- to mention here. LinnoBus was the first to point out the advantages to be derived from employing the Jlrundo arenaria, or beach-grass, in fixing the sands of the shore, and thereby preventing the encroachments of the sea. The Dutch have long availed themselves of his suggestion, and its utility has been tested to some extent in Massachusetts. *" Immediately after the Elaterida are arranged the Cebrionidm, by common con. sent. Next to these I put the Lymexylida, which resemble Sandalus, one of the Crhrionidm, in their antennae. The sericeuin, above described, probably not a true Lijmexylon, was included among the Ccbrionidcc in my Catalogue. According to my present views the Ptinklm and Clcridoe. should follow the Lymexylida ; Eno- plium and Tillus among the latter having some resemblance to Lrjmexijlon, $i.c., and agreeing therewith in habits also. 52 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. row, nearly cylindrical, and not so firm and hard as in the Ela- ters. The feet are five-jointed, long, and slender. The larvae of Lymexylon and Hyleccetus are very odd-looking, long, and slender grubs. The head is small ; the first ring is very much hunched ; and on the top of the last ring there is a fleshy appendage, resembhng a leaf in Lymexylon, and like a straight horn in Hyleccetus. They have six short legs near the head. These grubs inhabit oak-trees, and make long cylindrical burrows in the solid wood. They are also found in some other kinds of trees. Only a few native insects of this family are known to me, and these fortunately seem to be rare in New England. I shall de- scribe only two of them. The first was obtained by beating the limbs of some forest-tree. It may be called Lymexylon sericeum, the silky timber-beetle. It is of a chestnut-brown color above, and covered with very short shining yellowish hairs, which give it a silky lustre. The head is bowed down beneath the forepart of the thorax ; the eyes are very large, and almost meet above and below ; the antennae are brownish red, widened and compressed from the fourth to the last joint inclusive ; the thorax is longer than wide, rounded before, convex above, and deeply indented on each side of the base ; the wing-covers are convex, gradually taper behind, and do not cover the tip of the abdomen ; the under- side of the body, and the legs, are brownish red. Its length is from four to six tenths of an inch. This insect was unknown to Mr. Say, and does not seem to have been described before. The generical name Hyleccetus, given to some insects of this family^ means a sleeper in the woods, or one who makes his bed in the forest. We have one hitherto undescribed species, which may be called Hyleccetus Jlmericanus, the American timber-bee- tle. Its head, thorax, abdomen, and legs are liglit brownish red ; the wing-covers, except at the base where they are also red, and the breast, between the middle and hindmost legs, are black. The head is not bowed down under the forepart of the thorax ; the eyes are small and black, and on the middle of the forehead there is one small reddish eyelet, a character unusual among beetles, very few of which have eyelets ; the antennas resemble those of Lymexylon sericeum, but are shorter ; the thorax is nearly square, t^OLEOPTERA. 53 but wider than long ; and on each wing-cover there are three slightly elevated longitudinal lines or ribs. This beetle is about four tenths of an inch long. It appears on the wing in July. The foregoing beetles, though differing much in form and habits, possess one character in common ; namely, their feet are five- jointed. Those that follow have four-jointed feet. In this great section of Coleopterous insects are arranged the Weevil tribe, the Capricorn beetles or long-horned borers, and various kinds of leaf- eating beetles, all of which are exceedingly injurious to vegetation. So great is the extent of the Weevil tribe,* and so imperfectly known is the history of a large part of our native species, that I shall be obliged to confine myself to an account of a few only of the most remarkable weevils, and principally those that have be- come most known for their depredations. Mr. KoUar's excellent " Treatise on Insects injurious to Gardeners, Foresters, and Farm- ers," contains an account of several kinds of weevils that are un- known in this country ; and indeed but few resembling them have hitherto been discovered here. Should future observations lead to the detection in our, gardens and orchards of any like those which in Europe attack the vine, the plum, the apple, the pear, and the leaves and stems of fruit-trees, the work of Mr. Kollar may be consulted with great advantage. Weevils, in the winged state, are hard-shelled beetles, and are distinguished from other insects by having the forepart of the head prolonged into a broad muzzle or a longer and more slender snout, in the end of which the opening of the mouth and the small horny jaws are placed. The flies and moths produced from certain young insects, called weevils by mistake, do not possess these characters, and their larvae or young differ essentially from those of the true weevils. The latter belong to a group called Rhynchopiiorid^, literally, snout-bearers. These beetles are mostly of small size. Their antennae are usually knobbed at the end, and are situated on the muzzle or snout, on each side of which there is generally a short groove to receive the base of the antennae * See page 19. 54 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. when the latter are turned backwards. Their feelers are very- small, and, in most kinds, are concealed within the mouth. The abdomen is often of an oval form, and wider than the thorax. The legs are short, not fitted for running or digging, and the soles of the feet are short and flattened. These beetles are often very- hurtful to plants, by boring into the leaves, bark, buds, fruit, and seeds, and feeding upon the soft substance therein contained. They are diurnal insects, and love to come out of their retreats and enjoy the sunshine. Some of them fly well ; but others have no wings, or only very short ones, under the wing-cases, and are therefore unable to fly. They walk slowly, and being of a timid nature, and without the means of defence, when alarmed they turn back their antennae under the snout, fold up their legs, and fall from the plants on which they live. They make use of their snouts not only in feeding, but in boring holes, into which they afterwards drop their eggs. The young of these snout-beetles are mostly short fleshy grubs, of a whitish color, and without legs. The covering of their heads is a hard shell, and the rings of their bodies are very convex or hunched, by both of which characters they are easily distin- guished from the maggots of flies. Their jaws are strong and horny, and with them they gnaw those parts of plants which serve for their food. It is in the grub-state that weevils are most' injurious to vegetation. Some of them bore into and spoil fruits, grain, and seeds ; some attack the leaves and stems of plants, causing them to swell and become cankered ; while others pene- trate into the solid wood, interrupt the course of the sap, and oc- casion the branch above the seat of attack to wither and die. Most of these grubs are transformed within the vegetable substan- ces upon which they have lived ; some, however, when fully grown, go into the ground, where they are changed to pupae, and afterwards to beetles. In the spring of the year we often find, among seed-pease, many that have holes in them ; and, if the pease have not been exposed to the light and air, we see a little insect peeping out of each of these holes, and waiting apparently for an opportunity to come forth and make its escape. If we turn out the creature from its cell, we perceive it to be a small oval beetle, rather more than COLEOPTERA. 55 one tenth of an inch long, of a rusty black color, with a white spot on the hinder part of the thorax, four or five white dots behind the middle of each wing-cover, and a white spot, shaped like the letter T, on the exposed extremity of the body. This little insect is the Bruchiis Pisi of Linnaeus, the pea-Bruchus, or pea-weevil, but is better known in America by the incorrect name of pea-bug. The original meaning of the word Bruchus is a devourer, and the insects to which it is applied well deserve this name, for, in the larva state, they devour the interior of seeds, often leaving but little more than the hull untouched. They belong to a family of tlie great weevil tribe called Bruchid^, and are distinguished from other weevils by the following characters. The body is oval, and slightly convex ; the head is bent downwards, so that the broad muzzle, when the insects are not eating, rests upon the breast ; the antennas are short, straight, and saw-toothed within, and are inserted close to a deep notch in each of the eyes ; the feelers, though very small, are visible ; the wing-cases do not cover the end of the abdomen ; and the hindmost thighs are very thick, and often notched or toothed on the under-side, as is the case in the pea-weevil. The habits of the Bruchians and their larvae are similar to those of the pea-weevil, which remain to be de- scribed. It may be well, however, to state here that these beetles frequent the leguminous or pod-bearing plants, such as the pea, Gleditsia, Robinia, Mimosa, Cassia, &c., during and immediately after the flowering season ; they pierce the tender pods of these plants, and commonly lay only one egg in each seed, the pulp of which suffices for the food of the little maggot-like grub hatched therein. Few persons while indulging in the luxury of early green pease are aware how many insects they unconsciously swallow. When the pods are carefully examined, small, discolored spots may be seen within them, each one corresponding to a similar spot on the opposite pea. If this spot in the pea be opened, a minute whitish grub, destitute of feet, will be found therein. It is the weevil in its larva form, which lives upon the marrow of the pea, and arrives at its full size by the time that the pea becomes dry. This larva or grub then bores a round hole from the hollow in the centre of the pea quite to the hull, but leaves the latter and generally the 56 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. germ of the future sprout untouched. Hence these buggy pease, as they are called by seedsmen and gardeners, will frequently sprout and grow when planted. The grub is changed to a pupa within its hole in the pea in the autumn, and before the spring casts its skin again, becomes a beetle, and gnaws a hole through the thin hull in order to make its escape into the air, which fre- quently does not happen before the pease are planted for an early crop. After the pea-vines have flowered, and while the pods are young and tender, and the pease within them are just beginning to swell, the beetles gather upon them, pierce the pods, and deposit their tiny eggs in the punctures. This is done only during the night, or in cloudy weather. Each egg is always placed opposite to a pea ; the grubs, as soon as they are hatched, penetrate the pod and bury themselves in the pease ; and the holes through which they pass are so fine as hardly to be perceived, and are soon closed. Sometimes every pea in a pod will be found to con- tain a weevil-grub ; and so great has been the injury to the crop in some parts of the country that the inhabitants have been obliged to give up the cultivation of this vegetable.* These insects, as Mr. Deane has observed, diminish the weight of the pease in which they lodge, nearly one half, and their leavings are fit only for the food of swine. This occasions a great loss, where pease are raised for feeding stock or for family use, as they are in many places. Those persons, who eat whole pease in the winter after they are raised, run the risk of eating the weevils also ; but if the pease are kept till they are a year old, the insects will entirely leave them. The pea-weevil is supposed to be a native of the United States. It seems to have been first noticed in Pennsylvania, many years ago ; and has gradually spread from thence to New .Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. It is yet rare in New Hampshire, and I believe has not appeared in the eastern parts of Maine. It is unknown in the North of Europe, as we learn from the interesting account given of it by Kalm, the Swedish traveller, who tells us of the fear with which he was filled, on finding some of these weevils in a parcel of pease which he had * See Kalm's Travels. 8vo. Warrington. 1770. Vol. I. p. 173. COLEOPTERA. 57 carried home from America, having in view the whole damage which his beloved country would have suffered, if only two or three of these noxious insects had escaped him. They are now common in the South of Europe and in England, whither they may have been carried from this country. As the cultivated pea was not. originally a native of America, it would be interesting to ascertain what plants the pea-weevil formerly inhabited. That it should have preferred the prolific exotic pea to any of our indi- genous and less productive pulse, is not a matter of surprise, anal- ogous facts being of common occurrence ; but that, for so many years, a rational method for checking its ravages should not have been practised, is somewhat remarkable. An exceedingly simple one is recommended by Deane, but to be successful it should be universally adopted. It consists merely in keeping seed-pease in tight vessels over one year before planting them. Latreille and others recommend putting them, just before they are to be planted, into hot water for a minute or two, by which means the weevils will be killed, and the sprouting of the pease will be quickened. The insect is limited to a certain period for deposit- ing its eggs i late sown pease therefore escape its attacks. The late Colonel Pickering observed that those sown in Pennsylvania as late as the twentieth of May, were entirely free from weevils ; and Colonel Worthington, of Rensselaer county. New York, who sowed his pease on the tenth of June, six years in succession, never found an insect in them during that period. The crow black-bird is said to devour great numbers of the beetles in the spring ; and the Baltimore oriole or hang-bird splits open the green pods for the sake of the grubs contained in the pease, thereby contributing greatly to prevent the increase of these noxious insects. The instinct that enables this beautiful bird to detect the lurking grub, concealed, as the latter is, within the pod and the hull of the pea, is worthy our highest admiration ; and the goodness of Providence, which has endowed it with this faculty, is still further shown in the economy of the insects also, which, through His prospective care, are' not only limited in the season of their depredations, but are instinctively taught to spare the germs of the pease, thereby securing a succession of crops for our benefit and that of their own progeny. 8 58 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. The Attelabians (Attelabid^e) are distinguished from the Bruchians by the form and greater length of the head, which is a Httle inchned, and ends with a snout, sometimes short and thick, and sometimes long, slender, and curved. The eyes also are round and entire ; and the antennae are usually implanted near the middle of the snout. The larvae resemble those of most of the snout-beetles, being short, thick, whitish grubs, with horny heads, the rings of the body very much hunched, and deprived of legs, the place of which is supplied by fleshy warts along the under-side of the body. Some of the European insects of this family are known to be very injurious to the leaves, fruits, and seeds of plants. The different kinds of Attelabus are said to roll up the edges of leaves, thereby forming little nests, of the shape and size of thimbles, to contain their eggs, and to shelter their young, which afterwards devour the leaves. The larvae and habits of our native species are unknown to me. The most common one here is the Attelabus analis of Weber, or the red-tailed Attelabus. It is one quarter of an inch long from the tip of the thick snout to the end of the body. The head, which is nearly cylindrical, the antennae, legs, and middle of the breast are deep blue-black ; the thorax, wing-covers, and abdomen are dull red ; the wing-covers taken together, are nearly square, and are punctured in rows. This beetle is found on the leaves of oak-trees in June and July. The two-spotted Aiiehhus, Attelabus bipustulatus of Fabricius, is also found on oak-leaves during the same season as the preced- ing. It is of a deep blue-black color, with a square dull red spot on the shoulders of each wing-cover. It measures rather more than one eighth of an inch in length. Two or three beetles of this family are very hurtful to the vine, in Europe, by nibbling the midrib of the leaves, so that the latter may be rolled up to form a retreat for their young. They also puncture the buds and the tender fruit of this and of other plants. In consequence of the damage, caused by them and by their larvae, whole vineyards are sometimes stripped of their leaves, and fruit-trees are despoiled of their foliage and fruits. These insects belong to the genus Rhynchites, a name given to them in allusion to their snouts. I have not seen any of them on vines or fruit- COLEOPTERA. 59 trees in this country. The largest one found here is the Rhyn- chites bicolor of Fabricius, or two-colored Rhynchites. This insect is met with in June, July, and August, on cultivated and wild rose-bushes, sometimes in considerable numbers. That they injure these plants is highly probable, but the nature and extent of the injury is not certainly known. The whole of the upper side of this beetle is red, except the rather long and slender snout, which, together with the antennaj, legs, and under-side of the body, is black ; it is thickly covered with small punctures, and is slightly downy, and there are rows of larger punctures on the wing-covers. It measures one fifth of an inch from the eyes to the tip of the abdomen. The grubs of many kinds oi Apion destroy the seeds of plants. In Europe they do much mischief to clover in this way. They receive the above name from the shape of the beetles, which resembles that of a pear. Say's Apion, Apion Sayi* of Schon- herr, is a minute black species, not more than one tenth of an inch long, exclusive of the slender sharp-pointed snout. Its grubs live in the pods of the common wild indigo bush, Baptisia tinctoria, devouring the seeds. A smaller kind, somewhat like it, inhabits the pods and eats the seeds of the locust-tree, or Robinia pseud- acacia. "Naturalists place here a little group of snout-beetles, called Brenthid^, or Brenthians, which differ entirely in their forms from the other weevils, both in the beetle and grub state. They have a long, narrow, and cylindrical body. The snout pro- jects from the head in a straight line with the body, and varies in shape according to the sex of the insect, and even in individuals of the same sex. In the males it is broad and flat, sometimes as long as the thorax, sometimes much shorter, and it is widened at the tip, where are situated two strong nippers or upper jaws ; in the females it is long, very slender, and not enlarged at the ex- tremity, and the nippers are not visible to the naked eye. The feelers are too small to be seen. The antennae are short, straight, slightly thickened towards the tip, and implanted before the prom- inent eyes, on the middle of the snout in the males, and at the * .^pion rostrum, Say. 60 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. base of it in the females. The legs are short, the first pair being the largest, and the hindmost unusually distant from the middle pair. These insects live under the bark and in the trunks of trees, but very little has been published respecting their habits ; and the only description of their larvae that has hitherto appeared is contained in my first Report on the Insects of Massachusetts, printed in the year 1838, in the seventy-second number of the Documents of the House of Representatives. ' The only beetle of this family known in the New England States is the Brenthus [Arrhenodes) sepiemtrionis* of Herbst, the northern Brenthus, so named because most of the other spe- cies are tropical insects. It is of a mahogany-bi'own color ; the w^ing-cases are somewhat darker, ornamented with narrow tawny yellow spots, and marked with deep furrows, the sides of which are punctured ; the thorax is nearly egg-shaped, broadest behind the middle, and highly polished. The common length of this insect, including the snout, is six tenths of an inch ; but much larger as well as smaller specimens frequently occur. The north- ern Brenthus inhabits the white oak, on the trunks and under the bark of which it may be found in June and July, having then completed its transformations. The female, when about to lay her eggs, punctures the bark with her slender snout, and drops an egg in each hole thus made. The grub, as soon as it is hatched, bores into the solid wood, forming a cylindrical passage, which it keeps clear by pushing its castings out of the orifice of the hole, as fast as they accumulate. These castings or chips are like very fine saw-dust ; and the holes made by the insects are easily dis- covered by the dust around them. When fully grown, the grub measures rather more than an inch in length, and not quhe one tenth of an inch in thickness. It is nearly cylindrical, being only a little flattened on the under-side, and is of a whitish color, ex- cept the last segment, which is dark chestnut-brown. Each of the first three segments is provided with a pair of legs, and there is a fleshy prop-leg under the hinder extremity of the body. Thfi last segftient is of a horny consistence, and is obliquely hollowed * A mistake undoubtedly for septemtrionalis. It is the Brenthus maxillosus of Olivier and Schonherr. COLEOPTERA. 61 at the end, so as to form a kind of gouge or scoop, the edges of which are, furnished with httle notches or teeth. It is by means of this singular scoop that the grub shovels the minute grains of wood out of its burrow. The pupa is met with in the burrow formed by the larva. It is of a yellowish white color ; the head is bent under the thorax, and the snout 'rests, on the breast be- tween the folded legs and wings ; the back is furnished with transverse rows of little thorns or sharp teeth, and there are two larger thorns at the extremity of the body. These minute thorns probably enable the pupa to move towards the mouth of its bur- row when it is about to be transformed, and may serve also to keep its body steady during its exertions in casting off its pupa- skin. These insects are most abundant in trees that have been cut down for timber or fuel, which are generally attacked during the first summer after tliey are felled ; it has also been ascertained that living trees do not always escape, but those that are in full vigor are rarely perforated by grubs of this kind. The credit of discovering the habits and transformations of the northern Bren- thus is due to the Rev. L. W. Leonard, of Dublin, New Hamp- shire, who has favored me with specimens in all their forms. This insect is now known to inhabit nearly all the States in the Union. I am inclined to think that the Brenthians ought to be placed at the end of the weevil tribe ; but I have not ventured to alter the arrangement generally adopted. The rest of the weevils are short and thick beetles, differing from all the preceding in their antennae, which are bent or elbowed near the middle, the first joint being much longer than the rest. Their feelers are not perceptible. They belong to the family CuRCULioNiD^, so called from the principal genus Curcu/io, a name given by 'the Romans to the corn-weevil. The Curculio- nians vary in the form, length, and direction of their snouts. Those belonging to the old gen'us Lurculio have short and thick snouts, at the extremity of wf:ich, and near to the sides of the mouth, the antennae are implanted ; those to which the name of Rhynchcenus was formerly applied have longer and more slender snouts, usually bearing the antennae on or just behind the middle ; and the third great genus, called Calandra, contains long-snouted beetles, whose antennas are fixed just before the eyes at the base of 62 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the snout. These weevils, being very numerous, and differing also greatly in their forms and habits, have latterly been divided into a great number of genera, distinguished from each other by more or less striking peculiarities. The convenience and simplicity of the for^ner arrangement has induced me to retain the old names Ciir- culio, RhynchcEnus, and Calandra^ for the few species to be here described, while the names of the new genera, to which they have been referred, will be included within parentheses. Curculio (Pnndeleteius) hilaris of Herbst, which we may call the gray-sided Curculio, is a little pale brown beetle, variegated with gray upon the sides. Its snout is short, broad, and slightly furrowed in the middle ; there are three blackish stripes on the thorax, between which are two of a light gray color ; the wing- covers have a broad stripe of light gray on the outer side, edged within by a slender blackish line, and sending two short oblique branches almost across each wing-cover ; and the fore-legs are much larger than the others. The length of this beetle varies from one eighth to one fifth of an inch. The larva lives in the trunks of the white oak, on which the beetles may be found about the last of May and the beginning of June. The Pales weevil, Curculio (Hylobius) Pales of Herbst, is a beetle of a deep chestnut-brown color, having a line and a few dots of a yellowish white color on the thorax, and many small yellowish white spots sprinkled over the wing-covers. All the thighs are toothed beneath, and the snout is slender, cylindrical, inclined, and nearly as long as the thorax. On account of the length of the snout this insect has beeh placed in the genus Rhyn- chccnus by some naturalists ; but the antennae are implanted before the middle of the snout, and not far from the sides of the mouth. This beetle measures from two to three eighths of an inch in length, exclusive of the snout. It may be found in great abun- dance, in May and June, on board-fences, the sides of new wooden buildings, and on the trunks of pine-trees. I have discovered them, in considerable numbers, under the bark of the pitch-pine. The larvffi, which do not materially differ from those of other weevils, inhabit these and probably other kinds of pines, doing sometimes immense injury to them. Wilson, the ornithologist, COLEOPTERA. 63 describes the depredations of these insects, in his account* of the ivory-billed wood-pecker, in the following words. " Would it be believed that the larvae of an insect, or fly, no larger than a grain of rice, should silently, and in one season, destroy some thousand acres of pine trees, many of them from, two to three feet in diam- eter, and a hundred and fifty feet high ! Yet whoever passes along the high road from Georgetown to Charleston, in South Carolina, about twenty miles from the former place, can have striking and melancholy proofs of the fact. In some places the whole woods, as far as you can see around you, are dead, stripped of the bark, their wintry-looking arms and bare trunks bleaching in the sun, and tumbling in ruins before every blast, presenting a frightful picture of desolation. Until some effectual preventive or more complete remedy can be devised against these insects, and their larvae, I would humbly suggest the propriety of protecting, and receiving with proper feelings of gratitude, the services of this and the whole tribe of wood-peckers, letting the odium of guilt fall to its proper owners." Some years ago Mr. Nuttall kindly procured for me, near the place abt)ve mentioned, specimens of the destruc- tive insects referred to by Wilson. They were of three kinds. Those in greatest abundance were the Pales weevil. One of the others was a larger, darker-colored weevil, without white spots on it, and named Hylobius picivorus, by Germar and Schonherr, or the pitch-eating weevil; it is seldom found in Massachusetts. The third was the white pine weevil to be next described. , It is said that these beetles puncture the buds and the tender bark of the small branches, and feed upon the juice, and that the young shoots are often so much injured by them as to die and break off at the wounded part. But it is in the larva state that they are found to be most hurtful to the pines. The larva3 live under the bark, devouring its soft inner surface, and the tender newly formed wood. When they abound, as they do in some of our pine forests, they separate large pieces of bark from the wood be- neath, in consequence of which the part perishes, and the tree itself soon languishes and dies. The white pine weevil, Rhynchoiuus {Pissodes) Strobif, of * American Ornithology. Vol. IV. p. 21. t Pissodes nemorensis of Germar. 64 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. Professor Peck, unites with the two preceding insects in destroy- ing the pines of this country, as above described. But it employs also another mode of attack on the white pine, of which an inter- esting account is given by the late Professor Peck, the first de- scriber of the insect, in the fourth volume of the "Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal," accompanied by figures of the insect. The lofty stature of the white pine, and the straight- ness of its trunk depend, as Professor Peck has remarked, upon the constant health of its leading shoot, for a long succession of years ; and if this shoot be destroyed, the tree becomes stunted and deformed in its subsequent growth. This accident is not un- common, and is caused by the ravages of the white pine wee- vil. This beetle is oblong oval, rather slender, of a brownish color, thickly punctured, and variegated with small brown, rust- colored, and whitish scales. There are two white dots on the thorax ; the scutel is white ; and on the wing-covers, which are punctured in rows, there is a whitish transverse band behind the middle. The snout is longer than the thorax, slendef, and a very little inclined. The, length of this insect, exclusive of its snout, varies from one fifth to three tenths of an inch. Its eggs are de- posited on the leading shoot of the pine, probably immediately under the outer bark. The larvae, hatched therefrom, bore into the shoot in various directions, and probably remain in the wood more than one year. Wherf the feeding state is passed, but before the insect is changed to a pupa, it gnaws a passage from the inside quite to the bark, which, however, remaining untouched, serves to shelter the little borers from the weather. After they have changed to beetles, they have only to cut away the outer bark to make their escape. They begin to come out early in September, and continue to leave the wood through that month and a part of October. The shoot at this time will be found pierced with small round holes on all sides ; sometimes thirty or forty may be counted on one shoot. Professor Peck has observed that an un- limited increase is not permitted to this destructive insect ; and that if it were, our forests would not produce a single mast. One of the means appointed to restrain the increase of the white pine weevil is a species of ichneumon-fly, endued with sagacity to dis- cover the retreat of the larva, the body of which it stings, and COLEOFTERA. 65 therein deposits an egg. From the latter a grub is hatched, which devours the larva of the weevil, and is subsequently trans- formed to a four-winged fly, in the habitation prepared for it. The most effectual remedy against the increase of these weevils is to cut off the shoot in August, or as soon as it is peiceived to be dead, and commit it, with its inhabitants, to the fire. Such is the substance of Professor Peck's history of this insect; to which ^ may be added, that the beetles are found in great numbers, in April and May, on fences, buildings, and pine-trees ; that they probably secrete themselves during the winter in the crevices of the bark, or about the roots of the trees, and deposit their eggs in the spring ; or they may not usually leave the trees before spring. Perhaps the method used for decoying the pine-eating beetles in Europe may be practised here with advantage. It consists in sticking some newly cut branches of pine-trees in the ground, in an open place, during the season when the insects are about to lay their eggs. In a few hours these branches will be covered with the beetles, which may be shaken into a cloth and burned. There are some of the long-snouted weevils which inhabit nuts of various kinds. Hence they are called nut-weevils, and belong chiefly to the modern genus Balaninus, a name that signifies liv- ing or being in a nut. The common nut-weevil of Europe lays her eggs in the hazel-nut and filbert, having previously bored a hole for that purpose with her long and slender snout, while the fruit is young and tender, and dropping only one egg in each nut thus pricked. A little grub is soon hatched from the egg, and begins immediately to devour the soft kernel. Notwithstanding this, the nut continues to increase in size, and, by the time that it is ripe and ready to fall, its little inhabitant also comes to its growth, gnaws a round hole in the shell, through which it after- wards makes its escape, and burrows in the ground. Here it remains unchanged through the winter, and in the following sum- mer, having completed its transformations, it comes out of the ground a beetle. In this country weevil-grubs are very common in hazel-nuts, chestnuts, and acorns ; but I have not hitherto been able to rear any of them to the beetle state. The most connnon of the nut- weevils known to me appears to be the Rhynchcenus [Balaninus) 9 66 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. nnsicus of Say ; the long-snouted nut-weevil. Its form is oval, and its ground color dark brown ; but it is clothed with very short rust-yellow flattened hairs, which more or less conceal its original color, and are disposed in spots on its wing-covers. The snout is brown and pohshed, longer than the whole body, as slen- der as a bristle, of equal thickness from one end to the other, and slightly curved ; it bears the long elbowed antennae, which are as fine as a hair, just behind the middle. This beetle measures nearly three tenths of an inch in length, exclusive of the snout. It is found in September and October, and more rarely in July, at which time it probably lays its eggs. As it does not come out till the autumn, it must pass the winter concealed in some secure' place. From its size and resemblance to the nut-weevil of Eu- rope, it may be the species which attacks the hazel-nut here. It is now well known that the falling of unripe plums, apricots, peaches, and cherries is caused by little whitish grubs, which bore into these fruits. The loss of fruit, occasioned by insects of this kind, is frequently very great ; and, in some of our gardens and orchards, the crop of plums is often entirely ruined by the depre- dations of grubs, which have been ascertained to be the larvae or young of a small beetle of the weevil tribe, called Rhynchanus (^Conotrachehis) J^enuphar*, the Nenuphar or plum-weevil. I have found these beetles as early as the thirtieth of March, and as late as the tenth of June, and at various intermediate times, according with the forwardness or backwardness of vegetation in the spring, and have frequently caught them flying in the middle of the day. They are from three twentieths to one fifth of an inch long, exclusive of the curved snout, which is rather longer than the thorax, and is bent under the breast, between the fore- legs, when at rest. Their color is a dark brown, variegated with spots of white, ochre-yellow, and black. The thorax is uneven ; the wing-covers have several short ridges upon them, those on the middle of the back forming two" considerable humps, of a black color, behind which there is a wide band of ochre-yellow and white. Each of the thighs has two little teeth on the under-side. * First described by Herbst, in 1797, under the name of CurcuUo J\'enyphar ; Fabricius redescribed it under that oi Rhynchanus Jlrguia; and Dejean has named it Conotrachelus variegatus. COLEOPTERA. 67 They begin to sting the plums as soon as the fruit is set, and, as some say, continue their operations till the first of August. After making a suitable puncture with their snouts, they lay one egg in each plum thus stung, and go over the fruit on the tree in this way till their store is exhausted; so that, where these beetles, abound, not a plum will escape being punctured. The irritation arising from these punctures, and from the gnawings of the grubs after they are hatched, causes the young fruit to become gummy, diseased, and finally to drop before it is ripe. Meanwhile the grub comes to its growth, and, immediately after the fruit falls, burrows into the ground. This may occur at various times be- tween the middle of June and of August ; and, in the space of a little more than three weeks afterwards, the insect completes its transformations, and comes out of the ground in the beetle form. The history of the insect thus far is the result of ray own observa- tions ; the remainder rests on the testimony of other persons. In an account of the plum-weevil, by Dr. James Tilton of Wilmington, Delaware, pubhshed in Mease's "Domestic Ency- clopaedia," under the article Fruit, and since republished in the " Georgical Papers for 1S09 " of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, and in other works, it is staled, that peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, quinces, and cherries are also attacked by this insect, and that it remains in the earth, in the form of a grub, dur- ing the winter, ready to be matured into a beetle as the spring advances. These statements I have not yet been able to con- firm. It seems, however, to have been fully ascertained by Professor Peck, Mr. Say, and others, in whose accuracy full confidence may be placed, that this same weevil attacks all our common stone-fruits, such as plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and cherries ; Dr. Burnett has recently assured me that he has seen this beetle puncturing apples ; and it is not at all improbable that the transformations of some of the grubs may be retarded till the winter has passed, analogous cases being of frequent occurrence. Those that are sometimes found in apples must not be mistaken for the more common apple-worms, which are not the larvae of a weevil. The Rev. F. V. Melsheimer remarks in his Catalogue, that this insect lives under the bark of the peach-tree. Professor Peck raised the same beetle from a grub found in the warty ex- 68 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. crescence of a cherry-tree, and from this circumstance named it RhyncluEnas Cerasi^ thecheiry-weevil. The plum, still more than the cherry tree, is subject to a disease of the small limbs, which shows itself in the form of large irregular warts, of a black color, as if charred. Grubs, apparently the same as those that are found in plums, have often been detected in these warts, which arejnow gen- erally supposed to be produced by the punctures of the beetles, and the residence of the grubs. Professor Peck says that " the seat of the disease is in the bark. The sap is diverted from its regular course, and is absorbed entirely by the bark, which is very much increased in thickness ; the cuticle bursts, the swelling becomes irregular, and is formed into black lumps, with a cracked, uneven, granulated surface. The wood, besides being deprived of its nutriment, is very much compressed, and the branch above the tumor perishes."* The grubs found by Professor Peck in the tumors of the cherry-tree, went into the ground on the sixth of July, and on the thirtieth of the same month, or twenty-four days from their leaving the bark, the perfect insects began to rise, and were soon ready to deposit their eggs in healthy branches. In order to account for the occurrence of these insects both in the fruit and in the branches of the trees, I have ventured, on an- other occasion, to give the following explanation, although it rests only upon conjecture. The final transformation of the grubs, liv- ing in the fruit, appears to take place at various times during the lat- ter part of summer and the beginning of autumn, when the weevil, finding no young fruit, is probably obliged to lay its eggs in the small branches. The larvae or grubs from these eggs live in the branches during the winter, and are not perfected till near the last of the following June. Should the fall of the fruit occur late in the autumn, the development of the beetles will be retarded till the next spring ; and -this I suppose to be the origin of the brood which stings the fruit. These suggestions seem to receive some confirmation from the known habits of the copper-colored plum- weevils of Europe, which, " in default of plums, make use of the soft spring shoots of the plum and apricot trees."! In cases like * See Professor Peck's account of Insects which affect Oaks and Cherry trees; with a plate ; in the " Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal." Vol. V. p. 312. t Kollar's Treatise, p. 238. CDLEOPTERA. 69 these, we see the care of the Creator for some of the least of his creatures, which He has wisely provided with variable instincts, enabling them to accommodate themselves to the difficulties of the situation in which they may happen to be placed, and thus, even in unfruitful seasons, to provide for a succession of their kind. The following, among other remedies that have been suggested, may be found useful in checking the ravages of the plum-weevil. Let the trees be briskly shaken or suddenly jarred every morning and evening during the time that the insects appear in the beetle form, and are engaged in laying their eggs-. When thus disturbed they contract their legs and fall ; and, as they do not immediately attempt to fly or crawl away, they may be caught in a sheet spread under the tree, from which they should be gathered into a large wide-mouthed bottle or other tight vessel, and be thrown into the fire. All the fallen wormy plums should be immediately gathered, and, after they are boiled or steamed, to kill the enclosed grubs, they may be given as food to swine. The diseased excrescences should be cut out and burned every year before the last of June. The "moose plum-tree (Primus Americana)^ which grows wild in Maine, seems to escape the attacks of insects, for no warts are found upon it, even when growing in the immediate vicinity of diseased foreign trees. It would, therefore, be the best of stocks for budding or engrafting upon. It can easily be raised from the stone, and grows rapidly, but does not attain a great size. For further suggestions and remarks, the account of this insect by Dr. Joel Burnett, in the eighteenth volume of the " New England Farmer," may be consulted. The most pernicious of the Rhynchophorians, or snout-beetles, are the insects properly called grain-weevils, belonging to the old genus Calandra. These insects must not be confounded with the still more destructive larvas of the corn-moth {Tinea granella), which also attacks stored grain, nor with the orange-colored mag- gots of the wheat-fly {Cecidomyia Tritici), which are found in the ears of growing wheat. Although the grain-weevils are not actually injurious to vegetation, yet as the name properly belong- ing to them has often been misappHed in this country, thereby creating no little confusion, some remarks upon them may tend to prevent future mistakes. The true grain-weevil or wheat-weevil of Europe, Calandra 70 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. (Sitophilus) granaria, or Curculio grnna-imo^ Linnseus, in its perfected state is a slender beetle of a pitchy red color, about one eighth of an inch long, with a slender snout slightly bent down- wards, a coarsely punctured and very long thorax, constituting almost one half the length of the whole body, and wing-covers that are furrowed, and do not entirely cover the tip of the abdo- men. This little insect, both in the beetle and grub state, devours stored wheat and other grains, and often commits much havoc in granaries and brew-houses. Its powers of multiplication are very great, for it is stated that a single pair of these destroyers may produce above six thousand descendants in one year. The femal6 deposits her eggs upon the wheat after it is housed, and the young grubs hatched therefrom immediately burrow into the wheat, each individual occupying alone a single grain, the substance of which it devours, so as often to leave nothing but the hull ; and this destruction goes on within, while, no external appearance leads to its discovery, and the loss of weight is the only evidence of the mischief that has been done to the grain. In due time the grubs undergo their transformations, and come out of the hulls, in the beetle state, to lay their eggs for another brood. These insects are effectually destroyed by kiln-drying the wheat ; and grain, that is kept cool, well ventilated, and is frequently moved, is said to be exempt from attack. Another grain-weevil, hardly differing from the foregoing except in its color, whicfi is black, is found in New York. It is the Calandra (Sitophilus) remotepunctata of Schonherr. Whether wheat, and other grain, suffers to any extent in this country from either of these weevils, I have not been able to ascertain, as the accounts given of the ravages of the insects supposed to be weevils are rarely accompanied by any descriptions of them in their different states. Rice is attacked by an insect closely resembling the wheat- weevil, from which, however, it is distinguished, by having two large red spots on each wing-cover ; it is also somewhat smaller, measuring only about one tenth of an inch in length, exclusive of the snout. This beetle, the Calandra (Sitophilus) Oryza* or rice-weevil, is not entirely confined to rice, but depredates upon * Curculio Orijzm of Linnseus. COLEOPTERA. 7 1 maize or Indian corn also. I have seen stored Southern corn swarming with them ; and, should they multiply and extend in this section of the country, they will become a source of serious injury to one of the most valuable of our staple productions. It is said that this weevil lays its eggs on the rice in the fields, as soon as the grain begins to swell. If this indeed be true, we have very little to fear from it here, our Indian corn being so well pro- tected by the husks that it would probably escape from any injury, if attacked. On the contrary, if the insects multiply in stored grain, then our utmost care will be necessary to prevent them from infesting our own garners. The parent beetle bores a hole into the grain, and drops therein a single egg, going from one grain to another till all her eggs are laid. She then dies, leaving, how- ever, the rice well seeded for a future harvest of weevil-grubs. In due time the eggs are hatched, the grubs live securely and un- seen in the centre of the rice, devouring a considerable portion of its substance, and tvhen fully grown they gnaw a little hole through the end of the grain, artfully stopping it up again with particles of rice-flour, and then are changed to pupae. This usually occurs during the winter ; and in the following spring the insects are transformed to beetles, and come out of the grain. By winnowing and sifting the rice in the spring, the beetles can be separated, and should then be gathered immediately and destroyed. The sudden change of the temperature that generally occurs in the early part of May, brings out great numbers of insects, from their winter-quarters, to enjoy the sunshine and the ardent heat which are congenial to their natures. While a continued hum is heard, among the branches of the trees, from thousands of bees and flies, drawn thither by the fragrance of the bursting buds and the tender foliage, and the very ground beneath our feet seems teeming with insect life, swarms of little beetles of various kinds come forth to try their wings, and, with an uncertain and heavy flight, launch into the air. Among these beetles there are many of a dull red or fox color, nearly cylindrical in form, tapering a very little before, obtusely rounded at both extremities, and about one quarter of an inch in length. They are seen slowly creeping upon the sides of wooden buildings, resting on the tops offences, or wheeling about in the air, and every now and then suddenly 72 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION- alighting on some tree or wall, or dropping to the ground. If we go to an old pine-tree we may discover from whence they have come, and what they have been about during the past period of their lives. Here they will be found creeping out of thousands of small round holes which they have made through the bark for their escape. Upon raising a piece of the bark, already loosened by the undermining of these insects, we find it pierced with holes in every direction, and even the surface of the wood will be seen to have been gnawed by these little miners After enjoying themselves abroad for a few days, they pair, and begin to lay their eggs. The pitch-pine is most generally chosen by them for this purpose, but they also attack other kinds of pines. They gnaw little holes here and there through the rough bark ■ of the trunk and hmbs, drop their eggs therein, and, after this labor is finished, they become exhausted and die. In the autumn the grubs hatched from these eggs will be found fully grown. They have a short, thick, nearly cylindrical body, wrinkled on the back, are somewhat curved, and of a yellowish white color, with a horny darker colored head, and are destitute of feet. They devour the soft inner substance of the bark, boring through it in various directions for this purpose, and, when they have come to their full size, they gnaw a passage to the surface, for their escape after they have completed their transformations. These take place deep in their burrows late in the autumn, at which time the insects may be found in various states of maturity, within the bark. Their depre- dations interrupt the descent of the sap, and prevent the formation of new wood ; the bark becomes loosened from the wood, to a greater or less extent, and the tree languishes and prematurely decays. The name of this insect is Hylurgus terebrans*, the boring Hylurgus ; the generical name signifying a carpenter, or worker in wood. It belongs to the family ScoLYxiDiE, including various kinds of destructive insects, which may be called cylindri- cal bark-beetles. The insects of this farnily may be recognised by the following characters. The body is nearly cylindrical, ob- tuse before and behind, and generally of some shade of brown. The head is rounded, sunk pretty deeply in the forepart of the thorax, and does not end with a snout ; the antennae are short. Scolytus terebrans of Olivier. COLEOPTERA. 73 more or less crooked or curved in the middle, and end with an oval knob ; the feelers are very short. The thorax is rather long, and as broad as the following part of the body. The wing-covers are frequently cut off obliquely or hollowed at the hinder ex- tremity. The legs are short and strong, with little teeth on the outer edge or extremity of the shanks, and the feet are not wide and spongy beneath. Though these cylindrical bark-beetles are of smallsize, they multiply very fast, and where they abound are productive of much mischief, particularly in forests, which are often greatly injured by their larvae, and the wood is rendered unfit for the purposes of art. In the year 1780, an insect of this family made its appear- ance in the pine-trees of one of the mining districis of Germany, where it increased so rapidly that in three years afterwards whole forests had disappeared beneath its ravages, and an end was nearly put to the working of the extensive mines in this range of country, for the want of fuel to carry on the operations. Pines and firs are the most subject to their attacks, but there are some kinds which infest other trees. The premature decay of the elm in some parts of Europe is occasioned by the ravages of the Scohjtus destructor^ of which an interesting account was written in 1824, by Mr. Macleay. An abstract of his paper may be found in the fifth volume of the "New England Farmer."* The larvae or grubs of these bark-beetles resemble those of the Hylurgus terebrans or pine bark-beetle already described. Like the grubs of the weevils, they are short and thick, and destitute of legs. The red cedar is inhabited by a very small bark-beetle, named by Mr. Say Hylurgus dentatus, the toothed Hylurgus. It is nearly one tenth of an inch in length, and of a dark brown color ; the wing-cases are rough with little grains, which become more elevated towards the hinder part, and are arranged in longitudinal rows, with little furrows between them. The tooth-like appear- ance of these little elevations suggested the name given to this species. The female bores a cylindrical passage bene'ath the bark of the cedar, dropping her eggs at short intervals as she goes along, and dies at the end of her burrow when her eggs are all * Page im. 74 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. laid. The grubs hatched from these proceed in feeding nearly at right angles, forming on each side numerous jsarallel furrows, smaller than the central tube of the female. They complete their transformations in October, and eat their way through the bark, which will then be seen to be perforated with thousands of little round holes, through which the beetles have escaped. Under the bark of the pitch-pine I have found, in company with the pine bark- beetle, a more slender bark-beetle, of a dark chestnut-brown color, clothed with a few short yellowish hairs, with a long, almost egg-shaped thorax, which is very rough before, and short wing-covers, deeply punctured in rows, hol- lowed out at the tip like a gouge, and beset around the outer edge of the hollow with six little teeth on each side. This beetle measures one fifth of an inch, or rather inore, in length. It arrives at maturity in the autumn, but does not come out of the bark till the following spring, at which time it lays its eggs. It is the Tomicus exesus^ or excavated Tomicus ; the specific name, signifying eaten out or excavated, was given to it by Mr. Say on account of the hollowed and bitten appearance of the end of its wing-covers. Its grubs eat zigzag and wavy passages, parallel to each other, between the bark and the wood. They are much less common in the New England than in the Middle and Southern States, where they abound in the yellow pines. Another bark-beetle is found here, closely resembling the pre- ceding, from which it differs chiefly in the inferiority of its size, being but three twentieths of an inch in length, and in having only three or four teeth at the outer extremity of each wing-cover. It is the Tomicus Pini of Mr. Say. The grubs of this insect are very injurious to pine-trees. I have found them under the bark of the white and pitch pine, and they have also been discovered in the larch. The beetles appear during the month of August. For many years past the pear-tree has been found to be subject to a peculiar malady, which shows itself during midsummer by the sudden withering of the leaves and fruit, and the discoloration of the bark of one or more of the limbs, followed by the immediate death of the part affected. In June, 1816, the Hon. John Lowell, of Roxbury, discovered a minute insect in one of the affected limbs of a pear-tree ; after ards he repeatedly detected W COLEOPTERA. 75 the same insects in blasted limbs, and bis discoveries bave been confirmed by Mr. Henry Wheeler and the late Dr. Oliver Fiske, of Worcester. Mr. Lowell submitted the limb and the insect contained therein to the examination of Professor Peck, who gave an account and figure of the latter, in the fourth volume of the " Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal." From this account, and from the subsequent communication by Mr. Lowell, in the fifth volume of the " New England Farmer," it appears that the grub or larva of the insect eats its way inward through the alburnum or sap-wood into the hardest part of the wood, beginning at the root of a bud, behind which probably the egg was deposited, following the course of the eye of the bud towards the pith, around which it passes, and part of which it also consumes ; thus forming, after penetrating through the alburnum, a circular burrow or passage in the heart-wood, contiguous to the pith which it surrounds. By this means the central vessels, or those which convey the ascending sap, are divided, and the circu- lation is cut off. This takes place when the increasing heat of the atmosphere, producing a greater transpiration from the leaves, ren- ders a large and continued flow of sap necessary to supply the evaporation. For the want of this, or from some other unexplain- ed cause, the whole of the limb above the seat of the insect's operations suddenly withers, and^ perishes during the intense heat of midsummer. The larva is chang'ed to a pupa, and subse- quently to a little beetle, in the bottom of its burrow, makes its escape from the tree in the latter part of June, or beginning of July, and probably deposits its eggs before August has passed. This little beetle, which is only one tenth of an inch in length, was named Scolytus Pyri^ the pear-tree Scolytus, by Professor Peck f it is of a deep brown color, with the antennae and legs rather paler, or of the color of iron-rust. The thorax is short, very convex, rounded and rough before ; the wing-coversare minutely punctured in rows, and slope off very suddenly and obliquely be- hind ; the shanks are widened and flattened towards the end, beset with a few little teeth externally, and end with a short hook ; and the joints of the feet are slender and entire. It is evident that this insect cannot be retained in the genus Scolytus, as defined by modern naturalists ; but the condition of my specimens will 76 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. not enable me to determine with certainty to which of the modern genera they are to be referred. The minuteness of the insect, thB difficuky attending the discovery of the precise seat of its operations before it has left the tree, and the small size of the aperture through which it makes its escape from the limb, are probably the reasons why it has eluded the researches of those persons who disbelieve in its existence as the cause of the blasting of the limbs of the pear-tree. It is to be sought for at or near the lowest part of the diseased limbs, and in the immediate vicinity of the buds situated about that part. The remedy, suggested by Mr. Lowell and Professor Peck, to prevent other limbs and trees from being subsequently attacked in the same way, consists in cutting off the blasted limb helow the seat of injury, and burning it before the perfect insect has made its escape. It will therefore be necessary, carefully to 'examine our pear-trees daily, during the month of June, and watch for the first indication of disease, or the remedy may be applied too late to prevent the dispersion of the insects among other trees. There are some other beetles, much like the preceding in form, whose grubs bore into the solid wood of trees. They were for- merly included among the cylindrical bark-beetles, but have been separated from them recently, and now form the family Bostri- CHiD^, or Bostrichians. Some of these beetles are of large size, measuring more than an inch in length, and, in the tropical regions where they are found, must prove very injurious to the trees they inhabit. The body in these beetles is hard and cylindrical, and generally of a black color. The thorax is bulging before, and the head is sunk and almost concealed under the projecting forepart of it. The antennse are of moderate length, and end with three large joints, which are saw-toothed internally. The larvse are mostly wood-eaters, and are whitish fleshy grubs, wrinkled on the back, furnished with six legs, and resemble in form the grubs of some of the small Scarabsians. The shagbark or walnut tree is sometimes infested by the grubs of the red-shouldered A pate, or ^ipate hasil- laris of Say, an insect of this family. The grubs bore diametri- cally through the trunks of the walnut to the very heart, and un- dergo their transformations in the bottom of their burrows. Sev- eral trees have fallen under my observation which have been COLEOPTERA. 77 entirely killed by these insects. The beetles are of a deep black color, and are punctured all over. The thorax is very convex and rough before ; the wing-covers are not excavated at the tip, but they slope downwards very suddenly behind, as if obliquely cut off, the outer edge of the cut portion is armed with three little teeth on each wing-cover, and on the base or shoulders there is a large red spot. This insect measures one fifth of an inch or more in length. The most powerful and destructive of the wood-eating insects are the grubs of the long-horned or Capricorn-beetles, (Ceramby- ciD^), called borers by'Way of distinction. There are many kinds of borers which do not belong to this tribe. Some of them have already been described, and others will be mentioned under the orders to which they belong. Those now under considera- tion differ much from each other in their habits. Some live alto- gether in the trunks of trees, others in the limbs ; some devour the wood, others the pith ; some are found only in shrubs, some in the stems of herbaceous plants, and others are confined to roots. Certain kinds are limited to plants of one species, others live indiscriminately upon several plants of one natural family ; but the same kind of borer is not known to inhabit plants difiering essentially from each other in their natural characters. As might be expected from these circumstances, the beetles produced from these borers are of many different kinds. Nearly one hundred species have been found in Massachusetts, and probably many more remain to be discovered. The Capricorn-beetles agree in the following respects. The antennae are long and tapering, and generally curved like the horns of a goat, which is the origin of the name above given to these beetles. The body is oblong, ap- proaching to a cylindrical form, a little flattened above, and taper- ing somewhat behind. The head is short, and armed with powerful jaws. The thorax is either square, barrel-shaped, or narrowed before ; and is not so wide behind as the wing-covers. The legs are long ; the thighs thickened in the middle ; the feet four- jointed, not formed for rapid motion, but for standing securely, being broad and cushioned beneath, with the third joint deeply notched. Most of these beetles remain upon trees and shrubs during the daytime, but fly abroad at night. Some of them. 78 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. however, fly by day, and may be found on flowers, feeding on the pollen and the blossoms. When annoyed or taken into the hands, they make a squeaking sound by rubbing the joints of the thorax and abdomen together. The females are generally larger and more robust than the males, and have rather shorter antennae. Moreover they are provided with a jointed tube at the end of the body, capable of being extended or drawn in like the joints of a telescope, by means of which they convey their eggs into the holes and chinks of the bark of plants. The larvse hatched from these eggs are long, whitish, fleshy grubs, with the transverse incisions of the body very deeply marked, so that the rings are very convex or hunched both above and below. The body tapers a little behind, and is blunt-pointed. The head is much smaller than the first ring, slightly bent down- wards, of a horny consistence, and is provided with short but very powerful jaws, by means whereof the insect can bore, as with a centre-bit, a cylindrical passage through the most sohd wood. Some of these borers have six very small legs, namely, one pair under each of the first three rings ; but most of them want even these short and imperfect limbs, and move through their burrows by the ahernate extension and contraction of their bodies, on each or on most of the rings of which, both above and below, there is an oval space covered with little elevations, somewhat like the teeth of a fine rasp ; and these little oval rasps, which are de- sio-ned to aid the grubs in their motions, fully make up to them the want of proper feet. Some of these borers always keep one end of their burrows open, out of which, from time to time, diey cast their chips, resembling coarse saw-dust ; others, as fast as they proceed, fill up the passages behind them with their castings, well known here by the name of powder-post. These borers five from one year to three, or perhaps more years before they come to their growth. They undergo their transformations at the furthest extremity of their burrows, many of them previously gnawing a passage through the wood to the inside of the bark, for their future escape. The pupa is at first soft and whitish, and it exhibits all the parts of the future beetle under a filmy veil which inwraps every limb. The wings and legs are folded upon the breast, the long antenna are turned back against the sides of the body, and COLEOPTERA. 79 ' then bent forwards between the legs. When the beetle has thrown off its pupa-skin, it gnaws away the thin coat of bark that covers the mouth of its burrow, and comes out of its dark and confined retreat, to breathe the fresh air, and to enjoy for the first time the pleasure of sight, and the use of the legs and wings with which it is provided. The Capricorn-beetles have been divided into three families, corresponding with the genera Prionus^ Cerambyx, and Lcptura of Linnaeus. Those belonging to the first family are generally of a brown color, have flattened and saw-toothed or beaded antennae of a moderate length, projecting jaws, and kidney-shaped eyes. Those in the second, have eyes of the same shape, more slender or much longer antennas, and smaller jaws ; and are often variegat- ed in their colors. The beetles belonging to the third family are readily distinguished by their eyes, which are round and promi- nent. These three families are divided into many smaller groups and genera, the peculiarities of which cannot be particularly point- ed out in a work of this kind. The Prionians, or Prionid^, derive their name from a Greek word signifying a saw, which has been applied to them either be- cause the antennae, in most of these beetles, consist of flattened joints, projecting internally somewhat like the teeth of a saw, or on account of their upper jaws, which sometimes are very long and toothed within. It is said that some of the beetles thus armed can saw off large limbs by seizing them between their jaws, and flying or whirling sidewise round the enclosed limb, till it is completely divided. The largest insects of the Capricorn tribe belong to this family, some of the tropical species measuring five or six inches in length, and one inch and a half or two inches in breadth. Their larvae are broader and more flattened than the grubs of the other Capricorn-beetles, and are provided with six very short legs. When about to be transformed, they collect a quantity of their chips around them, and make therewith an oval pod or cocoon, to enclose themselves. Our largest species is the broad -necjced Prionus, Prionus Inti- collis * of Drury, its first describer. It is of a long oval shape , * Prionus brevicornis of Fabricius. 80 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. and of a pitchy black color. The jaws, though short, are very thick and strong ; the antennae are stout and saw-toothed in the male, and more slender in the other sex ; the thorax is short and wide, and armed on the lateral edges with three teeth ; the wing- covers have three slightly elevated lines on each of them, and are rough with a multitude of large punctures, which run together irregularly. It measures from one inch and one eighth, to one inch and three quarters in length ; the females being always much larger than the males. The grubs of this beetle, when fully grown, are as thick as a man's thumb. They live in the trunks and roots of the balm of gilead, Lombardy poplar, and probably in those of other kinds of poplar also. The beetles may fre- quently be seen upon, or flying round the trunks of .these trees in the month of July, even in the daytime, though the other kinds of Prionus generally fly only by night. The one-colored Prionus, Prionus unicolor* of Drury, iniiabits pine-trees. Its body is long, narrow, and flattened, of a light bay- brown color, with the head and antennae darker. The thorax is very short, and armed on each sid& with three sharp teeth ; the wing-covers are nearly of equal breadth throughout, and have three slightly elevated ribs on each of them. This beetle meas- ures from one inch and one quarter, to one inch and a half in length, and about three or four tenths of an inch in breadth. It flies by night, and frequently enters houses in the evening, from the middle of July to September. The second family of the Capricorn-beetles may be allowed to retain the scientific name, Cerambycidje, of the tribe to which it belongs. The Cerambycians have not the very prominent jaws of the Prionians ; their eyes are always kidney- shaped or notched for the reception of the first joint of the antennae, which are not saw-toothed, but generally slender and tapering, sometimes of moderate length, sometimes excessively long, especially in the males ; the thorax is longer and more convex than in the preced- ing family, not thin-edged, but often rounded at the sides. Some of these beetles, distinguished by their narrow wing- covers, which are notched or armed with two Httle thorns at the * P. cylindricus of Fabric! us. COLEOPTERA. 81 tip, and by the great length of their antennae, belong to the genus iStenocoius, a name signifying narrow or straitened. One of them, which is rare here, inhabits the hickory, in its larva stale forming long galleries in the trunk of this tree in the direction of the fibres of the wood. This beetle is the Stcnocorus [Ceras- phorus) clnctus*, or banded Stenocorus. It is of a hazel color, with a tint of gray, arising from the short hairs with which it is covered ; there is an oblique ochre-yellow band across each wing- cover ; and a short spine or thorn on the middle of each side of the thorax. The antennae of the males are more than twice the length of the body, which measures from three quarters of an inch to one inch and one quarter in length. The ground beneath black and white oaks is often observed to be strewn with small branches, neatly severed from these trees as if cut off with a saw. Upon splitting open the cut end of a branch, in the autumn or winter after it has fallen, it will be found to be perforated to the extent of six or eight inches in the course of the pith, and a slender grub, the author of the mischief, will be dis- covered therein. In the spring this grub is transformed to a pupa, and in June or July it is changed to a beetle, and comes out of the branch. The history of this insect was first made public by Pro- fessor Peckf, who called it the oak-pruner, or Stcnocorus (Ela- yhidion) putator. In its adult slate it is a slender long-horned beetle, of a dull brown color, sprinkled with gray spots, composed of very short close hairs ; the antennae are longer than the body, in the males, and equal to it in length in the other sex, and the third and fourth joints are tipped with a small spine or thorn ; the thorax is barrel-shaped, and not spined at the sides ; and the scutel is yellowish white. It varies in length from four and a half to six tenths of an inch. It lays its eggs in July. Each egg is placed close to the axilla or joint of a leaf-stalk or of a small twig, near the extremity of a branch. The grub hatched from it pene- trates at that spot to the pith, and then continues its course towards the body of the tree, devouring the pith, and thereby forming a cylindrical burrow, several inches in length, in the centre * Ccramhyx cinctus, Drury ; Stenocorus gar ganicus, Fabiicius. t Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal. Vol. V., with a plate. 11 82 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. of the branch. Having reached its full size, which it does towards the end of the summer, it divides the branch at the lower end of its burrow, by gnawing away the wood transversely from within, leaving only the ring of bark untouched. It then retires backwards, stops up the end of its hole, near the transverse section, with fibres of the wood, and awaits the fall of the branch, which is usually broken off and precipitated to the ground by the autumnal winds. The leaves of the oak are rarely shed before the branch falls, and thus serve to break the shock. Branches of five or six feet in length and an inch in diameter are thus severed by these insects, a kind of pruning that must be injurious to the trees, and should be guarded against if possible. By collecting the fallen branches in the autumn, and burning them before the spring, we prevent the development of the beetles, while we derive some benefit from the branches as fuel. It is somewhat remarkable that, while the pine and fir tribes rarely suffer to any extent from the depredations of caterpillars and other leaf-eating insects, the resinous odor of these trees, offensive as it is to such insects, does not prevent many kinds of borers from burrowing into and destroying their trunks. Several of the Capricorn-beetles, while in the grub state, live only in pine and fir trees, or in timber of these kinds of wood. They belong chiefly to the genus Callidium, a name of unknown or obscure origin. Their antennae are of moderate length ; they have a somewhat flattened body ; the head nods forwards, as in Stenoco- rus ; the thorax is broad, nearly circular, and somewhat flattened or indented above ; and the thighs are very slender next to the body, but remarkably thick beyond the middle. The larvae are of moderate length, more flattened than the grubs of the other Capri- corn-beetles, have a very broad and horny head, small but power- ful jaws, and are provided with six extremely small legs. They undermine the bark, and perforate the wood in various directions, often doing immense injury to the trees, and to new buildings, in the lumber composing which they may happen to be concealed. Their burrows are wide and not cylindrical, are very winding, and are filled up with a kind of compact saw-dust as fast as the insects advance. The larva state is said to continue two years, during which period the insects cast their skins several times. COLEOPTERA. 83 The sides of the body in the pupa are thin-edged, and finely notched, and the tail is forked. One of the most common kinds of Callidium found here is a flattish, rusty black beetle, with some downy whitish spots across the middle of the wing-covers ; the thorax is nearly circular, is covered with fine whitish down, and has two elevated polished black points upon it ; and the wing-covers are very coarsely punc- tured. It measures from four tenths to three quarters of an inch in length. This insect is the Callidium bajidus ; the second name, meaning a porter, was given to it by Linnseus on account of the whitish patch which it bears on its back. It inhabits fir, spruce, and hemlock wood and lumber, and may often be seen on wooden buildings and fences in July and August. We are inform- ed by Kirby and Spence that the grubs sometimes greatly injure the wood-work of houses in London, piercing the rafters of the roofs in every direction, and, when arrived at maturity, even pene- trating through sheets of lead which covered the place of their exit. One piece of lead, only eight inches long and four broad, contained twelve oval holes made by these insects, and fragments of the lead were found in their stomachs. As this insect is now common in the maritime parts of the United States, it was prob- ably first brought to this country by vessels from Europe. The violet Callidium, Callidium violncevm*, is of a Prussian blue or violet color ; the thorax is transversely oval, and downy, and sometimes has a greenish tinge ; and the wing-covers are rough with thick irregular punctures. Its length varies from four to six tenths of an inch. It may be found in great abundance on piles of pine wood, from the middle of May to the first of June ; and the larvae and pupae are often met with in splitting the wood. They live mostly just under the bark, where their broad and wind- ing tracks may be traced by the hardened saw-dust with which they are crowded. Just before they are about to be transformed, they bore into the solid wood to the depth of several inches. They are said to be very injurious to the sapling pines in Maine. Professor Peck supposed this species of Callidium to have been introduced into Europe in timber exported from this country, as it " Cerambijx violaceus of Linnaeus. 84 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. is found in most parts of that continent that have been much con- nected with North America by navigation. It is somewhat re- markable that Europe and America should have thus interchanged the porter and violet Callidium, which, by means of shipping, have now become common to the two continents. From the regularity of its form, and the noble size it attains, the sugar maple is accounted one of the most beautiful of our forest-trees, and is esteemed as one of the most valuable, on ac- count of its many useful properties. This fine tree suffers much from the attacks of borers, which in some cases produce its entire destruction. We are indebted to the Rev. L. W. Leonard, of Dublin, N. H., for the first account of the habits and transforma- tions of these borers. In the summer of 1828, his attention was called to some young maples, in Keene, which were in a lan- guishing condition. He discovered the insect in its beetle state under the loosened bark of one of the trees, and traced the recent track of the larva three inches into the solid wood. In the course of a few years, these trees, upon the cultivation of which much care had been bestowed, were nearly destroyed by the borers. The failure, from the same cause, of several other attempts to raise the sugar maple, has since come to my knowledge. The insects are changed to beetles and come out of the trunks of the trees in July. In the vicinity of Boston, specimens have been repeatedly taken, which were undoubtedly brought here in maple logs from Maine. I regret that I have not been able to obtain a larva of this insect for examination. The beetle was first de- scribed in 1824, in the Appendix to Keating's "Narrative of Long's Expedition", by Mr. Say, who called it Clytus sjpeciosus, that is, the beautiful Clytus. It was afterwards inserted, and ac- curately represented by the pencil of Lesueur, in Say's " Amer- ican Entomology ", and, more recently, a description and figure of it has appeared in Griffith's translation of Cuvier's " Animal Kingdom", under the name of C'yhts Hayii. The beautiful Clytus, like the other beetles of the genus to which it belongs, is , distinguished from a Callidium by its more convex form, its more nearly globular thorax, which is neither flattened nor indented, and by its more slender thighs. The head is yellow, with the antennae and the eyes reddish black ; the thorax is black, with two COLEOPTERA. 85 transverse yellow spots on each side ; the wing-covers, for about two-thirds of their length, are black, the remaining third is yellow, and they are ornamented with bands and spots arranged in the following manner ; a yellow spot on each shoulder, a broad yel- low curved band or arch, of which the yellow scutel forms the key-stone, on the base of the wing-oovers, behind this a zigzag yellow band forming the letter W, across the middle another yel- low band arching backwards, and on the yellow tip a curved band and a spot of a black color ; the legs are yellow ; and the under- side of the body is reddish yellow, variegated with brown. It is the largest known species of Clytus, being from nine to eleven tenths of an inch in length, and three or four tenths in breadth. It lays its eggs on the trunk of the maple in July and August. The grubs burrow into the bark as soon as they are hatched, and are thus protected during the winter. In the spring they penetrate deeper, and form, in the course of the summer, long and winding galleries in the wood, up and down the trunk. In order to check their devastations, they should be sought for in the spring, when they will readily be detected by the saw-dust that they cast out of their burrows ; and, by a judicious use of a knife and stiff wire, they may be cut out or destroyed before they have gone deeply into the wood. Many kinds of Clytus frequent flowers, for the sake of the pol- len, which they devour. During the month of September, the painted Clytus, Clytus pictiis,* is often seen in abundance, feed- ing by day upon the blossoms of the golden-rod. If the trunks of our common locust-tree, Rohinia pseudacacia, are examined at this time, a still greater number of these beetles will be found upon them, and most often paired. The habits of this insect seem to have been known, as long ago as the year 1771, to Dr. John Reinhold Forster, who then described it under the name of Leptura Robiitia, the latter being derived from the tree wliich it inhabits. Drury, however, had previously described and figured it, under the specific name here adopted, which, having the prior- ity, in point of time, over all the others that have been subse- quently imposed, must be retained. This Capricorn-beetle has * Leptura picta, Drury ; Clytus flexuosus, Fabricius. 86 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the form of the beautiful maple Clytus. It is velvet-black, and ornamented with transverse yellow bands, of which there are three on the head, four on the thorax, and six on the wing-covers, the tips of which are also edged with yellow. The first and second bands on each wing-cover are nearly straight ; the third band forms a V, or, united with the opposite one, a W, as in the speciosus ; the fourth is also angled, and runs upwards on the inner margin of the wing-cover towards the scutel ; the fifth is broken or interrupted by a longitudinal elevated line ; and the sixth is arched, and consists of three Httle spots. The antennae are dark brown ; and the legs are rust-red. These insects vary from six tenths to three quarters of an inch in length. In the month of September these beetles gather on the locust- trees, where they may be seen glittering in the sun-beams with their gorgeous .livery of black velvet and gold, coursing up and down the trunks in pursuit of their mates, or to drive away their rivals, and stopping every now and then to salute those they meet with a rapid bowing of the shoulders, accompanied by a creaking sound, indicative of recognition or defiance. Having paired, the female, attended by her partner, creeps over the bark, searching the crevices with her antennae, and dropping therein her snow- white eggs, in clusters of seven or eight together, and at intervals of five or six minutes, till her whole stock is safely stored. The eggs are soon hatched, and the grubs immediately burrow into the bark, devouring the soft inner substance that suffices for their nourishment till the approach of winter, during which they remain at rest in a torpid state. In the spring they bore through the sap- wood, more or less deeply into the trunk, the general course of their winding and irregular passages, being in an upward direction from the place of their entrance. For a time they cast their chips out of their holes as fast as they are made, but after a while the passage becomes clogged and the burrow more or less filled with the coarse and fibrous fragments of wood, to get rid of which the grubs are often obliged to open new holes through the bark. » The seat of their operations is known by the oozing of the sap and the dropping of the saw-dust from the holes. The bark around the part attacked begins to swell, and in a few years the trunks and limbs will become disfigured and, weakened by large porous COLEOPTERA. 87 tumors, caused by the efforts of the trees to repair the injuries they have suffered. According to the observations of General H. A. S. Dearborn, who has given an excellent account* of this insect, the grubs attain their full size by the twentieth of July, soon become pupae, and are changed to beetles and leave the trees early in September. Thus the existence of this species is limited to one year. White-washing, and covering the trunks of the trees with graft- ing composition, may prevent the female from depositing her eggs upon them ; but this practice cannot be carried to any great ex- tent in plantations or large nurseries of the trees. Perhaps it will be useful to head down young trees to the ground, with the view of destroying the grubs contained in them, as well as to promote a more vigorous growth. Much evil might be prevented by em- ploying children to collect the beetles while in the act of providing for the continuation of their kind. A common black bottle, con- taining a little water, would be a suitable vessel to receive the beetles as fast as they were gathered, and should be emptied into the fire in order to destroy the insects. The gathering should be begun as soon as the beetles first appear, and should be continued as long as any are found on the trees, and furthermore should be made a general business for several years in succfession. I have no doubt, should this be done, that, by devoting one hour every day to this object, we may, in the course of a tew years, rid our- selves of this destructive insect. The largest Caprieorn-beetle, of the Cerambycian family, found in New England, is the Lamia {Monohamnms) tiiiJlator of Fabri- cius, or the tickler, so named probably on account of the habit which it has, in common with most of the Capricorn-beetles, of gently touching now and then the surface on which it walks with the tips of its long antennae. Three or four of these beetles may sometimes be seen together in June and .July, on logs or on the trunks of trees in the woods, the males paying their court to the females, or contending with their rivals, waving their antennae, and showing the eagerness of the contest or pursuit by their rapid creaking sounds. * Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal, Vol. VI. p. 272. 88 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. The head of the Lamias is vertical or perpendicular ; the an- tennae of the males are much longer than the body, and taper to the end ; the thorax is cylindrical before and behind, and is armed on the middle of each side with a very large pointed wart or tubercle ; the tips of the wing-covers are rounded ; and the fore- legs are longer than the rest, with broad hairy soles in the males. The titillator is of a brownish color, variegated or mottled with spots of gray, and the wing-covers, which are coarsely punctured, have also several small tufted black spots upon them ; the middle legs are armed with a small tooth on the upper edge ; the antennae of the male are twice as long as the body, and those of the other sex equal the body in length, which measures from one inch and one eighth to one inch and one quarter. What kind of tree the grub of this insect inhabits is unknown to me. Trees of the poplar tribe, both in Europe and America, are subject to the attacks of certain kinds of borers, differing essen- tially from all the foregoing when arrived at maturity. They be- long to the genus Saperda. In the beetle state the head is ver- tical, the antennae are about the length of the body in both sexes, the thorax is cylindrical, smooth, and unarmed at the sides, and the fore-legs are shorter than the others. Our largest kind is the Saperda calcarata of Say, or the spurred Saperda, so named be- cause the tips of the wing-covers end with a little sharp point or spur. It is covered all over with a short and close nap, which gives it a fine blue-gray color, it is finely punctured with brown, there are four ochre-yellow lines on the head, and three on the top of the thorax, the scutel is also ochre-yellow, and there are several irregular lines and spots of the same color on the wing- covers. It is from one inch to an inch and a quarter in length. This beetle closely resembles the European Saperda carcharias^ which inhabits the poplar ; and the grubs of our native species, with those of the broad-necked Prionus, have almost entirely de- stroyed the Lombardy poplar in this vicinity. They live also in the trunks of our American poplars. They are of a yellowish white color, except the upper part of the first segment, which is dark buff. When fully grown they measure nearly two inches in length. The body is very thick, rather larger before than beliind, and consists of twelve segments separated from each other by COLEOFTERA. 89 deep transverse furrows. The first segment is broad, and slopes obliquely downwards to the head ; the second is very narrow ; on the upper and under sides of each of the following segments, from the third to the tenth inclusive, there is a transverse oval space, rendered rough like a rasp by minute projections. These rasps serve instead of legs, which are entirely wanting. The beetles may be found on the trunks and branches of the various kinds of . poplars, in August and September ; they fly by night, and some- times enter the open windows of houses in the evening. The borers of the apple-tree have become notorious, throughout the New England and Middle States, for their extensive ravages. They are the larvae of a beetle called SaperJa bivittata by Mr. Say, the two-striped, or the brown and white striped Saperda ; the upper side of its body being marked with two longitudinal vs^hite stripes between three of a light brown color, while the face, the antennae, the under-side of the body, and the legs, are white. This beetle varies in length from a little more than one half to three quarters of an inch. It comes forth from the trunks of the trees, in its perfected state, early in June, making its escape in the night, during which time only it uses its ample wings in going from tree to tree in search of companions and food. In the day- time it keeps at rest among the leaves of the plants which it de- vours. The trees and shrubs principally attacked by this borer, are the apple-tree, the quince, mountain ash, hawthorn and other thorn bushes, the .Tune-berry or shad-bush, and other kinds of Amelanchier and Aronia. Our native thorns and Aronias are its natural food ; for I have discovered the larvae in the stems of these shrubs, and have repeatedly found the beetles upon them, eating the leaves, in June and July. It is in these months that the eggs are deposited, being laid upon the bark near the root, during the night. The larvae hatched therefrom are fleshy whitish grubs, nearly cylindrical, and tapering a little from the first ring to the end of the body. The head is small, horny, and brown ; the first ring is much larger than the others, the next two are very short, and, with the first, are covered with punctures and very minute hairs ; the following rings, to the tenth inclusive, are each furnished, on the upper and under side, with two fleshy warts situated close together, and destitute of the litde rasp-like teeth, 12 90 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. that are usually found on the grubs of the other Capricorn-beetles ; the eleventh and twelfth rings are very short ; no appearance of legs can be seen, even with a magnifying glass of high power. The grub, with its strong jaws, cuts a cyhndrical passage through the bark, and pushes its castings backwards out of the hole from time to time, while it bores upwards into the wood. The larva state continues two or three years, during which the borer will be found to have penetrated eight or ten inches upwards in the trunk of the tree, its burrow at the end approaching to, and being cov- ered only by, the bark. Here its transformation takes place. The pupa does not differ much from other pupae of beetles ; but it has a transverse row of minute prickles on each of the rings of the back, and several at the tip of the abdomen. These probably assist the insect in its movements, when casting off its pupa-skin. The final change occurs about the first of June, soon after which, the beetle gnaws through the bark that covers the end of its bur- row, and comes out of its place of confinement in the night. Notwithstanding the pains that have been taken by some per- sons to destroy and exterminate these pernicious borers, they continue to reappear in our orchards and nurseries every season. The reasons of this are to be found in the habits of the insects, and in individual carelessness. Many orchards suffer deplorably from the want of proper attention ; the trees are permitted to remain, year after year, without any pains being taken to destroy the numerous and various insects that infest them ; old orchards, especially, are neglected, and not only the rugged trunks of the trees, but even a forest of unpruned suckers around them, are left to the undisturbed possession and perpetual inheritance of the Sa- perda. On the means that have been used to destroy this borer, a few remarks only need to be made ; for it is evident that they can be fully successful only when generally adopted. Killing it by a wire thrust into the holes it has made, is one of the oldest, safest, and most successful methods. Cutting out the grub, with a knife or gouge, is the most common practice ; but it is feared that these tools have sometimes been used without sufficient caution. A third method, which has more than once been suggested, consists in plugging the holes with soft wood. If a little camphor be pre- COLEOPTERA. 91 viously inserted, this practice promises to be more effectual ; but experiments are wanting to confirm its expediency. The tall blackberry, Rubus villosiis, is sometimes cultivated among us for the sake of its fruit, which richly repays the care thus bestowed upon it. It does not seem to be known that this plant and its near relation, the raspberry, suffer from borers that live in the pith of the stems. These borers differ somewhat from the preceding, being cylindrical in 'the middle, and thickened a little at each end. The head is proportionally larger than in the other borers ; the first three rings of the body are short, the second being the widest, and each of them is provided beneath with a pair of minute sharp-pointed warts or imperfect legs ; the remaining rings are smooth, and without tubercles or rasps ; the last three are rather thicker than those which immediately precede them, and the twelfth ring is very obtusely rounded at the end. The beetles from these borers are very slender, and of a cylin- drical form, and their antennae are of moderate length and do not taper much towards the end. The species which attacks the blackberry appears to be the Saperda (Oberea) tripunctata of Fabricius. It is of a deep black color, except the forepart of the breast and the top of the thorax, which are rusty yellow, and there are two black elevated dots on the middle of the thorax, and a third dot on the hinder edge close to the scutel ; the wing- covers are coarsely punctured, in rows on the top, and irreg- ularly on the sides and tips, each of which is slightly notch- ed and ends with two little points. The two black dots on the middle of the thorax are sometimes wanting. This beetle varies from three tenths to half an inch in length. It finishes its transformations towards the end of July, and lays its eggs early in August, one by one, on the stems of the blackberry and rasp- berry, near a leaf or small twig. The grubs burrow directly into the pith, which they consume as they proceed, so that the stem, for the distance of several inches, is completely deprived of its pith, and -consequently withers and dies before the end of the summer. In Europe one of these slender Saperdas attacks the hazel-bush, and another the twigs of the pear-tree, in the same way. There are two more kinds in the New England States ; but their habits are unknown to me. 92 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. The Lepturians, or Lepturad^j:, constitute the third family of the Capricorn-beetles. In most of them the body is narrowed behind, which is the origin of the name applied to them, signify- ing really narrow tail. They differ from the other Capricorn- beetles in the form of their eyes, which are not deeply notched, but are either oval or rounded and prominent, and the antennae are more distant from them, and are implanted near the middle of the fore- head. Moreover the head is not deeply sunk in the forepart of the thorax, but is connected with it by a narrowed neck. The thorax varies somewhat in shape, but is generally narrowed before and widened behind. The Lepturians are often gayly colored, and fly about by day, visiting flowers for the sake of the pollen and tender leaves, which they eat. Their grubs live in the trunks and stumps of trees, are rather broad and somewhat flattened, and are mostly furnished with six extremely short legs. The largest and finest of these beetles in New England is the Desmocerus palliatus*, which appears on the flowers and leaves of the common elder towards the end of June and until the mid- dle of July. It is of a deep violet or Prussian blue color, sonae^ times glossed with green, and nearly one half of the forepart of the wing-covers is orange-yellow, suggesting the idea of a short cloak of this color thrown over the shoulders, which the name palliatus, that is cloaked, was designed to express. The head is narrow. The thorax has nearly the form of a cone cut off' at the top, being narrow before and wide behind; it is somewhat uneven, and has a little sharp projecting point on each side of the base. The antennae have the third and the three following joints ab- ruptly thickened at the extremity, giving them the knotty appear- ance indicated by the generical name Dcmocerus, which signifies knotty horn. The larvae live in the lower part of the stems of the elder, and devour the pith ; they have hitherto escaped my researches, but I have found the beetles in the burrows made by them. The bark of the pitch-pine is often extensively loosened by the grubs of Lepturians at work beneath it, in consequence of which it falls off in large flakes, and the tree perishes. These grubs live * Ceramhjx palliatiis of Forster ; Stenocorus cijaneus, Fabricius. COLEOPTERA. 93 between the bark and the wood, often in great numbers together, and, when they are about to become pupae, each one surrounds itself v\ith an oval ring of woody fibres, within which it undergoes its transformations. The beetle is matured before winter, but does not leave the tree until spring. It is the ribbed Rhagium, or Rhagium lineatum*^ so named because it has three elevated longitudinal lines or ribs on each wing-cover ; and it measures from four and a Iialf to seven tenths of an inch in length. The head and thorax are gray, striped with black, and thickly punctured ; the antennae are about as long as the two forenamed parts of the body together ; the thorax is narrow, cylindrical before and behind, and swelled out in the middle by a large pointed wart or tubercle on each side ; the wing-covers are wide at the shoulders, grad- ually taper behind, and are slightly convex above ; they are coarsely punctured between the smooth elevated lines, and are variegated with reddish ash-color and black, the latter forming two irregular transverse bands ; the under-side of the body, and the legs, are variegated with dull red, gray, and black. The gray portions on this beetle are occasioned by very short hairs, forming a close kind of nap, which is easily rubbed off. Mr. Say thought the foregoing to be the only species oi Rha- gium in the United States. There is, however, another one, closely allied in form to the willow Rhagium of Europe, which was obtained by Mr. Leonard in Dublin, N. H., and the same insect has been found in other parts of New England. It does not appear to have been described, and is the Rhagium dexolora- ium of my Catalogue, so named because the wing-covers appear discolored, as if their original hue had faded away. It is from eight tenths of an inch to one inch, or rather more, in length. It is proportionally longer and narrower than the ribbed Rhagium, and its antennae are two thirds the length of the body ; its wing- covers are smooth or not ribbed, and of a dirty brownish yellow or clay color ; the rest of the body, the legs, and the antennae, are reddish brown. It is possible that this may be only a variety of a species which has blue or blackish wing-covers ; but all the specirnens that have fallen under my observation are alike. * Stenocorus lineatus of Olivier. 94 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. Twenty-nine more of the Lepturians are found in this part of the United States, and some of them are insects of very great beauty ; but, as the habits of their larvae are unknown to me, it would be of little use to insert here descriptions of the beetles only. The Buprestians and the Capricorn-beetles seem evidently allied in their habits, both being borers during the greater part of thdr lives, and living in the trunks and limbs of trees, to which they are more or less injurious in proportion to their numbers. These two groups are widely separated by most naturalists ; but by placing them, witli the other groups that intervene, in a circle, the two extremes will be brought together as they should be, if the natural characters bestowed on these insects are regarded in our scientific arrangements. Some of the beetles in these two groups resemble each other closely in thetr forms and habits. The resemblance, between the slender cylindrical Saperdas and some of the cylindrical Buprestians belonging to the genus u4grilus, is indeed very remarkable, and cannot fail to strike a common observer. Their larvae also are not only very similar in their forms, but they have the same habits ; living in the centre of stems, and devouring the pith. The insects, that have passed under consideration in the fore- going part of this essay, spend by far the greater portion of their lives, namely, that wherein they are larvae only, in obscurity, buried in the ground, or concealed within the roots, the stems, or the seeds of plants, where they perform their appointed tasks un- noticed and unknown. Thus the work of destruction goes secretly and silently on, till it becomes manifest by its melancholy conse- quences ; and too late we discover the hidden foes that have dis- appointed the hopes of the husbandman, and ruined those sponta- neous productions of the soil, that constitute so important a source of our comfort and prosperity. There still remain several groups of beetles to be described, consisting almost entirely of insects that spend the whole, or the principal part, of their lives upon the leaves of plants, and which, as they derive their nourishment, both in the larva and adult states, from leaves alone, may be called leaf-beetles, or, as they have recently been named, phyllophagous, that is leaf-eating insects. COLEOPTERA. 95 When, as in certain seasons, they^appear in considerable numbers, they do not a httle injury to vegetation, and, being generally ex- posed to view on the leaves that they devour, they soon attract attention. But the power possessed by most plants of renewing their foliage, enables them soon to recover from the attacks of these devourers ; and the injury sustained, unless often repeated, is rarely attended by the ruinous consequences that follow the hid- den and unsuspected ravages of those insects that sap vegetation in its most vital parts. Moreover, the leaf-eaters are more within our reach, and it is not so difficult to destroy them, and protect plants from their depredations. The leaf-beetles are generally distinguished by the want of a snout, by their short legs and broad cushioned feet, and their antennae of moderate length, often thickened a little towards the end, or not distinctly tapering. Some of them have an oblong body and a narrow or cylindrical thorax, and resemble very much some of the Lepturians, with which Linnaeus included them. Others, and indeed the greater number, have the body oval, broad, and often very convex. The oblong leaf-beetles, called Criocerians (CRiocERiDiDiE), have some resemblance to the Capricorn-beetles. They are dis- tinguished by the following characters. The eyes are nearly round and prominent ; the antennae are of moderate length, com- posed of short, nearly cyhndrical or beaded joints, and are im- planted before the eyes ; the thorax is narrow and almost cylin- drical or square ; the wing-covers, taken together, form an oblong square, rounded behind, and much wider than the thorax ; and the thighs of the hind-legs are often thickened in the middle. The three-lined leaf-beetle, Crioceris trilineata of Olivier, will serve to exemplify the habits of the greater part of the insects of this family. This beetle is about one quarter of an inch long, of a rusty buff or nankin-yellow color, with two black dots on the thorax, and three black stripes on the back, namely, one on the outer side of each wing-cover, and one in the middle on the inner edges of the same; the antennas (except the first joint), the outside of the shins, and the feet are dusky. The thorax is ab- ruptly narrowed or pinched in on the middle of each side. When held between the fingers, these igsects make a creaking sound like the Capricorn-beetles. They appear early in June on the leaves 96 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. of the potato-vines, having at that time recently come out of the ground, where they pass the winter in the pupa state. They eat the leaves of the potato, gnawing irregular holes through them ; and, in the course of a few days, begin to lay their oblong oval golden yellow eggs, which are glued to the leaves, in parcels of six or eight together. The grubs, which are hatched in about a fortnight afterwards, are of a dirty yellowish or ashen white color, with a darker colored head, and two dark spots on the top of the first ring. They are rather short, approaching to a cylindrical form, but thickest in the middle, and have six legs, arranged in pairs beneath the first three rings. After making a hearty meal upon the leaves of the potato, they cover themselves with their own filth. The vent is situated on the upper side of the last ring, so that their dung falls upon their backs, and, by motions of the body made for this purpose, is pushed forwards, as fast as it accumulates, towards the head, until the whole of the back is ^ entirely coated with it. This covering shelters their soft and ten- der bodies from the heat of the sun, and probably serves to secure them from the attacks of their enemies. When it becomes too heavy or too dry, it is thrown off, but replaced again by a fresh coat in the course of a few hours. In eating, the grubs move backwards, never devouring the portion of the leaf immediately before the head, but that which lies under it. Their numbers are sometimes very great, and the leaves are then covered and nearly consumed by these filthy insects. When about fifteen days old they throw off their loads, creep down the plant, and bury them- selves in the ground. Here each one forms for itself a little cell of earth cemented and varnished within by a gummy fluid dis- charged from its mouth, and when this is done, it changes to a pupa. In about a fortnight more the insect throws oft' its pupa skin, breaks open its earthen cell, and crawls out of the ground. The beetles come out towards the end of July or early in August, and lay their eggs for a second brood of grubs. The latter come to their growth and go into the ground in the autumn, and remain there in the pupa form during the winter. The only method that occurs to me, by means of which we may get rid of these insects, when they are so numerous as to be seriously injurious to plants, is to brush them from the leaves into shallow vessels, containing a little salt and water or vinegar. COLEOPTERA. 97 The habits of the Hispas, little leaf-beetles, forming the family HispAD^, were first made known by me in the year 1835, in the " Boston Journal of Natural History",* where a detailed account of them, with descriptions of three native species, .and figures of the larvae and pupae, may be found. The upper side of the bee- tles is generally rough, as the generical name implies. The larvae burrow under the skin of the leaves of plants, and eat the pulpy substance within, so that the skin, over and under the place of its operations, turns brown and dries, and has somewhat of a blistered appearance, and vvithin these blistered spots the larvae or grubs, the pupae, or the beetles may often be found. The eggs of these insects are little rough blackish grains, and are glued to the upper side of the leaves, sometimes singly, and sometimes in clusters of four or five together. The grubs of our common species are about one fifth of an inch in length, when fully grown. The body is oblong, flattened, rather broader before than behind, soft, and of a whitish color, except the head and the top of the first ring, which are brown, or blackish, and of a horny consistence. It has a pair of legs to each of the first three rings ; the other rings are pro- vided with small fleshy warts at the sides, and transverse rows of little rasp-like points above and beneath. The pupa state lasts only about one week, soon after which the beetles come out of their burrows. The leaves of the apple-tree are inhabited by some of these little mining insects, which, in the beetle state, are probably the Hispa rosea-f of Weber, or the rosy Hispa. They are of a deep tawny or reddish yellow color above, marked with little deep red lines and spots. The head is small ;. the antenjiae are short, thick- ened towards the end, and of a black color ; the thorax is narrow before and wide behind, rough above, striped with deep red on each side ; the wing-covers taken together form an oblong square ; there are three smooth longitudinal lines or ribs on each of them, spotted with blood red, and the spaces between these lines are deeply punctured in double rows ; the under-side of the body is black, and the legs are short and reddish. They measure about * Vol. I. page 141. t Hispa quadrata, Fabricius ; //. marginata, Say. 13 98 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. one fifth of an inch in length. These beetles may be found on the leaves of the apple-tree, and very abundantly on those of the shad- bush {Amdanchier ovalis), and choke-berry [Pyrus arbutifolia), during the latter part of May and the beginning of June. The grubs of another species may be found in the leaves of the locust-tree in July. The beetles' appear in August. They measure nearly one quarter of an inch in length, -are of a tawny yellow color, with a black longitudinal line on the middle of the back, partly on one and partly on the other wing-cover, the inner edges of which meet together and form what is called the suture ; whence this species was named Hispa suturalis by Fabricius ; the head, antennae, body beneath, and legs are black ; and the wing-covers are not so square behind as in the rosy Hispa. The tortoise-beetles, as they are familiarly called from their shape, are leaf-eating insects, belonging to the family Cassidad^. This name, derived from a word signifying a helmet, is applied to them because the forepart of the semicircular thprax generally projects over the head like the front of a helmet. In these beetles the body is broad oval or rounded, flat beneath, and slightly con- vex above. The antennae are short, slightly thickened at the end, and inserted close together on the crown of the head. The latter is small, and concealed under, or deeply sunk into, the thorax. The legs are very short, and hardly seen from above. These insects are often gayly colored or spotted, which increases their resemblance to a tortoise ; they creep slowly, and fly by day. Their larvae and pupae resemble those of the following spe- cies in most respects. Cassida aurichalcea, so named by Fabricius on account of the brilliant brassy or golden lustre it assumes, is found during most of the summer months on the leaves of the bitter-sweet (Solanitm dulcamara) ^ and in great abundance on various kinds of Convol- vulus, such as our large flowered Convolvulus sepium^ the morning glory, and the sweet potato-vine. The leaves of these plants are eaten both by the beetles and their young. The former begin to appear during the months of May and June, having probably sur- vived the winter in some place of shelter and concealment, and their larvae in a week or two afterwards. The larvae are broad oval, flattened, dark-colored grubs, with a kind of fringe, com- COLEOPTERA. 99 posed of stiff prickles, around the thin edges of the body, and a long forked tail. This fork serves to hold the excrement when voided ; and a mass of it half as large as the body of the insect is often thus accumulated. The tail, with the loaded fork, is turned over the back, and thus protects the insect from the sun, and probably also from its enemies. The first broods of larvae arrive at their growth and change to pupae early in July, fixing them- selves firmly by the hinder part of their bodies to the leaves, when this change is about to take place. The pupa remains fast- ened to the cast-skin of the larva. It is broad oval, fringed, at the sides, and around the forepart of the broad thorax, with large prickles. Soon afterwards the beetles come forth, and lay their eggs for a second brood of grubs, which, in turn, are changed to beetles in the course of the autumn. In June 1824, the late Mr. John Lowell sent me specimens of this little beetle, which he found to be injurious to the sweet potato-vine, by eating large holes through the leaves. This beetle is very broad oval in shape, and about one fifth of an inch in length. When living it has the power of changing its hues, at one time appearing only of a dull yellow color, and at other times shining with the splendor of polished brass or gold, tinged sometimes also with the variable tints of pearl. The body of the insect is blackish beneath, and the legs are dull yellow. It loses its brilliancy after death. The wing-covers, the parts which exhibit the change of color, are lined beneath with an orange-colored paint, which seems to be filled with little vessels ; and these are probably the source of the changeable brilliancy of the insect. The Chrysomelians (Crysomelad^) compose an extensive tribe of leaf-eating beetles, formerly included in the old genus Chrysomela. The meaning of this word is golden beetle, and many of the insects, to which it was applied by Linnaeus, are of brilliant and metallic colors. They differ, however, so much in their essential characters, their forms, and their habits, that they are now very properly distributed into four separate groups or famihes. The first of these, called Galerucad^, or Galeru- cians, consists mostly of dull-colored beetles ; having an oblong oval, slightly convex body ; a short, and rather narrow, and un- even thorax ; slender antennae, more than half the length of the 100 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. body, and implanted close together on the forehead ; slender legs, which are nearly equal in size, and claws split at the end. They fly mostly by day, and are, by nature, either very timid or very cunning, for, when we attempt to take hold of them, they draw up their legs, and fall to the ground. They sometimes do great injury to plants, eating large holes in the leaves, or consuming entirely those that are young and tender. The larvse are rather short cylindrical grubs, generally of a blackish color, .and are pro- vided with six legs. They live and feed together in swarms, and sometimes appear in very great numbers on the leaves of plants, committing ravages, at these times, as extensive as those of the most destructive caterpillars. This was the case in 1837 at Sevres, in France, and in 1838 and 1839 in Baltimore and its vicinity, where the elm-trees were entirely stripped of their leaves during midsummer by swarms of the larvae of Galernca Caimari- ensis ; and, in the latter place, after the trees had begun to revive, and were clothed with fresh leaves, they were again attacked by new broods of these noxious grubs. These insects, which were undoubtedly introduced into America with the European elm, are as yet unknown in the New England States. The eggs of the Galerucians are generally laid in httle clusters or rows along the veins of the leaves, and those of the elm Galeruca are of a yel- low color. The pupa state of some species occurs on the leaves, of others in the ground ; and some of the larvae live also in the ground on the roots of plants. This is probably the case with those of the cucumber-beetle. This destructive insect is the Galeruca vittata*, or striped Galeruca, generally known here by the names of striped bug and cucumber-bug. It is of a light yellow color above, with a black head, and a broad black stripe on each wing-cover, the inner edge or suture of which is also black, form- ing a third narrower stripe down the middle of the back ; the ab- domen, the greater part of the fore-legs, and the knees and feet of the other legs, are black. It is rather less than one fifth of an inch long. Early in the spring it devours the tender leaves of various plants. I have found it often on those of our Aronias, Amclanchier botryapiuin and ovalis., and Fyrus arbutifolia^ to- * Crioceris vittata of Fabricius. COLEOPTERA. 101 wards the end of April. It makes its first appearance, on cucum- ber, squash, and melon vines, about the last of May and first of June, or as soon as the leaves begin to expand ; and, as several broods are produced in the course of the summer, it may be found at various times on these plants, till the latter are destroyed by frost. Great numbers of these little beetles may be obtained in the autumn from the flowers of squash and pumpkin vines, the pollen and germs of which they are very fond of. They get into the blossoms as soon as the latter are opened, and are often caught there by the twisting and closing of the top of the flower ; and, when they want to make their escape, they are obliged to gnaw a hole through the side of their temporary prison. The females lay their eggs in the ground, and the larvae probably feed on the roots of plants, but they have hitherto escaped my re- searches. Various means have been suggested and tried to prevent the ravages of these striped cucumber-beetles, which have become notorious throughout the country for their attacks upon the leaves of the cucumber and squash. Dr. B. S. Barton, of Philadelphia, recommended sprinkling the vines with a mixture of tobacco and red pepper, which he stated to be attended with great benefit. Watering the vines with a solution of one ounce of Glauber's sahs in a quart of water, or with tobacco water, an infusion of elder, of walnut leaves, or of hops, has been highly recommended. Mr. Gourgas, of Weston, has found no application so useful as ground plaster of Paris ; and a writer in the " American Farmer" extols the use of charcoal dust. Deane recommended sifting powdered soot upon the plants when they are wet with the morning dew, and others have advised sulphur and Scotch snufl'to be apphed in the same way. As these insects fly by night, as well as by day, and are attracted by lights, lighted splinters of pine knots or of staves of tar-barrels, stuck into the ground during the night, around the plants, have been found useful in destroying these beetles. The most effectual preservative both against these in- sects and the equally destructive black flea-beetles which infest the vines in the spring, consists in covering the young vines with millinet stretched over small wooden frames. Mr. Levi Bartlett, of Warner, N. H., has described a method for making these 102 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. frames expeditiously and economically, and his directions may be found in the second volume of the "New England Farmer",* and in Fessenden's "New American Gardener",! under the article Cucumber. The cucumber flea-beetle above mentioned, a little, black, jumping insect, well known for the injury done by it, in the spring, to young cucumber plants, belongs to another family of the Chrysomelian tribe, called Halticad^. ' The following are the chief peculiarities of the beetles of this family. The body is oval and very convex above ; the thorax is short, nearly or quite as wide as the wing-covers_ behind, and narrowed before ; the head is pretty broad ; the antennae are slender, about half the length of the body, and are implanted nearly on the middle of the forehead ; the hindmost thighs are very thick, being formed for leaping ; hence these insects have been called flea-beetles, and the scientific name Haltlca, derived from a word signifying to leap, has been applied to them. The surface of the body is smooth, generally polished, and often prettily or brilliantly col- ored. The claws are very thick at one end, are deeply notched towards the other, and terminate with a long curved and sharp point, which enables the insect to lay hold firmly upon the leaves of the plants on which they live. These beetles eat the leaves of vegetables, preferring especially plants of the cabbage, turnip, mus- tard, cress, radish, and horse-radish kind, or those, which, in botanical language, are called cruciferous plants, to which they are often exceedingly injurious. The turnip-fly or more properly turnip flea-beetle is one of these Halticas, which lays waste the turnip fields in Europe, devouring the seed-leaves of the plants as soon as they appear above the ground, and continuing their ravages upon new crops throughout the summer. It is stated in Young's " Annals of Agriculture"! that the loss, in Devonshire, Eng- land, in one season, from the destruction of the turnip crops by this little insect, was estimated at one hundred thousand pounds sterling. Another small flea-beetle is often very injurious to the grape-vines in Europe, and a larger species attacks the same * Page 305. t Sixth edition, page 91. } Vol. VII., p. 102. COLEOPTERA. 103 plant in this country. The flea-beetles conceal themselves during the winter, in dry places, under stones, in tufts of withered grass, and in chinks of walls. They lay their eggs in the spring, upon the leaves of the plants upon which they feed. The larvae, or young, of the smaller kinds burrow into the leaves, and eat the soft pulpy substance under the skin, forming therein little winding passages, in which they finally complete their transformations. Hence the plants suffer as much from the depredations of the larvje, as from those of the beetles, a fact that has too often been overlooked. The larvae of the larger kinds are said to live ex- posed upon the surface of the leaves which they devour, till they have come to their growth, and to go into the ground, where they are changed to pupae, and soon afterwards to beetles. The min- ing larvae, the only kinds which are known to me from personal examination, are little slender grubs, tapering towards each end, and provided with six legs. They arrive at maturity, turn to pupae, and then to beetles in a few weeks. Hence there is a con- stant succession of these insects, in their various states, through- out the summer. The history of the greater part of our Halticas or flea-beetles is still unknown ; I shall, therefore, only add, to the foregoing general remarks, descriptions of two or three com- mon species, and suggest such remedies as seem to be useful in protecting plants from their ravages. The most destructive species in this vicinity is that which attacks the cucumber plant as soon as the latter appears above the ground, eating the seed-leaves, and thereby destroying the plant immediately. Supposing this to be an undescribed insect, I for- merly named it Hahica Cucumeris, the cucumber flea-beetle ; but Mr. Say subsequently informed me that it was the imhescens of Illiger, so named because it is very slightly pubescent or downy. It is only one sixteenth of an inch long, of a black color, with clay-yellow antennae and legs, except the hindmost thighs, which are brown. The upper side of the body is covered with punc- tures, which are arranged in rows on the wing-cases ; and there is a deep transverse furrow across the hinder part of the thorax. The wavy-striped flea-beetle, Haltica striolata*, may be seen * Crioceris striolata, Fabricius. 104 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. in great abundance on the horse-radish, various kinds of cresses, and on the mustard, and turnip, early in May, and indeed at other times throughout the summer. It is very injurious to young plants, destroying their seed-leaves as soon as the latter expand. Should it multiply to any extent, it may, in time, become as great a pest as the European turnip flea-beetle, which it closely resem- bles in its appearance, and in all its habits. Though rather larger than the cucumber flea-beetle, ^nd of a longer oval shape, it is considerably less- than one tenth of an inch in length. It is of a polished black color, with a broad wavy bufF-colored stripe on each wing-cover, and the knees and feet are reddish yellow. Specimens are sometimes found having two buff-yellow spots on each wing-cover instead of the wavy stripe. These were not known, by Fabricius, to be merely varieties of the striolata, and accordingly he described them as distinct, under the name of bipustulata,* the two-spotted. The steel-blue flea-beetle, Haltica chalylea of Illiger, or the grape-vine flea-beetle, as it might be called on account of its habits, is found in almost all parts of the United States, on wild and cultivated grape-vines, the buds and leaves of which it de- stroys. Though it has received the specific name of chalybea, meaning steel-blue, it is exceedingly variable in its color, speci- mens being often seen on the same vine, of a dark purple, violet, Prussian blue, greenish blue, and deep green color. The most common tint of the upper side is a glossy, deep, greenish blue ; the under-side is dark green ; and the antennae and feet are dull black. The body is oblong-oval, and the hinder part of the thorax is marked with a transverse furrow. It measures rather more than three twentieths of an inch in length. In this part of the country these beetles begin to come out of their winter quar- ters towards the end of April, and continue to appear till the latter part of May. Soon after their first appearance they pair, and probably lay their eggs on the leaves of the vine, and perhaps on other plants also. A second brood of the beetles is found on the grape-vines towards the end of July. I have not had an op- portunity to trace the history of these insects any further, and con- * Crioceris bipustulata, Fabricius. COLEOPTERA. 105 sequently their larvae are unknown to me. Mr. David Thomas has given an interesting account of their habits and ravages in the twenty-sixth volume of Silliman's " American Journal of Science and Arts." These brilliant insects were observed by him, in the spring of 1831, in Cayuga County, N. Y., creeping on the vines, and destroying the buds, by eating out the central succulent parts. Some had burrowed even half their length into the buds. When disturbed, they jump rather than fly, and remain where they fall for a time without motion. During the same season these beetles appeared in unusually great numbers in New Haven, Conn., and its vicinity, and the injury done by them then was '-wholly unexam- pled." " Some vines were entirely despoiled of their fruit buds, so as to be rendered, for that season, barren." Mr. Thomas found the vine-leaves weie infested, in the years 1830 and 1831, by " small chestnut-colored smooth worms," and suspecting these tp be the larvae of the beetle (which he called Chrysomela vitivora), he fed them in a tumbler, containing some moist earth, until they were fully grown, when they buried themselves in the earth. " After a fortnight or so," some of the beetles were found in the tumbler. Hence there is no doubt that the former were the larvae of the beetles, and that they undergo their transformations in the ground. A good description of the larvae, and a more full account of their habits, seasons, and changes, are still wanted. In England, where the ravages of the turnip flea-beetle have attracted great attention, asd have caused many and various ex- periments to be tried with a view of checking them, it is thought that " the careful and systematic use of lime will obviate, in a gredt degree, the danger which has been experienced" from this insect. From this and other statements in favor of the use of lime, there is good reason to hope that it will eflectnally protect plants from the various kinds of flea-beetles, if dusted over them, when wet with dew, in proper season. Watering plants with alka- line solutions, it is said, will kill the insects without injuring the plants. The solution may be made by dissolving one pound of hard soap in twelve gallons of the soap-suds left after washing. This mixture should be applied twice a day with a water-pot. Kollar very highly recommends watering or wetting the leaves of plants with an infusion or tea of wormwood, which prevents the flea- 14 106 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. beetles from touching them. Perhaps a decoction of walnut-leaves might be equally serviceable. Great numbers of the beetles may- be caught by the skilful use of a deep bag-net of muslin, which should be swept over the plants infested by the beetles, after which the latter may be easily destroyed. This net cannot be used with safety to catch the insects on very young plants, on account of the risk of bruising or breaking their tender leaves. The Chrysomelians, Chrysomelad^, properly so called, form the third family of the tribe to which I have given the same name, because these insects hold the chief place in it, in respect to size, beauty, variety, and numbers. These leaf-beetles are mostly broad oval, sometimes nearly hemispherical, in their form, or very convex above and flat beneath. The head is rather wide, and not concealed under the thorax. The latter is short, and broad behind. The antennae are about half the length of the body, and slightly thickened towards the end, and arise from the sides of the head, between the eyes and the corners of the mouth ; being much further apart than those of the Galerucians and flea- beetles. The legs are rather short, nearly equal in length, and the hindmost thighs are not thicker than the others, and are not fitted for leaping. The colors of these beetles are often rich and bril- liant, among which blue and green, highly polished, and with a golden or metallic lustre, are the most common tints. The larvae are soft-bodied, short, thick, and slug-shaped grubs, with six legs before, and a prop-leg behind. They live exposed on the leaves of plants, which they eat, and to which, most of them fasten- them- selves by the tail, when about to be transformed. Some, how- ever, go into the ground when about to change to pupae. Many of these insects, both in the larva and beetle state, have been found to be very injurious to vegetation in other countries ; but I am not aware that any of them have proved seriously injurious to cultivated or other valuable plants in this country. There are some, it is true, which may hereafter increase so as to give us much trouble, unless effectual means are taken to protect and cherish their natural enemies, the birds. The largest species in New England inhabits the common milk- weed, or silk-weed [Asdepias Syriaca), upon which it may be found, in some or all of its states, from the middle of June till COLEOPTERA. 1 07 September. Its head, thorax, body beneath, antennae and legs are deep blue, and its wing-covers orange, with three large black spots upon them, namely, one on the shoulder, and another on the tip of each, and the third across the base of both wing-covers. Hence it was named Chrysomela irimnculaia by Fabricius, or the three-spotted Chrysomela. It is nearly three eighths of an inch long, and almost hemispherical. Its larvae and pupae are orange- colored, spotted with black, and pass through their transformations on the leaves of the Asclepias. The most elegant of our Chrysomelians is the Chrysomela scalaris of Leconte, literally the ladder Chrysomela. It is about three tenths of an inch long, and of a narrower and more regularly aval shape than the preceding. The head, thorax, and under-side of its body are dark green, the wing-covers silvery white, orna- mented with small green spots on the sides, and a broad jagged stripe along the suture or inner edges ; the antennae and legs are rust-red ; and the wings are rose-colored. It is a most beautiful object when flying, with its silvery wing-covers, embossed with green, raised up, and its rose-red wings spread out beneath them. These beetles inhabit the lime or linden (Tilia Americana), and the elm, upon which they may be found in April, May, and June, and a second brood of them in September and October. They pass the winter in holes, and under leaves and moss. The trees on which they live are sometimes a good deal injured by them and by their larvae. The latter are hatched from eggs laid by the beetles on the leaves in the spring, and come to their growth towards the end of June. They are then about six tenths of an inch long, of a white color, with a black line along the top of the back, and a row of small square black spots on each side of the body ; the head is horny and of an ochre-yellow color. Like the grubs of the preceding species, these are short, and very thick, the back arching upwards very much in the middle. I beheve that they go into the ground to turn to pupae. Should they be- come so numerous as seriously to injure the lime and elm trees, it may be found useful to throw decoctions of tobacco or of walnut leaves on the trees by means of a garden or fire engine, a method which has been employed with good effect for the destruction of the larvae of Galeruca Calmariensis. 108 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. The most common leaf-beetle of the family under consideration is the blue-winged Chrysomela, or Chrysomela caruleipennis of Say, an insect hardly distinct from the European Chrysomela Polygoni, and like the latter it lives in great numbers on the com- mon knot-grass (Polygonum aviculare), which it completely strips of its leaves two or three times in the course of the summer. This little beetle is about three twentieths of an inch long. Its head, wing-covers, and body beneath are dark blue ; its thorax and legs are dull orange-red ; the upper side of its abdomen is also orange- colored ; and the antennae and feet are blackish. The females have a very odd appearance before they have laid their eggs, their abdomen being enormously swelled out like a large orange- colored ball, which makes it very difficult for them to move about. I have found these insects on the knot-grass in every month from April to September inclusive. The larvae eat the leaves cf the same plant. Having described the largest, the most elegant, and the most common of our Chrysomelians, I nnjst omit all the rest, except the most splendid, which was called Eumolpus auratus by Fabri- cius, that is, the gilded Eumolpus. It is of a brilliant golden green color above, and of a deep purplish green below ; the legs are also purple-green ; but the feet and the antennae are blackish. The thorax is narrower behind than the wing-covers, and the rest of the body is more oblong oval than in the foregoing Chrysomelians. It is about three eighths of an inch long. This splendid beetle may be found in considerable numbers on the leaves of the dog's- bane [Jlpocynum MndroscEmifolium) , v^^hich it devours, during the months of July and August. The larvae are unknown to me. The fourth family of the leaf-eating Chrysomelians consists of the Cryptocephalians (CRYPTOCEPHALiDiE), so named from the principal genus Cryptocephalus, a word signifying concealed head. These insects somewhat resemble the beetles of the preceding family ; but they are of a more cylindrical form, and the head is bent down, and nearly concealed in the forepart of the thorax. Their larvae are short, cylindrical, whitish grubs, which eat the leaves of plants. Each one makes for itself a little cylindrical or egg-shaped case, of a substance sometimes resembling clay, and sometimes like horn, with an opening at one end, within which ■COLEOPTERA. 109 the grub lives, putting out its head and fore-legs when it wishes to eat or to move. When it is fully grown, it stops up the open end of its case, and changes to a pupa, and afterwards to a beetle within it, and then gnaws a hole through the case, in order to escape. As none of these insects have been observed to do much injury to plants in this country, I shall state nothing more respecting them, than that Clythra dominicana inhabits the su- mach, C. quadrigiittata oak-trees, Chlamys gihhosa low whortle- berry bushes, Crypto cephalus luridus the wild indlgo-bush, and most of the other species may be found on different kinds of oaks. Although the blistering-beetles, or Cantharides (Canthari- DiD^), have been enumerated among the insects directly benefi- cial to man, on account of the important use made- of them in medical practice, yet it must be admitted that they are often very injurious to vegetation. The green Cantharides, or Spanish-flies, as they are commonly called, are found in the South of Europe, and particularly in Spain and Italy, where they are collected in great quantities for exportation. In these countries they some- times appear in immense swarms, on the privet, lilac, and ash ; so that the limbs of these plants bend under their weight, and are en- tirely stripped of their foliage by these leaf-eating beetles. In like manner our native Cantharides devour the leaves of plants, and sometimes prove very destructive to them. Latreille, and other naturalists, who follow his system, arrange these insects between the beetles having five-jointed feet, and those which have only four joints in the same members. As they were omitted in the place assigned to them by these naturalists, they may, without impropriety, come under consideration at the end of the leaf-eating beetles, since, according to Mr. Kirby, and some others, they seem to lead to the insects in the order Orthop- tera, which follows. The Cantharides are distinguished from all the preceding Insects by their feet, the hindmost pair of which have only four joints, while the first and middle pairs are five- jointed. In this respect they agree with many other beetles, such as clocks or darkling-beetles, meal-beetles, some of the mush- HO INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. room-beetles, flat bark-beetles, and the like, with which they for ma large and distinct section of Coleopterous insects. The following are the most striking peculiarities of the family to which the blistering-beetles belong. The head is broad and nearly heart- shaped, and it is joined to the thorax by a narrow neck. The antennae are rather long and tapering, sometimes knotted in the middle, particularly in the males. The thorax varies in form, but is generally much narrower than the wing-covers. The latter are soft and flexible, more or less bent down at the sides of the body, usually long and narrow, sometimes short and overlapping on their inner edges. The legs arp long and slender ; the soles of the feet are not broad, and are not cushioned beneath ; and the claws are split to the bottom, or double, so that there appear to be four claws to each foot. The body is quite soft, and when handled, a yellowish fluid, of a disagreeable smell, comes out of the joints. These beetles are timid insects, and when alarmed they draw up their legs and feign themselves dead. Nearly all of them have the power of raising blisters when applied to the skin, and they retain it even when dead and perfectly dry. It is chiefly this property that renders them valuable to physicians. Four of our native Cantharides have been thus successfully employed, and are found to be as powerful in their effects as the imported spe- cies. For further particulars relative to their use, the reader is referred to my account of them published in 1824, in the first volume of " The Boston Journal of Philosophy, and the Arts," and in the thirteenth volume of " The New England Medical and Surgical Journal." Occasionally potato-vines are very much infested by two or three kinds of Cantharides, swarms of which attack and destroy the leaves during midsummer. One of these kinds has thereby obtained the name of the potato-fly. It is the Cantharis vittata*, or striped Cantharis. It is of a dull tawny yellow or light yel- lowish red color above, with two black spots on the head, and two black stripes on the thorax and on each of the wing-covers. The under-side of the body, the legs, and the antennae are black, and covered with a grayish down. Its length is from five to six * Lytta vittata, Fabricius. COLEOPTERA. 1 1 1 tenths of an inch. In this and the three following species the tho- rax is very much narrowed before, and the wing-covers are long and narrow, and cover the whole of the back. The striped Can- tharis is comparatively rare in New England ; but in the Middle States it often appears in great numbers, and does much mischief in potato-fields and gardens, eating up riot only the leaves of the potato, but those of many other vegetables. The habits of this kind of Cantharis are similar to those of the following species. There is a large blistering-beetle which is very common on the virgin's bower (Clematis Virginiana)^ a trailing plant, which grows wild in the fields, and is often cultivated for covering arbors. I have sometimes seen this plant completely stripped of its leaves by these insects, during the month of August. They are very shy, and when disturbed fall immediately from the leaves, and attempt to conceal themselves among the grass. They most commonly resort to the low branches of the Clematis, or those that trail upon the ground, and more rarely attack the upper parts of the vine. They also eat the leaves of various kinds of Ranun- culus or buttercups, and, in the Middle and Southern States, those of Clematis viorna and crispa. This beetle is the Cantharis mar- ginata of Olivier, or margined Cantharis. It measures six or seven tenths of an inch in length. Its head and thorax are thickly cov- ered with short gray down, and have a black spot on the upper side of each ; the wing-covers are black, with a very narrow gray edg- ing ; and the under-side of the body and the legs are also gray. The most destructive kind of Cantharis, found in Massachu- setts, is of a more slender form than the preceding, and measures only from five and a half to six tenths of an inch in length. Its antennae and feet are black, and all the rest of its body is ashen gray, being thickly covered with a very short down of that color. Hence it is called Cantharis cinerea*^ or the ash-colored Can- tharis. When the insect is rubbed, the ash-colored substance comes off, leaving the surface black. It begins to appear in gar- dens about the twentieth of June, and is very fond of the leaves of the English bean, which it sometimes entirely destroys. It is also occasionally found in considerable numbers on potato-vines ; * Lytta cinerea, Fabricius. 112 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it has repeatedly appeared in great profusion upon hedges of the honey-locust, which have been entirely stripped of foliage by these voracious insects. They are also found on the wild indigo-weed. In the night, and in rainy weather, they descend from the plants, and burrow in the ground, or under leaves and tufts of grass. Thither afso they retire for shelter during the heat of the day, being most actively engaged in eating in the morning and evening. About the first of August they go into the ground and lay their eggs, and these are hatched in the course of one month. The larvae are slender, somewhat flattened grubs, of a yellowish color, banded with black, with a small reddish head, and six legs. These grubs are very active in their motions, and appear to live upon fine roots in the ground ; but I have not been able to keep them till they arrived at matu- rity, and therefore know nothing further of their history. About the middle of August, and during the rest of this and the following month, a jet-black Cantharis may be seen on potato- vines, and also on the blossoms and leaves of various kinds of golden-rod, particularly the tall golden-rod (SoHclngo altissima), which seems to be its favorite food. In some places it is as plen- tiful in potato-fields as the striped and the margined Cantharis, and by its serious ravages has often excited attention. These three kinds, in fact, are often confounded under the common name of potato-flies ; and it is still more remarkable, that they are collected for medical use, and are sold in our shops by the name of Cantharis vittaia, without a suspicion of their being distinct from each other. The black Cantharis, or Cantharis atrataf, is totally black, without bands or spots, and me^ures from four tenths to half of an inch in length. I have repeatedly taken these insects, in considerable quantities, by brushing or shaking them from the potato-vines into a broad tin pan, from which they were emptied into a covered pail containing a little water in it, which, by wetting their wings, prevented their flying out when the pail was uncovered. The same method may be employed for taking the other kinds of Cantharides, when they become troublesome and destructive from their numbers ; or they may be caught by gently sweeping the plants they frequent with a deep muslin bag- t Lytta atrata, Fabricius. COLEOPTERA. 113 net. They should be killed by throwing them into scalding water, for one or two minutes, after which they may be spread out on sheets of paper to dry, and may be made profitable by sell- ing them to the apothecaries for medical use. There are some blistering-beetles, belonging to another genus, which seem deserving of a passing notice, not on account of any great injury committed by them, but because they can be used in medicine like the foregoing, and are considered by some natural- ists as forming one of the links connecting the orders Coleoptera and Orthoptera together. These insects belong to the genus Meloe, so named, it is supposed, because they are of a black, or deep blue-black color. They are called oil-beetles, in England, on account of the yellowish liquid which oozes from their joints in large drops when they are handled. Their head is large, heart- shaped, and bent down, as in the other blistering-beetles. Their thorax is narrowed behind, and very small in proportion to the rest of the body. The latter is egg-shaped, pointed behind, and so enormously large, that it drags on the ground when the beetle attempts to walk. The wings are wanting, and of course these insects are unable to fly, although they have a pair of very short oval wing -covers, which overlap on their inner edges, and do not cover more than one third of the abdomen. These beetles eat the leaves of various kinds of buttercups. Our common species is the Meloe ajigusdcollis of Say, or narrow-necked oil-beetle. It is of a dark indigo-blue color ; the thorax is very narrow, and the antennae of the male are curiously twisted and knotted in the middle. It measures from eight tenths of an inch to one inch in length. It is very common on butter- cups in the autumn, and I have also found it eating the leaves of potato-vines. The foregoing insects are but a small number of those, belong- ing to the order Coleoptera, which are injurious to vegetation. Those only have been selected that are the most remarkable for their ravages, or would best serve to illustrate the families and genera to which they belong. The orders Orthoptera, Hemip- tera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera, remain to be treated in the same way, in carrying out the plan upon which this treatise has been begun, and to which it is limited. 15 114 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. ORTHOPTERA. Earwigs. Cockroaches. — Mantes, or Soothsavers. — Walking-leaves. Walking-sticks, OR Spectres. — Mole-Cricket. Field Crickets Climb- ing Cricket. Cucumber Skippers. Awl-bearer, or Wingless-Cricket. Grasshoppers. Katy-did. Locusts. The destructive insects popularly known in this country by the name of grasshoppers, but which, in our version of the Bible, and in other works in the English language, are called locusts, have, from a period of very high antiquity, attracted the attention of mankind by their extensive and lamentable ravages. It should here be remarked, that in America the name of locust is very improperly given to the Cicada of the ancients, or the harvest-fly of English writers, some kinds of which will be the subject of future remark in this essay. The name of locust will here be restricted to certain kinds of grasshoppers ; while the popularly named locust, which, according to common belief, appears only once in seventeen years, must drop this name and take the more correct one of Cicada or harvest-fly. The very frequent mis- application of names, by persons unacquainted with natural his- tory, is one of the greatest obstacles to the progress of science, and shows how necessary it is that things should be called by their right names, if the observations communicated respecting them are to be of any service. Every intelligent farmer is capa- ble of becoming a good observer, and of making valuable dis- coveries in natural history ; but if he be ignorant of the proper names of the objects examined, or if he give to them names, which previously have been applied by other persons to entirely different objects, he will fail to make the result of his observa- tions intelligible and useful to the community. The insects which I here call locusts, together with other grasshoppers, earwigs, crickets, spectres or walking-sticks, and walking-leaves, soothsayers, cockroaches, &c., belong to an order called Orthoptera, literally straight-wings ; for their wings, when not in use, are folded lengthwise in narrow plaits like a fan, and are laid straight along the top or sides of the back. They ORTHOPTERA. 115 are also covered by a pair of thicker wing-like members, which, in the locusts and grasshoppers, are long and narrow, and lie lengthwise on the sides of the body, sloping outwards on each side like the roof of a house ; in the cockroaches, these upper wings or wing-covers, are broader, almost oval, and lie horizon- tally on the top of the back, overlapping on their inner edges ; and in the crickets, the wing-covers, when closed, are placed like those of cockroaches, but have a narrow outer border, which is folded perpendicularly downwards so as to cover the sides of the body also. All the Orthopterous insects are provided with transversely movable jaws, more or less like those of beetles, but they do not undergo a complete transformation in coming to maturity. The young, in fact, often present a close resemblance to the adult in- sects in form, and differ from them chiefly in wanting wings. They move about and feed precisely like their parents, but change their skins repeatedly before they come to their full size. The second stage in the progress of the Orthopterous insects to ma- turity, is not, like that of beetles, a state of inactivity and rest, in which the insect loses the grub-like or larva form which it had when hatched from the egg, and becomes a pupa or chrysalis, more nearly resembling the form of a beetle, but soft, whitish, and with its undeveloped wings and limbs incased in a thin trans- parent skin which impedes all motion. On the contrary, the Or- thoptera, in the pupa state, do not differ from the young and from the old insects, except in having the rudiments of wings and wing-covers projecting, like little scales, from the back near the thorax. These pupae are active and voracious, and increase greatly in size, which is not the case with the insects that are sub- ject to a complete transformation, for such never eat or grow in the pupa state. When fully grown, they cast off their skins for the sixth or last time, and then appear in the adult or perfect state, fully provided with all their members, with the exception of a few kinds which remain wingless throughout their whole lives. The slight changes to which the Orthoptera are subject, consist of nothing more than a successive series of moidtings, during which their wings are gradually developed. These changes may re- ceive the name of imperfect or incomplete transformation, in con- 116 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. tradistinction to the far greater changes exhibited by those insects which pass through a complete transformation in their progress to maturity. Cockroaches are general feeders, and nothing comes amiss to them, whether of vegetable or animal nature ; the Mantes or soothsayers are predaceous and carnivorous, devouring weaker insects, and even those of their own kind occasionally ; but by far the greater part of the Orthopterous insects subsist on vegeta- ble food, grass, flowers, fruits, the leaves, and even the bark of trees: whence it follows, in connexion with their considerable size, their great voracity, and the immense troops or swarms in which they too often appear, that they are capable of doing great injury to vegetation. The Orthoptera may be divided into four large groups r 1. Runners (Orthoptera cursoria*)., including earwigs and cockroaches, with all the legs fitted for rapid motion ; 2. Graspers {Orthoptera raptoria), such as the Mantes, or soothsayers, with the shanks of the fore-legs capable of being doubled upon the under-side of the thigh, which, moreover, is armed with teeth, and thus forms an instrument for seizing and holding their prey ; 3. Walkers (Orthoptera ambulatoria) , like the spectres or walking-sticks, having weak and slender legs, which do not admit of rapid motion ; and 4. Jumpers (Orthoptera saltatoria), such as crickets, grass- hoppers, and locusts, in which the thighs of the hind-legs are much larger than the others, and are filled and moved with power- ful muscles, which enable these insects to leap with facility. I. RUNNERS. (Orthoptera Cursoria.) In English works on gardening, earwigs are reckoned among obnoxious insects, various remedies are suggested to banish them from the garden, and even traps and other devices are described for capturing and destroying them. These little insects have got a bad name, whether deservedly or not, has never appeared ; and, * These are the four divisions proposed by Mr. Westwood in his " Introduc- tion," who, however, applies to them their Latin names only. ORTHOPTERA. 117 since they already lie under reproach, they seem to have kept up their claim to it, by turning pilferers to such an extent, that it has become necessary to set' a vigilant watch on their proceedings. They are particularly fond of taking up their abode in melon and hot-bed frames, where they find a congenial warmth, and an abun- dance of tender and juicy food ; they are accused, and not without reason, of getting the first taste of ripe fruit ; they seem also to be quite as well pleased with beautiful, rare, and odorous flowers, as the most enthusiastic florist, but show their admiration by making a meal of them. They have a rather long and some- what flattened body, which is armed at the hinder end with a pair of slender sharp-pointed blades, opening and shutting horizontally like scissors, or like a pair of nippers, which suggested the name of Forjicula, literally little nippers, applied to them by scientific writers. Although no well authenticated instances are on record of their entering the human ear, yet, during the day-time, they creep into all kinds of crevices for the sake of concealment, and come out to feed chiefly by night. They seem to be as timid as hares, and when disturbed run into the nearest hole, satisfied, like the quadrupeds above named, if they can get their heads under cover, and thus exclude the sight of danger, even when their bodies are fully exposed. Hence, it often happens that they will be found with their heads buried in the bottom of flowers, their forked tails sticking up among the stamens and pistils, so that they might escape the notice of any one but a botanist or an entomolo- gist. They are very injurious to flowers, eating holes in the blossoms, and otherwise disfiguring them, particularly the dahlia ; and Mouffet* says that "ox-hoofs, hog's hoofs, or old cast things are used as traps for them by the English women, who hate them exceedingly, because of clove-gilliflowers that they eat and spoyl." It is common with English gardeners to hang up, among the flow- ers and fruit-trees subject to their attacks, pieces of hollow reeds, lobster claws, and the like, which offer enticing places of re- treat for these insects on the approach of daylight, and by means thereof great numbers of them are obtained in the morning. The little creeping animal, with numerous legs, commonly, but errone- * Quoted from Westwood's " Introduction." 118 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. ously called earwig in America, is not an insect ; but of the true earwig we have several species, though they are by no means common, and certainly never appear in such numbers as to prove seriously injurious to vegetation. ' Nevertheless, it seemed well to give to this kind of insect a passing notice in its proper place ^ among the Orthoptera, were it only for its notoriety in other countries. Of cockroaches (Blatta) we have also several kinds ; those which are indigenous I believe are found exclusively in woods, under stones and leaves, while the others, and particularly the Oriental cock- roach (Blatta orientalis), which is supposed to have originated in Asia, whence it has spread to Europe, and thence to America, and has multiplied and become established in most of our maritime commercial towns, are domestic species, and are found in houses, under kitchen hearths, about ovens, and in dark and warm closets, whence they issue at night, and prowl about in search of food. But, as these disgusting and ill-smelling insects confine themselves to our dwellings, and do not visit our gardens and fields, they will require no further remarks than the mention of a method which has sometimes been found useful in destroying them. Mix to- gether a table-spoon full of red-lead and of Indian meal with mo- lasses enough to make a thick batter, and place the mixture at night on a plate or piece of board in the closets or on the hearths frequented by the cockroaches. They will eat it and become poisoned thereby. The dose is to be repeated for several nights in succession. 11. GRASPERS. [Orthoptera raptoria.) These, which consist of the Mantes, called praying-mantes and soothsayers, from their singular attitudes and motions, and camel- crickets, from the great length of the neck, are chiefly tropical insects, though some of them are occasionally found in this country. Moreover, they are exclusively predaceous insects, seizing, with their singular fore-legs, caterpillars, and other weaker insects which they devour. They are, therefore, to be enumerated among the insects that are beneficial to mankind, by keeping in check those that subsist on vegetable food. ORTHOPTERA. 11! III. WALKERS. {Orlhoptera ambulatoria.) To this division belong various insects, mostly found in warm climates, and displaying the most extraordinary forms. Some of them are furnished with wings, which, by their shape, and the branching veins with which they are covered, exactly represent leaves, either green, or dry and withered ; such are the walking- leaves, as they are called, (Phyllium pulchrifolium, sicdfolium, &c.). Others are wingless, of a long and cylindrical shape, re- sembling a stick with the bark on it, while the slender legs, stand- ing out on each side, give to these insects almost precisely the appearance of a little branching twig, whence is derived the name of walking-sticks, generally applied to them. The South Amer- ican Bacteria arumatia^ rubispinosa, and phyllina^ and two spe- cies of Z)za;)/ieromera ? described and figured in Say's "American Entomology," under the names of Spectrum femoratum and bi- vittatum, are of the latter description. These insects are very sluggish and inactive, are found among trees and bushes, on which they often remain motionless for a long time, or walk slowly over the leaves and young shoots, which are their appropriate food. The American species are not so numerous, and have not proved so injurious as particularly to attract attention. IV. JUMPERS. [Orthopiera sanatoria.) These are by far the most abundant and prolific, and the most destructive of the Orthopterous insects. They were all included by Linnffius in his great genus Gryllus, in separate divisions, how- ever, three of which correspond to the families Achetadce,* Grylliadce,\ and Locustiadce,^ in my "Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts," and may retain the synonymous English names of Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Locusts. These three families may thus be distinguished from each other. 1 . Crickets (AcHEXADiE) ; with the wing-coVers horizontal, and furnished with a narrow, deflexed outer border ;^ antennas long and * Gryllus Acheta, Linnaeus. t Gryllus Tettigonia, L. X Gryllus Locusta, L. 120 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. tapering ; feet with not more than three joints ; two tapering, downy bristles at the end of the body, between which, in most of the females, is a long spear-pointed piercer. 2. Grasshoppers (GRYLLiDie) ; with the wing-covers sloping downwards at the sides of the body, or roofed, and not bordered ; antennae long and tapering ; feet with four joints ; end of the body, in the females, with a projecting sword or sabre-shaped piercer. 3. Locusts (LocusTAD^) ; with the wing-covers roofed, and not bordered ; antennae rather short, and in general not tapering at the end ; feet with only three joints ; female without a projecting piercer. 1. Crickets. {.Bchetadm.) There may sometimes be seen in moist and soft ground, par- ticularly around ponds, little ridges or hills of loose fresh earth, smaller than those which are formed by moles. They cover little burrows, that usually terminate beneath a stone or clod of turf. These burrows are made and inhabited by mole-crickets, which are among the most extraordinary of the cricket kind. The common mole-cricket of this country is, when fully grown, about one inch and a quarter in length, of a light bay or fawn color, and covered with a very short and velvet-like down. The wing- covers are not half the length of the abdomen, and the wings are also short, their tips, when folded, extending only about one eighth of an inch beyond the wing-covers. The fore-legs are admirably adapted for digging, being very short, broad, and strong ; and the shanks, which are excessively broad, flat, and three-sided, have the lower side divided by deep notches into four finger-like pro- jections, that give to this part very much the appearance and the power of the hand of a mole. From this similarity in structure, and from its burrowing habits, this insect receives its scientific name of Gryllotalpa, derived from Gryllus, the ancient name of the cricket, and Talpa, a mole ; and our common species has the additional name of brevipennis^* or short-winged, to distinguish it from the European species, which has much longer wings. Mole- * Serville. " Orthopteres," p. 308. ORTHOPTERA. 121 crickets avoid the light of day, and are active chiefly during the night. They Kve on the tender roots of plants, and in Europe, where they infest moist gardens and meadows, they often do great injury by burrowing under the turf, and cutting off the roots of the grass, and by undermining and destroying, in this way, some- times whole beds of cabbages, beans, and flowers. In the West Indies, extensive ravages have been committed in the plantations of the sugar-cane, by another species, Gryllotalpa didactyla, which has only two finger-like projections on the shin. The mole- cricket of Europe lays from two to three hundred eggs, and the young do not come to maturity till the third year ; circumstances both contributing greatly to increase the ravages of these insects. It is observed, that, in proportion as cultivation is extended, destructive insects multiply, and their depredations become more serious. We may, therefore, in process of time, find mole- crickets in this country quite as much a pest as they are in Eu- rope, although their depredations have hitherto been limited to so small an extent as not to have attracted much notice. Should it hereafter become necessary to employ means for checking them, poisoning might be tried, such as placing, in the vicinity of their burrows, grated carrots or potatoes mixed with arsenic. It is well known that swine will e^t almost all kinds of insects, and that they are very sagacious in rooting them out of the ground. They might, therefore, be employed with advantage to destroy these and other noxious insects, if other means should fail. We have no house-crickets in America ; our species inhabit gardens and fields, and enter our houses only by accident. Crickets are, in great measure, nocturnal and solitary insects, concealing themselves by day, and coming from their retreats to seek their food and their mates by night. There are some spe- cies, however, which differ greatly from the others in their social habits. These are not unfrequently seen during the daytime in great numbers in paths, and by the road-side ; but the other kinds rarely expose themselves to the light of day, and their music is heard only at night. With crickets, as with grasshoppers, lo- custs, and harvest-flies, the males only are musical ; for the fe- males are not provided with the instruments from which the sounds emitted by these different insects are produced. In the male 16 122 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. cricket these make a part of the wing-covers, the horizontal and overlapping portion of which, near the thorax, is convex, and marked with large, strong, and irregularly curved veins. When the cricket shrills (we cannot say sings, for he has no vocal or- gans), he raises the wing-covers a little, and shuffles them together lengthwise, so that the projecting veins of one are made to grate against those of the other. The English name cricket, and the French cri-cri, are evidently derived from the creaking sounds of these insects. Mr. White, of Selborne, says that "■ the shrilling of the field-cricket, though sharp and stridulous, yet marvellously delights some hearers, filling their minds with a train of summer ideas of every thing that is rural, verdurous, and joyous " ; sen- timents in which few persons, if any, in America will participate ; for with us the creaking of crickets does not begin till summer is gone, and the continued and monotonous sounds, which they keep up during the whole night, so long as autumn lasts, are both weari- some and sad. Where crickets abound, they do great injury to vegetation, eating the most tender parts of plants, and even de- vouring fruits and roots, whenever they can get them. Melons, squashes, and even potatoes are often eaten by them, and the quan- tity of grass that they destroy must be great, from the immense numbers of these insects which are sometimes seen in our meadows and fields. They may be poisoned in the same way as mole- crickets. Crickets are not entirely confined to a vegetable diet ; they devour other insects whenever they meet with and can over- power them. They deposit their eggs, which are numerous, in the ground, making holes for their reception with their long, spear- pointed piercers. The eggs are laid in the autumn, and do not appear to be hatched till the ensuing summer. The old insects, for the most part, die on the approach of cold weather ; but a few survive the winter, by sheltering themselves under stones, or in holes secure from the access of water. The scientific name of the genus that includes the cricket is Acheta, and our common species is the Jlcheta abbreviata, so named from the shortness of its wings, which do not extend beyond the wing-covers. It is about three quarters of an inch in length, of a black color, with a brownish tinge at the base of the wing-covers, and a pale line on each side above the deflexed bor- ORTHOPTERA. 123 der. The pale line is most distinct in the female, and is often- times entirely wanting in the male. We have another species with very short or abortive wings ; it is entirely of a black color, and measures six tenths of an inch in length from the head to the end of the body. It may be called Jlcheta nigra, the black cricket. A third species, differing from these two in being entirely destitute of wings, and in having the wing-covers proportionally much shorter, and the last joint of the feelers (palpi) almost twice the length of the preceding joint, is furthermore dis- • tinguished from them by its greatly inferior size, and its dif- ferent coloring. It measures from three to above four tenths of an inch in length, and varies in color from dusky brown to rusty black, the wing-covers and hindmost thighs being always somewhat lighter. In the brownish colored varieties three longi- tudinal black lines are distinctly visible on the top of the head, and a black line on each side of the thorax, which is continued along the sides of the wing-covers to their tips. This black line on the wing-covers is never wanting, even in the darkest varieties. The hindmost thighs have, on the outside, three rows of short oblique black lines, presenting somewhat of a twilled appearance. This is one of the social species, which, associated together in great swarms, and feeding in common, frequent our meadows and road-sides, and, so far from avoiding the light of day, seem to be quite as fond of it as others are of darkness. It may be called Acheta vittata*, the striped cricket. These kinds of crickets live upon the ground, and among the grass and low herbage ; but there is another kind which inhabits the stems and branches of shrubs and trees, concealing itself during the daytime among the leaves, or in the flowers of these plants. Some Isabella grape-vines, which were trained against one side of my house, were much resorted to by these delicate and noisy little crickets. The males begin to be heard about the middle of Au- gust, and do not leave us until after the middle of September. Their shrilling is excessively loud, and is produced, like that of other crickets, by the rubbing of one wing-cover against the other ; * It belongs to M. Serville's new genus JVctriobius. 124 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. but they generally raise their wing-covers much higher than other crickets do wJiile they are playing. These wing-covers, in the males, are also very large, and as long as the wings ; they are ex- ceedingly thin, and perfectly transparent,, and have the horizontal portion divided into four unequal parts by three oblique raised lines, two of which are parallel and form an angle with the anterior line. "The antennae and legs are" both very long and slender, the hinder thighs being much "smaller in proportion than those of other crickets, and the hindmost feet have four instead of three joints. The two bristle-formed appendages at the end of the body are as long as the piercer, and the latter is only about half the length of the body, while, in the ground-crickets, the piercer is usually as long as the body or longer. These insects have, therefore, been separated from the other crickets under the generical name of CEcanthus^ a word which means inhabiting flowers. They may be called climbing-crickets, from their habit of mounting upon plants and dwelling among the leaves and flowers. According to M. Salvi* the female makes several perforations in the tender stems of plants, and in each perforation thrusts two eggs quite to the pith. The eggs are hatched about midsummer, and the young immediately issue from their nests and conceal themselves among the thickest foliage of the plants When arrived at maturity the males, begin their nocturnal serenade at the approach of twilight, and continue it, with little or no intermission till the dawn of day. Should one of these little musicians get admission to the chamber, his ince'ssant and loud shrilling will effectually banish sleep. Of three species which inhabit the United States, one only is found in Massachusetts. It is the Q^canthus niveus, or white climbing- cricket. The male is ivory-white, with the upper side of the first joint of the antennas, and the head between the eyes, of an ochre- yellow color ; there is a minute black dot on the under-sides of the first and second joints of the antennse ; and, in some individu- als, the extremities of the feet, and the under-sides of the hind- most thighs, are ochre-yellow. The body is about half an inch long, exclusive of the wing-covers. The female is usually rather longer, but the wing-covers are much narrower than those of the * Memorie iiitorno le Locuste grillajole. 8vo. Verona : 1750. ORTHOPTERA. 125 male, and there is a great diversity of coloring in this sex ; the body being sometimes almost white, or pale greenish yellow, or dusky, and blackish beneath. There are three dusky stripes on the head and thorax, and the legs, antennae, and piercer are more or less dusky or blackish. The wing-covers and wings are yellowish white, sometimes with a tinge of green, and the wings are rather longer than the covers. In Europe there are found, in ant-hills, little jumping insects about three twentieths of an inch in length, of a brownish color, with an egg-shaped body, entirely destitute of wings and wing- covers. The head is very small, and nearly concealed under the forepart of the body ; the hindmost thighs are remarkably thick ; and the female has a very short piercer, not exceeding the terminal appendages in length. These insects belong to the genus Myr- mecophila. Several years ago I observed that cucumber vines were much infested by some minute jumping insects, rather less than one tenth of an inch long, of a broad oval shape, and black color, without wing-covers or wings, but furnished with short thick hinder thighs. They injured the vines very much by eating holes into or puncturing the leaves, and were expelled by dusting the plants with flour of sulphur. These cucumber-skippers were so soft and tender, and withal so agile, that it was difficult to catch without crushing them. Consequently I was unable to examine them thoroughly, and failed to preserve specimens of them. It is possible that they may come near to the genus Myrmecophila^ which was unknown to me at the time ; and since then these mi- nute insects have escaped my observation. They were very different from the little flea-beetles (Haltica cucumeris or pu- bescens), also found on cucumber-vines, which have already been -noticed among the Coleopterous insects.* 2. Grasshoppers. (Gryllid(B.) Grasshoppers, properly so called, as before stated, are those jumping orthopterous insects which have four joints to all their feet, long bristle-formed antennae, and in which the females are provided with a piercer, flattened at the sides, and somewhat re- * See p. 103. 126 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. sembling a sword or cimeter in shape. The whig-covers slope downwards at the sides of the body, and overlap only a little on the top of the back near the thorax. This overlapping portion, which forms a long triangle, is traversed, in the males, by strong projecting veins, between which, in many of them, are mem- branous spaces as transparent as glass. The sounds emitted by the males, and varying according to the species, are produced by the friction of these overlapping portions together. In Massachusetts there is one kind of grasshopper, which forms a remarkable exception to the other native insects of this family ; and, as it does not seem to have been named or described by any author, although by no means an uncommon insect, it may receive a passing notice here. It is found only under stones and rubbish in woods, has a short thick body, and remarkably stout hind thighs, like a cricket, but is entirely destitute of wing-covers and wings, even when arrived at maturity. It probably belongs to M. Serville's genus Raphidophora, the awl-bearer, only one spe- cies of which has been described, and that one is a native of Java. I propose, therefore, to call this species Raphidophora maculata*^ the spotted awl-bearer. Its body is of a pale yellowish brown color, darker on the back, which is covered with little light- colored spots, and the outside of the hindmost thighs is marked with numerous short oblique lines, disposed in parallel rows, like those on the thighs of Acheta vittata. It varies in length from one half to more than three quarters of an inch, exclusive of the piercer and legs. The body is smooth and shining, and the back is arched. Most grasshoppers are of a green color, and are furnished with wings and wing-covers, the latter frequently resembling the leaves of trees, upon which, indeed, many of these insects pass the greater part of their lives. Their leaf-like form and green color evidently seem to have been designed for the better concealment of these insects. They commit their eggs to the earth, dropping them ihto holes made for this purpose by their piercers. They lay a large number of eggs at a time, and cover them with a kind of varnish, which, when dry, forms a thin film that completely * Gryllus maculatus, Harris. Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts. ORTHOPTERA. 127 encloses them. Their eggs are laid in the autumn, and usually are not hatched till the following spring. They are nocturnal in- sects, or at least more active by night than by day. When taken between the fingers, they emit from their mouths a considerable quantity of dark-colored fluid, as do also the locusts or diurnal grasshoppers. They devour the leaves of trees, and of other plants, and lead a solitary life, or at least do not associate and mi- grate from place to place in great swarms, like some of the crickets and the locusts. Some of these grasshoppers have the front of the head obtuse, and others have it conical, or prolonged to a point between the antennae. Among the former is the insect, which, from its pe- culiar note, is called the katy-did. Its body is of a pale green color, the wing-covers and wings being somewhat darker. Its thorax is rough like shagreen, and has somewhat the form of a saddle, being curved downwards on each side, and rounded and slightly elevated behind, and is marked by two slightly transverse furrows. The wings are rather shorter than the wing-covers, and the latter are very large, oval, and concave, and enclose the body within their concavity, meeting at the edges above and below, somewhat like the two sides or valves of a pea-pod. The veins are large, very distinct, and netted like those of some leaves, and there is one vein of larger size running along the middle of each wing-cover, and simulating the midrib of a leaf. The musical organs of the male consists of a pair of taborets. They are formed by a thin and transparent membrane stretched in a strong" half-oval frame in the triangular overlapping portion of each wing- cover. During the daytime these insects are silent, and conceal themselves among the leaves of trees ; but at night, they quit their lurking places, and the joyous males begin the tell-tale call with which they enliven their silent mates. This proceeds from the friction of the taboret frames against each other when the wing-covers are opened and shut, and consists of two or three dis- tinct notes almost exactly resembling articulated sounds, and cor- responding with the number of times that the wing-covers are opened and shut ; and the notes are repeated, at intervals of a few minutes, for hours together. The mechanism of the taborets, and the concavity of the wing-covers, reverberate and increase the 128 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. sound to such a degree, that it may be heard, in the stillness of the night, at the distance of a quarter of a mile. At the approach of twilight the katy-did mounts to the upper branches of the tree in which he hves, and, as soon as the shades of evening prevail, begins his noisy babble, while rival notes issue from the neigh- bouring trees, and the groves resound with the call of " katy-did, she-did," the live-long night. Of this insect I have met with no scientific description except my own, which was published in 1831 in the eighth volume of the " Encyclopaedia Americana," page 42. It is the Platyphyllum* concavumj, and measures, from the head to the end of the wing-covers, rather more than one inch and a half, the body alone being one inch in length. The piercer is broad, laterally compressed, and curved like a cimeter ; and there are, in both sexes, two Kttle thorn-like pro- jections from the middle of the breast between the fore-legs. It is found in the perfect state during the months of September and October. We have another broad-winged green grasshopper, differing from the katy-did, in having the wing-covers narrower, flat and not concave, and shorter than the wings, the thorax smooth, flat above, and abruptly bent downwards at a right angle on each side, and the breast without any projecting spines in the middle. The piercer has the same form as that of the katy-did. The musical organ of the left wing-coyer, which is the uppermost, is not transparent, but is 'green and opake, and is traversed by a strong curved vein ; that of the right wing-cover is semi-transparent in the middle. This insect is the Phylloptera ohlongiJoliaX-, or oblong leaf-winged grasshopper. Its body measures about an inch in length, and from the head to the tips of the wings, from an inch and three quarters to three inches. It is found in its per- fect state, during the months of September and October, upon trees, and, when it flies, makes a whizzing noise somewhat like that of a weaver's shuttle. The notes of the male, though grat- ing, are comparatively feeble. * Platiiflnjllum means broad-wing, t Can this be llie Locusta pcrspiciilata of Fabricius ? X Locusta oblongifolia of De Geer, a different species from the laurifolia of Linnseus, with which it has been confounded by many naturahsts. ORTHOFTERA. 129 A third species, also of a green color, with still narrower wing-covers, which are of almost equal width from one end to the other, but are rounded at the tips, and are shorter than the wings, has the head, thorax, musical organs, and breast, like those of the preceding species, but the piercer is much short- er, and very much more crooked, being bent vertically upwards from near its base. The male has a long tapering projection from the under-side of the extremity of the body, curved upwards like the piercer of the female. This grasshopper be- longs to the genus Phaneroptera^ so named, probably, because the wings are visible beyond the tips of the wing-covers ; and, as it does not appear to have been described before, I propose to call it angustifolia,* the narrow-leaved. It measures from the forehead to the end of the abdomen about three quarters of an inch, and to the tips of the wings from an inch and a half to an inch and three quarters. Its habits appear to be the same as those of the oblongi- folia. It comes to maturity sometime in the latter part of August or the beginning of September. From the middle till the end of summer, the grass in our meadows and moist fields is filled with myriads of little grass- hoppers, of difl^^rent ages, and of a light green color, with a brown stripe on the top of the head, extending to the tip of the little smooth and blunt projection between the antennee, and a broader brown stripe bounded on each side by deeper brown on the top of the thorax. The antennae, knees, and shanks are green, faintly tinted with brown, and the feet are dusky. When come to maturity, they measure three quarters of an inch or more, from the forehead to the end of the body, or one inch to the ends of the wing-covers. The latter are abruptly nar- rowed in the middle, and taper thence to the tip, which, however, is rounded and extends as far back as the wings. The color of the wing-covers is green, but they are faintly tinged with brown on the overlapping portion, and have the delicacy and semi- transparency of the skin of an onion. The shrilling organs in the * I formerly mistook this insect for the Locusta curvicauda of De Geer, wliich is found in the Middle and Southern States, but not in Massachusetts, is a larger species, with wing-covers broadest in the middle, and different organs in the male, and belongs to the genus Phylloptera. 17 130 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. males consist of a transparent glassy spot, bounded and traversed by strong veins, in the middle of the overlapping portion of each wing-cover, which part is proportionally much larger and longer than in the other grasshoppers ; but the transparent spot is rather smaller on the left than on the right wing-cover. The male is furthermore distinguished by having two small black spots or short dashes, one behind the other, on each wing-cover, on the outside of the transparent spot. The wings are green on their front margins, transparent, and reflecting a faint pink colqr behind. The piercer of the female is cimeter-shaped, being curved, and pointed at the end, and is about three tenths of an inch long. The hindmost thighs, in both sexes, are smooth and not spinous beneath ; there are two little spines in the middle of the breast ; and the antennae are very long and slender, and extend, when turned back, considerably beyond the end of the hind-legs. Dur- ing the evening, and even at other times in shady places, the males make a sharp clicking noise, somewhat like that produced by snapping the point of a pen against the thumb-nail, but much louder. This kind of grasshopper very much resembles the Lo- custa agilis of De Geer, which is found in Pennsylvania and the Southern States, but does not inhabit Massachusetts, and is dis- tinguished from our species by having the wings nearly one tenth of an inch longer than the wing-covers, the antennae excessively long (two inches or more), and the piercer not quite so much curved as in our species, besides other differences which it is un- necessary to record here. As our species does not appear to have been named, or described by any previous writer, I propose to call it Orchelimum vulgare, the common meadow-grasshopper, the generical name signifying literally, I dance in the meadow. With this species another one is also found, bearing a consider- able resemblance to it in color and form, but measuring only four or five tenths of an inch from the head to the end of the body, or from seven to eight tenths to the tips of the wings, which are a little longer than the wing-covers. The latter are narrow and taper to the end, which is rounded, but the overlapping portion is not so large as in the common species, and the male has not the two black spots on each wing-cover. The upper part of the ab- domen is brown, with the edges of the segments greenish yellow, ORTHOPTERA. 131 and the piercer, which is nearly three tenths of an inch long, is brown and nearly straight. This little insect comes very near to Locusta fasciata of De Geer, who, however, makes no mention of the broad brown stripe on the head and thorax. I therefore presume that our species is not the same, and propose to call it Orchellmum gracile, the slender meadow-grasshopper. M. Ser- ville, by whom this genus was instituted, has described three spe- cies, two of which are stated to be North American, and the remaining one is probably also from this country ; but his de- scriptions do not answer for either of our species. Both of these kinds of meadow-grasshoppers are eaten greedily by fowls of all kinds. One more grasshopper remains to be described. It is distin- guished from all the preceding species by having the head coni- cal, and extending to a blunt point between the eyes. It belongs to the genus Conocephalus, a word expressive of the conical form of the head, and, in my Catalogue of the Insects of Massachu- setts, bears the specific name of ensiger, the sword-bearer, from the long, straight, sword-shaped piercer of the female. It meas- ures an inch or more from the point of the head to the end of the body, and from one inch and three quarters to two inches, to the end of the wing-covers. It is pale green, with the head whitish, or only faintly tinted with green, and the legs and abdomen are pale brownish green. A little tooth projects downwards from the un- der side of the conical part of the head, which extends between the antennae, and immediately before this little tooth is a black line bent backwards on each side like the letter U. The hind- most thighs have five or six exceedingly minute spines on the inner ridge of the under-side. The shrilling organ of the male, on the left wing-cover, is. green and opake, but that on the right has a space in the middle that is transparent like glass. The piercer of the female is above an inch long, very slightly bent near the body, and perfectly straight from thence to the tip, which ends in a point. The color of this grasshopper is very apt to change, after death, to a dirty brown. It comes very near to the iUssimilis described by M. Serville, but appears to be a dif- ferent species.* ' * In the collection belonging to the Boston Society of Natural History, there is 132 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 3. Locusts. \Locustad(E.) The various insects included under the name of locusts nearly all agree in having their wing-covers rather long and narrow, and placed obliquely along the sides of the body, meeting, and eveh overlapping for a short distance, at their upper edges, which together form a ridge on the back like a sloping roof. Their an- lennee are much shorter than those of most grasshoppers, and do not taper towards the end, but are nearly of equal thickness at both extremities. Their feet have really only three joints ; but as the under-side of the first joint is marked by one or two cross lines, the feet, when seen only from below, seem to be four or five jointed. The females have not a long projecting piercer like the crickets and grasshoppers, but the extremity of their body is provided with four short, wedge-like pieces, placed in pairs above and below, and opening and shutting opposite to each other, thus forming an instrument like a pair of nippers, only with four short blades instead of two. When one of these insects is about to lay her eggs, she drives these little wedges into the earth ; these, being then opened and withdrawn, enlarge the orifice ; upon which the insect inserts them again, and drives them down deeper than before, and repeats the operation above described until she has formed a perforation large and deep enough to admit nearly the whole of her abdomen. The males, though capable of pro- an insect which I suppose to be the Conocephalus dissimilis of Serville. It was taken in North Carolina by Professor Hentz. The conical projection of the head is shorter and more obtuse than in the cnsige.r, the sides of the thorax are brown- isli, the hindmost tliighs have a double row of black dots on the under-side, and thespines on this part are more numerous and rather larger. Professor Hentz has sent to me from Alabama another species distinct from both of these, about the same in length, but considerably broader. The conical part of the head between the eyes is broader, flattened above, andj as well as the thorax, rough like shngreen. There is a projecting tubercle beneath, but the curved black line is wanting, and the tip of the cone has a minute point abruptly bent downwards, and forming a hook. The sides of the thorax are bent down suddenly so as to make an ancular ridge on each side of the middle. The wing-covers are dotted wilh black around their edges, and have also an irregular row of larger and more distinct spots alono- the middle. The hindmost thighs have a double row of strong spines beneath, and the piercer is straight and only about six tenths of an inch long. This insect may be called Conocephalus uncinatus, from the hook on the tip of the head. ORTHOPTERA. 133 ducing sounds, have not the cymbals and tabors of the crickets and grasshoppers ; their instruments may rather be hkened to viohns, their hind-legs being the bows, and the projecting veins of their wing-covers the strings. But besides these, they have on each side of the body, in the first segment of the abdomen, just above and a little behind the thighs, a deep cavity closed by a thin piece of skin stretched tightly across it. These probably act in some measure to increase the reverberation of the sound, like the cavity of a violin. When a locust begins to play, he bends the shank of one hind-leg beneath the thigh, where it is lodged in a furrow designed to receive it, and then draws the leg briskly up and down several times against the projecting lateral edge and veins of the wing-cover. He does not play both fiddles together, but alternately, for a little time, first upon one, and then on the other, stanching meanwhile upon the four anterior legs and the hind-leg which is not otherwise employed. It is stated that, in Spain, people of fashion keep these insects, which they call grillo, in cages, for the sake of their music. Locusts leap much better than grasshoppers, for the thighs of their hind legs, though shorter, are much thicker, and consequently more muscular within. The back part of the shanks of these legs, from a little below the knee to the end, is armed with strong sharp spines, arranged in two rows. These may serve as means of defence, but the lower ones also help to fix the legs firmly against the ground when the insect is going to leap. The power of flight in locusts is, in general, much greater than that of grasshoppers ; for the wing-covers, being narrow, do not, like the much wider ones of grasshoppers, so much impede their passage through the air ; while their wings, which are ample, except in a few species, and when expanded together form half of a circle, have very strong joints, and are moved by very powerful muscles within the chest. From the shoulders of the wings several stout ribs or veins pass towards the hinder margin, spreading apart, when the wings are opened, like the sticks of a fan, and are connected and strength- ened by little crossing veins, which form a kind of net-work. The same structure exists in the wings of grasshoppers, but in them the longitudinal ribs are not so strong, and the network is much more delicate. Hence the flight of grasshoppers is short and un- 134 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. Steady, while that of locusts is longer and better sustained. Many- locusts, when they fly, make a loud whizzing noise, the source of which does not seem to be understood. Those of our native locusts, whose flight is the most noisy, are the coral-winged, the yellow-winged, and the broad-winged species. But as these are comparatively small insects, and never assemble in such great swarms as the much larger migrating locusts of Asia and Africa, the noise of their flight bears no comparison to that of the latter. When a large number of these take flight together, it is said that the noise is like the rushing of a whirlwind ; and hence we read, of the symbolical locusts of the Apocalypse, that the- sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of horses running to bat- tle* ; and, of others, that their coming is like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains, or the crackling of stubble when over- run, and consumed by a flame of fire f. The East seems to have suffered severely at various times from the irruptions of immense swarms of locusts, darkening the sky during their passage, stripping the surface of the earth, where they alight, of all vestiges of vegetation, and thus reducing, in an inconceivably short time, the most fertile regions to barren wastes. The ground over which they have passed presents the appearance of having been scorched by fire, and hence the name of locust, which is derived from the Latin |, and means a burnt place, is highly expressive of the desolation occasioned by their ravages. Famine and pestilence have sometimes followed their appearance, as we find recorded by various writers. In the Scriptures § frequent mention is made of the destruct've powers of locusts, and these accounts are fully confirmed by the testimony of numerous travellers in Asia and Africa, some of whom have been eyewitnesses of the devastations of these insects. Among * Revelations IX. 11. t Joel II. 5. t Locus and ustvs. § For an explanation of the various passages in which allusion is made to lo- custs, and for much interesting matter, relating^to the liistory of these insects as contained in the Bible and elucidated by the accounts of historians and travellers, the reader is referred to the article locust in the learned and instructive work of my father, entitled " The Natural History of the Bible, by Thaddeus Mason Harris." 8vo. Boston: 1820. ORTHOPTERA. 135 the later accounts, that contained in Ohvier's " Travels " does not seem to have been quoted by English writers. The follow- ing is a free translation of the passage. Olivier, at the time of writing it, was in Syria. " After a burning south wind had pre- vailed for some time, there came, from the interior of Arabia and from the southern parts of Persia, clouds of locusts, whose ravages in these countries are as grievous and as sudden as the (destruction occasioned in Europe by the most severe hail-storm. Of these my companion, M. Brugieres, and myself were twice witnesses. It is difficult to describe the effect produced on us by the sight of the whole atmosphere filled, on all sides, to a vast height, with a countless multitude of these insects, which flew along with a slow and even motion, and with a noise like the dashmg of a shower of rain. The heavens were darkened by them, and the light of the sun was sensibly diminished. In a moment the roofs of the houses, the streets, and all the fields were completely covered with these insects, and in two days they almost entirely devoured the foliage of every plant. Fortunately, however, they continued but a short time, and seemed to have emigrated only for the purpose of providing for a continuation of their kind. In fact, nearly all of them which we saw on the next day were paired, and in a day or two afterwards the ground was covered with their dead bodies."* These were not the still more celebrated and destructive migratory locusts {Locusta mi- gratoria), but consisted of the species called Jlcrydium pere- grinum. Although the ravages of locusts in Am&rica are not followed by such serious consequences as in the Eastern continent, yet they are sufficiently formidable to have attracted attention, and not un- frequently have these insects laid waste considerable tracts, and occasioned no little loss to the cultivator of the soil. Our salt- marshes, which are accounted among the most productive and valuable of our natural meadows, are frequented by great numbers of the small red-legged species [Acrydium femur-rubrum)^ inter- mingled occasionally with some larger kinds. These, in certain * Olivier, Voyage dans TEinpire Ottoman, I'Egyple et la Perse. Tom. II. p. 424. 136 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. seasons, almost entirely consume the grass of these marshes, from whencethey then take their course to the uplands, devouring, in their way, grass, corn, and vegetables, till checked by the early frosts, or by the close of the natural term of their existence. When a scanty crop of hay has been gathered from the grounds which these puny pests have ravaged, it becomes so tainted with the putresceqt bodies of the dead locusts contained in it, that it is rejected by horses and cattle. In this country locusts are not distinguished from grasshoppers, and are generally, thought incor- rectly, comprehended under the same name, or under that of flying grasshoppers. They are, however, if we make allowance for their inferior size, quite as voracious and injurious to vegetation during the young or larva and pupa states, when they are not pro- vided with wings, as they are when .fully grown. In our news- papers I have sometimes seen accounts of the devastations of grasshoppers, which could only be applicable to sonie of our locusts. At various times they have appeared in great abundance in different part^ of New England. It is stated that, in Maine, " during dry seasons, they often appear in great multitudes, and are the greedy destroyers of the half-parched herbage." " In 1749 and 1754 they were very numerous and voracious ; no vegetables escaped these greedy troops ; they even devoured the potato tops ; and in 1743 and 1756 they covered the whole country and threatened to devour every thing green. Indeed, so great was the alarm they occasioned among the people, that days of fasting and prayer were appointed*," on account of the threat- ened calamity. The southern and western parts of New Hamp- shire, the northern and eastern parts of Massachusetts, and the southern part of Vermont have been overrun by swarms of these miscalled grasshoppers, and have suffered more or less from their depredations. Among the various accounts which I have seen, the following, extracted from the Travels of the late President Dwightf, seems to be the most full and circumstantial. "Ben- nington (Vermont), and its neighbourhood, have for some time past been infested by grasshoppers (locusts) of a kind, with which * See Williamson's History of Maine, Vol. I. p. 102, 103, and compare with p. 172 of the same work. t Travels in New England and New York, by Timothy Dwight. Vol. II. p. 403. ORTHOPTERA. 137 I had before been wholly unacquainted. At least, their history, as given by respectaWe persons, is in a great measure novel. They appear at different periods, in different years; but the time of their continuance seems to be the same. This year, (1798), they came four weeks earlier than in 1797, and disappeared four weeks sooner. As I had no opportunity of examining the^m, I cannot describe their form or their size. Their favorite food is clover and maize. Of the latter they devour the part which is called the silk ; the immediate means of fecundating the ear ; and thus prevent the kernel from coming to perfection. But their vo- racity extends to almost every vegetable ; even to the tobacco plant and the burdock. Nor are they confined to vegetables alone. The garments of laborers, hung up in the field while they are at work, these insects destroy in a few hours ; and with the same voracity they devour the loose particles which the saw leaves upon the surface of pine boards, and which, when separ- ated, are termed saw-dust. The appearance of a board fence, from which the particles had been eaten in this manner, and which I saw, was novel and singular ; and seemed the result, not of the operations of the plane, but of attrition. At times, particularly a little before their disappearance, they collect in clouds, rise high in the atmosphere,, and take extensive flights, of which neither the cause, nor the direction has hitherto been discovered. I was au- thentically informed that some persons, employed in raising the steeple of the church in Williamstown, were, while standing near the vane, covered by them, and saw, at the same time, vast swarms of them flying far above their heads. It is to be observed, however, that they customarily return, and perish on the very grounds which they have ravaged." Through the kindness of the Rev. L. W. Leonard, of Dublin, New Hampshire, I have been favored with specimens of the destructive locusts which occa- sionally appear in that part of New England, and which, most probably, are of the same species as the insects mentioned by President Dwight. They prove to be the little red-legged locusts, whose ravages on our salt-marshes I have already recorded. In the summer of 1838, the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland, was infested by insects of this kind ; and I was informed by a young gentleman, from that place, then a student in Harvard University, 18 138 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION, that they were so thick and destructive in the garden and grounds of his father, that the negroes were employed to drive them from the garden with rods ; and in this way they were repeatedly whipped out of the grounds, leaping and flying "before the ex- tended line of castigators like a flock of fowls. Some of these insects were brought to me by the same gentleman, on his return to the University, at the end of the summer vacation, and they turned out to be specimens of the red-legged locusts already men- tioned. It is not to be supposed that these are the only depredatory locusts in this country. Massachusetts, alone, produces a large number of species, some of which have never been described ; and the habits of many of them have not been fully investigated. The difficulty which 1 have met with in ascertaining, from mere verbal reports, or from the accounts that occasionally appear in our pub- lic prints, the scientific names of the noxious insects which are the subjects of such remarks, and the impossibility, without this knowledge of their names, of fixing upon the true culprits, has induced me to draw up, in this treatise, brief descriptions of all our locusts, as a guide to other persons in their investigations. All the locusts of Massachusetts, that are known to me, may be included in three large groups or genera, viz : Jlcrydium (of GeofFroy and Latreille), Locust a [Gryllus Locusta of Linnaeus), and Tetrix (of Latreille). These three genera may be distin- guished from each other by the following characters.* * I have not considered it necessary to give, in addition to these, the characters that distinguish them froni the other genera of American Locusts, which are not found in Massachusetts ; but add the characteristics of these genera in this note. Opsomala. Body slender and cyUndrical ; head long and conical, extending with an obtuse point between the antennae ; -eyes oblong oval and oblique ; an- tennse short, flattened, and more or less enlarged towards the base and tapering towards the point; a pointed tubercle between the fore-legs on the breast; wing- covers narrow and pointed; face sloping down towards the breast, and forming an acute angle with the top of the head. Truxalis. Body rather thicker ; head shorter, but ending in a blunt cone be- tween the antennae ; eyes oval and oblique ; antennae short, flattened, enlarged near the base, and tapering to a point; no tubercle between the fore - legs ; wing- covers wider and not so pointed ; face sloping towards the breast, and forming an angle of forty-five degrees with the top of the head ; thorax flat above, and marked with three longitudinal elevated lines. ORTHOPTERA. 139 1. Acrydium. The thorax (prothorax of Kirby) and the wing- covers of ordinary dimensions ; a projecting spine in the middle of the breast ; and a little projecting cushion between the nails of all the feet. 2. Locusta. The thorax, and usually the wing-covers also, of ordinary dimensions ; no projecting spine in the middle of the breast ; cushions between the nails of the feet. 3. Tetrix. The thorax {prothorax) greatly prolonged, taper- ing to a point behind, and covering the whole of the back to the extremity of the abdomen ; wing-covers exceedingly minute, con- sisting only of a Httle scale on each side of the body ; forepart of the breast forming a projection, like a cravat or stock, to re- ceive the lower part of the head ; no spine in the middle of the breast ; no cushions between the nails. I. ACRYDIUM. Spine-breasted Locusts. This word, which is nearly the same as one of the Greek names of a locust, has been variously applied by different ento- mologists. I have follovved Latreille and Serville in confining it to those locusts which have a projecting spine or tubercle in the middle of the forepart of the breast between the fore-legs. To this genus belong the following native species. 1. Acrydium alutaceum. Leather-colored locust. Dirty brownish yellow ; a paler yellow stripe on the top of the head and thorax ; a slightly elevated longitudinal line on the top of the thorax ; wing-covers semitransparent, with irregular brownish spots ; wings transparent, uncolored, netted with dirty Xiphicera. Robust ; head not conical, but with a projection between the an- tenneD ; face vertical ; antennse rather short, flattened more or less, and taperino- at the end ; a spine between the fore-legs on the breast; wing-covers about as long as the abdomen, obtuse or notched at the end; thorax with three elevated crested lines, which are frequently notched. Romalea. Very thick and short ; head obtuse ; face vertical ; antennce short, of equal thickness to the end, seventeen or eighteen jointed ; thorax with a some- what elevated crest ; a spine between the fore-legs on the breast ; wing-covers and wings much shorter than the abdomen. The first two of these genera seem to connect the cone-headed grasshoppers with the locust family, while the last two approach nearer to the genxxs Jlcrydium ; many foreign genera, however, are interposed between them. 140 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. yellow ; abdomen with transverse rows of minute blackish dots ; hindmost thighs whitish within and without, the white portion bounded by a row of minute distant black dots, and crossed, her- ring-bone fashion, by numerous brown lines ; hindmost shanks reddish, with yellowish white spines, which are tipped with black. Length, to the end of the abdomen, If inch ; the wing-covers expand over 3 inches. This insect was brought to me, from Martha's Vineyard, by Mr. Robert Treat Paine. It bears a close resemblance in form to Jlcrydium Jlmericanum of De Geer, a much larger and more showy Southern species. 2. Acrydium Jlavo-vittnium* Yellow-striped locust. Olive-colored, with a yellowish line on each side from the fore- head to the tips of the wing-covers ; hindmost shanks and feet blood-red, the spines tipped with black ; wings transparent, faintly tinged with pale green, and netted with greenish brown lines. The abdomen of the male is very obtuse and curves upwards at the end, and is furnished, on each side of the lip, with a rather large oblong square appendage, which has a little projecting angle in the middle of the lower side. Length, to tip of the abdomen, from 1 inch to IJ ; expands from I|- inch to 2 inches. This and the following species probably belong to the subgenus Oxya of Serville. The yellow-striped locust is one of our most common insects. It is readily known by its color, and by the two yellowish lines on the thorax, extending, when the insect ac- quires wings, along the inner margin of the wing-covers. It is very troublesome in gardens, climbing upon the stems of beans, peas, and flowers, devouring the leaves of petals, and defiling them with its excrement. The young begin to appear in June, and they come to their growth and acquire their wings by the first of August. When about to moult, like other locusts, they cling to the stem of some plant, till the skin bursts and the insect with- * This species agrees, in some respects, with Serville's Acrydium olivaceum, but it is a smaller insect, the hind shanks are not blue, and the last ventral segment of the male is not deeply notched at tip, but is entire and somewhat pointed. It does not agree any better with Say's description of Gryllus hivittalus, which pos- sibly is the same as Serville's species above named. ORTHOPTERA. 141 draws its body and legs from it, and leaves the cast-skin still fastened to the plant. 3. Acrydium femur-rubrum. Red-legged locust. Grizzled with dirty olive and brown ; a black spot extending from the eyes along the sides of the thorax ; an oblique yellow line on each side of the body beneath the wings ; a row of dusky brown spots along the middle of the wing-covers ; and the hind- most shanks and feet blood-red, with black spines. The wings are transparent, with a very pale greenish yellow tint next to the body, and are netted with brown lines. The hindmost thighs have two large spots, on the upper side, and the extremity, black ; but are red below, and yellow on the inside. The appendages at the tip of the body in the male are of a long triangular form. Length from | inch to 1 inch ; exp. 1^ to If inch. The red-legged locust was first described by De Geer from specimens sent to him from Pennsylvania, and I have retained the scientific name which he gave to it. It is the Gryllus (Locusta) erythropus of Gmelin, and the t^crydium femorale of Olivier. It appears to be very generally diffused throughout the United States, and sometimes so greatly abounds, in certain places, as to be productive of great injury to vegetation. I have already de- scribed its prevalence on our salt marshes ; and it seems to con- stitute those large migrating swarms whose flight has been observed and recorded in various parts of this country. It comes to ma- turity with us by the latter part of July, some broods, however, a little earlier, and others later. It is most plentiful and destruc- tive during the months of August and September, and does not disappear till some time in October. II. LocusTA. Locusts propcr. With the English entomologists, I apply the name Locusta to that genus which includes the celebrated migrating locust, or Gryllus Locusta migratoria of Linnaeus. By the older French entomologists the insects contained in it were united to the genus Acrydium; but Latreille afterwards separated them from Acrydi- um under the generical name of Qldipuda (which means swelled leg), and he is followed in this by Servillc, the latest writer on 142 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the Orthoptera. In the insects of this genus the breast is not armed with a blunt spine or tubercle, a character which distin- guishes the genus Acrydium from it. In other respects these two genera are much alike. 1. Locusta Carolina.* Carolina locust. Pale yellowish brown, with small dusky spots ; wings black, with a broad yellow hind margin, which is covered with dusky spots at the tip. Length from 1 to Ig inch ; exp. 2| to above 3| inches. A more detailed description of this large, common, and well- known species is unnecessary. The Carolina locust is found in abundance by the road-side, from the middle to the end of sum- mer. It generally makes use of its large and handsome wings in moving from place to place. It is frequently found in company with the red-legged locust in the vicinity of salt marshes, but it generally prefers warm and dry situations. Pairing takes place with this species in the months of September and October, im-" mediately after which the female prepares to lay her eggs. These are deposited at the bottom of a cylindrical hole in the ground, made in the manner already described, and are not hatched till the following spring. The abdomen of the female admits of being greatly extended in length, hence she frequently deposits her eggs at the depth of nearly two inches beneath the surface of the soil. 2. Locusta corallina. Coral-winged locust. Light brown ; spotted with dark brown on the wing-covers ; wings light vermilion or coral-red, with an external dusky border, which is wide and paler at the tip, narrowed and darker behind ; hind shanks yellow with black-tipped spines. Length I to IJ inch ; exp. 2| to 21 inches. This species closely resembles the Jlcridium tuberculatum of Palisot de Beauvois, which seems to be the Qidipoda discoidea of Serville, found in the Southern States, of a much larger size than the coral-winged locust, and having the wings of a much deeper and duller red color, and the blackish border not so much • Gryllus Locusta CaroUnus, Linnceus. ORTHOPTERA. 143 narrowed behind. It cannot be mistaken for the fenestralis, which M. Serville describes as having the antennae nearly as long as the body, whereas in this species they are not half that length. The coral-winged locust is the first that makes its appearance with wings in the spring, being found flying about in warm and dry pastures as early as the middle of April or the first of May, and is rendered very conspicuous by its bright colored wings, and the loud noise which it makes in flying. It probably passes the winter in the pupa state, and undergoes its last transformation in the spring ; but its history is not yet fully known to me, and this opinion is the result only of conjecture. 3. Locusta sulphurea. Yellow-winged locust. Dusky brown ; thorax slightly keeled in the middle ; wing- covers ash-colored at their extremities, more or less distinctly spotted with brown ; wings deep yellow next to the body, dusky at tip, the yellow portion bounded beyond the middle by a broad dusky brown band, which curves and is prolonged on the hind margin, but does not reach the angle next to the extremity of the body ; hindmost thighs blackish at the end, and with two black and two whitish bands on the inside ; hindmost shanks and their spines black, with a broad whitish ring just below the knees. Length j% to l^ inch ; exp. 1| to 2^ inches. This insect agrees tolerably well with the brief description given by Fabricius of his Gryllus sulphureus, except that the wings are not sulphur -yellow, but of a deeper tint. It is also described and figured by Palisot de Beauvois under the name of Jicridium sulphureum. It is a rare species in this vicinity. I have taken it, though sparingly, in its perfect state, in May ^nd in September. The elevated ridge on the top of the thorax is higher than in any other species found in Massachusetts. 4. Locusta maritima. Maritime locust. Ash-gray ; face variegated with white ; wing-covers sprinkled with minute brownish spots, and semitransparent at tip ; wings transparent, faintly tinted with yellow next the body, uncolored at tip, with a series of irregular blackish spots forming a curved band across , the middle ; hindmost shanks and feet pale yellow, 144 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. with the extreme points of the spines black. Length | to l^ inch ; exp. ly\ inch to 2| inches. This species comes very near to Mr. Kirby's description of the Locusta leucostoma ; but is evidently distinct from it, and does not appear to have been described before. I have received it from Sandwich, and have found it in great abundance among the coarse grass which grows near the edges of our sandy beach- es, but have never seen it except in the immediate vicinity of the sea. It comes to maturity and lays its eggs about the middle of August or a little later. 5. Locusta cequalis. Barren-ground locust. Ash-gray, mottled with dusky brown and white ; wing-covers semitransparent at tip, with numerous dusky spots which run together so as to form three transverse bands ; wings light yellow on their basal half, transparent with dusky veins and a few spots at the tip, with an intermediate broad black band, which, curving and becoming narrower on the hind margin, is continued to the inner angle of the wing ; hindmost shanks coral-red, with a broad white ring below the knees, and the spines tipped with black. Length 1^ inch ; exp. 2| inches. Mr. Say, to whom I sent a specimen of this handsome locust, informed me that it was his Gryllus equalis, probably intended for cequalis. It is found, during the months of July and August, on dry barren hills and on sandy plains, upon the scanty herbage in- termingled with the rein-deer moss. 6. Locusta latipennis. Broad-winged locust. Ash-colored, mottled with black and gray ; wing-covers semi- transparent beyond the middle, with numerous blackish spots which run together at the base, and form a band across the middle ; wings broad, light yellow on the basal half, the remainder dusky but partially transparent, with black network, and deep black at tip, and an intermediate irregular band, formed by a contiguous series of black spots, reaching only to the hind margin, but not continued towards the inner angle ; hindmost shanks pale yellow, with a black ring below the knees, a broader one at the extremity, and a blackish spot behind the upper part of the shank. Length y\ inch ; exp. lyV inch. ORTHOPTERA. 145 It is possible that this may be a variety of the preceding spe- cies, from which it differs especially in the form and width of the wings and in the colors of the hindmost shanks. It is found in the same places, and at the same time as the barren-ground locust. 7. Locusta marmorata. Marbled locust. Ash-colored, variegated with pale yellow and black ; thorax suddenly narrowed before the middle, and the slightly elevated longitudinal line on the top is cut through in the middle by a transverse fissure ; wing-covers marbled with large whitish and black spots, and semitransparent at the end ; wings light yellow on the half next to the body, transparent near the end, with two black spots on the tip, and a broad intermediate black band, which, narrowed and curving inwards on the hind margin, nearly reaches the inner angle ; hindmost thighs pale yellow, black at the extremity, and nearly surrounded by two broad black bands ; hind shanks coral-red, with a black ring immediately below the knee, and followed by a white ring, black at the lower extremity also, with the tips of the spines black. In some individuals there is an additional black ring below the white one on the shanks. Length from j\ to above y^ inch ; exp. l-j-\ to 1 j^^^ inch. The marbled locust, which is one of our prettiest species, is found in the open places contiguous to or within pitch-pine woods, flying over the scanty grass and rein-deer moss which not unfre- quently grow in these situations. It is marked on the wings somewhat like the barren-ground locust, but is invariably smaller, with the thorax much more contracted before the middle. It appears, in the perfect state, from the middle of July to the mid- dle of October. 8. Locusta eucerata. Long-horned locust. Ash-colored, variegated with gray and dark brown ; antennae nearly as long as the body, and with flattened joints ; thorax very much pinched or compressed laterally before the middle, with a slightly elevated longitudinal hne, which is interrupted by two notches ; wing-covers and wings long and narrow ; the former variegated with dusky spots, and semitransparent at tip ; wings next to the body yellow, sometimes pale, sometimes deep and 19 146 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. almost orange colored, at other times uncolored and seinitranspar- ent ; with a broad black band across the middle, which is narrow- ed and prolonged on the hinder margin, and extends quite to the inner angle ; beyond the band the wings are transparent, with the tips black or covered with blackish spots ; hindmost shanks whit- ish, with a black ring at each end, a broader one of the same color just above the middle, and the spines tipped with black. Length 1 inch to j\ inch ; exp. ly\ inch to more than 1| inch. The wings of this species are very variable in color at the base. The fenestralis described by M. Serville has the base of the wings vermilion red, but in other respects it approaches to this species. The long-horned locust is found oftentimes in company with the marbled species, and also near sea-beaches with the maritime locust, from the last of July to tlie middle of October. 9. Locusta nebulosa. Clouded locust. Dusky brown ; thorax with a slender keel-like elevation, which is cut across in the middle by a transverse fissure ; wing-covers paie, clouded and spotted with brown ; wings transparent, dusky at tip, with a dark brown line on the front margin ; hindmost shanks brown, with darker spines, and a broad whitish ring below the knees. Length from j\ inch to more than 1/^ inch ; exp. from 1| inch to more than 2 inches. A very common species, and easily knowti by its clouded wing- covers and colorless wings. It abounds in pastures and even in corn-fields and gardens, during the months of September and October, at which time it is furnished with wings and may often be seen paired or busied in laying eggs, It does not appear to have been described before. The three following locusts differ from the preceding in having the antennse shorter than the thorax, and slightly thickened to- wards the end, and the face somewhat oblique, the mouth being nearer the breast than in our other species of Locusta ; and they seem to constitute a distinct group or subgenus, which may re- ceive the name of Tragocephala, or goat-headed locusts. ORTHOPTERA. 147 10. Locusta (Tragocephala) infuscata. Dusky locust. Dusky brown ; thorax with a slender keel-Hke elevation ; wing- covers faintly spotted with brown ; wings transparent, pale green- ish yellow next to the body, with a large dusky cloud near the middle of the hind margin, and a black line on the front margin ; hind thighs pale, with two large black spots on the inside ; hind shanks brown, with darker spines, and a b otd whitish ring below the knees. Length | inch ; exp. above 1| inch. This somewhat resembles the clouded locust, from which, however, it is easily distinguished by its much shorter antennse and the dusky cloud on the hinder margin of the wings. I have cap- tured it in pastures, in the perfect state, from the middle of May to near the end of July. I believe that it has never been de- scribed before. 11. Locusta (Tragocephala) viridi-fasciata. Green-striped locust. Green ; thorax keeled above ; wing-covers with a broad green stripe on the outer margin extending from the base beyond the mid- dle and including two small dusky spots on the edge, the remainder dusky but semitransparent at the end ; wings transparent, very pale greenish yellow next to the body, with a large dusky cloud near the middle of the. hind margin, and a black line on the front mar- gin ; antennas, fore and middle legs reddish ; hind thighs green, with two black spots in the furrow beneath ; hind shanks blue- gray, with a broad whitish ring below the knees, and the spines whitish, tipped with black. Length about 1 inch ; exp. from more than 1| to nearly 2 inches. This insect is the Jlcrydium viridi-fasciatum of De Geer, who was the first describer of it, the Gryllus Virginianus of Fabri- cius, the Gryllus Locusta chrysomelas of Gmelin, the Jlcrydium marginatum of Olivier, and the Acridium hemipterum of Palisot de Beauvois. It is remarkable that a species, so strongly marked as this is, should have been so profusely named. Palisot de Beauvois seems to have selected the most appropriate name for it ; for the green portion of the wing-covers is thick and opake, and the dusky portion thin and semitransparent, as in the wing- covers of Hemiplerous insects. It is very common in pastures 148 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. and mowing lands from the first of June to the middle of August, being found in various states of maturity throughout this period. The young also appear still earher, and are readily known by their green color, and large compressed thorax, which is arched and crested or keeled above, and by their very short and flattened antennae. These locusts are sometimes very troublesome in gar- dens, living upon the leaves of vegetables and flowers, and attack- ing the buds and half expanded petals. The larvae or young survive the winter, sheltered among the roots of grass and under leaves. 12. Locusta {Tragocephala) radiata. Radiated locust. Rust-brown ; thorax keeled above ; wing-covers entirely brown, but semitransparent at the end ; wings transparent, with brown network, and the principal longitudinal veins black ; they are very faintly tinted with green next to the body, have a large dusky cloud near the middle of the hind margin, and a brown streak on the front margin ; hind shanks reddish brown, a little paler below the knees, and the spines tipped with black. Length about 1 inch ; exp. from If to 2 inches. This species is now for the first time described. It seems to be rare. I captured one specimen in Cambridge on the first of July, and have received another from Dr. D. S. C, H. Smith of Sutton, Massachusetts. It is found in North Carolina as early as the month of May in the perfect state. The following species have the face still more oblique than the foregoing, but the antennae are much longer, particularly in the males, in which they nearly equal the body in length, and are not enlarged towards the end. The eyes are oval and oblique, and there is a deep hollow before each of them for the reception of the first joint of the antennae. The thorax is not crested or keeled, but is flattened above, with three slender threadlike ele- vated lines, and the hind margin is very nearly transverse, or not much (if at all) angulated behind. The wing-covers and wings are extremely short. The hind-legs are long and slender. I propose therefore to separate these species from the other locusts under a subgenus by the name of Chlo'ealHs, derived from the Greek, and signifying a grasshopper. ORTHOPTERA. 149 13. Locusta (Chlocaltis) conspersa. Sprinkled locust. Light bay, sprinkled with black spots ; a black line on the head behind each eye, extending on each side of the thorax on the lateral elevated line ; wing-covers oblong oval, pale yellowish brown, with numerous small darker brown spots ; wings about three twentieths of an inch long, transparent, with dusky lines at the tip ; hind shanks pale red, with the spines black at the end. Length nearly y\ inch. This may be merely a variety of the following species, though very differently colored. 14. Locusta (Chlo'ealtis) abortiva. Abortive locust. Brown ; wing-covers with dark brown veins and confluent spots, covering two thirds of the abdomen ; wings three twentieths of an inch long, transparent, with dusky hues at the tip ; hind margin of the thorax straight ; hind shanks coral-red, whitish just below the knees, the spines tipped with black. Length nearly j\ inch. This and the preceding locust, have much the appearance of pupae or young insects, nevertheless I believe that their wings and wing-covers never become larger, and Mr. Leonard informs me that they are found paired. I have captured the abortive locust in pastures near the end of July. 15. Locusta (Chlo'ealtis) curtipennis .^ Short- winged locust. Olive-gray above, variegated with dark gray and black ; legs and body beneath yellow ; a broad black line extends from behind each eye on the sides of the thorax ; wing-covers, in the male, as long as the abdomen, in the female, covering two thirds of the abdomen ; wings rather shorter than the wing-covers, transparent, and faintly tinged with yellow ; hinder knees black ; spines on the hind shanks tipped with black. Length from | to more than j\ inch ; exp. from -^^ to nearly 1 inch. The flight of the short-winged locust is noiseless and short, * This species closely resembles a Swedish insect which I have received under the name of jiarallelus, ZetterstedL ; but is evidently distinct from it. 150 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. but it leaps well. Great numbers of these insects are found in our low meadows, in the perfect state, from the first of August till the middle of October. They are easily distinguished from other locusts by their short and narrow wings, by the yellow color of the body beneath, and by the yellow legs and black knees. III. TETRix. Grouse-locust. The Greeks applied the name of Tetrix to some kind of grouse, probably the heath-cock of Europe, and Latreille adopted it for a genus of locusts in which, perhaps, he fancied some resem- blance to the bird in question. Linnaeus placed these locusts in a division of his genus Gryllus which he called Bulla, a name that ought to have been retained for them. The principal dis- tinguishing characters of the genus have already been given, and I will only add that the body is broadest between the middle legs, narrows gradually to a point behind, and very abruptly to the head,' which is much smaller than in the other locusts. The wings are large, forming nearly the quadrant of a circle, thin and delicate, and scalloped on the edge ; when not in use they are folded be- neath the projecting thorax. The four boring appendages of the females are notched on their edges with fine teeth, like a saw. Latreille and Serville have stated that the antennae consist of only thirteen or fourteen joints ; but some of our native species have twenty-two joints in the antennae. Upon this variation I would arrange those now to be described in two groups. I. AntenncB 14-jointecl ; eyes very prominent, loith a projecting ridge between them, formed by a horizontal extension of the flat top of the head ; thorax prolonged beyond the extremity of the body. 1. Tetrix ornata. Ornamented grouse-locust. Dark ash-colored ; a large white patch between four black spots on the top of the thorax ; a white spot on the top of the hind thighs ; thorax nearly or quite as long as the wings. Length II to /o inch to the apex of the thorax. This species varies in wanting the white spot on the top of the thorax sometimes. It was first described by Mr. Say, under the name of Acrydium ornatum.-^ * American Entomology. Vol. 1. Plate 5. ORTHOPTERA. 151 2. Tetrix dorsalis. Red-spotted grouse-locust. Rusty black, with ochre-yellow spots on the sides and legs, and a large rust-red spot on the top of the thorax ; wings extending beyond the apex of the thorax. Length I inch. 3. Tetrix quadrimaculata. Four-spotted grouse-locust. Ash-colored or dark gray above, variegated with black ; four velvet-black spots on the top of the thorax ; wings projecting beyond the extremity of the thorax. Length from j\ to y\ of an inch. This is a shorter and thicker species than the ornamenled grouse-locust. It is not uncommon in pastures from the first of May to the first of , June. 4. Tetrix hilineata. Two-lined grouse-locust. Ash-colored ; thorax paler, with a narrow angular whitish line, on each side, extending from the head beyond the middle ; the angular portion including a long blackish patch on each side ; wings, in the male, rather shorter than the thorax, in the female longer. Length from -^-^ to more than /^ inch. 5. Tetrix sordida. Sordid grouse-locust. Yellowish ash-colored ; thorax with minute elevated black points ; wings, in both sexes, rather longer than the thorax. Length from /^ inch to nearly | inch. I have taken this species both in May and September, and have received a specimen from Dr. D. S. C. H. Smith, of Sutton, Massachusetts. IL Antennoe 22-jointed ; eyes hardly prominent, top of the head not horizontal between them, but curving towards the front, with a very slightly projecting ridge ; wings smaller than in those of the preceding group. 6. Tetrix lateralis. Black-sided grouse-locust. Pale brown ; sides of the body blackish ; thorax yellowish clay-colored, shorter than the wings, but longer than the body ; wing-covers with a small white spot at the tips ; male with the 152 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. face and the edges of the lateral margins of the thorax yellow. Length from /^ to j% of an inch. This species was first described by Mr. Say under the name of Acrydium laterah*. I have taken it from the middle of April to the middle of May. It varies in being darker above sometimes. 7. Tetrix parvipennis. Small-winged grouse-locust. Dark brown ; sides blackish ; thorax clay-colored or pale brown, about as long as the body ; wing-covers with a small white spot at the tips ; wings much shorter than the thorax ; male with the face and the edges of the lateral margins of the thorax yellow. Length from -^-^ to more than -gV inch. This species is much shorter and thicker than the Tetrix late- ralis. I have taken it in April and May, in the perfect state, and have found the pupse near the end of July. The habits of the grouse-locusts are said to be absolutely the same as those of other locusts. They seem however to be more fond of heat, being generally found in grassy places, on banks, by the sides of the road, and even on the naked sands, exposed to the full influence of the sun throughout the day. They are ex- tremely agile, and consequently very difficult to capture, for they leap to an astonishing distance, considering their small size, being moreover aided in this motion by their ample wings. The young, which are deprived of wings, are generally found about midsum- mer, and are readily distinguished by the thorax, which is some- what like a reversed boat, being furnished with a longitudinal ridge or keel from one end to the other. These little locusts are analogous to the insects belonging to the genus Membracis in the order Hemiptera, which also are distinguished by a very large thorax covering the whole of the upper side of the body, small wing-covers, and have the faculty of making great leaps. Indeed these two kinds of insects very naturally connect the orders Or- thoptera and Hemiptera together. After so much space has been devoted to an account of the ravages of grasshoppers and locusts, and to the descriptions of the insects themselves, perhaps it may be expected that the means of * American Entomology. Vol. I. plate 5. ORTHOPTERA. 153 checking and destroying them should be fully explained. The naturalist, however, seldom has it in his power to put in practice the various remedies which his knowledge or experience may suggest. His proper province consists in examining the living objects about him with regard to their structure, their scientific arrangement, and their economy or history. In doing this, he opens to others the way to a successful course of experiments, the trial of which he is generally obliged to leave to those who are more favorably situated for their performance. In the South of France the people make a business, at certain seasons of the year, of collecting locusts and their eggs, the latter being turned out of the ground in Httle masses cemented and cov- ered with a sort of gum in which they are enveloped by the in- sects. Rewards are offered and paid for their collection, half a franc being given for a kilogramme (about 2 lb. 3i oz. avoirdu- pois) of the insects, and a quarter of a franc for the same weight of their eggs. At this rate twenty thousand francs were paid in Marseilles, and twenty-five thousand in Aries, in the year 1613 ; in 1824, five thousand five hundred and forty-two, and in 1825, six thousand two hundred francs were paid in Marseilles. It is stated that an active boy can collect from six to seven kilogram- mes (or from 13 lb. 3 oz. 13.22 dr. to 15 lb. 7 oz. 2.09 dr.) of eggs in one day. The locusts are taken by means of a piece of stout cloth, carried by four persons, two of whom draw it rapidly along, so that the edge may sweep over the surface of the soil, and the two others hold up the cloth behind at an angle of forty- five degrees.* This contrivance seems to operate somewhat like a horse-rake, in gathering the insects into winrows or heaps, from which they are speedily transferred to large sacks. A somewhat similar plan has been successfully tried in this country, as appears by an account extracted from the " Portsmouth Journal," and pub- hshed in the " New-England Farmer. f" It is there stated that, in July 1826, Mr. Arnold Thompson, of Epsom, New Hampshire, caught, in one evening, between the hours of eight and twelve, in his own and his neighbour's grain fields, five bushels and three * See Annales de la Societe Entomologiqne dc France. Vol. II. pp. 48G-489. t Vol. V. p. 5. 20 154 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. pecks of grasshoppers, or more properly locusts. " His mode of catching them was by attaching two sheets together, and fastening them to a pole, which was used as the front part of the drag. The pole extended beyond the width of the sheets, so as to admit persons at both sides to draw it forward. At the sides of the drag, braces extended from the pole to raise the back part consid- erably from the ground, so that the grasshoppers could not es- cape. After running the drag about a dozen rods with rapidity, the braces were taken out, and the sheets doubled over ; the grasshoppers were then swept from each end towards the centre of the sheet, vv^here was left an opening to the mouth of a bag which held about half a bushel ; when deposited and tied up, the drag was again opened and ready to proceed. When this bag was filled so as to become burthensome, (their weight is about the same as that of the same measure of corn,) the bag was open- ed into a larger one, and the grasshoppers received into a new deposit. The drag can be used only in the evening, when the grasshoppers are perched on the top of the grain. ^ His manner of destroying them was by dipping the large bags into a kettle of boiling water. When boiled, they had a reddish appearance, and made a fine feast for the farmer's hogs." When these insects are very prevalent on our salt marshes, it will be advisable to mow the grass early, so as to secure a crop before it has suffered much loss. The time for doing this will be determined by data fur- nished in the foregoing pages, where it will be seen that the most destructive species come to maturity during the latter part of July. If then, the marshes are mowed about the first of July, the locusts, being at that time small and not provided with wings, will be unable to migrate, and will consequently perish on the ground for the want of food, while a tolerable crop of hay will be secured, and the marshes will suffer less from the insects during the follow- ing summer. This, like all other preventive measures, must be generally adopted, in order to prove effectual ; for it will avail a farmer but little to take preventive measures on his own land, if his neighbours, who are equally exposed and interested, neglect to do the same. Among the natural means which seem to be appointed to keep these insects in check, violent winds and storms may be mentioned, which sometimes sweep them off in ORTHOPTERA. 155 great swarms, and cast them into the sea. Vast numbers are drowned by the high tides that frequently inundate our marshes. They are subject to be attacked by certain thread-Hke brown or blackish worms (Filaria), resembling in appearance those called horse-hair eels (^Gordius). I have taken three or four of these animals out of the body of a single locust. They are also much infested by little red mites, belonging apparently to the genus Oci/pete ; these so much weaken the insects by sucking the juices from their bodies, as to hasten their death. Ten or a dozen of these mites will frequently be found pertinaciously adhering to the body of a locust, beneath its wing-covers and wings. A kind of sand-wasp preys upon grasshoppers, and provisions her nest with them. Many birds devour them, particularly our domestic fowls, which eat great numbers of grasshoppers, locusts, and even crickets. Young turkeys, if allowed to go at large during the summer, derive nearly the whole of their subsistence from these insects. 156 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. . - HEMIPTERA. Bugs." — Squash-Boo. Plant-Bugs. — Harvest-Flies. — Tree-Hoppers. — Leaf-Hoppers. Vine-Hopper. Bean-Hopper. — Thrips. — Plant-Lice. American Blight. — Enemies of Plant-Lice. — Bark-Lice. The word bug seems originally to have been used for any frightful object, whether real or imaginary, whose appearance was to be feared at night. It was applied in the same sense as bug- bear, and also as a term of contempt for something disagreeable or hateful. In later times it became, with the common people, a general name for insects, which, being little known, were viewed with dishke or terror. At present, however, we can say, with L'Estrange, though "we have a horror for uncouth monsters, upon experience all these bugs grow familiar and easy to us." We would except, from this remark, those domestic nocturnal species to which the name is now applied by way of preemi- nence ; the real, by an easy transition in the use of language, having assumed the name of the imaginary objects of terror and disgust by night. Entomologists now use the word bug for various kinds of in- sects, all, like the bed-bug, having the mouth provided with a slender beak, which, when not in use, is bent under the body, and lies upon the breast between the legs. This instrument consists of a horny sheath, containing, in a groove along hs upper surface, three stiff bristles as sharp as needles. Bugs have no jaws, but live by sucking the juices of animals and plants, which they obtain by piercing them with their beaks. Although the domestic kinds above mentioned are without wirig-covers and wings, yet most bugs have both, and, with the former, belong to an order called Hemiptera, literally half-wings, on account of the peculiar con- struction of their wing-covers, the hinder half of which is thin and filmy like the wings, while the forepart is thick and opake. There are, however, other insects provided with the same kind of beak, but having the wing-covers sometimes entirely transparent, and sometimes more or less opake, and these, by most entomolo- gists, are also classed among Hemipterous insects, because they HEMIPTERA. 157 come much nearer to them, than to any other insects, in structure and habits. Bugs, Hke other insects, undergo three changes, but they retain nearly the same form in all their stages ; for the only transformation to which they are subject, from the young to the adult state, is occasioned by the gradual development of their wing-covers and wings, and the growth of their bodies, which make it necessary for them repeatedly to throw off their skins, to allow of their increase in size. Young, half-grown, and mature, all hve in the same way, and all are equally active. The young come forth from the egg without wing-covers and wings, which begin to appear in the form of little scales on the top of their backs as they grow older, and increase in size with each succes- sive moulting of the skin, till they are fully developed in the full- grown insect. The Hemiptera are divided into two groups, distinguished by the following characters. 1. Bugs, or True Hemiptera {Hemiptera heteroptera) , in which the wing-covers are thick and opake at the base, but thin and more or less transparent and wing-like at the tips, are laid hor- izontally on the top of the back, and cross each other obliquely at the end, so that the thin part of one wing-cover overlaps the same part of the other ; the wings are also horizontal, and are not plaited ; the head is more or less horizontal, and the beak issues from the forepart of it, and is abruptly bent backwards beneath the under-side of the head, and the breast. Some of the insects belonging to this division live on animal, and others on vegetable juices. 2. Harvest-flies, Plant-lice, and Bark-lice {Hemip- tera homoptera), in which the wing-covers are, as the scientific name implies, of one texture throughout, and are either entirely thin and transparent, hke wings, or somewhat thicker and opake; they are not horizontal, and do not cross each other at their ex- tremities, but, together with the wings, are more or less inclined at the sides of the body, like the wing-covers of locusts ; the face is either vertical, or slopes obliquely under the body, so that the beak issues from the under-side of the head close to the breast. All the insects included in this division, live on vegetable juices. 158 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. I. BUGS. {Hemiptera heteroptera.) The hemipterous insects belonging to this division are various kinds of bugs, properly so called, such as squash-bugs, bed-bugs, fruit-bugs, water-bugs, water-boatmen, and many others, for which there are no common names in our language. In my Catalogue of the Insects of Massachusetts, the scientific names of ninety-five native species are given ; but, as the mere description of these insects, unaccompanied by any details respecting their economy and habits, would not interest the majority of readers, and as I am not sufficiently prepared to furnish these details at present, I shall confine my remarks to two or three species only. The common squash-bug, Coreus tristis, so well known for the injurious effects of its punctures on the leaves of squashes, is one of the most remarkable of these insects. It was first described by De Geer, who gave it the specific name of tristis, from its sober color, which Gmelin unwarrantably changed to mcestus, having, however, the same meaning. Fabricius called it Coreus rugator, the latter word signifying one who wrinkles, which was probably applied to this insect, because its punctures cause the leaves of the squash to become wrinkled. Mr. Say, not being aware that this insect had already been three times named and described, re- described it under the name of Coreus ordinatus. Of these four names, however, that of tristis, being the first, is the only one which it can retain. Coreus, its generical name, was altered by Fabricius from Coris, a word used by the Greeks for some kind of bug. About the last of October squash-bugs desert the plants upon which they have lived during the summer, and conceal them- selves in crevices of walls and fences, and other places of security, where they pass the winter in a torpid state. On the return of warm weather, they issue from their winter quarters, and when the vines of the squash have put forth a few rough leaves, the bugs meet beneath their shelter, pair, and immediately afterwards begin to lay their eggs. This usually happens about the last of June or beginning of .luly, at which time, by carefully examining the vines, we shall find the insects on the ground or on the stems of the vines, close to the ground, from which they are hardly to be distinguished on account of their dusky color. This is the HEMI^PTERA. 159 place where they generally remain durmg the daytime, appar- ently to escape observation ; but at night they leave the ground, get beneath the leaves, and lay their eggs in little patches, fasten- ing them with a gummy substance to the under-sides of the leaves. The eggs are round, and flattened on two sides, and are soon hatched. The young bugs are proportionally shorter and more rounded than the perfect insects, are of a pale ash-color, and have quite large antennae, the joints of which are somewhat flattened. As they grow older and increase in size, after moulting their skins a few times, they become more oval in form, and the under-side of their bodies gradually acquires a dull ochre-yellow color. They live together at first in little swarms or families beneath the leaves upon which they were hatched, and which, in consequence of the numerous punctures of the insects, and the quantity of sap imbibed by them, soon wither, and eventually become brown, dry, and wrinkled ; when the insects leave them for fresh leaves, which they exhaust in the same way. As the eggs are not all laid at one time, so the bugs are hatched in successive broods, and consequently will be found in various stages of growth through the summer. They, however, attain their full size, pass through their last transformation, and appear in their perfect state, or furnished with wing-covers and wings, during the months of September and October. In this last state the squash-bug meas- ures six tenths of an inch in length. It is of a rusty black color above, and of a dirty ochre-yellow color beneath, and the sharp lateral edges of the abdomen, which project beyond the closed wing-covers, are spotted with ochre-yellow. The thin overlap- ping portion of the wing-covers is black ; the wings are transpar- ent, but are dusky at their tips ; and the upper side of the abdo- men, upon which the wings rest when not in use, is of a deep black color, and velvety appearance. The ground-color of this insect is really ochre-yellow, and the rusty black hue of the head, thorax, thick part of the wing-covers, and legs, is occasioned by numerous black punctures, that, on the head, are arranged in two broad black longitudinal lines, between which, as well as on the margin of the thorax, the yellow is distinctly to be seen. On the back-part of the head of this bug, and rather behind the eyes, are two little glassy elevated spots, which are called eyelets, and 160 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. which are supposed to enable the insect to see distant objects above it, while the larger eyes at the sides of the head are for nearer objects around it. Eyelets are also to be found in grass- hoppers, locusts, and many other insects. In some of our species of Coreus there is a little thorn at the base of the antennae, the legs are also thorny on the under-side, and the hindmost thighs are much thicker than the others ; but none of these characters are found in squash-bugs*. When handled, and still more when crushed, the latter give out an odor precisely similar to that of an over-ripe pear, but far too powerful to be agreeable. In order to prevent the ravages of these insects, they should be sought and killed when they are about to lay their eggs ; and if any escape our observation at this time, their eggs may be easily found and crushed. With this view the squash-vines must be visited daily, during the early part of their growth, and must be carefully examined for the bugs and their eggs. A very short time spent in this way every day, in the proper season, will save a great deal of vexation and disappointment afterwards. If this precaution be neglected or deferred till the vines have begun to spread, it will be exceedingly difficult to exterminate the insects, on account of their numbers ; and, if at this time dry weather should prevail, the vines will suffer so much from the bugs and drought together, as to produce but little if any fruit. Whatever contributes to bring forward the plants rapidly, and to promote the vigor and luxuriance of their foliage, renders them less hable to suffer by the exhausting punctures of the young bugs. Water drained from a cow-yard, and similar preparations have, with this intent, been applied with benefit. During the summer of 1838, and particularly in the early part of the season, which, it will be recollected, was very dry, our gardens and fields swarrped with immense numbers of Httle bugs, that attacked almost all kinds of herbaceous plants. My attention was first drawn to them in consequence of the injury sustained by a few dahlias, marigolds, asters, and balsams with which I had stocked a little border around my house. In the garden of my friends the Messrs. Hovey, at Cambridgeport, I observed, about * They appear to belong to the sub-genus STjromastes of Latreille and Laporte. HEMIPTERA. 161 the same time, that these insects were committing sad havoc, and was informed that various means had been tried to destroy or ex- pel them without effect. On visiting my potato-patch shortly afterwards, I found the insects there also in great numbers on the vines ; and, from information worthy of credit, am inclined to be- lieve that these insects contributed, quite as much as the dry weather of that season, to diminish the produce of the potato fields in this vicinity. They principally attacked the buds, ter- minal shoots, and most succulent growing parts of these and other herbaceous plants, puncturing them with their beaks, drawing off the sap, and, from the effects subsequently visible, apparently poisoning the parts attacked. These shortly afterwards withered, turned black, and in a few days dried up ; or curled, and remained permanently stunted in their growth. Early in the morning the bugs would be found buried among the little expanding leaves of the growing extremities of the plants, at which time it was not very difficult to catch them ; but, afier they had become warmed a little by the sun, they became exceedingly active, and, on the approach of the fingers, would loose their hold, and either drop suddenly or fly away. Sometimes, too, when on the stem of a plant, they would dodge round to the other side, and thus elude our grasp. 1 regret that the pressure of other occupations, during the proper season for investigating the history and transforma- tions of these insects, has hitherto prevented me from observing them during their various stages, and that I have not been able to obtain the requisite information from other persons. I can there- fore only add, to the facts above stated, a description of the insects in their adult state, with the times of their appearance. This kind of bug is the Phytocoris Uneolaris, a variety of which was first described and figured by Palisot de Beauvois un- der the specific name above given, and was doubtingly referred by him to the genus Coreus ; and it was subsequently described by Mr. Say, who called it Capsus oblineatus. All the insects be- longing to the genus Phijtocoris* (which means plant-bug) are * This new genus or sub-genus was instituted by Fallen, and is not noticed by Latreille and Laporte. It differs from Capsus chiefly in having a smaller head, and the thorax wider behind, and narrower before, than in the latter genus. 21 162 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. found on plants, and subsist on their juices, which they obtain by suction through their sharp beaks. They are easily distinguished from other bugs by the following characters. Eyelets wanting ; antennae four-jointed, with the first and second joints much thicker than the two last, which are very slender and threadlike ; the head short and triangular ; the body oval, flattened, and soft ; the thorax in the form of a broad triangle, with the tip of the anterior angle cut off, and the broadest side applied to the base of the wing-covers ; the latter, when folded, cover the whole of the ab- domen, and their thin portions have only one or two little veins ; the legs are slender, and the shanks are bristled with little points. There are, in this Commonwealth, a good many species belonging to this genus ; but, in my Catalogue of the insects of Massachu- setts, they are included among the species of Capsus, which, indeed, they closely resemble. The Phytocoris lineolaris, or little-lined plant-bug, measures one fifth of an inch, or rather more, in length. It is an exceedingly variable species. The males are generally much darker than the females, being very deep livid brown or almost black above. The head is yellowish, with three narrow longitudinal reddish stripes ; the first joint of the antennae, the terminal half of the second, and the last two joints are blackish ; the beak is more than one third the whole length of the body, when folded beneath the breast, extends to the middle pair of legs, and is of a yellowish color, ringed with black ; the thorax, or that part of the body that comes immedi- ately behind the head, is thickly covered with punctures, has a yellow margin, and five longitudinal yellow lines upon it, which often disappear on the back part ; the scutel, or escutcheon, a small triangular piece behind the thorax, and interposed between the bases of the wing-covers, is also margined with yellow, and has a yellow spot upon it in the form of the letter V, which is often imperfect, so that only three small yellow spots are visible in the place of the three extremities of the letter ; the thick part of the wing-covers is brown, with the outer edge and the longitu- dinal veins sometimes pale or yellowish, and behind this thick part there is a large yellowish spot, on the posterior tip of which is a small black point ; the thin or membranous part of the wing- covers is shaded with dusky clouds ; the under-side of the body is HEMIFTERA. 163 marked with a yellowish line or a longitudinal series of yellow spots on each side of the middle ; the legs are dirty brownish yel- low, the thighs blackish at base, and with two black rings near the tip, and the extremities of the feet are blackish. The females are most often of a pale olive-green, or of a dirty greenish yellow color ; the thorax spotted and more or less distinctly striped with black, and the thick part of the wing-covers also variegated with dusky or brownish Hues and clouds. In both sexes, however, the yellow V, or the three spots on the thorax, and the large yellow spot tipped with black on the wing-covers, are conspicuous char- acters, which readily afford the means of identifying the species*. I have taken this insect in the spring, as early as the twentieth of April, and in the autumn, as late as the middle of October ; from which I infer that it passes the winter in the perfect state in some place of security. It is most abundant during the months of June and July. Specimens have been sent to me from Maine, New York, North Carolina, and Alabama, and Mr. Say records its occurrence in Pennsylvania, Indiana, the North- West Territory, and Missouri. It seems, therefore, to be very generally diffused throughout the Union. The history of this species is yet imperfect. We know not where and when the eggs are laid ; the young have not been ob- served ; and the insects, during the early periods of their exist- ence, have escaped notice, and are only known to us after they have completed their final transformations. It is possible that further information upon the history of these insects may afibrd some aid in devising proper remedies against their ravages. Upon a limited scale, as on plants growing in our gardens, may be tried the effect of sprinkling them with alkaline solutions, such as strong soap-suds, or potash-water, or with decoctions of tobacco and of walnut leaves, or of dusting the plants with air-slacked lime or sulphur. But in field husbandry such applications would be im- * This species bears a very close resemblance to one which I have received from Sweden, under the name of Phytocoris campestris of Linnaeus and Fallen ; but it is larger and proportionally broader, the punctures of the thorax are deeper, and the yellow spot on the wing-covers is much more conspicuous than in the Swedish co-species. My description oC Phytocoris lineolaris, was drawn up from living specimens. They fade very much after death. 164 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. practicable. I am inclined to believe that nothing will prove so effectual as thorough irrigation, or copious and frequent showers of rain, which will bring forward the plants with such rapidity, that they will soon become so strong and vigorous as to withstand the attacks of these little bugs. The great increase of these and other noxious insects may fairly be attributed to the exterminating war which has wantonly been waged upon our insect-eating birds, and we may expect the evil to increase unless these little friends of the farmer are protected, or left undisturbed to multiply, and follow their natural habits. Meanwhile, some advantage may be derived from encouraging the breed of our domestic fowls. A flock of young chickens or turkeys, if suffered to go at large in a garden, while the mother is confined within their sight and hearing, under a suitable crate or cage, will devour great numbers of destructive insects ; and our farmers should be urged to pay more attention than heretofore to the rearing of chickens, young turkeys, and ducks, with a view to the benefits to be de- rived from their destruction of insects. II. HARVEST-FLIES, &c. {Hemiptera Homoptera.) By many entomologists this division is raised to the rank of a separate order, under the name of Homoptera; but the insects arranged in it are, as already stated, much more like the true Hemiptera, or bugs, than they are to the insects in any other order, which shows the propriety of keeping these two divisions together, and that separately they hold only a subordinate impor- tance compared with other orders. The insects belonging to this division are divided by naturalists into three large groups, or tribes. 1. Harvest-flies, or Cicadians (CicADADiE) ; having short an- tennae, which are awl-shaped or tipped with a little bristle ; wings and wing-covers, in both sexes, inclined at the sides of the body ; three joints to their feet ; firm and hard skins ; and in which the females have a piercer, lodged in a furrow beneath the extremity of the body. 2. Plant-lice (Aphidid^); having antennae longer than the head, and threadlike or tapering from the root to the end ; wing-covers ©RTHOPTERA. 165 and wings frequently wanting in the females ; feet two-jointed ; the body very soft, generally furnished with two little tubercles at the end ; no piercer in the females. 3. Bark-lice (Coccid^) ; having threadlike or tapering an- tennae, longer than the head ; the males alone provided with wings, which lie horizontally on the top of the back ; no beak in this sex ; females wingless, but furnished with beaks ; the feet with only one joint, terminated by a single claw ; skins tolerably firm and hard ; two slender threads at the extremity of the body ; no piercer in the females. I. Harvest-flies. (Cicadadce.) The most remarkable insects in this group are those to which naturalists now apply the name of Cicada. They are readily distinguished by their broad heads, the large and very convex eyes on each side, and the three eyelets on the crown ; by the transparent and veined wing-covers and wings ; and by the eleva- tion on the back part of the thorax in the form of the letter X. The males have a peculiar organization which enables them to emit an excessively loud buzzing kind of sound, which, in some species, may be heard at the distance of a mile ; and the females are furnished with a curiously contrived piercer, for perforating the limbs of trees, in which they place their eggs. Without attempting a detailed description of the complicated mechanism of these parts, which could only be made intelligible by means of figures, I shall merely give a brief and general account of them, which may suffice for the present occasion. The musical instru- ments of the male consist of a pair of kettle-drums, one on each side of the body, and these, in the seventeen-year Cicada (or lo- cust as it is generally but improperly called in America), are plainly to be seen just behind the wings. These drums are formed of convex pieces of parchment, covered with numerous fine plaits, and, in the species above named, are lodged in cavi- ties on the sides of the body behind the thorax. They are not played upon with sticks, but by muscles or cords fastened to the inside of the drums. When these muscles contract and relax, which they do with great rapidity, the drum-heads are alternately tightened and loosened, recovering their natural convexity by their 166 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. own elasticity. The effect of this rapid alternate tension and re- laxation is the production of a rattling sound, hke that caused by a succession of quick pressures upon a slightly convex and elastic piece of tin plate. Certain cavities within the body of the in- sect, which may be seen on raising two large valves beneath the belly, and which are separated from each other by thin partitions having the transparency and brilliancy of mica or of thin and highly polished glass, tend to increase the vibrations of the sounds, and add greatly to their intensity. In most of our species of Cicada, the drums are not visible on the outside of the body, hut are covered by convex triangular pieces on each side of the first ring behind the thorax, which must be cut away in order to ex- pose them. On raising the large valves of the belly, however, there is seen, close to each side of the body, a little opening, like a pocket, in which the drum is lodged, and from which the sound issues when the insect opens the valves. The hinder ex- tremity of the body of the female is conical, and the under-side has a longitudinal channel for the reception of the piercer, which is furthermore protected by four short grooved pieces fixed in the sides of the channel. The piercer itself consists of three parts in close contact with each other ; namely, two outer ones grooved on the inside and enlarged at the tips, which externally are beset with small teeth like a saw, and a central, spear-pointed borer, which plays between the other two. Thus this instrument has the power and does the work both of an awl and of a double- edged saw, or rather of two key-hole saws cutting opposite to each other. No species of Cicada possesses the power of leap- ing. The legs are rather short, and the anterior thighs are armed beneath with two stout spines. The duration of life in winged insects is comparatively very short, seldom exceeding two or three weeks in extent, and in many is limited to the same number of days or hours. To in- crease and multiply is their principal business in this period of their existence, if not the only one, and the natural term of their life ends when this is accomplished. In their previous states, however, they often pass a much longer time, the length of which depends, in great measure, upon the nature and abundance of their food. Thus maggots, which subsist upon decaying animal or ORTHOPTERA. 167 vegetable matter, come more quickly to their growth than cater- pillars and other insects which devour living plants ; the former are appointed to remove an offensive nuisance, and do their work quickly ; the latter have a longer time assigned to them, cor- responding in some degree to the progress or continuance of vege- tation. The facilities afforded for obtaining food influence the duration of life ; hence those grubs that live in the solid trunks of perennial trees, which they are obliged to perforate in order to obtain nourishment, are longer lived than those that devour the tender parts of leaves and fruits, which, though they last only for a season, require no laborious efforts to be prepared for food. The harvest-flies continue only a few weeks after their final trans- formation, and their only nourishment consists of vegetable juices, which they obtain by piercing the bark and leaves of plants with their beaks ; and during this period they lay their eggs, and then perish. They are, however, amply compensated for the short- ness of their life in the winged state by the length of their pre- vious existence, during which they are wingless and grub-like in form, and live under ground, where they obtain their food only by much labor in perforating the soil among the roots of plants, the juices of which they imbibe by suction. To meet the difficulties of their situation and the precarious supply of their food, for which they have to grope in the dark in their subterranean re- treats, a remarkable longevity is assigned to them ; and one spe- cies has obtained the name of Cicada septendecim, on account of its life being protracted to the period of seventeen years. This insect has been observed in the southeastern parts of Massachusetts, but does not seem to have extended to other parts of the State. The earliest account that we have of it is con- tained in Morton's " Memorial," wherein it is stated that "there was a numerous company of flies, which were like for bigness unto wasps or bumblebees," which appeared in Plymouth in the Spring of 1633. " They came out of little holes in the ground, and did eat up the green things, and made such a constant yelling noise as made the woods ring of them, and ready to deafen the hearers." Judge Davis, in the Appendix to his edition of Sec- retary Morton's "Memorial," states that these insects appeared in Plymouth, Sandwich, and Falmouth in the year 1804 ; but, if 168 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the exact period of seventeen years was observed, they should have returned in 1803. Circumstances may occasionally retard or accelerate their progress to maturity, but the usual interval is certainly seventeen years, according to the observations and testi- mony of many persons of undoubted veracity. Their occur- rence in large swarms at lf)ng intervals, like that of the migratory locusts of the east, probably suggested the name of locusts, which has commonly been applied to them in this country. The fol- lowing extract from a letter* from the late Rev. Ezra Shaw Goodwin, of Sandwich, contains some interesting particulars which this gentleman had the kindness to communicate to me. " I have not been unmindful of what you said to me respecting the locust insects, nor of the promise I made you with respect to them. They appeared in this town in the year 1821, in the middle of June. Their last previous appearance was in 1804, and their last, previous to that, was in 1787. I ascertained these periods from the statements of individuals, who remembered that it was locust-year, when this or that event occurred ; as, when this one was married, or that one's eldest son was born ; events, the date of which the husband or the parent would not be very likely to forget. The remembrance of all, though fixed by dif- ferent events, concurred in establishing the same years for the ap- pearance of the locusts. " I first took notice of them in 1821, on the 17th of June, from their noise. They appeared chiefly in the forests, or in thickets of forest-trees, principally oak. Their nearest distance from my dweUing cannot be far from a mile ; yet, at a still hour, their music was distinctly heard there. On going to visit them, I found the oak-trees and bushes swarming with them in a winged state. They came up out of the ground a creeping insect. Very soon, after they had arrived on the surface of the earth, the skin, or rather the shell of the insect burst upon the back, and the winged insect came forth, leaving the skin or shell upon the earth, in a perfect form, and uninjured, saving at the rupture on the back ; showing an entire withdrawing of the living animal, as much so as does the snake's skin after he has left it. Thus these skins * Dated Oct. 19, 1832. HEMIPTERA. 169 lay in immense numbers under the trees, entirely empty, and per- fect in shape. The winged insects did not, so far as I could as- certain, eat any thing. Motion and propagation appeared to be the whole object of their existence. They continued about four or five weeks, and then died." Previous to this event " the females laid their eggs in the tender parts of oak branches, near the extremities, making a longitudinal furrow, and depositing rows of eggs therein. They then sawed the branch partly off below the eggs, so that the wind could twist off the extreme part con- taining the eggs, and let it fall to the ground. In this way they injured the trees extensively. The forest had a gloomy appear- ance from the number of these extremities partially twisted off, and hanging, with their dead leaves, ready to fall. In a few weeks they were nearly all separated from the trees, and carried their vital burdens to the earth, which was, certainly, well seeded for a harvest in 1838. I know of no other damage which they did." " I believe the locusts appear in different places, in different years, and understand that the locust-year, in some places not far distant, is different from their year in this town." This letter was accompanied by specimens of the insects, in their various states, obtained and preserved by Mr. Goodwin. The writer of an article in the " Boston Magazine " for Novem- ber, 1784, observes that Mr. Morton must have been mistaken as to these insects, in saying that they eat up the green things, which, from the structure of their mouths, we now know could not have been the case. This writer also records the appearance of these insects in 1784, and the place of his residence, in which this oc- curred, is believed to have been in the County of Bristol ; which coincides with the remark made by Mr. Goodwin, that in different places they appear in different years. This remark is further- more confirmed by the observations of various persons* who * Among the authorities which I have consulted upon the history of the 17-year Cicada, may be mentioned the Rev. Andrew Sandel, of Philadelphia, an abstract of whose account is given in the 4th vol. of Mitchill and Miller's " Medical Repository," p. 71; the " Columbian 31agazine," vol. 1, pages 86 and 108; Mr. Moses Bartram's account in Dodsley's " Annual Register " for 17C7, p. 103; Dr. McMurlrie, in the 8th vol. of the " Encyclopaedia Americana," p. 43; Dr. S. P. Hildreth's interesting account in the 10th vol. of Silliman's " American Journal of 22 170 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. have published accounts of the occurrence of these insects in the Middle, Southern, and Western States, where, at regular inter- vals of seventeen years, varying according to the locality, they are seen even in greater abundance than in Massachusetts. The following dates and places of their ascent are given in Professor Potter's "Notes on the Locusta decern Septima" (Cicada sep- tendecini) ; Maryland, 1749, 1766, 1783, 1800, 1817, 1834 ; South Carohna and Georgia 1817, 1834 ; Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1826 ; Louisiana, 1829 ; Gallipolis, Ohio, 1821, and Muskingum, 1829 : western parts of Pennsylvania, 1832 ; Fall-River, Massachusetts, 1834. To these may be added from other sources, :^ennsylvania, 1715, 1766, 1783, 1800, 1817;* Marietta, Ohio, 1795, 1812 ; Plymouth, 1633, 1804 ; Sandwich, 1787, 1804, 1821 ; Genesee County, New York, 1832; Mar- tha's Vineyard, 1833. From information derived from various sources it appears that this species is widely spread over the coun- try, with the exception only of the northern parts of New Eng- land ; and that it may be seen in some portion of the United States almost every year ; and, although certain disturbing causes may occasionally accelerate or retard the return of individuals, or even of an entire swarm, in any one place, yet the lineal descen- dants of one particular family or swarm will ordinarily come forth only once in seventeen years, while those of other swarms may appear, after equally regular intervals, in the intervening period, in other places. The seventeen-year Cicada (Cicada septendecim of Linnaeus), in the winged state, is of a black color, with transparent wings and wing-covers, the thick anterior edge and larger veins of which Science," p. 327 ; and a pamphlet entitled "Notes on the Locusta," &c., with which I have been favored by the author, Professor Nathaniel Potter, of Baltimore. This last work is exclusively devoted to the history of this insect, and has aftorded me much valuable iiiformation. From these various sources I have selected the principal facts which follow. Mr. Collinson's " Observations on the Cicada of North America," published in the "Philosophical Transactions " of London, vol. 54, p. 05, with a plate, probably refer to the seventeen-year Cicada, but the insects figured are not the same, and seem to be the Cicada priiinosa of Mr. Say. * A writer in the " United Stales Gazette " records the appearance of these in- sects in great numbers in Ger^iiantown, Pennsylvania, on the 25lh of May, at four successive periods. HEMIPTERA. 171 are orange-red, and near the tips of the latter there is a dusky- zigzag line in the form of the letter W ; the eyes when living are also red ; the rings of the body are edged with dull orange ; and the legs are of the same color. The wings expand from 2| to 3|- inches. In those parts of Massachusetts which are subject to the visita- tion of this Cicada, it may be seen in forests of oak about the middle of June. Here such immense numbers are sometimes congregated, as to bend and even break down the limbs of the trees by their weight, and the woods resound with the din of their discordant drums from morning to evening. After pairing, the females proceed to prepare a nest for the reception of their eggs. They select, for this purpose, branches of a moderate size, which they clasp on both sides with their legs, and then bending down the piercer at an angle of about forty-five degrees, they repeatedly^ thrust it obliquely into the bark and wood in the direction of the fibres, at the same time putting in motion the lateral saws, and in this way detach little splinters of the wood at one end, so as to form a kind of fibrous lid or cover to the perforation. The hole is bored obliquely to the pith, and is gradually enlarged by a rep- etition of the same operation, till a longitudinal fissure is formed of sufficient extent to receive from ten to twenty^ eggs. The side- pieces of the piercer serve as a groove to convey the eggs into the nest, where they are deposited in pairs, side by side, but separated from each other by a portion of woody fibre, and they are implanted into the limb somewhat obliquely, so that one end points upwards. When two eggs have been thus placed, the insect withdraws the piercer for a moment, and then inserts it again and drops two more eggs in a line with the first, and repeats the operation till she has filled the fissure from one end to the other, upon which she removes to a little distance, and begins to make another nest to contain two more rows of eggs. She is about fifteen minutes in preparing a single nest and filling it with eggs ; but it is not unusual for her to make fifteen or twenty fissures in the same hmb ; and one observer counted fifty nests extending along in a line, each containing fifteen or twenty eggs in two rows, and all of them apparently the work of one insect. After one limb is thus sufficiently stocked, the Cicada goes to 172 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. another, and passes from limb to limb and from tree to tree, till her store, which consists of four or five hundred eggs, is exhausted. At length she becomes so weak by her incessant labors to pro- vide for a succession of her kind, as to falter and fall in attempt- ing to fly, and soon dies. Although the Cicadas abound most upon the oak, they resort occasionally to other forest-trees and even to shrubs, when im- pelled by the necessity for depositing their eggs, and not unfre- quently commit them to fruit-trees, when the latter are in their vicinity. Indeed there seem to be no trees or shrubs that are exempted from their attacks, except those of the pine and fir tribes, and of these even the white cedar is sometimes invaded by them. The punctured limbs languish and die soon after the eggs which were placed in them are hatched ; they are broken by the winds or by their own weight, and either remain hanging by the bark alone, or fall with their withered foliage to the ground. In this way orchards have suffered severely in consequence of the injurious punctures of these insects. The eggs are one twelfth of an inch long, and one sixteenth of an inch through the middle, but taper at each end to an obtuse point, and are of a pearl-white color. The shell is so thin and delicate that the form of the included insect can be seen before the egg is hatched, which occurs, according to Dr. Potter, in fifty-two days after it is laid, but other persons say in fourteen days. The young insect when it bursts the shell is one sixteenth of an inch long, and is of a yellowish white color, except the eyes and the claws of the fore-legs, which are reddish ; and it is covered with little hairs. In form it is somewhat grub-like, being longer in proportion than the parent insect, and is furnished with six legs, the first pair of which are very large, shaped almost like lobster- claws, and armed with strong spines beneath. On the shoulders are little prominences in the place of wings ; and under the breast is a long b.eak for suction. These little creatures when liberated from the shell are very lively, and their movements are nearly as quick as those of ants. After a few moments their instincts prompt them to get to the ground, but in order to reach it they do not descend the body of the tree, neither do they cast off HEMIPTERA. 173 themselves precipitately ; but running to the side of the lunb, they deliberately loosen their hold, and fall to the earth. It seems, then, that they are not borne to the ground in the egg state by the limbs in which their nests are contained, but spontaneously make the perilous descent, immediately after they are hatched, without any clue, like that of the canker-worm, to carry them in safety through the air and break the force of their fall. The in- stinct which impels them thus fearlessly to precipitate themselves from the trees, from heights of which they can have formed no conception, without any experience or knowledge of the re- sult of their adventurous leap, is still more remarkable than that which carries the gosling to the water as soon as it is hatched. In those actions, that are the result of foresight, of memory, or of experience, animals are controlled by their own reason, as in those to which they are led by the use of their ordinary senses or by the indulgence of their common appetites they may be said to be governed by the laws of their organization ; but in such as arise from special and extraordinary instincts, we see the most striking proofs of that creative wisdom which has implanted in them an unerring guide, where reason, the senses, and the appetites would fail to direct them. The manner of the young cicadas' descent, so different from that of other insects, and seeming to require a special instinct to this end, would be considered incredible per- haps, if it had not been ascertained and repeatedly confirmed by persons who have witnessed the proceeding. On reaching the ground the insects immediately bury themselves in the soil, bur- rowing by means of their broad and strong fore-feet, which, like those of the mole, are admirably adapted for digging. In their descent into the earth they seem to follow the roots of plants, and are subsequently found attached to those which are most tender and succulent, perforating them with their beaks, and thus imbib- ing the vegetable juices which constitute their sole nourishment. They do not appear ordinarily to descend very deeply into the ground, but remain where roots are most abundant ; and it is probable that the accounts of their having been discovered ten or twelve feet from the top of the ground have been founded on some mistake, or the occurrence of the insects at such a depth may have been the result of accident. The only alteration to 174 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. which the insects are subject, during the long period of their sub- terranean confinement, is an increase of size, and the more com- plete development of the four small scale-like prominences on their backs, which represent and actually contain their future wings. As the time of their transformation approaches, they gradually ascend towards the surface, making in their progress cylindrical passages, oftentimes very circuitous, and seldom exactly perpen- dicular, the sides of which, according to Dr. Potter, are firmly cemented and varnished so as to be water-proof. These burrows are about five eighths of an inch in diameter, are filled below with earthy matter removed by the insect in its progress, and can be traced by the color and compactness of their contents to the depth of from one to two feet, according to the nature of the soil ; but the upper portion to the extent of six or eight inches is empty, and serves as a habitation for the insect till the period for its exit arrives. Here it remains during several days, ascending to the top of the hole in fine weather for the benefit of the warmth and the air, and occasionally peeping forth apparently to reconnoitre, but descending again on the occurrence of cold or wet weather. During their temporary residence in these burrows near the surface, the Cicada grubs, or more properly pupae, for such they are to be considered at this period, though they still retain some- thing of a grub-like form, acquire strength for further efforts by exposure to the light and air, and seem then only to wait for a favorable moment to issue from their subterranean retreats. When at length this arrives, they issue from the ground in great numbers in the night, crawl up the trunks of trees, or upon any other ob- ject in their vicinity to which they can fasten themselves securely by their claws. After having rested awhile they prepare to cast off their skins, which, in the mean time, have become dry and of an amber color. By repeated exertions a longitudinal rent is made in the skin of the back, and through this the included Ci- cada pushes its head and body, and withdraws its wings and limbs from their separate cases, and, crawhng to a httle distance, it leaves its empty pupa-skin, apparently entire, still fastened to the tree. At first the wing-covers and wings are very small and opake, but, being perfectly soft and flejxible, they soon stretch HEMIPTERA. 175 out to their full dimensions, and in the course of a few hours the superfluous moisture of the body evaporates, and the insect be- comes strong enough to fly. During several successive nights the pupa3 continue to issue from the earth ; above fifteen hundred have been found to arise beneath a single apple tree, and in some places the whole surface of the soil, by their successive operations, has appeared as full of holes as a honeycomb. In Alabama the species under considera- tion leaves the ground in February and March, in Maryland and Pennsylvania in May, but in Massachusetts it does not come forth till near the middle of June. Within about a fortnight after their final transformation they begin to lay their eggs, and in the space of six weeks the whole generation becomes extinct. Fortunately these insects are appointed to return only at periods so distant that vegetation often has time to recover from the injury inflicted by them ; but were they to appear at shorter intervals, our forest and fruit trees would soon be entirely destroyed by them. They are moreover subject to many accidents, and have many enemies, which contribute to diminish their numbers. Their eggs are eaten by birds ; the young, when they first issue from the shell, are preyed upon by ants, which mount the trees to feed upon them, or destroy them when they are about to enter the ground. Blackbirds eat them when turned up by the plough in fields, and hogs are excessively fond of them, and, when suffered to go at large in the woods, root them up, and devour immense numbers just before the arrival of the period of their final trans- formation, when they are lodged immediately under the surface of the soil. It is stated that many perish in the egg state, by the rapid growth of the bark and wood, which closes the perforations and buries the eggs before they have hatched ; and many, without doubt, are killed by their perilous descent from the trees. There are several other harvest-flies in the United States, the males of which are musical ; but their drums are concealed within little cavities in the sides of the first abdominal ring. One of these is found in Massachusetts, and, though it never appears in such great numbers as the preceding species, it is more common or more generally met with throughout the State. It may be called the dog-day harvest-fly, or Cicada canicularis, from the 176 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. circumstance of its invariably appearing with the beginning of dog-days. During many years in succession, with only one or two exceptions, I have heard this insect, on the twenty-fifth of July, for the first time in the season, drumming in the trees, on some part of the day between the hours of ten in the morning and two in the afternoon. It is true that all do not muster on the same day ; for at first they are few in number, and scattered at great distances from each other ; new-comers, however, are added from day to day, till, in a short time, almost every tree seems to have its musician, and the rolling of their drums may be heard in every direction. This circumstance, however, does not render it any the less remarkable that the first of the band should keep their appointed time with such extreme regularity. The dog-day harvest-fly measures about one inch and six tenths from the front to the tips of the wing-covers, which, when spread, ex- pand about three inches. Its body is black on the upper side ; the under-side of the head, the breast, and the sides of the belly are covered with a white substance resembling flour ; the top of the head and the thorax are ornamented with olive-green lines and characters, one of which, in the shape of the letter W, is very conspicuous ; the legs, and the front edge and principal veins of thevving-covers and of the wings are also green, and there is a dusky zigzag spot on the little cross-veins near the tip of the wing- covers ; and the valves beneath the body of the males are wider than long. This species has heretofore been mistaken for the Cicada pruinosa, or frosted harvest-fly, described by Mr. Say, which is found in the Middle States, measures two inches to the lips of the wing-covers, has a white spot each side of the base of the abdomen, a second on the middle of the sides, and a third near to the tip, and has the valves of the males longer than wide*. * The form and proportions of the abdominal valves have decided me to separate the canicularis from Mr. Say's prninosa, although, with the exception of their dif- fer^ce in size, they present no other constant characters which will invariably serve to distinguish themfroin each other. In my collection are four more native species of Cicada ; namely, the auletes of Germar, our largest species, from North Carolina ; a second species, apparently undescribed, about equal to this in magni- tude, from Long- Island, New York ; the tibicen of LinnEeus, also from New York, and quite common even within the city ; and the hieroghjphica of Say, which, 1 HEMIPTERA. 177 I am not aware that the females of the dog-day harvest-fly prefer to lay their eggs in one rather than in another kind of tree ; for I have taken the pupae emerging from the ground beneath cherry, maple, and elm trees, and it is probable that they could not have travelled far from the trees upon which, when young, they were hatched, and upon the trunks of which they finally leave their vacant shells. These have much the same form and appearance as the pupa-shells of the seventeen-year harvest-fly, but are con- siderably larger. Some individuals of this species continue with us as late as the end of September. As they are not very nu- merous, the injury sustained by the trees from their punctures is comparatively small. The other harvest-flies of this country have only two eyelets, and are not furnished with musical instruments ; but they enjoy the faculty of leaping, which the Cicadas do not. This faculty does not, as in the grasshoppers and other leaping insects, result from an enlargement of their hindmost thighs, which do not differ much in thickness from the others ; but is owing to the length of their hinder shanks, or to the bristles and spines with which these parts are clothed and tipped. These spines serve to fix the hind- legs s~'ecurely to the surface, and, when the insect suddenly un- bends its legs, its body is launched forward in the air. Some of these harvest-flies, when assisted by their wings, will leap to the distance of five or six feet, which is more than two hundred and fifty times their own length ; in the same proportion, " a man of ordinary stature should be able at once to vault through the air to the distance of a quarter of a mile." Some of these leaping har- vest-flies have the face nearly vertical, and the thorax very large, tapering to a point behind, covering the whole of the upper side of the body, and overtopping even the head, which is not visible from above. These belong chiefly to the genus Membracis , to which allusion has already been made ; and, as they are found mostly on the limbs of trees and shrubs, they may receive the believe, was captured in Florida, and was presented to me by Mr. Edward Double- day. A specimen of the tibicen, or some other large species, has been taken in Massachusetts ; but I have not the individual to refer to at this time. 23 178 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. name of tree-hoppers *. In others the face slopes downwards towards the breast, the thorax is of moderate size, and does not extend much, if at all, beyond the base of the wing-covers, and does not conceal the head when viewed from above. Some of the insects, with this small-sized thorax, are famiharly called, in English works, cuckoo-spit and frog-hoppers, and to others may be applied the name of leaf-hoppers, because they live mostly on the leaves of plants. The thorax differs very much in shape in different kinds of tree- hoppers (MEMBRACiDiD^),and the variations of this part are pro- ductive of many odd forms among these insects, and particularly in .foreign species. Among the species inhabiting Massachusetts there are some in which the thorax forms a thin and high arched crest over the body, as in Membracis camelus of Fabricius, and the van of my Catalogue. To these the name of Membracis, which means sharp-edged, is most apphcable. In other species (M. emarginata and simiata of Fabricius, and concava of Say,) the crest of the thorax is deeply notched on the top. In others the whole of the thorax is not elevated longitudinally in the mid- dle, but only in some part ; thus M. Jimpelopsidis has an oblong square crest on the middle of the thorax ; M. bimaculaia of Fa- bricius and univittata of my Catalogue have a thin horn-like pro- jection, blunt, however, at the end, extending obliquely forwards and upwards from the forepart of the thorax ; and M. hinotata and latipes of Say have a similarly situated horn, narrower however, and curved, so as to give to the insects, when viewed sidewise, the shape of a bird ; and, lastly, in M. bubalus of Fabricius, diceros of Say, and taurina of my Catalogue, the ridge of the thorax, viewed from above, has somewhat the shape of the letter T, becoming broad at the forepart, , and extending outwards on each side like a pair of short thick horns, which gave rise to the foregoing specific names, meaning buffalo, two-horned, and kine- like. The habits of some of the tree-hoppers are presumed to be much the same as those of the musical harvest-flies, for they are * Mr. Rennle, in the "Library of Entertaining Knowledge", has misapplied this nanie to the Cicadas, which do not leap. HEMIPTERA. 179 found on the limbs of trees, where they deposit their eggs, only during the adult state, and probably pass the early period of their existence in the ground. Others, however, are known to live and undergo all their changes on the stems of plants. Among the former is our largest native species, the two-spotted tree-hopper, or Memhracis himaculata* of Fabricius, which may be found in great abundance on the limbs of the locust-tree [Rohinia pseuda- cacia) during the months of September and October. These, as Well as other tree-hoppers, show but little activity when undis- turbed, remaining without motion for hours together on the limbs of the trees ; but, on the approach of the fingers, they leap vigor- ously, and, spreading their wings at the same time, fly to another limb and settle there, in the same position as before. They never sit across the limbs, but always in the direction of their length, with the head or forepart of the body towards the ex- tremity of the branches. On account of their peculiar form, which is that of a thick cone with a very oblique direction, their dark color, and their fixed posture while perching, they would readily be mistaken for the thorns of the tree, a circumstance un- doubtedly intended for their preservation. Other instances have been mentioned displaying proofs of equal wisdom in the formation of insects. Thus, in the leaf-insects, grasshoppers, and walking- sticks, which live in trees, the latter exactly simulating a little twig in appearance, and the others having the form and color of leaves, their resemblance to the objects among which they have been destined to live, has doubtless been given to them with the express design of screening them from their enemies of the feathered rat;e. Many other examples of the same kind might be mentioned, did time and the limits of my subject warrant ; but these alone suffice to show that special provision has been wisely made in the construction of certain defenceless animals v/ith a view to secure them from observation. Surely insects, the most despised of God's creation, are not unworthy our study, since they are objects of His care and subjects of a special providence. But to return to our locust tree-hopper, which remains to be de- * Fabricius describes the male only under this name ; the female is his Mem- hracis acuviinata. This species belongs to Professor Geriuar's new genus He- miptycha. 180 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. scribed ; — it measures about half an inch from the tip of the horn to the end of the body ; the male is blackish above, with a long yellow spot on each side of the back ; and the female is ash- colored, and without spots. While on the trees, these insects, though perfectly still, are not unemployed ; but puncture the bark with their sharp and slender beaks, and imbibe the sap for nour- ishment. The female also appears to commit her eggs to the protection of the tree, being furnished with a piercer beneath the extremity of her body, with which to make suitable perforations in the branches. As I have never seen the young on these trees, I presume that, as soon as they are hatched, they make their way to the ground, and remain under the surface of the soil, sucking the sap from the roots of plants, until they are about to enter upon their last period of existence, when they crawl up the trunks of the trees, throw off their coats, and appear in the perfect or winged state. From the great numbers of these tree-hoppers which exist in certain seasons, the locust-trees undoubtedly suffer much, not only in consequence of the quantity of sap abstracted from their branches, but from the numerous punctures made by the insects in obtaining it and in laying their eggs. The oak-tree is attacked by another species, the white-lined tree-hopper {M. univittata), which may be found upon it during the month of July. It is about four tenths of an inch in length ; the thorax is brown, has a short obtuse horn extending obliquely upwards from its forepart, and there is a white hne on the back, extending from the top of the horn to the hinder extremity. The common creeper {Ampelopsis quinqiiefolia*) is inhabited by a tree-hopper, which has an oblong square and thin elevation or crest on the middle of the thorax. Its body is usually of a reddish ash-color, and the thorax is ornamented with three reddish brown bands, one of: which is above the head and extends trans- versely between the lateral projecting angles of the thorax, the second is a short asd oblique line on each side of the front-part of the crest, and the third is also oblique, and begins on the outer edge of the thorax, and passes obliquely forwards on each side to * Some botanists have unwarrantably changed the specific name of this plant to Hederacea. HEMIPTERA. 181 the top of the hind part of the crest. This species may be called Membracis Ampelojpsidis * , from the plant on which it is found in the perfect state. The young appear to live in the earth till they are fully grown and have acquired the rudiments of wing-covers and wings, or have become pupae, after which they are seen as- cending the stems of the creeper, on which they change their skins for the last time. This occurs from the middle to the end of June. There is a little tree-hopper, which is found during the months of July and August on the wax-work, or Celastrus scandens^ ac- companied usually by its young. When fully grown it is nearly three tenths of an inch in length, including the horn of the thorax ; is of a dusky brown color, with two yellowish spots on the ridge of the back ; and the first four shanks are exceedingly broad and flat. It is the two-spotted tree-hopper, or Membracis binotata of Say. When seen sidewise it presents a profile much like that of a bird, the head and neck of which are represented by the curved projecting horn of the thorax ; and a group of these little tree- hoppers, of various sizes, clustered together on a stem of the wax-work, may be likened to a flock of old and young partridges. They appear to pass through all their transformations on the plant, are fond of society, and sit close together, with their heads all in the same direction. Tree-hoppers ' are often surrounded by ants, for the sake of their castings, 'and for the sap which oozes from the punctures made by the former, of which the ants are very fond. Those kinds, that live on the stems of plants from the time when they are hatched till they are fully grown, are very closely attended by ants ; and, as from their constant sucking the young become often wet, their careful attendants, the ants, find regular employment in wiping them clean and dry with their antennae and tongues. The remaining Homopterous insects have a thorax of moderate size, not tapering to a point behind, and not covering the whole body as in the preceding species. Their heads are visible from above, and the face slopes downwards towards the breast. Here may be arranged the singular insects called frog-hoppers, * It is the Membracis Cissi of my Catalogue. 182 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. (CERCOPiDiDiE), which pass their whole Hves on plants, on the stems of which their eggs are laid in the autumn. The following summer they are hatched, and the young immediately perforate the bark with their beaks, and begin to imbibe the sap. They take in such quantities of this, that it oozes out of their bodies continually, in the form of little bubbles, which soon completely cover up the insects. They thus remain entirely buried and con- cealed in large masses of foam, until they have completed their final transformation, on which account the names of cuckoo-spittle, frog-spittle, and frog-hoppers have been applied to them. We have several species of these frog-hoppers in Massachusetts, and the spittle, with which they are sheltered from the sun and air, may be seen in great abundance, during the summer, on the stems of our alders and willows. In the perfect state they are not thus protected, but are found on the plants, in the latter part of sum- mer, fully grown and preparing to lay their eggs. In this state they possess the power of leaping in a still more remarkable de- gree than the tree-hoppers ; and, for this purpose, the tips of their hind shanks are surrounded with little spines, and the first two joints of their feet have a similar coronet of spines at their extremities. Their thorax narrows a little behind, and projects somewhat between the bases of the wing-covers ; their bodies are rather short, and their wing-covers are almost horizontal and quite broad across the middle, which, with the shortness of their legs, gives them a squat appearance.*" The leaf-hoppers (Tettigoniad^) leap almost as well as the spittle-insects just mentioned ; but their hind-legs are longer, are not surrounded with coronets of short spines, but are three sided, and generally fringed on two of their edges with numerous long and slender spines, which contribute, like the coronets of the frog-Koppers, to fix their shanks firmly when they are about to leap. The leaf-hoppers have been divided, by Professor Ger- mar and other entomologists, into many genera, according to the * The following species are found in Massachusetts ; namely Cercopis igni- pecta of my Catalogue, and the parallela, quadrangularis, and ohtusa, of Say. The last three belong to Germar's genus Aphrophora, which means spume-bear- er. Cercopis, which may be translated impostor, was applied by the Greeks to a small Cicada. > HEMIPTERA. 183 Structure of their legs, the situation of the eyelets, and the form of the head ; but we may retain them, without inconvenience, in the genus Teitigonia^ proposed for them by GeofFroy, or rather adopted from the ancient Greeks, who gave this name to the small kinds of harvest-flies, calling the larger ones Teitix. The Tetti- gonians, or leaf-hoppers, have the head and thorax somewhat like those of frog-hoppers, but their bodies are, in general, proportion- ally longer, not so broad across the middle, and not so much flattened. The head, as seen from above, is broad, and either crescent-shaped, semicircular, or even extended forwards in the form of a triangle ; its upper side is more or less flattened, and the face slopes downwards towards the breast at an acute angle with the top of the head. The thorax is wider than long, with the front margin curving forwards, the hind margin transverse, or not extended between the wing-covers, which space is filled by a pretty large triangular scutel or escutcheon. The wing-covers are generally opake, rather long and narrow, and more or less in- clined at the sides of the body, not flat however, but moulded somewhat to the form of the body, and the wings are rather shorter and broader, not netted like those of the tree-hoppers, but strengthened by a few longitudinal veins. The eyes, which are distant from each other, and placed at the sides of the head, are pretty large, but flattish, and not globular as in the Cicadas ; and the eyelets, which are rarely wanting, vary in their situation, being sometimes on the top and sometimes below the front edge of the head. Notwithstanding the small size of most of these insects, they are deserving our attention on account of their beauty, deli- cacy, and surprising agility, as well as for the injury sustairied by vegetation from them ; and these circumstances have induced me to give the characters of this group somewhat in detail, with the view of drawing attention to these insects, and with the hope that other persons may thereby be induced and guided to an investiga- tion of their history. As my own opportunities have been very few, I shall confine myself to an account of only two of these leaf- hoppers. It is stated by the late Mr. Fessenden, in the " New American Gardener," that some persons in this country have entirely "abandoned their grape-vines" in consequence of the depreda- 184 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. tions of a small insect, which, for many years, was supposed to be the vine-fretter of Europe. It is not however the same insect, but is a leaf-hopper, and was first described by me in the year 1831, in the eighth volume of the "Encyclopaedia Americana*", under the name of Tettigonia Vitis. In its perfect state it measures one tenth of an inch in length. It is of a pale yellow or straw color ; there are two httle red lines on the head ; the back part of the thorax, the scutel, the base of the wing-covers, and a broad band across their middle, are scarlet ; the tips of the wing- covers are blackish, and there are some little red lines between the broad band and the tips. The head is crescent-shaped above, and the eyelets are situated just below the ridge of the front, f The vine-hoppers, as they may be called, inhabit the foreign and the native grape-vines, on the under surface of the leaves of which they may be found during the greater part of the summer ; for they pass through all their changes on the vines. They make their first appearance on the leaves in June, when they are very small arid not provided with wings, being then in the larva state. During most of the time they remain perfectly quiet, with their beaks thrust into the leaves from which they derive their nourish- ment by suction. If disturbed, however, they leap from one leaf to another with great agility. As they increase in size they have occasion frequently to change their skins, and great numbers of their empty cast-skins, of a white color, will be found, tlii'oughout the summer, adhering to the under-sides of the leaves and upon the ground beneath the vines. When arrived at maturity, which generally occurs during the month of August, they are still more agile than before, making use of their delicate wings as well as their legs in their motions from place to place ; and, when the leaves are agitated, they leap and fly from them in swarms, but soon alight and begin again their destructive operations. The in- fested leaves at length become yellow, sickly, and prematurely dry, and give to the vine at midsummer the aspect it naturally as- sumes on the approach of winter. But this is not the only injury arising from the exhausting punctures of the vine-hoppers. In * Article Locust, p. 43. t This species must belong to the same genus as Cicada hlandida of Rossi and Fallen, which it resembles in form and in the situation of the ocdli or eyelets. HEMIPTERA. 185 consequence of the interruption of the important functions of the leaves, the plant itself languishes, the stem does not increase in size, very little new wood is formed, or, in the language of the gardeners, the canes do not ripen well, the fruit is stunted and mil- dews, and, if the evil be allowed to go on unchecked, in a few years the vines become exhausted, barren, and worthless. In the autumn the vine-hoppers desert the vines, and retire for shelter during the coming winter beneath fallen leaves and among the de- cayed tufts and roots of grass, where they remain till the following spring, when they emerge from their winter-quarters, and in due time deposit their eggs upon the leaves of the vine, and then per- ish. As the vine-hoppers are much more hardy and more viva- cious than the European vine-fretters or plant-lice, the applications that have proved destructive to the latter are by no means so effi- cacious with the former. Fumigations with tobacco, beneath a movable tent placed over the trellisses, answer the purpose com- pletely.* They require frequent repetition, and considerable care is necessary to prevent the escape and ensure the destruction of the insects ; circumstances which render the discovery of some more expeditious method an object to those whose vineyards are extensive. I have found that the Windsor bean, a variety of the Vicia Faha of Linnaeus, is subject to the attacks of a species of leaf- hopper, particularly during dry seasons, and when cultivated in light soils. In the early part of summer the insects are so small and so light colored that they easily escape observation, and it is not till the beginning of July, when the beans are usually large enough to be gathered for the table, that the ravages of the insects lead to their discovery. A large proportion of the pods will then be found to be rough, and covered with little dark colored dots or scars, and many of them seem to be unusually spongy and not well filled. On opening these spongy pods, we find that the beans have not grown to their proper size, and if they are left on the plant they cease to enlarge. At the same time the leaves, pods, and stalks are more or less infested with little leaf-hoppers, * See Fessenden's " New American Gardener", p. 299, for a description of the tent and of the process of fumigation. 24 186 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. not fully grown, and unprovided with wings. Usually between the end of July and the middle of August the insects come to their growth and acquire their wings ; but the mischief at this lime is finished, and the plants have suffered so much that all prospect of a second crop of beans, from new shoots produced after the old stems are cut down, is frustrated. These leaf-hop- pers have the same agility in their motions, and kpparently the same habits, as the vine-hoppers ; but in the perfect state they are longer, more slender, and much more delicate. They are of a pale green color ; the wing-covers and wings are transparent and colorless ; and the last joint of the hind-feet is bluish. The head, as seen from above, is crescent-shaped, and the two eyelets are situated on its front-edge. The male has two long recurved feathery threads at the extremity of the body. The length of this species is rather more than one tenth, but less than three twen- tieths of an inch. It may be called Tettigonia FabcB. Probably it passes the winter in the same way as the vine-hopper. 2. Plant-lice. (^Aphidida.) The Aphidians, in which grotvp we include the insects com- monly known by the name of plant-lice, difier remarkably from all the foregoing in their appearance, their formation, and their man- ner of increase. Their bodies are very soft, and usually more or less oval. The females are often without wing-covers and wings ; and the former, when they exist, do not differ in texture from the wings, but are usually much larger and more useful in flight. We may therefore cease to call these parts wing-covers, in all the remaining insects of this order, and apply to them the name of upper wings. Some of the Aphidians have the power of leaping, like the leaf-hoppers, from which, however, they differ in having very large and transparent upper wings, which cover the sides of the body like a very steep roof ; and their antennae are pretty long and thread-like, and are tipped with two bristles at the end. Both sexes, when arrived at maturity, are winged, and some of the females are provided with a kind of awl at the end of the body, very different, however, from the piercers of the foregoing in- sects. With this they prick the leaves in which they deposit HEMIPTERA. 187 their eggs,, and the wounds thus made sometimes produce Uttle excrescences or swelHngs on the plant. These leaping plant-lice belong to a genus called Psylla, which was the Greek name for a small jumping insect. They are by no means so prolific as the other plant-lice, for they produce only one brood in the year. They live in groups, composed of about a dozen individuals each, upon the stems and leaves of plants, the juices of which they im- bibe through their tubular beaks. The young are often covered with a substance resembling fine cotton arranged in flakes. This is the case with some which are found on the alder and birch in the spring of the year. Others, both sexes of which are also winged, have long and slender bodies, very narrow wings, which are fringed with fine hairs, and lie flatly on the back when not in use. They are ex- ceedingly active in all their motions, and seem to leap rather than fly. They live on leaves, flowers, in buds, and even in the crevices of the bark of plants, but are so small that they readily escape notice, the largest being not more than one tenth of an inch in length. These minute and slender insects belong to the genus Tlirips. Their punctures appear to poison plants, and often produce deformities in the leaves and blossoms. The peach-tree sometimes suffers severely from their attacks, as well as from those of the true plant-lice ; and they are found beneath the leaves, in little hollows caused by their irritating punctures. The same applications that are employed for the destruction of plant- lice may be used with advantage upon plants infested with the Thrips. Aphides^ or plant-lice, as they are usually called, are among the most extraordinary of insects. They are found upon almost all parts of plants, the roots, stems, young shoots, buds, and leaves, and there is scarcely a plant which does not harbour one or two kinds peculiar to itself. They are, moreover, exceedingly prolific, for Reaumur has proved that one individual, in five gen- erations, may become the progenitor of nearly six thousand mil- Jions of descendants. It often happens that the succulent ex- tremities and stems of plants will, in an incredibly short space of time, become completely coated with a living mass of these little lice. These are usually wingless, consisting of the young and of 188 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the females only ; for winged individuals appear only at particular seasons, usually in the autumn, but sometimes in the spring, and these are small males and larger females. After pairing, the latter lay their eggs upon or near the leaf-buds of the plant upon which they live, and, together with the males, soon afterwards perish. The genus to which plant-hce belong is called Aphis^ from a Greek word which signifies to exhaust. The following are the principal characters by which they may be distinguished from other insects. Their bodies are short, oval, and soft, and are furnished at the hinder extremity with two little tubes, knobs, or pores, from which exude almost constantly minute drops of a fluid as sweet as honey ; their heads are small, their beaks are very long and tubular, their eyes are globular, but they have not eye- lets, their antennae are long, and usually taper towards the ex- tremity, and their legs are also long and very slender, and there are only two joints to their feet. Their upper are nearly twice as large as the lower wings, are much longer than the body, are gradually widened towards the extremity, and nearly triangular ; they are almost vertical when at rest, and cover the body above like a very sharp-ridged roof. The winged plant-hce provide for a succession of their race by stocking the plants with eggs in the autumn, as before stated. These are hatched in due time in the spring, and the young lice immediately begin to pump up sap from the tender leaves and shoots, increase rapidly in size, and in a short time come to ma- turity. In this state, it is found that the brood, without a single exception, consists v^'holly of females, which are wingless, but are in a condition immediately to continue their kind. Their young, however, are not hatched from eggs, but are produced alive, and each female may be the mother of fifteen or twenty young lice in the course of a single day. The plant-lice of this second generation are also wingless females, which grow up and have their young in due time ; and thus brood after brood is pro- duced, even to the seventh generation or more, without the ap- pearance or intervention, throughout the whole season, of a single male. This extraordinary kind of propagation ends in the autumn with the birth of a brood of males and females, which in due time acquire wings and pair ; eggs are then laid by these females, and HEMIPTERA. 189 with the death of these winged individuals, which soon follows, the race becomes extinct for the season. Plant-lice seem to love society, and often herd together in dense masses, each one remaining fixed to the plant by means of its long tubular beak ; and they rarely change their places till they have exhausted the part first attacked. The attitudes and man- ners of these little creatures are exceedingly amusing. When disturbed, like restive horses, they begin to kick and sprawl in the most ludicrous manner. They may be seen, at times, sus- pended by their beaks alone, and throwing up their legs as if in a high frolic, but too much engaged in sucking to withdraw their beaks. As they take in great quantities of sap, they would soon become gorged if they did not get rid of the superabundant fluid through the two little tubes or pores at the extremity of their bodies. When one of them gets running-over full, it seems to communicate its uneasy sensations, by a kind of animal magnetism, to the whole flock, upon which they all, with one accord, jerk upwards their bodies, and eject a shower of the honeyed fluid. The leaves and bark of plants much infested by these insects are often completely sprinkled over with drops of this sficky fluid, which, on drying, become dark colored, and greatly disfigure the fohage. This appearance has been denominated honey-dew ; but there is another somewhat similar production observable on plants, after very dry weather, which has received the same name, and consists of an extravasation or oozing of the sap from the leaves. We are often apprized of the presence of plant-lice on plants growing in the open air by the ants ascending and descending the stems. By observing the motions of the latter we soon ascertain that the sweet fluid discharged by the lice is the occasion of these visits. The stems swarm with sHm and hungry ants running up- wards, and others lazily descending with their bellies swelled almost to bursting. When arrived in the immediate vicinity of the plant-lice, they greedily wipe up the sweet fluid which has distilled from them, and, when this fails, they station themselves among the lice, and catch the drops as they fall. The lice do not seem in the least annoyed by the ants, but hve on the best possi- ble terms with them ; and, on the other hand, the ants, though unsparing of other insects weaker than themselves, upon which 190 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. they frequently prey, treat the plant-lice with the utmost gentle- ness, caressing them with their antennae, and apparently inviting them to give out the fluid by patting their sides. Nor are the lice inattentive to these solicitations, when in a state to gratify the ants, for whose sake they not only seem to shorten the periods of the discharge, but actually yield the fluid when thus pressed. A single louse has been known to give it drop by drop successively to a number of ants, that were waiting anxiously to receive it. When the plant-lice cast their skins, the ants instantly remove the latter, nor will they allow any dirt or rubbish to remain upon or about them. They even protect them from their enemies, and run about them in the hot sunshine to drive away the little ich- neumon flies that are for ever hovering near to deposit their eggs in the bodies of the lice. Plant-lice difier very much in form, color, clothing, and in the length of the honey-tubes. Sbme have these tubes quite long, as the rose-louse, Jlphis Rosa, which is green, and has a little conical projection or stylet, as it is called, at the extremity of the body, between the two hooey-tubes. The cabbage-louse, A-phis Brassicce, has also long honey-tubes, but its body is covered with a whitish mealy substance. This species is very abundant on the under-side of cabbage leaves in the month of August. The largest species known to me is found in clusters beneath the limbs of the pig-nut hickory (Carya porcina), in all stages of growth, from the first to the middle of July. It is the Jlphis* Caryce of my Catalogue. Its body, in the winged state, measures one quarter of an inch to the end of the abdomen, and above four tenths of an inch to the tips of the upper wings, which expand rather more than seven tenths of an inch. It has no terminal stylet, and the honey-tubes are very short. Its body is covered with a bluish white substance like the bloom of a plum, with four rows of little transverse black spots on the back ; the top of the thorax, and the veins of the wings are black, as are also the shanks, the feet, and the antennae, which are clothed with black hairs ; the thighs are reddish brown. This species sucks the sap from the limbs and not from the leaves of the hickory. There is * It probably belongs to the genus Lachnus of Illiger, or Chiara of Curtis. HEMIPTERA. 191 another large species, living in the same way on the under-side of the branches of various kinds of willows, and clustered together in great numbers. About the first of October. they are found in the winged state. The body measures one tenth of an inch in length, and the wings expand about four tenths. The stylet is wanting ; the body is black and without spots ; the wings are transparent, but their veins, the short honey-tubercles, the third joint of the antennae, and the legs, are tawny yellow. This species cannot be identical with the willow-louse, Jlphis Salicis of Linnaeus, which has a spotted body ; and therefore I propose to call it Jlphis Salicti, the plant-louse of willow groves. When crushed, it communicates a stain of a reddish or deep orange color. Some plant-lice live in the ground and derive their nourish- ment from the roots of plants. We annually lose many of our herbaceous plants, if cultivated in a light soil, from the ex- hausting attacks of these subterranean lice. Upon pulling up China Asters, which seemed to be perishing from no visible cause, I have found hundreds of little lice, of a white color, closely clustered together on the roots. I could never discover any of them that were winged, and therefore conclude from this circum- stance as well as from their peculiar situation, that they never ac- quire wings. Whether these are of the same species as the £phis radicum of Europe, I cannot ascertain, as no sufficient de- scription of the latter has ever come to my notice. These little lice are attended by ants, which generally make their nests near the roots of the plants, so as to have their milch kine, as the plant-lice have been called, within their own habitations ; and, in consequence of the combiVied operations of the lice and the ants, the plants Wither and prematurely perish. When these subter- ranean lice are disturbed, the attendant ants are thrown into the greatest confusiqn, and alarm ; they carefully take up the lice which have fallen from the roots, and convey them in their jaws into the deep recesses of their nests ; and here the lice still con- trive to live upon the fragments of the roots left in the soil. It is stated * that the ants bestow the same care and attention upon the root-lice as upon their own offspring, that they defend them from * See Kirby and Spence's Introduction to Entomology, Vol. II. p. 91, 92. 192 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. the attacks of other insects, and carry them about in their mouths to change their pasture ; and that they pay particular attention to the eggs of the Hce, frequently moistening them with their tongues, and in fine weather bringing them to the surface of the nest to give them the advantage of the sun. On the other hand, the sweet fluid supplied in abundance by these lice forms the chief nutri- ment both of the ants and their young, which is sufficient to ac- count for their sohcitude and care for thejr valuable herds. The peach-tree suffers very much from the attacks of plant- lice, which live under the leaves, causing them by their punctures to become thickened, to curl or form hollows beneath, and cor- responding crispy and ^reddish swellings above, and finally to per- ish and drop off prematurely. Whether our insect is the same as the European Aphis of the peach-tree [Jlphis Persicce of Sulzer) I cannot determine, for the want of a proper description of the latter. The depredations of these lice is one of the causes, if not the only cause of the peculiar malady affecting the peach-tree in the early part of summer, and called the blight. The injuries occasioned by plant-lice are much greater than would at first be expected from the small size and extreme weak- ness of the insects ; but these make up by their numbers what they want in strength individually, and thus become formidable enemies to vegetation. By their punctures, and the quantity of sap which they draw from the leaves, the functions of these important organs are deranged or interrupted, the food of the plant, which is there elaborated to nourish the stem and mature the fruit, is withdrawn, before it can reach its proper destination, or is contaminated and left in a state unfitted to supply the wants of vegetation. Plants are differently afTected by these insects. Some wither and cease to grow, their leaves and stems put on a sickly appearance, and soon die from exhaustion. Others, though not killed, are greatly impeded in their growth, and their tender parts, which are attack- ed, become stunted, curled, or warped. The punctures of these lice seem to poison some plants, and affect others in a most sin- gular manner, producing warts or swellings, which are sometimes feolid and sometimes hollow, and contain in their interior a swarm of lice, the descendants of a single individual, whose punctures were the original cause of the tumor. I have seen reddish tumors HEMIPTERA. 193 of this kind, as big as a pigeon's egg, growing upon leaves, to which they were attached by a slender neck, and containing thous- ands of small lice in their interior. Naturalists call these tumors galls, because they seem to be formed in the same way as the oak-galls which are used in the making of ink. The lice which inhabit or produce them generally differ from the others, in hav- ing shorter antennae, being without honey-tubes, and in frequently being clothed with a kind of white down, which, however, disap- pears when the insects become winged. These downy plant-lice are now placed in the genus Eriosoma, which means woolly body, and the most destructive species be- longing to it was first described, under the name of Aphis lani- gera, by Mr. Hausmann *, in the year 1801, as infesting the apple- trees in Germany. It seems that it had been noticed in England as early as the year 1787, and has since acquired there the name of American blight, from the erroneous supposition that it had been imported from this country. It was known, however, to the French gardeners f for a long time previous to both of the above dates, and, according to Mr. Rennieij:, is found in the orchards about Harfleur, in Normandy, and is very destructive to the ap- ple-trees in the department of Calvados. There is now good reason to- believe that the miscalled American blight is not indi- genous to this country, and that it has been introduced here with fruit-trees from Europe. Some persons, indeed, have supposed that it was not to be found here at all, but the late Mr. Buel has stated § that it existed on his apple-trees, and 1 have once or twice seen it on apple-trees in Massachusetts, where, however, it still appears to be rare, and consequently I have not been able to examine the insects sufficiently myself. The best account that I have seen of them is contained in Knapp's " Journal of a Nat- uralist", from which, and from Hausmann's description, the fol- lowing observations are chiefly extracted. The eggs of the woolly apple-tree louse are so small as not to be distinguished without a microscope, and are enveloped in a cotton-like substance furnished by the body of the insect. They * Illiger's Magazin, Vol. I. p. 440. t Salisbury's Hints on Orchards, p. 39. t Insect Miscellanies, p. 180. § New England Farmer, VII. p. 169 ; IX. p. 178. 25 194 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. are deposited in the crotches of the branches and in the chinks of the bark at or near the surface of the ground, especially if there are suckers springing from the same place. The young, when first hatched, are covered with a very short and fine down, and ap- pear in the spring of the year like little specks of mould on the trees. As the season advances, and the insect increases in size, its downy coat becomes more distinct, and grows in length daily. This down is very easily removed, adheres to the fingers when it is touched, and seems to issue from all the pores of the skin of the abdomen. When fully grown, the insects of the first brood are one tenth of an inch in length, and, when the down is rubbed off, the head, antennae, sucker, and shins are found to be of a blackish color, and the abdomen honey-yellow. The young are produced alive during the summer, are buried in masses of the down, and derive their nourishment from the sap of the bark and of the alburnum or young wood immediately under the bark. The adult insects never acquire wings, at least such is the testi- mony both of Hausmann and Knapp, and are destitute of honey- tubes, but from time to time emit drops of a sticky fluid from the extremity of the body. These insects, though destitute of wings, are conveyed from tree to tree by means of their long down, which is so plentiful and so light, as easily to be wafted by the winds of autumn, and thus the evil will gradually spread through- out an extensive orchard. The numerous punctures of these lice produce on the tender shoots a cellular appearance, and wherever a colony of them is established, warts or excrescences arise on the bark ; the limbs thus attacked become sickly, the leaves turn yellow and drop off; and, as the infection spreads from limb to limb, the whole tree becomes diseased, and eventually perishes. In Gloucestershire, England, so many apple-trees were destroyed by these hce in the year 1810, that it was feared the making of cider must be abandoned. In the north of England the apple- trees are greatly injured, and some annually destroyed by them, and in the year 1826 they abounded there in such incredible luxu- riance, that many trees seemed, at a short distance, as if they had been whitewashed. Mr. Knapp thinks that remedies can prove efficacious in re- moving this evil only upon a small scale, and that when the injury IIEMIPTERA. 195 has existed for some time, and extended its influence over the parts of a large tree, it will take its course, and the tree will die. He says that he has removed this blight from young trees, and from recently attacked places in those more advanced, by painting over every node or infected part of the tree with a composition con- sisting of three ounces of melted resin mixed with the same quan- tity of fish oil, which is to be put on while warm, with a painter's brush. Sir Joseph Banks succeeded in extirpating the insects from his own trees by removing all the old and rugged bark, and scrubbing the trunk and branches with a hard brush. The appli- cation of the spirits of tar, of spirits of turpentine, of oil, urine, and of soft soap, has been recommended. Mr. Buel found that oil sufficed to drive the insects from the trunks and branches, but that it could not be applied to the roots, where he stated numbers of the insects harbored. The following treatment I am inclined to think will prove as successful as any which has heretofore been recommended. Scrape off all the rough bark of the infected trees, and make them perfectly clean and smooth early in the spring ; then rub the trunk and limbs with a stiff brush wet with a solution of potash as hereafter recommended for the destruction of bark-lice ; after which remove the sods and earth around the bottom of the trunk, and with the scraper, brush, and alkaline liquor cleanse that part as far as the roots can conveniently be un- covered. The earth and sods should immediately be carried away, fresh loam should be placed around the roots, and all cracks and wounds should be filled with grafting cement or clay mortar. Small limbs and extremities of branches, if infected, and beyond reach of the applications, should be cut off and burned. There are several other species of Eriosoma or downy lice in this State, inhabiting various forest and ornamental trees, some of which may also have been introduced from abroad. The descrip- tions of foreign plant-lice are mostly so brief and imperfect, that it is impossible to ascertain from them which of our species are identical with those of Europe ; I shall therefore omit any further account of these insects, and close this part of the subject with a few remarks on the remedies to be employed for their destruction generally, and some notice of the natural enemies of plant-lice. Solutions of soap, or a mixture of soap-suds and tobacco water, 196 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. used warm and applied with a watering pot or with a garden en- gine, may be employed for the destruction of these insects. It is said that hot water may also be employed for the same purpose with safety and success. The water, tobacco-tea, or suds should be thrown upon the plants with considerable force, and if they are of the cabbage or lettuce kind, or other plants whose leaves are to be used as food, they should subsequently be drenched thoroughly with pure water. Lice on the extremities of branches may be killed by bending over the branches and holding them for several minutes in warm and strong soap-suds. Lice multiply much faster, and are more injurious to plants, in a dry than in a wet atmosphere ; hence in green houses, attention should be paid to keep the air sufficiently moist ; and the lice are readily killed by fumigations with tobacco or with sulphur. To destroy subter- ranean lice on the roots of plants I have found that watering with salt water was useful, if the plants were hardy ; but tender herb- aceous plants cannot be treated in this way, but may sometimes be revived, when suffering from these hidden foes, by free and frequent watering with soap-suds. Plant-lice would undoubtedly be much more abundant and de- structive, if they were not kept in check by certain redoubtable enemies of the insect kind, which seem expressly created to diminish their numbers. These lice-destroyers are of three sorts. The first are the young or larvas of the hemispherical beetles familiarly known by the name of lady-birds, and scientifically by that of Coccinella. These little beetles are generally yellow or red, with black spots, or black, with white, red, or yellow spots ; there are many kinds of them, and they are very common and plentiful insects, and are generally diffused among plants. They live, both in the perfect and young state, upon plant-lice, and hence their services are very considerable. Their young are small flattened grubs of a bluish or blue-black color, spotted usually with red or yellow, and furnished with six legs near the forepart of the body. They are hatched from little yellow eggs, laid in clusters among the plant-lice, so that they find themselves at once within reach of their prey, which, from their superior strength, they are enabled to seize and slaughter in great numbers. There are some of these lady-birds, of a very small size, and HEMIPTERA. 197 blackish color, sparingly clothed with short hairs, and sometimes with a yellow spot at the end of the wing-covers, whose young are clothed with short tufts or flakes of the most delicate white down. These insects belong to the genus Scymnus, which means a Hon's whelp, and they well merit such a name, for their young, in pro- portion to their size, are as sanguinary and ferocious as the most savage beasts of prey. I have often seen one of these httle tufted animals preying upon the plant-lice, catching and devouring, with the greatest ease, hce nearly as large as its own body, one after another, in rapid succession, without apparently satiating its hun- ger or diminishing its activity. The second kind of plant-lice destroyers are the young of the golden-eyed lace-winged fly, Chrysopa perla. This fly is of a pale green color, and has four wings resembling delicate lace, and eyes of the brilliancy of polished gold, as its generical name im- phes ; but, notwithstanding its delicacy and beauty, it is extremely disgusting from the offensive odor that it exhales. It suspends its eggs, by threads, in clusters beneath the leaves where plant-lice abound. The youngs or larva, is a rather long and slender grub, provided with a pair of large curved and sharp teeth (jaws), mov- ing laterally, and each perforated with a hole through which it sucks the juices of its victims. The havoc it makes is astonish- ing ; for one minute is all the time which it requires to kill the largest plant-louse, and suck out the fluid contents of its body. The last of the enemies of plant-lice are the maggots or young of various two-winged flies belonging to the genus Syrphus. Many of these flies are black with yellow bands on their bodies. I have often seen them hovering over small trees and other plants, depositing their eggs, which they do on the wing, like the bot- fly, curving their tails beneath the leaves, and fixing here and there an egg, wherever plant-hce are discovered. Others lay their eggs near the buds of trees, where the young may find their appropriate nourishment as soon as they are hatched. The young are maggots, which are thick and blunt behind, tapering and point- ed before ; their mouths are armed with a triple-pointed dart, with which they pierce their prey, elevate it above their heads, and feast upon its juices at leisure. Though these maggots are totally blind, they are enabled to discover their victims without 198 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. much groping about, in consequence of the provident care of the parent flies, which leave their eggs in the very midst of the slug- gish lice. Mr. Kirby says, that, on examining his currant-bushes, which but a week before were infested by myriads of aphides, not one was to be found ; but beneath each leaf were three or four full-fed maggots, surrounded by heaps of the slain, the trophies of their successful warfare. He also says that he has found it very , easy to clear a plant or small tree of lice, by placing upon it sev- eral larvae of Coccinella or Syrphi. 3. Bark-lice. Coccida. The celebrated scarlet in grain, which has been employed in Asia and the South of Europe, from the earliest ages, as a color- ing material, was known to the Romans by the name of Coccus, derived from a similar Greek word, and was, for a long time, sup- posed to be a vegetable production, or grain, as indeed its name implies. At length it was ascertained that this valuable dye was an insect, and others agreeing with it in habits, and some also in properties, having been discovered, Linnaeus retained them all un- der the same name. Hence in the genus Coccus are included not only the Thola of the Phoenicians and Jews, the Kermes of the Arabians, or the Coccus of the Greeks and Romans, but the scarlet grain of Poland, and the still more valuable Cochenille of Mexico, together with various kinds of bark-lice, agreeing with the former in habits and structure. These insects vary very much in form ; some of them are oval and slightly convex scales, and others have the shape of a muscle ; some are quite convex, and either formed like a boat turned bottom upwards, or are kid- ney shaped, or globular. They live mostly on the bark of the stems of plants, some however, are habitually found upon leaves, and some on roots. In the early state, the head is completely withdrawn beneath the shell of the body and concealed, the beak or sucker seems to issue from the breast, and the legs are very short and not visible from above. The females undergo only a partial transformation, or rather scarcely any other change than that of an increase in size, which, in some species indeed, is enor- mous, compared with the previous condition of the insect ; but the males pass through a complete transformation before arriving HEMIPTERA. 199 at the perfect or winged state. In both sexes we find threadhke or tapering antennae, longer than the head, but much shorter than those of plant-hce, and feet consisting of only one joint, termi- nated by a single claw. The rriature female retains the beak or sucker, but does not acquire wings ; the male on the contrary has two wings, but the beak disappears. In both there are two slender threads at the extremity of the body, very short in some females, usually quite long in the males, which moreover are pro- vided with a stylet at the tip of the abdomen, which is recurved beneath the body. The following account* contains a summary of nearly all that is known respecting the history and habits of these insects. Early in the spring the bark-lice are found apparently torpid, situated longitudinally in regard to the branch, the head upwards, and sticking by their flattened inferior surface closely to the bark. On attempting to remove them they are generally crushed, and there issues from the body a dark colored fluid. By pricking them with a pin, they can be made to quit their hold, as I have often seen in the common species. Coccus Hesperidum^ infesting the myrtle. A little later the body is more swelled, and, on carefully raising it with a knife, numerous oblong eggs- will be discovered beneath it, and the insect appears dried up and dead, and only its outer skin remains, which forms a convex cover to its future pro- geny. Under this protecting shield the young are hatched, and, on the approach of warm weather, make their escape at the lower end of the shield, which is either slightly elevated or notched at this part. They then move with considerable activity, and dis- perse themselves over the young shoots or leaves. The shape of the young Coccus is much like that of its parent, but the body is of a paler color and more thin and flattened. Its six short legs and its slender beak are visible under a magnifier. Some are covered with a mealy powder, as the Coccus Cacti, or cochenille of commerce, and the Coccus Adonidum, or mealy bug of our green-houses. Others are hairy or woolly ; but most of them are naked and dark colored. These young lice insert their beaks into the bark or leaves, and draw from the cellular substance the * It was drawn up hy me in the year IS'28, and published in the seventh volume of the " New England Farmer", p. 18U - 187. 200 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. sap that nourishes them. Reaumur observed the ground quite moist under peach-trees infested with bark-hce, which was caused by the dripping of the sap from the numerous punctures made by these insects. While they continue their exhausting suction of sap, they increase in size, and during this time are in what is call- ed the larva state. When this is completed, the insects will be found to be of different magnitudes, some much larger than the others, and they then prepare for a change that is about to ensue in their mode of life, by emitting from the under-side of their bodies numerous little white downy threads, which are fastened, in a radiated manner, around their bodies to the bark, and serve to confine them securely in their places. After becoming thus fixed they remain apparently inanimate ; but under these lifeless scales the transformation of the insect is conducted ; with this remark- able difference, that, in a few days the large ones contrive to break up and throw off, in four or five flakes, their outer scaly coats, and reappear in a very similar form to that which they be- fore had ; the smaller ones, on the contrary, continue under their outer skins, which serve instead of cocoons, and from which they seem to shrink and detach themselves, and then become perfect pupae, the rudiments of wings, antennae, feet, &c., being discov- erable on raising the shells. If we follow the progress of these small lice, which are to produce the males, we shall see, in pro- cess of time, a pair of threads and the tips of the wings protruding beneath the sliell at its lower elevated part, and through this little fissure the perfect insect at length backs out. After the larger lice have become fixed and have thrown off their outer coats, they enter upon the pupa or chrysalis state, which continues for a longer or shorter period according to the species. But when they have become mature, they do not leave the skins or shells covering their bodies, which continue flexible for a time. These larger insects are the females, and are destined to remain im- movable, and never change their place after they have once be- come stationary. The male is exceedingly small in comparison to the female, and is provided with only two wings, which are usually very large, and lie flatly on the top of the body. After the insects have paired, the body of the female increases in size, or becomes quite convex, for a time, and ever afterwards remains HEMIPTERA. 201 without alteration ; but serves to shelter the eggs which are to give birth to her future offspring. These eggs, when matured, pass under the body of the mother, and the latter by degrees shrinks more and more till nothing is left but the dry outer convex skin, and the insect perishes on the spot. Sometimes the insect's body is not large enough to cover all her eggs, in which case she beds them in a considerable quantity of the down that issues from the under or hinder part of her body. There are several broods of some species in the year ; of the bark-louse of the apple-tree at least two are produced in one season. It is probable that the insects of the second or last brood pair in the autumn, after which the males die, but the females survive the winter, and lay their eggs in the following spring. Young apple-trees, and the extremities of the limbs of older trees are very much subject to the attacks of a small species of bark-louse. The limbs and smooth parts of the trunks are some- times completely covered with these insects, and present a very singularly wrinkled and rough appearance from the bodies which are crowded closely together. In the winter these insects are torpid, and apparently dead. They measure about one tenth of an inch in length, are of an oblong oval shape, gradually decreas- ing to a point at one end, and are of a brownish color very near to that of the bark of the tree. These insects resemble in shape one which was described by Reaumur* in 1738, who found it on the elm in France, and GeofFroy named the insect Coccus arhorum linearis, while Gmelin called it conchiformis. This, or one much like it, is very abundant upon apple-trees in England, as we learn from Dr. Shawf and Mr. Kirby| ; and Mr. Rennie§ states that he found it in great plenty on currant-bushes. It is highly probable that we have received this insect from Europe, but it is some- what doubtful whether our apple-tree bark-louse be identical with the species found by Reaumur on the elm ; and the doubt seems to be justified by the difference in the trees and in the habits of the insects, our species being gregarious, and that of the elm * Memoires, Vol. IV. p. 69, Plate 5, figs. 5, 6, 7. t General Zoology, Vol. VI., Part I. p. 196. t Introduction to Entomology, Vol. I. p. 201. § Insect Transformations, p. 92. 26 202 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. nearly solitary. It is true that on some of our indigenous forest- trees bark-lice of nearly the same form and appearance have been observed ; but it is by no means clear that they are of the same species as those on the apple-tree. The first account that we have of the occurrence of bark-lice on apple-trees, in this country, is a communication by Mr. Enoch Perley, of Bridgetown, Maine, written in 1794, and pubhshed among the early papers of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society*. These insects have now become extremely common, and infest our nurseries and young trees to a very great extent. In the spring the eggs are readily to be seen on raising the little muscle-shaped scales beneath which they are concealed. These eggs are of a white color, and in shape nearly like those of snakes. Every shell contains from thirty to forty of them, imbedded in a small quantity of whitish friable down. They begin to hatch about the 25th of May, and finish about the 10th of June, according to Mr. Perley. The young, on their first appearance, are nearly white, very minute, and nearly oval in form. In about ten days they become station- ary, and early in June throw out a quantity of bluish white down, soon after which their transformations are completed, and the females become fertile, and deposit their eggs. These, it seems, are hatched in the course of the summer, and the young come to their growth and provide for a new brood before the ensuing winter. Among the natural means which are provided to check the increase of these bark-lice, are birds, many of which, espe- cially those of the genera Parus and Regulus, containing the chick- adee and our wrens, devour great quantities of these lice. I have also found that these insects are preyed upon by internal parasites, minute ichneumon flies, and the holes (which are as small as if made with a fine needle), through which these little insects come forth, may be seen on the backs of a great many of the lice which have been destroyed by their intestine foes. The best ap- plication for the destruction of the lice is a wash made of two parts of soft soap and eight of water, with which is to be mixed lime enough to bring it to the consistence of thick white-wash. This is to be put upon the trunks and limbs of the trees with a * See Papers for 1796, p. 32. HEMIPTERA. 203 brush, and as high as practicable, so as to cover the whole sur- face, and fill all the cracks in the bark. The proper time for washing over the trees is in the early part of June, when the in- sects are young and tender. These insects may also be killed by using in the same way a solution of two pounds of potash in seven quarts of water, or a pickle consisting of a quart of common salt in two gallons of water. There has been found on the apple and pear tree another kind of bark-louse, which differs from the foregoing in many important particulars, and approaches nearest to a species inhabiting the aspen in Sweden, of which a description has been given by Dal- man in the " Transactions of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Stockholm", * for the year 1825, under the name of Coccus cryp- iogamus. This species, is of the kind in which the body of the female is -not large enough to cover her eggs, for the protection whereof another provision is made, consisting, in this species, of a kind of membranous shell, of the color and consistence almost of paper. In the autumn and throughout the. winter, these insects are seen in a dormant state, and of two different forms and sizes on the bark of the trees. The larger ones measure less than a tenth of an inch in length, and have the form of a common oyster shell, being broad at the hinder extremity, but tapering towards the other, which is surmounted by a little oval brownish scale. The small ones, which are not much more than half the length of the others, are of a very long oval shape, or almost four sided with the ends rounded ; and one extremity is covered by a minute oval dark colored scale. These little shell-like bodies are clus- tered together in great numbers, are of a white color and membra- nous texture, and serve as cocoons to shelter the insects while they are undergoing their transformations. The large ones are the pupa-cases or cocoons of the female, beneath which the eggs are laid ; and the small ones are the cases of the males, and differ from those of the females not only in size and shape, but also in being of a purer white color, and in having an elevated ridge pass- ing down the middle. The minute oval dark-colored scales on one of the ends of these white cases are the skins of the lice while * Kongl. Vetenskaps Acadern. Nya Handlingar. 204 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. they were in the young or larva state, and the white shells are probably formed in the same way as. the down which exudes from the bodies of other bark-lice, but which in these assumes a regular shape, varymg according to the sex, and becoming membranous after it is formed. Not having seen these insects in a living state, I have not been able to trace their progress, and must therefore refer to Dalman's memoir above mentioned, for such particulars as tend to illustrate the remaining history of this species. The body of the female insect, which is covered and concealed by the outer case above described, is minute, of an oval form, wrinkled at the sides, flattened above, and of a'reddish color. By means of her beak, which is constantly thrust into the bark, she imbibes the sap, by which she is nourished ; she undergoes no change, and never emerges from her habitation. The male becomes a chry- salis or pupa, and about the middle of July completes its transfor- mations, makes its escape from its case, which it leaves at the hinder extremity, and the wings with which it is provided are re- versed over its head during the operation, and are the last to be extricated. The perfect male is nearly as minute as a point, but a powerful magnifier shows its body to be divided into segments, and endued with all the important parts and functions of a living animal. To the unassisted eye, says Dalman, it appears only as a red atom, but it is furnished with a pair of long whitish wings, long antennae or horns, six legs with their respective joints, and two bristles terminating the tail. This minute insect perforates the middle of the case covering the female, and thus celebrates its nuptials with its invisible partner. The latter subsequently de- posits her eggs and dies. In due time the young are hatched and leave the case, under which they were fostered, by a little crevice at its hinder part. These young lice, which I have seen, are very small, of a pale yellowish brown color, and of an oval shape, very flat, and appearing like minute scales. They move about for a while, at length become stationary, increase in size, and in due time the whitish shells are produced, and the included insects pass from the larva to the pupa state. The means for destroying these insects are the same as those recommended for the extermination of the previous species. Many years ago, when on a visit from home, I observed on a HEMIPTERA. 205 fine native grape-vine, that was trained against the side of a house, great numbers of reddish brown bark-hoe, of a globular form, and about half as large as a small pea, arranged in lines on the stems. An opportunity for further examination of this. species did not oc- cur till the last summer, when I was led to the discovery of a few of these lice on my Isabella grape-vines, by seeing the ants as- cending and descending the stems. Upon careful search I dis- covered the lice, which were nearly of the color of the bark of the vine, partly imbedded in a little crevice of the bark, and arranged one behind another in a line. They drew great quantities of sap, as was apparent by their exudations, by which the ants were attracted. Further observations were arrested by a fire which consumed the house and the vines that were trained to it. 206 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. LEPIDOPTERA. Caterpillars. — Butterflies. Skippers. — Hawk-Moths. .Sgerians or Boring-Caterpillars. Glaucopidians. — Moths. — Spinners. Lithosians.— Tiger-Moths. Ermine-Moths. Tussock-Moths. — Lackey-Moths. Lap- pet-Moths. — Saturnians. — Ceratocampians. — Carpenter-Moths. — PsVCHIANS. NOTODONTIANS. — OwL-MoTHS. CuT-WoRMS. — GEOMETERS, OR Span- Worms, and Canker-Worms. — Delta-Moths. — Leaf-Rollers, BuD-MoTHS. Fruit-Moths. — Bee-Moths. Corn-Moths. Clothes- Moths. — Feather-winged-Moths. There are perhaps no insects which are so commonly and so universally destructive as caterpillars ; they are inferior only to locusts in voracity, and equal or exceed them in their powers of increase, and in general are far more widely spread over vegeta- tion. Caterpillars are the young of butterflies and of-moths; and of these, five hundred species, which are natives of Massachu- setts, are already known to me, and probably there are at least as many more kinds to be discovered within the limits of this Com- monwealth. As each female usually lays from two hundred to five hundred eggs, one thousand different kinds of butterflies and moths will produce, on an average, three hundred thousand cater- pillars ; if one half of this number, when arrived at maturity, are females, they will give forty-five milhons of caterpillars in the second, and six thousand seven hundred and fifty millions in the third generation. These data suffice to show that the actual num- ber of these insects, existing at any one time, must be far beyond the limits of calculation. The greater part of caterpillars subsist on vegetable food, and especially on the leaves of plants ; hence their injuries to vegetation are immense, and are too often forced upon our notice. Some devour the solid wood of trees, some live only in the pith of plants, and some confine themselves to grains and seeds. Certain species attack our woollens and furs, thereby doing us much injury ; even leather, meat, wax, flour, and lard afford nourishment to particular kinds of caterpillars. Caterpillars vary greatly in form and appearance ; but, in gen- eral, their bodies are more or less cylindrical, and composed of twelve rings or segments, with a shelly head, and from ten to six- LEPIDOPTERA. 207 teen legs. The first three pairs of legs are covered with a shelly skin, are jointed, and tapering, and are armed at the end with a little claw, the other legs are thick and fleshy, without joints, but elastic or contractile, and are generally surrounded at the ex- tremity by numerous minute hooks. There are six very small eyes on each side of the head, two short antennae, and strong jaws or nippers, placed at the sides of the mouth, so as to open and shut sidewise. In the middle of the lower lip is a little conical tube, from which the insects spin the silken threads that are used by them in making their nests and their cocoons, and in various other purposes of their dconomy. Two long and slender bags, in the interior of their bodies, and ending in the spinning tube, contain the matter of the silk. This is a sticky fluid, and it flows from the spinner in a fine stream, which hardens into a thread so soon as it comes to the air. Some caterpillars make but very little silk ; others, such as the silk-worm and the apple-tree' cater- pillar, produce it in great abundance. Some caterpillars herd together in great numbers, and pass the early period of their existence in society ; and of these there are species which unite in their labors, and construct tents serving as a common habitation in which they live, or to which they retire occasionally for shelter. Others pass their lives in solitude, either exposed to the light and air, or sheltered in leaves folded over their bodies, or form for themselves silken sheaths, which are either fixed or portable. Some make their abodes in the stems of plants, or mine in the pulpy substance of leaves ; and others conceal themselves in the ground, from which they issue only when in search of food. Caterpillars usually change their skins about four times before they come to their growth. • At length they leave off eating en- tirely, and prepare for their first transformation. Most of them, at this period, spin around their bodies a sort of shroud or co- coon, into which some interweave the hairs of their own bodies, and some employ, in the same way, leaves, bits of wood, or even grains of earth. Other caterpillars suspend themselves, in various ways, by silken threads, without enclosing their bodies in co- coons ; and again, there are others which merely enter the earth to undergo their transformations. 208 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. When the caterpillar has thus prepared itself for the approach- ing change, by repeated exertions and struggles it bursts open the skin on the top of its back, withdraws the forepart of its body, and works the skin backwards till the hinder extremity is extri- cated. It then no longer appears in the caterpillar form, but has become a. pupa or chrysahs, shorter than the caterpillar, and at first sight apparently without a head or limbs. On close exami- nation, however, there may be found traces of a head, tongue, antennae, wings, and legs, closely pressed to the body, to which these parts are cemented by a kind of varnish. Some chrysalids are angular, or furnished with little protuberances ; but most of them are smooth, rounded at one end, and tapering at the other extremity. While in the pupa state, these jnsects take no food, and remain perfectly at rest, or only move the hinder extremity of the body when touched. After a while, however, the chrysalis begins to swell and contract, till the skin is rent over the back, and from the fissure there issues the head, antennae, and body of a butterfly or moth. When it first emerges from its pupa-skin the insect is soft, moist, and weak, and its wings are small and shrivel- ed ; soon, however, the wings stretch out to their full dimensions, the superfluous moisture of the body passes off, and the limbs ac- quire their proper firmness and elasticity. The conversion of a caterpillar to a moth or butterfly is a transformation of the most complete kind. The form of the body is altered, some of the legs disappear, the others and the antennae become much longer than before, and four wings are acquired. Moreover the mouth and digestive organs undergo a total change ; for the insect, after its final transformation, is no longer fitted to subsist upon the same gross aliment as it did in the caterpillar state ; its powerful jaws have disappeared, and instead thereof we find a slender tongue, by means of which liquid nourishment is conveyed to the mouth of the insect, and its stomach becomes capable of digesting only water and the honeyed juice of flowers. Ceasing to increase in size, and destined to live but a short time after their final transformation, butterflies and moths spend this brief period of their existence in flitting from flower to flower and regaling themselves with their sweets, or in slaking their thirst whh dew or with the water left standing in puddles after LEPIDOPTERA. 209 showers, in pairing with their mates, and in laying their eggs ; after which they die a natural death, or fall a prey to their numerous enemies. These insects belong to an order called Lepidoptera, which means scaly wings ; for the mealy powder with which their wings are covered, when seen under a powerful microscope, is found to consist of little scales, lapping over each other like the scales of fishes, and implanted into the skin of the wings by short stems. The body of these insects is also more or less covered with the same kind of scales, together with hair or down in some species. The tongue consists of two tubular threads placed side by side, and thus forming an instrument for suction, which, when not in use, is rolled up spirally beneath the head, and is more or less covered and concealed on each side by a little scaly or hairy jointed feeler. The shoulders or wing-joints of the fore-wings are covered, on each side, by a small triangular piece, forming a kind of epaulette, or shoulder-cover ; -and between the head and the thorax is a narrow piece, clothed with scales or hairs sloping backwards, which may be called the collar. The wings have a few branching veins, generally forming one or two large meshes on the middle. The legs are six in number, though only four are used in walking by some butterflies, in which the first pair are very short and are folded like a tippet on the breast ; and the feet are five-jointed, and are terminated, each, by a pair of claws. It would be difficult, and indeed impossible, to arrange the Lep- idopterous insects according to their forms, appearance, and habits, in the caterpillar state, because the caterpillars of many of them are as yet unknown ; and therefore it is found expedient to class- ify them mostly according to the characters furnished by them in the winged state. We may first divide the Lepidoptera into three great sections, called butterflies, hawk-moths, and moths, corresponding to the genera Papilio^ Sphinx^ and Phalcena of Linnaeus. The Butterflies (Papiliones) have threadlike antennae, which are knobbed at the end ; the fore-wings in some, and all the wings in the greater number, are elevated perpendicularly and turned back to back, when at rest ; they have generally two little spurs on the hind-legs ; and they fly by day only. 27 210 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. The Hawk-Moths (Sphinges) generally have the antennae thickened in the middle, and tapering at each end, and most often hooked at the tip ; the wings are narrow in proportion to their length, and are confined together by a bristle or bunch of stiff hairs on the shoulder of each hind-wing, which is retained by a corresponding hook on the under-side of each fore-wing ; all the wings, when at rest, are more or less inclined like a roof, the up- per ones covering the lower wings ; there are two pairs of spurs on the hind-legs ; a few fly by day, but the greater number in the morning and evening twilight. In the Moths [Phaltznce] the antennae are neither knobbed at the end nor thickened in the middle, but taper from the base to the extremity, and are either naked, like a bristle, or are feathered on each side ; the wings are confined together by bristles and hooks, the first pair covering the hind-wings, and are more or less sloping when at rest ; and there are two pairs of spurs to the hind- legs. These insects fly mostly by night. I. BUTTERFLIES. {Papiliones.) Besides the characters already given, which distinguish this sec- tion of the Lepidoptera, it may be stated that their caterpillars always have sixteen legs, namely two, which are tapering, jointed, and scaly, to each of the first three segments behind the head, and a pair of thick fleshy legs, without joints, to all the remaining segments, except the fourth, fifth, tenth, and eleventh. The butterflies are divisible into two tribes ; namely, the true butterflies, which carry all their wings upright when at rest ; and the skippers, which have only the fore-wings upright, the hind- wings being nearly horizontal when at rest. 1. Butterflies. In these insects, all the wings are erect when at rest, and the an- tennae are knobbed, but never hooked, at the end. Their cater- pillars have a head of moderate size, suspend themselves by the tail when about to transform, and are not enclosed in co- coons. Some of these butterflies have the six legs all equally fit- ted for walking ; their caterpillars are more or less cylindrical, and , LEPIDOPTERA. 211 secure themselves by a transverse band, as well as by the tail, previously to their transformation to chrysalids ; and the latter are angular. All these characters exist in the following species. Ii] the month of June, there may be found, on the leaves of the parsley and carrot, certain caterpillars, more commonly called pars- ley-worms, which are somewhat swelled towards the forepart of the body, but taper a little behind. When first hatched, they are less than one tenth of an inch in length, are of a black color, with a broad white band across the middle, and another on the tail ; and the back is studded with little black projecting points. After they have increased in size and have cast their coats, it is found that the white band covers only the sixth and seventh segments, that the black projecting points spring from spots of an orange color, and on the lower part of the sides is a row of white spots, two more spots of the same color on the top of the first segment, and one larger spot on the tail. These caterpillars alter in color and appearance with each successive moulting, and, before they are half grown, the projecting points and the white band and spots en- tirely disappear, the skin becomes perfectly smooth and of a deli- cate apple-green color, rather paler at the sides of the body, and whitish beneath, and on each segment there is a transverse band consisting of black and yellow spots alternately arranged. When touched, they thrust forth, from a slit in the first segment of the' body just behind the head, a pair of soft orange-colored horns, growing together at the bottom, and somewhat like the letter Y in form. The horns are scent-organs, and give out a strong and disagreeable srnell, perceptible at some distance, and seem to be designed to defend the caterpillars from the annoying attacks of flies and ichneumons. These caterpillars usually come to their full size between the tenth and twentieth of July, and then meas- ure about one inch and a half in length. After this, they leave off eating, desert the plants, and each one seeks some sheltered spot, such as the side of a building or fence, or the trunk of a tree, where it prepares for its transformation. It first spins a little web or tuft of silk against the surface whereon it is resting, and en- tangles the hooks of its hindmost feet in it, so as to fix them se- curely to the spot ; it then proceeds to make a loop or girth of many silken threads bent into the form of the letter U, the ends 212 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. of which are fastened to the surface on which it rests on each side - of the middle of its body ; and under this, when finished, it passes its head, and gradually works the loop over its back, so as to sup- port the body and prevent it from falling downwards. Though it generally prefers a vertical surface on which to fasten itself in an upright posture, it sometimes selects the under-side of a limb or of a' projecting ledge, where it hangs suspended, nearly horizon- tally, by its feet and the loop. Within twenty-four hours after it has taken its station, the caterpillar casts off its caterpillar-skin and becomes a chrysalis, or pupa, of a pale green, ochre-yellow, or ash-gray color, with two short earlike projections above the head, just below which, on the upper part of the back, is a little prominence hke a pug nose. The chrysalis hangs in the same way as the caterpillar, and remains in this state from nine to fif- teen days, according to the temperature of the atmosphere, cold and wet weather having a tendency to prolong the period. When this is terminated, the skin of the chrysahs bursts open, and a but- terfly issues from it, clings to the empty shell till its crumpled and drooping wings have extended to their full dimensions, and have become dried, upon which it flies away in pursuit of companions and food. This butterfly is the Papilio Asterias of Cramer. It is of a black color, with a double row of yellow dots on the back ; a broad band, composed of yellow spots, across the wings, and a row of yellow spots near the hind-margin ; the hind-wings are tailed, and have seven blue spots between the yellow band and the outer row of yellow spots, and, near their hinder angle, an eye-like spot of an orange color with a black centre ; and the spots of the under-side are tawny orange. The female differs from the male, above described, in having only a few small and distinct yellow spots on the upper side of the wings. The wings of this butterfly expand from three and a half to four inches. During the month of July, the Asterias butterflies may be seen in great abundance upon flowers, and particularly on those of the sweet-scented Phlox. They lay their eggs, in this and the fol- lowing month, on various umbellate plants, placing them singly on different parts of the leaves and stems. I have found the cater- pillars on the parsley, carrot, parsnip, celery, anise, dill, caraway, LEPIDOPTERA. 213 and fennel of our gardens, as well as on the conium, cicuta, sium, and other native plants of the same natural family, which originally- constituted the appropriate food of these insects, before the exotic species furnished them with a greater variety and abundance. Their injury to these cultivated plants is by no means inconsider- able ; they not only eat the leaves, but are particularly fond of the blossoms, and young seeds. I have taken twenty caterpillars on one plant of parsley which was going to seed. The eggs laid in July, and August, are hatched soon afterwards, and the caterpil- lars come to their growth towards the end of September, or the be- ginning of October ; they then suspend themselves, become chrys- alids, in which state they remain during the winter, and are not transformed to butterflies till the last of May or the beginning of June in the following year. I know of no method so effectual for destroying these caterpil- lars as gathering them by hand and crushing them. An expert person will readily detect them by their ravages on the plants which they inhabit ; and a few minutes devoted, every day or two, to a careful search in the garden, during the season of their depre- dations, will suffice to remove them entirely. In Europe there are several kinds of caterpillars which live ex- clusively on the cruciferous or oleraceous plants, such as the cab- bage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radish, turnip, and mustard, and oftentimes do considerable injury to them. The prevailing color of these caterpillars is green, and that of the butterflies produced from them, white. They belong to a genus called Pontia; in w^hich the hind-wings are not scolloped nor tailed, but are rounded and entire on the edges, and are grooved on the inner edge to receive the abdomen ; the feelers are rather slender, but project beyond the head ; and the antennae have a short flattened knob ; their caterpillars are nearly cylindrical, taper a very little towards each end, and are sparingly clothed with short down, which requires a microscope to be distinctly seen ; they suspend themselves by the tail and a transverse loop ; and their chrysalids are angular at the sides, and pointed at both ends. In the northern and western parts of Massachusetts there is a white butterfly, which, in all its states, agrees with the foregoing characters. It is the Pontia oleracea, potherb Pontia, or white 214 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. butterfly, and was first described by me in the year 1829, in the seventh volume of the "New England Farmer."* About the last of May, and the beginning of June, it is seen fluttering over cabbage, radish, and turnip beds, and patches of mustard, for the purpose of depositing its eggs. These are fastened to the under- sides. of the leaves, and but seldom more than three or four are left upon one leaf. The eggs are yellowish, nearly pear-shaped, longitudinally ribbed, and are one fifteenth of an inch in length. They are hatched in a week or ten days after they are laid, and the caterpillars produced from them attain their full size when three weeks old, and then measure about one inch and a half in length. Being of a pale green color, they are not readily distin- guished from the ribs of the leaves beneath which they Hve. They do not devour the leaf at its edge, but begin indiscrimi- nately upon any part of its under-side, through which they eat irre- gular holes. When they have completed the feeding stage, they quit the plants, and retire beneath palings, or the edges of stones, or into the interstices of walls, where' they spin a little tuft of silk, entangle the hooks of their hindmost feet in it, and then proceed to foi-m a loop to sustain the forepart of the body in a horizontal or vertical position. Bending its head on one side, the caterpillar fastens to. the surface, beneath the middle of its body, a silken thread, which it carries across its back and secures on the other side, and repeats this operation till the united threads have formed a band or loop of sufficient strength. On the next day it casts off the caterpillar skin, and becomes a chrysalis. This is sometimes of a pale green, and sometimes of a white color, regularly and finely dotted with black ; the sides of the body are angular, the head is surmounted by a conical tubercle, and over the forepart of the body, corresponding to the thorax of the included butterfly, is a thin projection, having in profile some resemblance to a Ro- man nose. The chrysalis state lasts eleven days, at the expira- tion of which the insect comes forth a butterfly. The wings are white, but dusky next to the body ; the tips of the upper ones are yellowish beneath, with dusky veins ; the under-side of the hinder wings is straw-colored, with broad dusky veins, and the angles * Pajre 402. LEPIDOPTERA. 215 next to the body are deep yellow ; the back is black, and the antennae are blackish, with narrow white rings, and ochre-yellow at the tips. The wings expand about two inches. I have seen these butterflies in great abundance during the latter part of July, and the beginning of August, in pairs, or laying their eggs for a second brood of .caterpillars. The chrysalids produced from this autumnal brood survive the winter, and the butterflies are not dis- closed from them till May or June. In gardens or fields infested by the caterpillars, boards, placed horizontally an inch or two above the surface of the soil, will be resorted to by them when they are about to change to chrysalids, and here it will be easy to find, collect, and destroy them, either in the caterpillar or chrysa- lis state. The butterflies also may easily be taken by a large and deep bag-net of muslin, attached to a handle of five or six feet in length ; for they fly low and lazily, especially when busy in laying their eggs. In Europe the caterpillars of the white butterflies are eaten by the larger titmouse (Parus major), and probably our own titmouse or chickadee, with other insect-eating birds, will be found equally useful, if properly protected. We have several kinds of small six-footed butterflies, some of which are found, during the greater part of the summer, in the fields and around the edges of woods, flying low and frequently alighting, and oftentimes collected together in little swarms on the flowers of the clover, mint, and other sweet-scented plants. Their caterpillars secure themselves by the hind feet and a loop, when about to transform ; but they are very short and almost oval, flat below and more or less convex above, with a small head, which is concealed under the first ring ; and the feet, which are six- teen in number, are so short, that these caterpillars in moving seem to glide rather than creep. The chrysalids are short and thick, with the under-side flat, the upper side very convex, and both ex- tremities rounded or obtuse. They belong to a little group which may be called Lycenians (Lyc^nad^), from the principal genus included in it. The heads of the common hop are frequently eaten by the little green and downy caterpillars of a very pretty butterfly, which has been mistaken for the Thecla Favonius, figured in Mr. Abbot's " Natural History of the Insects of Georgia" ; but it differs from 216 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. it in so many respects, that I do not hesitate to give it another name, and will therefore call it the hop-vine Thecla, Thecla Hu- muli.* The wings on the upper side are dusky brown, with a tint of blue gray, and, in the males, there is an oval darker spot near the front edge ; the hind-wings have two short, thread-like tails, the inner one the longest, and tipped with white ; along the hind-margin of these same wings is a row of little pale blue spots, interrupted by a large orange-red crescent enclosing a small black spot ; the wings beneath are slate-gray, with two wavy streaks of brown edged on one side with white, and on the hind-wings an orange colored spot near the hind-angle, and a larger spot of the same color enclosing a black dot just before the tails. It expands one inch and one tenth. Some butterflies have the first pair of legs so much shorter than the others, that they cannot be used in walking, and are folded on the breast like a tippet. Their caterpillars, when about to transform, do not make a loop to support the forepart of the body, but suspend themselves vertically by the hindmost feet. As they all secure themselves pretty much in the same way, it may be proper to explain the process. Having finished eating, the caterpillar wanders about till it has discovered a suitable situa- tion in which to pass through its transformations. This may be the under-side of a branch or of a leaf, or any other horizontal object beneath which it can find sufficient room for its future oper- ations. Here it spins a web or tuft of silk, fastening it securely to tlie surface beneath which it is resting, entangles the hooks of its hindmost feet among the threads, and then contracts its body and lets itself drop so as to hang suspended by the hind-feet alone, the head and forepart of the body being curved upwards in the form of a hook. After some hours, the skin over the bent part of the body is rent, the forepart of the chrysalis protrudes from the fissure, and, by a wriggling kind of motion, the caterpillar-skin is slipped backwards till only the extremity of the chrysalis remains attached to it. The chrysalis has now to release itself entirely from the caterpillar-skin, which is gathered in folds around its tail, * M. Boisduval lias figured and described this species under the name of Thecla Favonius, in his " Histoire des Lepidopteres de I'Amerique Septentrionale." LEPIDOPTERA. 217 and. to make itself fast to the silken tuft by the minute hooks with which the hinder extremity is provided. Not having the assist- ance of a transverse loop to support its body while it disengages its tail, the attempt would seem perilous in the extreme, if not im- possible. Without having witnessed the operation, we should suppose that the insect would inevitably fall, while endeavouring to accomplish its object. But, although unprovided with ordinary limbs, it is not left without the means to extricate itself from its present difficulty. The hinder and tapering part of the chrysalis consists of several rings or segments, so joined together as to be capable of moving from side to side upon each other; and these supply to it the place of hands. By bending together two of these rings near the middle of the body, the chrysalis seizes, in the crevice between them, a portion of the empty caterpillar-skin, and clings to it so as to support itself while it withdraws its tail from the remainder of the skin